BBC training staff to announce Queen's death: Report - India

31 oct 2011

BBC training staff to announce Queen's death: Report

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

London:  The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is reportedly training all its news presenters how to announce the British Queen's death in case of the 85-year-old Monarch's demise.

The Corporation was heavily criticised in the wake of the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, after veteran news reader Peter Sissons went on air in a grey suit accompanied with a burgundy tie.

So, in a bid to avoid gaffes, staffers are now undergoing training for Queen Elizabeth II's death with the Corporation holding courses for "class one" royal deaths, which would also include Prince Charles and Prince William, 'The Sunday Times' newspaper reported.

Staffers at the Corporation's College Of Journalism have been shown mock videos featuring Huw Edwards announcing that Queen Elizabeth II has passed away, the report said.

"Like all news organisations, the BBC has plans in place. We provide training to ensure staff understand what would be expected," a BBC source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Sombre clothing is being kept in cupboards so newsreaders can quickly change if such an announcement is made, it said. In case of Queen's death, BBC staffers would be informed of the change in programme schedule that will coincide with the Royal's demise.

Following the announcement, the national anthem will also be screened in the backdrop whilst TV screens would display a picture of the Monarch, the 'Daily Mail' newspaper said.

Meanwhile, with the funeral expected to take place 12 days following her passing, the BBC will suspend all comedy shows across its channels until after the burial, it added.

Britain changes royal succession rules - India

28 oct 2011

Britain changes royal succession rules

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Perth:  The 16 Commonwealth countries for which Queen Elizabeth II is monarch agreed on Friday that males will no longer have precedence over females in the order of succession to the throne.

Commonwealth national leaders also agreed at a summit in the western Australian city of Perth to lift a ban on monarchs marrying Roman Catholics, British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Any one of the former British colonies could have vetoed the changes to the centuries-old rules that ensure that a male heir takes the throne ahead of older sisters.

"Attitudes have changed fundamentally over the centuries and some of the outdated rules - like some of the rules of succession - just don't make sense to us any more," Cameron told reporters in Perth.

"The idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man, or that a future monarch can marry someone of any faith except a Catholic - this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become," he added.

Cameron made the announcement on the first day of a biennial meeting of 53 Commonwealth leaders.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Australia's first female leader and chairwoman of the summit, welcomed the decision.

"These things seem straightforward, but just because they seem straightforward to our modern minds doesn't mean we should underestimate their historic significance," Gillard told reporters.

Elizabeth II is head of state of Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Belize, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Papua New Guinea.

She opened the meeting of leaders representing 30 percent of the world's population on Friday by vowing to bring needed relevancy to the Commonwealth in a time of global uncertainty and insecurity.

The queen cited financial concerns, food supply insecurity and climate change among key issues she expected the forum to tackle.

"This Commonwealth meeting is, for its part, the perfect opportunity to address these issues and find responses for today's crises and challenges," she said in her opening address.

The queen also said the meeting would bring "new vibrancy" to the Commonwealth forum, which will be forced to defend itself against accusations of irrelevancy. A scathing report questioning its effectiveness will be presented to Commonwealth leaders during the summit.

Britain's government began the process of reviewing the rules of royal succession so that if Prince William's first child is a girl, she would eventually become queen. The review started before William married commoner Kate Middleton in April. She is now formally known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.

William is second in line to the throne after his father, Prince Charles, who is the queen's first-born child. Charles' sister Anne is lower in the line of succession than her younger brothers Andrew and Edward. Charles, in turn, had only sons, William and Harry.

Elizabeth II succeeded her father, King George VI, because he had no sons. If she had had a brother, however much younger he was, he would have jumped above her in the line of succession.

The thorny issue of the succession has been an on-and-off topic in Britain, but has never been resolved. In 2009, then Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government considered a bill that would end the custom of putting males ahead of females in the succession line, as well as lift a ban on British monarchs marrying Roman Catholics. The government did not have time to pursue it before Brown's term ended.

The rule has excluded women from succeeding to the throne in the past. Queen Victoria's first child was a daughter - also called Victoria - but it was her younger brother who succeeded to the throne, as King Edward VII.

Buckingham Palace has always refrained from commenting on the political issue, saying it's a matter for the government to decide.

India's first Sea World in Maharashtra for Rs. 509 crore - India

27 oct 2011

Coming soon: India's first Sea World in Maharashtra for Rs. 509 crore

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Tondawali, Maharashtra:  Tondawali, some 450 km south of the city, is an obscure but dainty village in Malvan, Sindhudurg, in the Konkan belt in the state.

But its geography and regional economy are about to experience a major shake-up that will, in a manner of speaking, endow a part of it with the look and feel of Antarctica. No, this is not a VFX-packed, apocalyptic Hollywood blockbuster.

The state government has approved a Rs.-509 crore project to build India's first oceanarium here, or the Sea World. It will be the second major theme park in the state after Essel World, the ninth in the country, and will catapult Tondawali to the recreation map of the country.

The approval for the aquatic fantasyland comes after a recent meeting chaired by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and attended by Industries Minister Narayan Rane and Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal.

Accepted after a feasibility study prepared by Centre-promoted Science and Technology Park in the University of Pune, the park is expected to be thrown open to public in three years, and would include a mock Antarctica among several other attractions (see box below).

A simulated sea will be created along with that of a real lake. And finally, people will be able to enjoy a mock Antarctica. According to Jagdish Patil, managing director of Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, which will execute the project's completion, "The site at Malvan is ideal for Sea World as it has 13 km of virgin beaches.

The proposed airport at Chipi, to come up by 2015, is just 12 km away and can be reached within 20 minutes. Apart from the required land of 250 acres, some 1,000-acre plain plateau land is available to develop the project. Also, it requires no displacement of localities."

Sea World, which is slated to begin construction in September next year, will include theme-based restaurants where visitors can enjoy a view of the aquatic life over a meal. It will also house a 3D dome and theatre and an underwater studio for film shooting

The state, which is celebrating year 2011 as Tourism Year conceived of the project to promote marine conservation, biodiversity and research; the project will give tourism a fillip, boost regional economy, and provide visitors with a world-class experience in the form of a recreation destination.

13 lakh tourists

According to officials, the project will be taken up on a Private Public Partnership (PPP) model, and the state has approved the project with a willingness to provide Rs. 120 crore as the viability gap funding.

The project will attract 13 lakh visitors in the first year itself, and the figure will cross 43 lakh by the tenth year, the tourism department claims. Other than that, it will also try to woo the 28 lakh holidaymakers to Goa, only around 100 km from the site.

Commenting on the breadth of recreation facilities, Patil said, "Sea World is not just a day-long affair. It may require three days to enjoy the breadth of recreation facilities it offers. We are sending the project for in-principle approval to the Centre. Once completed, it will become one of the top 10 Sea World projects in the world."

Officials said that it would generate employment opportunities for the locals as well. The site in Tondawali was favoured on account of the following merits: good sea water quality, attractive land topography, good accessibility to beach and backwater, rich natural beauty with sandy beaches, backwater and forest cover, sources from the tourism department said.

Mumbai drubbed

The site at Tondawali in Malvan was preferred over Mumbai after a SWOT analysis by the expert team from Science and Technology Park. In their report, they say that Mumbai doesn't have the land pool or the beaches with additional land to develop the spectrum of activities the park offers.
According to sources, Kashid in Raigad and Bhandarpule in Ratnagiri were rejected as viable sites due to several problems, such as sea water not being conducive, high land cost, agricultural land, barrier of villages and existing resorts, less diversity of attractions in its periphery, and so on.

Features
Sea World will include a dolphin stadium, water park, dome and 3D theatre, aquarium, amphitheatre, underwater studio, rescue centre, several themed restaurants and amusement arcades, among other things.

11 Million
The initial daily water demand (in litres) for Sea World

Rs. 302 crore
Revenue that Sea World is expected to generate by its 10th year

Sept 2012
The construction of Sea World begins

2015
The deadline for finishing the proposed Sea World

20,000
Number of jobs that will be generated for people in coastal areas

13 lakh
Number of visitors the project is expected to attract in its first year

Rs. 400
Amusement park entrance fee for adults (Rs. 250 for children)

Jobs advised Clinton on Monica Lewinsky scandal, says biography - India

23 oct 2011

Jobs advised Clinton on Monica Lewinsky scandal, says biography

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

San Francisco:  As the highly-anticipated biography of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs readies to hit the shelves on Monday, new details have emerged on the man's hitherto-unknown personal life. In a explosive revelation of sorts, Jobs was reportedly approached by former US President Bill Clinton seeking advice on handling the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998.

"Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson, to be published Monday, says Jobs in a late night telephonic conversation had advised Clinton after the latter's affair with Lewinsky became public.

"I don't know if you did it, but if so, you've got to tell the country", Jobs told Clinton. The biographer then says that there was "silence on the other end of the line" after the former Apple boss advised Clinton. 

The biography also delves into Jobs' fatal tryst with cancer and his regrets about delaying his surgery for nine-long months. Jobs learnt in October 2003 that he had a neuroendocrine tumour - a relatively rare type of pancreatic cancer that normally grows more slowly and is therefore more treatable.

Instead, he tried a vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments he found online, and even consulted a psychic. He also was influenced by a doctor who ran a clinic that advised juice fasts, bowel cleansings and other unproven approaches, the book says, before finally having surgery in July 2004.

Isaacson, quoting Jobs, writes in the book: "'I really didn't want them to open up my body, so I tried to see if a few other things would work,' he told me years later with a hint of regret."

Jobs died on October 5, at age 56, after a battle with cancer.

The biography also says Jobs came up with the company's name while he was on a diet of fruits and vegetables, and as a teenager perfected staring at people without blinking.

The book was originally called "iSteve" and scheduled to come out in March. The release date was moved up to November, then, after Jobs' death, to Monday. It is published by Simon & Schuster and will sell for $35.

Kashmir - Pakistan detains four Indians after chopper breaches LoC

22 oct 2011

Army chopper breaches LoC, Pakistan detains four

Srinagar: Pakistani security forces today forced an Indian Army helicopter to land after it allegedly violated the country's airspace in the Kargil sector and detained the four personnel on board.

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

The helicopter was forced to land after it allegedly intruded into Pakistani airspace, TV news channels quoted the Inter-Services Public Relations as saying.
Four personnel who were in the helicopter were detained by Pakistani troops. The reports did not say how the helicopter was forced to land.
"We are getting details and investigation is on. The more important thing is that the crew is safe and under safe custody," Pakistani Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said.
Initial media reports had said that the Indian helicopter had strayed into Pakistani airspace due to bad weather conditions in Skardu area.