Friday, June 27, 2008

When Mahatma comes down to convince Communists



By K Ramanathan Iyer

Now Kalam has said it. ‘Please sign nuclear deal, it's good for India’, etc etc. Mind it, this has come from a great scientist, a great statesman (Some people in this group may disagree), a great thinker and finally a great human being.

Will Left parties heed to this great soul of India? I really do not know the pros and cons of the nuclear deal, whether it is good or bad for India, but what I know is that the deal has been conceived by great people who have knowledge on the subject. I also do not want to buy an argument that this deal will make India kneel down to US or stop india's freedom towards technological advancement.

As Kalam is regarded highly by Congress, BJP and left parties alike, will his words fall on right ears? I believe not.

Left parties, being (mis)guided by Chinese ideologues, will not even listen to, even if Mahatma Gandhi comes down on earth to ask them to sign the treaty. First of all they have least regard to the Father of the Nation, secondly they may question his very presence after his "expiry date" had been lapsed.

I had written in one of my previous blogs comparing Left parties to a dog tied near a heap of fodder. Neither it eat nor will it allow a cattle to feed on it. Left parties in coalition or in power never allow the government to implement developmental works. They have always something to say against the schemes and put a spoke in the wheel of development. This is a fact. Take for example: Kerala and West Bengal, the two predominantly Left-ruled states since Independence. And see its state now. People are being forced to go out of the state for jobs. Given a chance, these people would love to settle in their own motherland, provided they get a decent living.

Coming back to the signing of the Nuclear treaty, these Left parties are even ready to withdraw support to the government much to the disappointment to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As a spineless PM, he keeps on giving veiled threat of his resignation, which the Left never took it seriously.

So, who will bell the cat? Who has got the convincing ability to tame the Left tigers? None, in India. Only Chinese have got that magic wand to change the mindset of these Left parties. Is it not dangerous? India's security decision is being controlled by Chinese, our potential enemy.

Then a question comes to our mind on patriotism. West Bengal, which had produced great freedom fighters, is supporting a party which has pledged the national security to foreign hands. They may argue that by signing the Nuclear Deal, India's compromising her security concern. I am not an expert to comment on it nor do they have any competent authority on board to pass on such comment.

But one thing is certain. When Kalam , nuclear experts and some of the leaders in the opposition want India to sign the deal, I have less doubts about their intention.

If the Left parties say that Kalam has ulterior motives on signing the deal, then our country is going towards disaster having on board people like Prakash Karat , Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja, A.B. Bardhan and the great Surjeet.

Long live India.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A mango tree that flowers 300 varieties

HAJI KALIMULLAH Khan recently won a Padma Sri for growing more than 300 varieties of mangoes of different shapes, sizes and hues on one tree. This rare technique of his has made him popular as ’mango man’ in Malihabad.

Listening to Khan talk about the variety of mangoes grown by him in his orchads, the expression and delight on his face puts across as if he is fiondly referring to his family members.

Khan’s prized tree is about 100 years old, on which he started work in 1987 to develop the craft of growing different varieties on one tree. He named these mangoes as namesakes on his family members who were also mango growers.

After 50 years of incessant efforts, Khan has lately developed five new varieties of mangoes.

He is, however, excited about a ’most delicate’ and ’graceful’ looking latest variety, which he has named as ’Aishwarya’ as it reminds him of Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai.

"It were the children in the family who on seeing the new variety remarked that it resembles the actress in its colour and grace," Khan said.

Among his most precious creations is a tree in the Mughal Garden at the Rashtrapati Bhawan flowering 54 varieties. The tree is 10 feet tall with six-foot-long root and was dug not with axe or spade but by water currents and transported from the prchid to Delhi in five quintiles of mud in 1999 as a present to the then President, said Khan.

The craft developed by him has become a mystery for researchers and agriculturists from the country and abroad who have been left baffled by his work.

The sexagenarian who also finds mention in Limca Book of records for growing the rare tree has the support of his sons in keeping the tradition alive.

Among his regular visitors is the Uttar Pradesh governor, T V Rajeswar who had in 2006 named three of his varieties as Nayantara, Nargis and Jahanara, his son Nazimullah Khan said.

Khan has also cultivated a new variety of all season flowering guava, which on ripening grows as red as apple.

Source: Merinews

Monday, June 23, 2008

Rs 8,000-cr premium realty projects face delay

On June 20, 2005, India's largest real estate company DLF bought the 17.5 acre Mumbai Textile Mills land for Rs 702 crore from the National Textile Coporation (NTC) and announced a futuristic retail-cum-entertainment centre in Lower Parel. The project, which was earlier expected to be completed this year, is unlikely to be over before 2010.

The same year, Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi's Kohinoor Group and Raj Thackeray's Matoshree Realtors bought the Kohinoor Mills land in Dadar from NTC for Rs 421 crore. The land was expected to be converted into a plush retail mall, but the property was put up for sale following disagreements between the retailers and the developers over rentals. So far, no one has bought the land.

Ashok Piramal Group's Peninsula Land acquired the erstwhile Dawn Mills in Lower Parel from the Ruias for nearly Rs 120 crore and planned to set up a 1.1 million sq ft Peninsula Business Park by July 2009. The company now expects the project to be over only in the first quarter of 2010.

These are just three examples of high-end luxury realty projects announced by the country's biggest property giants that are behind schedule. According to industry estimates, around Rs 8,000 crore of real estate projects covering over 40 million square feet are facing delays.

Analysts said the construction cost for large commercial projects was Rs 2,000 per square foot, on average.

In the process, developers are facing huge cost overruns. According to analysts, construction cost is growing 20 per cent every year and the developers are carrying a compounded interest burden of 30 to 40 per cent after three years.

Real estate observers believe that cost of the projects has doubled in the last three or four years owing to the rise in input and construction costs, and increase in interest rates. Steel and cement prices, which are the main components in property projects apart from labour, have risen nearly 50 per cent since December 2005.

The reasons for the delays are varied: tardy government approvals, stop-work notices from the municipality, construction delays, labour unavailability and so on.

"All the developers who bought land from NTC had to pay upfront and raised huge sums from the market. Even if they raised money at 10 per cent, the interest rate comes to 40 to 50 per cent compounded after four years," said Akshaya Kumar, managing director of Park Lane Property Advisors.

Anuj Puri, chairman of property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, said developers had not been able to take advantage of the property boom in the last three years due to these delays.

"In the coming days, when new supply hits market, prices could soften," he said.

By 2008-end, Mumbai and its suburbs will add 15.4 million square feet of office space, which analysts said will have a sobering impact on property prices. Office rentals in Mumbai's central business district such as Nariman Point have increased 50 per cent in the last three years and places such as Worli and Lower Parel saw a 30 to 40 per cent increase in this period.

Though developers maintain that their projects are on schedule, in private they blame the delay in getting government approvals.

"In Mumbai, developers need to obtain 56 approvals from environment and forest department, pollution control board and others. It takes over a year to get these approvals," said a leading developer who is setting up a large project in Central Mumbai.

Adds Pranay Vakil, chairman of property consultancy Knight Frank: "There was a lack of clarity on approvals in the mill land case. Some of the approvals were revoked with retrospective effect which caused delays. Shift in policy stands also resulted some delays," he said.

For instance, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s stop-work notices in October 2007 to the developers of mill lands for violation of development control (DC) rules and subsequent revoking of notices in early 2008 caused much delay in the development of mill lands. The DC rule allowed mill owners to redevelop or sell their land provided the owner would hand over one-third of the open land on the premises to the BMC and MHADA each.

When asked about delays, a DLF spokesperson said: "Our Lower Parel project is on time and proceeding smoothly. We are not in a hurry to complete the development and we can take our own time to finish the project. We cannot specify any reasons for the delay," the spokesperson said.

A Matoshree Realtors executive said: "We have decided to sell the land but not finalised the buyers. We received good offers for the land so we did not want to go ahead with development," she said.

Rajesh Jaggi, managing director of Peninsula Land said: "Due to stop-work notice, our project was delayed three or four months. Beyond that there is no delay."

Source: Rediff

Aarushi case: CBI gets 4-day custody of Krishna


Dr Rajesh Talwar's compounder-cum-receptionist Krishna has been sent for another 4 days in CBI remand.

Earlier, Krishna, the prime accused in Aarushi case was produced in the Court by CBI on Monday. Krishna broke down in the court and told the Judge that he is innocent and is being pressurized.

''They keep beating me. I haven't done anything. I was sleeping at home on the night of the murders,'' said Krishna.

The CBI has so far claimed that the receptionist from Dr Talwar's clinic has not been cooperating during interrogation.

Last week, the CBI had also said that he was involved in the double murders, but did not divulge any further details.

The CBI also quizzed Nupur Talwar again on Sunday in connection with the May 15 murders of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj, but officials refused to comment on the nature of the queries.

Source: NDTV

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Should Gorkhaland statehood be granted?

By K Ramanathan Iyer/Chennai

India is a land of agitations. Agitating for any issue is our democratic right. We agitate for anything; being for more quota in educational instututions/ jobs or for a separate statehood, the recent one being the Gokhaland.

After a few years of lull, the issue of Gorkhaland has again come to the fore with renewed vigor, thanks to the inefficiency of WB government, centre leadership and yes, the local council body to resolve the decade- old issue.

Now the echoes of Gorkhas' demand for separate statehood have reached Delhi and the state government has conveniently showed its finger towards the centre to take a decision on the vexed issue, the ball is now in the UPA government's court.

Congress, which has a history of wait-and-watch policy, thereby aggravating any issue affecting people, may again put the separate state demand in the backburner and thus leaving the issue to the next government to resolve. As elections are around the corner, the party may not take any decision which will go against the party's interest in the coming elections.

Another issue is if separate statehood is awarded to Darjeeling council, then many a few areas across India will start demanding separate statehood for them also, with Telungana sitting pretty first to grab such an offer. Already the country has been successfully divided by caste, religion, languages, etc, by our great politicians and thinkers, having more fragrant states will further add chaos to the already chaotic region. Yes, this will facilitate more wealth to local politicians and babus and thumbs down to the local area development.

Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation under the leadership of Bimal Gurung, has decided to go to Delhi with representatives from 13 outfits including Congress, BJP and Left parties, to talk to the centre over the separate land issue.

But unfortunately, the tourism industry in the beautiful hill station has been the worst hit due to the ongoing agitation by the parties concerned. Several tourists were caught unaware due to the sudden turn of events and stranded for several hours. Travelling to Darjeeling for vocation will not be an enjoyable experience anymore. But again, who cares?

As both West Bengal government and Centre have their own issues to ponder upon, the hilly region will once again turn into a battle ground for justice.

Epileptics who don't take their medicines at higher death risk

Washington, June 19: Epileptics who don't take their seizure medication regularly are three times more likely to die, according to a new study.

Researchers came to this conclusion after examining insurance records from three US Medicaid programmes over eight-and-a-half years. The records were of 33,658 epileptics who have at least two drug prescriptions.

The study found that those who took their medication less than 80 percent of the time over three months appeared to be three times more likely to die compared to people who took medication regularly.

The study showed that hospital visits went up by 86 percent and emergency room visits increased by 50 percent during the time when people did not take their medication regularly.

There also appeared to be a significantly higher incidence of car accidents and bone fractures. Only head injuries were less common during periods of non-compliance with epilepsy drugs.

"These results are of concern since some studies show about 30 to 50 percent of people with epilepsy do not take their medication regularly," said study author Edward Faught of the University of Alabama.

"There are many reasons epileptic patients fail to take their seizure medications - including cost, side-effects and pregnancy. But this study suggests that none of those reasons overshadow the threat of death or other problems related to uncontrolled seizures," he noted.

The findings of the study were published Wednesday in the online issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Source: Sulekhanews

Vitamin D helps colon cancer patients stay alive


Washington, June 19: Colon cancer patients having enough vitamin D were less likely to die during a follow-up period than those who lacked the vitamin, a new study has found.

The authors of the study have pointed out that previous research has shown that higher levels of vitamin D reduces the risk of developing colon and rectal cancer by about 50 percent, but the effect on outcomes wasn't known.

Investigators, led by Kimmie Ng and Charles Fuchs of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, analysed data from two long-running epidemiological studies where participants gave blood samples and whose health has been monitored for many years.

They identified 304 participants who were diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 1991 and 2002.

All of them had their vitamin D levels measured in blood samples given at least two years prior to their diagnosis.

Each patient's vitamin D measurement was ranked by "quartiles" - the top 25 percent, the next 25 percent, and so on. Those whose levels were in the lowest quartile were considered deficient in vitamin D.

The researchers followed the 304 patients until they died or until 2005, whichever occurred first. During that period, 123 patients died, with 96 of them dying from colon or rectal cancer.

The researchers then looked for associations between the patients' previously measured vitamin D blood levels and whether they had died or survived.

The results showed that individuals with the vitamin D levels in the highest quartile were 48 percent less likely to die (from any cause, including colon cancer) than those with the lowest vitamin D measurements.

The odds of dying from colon cancer specifically were 39 percent lower, the scientists found.

The findings - the first to examine the effect of vitamin D among colorectal cancer patients - merit further research, but it is too early to recommend supplements as a part of treatment, said the investigators.

These findings are slated to be published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Source: Sulekhanews

Cell phones: The cause for lethal ailments?


WE ARE living in an advanced technological world, where our needs are fulfilled by gadgets and machines that are a result of scientific advancement. Though these inventions have made our lives more luxurious, a lot of unwanted hazards are in the offing, as these machines and gadgets cannot be considered as unmixed blessings. In all likelihood, the advent of cell phone has its own bag full of negative consequences. Right since the invention of cell phones, there has been an ongoing debate over the harmful consequences that it has on the users. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any clear cut evidence of the ill effects, especially over the long term.

In the first ever initiative from the government on the issue of health hazards of cell phones, the ministry of Telecommunication has warned people about the harmful effects of radiation from the phones. According to the ministry’s recent guidelines, the electromagnetic waves emitted from mobile phones can seriously damage the tissues of the users’ brain, leading to fatal consequences. The draft guidelines suggested measures like curtailing of mobile usage by children, pregnant women, and people suffering from heart ailments.

Since the mobile phones are usually kept closer to the ear, which is very near to the brain, giving rise to damage to some brain tissues, it has been suggested that people should switch to hands-free if longer use is unavoidable. The guidelines also strongly recommends that children below age of 16 should be discouraged from using cell phones as the tissues of children are tender and are more vulnerable to get affected. Women and Child Development minister, Renuka Chaudhary, has also urged to keep children and pregnant women away from cell phones. The government has even issued advice to service providers and manufacturers of cell phones to avoid promotional advertisements showing vulnerable segments like children and pregnant women using cell phones.

Right since the intrusion of cell phones in human life, the implications of it on health has been the topic of debate. Many studies have been carried out and are still in progress to reach a clear-cut conclusion regarding the ailments, which could occur due to the electromagnetic waves that the cell phones emits. It has been reported in scientific papers that electromagnetic waves from mobile phones may significantly increase risk of conditions such as cancer. Individuals developing such conditions rarely feel anything before the condition goes out of control.

Scientists have found that mobile signals can activate cell division even at very low power levels. Some studies have predicted an increase in blood pressure along with deviation in EEG and EKG readings as a result of mobile phone radiation. British expert professor, Lawrie Challis even believes that the mobile phones could turn out to the 21st century health equivalent of cigarettes.

In India, the growth of mobile phones is very high and the number is increasing every day. People feel proud to attach it with style statement and oblige their kids with the same, and it is quite likely that a large chunk of the users in India are children below 16. Large epidemiological studies are the need of the hour to unearth the lethal components of mobile phones that could lead to the development of ailments in the users. It deems a prompt response and diligent handling because the minutest of risk may have a larger implication for public health, as the use of mobile phones and the exposure is going north, rapidly.

Source: Merinews

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Confronting with Mobile Woes



By K Ramanathan Iyer

I never thought that having a mobile phone would create such a ruckus in my life. To have efficient and cheaper communication we (I and my better half) had gone for two connections from the same service provider and to certain extent it proved to be a beneficial option for us.

But along with the connection there comes ‘head-aches’ like unsolicited calls and SMSs. At least we both get 20 SMSs a day each, both from the company and private people. Sometime we even get calls/SMSs offering a particular ring tone after midnight.

We get calls from banks as well asking for personal loans, credit cards, car loans or house loans. Most of the time the callers would belong to fairer sex (with sweet voice), but being a happily married and having the first name of Raja Dasrath’s elder son, these things hardly matter to me, but the persistent unwanted calls and SMSs really put me off.

Piqued by this I approached the company and enquired whether there was any way that I could stop these irritants. The officials from the company promptly diverted me towards their website and asked me to register in their ‘do not disturb’ section.

Thinking that our ordeal would see an end, we promptly visited the site and after a few minutes search, we located the said section of the website. I was asked to register our numbers, that we promptly did and pressed the “enter” button fast. Alas, a message poped out informing us that our request would be processed in 45 days time telling us indirectly that till then you would be getting these messages.

One month passed since then, but the unwanted calls and SMSs are unabated into my mobile set and we do not know what to do. From our friends, who have connections from different providers, we came to know that they too get a daily dose of such irritants regularly.

I do not know that whether it’s a shear coincidence or a planned strategy of the company, from the day on, the frequency of SMSs has increased. Sometime, we get it from the company itself informing their various schemes and sometime from some private parties informing about tuitions, English speaking course, etc.

If this not enough, one I reach office, I am being bombarded with phone calls from private banks asking me to take up their credit cards free of cost or a sweet voice pleading me to take up an insurance-cum-investment plan.

The funny part is that we both get messages almost simultaneously. So, we have adopted a policy to compare both the messages before opening it. If both are from the same person, we simply press the delete button. Same with the case of the calls we get.

But jokes apart, these unsolicited messages make one sick. This is nothing but invasion into one’s personal space. Though legal provisions are there to tackle such problems, companies fleece subscribers even if they opt to block such messages and calls.

I really wonder who provide these numbers to banks and insurance companies. Surely, there may be a nexus between the banks/insurance companies with the mobile service providers. That means our data has not been kept confidential by them. It’s nothing but a breach of trust.

Once I asked the caller, that from where they get numbers. A young innocent voice replied that they have all numbers stored in their “date base”.

Can any one give solution to lessen my agony?

Though I do not want to name the mobile company directly, I can give you a clue that the company belongs to a sibling of one of the world’s richest person and son of the great business tycoon of India.

Yes, you guessed it.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Australia develops bird flu vaccine

AUSTRALIA has developed a human vaccine for bird flu.

"The first ever Australian-made vaccine to protect humans from future bird flu pandemics has been granted approval for use in the event, of course, of an avian influenza outbreak," federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said today.

The vaccine, developed by CSL, would protect humans against the H5N1 strain of influenza responsible for outbreaks of bird flu in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, Ms Roxon said.

"We know, of course, that if there is an outbreak that affects Australians, we need to make sure that we are properly prepared," she said.

"What we now have, courtesy of the work done by CSL ... is an Australian-made and able to be manufactured in Australia vaccine which will be able to respond to any new strain of a virus.

"We are very pleased that now that approvals have been granted that if we are in a situation which, of course, we hope we won't be, of a human-to-human virus taking hold in Australia, we will be able to quickly respond."

In that event, there would be no need to go through the approvals process, Ms Roxon said.

She said the safety of the vaccine had been assessed for adults aged 18-64 and those aged over 65.

The vaccine would be used only once an influenza pandemic had been officially declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Ms Roxon said.

"We hope we are not in a situation that this occurs but it does pay for us to be ready."

More than $160 million had been provided in this year's federal Budget to replenish Australia's vaccine stockpile.

"For Australia, it shows that when we invest in research, where we have very good medical researchers, we have manufacturers onshore, we can actually provide something which will give Australians more security and I think some sense of relief that we will be able to respond quickly if we are in the situation where a new strain of the virus is on our shores," Ms Roxon said.

Source: Sulekhanews

Japanese scientists create diesel-producing algae

Under the gleam of blinding lamps, engulfed by banks of angrily frothing flasks, Makoto Watanabe is plotting a slimy, lurid-green revolution. He has spent his life in search of a species of algae that efficiently “sweats” crude oil, and has finally found it.

Now, exploiting the previously unrecognised power of pondlife, Professor Watanabe dreams of transforming Japan from a voracious energy importer into an oil-exporting nation to rival any member of Opec.

The professor has given himself a decade to effect this seemingly implausible conversion: Japan’s export-led economics have always been shaped by their near 100 per cent dependence on foreign energy. In the present world economic climate, those economics are looking especially fragile.

“I believe I can change Japan within five years,” the Professor told The Times from his laboratory in Tsukuba University. “A couple of years after that, we start changing the world.”

The algae, he believes, will spearhead enormous changes to the way that energy is produced and to the explosive geopolitics that have developed around the global thirst for fossil fuels. They could also overturn the current debate on corn and sugar-based biofuels. It is madness, he says, for humanity to pursue sources of energy that compete with its own stomachs when there is a far purer source that does not sitting in a test tube in his laboratory.

Professor Watanabe’s vision arises from the extraordinary properties of the Botryococcus braunii algae: give the microscopic green strands enough light – and plenty of carbon dioxide – and they excrete oil. The tiny globules of oil that form on the surface of the algae can be easily harvested and then refined using the same “cracking” technologies with which the oil industry now converts crude into everything from jet fuel to plastics.

The Japanese Government has supplied him with hefty grants to work on ways of industrialising the algae cultures. The professor admits that there is much work to be done to bring the financial and environmental costs of creating algae oilfields down to reasonable levels: to meet Japan’s current oil needs would require an algae-filled paddyfield the size of Yorkshire.

But – in laboratory conditions at least – the powers of Botryococcus braunii are astonishing. A field of corn, when converted into biofuel ethanol, may produce about 0.2 tonnes of oil equivalent per hectare. Rapeseed may generate around 1.2 tonnes. Micro algae can theoretically produce between 50 and 140 tonnes using the same plot of land.

The discovery of Botryococcus braunii and its precious excretions has taken years. The oil-producing properties of Botryococcus algae have been known for decades, but the volume and quality varies between species.

There remain, however, substantial obstacles before cars and aircraft are all running on algae. Although field tests have proved that there is little technical difficulty in breeding or harvesting the algae, the sums do not add up. A prospective algae-breeding oil concern would either have to invest billions of dollars in expensive breeder tanks – at a cost of around three times what the oil would sell for on the international market over the lifetime of the tanks – or find an enormous expanse of well-irrigated land in a country where labour can be bought very cheaply. It is for this reason that Professor Watanabe believes the world’s first algae farms will be constructed in countries such as Indonesia or Vietnam.

Related Link: Scientists find bugs that eat waste and excrete petrol

Source: timesonline

Coffee drinkers safe from early death


Previous studies have given a mixed picture of health effects from coffee, finding a variety of benefits and some drawbacks from the popular drink. The new study looked at people who drank caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.

Researchers led by Esther Lopez-Garcia of Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain followed 84,214 US women from 1980 to 2004 and 41,736 US men from 1986 to 2004.

They found that regular coffee drinking - up to six cups a day - was not associated with increased deaths among the study's middle-aged participants. In fact, the coffee drinkers, particularly the women, experienced a small decline in death rates from heart disease.

The study found no association between coffee consumption and cancer deaths.

"Our study indicates that coffee consumption does not have a detrimental effect," Ms Lopez-Garcia, whose research appears in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, she said. "It seems like long-term coffee consumption may have some beneficial effects."

There has been a debate among scientists about the health effects of drinking coffee, which typically contains the stimulant caffeine and a number of other important compounds.

The people who took part in the research completed questionnaires on how frequently they drank coffee, other diet habits, smoking and medical conditions. The researchers then studied the mortality risk over the period of the study among people with different coffee-drinking habits.

The study found that women who reported drinking two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a 25 per cent lower risk of death from heart disease than women who did not drink coffee. The researchers saw a smaller decreased risk for men but it was not statistically significant.

Drinking decaffeinated coffee was associated with a small reduction in overall mortality risk, the researchers said.

The people in the study had no history of cardiovascular disease or cancer when they entered it. The women were nurses and the men doctors, dentists and other health professionals.

Some studies have indicated coffee is a great source of antioxidants, substances that may protect against the effects of molecules called free radicals that can damage cells and may play a role in heart disease, cancer and other ailments.

Recent studies have offered a mixed picture on the health effects of coffee.

A study that came out in January found that pregnant women who drink two or more cups of coffee a day had twice the risk of miscarriage as those who avoid caffeine. Another study appearing in January found that drinking caffeinated coffee lowered a woman's risk of ovarian cancer.

Source: NEWS.COM.AU

Dasavathaaram: Kamal Haasan Disappoints


Shobha Warrier

There are two actors in India whose films I find very difficult to judge objectively; they are Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal. Despite my very conscious efforts to find loopholes in their films, I end up enjoying the fine nuances of their superior performances laying aside my critical microscope.

Like Mohanlal has been letting me down of late with his inane films and indifferent and bored acting, Kamal Haasan has also been disappointing me with his predictable and repetitive expressions and actions. But no film of his has disappointed me as much as "Dasavathaaram" did. Not even "Mumbai Express".

In fact, it is very easy to dislike the film and get dissatisfied with the much hyped ten performances.

But first, let me talk about the 11th role that Kamal Haasan has performed; that of the script writer, which he has failed miserably. Perhaps the idea was to write a script akin to Babel or Crash where the story bounced from one place to another with the basic thread connecting all of them remaining intact. But in Dasavathaaram, there is no solid story and there is nothing to connect the various characters that popped up with plaster of paris pasted on their faces.

The biggest failure of Dasavathaaram is the lack of a proper story, a tight screenplay and well connected characters. One gets the feeling that because Kamal Haasan wanted to make history by portraying ten different characters, he created them. Otherwise, one cannot think of any justification in him appearing all sorts of get-ups.

Yes, the film starts amazingly well; the 12th century sets, Kamal Haasan as the temple priest and above all Ravi Varman's stunning cinematography raise your expectation levels. As the film progresses, you tend to feel trifle let down and by the time the film ends, the only feeling you have left is that of disappointment.

Of the much hyped ten avatars of Kamal Haasan, except for two -- Rangaraja Nambi, the 12th century priest and the investigative officer Balram Naidu -- the rest looked as if they were participating in a school fancy dress competition. You go to a Kamal Haasan movie to watch his subtle performance but in this one, in his over eagerness to disguise himself, he has denied the viewers a chance to view his face and the expressions. The thick layers of opaque make-up on his face hid all the expressions. The eyes were so sunken below the mask that you could not see any feeling in them.

Okay, had it been a fancy dress competition, Kamal Haasan as George Bush and the Punjabi pop singer would have won consolation prizes, but definitely not any prize for Christian Fletcher, who looked more like a mannequin than a menacing villain. The Japanese martial arts expert was more wooden than human, the tall Afghan, Kalifulla Khan was pathetically synthetic and the worst was the 100 year old paatti. She would be disqualified for the most atrocious make up.

One nostalgically thought of the four different characters Kamal had done exceedingly well in Michael Madana Kama Rajan; mind you, without the aid of any mask. But what a performance it was, especially the Palghat Brhamin! True, he was aided by an excellent script.

Now, to the much talked about tsunami scenes. Agreed, Brian Jennings and his team worked hard to recreate the fury of the sea. Were they successful in their efforts? I don't think so. Those who have seen the ferocious tsunami and its aftermath will shudder at the casualness with which the disaster has been picturised. The scenes which are supposed to shock you do not even touch you mildly.

No other actor in India can be as good a lover on screen as Kamal Haasan. His films have been loved for the electrifying chemistry he exhibits with his leading ladies whether it was with Srividya in Apoorva Raagangal or Sridevi in Moondram Pirai or Madhavi in Raja Parvai or Amala in Pushpak, but for the first time, you see him so detached from his leading lady. There is absolutely no chemistry between the leading pair; in fact, he also looked far too old to be paired with a much younger Asin.

Lastly, what was the filmmaker trying to achieve by throwing a gem like this; that the 'bullet flew away with the cancer from the pop singer's throat? A dig at the 'superstar', perhaps?

In Dasavathaaram, I did not see the Kamal Haasan who moved me to tears like he did in Mahanadi, who made me laugh uncontrollably in Pushpak or Michael Madana Kama Rajan, or stumped me like he did in Nayagan or bowled me over with his intellectual innocence as he did in Sagara Sangamam.

Souurce: Rediff

Saturday, June 14, 2008

New weapon against TB: Free cell minutes for patients who take medicine

CAMBRIDGE (AP): Researchers believe they've discovered a new weapon in the battle against tuberculosis.

For years, doctors have struggled to get some TB patients to take all their medication, which generally involves a six-month regimen of multiple drugs.

Now a student-led group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a way to use cell phones to let patients test themselves. And if the tests show patients are following doctor's orders, they get rewarded with free minutes.

``We're piggybacking on one of the bigger rollouts of infrastructure out there, which is wireless technology and telecom technology,'' said Jose Gomez-Marquez, one of the project's leaders.

The system works like this: Patients test their urine using a strip that reveals a numeric code if it detects TB medicine. They then text message the code to their health care provider and get credit toward incentives such as free minutes.

The in-home tests also eliminate the need for health care workers to make several patient-monitoring visits a week, a routine that is often impractical in remote places, Gomez-Marquez said.

Mobile phones are good tools for the project because they are common in the developing world, where it's often cheaper to erect cell towers than miles of poles and wires, Gomez-Marquez said.

Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of a World Health Organization program to fight TB, called the MIT idea ``creative.'' But he said personal visits must continue because systems that depend heavily on patient self-reporting have often failed.

``I would think it's a dangerous game to rely only on incentives,'' he said.

In 2006, the most recent year statistics are available, 9.2 million people worldwide were diagnosed with tuberculosis and 1.7 million died.

The disease can be cured with a steady regimen of drugs. But many patients start feeling better and stop taking the medicine too soon. Others abandon the drugs because of side effects such as nausea, fever and rashes.

If the drugs are taken only sporadically, the bacteria build up resistance. The WHO estimates that 5 to 10 percent of TB deaths are patients who stop taking medication properly.

The MIT group _ which originally included five students _ took on the TB problem in 2007 as part of the university's annual ``IDEAS competition,'' which challenges participants to solve various world problems.

Courtsy: HINDU

'Dasavathaaram' - 10 Kamals Too Much - Movie Review


Film: 'Dasavathaaram'; Actors: Kamal Haasan, Asin, Mallika Sherawat, Santana Bharati; Director: K.S. Ravi Kumar; Music: Himesh Reshammiya.

Apart from 10 different avatars (incarnations) of Kamal Haasan, the only thing worth writing home about 'Dasavathaaram' is its technical brilliance.
The roles are myriad.

Kamal plays US President George Bush, a bumbling RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) operative, a selfless scientist, an old hag, terrorist, Dalit activist, a medieval Vishnu devotee, a cancer-stricken Punjabi pop singer, Kung-fu martial arts expert and a 10-ft tall Muslim - not necessarily in that order.

Starting with the drowning punishment of a Vishnu devotee, 'Dasavathaaram', for no apparent reason, morphs into an action extravaganza - full of chases over a deadly virus involving a scientist and assisted and hindered in turn by the other characters - all played by Kamal.

Asin plays a double role in the film that is a part-comedy-part-tragedy mishmash. Mallika Sherawat flits across the screen in skimpy costumes and ends up dead.

While the cinematography by Ravi Varma, background score by Devi Sri Prasad and Kamal's acting are the film's highlights, the Himesh Reshammiya numbers have as much Tamil nativity as George Bush.

Dramatic incidents galore are actually one of the minus points of the film, of which there are one too many.

Kamal is in every frame of the movie and knowing his methods, director Ravi Kumar's role in the film seems to be seriously limited.

The unsolved puzzle as to why there are 10 Kamals when one would have been more than enough remains an unpleasant hangover long after the movie.

In all, 'Dasavathaaram' is a movie that every Kamal fan would want to watch.

As for the rest of the audience, it is the case of a Kamal-overkill.

Courtsy: IANS

Many barriers for South Asian women in US

New York: Testifying before the New Jersey governor's panel on immigrant policy, a South Asian women's rights organisation has said linguistic and cultural barriers as well as the lack of information prevent many South Asians from accessing critical social services such as healthcare and law enforcement.


Manavi, a New Jersey-based body that works to end violence against South Asian women living in the US, also pointed out that the anti-immigrant sentiment coupled with the fear of deportation resulting from official directives such as on undocumented women reporting incidents of abuse, has forced many South Asian women to stay in abusive situations.


Maneesha Kelkar, director of Manavi, spoke Wednesday to the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Immigrant Policy, which hosted a public hearing welcoming comments and suggestions from community organisations and members of the public in order to better integrate the growing immigrant population in New Jersey.


The recommendations Kelkar made to the panel include introducing a state-wide initiative to address issues around domestic violence, especially as they affect immigrants, improving language access to social services by increasing the availability and quality of trained and supervised language interpreters, and improving cultural access to services through cultural competency training about South Asian communities.


She also suggested revisiting ordinances that adversely impact a section of the immigrant population and encouraging feedback from community leaders and practitioners in their respective areas of expertise, as well as from immigrants who have faced the impact of various policies.


Manavi runs a wide variety of programmes to ensure that women of South Asian descent in the US can exercise their fundamental right to live a life of dignity that is safe and free from violence. Its services include individual counselling, legal clinics and referrals, support groups, court and medical accompaniments, and transitional housing.


Manavi serves some 300 abused South Asian women each year with a variety of culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services, besides training mainstream agencies in cultural competency.

Curtsy: IANS

Singh is King: Akshay apologises to Sikhs


Mumbai: Akshay Kumar's latest film Singh is King is wading through troubled waters as the Sikh community hold their objections to Akshay's looks in the film.

Producer Vipul Shah held a press conference to clear the air of controversy surrounding the film which he says has no intentions of offending any person or community.

"If I've made a mistake, lord forgive me and I will try to rectify my mistake," says an apologetic Akshay.

The objection was towards Akshay's look and some scenes in the film. The mega star flew down from South Africa to re-shoot some parts of the film and attended a press conference on Friday evening in Mumbai to clear the air.

"We wanted to make sure that the community is happy with the film, that is why we went up to them and showed the film to them. There are some changes they expected us to make and we have done that," says filmmaker Vipul.

"Lot of changes are done but thing which have been already shot cannot reset again," explains Akshay.

While members of the community who have been authorized by the censor board to view the film have finally given it a thumbs up though they feel the damage is done.

"At least in the future, whosoever wants to portray Sikhs or Punjabis in their films should be sensitive towards the community and come to us before hand, after damaging it's only damage control that can be done," says Sardar Manmohan Singh of Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Dadar.

Hopefully they won't complain once the film hits theatres and Akshay wins their hearts.

Source: CNNIBN

PCB reduces Shoaib's five-year ban to 18 months


Karachi, June 14: Temperamental fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's five-year ban was reduced to 18-months, but a fine of Rs. 7 million slapped on him by the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) tribunal here Saturday.

'The tribunal has taken the decision with a clear conscience and under no pressure from either the board or anyone else,' tribunal chief Aftab Farrukh told reporters here, adding that the three-member tribunal unanimously felt the original sentence was too harsh on the player.

In April, Shoaib was banned for five years for repeatedly violating the code of conduct.

'We also took into consideration the past record of Shoaib and his publicly apology for his behaviour and past deeds,' Farrukh said.

'He has promised to reform himself and we have also recommended to the board that he should be given proper counselling.'

The fast bowler's lawyer Abid Hasan Minto said the player had the right to pursue an appeal against the 18-month ban.

'But we will take a decision after going through the long and detailed order of the tribunal,' Minto said.

Source: IANS

Friday, June 13, 2008

Want a few bucks? You may get fleeced

As the inflation becoming a global phenomenon and price rise on essential commodities eating away one's monthly budget, earning a few extra bucks will not be a bad idea. But how and what should one do to earn genuine extra income?

If you take any paper, advertisements to woo people to earn extra money, would fill in an entire section. If you search for online jobs or home-based jobs on the net, there are a lakh websites offering online/home-based jobs. Some promise 'no selling, no target' jobs, while some offer 'writing' jobs. Are they offering genuine jobs? Will anyone ever get paid through these offers? The answer is a million dollar question.

Don't ever relay on sites which offer online jobs with a premium. They may be fake. Check their credentials first before move further.

The latest to fleece the public is googlecashcow.com. From the name of it, anyone will assume that this site has connection with Google.com. You are absolutely wrong. They have no connection with Google. The phone number given in their site is fake.

They offer the job with a premium pay of Rs 1300 or $30 dollars pay through credit card. Ironically, if one pays the money, and gets their kit (which is a zip file), then the truth unfolds. If you are not a techie, you would find it difficult to unzip the file itself as it's password protected.

Their offer is nothing but a guidance to have a google's adsense account!

If one has a gmail or any other account, google offers a webspace 'free of cost' where one can have google's advertisements on it and get paid for every click the site generates.

But surprisingly, google runs googlecashcow.com's ads in their web pages also. So, be careful while going through the googlecashcow pages. Do not fall pray to their tricks. You can read the details from their site, which is very useful, then switch over to google.com and get more information from the horse mouth itself.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Yahoo, Google announce online ad alliance

SAN FRANCISCO: Fresh from a failed courtship with Microsoft, Yahoo on Thursday rushed into Google's arms in the hope an alliance will improve its sagging fortunes and quell a rebellion by stockholders.

Yahoo and Google announced a deal to put the Internet search king's expertise to work pumping money from advertising posted next to Yahoo Internet search results.

Google and Yahoo began discussing an alliance in early February, shortly after Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo, said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

"The most entertaining conversations were those that took place in buildings that Yahoo owns in unknown and unfindable locations," Schmidt said during a conference call with analysts and reporters.

Google co-founder Larry Page and other executives arrived on bicycles for clandestine meetings in covert locations, Schmidt added.

Schmidt said it was during the past few weeks that he and Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang had "serious conversations" and teams spent sleepless nights pulling together a deal inked on Thursday.

Google co-founder Serge Brin said it is "very exciting" to be working with Yahoo and its founders David Filo and Yang, whose time as students at Stanford University overlapped that of Brin and Page.

"We share quite a history and culture," Brin said. "It was David Filo and Jerry Yang that encouraged us to start a company that, in turn, became Google."

Brin said a priority is ensuring that Yahoo remains "a strong independent company."

Yahoo hopes the alliance will appease stockholders angry that board members rejected Microsoft's bid, which offered an attractive premium on the market value.

Billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn has been amassing Yahoo shares in a campaign to overthrow the Yahoo board for rejecting a Microsoft takeover.

"This agreement provides a source of funds to both deliver financial value to stockholders from search monetization and to invest in our broader strategy," said Yahoo president Sue Decker said.

More details at TOI

Dasavathaaram Wins Court Battle, to Hit Theatres


New Delhi: Actor-director Kamal Haasan's much anticipated film, Dasavathaaram will be releasing on Friday as per schedule after the Supreme Court on Thursday declined to stay the screening of the film.

Earlier in May, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had approached the Madras High Court demanding the removal of scenes that portrayed clashes between Shaivites and Vaishnavites set in the 16th century in the film.

According to them, these were controversial, and hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

However, following the accusations, the film's producer Venu Ravichandran announced that the film doesn't contain such scenes and went on to file an affidavit in the Supreme Court.

Source: CNN-IBN

India Beat Bangladesh, to Meet Pak in Finals


DHAKA, Bangladesh: Opener Gautam Gambhir smashed an unbeaten 107 to guide India to a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh in a tri-series limited-overs international Thursday, setting up a weekend final against Pakistan.

Gambhir's fifth ODI century took India to 223-3 in just 35.1 overs, replying to Bangladesh's 222 all out.

India beat Pakistan by 140 runs in the league round and will face its arch rival against in Saturday's final. Pakistan beat Bangladesh by 70 runs in the series-opener and finished 1-1.

Gambhir hit 13 boundaries and one six in his 101-ball innings and shared an 85-run partnership with Virendra Sehwag (59).

Sehwag struck seven boundaries and two sixes in his 32-ball knock before being caught by Tamim Iqbal off Dolar Mahmud.

Rohit Sharma (26) fell to spinner Abdur Razzak and Yuvraj (26) was bowled by Farhad Reza.

Earlier, Roqibul Hassan scored 89 from 117 balls and shared a vital middle-order partnership with Mohammad Ashraful to help salvage Bangladesh's innings after it slumped to 17 for two.

Hassan's patient innings, the highest ever by a Bangladeshi in a one-day international against India, contained only five boundaries. It ended after he hurt his hamstring and was out to R.P. Singh.

Hassan's 76-run third wicket stand with captain Ashraful (36) came after Bangladesh, winning the toss and electing to bat first, lost two early wickets just for 17.

Ashraful was also cautious, his 36 coming off 67 balls.

India's first breakthrough was provided by in-form paceman Praveen Kumar, who removed openers Tamim Iqbal — caught behind for a duck — and Shahriar Nafees (9) to return 3-46 in his 10 overs.

Irfan Pathan claimed 2-48, while his brother Yusuf Pathan celebrated his first ever international wicket by removing Ashraful as India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni used seven bowlers.

Source: Sulekhanews

Miraculous Cancer Cure in Manipur's Saikot Village

CHAWILIEN CANCER Medicine Research Agency, Saikot in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, has become the talk of the town. People are now making a beeline to Saikot to see for themselves, how cancer patients – even in their advanced stage – are getting cured. People say Pa-Chawilien possesses special healing power and there has been a sudden rush of cancer patients to Saikot for treatment.


Pa-Chawilien himself was a cancer patient. It was found that people, mostly patients, took part in a prayer session with the healer, who would then prepare the magical dose from his green plant… which in local Hmar dialect is called Damdwai. Large number of patients come all the way with hope of a miraculous cure. Unlike other times, when he prays alone, Chawilien chants some healing prayer and then distributes his green medicine to the patients… without charging a penny. Inside his small hut… a boy who could hardly stand by himself, after the healing session of prayer and medicine… took everyone by surprise and began to walk. Chawilien revealed and claimed that two years ago, god revealed to him that he should drink the ’Damdwai’ plant extract.


Chawilien said he gave his medicine to patients only after getting an inspiration or indication from god. Outside Chawilien’s house, people queue up to take part in Pa-Chawilien’s prayer and healing session. The crowd comprised of patients of all hues… cancer, asthma, piles, etc. Chawilien’s healing power is claimed to have cured even HIV/AIDS. Saikot has invited even curious researchers. Laiton-jam Warjeet, an organic chemistry reader, is guiding a team of researchers to investigate the organic and curative components of the plant. According to Warjeet, the Damdwai plant is a rare plant having high content of alkaloids, steroids, saponins and other components, which are generally considered anti-cancer.


Although five to 10 thousand people throng Chawilien Cancer Medicine Research Agency everyday, it has failed to move the attention of the state health department. According to the preliminary studies of the plant, because of its alkaloid and steroid components, it is inadvisable for children as well as pregnant women. “Loose motion, indigestion, and some corrosive side-effects on the skin are also noticed,” said Manipur University organic chemistry reader, Laitonjam Warjeet. Warjeet feels that ascertaining the components are very important to avoid health complications.

For the crowd waiting outside, the research or its outcome is immaterial to them. To them, all that matters is – Chawilien, his green medicine and the healing session. One lady firmly believes her breast cancer was cured after consuming Chawilien’s medicine. Everyday, 20 sacks of Damdwai plant leaves are needed to prepare the medicine for the day’s requirement. After the leaves are cleaned and twigs separated, these are chopped into bits for pounding. The liquid extract is then filtered and readied for consumption. Many people have volunteered to work for healer… with one purpose… to help the sick.

The medicines are for free at the Chawilien Cancer Medicine Research Agency. Only the donations help meet some of the expenses.Within a span of two months, the once small and quite village has now been transformed into a township. While Chawilien seeks only donation to meet his daily expenses, the rows and rows of stalls, which have sprung up in Saikot, are selling the green medicine for some hefty sum. For many families, this has turned out to be a good livelihood.

Faith has moved mountains. Chawilien’s mantra of prayer and what he calls god-given medicine has turned out to be a huge crowd puller of patients, who otherwise will have to spend lakhs for treatment.

Source: Merinews

Highly infectious polio strain re-appears in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, June 12: The oral polio vaccination drive has been advanced by the Uttar Pradesh government after a girl in the state's Badaun district was infected with a highly infectious polio strain, a senior official said Thursday.

'After a gap of nearly eight months, the P1 polio virus has resurfaced in UP. After the detection of the highly virulent P1 virus, we have decided to advance the vaccination drive,' regional team leader of the World Health Organisation's National Polio Surveillance Project, S.K. Parthyarch told IANS.

He said the vaccination drive that was slated for July 6 will now take place June 29.

Health department officials suspect that the P1 polio virus strain, which is more infectious than the P3 strain, arrived from Bihar. A 12-year-old girl in Badaun district was infected by it.

Journalism or business?

WHAT IS media? Is media industry all just about covering the Page3 parties and all the stardoms of the tinsel town or is it struggling and visiting all parts of the country for the scoops and clues?


Media is an industry, which is at its boom today, seven out of 10 teenagers want to join this industry but is it all worth it? A nation with more then 60 news channels working 24 hours and getting all the news for the viewers, but what is the actual role of media? Is it to bring out news from various corners of the nation or is it just to cover the high profile cases and stretch those for months, investigate those cases, set panels for those and avoid those low level cases that are of equal disaster to the society?


Media has helped solving many murder cases and uncover scams. But most of these cases were high profile cases such as Jessica Lal murder Case, Nitish Katara and the most recent Aarushi murder case. Aarushi murder case started on May 16 when body of a 13 years old girl was found brutally killed at her own residence. And from there on, there is a breaking news everyday on the news channels regarding this case. Its been almost a month on this case and the viewers are just getting all the personal and case related information about Aarushi, all the reporters have turned into investigators and no the other issue is being highlighted. CEO of a news channel said on this, “Today, the consumer demands the four Cs, namely cricket, cinema, comedy and crime….” But is media industry here only for business? Where has the hard core journalism gone? Why media coverage to cases such as hit and run accidents, high inflation rate and employee exploitation is not being given? Just because such cases do not get them business? Or is it because people don’t want to see them?


Isn’t it the duty of media to use its power in correct way and help the lower section of the society who are already struggling with their lives and are getting suppressed by other external problems. Many people die on roads, many are being exploited, but who is there to point this out? All the media industry is busy investigating the high profile cases. A life is a life after all, whether a poor man dies or a rich man dies. It is all about a life. Then why this discrimination? A single murder is made the centre of attraction of the nation, ignoring those four or five people who died of poverty or inflation.


It’s high time. Now media should realise its duties and work, not only for the business but also for the human rights. Media power is too huge, if used correctly, it can bring big changes in the society. But if not, then it can even destroy many innocent lives.

Source: Merinews

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Euro '08: Turkey Beat Swiss 2-1


BASEL, AFP: Arda Turan ended Switzerland's interest in Euro 2008 in heartbreaking fashion as a last-minute breakaway goal gave Turkey a 2-1 win here on Wednesday.

Just as it seemed the co-hosts had done enough to stay alive in the competition, the midfielder broke clear on the left, cut inside and beat goalkeeper Diego Benaglio from the edge of the area with the help of a cruel deflection off the boot of centreback Patrick Muller.

It was harsh on the Swiss but they had only themselves to blame having squandered the chances to kill off the Turks long before the dramatic denouement.

Hakan Yakin, one of three players in the Swiss side with family roots in Turkey, had given Jakob Kuhn's side a first-half lead in treacherous conditions.

Source: TOI

Euro 2008: Portugal Beat Czech by 3-1


GENEVA: Cristiano Ronaldo, tipped by many to become Euro 2008's player of the tournament, scored one goal and made another to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Czech Republic in Group A on Wednesday.

The victory at the Stade de Geneve put Portugal firmly on top of the group with six points and within touching distance of a quarter-final berth.

With the game level at 1-1, Ronaldo struck in the 63rd minute with a firm shot from a pass by Deco and then set up Ricardo Quaresma to add the third in stoppage time.

Source: TOI

Camel Milk, an Answer to Diabetes?



By Gopalkrishanan

Much hue and cry is made over the reducing population of Tigers and Lions in
India. While this is a matter of concern, another concern is happening in the north west region of India silently on which none utters a word.

Yes. The reducing population of Camel in India. The population that counted around 5 million 20 years back, is now is less than half a million.

The bhakia community that bred the camel so long are uninterested in breeding them more. Agriculture, their main profession is not attracting them and they are turning towards the urban area for jobs.

The returns from the agriculture is also less for them. During monsoon, they sow and during summer, they make the camel go around and use the waste of camel as manure.

But now, they do not do so. They smuggle the camel to Bangladesh or Pakistan for meat for a meagre amount of Rs 2000 to 5000. Such is the state of this community and the ships of our deserts.

Interesting point is in a survey recently conducted by Indian medical association, Bhakia community is totally immuned to diabetes. The reason is they drink camel milk.

Unfortunately, we are losing camels that is a good medicine for diabetes fastly and none utters a word.

Wife Mortgaged to Loan Shark

BEHRAMPORE: You could call it Bengal’s heart of darkness. Unable to repay a loan he had taken for his wedding, a Murshidabad man ‘mortgaged’ his wife and vanished. For two years, the woman was allegedly raped and kept confined in the moneylender’s house.

When she went to police, they allegedly did nothing. Every time she sought help, they ignored her, she says.

The shocking incident took place at Jhikra village in Murshidabad’s Bharatpur area. When the woman married tailor Toton Sheikh five years ago, he borrowed some money from Rahamani Sheikh, a rich businessman from neighbouring Surpara village. The couple was finding it difficult to pay back the Rs 5,000 (at a hefty interest) when they had to borrow money again for their son’s birth.

Toton could pay back only Rs 3,000. Rahamani started pressuring him and a desperate Toton decided to quit tailoring and go to Delhi with a mason’s job. When Rahamani learnt of this, he confronted Toton and demanded that he leave something as mortgage.

“We are very poor and my husband had nothing to mortgage. So he decided to let Rahamani keep me till he came back from Delhi. I refused to go but as my husband kept pleading, I gave in. He said he would be back in six months, but two years have passed and I’ve not heard from him,” said Toton’s wife. “The moneylender forced me to have sex with him. After six months, I tried to return home, but he locked me up.”

About a year ago, she managed to sneak out to Bharatpur police station to lodge a complaint against the moneylender. But police refused to act, she said. “On June 7, I complained to the police again, but they again refused. Rahamani pays them a bribe every month.”

Rahamani left for a relative’s home a week back, allegedly threatening to kill her if she tried to flee. Toton’s father Sadu Sheikh pleaded ignorance. “My son works in Delhi. I don’t know where my daughter-in-law is as I have broken all ties with her since Toton left,” he said.

Murshidabad SP Basab Dasgupta promised to take action if police were found guilty. A circle inspector will probe the matter immediately.

Source: TOI

On India Day, National Anthem Overlooked in US


By Lalit K Jha

India's National Anthem ''Jana Gana Mana'' was stopped from playing three times at the Indian consulate in New York by the organizers of the India Day Parade-the annual flagship event of the Indian American community in the United States of America.

This was done so that the US national song could be played first, instead of ''Jana Gana Mana''. As per convention, since the premises of Indian Consulate is considered to be just like an Indian territory the Indian national anthem is played first followed by US national song.

But the organizers of the Indian Day Parade, the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) wanted to have the other way round this time.

The occasion was to kick-off the India Day Parade in the New York City on August 17, wherein it was announced that the latest Bollywood star, Deepika Padukone, would be the grand marshal of the parade.

Traditionally the kick-off function is held at the Indian Consulate as a gesture from the Indian Government and its support to the mega event of the Indian American community held in New York every year to celebrate India's independence.

It all started at the beginning of the function when a senior FIA official requested all the invitees to stand up for the national anthem. As per convention, the ''Jana Gana Mana'' started playing on the acoustic system. The FIA official who was anchoring the show immediately shouted. ''Stop it. (Play the) US national song first.''

It was stopped immediately, at the end of the first line of ''Jana Gana Mana adhinyaka jaya h.'' As the individual handling the music system tried to play the US national song, she pushed the wrong button and Indian national anthem started playing for the second time. Again came the loud voice from organizers C ''stop! Stop. Play the US national song.''

India's national anthem was stopped again. But as the individual handling the music system became nervous, she pressed the wrong button again. This time there was more than one voice from FIA officials to stop ''Jana Gana Mana''. One of the FIA officials rushed to the back of the hall where all the music systems were placed on makeshift tables. This time it was made sure that the US national song was given preference, following which ''Jana Gana Mana'' was played.

An infuriated Consul General of India, New York Consulate, Neelam Deo, who was sitting quietly all this while in the front row preferred not to create an ugly scene at the spur of the moment.

However, soon after as both the national songs were over, Deo raised strong objection about this major insulting lapse on India's national anthem with organizers. Deo was seen telling the FIA president, Yash Paul Soi, that such an insulting attitude towards India's national anthem could not be tolerated.

It is the Indian Consulate which provides all its support to the community and India Day Parade.

Source:NDTV

Tigers May be the First to Vanish: World Bank


New Delhi, June 11: Tigers are likely to be the first species of large predator to vanish in historic times if their population continues to decline, according to the World Bank.
"To secure the future of tiger in the wild and save it from poachers, financial and material resources and a strong policy commitment is needed," it said while listing poaching, prey depletion, forest degradation and habitat loss as main reasons for the declining population.

Its existing wild populations inhabit fragmented and isolated patches of land, constituting a meager seven per cent of their historic range, it said.

"If current trends persist, tigers are likely to be the first species of large predator to vanish in historic times," the World Bank said in a statement after joining a worldwide alliance of conservationists, scientists and celebrities.

Tiger numbers have declined from over 100,000 a century ago to just 4,000 today with 3,000 of them in India. Saying that the animals have become an enforcement dependent species, the Bank said the tiger population health is an indicator of biodiversity and a barometer of sustainability.

The Bank and its partners plan to assess financing needs and work with governments and the private sector for tiger conservation.

"Since tigers are at the top of the food chain, the conservation of wild tigers also means preservation of the habitats in which they live and the prey populations that support them," it said in a statement.

International Tiger Coalition spokesperson Grace Ge Gabriel said nothing short of global action will bring back wild tigers.

The Tiger Conservation Initiative will start with a series of dialogues in tiger range countries to find out what has worked locally to protect the tigers.

"Tigers occupy only seven per cent of their historical range and about 40 per cent less than they did just a decade ago," said John Seidensticker, Head of the Conservation Ecology Center at Smithsonian's National Zoo. "A business-as-usual approach is not sustaining wild tigers today."

Source: Expressindia

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Who will be the Euro Cup champ?

By K Ramanathan Iyer

Europe is being boiled to the brim now as the second Mecca of the soccer event ‘Euro cup soccer 2008’ is underway in Austria and Switzerland.

This time too, there is no clue about the most favorite teams to win the championship. Though last time world champions Italy and equally strong contenders such as Germany, France, Romania and Portugal vying to get the coveted trophy, the match is wide open this time, as even unpredictable teams link Netherlands or Poland may upset a few big names in the championship.

So it's a wait and watch for the screaming supporters of the world's famous sports – football worldover. In India there is not much hullabaloo as Cricket takes the centre stage and football the back seat here. There are a few pockets in India like West Bengal, Goa and Kerala, where the sport has been played with huge passion. But due to lack of support and infrastructures like world class stadium, sports equipment and finally no back up from media and corporate world, sports events have become a dull-dull affair in India.

With the opening four matches at Euro 2008, going in favour of favourite teams with Czech Republic beating Switzerland and Portugal overcoming Turkey on Saturday while Croatia downed Austria and Germany overcame Poland, the match has entered into an interesting phase.

Who will win the Euro 2008 title, is a 'million dollar' question.

CBI Says Aaruhi's Murder Was Planned


NEW DELHI: In another revelation in the Aarushi Talwar murder case, the CBI claimed on Tuesday the crime was pre-meditated and planned well in advance.

The agency sources said the air conditioners at the Talwar residence were tampered with. Someone had increased the volume of the air conditioners to muffle the screams of Aarushi and Hemraj at the time of the murder, they said, adding that the CBI had found some fingerprints on the air conditioners.
Meanwhile, CBI director Vijay Shanker said, “The breakthrough is going to come soon.”

His statement came after Krishna, the compounder of Dr Rajesh Talwar, was given another lie detector test after the CBI felt he was hiding a lot of information from them.

“He has been giving us misleading statements and we are unable to understand why is he doing that?” said a senior official of CBI. The officer said on the basis of the information given by Krishna, the agency has conducted searches on the banks of Hindon river, which flows through Ghaziabad.

A five-member team along with Krishna had visited the Talwar residence in sector 25 of Noida on Monday night to confirm the facts revealed by him. Amongst the people who were questioned by the visiting CBI tem were Aarushi’s mother Nupur, her two uncles and Anita Durani. Aarushi’s grandparents were also present in the house at the time of questioning.

Forensic experts working on the case have found that the same weapon was used for both the murders. The experts indicated that Hemraj was attacked from behind as his skull was smashed on the backside of his head, while Aarushi was hit on the face.

Source: DNA

Euro '08: Spain beat Russia 4-1


NEW DELHI, June 10: Spain's fame strike force live upto their reputation as they beat Russia by four goals to one in the Euro 2008 Group D match at Tivoli Neu Stadium, Innsbruck on Tuesday.

Coach Luis Aragones decision to field a two-man strike force featuring Fernando Torres and David Villa turned out to be a fruitful one as Villa scored a clinical hat-trick in the match.

Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a consolation goal in the 86th minutes to salvage the day, which was dominated by Spanish team. But Spain increased their margin in the 91st minutes to win the match 4-1.

Squads

Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 5-Carles Puyol, 4-Carlos Marchena, 11-Joan Capdevila; 19-Marcos Senna; 6-Andres Iniesta, 8-Xavi, 21-David Silva; 7-David Villa, 9-Fernando Torres

Russia: 1-Igor Akinfeyev; 22-Alexander Anyukov, 8-Denis Kolodin, 14-Roman Shirokov, 18-Yuri Zhirkov; 11-Sergei Semak, 17-Konstantin Zyryanov, 20-Igor Semshov, 15-Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, 21-Dmitry Sychev; 19-Roman Pavlyuchenko

Referee: Konrad Plautz (Austria).

Source: TOI

Probe ordered into police firing in Karnataka

BANGALORE: Karnataka Government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the police firing in Karnataka's Haveri town which left a person dead and four others injured.

A compensation of Rs two lakh to the family of the farmer who was killed, Rs 50,000 to those injured seriously and Rs 25,000 to those who suffered minor injuries was also announced by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

"Belgaum Division Regional Commissioner Amita Prasad will conduct a probe into the incident and submit a report to the government within ten days," Yeddyurappa told reporters after reviewing the situation at a high level meeting here.

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'Intensive glucose control protects against diabetics'

Sydney, June 10: The world's largest study of diabetes treatments has concluded that intensive blood glucose control protects against complications.

The therapy, using modified release of gliclazide, reduces the risk of kidney disease by a fifth and shows that the intensive strategy can potentially benefit millions of diabetics worldwide.

Diabetes mellitus afflicts 250 million people and is likely to shoot up to 380 million in 2025, according to the results of ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular disease).

'We are facing a global epidemic of diabetes... we have now shown that reducing the haemoglobin A1c level (blood glucose control marker) to 6.5 per cent is a safe and effective way to reduce serious complications, particularly the risk of kidney disease, said Stephen MacMahon, director George Institute, Australia.'

Source: IANS

These findings appeared on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Gujjar-Raj govt talks stalled


BHARATPUR: Efforts by Rajasthan government to end the 18-day-old Gujjar stir on Tuesday ran into rough weather with the community leadership making fresh demands of release of arrested women activists and withdrawal of murder charges against 20 protestors as pre-condition for further talks.

Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, who had termed the first round of parleys yesterday as a "good beginning", has made the two demands a pre-condition for the talks which were to be held in Jaipur, a senior state government official said.

He said that the written commitment given by 70-year-old Bainsla in Bayana on Monday about holding of the next round of talks has been retracted.

"However we are making all efforts from our side" to revive the dialogue process, the official said on phone from Gujjar stronghold of Bayana in this district.

Souce: DNA

Sensex slide continues; IT worst hit

MUMBAI: Key indices slipped back to initial lows after briefly trading in the green weighed down by negative global cues and as fears of an interest rate hike in the midst of slowing economic growth worried investors. Also bothering the market is the rise in crude oil prices which stokes inflation. Lack of interest from foreign institutions only added to the woes.

"On Monday, the market closed sharply lower on weak global cues and record high crude oil prices. The Nifty broke the 4,500 mark for the first time this year, making a new year low of 4,448.05 intra day, and ended at a new yearly closing low of 4,500.95. Nifty is expected to be bearish in short term; technical charts indicate more downside. The supports are at 4448, 4324 and 4200. Resistance is faced at 4560, 4600, 4731, 4780 and 4817,” Suresh Kumar Iyer, technical analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Interrmediates.

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Noida Murders: Rajesh Talwar's bail plea rejected


NEW DELHI: The bail application of Rajesh Talwar, the suspect in the Aarushi murder case, was rejected on Tuesday by the Ghaziabad court.

Earlier, a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and forensic experts conducted a fresh search late Monday night in the house of Rajesh Talwar to find more clues into the murder of his daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj.

The team, accompanied by Talwar's compounder Krishna, reached his Noida residence at around 11.45 p.m.

CBI Joint Director Arun Kumar led the team. Earlier, the CBI had put compounder Krishna through a six-hour lie detector test.

The agency claimed to have obtained some "incriminating clues" against him from the room of Hemraj, the slain domestic help.

During investigations it was found that three people were present in Hemraj's room and consumed alcohol on May 15 night, when Aarushi's murder took place. One of them was Krishna, the identity of the third person is not yet known, said CBI sources.

On June 1, the CBI registered Aarushi's murder case against "unknown persons". The Noida police arrested Aarushi's dentist father Rajesh Talwar as the prime accused but the CBI is treating him only as a "suspect".

CBI Director Vijay Shanker has said, "The breakthrough is going to come soon."

Aarushi, 14, was found killed in her Noida home May 16 with her throat slit. The Noida police initially named domestic help Hemraj and even sent teams to trace him, but backtracked after his body was found a day later on the terrace of the Talwars' house.
The police arrested Talwar on May 23, accusing him of killing his daughter in a fit of rage as he objected to her being close to Hemraj. The police had said at the time that Talwar first killed Hemraj and then his daughter.

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