Mediaboss Marketing

MS Dhoni retired from Tests after playing 90 matches.

Sydney: According to a report, Sydney Morning Herald speculated that Dhoni may not be in Sydney to see the baton formally passed to Virat Kohli with India contemplating sending the former Test captain home before the fourth Test. ( Also read: Kohli in focus, Dhoni missing at Australian Prime Minister's tea party)

"Dhoni travelled to Sydney with the Indian team a day after shocking the world with his Test retirement, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India are yet to decide if he will remain with the squad," the newspaper wrote.

No longer part of India's Test set-up, Dhoni now has the opportunity to spend close to a fortnight at home to refresh before the tri-series and the World Cup. (Related: Teary-eyed Dhoni was emotional when he quit)

After Tests, the tri-series, which also involves England will begin on January 18.

The Indian cricket team flew in here and largely spent the day indoors even as there was intense speculation over Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to quit the Test format with immediate effect, which surprised the cricket fraternity.

A day after the BCCI announced Dhoni's retirement from Test cricket, citing strains of playing in all three formats, the Indian team management chose to remain tight-lipped on the development.

Dhoni, who himself did not speak about his retirement in the post-match press conference and the preceding presentation ceremony, travelled with the team but did not interact with the media.

The 33-year old Dhoni's retirement came as a bolt from the blue as the Indian captain had not given any hint about his impending decision although pressure was mounting on him to give up Test captaincy in view of his poor overseas track record.

The timing of Dhoni's retirement and the manner in which it was announced has triggered widespread speculation over what could have prompted him to take the decision.

See the rest here:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni May Return Home Before India's Final Test Against Australia

BB: CFR and Media control
CFR and Media control.

By: J.D. Reeder

More:
BB: CFR and Media control - Video

New York, Dec 29 (IANS): Social media could be a valuable component in the fight against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) if the targeted population is engaged with the help of chats, massages and other available tools with the aim of changing their behaviour.

Combining social media with behavioural psychology prompt people to request at-home testing kits for the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), the findings showed.

"In other words, if you are a public health organisation or worker, do not just think that throwing something on Facebook or Twitter will be the solution and change people's behaviour," said Sean Young, assistant professor at the University of California in the US.

The study conducted in Peru found that participants in the intervention arm of a controlled clinical trial were more than twice as likely to be tested for HIV than those who joined a social media group and were provided with traditional HIV prevention services.

The intervention, called Harnessing Online Peer Education (HOPE), combined social media with behavioural psychology to encourage people in high-risk populations to get tested.

The experiment involved 556 participants who were randomly assigned to join a control group or an intervention group on Facebook for 12 weeks, with 278 assigned to each group.

The control group received standard offline HIV prevention and testing services, and participated in Facebook groups that provided study updates and HIV testing information.

The intervention group, by contrast, received the standard care and also incorporated the HOPE intervention behaviour change model, which utilised peer leaders who sent messages and wall posts, and engaged the participants in general friendly conversation.

The study was published in the journal Lancet HIV.

See the article here:
Social media and behavioural psychology can help fight AIDS

JAKARTA, Indonesia An AirAsia plane with at least 155 people on board, according to the airline and Indonesian media reports, lost contact with ground control on Sunday after takeoff from Indonesia on the way to Singapore, and search and rescue operations were underway.

Flight QZ8501 lost communication with Jakarta's air traffic control at 7:24 a.m. Singapore time, about an hour before it was scheduled to land in Singapore, the Singapore Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. The contact was lost about 42 minutes after takeoff from Indonesia's Surabaya airport, Hadi Mustofa, an official of the transportation ministry told Indonesia's MetroTV.

Mustofa also said the plane had asked for an unusual route before it lost contact.

AirAsia said in a statement that the plane was an Airbus A320-200 and that search and rescue operations were in progress.

The plane had six crew and 155 passengers, including 16 children and one infant, the general manager of Surabaya's Juanda airport, Trikora Raharjo, told The Associated Press.

There were six foreigners three South Koreans including an infant and one each from Singapore, British and Malaysia, said Raharjo. The rest were Indonesians, he said.

The plane lost contact when it was believed to be over the Java Sea between Kalimantan and Java islands, Mustofa said.

He said the weather in the area was cloudy.

The Singapore aviation authority said it was informed about the missing plane by Jakarta ground control about half an hour after the contact was lost.

"Search and rescue operations have been activated by the Indonesian authorities," it said, adding that the Singapore air force and the navy also were activated with two C-130 planes.

Read more from the original source:
AirAsia flight loses contact with ground control after takeoff

(Updated 7:03 p.m.; refresh page for updates) JAKARTA - An AirAsia flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore lost contact with air traffic control on Sunday, Indonesian media said, citing a Transport Ministry official.

Transport Ministry official Hadi Mustofa said the aircraft, flight number QZ 8501, lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control tower at 6:17 a.m local time. (2317 GMT).

Indonesia's air transportation director general Djoko Murjatmodjo told Agence France-Presse the Airbus 320-200 was carrying seven crew and 155 passengers138 adults, 16 children and a baby, updating earlier figures.

According to AirAsia in an updated statement, the passengers consisted of 149 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean and one Briton. The crew consisted of six Indonesians and one French national.

The flight had been due in Singapore at 8:30 a.m. Singapore time (0030 GMT). The Singapore airport said on its website the status of the flight was "delayed."

'Unusual route'

The Transport Ministry earlier said that the airport had requested an "unusual route" before it lost contact with air traffic control.

In a later news conference, Joko Muryo Atmodjo, air transportation director at the Transport Ministry, said that the aircraft had been flying at 32,000 feet and had asked to fly at 38,000 feet to avoid clouds.

The aircraft was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan on Borneo island, when it went missing, he added.

CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam said that there were "heavy thunderstorms" in the region at the time. "But keep in mind, turbulence doesn't necessarily bring down airplanes," Van Dam said in a CNN report.

See original here:
AirAsia flight from Indonesia to Singapore missing