Pollution hangs over Indian capital as farm stubble fires rage

New Delhi’s air quality was at its worst this season on Thursday, as winds heavy with toxic smoke from polluting vehicles and smoldering crop waste fires in neighboring states lingered low over the Indian capital. Average air pollution this month hit its worst in two years after farmers made an early start on burning crop stubble left in their fields after harvests. Just over half of Delhi’s 36 monitoring stations had readings above 400 on a scale of 500, indicating “severe” pollution that authorities say can affect healthy people and seriously harm any who are already ill. The index of overall air quality (AQI), measuring the concentration of microscopic particles known as PM2.5, which can be deadly, was at an eight-month high. Deteriorating air quality has already caused a spike in respiratory infections, doctors have said.Delhi’s government is working to clear the toxic air by restricting construction and other dust-raising activities, Environment Minister Gopal Rai has said.

US Presidential Debate: Insults and interruptions mar first Trump-Biden debate

President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden battled fiercely over Trump's record on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and the economy in a chaotic and bad-tempered first debate marked by personal insults and Trump's repeated interruptions. Trump bulldozed his way through the 90-minute debate, trying to goad Biden nearly every time he spoke, claiming that Democrats were trying to steal the November presidential election with mail-in ballots and declining to condemn white supremacist groups when asked to do so. Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News never established control of the debate, with Trump repeatedly ignoring his calls to let Biden speak. The two White House contenders talked over each other and lobbed insults in a breathtaking political brawl that made it hard for either to make a point. The stakes were enormous as the two candidates took the stage five weeks before the Nov. 3 Election Day. As of Tuesday evening, more than 1.3 million Americans already had cast early ballots. With time running out to change minds or influence the small sliver of undecided voters.For Trump, 74, Tuesday's debate represented one of the few remaining chances to change the trajectory of a race that most opinion polls show him losing, as the majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of both the pandemic and protests over racial injustice. Biden, 77, has held a consistent lead over Trump in national opinion polls, although surveys in the battleground states that will decide the election show a much closer contest. It was hard to determine whether the debate would move the needle.

Apple is about to open its first floating store that's shaped like a giant sphere

The rumours are indeed true! Apple Marina Bay Sands, the first Apple store in the world that floats on the water, is opening soon in Singapore. This is Singapore’s third Apple Store, with the first one opening on Orchard Road in 2017, followed by a second at Jewel Changi Airport last year. During a visit to Singapore in December 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly commented on the busyness of the current locations, adding that the city-state `could use a third store.` Apple’s worldwide retail network may be struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t stopped the company from indulging in its penchant for pricey-looking, unique, and outlandish exterior design. The iPhone maker’s going to open newest retail location in Singapore on the city-state’s waterfront. It can claim a world’s first title: it’s the only Apple retail shop on the planet that floats on water.The opening comes at a challenging time for the retail sector as lockdowns and other measures linked to the deadly coronavirus prompt more people to shop online. Apple closed all of its stores outside of China in March 2020 and since then has been opening and closing sites according to local conditions regarding the severity of the pandemic. Singapore’s Apple Stores reopened on June 24 with shorter-than-usual operating hours. In a bid to reduce the risk of staff and customers getting infected, Apple Stores are now requiring everyone entering the premises to submit to a touchless temperature check and wear a mask. Additional measures such as limited store occupancy, social distancing, and regular sanitization of surfaces are also in place.

China orders U.S. to close consulate in Chengdu

The ministry also ordered the consulate general to cease operations.

“The current situation between China and the U.S. is something the Chinese side does not want to see,” the foreign ministry said in a Chinese-language statement translated by CNBC.

“The responsibility lies entirely with the U.S. side,” the statement added. “We again urge the U.S. side to immediately revoke its relevant wrong decisions, to create necessary conditions for the two countries’ relationship to return to normal.”

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing declined to comment.

Who is Real Madrid’s Most Important: Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema or Thibaut Courtois?

Who is Real Madrid’s Most Important: Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema or Thibaut Courtois?

Belgium prince Joachim tests positive after lockdown party

Belgian prince Joachim has been diagnosed with coronavirus just days after attending a private party in Spain which breached social distancing rules. He is the nephew of King Philippe of Belgium and ninth in line to the throne, attended the party on Tuesday in a private house in the city of Cordoba. According to Spanish news outlet El Pais, 27 people attended the private party, which is nearly double the number of people (15) currently allowed to congregate under one roof in the Andalusian city. All the guests who attended the party are now in quarantine, while it is not clear whether the prince contracted the virus at the party or whether he already had the virus beforehand.  Prince Laurent of Belgium, another of Joachim's uncles, confirmed the virus has been contracted by at least one member of his family.

How some cities 'flattened the curve' during the 1918 flu pandemic ..Today Coronavirus plays that role

Coronavirus, the first cases of which were discovered in the city of Wuhan in December 2019, continues to spread across the globe. So far more than 7.5 lakh cases of infection and 33 thousand more deaths have been registered. The Corona positive cases and deaths goes up day by day around the world. Especially Europe and United States of America are the great sufferers now. Panicky rumours are circulating on the Internet that over a thousand people are dying in Wuhan. At the Chinese border, Russians are refusing to work with goods from China because they believe they're infected. They are taking precautions at every level, and as a result prices are going up and business is going down. A dictatorship may be perfectly positioned to enforce a quarantine.CORONAVIRUS' epicentre is known to be Wuhan, a Chinese province - but an unearthed report claims the Spanish Flu pandemic may have originated in China more than a century ago, too.The Spanish flu is one of the worst has killed more than 100 million people maximum in 1918. The flu by positing that it developed first in Europe’s trenches. It began in the trenches or ended up there after the arrival of American troops, the virus spread quickly to German soldiers and to neutral Spain. Spain to erroneously think that it was alone in enduring such a brutal outbreak — hence the name `Spanish flu.` Russian POWs returning from Germany spread the disease to the newly created Soviet Union, and by May and June, various countries in Africa, as well as India, China, and Japan, all had outbreaks. In particular, had more brutal effects than typical influenza, not least because it was likelier than the ordinary flu to be joined by bacterial pneumonia. caused most of the deaths in the 1918 flu outbreak.While today countries keep detailed records of testing and diagnosis for new outbreaks (as they’ve been doing during the coronavirus crisis), there was no such record-keeping capacity in the late 1910s.

India beat New Zealand Again in second T-20 by 7 wickets

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets with 15 balls to spare. Both the two young talents from India KLRahul and Shreyas Iyer leads the team in to the consecutive victory in a row. Earlier in the same Eaden ground in Akland the first T-20 match India registers 6 wicket win. The boys Rahul and Shreyas knocked fifties. Shreyas have got player of the match with his brilliant knock. And Todays entire match also went around the two young Indian Batsmen. Man of the match Lokesh Rahul gets tremndous 57* 0ff 50 balls. With his support Shreyas again played a great innings. He gets 44 out off 33 balls. Then He was out trying to hit the ball over the ropes. An excellent catch from Tim Southee. However, this wicket is more of a consolation for Ish Sodhi as India need just 8 runs from 21 deliveries. The run chase did not get off to an ideal start as Rohit Sharma lost his wicket to Tim Southee in the first over. Southee also got the wicket of Virat Kohli(11) in the sixth over of the innings. Rahul brought the run chase back on the track alongside Shreyas Iyer with an 86-run partnership for the third wicket. Rahul scored his second fifty on the trot in the series from 43 deliveries and remained unbeaten for 57. Earlier Black Caps’ skipper Kane Williamson won the toss, elected to bat first. Martin Guptill got the hosts off to a good start but lost his wicket for 33 in the sixth over to Shardul Thakur. Colin Munro failed to make a mark as he got out to Shivam Dube after scoring 26 runs from 25 deliveries. Indian bowlers continued to put pressure on Kiwi batsmen in the middle overs. Kane Williamson struggled to get the ball into gaps and lost his wicket trying to sweep Ravindra Jadeja. He took two wickets for 18 runs.With this victory India move ahead 2-0 lead in the five Matches T-20 series.

Amazon `The lungs of the world`

The Amazon Rainforest, also known as Lungs of the World. This forest supplies 20 percent of oxygen to the entire world. Is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America. More than half of the forest is contained within Brazil, the rest of it in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, covering five and a half million square kilometers, or 1.4 billion acres. The Amazon represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests, and it comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. The diversity of plant species is the highest on Earth.

sri lanka's face veil ban comes into effect

Sri Lanka ban all types of face covers burqas and masks comes into effect today. Muslim women in Sri Lanka will not be allowed to wear any form of face veils in public from Monday under new regulations announced by President Maithripala Sirisena who used emergency powers in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings. The new regulation banning any form of face covering was announced by the President on Sunday, a week after the coordinated blasts hit three churches and three luxury hotels, killing over 300 people and inuring more than 500 others. The ban is to ensure national security.. No one should obscure their faces to make identification difficult, Sirisena's office said in a statement. He took steps under the emergency regulation to prohibit the use of face coverings of all sorts which is an obstacle to ensure the identity of the people and a threat to national and public security. The order clarifies that the key criterion for establishing the identity of a person is the need to clearly expose the face, the report said. The President has taken this decision to establish a peaceful and cohesive society which does not inconvenience any community people as well as ensure national security, it added. Muslims account for 10 per cent of the population and are the second-largest minority after Hindus. Around seven per cent of Sri Lankans are Christians.

500 year old well discovered near gurdwara on kartarpur corridor in pak

On the Kartarpur corridor  a 500-year-old well discovered. It`s believed to have been built during the lifetime of the founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev. At the enclosure of a gurdwara on the Kartarpur corridor which will facilitate easy passage of Sikh pilgrims to the historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan.The well was discovered while digging the enclosure of Gurdwara Dera Sahib Kartarpur, some 125 kilometres from Lahore, on the Kartarpur corridor, caretaker of gurdwara Sardar Gobind Singh told the press. It will also be a great attraction for the Indian Sikhs due here on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, he said. The year 2019 marks the 550th birth anniversary year of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, whose birthplace is Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.The corridor will facilitate visa-free travel of Indian Sikh pilgrims to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur. On November 26 last year, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone of the Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib Corridor (up to the International Border) at an event at Mann village of Gurdaspur district of Punjab.On November 28, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the 4-kilometer corridor which is expected to be completed by 2019.

PVJAI SINDHU

Pusarla Venkata Sindhu is an Indian professional badminton player. At the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016, she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal. She is one of the two Indian badminton players to ever win an Olympic medal  other being Saina Nehwal.

Sindhu came to international attention when she broke into the top 20 of the BWF World Ranking in September 2012 at the age of 17. In 2013, she became the first ever Indian women's singles player to win a medal at the Badminton World Championships. In March 2015, she is the recipient of India's fourth highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri. Her silver medal win in the women's singles event of the 2016 Summer Olympics made her the first Indian shuttler to reach the final of an Olympics badminton event and the youngest Indian to make a podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics.

Sindhu was born (5 July 1995) to  P. V. Ramana of  West Godavari district and P. Vijaya of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh state. In 2000, Ramana was awarded Arjuna Award for his sport. Though her parents played professional volleyball, Sindhu chose badminton over it because she drew inspiration from the success of Pullela Gopichand, the 2001 All England Open Badminton Champion.  She eventually started playing badminton from the age of eight.

Sindhu first learned the basics of the sport with the guidance of Mehboob Ali at the badminton courts of Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications in Secunderabad. Soon after, she joined Pullela Gopichand's Gopichand Badminton Academy badminton academy.  The fact that she reports on time at the coaching camps daily, travelling a distance of 56 km from her residence, is perhaps a reflection of her willingness to complete her desire to be a good badminton player with the required hard work and commitment.

Gopichand seconded this correspondent's opinion when he said that the most striking feature in Sindhu's game is her attitude and the never-say-die spirit. After joining Gopichand's badminton academy, Sindhu won several titles. In the under-10 years category, she won the 5th Servo All India ranking championship in the doubles category and the singles title at the Ambuja Cement All India ranking. In the under-13 years category, Sindhu won the singles title at the Sub-juniors in Pondicherry, doubles titles at the Krishna Khaitan All India Tournament, IOC All India Ranking, the Sub-Junior Nationals and the All India Ranking in Pune. She also won the under-14 team gold medal at the 51st National School Games in India.

Career

In the international circuit, Sindhu was a bronze medallist at the 2009 Sub-Junior Asian Badminton Championships held in Colombo. At the 2010 Iran Fajr International Badminton Challenge, she won the silver medal in the singles category. Sindhu reached the quarterfinals of the 2010 Junior World Badminton Championships that was held in Mexico. She was a team member in India's national team at the 2010 Uber Cup.

2016

In January, Sindhu won the Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold women's singles title after beating Scotland's Kirsty Gilmour in the final. She had also won this tournament in 2013.

In the 2016 Premier Badminton league, Sindhu was the captain of Chennai Smashers team. In the group league, she won all of the five matches to help her team qualify for the semifinal. However, in the semifinal. her team was beaten by Delhi Acers.

Rio Olympics 2016

At the  women's singles event, Sindhu was drawn with Hungarian Laura Sarosi  and Canadian Michelle Li in Group M. During the group stage matches, she beat Laura Sarosi (2–0) and Michelle Li (2–1). Further she ousted Taipei's Tai Tzu-ying (2–0) in the round of 16 to meet the second seed Wang Yihan in the quarterfinals, whom she defeated in straight sets.

Sindhu later faced the Japanese Nozomi Okuhara in the semifinals, won in straight sets, and ensuring her a podium finish. This set the stage for her final showdown with top seed from Spain, Carolina Marín. Marin managed to beat Sindhu in three sets in the 83-minute match. With that result, Sindhu clinched the silver medal. She charted history of achieving the feat as she is youngest and first women individual to bag an Olympic Silver medal representing India. This was the second instance of podium finish at the Olympics by any Indian badminton player.

Honours

• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for badminton in 2016

• Arjuna Award for badminton in 2013

Pine Marten

The European pine marten known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel.The body is up to 53 cm in length, and its bushy tail can be 25 cm. Males are slightly larger than females; on average a marten weighs around 1.5 kg. Their fur is usually light to dark brown and grows longer and silkier during the winter months. They have a cream to yellow coloured `bib` marking on their thro ats.

Banana Spiders

The Brazilian wandering spiders, armed spiders, as they are known in Brazilian Portuguese, or banana spiders appear in Guinness World Records from 2010 as the world's most venomous spider. Guinness World Records states that although the Brazilian wandering spider venom is the most toxic, an effective antivenom is available and few fatalities occur. The spiders in the genus can grow to have a leg span of 13 to 15 cm (5.1 to 5.9 in). Their body length ranges from 17 to 48 mm (0.67 to 1.89 in). Despite their reputation as the world's deadliest spiders, there are multiple studies that call into question their capacity for fatal human envenomation, though some of these are labeled with a level of uncertainty, as Phoneutria are often confused with other genera of ctenids, lycosids or other large labidognatha spiders. Of the eight described species, P. nigriventer and P. fera most frequently receive mention in mass-media publications. P. nigriventer is the species responsible for most cases of venom intoxication in Brazil because it is commonly found in highly populated areas of southeastern Brazil, such as the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. The species P. fera is native to the northern portion of South America in the Amazon of Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and the Guyanas.

`Flood`shed

Fastest bird swift

we have seen them flying at about 9000 feet. If they need to they can fly twice that high. It is reported to reach a top speed of 169km/hour. The needle-tailed swift or spine-tailed swift is commonly reported as the fastest bird in level flight. There's still an awful lot that we don't know about them, making them a real Mystery Bird. They feed, drink, mate and sleep on the wing, and only land to breed. So a young Swift will spend its first two or three years in constant flight before it nests. Because they never land on the ground, and are so fast and so totally aerial. Swifts are amazing, beautiful birds. Supreme aerialists, they spend almost all their life in the air, a lot of that at low level, feeding on airborne insects.

sweden Mine hotel

It is deepest hotel in the world. The Sala Silvermine hotel locted at Scandinavia, in Sweden, in the county of Vastmanland and in the town of Sala. Hitting rock bottom on vacation can be a very cool experience. For it is there that travelers can find the Sala Silvermine and can stay in the accommodations of its Mine Suite. At 155 meters (509 feet) below ground level. As early as the 1400s and as late as 1962, miners excavated silver, lead and zinc from beneath the ground here. The town of Sala was ordered built on its current site by King Gustavus Adolphus in 1624 and all the infrastructure around it. Today, precious metals are no longer being extracted from the mine; it is operating purely as a tourist attraction. 

Top trend

Beast Mode, ‘For convenience’, and Thugs lead the top trending words and phrases in 2015. This is preliminary to GLM’s thirteenth annual WOTY (Word of the Year) rankings that will be released at this year end. Beast Mode (Rank 1) 2. For convenience 3.Thugs 4.Deflate Gate 5.Princess Charlotte 6.Deep learning 7.Anthropocene 8.Drone 9.Digital Darkness 10.Invisible Primaries 11.Near-Nude 12.Migrant-electorate 13.Evolve 14.Intelligence Explosion 15.Almond Shaming.   

Youngsters favorite and common using words are these:

1.Lame 2.Naive 3.Senpai 4.Logam 5.Snafu 6.Sissy 7.Voracious 8.Spell Bound 9.Chivalrous 10.Carpe Diem. 

Octo-Boy

Eight limbed Deepak Kumar Paswaan, (nicknamed octo-boy), in Buxar village in the east Indian state of Bihar was born with a rare condition called Parasitic Twin. A parasitic twin (also known as an asymmetrical or unequal conjoined twin) is the result of the processes that produce vanishing twins and conjoined twins, and may represent a continuum between the two. He had the arms and legs of an undeveloped twin growing out of his chest. The parasitic twin stopped developing in the womb leaving Deepak with arms, legs and buttocks protruding from his chest. It is clear that the parasitic twin shares Deepak’s blood supply. Dr. Manny Alvarez, managing editor of health at FoxNews.com and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Science at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey said that surgery would be extremely complicated, if not impossible due to the large amount of vascular structures that would need repairing. Deepak was exposed to the people in their village, he was being related or linked to and 8 limbed God in India. Some people have worshipped him for a while and the others attacked and hated him for they believed that He brings bad luck to the community people. The way Deepak treated was so heartbreaking, and because of this He had developed low self-esteem and suffered his whole life running and hiding. But in June 2010 top doctors at the Fortis Hospital Bangalore agreed to operate on Deepak's parasitic twin for free, saving his impoverished family the £50,000 it would have cost otherwise. He was scheduled for a surgery that lasted 4-hour operation at Fortis Hospital and with the help of sophisticated equipments and health professionals the procedure to separate Deepak Kumar Paswaan from his twin was a success. He is now living a normal and happy life.

2. Boy with 15 fingers and 16 toes:

A Chinese boy was born with 15 fingers and 16 toes. With a total of 31 fingers and toes combined, he broke the previous record of 25. The boy underwent a surgery which lasted for 5 hours to have his extra fingers and toes removed.

3. Girl with 4 arms and 4 legs:

A girl named Lakshmi Tatma from India was born with 4 arms and 4 legs. Her parents were laborers and couldn’t afford the expensive surgery to remove the extra limbs. Luckily, thirty doctors from Sparsh Hospital in Banglore did her surgery for free.

4. The boy with Extra head:

In 2004, a child named Manar was born with an undeveloped twin attached to his head. The extra head could smile and even blink. Only a year later, the extra head was removed, and the child’s mother appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show with her surviving child. Unfortunately, Manar passed away in 2006 due to a brain infection.

5. Baby with two faces:

Kangkang was born with an abnormality called transverse facial cleft, which gives him the appearance of having two faces (or wearing a mask). His parents finally managed to save enough money for the expensive treatment at the People Liberation Army’s Military Hospital.

6. The 3 legged Man:

Lentini was born in 1889 in Rosolini in the province of Sirocusa, Sicily as one of twelve children. While he was billed as ‘The Man With Three Legs’, Lentini actually had four feet as a small malformed secondary foot protruded from his third leg. Thus in total he had three legs, four feet, sixteen toes and two sets of functioning male gen** itals. Furthermore, to complicate his life further, all of Francesco’s legs were of different lengths. However, Lentini was a very charming man and his charm did not go unnoticed and a young lady named Theresa Murray soon took a liking to Lentini. The pair soon wed and together they had four healthy children. Lentini continued touring until he passed away at the age of seventy-eight in 1966.

Elephant seals

Elephant seals are large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus Mirounga. The two species, the northern elephant seal and the southern elephant seal. The northern elephant seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The southern elephant seal is found in the Southern Hemisphere on islands such as South Georgia and Macquarie Island, and on the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina in the Peninsula Valdes, which is the fourth-largest elephant seal colony in the world. These animals are colossally large in comparison with other pinnipeds, with southern elephant seal bulls typically reaching a length of 16 ft (4.9 m) and a weight of 3,000 kg, and are much larger than the cows, with some exceptionally large males reaching up to 20 ft (6.1 m) in length and tipping the scales at 4,000 kg; cows typically measure about 10 ft (3.0 m) and 910 kg. Northern elephant seal bulls reach a length of 14 to 16 ft (4.3 to 4.9 m) and the heaviest weigh about 2455 kg. Elephant seals spend upwards of 80% of their lives in the ocean. They can hold their breath for more than 100 minutes. Elephant seals dive to 1,550 m beneath the ocean's surface. Elephant seals have a very large volume of blood, allowing them to hold a large amount of oxygen for use when diving. They have large sinuses in their abdomens to hold blood and can also store oxygen in their muscles with increased myoglobin concentrations in muscle. In addition, they have a larger proportion of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. These adaptations allow elephant seals to dive to such depths and remain underwater for up to two hours. While excellent swimmers, they are also capable of rapid movement on land. As they search for their favorite foods, which are skates, rays, squid, octopuses, eels, small sharks and large fish.