Saturday 24 August 2013
SpyFox, Animated Short Film About a Secret Agent Fox Who Outsmarts an Evil Hammerhead Shark -
SpyFox, Animated Short Film About a Secret Agent Fox Who Outsmarts an Evil Hammerhead Shark
Courtesy - http://laughingsquid.com/
By on August 23, 2013
“SpyFox” is a fantastic animated short film by Yoav Shtibelman, Taylor Clutter and Kendra Phillips about a secret agent fox who outsmarts an evil hammerhead shark and stops his plans of flooding Earth. It was created at theRingling College of Art and Design with music composed by Corey Wallace and sound design by Eilam Hoffman.
When the world is threatened by an evil hammerhead shark bent on flooding the world, it’s up to SpyFox to stop him and save the world! This 60′s spy film inspired short will be sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Our Soldiers = Sitting Ducks.. ?
Those terms are just not soldierly ! The soliders just can't let themselves be "martyred"! For Chrissakes lets SOLDIER UP BOYS !
Friday 23 August 2013
Sad.....but true....
Riches to rags: Mumbai couple offers shelter to former editor Sunita Naik
Press Trust of India | Updated Aug 20, 2013 at 02:23pm IST
Sixty-five-year-old Sunita Naik, former editor of Marathi magazine 'Grihalaxmi', who was living on the pavement outside a local gurdwara in Mumbai for the past two months, has been offered shelter by a couple.
"I no longer live on the footpath, outside the gurdwara. I have found shelter with the couple - Gregory and Christine Misquitta - at their Vile Parle home," Naik told PTI. The Misquitas learnt about her plight from media reports and offered help, after being informed that she was staying at Versova outside the Aram Nagar Gurdwara for the last two months.
"I am happy here," she said. The couple brought her home along with her Pomeranian dog, her constant companion for the past 12 years. It is difficult to gauge from her present state that she was once a rich and independent woman who owned two apartments in Worli and a bungalow in Pune. I once had over Rs 50 lakh in my account. I don't know where it all went. I suspect one of my employees usurped my money," she said.
Sadder still, it wasn't an Indian family which gave her shelter but a foreigner couple which displayed the missing human trait...sigh,....is this the "sanskriti" we boast about !
You will not believe what these paintings are made from !!!
You will not believe what these paintings are made from !!!
These Stunning Paintings Are Made From Coal Mine Sludge!!
In the foothills of southeastern Ohio, where ghost towns are all that’s left of what was once a bustling coal mining economy, small streams run in vibrant hues of orange and bright yellow, or sometimes a milky white. Put your hands into the waters near these “black diamond cities,” and you can cup the pigment in your palms.
Before 1977, there were no laws that required companies to clean up the wastewater full of iron, bauxite, sulfuric acid, and other trace metals that flowed freely from mines into surrounding waterways. The acidic runoff, which polluted streams and killed off wildlife that couldn’t adjust to the lowered pH levels, continued after those coal mining operations left. “A million gallons per day of highly acidic high iron content pours into a creek nearby--and the creek is bright orange,” says environmental engineer and Ohio University professor Guy Riefler. That’s why, for the past five years, Riefler has been tinkering with an economically viable way to clean up the rivers and turn acid mine drainage sludge into something beautiful: paint.
“My main objective is to clean up the streams around here,” Riefler explains. “I figured if we could collect the sludge we make, it could offset the cost of operating [a] water treatment plant [near the abandoned mines]. Based on the numbers we got, I’m sure we could at least break even or make a profit by neutralizing the sulfuric acid, and that’s what really kills the fish.”
After lugging five gallons of sludge per trip from the nearby Truetown creek back to the lab (something that happened several times a month with graduate and undergraduate students over the last half-decade), Riefler is now in the final stage of refining his method. The line of pigment he’s currently working on is about 97% iron, and ranges “from orange to yellow to brown to deep red to black.” Riefler has also worked with local artist and art professor John Sabraw to come up with the right formulations, which Sabraw incorporates in huge canvas paintings that depict endangered islands and estuaries across the globe.
Sabraw says he first found out about Riefler’s project through one of his graduate students two years ago. Sabraw taught collaborative art classes based around the idea of sustainability, but shifted gears when one of his first assignments--an idea to save the world in two weeks--failed miserably. “They realized the crushing impossibility of doing this,” Sabraw says. Instead, “We did something they cared about, but could take immediate action to help. And if they didn’t implement it they’d fail.”
Sabraw adds that his students, who “have the world’s most sensitive bullshit meter,” encouraged him to think about his own practice in a different way. “I’m an artist and I buy stuff to make stuff,” he says. “And I have to be responsible for what I buy and what I produce.”
After working with Riefler, Sabraw has gone on to produce several paintings with the acid mine drainage pigment both on aluminum panels and canvas. He also runs a websitethat helps artists “offset” the environmental toll of their paints and shipping. (Once, Sabraw purchased enough carbon credits to offset the Mona Lisa, after rigorously researching the greenhouse gases generated from Leonardo DaVinci’s materials and the painting’s travel history.)
Sabraw’s latest project, the canvas paintings, will be open to the public on August 22 at Ohio Wesleyan University. Riefler, meanwhile, is working to gain the interest of paint and pigment companies that could partner with his plentiful, unnaturally occurring product. “If I could get that stream cleaned up I’d be really satisfied,” Riefler says. The Truetown seep, which filters into a larger waterway called the Sunday Creek, passes on about a million gallons of water a day--and polluted with 350 mg of iron per liter, works out to about 4,000 pounds of iron dumped into the river daily.
“It’s like you went to the creek and dumped two cars into the creek a day,” Riefler adds. The prospect of cleaning it up through selling off the sludge, he says, is “what keeps me going.”
CNN-IBN - The Bottleneck Is Always At The Top
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
IBN - The Bottleneck Is Always At The Top
On the face of it the following two tweets from members of CNN-IBN looks innocuous and routine programme information. One from Ruchira Singh, who handles the Social Media accounts for them and one from Rajdeep Sardesai:
A closer re-look based on other information that is now coming out of the TV18 group tells a deeper story. Why on I-Day would a news channel just leave a good part of the day with recorded programmes of Bollywood songs? That too some of it in the prime-time category! There seems to be a deep churning of sorts within the group. Their CEO, Dilip Venkatraman, has reportedly quit last week and internal sources have been leaking stories of massive retrenchment at the group, fashionably styled as “restructuring”. Here’s what The Hindu reported on August 16 (excerpts):
“Highly-placed channel sources, all of whom insisted on being anonymous, have told The Hindu that the network will ‘cut costs and human-resources by around 30 percent in each department’. There was no confirmation of the figure till late on Thursday evening, with authorized officials refusing to comment. Insiders said it was ‘almost certain’ that contracts of over 150 employees in IBN 7, and over 200 employees in CNN-IBN, would be terminated. A knowledgeable source said, “For a story, a reporter, cameraperson, equipment, a vehicle, a driver has to be deployed. Costs in each of these categories – staffing, production, and infrastructure – will be cut.” It is learnt that senior editorial staffers in key divisions like sports, entertainment and research may face the axe”.
A business sustains itself on a proper revenue model and survives on earning some profits for its stake-holders. In financial terms a 1000-day test is applied for loans and funds for a company to break-even and earn profits. Considering the IBN group was launched in 2005 (although their CNBC channel was launched earlier) it has been 8 years as the group kept absorbing poor financial returns backed by more and more investments in times of trouble. More inflow of funds may keep a business from folding up but not necessarily ensure profits. In such scenarios it is usually the frontline and smaller earners who pay the price.
Remember when Jet Airways sacked some 1900 of its employees overnight? They had to take them back due to protests by the employees and major coverage to the protests. In contrast the retrenchment at IBN is neither going to be covered by their peers in media and will be reported frugally in the print media. It has always been the case that when companies run into trouble the ones to be sacked most easily are the lower level or frontline employees. In the case of Big Bazar when they faced financial problems the first ones to be sacked were the check-out counter employees and even the bagging-boys at the counter. Actually, these employees are the least expensive in the organisation. The top guys who collectively draw a package almost equivalent to hundreds of the lower level employees usually get to stay.
The problem is not unique to the IBN7 group. Other channels too are facing the music. NDTV, which has been in the red for many years, retrenched many employees sometime back. The first problem is lack of programming itself and the second is lack of a proper revenue model. While claiming to be national channels the IBN or NDTV are nothing more than local Delhi channels. Their programming is centred merely around Delhi and about politics. When the season is on they throw in Cricket and a regular dose of Bollywood. The rest of the country hardly exists. For a national channel low viewership is a serious problem. When the Assam riots were on, Rajdeep Sardesai famously said “tyranny of distance” as the reason for not covering the story on time.
If one adds up all the “news” content of any TV channel the actual content would not amount to more than one hour of news. The same news gets recycled for the rest of the 23 hours since they like to believe a 24X7 channel is the only competitive route. For an international channel like CNN, which was the first as a 24-hour cable channel, the reporting starts from around the globe. For Indian viewers, it usually starts from Hong Kong or Singapore, then to London, to New York and then to their main studios. Thus there is a world-coverage of news and important events. Even so, CNN itself has been sliding in ratings in the US too. In contrast the Indian news channels which call themselves “national” don’t even get viewership from all across India. English channels like CNN-IBN, NDTV or Times Now are not aired in many B-category cities. Most of these cities have local language channels or in the North they have the Hindi channels providing service. And where the business channels are concerned they really don’t have much news to offer. Whatever share prices or business information they scroll at the bottom of the screen is what most viewers watch them for. That scrolling part is now being done on all news channels so specialised business channels also make little sense.
The biggest crime of all is a lot of inaccurate news and fake news that is frequently aired by these channels. That and the propaganda-based programmes and debates which have taken a beating at the hands of Social Media. Some of these channels have built themselves around “personalities” alone and when these personalities get tainted by bogus programmes and comments the channel takes a beating too. It would be more honourable for a channel to sack editors and anchors tainted by such deeds than to sack lower level employees. Some of the people tainted by Radiagate still continue in their jobs as if nothing happened. It now appears that a channel will find it hard to survive merely on English news content as it definitely seems to reduce the reach. Some might decide to go bilingual which may be a better option. What is happening to the news channels is quite similar to the airline industry. Hundreds of air-hostess and cabin-crew training companies had come up all over the cities when the airline boom started. Except a few, almost all of them have now shut shops.
Rajdeep Sardesai may appear in promos with grand lines like “credibility over chaos” or “news over noise”. But advertisements don’t sell. I am not sure most viewers accept the credibility part. I am not sure most viewers accept even the news over noise part, considering CNN-IBN has one of the shrillest anchors in TV history. As for credibility, the group may have to first wonder what got them into “chaos” themselves and how to get out of it. They may sack hundreds of lower level employees but the chaos and noise doesn’t come from them. The bottle-neck is always at the top of the bottle, not the bottom.
Under-defended India
Under-defended India
The Akash missile, mounted on a T-72 based self propelled launcher
by Ajai Shukla
23rd Aug 13
(Slightly abridged version in Business Standard today)
The disastrous explosion in Mumbai that sunk INS Sindhurakshak, one of India’s 14 conventional submarines, and damaged another is a body blow to India’s depleted underwater force. A third submarine lies in Visakhapatnam, crippled by a decade-old attempt to overhaul it. At any given time, the navy can only muster 7-8 submarines. The 30-Year Submarine Construction Plan, sanctioned in 1999, planned to quickly build 24 submarines, but not one of those has entered service.
Meanwhile, the navy’s plan to field three aircraft carriers remains a pipedream. When INS Vikramaditya gets here from Russia, it will be more than five years late. The vintage INS Viraat is to be decommissioned by 2018-19, when Cochin Shipyard delivers the INS Vikrant. The navy continues to dither over the specifications of the Vikrant’s successor. The defence ministry silently watches.
Also languishing are Project 15A and 15B for building six destroyers in Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai (MDL) and Project 17A for seven frigates. They are delayed by the navy’s decision to do “concurrent engineering”, that is developing advanced Long Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) alongside the construction of the warship. But with the LR-SAM delayed, the warships are delayed too. This isn’t global best practice by any means; proven systems should be used on new platforms.
Indian Air Force (IAF) planning is even more lamentable, with just 36 fighter squadrons today, against an authorised requirement of 39.5 squadrons. Worse, in 2015, when 8 squadrons of MiG-21s and MiG-27s are due to retire, to be replaced by only four squadrons of Sukhoi-30MKI and a single squadron of Tejas LCAs. In 2017, another 6 squadrons of MiG-21s will retire, creating a fresh crisis. None of this is a surprise; these dates have been known for a decade. The Tejas LCA, now on the cusp of completion, would be a cheap and capable replacement; instead, the IAF has lobbied relentlessly for expensive foreign aircraft.
Consider: The cost of 126 Rafales is some $18 billion; 250 Indo-Russian fifth-generation fighters will cost $30-35 billion; and 100-odd Sukhoi-30MKI will cost $10 billion. Add another $10 billion for C-17 Globemaster III, C-130J Super Hercules and replacing the Avro; $3-4 billion for trainers; and $10-15 billion for the light, utility and combat helicopters currently being procured. That takes the IAF’s aircraft purchases to $81-92 billion over the next 10-15 years. If the IAF condescends to buy a few squadrons of Tejas LCA, its shopping list will kiss $100 billion.
This wish list is an unaffordable fantasy given the IAF’s modernisation budget is $5.7 billion this year. And, given that an aircraft’s purchase price is just 20-25% of its life-cycle cost, the MoD should have warned the IAF off costly foreign procurement and towards indigenous design, development and manufacture. Instead, there are pro forma statements, like “whatever our brave soldiers need for defending the country will be made available.”
Tokenism also suffuses the unnecessary announcement about strengthening the China border by raising a new strike corps and several tank brigades. Instead of tackling the key weakness on the border --- poor roads that prevent the army from moving --- the government has thrown Rs 70,000 crore at the problem. But a strike corps is useful only if it can deploy rapidly.
India’s defence crisis runs far deeper than a shortage of warships, aircraft or divisions. In the absence of a strategically aware opposition, academia, media and public, the government and the military are not called to account for their titanic misspending of lakhs of crores. During peacetime, pro forma statements can paper over the voids. But when the rubber hits the road, as it did in 1962, capability alone will matter.
Contempt notice to defence secretary over control of Armed Forces Tribunal
Contempt notice to defence secretary over control of Armed Forces Tribunal
MoD ignores High Court's directive to place Armed Forces Tribunal under Ministry of Law
By Ajai Shukla
Business Standard, 23 Aug 13
The Punjab & Haryana High Court today issued contempt notices to the Defence Secretary and the Secretary (Justice) in the Law Ministry for not implementing court directions to place the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) under the Ministry of Law and Justice (MoLJ). The officials must respond by Sept 6.
The AFT is an independent judicial tribunal that soldiers must petition for justice before approaching the civil courts. However, since 2009, when it was set up through the Armed Forces Tribunal Act, 2007, the AFT has functioned under the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
That led Chandigarh-based lawyer, Major Navdeep Singh, to file a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Punjab & Haryana High Court, highlighted a conflict of interest --- since the MoD was the respondent in every case before the AFT, how could it oversee the tribunal? In Nov 2012, the high court directed that the AFT be overseen by the MoLJ, not the MoD.
The MoD responded with a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a stay on the Punjab & Haryana High Court’s decision. The apex court neither stayed the decision, nor issued a notice.
The government also set up an “Inter Ministerial Group” to look into the transfer of control of tribunals to the MoLJ.
The contempt petition pointed out that implementation of court judgments was not dependent upon the opinion of an “Inter Ministerial Group”. The contempt petition also alleged that the MoD was interfering with judicial functioning and violating law by “approving” appointments of AFT members, though the procedure does not require MoD approval.
This newspaper has reported (Apr 2, 2013, “RTI reveals MoD largesse to Armed Forces Tribunal”), how the MoD handed out largesse to AFT members --- paying Rs 67 lakhs for five “official foreign visits” by the AFT chairperson and members; and granting canteen shopping facilities to retired judges who are “Judicial Members” on AFT benches. Being civilians, the judges are not entitled to these.
Interestingly, the MoLJ has supported the idea of bringing the AFT, as well as tribunals in other ministries, under its jurisdiction. In an affidavit filed before the high court, the MoLJ stated that it had tried since 1997 to set up a Central Tribunal Division (CTD), but was opposed by most ministries and departments.
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Searching for Govt Memos or Circulars ?
Ever been desperate to search for Govt Memos or Circulars ?
http://www.circular.gconnect.in/ makes it possible for you carry out a search based on keywords. Useful !
Search for Office Memorandums issued on various Service Matters
Provide any one of the following.
1. Date, month and year in the format dd.mm.yyyy (if you know only month and year provide the same in the format mm.yyyy)
2. Full OM reference number or in part of the same.
3. Any one key word relating the OM being searched (Ex. If you want search OM relating to Children Education Allowance, enter either ‘children’ or ‘education’)
INFOGRAPHIC: FAILURE BY DESIGN
Everyone makes mistakes. But when seemingly minor blunders are made in designing and building structures, the results can be catastrophic. Read about some of the more infamous architectural failures in history, and what we have learned from those mistakes.
Tuesday 20 August 2013
MUST WATCH - NDTV covers The rise and fall of India's economy
NDTV : The rise and fall of India's economy
Published On: August 20, 2013 | Duration: 56 min, 33 sec
The rupee has collapsed, the stock market is falling - has India moved from a breakout nation to a breakdown nation in just a few months? A great show which covers the shape of Indian economy today and where we are headed....without the screeching screaming political jingoism !
Click the link below to watch the entire show....
Amazing Surf Shot !
Name: Morgan Maassen
Where was ‘storm surfer’ taken? Maqai island, Fiji
"Several years back my best mates and i sailed around fiji. after we finished, we went to camp on this microscopic little island on the eastern brim of the fiji that we were certain had good waves, considering the setups we saw earlier that month. this was the first day of our arrival, and we were greeted by fun, junky surf. i surfed for a bit, then decided to jump in the water to shoot some underwater photos. Right as i got to the lineup, the craziest storm materialized overhead and made the water glow like i had never seen before. my friend Trevor Gordon passed me by, and this made the photo that kickstarted my career."
Like this photo as much as we do? Think this would look good on your wall? You’re in luck, this photo is available for sale in five edition sizes here.
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