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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Yamuna breaches danger mark in Auraiya, authorities stay on alert
Kanpur: The authorities remain on alert as the Yamuna breached the danger mark in Auraiya district on Thursday. The water level of the Yamuna was recorded at 114.880 metres, above warning level at 112 metres and danger mark at 113 metres , in Auraiya district, at 8am on Thursday. The rise in the water level is because of upstream flow, said the officials. Flood Control executive engineer, Manoj Singh, stated that district teams were vigilant and confirmed continuous monitoring of sensitive regions. Comprehensive monitoring systems have been established along the riverbanks and additional rescue team have been placed in low-lying areas near the Yamuna. Emergency response units have been positioned at crucial locations for quick evacuations if required. Authorities have advised the residents living in low-level areas to stay alert and adhere to the district safety guidelines. The flood control department has prepared temporary accommodation and emergency supplies as precautionary arrangements. Social media channels are being used to provide regular updates to the public. The irrigation department has initiated flood monitoring operations and is working with adjacent districts to regulate upstream barrage water release. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Age is Just a Number: Stunning Home Transformation! Read More Undo Village pradhans in the low-lying areas have been asked to maintain regular contact with district offices. Farmland near the river is under observation, with farmers being provided guidance on crop protection measures. A round-the-clock control centre has been established for emergency response. PWD has reinforced vulnerable embankment sections using additional sandbags and stone reinforcement. Medical units are prepared in affected regions for health emergencies. The district magistrate's office is ensuring coordinated efforts across various departments. Police patrols have been increased along riverbanks to restrict access to hazardous areas.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
Minister: HPV vaccination for Plus 1 & 2 students soon
T'puram: Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for Plus One and Plus Two students will be initiated in the state to prevent cervical cancer, said health minister Veena George on Monday. A technical committee will meet within a week for a final decision on the vaccine. "Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting women. HPV vaccine is most effective for ages 9 to 14 years, but it can be administered up to the age of 26 years. Cervical cancer is preventable through vaccination and the state made this significant decision based on chief minister's directive," said a statement issued by the minister. The state is undertaking significant efforts to achieve a cervical cancer-free Kerala, she said. "An awareness campaign about HPV vaccination will also be organised. Awareness messages will be prepared according to the technical committee's guidelines. Special awareness will be provided at the school level as the students are in Plus One and Plus Two. Parents will also be informed of the need for administering the vaccination to their children," she added. Health department is conducting robust activities for cancer prevention, said George. "A cancer care grid has been established to coordinate diagnosis and treatment. As part of cancer prevention, a public campaign titled 'Health is Happiness, Keep Cancer Away' was launched. Over 1.7 million people were screened," she said, adding that the campaign would be further strengthened.
Cosmopolitan
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Is ITV's Under the Bridge based on a true story? The real life case behind Reena Virk's tragic death
A chilling new drama, Under the Bridge,is set to air on ITV tonight (Friday 25th July). The eight-part series recounts the true story of Reena Virk, a 14-year-old who attended a party on an island in British Columbia, Canada, but tragically never made it back home. Seven teenage girls and a boy were implicated in Reena's murder. The story is told through the eyes of Rebecca and local police officer Cam Bentland (played by Lily Gladstone), pulling viewers into the complex world of the teenagers accused of murder - and uncovering some shocking truths along the way. "Under the Bridge is based on acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey's book about the 1997 true story of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk (Vritika Gupta) who went to join friends at a party and never returned home," the official synopsis reads. "Through the eyes of Godfrey (Riley Keough) and a local police officer (Lily Gladstone), the series takes us into the hidden world of the young girls accused of the murder - revealing startling truths about the unlikely killer." As Under the Bridge airs read on for the devastating true story that inspired the series. It is. on 14th November 1997, a 14-year-old girl named Reena Virk was attacked by a group of teenagers in Saanich, Canada. Her body was discovered eight days later in a nearby river. In 2008, Reena Virk's father, Manjit, published Reena: A Father's Story, a memoir that explores his daughter's life and the tragedy of her death. He describes Reena as a young girl who often felt like an outsider and endured relentless bullying. Her relationship with her Indian Canadian parents was complex, shaped in part by their strict upbringing and devotion to the Jehovah's Witness faith. At age 14, Virk began spending time with a group of teenagers, including Nicole Cook. According to the book Under the Bridge, tensions escalated when Reena allegedly spread hurtful rumours about Cook - claiming she had fake breasts, wore coloured contact lenses, and had AIDS. On the evening of 14th November 1997, Virk attended a party with some of her friends where she was confronted by Cook, according to the TV show Bloodlust Under the Bridge. Virk allegedly called her a "b***h," which prompted Cook to put a cigarette out on her forehead. Cook and Missy Grace Pleich said that Cook's best friend, Kelly Ellard, and Pleich both started to hit and kick Virk. Then the rest of the group, including Warren Glowatski, joined in. Virk managed to escape, but was followed by Glowatski and Ellard, who continued the assault before drowning her in the Victoria Gorge waterway. They were later tried as adults, and both received life sentences. Eight teenagers were ultimately tried and convicted in connection with Reena's tragic death. Six of them, later dubbed the Shoreline Six, were found guilty of assaulting her. while Warren and Kelly faced murder convictions, held responsible for taking her life. Their convictions were changed to manslaughter. The Shoreline Six included Ellard, Cook, Nicole Patterson, Courtney Keith, Gail Ooms, and Reena Virk's best friend, Pleich. They received sentences ranging from 60-day conditional sentences to one year in jail. Several of the teenagers involved in the initial attack on Virk were given fictional names in the series. For example, Nicole Cook is portrayed as Josephine Bell, played by Chloe Guidry. This was the name given to Cook by Godfrey for her 2017 Vice article about the incident as a way of protecting her identity since she was a teenager (aged 15) when it happened. Under the Bridge starts on ITV1 on Friday 25th July at 9pm.
Daily Mail
24-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Ultra-ritzy enclave where nine local families have collective wealth of $638 billion
Silicon Valley is the epicenter of America's tech hub, attracting many of the world's richest individuals and generating an estimated wealth of $638 billion. But now it has emerged that the eye-watering sum is shared between just nine families. And a new study conducted by San Jose State University concluded that the city's wealthiest households are only gaining wealth. Their collective net worth was up by a staggering $136 billion from 2024, according to the recent data. The annual report, titled the Silicon Valley Pain Index,is designed to measure 'personal and community distress' through data tracking structural inequalities in the region. Silicon Valley refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Santa Clara, San Mateo, the western edge of Alameda, and Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz. It represents a high concentration of wealth and can be an increasingly difficult place for working and middle-class families to make ends meet. Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg is among the ritzy residents, accounting for $253.5 billion of the area's wealth. Zuckerberg's net worth is more than 20 times the wealth of the bottom 446,505 households in the area. The Meta CEO purchased a five-house compound in the area, estimated to be worth a whopping $37million. He bought a $7 million mansion in 2011 before buying the neighboring residences to create the compound. The report also estimates that the region has $1.01 trillion of liquid wealth. Three companies based in Silicon Valley - Adobe, Alphabet (Google), and Meta comprise a combined net worth of $535 billion. Even outside of the nine wealthiest families, the annual income needed to afford just a median-priced house is $370,000, up 54 percent in the last six years, according to the report. The report also found that renters need to have an average annual income of $136,532 to afford an apartment at 30 percent of their take-home pay, representing the highest rents in the country. In San Mateo County, a household annual income of $156,650 for a family of four is considered 'low, ' compared to the state average of $94,500. Nearly 71 percent of homes sold in the area were priced around 1.92 million and were considered the 'median home price.' The median home price in Santa Clara alone was 2.171 million in May, which is a 3.4 percent increase from last year. The study doesn't explicitly state the nine families contributing to the mass concentration of wealth in addition to Zuckerberg, but listed Google's former CEO, Larry Page, as the second richest billionaire in the area. Sergey Brin, who co-founded Google with Page and served as the president of Alphabet, is the third-wealthiest billionaire in the region. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, an artificial intelligence company, comes in fourth. Page and Zuckerberg live in Palo Alto, while Brin and Huang have properties in Los Altos Hills. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is listed as the fifth-wealthiest billionaire in the region, with Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook as the sixth. Financier George Roberts was listed seventh, while Laurence Powell Jobs of Apple came in eighth. Venture capitalist John Doerr came in ninth, and Charles Schwab of Charles Schwab brokerage ranked tenth. Silicon Valley is home to major enterprises including Apple, Alphabet, Chevron, Meta, Visa, and Wells Fargo. The companies employ a significant portion of residents in the region, leading to the high concentration of wealth from executives and engineers reporting high incomes. The success of these companies has solidified Silicon Valley as a wealthy enclave and the tech capital of the world, but the region has a long history of advancement. The silicon chip, which is used in computerized machinery, was invented in the region, and electronics reporter Dan Hoefler coined the name 'Silicon Valley' in 1971.
Time of India
24-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Futuristic departments
Amit Kumar was trained as a Mechanical Engineer with specialization in thermal engineering from the University of Roorkee (now Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee) where he was awarded the University Gold Medal. Post his graduation, he decided to pursue a career in renewable energy, a novelty in the early eighties. He had retired from TERI in July 2021 whereas Senior Director, Social Transformation, was responsible for initiatives focusing on energy access, holistic rural development, and community engagement. There he had also led research activities in the fields of renewable energy and resource-efficient process technology applications. As Dean (Distance & Short-Term Education), TERI University between 2014 and 2016, he was responsible for the development and outreach of the University's online courses, management & faculty development programmes, and skill enhancement initiatives. LESS ... MORE The atmosphere is quite festive in the capital of this State, having a city of the millennium, no less. And why not? How many governments across the globe can boast of a department dedicated to the future? There was a consensus among the elite of its officialdom that they were not entering uncharted waters. On the contrary, the state ventured into to future, drawing ample lessons from how to run (or not, depending on whether you belong to the ruler or the ruled community) its showpiece cyber city. The mega event started off with an impressive multi-media presentation titled 'Future is Past', quoting a Swiss-American psychiatrist and author Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 'We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives'. Elaborating further with the aid of actual site photographs (as opposed to artistic representations favoured by its famed realty segment) the voiceover intoned that its steadfast focus, right from the beginning, has been on revenue generation, leaving mundane tasks of city management to the residents themselves. The motto being 'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime', with a caveat that fish may not be available during certain days of the year. It was emphasised how it has always been a science-backed process of thinking, well before the term `design thinking' got fashionable. The simple but effective, this phased process was summarised in a few steps as 'big ticket announcements – drawing board – DPRs – tendering – re-tendering – rethinking – back to drawing board'. In a nutshell, present challenges get converted into future ones. After all, wouldn't the future look bleak without challenges of its own? This also helps boost everyone's morale by constantly looking forward to the future. Our age-old philosophy also tells us that while the Present is Transient, the Future holds Potential. It helps greatly to have multiple agencies working at cross purposes; and of course, that annual ritual of GRAP helping convert better parts of present plans to futuristic ones. The presentation highlighted another noteworthy enabler that ensured that, instead of the devolution of power envisaged in the 1992 constitutional amendment, the city-centric decisions were centralised. This singular innovation must have pushed most of the present-day issues to some indeterminate future dates, it was said. All through this, however, the guiding principle of equity was never forgotten, e.g., mansions worth hundreds of crores faced the same infrastructural eventualities as common homes or for that matter high-level district offices. The gathering applauded enthusiastically when the presentation ended with reiterating the commitment to growth built on inclusive and equitable promises, all in the future, naturally. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
