London subway staff to get extra Olympics pay - Boston Globe
Transport for London, which operates the subway, said those packages were "subject to attendance, customer satisfaction scores and working flexibly for defined periods in order to deliver a successful games."
London Olympics 2012 - zeenews.india.com
Vauxhall Ampera: most eagerly awaited car of 2012 - Daily Telegraph
This doesn’t mean that the Ampera will not make it to the top like those Edwardian cars on the Cairnwell Pass, but the Vauxhall’s engine can only summon a maximum 85bhp and dragging the 1.7-ton Ampera uphill without battery assistance is going to be a long, slow ascent.
To prevent this happening, the Mountain Mode program needs to be activated 15 minutes before the ascent. This keeps the engine running for longer than normal to give sufficient charge to allow full performance all the way up. Subsequent models might include some sort of predictive navigation software that could activate Mountain Mode in good time if it determined a steep ascent ahead.
And steep they have to be. GM’s European engineers spent the past year driving up and down Alpine passes without finding a single one that requires Mountain Mode. In the US, engineers only required it on a couple of ascents up the Rockies.
I had high hopes of the Cairnwell Pass, however, particularly if we drove spiritedly to use up the battery power.
Harry Inglis’s Contour Road Book of Scotland describes the road from Bridge of Cally as “rising 1:17 followed by several undulations, with quick turns, mostly 1:13”. From the Glenshee Hotel, the route passes through “uninhabited country, and after three miles, clambers up the hillside”. The notorious 1:3 Devil’s Elbow, near the end of the 18.7-mile ascent, is bypassed these days on the way to the 2,199ft summit. Frankly, the Ampera breezed it.
There was more than enough power from petrol and battery reserve to accelerate strongly, even at the end, where we needed full power to overtake a Polish artic. We covered the 18.7 miles in 29 minutes at an average 38.7mph, although ascending 1,699ft from the Bridge of Cally took its toll on the battery and we ended with just four miles left of EV mode. Then we drove around to use up the last of the EV mode and attacked the slope with equal gusto. To make things tougher, we put on the air-conditioning, headlights and radio. Without the Polish truck to negotiate, we climbed faster and arrived in 24 minutes at an average speed of 49.7mph.
And while the Ampera never ran out of power, the engine was labouring as we approached the summit and flooring the throttle was the only way to access the dregs of battery power to speed the climb. The reserve was there, but there wasn’t a lot left.
So the Ampera conquered the Cairnwell Pass and in doing so showed how over-engineered and charmingly first generation it is. This is the stiffest incline test that an Ampera is ever going to face in the British Isles, so is Mountain Mode necessary? Put it this way: its inclusion is a measure of just how much GM’s engineers want this car to be a no-compromise solution.
Electric driveline explained
The Ampera consists of a 16kWh, lithium-ion battery, a four-cylinder, 1.4-litre, 85bhp petrol engine, a main electric motor, a secondary electric motor/generator and an epicyclic transmission.
Four main modes of operation are mainly to do with the interplay between the two electric motors. Single-motor electric-vehicle (EV) mode is at speeds below 60mph where the main battery supplies its 149bhp/273lb ft to the front wheels. Two-motor EV-mode means both motors are engaged thus reducing their overall speed and therefore increasing efficiency and reducing battery drain.
Once the battery charge is exhausted (usually after about 40 miles), the petrol engine starts, which extends the range to about 310 miles. Single-motor extended-range driving is where the petrol engine drives the secondary motor/generator, which supplies current to the primary electric motor to drive the front wheels. At high speeds, the secondary motor works as a generator.
The question is why you’d want to squander top-speed efficiency by using the engine to generate electricity for the motors. In the US, however, the Ampera/Volt was major news, because of how it was sold as a technically different solution to the Toyota Prius hybrid.
What's it like to drive?
While based on a Vauxhall Astra floorpan, the overwhelming impression of the Ampera is just how special and different it is. Passers-by walked up to ask about it, people took photos and oncoming drivers craned their necks so much we feared for their safety.
The aerodynamic styling is distinctive and efficient, partly because the car needs all its overrun inertia to charge the battery rather than heating the brakes.
In the cabin, electronic displays in front of the driver and in the centre console convey a huge amount of information, but can be confusing. In spite of the massive battery pack along the centre line, the driving position is comfortable.
A polyphonic whooshing noise indicates that the Ampera is ready for action. Performance is brisk and fuel consumption impressive, but the ride is soft and the damping occasionally struggles to contain the bouncing moments of the heavy driveline. The steering gives little indication of what the front wheels are up to, although the predominant trait is nose-on understeer. Performance car it isn’t, but it can be driven briskly provided the road is reasonably smooth.
With a total range of about 310 miles, you need to keep your eye on the fuel gauge as well. We had our own form of range anxiety on the Cairnwell Pass when we realised we were fast in danger of running out of fuel, both volts and litres. We only just made it into Braemar to fill up with the latter. For all the press releases that arrive each week telling us about new battery charging points, there are still precious few in the farther flung parts of the country.
London 2012: British Wrestling has Olympic places cut - BBC News
British Wrestling will only be allowed to send one athlete to London 2012 after the British Olympic Association (BOA) reduced their allocation of host-nation berths.
The sport was provisionally awarded three last year, but failed to achieve agreed performance targets.
"There is a standard across Team GB that must be upheld," said Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt.
The sole Olympic place has been awarded in the women's -55kg division.
Scottish wrestler Jayne Clason filled that position at the recent Olympic qualifier in Helsinki and is the reigning British Champion in that weight class, although Ukraine-born British passport-seeker Olga Butkevych competes as an -59kg wrestler and could be a potential alternative.
"The OQS Panel takes very seriously the responsibility of making certain that in those sports where Host Nation Qualification Places will be utilised that the athletes competing for Team GB will be in a position to deliver a credible performance on the field of play," said Hunt.
"Equally, it is essential that those sports are fully prepared to make the most of the unprecedented opportunity of competing in a Home Games and deliver a meaningful participation legacy."
Colin Nicholson British Wrestling“[London 2012] offers a chance to raise public awareness of wrestling and provide a platform for Rio 2016”
The decision of the four-strong Olympic Qualification Standards (OQS) panel which included BOA Chief Executive Andy Hunt and Sir Clive Woodward comes after a year of almost constant controversy.
In April 2011 several former athletes came out in protest against the recruitment of foreign training partners, who they alleged were in fact taking the places of British wrestlers in competitions.
There were also calls for leading figures within the sport's management to quit and earlier this month English Commonwealth Champion and Olympic medal hope Myroslav Dykun tested positive for a banned substance .
Shortly afterwards they were called for urgent crisis talks with the BOA after rumours Ukraine-born former European Champion Olga Butkevych was likely to be named in their Olympic team.
On the mat athlete performances have also been anything but positive.
After two fifth-placed finishes at the 2009 World Championships, British wrestlers failed to achieve BOA approved targets of a top-sixteen finish at the 2011 World Championships, a top-eight place at this year's Europeans or a top-six position at an Olympic qualification tournament.
GB wrestlers in action at the 2010 GB Cup
However, speaking ahead of the BOA's ruling British Wrestling's performance director Shaun Morley insisted there were reasons for optimism .
"I don't think we are going to win any medals, my realistic expectation is that we can get somebody into the top six at the Olympics," he said.
"If we achieve that to me it will represent significant progression for a sport that only a minority of people in this country are involved in."
-96kg British champion Leon Rattigan has achieved a few international victories of late, but that was not enough to convince the BOA Olympic selection panel that he should be allowed to represent Team GB at London 2012.
The OQS Panel also stated that the sport needed to do "more work" to ensure a meaningful post-Games legacy for wrestling.
This is to include much greater emphasis on increasing participation at the grass-roots level in the UK and creating a clear performance plan to qualify athletes by right for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The names of the -55kg athlete who will compete for Team GB at London 2012 is expected to be revealed by 1 June.
London riots: David Cameron approves water cannon - Daily Telegraph
Mr Cameron spoke after chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee. He rebutted criticisms from Boris Johnson about proposed cuts in police numbers. The London Mayor today caused anger in Downing Street by saying London’s police strength should not be lessened.
But Mr Cameron hit back saying: “Mayors, local authorities, always want more money, I don’t blame them for that, it’s the government job to make sure they get want they need and get the most out of what they’ve got.” all mayors “want more money.”
Instead, Mr Cameron pointed out that increasing to 16,000 the number of officers in London last night, illustrated that what was possible to “get the most out of what we’ve got.”
He said: “We won’t do anything that will reduce the number of visible police on our streets.”
Attacking the looters for their lawlessness, Mr Cameron said there was a “moral problem”, often the result of poor parenting. He added that as well as a problem for politicians it was “a problem for society.”
London 2012: Strike off after Tube staff agree Olympic pay deal - BBC News
A deal has been agreed for London Underground staff to receive extra pay for working during the Olympics, ending the threat of a strike.
The RMT union said it had reached an agreement with London Underground (LU) over recognition and pay.
It had previously announced it was to ballot its control staff and its maintenance members on strike action.
But after talks, it agreed to call off the ballot when LU offered Olympic performance rewards of up to £850.
It has also agreed that staff will work within the terms of their existing contracts.
Some of the workers who were being balloted for industrial action are employed by a contractor, which the union said had rejected a claim for an Olympic bonus.
The union said that it still had concerns about the staffing levels planned by LU and the use of untrained volunteers "at a time when safety and security will be absolutely paramount".
The union has also repeated its demand for a full-scale, mock emergency evacuation to test the robustness of the safety procedures in operation.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "After months of hard work by our negotiators we have been able to come to an agreement that both protects the contractual rights and existing agreements of our members and rewards them in recognition of what we all know will be the biggest transport challenge ever faced by this city."
London City Airport hires Grayling to target European market - PRWeek UK
The airport has brought in Grayling to help promote its services in Germany, Spain and Ireland, as it seeks to expand from three to eight million passengers a year. The appointment follows a competitive pitch process.
The agency has been handed a retained corporate brief to enhance the airport’s reputation with potential corporate clients.
Grayling’s work takes place against a backdrop of concerns over the need for increased air travel capacity in London. There have been fears around access during the Olympics, following passport control problems at Heathrow.
London City Airport corporate comms director Jeremy Probert said the brief followed a new commercial strategy drawn up to accelerate growth.
‘Part of our commercial strategy is to add new routes and attract airlines – this brief supports that. By enhancing London City Airport’s reputation abroad and communicating the benefits of flying into the airport, we aim to increase passenger numbers, leading to increased frequency, larger aircraft and new airlines.’
He added: ‘It’s now reached the point where outside assistance is needed – specifically outside assistance with a knowledge of the markets in which our key end-of-route targets are located – to support and enhance the work of the in-house comms team and the sales team.’
Ursula Colgan, director of international client services at Grayling, said that the work would emphasise the airport’s convenient proximity to the capital. She explained that the brief would involve teams working in the three countries, with London acting as a hub for the work.
A £4m roster review by BAA, the owner of Heathrow and Stansted airports, is currently under way, in which agencies have been asked to pay around £1,000 to be considered for the work.
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