Month: February 2012

Pakistanis protest NATO airstrike

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On Sunday, angry demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans against the deadly cross-border airstrike on two military checkpoints in the country’s troubled northwest, Reuters reported.

At least 15 others were injured during the Saturday attack in the Baizai area of Mohmand Agency.

Pakistani officials have condemned the strike, calling it a direct assault against the country’s sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has ordered a review of all collaborations with the US and NATO, including diplomatic, political, military, and intelligence activities.

2-month baby dies from a heart attack in the air

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A two-month-old Saudi boy died of heart attack during a domestic flight and health officials said the infant already suffered from heart problems at birth.

Ambulances rushed to the runway where the passenger aircraft from the capital Riyadh landed in the northern town of Arar after receiving a call from the pilot.

“When they boarded the plane and checked the baby, the medics found he was already dead because of heart failure,” Alriyadh daily said.

There are two sides of the story: Saif Ali Khan

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‘Nawab’ Saif Ali Khan seems to have suddenly become media’s favorite boy. Holding a second press conference 48 hours after the infamous brawl at a posh hotel in Mumbai, Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan hogged limelight this time round, not to offer an explanation about the latest controversy he is embroiled in, but to talk about his strategic alliance with World Series Hockey.

SRK’s ‘Mannat’ gets clearance from BMC

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Shah Rukh Khan must have heaved a big sigh of relief as his ‘home sweet home’ Mannat got clearance from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), sources confirmed.

Reportedly, Khan`s bungalow at suburban Bandra, close to sea-shore, is an old building declared as heritage building. The actor bought the bungalow and an adjacent vacant plot some years back.

It was alleged that SRK violated norms of CRZ (coastal regulation zone) in the construction of Mannat.

Saudi maid caught on camera mixing her urine with food

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A Saudi man suspecting the behavior or his Ethiopian housemaid decided to install secret cameras in the kitchen. When he later checked the film, he got the shock of his life when he saw the maid urinating in the cooking dish.

The Saudi Arabic language daily Sharq published the one-minute film showing the maid taking her pants off, placing the cooking pan under her and pissing into it. She then lifted the dish and started to prepare the meal for her employers.

I didn’t kill Jackson, stress did: Conrad Murray

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Michael Jackson’s personal doctor Conrad Murray has filed legal documents claiming that MJ was so stressed out over his financial woes that he recklessly self-administered a fatal dose of Propofol that killed him.

Murray is responding to the D.A.’s claims that he should stay in jail pending appeal because the grounds for challenging the conviction are bogus, reports tmz.com.

Government notifies direct fuel import by airlines

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The Indian government Wednesday notified direct import of jet fuel — a long standing demand of the domestic airline industry — and called upon the interested carriers to apply for licences.

“Indian carriers interested to avail the opportunity to import ATF (air turbine fuel) directly without going through STE (state trading enterprises) route may apply to the DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade),” the commerce ministry, under which the DGFT functions, said in a statement.

Twitter to surpass 500 million registered users later today

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Popular micro blogging site Twitter is likely to hit 500 million registered users later today, a report has said.

Twopcharts, a third party Twitter analysis company claimed that the website, which processes more than a billion tweets a week, is set to hit the milestone figure soon.

The figure, however, relates to the total number of registered accounts and does not reveal how many are active, The Telegraph reports.

At present, there are 100 million active Twitter accounts, a figure which was announced by the company’s executives last September.

Gender-Based Abortions in Britain Raise Concern

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After hearing the news that abortions due to wrong sex are being taking place in Britain, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has ordered an immediate inquiry into the matter. Abortion on the ground of sex of the fetus is illegal under the 1967 Act.

Not only the private clinics but the NHS doctors are also found to be agreeing to conduct abortions purely on the basis that parents do not want the unborn child due to his gender. It is immoral and illegal, said Lansley. He is quite concerned to hear the news and has asked his officials to investigate the matter.

Cash-strapped Kingfisher starts operating new flight schedule

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Facing severe turbulence, Kingfisher Airlines today started truncated operations in accordance with its new flight schedule, as aviation regulator DGCA examined its operational details to consider whether to take any punitive action against it for flouting norms.

There was still uncertainty over moves by a consortium of 13 bankers to offer fresh loan for the beleaguered carrier, amid reports that the lead bank State Bank of India has agreed to provide Kingfisher a Rs 1,650 crore relief package.But the bankers were tight-lipped about their plans.

SC blames Ramdev, police for 2011 Ramlila Maidan crackdown

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The Supereme Court on Thursday blamed both Baba Ramdev and Delhi Police for the mid-night crackdown at Ramlila Maidan in 2011. SC said that the violent incident could have been avoided but the Delhi police abused its power and violated fundamental rights of people.

SC labelled the incident as a show of might of the state which strikes at the very foundation of Democracy. “It is a glaring example of trust deficit between people governing and people being governed,” it added.

—-PTI

Caffeine intake during breastfeeding may harm your baby

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Drinking coffee, tea or eating chocolate while breastfeeding may lead to caffeine accumulation and symptoms such as wakefulness and irritability in babies, an expert has warned.

This is because babies cannot metabolize or excrete caffeine very well, said Dr. Ruth Lawrence, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Caffeine is found in a wide range of products in addition to coffee, tea, and chocolate, including soft drinks, sports drinks, and some over-the-counter medications.

Pakistan pledges to back Afghan peace initiative

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“We will support any [peace efforts] that are Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-driven. This is our first and last pre-requisite,” said Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar during a speech in London on Wednesday.

“But we will not lead. We cannot lead… We will only follow what our Afghan brothers and sisters decide is the course of action they will adopt,” she added, making it clear that Pakistan does not seek to impose a specific solution on the issue.

Kareena: Salman is a sweetheart, lifeline of industry

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Kareena Kapoor has said that Salman Khan is a sweetheart and the lifeline of the Hindi film industry.

The 31-year-old actress, who has worked with all the leading Khans of Bollywood, including her beau Saif Ali Khan and now Imran Khan, chose the Dabangg star, when she was asked who was her favourite among the Khans.

Even at a function held earlier, where she had to choose her favourite actor, Kapoor had picked Salman.

-Agencies

Russia warns against ‘hasty conclusions’ over Iran

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Russia warns against ‘hasty conclusions’ over IranVienna – Russia said on Wednesday the world should not draw “hasty conclusions” over Iran’s most recent rebuff of UN attempts to investigate allegations the Islamic Republic hid secret work on atomic arms, but the US and its allies accused Tehran of nuclear defiance.

Under international pressure to show restraint, Israel, which has warned repeatedly that it may strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, pointedly urged major world powers to mind their own business, saying it alone would decide what to do to protect the Jewish state’s security.

Gay sex is against social order, spreads AIDS, centre to SC

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The Centre on Thursday opposed dilution of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code by Delhi high court, which decriminalised homosexual act in private between consenting adults, and urged the Supreme Court to reverse the landmark ruling.

It told the Supreme Court that the high court erred because a vast section of Indian society still considered it to be an immoral act, hence the provision needs to be retained in full to reflect the society’s views. Though the Centre had not appeal against the judgement, the ministry of home affairs came out strongly against dilution of Section 377.

TRS to begin “Self Respect” campaign

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The Telangana Rashtra Samithi announced that its party chief K Chandrasekhara Rao would embark on an election campaign from March 10 in Telangana for the ensuing by-elections.

The legislature party leader Etela Rajendar announced the decision on Wednesday after the conclusion of a TRS politburo meeting with TRSLP and TRS state executive udyama committee at Telangana Bhavan. He said the slogan during the campaign would be about self-respect and self rule.

Name not selected yet for Beti B: Amitabh

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Amitabh Bachchan has denied the media reports that the new born daughter of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai has been given the name ‘Abhilasha’. He said this while responding to a fan on micro blogging site twitter.

Bachchan replied,” no media is wrong .. name not selected yet,” when a fan tweeted him,” Sir, I keep hearing a name for BetiB in media. If it is true, I suggested that name. I feel on top of the world.”

The Bachchan family has not released any photo of the baby yet and the media keeps referring to the baby girl as ‘Beti B’.

——Agencies

Microwave: Eggless Chocolate Bread

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Try out this simple, quick and delicious microwave recipe.Ingredients :

2 bread pieces
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup drinking chocolate
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
4 tsp chopped walnuts

Procedure:

Cream together butter and chocolate powder. Apply it liberally over the breads. Grill the breads till they are brown and crisp. Now mix together all other ingredients and pour over the breads. Microwave for 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Note: You can bake for 5-7 minutes at 180 degrees if you have an ordinary oven.

2-month-old boy dies of heart attack in air

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A two-month-old Saudi boy died of heart attack during a domestic flight and health officials said the infant already suffered from heart problems at birth.

Ambulances rushed to the runway where the passenger aircraft from the capital Riyadh landed in the northern town of Arar after receiving a call from the pilot.

“When they boarded the plane and checked the baby, the medics found he was already dead because of heart failure,” Alriyadh daily said.

Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter seeks death certificate

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Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter seeks death certificateAmsterdam – Lawyers for the daughter of Muammar Gaddafi have filed a formal petition at the International Criminal Court seeking an authorised copy of the former Libyan leader’s death certificate.

Aisha Gaddafi’s lawyer Nick Kaufman said on Wednesday the move is intended in part to show that Libya’s National Transitional Council isn’t capable of holding a fair trial for her brother Seif al-Islam, who was arrested in the country’s remote southern desert in November.

V.R.O. and V.R.A Exams will be in Urdu in future

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Finance Minister A. Ram. Narayan Reddy, gave an assurance in the Assembly that the next batch of VRO and VRA exams will be conducted in Urdu also.

He was explaining that some members had represented for conducting these exams in Urdu but by that time, the notification had already been.

He assured that next time arrangements would be made to supply question papers in Urdu also.

——Siasat News

A.P. Federation of University teachers’ protest

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A.P. Federation of University teachers have finalized the programme of protest to get their demands solved.

All the university teachers will organize relay hunger strike from 27th to 3rd March. They will boycott all the ensuing common entrance tests. Federation has put forth the demands of payment of arrears of 6th plan pay fixation of 2006, enhancement of superannuation age, recruitment of University teachers on permanent basis, enhancement of block grants to the universities.

——Siasat News

I could have used ‘Gandhigiri’: Saif

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Saif Ali Khan, who is in the midst of a controversy after a scuffle with an NRI businessman, says he could have used ‘Gandhigiri’ to sort out the matter peacefully, provided the situation allowed him to do so.

“I think I could have reacted to the incident using ‘Gandhigiri’. But that time the situation was worse. I am not saying that I am totally innocent but I was not guilty alone,” Saif told reporters here late Wednesday night.

Colonoscopy cuts colon cancer death risk: Study

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Millions of people have endured a colonoscopy, believing the dreaded exam may help keep them from dying of colon cancer. For the first time, a major study offers clear evidence that it does.

Removing precancerous growths spotted during the test can cut the risk of dying from colon cancer in half, the study suggests. Doctors have long assumed a benefit, but research hasn`t shown before that removing polyps would improve survival – the key measure of any cancer screening`s worth.

Some people skip the test because of the unpleasant steps need to get ready for it.