Month: February 2013

US Marines drink cobra blood in Thailand

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A female US Marine drank blood of a dead cobra during a military training exercise in jungles in Thailand.

The US soldier is one of around 13,000 taking part in Cobra Gold 2013, an annual, multi-national military training programme that incorporates jungle survival techniques.

According to the Daily Mail, after being taught how to kill the venomous snakes by Thai naval instructors, the Marines were given the option of experiencing a local custom that was drinking the animals’ blood.

Ex-US senator admits to fathering son with other senator’s daughter

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Former New Mexico senator Pete Domenici has revealed that he fathered a son in an extramarital affair with another senator’s daughter more than 30 years ago.

He added that he has kept the secret since then, and only told his own family in the last ‘several months’.

In a statement to the Albuquerque Journal, the 80-year-old Republican, who represented New Mexico for more than 30 years, said the mother of his son ‘made me pledge that we would never reveal that parenthood and I have tried to honour that pledge and so has she’.

Asian gang made 11-yr-old girl sex slave in UK

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A 19-year-old girl has told a court in London how she was sexually exploited by a group of Asian men when she was 11 years old.

The victim was giving evidence at the trial of nine men accused of grooming children and exploiting them for sex in Oxford.

She said she was raped by Mohammed Karrar in 2005 when she was 11, after she had gone to a flat ‘to chill’, but was given drinks and drugs, then raped.

According to the BBC, the men have denied 51 charges imposed on them, including rape and trafficking from 2004 to 2012.

‘Rape does not happen on college campuses’

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Fox News commentator Bob Beckel stunned his own co-hosts after he suggested that rape does not happen on college campuses.

During Tuesday’s ‘The Five’, the Fox News roundtable was debating Colorado legislation that would allow women to carry concealed weapons to prevent sexual assault at colleges.

Beckel was sceptical, and asked ‘when was the last time you heard about rape on a college campus?’

According to the Huffington Post, Beckel asked if rapes on campus were rampant. To which Dana Perino said that it was and in particular, date rape on campus.

Huge blast rocks Syria’s Damascus, 16 dead

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At least 16 people were killed and 208 wounded Thursday when a suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives at a busy intersection close to the ruling al-Baath Party headquarters in capital Damascus, the state media reported.

The blast rocked a crowded intersection, the state-media and witnesses said.

The state-TV aired footage of the blast site, showing images of destruction and carnage, reported Xinhua.

Charred bodies were also seen scattered on burnt concrete as firefighters and paramedics worked feverishly to help the injured to hospitals.

Kamal Nath to speak on Kurien issue in Rajya Sabha

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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath is likely to make a statement on Friday in the Rajya Sabha on the controversy surrounding PJ Kurien, deputy chairman of the upper house, sources said on Thursday.

According to government sources, Kamal Nath met floor leaders of the upper house and tried to convince the Left parties not to make an issue of the allegations against Kurien.

Kurien’s name has been dragged into the 17-year-old Suryanelli rape case in Kerala and the Left opposition has been demanding a fresh investigation in the case and a debate on the issue in the Upper House.

Ordinance on crime against women comes before Parliament

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The Ordinance bringing stringent amendments to criminal laws to check crime against women was on Thursday laid on the table in the Rajya Sabha.

Government will bring a bill incorporating some more provisions to replace the Ordinance in this session. The bill is before the Union Cabinet.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla laid a copy of the “Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2013” promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 3 before the House.

Suryanelli scandal: SP comes out in defence of embattled Kurien

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Samajwadi Party today came out in defence of embattled Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, saying a two-decade-old case settled by courts cannot be raked up against a person.

“A 17- or 20-year-old case settled by the courts cannot be raked up against a person. Courts have said there is no case against him. He should not step down,” SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav told reporters here.

He said once the courts have settled the matter, it should not be used against a person.

Court dismisses plea to register FIR against Sushilkumar Shinde

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A complaint seeking registration of FIR against Union Home Minister SushilKumar Shinde for his Hindu terror remarks has been dismissed by a Delhi court which said it did not find any merit in it.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Kuldeep Narayan said, “Having heard the submissions and perusing the material available on record, I do not find any merit in the present complaint…

Prez hopes Land Bill will be passed in Budget session

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President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday expressed confidence that Parliament will enact the much- discussed Land Acquisition Bill in this Budget session.

“My government has recently introduced important official amendments to the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. I am confident that the law will be enacted,” he said in his maiden address to the joint sitting of Parliament, heralding the Budget session.

In the Winter session of Parliament, the government had to defer the controversial Bill till the Budget session after bowing to the wishes of Opposition members.

Aishwarya Rai: A lot needs to be done for women’s security

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Former beauty queen and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan feels strongly about safety of women in the country and says a lot needs to be done to make them feel secure.

The 39-year-old actress, also a mother of a one-year-old girl, says she is angry because a lot is being said but very little action is taken to rectify the situation.

“I don’t feel fear, rather there is a lot of anger and I don’t hesitate to say this. Many of us are privileged to have a lot of assurance about our safety but most of the women in our country do not have that.

Organic tomatoes have more vitamin C, sugars than conventionally grown fruit

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Tomatoes grown organically accumulate higher concentrations of vitamin C, lycopene and sugars, compared to those grown with traditional farming and researchers have put it all down to stressful growth conditions.

In their study, Maria Raquel Alcantara Miranda and colleagues from the Federal University of Ceara, Brazil, compared the weights and biochemical properties of tomatoes from organic and conventional farms.

‘Twitter-jacked’: The risk of social media marketing

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Two American companies have been “Twitter-jacked” this week, taken over by hackers posting crass messages to corporate Twitter pages and replacing corporate logos with those of competitors, further illustrating the often daunting tasks companies face as they strive to manage their social media feeds.

“Managing social media accounts is truly a 24X7 job,” said Nicole Siobal, president and co-founder of Social Butterflye, a branding agency that assists startups with creating and managing their digital presence.

Coconut Custard

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Ingredients

¾ cup Sugar
½ cup All-Purpose Flour (Maida)
Salt (to taste)
3 cups Milk
3 Egg Yolks
2 tbsp Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
½ cup Coconut (grated)
2 tbsp Coconut Flakes (for decorating)

How to make Coconut Custard

Take sugar, flour, salt and milk in a saucepan.
Cook it on low a flame for 20 minutes, or until it thickens. Stir the mix continuously.
Mix in egg yolk and cook it for another 5 minutes.
Take the saucepan off the flame.
Add butter, vanilla essence and grated coconut.
Transfer the mixture to serving bowls and refrigerate until it is set.

Synthetic ear that looks real!

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Bio-engineers and physicians have synthesised an artificial ear with the help of 3-D printing and injectable moulds, offering new hope to thousands of children born with microtia.

Many children born with microtia, a congenital deformity that leaves the external ear under developed, do have an intact inner ear, but experience hearing loss due to the missing external structure.

In UK, obesity overtakes two-thirds of male population

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The obesity epidemic in the United Kingdom has overtaken two-thirds of the male population, leaving less than a third in the ideal weight category, considering that there might also be those with less than normal weight, according to a new finding.

Experts sounded a warning that the out-of-control problem has caused tripling in the numbers hospitalised because of obesity.

Data from the National Health Service showed that the proportion of men now considered a healthy weight, with a body mass index of between 18.5 and 25, reduced from 41 percent in 1993 to 34 percent in 2011.

Huge blast rocks Syria’s Damascus, casualties reported

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A big blast rocked a busy intersection in the capital Damascus on Thursday close to the ruling al-Baath party headquarters, leaving unspecified number of casualties, witnesses and reports said.

The blast rocked a busy intersection grouping a mosque and the Baath party headquarters located at the outskirts of the central al-Mazraa district and adjacent to al-Thawra Street, witnesses told Xinhua.

The state media, meanwhile, said the blast targeted a crowded area as the intersection connects several main streets in Damascus, spelling no details about death toll.

Marital problems that lead to divorce revealed

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New York, February 21: A divorce coach has revealed the problems that lead a couple to split.

Micky Wade said that an affair is thought to be the most common insurmountable problem in a marriage, but it is more often a symptom of underlying issues in the relationship, the Huffington Post reported.

The marital problems that lead to divorce are:

President’s speech was ‘glossary of programmes’: BJP

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New Delhi, February 21: The Bharatiya Janata Party Thursday said President Pranab Mukherjee’s speech on the opening day of the budget session of parliament was a mere “glossary” of government programmes, failing to address crucial concerns.

“The president speech cannot be a glossary list of government plans. It neither reflects the state of the country, nor the mood of the nation,” Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

“The biggest surprise is that the one-hour speech contained even the names of government plans, which are not important,” he said.

Blasphemy case registered against Pak’s US envoy Sherry Rehman

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Islamabad, February 21: A blasphemy case has been registered against Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman by Multan police.

According to a report published in the BBC Urdu, the case was registered on a complaint made by Faheem Gill, a citizen of Multan.

In his complaint, Gill has alleged that Rehman had committed blasphemy while speaking during a program aired on a private television channel on Nov 30, 2010, the Dawn reports.

Coop polls unfair, alleges YSRCP

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Coming down heavily on the large scale misuse of official machinery in the Kadapa cooperative elections, YSR Congress has said Congress is using these polls as a testing ground for rigging the future local bodies’ elections.

“With defeat staring at the ruling party, the Government has pressed all its force into service to manipulate the election and when it was clear that YSRC is winning the DCCB Chairman post it has postponed the elections to February 28 which only shows the extent to which Congress can stoop to,” Party MLA Srikanth Reddy told reporters here on Thursday.

Banana Ice Cream Shake

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Ingredients

1 Banana (Peeled & Chopped)
1 cup Milk
2 Egg whites
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 scoops Vanilla ice-cream
How to make Banana Ice Cream Shake

Combine banana, ice-cream, milk, egg white and vanilla extract in a blender.
Blend until smooth and serve after pouring into the glasses.

TPJAC gear up for Sadak Bandh

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Telangana Political Joint Action Committee chairman Prof M Kodandaram appealed to the people to cooperate in conducting the Sadak Bandh (highway blockade) and urged them to keep away from travel on March 24.

Ambulances and Pulse polio vans will be exempted from our dharna, he said adding that they would not give up for coercion and force. In all they will conduct the blockade at 12 places, he said adding that Nagarkurnool MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy will also take part in the agitation. (INN)

Barbecued Thai Chicken Legs

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A delicious thai chicken dish, crisped up on the barbecue.

Ingredients

4 chicken legs, preferably higher welfare
a bunch of fresh coriander
2 sticks of lemon grass
zest and juice of 2 limes
1 green chilli, deseeded
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, peeled

Instructions

Slash the chicken legs all over with a knife.

Pick the coriander leaves and put them to one side. Add the stalks to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and whizz to make a paste.

No mention of T in Prez speech; MPs feeble protest

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Telangana Congress MPs reiterated that they will mount pressure on the high command for expediting the separate statehood issue. They said that Telangana issue is not linked to Gurkhaland.

“We are not under pressure from any quarter and we raised the slogan of Jai Telangana during the President’s address in the Central hall of Parliament. However, there are differences among the Telangana MPs with some of them keeping away from the sloganeering. There was no mention of Telangana in the speech of President Pranab Mukherjee. (INN)