Canada's top diver Alexandre Despatie has been tipped as the biggest threat to the Chinese dream team at the Beijing Olympic Games.
Though the World Champion did not feature in Canada's Olympic diving trials in June due to injuries, he has qualified directly for the Beijing Games since the 23-year-old is the best in Canada.
"An Olympic gold medal is needed," as Despatie once said. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, he managed a silver in the men's 3 metres springboard and became the first Canadian diver to win an Olympic medal.
At the Beijing Olympics, Despatie, who's good in both springboard and platform, is no doubt the biggest hope for the Canadian team at the Water Cube.
Despatie visited the Water Cube during the FINA diving world cup in February, when his unsteady performance only awarded him a bronze in the 3m springboard synchro. "I can't remember the last time when the Chinese divers didn't win," said Despatie here.
In April, a foot injury forced the Canadian to rest for four to six weeks, which would affect his preparation for the Olympics.
However, he's still the biggest rival for the Chinese diving team.
The diving wunderkind started his career at five. And as early as 13, Despatie began to show his talents. He won the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, making him the youngest gold medal winner ever in the history of the Games. The achievement earned Despatie a spot in the 2000 Guinness Book of World Records.
At age 15, Despatie made his Olympic debut in the 2000 Sydney Games. He was too young to compete against veteran Russian Dmitri Sautin and the Chinese divers, but still finished fourth in the 10m platform.
After two years hard training, in the 2003 Barcelona World Championships, the 18-year-old defeated Chinese favourites Tian Liang and Hu Jia to claim victory in the 10m platform. It also made him the first diving world champion in Canada's history.
In the 2005 Montreal World Championships, Despatie earned gold medals in both the 1m and 3m springboards, becoming the first diver in history to be world champion in all three diving events. His performance in 3m springboard earned the 20-year-old 813.60 points, the first to win over 800 points in the event.
Despatie was almost unseen in 2006 due to injuries, but he came back in the 2007 Melbourne World Championships and took two silvers in the 3m springboard and 3m springboard synchro.
Xinhua
The consecutive suicide attacks in Islamabad and on Indian embassy in Kabul clearly show how much SAARC countries are inflicted with terrorism. The countries in subcontinent have always been soft targets for terrorists. No stringent laws, poor condition of intelligence and lack of active joint mechanisms between nations in Indian subcontinent have been the favouring factors for rising incidents. Although India and Pakistan set up a joint mechanism on terrorism, and similarly Pakistan also has a Pakistan-Afghan Accord to Obliterate Terrorism, but there are no results. The individual mechanisms are of no help in war on terrorism, we clearly need a combined forum to talk and find solutions and SAARC is that forum. During the 12th and 13th SAARC summits, extreme emphasis was laid upon greater cooperation between the SAARC members to fight terrorism, but the countries need to come out with a suitable framework in upcoming summit at Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Al Jazeera on Kabul Blast:
At least 28 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in Afghanistan's capital Kabul after an attack on the Indian embassy, offficials say.
Abdullah Fahim, the spokesman for the Afghan public health ministry, said the explosion wounded 141 people in addition to the deaths.
The ministry collected information from the scene and several Kabul hospitals.
James Bays, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan, said the blast on Monday may have been the work of a suicide bomber.
"This is the deadliest attack in Kabul for some months now," he said.
At least two of the dead were Indian paramilitary soldiers guarding the embassy, Indian foreign ministry officials said.
Bays said the road in the main centre of Kabul along which the interior ministry is situated should be one of the most secure roads in the city and "yet a suicide bomber managed to drive his four-wheel drive vehicle packed with explosives towards the gate of the embassy where he detonated his bomb".
He added: "It is a scene of utter devastation. The bomb has taken away the gate of the embassy, taken down trees, blown out windows and destroyed many cars which were parked outside the road ... pools of blood in the road and, of course, the most of awful thing it has done is kill alot of people ... Among the dead are a number of Indian staff working at the Indian embassy."
"Our information says two personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been killed in the attack," a foreign ministry source said.
The blast, which was felt across much of Kabul, took place near a row of metal turnstiles outside the Indian embassy, where dozens of Afghan men line up every morning to apply for visas.
Show of support
Rangeen Dadfar Spanta, the Afghan foreign minister, visited the embassy soon after the attack to show support, Sultan Ahmad Baheen, his spokesman, said.
"The enemies of Afghanistan and India's relationship cannot hamper our relationship by conducting such attacks," Baheen said.
India has provided significant support to Afghanistan's efforts to restore order after the removal of the Taliban, which seized power in 1996 until they were pushed out.
Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian foreign minister, has called an emergency meeting of defence, foreign and home ministry officials to discuss the security situation, Indian officials said.
"There is no report of major damage to the embassy building but a watch tower has been destroyed as per our preliminary information."
The Indian embassy sits on a busy, tree-lined street in central Kabul near the interior ministry offices.
The ministry building is a large Soviet-built concrete complex.
Several nearby shops were damaged or destroyed in the blast.
The Associated Press news agency quoted witnesses as saying the bomb exploded during morning rush hour.
Monday's explosion was the deadliest attack in Kabul this year and the worst since a suicide bomber attacked an army bus last September, killing 30 people.
While Afghanistan has seen increasing violence in recent months, Kabul has been largely spared from random bomb attacks that Taliban fighters use in their fight against Afghan and international troops.
Canadian killed
In a separate incident on Monday, a Canadian soldier with Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) died in an explosion that hit a patrol in the country's south, a Canadian commander said.
Private Colin William Wilmot was taking part in a security patrol when an explosive device blew up near him, Brigadier-General Denis Thompson said in a statement.
Canada has deployed 2,500 soldiers in southern Afghanistan as part of the 40-nation Isaf, which numbers about 53,000 soldiers.
The latest death brings the Canadian death toll in Afghanistan since 2002 to 87 soldiers and one diplomat.
None of the greatest movements in world history has been successful without the participation of masses or its people. The similar dilemma lies with India while we search for the best way to eradicate illiteracy from this country. Why have all these big schemes and abhiyans like Sarv Sikhsa Abhiyan have failed to serve their purpose, although government might be thinking that it served it's purpose, few percent more children have been taught how to write or read. But the ground reality is still far from what we really want to achieve.
We lack the public participation, nobody thinks in broader prospective, we leave it for NGO's to think, and help the underprivileged, who cannot buy them education (in today's reality education is bought).
In the same pursuit Times of India, one of the prominent English dailies has launched "Teach India" campaign. I was reading today's newspaper when I saw the full page advertisement regarding the campaign. May be for TOI, it is a marketing campaign to enlarge their base but the motive is pious. The results will be good for society, TOI will also reap it's benefits but who cares until it helps create a social awareness.
It has always been believed that media plays a vital role in nation building, It is the medium, which reaches to masses, whatever it communicates is going to change the course of destiny. With the large circulation of Times of India, one can certainly believe that it will attract lots of attention and people will join and it will also provide platform to people who want to help the underprivileged but could not find a medium to do that.
India's corporate sector is nervous about spiralling inflation that hit a 14-year high of 11.42 percent in the week ended June 14, but feels there could be moderate recovery in the medium term, said a survey by an industry lobby.
The latest quarterly business confidence survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), said 64 percent of the 413 companies questioned felt current economic conditions were the worst in the last six months.
In fact, 32 percent felt economic conditions would deteriorate further in the next six months.
The Expectations Index reflected some hope, with 37 percent of the respondents saying some recovery could take place in the medium term, particularly firm level performance.
At the same time, the survey's Current Conditions Index was at its lowest following moderation in economic growth, rise in inflation and increasing input costs.
"While the situation may improve somewhat in the near future, we will still fall short of the strong performance that was witnessed till about a year ago," the survey report said.
Any immediate hike in interest rates was bound to make the pressure insurmountable, it added.
"If the industry is saddled with further interest rate hikes then the present phase of 'nervous optimism' may not last long," the report warned.
Forty-four percent of companies said they were reeling under the impact of rising interest rates and input costs, forcing them to raise prices.
With the RBI further tightening its monetary policy, interest rates have started hardening, which was bound to impact the country's economic growth, they said. Rising crude oil and commodity prices globally have added to their anxiety.
The survey predicted that the manufacturing sector would continue to suffer through the year.
The North Pole faces the prospect of becoming iceless this summer for the first time in history, scientists warn.
They warn that since global warming has caused the thick, long-term layers of ice to disappear from the North Pole, the seasonal ice it receives during winter months has also been melting fast, with the last summer being a record ice loss year.
They fear the prospect of seasonal ice disappearing altogether this summer, leaving the North Pole iceless for the first time in history.
As the Arctic ice melts, many global experts also fear a scramble among Arctic nations - Canada, Russia, the US, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Finland, Iceland and Denmark - for control of its resources such as oil and gas, minerals and fresh water.
A report by the Arctic Council, which has all eight Arctic nations as its members, has warned of a `no-holds-barred' scramble for Arctic resources unless they reach some agreement on safety and environmental issues.
The report, prepared by 40 experts from six countries, also feared militarization of the Arctic as different nations fortify their claims to its resources.
All Arctic nations have to submit their claims by 2013 to the UN which will then decide by 2020 which nation controls what parts of the Arctic bed.
But the expert report said the agreement might be far away, warning ``This is a world in which many international players anxiously move to outwit competitors and secure tomorrow's resources today. Political tensions are high and brinksmanship is the name of the game.''
To safeguard its future interests, Canada has decided to station eight naval ships and build a navy and an army base in its Arctic region. The Americans have already held military exercises in Alaska, and the Russians too plan to flex their military muscle very soon.
The office of MTV India in south-central Mumbai was attacked by over 200 Sikhs Monday afternoon in protest against a defamatory poster put up by the music channel.
According to a spokesperson for MTV, the protesters were agitated about a poster of its career-based reality show, "On The Job."
The promo posters of the show and the new career options before youth depict a woman massaging a man, while a Sikh youth looks on.
Apparently, some Sikh organisations took umbrage at the poster and attacked the MTV India office in Parel. Police have rushed to the spot and were attempting to bring the situation under control when reports last came in. The Sikh organisations have not been identified yet.
The print circulation reports by ABC or IRS are quiet common in media circles in India. Newspapers, Magazines or Journals cry or jump over these ratings or circulation data. But with the growing reach of internet in India, the internet reach of a newspaper or magazine is also needed to be accounted, while declaring the winners in circulation wars.
Today I would be trying to search that which of the famous English weeklies in India fare better in terms of Internet reach. I would not be giving any conclusions or declaring any winners, but I would try to discuss about the online presence of various weekly magazines in India.
Indian newspaper stands are full of various English magazines; India Today, The Week, Outlook, Tehelka and The Sunday Indian are few of them, which are often counted amongst the top few.
If we look at the graph given by Alexa: A Web Information Company, Outlook looks like a clear and consistent performer.
India Today and Tehelka are fighting for the second spot although Tehelka had its days of honour when it outshone very magazine but normally it is fighting for the runners up spot. The Week is the next in list followed by The Sunday Indian at last.
This morning when i picked up my Delhi Times, There was a fullpage advt talking about some "icontrol", which is a new IPTV service { i think so..} presented by MTNL and Aksh Optifibre. So, I thought, lemme use my Googling skills to find out more about this service as many of my fellow Netizens are trying to find the same. Google Trends tells me that that there is a sharp increase in the number of people searching about iControl on internet from the places like New Delhi.
Ok. So Lets try to find out what is really "icontrol" is...
Firstly lets talk about IPTV:
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
icontrol advt says that you do not need any broadband service or telephone to use this service, Thats right, icontrol will use a optical fibre cable to transfer television content to you TV. Ad it is totally based on computer netwokrs so you will have an added advantage to control what you are going to watch.
icontrol tarrifs
Delhi :
* Free Setup Box against fully refundable security deposit of Rs. 999.
* Pay Rs.199 per month to get icontrol service through MTNL.
* No Telephone , No computer, No DVD Player, No Internet / Broadband required for using icontrol