Eaton gets fast start into decathlon at worlds

Olympic champion Ashton Eaton started his quest for the decathlon world title with a season-best 100 metres run as the athletics world championships kicked off on Saturday.

The American ran 10.35 seconds for 1,011 points to lead Canadian Damian Warner (10.43, 992 points) and holder Trey Hardee of the U.S. (10.52, 970).

Also scheduled for the morning session at a sparsely filled but sun-flooded Luzhniki stadium were women’s discus and men’s pole vault qualifying, men’s 100m preliminaries and men’s 800m heats.

The day’s finals are the women’s marathon (1000 GMT) and men’s 10,000m (1455 GMT), before Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt is to appear in the 100m heats from 1615 GMT onwards.

A record 1,974 athletes from 206 countries have entered the biggest single sports event of the year, which runs until August 18.

The Russian hosts suffered a late triple blow, with women’s 3,000m steeplechase world and Olympic champion Yulia Zaripova pulling out injured. Olympic 50km walk champion Sergey Kirdyapkin and three-times 20km walk world champion Olga Kaniskina also withdrew, reportedly for health reasons.

NEERI accused of unsafe dumping of toxic chemical, hazardous waste

A scientist fellow in the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) at Nagpur on Friday alleged that the NEERI was indulging in “unsafe dumping of toxic chemical and hazardous waste inside its premises”.
According to Manish Rahate, a Scientist Fellow at NEERI since 2010, the NEERI s mandate and the sole purpose of existence is to safeguard environment and provide solution to control environmental pollution.
“But the NEERI is doing exactly opposite to its mandate by giving feasible reports for pollution spreading industrial establishments. I have recently exposed the unsafe dumping of toxic chemical and hazardous waste inside the NEERI’s premises and release of untreated toxic chemicals in normal drainage system meeting Nag River and ultimately polluting Gosikhurd Dam” Mr. Rahate told The Hindu.

Mr. Rahate also pointed out that the elite institution whose mandate also includes rendering assistance to the industries of the region, local bodies in solving the problems of environmental pollution, is releasing toxic waste without any pre-treatment inside the institute premises like heavy metals, chemicals, acids and other environmental hazardous materials in natural water streams.
According to an ISO Periodic report for the period of August 2012 to July 2013, there is no proper monitoring mechanism at present to verify whether effluent and waste disposal is as per norms. The NEERI has hardly taken any substantial initiative so far which can highlight its concern for environmental initiatives through its operators within its premises.
Mr. Rahate also claimed that the institute “banned” him from entering into its premises.
But the NEERI has refuted all the allegations levelled by Mr. Rahate.
In a press release, the institution said the hazardous waste (Handling, Management & Transboundary) rules are meant for production or industrial use of chemicals. NEERI uses chemicals not for production or industrial use, but only for analytical and R&D purpose. NEERI does not produce any hazardous waste. If someone claims about the existence of toxic material, the related analytical data need to be produced in support of the claim specifically with reference to that particular toxic material, as there are various processes and stipulated limits of chemicals defined in the rule, beyond which specific chemical becomes toxic.
Calling the allegations levelled by Mr. Rahate as “extremely false and unsubstantiated” the press release said the ISO objection in question had not referred about any toxic waste lying in NEERI. The NEERI is following national environmental norms, but there is always scope of improvement and accordingly NEERI management has already taken initiatives in this direction as per the ISO recommendations.
Dr. Prakash Kumbahre, the PRO of NEERI denied that Mr. Rahate has been banned from entering the institute’s premises.

Ranveer Singh Madly In Love With Deepika Padukone

Ranveer Singh is totally smitten by the leggy lass Deepika Padukone .The two have refrained from admitting to being in a relation but as they say action speaks louder than words. Ranveer has been besides Deepika in most of the promotional events for Chennai Express.

As per sources“Deepika has been busy travelling for her film with Shah Rukh Khan. Ranveer has been spotted accompanying them a couple of times. A few days back, when SRK and Deepika went to meet swimming champ Moin Junedi who is physically challenged and is going to participate in the World Junior Games at Puerto Rico, USA Ranveer was in tow.”

The two are so close that Dippy even visits or hangs out with him in the places of his choice.

Giant stride for country - PM on nuclear reactor INS Arihant

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday congratulated scientists and defence personnel on the reactor on India’s first nuclear submarine INS Arihant going critical, calling it a “giant stride” in the progress of the country’s indigenous technological capabilities.
“I am delighted to learn that the nuclear propulsion reactor on board INS Arihant, India’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine, has now achieved criticality,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.

“Today’s development represents a giant stride in the progress of our indigenous technological capabilities. It is testimony to the ability of our scientists, technologists and defence personnel to work together for mastering complex technologies in the service of our nation’s security,” he said.
Extending congratulations to all those associated with the important milestone, particularly the Department of Atomic Energy, the Indian Navy and the Defence Research and Development Organization, Dr. Singh said he looked forward to the early commissioning of INS Arihant.
In a major step towards completing its nuclear triad, India activated the atomic reactor on-board the indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant paving the way for its operational deployment by the Navy.

After the nuclear reactor is activated, the agencies concerned can work towards readying the warship for operational deployments soon.
INS Arihant has been undergoing trials at Navy’s key submarine base in Vishakhapatnam and would be launched for sea trials soon since the nuclear reactor has gone critical.

Djokovic to face Nadal in Rogers Cup semifinals

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal swept into the semfinals of the Rogers Cup with rapid victories on Friday, though their upcoming semifinal will for once take second billing to an all-Canadian affair in the other half of the draw.

Djokovic beat seventh-seeded Richard Gasquet of France 6-1, 6-2; and the fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal defeated Australian qualifier Marinko Matosevic 6-2, 6-4. Djokovic extended his Rogers Cup winning streak to 13 matches.

A Djokovic-Nadal semifinal would normally be the feature act, but for success-starved home fans, it will be the clash of Canadian compatriots Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil that will take most attention.

The tournament once called the Canadian Open was guaranteed to have its first home finalist since Robert Bedard in 1958.

"It means a lot, not just to us, but to Canadian tennis," Raonic said. "It's an opportunity, a great, great moment. At the same time, it's another tennis match. That doesn't change."

Pospisil became the first Canadian since Mike Belkin in 1969 to reach the final four of the event when Russia's Nikolay Davydenko retired due to illness. Pospisil led 3-0 in the first set when Davydenko stopped playing.

Raonic, the 11th seed, rode the spirited support of the center court crowd for a 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Ernests Gulbis, the Latvian who knocked out second-seeded Andy Murray on Thursday.

"I was expecting it to be very difficult," Raonic said. "He had a great win yesterday. He's especially dangerous when he gets matches under him and he's feeling well. He wasn't really making many errors."

It will be the first meeting between Raonic and Pospisil in an ATP Tour tournament. Pospisil holds a 3-1 edge in their four meetings in lower level events, but Raonic took the most recent match in 2010.

"Exciting match," said Pospisil. "Two Canadians in the semifinal, one guaranteed to be in the final. It's a historic moment for tennis in Canada.

"We know each other very well. Since we were little kids. You've got to give the edge to Milos, for sure. I have the edge in terms of head-to-head (matchups), but things have changed in the last two years. My run here doesn't change anything here in terms of that. But we'll see how it goes."

Hema , uncle sam is waitting for hema

BANGALORE: She is an Indian-American IT
professional working for the US government.
She has money troubles and her car was
repossessed recently. She speaks openly of
unhappiness with American foreign policy and
she visits her family in India twice a year.
Uncle Sam is watching her.
Or at least, Uncle Sam is asking her co-
workers to keep a watch on her. Because
Uncle Sam thinks she could be what he calls an
"insider threat".
A security training test created by a US
defence department agency warns federal
workers that they should consider the
hypothetical Indian-American woman "Hema" a
"high threat" if she meets three or more "high
risk" indicators.
"Hema" is just one of the stock characters in a
slide prepared by the Defense Information
Systems Agency (DISA) that also features
"Todd", "Jack", "Maria" and "Samuel."
The "Insider Threat" programme developed by
the Obama administration is ostensibly aimed
at stopping the next Bradley Manning or
Edward Snowden from spilling classified or
sensitive information. But what is startling is
that Hema's political dissatisfaction and her
travels to her home country are treated, with
scant reason, as "threat indicators" even while
the slide says she demonstrates "adequate
work quality". DISA's test, dubbed the
"CyberAwareness Challenge", was produced in
October 2012, a month before the Obama
administration finalized its Insider Threat
policy. Reported first by the McClatchy News
Service, the slide about "Hema" is included in
a section of the training about "insider
threats" which are defined by an accompanying
guide as "threats from people who have access
to the organization's information systems and
may cause loss of physical inventory, data, and
other security risks."
In a statement to The Huffington Post, a
Pentagon spokesman said DISA was sensitive to
any civil liberty concerns that might arise from
any portion of the curriculum, which is why it
coordinated with 26 federal agencies "to
ensure the maximum amount of input was
received before going live".
"When considering personnel for a position of
trust that requires a security clearance, there
are many potential indicators that must be
considered when evaluating for insider threat
concerns," the spokesman explained. "The
department takes these variables into
consideration based on past examples of
personnel who engaged in spying or treasonous
acts."
So "Hema", the next time you are ticked off
with US foreign policy, it may be wise not to
speak about it, and not go to your home
country even if you are a loyal citizen of the
United States. Especially if you have money
problems to boot. Evidently, just the act of
dissenting on US foreign policy is sufficient to
raise a red flag.

PMO seeks views on private firm’s move on gas grid connectivity with Bangladesh

The Prime Minister's Office has sought the views of the External Affairs and Petroleum Ministries on a private sector player's proposal for putting in place strategic gas grid connectivity between India and Bangladesh and also for building a floating LNG terminal near Chittagong.

In a note to both Ministries, the PMO has forwarded the proposal by H-Energy East Coast Pvt Ltd (HEECPL) to transport gas from its proposed LNG import terminal facility in Digha in West Bengal to Jessore in energy-deficient Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, which is experiencing a shortfall of 500 million cubic feet of gas a day, has already proposed to set up a floating import terminal close to Chittagong to handle around 5 million tonne per annum of LNG.

In his presentation to the PMO and the National Security Advisor, Proshanto Banerjee, a former GAIL Chairman and Managing Director and now advisor (Business Development), HEECPL, has said the four-million tonne per annum floating LNG terminal, being promoted by the Hiranandani Group company in the offshore Digha region, is expected to be operational by 2015.

This facility, it is intended, will supply gas to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar and some northern States through the proposed Haldia-Jagdishpur pipeline of GAIL India and also connect Kolkata.

"Since Kolkata is about 80 km from the Indo-Bangladesh border at Petropol, it should be readily feasible to extend the Haldia-Jagdishpur pipeline to Petropol from Kolkata and further down Petrapol is about 46 km from the gas grid of Bangladesh passing through Jessore," says Mr. Banerjee's letter.

'Cost-effective option'

It argues that the proposal will enable PetroBangla to import LNG from a source of its choice at a competitive price and have it re-gasified in the facility planned by HEECPL in the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh could take delivery of gas at the Petropol border, a cost-effective option.

"The Bangladesh government is very keen on this proposal," Mr. Banerjee said. A copy of his letter has been forwarded to NSA Shivshankar Menon.

Protests after odisha teenager set on fire by stalker dies

State Cuttack, near Odessa, to love
Refusing 7 - Class of studying
Student Sujata 2 people
Erittullanar attack alive. The Heavy
The injured student, the
For two weeks in Cuttack
She continued to receive treatment in hospital.
With 70 percent of the burn,
His health deteriorated.
He fought for life in Delhi
Safdarjung
Go to the hospital
Decided.
The last night in ampulanc
Loader Flight
Took me to the station. But the
He died on the way. But the
The student's death
Parents and doctors
Did not report.
On the way to the student பொருத்தப்பட்டிருந்த
Doctors artificial breathing apparatus
Removing. Still
Not the reason. 6 hours
Bhubaneswar later
Vantapirake student's death in hospital
Said.
On hearing the news, parents and
Musharraf has relatives.
Principal responsibility for student death
Naveen Patnaik should resign
That they
Government urged hospital sudden ago
Engaged in the struggle.
Violence erupted in the strike.
Protesters
Smashed into the hospital.
Set fire to buses.
He said there
Build-position control
Brought. The incident
There was great excitement.
If the government was negligent
Student dead and
The chief responsibility and
Both health minister to resign
And state Congress chief
Stressed.

48 more bodies extricated from Kedarnath area

Forty-eight more bodies were extricated from the heaps of rubble in Uttarakhand's worst flood-hit Kedarnath area by police and NDRF personnel, even as four persons were feared dead when their jeep fell into the swollen Mandakini river.

The bodies, extricated since Thursday, were consigned to flames after necessary rituals, officials said on Friday. With this, the total number of bodies disposed of at the Himalayan shrine area has reached 188 since the start of operations over a month ago.

The police and NDRF personnel had a tough time in pulling out the bodies from the debris, as they had to cut through iron rods of the collapsed structures. While 25 bodies were extricated on Thursday, 23 were pulled out on Friday.

Rs 5 lakh in cash, along with items like voter ID cards, mark-sheets and debit cards have been recovered from the Kedarnath area during the clearing-up operations, the officials said.

In Ranikhet, four persons were feared dead after their jeep fell into the swollen Mandakini river on Thursday. The vehicle, on its way to Chabndrapuri in Rudraprayag district from Agastyamuni, was swept away by the river's swirling waters.

Heavy rains continued to lash Uttarkashi and Ranikhet districts of the state on Friday, affecting relief operations.

Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway was blocked at a number of places beyond Netala in Uttarkashi district due to debris rolling down from the hills, even as an electric pole fell due to heavy rains at Gufiyara, leading to power breakdown at many places in Rudraprayag district, officials said.

India celebrates Eid with fervour, prayers

A festive spirit gripped India on Eid on Friday with millions of Muslims offering special prayers at mosques and idgahs, exchanging greetings and gifts along with warm embraces and taking part in feasts with friends and family.

In New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur drove to the residence of Vice President Hamid Ansari to greet him on the festival, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramzan.

Despite overcast conditions and scattered rains in some areas, hundreds of faithful dressed in their festive best turned up at historic Jama Masjid, Fathepuri Masjid, Hazrat Nizamuddin and other mosques in the city to offer prayers.

Aussies rely on DRS for breakthrough in 4th test

Australia relied on the much-criticized Hot Spot technology to make an early breakthrough in the fourth Ashes test as England labored to 57-1 by lunch on the opening day.

Joe Root (16) was initially given not out by the on-field umpire when he edged Shane Watson behind to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, but Australia asked for a review and Hot Spot showed the faintest of nicks.

Captain Alastair Cook was 21 not out and Jonathan Trott unbeaten on 13 as England made slow progress on Friday at the start of a match which it needed to draw or win to clinch a third straight Ashes series.

The English are 2-0 up in the five-match series and have already retained the Ashes.

The buildup to Chester-le-Street's first Ashes test had been dominated by the controversy surrounding the Decision Review System, with Australian broadcaster Channel Nine claiming this week that silicon tape might have been attached to the edges of bats to "fool" the technology in light of a string of contentious calls in the opening three matches.

Those claims were angrily denied by both teams, who went on to reiterate their support for DRS, but the flap meant excitement spread through the ground when Australia appealed the Root decision after England had crawled to 34 off 17.3 overs.

Third umpire Marais Erasmus wasted no time in overturning the call of on-field umpire Tony Hill when the smallest of white marks was shown on Root's bat on the replays. Snickometer confirmed the edge, too.

Root had been the busier of the two openers, with Cook very watchful as he saw off the new ball after winning the toss under brightening skies in the north-east. It made for a dull opening session as England struggled to get the accurate Watson (1-8 off seven overs) or debutant Jackson Bird (0-15 off eight overs) away.

When drinks were taken after the first hour, England was 31-0 after 14 overs.

Trott came in for Root and only got off the mark when he edged Peter Siddle through the slip cordon for four, one of only three boundaries before lunch.

England was unchanged from the drawn third test at Old Trafford while Australia dropped Mitchell Starc for Bird.

Sindhu into semis, assures India of bronze

P.V. Sindhu assured India of at least a bronze medal in the World Badminton Championships on Friday by defeating former World No.1 Shixian Wang in the women’s singles quarterfinals event in Guangzhou.

The World No.12 beat the seventh-seeded Chinese 21-18, 21-17 in 55 minutes at the Tianhe Indoor Stadium.

This will be only the third instance that an Indian will bring home a medal at the Worlds.

Prakash Padukone won the men’s singles bronze in 1983 at Copenhagen while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa won another bronze in the women’s doubles event in the last edition at London in 2011.