Home Minister to visit flood affected Karnataka and AP

New Delhi As the flood situation in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh continues to be grim, Home Minister P Chidambaram will undertake an aerial survey of the two affected states for an assessment of the damaged caused by the natural disaster.

Chidamabaram, who is currently in Tamil Nadu, is also expected to hold meetings with the Chief Ministers of both states - B S Yeddyurappa (Karnataka) and K Rosaiah (Andhra Pradesh) -- and other top officials in Bangalore and Hyderabad, official sources here said.

Senior Home ministry officers are in constant touch with the state authorities and other agencies. The situation is being monitored on round the clock basis by the MHA control room, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has allocated an amount of Rs 139.36 crore to the Calamity Relief Fund for Karnataka for 2009-10, comprising Rs 104.52 crore as Central contribution and Rs 34.84 crore as state contribution.

The Centre has also sent 249 water rescue-trained personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for Karnataka along with 73 inflatable motorised boats deployed in the districts of Bagalkote, Raichur, Gadag and Bijapur for rescue and relief operations.

Further, 250 water rescue-trained personnel and 60 inflatable boats of NDRF from Gandhinagar are ready to be airlifted, the sources added.

So far, the death toll in the calamity has risen to 205 in both the states.

Nothing 'fishy' about North Korean ship: Navy

New Delhi/Kochi: A probe team has found nothing "incriminating" on board a Pakistan-bound North Korean ship, which was detained off the Kerala coast for anchoring in Indian waters without mandatory clearance, a naval official said Sunday.

The vessel, Hyang Ro, was detained at Vadakara in Kozhikode district October 2 and was inspected by a joint team of the Indian Navy, the Coast Guard, intelligence agencies and port authorities, naval spokesperson Commander Roy Francis said.

"The team has completed its investigations of the vessel. The ship had anchored without mandatory clearance. It cited an internal leak in its tanks as the reason for anchoring in Indian waters," Francis told an agency over phone.

The ship will soon leave the Indian waters, he said.

"The authorities, who inspected the ship have established that the claims of the crew were genuine. The investigating team did not find any incriminating cargo or evidence on board," Francis added.

The ship of approximately 9,000 tonnes was en route to Port Bin Qasim in Pakistan from Colombo. The ship is captained by Choe Sung Ho and is owned by Pyongyang-based Sinhung Shipping Company.

This is the second incident this year of a "suspicious" North Korean ship being detained for anchoring in Indian waters without prior permission.

In August this year, a ship was detained in the Bay of Bengal. The vessel had dropped anchor off Hut Bay in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, it was later found to have genuine merchandise.

Robot fish could prevent crashes

The robots use lasers to measure the distance between each other

Robots that mimic the behaviour of fish have been developed by Japanese car firm Nissan, who believe the technique can be used in crash avoidance systems.

The tiny robots, called Eporo, can move in a fleet without bumping into their travelling companions.

It is the second time the firm has looked to the animal kingdom for inspiration for its designs.

Last year, the manufacturer unveiled its BR23C robot, which was modelled on the behaviour of bumblebees.

The bee also displays anti-collision behaviour but tends to fly solo.

The new three-wheeled robot, which will be shown off at Japanese design fair Ceatec on 6 October, is designed to travel in a group of up to seven vehicles.

Each uses a laser range-finder to measure the distance between obstacle.

The data is constantly shared between peers via radio, allowing the group to travel as a "shoal" without bumping into each other.

The technique allows the cars to travel side-by-side or quickly switch direction as a group.

"We, in a motorised world, have a lot to learn from the behaviour of a school of fish in terms of each fish's degree of freedom and safety," said Toshiyuki Andou, principal engineer of the project.

Sony shows off 3D TV technology

Broadcasters hope that the time has come for 3D television

Sony has shown off a new single-lens camera able to capture 3D images.

The majority of existing 3D set-ups use two-camera systems to record images tailored specifically for the left and right eye of the viewer.

The new camera takes a single image that is split by mirrors and recorded on two sensors, resulting in a "smoother" picture, according to Sony.

The prototype camera will be unveiled at next week's Ceatec electronics show in Tokyo, Japan.

Viewers will be able to watch the 3D images using special polarised glasses. Without them, they will just see normal 2D television, according to the firm.

The firm said the camera, which is able to capture images very quickly, is especially suited to sporting events.

Long shot

The new camera is one of a number of developments being put forward by the firm, which hopes that 3D TV is about to take off.

This week, the firm also opened the doors to its European research labs to show off a different 3D camera technology for recording football games.

Broadcasters are focusing efforts on 3D sporting events

The technology uses three fixed cameras to record the entire football pitch. The images can them be mapped and, using software, create a 3D view.

"Each camera films a third of the pitch," explained John Stone, general manager of research and development at Sony Professional.

"Because those cameras are set up at the same focal point, they can be stitched together.

"And because we have the depth information for every shot we can a synthesise a 3D impression be effectively positioning the pixel to different depth positions in the 3D composition."

Mr Stone stressed that while the technology to display images in 3D was in place, it would be some time before it would be common place.

"I'm not sure we're quite at the stage now where we're going to have 3D Match of the Day," said Mr Stone. "But i'm hoping that there's going to be live events televised in 3D from 2010, and that can be edited down into shorter 3D highlights."

Sporting chance

There have been a number of forays into the 3D market, pioneered by the film industry.

In 1953 The House of Wax became the first commercial 3D movie. However, the early technology caused unsteady images that induced nausea.

A second attempt was made in the 1970s, using stereoscopic images that required users to wear red and green glasses; while the image was steady there was considerable loss of colour quality and it also failed to take off.

There are a number of stages to get live 3D TV into the home.

The latest revival, dubbed "The 3D Wave" kicked off in 2003 with the release of the film Ghosts of the Abyss.

Users now wear polarized glasses - rather than the standard red and green spectacle - with the resulting image "fooling" the brain into thinking it is 3D.

Meanwhile, the technology to capture in 3D - or create a virtual 3D image using conventional cameras - has also been getting cheaper and is now affordable by some traditional TV and satellite broadcasters.

Very few broadcasters are in the position to control the entire process Fergal Ringrose TVB Europe

Sony hopes, by demonstrating what its technology is capable of, broadcasters will follow Hollywood's lead.

There are also signs that some of the bigger broadcasters are dipping a toe in the water.

In 2008, the BBC broadcast the world's first live sporting event in 3D, beaming back an England vs. Scotland game from the Six Nations to a cinema in London.

In addition, the corporation's director of London 2012, Roger Mosey, said there were plans to capture some of the Olympics in 3D.

"We could, and I believe should, capture some of the Games in 3D", he said.

"Nobody would expect the Games of 2012 to be comprehensively in 3D because the technology will be nothing like widespread enough; but it would be a shame not to have any images of London that were part of an experiment with what will be one of the next big waves of change."

Sky has gone a step further, announcing in July that it would launch "the UK's first 3D channel" by 2010.

However, Fergal Ringrose - editor of Europe's broadcast technology magazine, TVB Europe, told BBC News that Sky was in a rather unique position and that the majority of broadcasters were still reluctant to embrace 3D TV.

"Sky is going to be broadcasting through its existing high definition infrastructure, through its satellite network and then through the Sky set-top box.

"Very few broadcasters are in the position to control the entire process.

"We did a reader survey on 427 broadcasters across Europe and asked them if 3D TV was on the horizon. Only 15% said yes, and another 20% said they were looking at it as an option.

"That's somewhat underwhelming," he added.

EX-Delhi Top Cop to take over as Nagaland Governor

Ahead of finalising a socio-economic-political package that would take aspirations of the Naga people into account, President Pratibha Devisingh.

Patil on Sunday appointed former Delhi Police Commissioner Nikhil Kumar as Nagaland Governor.

Patil also appointed former Rajasthan deputy chief minister, Dr Kamla, as Tripura Governor. A veteran Congress leader, Dr Kamla headed the Congress’ jumbo election campaign committee for Rajasthan.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan communiqué said Dr Kamla would replace Dinesh Nandan Sahaya.

Manipur governor Gurbachan Jagat — also a retired police officer — was holding additional charge for

Nagaland after Kerala politician, K Sankaranarayanan, was moved to Jharkhand a few months back.

Kumar’s appointment comes at a time when the central effort to end the decades-long armed struggle in the state was entering a crucial stage.

It also comes in the backdrop of the home ministry refusing to give former interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah another extension.

The home ministry has been in talks with both the groups that share bitter relations and contradictory objectives.

Home Minister P Chidambaram, however, is keen that the decade-long dialogue with the NSCN (I-M) be taken to its logical conclusion with a package that would seek to address the demands raised by various fora.

Kumar — who retired after holding important positions in the security establishment including head of the National Security Guard — had moved into active politics and represented Bihar’s Aurangabad constituency in Lok Sabha. He lost the last Lok Sabha elections.

“He will bring with him a unique mix, a politician who is an expert in security matters,” said a home ministry official.

‘Akram denied permission’

Karachi: Pakistan former captain and expert commentator Wasim Akram has been denied permission by the Indian government to do a commentary stint in the Champions League tournament starting in India from October 8.

According to a report in the daily newspaper Jang, Akram was all set to fly to India for his fresh stint in the Champions League T20 tournament.

Devil's Advocate: Money, fame distracting cricketers, says Pataudi

Does India's performance in the Champions Trophy suggest that Indian cricket faces bigger problems? That's the key issue Karan Thapar discussed on Devil's Advocate with the man they consider India's greatest living former Test captain, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi.

Karan Thapar: Tiger Pataudi, let us start with India's performance in the Champions Trophy. M S Dhoni has gone on record to say, "It's a little difficult for me to say whether the performance was bad." What's your opinion of India's performance?

MAK Pataudi: It was bad in the sense that we had done well in Sri Lanka. I think we should remember that the Sri Lankan wickets suited us. Also it was the spinner who got the wicket in Sri Lanka and they won't get wickets in South Africa.

Karan Thapar:As regards the performance in South Africa, you have no doubt in saying that it was bad?

MAK Pataudi: I say it's bad in the sense that the bowlers didn't do well because they weren't in a position fit enough to do well. Not necessarily physically, but as bowlers because the wickets didn't suit.

Karan Thapar:Let's begin by taking up the issue of fitness. Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj weren't fit enough to play, Sachin wasn't fit enough to bowl, Gambhir wasn't able to play in all the practice matches. Would you say that fitness was a serious problem for the Indian team?

MAK Pataudi: Well, that is the problem. I think we have to study it because a majority of cricketers are not physically agile or physically athletic. If you go back even 50 years from Vijay Merchant to Gavaskar to even Sachin and Rahul Dravid, you wouldn't say they would run a 100 yards in reasonably quick time.

There are very few Indian players who are full of agility and quick movement in the field, and the catching has been poor. There are several reasons for this. When we learnt our cricket in the 60s, the facilities were not really that good.

Karan Thapar:Would you say that fitness was the reason why India's fielding was so poor in South Africa, particularly in the game against Pakistan?

MAK Pataudi: No, I don't think it's in a particular game. Throughout the history of Indian cricket, fielding has been very, very poor. That is because the people don't have grounds to learn fielding. We don't know how to dive; we don't know how to slide because we don't have ground where we can slide on.

Karan Thapar:Fitness is the Achilles heel of Indian cricket?

MAK Pataudi: Fitness and to some extent commitment.

Karan Thapar:To some extent commitment as well?

MAK Pataudi: Yes.

Karan Thapar:On that point, would you say that in the Champions Trophy match there was an issue about India's commitment or temperament and attitude because I noticed that Wasim Akram has gone on record to say, "It's the first time I have seen the Indian body language was wasn't there."

MAK Pataudi: This is not correct because this has happened before. On several occasions, when I was playing, our body language wasn't aggressive or perhaps that positive as it should have been. So it's a bane that has been in Indian cricket for a long, long time.

Karan Thapar:Like fitness, which has been a bane of Indian cricket, commitment has been a question mark against Indian cricketers for a long time.

MAK Pataudi: Certainly, some cricketers, yes.

Karan Thapar:Both Yuvraj Singh and Younis Khan broke fingers on their right hand during practice, but whereas Yuvraj didn't play at all and left for India. Younis Khan missed one game but was there on the field against India. Was commitment a factor in that?

MAK Pataudi: Actually, it depends on how badly it was broken. I don't think it's a question of commitment as much a question of how actually bad the injury is.

Karan Thapar:Many people feel that India's bowlers simply weren't up to the challenges they were facing in South Africa. In your opinion, how bad or poor was India's bowling?

MAK Pataudi: It was poor in the sense that we can't even expect to win 50/50s in these conditions if our bowling is going to go on like this. As I said, we got away with it in Sri Lanka because the wicket suited the spinners.