Drinking | SilverScorpio.Com

Young age at first drink can turn under-15s into alcoholics

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 19 (ANI): Drinking at young age may affect genes linked to alcoholism and make youngsters vulnerable to severe problems, says a new study.

The study led by Dr Arpana Agrawal, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, revealed that the younger an individual was at first drink, the greater the risk for alcohol dependence and the more prominent the role played by genetic factors.

“There seemed to be a greater genetic influence in those who took their first full drink at a younger age,” said Agrawal.

“That’s very consistent with what has been predicted in the literature and in the classification of types of alcohol dependence, but we present a unique test of the hypothesis,” she added.

During the study, the researchers studied 6,257 adult twins from Australia and measured the extent to which age at first drink changed the role of heritable influences on symptoms of alcohol dependence.

The study showed that when twins started drinking early, genetic factors contributed greatly to risk for alcohol dependence, at rates as high as 90 percent in the youngest drinkers.

The team also found that those who were 15 or younger when they started drinking tended to have a greater genetic risk for alcohol dependence.

However, some who were 16 or older before they took their first drink later became alcohol dependent, but their dependence was related more to environmental factors.

“Something about starting to drink at an early age puts young people at risk for later problems associated with drinking,” Agrawal says.

“We continue to investigate the mechanisms, but encouraging youth to delay their drinking debut may help.

“Some early-onset drinkers do not develop alcohol problems and some late-onset drinkers do – we are working on why that is the case, but it is important to note that this is one risk factor among many and does not determine whether a person will, or will not, develop alcohol dependence.

“But age at first drink is a well-known risk factor, and there have been two main hypotheses about why:

One has been that common genetic and environmental factors contribute both to the risk for alcohol dependence and to the likelihood a person will be younger when consuming their first drink,” she added.

The study will be published Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: 15s, adult, adult twins, age, agrawal, alcohol, alcohol problems, Alcoholics, alcoholism, ANI, Arpana, Australia, case, classification, clinical, consuming, debut, dependence, drink, drinking, environmental factors, Experimental, extent, factor, genes, genetic factors, Genetic Influence, Genetic risk, hypothesis, individual, influence, likelihood, literature, mechanisms, medicine, percent, person, Research, risk, risk factor, role, school, school of medicine, Sept, something, St. Louis, study, Symptoms Of Alcohol Dependence, team, test, types of alcohol, Under, University, Washington, Washington University School of Medicine, young, youngsters, youth

Now, unwed Malaysian couple to be whipped for trying to have car sex

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Shah Alam (Malaysia), Sep. 18 (ANI): Following the whipping episode of the Malaysian model who was sentenced for drinking beer, an unmarried couple is now being subjected to the controversial canning sentence under the country’s Sharia law for trying to have sex.

Mohammad Shahrin Abd Majid, 29, and his lover Nadiah Najat Hussin, 24, pleaded guilty to attempting to have sex in a car, were fined 5,000 ringgits or 12 months’ jail and ordered to be caned six times each, the New Strait Times Online reports.

Both Shahrin and Nadiah have paid the fine. On Wednesday, the Sharia High Court of Shah Alam granted a stay on the caning pending an appeal following an application by the couple’s counsel.

The Court has also advised both accused to marry as soon as possible.

The couple had claimed that they were to be engaged soon, and scheduled to be married in February next year.

“You are still young… after Hari Raya seek consent from both your parents to marry,” he said.

Shahrin and Nadiah would be sent to prison in order to receive the caning if their appeal gets dismissed.

Earlier, former Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno hogged the international headlines when she was sentenced for canning under Sharia law for drinking beer at a nightclub. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 12 months, Abd, ANI, appeal, application, beer, canning, car, Car Sex, consent, counsel, country, couple, Court, drinking, Drinking Beer, episode, February, fine, Hari Raya, High, international headlines, jail, Kartika, law, lover, Majid, Malaysia, Malaysian Couple, model, mohammad, Mohammad Shahrin, Nadiah, Najat Hussin, New, new strait times, nightclub, Online, order, parents, prison, ringgits, sari dewi, sentence, Sep, Sex, Sex Car, sex in a car, Sex Malaysia, shah alam, Shah Alam Malaysia, Shahrin, sharia, sharia law, Shukarno, six times, stay, strait, times, unmarried couple, Wednesday, year

‘Zero tolerance’ policy has zero effect

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 17 (ANI): Amid an ongoing debate about changing the drinking age from 21 to 18 in the US, a Sam Houston State University economist has raised voice against a related law- the “zero tolerance” policy.

Darren Grant studied data from 30,000 fatalities in nighttime accidents involving drivers under 21, and concluded that zero tolerance laws have zero effect.

“Both in terms of the number of accidents and the blood alcohol of the drivers in those accidents, the research consistently showed that zero tolerance laws had no effect. Other factors matter, but not these laws,” said Grant.

Zero tolerance laws became prevalent during the 1990s, when the US Congress threatened to withhold highway funding from states that didn’t comply.

Grant has now said that the logic behind zero tolerance laws is suspect.

“The idea was, since drivers under 21 are not supposed to be drinking, you should be guilty of drunk driving if you are caught driving with any amount of alcohol in your system,” said Grant.

“Because you must sacrifice more to comply with the law, we should expect some people will just give up trying to satisfy the law and drink more,” he added.

But he found that this did not happen.

“Instead, among drivers involved in traffic accidents, there is the same fraction of heavy drinkers, the same fraction of mild drinkers, the same fraction of nondrinkers. It’s just not changing,” he said.

Grant also compared the blood alcohol distributions of involved drivers in the two years before zero tolerance laws were established in each state, and again in the two years after.

It was found that the two distributions were also virtually identical.

“That’s a sign that this law is essentially inert; if it’s affecting the amount of drinking that people do, these distributions should look different,” he said.

The study has been published in the journal Economic Inquiry. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 1990s, age, alcohol, amount, ANI, blood, Blood Alcohol, Changing The Drinking Age, Congress, Darren Grant, debate, distributions, drink, drinking, driving, drunk driving, economic, Economic Inquiry, economist, effect, fraction, funding, grant, heavy drinkers, highway, houston, Houston State University, idea, inert, inquiry, journal, law, logic, matter, nighttime, Nighttime Accidents, Nondrinkers, number, policy, Research, sam, Sam Houston State, Sam Houston State University, Sep, sign, state, study, system, tolerance, traffic, traffic accidents, University, US, US Congress, voice, Washington, zero, Zero Tolerance Laws, zero tolerance policy

Congress screens aspiring candidates for polls in Maharashtra

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Sep 12 (ANI): Congress party has begun shortlisting candidates aspiring for party’s nomination for the October 13 assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Congress party, which is running a coalition government with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra for the second term in a row, is yet to sort out hiccups on seat sharing with its ally.

As the days for nominations to open on September 18 draws close, state Congress party leaders went in a huddle in Mumbai to screen aspirants seeking ‘ticket’ to contest polls on the party symbol.

“I have given my profile, I have told about major problems in our area including drinking water and irrigation and people do not get benefited from the policies of the government,” said Anil Chandra Kumar Gupta, an aspirant from Tiroda seat of Gondia district.

Congress party, which also heads the central coalition, is on a high after its good performance in the April-May general elections. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ally, ANI, anil, April, area, aspirant, assembly, assembly elections, Chandra Kumar Gupta, Chandra Kumar, coalition, coalition government, Congress, district, drinking, drinking water, general elections, Gondia, Government, gupta, hiccups, High, huddle, irrigation, Maharashtra, May, Mumbai, nationalist congress party, NCP, nomination, October, party, party leaders, Party Symbol, performance, profile, row, seat, second term, Sep, September, september 18, state, State Congress, symbol, term, ticket, Tiroda, water

Scientists identify bacterial strains that can clear algal toxins from drinking water

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 7 (ANI): Researchers at Robert Gordon’s University, Aberdeen, have identified novel bacterial strains capable of neutralizing toxins produced by blue-green algae in drinking water.

Blooms of blue green algae (cyanobacteria) are found in both fresh and salt water throughout the world.

They produce toxins called microcystins which are released into the water and are easily ingested by animals and humans by drinking, swimming or bathing in contaminated water.

Once in the body, the toxins attack liver cells causing acute and chronic poisoning.

Conventional methods for water treatment such as sedimentation, sand filtration, flocculation and chlorination do not remove microcystins.

The researchers at Robert Gordon’s University have identified more than ten bacterial strains capable of metabolizing microcystins, breaking them down into harmless non-toxic materials.

The bacteria, Arthrobacter sp, Brevibacterium sp and Rhodococcus sp were able to break down six commonly occurring microcystins.

Six of the strains were incubated in river water with variants of the toxin to simulate natural conditions. All six strains were able to degrade the microcystins.

“The costs of advanced water purification strategies are beyond most of the world’s population,” said Aakash Welgama, from Robert Gordon’s University.

“Using bacteria to remove microcystins from water provides a reliable, cost-effective purification system, which does not involve any use of harmful chemicals or any other substances harmful to the environment,” he added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: Aakash, aberdeen, algae, algal, ANI, Arthrobacter, bacterial strains, bathing, blooms, Blue Green Algae, body, brevibacterium, chlorination, contaminated water, conventional methods, cyanobacteria, degrade, drinking, drinking water, environment, filtration, flocculation, harmful chemicals, liver, liver cells, Microcystins, novel, poisoning, population, purification, Purification System, Rhodococcus, river, river water, Robert Gordon, s university, salt, salt water, sand, Sand Filtration, sedimentation, September, swimming, system, Toxic Materials, toxin, toxins, treatment, University, use, Washington, water, water purification, Water Treatment, Welgama, world

Potable water shortage hits villagers in Kashmir

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kupwara (J-K), Sep 4 (ANI): Facing acute shortage of potable water, the villagers are forced to drink polluted water in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.

A prolonged drought-like situation has further added woes to the villagers.

Everyday, women cover long distances to fetch water from village streams and lakes, which are not fit for drinking. But since taps in their houses have run dry, they are forced to take the filthy water from lake.

The villagers had even held demonstrations in the past, highlighting their plight to the government, but to no avail.

“We have all kinds of difficulties. Despite our protest, the government has not made any arrangements. They take out funds but do nothing. We are suffering due to shortage of water,” said Ashiq Hussain Bhat, a resident.

Residents said they are forced to take the filthy water from the nearby lakes as taps have run dry.The water we take from this lake is very dirty and full of sand. But we are forced to take the dirty water from here as taps have run dry,” said Rubeena, another resident.

Accepting that there is shortage of water due to long spell of dryness, concerned officials said that they have initiated steps to end the water shortage in the district.

“To overcome this difficulty, the department has already taken up and has got a new scheme approved under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) phase new. Under the scheme, we will lift the water from Phurunala and store it in a reservoir in Tuthigund, which will solve all their problems,” said Mukhtar Ahmad Dar, assistant executive engineer, Public Health Engineering (PHE), Kupwara.

Total rainfall in the country since the beginning of June was 19 percent below average, pulled down by the driest June in 83 years, data from the India Meteorological Department showed.

India’s monsoon will remain weak according to the latest Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) index, which gauges the eastward progress of tropical rain. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Accelerated, accepting, Acute Shortage, Ahmad Dar, ANI, ARWSP, ashiq, assistant, Assistant Executive, avail, average, beginning, bhat, country, department, difficulty, dirty water, district, driest, drinking, dryness, engineer, engineering, everyday, everyday women, executive, executive engineer, facing, filthy, Government, Health, hussain, index, India, india meteorological department, jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, Julian Oscillation, June, Kashmir, Kupwara, lake, long distances, madden, madden julian oscillation, meteorological, mjo, Monsoon, mukhtar, Mukhtar Ahmad, Nearby Lakes, nothing, past, percent, phase, Phe, Phurunala, plight, polluted water, Potable, programme, progress, protest, Public, Public Health Engineering, rain, rainfall, reservoir, resident, Rubeena, rural, rural water supply, sand, scheme, Sep, shortage, Shortage Of Water, situation, spell, supply, tropical rain, Tuthigund, village, water, water shortage

Hugh Jackman tops Drinking Buddy Of Choice poll

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sydney, Sept 2 (ANI): Australian actor Hugh Jackman has topped the favourite drinking buddy of choice poll.

The poll that surveyed over 1200 people saw model Jennifer Hawkins at the second spot, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.ustralian PM Kevin Rudd bagged the third position; gaining more votes from women wine-drinkers than men.

After them were comedian Rove and actress Nicole Kidman.

“Partner” was ranked 6th, just ahead of TV veteran Bert Newton. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Actor, actor hugh jackman, Actress, actress nicole kidman, ahead, ANI, australian actor, Bert Newton, buddy, choice, Choice Poll, comedian, drinking, favourite, herald, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Hawkins, Kevin Rudd, model, morning, morning herald, Nicole Kidman, partner, poll, position, Rove, Sept, spot, sydney, sydney morning herald, third position, tops, ustralian, Veteran, wine drinkers

Binge drinking gives men a bigger beer belly than regular tipple

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 2 (ANI): Five pints of beer in an evening can have greater effect on men’s waist size than a regular tipple, suggests a British study.

The researchers found that men who binged had a waist size 2.3 inches (6cm) bigger than men who drank the same overall amount of alcohol but spread it out across the week.

It has been shown that abdominal fat can be more dangerous for the heart than fat carried around the bottom. It has also been linked to diabetes and heart disease.

However, in women the effect was even more pronounced, with binge drinkers having a waist four inches (10cm) bigger than non-bingers.

“Abdominal obesity is an important risk factor for diabetes and for cardiovascular disease,” the Telegraph quoted Prof Martin Bobak, professor of epidemiology at University College London, as saying.

“The finding that binge drinking is related to abdominal obesity is therefore important for our understanding of the link between heavy drinking and these diseases,” he added.

The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: abdominal, alcohol, amount, ANI, barcelona, beer, beer belly, belly, binge, Binge Drinkers, binge drinking, bottom, Cardiology, cardiovascular disease, college, diabetes, diabetes and heart disease, disease, diseases, drank, drinking, effect, epidemiology, European, european society of cardiology, evening, factor, fat, Four Inches, heart, heart disease, link, London, Martin Bobak, obesity, pints, prof, prof martin, professor, risk, risk factor, Sept, size, society, study, Telegraph, tipple, understanding, University, university college london, waist, waist size, week

UK leads world in under-age drinking

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 2 (ANI): When it comes to binge drinking, British teenagers take the cake as compared to youngsters from anywhere else in the globe, reveals an international survey.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research found a fifth of 13-year-olds confessed getting boozed up more than once, a figure four times than found in countries like Sweden, the US and the Netherlands.

The report, based on figures taken in 2005 to 2006, also found that teenage girls were more likely to have been drunk than boys, reports the Daily Star.

Half of 15-year-old females in the UK admitted getting drunk, that was treble the number as compared to France.oys, as many as 44 per cent, also confessed having been smashed.

Children’s Minister Dawn Prim-arolo said: “It is disappointing to see the UK rated so low for risky behaviour. However, we have introduced a number of initiatives to help teen-agers and their families make informed decisions about their behaviour.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 13-year-olds, ANI, behaviour, binge, binge drinking, British Teenagers, cake, cent, children, co-operation, daily, Daily Star, dawn, decisions, Development, Development Oecd, drinking, economic, females, fifth, figure, France, Getting Drunk, globe, half, initiatives, international survey, London, Minister Dawn Prim-arolo, Netherlands, number, OECD, organisation, Oys, Prim-arolo, report, Research, risky behaviour, September, star, survey, Sweden, Teen Agers, teenage girls, the Netherlands, U.K, US, world, youngsters

‘Twittering’, ‘hmm’, and ‘heh’ make it to Collins English Dictionary

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 31 (ANI): ‘Twittering’, ‘hmm’, and ‘heh’ are among the 267 words that have been added to this year’s Collins English Dictionary, all thanks to teenagers who use such words on social networking websites.

With teenagers increasingly using these grunts and sighs in words on Twitter and other such websites, the need to find spellings for sounds that were traditionally used only in speech has also spawned “meh” (an expression of dissatisfaction) and “mwah” (the sound of a noisy kiss).

Users of social networking sites may also be responsible for the resurgence of “heigh-ho” or “hey-ho” – an exclamation of weariness, disappointment, surprise or happiness – that went out of fashion in the early 20th century.

In fact, Twitter-the microblogging site that allows people to communicate in messages of 140 characters or less-has also been accepted as a verb by the dictionary to describe the act of using Twitter.

Other internet-derived terms include “noob” (short for newbie, a term for someone unfamiliar with web etiquette) and “woot” (an expression of joy conveying a sense of achievement).

New abbreviations used for convenience in text messages such as “OMG” (short for “oh, my God”) “soz” (short for sorry) and wtf (short for “what the f***?”) are also included in the dictionary.

Some new words in the dictionary could make many traditionalists cringe in their seats-new portmanteau words purporting to describe a new trend include “staycation” (a combination of stay and vacation, meaning to take a holiday without going abroad) and “glamping” (glamorous camping).

“Buzzkillers” (someone who stops other people from enjoying themselves), and “beer o’clock” (a time considered appropriate to start drinking) may also take many traditionalists by surprise.

“English is very good at absorbing new words. [But] in three or four years a lot of these words may have fallen out of use and might well come out of the dictionary,” Times Online quoted Elaine Higgleton, the Editorial Director for Collins, as saying. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: achievement, act, ANI, are, Aug, beer, Buzzkillers, century, Collins, Collins Dictionary, collins english dictionary, combination, convenience, cringe, dictionary, Dictionary Online, Dictionary Words, director, disappointment, dissatisfaction, drinking, editorial, Elaine Higgleton, english, etiquette, exclamation, expression, Expression Of Joy, fact, fashion, god, Grunts, happiness, Heh, Hmm, holiday, joy, London, lot, make, meh, mwah, need, networking, New, new trend, newbie, noisy, noob, o clock, OMG, Online, portmanteau, Portmanteau Words, resurgence, S Collins, sense, site, social networking sites, social networking websites, someone, sound, soz, speech, Spellings, stay, staycation, surprise, term, text, text messages, time, times, Traditionalists, trend, twitter, Twitter-the, Twittering, use, vacation, verb, weariness, web, Web Etiquette, Woot, wtf, year

US Fritzl held sickening orgies in his secret evil garden

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 30 (ANI): ‘American Fritzl’ Phillip Garrido held sickening orgies in the same filthy compound where he kept Jaycee Lee Dugard as his sex slave for 18 years and fathered two children with her, it has been revealed.

Mike Rogers, whose home backs on to the convicted rapist’s backyard, said: “At the time I didn’t know what was in his garden. I really tried to keep out of his business.

“But when one of his parties was excessively loud I peered through the fence and yelled for them to keep the noise down.

“What I saw was not normal. Eight to ten men, mostly Mexican, would gather in a line in his garden drinking beer, yelling and screaming and swearing.

“They normally had a bonfire and I saw them entering the tent one by one. On a number of occasions I saw them bobbing up and down through the window and I thought, ‘My God, there is something sexual going on in there.

“I thought they had a prostitute or something in there. I thought it might have been some kind of sex party or something,” he added.

The orgies were a frequent event, reports News of the World.

“They were different men each time. I just hope that sicko wasn’t pimping out Jaycee or those children. The thought makes me sick,” Rogers said.

Rogers, who lived next to Garrido for four years, said that while he was disturbed by what was happening he did not feel he had enough evidence to alert police. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 18 years, American, ANI, Aug, backyard, beer, bonfire, business, compound, drinking, Drinking Beer, event, evidence, fence, filthy, Fritzl, garden, Garden London, Garrido, god, going, home, Jaycee, Jaycee Lee Dugard, kind, Lee Dugard, line, London, Mike Rogers, NEWS, news of the world, noise, Noise Down, number, occasions, Orgies, party, Phillip Garrido, Pimping, police, prostitute, rapist, rogers, Secret Garden, Sex, sex party, sex slave, sicko, slave, something, swearing, tent, time, US, window, world

Ahmedabad victims died of drinking chemical not hooch: Police

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Aug 29(ANI): Ahmedabad Police on Saturday clarified that two people who died on Friday, died due to consumption of drinks having chemical content.

Police has dismissed assumption that they were victims of country-made liquor known as ‘hooch’, and said that the Forensic Science Laboratory report confirmed that they took a substance having chemicals.

“I don’t know what they thought of it while drinking the substance. We don’t want to defend them, but those two people who died and those who were admitted to hospital not because they drank poisonous alcohol but they consumed chemical,” said Shabbir Hussain Khandwawala, Director General of Police (DGP) of Gujarat.

“I don’t know whether they drank it thinking it was alcohol, it’s a matter of investigation,” he added.

Three others, who fell ill after consuming the drink, were being treated in a hospital. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Ahmedabad, alcohol, ANI, assumption, Aug, chemical, Chemical Content, chemicals, consuming, consumption, content, DGP, Director General, drank, drink, drinking, drinks, Forensic, forensic science laboratory, Friday, Gujarat, hooch, hospital, hussain, investigation, Khandwawala, Laboratory, Laboratory Report, liquor, matter, police, report, Saturday, Science, Shabbir, substance

Oz man claims his pet moggy can swear, speak in English!

August 29, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Aug 29 (ANI): An Aussie man claims that he owns a pet cat that can speak a total of seven different English words, including the F-word.

Mischief the ‘talking’ cat belongs to Robert ‘RJ’ Duncan, 34, an ex-boxer of Palmerston, in the Northern Territory, and his wife Sandra, 32, and he also claims that his budgie Picininny can speak.

According to the Northern Territory News, Mischief had at the first declined to utter a single word, but during a second visit he was much friendlier, and everyone around heard him calling Sandra, “mum”.

Duncan said the two-year-old cat, which he and his wife adopted from his feral mother in Katherine, was most vocal at night.

“He starts mouthing off when he wants his food _ when we start cooking,” the Daily Telegraph quoted him as saying.

“He can say seven words all up: mum, no, now, what, f**k, prick and why.

“He can’t say ‘dad’ yet, which is a bit of a prick. That’s how he got the word ‘prick’ I reckon, because I say it a lot,” he said.

Duncan said that Mischief’s first word was ‘mum’, which he started saying about the age of six months, and that he was not mimicking the words either, as he knew what he was saying.

“He calls out to (Sandra) and everything _ he’ll sit at the back window, while she’s in the garden, calling out ‘mum’,” he explained.

“In the evening time, if you don’t drop whatever you’re doing and pay attention to him, he calls you ‘f**k prick’.

“If he really cracks the s**ts, he’ll piss in his drinking water just to let you know he’s really s**ty,” he added.

Duncan will now be trying to film Mischief to prove the moggy can really talk.

“He’s a character … he’s one of these cats that’s a bit too brainy for his own good,” he added. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: age, ANI, attention, Aug, aussie, back, bit, boxer, brainy, budgie, cat, cats, character, cooking, dad, daily, daily telegraph, drinking, drinking water, duncan, english, evening, Evening Time, everyone, everything, f word, feral, film, first word, food, garden, Good, katherine, lot, man, Melbourne, mischief, moggy, mother, NEWS, night, Northern Territory, northern territory news, Oz, Palmerston, pet, pet cat, Picininny, prick, rj, robert, Sandra, Seven Words, single word, six months, Telegraph, the, time, total, ty, visit, water, wife, Wife Sandra, window, word

Tribals lament lack of adequate medical facilities in Orissa

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Dasmantpur (Orissa), Aug 27(ANI): Tribals living in Orissa’s Dasmantpur village are deprived of basic amenities and health facilities leading to several health hazards.

Locals say that the Central Government had made development plans for education, health and communication, but they are yet to see development in this regard.

The plight of the residents of the village has become manifold with the onset of monsoon, as tribals are facing the wrath of epidemics like cholera and diarrhoea.

“We are not getting the facilities provided by the government, as they get diverted en route. People here consume mango kernel during rainy season, so chances of suffering from Cholera increases,” said Subas Patika, another local.

“They cannot reach the medical centres, as there is no proper road connectivity. The river en route also swells up during rainy season. Education facilities are also very poor here,” he added.asmantpur village was in news for the last few years for the number of deaths due to cholera and diarrhoea like epidemics after floods.

“We are facing water problems. There is a tube well, but worms fall from it, in the morning. So people don’t use it for drinking. Our village doesn’t even have proper road connectivity.

The Anganwadi (government sponsored centre to help poor) does provide us some medicines,” said Keshab Chandru, a local. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Anganwadi, ANI, asmantpur, Aug, cannot, Central Government, centre, Chandru, cholera, communication, connectivity, Dasmantpur, Development, diarrhoea, drinking, Education, education facilities, education health, floods, Government, Health, health facilities, health hazards, kernel, keshab, lack, lament, local, locals, mango, manifold, Medical Centres, medical facilities, medicines, Monsoon, morning, NEWS, number, onset, Orissa, patika, plight, rainy, rainy season, regard, river, road, route, season, Subas, tribals, tube, village, water, water problems, wrath

Sikkim boy spreads awareness on social issues with motorbike stunts

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Gayshing (Sikkim), Aug.27 (ANI): In a unique act, a 21-year-old man in Sikkim is spreading social awareness among youth against drug addiction, excessive drinking and on AIDS by performing various stunts on motorbike.

Milan Pradhan, stunt rider, fascinates large number of crowds as he performs various formidable stunts on motorbike.

All the time Pradhan is riding, popping wheelies or sometimes burning rubber.

He performed recently in Gayshing town of Sikkim with another stunt rider.

“I want to give the message to young boys that by doing stunts you can earn a very good name and ensure a bright future. You will get busy in some work. You will forget about drugs once you are busy. By sitting in a room and taking drugs will not achieve spoil your name but stunts will make your future,” says Milan Pradhan, stunt rider.

He says the young boys love motorcycling and if they could be drawn into stunt riding which needs a high level of fitness and concentration, it will keep youngsters busy in a constructive way and they will have less chances of getting into drug habits.

Pradhan is a college student. He devotes most of his time learning new motorbike driving skills in style, when he is not attending classes or doing assignments.

He tells that he started trying stunt-riding when he was in his early teenage. The family was hesitant to allow him try hand on motorbike stunts.

But Pradhan managed to convince them by showing his daredevil spirit, which helped him keep away from attracted to drugs.

His love for performing tricks on motorbike has led him to appear for the MTV ‘Stuntmania’ and now he wants to pursue stunt biking to a greater level.

Organisers of the event said that generally the youth are interested in fast life, which sometimes can trap them into drug-addiction and anti-social activities. Motorcycle race or stunt riding can give them alternatives that match with their fast life but in a positive way.

“Biking goes very well with the present-day youth. The youth are very interested in fast cars, fast bikes. And with the fast life comes the very possibility of getting drawn to drug addiction, alcoholism and also the fear of AIDS. So with the youth coming and watching such programmes… we want to motivate them towards like diverting their lifestyle or mind to constructive things,” said Anand, organiser of the bike stunt show.

Organisers say such events will go a long way in attracting the youth to stunts and thereby indirectly diverting their minds from drugs and alcoholism.

Sikkim is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and shares international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. The northeastern belt, including Sikkim, has recently become a favourite transit point used by drug peddlers for smuggling drugs.

The unofficial data shows that use of alcohol has traditionally been prevalent among the local people. The state government has been running campaigns to create awareness on drugs and associated HIV/AIDS.

Alcohol use is traditionally prevalent in Sikkim and National Family Health Survey-2, Government of India, shows a significant prevalence of alcohol use in Sikkim- Boys (32%) and Girls (17%) among above 15 years of age. By Tashi Pradhan (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: act, addiction, age, AIDS, alcohol, alcoholism, anand, ANI, Aug, awareness, belt, Bhutan, bike, biking, boy, bright future, burning, burning rubber, college, concentration, daredevil, Daredevil Spirit, data, drinking, drug, drug habits, event, excessive drinking, family, favourite, fear, fitness, future, Gayshing, girls, Government, hand, Health, himalayas, HIV, India, level, life, Lifestyle, love, man, message, milan, mind, motorbike, Motorbike Stunts, motorcycle, Motorcycle Race, MTV, name, national, Nepal., number, organiser, organisers, point, possibility, Pradhan, prevalence, Race, rider, room, rubber, show, Sikkim, Sitting In A Room, smuggling, social awareness, social issues, spirit, state, student, stunt, Stunt Rider, Stunt Riding, Stuntmania, style, survey, taking drugs, Tashi, tibet, time, town, transit, trap, use, way, Wheelies, work, young boys, youngsters, youth

Large variations exist in peoples’ ability to eliminate arsenic from body

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 27 (ANI): A new study has shown that large variations exist in peoples’ ability to eliminate potentially toxic substance arsenic from the body.

In the study, Kevin Francesconi and colleagues found that some people eliminate more than 90 percent of the arsenic consumed in the diet while others store arsenic in their bodies, where it can have harmful effects.

Health effects from chronic arsenic exposure include skin and internal cancers, cardiovascular disease, and possibly diabetes.

Researchers say that drinking water in many parts of the world, including some regions of the United States, contain amounts of arsenic that exceed the World Health Organization’s maximum acceptable levels.

The study also found that consumption of seafood is another major source of arsenic contamination.

The scientists describe monitoring arsenic excretion in the urine of human volunteers.

They found that ability to eliminate arsenic from the body varied greatly, with some participants excreting up to 95 percent of the ingested arsenic but others eliminating as little as four percent.

“This observed individual variability in handling [arsenic] exposure has considerable implications for the risk assessment of arsenic ingestion,” the study states.

It adds that further study is needed to assess potential risks to humans consuming seafood products.

“The data presented here suggest that the long held view that seafood arsenic is harmless because it is present mainly as organoarsenic compounds needs to be reassessed,” the study states.

The research is scheduled for the Sept. 21 issue of ACS’s Chemical Research in Toxicology, a monthly journal. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ability, acceptable levels, acs, ANI, arsenic, Arsenic Contamination, Arsenic Exposure, assessment, Aug, body, cardiovascular disease, chemical, Chemical Research In Toxicology, Chronic Arsenic, consuming, consumption, contamination, diabetes, diabetes researchers, diet, disease, drinking, excretion, exposure, Francesconi, further study, Health, health effects, human volunteers, ingestion, Internal Cancers, issue, journal, Kevin Francesconi, maximum, organization, percent, Regions Of The United States, Research, risk, seafood, Seafood Products, Sept, skin, source, study, Study States, substance, Toxic Substance, toxicology, United States, urine, variability, view, Washington, water, world, world health organization

Heavy drinking ‘cuts dementia risk’

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 27 (ANI): People who drink up to 28 drinks a week in later life are less likely to develop dementia than people who abstain from alcohol consumption, according to a new study.

Professor Kaarin Anstey, from Canberra’s Australian National University, and colleagues compiled data from 15 international studies, including responses from more than 10,000 people.

They found that drinkers are better off when it comes to developing diseases affecting cognitive function, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The researchers found that those aged 60 and older who consumed between one and 28 alcoholic drinks each week, were almost 30 per cent less likely to have Alzheimer’s later on in life.

Light and moderate drinkers were also 25 per cent less likely to contract vascular dementia, and 26 per cent less likely to suffer from any form of dementia, the authors found.

The odds improved even more when comparing just drinkers with non-drinkers and ignoring exactly how much people consumed.

However, Anstey warned that this was not encouragement for people to start swilling 28 glasses of alcohol a week.

Even though, the study found imbibers, in general, had a 47 per cent reduced risk of contracting dementia compared with teetotalers, down to 44 per cent for Alzheimer’s.

Anstey said that there was a clear link between drinking and a reduced risk of dementia.

The researchers also found that the relationship between drinking and dementia was the same for men and women.

Although it was unclear exactly why light drinking provoked such a benefit, Anstey suggested that it might have something to do with alcohol’s ‘protective effect’ on reducing inflammation and heart disease.

The report was published in the July edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: abstain, alcohol, alcohol consumption, alcoholic drinks, alzheimer, American, American Journal Of Geriatric Psychiatry, ANI, Anstey, Aug, australian, benefit, Canberra, cent, cognitive function, colleagues, consumption, contracting, daily, daily telegraph, dementia, disease, diseases, drinking, edition, effect, encouragement, form, function, general, Geriatric, glasses, heart, heart disease, heavy, inflammation, journal, July, Kaarin, life, light, link, men and women, moderate drinkers, national, odds, professor, psychiatry, relationship, report, risk, something, study, Telegraph, University, vascular, Vascular Dementia, Washington, week

Flood-hit UP villagers forced to fend for themselves

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Pipraghat (UP), Aug 26 (ANI): Pipraghat villagers are caught in double trouble. Hit by flood, they have fallen victim to the government’s complacency.

The village is among the many hit by the rising waters of Narayani River in Kushinagar district. Thousands of people have been rendered homeless.

The villagers of Pipraghat complained that they have not received any government help so far.

“This is Pipraghat village in Kushinagar district, which is very backward. Twenty-five villages have been affected by floods and 20,000 people are suffering from it.

But the government has not made any arrangement. It has only been providing us with a boat and 2 litres of kerosene oil.” said Prabhunath Yadav, a resident.

People say they are left with very little food and are living on shells.

“The water has not receded. We are fetching shells and eating them and there is also no help from the government,” said Batulia Devi, a villager.

The villagers are facing a severe shortage of drinking water, apart from kerosene oil to cook their food.

The government officials say kerosene oil is on its way to reach people.

“Twelve thousand litres of oil has been ordered which will be distributed to people. The revenue administrative officer will make a list of people and those in the list will get two litres of oil,” said Mahendra Shukla, district supply officer.

Narayani River has swollen due to rains in Nepal, where it originates.

The river flows through Champaran district in Bihar to Maharajgunj and down Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh.

Heavy downpour after a delayed monsoon has wreaked havoc in many districts of Uttar Pradesh which skirt the India-Nepal border since the waters of swollen rivers and reservoirs in Nepal rush southwards into these districts. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: administrative officer, ANI, arrangement, Aug, Batulia, Bihar, boat, border, champaran, complacency, devi, district, Double Trouble, downpour, drinking, drinking water, due, flood, Flood-hit, floods, food, Government, government officials, havoc, heavy, Heavy Downpour, help, hit, India, kerosene, Kerosene Oil, Kushinagar, list, little food, Maharajgunj, Mahendra, Monsoon, Narayani River, Nepal., officer, oil, Pipraghat, Prabhunath, pradesh, reservoirs, resident, revenue, river, rush, shells, shortage, Shukla, skirt, supply, Swollen Rivers, trouble, twelve thousand, uttar, victim, village, villager, water, way, yadav

England team won’t undertake open-top bus parade

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug.24 (ANI): England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Managing Director Hugh Morris has ruled out the possibility of the victorious England cricket team undertaking an open top bus parade similar to the one that was done in 2005.

He told Sky News: “Perhaps last time we partied a bit too long and didn’t plan enough and obviously we know what the result was in Australia 18 months afterwards. We’re going to plan hard, we’ve got some big challenges ahead of us… that’s what we’ve be focusing on.”

The last home Ashes win sparked wild celebrations scenes and an open-top bus parade for the players. It also saw the team enjoy a marathon drinking session, with Andrew Flintoff famously turning up drunk at a Downing Street reception.

Things will be different this time around – with England aiming to capitalise on their success and become the best Test team in the world.

Playing commitments in Belfast later this week also mean the players will not be able to celebrate for too long.

Morris paid particular tribute to captain Andrew Strauss and team director Andy Flower.

Referring to the sackings of Kevin Pietersen as captain and former head coach Peter Moores, he said: “It was a dark, difficult, challenging time for all of us. But the way Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss have marshalled the troops to get to winning an Ashes series seven months later is a fantastic achievement.”

The chairman of selectors, Geoff Miller, told Sky News England can’t afford to dwell on the victory for too long.

“In 2005 we’d not beaten Australia for some time, now it’s a different situation. They can party, they can celebrate but they know there’s still a big job to be done. We want to be the best in the world and to be the best we’ll have to focus on what we do on and off the field,” he said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: achievement, andrew flintoff, andrew strauss, Andy Flower, ANI, ashes, Aug, Australia, belfast, bit, board, bus, capitalise, captain Andrew Strauss, chairman, coach, coach peter, Cricket, Different Situation, Different This Time, director, director hugh, Downing Street, drinking, Drinking Session, dwell, ecb, England, england and wales cricket board, england cricket team, england team, field, Geoff Miller, head, head coach, home, job, kevin pietersen, London, Managing Director Hugh Morris, marathon, morris, NEWS, News England, parade, party, Peter Moores, possibility, reception, result, sackings, selectors, series, session, situation, sky, sky news, success, team, team director, test, test team, time, tribute, victory, wales, wales cricket board, way, week, world

Provide immediate relief to drought-affected areas: Pawar

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug 21 (ANI): Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar asked the State Agriculture Ministers on Friday to take immediate steps to provide relief to the drought affected areas.

Addressing a conference of State Agriculture Ministers here, Pawar urged them to take steps to protect the interest of small and marginal farmers.

Pawar described the situation in 246 districts across 10 states as grim, and said the state agriculture departments must gear up their machinery to ensure full support to the farmers at this critical times.

Rabi crops can be planted early and over a large area to make for the kharif losses due to a poor monsoon, Pawar explained.

“This is good opportunity to ensure wheat is sown in time particularly in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal,” Pawar.

Pawar said there is an urgent need to promote alternate crops like pulses, sunflower, bajra, fodder and vegetables as the reports pointing out a shortfall in paddy sowing.

In his speech Pawar also stressed the need for sustaining the animal health, livelihood of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers.

He asked the State Governments to set up control rooms at the state capital and district headquarters to deal with drought situation.

“For the drought-affected population we should ensure availability of food, drinking water, fodder and employment. I am sure with your cooperation we would be able to tide over this crisis and regain the momentum of food grain production in the country.”

Pawar also expressed concern over price rise and asked the ministers to take measures to check it. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Agriculture, Agriculture Minister, agriculture ministers, alternate crops, ANI, animal, Animal Health, area, Aug, availability, bajra, Bihar, capital, concern, conference, control, cooperation, country, crisis, Critical Times, district, District Headquarters, drinking, drought, drought affected areas, Drought Situation, employment, fodder, food, food grain production, Friday, grain, headquarters, Health, interest, Kharif, landless, livelihood, machinery, marginal farmers, minister, ministers, momentum, Monsoon, need, New Delhi, opportunity, paddy, Pawar, population, pradesh, price, production, rabi, Rabi Crops, relief, rise, Sharad, sharad pawar, shortfall, situation, sowing, sown, speech, state, State Agriculture Departments, state governments, sunflower, support, tide, time, union, uttar, water, west bengal, wheat

Young age at first drink can turn under-15s into alcoholics

‘Zero tolerance’ policy has zero effect

Congress screens aspiring candidates for polls in Maharashtra

Scientists identify bacterial strains that can clear algal toxins from drinking water

Potable water shortage hits villagers in Kashmir

Hugh Jackman tops Drinking Buddy Of Choice poll

Binge drinking gives men a bigger beer belly than regular tipple

UK leads world in under-age drinking

US Fritzl held sickening orgies in his secret evil garden

Ahmedabad victims died of drinking chemical not hooch: Police

Oz man claims his pet moggy can swear, speak in English!

Tribals lament lack of adequate medical facilities in Orissa

Large variations exist in peoples’ ability to eliminate arsenic from body

Heavy drinking ‘cuts dementia risk’

England team won’t undertake open-top bus parade

Provide immediate relief to drought-affected areas: Pawar

Search More News

Technology News

Ads