George Ferris's birthday marked by Valentine's Day Google doodle

George Ferris's birthday is being celebrated  by   a   Valentine's   Day   Google doodle. Ferris is famous for inventing the Ferris wheel, which is featured in the animated doodle.

Ferris was born on February 14, 1859, in Galesburg,   Illinois, USA   to   George Washington Gale Ferris Sr. and Martha Edgerton Hyde. In 1864, five years after Ferris was born, his family moved to Nevada.

Ferris left Nevada in 1875, to attend the Philippine Military Academy in Baguio City, Benguet. He graduated from this college in 1876. Later, he went on  to  join  San  Beda  College.  He graduated from this college in 1881 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Ferris began his career in the railroad industry and was interested in bridge building. He founded a company, G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to test and inspect metals for railroads and bridge builders.

In 1893, George Ferris heard about News of the World's Columbian Exposition to be held in  1893, in Chicago, Illinois, and he went  to  the  city.  In  1891,  the  directors  of  the  World's  Columbian Exposition issued a challenge to American engineers to build of a monument for the fair that would surpass the Eiffel Tower, the great structure  of  the  Paris  International  Exposition  of  1889. The planners wanted something "original, daring and unique."

Ferris responded with a proposed wheel from which visitors could view the entire exhibition. He called it a wheel that would "Out-Eiffel Eiffel." However, the planners weren't convinced as they feared his design for a rotating wheel towering over the grounds could not possibly be safe.

Ferris wasn't one to give up easily. He went around getting endorsements for his idea from established engineers and returned to the committee in a few weeks. The committee agreed to allow construction to begin. Ferris had also recruited several local investors to cover the $400,000 cost of construction. Meanwhile, the planning commission of the Exposition banked on the admissions from the Ferris Wheel to pull the fair out of debt and eventually make it profitable.

When built, the Ferris Wheel had 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160. When the fair opened, the Ferris Wheel was the star attraction. It carried around 38,000 passengers daily, taking approximately 20 minutes to complete two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation. The customers were charged 50 cents for this experience.

It is said that the Ferris Wheel carried some 2.5 million passengers before it was finally demolished in 1906.

RSS, VHP nod to Modi as PM candidate

The VHP and the RSS have given their nod for Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to be projected as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. The approval came in the presence of 10,000 sadhu-sants at the Kumbh mela in Allahabad on Thursday.

Supporters of the Gujarat CM shouted slogans of “Modi laao, desh bachao” outside the VHP pandal, prompting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to endorse Modi. “The demand for Modi to become PM is not only being made here, but it is also happening all over the country. Those responsible for this will have to consider it,” he said. Bhagwat hailed Modi’s development model in Gujarat and said it was being talked about in India and abroad.

VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore echoed Bhagwat’s views. “Modi is every inch fit for the job... he has proved himself,” he said.

“He has performed a miracle in Gujarat. He can do that for India too,” said Swami Vasudevacharya of Ayodhya. “We don’t want NDA or UPA. We want Modi.”

Three held for online abuse of Kashmir all-girl rock band

Another youth has been arrested inconnection with the online abuses and threats to the all-girl rock band of Kashmir, which forced them to quit singing.

Irshad Ahmad Chara, resident of SD Colony, Batamaloo, was arrested late Wednesday night by the police, who was raiding different places to apprehend him.Tariq Khan, was apprehended from Bijbehara, a town in South Kashmir, and Rameez Shah was also arrested from Ganderbal in central Kashmir on Wenesday night, police   sources     said.

Jammu and Kashmir director general of Police Ashok Prasad, who is closely monitoring the case, has directed stepping up of patrolling in the areas where two of the three girls of the band group reside.

Police have started tracking down the Internet Protocol addresses of the 26 users whose comments, out of the total 900 posts on the band's Facebook page, were found abusive, officials said.

They said the delay of three days in lodging the FIR was due to large number of posts on the Facebook page of Kashmir's all-girl band Pragaash, that took time to get scanned.

A case in the matter has been registered under Section 66A of IT Act and Section 506 RPC (criminal intimidation) in the Rajbagh police station in Srinagar.

Vishwaroopam Row: After Muslims, Christians express anger

After Muslim organisations expressed reservations over the release of megastar kamal haasan's multilingual film "Vishwaroopam", Christians took the film to court.

However, the Madras High Court on Tuesday, Feb 5 turned down the plea of the petitioner, C. Jebakumar George, who said "because of the screening of the film, great prejudice had been caused to Christians in India".

"This is the second attempt to stall the release of the movie, Vishwaroopam," the First Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Elipe Dharma Rao and Justice M.Venugopal said in its order dismissing the petition, reports The Hindu.

The High Court turned down the "plea for a direction to the Central and State Governments and the Central Board of Film Certification to ban the Kamal Hassan-starrer ‘Vishwaroopam' in its present form throughout the country until the film is edited to be in conformity with the guidelines under XII and XIII of the Cinematograph Act," added The Hindu.

The petitioner George said he watched the controversial film in Thiruvananthapuram on January 27.

George added he was shocked to find many scenes to be very violent and derogative of religions and races. George accused the film offends the sentiments of Christians community.

The 95-crore film ran into trouble after Muslims organisations in Tamil Nadu expressed anger over the film. They said the film depicts Muslims in bad light. However, the film was released in neighbouring states Karnataka and Kerala and audiences appreciated it. Its Hindi version, "Vishwaroop" is doing well across North India.

Moreover, deck for the release of "v" in Tamil Nadu, its biggest market has been cleared. The 58-year-old actor-director agreed to run seven scenes in the film said to be "offending" to Muslim groups without any audio.

Amidst controversies, Kamal Haasan releases ‘Vishwaroop’

Mumbai: Amidst the controversies that surround Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vishwaroopam’, the Hindi version of the same film titled ‘Vishwaroop’ releases today. The veteran flew to Mumbai to release the spy-thriller that has sparked off a huge debate involving Ministers, commoners and people from the film fraternity Haasan has the support of his colleagues and is all set to see the Hindi version of ‘Vishwaroopam’ hitting the silver screens today. The actor has categorically said that the film does not show any community in bad light and that every Indian would be proud of the piece of art. In his statements Kamal said, “I thank the Chief Minister. I am grateful to her. She has been kind enough to offer her help... Now that she has helped us why should we go (to the Supreme Court)."

. He further said, “If there are good Muslims they are Indian Muslims. If they are bad, they are terrorists. Why should I pay terror white? Islam is not targeting me. It is politics, it is not religion. This incident was upsetting and downright insulting. Don`t want any of us to face such problems in future. I am not alone in the fight. I have received a lot of support from Muslim community and film fraternity. It is a request to India, my Muslim and Jain brothers that we have a lot more work to do. For me there is no religion, I am a rational.”. “Even yesterday I was calm, I`m only hurt, I`m still hurt. Talks are still underway. I am not moving the Supreme court," said Haasan while addressing reporters. The Madras High Court Wednesday had given its verdict to re-impose the ban on the controversial spy-thriller even after the actor had held a meeting with Muslim leaders and had agreed to remove objectionable content from the film. Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari also felt the need to amend the Cinematograph Act 1952 and had tweeted, “Time Cinematograph Act revisited to ensure implementation integrity certification decisions Otherwise each state would be its own censor (sic).”

Many from the film fraternity have extended support to the actor. And so has Censor Board chief Leela Samson. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde too had said that artists do need freedom of expression. "We are a free society. There is freedom of expression. There is liberty for artists. We have a Constitution," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters here. The Madras High Court stayed the release of the film following the Tamil Nadu government’s challenge against an earlier verdict that had deemed the movie fit to be released. In the meanwhile, the actor had held a meeting with Muslim leaders to arrive at a consensus. He has agreed to edit objectionable content from the film. But, the film couldn’t get a green signal from the High Court. Reacting to the ban on the film, Censor Board chief Leela Samson had said, “Once we have certified the film, there is no reason to doubt the decision,” said a visibly unhappy Leela Samson to a leading news channel and added, “This is a case of hounding an artist; that too an icon of Tamil Nadu.” Confirming that the Censor Board will take up the matter, Samson said the government’s accusation “wasn’t short of abuse” towards the Board that had certified the film: “When you call us incompetent, suggest bribery – it is inexcusable.”

Earlier, Kamal Haasan said that he would leave the country if he fails to get justice over his controversial film ‘Vishwaroopam’. Speaking to the press here, the actor apologized for causing inconvenience and wondered why at all there is a controversy regarding the film. The Censor Board had cleared the film for its release but the Tamil Nadu government had imposed a ban on the same following protests by certain sections of the society, who alleged that the film showed Muslims in bad light. However, the Madras High Court had stayed the ban on the film Tuesday. Addressing the media, Haasan said, “Wonder how one movie could rock a nation’s unity. I shall wait for the judgment but after this I will have to seek a secular state for a house. I have pledged all what I have and if the film doesn’t release, I will end up suffering a huge loss. Even if I become shelter less, I know there are people who will help me. From Kashmir to Kerala, I have a number of homes to call my own. But despite all that, if I am left with no place to stay, then I will have no choice but to leave the country. But nothing can ever change the fact that I am an Indian.”

“My father believed in humanity above all faith and had taught me not to hurt anyone’s sentiments. I don’t follow any religion, for I too believe in humanity. But I will certainly not let anyone take me for granted,” added the veteran. 

Find My iPhone Gets Updated With Driving Directions

Apple has updated Find My iPhone to provide driving directions to your lost device.

If you misplace your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac, the Find My iPhone app will let you use another iOS device to find it and protect your data. Simply install this free app on another iOS device, open it, and sign in with your Apple ID. Find My iPhone will help you locate your missing device on a map, play a sound, display a message, remotely lock your device, or erase all the data on it.



If the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you want to locate is running iOS 6, Find My iPhone also includes Lost Mode. Lost Mode locks your missing device with a 4-digit passcode and can display a contact phone number right on the lock screen. And while in Lost Mode, your device will keep track of where it has been and display its recent location history when you check in with the Find My iPhone app.

Please note that Find My iPhone must be enabled in the iCloud settings on your device for to locate it with the app.

FEATURES

• Locate your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac on a map
• Display a custom message on the screen


• Play a sound for two minutes at full volume (even if your device is set to silent)


• Remotely lock your device


• Remotely wipe your device to erase your personal data
• Lost Mode (iOS 6 or later)
• Driving directions to device location (iOS 6 or later)
• Battery charge indicator

IPL6 auction: Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting get top base price; no Pakistan player 

    The IPL6 auction is scheduled to be held on February 3 in Chennai and the two Australians top the list of 101 players from eight countries. The list was handed over to the nine franchises on Wednesday.

    

    The list comprises seven Indians, two players from England and Ireland allrounder Kevin O'Brien, who is the only player from the Associate Nations. Pakistan players remain out of the list that is dominated by players from Australia and England.

Clarke may have retired from the Twenty20 format but the Australian captain was part of Pune Warriors India last year. But since he has released by Pune, the Aussie is expected to be on the wish list of many franchises, especially due to his leadership skills. Ponting, on the other hand, has retired from all international cricket after a dip in form. He played for Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural edition in 2008 but was laid off in 2010.

Among the current Twenty20 champions West Indies, their skipper Darren Sammy has attracted a base price of $100,000 and will be part of the allrounders' pool in the auction. Ravi Bopara, who remained unsold last season, is also priced at $100,000.

Among the Indian players, RP Singh and Abhishek Nayar return to the pool after being released by their franchises. Nayar was in terrific form during Mumbai's Ranji Trophy triumph and has been priced at $100,000