16 Chinese websites closed, six detained for spreading rumours - India

31  mar 2012

16 Chinese websites closed, six detained for spreading rumours

Beijing: Chinese authorities closed 16 websites and detained six people responsible for "fabricating or disseminating online rumors," the State Internet Information Office (SIIO) and Beijing police said Friday.

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The websites, including meizhou.net, xn528.com and cndy.com.cn, were closed for spreading rumors of "military vehicles entering Beijing and something wrong going on in Beijing," which were fabricated by some lawless people recently, said a spokesman with SIIO, reported Xinhua.
The rumours have caused "a very bad influence on the public" and the websites were closed in accordance with laws for failing to stop the spread of rumours, said the spokesman.
Beijing police also detained six people for allegedly fabricating and spreading the above-mentioned rumours, particularly through microblogging posts, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security.
An undisclosed number of people who had disseminated similar rumours on the Internet were also "admonished and educated," who have shown intention to repent, the police said.

Largest Hindu temple in Russia faces eviction, demolition - India

30 mar 2012

Moscow Russia's biggest Vedic Cultural Centre housing the country's largest Hindu temple is facing demolition in St Petersburg, the hometown of President-elect Vladimir Putin, as a court has ordered its "eviction" from the leased premises.
"Following an arbitration court decision on Thursday (yesterday), the biggest Hindu Temple of Russia will now be demolished," Chairman of the Centre Suren Karapetyan said, appealing to Presidents of India and Russia to provide "urgent
help".
"We are expecting some kind of intervention from the Indian government as we are preserving the Indian culture and traditions in Russia. We appeal to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to help us in our cause and save the cultural centre and the temple from being demolished," Karapetyan said.
"We are not getting justice and we are being illegally thrown out, we had a lease agreement of 49 years," he said.
The lease deal was signed in 1992 with the state-run federal research institute, now converted into JSC "GosNIIkhimanalit" Joint Stock Company.
The federal arbitration court of the North-West district in St Petersburg has upheld the decision of 13 arbitration appeal court about the cancellation of the lease agreement between the Local Hindu Religious Organisation "Vedic Society of Spiritual Development" and JSC "Gosniikhimanalit".

"The court has refused to save the temple and has ordered the eviction of the Hindu Temple from leased premises," Karapetyan said.

Delhi Metro begins work on linking Faridabad with Delhi - India

28 mar 2012

Delhi Metro begins work on linking Faridabad with Delhi

New Delhi:  In good news for residents of Faridabad, Delhi Metro today began construction of the 14-km link that connects the satellite city with the national capital.

The laying of foundation for piers/pillars on which viaduct will be put up began today at Faridabad in the presence of Delhi Metro Managing Director Mangu Singh and officials from Haryana Government.

The first piling work started near Sector 28, Faridabad on the Mathura Road National Highway.

The fully-elevated corridor, the longest Metro line in the NCR, will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,533 crore by 2016 when the Delhi Metro's Phase-III is expected to be completed.

The Badarpur-Faridabad link is an extension of the existing Central Secretariat-Badarpur corridor and will be integrated with it after completion.

According to the Detailed Project Report (DPR), the daily ridership of this 13.875 km Metro corridor is expected to be 2.14 lakhs (in 2014 after commissioning of the corridor for the public).

The civil contract for the construction of this corridor has been awarded in February, 2012, and the corridor will be commissioned by end of 2014.

The average height of the pillars on this corridor will be approximately 9 meters and over 500 piers (pillar) will be erected to make the viaduct for this corridor.

"On this corridor, Delhi Metro will be using specially designed pre-cast U shaped girders to complete the viaduct in a short time of 20 months. This is for the first time in Delhi Metro's history where a single span of approx. 27 metres in length and weighing about 160 tonnes will be used," a DMRC spokesman said.

Bird flu claims sixth victim this year in Indonesia - India

27 mar 2012

Bird flu claims sixth victim this year in Indonesia

A 17-year old construction worker has died of bird flu on Indonesia's Lombok island, the sixth death from the virulent disease this year, a health ministry official said on Tuesday.
The man developed fever on February 28 and was admitted to a local hospital five days later where he died on March 9, the ministry's head of animal-borne infectious disease control said. "A laboratory result confirmed that he tested positive for the bird flu virus," Rita Kusriastuti told AFP, adding that the man contracted the H5N1 virus from poultry living around his house.
"Some ducks and chickens in his neighbourhood died of the virus, which has also been confirmed by a lab result," she said.
Concerns about avian influenza have risen in Asia since China in late December reported its first fatality from the virus in 18 months. Since then one more person has died in China.
Vietnam and Cambodia also recently reported deaths from avian influenza and the spread of the H5N1 virus in chickens in Hong Kong prompted a mass cull of birds.
Indonesia has been the nation hardest-hit by bird flu, with 155 deaths reported since 2003, according to the latest figures given by the World Health Organization, which exclude the latest death in Indonesia.
The virus typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form that is easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions in a pandemic.

Chris Cairns wins libel case against Lalit Modi - India

26 mar 2012

Chris Cairns wins libel case against Lalit Modi

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London: Chris Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, has won his libel case against Lalit Modi and has been awarded damages of £90,000. Neither party was present when the verdict - which is open to appeal - was announced in the High Court in London.

Modi has been granted permission to appeal the verdict on damages but not liability.

Justice David Bean, who was hearing the case without a jury, also awarded Cairns £400,000 in interim costs, which Modi will have to pay within 28 days.

The judge said Modi had "singularly failed" to provide any reliable evidence that Cairns was involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing, or even strong grounds for suspicion of cheating.

"It is obvious that an allegation that a professional cricketer is a match-fixer goes to the core attributes of his personality and, if true, entirely destroys his reputation for integrity," Justice Bean said. "The allegation is not as serious as one of involvement in terrorism or sexual offences (to take two examples from recent cases). But it is otherwise as serious an allegation as anyone could make against a professional sportsman."

In a statement read out on his behalf after the verdict, Cairns said it "lifts a dark cloud hanging over me" for the past two years. "I feel great joy because my past creer has come through this unscathed and remains intact. I had the courage to stand up in the highest court to defend my name. I feel great relief that I am able to walk into any cricket ground in the world with my head held high."

On January 5, 2010, Modi tweeted that Cairns had been removed from the forthcoming IPL auction list because of his involvement with match-fixing. Cairns denied this but Modi responded by saying: "Let him sue us, then we will produce what we have in court." Cairns issued the writ in London's High Court in January 2010, shortly after Modi's claims were made public.

Cairns was captain of Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League but had his contract terminated in October 2008, during the third edition of the tournament. The official reason given was that Cairns had breached the terms of his contract by failing to disclose an ankle injury.

During the trial, Cairns spent almost eight hours giving evidence over two days. His witnesses included his wife Mel and advisor Andrew Fitch-Holland.

Japan to push anti-terror measures at nuclear plants - India

25 mar 2012

Japan to push anti-terror measures at nuclear plants

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Tokyo:  The U.S. had repeatedly warned Japan about vulnerabilities at its nuclear plants in case of a September 11-style terror attack. It turned out Washington was right about the soft spots, but wrong about the enemy that would strike them.

When nature unleashed its own fury on Japan last year with a devastating tsunami, a list of U.S. recommendations proved highly prescient. The elements Washington identified as most vulnerable in an attack - spent fuel pools, cooling systems, backup electricity - were the ones worst hit in Japan's disaster.

Tokyo had ignored the recommendations, which were implemented at U.S. nuclear sites, because Japanese officials thought the chances of terrorist-flown aircraft striking its plants were remote.

But as leaders from around the world head to Seoul for a major summit this week on nuclear security, Japan's disaster at its Fukushima plant has provided a salient example of how solid protections against terrorist attacks go hand in hand with protections against natural disasters.

The summit is primarily about ways to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists, but the Japanese government plans to propose a series of Fukushima-inspired measures to enhance emergency power backup systems and advocate a closer link between anti-terror security and general safety issues.

"We have to imagine the unimaginable," Kensuke Yoshida, the director of the arms control and disarmament division of Japan's Foreign Ministry and a member of Japan's delegation, told The Associated Press.

"Once an incident happens, the consequences will be extremely grave, whether caused by a natural disaster or terrorists," Mr Yoshida said.

Japan had been slow to make that connection.

Documents made public since Japan's nuclear crisis began last year suggest the scenario that played out in Fukushima was by no means unforeseeable - it was simply ignored.

After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a number of directives to the domestic nuclear industry based on a review of what might happen if an airliner hijacked by terrorists was crashed into an atomic plant.

It expressed concern that such an attack could cripple a plant's power system, and proposed portable diesel-driven pumps, portable power supplies and hoses be made readily available so that reactor cores can be kept cool to prevent them from going into dangerous, radiation-spewing meltdowns. It also suggested measures to provide backup cooling water to the vulnerable spent fuel pools.

The suggestions were passed on to Japan several times, but Tokyo dismissed them because it regarded the recommendations as a terrorism issue and did not think it faced a significant terrorist threat, according to Tetsuya Endo, a former diplomat and vice chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of Japan.

"The agency that got the recommendations just put them in their pocket. No one else knew anything about it," said Mr Endo, who is on an independent fact-finding commission that recently released a scathing review of Japan's response to the crisis.

"We are an island nation with an island mentality. We see ourselves as free from the possibility of terrorist attack," he said.

Last year's March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the very systems that the NRC had found to be weakest. Fukushima experienced the electrical blackout that it warned of, and three of its reactors went into meltdowns, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate as plant workers struggled to find ways to keep them cool.

In recent testimony before a parliament-appointed investigative panel, Haruki Madarame, a nuclear physicist and head of Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission, acknowledged that Japan should have taken the U.S. findings more seriously.

"Even though we were aware of the issue and knew that they were taking steps, we didn't do anything," he said. "When other countries were discussing the problems, we only wasted time trying to find excuses why we didn't have to do it."

Edwin Lyman, a nuclear terrorism expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Japan's crisis is a good case-in-point for experts who have long warned that anti-terrorism measures need to be enhanced.

"The Fukushima accident has certainly illustrated the dependence of nuclear plants on electrical power supply, both off- and on-site, and how core damage can occur solely as a result of a prolonged loss of power in the absence of timely intervention," he said.

But he said the disconnect between policymakers who are primarily concerned with anti-terror measures and those focused on mitigating natural disasters continues to be a major problem.

Mr Lyman said the United States' post-9/11 recommendations, which were made public in May to support the NRC's argument that the U.S. was prepared for a Fukushima-type event, reflected that imbalance.

"The measures were specifically intended to help plants survive the impact of a single aircraft, and not to survive other types of initiating events, like earthquakes and floods," he said. "In fact, the U.S. guidance specified that such equipment did not have to be seismically qualified."

Because of the Fukushima example, he said, the NRC is now updating its measures to take into account a wider variety of challenges.

Private colleges looking to shut down triple in a year - India

24 mar 2012

Private colleges looking to shut down triple in a year

HT

As many as 138 private institutes across the country, including 65 management and 15 engineering colleges, have sought permission to close from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This is more than three times the number of institutes that had come up with the request last year.

“We have received applications for closure from 138 institutes. But the final closure can be done only after we get a no-objection certificate from the state governments and the universities concerned,” said SS Mantha, chairman, AICTE.

Of the 138 colleges that have sought permission in this regard, 53 are from Andhra Pradesh. As many as 3,800 engineering colleges and 4,000 management colleges in the country come under the AICTE. Mantha said the council has received applications for opening 669 new institutes this year. “If we take this into consideration, I am sure there will be an overall increase in the number of institutes, even after closure of some that have applied.”
Stating that a majority of the institutes say they are not able to get students, he said, “Most of them are located in remote areas, possess poor infrastructure facilities, and have practically zero interaction with industries. The institutes will have to enhance interaction with the industry if they want to boost employment opportunities for students,” he said.
In a bid to bolster industry-institute interaction and increase employment, the AICTE will identify private institutes across the country on a nominative basis, where industries can set up their research arms, Mantha said. “To begin with, we will identify 100 institutes where industries can set up research centres from the next academic session. This can later develop into clusters,” he added.

Louvre unveils Da Vinci's 'last masterpiece' - India

23 mar 2012

Louvre unveils Da Vinci's 'last masterpiece'

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Paris:  The Louvre on Friday unveiled a newly-restored Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, the "Saint Anne", hoping to lay to rest an art world row that saw the Paris museum accused of endangering the precious oil.

"The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne", which the Renaissance master left unfinished when he died in 1519, goes on display on Thursday as the star of a major exhibit exploring the work's genesis, and its place in art history.

Da Vinci began painting the "Saint Anne", which depicts the baby Jesus grappling with a lamb beside his mother and grandmother, in 1503. When he died, the work was acquired by France's King Francis I, the artist's last patron.

"The story of the 'Saint Anne' is the story of the last 20 years of Da Vinci's life," said Vincent Delieuvin, curator of the exhibit dubbed "'Saint Anne', Leonardo Da Vinci's last masterpiece."

The show brings together 130 drawings, preparatory studies by the master, earlier versions of the work by his workshop, writings referring to the "Saint Anne" and works influenced by it -- including by Raphael or Michelangelo.

Mr Delieuvin explained at a press preview he built the exhibition like a "police investigation, with all the clues to understanding the painting."

Sketches by Da Vinci, full size cartoons -- pinpricked drawings used to mark out the form of the composition -- and "Saint Anne" paintings carried out by his atelier, show how he moved through three versions of the religious scene.

Each time he made minor adjustments, until the final composition in which the Virgin Mary seems to pull the baby Jesus away from the lamb -- symbol of the sacrifice he is to make -- as the wise Saint Anne urges her to let him go.

The show is the culmination of a high-sensitive 18-month restoration project.

After six months in a laboratory, the "Saint Anne" spent a year in the workshops of the French Museums' Centre for Research and Restoration, the C2RMF near the Louvre, in the hands of the museum's chosen restorer Cinzia Pasquali.

Ms Pasquali stressed the restoration was not for aesthetic reasons.

"This was about caring for a sick patient," she told AFP. "From a conservation point of view we had to intervene, primarily to address a cracking of the varnish that could leave the paint exposed to damage."

That said, the "Saint Anne" has been transformed by the work.

Ageing varnish had left it disfigured by stains, now all but gone, with the overall effect one of lifting a yellow-brown veil, to reveal the soft blue of the Virgin's dress -- and a wealth of detail like a rocky pool of water bathing the subjects' feet.

"The build-up of varnish had as if flattened out the painting," said Pierre Curie, head of paintings at the C2RMF. "Restoring it has given it volume again, like a sculpture set in a landscape."

From details like the lamb's tail or the draping on the subjects' dresses, "we can see plainly that the work is unfinished," Ms Pasquali said, "something we knew from other sources, but now we can actually see it."

"Some believe Mary's face is so diaphanous it may be unfinished too -- but I think he wanted it that way, to suggest her purity."

Ms Pasquali's restoration for the Louvre hit a rock last year over concerns that a solvent used to thin the varnish could remove actual paint, with two experts resigning in protest from the committee overseeing the work.

"I don't really understand the reasons for the row," Ms Pasquali said. "We stayed a long way from the pictorial layer -- you can't damage something you are not touching."

One of the dissenting experts, Segolene Bergeon Langle, interviewed in the Louvre's in-house magazine, said she had since been reassured on some aspects of the restoration.

But she remained unhappy about others, such as the decision to remove a white patch on the body of the baby Jesus, which she believes may have been added by Da Vinci's hand.

More generally, critics' fears centred on the faces of Saint Anne and Mary and on the "sfumato", layers of clear paint used by Da Vinci to create smoky, soft contours.

To defuse tensions, the Louvre chose to leave an extra thickness of varnish on the subjects' fragile faces. It also ruled out removing some elements, like a group of tree trunks, even though they are thought to have been added in the 19th century.

"The Louvre has a very moderate cleaning policy," said Curie. "When we return to the painting, which we inevitably will do in 30, or 50 years, stopping at this level will give us a safety margin."

Cosmetic surgery fine if it boosts one's confidence: Priyanka - India

21 mar 2012


Cosmetic surgery fine if it boosts one's confidence: Priyanka

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Stressing that one must be content with the natural looks, actress Priyanka Chopra says cosmetic surgery is fine only to the extent that it boosts up one's confidence level.

"Cosmetic surgery becomes wrong only when it becomes a disease and you stop loving yourself for what you are. When you start thinking that a surgeon's knife can make you look better than what god gave you...so it is important to accept who you are," Priyanka told reporters at an event last night.

Interestingly, there were reports that Priyanka herself had went under knife to get her nose fixed, however, like any other actress she too had denied going the plastic way.

"As judgmental as we are about cosmetic surgery we (Bollywood actresses) should not be the first and foremost to do it. Not that I believe in cosmetic surgery, I am not judgmental about individual choices. I feel somewhere you lose your confidence because of certain things. But if you can make yourself look better to feel better then I don't think there is anything wrong with it (cosmetic surgery)," said the actress who is known for her pout.

Sultry actress Bipasha Basu is also reported to have underone surgery and so do Shilpa Shetty, Sushmita Sen, Kangana Ranuat, Minissha Lamba, Esha Deol and others, though they have denied the reports

Underweight models in ads banned in this country - India

19 mar 2012

Underweight models in ads banned in this country

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Jerusalem:  A new Israeli law is trying to fight the spread of eating disorders by banning underweight models from local advertising and requiring publications to disclose when they use altered images to make women and men appear thinner.

The law, passed late on Monday, appears to be the first attempt by any government to use legislation to take on a fashion industry accused of abetting eating disorders by idealizing extreme thinness. It could become a model for other countries grappling with the spread of anorexia and bulimia, particularly among young women.

The law's supporters said they hoped it would encourage the use of healthy models in local advertising and heighten awareness of digital tricks that transform already thin women into illusory waifs.

"We want to break the illusion that the model we see is real," said Liad Gil-Har, assistant to law sponsor Dr. Rachel Adato, who compares the battle against eating disorders to the struggle against smoking.

In Israel, about 2 percent of all girls between 14 and 18 have severe eating disorders, which is a statistic similar to other developed countries, said anthropologist Sigal Gooldin who studies eating disorders.

The new law requires models to produce a medical report, dating back no more than three months, at every shoot that will be used on the Israeli market, stating that they are not malnourished by World Health Organization standards.

The U.N. agency uses a standard known as the body mass index - calculated by dividing weight by height - to determine malnutrition. WHO says a body-mass index below 18.5 is indicative of malnutrition, said Adato, a gynecologist.

Any advertisement published for the Israeli market must also have a clearly written notice disclosing if the model used in it was digitally altered to make her, or him, look thinner. The law will not apply to foreign publications sold in Israel.

The law was championed by one of Israel's top model agents, Adi Barkan, who said in 30 years of work, he saw young women become skinnier and sicker while struggling to fit the shrinking mold of what the industry considered attractive.

"They look like dead girls," Barkan said.

Critics said the legislation should have focused on health, not weight, saying many models were naturally very thin.

"The health of the model ... should be evaluated. Our weight can change hour to hour," said David Herzog, a professor of psychiatry and a leading US expert on eating disorders.

Top Israeli model Adi Neumman said she wouldn't pass under the new rules, because her BMI was 18.3. Neumman said she ate well and exercised. She said legislation should have focused on health and well-being, not weight.

"Force actual tests. Make girls go to a doctor. Get a system to follow girls who are found to be puking," she said.

Legislator Adato said only 5 percent of women had BMI that naturally fell under 18.5.

"On the one hand, maybe we'll hurt a few models," Adato said. "On the other hand, we'll save a lot of children."

Pressure on the fashion industry has intensified in recent years, sparked by the deaths of models in Brazil and Uruguay from medical complications linked to eating disorders.

Uruguayan model, Luisel Ramos, 22, collapsed soon after stepping off the runway in August 2006, reportedly of anorexia-linked heart failure.
Other governments have taken steps to prevent "size zero" medical problems, but have shied from legislation.

The Madrid fashion show bans women whose BMI is below 18. Milan's fashion week bans models with a BMI below 18.5.

The UK and US have guidelines, but the fashion industry is self-regulated.

Unrealistic body images in the media are believed to shape eating habits, especially among young people, though there is debate about how influential they are.

Gooldin, the anthropologist, said young women used in television, movies and advertisements as references for the ideal body, rather than the women around them.

"There's a gap between our own bodies ... and ideal bodies. They keep shrinking and getting smaller," she said.

It's not clear whether the law will have a measurable impact, because Israeli teens take their cues from both international media and local publications, Gooldin said. And the ban isn't likely to affect many - there are only about 300 professional models in Israel, and only a few work abroad, said agent Barkan and model Neumman.

But Gooldin said it was a positive step to deal with a problem that has plagued Western societies.

Legislator Adato said she hoped Israel would be an example other countries could study.

"You don't need to be underweight to be beautiful, or successful," she said.

19 mar 2012

India likely to vote against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes, says PM

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Click to Expand & Play

New Delhi:  The Prime Minister said today in Parliament that India is inclined to vote against Sri Lanka at a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. A resolution against the Sri Lankan government for alleged war crimes and human rights violations has been moved by the US, Norway and France.

"We do not yet have the final text of the US-sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka. However, I may assure the House that we are inclined to vote in favour of a resolution that we hope will advance our objective, namely the achievement of a future for the Tamil community in Sri Lanka that is marked by equality, dignity, justice and self-respect," said Dr Singh.

Dr Manmohan Singh's comments have placated his ally, the DMK, which has threatened to pull out of the coalition at the centre if India either abstained or supported Sri Lanka at the vote. The DMK has 18 Lok Sabha MPs and is needed for the government's survival. "We welcome the announcement if it's true," said the party's president, M Karunanidhi, adding "(but) we will wait for the final decision."

All parties from Tamil Nadu have been urging the Centre to take a strong stand on the atrocities allegedly committed by the Sri Lankan government in ending the country's civil war and extinguishing the LTTE. The deaths of Sri Lanka Tamils - 40,000 according to some reports - has been an emotional issue in Tamil Nadu.

Dismissing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement as "non-committal and futile", Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said, "He didn't make any reference to human rights violations. He has not said Sri Lanka will be condemned for these."

In a statement today, the Ministry of External Affairs stressed that Foreign Affairs Minister SM Krishna is "giving great importance to views expressed by MPs from Tamil Nadu" and that India will study the draft of the resolution against Sri Lanka and then take a call on its vote.

Sources have told NDTV that New Delhi is furiously working the back channels to get political parties in Tamil Nadu as well big international players on board for the right wording of the resolution. One compromise that is reportedly being worked on is to get the United Nations to condemn the LTTE excesses, even as it asks Colombo to implement the recommendations of the govt-appointed Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

Sri Lanka has insisted it needs time and space to implement the commission's recommendations.

"The government and our parliament is now in the process of looking at the recommendations and take step by step measures as they are recommended. We want home grown solutions. We are a democracy for the last sixty years. We are a responsible government, and our leaders have to be elected, so they will take this thing step-by-step like other democracies, like (say) India," said Prasad Kariyavasam, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to India.

India making progress on women's political empowerment: UN - India

17 mar 2012

India making progress on women's political empowerment: UN

 

 

New Delhi: India has made remarkable progress in taking ahead women's political participation at the local level, an official from the UN body on gender empowerment said here Saturday.
"India has made remarkable progress in promoting women's political empowerment at the local level - with over 1.2 million elected women representatives. UN Women looks forward to seeing this translate into the realization of national commitments on gender equality," Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett told IANS on her visit to the country.
Turkoz-Cosslett spoke after a field visit to Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh where she interacted with women in a Gram Sabha in Akkulapeta Panchayat (village council).
Working for over a decade with the UN in New York, Europe and Asia, Turkoz-Cosslett spoke after the launch of the UN Women-National Commission for Women (NCW) report on gender equality in the national capital.
According to the UN Women-NCW report, many Indian women have been able to enter panchayats or grassroots politics in the country. The one-third to fifty percent seats for women in panchayats (village councils) has brought women to the forefront in grassroots politics.
"This is a good example of how women leaders can be empowered and play an equal role in decision-making. At the global level, we can use this example to ensure that women's needs are looked at systemically and not in isolation and integrated into local policies and budgets," added Turkoz-Cosslett.

UN Women is working with the Indian government to strengthen the role of elected women representatives in local governance in the five states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.
UN Women in South Asia works on women's empowerment and advocacy in countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Iran, among others.

At Afghan prison, female visitors face invasive searches - India

16 mar 2012

At Afghan prison, female visitors face invasive searches

Kabul, Afghanistan:  Women visiting relatives at a notorious men's prison on the edge of Kabul have in recent weeks been subjected to invasive body-cavity searches at the order of the prison's commandant, who has told guards and American officials that the measure is needed to keep out contraband, Western and Afghan officials said.

Most male visitors get into the American-financed prison with a mere pat down. Almost all female visitors, meanwhile, undergo a vaginal search without reasonable suspicion or recourse.

"It was killing me to go through this disgusting way of body search," said a woman whose husband was imprisoned at the Pul-e-Charki prison, Afghanistan's largest detention centre, and who after dozens of visits is still being searched. "I was telling the female prison guard, 'this is against all human values and dignity.' "

American officials agree, as do some Afghan officials, and they have repeatedly pressed Interior Minster Bismillah Khan Mohammadi and the commandant of the prison, Gen. Muhammad Khan, to stop the practice.

Having been repeatedly rebuffed, the Americans on Thursday tried to use the best lever they have: they cut off all American financing to Pul-e-Charki until they can confirm that the invasive searches have stopped, two Western officials said. The United States has spent about $14.2 million on improvements at the prison since June 2009.

But with no word yet on what impact the latest American move has had, Western officials and rights advocates here are viewing the hard line as a troubling sign: not just of waning Western influence as relations have worsened, but also for of maintaining hard-won gains in rights for women in Afghanistan as the prospect of a speeded-up American withdrawal has become a greater possibility.

This is not an oversimplified case of high-minded Westerners versus conservative Afghans. The West's role in Afghanistan empowered many Afghans to champion women's and minority rights in the past decade, and those home-grown reformers have helped establish most of the social changes that have been seen as encouraging steps here.

Yet the Afghans at the forefront of pressing for those rights are already finding themselves increasingly marginalized as Afghanistan's old guard flexes its muscles. In fact, the official in charge of all Afghanistan's civilian prisons, Gen. Amir Jamshid, has tried and failed to stop the invasive searches of women, his objections overridden by Mr. Mohammadi, the interior minister, Afghan and American officials said. Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid offending their Afghan counterparts.

Other worrying signs have appeared. President Hamid Karzai in December removed outspoken members of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, which is appointed by the government but acts independently. Then earlier this month, Afghanistan's Ulema Council, the country's highest religious authority, released a "code of conduct" that suggested it was permissible for a man to beat his wife under certain circumstances. President Karzai endorsed the code last week, in a move seen as part of his efforts to reach out to hard-liners among the Taliban ahead of an American withdrawal.

"There has been important progress made on human rights in the last 10 years largely due to brave Afghans inside and outside the government," said Heather Barr, the Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. "But they've needed international support and without it, they may see their work become impossible."

American officials cautioned that trouble at one prison did not herald the overall collapse of Western influence, and that they believed they could still effect change, especially a Pul-e-Charki, which houses about 7,000 convicts.

But they have so far failed to stop the invasive searches, which were first noticed by American mentors at the prison in mid-February, according to multiple American and Western officials.

The Americans have since then twice received assurances the practice would stop - once from General Khan and then later from Mr. Mohammadi, the minister. It has nonetheless continued, and the American Embassy said this week it was still discussing the matter with the Interior Ministry. It is not clear whether women face the same kinds of searches at Afghanistan's other civilian prisons.

Since June 2009, the United States has earmarked $26.8 million for renovations at the prison, and just over half of that has already been spent. "I don't think we'd be facing the same kind of resistance if this was last year or the year before," said one American official in Kabul. "We're going, and they know it."

A request from The New York Times to visit Pul-e-Charki was turned down by the Interior Ministry.

Saturday is the next visiting day at Pul-e-Charki, which is run by civilian authorities. General Khan, who comes from the police force, said in a telephone interview the searches would continue. "Stopping somebody hiding narcotics or mobile phone or banned items, that's not a violation of their rights," he said.

The prison, he said, was thick with Taliban detainees and rife with contraband and needed to be brought under control. He said Taliban commanders held there were plotting attacks in Kabul, a view shared by American officials.

General Khan said the invasive searches would stop once America bought an X-ray machine for the prison - a purchase American officials say they have no plans to make. He added that men suspected of smuggling could also face a similar kind of search. And he insisted that the searches were only conducted on "suspicious" women.

That account was countered by a female guard at the prison and by Western and Afghan officials familiar with the situation.

"We have been strictly ordered to search genital areas of all the women who are visiting the prisoners," said the guard, who asked not to be named for fear of losing her job. She added that even the prisoners, all of whom are men, are only patted down after meeting visitors.

She said that the guards sometimes find phones or drugs in some searches, but that she was still uncomfortable with the blanket order to search all women. She said many of her fellow guards felt the same, and they sometimes let women pass without a search when they can.

The Afghan woman who had been subjected to the searches said the practice had been going on since at least last year, though it had gotten stricter in the past few months. "I have been subjected to this humiliating type of body search more than 20 to 25 times," said the woman, who did not want to be identified because she felt ashamed.

Ranveer Singh injured while shooting - India

15 mar 2012

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  Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh, who is shooting with Sonakshi Sinha for Lootera suffered an injury injured on the film's set on Tuesday (March 13).

The actor has received back injuries during the film's shoot in Dalhousie.

The Band Baaja Baaraat actor is currently in a lot of pain which is apparent in the image and as a result the film's shoot has been stalled.

Strong earthquake shakes Tokyo region - India

14 mar 2012

Strong earthquake shakes Tokyo region

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Tokyo:  A series of earthquakes rattled Tokyo and northeast Japan late Wednesday evening, but caused no apparent damage or injury in the same region hit by last year's devastating tsunami.

The first tremor off Hokkaido island was 6.8 magnitude and prompted some communities to issue evacuation orders or advisories to residents nearest the coast.

A swelling of 20 centimeters (8 inches) was observed in the port of Hachinohe in Aomori, northern Japan, about one hour after the quake struck the region. Smaller changes were also reported in several locations on Hokkaido island and Aomori prefecture.

The Japan Meteorological Agency lifted all tsunami advisories about an hour and half later.

The earthquake felt in Tokyo was magnitude 6.1 and centered just off the coast of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at a rather shallow 10 kilometers (6 miles) below the sea surface.

The town of Otsuchi in Iwate prefecture, where more than 800 died in last year's tsunami, issued an evacuation order to coastal households as a precaution after Wednesday's first quake, said prefectural disaster management official Shinichi Motoyama. No damage or injury was reported, he said.

Iwate was heavily damaged by last year's earthquake and tsunami. Thousands of aftershocks have shaken the region since then, nearly all of them of minor or moderate strength.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 left some 19,000 people dead or missing.

Japan marked the first anniversary of the disasters on Sunday, as the country still struggles to rebuild.

CID honours country's real life heroes - India

12 mar 2012

CID honours country's real life heroes

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Unsung heroes of real life were honoured at the CID Veerta Awards, given to encourage acts of bravery by people and motivate others to live fearlessly.

The nine winners included a woman who fought goons to save her mother and kids, a boy who battled a leopard to safeguard her only sister, and a school boy whose mission is to see a green India -- people of such valour were honoured at the awards function.

Held at the Chitrakoot Grounds, the event, hosted by actors Anoop Soni and Mona Singh, saw other small screen celebrities like Ronit Roy, Aishwarya Sakhuja, Shweta Tiwari, Sharad Kelkar, Rashmi Desai and composer Anu Malik.

Veteran Bollywood actress Asha Parekh, who was a member of the awards jury, was present too, as was the entire team of the show CID.

"The audience has supported and encouraged us for the past 15 years. So we are here to encourage their bravery and motivate others to live fearlessly," said actor Shivaji Satam, who plays ACP Pradyuman in the long-running show.

Among the winners were Anjum, a class 10 student, who rescued some of her friends from a train accident

Another class 10 boy Abhishek Ranjan was awarded for his green movement - he runs an awareness programme with the support of 350 other students and they are on the mission to grow neem plantations across the country.

Parents of Keenan and Reuben were also among those honoured. A minute's silence was observed in the memory of both the boys, who were killed in Mumbai while fighting eve-teasers.

B.P. Singh, producer of CID said: "Fifteen years is a unique feat and we are happy with the response our show has been getting in so many years. We got 24,000 entries for the awards this year and we got to know that people are enthusiastic to get recognised for their brave acts, and we will continue doing so."

Shweta Tiwari and Aishwarya Sakhuja added glamour to the event with their performances. There was also a team performance by members of CID.

The humour to the show was infused by Ali Asgar and comedian Kapil.

35% of MLAs have criminal cases, 66% are billionairs - India

11  mar 2012

New Delhi More than one-third of candidates elected in the just concluded Assembly polls have criminal cases against them, with Uttar Pradesh topping the list.
35 per cent or 252 of the 690 MLAs elected to the five Assemblies -- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhan, Manipur and Goa -- have criminal background, a rise of eight per cent since 2007.
Also, 66 per cent or 457 of the newly elected MLAs were 'crorepatis', according to an analysis of affidavits the candidates had submitted to the Election Commission.
The analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch also shows that compared to Assembly elections in 2007, there is over 32 per cent increase in the number of crorepati MLAs and about eight per cent rise in the winning candidates with a criminal past this time.
In 2007, voters in these five states had chosen about 190 or 27 per cent MLAs with criminal past, while more than 235 or 34 per cent of candidates having assets worth more than one crore were elected to those assemblies.
According to the analysis, a total of 189 (47 per cent) new MLAs in the new Uttar Pradesh Assembly have declared criminal cases against them, compared to 140 (34 per ent) in the 2007 Assembly.
Similarly, 271 or 67 per cent new MLAs in the state are crorepatis, compared to 124 crorepati MLAs elected in 2007.
While Samajwadi Party's Mitra Sen who won from Bikapur seat topped the list of tainted MLAs with 36 criminal cases, Nawab Kazim Ali Khan of Congress from Suar constituency topped the rich list with a declared total assets worth Rs 56.89 crore followed by Shah Alam of BSP from Mubarakpur with assets worth Rs. 54.44 Crores.
Manipur is the only state, where not a single elected candidate who has declared any pending criminal cases against him or her.
However, the new Assembly witnessed a sharp rise among wealthy MLAs with 16 have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore. In 2007 Assembly there was only one MLA who was a crorepati.
In Punjab, the recent polls witnessed 22 candidates with a criminal past winning the elections, compared to 21 such tainted MLAs in the 2007 Assembly.
So far as the money power is concerned, more than 86 per cent of the candidates fared well in the state, as voters sent about 86 per cent or 101 corepatis to the 117-member Assembly this time. There were 77 (66 per cent) crorepatis in the 2007 Assembly.
In Goa, voters have chosen 37 (93 per cent) crorepatis and 12 (30 per cent) candidates with tainted past to the 40-member Assembly this year. In 2007, their number was 22 and nine respectively.

Similarly in Uttarakhand, 19 (22 per cent) new MLAs have criminal cases against them, while 32 (46 per cent) crorepatis managed to enter the new Assembly. Their figures in 2007 were 17 and 12 respectively.

Salmond plots Scotland’s future in EU - India

10 mar 2012

Alex Salmond has accused Westminster parties of “empty, hollow, negative scaremongering” in their campaign against Scottish independence, as he painted an optimistic picture of how his country would fare outside the United Kingdom.
Speaking at the Scottish National Party spring conference in Glasgow, Mr Salmond offered new spending pledges, contrasting them to “Tory cuts”, while accusing David Cameron of “blundering into” the debate on Scotland’s future.

The Scottish first minister announced a list of spending commitments, including a £5m package to encourage young people to volunteer at national and international events and a £10m fund to renovate community sports facilities. He also said the SNP would enact a law to guarantee 600 hours of free nursery education for young children, up from the current minimum of 475 hours.
But he saved his most impassioned rhetoric for an attack on the coalition government, which he said was trying to dictate to Scotland by pushing for a referendum in 2013, a year earlier than the SNP’s preferred date.
In the passage that drew the biggest cheers from the packed conference venue, Mr Salmond said: “In January, the prime minister tried to lay down the law and dictate the terms of Scotland’s referendum. But I’ve got a message for Messrs Cameron, Clegg and Miliband. The days of politicians telling Scotland what to do and what to think – these days are over.”

Of the 10 countries that joined the European Union in 2004, a majority have become independent since 1990, and Scotland is bigger than six of them - Alex Salmond

He also turned his fire on Labour, accusing the party that used to dominate Scotland of voting with the Scottish Tories on every occasion. But he was happy to co-opt Labour policies, insisting his government would keep the educational maintenance allowance, which Labour brought in to encourage sixth form students to stay in education, and which the coalition has scrapped.
He found time to embarrass the Liberal Democrats too, whose members voted earlier on Saturday against debating a motion to drop the coalition’s controversial health bill. A “yes” vote would have meant dropping the bill would become official party policy, despite renewed support for it from the party leadership and Baroness Williams, who has led much of the opposition to the bill from the Lords.
In a glimpse of how electorally damaging the LibDem’s choice could be. Mr Salmond said: “Let me be absolutely clear – because of the independence we have over the NHS – this government, this SNP government, will ensure Scotland’s National Health Service is never for sale.”
But he spent most of his time setting out what he called his “message of hope for the nation”. He told delegates that the SNP government had been good for Scotland, but that outright independence would be better.
And he began to flesh out how he saw an independent Scotland operating on a global scale, insisting it would be able to join the European Union as a member state.
He said: “Of the 10 countries that joined the European Union in 2004, a majority have become independent since 1990, and Scotland is bigger than six of them.
Each and every one of these nations now has a seat at Europe’s top table: a right they cherish – a right Scotland too should embrace.”

Angelina Jolie thanked for noble cause - India

09 mar 2012

Angelina Jolie thanked for noble cause

Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India

Angelina Jolie was thanked for 'doing incredible things' at the Woman in the World summit.

The 36-year-old actress - who is a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador - spoke about the plight of Somali refugees at the event at the Lincoln Centre in New York and was introduced by Rwandan genocide survivor Sandra Uwiringiyimana.

Taking to the stage, Sandra thanks Angelina for 'taking justice into her home and hands and doing incredible things,'with the actress appearing visibly moved by the touching introduction.

During her address, Angelina told the story of Dr. Hawa Abdi, who runs a medical camp in Somalia which is now being overrun by militants and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.

She said the story 'illuminates the nightmare of tens of millions around the world the internally displaced and the ones homeless within their homelands', She added: "It is, right now, Friday morning in Somalia. In a few hours, 400 human beings are about to become, once again, displaced."

Other speakers at the three-day summit include politician Hillary Clinton and actress Meryl Streep.

Apple unveils new Apple TV, releases iOS 5.1 - India

07 mar 2012

Apple unveils new Apple TV, releases iOS 5.1

Apple, along with announcing the iPad, also raised the curtains on the new Apple TV and iOS 5.1Apple TV received its much awaited upgrade, the ability to play 1080p content while maintaining the same form-factor and running the same iOS version as its predecessor. In order to supplement the new Apple TV's 1080p capabilities, the iTunes Store has also been updated to allow purchasing of high definition content. The pricing for the new Apple TV will remain the same as its predecessor at $99.
The other announcement was the release of iOS 5.1, which so far seems to incorporate various bug fixes, along with the earlier announced Japanese language support for Siri. iOS 5.1 also allows users to delete individual photos from photo stream. Camera face detection now highlights all detected faces.
iOS 5.1 brings a new camera app for the iPad and podcast controls for playback speed on all devices, amongst other miscellaneous features and bug fixes.
iOS 5.1 is now available as an over-the-air upgrade to users all across the world.

Robot Cheetah makes speed record - India

06 mar 2012

Robot Cheetah makes speed record

London:  A four-legged robot known as the Cheetah has set a new land speed record for legged robots by running at 29 kmph on a treadmill in Massachusetts.

The Cheetah, being developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the US military's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, is part of a programme aimed at achieving theoretical and experimental advances in the science of robotics, The Telegraph reported on Tuesday.

The Cheetah broke a land speed record for legged robots that was set in 1989 when a two-legged robot at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ran at a speed of just over 21 kmph, the Boston Dynamics said in a statement.

Alfred Rizzi, chief robotics scientist at Boston Dynamics, said the goal is ultimately to get the Cheetah running much faster and in an outdoor environment.

Mild tremors felt in north India, magnitude 4.9 on Richter - India

05 mar 2012

New Delhi A mild earthquake rumbled through a large swathe of north India a little after 1 pm on Monday.
The medium-intensity earthquake rocked office buildings in New Delhi and its satellite towns, pulling people out of their homes and offices.
The tremors, measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale with Haryana's Bahadurgarh as epicentre, were felt across Delhi and its adjoining satellite towns in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana at 1:11 pm, the MeT office said.
The quake took place at a depth of nine kilometres below the earth's surface. The tremors were felt for less than ten seconds.
"The intensity was 4.9 and the epicentre was Bahadurgarh on the Delhi-Haryana border," a senior MeT official said. There were no immediate reports of any casualty.
No damage was also reported to the Fire Brigade or the police.
According to the Seismic Zone Mapping done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Delhi is among 30 cities in the country falling in zone IV, which is defined as a severe intensity seismic zone. This is the third tremor in Delhi since September last year.
Tremors were felt in the Capital on September 18 last following an earthquake with an intensity of 6.8 on the Richter scale near the Sikkim-Nepal border.
On September 8 last, an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude with Haryana's Sonepat as epicentre, had rocked the Capital.

The tremors were also felt in parts of Haryana, particularly areas in the NCR region close to Bahadurgarh – including Gurgaon, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar, Bhiwani and other places. Official sources said there were no reports of casualty or loss to property so far.