Turkeys negotiating window with Greece, EU may be closing – Ahval

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

So many urgent issues are undermining Greece-Turkey relations today its almost a surprise these two neighbours with a history of conflict are not already at war.

On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan finalised the conversion of Istanbuls iconic Hagia Sophia from a museum back into a mosque, a week after Greeces Foreign Ministry denounced such a move as unacceptable and a breach of the structures UNESCO World Heritage status.

Built as a cathedral in the 6th century by Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia holds a special place in the hearts of many Orthodox Christians, particularly in Greece, which sees itself as the heir of the Greek-speaking Byzantines of Constantinople. Greek officials described the reversion as an "open provocation to the civilised world" and said the nationalism displayed by Erdoan... takes his country back six centuries.

Underscoring Turkeys continued claims on a number of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday told the BBC that, despite the Lausanne Treaty barring any militarisation of 23 Aegean islands, Greece maintained a military presence on 16 of them.

Turkeys military and political elites completely disregard that Greece is not just about the mainland, Nikos Michailidis, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Missouri-St Louis, told Ahval in a podcast. We have thousands of islands and this is something they dont want to see, dont want to accept.

Last week, the Greek air force intercepted Turkish jets and engaged them in mock dogfights after Turkish fighter planes committed 50 violations of Greek airspace over the Aegean in a single day, according to the Greek Reporter.

Cyprus has been a major source of Turkish-Greek tensions since at least 1974, when Turkish forces invaded the waterlocked nation in an effort to head off a coup plot from Athens. The island has since been divided between the EU-recognised Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognised only by Turkey. Since early 2019, Turkey has launched six natural gas drilling operations in waters claimed by Cyprus and has said it plans more.

On Wednesday, the United States announced that Cypriot soldiers would be able to take part in a major U.S. military training programme a possible first step toward ending the U.S. arms embargo on Cyprus. Turkey quickly criticised the move.

Turkey has been bullying Greece, said Michailidis. It has been bullying Cyprus. Its still occupying Cyprus and they dont want to negotiate a solution based on international law.

On Thursday, the European parliament debated Turkeys negative role in the Eastern Mediterranean and Libya, where Ankara has been backing the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). That support has increased in recent months in part because Ankara signed a maritime borders deal with the GNA late last year that essentially erased the island of Crete, which lies between the coasts of Libya and Turkey, off the map.

This week, Turkey reserved a vast area of the Eastern Mediterranean between Libya and Crete for naval exercises. Ankara has said it plans to begin drilling soon off the Libyan coast and possibly near Crete.

The Greek government does hope that they wont dare to go and continue their drilling off the coast of Crete, said Michailidis. This would create serious complications that might end up in a military confrontation.

Athens has warned that any drilling in its continental shelf will spark a heated response, and moved to strengthen ties with regional ally Israel. The two signed several defence agreements this month, outlining greater collaboration in weapons and training.

Their alliance is also about energy. In January, Greece, Israel and Cyprus signed a deal to build a 1,900-km undersea pipeline to carry natural gas from the Eastern Mediterraneans gas fields to Europe.

Last but not least is migration and refugees. London-based research group Forensics Architecture concluded this week that it was highly probable that Mohammed al-Arab, a 22-year-old from Aleppo, was killed by Greek soldiers in March. He was among thousands of migrants seeking to enter Greece after Turkey followed through on Erdoans threat to open the gates for refugees, possibly repeating the crisis of 2015-2016, when some 2 million migrants entered Europe.

Athens has rejected accusations of using live fire, and many have accused Turkey of weaponising refugees to pressure Europe into providing greater funding for the 3.5 million refugees already in Turkey, or to come to Turkeys aid in Syrias Idlib province, where some 2 million displaced people are living in ad hoc camps along the Turkish border.

Greece and the European Union are now facing calls to investigate al-Arabs death amid fears of increased Greek aggressions along the border. Deutsche Welle and Belllingcat reported in May that Greek police had been forcibly deporting asylum-seekers back into Turkey, as Turkey had reportedly done with Syrians last year. There have also been several reports that Greek security forces have pushed migrant boats back toward Turkey and sent migrants back across the Aegean on windowless inflatable rafts.

You have this ongoing paranoia within Greek politics about having to face a second wave like in 2015, Alexander Clarkson, a lecturer on European studies at Kings College London, told Ahval in a podcast.

He said that more nationalist, authoritarian elements within the Greek police and security services had come to the fore, and European officials had done little to change their methods.

The EU didnt just tacitly back the use of maximum force against potential refugee entrances, they actually even praised it to a certain extent, said Clarkson.

Michailidis, the anthropology expert, saw Athens doing its best in a difficult situation for which it shouldered little responsibility, unlike Turkey, which had played a role in the Syrian civil war since its early days and more recently mounted several military offensives into northern Syria.

The Greek government has been trying for years to convince our European counterparts that we need to find a solution, we need to help these people, said Michailidis. But Greece cannot do it by itself... We need to find a solution with Turkey and the European Union.

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer might agree. On Tuesday he said it was shameful that the EU had yet to solve the migration issue five years after the start of the 2015-2016 refugee crisis.

We cannot leave Italy, Malta, Greece or Spain alone to deal with this issue, Seehofer said, explaining that most EU countries had declined to accept new arrivals as part of a new initiative. Very many member states refuse to get involved.

At least until September, when the European Commission is expected to present its migration reform proposal, Greece will remain exposed to the whims of the Turkish government. Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlt Cavuolu on Monday said Turkey could no longer hold back those who wanted to leave for Europe.

On Thursday, the largest political group in European Parliament, the European Peoples Party (EPP), urged the EU and member states to vigorously defend Cyprus and Greece against Turkish aggression by deploying naval forces or levying sanctions.

In a tweet, EPP chairman Manfred Weber described Turkeys actions as unacceptable. Vangelis Meimarakis, head of the EPPs Greek delegation, said Erdoan had crossed the line, and if he continues to challenge Europe there will be a single and immediate response.

Clarkson said the time had come for Turkey to take advantage of its gains and begin talks. In the end, the East Med dispute will have to be negotiated, he said.

This week, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that since their June 26 phone call he felt comfortable picking up the phone to speak to Erdoan. But does his counterpart feel the same way?

Clarkson wondered if Erdoan might wait too long, until Turkeys economic crisis undermined its strong negotiating position or Ankaras high seas activities provoked an armed response.

Is Turkey willing to sit down and use the kind of advantages its build up to then follow a pathway through to some negotiated settlement, which will require compromises, will require approaching Athens and Nicosia? he said.

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Turkeys negotiating window with Greece, EU may be closing - Ahval

WATCH: Cold front brings hail to parts of KZN – Zululand Observer

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

The N3 near Hilton was covered in hail

KZN Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has warned motorists to exercise extreme caution when travelling on the roads this wet weekend.

While the Zululand region is experiencing some rain and strong winds, areas closer to Durban earlier today (Saturday) experienced hail and severe thunderstorms.

ALSO READ: WATCH: Speedy city engineers restore water feed

The KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) earlier this week placed disaster management teams throughout the province on high alert ahead of the heavy weather as forecast by the South African Weather Services (SAWS).

The NSRI has also warned residents of coastal regions to be aware of rough seas and high swells, which could catch anglers, boaters, paddlers and coastal hikers off guard.

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The bad weather is expected to last into next week and there is yet another cold front off the coast of Cape Town, being monitored by SAWS.

There is a concern that the lulls being experienced in between these cold fronts may give a false impression of improving conditions, said NSRI spokesperson, Craig Lambinon.

Localised flooding, storm surges, gale-force winds and high seas are some of the winter weather phenomena currently being experienced from these cold fronts.

The NSRI is appealing to boaters, paddlers, beach-goers, surfers, coastal hikers and anglers to be cautious around the coastline and to follow SAWS forecasts.

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WATCH: Cold front brings hail to parts of KZN - Zululand Observer

Magic: The Gathering – 10 Funniest Joke Cards In The Game – TheGamer

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

In its long history, Magic: The Gathering has explored many fantasy tropes and invented a few new ones. Everything from magical schools to treasure-hoarding dragons, Gothic horror, dwarves and all-metal worlds have been covered in this game, and it's a remarkable universe. But anything is open to parody, and Wizards of the Coast is making sure to not take Magic too seriously.

RELATED: MTG: 10 New Cards From Core Set 2021 That Are Perfect For Janklords

Four Un-sets have been released, all of them geared toward irreverent and creative gameplay that would be incompatible with the regular, "black-border" cards. These cards feature wacky art, silly names, pop culture references and off-beat mechanics that make for a truly unique gameplay experience. The Un-cards involve everything from rolling dice to saying certain words or names for an effect, and everything in between. Let's check out the ten funniest Un-cards out there.

Most likely, players end up singing this card's name in their head when they read it, recalling that classic children's song. This is a blue enchantment from Unhinged that cares a great deal about the names of all permanents you control.

Un-cards often care about gameplay aspects that the regular game cannot, such as the letters in card names, physical manipulation of cards, contents of the illustration, artist name and more. Now I Know My ABC's can lead to a quick victory if a player has some off-beat letters in their card names. Any Q's or X's out there?

This is a card that experienced players can feel a little smug about. Reminder text is essential for new players, and it also helps any player remember how new mechanics work. After all, most sets involve at least one brand-new mechanic.

Duh is cheap removal for any creature that reminds a player of any effect they already know. If you are facing a creature with flying, and that card thinks you don't know how flying works, Duh can help you prove otherwise.

Elves are sometimes solitary hunters, but more often, they form entire hunting parties or guilds where they can work as a team. It's a strong tribe, and Elvish House Party shows how Elves like to celebrate a hard-won battle.

RELATED: 10 Best New Commanders In Magic: The Gathering Jumpstart

It's costly, but depending on the time of day, this card can swell up to an incredible 12/12 for just 4GG. Be careful, though, since this creature is pretty modest in the early afternoon hours. Evening games are much better for this party.

Even in real expansions and core sets, Goblins are the funniest creatures of all, and their flavor text is almost like Un-card flavor text. In this case, the Goblins formed an elite team, and they're defensive about their name.

This 2/2 Goblin Warrior is just waiting for you to say its name, and if your opponent is too slow to swat the table with their hand, it gets a +1/+1 counter, once per turn. If this Goblin gets big enough, your opponent's creatures will be the ones to get swatted next.

This game has been around since 1993, and some players are old enough to have been there since the very start. In those days, mechanics such as cumulative upkeep, landwalk and rampage were the order of the day.

RELATED: Magic: The Gathering - The Top 10 New Commanders From Ikoria, Ranked

Now they're relics, but Old Fogey remembers the classic era and brought it all back, from the border design to the use of "Summon" and the font of its very name. This Dinosaur is huge, a 7/7 for just GG, but cumulative upkeep and echo are going to cost a bit more. Watch out for that.

Were some Unhinged cards undercosted at the expense of a tricky ability? Question Elemental certainly was; isn't a 3/4 flying Elemental for 2UU Just a little too powerful for 2004? Wizards seems to think so, right?

Are you ready to rethink all of your speech in a casual game of Magic so you can keep control of Question Elemental? And did you notice that even its flavor text not only matches the question format, but is an appropriate reaction to this silly card?

Red is the color of haste, and red decks, as a rule, are quick and try to win quickly or not at all. That's been true from the start, and some red cards can even play spells from the library's top for extra speed. But this Slug can do more.

RELATED: Top 10 Strongest New Cards From Commander 2020

A 3/1 for haste is fairly mundane, but this Slug can attack an entire turn early at no cost. Of course, you'd better be ready to pay its mana cost or else lose the game. It's much like the Pact cards from the Time Spiral block, but with a lot more flair.

Clearly, this Insect is done with praying and is ready to demolish any and all challengers. A 6/6 for 5GG is run of the mill by now, but Slaying Mantis boasts the "fight" mechanic, and does it in a truly unique way.

The player tosses this card from a sufficient height, then watches to see which creatures it touches. Slaying Mantis will fight anything and everything it touches, which as the potential to remove two or more creatures... or the Mantis might end up fighting someone too tough, like an Elzrazi. It's a risk that must be taken.

More than a few standing armies have been present in the game's lore, from the samurai on Kamigawa to the Abzan clan on Tarkir to the Boros Legion of Ravnica. But this army is literally standing, and the player will soon join in.

A 2/4 for 2WW isn't very impressive, but if you actually stand up, this army will gain vigilance. Even better is the flavor text, which is packing not one, but two puns about chairs and being bored. Standing guard isn't terribly thrilling anywhere in the Multiverse.

This infamous tongue twister has arrived in Magic as an artifact creature, and it's packing a cumulative upkeep on top of that. A 3/3 for just {3} is quite efficient, but then the upkeeps start, and those tongues will get twisted sooner or later.

If you're a champ at tongue twisters, Toy Boat will stick around for awhile, but if you end up saying "boy tote" or "yoi tobe," for example, this Toy Boat will sail away forever. Just look at that face; it's like Thomas the Tank Engine, but on the high seas.

NEXT: Magic Arena: 10 Monsters Besides Godzilla That The Game Should Add

Next 10 Of The Best Racing Games On The N64

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Magic: The Gathering - 10 Funniest Joke Cards In The Game - TheGamer

Friday’s weather: More heavy rains, strong winds heading into the weekend – News24

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

It will be another day of cold conditions, strong winds and heavy rains on Friday, the South African Weather Service says.

Warnings:

- Heavy rain leading to flooding is expected over the western and south-western parts of the Western Cape from the afternoon.

- Extremely high fire danger conditions are expected over the eastern interior of the Northern Cape, northern interior of the Eastern Cape and western parts of the North West as well as the western and southern parts of the Free State.

- "Disruptive" snowfall is expected over the western mountains of the Western Cape and south-western high ground of the Northern Cape from the afternoon.

- High seas with waves from 6m to 8m are expected between Alexander Bay and Cape Point.

Watches:

- Strong to gale force north-westerly winds are expected in places over the interior of the Eastern Cape.

The weather in your region:

Gauteng will be partly cloudy and cool.

The expected UVB sunburn index is low.

Mpumalanga will have morning fog patches over the Highveld, otherwise fine and cool, but warm in the Lowveld, becoming partly cloudy from the afternoon.

Limpopo will be partly cloudy and warm.

The North-Westwill be partly cloudy in the east, otherwise fine and cool.

Free State will be partly cloudy and cool.

The Northern Cape will be fine in the north otherwise partly cloudy and cool, but cloudy in the west and the south with isolated to scattered showers. It will be very cold over the south-western high ground with possible disruptive snowfalls on the mountain from the afternoon.

The wind along the coast will be strong to gale northerly to north-westerly.

The Western Cape will be cloudy and cold with isolated to scattered showers and rain, but widespread in the south-west where heavy rain and possible localised flooding can be expected. Disruptive snowfall is possible over the western mountains in the afternoon but light snowfall in the eastern mountains by evening.

The wind along the coast will be strong to gale force north-westerly but moderate to fresh northerly to north-easterly in the east.

The expected UVB sunburn index is low.

The western half of the Eastern Cape will be cool in the south-west, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with strong winds over the interior, becoming cloudy from the west with isolated showers in the afternoon. Light snowfall can be expected over the high mountains overnight.

The wind along the coast will be light westerly early morning, otherwise light to moderate easterly.

The eastern half of the Eastern Cape will be partly cloudy and warm with strong winds in places over the interior.

The wind along the coast will be light westerly, becoming moderate north-easterly from mid-morning, but south-westerly, west of East London in the evening.

It will be fine and warm, but cool in the west of KwaZulu-Natal. The wind along the coast will be moderate to fresh north-easterly.

The expected UVB sunburn index is moderate.

The forecast for 10 July.

- Compiled by Kerushun Pillay

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Friday's weather: More heavy rains, strong winds heading into the weekend - News24

Readers Comments: The Jayaraj-Bennix case is more than just a South Indian issue – Scroll.in

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Police brutality

Thank you so much for the work you are doing. Ive been a reader for at least three years now and became a subscriber recently (Watch: Scenes from protests against the custodial deaths of Jeyaraj and Fenix in Tamil Nadu). Please amplify the case of Jayaraj and Bennixs custodial deaths. This instance of police brutality and bureaucracy deserves more attention and it would be a shame if this were to remain a South Indian or Tamilian issue only because most of the coverage is in Tamil. Again, thank you for your time and work. I wish the very best to Supriya Sharma and your organisation against the baseless first information report by the Uttar Pradesh police. Nayantara Joseph

***

That our films have been adversely affecting the society has always been debated and left inconclusively (Comment : Bad cop, worse cop: Tamil cinema needs to acknowledge its endorsement of police brutality). Its not just police brutality but so many other social mores that need to be refined in films. Glorifying crimes against women or the society at large because of personal trauma, as you rightly point out, has desensitised us to the victims while sympathising with the arbitrators.

I highly doubt that films will change this. This too shall pass in a few weeks or months, and we will lay low only to cry foul at the next ugly crime. Its not the actors, scriptwriters or directors alone at fault. We, the public, who have made megahits out of such films also carry blame. But will we learn? Vasanthi Rajiv

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We should understand that real life and reel life are completely two different worlds (Comment: Bad cop, worse cop: Tamil cinema needs to acknowledge its endorsement of police brutality). Having said that, I do agree to an extent that cinema has contributed to social wrongdoings. But we must admit that cinema is simply based on imagination, for the purpose of entertainment.

Almost all movies portray violence and sexuality to a certain extent, regardless of which language, actor, director or nation they belong to. From Sholay to Avengers, there is some or the other kind of violence in film content. Its impossible to make movies without portraying fights, revenge, injustice, retaliation, protests unless its a complete religious film focusing on spirituality.

So what can be shown and not shown to the public? Where is the line drawn? That is a question answerable by the government through the censorship board.

Your article on police brutality, which focusses only on one industry, is unfair. The recent killing of George Floyd in America is a proof that these brutality happens in every part of the world. Did the American journalists blamed Mel Gibson for acting in Lethal Weapon? Did they blame Will Smith for acting in Bad Boys? Why do Tamil actors need to take this much burden when theyre just doing their job? What can Rajinikanth do if there are few rotten apples in a basket? Is Rajinikanth truly in charge of the Tamil Nadu Police?

I am not a fan of violence. But on this issue, the blame should go to the government, not the cinema industry. Plucking petals wont kill the plant find the root. Overall, the article was an interesting read even though I disagree with some of its content. Steven Subra

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#BlackLivesMatter was a movement founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martins murderer. Since then, the movement has been used by protesters worldwide to fight racial injustice. Most recently, the murder of George Floyd sparked a new wave of these protests (George Floyd: Medical examiner classifies African-American mans death as homicide). But this is not just a protest for George Floyd, it is a protest for all those people who are made to suffer because of the colour of their skin. It is a protest to end racial inequality, something that should have never happened in the first place.

Political leaders are seen as role models for the youth of today, so what should an ideal leader do in this type of a situation? Donald Trump showed us just that. Instead of expressing any kind of remorse or guilt over the polices despicable actions, he has taken to threatening protestors over Twitter. He also thanked the National Guard for what they did in Minneapolis, before calling it to be used in other democrat-run states. He used a series of authoritarian and controversial words such as thugs, vicious dogs and when the looting starts, the shooting starts to express his obvious disregard for the situation at hand.

Compare him to Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who has repeatedly spoken out against racism and even attended protests. In the 2016 Presidential Elections, America elected its first president without any political or military background and while he managed to more or less skirt past disaster for the first three years of his term, this year has really shed light to his character and ill qualifications for his job. Is this really the kind of leader the United States needs? Someone who is known for weak moral leadership, racial divisiveness, crass and vulgar rhetoric and civil crimes and calls himself the opposition to Barack Obama, who is famous for his deep reading, empathy, cultural sensitivity and smart decisions? The past six months have given us further insight to the Trumps character and the entire nation should be questioning their choices before even thinking about thrusting the fate of the biggest democracy in the world into his hands yet again. Saanya Anand

***

It was a pleasure to read the articles on Hindustani Classical music by Aneesh Pradhan (Listen: Hindustani songs in which the cry of the papiha reminds us of separated lovers). His latest article has thorough research about bandish on birds. I hope he continues to write these articles and upload tracks from Hindustani Classical music. Thank you, Scroll.in for publishing these articles. Vijay Pandya

***

This article is beautifully written and I had goosebumps reading it (How a Bihari lost her mother tongue to Hindi but is now trying to get it back). I didnt have any knowledge about Angika, but I could relate to this article. The experiences written about in this article is something that keeps happening, especially with kids when they want to gel with others and fit in. Sometimes it happens with Hindi-speaking people too as well as with other regional languages or dialects. The only exception to this are people from South India and Bangla-speaking people. Thanks for making me look back and understanding the importance of our roots. Neelam Bhatt

***

Kanishka Gupta has done an amazing job curating the series of articles on publishing and the pandemic. I want to mention two the one by Bhaskar Bhatt and Priya Doraswamy (First person: How a publishing executive started helping migrant labourers during the lockdown; How the literary agent will be affected as post-pandemic publishing tightens its belts).

Both articles cover completely different aspects of the publishing business. Bhaskars story about his encounter with books and the book publishing industry, and rise to a senior position as a merchandiser of a reputed firm through hard work is inspirational. More impressive is his humanitarianism which should be a lesson to those of us who think What can I do? After all, I am only a frog in a small pond and there is a pacific ocean of need out there. Bhaskar, may you be forever blessed.

In the other article, Priya has explained how literary agents function clearly and candidly. I had very little idea about the role of a literary agent and was always wary of approaching one. This article opened my eyes and my mind. Thank you for this invaluable series. Keerti Ramachandra

***

For decades, the English Premier League was dominated by the big boys Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal (The Jurgen Klopp way: How the charismatic German led Liverpool to long-awaited Premier League glory). What a breath of fresh air to see the EPL title go to Liverpool this year, never mind that the pandemic took the fun out of the celebrations.

All credit goes to the Liverpool Coach, Jurgen Klopp. Behind his professorial look (thanks to those outsized glasses), his salt-and-pepper beard and trademark LFC cap, lies a shrewd footballing brain. Knitting together a fantastic team of talented players, Klopp was able to achieve the unthinkable, dislodging the big boys of the League and establishing a new kid on the block. Congratulations, Liverpool on a fantastic win. You are the champions. Sharath Ahuja

Continued here:

Readers Comments: The Jayaraj-Bennix case is more than just a South Indian issue - Scroll.in

The Grand Agenda: Digitalization of Courts – Daily Times

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

In this period of quarantine, the world has changed and things are rapidly shifting from transactional style to the transformation in the system by going virtual. There is a lot of room in our courts which can be transformed by using the technology of digitalization. There are many countries in the world that are practicing the E-courts model by using the technology. Let me give you a perspective from my personal experience and analysis on how we can make a difference in order to make an impact with sustainability.

There are different perspectives of every side but in our legal system there are three dimensional takes that we have to look into and address. The First is the facilitation of judges, the second being the facilitation of prosecution/plaintiff lawyers and the third is the facilitation of the defense/defendant lawyers.

Let me give you a brief glimpse of the areas where we can use the digitization of technology to benefit the lawyers and the common man.

Lahore High Court is already using the application part of the technology but it has to be upgraded with the virtual Courts and Webinars. Adding value to the same application by adding the E-Hearing portal where the E-court access can only be given to the registered bar members across the country in order to facilitate the new, young lawyers who wants to learn from the Honorable Judges and discussion/ arguments of the senior lawyers fighting the cases. The secure two way process of One Time Permission may be given to every lawyer with his personal cell number and email every time they want to appear in the E-court in order to keep the privacy of the E-Court room. The system will also mark the lawyer who once attended the proceeding of the E-Court in order to facilitate him the next time.

This is not easy in the beginning as there will be high resentment form the senior lawyers and many will oppose the transformation of this system who are not welcoming or not adapted to the change. This is handicap in the lawyers as many senior lawyers, who are very good in preparing and arguing the case in the court, might not able to cope up with the process of digitalization as most of the senior and even the new young lawyers are not really used to of using the technology. Keeping in mind the future and the digitalization of the economy and governance in most of the countries in the world this has to be carried forward and adopted in order to keep the pace with the world. In future, Artificial intelligence and robotics are a big threat to the lawyers as the research, preparation of the cases and arguments will be conducted through AI and robotics.

This is the need of the hour and it has to be done and decided by the approval of the High Courts and the Supreme Court for implementing it across the country. The technology and the system have to be very friendly so every lawyer should enjoy using it and refer it to others in order to make it a norm.

The things which need to be done are the upgradation of the system and upskilling of all the resources which will facilitate the accountability and transparency of the cases. The problem in adaptability of E-systems is resentment from the Bar Councils as they may feel that this might result in losing the influence of the office bearers but in reality this is not the case. This will enhance their respect and honor for upskilling the lawyers community for the rest of their life and it will benefit them for future endeavors by increasing their followers in their community.

The relation of bar and bench is very important for building confidence of lawyers and building consensusamong the lawyers. For those lawyers who feel that their face value will make a difference in the court while arguing the case in person, a mechanism can be developed that in every case a lawyer should mark his consent to appear before the Honorable Judge while other lawyers may appear through web or in person it should be left for him to decide. Things can be managed all we need is the Will, which is most important of all, for initiating the process.

Every court must have all the required facilities for the E-appearance of lawyers and to hear their arguments on merit. This can only be achieved when the training of everyone is done who are a part of the process and will prove to be a great learning for development of lawyers and judges so they enhance their knowledge and learning.There are certain roles which are important to be defined for digitalization of E-Courts where E-stands for electronic.

E-filing is very important part of the process which will take time to be learnt and adopted by the lawyers community. A batch of special resource persons should be trained that help lawyers and facilitate them initiallyfor filing the cases along with the documentation after scanning the documents. The process to upload attachments of the documents must be user-friendly so lawyers feel happy and facilitated to upload the case filing documents. All lawyers must be allowed to submit the hard copy of the new case till they get used to the process of uploading. Every lawyer and his clerk must learn to file the new case online so once the facility of hard copy is closed they will not be having a problem in it.

Trial and error period should be allowed for filing the cases so that all the problems faced by the lawyers in E-filing should be identified and resolved.

E-Witness may be given a choice either to take appointment from the court before time to record his witness or to appear online and record his full statement which should be made a part of the record.

On the issuance of E-notice there will many reservations from the lawyers that the process written in CPC should be followed but I am not saying that the regular process should be stopped or by passed, in fact the addition of E-notice asa regular message on the cell, email, WhatsApp and other necessary applications which is being used by everyone now a days should be made the part of the process so in coming times people will give high importance to the above mentioned mediums and will not ignorethem. In India, Delhi High Court is very much in practice of using the official court notices and summons through the WebEx meeting invitation where date of hearing for E-appearance along with an invitation to join via audio or a video link with the access code / meeting number and meeting password is given for their facilitation. In England, E appearance for criminals in jail is being exercised via Prison Video Link PVL where one of the parties can join via CVP. It does require every prison to have that facility.

The E-Trail can vary for different courts of law; for criminal trials in case a criminal is in jail he can appear from there as a E-appearance and rest of the witnesses can be given a choice either to appear online or in person. There are a lot of innocent people in jail whose trail isbeing delayed on the reason that they cannot be brought to the court andtheir trail has been lingering on for a long time now these kind of cases should be given priority so no innocent person should suffer this loss unless they are given fair and proper opportunity to present their case.

In civil cases, for this Covid world, the court will have to fix the time

in situation of E-appearance in Civil Cases or in all other courts of law the basic requirement must be fulfilled and followed in order to ensure fair trial. As mentioned about the courts of law, for some time in the beginning, all the lawyers must have this option of appearing online or in person and the rest of the people, such as witnesses, plaintiffs, defendants etc., must be given this option to be a part of online hearing in case of a special permission from the court.

There should be strict SOPs to be made in order to ensure the safety and security of the life of the lawyers, judges and the courts-staff. The entry of private persons should only be allowed with the proper permission of the court.

It saves energy, environment, money, time and resources. This all will make and create an impact by creating, using and facilitating the technology to benefit the lawyers and the common man.

By implementing and transforming this all does not mean that the transactional norm of the lawyers practice is given up but in fact this technology will enhance and add value to the whole justice system and the due process of law.

Earlier, the use of technology was initiated by the now Honorable Judge of the Supreme Court, Mr. Mansoor Ali Shah. People remember him for his initiatives. Now again this is an opportunity for the one or ones who want their name to be written in golden words and their work to be remembered by people for all times to come.

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The Grand Agenda: Digitalization of Courts - Daily Times

Improve Your Remote Work Productivity With These Eight Utilities – Star of Mysore

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

The transition between normal and remote work can be quite tough, especially for those with less technological experience. Fortunately, this change is a lot less scarier with a few appropriate tools. Read on to discover how you can take advantage of them.

1. Zoom

One of the most important aspects for successful remote work is good communication. Zoom is a video conferencing tool that has seen a huge popularity spike in the recent months due to its high quality audio and video services. The platform allows users to record meetings, schedule webinars, exchange content with a minimal amount of downtime. Zoom itself is very scalable due to its cloud-native infrastructure that houses all of the most demanding administrative elements.

Another main advantage is the user friendliness of Zooms interface and all of its functionalities. The tool combines all of the features in a self explanatory, graphical manner so that even the most novice of users can quickly get comfortable with it. Additionally, Zooms free version comes with almost all of the important features right out of the box so that you dont have to pay a dime.

2. Google Drive

Youll need a safe and reliable way to store/share your files once you start working remotely. While there are many options available, Google Drive has some of the most generous features for its free version. This includes 15GB from the get-go, a 128-bit encryption standard, offline mode, a document scanner and much more capabilities. You can choose which people have access and the capability to edit your files, with each and every change being shown in real-time.

Google Drive also gives users access to a word editor Google Docs. Its also interconnected with pretty much all other Google apps such as Gmail, Maps etc.

3. Audext

For those people who rely on recorded and filmed material, remote work can become quite tedious. Listening, rewinding and trying to write everything down word for word is something that journalists often face. Automating the process would skyrocket productivity, while also leaving room for tasks that have to be done manually. Audio to text converter Audext was created with this goal in mind. Through the use of AI technology and machine learning, Audext can convert audio to text through accurate speech recognition. Since journalists often rely on speaker labeling, the tool also has an automatic speaker identification feature. All you have to do is upload a file, type in the names of the people involved and thats it.

After the conversion is done, Audext provides a built-in editor so you can make any wanted changes right on the spot. Even the editor has some quality-of-life features such as find & replace, playback speed modifier and others. Audext has a 30-minute free trial after it expires, users can choose between hourly, monthly and yearly subscription plans.

4. Timezone.io

Remote jobs often employ people from all around the world. This means that theres a high chance of your working hours being someone elses resting hours. To help you get a better idea of how to organize with your team, Timezone.io lets you set up a profile where you can add each individual team member as well as his/her location. After youve got it all arranged, simply placing your mouse over a coworkers icon will show you his local time. This is especially useful when youre working with someone whos constantly on the move.

Timezone.io is completely free to use. All you have to do is register an account, create your team and youre ready to go.

5. Time Doctor

If you cant organize your time properly, youre going to find it hard to stay productive. Time Doctor is built to monitor activity, prevent distractions and provide regular reports so that you can easily track your own and your teams progress. If you have trouble with staying on track and being attentive, Time Doctor can observe your activities. Once you start procrastinating on social media or any other website, the app will warn you with a pop-up alert. Also, your team can create tasks and assign them correspondingly each report will show the exact time spent on each separate task.

Time Doctor has a free 14-day trial, after which the prices start at $10/user each month.

6. Slack

Similarly to Zoom, Slack is a remote communication tool. However, Slack puts its main focus on instant chat messaging, file sharing and compatibility with many different platforms and apps. The tool allows interaction through different channels each conversation is divided based on a specific project or a team. Even though its biggest strength is chatting, Slack also supports video and audio calls. File sharing is fully secured and in compliance with some of the highest industry standards. Also, the tool can connect with your phone so that you dont ever miss a single notification.

If you want to integrate a third-party app, Slack is compatible with over 2200 apps right out of the box. If you dont find the one to your liking, theres open API access to help you build your own integration.

7. TickTick

While its often overlooked and neglected, task organization and management can make your job a whole lot easier. One of the most effective, old-school methods are to-do lists. Even though TickTick looks fairly simple at first glance, it comes with many features to complement its main functionality. Add a task, set the due date and appropriate reminders. Each task can contain smaller subtasks and you can share any of them with other people. The tool has an integrated Pomodoro timer which can be used to set a timer for work and a timer for breaks, ultimately increasing your productivity.

TickTick is very easy to use and the free version has more than enough features. If you wish to upgrade to the premium plan, its quite cheap at only $27.99 per year.

8. GitHub

At its core, GitHub is a project repository that works hand-in-hand with Git, a version control system. Although its mostly popular among developers, GitHub also works for documents, notes and any other files prone to regular change. GitHub can be slightly complicated for beginners due to multiple new terms for example branches, repositories, forks, clones etc. Even so, extensive knowledge isnt necessary for the main use of GitHub. By creating different branches of the same project/file for each specific user, people can submit their changes without worrying about overwriting the originals. This helps users work remotely on different projects, with the ability to ultimately connect them all.

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Improve Your Remote Work Productivity With These Eight Utilities - Star of Mysore

Institute of Nano Science & Technology scientists design nanoparticles with chitosan to reduce severity of rheumatoid arthritis – Zee News

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Scientists from Mohali-based Institute of Nano Science & Technology (INST) have formulated nanoparticles with chitosan to reduce the severity of rheumatoid arthritis. The scientists also loaded these nanoparticles with zinc gluconate. INST is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology Government of India.

It is to be noted that Zinc is vital for maintaining normal bone homeostasis, and the levels of this element get reduced in rheumatoid arthritis patients and arthritis-induced animals.

The INST scientists chose Chitosan becuase it is biocompatible, biodegradable natural polysaccharide. Chitosanis also non-toxic, and mucoadhesive in nature. According to a press release by Press Information Bureau (PIB), a previously published report in the journal Magnesium Research exhibited that after intraperitoneal administration in rats, zinc oxide in standard form resulted in a slight increase in serum zinc level, whereas that in nano form resulted in significantly high serum zinc levels thus increasing the zinc bioavailability.

"In the recent past, ionic gelation method has been widely employed for formulating chitosan nanoparticles, which may contain various medicinally active pharmacological agents. The DST-Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) and DST-Nanomission supported study led by Dr. Rehan Khan, published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering journal has analyzed the superior efficacy of zinc gluconate-loaded chitosan nanoparticles over the free form of zinc gluconate," said the press release."The team prepared Zinc gluconate loaded chitosan nanoparticles using chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate in double-distilled water, and zinc gluconate was simultaneously added along with the synthesis of chitosan nanoparticles. Nanoparticles were characterized for various physicochemical properties, and then anti-arthritic potential was investigated against collagen-induced arthritis in Wistar rats. They observed that the treatment of rats with both zinc gluconate and zinc gluconate loaded chitosan nanoparticles reduced the severity of arthritis by reducing joint swelling, erythema, and edema but zinc gluconate loaded nanoparticles exhibited superior efficacy. The team assessed various parameters like biochemical analysis, histological observations, and immunohistochemical expression of inflammatory markers and suggested that zinc gluconate-loaded chitosan nanoparticles exerted superior therapeutic effects compared to the free form of zinc gluconate. This they attributed due to the inflammatory potential of zinc gluconate-loaded chitosan nanoparticles," it added.

Nanobiotechnology provides several effective solutions for the problems that traditional pharmaceutical formulations are often not able to address as effectively, such as sustained and targeted release of drugs, bioavailability, and efficacy of drugs and nutraceuticals, etc. The nanoformulation of zinc gluconate-loaded chitosan nanoparticles developed at INST Mohali is a creative example of a superior therapeutics for rheumatoid arthritis, said Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

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Institute of Nano Science & Technology scientists design nanoparticles with chitosan to reduce severity of rheumatoid arthritis - Zee News

Using wood to purify water – Cosmos

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Chinese scientists have developed a wood-based steam generator which, with the help of bacterial-produced nanomaterials, harnesses solar energy to purify water.

The steam generation bit isnt new. Numerous devices have been designed to use solar energy to separate pure water from its contaminants by evaporation.

Their efficiency and effectiveness vary greatly, however, and researchers are always seeking improvements in all four of the key components: light absorption, heat management, water transport and evaporation.

Shu-Hong Yu and colleagues at the University of Science and Technology of China believe they tick all four boxes with a device that makes the most of woods sustainability and porous structure though there is a lot more to it than just wood.

The researchers made their device with the help of bacteria that produced long cellulose nanofibres, which bound the layers of the device together. They added bacteria to the surface of a block of wood, allowed them to ferment, then sprayed an aerosol of glass bubbles onto the surface.

The bubbles, which provide excellent thermal insulation, became embedded in the nanofibres, forming a hydrogel. To this was added carbon nanotubes, which tangled with the nanofibres to form a light-absorbing, water-evaporating top layer.

The device works, Yu and colleagues say, by transporting water upward through the wood to the light-absorbing layer, which is heated by the sun. The water evaporates, and the steam is collected and condensed to produce pure water.

The insulating layer of glass bubbles keeps heat from being transferred downward through the device and lost, and the nanoscale structures lower the energy required for water vaporization.

The research is described in a paper in the journal Nano Letters.

Curated content from the editorial staff at Cosmos Magazine.

Theres never been a more important time to explain the facts, cherish evidence-based knowledge and to showcase the latest scientific, technological and engineering breakthroughs. Cosmos is published by The Royal Institution of Australia, a charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science. Financial contributions, however big or small, help us provide access to trusted science information at a time when the world needs it most. Please support us by making a donation or purchasing a subscription today.

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Using wood to purify water - Cosmos

Nano One update: progress on battery technology – The Armchair Trader

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

There is a lot of excitement around Nano One (TSX-V:NNO / NDQ:NNOMF) at the moment, thanks in large part to its recent announcement that the proprietary battery materials it is working on are demonstrating far more durability, when tested under laboratory conditions, than competitor solutions. Here we revisit some of Nano Ones core technologies in the light of recent developments at the company.

We would encourage readers to revisit our initial note which covers off the basics of Nano One which we wrote last December. This article is supplementary in that it revisits some of the core technology in light of developments in the last six months, since that note was written.

Nano Ones technology for making high nickel cathode materials is a one pot process, radically different in its chemistry, in that everything is added into a single pot, including nickel, manganese and lithium to produce one product: each individual crystal has its own coating, granting greater durability than uncoated material. It translates into better cycle life and less degradation.

The one pot process also has the advantage of not requiring a lot of different firing steps, which adds to expense. The process yields a more stable structure. The coating is also not damaged as it is the individual nano crystals which are coated. This translates into life extension as born out by recent results from the company which compared uncoated material with coated material. After a number of cycles, it degraded 4% and the uncoated material degraded 17%. This is based on lab results, but Nano One says it is scaling up the process and we could see this translating into much more durability for batteries.

Nano One is a play across a number of different battery materials, based on filed patents, including LFP (lithium iron phosphate) and high nickel NMC (lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide) battery technologies. CEO Dan Blondal says the company is also pursuing research into high voltage spinels, using a manganese-based battery that runs at very high voltage. Nano One is not a one tech play by any means and the research team is working to develop technology with more immediate commercial outputs while other projects could take more time to bear fruit.

Each one of them has pros and cons, says Blondal. Each one of them has properties which are beneficial to certain applications. There isnt going to be a winner, there is going to be a continuum of these materials. I think its important that were positioning our technology to be able to do any one of these things. The fact that we can use lithium carbonate as feedstock for high nickel materials is very unique.

LFP, he reckons, will soon have the capacity to power batteries that can sustain electric cars for 500-600km rather than 150km. That, he argues, is going to be a serious game changer. It actually starts to address the long range luxury vehicle market as well, he says.

The battery materials technology that is employed today requires hydroxide, but there is a way to eliminate the need for hydroxide. High nickel requires short firing processes to produce the battery crystals. If the crystals are fired at too high a heat or for too long, the battery performance is impinged, as the nickel and lithium change places.

By lowering the temperature, lithium carbonate ends up not decomposing or reacting. Lithium hydroxide addresses this. The Nano One process adds lithium carbonate into the one pot reactor, making it react in the reactor, not in the kiln. It is not carbonate when it enters the kiln.

Lithium hydroxide or lithium carbonate can therefore both be used as the product will end up being the same. Nano One can use either hydroxide or carbonate, giving it much more flexibility if lithium market prices change.

Fewer process steps also mean a higher yield and capex and opex will thus be lower. Significant amounts can be saved in the process costs. The material can be coated simultaneously, therefore avoiding subsequent steps to coat the material.

The elimination of a lot of the intermediate grinding steps typically used in battery material manufacturing also mean there will be fewer metallic impurities. The Nano One process does not require the removal of metallic impurities with magnets, again stripping out a more expensive part of the process.

By and large we are there on LFP, says Blondal. We completed a relatively detailed engineering report in mid-June. That maps out a plan that is very cost effective. We have identified sources of iron and phosphorous that actually help drive down the cost of the cathode materials. But the biggest step is that you have to provide this stuff first of all. Were well along the way with lithium ion phosphate.

The key for future profitability of Nano One is proving the materials outperform other types of coated materials. LFP, in Blondals view, brings a significant cost advantage, NMC brings the durability advantages with the option to sacrifice durability for performance if that is the manufacturers priority.

The company is also working within a high voltage spinel ecosystem to develop a next generation battery. Blondel does not see these various technologies competing against each other.

LFP batteries look the closest to achieving some level of commercialisation, largely because much of the process of turning the technology into something that can be manufactured can already be readily implemented. NMC looks further off but Blondal says it has the scope to speed up significantly.

NMC remains challenging to make. Some of these issues are fundamental to the technology, but Blondal believes more durability will deliver some distinct advantages. NMC does not replace LFP as an industrial material and LFP will see wider use in the future, he says. But we are starting to see a battery pack design which packs cells much closer together, while still leveraging LFP technology. Performance has never been an issue for LFP, it has been range.

We found Nano Ones recent durability results very encouraging indeed, as did the market. Nano One shares are currently trading at CAD 1.54 in Toronto, up substantially from where they were in early December. We have seen considerable progress in the last few days, with shares up from the CAD 1.35-1.36 level seen last week.

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Nano One update: progress on battery technology - The Armchair Trader

Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market Global Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin Forecast To 2025 – 3rd Watch News

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

The Global Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market analysis report published on Upmarketresearch.com is a detailed study of market size, share and dynamics covered in XX pages and is an illustrative sample demonstrating market trends. This is a latest report, covering the current COVID-19 impact on the market. The pandemic of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected every aspect of life globally. This has brought along several changes in market conditions. The rapidly changing market scenario and initial and future assessment of the impact is covered in the report. It covers the entire market with an in-depth study on revenue growth and profitability. The report also delivers on key players along with strategic standpoint pertaining to price and promotion.

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The Global Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market report entails a comprehensive database on future market estimation based on historical data analysis. It enables the clients with quantified data for current market perusal. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and regional analysis. Listed out are key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with upcoming and trending innovation. Business policies are reviewed from the techno-commercial perspective demonstrating better results. The report contains granular information & analysis pertaining to the Global Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market size, share, growth, trends, segment and forecasts from 2020-2026.

With an all-round approach for data accumulation, the market scenarios comprise major players, cost and pricing operating in the specific geography/ies. Statistical surveying used are SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, predictive analysis, and real-time analytics. Graphs are clearly used to support the data format for clear understanding of facts and figures.

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Global Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market Size & Share, by ProductsFiber GradeFilm GradeBottle Grade:Monofilament Engineering Plastic

Global Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market Size & Share, ApplicationsUsed in fibers for clothing containers for liquids and foodsThermoforming for manufacturingin combination with glass fiber for engineering resins

Key PlayersFujikura Ltd. (Tokyo Japan)Inktec Corporation (Korea)Advanced Nano Products Co. Ltd. (Korea)Creative Materials IncNovacentrixConductive Compounds IncVorbeck Materials CorporationAgfa-Gevaert N.V. (Belgium)Agic Inc. (Tokyo Japan)Applied Nanotech Holdings Inc. (Texas U.S.)Bando Chemical Industries Ltd. (Japan)Cartesian Co. (New York)Cima Nanotech Inc. (Oakdale U.S.)Colloidal Ink Co. Ltd. (Japan)Daicel Corporation (Tokyo Japan)Methode Electronics Inc. (Illinois U.S.)Parker Chomerics (Massachuse

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About UpMarketResearch:UpMarketResearch (https://www.upmarketresearch.com) is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info UpMarketResearchName Alex MathewsEmail [emailprotected]Website https://www.upmarketresearch.comAddress 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.

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Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market Global Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin Forecast To 2025 - 3rd Watch News

Corruption Was Supposed to Vanish in J&K Post August 5. But It’s Alive and Well. – The Wire

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

When the Rajya Sabha debated the J&K Re-organisation Bill 2019, and read down Article 370 of the constitution and revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Union home minister Amit Shah had said the states special status was the root cause of corruption there.

It has been almost one year since Article 370 was abrogated, but as a longtime campaigner for the right to information, good governance and transparency in the J&K government, I have found that corruption remains as prevalent as it was when J&K was a state.

In fact, it often appears that misgovernance, nepotism and corruption have become the rule of law in government offices during the last one year.

The abrogation of Article 370 hurt me as badly, as it did all Kashmiris. But at the same time, I was hopeful, even sure that the government of India, at least in order to gain the sympathy of Kashmirs people, would provide good governance and curb corruption under a lieutenant governor.

But I was wrong. Government officials seem to have become more corrupt, and rude, perhaps because they no longer have accountability. Several institutions of transparency and probity, such as the State Information Commission (SIC), the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) and State Vigilance Commission (SVC) have been shut. The J&K RTI Act 2009, which was a more progressive law than the RTI Act 2005, was also repealed in spite of the fact that 166 J&K state laws are still protected.

Also read: What Kashmir Has to Do With the India-China Stand-Off in Ladakh

We recently exposed the mismanagement of the public distribution system (PDS) inBudgam and Baramulla districts. Over the last four or five years, subsidised rations meant for the poor were sold to them at exorbitant rates. Hundreds of poor consumers had not been told that they are entitled to rice for Rs 3 per kilo under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Instead, they were provided with fake ration cards, often by shopkeepers marked Above Poverty Line (APL) and Non Priority Households (NPHH), which meant they had to pay a lot more for rations than they should have.

This May, when free rations were being distributed during the lockdown, residents of Bonen village in central Kashmirs Chadoora tehsil of Budgam district, were provided less rice than they were entitled to. The storekeeper, an employee of the Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department (FCS & CA), allegedly did the same with other villagers.

One of the residents Sona Ullah contacted Mushtaq Ahmad, one of our local activists who sent a video of Ullahs statement to the assistant director for food and civil supplies, Budgam. The officer took quick action and suspended the storekeeper.

The video went viral. Others got in touch with Mushtaq, complaining about the denial of free rations because the local storekeeper had given them fake NPHH ration cards. (These are also known as Above Poverty Lineration cards.)

The RTI movement decided to undertake a kind of social audit in Loolipora village. Mushtaq got in touch with another activist, Nazir Ahmad, a lawyer from Loolipora. With others from the village, they undertook a random survey of households, cross-checking about 80 NPHH/APL ration cards against the lists on the ePDS portal. Of these 80 households, 50 turned out to be BPL/PHH on the ePDS portal. For four or five years, each of these 50 consumers had paid Rs 15 per kg of rice instead of the Rs 3 per kg that they had been entitled to pay under the NFSA. Their APL and NPHH cards were fake. They had been created by local storekeepers allegedly in league with the tehsil supply officer (TSO). In some cases, the consumers had been given school notebooks with the seal and signature of the storekeeper and TSO.

NFSA in J&K

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), better known as the Right to Food, is a people-friendly legislation that aims to benefit the disadvantaged and marginalised communities of India.

Despite the existence of Article 370 at the time, the NFSA was extended to Jammu & Kashmir in full with effect from April 1, 2016, when the PDP-BJP led government was in power. The then J&K legislature had assented to this bill.

The NFSA provides highly subsidised rations of wheat flour for Rs 2 per kg and rice for Rs 3 per kg to about around 75 lakh people in J&K who have been listed as PHH. Another 45 lakh people listed as NPHH get their rations at higher rates. This means that more than 95% of J&Ks population is covered by the NFSA. But have the benefits of the NFSA actually reached the people it is meant to serve?

Also read: J&Ks New Domicile Order: Disenfranchising Kashmiris, One Step at a Time

Each of the 50 consumers in in Loolipora village who had bought rice at exorbitant rates for the last five years had been cheated of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 in total. Altogether, more than Rs 15 to 20 lakh had been embezzled from a single village. Who has benefited?

Probe initiated

On June 6, webrought the Loolipora issue to the notice of J&K government. A team of two senior officers from FCS &CA Department was tasked to probe the fraud.

On June 9,the joint director of the food department visited Loolipora village. People raised slogans against corrupt officials of the department. We were asked to submit our statement of the facts. The preliminary inquiry into the Loolipora ration scam revealed the involvement of nine officials of the food department, of whom a few have retired from service.

The letter from the office of Secretary, Food Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS & CA), dated 5.07.2020 assured that action was being taken against the ten erring officers. The secretary, a young IAS officer, encouraged us in his thank you note and remarked that our work was akin to a social audit.

Scam in Baramulla

When local TV channels,newspapers and social media began to talk about the Loolipora scam,we started getting a lot of phone calls and messages. The Central Auqaf Committee of Tarzoo, Sopore, which is the top socio-religious group in the area, told us they suspected that many of the 25,000 people of Tarzoo had been deprived of PHH and BPL ration cards.

On July 1, our team went to Tarzoo, which is in Sopore in district Baramulla. We cross-checked 70-80 ration cards against the ePDS portal, of which 50 turned out to be fake. Most of the APL and NPHH ration cards we examined were held by people registered as BPL and PHH. For the last five years, these 50 people had been Rs 15 per kg of rice instead of Rs 3 per kg.

I dont claim that all the people registered as BPL or PHH on the ePDS are really poor. The irony is that some of them are well off.

Bashir Ahmad Mir, a resident of Dar Nambal, Tarzoo, is registered as an Antodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) consumer, which means he is among the poorest of the poor. But he too had been given a fake APL ration card by the department of food and civil supplies, Baramulla.

I have now filed a formal complaint with the secretary to government of the food & civil supplies department, who has assured us that they will undertake a preliminary enquiry soon. We are also thinking of seeking judicial intervention in this case.

Denial of welfare entitlements

The consumers who have been given fake ration cardsin J&K have not only been cheated monetarilyfor the last five years or more, but they have also been deprived of various government entitlements meant for the economically weaker sections of society.

Without BPL ration cards from the food department, they cannot be listed in the Ujwala Yojana for subsidised LPG gas connections. They do not get monetary support under the PMAY for the construction of houses. They have no right to students scholarships and free or subsidised CT and MRI scans in government hospitals and much more.

The problem with the ePDS is that it does not mention the name of the village in which the fair price store is situated. Instead, it names the owner of the fair price shop and uses a code for the village in which the shop is located. This makes it difficult for people to know if they are being cheated or not.

When and how will the government act?

The doing away with Article 370, it seems, has done little or nothing to make government officers accountable. Corruption continues in public authorities like the food & civil supplies department, the rural development department, the police, the land revenue department, the various municipalities and so on.

Had the Government of India been sincere about eradicating corruption from J&K, it could have been done within months. Activists can only do so much the government should bring in the CBI or any other investigative agency to probe all across J & K.

Recently, Farooq Khan, the advisor to the LG, said that strict action would be taken against people who indulge in practices like profiteering, over-pricing and black marketing. He added that the government would not hesitate to book such people under stringent laws including the PublicSafety Act.

It remains to be seen how the government now acts.

Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is a Srinagar-based activist and columnist. He is the founder and chairman of the Jammu & Kashmir RTI Movement. He can be reached on bhatrajamuzaffar@gmail.com.

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Corruption Was Supposed to Vanish in J&K Post August 5. But It's Alive and Well. - The Wire

GTPulse: Checking in With Local Cherry Farmer Ben LaCross – 9 & 10 News – 9&10 News

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Sometime around 1910, growers in the Grand Traverse area began to hold informal blessing of the blossoms ceremonies every year to pray for a good cherry crop. The annual blossom prayers evolved into what we now know as The National Cherry Festival, but the foundation of farming and celebrating cherries continues to be the focus of the festival.

I sat down with Ben LaCross from Leelanau Fruit Company and LaCross Farms to talk cherries, the pandemic and about what the absence of the festival means for local farmers.

Christal: Farmers are always resilienthaving to deal with weather, politics, and morewhat did the pandemic mean for farming in Michigan?

LaCross: The pandemic made all humans realize that no matter how technologically advanced our society gets, we are all still at the whim of a few tiny bacteria and viruses. But no matter what, people still need to eat, cherry trees will still bloom in May, and the world will keep rotating around the sun.

So during the pandemic, farmers did what farmers do- we planted trees and seed, we milked cows, and we produced food for everyone else. Im so proud of the American farmer throughout all this. In 2020, most every American crop is produced with minimal profit (or even a loss) back to the farmer. But we persevered. And we fed people, and we will continue to do so.

Christal: How has the weather affected this years crophigh water, wet spring, dry summer (so far)?

LaCross: Oh, boy. How long do we have?!?

Cliffs Notes: First, in March, we lost our snow too soon. Then in April, it wouldnt warm up. May was cold and brought freezing temps right as our buds were beginning to grow, except for the days where it was 90 degrees, which was too hot for pollination.

After all those ups and downs, June should be normal, right? O.K., June was normal if you like kayaking down Munson Avenue between an Elmers Truck and someone with an Illinois license plate. Next to someone in a stand up paddle board.

Heres an understatement- June was wet. They were smelt dipping in the Grand Traverse Commons. Successfully. Lets put all those weather ups and downs behind us and fall into a consistent pattern, O.K.? O.K., if you like record heat and a lack of rainfall that would make Noah jealous.

What does all this mean for the cherry crop? Farmers have been dealing with crazy weather patterns for millennia, so we will adapt. We could have used a little less freezing temps and scorching hot temps in May (Michigan weather, amiright?).

All in all, we have a smaller than average cherry crop in 2020, but it has strengthened grower prices, which we needed. Farmers are praying for good quality fruit, a healthy workforce, and a strong harvest season in July and August.

Christal: How is the cherry crop coming this year? And, when can we expect local cherries?

LaCross: The cherry crop in Northern Michigan is growing well on the trees and in farmers orchards throughout Northern Michigan. The tart cherry crop (think: dried cherries, cherry pie, ice cream) is a little smaller than normal, but should be extra ripe and delicious. Our sweet cherries (think: maraschino cherries, ice cream cherries, and fresh sweets) are growing a very nice, abundant crop of tree-candy.

With the heat weve been experiencing lately, we should have some ripe local sweets by July 10.gt

Christal: What is the relationship between cherry farmers and the cherry festival, and what does the absence of the festival mean for farmer?

LaCross: The festival has been a great partner for the industry. Every year, my hometown throws a huge party to celebrate the fruit that me and my fellow farmers grow. How cool is that? The absence of the festival means significantly less national media exposure for our fruit than in normal years. The National Cherry Festival brings in hundreds of thousands of tourists to our area to celebrate the worlds greatest fruit year in and year out, and it also brings in media from throughout the country, too. For a small industry like the cherry industry, we need all the free publicity we can get.

Christal: How can we support local farmers?

LaCross: Eat lots of cherries. Do you remember the film Forrest Gump? Remember Bubba, Forrests buddy from the Vietnam War? Bubba was encyclopedic about his use of shrimp in different dishes. Become the Bubba of cherries. Cherry juice. Cherry pie. Vinaigrette salad with dried cherries. Cherries in your cocktail. Cherries in your oatmeal. Cherries in chili. Seriously, we need every Northern Michigan local to become influencers for the cherry industry. Tell a friend. Phone a friend. Facebook, Insta, Twitter. Do it all.

Bens Tart Cherry Pie Recipe:

Plump and juicy cherries are one of summers favorite fruits. Theres no better way to take advantage of the bounty than to bake up a homemade cherry pie! Wed love to have you stop by our Suttons Bay office and meet our resident recipe expert, Misha. While you are there, make sure you pick up plenty of frozen tart cherries to make your pies with!

Ingredients:

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt; stir in cherries and extract until blended. Let stand for 30 minutes. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.

Line a 9 inch pie plate with bottom crust. Fill with cherry filling; dot with butter. Top with remaining top crust. (you may wish to cut out some pretty cherry shapes and leaves before placing the crust on top of the cherry filling). Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut a few slits in the top crust for steam to escape while baking. Wisk egg yolk and brush over top crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover edges during the last 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool on wire rack.

PERFECT PIE CRUST (for a 9, two crust pie)

Ingredients:

Directions:

Mix flour, salt & sugar in large mixing bowl or food processor. Add butter & lard and cut into the flour mixture using pastry cutter or pulsing food processor. The mixture should look like large crumbs and begin to cling together. Do not overmix. Sprinkle water over the dough and with hands mix until dough holds together. Shape into 2 discs. Wrap with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated until ready to use.

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GTPulse: Checking in With Local Cherry Farmer Ben LaCross - 9 & 10 News - 9&10 News

The Willful Blindness of Reactionary Liberalism – The New Republic

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Associative freedom is often entirely absent from popular discourse about liberalism and our political debates, perhaps because liberals have come to take it entirely for granted.

Overall, the liberal ideal is a diverse, pluralistic society of autonomous people guided by reason and tolerance. The dream is harmonious coexistence. But liberalism also happens to excel at generating dissensus, and some of the major sociopolitical controversies of the past few years should be understood as conflicts not between liberalism and something else but between parties placing emphasis on different liberal freedomschiefly freedom of speech, a popular favorite which needs no introduction, and freedom of association, the under-heralded right of individuals to unite for a common purpose or in alignment with a particular set of values. Like free speech, freedom of association has been enshrined in liberal democratic jurisprudence here and across the world; liberal theorists from John Stuart Mill to John Rawls have declared it one of the essential human liberties. Yet associative freedom is often entirely absent from popular discourse about liberalism and our political debates, perhaps because liberals have come to take it entirely for granted.

For instance, while public universities in America are generally bound by the First Amendment, controversial speakers have no broad right to speak at private institutions. Those institutions do, however, have a right to decide what ideas they are and arent interested in entertaining and what people they believe will or will not be useful to their communities of scholarsa right that limits the entry and participation not only of public figures with controversial views but the vast majority of people in our society. Senators like Tom Cotton have every right to have their views published in a newspaper. But they have no specific right to have those views published by any particular publication. Rather, publications have the rightboth constitutionally as institutions of the press, and by convention as collections of individuals engaged in lawful projectsto decide what and whom they would or would not like to publish, based on whatever standards happen to prevail within each outlet.

When a speaker is denied or when staffers at a publication argue that something should not have been published, the rights of the parties in question havent been violated in any way. But what we tend to hear in these and similar situations are criticisms that are at odds with the principle that groups in liberal society have the general right to commit themselves to values which many might disagree with and make decisions on that basis. Theres nothing unreasonable about criticizing the substance of such decisions and the values that produce them. But accusations of illiberalism in these cases carry the implication that nonstate institutions under liberalism have an obligation of some sort to be maximally permissive of opposing ideasor at least maximally permissive of the kinds of ideas critics of progressive identity politics consider important. In fact, they do not.

Associative freedom is no less vital to liberalism than the other freedoms, and is actually integral to their functioning. There isnt a right explicitly enumerated in the First Amendment that isnt implicitly dependent on or augmented by similarly minded individuals having the right to come together. Most people worship with others; an assembly or petition of one isnt worth much; the institutions of the press are, again, associations; and individual speech is functionally inert unless some group chooses to offer a venue or a platform. And political speech is, in the first place, generally aimed at stirring some group or constituency to contemplation or action.

Ultimately, associative freedom is critical because groups and associations are the very building blocks of society. Political parties and unions, nonprofits and civic organizations, whole religions and whole ideologiesindividuals cannot be meaningfully free unless they have the freedom to create, make themselves part of, and define these and other kinds of affiliations. Some of our affiliations, including the major identity categories, are involuntary, and this is among the complications that makes associative freedom as messy as it is important. Just as the principle of free speech forces us into debates over hate speech, obscenity, and misinformation, association is the root of identity-based discrimination and other ills. The Supreme Courts decision in Bostock v. Clayton County banning employment discrimination on the basis of LGBTQ identity last month was a huge step forward, but in practice, workers of all stripes often lack the means and opportunity to defend themselves from unjust firingsall the more reason for those preoccupied with cancel culture and social mediadriven dismissals to support just-cause provisions and an end to at-will employment.

What about the oft-repeated charge that progressives today intend to establish group rights over and above the rights of the individualthat, specifically, minorities and certain disadvantaged groups are to be given more rights than, and held as superior to, white people? If this were the case, the critics of left illiberalism would truly be onto something: Individual rights are, again, at the center of liberal thought.

But that divergence isnt anywhere to be found in any of the major controversies that have recently captured broad attention. A minority chef who says she wants to be paid as much as her white colleagues has not said that white people are inferior; an unarmed black man under the knee of a policeman and begging for his life is not asking to be conferred a special privilege. The goal is parity, not superiority. The heart of the protests and cultural agitation weve witnessed has clearly been a desire to see minorities treated equallysharing the rights to which all people are entitled but that have been denied to many by societys extant bigots and the residual effects of injustices past.

Ultimately, its the realities of our collective past that make the notion that progressives are dragging the country toward illiberalism especially ridiculous. Over the course of two and a half centuries in this country, millions of human beings held as property toiled for the comfort and profit of already wealthy people who tortured and raped them. Just over 150 years ago, the last generation of slaves was released into systems of subjugation from which its descendants have not recovered. August will mark just 100 years since women were granted the right to vote; Black Americans, nominally awarded that right during Reconstruction, couldnt take full advantage of it until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The litany of other inequities and crimes our country has perpetrated and continues to perpetrate against Native Americans, immigrants, religious and sexual minorities, political dissidents, and the poor is endless. All told, liberal society in the U.S. is, at best, just over half a century old: If it were a person, it would be too young to qualify for Medicare.

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The Willful Blindness of Reactionary Liberalism - The New Republic

‘Need Genuinely Liberal Party’: As Rajasthan Remains Tense, Tharoor Gives Formula to Strengthen Congress – News18

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

File photo of Congress MP and leader Shashi Tharoor.

As political turmoil brews in Rajasthan, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter on Sunday and said that India needs a "genuinely liberal" party led by centrist professionals, and those who believe in these values must throw their weight behind the Congress.

"I passionately believe that our country needs a genuinely liberal party headed by centrist professionals committed to inclusive politics and respectful of Indias pluralism. All who believe in the founding values of the Republic must work to strengthen @INCIndia not undermine it," Tharoor wrote.

The senior leader's comments come after Rajasthan Deputy CM Sachin Pilot arrived in Delhi with some of his loyalist MLAs to talk to party leadership regarding the developing political crisis in the state. The last straw is believed to be a notice served to Pilot to join investigations with the ATS, which was set up by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot to probe attempts to topple his government.

Gehlot has accused the opposition BJP of trying to topple his government by offering his legislators large sums of money. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were unable to "tolerate" him or his government and were therefore planning a conspiracy.

Rejecting Gehlot's allegations, BJP state president Satish Poonia said the political situation in the state was the result of infighting in the Congress and the chief minister was just trying to shift the blame.

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'Need Genuinely Liberal Party': As Rajasthan Remains Tense, Tharoor Gives Formula to Strengthen Congress - News18

Shock bid for Liberal presidency turns party tensions to the Max – InDaily

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Adelaide Friday July 10, 2020

A standoff is looming for one of the SA Liberal Partys most senior roles, with country medico Max van Dissel today nominating to replace former premier John Olsen as state president.

The move will surprise many in the party who had anticipated an uncontested ballot, with high-profile lawyer and recent failed senate hopeful Morry Bailes believed to be preparing for a run for the presidency.

Bailes did not respond to inquiries today and has previously not commented on the issue, but senior sources had expected him to be a candidate and to be unopposed.

But that changed today when van Dissel nominated for the role, with sources from both the left and right of the party telling InDaily he was expected to garner support from both wings, and questioning whether Bailes would still run in a contested ballot.

Both men are currently Liberal vice-presidents, with van Dissel coming to the end of the maximum-allowed three terms.

Olsen, who was brought in as president ahead of the successful 2018 state election, is tipped to be elevated to the presidency of the federal party, although a formal decision on that succession has been delayed by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Van Dissel, a Kapunda specialist and GP who ran for the Save the RAH Party in the state seat of Frome in 2010, confirmed he had lodged a nomination for the presidency this morning when contacted by InDaily.

He said he had toyed with standing for the Legislative Council, whose ballot is being held next weekend, but I then thought, Im 61 Id be 63 when the next election is held, and Id be 71 after one term and that, I think, was inappropriate.

I thought, how else can I serve the party, he said.

Van Dissel as a Save the RAH candidate in 2010.

Asked whether his candidacy would be a fly in the ointment of Bailes prospective bid, van Dissel said: He hasnt discussed it with me.

No-one has discussed it with me Ive made up my own mind to run [and] well see who else gets flushed out, he said.

I feel Ive got the credentials, having been a vice-president for three years and served on state executive.

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Van Dissel, whose nephew Michael ran against Bailes in this years senate race that saw then-Legislative Council president Andrew McLachlan elected, said he brought a lot of experience to the table.

A country doctor for 30 years, he said he was passionate about rural health issues an area he argues was neglected by Labor in their 16 years because theres no votes in it for them.

He has also championed issues at odds with the partys right wing, having pushed a pill-testing motion at state council last year.

InDaily revealed last month Bailes had stepped down as managing partner of leading general practice firm Tindall Gask Bentley.

At the time, he left the option open for another senate tilt, saying: Youd have seen from my previous nomination that I was interested in the senate I was interested in the federal parliament [and] public life is something Id never say no to so, watch and wait.

But some in the party have baulked at the prospect of the next state president harbouring political ambitions, with several backing van Dissel on those grounds.

I believe the Liberal Party does best when theres some cooperation between the two factions, van Dissel said today.

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Shock bid for Liberal presidency turns party tensions to the Max - InDaily

Global Nuclear Medicine Imaging Equipment Market Professional Research By Regions, Types and Analysis of Key Players- Research Forecasts to 2027 -…

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

Nuclear Medicine Imaging Equipment Market Analysis report studies latest market trends, development aspects, market gains and market scenario during the forecast period.

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Shenzhen Anke High-TechFujifilm CorpPositron CorpNeusoft Medical SystemsHitachi Medical CorpCarestreamFonar CorpGE HealthcareMindray Medical International LTDParamed Medical SystemsECHO-SON S.A.Hologic IncSiemens HealthcareEsaote S.P.A.Philips Healthcare

It gives an detailed overview of the market, current trends, future 6 YEAR roadmap, Market challenges, industry environment, and also describes the industry chain structure & opportunities in the current market. This report Provides in-depth analysis of the scope of current and future market including the major factors such as Revenue forecast, company share, competitive landscape, growth factors, and trends, SWOT analysis i.e. Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat to the industry. In addition, this report introduces market competition status among the merchants and company outline, besides, market demand analysis and value chain features are covered in this report.

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SPECT EquipmentPET-CT Equipment

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DiagnoseTreatment

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For more Information or Browse the complete report @ https://www.globalmarketers.biz/report/life-sciences/2015-2027-global-nuclear-medicine-imaging-equipment-industry-market-research-report,-segment-by-player,-type,-application,-marketing-channel,-and-region/147927#table_of_contents

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Global Nuclear Medicine Imaging Equipment Market Professional Research By Regions, Types and Analysis of Key Players- Research Forecasts to 2027 -...

Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market Size By Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecast Up To…

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

New Jersey, United States,- Latest update on Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market Analysis report published with extensive market research, Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market growth analysis, and forecast by 2026. this report is highly predictive as it holds the overall market analysis of topmost companies into the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine industry. With the classified Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market research based on various growing regions, this report provides leading players portfolio along with sales, growth, market share, and so on.

The research report of the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market is predicted to accrue a significant remuneration portfolio by the end of the predicted time period. It includes parameters with respect to the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market dynamics incorporating varied driving forces affecting the commercialization graph of this business vertical and risks prevailing in the sphere. In addition, it also speaks about the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market growth opportunities in the industry.

Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market Report covers the manufacturers data, including shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better. This report also covers all the regions and countries of the world, which shows a regional development status, including Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market size, volume and value, as well as price data.

Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market competition by top Manufacturers:

Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market Classification by Types:

Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market Size by End-user Application:

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Cataloging the competitive terrain of the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market:

Unveiling the geographical penetration of the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market:

The report of the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine market is an in-depth analysis of the business vertical projected to record a commendable annual growth rate over the estimated time period. It also comprises of a precise evaluation of the dynamics related to this marketplace. The purpose of the Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market report is to provide important information related to the industry deliverables such as market size, valuation forecast, sales volume, etc.

Major Highlights from Table of contents are listed below for quick lookup into Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market report

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Market Research Intellect provides syndicated and customized research reports to clients from various industries and organizations with the aim of delivering functional expertise. We provide reports for all industries including Energy, Technology, Manufacturing and Construction, Chemicals and Materials, Food and Beverage, and more. These reports deliver an in-depth study of the market with industry analysis, the market value for regions and countries, and trends that are pertinent to the industry.

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Premenstrual Syndrome Medicine Market Size By Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecast Up To...

Medicine’s misguided romance with machines is making the coronavirus worse – Salon

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

As Covid-19 began to lay siege to New York City's hospitals in March, a small but consequential debate broke out in American emergency rooms and intensive care units: Was it possible that ventilators, the much-politicized medical devices widely seen as a lifeline for severely ill Covid-19 patients, were being overused? With a pandemic poised to sweep through the U.S. and the horrific example of Italy still lingering, the dispute gained a particular urgency.

At the core of the debate was a four-letter acronym that most Americans had never heard of: ARDS, or acute respiratory distress syndrome, a harrowing lung condition that was listed on many Covid-19 death certificates. Since it was first identified half a century ago, ARDS has been mired in controversy over how to define it, how to diagnose it, and whether it should be considered a true clinical condition at all. It is because of ARDS, a diagnosis that owes its very existence to a machine, that we went into the pandemic thinking ventilators would save us. Its story serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of prioritizing high technology and its medical paradigms in settings where one medical treatment does not fit all.

Coined in 1967 by Thomas Petty, a respiratory physician at the University of Colorado, ARDS has been a source of contention from the start. The causes of the condition were, in Petty's own words, "obscure." He and three colleagues proposed the syndrome after observing a dozen patients with radically different illnesses and injuries (gunshots, pancreatitis, traffic accidents) who all presented with similar respiratory symptoms: low blood oxygen levels; fluid or other infiltrates in the lungs; and "stiff" lungs that didn't properly expand and contract even under mechanical ventilation.

Desperate for a solution, Petty and his colleagues put the patients on an older ventilator that blew at high pressure, even as a patient exhaled a technique he called positive end-expiratory pressure, or PEEP. The patients' blood oxygen levels improved, and Petty and his colleagues felt confident that they had identified a new clinical syndrome, along with an effective treatment for it. They dispatched a paper to The New England Journal of Medicine which promptly rejected it, on the grounds that the doctors' use of ventilators was unorthodox and possibly dangerous, Petty reported. The paper was rejected by two other journals before being published by The Lancet in 1967. It remains the foundational paper on ARDS and has been cited more than 4,000 times.

Although Petty's patients shared a number of common symptoms, he insisted that the patients' positive response to PEEP was one of the condition's unifying traits. The ventilator, even more so than the underlying disease or injury, was crucial to the definition of the syndrome.

More than a few doctors and scientists were suspicious of the new syndrome. In a 1975 editorial, "The Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome, (May it Rest in Peace)," Petty's main antagonist, pulmonologist John Murray, called ARDS a "fashionable" disorder, a haphazard "lumping" together of unrelated chest conditions, which seemed only to share a final set of symptoms. In his response, "Confessions of a 'Lumper,'" Petty argued that even if you conceded Murray's point the cause of the disorder was irrelevant; the pathology was what mattered. If a disease, injury, or illness resulted in poor oxygenation, lung infiltrates, and stiff lungs, then it had to be ARDS, he wrote. Those advocating for a more nuanced diagnosis he labelled "separatists."

Over the ensuing decades, even those doctors who accepted ARDS as a valid clinical condition would frequently disagree over how it should be diagnosed. In 1994, a major redefinition removed the criteria to measure the ability of the lungs to expand and contract in response to changes in pressure known as lung compliance in an attempt to standardize the disorder. In 2012, a panel of experts again redefined the syndrome, specifying that, to make a proper diagnosis, blood-oxygen levels must be measured while a patient is on PEEP. That year, an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted warily that the latest definition "has essentially excluded ARDS as a possible diagnosis in patients without ventilation." The diagnosis of ARDS had become tied to the ventilator.

So this year, when Covid-19 patients began to arrive at hospitals with frighteningly low blood-oxygen levels, matching preliminary reports from China, they were funneled in droves onto ventilators.

But a 75-year-old Italian anesthesiologist and intensive care specialist, Luciano Gattinoni, along with a group of colleagues, cried foul. He noticed that Covid-19 pneumonia differed from "typical" ARDS in one important way: His patients' blood oxygen levels were low, but many of them had no difficulty breathing on their own; their lungs were relatively compliant. That condition would come to be known as "silent," or "happy" hypoxemia. Yet under the updated protocols, patients were being diagnosed with ARDS and quickly put on a ventilator, a harrowingly invasive procedure that involves inserting a tube down the patient's throat and putting them under sedation to keep it there. Ventilators saved lives, physicians say, but they can also have considerable side effects, including lung damage.

"Why do you use this kind of PEEP? Are you crazy?" Gattinoni remembers counseling his younger colleagues at his hospital.

Gattinoni warned them against viewing ventilators as cure-alls and urged them to, whenever possible, supply patients with "the lowest possible PEEP and gentle ventilation," as he later put it in a letter published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. For early-stage patients, he advised non-invasive methods in the hopes of avoiding ventilation altogether. Other ICU and ER doctors related that gentler methods such as using nasal cannulas and face masks to deliver air to the lungs seemed to improve oxygen levels, STAT reported.

Gattinoni's recommendations touched off considerable controversy over whether or not Covid-19 causes ARDS, whether ventilators offer the best treatment for the new disease, and how the machines should be operated. That debate is ongoing, and has split, roughly, into two camps: One side argues that conventional protocols should be followed until "a detailed characterization of Covid-19 respiratory failure and its response to established ARDS therapies" can be made; the other asserts that "mistakes" were made in the early days of the pandemic and the standard treatment "should be deeply reconsidered," as Gattinoni argued in a recent rebuttal.

At the height of New York's pandemic in late March, an emergency room doctor at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn named Cameron Kyle-Sidell posted a video on YouTube decrying the risks of relying on "a medical paradigm that is untrue." Kyle-Sidell's cri de coeur, which has drawn more than 800,000 views to date, now looks prescient: One study in New York City found that 88 percent of Covid-19 patients placed on ventilators died.

"What was happening at the bedside was so stark that it's always been hard for me to accept the possibility that somehow we weren't causing a significant amount of morbidity with our initial practice," said Kyle-Sidell in a recent interview.

There is, perhaps, a moral to the story. While much of the discussion around ventilators in the early days of the Covid-19 crisis centered around their limited supply, it took time before their limited effectiveness was revealed. Doctors like Helen Ouyang, an emergency physician in New York City, reported feeling devastated by the limits of modern medicine, citing a concept most associated with combat veterans known as moral injury to describe the psychological impact on doctors as technology was failing their patients.

Robert Kacmarek, director of respiratory care at Massachusetts General Hospital, also recalled "difficult" times as Covid-19 exposed the limits of standardized protocols. "For this kind of disease especially, you have to have individualized medicine," he said. "You have to set the ventilator based on the individual pathophysiology of the patient and not based on a protocol that is designed for multitudes."

Here, earlier uses of mechanical ventilation offer a valuable lesson. In the summer of 1952, when a severe polio epidemic struck the city of Copenhagen, local medical students worked for weeks in eight-hour shifts, squeezing rubber bags to hand ventilate over 300 polio patients. The students adjusted their technique within a human context, based on clues gleaned from eye contact with their patients; the technology itself was secondary. The effects were profound. The mortality rate dropped by about half, and the episode established the value of ventilation in a way that changed the course of medicine.

By contrast, the ARDS controversy that shaded the early response to the Covid-19 pandemic exposed a disconnect between the promise of high technology and the bedside reality. The vigorous debate on the value of a half-century old diagnosis is a reminder that in medicine, no machine or protocol, however well-designed, can substitute for empathy, judgment, and evidence.

* * *

Yvan Prkachin is a historian of medicine and medical technologies, and a lecturer in the history of science at Harvard University.

Lisa De Bode is a freelance journalist and a 2019 MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow.

This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article.

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Medicine's misguided romance with machines is making the coronavirus worse - Salon

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Size By Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And…

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Danzig

New Jersey, United States,- Latest update on Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Analysis report published with extensive market research, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market growth analysis, and forecast by 2026. this report is highly predictive as it holds the overall market analysis of topmost companies into the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine industry. With the classified Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market research based on various growing regions, this report provides leading players portfolio along with sales, growth, market share, and so on.

The research report of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market is predicted to accrue a significant remuneration portfolio by the end of the predicted time period. It includes parameters with respect to the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market dynamics incorporating varied driving forces affecting the commercialization graph of this business vertical and risks prevailing in the sphere. In addition, it also speaks about the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market growth opportunities in the industry.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Report covers the manufacturers data, including shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better. This report also covers all the regions and countries of the world, which shows a regional development status, including Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market size, volume and value, as well as price data.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market competition by top Manufacturers:

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Classification by Types:

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Size by End-user Application:

Listing a few pointers from the report:

The objective of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Report:

Cataloging the competitive terrain of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market:

Unveiling the geographical penetration of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market:

The report of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine market is an in-depth analysis of the business vertical projected to record a commendable annual growth rate over the estimated time period. It also comprises of a precise evaluation of the dynamics related to this marketplace. The purpose of the Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market report is to provide important information related to the industry deliverables such as market size, valuation forecast, sales volume, etc.

Major Highlights from Table of contents are listed below for quick lookup into Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market report

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Market Research Intellect

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Turkeys negotiating window with Greece, EU may be closing – Ahval

WATCH: Cold front brings hail to parts of KZN – Zululand Observer

Magic: The Gathering – 10 Funniest Joke Cards In The Game – TheGamer

Friday’s weather: More heavy rains, strong winds heading into the weekend – News24

Readers Comments: The Jayaraj-Bennix case is more than just a South Indian issue – Scroll.in

The Grand Agenda: Digitalization of Courts – Daily Times

Improve Your Remote Work Productivity With These Eight Utilities – Star of Mysore

Institute of Nano Science & Technology scientists design nanoparticles with chitosan to reduce severity of rheumatoid arthritis – Zee News

Using wood to purify water – Cosmos

Nano One update: progress on battery technology – The Armchair Trader

Polyethylene Terephthalate Resins (PET Resins) Market Global Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin Forecast To 2025 – 3rd Watch News

Corruption Was Supposed to Vanish in J&K Post August 5. But It’s Alive and Well. – The Wire

GTPulse: Checking in With Local Cherry Farmer Ben LaCross – 9 & 10 News – 9&10 News

The Willful Blindness of Reactionary Liberalism – The New Republic

‘Need Genuinely Liberal Party’: As Rajasthan Remains Tense, Tharoor Gives Formula to Strengthen Congress – News18

Shock bid for Liberal presidency turns party tensions to the Max – InDaily

Global Nuclear Medicine Imaging Equipment Market Professional Research By Regions, Types and Analysis of Key Players- Research Forecasts to 2027 -…

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Medicine’s misguided romance with machines is making the coronavirus worse – Salon

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) Medicine Market Size By Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And…