Monday, December 26, 2016

Nock-Ten & Quake of 5.2-magnitude hit Philippines

An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale hit the Philippines coast today. The US Geological Survey reported that the earthquake occurred at 01:23 GMT today at a depth of 10 kilometers, 61 kilometers north of Namuac, a city located in the Philipinne Cagayan Valley region. No information on casualties or damage from the quake has been provided so far.
Philippines, powerful typhoon Nock-Ten is continuing to batter, as it heads towards the area around the heavily-populated capital Manila. Civil defence officials have been put on red alert, as the storm is due to hit the city later today. The storm has weakened since making landfall on the eastern coast yesterday, but it still packs winds up to 140 km per hour, meteorologists say.
Three people were reported killed in Albay province, south-east of Manila. The storm has cut power lines and uprooted trees. Manila’s civil defence office warned that the capital could be hit by heavy to intense rains, flash floods and severe winds.
The coastguard has ordered beaches south of Manila to be cleared. The charity Save the Children told that up to one million people would need emergency shelter over the next 24 hours. Nock-Ten, known as Nina in the Philippines, hit the coast near Catanduanes island late yesterday, knocking out power.

Thinking from politics in the Land Use Planning of Bangalore

Dear All,
As part of our Urban Workshop Series, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), Delhi, are delighted to invite you to a workshop on Planning and Participation: Thinking from politics in the Land Use Planning of Bangalore by Jayaraj Sundareshan from the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), Bangalore.

Date:               Tuesday, 27th December 2016
Time:               3.45 p.m.
Venue:             Conference Hall, Centre for Policy Research, Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110 021
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While a lack of participation dominated critiques of urban planning in India for decades, in the past decade, critiques of participation have occupied a central concern for those who dismiss the Indian urban planning system as exclusivist, elitist, outmoded, technocratic, abstract, and authoritarian, civic, aesthetic or middle class governmentality. How do we understand the participatory process: who participates, how, and when? Does participation happen only during the making of key decisions that underlie ‘the plan’ or also in devising appropriate planning instruments? Or should it also happen during the implementation and enforcement process? Should the participants have a say in every planning application in their neighbourhood and beyond and also in devising the planning system and its governance. These questions will be engaged with to examine the relationship between the epistemological categories of planning and participation based on the experience of land use planning politics in Bangalore.
Jayaraj Sundareshan is a comparative urbanist whose research interest lies at the intersection of urban theory, urban practice and urban transformation. His research interest lies at the intersection of urban theory, urban practice and urban transformation. His primary research field sites are Cities in India and London in the UK. Thematic issues of interest include urban politics and governance, urban morphology, urban commons, planning and design practice, violations and illegalities, ecological transformations, participation, urban activism and communal geographies. Jayaraj has taught at the University College London (UCL), London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) and National Institute of Technology -C (India). He lives between Kerala, Bangalore and London.

National Herald Case:Delhi court dismisses Subramanian Swamy’s petition seeking doucuements


Dr Swamy had argued that the accounts need to be scrutinised to establish whether Congress leaders gave 90 crores in loan from tax exempted money to the National Herald newspaper.
The Congress argues that it is well within its rights to give such a loan with the intention of reviving a newspaper in the national interest.
The newspaper was set up in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister and Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather. It shut down in 2008 after struggling for decades with mismanagement and poor earnings.
The Congress leadership, including Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, have been listed as accused over the transfer of equity to a private firm which, Dr Swamy said, was done to acquire National Herald’s high worth properties.
The Gandhis have been accused of illegally acquiring property worth 5,000 crore belonging to the newspaper.Delhi court dismisses Subramanian Swamy’s petition seeking documents related to National Herald, next hearing on Feb 10th. Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed an application seeking documents and ledger books from the Congress Party and the Associated Journals Limited.
Swamy has accused them of allegedly conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by just paying Rs 50 lakh by which YI obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore which Associated Journals Pvt Ltd owed to the Congress party. All the accused have denied the allegations levelled against them by Swamy. The court has said that the documents sought by Swamy will not be provided.
Swamy in his petition alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi got hold of Associated Journals through ‘dishonest means’ which pertains to ‘criminal misappropriation and criminal breach of trust’.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, party leaders Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes, Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and Young Indian Pvt Ltd are accused in the case filed by Swamy.

Chinese carrier enters South China Sea

A group of Chinese warships led by the country’s sole aircraft carrier entered the top half of the South China Sea on Monday after passing south of Taiwan, the self-ruled island’s Defense Ministry said of what China has termed a routine exercise. The move comes amid renewed tension over Taiwan, following US President-elect Donald Trump’s telephone call with the island’s president that upset Beijing. The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier has taken part in previous exercises, including some in the South China Sea. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said the carrier, accompanied by five vessels, passed southeast of the Pratas Islands, which are controlled by Taiwan, heading southwest.RT news

India’s first Poker Sports League

India’s first Poker Sports League to unleash the power of the mind one chip at a time

New Delhi, December 26, 2016: Creating a unique platform for skilled ‘mind sports’, Amit Burman, announces the launch of an exciting new league – Poker Sports League. The Poker Sports League forays into the space of intellectual and mind challenges and aims to popularize mind skill games. This game changing league will offer a never before experience to poker players with varying degree of expertise but an unabashed passion for the game, to unite and celebrate their love for the game as well as hone their poker skills under the guidance of well-established professional poker players.
In its first season, the Poker Sports League will consist of 12 teams, seven of which have already been sold and the remaining five shall be made available for sale shortly. These teams are associated with some of the well-known names from corporate India such as Kunal Shah (Co-Founder, FreeCharge), Mehul Shah (Original Promoter, Anchor Electrical), Rishi Kajaria (Joint MD, Kajaria Ceramics), Karan Bhagat (Co-Founder, IIFL Wealth), Purrshottam Bhaggeria (Joint MD, Filatex Group), Ankkit Bahadur (Co-Owner, Playboy North India) and Gaurav Mohan (Founder, Eventwala) who strongly believe in the potential of the game and its ability to harness the latent talent from across the nation.

The 12 teams will consist of a total of 108 players who will play for the prize money of INR 3.36 crore. These teams will be selected through 70+ qualifying rounds held across various cities for a period of nearly 3 months, as well as through online tournaments that will begin early in 2017. The players who qualify to the 12 teams will then compete to play at the Mega Finals, where the best and the finest of India’s poker talent will be invited to a display of skill and entertainment.

Speaking about the potential of the league, Mr. Amit Burman, Founder, Poker Sports League said, “Poker is a popular mind sport across the globe and has gained tremendous traction within India, amongst individuals looking to challenge their mind, grit and decision making abilities. Although the game is played with cards and there is an element of luck – the vast majority of the game depends on pure skill, mathematics, probability and decision making strategy. With no entry fee and a sizeable prize money to aim for, the Poker Sports League is a unique opportunity for players of the game to hone their skills as well as popularize the game that is set to be recognized by the International Mind Sports association along with Chess, Bridge and Draughts”.

True to its vision of harnessing talent across India, the Poker Sports League will offer players an opportunity to play and learn from some of the best players in India. Every team will also have a professional poker player as a mentor and captain to develop team strategy and help young players sharpen their skills during the play.

At the helm of the Poker Sports League will be a core team that includes some of the well known names associated with poker in India, and known for their expertise, knowledge and passion for the game.  The team includes Anuj Gupta, Founder of Adda52.com – India’s largest Poker portal who is also a co-founder of Poker Sports League. The team is further strengthened by Pranav Bagai, the Founder of India Poker Legend – India’s premier tournament series. Besides, being the co-founder of the league, Pranav has also been appointed as the CEO of PSL and Nikita Luther, who is India’s top female Poker professional, will take charge as COO for the league. 

Regards,
Parul Suri
9899973280
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