OBAMA IN HIROSHIMA

HIROSHIMA: Barack Obama paid moving tribute to victims of the first atomic bomb Friday and called for a world free of nuclear weapons, during a historic and emotional visit to Hiroshima. In a ceremony loaded with symbolism, the first sitting US president to visit the city met survivors of the fearsome attack that marked one of the final, terrifying chapters of World War II. “71 years ago, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” Obama said of a bomb that “demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself." “Why did we come to this place, to Hiroshima? We come to ponder a terrible force unleashed in the not-so-distant past. We come to mourn the dead,” he said. As crows called through the hush of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Obama offered a floral wreath at the cenotaph, pausing in momentary contemplation with his eyes closed and his head lowered. The site lies in the shadow of a domed building, whose skeleton stands in silent testament to those who perished. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe followed by offering his own wreath and a brief, silent bow. After both men had spoken, Obama, whose predecessor Harry Truman gave the go-ahead for the world's first nuclear strike, greeted ageing survivors, embracing 79-year-old Shigeaki Mori, who appeared overcome with emotion. “The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged," Mori told reporters afterwards. Obama also chatted with a smiling Sunao Tsuboi, 91, who had earlier said he wanted to tell the US president how grateful he was for his visit. Ball of searing heat The trip comes more than seven decades after the Enola Gay bomber dropped its deadly atomic payload, dubbed “Little Boy”, over the western Japanese city. The bombing claimed the lives of 140,000 people, some of whom died immediately in a ball of searing heat; others succumbed to injuries or radiation-related illnesses in the weeks, months and years afterwards. A second nuclear bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki three days later. The visit also marks seven years since Obama's memorable speech in Prague in which he called for the elimination of atomic weapons, a call that helped him win the Nobel Peace Prize. Crowds of young and old gathered to meet the American president, who retains enormous star power in Japan. “We welcome President Obama,” said 80-year-old Toshiyuki Kawamoto. “I hope this historic visit to Hiroshima will push for the movement of abolishing nuclear weapons in the world." 'We listen to the silent cry' Japanese and American flags flew on the street in front of the site, with a city official saying it was the first time the Stars and Stripes had been raised there. As expected, Obama offered no apology for the bombings, having insisted that he would not revisit decisions made by Truman at the close of a brutal war. As an eternal flame flickered behind him, however, he said leaders had an obligation to “pursue a world without” nuclear weapons. “This is why we come to this place, we stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell." “We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry." “The world was forever changed here but, today, the children of this city will go through their day in peace,” the US president said. “What a precious thing that is." While some in Japan feel the attack was a war crime because it targeted civilians, many Americans believe it hastened the end of a bloody conflict, and ultimately saved lives. Though there had been calls for an apology, public reaction to the visit and the speech was overwhelmingly positive. Megu Shimomura, a 14-year-old schoolgirl, one of the selected guests at the ceremony, told AFP: “I was thrilled to attend the historic event. Obama is someone who lives in a very different world than I do but I felt his humanity." Shinzo Abe praised the “courage” of the visit, which he said offered hope for a nuclear free future. “An American president comes into contact with the reality of an atomic bombing and renews his resolve toward realising a world without nuclear weapons,” he said. “I sincerely welcome this historic visit, which has long been awaited by not only people of Hiroshima, but by all Japanese people." The pilgrimage drew a less sympathetic response in other Northeast Asian countries where historical disputes with Tokyo over wartime and colonial aggression remain raw. In a commentary released late Thursday, North Korea's official KCNA news agency called Obama's trek to Hiroshima an act of “childish political calculation” aimed at disguising the president's true nature as a “nuclear war maniac”. “Obama is seized with the wild ambition to dominate the world by dint of the US nuclear edge,” the agency said. And in Beijing, the government-published China Daily newspaper ran a headline saying: “Atomic bombings of Japan were of its own making. “

MYSTERIOUS CREATURE ON OUR BODY

Parasites have been found in and on the human body fora long time. They've often been proved as useful but sometimes they're downright disgusting. And one such parasite is called demodex. But the thing about this parasite is not so much what it does, but where it's found. This little creep is a face mite. Yep, it's all over your face. It is often believed that the human body is self-sufficient to combat all types of diseases but the truth is a little different. These microbiomes help our bodies by providing that extra bit of immunity. Some of these microscopic creatures are so disturbing that we’re better off not knowing when they’re around. Demodex mites are found in human hair follicles, normally in greater numbers around the cheeks, nose, eyebrows, eyelashes, and forehead. They also have the ability to leave hair follicles and walk around on their host’s skin — usually at night, when they can roam around in darkness. And while they are often harmless they sometimes can cause a rare condition called Rosacea. Basically, redness of skin and irritation. Demodex spread through contact of hair but scientists are yet to figure out the original instance of how these mites made their way to a human face. Like these eyelashes look beautiful AF but now with demodex on the scene, they don't seem attractive at all. So, the next time you see a glorious beard, try imagining the sheer number of demodex having their own adventures on the guy's face.

Secretaries Group To revise 7th Pay Recommendation

Secretaries Group To Revise 7th Pay Commission Recommendations New Delhi: Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha who is heading the Empowered Committee or Secretaries group is likely to hand over a report on the revised pay structures of 7th pay commission recommendations to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley by the end of next month. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said government had requisite fund to implement 7th pay commission award. Cabinet Secretary Sinha will finally make his appearance before the the Empowered Committee or Secretaries group on June 11 to make a proposal on the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod. “The proposal will be placed before the Cabinet after the finance ministry’s review. We don’t think it will take more time for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s consideration and the new pay structures will be implemented from July after cabinet nod,” said a top official from the Finance Ministry who did not wish to be named. The 7th Pay Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur submitted the report on November 19. It had proposed the highest salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000. The commission also recommended 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, 23.55% overall increase in salary, allowances and pensions. The increase in allowances was recommended 63% while pension was proposed to rise 24%. Finance Minister Jaitley is likely to agree with the Secretaries group. “I think it should not be touched again,” the official said. Once the new structure is implemented, salaries of around 48 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners will rise by 30 percent. The Finance Minister already said the 7th pay commission award would not make the commodity prices to go up. The central government employees and pensioners will also spend more money on a variety of goods after receiving the 7th Commission award with arrears from January 2016. “This means higher consumption similar to what happened in the past. But the previous two Pay Commission awards came with a lag of two years. So the arrears were large. This time, it will not be so,” says Pronab Sen, former Chief Statistician, government of India and now Country Director, International Growth Centre, a think tank based at LSE, run in partnership with University of Oxford. The official also agrees with Sen and said there was no possibility of any impact of the report on the market at this stage of implementation as there were no impacts when the Pay Commission had first submitted the report. The government formed a 13 member secretary-level Empowered Committee or Secretaries group headed by Sinha in January to review the report of the 7th Pay Commission before cabinet nod. The 7th pay commission was set up by the UPA government in February 2014. It submitted the report after around 22 months. After getting the 7th pay commission report, the finance minister Jaitley while introducing the Seventh Pay Commission report on November 19, already said that the final decisions on the Seventh Pay Commission report took five and a half months including the process of Secretaries group. Finance Minister also said, government had requisite fund to implement it. The secretary group is likely to propose pay structure of minimum at Rs 21,000 and the maximum at Rs 2,70,000 Accordingly, the Secretaries group is likely to reach the conclusion to propose 30 percent basic pay raise instead of 14.27 per cent, which was recommended by 7th Pay Commission. They are also mulling for doubling of existing rates of such allowances and advances, which has been recommended for abolition by the 7th Pay Commission, sources said Source - Sen times