After fashion shoot, documentary on acid attack survivors

September 8, 2014

New Delhi, Sep 8: After five acid attack victims -- all women came forward for a designerwear fashion photoshoot by him, photographer Rahul Saharan is now chronicling their moving life stories in a new documentary film.

Acid survivorsThe in-the-works film portrays lives of the six people - all who survived brutal acid attacks and their attempts to get their lives back on the track.

"It does not matter from whichever profession you come, you can always do something for society. I wanted to show how these victims have been fighting with their life, trying to recover, earn money and rehabilitate. I want to spread awareness among people with this film," Sharan told PTI.

Sharan has been associated with the campaign "Stop Acid Attack" and recently conducted a photoshoot with Laxmi, Rupa, Chanchal, Ritu and Sonam -- victims of acid attacks, who posed wearing clothes designed by Rupa.

"I wanted no makeup and editing in the pictures. I wanted them to look beautiful naturally. I tried to change the age long perception of beauty that is fed in the minds of the people," says Sharan.

Laxmi Saa along with Alok Dixit started the "Stop Acid Attack" campaign to regulate the free sale of acid in shops and to help rehabilitate victims.

"We have interviewed six victims for the film set to be around 30 minutes to 40 minutes. We want people to see how much they struggled and how they are overcoming their trials. We hope their stories would spread awareness among people," says Sharan.

The sole male voice in the upcoming film is provided by Chandrahass, who hails from Meerut and who says he was attacked with acid by his wealthy landlord.

The M.Com student, who left an insurance sector job to help his father manage the family shop, says he had a 5 litre bucket of acid thrown on him for reportedly coming to the defence of a girl who was being eveteased.

"The accused has contacts with politicians and that's how he is free. I have mortgaged my things, sold off gold to meet expenses of my treatment and also to hire an advocate after my landlord's son filed a case in which he alleged that I was the one who attacked him with acid," says Chandrahass.

Chandrahass recalls the day when he met with the attack.

"My whole body was burning. I crawled on the streets to save myself from a second bucket of acid. My hair started coming off. I could not see anything neither could I call anyone for help. Water doused on me had a reverse reaction on the burns," recalls Chandrahass.

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News Network
July 9,2020

U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc is "very close" to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Thursday, referring to the capability to navigate roads without any driver input.

"I'm extremely confident that level 5 or essentially complete autonomy will happen and I think will happen very quickly," Musk said in remarks made via a video message at the opening of Shanghai's annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

"I remain confident that we will have the basic functionality for level 5 autonomy complete this year."

Automakers and tech companies including Alphabet Inc Waymo and Uber Technologies are investing billions in the autonomous driving industry.

However industry insiders have said it would take time for the technology to get ready and public to trust autonomous vehicles fully.

The California-based automaker currently builds cars with an Autopilot driver-assistance system.

Tesla is also developing new heat-projection or cooling systems to enable more advanced computers in cars, Musk said.

Industry data showed Tesla sold nearly 15,000 China-made Model 3 sedans last month.

Tesla has become the highest-valued automaker as its shares surged to record highs and its market capitalisation overtook that of former front-runner Toyota Motors Corp.

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Agencies
June 29,2020

New Delhi, Jun 29: Witnessing azure skies and breathable air for the last three months, Delhi on Monday recorded deterioration in its air quality, with particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 and 10 microns -- too small to be filtered out of the human body -- standing at 52 and 297 micrograms per cubic respectively.

Gufran Beig, Project Director of System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said that the sudden spike in air pollution is due to a mild dust storm blowing from Rajasthan.

"Since the wind direction is changing and moist air is coming in, the air quality in Delhi will become better by tomorrow," Beig told IANS.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed that the overall air quality near Delhi Technical University (DTU) area stood at 326 micrograms per cubic, followed by 308 at Narela and 307 at Mundka.

Out of 36 stations, the AQI in as many as 30 stations was above 200 micrograms per cubic till 1 pm on Monday.

The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research categorises air quality in the 0-50 range as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor, and above 400 as severe.

According to SAFAR's website, "PM 10 (coarser dust particle) is the lead pollutant. AQI is likely to improve to moderate category by tomorrow, and further improvement is expected by July 1."

Researchers indicated that PM 10 and PM 2.5 will be 170 and 47 micrograms per cubic on Tuesday.

With no vehicles plying on the roads or industries shut due to the lockdown since March 25, Delhi's air quality had improved drastically.

According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, if the low levels of air pollution reached during the lockdown period are maintained, India's annual death toll could reduce by 6.5 lakh.

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Agencies
February 29,2020

Ahmedabad, Feb 29: The presence of two feral pigeons onboard a GoAir flight at the airport in Ahmedabad in Gujarat created a flutter among the amused passengers, even though the avian surprise did not lead to any untoward incident or delay in the flight.

The incident took place on Friday when the passengers were boarding the Ahmedabad-Jaipur flight.

"Two pigeons had found their way inside the flight G8 702 while the passengers were boarding," an airline statement said on Saturday.

"The crew immediately shooed away the birds. The flight took off at its scheduled time at 5 p.m.," it added.

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