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September 2018

ISRO assets played key role in Kerala flood rescue operation

National Disaster Response Force personnel patrolling in the Periyar after the water level rose in the river. | Photo Credit: H_Vibhu

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s satellites and Doppler radars played a key role in weather monitoring and forecast, and provided critical inputs for various agencies involved in the rescue of stranded citizens during the floods in Kerala last month.

Pointing out that most of the districts in Kerala — mainly Iddukki, Patthanmthitta, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Palakkad — had received more than expected rainfall with a deviation of more than 164% in August, the space agency said it had monitored the whole event through its various satellites, helping the prediction and safety measures.

In just the first 20 days of the month, Kerala had received the highest rainfall for the entire month in 87 years, with Idukki district breaking a 111-year record for the highest rainfall for the month, as per the India Meteorological Department’s records. This rainfall had triggered floods in several parts of the State and caused widespread havoc, according to the agency.

Weather monitoring

ISRO not only extended support through its space-based sensors, but ground-based sensors as well. Two of its radars — one C-Band Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at TERLS, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvanthapuram and one S-Band DWR at Kochi — were continuously monitoring the weather on 24X7 basis up to 500 km radius.

The data was transferred to IMD, Meteorological and Oceanographic Data Archival Centre (MOSDAC), and Space Application Centre (SAC) for further data analysis and centralised weather monitoring. The information was made available in near real time for the public through the MOSDAC and IMD websites.

According to a press release by the ISRO, the radars had helped in long range weather surveillance, forecast and nowcast of the weather and rainfall activity in Kerala. The National Disaster Management Authority and Kerala State Disaster Management authority were continuously monitoring the data received by the radar and images were continuously updated on the IMD website for making decisions on various activities.

The DWR system provides quantitative information in digital form — the intensity and mean velocity of cyclones along with rainfall rate and accumulation. It improves the understanding and forecasting of thunderstorm, hailstorms, tidal wave height, wind turbulence and shear as well as the probable intensity of rain in and around the region, the press note said.

The data, it said, had helped civic bodies in evacuation and rescue of stranded citizens during the floods. (Source: The Hindu)

September 7, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Indigenous no-state people

Broadcasters Body Asks Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami to Apologise For Misreporting

A. Singh and his partner Pratishtha Singh filed a complaint after the channel ran a video alleging that the complainant was one of the people who harassed their reporter, Shivani Gupta, while reporting at Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani’s ‘flop show’ rally.

New Delhi: The News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), an independent body set up by the News Broadcasters Association, on August 30 directed BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar’s news channel Republic TV to air a full-screen apology to its viewers for inappropriate comments made by its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.

The complaint was filed by A. Singh and his partner Pratishtha Singh after the channel ran a video alleging that the complainant was one of the people who harassed their reporter, Shivani Gupta, while reporting at Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani’s ‘flop show’ rally.

“I want their faces circled more. I want the family members of these cheap, perverse goons to watch their family members doing this … at this event which was the Jignesh flop show. Let’s name and shame these people,” said Goswami at the beginning of the debate as a small video of the event played on the screen.

Multiple times during the hour-long debate, Goswami can be seen calling the complainant a “vulgar thing”, “pervert”, “goon”, “sexist”, “hyena” and “anti-Indian”. The channel reportedly removed the video from its website and YouTube account after the complainant sent them multiple mails. The debate on the topic is still available on the channel’s website.

In the video, Gupta can be seen surrounded by a small crowd as she reports on the lack of supporters at the event. In the end she had to be escorted away by the police.

In its original reply, Republic TV had claimed that Singh was “interfering with the reporting done by its reporter by moving towards her in an intimidating and aggressive manner and shouting the words “jhooth bol rahi hai (she is lying)” as she was confronting another person harassing her”. They also claimed that the complainant engaged in further sloganeering aimed at the reporter.

Responding to the channel’s allegations, Singh said that in the video he can be seen saying, “Koi aapko tang nahi kar raha, aap jhooth bol rahi hai (You are lying. nobody is bothering you.)” and can’t be labelled a “vulgar thug”, “pervert”, “goon”, “sexist” or “anti-Indian” on the basis of that. Demanding an apology from the channel, Singh and his partner claimed that after the show was aired, many of their relatives called expressing shock and the broadcast has bought shame and loss of reputation to the family.

In its August 30 order, NBSA noted, “The footage does not show use of any objectionable words by the complainant or any gesture which can be described as “lewd” or “threatening”.”

Chastising Goswami for his choice of language, NBSA said, “Use of words like ‘I am going to show these crude, lewd hyenas/show the dirty faces of lewd, cheap, vulgar, sexist, pervert anti-Indian goons‘ by Mr Arnab Goswami who was anchoring the programme was totally unwarranted and unjustified and the same was in violation of the broadcasting standards.”

The body has directed Republic TV to air a clarification before the 9 pm debate on September 7, 2018. This story will be updated if and when the channel follows NBSA’s order.

Serial offenders

This wasn’t the sole incident of misreporting by the channel while covering this story. They were forced to apologise to an ABP reporter after Goswami labelled him as one of “one of the thugs who tried to intimidate Gupta”.

#JigneshFlopShow | Arnab: Tonight, I will put out videos circling the pictures of the vulgar thugs who tried to intimidate @ShivaniGupta_5 and failed. Republic reporters represent young India much better than your goons, @jigneshmevani80 http://www.republicworld.com/livetv
Live TV: Watch live news streaming of your favorite news channel on Republic World. Get live news on politics, sports, entertainment, world and much more. Watch live TV and stay up to date with live…

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Turns out the reporter was actually trying to make sure Gupta is escorted away safely from the mob.View image on Twitter

Dear @republic the person you are claiming to be the man who heckled your female journalist at Mevani rally in Delhi is actually one of the finest TV reporter in Hindi journalism. @jainendrakumar is currently with @abpnewshindi
You should apologies for this ASAP@milindkhandekar

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In its apology, Republic TV said, “On the debate yesterday, we inadvertently circled visual of a reporter from ABP News, Jainendra Kumar, while running pictures of our News Editor, Shivani Gupta, being targeted by individuals present at the Jignesh Mevani rally.” The clarification stated that visuals indicative of Kumar being the heckler was an unintentional oversight by the channel’s video editor, reported NewsLaundry.

.@republic TV apologises for calling ABP News correspondent @jainendrakumar a ‘goon’ during its report on #JigneshMevani‘s rally. The channel says it was a mistake.

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Republic TV also stated that their apology was issued “as per the highest norms of corrigendum and clarification on such editorial matters” and added that this was a follow up on ABP News’ behest.

September 4, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Human Rights

Two Reuters journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison by a Myanmar judge on Monday.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, have been jailed since December. They were convicted of violating the Official Secrets Act when they obtained confidential documents while reporting about the persecutions of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, Reuters reported. The reporters said they were given the documents by two police officers at a restaurant in Yangon right before other officers arrested them, according to Reuters.

But Lone and Oo are only two of hundreds of journalists imprisoned around the world.

Reuters journalists Wa Lone (L) and Kyaw Soe Oo, who are based in Myanmar, pose for a picture at the Reuters office in Yangon, Myanmar, on December 11, 2017. The two journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday for obtaining confidential documents while reporting on the killings of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine

The Committee to Protect Journalists said 262 journalists were behind bars, according to an annual prison census released in December 2017. According to CPJ data, Turkey, China and Egypt remained the top three jailers of reporters worldwide.
Reuters journalists Wa Lone (L) and Kyaw Soe Oo, who are based in Myanmar, pose for a picture at the Reuters office in Yangon, Myanmar, on December 11, 2017. The two journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison on Monday for obtaining confidential documents while reporting on the killings of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.REUTERS/ANTONI SLODKOWSKI/FILE PHOTO

September 4, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Sc. & Tech.

DOES PLANET 9 EXIST? MYSTERY OBJECT WILL SOON HAVE HAVE ‘NOWHERE’ TO HIDE

BY KATHERINE HIGNETT in Newsweek

Some scientists believe a mysterious, as-yet-unseen planet might be causing a number of minor planets to take strangely uniform paths around the sun. But so far, the elusive celestial object has remained undetected.

Back in 1846, astronomer Johann Galle observed Neptune for the first time after its position was predicted by mathematician Urbain Le Verrier. Scientists had spotted something strange afoot in the orbit of Uranus, and Le Verrier thought another planet was to blame. Sure enough, when he sent his findings to Galle, the astronomer located Neptune from the Berlin Observatory.

Planet 9, scientists think, might be causing similar perturbations today. “If things are in the same orbit, then something’s pushing them,” Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, said of the strange minor planets to Quanta Magazine back in July.Recommended Slideshows

Unlike Neptune, Planet 9 would be much harder to capture through a telescope. Astronomers Michael Brown and Konstantin Batygin think the mysterious orb might travels on an elliptical orbit up to 1,000 times further from the sun than Earth, Quanta noted. This means the planet travels through an incredibly dark region of space where the sun’s rays are relatively weedy.

But increasingly impressive telescopes are helping astronomers get closer to finding—or discounting—Planet 9 once and for all.

Perhaps most promising is an upcoming project called the Next Generation Cosmic Microwave Background Experiment, which astronomers hope will shed light on space mysteries like neutrinos, dark energy and cosmic inflation. The ambitious project will use ground-based telescopes with highly sensitive cameras to “provide a dramatic leap forward in our understanding of the fundamental nature of space and time and the evolution of the Universe,” its website states.

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File photo: Mysterious planets are depicted in space.GETTY IMAGES

“There would be nowhere for Planet Nine to hide once this thing was turned on,” Gilbert Holder, a cosmologist at the University of Illinois, told Quanta.

This project, however, is years from completion. Other scientists turn to the data we already have. Astrophysicist Matthew Holman at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Quanta that data from Cassini’s voyages near Saturn doesn’t quite match up with the orbit you’d expect from a solar system without Planet 9. Even though it’s effects on the giant Saturn would be small, he thinks that trace might just exist. “If you put a planet in…the fit would be better,” he said.

But NASA thinks noise from Cassini itself is enough to explain these kinds of discrepancies.

Facebook’s definition of terrorism could help govts curb dissent: UN expert writes to Mark Zuckerberg

The UN Special Rapporteur on promoting and protecting human rights has written to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying the social media giant’s “overly broad” definition may lead to “over-censoring and arbitrary denial of access”.

Facebook needs to narrow its “sweeping” definition of terrorism to stop governments arbitrarily blocking legitimate opposition groups and dissenting voices, a UN Human Rights Council independent expert said in a statement on Monday.

The UN Special Rapporteur on promoting and protecting human rights, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, while countering terrorism has written to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg to express concern about the company’s efforts to block “terrorists” from using its platform, according to a statement.

“The use of overly broad and imprecise definitions as the basis for regulating access to and the use of Facebook’s platform may lead to discriminatory implementation, over-censoring and arbitrary denial of access to and use of Facebook’s services,” said Ní Aoláin.

Facebook’s definition, she said, equates all non-state groups that use violence in pursuit of any goals or ends to terrorist entities.

The social media network’s polices prohibit terrorists from using its services, and it uses detection technologies and a growing team of moderators to find and remove content.

“The use of such a sweeping definition is particularly worrying in light of a number of governments seeking to stigmatise diverse forms of dissent and opposition — whether peaceful or violent — as terrorism,” Ni Aolain said.

“The definition is further at odds with international humanitarian law as it qualifies all non-state armed groups party to a non-international armed conflict as terrorists, even if these groups comply with international humanitarian law,” she stressed.

She also voiced concern over a lack of clarity about the methods Facebook uses to determine if a person belongs to a particular group, and if that person has “the opportunity to meaningfully challenge such determination.”

“The absence of any independent processes of review, oversight and monitoring of Facebook’s actions is also highly problematic,” she added.

September 3, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Indigenous no-state people

Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Luka Modric Nominated For FIFA Best Player Award

Cristiano Ronaldo will go head to head with former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah as he seeks a sixth FIFA men’s world player of the year award. But Lionel Messi — who has dominated the award along with Ronaldo over the past decade — has been omitted from the shortlist after featuring in the top three for 11 straight years. Ronaldo, who like Messi is a five-time winner of the award, lifted a fourth Champions League title in five years before joining Italian champions Juventus in July.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player award is certain to change hands. Lyon duo Ada Hegerberg and Dzsenifer Maroszan, who enjoyed an unbeaten Division 1 Feminine season and lifted the UEFA Women’s Champions League, are joined by Brazil’s triumphant Copa America Feminina captain Marta in contending for the honour.

France’s World Cup-winning manager Didier Deschamps, Zlatko Dalic and Zinedine Zidane were nominated as the finalists for FIFA’s coach of the year award.

Deschamps became just the third man to win the World Cup as a player and coach with victory over Dalic’s Croatia in Russia while Zidane led Real Madridto a third consecutive Champions League win in May before stepping down.

The Best FIFA Goalkeeper Award will be contested between a trio who shone in Russia, namely Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois, France’s Hugo Lloris and Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel.

All seven awards, as well as the FIFA Fair Play Award and FIFA/FIFPro World 11, will be handed out on September 24 in front of football’s biggest names amongst the impressive surroundings of London’s Royal Festival Hall.

(With AFP inputs)

September 3, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Society

Instagram Model Dies Aboard Billionaire’s Yacht

EWAN PALMER:

In Instagram model died on a billionaire’s yacht off the coast of Greece, where she was believed to have been working as a crew member.

Sinead McNamara, 20, from Port Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia, was found in critical condition on August 30 aboard the Mayan Queen IV, a 93-meter vessel owned by Mexican mining billionaire Alberto Bailleres.

She was taken from the the boat, which was anchored just off the island of Kefalonia, in a comotose state and died while she was being airlifted to hopsital, local media reported, according to The Guardian.

The 87-year-old Bailleres, who is estimated to be worth $11 billion, according to Forbes magazine, is reported to have left the Mayan Queen IV along with his family a few days before the 20-year-old’s comatose body was found, with only crew members onboard at the time.Recommended Slideshows

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The crew has been questioned by police as part of the investigation, with the Coast Guard ordering the vessel to stay docked at the port in Argostoli. An autopsy will be performed to determine a cause of death in the upcoming days.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was “providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Greece,” reports news.com.au.

McNamara, who had more than 14,000 followers on Instagram at the time of her death, frequently uploaded photographs documenting her travels. Her final picture posted on the app on August 28 was believed to have been taken from onboard the Mayan Queen IV.

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Another post dated August 7 had the caption: “Living and working on a boat seeing all that the world has to offer. Yep I think I have it pretty good.”

McNamara’s family said the 20-year-old had been working on the Mayan Queen IV for about four months, according to news.com.au.

Tributes have been paid to McNamara on her popular Instagram page. “So glad you lived life to the full and always kept happy,” wrote Harry Nixon. “So sad for every single person you have left behind friends, family and followers around the world. Rest peaceful and stay happy.”

“This is so sad, she was so young. rest in peace, pray for her family,” said Chris de Weerd.

According to Port Macquarie News, McNamara arrived in Greece in mid-June having previously been travelling in Bali, Alaska and the Whitsundays. She graduated from Northern Beaches Secondary College Freshwater Senior Campus in 2016, and had recently turned 20

September 3, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Climate Change

With rising sea levels, Bangkok struggles to stay afloat

BANGKOK: As Bangkok prepares to host climate-change talks, the sprawling city of more than 10 million is itself under siege from the environment, with dire forecasts warning it could be partially submerged in just over a decade.

A preparatory meeting begins Tuesday in Thailand’s capital for the next UN climate conference, a crunch summit in Poland at the end of 2018 to set rules on reducing greenhouse emissions and providing aid to vulnerable countries.

As temperatures rise, abnormal weather patterns — like more powerful cyclones, erratic rainfall, and intense droughts and floods — are predicted to worsen over time, adding pressure on governments tasked with bringing the 2015 Paris climate treaty to life.

Bangkok, built on once-marshy land about 1.5 metres (five feet) above sea level, is projected to be one of the world’s hardest hit urban areas, alongside fellow Southeast Asian behemoths Jakarta and Manila.

“Nearly 40 percent” of Bangkok will be inundated by as early as 2030 due to extreme rainfall and changes in weather patterns, according to a World Bank report.

Currently, the capital “is sinking one to two centimetres a year and there is a risk of massive flooding in the near future,” said Tara Buakamsri of Greenpeace.

Seas in the nearby Gulf of Thailand are rising by four millimetres a year, above the global average.

The city “is already largely under sea level”, said Buakamsri.

In 2011, when the monsoon season brought the worst floods in decades, a fifth of the city was under water. The business district was spared thanks to hastily constructed dikes.

But the rest of Thailand was not so fortunate and the death toll passed 500 by the end of the season.

Experts say unchecked urbanisation and eroding shorelines will leave Bangkok and its residents in a critical situation.

With the weight of skyscrapers contributing to the city’s gradual descent into water, Bangkok has become a victim of its own frenetic development.

Making things worse, the canals which used to traverse the city have now been replaced by intricate road networks, said Suppakorn Chinvanno, a climate expert at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

“They had contributed to a natural drainage system,” he said, adding that the water pathways earned the city the nickname ‘Venice of the East’.

Shrimp farms and other aquacultural development — sometimes replacing mangrove forests that protected against storm surges — have also caused significant erosion to the coastline nearest the capital.

This means that Bangkok could be penned in by flooding from the sea in the south and monsoon floods from the north, said Chinvanno.

“Specialists anticipate more intense storms in this region in the years to come.”

Narong Raungsri, director of Bangkok’s Department of Drainage and Sewage, admitted that the city’s “weaknesses” stem from its small tunnels and the hyper-development of neighbourhoods.

“What used to act as water basins are now no more,” Raungsri said.

“Our system can only handle so much — we need to enlarge it.”

Today, the government is scrambling to mitigate the effects of climate change, constructing a municipal canal network of up to 2,600 kilometres with pumping stations and eight underground tunnels to evacuate water if disaster strikes.

Chulalongkorn University in 2017 also built in central Bangkok an 11-acre park specially designed to drain several million litres of rain and redirect it so surrounding neighbourhoods are not flooded.

But these ad-hoc fixes may not be enough.

“We need a clear policy of land management,” said Greenpeace’s Buakamsri, adding that the need for increased green spaces is outweighed by developers’ interests.

“The high price of land in Bangkok makes economic interests a priority.”

September 2, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

Politics

George Bush giving candy to Michelle Obama has left Twitterati emotional

The memorial was quite a unique affair and brought together politicians on both sides of the aisle, including McCain’s presidential opponents Bush and former President Barack Obama.

Former US president George Walker Bush was caught on camera playfully passing on a candy to former First Lady Michelle Obama during the memorial service of Senator John McCain. The video, which went viral in no time, has left many people emotional.

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As former US Senator Joe Lieberman’s was delivering his eulogy at the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, the cameras caught a heartwarming moment between the two. Bush, who was seated in the front pew with his wife and former First Lady Laura Bush, sneaked a piece of candy from her and handed it over to Obama who was sitting next to him.

I’d like to think that moments like this between W. Bush and Michelle Obama are what McCain was hoping for.

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“I’d like to think that moments like this between W. Bush and Michelle Obama are what McCain was hoping for,” read one of the many comments on the video shared widely by many. Here are some of the reactions.

I’d like to think that moments like this between W. Bush and Michelle Obama are what McCain was hoping for. pic.twitter.com/vYE3A46Ity

Michelle Obama and George Bush have always seemed to have a close relationship and I love it!

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George W. Bush sneaking a piece of candy to Michelle Obama is warming my heart .

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I’d like to think that moments like this between W. Bush and Michelle Obama are what McCain was hoping for. pic.twitter.com/vYE3A46Ity

That’s what John McCain was about. We can have our differences, but be civil and kind to each other. Too bad that time has passed and hopefully will happen again when we lose that person who now occupies,the White House.

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I’d like to think that moments like this between W. Bush and Michelle Obama are what McCain was hoping for. pic.twitter.com/vYE3A46Ity

These are the kind of moments that make me so proud to have become a U. S Citizen. If only we could have that again. However, I’m hopeful for the future. #VOTEBLUE

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I’d like to think that moments like this between W. Bush and Michelle Obama are what McCain was hoping for. pic.twitter.com/vYE3A46Ity

Putting our differences aside and embrace diversity by understanding that we were born to serve no matter what ethnic background we come.This is the through picture of what America is based on. pic.twitter.com/XmrqbBW9zo

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The memorial was quite a unique affair and brought together politicians on both sides of the aisle, including McCain’s presidential opponents Bush and former President Barack Obama.

September 2, 2018 by BrahmaFeed

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