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9/11 memorial to have disturbing graphic images

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Sep. 11 (ANI): The proposed 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero is going to have 400 oak trees on the outside and disturbing graphic images of people jumping and planes hitting the towers inside the museum.

The New York Post quoted Joseph Daniels, president of the 9/11 Memorial Foundation, as saying that construction of the museum is moving forward.

The museum and memorial sprawled over eight acres is set to open in 2012.

The last column pulled out from the World Trade Center rubble has been returned to bedrock and will serve as a focal point, along with the so-called Survivors’ Stairs used by people fleeing the towers, the report says.

The Memorial Foundation has compiled 500 hours of video archives with help of a private team of filmmakers who collected professional and amateur videos from the day and its aftermath.

CameraPlanet’s archive includes a five-minute video shot in the streets of lower Manhattan on the evening of the attacks, with office stairwells filled with reams of paper and half-open offices with family pictures still inside.

A dust-covered Brooks Brothers logo is in one frame under shattered windows.

What appears to be an airliner seat is strewn in the street. “God Bless America! Unity!” is scrawled in the dust of one window. (ANI)

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Peter Andre knows who raped me: Jordan

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 4 (ANI): Katie Price a.k.a Jordan has claimed that estranged hubby Peter Andre has full knowledge of who raped her.

Speaking on This Morning, Price said Andre knew the truth about her rape.

Jordan’s statement follows the Aussie singer’s claims that he knew nothing of his wife’s rape ordeal and was shocked by her revelation.

The Sun quoted Jordan as saying: “He [Pete] knows who the other person is.”

The 31-year-old beauty had recently disclosed in her OK! magazine column that she had been raped more than once when she was younger. (ANI)

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Australia faces a long, dusty fight for survival at The Oval: Roebuck

August 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, Aug. 22 (ANI): Australia faces a long struggle to survive at The Oval, believes noted cricket columnist Peter Roebuck.

According to Roebuck, an interesting few days awaits as skilful batsmen contend with fast bowlers bent on exploiting uneven bounce and modest spinners try to make the ball bite and turn.

“Far from playing hard and true, the strip was grudging and dusty from the opening hour. Evidently the curator overdid it. This match is likely to grip till the last afternoon,” he writes in his column for The Age.

“At stumps, Australia’s position was precarious. Hereafter it might need to rethink its bowling strategy by choosing horses for courses. Previously it was able to play the same blokes in all conditions. Great bowlers travel well. The current crop have varied skills. A ruthless approach may be required, with bowlers coming and going regardless,” Roebuck says. (ANI)

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Ex-England coach Fletcher reignites feud with Ponting

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 15 (ANI): Former England coach Duncan Fletcher has claimed that Australian captain Ricky Ponting knows nothing about the spirit of cricket.

Fletcher, who was abused by Ponting during the 2005 Ashes over the use of substitute fieldsman Gary Pratt, said England would have been delighted to get under Ponting’s skin in the Cardiff Test.

He claimed England captain Andrew Strauss would have been “amused” to receive a blast from Ponting over England’s time-wasting tactics.

“If any side in the world doesn’t play within the spirit of the game, it’s Ponting’s Australians, yet here he is sitting in judgment on England because he’s frustrated that his bowlers failed to complete the job,” Fox Sports quoted Fletcher, as saying.

“We’re left with the ridiculous situation of being told off by an Australia captain for transgressing cricket’s spirit – a notion he seems to only vaguely understand himself. Ponting has to be careful. Someone needs to sit down and ask him what he understands by the spirit of the game,” he added.

Fletcher’s explosive outburst – in his column for The Guardian newspaper – will raise Ashes tensions another notch going into Thursday’s second Test at Lord’s.

In 2005, Ponting let fly with a furious outburst at Fletcher when he was run-out by England substitute fielder Pratt during Australia’s fourth Test loss at Trent Bridge.

Now Fletcher insists Ponting’s frustration is starting to overflow over as it did in England four years ago.

He claims that Ponting turned on a petulant performance in Cardiff when he confronted umpire Aleem Dar over a disputed catch at silly mid-off.

“England will now be thinking that the Australians are getting very prickly – just like four years ago – and that’s a good sign for Andrew Strauss and the team. The pressure is on Australia now after their bowlers messed up, and that’s something England can take advantage of,” said Fletcher. (ANI)

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Ice-free summers in ancient Arctic may help predict future trends

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 10 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have obtained evidence for ice-free summers with intermittent winter sea ice in the Arctic Ocean during the Late Cretaceous period, which should help predict how the Arctic is likely to respond to future global warming.

The Late Cretaceous, the period between 100 and 65 million years ago leading up to the extinction of the dinosaurs, is crucial in this regard because levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) were high, driving greenhouse conditions.

In this regards, Dr Andrew Davies and Professor Alan Kemp of the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science based at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, along with Dr Jennifer Pike of Cardiff University have presented the first seasonally resolved Cretaceous sedimentary record from the Alpha Ridge of the Arctic Ocean.

The scientists analyzed the remains of diatoms – tiny free-floating plant-like organisms – preserved in late Cretaceous marine sediments.

In modern oceans, diatoms play a dominant role in the ‘biological carbon pump’ by which CO2 is drawn down from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and a proportion of it exported to the deep ocean.

Unfortunately, the role of diatoms in the Cretaceous oceans has until now been unclear, in part because they are often poorly preserved in sediments.

But, the researchers struck lucky.

“With remarkable serendipity, successive US and Canadian expeditions that occupied floating ice islands above the Alpha Ridge of the Arctic Ocean, recovered cores containing shallow buried upper Cretaceous diatom ooze with superbly preserved diatoms,” explained the researchers.

This has allowed them to conduct a detailed study of the diatom fossils using sophisticated electron microscopy techniques.

In the modern ocean, scientists use floating sediment traps to collect and study settling material.

These electron microscope techniques that have been pioneered by Professor Kemp’s group at Southampton have unlocked a ‘palaeo-sediment trap’ to reveal information about Late Cretaceous environmental conditions.

They find that the most informative sediment core samples display a regular alternation of microscopically thin layers composed of two distinctly different diatom assemblages, reflecting seasonal changes.

Their analysis clearly demonstrates that seasonal blooming of diatoms was not related to the upwelling of nutrients, as has been previously suggested.

Rather, production occurred within a stratified water column, indicative of ice-free summers.

According to the researchers, “This Cretaceous production, dominated by diatoms adapted to stratified conditions of the polar summer may also be a pointer to future trends in the modern ocean.”

“With increasing CO2 levels and global warming giving rise to increased ocean stratification, this style of (marine biological) production may become of increasing importance,” they added. (ANI)

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Election defeat does not deter Fernandes, ready for many more battles

June 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, June 28 (ANI): Former Defence Minister and Janata Dal (United) party founder George Fernandes, who has been known for his resilience throughout his political journey, says that in battles, a loss does not matter and it was the fight itself that has always been more important for him.

Fernandes, who contested in the recent parliamentary elections as an independent from Muzaffarpur, says his defeat does not deter him for from continuing to fight against, corruption, poverty and all forms of injustice to build a more transparent, compassionate and equal society, where the self if forgotten and the country comes first.

Writing in the latest issue of the ‘Other Side”, he says, “There are many battles that still remain to be fought.”

Janata Dal (U) party did not give him a ticket and says many of his old colleagues, whom he had nurtured, did not support him. George Fernandes says he received ‘tremendous love and support’ from the people of Muzaffarpur during the campaign. There were large crowds who attended the meetings.

But, as he did not have a strong party machinery “the overwhelming affection of people in village after village did not translate into votes.”

While complimenting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the creditable performance of the JD (U) in the elections, he forewarned him against ‘continuing arrogance’ towards stalwart socialist colleagues in Bihar.

“Bihar’s JD (U) gave a creditable election result. However, Nitish Kumar should be forewarned that his continuing arrogance towards stalwart socialist colleagues in Bihar and his recent back-door machinations with the Congress will result in a Congress revival in Bihar sooner rather than later. His victory was more due to the people’s desire to keep Lalu Prasad Yadav away than any great lead in development as is made out,” Fernandes stated.

Fernandes writes that his long-standing relationship with the people of Bihar, particularly with the people of Muzaffarpur and Nalanda nurtured over the past many years, would continue.

“My doors will always be open for them and for all those who are needy and seeking justice, from all over the country. I would like to believe that those currently in power in Bihar and at the centre will deal fairly and expeditiously with any problems of the people that I may raise with them as I have done for the past 50 years”, Fernandes wrote in his column in “The Other side.”

Fernandes accepts the election result with no regrets because his fights have always been for democratic values and for the causes of the poor and underprivileged.

“I don’t see it as my loss. This time it was also a fight for the right values, which should be practised by those whom I helped to attain power in Bihar. I do not believe they are wiling to improve yet. It may take some more time for them to learn that real power remains only when politics is backed with moral character, courage, and democratic functioning,” he states.

George Fernandes promises to remain active to fight corruption, poverty and all forms of injustice. “There are many battles that still remain to be fought,” he concludes. (ANI)

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Lankan astrologer arrested after predicting President’s exit

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Colombo, June 27 (ANI): A popular Sri Lankan astrologer has been arrested after predicting that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, would be ousted from office and replaced by his own Prime Minister by September.

Opposition supporters decried the arrest of Chandrasiri Bandara as evidence of a growing crackdown on political dissent that has accompanied the army’s defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels last month.ccording to police, Bandara told an opposition meeting last week that the Prime Minister would take over as President on September 9, and the leader of the opposition would become Prime Minister.

According to The Telegraph, it was not clear what Bandara – who has a weekly television show and writes a political column for a pro-opposition newspaper – thought would happen to Rajapaksa after his removal.

Bandara was arrested on Wednesday night so that the source of his prediction could be investigated, according to Ranjith Gunasekera, a police spokesman.

Chathura Vidyarathna, deputy editor of Irudina, which publishes Bandara’s column, said: “He has not returned so far.”

The opposition United National Party condemned the arrest, saying that the Government was expanding a campaign to suppress the media.

Rajapaksa’s popularity has soared, with some supporters hailing him as a modern-day king, since the army defeated the Tamil Tigers last month, bringing an end to a 26-year civil war.

Politicians in his ruling party have gone so far as to propose giving him a second six-year term without holding an election – or perhaps changing the constitution to make him President for life.

However, astrologers are extremely influential in Sri Lanka, where many people consult them before holding weddings and other special events, and politicians often use their predictions to boost their image.(ANI)

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Putin writes column on retaining and firing people

May 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Moscow, May 27 (ANI): Employers wanting to know when and how to retain or fire their employees, should contact Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Turning his hand to writing, Putin’s first ever column for a Russian media outlet will be published on Friday, entitled “Why it’s hard to fire people”.

Written for a niche monthly magazine, Russian Pioneer, it reads as the first admission by Putin of the scale of infighting that raged in the Kremlin during his eight years as president.

“Conflicts within a team, especially within a big team, always arise,” writes Mr Putin, in extracts leaked to a Russian news agency.

“This happens every minute, every second – simply because between people there are always clashes of interest.”

Putin actually played out a delicate balancing act to stop two groups from descending into all-out war.

The scuffles are rarely aired in public and Putin himself has not made direct reference to them before. But now he seems to confirm the most radical of interpretations.

“I can say honestly that while I was president, if I hadn’t interfered in certain situations, in Russia there would long ago ceased to have been a government.”

The magazine’s editor Andrei Kolesnikov said he had not had to make any corrections as the article was written in excellent Russian, albeit with Putin’s famous idiosyncratic expressions in abundance.

For any corporate hotshots looking for tips on how to get rid of underachieving employees in times of economic crisis, the article lays out the “Putin method” of firing, which – on paper at least – sounds surprisingly humane.

“Sometimes from outside it seems like someone should simply be swept aside with a broom, but I can assure you that it’s not always like this. You should never bad-mouth someone behind their back, and it’s impermissible to fire somebody and toss them aside just because somebody has told you something bad about them,” The Telegraph quotes Putin, as saying.

Putin claims that he always gives people the right to fight their corner. (ANI)

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Devastated Peter Andre loses a stone after Katie Price split

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, May 26 (ANI): Heartbroken Peter Andre has lost almost a stone following his split with wife Katie Price a.k.a Jordan.

While writing in his New! Magazine column, the English-born Australian singer said that he spent last week feeling like a zombie and has vowed not to reveal anything about his bitter split with the glamour model.

“I know everybody wants me to spill the beans but it is not something I will ever talk about,” the Mirror quoted him as saying.

“I’ve spent the last week in Cyprus in my own little bubble feeling like a zombie. My head’s in a mess. I couldn’t even face answering the phone to friends,” he added.

Andre said that he has hardly eaten following the split.

He said his clothes don’t fit any more after losing a stone.

“I had a meeting with my lawyers last week and when I put on my suit it was hanging off me,” he said.

“I had it made for the Oscars a couple of months ago and it fitted like a glove. I hadn’t really noticed how much I’ve shrunk but it makes sense as I’ve had practically no appetite recently,” e added. (ANI)

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Dutch Royal parade attack suspect dead

May 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Amsterdam (The Netherlands), May 1 (ANI): A man, who killed five people and injured 13 in an attempt to kill members of the Dutch royal family, has died, according to media reports.
The suspect, a 38-year-old identified by Dutch media as Karst Tates, had been in critical condition since the attack during the Netherlands Queen’s Day holiday yesterday.

According to Sky News, before his death, he reportedly confessed to police that his actions were aimed at the royal family.

Tates rammed his car into the foot of a monument after mowing down people gathered for the annual royal procession in the central city of Apeldoorn.

Twelve people remain in hospital after Tates drove through police barricades towards the bus carrying members of the royal family.

It is believed his vehicle had been stopped and turned back earlier in the day by police.

But it remains unclear how he was able to breach security and charge through barriers, police lines and the crowds and almost reach the royal parade itself.

Queen Beatrix, who witnessed the event, told the nation in an unscheduled televised address that she was “speechless that something so terrible could have happened”.

Official celebrations were cancelled in many areas, and the national flag was flown at half mast at the royal palace at Apeldoorn.

TV footage showed Tates black Suzuki Swift, with its roof and bonnet already crumpled from smashing through police barriers, racing past the royal bus in bright sunshine and slamming into a column.

Other film showed bodies being hurled into the air and members of the royal family covering their faces in shock and dismay.

“I think that it has become clear that this happened with premeditation,” Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said.

Shortly before the attack, the Queen, her son Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his popular Argentine-born wife, Princess Maxima, had walked up to the crowd behind police barricades, accepting flowers and shaking hands. (ANI)

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Catholic nuns accused of ruining women’s sex lives

April 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Apr 27 (ANI): Cosmopolitan magazine’s new executive editor has created a stir by blaming Catholic nuns for ruining women’s sex lives.

Editor Nicole Beland was asked by a reader in her final April column, “My sexually repressed wife can’t even say ‘sex’ without whispering. How can I help her open up?”

To which Beland replied, “It’s not easy to undo damage caused by years of exposure to Catholic-school nuns or overly conservative parents.

“She may need therapy to accept that sex can be a wholesome and glorious thing . . . Every positive thing you say about sex will undo some of the negativity she’s been brainwashed to feel her whole life,” she added.

‘Enraged’ Catholic League president William Donohue has criticized Beland for her views.

“It would never occur to Beland that a woman who is sexually repressed might have been molested growing up,” the New York Post quoted Donohue as saying.

“No, for Beland it is empirically obvious that Sister Mary Alice did it . . . Imagine some poor soul asking about his sexually promiscuous wife. Imagine Beland answering, ‘It’s not easy to undo damage caused by years of exposure to Jewish-school teachers or overly liberal parents,’ ” he added.

Beland retorted: “I can’t believe that after writing a sex and relationship advice column for eight years, that this is the first thing that Bill Donohue has taken issue with. Clearly he’s not a devoted reader.

“My advice . . . was, as always, based on my personal experiences. I went to Catholic school for eight long years and am now working at Cosmopolitan magazine, so obviously I’m aware that lengthy exposure to nuns doesn’t kill everyone’s sex drive.

“But could it put a damper on someone’s appetite for action? Yeah, I think so,” she added. (ANI)

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Spitfire found in Cape Town scrapyard will be auctioned for 2 million pounds

April 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Apr. 19 (ANI): One of the world’s few remaining airworthy Supermarine Spitfires was rusting in a South African scrapyard thirty years ago.

But this week its remarkable restoration will be completed when it goes up for sale at auction. It is expected to fetch up to 2 million pounds.

The two-seater aircraft has been painstakingly reassembled, using parts from around the globe, including a propeller from Germany, the Telegraph reports.

The TR MK IX, with the serial number SM250 was built by the Vickers-Armstrong Company in 1944, and was then sold in 1948 to the South African Air Force.

In the 1970s, it was rediscovered in a Cape Town scrap yard before being sold on to a British aviation enthusiast, Charles Church.

In 2002, Paul Portelli commissioned the company Classic Aero to restore the aircraft to its former glory.

Much of the original aircraft remains, even down to the bullet proof windscreen panel and control column.

Some parts had to be sourced from scrapped aircraft or bought from dealers, before undergoing a rigorous process of safety checking and authentication, so the aircraft could be acknowledged as a Spitfire by the Civil Aviation Authority.

The engine was overhauled by a company in Gloucestershire and the propeller was built by a German firm.

Two years after Portelli died of cancer his job is now finished.

Today, just under 60 airworthy Spitfires are left around the globe, most of them outside Britain.

Of the 24 in this country, five – including the only Spitfire in the world still flying that saw action in 1940 – belong to the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. (ANI)

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Temple in Turkey sheds light on so-called ‘Dark Age’

April 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Toronto, April 16 (ANI): A remarkably well-preserved monumental temple in Turkey, believed to be constructed during the time of King Solomon in the 10th/9th-centuries BC, is shedding light on the so-called Dark Age.

Uncovered by the University of Toronto’s Tayinat Archaeological Project (TAP) in the summer of 2008, the discovery casts doubt upon the traditional view that the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive.

Ancient sources, such as the Homeric epics and the Hebrew Bible, depict an era of widespread famine, ethnic conflict and population movement, most famously including the migrations of the Sea Peoples (or biblical Philistines) and the Israelites.

This is thought to have precipitated a prolonged Dark Age marked by cultural decline and ethnic strife during the early centuries of the Iron Age.

But, recent discoveries – including the Tayinat excavations – have revealed that some ruling dynasties survived the collapse of the great Bronze Age powers.

“Our ongoing excavations have not only begun to uncover extensive remains from this Dark Age, but the emerging archaeological picture suggests that during this period Tayinat was the capital of a powerful kingdom, the ‘Land of Palastin’,” said Timothy Harrison, professor of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Toronto and the director of the project.

“Intriguingly, the early Iron Age settlement at Tayinat shows evidence of strong cultural connections, if not the direct presence of foreign settlers, from the Aegean world, the traditional homeland of the Sea Peoples,” he added.

Excavations uncovered the temple’s southern approach, which once faced a broad stone-paved courtyard, and consisted of a monumental staircase and porticoed-entrance, supported by a large, ornately carved basalt column base.

In addition, fragments of monumental stelae – stone slabs created for religious or other commemorative purposes – carved in Luwian (an extinct language once spoken in what is now Turkey) hieroglyphic script, were found.

They are thought to have once stood on stone platforms in the courtyard.

“The building’s central room was burned in an intense fire. It was filled with heavily charred brick and wood, as well as a substantial quantity of bronze metal, including riveted pieces and carved ivory fragments – clearly the remains of furniture or wall fixings. Fragments of gold and silver foil were also found along with the carved eye inlay from a human figure,” said Harrison.

The temple’s inner sanctuary will be the focus of the 2009 field season which begins on July 1. (ANI)

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SRK Apologises To Gavaskar Over Multiple Captaincy Theory

April 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

The King Khan aka the Bollywood legend and the pride owner of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) IPL team, Shah Rukh Khan has apologized to the former Indian skipper and legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar over the latter remarks on the multiple captaincy theory.

Before leaving for South Africa for the upcoming season of the IPL, SRK said, “I have not said anything against Gavaskar. I just wanted to have a breathing space to try something new. I have sent him an apology letter if he felt so.”

“If Gavaskar asks me to walk on my head and run the team, I would. Anything that Gavaskar says that has to do with cricket, if he mentions, should be followed,” said the actor.

However, SRK also pointed out that people are making comments without understanding what the concept of multiple captaincy theory.

It can be recalled that the whole controversy started last month when KKR coach Buchanan unveiled his plan for several skippers, thus forcing out Ganguly from lone captaincy. The former Aussie coach named Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, Brad Hodge and Sourav Ganguly as the four skippers for the team for IPL Season 2.

For that reason, Gavaskar, through his column in a national daily, critisized Buchanan for advocating a team to be lead by multiple captains.

The IPL Season 2 is all set to start with a bang in South Africa from April 18.

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A-Rod dating ‘The Real Housewives’ babe?

April 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Apr 13 (ANI): Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is reportedly dating a contestant from ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’.

The 33-year-old baseball star was seen sharing an intimate dinner with Bethenny Frankel at a local restaurant in Miami on April 10.

According to The News’ Gatecrasher column, Frankel and A-Rod hooked up “three months ago”.

However, Frankel later laughed off the reports.

She said, “We’re madly in love; we’re engaged. I fly to Miami every weekend. I’m in the front row when they’re playing. I never felt this way.”

But really, she insisted, “No, I’ve never been in the same room with him.”

However, sources say that Rodriguez subsequently got in touch with Frankel.

“I think the reports sparked his curiosity. I think he respected the way she denied it,” the New York Daily News quoted an insider as saying.

“They could be a match,” said a friend.

“She’s very athletic – she snowboards and surfs. She’s an expert on nutrition. She’s also a no-nonsense, straight-shooting lady. And we know Alex likes strong women,” the friend added. (ANI)

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Hike through the Pyrenees amid sheep, vultures and foggy valleys

April 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sainte-Engrace, France – You had better not be prone to dizziness, if you cross the Himalayan-style suspension bridge at Holzarte in the French Pyrenees. Under your feet yawns a gorge some 150 metres deep, clearly visible in gaps between the slats. And the bridge sways more violently the closer you come to the middle.

Italian carpenters built the structure in the 1920s, when villages in the Pyrenees were isolated. Today, it serves as a starting point for hikes in Basque country and the former French province of Bearn.

The Basque country is known for berets, and Bearn for béarnaise sauce, but both attributions are false. Berets actually originated in neighbouring Bearn, where shepherds knitted the flat, round caps and then felted, them. They became world famous thanks to the Basque people, though.

As for béarnaise sauce, it was created in Paris and named after Henry IV, king of France, who was born in the Bearn region.

Jean Soust, a hiking guide, told these and other anecdotes during our steady ascent. “There’s hardly another mountain range in Europe where so much biodiversity has been preserved,” he said, pointing to flowers along the trail.

Unlike the Alps, the Pyrenees have been spared mass tourism so far. Two long-distance hiking trails traverse the range, which forms the border between France and Spain.

Our trail led past a powerful waterfall and through a beech forest. Above the timberline, a path used by shepherds wound its way up a mountain pasture. A tolling of bells sounded like the start of Catholic High Mass, but it came from hundreds of sheep. They gorge themselves on herbs that give Pyrenean cheese its flavour.

There was more ringing a little later, this time from sturdy horses with long, shaggy manes with bells around their necks so that their owners could find them more easily.

Numerous gites, guest houses where regional fare is served in the evening, offer travellers a place to spend the night. Didier Constance runs the Ferme de sejour Espondaburu, a gite near the village of Sainte-Engrace.

“Today there’s oeufs (eggs) en cocotte, mutton with chanterelles and sheet cake with fresh blackberries,” Constance announced to his guests. While delicious smells wafted from the kitchen, the guests bided the time until dinner splendidly with glasses of red wine by the fireplace.

The next morning, mist shrouded the valley, a condition typical of the northern, French side of the Pyrenees. It is often warmer and drier on the Spanish side. The murky weather in the mountains has its charm, however, as the landscape looks enchanted in soft light.

When a ray of sunlight managed to slip through the clouds, water droplets clinging to spiders’ webs and blades of grass glittered like crystal glass. Vultures circled overhead.

The Pyrenees also have some surprises for culture lovers, for example Romanesque churches with figures carved into column capitals. In Sainte-Engrace, there is a depiction of the Three Wise Men visiting Mary and the infant Jesus. Mary’s features are those of a well-fed Basque peasant woman.

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Nomination cannot be cancelled for false affidavit’

April 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kolkata, April 6 (IANS) To prevent candidates from suppressing facts in their affidavits, the Election Commission has ruled that the nominees cannot leave any column of the form blank, a top electoral officer said here Monday.

But he made it clear that contestants cannot be barred from the poll fray for giving false information in the affidavit.

‘The EC has come out with two advisories on candidates’ affidavits. Firstly, the affidavits have to be typed and not handwritten. This was done as a section of candidates in some states used to give handwritten affidavits, which were illegible,’ said West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen.

‘Another problem was suppression of information by some candidates, who used to leave some of the columns blank. So, in another advisory, the EC has said none of the columns can be left vacant. The candidate has to write at least ‘nil’ or ‘not applicable’ in those columns in which he has nothing to add,’ Sen said after inaugurating the state chapter of the National Election Watch.

But as per a Supreme Court ruling, candidature cannot be cancelled for giving false information or suppressing facts. ‘This is because the system of filing affidavit was introduced much after the electoral laws came into force’.

However, Sen said the affidavit serves as a moral tool, and a candidate can also be prosecuted in a court of law for supplying false information.

He said the EC was doing a vulnerability analysis of all the police station areas across the state to decide on the deployment of security forces and ensure peaceful and fair polls.

‘The central observers will come in the next few days and review the situation in various areas,’ he said.

Asked whether the EC was contemplating any steps to prevent criminals from contesting the polls, he said: ‘The commission has recommended some reforms for the long term. If the EC recommendations are implemented, the situation will be better.’

The West Bengal chapter of the National Election Watch was inaugurated by Sen along with its state unit chairman General (retd) Shankar Roychowdhury.

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Rahul Gandhi’s assets Rs.2.25 crore, he doesn’t own a car

April 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh), April 4 (IANS) The total worth of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is around Rs.2.25 crore (Rs.22.5 million/$450,000), and the young scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family does not own a vehicle, according to an affidavit filed by him Saturday.

Rahul Gandhi, 38, who is seeking re-election from Amethi, filed his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha seat Saturday afternoon. The affidavit filed as part of the documents says his assets total around Rs.2.25 crore.

The Congress general secretary wrote nil against the column asking whether he owns a vehicle.

And the cash deposit that he owns, with the State Bank of India, Delhi, is not much either – Rs.70,000.

He has deposits with financial institutions worth Rs.7,000.

His deposits with non banking financial institution, NDFC (National Development Finance Corporation) is Rs.742,966. With the HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation) in New Delhi, he has Rs.341,892. Both are long term deposits.

Rahul Gandhi’s deposits with postal savings, the Life Insurance Corporation and the National Savings Scheme total Rs.1,029,128 (over Rs.1 million).

He owns 333 gm of jewellery worth Rs.150,000.

His assets, including values of claims and interests, are Rs.729,621.

He also owns agricultural land in two places. A 4.692 acre land in Mehrauli, Delhi, of which an undemarcated 50 percent is his share. The value is Rs.986,244 as on March 31, 2008.

He owns another plot of six acres in Faridabad, Haryana, worth Rs.2,822,000 (over Rs.28 lakh).

He owns two shops in the Metropolitan Mall in Saket, New Delhi. Shop no.24 in the mall is 514 sq ft and valued at Rs.55 lakh.

Another shop on the ground floor – 996 sq ft – is valued at Rs.1 crore 8 lakhs (Rs.10,800,000).

Against liabilities, he filed that je had taken a Rs.70 lakh loan from HDFC in 2006, of which Rs.23 lakh has to be returned.

He has paid income tax of Rs.1,120,880 and sales tax of Rs.532,000.

He paid property tax of Rs.78,000 this year.

According to the documents filed, Rahul Gandhi is an M.Phil in development economics from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, 1995. He has done his Bachelor in Arts from Rollins College, Florida, in 1994.

He filed his nomination at the Sultanpur District Collectorate at the office of the additional district magistrate Radhey Shyam, who is the returning officer for the Amethi Lok Sabha polls.

There are no criminal cases pending against the Amethi MP.

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Is KP’s international career over?

April 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), Mar.31 (ANI): England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s international career has probably hit a major roadblock, and speculation is rife that he may be sacked if he persists with his self-centered attitude.

Pietersen is officially on record as saying that all he wants to do is go home.

There is no doubt that he is still England’s best batsman, and remains committed to the cause. When he left the field during the fourth one-day international against West Indies complaining of a back spasm there was not sympathy but scepticism.
According to The Independent, one text message from England seeking information summed it up: “Injured or petulance?”

That he departed while bowling at Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a man whom he had illogically criticized for frequently failing to take the field and not being a team player, multiplied the incredulity.

It has come to this because Pietersen has simply protested too much. For weeks it has become increasingly apparent that he is not a happy soul and that being deposed as England captain in such controversial circumstances in January has been eating away at his soul.

Last week, Pietersen told a newspaper: “I’m at the end of my tether now. I can’t wait to get back home.”

Pietersen has not been miserable, or at least not in public, but he has been plainly aloof. And he said in his column in the News of the World on Sunday that the England squad was “a lonely place to be”.

There can be little doubt that Pietersen is in turmoil and that many of his colleagues in the England team have had enough of him.

There is a general weariness with a self-centred approach that has strayed into self-pity.

If Pietersen wishes to stay part of the team he must change. His runs, his class and his dedication to batting will, on paper, guarantee him a place for as long as he wants but his presence is becoming a tedious sideshow. (ANI)

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Tornado-like rotation may help scientists better predict effects of volcanic eruptions

March 26, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Washington, March 26 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have determined that studying tornado-like rotation in volcanoes can help them to better predict the effects of volcanic eruptions.

The research is based on a 200-year-old report by a sea captain and photographs of the 2008 eruption of Mount Chaiten.

Scientists involved in the research have shown that the spontaneous formation of a “volcanic mesocyclone” – a rotating, column-shaped vortex – causes the volcanic plume to rotate on its axis.

The rotation, in turn, triggers a sheath of lightning and creates waterspouts or dust devils. The origins of these volcanic phenomena were previously unexplained.

“These results solve a long-standing mystery about the relationship between volcanic plumes and associated tornadoes, waterspouts and lightning, showing for the first time that rotation of a volcanic plume may be the primary cause of these effects,” said Sonia Esperanca, program director in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) geosciences directorate.

“Rotation is an essential element of a strong volcanic plume,” said Pinaki Chakraborty, a computational scientist and engineer at the University of Illinois and the research paper’s lead author. “By taking into account the rotation, we can better predict the effects of volcanic eruptions,” he added.

In 2008, a photograph of the Mount Chaiten eruption in southern Chile showed what appeared to be a volcanic plume wrapped in a sheath of lightning.

A search for references to other occurrences of lightning sheaths led Chakraborty, mechanical engineer Gustavo Gioia and geologist Susan Kieffer to an obscure paper by a sea captain, published in 1811.

In that paper, the sea captain reported his observations of a volcanic vent that emerged from the sea in the Azores archipelago and formed a large volcanic plume.

According to the captain, the plume rotated on the water “like an (sic) horizontal wheel” and was accompanied by continuous “flashes of lightning” and a “quantity of waterspouts.”

This conjunction of rotation, lightning and waterspouts is characteristic of a familiar meteorological phenomenon seemingly unrelated to volcanic plumes: a tornadic thunderstorm.

The same process that creates a mesocyclone in a tornadic thunderstorm also creates a volcanic mesocyclone in a strong volcanic plume, according to Chakraborty.

“What happens in tornadic thunderstorms is analogous to what happens in strong volcanic plumes,” he said.

A strong volcanic plume consists of a vertical column of hot gases and dust topped with a horizontal “umbrella.” A volcanic mesocyclone sets the entire plume rotating on its axis.

The mesocyclone spawns waterspouts or dust devils, and groups the electric charges in the plume to form a sheath of lightning. (ANI)

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