powradhwani

2012-02-04T00:19:00.000-08:00

NASA releases first video of moon's 'dark side'

ANI | Feb 4, 2012, 11.17AM IST
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LONDON: NASA has sent back its first footage of the 'dark' side of the moon, the one that is not visible from the Earth.

The footage shows a journey from the north to the south pole of the moon, revealing huge craters caused by asteroid and comet impacts billions of years ago, the Daily Mail reported.
"It's very rugged and covered with impact craters from asteroids that hit the moon's surface," said Maria Zuber, Nasa's principal investigator on Grail.

In the video, the North Pole of the Moon can be seen at the top of the screen as the spacecraft flies toward the lunar South Pole.

The side explored shows the moon being 'tidally locked' to Earth, so one side always faces away from us.

It's the first video from the two probes - named 'Ebb' and 'Flow' - but several others will be sent back.

One of the biggest features spotted on the lower third of the Moon in the video is the Mare Orientale, a 560 mile-wide impact basin that straddles both the Moon's near and far side.

Near the bottom of the screen, the video shows the 93-mile-wide Drygalski crater - recognisable from the unique star-shaped formation in the middle.

The two probes will carry on orbiting the moon in tight formation to measure its gravity and map its little-understood interior.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/NASA-releases-first-video-of-moons-dark-side/articleshow/11752292.cms

Health

2012-02-04T00:14:00.000-08:00

The very real, and sometimes deadly, health hazards of modern gadgets

3 FEB, 2012, 01.22AM IST, ET BUREAU
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Soon after Blackberrys and smart phones killed conversation, modern gadgets have begun causing real problems for people's health. Young mobile phone users complain of shooting pain in their arms and numbness in their fingers. Doctors in America now have a name for these symptoms: they call it 'text neck.' Sitting hunched over a small screen for hours, typing away, damages ligaments, tendons and musculature in the back and the neck.

It could even hurt finger bones. But a pain in the neck isn't the only thing that Blackberry users can expect: they might also have to deal with the 'Blackberry thumb,' a painful swelling that comes from hours of typing text on the device's small keyboard using only two thumbs, which are not intended to do the agile job of typing, but to help fingers grip objects.

The iPad was Steve Jobs' last gift to humanity. It could also turn into a blessing for chiropractors. A recent Harvard study finds that people spend even more time hunched over their iPads than over their phones. The Pad's larger size makes it an attractive device to read stuff from; some even read entire books on their Pads. Many watch movies.

But all that activity means long hours in uncomfortable positions, which then lead to painful aches: hence the 'iPad shoulder.' But the deadliest affliction is the 'earbud oblivion,' which happens to people out walking or running while listening to music piped from phones or iPods through small earphones.

These block out all ambient noise, including car horns, train whistles and shouted warnings from others. The results have been tragic, but efforts to outlaw wearing two earbuds while traveling, tried out in some places, have proved unpopular and had to be withdrawn. Risking one's life to listen to music? That still seems to be a wildly popular choice globally.

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http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/the-very-real-and-sometimes-deadly-health-hazards-of-modern-gadgets/articleshow/11733589.cms

Opinion

2012-02-04T00:06:00.000-08:00

From food security to food justice

ANANYA MUKHERJEE, the Hindu

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The Hindu

A quarter of a million women in Kerala are showing us how to earn livelihoods with dignity.

If the malnourished in India formed a country, it would be the world's fifth largest — almost the size of Indonesia. According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 237.7 million Indians are currently undernourished (up from 224.6 million in 2008). And it is far worse if we use the minimal calorie intake norms accepted officially in India. By those counts <http://www.thehindu. com/news/resources/article2803621.ece> (2200 rural/2100 urban), the number of Indians who cannot afford the daily minimum could equal the entire population of Europe.

Yet, the Indian elite shrieks at the prospect of formalising a universal right to food. Notwithstanding the collective moral deficit this reveals, it also shows that the millions of Indians whose food rights are so flagrantly violated are completely voiceless in the policy space. India's problem is not only to secure food, but to secure food justice.

What can food justice practically mean? First, to prevent situations where grains rot while people die — a very basic principle of distributive justice. But it has to mean a lot more: people must have the right to produce food with dignity, have control over the parameters of production, get just value for their labour and their produce. Mainstream notions of food security ignore this dimension.

Food justice must entail both production and distribution. Its fundamental premise must be that governments have a non-negotiable obligation to address food insecurity. They must also address the structural factors that engender that insecurity. Most governments, however, appear neither willing nor able to deliver food justice. It needs therefore the devolution of power and resources to the local level, where millions of protagonists, with their knowledge of local needs and situations, can create a just food economy.

Collective struggle

This is not quite as utopian as it may sound. Something on these lines has been unfolding in Kerala — a collective struggle of close to a quarter million women who are farming nearly 10 million acres of land. The experiment, “Sangha Krishi,” or group farming, is part of Kerala's anti-poverty programme “Kudumbashree.” Initiated in 2007, it was seen as a means to enhance local food production. Kerala's women embraced this vision enthusiastically. As many as 44, 225 collectives of women farmers have sprung up across the State. These collectives lease fallow land, rejuvenate it, farm it and then either sell the produce or use it for consumption, depending on the needs of members. On an average, Kudumbashree farmers earn Rs.15,000-25,000 per year (sometimes higher, depending on the crops and the number of yields annually).

Kudumbashree is a network of 4 million women, mostly below the poverty line. It is not a mere ‘project' or a ‘programme' but a social space where marginalised women can collectively pursue their needs and aspirations. The primary unit of Kudumbashree is the neighbourhood group (NHG). Each NHG consists of 10-20 women; for an overwhelming majority, the NHG is their first ever space outside the home. NHGs are federated into an Area Development Society (ADS) and these are in turn federated into Community Development Societies (CDSs) at the panchayat level. Today, there are 213,000 NHGs all over Kerala. Kudumbashree office-bearers are elected, a crucial process for its members. “We are poor. We don't have money or connections to get elected — only our service,” is a common refrain. These elections bring women into politics. And they bring with them a different set of values that can change politics.

The NHG is very different from a self-help group (SHG) in that it is structurally linked to the State (through the institutions of local self-government). This ensures that local development reflects the needs and aspirations of communities, who are not reduced to mere “executors” of government programmes. What is sought is a synergy between democratisation and poverty reduction; with Kudumbashree, this occurs through the mobilisation of poor women's leadership and solidarity. “Sangha Krishi” or group farming is just one example of how this works. It is transforming the socio-political space that women inhabit — who in turn transform that space in vital ways.

This experiment is having three major consequences. First, there is a palpable shift in the role of women in Kerala's agriculture. This was earlier limited to daily wage work in plantations — at wages much lower than those earned by men. Thousands of Kudumbashree women — hitherto underpaid agricultural labourers — have abandoned wage work to become independent producers. Many others combine wage work with farming. With independent production comes control over one's time and labour, over crops and production methods and, most significantly, over the produce. Since the farmers are primarily poor women, they often decide to use a part of their produce to meet their own needs, rather than selling it. Every group takes this decision democratically, depending on levels of food insecurity of their members. In Idukki, where the terrain prevents easy market access and food insecurity is higher, farmers take more of their produce home — as opposed to Thiruvananthapuram where market access is better and returns are higher.

Sangha Krishi

Second, “Sangha Krishi” has enabled women to salvage their dignity and livelihoods amidst immense adversity. Take the story of Subaida in Malappuram. Once widowed and once deserted, with three young children, she found no means of survival other than cleaning dead bodies. Hardly adequate as a livelihood, it also brought her unbearable social ostracism. Now Subaida is a proud member of a farming collective and wants to enter politics. In the nine districts this writer visited, there was a visible, passionate commitment to social inclusion amongst Kudumbashree farmers.

Our survey of 100 collectives across 14 districts found that 15 per cent of the farmers were Dalits and Adivasis and 32 per cent came from the minority communities.

Third, “Sangha Krishi” is producing important consequences for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Kerala. Because of Kerala's high wages for men, the MGNREGS in Kerala has become predominantly a space for women (93 per cent of the employment generated has gone to women where the national average is 50). From the beginning, synergies were sought between the MGNREGS, the People's Plan and Kudumbashree. Kudumbashree farmers strongly feel this has transformed MGNREGS work.

“We have created life … and food, which gives life, not just 100 days of manual labour,” said a Perambra farmer. In Perambra, Kudumbashree women, working with the panchayat, have rejuvenated 140 acres that lay fallow for 26 years. It now grows rice, vegetables and tapioca. Farmers also receive two special incentives — an ‘area incentive' for developing land and a ‘production incentive' for achieving certain levels of productivity. These amounted to over Rs.200 million in 2009-10. They were combined with subsidised loans from banks and the State, and seeds, input and equipment from Krishi Bhavan and the panchayats.

Challenges

However, serious challenges remain. Kudumbashree farmers are predominantly landless women working on leased land; there is no certainty of tenure. Lack of ownership also restricts access to credit, since they cannot offer formal guarantees on the land they farm. Whenever possible, Kudumbashree collectives have started buying land to overcome this uncertainty. But an alternative institutional solution is clearly needed. It is also difficult for women to access resources and technical know-how — the relevant institutions (such as crop committees) are oriented towards male farmers. There is also no mechanism of risk insurance.

Is this a sustainable, replicable model of food security? It is certainly one worth serious analysis. First, this concerted effort to encourage agriculture is occurring when farmers elsewhere are forced to exit farming — in large numbers. It re-connects food security to livelihoods, as any serious food policy must. But more importantly, the value of Sangha Krishi lies in that it has become the manifestation of a deep-rooted consciousness about food justice amongst Kerala's women. Kannyama, the president of Idamalakudy, Kerala's first tribal panchayat, says she wants to make her community entirely self-sufficient in food. She wants Sangha Krishi produce to feed every school and anganwadi in her panchayat — to ensure that children get local, chemical-free food. Elsewhere, Kudumbashree farmers plan to protest the commercialisation of land. Even in the tough terrain of Idukki's Vathikudy panchayat, women were taking a census of fallow land in the area that they could cultivate. Some 100,000 women practise organic farming and more wish to. Kudumbashree farmers speak passionately about preventing ecological devastation through alternative farming methods.

In the world of Sangha Krishi, food is a reflection of social relations. And only new social relations of food, not political manoeuvres, can combat the twin violence of hunger and injustice.

(Ananya Mukherjee is Professor and Chair of Political Science at York University, Toronto. Her latest work is a co-edited volume in collaboration with UNRISD, Geneva (Business Regulation and Non-state actors: Whose Standards? Whose Development? Routledge Studies in Development Economics, 2012.))

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http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2848305.ece

2012-01-27T18:55:00.000-08:00

Scientists shift electron orbits for atomic storage and quantum computing

Jupiter’s orbital mechanics inspires mesoscopic physicists

By Iain Thomson in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Physics, 26th January 2012 00:51 GMT

theregister.co.uk

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Scientists have found a way to stabilize and regulate the orbit of electrons in an atom, after drawing inspiration from the orbit of asteroids around Jupiter.

In 1913 Danish physicist Neils Bohr’s eponymous Model postulated atoms were formed of electrons orbiting a nucleus, much like planets around the sun – only using electrostatic attraction rather than gravity. Electrons have since been shown to be more akin to waves surrounding the nucleus, but teams in Austria and the US have shown they can be made to perform in the same way as planetary systems, and the technique can be used to change the overall size of the atom.

"Nuclei was born under a wandering electron..."

The research, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, was inspired in part by the function of Jupiter’s Lagrange points: Two specific points where forces of the Sun and the largest planetary gravity well in the Solar System cancel each other out. These collect matter, known as the Trojans, and the best guess is that the two belts contain more than a million asteroids over a kilometer in diameter.

“It’s similar to the way Jupiter sets the beat for asteroids,” Florian Aigner, science editor of Vienna University of Technology, told The Register. “It has a certain orbital period that’s well defined and you can’t slow down Jupiter. It acts like a metronome by applying repeated force. So you use an electromagnetic beam of light to apply force to the atom.”
A team at the Vienna University of Technology got the mathematics right and Rice University performed the actual experiment. They fired an atomic beam through a vacuum chamber and then crossed the stream with a tuned laser oscillating with the orbital period frequency of the electron around the nucleus.

The laser created a localized electronic state that moves in a near-circular orbit around the nucleus, and they could then extend and reduce the size of the orbit by modulating the laser’s frequency. The team got an atom up to the size of a human blood cell during testing.

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“The level of control that can be reached with these techniques is remarkable, and has applications in, for example, quantum computing and in chaotic computing,” explained Professor Barry Dunning of Rice University.

However, the technique may also provide a route to the ultimate form of memory. It may be possible, much further down the line, to use the atoms to store information by regulating their size Aigner postulated. This would take storage to its near atomic level.

But it’s by no means there yet. The electron can only be controlled when the force is applied and then reverts to its natural state within a few cycles. Then again, Jupiter is not perfect either. Simulations suggest 17 per cent of the Trojans are unstable enough to fall out of the orbits and go wandering, potentially Earthward bound.

The next step is to see if the technique can be used on multiple atoms simultaneously, and to monitor how they interact with each other during operations. Aigner said the experiments showed the potential of mesoscopic physics to explore the boundaries between the quantum world and the physics of larger objects.

Sandwiched between venerable classical physics and the extremes of quantum studies, mesoscopic physics is very much the red-headed stepchild of the physical sciences, but has huge potential. It generally deals with objects from an atom up to 1,000 nanometers – about the size of the average bacterium. By investigating the boundaries between the sub-atomic quantum world and everyday physics, mesoscopic scientists hope to find usable results that could have applications in both fields. ®
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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/26/electron_orbits_jupiter_trojan/

2012-01-27T18:51:00.000-08:00

DNA tests show first modern man settled in Arabia

PTI | Jan 28, 2012, 12.43AM IST
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LONDON: Scientists claim they have found vital clues which suggest that the first modern humans settled in Arabia on their way from the Horn of Africa to the rest of the world.

An international team, led by the University of Leeds in Britain and the University of Porto in Portugal, says it has used genetic analysis in its research to look for clues about human migration over 60,000 years ago.

"A major unanswered question regarding the dispersal of modern humans around the world concerns the geographical site of the first steps out of Africa.

"One popular model predicts that the early stages of the dispersal took place across the Red Sea to southern Arabia, but direct genetic evidence has been thin on the ground," said team leader Dr Luisa Pereira at the University of Porto.

In fact, in its research, the team analysed three of the earliest non-African maternal lineages. These early branches are associated with the time period when modern humans first successfully moved out of Africa.

Using mitochondrial DNA analysis, which traces the female line of descent, the scientists compared complete genomes from Arabia and the Near East with a database of hundreds more samples from Europe.

They found evidence for an ancient ancestry within Arabia.

Team member Prof Martin Richards at the University of Leeds added: "The timing and pattern of the migration of early modern humans has been a source of much debate and research.

Our new results suggest that Arabia, rather than North Africa or the Near East, was the first staging-post in the spread of modern humans around the world."

The findings have been published in the latest edition of the 'American Journal of Human Genetics'.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/DNA-tests-show-first-modern-man-settled-in-Arabia/articleshow/11655199.cms

India: A secular nation.

2012-01-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

Must India downplay its secular credentials?

January 28, 2012
By Kishwar Desai
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As part of a secular nation, one must be able to respect and appreciate religions other than one’s own without prejudice or dismay. And what better way to do it than as an academic and intellectual exercise? But is India ready to display its multi-faith credentials in an analytical fashion?

So when a senior Indian official in charge of culture was visiting London, I had suggested that Indian museums should do well-researched exhibitions on all the various religions that have originated and flourished in India — just as the British museums do ever so often. The presentation of homegrown spirituality, in the historical context, would repackage India’s image in the world as an intellectual and spiritual powerhouse — not just of a country led by outsourcing and Bollywood. Why not have India-led exhibitions about the Ramayana or Buddhism or the myriad Sufi cults, for example?
But, to my surprise, I was very firmly told that this wasn’t possible, as the area of “religion” is still a minefield in India, and would lead to endless trouble. How terrible for us! Thus it is only “foreign” institutions such as the British Library and the British Museum which use their collections and curators to put up some wonderful exhibitions on aspects of various religions, including those which are uniquely Indian — and which rightly should have been done in India and by Indian experts. Not only do they acquire spectacular exhibits, but also display religious material and forms of worship that encourage thousands of people to flock to their doors.

Can you imagine the impact of different exhibitions if organised by Indian curators, dealing with Buddhism, Jainism, Sufism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam… they would be authentic and exciting. But apparently we are not yet mature enough to handle these and it is an area best left to the West!

Thus I cannot resist a twinge of envy every time a well-curated exhibition on any aspect of a non-Christian faith opens in London. How sad that in India we still shy away from all of this — even though the country has been a multi-faith hub for centuries!

Right now it is the Haj, or the holiest pilgrimage of the Islamic faith — on which all Muslims are supposed to go at least once in their lifetime — which has an exhibition devoted to it at the British Museum. It covers a myriad aspects of the journey in as much detail as was possible. Understand-ably neither the director of the British Museum nor the curator of the exhibition may have been able to actually go near the Kaaba, or participate in the rituals or the physical journey as they are non-Muslims. But that has not deterred either Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Musuem, or its lead curator, Venetia Porter, in any way. They maintain that is precisely why they felt the need for an exhibition like this — so that non-Muslims could also appreciate why such staggering num-bers go to Mecca each year.

In fact , last year, just in one week, over three million people had undertaken the journey. The exhibition covers all aspects of the pilgrimage — right from the accounts of early pilgrims to the histori-cal and traditional narratives. The attire, the arrangements and the rites have all been presented. It also fo-cuses on the travel diaries and photographs of several outsiders who did go on the Haj, including the best-selling accounts of the intrepid explorer and writer Richard Burton, who went in disguise in 1853.

MacGregor has said that Haj is “the high point of the intersection between theology and logistics”, and of course, the exhibition also captures the enormous arrangements required to accommodate the sheer number of pilgrims as well as the hardships suffered by the early travellers, including some early converts such as the Scottish lady, Evelyn Cobbold, who became the first British Muslim woman pilgrim in 1933, saying enthusiastically: “It seems that I have always been a Moslem.” One wonders when will we be able to have similar exhibitions in India — without the threat of either misrepresentation or violence?

Meanwhile, the controversy over Dow Che-mical as a sponsor of the London Olympics rumbles on and on — but from all signs, the London Olympics committee has little desire to call off the seven-million pound deal.

It must be remembered that there is also a 100-million pound sponsorship arrangement with the International Olym-pics Committee. The numbers are not small.

The excitement over the resignation of Meredith Alexander this week from the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, while embarrassing for the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Locog), may be premature.

After all, it was an unpaid job, and while it has raised the pitch, unless there is a larger campaign against Dow, there promises to be little change in the current stance. In a statement, the commission said it was “sorry to confirm the resignation of Commissioner Meredith Alexander, whose remit covered supply chains and behaviour change.

“Meredith has stated that the reason for her resignation is that she does not feel she can remain with the commission in light of Locog’s appointment of Dow Chemical as the stadium wrap supplier, and the commission fully respects her decision to leave on this basis,” the statement elaborated, non-committally.

But the London mayor, Boris Johnson, has stated that he hopes that Ms Alexander will be persuaded to think differently. And then there are those sceptics who wonder why after 25 years the Indian government has still not got its act together and given the victims of the Bhopal tragedy a better life — or a secure environment or clean water. It is odd, to say the least, that while it allowed Union Carbide to escape almost without liability — it is now trying to use an international sports arena to settle scores. Will the activists, encouraged by Ms Alexander’s resignation, manage to push their agenda and will Boris Johnson — or the Olympics committee — blink? Right now, unless they find an equally big-ticket sponsor it doesn’t seem likely.

The writer can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com

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Bangladesh:Attempted coup

2012-01-27T18:37:00.000-08:00

Haunted by their histories

Syed Badrul Ahsan :

Fri Jan 27 2012, 03:17 hrs==================================================
The disclosure by the Bangladesh army of a coup attempt by mid-ranking and retired military officers has left the country in a state of disbelief. The disbelief stems not so much from the thought that such a conspiracy had been in the works, but that such moves should be made at all, two decades after the restoration of democracy. Bangladesh’s history, after it liberated itself from Pakistan in 1971, has not been a particularly pleasant one as far as the role of the military in politics is concerned. Contrary to popular expectations of a substantive democratic order underpinning the country’s politics following its emergence as an independent state, governance in Bangladesh has largely, and for a good number of years, revolved around the question of the military’s role in the work of government. The country has gone through major upheavals, almost always when the army decided to shoot down democratic politics.

But that phase, where the army exercised profound, and therefore, unquestioned, loyalty as the source of power in Bangladesh, drew to an end in February 1991 when free and fair general elections made it possible for the country to go back to government by the consent of the governed. In these past twenty years, since the country’s last military ruler left the scene, democracy has kept the social engine going. To be sure, it has been a flawed democracy, with cabinet government dwindling into a personalised, prime minister-led, administration. Even so, little thought was given to the possibility of the soldiers striking again. If Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh, could be assassinated by soldiers, if mutinous soldiers could cause the murder of the four figures who led the country to freedom, of Major General Ziaur Rahman and of Major General Khaled Musharraf, it follows that fears will keep rising about future attempts to overthrow governments by force. The discovery of the plot hatched by right-wing military officers, reportedly supported by non-resident Bangladeshis, to remove Sheikh Hasina’s government, is being seen as a vindication of such fears.

There is little question that the Awami League-led government finds itself in difficult circumstances, especially in light of the trial of the war criminals of 1971. The trials have spurred the supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami, whose leaders have for the past four decades been accused of assisting the Pakistan army in the genocide of Bengalis, into action, to have the process halted. Intriguingly, former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who heads the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has already demanded that the war crimes trials be halted on the ground that loopholes in the working of the International Crimes Tribunal have, in her party’s view, been raising questions. Khaleda Zia’s position has not gone down well with large sections of the population, which have seen in her statement a move to prevent justice from being done on an issue that ought to have been resolved years ago. The BNP chief undermined herself a little more when, a couple of days before the coup plot came to light, she accused the government of being behind what she called a disappearance of army officers in mysterious circumstances. That statement now looks to have been ill-advised.

If reports of a coup attempt have set Bangladeshis thinking about the future of their democracy, the clear power struggle involving the government, the judiciary and the army has led to renewed fears of political instability in Pakistan. The parallels with Bangladesh are eerie, for a good number of reasons. In these past many weeks, rumours of a coup in Pakistan or at least pressure on the part of the country’s influential army on President Asif Ali Zardari to quit over a so-called Memogate scandal have been rife. And into the scene stepped the Supreme Court, chastising Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over his failure to reopen old corruption cases against the president. In Bangladesh, despite the large measure of relief expressed by citizens when the war crimes trials got under way, there had been the suspicion that the government could come under assault. Leaflets disseminating inflammatory material relating to “abductions” of military officers and their “interrogation in Hindi” at secret locations, together with a repetition of the propaganda by former prime minister Khaleda Zia at a public rally in Chittagong, were clear pointers to mischief being afoot.

For now, conditions in Bangladesh are relatively calm and even the opposition BNP, founded by the country’s first military ruler Ziaur Rahman, has been scrambling to reiterate its adherence to democratic principles. In Pakistan, the army and the courts, despite having significantly weakened the Zardari-Gilani administration, have appeared to take a step back from the brink. That does not, however, imply that democracy is safe in Pakistan. With suspicion growing that the military establishment has been behind the sudden surge in the popularity of cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan, the feeling persists that politics in Pakistan will remain in a vulnerable state for quite a while. Besides, Islamabad’s difficult relations with the United States, coupled with its unending battle against Islamist extremists, continue to cause haemorrhage in the country’s body politic.

Bangladesh and Pakistan, having emerged as a single Muslim state in 1947 through the partition of India, went their separate ways after a bloody war of Bengali liberation in 1971. At some later point, though, it became hard for one to distinguish the politics of the two nations one from the other. Both countries have gone through long periods of military rule, with democratic politics getting stymied in the process. Both have resumed their slow march to democracy at certain periods of time. Both have wallowed in chaotic politics and continue to do so.

And yet, if the events of the past few days are any guide, both need to be on guard against any new attempt by soldiers to foist themselves on the state as new, familiar rulers. If indeed such a tragedy comes to pass, it will be a sad throwback to the darkness of the past.

The writer is executive editor, ‘The Daily Star’, Dhaka

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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/haunted-by-their-histories/904355/0

Tibetans News

2012-01-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

Sangay urges Tibetans for worldwide demonstrations

TNN | Jan 28, 2012, 05.40AM IST

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DHARAMSHALA: Tibetan prime minister Lobsang Sangay has given a call for world-wide vigils on February 8 to express solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet. He also urged Tibetans not to celebrate Losar (Tibetan new year) this time.

In his statement issued here on Thursday, he also urged the Chinese authorities to pay heed to the ongoing crisis in Tibetan, with protestors being fired upon and lamas carrying out self-immolations. "Stability cannot be restored inTibet through violence and killings of Tibetans. The only way to resolve the issue and bring about lasting peace is by respecting the rights of the Tibetan people and through dialogue," the statement said.

"I call on the international community to show solidarity and to raise your voices in support of the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people at this critical time. I request that the international community and the United Nations send a fact-finding delegation to Tibet and that the world media be given access to the region as well," said Sangay.

Sangay has also called upon the Tibetans to hold traditional prayers and spiritual offerings for the Tibetan friends inside Tibet, facing "brutal suppression of the Chinese forces".

"To my fellow Tibetans, I request you not to celebrate Losar, which falls on February 22 this year. However, please observe the basic customary religious rituals such as burning incense, going to temple and making traditional offerings," he said.

"Let's send a loud and clear message to the Chinese government that violence and killing of innocent Tibetans is unacceptable! I request everyone to conduct these vigils peacefully, in accordance with the laws of your country, and with dignity," the statement noted.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sangay-urges-Tibetans-for-worldwide-demonstrations/articleshow/11658849.cms

Austria: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

2012-01-27T16:25:00.000-08:00

Some slam Nazis; others gather for right-wing ball

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press –

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VIENNA (AP) — Austrians gathered in memory of the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis condemned plans to hold a ball of extreme rightists later in the day Friday, saying the event's timing transformed it into a macabre dance on Holocaust victims' graves.

Friday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, celebrated each year on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Ball organizers insisted the fact that their event coincided this year with the 67th anniversary of the death camp's demise was coincidental and denied suggestions that those attending were extremists.

But opponents vehemently criticized both the day chosen to hold the WKR ball and the political views of those attending it, suggesting it regularly attracts elements from the neo-Nazi fringe. The ball is to be held in Vienna's ornate Hofburg palace, less than a minute's walk away from the memorial event.

The dispute reflects both the distance Austria has come in acknowledging its role in Nazi atrocities and stubborn rightist sentiment among some here, who see themselves as Germans and Germans as the superior race — a common regional building block of anti-Semitism.

Some of the most bitter comments came from the crowd that converged on Vienna's Heldenplatz, or Heroes' Square, to lay wreaths for the victims of the Holocaust.

"You, who will dance and celebrate here; we remind you of the murder of two-thirds of Europe's Jews," proclaimed death camp survivor Rudolf Gelbard. Insisting that Nazi atrocities must never be forgotten, Greens' Party head Eva Glawischnig declared, "It is all the greater perfidy that there will be dancing today on the graves of Auschwitz."

Organizers point out that the ball traditionally takes place on the last Friday in January, but federal government minister Gabrielle Heinisch-Hosek scoffed at their insistence that the timing this year with international Holocaust commemorations was coincidence.

She called the timing "a big provocation" in comments to The Associated Press, while Greens' Party member Niki Kunrath said the fact "that right-wing extremists can still assemble in the most magnificent halls of the country" was a national shame.

Formally, Austria has moved from a postwar portrayal of being Nazi Germany's first victim to acknowledging that it was Hitler's willing partner. Most young Austrians reject Nazi ideology and condemn the part their parents might have played in the Holocaust.

At the same time, the rightist-populist Freedom Party — whose supporters range from those disillusioned with the more traditional parties to Islamophobes and Holocaust deniers — has become Austria's second-strongest political force.

The party, a strong defender of the ball, confirmed Friday that Marine Le Pen, head of France's National Front, planned to attend the event, along with Belgium's Philip Claeys of the Vlaams Belang party and other European far rightists.

The Freedom Party itself went on the offensive, saying the real threat to society came from leftists planning to demonstrate against the ball and warning Austrian Jewish leader Ariel Muzicant that it might press charges of incitement against him for encouraging the protests.

The ball is staged mostly by dueling fraternities including far-right members who display saber scars on their cheeks as badges of honor and mix on the dance floor with other guests of various ideological hues. Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache described the event as "an academic ball, not a political ball."

He accused "extreme-left" opponents of trying to sabotage his party and warned that the protests being organized outside the venue were being organized by anarchists backing "the rule of the street."

But demonstrations that began as the ball guests started to converge on the Hofburg were generally peaceful, with most of the approximately 2,500 demonstrators respecting police lines separating them from the venue.

In the only reported incident, some of the guests were delayed when the two buses carrying them were briefly blocked by sitting protesters who were quickly removed by police.

"I find this is wrong because today is the liberation day of Auschwitz," said demostrator Michael Wolfram of the event. "And I think it's impudent that the right-wing fraternities chose this day to celebrate."

Although the ball regularly comes under criticism, its overlap this year with the Auschwitz liberation anniversary had increased pressure on organizers and attendees

Because it was listed among other annual champagne-laced Viennese balls, an Austrian committee reporting to UNESCO, the U.N.'s culture organization, struck all the balls from its list of Austria's noteworthy traditions last week.

While some of the more opulent Vienna balls are criticized as a showcase of the rich, most are devoid of direct political controversy. For centuries, the city's high society has waltzed blissfully through wars, recessions and occasional firebomb-throwing anarchists opposed to the moneyed decadence they think such events represent.

But the WKR ball started drawing flack as Austrians began to come to grips decades ago with the fact that their country was one of Nazi Germany's most willing allies instead of its first victim through its 1938 annexation by Hitler.

Bowing to the pressure, the Hofburg palace announced late last year that the ball will have to
move elsewhere as of 2013.
___
Philipp Jenne contributed to this report.
George Jahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/georgejahn
Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

==================================================

Syria: Opinion

2012-01-27T16:16:00.000-08:00

A terrifying menu for Syria’s endgame

January 28, 2012 01:15 AM
By Rami G. Khouri

The Daily Star, Leanon
================================================================

Now that the Arab League has decided to ask the United Nations Security Council to back its plan to resolve the crisis in Syria, the prospects of international involvement in Syria inches forward just a bit more. This adds a new dimension to the already fertile debate on how the mounting violence and expanding political crisis will end.
In the last few months, I have heard dozens of scenarios for how things might play out in Syria. Some are plausible, others are fantastic, but all are suggested seriously by usually knowledgeable observers and analysts. They go something like this.
The most common scenario I hear is that tensions and violence will continue to the point in the coming year where economic collapse causes some influential figures in regime of President Bashar Assad to carry out a coup, after despairing that Assad can find a political solution to the crisis. Such a coup would be led by Alawite and Sunni military officers who would recognize the need to make a deal with the demonstrators and send Syria onto a path of serious political democratization, while sparing Alawites widespread retribution after the fall of the House of Assad. A variation of this sees an inside plot to assassinate the top leaders, and bring an immediate end to the crisis.
Another common scenario is that the Russians will recognize that Assad’s approach is doomed to fail and will shift away from their current course of using a veto to prevent Security Council moves to pressure Damascus. In this script, Russia convinces Assad to step down and leave the country with his extended family and their riches.
A variation on this sees a combination of Alawite leaders, military officers and top businessmen collectively deciding that they are all doomed if the current trends persist, and working together to do one of two things: either to engineer a coup and force Assad’s exit, or to sit him down and make clear that they – his pillars of support – see only doom, so that he must turn over power to a democratic transitional leadership before total collapse ruins the country.
A more dramatic possibility in some people’s view is for regional and global powers to impose no-fly zones and safe havens along Syria’s northern and southern borders. This would speed up the regime’s abandonment by tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians, speeding up its collapse from within. This process would be hastened by further economic deterioration impacting on all sectors of society, as tighter international sanctions – including bans on aviation and banking links with Syria – lead to shortages of basic goods and runaway inflation that make it impossible for most Syrians to live a normal life. This would also spark massive anti-regime demonstrations in Damascus and Aleppo, the death knell of the Assads.
A more drastic possibility is that the polarization of Syrian society along ethnic lines and full civil war will reach a point where the unified state collapses, and the Alawites retreat into their mountains to form their own state in their northwestern heartland. Some suggest this has been the aim of the crisis all along, with “outsiders” provoking civil strife to the point where Syria breaks up into statelets, including Alawite, Druze, Kurdish and Sunni entities.
This would occur at the same time as Iraq faces similar disintegration as a unified country and leaves behind Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish entities of some sort. Culprits behind this scenario it is said, of course, is Israel and America, whose desire for hegemony over the Middle East would be made much easier by the presence of weaker ethnic statelets rather than larger, stronger Arab states. In such a scenario, Israel would quickly come to the aid of some of these ethnic statelets – as it tried to do with some Lebanese groups in the 1980s – and thus cement both the fragmentation of the Levant and its dominance of it.
The most terrible scenario sees the deterioration in Syria leading the Assad regime to implement the Sampson Option. It would seek to instigate strife and chaos across the region, in order to plunge the Levant into a regional conflagration. This option would be based on the Assads’ assumption that if they cannot rule over a unified Syria, then nobody in the neighborhood should be able to live in peace and security either. Such a scenario would involve attacking or fomenting strife in Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, perhaps resulting in the desperate use of chemical or even nuclear weapons.
These are only the most plausible scenarios that are widely circulated in the region these days. The more outrageous ones we will leave for another day to ponder.
Rami G. Khouri is published twice weekly by THE DAILY STAR

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 28, 2012, on page 7.
=================================================================
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Jan-28/161336-a-terrifying-menu-for-syrias-endgame.ashx#ixzz1khujQNdY
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

And now Bangladeshi pirates!

2012-01-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

Bangladeshi pirates kill 4 Indian fishermen, kidnap 12

PTI | Jan 28, 2012, 02.26AM IST

Bangladeshi pirates on Friday night killed 4 Indian
fishermen, injured 8 others and hijacked a trawler
carrying 12 fishermen in the Bay of Bengal, police said.
==================================================

KAKDWIP: Two groups of Bangladeshi pirates on Friday night killed four Indian fishermen, injured eight others and hijacked a trawler carrying twelve fishermen in the Bay of Bengal, police said.

One group of pirates fired at the fishermen travelling in 'Maa Basanti' trawler at Kendua in the bay resulting in four of them being killed, Rahul Majumdar, SDO at Kakdwip, said, adding eight others were injured.

In the meantime, another group of pirates hijacked 'Tara' trawler carrying twelve fishermen and sailed away to the Bangladeshi side, he said.

As soon as another group of fishermen who were nearby heard about the firing incident, they confronted the pirates and managed to catch eight of them.

The fishermen are now bringing the captured pirates and the injured men to Kakdwip, the officer said.

===========================================

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bangladeshi-pirates-kill-4-Indian-fishermen-kidnap-12/articleshow/11657225.cms

2012-01-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

Posted: 11/24/2010 \| Meditation	Comments
============================================================

Are you one of those who roll out of bed in the morning scrambling for your coffee or dashing out the door to head to the office, hoping your socks match? Do you think that there’s simply no time in your crammed day to take a few moments to meditate? Or do you think that meditation is only for the yogi who sits all day on a mountaintop contemplating his navel?

What would you say if I told you that taking a few moments every day to tune into yourself would benefit you in numerous ways?

Whether you take a few moments to pray or simply sit still, it’s been shown that meditation yields rewards physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Here are a few of those rewards:

Meditation…

…relieves stress, which leads to a deeper level of relaxation.

…reduces anxiety attacks.

…decreases muscle pain and headaches.

…lowers heart rate and blood pressure.

…decreases respiratory rate.

…helps balance brain chemistry, which aids in stabilizing mood.

…helps with depression.

…enhances the immune system. (Research has shown that meditation increases activity of ‘natural-killer cells’, which kill bacteria, funguses, parasites and cancer cells.)

…helps in dealing with personal issues.

…creates new neuronal tracks in both the prefrontal cortex as well as the mid-insular regions of the brain, which helps us change and learn.

…helps align us with higher/deeper realms.

…aids in our connection with God, Spirit, Absolute or the Universe.

Isn’t that enough to take a few moments to meditate?

In the beginning, it will take effort to remember to tune into yourself. Here’s an exercise that will hopefully help:

During the day, take a moment to pay attention to what you are thinking and notice the emotion that is attached. This will help you build consciousness and better know yourself.

Also, even in busy situations, you can become still. Here’s how: focus on breathing deeply and slowly for a minute at your desk, while standing in lines or in the shower. You will soon discover that stillness can be woven into many of your everyday tasks.

After all, isn’t good health and happiness something worth striving for?

Have you found a way where stillness was woven into one of your everyday tasks? I welcome your comments or questions.

terri mahler hoagland http://goldmintpennystation.blogspot.com Posted: 2/26/2011 6:41:15 AM

You are so right Dr. Howard. When I think of something, I need to focus on the emotion that is attached with that thinking. This is a great daily exercise that I will for sure use, thank you so much. It is so simple and easy to utilize in every day thinking & feeling. Sometimes or often when i do and do for others especially my family, I have expectations that are not being met, so I get into that self-pity thinking. And I end up hurting myself. I also continue to let others take advantage of me. One of my sisters said, "your just too easy Terri." I thought to myself, "no, everyone just takes advantage of me too much, because I allow this to happen, I am the only one that can control that." However, I continue to do and do for everyone, they only call me if they want or need something, which is all the time, I sometimes feel like their mother. I grew up playing the mother role, so my habits of today continue. Why is it so hard to just say no? And when my family visits me, they like wearing my clothes, so i end up letting them wear them, but never not once do the ever return my clothes or dishes. Every time I cook, they love taking my food home with them with my dishes. They never return any thing that they use. I love them, but my goodness this is not any fun, if you give them an inch they take a mile.
When I invite G_d Most High into my life through prayer, meditation, and conversation, I open myself to infinite possibilities.
"Today, I will take the time to cultivate that thinking and emotion that is attached."
Thank you for taking the time to ready this letter, May you have a nice day today and everyday.
Respectfully Yours,
Terri
Thank you and I will for sure try this daily.
Terri

terri hoagland http://twitter.com/usabeautiuljew Posted: 3/4/2011 6:54:08 PM

Thank you Dr. Jennifer for opening your door to me. I appreciate it.
Terri

Marie http://spreading-joy.org Posted: 11/26/2010 7:51:04 PM

Love this reminder Jennifer! I''m the worlds worst at this. From the time I get up till the time I go to bed, seems like I''m doing something, even multitasking.

I do take some time each morning to pray & read but as the Christmas Season approaches and things get busier, that time is beginning to be lessened.

Thanks for all you do and I the animation in your pictures.

{{HUGS}}
@spreadingJOY

Chris Posted: 12/2/2010 1:25:38 PM

Thanks for the great post! It is hard at first to tune out everything but with practice it becomes easier and easier to get in tune with your body and relax physically and mentally. Thank you for the wonderful inspiration!

Mat http://www.thebenefitsofmediation.com Posted: 5/11/2011 2:45:00 PM

You hit the nail on the head with regards to us needing to take the time to do our meditation. Taking the short amount of time to do it has such a huge impact on my daily routine, that I don''t know how I went through my days before without doing it.

Thank you for this.

2012-01-26T06:56:00.000-08:00

15 Funny Facebook Timeline Cover Photos

13 minutes ago by Christine Erickson0

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1. Daniel Christian

Ground Control to Major Daniel -- this Timeline cover is out of this world.

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Now that Facebook Timeline has rolled out, many of you have become more familiar with its most prominent feature, resulting in a plethora of creative and noteworthy profiles. Now, we’ve scoured the social network and asked our readers for some of the funniest cover photo designs.

SEE ALSO: Facebook Timeline Roll Out: Everything You Need to Know

Whether it’s a tribute to an old Nintendo game or a play on placement or lighting, one of these cover photos is likely to make you smile. If you’re not a fan of the new profile changes, you may want to check out these browser tricks to get the old Facebook back.

Think you have a funnier cover photo? Share yours with us in the comments.

India News: Bhagavad Gita

2012-01-26T06:41:00.000-08:00

Gita verdict: Russian prosecutors planning to file appeal

PTI | Jan 26, 2012, 05.42PM IST
=============================================
MOSCOW: Undeterred by a Siberian court's rejection of their plea seeking a ban on a translated version of the Bhagvad Gita, Russian prosecutors are planning to file an appeal against the verdict on the holy book dubbed by them as "extremist literature".

Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk argue that the Russian translation of "Bhagvad Gita As It Is" promotes "social discord" and hatred towards non-believers, an issue which caused anger among believers around the world and forced New Delhi to take up the matter with Moscow.

The text is a combination of the Bhagvad Gita, one of Hinduism's holiest scriptures, andcommentary by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, that is commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON.

The deadline to file an appeal against the December 28, 2011 ruling by a Tomsk court, which turned down the petition seeking a ban on the book, expired yesterday, Sadhu Priya Das, ofISKCON, Moscow, who is also Chairman of newly-formed Hindu Council of Russia, said.

His comments came when asked about reports in the Russian media that prosecutors in Tomsk were filing an appeal against the court's ruling.

"The prosecutors have sought more time from the same court (which rejected their plea last month) for filing an appeal against the verdict" in a higher court, he said.

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http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/gita-verdict-russian-prosecutors-planning-to-file-appeal-170639

One is better than four.

2012-01-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

Abu Dhabi man divorces 3 wives at same time...

Keeps one after a fight between the four

Staff

Published Tuesday, January 24, 2012

=======================================================

A man returned home in Abu Dhabi to relax away from work only to find his four wives locked in a heated argument. His decision to end the fight was so decisive that he divorced three of them and beat up the fourth.

The court was equally decisive when it sentenced him to one month in prison and fined him Dh2,000. He then appealed for mercy, a chance he had not given to his wives but the appeals court upheld the earlier verdict.

“He hit them then divorced three. He again hit the fourth wife but it was not clear why he kept that specific one,” the semi-official daily Alittihad said without identifying the husband.

The man is said to have found all the wives fighting in one single room.

Of the four, one wife has filed a police complaint against the man. She alleged that she was beaten the most and was even hit against the wall.

======================================================

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/abu-dhabi-man-divorces-3-wives-at-same-time-2012-01-24-1.439110

2012-01-26T05:39:00.001-08:00

Pope calls for silence against Internet noise

From:AFP
January 25, 2012 10:53am

Catholic leader Pope Benedict XVI has called for restraint on the internet, but admitted social media can be useful. Picture: File Photo

People "frequently bombarded" with information on internet
Vatican's own news website receives 8-10,000 hits a day
Facebook, Twitter tell Google: Don't be evil

POPE Benedict XVI has hailed the benefits of silent reflection and encouraged people to stop being "bombarded" by information from the Internet,

But the pontiff says social networks could still be useful modes of communication.

"People today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware," the pope said in his now-traditional yearly message on the Vatican and social comunications.

"It is necessary to develop an appropriate environment, a kind of ecosystem that maintains a just equilibrium between silence, words, images and sounds," said the pope, while also defending responsible Internet communication.

"Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning,'' the pope said.

"In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated," the 84-year-old pope said in an apparent reference to the micro-blogging site Twitter.

But he added this was true only "as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives."

The Pope's speech comes as the Vatican reveals its news website is getting between 8000 and 10,000 hits a day with peaks of up to 16,000 hits over Christmas.

The website, which brings together all the Vatican's official communications and news from the Catholic Church around the world, was launched in June.

The data was announced by archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications at a Vatican press conference.

Celli said the average time visitors spent on the site in English, Italian and Spanish was around two minutes, which he said showed that those consulting it were not doing so "by mistake" but were reading some of its continent.

Almost a third of visitors - 27 percent - were from the United States, followed by browsers from Italy, Germany and Spain.

There were also many visitors from Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

Celli said most the visits to the website were through social media networks - with 65 percent from Facebook and 30 percent from Twitter

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/pope-calls-for-silence-against-internet-noise/story-fn7celvh-1226253184682

Stunning image of our world

2012-01-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

Nasa reveals stunning new hi-def 'Blue Marble' image of our world, as captured by agency's latest satellite

Thursday, Jan 26 2012 3PM 22°C 6PM 21°C 5-Day Forecast

By ROB WAUGH
Last updated at 7:51 AM on 26th January 2012
======================================================
Nasa's 'Blue Marble' images of our world started in 1972, when Apollo astronauts took an image of our world from 28,000 miles away, looking like a blue marble in space. Since then, the space agency has used the term for spectacular hi-def images of our planet created from satellite imagery and often released once a year.

Blue Marble 2012 was taken by a hi-tech instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP.

The 2012 version of Nasa's 'Blue Marble' space images is the most high-resolution image of Earth ever, according to the space agency. It's a composite image taken by the new Suomi satellite on January 4

This composite image uses a number of passes over the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012

It was created from imagery from Nasa's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP.

Suomi NPP is carrying five instruments on board. The biggest and most important is The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS, a scanning radiometer, which collects visible and infrared imagery and measurements of the land, atmosphere and oceans.

The satellite was renamed the late Verner E. Suomi, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin who is recognized widely as the father of satellite meteorology.

2011's Blue Marble: This mesmerising view of Earth is a montage of images taken by the Terra satellite orbiting 435miles above the planet's surface

Last year's image was taken by a space camera onboard the Nasa satellite Terra, which is orbiting 435miles above the Earth's surface.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2091758/Nasa-reveals-stunning-new-hi-def-Blue-Marble-image-world-captured-agencys-latest-satellite.html#ixzz1kZQB6YUR

India:

2012-01-26T04:42:00.000-08:00

Poised to take off

Sudipto Mundle | Jan 26, 2012, 12.00AM IST

This anniversary of our young republic is a good time to reflect on where we have reached, and the road that lies ahead. In just over 60 years, India has found its place at the high table of the comity of nations, the G-20. It is one of the largest and fastest growing emerging economies. But India has also been rated one of the worst performers in education outcomes, and the incidence of malnutrition is so high that the country has sometimes been characterised as chronically being in a near-famine condition.

Such contradictions notwithstanding, there is some evidence to suggest that there is a great window of opportunity for India. Some key reforms could launch the country on a long cycle of high, inclusive growth that could well end with India emerging as the third largest economy in the world.

The proportion of working age persons in our total population is rising. A recent World Bankstudy projects that this 'demographic transition' will continue till 2040. If the working age population can be productively employed, the ratio of earners to dependents will keep rising for the next 30 years - yielding a huge 'demographic dividend' of higher savings and growth rates, rapidly rising per capita income, and rising consumption.

This trend will be reinforced by two other processes that are at work. India's workforce, still concentrated in low-productivity agriculture, is finally beginning to shift to higher productivity sectors like industry and services. Between 1983 and 2007-08, agriculture's share in total employment came down from 63% to 53%, and it has since declined further. And while the workforce outside agriculture is mostly employed in the unorganised sector - where productivity is only about half or a third of that in the organised sector - the 2009-2010 NSS survey shows that for the first time, employment has grown much faster in the high-productivity organised sector than in the unorganised sector.

This dual process of the workforce shifting to higher productivity jobs and the rising ratio of earners to dependents points to a huge potential rise in productivity, savings and investment.

This could push up India's potential growth rate from around 7%-8% at present to 10% or more during the next two to three decades. That would also enable productive employment of the additional 800,000 to one million young women and men who will enter the workforce every month during this period. However, there is nothing automatic or inevitable about India reaching this golden age of growth. As the World Bank study cautions, realisation of this long cycle of high growth will depend on some critical preconditions being fulfilled.

One precondition is the accumulation of physical capital - not just plants and equipment but also infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, airports, telecommunications, and especially power. This is not merely a question of throwing enough money at the problem, but also of getting systems right to deliver adequate high quality infrastructure services on schedule.

There has been a marked improvement on this front during the past decade, but there is still a long way to go. In the power sector for instance, which is the main bottleneck today, a great deal of new capacity has been created or is on the way, but the sector is hobbled by the shortage of coal supply. Fortunately, the PMO is now focussed on this challenge and we can hope to see some forward movement in the near future.

Another precondition, and a much bigger challenge, is education. An important goal in itself, education is also key to equipping the workforce with the necessary knowledge and skills to migrate from low to high productivity jobs. Unfortunately, here we are moving backwards. The latest PISA report, the OECD's annual global assessment of students' skills, ranks students from China and other East Asian countries at the top while Indian students are ranked second last at the bottom.

Moreover, learning levels are not only very poor but getting worse over time. The 2011 Annual Survey of Education Report points out that over 96% of rural children in the school-going age of 6-14 are now going to school, about 25% of them in the private sector. However, more of these children are now learning less. The proportion of class V children who are able to read a class II text was only 54 % last year and has dropped further to 48%. Similarly, the proportion of class III children who can solve a two-digit subtraction problem with borrowing has dropped from only 36% last year to less than 30% this year.

Finally, we have the challenge of hunger. The prime minister recently referred to India's shamefully high incidence of malnutrition. Elaborating on that, social activist Binayak Senobserved in his 2012 N P Sen memorial lecture that in India, persons with a body-mass index of less than 18.5 show clinical symptoms of malnourishment. By this marker, 37.5% of Indians are malnourished, just a shade less than the 40% benchmark UN agencies use to define famine conditions.

But there is no shortage in the supply of food. Clearly, bold, imaginative reforms in the distribution of food as well as in the delivery of education services and infrastructure are key preconditions India must fulfil to realise its potential long cycle of high, inclusive growth.

The writer is emeritus professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi.
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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Poised-to-take-off/articleshow/11632024.cms

India News:

2012-01-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

Pune driver hijacks bus, goes on rampage killing 9

PTI Jan 25, 2012, 10.14AM IST

===================================================
PUNE: A rogue bus driver went berserk on the crowded streets of the city this morning, smashing all vehicles coming in its way and leaving nine persons dead and 27 others injured.

It was a nightmare in the Swargate area in the heart of the city, as the bus driven by a Maharashtra State Corporation bus driver came from wrong side of the busy Pune--Solapur Road and went past smashing all types of vehicles in the way and injuring pedestrians, who ran for their lives.

=============================================

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-25/pune/30662330_1_bus-driver-terminus-santosh-mane

2012-01-26T01:07:00.000-08:00

Republic of contradictions
January 24, 2012
By Jagmohan
==============================================
Sixty three years ago, Dr B.R. Ambedkar spoke of the “life of contradictions” into which the Indian Republic would enter on January 26, 1950.
He underlined the need for eliminating, at the earliest, the contradictions in the social and economic sphere lest they should imperil our political freedom and democracy. Were he to come alive today, he would be appalled to see the extent to which the contradictions have deepened and, that too during the period when the Republic saw one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

A report by the Naadi Foundation on Hunger and Malnutrition, which was released by the Prime Minister on January 11, 2012, has brought out that “59 per cent of the Indian children, between the age group of 0-5 years, have stunted growth, 42 per cent are underweight and 11 per cent suffer from wasting disease”. Every year, 13 lakh children die before reaching their first birthday, and about 55,000 women lose their life consequent upon birth-related complications.

Even now, as noted by the Unicef, in its report of 2009, 40 per cent of the world’s child marriages occur in India” and “about 47 per cent of Indian women in the age group of 20 to 24 years, covered by the survey, were found to have been married off before attaining the legal age of 18”.

It is the socially and culturally sanctioned practices and not the provision of law that generally matter.

Many other recent reports prepared by reputed agencies, both national and international, have reminded us of the agonising reality that has continued to curl around the body politic of our Republic, and with which we have been dealing without much zeal or inner commitment. The “human development index” value assigned to India in the 2011 report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is substantially low.

It is merely 0.547, and goes down further to 0.392 if the element of inequality is factored in. India’s overall rank is 134 amongst 187 countries covered by the report. Her position on “gender inequality index” is no less dismal; India is 129th in the list of 146 countries surveyed. When measured on the UNDP’s “multi-dimensional poverty index”, about 53 per cent of the total population of India would have to be reckoned as poor and living under distress.

It is primarily on account of this distress that in 2010 alone as many as 15,968 farmers and 28,152 self-employed persons in industry, trade and other professions committed suicide. The ever-increasing migrants to the major Indian cities are finding shelter only in the hell-hole of slums.

About 38 million of them are afflicted with serious water-borne diseases. Over half of the world’s most polluted cities are in India. Because of the poor quality of air, 18,000 premature deaths and 1.7 crore cases of illness occur each year in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

What makes the above conditions all the more tragic is that they have persisted even when India is virtually witnessing a “Gilded Age” of nouveau billionaires and when luxury houses, posh malls and sprawling golf courses are sprouting like mushroom in its metropolises. India’s capital, Delhi, alone has been, on an average, adding about 1,000 motor vehicles on roads every day. The contradictions that the Republic is rearing are, indeed, unprecedented.

It is the poor governance capacity of our system as a whole that has badly let the Republic down. In this regard, bureaucracy has to share a major part of the blame. The Indian Civil Services, which constituted the steel frame of the administrative setup at the time of Independence, had justifiably earned the reputation of being the best in the world; otherwise how could a mere 1,000 members of the service effectively maintain law and order throughout the length and breadth of British India and also carry out such remarkable development projects as setting up of an extensive network of canal irrigation in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh?

The remnants of this service and its successor, IAS, served the Republic well for the first few years of its life and played a prominent role in the integration of 562 princely states, rehabilitation of displaced persons and ushering in of the Green Revolution. But, due to the emergence of narrow politics of power and uncongenial social and cultural environment, the services started losing their verve, vitality and moral pie. They were soon overburdened with junk, and their interior spaces were infested with all types of pests.

Now, the Indian bureaucracy as a class is being labelled as obstructionist and venal. A Hongkong-based research group, named Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, in its report of January 2012, has rated this bureaucracy as “the worst in Asia”. That this appellation is not uncalled for can be seen from the fact that the 2011 report of the ministry of programme implementation itself shows that the delay in executing the plan projects would cost the public exchequer an additional amount of Rs 1.20 lakh crore.

The system of education in the Republic, too, has been marred by its unwholesome development. The recent data shows that 38 per cent of the doctors, 36 per cent of the Nasa technicians and 34 per cent of Microsoft employees working in the US are Indians and that they have mostly Indian educational background. But the other side of the system’s reality is that at present about two-thirds of universities and about 90 per cent of colleges are performing below average.

In respect of school education, January 2012 report of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development regarding its International Student Assessment Programme has ranked Indian higher secondary students only better than those from Kyrgyzstan among 74 participating countries.

On its birthday, all the well-wishers of the Republic should ponder over what the future holds for her. Would her freedom, in view of social and economic contradictions that her system is engendering, be blown up, as apprehended by Ambedkar, or would she turn a new page in her life?

W.E. Channing, a famous unitarian preacher of the 19th century, had made a highly insightful observation about the manner in which a setup undergoes a fundamental transformation: “There are seasons, in human affairs, of inward and outward revolution, when new depths seem to be broken up in the soul, when new wants are unfolded in multitudes, and a new and undefined good is thirsted for. There are periods when the principles of experience need to be modified, when hope and trust and instincts claim a share with prudence in the guidance of affairs, when, in truth, to dare is the highest wisdom.”

I am not sure whether a season for inward and outward revolution has come for India, whether new depths would break up in her soul, whether a new and undefined good would be thirsted for by her, whether hope and trust and instinct would claim a share with her prudence and whether she would attain her highest wisdom by daring.

But I have no doubt that unless the Indian Republic is soon visited by such a season of inward and outward revolution and she attains her highest wisdom by daring, she faces a bleak future and her contradictions and crudities would multiply and assume a more sinister form.

The writer is a former governor of J&K and a former Union minister

==============================================

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/editorial/op-ed/republic-contradictions-296

India:

2012-01-26T00:19:00.000-08:00

Please don’t mock us

The Indian Express :

Thu Jan 26 2012, 03:12 hrs
==============================================

We will not be mocked. And lest the conversation migrate to a more serious keel, be sure that we will not allow it to carry on anyway if it contests the rigidity of a narrative dear to even a few of us. What else can account for the bizarre spectacle of the Indian embassy in Washington registering its reservations with an assistant secretary of state on an American talk show host’s depiction of the Golden Temple? In a recent show, Jay Leno had flashed a photograph of the Sikh shrine, saying it could be a summer home for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. And since India is waging a diplomatic war on humorists — the Leno episode comes soon after protests by the Indian mission in Britain against a BBC motoring show — we will also remain untouched by the irony of the world’s largest democracy being snubbed with lectures on fundamental democratic rights. Leno’s comments, remarked a US state department spokesperson, are “constitutionally protected in the US under free speech”.
Given the overhang of the Salman Rushdie episode, it is time to call out the plain intolerance that’s come to inhabit Indian politics and statecraft. The point is not just that sundry, though sometimes formidable, groups are quick to take offence — whether it be on a scholarly essay on the Ramayana in the Delhi University syllabus, or on Rushdie’s nth visit to India in a decade, or on stereotypes trotted out on television comedies overseas — though we should be worried as a society about the “breaking views” hysteria that exaggerates and then gives a self-fulfilling momentum to these howls of outrage, and intimidates public figures into participation. What is striking is the alacrity with which politicians and government officials heed the squeals of protest as a few raw nerves are touched. This has so completely become the state’s default position that it is not even apologetic. Once the restrictions on The Satanic Verses were qualified with the plea that they did not reflect a literary critique. Now the administration does not even bother to disguise its creeping desire to control free speech, whether by police “information” on possible trouble or by plans to intimidate websites into self-censorship — or indeed by inflating perceived discomfort over a TV show into a diplomatic incident.

The signal is clear. Protest that you have been offended and the establishment shall hear you. It will not guide the conversation towards a middle ground that recommends moderation and a considered defence of individual liberty. It will amplify your right to be offended and to seek apology. This capitulation is bred by a politics that fails to realise its potential as a modernizing force. Nothing could be sadder in a week when India celebrates the day it gave itself a constitution founded on fundamental rights.

============================================

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/please-dont-mock-us/904000/0

2012-01-26T00:12:00.000-08:00

New clue to chemical origins of life discovered

Posted by News Desk on January 25, 2012

in News, Sci-Tech, Sourced
==============================================
Washington, Jan 25 (ANI): Scientists have shed light on the origin of the carbohydrates (sugars) that form the building blocks of life.

Organic chemists at the University of York led by Dr Paul Clarke in the Department of Chemistry have re-created a process, which could have occurred in the prebiotic world.

Working with colleagues at the University of Nottingham, they have made the first step towards showing how simple sugars -threose and erythrose-developed.

All biological molecules have an ability to exist as left-handed forms or right-handed forms. All sugars in biology are made up of the right-handed form of molecules and yet all the amino acids that make up the peptides and proteins are made up of the left-handed form.

The researchers found using simple left-handed amino acids to catalyse the formation of sugars resulted in the production of predominately right-handed form of sugars.

It could explain how carbohydrates originated and why the right-handed form dominates in nature.

“There are a lot of fundamental questions about the origins of life and many people think they are questions about biology. But for life to have evolved, you have to have a moment when non-living things become living-everything up to that point is chemistry,” said Dr Clarke.

“We are trying to understand the chemical origins of life. One of the interesting questions is where carbohydrates come from because they are the building blocks of DNA and RNA.

“What we have achieved is the first step on that pathway to show how simple sugars -threose and erythrose-originated. We generated these sugars from a very simple set of materials that most scientists believe were around at the time that life began,” he explained.

The research has been published in Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. (ANI)

=============================================

http://truthdive.com/2012/01/25/New-clue-to-chemical-origins-of-life-discovered.html

2012-01-26T00:06:00.000-08:00

Scientists make 'invisibility cloak' breakthrough

Telegraph.co.uk

Scientists in the United States have made a further step towards creating an "invisibility cloak" by masking a large, free-standing object in three dimensions.

A warplane cloaked with such materials could achieve "super-stealth" status by becoming invisible in all directions to radar microwaves Photo: Reuters
7:06AM GMT 26 Jan 2012
==============================================
The lab work is the latest advance in a scientific frontier that uses novel materials to manipulate light, a trick that is of huge interest to the military in particular.
Reporting in the New Journal of Physics, researchers at the University of Texas in Austin cloaked an 18-centimetre (7.2-inch) cylindrical tube from light in the microwave part of the energy spectrum.

Those hoping for a Harry Potter-style touch of wizardry would be disappointed. To the human eye, which can only perceive light in higher frequencies, no invisibility would have been seen.

But, say the researchers, the experiment is important proof of a principle that so-called plasmonic meta-materials can achieve a cloaking effect.

A warplane cloaked with such materials could achieve "super-stealth" status by becoming invisible in all directions to radar microwaves, said co-lead investigator Andrea Alu.

Plasmonic meta-materials are composites of metal and non-conductive synthetics made of nanometre-sized structures that are far smaller than the wavelength of the light that strikes them.

As a result, when incoming photons hit the material, they excite currents that make the light waves scatter.

The new experiment entailed making a shell of plasmonic meta-materials and placing the cylinder inside, and exposing the combination to microwaves.

Microwaves scattered by the shell ran into microwaves bounced from the object, preventing them sending a return signal to the viewer.

"When the scattered fields from the cloak and the object interfere, they cancel each other out, and the overall effect is transparency and invisibility at all angles of observations," said Alu.

Any shape of object can be masked, he added.

The cloaking worked best at a microwave frequency of 3.1 gigahertz, said the paper.

The feat is a step forward because other techniques have entailed bending light around two-dimensional objects or, in 3D, masking microscopic bumps on mirrors or reflectors, an approach called "carpet cloaking," say the authors.

The new concept could be modified for visible light, although any cloaked objects would be very small, in the micrometer range, as the plasmonic effect is linked to the wavelength of the light, Alu said in a phone interview.

Even so, there could be important applications for microwave meta-materials, he said.

"Camouflaging to radar is one important application, a super-stealth device to make objects invisible to radar," he said.

"What we are thinking about is not necessarily cloaking the whole warplane but some hot spots, a part such as the tailplane that you would want to cloak because it reflects most of the energy (from microwave radar)."

Another outlet would be in laboratories, filtering out the "backscatter" of light from the tip of high-powered optical microscopes. Unwanted light such as this impairs images of the object that is being scrutinised, and skews measurements.

Source: AFP

==============================================

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9040151/Scientists-make-invisibility-cloak-breakthrough.html

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

X-Ray Laser Turns Up the Heat to 3.6 Million Degrees

By Adam Mann
January 25, 2012 |
1:00 pm |
Categories: Physics

An x-ray laser fired at a sample of aluminum has generated temperatures of 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit — hotter than the sun’s corona.

Scientists achieved the sizzling temperatures using a powerful x-ray laser at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. By focusing rapid-fire pulses from the beam on a piece of aluminum foil thinner than spider’s silk, they were able to create a material known as hot dense matter.

The advancement represents the first time researchers have been able to produce such plasmas in a controlled way. The findings appear Jan. 25 in Nature.

Hot dense matter is some of the most extreme material in the universe, only existing in the hearts of stars and giant gas planets. Having a sample of it in the lab should provide insights into the material, helping scientists to create better models of its behavior.

Image: University of Oxford/Sam Vinko

Adam is a Wired Science reporter and freelance journalist. He lives in Oakland, Ca near a lake and enjoys space, physics, and other sciency things.
Follow @adamspacemann on Twitter.

Pakistan:Gilani Retracts

2012-01-25T23:57:00.000-08:00

Gilani Retracts Criticism of Pakistan’s Military Over Memo Probe

January 26, 2012, 1:10 AM EST
By Haris Anwar
==============================================
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani retracted his remarks against the military in which he accused the army of violating the constitution, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

Gilani criticized the army on Jan. 9 for overstepping its authority by directly submitting to the Supreme Court its response to claims the government sought U.S. help to stop a possible military coup following the May killing of Osama bin Laden. A Jan. 11 army statement warned the comments would have “grievous consequences” for the country.

Gilani told reporters yesterday before leaving for Davos, Switzerland, that he was “dispelling” the Jan. 9 remarks and that the government and the military “have to be on the same page,” APP reported. Meetings with the army chief, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, and head of military intelligence head, Lieutenant General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, have helped clarify the situation, the report quoted him as saying.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered a commission to probe allegations by a Pakistani-American businessman that President Asif Ali Zardari’s envoy to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, sent a memo to senior Pentagon officials seeking help to prevent any military takeover following the American raid near Islamabad that killed bin Laden.

Gilani’s government opposed the judicial investigation on the grounds that it had already announced a parliamentary inquiry into the scandal. The military supports the Supreme Court probe.

Haqqani, who was dismissed over the memo issue, and the government deny involvement in its drafting or delivery. Haqqani served as an adviser to Zardari and in the 1990s and was a spokesman for Zadari’s wife, Benazir Bhutto, during her tenure as prime minister.

The issue has triggered the biggest confrontation between Pakistan’s generals and elected leaders since army rule ended four years ago. The showdown complicates U.S. efforts to restore a strained relationship with Pakistan that is key to its bid to stabilize Afghanistan before a planned troop withdrawal in 2014.

--With assistance from Khurrum Anis in Karachi. Editors: John Brinsley, Paul Tighe

To contact the reporter on this story: Haris Anwar in Islamabad at hanwar2@bloomberg.net; James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg in Hong Kong at phirschberg@bloomberg.net.

============================================

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-26/gilani-retracts-criticism-of-pakistan-s-military-over-memo-probe.html

2012-01-25T23:29:00.000-08:00

Bill Gates pushes ‘green revolution’ for small farms in developing world

Jeffrey MacMillan/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST - Bill Gates speaks at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., on March 8 , 2011.

By Howard Schneider,
==============================================
After years that have seen riots over rice shortages in Asia and record low world reserves of staple crops such as wheat, software-billionaire-turned-philanthropist Bill Gates argues that there is a simple solution.

Gallery

In a new push for the Gates Foundation, the Microsoft chairman is focusing on basic research on crops such as cassava that hold little interest for the world’s agriculture multinationals but which are important for family farmers in some developing nations.

With productivity gains leveling off for major crops, such as soybeans and corn, Gates — in an annual review of the foundation’s work — said that boosting the productivity of small farms may be key to a new “green revolution.”

“The speed and productivity increases should rival that period,” he said in a recent interview, referring to the decades since the 1960s when the development of high-yielding hybrid crops, better pest and land management, and other advances led to plentiful supplies and falling prices of food staples.

That era may be at an end, some food analysts said. Rising demand, slowing technological advances and limits on the availability of arable land may usher in an era of higher and more volatile prices, they said.

The effect has been episodic. After rising to record levels in 2010, for example, food prices have moderated and are expected by the World Bank to fall this year.

But the result can still be devastating to poor countries. This has led banks, government aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations to focus on finding ways to make poorer nations more self-sufficient in food production and less dependent on the ups and downs of world grain markets and weather patterns.

Unlike the time-consuming methods once needed to create hybrid crops, Gates said, DNA sequencing should accelerate scientists’ ability to, for example, identify the genes that make cassava resistant to viruses.

Gates and others have urged the world’s major economic powers to commit more money to the type of basic research needed to fund the breakthrough science that would expand production of crops such as cassava, sorghum and millet — second-tier plants that farmers in Africa in particular turn to when other, typically imported food becomes too expensive.

The world recession and ongoing financial crisis in Europe, however, have crimped funding for food security programs. Pledges from a conference of major economic powers in Gleneagles, Scotland, in 2005 have yet to be fulfilled; only about half of the billion dollars promised to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program has been paid, with U.S. donations still falling short despite a $135 million contribution in the most recent federal budget.

The basic research promoted by Gates is just one of the challenges. The World Bank has set up programs to develop financial management tools that encourage small farmers to plant, while others have focused on the development of markets, roads and other infrastructure that can help them sell their products.

In the developed world, “the interest remains but everybody has their budget constraints,” said Kimberly Elliott, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development.” A lot of the attention now is on just holding the line.”

==============================================

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/bill-gates-pushes-green-revolution-for-small-farms-in-developing-world/2012/01/24/gIQAiuFXRQ_story.html

2012-01-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

U.S. commandos free two hostages in daring Somalia raid

By Abdi Sheikh

MOGADISHU | Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:34pm EST

======================================

(Reuters) - U.S. special operations forces swooped into Somalia on Wednesday and rescued two hostage aid workers after killing their nine kidnappers, a rare and daring raid in the Horn of Africa nation to free foreign captives.

American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, of Denmark, humanitarian aid workers for a Danish demining group, were rescued three months after they were kidnapped on October 25 in the town of Galkayo in the semi-autonomous Galmudug region of the Horn of Africa country.

"The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice," Obama said in a statement.

The rescue was carried out by forces that included members of the same elite Navy SEAL unit that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year in a raid on his compound in Pakistan, a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Other U.S. military services formed part of the assault team, and it was not clear that any of the same SEALs were involved in both the Somalia and bin Laden raids even if they came from the same unit, known as SEAL Team Six.

Members of the unit parachuted into a location near the town of Gadaado in central Somalia and then hiked to the encampment where the two foreign hostages were being held by their nine abductors, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

The raiding party arrived prepared to detain the kidnappers but was not able to do that and all nine were killed, Pentagon officials said. The kidnappers were heavily armed and had explosives nearby, they said. None of the U.S. forces were hurt.

Obama authorized the raid on Monday and military commanders gave the final go-ahead on Tuesday, Pentagon officials said.

They said a confluence of factors, from the health of the hostages to the available intelligence and operational conditions, gave Obama a window of opportunity to act and prompted Washington to move ahead with the raid.

Buchanan was suffering from a possible kidney infection, according to people involved with the hostages. New evidence obtained last week suggested her health was deteriorating, said Pentagon officials, who would not elaborate on her condition.

"We're confident that there was enough of a sense of urgency, there was enough actionable intelligence to take the action that we did, for the president to make the decision that he did," said Navy Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.

Buchanan and Thisted were flown to neighboring Djibouti, home to the only U.S. military base in Africa and France's largest base on the continent, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. They were under the care of U.S. military doctors, officials said.

Obama was overheard congratulating Panetta on the success of the operation as the president entered the U.S. House of Representatives chamber on Tuesday for his annual State of the Union speech.

Panetta had been at the White House before the speech and had been monitoring the progress of the operation. The raid was still being wrapped up when the president spoke to him.

"Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight," Obama said.

The Pentagon said there were no known links between the kidnappers and Islamic militant groups in the region. Kirby said the U.S. military had no evidence to connect them to piracy.

But Obama called them "criminals and pirates" in his statement, as did local officials.

"About 12 U.S. helicopters are now at Galkayo. We thank the United States. Pirates have spoilt the whole region's peace and ethics. They are mafia," Mohamed Ahmed Alim, leader of the Galmudug region, told Reuters.

He was speaking from Hobyo, a pirate base north of Haradheere, where he said he was negotiating the release of an American journalist seized on Saturday, also from Galkayo.

Somali pirate gangs typically seize ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and hold the crews until they receive a ransom. The kidnapping of the aid workers in Galkayo would be an unusual case of a pirate gang being behind a seizure on land.

U.S. and French forces have intervened to rescue pirate hostages at sea, but attacks on pirate bases are rare.

Pirates and local elders say the American journalist and a number of sailors from India, South Korea, the Philippines and Denmark are being held by pirate gangs.

A British tourist kidnapped from Kenya on September 11, 2011 is also still held captive in Somalia.

Somalia's government applauded the mission and said it welcomed any operation against pirates.

U.S. special forces killed senior al Qaeda militant Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in a raid in southern Somalia in 2009. Several other al Qaeda or al Shabaab officials have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Somalia over the past few years.

Panetta visited U.S. troops in Djibouti last month on his way to Afghanistan and Iraq, in a stopover that reflected Obama's growing focus on the militant and piracy threats from Yemen and the eastern edge of Africa.

In Djibouti, the United States has a platform to monitor al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula inYemen and Somalia's al Shabaab, a hardline rebel group with links to al Qaeda.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu, John Acher and Mette Fraende in Copenhagen, David Clarke in Nairobi, Phil Stewart and David Alexander in Washington; Writing byRichard Lough and David Clarke; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Eric Walsh)

============================================================

2012-01-25T23:15:00.000-08:00

8 Years on Mars: 'Amazing' NASA Rover Still Going Strong

by Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer

Date: 24 January 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET

NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have now spent eight years on the surface of Mars.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL

A NASA rover celebrates eight years on the Martian surface today (Jan. 24), and the long-lived robot is still going strong.

The Opportunity rover landed on the Red Planet at 9:05 p.m. PST Jan. 24, 2004 (12:05 a.m. EST Jan. 25), three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. While NASA declared Spirit dead last year, Opportunity continues to gather data in its dotage, helping scientists understand more and more about Mars' wetter, warmer past.

"It is amazing. I have to remind myself — my God, this thing is still going!" said John Callas, Opportunity's project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "But more importantly, it is still very productive on the surface."

Following the water

Spirit and Opportunity were originally supposed to spend 90 days searching for signs of past water activity on Mars. The solar-powered robots found plenty of such evidence at their disparate landing sites, dramatically reshaping scientists' understanding of the Red Planet and its history. [Mars Photos by Spirit and Opportunity]

Spirit, for example, found strong evidence of an ancient hydrothermal system. The discovery showed that at least some areas on Mars once had two key ingredients necessary to support life as we know it — liquid water and an energy source.

Opportunity, for its part, recently found clues that warm water may also have flowed or percolated on the rim of Mars' huge Endeavour Crater long ago.

The golf-cart-size rovers just kept chugging along, continuing to make observations years after their warranties expired.

Spirit got mired in soft sand in May 2009, after a bad wheel compromised the rover's mobility. The robot failed to maneuver into a position that would have slanted its solar panels toward the sun over the course of the 2009-2010 Martian winter, and it stopped communicating with Earth in March 2010.

NASA declared Spirit dead in May 2011, identifying hypothermia as the likely cause. But Opportunity remains an active and alert planetary explorer.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to capture this view of a northward-facing outcrop, "Greeley Haven," where the rover will work during its fifth Martian winter. This image, taken by Opportunity on Nov. 29, 2011, was released Jan. 5, 2012.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL-Caltech

View full size image

Studying Endeavour Crater

After a three-year trek, Opportunity arrived at the 14-mile-wide (22-kilometer) Endeavour Crater in August 2011. The rover spent the next few months poking along Endeavour's rim, where it recently uncovered what researchers say is the best evidence yet for liquid water on ancient Mars.

In December, Opportunity found a good spot to wait out the looming Martian winter — a rocky outcrop informally named Greeley Haven. The location allows the rover to tilt its solar panels northward at about 15 degrees, maximizing the power it can draw from the sun to stay warm, active and healthy, researchers said.

Opportunity isn't sleeping the winter away. It will stay awake though relatively stationary, investigating the rocks at Greeley Haven and taking panoramic pictures of its surroundings. And, most importantly, it will beam radio signals home to Earth.

Mission scientists will track those signals, using Opportunity's motion relative to Earth as a proxy for the rotation of Mars, Callas said. Scientists should thus be able to get very precise measurements of the planet's spin.

They'll use that information to draw inferences about Mars' mysterious interior structure — how big the planet's core is, for example, and whether that core is liquid or solid.

'A whole new landing site'

The winter solstice at Opportunity's location comes in late March; a few months after that, Callas said, solar energy should be strong enough to allow the rover to get moving again. [Mars Explored: Landers and Rovers Since 1971 (Infographic)]

At that point, the plan is to send the robot south along Endeavour's rim, toward a place about 1.8 miles (3 km) away called Cape Tribulation. Mars-orbiting spacecraft have detected clay minerals — which form in water — at Cape Tribulation, so the team wants Opportunity to investigate the area.

"It speaks a lot to the biopotential and habitability of Mars in the ancient past," Callas told SPACE.com. "We want to go there. It's on some challenging slopes, some 30-degree slopes, and we'll have to do some Martian mountaineering. So it'll be a spectacular adventure with the rover to get to these locations."

Mission scientists are eager to explore large swaths of the huge crater, which offers a wealth of possible new discoveries.

"Endeavour is like a whole new landing site, and we've really only just scratched the surface so far," rover principal investigator Steve Squyres, of Cornell University, told SPACE.com in an email

============================================

http://www.space.com/14329-embargoed-hold-1-24-8-years-mars-amazing-nasa-rover-strong.html
.

2012-01-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

Pak parliament adopts resolution demanding Musharraf's arrest

PTI | Jan 23, 2012, 11.20PM IST
=============================================

ISLAMABAD: The upper house of Pakistan's parliament on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution that demanded the arrest of former President Pervez Musharraf on his arrival in the country and the registration of a case of high treason against him.

The resolution was moved in the Senate by Raza Rabbani, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan People's Party.

Rabbani accused Musharraf, currently living in self-exile in London and Dubai, of abrogating the constitution twice, arresting members of the superior judiciary and compromising national interests.

Musharraf dented the national economy and inflicted colossal loss to the national exchequer, Rabbani said.

The rules of business of the Senate were suspended when Rabbani moved a motion and informed the chairman of the House that he and several other Senators of the PML-N, Awami National Party and Jamaat-e-Islami, intended to move the resolution against the former dictator.

The resolution alleged that Musharraf had "aided, abetted and is an accomplice in the murders of (former premier) Benazir Bhutto and (Baloch nationalist leader) Akbar Bugti.

It accused Musharraf of committing "numerous crimes" against the people of Pakistan and said: "his policies and use of state force in Balochistan ledto the loss of innocent lives and further sponsored disappearance of its citizens".

Musharraf "compromised vital national security interests through clandestine deals and unwritten agreements with foreign governments" and his economic policies widened economic disparity, created monopolies, promoted cartels and "gave rise to crony capitalism", the resolution said.

The resolution demanded that Musharraf should be "arrested immediately on arrival in Pakistan" and that the federal government should institute a case of high treason against him under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Musharraf recently postponed his plans to return to Karachi during January 27 and 30 after several Pakistani leaders, including Interior Minister Rehman Malik, said he would be arrested and jailed as soon as he stepped out of the aircraft.

Two Pakistani courts issued warrants for his arrest last year.

==============================================

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/Pak-parliament-adopts-resolution-demanding-Musharrafs-arrest/articleshow/11606419.cms

The story of Shoichi Yokoi, who survived in the jungles of Guam for nearly 3 decades.

2012-01-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who held out in Guam
By Mike Lanchin, BBC World Service
24 January 2012 Last updated at 00:30 GMT

In today's Magazine

It's exactly 40 years since a Japanese soldier was found in the jungles of Guam, having survived there for nearly three decades after the end of WWII. He was given a hero's welcome on his return to Japan - but never quite felt at home in modern society.

For most of the 28 years that Shoichi Yokoi, a World War II Lance Corporal in the Japanese Army, was hiding in the jungles of Guam, he firmly believed his former comrades would one day return for him.

And even when he was eventually discovered by local hunters on the Pacific island, on 24 January 1972, the 57-year-old former soldier still clung to the notion that his life was in danger.

"He really panicked," says Omi Hatashin, Yokoi's nephew.

Startled by the sight of other humans after so many years on his own, Yokoi tried to grab one of the hunter's rifles, but weakened by years of poor diet, he was no match for the local men.

Shoichi's story

Born in 1915 and conscripted in 1941 to serve in Manchuria, before being sent to Guam in 1944
On his return to Japan he expressed embarrassment at having returned alive, rather than dying in the service of the emperor
Japan had changed utterly during his three-decade absence - some found his stoicism and loyalty inspiring, others found it absurd
He married in 1972, within months of his return and died in 1997, aged 82
He longed to meet Emperor Hirohito - in the end he was granted Emperor Akihito in 1991

"He feared they would take him as a prisoner of war - that would have been the greatest shame for a Japanese soldier and for his family back home," Hatashin says.

As they led him away through the jungle's tall foxtail grass, Yokoi cried for them to kill him there and then.

Using Yokoi's own memoirs, published in Japanese two years after his discovery, as well as the testimony of those who found him that day, Hatashin spent years piecing together his uncle's dramatic story.

His book, Private Yokoi's War and Life on Guam, 1944-1972, was published in English in 2009.

"I am very proud of him, he was a shy and quiet person, but with a great presence," he says.

Underground shelter

Yokoi's long ordeal began in July 1944 when US forces stormed Guam as part of their offensive against the Japanese in the Pacific.

Yokoi's eel trap was one of his prize possessions

The fighting was fierce, casualties were high on both sides, but once the Japanese command was disrupted, soldiers such as Yokoi and others in his platoon, were left to fend for themselves.

"From the outset they took enormous care not to be detected, erasing their footprints as they moved through the undergrowth," Hatashin said.

In the early years the Japanese soldiers, soon reduced to a few dozen in number, caught and killed local cattle to feed off.

The last holdouts

Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda led a guerrilla task- force on the Philippine island of Lubang for many years after the end of the war. He doggedly refused to lay down his arms until formally ordered to surrender. Repatriated March 1974.
Private Teruo Nakamura, a conscript from Taiwan, was found growing crops alone on the Indonesian island of Morotai in December 1974. He was repatriated to Taiwan where he died in 1979.

But fearing detection from US patrols and later from local hunters, they gradually withdrew deeper into the jungle.

There they ate poisonous toads, river eels and rats.

Yokoi made a trap from wild reeds for catching the eels. He also dug himself an underground shelter, supported with strong bamboos.

"He was an extremely resourceful man," Hatashin says.

Keeping himself busy also kept him from thinking too much about his predicament, or his family back home, he said.

Return to Guam

Yokoi's own memoirs of his time in hiding reveal his desperation not to give up hope, especially in the last eight years when he was totally alone - his last surviving two companions died in flooding in 1964.

Yokoi demonstrating the handmade loom he used in the jungle

Turning his thoughts to his ageing mother back home, he at one point writes: "It was pointless to cause my heart pain by dwelling on such things."

And of another occasion, when he was desperately sick in the jungle, he writes: "No! I cannot die here. I cannot expose my corpse to the enemy. I must go back to my hole to die. I have so far managed to survive but all is coming to nothing now."

Two weeks after his discovery in the jungle, Yokoi returned home to Japan to a hero's welcome.

He was besieged by the media, interviewed on radio and television, and was regularly invited to speak at universities and in schools across the country.

Find Out More

Omi Hatashin was interviewed for the BBC World Service programme Witness
Witness airs every weekday, and tells history through the eyes of the people who were there

Listen to the programme

Hatashin, who was six when Yokoi married his aunt, said that the former soldier never really settled back into life in modern Japan.

He was unimpressed by the country's rapid post-war economic development and once commented on seeing a new 10,000 Yen bank note that he the currency had now become "valueless".

According to Hatashin, his uncle grew increasingly nostalgic about the past as he grew older, and before his death in 1997 he went back to Guam on several occasions with his wife.

Some of his prize possessions from those years in the jungle, including his eel traps, are still on show in a small museum on the island.

Climate Change

2012-01-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Joining Forces and Resolving to Fight Climate Change

Amber on January 23, 2012 10 Comments
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Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world today. In fact, it may be the most pressing issue. As the evidence mounts, and the scientific community reaches a strong consensus that our actions are affecting the average temperature of the planet we live on, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the reality of what’s happening. The time has come to act. This is why, for the month of January, the Green Moms Carnival has decided to join our voices together to speak out and share what we’re doing to fight climate change.

When we’re faced with these big, overwhelming issues, it’s easy to feel paralyzed. That’s why it’s so important to join with others. When we all do what we can, it begins to add up, and really make a difference. Since it’s still January, we’re all sharing what we’re doing to fight climate change and reduce our own carbon footprints in 2012. Maybe, as you read what the Green Moms are doing, you’ll be inspired to make some changes of your own, too.

Food and Carbon Footprint

Linda at Citizen Green has resolved to Cut Out the Food Waste in 2012. She’s meal-planning, buying in bulk, composting and using leftovers, in order to reduce her carbon footprint. Did you know that 25% of the food grown in the US ends up getting thrown out? If you want to tackle your own food waste, read Linda’s post for tips.

Beth at My Plastic Free Life is trying out Recipes for the Semi-Vegan, Plastic-Free Lifestyle. By reducing her consumption of animal products, and avoiding plastic packaging, Beth is reducing the carbon footprint of her food and fighting climate change.

Abbie, a.k.a. Farmer’s Daughter, is sharing Five Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint by Choosing Real Food. Instead of opting for packaged and processed food, she’s cooking from scratch. Fewer food miles and less packaging are just two of the ways her choice is fighting climate change.

Deanna Duke, author of The Non-Toxic Avenger and blogger at Crunchy Chicken, has some lofty Urban Homestead Goals for 2012. She’s going in on a pig share, raising meat rabbits and joining a honey CSA, among other things. In the process she’ll reduce her food miles, and her carbon footprint.

Brenna at Almost all the Truth is also making food-based Resolutions to Fight Climate Change. She suggests reducing the amount of animal products you consume by observing Meatless Monday or Vegan Thursday, and reducing your food miles by eating local. Both will reduce your carbon footprint.

Image credit – tarsandsaction on Flickr

Getting Political for the Planet

Mary of In Women we Trust is making a Business Climate Change Resolution. She’s working hard to create real change. My favourite part is when she writes, “I resolve to stop referring to our business leaders as ‘leaders’ unless they truly are taking a leadership position.” Preach it, sister.

I didn’t write a post of my own for this carnival, but my resolution is to take more political action to fight climate change. For me this means writing letters, using my voice here on this blog and elsewhere, and joining groups that are fighting climate change. I want to make sure my elected representatives know how I feel.

Diane at Big Green Purse suggests Making a Big Hairy Audacious Green Goal for 2012. This is something significant and measurable. Her One in a Million campaign is urging people to shift $1000 of their annual spending to greener products and services. That sounds both audacious and awesome to me!

Harriet the Climate Mama is Fighting Climate Change with Facts in 2012. She’ll be speaking out, leading by example, and even testifying before Congress. Harriet protested in front of the White House against the Keystone Pipeline in 2011, so she’s already been making herself heard and taking political action to fight climate change.

In fact, Lynn at Organic Mania watched Harriet as she was arrested, and her post about Resolving to Fight Climate Change shares the account. She reminds us that together, we can accomplish so much.

Lisa at Retro Housewife Goes Green is making Green Resolutions for 2012. She’s been very vocal in her home community, working to promote local recycling and bringing awareness to cement kiln pollution. Her advocacy work is not only fighting climate change, it’s helping to protect the health of her neighbours, too.

Being Mindful

It’s probably no surprise that Micaela the Mindful Momma is writing about Being Mindful. She’s taking care of the planet, her community, her family’s health and herself. She’s trying to create a green and healthy life, which will certainly reduce her carbon footprint.

Karen at Best of Mother Earth is also making Resolutions to Fight Climate Change that involve being more mindful. She’s championing pause and choice, saying, “A lifestyle of less is more. In the end this produces less waste and we are healthier!” I agree.

Jenn of The Green Parent is making New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 that involve mindfulness, as well, including listening more and holding the guilt. She’s also planning to spend more time on Facebook, connecting with other green moms. Community is so important!

Image credit – Jacob & Kiki Hantla on Flickr

Resolving to Fight Climate Change

Stephanie at Good Girl Gone Green has tips for Reducing Your Carbon Car Print. The time we spend driving plays a big part in how much carbon we emit, and she has ideas for cutting back. For example, by keeping your car serviced and reducing your idling time, you can help fight climate change.

Jen at Puddle Jumping in DC has a novel idea – Green Your Cycle with Reusable Menstrual Products. Cloth pads and menstrual cups are actually easier to use than you might think. I’ve been using them for years myself, and I’m a convert.

Lori at Groovy Green Livin’ is sharing Four Resolutions to Fight Climate Change. From choosing zero VOC paint in a renovation to getting a home energy audit, she’s working hard to reduce her carbon footprint.

Betsy the Eco-novice has made five Climate Change Resolutions. She’s cancelling catalogues, turning off power strips and more, in order to reduce her personal carbon footprint.

The bloggers at The Green Phone Booth are also joining forces and Changing for Climate Change. Their resolutions range from being sure to remember reusable bags at the grocery store to reducing energy use to moving from environmentalism to activism. Once again, working together reaps big rewards for the planet.

As you can see, fighting climate change can involve taking small private steps to big political actions. It doesn’t matter so much what you do, though. What really matters is that you do something. Take a look at your life, and see what steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint and fight climate change. The time has come to stand up, speak out, and act – if not for ourselves, then for our children.

How are you fighting climate change in 2012?

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http://ht.ly/8DN9o

Corruption: To curb corruption several measures needed.

2012-01-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

No one bill will do

P P Rao : Mon Jan 23 2012, 03:39 hrs

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Corruption has become a serious problem, defying solutions. To curb it, several measures are needed apart from the Lokpal bill, the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill and the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Persons Making the Disclosures Bill, otherwise known as the whistlblowers protection bill. The three bills, in their present form, do not appear capable of achieving the avowed objective. Like the Right to Information Act, these bills need to be made effective. Ideally, they should be made part of a comprehensive package of electoral, administrative and judicial reforms. These should facilitate the removal of public servants found to be of doubtful integrity and the appointment of persons of probity, ability and commitment.

Protection of whistleblowers is overdue. For want of protection, several whistleblowers who dared to expose corruption have been killed, including journalists. The whistleblowers protection bill, passed by the Lok Sabha, was drafted after considering the reports of the Law Commission and the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, to encourage public-spirited persons to disclose information relating to corruption and the wilful misuse of power or discretion on the part of any public servant, to ensure their anonymity, facilitate discreet and thorough inquiry into the allegations and to provide a mechanism, not only to punish the guilty and recover the loss, but to provide safeguards against the victimisation of informants. The bill also prescribes penalties for motivated complaints made against innocent public servants.

While adopting the definition of “public servant” from the Prevention of Corruption Act, covering government servants, members of Parliament and state legislatures, ministers and judicial officers, the bill excludes the prime minister and chief ministers who act as “competent authorities” and are made responsible to ensure effective implementation of the law. The success of the proposed law depends on the competent authority’s integrity, ability and determination to root out corruption. The prime minister in relation to a Central minister and the chief minister in relation to a minister in a state are supposed to shoulder this onerous responsibility. At a time when the credibility of severalCMs appears to be doubtful, can this bill achieve its objectives?

While the high court is rightly made the competent authority in respect of judicial officers and the court staff, in the case of Central government servants and holders of office under a Central Act, the competent authority will be the Central Vigilance Commission or any other authority, as the Central government may specify. There is no guidance for exercising discretion by the Central government. Similar discretion is given to the state governments to specify the State Vigilance Commission or any officer of the state government or authority as the competent authority in respect of its employees or holders of offices under a state law. Unguided discretion means avoidable uncertainty. Legislative guidance is necessary. Keeping out judges of superior courts is understandable as the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill provides for a mechanism to entertain complaints against them.

The British had left behind a disciplined army, neutral civil services, efficient police and paramilitary forces and a strong and independent judiciary. Those fighting for Independence, promised better governance through elected representatives. B.R. Ambedkar and Rajendra Prasad told the Constituent Assembly that if the people elected have competence and integrity, they can make the best even of a defective Constitution. If they are lacking in these, the Constitution cannot help.

What are the ground realities now? Candidates spend large sums of unaccounted money. After getting elected, their interference with the administration, including the police, has become inevitable. Corruption starts here. The Supreme Court, in the Vineet Narain vs Union of India case, took notice of the N.N. Vohra Committee Report on the activities of crime syndicates, being protected by some in the government, and suggested remedial measures. In Jayalalithaa’s case, the Supreme Court, referring to the corruption that has corroded electoral democracy, suggested amendment of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, so that a person on being convicted of an offence punishable under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act could be disqualified from being chosen as a member or continuing as a member of a legislative assembly or Parliament. The public opinion for a strong, independent Lokpal reflects the lack of trust in the integrity and objectivity of the elected representatives. Parliament is yet to act.

To check corruption, the electoral system needs to be purified first. Administration of justice needs to be toned up. For ensuring successful prosecution of corrupt public servants, there has to be an independent and thorough investigation. In addition to whistle blowers, protection needs to be given to each and every prosecution witness as suggested by the Law Commission, Justice Malimath Committee and the Supreme Court. In short, comprehensive reforms covering all aspects of corruption are required. Who will do it, and when?

The writer is a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, and an expert in constitutional law

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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-one-bill-will-do/902762/0

India: Unique Identification (UID) project

2012-01-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Identity crisis

The Indian Express : Mon Jan 23 2012, 03:50 hrs

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Ever since the Unique Identification (UID) project rolled out, it has had to weather hit-and-run attacks. Concerns about privacy and budgets have been mounted from influential staging posts in attempts to derail the project altogether by isolating the UID Authority of India within the government. Yet the promise of the project, aimed at offering every Indian a secure proof of identity, is so powerful that its momentum remains unchecked. Tens of millions of people have already showed up at the appointed venue to register their biometric markers — primarily fingerprints and iris scans — in the hope of finally having a single proof of identity. However, now the mandate of the UIDAI is on the verge of lapsing, and it is squarely up to the Central government to address the issue or risk obstructing the project altogether.

It is not clear why the UPA government would countenance internal resistance — or even the impression of such resistance — to take the sheen off its big-ticket reform. It certainly consolidates the impression of a government at odds with its bold first instincts. However, Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s appeal to the prime minister to bring the issue before the cabinet and sort it out should serve to catalyse purposeful action. In his letter to the prime minister, he has explained the need to clarify who will capture the biometric data, the UIDAI or the Registrar General of India. The latter office falls under the home ministry and has been, in an exercise parallel to the UIDAI’s, creating a biometric database through the National Population Register. In the absence of clarity on this procedural question, there has abounded speculation about battles over turf and political influence — and the letter alludes to the danger inherent in this. If Chidambaram’s letter does not galvanise the cabinet into taking up the matter, it is difficult to guess what else could.

The UID is too important to be cast aside because of administrative differences. It has the potential to target welfare scheme to the rightful beneficiaries by identifying leakages, whether on account of bureaucratic lapses or outright corruption. Equally, it would dramatically empower individuals. A non-duplicable, tamper-resistant proof of identity could relieve every Indian of cumbersome paperwork — and possibly greasing palms — to get an ID and also of the requirement to duplicate that effort for myriad purposes and for every change of residence. It is the last mile we need to cover in the pursuit of economic, financial and social inclusion.

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http://www.indianexpress.com/news/identity-crisis/902766/0

2012-01-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

Sexy Cindy a plus-size model? Fashion news!

Last updated on: January 20, 2012 22:55 IST

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In today's Magazine

Shoichi's story

The last holdouts

Find Out More

Climate Change

Food and Carbon Footprint

Getting Political for the Planet

Being Mindful

Resolving to Fight Climate Change

Corruption: To curb corruption several measures needed.

India: Unique Identification (UID) project

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