The "Die-in" protest of USA.

 The USA's student of Michigan University of Engineering are nowadays inventing a new revolution of laying down in malls,  metros, and on railway tracks to protest the killing of one of their mates named "Michael Brown". Brown was shot and killed by police officer "Darren Wilson" on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ferguson. It's something that's not been happening this year or last year it is since the beginning of this country. From the age of Martin Luther till now black are not still safe in USA. According to a newspaper the president of USA agreed that in USA the black still does not feel free. Garner, who was black, died in July after being put in a chokehold by Pantaleo. Police had stopped the father of six on suspicion of selling untaxed “loose” cigarettes. Garner had been arrested previously for selling untaxed cigarettes, marijuana possession and false impersonation.

Who Started this protest

The die-in at the Diag was originally thought up by three white freshmen students --  Isaiah Zeavin-Moss, Kyle Forness, and Lillian Gaines -- who asked the campus chapters of the NAACP and Black Student Union to mobilize the efforts and take over the organization of the event. holding signs that read things like "BlackLivesMatter" and "ICantBreathe."

Why "I Cant Breathe"........

The last words of Eric Garner “I can’t breathe,” became the rallying cry for protests that swirled in New York. “I can’t breathe,” protesters chanted, in mostly peaceful demonstrations that brought longstanding strains over race to the heart of America’s most populous city. Earlier in the day, prosecutors announced the jury’s decision not to charge Daniel Pantaleo, one of the New York police officers who had confronted Garner for selling loose cigarettes on Staten Island in July.

The protesters’ anger echoed the tensions in Ferguson, Missouri, the scene of violence and rioting after another grand jury declined to bring charges against a white police office in the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager suspected of robbing a convenience store. His death sparked hundreds of protests across the country and snapped into focus seething race issues.

Protesters chanting “Fuck the Police” or “I Can’t Breathe” have gathered all across the nation but the epicenter appears to be New York City in a massive show of defiance against the grand jury’s decision in the Eric Garner fatal chokehold case. Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges are blocked, various highways and the Holland Tunnel, multiple arrests in Times Square and around Rockefeller Center and now 100s of protesters are heading to New York’s 1 Police Plaza as helicopters hover overhead.

The Blue Umbrella Revolution

The Blue Umbrella Revolution 

The blue umbrella revolution is the most attracting news of 2014 .It all started on Sept. 26, when hundreds of students gathered in a courtyard in Central Hong Kong, demanding an end to Chinese oppression and control.  China’s modern history with Hong Kong has been complicated, to say the least. For more than 150 years, Hong Kong belonged to Britain.  Then in 1997 Britain handed the thriving metropolis back to China in a political deal called “One Country, Two Systems,” which allowed Hong Kong to maintain some of the freedoms and independence mainland Chinese people do not have, such as freedom of the press and the right to assemble. The people of Hong Kong would even be allowed to elect their own leader in 2017.

But this summer China started to backpedal. It announced to Hong Kong that those elections could proceed only if the Chinese government selected all the candidates. To the people of Hong Kong, that meant they wouldn’t have much control over their own government after all.

The students hit the streets, and thousands from Hong Kong rushed to join them in the days that followed. The Chinese government and the protesters have dug in their heels, and negotiations have failed. Now counter-protests from pro-China residents are complicating the situation.

 Why the umbrellas?

Hong Kong students are currently protesting for more political freedom and have been using umbrellas to protect themselves from police pepper spray. The umbrellas became a symbol of the movement and gave it its nickname, the Umbrella Revolution. Though protest leaders say their campaign is not a revolution but a civil-disobedience movement, the name Umbrella Revolution has stuck.

 Main players

The movement was initiated by a group called Occupy Central With Love & Peace, led by Hong Kong University law professor Benny Tai. Tai’s original agenda was to stage a sit-in on Oct. 1 in Central — the city’s financial district — but he decided to begin a few days earlier to capitalize on political momentum after several students were pepper-sprayed and arrested. That heavy-handed police action also spurred parallel sit-ins in Causeway Bay and across the water in Kowloon.

There are also student groups separate from Occupy Central but with very similar aims. The two main ones are Scholarism, led by a precocious 17-year-old, Joshua Wong, and the Hong Kong Federation of Students, led by Alex Chow, 24, and his deputy, Lester Shum.

Demands of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters.

The main demand is full democracy. Protesters want the right to nominate and directly elect the head of the Hong Kong government, known as the chief executive.

China, which resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong after it stopped being a British colony in 1997, wants to screen who can stand for office. Beijing insists that candidates for the chief-executive position must be vetted by an electoral committee of tycoons, oligarchs and pro-Beijing figures.

As a secondary demand, protesters want the current chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, to resign, which he has flatly refused to do. Leung is widely disliked because he is seen as prioritizing China’s interests over Hong Kong’s. He was also indirectly elected by an electoral college of just 1,200 voters, of which 689 voted for him. He is mockingly referred to as “689” after this feeble tally.

Why China just let Hong Kong have more freedom?

The Communist Party insists on maintaining political control. It isn’t about to let China’s most international city — which is already highly porous — choose its own leader, in case an opponent of the Communist Party gets elected as chief executive and becomes an advertisement to the rest of China of the possibility of democratic change.

At the same time, Beijing is aware that Hong Kong, because of its past as a British territory, is a special case. Hong Kong has an independent judiciary, common law, freedom of information and movement, a reasonably free press and so on. The Communist Party thinks this semiautonomy should be enough for Hong Kong, but a well-educated and well-traveled generation of young Hong Kongers wants more. They have always enjoyed Western-style freedoms and want the political enfranchisement that comes with it. They feel little in common with mainland Chinese and want Hong Kong to become politically autonomous — almost independent. These are the people at the forefront of the Umbrella Revolution.

 Hong Kong's public support 

No. Many, especially the older generation, are actively opposed to it because they are afraid of antagonizing China. They remember the bloody suppression of the Tiananmen uprising in Beijing in 1989, and point to the currently harsh political climate in China, and conclude that Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution is doomed. They argue that, by challenging the party, the students are only inviting Beijing to withdraw the freedoms that Hong Kong does have.

The older generation is also more concerned about economic stability. It’s already hard enough to make a living in hyper-expensive Hong Kong, they say, without sit-ins bringing the city to a halt, and all in the name of a cause that has no hope of winning anyway.

Nobody is really sure. But whether the current occupations end peacefully, with a student withdrawal, or violently, with riot police sent in, one thing is certain: Hong Kong’s democratic movement is only just getting started. It will come out of this with greater skills and experience and it will have groomed young leaders who know how to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people, and who know how to put across their cause in international media. For the party bosses in Beijing, that’s a big 

Iraq trgedy

ISIS used to be al-Qaeda in Iraq

An Iraqi soldier during a fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq in January 2014.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) used to have a different name: al Qaeda in Iraq. US troops and allied Sunni militias defeated al Qaeda in Iraq during the post-2006 "surge" — but it didn't destroy them. The US commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, described the group in 2010 as down but "fundamentally the same." In 2011, the group rebooted. ISIS successfully freed a number of prisoners held by the Iraqi government and, slowly but surely, began rebuilding their strength. ISIS and al-Qaeda divorced in February 2014. "Over the years, there have been many signs that the relationship between al Qaeda Central (AQC) and the group's strongest, most unruly franchise was strained," Barack Mendelsohn, a political scientist at Haverford College, writes. Their relationship "had always been more a matter of mutual interests than of shared ideology."

 

According to Mendelsohn, Syria pushed that relationship to the breaking point. ISIS claimed that it controlled Jabhat al-Nusra, the official al-Qaeda splinter in Syria, and defied orders from al-Qaeda's leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, to back off. "This was the first time a leader of an al-Qaeda franchise had publicly disobeyed" a movement leader, he says. ISIS also defied repeated orders to kill fewer civilians in Syria, and the tensions led to al-Qaeda disavowing any connection with ISIS in a February communiqué.

Today, ISIS and al-Qaeda compete for influence over Islamist extremist groups around the world. Some experts believe ISIS may overtake al-Qaeda as the most influential group in this area globally.

UN warning

Islamic State fighters have taken over much of northern Iraq, including its second city Mosul

 

The UN has warned that up to 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes after militants took over more towns in northern Iraq. Islamic State (formerly known as Isis) militants are reported to have taken over the town of Sinjar near Syria. It follows the IS takeover of the town of Zumar and two nearby oilfields from Kurdish Peshmerga forces on Saturday. IS seized large parts northern Iraq from government control in a major offensive in June.
 

The UN special envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, said that a "humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar". "The United Nations has grave concerns for the physical safety of these civilians" he said. "The humanitarian situation of these civilians is reported as dire, and they are in urgent need of basic items including food, water and medicine" he added. The UN said many of those who fled are in exposed areas in mountains near the town.

 

Many of those in Sinjar are believed to have fled from earlier IS advances in northern Iraq. The town is home to a large community of Kurdish Yazidis, whom IS consider heretical. Two Yazidi shrines have reportedly been destroyed in the town. Kurdish military forces, known as the Peshmerga, were also forced to retreat from the nearby town of Zumar on Saturday after a militant offensive. Kurdish forces had held the town since the Iraqi army retreated from the are in June. Eyewitnesses said militants also seized control of two small oilfields near Zumar. IS already controls several other oil installations in northern Iraq, which are believed to fund its activities.

 

Scotland says no

 Scotland - A country of United Kingdom. The place which the witnessed us the XXth COMMONWEALTH GAMES now showing and creating a history by say NO TO INDEPENDENCE. Yes, a country of population about three and half millions peoples, well civilized and developed country says no to independence.

Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after voters decisively rejected independence. With the results in from all 32 council areas, the "No" side won with 2,001,926 votes over 1,617,989 for "Yes". Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond called for unity and urged the unionist parties to deliver on more powers. Prime Minister David Cameron said he was delighted the UK would remain together and that commitments on extra powers would be honoured "in full".

Mr Cameron said the three main unionist parties at Westminster would now follow through with their pledge of more powers for the Scottish Parliament. He announced that Lord Smith of Kelvin who led Glasgow's staging of the Commonwealth Games, would oversee the process to take forward the commitments, with new powers over tax, spending and welfare to be agreed by November, and draft legislation published by January.

Scottish Referendum Results

The prime minister also acknowledged that the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over their affairs. And he promised a solution to the West Lothian question - the fact that Scottish MPs can vote on English issues at Westminster, and not the other way round.

In other developments:

• US President Barack Obama welcomed Scots' decision to stay in the UK. "Through debate, discussion, and passionate yet peaceful deliberations, they reminded the world of Scotland's enormous contributions to the UK and the world," he said.
• Police Scotland said Thursday's vote "passed off smoothly" with just six arrests across the country mainly for alleged breaches of the peace and assaults.
•   Share price rose as Scotland voted against independence.
• Polling officials said they were investigating 10 cases of suspected electoral fraud at polling stations in Glasgow.
• Royal Bank of Scotland said it would keep its headquarters in Scotland following the "No" vote.
•  Wales's First Minister Carwyn has called for more funding for his country after Scotland voted to stay in the Union.
•  Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson said a vote on the future of Northern Ireland's border was not necessary following Scotland's 'No' vote.
• Scotland rejected independence by 55% to 45%

The result became a mathematical certainty at 06:08, as the returning officer in Fife announced a comfortable No vote.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Salmond said he accepted the defeat and called for national unity. He told supporters: "The unionist parties made vows late in the campaign to devolve more powers to Scotland. "Scotland will expect these to be honoured in rapid course - as a reminder, we have been promised a second reading of a Scotland Bill by March 27 next year.

The margin of victory for the Better Together campaign - 55% to 45% - was greater by about 3% than that anticipated by the final opinion polls. The winning total needed was 1,852,828.

Speaking in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said the result was decisive.

He said: "Now the debate has been settled for a generation, or as Alex Salmond has said: 'Perhaps for a lifetime'.

"So there can be no disputes, no re-runs; we have heard the will of the Scottish people."

The prime minister also spoke of the implications for the other nations of the UK.

"In Wales there are proposals to give the Welsh Government and Assembly more powers and I want Wales to be at the heart of the debate on how to make the United Kingdom work for all our nations," he said.

"In Northern Ireland, we must work to ensure that the devolved institutions function effectively."

Mr Cameron said "millions of voices of England must also be heard".

"The question of English votes for English laws, the so-called West Lothian question, requires a decisive answer so just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues on tax, spending and welfare, so too England as well as Wales and Northern Ireland should be able to vote on these issues.

"And all this must take place in tandem with and at the same pace as the settlement for Scotland."

Constitutional revolution in Scotland

Analysis by Andrew Marr, What started as a vote on whether Scotland would leave the UK has ended with an extraordinary constitutional revolution announced outside Downing Street by the Prime Minister.

It throws down the gauntlet to the Labour Party, and hints that we are going to see very big change coming and it had better come quickly.

We always used to be told that if you laid all the economists in the world end to end they still wouldn't reach a conclusion and I think that could be said often about parliamentary committees and inquiries and commissions.

Well, it can't happen this time because it's not taking place in a sealed room with the Westminster parties, the old smug consensus, getting round an argument with each other as before.

This is really taking place in a huge glass house, being watched by all the Scottish voters and by millions of people around the UK. What the Scottish shock has done is produce a constitutional revolution on a very, very tight timetable. Possibly the most exciting political story in my lifetime.

Pro-independence supporters console one another in Edinburgh

Following his appointment by the prime minister, Lord Smith of Kelvin said he had begun work to oversee the process of delivering more powers for the Scottish Parliament. He said: "There is an appetite for change and a strengthening of the powers for the Scottish Parliament. This is backed by all the main political parties.

"My role is to create a process through which we can channel that energy into real action.

"This won't be a drawn out process; I have started work today and will present what I hope will be unifying recommendations on 30th November."

Lord Kelvin said there would be an opportunity for "everyone to have their say".

He promised to engage with all political parties, trade unions, businesses or voluntary organisations and listen to "ideas and thoughts" from ordinary people.

No supporters celebrate after their decisive victory

Alistair Darling, who led the Better Together campaign, said the people of Scotland had "chosen unity over division and positive change rather than needless separation".

"It is a momentous result for Scotland and also for the United Kingdom as a whole," he said.

Mr Darling said the result had "reaffirmed all that we have in common and the bonds that tie us together", adding: "Let them never be broken."

"As we celebrate, let us also listen," he said.

  "No" campaigners were jubilant as the scale of the result became known

 

Many "Yes" supporters were visibly upset by the result

Across Scotland, the "No" vote had a majority in 28 of the country's 32 local authority areas.

Dundee was the first area to back independence. On a turnout of 78.8%, "Yes" polled 53,620 votes to the "No" campaign's 39,880.

The other three areas were all clustered in Labour's traditional west of Scotland heartland. Glasgow, Scotland's largest council area and the third largest city in Britain, voted in favour of independence by 194,779 to 169,347, although turnout was lower than in other areas at 75%.

West Dunbartonshire also gave its backing to independence, voting 54% to 46% in favour, with North Lanarkshire completing the "Yes" quartet by 51% to 49%.

In Scotland's 28 other local authority areas, it was a night of huge disappointment for the pro-independence movement.

A man walks past a discarded "Yes" campaign paper hat on the Royal Mile ain Edinburgh

Hoped-for breakthroughs in other traditional Labour strongholds such as South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and across Ayrshire never materialised.

Edinburgh, the nation's capital, clearly rejected independence by 194,638 to 123,927 votes, while Aberdeen City voted "No" by a margin of more than 20,000 votes.

Royal relief

Royal correspondent Nick Witchell at Balmoral. It seems very remote and cut off but of course the Royal Family has been following this minutely. Reaction - one word, relief. Relief that's it's over, relief that Scotland has decided what it has. The Queen undoubtedly, privately would have felt immense sadness had the United Kingdom been split up.

Relief too for her officials who had been starting to contemplate some very tricky constitutional issues.

Once all the politicians have said what they wish to say, I think this afternoon it is expected that the Queen will issue a short written statement. It seems logical to surmise that after this really quite divisive campaign she will concentrate on the vote, the decision that Scotland has taken, and express the hope that Scotland will now move on.

Article 370

Omar Abdullah tweeted "Mark my words & save my tweet - long aftrer Modi Govt is a distant memory either J&K won't be part of India or Article 370 will still exist . Article 370 is the only constitutional link between J&K and rest of India. Talk of revocation of not just ill informed it's responsible."

But what exactly is Article 370 and why is the Article so important to keep J&K as a part of India? Here are 10 facts that explain why :

1. According to the Constitution of India, Article 370 provides temporary provisions to the state of J&K, granting it special autonomy.
2. The Article says that the provisions of Article 238, which was ommited from the Constitution in 1956 when Indian states were reorganised, shall not apply to the state of J&K.  

3. Dr BR Ambedkar, the principal drafter of the Indian Constitution, had refused to draft Article 370.

4. In 1949, the PM Nehru had directed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah to consult Ambedkar (law minister) to prepare the draft of a suitable article to be included in the constitution.
5. Article 370 was eventually drafted by Gopalswamy Ayyangar.
6. Ayyangar was a minister without portfolio in the first Union Cabinet of India. He was also  a former Diwan of Maharaja Hari Singh of J&K.
7.Aryicle 370 is drafted in Amendment of the Constitution section, in Part XXI, under Temporary and Transitional Provisions.
8. Tghe

8. The original draft explained "the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948."

9. On November 15, 1952, it was changed to "the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the Sadr-i-Riyasat (now Governor) of Jammu and Kashmir, acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the State for the time being in office."

10. Under Article 370 the Indian Parliament cannot increase or reduce the borders of the state.

The Crimea Crisis

Crimea, The most wanted headlines of every newspaper nowadays. Not for achieving for something but for a war. Actually it was started in Russian Civil War, the time when Russia was ruled by two armies The White Army & The Red Army, the white army was conducted by The White Movement, a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces and the red army by Soviet Armed Forces but Crimea was controlled by white army. In 1921 they were defeated by red army. 

But again in World War II Crimea was occupied by Nazi Germany from July 1942 - May 1944. In 1954, it was transferred to the Ukraine. In 1991, it became part of independent Ukraine. Currently, a majority of people in Crimea are of  Russian Federation and minority is of Ukraine.

As a result of the 2014 Crimean Crisis, the sovereignty over the Crimea is currently disputed between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Now Russia declared Crimea it's own peninsula and currently controlled by the Russian Federation which is not recognized by United Nations. 

Ukraine-Russia tension

The port of Sevastopol is a major naval base and has been home to the Black Sea Fleet since Soviet times. The collapse of the USSR, the fleet was divided up between Russia and Ukraine. The continuing presence of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol (shown in above map) has been a focus of tension between Russia and Ukraine. In 2008, Ukraine - then under the pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko - demanded that Moscow not use the Black Sea Fleet during its conflict with Georgia.

International Reaction

• According to the results of the United Nations General Assembly vote a major part of countries including USA, Australia, Saudi Arab, New Zealand, Japan etc are in favor of Ukraine and as usual  Russia is against them with some other countries whereas a major part of Asia including India, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and a major part of South America and Africa didn't participate in this poll.

• According to the Official Government Statements many countries condemned the military action of Russia in Crimea and are in support with Ukraine territorial integrity.

• A major part of the wold is agreed with the result of 2014 for Crimean peninsula.

• • 

  Request by Council of Ministers of Crimea to Ukrainian 55th Anti-Aircraft Artillery regiment in Yevpatoria to lay down arms under control of Russian Black Sea Fleet for the period of Crimean referendum

GOLD RUSH : Yellow Fever

George de Hevesy

HNO3 + 3HCL One part nitric acid with three parts hydrochloric acid , i.e. this chemical substance called Aqua Regia lies at the heart of an amazing legend. In 1940, when Adolf Hitler was on a roll, Prof. Niel Bohr was on a role. He shielded Jewish German scientists at his institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. When the Third Reich army eventually marched into Denmark in April 1940, Bohr handed over two Nobel Medals to scientist George de Hevesy. Bohr wanted the gold medals belonging to German scientists Max von Laue and James Franck, who had fled Denmark for good, to be concealed from the marauding Nazi troops. A panicking de Hevesy found a "solution ". He dissolved the medals in Aqua Regia - "royal water" in Latin. Years later, after world war II ended, the gold was recovered from the solution and returned to the Nobel Foundation, which reissued the medals. 

                           

     

Neil Bohr

Back to the present . What was part of heroism of yore is now headache for customs officers in India. The Air Intelligence Unit at the various International Airport found gold being smuggled in 'royal liquid' form. 

    



A passenger named, Faisal of Kasaragod district in north Kerala (India), who arrived by AIR INDIA EXPRESS flight IX 434 from Dubai on March 6, walked through the green channel. The customs scanner has detected presence of metal in his baggage and after enquiry, custom officers found two kilos of gold, dissolved in Aqua-Regia, packed in condoms and concealed in liquid detergent containers. Customs officers say this was the first time they came across gold being smuggled in liquid form. 

Gold -plated spoons at the Cochin Aiport

Actually about 871 cases of gold smuggling worth Rs. 99 crore were filed in 2012, this fiscal year 2013 saw 1,131 cases worth Rs. 320 crore (till December). But these are only those cases which are caught red handed by the police and the officers of CBI. According to Former Finance minister P. Chidambaram recently admitted that up to three tonnes of gold was being smuggled into india every month and 150 - 200 tonnes in a year.

       This yellow fever is now effecting India's economy and GDP and due to this the price of gold is increasing rapidly in Indian market .

•  Between March 2012 and August 2013, the government raised gold import duties from 4% - 10% to control fiscal deflict.
• Though this curbed imports, domestic demand remained same. This led to smuggling of gold from many Gulf and South Asian countries.
• The price of gold in India is about Rs.4,000 higher than in Dubai, and importing gold and selling it in India fetches a profit of Rs. 5 lakh per kg.
• Intelligence sources say a part of the smuggled gold is routed to Islamic radical groups and the Underworld.
• While market analysis put the amount of gold smuggled into India annualy at 20 to 30 tonnes per month, Former Union Finanace Minister P. Chidambaram said it was 1-3 tonnes per month in the second half of 2013. However, World  Gold Council estimates put the amount close to 200 tonnes every year.
• According to WGC, gold demand in India was 975 tonnes in 2013 and is expected to be 900 - 1,000 tonnes in 2014.

The security of airports are being tightened, smugglers have come up with innovative methods to bring in gold.

• Conceales in food items like coffee powder and detergents.
• In lingerie acid, wrist watches, gadgets, cutlery, shoe soles and laces.
• Gold wires hidden in hair and beard.
• Stashing gold in imported vehicles.
• Carriers who swallow gold nuggets or conceal gold in their rectum.
• Bags with gold lining and trolleys with golden rods.
• Gold-plated spoons and belt buckles.
• Golden staples on cardboard boxes.

Gold spots : Kochi and Kozikode district of Kerala. The  major places of smuggling in INDIA.