Month: February 2018

Work on Afghan Section of TAPI Gas Pipeline to Begin Friday

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

Afghanistan will host leaders from Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India on Friday for the ground-breaking ceremony of the Afghan section of a much-delayed multi-billion dollar gas pipeline connecting the four nations.

The $10 billion mega project, known as Turkmenistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan-India, or TAPI, will connect Central Asia with South Asia and is expected to become operational this year.

The 1,814-kilometer pipeline will carry an estimated 33 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually for the next 30 years from the world’s fourth-largest reserves in Turkmenistan.

Officials say India and Pakistan would buy around 14 billion cubic meters each, while the remaining five billion would go to Afghanistan.

Friday’s inaugural ceremony will take place in the western Afghan city of Herat where President Ashraf Ghani, his Turkmen counterpart, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and India’s Minister of State for External Affairs MJ Akbar will be in attendance.

Turkmenistan launched construction of its section of the pipeline in December 2015.

Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan and India have since deteriorated over allegations Islamabad is not doing enough to stop terrorist groups from using its soil for attacks against the neighboring countries.Pakistani officials deny the charges.

But despite the tensions, energy-deficient India is showing renewed interest in TAPI and pushing for its operationalization, according to Indian media reports.

“Today, given the energy requirements in India, there are several gas pipeline proposals before us. We are, however, strongly committed to TAPI pipeline project,” Akbar was quoted as saying.

The project is more than the sum of four nations’ interests and creates a benchmark for regional cooperation, he added during an implementation committee meeting in Turkmenistan.

Economic milestone

The Afghan government and business community also see the pipeline as a milestone in the war-shattered country’s economic development. Kabul is expected to earn up to $500 million annually in transit duties and the project will help create as many as 25,000 jobs, local media quoted Afghan analysts.

The pipeline mostly runs through parts of southwestern Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency controls or influences many districts. But a spokesman for the insurgent group, Zabihullah Mujahid, says it supports the project and will ensure the pipeline’s protection.

Herat Governor Mohammad Asif Rahimi told VOA the Afghan and Turkmen presidents will additionally inaugurate work on the construction of a railway link between the two countries, as well as fiber optic connection along the TAPI route.
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Superagers’ Brains Offer Clues for Sharp Memory in old age

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

It’s pretty extraordinary for people in their 80s and 90s to keep the same sharp memory as someone several decades younger, and now scientists are peeking into the brains of these “superagers” to uncover their secret.

The work is the flip side of the disappointing hunt for new drugs to fight or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Instead, “why don’t we figure out what it is we might need to do to maximize our memory?” said neuroscientist Emily Rogalski, who leads the SuperAging study at Chicago’s Northwestern University.

Parts of the brain shrink with age, one of the reasons why most people experience a gradual slowing of at least some types of memory late in life, even if they avoid diseases like Alzheimer’s.

But it turns out that superagers’ brains aren’t shrinking nearly as fast as their peers’. And autopsies of the first superagers to die during the study show they harbor a lot more of a special kind of nerve cell in a deep brain region that’s important for attention, Rogalski told a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

These elite elders are “more than just an oddity or a rarity,” said neuroscientist Molly Wagster of the National Institute on Aging, which helps fund the research. “There’s the potential for learning an enormous amount and applying it to the rest of us, and even to those who may be on a trajectory for some type of neurodegenerative disease.”

What does it take to be a superager? A youthful brain in the body of someone 80 or older. Rogalski’s team has given a battery of tests to more than 1,000 people who thought they’d qualify, and only about 5 percent pass. The key memory challenge: Listen to 15 unrelated words, and a half-hour later recall at least nine. That’s the norm for 50-year-olds, but the average 80-year-old recalls five. Some superagers remember them all.

“It doesn’t mean you’re any smarter,” stressed superager William “Bill” Gurolnick, who turns 87 next month and joined the study two years ago.

Nor can he credit protective genes: Gurolnick’s father developed Alzheimer’s in his 50s. He thinks his own stellar memory is bolstered by keeping busy. He bikes, and plays tennis and water volleyball. He stays social through regular lunches and meetings with a men’s group he co-founded.

“Absolutely that’s a critical factor about keeping your wits about you,” exclaimed Gurolnick, fresh off his monthly gin game.

Rogalski’s superagers tend to be extroverts and report strong social networks, but otherwise they come from all walks of life, making it hard to find a common trait for brain health. Some went to college, some didn’t. Some have high IQs, some are average. She’s studied people who’ve experienced enormous trauma, including a Holocaust survivor; fitness buffs and smokers; teetotalers and those who tout a nightly martini.

But deep in their brains is where she’s finding compelling hints that somehow, superagers are more resilient against the ravages of time.

Early on, brain scans showed that a superager’s cortex – an outer brain layer critical for memory and other key functions – is much thicker than normal for their age. It looks more like the cortex of healthy 50- and 60-year-olds.

It’s not clear if they were born that way. But Rogalski’s team found another possible explanation: A superager’s cortex doesn’t shrink as fast. Over 18 months, average 80-somethings experienced more than twice the rate of loss.

Another clue: Deeper in the brain, that attention region is larger in superagers, too. And inside, autopsies showed that brain region was packed with unusual large, spindly neurons – a special and little understood type called von Economo neurons thought to play a role in social processing and awareness.

The superagers had four to five times more of those neurons than the typical octogenarian, Rogalski said – more even than the average young adult.

The Northwestern study isn’t the only attempt at unraveling long-lasting memory. At the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Claudia Kawas studies the oldest-old, people 90 and above. Some have Alzheimer’s. Some have maintained excellent memory and some are in between.

About 40 percent of the oldest-old who showed no symptoms of dementia in life nonetheless have full-fledged signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains at death, Kawas told the AAAS meeting.

Rogalski also found varying amounts of amyloid and tau, hallmark Alzheimer’s proteins, in the brains of some superagers.

Now scientists are exploring how these people deflect damage. Maybe superagers have different pathways to brain health.

“They are living long and living well,” Rogalski said. “Are there modifiable things we can think about today, in our everyday lives” to do the same?
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US Women’s Hockey Team Beats Canada 3-2 for Gold at Pyeongchang Olympics

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Twenty years after winning the first Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey in Nagano, Japan, the United States defeated its archnemesis, Canada, in a 3-2 shootout Thursday in the gold medal game at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the go-ahead goal in the sixth round of the shootout with a dazzling move against Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados, then watched as teammate and goalie Maddie Rooney stopped Meghan Agosta to snap Canada’s streak of four straight Olympic gold medals, as well as its 24-game Olympic winning streak. Thursday’s final was the first shootout in a women’s gold medal game, which has been dominated by the North American squads.

Finland won the bronze medal with a 3-2 win over the Russia on Wednesday.

The U.S. victory came 38 years to the day when the U.S. men’s team upset the Soviet Union in Lake Placid, New York, in the “Miracle on Ice” game.

​On the slopes

In Alpine skiing, Sweden’s Andre Myhrer was the surprise gold medalist in the men’s slalom, finishing 0.34 seconds ahead of silver medalist Ramon Zenhaeusern of Switzerland. The 35-year-old Myhrer became the oldest man to win Olympic gold in the slalom after the favorites, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, failed to complete their first runs. Austria’s Michael Matt, whose brother Mario won gold in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, took the bronze medal.

Twenty-four-year-old Michelle Giffin of Switzerland took the gold medal in the women’s combined, with Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States finishing nearly a second behind to win the silver medal, and compatriot Wendy Holdener taking home the bronze. American Lindsey Vonn, the leader in the downhill section, failed the finish the slalom portion in her final Winter Olympics.

Elsewhere, American freestyle skier David Wise won his second consecutive gold medal in the men’s half-pipe event, his score of 97.20 edging out compatriot Alex Ferreira, who took the silver. Sixteen-year-old Nico Porteous of New Zealand won the bronze.

Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser won the gold medal in the Olympic debut of the women’s Big Air snowboarding event, with American Jamie Anderson, who won gold last week in the slopestyle, coming in second. Another 16-year-old New Zealander, Zoi Sadowski Synnott, took home the bronze medal.

Doping violation

Away from the ice rinks and ski slopes, Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky has been stripped of his bronze medal after admitting to a doping violation. Krushelnitsky tested positive for the banned substance meldonium after winning the mixed doubles bronze with his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova.

Meldonium is a drug designed for people with heart problems and some believe it can help athletes increase stamina. It was banned in sports in 2016.

Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova was suspended for 15 months after testing positive for meldonium at the Australian Open in 2016.

Russia’s national team was banned from Pyeongchang over a major doping scandal dating back to the Sochi Games, but 168 Russian athletes have been allowed to compete under the neutral Olympic Athletes from Russian banner. The latest incident could keep the Russians from being reinstated and marching under the national flag at Sunday’s closing ceremony.
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Black Panther Offers a Bridge for African Americans to Connect with Their African Roots

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

African-American moviegoers flocked into theaters across the country to watch the latest installment in Marvel’s cinematic universe, “Black Panther.” The film, featuring an African prince who becomes a superhero after his father’s death, shattered box office expectations, earning $242 million in its first four days. For many in the black community, the film has become an affirmation of pride in their African roots. Jesusemen Oni reports.
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The Road to the Red Planet Runs Through Omani Desert

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Under the bright sun of a remote desert in Oman, a group of astronauts and scientists is simulating Life on Mars. They hope their experiments today will pave the way for an actual trip to Mars, the red planet, within decades. Faiza Elmasry has this story narrated by Faith Lapidus.
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US Companies Urged to Issue ‘Clearer’ Cyber Risk Disclosures

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday updated guidance to public companies on how and when they should disclose cybersecurity risks and breaches, including potential weaknesses that have not yet been targeted by hackers.

The guidance also said company executives must not trade in a firm’s securities while possessing nonpublic information on cybersecurity attacks. The SEC encouraged companies to consider adopting specific policies restricting executive trading in shares while a hack is being investigated and before it is disclosed.

The SEC, in unanimously approving the additional guidance, said it would promote “clearer and more robust disclosure” by companies facing cybersecurity issues, according to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, a Republican.

Democrats on the commission reluctantly supported the guidance, describing it as a paltry step taken in the wake of a raft of high-profile hacks at major companies that exposed millions of Americans’ personal information. They called for much more rigorous rule-making to police disclosure around cybersecurity issues, or requiring certain cybersecurity policies at public companies.

Commissioner Robert Jackson said the new document “essentially reiterates years-old staff-level views on this issue,” and pointed to analysis from the White House Council of Economic Advisers that finds companies frequently under-report cybersecurity events to investors.

The SEC first issued guidance in 2011 on cybersecurity disclosures.

“It may provide investors a false sense of comfort that we, at the Commission, have done something more than we have,” Commissioner Kara Stein, another Democrat, said in a statement. Significant breaches have included those at Equifax Inc. consumer credit reporting agency, and at the SEC itself.

The agency announced in September its corporate filing system, known as EDGAR, was breached by hackers in 2016 and may have been used for insider trading. The matter is under review.

The new guidance will mean that corporations disclose more information about cyberattacks and risks and take steps to ensure no insider trading can occur around those events, said several attorneys who advise businesses on the subject.

“This essentially creates a mandatory new disclosure category — cybersecurity risks and incidents,” said Spencer Feldman, an attorney with Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP.

Craig A. Newman, a partner with Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, said the SEC guidance “makes clear that it doesn’t want a repeat of the Equifax situation.”
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Cigars, Pipes Tied to Same Risks as Cigarettes

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Cigarettes are not the only type of tobacco products that can lead to premature death or fatalities from smoking-related cancers, a U.S. study confirms.

While people who exclusively smoke cigarettes have twice the risk of premature death from all causes compared to people who avoid tobacco altogether, exclusive cigar smokers have a 20 percent higher risk of early death, researchers report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

When it comes to fatalities from specific cancers that have been tied to tobacco use, cigarette smokers have four times the risk of people who never used tobacco, but cigar smokers are 61 percent more likely to die of these cancers and pipe users have 58 percent higher odds.

“We knew exclusive users of cigars and pipes were at greater risk of disease than people who do not use tobacco,” said lead study author Carol Christensen of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products. “However, this study provides information that reflects today’s patterns of tobacco use.”

These data “underscore the importance of complete quitting,” Christensen said by email.

For the study, researchers examined nationally representative survey data, collected starting in 1985, from 357,420 participants who were followed through 2011. 

Overall, 203,071 people, or about 57 percent, never used tobacco at all. Another 57,251 participants were current daily cigarette smokers, while 9,414 said they had a less frequent habit and 77,773 were former cigarette smokers.

In addition, 531 people were current daily cigar smokers, while 608 individuals used cigars less frequently and 2,398 had quit.

For pipes, 1,099 participants had a current daily habit, while 78 people used pipes less often and 5,237 had quit.

During the study period, 51,150 people died of all causes.

With a daily cigarette, cigar or pipe habit, people had an elevated risk of death from tobacco-related cancers including malignancies of the bladder, esophagus, larynx, lung, mouth and throat, and pancreas.

Nondaily users

Even with a nondaily cigarette habit, people were more than six times more likely to die of lung cancer than individuals who never used tobacco. They also had more than seven times the risk of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, more than four times the odds of death from oral cancers, and 43 percent higher odds of death from a circulatory system disorder.

Current cigar smokers had more than three times the odds of dying of lung cancer, and for current pipe smokers the risk was 51 percent higher, compared with never-smokers.

The results were limited, however, by the relatively small numbers of cigar and pipe smokers in the sample, the authors noted.

Another limitation was that survey questions about tobacco use changed over time and didn’t determine how often nondaily smokers might have used cigarettes, cigars or pipes.

Even so, the results suggest that doctors may need to broaden how they discuss smoking with patients to make sure people understand they’re at risk even when they don’t have a daily habit, said Dr. Michael Ong of the University of California-Los Angeles and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare

System.

“Patients often do not associate occasional use of cigar or pipes with health risks, but this study shows that current, particularly daily, cigar use is associated with increased overall risk of death,” Ong, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

Doctors also need to broaden their message about smoking and cigarettes to include other tobacco products that are becoming more popular, said Judith Prochaska, a researcher at Stanford University in California who wasn’t involved in the study.

Traditionally, doctors have asked just whether people smoked cigarettes, but they should instead be questioning patients more broadly about tobacco use, Prochaska said by email.

“The tobacco landscape has been changing dramatically,” Prochaska added. “While cigarettes remain the primary tobacco product used, cigars, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, hookah, and even pipe tobacco have seen gains in use, while cigarette use in the U.S. has been declining.”
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‘Get a Grip’ – Jennifer Lawrence Offended Over Plunging Dress Furor

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Jennifer Lawrence on Wednesday blasted a controversy over a photo of her wearing a plunging black dress outside on a cold London day as sexist, ridiculous and “not feminism.”

The Oscar-winning star, 27, said in a Facebook posting that she was also “extremely offended” by what she called the “utterly ridiculous” reaction on social and mainstream media to the photo, taken as part of promotions for her upcoming movie “Red Sparrow.”

The picture, taken outdoors on a bitter winter’s day in London earlier this week, showed a bare-shouldered Lawrence wearing a black gown, while actor Jeremy Irons and three fellow cast members donned thick wool coats.

Many commentators saw the photo as a reflection of the pressure on women in Hollywood to look good, particularly given Lawrence’s previous outspoken criticism of the gender pay gap in the movie industry.

“True equality means either Jennifer Lawrence getting a coat, or Jeremy Irons having to pose for a photo call in assless chaps,” tweeted London journalist Helen Lewis.

Australian journalist Stephanie Peatling remarked on Twitter that it was “cold enough that the bloke actors have to wear coats and scarves to their press call and yet poor Jennifer Lawrence is wearing a small amount of fabric some might call a dress.”

Lawrence, one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, was having none of it.

“That Versace dress was fabulous, you think I’m going to cover that gorgeous dress up with a coat and a scarf? I was outside for 5 minutes. I would have stood in the snow for that dress because I love fashion and that was my choice,” she wrote on Facebook.

“This is sexist, this is ridiculous, this is not feminism,” she added. “It’s creating silly distractions from real issues. Get a grip people.”

“Red Sparrow,” a thriller in which Lawrence plays a Russian spy, opens worldwide next week.

 
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Ivanka Trump to Attend Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in South Korea

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Ivanka Trump is set to attend the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in South Korea on Sunday in the latest high-profile visit to Games which have been dominated by the North Korea crisis.

The trip by U.S. President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter — who is also one of his advisers — comes in the wake of a visit to the Pyeongchang Games by North Korea’s ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un.

“The upcoming visit by adviser Ivanka is intended to celebrate the successful hosting of the Pyeongchang Olympics and highlight the mutual understanding of the South Korea-US alliance,” Noh Kyu-duk, spokesman for the foreign ministry in Seoul, said Tuesday, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Trump is expected to arrive in South Korea on Friday, the agency added, quoting Noh as saying her detailed itinerary will be released by the United States.

When asked if North Korea would be on the agenda for any potential talks during Ivanka Trump’s visit, Noh said, according to Yonhap: “Issues of mutual interest could naturally be on the table during the process of the visit.”

There has already been a high-profile meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North Korean delegation, during which Kim Jong Un’s sister passed on his invitation for Moon to visit Pyongyang for a summit.

Despite the thaw in ties between the two Koreas, Washington has said it will maintain its campaign of “maximum pressure” on Pyongyang, and insists there are no differences with Seoul on how to handle the North.

The Games’ opening ceremony saw US Vice President Mike Pence and the North Korean representatives seated in the same box, but they did not interact.

They had planned to meet secretly while in South Korea, but US officials said Pyongyang scrapped the plan after Pence denounced North Korea’s “murderous regime”.

Tensions rose rapidly last year over the North’s development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles, with President Trump and Kim Jong Un exchanging personal insults.

But the North’s participation in the Games has led to an easing in tensions on the Korean peninsula in recent weeks.
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Chef Jose Andres Writing Book on Hurricane Maria Relief Work

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Award-winning chef Jose Andres is working on a book about his efforts to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.

Ecco told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it has acquired We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time. The book is scheduled for Sept. 11 and is co-written by Richard Wolffe. A portion of proceeds will be given to the Chef Relief Network of Andres’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen. We Fed an Island will be released through Anthony Bourdain’s imprint at Ecco.

Andres says he wanted to provide the “inside story” of the relief work by himself and World Central Kitchen last fall.
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European Space Probe Prepares to Sniff Martian Atmosphere

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

A European space probe has swung into position around Mars in preparation to analyze its atmosphere for possible signs of life.

The European Space Agency said Wednesday its Trace Gas Orbiter successfully performed a delicate maneuver known as aerobraking that involved dipping into the red planet’s upper atmosphere to slow the probe.

The agency says the orbiter will start looking for trace gases such as methane, which can result from biological or geological activity, in April. It will also search for ice that could help future Mars landings.

A NASA-made radio on board will also help relay signals from U.S. rovers on the surface back to Earth.

Europe plans to land its own rover on Mars in 2021. A European test lander crashed on the surface of Mars in 2016.
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US Panel Recommends New Adult Vaccine Against Hepatitis B

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

A federal advisory panel is recommending a new vaccine against hepatitis B.

 

The vaccine called Heplisav-B was licensed in November and is the first new hepatitis B vaccine in 25 years.

 

Hepatitis B vaccines have been in childhood shots for decades. The new vaccine is for adults.

 

The hepatitis B virus can damage the liver and is spread through contact with blood or other bodily fluids. Cases have been rising, a trend linked to the heroin and opioid epidemic. Meanwhile, researchers found older vaccines falter in diabetics and older adults.

 

The new vaccine uses an additive that boosts the body’s immune response. It is two shots given over one month.

 

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices endorsed the vaccine Wednesday in Atlanta. The government usually adopts its recommendations.

 

 
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Bollywood Menstruation Movie Sparks Conversation on Taboo Subject

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Drafting a menstrual hygiene program to be taught in schools in India’s western Maharashtra state posed a challenge: How to train teachers to become comfortable talking about a subject that is never openly spoken about, even inside homes, and has long been surrounded by taboos.

“It is a very inhibiting environment,” said Bharathy Tahiliani in Mumbai, who helped design the teaching modules for the program spearheaded by United Nations Children’s Agency. “It puts a lot of fears in the hearts and minds of girls.”

Now a Bollywood film, Padman, dubbed the world’s first feature film to address the subject of menstruation, could make it easier to confront the stigma that surrounds the hushed topic. Winning accolades and a huge audience since it opened this month, the movie has helped catapult words such as sanitary napkins and periods into newspaper articles, television debates and social media.

Starring a top hero, Akshay Kumar, the film is based on the true-life story of a social entrepreneur in South India who set out on a mission to make low-cost sanitary napkins after he discovers his wife uses rags. 

In one scene, Padman shows him cycling around a village wearing a sanitary napkin he has made and using animal blood to test if it leaked. It also depicts the horror in the small town as he openly talks about menstruation. 

Dozens of Bollywood actors and actresses have joined in to spread the message: In a country where shopkeepers discreetly pack sanitary napkins in black plastic bags under the counter so that they are not visible, they have tweeted photos of themselves holding up sanitary pads.

“It is fantastic,” the overjoyed film director, R. Balki, told VOA after witnessing the reaction of some viewers. “There were men with their wives and they were coming out of the theater and talking about just not the film, they were talking about a pad as if it is an everyday conversation. Just to make that come out in the open is a big, big deal.”

Social activists say the buzz generated by the movie could help efforts to tackle the issue of menstrual hygiene and sanitation in villages, slums and other low-income communities.

Targeting myths, taboos

In India, as in several countries, the myths and taboos about menstruation are many: Women cannot visit temples, take part in religious ceremonies or prepare food. The greater challenge is that an estimated 20 percent of adolescent girls drop out of school after puberty, and unhygienic practices lead to infections.

Pointing out that this reinforces gender inequalities, Tahiliani said education is the key to correcting misconceptions. But she said that for a very long time, “who owns the subject” was itself a challenge, with few willing to wade into a hyper-sensitive topic. That has been slowly changing in recent years, and several states like Maharashtra are implementing menstrual hygiene programs in schools and communities, often in partnership with voluntary groups.

One of them, the Center for Advocacy and Research, has been helping set up adolescent forums in slums and low-income areas in cities like Delhi and Kolkata to create awareness.

A member of a forum in the eastern city of Kolkata, 20-year-old Rehana Khatun said she was hesitant to attend programs on menstrual awareness when she was young. “People used to discourage us,” she said. “Why do you go there? They teach you dirty things.” Now, she is on the frontlines of those going around schools and communities to talk about it. “Young girls should not get scared the way I did, I thought I had some illness,” she recalled about the onset of puberty.

Another volunteer, Mohini Khatun, hopes the conversation that Padman has generated will bring the subject out of the closet, especially within families.

“Our adolescent group will go and watch it,” she said. “It is essential that our mothers and fathers should also go.”

Into rural India and beyond

However, while the movie is helping generate discussions in cities and towns, it remains to be seen whether it will do the same in rural India.

The makers of Padman say they are trying to take the film to tens of thousands of villages across the country. “The problem is there are lots of places where there are no theaters. We are trying to tie up with various foundations to screen this film in lots of villages free of cost,” said director Balki.

And although Bollywood movies are a rage in several Asian countries, it is uncertain how this film will fare outside India, where similar sensitivities exist. The challenge will not be easy. Already Pakistan’s censor board has banned the film, saying that the movie is about a taboo subject and releasing it would go against culture and tradition.
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Vice President Brings Advisory Group to Kennedy Space Center

By Uponsci | | No Comments | Science

Vice President Mike Pence has brought a newly revived advisory group to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center for a rundown on how best to get Americans back to the moon, a half-century after NASA’s Apollo heydays.

Pence convened the meeting Wednesday morning inside the building where NASA once prepped pieces of the International Space Station.

This is the second meeting of the National Space Council. Pence, its chairman, named a group of candidates to advise the council that includes Buzz Aldrin and other former astronauts and aerospace industry leaders.

Wednesday’s meeting focuses on the Trump administration’s plan to return astronauts to the moon and get them to Mars and “worlds beyond.”

Pence toured Kennedy last summer just as the space council was being re-established after two decades.
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Drought Over: US Women Win 1st Olympic Cross-country Gold

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

The long Olympic drought is over for the United States in cross-country skiing.

Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first Americans to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport on Wednesday by shocking powerhouses Norway and the Sweden in the women’s team sprint at the Pyeongchang Games.

 

Diggins passed Norway’s Marit Bjoergen, the most decorated Winter Olympian of all time, on the final lap and out-sprinted Sweden’s Stina Nilsson to the finish. Diggins screamed as she crossed the finish line, setting off a huge celebration for the red, white and blue.

 

As Diggins collapsed to the ground, Randall jumped on her and American teammates cheered from behind the wall guarding the entrance to the course. Soon they all joined together in one huge celebration.

 

To put the victory in perspective, the United States had never won a medal of any kind in women’s cross-country skiing prior to the race.

 

The only American to previously win an Olympic medal in the sport was Bill Koch, who took silver in the 30-kilometer race in the 1976 Winter Games in Innsbruck.

 

The Americans posted the fastest time in the semifinals to start on the front row in the final. Diggins passed the Swedes and the Norwegians on the final lap to secure the elusive win. Sweden took silver and Norway finished with a bronze, which allowed Bjoergen to secure her record 14th medal in the Winter Games. That broke her tie with Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjourndalen for most medals in the Winter Olympics.

 
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To Get a Ride, Uber Says Take a Walk

By Uponsil | | No Comments | Silicon Valley

The latest variation of an Uber ride will require a short walk.

In eight U.S. cities, the ride-hailing company is rolling out a service called “Express Pool,” which links riders in the same area who want to travel to similar destinations. Once linked, riders would need to walk a couple of blocks to be picked up at a common location. They also would be dropped off at a site that would be a short walk from their final destinations.

Depending on time of day and metro area, Express Pool could cost up to 75 percent less than a regular Uber ride and up to half the cost of Uber’s current shared-ride service called Pool, said Ethan Stock, the company’s product director for shared rides.

Pool, which will remain in use, doesn’t require any walking. Instead it takes an often circuitous route to pick up riders at their location and drops them at their destination. But that can take longer than Express, which travels a more direct route.

Uber has been testing the service since November in San Francisco and Boston and has found enough ridership to support running it 24 hours per day. Within the next two days, the around-the-clock service will start running in Los Angeles; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Miami, San Diego and Denver. More cities will follow, Uber said.

The new service could spell competition for mass transit, but just how much depends on how well it works and how good the mass transit is, said Mark Hallenbeck, director of the Washington State Transportation Center at the University of Washington. If buses or subways are overcrowded and Uber can provide service for a similar price, that will help with mobility.

“If, however, you are cannibalizing transit that’s not over-subscribed, then that becomes a bad thing,” Hallenbeck said.

Also, if the ride-sharing service pulls people off mass transit and creates more automobile traffic, that will add to congestion, he said.

The service could complement Uber X, the company’s door-to-door taxi service — or draw passengers away from it.

Stock said the system should work well with public transit, providing first-mile and last-mile service for transit riders and by providing service to low passenger volume areas where it’s not cost effective for public transit to serve. He also says it will reduce congestion by cutting the number of personal vehicle trips.

Express already has ride-sharing competitors such as Via, which operates in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Express Pool will have normal-sized cars, at least initially, and optimally will carry a maximum of three passengers so riders aren’t crammed into the vehicles. It could be expanded to six-passenger vehicles, Stock said.

It will take one to two minutes for Uber’s computers to match a rider to a driver and other riders and select a pick-up point, Stock said.

The lower cost of the service should help Uber grow, Stock said. “More riders can afford to take more trips for more reasons,” he said. Already Uber Pool accounts for 20 percent of Uber trips in the cities where it’s available.
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Sally Field Busts out old Outfits at Costume Guild Awards

By Uponent | | No Comments | Entertainment

Wonder Woman’s gilded bustier, the spangled skating dresses in “I, Tonya” and the subdued shades of the 1960s as shown in “The Shape of Water” were among the finest costumes of the year, according to the Costume Designers Guild.

The union celebrated the year’s outstanding work in film and television at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday night at its 20th annual awards show. Hosted by actress Gina Rodriguez, the evening included special honors for Guillermo del Toro and Kerry Washington, and concluded with Sally Field bringing a tote bag of movie memorabilia onstage.

The Oscar-winning actress was on hand to present a career achievement award to costume designer Joanna Johnston, whose many credits include “Saving Private Ryan,” ”Love Actually,” ”The Sixth Sense” and two collaborations with Field: “Forrest Gump” and “Lincoln.”

Field pulled a fuzzy pink sweater from her tote bag before introducing the honoree. It was a handmade piece that Mrs. Gump wore when she told Forrest Gump that “life is like a box of chocolates.”

“It’s such a specific choice for such an important scene – Mama Gump’s death – and it speaks in ways words can’t,” Field said.

She also also showed off a quilt fashioned from pieces of each of Mary Todd Lincoln’s sweeping gowns that Johnston made her as a souvenir from that 2012 film.

“I will pass it around,” she said. And while she did not, she did pose with it onstage.

“All right, who else is going to pull out their quilt?” Rodriguez asked, playfully going off-script throughout the evening.

While the Oscars and Emmys also recognize costume design, the guild’s awards are broken into categories that highlight the intricacies of contemporary, period and sci-fi or fantasy designs.

Film-wise, “Wonder Woman” won for sci-fi/fantasy, “I, Tonya” took the prize for contemporary and “The Shape of Water” (also up for the costume design Oscar) won for period attire. In television, “Game of Thrones” won for sci-fi/fantasy, “The Crown” won for period and “The Handmaid’s Tale” was the contemporary winner.

As “Handmaid’s Tale” designer Ane Crabtree accepted her award, she removed the long black gloves she’d been wearing to reveal that she’d written “Time’s Up” and “Me Too” on her palms.

“We are part of the resistance,” she said.

Many designers wore black in solidarity with the Time’s Up movement, of which costume designer Arianne Phillips is a founder (and designer of the pins all of Hollywood has been wearing). The crowd was also exceptionally stylish, with several neon hair colors and at least one sequined suit spotted among the guests.

A visibly pregnant Eva Longoria and “Scandal” costume designer Lyn Paolo presented Washington with the guild’s Spotlight Award. Paolo called the actress “the most stunningly great collaborator any costume designer could ever have.”

Washington returned the praise, saying that besides supporting her daily on “Scandal,” Paolo understood the power of a pair of shoes.

“I don’t really know who a character is until I know what shoes she wears,” Washington said. “Because the shoes tell me how I walk, they tell me how I stand; they tell me who I am… These costume designers have helped me to figure out how to have a different walk and be a different person.”

Other presenters Tuesday included Lily Tomlin, Sarah Hyland, Tony Hale, Anna Camp and Mark Hamill, who inducted late “Star Wars” costume designer John Mollo into the guild’s Hall of Fame.

In presenting del Toro with the Distinguished Collaborator Award, actor Doug Jones compared “The Shape of Water” writer-director to Walt Disney and George Lucas.

Del Toro said that, to him, costumes aren’t eye candy, but “eye protein,” because they’re such an important form of non-verbal communication in storytelling: “It’s the way we present ourselves to the world and how we engage in dialogue of who we are.”
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S. Korea official: GM 0ffers $2.8B Investment in S.Korea Over 10 Years

By Uponbiz | | No Comments | Business

General Motors has proposed $2.8 billion of fresh investment into its South Korean operations over the 10 years as part of its plan to restructure the embattled unit, a South Korean senior government official said on Wednesday.

The offer comes as the Detroit carmaker and the South Korean government discuss restructuring options at loss-making GM Korea, one of GM’s largest offshore operations.

The official with direct knowledge of the matter said GM had also asked South Korea to inject funds into GM Korea in which the country’s state bank also holds a stake. However, the official added that a close look into GM’s proposal was necessary to determine whether the investment plan was sufficient to rescue the unit, which directly employs some 16,000 workers.

“We need to have a closer look through the audit,” the official said.

South Korea’s trade minister said the government has also asked for an audit into GM’s “opaque” management in the country.

“By opaque we mean the high rate of profits to raw material costs, interest payments regarding loans and unfair financial support made to GM’s headquarters,” said Minister Paik Un-gyu told lawmakers in parliament.

Last week, the U.S. automaker announced it would shut down a factory in Gunsan, southwest of Seoul, and said it was mulling the fate of its three remaining plants in South Korea.

A South Korean lawmaker said earlier that GM had put forward a proposal including the investment plan and a debt to equity swap of the Korea unit’s borrowings to the parent company.

In return, GM requested South Korea to take part in financing the investment and raising capital, according to a statement by Jung You-sub, the lawmaker from Bupyeong where GM runs its biggest factory in South Korea.

Jung’s office was not immediately available for comment.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported GM had offered to convert debt of around $2.2 billion owed by its ailing South Korean operation into equity in exchange for financial support and tax benefits from Seoul, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

 
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