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Nationwide swine flu toll mounts to 89

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New Delhi, August 28: The swine flu pandemic showed no let up and claimed the life of a 39-year-old man in Mumbai, pushing the toll to 89 while 123 fresh cases of infection were detected across the country.

M Shaikh, who had tested positive for the virus, had undergone treatment at MGM Hospital in Navi Mumbai for ten days and was shifted to D Y Patil Hospital, also in the same area, yesterday, Navi Mumbai Chief Health Officer Deepak Paropkari said.

Shaikh died last night, he said. With this death, the nationwide flu toll climbed to 89.

Militant hideout unearthed, arms recovered in J&K

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Jammu, August 28: Two militant hideouts were busted by the security forces and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were recovered by them in Reasi and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, an army spokesman said here Friday.

On specific information, Rashtriya Rifles troops and police launched a joint operation and busted the militant hideout at Purja Pathri in Mahore area, 160-km from here, in Reasi district last evening, he said.

The recoveries from the hideout included one Pika gun along with its 100 rounds, two rocket propelled guns among other things.

Price rise, food crisis mar UPA II’s 100 days

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New Delhi, August 28: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s second stint may be bristling with plans to mitigate poverty, disease and illiteracy, but most Indians remain unimpressed. Spiralling food prices, along with the handling of the swine flu pandemic, have offset gains like the enactment of a landmark right to education bill.

As the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government completes 100 days in office, the brunt is being felt across India and across all sections of society — from the vegetable seller and the middle class homemaker to the techie and the financial consultant.

Jinnah, Gandhi dreamt of federal India: Jaswant

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Islamabad, August 28: Insisting that a federal India was the dream of both Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Mahatma Gandhi, former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh has said that the country would have been “a global power” now had it not been “cut up” to form Pakistan.

Singh, whose controversial new book ‘Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence’ led to his expulsion from BJP, repeated his claim that first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru along with the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the Congress party had contributed to the partition of the Indian subcontinent.

Jaswant moves SC challenging Gujarat govt ban on his book

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New Delhi, August 28: Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh on Friday moved the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat government’s ban on his book on Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Singh, along with a representative of Rupa and Co, publisher of the book ‘Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence’, filed a petition in the apex court against the ban imposed by the Narendra Modi government on August 19, two days after the book’s launch.

Cox takes responsibility of ‘Hauritz blunder’

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Sydney, August 28: After chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch`s comment stating that exclusion of Nathan Hauritz from the playing XI at The Oval was a mistake, the on-duty selector of the match, Jamie Cox has taken responsibility of the ‘Oval blunder’.

Though the Australian coach and skipper have also conceded the mistake of not including Hauritz in the Ashes finale, Cox confessed that it was he, who took the decision that led Australia to field four-pronged pace attack on a dry pitch, tailor-made for any spinner.

England escape with a 2-run win over Ireland

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Belfast, August 28: England`s Ashes heroes were given a reality check as they somehow managed to romp home with a 2-run victory against Ireland.

Earlier, England`s Ashes heroes were given a reality check as they spluttered to 203 for nine against Ireland in Thursday`s one-day international in Belfast.

Just five days after regaining the famous urn with a 197-run victory over Australia in the final Test at the Oval, England seemed to be suffering a hangover from their champagne celebrations.

Colombo Test: New Zealand bowled out for 234

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Colombo, August 28: Three wickets each by Mutthaih Muralithara and Rangana Herath helped Sri Lanka bowl New Zealand out for just 234 runs in the first innings of the second Test on Friday.

Resuming Day 3 at 159/5, New Zealand succumbed to the pressure of the spin duo and started losing wickets early-on.

Ross Tylor, who was unbeaten on 70 at stumps of day 2, could only add 11 more runs to his kitty before giving a simple catch to the first slip off Herath.

Oram (24) and Vettori (23) tried their best to tackle the spinners but they too did not last long.

India, China to be part of solution on climate change: US

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Washington, August 28: Noting that India and China need to be part of the solution on climate change, the United States has said that it would like the two Asian giants to make significant investment in the success of a summit on climate change to be held in Copenhagen in December.

“What we want to see from India and China is a significant investment in the Copenhagen process,” the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, told reporters yesterday at the daily State Department press briefing.

Laughing gas largest threat to Ozone layer: Study

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New Delhi, August 28: Laughing gas or Nitrous Oxide (N2O) is the most abundant ozone-depleting substance in the 21st century as the emissions of CFC, another green house gas, has come down, a new study suggests.

“Although N2O is roughly 160th of Chloro-fluoro carbon (CFC)-11 in terms of ozone depleting potential, it has become the largest ozone depleting substance as Montreal Protocol has considerably reduced emission of others,” A R Ravishankara, Director Chemical Sciences Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA) USA, told PTI over phone.

New gene technique might prevent hereditary diseases

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Washington, August 28: In a breakthrough, US scientists have found a way to replace genetically abnormal parts of an egg which may eradicate many hereditary diseases like cancers and diabetes passed from the mother to child.

The findings, which reopens the raging ethical debate over embryo research allows the scientists for the first time to safely remove and replace genetically abnormal mitochondrial DNA from an ovum.

Brazil swine flu toll 577, highest in world

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Brasilia, August 28: A total of 577 people have died from swine flu in Brazil, putting the South American nation at the top of the list of countries reporting fatalities from the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, the health ministry said.

The mortality rate, however, is 0.29 percent in Brazil, well below the 1.08 percent rate in Argentina, the 0.75 percent rate in Chile and the 0.67 percent rate in Costa Rica, which have the highest levels in Latin America, health officials said Thursday.

Worried mothers ‘may pass on their problem to children’

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Washington, August 28: Mothers with an “insecure” attachment style react differently to their children and are also likely to pass on the problem, a new study says.

An international team, led by Queensland University, has based its findings on an analysis of 30 first-time mothers who’re asked to look at their baby’s facial expressions while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

“For mothers with ‘secure’ attachment, we found that both happy and sad infant faces produced a reward signal in their brain, or a ‘natural high’.

Moderate drinking can help prevent dementia

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Melbourne, August 28: Moderate drinking later in life can help prevent dementia, a new study says.

The study, led by Kaarin Anstey of Centre of Mental Health Research at Australia National University (ANU) analysed 10,000 people worldwide and found that light to moderate drinkers were 26 per cent less likely to develop any form of dementia than non-drinkers, ABC reported today.

Although people should never drink alcohol excessively, small amounts have been associated with improving some health conditions, Anstey said.

Fearing second wave, Oz plans massive flu vaccination

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Sydney, August 28: Australia Friday said a massive swine flu vaccination programme would start in October but warned of a possible “second wave” of infections in the hard-hit country.

Chief medical officer Jim Bishop said he was hopeful A(H1N1) influenza had peaked, with 147 related deaths and almost 35,000 cases, but cautioned it could surge again.

“The intensity of the epidemic may have been reached but we don’t know if that’s going to come back in a second wave,” Bishop said.

Hindi filmmakers probably not missing me: Amol Palekar

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New Delhi, August 28: A craft “can get rusty” if not practised enough – humble words coming from Amol Palekar. But the film veteran has his reasons for staying away from acting in movies for more than two decades, one being that “Hindi filmmakers are perhaps not missing” him.

“Why I am not seen in Hindi films? Ask the Hindi filmmakers. Probably they are not missing me, to be honest,” Amol told reporters in an interview during a visit to the capital.

Akshay Kumar`s son excited about `Blue`

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Mumbai, August 28: Akshay Kumar`s son Aarav is excited about his father`s film `Blue` where the Bollywood star plays a greedy, ruthless guy who spends most of his time underwater looking for treasure.

“Akshay knows Aarav will be kicked by the idea of his dad playing a champion swimmer and that too named Aarav after his son. In Aarav`s eyes, Akshay is the true hero. To watch his dad play a man of dubious morals and grey aspirations would be a new experience for Aarav,” a source told reporters.

Recipe: Roasted Onion Raita

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This raita is special because of the distinct flavour of spices and roasted onion.

Ingredients:

• 500 gms yoghurt
• 50 gm roasted onion(chopped)
• 10 gm black salt
• 10 gm black pepper powder
• 10 gm roasted cumin powder
• 2 gm clove powder

Procedure:

• Beat the yoghurt in a bowl. Add roasted onion, black pepper powder, cumin powder, clove powder and whisk gently.
• Season the raita with ghee and a pinch of clove powder.

Confused & divided BJP looks at RSS for salvation

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New Delhi, August 28: With Advani boxed into a corner by his former colleagues, all eyes and ears would be on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as he addresses his first press conference here on Friday.

The deeply divided party and its disgruntled cadre are clearly looking at Bhagwat for some sort of a roadmap to pull the party out of the current mess.

Bhagwat is also expected to meet LK Advani today.

Mohammed Receives Abu Dhabi Crown Prince

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Dubai, August 28: Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai received General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at the Zabeel Palace, on Thursday.

They exchanged Ramadan greetings and prayed for prosperity and 
blessings for the nation, the leaders and the people.

Sharjah Hit by Power Cuts Again

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Sharjah, August 28: Sharjah residents were just about getting used to uninterrupted power supply after a five-day dilemma last week when power cuts hit many areas of the city again on Wednesday and Thursday.

However, power supply is expected to be restored by this weekend in all areas of Sharjah.

Maintenance work at the power plant in Sharjah caused a power cut in many areas, including Al Yarmouk, Al Wahda Street, Al Nouf, Maliaha, Al Nahda and the industrial areas 1, 3, 13 and 17.

The University City in Sharjah was also affected by a power cut on Wednesday.

Finance Firm Yet to Settle DIB Debts

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Dubai, August 28: About $70 million was paid by the finance company CCH to Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) while big amounts still remain to be settled by CCH with the bank, a witness stated in a Court of First Instance hearing, on Thursday.

The corruption case, said to be the biggest so far as to the amount of funds allegedly swindled, involves an ex-deputy manager of finance department, DIB, and an ex-executive 
manager, DIB.

The court postponed the hearing to September 28 to hear more witnesses.

Private Schools to Reopen on Time, Flu under Watch

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Sharjah, August 28: Private schools in the UAE will re-open as scheduled, senior health officials clarified on Thursday, assuaging fears that term could start late in precaution against the swine flu.

Officials also said that private schools had not been instructed to ask students returning from abroad to stay at home for seven days before attending classes.

Shashi Kapoor to Get Lifetime Award at Mumbai Festival

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Mumbai, August 28: Yesteryears actor Shashi Kapoor, who enthralled cinegoers with his performances in blockbusters like Deewar and Namak Halal, will be honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the 11th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) to be held here October 29-November 5.

Shashi Kapoor, who started his career as a child artist with his brother’s film Awara, went on to feature in movies like Kala Patthar, Kabhi Kabhie, Shaan and Trishul.

He also produced crtiically acclaimed movies like Junoon, Kalyug, 36 Chowringhee Lane, Vijeta,and Utsav.

Advani ‘Yatra’ Put Off as BJP Crisis Continues

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New Delhi, August 28: The crisis in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has led to another casualty: star leader LK Advani’s much-hyped ‘yatra’ of next month that has now been postponed, party sources said on Thursday.

The ‘yatra’, an Advani trademark since September 1990, was aimed at rejuvenating the party’s demoralised cadres in the wake of the Lok Sabha poll debacle and before a round of state elections.

“We thought of timing it to begin before the Maharashtra assembly elections in October. This has been postponed,” a senior party leader 
told IANS.