NM News

An improvised explosive device blew three cars last Wednesday morning near BJP’s main office including a police van, a motorcycle containing the bomb parked near the van. Ganesh Rao, a policeman standing near the van was reported injured in the incident. Notwithstanding, the explosion caused no damage to the residents living near the area because the motorcycle was parked in between the cars and the police van which immerse the explosion from all directions. As stated by some of the local residents the streets of Jaganath Bhavan were noiseless aside from the police van that had arrived although it usually was a problem on parking in the area during normal days.

Policemen were standing near the area as part of their security for the BJP office while others were about to drink some tea in stores around the area. The wounded policeman, Ganesh Rao, 50 years old was hurt by the glasses and sharp objects in his face and body which came from the explosion. According to his colleague, N Chandarappa, Rao is safe from the tragedy although he fell and bleeds. 11 of the 16 people wounded from the blasts were policemen from the police van that exploded. Police said that 20 policemen were in the area. DCP N Siddaramappa addede that if not for their truck parked near the area, the incident would have caused many victims.

From the CCTV footage, the blast was assumed to be 10:28 am. Residents said that they did not saw the motorcycle parked at 8 am in the morning. In close neighborhoods, one aged woman was injured in her head when a sharp object hit her window. Windows and other interiors were destroyed. Other than that no one was reported to be injured.

The cause of the battery malfunctions in the Dreamliner aircrafts have not yet been determined in by Boeing which results to all the 787 aircrafts of being hold to fly. The general manager from Boeing Larry Loftis in 787 division admitted the issue.
50 Dreamliners operating with different airlines around the world are now being repaired and replaced by battery systems.

In a few weeks Boeing reckons to resume their plane services. Battery designs for the aircrafts are being approved by the US aircraft regulators last Friday. Mr. Loftis stated in the reports that there is a possibility that the cause of the aircraft malfunction cannot be distinguish.He added that it is not natural not to determine the cause of the malfunction. So the best way to practice is to search for possible causes and try to make actions for it.

Two major malfunctions have followed the Dreamliner’s incidents last January related to two lithium-ion batteries. First happened last January 7 when one of the batteries overheated that cause fire in Japan Airlines 787 at Boston’s Logan International Airport.All Nippon Airways 787 made an urgent landing in Japan when the battery produced smoke nine days after the first incident.Mr. Loftis stated that Boeing had to place 200,000 engineer hours to fix up the problem with all the staff working for almost 24 hours.More improved batteries are being produced. Mr. Lotis added that the newer batteries can be less hard work and can be used in a cooler temperature.

Boston mourns for the death of a Chinese graduate student who was one of the three people killed during the Boston Marathon bombings. She was new in the city and was meeting new friends get familiar in Boston.  The graduate student from China together with her friends was joining the marathon before the incident happened and they were already near the finish line.

Three were killed during the explosion when the two bombs exploded and the graduate student was one of them. The bombs went off 12 seconds before the next blast.  Last Wednesday she was recognized as Lingzi Lu by the Boston University, a graduate student major in mathematics and statics. On the word of Boston University, the other student was stable in Boston Medical center while the third student was not wounded. 183 were reported injured during the explosion.

A simple girl who lives a simple student life and enjoys bonding with her friends. Li Jing, her roommate was never aware of her friend’s death and posted how worried she is for her friend’s absence. Until the Boston University’s president publicized her death through an open letter posted on the school’s website.  News spread in China and many people offered their condolences for the graduate student.

Lu died with Krystle Campbell, 29, and Martin Richard, 8, Lu was a hardworking student who wants to achieve her goals and gained an academic scholarship to the Beijing Institute of Technology in her math expertise. Lu went to take up her master’s degree in statistics in BU. Her friend is still on the processing of recovering in the hospital.

A huge blast was heard at the West Fertilizer plant near Waco at about 19:50 which caused the death of many people. Others are reported to be missing and some are believed to be trapped in buildings including firemen. News conference was held to start the searches in houses and other buildings. The Texas Department Public Safety said that there will be risk of explosions so no firefighters were attempting to get near the area.

Lots of houses and establishments were devastated while others are still on fire. Half the people in the town were moved out. The explosion occurred in the West, a town 20 miles (32 km) north of Waco which has 2,700 people. Witnesses said that they have seen the smoke near the plant and they heard a couple of explosions like of a bomb. No official count on the damages and the number of people who died of the explosion. Two hours after the explosion there were still fire on several buildings including the area near the plant.

Ambulances are approaching the area for the injured people. The chief of Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, Glenn Robinson treated 66 people injured from the explosion, 38 are seriously hurt.It was reported that before the explosion happened, the plant was seen on fire. 30 minutes after firemen are seen approaching the area and some of them were believed to be missing. Neither could determine the main cause of the blast. West Fertilizer plant blasts happened two days before the 20th anniversary of a fire in a compound nearby Waco. Several members of the sect and agents died on that incident.

The tension is high as North Korea continues to threaten South Korea and its citizens. The declaration of war by the North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un against South Korea has caused a lot of issues and the world has been a witness to how the communist country threatened the South and its allies including the United States.

A lot of reports on the progress on how the North Korean government would push through with their threats and the launching their ballistic missiles are out in the public. The North Korean regime already made attempts to further raise the tension and has given warnings to the tourists in the South to evacuate as early as possible. North Korea’s current warning urged all the foreigners to go out of South Korea because both countries are at war. The said announcement said to have implied that the foreigners are in danger. Reports say that the North would only send the warning because they want the people in South Korea to panic.

The news agency of North Korea broadcasted that they did not want to harm any foreigner in South Korea even if war will push through. The news agency did not further give details on any military buildup near the border of the North and South. The said border is just forty miles away from Seoul, the capital of South Korea. A war analyst has stated that the threats that North Korea has given were the same threats they did in the past. The analyst added that this move by the North Korean government is just trying to elicit aid from the US and Seoul.

The USS Guardian that was reported to have damaged the reef of the Philippines was already lifted in a joint action from both the U.S. and the Philippines. Last Saturday, the remains of the USS Guardian that has weighed 250 tons was taken out from the Philippine seas. It was reported early in January that a U.S. Navy Minesweeper was stuck in the Philippine reef. It took almost two months for the stern to be lifted, according to the news agency from the Philippines.

The team that was consists of both the U.S. and Philippine Navy has collaborated to take the parts that were found in the reef. They have cleaned the excess debris of the USS Guardian on the reef. The salvage operation was lead by Navy Captain, Mark Matthews. The Philippine reef was part of the UNESCO Heritage Site. The reef that was partially damaged is home to a number of 350 species of corals. There are about 500 species of fishes, whales, turtles, and sharks on the reef.

The U.S. Navy has also promised to clean all that is left in the affected part of the reef. They say that they will try their best to restore the country’s famous reef. It was reported by the news agency that the second phase of the salvage operation would involve the recovery and the assessment. Since a lot has helped in the restoration of the reef, including the Philippine Coast Guard, the Navy, and the Tubbataha Reef Park Ranger, it was a lot easier to clean the remains of the USS Guardian. The support that was given has been reported to have minimized any damage that could occur in the reef.

In the UK a new law will come into effect from April 1^st 2013 called the LASPO – which stands for The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offences Act. This has come about following an ongoing investigation regarding pricing by Lord Jackson, which started 3 years ago.

There will also be other changes taking place including the possibility of reduction to Road Traffic Accidents fixed pricing, from £1200 to £500, although this hasn’t been confirmed just yet.

The overall compensation commission to solicitors schedule to rise by 10% after April 1^st. This contradicts the contingency fees which are in place at present where a solicitor can charge any fee “up to a maximum of 25%”, this is known as a success fee. This is to cover the risk element that the solicitor takes if the case is unsuccessful and therefore the solicitor doesn’t make any money.

‘Referral fees’ will also come to an end from April 1^st 2013 which will largely affect how Claims Management Companies will deal with new claims.

This will have a huge impact on the “compensation culture” some suggest has come over from the way things work in the USA.  It has been reported that Claims Management Companies were passing on claims without being checked first, on to solicitors to obtain a referral fee.

Under the new legislation on April 1^st, a person will no longer be in a position to become insured to cover them losing if their case is unsuccessful and so will be liable for their own cost.

Despite these plans, the future of personal injury claims remain unpredictable as it is still important to promote justice to innocent and trustworthy people who have genuine cases of personal injury. What will happen still remains to be seen.

A $12 Million fund allotted for a U.S. Gun Law Campaign coming from the Mayor of New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to push through with a campaign that would enable control the use and owning of guns in the U.S. The advertisement will be seen on the television in different states in the U.S. This Ad Campaign will influence the voters to convince their Senators to have a tougher law for gun buyers and owners.

The Mayor of New York City has been supporting the gun control and he is positive that this will win in the Congress. The voting of the law will occur in April. Unfortunately, the Ad campaign that aimed for tougher laws on gun usage was said to be dismissed by the NRA or the National Rifle Association. The CEO or NRA said that the Mayor could not simply impose his own will to the Americans because they have their freedom to choose what to support. The Mayor in a counter statement released through NBC said that he was trying to do everything to make the Senator feel impressed about the law because it is what the public really wants, a law that would control the guns in the U.S.

The Congress will already consider legislation next month. This said legislation was drafted by the Administration of President Obama because of the number of gun violence in the Unites States that occurred in December. The numerous shooting incidents that involved a lot of innocent people including children were already a wake-up call that something should be done. Gun control has been a famous issue in the U.S.

Chancellor George Osborne announced that the British civil servants and military personnel will be protected from the savings tax in Cyprus. The said levy on savings will be part of eurozone bailout amounting to £8.7bn. It is estimated that there is around 2 Billion Euros of British deposits in Cyprus. There are also a lot of British people working and serving in Cyprus.

During the Andrew Mar Show in BBC, Mr. Osborne said that the Cypriot Banks in the United Kingdom will not be affected by the levy on savings in Cyprus. He added that the British civil servants and military personnel will not be part of the bailout because Prime Minister David Cameron has already got them out when he became Prime Minister. He added that when there will be affected British people in Cyprus, the UK government will compensate them. They will be protected from the Cypriot bank tax.

It has been a dilemma in Cyprus when the news about the levy on savings erupted. Nicos Anastasiades, the Cypriot President delayed the informal meeting with politicians because of the unrest that happened in the country after the news on levy broke out. It was reported that Cyprus was already the 5th country who asked the eurozone for support. The new agreement in the country aims to increase the corporation tax by 2.5%. The European parliament’s chair on economic and monetary affairs committee, Ms. Sharon Bowles said that the bailout seems to rob the small investors on the protection that were promised to them. She said that is Cyrus was a bank; it was already brought in court due to mis-selling.

There is a huge possibility that the plan for minimum alcohol pricing will be dropped because the support towards the proposal has not been firm. It was reported that the Conservative ministers were not one in support of the proposal. The Prime Minister has been supporting the said minimum alcohol pricing proposal. The UK government also consulted the price for a unit of alcohol to 45p. It just so happened that there cabinet ministers who did not agree about the plan.

The government has been arguing about the plan of introducing the new price per unit because it was reported that if the said minimum price would take place, it can lower the levels of crimes that is related to alcohol drinking. It was also said to improve one’s health when they wouldn’t be drinking too much alcohol.The UK government has considered many steps in making it possible for consumers not to have too much intake of alcoholic beverages. It considers the ban of promotions on alcoholic drinks like having the offer of buying two units for the price of one.

Since the government has introduced the minimum alcohol price to 45p per unit, most of the health campaigners wanted the price to be higher. They have proposed a minimum of 50p per unit of alcohol. A consultation will be made and all the suggestions will be considered during the 10-week consultation regarding the proposal. In England and in Wales 45p per unit was introduced and in Scotland, there will be plans of introducing the 50p per unit.