shameen

Booster broccoli to reduce heart diseases, cancer

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Melbourne, August 17: Scientists claimed to have developed a new variety of broccoli that is not only grown naturally, but also tastes sweeter and has 40 per cent more anti-oxidants than the normal to reduce risks of heart disease and cancer.

Scientists at Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) here, have discovered “Booster Broccoli”, a new variety that is the first in the group of super vegetables and contains more anti-oxidants than the usual variety , the ABC report said today.

In breast cancer, MRI doesn’t improve treatment

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Sydney, August 17: Relying on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the extent of early breast cancer has not been shown to improve surgical planning, reduce follow-up surgery, or reduce the risk of local recurrences, according to a recent study.

Evidence shows that MRI increases the chances of more extensive surgery over conservative approaches, with no evidence that it improves surgical care or prognosis.

Don’t let your baby sleep the way magazines show

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Washington, August 17: More than a third of pictures in women’s magazines depict babies in unsafe sleeping positions, possibly heightening the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), says a new study.

SIDS is the sudden and unexpected death of an apparently healthy infant during sleep.

The study led by Rachel Moon, a paediatrician and Brandi Joyner at Children’s National Medical Centre (CNMC), analysed pictures of sleeping infants in 24 magazines with wide circulation among 20 to 40-year-old women.

English or Hindi: Abhishek confused about ‘Aishwarya’ tattoo!

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Mumbai, August 17: Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan is all set to tell the world how much he loves the woman in his life, Aishwarya Rai, as he is gearing up to get a tattoo of her name done on his wrist. But grapevine has it that Abhi is a little confused about whether he should get ‘Aishwarya’ in English or Hindi!

Since he has a choice, Abhi apparently wants to get the needle prick his skin to get the best out of it. So he would now have to choose between a Hindi and an English script design.

Sensex ends 637 points down on global cues

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Mumbai, August 17: Thanks to weak global cues and continued profit selling, BSE Sensex on Monday shed 637 points to close below the 15,000-mark.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened lower at 15,284.23 points, ended at 14,774.01 points (provisional), down 637.62 points or 4.14 percent.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in the red, losing 4.2 percent from its previous closing figure to end at 4,387.8 points.

Recipe: Dhungar Ke Paneer Tikke

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This is an aromatic cottage cheese preparation from the land of sands and camels. Ingredients:

Paneer 100 gm
For the marination

Ginger garlic paste 1 tsp
Hung curd 30 gm
Degi mirch ½ tsp
Saunf pdr ¼ tsp
Garam masala pdr ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
For the dunghar
Desi ghee 1 tsp
Cloves 3 no
Satay sticks 10 nos

Procedure:

Cut the paneer into small cubes
Marinade the paneer with degi mirch and salt.
Take a mixing bowl add all the remaning ingredients of marination and mix well.

Work Timings During Ramadan

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Dubai, August 17: Federal ministries and institutions will work from 9am to 2pm during the Holy month of Ramadan, according to a circular issued on Sunday.

The circular was issued by Humaid Mohammed Obaid Al Qattami, Minister of Education and Chairman of the Federal Human
Resources Authority.

Hiring of Non-sponsored Maids can Prove ‘Costly’

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Sharjah, August 17: Dubai Police are warning residents to only hire maids through legal channels after more than 200 crimes were carried out by housemaids this year — most who were not on their employer’s sponsorship.

Brigadier Khalil Al Mansouri, Director of General Department of Criminal Investigation, said 222 crimes by housemaids had been recorded to the beginning of August. However, this is more than 100 fewer crimes than in the same period the year before.

UAE Schools might close if flu spreads

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Dubai, August 17: The UAE will consider closing down schools if H1N1 influenza infection becomes widespread after they begin reopening later this month, according to the Ministry of Health.

The ministry, in a statement, said the decision was part of a unified Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) plan to tackle the spread of infection as millions of students start returning to the region’s schools after spending their summer vacation in different parts of the world.

Saudi TV investors warned on offensive programmes

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Riyadh, August 17: Saudi investors in satellite television stations cause offence to their country by allowing material that violates Islamic teachings to be aired, a government official was quoted as saying on Sunday.

Earlier this month, two offices of the Lebanon-based network LBC were closed in the kingdom after it broadcast an interview with a Saudi man speaking about his sexual adventures.

Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32, faces trial after shocking Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and one of the most conservative countries in the world, with details of his sexual exploits.

Iraq delays first census in two decades

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Najaf, August 17: Iraq will delay indefinitely its first census in two decades because of political wrangling over disputed areas in the country’s north, Planning Minister Ali Baban said on Sunday.

The census was due to have been held on October 24.

‘The planning ministry is ready to do the census technically,’ Baban told reporters following talks in the holy city of Najaf with Iraq’s supreme Shia religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini Al Sistani.

Iran expands mass trial

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Tehran, August 17: Iran expanded a mass trial of opposition supporters on Sunday with the addition of 25 defendants including a Jewish teenager — in defiance of international condemnation.

As France said Iran agreed to release a French woman held on spying charges from prison.

The defendants are among more than 100 people charged with plotting a “soft revolution” against the Islamic theocracy during the postelection protests. The mass trial is part of an attempt to put an end to the protests by those who say Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s June 12 re-election was the result of fraud.

Kuwait wedding fire killed 41 people in 3 minutes

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Kuwait, August 17: A fire that tore through a wedding tent outside Kuwait’s capital killed 41 women and children in just three minutes, the fire chief said on Sunday.

Guests likely crushed one another in a desperate attempt to flee through the only exit, he said.

The devastating fire was likely to result in restrictions on the tradition of holding celebrations in such tents, a custom which is rooted in Kuwait’s nomadic heritage and endures in tribal areas of the country.

Arab and Kurdish leaders barb over Iraq unrest

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Mosul, August 17: Arab and Kurdish politicians in northern Iraq traded accusations of responsibility on Sunday over a series of bloody bombings that have rocked the region in recent days.

In the latest bombing, a politician from the tiny Kurdish-speaking Shabak community and two aides were wounded in Iraq’s second city of Mosul, less than a week after two truck bombs killed dozens of Shabak members, police said.

Leader of banned Pakistan militant group dead

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Karachi, August 17: The leader of a banned Sunni Muslim militant party in Pakistan was shot dead on Monday in an apparent sectarian attack, police and party officials said.

Hundreds of Pakistanis have been killed in recent years in violence between militants from the Sunni Muslim majority and their minority Shia Muslim rivals.

The killings, especially of faction leaders, raise fears of revenge attacks triggering cycles of violence.

American gets medical tests after Myanmar jailing

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Washington, August 17: An ailing American who was spared a seven-year prison sentence in Myanmar underwent medical testing in Bangkok on Monday, a day after an influential U.S. senator secured his release from the military-ruled country.

John Yettaw’s family in the United States said the 53-year-old was hospitalized in the Thai capital and not in good health after three months in a Myanmar prison, where he was held for sneaking into the home of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Taiwan must airlift more than 1,600 victims

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Chishan, August 17: Soldiers searched typhoon-devastated areas for survivors and bodies Monday as more than 1,600 people waited to be airlifted to safety nine days after Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan.

The official death toll rose to 126, but President Ma Ying-jeou has warned that the number could climb to more than 500, with hundreds feared buried beneath the rubble in the southern village of Hsiaolin.

WHO chief urges swine flu vigilance

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Washington, August 17: The world must remain on its guard against H1N1 influenza, which has been mild so far but could become more serious as the northern hemisphere heads into winter, the head of the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

Margaret Chan, on a visit to Tanzania, noted that most people infected with swine flu had suffered only mild symptoms but it affected certain groups such as pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions much more severely.

Strong quake rattles southern Japan, Taiwan

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Tokyo, August 17: A strong earthquake jolted the ocean floor off southern Japan on Monday, triggering a brief tsunami warning for a cluster of tropical islands and shaking buildings in nearby Taiwan.

The 6.7-magnitude quake struck at around 9:06 am (0006 GMT) 115 kilometers (70 miles) southwest of Ishigaki-jima island in Japan’s far south at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), the US Geological Survey reported.

China’s nuclear envoy to visit North Korea: report

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Seoul, August 17: China’s chief nuclear negotiator is likely to visit North Korea later Monday in an attempt to persuade it to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, South Korean media reports said.

“Chances are high that Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will fly to Pyongyang on an Air China flight that departs at 5:20 pm (0920 GMT),” Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.

Wu will try to persuade the North to come back to the talks which also involve South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan, the source said.

British pilot killed in Malaysia testing ‘flying taxi’: reports

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Kuala Lumpur, August 17: A British pilot killed in a fiery crash in Malaysia was an aviation entrepreneur conducting a test flight of his Jetpod “flying taxi”, reports said Monday.

Michael Robert Dacre, 53, died Sunday when the prototype aircraft crashed and burst into flames shortly after take-off from a landing strip in the northern town of Taiping, Malaysian police said.

The Star daily said Dacre was an inventor and the managing director of British-based Avcen Ltd. which planned to have the “Jetpod” eight-seater flying taxi in production by 2010.

Venezuelan police detain about 40 Colombians

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Caracas, August 17: Venezuelan police on Sunday detained about 40 Colombian citizens, including an employee of the Colombian consulate in Caracas, while they were trying to renew their identity papers, Colombian Consul Maria Elvira Cabello announced.

According to the diplomat, the arrests took place when police raided a location where Colombian consular workers were trying to renew the documents of their compatriots living in Venezuela.

She said the procedure had been planned since May and had received all necessary approval from Venezuelan authorities.

Wildfires spread as California declares emergency

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Davenport, August 15: Strong winds are spreading multiple wildfires across parched parts of California as officials worry the gusts could ignite more blazes and force more evacuations in areas already under a state of emergency.

The Lockheed Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains has blackened close to 8 square miles of remote wilderness and prompted mandatory evacuations of the mountain communities of Swanton and Bonny Doon, which have about 2,400 residents and several wineries.

Bowing to typhoon anger, Taiwan Prez says sorry

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Liukuei, August 15: Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou bowed to public anger on Saturday, apologising for his government’s slow response to Typhoon Morakot, which devastated central and southern parts of the island.

Ma spoke at the end of a week in which his administration faced mounting criticism for failing to recognise in time the magnitude of the crisis as mudslides cut off hundreds of villages, leaving them only accessible by air.

Three die of suspected swine flu in Maharashtra

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Aurangabad, August 15: Three persons, suspected to be suffering from swine flu, died in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, health officials said Saturday.

The causalities were reported from Latur and Jalna districts of Marathwada region.

If the reports of the three test positive for H1N1 virus, the nationwide toll due to swine flu will reach 26.

Yesterday, Pune District Collector Chandrakant Dalvi had told reporters that of the 15 deaths reported so far from the city, only 12 were due to the virus as the three patients who had died of suspected flu, have tested negative.