Month: October 2009

Hamas swaps video of Israeli soldier for prisoners

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Jerusalem, October 03: In the first video images since he was captured by Palestinian militants in 2006, Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit — looking thin but healthy, his hair freshly trimmed — sent love to his family, appealed for his freedom and held up a newspaper to prove the footage was recent.

Israel freed 19 Palestinian women from prison on Friday in exchange for the video, raising hopes for the young soldier’s release and taking a step toward defusing a key flash point in Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

Iraqis lead crackdown in insurgent strong hold

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Baghdad, October 03: Iraqi forces in Mosul have detained more than 150 suspected Sunni insurgents during an offensive in the country’s last major extremist stronghold.

The crackdown is the latest attempt to break insurgent strength in the northern city — and the first wide-ranging operation since the U.S. withdrew combat forces from cities in June. While each sweep into Mosul over the past years has produced scores of arrests, they apparently have failed to significantly weaken the networks of al-Qaida in Iraq and other groups.

Tharoor’s Gandhi Jayanti tweet sparks blog debate

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New Delhi, October 03: Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor’s tweet suggesting that Gandhi Jayanti be a working day has sparked off much discussion and debate on the Internet.

“Why should Gandhi Jayanti, or for that matter the birth and death anniversary of any leader be a holiday? In all the fuss, the very reason for the holiday is lost. Most of my friends for instance saw Gandhi Jayanti as a good excuse to take short vacations to nearby hill stations,” said IT professional Shavir Malik on his blog.

Saudi reports new swine flu fatalities

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Dubai, October 03: With four new cases of swine flu deaths, the total number of casualties linked to the A(H1N1) virus rose to thirty-five in the country.

Three Saudi nationals and a foreigner, who was not identified, were the latest victims who died on Thursday Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health Ministry said in a statement released to Saudi press agency.

However, the Ministry had earlier said that no swine flu death case was reported among pilgrims during the month of Ramadan.

Computer model of brain can help victims of anxiety disorder

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Washington, October 03: The brain is a complex system made of billions of neurons (nerve cells) and thousands of connections that relate to every human feeling, including one of the strongest emotions, fear. Researchers have started using computer models of the brain to study the connections.

Most neurological fear studies have been rooted in fear-conditioning experiments. Now, University of Missouri (U-M) researchers are using computational models to study the brain’s connections.

Rs.23 lakh looted from Punjab bank

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Batala (Punjab), October 03: An unidentified man assaulted a cashier of the State Bank of Patiala in this north Punjab town Saturday afternoon and looted Rs.23 lakh from him, police said.

The Punjab Police immediately set up barricades around this town, 40 km from Amritsar, to nab the culprit.

A police officer said the bank staff was taking the money in a bag to put it in an automated teller machine (ATM). The cashier told the police that he was attacked from behind and the bag containing the money was taken away.

–Agencies

Maoist leader from Jharkhand nabbed in West Bengal

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Kolkata, October 03: Maoist leader from Jharkhand, Chandra Bhusan Yadav, has been arrested from Chinsurah in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, police said here today.

During interrogation at the CID headquarters here, Yadav told them that he had come to West Bengal for treatment of chronic stomach ailments.

About Rs 60,000 in cash and some Maoist documents were found on Yadav, but he was not carrying any arms, they said.

Pointing out that 10 cases were pending against Yadav in Jharkhand, they said, there was, however, no case against him in West Bengal.

Crane topples at Delhi Metro site, two injured

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New Delhi, October 03: A crane toppled at a Delhi Metro construction site here Saturday injuring two people, police said.

The accident, blamed on “mechanical failure”, took place at the proposed Saket Metro station in south Delhi.

Although Metro officials claimed that no one was injured, police said two workers suffered injuries and were taken to a hospital.

“The incident took place at the Saket station. It appears that one crane developed a mechanical snag and lost its balance,” a Delhi Metro official told IANS.

Police: Kidnapped newborn found safe in Alabama

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Nashville, October 03: A newborn infant kidnapped from his mother in Tennessee was found safe in Alabama on Friday, and a woman suspected of abducting the baby was arrested, police said.

Nashville police said week-old Yair Anthony Carillo was found at a home in Ardmore near the Tennessee line.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn identified the arrested woman as Tammy Renee Silas, 39, of Ardmore. He said charges are “pending,” but she was not immediately charged. She was being questioned and will be held at the jail in Morgan County, Ala., police said.

Australian premier criticised for snubbing Dalai Lama

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Sydney, October 03: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was Saturday accused of kowtowing to China over his decision not to meet the Dalai Lama when the exiled Tibetan leader visits Australia in December.

Rudd braved Beijing’s displeasure and met the Dalai Lama in 2007 when he was leader of the opposition Labour Party but has kept him at bay since taking office after the November 2007 election.

Greens member of parliament Sarah Hanson-Young accused Rudd of cowardice.

Militant network in Bangladesh has collapsed: Dhaka police

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Dhaka, October 03: Islamist militant activities in Bangladesh have “collapsed” following a series of arrests of suspected Indian militants, a police official here has claimed.

The Detective Branch of Dhaka Police said that with Wednesday’s arrest of 28-year-old Emdadullah alias Mahbub, a suspected member of the Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group’s network had broken down, The News Today reported Saturday.

‘Mistake to express breast milk to feed baby later’

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London, October 03: The composition of breast milk changes throughout the day and it is a “mistake” for the mother to express the milk and store it for feeding the baby later, says a new study.

The baby should be given milk at the time of day that it issues from the mother’s breast.

Breast milk contains various ingredients, such as nucleotides, which perform a very important role in helping babies sleep, it says.

Mayawati’s rural cleanliness project bridges social divide

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Agra, October 03: When Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati launched a rural cleanliness scheme in 2008, not many realised the revolutionary potential of “this seemingly innocent and unattractive scheme” now being implemented all over the state.

More than 100,000 ‘safai karamcharis’, or community sweepers, were recruited under the scheme, two for each village. “These young men and women from all castes, educated but without work, initially thought they would not have to do any work but would get paid. A large number paid hefty amounts to recruiting committees to get the jobs.

Female hormone drives male aggression in mice

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Washington, October 03:The female hormone oestrogen seems to drive male aggression in mice with the help of certain nerve cells in the brain, a new study led by an Indian American has found.

The study, conducted by University of California San Francisco (UCSF), suggests a pivotal role for oestrogen — as well as the enzyme aromatase that is responsible for oestrogen synthesis — in male territorial behaviour.

Second phase of Baglihar hydel project to start in six months

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Jammu, October 03: The Jammu and Kashmir government is planning to start work on the second phase of the Baglihar hydroelectric project in Ramban district in six months to boost the power generation capacity of the state, an official said.

Lily Allen sets alarm bells ringing

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London, October 03: British pop star Lily Allen angered hundreds of partygoers when she smoked sneakily and it set off the fire alarm, forcing them all out.

Organisers of Diesel: U Music World Tour Party sent everyone out, stopped the music and asked everyone to wait patiently. Allen had sneaked in a smoke and that set the alarm bells ringing. The partygoers had to wait for half-an-hour to get back inside, dailystar.co.uk reports.

Allen backstage was still smoking when she said: “What’s wrong with smoking?”

Shiney’s dilemma

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Mumbai, October 03 : Anupam Ahuja is a much relieved wife. Hubby Shiney Ahuja will finally be released on bail today, following which the couple will leave for Delhi.

Tai Chi can help diabetics

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Washington, October 03: Doing tai chi exercises regularly can help diabetics lower their blood glucose levels, says a new study.

Tai chi is an ancient martial art that combines deep breathing and relaxation with slow, gentle circular movements.

Adults diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, who took part in a tai chi programme two days a week, with three days of home practice for six months, cut down their fasting blood glucose levels, enhanced quality of life, including mental health, vitality and energy.

New chief of Pakistani Taliban may be dead

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Islamabad, October 03: US intelligence agencies believe the newly named leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, might have been killed in a gunfight with a rival faction weeks ago.

Militants tapped Hakimullah to replace the group’s previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a missile fired from a CIA-piloted drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border Aug 5.

Hakimullah’s death, which officials said has yet to be confirmed definitively, would be another setback for the group, the Nation reported Saturday.

Farmer’s widow kicks off her Maharashtra poll campaign

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Both-Bodan (Maharashtra), October 03: It was poignant in its imagery and telling in its impact. A slow procession of widows of farmers who committed suicide in the Vidarbha region in the last couple of years wound its way through rutted village tracks as Bebitai Bais, the first farmer’s widow in Maharashtra to contest the assembly elections, began her campaign Saturday.

She will contest for the Wani assembly seat.

Food packets flown from Bangalore for flood-hit north Karnataka

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Bangalore, October 03: Over 10,000 food packets, mainly consisting of bread, biscuits and water, were flown from Bangalore Saturday for distribution among the hundreds of people marooned in the flood-hit north Karnataka districts.

The death toll in the rain and floods since Wednesday in Bijapur, Raichur, Belgaum, Bidar, Gulbarga, Koppal, Bellary, Davangere and Chikballapur districts was officially put at 101. However, unofficial reports say it is over 140. Karnataka has 29 districts.

Police hunt for Maoist killers in Bihar Text

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Patna, October 03: Police were hunting Saturday for dozens of Maoist guerrillas who massacred 11 men and five children in a Bihar village Thursday midnight, triggering fears of a caste war.

Police said they were looking for 62 people who took part in the slaughter, including 24 from the same village where the killings occurred — Amausi in Khagaria district, about 200 km from here.

Additional Director General of Police Neelmani told IANS that while the identity of 37 of the culprits was known, 25 others were yet to be identified.

Typhoon batters northern Philippines

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Manila, October 03: A powerful typhoon Saturday battered extreme northern Philippines with forceful winds and heavy rains, but spared the capital and surrounding areas still recovering from devastating floods.

Typhoon Parma toppled trees and ripped off rooftops in Cagayan province, 405 km north of Manila, hours before it was set to make landfall in the town of Santa Ana Saturday evening.

“Angry winds are now battering our area and it would be disastrous if the impact would be stronger,” police regional commander Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian told DPA by telephone.

Bofors: the stain that won’t go away

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Washington, October 03: Twenty-two years after a Swedish radio station first suggested that the Bofors howitzer gun deal involved the payment of “kroners to cronies” in the Rajiv Gandhi government and the Congress party, the controversy is still an occasional “breaking news”. Yet, to those who have grown to adulthood after that 1987 broadcast, the scam is a curious leftover of the past.

First, the sum involved — Rs.64 crore ($1.3 million) — is too paltry by today’s standards to justify the continuing media interest.

G7 finance ministers meet in shadow of larger G20

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Istanbul, October 03: Finance ministers and central bank heads from the world’s seven major industrial powers were meeting Saturday, less than two weeks after being relegated to a side role in future global economic talks.

The Group of Seven (G7) nations were coming together on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s annual meetings in Istanbul.

Officials said the meeting will be an opportunity to follow up on the promises of closer cooperation made by leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) at a Sep 25 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.