202_CH_26_July_2016

More documents

Recommendations

Info

CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 202 `.1.00/- Tuesday, July 26, 2016 www.ibcworldnews.com www.cityhilights.news English Daily 6 BUSINESS SPORTS THERE IS NO EASY MATCH IN OLYMPICS: SREEJESH Bengaluru: Newly-appointed Indian men’s hockey team captain PR Sreejesh said there is no “easy match” in a sporting extravaganza like the Olympics, and all 12 teams will fancy their chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals in Rio. “It is Olympics and there is nothing easy. Every match will be serious affair,” he said before departing for Spain en route to Rio. “In each group there are six teams out of which four will qualify for the quarterfinals. Therefore, it is very important for us to garner as many points as possible to increase our chances because the new format gives an opportunity to every team,” he said. Unlike previous editions, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has introduced a new competition format in this year’s Olympics. As per the new format 12 teams have been divided into two pools of six with each team initially playing round-robin games within their pool. Following the completion of the round-robin games, the top four teams from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals. Previously, after completion of round robin games top two teams from each pool used to directly qualify for the semifinals. Sreejesh, who took over the captaincy mantle from long-standing Sardar Singh just ahead of the Olympics, said they are ready to face any side in the quarterfinals. “We are ready to meet anybody in the quarterfinals. We cannot say we want this team or that team. We will give our 100 per cent against any side, be it world world champions Australia,” he said. Sreejesh said hockey is a team and a captain hardly has any role on the pitch. “Hockey is a team game and all 11 players on the field are captains. They have specific responsibilities to shoulder.We are going to Rio as a team,” he said. The experienced goalkeeper said a few practice matches in Spain before heading to Rio will hold India is good stead in the Olympics. “We are going to Spain mainly for acclimatisation. We need a break from here. We will play a couple of practice matches there and know where we stand. The climate of Rio during the Games will be to similar Spain. So, it is a good decision to go to Spain before landing at Rio,” Sreejesh said. FAILED DRUG TEST OF NARSINGH’S ROOMMATE RAISES SUSPICION New Delhi: With Narsingh Yadav’s roommate Sandeep Yadav at the SAI Sonepat camp also testing positive for the same banned substance, WFI said that it strengthens the conspiracy theory and indicates at a clear case of sabotage. “The fact that Narisngh’s teammate at the camp has also tested positive for the same substance, it clearly looks to be a foul play. Both the wrestlers were consuming the same supplements as they were roommates. It arises suspicion,” WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar said. “There was a high quantity of steroid in the sample, which is hard to believe. It seems like a deliberate thing.Why would anyone take such high dose,” he questioned. Asked if anyone else in the camp has also failed the dope test, the official replied in negative. “No. Only these two guys have failed it and this clearly indicates that something is wrong.” NADA Director General Navin Agarwal on Sunday confirmed that Narsingh’s ‘B’ sample tested positive for a banned substance. Sources said that he had returned positive for methandienone, a banned anabolic steroid. With his Olympic dreams in jeopardy after a failed dope test, Narsingh had claimed innocence, saying that the entire episode was a conspiracy against him. “This is a conspiracy against me. I have never IOC BOWS TO PUTIN AND RUSSIAN DOPERS Moscow: Once again, the people who run the Olympics just can’t say no to Vladimir Putin. Not when he spends more than USD 50 billion to host a winter Olympics to show off a resurgent Russia. Not when he talks darkly about returning to the days of Olympic boycotts in 1980 and 1984. Certainly not when he suggests that doping officials of one powerful country can you guess which one? are behind efforts to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics. When Putin talks, Olympic officials listen. And that’s the biggest reason why Russian athletes at least some of them will march in opening ceremonies less than two weeks from now in Brazil. With Russian prestige on the line, the executive board of the International Olympic Committee caved in. Instead of banning Russia from Rio for running a state-sanctioned doping operation, the IOC members decided instead Sunday to allow individual sports federations to decide which Russians can compete. Spineless, yes, but that’s to be expected. No reason to let a little doping scandal get in the way of a cozy relationship that serves both sides so well. It was just a little more than two years ago that Putin was the face of a winter Olympics that he saw as far more than just a sporting event. He cheered Russian athletes in arenas and in the mountains, and celebrated with them as they added to the host country’s medal haul. Meanwhile, his agents were working late into the night at the Sochi doping lab, exchanging urine samples taken from the country’s athletes for clean ones in an elaborate scheme to escape detection. It paid off with 33 medals for Russia, 11 of them gold.The country led the medal standings, and Russian pride surged with every big win. That much of it was a scam wouldn’t be uncovered until many months later. When it was, it was clear the scope of the cheating effort was so great that it couldn’t have been pulled off without cooperation and approval from the highest levels of the Russian government. Yet Russian athletes will still compete in Rio. The official explanation for just why came from IOC President Thomas Bach, who said it would be unfair to ban all Russians when it has not been proven that all of them cheat. “At the end of the day, we have to be able to look in the eye of the individual athletes concerned by this decision,” Bach said. The unofficial explanation was more telling. “The IOC decision was to be expected. You can’t behave improperly toward a power like Russia,” said Gennady Alyoshin, a Russian Olympic Committee official. WE WERE PLAYING A TOUGH CATCH-UP GAME THROUGHOUT: HOLDER North Sound (Antigua): West Indies’ skipper Jason Holder conceded that his side were always playing “catchup” game throughout the first Test against India, which they surrendered meekly losing by an innings and 92 runs. “It is always tough to play catch-up cricket. We never bowled well in the first innings. Yes, we had some good bowling partnerships but not for long sessions. Going forward we definitely need to improve, to string together better bowling partnerships, and bowl more maidens. Having said that we were not able to create enough pressure in their first innings,” Holder said after the defeat. “In hindsight, you can say a lot of things. The combination we played had four bowlers and an all-rounder in Roston Chase who bowls some off-spin. But execution is the name of the game. I don’t think we executed well enough,” he added. Holder said that the current Test side is a young one and they also have their pride taken any banned substance,” said Narsingh. Narsingh, who was picked ahead of the double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar to represent India at the Rio Games in 74kg Freestyle category, has been handed provisional suspension and virtually ruled out of next month’s Olympics. The 26-year-old wrestler’s Olympics accreditation has also been withheld. The WFI also cried foul, claiming that Narsingh has a clean history and it was a clear case of sabotage. On the basis of Narsingh bagging the 74kg Olympic quota berth with a World Championships bronze last year, WFI had named him to represent India at the Rio Games and Sushil’s demands for a trial were rejected by the Federation as well as the Delhi High Court after a lengthy legal battle. at stake. “I think it boils down to personal pride. Roston, Shane Dowrich and RajendraChandrika, myself, Jermaine Blackwood, we are all quite young players. We are all looking to make a mark in the international circuit,” he said. “For us its just personal glory, personal pride. That’s what each person coming to Test cricket is looking to do. I think all of us want to do that. I think we need to come up with a strong collective effort,” said the skipper. There were only two three-centuries in the match from the hosts, and they needed to do better to even have a hope of saving the match. Clearly, the team needed more from its experienced batsmen, Darren Bravo (11 and 10) and Marlon Samuels (1 and 50). “Ideally, that’s what we would expect from top-order batsmen. To be fair, they have to carry the demands of this young batting side. Unfortunately, Bravo didn’t get any runs in this Test. Marlon showed some form in the second innings and it is important for those two guys to carry the batting and lay the foundation. The onus is on them, but we also have more enough capable batsmen,” said Holder. NARSINGH DEMANDS CBI PROBE INTO DOPING SCANDAL New Delhi: A defiant Narsingh Yadav on Monday demanded a CBI probe into the doping scandal which has jeopardised his participation in the Olympics, alleging that a conspiracy has been hatched to scuttle his Rio dream. “There should be a CBI inquiry. The whole episode relating to my selection had gone to court. There was a CID report that my life is under threat. All this makes it clear, I have been framed so that I am stopped from going to Rio,” Narsingh said. “I have given my complaint to the federation in which I have made it clear that something could have been mixed in the food that was prepared at the mess. It is a conspiracy against me,” he added. Narsingh has returned positive for a banned substance barely 10 days before the start of the Olympics and that has cast a doubt on his participation in the Rio Games. The 26-year-old, who would be pleading innocence in front of the NADA panel that is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, is hopeful that he would be able to convince the committee members that the entire episode is a conspiracy. “I am hopeful that everything will be clear soon. I have got the 100 per cent backing of everyone. I am still hopeful of going to Rio,” 26-yearold wrestler said. INDIA RECORD BIGGEST TEST WIN OUTSIDE ASIA North Sound (Antigua): India recorded their biggest win outside the sub-continent as they thrashed a listless West Indies by an innings and 92 runs in the opening cricket Test, riding on a fantastic seven-wicket haul by off-spinner RavichandranAshwin. Ashwin produced an offspin bowling master class to grab 7/83 and triggered a second-innings slide that saw the hosts collapse from 88/2 to 132/8 on the fourth and penultimate day. A defiant ninth-wicket stand of 95, West Indies’ highest in the game, between Carlos Brathwaite (51 not out) and DevendraBishoo (45) delayed the inevitable before Ashwin came back to seal the issue by bowling the hosts out for 231. IT’S GOOD TO HAVE CONTAGIOUS WINNING HABIT: KOHLI North Sound: Winning is “contagious” and Indian Test captain Virat Kohli feels that it is a “good habit” that his boys can create in order to become a formidable Test team anywhere in the world. India trounced West Indies by an innings and 92 runs well inside four days in the first cricket Test of the four-match series. “We want to create winning habits, good habits. And you know, winning is contagious. If we learn to win Test matches, then we’ll learn how to win Tests everywhere. We will learn how to play in different situations and we will know exactly what to do when a certain situation is going a certain way,” Kohli told mediapersons after a thumping victory against the hosts. “We want to be consistent side, we need to set ourselves goals and look to execute that rather than looking at the opposition which I think this team is willing to do,” said Kohli after the win. This was also the Tamil Nadu spinner’s first five-wicket haul outside the Asian continent. India bowled out the West Indies for 243 in their first innings, having amassed 566 for eight declared after opting to bat. Forced to follow-on after conceding a massive lead of 323, the hosts failed to cope up with intense pressure created by Ashwin and Co on a pitch that offered assistance to slow bowlers. At the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, the visitors shot out the hosts in three hours over the post lunch and tea session to finish their two innings at 243 and 231. “That for me is a very pleasing thing as a captain and for the team as well. Everyone understands the way we want to play on the field, where we need to bat, how we need to bowl, etc. We need to be comfortable with what the team requires and I think that’s the most important for this team going forward,” he added. It was an all-round effort from the bowlers with pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav snaring eight scalps among themselves in the first innings and premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin with his 7 for 83 singlehandedly decimating After tea, Brathwaite reached his third Test fifty, but the rest of the innings folded in just over 40 minutes. Bishoo hit straight to midwicket off Ashwin in the 78th over, and three balls later bowled Shannon Gabriel (4) to wrap up the proceedings with a day to spare. Post lunch, it was an extended session of play which proved enough for India to force a win. But first they had to break through the 67-run partnership between Rajendra Chandrika (31) and Marlon Samuels (50). The two batsmen began again in the same vein, trying to play for time, and in doing so, the latter crossed the 50-mark off 74 balls raising hopes of a fight back. But it was short-lived as Chandrika had a faint inside-edge off Ashwin in the 36th over, judged accurately by the umpire and caught on the third attempt by WriddhimanSaha. It started the slide for West Indies and the off-spinner barged into the opening he had found. In the very next over, he removed Jermaine Blackwood (0) for a second duck in the match, with skipper Virat Kohli holding a magnificent diving catch at midwicket to aid in the dismissal. the opposition in the second innings. “It was a very good effort from the bowlers. The good thing was that we did not bowl that much in the first innings, so everyone’s mindset in the second innings was, yes, we can bowl again. I think the first innings ended at a perfect time for us last evening, and then we got 13- 14 overs and got a wicket again.So it was good to get some rest in the evening, and the bowlers’ attitude was very good, all of them voluntarily said, yes, we will bowl, and the spinners took the responsibility,” said the skipper. NARSINGH IS INNOCENT, IT’S A CONSPIRACY: WFI New Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI)on Monday threw its weight behind NarsinghYadav, whose Olympic participation is in serious doubt after a failed dope test, saying the grappler is a victim of conspiracy. Doubting foul play, WFI president BrijBhushanSharan Singh said the federation believes Narisingh is innocent and will support him to the hilt. “The federation believes Narsingh is innocent. Injustice has happened with him and we are hopeful he will get justice. I will try my level best to help Narsingh get out of this problem so that he can represent India in 74kg in the Olympics and win a medal,” BrijBhushanSharan Singh told a press conference on Monday. The WFI chief said Narsingh has a clean record and would be foolish to jeopardise his career by taking a banned substance just days before the Olympics. “It is our duty to protect Narsingh and all our wrestlers. Narsingh’s record is clean. He is someone who never shied away from dope tests,” BrijBhushan said. “Narsingh complained in writing to us that a conspiracy has been hatched against him and I and the entire nation believe him because he has nothing to do with the substance.” Narsingh, who was picked ahead of the double Olympic medallistSushil Kumar to represent India at the Rio Games in, has been handed provisional suspension after he tested positive for a banned substance. On the basis of Narsingh bagging the 74kg Olympic quota berth with a World Championships bronze last year, WFI had named him to represent India at the Rio Games and Sushil’s demands for a trial were rejected by the Federation as well as the Delhi High Court after a lengthy legal battle. BrijBhushan hoped Narsingh would get a clean chit in the final NADA hearing on Wednesday, the result of which is expected the next day. “The NADA committee formed to hear the case will hold its final hearing on Wednesday. I hope they will examine all aspects and on Thursday I hope we will get the clear picture,” he said. For the time being, the 26-year-old wrestler’s Olympics accreditation has also been withheld.
CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 202 `.1.00/- Tuesday, July 26, 2016 www.ibcworldnews.com www.cityhilights.news English Daily 7 BUSINESS CRUDE PALM OIL FUTURES UP 0.77 PC ON SPOT DEMAND New Delhi: Crude palm oil prices moved up by 0.77 per cent to Rs 497.30 per 10 kg in futures market on Monday as speculators indulged in creating positions coupled with rising demand in spot market. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude palm oil for delivery in August rose Rs 3.80, or 0.77 per cent, to Rs 497.30 per 10 kg, in a business turnover of 323 lots. Similarly, oil for delivery in July edged up by Rs 2.60, or 0.49 per cent, to Rs 524 per 10 kg in 63 lots. Analysts said fresh positions built-up by speculators supported by rising demand in the spot market, mainly led to the rise in crude palm oil prices at futures trade. GUARSEED FUTURES SLIPS ON PROFIT BOOKING New Delhi: Guarseed prices were down by Rs 34 to Rs 3,956 per quintal in futures trading on Monday on profit booking by speculators amid a weak trend at the spot markets. At the National Commodity and Derivative Exchange, guarseed for delivery in November month contract declined by Rs 34, or 0.85 per cent to Rs 3,956 per quintal, with an open interest of 10,580 lots. A l s o , guarseed for delivery in far-month October dropped by Rs 27, or 0.69 per cent to Rs 3,906 per quintal, having an open interest of 1,03,200 lots. Marketmen said offlaoding of participants at existing levels amid a weak trend at the domestic spot markets on increased arrivals from growing regions, mainly weighed on guarseed prices at futures trade. GOVT TO PROVIDE BENEFITS TO SMALL TEA GROWERS: NIRMALA SITHARAMAN New Delhi: To encourage small tea growers and give them better price for their products, the government has proposed to amend a 2003 order to define mini and micro factories and provide various benefits to them. Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman said in Lok Sabha that a proposal has been mooted to amend the Tea (Marketing) Control Order 2003 so as to define mini and micro factories and exempt them from obtaining no objection certificate for manufacturing tea. Listing out various benefits and assistance being provided to the small tea growers, Sitharaman said during Question Hour that in order to ensure better price to small tea growers, who supply tea leaves to factories, price sharing formulas have been notified for different tea growing states. Payment of green leaf to the growers is closely monitored by the district green leaf price monitoring committees, she said. The Tea Development and Promotion Scheme implemented by the Tea Board has a separate component for development of small tea growers. The scheme aims at addressing the special needs of small tea growers, particularly in the area of improving production and productivity and establishing processing factories with special focus on enhancing quality. Financial assistance of around Rs 55.56 crore has so far been extended to the small tea growers in the XII plan, she said. RBI ASKS BOB TO COUGH UP RS 5 CR AS PENALTY New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 5 crore on Bank of Baroda (BoB) after it found irregularities in the Rs 6,100-crore scam that was unearthed last year. “The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of INR 50 million on Bank of Baroda. Pursuant to the internal audit of the Bank of Baroda, the Reserve Bank of India and investigative agencies in October 2015 were advised by the Bank of certain irregularities observed,” Bank of Baroda said in a BSE filing. It further said: “The RBI carried out the investigation and noted the deficiencies which were reflective of weaknesses and failures in internal control mechanisms in respect of certain AML provisions such as monitoring of transactions, timely reporting to FIU, and assigning of UCIC to customers”. Bank of Baroda said it has implemented a comprehensive corrective action plan, to strengthen internal controls and to ensure that such incidents do not recur. Various irregularities by bank such as non-submission and inordinate delays in filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), besides opening of accounts by several entities without fulfilling KYC norms, were noticed by Reserve Bank of India. The observation came as part of inspection done by the central bank after last year’s Bank of Baroda case in which Rs 6,100-crore import remittances were effected by its Ashok Vihar branch. Both CBI and the Enforcement Directorate are probing the huge remittances to Hong Kong from the bank. The amount was allegedly transferred in the garb of payments for imports that never took place, investigators say. After the BoB case, RBI wrote a confidential letter to chairmen and chief executives of all commercial banks asking them to review existing policies and effect necessary improvements where warranted to avoid recurrence of such irregularities. Shares of Bank of Baroda were trading 1.92 per cent at Rs 153.80 apiece on the BSE. GLENMARK GETS FDA NOD FOR SKIN OINTMENT New Delhi: Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has received final approval from the US health regulator USFDA for triamcinolone acetonide ointment, used in treatment of various skin conditions. “Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc, USA has been granted final approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for triamcinolone acetonide ointment USP, 0.5 per cent,” it said in a BSE filing. RICOH INDIA CHAIRMAN TETSUYA TAKANO RESIGNS New Delhi: A week after admitting its accounts appear to have been “falsified”, Ricoh India on Monday said its Chairman and Director Tetsuya Takano has resigned from the company. The company has appointed Ian Peter Winham as its Director/ Chairman with immediate effect. “Mr Tetsuya Takano has resigned as Director/Chairman of the company with effect from July 25, 2016. The Board of Directors of the company has accepted his resignation with immediate effect,” Ricoh India said in a BSE filing. Winham joined the Ricoh Group in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in 2002 as CFO and was appointed Executive Vice President, CIO and CFO of Ricoh Europe in 2007. In 2014, he took on a global role as head of Global Capital Management. In April 2016, Approval has been granted for generic version of triamcinolone acetonide ointment USP, 0.5 per cent of Perrigo New York, Inc. This ointment is used to treat various skin conditions including eczema, dermatitis, allergies and rash. Quoting IMS sales data for the 12 months to May, Glenmark said Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment achieved annual sales of` around USD 4.4 million. The company’s current portfolio consists of 116 he was appointed Corporate Vice President of Ricoh Company, Ltd. Winham has worked extensively in India over the last six years, the company said. Last week, Ricoh India said its accounts appear to be have been “falsified” and estimated to incur a loss of Rs 1,123 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2016. It had said the disclosure follows an internal investigation it had been carrying out to ascertain its financial position and probable roles of few officials of the company. In April, the company’s India’s MD and CEO Manoj Kumar had resigned from the products authorised for distribution in the US and 61 Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) pending approval with the USFDA. Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were trading 0.38 per cent up at Rs 868.35 in the morning trade on BSE. board after being asked to go on leave amid an audit in the company by a committee. However, Ricoh Company Ltd, a promoter entity of the Indian subsidiary of Japanese imaging and electronics major, has proposed to recapitalise the company for the loss. The disclosure by the Indian unit also prompted the promoter to approach National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) against the BSE-listed firm and its certain officials suspected to have indulged in “mismanagement”. In its petition, the promoter sought to restrain the statutory authorities from taking any coercing measures against Ricoh India Ltd and restore its share trading, which has been suspended for penal reasons even as a probe is already on by various agencies and regulators including Sebi into its affairs. SCIENCE & TECH NOW, ROBOT THERAPIST TO HELP RELIEVE MUSCLE STRAINS ‘POKEMON GO’ PLAYERS STUMBLE ON HIDDEN HISTORY MARS ROVER CURIOSITY CAN NOW FIRE LASER ON ITS OWN Singapore:Suffering from back pain? A robotic massage therapist developed by a Singapore-based startup may help relieve muscle strains and injuries. Emma, or Short for Expert Manipulative Massage Automation, a robotic arm with a 3D-printed massage tip, can resolve some of the challenges faced by sports therapy clinics, such as a shortage of trained therapists and a need to deliver high quality therapy consistently. Developed by AiTreat, a start-up company founded by Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) graduate Albert Zhang, Emma is undergoing user trials at a medical institution that offers sports injury rehabilitation and pain management. “We have designed Emma as a clinically precise tool that can automatically carry out treatment for patients as prescribed by a physiotherapist or Chinese physician,” said Zhang, who graduated in 2010 from NTU. “This is probably the first such robot in the world developed specifically for use by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) physicians and sports therapists,” said Zhang. “Our aim is not to replace the therapists who are skilled in sports massage and acupoint therapy, but to improve productivity by enabling one therapist to treat multiple patients with the help of our robots,” he said. Emma has a user-friendly interface and recommended guidelines for various sports injuries. The robot consists of a single, 6-axis robotic arm capable of highly articulated movements, a 3D-stereoscopic camera for vision, and a customised, fully rotatable 3D-printed massage tip. Safety features which work in tandem with advanced pressure sensors are also in-built, to ensure the comfort and the safety of its patients. Emma has treated 50 patients with different conditions, such as tennis elbows, stiff neck and shoulders, lower back pain, as well as muscle pulls. To ensure a consistent quality of therapy, Emma has sensors and diagnostic functions that will measure the progress of the patient and the exact stiffness of a particular muscle or tendon. These detailed diagnostics are uploaded to the cloud where the progress of each patient can be analysed and generated into a performance report. For the first time in TCM treatment, patients can accurately measure their recovery progress using precise empirical data. Providence: Historical markers have long dotted the landscape, often barely noticed by passers-by until they became treasure-filled stops this month on the “Pokemon Go” trail. Players hunting for fictional creatures on their smartphones are now visiting real-life memorial plaques, statues, mosaics and landmarks, ranging from a Civil War battlefield in Chancellorsville, Virginia, to a Hells Angels clubhouse on New Zealand’s North Island. Some don’t bother to linger at these Pokestops, staying just long enough to stock up on the virtual balls they’ll use to bonk and capture the next Pokemon. But for others, the GPS-powered “augmented reality” game is heightening awareness of the history and geography of their neighbourhoods. “Before I was just going from Point A to Point B, but now I’m learning things,” said 15-year-old Jaiden Cruz as he walked by a plaque Wednesday in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, marking where Abraham Lincoln spoke at an old railroad hall in 1860. The plaque is a Pokestop, and shortly before Cruz arrived, another player dropped a “lure module” that attracts Pokemon to the site. The 380-year-old city abounds with Pokestops, including the nation’s oldest Baptist church, founded by religious dissident Roger Williams in 1638, and a stone marking where French troops camped during the Revolutionary War. “It gets you to learn about your surroundings,” said 59-year-old Cheryl DiMarzio, who on the advice of her daughter ventured into an urban park to capture an owl-like Pidgey and some purple rodent Rattatas. “Different landmarks, the statues and historical places.” How such markers became the backbone of the wildly popular video game that launched this month is a story that goes back at least five years, when tech giant Google signed a licensing agreement to use The Historical Marker Database, a volunteer-run website that has tracked the geographic coordinates of more than 80,000 historical markers around the world, most of them in the United States. JJ Prats, founder and publisher of the Virginia-based marker database, said many but not all the Pokestops and Pokemon gyms, where players send their creatures into battle, are from his website. He’s thrilled. Washington: For the first time, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover can fire its onboard laser all by itself, mission scientists say. New software is enabling Chem Cam, the laser spectrometer on Curiosity, to select rock targets autonomously the first time autonomous target selection is available for an instrument of this kind on any robotic planetary mission. The Chem Cam (chemistry and camera) instrument aboard Curiosity “zaps” rocks on Mars and analyses their chemical make-up. While most Chem Cam targets are still selected by scientists, the rover itself now chooses multiple targets per week. “This new capability will give us a chance to analyse even more rock and soil samples on Mars,” said Roger Wiens, principal investigator for ChemCam at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US. “The science team is not always available to pick samples for analysis. Having a smarter rover that can pick its own samples is completely in line with self-driving cars and other smart technologies being implemented on Earth,” said Wiens. To select a target autonomously, the software uses adjustable criteria specified by scientists, such as identifying rocks based on their size or brightness.The criteria can be changed depending on the rover’s surroundings and the scientific goals of the measurements. ChemCam’s spectrometers record the wavelengths seen through a telescope while the laser is firing. This information enables scientists to identify chemical composition of the targets.Through the same telescope, the instrument on the rover’s mast takes images that are of the highest resolution available. In nearly four years since landing on Mars, ChemCam has analysed roughly 1,500 rock and soil samples with more than 350,000 total laser shots at about 10,000 points in all.The autonomous software is called AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) and was developed by engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The most frequent application of AEGIS uses onboard computer analysis of images from Curiosity’s stereo Navigation Camera (Navcam), which are taken routinely at each location where the rover ends a drive. From the top of Curiosity’s mast, the instrument can analyse the composition of a rock or soil target from up to about seven meters away. The rover’s extended mission is analysing evidence about how the environment on Mars changed billions of years ago from conditions well-suited to microbial life, if any life has ever existed on Mars, to dry, inhospitable conditions.
Page 1 and 2: CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 202 `.1.
Page 3 and 4: CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 202 `.1.
Page 5: CITY HILIGHTS Vol 1, Issue 202 `.1.

202_CH_26_July_2016

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?