Djokovic singles out his 2019 Australian Open triumph


Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic on Sunday recognized the stellar performance he needed to put in to defeat Spaniard Rafael Nadal for his record seventh Australian Open title.

Despite having won 14 other Grand Slam titles, including three consecutive trophies by defeating Nadal in the final of the 2011 Wimbledon, the 2011 US Open and the nearly six-hour at the Australian Open championship 2012 match, Djokovic singled out his most recent title, reports Efe news.

"It ranks right at the top. Under the circumstances, playing against Nadal, such an important match, it's amazing," Djokovic said after prevailing over the former world No. 1 in just two hours and four minutes.

Djokovic was untouchable throughout his 53rd match against Nadal, as he faced a lone break point, winning 40 out of 50 first serve points he put in play.

Even more impressive is the fact that the Serbian player managed to break Nadal's serve five times, nearly triple of the times the Spaniard has dropped his delivery throughout this fortnight.

The 32-year-old Nadal conceded his serve two times against Australian wildcard James Duckworth in the first round and never lost his service game afterwards on his way to the final, which was a whole different story.

Nadal got a taste of his own medicine as Djokovic dictated the rallies giving his opponent no chance to get into his stride, to follow up the great performance he put it in the 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 rout of Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the semifinal.

"I think I made 15 unforced errors in total in two matches. It is quite pleasantly surprising to myself, even though I always believe I can play this way," Djokovic said.

This dazzling display brought to the minds the dominating performance that allowed Djokovic to achieve a great breakthrough in 2011, when the only major tournament that resisted his streak was the French Open, which continued to elude him for five years until 2016, when he won his maiden and lone Roland Garros title.

A few months after clinching the much-anticipated title, Djokovic's career was marred by an elbow injury that forced him to undergo a surgery in early 2018.

"I wasn't playing well, I wasn't feeling good on the court, I was questioning everything," he said.

"I was doubting whether I would be able to play everyone on this level, because I didn't know to what extent the operation of my elbow would affect my game," Djokovic added.

But after nearly a year, the Serb celebrated his third consecutive Grand Slam title, having added the 2019 Australian Open triumph to the victories in the 2018 Wimbledon and US Open titles.


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Cyber attacks outpacing physical terror attacks

With increasing cases of data breaches and information loss happening on the Internet, cyber attacks are outpacing physical attacks among far-left groups and can cause greater destruction, researchers say.

According to lead author Thomas Holt, Professor at the Michigan State University (MSU), the high-profile nature of the internet -- on which the ideological groups can manipulate traffic -- is the ideal platform to attack.

The ideologically motivated attacks are devised to have an emotional and economic impact on groups that go against their beliefs.

"Little work has been done around the use of the internet as an attack space," Holt said.

"The bottom line is that these attacks are happening and they're overlooked. If we don't get a handle understanding them now, we won't fully understand the scope of the threats today and how to prevent larger mobilization efforts in the future."

To understand these attacks, Holt analysed the scope, growth and impact of ideological cyber terrorist incidents from far-left groups, such as the Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation Front and the hacker conglomerate group, Anonymous.

These groups, do not necessarily want to physically harm humans; rather, they are motivated by animal and environmental activism and feel passionate about attacking companies, organisations and government entities that go against their beliefs, Holt explained, in the paper published in the Terrorism and Political Violence journal.

Holt's research also examined physical and cyber terror attacks committed by these far-left groups between 2000 and 2015 in the US, UK and Canada.

"These groups might strike domestically, but their damage on the web can be widespread and a concurrent risk for companies and consumers alike. It could be even greater," Holt said.


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Backstabbing is in the DNA of Malayalees: K.J.Alphons

The lone Keralite in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, bureaucrat-turned-politician K.J. Alphons, on Sunday expressed his ire at the way Malayalees behave and attributed it to a DNA issue where backstabbing is common.

"Malayalees have a characteristic of seeing things in a poor light, whenever another Malayalee achieves something. Malayalees have a DNA problem of backstabbing," Alphons said while interacting with the media.

He was reacting to the manner in which former State Police Chief T.P. Senkumar, on Saturday called former ISRO scientist S. Nambi Narayanan a below average scientist. "Ask any ISRO scientist who is still working there about his contribution," Senkumar added

Narayanan was among those named to the Padma Bhushan by the Centre on Friday night in the Republic Day honours list.

"This attitude has to change, but do not know why this habit is so common among Malayalees. Malayalees should be happy that a fellow Malayalee has been recognised, but no Malayalee likes to see another Malayalee achieve anything," added Alphons.


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CBSE likely to add Health Science as new subject

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is likely to start a new subject -- Health Science, related to the basic knowledge of primary healthcare.

The syllabus framed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will be added to the existing curriculum of CBSE for standards 9, 10, 11 and 12.

"We had done a small survey prior to planning this course on awareness related to basic health relief like what needs to be immediately done if a dog bites before visiting a doctor. And we found that many are still not aware of basic primary healthcare needs," an official said, requesting anonymity.

The new syllabus is a guideline on what can be done if someone suddenly gets a heart attack or some other health hazard to get immediate relief.

"Because of lack of basic knowledge related to cure, patients are often brought to hospitals when they are critical. Many lives can be saved if the basic steps are followed," the official added.

According to informed sources, the new syllabus is currently being reviewed by the HRD Ministry and would be introduced in the new academic session which begins in April.




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'Wonder Woman 3' will be a contemporary story: Patty Jenkins

Filmmaker Patty Jenkins says she will not set the third instalment of "Wonder Woman" in the past.

Wonder Woman, the character, has already fought in World War I, and in next year's "Wonder Woman 1984", she will head to the 1980s.

Jenkins has an idea where a third film could go after that, and in a departure for the series, she does not expect "Wonder Woman 3" to be set in the past, according to hollywoodreporter.com.

"I'm not set, but I'm not dying another period piece," Jenkins told The Hollywood Reporter at the Sundance Film Festival.

Referring to a piece by the publication suggesting that "Wonder Woman 3" should go to the future, Jenkins said: "It's definitely one of the things we talked about. I'm not planning to put it in the past again, because where are you going to go? You have to go forward. It's definitely a contemporary story. That's all I can say.

"Where we put it and how that gets figured out, I haven't totally nailed down."

Gadot's Wonder Woman has been seen in contemporary settings in 2016's "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" and 2017's "Justice League".

The 2017 film "Wonder Woman" scored unequivocal success.



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Defence Minister watches 'Uri' in Bengaluru

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday watched film "Uri: The Surgical Strike" with war veterans at a Bengaluru mall.

"What a power-packed movie... Brilliant performances Yami Gautam, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Mohit Raina. Recharged also by the energy in the cinema hall! #HighJosh," Sitharaman tweeted.

In a series of tweets, the Defence Minister shared videos of her movie-viewing experience along with veterans at a mall in the city's southeastern suburb.

Directed by Aditya Dhar, the film, featuring Vicky, Yami, Paresh and Mohit, is based on the September 2016 attack by armed militants near the town of Uri in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Defence Minister also tweeted a video of her repeating a famous line from the film, "How's the josh?", as the audience screamed "High sir".

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Lengthy introduction of 'Ragas' can make them boring: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan
Stressing on the importance of composition and presentation, legendary sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan on Sunday said even traditional Indian classical music calls for innovation.

"In India, we blindly worship the convention whether it is religion or classical music. There is nothing wrong, and I also did it all my life. But tradition allows innovation. My father (Hafiz Ali Khan) who was my guru gave me liberty to go ahead with my thoughts and views," Khan said while discussing his book "Master on Masters" at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet 2019 here.

He gave more importance to compositions (known as Rachana or Bandish). They were created to preserve the 'Raga' (moods of Indian classical music). There is no need to give lengthy introductions of all the Ragas, he said.

"If compositions are beautiful, Ragas will become more interesting and vice-versa. Young musicians should pay attention on compositions," Khan said.

Sharing an important lesson, the veteran musician said: "Long rendering or presentation of any Raga sometimes becomes very boring and repetitive also. Every musician cannot do justice with 'Alap, Jor and Jhala' (conventional structuring of Raga)."

"No guru can help in teaching how to present. He can teach grammar and literature but every musician has the liberty to do their own performance on the stage," the sarod maestro said.

He wished that every guru tells their disciples about the length of singing various ragas, but it never happens.

Giving a glimpse of the life of Pandit Kumar Gandharva, the author said he was a child prodigy who could copy legendary musicians at the age of 12. He paid attention to the literature of composition.

Many classical "singers cannot be understood after a few lines" as they get involved in 'technical singing'. But he tried to understand the folk music, paid attention to literature and presented in his own way.

"Kumar Gandharvji's music was very colourful. Many so-called purists didn't approve of his genius," Khan said.

In his book, the master revealed his experiences with other icons like Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Ravi Shankar, Vilayat Khan and others who had their own vision and have contributed immensely to Indian classical music.

He also spoke about some instances of 'love-hate relationships between musicians' and also how he steered clear of any unpleasant situation, as he had immense respect for these stalwarts. The book reveals interesting anecdotes of the same.

Addressing the topic of Indian music losing its charm, he said: "Great masters have gone. Suddenly we feel the vacuum, they were the cause of making Indian classical music popular and we miss them."

About modern instruments, Khan said: "Keyboard is a great invention and I respect the person for it. But it has destroyed the livelihood of many musicians. It can produce the sound of violin and sitar."

"But thank God there is no sound of sarod in the keyboard, I would have been out of a job then," he jokingly said.

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