2014, മേയ് 31, ശനിയാഴ്‌ച

Home Minister’s remarks on orphanages draw flak from IUML

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk]
Malappuram: Muslim League, the second biggest ally in the UDF, has come out in protest against the propagation by certain quarters to paint bringing children from other state to the orphanages in Kerala as “human trafficking”.
In a press release issued on Saturday, Muslim League general secretary KPA Majeed said that the efforts to demean the functioning of orphanages were condemnable.
There is a conspiracy behind such propagations. The home department should withdraw all the actions taken against the concerned persons charging them for human trafficking, Majeed said.
“The orphanages in Kerala are functioning in the best manner. Children from other states seek admission here as the institutes there do not have sufficient physical facilities. It is cruelty that this has been portrayed as anti-national crime,” Majeed said adding that the conspiracy behind such propagations should be recognized.
“There are a lot of students from other states who studied in the orphanages here and attained heights in their career. That gives an inspiration to the parents of other children to send the kids to Kerala.”
The attempt to degrade the institutes that cater to the educational needs of such children should be full-stopped, Majeed added.
He, however, said that the officials of the orphanages should have made sure that the children were brought in with adequate documents.
  

SpaceX unveils capsule to ferry astronauts to space

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LOS ANGELES: A sleek, white gumdrop-shaped space capsule that aims to carry up to seven astronauts to the International Space Station and return to land anywhere on Earth was unveiled by SpaceX.

The Dragon V2, short for version two, is the first attempt by a private company to restore Americans' ability to send people to the orbiting space station in the wake of the space shuttle program's retirement in 2011.

"It's all around, I think, really a big leap forward in technology. It really takes things to the next level," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday.

SpaceX is competing with other companies -- including Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin -- to be the first commercial outfit to take astronauts to space, possibly as early as 2017.

Until then, the world's astronauts must rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft at a cost of $70 million per seat.

The Dragon V2 was shown for the first time at a jam-packed evening press conference in Hawthorne, California.

The shiny Dragon V2 sat on a white stage floor, as a scorched Dragon cargo capsule was suspended above, bearing the blackened markings of a capsule that had returned to Earth from orbit.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule in 2012 became the first private spacecraft to carry supplies to the ISS and back.

Since then, Orbital Sciences has followed with its Cygnus, a capsule shaped like a beer keg that can carry supplies to the space station but burns upon re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

Musk said a key feature of the Dragon V2 is that it will be able to "land anywhere on Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter."

The crew spacecraft will be able to use rocket propulsion and deploy legs to land, instead of using parachutes to make an ocean splash-landing the way the cargo capsule does.

t will however still have parachutes that it can use for a landing in case any engine problems are detected before touchdown on Earth.

The V2 also carries an improved heat shield and will be able to autonomously dock with the space station, instead of needing the space station's robotic arm to catch it and pull it in.

"That is a significant upgrade as well," Musk said.

Musk touted the reusability of the Dragon V2, allowing it to cut back on expensive space journeys.

"You can just reload propellant and then fly again. This is extremely important for revolutionizing access to space," Musk said.

"Because as long as we continue to throw away rockets and spacecraft, we will never have true access to space. It will always be incredibly expensive," he added.

"If aircraft were thrown away with each flight, nobody would be able to fly."

The Internet entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal did not say when the Dragon V2's first test flight would take place.

Ever since the US space shuttle program ended in 2011, the world's astronauts have depended on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to reach the ISS, an orbiting outpost built and maintained by more than a dozen countries.

SpaceX, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin have all received millions of dollars in NASA funds to help them develop next-generation spacecraft that will someday carry astronauts to space.

SpaceX has said its crew capsule may be able to reach the ISS with astronauts aboard by 2017.

Meanwhile, NASA says it is focusing on building a new deep space capsule that could take humans to Mars by the 2030s.
 

 

Five suspects in custody over India cousins gang-rape

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk]
KATRA SHAHADATGUNJ: Five men have been arrested over the gang-rape and deaths of two girls found hanging from a mango tree in a northern Indian village, police said Saturday.

The discovery of the two cousins, aged 14 and 12, in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday is the latest sexual violence case to have stirred national outrage.

"Rape on both the girls has been confirmed. The cause of their death was asphyxia," Budaun district police superintendent Atul Saxena told.

Saxena said preliminary cases had been filed against five men who were all being held in custody. Three are accused of rape while two policemen face charges of conniving with criminals and neglecting their duties. Two other men were also named in a police complaint filed by the victims´ families but their whereabouts were unknown, Saxena added.

The farming family of the two cousins from the lowest Dalit caste told police could have "saved" the girls but claimed they refused to help when they found they were from a lower caste.

"She was my everything, my world -- and now my world has come to an end," the grief-stricken father of one victim said. The alleged attackers were also from a higher caste.

There is a long history of women and girls from India´s lower castes -- especially those who belong to the Dalit caste who were previously known as "untouchables" -- of being sexually abused by people from higher castes.

Uttar Pradesh is deeply divided along caste lines.

"These policemen didn´t act for hours when they could have saved two young lives. Why is caste everything?" said the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Medical tests showed the victims had been sexually assaulted multiple times.

India toughened its laws on sex attacks in the wake of the December 2012 gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi which triggered nationwide protests, but the move has done little to stem the tide of sex attacks.

The father said his daughter and her cousin were attacked when they went to the fields to relieve themselves as there was no toilet in their house.

The father told his brother heard screams from the field where the girls had gone.

The brother got into a scuffle with five men, trying "to get them to leave the daughters who were being molested", but fled when they threatened to shoot him, the father said.

The family reported the crime to police who told villagers the girls were with an upper caste village man and would be back "in a couple of hours", the father said.

Then they got a call from a woman saying their daughters´ bodies were hanging from a tree.

"This was nothing but plain murder and (caste) conspiracy," he said.

Indian families forbids naming of the victims or their families.

"The cops were totally hand-in-glove in getting our daughters killed," said the father of the other victim.

Rights activists said the crimes highlighted Uttar Pradesh authorities were "not serious" about tackling sexual crime.

Amnesty International said lack of toilets across India forced women to answer the call of nature outside, "making them more vulnerable to violence.”

Five suspects in custody over India cousins gang-rape

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk]
KATRA SHAHADATGUNJ: Five men have been arrested over the gang-rape and deaths of two girls found hanging from a mango tree in a northern Indian village, police said Saturday.

The discovery of the two cousins, aged 14 and 12, in the Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday is the latest sexual violence case to have stirred national outrage.

"Rape on both the girls has been confirmed. The cause of their death was asphyxia," Budaun district police superintendent Atul Saxena told.

Saxena said preliminary cases had been filed against five men who were all being held in custody. Three are accused of rape while two policemen face charges of conniving with criminals and neglecting their duties. Two other men were also named in a police complaint filed by the victims´ families but their whereabouts were unknown, Saxena added.

The farming family of the two cousins from the lowest Dalit caste told police could have "saved" the girls but claimed they refused to help when they found they were from a lower caste.

"She was my everything, my world -- and now my world has come to an end," the grief-stricken father of one victim said. The alleged attackers were also from a higher caste.

There is a long history of women and girls from India´s lower castes -- especially those who belong to the Dalit caste who were previously known as "untouchables" -- of being sexually abused by people from higher castes.

Uttar Pradesh is deeply divided along caste lines.

"These policemen didn´t act for hours when they could have saved two young lives. Why is caste everything?" said the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Medical tests showed the victims had been sexually assaulted multiple times.

India toughened its laws on sex attacks in the wake of the December 2012 gang-rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi which triggered nationwide protests, but the move has done little to stem the tide of sex attacks.

The father said his daughter and her cousin were attacked when they went to the fields to relieve themselves as there was no toilet in their house.

The father told his brother heard screams from the field where the girls had gone.

The brother got into a scuffle with five men, trying "to get them to leave the daughters who were being molested", but fled when they threatened to shoot him, the father said.

The family reported the crime to police who told villagers the girls were with an upper caste village man and would be back "in a couple of hours", the father said.

Then they got a call from a woman saying their daughters´ bodies were hanging from a tree.

"This was nothing but plain murder and (caste) conspiracy," he said.

Indian families forbids naming of the victims or their families.

"The cops were totally hand-in-glove in getting our daughters killed," said the father of the other victim.

Rights activists said the crimes highlighted Uttar Pradesh authorities were "not serious" about tackling sexual crime.

Amnesty International said lack of toilets across India forced women to answer the call of nature outside, "making them more vulnerable to violence.”

Singapore riot: Indian nationals withdraw judicial review plea

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk]

Singapore: Four Indians, facing charges for their roles in Singapore's worst riot in four decades in December last year, have withdrawn their applications for judicial review proceedings against the government.

Three Indian nationals - Arun Kaliamurthy, Rajendran Mohan and Ravi Arun Vengatesh – had sought to quash certain conditions imposed on them pending their criminal trial related to the rioting.

The trio were required to report daily to the Immigration and Check Point Authority.

'Two separate judicial review proceedings against the Government, brought by individual charged in connection with the Little India's Riot, have been withdrawn by the individuals concerned,' Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said in a statement on Friday.

Their lawyer M Ravi told The Straits Times that his clients had 'gotten used to the conditions' and had decided to drop their applications as the trial dates were drawing near.

Ravi had the proceedings cancelled on May 7 on behalf of the three. It was slated to be heard by a High Court Judge on May 12. The High Court granted the application, with costs amounting to SGD3,000 (USD 2,392) to be paid by the three applicants.

Ravi had applied to withdraw another judicial review application of Rajendran Ranjan, who had wanted to quash the stern warning administered by the police and the order of removal made by the Controller of Immigration. Rajendran also wanted to have his work permit reinstated.

'A few months have passed and he (Rajnedran) has since continued with his life in India,' Ravi was quoted as saying.

The High Court has imposed a fine of SGD1,000 on Rajendran, which would be paid by his uncle Arumugam Sivanathan.

Arumugam had authorised the proceedings on behalf of Rajendran who was given a stern warning by the police for his alleged role in the December 8 riot in Little India, a precinct of Indian-origin businesses, eateries and pubs.

The Controller of Immigration assessed the situation and decided Rajendran's presence in Singapore was undesirable. His visit pass was cancelled as a result and he was deported from Singapore on December 20 last year.

Twenty-five Indians were charged for the riot in Little India. Cases against 15 are pending while others have been dealt with.

Some 400 migrant workers from South Asia were alleged to have been involved in the riots in which 54 Singaporean officers were injured and 23 emergency vehicles damaged. PTI

Jet-propelled car to fly at 880 km per hour!

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New York: Fasten your seat belts. A jet car that flies at 880 km per hour is being conceptualised that would fly you from New Delhi to Mumbai in less than two hours - and it may use a highway as a runway to take off!

The concept vehicle, named GF7, is the brainchild of California-based engineers Greg Brown and Dave Fawcett from Airboss Aerospace - a design and engineering firm primarily dedicated to the aerospace industry.

To begin with, the jet-propelled car will carry four passengers.

It will have a highway cruising speed of up to 160 km per hour and a turbine engine with 3,500 pounds of thrust.

This means it will be able to fly to 38,000 feet and hit the speed of 880 km per hour.

'You can save jet fuel by using the electric motor to drive to the runway and start the turbine engine when you need it,' Brown was quoted as saying in a Gizmag report.

'The turbine engine produces plenty of extra electrical capacity to charge the batteries,' he added.

The prototype is expected to be ready in four years. IANS

Smoking rates fall among Indian men, rise for women

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New Delhi: While smoking rates have fallen among Indian men, they have risen among women. A factor, doctors say, that can be attributed to rising cases of infertility and higher risk of cancer among Indian women these days.

A study published earlier this year in the British Medical Journal and which was earlier carried by the The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined the prevalence of smoking and cigarette consumption in 187 countries between 1980 and 2012 and found that while cigarette smoking among Indian men has fallen from 33.8 percent in 1980 to 23 percent in 2012, it has risen from three percent to 3.2 percent among Indian women within the same time frame.

In absolute terms, the number of female smokers in India has more than doubled - from about 5.3 million to 12.2 million in that time frame.

Commenting on the trend, Nevin Kishore, consultant in Pulmonology at Max Hospital, said the changing lifestyles are leading to more women taking up smoking in the Indian scenario.

'The effects of smoking, like lung damage, do not show in a person who smokes about four-five cigarettes a day in the initial few years. Although tobacco does not discriminate on the basis of gender, women smokers are more at risk of infertility. They also face the risk of all kinds of cancer,' Kishore told IANS.

Agreed Sapna Nangia, oncologist at Apollo Hospital. 'There has been a rise in the number of women smoking cigarettes and there are two main reasons for it. The first is a carefully devised plan by the tobacco industry which has faced a lot of lawsuits in this regard in the west, and has therefore realised that instead of going on facing the difficulty of advertising their product there, it would be easier to encourage women in India and China to smoke under the pretext of making smoking a socially acceptable norm,' Nangia told IANS.

'If women in India and China started smoking in big numbers, the tobacco companies felt that they would no longer have to depend on the west. This, plus a mistaken notion that smoking denotes independence of women, has led to the numbers rising,' she added.

Nangia however stressed that the upward trend is only in the urban areas, because 'women in the rural areas have always consumed tobacco in high numbers'.

Kailashnath Gupta, pulmonologist at Columbia Asia Hospital, went on to say that the consumption rate of smokeless tobacco has also risen among women.

'Tobacco does not differentiate, but the effect of smoking on pregnant women and those in the reproductive age group of 22-40 can be detrimental to the foetus and on their fertility,' Gupta said.

He also said that while the overall number of smokers in India has increased, the percentage of smokers has come down 'since it's in relation to the size of our population. I also think that the younger generation today, those in the 20-25 age group, is smoking lesser than of the yesteryears,' Gupta added.

His words find resonance in the study which revealed that although the prevalence of cigarette smoking in India has dropped by over five percent over the last three decades, the number of smokers in India has risen from about 74.5 million in 1980 to 110.2 million in 2012.

However, as compared to 1980 when Indians used to smoke an average of 11.6 cigarettes a day, now they average 8.2 a day. The study used data from several multinational and national surveys, including the Global Adult Tobacco Survey.

India is the third largest producer of tobacco and the second largest consumer of tobacco products worldwide, the study said. A different study in 2012 further found that 42 percent of cancers in men and 18.3 percent cancers in women were related to tobacco consumption. Cardiovascular disease is also linked to it.

'The only way out of this health mess is for the government to implement the anti-tobacco laws more effectively. Increasing taxes, I feel, hardly discourages people, and it's only the government that benefits. Advertisements against tobacco usage like the ones in movie theatres is one of the best ways to make people aware and therefore discourage them,' Gupta said. IANS

. Rebels kidnap six officials in Philippines

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Manila: Suspected leftist rebels abducted six officials in Philippines, a military official said on Saturday.


The kidnapping allegedly perpetrated by New People's Army militants happened in Mindanao Friday, the official said.

The victims, sub-contractors of the department of environment and natural resources, were abducted by armed men when ther were conducting validation inspection of the town's compliance for the national reforestation programme, Xinhua quoted the official as saying. IANS

Kidnappers release Colombian police officer's daughter

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Bogota: The kidnappers who grabbed the 10-year-old daughter of a Colombian police commander released the girl hours later, authorities said.

The daughter of Inspector Victor Cantoñi, police chief in Padilla town, was freed Thursday night in the community of Toribio.

Alejandra Cantoñi was picked up by members of the Indigenous Guard taking part in the search along with police and army units, Mayor of Guachene, Francisco Paz, told radio stations.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed the release of the minor on his Twitter account and said an investigation is under way to find the perpetrators, though the army and authorities attributed the kidnapping to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The minor was abducted by armed men Thursday morning at the entrance to Jorge Eliecer Gaitan School in Guachene.

The army blamed the kidnapping on a FARC guerrilla who goes by the alias of 'Mordisco'.

The FARC, concluded Wednesday a unilateral nine-day cease-fire it had declared so as not to disrupt the May 25 presidential election. In 2012, they had supposedly renounced kidnapping for ransom.

IANS

2014, മേയ് 24, ശനിയാഴ്‌ച

After worms in mid-day meal, court refuses to revive NGO's contract

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court, taking a stringent view of an incident of worms being found in a mid-day meal leading to illness of children in the capital, has refused to revive the contract given to an NGO which had supplied the cooked meals.

Justice Manmohan, passing the order, said: 'Since the presence of worms in the mid-day meal supplied by the NGO has been confirmed, this court is of the view that there is no patent error or illegality in the order passed by the government.'

The Delhi government Jan 4, 2103, cancelled the contract given to the People Welfare Society on account of contaminated supply of cooked meals to a government school here on Sep 5, 2011.

All students, who had taken the meal, had complained of stomachache and uneasiness as a consequence of which they were taken to hospital by the school for medical treatment. Eight students had suffered from food poisoning.

The city government, while cancelling the contract, said the NGO had a past history of supplying 'contaminated/unhygienic' mid-day meal as earlier also worms were found in the meals supplied by the society on July 18, 2011, and July 21, 2011, to another government school here.

After the incidents of illness of children due to the consumption of mid-day meals, FIRs were lodged against the NGOs which have been providing food in these schools, including the petitioner in the present case.

On the other hand, the NGO contended that the sample test report found the meal supplied by it to the school to be fit for human consumption and that the children had suffered only mild pain in their stomach.

It said though there were other instances where cockroaches and dead lizards were found in cooked food supplied by other NGOs, the government did not take any action against some of them.

In the recent order, the court said: 'This court is of the view that though it is correct that the report of Sri Ram Institute for Research states that the sample sent to it was fit for human consumption, yet it clearly states that the samples did not meet the requirement laid down for cooked meals.'

'A perusal of the paper book also reveals that the hospital where the eight students were admitted had opined that they suffered from food poisoning,' it added.

The court, however, clarified that the finding given by it in the case would not prejudice any of the parties during the criminal trial which is pending against the NGO. IANS

Indian Dentist in US tries to Extract 20 Teeth At Once, Patient Dies: Report

New York: The license of an Indian dentist was revoked in the US after he attempted to extract 20 teeth from the mouth of a 64-year-old woman in one sitting which led to her death.

The dentist, Doctor Rashmi Patel was performing the procedure on Judith Gan on February 17 when she lost consciousness.

The procedure included placing implants in the woman's mouth after removing the teeth, according to the New York Daily News.

The paper quoted Mr Patel's assistant as saying that he had requested him to stop the procedure before calling for the emergency services.

'He wanted to complete the placement of implants as the assistant begged Patel to stop working, and finally ran out and called 911, but the patient had already flat-lined,' the state Department of Public Health wrote in a report.

'The four count petition found, among an array of other misdeeds, that Patel deviated from standard of care in that he did not timely and properly respond to Gan's oxygen desaturation and/or respiratory distress and/or cardio-pulmonary distress,' state records reported.

'Gan did not have to die to receive this dental treatment and it is because of Patel's negligence that she died,' said a dentist who was asked to review the case for the Department of Health.

Mr Patel's license, issued in 2003, was suspended on April 21 pending a June 18 hearing in front of the state dental commission.

Mr Patel runs two clinics in Enfield and Torrington. 'Patel has been ordered to stay away from his patients after one died and another spent six days in the hospital,' the state health officials said.

The horror of Gan's botched procedure came after a December incident, when a 55-year-old man 'aspirated the throat pack' and was rushed to the hospital. The victim stopped breathing and spent six days in the hospital after suffering heart and lung damage.

Mr Patel was also sued for malpractice by a former employee in 2009 after he performed 'shoddy' dental work. Doreen Jasonis won nearly USD 500,000 from a jury in 2011, but the ruling was appealed and eventually ended with an out-of-court settlement.

The dentist's attorney says both clinics remain open and that Mr Patel will fight the charges.

Greed drive parents to sell two kids for Rs 3.25 lakh.


Sulaiman
Kanhangad: In a shocking incident, two children were found to be sold by parents, who aimed at making a decent earning over the deals.

The Hosdurg police have arrested the father of the kids, Sulaiman of Kanhangad South, and registered a case against their mother.

The incident, which happened nearly one year ago, came to light after the parents accidentally revealed the matter. On coming to know about the incident, the police registered a case under sections 370, 371 of the IPC without anybody lodging a complaint and made further inquiries.

Police said Sulaiman married twice and have eight and three children respectively from his first and second wives. He had sold the two younger children born to his second wife. At the time of sale, the elder of the two, a girl, was one-and-a-half year old the other one, a boy, was just six-month old.

A Mangalore-based woman lawyer acted as agent in the business. The first sale fetched Sulaiman Rs 1.75 lakh and the lawyer netted a commission of Rs 25,000. Two more intermediaries from Kanhangad were given a total of Rs 25,000.

The second sale was brokered by the lawyer alone and Sulaiman got Rs 1.5 lakh. In this deal also, she received Rs 25,000 as commission.

Sikh group challenges dismissal of 1984 case against Congress

New York: A Sikh rights group has challenged the dismissal of the 1984 rights violation case against Congress party before an appeals court here, saying the case 'concerns' the US and it has 'institutional standing' to seek judgment on behalf of the Sikh community.

The case filed by Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) was dismissed by Judge Robert Sweet of US District Court last month on the grounds that the group failed to show sufficient 'touch and concern' to the United States.

Swwet had, however, ruled that 'a corporate defendant can be liable under the Alien Torts Statute (ATS), assuming that the statute's 'touch and concern' requirements are adequately alleged'.

SFJ said the case sufficiently 'touches and concerns' the US and it has 'institutional standing' to seek 'declaratory judgment' on the November 1984 violence against the Sikh community.

Commenting on the appeal made by SFJ, Congress party's attorney Ravi Batra said on behalf of the party and its chief Sonia Gandhi, 'we look forward to arguing' in the apeeals court that 'justice was done, the law followed, sovereignty honored' when Sweet ordered the dismissal of the case.

SFJ said its appeal is based on grounds that the victims group claim is not barred under a US Supreme Court ruling as plaintiffs have already been granted refugee status by California Federal Court for being victims of violence allegedly committed by the Congress in India which proves 'touch and concern'and sufficient connection to America.

The SFJ appeal claims that federal law grants 'institutional standing' to human rights groups to seek 'declaratory judgments' by US courts.

SFJ is seeking judgment to declare November 1984 violence against the Sikh community as 'genocide'. PTI

400 children rescued from train

 Palakkad: In surprise check, police rescued 400 students from a train at Olavakkode railway station. 

Police, who received a tip off that children are being transported to Kerala for labour, carried out the search.

The male and female children, aged between three to 11 years, were found in a reserved coach in the train from Patna to Ernakulam. Two elders found with them have been arrested.

Majority of the rescued children belong to Muslim community and the arrested persons claimed they were taken for religious studies.

However, police said the arrested were transporting the children to engage them as child labourers

Sonia asks partymen not to bicker in public, learn lessons from rout



New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi, re-elected chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP)Saturday, asked party leaders not to indulge in 'public acrimony' over the party's worst Lok Sabha results for which appropriate lessons need to be learnt.

Addressing a meeting of CPP, she acknowledged 'there was widespread anger against us which we failed to adequately gauge' and asked party MPs to be 'vigilant watchdogs' in their role in the opposition.

Party leaders said Gandhi will soon decide the names of leaders of opposition in the two houses of parliament.

Gandhi's remarks about the need for the partymen to stop bickering through media comes against the backdrop of a blame game in the party over its worst electoral defeat - with its tally reduced to only 44 seats while it did not win a single seat in some states - with some leaders taking potshots at 'Team Rahul Gandhi'.

Her son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi led the Congress campaign in the election.

In her speech, Sonia Gandhi said she was asked by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to take all steps necessary to revamp the organisation at all levels.

'Your inputs, your experience and your assessment of our strengths and weaknesses, rather than public acrimony, will be critical to the exercise,' she said.

In an apparent message to party parliamentarians, including her own son who was also present at the meet, Sonia Gandhi said that being in the opposition means regular attendance, more hours inside the house and more study of subjects.

'It means asking more questions, raising more issues, initiating more debates, always being the vigilant watchdog and defending principles of the Congress.'

At the CPP meeting, Sonia Gandhi's name was proposed by party leader Mallikarjun Kharge and seconded by other leaders including Mohsina Kidwai.

Becoming Congress president in 1998, she has been successively heading the parliamentary party.

Outgoing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh briefly spoke at the meeting.

Sonia Gandhi congratulated the newly-elected Lok Sabha members and said that although victorious, she was pained about the larger defeat of the party.

'We have to individually and collectively draw appropriate lessons from this unprecedented setback,' she said.

She noted the Congress secured 10.69 crore votes compared to 17.16 crore received by the Bharatiya Janata Party but though getting almost 62 percent votes compared to that of the BJP, its tally was less than 15 percent. The BJP won 282 seats.

Hitting out at the BJP and some other parties, she said that in the outgoing parliament, they opposed some legislations due to 'cussedness and outright political opportunism'.

She said the Congress may have a small strength in the Lok Sabha but it was the largest party in the Rajya Sabha and the CPP can function as a formidable opposition.

A resolution adopted at the meeting said the party will demonstrate its resilience in no uncertain terms. It expressed its gratitude to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi 'for their indefatigable campaigns across the country'.

'Electoral setbacks cannot obscure their contributions and the CPP resolves to regroup, rebuild and revive under their leadership and regain support of people.'

It also recalled 'yeoman's services' rendered by Manmohan Singh.

The party said it will hold the BJP-led NDA government accountable to its pledges and not allow dilution of policies and legislations of UPA government.

Party sources said that names of senior leaders A.K.Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad were doing the round in party circles as leader of the house in Rajya Sabha. In Lok Sabha, the name of senior leader Kamal Nath is doing the rounds though many party leaders were keen on Sonia Gandhi herself or by Rahul Gandhi.

There is uncertainty over the party getting the post in Lok Sabha as its tally does not constitute one tenth of the house's strength.

Sharif ends suspense, to attend Modi swearing in

New Delhi/Islamabad : After keeping both countries guessing for two days, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif Saturday accepted the invite to watch Narendra Modi take oath as India's next prime minister, a grand event being attended by seven other neighbours and a few thousand guests. It will be yet another occasion for the leaders of the two wary nations to talk, even though informally, and marks a new phase in neighbourhood diplomacy by India's new head of government.

The two prime ministers will be meeting face to face eight months after the New York meeting between outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh and Sharif on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.

Sharif Saturday confirmed he will attend the oath-taking ceremony Monday evening, an event to be attended by leaders of six other South Asian nations as well as Mauritius, that has a large ethnic Indian population.

Accompanying Sharif will be Sartaj Aziz, adviser on national security and foreign affairs, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi.

Sharif would be holding a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi on the morning of May 27. He would then call on President Pranab Mukherjee, and fly back the same afternoon.

The Pakistani prime minister's acceptance of the invite came a day after his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif met Pakistani army chief General Raheel Sharif. Shahbaz Sharif, who visited India earlier this year and is an important figure in the Pakistani government, is believed to have explained to the general the positive outcome of the visit and the importance of maintaining good ties with India.

On Friday, the Pakistan Foreign Office had urged Sharif to attend the ceremony, saying that the bitterness towards Pakistan shown during the election campaign in India would subside after the formation of a new government in New Delhi.

The acceptance of the invite was lauded, especially on social media. Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who had a day ago tweeted 'I personally think cordial relations with new Indian government should be cultivated. It will help remove psychological barriers, fear and misgivings', welcomed the move with a tweet. So did many other Pakistani journalists and former diplomats. ' Former Pakistani envoy to the US Sherry Rehman posted: 'Good news, moving on from stalemate.'

Narendra Modi had invited the leaders of all the member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for the swearing-in ceremony - in a first such event.

Modi and Sharif will hold a short bilateral meeting the following morning, being termed only a 'courtesy call' and not any structured talks. With Aziz and the two other Pakistani officials in tow, the meeting is likely to have all the trappings of a bilateral meeting.

'It is a good step forward that he (Modi) has taken so early in the term. It is a significant move,' a senior Indian envoy who has been closely following India-Pakistani diplomatic moves, told IANS.

However, the envoy who declined to be named, said that Pakistan had still to show major forward movement in the trial of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case. 'Trial is still going on, it has still to be concluded.. There is also the issue of respect for the sanctity of the Line of Control, and also the issue of non-state actors (acting out of Pakistani territory),' he added.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Kashmiri opposition leader, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, have welcomed Sharif's decision to attend the oath taking ceremony.

'Very glad to hear Pakistan's prime minister has accepted the invite, it shows that he can prevail over forces inimical to good relations with India,' Omar tweeted.

'I hope that this will mark a new beginning in ties between the two countries. The people of Jammu and Kashmir will be watching it closely,' he wrote on Twitter.

Leader of Opposition Mehbooba Mufti told reporters: 'The SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) relations have always been hostaged by India-Pakistan acrimony.'

'We are hopeful as the decision to invite Pakistan prime minister by Modi and its acceptance by Sharif is a positive development,' said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief.

Besides Sharif, the dignitaries who will attend include Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, and Bangladesh Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury. Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam is also attending the ceremony.

After outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh skipped the Commonwealth summit in Colombo last November, this will be an occasion for Modi to meet Rajapaksa and come to grips with the Tamil issue. The invite to the Sri Lankan leader has already been criticised by Tamil parties, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be in Tokyo on a prior scheduled visit.

It is the first time in India's history that leaders from neighbouring countries have been invited to the swearing-in ceremony of an Indian prime minister.

Modi, who will be sworn in at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Monday evening, will hold brief bilateral talks with each leader the following day.

2014, മേയ് 23, വെള്ളിയാഴ്‌ച

'BJP pinged 144 million Net users in latest election'

New Delhi: The IT cell of "Elect Modi Campaign" reached out to as many as 144 million people across India in the latest elections -- a formidable bank to tap into to garner vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party, a senior office bearer overseeing it has said.
"We were able to reach out to virtually every internet user in the country," said Vinit Goenka, national co-convenor of the BJP's information technology cell, who formulated the digital strategy for his party's star campaigners.
"If you ask me, 'how much of that translated into votes?', I can't give a proper answer with figures. But they formed a huge vote bank. This apart, the internet users that we pinged also had a multiplier effect in influencing more voters," Goenka told IANS.
For the record, some 834 million people were eligible to vote and 553.8 million or 66.4 percent cast their ballot. This was the highest ever voter-turnout both in absolute and in percentage terms.
Goenka also said that 'Gen Next' -- what with more than 100 million first-time voters joining the electoral rolls -- was one of the key factors that helped the campaign. In that, the fact that the IT cell was able to reach out to them was crucial.
"Earlier, the father or the grand-father would tell youngsters at the dining table what the news was and what its interpretation should be. But today, it is an age where the youngsters get news as it happens," said Goenka.
"The youths are aware. They form their own opinion. So, they use their own judgement in deciding whom to vote for. I won't be surprised if young voters also now influence their parents and grand-parents. But this must is a given: They vote as they want."
Goenka said contrary to popular belief that the IT cell was started in the run-up to the latest national elections, it has been functioning since April 2006, albeit at a smaller level, and gained momentum in 2008, when it was used in Maharashtra.
"This time around, it went pan-India. Narendra Modi gave it a lot of intensity. He said we must focus on nine 'I's -- issues, ideology, inter-personal communication, internet, intensity, introspection, industry, integration with the party and ideating."
Goenka said quite a few innovative concepts, practiced elsewhere, but alien to politics in India were adopted by the IT Cell, such as a bloggers' meet, video conferencing with voters across cities and interactive call centres for voter registration.
"We also conducted two round-table sessions, this was earlier, with the chief executives of $2-billion-plus companies, to sentitise the political leadership about the kind of challenges that are faced by the industry. This was again a hit."

Thai army chief declares himself acting PM

Bangkok: Thailand's army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has declared himself as acting prime minister until someone is found to permanently serve the post, media reported Friday.
"As some laws stipulate that 'the prime minister' authorises actions under the law, Prayuth Chan-ocha and his assigned individuals will uphold that authority for the time being," the Bangkok Post quoted a statement of the National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC) as saying.
Chan-ocha, who is also the leader of the NPOMC, made the announcement Thursday night.
He will act as the prime minister for administrative purposes.
Chan-ocha Thursday declared a coup in Bangkok and has seized power from the caretaker government in order to prevent tensions.
Following the coup, the NPOMC announced that the country's constitution was temporarily suspended. The government has been terminated, but the senate and independent agencies will still be able to perform duties.
The NPOMC also ordered educational institutes to be suspended from Friday to Sunday.
Radio and TV stations have been blacked out and are playing only traditional music.
Other communications, including print media, internet and both regular and mobile phones were not affected.
However, it ordered all media, including print and internet, not to interview former government officials, academics, judges or other members of independent organisations "in a way that may create conflict or confusion among the public".
All government agencies have continued to work normally, foreign relations are not being affected, and movement of weapons have been banned.
It is the 12th military coup in Thailand since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.
Chan-ocha Tuesday declared martial rule in the country and called on the public not to panic, saying that the military would maintain peace and order and bring the situation back to normal.

Pakistan PM to attend Modi's swearing in

Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will attend the oath taking ceremony of Indian Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi to be held Monday, Radio Pakistan said Saturday.
Nawaz Sharif will head to New Delhi to represent Pakistan in the ceremony, a spokesperson at the Prime Minister's House said.

2014, മേയ് 22, വ്യാഴാഴ്‌ച

Cell phones may induce allergic reactions in kids: Study

Washington: Do not let your kids use mobile phones for a long time as metals used in manufacturing cell phones such as nickel and chromium may induce skin allergies in them.
Called allergic contact dermatitis (ACD), the prolonged cell phone exposure can cause dermatitis of the face, neck, hands, or anterior thighs - common places exposed to cell phones, researchers warn.
"With the rising use of cell phones and other mobile devices, pediatricians can expect to see additional cases of ACD," said Mary Cataletto, a professor of clinical pediatrics at State University of New York at Stony Brook.
A team of researchers led by Jacob Thyssen from Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte reviewed the current literature on mobile phone dermatitis in both children and adults.
They found that nickel sensitisation is common in children, resulting in ACD prevalence levels of up to 33 percent.
The authors have provided important diagnostic tips for practitioners and strategies to raise awareness of nickel- or chromium-induced mobile phone ACD.
"Thyssen’s paper discusses diagnostic patch testing for common metal allergens and the value of spot testing of the patient’s phone in establishing a causal relationship,” Cataletto explained.
Previous studies have identified mobile phones and related devices as sources of metal sensitisation and potential causes of ACD.
Despite efforts to control allergen release in phones, many phones on the market release levels of metals, such as nickel and chromium, which are sufficient to induce ACD, said the paper published in the journal Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Pulmonology.

IANS

Mubarak sentenced to three years in jail

Cairo: An Egyptian court Wednesday sentenced former president Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for embezzlement of public funds designated for presidential palace maintenance, media reported.
The Cairo Criminal Court, presided by Judge Ousama Shaheen, also sentenced Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal to four-year jail terms in the same case, Xinhua reported citing state-run Nile TV.
The Mubaraks were fined 125 million Egyptian pounds (nearly $17.5 million), and were ordered to reimburse 21 million Egyptian pounds (nearly $2.9 million) to the state treasury.
Mubarak and his sons, along with four other aides, were charged with misappropriating 100 million pounds ($14 million) of funds intended to refurbish the presidential palace.
The four aides were acquitted for lack of evidence.

IANS

Several killed in multiple blasts in China's Xinjiang

Beijing: Several people were killed and injured Thursday in over a dozen explosions in an open-air market in Urumqi, capital of China's restive Xinjiang province which is home to mostly Muslim Uighurs.
Witnesses said two cross-country vehicles driving from north to south ploughed into people in the market at 7:50 a.M and explosives were thrown out of the cars, one of which exploded, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
It said unknown number of people were killed and injured.
Injured were rushed to different hospitals, police said.
A businessman in the market said he heard a dozen of big bangs. The open air morning market is located near the Renmin Park in downtown Urumqi.
Ambulance and police cars parked at the entrance of Park North Street leading to the market helped evacuate the injured.
Flames and heavy smoke were seen nearby while the area had been cordoned off after the blast.
Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan, has been plagued by violence for years.
The region has witnessed riots between native Muslim Uygurs and Han settlers from outside the province.
Uygurs, a Turkic speaking community, resent the settlements as they believe the large scale migration is marginalising them in their own homeland.
China accuses the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, an al-Qaeda affiliate, responsible for the large scale violence in and outside Xinjiang.
Last month Xinjiang was the scene of a railways station attack which killed three and injured 79 people. The attack was blamed on radical religious extremists seeking to take control of the region.

2014, മേയ് 19, തിങ്കളാഴ്‌ച

Rupee rises 32 paise to hit fresh 11-month high against USD

MUMBAI: Extending its rising streak for the fourth straight session, the rupee today jumped by another 32 paise to trade at a fresh 11-month high of 58.47 against the US dollar in early trade on sustained foreign capital inflows after the BJP-led NDA swept the Lok Sabha elections.

Increased selling of the dollar by banks and exporters amid sustained foreign capital inflows supported the rupee, dealers said.

Besides, a strong rally in domestic equity market in opening trade and the euro's gain against the dollar overseas also helped the rupee, they added.

The rupee rose 50 paise to 58.79 to end at 11-month high against the dollar on Friday.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex rose 275.82 points, or 1.14 per cent, to trade at 24,397.56 in opening trade.

Sensex surges 276 points on strong capital inflows

MUMBAI: Continuing its upward journey, the benchmark BSE Sensex spurted by nearly 276 points in opening trade today on sustained fund inflows on hopes of a stable government at the Centre after the BJP-led NDA's victory in the Lok Sabha elections.

Sectoral indices led by realty, PSUs, capital goods and bankings stocks continued to trade in the positive territory with gains up to 2.54 per cent.

The 50-share NSE Nifty also gained 65.40 points, or 0.91 per cent, to 7,268.40.

The 30-share Sensex zoomed by 275.82 points, or 1.14 per cent, to trade at 24,397.56. The gauge had rallied by over 216.14 points after touching an intra-day record high of 25,375.63 in Friday's trade.

Brokers said sentiments turned extremely bullish, following sustained capital inflows by foreign funds at the domestic bourses and widespread buying by retail investors on the victory of Narendra Modi-led BJP in Lok Sabha polls.

Further, a firming trend in other Asian markets buoyed the trading sentiments here, they said.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.17 per cent while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.24 per cent in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.27 per cent in Friday's trade.

Esa's Cryosat mission sees Antarctic ice losses double

By Jonathan Amos


Map

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Antarctica is now losing about 160 billion tonnes of ice a year to the ocean - twice as much as when the continent was last surveyed.
The new assessment comes from Europe's Cryosat satellite, which has a radar instrument specifically designed to measure the shape of the ice sheet.
The melt loss from the White Continent is sufficient to push up global sea levels by around 0.43mm per year.
Scientists report the data in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The new study incorporates three years of measurements from 2010 to 2013, and updates a synthesis of observations made by other satellites over the period 2005 to 2010.
Cryosat has been using its altimeter to trace changes in the height of the ice sheet - as it gains mass through snowfall, and loses mass through melting.
'Big deal'
The study authors divide the continent into three sectors - the West Antarctic, the East Antarctic, and the Antarctic Peninsula, which is the long finger of land reaching up to South America.
Overall, Cryosat finds all three regions to be losing ice, with the average elevation of the full ice sheet falling annually by almost 2cm.
In the three sectors, this equates to losses of 134 billion tonnes, 3 billion tonnes, and 23 billion tonnes of ice per year, respectively.
Artist's impression of Cryosat-2 (Esa)Cryosat's double antenna configuration allows it to map slopes very effectively
The East had been gaining ice in the previous study period, boosted by some exceptional snowfall, but it is now seen as broadly static in the new survey.
As expected, it is the western ice sheet that dominates the reductions.
Scientists have long considered it to be the most vulnerable to melting.
It has an area, called the Amundsen Sea Embayment, where six huge glaciers are currently undergoing a rapid retreat - all of them being eroded by the influx of warm ocean waters.
About 90% of the mass loss from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is going from just these few ice streams.
At one of them - Smith Glacier - Crysosat sees the surface lowering by 9m per year.
Keen vision
"CryoSat has given us a new understanding of how Antarctica has changed over the last three years and allowed us to survey almost the entire continent," explained lead author Dr Malcolm McMillan from the NERC Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at Leeds University, UK.
"We find that ice losses continue to be most pronounced in West Antarctica, along the fast-flowing ice streams that drain into the Amundsen Sea. In East Antarctica the ice sheet remained roughly in balance, with no net loss or gain over the three-year period," he told BBC News.
Cryosat was launched by the European Space Agency in 2009 on a dedicated quest to measure changes at the poles, and was given a novel radar system for the purpose.
It has two antennas slightly offset from each other. This enables the instrument to detect not just the height of the ice sheet but the shape of its slopes and ridges.
This makes Cryosat much more sensitive to details at the steep edges of the ice sheet - the locations where thinning is most pronounced.
It also allows the satellite to better detect what is going on in the peninsula region of the continent where the climate has warmed rapidly over the past 50 years.
"The peninsula is extremely rugged and previous satellite altimeters have always struggled to see its narrow glaciers. With Cryosat, we get remarkable coverage - better than anything that's been achieved before," said Prof Andy Shepherd, also of Leeds University.
Future change
The GRL paper follows hard on the heels of two studies that have made a specific assessment of the future prospects for the Amundsen Sea Embayment.
One of these reports concluded that the area's glaciers were now in an irreversible retreat.
The other paper, considering one of the glaciers in detail, suggested the reversal process could take several hundred years to be completed.
A loss of all the ice in the six glaciers would add about 1.2m to global sea level.
Prof Duncan Wingham proposed the Cryosat mission and is its principal investigator. He told BBC News: "We lack the capability to predict accurately how the Amundsen ice streams will behave in future.
"Equally, a continuation or acceleration of their behaviour has serious implications for sea level rise. This makes essential their continued observation, by Cryosat and its successors."
Prof David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey was not involved in the Cryosat survey. He commented: "The increasing contribution of Antarctica to sea-level rise is a global issue, and we need to use every technique available to understand where and how much ice is being lost.
"Through some very clever technical improvements, McMillan and his colleagues have produced the best maps of Antarctic ice loss we have ever had. Prediction of the rate of future global sea-level rise must be begin with a thorough understanding of current changes in the ice sheets - this study puts us exactly where we need to be."
Antarctic PeninsulaCryosat's radar copes better with the rugged terrain of the Antarctic Peninsula
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter:@BBCAmos