Evening Post

Washington D.C. 

Warmer temperatures mean sea turtles could be driven to extinction, suggests a new study.

The study by Dr Jacques-Olivier Laloe of the University's College of Science argues that warmer temperatures associated with climate change could lead to higher numbers of female sea turtles and increased nest failure, and could impact negatively on the turtle population in some areas of the world.

The findings have been published in the Global Change Biology journal.

-The effects of rising temperatures

Rising temperatures were first identified as a concern for sea turtle populations in the early 1980s as the temperature at which sea turtle embryos incubate determines the sex of an individual, which is known as Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination (TSD).

The pivotal temperature for TSD is 29°C as both males and females are produced in equal proportions - above 29°C mainly females are produced while below 29°C more males are born. Within the context of climate change and warming temperatures, this means that, all else being equal, sea turtle populations are expected to be more female-biased in the future.

While it is known that males can mate with more than one female during the breeding season, if there are too few males in the population this could threaten population viability.

The new study also explored another important effect of rising temperatures: in-nest survival rates. Sea turtle eggs only develop successfully in a relatively narrow thermal range of approximately 25-35°C, so if incubation temperatures are too low the embryo does not develop but if they are too high then development fails. This means that if incubation temperatures increase in the future as part of climate warming, then more sea turtle nests will fail.

The researchers recorded sand temperatures at a globally important loggerhead sea turtle nesting site in Cape Verde over 6 years. They also recorded the survival rates of over 3,000 nests to study the relationship between incubation temperature and hatchling survival. Using local climate projections, the research team then modeled how turtle numbers are likely to change throughout the century at this nesting site.

-Research results

Dr Laloe said: "Our results show something very interesting. Up to a certain point, warmer incubation temperatures benefit sea turtles because they increase the natural growth rate of the population: more females are produced because of TSD, which leads to more eggs being laid on the beaches.

"However, beyond a critical temperature, the natural growth rate of the population decreases because of an increase of temperature-linked in-nest mortality. Temperatures are too high and the developing embryos do not survive. This threatens the long-term survival of this sea turtle population."

The researchers expect that the numbers of nests in Cape Verde will increase by approximately 30% by the year 2100 but, if temperatures keep rising, could start decreasing afterwards.

The new study identifies temperature-linked hatchling mortality as an important threat to sea turtles and highlights concerns for species with TSD in a warming world. It suggests that, in order to safeguard sea turtle populations around the world, it is critical to monitor how hatchling survival changes over the next decades.

Dr Laloe said: "In recent years, in places like Florida--another important sea turtle nesting site--more and more turtle nests are reported to have lower survival rates than in the past. This shows that we should really keep a close eye on incubation temperatures and the in-nest survival rates of sea turtles if we want to successfully protect them.

"If need be, conservation measures could be put in place around the world to protect the incubating turtle eggs. Such measures could involve artificially shading turtle nests or moving eggs to a protected and temperature-controlled hatchery."

Climate change and temperature-linked hatchling mortality at a globally important sea turtle nesting site was published by Global Change Biology. 

New Delhi

Google maps are not considered "authentic" since they are not charted by the government, the country's top surveyor has said.

Swarna Subba Rao, the Surveyor General of India, said yesterday that maps prepared by the Survey of India, a 250- year-old institute in Dehradun, were used for vital infrastructure projects.

"Google maps are not authentic. They are not produced by the government so they don't stand any authentication," he said. The head of the institute which has the mandate to prepare maps for defence purposes said many people used Google maps "for low end" applications.

"The maps produced by the Survey of India are used for serious applications," he said, responding to a question at an event organised to release a commemorative stamp to mark 250 years of the institute. The Survey of India's topography maps are needed for "very accurate and engineering quality data" essential for something like a new rail line or a canal, Rao said.

The Survey of India falls under the Department of Science and Technology. DST secretary Ashutosh Sharma, however, added that it would be wrong to disregard satellite mapping, as the maps prepared by the Survey of India and companies such as Google served different purposes. Manoj Sinha, Minister of State for Communication, said the Survey of India had the "distinct honour" of printing India's first postage stamp and the first copy of the Constitution of India.

He added that any developmental work could only start after proper survey and mapping had been done.

New Delhi 

When the most celebrated host of the nation is on the other side of the table and being asked questions, what sets in, is a fun, entertaining and inquisitive ambience.

This week's episode of most loved chat show ' Famously Filmfare' will take the audiences on a roller-coaster ride of emotions with ace director and the newly turned father of two, Karan Johar as the guest. The episode will also showcase the fatherly and extremely loving side of the House of Talent, Karan Johar.

The director-producer opened up to the host of the show Jitesh Pillai, about how he prepared for his fatherhood, and how the thought of having children daunted upon him. The director said, "A day after my 40th birthday, I just felt I need to be a father. I knew I needed to be emotionally ready. So I went into therapy sessions and psychology discussions about what it is to be a father, what it is to raise a child without a mother and also at a certain age in your life. I was asked if the children are my backup plan for not having a love relationship in your life. I really had to go into my internal self to ask if that's true and the answer was no."

An emotional Karan further said, "When I held them for the first time, I don't think I can describe the feeling. I cannot explain what I felt. I just sat in the chair and held my daughter first, as she is a little more vulnerable medically. I didn't even realize there were tears rolling down my face. That feeling cannot be replaced by any other emotion." 

Palma

Former World No 1 Victoria Azarenka's return from maternity leave was cut short by young Croatian Ana Konjuh at the Mallorca Open on Thursday.

The Belarusian, who saved match points in her first-round victory against Japan's Risa Ozaki, went down 6-1,6-3 to the seventh seed on the grasscourts at Santa Ponsa.

Konjuh, 19, dominated from the start and Azarenka had no answer to the depth and power of her opponent.

"I know Azarenka is coming back, but it's always tough to play against her," said Konjuh, who did not allow Azarenka a point until the third game of the match.

"She's one of the best players in the world.

"I was motivated for sure, and I'm really glad that I could play so well today and win."

Italian Roberta Vinci also reached the last eight with a 6-4 5-7 6-2 win over Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens.

Defending champion Caroline Garcia's match against Jana Cepelova was suspended at 2-2 in the third set as the light faded.

New Delhi 

E-commerce giant Amazon India has announced its tie-up with NUOAURA (the B2B ecommerce platform that sells office supplies) for a period of three years for an undisclosed amount.

This move helps Amazon India automate their entire procurement process for Stationary Supplies, thereby bringing efficiency in their sourcing system. NUOAURA, an Arkarise Group Venture, is a first-of-its-kind online megastore for Indian businesses for buying all kinds of Office Supplies, Consumables and Merchandising needed on a routine basis. It was founded by Sharad Jaiprakash in January 2016.

Amazon India has six large office locations at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Delhi NCR housing more than 30,000 employees having multiple vendors on board with multiple contracts running.

NUOAURA.com offers a cloud platform for companies to centralise their buying needs with customised pricing and online catalogue management and automated approval process. Apparently, Amazon India also uses online sourcing platform and they intend to integrate its platform with NUOAURA.com to automate this entire process and bring in more transparency in buying and also save man-hours spent on vendor coordination and logistics. Given that NUOAURA has built a large supplier base pan India since their inception, they are able to provide multi-location delivery capabilities with consistency in product and pricing and thus assuring best deals and streamlined procurement process to its clients.

"This tie up is a part of our strategy to become leaders in this categories with high repeat order rates. Nuoaura crossed over half a million dollar mark within 10 months of operations and is currently seeing 52 percent quarterly growth with positive cash flow," said founder NUOAURA, Sharad Jaiprakash.

"We have partnered with Nuoaura to consolidate all our business buys, pan India, through a 'one window format'. So instead of 10 offices looking for multiple vendors in 10 different markets, we automate the entire process and therefore bring efficiency in the system. And since Nuoaura has more than large vendor base PAN India, we are assured of the best deals. It is an excellent solution for us," said an official from Amazon India. 

London

Prince Harry, who is the fifth in line to the British throne, has given a controversial statement that no one in the royal family really wants to take over the job of a monarch. The 32-year-old royal said, “We are involved in modernizing the British monarchy. We are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people.”

“Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time”, the Washington Post quoted Prince as saying. The prince also said that his personal priority was to lead an “ordinary” life, giving credit to his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, for inspiring him to do so.

Talking about grappling with the fallout of his mother’s death, the Prince said that serving in Afghanistan helped him, “Even so, there were some dark years when I drank and smoked too much.” Harry even entered into a controversy in 2005 when a photograph showing him wearing Nazi insignia at a private party went viral on the Internet. Another time, he was caught partying, naked, in Las Vegas, alongside some scantily-clad women.

He also talked some about pulling the monarchy into the 21st century alongside his brother, Prince William, and sister-in-law, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. Referring to Prince William, he said, “Thank goodness I’m not completely cut off from reality. People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live.”He said that he has tried to focus on serving a small number of charities, rather than the 600 the queen supports.

Harry also spoke about his attempt of trying to live an “ordinary life,” a priority his mother instilled in him. He still does his own shopping, he said. He lives in an apartment near his brother William’s family. “Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping. But it’s a tricky balancing act. We don’t want to dilute the magic,” Washington Post quoted Prince as saying. “The British public and the whole world need institutions like it.”

In the line of succession, Prince Harry comes after his father, Prince Charles; Prince William; and Prince William’s children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

New Delhi 

With the opposition choosing former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar as their presidential nominee, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday called on those with ‘secular ideology’ to extend their full support to her.

“This is a fight of ideologies, no midway here. People with secular ideology should stand with Meira Kumar,” he told ANI.

Meanwhile, Meira Kumar expressed her happiness at being nominated, while stating that the poll is a fight of ideology.

“A very important decision was taken yesterday. They have made me the nominee. I am extremely happy that this took place with everyone’s consent. This election is a fight of ideology. The 17 parties that have come forward have immense faith on their decision. I will start my campaigning based on this decision,” Kumar told ANI.

Expressing joy over the fact that she was unanimously selected as Opposition’s Presidential nominee by 17 political parties, Kumar said they are deciding on the date of filing the nomination.

Earlier in the day, National Democratic Alliance (NDA) presidential nominee Ram Nath Kovind filed his nomination.

He was accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his trip to Parliament House to file his papers.

Former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar was yesterday announced as the Opposition’ Presidential nominee. The Opposition – Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI), and other parties – met yesterday to discuss the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) decision on Presidential nominee Ramnath Kovind, following which they announced their candidate.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier said that the Opposition was a divided house over the Presidential elections as many of its partners have extended support to ruling NDA candidate.

BJP chief Amit Shah had announced the name of Kovind as NDA’s consensus candidate for the post of Indian President.

The election for the next President of India is to be held on July 17 as President Pranab Mukherjee will demit the office on July 24.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the notification in this regard and the process of the nomination has started that will continue till June 28.

Srikumar Banerjee

Government’s announcement for the plan of construction of ten new Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) of 700 MWe capacity vindicates the confidence in the indigenous PHWR technology which has been built over a period of nearly four decades. The performance of the present sixteen indigenously built PHWRs is demonstrated by an average capacity factor of about 80% over last five years, their uninterrupted operation over extended periods, the longest being 765 days for a Rajasthan Reactor, RAPS-5 securing the second world ranking and a very low average electricity tariff which is next to that of the hydroelectric power. More than anything else, is the fact that 100% of all their components are manufactured by the Indian industry. Dr. M.R.Srinivasan in a recent column in The Hindu (appeared on May 19,2017) has succinctly outlined the history of the development of the PHWR technology and the near-term strategy of the growth of nuclear power capacity. The evolution of the PHWR technology and the upgradation of their safety features have been covered in a series of scientific papers published in a special section of the April ‘17 Issue of “Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science’- a journal published by American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

The PHWR technology in India started in the late nineteen sixties with the construction of the first 220 MWe reactor, Rajasthan Atomic Power Station, RAPS-1 with a design similar with that of the Douglas Point reactor in Canada under the joint Indo-Canadian nuclear co-operation. Canada supplied all main equipment for this first unit. India retained responsibility for construction, installation and commissioning activities. For the second unit (RAPS-2), import content was reduced considerably and indigenization was taken up for major pieces of equipment. Following the complete withdrawal of the Canadian support in 1974 after Pokhran-1, Indian nuclear engineers completed the construction and the plant was made operational with majority of the components made in India. From the third PHWR unit (Madras Atomic Power Station, MAPS-1) onwards, the evolution and indigenisation of the design began with the objective of keeping abreast with evolutionary changes taking place worldwide and of meeting new safety criteria. Improvements were also incorporated for reduction of the construction time and cost, and enhancing reliability of operation leading to better capacity factors. The first two units of PHWR using indigenously developed standardized 220 MWe design were set up at the Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS). This standardized and optimised design had several new safety systems which have been incorporated in five more twin-unit atomic power stations with capacity of 2 x 220 MWe located at Kakrapar, Kaiga and Rawatbhata. For realising the economics of scale, the design of 540 MWe PHWR was developed and two such units were constructed at Tarapur. Further optimisations were carried out by utilising the excess thermal margins and improve the economics and NPCIL modified the 540 MWe PHWR design to that of 700 MWe capacity without much design changes. Four units of this design are being constructed at Rawatbhata and Kakrapar at present.

As far as the safety is concerned, the PHWR technology scores well in terms of its several inherent safety features. The biggest advantage of the PHWR design is the use of thin walled pressure tubes instead of large pressure vessels used in pressure vessel type reactors. This results in a distribution of pressure boundaries to large number of small diameter pressure tubes. The consequence of an accidental rupture of the pressure boundary in such a design will have a much less severity than that in a pressure vessel type reactor. The PHWR core is always uniquely surrounded by huge quantity of low temperature and low pressure water in the calandria vessel and in the calandria vault. These coolant inventories significantly delay the progression of the event and, thereby, provide adequate time for interventions and corrective actions by operators to mitigate the consequences. In fact, the large quantity of vault water can serve as a core catcher for in-vessel retention of disintegrated fuel debris in the case of a very low probability core melt accident. These inherent heat sinks are required only when the primary heat sink through steam generators or the shutdown cooling system becomes unavailable in the most severe accident scenario.

In addition, the Indian 700 MWe PHWR design has enhanced safety through dedicated Passive Decay Heat Removal System which has the capability of removing decay heat from core without requiring any operator actions similar with the technology adopted for Generation III+ plants to address the Fukushima type accident. The 700 MWe Indian PHWR has steel-lined containment to reduce the leakages and containment spray system to reduce the containment pressure in case of a loss of coolant accident and for scrubbing radio nuclides in case of their release beyond the design limit.

The main reasons for selecting PHWRs in the 1960s for the First Stage of the Indian nuclear power programme have been the use of natural uranium oxide as the fuel, the best utilisation of mined uranium in energy production and the prospect of establishing a completely self-reliant technology. Over four decades of relentless research, design and development work in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Nuclear Power Corporation and the matching contributions of some of their industry partners who had shown the courage in taking up the challenging manufacturing and construction work have enabled India in establishing the technology in totality. Mastering the entire fuel cycle including prospecting of minerals, mining, processing and manufacturing of fuel and structural materials, reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and immobilization of radioactive waste has given India a unique position of self-reliance in the atomic energy domain. The constraint of a limited reserve of uranium in the country which earlier impeded a rapid growth in nuclear power has now been eased by augmented production of indigenous uranium and import of uranium under the civil nuclear co-operation agreements with several countries. During the last financial-year Nuclear Fuel Complex had a record production of nuclear fuel exceeding 1500 tonne and new uranium deposits discovered by Atomic Mineral Division for Exploration and research have taken the uranium reserve in the country to a level of 200000 tonne.

India is now poised for a rapid growth in the nuclear power capacity which is essential for meeting the demand of clean electricity. The per-capita electricity consumption in India (now close to 1000 KWh) is nearly one-third of the world average and there is an obvious need for a substantial enhancement of non-carbon electricity production to improve the quality of life of our people. The impressive growth in the solar and wind power has made a visible impact in increased availability of electricity in many areas. However, it needs to be emphasized that the distributed and intermittent sources of energy such as solar and wind cannot meet the base load demand very effectively. The nuclear energy source is concentrated, continuous and reliable and, therefore, can be complemented by solar and wind energy in meeting the overall demand of electricity with practically zero carbon foot-print. While the huge electricity demand from large cities and industrial complexes require uninterrupted and concentrated form of energy, there is an equally big demand of distributed energy in our rural areas. Energy planners are, therefore, combining these different patterns of energy requirement to achieve an optimised solution.   

The next issue which needs to be addressed is the speed at which we can grow our nuclear power capacity. In this context one can examine the experience of France and USA in nineteen seventies and of China in the recent years. They all have achieved very impressive rapid growth by adopting a convoy or a serial mode of installation of nuclear power plants of a few standardised designs. In such a strategy, the industry can gear up their dedicated production lines for sophisticated nuclear components and construction companies can deploy their manpower and skill-set most effectively. The decision that 10 PHWRs of 700 MWe will be installed in the immediate future will generate enough enthusiasm in the industry for taking up the challenge of serial production of nuclear components of exacting specifications. The expansion in nuclear power activity will not only broaden the supplier base but also make the participating industry more quality conscious. They can even qualify to be exporters of nuclear grade components. A reduction in the gestation period of construction of nuclear plants will have a strong impact in reducing the cost of electricity.

As has been mentioned by Dr.Srinivasan, India is now in a position to embark upon building 900 MWe Pressurised Water Reactors (PWRs) of her own design. The capability of making large size pressure vessel is now available within the country and our own isotope enrichment plants will be able to supply a part of the required enriched uranium fuel within a decade. These will be in addition to imported PWRs from Russia, France and USA with the aim of an accelerated growth of nuclear energy in the country. The signing of the recent agreement between India and Russia for the construction of two more 1000 MWe PWRs (Units 5 and 6) in Kudankulam confirms this overall plan. The convenience of operation and a high average capacity factor have made PWRs the most sought after nuclear power reactors in the world, nearly 85% of all power reactors being the PWR type.  There will be a special advantage of operating a mix of PWRs and PHWRs in India as the spent fuel of the former which will contain more than 1% of uranium-235 can be reprocessed and further utilized as the fuel in PHWRs operating in tandem. This evolving fuel cycle will eventually extend the power generation from the First Stage of the well- known three stage programme quite significantly.

The merit of the closed fuel cycle which has been adopted right from the beginning of the Indian programme is not only in multiplying the fuel resource but also in reducing the radio-active burden of the nuclear waste dramatically. In this context, the successful development of separation of minor actinides from the nuclear waste in India, deployed in pilot plant scale, has drawn world-wide attention. Plutonium recovered by reprocessing of spent fuel from operating PHWRs has been used in making the plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel for the full core of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which has initiated the commissioning activities before commencing operation. With the entry of India in her Second Stage of nuclear power programme in which Fast Breeder Reactors will not only enable the growth of the installed nuclear capacity, but also generate more fissile materials, plutonium-239 and uranium-233 by conversion of fertile isotopes, uranium-238 and thorium-232 respectively. An enhanced scope and an accelerated implementation of the First Stage of the programme will make a far- reaching impact on securing the energy self-reliance of the country. By operating multiple recycles in the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle the supply of fissile material is expected to be enhanced by a factor of 60 and by using the huge reserve of thorium, the current estimate being four times that of uranium, India can sustain the supply of clean nuclear energy for several centuries.

London

'Captain America' fans, we might have some bad news for you.

According to The Independent, Chris Evans, who portrays the role of the iconic superhero 'Captain America' in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, feels that 'Avenger: Infinity War' and sequel would "wrap everything up" for the superhero.

While giving an interview to a international daily, the 'Snowpiercer' star shared, "I had six films in my Marvel contract, so I could have said after the third Avengers I was done, but they wanted to make the third and fourth Avengers films as a two-parter."

Adding, "They said they had so many other characters to fit in - 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Black Panther', 'Captain Marvel', 'Doctor Strange', 'Ant-Man' - and couldn't get them all into one movie."

The actor shared that this made all sense and for Captain America, these two movies will wrap everything up.

He said, "Because it made sense. It's going to wrap everything up."

The actor shared that he's actually extended his contract with Marvel.

Chris Evans will be seen in 'Avengers: Infinity War' alongside Robert Downey Jr., Bernedict Cumberbatch, Scarlet Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo.

The flick hits UK cinemas 27 April, 2018. 

Stuttgart

Sticking to a limited schedule has helped Roger Federer enjoy a renaissance late in his career but the Swiss says rest time is now over and he is looking forward to returning to action at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.

The 35-year-old was ruled out for six months last year as he recovered from a knee injury but made a winning return this season at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami before opting out of the entire clay-court season.

The former World No 1 is eager to get back to competition in 2017 after a 10-week layoff.

"There are no more breaks now," Federer told the ATP's official website (atpworldtour.com)

"I've had enough breaks. I'm a practice world champion now and that's not who I want to be. I want to be a champ on the match courts.

"So I'm going to be playing a regular schedule for the second part of the season... And this is the beginning here at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart."

During Federer's absence, Rafa Nadal won four clay tournaments, culminating in Sunday's French Open victory, and Federer said the Spaniard could finish the year on top of the world rankings.

"Obviously Rafa is in great position to finish World No. 1. For him it's going to be all about staying injury free," he added. "For me it's about getting back to winning ways, where I left off in Miami."

Federer said he expected Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka to step up their game in the second half of the season.

"It's going to be an epic finish to the end of the season. Quite exciting actually for the ATP Tour."

Federer will play either Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert or German Tommy Haas in the second round at Stuttgart on Wednesday.

New Delhi 

Union Finance Minster Arun Jaitley will address a seminar, organised by FICCI along with Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) from June 14-15 in South Korea.

Jaitley will be accompanied by Rashesh Shah, Senior Vice President, FICCI, and Chairman and CEO, Edelweiss Group who will lead a high capacity FICCI business delegation to South Korea.

Indo-Korean relations have been growing over the past few years and

this visit shall further strengthen mutually beneficial trade and investment relations between the two nations.

The meeting is expected to enhance the bilateral economic engagement and business co-operation between India and South Korea.

This visit shall further strengthen mutually beneficial trade and investment relations between the two countries. Today, India is one of the most attractive investment destinations for global investors and there is a potential for much greater investments from various countries, including South Korea.

"This visit to South Korea will provide a good opportunity for CEOs to talk about the enabling policy environment available for corporates in India as well as to highlight the advantages that India offers to foreign investors," said Shah.

The FICCI delegation will get an opportunity to highlight to stakeholders the progress made across various development programmes and various measures taken by the government to steer the economy to higher growth path. It will be an opportunity to highlight the potential areas for further co-operation, especially in areas like manufacturing, ship-building, defence, infrastructure, etc.

The delegation visit to Korea comes at a time when the ruling government in India has completed three years. During the last three years, the Indian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has made significant progress and undertaken various structural reforms, the latest being the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Besides Shah, Dr. A Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, Harshavardhan Neotia, Immediate Past President, FICCI and Chairman and others, the FICCI delegation will be represented by industry and business heads from diversified sectors

Arakkonam (Tamil Nadu) 

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday arrived in Tamil Nadu's Kanchipuram for a day-long visit.

He was received by Tamil Nadu Commercial Taxes Minister K. C. Veeramani at the naval airbase INS Rajali in Arakkonam.

From there, they headed to offer special prayers at the Kanchi Kamakshi Temple.

Before winding up his tour, President Mukherjee will also meet the Kanchi seers Jayandra Saraswati and Vijayendra Saraswati at the Kanchi Mutt.

San Francisco 

They came for the music, the mind-bending drugs, to resist the Vietnam War and 1960s American orthodoxy, or simply to escape summer boredom. And they left an enduring legacy.

This season marks the 50th anniversary of that legendary “Summer of Love,” when throngs of American youth descended on San Francisco to join a cultural revolution.

Thinking back on 1967, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead recalls a creative explosion that sprouted from fissures in American society. That summer marked a pivot point in rock-and-roll history, he says, but it was about much more than the music.

“There was a spirit in the air,” said Weir, who dropped out of high school and then helped form the Grateful Dead in 1965. “We figured that if enough of us got together and put our hearts and minds to it, we could make anything happen.”

San Francisco, now a hub of technology and unrecognizable from its grittier, more freewheeling former self, is taking the anniversary seriously. Hoping for another invasion of visitors - this time with tourist dollars - the city is celebrating with museum exhibits, music and film festivals, Summer of Love-inspired dance parties and lecture panels. Hotels are offering discount packages that include “psychedelic cocktails,” “Love Bus” tours, tie-dyed tote bags and bubble wands.

The city's travel bureau, which is coordinating the effort, calls it an “exhilarating celebration of the most iconic cultural event in San Francisco history.”

One thing the anniversary makes clear is that what happened here in the 1960s could never happen in San Francisco today, simply because struggling artists can't afford the city anymore. In the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which was ground zero for the counterculture, two-bedroom apartments now rent for $5,000 a month. San Francisco remains a magnet for young people, but even those earning six-figure Silicon Valley salaries complain about the cost of living.

In the mid-1960s, rent in Haight-Ashbury was extremely cheap, Weir, now 69, told The Associated Press.

“That attracted artists and bohemians in general because the bohemian community tended to move in where they could afford it,” he said.

During those years, the Grateful Dead shared a spacious Victorian on Ashbury Street. Janis Joplin lived down the street. Across from her was Joe McDonald, of the psychedelic rock band Country Joe and the Fish.

Jefferson Airplane eventually bought a house a few blocks away on Fulton Street, where they hosted legendary, wild parties.

“The music is what everyone seems to remember, but it was a lot more than that,” said David Freiberg, 75, a singer and bassist for Quicksilver Messenger Service who later joined Jefferson Airplane. “It was artists, poets, musicians, all the beautiful shops of clothes and hippie food stores. It was a whole community.”

The bands dropped by each other's houses and played music nearby, often in free outdoor concerts at Golden Gate Park and its eastward extension known as the Panhandle. Their exciting new breed of folk, jazz and blues-inspired electrical music became known as the San Francisco Sound. Several of its most influential local acts - the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, which launched Joplin's career - shot to fame during the summer's three-day Monterey Pop Festival.

“Every fantasy about the summer of '67 that was ever created - peace, joy, love, nonviolence, wear flowers in your hair and fantastic music - was real at Monterey. It was bliss,” said Dennis McNally, the Grateful Dead's longtime publicist and official biographer who has curated an exhibit at the California Historical Society that runs through Sept. 10.

The exhibit, “On the Road to the Summer of Love,” explains how that epic summer came about and why San Francisco was its inevitable home. McNally uncovered 100 photographs, some never seen publicly, that trace San Francisco's contrarian roots to the Beat poets of the 1950s, followed by civil rights demonstrations and the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley in the early 1960s.

The national media paid little attention to San Francisco's psychedelic community until January 1967, when poets and bands joined forces for the “Human Be-In,” a Golden Gate Park gathering that unexpectedly drew about 50,000 people, McNally said. It was there that psychologist and LSD-advocate Timothy Leary stood on stage and delivered his famous mantra: “Turn on. Tune In. Drop out.”

“After the media got hold, it just exploded,” McNally said. “Suddenly, a flood descends on Haight Street. Every bored high school kid - and that's all of them - is saying, `How do I get to San Francisco?”'

An exhaustive exhibit at San Francisco's de Young museum, “The Summer of Love Experience,” offers a feel-good trip back in time. There's a psychedelic light show, a 1960s soundtrack and galleries with iconic concert posters, classic photographs and hippie chic fashions worn by Joplin, Jerry Garcia and others. It runs through Aug. 20.

But that summer's invasion carried a dark cloud. Tens of thousands of youths looking for free love and drugs flooded into San Francisco, living in the streets, begging for food. Parents journeyed to the city in search of their young runaways. An epidemic of toxic psychedelics and harder drugs hit the streets.

“Every loose nut and bolt in America rattled out here to San Francisco, and it got pretty messy,” Weir said.

The longtimers saw it as the end of an era, but one that shaped history.

“We created a mindset that became intrinsic to the fabric of America today,” said Country Joe McDonald, now 75. “Every single thing we did was adapted, folded into America - gender attitudes, ecological attitudes, the invention of rock and roll.”

Half a century later, McDonald, who lives in Berkeley, feels the rumblings of history repeating itself.

UC Berkeley is again at the center of a free speech debate, albeit of a different nature. Discontent with the U.S. government and President Donald Trump has stirred the largest protests he's seen since the Vietnam War. In the women's marches across America, he felt echoes of the Summer of Love.

“I think there's a similarity,” McDonald said, drawing a parallel to the massive anti-Trump turnout marked by nonviolence, playful pink protest hats, creative signs and a determination to change the country's political course. “Both were about saying goodbye to the past and hello to the future.”

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized a federal appeals court one day after it handed him another legal setback by refusing to revive his U.S.

travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority nations, and appeared poised for the nation's top court to weigh in.

On Monday, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the second federal appeals court to reject the Republican Trump administration's bid to undo a Hawaii federal judge's decision that blocked the temporary travel ban in a dispute headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The three-judge panel said Trump's March 6 order violated existing immigration law, but did not address whether it was unconstitutional discrimination against Muslims. Trump's 90-day ban targets travelers from Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

"Well, as predicted, the 9th Circuit did it again – Ruled against the TRAVEL BAN at such a dangerous time in the history of our country. S.C." Trump said in a post on Twitter, apparently referencing the U.S. Supreme Court.

The nation's top court, which leans conservative after Trump's appointee won confirmation as the ninth justice earlier this year, could act as soon as this week on his administration's request to reinstate the order.

The 9th Circuit, headed by Democratic appointees, largely left in place a nationwide injunction by Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii that stopped parts of the order, which Trump contends is needed to prevent terrorism in the United States.

Those who have challenged the travel ban dispute that it is needed to protect Americans and argue that the order violates the U.S. Constitution's bar against favoring or disfavoring a particular religion.

Another appeals court, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, last month upheld a Maryland judge's ruling that also blocked Trump's ban.

Trump has been on the losing side in all four court rulings on the March order and has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency review.

In a statement on Monday, U.S. Attorney General Sessions said Trump's executive order was lawful and that the court rulings have had a "chilling effect" on security operations.

Ratnadeep Banerji

The vivacious culture of India is elevating to the entire planet, both humans and nature. Down the memory lane, Indian culture has manifested in various realms across Asia and beyond and is still found flourishing overseas. The Government of India has been reaching out to dozens of countries to bring out this lost link and to give a glimpse of India though a series of India Festivals in respective countries. India’s vast culture flows in rural panorama and the Ministry of Culture has been holding folk and tribal festivals across India also including metros and tourist destinations to revive dying arts and promote tribal artists and performers. The citizens of India are getting to know Gandhiji and Netaji with yet more profound insight. Our last three years has instilled this realization of inheriting a rich legacy and also the citizen’s incumbent responsibility to preserve it.

 Netaji Papers Declassified

The Government of India decided to declassify files pertaining to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to meet the long standing public demand and place it in public domain. Files were received by the National Archives of India from the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs. On the occasion of 119th birth anniversary of Netaji on 23rd January 1916, digital copies of 100 files were released in public domain by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  In all, 303 files have been put in public domain till now on www.netajipapers.gov.in.

The National Archives of India had received 990 declassified files pertaining to the Indian National Army (Azad Hind Fauj) from the Ministry of Defence, way back in 1997. Thereafter, in 2012, 271 files from the Khosla Commission and 759 files from Justice Mukherjee Commission of Inquiry, in total 1030 files were received from the Ministry of Home Affairs.  All these files are already open to the public under the Public Records Rules of 1997.

Stolen Treasure Retrieved Back

Three ancient stone sculptures of Seated Buddha, Goddess Pratyangira and Worshippers of Buddha were stolen and smuggled out of India and inadvertently acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. At a special event at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture & Tourism was handed over these artifacts. One Bronze object of Nataraja and one Stone object of Ardhanarishwara from Australia have also been retrieved. Prime Minister’s visit to USA in June 2016 facilitated the return of 17 antiquities smuggled out of India to USA.  One stone object of Parrot Lady from Canada and one stone object of Durga from Germany have also been retrieved.

World Heritage

India has been active on the UNESCO front, receiving due cognizance. Yoga being India’s one of the ancient practices has now been inscribed as an element in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity during the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During this session, India’s proposal for inscribing Yoga as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was unanimously supported by all the 24 members of the Intergovernmental Committee.

Khangchendzonga National Park in Sikkim and The Capitol Complex in Chandigarh were announced as World Heritage Sites during the 40th session of the World Heritage Council held at Istanbul in Turkey in 2016.

 Cultural Mapping of India

To nurture, hand-hold and train upcoming artistes on a sustained basis there needs to be grant of scholarships, fellowships, pensions, and other forms of assistance. To reach far and wide comprehensively, there is a need to have data-base of such art forms and artists, referred to as Cultural Mapping. So far, profiles of more than 1 Crore artists has been collected.

 Project Mausam  

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) along with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and the National Museum is bringing out the historic diversity of cultural, commercial and religious interactions in the Indian Ocean extending from East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka to the Southeast Asian archipelago including the study of Maritime Routes.

Satellite Mapping of ASI Monuments 

Archaeological Survey of India along with National Remote Sensing Centre of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is preparing satellite based maps of all its 3686 centrally protected monuments indicating prohibited and regulated areas clearly for the information of public and also to facilitate procedure for grant of permissions for construction related activity within prohibited and regulated areas.

National Virtual Library of India

National Mission on Libraries has embarked on building National Virtual Library of India as the digital platform which would bring together all information generated in India and about India and make such information accessible to the citizens through user friendly search interfaces.

Gandhi Heritage

The construction of National Dandi Memorial at Dandi has been initiated. Also, construction of the Heritage path relating to 21 night halt places is under progress.

Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission has been refurbishing Gandhi Ashram Trust at Noakhali in Bangladesh, Gandhi Smarak Sangrahalaya at Barrackpore in Kolkata and also laying out permanent exhibition at Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, South Africa. Approximately 2, 255,090 pages have been uploaded on Gandhi Heritage Portal on www.gandhiheritageportal.org.

 Promotion of Folk Culture

The organizing of 8-day long Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav is an exemplary endeavour to bring together the culture of all states on a single platform proving a cherishing realization for national integration besides giving due dignity to art forms and also bolster folk traditions. All seven Zonal Cultural Centres of the Ministry of Culture, Sangeet Natak Akademi and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts come together to promote our cultural inter-linkages amongst the states.

In a bid to exclusively give impetus to the traditions of the marginalized, National Tribal and North East Conclave has begun to be organized by Lalit Kala Akademi.

Artists and performers put forth the soft power of a country. Culture transcends all barriers and pervades bonhomie amongst us all endowing a rare insight of oneness. This cultural appreciation of the populace cutting across their ethnicity and religion is intended in our secular democratic state.

New Delhi 

With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announcing its second bi-monthly monetary policy review today, the economists have said that there would be no change to interest rates, adding that the apex body would adopt a wait and watch policy to see how inflation trajectory develops.

"After the last figure for inflation, there was a lot of expectations within the market that the RBI might really cut rates in the current policy. We actually don't believe that.We think the RBI will wait and watch how the inflation trajectory develops," Rishi Shah, Economist, Deloitte India, told ANI.

"Market is expecting the Monetary Policy to be neutral, but there is not going to be any change. It is going to be status quo; we are not expecting change in reverse repo, repo rate or the CRR," another economist K.K. Mittal told ANI.

Experts, however, believe that said if the GDP growth remains stable around 7 percent and inflation remains in the RBI's comfort zone of around 4 to 5 percent, then a possible cut to lending rates may take place at the end of the year.

"How RBI is going to diagnose the inflations and the inflationary expectations and the GDP growth rate, is going to be watched very carefully," Mittal added.

However, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday hoped for cut in the interest rate citing good monsoon and no surge in oil prices.

Los Angeles 

Jake Gyllenhaal is all set to be a part of World War II.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gyllenhaal will team up with John Lester for the upcoming movie 'The Lost Airman,' a true-life World War II adventure project.

Amazon Studios has picked up the rights to the non-fiction book, titled ' The Lost Airman: A True Story of Escape From Nazi-Occupied France' and written by Seth Meyerowitz.

The ' Nocturnal Animals' star is attached to star in the project and will produce with Riva Marker, his partner at the duo's Nine Stories banner, while Lesher will produce through his Le Grisbi Productions.

Based on recently declassified materials, the story of the movie tells the incredible true story of Arthur Meyerowitz, an American turret-gunner whose B-24 bomber was shot down over Vichy France in 1943.

While hiding in the French countryside, Meyerowitz befriended Marcel Talliander, the founder of the legendary French resistance group Morhange, who helped shelter the man from the Gestapo through his secret network. After six months of barely evading capture, Meyerowitz escaped through a carefully orchestrated plan that also involved R.F.W. Cleaver, one of the most accomplished British fighter pilots of the war.

Seth Meyerowitz, Anthony Mattero of Foundry Literary Media and Dan Bodansky of Dixon Talent will serve as executive producers.