Pakistan, Afghanistan push for reconciliation as ties warm up

ISLAMABAD, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan and Afghanistan have found a new path in their warm up bilateral relations, particularly with the formation of a high level joint peace and reconciliation commission to push the peace process in the war- shattered country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani Saturday agreed to establish the two-tier Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Commission for facilitating and promoting reconciliation and peace.

The first tier of commission will include the chief executives, foreign ministers along with chiefs of the military and intelligence services of the two countries while the second tier will comprise senior officials of foreign ministries, military and intelligence services.

Chairman of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, welcomed the establishment of the Afghanistan- Pakistan Joint Commission for facilitating and promoting reconciliation and peace. Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik and former Afghan President, who had always been critical of Pakistan's role but his visit to Pakistan in January highlighted Pakistan's key role in the Afghan reconciliation process.

The commission reflects a positive change in bilateral relations as now Afghan leadership recognized Islamabad's role in the reconciliation process when the American troops are set to begin withdrawal of its forces in July and Afghan forces will gradually take over the security responsibility, analysts said.

Pakistan's role is considered as a key to Afghan reconciliation as the country still has influence on the Afghan Taliban. Islamabad had announced in February last year that it has reached the Afghan Taliban, the declaration was welcomed by certain quarters as Pakistan is thought to be the only country to convince the Taliban to come to the negotiation table.

Prime Minister Gilani's visit to Afghanistan, the second in four months, was unique as for the first time the top military leadership joined the PM entourage to tell the world community that the political and military leadership are united.

The U.S. and Afghan authorities had been critical of the role of Pakistan on Afghan issues in the past. And they even accused elements in Pakistan's military establishment of supporting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. A White House report accused Pakistan of avoiding "direct conflict" with al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban in North Waziristan tribal region.

Gilani's stand that Islamabad will back the Afghan-led reconciliation process may be welcomed in Afghanistan as Afghans are very sensitive about any foreign intervention in its internal affairs. The announcement may also help in removing the mistrust among the Afghans about Pakistan's policies.

There is another logic behind the fast growing high level interaction between Pakistan and Afghanistan to counter what Islamabad has described as a new "great game" in Afghanistan. Pakistani leaders have not publicly defined the great game but political analysts are of the opinion that it is the U.S. intentions for future to use Afghan soil against Iran and other countries.

The U.S. quest for permanent bases in Afghanistan has also raised many questions as to why Washington is looking for permanent bases if President Obama has announced a phased withdrawal. People in Pakistan and Afghanistan still remember the U.S. regional role in the past that it had turned back to the region after the withdrawal of former Soviet forces in 1989.

The economic aspect of Gilani's day-long visit to Afghanistan was also very important when he gave reference to several important mega projects, including trans-regional projects, such as the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline, building of electricity transmission lines, enhancing physical connectivity by building or upgrading requisite infrastructure, as well as expediting the implementation mechanisms for the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, that need to be fast- tracked.

Source-Xinhua

Gaddafi exit from Libya is a global aim, says Cameron

David Cameron has claimed that "virtually every country around the world" wants Colonel Gaddafi to step down as leader of Libya.

Dismissing suggestions that the anti-Gaddafi coalition had changed its war aims, the prime minister said that when he joined the presidents of the US and France in publishing a joint article saying that Gaddafi would have to go, the three leaders were merely expressing world opinion.

"If you stop and think about it, the idea that at the end of all this somehow you could keep in place Colonel Gaddafi, who is even as we speak right now murdering his own civilians in Misrata – the idea that he's got a part to play in the future of Libya must be wrong," Cameron said.

The publication of the joint article on Friday prompted calls for the recall of parliament, on the grounds that it implied regime change was now the main goal of the coalition. In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Cameron rejected this analysis.

"We can only fulfil what is in the UN security council resolutions, but that doesn't stop us together as we have done, President Obama, President Sarkozy and I – but also virtually every prime minister in every country around the world – saying that Libya should be able to have a free and democratic future determined by themselves; it's hard to believe they'd choose one with Colonel Gaddafi still around," Cameron said.

Cameron said that there was "no question of an invasion or an occupation" under the terms of the UN resolution and that this was making fighting the conflict "more difficult in many ways" for the coalition. But the coalition was supplying the rebels with non-lethal material, such as body armour and communications equipment, he said.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Colonel Gaddafi is still intent on murdering people in Misrata and taking control of that large city and also pushing towards Benghazi, where I'm sure, if he ever got there, there would be a bloodbath," Cameron said.

"We should be taking all the necessary steps to stop that from happening and to save civilian life."

Source-guardian.co.uk

Mubarak still in Sharm El-Sheikh hospital: state media

CAIRO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian former President Hosni Mubarak is still in Sharm El-Sheikh Hospital along with his wife Suzanne, Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted an official source as saying on Sunday.

On the contrary, Egypt's al-Ahram newspaper reported on its website Saturday that Mubarak has been transferred by a military helicopter to the International Medical Center, some 42 km east of the capital Cairo, and he will stay there until the end of his interrogation on charges of corruption and ordering the killing of protestors.

Mubarak was sent to the Sharm El-Sheikh hospital on Tuesday after suffering heart problems while being interrogated by prosecutors.

Egyptian Prosecutor General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud on Wednesday ordered a 15-day detention for Mubarak on charges including the ordering the killing of protesters, embezzlement of public funds and abuse of power.

The prosecutor general issued on Friday a decision to move Mubarak to a military hospital.

Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were sent to the Tora prison in Cairo on Wednesday awaiting investigations.

Source-Xinhua

Japan nuclear emergency at Fukushima to continue for six to nine months

It was the first time that Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) has given a clear timeline for repairing the damage at the plant, and came after repeated complaints at the lack of clear information about the situation.

A phased plan will first target a “cold shutdown” of the plant’s reactor cores, when temperatures are brought down under 100 degrees C.

In the second step, 60,000 tons of radioactive water that currently flood the plant will be “decreased” and decontaminated. Meanwhile the entire building will be covered with a special structure to stop radioactive material escaping.

Finally, the radiation that has spread across the 20km (12 mile) evacuation zone will be reduced and tens of thousands of residents allowed to return. The chairman of Tepco admitted that he did not know when that might happen, but Banri Kaieda, Japan’s trade minister, said some could return home within six to nine months.

"We sincerely apologize for causing troubles," said Tsunehisa Katsumata, Tepco’s chairman. "We are doing our utmost to prevent the crisis from further worsening."

There has been mounting criticism of Tepco and the Japanese government at the lack of transparency over the plant and over the nuclear industry in general.

Tepco has already been repeatedly accused of falsifying safety data even before last month’s earthquake. At the same time, the Japanese government was reported to have withheld data showing that radiation exceeded safe levels more than 18 miles from the plant, beyond the established safety zone.

In Fukushima, locals complained that the government’s decision to suddenly and inexplicably raise the alert level at the plant two notches to seven, the same level of seriousness as the Chernobyl disaster, has created a maelstrom of rumours.

As a result, there have been reports of people from Fukushima being turned away from hotels in other parts of Japan, and of the total collapse of the region’s farming industry. “The rumours are so harmful that it is not just farming and fishing that has been affected, some people are saying that even machines are contaminated!” said Shimoyamada Matsuto, a spokesman for Iwaki city’s disaster management team.

“The radiation problem is not as serious as the spread of fear,” said Midori Aoki, a 21-year-old student from Iwaki, which lies 30 miles from the nuclear plant. “People do not know what to believe and what to trust,” she added.

About 630,000 terabecquerels of radiation are estimated to have been leaked at the plant. More than five million terabecquerels were released by Chernobyl.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of State, arrived in Tokyo on Sunday on a trip designed to show solidarity with the US’ most important ally in Asia. “We pledge our steadfast support for you and your future recovery. We are very confident that Japan will demonstrate the resilience that we have seen during this crisis in the months ahead,” she said, after meeting Takeaki Matsumoto, the Foreign minister.

Source-telegraph.co.uk

IRB Infra wins road project worth Rs 3,600 cr

IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd said on Saturday it had secured a road project worth Rs 3,600 crore (USD 813 million) which would be built in three years under the terms of the contract in Gujarat.

With the new project, the company's order book has now risen to Rs 12,000 crore, its Chairman Virendra D Mhaiskar said in a statement.

The construction and engineering firm is the first to bag the ultra mega project from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI).

In a filing with the BSE, the company said that it was the preferred bidder for the six-laning of the Ahmedabad to Vadodara section of National Highway-8 on Design Build Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) Toll basis.

IRB Infrastructure Developers also said the project involves building over 102 km of the highway and improving another over 93 km stretch of the existing Ahmedabad Vadodara Expressway under Phase-V.

IRB would get tolling rights on Ahmedabad Vadodara expressway from the appointed date and has a concession period of 25 years. The premium offered to NHAI in the first year is Rs 309.60 crore which will increase by 5% YoY, it added.

Source-moneycontrol.com

Tatas aims Rs 1.2 lakh cr investment in 5 yrs; $150bn rev

Business house Tata Group is looking at pumping in money into the domestic market by investing up to Rs 1.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years reports IBNLive.com. The major Tata group entities include Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Global Beverages, Indian Hotels and Tata Communications.

"We have become a significant player globally in each of the sectors that we are present in. In the next 5 years, the pace of growth of the group will continue," said Tata Industries managing director Kishor A Chaukar.
The group which has over 90 companies is planning investments in sectors ranging from power to steel and automobiles.

"Rs 12,000 crore will be invested by Tata Motors and Rs 8,000 crore-Rs 10,000 crore will be in the telecommunications division," he added.

Chaukar said the Mumbai-based conglomerate has already invested about Rs 70,000 crore in the last three years and Rs 1.2 lakh crore would be in addition to this.

The group has expanded to nearly USD 68 billion from about USD 8 billion 10 years ago and it will maintain such growth, he said. “The funding for this investment initiative will be through a mix of internal accruals and debt.”

"We are generating a considerable amount of internal accruals and at the same time also reducing current debt, which will enable us to raise debt. For this investment, the debt and equity ratio will be around 2:1," Chaukar said.

Asked whether Tata Group is looking for further acquisition, Chaukar said as and when opportunities arise, they would look at it. The group has operations in over 80 countries across six continents and its companies export products and services to 85 countries.

The group, which employs around 3.95 lakh people across the world, is present in seven sectors -- communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals.

Source-moneycontrol.com

SIT, experts reconstruct Ishrat Jahan encounter

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the 2004 police encounter of Ishrat Jahan and three others, along with other experts, today reconstructed the incident at the original site near Kotarpur area here.

A team comprising over a dozen personnel from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), forensic science experts, along with the Gujarat high court appointed SIT chairman Karnal Singh, and its members Mohan Jha and Satish Verma visited the site near the Sardar Patel International Airport.

The team began by studying the site and reconstructing the series of events that took place during the encounter as described in the FIR filed in 2004 by the city crime branch officials.

It also examined the place where weapons were found, and where the car carrying Jahan and others was, when bullets were fired at it.

Two of the police officers involved in the over six-year old encounter -- Girish Singhal (presently posted as SP, state ATS) and Tarun Barot (currently heading the city's special operations group) were also present to assist the team.

Jahan and three others Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai, Amjad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar — were killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on June 15, 2004.

After the encounter, city crime branch had claimed that the deceased were Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists who had come to kill Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

Source-dnaindia.com

Farmers will not allow their land to be returned to zamindars: Buddhadeb

KOLKATA: Questioning the call for ‘change' by the Trinamool Congress, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Thursday if this meant the return of the land distributed to the poor farmers by the Left Front government over the past years to the zamindars and jotedars, farmers across the State would never allow it.

“The farmers will never let go off the land they have been given, however loud the call for change. If the Left Front is stopped from returning to power, the farmers will be in peril; this they will never allow to happen,” he said at an election rally at Haroa in North 24 Parganas district.

“Since the Left Front had come to power, 84 per cent of farmland across the State has been distributed to the poor farmers. This has led to significant successes in agricultural productivity. Had it not been for the Left Front this would not have been so but we need to take the process further ahead. Nearly 20,000 acres of land have been distributed to poor farmers in the last five years. The struggle for land is not over,” the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Bhattacharjee also cautioned on efforts by the Trinamool to create violence across the State — “from the Darjeeling hills to the Jangal Mahal region where they have joined hands with the Maoists”.

“If you return the Left Front to power I give you my word: we will come down firmly against all sorts of violence and unrest that is being incited. This will all have to stop and peace will have to be restored across the State or else West Bengal will be headed for disaster,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

“We have gained in experience by being in government these past years. We have got an understanding of the needs of the people. The people are unable to cope with the rise in prices of essential items. So the next Left Front government will have its sights set on strengthening the rationing system. We have so far been providing rise at Rs. 2 a kg to nearly 2.60 crore people. Now we will be looking at raising this figure to close to 4 crore,” he said.

Jobs to youth

“Another area of focus will be providing jobs to the youth of the State,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said.

“The youth, passing out in lakhs from schools and colleges, are looking at us for jobs. If we cannot set up new factories — we will not be able to create new job opportunities. Thus the need for more industries — small, medium and big,” the Chief Minister added.

Source-www.hindu.com

People responded because they are fed up with corruption: Anna Hazare

He's a great votary of transparency and delegation, and Anna Hazare practised what he preaches when Team TOI sat down for an extended Q&A session with him. He answered most queries put to him, referred several to fellow-activist Arvind Kejriwal , and said his younger colleague was fully empowered to speak on his behalf. Excerpts:

When you started your hunger strike, did you think you would get the response you did?

I have often gone on fast in the last 20-25 years. I have agitated about issues in Maharashtra . This time, I was persuaded to come to Delhi . When I reached the airport and saw people and 60-70 cars, I was taken aback. There was a big crowd at Gandhi samadhi and daily, 10,000-12 ,000 people came to the site of the fast. I did not know how so many people came, I still wonder. I feel people responded the way they did because corruption is making their lives difficult. Wherever you go, people are fed up. Even children said 'Mein bhi Anna (I am Anna too)'. I believe god points to someone to stand up when there is a need to. The Bhagwad Gita says this. I stood up.


The Chief Justice of India said there should be judicial accountability. But who will this rest with?

Kejriwal : Judicial accountability is different from criminal conduct. Lokpal will not deal with accountability. There will be a citizen's charter of rights. If there is a complaint, it will go to a public grievance officer. Every department should have a GPO, just as it now has a person responsible for the Right to Information. If the GPO fails, it will go to a vigilance officer in the same department, who will be acountable to the lokpal. Then it will be deemed to have a vigilance angle. Kapil Sibal now says the draft 'you have put seems to be comfortable' .


One person you keep pointing to is Sharad Pawar.

I have nothing personal against Pawar. Mein pravitri ke taraf dekhta hoon (I look at the behaviour). Nothing personal, no agenda. A government in Maharashtra had to go because of my campaign.

Certain charges have been levelled against Shanti Bhushan, about undervaluing of a house worth Rs 20 crore. If there is any thing wrong it must be investigated . Nothing wrong in that.

Kejriwal : In 1966, they had an agreement to sell but the landlord went back on his word. They (Bhushans) won the case last year. The court has said the house should be given to them for Rs 1 lakh. If the court is saying 'take the house for Rs 1 lakh' , should Shanti Bhushan have said 'no, please take Rs 20 crore from me' ? In any case, Anna is in the lokpal committee because he is a great role model, Shanti Bhushanji is in the committee because he is a great lawyer.


Do you really think an empowered lokpal will end corruption?

No, but it will certainly put the brakes on corruption to a great extent.


But doesn't India already have adequate laws to deal with corruption?

Kejriwal: This myth has gained credence that India has good laws that are poorly implemented. The fact is that the laws have deliberately been drafted badly to ensure the powerful aren't touched. Today, if the CBI wants to file a case against top politicians, it has to first seek their permission to do so, then seek their permission to prosecute them. If you are a thief, are you going to grant permission?


You claim to represent the people. But every MP is elected by lakhs of voters. So how can you say they don't represent the people's wishes?

Kejriwal : If the fast was unconstitutional , then why did the government yield and become party to it? Many people are on fast even today at Jantar Mantar over other issues. Why has no one listened to them? If the fast was only about Anna, he could have been force-fed and the matter would have ended. It couldn't be done because it was a widespread people's movement.


Why don't you fight elections yourself?

If I do so, I will lose my deposit. Because today's politics is completely driven by money and I don't have any. People try to make a lot of money because they have already spent so much to get there. That's why decentralization and transparency are so necessary.


Kaushik Basu , chief economic adviser to the finance ministry, recently wrote that as corruption can't be eradicated , it might as well be legalized.

Once the lokpal bill is passed, he will find there is no need to do so.


Who's the most honest man you've seen in your life?

If I apply the same yardstick that I do to myself - of an absolutely spotless record after years of public service - then it's hard to come across anyone who qualifies.


And the most corrupt?

I don't know of so many people's corruption. So how can I rank?

Source-indiatimes.com

Angry Akon fans ransack Pune hotel

Pune: Angry fans of Akon ransacked West Inn hotel in Pune on Friday after the Hollywood singer refused to perform there.

Akon came to the hotel, cut a cake to celebrate his birthday, and walked out shortly after that. The fans were promised that Akon would sing.

According to some reports, Akon was not given permission to perform as the local organisers did not have the necessary foreign artiste performance licence.

They had been charged Rs. 2500 per ticket to see Akon perform. People are now demanding a refund.

Source-www.ndtv.com

My strip idea worked well--Poonam Pandey

Her one statement for the Indian cricket team made her an overnight star and soon, she became one of the most searched and downloaded celebrities online.

Kingfisher model Poonam Pandey had proclaimed to go dare-bare to boost the morale of the Indian cricket team, if India wins the WC.

In a recent conversation with IANS, Poonam Pandey shared about her strip idea experience and how did it help her to grab the headlines.

“I did many things like opening the fan page on Facebook where I did an exclusive photo shoot. But I was not satisfied, so I came up with this idea, which worked well. It was my own decision and I was awake and fully aware of what I was saying,” said the model.

Though she was finding the whole situation funny, she was bewildered when people started making issues out of it.

“I took it as fun, but people made an issue out of that because I was an Indian girl and not allowed to do such things,” she added.

BCCI denied Poonam's request
In a letter to the BCCI, Poonam Pandey had requested the BCCI to give her permission to go full monty for the Indian cricket team in the team's dressing room in private.

She planned to do this to motivate the team for better performances in future. However, the BCCI dodged Poonam's appeal and now, Poonam has decided not to request BCCI anymore.

“I want the media to support me and convey my message to the members as there is no point in asking same thing again and again,” said the 20-year-old lasso.

It was a good experience--Poonam Pandey
The hunt for Poonam Pandey began after India won the WC. The social networking sites were flooded with a single question, "Where is Poonam Pandey?" None of them was aware about the reason for her being grounded.

Surprisingly, Poonam revealed that she had received many threat calls for her dare-bare idea.

“There were many problems which nobody can even think of. I avoided going to public places. I faced issues like court cases, arrest warrants and calls from the moral police. But, anyway, it was a good experience,” claimed the lasso.

Poonam to feature in 'Khatron Ke Khiladi 4'
Though Poonam did not accept that her strip idea was a publicity gimmick, she has very well succeeded in making an imprint on the small screen.

The model will soon be seen featuring in the adventurous reality show 'Khatron Ke Khiladi Season 4', to be hosted by the B-town Khiladi Akshay Kumar.

“I have seen the previous season of the show. It's something very different and adventurous and that will not be a problem for me as I was into sports during school days. It will be fun facing my fear,” said Poonam.

Poonam is one of the 12 contestants on the show with a prize money of Rs. 50 lakh.

“This season, the production has added the word 'Torchaar' which speaks many things, so I am looking forward to go on the ride with Bollywood Khiladi Akshay Kumar,” added the lasso.

Poonam receives offers from Bollywood
Well, with all credits to her bold statements, the lasso has been flooded with numerous movie and item number offers in Bollywood.

Revealing about her entry in Bollywood, Poonam said, “Of course, everyone targets Bollywood. I got movie offers and item numbers but I will not disclose it at the moment because I have not given any commitment to anybody.”

Though she has denied to strip in Bollywood, you never know she might have some surprises in store for you.

Miss India beauties have set their sights high

Mumbai, Apr 17 (PTI) Winners of Miss India pageant, held in Mumbai last week, say that they are feeling on the top of the world, but are not willing to rest on the

laurels. Ankita Shorey, the Miss India International, told PTI that her parents always treated her like a princess. "I am feeling that I have become a princess of the world now! But, I am aware that beauty and intelligence go hand in hand.Communication skills are very important," said the 24 years old Delhi girl, who has made Mumbai her home for the last two years. She said Miss International pageant is slated to be held in September - October this year and after a short vacation with parents back home, she will return to start training on building her confidence levels. "Bringing the crown home and making the country proud is my first priority after which I plan to look for opportunities in films," she said. Ankita said Bollywood had been her first love. "I have never dreamt of anything else." After graduating from Jesus and Mary college in Delhi in 2007, she has modelled with Shah Rukh Khan for Emami and with Ranbir Kapoor for Virgin Mobiles. Hasleen Kaur, the 22-year-old Delhi girl who won the Miss India Earth title, said going through the process of Miss India contest had been an evolution and transformation for her. "It has helped me improve my confidence, poise and grace" she added. .

Source-PTI

AB Junior not insecured over DMD’s promotional music

Mumbai: Abhishek Bachchan defends Deepika Padukone`s item number against all the critics who are scrutinizing the sizzling hot number from the film.

Recently there have been rumour that Abhishek Bachchan was insecure about Deepika Padukone`s item number in Dum Maaro Dum and that he was convincing director Rohan Sippy to have promotional music video centered around his character of ACP Kamat in the film.

However Abhishek Bachchan has come forward and cleared the air he is rather going gaga over Deepika Padukone`s item song.

AB says to a tabloid, "We have 1.20 billion people all can`t like the song. But the fact is it`s topping all radio charts and playing everywhere including night clubs, which means the youth have connected and loved the track. It`s doing extremely well and I am very happy with the response that Deepika`s number has got".

Source-Spicezee Bureau

IPL-4: Our confidence is back: Sanga

Deccan Chargers captain Kumar Sangakkara on Friday praised the team effort after winning a match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad. Sangakkara said it was a relief as the team won the match on the home ground in the ongoing Indian Premier League. The Sri Lankan captain also said his national teammates in the IPL would have to abide by the decision taken by their Cricket Board regarding returning home midway into the Twenty20 league for a tour of England.

Source-www.indianexpress.com

Arunima shifted to Lucknow hospital

Arunima alias Sonu Sinha, the sportswoman, who lost her leg after being pushed from a moving train, was on shifted to a Lucknow hospital for further treatment, a senior health department officer said here.

“Sonu has been shifted to Chattrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University this morning for an artificial limb as the facility is not available here and higher treatment,” Chief Medical Superintendent of district hospital Vijay Yadav said.

Ms. Sinha was undergoing treatment at Bareilly district hospital from April 12 and her condition is stable, he said.

Ms. Sinha, a national-level volleyball player of Uttar Pradesh, was pushed out of the Padmavat Express in Bareilly on April 11 night by three men trying to snatch her gold chain.

The 23-year-old athlete lost her left leg in the incident.

The incident took place between Chenati and Bareilly railway stations when Arunima was travelling to Gautam Buddha Nagar to appear in a CISF recruitment examination.

The police had lodged an FIR under section 307 (attempt to murder) and 393 (attempt to loot) against unidentified youths in this connection.

Source-www.thehindu.com

After heart attack, some exercise helps

Early and prolonged exercise and not rest seems to be the best option after a heart attack.

A new study shows that the heart tends to become better with exercise sooner and with continued exercise over a longer period of time.

"While it has been shown that exercise has a favourable effect on heart function, it's also important to dispel the idea that what the heart needs is rest," said Mark Haykowsky, study co-author and researcher in rehabilitation medicine at the University of Alberta.

Study co-author Alex Clark, a researcher at Alberta, said, "In the past, patients in Canada and the US have been told to wait for a month before beginning their exercise treatment and this treatment typically only goes on for about three months."

Patients who began their exercise program one week after getting a heart attack were found to have the best heart performance, the journal Trials reports.

For those who waited to start their exercise rehabilitation programme, the results showed that "for every week that a patient delayed his or her exercise treatment, he or she had to train for the equivalent of one month longer to get similar benefits", said Clark, according to an Alberta statement.

"Our findings suggest that at least six months of exercise is the most beneficial," he added.

Source-articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Women suffer from mid-life 'mirror crisis'

LONDON: A new survey has revealed that middle-aged women are four times more unhappy than teenage girls with what they see in the mirror.

The study, which was carried out online by Opinion Matters in January 2011 of 1,246 women, discovered that over 90% of women aged in their 40s and 50s are so unhappy with the way they look that they suffer from what experts have dubbed "mid-life mirror angst syndrome". Just nine percent of women over 50 felt proud of what they see in the mirror, over four times more than the 42 per cent of 16-19-year-olds who are happy with what they see and the 43% of twenty-somethings.

Changes wrought by age, combined with a youth-obsessed fashion industry, led to a dramatic drop in body confidence for women the older they get — resulting in Midlife Mirror Angst Syndrome.

"Fashion is aimed at a youthful figure — and the more mature woman can all too often find that she isn't catered for. Psychologically, the effect is dramatic and demoralising," the Daily Mail quoted adult behaviour psychologist Susan Quilliam as saying.

"She feels sidelined, even alienated, by the fact that her appearance does not fit the youthful norm. The result can be depression," said Quilliam.

Source-articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

'We are not starving, we just eat healthy'

MUMBAI: Over the past 24 hours, a trio of happy-go-lucky 22-year-olds has been fielding questions ranging from euthanasia to homophobia. To their credit, the three winners of the Pantaloons Femina Miss India (PFMI) 2011 pageant have held their poise.

At a formal introduction ceremony held at a suburban hotel on Friday, PFMI World Kanishtha Dhankhar, PFMI Earth Hasleen Kaur and PFMI International Ankita Shorey patiently answered every question. The girls effortlessly switched from topics as varied as their favourite recipes to the merits and demerits of mercy killing.

There were no surprises when the three said that Thursday was the most memorable day of their lives. "Baisakhi proved lucky for me" said Delhi Sikhni Hasleen. Incidentally, Kanishtha means 'the younger one' or 'junior', but this second sibling beat 19 other finalists to come out tops. The rest follows from there.

"By coincidence, all three of us hail from a defence background and have been bonding over this common factor," said Kanishtha, a resident of Navy Nagar who studied at HR College. All are professional models and disapprove of live-in relationships.

The girls laughed at envious comments about their appearance. Ankita, Hasleen and Kanishtha weigh merely 50-55 kgs and have a 25-inch waist that would make a thimble blush. Clearly the regimen of the past 30 days has worked magic even though it may have set impossibly high standards for other aspirants. "Well, we haven't been starving," laughed Ankita. "All we had to do was eat healthy," Hasleen added. Kanishtha is an athlete who loves simple homemade food so weight was never an issue to contend with.

Each time the question of film career came up, the threesome firmly pointed to the international pageants as their first goal.

Source-timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Poonam Pandey says no to stripping onscreen

Poonam Pandey, who grabbed headlines with her promise to go nude to celebrate team India's World Cup win, has been flooded with offers from Bollywood but the swim suit model says she will not strip onscreen.

The model attracted criticism with her offer, which she claims was declined by BCCI.But it has helped her land a spot on stunt reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi on Colors.

The model says she has been offered film roles and item songs in Bollywood but does not believe that her bold image will have a negative impact on her acting dreams.

"I don't think that my bold image will hamper my career. My decision to go naked was for my nation and not a cheap publicity stunt. That does not mean that I will strip in Bollywood. I want to act just like any other actress," Poonam told PTI.

The 19-year-old claims that despite some brickbats, many people came out to support her decision.

"After I said that I will strip, there were a lot of people who supported and understood my sentiments. I don't understand why few people had to behave like the way they did and create an issue out of nothing," she said.

Poonam, who faced the camera for the first time during Gladrags and went on to become a Kingfisher model, says she is keen on working in films and wants to become a successful actor.

For now, Poonam wants to focus on Khatron Ke Khiladi 4, hosted by Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar. The show will be shot in Cape Town, South Africa.

"I am preparing myself for the show, I practice underwater swimming. It is very different from other reality shows. They are just fake," she said.

Poonam is also looking forward to meet Akshay, who has been her favourite since childhood.

"I have been watching his films since childhood. He is a great actor. I am looking forward to meet him," she added.

Source-www.hindustantimes.com

Samsung Galaxy Prevail review: Surprisingly elegant

Take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Prevail and you may agree, it's one classy-looking smartphone. A silky-smooth 3.5-inch touch screen is rimmed with metallic gray, and the phone's sides and back are robed in soft-touch material.

However, this is no premium Android phone, and that's OK. The handset runs a respectable Android 2.2 Froyo operating system (sans TouchWiz), has a regular HVGA display (versus the Super AMOLED screen of other Galaxy phone,) and sports only a 2-megapixel camera and camcorder without a flash.

For the most part these specs are perfectly fine, but they're not high-end components. On the other hand, the more modest attributes help keep the Prevail's price tag under $200 without a contractual obligation.


In the end, it's a comely handset for a fair price, and hands-down Boost Mobile's most exciting phone.

That isn't the end of it, of course. There are more pros, one notable con, and plenty of photos inside the full review,

Source-reviews.cnet.com

A BlackBerry Tablet, but Where Are the Apps?

Listen, I’ll be straight with you. I realize that tablets are crazy hot right now, that 2011 is the Year of the iPad Clone and that every company and its brother is rushing one to market. But I’m sorry. I’m not going to review every one of the 85 tablets that will arrive this year; it’s only April, and I’ve already got Tablet Fatigue. I’m not going to review the Electrolux tablet, the Polaroid tablet, the Sunoco tablet, the Kellogg’s tablet. ...

Source- www.nytimes.com


The BlackBerry tablet, though, seems worth a look. The tech world’s been hyperventilating over this thing. It’s called the PlayBook, and it’s a seven-inch touch-screen tablet ($500, $600, and $700 for the 16-, 32- and 64-gigabyte models).

The iPad, of course, is a 10-incher, but seven has its virtues. It’s much easier to hold with one hand, for example. In principle, you ought to be able to slip the PlayBook into the breast pocket of a jacket — but incredibly, the PlayBook is about half an inch too wide. Whoever muffed that design spec should be barred from the launch party.

Still, the PlayBook looks and feels great: hard rubberized back, brilliant, super-responsive multitouch screen, solid heft (0.9 pounds).

Its software is based on an operating system called QNX, which Research In Motion, the BlackBerry’s maker, bought for its industrial stability. (“It runs nuclear power plants,” says a product manager without a trace of current-events irony.)

Nor is QNX the only other company that lent a hand. Palm and Apple were also involved, although they didn’t know it. The PlayBook software is crawling with borrowed ideas.

For example, to remove or rearrange apps, you hold your finger down on one app icon until all icons begin to pulse (hello, iPad!). And to close a program, you swipe your finger upward from the bottom bezel to turn all app windows into “cards,” and then flick one upward off the screen (hello, Palm Pre!).

There are no buttons on the front at all, and the top edge has only On, Play/Pause and volume keys. Instead, you navigate by swiping your finger from the black border, which seems unduly wide, into the screen itself.

Swiping upward reveals your app icons (and turns your apps into “cards”). Swiping left or right cycles among open multitasking apps. And swiping down reveals an app’s toolbar, if it has one.

Unfortunately, there’s no way of knowing beforehand if a toolbar exists, so you often swipe futilely and feel silly. Similarly, if app icons completely fill the home screen, you can swipe upward to reveal more — but you won’t know if there are more until you swipe, because no scrollbar appears beforehand to let you know there’s more below the screen.

With a special HDMI cable (not included), you can hook it up to a TV or projector, which is great for PowerPoint presentations. (Apparently they still do those in corporations.)

The PlayBook can show two different things. On the TV, the audience sees your slides; on the PlayBook, you get to see the traditional PowerPoint cheat sheet of notes and slide thumbnails.

The PlayBook does two impressive things that its rivals — the iPad and the Android tablets — can only dream about.

The first cool feature has to do with loading the tablet with your music, photos and music. Unfortunately, there’s no iTunes-like software to do this automatically. You have to drag files manually from your computer into the PlayBook’s folders (Music, Photos and so on). But once you’ve set up this process using a USB cable, you can do it thereafter over Wi-Fi — wirelessly. The PlayBook can even accept such wireless transfers when it’s in sleep mode, sitting in your purse or briefcase across the room.

Second, there’s a wild, wireless Bluetooth connection feature called BlackBerry Bridge. In this setup, the PlayBook acts as a giant viewing window onto the contents of a BlackBerry phone. Whatever e-mail, calendar, address book and instant messages are on the BlackBerry now show up on the PlayBook’s much roomier screen — a live, encrypted two-way link.

(Another advantage of pairing the PlayBook with a BlackBerry: The tablet can get online using the BlackBerry’s cellular connection. You don’t have to pay another $15 or $20 a month for a tethering plan, as you do with iPhones and Android phones.)

BlackBerry Bridge is supposed to appeal to the corporate network administrators who are R.I.M.’s bread and butter, because they can deploy PlayBooks without having to worry about security breaches. Everything they’ve worked so hard to secure on your BlackBerry — e-mail, calendar and so on — stays there. It only appears to be on the PlayBook.
But — are you sitting down? — at the moment, BlackBerry Bridge is the only way to do e-mail, calendar, address book and BlackBerry Messenger on the PlayBook. The PlayBook does not have e-mail, calendar or address book apps of its own. You read that right. R.I.M. has just shipped a BlackBerry product that cannot do e-mail. It must be skating season in hell. (R.I.M. says that those missing apps will come this summer.)

What you do get are built-in versions of Documents to Go, for creating and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. And you get a nice Web browser that plays Flash videos online, which the iPad still can’t do. The PlayBook’s front and back cameras (3 and 5 megapixels) can record stabilized stills and high-definition video.

Unfortunately, there’s no video chatting app, as with Android tablets and the iPad. Similarly, the tablet has GPS, but without turn-by-turn navigation software, it’s not good for much other than the built-in Bing Maps app.

And that’s just the beginning. For now, the PlayBook’s motto might be, “There’s no app for that.”

No existing apps run on this all-new operating system, not even BlackBerry phone apps. (R.I.M. says an emulator that will run BlackBerry apps will come later this year.)

So the company has decided to start from scratch with an all-new app store for the PlayBook. The company says that it has 3,000 submissions already, in part because it offered a free PlayBook to anyone who’d write an app. But they won’t be revealed until next week. (Reviewers were shown only a skeletal store with a few dozen lame apps in it.)

You should also be aware that this PlayBook is Wi-Fi only. You don’t have the option to get online via a cellular network, as you can with the rivals from Apple, Motorola and Samsung. (R.I.M. says that 4G versions of the PlayBook will arrive by the end of 2011.)

The PlayBook, then, is convenient, fast and coherently designed. But in its current half-baked form, it seems almost silly to try to assess it, let alone buy it.

Remember, the primary competition is an iPad — the same price, but much thinner, much bigger screen and a library of 300,000 apps. In that light, does it make sense to buy a fledgling tablet with no built-in e-mail or calendar, no cellular connection, no videochat, Skype, no Notes app, no GPS app, no videochat, no Pandora radio and no Angry Birds?

You should also know that even now, only days before the PlayBook goes on sale April 19, the software is buggy and still undergoing feverish daily revision. And the all-important BlackBerry Bridge feature is still in beta testing. It’s missing important features, like the ability to view e-mail file attachments or click a link in an e-mail.

If all of this gets fixed, the apps arrive, and the PlayBook can survive this year’s onslaught of rival tablets, then it may one day wind up in the pantheon of greats. For now, there are too many features that live only in R.I.M.’s playbook — and not enough in its PlayBook

Obama Touts Deficit Plan

WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address Saturday to the nation to tout his plan to slash the deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years, saying his approach is balanced while a proposal from House Republicans would cut education and imperil U.S. competitiveness.

"While I think their goal is worthy, I believe their vision is wrong for America," Mr. Obama said of the plan from House Republicans, which would also cut about $4 trillion from the deficit. One of Mr. Obama's main criticisms of the Republican plan is that it would continue tax breaks for "every millionaire and billionaire in the country."

The president released his own proposal earlier in the week in a combative speech that rankled many in the Republican party just a week after the two sides had found enough common ground to slash nearly $40 billion from the current budget that funds the government.

Mr. Obama's own plan to slash the deficit relies on a mix of cuts to programs such as Medicare and the military, as well as a rise in taxes on the wealthy. The House plan would also make cuts and changes to federal programs including Medicare, but doesn't include raising taxes on the wealthy.

The Republican plan, Mr. Obama said, includes stiff cuts to health programs that would leave "millions of seniors, poor children, and Americans with disabilities without the care they need." He made similar remarks in his speech earlier in the week.

It was that sort of rhetoric that irritated Republicans and left them saying such partisan broadsides would make it harder for both sides to find common ground.

Sen. Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma, used the GOP's weekly radio address to directly counter some of Mr. Obama's comments. President Obama's plan, Coburn said, would "strengthen a board of unaccountable medical czars and give them more power to impose price controls and ration care."

Mr. Obama's proposal includes strengthening the Independent Payment Advisory Board to give it more power to reduce payments to providers if Medicare costs rise.

Mr. Coburn also criticized Mr. Obama's call for reforming the individual tax code, saying he botched any hope for meaningful reform by calling for tax increases for the wealthy.

While the two sides don't agree, Mr. Coburn said the American people should be encouraged. "You have fundamentally changed the debate in Washington," he said, adding that the debate is now focused on how to cut spending rather than increase it. "That is a monumental shift for Washington," he said.

source-online.wsj.com

Inflation battle not over

With China's economy growing by almost double digits in the first quarter of the year, the country seems well set to cross its 8 percent growth target for 2011. This is certainly welcome news for the world economy that has come to depend on the robust growth of major emerging and developing economies to sustain its recovery.

But for Chinese policymakers busy with fighting inflation, the country's turbo-charged first-quarter economic growth is not exciting news. Latest data show that China's GDP increased by 9.7 percent in the first quarter and inflation jumped to a 32-month high of 5.4 percent in March.

For the rest of the world, however, China's strong first-quarter growth should be cause for joy because it not only provides a key source of growth while industrialized economies may only register marginal growth, but also pushes China's rebalancing act forward.

The January-March trade deficit of $1.02 billion, the first quarterly deficit in six years, indicates that China has reduced its reliance on exports to maintain a sound growth momentum.

It is widely believed that China's success in boosting domestic consumption will be crucial to its sustainable growth as well as to placing the global economy on a more stable footing. And that seems to be happening, because consumption contributed 5.9 percentage points to the first-quarter growth, while investment added 4.3 percentage points.

Yet faster-than-expected domestic growth is adding to policymakers' difficulty of taming inflation, which has been driven by food and commodity prices to rise above the government's target of 4 percent for the third straight month.

The authorities have tightened the monetary policy considerably to control price rise. To mop up the excessive liquidity that has been fueling inflation, the People's Bank of China, the central bank, raised the interest rate on April 5, the second time this year, after having increased the reserve requirement ratio for commercial banks nine times since the beginning of last year.

Inflation rose in March more because of a lower base of comparison and less because of higher global oil prices, which increased China's import bill and inflated consumption in price terms.

Therefore, it is necessary to carefully gauge the "lagging effects" of the adopted tightening monetary policy to prevent the economy from being harmed.

If, as expected, inflation begins to level off in the coming months, the central bank may have to pause, if not end, its tightening mechanism. According to the month-on-month data, released by the National Bureau of Statistics for the first time, consumer prices slid 0.2 percent from February to March.

Nevertheless, it looks more than likely that the uncertainties plaguing the global economy and accelerating income growth in China will increase inflationary pressure, something that policymakers are yet to cope with.

So it is still too early to breathe a sigh of relief in the battle against inflation.

Source-news.xinhuanet.com

Libya conflict: Nato summit fails to secure new planes

A Nato meeting of foreign ministers on Libya has ended without a commitment from allies to send more strike planes.

Neither the US nor Italy have indicated they will respond to calls to join ground attacks.

Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the threat to Libyan civilians would not disappear while Col Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.

Reports suggest pro-Gaddafi forces have been using cluster bombs against the rebel-held city of Misrata.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said its officials had seen the internationally banned munitions - which are dangerous to civilians because they scatter small bomblets over a wide area - fired in residential areas of the western city.

A Libyan government spokesman denied the reports.

United front

Nato pilots are enforcing the current UN resolution to establish a no-fly zone and to protect civilians in Libya, which has effectively been split between forces for and against Col Gaddafi since a revolt against his rule began in mid-February.

The current UN resolution makes no mention of regime change, but an open letter by the US, UK and French leaders on Friday said there could be no peace while Col Gaddafi was in power.

At the Berlin conference, Mr Fogh Rasmussen said there were indications that allies would provide extra strike aircraft needed for the operation in Libya.

"We have got indications that nations will deliver what is needed... I'm hopeful that we will get the necessary assets in the very near future," he said.

But although US President Barack Obama said the US and Nato had averted "wholesale slaughter" with their campaign, he added that despite a military stalemate in Libya, there was no need for greater US participation in enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly zone.

Italy - which is thought to have been identified as a key potential contributor - also seemed to rule out ordering its aircraft to open fire.

Rome has made air bases available for Nato forces, but the eight aircraft it has supplied to the effort are only being used for reconnaissance and monitoring.

"The current line being followed by Italy is the right one and we are not thinking about changing our contribution to the military operations in Libya," Reuters reported Italian Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa as telling reporters in Rome.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested Nato was exceeding its UN mandate, and called for an immediate shift in its policy.

"We believe it is important to urgently transfer things into the political course and proceed with a political and diplomatic settlement," he told a Berlin press conference.

Only a few of Nato's 28 members - including France, the UK, Canada, Belgium, Norway and Denmark - are conducting air strikes.

In their open letter published earlier on Friday, Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy said Nato must maintain military operations to protect civilians and maintain pressure on Col Gaddafi.

To allow him to remain in power would "betray" the Libyan people.
Inside the crowded Misrata hospital

The letter from the three leaders, published in the UK's Times newspaper as well as the International Herald Tribune and France's Le Figaro, was an attempt to show a united front against Col Gaddafi.

In an interview later with Associated Press, the US president said Col Gaddafi was "getting squeezed in all different kinds of ways", and was running out of money and supplies.

But French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet suggested a new UN Security Council resolution would be needed for Nato allies to achieve their goals in Libya.

Speaking on French radio, Mr Longuet conceded that ousting Col Gaddafi would be "certainly" beyond the scope of the existing UN Security Council Resolution 1973 on Libya, and could require a new council vote.

"Beyond resolution 1973, certainly it didn't mention the future of Gaddafi but I think that three major countries saying the same thing is important to the United Nations and perhaps one day the Security Council will adopt a resolution."

Rebels holding out

While politicians debated the way forward, fighting on the ground and Nato bombing missions have continued.

Libyan state TV reported Nato air strikes had hit the cities of Sirte - Col Gaddafi's birthplace - and Aziziya, south of the capital Tripoli.

There were also reports of rocket strikes by pro-Gaddafi forces on the western rebel-held city of Misrata, as well as cluster bomb attacks on the city.

Steve Goose, HRW's arms division director, said it was appalling that Libya was using the munitions in residential areas.

The bombs, which have been banned under the terms of an international convention since last August, generally leave large numbers of unexploded submunitions on the ground, where they continue to pose a risk to civilians, especially children.

HRW researchers said they had retrieved fragments of a Spanish-made 120mm-mortar projectile, which opens in mid-air and releases releases 21 submunitions over a wide area.

Spanish officials have yet to comment on these reports. Spain ratified the convention against cluster munitions two years ago, but the fragments found in Misrata were apparently produced in 2007.

Rebels in Misrata have been holding out against attacks for two months, but UK Foreign Secretary William Hague stressed that Nato needed to act swiftly to prevent a "massacre" in the city.

He said Nato had been constrained by the need to avoid civilian casualties but had probably prevented the city from being overrun by Col Gaddafi's forces.

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Misrata said staff at a hospital there were battling to treat civilians injured by mortars and rocket fire.

Sourcr-bbc.co.uk

Nuclear concerns after Japan earthquake

New concerns over nuclear energy in the East of England have been raised in the wake of the disasters which struck the power stations in Japan.

The devastating earthquake struck Japan on 11 March.

It left the nuclear reactors at Fukushima with no electricity.

An hour later the tsunami wiped out the back-up diesel generators.

The cooling system failed which caused the first of several explosions and radiation leaks.

Back-up systems

EDF Energy, the UK's largest nuclear operator, which runs Sizewell in Suffolk, is keen to show that it could not happen in England.

The back-up systems for the pressurised water reactor at Sizewell include four separate diesel generators, which would be used if the electricity failed.

There is a 10m (33ft) barrier for sea defences, with a 5m (16ft) metre barrier behind it.

If the sea could no longer be used for Sizewell's cooling system there are two huge "car radiators" to take the heat away.

The Japanese government has placed a 20km (12 mile)exclusion zone around Fukushima.

Stay-indoors zone
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
We're not going to know the full extent of it until the next generation and to me that's scary”
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Mell Harrison

Stop Nuclear Power UK
There is a 30km (19 mile) stay-indoors zone but the United States exclusion zone is 80km (50 miles).

Stop Nuclear Power has superimposed these over East Anglia to show how far they would reach if there was a disaster here.

The American zone would extend from Cromer in Norfolk to beyond Colchester in Essex.

Mell Harrison, from Stop Nuclear Power UK, said she believed the back-up plans were not good enough.

This week she joined protests outside EDF's headquarters in London.

Protest camp

Next weekend she will be at a protest camp on the beach at Sizewell which will mark the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl.

She said: "When Fukushima first occurred people said there's no way it's going to be as bad as Chernobyl and now the level is the same.

"We're not going to know the full extent of it until the next generation and to me that's scary.

"Sizewell B, when they reopened after seven months, a little while later they closed down again for another few days.

"Now, we have the Freedom of Information on that accident and it says in there that it is still vulnerable.

"To me it says we need to shut them down and we need to shut them down as soon as possible."

Andy Spurr, one of the managing directors of EDF, said: "We will review our own operation but more importantly we'll review the lessons that came out of the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate's report as well and we may decide to put additional strength and depth in place.

"It's too early to talk about any of the details but I would describe it as, our minds are very open, in terms of looking and reviewing and learning."

The BBC Politics Show in the East is broadcast at 1400 GMT on Sunday.

Source-www.bbc.co.uk

Taliban claims responsibility for attack on base

A suicide bomber wearing an Afghan security forces uniform blew himself up on Saturday at the entrance to a military base in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least four Afghan soldiers, officials said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants have conducted an increasing number of attacks in the east and north since many of them were routed from their strongholds in the south by an influx of tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces last year.

Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said a man on foot detonated his vest packed with explosives about 7-30 a.m. local time at the entrance to the base west of Jalalabad, which is shared by Afghan and coalition forces.

“The attacker had the Afghan security force uniform on and that gave him the opportunity to reach the entrance to the base and carry out the attack,” Gen. Azimi said.

NATO, for its part, has not yet disclosed any information about the attack in Qarghayi district of Laghman province.

Baz Mohammad Sherzad, the director for health in nearby Nangarhar province, said the bodies of the four Afghan soldiers were brought to a hospital in Jalalabad. He said others were wounded in the blast.

In an e—mail to reporters, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the bomber was from Day Kundi province in central Afghanistan.

“A month ago, he joined with the Afghan army and his aim was to carry out the suicide attack,” Mujahid said. “Today, when there was a meeting going on between Afghan and foreign soldiers, he used the opportunity to carry out the attack.”

He said 12 foreign troops and 14 Afghan soldiers were killed in the attack. The Taliban often exaggerates casualties caused by their attacks.

Source-thehindu.com

Time Bengal saw change: Sonia

She left nothing to interpretation and nothing to speculation. AICC president Sonia Gandhi is baying for Marxists’ blood and she wants the CPI(M)-led Left Front government defeated in the Assembly elections. “It is time to think of change. It is time for Bengal to undergo change.
http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rahulyuvasena.com/images/leaders/large/Sonia%2520Gandhi_15.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rahulyuvasena.com/leaders.html&usg=__wsG_zrcwApF5OcQ8TmXd5mWaH-E=&h=1689&w=1594&sz=1676&hl=en&start=14&sig2=Ya6ctr5AmtZZFslp1ywmTA&zoom=1&tbnid=sGnuwng6CtItQM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=142&ei=snCpTbPlDpTevQPP6rmWCg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsonia%2Bgandhi%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D575%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch0%2C1026&itbs=1&biw=1024&bih=575
Help the Congress and the Trinamool to bring this change. A change in the life of the people and a change for the good of Bengal in complete sense,” Gandhi said on Friday at a public meeting in Ratua Assembly constituency.

The venue was selected for Gandhi’s message to the people to cast their vote for Congress’ Ratua candidate Samar Mukherjee and Chanchal candidate Asif Mehboob.

Training her guns on the Left Front government, Gandhi said it has been ruling here for 34 years only to help itself and its partymen, but this is not acceptable in a democracy. “Congress has been working for the poor and all sections of the people and the policies of the UPA government show they want all strata of the society to progress. And it is only then that the country progresses,” said the Congress president amid cheers from the crowd.

Gandhi pointed out that 34 years ago, CPI(M) came to power in the name of the poor, but has done nothing for the development of the state. Floods and erosion of riverbanks remain major problems in Malda, electricity has not reached, the public distribution system has collapsed, unemployment and under-development remain serious concerns.

“But why is Bengal in such a state? Why so backward? Why has the Left Front not utilised funds allocated for development of the state? For 34 years, this government has done nothing. Do you people want this to continue?” said Gandhi.

She pointed out that the entire country has progressed, the UPA government has come out with pro-people schemes for every strata of society and thousands of crores have been given to Left Front government under this scheme but it has either failed or has not properly utilised the funds.

“Bengal is full of efficient people and yet it remains backward. Who is responsible for this? It makes me sad that Bengal is in such a condition today. This time we should bring about change for good,” said Gandhi.

Speaking at the venue, Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said 54 Assembly seats from Darjeeling to Malda would go to polls on May 18, people would cast their votes to decide whether they want to continue with the government here or bring about a change.

Mukherjee reiterated that that paribartan (change) was required.

Source-hindustantimes.com

Rape victim dies after a week's struggle for life

BEED, MAHARASHTRA: The 17-year-old girl, who set herself afire after being allegedly raped by her father's former employer, died in a hospital ON Saturday after battling for life for over a week.

District Civil Surgeon D B Pawar said that the girl, admitted to Civil Hospital on April 10, breathed her last this morning in central Maharashtra.

The victim's father used to work at a farm of the prime accused Babulal Rasal. He had borrowed some money from Rasal, a former deputy sarpanch of Churmapuri village who is considered close to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

On April 4, Rasal and his accomplice Narayan Kale allegedly abducted the girl and raped her for a week, taking her to lodges in various cities, according to the police.

On April 10, the accused dropped the girl at her Rampur village. She did not reveal anything to family members about the incident, but on the same day tried to end life by pouring kerosene and setting herself ablaze, police said.

She suffered 95 per cent burn injuries and was admitted to the hospital.

The news of her death created tension in various parts of the district though no untoward incident had been reported.

Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe had earlier visited the victim and her family and demanded a CID probe into the incident. A day before, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde, who is Lok Sabha MP from Beed, and his daughter Pankaja Palve met the teenager in the hospital.

A group of women threw eggs and tomatoes on both the accused when they were being produced before a local court on Friday.

Source-timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Demi Lovato Tweets Support for Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones went public with her battle against depression earlier this week, and young star Demi Lovato has her back. Lovato, who recently completed a stint in a rehab facility for unspecified mental and emotional hardships, Tweeted her support of the actress.

She wrote: "I don't know Catherine Zeta-Jones personally but what she has decided to do it SO brave.. And SO difficult but worth it... I'm proud of her"

Catherine has revealed that she checked into the Silver Hill Hospital in Connecticut last week where she was being treated for Bipolar II disorder. She was there for five days, and was said to be suffering from a huge amount of stress related to caring for husband Michael Douglas, who lost 32 pounds in the last year while fending off throat cancer.

Catherine's representative said: "After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check in to a mental health facility for a brief stay."

For her part, Demi recently thanked her fans for helping her get through the "darkest" time in her life. On Thursday she emphasized that it was important for people to be in touch with their emotions.

"Never be ashamed of what you feel," she wrote. "You have the right to feel any emotion that you want, and to do what makes you happy. That's my life motto."

Source - Zimbio

LeAnn Rimes Donates Clothing to Twitter Fan in Need

LeAnn Rimes is doing some spring cleaning—and it's working out great for her fans.

The country singer and sometimes actress was live-tweeting her massive closet reorganization on Wednesday when a fan asked if she had anything she minded throwing her way.

A woman named Peggy Joyce asked, "Anything u want to donate to me? Lost job and have a 16 month old. Bad year... Only one income coming in and extra money goes to son."

Rimes quickly replied, "DM e your address and sizes... if they match I'll send you some things. I'll take care of it."

A nice move on Rimes' part—she must be thrilled to be making news for anything other than her size, these days. Not that she's fueled that talk by tweeting bikini pictures of herself or anything.

Source - Zimbio

Cindy Crawford Loves Having Sex in Her Guest House

When you have two kids running around the house, finding that precious "alone" time can get a bit tricky. Thankfully for Cindy Crawford and hubby Rande Gerber, they've got a guesthouse they can run to when they need to get busy.

Crawford and Gerber have been married since 1998, but their love life seems as strong as ever. The only problem is, things can get a bit awkward when their kids accidently catch them in the act. Their solution: run to the beach!

The former super model explained to Access Hollywood: "Sometimes you just have to do it! You know, you’re in a time crunch. You don’t want the kids walking in, that happened to us not that long ago.”

So let's get this straight: They're happily married, have two beautiful kids, and a private beach house they can run to on a whim? Who knew life could be so rough!

Source-Zimbio