Asian Games: Second Silver To Gagan Narang

Here again Gagan taking his country’s pride up. Ace shooter Gagan Narang picked up his and India's second medal at the Asian Games. He bagged  the silver in the 10m air rifle individual event by scoring a total of 700.7. The current world record is in his name (703.5). China's Qinan Zhu got gold in this event with a score of 702. Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra failed to even qualify for the finals. 

 Korean Kiwon Kim (596+104) took the bronze medal. Narang won three bronze medals in Doha Games four years ago. Earlier, Narang, Bindra and Rajput had combined to fetch a silver in the 10m air rifle team event.


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Tendulkar , Ambassador for the 2011 Cricket World Cup

India’s ‘cricket god’ Sachin Tendulkar is appointed the official event ambassador for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The announcement was made by the International Cricket Council. With this Tendulkar will be called upon to promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives for the World Cup, which will take place in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka from February 19 to April 2, 2011. 
Tendulkar  will join Pakistan's Javed Miandad as the only other player to take part in six World Cups. 
"In terms of limited-overs cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup is the highest level you can play so it is always a thrill to take part in such an important and widely followed event," Tendulkar said. 
"The fact that the 2011 event will be staged here in the sub-continent makes it even more special for me and I am keen to ensure we play well. As a team we would be doing everything we can to win the world cup on home soil," Tendulkar added. 
ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said: "We are very lucky to have such an extraordinary player as Sachin supporting our flagship event. 
"I don't think any other player has inspired a nation like he has and the respect and affection he enjoys goes way beyond his native India. Many other athletes and sports fans around the globe admire what he consistently achieves and what he does for cricket."


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Laptops and Infertility, Vital Information!

Does Laptops have anything to do with infertility?! You may wonder what a question, dont’ you? Latest research tells something in this regard.
The problem is not with the laptops but with the way one sit while operating laptops. Yes, your sitting posture may cause problems! If guys can find a way to operate laptop computers with their legs apart, they might limit their risk of infertility, the new study finds. Keeping the legs splayed while using a laptop generated substantially less damaging heat in the scrotum than keeping legs together. Putting a shield under the laptop didn’t seem to help beat the heat.
The testes generally are 2 to 4 degrees Celsius cooler than standard body temperature, a unique environment conducive to the rapidly dividing nature of sperm cells. Heating the area can trigger oxidative stress, slow the motion of sperm and lessen their ability to fertilize an egg for weeks or months, says Edmund Sabanegh, a urologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

In the new study, urologist Yefim Sheynkin of Stony Brook University in New York and his colleagues enlisted 29 men ages 21 to 35 to participate in three tests in which each man operated a laptop computer on his thighs for one hour. One test entailed keeping the thighs together while using the machine. A second required the same position, but with a padded shield placed under the laptop. The third test allowed the men to keep their legs apart at a 70-degree angle as they used a laptop. Each of the men completed all three tests, but did only one test per day. Before each experiment, sensors recorded the scrotum temperature of each volunteer and recorded any changes during the session.
All three uses of a laptop increased the men’s scrotal temperature substantially from pretest levels, but keeping the legs splayed limited this increase to about 1.4 degrees C during the hour-long test. When the legs were kept together the temperature rose by 2.2 degrees with a shield and 2.3 degrees without one.
What’s more, it took an average of 28 minutes for scrotal temperatures to rise 1 degree C when the men had their legs apart, but only 14 minutes to increase that much when they kept their legs together with a shield and 11 minutes with legs together and no shield.
That means stop putting laptops on your lap, stop using hot tubs and other things of that nature. But just keeps your legs apart and use laptops, that’s it.

Zulqarnain Haider, the Pakistani Wicketkeeper made Public Appearance

What happened to the Pakistanis? Especially to its cricket team!  Anyways, news coming from the Pakistani cricket are not at all good for at least those who love cricket. Incidents are many...the murder of the foreign coach, the firing incident against the Sri Lankans, the spot fixing issue, inside rivalries and so on...The latest one is created by the wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider who fled to England fearing the ‘fixing gundas’!?

Zulqarnain Haider made his first public appearance ever since fleeing from Dubai in the middle of the One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa when he held press conference at a restaurant in London and admitted that he ran for life and wants to be safe.
It was on Monday 8th November 2010 that the wicketkeeper had fled the Pakistan team hotel in Dubai hours before the decisive fifth ODI against South Africa, claiming he was facing serious threats from people who wanted him to fix the last two ODIs. But, rumours started floating that he indeed was involved in match-fixing and had taken Rs. three crore. Though, Zulqarnain Haider claimed that he was clean.
"I am requesting Pakistan government and the British government and police members to seal my accounts and check all accounts all over the world and if anything proves that I was involved, I will face anything," said Haider.
Eversince arriving in London, Zulqarnain has been seeking asylum in the United Kingdom and also pleaded with the Pakistani government to assure the safety of his family as the fixers had threatened to kill them. Haider further said that he just wants to be "safe" and remain "in peace" where ever that would be (Pakistan or UK). He said that he was a good citizen in Pakistan and would remain so anywhere he stays.
However, the 24-year-old's central contract has been suspended by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Board has also appointed a three member fact-finding committee to find out the reasons for his fleeing the team hotel without informing anyone. Director of Cricket Operations, PCB, Zakir Khan has said that the Board is not in contact with Haider till now and the keeper had violated the terms and conditions of his contract.
Let’s wait a little bit and see who is guuilty and what is happening. Anyways something fishy in PAK cricket.

Sikh soldier in the US army

Can you find an American in Indian Army? Ow, lots of people or groups may come forward with lots of issues, if such a thing happens...they will create problems after problems...But now there is an Indian-born man in the US Army, that too with all his religious signs! Difficult to believe?
Twenty six year old Simran Preet Singh Lamba became the first enlisted Sikh soldier in the US army. He managed this without shedding his turban and other articles of faith. Too hard to believe? You have to...

Recruited by the Army in 2009 through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) programme for his language skills in Punjabi and Hindi, Lamba completed basic training with his turban and unshorn hair at Fort Jackson outside Columbia and became a US citizen.

Lamba was initially told that his Sikh articles of faith would likely be accommodated.
But, in March 2010, his formal request for a religious accommodation was denied. Lamba appealed the decision, and his appeal was accepted in September 2010.
This may be a new news to many of us. But there were many Sikhs in the US Army before this.
Sikh soldiers served in the US Army as far back as World War I. Thousands of Sikh soldiers helped liberate France in WWII. Today, apart from India, Sikhs serve in the militaries of England, Canada and Austria, among others, often alongside American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.Above this, recently in March, Captain Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a dentist, became the first Sikh commissioned officer to complete basic training in more than two decades. In September, Captain Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, a physician, became the second Sikh commissioned officer to complete basic training. The addition of Lamba to the group of Sikh military graduates is a critical step forward in proving that Sikhs can successfully serve in the US military.
"I am thrilled to serve with my fellow soldiers and serve the United States of America," Lamba said.

China plans to build Space Station!

Tiangong, artist’s version of China's mini space station 

China is going it alone. It has announced plans to build its very own crewed space laboratory by 2020.
China, meanwhile, has been expanding its space capabilities, and, on 27 October 2010, officially launched a project to develop a space station by 2020. The station will have research applications, including studying living conditions for astronauts. The Xinhua news agency revealed these.
China's steady investments in human space flight "make it very clear they are going to be in space in terms of a human presence and are going to be there for a long time", says a US expert.

China plans to launch two or three space laboratories (target vehicles) and with several spaceships docking between 2011 and 2015. Around 2020, China will launch its core module and science laboratory module when it will begin the construction of a space station.
Gu Yidong, chief commander and designer of China's Manned Space flight engineering applications introduced that with conditions capable of supporting space science tasks and resource support, the space station can provide conditions for taikonauts(Chinese equivalent for astranauts) to carry out space tasks in the capsule and on the platform outside. Therefore, the taikonauts can conduct science experiments including the tasks of operation, construction as well as maintenance in and out of the space station. After launching into the space, a cargo space shuttle will annually transport supplies to the space station.

No doubt, China is making news...worth hearing as well.

TATA NANO, more Safe Now?!!!

Happy news to NANO customers, if such a creed is there. Hey, wait... there are around 70,000 Nanos on the roads, as of now!
Someone has brought out a ‘false?’ news that NANO is easily suceptible to fire. The five previous incidents were reported from across the country, including Mumbai, Lucknow, Delhi and near Vadodara in Gujarat. A sixth incident was reported from the National Capital. Anyways, Tata is not ready to take this as something silly. Latest reports say that Tata Motors is going to ask Nano customers to bring back their cars to add safety devices free of cost to prevent the vehicles from catching fire, but insisted it was not a "recall."
The company, however, said that the addition of safety devices, a lesson learnt from some of its brand new Nanos catching fire, was optional. Ha, it looks the incidents were real!

After these incidents, the company had engaged experts to get into the details for the cause of the mishaps, and its internal report had said that there was no manufacturing defect. May be the defects are all from the customers?!
"We would be informing the customers that these are the additional protection we are willing to provide. We are quite convinced that Nano is safe, based on our investigations. However, we feel that probably there may be some extraneous circumstances where people may want additional protection," Tata Motors Managing Director (India Operations) P M Telang told reporters.
The safety move, incidentally, made public within days of the world's cheapest car, priced around 1 lakh, was showcased to the US President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama. As part of the safety mechanism, the company would offer a tool to cover the catalytic converter to prevent the car from catching fire. It will also install fuse in electrical components to avoid short circuits.
Happy go Nano...
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Prithviraj Chavan, the next Maharashtra Chief Minister

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan has been named the next Maharashtra Chief Minister.
Chavan's name was formally announced by senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on 10th November morning, after a meeting with the Congress President Sonia Gandhi.  Four contenders were there for the post and the list had narrowed down to two - Prithviraj Chavan and Radhakrishnana Vikhe Patil. Finally  Chavan was selected.
 After his name was announced, Chavan said, "I accept CM's post with humility. I will try to take everybody with me together...The Congress leadership and MLAs in Maharashtra called upon me to undertake this responsibility of heading the government in Maharashtra at an important juncture. I seek the cooperation and support of all and I promise I'll do my best to give leadership to the state."  He also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and submitted his resignation as the Minister of State in the PMO.
Prithviraj Chavan was chosen in the place of existing Chief Minister Asok Chavan, when he had to resign on the basis of allegations regarding flat constructions.
Prithviraj Chavan is 64 years old and comes from a loyal Congress family. He is a Rajya Sabha MP from Maharashtra, but has contested and won Lok Sabha elections in the past from Karad in Maharashtra. Both his parents were MPs from Karad and his mother was also a PCC chief.
Chavan was educated at the prestigious BITS, Pilani in Rajasthan where he acquired a Design Engineering degree. He then went for higher studies to the University of California, Berkley, USA. After graduating, he worked in the aerospace industry in USA for a few years, before heading back to India to set up an R&D lab.
In the early eighties, Chavan met Rajiv Gandhi and joined politics. Gandhi gave Chavan a ticket to contest the 1984 elections from Karad and he won. Many more Lok Sabha wins followed. Chavan became a Rajya Sabha MP in 2002. He has also been a Congress spokesman. He describes himself as an Engineer, Industrialist, Political and Social Worker.
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Happy birthday, X-rays

Yes, Another happy birthday of X-rays have passed. One hundred and fifteen years ago, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered that certain electromagnetic rays – X-rays – could form images on fluorescent plates.It was on 8 November 1895 that Röntgen, a professor of physics at the University of Würzburg, Bavaria discovered X-rays.

Print of Wilhelm Röntgen's first x-ray, of his
wife's hand, taken on 22 December 1895
and presented to Professor Ludwig Zehnder
of the Physik Institut, University of Freiburg,
on 1 January 1896.

Another image of the X-ray of Rontgen's wif's hand.

He found that X-rays could be used to form images of the human skeleton. In experiments with beams of electrons inside a covered vacuum tube, Röntgen noticed that a nearby fluorescent screen glowed when the current was passed. He attributed the glowing to an unknown type of radiation passing through the tube's cover, which he called "X radiation", hence the term X-rays.

A week after his discovery, Rontgen took a X-ray of his wife's hand, substituting a photographic plate for the fluorescent screen to capture the image. Her wedding ring could be seen clearly on that! This discovery turned out to be one of the most significant medical advances in history.
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Giant Jesus in Poland - 'Christ the King'

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Which is the biggest statue of Jesus Christ in the world? The first answer that comes to your mond for this question would be  Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, isn’t it? But you have to update your GK now. From now onwards the largest Jesus Christ Statue is the one erected in a small Polish town named, Swiebodzin!

The effigy stands at a total of 51m (167ft). The statue itself is 33 m, one metre for every year that Jesus lived. The idea of such a statue came from a retired local priest, Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki. The statue is similar to the one in Brazil, depicting Jesus standing tall with his arms outstretched. The Polish one, however, has a large golden crown and stands on a mound. The arms and shoulders weigh 30 tons alone.

Brazil's famous Christ the Redeemer statue, the previous record holder, stands at 39.6m (130ft).
Many residents in Swiebodzin welcomes and believes the statue will put their town of 22,000 on the map for tourists and Roman Catholic pilgrims. Their visits shall bring in needed money to renovate the historic buildings in the tiny town center.

Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 

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Air Force One - Know and See!!!

Air Force One is the official aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft may carry the "Air Force One" call sign while the president is on board. Air Force One is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power, and the aircraft are among the most famous and most photographed in the world.

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Obama Onboard Air Force One

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The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the President arose in 1943, when officials of the United States Army Air Forces – the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force – became concerned with relying on commercial airlines to transport the President. A C-87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as a presidential transport; however, it was rejected by the Secret Service amid concerns over the aircraft's safety record. A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; this aircraft, dubbed the Sacred Cow, transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945, and was subsequently used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman.
The "Air Force One" call sign was created after a 1953 incident involving a flight carrying President Dwight D. Eisenhower entering the same airspace as a commercial airline flight using the same call sign. Several aircraft have been used as Air Force One since the creation of the presidential fleet. Since 1990, the presidential fleet has consisted of two Boeing VC-25As – specifically configured, highly customized Boeing 747-200B series aircraft. The Air Force is currently looking into replacing the two aircraft used as Air Force One, with Boeing the only contender. The Air Force expects three aircraft, one each delivered in fiscal 2017, 2019 and 2021.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Air Force One in a Bird's Eye View
• Air Force One’s inaugural flight took place on January 11, 1959, and the first model was a Boeing 707-320B airliner.

• First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy selected the color scheme for Air Force One’s signature paint job.
• Lyndon Johnson took the the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One on the tarmac in Dallas following John F. Kennedy’s assassination on November 22, 1963.
• First Lady Nancy Reagan designed the interior of the current Air Force One, styling it in a Desert Southwest motif.
• The current Air Force One flew its first presidential mission on September 6, 1990, flying President George H.W. Bush first to Kansas, then to Florida, and finally back to Washington, D.C.
• The Air Force operates two identical planes that are used to carry the President. Neither aircraft can be called “Air Force One” until the President steps aboard. The second plane, which carries the Vice President, is referred to as “Air Force Two.”
• During presidential tours, Air Force One is accompanied by at least two C-5 Galaxy aircrafts carrying cargo that includes a bulletproof limousine; a top-of-the-line ambulance; at least one backup limo, often with many more for use as decoys; and occasionally even the President’s personal helicopter, Marine One.
• Many of the more outlandish gizmos featured in Hollywood films owe more to artistic license than to airborne fact. For example, unlike in the film Air Force One, the real thing has no super-secret escape pod. It isn’t equipped with parachutes, either -- the massive slipstream created by an aircraft of its size makes them impossible to use.
• When he left office, President Ronald Reagan stated that he hoped one day to be able to share Air Force One with the American people. In 2005, his wish was granted. Visitors to the Reagan Library are able to board the Air Force One that served as the “Flying White House” for President Reagan and six other U.S. presidents from 1973-2001.
 
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Michelle's Dancing!!!

What is Diwali to the US President Barack Obama?! This is year it is absolutely a occasion for fun to him and his better half. Because both are in India and that too in Diwali time. They celebrated Diwali in style with school children in Mumbai. What added to the joyfulness of the moment was US President joining his wife Michelle and school kids in dancing to the tunes of a Maharashtrian Koli song.

The US first couple started their day at 9.50 am, when they arrived at Holy Name High School, located very close to the Taj Mahal Hotel – where he stayed overnight – to meet school children and celebrate Diwali with them.
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As per the Indian tradition, he lit the lamp and shook hands with children and had some friendly talk and fun. Thereafter, students first performed a traditional dance for the VVIPs.
A visibly pleased Obama was seen smiling all through the dance performance. Michelle also could not hide her excitement and keenly watched the dance.
After the dance with lamps, students danced on the tunes of a traditional Maharashtrian Koli (Fishermen) Song. Midway, some of the kids requested the Obamas to join them. At first the President turned down the invite politely even as Michelle got out of her seat in flash and joined the kids in dancing to the peppy tune. Soon afterwards, the kids once again requested Obama to join in, he could not say no this time around and joined the kids on the dance floor amid applause from all those present in the small room where the function was being held. The students then showed Obama and his wife the traditional ‘rangoli’ made by them for the occasion.
Actually the US President had presided over a Diwali celebration at the White House last year.

Obama declares Rs. 44,000 crore worth deals with India!

What is the advantage of Obama’s visit to India? For some there are so many and for some others there are not any… But here is some good news for both! Obama announced that "several landmark" deals worth nearly Rs. 44,000 crore have been reached between the two countries for creating about 50,000 jobs in the US!!! Sound good…?

"There is no reason why India cannot be our top trading partner (from 12th position now)... I'm absolutely sure that the relationship between India and the US is going to be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century," President Obama said addressing the US India Business Council meet. "Boeing is going to sell dozens of planes to India and GE is going to sell hundreds of electric engines. The deals are worth USD 10 billion and will create more than 50,000 jobs in the US," he said.
Just before the address at US-India Business Council (USIBC) in Mumbai, Reliance Power announced a power equipment deal for 2,400 MW plants from GE and low-cost carrier Spicejet announced a deal to buy 33 new-generation 737 aircrafts from Boeing. India-US trade stood at US $36.5 billion in 2009-10 fiscal and the two countries aim to double trade in the next five years.

Describing India, which receives about 8 per cent of its total foreign direct investment from the US, as a defining and indispensable partner of the 21st century, President Obama asked India to reduce trade barriers, while committing to reciprocate. This may seems not so good for the Anti-Americans…so to say.
Above all this, the United States could back India's membership of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group or NSG. This membership makes it easier for India to get dual-use technology from member countries though it's subject to rules of individual nations. It's also means India has a say in framing export control rules. Three Indian entities will be taken off embargoed list - Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Space Research (ISR0) and the Hyderabad-headquartered Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

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