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Pak skipper Younis Khan fractures finger

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Benoni (South Africa), Sep.19 (ANI): Pakistan cricket team’s Champions Trophy dreams suffered a major set back when captain Younis Khan fractured his finger during a warm-up match against Sri Lanka here.

Doctors have advised Khan complete rest for the next three days. It is unsure whether he will be playing in the next two practice games on Saturday and Sunday.

Notwithstanding Khan’s injury, Pakistan, however, trounced Sri Lanka by 108 runs in the first warm-up match ahead of eight nation tournament.

The Pakistan team is staying in Johannesburg’s Santon Sun Hotel while in South Africa.

Team manager Yawar Saeed has expressed satisfaction over the security arrangement.

“Over half a dozen security guards have been deputed to guard the floor where Pakistan team is staying. I think in recent times this is one of the best security cover the team is provided with,” The News quoted Saeed, as saying. (ANI)

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Scientists find meteorite that came from innermost asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 18 (ANI): In a very rare finding, scientists have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered that it came from the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Meteorites are the only surviving physical record of the formation of our Solar System.

However, information about where individual meteorites originated, and how they were moving around the Solar System prior to falling to Earth, is available for only a dozen of around 1100 documented meteorite falls over the past two hundred years.

According to Dr Phil Bland from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, the lead author of the study, “We are incredibly excited about our new finding. Meteorites are the most analysed rocks on Earth, but it’s really rare for us to be able to tell where they came from.”

The new meteorite, which is about the size of cricket ball, is the first to be retrieved since researchers from Imperial College London, Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic, and the Western Australian Museum, set up a trial network of cameras in the Nullarbor Desert in Western Australia in 2006.

The researchers aim to use these cameras to find new meteorites, and work out where in the Solar System they came from, by tracking the fireballs that they form in the sky.

The new meteorite was found on the first day of searching using the new network, by the first search expedition, within 100m of the predicted site of the fall.

The meteorite appears to have been following an unusual orbit, or path around the Sun, prior to falling to Earth in July 2007, according to the researchers’ calculations.

The team believes that it started out as part of an asteroid in the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

It then gradually evolved into an orbit around the Sun that was very similar to Earth’s.

The new meteorite is also unusual because it is composed of a rare type of basaltic igneous rock.

According to the researchers, its composition, together with the data about where the meteorite comes from, fits with a recent theory about how the building blocks for the terrestrial planets were formed.

This theory suggests that the igneous parent asteroids for meteorites like today’s formed deep in the inner Solar System, before being scattered out into the main asteroid belt.

Asteroids are widely believed to be the building blocks for planets like the Earth, so the new finding provides another clue about the origins of the Solar System. (ANI)

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1st century A.D. colossal statue of Greek God Apollo unearthed in Turkey

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 9 (ANI): Italian archaeologists have unearthed a 1st century A.D. colossal statue of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music and poetry, from white calcified cliffs in southwestern Turkey.

Colossal statues were very popular in antiquity, as evidenced by the lost giant statues of the Colossus of Rhodes and the Colossus of Nero.

Most of them vanished long ago, with their material re-used in other building projects.

“This colossal statue of Apollo is really a unique finding. Such statues are extremely rare in Asia Minor. Only a dozen still survive,” team leader Francesco D’Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News.

Split in two huge marble fragments, divided along the bust and the lower part of the sculpture, the 1st century A.D. statue was unearthed at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale.

Founded around 190 B.C. by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum (197 B.C.-159 B.C.), Hierapolis was given over to Rome in 133 B.C.

The Hellenistic city grew into a flourishing Roman city, with temples, a theatre and popular sacred hot springs, believed to have healing properties.

Standing at more than four meters (13 feet) in height, the newly discovered statue, which is missing the head and the arms, might have been one of the most impressive sights in the city.

“It depicts the Greek god Apollo sitting on a throne and holding the cithara with his left arms. The god wears a wonderfully draped tunic. The cloth has a transparency effect to reveal mighty muscles,” said D’Andria.

Inspired by the great classical masterpieces, the artist did not pay the same peculiar attention to the back of the statue.

“This shows that the sculpture was placed against a wall and was supposed to be seen only frontally,” D’Andria noted.

Standing in all its massive regality, the statue was particularly important for the city, since Apollo was venerated as Hierapolis’ divine founder.

The colossal statue was probably the main sculpture at the sanctuary of Apollo, which was intentionally built over an active fault.

“Hierapolis is a unique site, and archaeologists are bringing to light incredible findings each year. As with all the other ancient buildings, the statue will be virtually reconstructed in full detail,” Francesco Gabellone, an architect at the National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News. (ANI)

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Violence erupts between Orissa’s tribal groups

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bhubneshwar, Sep. 7 (ANI): Violence has rocked Orissa’s Narayanpatna region following a clash between the two factions of the Maoist backed tribal outfit Chasi Muliya Adivasi Sangh (CMAS).

Involved in forcible acquisition of lands from non-tribal farmers for past three months the outfit is now ridden with violent factionalism, one belonging to Bandhugaon and other to Naraynapatna.

The activists of the Bandhugaon unit set at least a dozen tribal houses afire, accusing the owners of being supporters of the Narayanpatna unit.

Reportedly, one person has died in the fighting.

On Sunday, a group of tribals blocked the stretch between Bandhugaon and Narayanpatna, making movement impossible.

However, with the situation turning bad, the state authorities have assured intervention in the matter.

“They not running parallel, they are fighting each other to prove their superiority. The law will take its own course of action,” said Surya Narayan Patra, Revenue Minister of Orissa.

In the past three months, they had acquired around 3,000 acres of non-tribal land in both these regions and distributed it amongst the tribals.

The unrest had also prompted many non-tribals to flee the region. (ANI)

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Pak wants relationship with India on ‘equal footing’: Gilani

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Karachi, Sep.6 (ANI): Stressing the need for resumption of bilateral talks with India, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said Islamabad wants relations with New Delhi on an equal footing.

“We want relations with India on an equal basis and it is our resolve that we will not allow our soil to be used for terrorism. Therefore, we want a proper dialogue to be resumed as in the present situation, the terrorists are getting benefit of the situation,” Gilani said.

Interacting with media persons at the Governor’s House here, Gilani said tensions between India and Pakistan would benefit the militants, so it was important for both countries to restart the peace process as soon as possible.

“We want relations with India on the basis of equality. If Pakistan and India do not enter into negotiations for the betterment of the region, then someone else would get the benefit. If there will not be bilateral talks, the terrorists will take advantage of it,” The News quoted Gilani, as saying.

Commenting on the massive reshuffle in the bureaucracy, Gilani defended his action saying it was important to ensure efficiency, integrity and quality in the system.

Gilani has revamped the top bureaucratic posts, replacing over a dozen federal secretaries in several ministries with over 50 civil servants.

In what is being touted as the single largest grade-22 promotion in many years, secretaries of interior, information, industries, privatisation commission, labour, and special secretary of finance are among those who have been replaced with the newly promoted officers.

However, the move has being criticized by many civil servants, as they believe the reshuffle reeks of nepotism and favouritism. (ANI)

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Taliban claim successful sabotage of Afghan presidential vote

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kabul, Aug. 29 (ANI): Taliban fighters say they have successfully sabotaged the Afghanistan presidential voting process without sending in a single suicide bomber.

A Globe and Mail report says that their claim that the mere threat of violence suppressed turnout enough to cast doubt on the credibility of the vote, which is being increasingly undermined by allegations of fraud.

“It’s like the election didn’t happen at all,” said one senior Taliban commander, who was instrumental in planning the insurgents’ strategy after the their leader, Mullah Omar, ordered the elections disrupted.

He spoke to The Globe And Mail by satellite phone after meeting with a dozen other senior militant commanders in a region bordering Pakistan to discuss the election.

“We have succeeded in our plan. Even in Kandahar city, most of the people were sitting in their houses. We showed the government could not do a good election,” said the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

His claims were echoed by other, less senior Taliban fighters interviewed by The Globe in Afghanistan’s southern provinces, where turnout was particularly low – 10 per cent in some districts – and allegations of fraud are most pronounced.

While the United Nations, American, Canadian and Afghan officials have praised the vote as a success, the Taliban’s new declarations of victory are finding growing resonance in official circles.

Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar province, did not dismiss the Taliban’s claim of triumph. “The election was complicated,” he said.

“They did manage to give a sense that anything was possible. They did make it seem like they were quite a lot bigger than they were. I’d score it as a win for them,” the analyst said.

At least 30 people died on election day, including two people who were hanged from a tree near the Arghandab River. At least two others had their right index fingers cut off after they voted. Dozens of rockets fell on Kandahar and Helmand province.

However, the election was largely free of the massive scale of violence threatened by the Taliban, who promised to disrupt it at all costs. (ANI)

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14 breast cancer surgeries in three-and-a-half hours conducted at Madurai

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Madurai, Aug 29 (ANI): Doctors at a hospital in Madurai claimed to have performed breast cancer surgeries on 14 patients within three-and-a-half hours.

Officials at the state-run Rajaji Hospital said the surgeries were performed on August 24 from 8.30 in the morning.octors termed it as a record in medical history.

“We already had seven patients who had to be operated upon initially but in order to create a record in medical history, my colleague doctor Chandrashekhar favoured a surgery for more people so as to make it a record of a dozen patients. But, once we finished 12 cases we planned two more cases and that is how we executed it,” said hospital’s dean Dr. SM Sivakumar.

Meanwhile, State’s health secretary V K Subburaj said that they would not recommend the feat for any record.If they have not done it properly, if they have done it with a view to break some record. It is not permissible. We have not permitted them. It has not been done with the permission of the government. We will never send it for any Guinness record. We will never recommend,” Subburaj added.

The announcement shocked members of the medical fraternity, including those from the Tamil Nadu State Medical Council and the Indian Medical Association, who called it a blatant violation of the Hippocratic oath. (ANI)

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Lucknow police raid more places to uncover illegal blood racket

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lucknow, Aug 25 (ANI): Lucknow police has raided a private hospital here and recovered a few packets of illegal blood.

“We have found two-three packets of blood. We have also recovered equipments used to collect blood. Nobody is present here for interrogation at present,” said Sunil Pal, Inspector, Sarojni Nagar, Lucknow.

On August 22, six persons allegedly involved in running a blood racket were arrested from the city.

At least 70 pouches containing blood along with plasma, empty pouches, syringes and fake stamps, stickers and authority letters of the Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University were recovered from the possession of the accused on August 22.

Police is probing over a dozen private-run nursing homes and pathology labs involved in trafficking illegal blood.

Trading in blood or organs is illegal in India. While organs can be obtained only by donation, blood can be voluntarily bartered or bought from registered blood banks. Blood banks are regulated by the government as many unscrupulous dealers fleece poor people, buying blood and paying them only a paltry sum. (ANI)

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Congress announces list of candidates for Bihar Assembly by-elections

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.23 (ANI): Congress party on Sunday announced the list of seven candidates for the upcoming State Assembly by-elections in Bihar.

The party has decided not to get into any alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) during the by-elections and decided to go it alone.

According to an official release issued by the Central Election Committee in-charge Oscar Fernandes on Sunday, Pheku Ram will contest from Bochaha assembly segment in Muzaffarpur and Noor Alam from Aurai seat in the same district.

The other candidates are Mukund Kumar from Kalyanpur, Anita Ram from Warisnagar, Parshuram Tiwari from Ramgarh in Kaimur, Shah Nawaj Khan from Chainpur (Kaimur) and Murari Prasad Gautam from Chenari in Rohtas.

During last Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party contested the polls alone and won two of the 40 seats in the state.

Over a dozen assembly seats in Bihar fell vacant following the election of sitting MLAs as MPs in the last Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress Party, meanwhile, has also announced name of Tilottama Sharma as its candidate from the Dwarka assembly seat in Delhi.

The seat fell vacant as the sitting MLA Mahabal Mishra was elected to the Lok Sabha from Delhi West parliamentary constituency. (ANI)

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It happens only in the US: Armed riflemen attend Obama’s speech

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug.18 (ANI): A dozen people carrying guns, including at least two with assault rifles, were spotted mingling among protesters outside a convention centre in Arizona where President Barack Obama was speaking. he Telegraph quoted Phoenix police as saying that the men who were carrying guns at Monday’s event did not need permits, as the state of Arizona has an “open carry” law.

One of the men carrying a rifle declined to be identified but told The Arizona Republic that he was carrying the assault weapon because he could. “In Arizona, I still have some freedoms,” he said.

The presence of armed men among protesters has raised fears that the heated debate over Obama’s reform agenda could lead to deadly violence.

Obama was speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars about improving benefits for veterans, and thanking the armed services for their sacrifice.

It was the latest incident where gun-carriers have been spotted outside events where the president has appeared, usually to tout his health care reform plans on an increasingly dubious public.

Last week, during a town hall meeting on health care in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a man carrying a sign reading “It is time to water the tree of liberty” stood outside with a pistol strapped to his leg. (ANI)

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‘Spiderbots’ inside Mount St Helens may detect impending volcanic eruption

August 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 15 (ANI): NASA scientists have placed about a dozen monitoring ‘spiderbots’ inside the volcanic crater in Mount St Helens in the US, which are high-tech devices that can detect an impending eruption.

Mount St. Helens is one of the most active volcanoes in the US. Its most devastating eruption in 1980, and the most recent seen here in 2004.

According to a report in National Geographic News, about a dozen so-called Spiders were placed on Mount St. Helens in July.

The pods, designed to go where no human can, were lowered by helicopter inside and around the volcano center.

“We can detect the differences between snow falling off of a branch, an animal running by, wind, a thunderstorm and the very subtle signatures of magma moving at depth, perhaps even kilometers beneath the surface of the earth,” said Steve Chien, Principal Scientist, Autonomous Systems, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory .

The pods form a virtual wireless network and communicate with each other and a NASA satellite called Earth Observing-1, or EO-1.

Each pod contains a seismometer, a GPS receiver, an infrared sounder to sense explosions, and a lightning detector.

According to Chien, “They have the ability to recognize different kinds of events such as seismic events, earthquakes, that are basically indications that something is happening at the volcano.”

“In the context of volcano monitoring, we want to have the best educated guess to make decisions that will save life and properties,” said Sharon Kedar, Geophysicist, NASA /Jet Propulsion Laboratoy.

NASA would like to someday use this same technology on the surface of Mars to study atmospheric events like dust storms, which are mini-tornadoes, as well as seismic activity. (ANI)

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Radiation from massive stars may trigger many more stars than previously thought

August 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 13 (ANI): A new study from two of NASA’s Great Observatories has shown that radiation from massive stars may trigger the formation of many more stars than previously thought.

While astronomers have long understood that stars and planets form from the collapse of a cloud of gas, the question of the main causes of this process has remained open.

One option is that the cloud cools, gravity gets the upper hand, and the cloud falls in on itself.

The other possibility is that a “trigger” from some external source – like radiation from a massive star or a shock from a supernova – initiates the collapse.

Some previous studies have noted a combination of triggering mechanisms in effect.

By combining observations of Cepheus B from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and Spitzer Space Telescope, researchers have taken an important step in addressing this question.

Cepheus B is a cloud of mainly cool molecular hydrogen located about 2,400 light years from the Earth.

There are hundreds of very young stars inside and around the cloud – ranging from a few millions years old outside the cloud to less than a million in the interior – making it an important testing ground for star formation.

“Astronomers have generally believed that it’s somewhat rare for stars and planets to be triggered into formation by radiation from massive stars,” said Konstantin Getman of Penn State University, and lead author of the study. “Our new result shows this belief is likely to be wrong,” he added.

This particular type of triggered star formation had previously been seen in small populations of a few dozen stars, but the latest result is the first time it has been clearly observed in a rich population of several hundred stars.

The new study suggests that star formation in Cepheus B is mainly triggered by radiation from one bright, massive star outside the molecular cloud.

According to theoretical models, radiation from this star would drive a compression wave into the cloud triggering star formation in the interior, while evaporating the cloud’s outer layers.

The Chandra-Spitzer analysis revealed slightly older stars outside the cloud while the youngest stars with the most protoplanetary disks congregate in the cloud interior – exactly what is predicted from the triggered star formation scenario.

“We essentially see a wave of star and planet formation that is rippling through this cloud,” said co-author Eric Feigelson, also of Penn State. “Outside the cloud, the stars probably have newly born planets while inside the cloud the planets are still gestating,” he added. (ANI)

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BJP demands Bandra-Worli Sea Link accessible to pedestrians

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, July 14 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party activists staged a demonstration here demanding that the recently opened Bandra-Worli Sea Link should be accessible to pedestrians.

Ten years and 325 million dollars later, the ambitious sea bridge aimed at easing Mumbai’s notorious traffic jams, opened on June 30, holding out hope for harried commuters.

BJP protestors, led by the state deputy Sardar Tara Singh from Mulund assembly constituency, demanded for a lane for cyclists and pedestrians.

“I demand from the government that a small track for pedestrians along the sea link be constructed so that the common man and the poor people, who do not own cars, can also cross the bridge,” Singh said.

The protestors were briefly detained by the police.

The 5.6 km-long Bandra-Worli Sea Link, handles nearly 100,000 vehicles daily, helping wealthier residents skip nearly two dozen traffic lights and cut more than half an hour in the commute to the business hub in the south. (ANI)

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Global warming may spell demise of key salt marsh constituent

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 14 (ANI): A new research has shown that global warming may exact a toll on salt marshes in New England, with one key constituent of marshes being especially endangered.

Pannes are waterlogged, low-oxygen zones of salt marshes.

According to Keryn Gedan, a graduate student and salt marsh expert at Brown University, despite the stresses associated with global warming, pannes are “plant diversity hotspots,”

“At least a dozen species of plants known as forbs inhabit these natural depressions,” Gedan said.

The species include the purple flower-tipped plants Limonium nashii (sea lavender), the edible plant Salicornia europaea (pickleweed) and Triglochin maritima, a popular food for Brent and Canada geese as well as ducks and other migratory waterfowl.

Gedan and her adviser, Mark Bertness, chair of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at Brown, decided to find out how global warming may affect pannes.

In a series of experiments, the pair subjected plots of forb pannes to air as much as 3.3 degrees Celsius (about 6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the surrounding area.

They found that the plants in the test plots responded initially by growing more but then began a rapid die-off. As they died, they were replaced by a salt marsh grass, Spartina patens.

At two sites – Nag Creek (Prudence Island, Rhode Island), and Little River (Maine) – the forbs covered less than 10 percent of the plot, from 50 percent originally, in tests that spanned the summer from 2004 to 2006.

At the third site, Drakes Island (Maine), the forb pannes cover decreased from 50 percent of the plot to 44 percent (a 12-percent decline) in just the summer of 2007.

The researchers believe the forbs disappeared due to changes in the plant-water balance in the zone.

What that means, Gedan explained, is the warmer air causes the forbs to take in more water, thus making the area less waterlogged and more hospitable to an invasion by Spartina patens, which prefers less water-soaked conditions.

“The forbs basically engineer themselves out of their habitat by making it more favorable for their competitor,” said Gedan.

The Brown experiments “demonstrate that New England salt marsh pannes are extremely sensitive to temperature increases and will be driven to local and regional extinction with the temperature increases expected to occur in New England over the next century,” Bertness said. (ANI)

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World’s largest and most technologically advanced telescope to debut on July 24

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, July 14 (ANI): The world’s largest, most technologically advanced telescope is all set to make its formal debut on July 24 in Spain’s Canary Islands.

Known as the Gran Telescopio Canarias, the telescope has a 10.4-meter diameter mirror, and has more light-collecting area than any other telescope.

Perched 7,874 feet above sea level on a mountain on the island of La Palma, the GTC has 6 square meters more light collecting area than any of the roughly one dozen 8- to 10-meter telescopes worldwide.

With a mirror composed of 36 hexagonal segments thought to have the smoothest surfaces ever made, it is also the world’s most technologically advanced optical telescope.

Sensors keep the mirrors aligned to counteract the force of gravity, with the result that they act as a single surface, even as the telescope is rotated and aligned in place.

According to Stan Dermott, chairman of UF’s (University of Florida’s) astronomy department, the GTC’s size and technical attributes enable it not only to gather more light than any other telescope, but also resolve the light into sharper and clearer focus.

“For astronomers, those capabilities make it a powerful tool to study cosmic origins – the early days of the universe and the very early moments in the mysterious births of stars, planets and galaxies,” he said.

“The interpretation of the structure of the disks where new planets form is highly dependent on the quality of the image,” he said, adding that the GTC also will enable the discoveries of new planets, possibly including the first habitable planet.

At the inauguration of the telescope, officials and astronomers from the University of Florida, the only US institution that is part of the project, will join more than 500 astronomers, journalists and celebrities in a ceremony presided over by Spain’s King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia. (ANI)

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Recognition of Israel as Jewish state key to peace with Palestine: Netanyahu

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, July 13 (ANI): Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said that Palestine must recognise Israel as a Jewish state, and give up its demand to resettle the descendents of Palestinian refugees in Israel in order to attain peace.

“The key to peace lies in explicit and unequivocal recognition of Israel as the Jewish state on the part of the Palestinians. They must once and for all give up the demand to resettle inside of Israel the descendents of the refugees,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu, as saying.

Netanyahu added that the Palestinian leaders must say: “We have had enough of this conflict; we recognize Israel as Jewish; we will live alongside you in true peace.

“As soon as that is stated, a huge window to peace will be opened,” he said.

Earlier, Netanyahu called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to meet with him as soon as possible in order to renew peace talks.

“Let’s make peace – both diplomatic peace and economic peace. There is no reason why we can’t meet, the Palestinian Authority president and I, anywhere in Israel, and since we are in Beersheba, I say, let’s meet here,” Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Beersheba hat was held there as an act of solidarity with the Negev capital.

“We’ve removed many roadblocks, we have decided to increase the operating hours of the Allenby Bridge for more goods, and I’ve decided to advance a series of projects with the Palestinians to promote peace. But all these efforts can only bring us to a certain point, and the results will be multiplied by the dozen if there is cooperation from the other side,” he added.

Netanyahu also tried to reach out to Arab countries, saying: “Let’s meet, let’s cooperate… We have the ability to bring many players on board.” (ANI)

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6 policemen killed, many injured in Chhattisgarh Maoist attack

July 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Raipur, July 12 (ANI): Six policemen were killed and over a dozen injured in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon District on Sunday.

District Superintendent of Police B.K. Choubey was among the injured and was battling for his life.

“Six policemen were killed and several injured in an ambush in a thickly forested stretch of Rajnandgaon district where a reinforcement party is struggling to reach due to the hilly terrain,” ADGP Girdhari Nayak told reporters.

Nayak said more details were still awaited, as the thickly forested attack site had no communication link with the rest of the state. (ANI)

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Diarrhoea claims four lives in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district

July 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh), July 8 (ANI): Four infants aged between 18 months and five years have died of diarrhoea in Mushar village in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar District.

“Four boys have died. Half a dozen children suffering from diarrhoea are admitted in the hospital,” said Mahesh, father of a diarrhoea-affected child.

The village does not have provision for clean and safe drinking water.

People draw water from wells and hand pumps for drinking as well as other needs while one is uncertain as for the quality of the water.

As if to add more woes to the poor and unhygienic living conditions, the rising temperature has further hastened the outbreak of contagious diseases.

About six children have been admitted in the primary health centre at Kasaya where they are being administered medicines.

However, the villagers have complained that the hospital, bereft of most of the facilities, is not providing their children with medicines.

Munni Lal, whose child has been admitted to the hospital, alleged that doctors are apathetic to the plight of the children and the villagers.

“Four kids have died because of diarrhoea. The doctors at the hospital are not listening to us. They tell us first to get medicines and then they will give treatment to our children,” said Lal.

Almost all the villagers are poor, solely relying on government hospitals or dispensaries and they cannot afford to buy medicines from elsewhere.

The villagers also noted that even though the district administration has been instructed to hold regular health camps in the villages, they are not getting any medical help.

Diarrhoea is a disease caused by stale and rotten food and polluted water. It escalates during the summer season since shortage of potable water forces many to rely on water from contaminated sources. (ANI)

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Filipino inmates in `Thriller’ video stage tribute

July 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

CEBU, Philippines – The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their “Thriller” dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.

After being told of Jackson’s death Thursday in Los Angeles, the 1,500 inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center hit the exercise yard, practicing for nine hours Friday night — and into the wee hours of Saturday morning — for the show. They took breaks only to eat or when it rained, said professional choreographer Gwendolyn Lador, hired by the prison to teach the inmates the dance.

“I felt sad because we lost our idol,” said inmate Wenjiel Resane, who plays the role of Jackson’s girlfriend in the video.

Crisanto Nieri, 38, was feeling a little extra stress. He danced Jackson’s part in “Thriller.”

“Even as a kid, he was already my idol,” said Nieri, who is serving seven years on drug charges. “I am happy that our video became famous, but I feel some pressure to perform well.”

A crowd of 700 Cebuanos and foreign tourists watched the performance from a second-floor corridor, swaying to the music and applauding as the inmates, dressed in orange prison T-shirts and sweat pants, stomped and clapped in unison in the hilltop prison, behind thick stone walls topped by electrified razor wire.

Other numbers included “Ben,” “I’ll Be There” and “We Are the World.” The inmates then held up a 5-by-10 foot (1.5-by-3 meter) tarpaulin showing Michael Jackson holding a sword with his name written below it.

Others waved the flags of the Philippines and other nations.

Before the show, the performers dedicated a prayer to Jackson’s family.

“I was sad because one of the songs of Michael Jackson, `Thriller,’ made us famous around the world,” said Francis Mercader, 36, who has spent a year in detention while on trial for drug charges.

Byron Garcia, the Cebu provincial security consultant who came up with the idea of adding synchronized dancing to poorly attended exercise sessions, said he was surprised by the popularity of the 2007 video — one of more than a dozen inmate dance numbers he has posted on YouTube.

“Thriller” has attracted 24.3 million hits since it was posted two years ago, with nearly a million of them in the 24 hours since news of Jackson’s death spread.

The inmates “consider Michael Jackson as a god here,” Garcia said. “If not for Michael Jackson, they would not have this international recognition.”

“The fame brought them back their self-esteem,” he told reporters. “So that’s why we have these public performances.”

Inmate Alfredo Gaballo, 52, says Jackson “inspired us, so we are all sad about his death.”

“The performance today has been amazing,” said Karen Benrad, 29, from London. She and about two dozen foreign and local tourists later joined the inmates at the prison quadrangle, dancing to the tune of “Macarena” and “I just can’t get enough.”

Kim Hua-sung, a 23-year-old South Korean student in Cebu who watched the inmates’ performance, said he is also a Jackson fan. “I’m sad that I can’t listen to more songs from him.”

In Taiwan, two top Michael Jackson impersonators donned fedora hats and sequined outfits Saturday, moonwalking to “Billie Jean” in their own tribute to the pop star.

Thirty-year-old Wang Chih-wei told The Associated Press he secured a photo op with his idol during Jackson’s whirlwind tour in 1993 after winning an impersonation contest.

“I didn’t know much English so I could only tell him, ‘I love you,’” Wang said. “He was very friendly. I melted when he put his hand on my shoulder for the photo.”

___

On the Net:

Performance of “Thriller” Video

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Associated Press writer Debby Wu contributed to this report from Taipei, Taiwan.

—

Source By – http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_en_ot/as_michael_jackson_dancing_inmates

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NYPD gets radiation detectors to search bombs

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, July 4 (ANI): The US Department of Homeland Security has given three state-of-the-art radiation detectors to the New York Police Department to patrol city streets in search of dirty bombs and other nuclear threats.

The 450,000-dollar worth Advanced Spectroscopic Portal Monitors will be placed in three SUVs on Wednesday at entrances to tunnels, bridges and tollbooths, the Daily News reports.

The detectors had been purchased by DHS’ National Nuclear Detection Office for use at the nation’s ports, but officials concluded they weren’t strong enough to penetrate ship containers, police sources said.

Officials believe they will be able to detect radioactive isotopes emanating from a dirty bomb in the back of a car.

“We think they’ll be useful getting hits on vehicles on the road,” a NYPD official said.

Recently, the department had also purchased 8,000 Dosimeters, pager-sized detectors to be given to police if there is a nuclear attack.

Outfitted in protective gear, officers would use the Dosimeters to find “hot spots” of radiation.

Additionally, sources said the NYPD will station a sophisticated radiation-detecting device at this weekend’s July 4 celebration at the retired battleship Intrepid.

The Thermo is used up to a dozen times a year and is stationed at the main entrance to a sensitive target.

It has previously been used at the U.S. Open Tennis tournament, the New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, and at meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, sources said. (ANI)

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