almerrick test post content

almerrick test post content

Amazon launches India website, begins with books and movies categories

Amazon.com, the global retail giant, on Wednesday entered the Indian e-commerce space with its online marketplace Amazon.in.

Amazon's announcement comes nearly three months after its Vice-President Paul E Misener met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, seeking relaxation in FDI policy in retail.

Currently, India allows 100 per cent FDI only in Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce and not in retail trading online.

"E-commerce is at a very nascent stage in India and we see it as a exciting opportunity for us. There's lot of opportunity for innovation and to provide value to our customers," Amazon India Vice President and Country Manager Amit Agarwal said.

He said the company, which had entered the Indian online shopping with its price aggregator and selection website Junglee.com in February 2012, will continue to focus on both the ventures.

Amazon will begin operations with just two product categories for now - books and movies - and later add other selections.

India is the tenth marketplace for the company and it will offer seven million books and 12,000 movies to start with.

"We wanted to be in India. We are entering now because we are ready. We have long-term view on this...We have long-term vision for both Amazon.in and Junglee.com. We will invest in both," said Agarwal.

The website will not sell products directly to customers but only provide a platform to sellers, he said, adding the company was offering an online marketplace for buyers and sellers.

Amazon will charge a referral fee, monthly subscription charges and stores fee from retailers that choose its services.

In the first year of operation, Amazon will not charge any monthly subscription and has also slashed its charges for storage.

As a launch offer, Amazon.in is also offering free home delivery for a limited time and cash on delivery. When the offer expires, only orders above Rs 500 will be home delivered free of charge.

Agarwal said Amazon complied with the existing India FDI policy on retail.

"Marketplace is an established and allowed operating model and several marketplaces are already operating in India," he said.

Despite being a late entrant in the e-commerce space, Agarwal feels that there is enough room for many players in many formats.

When asked about investments, Amazon officials declined to disclose the capital that the company has put in India.

"We're excited to get started in India and we will relentlessly focus on raising the bar for customer experience in India," said Greg Greeley, Vice President of International Expansion at Amazon.com.

Source  http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/amazon-india-website-launched-e-commerce-space-hots-up/1/195605.html

Still Searching for the Promised Land

For its third production this season, Gioachino Rossini's "Moses in Egypt" (1818), the itinerant New York City Opera returned to New York City Center, where it was born as "the people's opera" in 1944 and spent the first two decades of its life. The opera world has undergone major changes since then, and City Opera, still battling back from a near-death experience four years ago, continues to search for a distinctive contemporary identity, one that will attract sufficient audiences and donors to sustain it.

"Moses in Egypt" is an intriguing step towards that goal: The staging, directed and designed by Michael Counts, is groundbreaking, using video created by Ada Whitney of Beehive and an absolute minimum of physical scenery. Ms. Whitney's remarkable images—a field of stars, a slowly scrolling desert panorama, a cave mouth that is at first in front of the singers and then behind them as they seem to move deeper inside—could solve the problem of cumbersome sets once and for all. Perhaps City Opera will become the country's first virtual opera company. Imagine how much the Metropolitan Opera could have saved on its gigantic Ring Cycle if it had forgone the Robert Lepage "machine" and done it all with video.

A grand opera with a big cast and full chorus, "Moses in Egypt" is a good candidate for video treatment. Based on the Book of Exodus, with an interfaith love story added to spice things up, it depicts three of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea—all of which can be headaches for a producer.

It is also a showcase for dueling bass-baritones, Mosè and Faraone (Moses and Pharaoh). Faraone keeps promising to let the Israelites go, and reneging; each time he does so, Mosè calls in another plague. Faraone's son Osiride wants to keep the Israelites around and continue his clandestine love affair with the Israelite Elcia, so he urges Faraone to break his promise and ends up a casualty of the last plague, the Slaying of the First-Born.

The City Opera cast is made up almost entirely of debut artists, with some nice finds among them. David Salsbery Fry replaces the original Mosè, who was ill. Without the necessary vocal weight and gravity, it is hard to see Mr. Fry as much of a threat to the Faraone of Wayne Tigges, a powerful presence despite a tendency to sing sharp. But the tenor and soprano pairs (one in each camp) are happier matches. As Osiride, Randall Bills works hard and acquits himself with distinction but little finesse in this high, difficult role. Aldo Caputo has effortless volume as Aronne (Aaron). Siân Davies uses her pure, agile soprano and sculpted phrasing to bring some pathos to Elcia. Keri Alkema, the only returning singer in the cast (she was an impressive Donna Elvira in the company's "Don Giovanni" in 2009) brings a burnished intensity and clean coloratura to Amaltea, Faraone's wife and an Israelite sympathizer. Potent in smaller roles are Zachary Finkelstein as the scheming Egyptian priest Mambre and Emily Righter as the Israelite Amenofi.

Jessica Jahn has dressed the Egyptians in sculptural black-and-gold hats and breastplates for the royals, and the Israelites in flowing pastel-hued robes. Mosè, in a white dress, looks more like a benign Bible-story Jesus than an Old Testament patriarch. Ryan O'Gara's lighting mostly works well with the video.

Mr. Counts and the conductor, Jayce Ogren (now also the company's music director), could certainly do more with this good material. Channeling Robert Wilson or Achim Freyer, Mr. Counts and choreographer Ken Roht set up tableaux and some slow gestures (rigid vs. fluid, with Faraone apparently signaling traffic and Elcia drawing serpentine arcs) and otherwise leave the characters to stand and sing. The acting is minimal and amateurish. When Osiride takes Elcia into the cave to persuade her to run off with him, the two never generate any mutual intensity; all the visual interest comes from the video projection. As Mr. Lepage did with the Ring Cycle, Mr. Counts fatally relies on the wow factor of technology and forgets about the people.

Mr. Ogren's pedestrian conducting tends here to plod rather than soar. The orchestra is adequate, with some hints of inspiration in the woodwind solos. This is too bad, because the piece is rarely performed (this was billed as its first full staging in New York in more than 180 years) and is well worth hearing, with spectacular ensemble and chorus pieces and a vigorous story that all lend themselves to more interpretation than they received here.

City Center, which is now beautifully renovated with a clear but cold acoustic, seems a comfortable setting for its prodigal child. But expectations are higher than they were six decades ago and life is a lot more expensive. City Opera has more work to do.

Source   http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324030704578424662980407772.html

NCAA wrestling national championships onships

They say it's easier to climb to the mountaintop of any sport than it is to defend that high ground. That old axiom was proven to be true Saturday at the 2013 NCAA Div. 1 Wrestling Championships.

Penn State walked out of Wells Fargo Arena with its third consecutive team championship, but it wasn't easy. The Nittany Lions had to fend off a spirited challenge from Oklahoma State.

Penn State finished with 123.5 points. Oklahoma State was second with 119.5, followed by Minnesota (103), Iowa (73) and Cornell (65).

"We're super happy. Our guys did a great job. It was back and forth. Our guys came through. I think every year is a little - you have different challenges," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. "It certainly doesn't get any easier. The first one was super special. It doesn't get easier."

In 2011 in Philadelphia, Penn State beat Cornell, 92.5-75. In 2012 in St. Louis, Penn State outdistanced Minnesota, 143-117.5.

Two Nittany Lions - junior 184-pounder Ed Ruth and senior 197-pounder Quentin Wright - won championships. It was the second for each of them.

Three Nittany Lions lost in the finals: sophomore Matt Brown (174), sophomore Nico Megaludis (125) and junior David Taylor (165). It was the second finals loss for Megaludis and Taylor. Megaludis lost last year. Taylor lost in the finals in 2011 and won the title at 165 a year ago. It was Brown's first trip to nationals.

"I think all of our finalists, they just wrestled. They wrestled great matches. I'm really proud of them," Sanderson said. "It's my job to make sure they're ready, each one, each individual. I'm not sure I did a very good job. That's the hard part as a coach because you're always, 'man, we just won the nationals, but we had guys that didn't reach their goal.'"

Brown won the NCAA Elite 89 Award. The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's championships. Brown has a 3.97 GPA in Crime, Law and Justice.

Taylor won the NCAA award for most technical falls in the season. He also won the Gorriaran Award for most falls in the tournament in the least amount of time. He had four falls, pinning his way to the finals.

Those two awards are hardly any consolation for Taylor, who lost to Cornell's Kyle Dake, 5-4, in what was arguably the most anticipated bout in NCAA history.

Taylor scored the initial takedown on now four-time champion Kyle Dake, who is the first to win four at four different weights and just the third four-time champion.

Dake escaped and converted on a takedown of his own and the first period ended with Dake in the lead, 3-2. As an amped up Wells Fargo Arena was raucous.

Dake escaped in the second and led, 4-2, heading into the third. Taylor took bottom and escaped, but not before Dake had amassed more than a minute in riding time. That was crucial as Taylor coaxed a stalling point but couldn't convert on a takedown. Dake's 1:13 in riding time was the difference in a 5-4 win.

"It hurts. I don't lose. It's something that's going to eat at me for awhile," Taylor told the Des Moines Register.

Sanderson focused on Taylor's contributions to the team.

"David Taylor, he led Penn State to three national championships through his great leadership, his hustle, his love of competing, leading with a passion and bonus points," Sanderson said. "He's made this sport a better sport and I couldn't be more proud of the kid. He's great. He's an awesome, awesome wrestler and an even better leader."

Ruth, as he often does, struck quickly with a takedown early in the first period and rode Lehigh's Robert Hamlin for 2:33 of the first period. An escape and takedown in the second increased his lead to 5-1 at the end of two. In the third, he gained momentum, scoring three takedowns, the last one in the final 15 seconds to secure an extra team point. He earned a riding time point for 3:55 in riding time for the 12-4 major decision.

For Ruth, it was his second consecutive championship after winning 13-2 in 2012 over Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui. He is now a three-time All-American and is riding a 68-match winning streak. His career record now stands at 102-2

After Ruth had his hand raised, Sanderson picked him up and put him over his shoulder.

"Oh, man. It wasn't even when the whistle blew. It was when the guy came over counting down. He was like three, two, and I'm like, 'oh, I'm about to win. I'm about to win.' As soon as he said one, the crowd is cheering and everything. I felt like my heart exploded," Ruth said.

Wright, the No. 2 seed, beat previously unbeaten and No. 1 seed Dustin Kilgore of Kent State, 8-6.

Brown's match with No. 1 seed Chris Perry of Oklahoma State was decided in the tiebreaker period, with Perry taking a 2-1 decision.

Brown escaped in three seconds to start the second and Perry escaped in eight seconds. Neither scored in the sudden victory period. Brown chose bottom to start the first tiebreaker period. After a restart, Perry threw in legs and a borderline chokehold and rode out Brown. Brown chose to cut Perry and couldn't score a winning takedown.

Megaludis dropped a 7-4 decision to Jesse Delgado of Illinois.

Neither Megaludis nor Delgado scored in the first. Delgado escaped quickly in the second, as Delgado did to start the third. But with Megaludis in deep on a shot, Delgado countered and caught him on his back for five points. Megaludis eventually escaped and took down Delgado. Megaludis cut him loose but couldn't take him down late.

"Nico wrestled a great match and ended up getting beat there at the end, but he wrestled great," Sanderson said. "Matt Brown, he did an awesome job."

Source  http://www.lockhaven.com/page/content.detail/id/544378/NCAA-wrestling-national-championships-onships.html?nav=5080

Chad grapples with loss of wrestling

 How do you drop wrestling from the Summer Games? Heck, if the International Olympic Committee ran NASA, it might eliminate astronauts from the space program.

Wrestling is about as pure and organic of an athletic competition as it gets: You try to outmaneuver your opponent with your mind and your body. It’s like a California gubernatorial race, minus the PAC money.

   Wrestling made its first appearance at the ancient Olympics in 708 B.C., or four years before Bob Costas anchored his first Games.

   The Olympics without wrestling is like McDonald’s without French fries.

   If it were up to me, I’d drop the entire Winter Olympics before I’d drop wrestling.

   This nation – and the Olympic movement – was built on the backs of wrestlers.

   James Madison and Benjamin Franklin used to wrestle in the rear hallways near the cafeteria at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

   Who among us didn’t grow up wrestling? Even I – the ultimate Couch Slouch – wrestled in junior high.

   (After winning my first two intramural matches one year, I lost to a close friend, Howard Yablon, who pinned me late in the first period with a surprise Fisherman’s Suplex. “Where did you learn that move?” I asked him afterward. “While you were watching TV.” Smart ass.)

   Wrestlers from the world’s top wrestling nations lied on the mat and observed a moment of silence Thursday at the World Cup in Tehran to protest the IOC’s action; coincidentally, the Kardashians did the same thing Friday after Neiman Marcus got rid of valet parking at its Beverly Hills location.

   At the moment, wrestling will be excluded starting with the 2020 Summer Games. However, in May the IOC will vote on adding a 26th sport for 2020 – wrestling will be considered, along with baseball/softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu.

   (Those are all great sports – I actually was offered a wushu scholarship at Dartmouth but turned it down to go to Maryland, which had better parking – but none of them resonate Olympic-wise like wrestling.)

   Frankly, there are several Summer Games sports that should get the heave-ho before wrestling:

   Javelin throw. How is it still part of track and field? How many kids – outside of a handful of Norwegian suburbs – are dragging a javelin to school every day, hoping to fulfill their Olympic dream?

   Golf. Indeed, golf has been added to the 2016 Games. Does anyone really want to hear Johnny Miller telling us that some Malaysian duffer just “choked” on his approach shot at 17?

   Modern pentathlon. What’s so modern about the pentathlon, other than the shooting part?

   Water polo. For this “sport,” you need a swimming pool, a ball and a net; in wrestling, you just need a mat. For that matter, you can grapple on any flat surface – Tom Hanks probably wrestled with Wilson on that island in “Cast Away.”

   (Speaking of which, good wrestling movies for a rainy weekend: 1985’s “Vision Quest” and 2011’s “Win Win.”)

   Best I can tell, the IOC’s baffling decision to drop wrestling is tied to television; apparently, wrestling’s not a prime draw with the younger TV audience.

   Alas, the world revolves around the 18-to-34 demographic; I half-expect the Vatican to name One Direction as the next pope.

   (Here’s what you need to know about today’s Olympics: It has less to do with “Citius, Altius, Fortius” and more to do with “Cashius, Wealthius, Greedius.”)

   Anyway, since it’s all about ratings – and now that the Olympic movement has foregone that whole “amateur” pretense – why not replace freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling with Vince McMahon-style professional wrestling?

   Another idea: In ancient Greece, wrestlers trained and competed in the nude. That’s right, naked wrestlers – you think that might move the meter? Also, back then, many matches ended in death. Sure, you’d create the problem of having to replace your athletic pool every year, but – and I hate to give the IOC and NBC any ideas – wrestling-to-the-death would produce GINORMOUS RATINGS, no? 

Source  http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/26/chad-grapples-with-loss-of-wrestling/

Civil society organisations mark International Human Rights Day

The Aurat Foundation, in collaboration with civil society organisations – ROZAN, WLP, AMAL, WORD, We Can and RSPN – organised the launch of One Billion Rising campaign in Pakistan on the International Human Rights Day on Monday.

The ceremony was organised at the auditorium of the Department of Earth Sciences, Quaid-e-Azam University. The participants included university students and members of civil society organisations, NGOs, academia and the media.

One Billion Rising is the collective voice of one billion women, men, children and transvestites across the globe for zero tolerance to violence against women.

According to international statistics, one out of three women in the world is rapped or beaten in her lifetime, which comes to more than 1 billion women. In Pakistan, approximately 70-90 percent of the women are subjected to domestic violence each year.

It is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls, started by Eve Ensler, a prominent activist who addresses issues of violence against women and girls. In 1998, her experience performing an episodic play inspired her to create V-Day, a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day raises funds and awareness through annual benefit productions of the play.

Speakers urged youth to speak up against any kind of violence around them. Nighat Rizvi from AMAL briefly introduced the participants with the history of One Billion Rising and V-Day. Dr Farzana Bari, chairwoman of the Department of Gender Studies, QAU, gave a detailed presentation on the ‘situational analysis of violence against women in Pakistan.

She said that creating awareness and personal commitment to refraining from inflicting violence on others, especially on women, was imperative but “we should not forget that gender-based violence is a structural issue and power imbalance between men and women is central to all forms of violence against women”.

Dr Ambreen Ahmed from ROZAN gave an overview of the One Billion Rising campaign’s activities. She told the audience that today peoples, both women and men in 177 countries of the world are raising their voice to end violence against women.

While elaborating the campaign’s activities, she informed the participants that the activities included a signature campaign, music programmes, theatre performances, and a poster competition.

She said that so far, 3,666 signatures had been put down to end violence against women.

Renown poet Kishwar Naheed recited two of her famous poems – ‘wo jo bacheon sey bhi dar gaey..., written for Malala Yousufzai, and ‘tum swami ram baney mery, tum majnoon qais baney merey, kabhi chhorr dia, kabhi …iss khel saraey sey niklo, tum merey jaisey insaan ho, merey dost bano’.

ROZAN Managing Director Babar Bashir highlighted the importance of involving men in ending violence against women and in the One Billion Rising campaign. He said that unfortunately, most of the perpetrators of violence against women are men, which highlights the importance of focusing men in this campaign.

WORD Executive Director Aqsa Khan spoke on the sexual harassment laws in Pakistan. She gave a full background of the sexual harassment at workplace law and the institutional procedures to deal with the cases of sexual harassment at workplaces. Aurat Foundation Legislative Watch Programme Manager Farkhanda Aurangzeb in her concluding remarks said that the event was just a beginning and the campaign had a long way to go and see much success. She urged the audience that the when back at home, office or class, each one should further spread the message of standing against violence against women.

Meanwhile, a poster competition was organised among the students of NUST, Fatima Jinah University, Bahria University and Arid Agriculture University. The event also included a musical performance by renowned singer Arieb Azhar, and emerging artist Yaruq and his band.

Source  http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\12\11\story_11-12-2012_pg11_1

Top 3 Health Tips: Wear skinny jeans with confidence.

It's the region most of us love to hate — our hips, thighs and backsides. For a lower body you'll love, you need to do two things: burn fat and lift and firm your tush. Women's Health magazine, published by Rodale, has a routine that does both. Do these seven moves one after another with no rest in between. Then repeat the circuit so you perform it a total of two times. Do this workout four to six times a week.

Squat, lunge, curl

Stand with your arms at your sides and squat until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Push back up to the starting position. Then take a giant step forward with your left foot and lower your body until your left thigh is parallel to the ground. Push up onto your left leg and immediately curl your right heel toward your glutes. Return to start. That's one repetition. Repeat, stepping forward with your right foot. Continue alternating the sequence for 20 reps. Tip: For a challenge, add dumbbell1s.

Source  http://articles.mcall.com/2012-12-07/health/mc-top-3-health-tips-allentown-1208-20121207_1_skinny-jeans-thighs-push

Universal children's day— a campaign is launched for the ratification of Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on Child Rights

The Society for the Protection of the Rights of Child (SPARC), on the occasion of   Universal Children's Day, urges for the "Implementation of UNCRC and ratification of Optional protocol on involvement of children in armed conflict." The SPARK has also started a campaign of activities for the implementation of optional protocol along with other civil society organizations, Child Rights Clubs, and Child Rights Movement in Sindh province.

The Optional Protocol to the UN CRC was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly resolution in 2000 and entered into force in 2002. Currently 150 countries have ratified the said Optional Protocol. The need for this Optional Protocol was felt and discussed as article 38 of the UN CRC was not consistent with the protection of children as it mentioned the age of 15 years old not to take part in direct hostilities and not to recruit under 15 years old into armed forces. It has stressed that in the light of definition of a child and in the best interest of the child, that no child under the age of 18 should be allowed to be involved in hostilities, either directly or indirectly and that no child under the age of 18 should be recruited in to armed forces was the conclusion of participants on consultation on implementation UN CRC and optional protocols.

Once states sign or ratify international conventions state parties are bound to make their domestic laws in conformity with international obligations. Furthermore, states are accountable for respecting, protecting and fulfilling those rights even those rights are violated by Non-State Actors.

National and international advocacy can play important role in pressuring countries to implement to become governments to become part of international system while Pakistan wants to become member of Human Rights Council then ratified all core conventions but when it comes to implementation governments are only making pledges and conferences.

Civil society has played its role in monitoring and disseminating information regarding UN CRC. State that ratifies the Optional Protocol must raises "in years" the minimum age of voluntary recruitment, set at 15 in the convention. Also State must take all feasible measures to prevent recruitment and use in hostilities of children under 18 by the armed groups. The State will take legal measures to prohibit and criminalize such practices. After taking all such measures if any person who may have been recovered or released from any such group State will be responsible for taking serious measures to provide assistance, if required, for the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of such persons.

This was the case, as what we have seen in the past when young boys were recovered from militants camps where they were to be trained as suicide bombers. Every child has the right to protection from all forms of abuse and exploitation. The rehabilitation and reintegration of children used as child soldiers is also the right of such children. Pakistan however, has failed to protect the rights of these children and despite the fact that it has signed the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict way back in October 2001 it has failed to ratify it yet. Regrettably, Pakistan, despite being among the first 20 countries to sign and ratify the UN CRC has failed to ratify the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (ratified by 150 countries) .

In case where Pakistan ratify the Optional Protocol on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, Pakistan will have to submit an initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child within two years detailing the steps which Pakistan has taken to ensure that no child under the age of 18 will be involved directly in any kind of hostilities. The age of voluntary recruitment must be raised from 15 years to 18 years and there should be no under 18 compulsory recruitment in to its armed forces.   

UN General Assembly has adopted a new Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) establishing a complaints procedure for violations of children's rights. The new treaty will enable children, or their representatives, claiming that their rights have been violated to bring a complaint to an international committee of children's rights experts if they have not been able to get remedies for these violations in their countries.  

Source  http://www.humanrights.asia/news/forwarded-news/AHRC-FST-053-2012

India arrests 17 Pak fishermen amidst promises of detente

The process of freeing fishermen as a goodwill gesture may suffer a setback after an international network confirmed that Indian coastal border authorities on Monday seized a Pakistani boat—Al-Khair – with 17 crew members on board for allegedly violating maritime boundaries.

A spokesman for the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum claims to have received this information via their international network—World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP). Despite repeated demands from civil society and human rights activists of India and Pakistan to resolve trans-boundary issues, fishermen from both countries continue to get arrested from the open sea, where they go for livelihood purposes.

The fishermen were arrested near Kajir Creek, said to be most dangerous for Pakistani fishermen as they are arrested as soon as their boats reach anywhere close to it.

The WFFP could not ascertain where these fishermen were from or when their boat left the local jetty. However, it is confirmed, the seized boat and crew were brought to Pore Bunder, India, on Monday morning.

33 Indian fishermen held

The Maritime Security Agency (MSA) arrested 33 Indian fishermen and seized five of their boats the other day and handed them over to the Docks police station in Karachi for legal matters.

The MSA said that the fishermen were held for violating maritime borders. They alleged that these boats were found fishing illegally approximately 200 nautical miles inside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Pakistan.

The Indian fishermen had been warned time and again not to indulge in illegal fishing but they repeatedly come in our EEZ to exploit benefits of rich fish resources at the mouth of Indus Delta, said the MSA.

The police have lodged an FIR against the said fishermen.

Fisherman’s body arrives

He left his family for the sea almost a decade ago and returned home dead.

The body of Pakistani fisherman Nawaz Ali Jat, who died in Indian custody last month, was received by his family amid tears when it arrived in his hometown at the Rehri Mayan village situated in the outskirts of Karachi.

He was later laid to rest in Rehri graveyard. His funeral was attended by close relatives and officials from various civil society organizations.

Ali breathed his last on September 8, 2012, at the Civil Hospital, Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. The 32-year old fisherman had gone missing with three of his relatives in a devastating cyclone that hit Pakistan’s coastal area in May 1999.

Nawaz spent 13 years in jail before he expired, while his three relatives are still languishing in jail.“We were waiting for 13 years to receive him alive. But to whom we should blame about this,” said Bachal Jat, a family elder receiving people outside the home on the day of the funeral.

Nawaz was born to a traditional fishing family of Ali Jat at an island village called Khobar Creek, off the Kharo Chhan coastal town of Thatta district.

When the four fishermen from the same family went missing during the cyclone, the families shifted to the house of a relative in Dabla Muhalla of Rehri Mayan village, Karachi in the hope of a better life. They have been living there since.

Bachal said all the relatives are very much concerned about the fate of other three persons, who have been languishing in Indian jail.The deceased’s parents were unable to see his body because of their deteriorated health condition took away their sight..

His home village, Khobar creek, once the main outlet for the River Indus, is now a small island inhabited by a few families, all of them relatives of the deceased.Nawaz is survived by his blind parents, a widow, two young children, and five siblings.

Source  http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-135145-India-arrests-17-Pak-fishermen-amidst-promises-of-detente

Trading allegations

THE Afghan government, clerics and civil society have once again alleged that rockets are fired from Pakistan on villages located near the border area of Kunar, where several people have been killed and injured.

… Afghan religious clerics have demanded that the US play a more effective role in bringing an end to rocket attacks from Pakistani soil.

But Pakistan also has the same complaints: that armed militants frequently enter from Afghanistan into the Pakistani territories and carry out acts of sabotage. Without any provocation, they have killed and injured many Pakistani people, including personnel of the law-enforcement agencies; they have destroyed infrastructure. The Afghan government has further alleged that the Pakistan’s secret agency was behind the rocket attacks and that it will take this issue up in the UN Security Council.

On the one hand, the US has announced the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan the handing over of charge to local-law enforcement agencies. On the other hand, Afghanistan blames Pakistan for attacks on its soil. With the foreign ministers of the two countries meeting recently and discussing bilateral issues, it is surprising that allegations are nevertheless traded openly. It is the duty of both countries to extend full cooperation to each other against the common enemy and serve each other’s interests to overcome the menace of terrorism. In case these countries developed differences, the ultimate result will be in favour of the terrorists

Source  http://dawn.com/2012/08/03/trading-allegations/

Remarks at Afghan Civil Society Event

Let me welcome this wonderful group of men and women from across Afghanistan who are here as part of the Tokyo Conference. We are very pleased that we have the benefit of your experience and your views, and I look forward to our conversation. I want to thank Ambassador Marc Grossman for helping to organize this meeting Ambassador Grossman is our Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and he has been very focused on making sure that the voices of the people are heard, not just the government. Because we know that any lasting peace, any economic development, the opportunities that we have been discussing here at the Tokyo Conference, are only possible if civil society is there to advocate for them.

I also am pleased that Ambassador Ryan Crocker could join us from Kabul. Thank you, Ambassador Crocker. Also with us is Ambassador Melanne Verveer, our Special Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, and Don Steinberg, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. And I am particularly looking forward to hearing from our two representatives of Afghan civil society, Samira and Hiyatula, in a few minutes. 

I want to hear how you believe we can do more to work with you to support open and accountable governance, economic opportunities, and social equality and inclusion. And I want particularly to hear about the challenges that you see ahead. The United States is committed to helping the Afghan people and the civil society groups that you represent, among others, to work toward a secure, independent, and democratic future.

But as we transition to Afghan-led security across your country, we want to make it clear that being strong, sovereign, and independent does not mean being alone. We want to continue to stand with you. The Strategic Partnership Agreement that our President signed in Kabul in early May that is now fully in effect provides a long-term framework for our relationship, sending a clear signal that America’s support will endure. And it outlines the basis for our extensive cooperation over the next decade in fighting violent extremism, strengthening democratic institutions, and protecting human rights.

We have also been very clear – and we just finished a meeting between the Afghan Government and the Pakistani Government – about Afghan-led reconciliation, that it can only happen with groups and individuals who sever ties to al-Qaida, renounce violence, and pledge to abide by the Afghan constitution, including its protections for women and minorities. Reconciliation cannot, must not, come at the expense of the gains you have made in the last 10 years. So we want to be sure your voices are heard. We want to stand up for your rights and we want to condemn extremism and any kind of abuses that affect people and particularly women in Afghanistan.

We also want to support a free press and journalists who hold governments accountable, report the facts about what is happening, and exchange ideas so that better decisions can be made. We also wish to support constitutional and transparent parliamentary and presidential elections. And for us, when we talk about Afghan-led, we don’t mean just the government. We mean the Afghan people.
So with that, let me ask you, please, to translate before we come and hear from our representatives, and then turn it over to all of you.

Source  http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1207/S00296/remarks-at-afghan-civil-society-event.htm

Kashmiri on Death Row Galvanises Opposition to Death Penalty

"Is Afzal Guru really the person that so many Indians supposedly want dead? Or are they taking out their frustrations on an easy target?" asked Human Rights Watch, referring to the death sentence handed down to the Kashmiri man who was convicted of conspiracy in the 2001 suicide attack on the Indian Parliament.

"For many, Afzal bears the burden of representing all those who dare to oppose Indian rule in restive parts of the country, because the attack on Parliament was an attack on India," said the statement by Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia researcher for global rights watchdog HRW.

"Conversely, many Kashmiris would say that Afzal is a freedom fighter, planning an attempt at the symbol of Indian oppression," adds the statement, titled ‘Life, Not Death: Why Afzal Mustn’t Hang’. "Both views are flawed. For this multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural state to survive, Indians have to believe in equal justice for all. And in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, there has been consistent failure to deliver on this promise."

A Kashmiri, supported by a wife who is a doctor and a lone teenage son, Mohammad Afzal, commonly called Afzal Guru, was found guilty of conspiracy in the attack on parliament which killed more than a dozen people. He was given the death penalty, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2004.

The sentence was to be carried out in 2006, but the execution was stayed following a mercy plea filed by Afzal Guru.

Although most nations across the globe – a total of 139 – have abolished the death penalty, India continues the practice, as the World Day Against the Death Penalty once again rolled around on Oct. 10.

India joined 53 other countries to vote against the December 2007 United Nations General Assembly moratorium on executions, passed with 104 votes in favour and 29 abstentions. However, Indian judges generally follow the 1983 Supreme Court ruling that the death penalty may be resorted to only in the "rarest of rare cases".

Afzal’s death penalty has not gone down well amongst various quarters in Kashmir. The separatist leaders view it as an unjust step, which would endanger the political situation in Kashmir

"I am completely against execution of Afzal Guru. He didn’t get a fair trial. Hanging him would be pure human rights violation," said Shabir Ahmad Shah, the chairman of the Democratic Freedom Party, a separatist organisation.

He says that Afzal’s hanging could have a negative impact on the situation in Kashmir. "When Maqbool Bhat was hanged in India’s Tihar jail in 1984, it was followed by insurgency. And if Afzal is also hanged, it will as well result in dangerous consequences," Shabir told IPS. "People would surely come on streets and protest against it as no Kashmiri wants his hanging."

The unrest in Kashmir has its roots back in 1947, when Britain granted India independence and the Muslim-dominated areas became part of Pakistan. A U.N. resolution, meantime, gave Kashmiris the option to join either Hindu-dominated India or Pakistan or to become independent. But Kashmiris had no chance to make a choice as their homeland is claimed by both India and Pakistan.

Roughly a third of modern-day Kashmir is administered by Pakistan while the rest is under India. But many Kashmiris challenge this, and protesters living on the Indian side rose up in arms in 1989 in an insurgency that simmers to this day.

Saying Afzal did not get a fair trial, Sajjad Lone, another separatist leader, said intellectuals, NGOs and civil society in general needs to stand up against Afzal’s execution, which he said "will not suit the people of Kashmir."

Hardline separatist leader of Kashmir Syed Ali Shah Geelani warned of "dire consequences" if Afzal Guru is hanged, saying in a statement in August that "it will unleash a storm."

Human rights activists and organisations have also criticised Afzal's death sentence, which they see as a human rights abuse.

"Afzal Guru's case is being adjudicated upon in terms of its politics, not in relation to the violations of process and hearing that have taken place. The death penalty has no place in a democracy," said Angana Chatterji, a professor of social and cultural anthropology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, and the co-convener of the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir.

Chatterji says despite the international movement to abolish capital punishment and the 2007 U.N. moratorium on executions, "India continues to impose the (death) penalty. The allocation of capital punishment continues to be influenced by racism, ethnocentrism, and class prejudice, authorising the state to act against a person's right to life."

Kashmir-based human rights activist Khurram Parvez, a co-founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), says the sentence handed down to Afzal was not based on a fair trial.

"If anyone reads that judgment, one would come to know that he was pronounced guilty on secondary evidence. No direct evidence was produced in the court against Afzal Guru," Parvez told IPS.

Citing the Supreme Court sentence, he said it states that "the incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, has shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender."

"When there is no evidence against Afzal, why should he be hanged? To satisfy the collective conscience of society, it appears India needs a sacrifice," Parvez added.

Advocate Faisal Qadri said the death penalty should be abolished in India. "I am completely against the death penalty. It is the worst kind of human rights violation. Humans have no right to kill anyone, even if it is a criminal."

And Qadri argued that in Afzal Guru’s case, capital punishment is completely unjustified: "Even India’s own leading lawyers admit that Afzal was not given a fair trial."

For ordinary people, the sentence handed to Afzal is a manifestation of India’s bias against Kashmiris.

"The Indian system is biased against Kashmiri people…there are scores of innocent Kashmiri youth who are arrested on the basis of mere suspicion and put behind bars for years with no evidence. How can we expect India to be just to Afzal?" said Iqbal (who provided only one name).

"Whenever any Kashmiri is found involved in any wrong act, India has to act in an unjust manner. That has been India's policy towards Kashmir," says Amina Maqbool, a political science student from the University of Kashmir

The HRW statement says the group "unequivocally opposes the death penalty. Guilty or not, we believe that neither Mohammad Afzal Guru, nor (law student) Priyadarshini Mattoo’s killer, Santosh Kumar Singh, nor (former Iraqi president) Saddam Hussein, nor anyone else, should be executed.

"Taking the life of a human being is inherently cruel, and as a form of punishment is unique in its irreversibility. The intrinsic fallibility of all criminal justice systems assures that even when there is a fair judicial process, innocent persons will still be executed. On a practical level, there is no evidence that it is an effective deterrent," it adds.

Source http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105411

Front Porch: Brian Vogan plays Everett

Kiddie musician Brian Vogan and his band, the Good Buddies, offer a show with indie rock, R&B, country, jazz, rock, 80's pop and classical influences.

They plan to entertain from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday at Thornton A. Sullivan Park at Silver Lake, 11405 Silver Lake Road in Everett. Admission is free.

Vogan is a songwriter, performer and early childhood music teacher in Seattle. His music is inspired by the interests and ideas he gets from the children he teaches, according to his bio.

The audience can bring blankets and chairs. Silver Lake offers a playground next to the stage area, a sandy beach and a designated swim area, picnic tables, restrooms and is ADA accessible.

Mingle with nature: Kids of all ages are invited to join Washington State University's Snohomish County Extension faculty and staff for the fourth annual Forest and Wildlife Fun Day.

This outdoor field day is planned from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE in Everett. The event is free and food will be provided, but participants are asked to register.

The Forest and Wildlife Fun Day will allow kids (and their parents) to explore nature, including excursions to explore the forest, searching for critters in old logs, geocaching, marine life-themed arts and crafts, and examinations of bugs, animal skulls, and other interesting parts of the natural world.

Kids will get to make origami cups in which to grow lettuce.

Source http://heraldnet.com/article/20110725/NEWS01/707259949

Viral messaging: ‘Text messages facilitate productive relationships’

Due to extreme penetration of mobile cellular technology in the country, a policy lab dedicated to innovation in population engagement, has done a case study on Pakistan and how text messages serve as a facilitator of productive relationships, between institutions and the people they serve.

According to the authors of the report, Alex Gilchrist and Jim Linton Williams, one of the reasons they chose Pakistan from a list of countries where SMS and mobile were common, was because there is little civil society engagement.

Viral text messaging is widespread in Pakistan, according to the report, which focuses on the use of two-way SMS communication in the country and explores how Pakistanis use SMS and mobile technology – elaborating on the possible tools available to engage the population and stakeholders of the country.

According to the report, it is common in Pakistan for text messages to be forwarded from one friend to another, without knowing the identity of who sent the message. The reason this is possible is because of the remarkably low cost of text messages in Pakistan, which allows this one-to-one viral transmission to reach a considerable scale.

Report findings also suggest that since mobile phones are approaching ubiquity in Pakistan – and allow low-cost access to all types of community members, “the mobile phone can be an effective tool to communicate with ordinary people in Pakistan, as well as to learn from them, and even collaborate with them.” According to the report, SMS enhances two-way communication among ordinary people. Citing examples of ways in which SMS can be used in Pakistan, include having a community bulletin board where users could receive adverts and announcements, vote on community development expenditures, call for help against domestic violence and also sign a petition.

Apparently, the report suggests that the use of SMS is common across phone owners of all demographics in Pakistan, and although literacy rates in Pakistan present a barrier, illiterate phone users are also SMS savvy. Interestingly so, it is common for such phone users to ask literate relatives and friends to read text messages to them, and sometimes even write text messages for them as well, the report states.

Furthermore, an equal number of men and women have access to mobile phones, through one means or another. However, while, men tend to own a phone or use the phone of a friend or of a public call office, women tend to use a phone owned by an adult male family member.

The writers are waiting to see how civil society organisations react to this report, and say that if their recommendations are looked upon positively, the authors, together with these organisations will try to collect funds to implement these recommendations. According to them, they’d like to carry out a similar report exploring the use of voice based mobile communications.

Omar Seeks Civil Society Help For Summer Calm

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah today sought help of civil society to maintain calm during the ensuing summer saying the civil society has important role to ensure congenial atmosphere so that lakhs of people associated with tourism, trade and allied activities are not deprived of their livelihood.

People will not be allowed to suffer in the same way as they were affected adversely during last 3 summers” Chief Minister said while interacting with a group of retired bureaucrats and civil society members at SKICC today.

The meeting which started at 10 am culminated at 4:30 in the afternoon, sources said.

Omar sought suggestions from every member present in the meeting.

Omar, sources said, accepted that there was gap between the government and public which needs to be bridged.

In the backdrop of unrest during last three summers in the Valley, Omar asked civil society members as how situation can be improved on ground.

Some of the participants, sources said, told Omar categorically that there should be a check on human rights violations in future if situation has to improve.

“Any human rights violation can spark into an agitation and it has to be taken care off. Arrest spree should stop,” Omar was told.

They also urged him that political issue should be solved politically and Omar should use his influence to motivate New Delhi to involve separatists in the dialogue process to make it meaningful.

He reiterated the fact that fundamental issue of Jammu and Kashmir is of political nature and requires a political solution. He said that he conveyed the same in presence of Prime Minister when the train was inaugurated in Anantnag and also repeated the same in Assembly. He reminded civil society that Home Minister of the Country himself stood in Parliament and said that Accession of J&K with India is unique and need unique solution also. He said it is surprising that those separatists who don’t feel shy in talking to parliament members who have constitutional limitation are not ready to talk to Interlocutors who have made it clear that they are ready to listen to any body on any issue.

The Chief Minister expressed his satisfaction on renewed progress on Indo-Pak talks after Mumbai episode and said that the Renewal of dialogue process is very significant, even during cricket match two Prime Ministers meeting indicates the improvement in relationship between two countries.

The meeting was attended by the Minister for Rural Development, Parliamentary Affairs and Justice, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Agriculture, Mr. Ghulam Hassan Mir, Minister for PHE and Irrigation, Mr. Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Minister for Social Welfare, Ms. Sakina Ittoo, Advisor to Chief Minister, Mr. Mubarak Gul, Minister of State for H&UD and Tourism, Mr. Nasir Aslam Wani, Minister of State for Agriculture and Horticulture, Mr. Javaid Ahmad Dar, Political Advisor to Chief Minister, Mr. Devendra Rana, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. B B Vyas, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Dr. Asgar Samoon, IGP Kashmir, Mr. S M Sahai, Director of Information and Public Relations, Khawaja Farooq Renzushah, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Mr. M A Kakroo and other senior officers.

Mr. Omar said sixty two years long problem cannot be solved in shortest possible time but he acknowledged that the Prime Minister, Dr MM Singh is keen and serious in his determination in improving relationship with Pakistan. He said that any solution which is acceptable to all shall be the better solution.

While referring to stoppage of passports to the kiths and kins of militants, the Chief Minister said he has issued the directions to CID department that clearance of passports shall not be stopped in case any body’s relative is involved in the militancy. Since there is huge back log of 20-years, priority will be given for Hajj pilgrimage.

The CM appreciated that civil society and volunteers of RTI movement have initiated a new debate of making certain amendments in the State Vigilance Act for making it more effective and vibrant. He said recently RTI volunteers published open letter to him and said he agrees with them whatever amendment are required in the Act shall be considered and Law Minister will be suggested to put up the same so that the fresh ordinance is issued for giving more teeth to Vigilance Commission with such amended provisions.

The CM while responding to various questions regarding power said it is endeavour of government to make state self sufficient in power sector but civil society has to play a role in extending cooperation to the Government to check power theft and pilferage.

The Chief Minister said that his Government is very keen in providing skill development to the youth and create such an atmosphere for them so that sports and cultural talent is explored in proper manner and they are able to find different openings for building up their professional career.

Mr. Omar Abdullah said that with the improvement in situation Government has removed bunkers from city and process will continue and said that he hopes no security force person is seen on the streets or roads but situation should improve fast. He said civil policing concept is being strengthened and police has been advised to establish police-people contact on large scale.

When a member raised the issue of funds diversion from Kashmir to Jammu in the meeting, the Chief Minister clarified that no diversion of funds had taken place in his tenure and his government was committed for equitable development of all the regions of the state.

On apprehensions on J&K’s agreement with Reserve Bank of India for Ways and Means and why is state government bowing before the center by leaving JK Bank in an open competition where there are apprehensions that it may not be in a position to compete,” he said the state government’s Ways and Means Advance arrangement with the RBI was a win-win situation for the State Government, J&K Bank, and people of J&K.

Source http://www.kashmirobserver.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7316:omar-seeks-civil-society-help-for-summer-calm&catid=2:local-news&Itemid=3

Nilofar asks India to free Pakistani prisoners

Senator Nilofar Bakhtiar, chairperson of Bardashat, a civil society organisation striving for peace and tolerance among individuals and societies, Monday hailed the release of an Indian prisoner, Gopal Das, after he was pardoned by President Asif Ali Zardari and called upon the Indian authorities to reciprocate the gesture by releasing Pakistani prisoners languishing in Indian jails in spite of having completed their sentences.

“We believe that peace is the only route to human development and can never happen in situations of injustice and human right violations. Forwarding the same goal for building peace, there are many Pakistani nationals who are in Indian jails and their family members are surviving merely on the hope that their breadwinners will return home some day,” Nilofar said.

Nilofar said that the Joint Judicial Committee on India-Pakistan Prisoners, set up in January 2007, recommended release of all Pakistani and Indian fishermen in custody. The committee comprises eight retired judges of the High Court and Supreme Court of both the countries but is inactive since August 2008.

“We have to address this gross human right violation without further delay. We cannot allow indifference and apathy to the poorest of the poor of both countries and demand immediate relief for the damned and dispossessed like Mai Sakina of Thatta, whose husband is in the Indian prison for the past 20 years,” Nilofar stated. In his letter from the Central Jail, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, dated August 8, 2008, Hussain Bhayani Mullah wrote that his sentence was over and his release was overdue.

“As civil society representatives, we urge the two governments to release the prisoners and ensure the implementation of the otherwise inactive Counsellor Access Agreement signed by the two governments in 2008. This will be viewed as a goodwill gesture and will go a long way in building confidence between Pakistan and India,” Nilofar stated.

Source http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=38713&Cat=6&dt=3/29/2011

Arkansas Governor signs autism bill for children needing therapy

Tuesday morning in Little Rock, Governor Mike Beebe signed a bill into law that will change the lives of families living with autism. The legislation requires private insurers to provide coverage for autistic children.

"Families shouldn't have to wait. They should be able to get the treatment that is most research proven," said Dayna Miller.

Miller's son, Briar, was diagnosed with autism when he was three. Knowing he needed Applied Behavioral Analysis, or ABA, she and her family sacrificed to make it possible. She went back to school and opened up the "SPARC" clinic in Jonesboro, helping other children.

"You have a lot of moms and dads that want to provide the best treatment but just cannot financially do it," said Miller.

The law signed Tuesday morning by Governor Beebe will open the window that has been closed for so many families. Miller said Act 196 will require group insurance companies to cover autism treatment. Briar and his family have made a lot of trips to Little Rock to talk to legislators about the need for this law.

"Every kid with autism can get the same treatment that I had, ABA therapy, without having to pay $50,000 from their mothers," said Briar Miller.

Dayna Miller said insurance has covered things like limited speech therapy and physical therapy, but will now include the ABA therapy for children up to 18-years-old that has made a huge difference in her son.

"Only if you have a child with autism or if you work with them, will you understand how this will change a family's life," said Miller.

Seeing her son standing next to the governor as he signed the law was a day Miller never expected to see happen, not only for Briar but for children across the state.

"For a minute I feel like I was having an out of body experience and I felt like I was in a dream," said Miller.

Under this law, the cap for insurance coverage of autistic children is set $50,000.

Source http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=14209935

Killing of student in Handwara strongly denounced

In occupied Kashmir, Hurriyet leaders and organisations have strongly denounced the custodial killing of an innocent student, Manzoor Ahmed Magray, by Indian troops in Chogal area of Handwara.

Veteran Kashmiri Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani, who is in New Delhi for medical check–up, in a statement issued in Srinagar termed the killing as an act of state terrorism. He said that India was engaged in genocide of Kashmiris through its troops. “At a time when the authorities were making tall claims of decrease in human rights violations, an innocent youth has been ruthlessly killed by Army in Chogal.”

He maintained that unless there is complete demilitarization of Jammu and Kashmir, no civilian is safe. He pointed out that on February 05, last year, the troopers killed Zahid Farooq of Nishat. “And the killing of Manzoor Ahmed Magray, in Chogal by Army has made it categorically clear that the ground situation has not changed in Kashmir as the innocent killings are still on,” he said.

The All Parties Hurriyet Conference leaders, Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Nayeem Ahmad Khan in their statements condemning the killing in strong terms said that such barbaric incidents would continue to occur till the presence of Indian troops in the occupied territory. They said that murder of the youth in Handwara had exposed New Delhi’s claims of zero-tolerance to human rights violations in the territory.

The Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front-R, Farooq Ahmad Dar and senior Vice Chairman, Javid Ahmad in a joint statement described the killing as an inhuman act. They expressed solidarity with the family of the martyred student.

The Jammu and Kashmir Mahaz-e-Azadi and the Jammu and Kashmir Salvation Movement also condemned the custodial murder of the student at Chogal in Handwara. »

Source http://www.kmsnews.org/news/killing-student-handwara-strongly-denounced

Leviathan bones land at local school

As a cattle rancher, San Gregorio resident Erik Markegard stakes his profession on his ability to move large mammals.

But last month the self-proclaimed cowboy received an odd challenge. Could he and his pickup truck move the remains of the biggest animal on Earth?

That animal, a dead blue whale, washed up on the shores of Bean Hollow State Beach in October after a watercraft is believed to have struck it. After a set of lengthy permits last month filed by science teacher Dan Sudran, the largest bones of the leviathan have been approved to be mounted at Pescadero Elementary School.

But Sudran had a problem -— how do you carefully haul a 1,500-pound mandible, a jawbone as heavy as Half Moon Bay’s heftiest pumpkin? He was considering hiring a helicopter, but then he decided to call up Markegard.

“I haul a lot of heavy stuff, but I’ve never hauled anything like a whale bone,” he said. “I went down there to look at it, I told him let’s try to cowboy up. … Let’s try it the old-fashioned way.”

That meant tying ropes around the huge bone and getting a team of helpers to move it inch by inch from the freezing ocean water. It took hours to coordinate, but the 14-person team was able to lug the bone over to Markegard’s truck and eventually lift it into the bed.

“It was pure caveman physics,” Sudran said. “It was like two and two and two came together. It was perfect.”

Sudran teaches in San Francisco through the Mission Science Workshop, a hands-on nonprofit laboratory for students that he founded in 1991.

Living in Pescadero, Sudran explained that he has amassed a small collection of bones from his regular hikes in the area, which he uses to teach children about biology. When the dead whale washed ashore near Pescadero — the first since 1979 — Sudran realized bones of the creature would be perfect for local education.

“I thought it would be amazing what the kids could learn from a skeleton like that,” Sudran said. “It dawned on me that if I could figure it out logically and get permits, I could get these bones.”

It felt appropriate, Sudran said, to have the whale bones that washed up at Pescadero stay in the local community.

The remains of sea mammals are tightly restricted under federal and state law, making it a crime to take any part of a whale that washes ashore. In Northern California, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco typically has first dibs on any sea carcass, and more than a half dozen other agencies usually claim samples, leaving few opportunities for anyone else.

But Sudran saw his chance when he noticed that most of the usual science institutions weren’t pouncing on this whale. Most of the other organizations explained they already had plenty of whale bones.

So Sudran decided to make a go for it, and he applied for permits through a hodgepodge of agencies. He also brought up the idea to Pescadero Elementary School Principal Pat Talbot.

“I told her it’s probably crazy, but this huge whale bone could be in front of your school,” he recalled.

Talbot agreed the bones would be a powerful tool for teaching because most of the student body was already interested in the huge whale that washed up on their shores. Everyone could smell the rotting carcass, and many students had visited the beach to see the whale firsthand.

“There was a real local connection,” Talbot said. “This wasn’t just a whale bone in a museum. This was one they saw, and certainly smelled, from the beginning.”

In the end, the small South Coast school received approval to take the huge mandible — part of which was broken. Sudran took other various bones including ribs and vertebrae and has been donating them to other researchers and educators.

For now, the bones are actually in Sudran’s backyard. He lives right in the neighborhood of Pescadero Elementary. The hauling team brought the bones to Sudran’s backyard to let the largest bones dry out before bringing them out to the school, which should lighten the weight of the bones considerably.

As its largest bone, the mandible of a blue whale is crucial for drawing in huge amounts of seawater and krill to feed the gentle beast. The blue doesn’t have teeth on its jaws, but rather baleen, which are used like a sieve to expel water but retain krill.

The jawbone will be mounted at the school by the start of the next academic year. Talbot has suggested that the school could develop some teaching curriculum around it. Off the cuff, she proposed students could learn math by calculating the krill a whale would need to eat, or learn writing by composing stories about the whale journeying across the sea.

Sudran proposed the jawbone could also make an excellent addition to the school playground — it’s large, sturdy, easily climbable and not sharp at all.

Markegard, the cowboy hauler, says he was happy to use his pickup truck to help the kids at Pescadero Elementary, and he’s reminded of it every time he gets behind the steering wheel.

“My truck, my clothes, everything still reeks of dead whale,” he said. “I’m lucky I’m married, otherwise I’d never get a date.”

Smart Skin for Land, Sea and Air Vehicles

Dumb skin is inadequate

Today, the shell of a vehicle is dumb: it is no more than packaging made of bent metal, glass and shaped plastic that protects and streamlines the clever stuff inside. However, the space inside is needed for passengers and cargo. Bulky batteries and motors inside vehicles overheat, needing expensive and unreliable cooling - often water cooling. And we need many more functions such as solar power and external sensing and lighting that cannot be performed efficiently from within the vehicle. For example, the US Department of Defense has a program to develop real time monitoring of the structural integrity of the whole of the outside of its aircraft using smart skin. It envisages doing the same with aircrew.

Many inventions become appropriate

A large number of appropriate technologies are being adopted that can later become smart skin - multilayer, conformal electrics and electronics over wide areas. Flat electric motors and localised suspension and controls in the wheels have been rendered more practicable using thin film and printed technology. Mechanical linkages and drive trains are eliminated, saving cost and space and improving reliability.

The same can be said of the multilayer printing replacing heavy, expensive copper wire electrics in vehicles and making the bulky, heavy ceiling and dashboard clusters in a car into multilayered laminate, where T-Ink is a leader. Schreiner already makes printed decals for BMW cars that light when the door is opened and BMW is preparing laminar Automotive Thermoelectric Generators ATEGs that will harvest heat from the engine and exhaust. Light emitting diodes in car lights have improved lifetime tenfold: now we have laminar conformal LED arrays that use light guides or large numbers of very thin LEDs. Indeed, LEDs only 20 microns thick have been made and the thinnest LCD TVs are LED backlit. The lifetime limitations of printed large area ac electroluminescent and OLED (organic light emitting display) lighting and display are gradually being overcome.

Smart skin performs better than conventional components

Thin film batteries used in electronics can support faster charge and discharge, last longer and work even when a nail is driven through them. Solicore and others have demonstrated this: it contrasts with some bulk lithium-ion traction batteries exploding when penetrated. Some thin batteries are printed and conformal, with solid state electrolytes and therefore no possibility of leakage. Wider area versions are now being prepared by Planar Energy, The Paper Battery Company and others. Indeed, thin large area batteries have recently been a great success in several pure electric aircraft that have employed conformal thin film photovoltaics to provide the power. Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, AeroVironment and Aurora Flight Sciences each have contracts up to $530 million to make various dirigibles and aircraft based on a laminar coating of photovoltaics for power.

Alternatively, the "molecular switch" printed layer of the University of Texas at Austin potentially mimics the ability of plants to harvest light and convert it to energy. Laminar power could be produced directly from the sun, rather than inefficient power through a plant mediator, such as corn used for biofuels.

New magic

Take all this together and we clearly have a route to smart skin on land, sea and air vehicles saving huge amounts of space, cost, weight and energy but also adding many new functions. For example, if the whole truck or aircraft glowed in the dark it would be much easier to identify and avoid. If the whole of the outside of the car generated electricity, it would be at ten times the power generated by the small rigid solar panel on the top of some cars today.

Invisible vehicle skin

We can generate electricity from printed laminate over the windows and lights of a car if the layer is transparent. Laboratories in Taiwan, Japan and elsewhere have demonstrated both inorganic and organic printed photovoltaics that is transparent and others have translucent versions. This is also important for smart skin on, say the wings and body of an aircraft. We are no longer limited to one optically active layer - the one on the outside.

Already some printed photovoltaics has transparent transistors on the outside for controlling spectral response. Transparent photovoltaics can be layered over transparent light emitting surfaces which are over transparent wide area sensors - all have been demonstrated. NEC in Japan is developing transparent rechargeable battery layers and many OLED displays are transparent and conveniently work at or near the low DC voltages generated by transparent photovoltaics.

All that makes us think of invisible smart skin that does not detract from the conventional livery and signage on a vehicle, product or package. Some will even be capable of sound - spoken warnings, information and so on. On the other hand, printed and thin film electronics is giving us stretchable electronics, as with an OLED film stretched over a raw egg without breaking it, and costs low enough for some smart skin to be disposable.

Avoiding vulnerability

Although, at first sight, it may seem bad practice to put the brains and the power of a vehicle on the outside facing any impact, this is not as bad as it sounds. With wet electrolytes being eliminated, the danger from wet chemicals is removed. That applies to some printed Dye Sensitised Solar Cells DSSC, supercapacitors and hybrid supercapacitor-battery constructions called supercabatteries plus laminar batteries themselves. The use of toxic materials is also becoming a thing of the past.

Biomimetics is being brought to bear - just as the human brain has redundancy - duplication for security of service - so we shall have more of the redundancy of power and circuitry typically seen in a military ship or civil aircraft today. Most of these laminar components are much more damage tolerant anyway, just as a bird can still fly with a few feathers missing and a human hand can still have a sense of touch if part of it is out of action.

Missile destroying skin

So what about vehicle skin that disables incoming missiles? A recent European study has shown that "electric armor" can be a cost-effective way of protecting a vehicle against penetrating explosive devices. It follows earlier work in Russia and the USA with a skin of explosive that destroys incoming ordnance. Traditional thick steel armor plates are replaced by a capacitor layer - two conducting layers separated by an insulating one. When a shaped charge penetrates the smart skin it closes the circuit to discharge the capacitor to diffuse the attack. The work was carried out by BMT Defence Services in the UK for the European Defence Agency. This recent study looked at relevant work across Europe and its application to the new electric military vehicles which have little or no heat or sound signature for missiles to home in on but must be lightweight to provide adequate range. A generic electric armor system for a 30 tonne vehicle was developed and a roadmap for key technologies. New armored vehicles for the British Army are likely to include electric armor from the national Defence Science and Technology Laboratory DSTL to address the threat from rocket-propelled grenades. DSTL has already developed a system weighing only two tonnes but with the protective effect of carrying an extra 10-20 tonnes of steel armor, yet reducing the effect of impacts by rocket propelled grenades to almost zero. Clearly we shall hear of more magic made possible by various forms of smart skin on land, sea and air vehicles.

Leading event on the subject

Printed and potentially printed thin film electronics and electrics are now a subject in their own right. The world's leading event on the subject is Printed Electronics & Photovoltaics Europe where those providing and using the key enabling technologies for smart skin and other breakthrough applications will be exhibiting, presenting and demonstrating. That includes NanoMas Technologies, intrinsiq, HC Starck and others making printable nano metal and conductive polymer inks that can be annealed without damaging low temperature, low cost substrates. They also use less material. Global leader in appropriate polymer film, DuPont Teijin, ink jet printing experts Fuji Dimatix and the leaders in test equipment, materials and other aspects will also be exhibiting or sponsoring including Beneq, Innovation Laboratory, ImageExpert, Pall Corp., Chisso and InCore Systems. A large number of first announcements will be made. This event will be taking place 5-6 April in Dusseldorf, Germany.

For full event details, visit www.IDTechEx.com/peEUROPE. 

Source  http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=41351