Google begins Amazon River Street View project

Google is expanding its Street View service into some of the world s most remote places. It will photograph the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers of northwest Brazil in partnership with charity Foundation for a Sustainable Amazon (FAS). Google will train local people to collect images, and will leave behind equipment so work continues long-term.

Pictures will be stitched together so users can explore 360-degree panoramics of the area. FAS approached Google two years ago with the plan to digitize high-quality images from the Amazon basin to demonstrate the effects of poor global sustainability efforts and widespread deforestation on the landscape. FAS project leader Gabriel Ribenboim said: “It is very important to show the world not only the environment and the way of life of the traditional population, but to sensitize the world to the challenges of climate change, deforestation and combating poverty.”

For Google, the project represents the biggest challenge for their Street View equipment, which was first designed to work over well-maintained, modern roads. Google s engineers will use the Street View “trike”, originally developed to reach off road areas – such as Stone Henge and Kew Gardens.

Nation Should get Inspired by Women Crickters, says CM Punjab

Chief Minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has said that national women cricketers have performed marvelously despite terrorism and other challenges that the country is facing , trendpk.Com reported on Tuesday. The CM also said that the wole nation is proud of its women’s cricket team and that the nation should get inspiration from the team.

Speaking at the banquet arranged in honour of the women cricket team, CM said that women cricketers have proved by winning Gold medal in the Asian games that they are gaining immense and pacy successes in all fields of life. The CM Punjab announced to arrange a ground and an academy for the team while he also gave Rs. 400,000 and shields to all the members of the team.

All conspiracies against democracy would be thwarted: President

President vows that all conspiracies against democracy would be thwarted. He asks Ministers not to be deterred by the negative propaganda against the government.
President Asif ali Zardai co-chaired a meeting of the federal cabinet along with Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani at Presidency late on Friday.
Participants of the meeting reposed full confidence in the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman President Zardari and PM Gilani. They also resolved that democracy and the constitutional amendments adopted by parliament would be defended and protected at all cost.
President urged the ministers to strive for strengthening the country economically. He said once we are strong economically, we will be able to tackle all the challenges. The meeting reviewed in depth the progress made by the government, the challenges faced by it and the way forward and resolved to continue making strides to strengthen democracy and address the problems faced by the people.
Presidents spokesperson, Farthatullah Babar, later told media that during the four-hour meeting, participants expressed their views candidly on all political, economic and security issues. He said the meeting has also resolved that democracy, parliament and the unanimous constitutional amendments adopted by parliament will be defended and protected at all cost.

UN appeals for more helicopters for flood aid

SUKKUR : At least 800,000 Pakistanis stranded by floods are at risk of dying of starvation or disease unless the United Nations gets more helicopters to urgently reach them, officials said on Wednesday.

The dire situation of these victims — reachable only by air — underscores the challenges the disaster has created in a country that could face unrest if it fails to provide compensation for the loss of homes, crops and livestock and ensure the economy doesn’t suffer too much in the long term.

“We have got thirteen helicopters right now. We would like another 37 because more are needed,” said U.N. humanitarian spokesman Maurizio Giuliano. “We are using aid drops. It’s not the best way of doing it, but it is the only way.”

The World Food Programme urged Pakistan’s government to quickly help the 800,000 people who can only be reached by air. “The fear is they

Police detain suspect after blast kills 7 in Xinjiang

BEIJING: Police in China’s restive far western region of Xinjiang have detained a suspect after an explosion on an electric tricycle killed seven people and injured another 14, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.

Xinhua said the incident, which it called in its English-language report an “accident”, happened in the morning in the southern city of Aksu.

“A suspect had been seized by police at the site and was being questioned,” it said, citing a government statement.

“Local authorities were going all out to treat the injured people,” the report added. AGENCIES

Rain forecast for flood-stricken Pakistan

Staff Report

KARACHI: The Meteorological Department on Thursday has predicted rain with lightning in some parts of Kashmir, Hazara, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Lower Sindh and North-East Balochistan during next 24 hours.

According to the Met Office, some parts of Upper Punjab, Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir have already received rain during last 24 hours.

25 millimeters was the heaviest rain recorded on Wednesday. SAMAA

NDMC meeting today

ISLAMABAD: The National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) is set to hold a crucial meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, which besides reviewing the overall situation also consider the proposal of setting up of an authority or body to transparently collect funds for the flood affected people.

The meeting will be presided over by the prime minister and attended by all the chief ministers, prime minister of Azad Kashmir, chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Chairman of NDMA and heads of organisations concerned.

He said close coordination and better understanding among the federal and provincial governments would greatly facilitate in streamlining the relief and rehabilitation efforts. The Prime Minister said a joint strategy was the need of the hour to effectively confront the challenges of relief and rehabilitation.

The Prime Minister said the government was

UN says secured more flood relief funds

ISLAMABAD: Nearly half the $459 million needed for initial relief in nation’s worst ever floods has been secured after days of lobbying donors and warnings that the country faces a spiralling humanitarian catastrophe, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

But despite the fresh funds, only a fraction of the six million Pakistanis desperate for food and clean water have received help after the worst floods in decades killed up to 1,600 people and left two million homeless.

“There has been an improvement in funding. Donors are realising the scale of the disaster,” U.N. spokesman Maurizio Giuliano told Reuters. “But the challenges are absolutely massive and the floods are not over.”

“The size of (the area affected by) this disaster is equivalent to Austria, Switzerland and Belgium combined. That’s pretty scary.”

A few days ago, only a quarter of aid

Flood Batters Kutcha Areas of Sindh; Jacobabd Under Threat

News Trends: Surge in floodwater at River Indus submerged most of the Kutcha areas of Sindh besides Bahadurpur City while a huge flood tide is wending towards Jacobabad posing serious threat to the area.
On the other hand, the level of flood tide in River Chenab decreased at Trimmu, due to which threat to Muzaffargarh city lessened. Flood wreaked massive damage in Sindh as water flow continued to increase at protective embankments at Larkana. Three people including a woman were swept away at a village Ali Sher Jaffery of Ghouspur. The deluge neared Jacobabad forcing the residents to shift to safer places.
River Indus is in exceptionally high flood at Guddu and Sukkur Barrage. Water flow at Guddu is 9, 76 870 cusecs while 10, 83 660 cusecs flow is being recorded at Sukkur Barrage. Flood torrent is likely to enter Muzaffargarh; a 0.25 million cusecs deluge tide would pass through Marala and Khanki at River Chenab. Authorities have evacuated many villages including Daira Din Panah, Sanawan, Kot Addu, Mehmood Kot, Qasba Gujrat, Ghazanfar Garh. In Layyah, 8,000,000 cusecs water inundated many areas.
In Sindh, 9,000000 cusecs water flow would pass through Dadu Moro Bridge while around 150 villages have been submerged over there. As many as 80 camps have been established in the area where 10,000 people have been shifted. According to Dadu Monitoring Centre, 107 villages of District Dadu and 58 hamlets of Moheer have been flooded from where evacuation is underway. Of 91 camps in Moheer, 60 camps have been made operational where 8,886 affectees have been given shelter; of 40 camps of Moheer 21 have become functional giving refuge to 1,700. DCO Kotri told reporters that flood-hit people are being shifted from Kutcha areas and 50 relief camps have been set up in the district.
Meanwhile, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Mehdi Shah announced Rs0.5milion each for the heirs of those killed in Diamir village flood and Rs0.1 million for the injured. Mehdi also announced to give Rs25,000 to those who received minor injuries during the catastrophe.

Iran Nuclear Plant Start Date Set

Russia says it will undertake a key step next week towards starting up a reactor at Iran’s first nuclear power station.
Russia’s state atomic corporation, which is building the plant, said engineers will begin loading the Bushehr reactor with fuel. However, it could be six months before the reactor is fully operational. Russia has been helping build the plant since the mid-1990s, amid tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The fuel will be charged in the reactor on 21 August. From this moment, Bushehr will be considered a nuclear installation, spokesman Sergei Novikov said.

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