Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi has justified the Army in the Badgam district to build a human shield behind the Jeep and bind it to the Jeep.
He said that this was an effective solution to ensure that the demand for the situation was the same and that no one should die.
The Central Government of India has also cooperated with the military officer who decided to make the alleged stone man a 'human shield'.
Government of India has supported this move by the officer to protect their units, paramilitary soldiers and the officers of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has taken cognizance of the investigation of the army which was set up on 9th April.
It has been stated in the investigation that the Commanding Officer took this decision as the last resort, hesitant because he felt that his unit had to pass through the roads where crowds of stone men were deposited and those who took positions on nearby rooftops. Among the soldiers who were stranded, there were dozens of local government employees, 9-10 ITBP soldiers, two constables of Kashmir Police and one bus driver.
Parliament has approved four bills related to commodity and service tax, while paving the way for implementing GST in the country's historical tax reform regime.
At the same time, the Government assured that the interests of consumers and states in the new tax system will be fully protected and tax on agriculture will not be levied.
The Rajya Sabha today discussed the Union Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, the GST Bill, the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, the IGST Bill, the Union Territory of Goods and Services Tax Bill 2017, and the 'Goods and Services Tax to the States' bill 2017. After returning the Lok Sabha with a vow. The Upper House rejected the amendments of the opposition brought on these bills.
Due to the money bill, these four bills had the right to discuss only in the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha has approved these bills on March 29.
Responding to a discussion on the Bill of Goods and Service Tax, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that these doubts of the Opposition are inexplicable, that in accordance with these bills, agreement with the rights of Parliament is being done in the matter of taxation.
He said that the first thing is that this Parliament has given the right to recommend the rate of tax to the GST Council by amending the Constitution.
Jaitley said that the GST Council is the first federal decision making body. On the basis of the constitutional amendment, the GST Council was given the right to form Model Law. As far as the law is concerned, it will be on the basis of federal structure, while the supremacy of Parliament and State Legislatures will continue. However, these recommendations will be kept in mind, because different states will set a different rate if there is a chaotic situation. This is a cordial interpretation of it and no other meaning should be drawn.
He said that by amending the Constitution, it has been ensured that it will be the only tax in the country to collect the state and the centre together. Explaining the situation on objections about having several tax rates instead of making a similar tax, the Finance Minister said that there are many food products which are now zero tax and there will be no tax after the GST system is implemented. There are many things that can not be taxed at the same rate. Rates such as tobacco, alcohol etc. are high, whereas clothing has a normal rate.
Jaitley said that during the discussions in the GST Council it was decided that many taxes will be simplified initially. The Finance Minister said that after the deliberations, the GST Council has fixed rates of 0, 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent in GST system. It has also been said to put additional cess on material, such as luxury cars, bottled drinks, tobacco products and environmental related items like coal.
He said that the cess cost of more than 28 per cent will go to the fund and the states which are being damaged will be given the amount. There was also a suggestion that it should be applied as tax. But by applying as tax, there is an impact on consumers. However, additional taxes will not be levied on consumers.
Jaitley said compensation will be given to those states who are suffering from GST system implementation. It will be for the first five years. He said that Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government could not get a consensus on GST as no loss was given to the loss-making states for compensation. The provision of compensation in GST was 'helpful in the deal' and the state came together
Giving a clarification on the objection of several members after not including the real estate sector in GST, the Finance Minister said that this is an area in which the states get substantial revenue. It has revenue from the Registry and other tariffs, which is why it has not been included in GST on the basis of the opinion of States. He also clarified that the centre's vote is only one-third to take any decision in the GST Council whereas two-thirds of the votes are for the states. Therefore, while making any decision, the Centre is not in favour of imposing its own opinion.
Terming the first federal contract to get the constitutional clearance of goods and services tax, Jaitley said that, without putting any extra tax on consumers, there would be a way to implement a system of 'one nation, one tax' in the country through GST. The Finance Minister said that the GST Council is deciding the tax structure with unanimous consent and so far 12 meetings have been held in this regard. This bill is based on the principle of common sovereignty between the Centre and the State Governments and it is such a first initiative.
Upon the implementation of GST, the excise duty, service tax and value added tax (VAT) in the states will be included in it, along with several others. Jaitley, while clarifying the bills, said that the Centre has the right to tax in the event of the removal of the excise duty, service tax and additional customs duty through the central GST bill. Through the coordinated GST or IGST, there will be the right to tax the Centre on the movement of goods and services in states.
While clarifying the position regarding the provision to prevent profits in respect of tax exemption, the Finance Minister said that if 4.5 percent tax exemption is given, then it does not mean that it should be considered as a personal profit but the benefit should be given to the consumers. This is the intention of this provision.
The Finance Minister said that the situation was similar to liquor and petroleum products just like real estate. After discussions with the states, petroleum products have been brought under its purview, but it has now been kept under zero rate. The GST Council will consider it. Alcohol is still out of its scope.
The Finance Minister said that the first person had to go to many evaluation agencies for business. To pursue economic activities, it had to go through excise duty, service tax, state VAT, entertainment tax, entrance fees, luxury tax and many other taxes.
The Finance Minister said that there was no smooth flow of goods and services in the country. In this way, the GST system was further extended. Do such a tax where there is an evaluation officer. Most self-assessments and only limited appraisal except for audit matters.
Jaitley said that tax is taxed, which increases the trend of inflation. Therefore, the idea of making a market for the whole country. It came to be that simple arrangements should be brought inside the country. Describing agriculture to be brought under the purview of GST, the Finance Minister said that agriculture and farmers do not require registration. Under section 23, exemption is granted to farmers and agriculture. Therefore, it is kept in definition for interpretation of this exemption. There should be no confusion about this. Jaitley said that there should be no confusion about agricultural product when it is zero rate.
Dismissing Congress's objections about this, Jaitley said that 29 states, two union territories and the Centre considered this, including eight finance ministers of the Congress-ruled state. "Then did all these conspired against a particular class?" After dismissing the fears of an increase in the prices of commodity and commodities after the GST was imposed, the Finance Minister said that the rate of tax will be kept at the present level. It has no impact on inflation.
Jaitley said that the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will bring a legislation about GST. He said that the Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir participated in all the meetings of the GST Council.
The Upper House rejected the draft of Trinamool Congress' Derek O'Brien, it said that all decisions of the GST Council should be approved by the Parliament.
The impact of climate change is not only on the environment, but it is also adversely affecting human health, especially on mental health.
The report released by researchers from the American Psychological Association and Eco-American researchers said that depression, anxiety and insomnia are increasing in humans due to conditions arising from global warming and it is becoming increasingly violent. It has also increased the risk of menstruation and people are becoming victims of 'Post Traumatic Stress Disorder' (PTSD).
What is PTSD
PTSD is a disease associated with many mental disorders such as severe depression, anger, insomnia. This makes the person more irritable, forgetting things. Difficulty concentrating in work, excessive vigilance, sudden blazing anger and sometimes the person becomes violent in the disease. There may be a sudden fear of having a heart attack during sleep.
Research on Hurricane Katrina Affected Areas
Researchers researched thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and found that after the storm, their thoughts of suicide increased.
49 percent victims of depression
Diseases of PTSD and Depression were found in 49% of the area. At the same time, they started feeling alienated at the social level.
Impact on resistance
Climate change also weakens the body's immune system. Due to the weakening of resistance, the risk of diseases increases.
Auto companies have announced huge discounts on two-wheelers of BS-3 standards in Delhi NCR. Companies have announced discount of 22000 rupees on motorcycles of BS-3 standards.
This announcement of the companies came just a day after the order of the Supreme Court which states that from April 1, orders have been issued to ban registration of two-wheelers with BS-3 standards.
Two leading two-wheeler makers such as Hero MotoCorp, HMSI, Bajaj Auto and Suzuki Motorcycle have announced a rebate of upto 22000 rupees on many of their models.
According to the report, 6 lakh 70 thousand bikes of eight lakh vehicles in the stock of companies in the NCR are BS-3 standard.
Dealers said they are trying to extract these vehicles from the earliest in the next 24 hours so that their minimum cost could be recovered.
Honda had initially announced a rebate of Rs 10,000 for its BS-3 scooters on its vehicles, but now this discount has been increased to motorcycles in the range of Rs 22000.
The models which are discontinued upto 22000 are Activa 3g (Price Rs 50,290), Dream Yuga (Rs 51,741), CB Shine (Rs 55,799 to Rs 61,283), CD 110 DX (Rs 47,202 to Rs 47,494).
Hero Motorcycle has announced a rebate of up to 12500 rupees in its BS-3 vehicles. The company has announced the maximum discount on its scooters.
At the same time, premium bikes have announced a rebate of Rs 7500 and a discount of 5000 rupees in the best-selling light motorcycles.
Federation of Automobile Dealers (FADA) Nikunja Sanghi, director (international affairs) told PTI, "Such a discourse has never been heard in the industry so far.
Asked what steps the dealer is taking in view of the verdict of the top court, he said, "Our emphasis is on selling as many vehicles as possible before the time limit." Our people are calling potential customers and telling them about exemption.
The Supreme Court yesterday said that the health of the people is more important than the commercial interests of the manufacturers. The apex court said that auto companies are fully aware that they have to manufacture only BS-4 standard vehicles from April 1, 2017, but despite this, they could not take any concrete steps themselves.
The Supreme Court has ordered that after April 1, vehicles with BS 3 emission standard will not be sold in India. The Supreme Court said that people's lives are more important than the business interests of the manufacturers. Since April 1 BS 4 standards are being implemented in the country. The number of ready BS3 vehicles in the factories is 8.24 lakhs, out of which six lakhs are two-wheelers.
The bench of Justice Madan Lokur and Deepak Gupta gave this order on Wednesday. Auto companies came to the Supreme Court against the implementation of the BS4 standard from April 1. In this case, the government had also supported the companies and had said that they should be allowed to sell the BS3 vehicles.
Indian companies and its dealers have a total inventory of two-wheeler vehicles of BS-3, which was about 6.71 lakh till March 20. Most of the vehicles are owned by two-wheeler companies Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India. Bajaj's share in this stock is around 12 per cent. Hero had nearly 2.90 million vehicles, while HMSI had estimated inventory of vehicles around 2.5 lakhs. Both companies are making full production BS-4 standard vehicles from March.
Retail inflation in India rose to 3.65 percent in February 2017, marginally higher than a month ago, showed data released by the government on Tuesday.
The increase in the consumer price index was in line with a poll of economists conducted by Bloomberg, which pegged inflation at 3.6 percent in February compared to 3.17 percent in January.
Retail inflation has been heading lower and hit a series-low in January. The decline stemmed mainly from the moderation in food inflation, especially in perishables, which were impacted by demonetisation. However, inflation excluding food and fuel (also known as core inflation) has remained sticky.
Data released on Tuesday showed that the decline in food prices is starting to reverse, pushing up headline inflation.
- Food prices rose 2.01 percent in February vs 0.61 percent in January
- Food and beverage prices rose 2.46 percent
- Fuel and lighting inflation increased 3.9 percent
- Clothing and footwear prices increased 4.3 percent
While retail inflation remains in check, wholesale prices surged in February due to higher commodity prices. Wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rose 6.55 percent in February to its highest level in over three years. The divergence in the WPI and CPI indices widened to nearly 300 basis points in February.
The RBI warned of an increase in inflation pressures, partly due to an unfavourable base effect in a report on the macroeconomic impact of demonetisation released on Friday. The RBI saw upside risks to inflation as demand recovers in the latter part of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.
It added that the outcome of headline inflation in the near term will depend on “how food price dynamics evolve.”
The central bank had also raised concerns about core inflation at its last policy review in February, when it kept interest rates steady. This was cited as a key reason for the shift in the central bank’s stance from accommodative to neutral. While the RBI will likely meet its target of bringing down retail inflation to below 5 percent by March 2017, its medium term objective of 4 percent inflation remains in doubt.
The International Monetary Fund expects inflation to be at around 4.75 percent, “due to temporary demand disruptions and increased monsoon-driven food supplies” in early 2017. The multinational agency cited “supply-side reforms, particularly in agriculture, continued fiscal consolidation, and relieving impediments to monetary transmission” as factors crucial to keeping inflation in check, in its Article IV consultation paper on India released last month.
Briefing the media , ATS ADG, Law and Order Daljeet Choudhary on Wednesday said that the authorities have no evidence that link the suspected terrorists– Imran, Danish, Saifullah and Faizan – to any active module of the ISIS.
We have no information that links the four to any active ISIS module. From our initial investigations we suspect the four were self radicalised through material they found on social media.
He also revealed that the four wanted to identify themselves as the ISIS Khoran Moudle.
Sartaj, the father of the suspected terrorist who was killed in an anti-terror operation near Lucknow, said on Wednesday that he did not want anything to do with Saifullah’s mortal remains.
Saifullah was killed in a house on the outskirts of Lucknow after a 12-hour long operation by the Uttar Pradesh’s unit of the Anti Terrorism Squad. An Islamic State flag, eight pistols, 650 rounds of ammo, gold, SIM cards, cash, passports, a train timetable and explosive materials were seized from the house where Saifullah was holed up.
Expressing disappointment at his son’s actions, Sartaj said that he could not accept “a traitors body.”
Police suspect that Saifullah was involved in the 7 March blast in a Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train.
Speaking to the media, UP’s Additional Director General of Police said that Saifullah was a “hardened criminal,” who fired around 60 rounds of ammo on the commandos.
The anti-terror operation was being monitored by senior officials. After opening the doors of the house (where the terrorist was holed up), the force went inside and found the suspect dead along with his weapons.
Raids were conducted in different cities of UP, including Etawah and Kanpur, after the police force received inputs from Telangana regarding the terror suspects involved in the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast on Tuesday.
Two suspected terrorists were arrested and taken to Lucknow by a team of the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad for further questioning.
Searches for the other terror suspects are also underway.
Superintendent of Police (Kanpur City) Somen Verma said a team of UP ATS left for Lucknow with the two terror suspects at around 3am on 8 March, for further questioning.
Speaking to reporters after the anti-terror operation, IG ATS Aseem Arun said: "Efforts were made to catch the suspected terrorist (identified as Saifullah) alive, but unfortunately this did not materialise. We fired tear gas shells and chilly bombs but he did not come out."
The ATS commandoes then stormed inside the house (after issuing a warning to the terrorist), Arun said.
The suspected terrorist then fired at the ATS commandoes, which was then appropriately retaliated by the ATS commandoes. After this, two rooms were thoroughly searched and checked, and the person identified as Saifullah was found dead... The slain terrorist belongs to the Khurasan module of the ISIS and was an active member. But, whether he has been indoctrinated or not is a matter of investigation.
Reports of mass copying during school and college examinations in several states, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, are common. But a blog post by a computer science professor indicates that students at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, and other engineering colleges, indulge in it too.
Earlier this month, Dheeraj Sanghi, a professor at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology-Delhi, wrote a blog post on the quality of the country’s information technology engineers, which corporate recruiters also seem to be concerned about.
In the post titled, CS education is poor because of copying, Sanghi referred to a statement by Srinivas Kandula, chief executive of information technology major Capgemeni India, at a business event in Mumbai earlier this month.
At the event, Kandula said: “I am not very pessimistic, but it is a challenging task and I tend to believe that 60-65 per cent of them (IT recruits) are just not trainable.”
Sanghi attributed this to alleged copying in engineering institutions across the country. The professor, who has also taught at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, wrote that information technology and computer science students in India are falling behind because they have not learnt much in engineering college.
He wrote, “I have always been amazed at the Indian software industry. That it can grow so fast and become so big despite the absolutely abysmal quality of education in our colleges…
“A lot of people have talked about poor quality curriculum, poor quality faculty, poor infrastructure, poor school education, and so on. I disagree. There is a much simpler explanation for this: Copying in our colleges, besides laziness.”
Sanghi said, “In many colleges, even in some of the IITs but to a lesser extent, students either copy the code for a programme from the net, or one student writes it, and the others copy. The code is tested in the laboratory. If it runs – and it does – the student is awarded marks even if the lines are not original.” He added that these shortcuts are adopted as early as the first semester.
His blog post received many approving responses on social media.
Sanghi added that one reason for such laziness is that a large section of students do not join the engineering sector after they graduate. “They plan on studying management,” he said. “Their lack of skill is never discovered because they do not join the sector.”
Sanghi said that he had always suspected that students were not applying their minds in engineering college. He said that his suspicions were confirmed when he once accessed Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering data through which admission into post-graduate programmes of the IITs is regulated.
“About a decade ago, I had set the paper for the test and data for previous years had been shared with me,” said Sanghi. “The median score for the previous year was zero. Basically, I can train a five-year-old to do better than 50% of the applicants and all he has to do is submit a blank paper.”
In his blog post, he recounted that he was recently part of a selection committee to recruit programmers for a government department. He found that most applicants he interviewed, including those who had “several years of experience in industry”, could not perform a variety of tasks they ought to have learnt at engineering college. “These (were) all the programmes we ask our first semester students who have never programmed before,” he wrote.
Here are the latest on the 89th Academy awards:
Live updates:
10: 42 am: It might seem like the best joke pulled by Jimmy Kimmel so far. But with all seriousness, this fiasco can be marked as the best goof up in the history of Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ended on a crazy note with the wrong name for Best Picture being announced on stage by the presenter. Still one can't figure out if this end is a good surprise or a bizarre one.
10: 33 am: The joke is probably on Warren Beatty who read out the wrong name at first. La La Land was announced to have won the award. But minutes later, after the acceptance speech began, and the entire crew of La La Land took the stage, Moonlight was announced as the Best Picture.
10: 24 am: Emma Stone wins award for Best Actress for La La Land. The award was presented by last year's Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio.
10: 14 am: Casey Affleck wins Best actor for the movie Manchester by the Sea.
10: 11 am: Damien Chazelle wins Best Director for La La Land.
10: 07 am: Jimmy Kimmel showered cookies and donuts down on the audience.
10: 02 am: Moonlight won an award for Adapted screenplay.
9: 59 am: Manchester by the Sea wins award for the Best Original Screenplay. The award was received by Kenneth Lonergan.
9: 53 am: Jennifer Aniston took the stage to present the year's montage of the great actors and artists who passed away in the past year.
9: 48 am: The award for the Best Original Song is bagged by La La Land for the song City of Stars. Scarlett Johansson presented the award for the same.
9: 40 am: La La Land wins award for Best Original Score. Justin Hurwitz recieved the award.
9 39 am: Jimmy Kimmel did not fail to entertain the audience. The mean tweet franchise that was introduced was bitter but better at fun. The winners and the nominees were seen reading out disturbing tweets about them. This was followed by a performance by John Legend.
9: 26 am: La La Land wins yet another award for Best Cinematography. Linus Sandgren took to the stage to accept the award.
9: 20 am: Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel took a jab at Donald Trump. It seems like Kimmel couldn't care less. Jimmy tweeted the President of USA asking if he was up. The tweet was projected on the big screen just to make the moment a tad more dramatic.
9: 16 am: Sing grabbed the award for The Best Live Action Short Film. The award was received by Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy.
9: 10 am: The White Helmets wins award for Best Documentary Short Film.
9: 08 am: On a lighter note, Jimmy Kimmel lifted Sunny Pawar from Lion while the theme song from the animation movie The Lion King played in the background.
9:07 am: Hacksaw Ridge wins award for Best Film Editing.
9:00 am: The Jungle Book wins award for Best Visual Effects.
8: 43 am: La La Land wins the award for the Best Production Design. David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco received the award.
8: 40 am: Zootopia wins award for Best Animated Feature Film.
8: 38 am: Piper wins award for the Best Animated Short Film.
8: 23 am: Charlize Theron and Shirley MacLaine presented the award for the Best Foreign Language Film. Iranian drama The Salesman won the award this year. The director Asghar Farhadi boycotted the award function. However sent a statement which reads, ''My absence is out of respect for the people of my country'' before describing Trump’s ban as ''inhumane''.
8: 02 am: Viola Davis wins the award for the Best Supporting Actress for her role in Fences. Viola received a standing ovation while she stood emotionally on the stage. She gave a powerful speech, and thanked her family and friends for the same.
7: 57 am: Hacksaw Ridge wins academy award for Best Sound Mixing.
7: 53 am: Arrival wins award for Achievements in Sound Editing .
7.40 am: The award for Best Documentary Feature is won by 'OJ: Made in America', which was based on the sensational murder trial of OJ Simpson back in the 1990s. He was accused of murdering his wife and her alleged lover.
7.35 am: Harry Potter spin-off movie 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', wins award for Best Costume.
7: 30 am: David Ayer's directorial 'Suicide Squad' wins the 'Best Make-up and Hair' award.
7: 19 am: Mahershala Ali wins the 'Best Actor in a Supporting Role' award for Moonlight. So Moonlight opens its account, by bagging the first award of the night. Dev Patel missed the train, despite his fine performance in Lion.
7: 13 am: Now legendary actress Meryl Streep comes under Kimmel's roaster. He says that it is Meryl's 20th consecutive Oscar appearance, although she didn't star in any film in last year. He also jokingly requests the audience to give her an 'undeserving' round of applause.
7: 11 am: Talking about Oscars and fashion, Ruth Negga's long-sleeved custom Valentino gown is a scene-stealer and landed the actress on several best-dressed lists for the evening.
Negga, who is a best actress nominee for "Loving," combined the high lace collar with responsibly sourced rubies. She also included one accessory that several other stars included -- a blue ribbon supporting the American Civil Liberties Union.
Negga was among those cited by People magazine as the best dressed of the evening. Other popular looks included a velvet gown worn by Taraji P. Henson, and a fringe gown sported by best actress nominee Emma Stone.
Opinion online was mixed about Halle Berry, who rocked a huge head of tousled curls along with a one-shoulder dress.
While the men get less scrutiny, many online noted the ruffles on best actor nominee Ryan Gosling's tuxedo shirt, with some likening it to a look from a 1970s prom.
7: 08 am: Kimmel starts the event by roasting Matt Damon. He also congratulates Amazon.com for their first ever association with the Oscars.
7: 00 am: The 89th Academy Awards finally starts, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting his first Oscars. His entry was a quirky one too, with a dance performance.
6: 40 am: Each celebrity who strolls the Oscars red carpet seems to have their own style as they pass their cheering fans in the bleachers.
Some, like Emma Stone and Jeff Bridges, smile politely and wave while others just walk by, seemingly oblivious to the adulation.
Laura Dern and Nicole Kidman, meanwhile, joined hands and lifted them in a cheer of their own.
As for those in the bleachers, when they aren't cheering many are gossiping.
Among the comments overheard: Vince Vaughn and Dern are tall and Michael J. Fox is really short.
6: 30 am: Justin Timberlake is the king of the Oscars red carpet, as least as far as the bleacher fans are concerned.
While some celebrities like Viggo Mortensen and Scarlett Johansson ignore the bleacher crowd, Timberlake stopped to lead a cheering war between two sections.
As wife Jessica Biel stood by in a stunning gold dress, Timberlake put his hand to his ear to draw applause.
Then he'd judge which section was winning by raising and lowering his hands
The crowd responded with raucous cheers.
6: 20 am: Veteran actor Mel Gibson hits the red carpet too.
6: 10 am: Justin Timberlake says the beginning of the Oscars is going to be free of politics.
Timberlake tells The Associated Press, "Watch the top of the show, it will be very un-political. I can promise you that."
It is an apparent tease to Timberlake's performance of his Oscar-nominated song, "Can't Stop the Feeling," which is from the animated film "Trolls."
Timberlake says he's honoured that the film academy honoured such a feel-good song. Timberlake says "I think the world could use a little bit of that."
Even before Sunday's ceremony begins, politics is on the mind of many nominees. Some top nominees, including Ruth Negga and director Barry Jenkins, are wearing blue ribbons supporting the American Civil Liberties Union.
Others, including documentary nominee Ava DuVernay and best actor nominee Andrew Garfield, say art is inherently political and winners should express their feelings about the current political climate if they wish.
6: 04 am: Andrew Garfield, one of the lead actor nominees for his breathtaking performance in Hacksaw Ridge, has arrived at the red carpet. Nicole Kidman and Halle Berry are here too.
6: 00 am: It was a no-brainer for Lin-Manuel Miranda when it came to picking a date for the Oscars.
It's his mother, Luz, who got him there after all.
Miranda's mother says she stayed up late watching the Oscars every year and told her son he would be there someday.
To which her son adds that she earned the honor "by calling dibs when I was 10 years old."
5: 45 am: Prominent faces arriving at Red Carpet so far: Octavia Spencer, Jackie Chan, Felicity Jones, Dev Patel and Matt Damon.
5: 40 am: Stars are mixing high fashion with some advocacy on the Oscars red carpet.
Several top nominees are sporting blue ribbons supporting the American Civil Liberties Union, including best actress nominee Ruth Negga and best original song nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Miranda brought his mother to the Oscars, and she also prominently displayed the ribbon. The ACLU is among the groups suing over a travel ban imposed by President Donald Trump's administration that has been placed on hold by federal courts.
Director Barry Jenkins planned to wear one, and realized in the middle of a red carpet interview that he had lost it.
Jenkins, who is nominated for best director for "Moonlight," says he does not yet know what he would say if he wins an Oscar Sunday. He says, "I think art is inherently political," and he supports any artists who speak out about politics at the awards show.
Best actor nominee Casey Affleck also wore the ribbon at Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards, where he won the award for best male lead.
5: 30 am: First rule for Oscar bleachers fans: Yell loudly if you want to get a celebrity's attention.
That's what a group of fans did — repeatedly — until Ruth Negga politely turned away from a red carpet TV interview to give them a wave.
Before she could, however, one of her earrings fell out. Fortunately, her team saved it, she smiled and waved, then moved on.
After waving to the crowd, Lin-Manual Miranda made sure bleacher fans didn't overlook the person he was with. He pointed to her and mouthed the words, "My Mom."
Jackie Chan, beaming ear to ear, pretended to toss one of two stuffed pandas he was carrying into the crow. A disappointed groan moved through the bleachers when he moved on.
Jackie Chan has brought some furry friends to walk with him on the Oscars red carpet.
The action star did red carpet interviews clutching two plush panda toys. He told The Associated Press that he is a panda ambassador and also owns two of the bears in China.
The bears are dressed in yellow jackets and silver boots with UNICEF name tags, while Chan is sporting more traditional formal attire. Chan says he takes the bears with him everywhere, snapping photos with them. He says he may sell them for the charity.
Chan was a recipient of an honorary Oscar last year.
5: 25 am: Celebrities have begun arriving on the red carpet in Hollywood ahead of the 89th Academy Awards.
Hundreds of people sitting in the fan bleachers shouted excitedly when actor Jerry O'Connell walked by.
Broadway star Cynthia Erivo is also among the first arrivals, her shock of white hair a beacon in the crowd.
The weather is slightly chilly and there's the possibility of sprinkles from gray clouds overhead.
Astronomers have found at least seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the same star 40 light-years away, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The findings were also announced at a news conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
This discovery outside of our solar system is rare because the planets have the winning combination of being similar in size to Earth and being all temperate, meaning they could have water on their surfaces and potentially support life.
"This is the first time that so many planets of this kind are found around the same star," said Michaël Gillon, lead study author and astronomer at the University of Liège in Belgium.
The seven exoplanets were all found in tight formation around an ultracool dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1. Estimates of their mass also indicate that they are rocky planets, rather than being gaseous like Jupiter. Three planets are in the habitable zone of the star, known as TRAPPIST-1e, f and g, and may even have oceans on the surface.
The researchers believe that TRAPPIST-1f in particular is the best candidate for supporting life. It's a bit cooler than Earth, but could be suitable with the right atmosphere and enough greenhouse gases.
If TRAPPIST-1 sounds familiar, that's because these researchers announced the discovery of three initial planets orbiting the same star in May. The new research increased that number to seven planets total.
"I think we've made a crucial step towards finding if there is life out there," said Amaury Triaud, one of the study authors and an astronomer at the University of Cambridge. "I don't think any time before we had the right planets to discover and find out if there was (life). Here, if life managed to thrive and releases gases similar to what we have on Earth, we will know."
Life may begin and evolve differently on other planets, so finding the gases that indicate life is key, the researchers added.
"This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Answering the question 'are we alone?' is a top science priority, and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal."
And as we've learned from studying and discovering exoplanets before, where there is one, there are more, said Sara Seager, professor of planetary science and physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Seager and other researchers are encouraged by the discovery of this system because it improves our chances of finding another habitable planet, like Earth, in the future, by knowing where to look.
The planets are so close to each other and the star that there are seven of them within a space five times smaller than the distance from Mercury to our sun. This proximity allows the researchers to study the planets in depth as well, gaining insight about planetary systems other than our own.
Starting closest to the star and moving out, the planets have respective orbits from one and a half to nearly 13 Earth days. The orbit of the farthest planet is still unknown.
Standing on the surface of one of the planets, you would receive 200 times less light than you get from the sun, but you would still receive just as much energy to keep you warm since the star is so close. It would also afford some picturesque views, as the other planets would appear in the sky as big as the moon (or even twice as big).
On TRAPPIST-1f, the star would appear three times as big as the sun in our sky. And because of the red nature of the star, the light would be a salmon hue, the researchers speculate.
Based on preliminary climate modeling, the researchers believe that the three planets closest to the star may be too warm to support liquid water, while the outermost planet, TRAPPIST-1h, is probably too distant and cold to support water on the surface. But further observation is needed to know for sure.
TRAPPIST-1 barely classifies as a star at half the temperature and a tenth the mass of the sun. It is red, dim and just a bit larger than Jupiter. But these tiny ultracool dwarf stars are common in our galaxy.
They were largely overlooked until Gillon decided to study the space around one of these dwarves.
The researchers used a telescope called TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) to observe its starlight and changes in brightness. The team saw shadows, like little eclipses, periodically interrupting the steady pattern of starlight. This is called transiting. The shadows indicated planets, and further observation confirmed them.
In July, the team was able to determine that two of the closest planets to the stars had atmospheres that were more compact and comparable to those of Earth, Venus and Mars by observing starlight through the planets' atmosphere.
By using a global network ground-based telescopes like TRAPPIST and space-based telescopes like Spitzer, the researchers continued looking toward the TRAPPIST system and were able to determine the orbital periods, distances from their star, radius and and masses of the planets.
Over the next decade, the researchers want to define the atmosphere of each planet, as well as to determine whether they truly do have liquid water on the surface and search for signs of life.
Although 40 light-years away doesn't sound too far, it would take us millions of years to reach this star system. But from a research perspective, it's a close opportunity and the best target to search for life beyond our solar system.
"If we learn something now, it can determine if we looked in the right place," Gillon said.
In 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope will launch and be positioned 1 million miles from Earth with an unprecedented view of the universe. It can observe large exoplanets and detect starlight filtered through their atmosphere.
The researchers are also searching for similar star systems to conduct more atmospheric research. Four telescopes named SPECULOOS (Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars) based in Chile will survey the southern sky for this purpose.
This star system will probably outlive us because this type of star evolves so slowly. When our sun dies, TRAPPIST-1 will still be a young star and will live for another trillion years, Gillon said. After we are gone, if there is another part of the universe for life to carry on, it may be in the TRAPPIST-1 system.
"This is the most exciting result I have seen in the 14 years of Spitzer operations," said Sean Carey, manager of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California. "Spitzer will follow up in the fall to further refine our understanding of these planets so that the James Webb Space Telescope can follow up. More observations of the system are sure to reveal more secrets."
A Dutch vehicle manufacturer has made flying cars commercially available for the first time ever.
PAL-V has created the Liberty Sport and Liberty Pioneer, a pair of two-person three-wheelers capable of flying at speeds of up to 112mph.
The Sport is the cheaper of the two, with the base model starting at $400,000. The Pioneer, meanwhile, comes in at $600,000.
That extra cash gets buyers training sessions, power heating and an electronic flight instrument display.
Potential buyers that can’t afford to lay that sort of money down up-front can instead drop a non-refundable deposit of $25,000 for the Pioneer, or $10,000 for the Sport.
Both versions of the Liberty use a retractable rotor blade and a pair of engines, one that’s used for driving, the other for flying.
On the ground, the Liberty is capable of moving at a top speed of 100mph, can go from 0-62mph in nine seconds, and has a range of 817 miles and fuel efficiency of 31mpg.
PAL-V says it takes 10 minutes to switch from driving to flying mode and, in the air, you’ll get 310 miles from a full tank.
“After years of hard work, beating the technical and qualification challenges, our team succeeded in creating an innovative flying car that complies with existing safety standards determined by regulatory bodies around the world,” said Robert Dingemanse, the CEO of PAL-V.
Unfortunately, they won’t start shipping for a while yet, with first deliveries of the Liberty scheduled for the end of 2018.
