MOSCOW, Feb 20: A meteor that exploded over Russia’s Ural mountains and sent fireballs blazing to earth has set off a rush to find fragments of the space rock which hunters hope could fetch thousands of dollars a piece. Friday’s blast and ensuing shockwave shattered windows, injured almost 1,200 people and caused about $33 million worth of damage, said local authorities. (agencies)
Subatomic calculations indicate finite lifespan for universe
BOSTON, Feb 20: Scientists are still sorting out the details of last year’s discovery of the Higgs boson particle, but add up the numbers and it’s not looking good for the future of the universe, scientists said Monday. “If you use all the physics that we know now and you do what you think is a straightforward calculation, it’s bad news,” Joseph Lykken, a theoretical physicist with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, told reporters. (agencies)
Raytheon says aces missile-detection tests in US
WASHINGTON, Feb 20: A Raytheon Co system built into big blimp-like balloons has demonstrated capabilities that could make it easier to detect and track certain enemy ballistic missiles, the company and the US Army’s manager of the program said. System tests in December at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, successfully tracked four targets mimicking tactical ballistic missiles in “high-threat” regions, Raytheon is set to announce on Tuesday. (agencies)
Russia asks: How do you stop space objects hitting Earth?
MOSCOW/VIENNA, Feb 20: What can man do to prevent Earth being hit by meteorites and asteroids? Russia has found, to its cost, that it has no answers. But US and European experts may be able to help with a few ideas that at first glance seem straight out of science fiction, including smashing spacecraft into asteroids, using the sun’s rays to vaporize them, or blasting them with nuclear bombs. (agencies)
Love is not light and fluffy for singer Richard Thompson
LONDON, Feb 20: If you want a silly little love song, don’t bother with Richard Thompson – the singer-songwriter does angst not amour.
Instead of beating hearts, flowers and sunny days, you get bitter break-ups, painful goodbyes, spite and the long walk home.
“You can write a song about relationships and it can be just a very polite, twee love song,” Thompson told Reuters as he embarks on his latest tour with a new CD in hand.
“But I don’t think that is doing justice to what usually happens to human beings.”
Thompson should know. His separation from wife and singing partner Linda Thompson in the 1980s was accompanied by a final tour now renowned in music circles for its palpable tension.
He’s had some 30 years of solo work since then, building on an already avid following in the United States, where he lives, and Britain, where he achieved early fame in the late 1960s as an original member of Fairport Convention.
His music is hard to define – something that pleases him. It is a mix of hard-driving bluesy folk, country and rock, which Thompson simply calls “tradition-based”.
And it is accompanied by outstanding guitar work that has had him included in Rolling Stone magazine’s Top 100 guitarists list.
But it is his dark lyrics, particularly his fascination with the fault lines of personal relationships, that define him for many fans.
“I grew up on (traditional) murder ballads,” he said. “That seems normal to me. And pop seems light and fluffy.”
One example is “I Misunderstood”, a painful song about a man discovering his lover is saying goodbye, not good luck.
“It is two people in a conversation hearing different words, interpreting things completely differently,” Thompson said. “She is not interested and he is. She keeps offering platitudes that he sees as encouragement. It happens all the time.”
ELECTRIC
Thompson’s new album “Electric” won’t disappoint those who have become accustomed to such poetic melancholia.
The songs on it are by no means all dark. But there are plenty of lines like “At least she looked me in the eye, with her less than fond goodbye” and “When you thought I was winning the game, you came out and snuffed out the flame”.
The album also come across slightly differently in that it highlights Thompson’s guitar playing, in places providing a slightly heavier, rockier tone than some of his previous work.
In the meantime, he has embarked on a tour – Britain first, followed by a U.S. Tour with country singers Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.
Thompson says he attracts slightly different audiences in the two countries. In America, it is more of an alternative country crowd who might follow the likes of Lyle Lovett.
In Britain, it is a mix of old and new.
“For the most part, it is probably the audience that has been with me since the 60s (and Fairport Convention). That’s a constant,” he said.
But he added with a chuckle: “And a steady influx of young people, which is encouraging. We like that … Long consumer lives.”
(agencies)
China Jan FDI falls 7.3 pct on year to $9.27 bln
BEIJING, Feb 20: China’s foreign direct investment inflows fell 7.3 percent in January from a year earlier, extending 2012’s series of consecutive year-on-year declines that highlights still sluggish global economic conditions.
The Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday that China drew $9.27 billion in foreign direct investment in January, down from December’s $11.7 billion. Investment inflows from key Asian economies and the U.S. Were down in the latest period.
FDI is an important gauge of the external economy to which China’s vast factory sector is oriented, though it is a small contributor to China’s overall capital inflows compared with exports, which were worth about $2 trillion in 2012.
The FDI data followed stronger-than-expected trade figures in January, which pointed to a solid recovery in domestic and external demand that signals the world’s second-largest economy is gaining momentum after growth in 2012 eased to a 13-year low – albeit at a 7.8 percent clip that is the envy of the world’s major economies.
A report earlier on Wednesday from ratings agency, Moody’s, said China’s economy was on track to deliver growth of 7.5-8.5 percent in 2013, with relatively easy monetary conditions and targeted fiscal spending likely to sustain the recovery.
‘The favorable growth outlook is supported by policy easing and credit extension, particularly by the non-banking sectors, and should continue in 2014,’ Moody’s said.
China attracted a total of $111.7 billion in FDI in 2012, just shy of 2011’s record $116 billion and marking the first annual fall in three years.
Beijing has said it wants to bring in $120 billion worth
Of FDI each year between 2012 and 2015.
China joined the World Trade Organisation in November 2001 and FDI inflows have soared since. OECD data shows China rivals the United States as the world’s top FDI destination.
Commerce ministry data showed investment inflows from the European Union rose 81.8 percent in January from year ago to $820 million, while investment by U.S. Firms fell 20.0 percent during the same period to $270 million.
FDI from 10 top Asian economies, including Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, fell 9.0 percent year on year in January, to $7.8 billion the ministry said.
Service sector inflows last month were $4.0 billion, down 9.8 percent on a year ago.
Manufacturing sector inflows totaled $4.43 billion in January, down 5.8 percent versus a year earlier.
China’s outbound direct investment from non-financial firms in January totaled $4.9 billion, up 12.3 percent from a year ago, the commerce ministry said. (agencies)
Vodafone challenges govt’s move to auction its 900MHz spectrum
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Vodafone today said it has filed a petition in Delhi High Court challenging Telecom Department’s move to put its 900 MHz spectrum to auction despite its applications for licence extension pending with the Department.
“Vodafone has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court challenging DoT’s action of putting its 900MHz spectrum to auction even when Vodafone’s applications for licence extension are pending with DoT,” the company said in a statement.
Vodafone had in December last year sought extension of its licence period for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles, which are coming up for renewal in November 2014.
The telecom operator has sought the extension under clause 4.1 of the licence agreement under which the government can extend the period of licence by 10 years at one time if the request is made by the operator during the 19th year of the licence period.
Vodafone said it is entitled to a fair and reasonable extension of its licence as per mutually agreeable terms.
“Both the policy and licence provide for continuity and this action of DoT to arbitrarily withdraw the 900MHz spectrum is not only against the provisions of policy and licence but also disruptive and against public interest,” the statement added.
The second round of spectrum sale will start from March 11, wherein government will put on auction the unsold GSM spectrum in 1800 Mhz band and airwaves held by telecom licences in 900 Mhz band that is coming for renewal starting 2014 onwards.
Government will auction spectrum in 900 MHz band for Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata circles.
The existing GSM operators will be allowed to retain 2.5 Mhz in each circle in the same band even after expiry of their licences after paying a market-determined price.
Vodafone has around 24 MHz spectrum in 900 MHz band in these three circles.
The operator said it has invested more than Rs 50,000 crore in India and remains committed to providing quality and affordable telecom solutions to its almost 150 million customers across the country. (PTI)
Coriander falls on weak demand, adequate stocks
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Coriander futures prices fell by Rs 84 to Rs 6,950 per quintal in futures trade today as speculators reduced their positions on the back of sluggish demand in the spot market.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, coriander for delivery in May fell by Rs 84, or 1.19 per cent, to Rs 6,950 per quintal with an open interest of 13,140 lots.
The spice for April delivery declined by Rs 80, or 1.15 per cent to Rs 6,836 per quintal with open interest of 31,850 lots.
Market analysts said besides profit-booking by speculators at existing higher levels, sluggish demand in the spot market led to the fall in coriander futures prices. (PTI)
Chana futures weaken 0.49% on profit-booking
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Chana prices fell by Rs 17 to Rs 3,424 per quintal in futures market today, as speculators booked profits, driven by a weak trend at the spot markets.
Expectations of higher output this season and expanded area of cultivation mainly affected the prices.
At the National Commodity and Derivative Exchange, chana for delivery in April fell by Rs 17, or 0.49 per cent, to Rs 3,424 per quintal, with an open interest of 74,280 lots.
Similarly, the commodity for delivery in May declined Rs 15, or 0.43 per cent, to Rs 3,474 per quintal, with open interest of 24,240 lots.
Traders said profit-booking by speculators following subdued demand in the spot market mainly led to the fall in chana prices at futures trade.
They said, as supplies from the new season crop and expectations of a rise in output also weighed on sentiment. (PTI)
CCI drops case against Lakshmi Machine Works
NEW DELHI, Feb 20: Fair trade regulator CCI has closed the case against textile machine maker Lakshmi Machine for alleged abuse of dominant position in the market for “sale of spinning machinery for textiles”.
“… Despite the fact that the opposite party (Lakshmi Machine Works) was a dominant player in the relevant market, mere increase in prices by the opposite party for valid economic reasons for all of its customers cannot amount to imposing of unfair or discriminatory conditions in purchase or sale of goods or services,” Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in its order dated February 15.
In a complaint filed by Shahi Exports, it was alleged that Lakshmi Machine Works had increased price of textile machineries it had ordered.
As per the order, during the arbitration proceedings with the complainant, Lakshmi Machine Works had submitted that the increase in the price was due to increase in cost of inputs like raw materials, labours among others.
CCI noted that Lakshmi Machine Works had been “increasing the price of his products after regular intervals and it was not discriminating with any of its customers but had increased the prices for all of its customers alike”. (PTI)