New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal has issued notice to South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to show cause why coercive steps be not taken against it for failing to stop construction on the Saket storm water drain allegedly by authorities at a gurudwara.”Issue notice to as to why coercive action under Order XXI Rule 32 of Civil Procedure Code be not taken against them for not taking any action for stopping construction on the Saket storm water drain,” a bench headed by Justice U D Salvi said.The matter is now listed for hearing on May 23.The order came while hearing a plea filed by environmental activist Manoj Mishra, also associated with Yamuna Jiye Abhiyaan, seeking execution of the green panels January 13, 2015 direction which said “there shall be no construction and/or coverage of any of the drains in Delhi by any authority or Municipal Corporation.””All the drains shall be kept obstruction free by the concerned corporation. Where substantial work (more than 85 per cent) has been completed, such work is permitted to be completed by the corporation after obtaining specific orders from the Tribunal in that regard.”Rest of the work, where construction has just begun, the construction, including iron material, shall be removed. While completing such remnant work, Corporation shall ensure that the cross section of the drains to carry the requisite storm water for the flood of once in 25 years and other effluents are not compromised,” the tribunal had said.Mishra has claimed that authorities at Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha were carrying out illegal construction on the drain and sought directions to SDMC and Public Works Department to restrain the construction over and above the drain.advertisement”In case the Gurudwara is not stopped from illegally covering the storm water drain it would not only lead to violation of the judgment passed by this Tribunal but would also be a loss to the ecology and environment of the area and the community at large,” the plea, filed through advocate Rahul Choudhary said.It also alleged that the Gurudwara authorities were dumping sewage into the drain from its building through a pipeline. PTI PKS DV read more

Kuldeep Yadav’s performance in the recently-concluded Twenty20 International series against Australia has seen him make a jump of a massive 20 places to become the world No.3 bowler in the ICC T20I ranking.Apart from Kuldeep, Australia’s Adam Zampa, who won the man-of-the-match award in the first T20I in Brisbane, has also taken a leap of 17 places to take the fifth spot in th rankings.The top 10 of the bowlers’s list now features nine spinners with Pakistan’s Faheem Ashraf being the lone pacer. Spinners took such control of the top rankings after Australia quicks Billy Stanlake and Andrew Tye slipped five places to No.14 and eight places to No.18, respectively.Krunal Pandya, who claimed a record 4/36 in India’s series levelling-win in the third T20I, rose 66 places to No.98 while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah held their places at No.19 and No.21 respectively.Rashid Khan leads the charts with 793 points.Also read – India extend unbeaten streak in T20 Internationals to 10 series after SCG winIn the batting department, India opener Shikhar Dhawan moved up five places to No.11 after his knocks of 76 and 41 but Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul slipped two spots to No.6 and No.9 respectively. Virat Kohli kept his spot at No.14 after scores of 4 and a match-winning 61*.For Australia, skipper Aaron Finch, who failed to really be his destructive self in all four games including the one-off T20I against South Africa, slipped one spot to the third rank, but Glenn Maxwell rose to the fifth place from No.6 after scores of 38, 46, 19 and 13.advertisementREAD – Australia hope to contain Virat Kohli in high profile Test seriesSouth Africa’s top-order batsmen made small gains after the victory in the only match against Australia. Skipper Faf du Plessis moved up one place to No.21. Quinton de Kock too moved up one place to No.36 too, while Reeza Hendricks rose three places to No.72.In the all-rounders’ charts, Marcus Stoinis rose 34 places to No.59, while Glenn Maxwell retained his place at the perch.Also watch – read more

Tourism and Entertainment Minister, Hon. Dr. Wykeham McNeill, has welcomed news of the maiden port call to Jamaica by Disney Cruise Lines in 2013. Speaking at a Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Think Tank at the agency’s Half-Way-Tree Road head office on Wednesday (December 12), Dr. McNeill, who informed that the announcement was made recently by the Port Authority of Jamaica, described the development as a boost for Jamaica’s tourism product. “Disney is very discerning about the destinations that it goes to, and its endorsement of Jamaica is a tremendous fillip for our tourism product; not just cruise shipping, but to Jamaica, as a whole, because it speaks to our brand and it speaks to us as a destination. That indication by Disney is a tremendous positive for Jamaica,” the Minister said. He commended the Port Authority for the pivotal role, which he said, the agency played in negotiating the arrangement. Information posted on websites affiliated with Disney Cruise Lines indicates that the voyage to Jamaica forms part of a new series of seven-night Western Caribbean cruises, which the entity’s vessels will make in 2013. The itinerary will see the passengers making voyages from the port of Galveston, Texas in the United States, with scheduled stops at Falmouth, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. read more

The Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL), as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations, is carrying out improvements to community infrastructure in the rural St. Catherine community of TyDixon.The investment in the community is being done in phases, starting with TyDixon Basic School and a water catchment tank, which serves the community.On Labour Day (May 23), representatives of the company were joined by residents in refurbishing the school, including roof patching, rendering and painting of walls, and repairing bathroom and kitchen facilities.The catchment tank, part of a water supply system installed by the RWSL in the community in 2005, was also rehabilitated.“We are refurbishing the catchment tank in TyDixon,” said Managing Director of RWSL, Audley Thompson, who was part of the team participating in the workday.“The water supply in TyDixon that we had left eight years ago has fallen into disrepair so we have fixed it again, so there is now water in the community,” he told JIS News.Apart from having an existing project in the community, Senior Administrative Assistant at RSWL, Patricia Taylor, highlighted other reasons why the TyDixon community was chosen to benefit as part of the company’s anniversary celebrations.“We didn’t want to stay in town because we know that a number of institutions are in the urban area doing projects, so we thought of a close community. One of our engineers also told us about the needs of the school, a part of it wasn’t rendered, so we thought it would be fitting to come here to do our Labour Day Project.”RWSL, instituted April 1983, is wholly owned by the Government of Jamaica and has a mandate to improve the basic sanitary/health conditions by increasing the coverage of potable water and sanitation services in poor rural areas.CONTACT: SHELLY-ANN IRVING read more

Mumbai: Authorities at the Arthur Road jail here have kept ‘barrack no. 12’ ready if fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi is extradited from the UK in connection with the USD 2 billion PNB fraud and money laundering case, a Home department official said on Tuesday.The prisons department last week shared information with the state Home department about the status of the Arthur Road prison and facilities that can be provided there, in case Modi is to be lodged in the barrack, he said. Also Read – Pak activated 20 terror camps & 20 launch pads along LoCThe Centre recently asked the state government about the same, he said. Modi was arrested by Scotland Yard officers in London on March 19 and faces extradition to India as the “principal beneficiary” of the fraudulent issuance of letters of undertaking (LoUs) as part of a conspiracy to defraud the Punjab National Bank (PNB) and then laundering the money. UK’s Westminster Magistrate’s Court last month denied bail to Modi, who has been behind bars at one of England’s most overcrowded prisons, Her Majesty’s Prison Wandsworth. Also Read – Two squadrons which participated in Balakot airstrike awarded citationsThe state government recently submitted a letter of assurance to the Centre about the facilities which it can provide in the prison, he said. It had last year furnished a similar letter of assurance to the Centre in connection with the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who is in the UK and is wanted in India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore. As per the letter, if extradited, Modi will be kept in one of two rooms in barrack no. 12 of the Arthur Road prison, the official said. As of now, three prisoners are lodged in one room while the other one is vacant, he said, adding that if extradited, Modi and Mallya will be lodged in the same room, having an area of 20 ft by 15 ft and equipped with three fans, six tube lights and two windows. The prison department also assured that Modi will be kept in a cell where the number of other detainees is not more than three, the official said. “If lodged in the barrack, Modi is likely to get three square metre personal space, as per European norms, per person lodged in correction centres, and he will be provided a cotton mat, pillow, bed-sheet and blanket,” he said. He will be permitted out of his cell for exercise and recreation for a reasonable amount of time, which will not more than an hour a day, the official said. read more

SAINT JOHN, N.B. – A New Brunswick police officer recently caught a ride on a city bus to nab people using their cellphones while driving.Constable Duane Squires of Saint John police says the initiative was modelled after a similar one carried out by York Regional Police in Ontario.He says during his four-hour trip on the bus, he jotted down the make, model and licence plate number of the distracted driver and passed that information along to other officers on the road.Squires says 13 drivers were issued tickets for distracted driving.He says he spotted other distracted drivers too, but police weren’t able to ticket them because of congested traffic, or they lost sight of the vehicles.He says other bus riders were supportive of what he was doing, “and relayed their own stories of distracted drivers.”He says the force plans on continuing the approach. read more

Kolkata: Popular Bengali actor and Trinamool Congress MP Dev, alias Deepak Adhikari, who is contesting to retain his Ghatal Lok Sabha seat, said on Thursday that his party did not need to indulge in mudslinging as the state government has undertaken numerous development works.Dev, contesting the polls for the second time, also said that he was more experienced this time. “I have worked whole heartedly for the people of Ghatal. The first two years were spent in learning. This time I am more experienced and if I win, you will see a new ‘Dev’. We don’t need to indulge in mudslinging as our Chief Minister has done enough for the state,” Dev said after kicking off his election campaign by offering puja at a temple. Also Read – Bengal family worships Muslim girl as Goddess Durga in Kumari PujaAddressing the people of Keshpur, which is part of his Lok Sabha constituency, the actor elaborated the development works undertaken by the state government and the various schemes that have benefited the people. For Dev, the priority is “to reach out to the people with the development works done by him and the party.” Asked to rate himself as a parliamentarian, he said: “The number keeps changing. As I belong to the film industry, I am used to the fact that if one film is successful, it is not necessary that the next one will do well too.” Also Read – Bengal civic volunteer dies in road mishap on national highway”I am a very practical person,” he said. Dev mentioned that he read somewhere that in terms of the funds released under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), he occupied the third position, but he never thought about all this while working. “I had spoken about the Ghatal Masterplan in the parliament. It had been sanctioned, but the funds have not been released till date. I also spoke about the railways. In this way, I have learnt how to work,” he said. Appealing to the people to repose their trust in him, Dev said that given a chance, he would do more things that he could not accomplish in his first tenure as the MP. Ghatal goes to the polls on May 12 in the sixth round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. With agency inputs read more

24 October 2008Lebanon is taking important steps forward after the deadly sectarian violence earlier this year, but a worrying series of political assassinations and explosions continues to plague the country, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report. Lebanon is taking important steps forward after the deadly sectarian violence earlier this year, but a worrying series of political assassinations and explosions continues to plague the country, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in a new report.In his latest report on the implementation of Security Council 1559, which calls for free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon without interference from foreign groups and for the disbanding of all militia, Mr. Ban writes that the country “was taken to the brink of civil war and back.“The violence that erupted in Lebanon in May represented one of the greatest threats to the very foundations of the Lebanese State in recent years, and a painful reminder to all Lebanese of the threats posed by the existence of armed groups outside the control of the State.”But he calls the election of Michel Suleiman as President at the end of May as “a significant step forward” to implementing resolution 1559, which the Council adopted in 2004 amid concern about the ongoing tensions and lack of stability within Lebanon.“The election [of Mr. Suleiman] signalled the reactivation of Lebanon’s constitutional process, to which all parties in Lebanon have since recommitted themselves. In doing so, the Lebanese have taken a step further towards strengthening the sovereignty, stability, unity and political independence of their country.”The report stresses the need for all parties to implement the Doha accord that ended the violence, including their commitments to refrain from using weapons to settle internal political disputes.Mr. Ban cautions that the process of reconciliation is at an early stage and many complex challenges remain ahead, including how to deal with the ongoing assassinations and attacks.“I am in particular disturbed by what appears to be an emerging pattern of attacks against the Lebanese armed forces, a prominent symbol of the authority of the State. I call on the Lebanese authorities to bring to justice all those who have perpetrated such crimes.”The issue of Hizbollah’s weapons remains “central to the political debate,” he notes, saying the armed group’s “maintenance of separate military assets and infrastructure is a fundamental challenge to the Government’s attempts to consolidate the sovereignty and authority of the Lebanese State and obstructs constructive dialogue on political and security issues.”The disarming and disbanding of all militia groups in the country, whether they are Lebanese or non-Lebanese, must be accomplished through an inclusive political dialogue, the Secretary-General adds.He also writes that he is encouraged by the recent moves of Lebanon and Syria to normalize diplomatic relations between the two neighbours. read more

The army yesterday released more than 300 former LTTE cadres who had undergone rehabilitation.The former rebels were freed and handed over to their relatives at a ceremony held in Vavuniya yesterday to mark the ‘Thai Pongal’ festival. Tamil media reports from Jaffna said that several former female LTTE cadres were among those released.The Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera and top Military officials attended the function.

“This is not a report that features doom and gloom – it’s a report that features good news,” Joseph Connor, the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, told reporters at a press briefing in New York. He said Member States were expected to contribute more to the UN in regular dues than in any prior year – amounting to $4,716 million, compared with $2,893 million last year. The US was expected to pay $1,666 million, including $625 million paid last Friday. With legislative directives in place, “payment of sizeable amounts from the United States to the United Nations is at hand,” said Mr. Connor. The UN has funds in excess of current requirements. Washington’s payments include back and current dues for the UN’s regular budget, peacekeeping operations and international tribunals. Looking back on the history of the US arrears problem, which has plagued the UN over successive administrations, Mr. Connor said, “We’re looking at numbers we’ve never looked at in a long number of years here, but basically the key element here is that there will only be relatively speaking about $600 million unpaid, as opposed to $1.9 billion that we’d been looking at.” In other words, he added, “they’re cutting it by two-thirds.” “You’ve never heard me say this,” said Mr. Connor to the journalists, many of whom have attended his previous briefings on the UN’s dire financial situation. “The United Nations has funds in excess of current requirements.” While welcoming these developments as a “step in the right direction,” the Under-Secretary-General said the UN’s financial situation was “still somewhat tenuous for an Organization that has no reserves, no capital and no borrowing capacity.” read more

“We are deeply concerned about the situation of Palestine refugees in Khan Eshieh and the real risk of it becoming another Yarmouk,” said Chris Gunness, the spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Four Palestinians were killed on the night of 18 October as they attempted to leave the Khan Eshieh camp, to which access has been highly restricted. Mr. Gunness said that Nofeh Mohammed Jarad, who was in her 60’s, her daughter Ibaa Saeed al-Nader, 22, their driver and a one-year old baby were all killed when their vehicle was shelled around 10 p.m. The mother of the baby, a Syrian citizen, also died in the incident. “UNRWA condemns this attack and the killing and wounding of all civilians including Palestine refugees,” the spokesperson said, calling on those responsible to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and demanded that the parties to the conflict do their utmost to protect civilian life in accordance with international law. Tightened security around the area has severely reduced the ability of residents to move safely and readily access humanitarian aid and medical support, and camp residents face grave risks when attempting to leave Khan Eshieh, Mr. Gunness said. UNRWA renews its call for full humanitarian access to Khan Eshieh to deliver emergency food, cash assistance and medicines. Access to humanitarian assistance has been constrained since 2013 and UNRWA is particularly concerned about a lack of medicines and the impact this will have on children, chronic disease patients and the elderly in Khan Eshieh. “UNRWA calls on the parties to allow civilians, who wish to leave the area, to do so in safety,” he said. The Khan Eshieh camp, located in a rural area south of Damascus, has experienced intensified armed conflict since 17 May 2016. This has resulted in an increasing number of civilian casualties, including at least 31 Palestine refugees killed. read more

Forecasters are now in their second run through the alphabet. After Doris, Britons can expect to hear of Ewan, Fleur and Gabriel.Storm Doris’s appearance contrasts with Monday’s temperatures, where visitors to Kew Gardens, west London, enjoyed the warmest day of the winter so far, at 18.3C (64.9F).Parts of London and the south of England had temperatures warmer than Ibiza, southern Spain and Menorca. Daffodils in full bloom at Tenby, West Wales, amid mild temperatures earlier this weekCredit:Ben Birchall/PA #StormDoris will bring some very strong winds for parts of the UK on Thursday. Here’s a look at where will see the strongest gusts pic.twitter.com/AzdQHqUCRw— Met Office (@metoffice) February 21, 2017 Amber warnings predict strong winds and heavy rain in parts of North Wales, the Midlands, and east and north-west England, while winds as fast as 60mph are also expected to batter southern England.Meanwhile, up to 15cm of snow could fall across parts of Scotland and north-east England in treacherous, blizzard-like conditions. Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily  Front Page newsletter and new  audio briefings. Show more Storm Doris is expected to move on quickly, with the worst of the weather gone by Thursday evening.While further Atlantic gusts will bring more rain and wind through the weekend and into next week, they are not expected to reach the heights of Doris. “We have got a fairly active area of low pressure coming in from the Atlantic,” said Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples.”It is strengthening as it moves eastwards to the UK.”The Met Office’s amber weather warning alerts people that “whilst the strongest winds look to be only short-lived, damage to structures, interruptions to power supplies and widespread disruption to travel networks are likely, with a danger of injury from flying debris”.UK weather forecast: Wednesday, February 23 Storms with the potential to cause substantial impact are named by the Met Office and Met Eireann, moving through the alphabet.The first was named Abigail in November 2015, after members of the public suggested monikers for the “name our storms” project. Weather warnings have been upgraded ahead of Storm Doris’ arrival, with heavy snow and winds of up to 80mph forecast.Storm Doris is likely to cause travel disruption, damage buildings and send debris flying when it hits on Thursday morning, the Met Office has warned. AA spokesman John Snowling said: “The unpleasant combination of torrential rain, severe gales and heavy snow will create some very poor driving conditions, with the potential for roads to be affected by black ice, debris or standing water.”Wind can also bring down tree branches, blow you off course or blow other vehicles into your path.”Expect travel disruption as some roads will be treacherous.” read more

A NUMBER OF HOMES were evacuated as a viable homemade bomb was made safe by army experts near Carrickmines in Dublin last night.The device was found at a private residence in the Ballyogan area and the army bomb disposal team were called to the house by gardaí.The team arrived at the scene while a cordon and road closures were put in place and a number of nearby houses were evacuated.The Defence Forces say that the device was made safe at the scene without the need for a controlled explosion.It was then brought to a military location where it will be examined further before being handed over to gardaí.Read: 250 call-outs for the bomb squad this year, slight reduction in viable devices >Read: The 6 steps to bomb disposal in Ireland > read more

In what is arguably a first, Milo Yiannopoulos has apologised for his offensive remarks. Not for his usual vitriolic remarks, which make each of his public appearances seem like a study in hate speech, but for a statement that came off as an endorsement of paedophilia. The feisty right wing commentator was captured in a video defending sexual relationships between teenage boys and older men as an experience that “can be hugely positive”, as “those older men help those younger boys discover who they are”. The usually unabashed contrarian claimed that his statement was taken out of context and that he was speaking about his own experience as a young gay teenager when he claimed that the age of consent is “not this black-and-white thing”. His apology remained unaccepted as this revelation cost him a speaking engagement, a $250,000 book publishing deal with a Simon & Schuster imprint, as well as his position as senior editor of Breitbart News, after employees threatened to step out if he remained in place. Breitbart News has been instrumental in spreading the ‘alt-right’ ideology that Donald Trump campaigned on, and its former executive, Steve Bannon, is now the White House’s chief strategist. Some predict this turn of events will mark the fall of Yiannopoulos, who changed his name from Hanrahan, adopting his grandmother’s maiden name. In one of his editorials, the agitator described Greeks as lazy, hairy people who deserve all punishment sent to them for their financial conduct. Facebook Twitter: @NeosKosmos Instagram read more

MIAMI (WSVN) – The Miami Heat, on the cusp of their season opener, handed out free car decals, Monday.As a part of “Heat Week,” employees provided car decals for fans who decided to make an early-morning visit to the American Airlines Arena.This is ahead of the Heat’s season opener in Orlando.The Heat and Magic square-off on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. EST.Copyright 2019 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. read more

Hyderabad: Balapur police on Tuesday rescued 54 child labourers and arrested seven accused who were involved in child trafficking. The accused identified as Mohammed Aslam (50), Shaik Mohammed Riyaz (30), Mohammad Ahshan (22), Shaik Habeeb (66), Mohammad Musleem (36), Mohammed Asgar (18) and Mohammed Naseem Akram (22) and the other four absconding accused Feroz Alam, Anwarul, Munawar and Intikhab had brought the children from Bihar to Hyderabad for doing labour work in a bangle manufacturing factory. Also Read – Warrant issued against Renuka Chowdhury in cheating case Advertise With Us They paid some money to their parents and brought the children to work as bonded labourers by detaining them in a house. According to the Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat, the accused use the children in bangle manufacturing factories located in Habeeb Nagar, Osman Nagar and Saif Colony areas by taking houses on rent which were provided by Mohammed Riyaz, Mohammad Ahshan, Shaik Habeeb, Mohammad Musleem, Mohammed Asgar, and Mohammed Naseem Akram and also looking after the work. Also Read – Parts of Hyderabad witness heavy rainfall Advertise With Us The children were employed in five different manufacturing units and they were forced to work continuously since morning 6 am to 11 pm in the night without giving rest by detaining in the houses and not allowing them to move freely or go outside of the house. They were provided food which was stinking in a very bad odour and not providing proper accommodation and other required amenities to them. All the children were kept in a congested room and were treated as bonded labourers by the accused. Advertise With Us On reliable information, Balapur police nabbed the seven accused at Falaknuma railway station and brought them to the police station. On interrogation the accused confessed to their offence on which police registered a case under sections 370(2), 374 IPC and Section 79 Juvenile Justice Act-2015 and Section 14 (i) of Child Labour Act-1986 and been produced before V Additional Metropolitan Magistrate cum V Additional Junior Civil Judge at LB Nagar for judicial remand. read more

A collage of Sudeep and Yash.PR HandoutKiccha Sudeep’s Pailwaan is yet another film from Sandalwood which is set to have a pan-India release. The movie is releasing in five languages – Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam.Now, Pailwaan has bigger after Zee Studios signed a deal with the makers of the film. Well, the production house will be distributing the Hindi version of the film (spelt as Pehlwaan in Bollywood) across North India, Nepal and Bhutan.”Excited and Extremely thrilled to partner with @ZeeStudios_ to take #Pehlwaan across North India! Unveiling a new training poster of @KicchaSudeep… More Power to you all @iswapnakrishna @krisshdop @Kabirduhansingh @sushant_says @aakanksha_s30 [sic],” Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, who has played an important role in Pailwaan, announced the news on Twitter.It comes as a big boost to the movie, which will now have a good reach among the Hindi audience. The trend of the multilingual was recently started by Hombale Films by collaborating with Excel Entertainment & AA Films for Yash’s KGF: Chapter 1.The Yash starrer was marketed well and met with good response from the audience which has inspired the makers of Pailwaan to take it to the Hindi-speaking audience.Sudeep is a familiar face among the Bollywood cine-goers and this factor is likely to benefit the flick big time with good promotion, say industry insiders.Pailwaan is a sports drama, written and directed by S Krishna of Hebbuli fame. Sudeep plays dual roles in the flick which has Aakanksha Singh playing the female lead role. read more

00:00 /01:01 – / 5Music is blasting on a speaker outside of Cougar Village dorms.It’s to get freshman excited while volunteers help them move in.Christopher Caldwell is in charge of making sure that process goes seamlessly.“I’ve garnered volunteers for the building during our three days of move-in,” Caldwell says.  “They come in and help students unload their cars, get into the building, get comfortable.”Caldwell says although it’s an exciting time, parents can be a little wary.I talked to Sarah Pham whose first child, Alexander is leaving the nest.“We are really excited, but also the normal parent kind of feeling, overwhelmed and things like that. Just a little bit of worry,” Pham says.She wanted to help get him situated. “I think for me getting him used to the maps, the locations of the campuses, how far his walks were, and making sure he’s eating and doing things like that,” she says. Alexander’s dorm is fully furnished, so there is only one element he’s unsure of.“Trying to cope with my roommate, don’t know who he is,” he says. “I’m curious, I’m interested, I want to know what he’s like.”Despite that he says he’s excited for a new experience.Classes start at the University of Houston on Monday. Listen To embed this piece of audio in your site, please use this code: X Share read more

Play A sample experimental trial from the experiment. Video credit: Alik Mokeichev. The researchers observed which bar the fish detected and shot at each time and found they shot most often at bars oriented perpendicular to the background pattern, suggesting these objects were most obviously visible to them. They then tested humans with the same stimuli, and found that they too were most likely to pick out the bars aligned perpendicular to the background. These results suggest the archer fish have orientation-based saliency as humans do.The fact that archer fish have no visual cortex means the neural mechanism may be similar to that in mammals, but located elsewhere in the brain, or there may be a completely different mechanism. So far, the neural pathways are unknown in the archer fish.The study also raises the question of whether orientation salience evolved differently in fish and mammals, or evolved only once in an ancient common ancestor, and has been conserved for millions of years because of its usefulness. The ability may also be much more widespread than previously thought.The paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Even fruit flies have an orientation memory: Recall tested in a virtual space Citation: Archer fish can see like mammals (w/ Video) (2010, September 15) retrieved 18 August 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2010-09-archer-fish-mammals-video.html PausePlay% buffered00:0000:00UnmuteMuteDisable captionsEnable captionsSettingsCaptionsDisabledQuality0SpeedNormalCaptionsGo back to previous menuQualityGo back to previous menuSpeedGo back to previous menu0.5×0.75×Normal1.25×1.5×1.75×2×Exit fullscreenEnter fullscreen © 2010 PhysOrg.com Banded archerfish, Toxotes jaculatrix. Image: by R.Wampers, via Wikipedia (PhysOrg.com) — The ability to see objects oriented differently to the background, which is known as orientation-based saliency, has long been thought to be confined to mammals, but a new study has found that archer fish have this ability, despite having no visual cortex in their brains. Explore further This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. More information: Orientation saliency without visual cortex and target selection in archer fish, Alik Mokeichev et al., PNAS, Published online before print September 13, 2010, doi:10.1073/pnas.1005446107 Orientation saliency means objects aligned differently to the background appear to “pop out” from it. In humans this ability is controlled by neural pathways in the visual cortex, and helps in identifying important objects in the visual field.Archer fish (Toxotes jaculatrix) catch insects moving on tree branches or flying above by accurately spitting a jet of water at them to knock them into the water. They also accurately determine the falling insect’s trajectory to determine exactly where it will hit the water. Their abilities are so impressive that researchers from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel wondered if they exhibited orientation saliency as well.The researchers, led by computer scientist Ohad Ben-Shahar, trained five archer fish to shoot at images of insects on an LCD screen above their tanks. They then replaced the images of insects with a series of images of two bars representing prey objects set against a patterned background representing the habitat. The bars were shown either both oriented in the same direction as the background pattern, both perpendicular to the pattern, or with one bar in each direction. read more

Google Chrome 5 beta released This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. (PhysOrg.com) — Ah the beta version. It is a special time in a new versions life, when the world at large gets a first look at what the end product will be. Kind of a like a sonogram for new technology. Of course, when you are looking at a human fetus, you know what the features will be: two hands, ten toes and hopefully no vestigial tail. With a beta bit of software the world will pour over it, checking out what is new and getting ready to poke at all of its features. Google brought a new baby beta into the world this week, Google Chrome 11.What features will this new version of Google’s web browser have? Well, the features listed thus far include both support for the HTML5 speech input API (demo page). The speech input API is the real big news here, since it will allow developers to create apps for Google Chrome 11 that have the capability of speech to text technology. That’s right, you talk and it types it up, without having to buy expensive software like Dragon Speech Naturally.This new feature is not really a shocker, when you consider that this feature came to Google Voice for Android devices back in August. The Voice Actions feature on the mobile version has allowed users to dictate texts and e-mails, write notes, navigate the web and even set your alarm.The new beta will also feature a sneak peek at a GPU-accelerated 3D CSS. This will allow developers to apply 3D effects to web page content with the use of CSS. That will allow users view websites with 3D effects very soon.No word on when the software will get out of beat. More information: Google blog Explore further Citation: Google releases Chrome 11 beta with HTML5 speech input API (2011, March 24) retrieved 18 August 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2011-03-google-chrome-beta-html5-speech.html © 2010 PhysOrg.com read more