K Srikanth stuns Boonsak Ponsana to lift Thailand Open Grand Prix

Bangkok:  K Srikanth became the latest badminton sensation to emerge from India as he lifted his maiden men's singles title with a stunning straight-game triumph over top-seeded local favourite Boonsak Ponsana at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold here on Sunday.

The 20-year-old from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh beat world number eight Ponsana 21-16 21-12 in a 34-minute match to script the biggest win of his still nascent career.

"When I went into the court, I was pretty okay. I was not thinking anything. He was the local guy and the court was also with him. I knew I had a 50-50 chance even though he is world number eight," the excited youngster told PTI.

"I just wanted to give my 100 per cent. I was focusing on one point at a time and I knew it was all about who plays well on that particular day," he said.

The 13th-seeded Indian matched his fancied rival in all departments of the game in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest.

"The win has not sunk in. I am still pretty excited. I spoke to my parents and they are also very happy. I will be travelling to Hyderabad tonight and probably fly back to Singapore next Friday or Saturday," he said.

The first game went neck and neck before Srikanth broke free to notch up six consecutive points to win the game and wrest the initiative.

"The first game was tough. I was leading by 2-3 points from the start but in the end he was like 15-16 but he made some unforced errors as I played some attacking badminton. It worked as I got four points on the trot and that made all the difference," he said.

The second game was a completely one-sided affair with Srikanth scoring at ease. The Indian sent down nine smashes against his rival's three to stamp his authority in the match.

Ponsana had a two-point lead to start with but Srikanth made amends quite quickly to reel off eight successive points and seal the game and the match in his favour.

"In the second game I played pretty well, I was leading 11-5 and continued in the same vein. I didn't relax and stayed focussed. I could see that although the crowd was supporting him, he looked tense and turned on the pressure on him," he said.

Srikanth had previously reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Junior Championships and entered the prequarterfinals of the World Junior Championships in 2011.

Indian male shuttlers have been making quite a mark internationally of late. P Kashyap had won the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold last year.

Kerala tourism to set up waste treatment plants

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Tourism Development Corporation has said it will install its own waste treatment plants in all their hotels including 'Tamarind Easy Hotels'.

Biogas plants had already been set up in all major hotels owned by KTDC, while works were being completed at the Mascot and Chitram Hotels in the capital and Bolgatty palace in

Kochi, a KTDC release said.

The initiative was part of the state government's Green Kerala Initiative. The 'Tamarind' KTDC hotels in Alappuzha and Kayamkulam already have waste treatment facility.

Besides KTDC hotels, the corporation had also installed a biogas plant at Thiruvananthapuram museum with the assistance of the Museums and Zoos department.

With the completion of the work, KTDC would set an example of becoming green with biogas treatment plants. Waste generated from the hotels would be recycled and used for gardening.

PTI

India develops robotic soldiers to replace humans

New Delhi: With futuristic warfare in mind, India is working to develop robotic soldiers as part of efforts to boost unmanned fighting capabilities, joining a select group of countries in this endeavour.

Under the project being undertaken by DRDO, robots would be developed with very high level of intelligence to enable them to differentiate between a threat and a friend.

These can then be deployed in difficult warfare zones, like the Line of Control (LoC), a step that would help avert the loss of human lives.

"We are going to work for robotic soldiers. We are going to look for very high level of intelligence in it than what we are talking today... It is a new programme and a number of labs are already working in a big way on robotics," said DRDO chief Avinash Chander in an interview.

The newly-appointed DRDO chief listed the project for development of robotic soldiers as one of his "priority thrust areas" saying that "unmanned warfare in land and air is the future of warfare. Initially the robotic soldier may be assisting the man."

He said in the initial phase of the project, the robotic soldier would be required to be told by the human soldier to identify an enemy or a combatant but "slowly in due course of time, the robotic soldier would be at the front end and the human soldier would be assisting him."

Chander said the need for a robotic soldier is felt to save precious human lives and already robots are used in areas where humans do not want to venture such as defusing bombs or getting inside a high-radiation territory.

"Robotic soldier is one step further. It will have multiple technologies in terms of communication with team members, ability to recognise an enemy," Chander said.

"Today, you have neural networks, whenever the soldier tells him (robotic soldier) that this is a human solider, he will derive his own logic as to what is the difference between him and others (civilians). That learning process will keep building up," he said.

Asked if it would be capable of being deployed in areas such

as the Line of Control, Chander said, "In due course of time but not before a decade in any way."

He said many new technologies have to be developed such as "miniature communication, materials, cognitive technologies, self-learning processes and interaction with human."

Chander said "already five to six countries are actively working. They have not yet developed it fully but they are in fairly advanced stages. This is one of my priority areas."

PTI

A six-lakh flat developed by IIT Madras

Chennai:Imagine a 500-square foot flat that costs about six lakhs.  

The cheap and eco-friendly house has been designed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras which hopes it has delivered a model for housing projects that can be used by the government for the poor.  

"We hope it will be a game changer in addressing the housing shortage," said Devdas Menon, a professor at IIT. The university has offered to train builders in copying its model.  

The house has been set up for display on campus.  Instead of bricks, the flat is made of gypsum reinforced with glass fibre.  The housing technology costs just Rs. 1250 per square foot. Ceilings, floor and staircase made using this don't require plastering. 

The big advantage of the technology, its developers say, is the time it saves. A 500 square foot flat with two bedrooms, a hall and a kitchen can be assembled in just a month.

Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director of IIT Madras, say houses built using this technology are also earthquake resistant. "We have not compromised on anything. These structures are as sturdy and long lasting as any building built today. The designs have been approved," he said.

Professor Menon adds that the fact that Gypsum is an industrial waste material that is easily available is a big advantage.  "The fertiliser industry waste itself is around 40 million tonnes, building up annually and there are many other sources of gypsum. I think for a long time we can sustain with this kind of construction. We are already talking to potential private sector builders. What we need is large number of plants all over the country and trained workers to correctly build it and we hope to provide that support. We hope this would be game changer addressing the tremendous housing shortage". 

The technology can be used for buildings up to ten floors. Presently, a plant at Cochin manufactures the pre-fabricated structures. 

IIT Madras spent 10 years researching and finessing Australian technology on which its house is founded.  

Temperatures drop in North India after rains

New Delhi:Temperatures dropped slightly today at most places across North India after Thursday's rains, even as hot and humid conditions persisted in the region.

Maximum temperature came down in the national capital to settle a notch below normal at 39.3 degrees against yesterday's 43.6 degrees Celsius, but the humidity settled at 77 per cent.

Rains led to a dip in mercury in Rajasthan also, where the monsoon is likely to arrive three-four days in advance as per a Met office forecast.

Bikaner was the hottest place in the state with a high of 47 degrees.

The south-west monsoon will hit Mumbai during next 48 hours and will be normal across the country with overall 98 per cent rainfall, the IMD said, adding that a detailed prediction of it will be made next week.

Temperature also dipped in Punjab and Haryana, but high humidity, up to 100 per cent in some places, left people sweating.

While mercury in Chandigarh stood at 36.6 degrees, two notches below normal, it was recorded in Amritsar at 41 degrees Celsius.

Ludhiana and Patiala had a high of 39.1 and 37.2 degrees Celsius respectively, settling up to 4 notches below normal.

Light to heavy rains continued to occur at isolated places in Uttar Pradesh, leading to decline in the temperature in Faizabad, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, and Meerut divisions.

While Barabanki and Ambedkarnagar recorded 6 cm rainfall each, Lucknow and Faizabad registered 5 cm each. It was 4 cm rainfall in Basti, 3 cm each in Sultanpur, Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar.

Highest maximum temperature of 45.6 degree Celsius was recorded at Banda.

India's state-of-the-art air ambulance

New Delhi: India's first state-of-the art Air Ambulance, Flying Doctors India, was today launched in the national capital.

The new aircraft is tailor-made and equipped with a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit on a dedicated chartered aircraft. The goal is to provide critical care even when a patient is in transit. The air ambulance is being run by the same team of doctors who flew the Delhi gangrape victim to Singapore in December and brought back VC Shukla from Chhattisgarh last month.

"Earlier whenever we got a call, we would take a private aircraft, tape off the chairs and fit our equipment in. It was basically a 'jugaad' (temporary fix) of sorts. Now we have a dedicated air-ambulance ready for all emergency services," Dr Naresh Trehan of Medanta Medicity told.

With the air ambulance, flying doctors has taken a leap. The response time now is just 20 to a maximum of 90 minutes. Doctors say earlier it would take three hours just to prepare the aircraft.

Another timesaver is the aircraft's longer endurance level of upto seven-and-a-half hours unlike earlier when the aircraft would have to stop after 3 hours for refueling.

"This could perhaps mean a matter of life or death for a patient," Dr Trehan says.

However, Dr Trehan says hiring the aircraft it still not cheap. It can cost at least Rs. 50,000 per hour

The aircraft can cater to patients even in smaller cities with the air ambulance having rough field capability which means it can land even on unprepared air strips.

Two Asiatic black bears rescued in Arunachal

ITANAGAR: A two-member team of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) rescued two Asiatic Black bear male cubs from two local who were raising them in Shergoan forest division of West Kameng district.

According to the rescue team, the cubs were separated from their mother at least three months ago. It was also reported that one of the cubs had suffered a burn injury. Hunting is rampant in Arunachal Pradesh and the bears were at risk of becoming victims of poachers.

The two-member team, including veterinarian Dr Jahan Ahmed and animal keeper Birkhe Bahadur, rescued the cubs, about three-four months old, on June 4 last, official sources informed here on Friday.

Both the bear cubs were admitted to the Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) at Pakke Tiger Reserve, Seijosa, in East Kameng the same day.

Ahmed, who will be taking care and treatment of the two cubs at the CBRC, said that other than the burn injury on one cub, their health is good and they will undergo a process of rehabilitation after which they will be released back to the wild after being radio collared.

Another bear cub, which was rescued from Aalo a month ago, was also rushed to the CBRC and is doing fine.

Talking about the wildlife conservation efforts made by the WTI in Arunachal Pradesh, where hunting is prevalent in a big way, Sunil Kyarong, regional head of the WTI, said, "People are now responding to the appeal of rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals, which is a very positive sign."

Sorang Tadap, veterinary officer, Itanagar Zoo, said the Asiatic Black Bear comes under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Source: TNN