A riveting character in the book called Angel is a "water knife”, tasked to infiltrate and sabotage the water supplies of competing states.I read excerpts of the book. It is racy, graphic, and terrifying, and not in the realm of the implausible anymore.We are living in water-stressed times; there are water-haves and a rising tide of water have-nots. A friend who lives in Gurgaon recently tweeted that in upscale condominiums in his city, there is free, unmetered, unlimited water for residents and one can actually leave a tap running and go off for a week with no charge and minimal consequences.Meanwhile, the residents of Chennai, India’s sixth largest city, are living through horrific times, though it rained a little earlier this week. Chennai has basically almost run out of water. 

The city is almost entirely dependent on the northeast monsoon, which starts in October. Last year, it received very little rainfall.Even thousands of kilometres away from Chennai, it is hard to insulate oneself against its troubles. All the four reservoirs that supply Chennai its water are running dry this summer because of scant rainfall in 2018. Chennai’s water crisis is front-page news; friends’ Facebook posts describe in grim detail what is it is like to go without enough water day after day. There are images and video clips of long queues of people around water tankers in searing heat; there have been reports of scuffles over water. Many of Chennai’s hotels are rationing water for guests, and some private companies have reportedly asked their staff to work from home.This week, the state government has announced that a train will bring water to Chennai from Jolarpettai in Vellore district, more than 200 km, away at a huge cost. The Opposition DMK leadership is against the idea. In short, more troubles lie ahead.Chennai makes the headlines because it is a metropolitan city. But it is by no means the only place suffering acute water stress. Nearly half the country is grappling with drought-like conditions, and this has been particularly bad this year in western and southern India because of the below-average rainfall.The question that interests me most about Chennai is how did it get to this sorry state? Tamil Nadu was perhaps the first state in India to make rainwater harvesting (RWH) mandatory for all buildings in 2003. Chennai has more than eight lakh RWH structures. So why are so many people in that city facing such an acute water shortage?There hangs a tale which explains just about every mess that you see in urban India. A building with a rainwater harvesting system on paper does not mean it actually works. A bit like the existence of a toilet does not mean it is used.It will not work if it is not maintained properly. Friends in Chennai tell me there is huge apathy among a lot of people towards maintaining these structures. The water crisis had never been this acute. Many of the rainwater harvesting structures in Chennai are also inefficient.If Chennai and so many other cities are facing a water crisis today, one big reason is that neither policymakers nor many people living in these places truly realise the horrors of running out of water. If it starts raining anytime soon, people will forget their recent sufferings. That’s why the inefficiencies in the water sector remain, and rainwater storage and reuse and treatment of greywater are not given the importance that they deserve.Here is one scandalous statistic about water losses. Lack of proper maintenance of infrastructure causes losses of almost 40 per cent of piped water in urban India.Chennai is currently in the news, but the big picture regarding water in India is grim. The Niti Aayog, the government’s think tank, acknowledges that nearly 600 million people in the country face high-to extreme water stress. There is a deepening national groundwater crisis, with 54 per cent of wells declining in level due to unsustainable withdrawals for irrigation.The Narendra Modi government’s new Jal Shakti (water) ministry has announced a grand plan to provide piped water connections to every household in India by 2024.But the key question remains — what will happen if there is no water to give?What will it take to realise that time is running out and we have to also wake up to simple ideas about conserving water. India captures only eight per cent of its annual rainfall. This is among the lowest in the world. Our ancestors used to capture far more. But those traditional methods have been neglected to the point where most are in ruins. We also don’t use our wastewater well.There is much talk about security. It is time to realise that water is a security issue. Millions of Indians are not water-secure. Fights are breaking out over water. In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has reportedly asked the police in all its 52 districts to guard water sources.An existential threat hovers over many prosperous pockets of India. A drought is a huge part of the problem. The situation is getting steadily worse with unregulated extraction of groundwater, which is depleting underground aquifers. Take Bengaluru. Whoever has money drills a borewell to tap groundwater in the newer suburban areas where tech companies are clustered in the city.A few years ago, I remember meeting a young hip technocrat who told me that "I fear the day when I will have soap all over my face and there is not a drop of water coming out of the tap”.But I also saw a fascinating initiative called the Participatory Aquifer Mapping Project, which sought to involve Bengaluru’s residents in sharing information about borewells in their communities so that the city’s policymakers could learn what was happening underground and begin to craft a suitable response.Today, in this country, demand for water vastly outstrips supply; the situation can deteriorate sharply unless we realise that this is an emergency and we must treat water as a precious resource and everyone must work towards conserving it.The future could well resemble dystopian fiction.

Hide Comments | Add Comment

 Therefore, they are introducing smartphones that cater to your specific needs with better cameras, faster charging, improved processing speed and maximized displays.2-inch (15. The Moto g7 comes equipped with exclusive Moto Experiences that make using your smartphone easier and more enjoyable. Both smartphones will have a special launch offer where you can get a cashback of Rs 2,200 from Jio that’s applicable on Rs 198 and Rs 299 plans.Moto g7Capturing, creating, and sharing creative content has never been easier, thanks to the new Moto g7. And with an upgraded, contoured Gorilla Glass design, it looks as great as it performs. - new Moto g7 includes features that matter most to you at a remarkable price point of Rs 16,999, the Motorola one gives you the Android experience you love at just Rs 13,999. 50% faster than the previous generation, the Moto g7 can tackle your most intensive creative tasks thanks to the Snapdragon 632 Mobile Platform. Newly redesigned One Button Nav replaces navigation buttons with one simple on-screen bar.

The brand goes on to add that because no two consumers are alike, Motorola understands their smartphone needs are also very different. Longer battery life means no need to worry about losing your GPS directions when you’re out and about. Combined with Android 9. The phone’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 2. Bring images and videos to life on an ultrawide 6. Always have that breathtaking sunset to look back on or highlight last night’s festivities to elevate your Instagram with a photo using our portrait, cinemagraph, and time-lapse modes And with AI-powered Google Lens, you can interact with the world around you just by pointing your camera. The 12MP dual camera system is equipped with Portrait mode, Spot Color, Cinemagraph, Auto Smile Capture and Google Lens so you can unleash your creativity and interact with the world around you.0 Pie, every swipe, tap, and hold works even better than before. Commenting on the launch Motorola states that Since moto g redefined the Indian smartphone market in 2014, more and more consumers are interested in premium phones at affordable prices. 

Combined with all of your favourite Moto Experiences like Quick Capture, Fast Flashlight and Attentive Display, using your smartphone has never been easier.Capture life’s unexpected moments with Motorola one’s advanced 13MP dual smart camera system and 8MP selfie camera. A modern, curved glass body frames Motorola one’s 5.9-inch (15 cm) 19:9 Max Vision display. Motorola is also giving you the latest software and AI-powered innovations from Google, right out of the box.The new Moto g7 and Motorola one smartphones will be available at Rs 16,999 and Rs 13,999 from 25th March, 2019. And do all of this while using one hand. 

Its 15W wholesale instant electric heating water faucet TurboPower charger gives you 9 hours of power in just 15 minutes and all-day battery helps you power through the day. Lenovo-owned Motorola has launched the Moto g7 and Motorola one in India..7cm) Max Vision Full HD+ display with a u-design. Take a photo of a dog walking down the street and Google will find what breed it is.The Moto g7 comes equipped with exclusive Moto Experiences that make using your smartphone easier and more enjoyable. Generation after generation, the brand remains focused on our main consumer commitment: offering phones that have the premium features you deserve, without sacrificing the quality, affordability and dependability you expect.

GHz octa-core processor keeps your device performing at peak speeds, so it responds instantly to every tap, touch and swipe.Motorola oneWith Motorola’s second Android One smartphone for the Indian consumers, the brand gives you the Android experience you love, three years of security updates and let you do more with a smart camera thanks to Google Lens. The 4GB/64GB Moto g7 is priced at Rs 16,999 while the Motorola One with the 4GB/64GB configuration is priced at Rs 13,999

Hide Comments | Add Comment

He is no longer a regular person, thinking, deciding and acting normally. A stage came when the youth feared that his life would collapse without Wikipedia and began to carry it on his gadget even to the toilet. In fact, my own professional life and academic achievements would not have come to light but for the Web”. 

Internet is certainly a boon. They are reading, not books perhaps, but stuff on the phone,” says author Meena Kandasamy, adding, "On the other China electric instant heating water faucet Manufacturers hand, attention spans are narrowing.While detailing a disturbing chronological account of almost three decades of Internet-inspired bomb-making, Wikipedia has a para on British student Isa Ibrahim, sentenced to 10 years in jail in July 2008 for planning to bomb a mall with a suicide vest explosive made with instructions found online. Sleep gets disturbed. People now think less on their feet and rely more on search engines,” says Dr Kishore. 

Communication gets derailed,” says Dr Sharma, who recently treated a 24-year-old patient from West Bengal brought to him with decreased communication with the family and interpersonal maladjustments because of intense addiction to Wikipedia. It gets worse in time as the person withdraws further into his virtual word, even blaming the family saying that they are excessively critical of him,” says Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru.Some see a silver lining in this scary picture.

The person sinks deeper and deeper into his virtual world. "As research on AI continues to grow, a more intelligent and smart Internet will evolve, the better designed and tailor-made the apps would become, and life would become easier. But we no longer need to remember our friends’phone numbers, know how to multiply two numbers, or observe and think whether plants are living beings like us or not, because all answers are available on the WWW. I think, therefore I am. He is worried that children, ‘facilitated’ now by social networking sites and cell phone texting, have forgotten the formats of writing prevalent in prior generations.Doctors have been speaking about ‘Digital Dementia’ since the early 1990s. 

The Web has revolutionised teaching and learning, it has brought knowledge at the ‘finger-tap’ to the seeker in the remotest corner of the globe. John’s Public Schools, Chennai, says technology has given the teacher tools to boost the student’s learning capabilities but then, he cautions, it is becoming difficult to keep children from drowning in the virtual world and to help them develop independent/individual cognitive skills, instead. "Not all the effects are negative.”

In this, they have been successful beyond their dreams, and Google has become the world’s most valuable company.Another celebrated teacher has a different take on this.(The writer is Executive Editor of Deccan Chronicle). Availability of readymade knowledge affects our thinking and limits our problem-solving skills. That’s mild reading on Wikipedia actually, considering that on the same page you also have the 2004 Madrid train bombers, who killed 191 people and wounded 1,800 with explosives made using instruction on the Web. 

But it takes away the charm of old-fashioned research — having to read truckloads of stuff in order to stumble upon what you are looking for. Developing creative skills in the student becomes tough for a teacher in this environment."Education no longer focuses on producing a creative society, but rather on one that feeds voraciously on ready knowledge. Dr R. Will this lead to smarter apps and people who are unwilling to think?” wonders Ilanthendral. His solitary lifestyle has space only for himself and his mobile phone as he locks himself up in his room.

The man had first accessed Wikipedia for normal information but in course of time, turned to it for everything, including spiritual issues. Earlier, it would take months of running around libraries and poring through heaps of books. It has demolished economic barriers as even a poor rural student can access high-class knowledge sourced from experts at low or no cost”, says Dr Vasantha Kandasamy, a professor at the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), whose 126 books on higher mathematics, all highly-rated, are on the Web for global students and researchers. Heavy users are likely to develop only the left side of the brain, leaving the right side untapped and underdeveloped.”Meena says, "The thing with Google is also that you get precisely the very information that you want — which is cool and brilliant and easy and lovely.

The availability of ready information affects our motivation to think and limits our problem-solving skills. Things have gotten worse with the galloping spread of smart phones and gaming devices. While the internet has made obtaining answers easier, it has also made people app-dependent.She says, "If I need some information for my research, I am able to get it on the Net in a minute. But as one begins to fathom what all could be sourced from cyberspace, it becomes as awesome as trying to cap infinity.”When the teacher at school and the parent at home ignore the problem, the child develops excessive reliance on gadgets, the Internet and Google. For instance, people actually spend a lot more time reading — facebook posts, news, twitter, whatever — than they would otherwise. 

In the future, many more interesting things will be possiblewith a tap on the phone,” she says.Isn’t all this technology making us lazy? "No one these days tries to add a few numbers mentally; they reach out for the calculator app on the phone. This is where schools play a pivotal role, in training students to write composition to develop independent writing and note-making skills, which in turn helps in generating ideas,” Dr Kishore says, adding, however, that "the most disturbing element is our dependence on this virtual world and distancing ourselves from core human values like empathy and concern. 

He would spend day and night on Wikipedia, even skipping his eating and washing routines. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s original mission was to örganise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.The quiz loss complaint is actually a very trivial affair, a fun thing really, as it was quite a harmless application of the World Wide Web for a solution.”Her sister Dr Ilanthendral, who teaches Information Technology students at the VIT, says the Internet has undergone a paradigm shift with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, social media and IoT. 

The right side being linked to concentration, its neglect affects attention and memory span, which could lead to early dementia.You have everything available on the Net, from instructions on grooming a cat to making a bomb; not to mention wonderfully useful information for all sections of people, from schoolchildren to university scholars, homemakers and holidaymakers, professionals and pensioners, farmers and weathermen. 

A generation down the line, will man still be the ‘thinking animal’?On a wet cosy evening in a colonial club in the hills, holidaying families from Chennai lodged a ‘strong protest’ with the management that they lost a quiz competition as a team tucked away in a corner cheated in getting their answers from Google on their phone. We no longer want newspaper-style engagement, we want arguments in twitter-friendly formats. In the case of older addicts, more serious issues arise that threaten social life and relationships — such as obsessive enga-gement in Internet porn, or even Facebook and other social media. But what is the impact it is having on its users, which is practically all of us? Cogito, ergo sum, said Rene Descartes. Kishore Kumar, Chief Mentor, St

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich will attempt to join Dortmund in the last four when they play VfL Bochum on Wednesday while minnows Heidenheim host Hertha Berlin.jpg Stuttgart’s Kevin Grosskreutz (left) and Erik Durm of Borussia Dortmund vie for the ball in their German Cup quarter-final at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Stuttgart on Tuesday. (Photo: AP) DOR4. Dortmund won 3-1..Stuttgart’s Kevin Grosskreutz (left) and Erik Durm of Borussia Dortmund vie for the ball in their German Cup quarter-final at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Stuttgart on Tuesday.

Earlier, veteran Claudio Pizarro helped seal Werder Bremen’s 3-1 quarterfinal win at ten-man Bayer Leverkusen China wholesale instant heating water faucet by playing a key role in their shock victory. Dortmund won 3-1."Auba knows how to take his chances and he works hard on his finishing every day,” said Reus.Gabon striker Aubameyang and Germany winger Marco Reus, who have provided 45 of Dortmund’s goals in all competitions this season, netted before Henrik Mkhitaryan claimed their late third.

The visitors regained the lead when Reus set up Aubameyang for his 30th in all competitions, and Mkhitaryan scored a simple tap-in on 89 minutes. Dortmund took the lead at Stuttgart’s Mercedes Benz Arena when Reus fired home off the crossbar with just five minutes gone.Stuttgart fought back and levelled when Lukas Rupp’s shot deflected off Mkhitaryan and into the Dortmund net on 21 minutes to the home fans’ delight.Dortmund are in the semifinals for the third season in a row while spirited Stuttgart had their five-match winning streak, dating back to mid-December, being ended

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens”:1. aircraft carrier instant electric water heater tap Manufacturers Dwight D. http://bit. A Boba Fett spin-off teaser premised on his escape from the sarlacc that swallowed him in "Return of the Jedi. The company encourages these mash-ups, having revived the annual Star Wars Fan Film Awards in 2014 two years after buying Lucasfilm.ly/1N892Ac4. Yet another lightsaber battle - this time taken to deliberately ridiculous extremes. Watch for the Minecraft reference.ly/1MRNtVe5.ly/1kTP8To 3. A special-effects laden duel, complete with Kylo Ren's wicked lightsaber crossguard.jpg If the teasers, trailers and hints haven't sated your appetite for all things Star Wars in advance of the latest entry in the franchise, then it's time to tap into the force of fan films.”  

 You've got to give them credit for piecing together trailer hints into logical themes, pulling off low-budget special effects, and acting in generally cheesy fashion. Lightsaber boomerangs make this fan film scream "From Down Unda.ly/1Tf9B0910.ly/1Xrp6CK8.And fear not - the Disney empire won't be striking back.These sometimes hilarious, sometimes awe-inspiring and always off-canon creations are showcases for the creativity of Star Wars fanatics.If the teasers, trailers and hints haven't sated your appetite for all things Star Wars in advance of the latest entry in the franchise, then it's time to tap into the force of fan films.ly/1kTPGIZ9. Eisenhower remade the teaser trailer, complete with real-life fighter pilots.” http://bit. A low-budget remake of "The Force Awakens” trailer. A clever stitching together of various teasers and trailers to date, including bits from international trailers and voice-overs from previous films. http://bit. http://bit.”

Hide Comments | Add Comment

 When you’re getting ready for the day, your Google Assistant will help you stay ahead by reminding you to bring an umbrella, showing you your day’s meetings, or warning you if there is a delay on your commute. Swipe down on your watch to get quicker access to handy features and shortcuts like Google Pay or ‘Find my phone’. Google has redesigned Wear OS by Google to help you get the most out of your time — providing quicker access to your information and notifications, proactive help from the Google Assistant, and smarter health coaching. See an important message? Just tap to select a built-in smart reply without even leaving your stream. 

Tap on smart suggestions like the weather at your destination or find a restaurant near your hotel.Easier access to notificationsGoogle is making it easier to browse, dismiss or take action on your notifications with the new notification stream.(Source). The Google Assistant will also suggest features you may not have tried yet and will become more helpful over time as it gets to know you and as we add new features.Google has added easier access to notifications, and proactive help for Google Assistant. 

The new and redesigned Wear OS. Swipe up to see all your notifications at once. Now, you can simply swipe left to start a workout or see how you are tracking toward your goals.Google will begin rolling out these new features over the next month, so look out for updates on your Wear OS by Google smartwatch. Let’s say you’re headed to the airport—swipe right on your watch to see your flight status or hotel reservation.Proactive help from your Google AssistantWith the new design, you can now receive proactive and personalized help from your Google Assistant

Hide Comments | Add Comment