Silver Scorpio - International News | Spot News | Top News | Flash News | Live News
KAWASAKI, Japan, April 2 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nippon Oil Corp is considering boosting capacity at its 404,000 tonnes per year naphtha cracker in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, company officials involved in the cracker’s operations said on Friday.
Basic Materials | Energy
The company’s sole naphtha cracker can also process up to around 40 percent of alternative feedstock to naphtha, such as middle distillate and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), they said. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)
Washington, September 19 (ANI): Researchers at the Emory Vaccine Center have shown that HIV relies upon a number of strategies rather than use any preferred escape route to escape immune system pressure.
The human immune system has the ability to temporarily overpower HIV in early infection.
Studies conducted in the recent past have shown that most newly infected patients develop neutralizing antibodies. These are blood proteins that glob onto the virus and would allow patients to defend themselves – if they were facing only one target.
However, the problem occurs when HIV mutates, and disguises itself enough to get away from the antibodies. The virus eventually wears down the immune system into exhaustion.
The Emory team’s findings attain significance as they suggest that even if any scientist succeeds in identifying a vaccine component that can stimulate neutralizing antibodies, HIV’s capacity for rapid mutation could still be a confounding factor.
Dr. Cynthia Derdeyn, associate professor of pathology at Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, says that a single type of neutralizing antibody may not be enough to contain HIV.
“These neutralizing antibodies work really well – they hit the virus fast and hard. But so far, every time we look, the virus escapes,” she says.
During the study, the researchers took blood samples from the participants a few weeks after infection occurred, and then later as two participants’ immune responses continued.
They isolated individual viruses over the first two years of HIV infection, and tested how well the patients’ own antibodies could neutralize them.
“In one patient where we had very early samples, there was evidence that neutralizing antibody came up within weeks, and that’s earlier than what was previously thought,” Derdeyn says.
In both patients, some viruses mutated part of their outer proteins so that after the mutation, an enzyme would be likely to attach a sugar molecule to it.
Though the sugar molecule interferes with antibody attack, this tactic, known as the “glycan shield”, was not observed in all cases.
Other viruses mutated the part of the outer protein that the neutralizing antibodies stick to directly. In both patients, many changes in the virus’ genetic code were necessary for escape.
“We need to understand early events in the immune response if we are going to figure out what a potential vaccine should have in it. What we can show is that even in one patient, several escape strategies are going on,” Derdeyn says.
According to her, that means that in order to be immune to HIV infection, someone may need to have several types of neutralizing antibodies ready to go.
Seeing how the virus mutates will allow researchers to choose the best parts to put in a vaccine, she says.
The results are online and scheduled for publication in the September issue of the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens.(ANI)
New York, Sep 18 (ANI): Mischa Barton got a little too high at the G- star after-party at the Bowery Hotel, where she was “slurring her words” and even started dancing on her own.
Barton, who was recently had to go for involuntary hospitalisation for wisdom-teeth complications, stumbled up to the check-in table and started asking for the DJ.
“She kept saying, in a really spacey, weird British accent, ‘Like, I’m with the deejay. I to tally know the deejay. I’m here for the deejay,’” the New York Post quoted a source as saying.
The insider added: “She was slurring her words.”
After being let in, Barton “needed to be escorted to the deejay booth” where she proceeded to “stand for about an hour, dancing in her own world. I don’t think her eyes were open to full capacity — or even half capacity-the whole time she was there,” said the source. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 17(ANI): The Government on Thursday gave its approval to the amendments in the Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Saudi Arabia.
In the MoU signed, the provision of the incorporation of ‘multiple designation clause’ has been agreed and, therefore, each side can now designate any number of airlines as they wish.
The capacity entitlement for the designated airline of each side has also been enhanced from the existing 8,500 seats per week with frequencies not exceeding 31 services to 20,000 seats per week with frequencies not exceeding 75 services per week.
Bangalore, Calicut and Lucknow have also granted additional points of call for the Saudi designated carriers apart from the existing Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Cochin and Hyderabad.
While, Medinah has been granted as additional point of call for India designated carrier apart from the existing Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam.
The capacity to be operated by the Indian designated carriers to and from Dammam for which the Government of Saudi Arabia has declared an open sky policy, shall not be counted against the capacity entitlements available to the Indian carriers.
Both sides have also agreed for the open sky with regard to all cargo services with full third and fourth freedom traffic rights.
As per the summer schedule of 2009, Saudi Arab Airlines fly 39 services per week – 9 to Mumbai, 5 to Hyderabad, 7 to Delhi, 5 to Chennai, 4 to Kochi, 2 to Bangalore, 4 to Calicut and 3 to Lucknow.
Air India flies 46 services per week – 16 services per week to Riyadh, 14 to Jeddah and 16 to Damman. (ANI)
Washington, September 15 (ANI): Conducting extensive research into animal cognition, psychologists at the University at Buffalo have found that some animals may share humans’ ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind.
“Comparative psychologists have studied the question of whether or not non-human animals have knowledge of their own cognitive states by testing a dolphin, pigeons, rats, monkeys and apes using perception, memory and food-concealment paradigms,” said Dr. J. David Smith, a comparative psychologist at the university.
“The field offers growing evidence that some animals have functional parallels to humans’ consciousness and to humans’ cognitive self-awareness,” he added.
He counts dolphins and macaque monkeys among such species.
Recounting the original animal-metacognition experiment with Natua the dolphin, Smith said: “When uncertain, the dolphin clearly hesitated and wavered between his two possible responses, but when certain, he swam toward his chosen response so fast that his bow wave would soak the researchers’ electronic switches.”
He added: “In sharp contrast, pigeons in several studies have so far not expressed any capacity for metacognition. In addition, several converging studies now show that capuchin monkeys barely express a capacity for metacognition. This last result,” Smith says, “raises important questions about the emergence of reflective or extended mind in the primate order. This research area opens a new window on reflective mind in animals, illuminating its phylogenetic emergence and allowing researchers to trace the antecedents of human consciousness.”
Smith describes metacognition as a sophisticated human capacity linked to hierarchical structure in the mind because the metacognitive executive control processes oversee lower-level cognition, to self-awareness because uncertainty and doubt feel so personal and subjective, and to declarative consciousness because humans are conscious of their states of knowing and can declare them to others.
Therefore, Smith says: “It is a crucial goal of comparative psychology to establish firmly whether animals share humans’ metacognitive capacity. If they do, it could bear on their consciousness and self-awareness, too.”
He concludes, “Metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds.”
A research article describing his study has been published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Science. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep.14 (ANI): Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday rebutted criticism of her government’s efforts on preparations for the Commonwealth Games to be held in the national capitalext year.
Reacting to Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president Mike Fennell’s concerns about the organizing committee’s ability to deliver, Dikshit said that she had not received or read Fennell’s letter to Suresh Kalmadi, but was confident that the games preparations are going as per schedule.
Dikshit’s reaction came a day after Fennell sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to expedite preparations for the 2010 event.
In his letter to the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CWOGC), a furious Fennell asked Kalmadi to arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Singh next month.
“Our main concern relates to the capacity of the Organising Committee to deliver operationally. Preparations for the Games are significantly behind, so much so that the Commonwealth Games Federation is extremely worried about the Organising Committee’s ability to deliver the games to any comparable standard to that of the last two editions of the Games in Manchester and Melbourne,” Fennell wrote in his letter
Fennell claimed that the vast majority of functional areas were considerably behind schedule and that an overhaul in the management culture and operation of the organising committee was needed, else the Games “will fail from an operational perspective”.
“With only a year to run until the Games, I feel I must personally brief the Prime Minister of India on the lack of preparations and to seek his input in developing an appropriate recovery plan. I have asked the Chairman of the Organising Committee to facilitate such a meeting on my return to Delhi in early October for our General Assembly,” he said. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 14 (ANI): Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that Maoists are seeking an alliance with northeast insurgent groups.
Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day conference on internal security threats, Chidambaram said the Maoists have been sought alliances with secessionists and insurgentse also said that terrorist groups, including the LeT and the JeM, are persisting with their endeavours to launch terror attacks.
“The Communist Party of India-Maoist besides targeting inimical forces was laying a greater emphasis on targeting infrastructure like roads, bridges,” he added
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will address the conference on Tuesday. He will also present police medals for meritorious services.
The conference provides an interactive platform for senior police professionals and security administrators to freely discuss and debate diverse national security related issues, as also the various operational, infrastructural and welfare related problems faced by them.
Its deliberations would also include formulation and sharing of professional practices and processes in tackling challenges relating to crime control and law and order management.
The conference offers opportunities for generation and exchange of new ideas on capacity building for the police in respect of manpower, training, logistics and advanced technology.
The Intelligence Bureau organised the first ever conference of IGPs in India in 1920 and since then, these conferences have been held regularly at New Delhi in the post-independence period. The first conference was organised in 1950.
To begin with, it was a biennial event, but after 1973, it became an annual meeting for the Heads of Police Organisations in the States/Union Territories and of the Central Police Organisations. Director, Intelligence Bureau, is the ex-officio Chairman of the conference. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 14 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will inaugurate the DGPs/IGPs Confernce-2009 here today.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will address the conference on the second day and also present police medals for meritorious services.
The conference is expected to deliberate on major internal security threats, including left wing extremism, terrorism, coastal security, insurgency in the north-east and circulation of fake currency notes in the country.
The agenda also includes presentations on important policing issues such as the National Police Mission, corporate fraud and security arrangements being planned for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010.
The conference provides an interactive platform for senior police professionals and security administrators to freely discuss and debate diverse national security related issues, as also the various operational, infrastructural and welfare related problems faced by them.
Its deliberations would also include formulation and sharing of professional practices and processes in tackling challenges relating to crime control and law and order management.
The conference offers opportunities for generation and exchange of new ideas on capacity building for the police in respect of manpower, training, logistics and advanced technology.
The intelligence Bureau organised the first ever conference of IGPs in India in 1920 and since then, these conferences have been held regularly at New Delhi in the post-independence period. The first conference was organised in 1950.
To begin with, it was a biennial event, but after 1973, it became an annual meeting for the Heads of Police Organisations in the States/Union Territories and of the Central Police Organisations. Director, Intelligence Bureau, is the ex-officio Chairman of the conference. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 11 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will inaugurate the DGPs/IGPs Confernce-2009 on September 14.
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will address the conference on the second day and also present police medals for meritorious services.
The conference is expected to deliberate on major internal security threats, including left wing extremism , terrorism, coastal security, insurgency in the north-east and circulation of fake currency notes in the country.
The agenda also includes presentations on important policing issues such as the National Police Mission, corporate fraud and security arrangements being planned for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in 2010.
The conference provides an interactive platform for senior police professionals and security administrators to freely discuss and debate diverse national security related issues, as also the various operational, infrastructural and welfare related problems faced by them.
Its deliberations would also include formulation and sharing of professional practices and processes in tackling challenges relating to crime control and law and order management.
The conference offers opportunities for generation and exchange of new ideas on capacity building for the police in respect of manpower, training, logistics and advanced technology.
The intelligence Bureau organised the first ever conference of IGPs in India in 1920 and since then, these conferences have been held regularly at New Delhi in the post-independence period. The first conference was organised in 1950.
To begin with, it was a biennial event, but after 1973, it became an annual meeting for the Heads of Police Organisations in the States/Union Territories and of the Central Police Organisations. Director, Intelligence Bureau, is the ex-officio Chairman of the conference. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 11 (ANI): India and Nepal signed here a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for review of Air Service Agreement (ASA) and a technical accord.
As per the understanding reached between the delegation from the two countries, the weekly seat capacity has been increased to 30,000 from the existing 6,000. This step can safely be expected to give a whole new boost to tourism as well as trade between the two countries.
Three new points have been granted to Nepal, namely Dehra Dun, Gorakhpur and Bagdogra and for India, Pokhara, Lumbini, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Janakpur, Dhangadi and Bhairahawa.
However, within their overall capacity entitlements, the designated airlines of Nepal shall be entitled to operate not exceeding 10,000 seats per week to/from Mumbai and Bangalore each and not exceeding 15,000 seats per week to/from Delhi. This restriction will become null and void from January 1, 2011.
Regarding the revised route schedule, the Nepali delegation stated that barring Kathmandu, there is no other airport in Nepal which is suitable for operation of international flights.
The designated airlines of each party shall be entitled to operate any number of all-cargo services between each other’s territory with any type of aircraft with full 3rd, 4th and 5th freedom traffic rights. Such all-cargo services may also be operated under co-operative marketing arrangements such as code sharing blocked space.
The delegations took note of the Technical Co-operation Agreement signed between the Airports Authority of India and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Both sides agreed to take further action for implementation of this Agreement.
The Indian side reiterated its request that permission for the deployment of sky marshals on the flights operated by the designated airlines of India to/from Nepal may be expedited.
The Nepal side took note of the request and informed that the matter had already been referred to the appropriate authority of the Government of Nepal. The Nepal side will pursue the matter. This Memorandum of Understanding shall super cede all previous arrangements to the extent applicable and shall come into force with immediate effect.
The Indian delegation was led by M. Madhavan Nambiar, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Nepal side was led by Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 10(ANI): Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday urged cooperative sugar factories to play a more pro-active role and shoulder the responsibility of importing more raw sugar, not only for better utilization of their processing capacity, but also to fulfill their obligation of providing adequate and affordable sugar to the nation.
Addressing the 50th Annual Meeting of the General Body of National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Ltd. here, Pawar said the government has already taken steps to assist sugar factories to further help sugarcane farmers to improve productivity as well as sucrose content in sugarcane by way of soft loans at four per cent per annum from SDF.
Pawar said that in view of the significant drop in sugarcane production, there isn’t for increasing sugarcane producing area immediately. The Central Government has also decided to give a one time short term loan assistance from SDF at four per cent per annum for the purchase of inputs like seed, fertilizers and pesticides.
“The loan given to the sugar factories has to be passed on to the farmers at not more than four per cent interest in cash or kind, before March 31, 2010,” Pawar added.
Pawar also requested the delegates to assess their individual capability and capacity to pay during 2009-10 sugar season and give remunerative price to the farmers, keeping in view the long term requirement of sugarcane.
This will encourage them to increase acreage under sugarcane as well as invest more in the sugarcane crop by way of inputs like fertilizers and pesticides, he added.
Pawar further requested the sugar factories to utilize modernization and expansion loans before investing in projects for utilizing the by-products.
The minister also talked about two important aspects -increased availability of sugarcane by way of improvement in productivity as well as recovery of sugar and controlling the cyclical nature of the sugarcane and sugar economy- which need to be addressed not only by the Government, but also by the sugar factories as well as the sugarcane farmers.
Stating that the country is reeling under pressure of high sugar prices along with lack of availability of sugar, not only in the domestic market, but also in the international market, Pawar discussed some unprecedented steps taken by the Government to supplement the domestic production of sugar and also ensure availability of sugar to the more vulnerable sections of the society.
He expressed hope that these steps would not only increase availability of sugar in the market within September, 2009, especially during the festival season, but also have a positive impact in controlling the sugar prices. (ANI)
Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Researchers at the University of Leicester and Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal have found that vitamin C can help protect DNA damage of skin cells and lead to better skin regeneration.
Previous research has shown that DNA repair is upregulated in people consuming vitamin C supplements.
In the new study, the researchers have provided some mechanistic evidence.
The researchers used affymetrix microarray, for looking at gene expression, and the ‘Comet’ assay to study DNA damage
“The exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation increases in summer, often resulting in a higher incidence of skin lesions. Ultraviolet radiation is also a genotoxic agent responsible for skin cancer, through the formation of free radicals and DNA damage,” said lead researcher Tiago Duarte, formerly of the University of Leicester, and now at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology in Portugal.
“Our study analysed the effect of sustained exposure to a vitamin C derivative, ascorbic acid 2-phosphate (AA2P), in human dermal fibroblasts.
“We investigated which genes are activated by vitamin C in these cells, which are responsible for skin regeneration.
“The results demonstrated that vitamin C may improve wound healing by stimulating quiescent fibroblasts to divide and by promoting their migration into the wounded area. Vitamin C could also protect the skin by increasing the capacity of fibroblasts to repair potentially mutagenic DNA lesions,” Duarte added.
The researchers hope that the results will be of great relevance to the cosmetics industry.
“The study indicates a mechanism by which vitamin C could contribute to the maintenance of a healthy skin by promoting wound healing and by protecting cellular DNA against damage caused by oxidation,” said Dr Marcus S. Cooke from the Department of Cancer Studies and Molecular Medicine and Department of Genetics, at the University of Leicester.
“These findings are particular importance to our photobiology interests, and we will certainly be looking into this further,” Cooke added.
The findings have been published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine. (ANI)
Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Chinese scientists have found that the roots of a plant have powerful natural substances that can kill the H1N1 virus.
Researchers Fang-Rong Chang and Yang-Chang Wu identified chemicals in the extracts of the “Dung of the Devil” plant, which were more effective against the H1N1 virus than the antiviral drug currently available for the flu.
The report will be published in the Sept. 25 issue of ACS’ Journal of Natural Products.
The plant biologically called ferula assa-foetida, is found in Iran, Afghanistan and mainland China.
The authors say: “Overall, the present study has determined that sesquiterpene coumarins from F. assa-foetida may serve as promising lead components for new drug development against influenza A (H1N1) viral infection.”
The plant was also used as a remedy during the1918 Spanish flu that took a toll of nearly 100 million lives.
However, the antiviral capacity of the plant was not fully confirmed until now. (ANI)
Moscow, Sep 3 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has expressed a desire to enhance bilateral trade ties with Russia.
While addressing a gathering of expatriate Indians and some prominent Russians during the course of her five-day visit, Patil said, the only area where India-Russia relationship is lagging is in the field of bilateral economic cooperation.
“When I look at our relationship, if there is anywhere I feel we are lagging behind, it is in the field of bilateral economic cooperation. For two economies with GDP’s of this size, economic structures that only point to our strong complementarities, close political ties, at all levels of government and strong desire of political leadership of both the sides to foster closer ties, India-Russia bilateral trade and investment ties remain much too modest,” Patil added.
Acknowledging the work done by the expatriate Indian community towards enhancing ties between both the countries, Patil said, “All of you have been working in some capacity or the other with India-Russia collaborators projects. It is your work that has provided the building blocks to the India-Russia strategic partnership.”
Reportedly, Russia is keen to double the trade with India to 10 billion dollars by 2010 and cement Indo-Russian relations despite trade with India lagging far behind Moscow’s economic ties with the European Union and China.
Russia sees India, a staunch ally of the erstwhile Soviet Union during the Cold War era, as an important partner to expand Russian influence in Asia, though Moscow and New Delhi have bickered over delays in the delivery of Russian military hardware.
Russia is aiding in the setting up of two 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors at Kudankulam as part of a deal signed in 1988. Russia agreed in 2008 to build four more reactors at the site. By Pankaj Choudhary (ANI)
Islamabad, Sep.2 (ANI): Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Zafar Ali Shah has said the whole nation would demand mid-term term elections if the PPP-led government fails to try former President General Pervez Musharraf under Article Six of the Constitution.
Criticising the Gilani government for not taking any substantial action against Musharraf, Shah said he would again move a petition seeking Musharraf’s trial in the Supreme Court.
“I would again submit a petition seeking a Supreme Court ruling for the government to initiate criminal proceedings against Musharraf for high treason,” The Daily Times quoted Shah, as saying.
Shah, however, said that he had filed the petition earlier in his personal capacity and his party (PML-N) has nothing to do with it.
Meanwhile, PML-N Senior Vice President Javed Hashmi ruled out any possibility of mid-term polls in the country.
Hashmi said the PML-N respects people’s mandate and supports President Asif Ali Zardari.
“We will not support any move for mid-term elections and our party has always given due respect to President Zardari and his party’s mandate,” Hashmi said.
He termed the minus-one formula as the ‘approach of a sick mind’.
When asked about Zafar Ali Shah’s views, he said it was his personal opinion to demand for mid-term elections. (ANI)
New Delhi, Sep 1 (ANI): Dr Vijay Kumar Saraswat, who is in charge of the development of missile and strategic systems in the country, today took charge as scientific adviser to Defence Minister AK Antony and will also serve as Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
Dr. Saraswat, who replaced the present incumbent M Natarajan on September 1, will also serve as Secretary Department of Defence Research and Development,.
He is presently Chief Controller Research and Development (Missiles and Strategic Systems) since November 2005 in DRDO.
In this capacity, he spearheaded the development of country’s strategic and tactical missile systems, including the AGNI series of strategic missiles covering a range up to 3000 kms.
Dr Saraswat, who has a doctorate in Combustion Engineering, started his career in DRDO in 1972 at Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad and was responsible for the development of country’s first Liquid Propulsion Engine.
As Project Director ‘PRITHVI’, he steered the design, development, production and induction of first indigenous Surface-to-Surface missile system ‘PRITHVI’, into armed forces.
The successful testing of DHANUSH missile on board a moving ship with high terminal accuracy brought new dimension in the national defence capability. Dr. Saraswat also pioneered the concept of theatre defence system and integration of national Air Defence elements.
He was Director RCI before taking over as CCR and D(MSS). He has headed various committees of national importance.
Dr Saraswat is forerunner in the development of number of critical missile technologies that were under denial due to Missile Technology Control regime, thus making India self-reliant in Missile Technologies.
He has received several awards including Prof Jai Krishna Memorial Award of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and National Systems Gold Medal by Systems Society of India.
International Academy of Engineering, Russia, elected Dr. Saraswat as Member of Academy and honoured him as an academician. (ANI)
New Delhi, Aug.31 (ANI): ‘Lateral entrants’, a term coined for non-RSS workers, are in for tough days ahead in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In the wake of recent wrangling in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed by the exit of senior leader Jaswant Singh and L.K. Advani’s aide Sudheendra Kulkarni, the party has decided to clip the feathers of ‘lateral’ entrants. It literally implies that the members, who are non-swayamsewaks, will no more be able to enjoy the power and clout they used to till recent past.
A senior leader, seeking anonymity, said, ” BJP has decided that the next BJP President will be a swayamsewak and will not be a ‘ lateral entry’. This will further strengthen the chances of hardcore RSS workers-Arun Jaitley, Bal Apte and Narendra Modi-being appointed as the new bosses of the organisation and put to rest speculations about Sushma Swaraj becoming the new President of the party after Rajnath Singh’s three-year term comes to its end by the end of this year.
According to a top BJP source, the cadres of the party are deeply pained by the recent statements made by Jaswant Singh and Advani’s aide Sudheendra Kulkarni who left the party citing that he has fundamental differences with BJP’s ideology.
Party believes that cadres across the country are deeply anguished by the conduct of ‘lateral’ entrants who enjoyed enormous power and were aspirants of holding top jobs if party had won. But they defected after the party lost in the elections.
According to sources, although party will downsize the clout of non-swayamsewaks in party affairs, it will not bar their entry into the party.
Source told ANI that BJP would welcome lateral entrants into the party in future on the basis of their professional ability and capacity.
It is learnt that RSS chief in his recent meetings with the BJP leadership had suggested that they should trim the role of lateral entrants in the BJP and promote swayamsewaks in the party.
Taking a dig at the so called intellectuals, who form the major chunk of ‘lateral entrants’ in the party, top source also said: “We have competent cadres who can speak good English and also write a book.”
Admitting that the generational change in the party is imminent, party sources also indicated that Advani will continue to guide the party with his experience and moral authority even after he steps down as the leader of Opposition. By Naveen Kapoor(ANI)
Srinagar, Aug 30 (ANI): In a major administrative reshuffle, Jammu and Kashmir Government has transferred 26 senior officers, including 12 IAS officers.
The decision to transfer the officers was taken on Saturday evening at a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
A spokesman of the State Government released the details of the cabinet decision to media in a press conference on Sunday.
The cabinet decided to appoint a woman officer Naseema Lankar, as first Divisional Commissioner in Kashmir. She will replace Masood Samoon, who is retiring from the service on Monday.
B.B.Vyas, who was Principal Secretary to the state Governor, has been made Commissioner Secretary of Planning and Development. He will also hold the additional responsibility of Chief Executive Officer of Economic Reconstruction Agency.
Pramodh Jain, Commissioner Secretary of Social Welfare has been transferred to Higher Education Department in the same capacity.
Tashi Dorjee, Joint Financial Commissioner of Agrarian Reforms has been given the additional charge of Secretary, Home Department.
Deputy Commissioner of Poonch, Mohammad Afzal Bhat, has been moved to head the Pulwama district. He will replace Ishtiyaq Ahmad Ashai, who has been made additional Commissioner of Kashmir.
Kuldip Lal Khajuria, Additional District Development Commissioner, Samba has been posted as Deputy Commissioner, Poonch. (ANI)
Barmer (Rajasthan), Aug.29 (ANI): The Government of Rajasthan on Saturday demanded a lion’s share of the value added tax (VAT) that would be generated from the extraction of crude oil from the Mangala Processing Terminal ( MPT) here.
According to sources, the issue will be settled later when state government representatives meet the officials of this Cairns Energy India-ONGCjoint venture.
ONGC Chairman R.S. Sharma said that it would take at least four years to meet this demand of the Rajasthan Government, which was made by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Sharma said that the approach of the state government would determine the way forward on the issue of revenue sharing.
Officials attached with the joint venture said they are leaving no stone unturned in doing their bit for the local people.
The media contingent accompanying the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on the inaugural visit to the project site were shown the entrepreneural centre where various social projects for local people are showcased.
Cairn India CEO Rahul Dhir emphasised the point that the maximum number of labourers are locals, and added that out of the 700 contractors, a majority are local people.
Inaugurating the project, Dr. Singh said the present venture is an indication that foreign investment in the country will grow and that the Indian Government will honestly provide all facilities to attract foreign investment.
He also congratulated the technical personnel for successfully finding oil reserves.
It maybe recalled that the Dutch firm Shell had abandoned the search for oil in this desert area. cairn india then stepped in, and after four years of continuous labour, was able to discover oil. arlier, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora described the activation of the Mangala Processing Terminal ( MPT) as a historic achievement, as the crude oil production from this block will meet about 20 percent of the nation’s current crude oil production.
He said this will enable the country to save seven percent of the crude oil import bill and reduce import dependence.
Deora also emphasised the need for stabilising crude oil prices for ensuring the sustained economic growth of the country, Deora said the MPT find is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
Cairn has invested about Rs.10000 crores in the area.
The total investment in this project will be more than Rs. 20000 crores. The government will get Rs. 46000 crores as profit petroleum revenue over the life of the project and will provide job opportunities for more than 6000 people.
According to company sources, the supply terminal to the Mangala field, the second largest oil discovery in the country in two decades, will be a giant step towards curtailing the country’s oil import bill.
With an initial 30,000 barrels capacity per day (bpd), Cairn India plans to add another 1,00,000 bpd over the next 18 months.
Mangala oil field officials are confident of reaching the target of producing 1,75,000 bpd in the next 20 months.
The project would contribute more than 20 per cent of India’s domestic crude oil production by 2011, the company sources said. By Pankaj Chaudhary (ANI)
London, Aug 29 (ANI): Researchers have developed a new tool that would help predict a patient’s risk of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
What’s more, it would also help determine the effective level of treatment.
Boffins have come up with an ADO index that can help physicians assess the severity of the illness.
Presently, the BODE index is used by chest physicians to estimate a patient’s risk of death from COPD. It assesses body-mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea and exercise capacity.
However, the BODE index is rarely used in primary care settings where most patient treatment options are managed, because exercise capacity cannot be easily measured in the typical doctor’s office.
“The burden from COPD is so enormous that we need to reach out to any doctors who care for COPD patients,” The Lancet quoted Dr Milo A. Puhan, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and lead author of the study.
“The ADO index can be used in any setting and we hope that it will serve as a basis for more individualized treatment selection in the near future,” Puhan added.
For the study, Puhan and colleagues developed a simplified BODE index and the ADO index, which included age, dyspnea and airflow obstruction.
The research team compared the predictions of the BODE index with the 3-year risk of all-cause mortality from 232 COPD patients from Switzerland.
The updated BODE index and the new ADO index were then validated with a cohort of 342 COPD patients from Spain.
The findings showed that updated BODE and ADO indices accurately predicted 3-year mortality compared to the original BODE index, which performed poorly at predicting 3-year risk of mortality. (ANI)
Copyright © 2013 · eleven40 theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in