Month: March 2010

Focus on high-bandwidth video-conferencing solutions

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Chennai, March 01: BSNL Chennai Telephones has begun to focus on delivering high-bandwidth video-conferencing solutions for medical institutions that host international symposia.

Recently, Chennai Telephones deployed its Internet Leased Line (ILL) facility for an international meet organised by the Surgical Gastroenterology department of the Government General Hospital.

The two-day workshop was on the International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus, Indian chapter.

Complex surgeries

42 terror camps still active in Pak, matter of concern: Antony

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New Delhi, March 01: Antony on Sunday said 42 terror camps are “still active” in Pakistan and that lack of a serious attempt or effort by that country to dismantle them is the “main cause of concern for us.”

Defence Minister A K Antony also said India did not expect a “miracle” from the resumption of Indo-Pak talks which concluded recently at the Foreign Secretary-level in Pokharan noting it was just a beginning.

Antony was talking to reporters after attending the Air Force show-Vayu Shakti Fire Power Demo in Rajasthan witnessed by President Pratibha Patil and other dignitaries.

OIC chief condemns Israeli assault on Al-Aqsa

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Gaza, March 01: Organization of the Islamic Conference Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has strongly condemned the Israeli troops’ assault on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and warned of dangerous consequences.

Ihsanoglu said the illegal entry of Israeli police into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday violated international law protecting houses of worship.

He associated the move with Tel Aviv’s decision to designate two shrines on Palestinian territory as Israeli national heritage sites, saying the decision would impede efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.

Hamas calls for action over assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque

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Gaza, March 01: Hamas has called on Arab and Muslim states to impose pressure on Israel to force it to stop the raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to end its occupation of Palestine and its holy sites.

The current scenario is part of a dangerous Zionist plot to Judaize the entire occupied city of Jerusalem Al-Quds and to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said on Sunday.

Clinton to tour Latin America seeking better ties

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Washington, March 01: The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will depart on a five-nation Latin American tour next week in a bid to bolster ties and gauge the feasibility of Obama’s vision for the region.

Clinton’s trip, to commence next Sunday, will first take her to Uruguay where she will attend the presidential inauguration of Jose Mujica and use the occasion to meet with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other Latin American leaders.

Congressmen ordered to ditch JAC

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New Delhi, March 01: The Congress on Sunday asked its leaders in Andhra Pradesh to withdraw from the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) and issued virtual gag orders.

Annoyed with the statements being issued, the party high command asked its leaders not to rush to the press on the “sensitive issue”. Union Law Minister and in-charge of party affairs in the state, M Veerappa Moily, warned that any violation of the party discipline would be seriously dealt with.

Ahmadinejad: Palestinian unity to send evil Israel to hell

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Tehran, March 01: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blasted Israeli inhumane crimes, insisting that the era of the Israeli regime and its allies is inching towards an end.

“Your [Israelis and their allies] time is over… You should respect the Palestinian people and go back to your own home,” Ahmadinejad said during an international conference on Palestine in Tehran on Sunday.

“You have no repute among the regional nations…You should recognize that regional nations are wise. The Zionist regime will face no other fate than collapse if it continues its aggression,” he added.

Panchen Lama named to top advisory body in China

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Beijing, March 01: The Panchen Lama, the young man enthroned by Beijing as the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism, has joined China’s top legislative advisory body.

The 20-year-old Panchen Lama, whose name is Gyaltsen Norbu, is emerging as Beijing’s choice to supplant the Dalai Lama as the public face of Tibetan Buddhism and has taken on an increasingly political role in recent years. He has made appearances with Communist Party leaders and publicly praised Chinese rule in Tibet.

Moderate earthquake hits Kashmir

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Srinagar, March 01: An earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale hit Kashmir valley in the wee hours on Sunday, but there was no report of any loss of life or damage to property.

“The 5.7 magnitude quake, with its epicentre located in the Hindukush mountain range of Afghanistan, hit Kashmir valley at 4:51 am,” Aamir Ali, spokesman of Jammu and Kashmir government disaster management cell, said.

However, there was no report of any casualties or damage to property so far, he said.

—Agencies

Obama still smokes and has knee problem

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Washington, March 01: US President Barack Obama was judged to be in “excellent health” but still smokes too much and suffers from some knee pain, according to his first routine physical examination since becoming president.

Obama is “fit for duty,” White House physician Jeffrey Kuhlman declared Sunday after the traditional periodic presidential exam conducted at the National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, outside the nation’s capital.

Akmal may face disciplinary action by PCB

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Karachi, March 01: Pakistan’s seasoned wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal may face some disciplinary action by the cricket board after the inquiry committee probing into the national team’s poor performance in Australia submit its report on Tuesday. The committee is due to submit its report to the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt along with recommendations and a well placed source in the board told PTI that the board definitely has some issues with Akmal.

India can make progress if run on Hinduism: RSS

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Bhopal, March 01: Asserting that India would make progress only if run on the lines of Hinduism, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said here today that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.

“For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life,” he said at the annual function of the local RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.

He said that the Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context.

Kannada star Shivaraj Kumar essays 11 roles of legendary dad

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Bangalore, March 01: Kannada star Shivaraj Kumar will be seen in as many as 11 roles immortalised on screen by his father and legendary actor Raj Kumar in one song of forthcoming film “Cheluvueye Ninne Nodalu”.

Shivaraj Kumar will portray the 11 characters in a song that will be a remix of the hugely popular number “Huttidhare Kannada…” from Raj Kumar’s film “Akasmika”. “Huttidhare Kannada…” continues to be a hit with listeners even 17 years after the movie’s release.

‘India needs more trained healthcare professionals’

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Washington, March 01: A leading Indian-American cardiac surgeon suggests a “lean healthcare” system model for India to attract larger private investments and widen its reach and says the country needs more trained healthcare executives to manage the growing industry.

“The best implementation of lean principles is optimising of available resources directly reflected by visible increased productivity,” says Dr. Mukesh Hariawala, 50, who has just completed a “Physician Executive Healthcare MBA” programme at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

BIG B receives Taj Enlighten Tareef Award

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Mumbai, March 01: A day after he won the best actor trophy at the 55th Filmfare Awards for his role in “Paa”, Amitabh Bachchan received the Taj Enlighten Tareef Award Sunday.

“I am thankful for the opportunity given to me. I think this is a fabulous moment and a wonderful idea to capture the life of very prominent artistes, seniors who have been involved with the Indian film Industry,” Bachchan told reporters before receiving the award from the Taj Enlighten Film Society.

Pakistan: The Lost Generation

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It’s morning in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s biggest province, and the country’s next generation is headed to school. But what children are finding when they get there is of increasing concern for those who want peace in Pakistan’s future.

For 12-year-old Fatma, school is an abandoned brickyard.

“I study at the Government Primary School in Lahore,” she explains. “I study English language, and I like it. There are no chairs. We have to sit on the ground. It’s a problem in the winter. When it rains, there is nowhere to sit.”

Media misread ‘moderator’ remark: Tharoor

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Riyadh, March 01: India sees Saudi Arabia as a “valuable interlocutor” in relation to Pakistan, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor Sunday said. After his remark sparked a storm, he clarified he was not making Riyadh a mediator on India-Pakistan issues.

Not convinced, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is now in Riyadh along with the minister, to explain. Even sections of the Congress party were upset, saying India would never agree to any third party role in India-Pakistan relations.

IIT student confesses to murder of woman in Shimla

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Shimla, March 01: A student of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, arrested in Haryana early Sunday for allegedly murdering a female IIT-Delhi student in a Shimla hotel, has confessed his crime, police claimed here.

A 22-year-old third-year girl student of textile engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Delhi, who came here with the IIT-Roorkee male student, was found murdered in the hotel room Saturday. Since then, the alleged accused was missing.

Rs.80 lakh theft in Hema Malini’s home

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Mumbai, March 01: Cash and gold jewellery worth nearly Rs.80 lakh (Rs.8 million) were stolen from film actor Hema Malini’s house here, police said Sunday.

The actor came to know about the theft Sunday. The house in northwest Mumbai was burgled Saturday, an official of Dindoshi police station said.

Police said a security guard and a domestic help have been detained for questioning.

–IANS–

46 killed as storm sweeps across Europe

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Paris, March 01: At least 46 people have died in a violent storm that swept across parts of Europe Saturday and Sunday.
France was the hardest hit, with 40 people reported killed and several still missing and feared drowned.

Packing winds of up to 160 km per hour, the storm uprooted trees, flooded houses, wreaked havoc with transportation and cut electricity to more than 1 million households, primarily along the French Atlantic coastline.

Al Qaeda video shows bomber before strike at CIA men

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Cairo, March 01: A Jordanian Al Qaeda double-agent who in December killed himself and seven CIA agents in a suicide attack in Afghanistan, blamed US and Israeli “crimes” for his act, in a video aired on the al-Jazeera television network Sunday.

In the video, Humam al-Balawi, 32, is shown departing by car for the December 30 bombing, which killed seven CIA agents and wounded six others, and showing the camera the detonator he would use in the bombing.

AP having 19,268 police vacancies

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New Delhi, March 01: Over 86,000 posts at different levels in police forces are lying vacant in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir. According to latest Home Ministry data updated till 2007, a total of 86,012 posts – 49,252 in Maharashtra and 36,760 in J-K – are vacant.

Following them are Uttar Pradesh with 22,267 vacant posts, Bihar with about 22,000 and Andhra Pradesh with 19,268. In Naxal-infested Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand there are 14,867, 13,007, 8,724 and 2,449 posts respectively, which have not been filled, according to the data.

It is just another win: India coach

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New Delhi, March 01: India hockey coach Jose Brasa Sunday asked his boys to keep their feet on the ground and not get carried away by their emphatic 4-1 win over arch rivals Pakistan in their group opener at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here.

“We have to see this win as just another win from which we got three points. My boys have to keep their feet on ground and celebrate tonight. But from tomorrow we have to think about the next match and move ahead,” said the Spaniard.

Emergency declared as toll rises to 708 in Chile quake

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Santiago, March 1 (DPA) Searchers scoured the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors Sunday as the toll from the devastating earthquake that hit Chile reached 708.
President Michelle Bachelet released the new figure, and the country was bracing for reports of even more deaths from the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Saturday morning.

India, Saudi Arabia sign Riyadh Declaration

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Riyadh, March 01: India and Saudi Arabia late Sunday signed Riyadh Declaration to cement ties and to raise bilateral cooperation to a strategic partnership covering security, economic, defence and political areas.

The ‘Riyadh Declaration – A New Era of Strategic Partnership’ was signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz at a ceremony at the Al Rawad Palace here.