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Comparison between position-keeping options

Other methods of position-keeping are the use of an anchor spread and the use of a jack-up barge. All have their own advantages and disadvantages. Comparison position-keeping options Jack-up Barge Anchoring Dynamic Positioning Advantages: No complex systems with thrusters, extra generators and controllers. No chance of running off position by system failures or blackouts. No underwater hazards from thrusters. Advantages: No complex systems with thrusters, extra generators and controllers. No chance of running off position by system failures or blackouts. No underwater hazards from thrusters. Advantages: Maneuverability is excellent; it is easy to change position. No anchor handling tugs are required. Not dependent on waterdepth. Quick set-up. Not limited by obstructed seabed. Disadvantages: No maneuverability once positioned. Limited to water depths of 175 meters. Disadvantages: Limited maneuverability once anchored. Anchor handling tugs are required. Less suitable in deep water. Time to anchor out varies between several hours to several days. Limited by obstructed seabed (pipelines, seabed). Disadvantages: Complex systems with thrusters, extra generators and controllers. High initial costs of installation. High fuel costs. Chance of running off position by system failures or blackouts. Underwater hazards from thrusters for divers and ROVs. Higher maintenance of the mechanical systems.   Although all methods have their own advantages, dynamic positioning has made many operations possible that were not feasible before. The costs are falling due to newer and cheaper technologies, and the advantages are becoming more compelling as offshore work enters ever deeper water and the environment (coral) is given more respect. With container operations, crowded ports can be made more efficient by quicker and more accurate berthing techniques. Cruise ship operations benefit from faster berthing and non-anchored "moorings" off beaches or inaccessible ports.

XKitement

Euphoria

E-Retail Bubble: Reality or Myth?

A bubble occurs when an asset is valued more than it really stands. Maybe that is the reason e-retail is seen as a bubble by few. There are a couple of reasons for this over-valuation. E-commerce is preferred because of convenience, range, and price it offers. This requires a lot of investment in necessary technology, procurement, and operations. India has not seen a commerce revolution like the USA did in the late sixties and the seventies when retail chains such as Walmart started. They made the ground for e-commerce boom in the west. In India Big-bazaar, V-mart etc. have started recently and have not been able to transform the logistics problems in the country. About 80 to 85 percent of the logistics are still unorganized in India, thus the e-retail companies have to invest heavily to upgrade the logistics and operations infrastructure. As a result of this, the e-retail companies in India bleed cash for long, making the profits smaller. Secondly, Indians are yet to trust e-commerce completely, which can be seen from the fact that more than 70% payments are done by “Cash on Delivery” and approximately 20 percent of the orders are returned. This might be because of less knowledge of technology, network penetration, security concerns etc. Whatever is the reason but it shows our trust issues with the e-business. But the same facts also suggest, there is a huge scope for growth in the business with time when the infrastructure develops and people are more well off and prosperous. In summary, e-retail is still in its nascent phase in India. Surely, many e-retail companies are yet to make a profit but they are still thriving as they serve human needs. There is a huge scope of growth though it faces few hurdles at the present. Therefore calling it a bubble would be too early.

List Of Popular Markets Closed In Protest Against

In the Indian context the most common means of public protests against any government decision is in the form closing down of shops & markets. This time it is no different as a day after the centre announced a slew of measures including amending the Delhi master plan 2021. The government had taken measures to provide relief from sealing but the market associations have decided to go ahead with their decision to shut down their shops on Friday & Saturday.   Last Year's Trends : 2017 was a busy year for Delhi Police, wherein more than 9,000 programmes, namely demonstrations, dharnas and protest marches, were held in the national Capital. According to Delhi Police data, 3,521 dharnas took place in the city, whereas 1,586 demonstrations were witnessed in 2017. 751 meetings and 320 processions were also carried out during this period, and 595 programmes of strikes and 443 rallies and marches were also taken out. More than 2,000 programmes were categorised as miscellaneous, as per the data. The Special Branch of Delhi Police is primarily tasked with collecting intelligence having a bearing on prevention of untoward incidents and maintaining law and order, with particular emphasis on communal harmony. Present Scenario : The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in Delhi has called a two-day 'Delhi bandh' on February 2 and 3 in protest against the sealing drive by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Delhi's BJP-led municipal corporations have been sealing establishments that allegedly use residential properties for commercial purposes. Praveen Khandelwal of Confederation Of All India Traders said the ongoing Delhi sealing drive was very harmful to the economy. "Almost 25,000 markets will be closed. Protest marches against Delhi sealing would be taken out by businessmen in around 500 markets. The ongoing sealing is very harmful to our economy," he said. Over 600 shops across 100 shopping complexes in Delhi have been sealed over the past few weeks. The Delhi sealing drive began after the orders of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee which said that all the commercial establishments flouting provisions of the 2021 Master Plan will be sealed. According to the 2021 Master Plan, traders using properties for mixed purposes have to pay a one-time conversion charge at the rate notified by the Delhi Government. List of Places : Some of the popular markets that would be closed in protest against Delhi Sealing include Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Kamla Nagar, Khan Market, Gandhi Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Green Park, Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar and Rajinder Nagar View of Traders Body : The traders' body is carrying out its protests and 'Delhi Bandh' despite Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri's claims that the Delhi Master Plan would be amended to take care of their concerns.  Mr Puri had assured on Wednesday that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was in the process of amending the master plan to provide relief to the traders affected by the Delhi sealing drive. He had said that his ministry has proposed amendments to the master plan, which would be taken up by the DDA on February 2. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken made a presentation before the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee on Thursday raising the demand for halting the ongoing sealing of illegal commercial establishments in the city. A meeting at Arvind Kejriwal's home on Tuesday to discuss the controversial sealing drive in Delhi lapsed into chaos after a team of BJP leaders walked out and later alleged they had been "heckled and attacked" by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmakers.

Auto Expo 2018: Hyundai i20 facelift launched in I

The highly anticipated new Hyundai Elite i20 has finally been launched in Indian market at Auto Expo 2018. It has been launched in the market along with the global showcase of Hyundai Ioniq electric and hybrid Sedan. Auto Expo 2018 has begun with a bang as the Indian arm of Korean automaker, Hyundai Motor India has launched its much awaited 2018 Hyundai Elite i20 in India. The most noticeable change is the shift to a more advanced 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality. Hyundai is also offering its Auto-Link software that transmits key vehicle information straight to a linked mobile phone. As India is a key market for Hyundai, and expecting a 7-8 percent rise in the demand for automatics in 2018, Hyundai has invested in a new transmission tailored specifically for the country. With the smaller 1.2-litre petrol engine, the i20 gets the benefit of the lower ‘small car’ tax rate (12.5 percent) which applies to cars under four metres in length, with petrol engines under 1,200cc.   Background : Hyundai Elite i20 has been launched a day before the launch of all-new Maruti Suzuki Swift. The current generation of Hyundai i20 was first launched in 2014 and the mid-life facelift comes right on time. Hyundai i20 has been one of the company’s most sold car in India and has been among Top-7 cars sold in India since its debut. During the calendar year 2017, Hyundai sold over 1.34 lakh units of Hyundai i20 in the Indian domestic market and over 4 lakh units since its launch in 2014. At the Auto Expo 2018, the company has launched the new Hyundai i20 that follows Hyundai’s new design philosophy that we have seen on the new-gen Hyundai Verna launched in 2017.   Price: The petrol variants of 2018 Hyundai i20 have been priced between Rs. 5.34 lakh to Rs. 7.90 lakh and while the diesel version will cost Rs 6.73 lakh to Rs. 9.15 lakh. Along with the new Hyundai i20, the company also showcased Hyundai Ioniq and the Hyundai Kona SUV.   Interiors: Hyundai has also added a fresh and premium touch to the i20’s interiors and the new cabin including the dashboard. It gets a new 17.77 cm touchscreen infotainment system that supports Apple Car Play and Google Android Auto. The top-trims also gets new seats and steering mounted controls. Hyundai Auto Link that debuted with the new gen Hyundai Verna. The new car will continue to get rear AC vents.   Engine: 2018 Hyundai i20 gets the 1.2L petrol and 1.4L diesel engine blocks but claims 9 percent improved mileage. The petrol engine makes 82 hp of power and 114 Nm of torque mated to a 5-Speed manual transmission along with the option of an Automatic gearbox. The diesel version of Hyundai i20 sheds 89 hp of power and220 Nm of torque mated with 5-speed manual gearbox.2018 Hyundai i20 claims a mileage of 19.0 kmpl on the petrol engine and 22.4 kmpl on the diesel engine.

Nike

Nike - Briefing 

Kharif

Agriculture

Mahindra eKUV100 EV showcased at Auto Expo

The highly anticipated line of electric vehicles were put on show by Mahindra at Auto Expo 2018. Amongst these was also Mahindra eKUV and it will be launched in India in 2019. The all electric version of KUV100 hatchback is a part of Mahindra's plan to electrify its range in future. Future Plan : Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd unveiled its plans to shape the ‘Future of Mobility’ at the Auto Expo 2018. The Future of Mobility is a showcase of Mahindra’s sustainable mobility solutions that are technologically advanced and aim to optimally address the evolving needs and preferences of the consumers. It highlights the company’s future-ready suite of unique passenger and mass mobility products, concepts and solutions built around its '3Cs' philosophy of Clean, Connected and Convenient. As India's EV pioneer, Mahindra also displayed its widest range of electric vehicles, including concepts and technology. In the spotlight, was Mahindra’s entire range of electric vehicles, the widest ever displayed, as well as mobility solutions and concepts from three wheelers to buses. This included the UDO, a stylish 2 seater electric pod concept; the ATOM, a new age urban mobility solution for emerging India; the Treo, a cutting-edge Lithium-ion battery powered electric three-wheeler; the e2o NXT, a refreshed version of the e2oPlus hatchback; the eKUV100, India’s first electric mini SUV; and the e-Cosmo, the compa Technical Features : The eKUV100 concept on display uses the same 30kW motor and lithium-ion battery pack as the eVerito already on sale. Mahindra claims a range of 140km on a single charge and that the battery is capable of fast charging, with 80 percent being charged in less than an hour. However, the Mahindra Electric official we spoke to said that the eKUV100 could run an updated motor and battery pack by the time it launches in 2019. Design : There isn’t much to differentiate, both on the inside as well as on the outside, the electric version of the KUV100 from the standard internal combustion model, besides the EV badging and minor detailing. However, the lack of a standard transmission tunnel means there is more space liberated for the front passengers, meaning a six-seat layout is easier to configure. The Mahindra eKUV100 is equipped with smartphone connectivity, remote diagnostics, cabin pre-cooling and real-time location tracking. The car will also monitor driving styles and calculate battery status depending on accelerator and driving inputs. Key Points : Future of Mobility showcased around three pillars – Clean, Connected & Convenient (3Cs) Hash tags - #FutureofMobility& #3Cs Mahindra displays its widest ever Electric Vehicle (EV) portfolio On Display: Unveils the ATOM – a new age urban mobility solution for emerging India Showcases the UDO Concept – a stylish two-seater electric pod for last mile connectivity Treo – an all new Li-thium ion battery powered electric three - wheeler e-Cosmo – Mahindra’s all new Electric Bus First of its kind 380 Volt powertrain - Mahindra Electric Scalable Modular Architecture (MESMA) and Mobility Solutions Platform +NEMO Displays SsangYong’s G4 Rexton with Mahindra badging New format, next generation ‘Dealership of Future’ designed by Pininfarina to redefine the customer experience

Delhi- Most polluted city

Breathing in the Indian capital this month was like smoking 50 cigarettes a day. Delhi has earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the most polluted city on Earth this month, as air quality has reached epically bad proportions. On November 8, pollution surged so high that some monitoring stations reported an Air Quality Index of 999, way above the upper limit of the worst category, Hazardous. (An extra-sensitive air quality instrument at the US embassy got a reading of 1,010, as you can see in the chart below.) Javier Zarracina United Airlines canceled its flights to India’s capital because of poor air quality. Visibility was so bad that cars crashed in pileups on highways and trains had to be delayed and canceled. The airborne particles and toxic chemicals that make up the smog have choked the 19 million residents of the metropolitan area, where merely breathing the air was, at its worst, like smoking 50 cigarettes in a day. Hospitals reported a 20 percent surge in patients with pollution-related illnesses, and doctors have declared a public health emergency. “You can’t see very far ahead of you,” Manon Verchot, a former colleague of mine who leads the 20-person video team at the Hindustan Times, told me. “In terms of how it effects people in Delhi, everyone is sick. Half of my team is down right now.” The gray smoke and haze was so terrible that the US State Department, which has its own air quality monitoring stations in India, installed air filters for its staff at in their offices and homes. Costa Rica’s ambassador to India, Mariela Cruz Alvarez, described in a viral blog post how she developed a serious respiratory infection and had to decamp to South India. “I´m used to living in paradise and suddenly India has become a threat to my health and the health of my friends and colleagues,” she wrote. More than an inconvenience, air pollution is indeed a major medical hazard. The Lancet Commission on pollution and health reported 9 million premature deaths stemming from air pollution in 2015. More than 2.5 million of these deaths were in India, the most in any single country. As of November 21, the air quality index was at 326 — far below the peak on November 8, but still in the Hazardous category. Yet Delhi is not out of the woods. The Business Standard reports that Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain warned in a letter that “...ambient air quality may once again worsen in the coming weeks.” This is the third year in a row that air pollution in Delhi has become very severe, despite the Indian Supreme Court’s attempt to mitigate it in October with a fireworks sales ban ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights. Measuring Delhi’s air against some of the other most polluted cities in the world, however, is difficult. Not everyone tracks pollution as well nor is it tracked by the same metrics. The World Health Organization, for example, ranked Zabol, Iran, as having the worst particulate air pollution in the world, but that was an annual average, the number was from 2012, and it was extrapolated from another measurement. World Health Organization Meanwhile, the highest daily particulate pollution record was set in Shenyang, China, back in 2015. So why did it get so bad in Delhi this year? Turns out this oppressive smog is a pungent combination of an ancient farming technique and the residues of modern urban living. But the Indian government has also failed to find ways to control the well-understood sources of pollution, which has allowed the situation to grow progressively worse over time. How Delhi’s air got so toxic, and why it won’t go away You can see India’s pockets of pollution in this live map from Berkeley Earth, an independent research consortium. The map shows airborne concentrations of particles with diameters of 2.5 microns or less, also known as PM2.5. These particles can come from different sources — diesel exhaust, natural dust, wildfires — and can lead to heart attacks, strokes, breathing difficulties, and cancer as they penetrate deep into lungs. The concentrations are reported as micrograms per cubic meter. According to the US Embassy’s measurements, air in New Delhi reached PM2.5 concentrations of more than 1,200 micrograms per cubic meter, 48 times the guideline value established by the World Health Organization. This is still short of the record set in Shenyang, China, where concentrations topped 1,400 micrograms per cubic meter. You can see in this screenshot from November 8 how Delhi became the epicenter of hazardous air quality in North India: Air quality measurements in India on November 8, 2017.  Berkeley Earth “One of the things that’s so fascinating is how the pollution is not contained in the cities and it doesn’t even seem to be coming from the cities,” said Elizabeth Muller, executive director of Berkeley Earth. In fact, much of the pollution is coming from farms in nearby states of Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh. With the rice harvest over, farmers are burning crop stubble — specifically the remnants of the rice crop to prepare the fields to plant wheat and return nutrients to the soil. NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite was also able to capture the crop fires in India and Pakistan creating a plume of gray haze during a flyover in October: The red outlines show the approximate locations of active fires on October 25, 2017.  NASA But what’s unique about Delhi’s smog is that the smoke from the burning outside the city is mixing with pollution inside the city — from construction, vehicles, and fires the poor use to cook and keep warm. This mix of rural and urban pollution intensifies in the cooler winter months and this year’s air currents through the region have been unusually slow, allowing the dirty air to linger. North India’s topography also acts as a basin that traps pollution — making it impossible for the millions of people in the region to escape the toxic air. It’s why there are now reports of reverse migration: People retreating from Delhi to rural areas outside the pollution zone so they can breathe cleaner air. The government is failing to control the pollution, which is leading to popular unrest Protests have erupted out of anger with the government for failing to deal with the air pollution. Hundreds of people, including children whose schools were closed, took to the streets earlier in the month. India’s pollution has its roots in politics, as this great piece by four researchers writing in the Washington Post explains. Rural farmers and city dwellers are important constituencies for different parties, and neither side wants to make concessions. Crop burning is often the cheapest way to clear fields, and farmers don’t want to spend more to appease Delhi’s denizens. At the same time, the country’s Nation Green Tribunal ordered construction to stop in the capital for a few days earlier this month, drawing the ire of construction workers. The tribunal also broached and then, after severe criticism, dropped a car rationing scheme that would let cars with odd-numbered registrations drive only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and even-numbered registrations to drive on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. There are other pollution control laws, but enforcement has been lax for fear of alienating important voting blocs. Government officials from neighboring provinces have held tense, fruitless talks on the causes and liability for the pollution for years, but the atrocious air quality in the capital has added a new sense of urgency. "The country wakes up only if something happens in Delhi," Jairam Ramesh, a member of Parliament and former Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, told the Economic Times. Technology fixes for pollution also remain a tough sell. As Brad Plumer has explained for Vox, there’s been a lot of discussion about cleaner stoves in India, but for now burning wood or coal in traditional stoves is considerably cheaper than the alternatives. Meanwhile India’s environment minister Harsh Vardhan downplayed the risks from Delhi’s dirty air, telling CNN-News 18 that while high levels of particulates could be harmful, "no death certificate has the cause of death as pollution.” In fact, researchers say that the links between reduced air quality and premature death are robust. “There are all kinds of things that have been linked pretty convincingly to high levels of air pollution,” said Jason West, an environmental engineer at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. “There’s pretty good evidence that lower levels of air pollution are still detrimental.” The situation is going to get worse before it gets better West noted that cities in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan have also struggled with deadly air pollution, but the air has cleared as these regions became wealthier, invested in cleaner technologies, and citizens called for stricter regulations on emissions. “Economic development was important, but economic development by itself didn’t solve the problem,” said West. “People demanded cleaner air and cleaner water.” Environmental activism is growing in India, but there are still other factors that make its situation unique. One is the sheer number of people — 1.3 billion and growing — and the staggering patterns of rural to urban migration. More Indians are cramming into smog-shrouded cities, which means more people who need housing, more people buying and driving vehicles with few pollution controls, and more people making fires in the city to cook and keep warm. The increasingly polluted air means people spend more time indoors, which increases energy demand from lighting and air conditioning, leading to more coal and wood use. That creates a feedback loop that exacerbates the whole situation. “All the suggestions are that India will likely get worse before it gets better,” West said. The epicenter of global air pollution is also likely to shift further South, and soon cities in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa may start coughing and wheezing as populations grow and energy consumption ramps up. The World Health Organization projects that air pollution will continue to be a major killer in years to come, and the world’s poorest will be left gasping. But in Delhi, life still sputters on. The Delhi half-marathon had a record turnout over the weekend with some of the 34,000 runners showing up to the starting line wearing masks.

GENEVA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW

The 88th International Motor Show will be held in Geneva from 8th March to 18th March 2018. The show adopted a new logo in 2016 featuring the words "GENEVA INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW", thereby better reflecting the event's global reputation. Following the success of the previous three years, TAG Heuer is continuing its association and will see a lot more creative changes in the upcoming event. The hashtag "#GimsSwiss" is already trending and is expected to reach a feverish pitch as the dates are approaching close. The key areas of the show are : ·         Motor cars(3 or 4 or more wheels) ·         Electric cars and alternative powered cars ·         Special bodywork for motor cars, car design, engineering ·         Converted cars (tuners) ·         Accessories and parts for motor cars ·         OEM : original equipment manufacturers ·         Workshop installations for the repair and maintenance of motor cars ·         Miscellaneous products and services related to the car industry ·         Animation / Attractions HISTORY : The Geneva International Motor Show is Europe's only annual international motor show ranking among the global top five (alongside Frankfurt, Paris, Detroit and Tokyo) to be recognised by OICA (the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers). This special status enjoyed by the show is due not only to its excellent organisation and Geneva's international reputation but also to Switzerland's position as a country which has no car manufacturers of its own and so does not need to thrust any particular market players centre stage. As a result, all the car manufacturers participating in this event rightly feel they are operating on a level playing field in terms of their exposure and visibility. Apart from its ideal location in the very heart of Europe, the show's venue is literally right next to Geneva International Airport, a railway station and a motorway exit. Its design featuring all seven exhibition halls under one roof also gives it a very human scale, which is much appreciated by automotive industry leaders who gather at the show each year as well as the media and visitors who travel to the event from all over the world to discover the latest offerings and technological advances.   EXHIBITORS : There are 180 exhibitors, some of these are Suzuki, TAG Heuer, KS TOOLS, SUBARU, TATA MOTORS, TOYOTA, VOLVO and YOKOHAMA to name a few. GENERAL DETAILS : For details people can visit their website wwww.gims.swiss and the tickets are also available online. It will be open from 10AM to 8PM during Monday to Friday and from 9AM to 7PM on Saturday and Sunday.   TICKETS : The entry rates range from CHF 16/- for adults to CHF 9/- for children from age group 6-16, pensioners and disabled people. There is also discounts for bulk and group bookings when done for a minimum of 20 people at CHF 11/- each. Apart from this there is 50% discount on all entry tickets sold on site after 4PM  for an entry on the same day, which can't be combined with any other offer.

Cricket v Marketing

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