AICC's decision to allow the state Congress to negotiate with the Trinamool Congress has brightened the hope of formulating a new poll strategy against the CPM-led Left government in Bengal.
Expelled CPM leader Saifuddin Chowdhury today launched a new political outfit — 'Party for Democratic Socialism' (PDS) — with a number of dissident Marxist leaders to provide a "Left democratic, secular alternative" in the ensuing state Assembly elections.
Life is slowly returning to normal in Gujarat, where an earthquake killed at least 30,000 persons and rendered hundreds and thousands homeless.
This port town of the Kandla has become the first place in the quake-affected areas of Gujarat where the mammoth exercise of removal of rubble of the damaged buildings has begun on a war footing. Bulldozers and other heavy machinery have been engaged to complete the work.
A Division Bench of the Supreme Court has ruled that not holding the identification parade of an accused involved in a terrorist activity, would not be fatal to the prosecution if the accused had already been identified in the court during the trial.
Nine poets, who lyricised revolution, folklore, human life and the tragedy of terrorism in their works, were among 21 litterateurs who were yesterday presented the Sahitya Akademi Awards 2000.
Soon after presenting the budget estimates for 2001-2002 in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly yesterday, Finance Minister Ajay Mushran strolled into the committee room for a customary briefing to the media.
The drama of Chhattisgarh is being repeated in UP. Chief Minister Rajnath Singh is replying in the same manner in which Ajit Jogi sent shockwaves to the BJP. This time Congress MLA and state General Secretary, Mr Surendra Nath Awasthi, a close lieutenant of late Jitendra Prasada, resigned yesterday from Congress party and MLA-ship to make way for Rajnath Singh to acquire a seat in the state Assembly.
Expressing concern over 'the crisis in agriculture,' Congress President Sonia Gandhi yesterday said the party would hold a farmers rally in Delhi on February 25.
The widespread overuse of controlled drugs such as benzodiazepines and various amphetamine type stimulants to treat psychological problems caused by social pressures in gaining acceptance, warns the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
Seabuckthorn, a multi-utility plant with a genetic resource in India is likely to get long overdue attention. This assurance was given by Mrs Shailaja Chandra, Secretary, Department of Indian System of Medicine and Homoeopathy, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, on the opening day of an international workshop on seabuckthorn here yesterday.
Perhaps for the first time in this country, a prisoner has entered into wedlock at Jaipur. Lifer Rajesh married Archna and both performed all rituals at the groom's home — Sampurnanand Khula Bandi Sudhar Grih — which is part of Jaipur Central Jail.
For a country that boasts of strict labour laws, more than 60,000 workers were affected by closures, retrenchment and layoff during 1998, a survey by the Labour Bureau of the Labour Ministry released here yesterday says.
Shimla will soon have a district centre to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services to the disabled. The centre is among the 107 proposed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as per the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. The ministry had also proposed the setting up of six composite regional centres.
The "Garden of the Orient" is the theme of the 14th Garden Tourism Festival being organised by the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation.
Where did Hrithik Roshan, Bollywood's current rage, take his first dancing lessons? In the lap of his grandmother. And this did not happen in Mumbai, as many would think, but in Delhi where his father Rakesh Roshan spent a number of years.
Chhatrapati Shivaji has "resurfaced" in the historical Agra Fort, more than three centuries after he undertook one of the most daring escapades during the Mughal rule. An imposing statue of the Maratha ruler today stands tall in front of the fort's Amar Singh Gate, through which the ostentatious processions of Aurangzeb and his successors passed during the Mughal rule in India.
Kashmiri schoolchildren in the age group of 11 to 17 years called on the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, here today.
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee with Kashmiri children at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Monohar (80), alias Baba, and his two accomplices were arrested for allegedly blackmailing a minor girl in the Anandparbat area of North Delhi here yesterday.
But since the Congress will not be a party to Ms Mamata Banerjee's ''anti-CPM mahajot'' in which BJP is a partner, there might some electoral understanding directly between the TMC and the Congress and the proposal for ''one is to one fight'' against the CPM will automatically be dropped.
On the other hand, since there might not be a whole-hearted acceptance of Ms Banerjee to the AICC proposal, a large number of Congressmen may join hands with her, defying the leadership's directive, which will result in another split in the party.
The pro-mahajot loyalists of the TMC and the Congress camps, however, hope the step will ensure bright prospects for them to form a government in Bengal after the forthcoming state Assembly elections.
Congress leaders like Mr A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury and Mr Saugata Roy, MLA, who will be the main negotiators with the TMC, feel their candidates will have an easy win in those seats where there will be a triangular fight, involving the Congress, the CPM and the BJP.
Similarly, the TMC will get more seats with the support of the Congress in the direct contest between the TMC and the Left Front candidates. But everything now depends what stand the TMC takes towards the Congress on electoral understanding without involving the BJP.
BJP national leadership has already given an assurance that it will not stand in the way of making an understanding between the TMC and the Congress as they are convinced it is not possible for the TMC and the BJP alone to fight the CPM out of power and in Bengal the Congress and the TMC have been the vital force against the CPM and it is necessary for these parties to come together to dislodge the CPM-led government from power.
But BJP's state committee will want TMC's support against the CPM as well as the Congress in those seats as per electoral alliance among themselves on which both parties fought in the last municipal elections.
Some leaders of the state Congress, however, do not want to give any importance to the AICC's present directives towards making an understanding with the TMC. They firmly believe that an understanding between the Congress and the TMC without getting other anti-CPM parties involved, will not ultimately click and Ms Mamata Banerjee will also not openly support the move on political grounds.
Hence, a large number of the Congressmen (mostly sitting MLAs) will, for their survival have to join hands with the TMC directly as they are convinced without TMC's support it will be impossible for them to win the elections. S.G.
A number of rebel CPM leaders, including party's former South 24-Parganas district secretary Samir Putatunda, who resigned on Monday, and two sitting MLAs — Tapati Saha and Mojammel Haque — joined the new party floated at a political convention.
Mr Chowdhury, was elected PDS president and Mr Putatunda its general secretary. A nine-member presidium and 11-member steering committee were elected at the convention. A 58-member state committee was also formed, but only 47 names were cleared in the convention.
Those who had fled after their houses were damaged in the quake have started coming back. Several shops have also come up.
In Bhuj, one of the worst affected towns, residents said they were recovering from the shock and piecing together their lives.
At most places, residents are seen digging for their belongings in the debris of their collapsed houses.
"The situation is returning to normal. Slowly, we are coping up. But there is no place for us to live. Our houses have been damaged but we have to live," said Kirti Thakkar, a villager.
Local markets have also started bustling with activity.
"Earlier for a week or two people were not coming and there was nobody to be seen. But now slowly people are returning to normalcy. We have also started selling things. People are turning to buy things. We are selling our goods at the same rate as we had bought them," said Dani Bhai, a shopkeeper.
State officials said rescue operations were more or less over and now the focus was on rebuilding the infrastructure and helping restore the confidence of people.
A makeshift bank has also started functioning in the town.
"We have just started with the primary banking. Avanced banking will take a few more days. But within a couple of days we are going to finalise an alternative premises so that full fledged operation can take place," said Vijay Pandya, a bank official.
This port town of the Kandla has become the first place in the quake-affected areas of Gujarat where the mammoth exercise of removal of rubble of the damaged buildings has begun on a war footing. Bulldozers and other heavy machinery have been engaged to complete the work. The building which had been declared unsafe are also being demolished. A similar exercise is going on in the neighbouring Kandla, Adipur, and Gopalpura towns.
Rough estimates projected by the Kandla Port Trust (KPT) say that around 3 lakh tonnes of rubble would have to be removed from the place to allow fresh construction to begin. A survey of the building which developed cracks is being done by experts. A proposal to relocate the town is being explored, but no decision in this regard had been taken yet.
Officials supervising the work said 184 multi-storeyed buildings had totally collapsed and several other structures had suffered damage by the tremors. The KPT has given the contract of demolition of the damaged buildings and removal of rubble to private parties at the rate of Rs 75 per tonne. The rubble is being dumped in a low-lying open area on way to the Kandla port. The area would be then developed as a parking lot for trucks.
On the other hand, the removal of the rubble of the collapsed houses in Anjar, Bhuj , Bhachau and Rapar is going at a slow pace. An officer of the 237 Engineering Regiment, who is supervising the job in Anjar, lamented that there were no clear instructions about the removal of rubble lying along the roadsides. "We have just cleared the lanes for movement of relief material and machinery".
In Rapar the rubble is lying along the roads. An official of the Haryana Government supervising the relief work in a village of Rapar taluka said the Gujarat Government would decide whether the survivors be rehabilitated at the same place or relocated.
In Bhuj, heaps of rubble in the old walled city are lying. Only the lanes for movement of traffic had been cleared. The 12 Engineer Regiment of the Army is supervising the operation of removal of valuables and cash from collapsed buildings of banks. Reports said the cash and valuables in 21 banks in Bhuj had been retrieved.
The court said the purpose of an identification parade is only to satisfy the investigation authorities that the suspect is the actual person whom the witnesses had seen while committing the crime.
The judges delivered the ruling while upholding the judgement of the TADA designated court, Karnal, at Ambala convicting and awarding the sentence of life imprisonment to appellant Daya Singh for killing four relatives of a state legislator, Dr Harnam Singh, at Kurukshetra on April 9, 1988.
The Bench comprising Mr Justice M.B. Shah and Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan noted in its judgment that the terrorist attack of Daya Singh and 14 others resulting in the death of four relatives of the legislator, including his son, daughter-in-law, son of his brother-in-law and one of the assailants.
The special court acquitted the other 14 accused in the case but convicted Daya Singh for various offences, including Sections 3 and 5 of the terrorist and disruptive activities (prevention) Act, 1987, and the Penal Code.
"It is to be borne in mind that the purpose of test identification is to have corroboration to the evidence of the eyewitnesses in the form of earlier identification and that substantive evidence of a witness is the evidence in the court. If that evidence is found to be reliable then absence of corroboration by the test identification would not be in any way material," the judges stated.
Delivering the judgment for the bench, Mr Justice Shah said that where reasons for gaining an enduring impression of the identity on the mind and memory of the witnesses are brought on record, it is no use to magnify the theoretical possibilities and arrive at a conclusion.
Mr Justice Shah pointed out that in such cases, not holding of identification parade was not fatal to the case and noted that in the instant case that the accused himself had refused to participate in the identification parade and there was no fault of the investigation officer.
The apex court dismissed the cross-appeals of both Daya Singh against his conviction and that of the state against the acquittal of the 14 other accused.
Joy Goswami got the award for his collection of poems 'Pagli Tomar Sange' (Bengali), Manglesh Dabral for 'Hum Jo Dekhte Hain' (Hindi), R. Ramachandran for 'R. Ramachandrante Kavithakal' (Malayalam) and Namdeo Dhondo Mahanor for 'Panzad' (Marathi).
Others who won the award for their collections of poems were S. Srinivasa Sarma for 'Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Sarswati Vijayan' (Sanskrit), N. Gopi for 'Kalanni Nidra Ponivvanu' (Telugu), Mohammad Idrees Ambar Bahraichi for 'Sookhi Tahni Par Hariyal' (Urdu), Pandurang Rajram Shenay Bhangui for 'Champhel'li Sanj' (Konkani), and Ramanand Renu for 'Katek Raas Baat' (Maithili).
There were two awards for criticism, one each for drama and essay, six for short stories and three for novels.
The awards, which carried Rs 25,000 and a citation each, were presented by Sahitya Akademi president Ramakanta Rath. English poet Keki Daruwalla was the chief guest at the ceremony.
Among short stories, Apurba Sarma was awarded for 'Baghe Tapur Rati' (Assamese), Bandhu Sharma for 'Meel Patthar' (Dogri), Harikrishna Kaul for 'Yath Raaz Daanay' (Kashmiri), Laitonjam Premchand Singh for 'Eemagi Phanek Machet' (Manipuri), Pratibha Ray for 'Ullanghan' (Oriya), and Waryam Singh Sandhu for 'Chauthi Koot' (Punjabi).
Kiran Nagarkar won the award for his novel 'Cuckold'. Vinesh Antani won the honour for his Gujarati novel 'Dhundhabhari Khin'.
Reporters of the print media were present in full strength. However, what probably gave an odd feeling to Mr Mushran was the absence of members of the electronic media, which for some time has been boycotting the happenings inside the Assembly building in protest against the "highhanded" attitude of the Speaker, Mr Shreenivas Tiwari, towards its representatives.
Mr Mushran did not have his heart in the briefing. All questions from reporters were passed on by him to officials of the Finance Department. The officials explained that he was not keeping well.
A little later, the Finance Minister held a briefing exclusively for the electronic media at Vallabh Bhavan (State Secretariat), near the Assembly building, where he was as effusive as ever.
The boycott appears to have started affecting the image-conscious politicians of Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, for instance, holds his press conferences in the Assembly building itself during the session. Early last month, he was to announce his government's decision to usher in "gram swaraj" (village self-government) in the state from the Republic Day. When he came to know that the electronic media would not be present in the Assembly, he asked his staff to shift the venue to a public sector hotel where the Chief Minister drove from the Assembly to address the press conference.
Little wonder, then, that the AICC General Secretary, Ms Mohsina Kidwai, who has been appointed in charge of Madhya Pradesh Congress affairs, was perturbed when representatives of the electronic media submitted to her a letter, addressed to Ms Sonia Gandhi, saying that they would "contemplate boycotting all programmes of the Congress party" if the present impasse continued.
Following a communication from electronic media representatives in Bhopal last December, Ms Sonia Gandhi had reportedly asked Mr Digvijay Singh to sort out the matter between the mediapersons and the Speaker. But Mr Digvijay Singh's efforts had failed to bring about any change in Mr Tiwari's attitude. Now Ms Kidwai has asked the mediapersons to give her some time to "discipline" Mr Tiwari.
Mr Awasthi, in a sudden move yesterday, tendered his resignation to the Speaker, Mr Kesri Nath Tripathi from his constituency Hydergarh (Bara Banki) which was accepted immediately. Mr Rajnath Singh is likely to contest from Hydergarh as he has to become a member of either House of the legislature within six months from the date he assumed charge of office, which is expiring on May 27.
Mr Awasthi said at a crowded Press conference: "We are fighting for inner-party democracy under the leadership of Jitendra Prasada but after his death no change was visible. Decision to quit the party is not a sudden development. The formation of the Congress Working Committee was a breaking point where party President Sonia Gandhi sidelined devoted workers and preferred to nominate defectors and sycophants in the CWC. This all was very suffocating.
"I see a dark future of the Congress and invite Mr Rajnath Singh to secure election on the seat vacated by me. Though I did not resign at his behest but I will be happy in case he accepts my offer," he remarked.
On the other hand people close to the CM vouch he has already taken too long to decide on a constituency. "He has at least five constituencies in mind. But he is unable to finalise from where he should contest," said a close aide. It is mandatory for the CM to be member of either the Assembly or Council within six months of taking charge. Going by this, Rajnath has time till May 27.
There are at least five constituencies for the CM to choose from. These are: Chaanda, Mirzapur, Thakurdwara, Khurja and Saidabad. Byelection is expected only in Saidabad while in the others the incumbent will have to vacate the seat for the CM.
Addressing the members at the general body meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party today, Mrs Gandhi said while the farmers had produced enough to feed the country, the NDA government did not have the coherence or imagination to move the produce from fields to ration shops.
She said on the one hand, foodgrains accumulated in government stocks and farmers had been left with unsold surpluses, on the other hand, the consumers were finding the PDS prices beyond their reach. The crisis was being talked about but nothing was being done, she said.
Referring to the tragedy in Gujarat, she urged the members to generously donate to the Rajiv Gandhi National Relief and Welfare Trust to meet the calamity.
Accusing the NDA government of incompetence in handling the bilateral negotiations under the WTO agreement, she said if the government did not use the built-in safeguard the fault lies not with the WTO but with the NDA government. She said the government had already weakened the country's solidarity with developing countries of the Group of 7.
She charged the government with being confused regarding its policies on Jammu and Kashmir. The ministries were working at cross-purposes, interested more in scoring debating points than combating cross-border terrorism, she alleged.
The ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir had remained a military tactic, not a political or a diplomatic strategy, Mrs Gandhi said.
The INCB in its annual report released here yesterday, by UNDCP Regional Representative, Ms Renate Ehmer, warns about the growing problem of over-consumption of controlled drugs (narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances) with responsibility evenly spread among the government authorities, health-care professionals, pharmaceutical companies and the consumers, the "patients", themselves.
"Easy availability leads to over-consumption of such (psychotropic) substances either in the form of drug abuse or by fuelling a culture of drug taking to deal with a variety of non-medical problems," the report says.
Unreliable estimates and information as regards actual needs of controlled drugs, coupled with aggressive marketing techniques, improper or even unethical prescription practices together add to a situation of easy availability of psychotropic substances.
Another matter of concern, the INCB points out is that the Internet is becoming a growing source of online trafficking as it seems to provide easy access to controlled drugs.
The report points out that countries in South Asia have experienced increased drug abuse and have become involved in supplying drugs to be used for illicit purposes, mostly within the region but also in other regions.
The cause of worry is that drug trafficking groups in countries of South Asia have expanded their network of cooperation to include cross-border cooperation and connections with international drug trafficking groups.
"The illicit activities of organised criminal groups have become more varied, involving the cross-border smuggling of drugs, counterfeit money and arms, ammunition and explosives," it says and adds that "traffickers are exploiting weaknesses or law enforcement systems caused by corruption and lack of human and technical resources.
It says that the abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotrophic substances, in particular codeine-based cough syrups and benzodiazepines, have increased in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
"The main reason for that increase seems to have been the lack of uniformity in monitoring compliance with prescription requirements. The growing abuse of pharmaceuticals has contributed significantly to the spread of polydrug abuse in South Asia," it says appealing all governments in the region to establish or strengthen cooperation between pharmaceutical companies and drug regulatory and the law enforcement authorities in order to develop appropriate measures.
Under the head "Treaty adherence", the report has word appreciation for India. The board notes with appreciation that, in April 2000, the BSF of India and the Bangladesh Rifles signed an agreement on joint efforts against crime, including trafficking of women and children and smuggling of narcotic drugs.
Addressing scientists after inaugurating the conference, Mrs Chandra said technologies for popularising seabuckthorn should be developed and collaboration expedited with foreign countries for processing and development of various products. She asked scientists, policy makers and pharmaceutical companies to formulate a national plan on the development of technologies and industrial utilisation of seabuckthorn resources. She expressed the hope that the popularisation of this 'wonder plant' would also improve the economic conditions of the farmers.
Mrs Chandra told TNS that seabuckthorn had been found to be particularly effective as an anti-oxidant and drugs developed in Russia and China have been found to be useful in cure of cancer, blood pressure and cardiac problems.
The Agriculture Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Chaudhary Vidyasagar, said domestication of this plant needs to be popularised in cold desert areas. He said this would improve the socio economic status of the people of the region. He said the state government would support a proposal to set up an industry in the State. He said the cold deserts in Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir constitute about 75,000 square kilometre.
Dr P.K. Khosla, Vice-Chancellor, Chaudhary Sarvan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidyalaya said there was a need for coordination, collaboration and partnership with various agencies so that the multi-purpose plant can be exploited for pharamceutical, food processing and cosmetic industry. He said the Union government should set up a national centre on seabuckthorn involving the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the Indian Council for Medical Research and other pharmaceutical industries.
Rajesh has been serving life term for murder and still has two years to go. In view of his good record in jail he was transferred to Khula Bandi Sudhar Grih (open jail).
In an open jail, the prisoner has a separate home and allowed not only to live with his family but also to pursue his own vocation. He is also allowed to go out of jail without permission but has to be present at the time of roll-call in the morning as well as evening.
When it was roll-call time at 6 p.m. on Monday, Rajesh, too, was present in his wedding attire. After getting his attendance marked, he went back to perform other ceremonies.
Earlier, his marriage procession was taken out and quite a good number of his relatives joined as 'baratis'. The bride's father had arranged a feast for over 400 persons in the jail. Archna's father hopes that his daughter would be happy with this boy. Archna knows that her husband is a convict.
The highest number of workers were affected by layoff. During the period under review, 294 cases of layoff were reported affecting 45,243 workers resulting in a loss of 2,887,591 man days.
The share of the central sphere in these layoff was about 20 per cent affecting 12,388 workers and a loss of 29,607 man days.
The survey reveals that 175 units were closed during 1998 affecting 13,386 workers. All closures took place in the state sphere while no case of closure was reported in the central sphere. The survey says that of the 175 closures 166 took place in the private sector affecting 10,227 workers. The main reason for closures has been attributed to financial stringency and lack of demand for products.
Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, and the state chief minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal.
He said the Centre had assured the state government the right of 12 per cent free power, and 15 per cent power generation cost would be protected in all future commissioned projects.
Mr Dhumal said the Centre would convene a meeting of chief ministers shortly to settle all pending inter-state disputes regarding power charges.
The Himachal Chief Minister said the work on 9566 mw-capacity projects like Thopan Powari, Rampur, Karchham, Shongtong, Gyspa, Ibra and Kutlehar would be started soon and all these projects would be completed in a time-bound manner.
Mr Dhumal said the Centre had agreed to settle pending monetary claims of state government on various projects in a time-bound manner.
He said the Centre had issued strict instructions to central hydroelectric agencies to prefer local youths in case of employment and any violation would be strictly dealt with.
The ministry plans to set up these centres by utilising the existing infrastructure of state medical colleges, rehabilitation centres, Red Cross Societies and local doctors and experts. The implementing agencies chosen for the task are district rehabilitation centres under the ministry, Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation, Kanpur, the National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped, Calcutta, the National Institute for Visually Handicapped, Dehradun, the National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad, the National Institute for Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai, the National Institute of Rehabilitation Research and Training, Bhuvaneshwar and the Institute for Physically Handicapped (IPH), Delhi.
Mr Sharda Ranga, Director of the IPH said the institute was holding negotiations with the district administration for space in a hospital in Shimla. He said the institute had been offered three options for space and infrastructural facilities in Snowdown Hospital. The institute's nodal officer will visit Shimla in the coming week to finalise space arrangements.
Mr Ranga is hopeful that the centre will start functioning within a fortnight of the approval of the space arrangements. He said the centre would provide facilities for disabled and provide them tricycles, wheel-chairs, artificial limbs, callipers and spinal braces.
Under the assistance to disabled persons scheme, a person earning less than Rs 5000 per month can get appliances and fitments free of cost. The ministry bears 50 per cent cost of aids and fitments for persons who earn between Rs 5100 to Rs 8000.
Entrusted the task of setting up seven centres, the IPH has set up centres in Patiala, Balia, Udaipur. It plans to set up centres in Ahmedabad, Baroda and Udhampur. The IPH mobile workshop is operating from the Blindmen's Association, an Ahmedabad-based NGO to provide rehabilitation services to the disabled. Sources in the ministry said over 20 district centres and two composite regional centres have been set up.
The "Garden of the Orient" is the theme of the 14th Garden Tourism Festival being organised by the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation. The three-day festival which begins on February 23, will be inaugurated by the Delhi Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit. Visitors will get an opportunity to watch rare varieties of flora on display and buy items of their choice.
The festival provides a platform at the national and international levels for participation in competitions in various categories, including potted plants, hanging baskets, foliage, cactai, succulents, roses, bonsai, cut flowers and vegetable carvings.
The elder Roshan, who is here in connection with Hrithik's first live show in the Capital on February 23, has fond memories of Delhi and says that he was keen to organise a show in the city. "I was missing something,'' he said.
Recalling the family's association with the city, Rakesh Roshan said that his father — famous musician Roshan — was a 'jaltarang' player with All India Radio and the family at that time stayed in Patel Nagar. "We still have a lot of relatives here,'' he said.
Rakesh denied that Hrithik had signed any Hollywood movie. "No, not even for a guest appearance,'' he said in response to a question. But would Hrithik's wife Suzanne come into movies, Rakesh was asked. "Not for now, but it is entirely her wish,'' he said.
Hrithik, who arrived here today, went straight for rehearsals for the show that is to be held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The organisers are expecting a packed stadium that can accommodate nearly 60,000 people. Hrithik's earlier show in Kolkata was attended by over a lakh people.
Rakesh, however, clarified that Hrithik would not be holding live shows frequently. "No more live shows this year,'' he said. Hrithik, who is hard pressed for dates, would concentrate on his acting career, Rakesh said.
Apart from the father-son duo, the show will feature Namrata Shirodkar, Amisha Patel, Udit Narayan, Babul Suprio, Alka Yagnik, Rajesh Roshan and Pamela Jain. Special attention has been paid to technical brilliance, the organisers said.
The show, which was scheduled to be held earlier this month, was postponed due to the Gujarat earthquake. Though the organisers did not disclose what sum they had contributed to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, they indicated that it was larger than the earlier announced figure of Rs 40 lakh. "We contributed the sum in Mumbai earlier as we did not want to wait till February 23,'' an orgainser said.
The statue, standing with the characteristic horse-mounted posture of the Maratha monarch, epitomises the period which was marked by confrontations between Mughal and Maratha rulers.
The 46 Kashmiri children, belonging to the economically backward regions of Uri, Handwara, Bandipore, Tangdhar, Sopore and Baramulla areas of Jammu and Kashmir, were accompanied by the Border Security Force Director-General, Mr Gurbachan Jagat.
Such visits by children from Jammu and Kashmir to different parts of the country are being regularly sponsored by the BSF to instill in them a sense of belonging to the nation and to let them know the developments in the economic, social, political and technological fields, besides acquainting them with the cultural ethos of the country.
The accomplices of Baba were identified as Baggi Lal and Sanjay. Baba and his men were arrested following a letter sent by the girl to her parents, the police said.


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08/26/2019 Appendix G Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Appendix F Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Appendix E Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Appendix D Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Appendix C Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Appendix B Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Appendix A Policy and Legal Analysis
10/25/2019 Annual Shortfall - Transportation Funding Study Policy and Legal Analysis
01/17/2020 Annual report on Administration of the Central Voter Registration System (Jan. 2020) Policy and Legal Analysis
01/06/2020 Annual Report of the Right to Know Advisory Committee 2006 Policy and Legal Analysis
01/06/2020 Annual Report of the Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council, 2006 Policy and Legal Analysis
01/29/2020 Annual Report Letter to EDU Committee 1/24/20 Policy and Legal Analysis
11/12/2019 Annals of Medicine article on Low Back Pain Visits Policy and Legal Analysis
09/22/2015 Analyst Assignments by Committee OFPR
09/22/2015 Analyst Assignments by Analyst OFPR
01/09/2020 Analysis of Title 28-A of the Maine Revised Statutes Pursuant to Resolve 2019, Chapter 15 (Jan. 2020) Policy and Legal Analysis
08/26/2019 Analysis of Title 28-A Policy and Legal Analysis
11/06/2019 Ameresco Presentation to the Energy Storage Commission Policy and Legal Analysis
08/17/2016 AllFunds-Actuals Thru FY 2016 OFPR
11/29/2018 All Funds Actual Expenditures Through 2018 OFPR
12/05/2017 All Accepted Requests By Sponsor Legislative Information Office
All Accepted Requests By Sponsor
04/05/2019 Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry Report Back-129th 1st Regular Session OFPR
10/03/2019 AGENDA_SCC_9_10_19 OFPR
12/12/2019 AGENDA_SCC_12_16_19 OFPR
09/05/2019 Agenda-9/10/19-State Compensation Commission OFPR
09/16/2019 Agenda 9.18.2019 Policy and Legal Analysis
04/28/2017 Agenda 5/1/17 through 5/5/17 OFPR
10/18/2019 Agenda 10/21/19 Policy and Legal Analysis
10/01/2019 Agenda 10.7.2019 Policy and Legal Analysis
10/04/2019 Agenda 10.1.19 Policy and Legal Analysis
01/14/2020 Agenda 1/13/2020 Policy and Legal Analysis
05/25/2017 Agenda 05/26/17 OFPR

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
1cannolo, 2cannoli
The adventure begins with a reminder: no 's' on cannoli.
The Palio of Siena
Dolomites 2016
Dolomites, 2015
Italia la Bella
Cycling in Puglia Day 6: Polignano a Mare and Alberobello Celebrates
On December 1, 2019 December 1, 2019 By janinitalyIn Day 6: Polignano al Mare and Alberobello Celebrates, PUGLIA
The final ride of this great week was to the coastal town of Polignano a Mare, 26 miles away. Then we were going to hop in a boat and see the rocky coast from the sea. I loved discovering Puglia and I loved it even more discovering it by bicycle. I challenged myself every day and was fortunate to have had such a friendly group of fellow riders for my first cycling vacation.
Cheers to them!
Mindy with the last day's itinerary
Geared up for our last ride
Now with the big Feast going on in Alberobello, there was a buzz of activity early in the morning, most notably fireworks. It symbolizes the start of the celebration. I also happened upon a marching band playing in front of the Duomo, in front of a stately-looking gentleman. Maybe the mayor? (See video)
We also had to do a bit of navigating to get out of Alberobello. I loved meandering among the trulli. It got a bit tricky going around the crowd though. And then we came upon a big street market, which did not help. So we just hopped off our bikes and walked through it. Nobody was moving for us anyway.
Heading out of town on the last day. (I'm so glad Melanie got this shot.)
Cristiano explained that the first part of the ride "is just a little uphill." But then the second half was a nice decline into town, with the sea in front of us. Well, he was right about the "uphill" part. It's not that it was a steep ride. But there were some long, low hills, one after another. Then we'd hit a fabulous big downhill, only to see the big uphill right after it. The scenery was more residential at some points and there were even a few barking dogs behind gates that startled me a few times.
Then as we got about 14 miles out, the rest of the way was mostly downhill and we all entered Polignano a Mare together. The town is also the birthplace of singer Dominic Modugno, who made the song "Volare" an international sensation. To commemorate that, there is a statue of Dominic in a piazza, his arms stretched out as if he's singing. The souvenir shops in town have magnets with photos of the statue, calling him "Mr. Fly." (Volare means "to fly" in Italian.) What a hoot. What kitsch.
Upon arrival in Polignano a Mare, one must pose in front of the statue of Dominic Modugno, who made "Volare" an international sensation.
So we parked the bikes, took off our pedals and took off the Garmins. Then I gave my bike a salute and headed off to discover the town. Of course it's quaint and beautiful and has a stunning bridge from which to get great views but the town's shining star is its rocky coast. There's a rocky beach with towering cliffs, some of which are used for cliff diving competitions.
The rocky beach of Polignano a Mare.
A view from up top
Selfie with the bridge.
The rocky coast
(photo by Melanie F)
Notice the big Pumi!
But not really. This is the counter of the osteria where I had a quick lunch in Polignano a Mare. Fun.
Shop in Polignano a Mare
Then we all met up after lunch, headed down to a marina where we got on two boats to see the coast from the sea. The sharp rocky ridges were pretty impressive. And the water in the grottoes was so clear. That was a nice couple of hours out there, on that nice sunny day.
The view from our boat. We were treated to a boat ride and a swim after our last ride
That's a restaurant. I understand it's quite expensive.
How's that for a view out your window?
These rock formations were all over the grottoes we saw.
Driving back to Alberobello in a big 14-seat van felt odd. No GPS, no navigating traffic circles, wondering if we should go left or right, no pedal-clipping out and in to stop and go.
Back in town, fellow cyclist Melanie invited us to taste three wines she bought along the way – two primitivos and a zinfandel.
Melanie treated us all to a tasting of some wines she bought – two Primitivos and a Zinfandel – before our last dinner together,
And then it was time for our last group dinner, at Ristorante "L'Aratro." It was located in the busy shopping area with the renovated trulli. In fact, the restaurant is in a trullo. The chef Domenico Laera, complete with his oh so colorful long apron was waiting for us at the door.
He was waiting for us outside the entrance.
For the last time, we were treated to a delectable dinner of Pugliese specialities
Suzie translating for us how ingredients and the meal were put together for us. He is part of the Slo-Food Presadium.
Lesley and Julie
Everything on the menu was a Pugliese tradition and all the wines were from local producers. There was more chicory, figs, caciocavallo cheese, whole wheat cavatelli pasta, lots of mouth-watering tomatoes, a lamb chop which was cooked in a terracotta pot, with potatoes and wild onions and Pugliese canestrato cheese. We enjoyed a semifreddo almond cake for dessert topped with some delicious after-dinner liqueurs. Perfect.
Back in the center of town, the Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian was in full swing. All the lights were on, tons of people were out and that afore-mentioned band was playing in the gazebo. Julie, Chris and I just took it all in, laughing about anything and everything. It was such a festive atmosphere. What a great way to end the week.
This is a model of the Mole Antonelliana building, a major landmark in Torino. A mole (mo-lay) in Italian is a building of monumental proportions. We never really found out why Alberobello, in the heel of Italy, would erect a light display of a landmark from the north. It was beautiful. (Photo by Melanie F)
More lights in the center of Alberobello during the Feast of the city's patron saints
Beautiful lights in the center of town
The gazebo in the middle in the main square of Alberobello during the Feast. (Photo by Melanie F)
The lights were part of the Feast of the town's patron saints, an annual event. (photo by Melanie F)
The next morning, we left in waves because of varying train schedules. I had to catch a flight to Milano. Cristiano was on his way to Piedmont for his next tour and Suzie was headed back to her home in Chianti. We all said our farewells and left beautiful Puglia.
THOUGHTS ON THE WEEK:
There are many active travel vacation companies out there that offer biking vacations and I have only been on one. I am glad to have chosen Cristiano Bonino and his FoodStoriesTravel.com company. I first met Cristiano over a Skype conversation three years ago. I was going to be in Italy and wanted to know about following his group around for a story.
I follow him on Facebook and Instagram so I see how much work he puts into the itineraries.
I'm new to the road cycling world and plan on going on future trips. When I saw this group, all 65 and older (save for Melanie) kicking it every day, regaling me with stories of their past trips, I realized it didn't matter how new I was. I'm here now and I can't wait to hit the road again.
What a great week. What an adventure. I bought that jersey the night before. Mille grazie bella Puglia. Sei stupenda!
Arrivederci!
Cycling in Puglia Day 5: Locorotondo, Alberobello and the Trulli
Italy on lockdown. The view from there.
2 thoughts on "Cycling in Puglia Day 6: Polignano a Mare and Alberobello Celebrates"
Bravo Jan!!! Love how you captured all the treasured moments and shared our journey…I so enjoyed reading and re reading your story….loved all the pictures and i look forward to our next trip someday!!! Let's do it again!!! Love, Mindy
Elena Angilella
quante belle cose da vedere in Puglia.
Brava Jan
Elena e Umberto Angilella
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Ben Fawcett
MY GOAL: To win the gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, and to have fun along the way
As much at home in the water and on snow as on land, Ben Fawcett has always enjoyed an active lifestyle, and a snowboarding accident at 18 did little to change that.
Ben sustained irreparable damage to his neck in a horrific crash-landing, and spent the next six months in hospital in New Zealand before he was cleared to travel home to Australia. But by 2010, the adrenaline junkie in Ben was calling, and wheelchair rugby filled that void with ease.
Now a Paralympic champion and World Championship silver medallist, Ben has spent over seven years establishing himself among the best 0.5 players in the world. He made his Paralympic debut in 2016, where the Steelers became the first team in wheelchair rugby history to win two Paralympic gold medals and a world title in a four-year period, and represented Australia once again at the 2018 International Wheelchair Rugby Federation …
Now a Paralympic champion and World Championship silver medallist, Ben has spent over seven years establishing himself among the best 0.5 players in the world. He made his Paralympic debut in 2016, where the Steelers became the first team in wheelchair rugby history to win two Paralympic gold medals and a world title in a four-year period, and represented Australia once again at the 2018 International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Wheelchair Rugby World Championships, where the Steelers enjoyed an unbeaten run to the gold medal match.
However, despite this dream run – and a home-court advantage – Japan proved too strong for the reigning world champions, with an uncharacteristic and decisive error with 90 seconds to play bringing an end to the Steelers' six-year reign at major tournaments.
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, The Steelers' nine-year reign as Paralympic champions came to an end when the team finished fourth after being defeated by Japan 52–60 in the bronze medal game. It was the first time in 17 years that the team didn't win a medal.
Off the court, Ben enjoys attending car shows and collecting vinyl records.
Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020
Snowboarding accident
Airport West, VIC
Winning the gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games
Hawthorn winning back-to-back AFL Premierships in 2013 and 2014


Maser began painting graffiti on the streets of Ireland in 1995, and has since become one of Ireland's leading artists working with the urban landscape.
With freeform graffiti experience and a formal art education in Visual Communication, Maser has taken his artworks across the world, painting walls in the UK, Europe and the United States. Maser has now taken on the challenge of condensing his vibrant installation style into a series of gallery artworks, swapping a spray can for acrylic/latex paint and the urban landscape for wood and canvas.
Showing at Lazarides Gallery in Fitzrovia, Orbiting on the Periphery is based on the philosopher Thales of Miletus' theory that physical well-being is essential to psychological health. This body of work shows Maser's transition from the real life world to the internal static space, bringing with him elements of the three dimensional to capture a symmetry of mind and body.
His style is based across abstract expressionism, post modernism and pop art. With loud primary colours, clean lines and simple techniques, Orbiting on the Periphery captures movement of the body in a disjointed yet thoughtful manner.
Maser's use of sharp colour and form ensures his work is not passively observed, immersing us into his art as experience. You get lost in the work trying to find meaning in what could almost be body parts and shapes, all the while feeling like you are taking part in a Rorschach inkblot test.
Viewing the artworks in Orbiting on the Periphery feels, appropriately, like looking with peripheral vision, that movement we see outside our primary sight which is not fully processed by our brain. Maser achieves this through his geometric abstraction. The elements are there, in full colour, but don't quite make sense. A clear play between the physical and the psychological.
Entering the gallery you are met with bright, imaginative canvas works less than a metre tall. As you travel through the gallery you delve deeper into the human mind, ending at a massive two metre canvas covering the entire back wall and consuming its audience. Lazarides' former gin-palace Fitzrovia gallery successfully immerses you in the full power of Maser's expressive, teasingly near-figurative compositions.


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Troy Jefferson
Troy Jefferson is the business, tourism and James City County reporter for the Virginia Gazette. Jefferson graduated from Michigan State University and the University of Maryland. When he is not writing stories, he enjoys romantic comedies.
Virginia Shark Tank raises $150,000 for area businesses
Organizers want to make event an annual affair
New William and Mary athletic director shares vision with business professionals
Her 17 years of experience in Division I collegiate athletics has taught new William and Mary athletic director, Samantha Huge that succeeding on and off the field is a team effort. "It's going to be really important for us as an athletic department to not only be a part of the university but part...
Supervisors approve 800 foot buffer around Colonial Heritage
JAMES CITY COUNTY- The board of supervisors approved in a unanimous vote an 800 foot buffer around the homes at Colonial Heritage. In response to multiple complaints about firearm discharges in the neighborhood around Colonial Heritage, county attorney Adam Kinsman proposed the buffer as a solution....
James City County board of supervisors chairman won't seek reelection
After four years on the board of supervisors, chairman Kevin Onizuk is walking away to focus on his career and family. "I came into running for the board of supervisors because I loved James City County and wanted to offer my services to the community," Onizuk said. "I feel like I accomplished...
Supervisors to hear request on affordable housing
The county board of supervisors will hold public hearings on a proposal for affordable housing in Forest Glen and on whether to change language in the county code at the request of residents at Colonial Heritage. The supervisors did not receive a recommendation from the planning commission on the...
Business notes: June 10
A long-time consignment shop founded by four friends is preparing to close its doors Aug. 1. "Four friends were having dinner one night and we all wanted to do some type of business. We thought this would just be a weekend business," said co-owner, Tom Jordan. Tom Jordan along with his wife, Dottie...
Williamsburg-James City County schools host 1st 'Exceptional Games' for students with disabilities
Donnell Brown, Jamestown High School head football coach and special education teacher, wanted to host an event to celebrate students with disabilities. From Brown's and his colleagues' idea came the 1st Annual Exceptional Games, which took place on the track and fields at Jamestown High School...
Planning Commission approves Colonial Heritage request to change use of model homes, approve new calendar
The planning commission approved Colonial Heritage's request to change the use of its model homes to rentals at its meeting on Wednesday evening. The proposal needed to go through the planning commission because the homes were originally designated for residential use. The homes will now be designated...
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If you are one of those people who are not satisfied with Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato or Zagato Volante then there is good news. Aston Martin is all prepared to launch Vanquish Zagato in a Speedster form. Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster was spied while it was being tested at the Nurburgring. It will be a rare commodity even rarer than its sibling i.e. only 28 units will be made available worldwide. It stands out and it can be attributed to new roof design and two prominent humps on the rear decklid.
Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato is one of the most beautiful cars in the market if you look at its Coupe or Volante version. However, the same cannot be said about the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster. Traditionally, Speedster is supposed to be beautiful but the front engine layout on the Vanquish. It means that car rear decklid doesn't appear long enough to support passenger and driver side humps. For many, Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster looks a bit strange. It is going to be much more expensive than Coupe and Volante.
Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster is expected to fetch around $1.6 million. It is expected that it will be powered with 5.9 liter V12 engine which develops 592 horsepower and 630 Nm of torque. The Speedster might be quicker than the Volante as there are no rear seats. Since, it was seen in undisguised form there is a good chance that we might see its official revelation soon. The lucky customer might get their hands on this Speedster by late 2018.


Not content with a 4k TV, Sharp has given us a "glimpse of the High Definition future" by showing off an 85" 8k TV at this year's CES.
The ground-breaking TV features an "astounding" 7680 x 4320 screen resolution, which is a whopping 16x bigger pixel resolution than that of a 1080p HD.
Alongside the other TV manufacturers at CES, Sharp has also unveiled a 4k TV set, measuring 60 inches, launches this Summer with an unconfirmed price tag.
The TV is still in the prototype stage, so Sharp's 'Double-ultra HD TV' may not be on the market for another few years and details are scarce at the moment, but don't expect a release anytime this year, and when it finally does become available; expect a pretty hefty price tag.


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package org.oep.usermgt;

import com.liferay.portal.kernel.exception.PortalException;

/**
 * @author NQMINH
 */
public class NotIdentifiedException extends PortalException {

	public NotIdentifiedException() {
		super();
	}

	public NotIdentifiedException(String msg) {
		super(msg);
	}

	public NotIdentifiedException(String msg, Throwable cause) {
		super(msg, cause);
	}

	public NotIdentifiedException(Throwable cause) {
		super(cause);
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Andrey Sergeevich Gaydulyan (, , born April 12, 1984, Chisinau, Moldavian SSR, USSR) is a Moldovan-Russian theater and film actor and is best known for the TV series Univer, Univer. New Dorm, and SashaTanya.

Biography
Gaydulyan was born April 12, 1984 in Chisinau. He began to get involved in theater at school. He engaged in a theatrical circle at the Honored Artist of Moldova Sergey Tiranin, actor of the State Russian Drama Theater named after Chekhov.

In 2002, he entered the acting department of the Institute of Contemporary Art, from which he graduated in 2006. After graduation, while playing in the theater  Glas, he began acting in small roles.

In 2007, he was selected for the lead role in the TV series, the sitcom  Univer. The series brought the actor a lot of popularity and success. In 2013, he was the voice of the character Art in the Russian dubbing of the cartoon Monsters University.

July 24, 2015, the actor was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, after which he went to Germany for treatment.

Filmography

Films

TV series

References

External links

 Page actor online Twitter

1984 births
Actors from Chișinău
Russian people of Moldovan descent
Russian male actors
Russian male voice actors
Russian male television actors
Institute of Contemporary Art, Moscow alumni
Living people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Health and Nutrition Digital access is affecting the mental health of students and ability to have positive social interactions.
Being a student isn't always the easiest job. Students today face a wide array of challenges that can make getting through the day a tall order. From the pressures of academics, to the time crunch of extra-circulars, and even the task of navigating a complicated social environment, each day presents a complicated web of interactions that students must untangle before doing it all over again the next day.
As a student, I've often found that it's that third part—the social environment—of the school day that is often the most difficult to figure out. From a young age, we students are taught that, "bullying is bad," and that "drugs are bad," but unfortunately in many cases the story ends there. The fact of the matter is bullying doesn't end in elementary school once that lesson is taught, and many students don't begin to experiment with drugs until an older age. The messaging of promoting personal health and safety doesn't grow and change at the same rate that students do, not to mention considerations for the way in which the world has changed as well. I received my first cell- phone in middle school while some of my peers didn't even receive theirs until high school. This digital environment opens a new door for cyber-bullying, where students can hide behind a virtual mask and engage in hostile comments to one another on online platforms. The new world that older students find themselves in deserves our attention as we develop different ways to be proactive in promoting personal health and safety.
Fortunately, being a student need not be all doom and gloom. There are many ways for students and parents to take matters into their own hands and sure that the students experience is a positive one. If they aren't already, students should start this conversation with their parents. Parents should always have an open mind when talking with their children, and be ready and willing to understand that not all health issues are on the surface, as mental health is just as important as physical health. Students can also be the change-makers themselves. For instance, peer-to-peer programs are a great way to promote positive social interactions amongst young people. Students are often more receptive when hearing from their own peers than they are when listening to teachers or other figures of authority in their lives. Letting your friends know that it's okay to be different, to be yourself, to reach out to the one person that usually sits alone during lunch, can make a world of difference in either their lives or someone else's.
For children, the hallway can be a scary place. But we can make bullying a thing of the past by empowering young people to take this mental health crisis into their own hands.
Teen life has never been easy. Actress Ariel Winter knows that fast-paced technology can amplify negativity, but it can help spread positivity too.


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Pride for sale
As more corporations celebrate LGBTQ people each June, pride and profit are mixed — and so are the consequences
Warning: This graphic requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience.
The end of this month marks 50 years since New York police raided the Stonewall Inn gay bar, prompting patrons and LGBTQ residents to fight back in a series of riots that ultimately kicked off what was then called the gay liberation movement. A year later, marches to commemorate the riots and celebrate the identities of the agitators inaugurated the annual festivities that became known as "gay pride." Half a century on, as Pride has evolved into a party-focused, heavily branded affair, the celebration sometimes seems more retail than riot. Rainbow merchandise abounds, and companies often boast the splashiest floats in the parade. For some in the community, that's a sign of mainstream acceptance. For others, it's a betrayal of the movement's radical roots. However revelers feel about the relationship, Pride celebrations and the corporations that sponsor — and profit off them — are at this point deeply intertwined, with far-reaching consequences. Five decades after New Yorkers had to fight to keep a single gay bar open, it's time to ask: What happens when Pride is for sale?
Purchase politics
LGBTQ people are pandered to. How do we translate that into power?
Priced out
As celebrating Pride gets more expensive, it's those who need it most who are excluded.
Corporate allies
Brands aren't the bad guys. They pushed LGBTQ acceptance when few others would.
Woven in
Rainbow apparel purports queer solidarity. Global supply chains tell a different story.
Rainbow police
Pride itself has become a brand, and law enforcement is using it — undeservedly.
Enjoy Pride, but don't support corporations feeding an unjust system that hurts vulnerable LGBTQ communities, says activist Evan Greer in this video op-ed. (Joshua Carroll, Kate Woodsome, Joy Sharon Yi, Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post)
By John Paul Brammer
When I came out of the closet in Oklahoma in 2012, the Oklahoma City Pride Parade seemed like the pinnacle of gay culture. My first time attending that spring saw drag queens in undecorated truck beds screaming at us to get to shelter ahead of an impending tornado. Sure, it was a little rough around the edges. But it was democratic in that it was free for the entire community and the tornado was coming for us all.
Over time, however, and since moving to New York, I've noticed a trend: The more corporate entities enter Pride, the more expensive celebrating it becomes. That means that more people, especially those from vulnerable communities, are excluded.
Every year, debate erupts anew over the corporatization of Pride. It's become its own tradition, in a way. That debate tends to center the battle over the soul of Pride: Should it be a protest, or a party? Should we really let a weapons manufacturer slap a rainbow over their logo and march in the parade? We question whether it's ethical, and we wonder what the criteria ought to be for corporate allyship.
But that element of the conversation is just the rainbow veneer on the Wells Fargo float. Beneath that, the intrusion of businesses into our annual events has recontextualized what celebrating Pride means even within the community. Pride is becoming a more expensive affair across the board, and the folks who need it most are getting priced out.
In 2016, a Pride festival in Los Angeles that at first promised inclusivity for women and seniors shocked one attendee with the elimination of its free ticket option. It was revealed that a day ticket would be $35. The story is much the same for New York. This year, PrideFest VIP tickets will run you $50, though the parade is still free. NYC Pride, meanwhile, offers T-shirts at a cool $55 and a hoodie at $90. Don't get caught without an overpriced Pride-branded beer in your hand, either! Merchandise at Pride isn't new, necessarily, but it is the byproduct of Pride growing into a more commercial space where being nickel-and-dimed is the norm rather than the exception.
These events tell a story about where Pride is and who can and can't go. It's a story that seems to take as its narrative center the myth of LGBTQ affluence: The notion that LGBTQ people — and gay men specifically — have a lot of money to spend on Pride festivities.
This is true for a few gay men, but it's a myth for most. A 2016 report from the Williams Institute noted that LGBTQ people face "a risk of being poor that is at best equal" to non-LGBTQ people and "at worst, much higher." It's not even true for most cisgender gay men. As The Post reported, gay men, especially gay men of color, hit a glass ceiling when it comes to upper management positions.
The statistics only get more dire the more we look at race and gender identity within the LGBTQ community. But that is perhaps the gist of the problem: Corporations, by their nature, want to make money, so they center the affluent minority of LGBTQ people, who skew white, gay and male. No matter where Pride proceeds go, and even if paid events are mostly by and for LGBTQ people, they are inherently exclusionary, and the people most in need of resources are the ones who get left at the gate.
I've been to a few of these parties, and I've enjoyed myself. But nothing has come close to the community I felt at Oklahoma City's parade, seeking shelter together from that twister. Back then, I wouldn't have been able to afford to attend a fancy Pride party. So as the celebration marches onward to ticketed festivities, it's worth asking: Who can afford to be proud?
John Paul Brammer is the writer of the advice column and forthcoming book "¡Hola Papi!"
By Thomas Roth
and David Paisley
Ever since the Stonewall riots of 1969 marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, the LGBTQ community has been dynamic and rapidly evolving. And while the intervening decades have seen major legal advancements in protections of LGBTQ people and same-sex couples, the historic transformation of this community's place in society has been led not by government or politicians, but instead by corporations that have embraced and supported their own LGBTQ employees, reached out to earn business and loyalty from LGBTQ consumers and through advertising, helped normalize LGBTQ people and LGBTQ families for mass audiences.
When we launched our company, Community Marketing & Insights, in 1992, the Supreme Court had upheld the constitutionality of Georgia's sodomy law just six years before; 14 states had laws like these on the books in 2003, when the court reversed itself. Being gay often meant being harassed, arrested and losing jobs and family. Love between people of the same gender was often clandestine. At best, LGBTQ people might creatively omit references to their sexual orientations and gender identities. At worst, this secrecy might contribute to compromised job performance, discrimination, emotional stress and tragically, sometimes suicide. The rise of HIV and AIDS only contributed to this isolation.
While many of these challenges remain, of course, a transformation has taken place on a macro scale that had never been witnessed before in American history.
And corporations have often led the way.
The Village Voice might have been an outlier when it began offering domestic partner benefits to its employees in 1981, but by 1994, the New York Times reported that the number of such corporate programs had exploded. It would take another decade for Massachusetts to become the first state to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Today, corporate leaders are now explicitly recruiting LGBTQ employees with equal human resources protections (including sexual orientation and gender identity), targeted benefits and employee resource groups that empower their LGBTQ staff. By contrast, the current administration tries to ban transgender people from serving in the military and has argued that civil rights law does not ban discrimination against LGBTQ people.
By now, the impact of television shows such as "Ellen," "Will and Grace" and later, "Glee," all produced and distributed by major entertainment companies, is well known. But it's also true that brands such as Absolut Vodka and Subaru made subtle nods to the LGBT market in the 1980s and 1990s. In subsequent years, same-sex couples were featured in bold marriage equality support messaging. And they are now seen, often as families with children, in national commercials from Target, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Honey Maid, Campbell's, Apple and many more. The political and societal whiplash is hard to fathom.
All the while, companies and ads such as these have better acknowledged the diversity within the LGBTQ community, beyond the stock-photo young, shirtless white men of the 1990s. Over the past two decades, CMI research has monitored changing terminology: Gay morphed into "gay and lesbian" in the late 1990s; then to GLBT, in a move to include bisexual and transgender community members that still prioritized gay men; to LGBT; and to LGBTQ and beyond.
The terminology that marketers use to address the community reflects the evolution of that acknowledgment. Especially over the past few years, CMI clients have told us that they want to expand beyond "gay" or "gay and lesbian" to fully mapping out the motivations, trends and opportunities among bisexual, transgender and gender-fluid Americans, as well as to learn more about LGBTQ African Americans, Hispanic and other sub-segments of the LGBTQ population.
This intense corporate interest in LGBTQ consumers makes sense. Our most recent LGBTQ Community Survey found that 76 percent of respondents said that companies that support LGBTQ equality will get more of their business this year. And LGBTQ consumers are exceptionally brand-loyal and influential with friends and family well beyond their inner circle.
It's true that companies couldn't make same-sex marriage legal, and they can't provide protections in workplaces other than their own. The government and politicians matter. But whether out of self-interest or goodwill, corporations have often been there for LGBTQ communities first.
Thomas Roth is the founder of Community Marketing & Insights, and David Paisley is the firm's senior research director.
By Vincent DeLaurentis
As the mountains of rainbow shirts, shorts and shimmery trimmings have piled up, the message to LGBTQ communities this and every June of late is clear: We want to help you celebrate your identities — and we want you to return the favor by buying our products.
But a critical contradiction attends brands' marketing of Pride apparel. The global garment industry is defined by exploitative labor conditions that render workers — particularly queer workers — vulnerable to abuse. For all the alleged solidarity that brands telegraph to their queer consumers, it is rarely extended to queer workers in the factories where apparel is sewn.
A recent report by the Worker Rights Consortium on its investigation of a Salvadoran factory owned by the U.S. apparel brand League Collegiate Wear details intense hostility toward queer workers, manifested in acts of public humiliation and retaliatory dismissal. Factory managers called queer workers "deviants." Two workers perceived as LGBTQ were fired after a manager claimed to have received a "vision" that the two were disrupting production because they were "the devil." Another worker, who is openly gay and was also discriminatorily fired, reported taunts, catcalls and at least one physical confrontation.
These stories exist throughout global apparel supply chains, where plenty of brands that carry Pride apparel benefit from worker vulnerability. Most workers endure low wages and long hours, often without protest, because the fear of retaliation limits workers' capacity to speak up and demand better treatment. But wherever workers in general are mistreated, homophobia and transphobia further isolate queer workers and heighten their disposability, making it particularly dangerous for them to challenge exploitative conditions.
It's a nightmarish intersection. It's also proof that queer solidarity is labor solidarity and that there can be no real Pride without respect for the right to organize unions that protect queer workers.
With robust and independent unions, workers can collectively push back against management bigotry to protect queer workers — exceptionally vulnerable as individuals — against retaliation. Through bargaining, unions can also win benefits for queer workers, including health plans that cover gender confirmation services and access to HIV treatment.
And though not guaranteed to eliminate entrenched prejudice, the experience of organizing a union and fighting for a contract can also build solidarity among workers and develop trust across differences. The benefits of independent, LGBTQ-friendly unions extend to factories without any openly queer workers, too; unions play an important role in reducing workplace precarity, which can create the security necessary for workers to come out.
Nevertheless, brands' demands for cheap garments and ever-quicker delivery times — such as just-in-time production of apparel for Pride month — give factory owners overwhelming incentive to quash workers' efforts to organize. And they get away with it. U.S. brands rarely enforce their own human rights standards in their global supply chains, despite protections for union rights in their labor codes.
So before tossing the glittery rainbow tank top in your cart to wear to the next parade, try to look past the sequins. Underneath, the repression of the people it's supposed to celebrate might be woven right in.
Vincent DeLaurentis is a program associate specializing in labor rights at the Worker Rights Consortium and a queer member of the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union.
By Chinyere Ezie
"Trans people are dying to live," Indya Moore told a weary crowd gathered at the memorial service for Layleen Polanco on June 10. Polanco, a bright-eyed transgender woman and member of the House of Xtravaganza, a creative collective and surrogate family, was found dead in her Rikers Island cell on June 7. She was 27 years old and had been jailed for two months because she was unable to pay a $500 bail after her arrest on misdemeanor charges. (Her family has called for an investigation into her death.)
Contrast Polanco's death with the garish rainbow decals that adorn police vehicles each June and the "pride patches" that were added to San Francisco police officers' uniforms this year. Given the legion of companies wading into the celebration year after year, the ultimate consequence of corporatizing LGBTQ affirmation seemed inevitable: Pride itself has become a brand. It's a powerful one — one all sorts of organizations are eager to associate themselves with. And it's particularly disturbing to see police departments try to capitalize on that brand to boost their reputations, especially given what they do to transgender people the rest of the year.
A 2015 survey of 27,715 transgender people found that 58 percent reportedly suffered mistreatment at the hands of police — ranging from being repeatedly referred to by the wrong gender to being physically or sexually assaulted. Fifty-seven percent said that they were not comfortable approaching the police for help.
There are good reasons for this mistrust. Because transgender people are regularly pushed out of school and job opportunities by discrimination, many of them enter the criminal-justice system for poverty-related crimes such as sex work and burglary. A 2011 survey from the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force suggested that 16 percent of transgender people have been incarcerated at some point, a figure that includes 47 percent of black transgender people.
Police departments harass and "profile" transgender people under laws banning loitering and prostitution, including a New York anti-loitering bill dubbed by activists as the "Walking While Trans" ban. Activists report that police in New York state have arrested transgender women for as little as waving, "wearing a skirt" or "standing somewhere other than a bus stop or taxi stand." A transgender activist from New York narrowly avoided arrest for "Walking While Trans" after returning from the State Capitol for a Lobby Day.
Stories such as these were the very catalyst for the Stonewall riots 50 years ago, when people including Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy — transgender activists who also engaged in sex work to survive — banded together to fight the criminalization and policing of the LGBTQ community. They stood up to police officers who harassed LGBTQ people for sport, using their hands, fists and bricks.
It's jarring enough that commemorations of this uprising have so often been turned into slick, corporate events or opportunities for brands to sell everything from vodka to T-shirts emblazoned with rainbow polo ponies. Putting LGBTQ officers forward as the face of police departments by having them march in Pride parades in uniform doesn't actually change what their departments do to transgender people. Painting squad cars and corrections vehicles in rainbow colors, or even apologizing for the conduct of the people who raided the Stonewall Inn, while participating in the criminalization and harassment of LGBTQ communities makes a macabre spectacle out of Pride and the legacy of the Stonewall pioneers.
What LGBTQ people need on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall are safe schools, jobs, housing and the freedom to live and walk while trans. When police officers help secure these things for the transgender community, perhaps they will earn their rainbow branding.
Chinyere Ezie is a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Editing by Drew Goins and Alyssa Rosenberg. Video by Joshua Carroll, Danielle Kunitz, Kate Woodsome and Joy Sharon Yi. Photo editing by Nick Kirkpatrick. Copy editing by Lydia Rebac. Design and development by Chris Rukan.
Opinion | Pride Month is over. Welcome to LGBTQ Wrath Month.
The brands are gone, but the oppression remains. Time to get mad.
Opinion | Let's hope Trump doesn't recognize Pride
The LGBTQ community should have no interest in the president's fig leaf.
Opinion | Does the law protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination? It should be an easy answer.
Yes, it does, and the Supreme Court should rule as such.
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Sidestream Condenser Precipitator Yields Energy and Water Savings
By Dan Wheatley, CEM-BEP-CEA, President, Energy & Fluids, Inc.
ElectroCell Systems, Inc., located in Easton, Pennsylvania, manufactures a system for commercial, industrial and institutional facilities that is applied to conventional water-cooled chilled water plants. The system significantly improves efficiency in water and energy use with paybacks in the 2.0 to 3.5 year range.
The system is not a substitute for chemical treatment; rather it is a Condenser Water Efficiency system, engineered specifically and solely to increase water and energy efficiency by addressing the uniquely challenging demands that exist only in the condenser water loop. The system works alongside existing chemical treatment and enhances the effectiveness of the chemicals.
The self-contained system is installed in sidestream piping (in the manner of a filter or separator) and uses multiple technologies to capture and remove 95% to 99% of suspended solids and sustain a truly clean condenser system throughout the cooling season. The system also applies active flow enhancement technology to the return flow to induce turbulence to improve heat transfer in the condensers, which reduces refrigeration compressor energy and lowers the heat of compression.
Typical savings are 10% to 15% in chiller energy and 20% to 25% in makeup water. Having clean condenser tubes reduces or often eliminates chiller tube cleaning and its associated costs.
Solids are continuously removed from the condenser water via precipitation and without the use of a media (e.g. sand, bags) so there is no additional labor-intensive maintenance. Solids removal is by precipitation.
The system has been in use for over ten years, and users include a number of Fortune 500 companies, some of whom have multiple sites. Systems are manufactured in a number of standard-sized assemblies and can be customized as needed.
ElectroCell Systems patented Xc-6000 assembly
Extensive Hands-On Experiences Inspired Advanced Design
The system was developed by Paul McLaine, owner and founder of ElectroCell Systems Inc. In the late 1990s, Mr. McLaine worked extensively with a large pharmaceutical manufacturer to investigate the application of emerging technologies to improve water quality and treatment practices in their cooling plants.
Following technology evaluation and two years of beta testing at the manufacturer's facilities in New Jersey and Connecticut (which also included the development and patent of an electrostatic technology), the manufacturer established the application as a company Best Practice, and Mr. McLaine was contracted to implement the Best Practice in forty of the manufacturer's plants across the U.S. and worldwide over the next several years. In addition to the site improvements in water quality and treatment, the experience yielded some significant discoveries relevant to chiller plant performance.
Figure 1: Monthly Chiller Amps
Improvements in Chiller Energy Efficiency
Following the Best Practice application, an engineer on a site that had previously maintained completely clean chiller tubes, using acid treatment, tracked chiller energy through the cooling season.
Although the cooling load had increased and the season had been warmer, the chiller showed consistent energy reductions, with a high of 14% reduction in chiller energy in the peak month of July. Inasmuch as the savings were welcomed, this amount of energy savings was unexpected.
Investigation into the cause of this led to a meeting with researchers at the University of Maryland, who had developed electrostatic applications for the U.S. military, and confirmed that the technology increases efficiency through enhanced heat exchange due to the electrohydrodynamic effect. The energy savings was a welcome (but unexpected) side effect of the Best Practices application.
Ineffective Solids Control leads to State-of-the-Art Solution
A second significant discovery was in the importance of suspended solids control for good condenser performance, and frustration with the lack of effectiveness of existing filtering technologies. Solids removal was insufficient in keeping systems clean, and the labor-intensive filter maintenance was often postponed or skipped, which further reduced effectiveness. Mr. McLaine then investigated technologies and worked to design and develop a highly effective solids control system requiring minimum maintenance. A system which maintains effective solids control and also combined with heat exchange enhancement was developed and first released in 2003, and has also been enhanced over the years.
State-of-the-Art Solids Control and Removal
Cooling towers draw in particles from the atmosphere at the average rate of three pounds of solids per ton per year, which would be 4,500 pounds for a 1,500-ton chiller plant. The largest particles settle to the bottom, while smaller particles, which are much greater in number, remain suspended and travel through the system, creating numerous unwelcome conditions. A 2013 report by The U.S. Department of Energy Side Stream Filtration for Cooling Towers lists the benefits of solids removal as:
Reduction in makeup water consumption
Reduction in energy consumption
Reduction in chemical use
Lower cooling tower maintenance cost
Control of biological growth
Figure 2 shows data provided by an independent certified lab showing effective solids control with an ElectroCell application. Samples are taken from the condenser water system main piping or at the cooling tower in order to get a system-wide measurement.
Figure 2: Report provided by an independent certified lab on solids control.
Energy Saving Opportunities Confirmed with Site Data
The claims of 10%-15% chiller energy savings with the ElectroCell installation are sometimes initially met with skepticism, however, the savings opportunities are 'hiding in plain sight', so to speak. An application begins with a chiller plant survey and data analysis to determine existing efficiency versus design efficiency.
Using industry-standard methods, formulas, and documentation, data is collected such as chiller running power, chilled water supply and return temperatures, evaporator flow, and design power according to load. Information is collected through site measurements, chiller logs, and manufacturer's data, and defines chiller performance versus design performance in kW/Ton. This is also used to develop a seasonal load profile to show annual kWh and reconcile this with annual makeup water use.
Surveys typically show kW/Ton at 10% to 18% over design efficiency, except during the first month of operation following tube cleaning. Chiller logs are particularly useful in showing how efficiency decreases through the cooling season due to accumulated fouling. Another useful metric is chiller approach temperature, which is the temperature difference between the condenser water return temperature and the saturated liquid refrigerant temperature. This is not used for power measurement but does indicate condenser heat transfer efficiency, which will also increase as fouling increases.
Savings projections are based upon improvement on most of the measured inefficiency and average 12%-13%. It is important to develop a high quality plant profile and show loading accurately since the electrical savings will contribute up to 80% of the payback.
Makeup Water Savings from Multiple Sources
Generating water savings projections are not as exact a science as developing an energy profile, since factors affecting water use vary more widely. Just half of sites surveyed have existing filtering, with only about half of filtering systems working as designed. The amount and type of solids being drawn into the cooling tower varies according to location and is affected by neighboring activities (e.g. construction, traffic). Makeup water quality also varies in solids and mineral content.
As a relatively inexpensive commodity, water cost savings will generate up to 20% of an ElectroCell system cost. Other benefits accrue as well (e.g. environmental impact, LEED points, corporate missions). Water savings derive from the following:
Increased chiller efficiency means less kW/Ton, which results in a lower Heat of Compression (HOC). The HOC represents a parasitic cooling load added to the 12,000/BTU per ton, and a decrease in HOC means a corresponding reduction in evaporation, plus the reduction of the associated blowdown.
The removal of 95% of the solids also contributes to less blowdown, since suspended solids elevate conductivity which triggers the blowdown cycles. Although the conductivity setpoint remains unchanged, solids removal results in less blowdown.
Purge cycles, if present, are eliminated. If sand filters or separators exist on the baseline system, they are typically removed when an ElectroCell system is installed, and it accomplishes the blowdown. This removes precipitated solids without requiring a backwash or purge cycle.
Sensible cooling will increase. Sensible cooling is defined as cooling of the condenser water that results from BTUs transferred to cooler surfaces such as primary pipe walls or cooling tower fill surfaces. Increased sensible cooling reduces water use since it does not require evaporation.
Figure 3: This 2012 installation at a data center facility recorded water savings of 23.5% over a 24-month period.
Sidestream Condenser Treatment System Operation and Technologies
1. Multiple ionization technologies piped in series induce electrocoagulation (also known as short wave electrolysis) by means of alloyed metals with low-voltage direct current pulsing of the cathode and anode. Solids (organic and inorganic) are normally held in solution by electrical charges. The addition of ions with opposite charges destabilizes the colloids, allowing them to coagulate. This increases the solids' mass causing it settle out in the precipitators. Electrocoagulation is an established physical water treatment method and is a rapidly growing technology in wastewater treatment due to its ability to remove contaminants that are difficult to remove by media filtration or chemical treatment.
2. The pretreated condenser water passes into the much larger, parallel-piped precipitation vessels (PP-1, 2, 3, in center) and experiences a dramatic reduction in flow rate. Suspended solids with increased mass precipitate out of solution and settle to the bottom of the vessels.
3. Condenser water flows upward through static mixers that provide retention time and enhance uniform coagulation and further precipitation of solids.
4. When blowdown is required, flow is diverted through the vessel bases and carries the solids out to drain to accomplish the required blowdown. This method saves water by putting the blowdown to beneficial use instead of having to use separate backwash or purge cycles.
5. Flow leaving the precipitation vessels combines into a single pipe through the high voltage electrostatic treatment chamber. ElectroCell applies patented electrostatic treatment to (1) impart a negative charge on dissolved solids and remaining suspended solids in order to prevent precipitation out in the system, and (2) break the surface tension to induce turbulent flow in the condensers that break down the thermal boundary layer and enable enhanced heat exchange in the condenser.
6. The automation panel provides graphic display, all setpoints and controls for the system (e.g. blowdown, valve positioning, pump speed), logging of data (e.g., GPM flow, total filtered flow, total blowdown), interface to building automation, and remote access.
The ElectroCell System is applied to chilled water plants to maintain energy and water efficiency levels significantly superior than that which is normally encountered. The system uses state-of-the-art technologies for precipitation, heat transfer, and automation and is mature, patented technology that has been in use in a number of Fortune 500 companies for over ten years. Systems are applied in sidestream piping and will not require modifications to other equipment such as chillers, pumps or cooling towers.
Please contact ElectroCell Systems for further information, references, and to request a cooling plant evaluation without obligation. Please contact Paul McLaine, President, ElectroCell Systems, Inc., 3320 Nazareth Road, Easton, PA 18045. Tel: (800) 949-3445, email: info@electrocellsystems.com or visit www.electrocellsystems.com.
The author may also be contacted for further information. Dan Wheatley, CEM-BEP-CEM, President, Energy & Fluids, Inc. Business Development, ElectroCell Systems, Inc. Tel: 617-834-8179, email: dan.wheatley@energyandfluids,net or visit http://www.energyandfluids.net/.
To read similar Cooling System Assessment articles please visit http://coolingbestpractices.com/system-assessments/water-savings.
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text:
Garfield ( habitants) est une localité australienne du sud de l'État du Victoria, située dans le Gippsland à 69 kilomètres au sud-est de Melbourne, dans sa grande banlieue.

Elle porte le nom de l'ancien président des États-Unis James Garfield depuis 1887, son ancien nom étant .

Référence
  Statistiques sur Garfield

Ville dans l'État de Victoria


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Lebanon Might Go Into A 2-Week Lockdown
Polish News
The recent spike in daily coronavirus (COVID-19) case numbers prompted caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hasan to recommend a repeat of the lockdown scenario that Lebanon has experienced several times this year.
A total lockdown is necessary at this stage in order to regain control over the public health situation, Hasan argued in a statement on Sunday.
His call for a new 2-week lockdown comes after Lebanon registered a record-high number of daily infection cases, 779, on Saturday. This number was later surpassed when over 1,000 new cases were recorded within 24 hours on Sunday.
A post shared by Libnanews (@redaction_libnanews) on Sep 21, 2020 at 1:09am PDT
According to the caretaker Minister, the recommendation comes not just as a result of the high case numbers but also the high number of fatalities caused recently by the virus.
This, coupled with the fact that the country's hospitals can barely handle any more cases as they come close to reaching their capacity limits, necessitate stricter measures in dealing with the rapidly spreading virus, Hasan said.
He noted that the Health Ministry's role is to submit a recommendation for the lockdown, but whether or not the procedures and measures are enforced depends on the Interior Ministry.
A post shared by Beirut City | مدينة بَـيـروت (@beirutpage) on Sep 18, 2020 at 12:06pm PDT
This was after official mentioned that the lockdown experience of last month "proved its failure because several regions and their individuals did not comply with the law."
On his part, caretaker Interior Minister Mohammad Fehmi issued a critical statement in which he expressed discontent with Hasan's remarks.
He affirmed that the security forces, governors, mayors, and municipalities all carry out their duties fully, "to curb the pandemic through the data and information available in their hands, which often reaches them incomplete or at the inappropriate time."
A post shared by Nabil Ismail????? (@nabilismail.photojournalist) on May 14, 2020 at 11:29am PDT
Fehmi added that the decision to impose a lockdown ultimately belongs to the National Committee to follow up on the Preventive Measures and Procedures to Counter the Novel Coronavirus.
With that said, he pointed out that the Lebanese society "is not a game between hands to be subjected in one week to close and the other to reopen."
As of the time of writing, Lebanon has 29,303 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 16,959 of which are active.
'Memory Box' Movie About The Lebanese Civil War Will Be Released This Week


Students learn about chess and compete with each other. They appreciate an intellectual game while gaining strategy and problem solving skills. We meet on Mondays while school is in session from 3:40 PM - 4:30 PM.
Book Club is a volunteer after school program that meets biweekly throughout the school year for one hour. Students come together to read, analyze, and discuss varieties of literature. Students deepen critical thinking skills, social interactions and develop meaningful friendships.
The season consists of 8 games plus playoffs, played on Saturdays against the other Constellation middle schools. The season lasts from September through December.
Students perform and promote school spirit at all middle school basketball games, student rallies, assemblies and events.
Power of the Pen is an interscholastic writing competition for 7th and 8th grade students. The competition provides students with the opportunity to develop a creative voice and highlight creative writing skills. They will be able to compete on a district level. Qualifying students will move on to regional and state tournaments respectively.


Online Application Details for Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited RCF Recruitment of 67 Diploma Trainees and 41 Trade Apprentices is given below.
Application form and duly attested documents are to be sent to Chief Administrator (Human Resources), Administrative Building, Mahul Road, Chembur, Mumbai Maharashtra-400074. In envelope super scribed with 'Application for the Post of Post Name'.


BOSTON – The Boston University men's soccer team will host Bucknell in a 2 p.m. match on Sunday afternoon in the former's penultimate Patriot League contest.
The Terriers leapfrogged Army — after defeating them, 1-0, on Wednesday — into the sixth and final playoff spot in the Patriot League standings. BU and Bucknell now sit level on points with ten each, so Sunday's fixture presents an opportunity for both sides to gain some breathing room by climbing to fifth place.
BU earned its first win since Oct. 3 in its victory over the Black Knights on Wednesday, and it will try to carry that momentum into this weekend's match against the Bison — who themselves lost to Army last Saturday, 3-1.
The Bison also dropped their most recent contest, a 1-0 battle against Lehigh — the latter of whom has also defeated BU this season. Bucknell has conceded one goal per game on average, while the Terriers have scored 17 goals in 16 Patriot League matches.
Based on their last match, BU's young back line should have some confidence. Center backs Nate Cole and David Riccio had a solid performance, keeping a clean sheet and preventing the Black Knights from finding their way close to senior Mike Bernardi's goal. Freshman Josh Hurwitz and sophomore Max Aunger had good games from the fullback positions, too.
The Terriers are missing many key players, so minute roster details will make a difference in their final two regular season games as the team pushes for a spot in the Patriot League playoffs. Roberts has to prepare his team thoroughly to break down the fourth-best defense in the league.
BU has had trouble scoring this season due to the absence of key forward Matt McDonnell, the team's top scorer with six goals in five games played. The Terriers must play stingy defense against Bucknell, and they have a great chance to do so against a team that has scored 12 goals in all games this season — the second-lowest scoring tally in the Patriot League.
BU's active forwards — freshman John Siracuse and sophomore George Abunaw — will have to work hard to track down long passes and force Bison defenders into turnovers in their own area.
One area in which Bucknell may appear to hold the cards is the all-time series. The Bison remain undefeated in seven meetings with the Terriers; however, the last four matchups have all resulted in draws (though that includes the two sides' 2016 playoff meeting, which is technically listed as a draw but in reality saw the Bison win 4-1 on penalties). Last year, the teams fought to a goalless result in Lewisburg.
Kickoff from Nickerson Field is set for 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.