Junior Digest

Europe and Russia are set to launch an unmanned spacecraft Monday to smell Mars’ atmosphere for gassy evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet, or may do so still

ExoMars 2016, the first of a two-phase Mars exploration, will see an orbiter hoisted from Kazakhstan at 0931 GMT Monday on a Russian Proton rocket.

With its suite of high-tech instruments, the Trace Gas Orbiter or TGO, should arrive at the Red Planet on October 19 after a journey of 496 million kilometres (308 million miles).

Its main mission to photograph the Red Planet and analyse its air, the TGO will also piggyback a Mars lander dubbed Schiaparelli.

“Rocket rollout—our 2016 mission is at the launch pad!” the European Space Agency (ESA) tweeted Friday.

ExoMars is a two-step collaboration between ESA and Russia’s Roscosmos space agency.

The second phase, a Mars rover due for launch in 2018, seems likely to be delayed over money worries.

But the first phase is going ahead as planned, and with high expectations: “Determining whether Mars is ‘alive’ today”, according to an ESA document.

A key goal is to analyse methane, a gas which on Earth is created in large part by living microbes, and traces of which were observed by previous Mars missions.

“TGO will be like a big nose in space,” according to Jorge Vago, ExoMars project scientist.

Methane, the ESA said, is normally destroyed by ultraviolet radiation within a few hundred years, which implied that in Mars’ case “it must still be produced today.”

Methane can either be generated in a biological process, such as microbes decomposing organic matter, or geological ones involving chemical processes in hot liquid water under the surface.

TGO will analyse Mars’ methane in more detail than any previous mission, said ESA, to try and determine its likely origin.

Another key element of the ExoMars 2016 mission is Schiaparelli, named after a 19th century Italian astronomer whose discovery of “canals” on Mars caused people to believe, for a while, that there was intelligent life on our neighbouring planet.

Schiaparelli is a “demonstrator” module to test heat shields and parachutes in preparation for a subsequent rover landing on Mars, a feat ESA said “remains a significant challenge”.

@Agency news.

 

Mumbai : Mumbai Police has filed a charge sheet arraigning artist Chintan Upadhyay as the main accused in the killing of his estranged wife and installation artist Hema Upadhyay and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani,

The 2,000-page charge sheet was filed in Borivili metropolitan magistrate court against Chintan and four others–Vidyadhar Rajbhar, Pradeep Rajbhar, Shivkumar Rajbhar and Vijay Rajbhar– yesterday.

While Chintan, Pradeep and Shivkumar are in custody, Vidyadhar is still absconding.

“We have completed our investigation and filed the charge sheet before the Borivili metropolitan magistrate court. Once the case is committed to sessions court the charges will be framed and trial will start,” a senior police officer said.

He added that police will recommend appointment of Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the case.

The police has listed 30 witnesses in the case including absconding accused Vidyadhar’s mother who has allegedly named Chintan in her statement.

According to the police, Vidyadhar’s mother has said that her son had earlier told her that Chintan had given him money to murder Hema.

Apart from Vidyadhar’s mother, police has also incorporated Hema’s servant Lalit Mandal in the list of witnesses.

Mandal in his statement given to the Kandivali police said that he was “surprised” to receive a call from Chintan after Hema went missing, as he rarely called him to enquire about her.

Mandal stated that Chintan, who was living in Delhi, usually did not call him up to ask about Hema as their relationship was strained.

Chintan left Mumbai on the night of December 8, and after Hema went missing on December 11, Mandal claimed to have received a call from Chintan asking him whether he was at home and whether Hema was present there, as if to check whether his plan had worked or not, said an official.
It was then that Mandal told him about her disappearance.

The police also has crucial technical evidence like CCTV footage in which the two victims can be seen leaving their car and walking towards Vidyadhar’s workshop.

@Agency report.

Mumbai : Former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar today demanded that the BJP-led government should provide a monthly “pension” of at least Rs 3,000 to the widows of farmers in the state.

“Provide farmers’ widows at least Rs 3,000 per month as pension,” the NCP MLA said, during a debate on drought under Rule 293.

He also sought waiving of loan and electricity dues of farmers.

The state government’s claim of getting Rs 3,049 crore as relief for farmers was misleading, NCP MLA and former finance minister Jayant Patil claimed, adding, “The state got just Rs 650 crore.”

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said farmers’ suicides have not declined despite the financial assistance announced by the government.

An all-party delegation should meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of total loan waiver for farmers, he said.

Describing the recent visit by Maharashtra ministers to drought-affected areas in Beed, Osmanabad and Latur districts as a “farce”, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said, “Decisions, which could have been taken in Mumbai were announced in Latur.

@Agency news.

Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD) has proposed a close friend of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi as its presidential candidate, ending a four-month wait for the identity of a president expected to rule in her name. The NLD put forward Htin Kyaw, who joined the party just two months ago, as its lower house candidate. He runs a charity founded by Suu Kyi and has been close to her since the mid-1990s.

The wildly popular Suu Kyi and the NLD won a crushing electoral victory in November, but she is barred from holding the presidency under a junta-drafted 2008 constitution because her children are not Myanmar citizens. Suu Kyi has said that she would run the country regardless through a proxy. Until Thursday, she and the NLD leadership had kept the identity of their nominee a closely guarded secret even from rank-and-file MPs. In a statement on Thursday, before the nomination was revealed, Suu Kyi urged patience from her supporters. “I would like to appeal for people to support and stand by the NLD with wisdom and far-sightedness,” she said. “The NLD is determined to meet people’s expectations and will do its best.” The NLD’s huge parliamentary majority means the candidate it backs as president is almost certain to take the top job. The NLD also nominated Henry Vantriu, a member of the Chin ethnic group who hail from Chin state in the country’s northwest bordering India and Bangladesh, as its presidential candidate for the upper house. The NLD had been widely expected to name a candidate from an ethnic minority from the upper house who would become a vice president, in line with Suu Kyi’s goal of forming a government for national reconciliation.

INDIRECT ELECTION

Under Myanmar’s indirect system for electing a president, three candidates will be nominated – one by the lower house, one by the upper house, and one by the military bloc in parliament. The constitution gives the armed forces a quarter of seats in both houses. Because the NLD has a comfortable majority in both chambers it effectively controls two of the nominations. Local media have named Thet Swe, a former navy chief who stepped down last year to run in the election representing the far flung Coco Islands, as one of the possible nominees for the military. The armed forces bloc of MPs, who will make their nomination separately, were not present at the parliament building on Thursday morning. The three nominees will be vetted by a parliamentary commission. After that, both houses of parliament will come together for a joint session to vote on the presidency, with the winner elected president and the two losing nominees becoming vice presidents.

The president picks the cabinet that will take over from President Thein Sein’s outgoing government on April 1, with the exception of the heads of the home, defence and border security ministries who will be appointed by the armed forces chief. There was confusion among members of parliament over how soon the presidential vote would take place. A director from the parliament told Reuters on Wednesday that the vote would not be held until at least Monday.

@Agency report.

New York: While the negative effects of excessive video gaming have been widely reported, a new research has found that playing video games is associated with high overall school competence and less relationship problems with peers.

For the study involving over 3,000 children between ages six and eleven, the researchers assessed the association between the amount of time spent playing video games and children’s mental health and cognitive and social skills.

“Video game playing is often a collaborative leisure time activity for school-aged children. These results indicate that children who frequently play video games may be socially cohesive with peers and integrated into the school community,” said one of the researchers Katherine Keyes, assistant professor at Mailman School of Public Health,Columbia University, US.

“We caution against over interpretation, however, as setting limits on screen usage remains an important component of parental responsibility as an overall strategy for student success,” Keyes noted.

The results were published online in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

Results were based on data from the School Children Mental Health Europe project for children aged 6-11.

Based on parent reporting, one in five children played video games more than five hours per week.

Parents and teachers assessed their child’s mental health in a questionnaire and the children themselves responded to questions through an interactive tool. Teachers evaluated academic success.

After adjusting for child age, gender, and number of children, the researchers found that high video game usage was associated with 1.75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning and 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence.

There were no significant associations with any child self-reported or mother- or teacher-reported mental health problems.

The researchers also found that more video game playing was associated with less relationship problems with their peers.

@Agency report.

New Delhi, Mar : Aiming to tackle the “exploding” monkey population in Agra, a Delhi-based wildlife body has launched a monkey sterilisation and vaccination project in the Taj city in collaboration with Agra Development Authority (ADA).

Wildlife SOS said that while taking forward the initiative, around 55 monkeys were trapped today after six weeks of carefully calibrated conditioning by its teams of trained staff.

“Agra Development Authority and Wildlife SOS have launched the first-ever monkey sterilisation & vaccination project to tackle the exploding population of rhesus macaques in the historic city and tourist hub of Agra,” it said in a statement.

“Feeding of rhesus macaques by people due to religious sentiments have habituated these animals damaging fields, creating nuisance in residential areas and cases of biting people have increased exponentially across Uttar Pradesh.

Hence, it was the need of the hour to sterilise the monkeys for long term to control of their population,” said Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS.

@Agency news.

 

Mexico : A monstrous looking sea creature which experts are unable to identify was washed up on a popular tourist resort in Mexico.
The strange 4 metre, 13 ft, long beast was found by beach-goers on the busy beach of Bonfil, in the city of Acapulco, in the southwest Mexican state of Guerrero.
Stunned spectators gathered around and took photos, which they shared on social media, speculating about the possible species of the creature.
The floating body was brought to the shore by strong currents, that have been affecting gthis part of the coast.
Although the coordinator of the Civil Guard and Fire Brugade, Rosa Camacho,believes the animal has not been long dead.
She said: “We have no idea what type of animal this is, but I do know that it does not smell bad or have a fetid aroma.
“It is four metres long and was found on Bonfil Beach.”
The photos have been seen and shared online thousands of time and provoked a debate about what kind of animal it is. Some have suggested that the creature might be a type of giant squid and others a whale.

@ Agency report.

United Nations: As differences persist among UN member states on the key issue of veto, India has asserted that the topic cannot be allowed to block the process of Security Council reform and called for consolidating the negotiating text on the basis of convergence reached so far.

“The issue of veto is important but then we cannot also allow the veto to have a veto over the process of Council reform itself,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN  Syed Akbaruddin said here yesterday.

Akbaruddin urged the chair of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations (IGN) to consolidate the negotiating text on the basis of convergence reached on issues so far while also delineating the divergence and the contrarian view of some.

He stressed that that chair should ask member states to build further on the consolidated and shortened text.

Reiterating India’s national position on the issue of veto, Akbaruddin said as long as the veto exists, it should be extended to new permanent members in a reformed Security Council.

He further suggested that as a measure of “flexibility and willingness for compromise”, the use of the veto can be deferred till the Review Conference.

“The African Union (and this is understandable) does not wish to defer use. The difference, we see, as one of a degree than one of a kind,” he said during the informal plenary meeting of the IGN on ‘Question of Veto’.

Giving an elaborate historical perspective on the use of the veto in the 70-year history of the UN, Akbaruddin said from the time the Security Council was created in 1946 till today, 317 vetoes have been cast and as result 230 draft resolutions or parts thereof have been vetoed in total.

In effect 10 per cent of the 2,271 resolutions adopted till date have been vetoed.

He further underscored that apart from the use of the veto within the Security Council, there have been expansion of the veto to the Council’s subsidiary bodies such as the Sanctions Committees.

He said in these bodies the veto has been extended to all 15 members of the Committees who can block, or object or place on hold any request of a Member State, thereby in effect killing the proposal on grounds that consensus is required.

“As the well known idiom goes, ‘if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it is a duck’. Yes…we have by a procedural stratagem expanded the veto to all members of the subsidiary bodies of the Security Council far from restraining its use,” he said.

He stressed that given the history of the use of veto, it is not surprising that a significant number of member states call for abolition of the veto or to limit and curtail its use to the extent possible.

Several other member states also support voluntary restrictions on the use of veto in situations such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and gross human rights violations.

@Agency report.

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said that 83 lakh people had voluntarily given up their LPG subsidy so far.

Answering a question about whether the government would accept the Kirit Parikh Committee’s recommendations on reducing subsidy burden, Pradhan said the Prime Minister had already urged the affluent class to give up their LPG subsidy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the ‘Give it up’ campaign in March last year and, as on date, 83 lakh people, including the middle class and retired, have given up their LPG subsidy, he added.

“We are very clear that subsidy should be targeted and we are committed towards reforming it,” Pradhan said.

Asked whether benefits of declining natural gas prices was being passed on to the consumer, Pradhan said that LPG cylinders were already subsidised.

He said the government will provide five crore LPG connections on concessional rates in the name of women from below poverty line (BPL) families over three years till 2018-19.

Asked about flood relief packages for Puducherry, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said a High Level committee, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, was looking into the issue. He said that for union territories, a Disaster Response Fund was also being created to deal with such calamities.

Regarding relief to fishermen, farmers and daily workers affected by floods in Tamil Nadu, Rijiju said state governments had to project such issues and the Centre could then act on them as per the rules of the Finance Commission.

On the damage in Puducherry due to the floods, Rijiju said two persons had died and 1,035 cattle heads perished. The floods also destroyed 4,327 houses.

@Agency report.

Colombo:  India today signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to provide over USD 400 million to finance three water supply projects in the country that would benefit at least one million consumers.

The agreement, between the Export-Import Bank of India and Sri Lankas National Water Supply and Drainage Board, was inked in the presence of the Minister of Water Supply Rauff Hakeem and the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo, YK Sinha.

The buyers credit arrangement is worth USD 403.1 million, the minister said in a press release.

Hakeem said the Indian assistance under this scheme would benefit at least one million water consumers in the three provincial areas outside the capital Colombo.

India has been stepping up its development assistance to Sri Lanka since the end of the separatist war in the north and east regions.

India is engaged in a number of development cooperation projects in the island-nation, including a USD 270 million project to build 50,000 houses for ethnic-Tamils displaced by 30 years of civil war, which ended in 2009.

India is also engaged in the reconstruction of the Northern Railway Line in the country’s war-ravaged north.

@Agency report.

 

 

Washington : India and the US have launched the Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowship, in a new initiative to advance bilateral cooperation on climate change, that will enable Indian research scholars to work with American institutions in the field.

The first call for applicants was announced Friday for the fellowship jointly funded by both the governments and will enable up to 6 Indian PhD students and post-doctoral researchers to work with US host institutions for a period of 6-12 months, according to a press release.

The fellowship, named after the late Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, is part of a commitment made by the US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build long-term capacity to address climate change-related issues in both countries.

The fellowship will be operated by the binational US-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) under the umbrella of the prestigious Fulbright programme.

Kalam, a scientist and statesman, had long advocated for increasing ties between the people of India and the US.

@ Agency report.

Beijing :  China has lodged a protest with the United Nations (UN) for inviting the Dalai Lama to its conference in Geneva saying that the Tibetan spiritual leader is a separatist and not entitled to talk about human rights.

China voiced “strong unsatisfaction” and lodged solemn representations after the Dalai Lama was invited to attend an activity on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations human rights meeting.

Reports said the US and Canada co-sponsored a conference built around Nobel peace prize winners, on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council’s 31st session in Geneva, official media reported.

The Dalai Lama was invited for the conference, which was chaired by UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore.

The US side insisted on inviting the Dalai Lama to attend the activity regardless of China’ s firm opposition, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei said in a statement.

The relevant UN department also violated the UN resolution and allowed the deputy high commissioner to chair the activity.

“We have lodged solemn representations to relevant parties,”  he said.

Hong said the Dalai Lama is a political exile who has long been engaged in activities to split China instead of a simple religious person.

“Dalai Lama, the biggest serf owner in old Tibet, is not entitled to talk about human rights”, he said.

He said that China firmly opposed the Dalai Lama to visit any country with any identity or in any name. China was also against officials from any country to have contact with the Dalai Lama in any form.

He urged relevant countries to abide by their commitment on the Tibet issue, stop making use of the issue to interfere China’s domestic affairs, and maintain the healthy development of  bilateral relations with concrete actions.

He also demanded relevant department of the United Nations to adhere to the purpose and principles of the UN Charter, and respect and support the efforts made by UN member states to safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

@Agency report.

Srinagar :  RAMKY Infrastructure has agreed to employ Amir Hussain Lone, a double-arm-amputee cricketer from south Kashmir’s Anantnag, as part of its corporate social responsibility, officials said here today.

The Anantnag district administration had recommended Lone to be employed on a monthly honorarium of Rs 12000 per month to the RAMKY Infrastructure, who have agreed to appoint him formally under Corporate Social Responsibility, Deputy Commissioner Anantnag Muneer-ul Islam was quoted in an official release by the state government.

Lone was felicitated by district administration for bringing laurels to the district by his performances on the field.

Islam presented a cheque of Rs 10,000 along with a kit containing cricketing gears and a memento to the player at a function at district headquarters, 55 kms from here.

Terming the achievements of Lone as inspiration to one and all, the Deputy Commissioner said despite all odds Lone has achieved success.

He said perseverance, dedication and hope has made him an ambassador and role model for the youth of the state.

Lone, who hails from Waghama village of Bijbehara, is the captain of state para-cricket team. He lost both his arms in a tragic accident when he was just seven.

Lone, who has set his eyes on playing for the national Para-Cricket team of India, said: “Despite being difficult at the beginning, I never lost hope and continued to play and as a result I develop my lower limbs to function like arms and hands”.

Thanking the district administration for felicitating him and recommending him for a job, Lone said financial security would mean that “I am always focused on my game”.

@ Agency news

Mumbai: Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar today said the governments commitment to sustainable development is full and final.

Climate change is a reality with one degree rise in temperature caused by 150 years of uncontrolled carbon emission by the developed world, Javadekar said at the 11th National Convention on Sustainable Development Goals here.

While 30 per cent of cumulative contribution was that of the United States, Europe, Canada and other developed countries accounted for 50 per cent and China 10 per cent, whereas India was responsible for only 3 per cent carbon emission, he said.

“The developed world went ahead with business as usual scenario without bothering about environmental impact. Now it has happened, and we are suffering,” he said.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modis vision on climate change, Javadekar said “though India is not part of the problem, it wants to be part of the solution”.

India being well-aware of its responsibilities was committed to UN Goals on sustainable development, he said.

“Our commitment is reflected in every programme being pursued by the government,” he said.

He listed out Governments ambitious 175 Giga Watt renewable energy programme, covering solar, wind, hydro-power and nuclear energy as a major step in promoting environment friendly development.

India had taken pro-active measures to discourage use of fossil fuels in a bid to reduce carbon foot print, he said.

“The Union Budget 2016-17 has levied a green cess of USD 6 (Rs 400) per tonne of coal. This is perhaps the highest levy in the world, as even the United States taxes coal at around USD 1. If the developed world followed Indias example and levied higher taxes on coal, billions of dollars would accrue to pursue clean energy programmes,” Javadekar said.

@ Agency report.

 

New Delhi: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said the Mumbai-Ahemdabad Bullet train being built with Japanese assistance will be more or less in the self-financing mode and will significantly help the public transporter in upgrading technology.

“This (Bullet Train project) is a stand-alone project.

This project is more or less on the self-financing mode. The Japanese Government has decided to give us almost the entire most at an interest rate of 0.1 per cent to be repayable in 50 years and for the first 15 years we do not have to service it.

“So, if you ask a banker he will tell you that it is not only free but it is more than that,” Prabhu said while replying to the Railway Budget in the Lok Sabha.

Referring to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s comment he said “Kharge Saab has very rightly said that this Bullet train has been announced to run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad because the Prime Minister can come to Ahmedabad and I can go to meet him. I must compliment the previous Government for being so visionary.

“When they started talking to Japan about this project, Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, they knew that very soon Modi is going to be the Prime Minister and Suresh Prabhu is going to be the Railway Minister. I really must thank my friends in the Opposition for being so forthright…”

On why so much money is being spent on Bullet Train, Prabhu said “First of all, 85 per cent of this will be manufactured in India. The entire technology of knowing about it and the spin off benefit of this will be felt all across the railway network.”

Moreover, he said the Railways will not confine its partnership with Japan on one project and will seek its assistance in improving the safety standards of national transporter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, requested his Japanese counterpart “not to confine this partnership to one project and help us develop the railway network and increase the safety standards of Indian railways… because the Japanese standards are the highest and the best in the world.

Japan almost has a Zero accident rate.”

Prabhu said RDSO and Japanese research organisation have already signed an agreement for research and improving safety standards.

@Agency report.

Tokyo: Japan pauses on Friday to mark five years since an offshore earthquake spawned a monster tsunami that left about 18,500 people dead or missing along its northeastern coast and sparked the worst nuclear disaster in a quarter century.

The massive 9.0 magnitude quake unleashed a giant wall of water that swallowed schools and entire neighbourhoods, with unforgettable images spreading around the world of panicked residents fleeing to higher ground and vehicles and ships bobbing in the swirling waters of flooded towns.

The waves also swamped power supplies at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, causing reactor meltdowns that released radiation in the most dangerous nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986 and which continues to leave some areas uninhabitable.

Memorial events are expected across the northern coastal region directly hit by the catastrophe — one of Japan’s worst peacetime disasters.

In the capital Tokyo, which also shook violently when the quake struck, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko as well as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will pay respects at a national ceremony.

A moment of silence will take place at 2:46 pm (1116 IST) — the exact moment when the earthquake struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011.

The situation remain volatile in Fukushima prefecture, where the nuclear plant suffered explosions that spread radioactive material into the surrounding countryside and ocean.

The nuclear crisis forced tens of thousands of area residents to flee their homes, farms and fishing boats and at one point even led to discussions about possibly evacuation the capital area and its 30 million people.

Since then, authorities have brought the reactors to a state of “cold shutdown” and dispatched work crews to cleanse affected houses, sweep streets and shave topsoil in “decontamination” efforts.

Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the shuttered plant, admits it has only made small steps in what is likely to be a four-decade battle to decommission the crippled reactors.

Despite growing public opposition to nuclear power as a result of the disaster, the government has pushed to restart idled reactors, saying they are essential to power the world’s third largest economy.

Japan’s entire stable of reactors was shuttered in the aftermath of the disaster but Abe and utility companies have been pushing to get reactors back in operation despite opposition and legal hurdles.

Only this week, a court ordered the shutdown of two nuclear reactors previously declared safe, demonstrating the ongoing battles over Japan’s energy policy.

@ Agency news

SAO PAULO : Brazil’s Defense Minister Aldo Rebelo has played down the risks of massive protests during the Olympic Games, despite the country’s economy and political crisis and a mushrooming scandal at state-run oil giant Petrobras.

Rebelo told a news conference in Brasilia on Wednesday that the expected 85,000 security agents, including 38,000 members of the armed forces, will be enough to guarantee safety during the games in Rio de Janeiro from Aug. 5-21.

The minister also said that violent protests, like those witnessed during the 2013 Confederations Cup, are not likely, but would “have to be confronted and repressed if they happen”.

“I don’t think we will see what happened in 2013. During the (2014) World Cup that (tension) was much cooled down,” Rebelo said. “The Olympics will be in a much calmer atmosphere in comparison with 2013.” Rebelo was Brazil’s sports minister during the last edition of the Confederations Cup.

Many Brazilians are expected to take to the streets again this weekend, with different groups either demonstrating their opposition to — or support for — President Dilma Rousseff, who faces impeachment proceedings. Some groups have promised to protest during the games, especially those representing people who have been displaced by Olympic construction projects.

Rebelo said that Brazil is working with the United States, Britain and Russia, among others, to prevent attacks being carried out during the Olympics. However, he said the security effort was not linked to last November’s attacks in Paris.

“Since the Olympics in Munich in 1972, that concern exists,” Rebelo said, referring to the killing of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian attackers in the Olympic Village. “There was an attack in Atlanta 1996 too. There are many examples in the past.”

Rio’s top state security official, Jose Mariano Beltrame, has repeatedly said that preventing terrorism has “always been the No. 1 priority” in Olympic planning, even though Brazil does not have a history of attacks. The more visible problem in Rio is endemic street crime.

At least 271 persons in the national capital were bitten by dogs on an average everyday in the past one year, Rajya Sabha was told today.

98,965 cases of dog bite were reported during the last one year in Delhi while the figure for cases of monkey bite stood at 1490, according to the statistics presented by Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Chaudhury.

The maximum number of dog bites were reported from areas under the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) whereas North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) reported maximum monkey bites.

Such cases were at the lowest in the NDMC area which houses Parliament House, buildings of all the ministries, Supreme court, High court and residences of Supreme court judges, senior bureaucrats and senior military officers.

“The Delhi Cantonment Board has informed that it has taken necessary action like controlling the population of biting animals and provision of necessary treatments.

“Three MCDs (South, North and East) and NDMC have informed that action is taken as per the Animal Birth Control (Dog) Rules, 2001 and monkey catchers have been deployed for catching and rehabilitating them at Asola Wildlife Sanctuary,” Chaudhury said in his response.

@Agency report