Indore-Patna Express derails near Kanpur: 5 NDRF teams deployed, over 50 rescued from mangled bogies

NEW DELHI: NDRF teams rescued more than 50 passengers from the mangled bogies of Indore-Patna Express which derailed near Kanpur during the early hours on Sunday.


The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed nearly 200 personnel for search and rescue operations at the accident site. Over 100 people died in the mishap+ . The operation was still in progress after six hours.
The five NDRF teams were deployed after home minister Rajnath Singh instructed+ NDRF chief RK Pachnanda. Some additional teams are also put on stand by and shall be mobilised as per requirement. The NDRF DG rushed to the site from Delhi early in the morning to supervise the rescue operation.

Of the five teams, one comprising 35 personnel immediately rushed to the site from the Regional Response Centre (RRC), Lucknow and reached there soon after 8 am, after which it started search and rescue operation. Two more teams comprising of 79 personnel from Varanasi too reached within hours.

To strengthen the rescue operation, two additional teams comprising 75 personnel were airlifted from Hindon Airbase in Ghaziabad and reached at the site at 1105 hours, a Home Ministry statement said.

Trump fills three top posts with hardliners

The three — Jeff Sessions, Mike Pompeo, Michael Flynn — have been fierce critics of Obama’s handling of terrorism, international relations

President-elect Donald Trump signaled a sharp rightward shift in the U.S. national security policy on Friday, naming Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA and former military intelligence chief Michael Flynn as his national security adviser.

All three have been fierce critics of President Barack Obama’s handling of terrorism and international relations.

Mr. Trump is a foreign policy novice and his early moves on national security are being closely watched both in the U.S. and overseas. Mr. Sessions and Mr. Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Mr. Flynn would not.

Mr. Flynn, who has called Islam a “political ideology” that “hides behind being a religion,” will work in the West Wing and have frequent access to Mr. Trump as he makes national security decisions.

Mr. Trump said in a statement on Friday that Mr. Flynn would be “by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad.”

Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Flynn has called for the U.S. to work more closely with Moscow. But his warmth toward Russia has worried national security experts, particularly after he traveled to Moscow to join Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for RT, a Kremlin-backed television channel. Mr. Flynn said he had been paid for taking part in the event and brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort.

Mr. Sessions was the first senator to endorse Mr. Trump, rallying behind the Republican’s hardline immigration policies. On Friday, Mr. Trump called Mr. Sessions “a world-class legal mind.

Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Flynn has called for the U.S. to work more closely with Moscow. But his warmth toward Russia has worried national security experts, particularly after he traveled to Moscow to join Russian President Vladimir Putin at a celebration for RT, a Kremlin-backed television channel. Mr. Flynn said he had been paid for taking part in the event and brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort.

Force 2: Do not put the thinking cap on!

At times, while watching a film, you don’t quite engage with what’s happening on screen but keep wondering about what would have gone behind setting up a particular scene. So, in Force 2, instead focusing on the efforts put in by cop Yash (John Abraham) and RAW agent Kamaljeet Kaur aka KK (Sonakshi Sinha) in nabbing the bad guy Shiv (Tahir Bhasin) at an economic summit in Budapest, I wanted to know how Shiv managed to breach the security so easily and reach there in the first place. That too not alone but with an army of bad men behind him. Wouldn’t the modus operandi of this infiltration have made an infinitely better story than the infantile pursuit that unfolds over two hours on screen?

But Abhinay Deo doesn’t want us to put the thinking cap on. He just wants to please us with long chases and car crashes, bullets and blood, the views of Chain Bridge and Hero’s Square in Budapest. However, the supposedly slick action is not enough for a willing suspension of disbelief. Instead of diverting our attention, it draws it even more to the inane, tired and utterly random story-telling about some RAW agents copping it in China and the one to terminate them stationed in the Indian embassy in Budapest. Needless to say our cop and the agent are on a mission to find him after being successful in deciphering some hidden message in a book. In the course of this hunt, among other things, they keep having face offs with some mock-sinister Chinese baddies and even come across a Hungarian femme fatale who performs item number to Kate nahin kat-te remix in the videshi bar.

It gets worse. The film tries to do lip-service to the feminist cause, with some righteous dialogue about women’s capabilities and by making the heroine wear formal trouser and shirt but ends up presenting her as an utterly inept agent, one who is either off the mark or hides behind her male colleague (who, incidentally, is always right). The twist in tale is as dubious as the film’s feminism, in how it conveniently aligns with the patriotic mood of the moment. But it still doesn’t thaw a hard-hearted viewer like yours truly.

Abraham reprises the dour ACP Yashvardhan with a suitable singularity of expression. I only hope it doesn’t get mistaken for intensity. He also manages to hang on rather well to a towel perched precariously on his mid-riff (for knowing more about the towel, see the movie). Meanwhile, Sinha looks completely clueless, as though she walked into a wrong film set. It’s left entirely up to Bhasin then to hold our interest with his blabbering, psychological games and mouth organ. He, at times, overcompensates for the po-faced leads but largely manages to hold some amount of interest even if his character itself seems like a long lost twin of the evil avatar he played in Mardani. Time, for a talented actor like him, to move on, before the supposed charisma turns into a worn-out cliché.

Earthquake Today: Delhi wakes up to tremors, epicentre located in Haryana

Delhi Earthquake: Despite being early in the morning a lot of people tweeted about the earthquake shaking buildings in the region.

  New Delhi and parts of north India were shaken by an earthquake at around 4.30 am on Thursday. According to initial reports the earthquake had its epicentre in Haryana with a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter Scale. The earthquake was at a depth of 10 km.

Despite being early in the morning a lot of people tweeted about the earthquake shaking buildings in the region. The tremors, which lasted nearly a minute, shook Delhi and neighbouring Gurgaon and Ghaziabad around 4:30 a m. Many said the quake was strong enough to wake them up.

Meet the teenagers behind Mannequin Challenge madness

The Mannequin Challenge is the standing still craze that has taken social media by storm.

Everyone from the Dallas Cowboys, to Beyonce and Hillary Clinton has taken part.

The Florida teenagers who created the craze have been telling BBC Trending how Mannequin Challenge came about and have been picking some of their favourite frozen moments.

FACEBOOK STARTUP

Earlier this year, Facebook started up a new monthly trends report called “Topics to Watch” which is probably more relevant and useful than most take at for, at least at the moment.

Topics to Watch highlights emerging trends which are gaining momentum across Facebook based on mention volume, velocity and other related engagement metrics. Facebook’s data team identifies these topics then breaks each out into its own segment, with a description of the trend, a graph showing mention growth, and associated data around related topics and demographic popularity.

It’s handy information to have, but the purpose of that data may not be immediately clear – as a marketer, why do you care if “gloss” is trending?

The key thing to consider with these topics is that they’re on the move, they’re likely to grow in popularity over time. So right now, these might be largely meaningless, but interest in them is building. Getting ahead of that trend and tapping into any related conversations relevant to your business could give you the upper hand in your Facebook marketing efforts.

And worth noting - Facebook’s research team says that 80% of the topics they’ve identified in this way have gone on to become more prominent trends. It might be worth paying attention to the monthly listings and seeing if there’s a relevant angle for your brand to take.

The full July “Topics to Watch” infographic is below, with more information available on the Facebook IQ Insights blog.

INFO ABOUT SOCIAL NETWORK FOR THESE DAYS

SOCIAL NETWORKS

SNAPCHAT RELEASES SPECTACLES (VIA MOBILE 'SNAPBOT' VENDING MACHINES)

November 10, 2016

Snapchat's Spectacles are now available, via stylistic vending machines that are traveling around the US.

INSTAGRAM ADDS NEW FUNCTIONS TO STORIES, INCLUDING LINKS AND LOOPING VIDEO TOOLS

November 10, 2016

Instagram has announced the first major update of Stories, adding new linking and video looping tools.

5 NEW SOCIAL PLATFORM FEATURES YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

November 10, 2016

Here are five new social platform updates and features you need to know about.

HOW THE US ELECTION PLAYED OUT ON SOCIAL, AND THE ROLE OF SOCIAL PLATFORMS IN THE NEWS CYCLE

November 09, 2016

What role did social media have in the US election process? Here's an overview and a look at what that means for our wider media consumption behaviors.

FACEBOOK INTRODUCES JOB LISTINGS, A POTENTIAL THREAT TO LINKEDIN

November 09, 2016

Facebook is trialing a new job listings option for some Pages, which could eventually become a threat to LinkedIn.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FOODSTAGRAMMING

November 09, 2016

Why do millions of people take photos of their food and post them to social media?