A bridge in New York literally couldn't take the heat and stopped working as temperatures soared Monday, stopping just short of three digits. The Third Avenue Bridge connecting the Bronx and Manhattan was shut down Monday after it got stuck halfway open due to overheating machinery, the Fire Department of New York said.

New York bridge stuck open due to high heat

A Canadian man was arrested in Chiang Mai, Thailand after he opened the door of a Thai Airways flight which was gearing up for take-off from Chiang Mai airport that was bound for Bangkok, said the local broadcaster ThaiPBS and officials. 
 
Facebook user Ananya Tiangtae, who was on the plane, wrote, "The whole plane was in chaos" and added that the passenger was escorted off the plane by the officials. 
 
"What if we were 30,000 feet above sea level? What would happen?" wrote Ananya.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/plane-bursts-into-flame-after-emergency-landing-in-florida-two-killed-video-688827">Plane bursts into flame after emergency landing in Florida, two killed: Video</a>

<h2 lang="en-US">Plane returned to terminal, went through security inspections</h2>

Speaking about the incident on Thursday (Feb 8), Chiang Mai Airport director Ronnakorn Chalermsaenyakorn said that a passenger opened the emergency door which led to the activation of the inflatable slide because of which the aircraft was unable to take off. 
 
Ronnakorn said that the plane was sent back to the terminal and the passengers disembarked from the flight after safety inspections were carried out by the technicians. 
 
He said that because of the disruption more than a dozen other flights were affected at the airport. 
 
The aircraft was given clearance for safe departure with all the crew members and passengers after the inspection, said Thai Airways. 
 
Later, the passenger was seen in custody at a local police station, as reported by local TV station ThaiPBS, which had identified the male tourist as Canadian. 
 
"He admitted that he opened the door, the reason was people were coming after him ... from his behaviour, it's likely he was hallucinating," said the passenger's lawyer, Jirawat Yarnkiatpakdee, while speaking to ThaiPBS.

<h2 lang="en-US">13 flights&nbsp;affected by the incident</h2>

The air traffic control tower was informed about the incident at 10:05 pm local time when Thai Airways flight TG121 was waiting in line on the runway. 
 
The Airbus A320 was not able to move immediately and temporarily prevented other flights from landing and taking off, said the statement.

Watch:&nbsp;New aircraft can travel faster than speed of sound

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Wing Commander Ronnakorn Chalermsanyakorn, director of Chiang Mai International Airport in a statement said, “After receiving the alert, we reached out to Thai Airways mechanics to get into the site to cut the evacuation slide off, then we towed the aircraft back to landing pit number 15." 
 
The director said that 13 flights in total have been affected by the incident, which includes eight flights that were forced to circle in the air before they were cleared to land. 
 
Ronnakorn said that in total 2,295 passengers were affected by the delays.

(With inputs from agencies)

A Canadian man was arrested in Chiang Mai, Thailand after he opened the door of a Thai Airways flight which was gearing up for take-off from Chiang Mai airport that was bound for Bangkok, said the local broadcaster ThaiPBS and officials.

A Canadian man was arrested in Chiang Mai, Thailand after he opened the door of a Thai Airways flight which was gearing up for take-off from Chiang Mai airport that was bound for Bangkok, said the local broadcaster ThaiPBS and officials. Facebook user Ananya Tiangtae, who was on the plane, wrote, "The whole plane was in chaos" and added that the passenger was escorted off the plane by the officials. "What if we were 30,000 feet above sea level? What would happen?" wrote Ananya. Also Read: Plane bursts into flame after emergency landing in Florida, two killed: Video Plane returned to terminal, went through security inspections Speaking about the incident on Thursday (Feb 8), Chiang Mai Airport director Ronnakorn Chalermsaenyakorn said that a passenger opened the emergency door which led to the activation of the inflatable slide because of which the aircraft was unable to take off. Ronnakorn said that the plane was sent back to the terminal and the passengers disembarked from the flight after safety inspections were carried out by the technicians. He said that because of the disruption more than a dozen other flights were affected at the airport. The aircraft was given clearance for safe departure with all the crew members and passengers after the inspection, said Thai Airways. Later, the passenger was seen in custody at a local police station, as reported by local TV station ThaiPBS, which had identified the male tourist as Canadian. "He admitted that he opened the door, the reason was people were coming after him ... from his behaviour, it's likely he was hallucinating," said the passenger's lawyer, Jirawat Yarnkiatpakdee, while speaking to ThaiPBS. 13 flights affected by the incident The air traffic control tower was informed about the incident at 10:05 pm local time when Thai Airways flight TG121 was waiting in line on the runway. The Airbus A320 was not able to move immediately and temporarily prevented other flights from landing and taking off, said the statement. Watch: New aircraft can travel faster than speed of sound Wing Commander Ronnakorn Chalermsanyakorn, director of Chiang Mai International Airport in a statement said, “After receiving the alert, we reached out to Thai Airways mechanics to get into the site to cut the evacuation slide off, then we towed the aircraft back to landing pit number 15." The director said that 13 flights in total have been affected by the incident, which includes eight flights that were forced to circle in the air before they were cleared to land. Ronnakorn said that in total 2,295 passengers were affected by the delays. (With inputs from agencies)

Canadian tourist opens Thai Airways flight door just before takeoff

Novak Djokovic is back at the U.S. Open and will now be back at No. 1 in the rankings. Djokovic made a winning return after missing the tournament last year, rolling to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Alexandre Muller on Monday night. Novak Djokovic is back at the U.S. Open and will now be back at No. 1 in the rankings.

US Open 2023: Djokovic eases past Muller in first round, set to regain No. 1 ranking

In 2022, OPEN became India's 100th unicorn. But how did that happen? What really happened behind the scenes that led to the creation of this billion-dollar idea? Here is the story of the man who played a vital role in building Asia's first neo-banking platform for small and medium enterprises. His struggles, the highs, the lows, and the comebacks eventually led to the success of OPEN. From partnering with nearly all major Indian banks to serving over 3.5 million businesses, OPEN is a homegrown success story from India.

How did OPEN become India's 100th unicorn?

Elon Musk has officially launched his highly anticipated artificial intelligence startup, xAI. As per reports, the team behind xAI consists of engineers from major US technology companies which the SpaceX CEO hopes to challenge with his alternative to ChatGPT. 
 
The formation of the AI&nbsp;startup comes with the launch of its website, which on Wednesday, unveiled a team-up of engineers who previously worked at Alphabet-owned Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Musk announced the formation of xAI, stating, "Announcing formation of @xAI to understand reality."

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Announcing formation of <a href="https://twitter.com/xai?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@xAI</a> to understand reality
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1679164661869182976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<h2>What xAI hopes to achieve</h2>

As per the xAI website, "The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe."

It also revealed that the company will host a Twitter Spaces event on July 14, where people can "meet the team and ask us questions".

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/elon-musk-expects-fully-autonomous-tesla-vehicles-later-this-year-612751">Elon Musk expects fully autonomous self-driving Tesla vehicles 'later this year'</a>

The moves are being seen as Musk's attempt to position xAI as a competitor&nbsp;to OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, which are behind leading chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard and Claude.

<h2>Team behind xAI</h2>

In the past Musk, who serves as the CEO of Tesla and is the owner of Twitter, has been vocal about his concerns regarding AI development and&nbsp;emphasising the need for regulation in the industry has even called for a pause in its progress. However, as per Reuters, he will lead xAI in its quest to challenge major tech firms.

The xAI team includes notable individuals such as Igor Babuschkin, a former engineer at DeepMind, Tony Wu, who previously worked at Google, Christian Szegedy, a former research scientist at Google, and Greg Yang, who was earlier associated with Microsoft.

As per a state filing, in March, Musk registered a company named X.AI Corp in Nevada. The document lists him as the sole director of the firm, while Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk's family office, is listed as the secretary.

Dan Hendrycks, who currently serves as the director of the Center for AI Safety, with his work focusing on the risks associated with AI, will serve as an adviser to the xAI team.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/resumes-with-theythem-pronouns-more-likely-to-be-rejected-musk-finds-report-interesting-612663">Resumes with ‘they/them’ pronouns more likely to be rejected, says report; Musk finds it ‘interesting’</a>

As per reports, Musk incorporated xAI in Nevada in March. Previously, he had changed the name of Twitter to X Corp&nbsp;in some financial filings, however on xAI’s website, the company notes that it is a separate entity from X Corp, adding that it will "work closely with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies to make progress towards our mission."

<h2>Musk's AI dream</h2>

Earlier this year, in April, Musk announced his intention to launch TruthGPT, an AI system focused on seeking maximum truth, to rival Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing AI, which as per him will aim to understand the nature of the universe.

Generative AI gained significant attention with the release of OpenAI's popular chatbot, ChatGPT, in November of the previous year, preceding the launches of Bard and Bing AI.

The xAI website while emphasising its commitment to assembling a skilled team has also announced the startup's plans to recruit experienced engineers and researchers in the Bay Area.

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
&nbsp;

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(More to follow)

&nbsp;

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Elon Musk has officially launched his highly anticipated artificial intelligence startup, xAI. As per reports, the team behind xAI consists of engineers from major US technology companies which the SpaceX CEO hopes to challenge with his alternative to ChatGPT.

Elon Musk has officially launched his highly anticipated artificial intelligence startup, xAI. As per reports, the team behind xAI consists of engineers from major US technology companies which the SpaceX CEO hopes to challenge with his alternative to ChatGPT. The formation of the AI startup comes with the launch of its website, which on Wednesday, unveiled a team-up of engineers who previously worked at Alphabet-owned Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. In a tweet on Wednesday, Musk announced the formation of xAI, stating, "Announcing formation of @xAI to understand reality." Announcing formation of @xAI to understand reality — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2023 × What xAI hopes to achieve As per the xAI website, "The goal of xAI is to understand the true nature of the universe." It also revealed that the company will host a Twitter Spaces event on July 14, where people can "meet the team and ask us questions". Also read | Elon Musk expects fully autonomous self-driving Tesla vehicles 'later this year' The moves are being seen as Musk's attempt to position xAI as a competitor to OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, which are behind leading chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard and Claude. Team behind xAI In the past Musk, who serves as the CEO of Tesla and is the owner of Twitter, has been vocal about his concerns regarding AI development and emphasising the need for regulation in the industry has even called for a pause in its progress. However, as per Reuters, he will lead xAI in its quest to challenge major tech firms. The xAI team includes notable individuals such as Igor Babuschkin, a former engineer at DeepMind, Tony Wu, who previously worked at Google, Christian Szegedy, a former research scientist at Google, and Greg Yang, who was earlier associated with Microsoft. As per a state filing, in March, Musk registered a company named X.AI Corp in Nevada. The document lists him as the sole director of the firm, while Jared Birchall, the managing director of Musk's family office, is listed as the secretary. Dan Hendrycks, who currently serves as the director of the Center for AI Safety, with his work focusing on the risks associated with AI, will serve as an adviser to the xAI team. Also read | Resumes with ‘they/them’ pronouns more likely to be rejected, says report; Musk finds it ‘interesting’ As per reports, Musk incorporated xAI in Nevada in March. Previously, he had changed the name of Twitter to X Corp in some financial filings, however on xAI’s website, the company notes that it is a separate entity from X Corp, adding that it will "work closely with X (Twitter), Tesla, and other companies to make progress towards our mission." Musk's AI dream Earlier this year, in April, Musk announced his intention to launch TruthGPT, an AI system focused on seeking maximum truth, to rival Google's Bard and Microsoft's Bing AI, which as per him will aim to understand the nature of the universe. Generative AI gained significant attention with the release of OpenAI's popular chatbot, ChatGPT, in November of the previous year, preceding the launches of Bard and Bing AI. The xAI website while emphasising its commitment to assembling a skilled team has also announced the startup's plans to recruit experienced engineers and researchers in the Bay Area. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. (More to follow) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Elon Musk launches AI firm ‘xAI’, likely to come up with ChatGPT rival

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former Twitter CEO launched Bluesky, a social media platform that provides an alternative to the microblogging platform, on Android.&nbsp;

"We‘re building the AT Protocol, a new foundation for social networking which gives creators independence from platforms, developers the freedom to build, and users a choice in their experience," the Bluesky website said.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/alphabet-ceo-sundar-pichai-earned-hundreds-of-millions-in-2022-584962">Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai earned hundreds of millions in 2022</a>

The goal of Bluesky is to create an open and decentralised social media protocol that is not controlled by any single entity.&nbsp;The Bluesky project aims to address some of the problems and criticisms that have been levelled at social media platforms in recent years, including issues with content moderation, privacy, and data ownership.&nbsp;

By creating a decentralised protocol, the hope is that Bluesky can provide a more transparent and equitable social media experience for users, without the need for a centralised authority to regulate and control the platform.

It remains to be seen how successful the Bluesky project will be in achieving its ambitious goals.&nbsp;However, with the backing of someone as influential and experienced as Jack Dorsey, it is certainly a project to keep an eye on in the coming years.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chile-president-boric-unveils-plan-to-nationalise-lithium-industry-critical-for-electric-mobility-584956">Chile: President Boric unveils plan to nationalise lithium industry critical for electric mobility</a>

The "social internet" of the future will provide users with more alternatives with "independence from platforms," claims the app's website.

The software, which can only be accessed with an invite code, is still under development. In 2019, Dorsey launched Bluesky as a side business with funding from Twitter. It was initially made available to iOS users in late February.

According to TechCrunch, Bluesky does not include fundamental capabilities like tracking likes or bookmarks, direct conversations, editing tweets, quote-tweeting, or utilising hashtags that are accessible on Twitter at launch.

Watch | Oliver Dowden named UK deputy pm after Dominic Raab's resignation

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It is also incorporating decentralisation into its own protocol, the AT Protocol, rather than building on the work already done on ActivityPub, the protocol powering Mastodon, an open-source Twitter alternative, and a variety of other decentralised apps in the larger "Fediverse," the term for these connected servers hosting free, open-source web publishing software.

The demand for the application has been growing and has 20,000 active users currently.

As per reports, when someone created a post in Bluesky the message that pops up is “What’s up?" unlike in Twitter where it asks “What's happening?"&nbsp;Bluesky's user interface has been kept straightforward, and Twitter's signature blue colour has been preserved. Users may write posts with up to 256 characters and upload photos by just hitting the app's plus button.&nbsp;

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Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former Twitter CEO launched Bluesky, a social media platform that provides an alternative to the microblogging platform, on Android.

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former Twitter CEO launched Bluesky, a social media platform that provides an alternative to the microblogging platform, on Android. "We‘re building the AT Protocol, a new foundation for social networking which gives creators independence from platforms, developers the freedom to build, and users a choice in their experience," the Bluesky website said. Also Read | Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai earned hundreds of millions in 2022 The goal of Bluesky is to create an open and decentralised social media protocol that is not controlled by any single entity. The Bluesky project aims to address some of the problems and criticisms that have been levelled at social media platforms in recent years, including issues with content moderation, privacy, and data ownership. By creating a decentralised protocol, the hope is that Bluesky can provide a more transparent and equitable social media experience for users, without the need for a centralised authority to regulate and control the platform. It remains to be seen how successful the Bluesky project will be in achieving its ambitious goals. However, with the backing of someone as influential and experienced as Jack Dorsey, it is certainly a project to keep an eye on in the coming years. Also Read | Chile: President Boric unveils plan to nationalise lithium industry critical for electric mobility The "social internet" of the future will provide users with more alternatives with "independence from platforms," claims the app's website. The software, which can only be accessed with an invite code, is still under development. In 2019, Dorsey launched Bluesky as a side business with funding from Twitter. It was initially made available to iOS users in late February. According to TechCrunch, Bluesky does not include fundamental capabilities like tracking likes or bookmarks, direct conversations, editing tweets, quote-tweeting, or utilising hashtags that are accessible on Twitter at launch. Watch | Oliver Dowden named UK deputy pm after Dominic Raab's resignation × It is also incorporating decentralisation into its own protocol, the AT Protocol, rather than building on the work already done on ActivityPub, the protocol powering Mastodon, an open-source Twitter alternative, and a variety of other decentralised apps in the larger "Fediverse," the term for these connected servers hosting free, open-source web publishing software. The demand for the application has been growing and has 20,000 active users currently. As per reports, when someone created a post in Bluesky the message that pops up is “What’s up?" unlike in Twitter where it asks “What's happening?" Bluesky's user interface has been kept straightforward, and Twitter's signature blue colour has been preserved. Users may write posts with up to 256 characters and upload photos by just hitting the app's plus button. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Jack Dorsey's Twitter alternative Bluesky makes debut on Android

The Hero Indian Open begins on Thursday. It is India's premier Golf tournament and is sanctioned by the European Tour which is currently fighting a pitched battle with Liv Golf. Shubhankar Sharma is the highest-ranked Indian in the field and is expected to challenge for the trophy come Sunday. Sharma will play at the British Open in July and he opened up about his return to the hallowed stage in a conversation with Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo. He also believes that LIV Golf has hyped up the sport.

HERO Indian Open: India's Premier golf tournament returns

From his office at No. 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain places urgent daily calls to Ukraine’s wartime leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Next door, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, officials draw up new sanctions against the Russian oligarchs who have turned London into a turnkey haven to hide their assets and house their extended families.

Yet just across Whitehall, a billionaire property developer is close to completing an extravagant conversion of the Old War Office, an Edwardian-era monument to Britain’s imperial past. The new property will be a five-star Raffles Hotel, with lavish residential apartments that would until recently have catered to the same ultrawealthy Russians who have abruptly fallen out of favor.

“We had a glut of Russian inquiries about six weeks ago, none of which materialized,” said Charlie Walsh, head of residential sales for the project. “The Russian market would have been quite significant. For obvious reasons, that has been completely nonexistent. Thankfully, from that point of view, as well.”

To say the project has strange timing understates its sheer incongruity. Opening at a time of war in Europe, the OWO — as the Old War Office has been delicately rebranded — is an evocative reminder of Britain’s wartime history. In the midst of a crackdown on rampant foreign money, it is also a baroque example of what postwar Britain has become and what the government is belatedly trying to clean up.

Rarely has a building been both so emblematic and yet so out of step with the times — a bricks-and-mortar manifestation of how London has, and hasn’t, changed.

The crosscurrents are not lost on Walsh, who works for the Hinduja Group, an Anglo-Indian conglomerate controlled by the Hinduja brothers, which has holdings in automotive manufacturing, oil and gas, and health care. He is trying to sell the building’s rich history to a superrich clientele without overdoing the warlike theme.

Instead, Walsh recalls the famous figures who worked in the Old War Office, from Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia. He confides that John Profumo, secretary of state for war in the early 1960s, entertained his 19-year-old lover Christine Keeler in his wood-paneled office, which will be the centerpiece of a hotel suite. Their fling exploded into the “Profumo affair” after it emerged that Keeler had also had a sexual relationship with a Soviet diplomat.

Ian Fleming was in and out of the building during his time as a naval intelligence officer — a detail that is catnip to a salesman like Walsh, who hints that Fleming came up with the inspiration for his suave spy, James Bond, there. He shows a visitor the “Spies Entrance,” so-called because it is tucked discreetly at the rear of the building.

Numerous Bond films have used the Old War Office as a backdrop, most memorably at the end of the 2012 film “Skyfall,” when a brooding Daniel Craig gazes at its domed turrets from the roof of a neighboring building — Big Ben looming in the distance, framed by fluttering Union Jacks.

“Hate to waste a view,” Bond says, in words the developer has manifestly taken to heart.

The OWO is full of jaw-dropping vistas, with suites that look out to the Horse Guards Parade across the street or south to the Houses of Parliament. There is a three-story Champagne bar overlooking a courtyard and a glass-roofed restaurant. Two of the penthouse apartments have rooms built into the turrets.

All that splendor — the wood paneling, the intricately carved marble fireplaces, the original mosaic floors — isn’t cheap. The 85 apartments start at 5.8 million pounds ($7.6 million) and go up to 100 million pounds ($131 million). Walsh has sold about one-quarter of the units and said he was confident he would sell half by the time the OWO opens at the end of this year or early in 2023.

The war in Ukraine, and the stain of hidden, ill-gotten Russian wealth, is not even the biggest challenge to marketing these oligarch-scale apartments. Travel restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have made it harder for prospective buyers from Asia and the Middle East to visit London. As a result, many of Walsh’s early sales have been to Americans and Europeans. The spike in oil prices, he said, would probably help lift the market for buyers in the Gulf countries.

Though he does not say so explicitly, Walsh is clearly relieved that Russian buyers have been sidelined. The threat of sanctions, which could lead to their assets being frozen, spares him a difficult choice. He insists that more stringent “know your customer” regulations in the last few years have made it “nigh on impossible for dirty money to come into these new projects.”

That seems optimistic: Transparency International, which campaigns against corruption, estimates that 6.7 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) of dubious foreign funds have poured into British property since 2016, including 1.5 billion pounds from Russians accused of corruption or links to the Kremlin. A new law aims to make it harder for wealthy foreigners to disguise their ownership of real estate or use it to launder money.

Despite this crackdown, and the complications of Brexit, Walsh predicted that London would remain an alluring destination for the superrich. Two years of pandemic — of “not being able to exercise their retail therapy,” he said — had generated pent-up demand for multithousand-dollar-a-night hotel rooms and multimillion-dollar apartments.

The Old War Office, which was completed in 1906, is not the only London landmark that is being converted into a luxury hotel. The Admiralty Arch, which sits between Trafalgar Square and The Mall, is being turned into a Waldorf Astoria. The former U.S. Embassy on Grosvenor Square, a midcentury-modernist classic designed by Earo Saarinen, is being converted into a Rosewood Hotel.

For critics, private takeovers of public buildings have gone too far, particularly in the case of Admiralty Arch, a majestic edifice that has languished for years as a construction site, blighting the view toward Buckingham Palace.

“It’s an absolute scandal,” said Simon Jenkins, a columnist for the Guardian and author of “A Short History of London.” “It should be used for government offices. Are they going to do Downing Street next?” (A smart-aleck might note that the prime minister’s residence was regularly used as a party space during the pandemic — a violation of lockdown rules that has put Johnson into political peril).

Selling off distinguished public buildings for hotels or high-end apartments would be hard to imagine in a city like Paris. But in London, “a dispassionate approach to the great buildings of state is not as strange as it would seem,” said Tony Travers, an expert in urban affairs at the London School of Economics.

“Britain, which is a very traditional country in many ways, has the capacity to be very untraditional in other ways,” he said. “There’s a willingness to reject tradition when it is seen as pragmatically necessary.”

Travers pointed out that a fiscally strapped government was unlikely to take as good care of these buildings as private owners. The Palace of Westminster sits in a state of dangerous decay, with chunks of masonry tumbling off its walls, as Parliament bickers over a renovation that could take decades and cost more than $20 billion.

The Ministry of Defense, which moved into larger quarters in 1964, sold a 250-year lease to the Old War Office for 350 million pounds ($460 million) in 2016. The Hindujas have poured more than 1 billion pounds into it, with 1,200 workers laboring on the site.

“This is a very expensive capital-intensive project,” Walsh said, as he showed where a Versailles-scale chandelier will hang over the grand staircase. “Without private investment, very simply, these buildings would be left to rot and die.”

From his office at No. 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain places urgent daily calls to Ukraine’s wartime leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Next door, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, officials draw up new sanctions against the Russian oligarchs who have turned London into a turnkey haven to hide their assets and house their extended families.

From his office at No. 10 Downing St., Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain places urgent daily calls to Ukraine’s wartime leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Next door, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, officials draw up new sanctions against the Russian oligarchs who have turned London into a turnkey haven to hide their assets and house their extended families. Yet just across Whitehall, a billionaire property developer is close to completing an extravagant conversion of the Old War Office, an Edwardian-era monument to Britain’s imperial past. The new property will be a five-star Raffles Hotel, with lavish residential apartments that would until recently have catered to the same ultrawealthy Russians who have abruptly fallen out of favor. “We had a glut of Russian inquiries about six weeks ago, none of which materialized,” said Charlie Walsh, head of residential sales for the project. “The Russian market would have been quite significant. For obvious reasons, that has been completely nonexistent. Thankfully, from that point of view, as well.” To say the project has strange timing understates its sheer incongruity. Opening at a time of war in Europe, the OWO — as the Old War Office has been delicately rebranded — is an evocative reminder of Britain’s wartime history. In the midst of a crackdown on rampant foreign money, it is also a baroque example of what postwar Britain has become and what the government is belatedly trying to clean up. Rarely has a building been both so emblematic and yet so out of step with the times — a bricks-and-mortar manifestation of how London has, and hasn’t, changed. The crosscurrents are not lost on Walsh, who works for the Hinduja Group, an Anglo-Indian conglomerate controlled by the Hinduja brothers, which has holdings in automotive manufacturing, oil and gas, and health care. He is trying to sell the building’s rich history to a superrich clientele without overdoing the warlike theme. Instead, Walsh recalls the famous figures who worked in the Old War Office, from Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia. He confides that John Profumo, secretary of state for war in the early 1960s, entertained his 19-year-old lover Christine Keeler in his wood-paneled office, which will be the centerpiece of a hotel suite. Their fling exploded into the “Profumo affair” after it emerged that Keeler had also had a sexual relationship with a Soviet diplomat. Ian Fleming was in and out of the building during his time as a naval intelligence officer — a detail that is catnip to a salesman like Walsh, who hints that Fleming came up with the inspiration for his suave spy, James Bond, there. He shows a visitor the “Spies Entrance,” so-called because it is tucked discreetly at the rear of the building. Numerous Bond films have used the Old War Office as a backdrop, most memorably at the end of the 2012 film “Skyfall,” when a brooding Daniel Craig gazes at its domed turrets from the roof of a neighboring building — Big Ben looming in the distance, framed by fluttering Union Jacks. “Hate to waste a view,” Bond says, in words the developer has manifestly taken to heart. The OWO is full of jaw-dropping vistas, with suites that look out to the Horse Guards Parade across the street or south to the Houses of Parliament. There is a three-story Champagne bar overlooking a courtyard and a glass-roofed restaurant. Two of the penthouse apartments have rooms built into the turrets. All that splendor — the wood paneling, the intricately carved marble fireplaces, the original mosaic floors — isn’t cheap. The 85 apartments start at 5.8 million pounds ($7.6 million) and go up to 100 million pounds ($131 million). Walsh has sold about one-quarter of the units and said he was confident he would sell half by the time the OWO opens at the end of this year or early in 2023. The war in Ukraine, and the stain of hidden, ill-gotten Russian wealth, is not even the biggest challenge to marketing these oligarch-scale apartments. Travel restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic have made it harder for prospective buyers from Asia and the Middle East to visit London. As a result, many of Walsh’s early sales have been to Americans and Europeans. The spike in oil prices, he said, would probably help lift the market for buyers in the Gulf countries. Though he does not say so explicitly, Walsh is clearly relieved that Russian buyers have been sidelined. The threat of sanctions, which could lead to their assets being frozen, spares him a difficult choice. He insists that more stringent “know your customer” regulations in the last few years have made it “nigh on impossible for dirty money to come into these new projects.” That seems optimistic: Transparency International, which campaigns against corruption, estimates that 6.7 billion pounds ($8.8 billion) of dubious foreign funds have poured into British property since 2016, including 1.5 billion pounds from Russians accused of corruption or links to the Kremlin. A new law aims to make it harder for wealthy foreigners to disguise their ownership of real estate or use it to launder money. Despite this crackdown, and the complications of Brexit, Walsh predicted that London would remain an alluring destination for the superrich. Two years of pandemic — of “not being able to exercise their retail therapy,” he said — had generated pent-up demand for multithousand-dollar-a-night hotel rooms and multimillion-dollar apartments. The Old War Office, which was completed in 1906, is not the only London landmark that is being converted into a luxury hotel. The Admiralty Arch, which sits between Trafalgar Square and The Mall, is being turned into a Waldorf Astoria. The former U.S. Embassy on Grosvenor Square, a midcentury-modernist classic designed by Earo Saarinen, is being converted into a Rosewood Hotel. For critics, private takeovers of public buildings have gone too far, particularly in the case of Admiralty Arch, a majestic edifice that has languished for years as a construction site, blighting the view toward Buckingham Palace. “It’s an absolute scandal,” said Simon Jenkins, a columnist for the Guardian and author of “A Short History of London.” “It should be used for government offices. Are they going to do Downing Street next?” (A smart-aleck might note that the prime minister’s residence was regularly used as a party space during the pandemic — a violation of lockdown rules that has put Johnson into political peril). Selling off distinguished public buildings for hotels or high-end apartments would be hard to imagine in a city like Paris. But in London, “a dispassionate approach to the great buildings of state is not as strange as it would seem,” said Tony Travers, an expert in urban affairs at the London School of Economics. “Britain, which is a very traditional country in many ways, has the capacity to be very untraditional in other ways,” he said. “There’s a willingness to reject tradition when it is seen as pragmatically necessary.” Travers pointed out that a fiscally strapped government was unlikely to take as good care of these buildings as private owners. The Palace of Westminster sits in a state of dangerous decay, with chunks of masonry tumbling off its walls, as Parliament bickers over a renovation that could take decades and cost more than $20 billion. The Ministry of Defense, which moved into larger quarters in 1964, sold a 250-year lease to the Old War Office for 350 million pounds ($460 million) in 2016. The Hindujas have poured more than 1 billion pounds into it, with 1,200 workers laboring on the site. “This is a very expensive capital-intensive project,” Walsh said, as he showed where a Versailles-scale chandelier will hang over the grand staircase. “Without private investment, very simply, these buildings would be left to rot and die.”

Amid war, a lavish hotel will open in Britain’s old war office

After almost two years of wait, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Delhi University finally reopens. Students & staff welcome the move.

India: Delhi University reopens after 2 years

Evelyn Forde hoped that January would bring some relief.

As the head teacher at Copthall School in north London, she spent the final weeks of 2021 dealing with major staffing shortages as the omicron variant of the coronavirus began tearing across the city. But Tuesday, as the all-girls secondary school reopened its doors, 13 of 120 teachers were absent.

One day later, another teacher tested positive.

“We were just hanging on for dear life and just thinking, ‘It’s going to be fine when we come back in January,’” Forde said, “only for the variant to kind of just spread like wildfire.”

Such scenes were repeated across London last week amid a record surge in coronavirus infections, even as the government has held back from imposing a national lockdown, choosing instead to “ride out” the wave.

The calculus in London, as in the rest of England and much of the United States, appears to be the same. Many parents, politicians and school administrators are desperate to keep schools open after two years of chaotic openings and closures. But the variant is raising questions about those hopes, at least in the short term.

In England, worries about staffing are dire enough that retirees — often older and therefore more vulnerable to severe illness from the coronavirus — have been urged to return to duty. Schools have been advised to merge classes to plug staffing gaps. And in a country that has long resisted the types of precautions taken in countries like Germany, secondary schools are now required to test all their students twice a week — adding to the burden of smaller staffs.

Even then, some parents question whether students should be back at all, given what they fear are inadequate precautions and promised changes in ventilation systems that they say are both too little and too late.

But in England, unlike in the United States, the national government can decree the rules for all public schools, and although teachers unions continue to voice concerns about a lack of protections, they have generally been compliant. Parents also have little choice but to go along; they can be fined for keeping their children at home over COVID worries.

In some ways, the latest days of uncertainty feel like a repeat of last January, when another coronavirus wave, driven by the alpha variant, shuttered schools for weeks after they had opened for just one day. Still, there is more hope this time that the seemingly milder omicron variant will not wreak the same havoc and that schools can muddle through with just a few changes.

And for many people, any risks are outweighed by indications that children not only fell behind in school but that many also suffered devastating mental health issues.

Beyond the new testing requirements, the government is now requiring secondary school students to wear masks not only in the hallways but also in classes. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi also promised to begin distributing ventilation systems to thousands of schools and to increase funding to help pay for substitute teachers.

Still, the challenges are clear.

Education staff were more likely than other workers to test positive for the coronavirus late last year and have to isolate, according to numbers from the Office of National Statistics, and in London, many schools had struggled just to make it to the holidays amid staff absences.

Since many schools reopened last week, more than one-third of about 2,000 schools surveyed in England had 10% of their staff absent on the first day back, according to a poll by NAHT, the school leaders union. And 37% of schools polled said they were unable to find enough substitute teachers to fill in for those who were ill.

Most schools had just two days to get the new government guidance implemented before students began to return to school, which led many to stagger their return to allow for testing their entire student bodies.

Trade unions representing most education staff in England have called for additional government support. Their demands include ventilation systems for all of the nearly 25,000 schools — a far greater number than the 8,000 pledged — as well as more people to help with tests and more money to pay for substitutes.

“Schools and colleges cannot on their own reduce the threat posed by the virus, and they need from the Westminster government more than rhetoric about the importance of education,” the organizations said in a statement last week.

Philippe Sibelly, an art teacher at a small international school in central London, said the school had to close two days early for the holidays because of so many staff and student absences.

When school restarted Tuesday, Sibelly said there were no staff absences, pointing out that most teachers had contracted COVID last month or over the Christmas holidays. But now many students are out sick or isolating at home after testing positive.

During earlier waves of the pandemic, the school had gone beyond the measures recommended by the government, remaining closed to in-person teaching for a longer period of time and installing better ventilation systems. But Sibelly said that those decisions had often been met with pushback from some parents.

“From the beginning of COVID anyway, whatever we do, well, we can’t win because it’s a very polarizing issue,” he said, though he added that most parents seemed to be on board with the current approach.

Some educators are hopeful that the worst may be behind them. Nick Soar, executive principal of the Harris Federation of Schools, who oversees two state-funded schools in central and north London, said they had staggered toward the holidays with many staff and student absences.

He credited school staff with making heroic efforts to keep the school open, including having some teachers who had been exposed to the virus or had asymptomatic cases deliver classes remotely from their homes to full classrooms with a supervising adult.

But, he said, it seems like things have turned a corner, with testing so far revealing just a handful of cases and far fewer absences than December.

“It feels like the ghost of Christmas COVID has gone, even though we are crossing our fingers,” Soar said. “We’ve learned if we pull together, we cannot overreact, and make sure that great teaching and exciting teaching takes place, even while everything else around you might seem to be falling apart.”

Public health experts, however, have cautioned that the full effect of social mixing over the holidays has yet to be seen.

That — and what they consider a haphazard government approach — is enough to add to some parents’ pandemic worries.

Kirsten Minshall, who lives in southeast England, questioned the government’s reactive approach and the last-minute testing guidance that meant some schools, including his children’s, suddenly delayed openings, posing challenges for working parents.

“It doesn’t feel like really anything is ever adequately put in place to deal with what is happening at the moment,” he said. He pointed out that a full year after schools opened and shut in one day, the country’s leaders are still having the same conversations about masking, ventilation and distancing in schools, when better precautions could have already been put in place.

Now he fears it is only a matter of time before someone in his family catches the virus.

“We have this clash of a desire for everything to be as it always had been, versus the new reality,” he said.

Chaela Cooper, whose children go to school in the southeast of England, said she is also frustrated, and frightened. She would like to see mandatory masking at all age groups since most children under 12 years old are not yet able to get vaccinated, as well as better ventilation systems.

“If we have to live with this virus, we have to mitigate for it,” she said. “Otherwise what you are actually saying is live with death and illness.”

Evelyn Forde hoped that January would bring some relief. As the head teacher at Copthall School in north London, she spent the final weeks of 2021 dealing with major staffing shortages as the omicron variant of the coronavirus began tearing across the city.

Evelyn Forde hoped that January would bring some relief. As the head teacher at Copthall School in north London, she spent the final weeks of 2021 dealing with major staffing shortages as the omicron variant of the coronavirus began tearing across the city. But Tuesday, as the all-girls secondary school reopened its doors, 13 of 120 teachers were absent. One day later, another teacher tested positive. “We were just hanging on for dear life and just thinking, ‘It’s going to be fine when we come back in January,’” Forde said, “only for the variant to kind of just spread like wildfire.” Such scenes were repeated across London last week amid a record surge in coronavirus infections, even as the government has held back from imposing a national lockdown, choosing instead to “ride out” the wave. The calculus in London, as in the rest of England and much of the United States, appears to be the same. Many parents, politicians and school administrators are desperate to keep schools open after two years of chaotic openings and closures. But the variant is raising questions about those hopes, at least in the short term. In England, worries about staffing are dire enough that retirees — often older and therefore more vulnerable to severe illness from the coronavirus — have been urged to return to duty. Schools have been advised to merge classes to plug staffing gaps. And in a country that has long resisted the types of precautions taken in countries like Germany, secondary schools are now required to test all their students twice a week — adding to the burden of smaller staffs. Even then, some parents question whether students should be back at all, given what they fear are inadequate precautions and promised changes in ventilation systems that they say are both too little and too late. But in England, unlike in the United States, the national government can decree the rules for all public schools, and although teachers unions continue to voice concerns about a lack of protections, they have generally been compliant. Parents also have little choice but to go along; they can be fined for keeping their children at home over COVID worries. In some ways, the latest days of uncertainty feel like a repeat of last January, when another coronavirus wave, driven by the alpha variant, shuttered schools for weeks after they had opened for just one day. Still, there is more hope this time that the seemingly milder omicron variant will not wreak the same havoc and that schools can muddle through with just a few changes. And for many people, any risks are outweighed by indications that children not only fell behind in school but that many also suffered devastating mental health issues. Beyond the new testing requirements, the government is now requiring secondary school students to wear masks not only in the hallways but also in classes. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi also promised to begin distributing ventilation systems to thousands of schools and to increase funding to help pay for substitute teachers. Still, the challenges are clear. Education staff were more likely than other workers to test positive for the coronavirus late last year and have to isolate, according to numbers from the Office of National Statistics, and in London, many schools had struggled just to make it to the holidays amid staff absences. Since many schools reopened last week, more than one-third of about 2,000 schools surveyed in England had 10% of their staff absent on the first day back, according to a poll by NAHT, the school leaders union. And 37% of schools polled said they were unable to find enough substitute teachers to fill in for those who were ill. Most schools had just two days to get the new government guidance implemented before students began to return to school, which led many to stagger their return to allow for testing their entire student bodies. Trade unions representing most education staff in England have called for additional government support. Their demands include ventilation systems for all of the nearly 25,000 schools — a far greater number than the 8,000 pledged — as well as more people to help with tests and more money to pay for substitutes. “Schools and colleges cannot on their own reduce the threat posed by the virus, and they need from the Westminster government more than rhetoric about the importance of education,” the organizations said in a statement last week. Philippe Sibelly, an art teacher at a small international school in central London, said the school had to close two days early for the holidays because of so many staff and student absences. When school restarted Tuesday, Sibelly said there were no staff absences, pointing out that most teachers had contracted COVID last month or over the Christmas holidays. But now many students are out sick or isolating at home after testing positive. During earlier waves of the pandemic, the school had gone beyond the measures recommended by the government, remaining closed to in-person teaching for a longer period of time and installing better ventilation systems. But Sibelly said that those decisions had often been met with pushback from some parents. “From the beginning of COVID anyway, whatever we do, well, we can’t win because it’s a very polarizing issue,” he said, though he added that most parents seemed to be on board with the current approach. Some educators are hopeful that the worst may be behind them. Nick Soar, executive principal of the Harris Federation of Schools, who oversees two state-funded schools in central and north London, said they had staggered toward the holidays with many staff and student absences. He credited school staff with making heroic efforts to keep the school open, including having some teachers who had been exposed to the virus or had asymptomatic cases deliver classes remotely from their homes to full classrooms with a supervising adult. But, he said, it seems like things have turned a corner, with testing so far revealing just a handful of cases and far fewer absences than December. “It feels like the ghost of Christmas COVID has gone, even though we are crossing our fingers,” Soar said. “We’ve learned if we pull together, we cannot overreact, and make sure that great teaching and exciting teaching takes place, even while everything else around you might seem to be falling apart.” Public health experts, however, have cautioned that the full effect of social mixing over the holidays has yet to be seen. That — and what they consider a haphazard government approach — is enough to add to some parents’ pandemic worries. Kirsten Minshall, who lives in southeast England, questioned the government’s reactive approach and the last-minute testing guidance that meant some schools, including his children’s, suddenly delayed openings, posing challenges for working parents. “It doesn’t feel like really anything is ever adequately put in place to deal with what is happening at the moment,” he said. He pointed out that a full year after schools opened and shut in one day, the country’s leaders are still having the same conversations about masking, ventilation and distancing in schools, when better precautions could have already been put in place. Now he fears it is only a matter of time before someone in his family catches the virus. “We have this clash of a desire for everything to be as it always had been, versus the new reality,” he said. Chaela Cooper, whose children go to school in the southeast of England, said she is also frustrated, and frightened. She would like to see mandatory masking at all age groups since most children under 12 years old are not yet able to get vaccinated, as well as better ventilation systems. “If we have to live with this virus, we have to mitigate for it,” she said. “Otherwise what you are actually saying is live with death and illness.”

London schools are determined to stay open. Staff illnesses make it hard.

Fully vaccinated travellers from any country can now book holidays to tourism haven Phuket, the Thai government has announced, under tweaks to a struggling quarantine-free travel scheme.

Thailand's tourism industry has been on its knees, with the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions slashing visitor numbers from 40 million in 2019 to a mere trickle over the last two years.

Pre-virus, the sector made up a fifth of Thailand's national income, and the travel curbs have fed into the country's worst economic performance in more than two decades.

The kingdom launched a "sandbox" scheme in July, which allowed fully vaccinated travellers from countries considered low-to-medium risk to roam free on the popular beach island for a fortnight, and then afterwards travel to the mainland without quarantine.

Last week, authorities cut the required stay to a week, in line with national changes to quarantine rules.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand announced late Friday that the scheme had been broadened from the around 80 countries already eligible.

"This means Thailand is now welcoming travellers from any country in the world to the sandbox programme," it said in a statement.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said unvaccinated children would be able to travel with their vaccinated parents.

The sandbox programme has already lured more than 38,000 visitors to the white sands of Phuket, and generated $66.67 million.

But tourism operators are lukewarm on the revival of the island's economy, where 90 percent of hotels have been shuttered.&nbsp;

They have been pleading for the government to simplify entry requirements to increase visitor numbers.

The changes will allow previously excluded Indonesians and Malaysians to travel to Phuket.&nbsp;

Before the pandemic, Malaysia was Thailand's second biggest source of tourists, with more than four million travellers visiting in 2019.

Thai authorities hope to reopen five other destinations, including capital Bangkok, using the sandbox model from the start of November, followed by 20 more locations in December once vaccination rates increase.

However, travel advice from other countries discouraging would-be tourists could hamper Thailand's plans to reboot the industry.

Britain and the US have issued travel warnings as the country grapples with a deadly third wave of the virus and low vaccination rates.

Daily new case numbers are hovering at around 11,000, following a peak of 23,000 in August -&nbsp;but testing levels have also declined.

Fully vaccinated travellers from any country can now book holidays to tourism haven Phuket, the Thai government has announced, under tweaks to a struggling quarantine-free travel scheme.

Fully vaccinated travellers from any country can now book holidays to tourism haven Phuket, the Thai government has announced, under tweaks to a struggling quarantine-free travel scheme. Thailand's tourism industry has been on its knees, with the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions slashing visitor numbers from 40 million in 2019 to a mere trickle over the last two years. Pre-virus, the sector made up a fifth of Thailand's national income, and the travel curbs have fed into the country's worst economic performance in more than two decades. The kingdom launched a "sandbox" scheme in July, which allowed fully vaccinated travellers from countries considered low-to-medium risk to roam free on the popular beach island for a fortnight, and then afterwards travel to the mainland without quarantine. Last week, authorities cut the required stay to a week, in line with national changes to quarantine rules. The Tourism Authority of Thailand announced late Friday that the scheme had been broadened from the around 80 countries already eligible. "This means Thailand is now welcoming travellers from any country in the world to the sandbox programme," it said in a statement. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said unvaccinated children would be able to travel with their vaccinated parents. The sandbox programme has already lured more than 38,000 visitors to the white sands of Phuket, and generated $66.67 million. But tourism operators are lukewarm on the revival of the island's economy, where 90 percent of hotels have been shuttered. They have been pleading for the government to simplify entry requirements to increase visitor numbers. The changes will allow previously excluded Indonesians and Malaysians to travel to Phuket. Before the pandemic, Malaysia was Thailand's second biggest source of tourists, with more than four million travellers visiting in 2019. Thai authorities hope to reopen five other destinations, including capital Bangkok, using the sandbox model from the start of November, followed by 20 more locations in December once vaccination rates increase. However, travel advice from other countries discouraging would-be tourists could hamper Thailand's plans to reboot the industry. Britain and the US have issued travel warnings as the country grapples with a deadly third wave of the virus and low vaccination rates. Daily new case numbers are hovering at around 11,000, following a peak of 23,000 in August - but testing levels have also declined.

Phuket opens to all vaccinated travellers

After being&nbsp;criticised&nbsp;for&nbsp;years over&nbsp;the attraction's controversial depictions of Indigenous people,&nbsp;Disneyland&nbsp;is finally&nbsp;set to reopen its Jungle Cruise ride&nbsp;without&nbsp;the racially insensitive stereotypes, according to a CNN report.&nbsp;

Disneyland had&nbsp;announced it would rethink the Jungle Cruise ride in&nbsp;January. In it,&nbsp;a skipper ferried visitors along a waterway while making&nbsp;jokes.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In the past, it featured a scene, where&nbsp;'natives’ were&nbsp;depicted as primitive and threatening.&nbsp;In a statement at that time,&nbsp;Carmen Smith, creative development and inclusion strategies executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, said, “As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspective of the world around us."&nbsp;&nbsp;

According to a news release from Disney,&nbsp;the ride will&nbsp;be&nbsp;open once more in Disneyland,&nbsp;California&nbsp;from&nbsp;July 16.&nbsp;The updated version&nbsp;of the ride will get completed&nbsp;at Disney World in Florida&nbsp;by&nbsp;later this summer.&nbsp;

The announcement&nbsp;was made&nbsp;ahead of the July 28 release of a&nbsp;'Jungle Cruise'&nbsp;movie&nbsp;adaptation, which&nbsp;stars&nbsp;Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.&nbsp;

In this ride,&nbsp;both new scenes and new characters have been added,&nbsp;the company said. This&nbsp;includes&nbsp;a safari group stuck in a tree,&nbsp;etc.&nbsp;

After being criticised for years over the attraction's controversial depictions of Indigenous people, Disneyland is finally set to reopen its Jungle Cruise ride without the racially insensitive stereotypes, according to a CNN report.

After being criticised for years over the attraction's controversial depictions of Indigenous people, Disneyland is finally set to reopen its Jungle Cruise ride without the racially insensitive stereotypes, according to a CNN report. Disneyland had announced it would rethink the Jungle Cruise ride in January. In it, a skipper ferried visitors along a waterway while making jokes. In the past, it featured a scene, where 'natives’ were depicted as primitive and threatening. In a statement at that time, Carmen Smith, creative development and inclusion strategies executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, said, “As Imagineers, it is our responsibility to ensure experiences we create and stories we share reflect the voices and perspective of the world around us." According to a news release from Disney, the ride will be open once more in Disneyland, California from July 16. The updated version of the ride will get completed at Disney World in Florida by later this summer. The announcement was made ahead of the July 28 release of a 'Jungle Cruise' movie adaptation, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. In this ride, both new scenes and new characters have been added, the company said. This includes a safari group stuck in a tree, etc.

Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise ride to finally reopen sans racially insensitive stereotypes 

In a first in the northern part of the country, a park designed for differently-abled&nbsp;children has been opened in Panchkula's Town Park.

The park has been built by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in an area of six-acre at a total cost of 65 lanks.

The funding has been provided by Reliance Foundation under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.

The swings installed in the park have been designed especially for divyangs. In addition, speech therapists, physiotherapists and vocational trainers would also be present in the state-of-the-art park to assist differently-abled&nbsp;children.

"The park has been built keeping in mind safety of differently-abled children," said Rommel Rajain, the head of Security and Corporate Social Responsibility in Reliance Foundation.

"There is a wheelchair accessible trampoline and a merry-go-round. Five&nbsp;types of swings with baskets, a wobbly basket, slides and musical instruments also installed", Rajain added.

The other recreational facilities include trampolines, roller beds, basket spinner, xylophones, drums, wobbly baskets, slides with various tunnels and mounds.

"I believe this is a great initiative," said Mamta Sharma, the Principal at ASHA School.

"The children are very happy and would definitely want to come back here", she added.

In a first in the northern part of the country, a park designed for differently-abled children has been opened in Panchkula's Town Park. The park has been built by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in an area of six-acre at a total cost of 65 lanks.

In a first in the northern part of the country, a park designed for differently-abled children has been opened in Panchkula's Town Park. The park has been built by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in an area of six-acre at a total cost of 65 lanks. The funding has been provided by Reliance Foundation under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. The swings installed in the park have been designed especially for divyangs. In addition, speech therapists, physiotherapists and vocational trainers would also be present in the state-of-the-art park to assist differently-abled children. "The park has been built keeping in mind safety of differently-abled children," said Rommel Rajain, the head of Security and Corporate Social Responsibility in Reliance Foundation. "There is a wheelchair accessible trampoline and a merry-go-round. Five types of swings with baskets, a wobbly basket, slides and musical instruments also installed", Rajain added. The other recreational facilities include trampolines, roller beds, basket spinner, xylophones, drums, wobbly baskets, slides with various tunnels and mounds. "I believe this is a great initiative," said Mamta Sharma, the Principal at ASHA School. "The children are very happy and would definitely want to come back here", she added.

Haryana: Park designed for differently-abled children opens in Panchkula

The gates of the Kedarnath shrine opened Sunday morning.&nbsp;

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had on Saturday extended a warm welcome to devotees visiting the famous shrine in the Garhwal Himalayas.

Rawat said this year's yatra would have several new features, including a daily laser show on Lord Shiva, to make the visitors' experience even more cherishable.&nbsp;

All necessary arrangements have been made by the state government to facilitate a smooth yatra for the pilgrims, Rawat said.

Adequate electricity, water, health and safety arrangements have been made on the trek route from Gaurikund to Kedarnath, he said, adding, availability of doctors has been ensured at every kilometer along the route. 
Enough boarding arrangements have also been made for the pilgirms, the chief minister said.&nbsp;

Rawat said thanks to the well-planned restoration work carried out at Kedarnath, its attractive and grand structure would be visible to all. He said the road from the helipad to the temple has also been widened? substantially, he said.?

"At Kedarpuri, 'The Eternal Shiva' laser show will be the centre of attraction for devotees. The show depicts various life-like forms of Lord Shiva. It will be held on a daily basis," he said.?

The portals of Kedarnath were thrown open to devotees ceremoniously amid the chanting of Vedic hymns. Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines have already been reopened while the gates of Badrinath will be reopened on Apr 30.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Portals of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kedarnath?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kedarnath</a> shrine opened for devotees. (earlier visuals) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Uttarakhand?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Uttarakhand</a> <a href="https://t.co/1pKnNSm5Jg">pic.twitter.com/1pKnNSm5Jg</a>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/990477912259420160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The gates of these temples are closed every winter due to snow-bound conditions.&nbsp;

(With inputs from PTI)

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said the state government has made all necessary arrangements to facilitate a smooth yatra for pilgrims

The gates of the Kedarnath shrine opened Sunday morning. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had on Saturday extended a warm welcome to devotees visiting the famous shrine in the Garhwal Himalayas. Rawat said this year's yatra would have several new features, including a daily laser show on Lord Shiva, to make the visitors' experience even more cherishable. All necessary arrangements have been made by the state government to facilitate a smooth yatra for the pilgrims, Rawat said. Adequate electricity, water, health and safety arrangements have been made on the trek route from Gaurikund to Kedarnath, he said, adding, availability of doctors has been ensured at every kilometer along the route. Enough boarding arrangements have also been made for the pilgirms, the chief minister said. Rawat said thanks to the well-planned restoration work carried out at Kedarnath, its attractive and grand structure would be visible to all. He said the road from the helipad to the temple has also been widened? substantially, he said.? "At Kedarpuri, 'The Eternal Shiva' laser show will be the centre of attraction for devotees. The show depicts various life-like forms of Lord Shiva. It will be held on a daily basis," he said.? The portals of Kedarnath were thrown open to devotees ceremoniously amid the chanting of Vedic hymns. Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines have already been reopened while the gates of Badrinath will be reopened on Apr 30. #WATCH: Portals of #Kedarnath shrine opened for devotees. (earlier visuals) #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/1pKnNSm5Jg — ANI (@ANI) April 29, 2018 × The gates of these temples are closed every winter due to snow-bound conditions. (With inputs from PTI)

Watch: Gates of Kedarnath open, CM says there will be daily laser show on Lord Shiva

Defending champion Roger Federer swept into his 14th Australian Open semi-final with an immaculate straight sets win over Tomas Berdych on Wednesday.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AusOpen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AusOpen</a> : Roger Federer advances to Semi Final. <a href="https://t.co/kX7twfYaP7">pic.twitter.com/kX7twfYaP7</a>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/956117464164704261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Second seed Federer cruised to a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 6-4 win and will face unseeded South Korean Chung Hyeon in Friday`s semi-final.

The world number two saved two set points in the opening set, but never looked back as the 19-times Grand Slam champion produced some of his very best tennis to maintain his push for a sixth title in Melbourne.

The 36-year-old Swiss is playing at the peak of his powers as he sets up a semi-final with South Korea&#39;s Chung Hyeon on Friday.

The world number two saved two set points in the opening set,

Defending champion Roger Federer swept into his 14th Australian Open semi-final with an immaculate straight sets win over Tomas Berdych on Wednesday. #AusOpen : Roger Federer advances to Semi Final. pic.twitter.com/kX7twfYaP7 — ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2018 × Second seed Federer cruised to a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3, 6-4 win and will face unseeded South Korean Chung Hyeon in Friday`s semi-final. The world number two saved two set points in the opening set, but never looked back as the 19-times Grand Slam champion produced some of his very best tennis to maintain his push for a sixth title in Melbourne. The 36-year-old Swiss is playing at the peak of his powers as he sets up a semi-final with South Korea's Chung Hyeon on Friday.

Australia Open: Roger Federer outclasses Berdych to reach semi-finals

One more youth was killed today in a clash between a stone-pelting mob and security forces in Kashmir, raising the toll in the five-day unrest to 35, even as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed &quot;great sadness and sorrow&quot; over the deaths and promised a &quot;healing touch&quot;. 
Shattering the peace during most of the day, clashes erupted this evening at Harnag in Koimoh with a group of youth pelting stones on passing vehicles of security forces. 
In retaliatory action by the security forces, one youth was injured, officials said, adding he succumbed while being shifted to hospital. This raised the toll during the five-day unrest to 35. 
As soon as the news of death of the youth spread, angry protesters set ablaze a forest hut at Khannabal in Anantnag district town, the officials said. 
In another incident, a youth was injured when security forces opened fire at Koil in Pulwama district to disperse a mob which was pelting stones at an Indian Air Force base, the officials said. 
They said Reyaz Ahmad Padder was admitted to District Hospital Pulwama where his situation is stated to be stable. 
Earlier, barring some incidents of stone-pelting, Kashmir was relatively calm through the day as curfew remained in force in some parts of Kashmir, including Pampore and Kupwara towns, restrictions were in place on movement of people in the rest of the Valley. 
A police spokesman said barring &quot;some incidents&quot; of stone pelting at various places, the situation &quot;remained under control&quot; in the valley. 
The stray incidents of stone-pelting were reported from Khudwani, Kulgam, Iman Sahib, Shopian and Kakpora in south Kashmir, Kralpora, Kupwara, Trehgam, Langate, Lalpora, Putkha Sopore and Main Chowk Sopore in north Kashmir, he said. 
Reaching out to people, Mehbooba sought their &quot;support in pulling J&amp;K out of the vortex of violence and bloodshed.&quot; 
She said she needs people&#39;s support in realising the dream of a politically-emancipated, economically self-reliant and socially secure Jammu and Kashmir. 
&quot;The 27-year-long violence has left deep wounds in almost each home here and we have to jointly safeguard our state and our people from further bloodshed and destruction,&quot; she said after paying homage to the martyrs of 1931 at the Martyrs graveyard in Khawaja Bazar area of downtown Srinagar. 
Commenting on the current unrest, Mehbooba said, &quot;My heart is overwhelmed with great sadness and sorrow as a result of the killings in the latest spate of violence in Kashmir.&quot; 
Asserting that &quot;I won&#39;t let the people down, despite facing a challenging task&quot;, she said, &quot;While my government&#39;s immediate priority would be to reach out to the affected families with a healing touch, in the long run a concerted effort shall have to be launched to make peace and stability a reality in J&amp;K, with youth being the focus of the government&#39;s welfare initiatives.&quot;&nbsp; 
Urging people not to &quot;play with peace&quot;, the Chief Minister asked them not to fall prey to the machinations of those elements who want to disturb peace in the state. 
&quot;I think the biggest tribute to them would be to protect that peace and not fall prey to the machinations of those elements who want to disturb peace here,&quot; said Mehbooba who was accompanied by some of her Cabinet colleagues, legislators, party functionaries and top officers of the civil and police administration. 
According to the latest figures available, most deaths over the last four days have taken place in Anantnag district (16) followed by Kulgam (eight), Shopian (five), Pulwama (three), Srinagar and Kupwara (one each). 
Meanwhile, militants fired at the vehicle of a Sub Divisional Police Officer in Shopian district but he escaped unhurt, police said. 
Normal life remained affected for the fifth consecutive day today due to the shutdown called by separatist groups to protest the civilian killings in the clashes with security forces. The separatists today extended the shutdown by two more days till July 15. 
Shops and business establishments remained closed while public and private transport remained off roads due to the strike. 
Mobile Internet and train services remained suspended while mobile telephony has been snapped in Kupwara area following the death of a youth during protests yesterday. Mobile telephony is partially suspended in south Kashmir&#39;s four districts. 
Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were detained by police after they tried to defy restrictions and lead a march to Martyrs graveyard in downtown Srinagar. 
Geelani, who was under house arrest, was detained by the police on the airport road outside his residence in uptown Hyderpora after he defied restrictions and tried to take out a march to commemorate the 85th anniversary of those who laid down their lives fighting the Aristocratic rule in the state in 1931. 
Police also detained Mirwaiz, who was under house arrest, after he defied the restrictions and came out of his Nigeen residence to lead a march to the Martyrs graveyard. 
Mirwaiz climbed the main gate of his residence as a heavy deployment of police had barricaded the gate and did not open it, a spokesman of the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat said. 
 
(PTI)

Total toll reaches 35. Another youth is injured after security forces open fire to disperse a mob pelting stones at an air force base

One more youth was killed today in a clash between a stone-pelting mob and security forces in Kashmir, raising the toll in the five-day unrest to 35, even as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed "great sadness and sorrow" over the deaths and promised a "healing touch". Shattering the peace during most of the day, clashes erupted this evening at Harnag in Koimoh with a group of youth pelting stones on passing vehicles of security forces. In retaliatory action by the security forces, one youth was injured, officials said, adding he succumbed while being shifted to hospital. This raised the toll during the five-day unrest to 35. As soon as the news of death of the youth spread, angry protesters set ablaze a forest hut at Khannabal in Anantnag district town, the officials said. In another incident, a youth was injured when security forces opened fire at Koil in Pulwama district to disperse a mob which was pelting stones at an Indian Air Force base, the officials said. They said Reyaz Ahmad Padder was admitted to District Hospital Pulwama where his situation is stated to be stable. Earlier, barring some incidents of stone-pelting, Kashmir was relatively calm through the day as curfew remained in force in some parts of Kashmir, including Pampore and Kupwara towns, restrictions were in place on movement of people in the rest of the Valley. A police spokesman said barring "some incidents" of stone pelting at various places, the situation "remained under control" in the valley. The stray incidents of stone-pelting were reported from Khudwani, Kulgam, Iman Sahib, Shopian and Kakpora in south Kashmir, Kralpora, Kupwara, Trehgam, Langate, Lalpora, Putkha Sopore and Main Chowk Sopore in north Kashmir, he said. Reaching out to people, Mehbooba sought their "support in pulling J&K out of the vortex of violence and bloodshed." She said she needs people's support in realising the dream of a politically-emancipated, economically self-reliant and socially secure Jammu and Kashmir. "The 27-year-long violence has left deep wounds in almost each home here and we have to jointly safeguard our state and our people from further bloodshed and destruction," she said after paying homage to the martyrs of 1931 at the Martyrs graveyard in Khawaja Bazar area of downtown Srinagar. Commenting on the current unrest, Mehbooba said, "My heart is overwhelmed with great sadness and sorrow as a result of the killings in the latest spate of violence in Kashmir." Asserting that "I won't let the people down, despite facing a challenging task", she said, "While my government's immediate priority would be to reach out to the affected families with a healing touch, in the long run a concerted effort shall have to be launched to make peace and stability a reality in J&K, with youth being the focus of the government's welfare initiatives." Urging people not to "play with peace", the Chief Minister asked them not to fall prey to the machinations of those elements who want to disturb peace in the state. "I think the biggest tribute to them would be to protect that peace and not fall prey to the machinations of those elements who want to disturb peace here," said Mehbooba who was accompanied by some of her Cabinet colleagues, legislators, party functionaries and top officers of the civil and police administration. According to the latest figures available, most deaths over the last four days have taken place in Anantnag district (16) followed by Kulgam (eight), Shopian (five), Pulwama (three), Srinagar and Kupwara (one each). Meanwhile, militants fired at the vehicle of a Sub Divisional Police Officer in Shopian district but he escaped unhurt, police said. Normal life remained affected for the fifth consecutive day today due to the shutdown called by separatist groups to protest the civilian killings in the clashes with security forces. The separatists today extended the shutdown by two more days till July 15. Shops and business establishments remained closed while public and private transport remained off roads due to the strike. Mobile Internet and train services remained suspended while mobile telephony has been snapped in Kupwara area following the death of a youth during protests yesterday. Mobile telephony is partially suspended in south Kashmir's four districts. Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were detained by police after they tried to defy restrictions and lead a march to Martyrs graveyard in downtown Srinagar. Geelani, who was under house arrest, was detained by the police on the airport road outside his residence in uptown Hyderpora after he defied restrictions and tried to take out a march to commemorate the 85th anniversary of those who laid down their lives fighting the Aristocratic rule in the state in 1931. Police also detained Mirwaiz, who was under house arrest, after he defied the restrictions and came out of his Nigeen residence to lead a march to the Martyrs graveyard. Mirwaiz climbed the main gate of his residence as a heavy deployment of police had barricaded the gate and did not open it, a spokesman of the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat said. (PTI)

While CM talks of 'healing touch', one more youth killed in Kashmir

Serena Williams has history in her sights, as the defending champion plots to avenge one of the most painful defeats of her career by beating Angelique Kerber in Saturday&#39;s Wimbledon final. Williams suffered a stunning loss against Kerber in the Australian Open final in January, and the rivals will face off for the first time since then when they slug it out for the Wimbledon title. 
 
There was further frustrations for Serena when she lost the French Open final to Garbine Muguruza last month. But the 34-year-old has been revitalised at the All England Club and, after taking just 48 minutes to crush Elena Vesnina in Wimbledon&#39;s quickest-ever semi-final, she has the chance to finally equal Steffi Graf&#39;s Open era record of 22 major titles by lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish for a seventh time. 
 
Making history at Kerber&#39;s&nbsp;expense would be especially sweet, even more so after the fourth seed defeated Serena&#39;s sister Venus in the semi-finals, and Williams says she has learnt the lessons of Australia. &quot;Obviously it&#39;s significant that she beat&nbsp;me in Australia because that&#39;s the last time we played,&quot; Serena said. 
 
&quot;I made a lot of errors. She made little to no unforced errors. I felt like she played great. She was fearless. That&#39;s something I learned. When I go into a final, I too need to be fearless like she was.&nbsp;It was inspiring afterwards to realise there&#39;s a lot of things that I need to improve on.&quot; 
 
Since failing to complete a calendar Grand Slam last year, Serena has repeatedly had her hunger for more success questioned. But, having reached a ninth Wimbledon final and 28th Grand Slam, Williams insists she is still motivated. 
 
&quot;Yeah, I have no hunger anymore. Yeah, right,&quot; Serena said in a defiant press conference after her demolition of Vesnina. &quot;I mean, I think for anyone else in this whole planet, reaching the final would be a wonderful accomplishment. For me, it&#39;s not enough. But I think that&#39;s what makes me different. That&#39;s what makes me Serena. For me, it&#39;s about obviously holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me.&quot; 
 
In a combative mood with the media, Serena was quick to quash suggestions the pressure of trying to make history had been responsible for her failure to win a Grand Slam since last year&#39;s Wimbledon. 
 
&quot;My goal has never been 22. I don&#39;t talk about that anymore,&quot; she snapped. &quot;I love what I do. I work hard at what I do. I&#39;m extremely passionate. That&#39;s just the kind of something that keeps me going.&quot; Asked where she ranked among the great female athletes, Williams reframed the question. 
 
&quot;I prefer one of the greatest athletes of all time,&quot; she said with not a trace of a smile. Fortunately for fans hoping for a drama-filled final, Kerber isn&#39;t the type to back down in the face of Serena&#39;s aggression. The 28-year-old in her first Wimbledon final and second major title match, couldn&#39;t be&nbsp;in better form as she tries to become the first German woman to win Wimbledon since her idol Graf in 1996. 
 
&quot;I told myself that I would like to play better in the big tournaments. I just believe much more in myself, especially after Australia,&quot; Kerber said. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m a little bit more relaxed when I&#39;m going to the tournaments.&nbsp;I know I can trust my tennis.&quot;&nbsp;After sweeping to the final without dropping&nbsp;a set, Kerber is guaranteed to reach a career-high second in the rankings next week. 
 
&quot;I will go out there with a lot of confidence.&nbsp;I&#39;ll show her I&#39;m there to win. I have to play one of my best matches,&quot; Kerber said. 
The German added: &quot;I expect a really tough match. I know that she will go out and try to beat me, especially because she lost against me in Australia.&nbsp;On grass she is always dangerous. She won here so many times, she will go for it. I know this. I know I have to play my best tennis.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The defending champ can avenge her painful loss in last year's Australian open, and tie her idol Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slam wins

Serena Williams has history in her sights, as the defending champion plots to avenge one of the most painful defeats of her career by beating Angelique Kerber in Saturday's Wimbledon final. Williams suffered a stunning loss against Kerber in the Australian Open final in January, and the rivals will face off for the first time since then when they slug it out for the Wimbledon title. There was further frustrations for Serena when she lost the French Open final to Garbine Muguruza last month. But the 34-year-old has been revitalised at the All England Club and, after taking just 48 minutes to crush Elena Vesnina in Wimbledon's quickest-ever semi-final, she has the chance to finally equal Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 major titles by lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish for a seventh time. Making history at Kerber's expense would be especially sweet, even more so after the fourth seed defeated Serena's sister Venus in the semi-finals, and Williams says she has learnt the lessons of Australia. "Obviously it's significant that she beat me in Australia because that's the last time we played," Serena said. "I made a lot of errors. She made little to no unforced errors. I felt like she played great. She was fearless. That's something I learned. When I go into a final, I too need to be fearless like she was. It was inspiring afterwards to realise there's a lot of things that I need to improve on." Since failing to complete a calendar Grand Slam last year, Serena has repeatedly had her hunger for more success questioned. But, having reached a ninth Wimbledon final and 28th Grand Slam, Williams insists she is still motivated. "Yeah, I have no hunger anymore. Yeah, right," Serena said in a defiant press conference after her demolition of Vesnina. "I mean, I think for anyone else in this whole planet, reaching the final would be a wonderful accomplishment. For me, it's not enough. But I think that's what makes me different. That's what makes me Serena. For me, it's about obviously holding the trophy and winning, which would make it a better accomplishment for me." In a combative mood with the media, Serena was quick to quash suggestions the pressure of trying to make history had been responsible for her failure to win a Grand Slam since last year's Wimbledon. "My goal has never been 22. I don't talk about that anymore," she snapped. "I love what I do. I work hard at what I do. I'm extremely passionate. That's just the kind of something that keeps me going." Asked where she ranked among the great female athletes, Williams reframed the question. "I prefer one of the greatest athletes of all time," she said with not a trace of a smile. Fortunately for fans hoping for a drama-filled final, Kerber isn't the type to back down in the face of Serena's aggression. The 28-year-old in her first Wimbledon final and second major title match, couldn't be in better form as she tries to become the first German woman to win Wimbledon since her idol Graf in 1996. "I told myself that I would like to play better in the big tournaments. I just believe much more in myself, especially after Australia," Kerber said. "I'm a little bit more relaxed when I'm going to the tournaments. I know I can trust my tennis." After sweeping to the final without dropping a set, Kerber is guaranteed to reach a career-high second in the rankings next week. "I will go out there with a lot of confidence. I'll show her I'm there to win. I have to play one of my best matches," Kerber said. The German added: "I expect a really tough match. I know that she will go out and try to beat me, especially because she lost against me in Australia. On grass she is always dangerous. She won here so many times, she will go for it. I know this. I know I have to play my best tennis." (AFP)

Serena Williams can make history by beating Kerber in Saturday's Wimbledon finals

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{182}" paraid="1662290056">A few months after he was voted into office in May 2014, Indian&nbsp;Prime&nbsp;Minister Narendra Modi launched the&nbsp;Swachh&nbsp;Bharat&nbsp;Abhiyan&nbsp;or the Clean India Mission.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{189}" paraid="962584056">The campaign aims to clean up India&#39;s cities by the time Mahatma Gandhi&#39;s&nbsp;150th birth anniversary comes round&nbsp;on October 2,&nbsp;2019.&nbsp;Gandhi was big on cleanliness. &ldquo;We can no more gain God&rsquo;s blessing with an unclean body than with an unclean mind. A clean body cannot reside in an unclean city,&rdquo; he wrote in the journal Young India in 1925.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{192}" paraid="1084963738">The Clean India Mission also wants to put a stop to open defecation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{213}" paraid="1292518957">A&nbsp;billion people defecate in the open&nbsp;the world over. South Asia is among&nbsp;the worst offenders.&nbsp;In India&nbsp;597 million people &ndash; or half the country &ndash; defecate in the open, 41 million do so in Pakistan, as do 15 million (that&#39;s more than half the country) in Nepal. Diseases&nbsp;like&nbsp;cholera,&nbsp;diarrhoea&nbsp;and typhoid,&nbsp;for example, is a natural outcome.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{218}" paraid="384175414">Prime Minister Modi kicked off his mission by picking up a broom and sweeping the road near Gandhi&#39;s memorial in Delhi. It is thought of as being one of his pet projects,&nbsp;but he is not going to find the going easy, as a short walk would tell him.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{220}" paraid="1907312861">((insert picture of Modi with broom at&nbsp;Rajghat))&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{242}" paraid="154697890">A&nbsp;stone&#39;s throw from&nbsp;his&nbsp;official&nbsp;residence, 7, Race Course Road,&nbsp;lies the&nbsp;Bhaiya&nbsp;Ram Camp slum. Of the 5,000 people who live here, 90&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;do not have toilets in their homes and have to make do&nbsp;with 16 communal toilets. There are no sewer lines, open drains run through the camp&nbsp;and as many as 90 households share one tap.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{8f4f7417-4c1c-4dc3-aa39-dba586701abe}{244}" paraid="45645244">The lack of sanitation is frustrating, says&nbsp;Jyoti, who lives in the slum. &quot;The government claims that they have built a million toilets across India but I think the Clean India Mission is active only near their bungalows and not in our slums.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{17}" paraid="1744240119">Jyoti&nbsp;begins each morning with a 400-metre walk to the communal toilets. The toilets do not have running water&nbsp;so&nbsp;she carries a small bucket with her. There is no polite way to say this,&nbsp;but the toilets&nbsp;which&nbsp;Jyoti&nbsp;shows us, are filthy. And they smell.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{23}" paraid="2007065508">Jyoti&nbsp;has had&nbsp;diarrhoea&nbsp;three times since last December.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{30}" paraid="1133764903">That&#39;s not all. &ldquo;The situation worsens at night. Women have been assaulted at night in the communal toilets. So if we need the bathroom after dark we go near the drains behind our homes,&rdquo; says&nbsp;Jyoti. And adds, &ldquo;We have to risk our dignity every time we want to go to the toilet. Why does nobody care about our dignity?&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{56}" paraid="1890053748">Ministry of&nbsp;drinking&nbsp;water and&nbsp;sanitation&nbsp;secretary&nbsp;Parmeshwaran&nbsp;Iyer&nbsp;told WION that the government had&nbsp;built 13 million toilets since the start of the mission.&nbsp;&quot;It&nbsp;is not a number&#39;s game. More important is to look at the shift in&nbsp;behaviour&nbsp;and mindsets.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{65}" paraid="597236208">What he means is that the government might build toilets, but you&nbsp;still&nbsp;have&nbsp;to convince people to use them. That,&nbsp;he says, is going to be the difficult part of the Clean India Mission. &ldquo;Today we have only 13 districts which are open defecation-free.&rdquo; (India has a total of 688 districts.)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{74}" paraid="2097714748">Mr&nbsp;Modi&nbsp;could still manage to pull off what even the Mahatma (the honorific means great soul) was not able to. But for that he will have to look for inspiration to his country&#39;s smaller&nbsp;neighbour&nbsp;to the east, Bangladesh, which in the&nbsp;past 15 years has virtually wiped out open defecation from its soil.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{99}" paraid="450883143">Only&nbsp;1&nbsp;per cent of Bangladesh&#39;s population today does not have access to toilets &ndash; the number was 42&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;in 2003. Bangladesh did it by focusing intensively on education, information, and interpersonal communication,&nbsp;which means that they&nbsp;did&nbsp;not&nbsp;just build a toilet in every home,&nbsp;but also talked to and educated their populace on why they should be using toilets.&nbsp;They got non-governmental and other&nbsp;organisations&nbsp;like the World Bank, WHO&nbsp;(World Health&nbsp;Organisation), and UNICEF&nbsp;(United Nations International Children&#39;s Emergency&nbsp;Fund)&nbsp;to help. Somewhat more coercively, the government also encouraged the creation of social pressure and got it to bear on people to get them to change their toilet etiquette.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{111}" paraid="1247452205">Iyer&nbsp;says they&nbsp;are doing the same thing in India. That all hands are needed on deck&nbsp;and that NGOs&nbsp;(non-governmental&nbsp;organisations)&nbsp;and civil society are being roped in.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{122}" paraid="873859267">Jyoti&nbsp;and her fellow residents&nbsp;at&nbsp;BR Camp say thank you and remind&nbsp;Iyer,&nbsp;and Prime Minister Modi,&nbsp;that not only will they have to build toilets but also maintain them. (They are somewhat upset that they seem to have been ignored while the rest of the country undergoes massive change.)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>

<div paraeid="{0285b3de-2e3d-4ab6-8b55-70cbb4708ed8}{128}" paraid="623064894">Less euphemistically and pointing to the overflowing toilets, the heaps of garbage lying around&nbsp;and the blocked sewers,&nbsp;Jyoti&nbsp;says: &ldquo;The stench is unbearable, children have to walk through this everyday and our health remains at risk.&rdquo;&nbsp;</div>

Half of India still defecates in the open including those in the slum on the other side of the road from the PM

A few months after he was voted into office in May 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or the Clean India Mission. The campaign aims to clean up India's cities by the time Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary comes round on October 2, 2019. Gandhi was big on cleanliness. “We can no more gain God’s blessing with an unclean body than with an unclean mind. A clean body cannot reside in an unclean city,” he wrote in the journal Young India in 1925. The Clean India Mission also wants to put a stop to open defecation. A billion people defecate in the open the world over. South Asia is among the worst offenders. In India 597 million people – or half the country – defecate in the open, 41 million do so in Pakistan, as do 15 million (that's more than half the country) in Nepal. Diseases like cholera, diarrhoea and typhoid, for example, is a natural outcome. Prime Minister Modi kicked off his mission by picking up a broom and sweeping the road near Gandhi's memorial in Delhi. It is thought of as being one of his pet projects, but he is not going to find the going easy, as a short walk would tell him. ((insert picture of Modi with broom at Rajghat)) A stone's throw from his official residence, 7, Race Course Road, lies the Bhaiya Ram Camp slum. Of the 5,000 people who live here, 90 per cent do not have toilets in their homes and have to make do with 16 communal toilets. There are no sewer lines, open drains run through the camp and as many as 90 households share one tap. The lack of sanitation is frustrating, says Jyoti, who lives in the slum. "The government claims that they have built a million toilets across India but I think the Clean India Mission is active only near their bungalows and not in our slums.” Jyoti begins each morning with a 400-metre walk to the communal toilets. The toilets do not have running water so she carries a small bucket with her. There is no polite way to say this, but the toilets which Jyoti shows us, are filthy. And they smell. Jyoti has had diarrhoea three times since last December. That's not all. “The situation worsens at night. Women have been assaulted at night in the communal toilets. So if we need the bathroom after dark we go near the drains behind our homes,” says Jyoti. And adds, “We have to risk our dignity every time we want to go to the toilet. Why does nobody care about our dignity?” Ministry of drinking water and sanitation secretary Parmeshwaran Iyer told WION that the government had built 13 million toilets since the start of the mission. "It is not a number's game. More important is to look at the shift in behaviour and mindsets.” What he means is that the government might build toilets, but you still have to convince people to use them. That, he says, is going to be the difficult part of the Clean India Mission. “Today we have only 13 districts which are open defecation-free.” (India has a total of 688 districts.) Mr Modi could still manage to pull off what even the Mahatma (the honorific means great soul) was not able to. But for that he will have to look for inspiration to his country's smaller neighbour to the east, Bangladesh, which in the past 15 years has virtually wiped out open defecation from its soil. Only 1 per cent of Bangladesh's population today does not have access to toilets – the number was 42 per cent in 2003. Bangladesh did it by focusing intensively on education, information, and interpersonal communication, which means that they did not just build a toilet in every home, but also talked to and educated their populace on why they should be using toilets. They got non-governmental and other organisations like the World Bank, WHO (World Health Organisation), and UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) to help. Somewhat more coercively, the government also encouraged the creation of social pressure and got it to bear on people to get them to change their toilet etiquette. Iyer says they are doing the same thing in India. That all hands are needed on deck and that NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and civil society are being roped in. Jyoti and her fellow residents at BR Camp say thank you and remind Iyer, and Prime Minister Modi, that not only will they have to build toilets but also maintain them. (They are somewhat upset that they seem to have been ignored while the rest of the country undergoes massive change.) Less euphemistically and pointing to the overflowing toilets, the heaps of garbage lying around and the blocked sewers, Jyoti says: “The stench is unbearable, children have to walk through this everyday and our health remains at risk.”

Prime Minister Modi says clean India but his voice does not carry across the street from his official residence

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