U.S. flights hit by lightning

Passengers on board four aircraft had a narrow escape as their planes were struck by lightning in Houston airspace.

According to the Houston Airport System officials, lightning hit United flight 1001 from Houston to Bogota yesterday afternoon.

Airline officials said 124 people were on board.

The plane was sent back to Houston and landed safely.

A United Express flight from Houston to Mobile, Alabama was also struck by lightning in the air. The plane, which had 47 people on board, returned to Houston and landed safely.

There was smoke in the cabin on both flights after being struck by lightning, the Houston Fire Department said.

The third plane was Delta 1832, an MD-80 plane from Atlanta.

The pilot reported he was struck while approaching Houston but landed safely at Hobby airport. No injuries were reported.

The FAA also said AirTran flight 297, a Boeing 717, on its way to Hobby Airport from Atlanta, was also struck by lightning but landed safely.

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Expert group report on Kudankulam satisfactory

The Central expert group's report on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant issue has answered all questions raised by protestors and was satisfactory, a senior member of the Tamil Nadu government panel, appointed to look into concerns of the locals, said on Sunday.

"We have reviewed all concerns raised by the protestors in our report. We also analysed the central expert group committee's report, which has answered all 44 questions raised by the protestors. We found the report satisfactory," former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman M R Srinivasan, one of the members of the state panel said.

However, he declined to divulge more details on the report submitted by his panel recently to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

The 15-member expert group, set up by the Centre, had stated categorically on January 31 that it had "conclusively addressed" all safety related issues to allay fears in the minds of locals around the plant in coastal Kudankulam.

"In conclusion, the EG (Expert Group) would like to state that based on its extensive examination of various issues, there should be no cause for concern about the safety of KKNPP," convenor A E Muthunayagam had said.

Giving thumbs up to the project, the EG report had said "it meets all current safety requirements and is safe for operation" and slammed the anti-nuclear protesters for 'creating fear' in the minds of the public and linking it to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last year.

The central expert groups findings come as a boost to the project at a time when Tamil Nadu is reeling under a severe power shortage.

The project, slated to be commissioned in December 2011, has been plagued by delay due to the protests over safety concerns of the Indo-Russian joint venture.

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Apple launches new iPad

The new iPad features a sharper screen and a faster processor. Apple says the new display will be even sharper than the high-definition television set in the living room.

Apple on Wednesday unveiled the third version of its genre-defining iPad tablet computer which will be available to consumers in the United States, Germany, France, Britain and Canada starting at 499 dollars from March 16.

“We’ve taken it to a whole new level and we are redefining the category that Apple created with the original iPad,” said Apple chief Tim Cook at a press conference in San Francisco.

“It makes amazing improvements over the most fundamental features of the design of the device while retaining everything that millions of people have grown to love about it,” he continued.

The new device, called simply the iPad, features a more powerful, quad-core chip, the A5X processor, a high-definition 2084x1536 Retina display which is “about 1 million more pixels than HDTV,” according to Apple, as well as a sharper 5 megapixel camera that includes special face detection technology.

Capable of accessing 4G mobile networks and creating its own mobile hotspot, the new iPad boasts download speeds that are five times faster than the current version, Mr. Cook said.

It also boasts a full complement of games, productivity and media software to take advantage of the new specs.

The unveiling of the new device had been widely expected, two years after Apple first launched the iPad, and a year after it introduced its successor the iPad 2.

Apple launches the new device from a dominant position in the tablet computer market. But Microsoft is readying its first tablet entry for later this year with the launch of the all-new Windows 8 operating system.

Apple has now sold some 55 million iPads, including 15.4 million in the last quarter, and is predicted to sell some 60 million iPads this year.

Market research firm Gartner predicts a total of 103.5 million tablet devices will be sold this year, rising to over 300 million by 2015.

Mr. Cook said that Apple has now sold over 172 million “post PC devices” which run on Apple’s mobile iOS software and which now make up 76 per cent of the company’s revenue.

The base level iPad features 16 GB of memory and wi-fi-only internet access. The cheapest version offering cellular internet access starts at 629 dollars. Apple also announced that the price of the existing iPad 32 models would be dropped by 100 dollars with the cheapest version now set at a price of 399 dollars.

At the presentation, Mr. Cook also announced the immediate availability of a new Apple TV device that is capable of streaming 1080p movies and TV shows.

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Elections-2012: Anti Congress

As Congress President Sonia Gandhi watched the election results with Priyanka and Rahul at his 12, Tughlaq Lane residence this morning, the message they heard by the afternoon was unmistakable: a sweeping anti-Congress verdict.

It pushed the party to fourth place in Uttar Pradesh, wrested away Goa, gave Punjab back to the Akali Dal — the first time a state government there has bucked incumbency in over 40 years — and in Uttarakhand, the Congress was flying down Independents to New Delhi in a desperate bid to unseat the faction-ridden, discredited BJP government.

So a win in Manipur was of little comfort to the Congress as it braced itself for questions on the effectiveness of their star, Rahul Gandhi, whose aggressive me-myself-and-I campaign in UP spectacularly failed to convince voters itching to throw out the Mayawati government.

If inflation, a string of corruption scandals and a UPA policy drift weakened the Congress’s case across all states, there were also few takers for the party’s tired NREGA rhetoric. Even the Muslims in UP weren’t impressed with the party’s announcements of reservation and claims of tears being shed over the Batla House encounter. As it faces the challenge to take on Narendra Modi in Gujarat later this year, the party will need to do a lot of introspection.

This was underlined by Rahul himself. Speaking outside 10, Janpath once the trends firmed up, he said: “First of all, let me congratulate Mulayam Singhji and Akhilesh. In a democracy, winning and losing happens. In UP, I led the campaign and I led from the front and so it is my responsibility. We fought collectvely, we fought well but results have not been good. This is one of my defeats and I take it in my stride I think it is a very good lesson for me. I think it will make me think in detailed ways which I like to do.”

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Earthquake in Philippines

A moderately strong earthquake cracked buildings and knocked televisions and glassware from tables on Tuesday in a central Philippine province, injuring at least five people and sending others rushing outside in panic, officials said.

Renato Solidum of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2 struck Tuesday morning and was centred just two miles (three kilometres) north of Masbate City on the island province of Masbate.

The quake, which was caused by movement in a local fault, was felt in nearby provinces.

Masbate City Mayor Socrates Tuason told The Associated Press by telephone that there were no immediate reports of major damage, and power and communications were unaffected by the temblor in his hillside city of 90,000 people.

But the quake caused cracks and shattered windows in houses and some buildings, one of which had to be cleared of people while safety officials ensured its stability. Large numbers of people rushed out of homes, offices, hospitals and schools and stayed in the streets as an aftershock hit less than an hour after the quake.

At least five people were slightly injured by falling objects, he said.

“I was having breakfast with my wife when everything started to shake. The TV set and glasses fell off the table,” Tuason said. “When I got out, I saw all the people in the community were on the streets.”

Disaster-response and first aid teams were deployed across the city, Tuason said, adding that he had sent officials to check a report that an abandoned, three-storey building has collapsed in a downtown residential area, Tuason said.

Classes in all schools were suspended as buildings were checked for damage, he said, adding he called an emergency meeting to deal with any contingency.

The Philippines is in the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. The damage and casualties are compounded by poor construction in violation of building codes in the impoverished nation.

In 1990, a magnitude-7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people in northern Luzon region.

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Hockey: Indian men yet to get approval for Olympics' training camp

Indian hockey team's preparation for the London Olympics is in jeopardy as the Sports Ministry is yet to approve the training camp, which was scheduled to start at the SAI centre in Bangalore from Monday.

The delay on part of Sports Ministry, who was intimated about the camp last November, has left the players in the lurch. And the never-ending tug of war between Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) is not doing the players any good.

"HI had submitted a revised long-term development programme to the Sport Ministry and SAI in November after consulting the various Federations. The camp starts tomorrow but the govt is yet to get back to us," said a HI official.

HI had submitted a proposal to the ministry on November 19, requesting for the commencement of a camp for the senior men's hockey team subject to qualification for the London Games.

HI sent another letter to the ministry and SAI on December 8 and, after India qualified for the Olympics after winning the qualifiers, the federation wrote another letter on February 27th, requesting the ministry to approve and sanction the camp.

On March 1, SAI executive director PC Kashyap also wrote to the ministry to convene a meeting to discuss the approval of the proposed camp, but the HI is still waiting for a response from the govt.

"India's preparation is suffering, the players were supposed to reach Bangalore today but now they are waiting at their home, even coach Michael Nobbs too is in Delhi," the source said.

"Without a sanctioning letter from the ministry, the camp cannot start in Bangalore as SAI will not allow the players to assemble there.

"I don't know what is the problem with the camp in Bangalore as it is not even a venue for the ongoing World Series Hockey (WSH)," he added.

The IHF-backed WSH has been the bone of contention between the warring HI and IHF and the stand-off has resulted in most of the national players skipping the tournament, fearing a ban from International Hockey Federation (FIH), which approves HI.The ongoing WSH started three days after the qualifiers.

The ministry has been supporting the WSH, which was postponed in December for the Olympic qualifiers, but its inaction regarding the approval of the camp has left players confused and also affected their Olympics preparation.

The Madhya Pradesh government, meanwhile, has stepped in saying they would bear the entire cost of the camp if HI wants to host the training camp there.

"The MP govt has supported the camp and said they are ready to host the camp there and they would spend all the money if the central govt doesn't approve the camp," the source said.

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