Coming Soon, Trains With Glass Ceiling Coaches. Kashmir To Get The First

NEW DELHI:  Train passengers and tourists can now look forward to travelling in state-of-the-art luxurious coaches with glass ceilings and equipped with infotainment system, similar to that in Switzerland.

The basic objective behind such coaches is to promote tourism and woo upscale tourists from both India and abroad, IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director A K Manocha said today.

Jointly designed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC); Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), and Integral Coach Factory at Perambur, Glass ceiling coaches will be operational in December this year.

"The first coach will be tagged in a regular train in the Kashmir Valley while the other two will be part of some train careening through the picturesque Araku Valley in Visakhapatnam," he said.

The trains having such luxurious coaches, giving an aerial view, would be decided later, Manocha added. "There are some trains with glass ceiling in foreign countries, like Switzerland, which enjoy the patronage of tourists. We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India," the IRCTC Chairman added.

Giving details of the project, Dham Ghaj Prasad, IRCTC Group General Manager said the coaches with glass top ceiling would be the first of its type in India and would rival the best anywhere in the world.

These coaches are being manufactured at an estimated cost of around Rs. 4 crore.

"Work on the project started in 2015 with a series of meetings on the specification of the coach design. The first such coach is all set to roll out this month (October) itself. The coaches will be ultra luxurious with rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view through partly glass ceiling," he elaborated.

Further, the coaches will have ample leg space and also equipped with modern infotainment system for the benefit of tourists, he added.

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Beware Extremes: Exercise, Anger May Trigger Heart Attack

If you're angry or upset, you might want to simmer down before heading out for an intense run or gym workout. A large, international study ties heavy exertion while stressed or mad to a tripled risk of having a heart attack within an hour.

Regular exercise is a healthy antidote to stress and can help prevent heart disease - the biggest problem is that too many people get too little of it. But the new research suggests there may be better or worse times to exercise, and that extremes can trigger harm.

"This study is further evidence of the connection between mind and body. When you're angry, that's not the time to go out and chop a stack of wood," said Barry Jacobs, a psychologist at the Crozer-Keystone Health System in suburban Philadelphia and an American Heart Association volunteer.

He had no role in the study , led by the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Results were published Monday in the Heart Association journal Circulation.

Earlier studies have looked at anger and exertion as heart attack triggers but most were small or in one country, or included few women or minorities. The new study involved 12,461 people suffering a first heart attack in 52 countries. Their average age was 58 and three-fourths were men.

They answered a survey about whether they were angry or upset, or had heavy exertion, in the hour before their heart attack or during the same time period the previous day. That way researchers could compare risk at different times in the same people and the effect of these potential heart attack triggers.

Being angry or upset doubled the risk of suffering heart attack symptoms within an hour; heavy physical exertion did the same. Having both at the same time more than tripled the risk for a heart attack.

The risk was greatest between 6 pm and midnight, and was independent of other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or obesity.

Big caveats: Patients reported their own stress or anger, and people who just had a heart attack may be more prone to recall or think they suffered one of these triggers than they otherwise might have been. Also, strenuous exertion is whatever the patient perceives it to be - for some people that could be climbing stairs and for others, running a marathon.

The study also is observational, so it cannot prove cause and effect. But it's likely to be the best kind of information available - it's not possible to randomly assign people to be angry and exercise, then see how many have heart attacks.

"This is a large enough sample size that we can put stock in the findings," Jacobs said.

"We all need to find ways of modifying our emotional reactions and to avoid extreme anger," such as distracting ourselves, walking away from the stressful situation, trying to see it from a different perspective, talking it out and getting support from other people, he said.

The study's findings also are biologically plausible. Emotional stress and exertion can raise blood pressure and heart rate, change the flow of blood in the vessels and reduce the heart's blood supply, said the study leader, Dr. Andrew Smyth of McMaster University. In an artery already clogged with plaque, a trigger could block blood flow and lead to a heart attack.

"From a practical perspective, there will be times when exposure to such extremes is unavoidable," Smyth said.

"We continue to advise regular physical activity for all, including those who use exercise to relieve stress," but people should not go beyond their usual routine at such times, he said.

The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, other governmental bodies from various countries that participated, and grants from several drug companies.

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Google Chrome 55 will consume less RAM, promises Google

Google Chrome is a notorious resource hog. It’s been known to gobble up all the free RAM on your system and drain your battery at an alarming rate. Come December, and all this is set to change.

Chrome 55, which debuts on 6 December, will reportedly use an updated JavaScript engine,reports CNET. Google says that the updated engine uses much less RAM and that the benefits can amount to 50 percent more free RAM.

As far as most of the web-browsing world is concerned, however, they’d rather be using Chrome than any other browser. There are those who’ll stick to the default browser, be it Safari or Internet Explorer (IE) or even Edge, but those folk are unlikely to care about things like RAM consumption and battery life.

On a side note, using Safari on macOS or Edge on Windows 10 will give you better battery life and consume less RAM on that platform than Chrome. In fact, Opera goes so far as to claim that their browser, in battery saver mode, can knock the socks of any other browser in the battery life department.

That said, Chrome’s newfound frugality should have little impact on your battery life or browsing performance. If you’re on a device that’s struggling for RAM however, Chrome 55 might help.

You can try the beta version of Chrome right now, but be warned that it’s not stable.

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http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/google-chrome-55-will-consume-less-ram-promises-google-340048.html

Saudi Teen Flirts Online With A Young Woman In California - And Ends Up In Jail

CAIRO:  It seemed like a innocent, if goofy, flirtation.

Abu Sin, a young man in Saudi Arabia, met Christina Crockett, a 21-year-old in California, on YouNow, an online community forum that allows people to chat publicly in real time.

He spoke bits and pieces of English. She spoke no Arabic. Yet over weeks of chats they found an often hilarious way to bridge their linguistic and cultural divides. Their conversations soon attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers in Saudi Arabia and around the world.

In one video exchange, Abu Sin - a nickname that means "the toothless one" because he had crooked front teeth - is wearing a black baseball hat flipped sideways. Blond-haired Christina is wearing a gray tank top. (Police told local media that Abu Sin is 19, but some have questioned that.)

"Christina, I love you," says Abu Sin in broken English.

"I love you, too," she replies, smiling.

Then he asks her, jokingly, to marry him. She tells him to wait, and draws a wedding band on her finger. "I want to marry you, too," she says.

"Yes, yes," says Abu Sin. "Thank you very much."

Then, Saudi Arabia's morality authorities found out about Abu Sin's cyber romance.

In the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom, there are strict rules separating the genders. Virtually all public spaces are segregated, and most women wear head-to-toe black abayas as well as veils covering their face and hair. Unmarried men and women who mingle romantically often face harassment, heavy fines, even arrest at the hands of the religious police. If caught, women in particular face social stigma and punishment by their families.

So many young Saudis have turned to social media networks to pursue forbidden relationships. And the religious police have followed, monitoring online forums. Still, Abu Sin's exchanges with Christina seemed harmless, since she lived thousands of miles away.

Nevertheless, Saudi authorities arrested him late last month for "unethical behavior" because of the chats, according to Saudi media outlets. His exchanges with Christina, according to lawyers, could violate the nation's cybercrime law that bans creating online material that goes against morals and religious values, as well as its rigid interpretation of Islamic law.

"Abu Sin was jailed for violating decency and religious values," Lt. Fawaz al-Miman, a police spokesman in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, told the Al Arabiya news website.

Miman told the Saudi Gazette newspaper that Abu Sin made "enticing videos" that "became famous" and negatively affected Saudi Arabia's image in the world. He added that police had received requests from the Saudi public to have Abu Sin reprimanded.

One Saudi newspaper, Arab News, wrote that the teen deserved to be placed on trial because his video exchanges "made people laugh" at Saudis. Other commentators declared that Abu Sin's chats were a reflection of how youth are being improperly raised in the kingdom.

Last week, Abu Sin was released on bail. He could face a five-year prison sentence and be forced to pay a fine as much as $800,000.
On Sunday, Abu Sin released a new video, lasting about a minute. In it, he promised he would no longer use social media in way that would violate the kingdom's moral and religious codes.

He also said that he "repented" for chatting with girls on the Internet.

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Hurricane Matthew Kills Almost 900 In Haiti Before Hitting US

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Hurricane Matthew killed at least 900 people and left many homeless
2. Matthew swiped Florida on Friday with winds of 120 miles per hour
3. Hurricane Matthew categorised as class 4 hurricane

Hurricane Matthew killed almost 900 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti earlier this week before plowing northward on Saturday over waters just off the U.S. southeast, where it caused flooding and widespread power outages.

The number of deaths in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, surged to at least 877 on Friday as information trickled in from remote areas previously cut off by the storm, according to a Reuters tally of death tolls given by officials.

Matthew triggered mass evacuations along the U.S. coast from Florida through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged people not to be complacent and to heed safety instructions.

"The potential for storm surge, loss of life and severe property damage exists," Obama told reporters after a briefing with emergency management officials about the fiercest cyclone to affect the United States since Superstorm Sandy four years ago.

Matthew smashed through Haiti's western peninsula on Tuesday with 145 mile-per-hour (233 kph) winds and torrential rain. Some 61,500 people were in shelters, officials said, after the storm pushed the sea into fragile coastal villages, some of which were only now being contacted.

While highlighting the misery of underdevelopment in Haiti, which is still recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake, the storm looked certain to rekindle the debate about global warming and the long-term threat posed by rising sea levels to low-lying cities and towns.

At least three towns in the hills and coast of Haiti's fertile western tip reported dozens of people killed, including the farming village of Chantal where the mayor said 86 people were killed, mostly when trees crushed houses. He said 20 others were missing.

"A tree fell on the house and flattened it. The entire house fell on us. I couldn't get out," said driver Jean-Pierre Jean-Donald, 27, who had been married for only a year.

"People came to lift the rubble, and then we saw my wife who had died in the same spot," Jean-Donald said, his young daughter by his side, crying "Mommy."

With cellphone networks down and roads flooded, aid has been slow to reach hard-hit areas in Haiti. Food was scarce and at least seven people died of cholera, likely because of flood water mixing with sewage.

The Mesa Verde, a U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock ship, was heading for Haiti to support relief efforts. The ship has heavy-lift helicopters, bulldozers, fresh water delivery vehicles and two surgical operating rooms.

FOUR KILLED IN FLORIDA

Matthew sideswiped Florida's coast with winds of up to 120 mph (195 kph) but did not make landfall in the state. The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) downgraded the storm to a Category 2 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity as its sustained winds dropped to 110 mph. Category 5 is the strongest.

There were at least four storm-related deaths in Florida but no immediate reports of significant damage in cities and towns where the storm swamped streets, toppled trees and knocked out power to more than 1 million people.

Two people were killed by falling trees, according to Florida officials, and an elderly couple died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator while sheltering from the storm inside a garage.

Hurricane warnings early on Saturday extended up the Atlantic coast from northeast Florida through Georgia and South Carolina and into North Carolina.

Flash flood warnings were also in effect as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain was expected to accumulate in parts of the region along with storm surges and high tides, the National Weather Service said.

In Daytona Beach, the street under the city's famed "World's Most Famous Beach" sign was clogged with debris washed up by the ocean. The waves had receded by early afternoon but there was damage throughout the city, including a facade ripped off the front of a seaside hotel.

Robert Walker, a 51-year-old mechanic, weathered the worst of the storm in his seaside Daytona Beach apartment where high-powered winds peeled back the roof.

"It sounded like a jet plane coming over. I was scared," said Walker as he stood in front of the battered remains of the two-story building..

At 1:45 a.m. EDT (0545 GMT), Matthew's eye was about 95 miles (155 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving northward at 12 mph (19 kph), the NHC said.

After passing near or over the coast of Georgia it was on a track that would put it near or over South Carolina later on Saturday. Though gradually weakening, it was forecast to remain a hurricane until it begins moving away from the U.S. Southeast on Sunday, the NHC said.

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Five easy ways to test your fitness

How would you define being fit? The dictionary would define it as 'in good health'. Is that it, you might ask. A rippling physique may not be the certificate of fitness, nor can a lean frame be dismissed as being unfit. While there may be several benchmarks to test your fitness at various levels, we bring you five simple ways to check how fit you are:

Flexibility of the upper body

Stand up and bend your right arm over your right shoulder and keep it on the shoulder plate. Now bend your left arm behind your arm and try to clasp the fingers of the right hand. If you succeed, bravo! You can allow yourself a nervous smile if the fingers brush but if they are nowhere near each other, then... ahem. Also, try the other way, too—left arm over the shoulder and right arm behind the back.

Flexibility of the lower body

Lie down with your legs stretched out and arms by the sides. Lift you right leg towards the ceiling, keeping it as straight as possible. As you approach the 90-degree mark, ensure the left leg stays horizontal to the ground. If you manage to hit the mark (or come close to it) without bending the knee, hurray! If not, get up and get running, and stretch those hamstrings. With care, of course.

From 'sit' to 'stand'

Sit cross-legged on the floor (like we Indians do!) and try to stand up to an upright position without using hands or any support at all. A piece of cake, you say? Sure, if you have core strength and good overall balance. But, if you don't, and if you have to use your hands to get up, no more cheating on your daily exercise routine.

Push-ups

It might seem easy, but there's nothing more effective than the humble push-up to test your overall body strength. Balance your body on the palms of your hands kept shoulder-width apart and the balls of your feet. Now, lower your body and raise it back again. The hip and the shoulders should be in a straight line and the knees should not bend. Also, the elbows should point backwards, preferably, at 4'o clock and 8'o clock positions. If you do it at least five times without breaking a sweat and feel good for more, way to go! If not, time to start from scratch, or rather, the floor.

                           

Overhead squat

Stand up and lift both your arms straight overhead. Now, lower your body to the squat position so that the thighs are parallel to the ground—as if you are sitting on an invisible chair with your arms over your head. If you do up to five repetitions without feeling any pain on your knees or losing your balance, you are a champ! If not, you need to work on your muscle endurance and stability.

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http://www.theweek.in/features/lifestyle/5-easy-ways-to-test-your-fitness.html?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=contextual&utm_content=test&20fitness&utm_campaign=Taboola&20website&20clicks&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=ndtv

China Justifies Dam On Brahmaputra, Says It Won't Affect India

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Dam project important for food security in Tibet: China
2. Reservoir capacity less than 0.02% of average annual runoff: China
3. India had said it will it would take up the dam with China

 Justifying its move to blockade a tributary of the Brahmaputra to construct a dam, China today sought to allay apprehensions that it would effect the river flow into India saying that there will be no adverse impact on downstream areas.

Terming the Lalho dam project on the Xiabuqu river, a tributary of the Brahmaputra which is locally called as Yarlung Zangbo, as an important livelihood project to address food security and flood safety in Tibet, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the tributary river is located completely within the Chinese side.

"The reservoir capacity of the project is less than 0.02 per cent of the average annual runoff of the Yarlung Zangbo- Brahmaputra. It cannot have an adverse impact on the downstream," Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a written reply to PTI when asked about India's concerns over the dam.

Brahmaputra flows from Tibet into Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and later into Bangladesh.

On October 1, China announced the blockade of Xiabuqu river in Tibet as part of the construction of its "most expensive" dam project.

The Lalho project on Xiabuqu River a tributary in Xigaze in Tibet involves an investment of USD 740 million. Referring to the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) on trans-border rivers between India and China, the Chinese foreign ministry said both the countries have been carrying out good cooperation on trans-border rivers for a long time.

"Proceeding from the larger picture of China-India friendship and from the humanitarian angle, the Chinese side has overcome all kinds of difficulties, and has provided services to the Indian side such as flood season hydrological data and emergency management, and has played a positive role in areas such as flood and disaster control along the banks of the relevant rivers," the ministry said.

"China is willing to continue relevant cooperation with the Indian side through the existing expert level mechanism on trans-border rivers," it said.

India had said it would take up with China the issue of its blocking the Brahmaputra tributary

"We have conveyed to the Chinese side that they should be mindful of the interests of the lower riparian country while undertaking any projects on these rivers," foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said.

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http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/brahmaputra-dam-not-to-affect-flow-to-india-china-1471915?pfrom=home-lateststories
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