Screening of Haj pilgrims on

Public health authorities have started to screen Haj pilgrims, who are returning to the city in batches, to check for any symptoms of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). A medical team of the department is screening the pilgrims at the airport.

The first batch of Haj pilgrims from Tamil Nadu left on September 24. A total of 3,851 pilgrims from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry visited Mecca this year, according to an officer of the Tamil Nadu Haj Committee. “The pilgrims have started to arrive in batches since November 6. There are a total of 12 flights to Chennai till November 13,” he said.

A senior official of the Directorate of Public Health said the pilgrims were specifically screened as they would have come in contact with more people at Saudi Arabia.

“Our medical team is screening the pilgrims as and when they arrive at the airport for symptoms like fever, cough and cold. We have not come across any suspicious cases so far,” he said. In regards to other travellers to Saudi Arabia, the official said all major hospitals have been asked to be on alert and report if any person came in with cough, fever and has a history of travel to a foreign country.

More: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/screening-of-haj-pilgrims-on/article5340207.ece

Aruna Shaunbag's health improves but still in ICU

The condition of Aruna Shanbaug, theKEM Hospital nurse who has been in a persistent vegetative state for the past 40 years, seems to be improving, doctors said on Monday.

The 67-year-old rape survivor was moved to KEM's medical intensive care unit ( MICU) on Friday after nurses noticed she was having difficulty breathing. "Shanbaug continues to be stable. But today we realized that she was looking much better than she did yesterday," said KEM Hospital dean Dr Shubhangi Parkar.

Shanbaug has been under the care of KEM Hospital's nurses ever since she was brutalized and left for dead by a ward boy in the Parel hospital 40 years ago. A room outside ward no 4 has been her permanent home ever since the attack at the hospital where she had joined as a staff nurse.

"She is still on oxygen support though we have been reducing the concentrations steadily," added Dr Parkar. Shanbaug, however, will be kept in the ICU for a few more days.

More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Aruna-Shaunbags-health-improves-but-still-in-ICU/articleshow/25609194.cms

Exercise during pregnancy boosts a newborn baby’s brain capacity for life: University of Montreal study

Exercising during pregnancy changes the fetal brain in ways that may boost a newborn’s brain functioning for life, new Canadian research suggests.

Eight-day-old newborns had brains as active as those of eight-month-olds.In what is being described as the first study of its kind in humans, University of Montreal researchers found that the brains of babies born to women who exercised moderately throughout their pregnancies appeared to mature more rapidly.

The findings suggest that 20 minutes of exercise, three times a week, enhances a baby’s brain development and its “plasticity,” meaning the ability to make new connections, according to research to be presented Monday at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, Calif.

The team hopes the findings will encourage women “to change their health habits, given that the simple act of exercising during pregnancy could make a difference in their child’s future,” said lead author Dr. Dave Ellemberg, a professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Montreal.

The study was motivated by experiments in rats, published by other researchers a decade ago, that suggested maternal exercise produces a higher density of neurons in the hippocampus of the fetal brain. Rat pups born to mothers who exercised on a running wheel performed far better at birth on tasks that require memory than pups born to sedentary mothers.

Ellemberg wondered: Could the phenomenon hold true for humans, too?

For the study, 18 women in their second trimester of pregnancy were randomly assigned to an exercise group or a sedentary group. Ten women in the exercise group were asked to exercise a minimum of 20 minutes, three times a week, at a moderate intensity that would leave them feeling slightly short of breath. The eight women in the sedentary group were asked not to exercise. All the women had equal levels of education, socio-economic status and health habits.

Eight to 12 days after the babies were born, researchers measured the activity of neurons related to memory. The babies were fitted with an electrode cap that measured and recorded their brain activity via an EEG, or electroencephalogram

The researchers waited for the babies to fall asleep in their mothers’ laps, then measured their unconscious responses to high- and low-pitched sounds. Some of the sounds were repeated over and over, others were more rare.

‘We found that the babies who were born from the mothers who were active had a much more mature brain response’

“We found that the babies who were born from the mothers who were active had a much more mature brain response,” Ellemberg said. “The brain response corresponded to that of babies of six to eight months of age.”

The researchers have begun testing the babies’ cognitive, motor and language development as they reach their first birthdays, to determine whether the differences remain.

“It’s fascinating,” said Dr. Jon Barrett, a professor of obstetrics at the University of Toronto and head of maternal fetal medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Barrett was not involved in the study.

It’s long been known that exercise in pregnancy is good for the mother, he said. Exercise lowers the risk of pregnancy-related high blood pressure and diabetes. Pregnancy tends to be easier, and labour shorter.

“We also know now that what happens to the fetus (while) in the mother has longstanding implications for the baby’s health into adulthood,” said Barrett.

For example, babies that don’t grow well in the womb have a higher risk of developing adult hypertension.

How a baby’s brain is affected by the mother’s exercise, or why, remains a mystery

It’s a concept known as fetal patterning. Researchers are studying babies, from the womb into adulthood, to see if they can find “patternings” that will affect the baby’s chances of developing diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and even cancer, as they grow older, Barrett said.

“What we’re seeing here [in the Montreal study] is a little glimpse, a hint of how something like exercise can affect the neural patterning of the baby.”

How it happens, or why, remains a mystery.

‘It’s as if the baby is also working out while his mom is working out’

When women exercise during pregnancy, the fetal heart rate also increases. “So, it’s as if the baby is also working out while his mom is working out,” Ellemberg said.

That might increase oxygen levels to the baby’s brain, nourishing neurons and improving brain development.

Exercise also increases levels of serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters that are important for memory and attention, Ellemberg said.

In the absence of any health concerns, ‘pregnant women should go ahead and be active’

The study’s biggest limitation is its size, involving just 18 women. However, the early findings suggest that exercise during pregnancy might influence the “neuronal circuitry” of the developing fetal brain, Ellemberg said.

Even today, “we hear some doctors warning their patients [pregnant women] not to exercise,” he said. But, in the absence of any health concerns, “women should go ahead and be active,” he said.

More: http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/11/11/exercise-during-pregnancy-boosts-a-newborn-babys-brain-capacity-for-life-university-of-montreal-study/

Why heart attacks occur in morning

Researchers have found that the internal body clock may contribute to the morning peak in heart attacks and ischemic strokes.

Corresponding author Frank A.J.L. Scheer, PhD, director of the Medical Chronobiology Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), said that their findings suggest that the circadian system, or the internal body clock, contributes to the increased risk for cardiovascular events in the morning.

The researchers studied 12 healthy adult volunteers in the intensive physiological monitoring laboratories at BWH.

Participants were assessed throughout a two-week laboratory protocol designed to desynchronize daily behavioral and environmental rhythms from internal circadian rhythms.

Researchers specifically evaluated the role of Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), which inhibits the breakdown of blood clots and is thus a risk factor for blood clotting, one of the major contributors to heart attack and ischemic stroke.

The researchers sought out to test whether this morning peak in PAI-1 is caused by the internal circadian system or by behaviors that typically occur in the morning, such as altered posture and physical activity.

The researchers found a robust circadian rhythm in circulating PAI-1 with a peak corresponding to approximately 6:30 a.m. in a regular sleep/wake cycle.

Co-author Steven Shea, PhD, director of the Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, sad that their findings indicate that the human circadian system causes a morning peak in circulating levels of PAI-1, independent of any behavioral or environmental influences.

The new findings have been published in the journal Blood.

More: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/131112/lifestyle-health-and-well-being/article/why-heart-attacks-occur-morning

Still reading? Phew! YOU SURVIVED the GOCE satellite FIREBALL

The European Space Agency (ESA) has kindly let the planet know that the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer – GOCE – has re-entered earth's atmosphere, apparently without incident.

GOCE during its mission

The demise of the craft was expected, because it ran out of fuel in October: GOCE was required to orbit especially low for its mission, and despite being a streamlined dart (unlike most satellites) it needed continual thrust from its pair of ion rockets to maintain orbital velocity against the drag of the wispy upper atmosphere.

The ESA - whose boffins have been known to refer to the GOCE as a "Ferrari" among spacecraft - did at least offer estimates of "a re-entry time window between 22:50 UTC on 10 November and 00:50 UTC on 11 November (23:50-01:50 CET)" and suggest "The most probable re-entry area lies on a descending orbit pass that mainly runs across the Pacific and the Indian Ocean."

In other words, somewhere on about half the surface of the world, albeit the most watery bits.

Complicating matters further for the nervous, the New York Times speculated that 100-pound bits of GOCE could rain down on us all.

The ESA crew blogging GOCE's demise helpfully went to bed before the satellite re-entered, but didn't tuck themselves in without promising a press release would be emitted once something about the satellite's fate was known.

Thankfully that press release has been issued and offered the following reassuring message:

"Close to 01:00 CET on Monday 11 November, ESA’s GOCE satellite reentered Earth’s atmosphere on a descending orbit pass that extended across Siberia, the western Pacific Ocean, the eastern Indian Ocean and Antarctica. As expected, the satellite disintegrated in the high atmosphere and no damage to property has been reported."

As we've noted, however, the locales mentioned above represent a jolly big chunk of Earth's surface. Just how the ESA can guarantee no property damage mere hours after GOCE re-entered the atmosphere is anyone's guess, especially as someone dealing with a red-hot chunk of satellite in their locale is unlikely to be in a position to phone in the news.

The Reg will therefore update this story again if news of just where GOCE came to grief comes to hand, although as our Sydney office borders the Pacific Ocean you can take a lack of any further news of any sort to mean the ESA got this one very badly wrong.

Incidentally, the bird cost $470m if you include its launcher and operations in that price tag. ®
Updated to Add

The ESA has now relayed US Strategic Command space tracking data which shows that any surviving bits of GOCE will have plunged into the South Atlantic not far from the Falkland Islands.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/10/goce_satellite_re_entry_location/

New artificial intelligence does everything on your computer

A new artificial intelligence robot that can navigate through almost any computer programme and across the internet has been developed.

Mako, created by 18-year-old Michael Ghandour in Chino, California, has voice recognition and responds to even the slightest command with super speed.

It can create powerpoint presentations from scratch, search anything on Google and give updates on the local weather.

The robot can even read out long passages on a screen, 'The Mirror' reported.

MAKO is multilingual; it can speak in five different languages soon to be 30, according to its Kickstarter page.

The page lists Mako's numerous abilities - it can open any website/programme, define any word, type anything you say, retrieve any online image, Google search anything, switch windows to other programmes, empty recycle bin/delete any file/words, do math equations of all kinds and write a report on any subject, among other functions.

Ghandour who spent seven years working on artificial intelligence programmes like this, believes Mako will "revolutionise how we interact with the technological world.

More: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/new-artificial-intelligence-does-everything-on-your-computer-113111100480_1.html

Sanjay Leela Bhansali muses about his cinematic journey

n an exclusive interview, the director talks about his films, being moody and controversies surrounding his life

Sanjay Leela Bhasali’s films are always a visual feast but behind that there is a perfectionist with many moods and a hard taskmaster. The ace filmmaker talks about his upcoming ‘Ram-Leela’, his muse — Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai and clarifies about the controversies surrounding his life.

Talking about the inspiration of ‘Ram Leela’, he shares, “The idea of the story came after ‘Khamoshi’. I wanted to make ‘Romeo Juliet’, I realised ‘Khamoshi’ did not do well at the box office but had received rave reviews. But making a film with such a big infrastructure, it may not receive a proper finishing. As it is I had made a subtle, subdued film like ‘Black’, ‘Saawariya’ based on a trilogy. Also I had already shot the film in Gujarat and did not want to shoot again in Gujarat.” Elaborating further on his cinematic journey, he adds, “At this point of time ‘Guzaarish’, the story popped into my mind. People also told me that now you are planning for a movie which is based on mercy killing and also interested in casting Hrithik Roshan, who will not be seen dancing. They all did not like my idea of making a film like ‘Guzaarish’. But I was very sure about the film. I liked the very idea about a man being on the death bed and celebrating his death.”

But talking about the switchover from a serious films like ‘Black’ and ‘Guzaarish’ to fun films, he reveals, “Anyways, after all the serious films, I decided to make a film full of fun and frolic. A colorful entertaining movie. Thus ‘Ram-Leela’ was conceptualized. It took me much time to compose and record the songs of the film. We recorded one song in a month. Almost two years went in recording the songs, which was tried on error and trial basis.”

Revealing how Deepika Padukone’s character has been inspired by his mother, he shares, “However, I had named Nandini in ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’ being the name of my aunty. I wanted to give a tribute to my mom and thus Leela is the name of Deepika. I called up Deepika and told her you will be doing a special role of my mom. So I had to portray her character beautifully yet pristine. It feels great because my wish and dream of giving a tribute to my mom has been fulfilled.”

Sharing how it took double the efforts of his previous two films ‘Guzaarish’ and ‘Saawariya’, for ‘Ram Leela’ to take shape. And how he likes to up the ante, he shares, “Preparations of ‘Ram- Leela’ took away my life. I have to work hard for my next films always. If I don’t work hard, the film will not do well at the box office. You have to keep up your energy levels and also have to clean up all that is not required. I did not compromise with anything. I did not just make a proposal or a project, which is not worthwhile. We also worked very hard on the scripting level itself. Six months went in pre-production job. I almost put in double efforts of my previous two films ‘Guzaarish’ and Saawariya.” And adds, “Now when I do the next, I am sure I will put in more efforts. It is sheer hard work especially because everyone right from the actors, costume designer, director of photography were freshers. They came up with their ideas while in cooperation of my idea, we tried to bring freshness in the film. Why will people like to watch my film if I make it in the same manner.”

Confessing that he is a hard taskmaster, he shares, “Yes, I am a hard task master merely because I feel the one I am working with has ample amount of potential. My choreographers Sameer/Arsh and Vishnudeva, I tried to push boundaries. Samir/Arsh has a wide know folk dance knowledge so I tried to mix the right balance of filmy as well as the folk side.”

With the music of the movie having received rave reviews, he shares, “The songs like ‘Nagada’ and others have received rave reviews. I am of course happy about it. Also Priyanka Chopra’s song I feel is sensuous, it’s so pure and pristine and I see no reasons of any controversies. These numbers are definitely different from the regular Hindi Bollywood numbers. Getting rave reviews for the promotional songs feels great also because we have not made any compromises and I feel every creative person is blessed with this opportunity. Everything has to fall in place if God wishes. It indeed feels great.”

Talking about the intimate scenes, he shares how he has directed it with more openness and says, “This time I have directed it with more open mindedness. The romantic scenes have been canned organically and possess the sensuality. Canning these romantic scenes lyrically by neither being very aggressive nor sending any wrong messages will surely allure the audiences. These scenes are better than the pelvic thrust that we usually watch in our Hindi films.”

Talking about the sizzling chemistry between his lead pair, he shares, “Also the reel love translated by Ranveer Singh and Deepika on screen is magically great. I could see the real romance of Deepika and Ranveer on the screen.” When asked whether he has done justice to the real love existing between the lead pair and translated it faithfully onscreen, he shares, “I know not. I feel naturally some actors translate as if they are really in love. I have shown the kiss in a very natural manner like it has happened. So there’s nothing nonsensical in it. People are going to enjoy the film and the openness in ‘Ram-Leela’. I had to restrict a little as it signifies my mother’s name. But yes, I have turned colourful with this film.”

On Kareena Kapoor who was supposed to be the leading lady in the film, he shares, “Yes Kareena was to do this film. We had prepared the costume etc and we were happy about it. Both of us tried to make this work, but it could not happen. But we parted with a good way and decided that we will work some other time.” And added, “Then we spoke to Deepika. When I met her for the first time without make up, she looked so beautiful. I feel after Vijayanthimala she is the most beautiful heroine. She agreed to work in a short notice. Within just 15 days she had to get to the set. I appreciate her confidence level and defiantly she has done exuberantly well.”

Talking about taking a bet with an upcoming actor, “Ranveer possesses very high energy levels. It is very difficult to keep it in control. He would come on the sets all prepared but the moment we started shoot I would tell him no we are not using this line. You will have to use this line now. I being a spontaneous director make changes on the spot. Finally he got accustomed to me and has done a wonderful performance. He has the rawness of Mithun Chakraborthy, Ajay Devgan and Nana Patekar. He has given his best.”
Deepika according to Sanjay has superseded his expectations totally as he shares, “Deepika would just laugh out at the drafts sent to her. I would send one draft at 7 PM and then within a gap of 45 min another draft would be sent to her. While I would send another draft at 8pm she would just smile and say that she would come on the sets and learn her lines. She has given ten times better performances than I expected from her. She restores all her energies while on the sets as she talks very less. And I sometime want people to keep chatting.”

Talking about his previous muse — Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan, he shares, “Yes, I do miss Madhuri, Aishwarya and Salman. I remember while shooting with Aish I would be sitting at a distance and she would realize the changes I was discussing with my assistant. She is a real brilliant actor. Madhuri and Aishwarya are my muse. I would keep gazing at them when they would dress up and walk down to the sets, my eyes would refuse to get off them. Salman was good. But I think Ranveer, Deepika and the new lot have immense talent.”

Sharing how ‘Ram-Leela’ could not go to Cannes film festival, he says, “‘Ram- Leela’ cannot go to the Cannes as timing for selection is over. We will be showcasing it in Marakeshwar film festival on the opening night of this 29th. I am sure the film will allure the international audiences too. Like any Chinese film represents China similarly ‘Ram-Leela’ will represent the true Hindi Bollywood entertaining film.”
On being moody he says, “Yes, people say I shout on the sets but I have never done so. Who is not moody? Everyone has fluctuating moods. If my assistant has forgotten to get the requirements, I will never compromise on it. It is his duty to get every requirement in place. Why will I suffer for him? I will surely ask him to get everything in place and for this if I have to shout at him then I am surely moody. I am very particular about everything. If a glass has to be kept in a particular manner, it has to be that way as it coincides with the requirement.”

Talking about controversies, he shares, “Controversies do matter a lot not only to me but everyone on this Earth. I was unnecessarily hurt again and again for ‘Khamoshi’ and ‘Guzaarish’. So much so, that I stopped coming out of the house, I stopped reading newspapers and stopped listening to radio. We are here to work why should people talk unnecessarily about us. Hearing negative stuff does hurt me. And those who say they are okay with it, they are just pretending.”

More: http://freepressjournal.in/sanjay-leela-bhansali-muses-about-his-cinematic-journey/

'To last as long as Sachin Tendulkar in professional sport is extremely difficult'

Steve Redgrave, the British rowing legend, who won five gold medals in five consecutive Olympics from 1984 to 2000, on why he can relate to Sachin Tendulkar remaining driven to play the game for 24 years

The last time India were in England, in 2011, I went to see the fourth Test at The Oval in anticipation of Sachin's hundredth international century. He got out for 23, if I remember correctly, in the first innings. However, his second innings was special. As he entered the 90s, all of us watching the match could sense we were about to witness something special. Unfortunately, he was dismissed LBW by Tim Bresnan for 91.

Trust me, I have never been so disappointed when England have taken a wicket and I can safely say that the entire crowd felt the same.

It took him some time to reach the landmark and experts suggested he shouldn't have chased it. But an athlete always tries to push the records a bit further. The skill, desire, passion and hunger to succeed override everything. I can understand the line of thinking Sachin adopted. I won my fifth Olympic gold medal at the Sydney Games because I always believed I could go faster and win. Similarly, he believed he could set the record and he did it. Of course, there was struggle but he persisted and in the end, managed it. The fact that he has scored a hundred hundreds is just incredible.

What I admire the most about his career is the longevity. It's something I can relate to and draw parallels with. To last for such a long time in professional sport is extremely difficult. The window of opportunity when you are at the top of your game is very small. You have to make the most of 'your' time. I was on top of my game for around 15 years and had to peak once every four years: during the Olympics, which is the biggest stage for us.

In that sense, cricketers and rowers are at the two opposite ends of a spectrum. While the four-year Olympic cycle gives us time to prepare and recover, cricketers do not enjoy the same privilege because they are competing too often. You train and compete; train and compete. There is no respite, no time to recover and introspect about your own game.

Also, you have to continuously reinvent yourself and your link with the rest of the team. When I was at my first Olympics, I was the youngest in my team and in the subsequent ones, I was the oldest. The transition and adjustments that come along with that are difficult and I am sure Sachin would have faced such challenges as the average age of the dressing room got younger.

Calling retirement is perhaps the toughest decision a sportsperson has to make. As an athlete, you never really believe you are done even though the world will not miss an opportunity to remind you of that.

Shutting out critics

If you're a spectator, a critic, you will be quick to point out that the performances haven't been good enough to carry on and that you should call it quits. I could have quit rowing after winning two Olympic medals, that's what I was advised. My family told me I should quit. But I pushed myself, tested myself at the highest level and won many more medals.

But if you don't compete and don't try, how will you come to know if you're good enough? An athlete will always believe he still has it in him to compete at the top level, no matter what others say. It's easy for the bystanders to comment but retirement is a personal choice. During my time, it was down to me to take a call and same is with Sachin.

Because of our past records, players like me, Sachin and the others are generally given a bit of lee-way and the management will be keen to give you one last opportunity. That means you are given a year or two extra but that's fine. In the end, a player has got to produce the goods and the moment he doesn't do that, he has to step down.

I am in Lavasa near Pune for the launch of my rowing academy and as Sachin prepares for his final Test in Mumbai, I can sense the excitement in the country. For me, he will go down as the best batsman of my lifetime.

Yes, his stats are not exactly the same as Don Bradman but he wasn't around in my generation. So for me, Sachin is the best ever.

More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/to-last-as-long-as-sachin-tendulkar-in-professional-sport-is-extremely-difficult/1193772/0

I'll start working on Krrish 3 sequel soon: Rakesh Roshan

Actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan said Monday he is planning a Krrish 3sequel but in future will work with Hrithik on a fresh script outside theKrrish franchise.

"I'm currently not working on a film outside the 'Krrish' franchise with Hrithik, but I will do a film in the future. I would love to direct him in a fresh script as soon as I'm relieved with this franchise," Rakesh Roshan told reporters here.

The filmmaker, known for directing films such as Khoon Bhari Maang and "Karan Arjun", launched Hrithik with hit movie Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai in 2000.

"I will start working on the sequel soon. Due to public demand, we may include some sidekick characters as well," said Rakesh Roshan.

Accompanied by Hrithik and cinematographer Tirru, senior Roshan was here to celebrate the success of "Krrish 3", which has been received well in Tamil Nadu.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-i-ll-start-working-on-krrish-3-sequel-soon-rakesh-roshan-1917513

5.6 BILLION smartmobe subscriptions on Earth by 2019, claims Ericsson

The growth in smartphone devices has now overtaken that of conventional handsets, accounting for 55 per cent of new mobile subscriptions in the first nine months of 2013. That's according to a new study by telecoms hardware maker Ericsson.

Overall globally, the Swedish multinational reckons there were 4.5 billion people subscribed to a mobile plan during the first three quarters of the year – although, for example, one person counts as two subscribers if she has two separate subscription plans, which may explain the high number.

In the third quarter of 2013 alone, Ericsson estimates that 113 million new subscriptions were logged.

Additionally, the company estimates that some 150 million people signed up for a mobile broadband plan this year, an increase of 40 per cent on the same period in 2012.

Ericsson is painting a rosy picture for mobile high-speed internet as it expects the considerable uptake to continue. The telco supplier predicts that by 2019 some 9.3 billion mobile subscriptions will be active and 5.6 billion of those will be for smartphone handsets. Today, the population of the world is 7.1 billion.

"The rapid pace of smartphone uptake has been phenomenal and is set to continue," boasted Ericsson vice-president and head of strategy Douglas Gilstrap.

"It took more than five years to reach the first billion smartphone subscriptions, but it will take less than two to hit the two billion mark."

Ericsson also forecasts mobile coverage becoming nearly ubiquitous by the end of the decade. The company expects that by 2019 at least 90 per cent of the world's population will have coverage for 3G connectivity and 65 per cent will have access to next-generation LTE networks.

<pThe growth in smartphone use will obviously ramp up bandwidth demand: the company predicts that annual data traffic will exceed 10 exabytes by 2019.

According to industry pundits, however, Ericsson's forecasts for soaring mobile traffic may be a bit too good to be true. Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis contends out that the Ericsson figures suggest that data consumption will remain consistent, and that new customers will maintain the same healthy appetite for data as early adopters.

"In almost all maturing sectors, the laggards & late-adopters tends to be low, casual users," Bubley noted.

"This suggests that Ericsson's forecasts are over-cooking things substantially."

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/12/ericsson_sees_bright_future_for_smartphone_adoption/

WhatsApp Woos And Wows Teens At Facebook’s Expense

While Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has over a billion users worldwide, it will be some time before or if the social network sees its second billion. While this is primarily due to world connectivity issues, a new specter is rearing its head: a loss of users.


Teen’s daily usage of Facebook dropping

Numerous media outlets are reporting that the social network giant is actually seeing a decrease in daily users. Where are they going? When you’re talking about teens, the answer is simple. Teens are moving to WhatsApp, WeChat and other options. While teens continue to use the service, their daily use is dropping noticeably.

According to the UK’s Guardian, the aforementioned apps and others like KakaoTalk, which provide (mostly) free messenger services using a smartphone’s data plan are beginning to sting Facebook.
WhatsApp user base larger than Twitter

These apps promote chat amongst your real friends rather than the online ones that people accumulate. This is done through connecting people who are actually in your phone book. WhatsApp is the worlds largest messaging app with over 350 million daily users. A number considerably bigger than Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)’s 220 million daily users. WhatsApp, which was begun in 2009, shuns advertising and is reaping the benefits.


These other apps also have features like SnapChat which provides a genius private sharing space, while Kakao Talk also includes photo sharing options as well as game and music sharing.
Facebook messenger less dynamic

That being said, the uptake of these Asian upstarts have yet to truly capture the United States’ audience with their interface and advanced messaging utilities. This, however, may not remain the case as more and more people find Facebook’s Messenger less dynamic and make the switch elsewhere.

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is clearly upset about this trend and will have to work quite hard to regain kids that don’t view the social media giant as cool anymore. How can it be cool if their parents are finding their way to the platform?

While kids are certainly fickle and may very well return to Facebook, the company needs to address this. Once they’re gone, it’s difficult to get them to return “home.”

More: http://www.valuewalk.com/2013/11/whatsapp-woos-and-wows-teens-at-facebooks-expense/

World Chess Championship - After two draws, who will blink first?

Communication theory states that one cannot not communicate. The first two games of the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen ended in quick draws, but must have given the opposing camps plenty of information to work with already.

Game one

Carlsen opened with the unusual 1. Nf3. The Reti opening had not been used in Championship matches for a long time, certainly not in the last 35 games that Anand had been a part of till then. Carlsen's choice would have come as a surprise to Anand in a broad sense, but what the challenger wanted to achieve beyond this is rather unclear.

Home preparation is most effectively translated into an advantage on the board when the game proceeds along theoretical lines of an opening until one of the players springs a surprise. This deviation is either a move that has not been played before at all (a novelty) or a side-line that has not been explored too deeply.

At this stage, one player can bank on the results of the extensive analysis of his seconds while the other will have to find solutions to tricky problems over the board. You either run down the clock trying to find the accurate continuation or end up missing the thread altogether, or both.

It is relatively easier to pull off this kind of an ambush as white because the player who makes the first move is in a better position to steer the game in a particular direction. In a crude example, black may have a novelty prepared in response to a popular queen pawn opening, but if white opens with his king pawn, the trap will have to wait.

Looked at from this perspective, the Reti is not the best choice to usher an opponent towards an ambush. The problem in opening with 1. Nf3 is that black may counter in a variety of ways. In fact, the first game may have started out as a Reti, but eventually transposed into a fianchetto-Grunfeld.

Carlsen admitted in the post-match press conference that he was hardly in control of the game and wasn't ready for the game to have developed at the pace that it did. His choice of opening was not a success, but what was it that Carlsen set out to achieve? It may not have been an attempt to trap Anand with his preparation at all.

Instead, he may just have wanted to play the opening like he would the middle game, trying to put his pieces on their best squares and see how Anand would respond to an unusual first move. Anand's years of opening preparation and an intuitive understanding of the early phase of the game came through as he levelled the position fast. The game ended in a 16-move draw.

Game two

Anand opted for 1. e4, changing-up from the queen pawn opening he has almost exclusively employed across three title defenses from 2008. This alteration, though, was expected. Also, each player in a championship match has at least a couple of responses prepared for both the king and queen pawn openings. What was of interest then, was not that Anand switched back to the king pawn opening, but how Carlsen would respond.

The move 1... e5 is black's most common response to the king pawn opening while 1... c5 (leading to the Sicilian system, considered black's sharpest reply) is also tried frequently. Instead, Carlsen went for the relatively uncommon but respected Caro Kann (1... c6).

It was an interesting choice for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Carlsen has rarely employed the Caro Kann. Secondly, and more tellingly, Anand has played on either side of the Caro Kann many times, most recently during a 32-move win over Ding Liren with white at the Alekhine memorial earlier this year. Put the two together and you can see how it was a smart move on Carlsen's part.

The Caro Kann caught Anand by surprise. Carlsen's seconds have no doubt put the engines to good use studying the opening, and considering they have a big enough database of Anand's Caro Kann games to work with, they must have come up with a concrete set of ideas. Also, if Carlsen had played an opening that Anand was completely unused to, the Indian would have been too wary to attempt anything sharp and their preparation would have gone waste. Anand, a championship veteran, sniffed danger just as the position got critical. He traded queens and settled for a draw in 67 minutes.

Looking ahead

While Carlsen is unlikely to repeat the unorthodox 1. Nf3 in game three, the Caro Kann might be revisited some time in the championship. Anand's seconds will have to come up with enough to convince him that he could play the sharp lines without getting ambushed, but that may require time.

Three days (Anand last played white on the 10th and will do so again on Wednesday) may be too little time for that, and moreover, the team will also have to help the Indian hold with black in the intervening game on Tuesday. It is uncertain if Carlsen will get back to 1. e4 for game three, but what is for sure is that he has shown a fair bit of guile at this early stage despite a lot being made of his inexperience in matchplay.

Live on DD Sports at 3 pm

More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after-two-draws-who-will-blink-first-/1193750/0

Apex court allows e-auction of excavated iron ore in Goa

Lifting a year-long embargo, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed e-auctioning of nearly 11.5 million tonnes of excavated iron ore lying unused in Goa under the supervision of a court-mandated committee.

The e-auctioning would be conducted under the supervision of a three-member committee which will have former bureaucrats UB Singh and S Naiumuddin as members. The third member will be an officer, not below the rank of a joint secretary.

The apex court, which on October 5 last year had stopped mining, transportation and export of iron ore in Goa following a report of irregularities by the Justice MB Shah Commission, also ordered setting up of another six-member panel which would file its report by February 15, 2014, suggesting the annual cap on volume of iron ore to be extracted.

The court said that the amount collected from the e-auctioning shall be kept as fixed deposits and separate lease-wise accounts must also be maintained. Reading from its draft order, the bench of Justices AK Patnaik, SS Nijjar and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla, said the six- member panel will have one representative each from ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) and the department of mining besides an ecologoist, a geologist, a mineralogist and an expert on forest.

Asking the Centre and others to come up with the names of experts by November 18, it clarified that this committee of experts shall give the report as to what should be the ceiling on mining. The six-member panel would look into the issues of fixing the annual cap on iron ore mining by keeping in view the principle of inter-generational equity and the environment- carrying capacity, it said. The issue of environment-carrying capacity relates to what extent the environment and surroundings of a mine can sustain or bear ore extraction activities.

Earlier, Goa Foundation , a non-governmental organisation, had filed the PIL on alleged illegal iron ore extraction in the state. The bench, which said the copy of its order be sent to the members of the panel, observed that it would pronounce the verdict on the PIL after the filing of the report by the expert committee on February 15, next year. Earlier, it had said that an interim order would be passed relating to constitution of panels for looking into various aspects of iron ore mining in Goa.

The bench had also reserved the verdict on the issue of allowing mining operations in the state which had been halted following the report of the high-level commission headed by Justice Shah indicting all miners, saying illegal extraction of iron ore during the past 12 years had caused a loss of Rs 35,000 crore to the state exchequer.

Earlier, the Goa government had said that 45 million tonnes of iron ore extraction can be allowed annually. The state had sought the permission from the court to transport and export 11.48 million tonnes of already excavated iron ore, lying unused following the ban on mining.

More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/apex-court-allows-eauction-of-excavated-iron-ore-in-goa/1193779/0

PepsiCo to invest Rs33,000 crore by 2020

After Coca-Cola, its arch rival, Pepsi, has stepped up its investment plans in India. Pepsi has announced that it intends to invest Rs33,000 crore ($5.5billion) by 2020. Last year in June, Coca-Cola had announced that it will pump in $5 billion by 2020 -- which at that time worked out to be Rs28,000 crore.

PepsiCo is going to invest the money in building up its infrastructure and manufacturing base and innovation and agriculture. In a release on Monday, the company said it’s looking to double its production capacity by 2020. At present, it has three food factories and 38 bottling plants across India. The cola giant also wants to stay focussed on rural market and is keen to widen its reach in the hinterland.

Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer, PepsiCo, said: “India is a country with huge potential and it remains an attractive, high-priority market for PepsiCo. We’ve built a highly successful business in India over the course of many years, and we believe we’ve only scratched the surface of the long-term growth opportunities that exist for PepsiCo and our partners. This investment is PepsiCo’s vote of confidence in India’s future and it represents our deep commitment to this great country.”

Since its entry into India in 1989, the company has invested $2 billion so far and India is among the top five markets for the beverage maker. In fact, in India, PepsiCo has eight brands — Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, 7UP, Slice, Mirinda, Mountain Dew and Aquafina -- that generate Rs1,000 crore or more in estimated annual retail sales.

In order to gain a stronger foothold in India, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been competing with each other, neck and neck. In September, PepsiCo slashed the prices of its 200 ml returnable glass bottle of Pepsi by Rs 4 in an open challenge to Coca-Cola, which was available at Rs8 per bottle.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-pepsico-to-invest-rs33000-crore-by-2020-1917709

Iran deal involves 'limited sanctions relief': British Foreign Secretary

Talks on Iran's nuclear programme aim at finding an interim agreement involving limited sanctions relief before any final settlement, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said today.

Tehran and world powers failed to clinch a long-sought deal yesterday despite marathon talks in Geneva but kept hopes alive by agreeing to meet again in the Swiss city on November 20.

Hague said in a statement to parliament on the talks, which he attended, that there was "no doubt in my mind" that a deal could be reached.

"Our aim is to produce an interim, first-step agreement with Iran that can then create the confidence and the space to negotiate a comprehensive and final settlement," Hague said.

"The talks broke up without reaching that interim agreement because some gaps between the parties remain," Hague said, adding that "most of those gaps are now narrow and many others were bridged altogether during the negotiations."

Hague said that "any interim agreement would involve offering Iran limited, proportionate sanctions relief".

But he said that the international community would be "vigilant and firm" in upholding sanctions until there was an interim deal with Iran.

Hague meanwhile confirmed the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Britain and Iran following the ransacking of the British embassy in Tehran, with both countries today naming non-resident envoys to each other's capital.

Hague meanwhile played down talk that France was behind the failure of the Iran nuclear talks.

"It's not right to speak of any veto on the negotiations by any of the E3+3 countries," he said, referring to the world powers involved in the talks.

"The position put to Iran by all of us together in the final hours had been amended in the light of comments by various countries... But it was a completely united position." He said the common position gave an "extremely strong foundation for the next round of talks on November 20."

More: http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/iran-deal-involves-limited-sanctions-relief-british-foreign-secretary_889273.html

Nasiruddin Haqqani: Senior militant shot dead in Pakistan

One of the most senior leaders of the Haqqani militant network has been shot dead near the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, security sources say.

Nasiruddin Haqqani, who was in his early 30s, was the group's financier and a son of its founder Jalaluddin.

Reports say his body has been taken for burial to the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border.

It is not clear who shot him or why. Nasiruddin Haqqani was on a US list of global terrorists.

The details of his death are still unclear, but reports say he was killed in a shooting incident in the city of Rawalpindi, next to Islamabad, on Sunday night.

Security sources confirmed the killing to the BBC.

Other reports quoted militant sources and witnesses, who said unidentified gunmen on motorbikes sprayed Haqqani with bullets as he stopped to buy fresh bread from a bakery in the north-eastern outskirts of the capital.

Another Haqqani brother, Badruddin, who had been the group's operational commander, was killed in a drone strike in August last year.

Nasiruddin's elder brother, Sirajuddin Haqqani, now leads the group, while Jalaluddin remains its figurehead.

As the group's main fundraiser, Nasiruddin frequently travelled to the oil-rich sheikhdoms of the Middle East to solicit donations.
Jalaluddin Haqqani (right) is seen here as Taliban minister of tribal affairs in 2001

He represented the Haqqani network in last year's efforts to set up a Taliban office in Doha for peace talks with the United States.

He was also the group's main contact person for pro-Taliban elements in Pakistan, as well as its representative with the Afghan Taliban.

'Well-dressed networker'

Unlike his father and many of his brothers, Nasiruddin Haqqani and two of his uncles did not live in Miran Shah in North Waziristan. He chose to base himself near Islamabad, from where he made his many journeys abroad to secure funds.

Some sources said he had major business interests in the Gulf, including a transport company.

Nasiruddin is not thought to have been publicly photographed.

Those who have met him describe a tall, educated, well-dressed man who travelled in expensive cars and networked an extensive list of contacts all the time.

They say his appearance gave no clue to his militant connections. His code name was "the doctor", possibly because of a degree that he had studied for.

His death will be a major blow to the Haqqanis, who will need to find someone else to spearhead their efforts to secure financing.

BBC correspondents say the killing will pile pressure on the Pakistani government because Nasiruddin's death happened on Pakistani soil.

Afghan authorities will be angry that someone who had been working to facilitate peace moves with the Afghan Taliban has been removed from the picture.

His death comes just 10 days after a US drone killed Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud, who was also reported to be on the verge of entering peace talks with the government in Islamabad.

Those moves towards talks are now over. His successor, the more hardline Mullah Fazlullah, swiftly ruled out any negotiations.

Attempts to begin talks between the US, the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul have been stalled since June.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24898804

No N-deal, yet much accomplished

Diplomats insisted they are closing in on an agreement to curb Iran's nuclear programme despite the failure to clinch a long-sought deal in marathon negotiations in Geneva.

As Tehran said it would not abandon its "right" to enrichment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would do all it could to keep the so-called P5+1 group of world powers from striking a "bad and dangerous" deal.

American Secretary of State John Kerry defended US negotiations with Iran, saying Washington is "not blind" and is keeping Israel's best interests at heart, ahead of a visit by UN nuclear chief Yukiya Amano to Tehran on Monday.

Hopes for a deal had soared after top diplomats rushed to Geneva to join the talks, but faded again as cracks began to appear among world powers when France raised concerns over a heavy water reactor being built at Arak. The talks ended in the early hours of Sunday.

But diplomats on Sunday insisted they were zeroing in on an agreement to lift some of the crippling sanctions on Iranin return for the freezing of much of its nuclear programme, and planned to meet again from November 20.

The pause in talks has given a window of opportunity for opponents, particularly Israel, to derail the deal. Israel sees Iran's nuclear programme as a threat to its existence.

The short-term deal would have reportedly frozen or curbed some of Iran's nuclear activities, which Israel and the West suspect are aimed at developing the ability to build a nuclear weapon.

Tehran-IAEA pact
Iran will grant UN inspectors "managed access" to a uranium mine and a heavy water plant within three months as part of a cooperation pact reached on Monday aimed at allaying international concern about Tehran's nuclear programme.

It was signed by IAEA chief Yukiya Amano in Tehran after Iran and six world powers failed in weekend talks in Geneva to clinch a broader diplomatic deal to end a decade-old deadlock over Iran's atomic activity.

Meanwhile, Iran and Britain named non-resident charges d'affaires to each other's capital, in moves aimed at restoring diplomatic ties severed after the British embassy was ransacked in 2011.

More: http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/no-n-deal-yet-much-accomplished/article1-1150034.aspx

BJP MLA gets bail in Muzaffarnagar riots case

Over one-and-a-half months after he was arrested for his alleged involvement in inciting violence in Muzaffarnagar, BJP MLA Sangeet Singh Som was released from Muzaffarnagar jail on Monday, after being granted bail.

The state government had invoked stringent National Security Act (NSA) against Som, who was arrested on September 21 for allegedly inciting people and sharing a "provocative" video on a social networking site before riots broke out in Muzaffarnagar. However, the NSA provisions were later revoked against Som.

Som's lawyer Anil Jindal said the MLA had been granted bail in all cases except one.

Another BJP MLA, Suresh Rana, is however still lodged in jail.

More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjp-mla-gets-bail-in-muzaffarnagar-riots-case/1193844/

Campa Cola compound case: Residents remain adamant, refuse to move out

The Campa Cola housing colony residents in Mumbai have refused to move out of the compund. Only 10 out of 96 unauthorised in the Campa Cola society have been vacated till now. The aggressive social media campaign also seems to have yielded no result. The Supreme Court had set November 11 deadline to vacate the flats. Many families living in the compound are still hoping that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will step in and save their homes by passing an ordinance that would regularize their flats. 

However, so far the Chief Minister has shown no signs of relenting and accepting the demands made by the residents of Campa Cola. Sources suggest that the Chief Minister did not want to go against the legal opinion of the advocate general. Even as the residents are hoping that their would be some last minute changes, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is likely to begin the demolition process on Tuesday. The civic body is likely to begin by first cutting the power and water supply to the illegal flats and destroying the internal structure internally. The entire demolition of the unathorised structures may take few months as the civic body's standing committee has rejected the Rs 3 crore demotion tenders. 

The Supreme Court had in October ordered the residents of over 90 illegal flats to vacate their houses by November 11. On October 1, the Supreme Court had ordered the residents of over 90 illegal flats to vacate their houses by November 11. The BMC had issued eviction notices to residents of the illegal floors under Section 488 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act last week warning them not to obstruct the civic staff when they initiate demolition. The residents of the Campa Cola compound have had a long legal fight since 2005 when they first went to court for water connection and regularization and the court ordered the then municipal commissioner to take time-bound action on the case. 

The municipal commissioner instead of taking an action against the builders served demolition notices to about 100 flats above the fifth floor. The builders of the society which were PSB construction, Yusuf Patel and BK Gupta were granted permission to construct the residential towers not more than five floors. They, however, went ahead and flouted the norms by constructing about 35 illegal floors across the Campa Cola compound. The demolition notices served were challenged in the civil court were granted a stay. The residents, however, lost the case in the High Court in 2011 and subsequently in the Supreme Court in February 2013 when it refused to regularise the structure. 

The BMC then issued demolition notice on the April 27 asking the occupants of the illegal flats to vacate within 48 hrs. However, the Supreme Court intervention ensured that the residents got a five month window to vacate their houses.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/campa-cola-compound-case-residents-remain-adamant-refuse-to-move-out/433621-3-237.html?utm_source=ref_article

MCA honours Sachin Tendulkar at glittering event

From Thursday, Sachin Tendulkarwill play his 200th and final Test at his 'home ground,' the Wankhede Stadium here. With just three days to go for the landmark game, the game's most celebrated player received a fitting farewell gift, as the Mumbai Cricket Association(MCA) renamed its sprawling, world-class facility at Kandivali as the 'Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana,' at a glittering function.

The occasion, aptly called as an evening dedicated to 'Aapla Sachin', saw the presence of both the Indian and the West Indian teams, besides top politicians of Maharashtra, including chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan.

While former cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri was the emcee, it was a bit disconcerting to see the politicians at the centrestage -- Mumbai mayor Sunil Prabhu, Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar and Chavan too were honoured by the MCA.

Besides, it was sad to note that a host of former Mumbai and India cricketers present at the event, including batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and his maternal uncle Madhav Mantri, India's oldest living cricketer, were not even invited on the stage during the function.

Nevertheless, Tendulkar was floored by the gesture. "It felt special to read my name on the entry of the club. It feels good as I am not used to it. I didn't expect this. It was a humble experience. I thank MCA for this kind gesture," said Tendulkar amidst thunderous applause and deafening cheers, as he began his first public speech since announcing his retirement.

He then went on to thank the MCA for having supported him throughout his career. "I have been associated with the MCA for 29 years now. I want to thank them for making the nets available for me at any time I wanted. I just needed to make a phone call to get it. I had the right pitches, the right wickets to prepare myself. To play for India has been truly memorable, I think every step was different and every tour required different preparations," he said.

Tendulkar then summed up his feelings in a beautiful way. "I appreciate not just this evening but the last 24 years," he said.

Tendulkar then lauded MCA president Sharad Pawar for announcing earlier in the short, slick function that the facilities in the club would be available to anybody free of cost.

"I think this facility is a great platform for the next generation to make use of. To continue to build a sporting culture in our nation is very important. That can happen with right guidance, coaching and right facilities. All this should be there for the coming generation," he felt.

The club boasts of a ground capable of hosting a first-class fixture, indoor nets, a swimming pool, gymnasium besides top-class dining and banquet halls.

The tone of the evening was set by the hordes of fans, who were standing outside the club gates with emotional banners that conveyed how much they would miss a man they had worshipped for a quarter of a century.

Pawar earlier echoed the view of every cricket fan in the country by saying that "We will miss the 'Saaachin, Saaachin' chant at the stadium. We thank him for giving so many pleasurable moments to the entire country for the last 24 years."

"Sachin is one of the greatest Indians, a great sportsperson and a great hero. He has given India years and years of sporting pleasure. He is admired not only here but all over the world. We all rejoice his success. I am sure Test cricket will miss him," gushed Chavan.

More: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/series-tournament/sachin-tendulkar-to-hang-his-boots/top-stories/MCA-honours-Sachin-Tendulkar-at-glittering-event/articleshow/25607432.cms

Hurriyat wants dialogue with Centre revived

Within 24 hours of their meeting with the visiting Pakistani top diplomat, that rankled the opposition BJP, the moderate faction of Kashmiri separatists on Monday sought to revive their dialogue with New Delhi.

Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference faction led by Mirwaiz Muhammad Umer Farooq called on former R&AW chief A S Dulat and sought his assistance in building bridges with the government of India to re·sus·ci·tate the ‘triangular’ dialogue process.

Sources said the meeting took place after Pakistan prime minister’s advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, who is here to attend a multilateral conference, asked Hurriyat leaders to help bring the Kashmir issue involving India and Pakistan back to negotiang table.

The meeting took place at the residence of Dulat, who termed the conversation as a ‘friendly chat between two old friends’ and refused to divulge more details. “If the government of India is serious, they have to engage them (separatists). The separatists may look for signals on what to do from Pakistan, but in the absence of New Delhi’s engagement, what other option do they have,” Dulat told dna.

Dulat was in charge of Kashmir affairs during NDA regime and has been strongly advocating resumption of dialogue with separatists. He termed the meeting between separatists and Pakistani diplomats as a routine exercise.

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-hurriyat-wants-dialogue-with-centre-revived-1917693

‘I was so afraid that the roof might be blown off:’ An aid worker on the typhoon’s impact

The destruction has been described as tsunami-like with aerial pictures showing flattened fishing villages, large ships flung inland and traumatized survivors desperate for clean water, food, shelter – and any news of missing loved ones.

Typhoon Haiyan has come and gone – pounding a group of islands in the central Philippines beginning last Friday and leaving behind a trail of loss and destruction.


As night fell in the Philippines, hundreds of thousands of displaced Filipinos hoped the next day would bring speedier relief efforts and security. Parts of the country have reported looting.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino declared a national state of calamity in typhoon-affected areas.

“My appeal to you all is remaining calm, praying, co-operating with, and assisting one another are the things that will help us to rise from this calamity,” he said.

The reported death toll of 942 is expected to climb into the thousands – with one area alone, Tacloban, reportedly facing more than 10,000 dead.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) was organizing airlifts to deliver high-energy biscuits.

“We need to make sure that the humanitarian community works together with the Government of the Philippines and coordinates efforts so we can reach as many people as quickly as possible,” said WFP executive director Ertharin Cousin in a statement.

Co-ordination, information and ability to reach survivors are the key challenges.

The medical humanitarian aid agency Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, said parts of the typhoon-affected areas had been cut off from communication and that the group was operating in “a relative black hole of information.”

“To be honest, no one knows what the situation is like in these more rural and remote places, and it’s going to be some time before we have a full picture,” Natasha Reyes, MSF’s emergency co-ordinator in the Philippines, said in a statement.

“This sort of disaster is unprecedented in the Philippines. The effect is something like a massive earthquake followed by huge floods,” she added.

Like all aid agencies, World Vision is trying to increase its relief efforts and reach survivors. An air cargo of 5,000 thousand blankets and 3,000 tarpaulins arrived in the capital Manila Monday. The group has been delivering programs for 55 years in the Philippines. Canadians sponsor 15,676 children in the country.

Aaron Aspi is one of the country’s 600 World Vision staff and he spoke to the Globe and Mail from Cebu city late Monday night. He explained that storm surges 7 metres high came crashing down on coastal villages in the northern part of the island, destroying 90 per cent of structures. Here is an edited and condensed version of the interview. First, he described how most of the deaths happened:

“So many people drowned. The impact of this storm was really massive. It crashed through structures – even those structures that are sturdy enough to withstand the magnitude of the typhoon were really mercilessly brought down to ruins.

“Lots of thriving communities that were once full of life and activities and livelihood are now reduced to wasteland.”

Where were you when the storm hit landfall?

I was in another island altogether. I was supporting relief efforts of World Vision in the [October] earthquake-hit areas of Bohol [province] when the typhoon struck.

I was on the top most floor of the building and I can really feel the building shaking but it was not from the tremors on the ground but it was from the ferocious winds that were crashing on the roof. I really got scared and I can hear the heavy howling sounds and the fierce winds and rains sweeping through trees and uprooting them.

I just realized its immensity – even if it [the typhoon] was not on full blast in Bohol because it was just a signal number three and the highest storm signal that was raised was four. I was somehow feeling confident it wasn’t really that bad but when it was there I was so afraid that the roof might be blown off and I was walking around the corridors pausing for a while from time to time to relax myself as I clutched on to the railings because I might get knocked off.

It was really really scary.

What is the biggest challenge you face right now?

The biggest challenge right now is stepping up travel routes that are safe and accessible – and lots of roads right now are impassable because of huge boulders and rubble and other debris lying around.

Is the situation in Cebu city, where you are right now, relatively calm?

Right now in Cebu city the power and water supply has been restored but as you go to the outskirts and far flung areas that’s where you can really have a grasp of how the devastation is really taking a toll on the lives of those people who have lost everything that they own. Along the road children are begging for food and water and are asking for help – and that’s really heartbreaking for me.

What are the most urgent needs facing survivors?

Right now the most urgent needs are food and water and other emergency relief supplies – like sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets. Those kinds of things would really go a long way for those families who have lost their belongings.

Sad to say, but unfortunately in some parts of the Philippines – in Tacloban – there has been widespread looting. The municipality is now under a state of emergency because the government needs to have more power to enforce public safety and peace and order in those areas. People are growing desperate and they are resorting to lawless activity in order to survive.

You are Filipino. Do you think your government has the capacity to deal with crisis?

Right now it will take all concerted efforts – both of government and the humanitarian actors, even the civil society and volunteers, just everyone to help each other in the best way possible.

We may get tired of seeing these horrible images we see now on television and [in] photos but this would be their environment for the next couple of months. And right now we are on alert for another typhoon that is heading our way – but thankfully it is not as strong as [Typhoon] Haiyan but the torrential rains could really hamper the ongoing relief operations.

More: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/i-was-so-afraid-that-the-roof-might-be-blown-off-an-aid-worker-on-the-typhoons-impact/article15384951/

Despite AAP’s tall talk, Kejriwal on a slippery slope against Sheila

In his promotional campaigns, Arvind Kejriwal says that by 15 December, his Aam Admi Party would have catapulted to power in Delhi and by 29 December he will have a special session of the Assembly convened at Ramlila Maidan and will pass Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill. Behind the unusual buoyancy is perhaps another advertisement, which states that Yogendra Yadav has predicted that his party will win 47 seats, a landslide victory with a three-fourth majority. By that implication, Delhiites will now queue up at polling stations on 4 December to simply fulfill a formality and then await the inevitable. This is tall talk. Arvind Kejriwal.

 AP If it were true, the easiest of all 70 Assembly seats should be the one Arvind Kejriwal, his party’s obvious chief ministerial candidate, is contesting for his own election to Delhi Vidhan Sabha — from Gole Market constituency. He has by choice pitted himself against Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The BJP has entered the fray by nominating Vijendra Gupta, a weighty former Delhi unit party chief who steadily rose in the party ranks after first getting elected to the Delhi University Students Union. The contest in Gole Market should thus be the most interesting to understand the prospects of the AAP, unless Kejriwal springs a surprise and files his nomination from some other constituency or from more than one constituency. 

While various opinion polls offer somewhat contradictory pictures, ranging from Kejriwal’s own prediction of 47 seats to 18 seats for the AAP as predicted by the latest C-Voter survey and a whopping 19-25 seats in the CNN-IBN/CSDS count to a low of 8 seats by the India Today-ORG opinion polls, no one has, however, reflected on the personal fate of Kejriwal and other prominent AAP leaders. While Sheila Dikshit may not be in a position to form a government for a historic fourth term, she almost certainly is winning her seat from Gole Market constituency. This means that both Vijendra Gupta and Arvind Kejirwal face real prospects of losing from there. 

Vijendra’s entry has made the battle highly interesting. Vijendra too has a strong reputation of taking on Sheila’s government, both as former party president and as former Standing Committee Chairman of the Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD). It was by a smart strategy that the BJP made a surprise announcement last week to make him a candidate from Gole Market after a meeting. The decision to this effect was taken after some brainstorming by four top BJP leaders, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari. In the last Assembly elections, BJP candidate Vijay Jolly had lost from here but had not fared too badly. The BJP hopes Vijendra does better. The idea was two-fold, to not allow a cakewalk to Sheila and also, more than the first, to make things difficult for Kejriwal. Should Kejriwal slip to third position in his own seat, the BJP would then jump in to puncture his hype in the subsequent Parliamentary elections. The AAP chief faces tough prospects and is on a real slippery wicket in a constituency that is heavily dominated by the government servants of all categories and classes. 

There is also a substantive presence of Balmiki community voters here. Congress and Sheila supporters are sure of her victory. The BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, whose first rally in Delhi was a huge success, has so far agreed to spare one more day for campaigning in Delhi but Delhi unit leaders believe that they will make him agree to give more time for Delhi so that he could influence some additional votes in the last leg of campaigning. While the NCT of Delhi does not have full statehood and has only 70 seats, it gets disproportionate political attention for several reasons – a government in the national capital has too much symbolic value attached to it; the elections here are being held along with those in three other states namely Chhattisgarh, Madhjya Pradesh and Rajasthan where the Congress is pitted head to head against the BJP, and then these are the last Assembly polls before Parliamentary polls so the score would matter to build a public perception. 

And besides, Delhi has a mixed population, which many believe would reflect that national mood. The Congress and BJP have their own reasons to take Delhi seriously but for AAP the Delhi results mean much more than that. To stay in the reckoning for expanding itself nationally in the coming Parliamentary elections and beyond, Delhi is critical. Ironically, Kejriwal’s singular anti-corruption agenda could prove to be his undoing here. An official who lives in Gole Market area but does not want to identified said, “Why should government employees vote for him when he has painted them with a black brush? If he is going to target government employees in the name of anti-corruption measures, it is better that he does not find his name in the winners’ list on Dec 8, when results are announced.” The other supposed strength of the AAP – excessive dependence on Arvind Kejriwal’s name — has slowly started to hurt the party’s prospects. The party in its wisdom had announced its candidates well in advance, to give more time to their candidates to run their campaign but since most candidates have not been known political workers they still don’t have much of retention value in their constituency. 

AAP’s volunteers are reaching out but how far individual candidates are registering is still not clear. The BJP and the Congress have now announced their candidates. It’s a known fact that apart from top leader’s name and weight, it is individual candidate’s merits and accessibility in the respective constituencies that matter more in Assembly elections. AAP has a slight handicap there. The BJP’s belated move of announcing Dr Harshvardhan’s name as chief ministerial candidate too has robbed some of AAP’s sheen. More so, Vijay Goel’s quiet acceptance of the party leadership’s decision, even if that is meant for public posturing, has made the AAP script far more complicated than it appeared to be about a fortnight or a month ago. It should be to the credit of the AAP that its upward swing vis-a-vis Vijay Goel forced the BJP to name Dr Harshvadhan, a practising doctor with a clean image, as their chief ministerial candidate.

 But by doing so the BJP may have somewhat succeeded in halting AAP’s onward climb. AAP has no doubt has gained good traction among a section of the electorate and as a newcomer on the scene it does not have any negative baggage attached to it, but whether that will translate into actual votes is a big question. There are various instances when those talking nice things about the AAP are not sure of the party’s victory in their own constituency but think it could win in other constituencies. That may not prove to be very healthy for the party on the polling day.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/politics/despite-aaps-tall-talk-kejriwal-on-a-slippery-slope-against-sheila-1223981.html?utm_source=ref_article

ISRO successfully completes supplementary orbit-raising operation on Mars mission

A day after suffering a glitch during the fourth orbit-raising operation on its Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO today successfully completed the supplementary manoeuvre this morning, raising the spacecraft’s apogee (farthest distance from Earth) to over 1,18,000 km.

“The fourth supplementary orbit-raising manoeuvre of Mars Orbiter spacecraft started at 5.03 a.m. (IST) with a Burn Time of 303.8 seconds and it has been successfully completed. The observed change in apogee is from 78,276 km to 1,18,642 km,” ISRO said.

The supplementary manoeuvre, which was completed by 5.10 a.m., added a velocity of 124.9 m/s to the spacecraft, it said.

After suffering a glitch during the fourth orbit-raising operation yesterday, ISRO planned for a supplementary manoeuvre at 5 a.m. to achieve the targeted apogee of one lakh km.

The fifth of the five orbit-raising operation to raise the spacecraft’s apogee of over 1,92,000 km is scheduled for November 16.

Glitch in 4th orbit-raising

During the fourth orbit-raising operations yesterday, the 440 Newton liquid engine stopped, while both primary and redundant coils were energised together, however the thrust level augmentation logic, as expected, came in and the operation continued using the attitude control thrusters and the spacecraft was “normal” and “100 per cent safe,” according to ISRO.

Following the glitch, the apogee was raised only to 78,276 km against the target of about one lakh km.

During the first three orbit-raising operations, the prime and redundant chains of gyros, accelerometers, 22 Newton attitude control thrusters, attitude and orbit control electronics as well as the associated logics for their fault detection isolation and reconfiguration were exercised successfully.

After successfully completing these operations, the mission is expected to take on the “crucial event” of the trans-Mars injection around 12:42 a.m. on December 1.

ISRO’s PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg Mangalyaan Orbiter (Mars craft) into orbit around Earth some 44 minutes after a textbook launch at 2:38 p.m. from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on Tuesday last, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-crore mission.

More: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/isro-successfully-completes-supplementary-orbitraising-manoeuvre-of-mars-orbiter/article5342698.ece

Delhi: Four earthquakes rattle National Capital Region within three hours

Strong tremors shook the national capital and its suburbs after four earthquakes struck within a span of three hours early today.

The first quake, measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale occurred at 12.41 am, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The tremors reportedly lasted for three to four seconds. The epicentre of the quake was centred near Sainik Farms area in South Delhi and happened at a depth of 10 kilometres below the ground.

The second quake, 3.3 in intensity, followed an hour later at 1:41 am and was felt in Delhi and its adjoining satellite towns of Noida and Ghaziabad. The epicentre of this quake lay further south, centred south-east of Manesar beyond Gurgaon in Haryana.

The last two quakes of 2.5 and 2.8 magnitude followed at 1.55 and 3.40 am respectively, their epicenter being the same as the second one.

Several people rushed out of their houses after the temblors struck.

Micro-blogging site Twitter too was abuzz with reports of the quakes.

"Yes, tremors in Delhi just a minute ago. Like thunder coming from the ground!" tweeted Jamal Shaikh.

"This must be the strongest earthquake tremor I have ever felt. It was like the earth shivering. #Delhi (sic)" tweeted a person with Twitter handle @DilliDurAst.

More: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/delhi-four-earthquakes-rattle-national-capital-region-within-three-hours-444777

Himachal sets up first bird ringing station

A bird ringing station, where a ring will be put on birds' legs to study their migration pattern in the western Himalayas, has been set up by the state wildlife wing in the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in the Kullu Valley, officials said here Sunday.

The ringing station, first of its kind in Himachal Pradesh, has been opened at Sairopa, located on the outskirts of the national park and some 250 km from here, assistant conservator Satpal Dhiman told IANS.

He said the station has so far put metallic rings on 260 birds of different species. "Each bird has been given a unique number and Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) stamp," he said.

One of the richest bio-diversity sites, the Great Himalayan National Park is home to the elusive and critically endangered western tragopan, along with four other spectacular pheasants, the snow leopard and the mighty Himalayan brown bear.

Notified in 1999, the park spreads over an area of 754 sq km. It supports 31 mammal species, 203 bird, 44 butterfly, three reptile, nine amphibian and 127 insect species, besides 425 species of plants.

Another wildlife official said recently a two-week programme was organised to train wildlife employees in bird ringing.

Francis Buner, a senior conservation scientist with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, and T.H. Walker of the British Trust of Ornithology imparted training to the staff in bird identification and ringing.

Both trusts are Britain based independent leading charitable research institutes.

"The ringing centre will help attracting bird watchers and ringers from western countries besides providing an excellent communication and knowledge transfer platform between the state and international species and conservation experts," said the official.

A large number of birds, including the Himalayan griffon vulture, the lammergeier, the golden eagle, the Eurasian woodcock, the solitary snipe, the wood pigeon, the snow pigeon, the slaty-headed parakeet, the collared owlet and the rock eagle owl, can be spotted flitting throughout the GHNP.

The GHNP is one of the only two national parks in the world with a population of the brilliantly plumaged western tragopan. The Machiara National Park in Pakistan also supports this species.

Another endangered pheasant, the cheer, is also found in the GHNP's grassy slopes. Other pheasant species, the monal and the koklas, are in abundance in the temperate zone, while the kaleej occurs in small numbers below 2,000 metres.

Starting at an altitude of 1,700 metres, the highest peak within the GHNP approaches 5,800 metres.

Park authorities said the best sighting of wildlife can be made in autumn (September-November) as animals start their seasonal migration to lower altitudes.

More: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/himachal-sets-up-first-bird-ringing-station-113111000388_1.html

World Chess Championship: More moves, quicker draw

A shorter draw in terms of time consumed but a little longer in terms of moves. The second game of the 2013 FIDE World Chess Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen ended in 25 moves on Sunday. That’s nine more than Saturday’s opening game, but 24 minutes shorter than the 90-minute duel which had also ended in a draw.

The third game will be played on Tuesday with Carlsen holding white pieces. Monday will be a rest day. The match is now tied at one 1-1. The first player to score 6.5 points in 12 games will be crowned world champion.

The plot of the second game was not much different from the first. Carlsen seemed to have prepared for this game, though he had probably expected a slightly weaker defence from the five-time world champion. Interestingly, the end of the game was almost similar, the players repeating the moves in identical fashion.

Anand agreed after the game that he was surprised that Carlsen chose this opening, a sharp line of the Caro-Kann Defence. Carlsen confidently played the opening moves of his Caro-Kann Defence and made them rapidly. The opening entered one of the sidelines of Caro-Kann, the Spassky variation and once Anand castled on the queen-side, Carlsen, who had a 14-minute lead on the clock, started thinking, often making faces.

It was a sharp line and the Norwegian had to be careful as Anand had got a good post for the knight in the centre. Carlsen managed to see off the knight with his own knight.

Analysts said this was not a new idea, though Spassky popularised the variation in the 1960s during his matches against Tigran Petrosian. Indian Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay recalled some games played by former world champion Alexander Alekhine in this line. But a more recent exponent of this opening was Anatoly Karpov, who often played the Caro-Kann, but the main line.

After the knight exchange, Carlsen offered a bigger trade off: on move 17, the 22-year-old World No. 1 forced the exchange of the queens and after that it was a matter of time before the players shook hands. “I am sorry that I did not go forward in that position,” Anand said after the game. “But I was a little more prudent to take the draw.” Anand had spent 41 minutes to Carlsen’s 25 in the second game.

The choice for Anand when Carlsen offered the queen exchange was to move his queen away but the Chennaiite reckoned that would have led to an unpleasant situation, as he was losing a queen-side pawn but with some counter. “It was a very complicated position,” admitted Anand. “I spent most of my time on moves 13, 14 and 15.” Anand admitted he reckoned Carlsen would have done more homework on this opening than him. And in that sense, it was important for him to defuse the position. “I am sure he would have gone into more details on this game,” he conceded.

Carlsen said he was not unduly perturbed by the two draws. “It’s a bit similar to my start in the Candidates Tournament in London. What’s happened has happened. In the past, too, I have played some bad games against Vishy and lost. He has also played some bad games and lost to me,” the Norwegian said. Carlsen was quick to add that “he shared only an information and not explanation”.

Anand thought the two games basically gave both players some information about each other. In other words, the world championship has just begun. As Carlsen said, “We are just settling in.”
Anand promised is a lot of action. “It has started to get interesting,” he said. So what plans for Sunday night? Well, the world champion said he would watch Manchester United take on Arsenal!
Good move, that.

The moves
Caro-Kann Defence (Game 2)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.f4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Be7 13.Bd2 Ngf6 14.0-0-0 0-0 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Qd5 18.Qxd5 cxd5 19.h5 b5 20.Rh3 a5 21.Rf1 Rac8 22.Rg3 Kh7 23.Rgf3 Kg8 24.Rg3 Kh7 25.Rgf3 0.5-0.5

More: http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-world-chess-championship-more-moves-quicker-draw-1917048

Sunny Leone’s heavy duty action goes wrong

‘Jism 2’ starlet Sunny Leone, who is shooting for her first full-fledged action film ‘Tina and Lolo’, has injured herself while performing some stunts for the movie.

Sunny, who stars alongside actress Karishma Tanna in the film, managed to escape with bruised ribs. The doctor has asked her to rest for a few days to recover from the injury. But instead of heeding to her doc’s advice, Sunny is diligently reporting for the shoot of the film in Mumbai.

"It was unfortunate that Sunny got hurt as utmost care is taken with both the girl`s safety while they are doing action scenes. We all are glad that she wasn`t hurt badly and admire her professionalism. Both the girls insist on doing their own stunts and so we take extra precautions with them," director Devang Dholakia said to the reporters.

The action scene involved both the girls to jump over a car onto a group of villains who were firing at them and bring them down the car. While Sunny did her act right, she got down inappropriately with her ribs getting hurt because of the force of the other person’s knee.

The actress, on her part, thanked her fans for wishing her quick recovery on Twitter.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/bollywood/sunny-leone-s-heavy-duty-action-goes-wrong_146198.html

Shahrukh Khan wants to be a "true Bengali"

Shahrukh Khan is very much interested in learning Bengali, and has even got a mentor. During the inauguration of the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), Shahrukh said that he will learn Bengali from Jaya Bachchan.

Overwhelmed at being invited to inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF), megastar Shahrukh Khan Sunday said he would learn Bengali from actress-politicianJaya Bachchan to be a "true Bengali".

"Thank you Kolkata for adopting me and giving me the opportunity to be here. I have been coming here for the last three years and I promise you next time I am here I will speak in Bengali so Jaya aunty feels I am truly, truly from Kolkata then," said the actor at the opening ceremony.

"I will come to you and learn from you. So next time when you stand on stage I will be a true Bengali and welcome everyone."

During the inaugural ceremony, Jaya Bachchan had addressed her husband Amitabh, SRK, and Kamal Haasan as "non-real Bengalis".

Shahrukh Khan, who is also the brand ambassador of West Bengal, hoped that platforms like the KIFF offer a boost to Indian films, and help them scale greater heights.

"Festivals like this one express collective happiness over life, I think. I hope creative interactions of this scale help Indian films reach the height that great filmmakers present tonight, and those who passed away, like the wonderful Rituparno, dreamt of for Indian film," Khan said, finishing his speech by quoting Satyajit Ray.

More: http://www.apunkachoice.com/content/article/sid100017205-shahrukh_khan_wants_to_be_a_true_bengali/

Eminem wins Global Icon Award at MTV EMA

Rapper Eminem took home the global icon award at the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards. He also won the best hip hop artist title.

The 20th MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony was held Sunday.

Eminem thanked his fans, label bosses and colleagues for their support, reports hollywoodlife.com.

English-Irish pop boy band One Direction picked up two awards, the best UK and Ireland act and also best pop award. Singer Harry Styles was honoured with the best look award.

The best video award was taken by pop star Miley Cyrus for her song “Wrecking ball” while singer Bruno Mars received the trophy for best song for his track “Locked out of heaven”.

Katy Perry picked up her first best female performer award. Upon receiving the award, she said: "I love what I do. I hope you can tell."

Justin Bieber won the best male performer award for the fourth consecutive time.

More: http://zeenews.india.com/entertainment/music/eminem-wins-global-icon-award-at-mtv-ema_146194.html

SC rejects Essar Oil's plea to extend time to pay tax dues

The Supreme Court today dismissed the plea of Essar Oil seeking extension of time for paying outstanding sales tax dues to Gujarat as the state government was not agreeable to the submission. A bench of justices A K Patnaik and J S Khehar said, "We could have done something but the state government is not agreeing." The bench also rejected the submission of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Essar Oil Ltd, that the hearing be adjourned for four weeks. 

Rohatgi cited a newspaper report to drive home the point that the oil firm has not been given any concession or benefit as accorded to other companies by Rajasthan government. "It would be a catastrophe. There are nearly 10,000 employees working in the refinery. This is the only refinery in the country which has not received any incentive or concession," Rohatgi said, adding that he was not seeking any rescheduling of repayment of outstanding sales tax dues. Senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appearing for Gujarat Government, said that he was not agreeable to any extension of time to the oil firm. 

Essar Oil had moved the Supreme Court on October 4 seeking more time for paying outstanding sales tax dues to Gujarat government on the ground that it was facing financial constraints due to economic slowdown and was not given tax benefits unlike other refineries. Essar Oil had said the state government may be asked not to take coercive steps, like locking down the Vadinar refinery, as nearly 10,000 people are employed there. It had also sought a direction to the state government to form a three-member committee to make recommendations for extending a viability support package to it for ensuring that it continues to carry on its business as a growing concern. In January 2012, Essar Oil had lost the case on rebate of Rs 6,165 crore sales tax dues. The company paid Rs 1,000 crore then and in September 2012 the apex court directed it to pay the remaining Rs 5,165 crore in eight quarterly instalments with an interest of 10 per cent applicable from January 2012 to Gujarat government. 

Essar Oil had said that it has paid Rs 2,941 crore of tax dues and Rs 756 crore of interest but is now unable to pay the fourth instalment. The apex court's order was passed after the company sought at least three years time to pay the dues. The Gujarat government had sought the payment of dues within six months. Essar Oil Ltd had approached the apex court against the order of the Gujarat High Court which had refused any relief to it for making the payment in instalments. Essar Oil had availed Gujarat government's 'Capital Investment Incentive to Premier/Prestigious Unit Scheme, 1995-2000' for its Rs 1900-crore Vadinar plant in Jamnagar district as a 100 per cent export-oriented unit for refining of petroleum products with a capacity of nine million tonnes per annum.

 Essar Oil stock price On November 11, 2013, at 15:21 hrs Essar Oil was quoting at Rs 53.40, down Rs 1.2, or 2.2 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 96.15 and the 52-week low was Rs 46.05. The latest book value of the company is Rs 8.01 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company was 6.67.

Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/sc-rejects-essar-oil39s-plea-to-extend-time-to-pay-tax-dues_986777.html?utm_source=ref_article