How the internet is altering the news landscape

About a decade ago, this question would have been easy to answer— the TV or a newspaper. But in the subsequent years, the answer seems to have blurred.

Overwhelmingly, social media is winning the race to deliver your next news break, news feature or news analysis. Be it the refugee crisis in Europe, US presidential election debates, spats between different political parties in India, the public reaction to the scenario in Indian cricket, games, movies or events, whether crises or celebrations, we find our news now being frequently broken on social media platforms, rather than on traditional media. It wouldn’t  be incorrect to say news has become social.

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Alstom to provide Amtrak with its new generation of high-speed train

Alstom and Amtrak announced today that they have signed a contract for Alstom to design and build 28 new high-speed trains, which will run on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Boston and Washington D.C. Amtrak and Alstom also signed a long-term contract under which Alstom will provide Amtrak with long-term technical support and supply spare components and parts for the maintenance of the new trainsets. Together, these contracts are worth €1.8 billion ($2 billion). 

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) line covers roughly 730 km (457 miles)[1]. In only ten years, the number of passengers has increased from 2.4 million passengers in FY 2002 to 3.5 million in FY 2014. As part of an effort to renew and expand their premium product, Amtrak has therefore decided to purchase new trainsets to replace the existing Acela trains [2], thus increasing passenger capacity, providing more frequent service, minimizing journey times, and improving operating costs and energy efficiency. 

The train ordered by Amtrak is Avelia Liberty, the latest development of Alstom’s high-speed train range Avelia. The new trainset will be able to carry up to 33% more passengers than the current Acela trains. The trainset configuration includes an innovative compact power car and nine passenger cars, with the possibility of three more being added if demand grows. The train is capable of travelling at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph), but will initially operate at a maximum speed of 257 km/h (160 mph) based on NEC track speed limits. Additionally, each concentrated power car is equipped with Alstom’s pioneering Crash Energy Management (CEM) system.

Another key feature is the train’s articulated architecture, which provides greater stability and passenger comfort while enhancing safety. The train also includes Alstom’s innovative Tiltronix anticipative tilting technology, which allows the train to manoeuvre curves safely and more comfortably at high speeds.

“Amtrak is taking the necessary actions to keep our customers, the Northeast region and the American economy moving forward,” said Amtrak President & CEO Joe Boardman. “These trainsets and the modernization and improvement of infrastructure will provide our customers with the mobility and experience of the future.”

Jérôme Wallut, Senior Vice President, Alstom North-America said “Alstom’s high speed trains, which we have branded Avelia, are the most advanced, reliable and safest trains in the world. Avelia Liberty will not only provide premium passenger experience but will also provide greater energy efficiency and lower lifecycle costs. This award is an illustration of the success of Alstom’s strategy of customer proximity. We would like to thank Amtrak for its vote of confidence and remain fully dedicated to making this project a success”.

Most of the Avelia Liberty for Amtrak will be manufactured in the United States. The new trainsets will be manufactured at Alstom’s 150 year-old historic site in Hornell, NY. They will be maintained in the depots of Amtrak in Boston, New York and Washington DC under a specific Technical Support and Spare Supply Agreement with additional support from Alstom’s sites in New York, Delaware and Illinois for a period of 15 years, with an option for an additional 15 years. These contracts will result in the creation of more than 1,000 jobs nationwide, including 750 in New York with 400 of those at Alstom facilities.

In nearly 40 years, Alstom has sold more than 1,100 Avelia high speed trains around the world and equipped over 300 more with its technology.  As of today, Alstom’s Avelia high-speed trains have covered over 6.4 billion kilometres in 20 countries and transported 4 billion passengers.

Source:ALSTOM

Living In Low Income Neighbourhoods Ups Obesity Risk In Teens

LOS ANGELES:  Teenagers who live in neighbourhoods with lower education or income levels may be at an increased rick of becoming obese, a new study has found. The study among on 18-year-olds found that over a four-year period, 25 per cent of these young adults became overweight or obese.

"Emerging adulthood is a critical time period for excess weight gain due to a variety of factors, including many teenagers leaving home for college and having more freedom and access to food," said Deborah Rohm Young, from Kaiser Permanente Southern California in the US.

"Our study found that living in a disadvantaged place puts teens at an increased risk for being overweight or obese," Young said.

"Although we did not explore potential reasons for this increase, factors may include cultural norms, as well as lack of access to public parks and grocery stores," she said.

The study examined the independent effects of gender, race/ethnicity and neighbourhood-level education and income on incidence of overweight and obesity.

Researchers analysed the electronic health records of 22,823 racially/ethnically diverse people who were 18 years old in 2008 and followed them for four years.

The definition of overweight and obesity was based on the sex-specific body mass index-for-age growth charts.

All of those who were studied, with the exception of those who were Asian and Pacific Islanders, were normal weight based on a body mass index (BMI) less than 25.

Researchers utilised a lower BMI threshold for Asians - less than 23 - based on recommendations from the World Health Organisation, which demonstrated the increased risks associated with obesity, such as diabetes and hypertension, occur at a lower BMI among this population compared with other racial/ethnic groups.

Over the course of four years, researchers found about 23 percent of the normal-weight 18-year-olds living in neighbourhoods with low education became overweight and about two per cent of those living in lower-income neighbourhoods became obese.

In addition, females and blacks had almost 1.7 and 1.3 times the increased risk compared with males and whites, respectively, for being overweight or obese.

Asians and Pacific Islanders were almost three times more likely to become overweight compared with whites when using a BMI of less than 23.

"This study suggests that a teenager who is currently at a healthy weight can still be at risk of becoming overweight or obese in a short period of time," said Young.

"In addition, it is important to use the lower BMI for Asians to ensure we are identifying individuals who may be at risk for obesity and related conditions such as diabetes," she said.

The study was published in the journal Paediatric Obesity. 

Source:NDTV

New 16 feet dia Bladed Beauty (Giant Fan) installed at CST station

16 feet dia Bladed Beauty (Giant Fan) installed at CST station

This US-made fan, with a diameter of 16 feet, is on a test-run at CST. Whether CR will invest Rs3.35L on each of these bladed beauties depends on how this one fares.

Mumbai: A fan with the diameter of 16 feet is the Central Railway’s (CR) newest addition at CST to beat the heat and to cut down on electricity expenditure, albeit temporarily.

This fan, manufactured by USA-based MacroAir, is on a testrun at CST. If it passes the careful scrutiny by engineers, then the CR will have to shell out Rs 3.25 lakh for each of these bladed beauties – a cost that CR authorities say can be recovered in three years and is a good bargain as these fans helps in cutting down electricity usage.

At present, the concourse area of the suburban railway station, has 25 conventional fans installed, which uses at least 100 units of electricity on average daily. As per MacroAir’s proposal, these HVLS (High volume, low speed) fans of the AVD3 series, will need only four of them to ventilate the entire area and will consume only 33 units of electricity per day. Apart from this, these fans are also light, noise-free and maintenance-free.

Sources said that besides providing cool air to commuters, these fans will also be beneficial to the railways. Though their initial capital expenditure is higher, maintenance costs will reduce. The fans at railway stations are also sent for monthly maintenance along with the fans installed inside local trains.

Authorities have realised that the fans at these stations do not provide relief to commuters, and will soon install ones with a blade span of 5-7 metres. In a recent inspection, WR authorities realised that the present fans at these two stations barely provided any air to commuters. “There are many people who wait for their respective trains at the concourse, sometimes for long hours. The current lot of fans doesn’t provide the necessary relief. Hence, we are looking at installing new gigantic ones,” said a WR official, on condition of anonymity. The concourses of both stations see thousands of people every day.

Narendra Patil, Chief Public Relations Officer, CR said, “These are noiseless fans that cover large areas. We will take a call after our engineers finish monitoring this fan.”

Apart from this, the CR is also busy upgrading the lighting of the circulating area and the platforms.As of now, 800 LED lights have been put up in the place of old conventional lights in CST, including the platforms, the circulating area and the main-line concourse area. This project involves the replacement of 1,300 lights in total.

Source:RailNews

Facebook Launched a new app “Work Chat” aimed Professionals – Montgomery News

Earlier this year, Facebook at Work was announced. For those unfamiliar, Facebook at Work is basically Facebook aimed at professionals. This allows employees at a company to communicate with each other privately, so in a way you could think of it as a private social network just for your company.

Facebook at Work, the version of Facebook designed for chatting with colleagues on a private social network, now has its own chat client as well

Somewhat like Facebook at Work’s version of Messenger, the new “Work Chat” app, as it’s called, allows coworkers to message each other individually, participate in group chats, share photos and videos, make voice calls, and even use stickers.

The application quietly debuted on the Google Play store on Thursday. Facebook tells us the iOS version is in the works, and will arrive soon. However, the company would not provide an exact launch date.

The new chat app arrives just ahead of the planned public debut of a freemium version of the business networking platform, which Facebook said this fall was expected to arrive before year-end. That date may actually be closer to “in the next year,” Facebook says today.

The Facebook at Work program has been in private testing since its unveiling this January, and now has hundreds of companies on board. In fact, Facebook tells us that it has 300 businesses using its platform as of today, ranging from smaller startups to large, established companies like banks, real estate firms, beverage companies, travel companies, and more.

These customers include several big names like Heineken USA, Hootsuite, Linio in Latin America, and, in one of its largest deals, the Royal Bank of Scotland, which plans to have 30,000 workers on Facebook at Work by March 2016, and then its entire workforce of 100,000 by the end of next year.

High-speed Rail deal signals New Phase in US-China ties

Beijing: China’s ties with the U.S. are quietly moving to the next level, signalled by a high-speed rail contract and a string of hi-end investments that could help Beijing transition towards an innovation-based economy.

Ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. last month, a consortium led by the China Railway Group signed a deal with XpressWest Enterprise to build a high-speed rail line that would link Los Angeles with Las Vegas. In Beijing, there is considerable enthusiasm that the 370 km high-speed link, between the two iconic cities, will open the floodgates for securing much larger projects.

The Chinese have already set their eyes on the proposed high-speed link between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The 2029 timeline has been set for this mega undertaking, which will reduce travel time between the two cities to under three hours.

Analyst say that the Chinese forays in the U.S. are likely to dramatically expand railway competition between Beijing and Tokyo, which has so far been confined to Asia, in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and India. China’s growing economic engagement in the U.S. flows from a policy direction that encourages companies to seek and absorb advanced technology.

In Seattle, the first halt of his visit, President Xi observed at a CEO-roundtable that Beijing was keen that U.S. businesses set up “regional headquarters or research and development centres in China, and encourage more small- and medium-sized companies to expand businesses in China”. He added: “Meanwhile, China will keep increasing its investment in the United States.”

In tune with official policy, investment in the U.S. is growing as part of closed loop, for much of the production is routed into the Chinese market. Thus, 70 per cent of the lithium-ion batteries produced by the China-acquired A123 Systems in the Michigan find their way back home. The Wanxiang Group that bought A123 Systems in 2013 now prides itself for saving the company from bankruptcy – its woes the result of the 2008 financial crisis.

In the same year, China’s Keer Group—a textile manufacturer—invested $ 218 million in an industrial yarn plant in South Carolina, the former nucleus of the U.S. “southern textile corridor.”

China’s first high-speed railway project in the United States

A long-discussed high-speed rail project linking Southern California and Las Vegas will be built by a U.S.-China joint venture, Chinese officials said Thursday, though many details about the agreement remained hazy.

Announcement of cooperation on the XpressWest project adjacent to the 15 Freeway comes days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States. Financial terms of the agreement, and the cost of the project, were not immediately clear.

XpressWest, a private venture formerly called DesertXpress, has been under discussion since at least 2007 to form a joint venture with China Railway International USA, which unites the state firms China Railway Group, CRRC, China State Construction Engineering Corporation and China Railway Signal & Communication Corporation.

Chinese officials described the project as a 230-mile train linking Las Vegas and Los Angeles, though XpressWest’s website says the route is planned as 185 miles from Vegas to Victorville, 85 miles northeast of downtown L.A.

XpressWest agreed this month to form a joint venture with China Railway International USA Co. to build and operate the railway, Shu Guozeng, deputy head of the government’s Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, said at a news conference Thursday, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Shu claimed the project could begin construction as early as September 2016.

Representatives of XpressWest did not immediately return requests for comment.

Multiple proposals for a Vegas-to-L.A. train have been discussed over the years, with none coming to fruition because of funding difficulties and other setbacks.

China has built the most extensive high-speed railway network in the world.

It has about 10,000 miles of high-speed rail in operation, and Chinese train makers and railroad builders are eager to expand overseas now that China’s network is somewhat built-out and the country’s domestic economy is slowing.

China Railway International was established this summer by a Chinese consortium led by national railway operator China Railway, the financial publication Caixin reported. Bloomberg News cited a statement from Shu saying the Las Vegas project would “be supported by $100 million in initial capital,” though from which entities was unclear.

“As China’s first high-speed railway project in the United States, the project will be a landmark in overseas investment for the Chinese railway sector and serve as a model of international cooperation,” Yang Zhongmin, chairman of China Railway International, told Xinhua.

According to the XpressWest website, which does not mention any news of a China partnership but does have a version of its website in Chinese, the train is expected to transport passengers between Vegas and Victorville in 80 minutes, with fares set at $89.

Publicity materials state that although the project has adopted an “assemble and manufacture in America” plan, the rolling stock manufacturing base for high-speed trains is “not yet mature.” Therefore, the venture’s backers indicated they intended to partner with some foreign suppliers for the estimated 42 train sets they anticipate needing, with assembly being performed in southern Nevada.

Last October, the Chinese media claimed that the country had become the world leader in developing high-speed rail systems.

The same month, the Russian government signed a memorandum of cooperation on a high-speed railroad with Chinese officials. The purpose of the document is to develop a Moscow-Beijing Eurasian high-speed rail transport corridor.