Apple to start charging for iTunes Radio

Apple Inc said it will soon start charging for iTunes Radio, its music-streaming service that competes with Pandora Media Inc.

iTunes Radio, which was announced in 2013, will no longer be free from the end of January, Apple said in statement.

The ad-supported service, available only in the United States and Australia, will be folded into Apple Music, which costs $9.99 a month.

Beats 1, the global 24/7 radio station, will now be the free music option for listeners.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Adele, James Bay, Years and Years lead BRIT nominations

LONDON: British singers Adele and James Bay, together with pop-electronica trio Years and Years, led the running for this year’s BRITs on Thursday, earning four nominations each at Britain’s top music awards.

Adele who has stormed charts worldwide with her album “25”, received nods for British female solo artist and MasterCard British album of the year.

In the British female solo artist category, she faces Jess Glynne, Laura Marling, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine as well as late singer Amy Winehouse.

Adele’s hit single “Hello” will also compete for British single and British artist video of the year.
British breakthrough act competitors Years and Years and singer-songwriter Bay are also in the running for British single with “King” and “Hold Back the River” respectively.

Bay also faces Adele in the album category for “Chaos and the Calm” alongside Coldplay’s “A Head Full of Dreams”, Florence and the Machine’s “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” and producer Jamie xx’s “In Colour”.

He is also up for British Male Solo Artist, a group also including Jamie xx, DJ Calvin Harris and producer Mark Ronson.

Years and Years won a nomination for British group alongside Coldplay, Blur, indie rockers Foals and boyband One Direction.

“King” is up for British artist video of the year, a line-up also including Sam Smith’s no.1 James Bond theme “Writing’s On The Wall”, Ed Sheeran’s “Photograph”, One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” and Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do”.

That song, which featured on the “Fifty Shades of Grey” soundtrack, is also in the running for British single.

Pop star Justin Bieber, hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar and rapper The Weeknd are among those nominated for international male solo artist while American pop singers Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor and Australian Courtney Barnett are included in the running for the female version of the award.

Eagles of Death Metal, who were on stage at the Bataclan when the Paris concert hall was attacked in November, got a nod for international group alongside Irish veterans U2, rockers Alabama Shakes, Tame Impala and electronic music group Major Lazer.

The BRIT Awards, which will feature performances from Adele, Coldplay and Bieber, will be held in London on February 24.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Kaymu’s New Year offer

KATHMANDU: Kaymu, an e-commerce platform offers massive New Year discounts to its customers in the greatest online sale starting from  January 11. The three-week long sale will offer up to 60 per cent discount on four main categories viz men’s fashion, women’s fashion, electronics, and home and living. The company claims to have always been concerned to its buyer’s need for essentials and hence have been coming up with offers and discounts on every festive season. The great sale is to welcome the New Year 2016 that will avail all the buyers to benefit from exciting discounts on winter clothing, electronic gadgets and items for home and living. Buyers can download Kaymu app in their mobile phone or shop online by simply sitting at home and having the products delivered at their doorstep.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Bend and a beer: Yoga classes and craft breweries team up

MIAMI: Call it detox and retox: Around the country, yogis are jumping up from savasana and hopping onto a barstool as yoga classes are making their way into breweries.

While the teaching is traditional, the classes tend to attract newbies, especially men, says Beth Cosi, found of Bendy Brewski in Charleston, South Carolina and Memphis.

“We get the men in the door mostly because it’s in a brewery and they get a beer afterward. That’s the carrot. A lot of them come with girlfriends, wives, sisters,” Cosi said.
Her $15 classes are 45 minutes, compared to a typical 90-minute class. The room isn’t heated to near 100-degree temperature and the partnering breweries typically offer a tour of the facility after or the chance to drink a flight of several beers.

“They both lead to relaxation. And they both have a little bit of a social aspect, you know. And it’s a very relaxing place to do yoga. So, you know, very unpretentious,” Jason Crafts, 43-year-old IT project manager, said after a recent class at Raleigh Brewing Co. in Raleigh, North Carolina.
While traditional yoga tends to encourage a navel-gazing focus on oneself, individual breathing and controlling one’s thoughts, the yoga beer classes are all about community.

“This gives you the opportunity to come to your mat, to connect with yourself … and then to socialize after class and get to know people,” said Mikki Trowbridge, whose free classes in the Salem, Oregon area draw between 75 and 150 people two or three times a month.

Trowbridge’s business plan wasn’t calculated. She and her husband just liked a strong, sweaty yoga class and a nice craft beer and figured they weren’t alone.

“(Beer) is part of our culture here. We have breweries everywhere and so breweries are where we gather for social time,” she said.

The trend has caught on quickly with yoga-beer partnerships throughout Florida, New York and California. Cosi has been mentoring yoga teachers across the country looking to host beer yoga events. Beer maker Dogfish Head created a Namaste beer, Belgian-style white with dried organic orange flesh and fresh-cut lemongrass; and Lululemon, the athletic apparel line, partnered with Stanley Park Brewing on a limited-edition style with Chinook and Lemondrop hops.
The classes also offer a friendlier environment than yoga studios where many run out after namaste without talking to anyone.

“There’s a lot of (single) people that come in with the goal of talking to someone new and they already know they have beer and yoga in common,” said Melissa Klimo-Major, who started teaching yoga classes in breweries around Cleveland in 2014.

Trowbridge and Klimt drew notable crowds after hosting two beer yoga events in New York City over the summer. The duo, who met on Instagram, is taking their business on the road with a west coast tour planned for the spring and several Midwest stops over the summer.

Breweries say the collaborations are also offering up a bonus for them.

“The majority of our yogis are usually girls and the majority of people in the brewery are men so it’s kind of helped crossed that chasm of getting girls into craft beer,” said Chris Gove president of the SaltWater Brewery in Delray Beach.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Madrid, January 5
Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane promised to put his “heart and soul” into managing the Spanish giants after he was sensationally named as coach following Rafael Benitez’s unceremonious sacking.

The three-time world player of the year takes over at the globe’s richest club despite a limited coaching CV which includes his stewardship of Real’s feeder team, Castilla. But Zidane, 43, said he would do his utmost to make sure Real, currently third in La Liga after an unhappy spell under Benitez, land silverware this year. “We have the best club in the world, the best fans and what we have to do now, and what I will try my best to do, is ensure the team wins at the end of the season,” said the Frenchman. “I’m more excited now than I was when I signed as a player. I am going to put my heart and soul into this job so that everything works out well,” he added.

The length of Zidane’s contract was not announced. He becomes the 11th coach to be appointed under Madrid president Florentino Perez, whose two spells in charge stretch to just over 12 years. Perez said it was a “difficult decision” to part ways with Benitez, whose seven-month reign came to an end after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Valencia. Benitez struggled to win over both Madrid’s fans and their superstars including Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, in a stint that was also marked by off-field controversies. Zidane inherits a team which is four points adrift of city rivals Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga, and two behind nemesis Barcelona, who have a game in hand.

However, Real also qualified with room to spare for the Champions League knock-out stages, where they have been drawn against Roma in the last 16. All eyes will now be on whether the untested Zidane has the temperament and tactical ability to gel Madrid’s Galacticos into a trophy-winning unit. Zidane is not known for his communication skills, and his playing career ended with an infamous headbutt in the 2006 World Cup final. But he is respected by Madrid’s players and adored by their fans for his feats on the field, highlighted by his brilliant winner in the 2002 Champions League final. “As president it is an honour to have you at my side because I know for you the word impossible doesn’t exist,” gushed Perez.

Zidane failed to get Castilla promoted from the third tier of Spanish football last season, but they currently lie second in the regional Segunda Division B having lost just two of 19 games this season. The Frenchman was also part of Carlo Ancelotti’s coaching staff when they won the Champions League and Copa del Rey in 2014. “The best person for the job,” trumpeted David Beckham, a former team-mate of Zidane at Real, on Instagram. “Someone with drive, passion and also doesn’t accept failure on any level… taking on a position that he will relish,” added the ex-England captain.
Perez had publicly backed Benitez despite growing pressure in recent weeks which saw him routinely jeered by his own fans, but he is believed to have finally bowed to the will of the players and supporters. Right from the start of his reign in June, Benitez struggled to gain the respect of Madrid’s star-studded squad with many senior players voicing their displeasure at the sacking of his predecessor Ancelotti. A run of three league defeats in five games in November and December, including a 4-0 thrashing at home to Barcelona, wiped away the early credit Benitez had gained with an unbeaten 14-game start.

Further embarrassment was to follow when Madrid were thrown out of the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player last month. Real were also embroiled in a tit-for-tat war of words with Manchester United after the summer deadline-day $43 million transfer of the English club’s goalkeeper David De Gea chaotically collapsed when the player was not registered in time — with each club blaming the other for the farce.

Benitez’s relationship with the dressing room has also failed to improve with key players such as Karim Benzema and James Rodriguez often showing their disgust at being substituted. Off-field distractions also took their toll with Benzema facing blackmail charges over a sex-tape, and Rodriguez accused of speeding at up to 200kph (124mph) before the Valencia game.


Souce: The Himalayan Times

Barcelona’s Suarez suspended for 2 cup games for insults

BARCELONA: The Spanish football federation has suspended Barcelona striker Luis Suarez for two Copa del Rey matches for insulting Espanyol rivals.

The referee’s report for the heated cup match at Camp Nou that ended 4-1 for Barcelona on Wednesday said Suarez insulted Espanyol players in the tunnel after the match. Espanyol had two players sent off in the loss.

Barcelona says in a statement it will appeal the ruling, denying Suarez insulted his opponents.
The return leg is next week at Espanyol.

Source: The Himalayan Times

SpaceX launches climate satellite but botches ocean landing

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday and put a climate-monitoring satellite into orbit, but botched an attempted return landing on a platform at sea, officials said.

The first stage of the rocket made it back to the platform, which was floating in the Pacific Ocean, but one of the rocket’s landing legs failed to latch into position, SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk wrote on Twitter.

“It tipped over after landing,” the technology entrepreneur said.

The 22-story tall rocket lifted off through thick fog from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast at 10:42 a.m. PST (1842 GMT).

A successful ocean landing would have marked a second milestone for SpaceX a month after it nailed a spaceflight first with a successful ground landing in Florida, a key step in Musk’s quest to develop a cheap, reusable rocket.

The company’s two previous ocean-landing attempts in 2015 were also unsuccessful. Being able to land at sea would give the company flexibility to recover rockets used on more demanding missions, such as launching heavy satellites, when boosters do not have enough fuel left to reach land.

Sunday’s SpaceX launch succeeded in its primary goal to put the U.S.- and European-owned Jason-3 satellite into orbit 830 miles (1,336 km) above the planet. The 1,200-pound (550 kg) spacecraft is the fourth in a series of ocean-monitoring satellites taking center stage in monitoring Earth’s climate.

“More than 90 percent of all the heat being trapped in the Earth’s system … is actually going into the ocean,” said Laury Miller, Jason-3 lead scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “This makes the ocean perhaps the biggest player in the climate change story.”
NOAA is one of five agencies partnering on the $180 million, five-year Jason-3 programme.

Jason-3 is designed to bounce radio waves off the ocean and time how long it takes the reflected signals to return. Scientists can use the information to figure out ocean heights to within 0.2 inches (0.5 cm), said Josh Willis, with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

“This is one of the most important yardsticks we have for human-caused climate change,” Willis said, adding that heat, plus runoff water from melting ice sheets, causes ocean levels to climb.

Jason-3 can also chart ocean currents, which impact weather phenomena such as this year’s powerful El Nino system, monitor tsunamis and track oil spills.

Source: The Himalayan Times

China seeks two pairs of one-horned rhino

Kathmandu, January 17
Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Agni Sapkota today said China had sought two pairs of one-horned rhinoceros from Nepal.

Addressing a press meet to reveal details about his five-day China visit today, Minister Sapkota said since one-horned rhino had gone extinct in China, the Chinese government wished to conserve rhinoceros.

Listed in Appendix 1 of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the endangered one-horned rhinoceros is found only in Nepal and India.

According to former Director General of Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Shyam Bajimaya, Nepal had gifted one-horned rhinoceros to Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, USA and Germany in the past.

He said Nepal had also sent a pair of rhino calves to Germany. He said the last pair of rhinos that Nepal gifted to another country was in 2006 when the then crown prince Paras took the pair to Vienna.

DNPWC spokesperson Maheswor Dhakal said there was no legal hurdle in presenting the endangered one-horned rhinoceros to other countries if the Nepal government decided to do so.

He said the government could gift rhinos for scientific and research purposes, as there are several examples of sharing endangered fauna for scientific research.

Minister Sapkota added that as a Forest and Soil Conservation Minister he could not give word to China and told the Chinese authorities that he would take the initiative to gift two pairs of rhinoceros to China after consulting Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Spokesperson Dhakal said currently Nepal had 645 one-horned rhinos.

Minister said during his visit the two countries decided to take initiative to develop green economic corridors at two check-points on the Nepal-China border Tatopani-Gangmu and Rasuwagadhi-Kerung to conserve the wildlife in the border areas and control illegal trade of forest resources and wildlife.
He said China had agreed to extend financial and technical support for establishing forensic science laboratory for wildlife research and also for establishing a wildlife sanctuary near Kathmandu.
The minister added International Network for Bamboo and Rattan was keen to extend support to Nepal for developing shelters for earthquake victims using bamboo.

Minister Sapkota had visited China on the invitation of the Chinese Minister for State Forestry Administration.

Source: The Himlayan Times

FIFA’s Blatter is still being paid his salary despite ban from world soccer

MIAMI: FIFA’s Sepp Blatter may have been banned for eight years from the game but he is still receiving his president’s salary from world soccer’s governing body, a spokesman for FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee told Reuters on Monday.
Blatter was suspended for 90 days by FIFA on Oct 8 and then banned from the game for eight years last month for ethics violations over a $2 million payment FIFA made to European soccer boss Michel Platini with Blatter’s approval in 2011.

But Blatter, a Swiss national who has been president of FIFA since 1998, will continue to be paid until a new president is elected on Feb 26, the spokesman Andreas Bantel said. That would mean Blatter would have been paid for nearly five months during which time he was unable to carry out his duties, and a period in which FIFA has appointed an acting president, African soccer head Issa Hayatou.
The compensation sub-committee of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee recently ruled that it could stop Blatter’s bonuses but not, according to his contract, his salary.
“Until the election of a new president on February 26, Mr Blatter is the elected president and therefore – according to his contract – is entitled to receive his remuneration,” Bantel said.
Blatter’s US lawyer and his Switzerland-based spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
FIFA is facing the worst corruption crisis in it history as a total of 41 individuals and entities, including many former FIFA officials, have been charged with corruption-related offences in the United States. The U.S. investigation is far from over and FIFA also faces a parallel Swiss probe.
Blatter’s bonuses have been stopped because he was not carrying out his duties of supervising the organization, including its general secretary.
Only last week, FIFA announced that Jerome Valcke was fired from his position as general secretary. It gave no reason but an investigation had followed allegations of corruption related to World Cup ticket sales.

COMPENSATION A SECRET
“The duty of supervision is listed explicitly in the target agreements for the payment of bonuses. The compensation committee has therefore decided, at its last meeting, not to make any further bonus payments to Mr Blatter,” said Bantel.

The size of Blatter’s compensation from FIFA has remained secret although reforms to be voted on at the organization’s February Congress call for the disclosure of individual compensation for the president and top executives.

It is also unclear what Hayatou is getting paid to be acting president.

FIFA’s finances may have taken a blow in the past year because of the costs and distractions of the corruption scandal. According to a report from the UK’s Press Association late last year, the organization suffered its first loss last year since 2001.

Bantel declined to discuss what proportion of Blatter’s payments came from his bonuses.
The FIFA Ethics Committee said the payment to Platini, made at a time when Blatter was seeking re-election, lacked transparency and presented conflicts of interest, though both men denied any wrongdoing. Platini has also been banned from soccer for eight years.
Both Blatter and Platini have said they will appeal against their bans.

Source: The Himalayan Times

Indian tourists throng Mustang

MUSTANG: The number of Indian nationals visiting Mustang district has gradually increased, according to a record.
The record maintained by Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) states that Indian tourists made the highest number among the foreign tourists visiting the district.

The arrival of Indian tourists is on the rise as Hindu shrines including Muktinath, Kagbeni and Damodarkunda are in Mustang, the ACAP said.
But, the number of Indians has gone down after the ‘Gorkha Earthquake’ and India’s unofficial blockade on Nepal.
In 2015, a total of 8,459 Indian tourists visited Mustang while the number was 18,000 plus in the previous year. However, the locals said that the Indian tourists’ stay in the district is shorter compared to other countries’ visitors.
According to ACAP, 14,000 tourists have visited the district from the third countries, mostly from Australia, France, Germany, Sweden and others



Source: The Himalayan Times

Internet access in Kalikot village

Internet service has been started for the first time in rural Raskot area of remote Kalikot district with the initiatives of a youth.
The internet service was installed in Panchadeval Higher Secondary School based in Mehalmudi VDC with the lone efforts of Santosh Kumar Shahi of Sipkhana VDC-2 of the district. Shahi, who completed his Intermediate in Computer Science from the Pokhara-based Western Regional Campus of Institute of Engineering, installed the WiMAX internet service.

Shahi said that he aims to expand internet access to the schools of Raskot area in Kalikot district adding that his efforts are going on.
A school needs to bear as high as Rs 50,000 in cost for the WiFi service installation, he said.
With the beginning of the internet service, Hansaraj Neupane has started telemedicine service at Serchaur of Sipkhana VDC in the district.


Source: Sabkura News Pvt. Ltd

Fire destroys property worth about three million

 

Kankadvitta (Jhapa), Jan 12: Property worth about three million rupees was gutted by fire at Birtamode in the district last night.
The fire destroyed the textile shop of Bhim Prasad Kadariya at the place, said police.
It is said the cause behind the fire was short circuit.
The fire was doused through joint effort of locals and police


Source: Sabkura News Pvt. Ltd

Water mills closed as sources of water dry up

Beni, Jan 12: The water mills run in the rural areas in Myagdi district for grinding grains are being closed gradually after the sources of water dried up in some villages, locals said.
As high as 20 water mills run in Jyamrukkot, Jhamkimli, Marang, Bim, Muna, Barjanga, Rum and other VDCs were closed for lack of water. It is said that the livelihoods of the locals is also affected following the closure of the water mills.
Dil Bahadur Shris of Arjekhola, who was running a water mill for three decades, said that he decided to close his water mill after the water source dried up year on year.
He said, “The water mills would vanish within some years if the trends of draught and climate change continue in the same manner.”
Manlal Khatri, a resident of Barjanga-7, said that the food items prepared after grinding in the water mills are tastier, healthy and could be stored for long. The locals have asked the attention of the stakeholders for the promotion of the water mills arguing that they are also cheaper compared to the diesel consuming mills in terms of their operation too.

Source :Sabkura News Pvt. Ltd