Wednesday, 29 July 2015

Two Nagaland Students Complete Space Camp at NASA

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NorthEast Today
NorthEast Today's photo.
Two students from Nagaland have successfully completed an International Space Camp (ISC) at the US Space and Rocket Center (USSRC), Huntsville, USA.
Mezong Jamir, a class XI boy and Khriesetuonuo Solo, a class XII girl of the Livingstone Higher Secondary School, Dimapur, spent a thrilling week from July 17 to 24, 2015 at Alabama, one of NASA’s five Marshall Space Flight Centers, where they trained in all kinds of routines that astronauts go through. The students were accompanied by their teacher-educator Andrew Ahoto Sema.
The course is self-funded, part of which is subsidized by the US Space Center to encourage foreign students. Each year, hundreds of students and trainees from all over the world join the international space camp for a week of fun-filled hands-on drills and activities.
During the week-long program trainees are exposed to challenging tasks that include underwater scuba-based microgravity, multi-axis simulation that test both of their mental and physical ability. Lalhnuna Hauhnar, who has been designated as the Space Camp Ambassador, has initiated this program in the northeast to encourage high school aged students as well as teachers to experience ‘a space-life environment’. The students also learn space Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
“This is an experience of a life time which does not come so easily even if you have all the money,” says Hauhnar, who had also attended such camp. “The students are chosen after a thorough interview and personality test.” The Camp which is held annually for school students and teacher-educators is open to all countries in the world. So far as many as 35 countries participated in the camp since the program was launched in 1990.
Beside this international camp which is a scheduled annual event where only two students and a teacher can participate, the USSRC also encourages a larger group of students from any country to visit the center.
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Travellers in India Prefer Packages

Travel Commerce Platform leader reveals that up to two thirds of travellers in India prefer to book packages when buying their biggest holiday of the year and three quarters admit to being extremely influenced by online reviews, such as TripAdvisor.


Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 29 July, 2015: Travelport (NYSE:TVPT), a leading Travel Commerce Platform providing distribution, technology, payment and other solutions for the $8 trillion global travel and tourism industry has today released new research that demonstrates the dramatic transformation the Indian travel market has undergone in recent years with up to two thirds of travelers in India preferring to book packages when buying their biggest holiday of the year. Indian consumers have become primed to embrace higher value online purchases with packaged travel representing a significant opportunity to the industry in the region. India has an urban adult population of 240 million, of which 27%, or 65 million, take holidays. The country has 205 million Internet subscribers and 110 million smartphone users.
The research released by Travelport as part of a co-sponsored study with Phocuswright1, revealed that of those surveyed 48% of travellers said their most significant trip of the past 12 months was a traditional package, while 21% said they had bought a tailor-made trip. The survey was conducted across almost 2500 travellers from the top socio-economic groups in India, encompassing 25 urban centres. The results detail how at the heart of the country’s online travel growth is a generation of well-educated, tech savvy and upwardly mobile Indian consumers eager to indulge their wanderlust. Online travel bookings are expected to grow rapidly through 2016 when India online travel penetration is projected to reach 46%, up from 35% in 2012. For their main holiday of the year, 62% searched online travel agents with 56% using general search engines.  Some 40% researched their holidays on their mobile.
A huge number of those who are travelling overseas are doing so for the first time; two out of three who took an overseas trip in the previous 12 months had not done so before. Interestingly, two thirds of travellers in India are young adults, with 52% aged between 25-34 and 17% aged 18-24. Of those surveyed, 64% have a family of up to four people and 65% are employed in a private organization. When travellers were asked for the reasons behind their decisions, some 43% said they felt packages were cheaper than independent trips and 40% said they booked packages because they included sightseeing tours. Three quarters of travellers admitted to being extremely influenced by user-generated content, such as online reviews on popular websites such as TripAdvisor. Forty five percent got a personal recommendation from friends/family.
Matthew Powell, Senior Director, India, Travelport Africa, Middle East and South Asia commented on the findings: “The majority of people in India – 52% – are booking online and offline, with just 13% booking online only and an even smaller number, 5%, only booking offline. These consumer trends in India demonstrate how technology in travel commerce has been the catalyst for the dramatic transformation in the Indian travel market and they key role it will play in its continued growth.”
Sandeep Dwivedi, Chief Commercial Officer, InterGlobe Technology Quotient, distributors of Travelport in India and Sri Lanka commented: “What’s most exciting is what is to come and with online travel bookings in India expected to reach 46% through 2016, Travelport is committed to supporting the online travel sector in the country through our travel commerce platform which is unrivalled in demonstrating the value agencies can bring to their customers with the travel choices and high levels of service they expect.”
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DEFENDING CHAMPIONS JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS BACK WITH A ROAR: HOSTS BEAT BENGALURU BULLS
Jaipur, July 28: Playing like true champions, Jaipur Pink Panthers recorded their first win of Season 2 of Star Pro Kabaddi today at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium beating Bengaluru Bulls 36-23.  The hero was their superbly built raider Kuldeep Singh who came up with a super raid in which he claimed four victims. This was confirmed by the referral wasted by the Bulls. With this win, the Panthers with eight points go to the fifth position while Bengaluru remain third with 20 points.
After being down at one stage at 9-14 after suffering an all-out, the Panthers came back roaring to score 10 points in a row to dismiss their rivals and troop away at half-time assuring their vociferous fans of a likely revival.
It was an excellent team effort after the Jaipur coach K Bhaskaran decided to substitute his captain Navneet Gautam who somehow failed to raise his performance. As has been their strategy, the Panthers relied on Jasvir Singh who though subdued for some time early on came up with a moment of brilliance. He effected the raid which fetched the first all-out by getting the last two on court to earn four points. The old guard in Ran Singh and the masked man Rohit Rana also got back in business and negated the threat of Ajay Thakur and Manjeet Chhillar who sadly were also off colour. The duo tallied just 4points between them in 23 raids which tells the true story.
 To add to the worry of the Bulls, Gangadhari Mallesh, manning the left corner in place of Navneet, proved more than a handful. The pocket-sized dynamo Prashant Chavan also pulled up his socks which resulted in the defending champions effecting the second all-out to lead 32-21 by the 35th minute. Bengaluru threw in the last dice bringing in the tall Rakesh Narwal and Pardeep Narwal, hoping to net in some raiding and bonus points but it never rolled in their favour. Bengaluru’s efforts to whittle down the margin to less than seven and pocket a valuable point also failed.
Manjeet Chhillar, in a pre-match chat, had talked about his strong defence but it didn’t click on the day. On the other hand, Navneet had stressed the importance of improvement in that department and it did come with Navneet himself having to go off to accommodate Gangadhari Mallesh. The move having worked favourably the Panthers can hope to get the better of the Delhi Dabangs and move on to Patna with their side in high spirits.
Later on in the post-match press conference, Navneet was asked whether he felt bad about not participating much in the match. He went on to say, “A good team is a team that transforms its weaknesses into strengths. If there was a weakness in defence earlier, that was wiped out today. Even though I was sitting on the bench and cheering for the team from there, that doesn’t matter because they won in a fantastic manner. Like I said yesterday, this is sport and you have good days and bad days. Today was a very good day for our team and they played beyond the limits of sport. “
Man of the match and star raider Jasvir Singh was ecstatic during his answers. “This win is all because of our captain Navneet Gautam. It doesn’t matter that he wasn’t able to play the full match today because he was there with us, supporting and cheering us from the bench throughout the match. A captain doesn’t have to be on court to win. He needs to be able to support and guide his team from wherever he is and today Navneet was the perfect example for that. All the strategies that we used today to win were his idea and I can say with confidence that he is the best captain a team can have. He is also the best captain across all 8 teams.”
MATCH 19 – JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS VS BENGALURU BULLS
No.
Award
Player/Team
1
TVS BEST RAIDER OF THE MATCH
JASVIR SINGH (JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS)
2
BAJAJ ELECTRICAL INSPIRING DEFENDER OF THE MATCH
ROHIT RANA (JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS)
3
JIO CHAT MOMENT OF THE MATCH
KULDEEP SINGH (JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS)
4
VIP FRENCHIE BIG IMPRESSION PLAYER OF THE MATCH
GANGADHRI MALLESH (JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS)
5
FLIPKART AUDIENCE KI WISH PLAYER OF THE MATCH
JASVIR SINGH (JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
Watch Season 2 of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi LIVE on Star Sports 2, 3, HD2, HD3 and hotstar.com from 7:50pm onwards
Star Sports Pro Kabaddi – Points Table after Match 19 as of 28th July
POS
TEAM
PLAYED
WIN
LOSS
POINTS
1
U MUMBA
6
6
0
30
2
TELUGU TITANS
5
4
1
21
3
BENGALURU BULLS
6
4
2
20
4
DABANG DELHI
4
2
2
10
5
JAIPUR PINK PANTHERS
5
1
4
8
6
PATNA PIRATES
3
1
2
7
7
BENGAL WARRIORS
5
1
4
7
8
PUNERI PALTAN
4
0
4
3

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Narmada Struggle is a National Struggle for Peace, Justice and Democracy

MPs, Eminent Citizens, Experts and Social Activists express solidarity at National Convention on 30 Years of the Narmada struggle

Call upon the Govt. of India to review decision on SSP and expedite rehabilitation as per law and judicial orders

 Scientists, academics, students, activists, parliamentarians, lawyers and others declare their support, solidarity and participation in the Padh-yatra and Satyagrah to be launched in the Narmada Valley from the 6th Of August


28th July, 2015, New Delhi: That the struggle of the people in the Narmada valley is symbolic of the struggle of millions of common people across the country and is a united fight to sustain peace, justice and democracy in these trying times, was the conclusion that emerged out of a day long Convention, organized on the eve of 30 years of relentless struggle by the Narmada Bachao Andolan in the Sardar Sarovar project affected areas for their legal, human and constitutional rights.
Gathering at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, more than two hundred people including many present and former MPs, Retired Judges, senior social activists, lawyers, artists, film makers, writers, technical experts, environmentalists, academics and young persons participated and expressed solidarity with the resilient adivasis, farmers, fisher people, landless and thousands of other Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) oustees who have been challenging the illegality of the raise in dam height in violation of the binding norms of the Narmada Tribunal and the Judgements of the Supreme Court. Numerous supporters from the Left parties were proffered. The Bhumi Adhikar Andolan also participated in the Convention.
Com. D. Raja, MP, CPI, Com Shri Ragish, MP, CPM, Shri Swamy, MP, Rajya Sabha Former CPM – MP, Shri Hannan Mollah extending their solidarity, stated that their state and national units would provide increased support to the Andolan and would mobilize political support for the cause, both inside and outside the Parliament. They condemned the anti-people nature of the NDA Govt. and called upon the Prime Minister to act within the confines of law, instead of taking the side of big business.
Affected people from the Valley highlighted that there is not enough understanding of what happens after displacement, with or without Rehabilitation and Resettlement. As Sanobar bi from Chikhalda village said, women have been the worse affected. Alluding to the Modi’s favorite Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, she said “of what use are toilets for people who have no homes or livelihood?!”.  Representatives from 3 states spoke of their 30 years of struggle and the gradual disintegration of their culture because of displacement, lack of good land, poor state of resettlement sites, massive corruption etc.
Veterans Shri Kuldip Nayyar, Admiral Ramdas and Jst. Retd. Rajinder Sachar, heard the representatives from the three states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, stated that the struggle in Narmada is emblematic of what is happening in the whole country. They conveyed their complete solidarity and assured that they shall raise the issue at every possible fora.
The Convention began with a presentation by Com. Hannan Mollah, environmentalist Soumuya Dutta, senior socialist leader Dr. Sunilam and reservoir expert Dr. Raj Kachroo, who shared their findings and feelings after their visit to the valley and mentioned highlights from their Fact-Finding Report. They stated that the decision to raise the dam has serious implications on the lives of thousands of people, while on the ground rehabilitation with land and livelihood is far from over. The recent issue of throwing 16,000 families “out of submergence” on the basis of wrong back-water calculations was decried and a review was called for as also rehabilitation of all these oustees.
Activists from Gujarat including Rohit Prajapati, Lakhan Musafir, Sagar Rabari and Krishnakant exposed the hoax of “development” by SSP in Gujarat and questioned the fact that when less than 15% reservoir water is utilized, less than 30% canals have been built, why is there an urgency, on the basis of illegality to push the dam ahead? It is only for companies that lakhs of hecatres of land are being de-commanded and millions of litres of water are being doled out at throw away prices to bottled water companies? Apoorvanand, Delhi University reiterated the problem with such a development model gaining momentum in the country.
Medha Patkar reflected upon how initial concerns of environment, the destruction of local economy and adivasi cultures have all come true in the past 30 years. Admiral Ramdass, an old supporter of the NBA reiterated that: law has been far too slow and often misleading for people.  Adv. Sanjay Parikh, legal expert for NBA reflected on how the growing perception that struggling for environmental justice automatically means being ‘anti-development’ has also influenced the Judiciary – which is a grave concern. Shri Prajapati echoed the sentiment of the hall and stated if the Govt. has declared war against the people, the People are ready to accept the challenge.
Com. Annie Raja, NFIW; Kavita Shrivastava, PUCL, Shri K.B. Saxena, Former Secy, Govt. of India and expert on land issues, Suhas Borker, senior media person and many others spoke during various sessions and questioned the legality of the present dam work in the light of massive legal and human rights violations and huge backlog of R&R.  Adv. Sanjay Parikh expressed concern over how the growing perception of ‘raising environmental questions means anti-development’ is influencing the Judiciary.
The Convention concluded with strong resolution of those in the parliament as well those in the villages, cities and streets to carry forward and intensify the struggle for justice. The Andolan declared that there would be a pad–yatrain the whole of the valley starting from 6th of August from Khalghat till the 12thof August, ending at Rajghat, where a Satyagrah will be launched.
Delhi Solidarity Group, National Alliance of People';s Movements, Bhoomi Adhikar Andolan
For more details contact Vimal @9718479517 or Shabnam @9643349452
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Swaraj Abhiyan
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Naresh Kumar Sagar
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