17 August Freshener news

Modi slams central government for rejecting Gujarat anti-terror bill

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Monday accused the Congress-led central government of playing politics with terrorism and demanded to know why the state's proposed anti-terror bill was returned. In June the central government suggested amendments to the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime Act (GUJCOCA) that proposes to curb terrorism with tougher laws. 'I fail to understand why the central government should oppose provisions which are already part of the similar laws in Karnataka and Maharashtra,' Modi said as he spoke at an internal security meeting attended by chief ministers.

'We must draw a clear line' between those who support terrorism and 'those who are on the side of society', Modi said. 'Even the so-called liberal democracies and proclaimed upholders of human rights like the US, Canada, Australia have enacted laws having more stringent provisions than the proposed GUJCOC Act.'

Modi said the need for such legislation was not only for punishing the terrorists but also to prevent educated youth from being brainwashed into terror ideology.

The chief minister has been saying the amendments to the act would amount to taking away the 'teeth and nails' of the proposed legislation.

The government returned the controversial GUJCOC Bill passed by the Gujarat assembly to the state, saying that without three key amendments it could not be sent to the President for assent. One of the amendments being suggested to the state government is to drop a key provision -- that confessions before a police officer will be admissible in court.

Singh's remarks on attacks were uncalled for: Pak

Pakistan today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks about terror groups planning fresh attacks on India from Pakistani soil were uncalled for as the two countries were progressing towards better relations. "I think (Singh's) statement was uncalled for and it would have been better if he had not made such a statement because Pakistan and India are moving towards better relations, especially after the meetings (between the Indian premier and President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani)," Minister of State for Information Sumsam Ali Bukhari said. "As Pakistanis, we would not want any problems to occur anywhere. We are ourselves victims of terrorism," Bukhari told reporters in this southern port city in response to a question about Singh's remarks. Pakistan wants to work with the world in tackling terrorism and militancy, he said.

6 new cases of swine flu in Gujarat

Six more people tested positive for swine flu here today, taking the total number of cases in Gujarat to 45 while death of another suspected patient was reported. "The number of cases that have tested positive so far has gone up to 45 in the state and today six people, four males and two females, have tested positive in Ahmedabad," state Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said.

He said at present, 28 patients have been admitted in hospitals in Ahmedabad (11), Vadodara (9) Surat (7) and Bhavnagar (1) while two people have so far died due to the deadly virus in the state. Meanwhile, there has been death of a suspected swine flu patient in a private hospital in the city here.

"The patient died on August 13 at 5 PM at Sidhivinayak hospital in Maninagar area. However, the hospital did not inform the health authorities about the patient, who was a suspected case of swine flu," a senior official in the health department said, adding, "the authorities have launched an inquiry into the incident".

Chidambaram’s surprise visit to GMC stadium

From the country’s financial aspects to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and safeguarding the Indian borders to the Maoist menace and internal security of the country -- he has spoken about it all, innumerable times. But it was today that his `love’ for the game of badminton was made known to all. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was seen discussing, at length, nuances of badminton including the volleys and smashes, that too for full five hours! But the `smash’ he himself delivered after his New Delhi office `orally’ communicated about his `secret’ visit to the GMC Balayogi stadium only to the State Intelligence wing was one aspect which took the Cyberabad police, including the senior officials there by sheer surprise.

Top sources disclosed to Express that though a battery of security personnel from the Intelligence Security Wing (ISW) were drafted to `cover’ the Home Minister (as per the usual security drill) and even the convoy of bullet proof cars in place for the high profile visitor ever since he arrived by an Indian Airlines flight at 12.10 p.m., the Cyberabad police did not have the faintest idea that none other than the Union Home Minister was to visit the stadium. Unconfirmed reports suggested that before going to the stadium, he attended an engagement function.

His office in New Delhi had informed us that it was a private visit and unofficial. We were asked not to disclose the details of his visit even to the local police. Simultaneously, we were making all the arrangements,’’ a senior police official who was in the know of the Home Minister’s visit told Express. He said that his office had clearly instructed the State police that he intended to have a first hand feel of the security arrangements and watch the game without any `usual hungama’. ``He arrived into the stadium at 2 p.m, when the game started and discussed the nuances of the game. He discussed smashes, volleys and got excited just like any other visitor when a player delivered a smash. He did not mention anything about security aspects and was completely focussed on the game without any disturbance,’’ a source present at the stadium said. Even some MLAs present there just greeted him and left Chidambaram `alone’ to watch the game. ``It was only after he came inside the venue that we knew he was here. We made enquiries and later learnt that his office had also insisted that besides the security officials, the local police (Cyberabad) should not be informed about his visit,’’ a Cyberabad police official said. Chidambaram left the stadium at 7 p.m. and drove straight to Shamshabad airport and boarded a Jet airways flight back to Delhi. For his departure though, the Cyberabad police were present in large numbers escorting his convoy to the airport.

Maya government creating hurdles

in Amethi development: Rahul

Congress general secretary and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government was creating hurdles in the central government's developmental projects. Gandhi, who was in this main town of his constituency to inaugurate the stamping unit in the Jagdishpur plant of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, said: "Take for example the Hindustan Paper Mill that is proposed by the central government. A Rs.3,000-crore project, it will generate direct and indirect employment for nearly 25,000 people, but the state government refused to give us land and even returned the money we deposited for the same."

He said the central government had opened a lot of schools, factories, professional education institutions in the region and would continue to work for the development of the people. "We need to fight together for our region to generate employment for the people of the region and the entire state," he told the audience in this area, about 100 km from state capital Lucknow. Minister for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was also present on the occasion, said: "On my way here from Lucknow along with Rahul, I saw thousands of youth anxiously waiting for Rahul. Their enthusiasm reflected how much they love their leader and the works done by him. We are committed to give them employment and wish to assure that many such industries will be set up in the region." Deshmukh said: "If the state government allots us land for the paper mill, I assure you that we will lay the foundation stone in a week."

Praising Gandhi and her mother Sonia Gandhi's constituencies (Amethi and Rae Bareli), Deshmukh said this was not only the constituency of the people of the region but of all Indians. "People across India see these constituencies as a role model of development. The central government will extend all possible help for the development of this region," Deshmukh said. After landing in Lucknow in the morning, Rahul Gandhi went to the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital there and inaugurated the paediatric department. Later, Gandhi visited villages in his constituency. During his three-day stay in Amethi, he will inaugurate a school, and attend the certificate distribution programme of a local branch of the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad.

Raje climbs down, but will still have say in party affairs

Vasundhara Raje will now decide on the timing of her exit as the Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly. She will, perhaps, also have a say in who's named her successor - a compromise formula was worked out between her and party chief Rajnath Singh, which was endorsed by the BJP parliamentary board on Sunday evening. In an apparent climb down, Raje agreed to "abide" by any decision of the BJP's highest decision-making body, the parliamentary board. In turn, Singh agreed not to press for her resignation with immediate effect.

Instead, he accepted the board's view that she be allowed to exit with "honour" without any deadline or tag that she must own up for the party's poor showing in the elections. Senior BJP leaders worked behind the scenes to nurse the bruised egos of both Singh and Raje, who had put up a banner of rebellion along with her MLAs for the last three days; and Singh had insisted that she must go, without a delay. He had earlier wanted Raje to resign before the party's chintan baithak (meeting) in Shimla on August 19. "There is no deadline or time limit in politics," Singh told reporters in reply to questions by what date she should put in her papers. "But I did tell her that she must quit." Apparently, Raje settled for a compromise at a closed-door meeting with six MLAs. They apprehended desertion of more MLAs from her camp as the central BJP was "dead set" on her removal."There was no formal meeting. A few of us (MLAs) paid her a courtesy call. Between 55 and 65 legislators are still supporting her.

She has not been asked to resign. If that was the case, why did Rajnathji (Singh) not fax or phone or mail her (Raje) asking for her resignation?" he said. Exploiting the lack of deadline set for her resignation, BJP leader Vasundhara Raje's supporters today indicated that she may not not be quitting her position as Leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly immediately. The party, however, said in Delhi that there was no no crisis in Rajasthan and Raje has accepted the party's decision that she should step down. "She will take the appropriate decision at an appropriate time," BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar told reporters.

A day after the BJP Parliament Board met and endorsed the Core Group decision asking her to quit her post in the Assembly following defeat in the Assembly and Parliament elections but without setting any deadline, 16 leaders, including 6 MLAs, supporting her met at Raje's residence.

Nepal soil won't be allowed to be used against India: PM

On the eve of his maiden official visit to New Delhi, Premier Madhav Kumar Nepal on Monday affirmed that his country would not allow its soil to be used against India and sought the giant neighbour's cooperation in the fields of infrastructure development and power generation. "This is basically a goodwill visit and I hope that it would take the existing cordial and close relations between the two countries to a new high," he said in an interview at his official residence ahead of his departure for New Delhi tomorrow on a five-day visit.

The purpose of the visit is to further deepen mutual trust and understanding, apart from exploring ways to expand cooperation, Nepal, 56, said. "We will review the Indo-Nepal relations in totality and find out where the hurdles are and suggest ways to clear them." The Prime Minister also asserted that Nepal will never allow its soil to be used against India. "We are committed to not allowing our territory against the interests of neighbouring countries, including India." He said Nepal was also opposed to pursuing the policy of using one country against the other.

CJI signals speedier justice for undertrials

For nearly 1.7 lakh undertrials languishing in jails after being booked for petty offences, there could be good news soon. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, law minister Veerappa Moily and Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan were unanimous that urgent steps were needed to release them as in many cases, the period of detention could have overshot the sentence that would have been awarded to them in case of conviction. At a conference of chief ministers and chief justices on Sunday, CJI Balakrishnan said chief judicial magistrates had been instructed to ascertain the number of undertrials booked for petty offences.

If they had served more than half the sentence likely to be awarded for their crime, such undertrials could be ‘‘immediately released on personal bond’’, the CJI said. Expressing deep concern over undertrials languishing in jails even for petty offences, the PM said, ‘‘A matter of concern, indeed worry, is the large number of undertrials in our jails. Many such undertrials have been in jail for periods longer than they would have served had they been sentenced.’’

India has around 1,500 jails with a capacity to lodge 2.5 lakh prisoners, but they house 3.5 lakh inmates. As much as 70% of the jail population is made up of undertrials, which means the number could be pegged at 2.45 lakh. The CJI said 70% of undertrial prisoners were booked for petty offences and as such, this category could be 1.7 lakh-strong.

State Government humiliates IPS man

In what could snowball into a major embarrassment for the Naveen Patnaik Government, a senior IPS officer of the State was `denied’ the prestigious President’s medal, at the last moment, during the Independence Day function. DIG Vinaytosh Mishra, a 1993 batch officer and now on deputation to CISF in Bokaro, was present to receive the medal but his name was not called. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik went on to confer medals on two other officers of the same batch, while Mishra was ignored, much to his shock and humiliation. His family was present at the function. The incident led to outrage among the police officers many of whom saw it as a defiance of the Presidential order and violation of the Constitution. Every year, the States recommend names of officers for President’s medal for meritorious service. After the President’s assent, the names are announced. Thus, the State becomes a mere ceremonial representative to confer the medals. This time, Mishra, Susant Kumar Nath and R P Koche, three DIG-ranked officers, were nominated for the honour. In fact, till the last minute, everything was in order. As part of protocol, Mishra was sent invitation for the investiture ceremony. He also attended the rehearsal on Friday, printed his signature on an official list and a chair in his name was designated at Jaydev Bhawan, where the function is held every year. It was when the names were read out as part of the citation ceremony that Mishra's name didn't figure.

The matter drew sharp reaction from the IPS officers' fraternity. According to a senior officer, who didn’t wish to be named, this is a direct defiance to the President and violation of Constitution. ``Since the medal is conferred by the President, nobody can take it away from Mishra. Besides, how can the Presidential order be flouted?’’ asked an officer. Even as the issue has raised a serious row, the Government’s embarrassing move is aimed at pleasing tribal sentiments. In 2006, 13 tribals of Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district were killed in police firing. Mishra then was the SP of the district. While no reaction was available from the CM’s Office, Home Secretary A P Padhy was not available for comment. The IPS officer is believed to have lodged a protest with Chief Secretary Ajit Tripathy.

Landmine found near IB in Jammu

The Border Security Force (BSF) today recovered a landmine from a hamlet at Arnia near Indo-Pak border here. On the information given by a farmer, BSF troops of 110 Battalion recovered the explosive from Arnia border hamlet, about 20 kms from here, police officials said. The AM14-landmine found near the International Border in Jammu district was defused, police said.

Two boys arrested for stabbing 20-year-old to death

The police have arrested two minor boys for stabbing a youth over a minor brawl.

The accused, aged 11 and 14, were arrested on Saturday, after Kirtan Chauhan, 20, succumbed to stab injuries at the Rajkot Civil Hospital.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused did not even know Chauhan, and allegedly stabbed him after having a heated exchange.

“The police are in the process to hand over the custody of the two minors to juvenile courts,” a New Thoral police station officer said, adding that they are yet to recover the murder weapon, believed to be a knife. Chauhan, a labourer at a bangle factory in Rajkot, was found lying in a pool of blood by passersby near Fieldmarshal factory on Bhavnagar road on August 14. He was rushed to the Rajkot Civil Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Even as the police began investigations based on a complaint filed by Kirtan’s brother-in-law Bhagedu Chauhan, the youth breathed his last on August 15. According to the police, the accused, both residents of Ganjiwad, had a minor scuffle with the deceased before the fatal incident. The accused were on their way home from the Janmashtami Rath Yatra in Rajkot, when they had an encounter with Kirtan midway.

Investigations have revealed that Kirtan, who was drunk, used foul language after he bumped into the duo on Bhavnagar Road. The accused, who were carrying a knife, stabbed Kirtan and fled from the scene. According to the police, Kirtan, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh, had been living in Rajkot for the last five years and was to get married in April next year. The accused are school dropouts, they added.

Suicide bomb kills 20, injures over 100 in Russia

A suicide bomber attacked a police station in Russia's North Caucasus with an explosives-laden truck Monday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 100 others, officials said. The bombing was the deadliest in years in the restive southern region, denting Kremlin claims that the area was stabilizing after two wars in Chechnya and mounting violence in surrounding provinces since 1994. While most fighting in Chechnya has ended, Islamic militants continue to mount regular hit-and-run attacks and skirmishes in neighboring provinces.

The attacker on Monday rammed the truck through the gates of the Nazran city police headquarters, in Ingushetia province, and detonated about 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives as police officers were lining up in the internal courtyard for a morning check, said Svetlana Gorbakova of the federal investigative office. Police had fired shots at the truck, but failed to stop it before it exploded in the middle of the courtyard. The blast left a huge crater and triggered a raging fire that destroyed a weapons room where ammunition detonated.

It took rescue teams several hours to search for victims in the rubble. A nearby apartment building and several office buildings were also damaged, and burned-out cars littered the street. The attacker and the truck were pulverized by the blast, Gorbakova said. At least 20 people were killed and 60 wounded, she said. But Aslan Ozdoyev, a spokesman for the Emergency Ministry's branch in Ingushetia, said 118 people were injured and about 100 of them remained hospitalized. Russia's Emergency Ministry sent a special plane to bring some of the wounded to Moscow for treatment.

An Associated Press reporter saw 11 badly burned bodies at a morgue in Nazran, the largest city in Ingushetia, which borders Chechnya to the west.

Local authorities announced a three-day mourning. Ingushetia's Kremlin-appointed president, badly wounded in another suicide bombing in June, said Monday's attack had been organized by militants trying to avenge recent security sweeps in the forests along the mountainous border with Chechnya.

"It was an attempt to destabilize the situation and sow panic," Yunus-Bek Yevkurov said in a statement issued through his spokesman. He blamed Chechen separatist warlord Doku Umarov for the June attack on his convoy, saying the perpetrators had been be tracked down, according to an interview with Russian News Service radio. He vowed to hunt down Umarov and other rebel warlords.

He also accused the United States, Britain and Israel of fomenting instability in the North Caucasus, saying "the West will try to prevent Russia from restoring its Soviet-era might." He did not elaborating. Rights groups said arbitrary arrests, torture and killings by security forces had helped swell the ranks of rebels in Ingushetia under Yevkurov's predecessor, Murat Zyazikov.

Yevkurov, a former officer of the Russian GRU military intelligence service, has promised to end abuses and sought to negotiate pardons for some rebels who would agree to put down their weapons.

Fed extends consumer lending program through March

The Federal Reserve has extended a program intended to spur lending to consumers and small businesses at lower rates, but the central bank will not expand the types of loans made. The Fed on Monday said extended its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility through March 31 for most of the types of loans it makes. The program was scheduled to end on Dec. 31.

The TALF started in March and figures prominently in efforts by the Fed and the Obama administration to ease credit, stabilize the financial system and help end the recession. Under the program, investors use the funds to buy securities backed by auto and student loans, credit cards, business equipment and loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. The program for commercial mortgage-backed securities was extended through June 30 because issuing new securities in that area "can take a significant amount of time to arrange," according to a joint news release from the Fed and the Treasury Department.

The broader TALF program had gotten off to a lethargic start, hobbled by rule changes, investor worries about financial privacy and fears that participants might become ensnared in an anti-bailout backlash from the public and Congress.

The program has the potential to generate up to $1 trillion in lending for households and businesses, according to the government. Spurring such lending is vital to turning around the economy. The Fed and Treasury on Monday said they were prepared to reconsider this decision if financial or economic developments conditions indicate that such an expansion would still be warranted. However, the government believes the financial system is beginning to stabilize after being hit last fall by the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. "Conditions in financial markets have improved considerably in recent months," the Fed and Treasury said in their statement. "Nonetheless, the markets for asset-backed securities backed by consumer and business loans and for commercial mortgage-backed securities are still impaired and seem likely to remain so for some time."

The Fed last week delivered a vote of confidence in the economy, saying the downturn appeared to be "leveling out." Fed officials also said they would slow the pace of a program to buy $300 billion worth of Treasury securities, an effort aimed at keeping mortgage rates affordable. The central bank said it planned to shut down the program at the end of October.

Obama to update veterans on Iraq, Afghanistan

A commander in chief fighting two wars, President Barack Obama plans to thank veterans for their service on Monday while pressing his commitments to wind down the Iraq war and redouble efforts in Afghanistan. The president is slated to address members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars gathered in Arizona at the organization's annual convention. "He'll talk about where we are currently in both those two conflicts. He'll talk about what we owe the men and women in uniform" as well as "their contributions to the betterment of those two countries," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. Obama has made Afghanistan, which the United States invaded in October 2001 to hunt for Osama bin Laden, one of his top foreign policy priorities. But his administration is grappling with next steps there as it seeks to disentangle 130,000 American troops from Iraq.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is mapping out a revised war plan that he will send to Obama after elections in Afghanistan slated for this week. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that report will not contain a request to expand the U.S. fighting force, and Gibbs said Obama will not address troop strength or lay out next steps in his speech. There are 62,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and another 6,000 are headed there by the end of the year.

Gibbs said he also expects the president to discuss his defense budget and decisions such as "whether or not we're going to fund expensive weapons programs the Pentagon says we don't need, or give our men and women fighting in those two dangerous places in the world and other places the resources they need." Gates wants to change the way the Defense Department does business. He's trying to kill unnecessary or financially troubled weapons systems that siphon money away from the troops and gear needed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Over the objections of some lawmakers who fear their states will lose jobs, the Pentagon chief wants to end production of the high-priced F-22 jet fighter and an aircraft engine project, expensive projects that he says the military doesn't need.

Obama's speech comes at the end of a four-day, four-state trip to the West that was part family vacation, part presidential business. He held a pair of town hall events to promote his plan to overhaul the nation's health care, and his family visited Yellowstone and Grand Canyon national parks.

Karzai rival draws chaotic Afghan poll rally

Afghan leader Hamid Karzai's main rival drew a chaotic crowd of thousands on Monday, the last day of campaigning before a presidential vote, with the outcome hanging on the threat of violence and the clout of old warlords. In the north, thousands assembled for a rally in support of a former Uzbek militia chief who arrived in the country overnight promising to help tip Thursday's election for Karzai. Security guards for Abdullah Abdullah, Karzai's former foreign minister, beat back enthusiastic supporters with rifle butts at the rally in Kabul's National Olympic Stadium, notoriously once used by the Taliban as an execution ground.

Several thousand supporters waved blue flags and cheered as Abdullah gave a passionate address, whipping some in the crowd into a frenzy. A makeshift platform used by television journalists collapsed in the crush, lightly injuring several. Supporters stampeded through gates and shattered glass doors to get closer to Abdullah, an urbane eye doctor, while others clung precariously to a light tower. Abdullah's frenetic rally came a day after former Uzbek militia leader General Abdul Rashid Dostum jetted back into Afghanistan from exile in Turkey, perhaps to deliver enough support to swing the election for Karzai in a single round. Polls have shown Karzai firmly in the lead with about 45 percent of the vote, but not enough to win an outright majority and avoid a run-off against Abdullah, who has strong support among ethnic Tajiks in the north of the country.

The prospect of violence could hurt Karzai's first-round chances. Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt the poll, which could hurt voter turn-out, especially in the Pashtun south which has overwhelmingly supported Karzai, a Pashtun, in the past.

If Karzai fails to win a majority in Thursday's first round, he would face the second-placed candidate, most likely Abdullah, in a run-off in early October. While Karzai has focused on behind-the-scenes coalition building, Abdullah's campaign has built surprising momentum on the strength of popular rallies across the country.

After his Kabul rally on Monday, Abdullah sped off for another appearance in the violent southern province of Paktia.

Karzai has secured the endorsements of ethnic chieftains and former militia bosses, but that tactic has raised the alarm of Western donors fearful of a return to power by warlords whose factional fighting in the 1990s tore the country apart.

Few of the former militia chiefs are viewed with more suspicion by the West than Dostum, a whisky-drinking ex-Communist general whose militia repeatedly changed sides during the civil war. Dostum won 10 percent of the vote during the last election in 2004, and his support could help tip the balance for Karzai.

"We love him like our father. He is our elder and anything he says, I'll accept," said Daoud, an 18-year-old working in a juice shop in Shiberghan, Dostum's dusty northern home city. A crowd of thousands waited for Dostum, banging drums and chanting "Long live General Dostum!". Some supporters on horseback carried placards for Karzai and Dostum. Dostum arrived in Kabul late on Sunday shortly after the government announced that he was free to return. The United Nations and the United States both expressed concern at the prospect he could return to a position in government. Aleem Siddique, a U.N. spokesman in Kabul, said Afghanistan "needs more competent politicians and fewer warlords". A U.S. official said Washington had made its "serious concerns" clear to the Afghan government, and Dostum's reputation "raised questions of his culpability for massive human rights violations". Karzai also boosted his chances last week by securing the last-minute endorsement of Ismail Khan, a regional potentate with strong influence in the important western city of Herat.

Karzai's two vice presidential running mates are former guerrilla chiefs from the Tajik and Hazara minorities, and he has also secured the support of ex-guerrillas from his Pashtun group. Four minor candidates announced on Monday they were withdrawing and throwing their support behind Karzai. The election is a test for U.S. President Barack Obama's strategy of escalating the 8-year-old war in an effort to turn the tide after Taliban advances in recent years. More than 30,000 extra U.S. troops have arrived in Afghanistan this year, raising the number of Western troops above 100,000 for the first time, including more than 62,000 Americans. U.S. and British troops have launched major offensives, taking unprecedented casualties -- more Western troops have died in Afghanistan since March than in the entire period from 2001-2004. A bomb killed three more British soldiers on Sunday.

Claudette weakens, but hurricane forms in Atlantic

A quick-forming tropical storm blew into the Florida Panhandle on Monday and quickly lost steam while the first hurricane of this year's Atlantic season took shape over the open ocean on a track for Bermuda. Claudette was downgraded to a tropical depression Monday morning with top sustained winds near 35 mph after coming ashore a few hours earlier as the first named storm to hit the U.S. mainland this year. Claudette made landfall near Fort Walton Beach early Monday less than 12 hours after forming over the Gulf.

Claudette was headed across Alabama toward northeastern Mississippi, bringing heavy rains. It was not expected to cause significant flooding or wind damage.

Near Panama City, a man in his mid-20s died after being pulled from the surf on Sunday afternoon. A Panama City Beach police dispatcher could not immediately provide more details Monday. The Panama City News Herald said another person was reported missing at sea after his boat sank off Shell Island.

Pensacola Beach condominiums had warned residents on Sunday to bring balcony furniture indoors. But after the storm passed farther east, early morning joggers and tourists seeking sea shells dotted the early morning sands. Surf shop instructor Ben Martin pulled up on the beach in his pickup truck with surfboards in the back around 6:30 a.m. Official surf conditions were moderate, but Martin predicted a great day. "We are going to get some pretty good surf because it's storm driving the offshore winds. Every surfer that owns a board is going to call in sick," Over the Atlantic, Hurricane Bill formed early Monday. The storm had maximum sustained winds near 75 mph that were expected to gain speed and top 110 mph, the threshold for a major hurricane. "We do believe (Bill) could become a major hurricane during the next couple of days," said Daniel Brown, a hurricane specialist for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Bill was centered about 1,160 miles east of the Lesser Antilles and moving west-northwest at 22 mph. The five-day forecast shows the storm passing northeast of Puerto Rico and heading toward Bermuda. On the Gulf Coast, the center of Claudette was about 85 miles southwest of Montgomery, Ala., at 7:00 a.m. CDT. Claudette was moving northwest near 12 mph, headed across southwestern Alabama and into northeastern Mississippi late Monday. Rainfall of 3 to 6 inches was expected, with isolated areas getting up to 10 inches along the Panhandle, the Big Bend region, central and southern Alabama and southwestern Georgia, forecasters said.

"We may see some heavy rains as a result, but we don't expect any high winds or coastal flooding," said John Dosh, manager of Emergency Management for Escambia County, where Pensacola is located. "This event is a good example of how quickly a tropical storm can develop. We won't always have a lot of warning. This is why citizens need to be prepared throughout hurricane season."

Far out in the Pacific, Hurricane Guillermo weakened to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds near 70 mph. Guillermo was centered about 815 miles east of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west-northwest near 15 mph.

Elsewhere, Tropical Depression Ana was moving quickly across the northeastern Caribbean Sea early Monday. It was expected to make reach the coast of the Dominican Republic later in the day. Tropical storm watches for Antigua, Barbuda and Montserrat were discontinued. But watches remained in effect for Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, St. Maarten and several other islands in the area. Ana was forecast to bring 2 to 4 inches of rain. Despite the storms, a warmer weather pattern called El Nino over the Pacific Ocean is generally expected to damper the formation of tropical storms in the Caribbean and Atlantic this year, said Brian Daly, a meteorologist with the national weather service in Mobile, Ala. Forecasters revised their Atlantic hurricane season predictions after the first two months of the season passed without any named storms developing.

Survey Finds Binge Drinking Among Older People, Too

Binge drinking isn't just a problem of young people, researchers say.

In a nationwide survey of people 50 to 64 years old, nearly a quarter of the men and nine percent of the women told Duke University researchers they had engaged in binge drinking in the previous 30 days. Defined as five or more alcoholic drinks in a short time, binge drinking is considered extremely risky behavior, and its dangers increase with age. The survey also found that 14 percent of men and three percent of women 65 and older reported binge drinking in the previous month. The survey results were published online Aug. 17 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. "We feel that our findings are important to the public health of middle-aged and elderly persons as they point to a potentially unrecognized problem that often flies beneath the typical screen for alcohol problems in psychiatry practices," Dr. Dan G. Blazer of Duke, a study co-author, said in a news release. "Clinicians who work with this age group would be well advised to ask specifically about binge drinking." The researchers examined data on the drinking habits of nearly 11,000 middle-age and older adults from the 2005 and 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

They found that older binge drinkers were more likely to use tobacco or illicit drugs than those reporting no alcohol use. Male binge drinkers tended to be unmarried and have higher income than non-drinkers. Women binge drinkers reported higher non-medical use of prescription drugs. Binge drinking, also called extreme drinking, has gained notoriety in recent years as experts have decried the drinking habits of college students and young people. In one study, nearly 50 percent of college students reported consuming excessive alcohol in a short time. Binge drinking at any age can lead to alcohol poisoning, liver disease, neurological damage, injuries and violent crimes.

Al-Qaeda extremists warn of "spectacular attacks" on UK

In an astounding revelation, Al-Qaeda extremists have claimed that home-grown terrorists are plotting to attack targets in Britain. According to reports, in an internet magazine read by thousands of Islamic extremists Al-Qaeda has labeled Britain and Europe as a bigger enemy than the United States.

It further says that the strikes are being planned by terrorists living in Britain and others overseas, and warns of "spectacular attacks", The Sun reports.

The site is promoted by supporters of deported hate preacher Abdullah al-Faisal who was booted out of Britain after serving a jail sentence for being found guilty of three charges of soliciting the murder of Jews, Americans, and Hindus, and two charges of using threatening words to stir up racial hatred.

Four members of President's Bodyguard guilty in rape case

*A city court Monday convicted four members of the President's Bodyguards in the 2003 Buddha Jayanti Park gang rape case. Additional Sessions Judge S.K. Sarvaria held Harpreet and Satendra guilty of gang rape, kidnapping and robbery under the various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court also held Kuldeep and Manish of guilty of kidnapping and robbery. The argument on quantum of sentence will be heard Aug 22. According to the prosecution, the victim had gone with her friend Ashish to the park near the Rashtrapati Bhavan Oct 6, 2003 and was raped by Harpreet and Satendra while Kuldeep and Manish kept guard.

Prime Minister says Pakistan groups planning new attacks

Bomb blast kills six in northwest Pakistan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Monday there was "credible information" that Pakistan-based militant groups were planning fresh attacks on India. Singh's statement was the latest attempt by India to pile more pressure on Pakistan to act against anti-India militants that New Delhi blames for last November's Mumbai attacks. "Coming to specific challenges, cross-border terrorism remains a most pervasive threat," Singh told a conference on national security attended by provincial chief ministers. "There is credible information of ongoing plans of terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out fresh attacks." A bomb planted in a vehicle went off near a petrol station in northwestern Pakistan on Monday, killing six people and wounding several, police said. There has been a lull in militant violence in Pakistan in recent weeks after security forces pushed back Taliban insurgents in the northwestern Swat Valley and stepped up attacks on Pakistani Taliban in the South Waziristan region. "The blast killed six people on the spot and we have shifted the wounded to hospital," Jahanzeb Khan, a senior police officer in the town of Charssada, where the blast took place, told Reuters. Another police officer, Riaz Khan, said the bomb was being carried in a car and it went off when its driver had stopped to get petrol. The military went on the offensive against Pakistani Taliban in the Swat valley in the northwest in late April, which initially triggered more bomb attacks by militants. After three months, the army has killed or driven out many militants from Swat in what has been widely seen as a successful operation. Bomb attacks have also become more rare in recent weeks. although the reason for that is not clear. The army push has allayed fears among Pakistan's allies, in particular the United States and other countries with troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, that nuclear-armed Pakistan was failing to get to grips with spreading Islamist violence. Pakistan's efforts to suppress militants on its side of the border are vital for a U.S.-led bid to stabilise Afghanistan, where Taliban have threatened to disrupt Thursday's presidential election.

India suspended a 2004 peace process with Pakistan after last November's attack on Mumbai that killed 166 people, saying it could be resumed only if Pakistan acted to dismantle the "terrorist network" on its soil. New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants who it said were supported by some official agencies.

Pakistan denied official involvement, but accepted that the attack was partly planned on its soil. It arrested five people who India said were behind the attack.

Singh also said Pakistan-based groups fighting Indian rule in disputed Kashmir region had stepped up efforts to send their militants across after a period of relative calm in the region. "The areas of operation of these terrorists today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu and Kashmir and covers all parts of the country," the prime minister said. He said though the level of violence had gone down in Kashmir during the past few years when India and Pakistan began their peace talks in 2004, there has been a surge in the incidence of "infiltration attempts" by the Pakistan-based militants. "The infiltrators appear more battle-hardened, better equipped and in possession of sophisticated communications.

"There are also signs of a revival of over ground militant activities...All this shows that efforts to disturb the current status-quo has not been given up," Singh said.

Kashmir remains at the core of a six-decade-long bloody conflict between India and Pakistan. Both claim the Himalayan region in full but rule it in part. It has caused two of the three wars the two countries have fought. India says Pakistan arms and trains Kashmiri separatist militants. Islamabad says it only extends moral support of the Kashmiri "freedom struggle".

Bharatiya Jinnah Party : Cong

Senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh may have put the party in a fresh spot with his comments that Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah was "demonised" by India even though it was Jawaharlal Nehru whose belief in a centralised system had led to the Partition. Jaswant, whose book "Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence", will be released on Monday, also said Indian Muslims were treated as aliens.

"Oh yes, because he created something out of nothing and single-handedly stood against the might of the Congress party and against the British who didn't really like him... Gandhi himself called Jinnah a great Indian. Why don't we recognise that? Why don't we see (and try to understand) why he called him that," Singh said, when asked by Karan Thapar in an interview whether he viewed Jinnah as a great man. Singh said he did not subscribe to the popular "demonisation" of Jinnah. A severely embarrassed BJP on Sunday refused to comment on Singh's book and some of his recent observations.

All the three authorised party spokespersons — Ravi Shankar Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Prakash Javdekar — refused to comment on his observations. Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi too refused to comment. All the four leaders said they would say something only after the book was released and that "they were presently more concerned about people's issues". The BJP was earlier in turmoil after L K Advani's 2005 Pakistan visit and his speech on Jinnah.

Singh came in for severe flak from the ruling Congress for his reported praise of Jinnah and criticism of Nehru. "He and his party have further proved their patriotism by denigrating India's first prime minister while eulogising Pakistan's first head of state. No one is surprised since the BJP has become the Bharatiya Jinnah Party," said AICC spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

"Jaswant Singh's flights of fancy reflected in his book excerpts are likely to be no less hallucinating than his earlier mythical mole (in Prime Minister's office during P V Narasimha Rao's time, as alleged by Singh in another book in 2006).

Despite repeated challenges, he never produced his mole. Only the BJP and Jaswant Singh can condone Gujarat carnage and give homilies about Muslims being treated as 'aliens' in the same breath. He should know because his party does treat Muslims as so," said Singhvi.

BSE extends losses to 4 pct

The Bombay Stock Exchange extended losses to 4 percent late on Monday, tracking a broad sell-off across equity markets worldwide on worries about the pace of global economic recovery. Concerns that poor monsoon rains -- crucial for India's domestic-demand-led economy -- will dent growth also weighed on sentiment. At 3:04 p.m. (0934 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was down 4.1 percent at 14,776.72 points, with all stocks declining. The 50-share NSE index was down 4.3 percent at 4,381.45.

SC issues notice to Centre on gay sex verdict

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on petitions seeking stay of a Delhi High Court verdict legalising gay sex. Two petitions were filed Christian Apostolic Churches Alliance and S K Tijarawala, a disciple of Baba Ramdev. The matter, which was heard by a bench, headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, will now come up for hearing on September 14. The apex court asked the government to file its reply. On July 20, the apex court had refused to stay the High Court's judgement stating that it would wait for the Government to come forward with its response on the issue. The apex court had asked the Central Government to file its response within eight weeks on the verdict of the Delhi High Court to decriminalise the homosexual behaviour of consensual adults, which was a crime as per Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. While hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Astrologer Manoj Kumar Kaushal, the apex court had refused to give stay to the Delhi High Court's verdict. On July 2, a two Judge bench of the Delhi High Court gave ruling to decriminalise the homosexual behaviour. NAZ Foundation, and other NGOs had filed a petition questioning the criminalisation of homosexual behaviour under Sec 377 of IPC. But the Centre told the court that there id no change in its stand taken before the Delhi High Court, but to consolidate the opinions of the various departments it need some time. Attorney General, G.E. Vahanavati said the Government has not filed any affidavit as yet. Meanwhile, the Union Government has remained non-committal about its stand on the High Court verdict which has been opposed by different sections of society, including religious leaders of all communities and a child rights body, gay rights activists have drawn up a detailed strategy to defend the verdict.

New law to nail false charges, punish liars

Women who make false complaints of sexual harassment will no longer get away with it. The Centre has decided to introduce a provision in the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2009 - to be introduced in Parliament's winter session - giving a district complaint committee the power to recommend disciplinary action against women found guilty of such an offence. The new Bill will cover the film industry, research scholars and domestic helps too. "We have agreed to the law ministry's condition to have a deterrent provision," Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development, told. She said the government was ready with the Bill.

Got swine flu? Try stuffing ghee up your nose

Stuffing ghee up your nose or massaging your feet with mustard oil are among the many traditional remedies being suggested to fight H1N1. Advocates of traditional therapies are making the most of the swine flu panic and are pushing wonder drugs via TV, SMS and email. Yogi Ashwini of the Dhyan Foundation advocates three techniques to fight swine flu - nasal cleansing, putting cow ghee in the nostrils and mustard oil foot massage. "These are preventive measure. Of course, if you get infected, you'll need Tamiflu," said a spokesperson. Emails and SMSes on homeopathic alternatives are also doing the rounds. "Tamiflu isn't available at chemists. In such a scenario, we suggest Infuenzum 200. These medicines can't harm anyone," said Satyendra Bhardwaj of Subhadra Nambudiri Foundation.

Afraid of a single separatist woman? : SC

Asking the state why it is afraid of a woman, the Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by Jammu and Kashmir government challenging the High Court''s direction to shift separatist leader Asiya Andrabi from a jail in Jammu to Srinagar. "Is the state afraid of a single woman?" was the poser from a bench of Chief Justices K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam to senior counsel Amarander Saran appearing for the state. The argument by Saran, a former additional Solicitor General, that Dukhtaran-e-Millat head Asiya''s shift to a jail from Jammu to Srinagar could lead to security problems as she would have access to other terrorists lodged in the jail failed to convince the apex court. The counsel contended the central jail in Srinagar was already crowded and houses a number of terrorists, which could give Asiya sufficient access to resume her alleged subversive activities. "You have two separate barracks in Sringar (central jail) for women? Why do you think she will have access?" the bench asked Saran. The apex court rejected the argument of the Jammu and Kashmir government that under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act it is the discretion of the authority to decide a place in the state for keeping a person under detention.

Interpol issues arrest warrants against 25 Pakistanis

Interpol on the request of Pakistan Government has issued arrest warrants of 25 Pakistanis involved in smuggling, terrorism, murder and other heinous crimes.

According to The News, among those Pakistanis, whose arrest warrants have been issued, include Muhammad Amjad, Ijaz Ahmed, Mazhar Iqbal, Mohammad Asjad, Mohammad Akram Mehmood, Nasir Iqbal and Nusrat belonging to Gujrat while Khurram Shahzad Bajwa, Sanaullah Bajwa, Atta Ullah Bajwa, Mohammad Ashraf Bajwa and Zaka Ullah Bajwa hail from Faisalabad. The accused were involved in making explosive material, abduction, drug smuggling and other crimes.

For their involvement in different crimes, the arrest warrants of Mohammad Qayyum of Khushab, Bilal Waqasul Hassan of Haroonabad, Nisar Javed Bhatti of Multan, Mudassar Ahmed Butt and Bashir Ahmed Butt of Narowal, Mohammad Shiraz and Hanif of Lahore, Mohammad Imran and Syed Ibraruddin of Mardan, Mohammad Irshad Mehmood and Riaz Mohammad Imran of Sargodha, Mukhtar Ahmed and Rana Ashfaq of Faisalabad have also been issued. The arrest warrant of Tasleem Gul, a resident of Lahore, has also been issued by a county of California. Also the arrest warrant of Muzamil of Bahawalnagar has been issued.

Wanted: Male models

The good news is that today we have quite a few names (both, fashion designers and female models), who made their mark on international fashion runways. But what has always irked me is that no Indian man seems to have ventured where our beautiful women have. Why is it that we have a serious paucity of good male models in the country? I remember when I started writing fashion, guys such as Milind Soman, Arjun Rampal and Rahul Dev had such ramp presence that more often than not, they even made some bad clothes look cool! Then came Dino Morea and John Abraham, rather impressive on the runway, which is probably why they impress us in Bollywood now. After Dino and John, I am not sure if we had male model worth his achkan take that walk.

Then, after a long, boring gap, two seasons ago, I spotted Tony Luke on the runway - fit, smart and good looking. He was confident, and was hardly swayed by the catcalls from the front row. Finally, we have a model, I thought. A software engineer with a post graduate degree in international business administration from London, Tony has impressive credentials. Now, that's brawn with brain! (Quite unlike the beefcake dimwits that dot the fashion industry). I was also told that he walked for Jean Paul Gaultier and a few other designers at fashion weeks in Milan and Paris besides doing a few good print campaigns. So, obviously he was a rather popular choice at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week and the Lakme Fashion Week.Thankfully, life is changing. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) has announced India's first men's fashion week. This could finally give our male models their space under the ramp lights. May be, we will be able to discover some more Tony Lukes.

Are you wearing Harvard?

Global meltdown hasn't spared even the educational institutes. The prestigious educational institutes are feeling the crunch as donations are drying up.

However, Harvard University, one of the most prestigious Ivy League college, has come up with a novel idea to tide over the financial crisis - by launching a menswear line called Harvard Yard. Harvard University has collaborated with Wearwolf Group, a clothing manufacturer, to produce a contemporary men's wear collection based on classic Ivy League style. The timing is perfect too, as menswear trend is veering towards all things preppy. This unique licensing deal marks the first time an Ivy league university is delving into clothing for anything other than university emblazoned sweatpants, sweatshirts and blazers.

Harvard Yard is named after the sprawling lawn - one of the oldest part of the university. So what's the collection like? As per Women's Wear Daily, a fashion trade journal, we can expect to see tapered short-sleeve plaid shirts, print wovens, seersucker shorts, regimental stripes, sporty knits, patterned jackets, and dressy 'Ivy staples'. Harvard's signature colour, crimson, appears in buttonholes and other trimmings.

US widow sells husband's tomb

An American widow is selling her husband's burial spot directly above film legend Marilyn Monroe so that she can pay off her mortgage. Elsie Poncher has put an advert on eBay to auction off the tomb in Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles. "Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe," says the advertisement.

"In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her."

The burial plot is currently occupied by the late Richard Poncher, described by his widow as an entrepreneur who bought two tombs from baseball player Joe DiMaggio, Monroe's ex-husband, as the pair were divorcing in 1954.

Monroe died at the age of 36 in 1962. Poncher died at the age of 81 in 1986.

Elsie Poncher said she would move her husband's remains over one spot into a crypt intended as her final resting place if the sale was successful and she would be cremated instead when the time came. Bidding for the plot opened at $500,000 and had reached $2.5 million by Sunday. No one from eBay was immediately available to comment on the bidding process or to give more details.

Poncher told the Los Angeles Times that she hoped to raise enough money to pay off the $1.6 million mortgage on her Beverly Hills home. "I can't be more honest than that," she told the newspaper. "I want to leave it free and clear for my kids."

The Westwood Village Memorial Park is home to many celebrities, including Dean Martin, James Coburn, Roy Orbison, Truman Capote, Natalie Wood, and, from this year, Farrah Fawcett. Playboy's Hugh Hefner bought the crypt beside Monroe in 1992.

Afghan woman candidate packs gun, wears trousers

Like many a village elder campaigning for a seat on a provincial council in rural Afghanistan, Okmina begins each day donning a black turban, strapping on a pistol and heading out to talk to neighbours. The difference is she is a woman, dressed as a man. Watching Okmina meet with villagers in traditional Afghan men's baggy trousers and long shirt, with a few strands of red henna-dyed hair poking out from the black turban coiled around her head, it is hard to tell she is not a man, until she speaks. "I dress like a man, especially during this election period when security is not good," said Okmina, who, like many Afghans, uses only one name. "For my campaigning, I have to go to remote parts in my area where it is not safe for me to go as a woman," she said laughing. Afghanistan's constitution reserves a quarter of provincial council seats for women, guaranteeing them a role in political life, but in deeply conservative areas where women are expected to cover up and stay home, they can be a target for defying traditional roles.

FORCED INTO HIDING There are nearly 350 women registered as provincial council candidates in the Aug. 20 poll, about 10 percent of the total. The United Nations says many have faced threats, some have been forced into hiding and others have had to curtail campaigning. Two women are also among the 35 challengers to Hamid Karzai for the presidency, although they are both seen as unlikely to get more than 1-2 percent. Male villagers in Okmina's remote province seem to relate to her just as they would to a man, discussing their problems with her while their children scurry about her feet. Okmina is not married and has no children of her own, but lives with her extended family in Tani district of Khost province, a particularly conservative area bordering Pakistan's tribal region.

She says she started wearing men's clothing, ditching the all-enveloping burqa worn by many women in Afghanistan, when she was made a tribal elder in her community, settling disputes among tribes in Tani and neighbouring districts.

She gave up her duties as a tribal elder and decided to run in the provincial election after she said she gained massive support from people all over her province. She says she wants to help others become like her. "Women don't have rights in Afghanistan. If there are rights, it is too little. There is a big difference between men and women. Here a man can say anything he wishes but a woman's voice is always suppressed," she said. Voters should not look at a candidate's gender, but at their qualifications, she said. It is not important whether you are a man or a woman. It is important to serve the desperate people of Afghanistan."

Total ban on plastic bags in Himachal from Oct 2

Himachal Pradesh is set to impose a total ban on the use of plastic bags from Oct 2, state Environment Minister J.P. Nadda said Sunday. 'From Oct 2, there would a complete ban on the production, storage, use, sale and distribution of all types of polythene bags made of non-biodegradable materials. But the ban will not include those bags used for packing food items like milk and cereals,' Nadda told IANS.

The government is also planning to include all plastic materials like disposable plates, cups and glasses in the ambit of the ban, he said. The ban on use of coloured polythene bags manufactured from recycled plastic was initially imposed Jan 1, 1999. Later in 2004, the ban was imposed under Section 7(h) of the State Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Rules on the use of small polythene bags having thickness less than 70 microns and size less than 18'x12'. 'Now there is total ban on the use of polythene bags of all types and sizes,' Nadda added.

Before the partial implementation of the ban in 2004, polythene pollution was a major problem in the state. During the monsoon, the rainwater brought along heaps of polythene bags and other non-biodegradable material that choked most of the municipal drains. Under the Himachal Pradesh Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act of 1995, any violator would face a fine up to Rs.25,000. The minimum fine has been fixed at Rs.500. R.K. Sood, joint member-secretary of the Himachal State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, said: 'After imposing the ban in 2004, plastic pollution has come down dramatically.' Nadda said the government is now exploring the option of promoting paper and jute bags in the state. 'We are exploring the option of promoting paper and jute bags in a big way. Special sensitisation drives would be launched in the state to educate the common man about the ecological hazards and about which type of carry bags are environment-friendly.

The tourists would be provided jute bags at various entry points in the state,' he said. The state would soon have its environmental master plan to tackle critical areas of environmental degradation. 'The master plan will include a baseline study of the environmental vulnerabilities and details of measures to tackle problems mainly related to urban solid waste, industrial pollution and ecological degradation caused by hydropower projects,' the minister said.

Costa Rican man's best pal is a deadly 17ft crocodile!

A daredevil fisherman loves to splash water with his best pal who just happens to be a deadly 17ft crocodile named Pocho. Costa Rican Chito leaves onlookers gasping by getting chest-deep into the water, then whistling for his 980lb buddy and giving him an affectionate hug. "Pocho is my best friend. This is a very dangerous routine but we have a good relationship. He will look me in the eye and not attack me," The Sun quoted Chito as saying. "It is too dangerous for anyone else to come in the water. It is only ever the two of us," he added.

The 52-year-old found the croc close to death on the banks of Parismina river 20 years ago with a gunshot wound. The eager conservationist, real name Gilberto Shedden, nursed the reptile back to health and the pair ended up bonding together. The two were said to have now become a major tourist attraction.

Chito said: "After a decade I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more. Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me." He added: "He's my friend, I don't want to treat him like a slave or exploit him. I am happy because I rescued him and he is happy with me because he has everything he needs."

Chinese man accused of stealing mobile as he 'looked like a pickpocket'!

A subway passenger in China blamed another man for theft on the basis of his looks. When Zhou couldn't find his mobile phone, he caught Chen, and took him to police station in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, claiming he was the thief.

Later, the accusing man found the phone in his bag, and publicly apologized, reports the China Daily. Chen was compensated with 100 yuan for the discomfort.

Skydiver cheats death twice after chute fails during 1,000ft fall

A skydiver cheated death twice after his parachute failed during a 1,000ft fall on Friday. The 40-year-old man first crashed on to a slanted corrugated iron roof, which broke his fall, and then he rolled 50ft down the slope.

After that his canopy snagged on bolts, stopping him from plunging a further 50ft to the ground below The man, whose name has not been revealed as yet, did not break a single bone. His terrifying ordeal began as he filmed someone making their first ever tandem skydive over Tilstock Airfield in Whitchurch, Shropshire.

According to reports, he pulled his main parachute, which failed. It is believed that his reserve chute also got twisted, sending him hurtling down at 30ft per second. Struggling to keep control, the veteran jumper from Shrewsbury crashed on to the 100ft sloping roof of a disused grain store. He is said to have suffered head, neck and back injuries. "He is a very lucky guy. I've spoken to his father. He did not have any broken bones and his condition is not life threatening," the News of the World quoted Colin Fitzmaurice, who owns the jump HQ at the airfield, as saying on Saturday night. Rescue services used an "aerial ladder platform" to reach the stricken jumper in Prees, Shrops, on Friday afternoon.

A spokesman said: "His parachute snagged on bolts pinning corrugated sheets on the roof. He was in a precarious position, he could have slid off and hurtled over the edge onto the hard standing below." An air ambulance flew him to hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, where he is in intensive care. The spokesman added: "He had three remarkable strokes of luck as he also managed to miss iron joists holding the roof together which would have caused serious injuries."

Chinese store offers tattooed fish to woo luck!

"Fortune fish" tattooed with patterns and characters are being offered in pet shops in a city in southwest China for those looking to woo luck. The Qingshiqiao pet market in Chengdu is selling a variety of fish decorated with flowers, rainbows and characters meant to bring their owners good fortune and happiness.

According to the Huaxi Metropolis Daily, tropical parrot fish were usually used for tattooing, which was apparently done through lasers, reports the Daily Telegraph.

An ordinary parrot fish was said to be priced at just 10 yuan while a tattooed one could fetch at least 25 yuan. It was further said that a set of four fish tattooed with the characters for "Good Fortune", "Luck", "Long Life," and "Happiness" could come with a tag of 120 yuan.

We Are All Hindus Now

By Lisa Miller, NEWSWEEK Aug 31, 2009

America is not a Christian nation. We are, it is true, a nation founded by Christians, and according to a 2008 survey, 76 percent of us continue to identify as Christian (still, that's the lowest percentage in American history). Of course, we are not a Hindu-or Muslim, or Jewish, or Wiccan-nation, either. A million-plus Hindus live in the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity. The Rig Veda, the most ancient Hindu scripture, says this: "Truth is One, but the sages speak of it by many names." A Hindu believes there are many paths to God. Jesus is one way, the Qur'an is another, yoga practice is a third. None is better than any other; all are equal. The most traditional, conservative Christians have not been taught to think like this. They learn in Sunday school that their religion is true, and others are false. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me."

Americans are no longer buying it. According to a 2008 Pew Forum survey, 65 percent of us believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life"-including 37 percent of white evangelicals, the group most likely to believe that salvation is theirs alone. Also, the number of people who seek spiritual truth outside church is growing. Thirty percent of Americans call themselves "spiritual, not religious," according to a 2009 NEWSWEEK Poll, up from 24 percent in 2005. Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University, has long framed the American

propensity for "the divine-deli- cafeteria religion" as "very much in the spirit of Hinduism. You're not picking and choosing from different religions, because they're all the same," he says. "It isn't about orthodoxy. It's about whatever works. If going to yoga works, great-and if going to Catholic mass works, great. And if going to Catholic mass plus the yoga plus the Buddhist retreat works, that's great, too."

Then there's the question of what happens when you die. Christians traditionally believe that bodies and souls are sacred, that together they comprise the "self," and that at the end of time they will be reunited in the Resurrection. You need both, in other words, and you need them forever. Hindus believe no such thing. At death, the body burns on a pyre, while the spirit-where identity resides-escapes. In reincarnation, central to Hinduism, selves come back to earth again and again in different bodies. So here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll. So agnostic are we about the ultimate fates of our bodies that we're burning them-like Hindus-after death. More than a third of Americans now choose cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North America, up from 6 percent in 1975. "I do think the more spiritual role of religion tends to deemphasize some of the more starkly literal interpretations of the Resurrection," agrees Diana Eck, professor of comparative religion at Harvard.

So let us all say "om."

Rice is the worst enemy of mankind

What is the main obstacle of our country's (Bangladesh) development (-prosperity- improvement- betterment) ? If it is asked, certainly different people will give different answer. But if you analyze it from the view-point of medical science, then I will say rice is our worst national enemy. Rice is such a prominent food item which contains excessive amount of sugar (starch/carbohydrat e). So it hastens our physical growth & we become adult (mature) very quickly. That's why we get married promptly & start having babies more speedily. Sometimes it seems to me that just a few days ago a guy who himself was a baby, now he is completely exhausted (-fagged-worn- out) being a father or grandfather of many children. That means eating rice is the root cause of population explosion in such a dreadful manner. If you don't believe you can look on the rice-eating countries, like china-india- indonesia- Bangladesh- thailand- japan-korea, all of them are going through population problem in the highest degree. For the unimaginable explosion of population, government become a failure even spending billions of dollar annually to provide our basic needs like food, cloth, residence, education & health.

Rice not only make us adult (mature) very quickly, but also rapidly converts us to old guys. As a result we become incompetent (& worthless) for any jobs and turn to a burden to the family (& thus to the society & country). As because in old age we lack energy to work & various diseases invade our body & mind. It is true that sugar (starch/carbohydrat e) is the only source of our physical energy & we can not survive it. But it is also true that excessive supply of sugar (starch/carbohydrat e) is horribly harmful for us. It can be reasonably compared to water. We all know that normal water is the root cause of our live & flood (i.e. excess) water causes our death. In our country almost ninety percent of people found to be have gastric ulcer who visits doctor. Excessive amount of sugar (starch/carbohydrat e) in rice causes flatulency (gas) in the stomach, gas formation tends to the acidity & acidity leads to ulcer. Perhaps nobody will deny the fact that rice is the root cause of diabetes (I mean from the imbalance of carbohydrate produced by rice in our body for many years). You will not find gastric ulcer & diabetes epidemic in those countries where (wheat) bread is the main food item. Now I am to say that this poor country has to waste millions of dollars every year to import the medicines only for this two diseases.

Some may say that most of the medicines of this two diseases are manufactured in our country. Yea, that's right ; but raw materials, machinery, packing items all are have to import. There are many pathological test done to diagnose these diseases and these diagnostic machineries & chemical reagents are also have to import spending lot of foreign currencies. Yet we can ignore the squandering of invaluable time (working hour) in the doctor's chamber, hospital & sick-bed. Not only these two diseases but hundreds of diseases can be named having link with this notorious rice. According to the physicians, there is no difference between eating a handful of rice & a handful of sugar. You may say that laziness is the main obstacle in the way of our country's development rather than rice. Then I will say that rice creates laziness in our body & mind. The excessive amount of sugar/carbohydrate in rice is the real cause of laziness. As it is usually seen we become exhausted from least exertion, excessive amount of sugar in rice is responsible for this situation.

As rice contains immoderate amount of sugar & after eating rice it is digested quickly & the principal ingredient (sugar) is quickly absorbed in our bloodstream & the sugar level suddenly become high, so we begin to feel drowsy, weak & lazy like a diabetic patient. You can say, Japanese (, Chinese & Koreans) are also rice eater & still they are not lazy (like us); on the contrary they are very much active & hardworking & they don’t become tired from little labor. Yea, in this regard they got some climatic advantage. They don’t sweat so much even during hard work because of their cold weather, as we do. As a result they don’t break-away easily from little labor like us. Moreover people of Mongolian origin (flat-nose) are anthropologically very much energetic & industrious. On the contrary we sweat much because of our hot & damp weather and that’s why we get easily tired, exhausted through losing essential mineral salts with sweats. So excess sugar in rice & excess sweating both are equally responsible for our laziness, debility & inactivity. Some pundits oppose that not rice but excessive eating of rice is injurious to health. But the problem is that rice has such a peculiar uncontrollable temptation to eat excess that few of us has the power to knock out such seduction. Contrarily it is very difficult for anybody to eat excess of wheat bread. As because rice is soft & wet (that's why easy to eat) and wheat bread is hard & dry.

Somebody may say that poverty is our most vital problem. If you think little deeply then you will realize that rice is the basic cause of our incurable poverty. As because if we fill our stomach with rice unto the nose, it will digest & absorbed so quickly that within two hours we will become hungry again. So we have to eat too much & our expenditure on food purpose become high & it force us to reduce expenditure on other fields (like health, education, infrastructure etc) . Look at our physical strength or (slender) physical structure ; both are ridiculous, pathetic. And the notorious (black sheep) rice is responsible for this poor status. You will obviously understand the demerits of rice if you compare the physical structure of rice-eater Indians, Chinese & Indonesians with wheat-eater Arabian, European & American. You will certainly notice that players of rice-eating countries can not do much well in the strenuous games (like football, cricket, marathon, wrestling etc). The reason is same and that is if we eat rice our blood sugar level (energy) rises to the highest level for a short time & then it again reduce to an alarmingly lowest position.

On the contrary, if you eat wheat (bread) it will digest steadily taking much time & that’s why your blood sugar level will not suddenly jump to highest level for a little while. As a result your calorie/ energy level will remain in standard position comparatively for longer time. Like rice it does not suddenly rise to the highest level & then fall to the lowest level. If we do not start eating wheat bread quickly in stead of rice, then the millions of dollars our government is wasting every year for family planning, will have to continue for how many years Allah knows ! On the contrary, governments of the wheat-eater countries (like Middle east, Australia, Europe, America, Russia etc) are facing failure to increase their population even offering billion dollars bonus to their couples. Some analyst thinks that poverty & ignorance are responsible for overpopulation, not rice. If you look at the Arab countries you will see that their education rate very low & still they are free from overpopulation. And there was no population problem even (a few decades ago) when they were poor.

Some people think that illiteracy is the main problem in the way of our national prosperity. In this point we can say that poverty is responsible for illiteracy, over-population is responsible for poverty & rice is responsible for over-population. Recently many people are claiming that corruption is our chief national problem. Think in this way that poverty-illiteracy- unawareness is responsible for corruption & in our country the primary cause of poverty & illiteracy is overpopulation. Population not being a blessing rather has become a curse & rice is mainly responsible for this kind of consequence. Some savant says that Japan is an overpopulated country and still there is no problem as their people are highly skilled. Really Japan is an exception & exception can not be taken as a formula. So we have to entirely give up the habit of eating rice from right now & start having wheat bread in order to build a healthy & happy nation. I know this is a difficult job and it can not be done overnight but we must try our best.

Another problem is that our women community are more interested in cooking rice than baking wheat bread. As because cooking rice is very easy but baking wheat bread is much hard. At the same time women should think that to eat rice we need to cook many delicious curry but to eat wheat bread these are not essential. Only potato fry or pulse’s soup is enough. At this cost we can buy seasonal fruits with the money usually spent for vegetables. That would be also better for our health. As the vegetables price is sky-high, it would be wise to consume one kilogram fruits in lieu of three kilogram vegetables. As we know vegetables contain less nutrient & yet most of them are spoiled by heat during cooking. To save our women from the hazard of baking wheat bread, the owner of hotel, restaurant & food industry can play a vital role. They have to given up the habit of preparing incredibly small & thin bread fried with six month old burnt oil & rather have to begin making mega-size wheat bread like middle east countries, one of which is enough for an entire family. Moreover we can make wheat bread machine available in every family like Europe & America. Some may argue that wheat flour is more costly than rice, but at the same time they should also consider the facts of various diseases like diabetes & premature senility.

According to the experts, wheat flour’s price can be easily reduced by mixing corn maze with it. We should also think about huge amount of water needed to produce paddy (rice), which will be a real problem in our country in near future (also for many other countries). On the contrary so much water is not necessary for the cultivation of wheat. To acquire hundred percent benefit from eating wheat bread we have to consume unfiltered natural flour ; because the food companies (market packed flour) greatly reduce its nutrient quality by excessively straining it (to make flour white). So our request to the government is that govt. should encourage people to produce & consume wheat every way (and discourage the rice). If it is necessary we can depend on & produce genetically modified (GM) wheat. As GM food has gained acceptance in Europe & America, then we should not remain hesitated about it. Moreover our holy prophet (pbuh) has given his opinion in favor of genetically modified (GM) food. In one of his sayings he said, ‘in the last age there will be superabundance of food grains’. That means rice, wheat, onion, garlic, fruits, vegetables etc of mega-size will be invented & people will be obliged to consume those (to get ride of famine).

Dr. Bashir Mahmud Ellias

Author, Design specialist, Homeo consultant

chamber : Jagarani homeo hall 47/4 Toyenabi circular road (2nd flr),

(near ittefaq crossing & studio 27) Motijheel, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Mob : +880-01916038527 E-mail : Bashirmahmudellias@ hotmail.com

Website : http://bashirmahmudellias. blogspot.com

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Tail piece

Sneh ma sanskruti, Ver ma vikruti..

Sneh ma kabulaat, Ver ma vakilaat......

Sneh ma milap, Ver ma vilap.........

Sneh ma sarjan, Ver ma visarjan.....

Sneh ma sukh, Ver ma dukh...

Samjya Snehi....(Sneha)...??

Aavta haso 6o,

jata haso 6o,

savare haso 6o,

ratre haso 6o,

sukh ma haso 6o,

Dukhma haso 6o...

Tamne shu lage 6e ?.

Tame ekla j "closeup" ghaso 6o ???

Some Very Clever Business Signs

1) At an Optometrist's office: "If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."

2) In a Restaurant window: "Don't stand there hungry. Come on in and get fed up."

3) In a Podiatrist's office: "Time wounds all heels."

4) On a Plumber's Shop: "We repair what your husband fixed."

5) On the trucks of a Plumbing Company: "Don't sleep with a drip. Call us."

6) Pizza Shop Slogan: "7 days without pizza makes one weak."

7) At a Tire Shop: "Invite us to your next blowout."

8) On a Plastic Surgeon's Office door: "Hello. Can we pick your nose?"

9) At a Towing company: "We don't charge an arm and a leg. We want tows."

10) On an Electrician's truck: "Let us remove your shorts."

11) In a Nonsmoking Area: "If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and put you out."

12) On a Septic Tank Truck sign: "We're #1 in the #2 business."

13) On a Fence: "Salesmen welcome! Dog food is expensive."

14) At a Car Dealership: "The best way to get back on your feet -- miss a car payment."

15) Outside a Muffler Shop: "No appointment necessary. We hear you coming."

16) At the Electric Company: "We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you don't, you will be de-Lighted."

17) In the front yard of a Funeral Home: "Please drive carefully. We'll wait."

Hansa & Praful-Dictionary

"DECIDE"

Hansa : Praful "Decide" matlab ?

Praful : "Decide" Hansaaaa-a ... vo Casettee player mein hum casettee nahi dalte usme hota hai na .... "A side" -- "B side" ... to "C-side" ... "D- side" ---> "Decide"

"Mature"

Hansa : Ae Praful, mature matlab ????

praful: jab apna mahesh...chori karte hue pakda gaya tha.. tab usne kya kaha tha ?

hansa: usne kaha tha.. mujhe chodd do.. "MAIN CHOR NAHI HOON"

..main chor ....main chor....mature. ..acha acha...."

"Alphabet"

hansa: praful alphabet matlab?

praful: alphabet hansa,local train mein safar karte hoye maasi jaise hi koi seat khali dekhti hai to wo apni beti alpha se kya kehti hai?

hansa: alpha beth seat pe,alpha beth,

oooooooooooo, acha toh yeh alphabet!!

"Asset"

Hansa : Prafulll "Asset" matlab???

Praful : Asset Hansaaa ....

Jab hum gaadi mein jaate hai and jab gaadi signal par rukti hai .... taab vo bhikari log aa kar kya bolte hai ...

"Aee Seth... thoda paisa do naa" ... " Aee Sethh ... " ... Asset ..

“Depend”

Hansa : Yeh Depend kya hota hai Prafful??

Praful : Depend Hansa... wo Swimming Pool mein ek taraf to paani kam gehra hota hai, aur dusri side zyada gehra... Deep-End.. Depend!

TOURNAMENT

HANSA:- ae he he PRAFUL, TOURNAMENT MATLAB??

PRAFUL:- TOURNAMENT HANSA!!! YE JO TUMNE JHUMKE PEHNE HAIN, GEHNE PEHNE HAIN INKO ENGLISH ME KYA KEHTE HAIN, BOLO BOLO!!

HANSA:- AAA HAN HAN TOURNAMENT, (HANSA KHUSH)

MELISA:-(CHIDH KAR) ARE USE TOURNAMENT NAHI ORNAMENT KEHTE HAIN

HANSA:- ARE KUCHH BHI MAT BOLLL

EK JHHUMKA -- ORNAMENT, DO JHHUMKE -- TWO ORNAMENT TOURNAMENT

"AE PRAFUL!! YE MELISA KO BHI BABUJI KI TARAH KUCHH BHI NAHI ATAA.." :-D :-D

"elastic"

Hansa: Praful elastic matlab??

Praful: Elastic Hansa..

apni voh Shradha ben unki beti ila ...

usko jab fracture hua tha to voh kya leke chalti thi??

Hansa : Ila to...

Ila-stick leke ...

Ila-stick !! Ila-stick!!!

"Automatically"

Hansa: Praful automatically matlab??

Praful: aare Hansa.. agar koi aadmi ganja hota hai tou ussko kya bolte hain...

Hansa: taklaa...

Praful: aur agar koi ladki ganji ho to ussko kya bolenge...

Hansa: takli..

Praful: aur wohi ladki agar auto mein baith kar kahin ghoomne jaye tou ussko kya bologi??

Hansa : auto mein takli… aare haan automatically! Tum kitne samajhdaar ho Praful...