Sunday, June 7, 2015

Djokovic and Serena win French Open crown at Roland Garros

World number one Djokovic takes a 17-3 career lead into his clash against Wawrinka whose win over the Serb in the 2014 Australian Open quarter-finals put him on the way to his first, and so far only, major title.
It also snapped an eight-year losing streak against the eight-time Grand Slam trophy winner.
Djokovic will be playing in his third French Open final having lost the 2012 and 2014 championship matches to nine-time champion Rafael Nadal.
But having handed Nadal just his second ever loss at Roland Garros in the quarter-finals and then seeing off world number three Andy Murray in five sets in a semi-final stretched over two days, the 28-year-old is primed for history.
Only Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Nadal have won all four majors.
But Djokovic has even greater objectives in sight — victory over Wawrinka would put him halfway to a calendar Grand Slam, a challenge so daunting that only Budge (1938) and Laver (1962 and 1969) have managed to pull it off.
“It is obviously very encouraging knowing that I have won all of the big events from last October, and playing some of my best tennis,” said Djokovic, who has lost just twice in 41 matches in 2015, is on a 28-win streak and has already claimed a fifth Australian Open as well as Masters at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome this year.
“But I have been in this situation before when people were speculating, is this the year or not? Can I win the title or not.”
Djokovic insists that having to come back on Saturday to play another hour to finish his semi-final against Murray after a Friday night suspension will have no bearing on his physical fitness for Sunday´s match.
“It wasn´t physically an easy match, that´s for sure, but I think I will be fine for the final,” said the Serb.
Djokovic and Wawrinka have met six times on clay and the Swiss has won just one of those — in Umag in the pair´s first clash way back in 2006 and even that was through a retirement.
Djokovic also came out on top in their most recent battle, a five-set marathon in the Australian Open semi-finals in January where the world number one clinched the deciding set 6-0
Serena Williams won her 20th Grand Slam title and third French Open crown at Roland Garros on Saturday, clawing her way back from a break down in the last set to defeat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-2.
In what was a disjointed affair, the 33-year-old American was coasting to a straight-sets win, a set and 4-1 up against the Czech 13th seed, playing in her first Grand Slam final at the age of 28.
But a combination of serving woes for Williams and some top play from Safarova forced a third set, the fifth of the tournament for the American.
She fell 0-2 down in that, but recovered her composure in the nick of time to rattle off six games in a row for the title.
With 20 Grand Slam titles Williams is now second on the Open-era list, two shy of Steffi Graf. She is also now halfway to winning all four Grand Slam titles, in the same year, a feat previously achieved by just three other women, the last being Graf in 1988.
For Safarova, who reached the final without dropping a set, the consolation will be her debut in the world top 10, at number seven. And she has the women´s doubles final to follow on Sunday, playing with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
“I played very well and she was a magnificent opponent for me,” Williams said.
“She was very aggressive and I was a bit nervous at a set and a break up. It´s special for me because I don´t play well all the time here (in Paris), but I am so pleased to win my 20th Grand Slam here.”
Williams had struggled with a bout of the flu throughout the tournament´s second week, needing four times to fight back from a set down just to reach the final.
But after two days of “rest and therapy” in her Paris apartment she came out looking somewhat refreshed if more subdued than usual as she stared fixedly at the ground between points.
She played well within herself on serve, taking pace off her first ball and then allowing Safarova an easy hold to level.
But the American upped the pace suddenly in the fourth game, clinching the first break of the match with a scorching forehand crosscourt winner.
Safarova top-edged two returns high up into the crowd as the American continued to crank up the pressure, but the Czech player stayed in touch with a hold for 4-2.
Williams let out two loud “c’mons” as she held serve for the fourth straight time to make it 5-2 and two games later the first set was in the bag in just 31 minutes. Safarova had failed to muster a single break point.
Williams had never failed to win a Grand Slam title on the 17 occasions she had taken the first set, and she honed in on another straight sets win by breaking serve to open the second and then holding to love.
Safarova had a mountain to climb as the crowd tried to rally her, but another service loss saw her fall 4-1 behind.
Out of the blue though Williams, suddenly flung the Brno-born player a lifeline, double-faulting twice to drop serve.
Two games later she was undone again by some loose shot-making and another double fault. Against all the odds and to general surprise, Safarova was level at 4-4.
Williams served for the match at 6-5 after another break, but Safarova produced her best tennis of the final to force the tie-break, which she won easily.
Safarova moved 2-0 up in the third before Williams resurfaced, taking six games in a row for the win.
At 33 years and 254 days Williams is just nine days younger than was Martina Navratilova, who became the oldest Open-era Grand Slam winner at Wimbledon 1990.
She will now switch her focus onto Wimbledon which starts in three weeks where a title win would give her all four Grand Slam crowns at the same time – a feat she previously achieved when she won the 2003 Australian Open.

"‪#‎China‬ is at virtual war with the United States."--Ian Bremmer
Last month's massive breach of federal employees' data allegedly at the hands of Chinese hackers...
WWW.YAHOO.COM

Turkey goes to the polls on Sunday

In a closely-fought election that will determine whether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can further tighten his grip on Turkey.
The legislative election is taking place under the shadow of violence after two people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on a rally of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Friday.
Ballot stations opened at 0500 GMT and will close at 1400 GMT, with over 53.7 million Turks eligible to vote. AFP correspondents reported a brisk morning turnout.
Opinion polls predict that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), co-founded by Erdogan, will again win the most votes, but its share could be sharply down on the almost 50 percent it gained in the last such vote in 2011.
Turkey’s economy is no longer firing on all cylinders, with growth slipping under three percent and unemployment ticking up.
Concern is also growing over Erdogan’s perceived authoritarian tendencies.
Since his election as president in 2014, after 11 years as prime minister, there has been an upsurge in cases against journalists and other members of the public accused of insulting him.

Greek PM to negotiate with Merkel and Hollande on Wednesday

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday on the sidelines of a summit in Brussels, a Greek government official reported on Saturday.The leaders of the three countries had a conference call on Saturday, which was reportedly held in a “good climate.” The officials didn’t specify the details of the discussion.Greece is in a deadlock with its international creditors over a bailout program to help the cash-strapped country get out of the crisis.

UN to hold Yemen peace talks on July 14

The United Nations said Saturday it would convene peace talks between the warring factions in Yemen on June 14, Reuter’s reports. Yemen’s exiled government wants the Houthi militia to quit the country’s main cities and recognize the authority of exiled president Abd-Rabbu Mansour.The Houthis want a ceasefire as a precondition to any peace talks. An Arab alliance led by Saudi Arabia has been bombing the Houthis since the end of March in an attempt to restore Hadi to power.


Saudi airstrike kills 44 in Yemeni capital

An airstrike led by Saudi Arabia’s Air Force on the Yemeni army headquarters in the capital, Sanaa, has left 44 people dead, among them 20 civilians, AFP reports.
“More than 44 citizens were martyred and 100 others including women and children, according to preliminary figures,” Reuters reports Yemeni officials as saying.
The devastated compound was in the Tahrir area in downtown Sanaa.

China’s Yangtze River disaster death toll exceeds 430

The official death toll in the Chinese cruise ship ‘Eastern Star’ catastrophe has reached 431 on Sunday, as rescuers continued to work on the wreckage in search of the bodies. The ship overturned on Yangtze River Monday night with 456 people on board amid severe weather. Eleven people are still officially missing, while only 14 people have survived, including the three found alive in air pockets under the ship’s hull by the divers. The ship was righted by cranes early Friday after hopes of finding any more survivors had faded.

Saudi court upholds 1,000-lashes sentence for blogger

Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has upheld the sentence against blogger Raif Badawi saying it was a final decision, the blogger’s wife Ensaf Haidar told AFP in a telephone interview. “This is a final decision that is irrevocable,” she said. Badawi, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes on charges of insulting Islam in January. He has already received the first 50 lashes, but subsequent rounds of flogging had been postponed on medical grounds. Haidar said that the punishment “might resume next week.”
Mediocre Debate ‘Delhi Air Pollution’ - Small Cities For India
June07, 2015 (C) Ravinder Singh progressindia008@yahoo.com

All Critical Problems in the world need Inventing and Engineering Solutions but when all Commerce & Arts or a Medical Doctor meet they are Not Providing Best Sustainable Remedy but Weak Expensive Temporary Prescription. 

Debate with minister Prakash Javdekar, involving Sunita Narayan, Jagdish Khattar, Dr. Jain and Indian Oil Director was Most Superfluous & Meaningless Without Any Direction / Clear Idea.

Sunita Narayan is MOST STUPID – She doesn’t even know that Trucks Entering Delhi consumes just 2% to 3% of all Energy Input in Delhi but she makes out the Prime Culprit. Sunita & Khattar have no Idea of Pollution Caused by Automotive Sector – 50% in Delhi.

BTPS alone Releases More Fine Particles than all other contributors in Delhi, WORST release HEAVY METALS also, BTPS Be Shut Down Immediately.
Himalaya Rivers Basin Of India Has 200,000 MW of Hydro Power, 500 BCM Storage Potential, Don’t Require Thermal Power – Millions of Tones of HEAVY METALS, Lead, Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Mercury, Had Been Released In Ganga-Indus BASINS So Far, Much More Coming.
Sunita Narayan Didn’t Favor STIFF PARKING TAX FOR ROAD USE*, TELESCOPIC PARKING Fee.

All cities in USA or Europe were well planned for hundreds of years engaging best of architects and engineers, average Population Density is just 2000-5000 Per Square Kilometer. Here Politicians draw lines on a paper and Sell Farm Land for Unauthorized Colonies to come up.

Against Population Density of 2000 to 5000/Sq.Km in USA/EU, Delhi has over 100,000 square kilometer for Unauthorized Colonies & Villages> India need Small Smart Cities.

Just for cooking Delhi need 150 gm of LPG per capita per day – or 15 Tones of LPG per square kilometer in high density areas. Delhi burns 2400 Tones of LPG every day.

50,000 Trucks Entering Delhi consuming 20 liters per day is 1000 KL of Diesel per day. But 25,000 CNG Buses at 60 Kg per day consume over 1500 Tones of CNG. 3 million Cars consume @ 2 Liters Per day consume 6000 KL of Petrol. 5 million Two Wheelers at 0.5 liter per day consume 2500 KL of Petrol. Autos, Taxis and Commercial Vehicles, all adds up to 0.5 million at 10 liters per day or 5000 KL/Tones CNG.

BTPS Produces 12-16 million units of Electricity every day Use 15,000 Tones of Coal per day approx, BRPS is most inefficient Thermal Power Station in India. This alone Disperse 1500 Tones of Fly Ash every day.

Desert Coolers and Air Conditioning of South Delhi homes keep Homes Relatively Free of Fine Particles – Mainly Fly Ash – Absorb Them or Keep Them Out. IT WAS MOST STUPID OF SUNITA NARAYAN CSE TO OBJECT TO DESERT COOLERS & AC USE.

1. Delhi should BAN Entry of Private Vehicles in Congested Markets like Chandni Chowk, INA, Hauz Khas, GK, CP and introduce E-Rickshaws. CLEAR TRAFFIC BOTTLENECKS LIKE YUSUF SARAI.       

2.  Vehicle Owners be Charged Parking Tax For Daily Long Term Road Use Rs.200 Per Day For Average Size Vehicle to Discourage Regular Road Use By Home, Business & Shop Owners and Telescopic Parking Fees Doubling Every 30 minutes. No OWNER PARKING In Front Of Shops, E-Rick Parking at METRO STATIONS.

3.  4500 MWp Rooftop SolarPV, 80% LED Lighting, 200,000 MW Multi-Purpose Hydro Program, Speedy Implementation of YAMUNA DAMS Electric Buses, Vehicles, Public Transport, Shut Down BTPS.

4.  Integrate Delhi Metro With Railway Network, 24x365 Hr Power Supply, 24 hr Potable Water Supply.

Ravinder Singh, Inventor & Consultant, INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES AND PROJECTS
Y-77, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016, India. Ph; 091- 9718280435, 9650421857

Competitiveness, climate, security Finn’s priorities Ministry of Finance release Finnish road map of EU presidency. Finland i...