Assorted articles and Information

The US is confident that its shooting down of a disabled spy satellite with a missile managed to destroy its potentially toxic fuel tank.
Marine Gen James Cartwright said there was a 80-90% chance that the satellite’s tank had been destroyed.
Officials were worried its hydrazine fuel could do harm, but it is not yet known if the fuel tank was destroyed.
A fire ball, vapour cloud and spectral analysis indicating the presence of hydrazine all indicated that the tank had been hit, he told reporters.
The operation has been criticised by China and Russia.
“We’re very confident that we hit the satellite,” Gen Cartwright said at a Pentagon briefing hours after the missile was fired.
“We also have a high degree of confidence that we got the tank.”
It would take another 24-48 hours for officials to confirm whether the operations had been completely successful, he said.

BROKEN SATELLITE
Owner: National Reconnaissance Office
Mission: Classified
Launched: 14 Dec 2006
Weight: 2,300 kg (5,000lbs)
1,134kg (2,500lbs) could survive re-entry
Carrying hydrazine thruster fuel

Gen Cartwright said he could not rule out that hazardous material might fall to earth, but said there was no evidence of this happening so far.
He added that officials would continue to track debris falling over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans over the next two days.
“Thus far we’ve seen nothing larger than a football,” he said.
The satellite, USA 193, was struck 153 nautical miles (283 km) above earth by an SM-3 missile fired from a warship in waters west of Hawaii.

Arms race?

Operatives had only a 10-second window to hit the satellite, which went out of control shortly after it was launched in December 2006.
The missile needed to pierce the bus-sized satellite’s fuel tank, containing more than 450kg (1,000lbs) of toxic hydrazine, which was otherwise expected to survive re-entry.
Launch of National Reconnaissance Office satellite on December 14 2006 from Vandenberg Air Force Base (USAF/Michael Stonecypher)
USA 193 lost control shortly after launch on a Delta II rocket
Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.
The US denies the operation was a response to an anti-satellite test carried out by China last year, which prompted fears of a space arms race.
US officials had said that without an attempt to destroy the fuel tank, and with the satellite’s thermal control system gone, the fuel would have been frozen solid, allowing the tank to resist the heat of re-entry.
If the tank were to have landed intact, it could have leaked toxic gas over a wide area - harming or killing humans if inhaled, officials had warned.
“The intent here was to preserve human life… it was the hydrazine we were after,” Gen Cartwright said on Thursday.
The US has also denied that it shot down the satellite to prevent parts of it from falling into the hands of foreign powers.
The operation went ahead hours after the space shuttle Atlantis landed, removing it as a safety issue for the military.
The satellite - believed by some commentators to be a radar imaging reconnaissance satellite - was passing about 130 nautical miles (250km) over the Pacific.
Earlier the military said it would use an SM-3 missile fired from the cruiser USS Lake Erie, which is posted on the western side of Hawaii along with the destroyers USS Decatur and USS Russell.
But it is not yet known how successful the operation was - the missile needed to pierce the bus-sized satellite’s fuel tank, containing more than 450kg (1,000lbs) of toxic hydrazine, which would otherwise be expected to survive re-entry.
The Pentagon said confirmation that the fuel tank has been hit should be available within 24 hours.
US officials said without an attempt to destroy the fuel tank, and with the satellite’s thermal control system gone, the fuel would now be frozen solid, allowing the tank to resist the heat of re-entry.
If the tank were to land intact, it could leak toxic gas over a wide area - harming or killing humans if inhaled, officials had warned.

Debris

Officials expect that over 50% of the debris will fall to Earth within the first 15 hours after the strike - or within its first two revolutions of Earth.
Launch of National Reconnaissance Office satellite on December 14 2006 from Vandenberg Air Force Base (USAF/Michael Stonecypher)
USA 193 lost control a few hours after launch on a Delta II rocket. Left to its own devices, about half of the spacecraft would have been expected to survive the blazing descent through the atmosphere, scattering debris in a defined “corridor” which runs across the Earth’s surface.
Professor Richard Crowther, a space debris expert with the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), said that if struck with the missile, about 25% of USA 193 is likely to survive the fall to Earth.
“The smaller the debris is the more likely you are to get burn-through. So if you fragment something before re-entry, less mass will survive to hit the Earth“.

Russian suspicion

But Russia’s defence ministry has effectively branded the US operation a cover for testing an anti-satellite weapon.
The Russian defence ministry argued that various countries’ spacecraft had crashed to Earth in the past, with many using toxic fuel on board, but that this had never before merited “extraordinary measures”.
A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing, Liu Jianchao, said China was concerned about the “possible damage to security in outer space and to other countries”.
“We demand that the US… swiftly brief the international community with necessary data and information in time, so that relevant countries can take preventative measures,” he said.
Last year, China carried out a test using a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.
On Tuesday, a US State Department spokesman stressed that the action was meant to protect people from the hazardous fuel and was not a weapons test.
The US government has also denied claims that the main aim of the operation was to destroy secret components on USA 193.
Officials say classified parts would be burned up in the atmosphere and, in any case, that would not be a reason for shooting down the satellite.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday that the Pentagon will share whatever information it can with China about a crippled U.S. spy satellite that was shot down by the U.S. military.
China said it was monitoring potential dangers from the shoot-down and urged the United States to provide more information.
During a visit to the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, Gates said he shared some information with China beforehand, but he was not specific about what was or what would be shared.
If it had not been hit by the missile, the malfunctioning satellite would have fallen out of space and toward Earth in early March.

Tobacco use could kill more than one billion people around the world this century unless governments and civil society act to reverse the epidemic, according to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that was released on Thursday.

“One hundred million deaths were caused by tobacco in the 20th century,” said the report unveiled by WHO director-general Margaret Chan at a joint press conference with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“If current trends continue, there will be up to one billion deaths in the 21st century. Eighty per cent of those deaths will occur in the developing world,” the report said.

The study, recommends a six-pronged approach to combat the scourge.

The strategies involve monitoring tobacco use and prevention policies, protecting people from tobacco smoke, offering help to quit tobacco use, warning about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising and promotion and raising taxes on tobacco.

While efforts to combat tobacco are gaining momentum, virtually all countries need to do more,These six strategies are within the reach of every country and, when combined as a package, they offer us the best chance of reversing this growing epidemic.” Bloomberg, a former smoker, described the report as “revolutionary“.

For the first time, we have both a rigorous approach to stop the tobacco epidemic and solid data to hold us all accountable. While tobacco control measures are sometimes controversial, they save lives and governments need to step up and do the right thing.

The report noted that tobacco use is growing fastest in low-income countries, owing to the steady population growth coupled with the targets by the tobacco industry. The end result is that millions of people become fatally addicted each year.

It said that nearly two thirds of the world’s smokers live in 10 countries: China (accounting for nearly 30 per cent), India (10 per cent), Indonesia, Russia, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany and Turkey.

It noted that only five per cent of the world’s population is protected by comprehensive national smoke-free legislation, while half of the countries — two out of three in the developing world — did not even have minimal data on tobacco use.

“In most countries, tobacco use is higher among the poor than the rich and the poor suffer more from the consequences of tobacco-related diseases, creating economic hardship and perpetuating the cycle of poverty and illness,” the study by the UN health agency said.

It made clear that tobacco use currently costs the world hundreds of billions of dollars each year.
The tobacco industry meanwhile spends tonnes of billions of dollars on marketing and targets the developing world with the same marketing and lobbying tactics perfected and now banned in rich countries, the report said.

These include enticing women and teens to use tobacco and pressurising governments to block marketing restrictions and tax hikes.

It singled out higher taxes on tobacco as “the most effective way to decrease consumption and encourage tobacco users to quit“. A 70 per cent increase in the price of tobacco could prevent up to a quarter of all smoking-related deaths worldwide, it stated.

Income-tax payers are likely to get a major relief in the Union Budget 2008-09, to be presented in Parliament on February 29, as the government prepares itself to please the middle class with general elections just a year away. The finance minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, can give a marginal but visible relief to personal income-tax assessees this year, as tax collections have substantially improved over the past three years.

With buoyant tax collections in 2007-08, there is significant pressure on Mr Chidambaram to reduce the effective rates. The minister himself has acknowledged that with better tax compliance, there could be a case for a cut in rates. The minimum income threshold limit for an income-tax payer could be raised from Rs 1,10,000 to Rs 1,25,000 or Rs 1,30,000. Similarly, the income threshold for the 30 per cent tax rate could be raised from the current Rs 2,50,000 per annum, adding that this had been kept constant since the fiscal year 2005-06.

Taxpayers would get a relief of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 even if the finance minister decides to raise the minimum income threshold limit of income-tax by Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 to offset the impact of inflation and submission of the Sixth Pay Commission report later this year. An announcement on the new income-tax code is also expected in the Budget. The tax relief will also help Mr Chidambaram to address the recent slowdown in industrial production. More income in the pockets of consumers will boost demand for consumer goods as well as household savings for investment.

Another option before the finance minister, could be to increase the ceiling limit for savings under Section 80C from Rs 1,00,000 to a more reasonable level of Rs 1,25,000. The increased limit could be specified for investment in the infrastructure sector, which requires around $500 billion investment over the next five years. Another benefit which could be relooked by him is the tax structure on interest payable in case of loans taken for purchase of house property. At present, interest up to Rs 1,50,000 per annum is allowed as a tax deduction if the property is used for self-occupation.

     Fantasy Game

     Fantasy Sport

     Fantasy Football provider

     Fantasy Football

     League Types

     Draft Formats

     Salary Cap Leagues

     New League Types

     Starters

     Scoring

     Individual Defensive Players

     Conclusion

Fantasy Game

Fantasy games are a way for individual fans to compete against each other to see who has the best managerial acumen in any given sport. Fantasy football is traditionally considered the most popular of all fantasy games. The first order of business in creating any fantasy league is collecting participants. As team owners, these individuals draft real-life, professional players to create a fantasy roster. The statistics these players generate in their real games are collected, and fantasy points are awarded based on these numbers — the better a player performs, the more fantasy points he accrues for a fantasy team. In fantasy football, these points determine a winner in weekly head-to-head games between your league’s teams. The team that accumulates the most victories over the course of the season — and prevails in the postseason — is declared the league winner.

Fantasy Sport

A fantasy sport (also known as rotisserie, roto, or fairy-tale sport; or owner simulation) is a game where fantasy owners build a team that competes against other fantasy owners based on the statistics generated by individual players or teams of a professional sport. Probably the most common variant converts statistical performance into points that are compiled and totaled according to a roster selected by a manager that makes up a fantasy team. These point systems are typically simple enough to be manually calculated by a “league commissioner.” More complex variants use computer modeling of actual games based on statistical input generated by professional sports. In fantasy sports there is the ability to trade, cut, and sign players, like a real sports owner. Fantasy sports are also known as Fairy-Tale sports and Owner Simulation. Fantasy sports are also known as Fairy-Tale sports and Owner Simulation.

The popularity of fantasy games has grown tremendously in recent years. The Web’s ability to deliver instantaneous statistics takes interaction with the sporting world to a whole new level, increasing the enjoyment of fantasy games by providing a more personal experience for sports fans of all ages and intensities. In every facet of the game — engineering, design, technical support, price, content, customer interaction, and overall enjoyment — our goal at ESPN Fantasy Games is to provide members with the ultimate fantasy gaming experience.

Fantasy Football provider

The major fantasy football sport providers are CBS, ESPN, and Yahoo!. Other up-and-coming fantasy football providers include sites like Pay the Fan and RotoHog. There are also many mini games to go along with the major one. ESPN.com’s Fantasy Football allows to buying own professional franchise and becoming the team’s coach, owner, and president. All decisions are yours to make. Each team owner is supplied with all of the tools like multiple draft methods, live box scores, unlimited waivers, trades and free agency, custom team injury updates, a commissioner, league bulletin boards, sortable stats for all players, etc. which are needed to build the best possible team. Statistical reports, expert analysis, and up-to-date feature articles from ESPN.com editors are readily available to keep owners informed. During the final weeks of the NFL regular season, the top teams in each fantasy league play each other for the league championship, while the remaining teams compete in the consolation bracket. Other fantasy football sport providers like CBS and Yahoo allows the features like unlimited access to live scoring, Customizing league rules like add/drop, trades, roster limits etc, Customizable league scoring system, Dynasty (keeper) league capability and individual defensive players and Free access on the mobile phone.

Fantasy Football

A typical fantasy league will employ players from a single football league, such as the NFL or an NCAA division. Leagues can be arranged in which the winner is the team with the most total points at the end of the season, or in a head-to-head format (which mirrors the actual NFL) in which each team plays against a single opponent each week. At the end of the year, win-loss records determine league rankings or qualification into a playoff bracket. Most leagues set aside the last weeks of the regular season for their own playoffs.

The game originated in 1962 from an idea of Bill Winkenbach. With the rise of personal computers and the Internet in the late 1990’s, the participation in and popularity of fantasy football increased exponentially. The two main types of competition formats are 1) Head-to-head, with weekly games played against specific opponents (much like in the NFL), and 2) total points, in which cumulative points during the season determine winners (or playoff teams).

League Types

Leagues normally consist of 8-16 teams. There are three major types: redraft, keeper leagues, and dynasty leagues. In a redraft, each owner starts with no players at the beginning of each season and drafts an entire fantasy team. Each owner in a keeper league is allowed to retain a small number of players they owned during the previous season, eliminating these players from the draft, while each owner in a dynasty league is allowed to retain as many players as desired from the previous season, with the draft encompassing only rookies and other unowned or un-retained players.

Draft Formats

Players are drafted on a team in three main formats. One of these is the serpentine draft, in which the draft order from the first round is reversed in the second round, then reversed again in every round thereafter, thus creating a snakelike progression. Another is the “standard” draft system, in which draft order is maintained throughout. The last is an auction system, in which owners bid on players using a predetermined budget.

Salary Cap Leagues

The salary cap football league is a particular type of dynasty league which adds another factor of realism similar to the NFL, the salary cap. Just like in the NFL, this means each player has an associated salary and the total spent on all the players on a team has a maximum - the “salary cap.” This can have many levels of complexity, e.g. a player may be signed for multiple years, etc.

New League Types

A new style of fantasy football is modeled after the popular “survivor pool” or “knock out pool” style of weekly NFL wagering that allows each pool member to pick one NFL team to win each week, but he or she can only pick that team once all year.

Similarly, survivor fantasy leagues allow owners to draft a fresh team of seven players each week, with each player only available to each owner one week per year. This added level of strategy places an emphasis on weekly NFL match ups, while at the same time diminishing the negative consequences of injuries.

Another type of league, in fantasy football is called Simulation Football. Simulation Football uses a computer to simulate the games with simulated players, instead of relying on the NFL for its players and stats. The most basic type is a GM league, where all the player has to do is put together a team and the computer does most of the work. A much more involved type of simulation football is called a Create-a-Player or CAP league. In a CAP league, top players vie for the chance to be a GM and put together a team using players that are created by other people. There are different types of scoring for determining who is a “top player” but the people are charged with making their player as good as possible using the league’s scoring system.

Starters

Each team owner must designate which players from the team roster will be starters each week - i.e. the only players who will “score” any points. The following example is similar to many common formats required for a starting lineup:

1 Quarterback (QB)

Quarterback (QB) is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle. They initiate almost all plays by receiving the ball from the center, although occasionally teams will use a “direct snap” to another offensive player. Once the quarterback receives the snap, he can run with the ball, hand the ball to another player or attempt a forward pass. Quarterbacks are frequently chosen early in the NFL Draft and often receive much more lucrative contracts than other positions. As of 2008, players in this position have won more Super Bowl MVP awards (22 of 42) than players at any other position

2 Running Backs (RB)

A running back (RB) is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a halfback or a fullback

3 Wide Receivers (WR)

A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football. Only players in certain positions are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible receivers, as are all players in the backfield. Since these two receivers begin play as the offensive players nearest the sidelines, they are referred to as “wide” receivers. The wide receiver’s principal role is to catch passes from the quarterback. The wide receiver (WR) position in American and Canadian football is the pass-catching specialist

1 Tight End (TE)

The tight end (TE) is a position in American football on the offensive team. The tight end is the last man on the offensive line but has a slightly different build and in some cases a different role than other linemen. The role of tight ends can change depending on the philosophy of the head coach, but their main jobs are: block for the running back or quarterback who is carrying the ball, catch passes from the quarterback, and help create a stronger pocket by assisting fellow linemen in blocking during passing plays.

1 Kicker (K)

Placekicker or kicker is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points, and, in many cases, kickoffs.

1 Team Defense/Special Teams (DST)

Team Defense is the action of preventing an opponent from scoring. He is responsible to the tactics involved in defense, or a sub-team whose primary responsibility is defense. Similarly, a defense player is a player who is generally charged with preventing the other team’s forwards from being able to bear down directly on their own team’s goaltender.

Scoring

Players earn their team points based on their performance in their weekly games; for example, each touchdown counts as 6 points, a certain number of yards gained counts for points, and so on. In almost all cases, players earn points for passing, rushing, and receiving yards. Passing yards (sometimes touchdowns as well) typically earn about half as many points as rushing/receiving yards, since QBs normally get many more. Negative points are also usually given for turnovers, and kickers earn points for field goals and extra points (sometimes negative points for missed kicks). Bonuses can also be given for exceptionally good performances, like a QB throwing for over 300 yards, or a kicker making a long field goal. Team defenses earn points for things like sacks, turnovers, safeties, etc. Individual defensive players typically do not earn points for team-wide stats such as keeping the opponent under a certain score or yardage total, but rather for tackles or turnovers made.

A typical scoring format and variations used here are as follows:

     1 point for 25 passing yards

     1 point for 10 rushing and receiving yards

     4 points for a passing touchdown

     6 points for a rushing or receiving touchdown

     -2 points for every interception thrown or fumble lost

     1 point for each extra point made

     3 points for each field goal made (additional points are   sometimes awarded for long kicks, i.e. over 40 yards)

     2 points per turnover gained by defense

     1 points per sack by the defense

     2 points for a safety by defense

     6 points for each touchdown scored by defense

     2 points for each blocked kick

Individual Defensive Players

Many leagues have now incorporated Individual Defensive Player (IDP) play into their scoring systems. IDP play typically has roster space for three groups of defensive players: defensive linemen (DL), linebackers (LB) and defensive backs (DB).

The possible scoring system are:

      2 points per solo tackle

     1 point per assist

     6 points per defensive touchdown

     2 points per safety

     1 point per pass defended

     2 points per half sack

     2 points per fumble recovered

     2 points per forced fumble

     2 points per interception

Conclusion

Many Fantasy Football players passionate in their hobby and are always looking for ways to gain an advantage over their competition. Magazines, websites, books, and software are available to fantasy players which allows them with the information they need to make better decisions. Fantasy Football players avail showcasing of venues of live football games via satellite, has had significant effects on football viewing and rooting habits among participants.

Fantasy owners, rather than supporting a favorite team in any one game, some of the fantasy owners may instead support the players on their fantasy rosters. Players are mixed on the impact on the effects of fantasy football on fans’ habits and preferences. Fantasy football has had a net positive benefit in increased knowledge of players at all positions, not just the traditionally regarded “skill positions”. This has helped increase the popularity of the league, and given status to fantasy football fans who take the time to learn the sport.

Power equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd said it has secured a Rs 650 crore order for setting up a 300 MW gas turbine-based power plant in Libya. The order, to be executed on engineering, procurement and construction basis, has been placed by General Electricity Company of Libya for expansion of the 600 MW Western Mountain Power Project.

BHEL will establish the Western Mountain Power Extension Project, comprising two units of 150 MW each, for General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) basis. BHEL had recently completed execution of the Rs 1,400 crore project, the largest gas turbine-based power project installed by the company so far.

The present contract for extension of Western Mountain Power Project includes setting up two gas-turbine units of 150 MW each. The equipment for the 300 MW order would be supplied from BHEL’s manufacturing facilities at Haridwar, Bhopal, Jhansi, Bangalore, Chennai and Ranipet. BHELs Power Sector Division will carry out the overall engineering of the project and execute all site activities, including erection and commissioning of the plant.