What makes great teams

In its initiative to make the sprawling campus spread over about 300 acres carbon neutral, the National Institute of Technology – Karnataka (NIT-K) at Surathkal has now designed and developed 11 electric vehicles on its own for use by its students, faculty and staff members. The institute has also built a solar powered charging station to feed the e-vehicles. Thanks to major financial support for its E-Mobility Projects at the Centre for System Design (CSD) by its alumni and donors. Of the e-vehicles included three scooters, a foldable scooter, two bikes and five cycles. Pruthviraj U., Head, E-Mobility Projects told The Hindu that of the two bikes one is being used by the institute’s security personnel for campus surveillance. Another bike has been given to the Forest Department for the surveillance in the Kudremukh National Park area. The other vehicles are in use in the campus and are geo fenced. “The initiative began when the COVID-19 lock down began. The team comprising … [Read more...] about NIT-K rolls out electric vehicles to make campus carbon neutral

Scarcely a day seems to go by without some Tory MP making a fool of themselves by wading in and trying to be helpful to people struggling with the cost of living crisis. It’s getting to be like Wordle, a regular little tweet – you know it’s coming, even though you can’t say exactly what it will be – in this case, which particular backbencher or member of the government will come up with some outstandingly patronising piece of “advice”. Unlike Wordle, however, what the Tories say is an insult to intelligence. The latest one is somebody called Rachel Maclean, who is a junior minister in charge of safeguarding and partly responsible for that great public policy success – the Afghan refugee resettlement scheme. Her top tip for folks in poverty is to go out and get a better job , and if you can’t do that then beg your employer to let you work longer hours. In her words: “We have often heard in the past when people are facing problems with their budgets that one of the … [Read more...] about Struggling with the cost of living? The Tories think it’s all your own fault

Stunning dishes, a gruelling competition and witty John Torode and Gregg Wallace - MasterChef has all the ingredients for a recipe to success. While sitting on our sofas at home, it's easy to end up starving as people whip up delicious meals in what seems like seconds. But is the MasterChef experience all it seems? Former MasterChef semi-finalist Liz Cottam , who appeared in series 12, has shared how the show really works. She now runs three restaurants with a 67-strong team and predicted revenues of £3.2M for the year ahead. But in 2016, she bravely went on MasterChef - and has shared how the gruelling process works - with contestants filming their tasks at the crack of dawn. Liz said: "It was pretty awful, I put so much pressure on myself to win, that was the only thing I wanted. "I just wanted to cook things that I was super proud of and I enjoyed cooking and that was stuff that was fairly advanced for an amateur cook. Get the news you want straight to … [Read more...] about ‘I was on MasterChef – contestants have a secret FB group and there’s a strict suitcase rule’

McDonald’s is getting rid of traditional staffed counters at hundreds of its UK restaurants as part of a huge shake-up of how customers order their food. The fast food chain will refurbish 200 restaurants this year as part of a £250million Convenience of the Future upgrade programme. The new design will be applied to 800 branches in total over the next four years. McDonald’s has around 1,200 restaurants in the UK. Three restaurants have already been upgraded in Bow, east London, Peckham, south London and Kirkby, Merseyside. Maccies says the refurbs are a result of 50% of people now ordering from touch screens in stores, or through its free app. Instead of having a counter specifically for orders, McDonald’s will have "specific areas for different sales channels" and a large collection window. What do you think about the McDonald's changes? Let us know: [email protected] McDonald's says 50% of people use its touch screens or app ( Image: PA) … [Read more...] about McDonald’s is getting rid of front counters in huge change for how customers order

PA SPORT BIRTHDAYS Olga Korbut (gymnastics) – Soviet gymnast who won three gold medals and a silver at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, born 1955. Steve Lewis (athletics) – American 400 metres track athlete who won three Olympic golds and one silver, born 1969. Gabriela Sabatini (tennis) – Argentinian who won the US Open in 1990 by beating Steffi Graf, born 1970. Phil Clarke (rugby league) – Former Wigan and Great Britain forward, born 1971. Recommended Moscow makes fresh warning of retaliation against Finland over Nato ‘Computer says no’: Sunak blames ageing IT for not hiking benefits Michael Withers (rugby league) – Former Bradford and Wigan full-back, born 1976. Dirk Nannes (cricket) – Former Australia and Holland pace bowler, who had spells with Middlesex, Nottinghamshire and Somerset, born 1976. Andy Keogh (soccer) – Former Wolves and Republic of Ireland striker, now at Australian club Perth Glory, born 1986. Grigor Dimitrov … [Read more...] about PA sport trivia (16/05/2022)

Republican reactions to the Buffalo mass shooting on Saturday have drawn harsh criticism from an unlikely source: a notably pro-Trump religious leader. Dr. Darrell Scott, an Ohio pastor and one of the earliest Evangelical Christian leaders to back former President Donald Trump 's 2016 campaign, released a statement Monday on Twitter , slamming the lack of sympathy that GOP lawmakers have shown for the victims of the Buffalo shooting. Scott also called out the positive reactions that Kyle Rittenhouse and Nicholas Sandman received on the Right. "The lack of expressions of sympathy for 10 dead AMERICAN victims of a mass shooting by the 'Leaders' of the Right is bad," Scott wrote on Twitter. "They expressed more sympathy for Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed 3 people, and Nicolas Sandmann, who got stared at, than for the 10 dead innocents in Buffalo." Scott co-founded the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland and later served as an advisor for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. … [Read more...] about Pro-Trump pastor slams GOP for Rittenhouse sympathy amid Buffalo shooting

An inner city food charity has started to do a takeaway service for the needy due to an alarming rise in demand. Huge queues are lining up every day outside the People’s Kitchen, Newcastle, in scenes reminiscent of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Food banks and charities across the UK have warned of rocketing demand. But there has been a fall in donations as millions struggle with the cost of living crisis . Desperate dads turn up in suits after work to ask for food parcels. Our stark image of the hungry comes after Tory MP Lee Anderson said there was no ‘massive use for’ food banks in this country - and suggested people should learn to cook. Volunteer Tim Cantle-Jones, 61, from Newcastle ( Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror) People’s Kitchen volunteers told how the number of meals served each day had doubled from 150 to almost 300 after lockdown. When the Mirror visited there were around 70 queueing up outside for mince and dumplings, served with a hot … [Read more...] about Food charity offers takeaways for desperate poor who can’t afford energy to cook