Woman spends 10,000 pounds to hear her cat miaow again
INT43International/Health/SocietyWoman spends 10,000 pounds to hear her cat miaow againLondon, Oct 6 IANS A pet owner in southeast Britain has spent a whopping 10,000 pounds to hear her moggy miaow again after the cat suffered a rare throat condition, the Daily Telegraph reported.Jean Kelly, 40, first noticed her 13-year-old pet Cadbury suddenly lost his voice. She did not take any time to visit a vet who diagnosed that Cadbury was suffering from a paralysed larynx, a rare condition that needed immediate surgery.Cadbury required two operations to fix the condition - at a cost of 5,000 pounds. And after a stint in intensive care, six days in an oxygen tent, four months nursing care and regular check-ups, Kelly ended up paying 10,000 pounds.Kelly’s insurance company Petplan paid 6,000 pounds of the costs, but she has been left to fork out the remaining. Kelly, who lives in Olney, Buckinghamshire, had to put on hold a planned holiday to Namibia to pay for Cadbury's treatment.Despite the cost, she says the procedure and ongoing nursing treatment were worth it. “It was never about me - it was about Cadbury and his quality of life. I know he’s not a young cat but I wanted to give him a fighting chance,” she said. Cadbury is now back at home and on the road to recovery, she added.--Indo-Asian News Service skp/dg244 Words06101522
2008-10-06 06:00:00Day one of Durga Puja, and revellers hit streets
NAT56National/Religion/CultureDay one of Durga Puja, and revellers hit streetsKolkata, Oct 5 IANS Thousands of people dressed in all their finery, traffic moving at a snail's pace, crowded marquees...That heady, unmistakable spirit of Durga Puja descended on this city as the biggest festival of West Bengal kicked off Sunday.Be it residents or celebrities from outside like Shah Rukh Khan, people came in hordes to join the festivities for Mahashasti, even though it was just the first day of the five-day festival during which Hindu goddess Durga is worshipped in 'pandals' or marquees all over the city."I decided to visit puja pandals with my family today to avoid the crowds in the next few days. But like me, thousands of people were also out visiting the pandals on Mahashasti," said Mainakh Bhattacharya of Howrah.The celebrations formally started with 'Devi Bodhon', a ritual to propitiate and welcome goddess Durga and her four children. While the idols of the goddess were a huge attraction, so was the craftsmanship of the numerous marquees under which they were housed.The puja, besides being a religious festival, provides a common platform for people cutting across religious lines to immerse themselves in cultural activities. A Kolkata Police official told IANS from the control room: "Traffic movement is quite slow on the city roads because of the heavy crowd of pandal-hoppers. The footfalls are high, especially at major marquis in and around Kolkata." He said traffic was moving at a snail's pace in the central and eastern parts of the city. "Many police booths have been set up to take care of the traffic situation during Durga Puja."Many politicians, including External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, were busy inaugurating various puja pandals in Kolkata.While most communist leaders stayed away from the rituals, party workers did put up stalls selling Marxist literature near the big puja pandals. Matinee idols like Shah Rukh and cricketer Harbhajan Singh were also seen inaugurating community pujas.The oldest community puja is being celebrated at Balaram Bose Ghat Road in the southern part of the city. The puja here was started in 1910.India Blooms, a newly launched reference portal on India, is bringing alive the sights and sounds of Kolkata's famous Durga Puja for netizens across the globe. "Bengalis across the world miss Kolkata like anything during Durga Puja. But they can savour the delights of pandal-hopping at the click of the mouse at www.indiablooms.com," said an India Blooms spokesman. "The site also captures everything in visuals, from the making of the goddess to the famous Kolkata pujas, in all their splendour. Our elaborate section titled Durga Darshan is a visual treat for all those Indians scattered outside Kolkata. Kolkatans can also enjoy the flavour of puja online and even take part in a photo contest," he said. According to Hindu mythology, the festivities and prayers begin with the symbolic arrival of the goddess on earth on the sixth day of the first quarter of the moon and ends on Dashami or the tenth day. However, the puja rituals begin from Mahasaptami, which falls on Monday.Traditionally, very pandal has an idol of Goddess Durga depicting her as slaying the demon Mahishashur. She is shown astride a lion and wields an array of weapons in her 10 arms. --Indo-Asian News Servicesb/ssp/pg/vt617 Words*05102024
2008-10-05 11:00:00Video conferencing way to clear backlog: RTI chief
NAT13National/Rights/TechnologyVideo conferencing way to clear backlog: RTI chiefBy Mayank AggarwalNew Delhi, Oct 5 IANS Decentralising the Central Information Commission CIC is not the way to clear the pending backlog of appeals and complaints, says India's Right to Information RTI chief."I don't think decentralizing is the answer. Video conferencing is a better option and will work far better," Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah told IANS."If we decentralize, we will have to set up offices, arrange accommodation and other facilities like transport for the information commissioners and for that also a huge amount of money will have to be spent," he added.The Right To Information Act was passed by parliament in 2005 for promoting transparency and accountability in the system.According to Habibullah, "decentralization would also lead to breakdown of coordination between Public Information officers.""The RTI Act emphasises the use of electronic means, and video conferencing is a revolutionary system of information technology. For RTI, the next step at CIC is the introduction of video conferencing, which is inexpensive and quite efficient," he said."Earlier we were using the video conferencing facility at the National Informatics Centre. But it was not always available due to which a lot of our hearings were cancelled," Habibullah explained.He said that video conferencing facility was available now at one of the CIC offices."We have divided time between all information commissioners at the office to use that facility. I am slowly looking towards all information commissioners having their own video conferencing facility so that they don't even have to use it by turn," Habibullah added.He further stated that whenever there is a huge backlog of cases at a particular place, the information commissioners travel to those places for a few days and hold hearings."Chandigarh and Puducherry are just some of the examples," Habibullah added. "The future step could be installation of video conferencing at all ministry offices so that they don't even have to come to the office and instead they can attend the hearing while sitting in their offices.""In fact, the commission has already recommended to the government to provide video conferencing facility to all secretaries in their ministries which would save both time and resources," another CIC official said. Asked about applicants coming from faraway places to attend a hearing at the CIC office here, Habibullah said: "We have also taken care of that and asked them to attend hearings through video conferencing available at the district level".Agreeing with Habibullah's views, Magsaysay award winner and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal said: "I agree with Habibullah's view about using technology for RTI in the country. However, video conferencing would still have its limitations, as infrastructure would be needed."Instead audio conferencing will ensure that public money is saved and it would also be easier for the appellants. Information commissioners like O.P. Kejriwal have started using audio conferencing.""In the case of video conferencing, applicants still have to travel to the nearby district headquarters. However, in case of audio conferencing they will have to just go to the nearby telephone booth," Arvind Kejriwal said.However, some RTI activists still feel that decentralization of CIC will help.Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar told IANS: "Definitely, decentralisation will help. There is a lot of problems in video conferencing, as rural areas don't have any such facility."Asked about the financial burden on the government in opening CIC offices at other places in the country, Kumbhar said: "I don't think that there would be any financial burden on the government." --Indo-Asian News Servicema/jg/ky651 Words**05101138
2008-10-05 02:04:08Six policemen charged for assaulting MP, probe ordered Second Lead
NAT58National/Politics/CrimeSix policemen charged for assaulting MP, probe ordered Second LeadBhopal, Oct 4 IANS The Madhya Pradesh police Saturday ordered a probe into the beating up of a Bharatiya Janata Party BJP MP during an anti-encroachment drive in the state's Sagar district, even as six railway policemen were charged with attempt to murder.State police chief S.K. Raut ordered an enquiry into the incident and appointed railway Inspector General of Police Aruna Mohan Rao as an investigating officer.BJP MP Virender Kumar Khatik was critically injured Friday when a group of Railway Protection Force RPF personnel surrounded him and caned him in full public view when he tried to stop the demolition of shops illegaly built on railway land in Chhota Bajarial locality in Bina town. Khatik, a three-time MP, received eight stitches on the head after being hit by the policemen, who were angered by stone pelting by a group of shopkeepers affected by the demolition drive."An attempt to murder case has been registered in Bina Kotwali police station against GRP Government Railway Police station house officer S.S. Badgurjar, RPF inspector Vivek Sharma and four other RPF personnel," Raut told IANS. "I have ordered a probe into the incident and asked the inquiry officer to submit the report within three days," Raut added.RPF commandant Sarika Mohan said that five police personnel have been transferred to the police lines. They include Vivek Sharma, assistant sub-inspector S.K. Sharma and constables Sudhir, Gokul and Kartar Singh. The 54-year-old MP from Sagar was bleeding profusely when he was rushed in an unconscious state Friday to Bhopal's Hamidia Hospital where he was under observation in the Intensive Care Unit. His condition was stable, a doctor said. A shutdown was observed Saturday in Bina town on a call given by the BJP to protest the assault on the MP.--Indo-Asian News Servicess/sk/vm332 Words*04102129
2008-10-04 12:03:05Doorstep selling rules tightened
Doorstep sellers must give consumers the right to a seven-day cooling-off period, but householders still need to take care....
2008-10-03 03:43:19'British airport officers harassing legal migrants'
INT41International/Diaspora/Immigration/Rights'British airport officers harassing legal migrants'By Dipankar De SarkarLondon, Oct 2 IANS Overly zealous British home ministry officials are “humiliating, harassing and abusing” legal Indian and other migrants at airports across the country, a campaigning group said Thursday.“Though migrants are used to discrimination and harassment, these new revelations show how the treatment of legal immigrants by border control now has stooped to the lowest of levels,” the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme HSMP Forum said in a statement.The home ministry was unable to offer a comment immediately, but said it was looking into the complaint.The group, which won a high-profile case against the government this year, said migrants who were in Britain under the HSMP visa were suffering at the hands of “overly zealous immigration officers” at some of Britain’s busiest airports like Heathrow, Manchester and Belfast.“Our members complain that upon their and their families' return from trips abroad, they are harshly discriminated against by the immigration authorities, though they are fully legally entitled to re-enter the country to continue contributing to the British economy,” said Amit Kapadia, executive director of the forum. It said immigration officers not only lecture migrants, and offer unsolicited advice, but have also detained and threatened to deport without reason.It gave the example of Pooja Tandon, who was detained at Heathrow airport while returning from a holiday in Switzerland with her husband, child and parents. It quoted her as saying the immigration officer lectured them about “finding alternative employment” and about “the shifts we work and child care arrangements.”“He then said he is detaining us for further enquiry and if he is not satisfied with it, then he will deport us,” although the family was let off with a verbal warning. Pooja Tandon added: “We are really shaken by this incident. We felt being treated like criminals. We pay our taxes and national insurance and all other bills, and are being threatened this way.”In a second instance, a doctor who has been in Britain for a decade was questioned by an airport immigration officer about his using the state health service for the delivery of their son, when all tax-paying foreigners are entitled to the National Health Service. “The immigration official had no legal position to threaten, abuse and intrusively demand information about the sensitive and private medical care of a legal migrant worker,” the HSMP Forum said.In a third case, an HSMP migrant was detained for a few days and was about to be deported to his country of origin because he was not working in his field of expertise, “when in reality HSMP visas do not have any such restrictions.”“It is clear from these cases that Immigration Officers have tried to take the law in their own hand,” the forum said.--Indo-Asian News Servicedds/ak/vt500 Words02101615
2008-10-02 07:03:07A day later, Jodhpur still numbed by temple tragedy
NAT37National/Disaster/ReligionA day later, Jodhpur still numbed by temple tragedyJodhpur, Oct 1 IANS Funeral processions snaked through numerous neighbourhoods in this Rajasthan town Wednesday as grieving families cremated many of the 149 killed in a temple stampede a day earlier.The elderly moaned the loss of so many residents, a large number of them young, in the early morning tragedy Tuesday as hundreds of devotees packed a narrow pathway leading to the hilltop Chamundi Mata temple. Women wailed in many homes in Jodhpur, 330 km from the Rajasthan capital Jaipur. It is the most horrendous stampede in the state's history.Officials and survivors gave varying accounts of what triggered the stampede that saw hordes of people collapse on others in the pathway, crushing to death most victims almost instantly."Do you think I will ever forget this incident in which I lost my 12-year-old son" asked an inconsolable Rajkumari, a middle aged woman.The majority of the dead in the stampede are in the age group of 20-25 years. "My son had got married just six months back. We were dependent on him. Who will take care of his wife and children" asked Anand, a man who retired from a private sector job some time back.Asked another man who did not give his name: "Why did god do this to us Why has he snatched my brother"A total of 149 people were declared dead in the tragedy. More than 300 were injured, with around 60 people still warded in hospitals. Doctors said the death toll could increase because some of the victims had suffered serious head injuries and needed surgical care. Many had leg, chest and head injuries.A pall of gloom Wednesday hung over Jodhpur, otherwise a tourist paradise that attracts many foreigners. Many people admitted that they were still numbed by the mass deaths.In Jodhpur's Kalal residential area, 12 young boys were killed. "In is difficult for us to forget what happened," said V.S. Singh, a resident of the colony near the majestic Mehrangar Fort, housing the five-century-old temple. "All the boys were 12-16 years old."Muslims, who form a significant part of Kalal's population, were the first to reach out to the victims. "Many Muslims stayed with us till late at night, attending to our needs," said Singh.For a second day Wednesday, Jodhpur witnessed many funeral processions, at times clogging traffic on the roads. Large crowds still hung outside hospitals, where doctors and nurses remained under pressure. Many of the medical staff had worked through the day and night.Jodhpur's hospitals had never seen anything like this. Initially, there was utter chaos.On the streets, there is anger against the administration for not taking steps to prevent the stampede -- and then seemingly not doing enough for the dead and injured.Some complained that the authorities did not reach out to the victims immediately after the deaths. And with no motorable road leading up to the hill temple, it was no easy task transporting the dead and wounded.A few people complained that the stampede occurred because local officials tried to make way for Bharatiya Janata Party BJP MP Jaswant Singh Vishnoi, who wanted to offer special prayers at the shrine.The MP faced the wrath of the people when he tried to visit the hospitals. Pawan Singh, a Jodhpur resident, recalled the horror."How did I survive I do not know. All I remember is people falling over me. I gained consciousness after the priest sprinkled water on my face," he said."I was injured on my legs and chest. I thank god that I am still alive."--Indo-Asian News Serviceas/mr/am673 Words*01101534
2008-10-01 06:00:00Markets end in green despite grim global cues Roundup
BUS27Business/Business/NationalMarkets end in green despite grim global cues RoundupMumbai, Sep 30IANS Indian equities markets Tuesday bucked an all-round global trend of a sea of red to end in the green despite grim global cues, surprising analysts.The market opened very weak but after C.B. Bhave, chairman of the Indian market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI, assured investors in a hurriedly called press conference in capital New Delhi, markets appeared to recover and finished in the green.The 30-share-sensitive index plunged by 442.20 points soon after opening to a near two-year low of 12,153.33 - a loss of 3.5 percent - amid heavy selling in stocks of banking, metal, realty and IT sectors.By close of trading, however, the Sensex had recovered sufficiently to end at 12,860.43, up 264.68 points or 2.10 percent from its previous close Monday at 12,595.75.The broader-based 50 share S&P CNX NIFTY also showed a similar trend and closed at 3,938.75, up 88.7 points or 2.30 percent from its previous close Monday at 3,850.05.With the US House of Representatives rejecting the $700 billion bailout plan Monday, markets all over the world crashed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tracking the New York Stock Exchange dropped Monday by 777.68 points or 7 percent, its largest point-drop in history.Markets in Europe too crashed Monday while those in Asia did so on Tuesday. Only the Indian market bucked the trend and behaved in a surprising manner, analysts said.Analysts, however, remained sceptical about the impact that Bhave's and later Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's attempts to talk up markets had in propping up equities prices.“The situation is extremely grim and there is absolutely no liquidity in the market with nobody lending to nobody in the inter-bank market,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of the capital markets arm of India's fourth largest share brokerage firm, the Delhi-based SMC Group.“For example, the London Interbank Offered Rate shot up to an all-time high of 6.33 percent Tuesday, an intra-day jump of nearly 4.5 percent which is just too high to imagine,” he said.“There is no liquidity in the Indian system as well, so the only way you can explain the rise in the Indian markets is that there was short covering by short sellers,” he said.“It is extremely surprising that the India markets gained despite the gravity of the situation,” he said.Even Tuesday, one more European bank was bailed out when the Belgian, French and Luxemburg governments pumped in 6.4 billion euros or $9.2 billion into Dexia, the top player in Belgium and Luxemburg.It also had incurred huge losses on its Lehman Bros exposure. Portfolio strategist and US-trained chartered financial analyst Manoj Krishnan of Delhi-based Price Investment Management & Research Services also felt that short sellers had pushed down prices over Monday and Friday and then booked profits Tuesday.“It was manipulated speculation,” he felt adding “Over the last two days foreign institutional sales were just around Rs.10 billion and that is not enough to send down the Sensex by about 1,000 points.”“There were other big players selling and it must have been short sales who seemed to have prior information about events,” he said.However, Bhave's bid to talk up the market Tuesday morning with news that Finance Minister Chidambaram had met him earlier in the day to assess the market situation, seemed to calm nerves and investor's returned to their buying ways.Later, another reassuring statement from Finance Minister Chidambaram saw markets continue to recover and despite some profit booking at the higher levels closed in the green.The BSE mid-cap index finished at 4,798.29, up 68.96 points or 1.46 percent against its previous close Monday.The BSE small cap index too recovered in the final stages after being in the red most of the day to end at 5,577.47, up 24.44 points or 0.44 percent from its previous close Monday.Bank, capital goods, realty and technology, entertainment and telecommunication stocks were the major gainers. Metal, fast moving consumer goods, health care and information technology stocks led the declines.ICICI Bank gained the most at Rs.534.85, up Rs.41.55 or 8.42 percent from Rs.493.30. TCS at Rs.662.75, gained Rs.43.10 or 6.96 percent from Rs.619.65.HDFC Ltd at Rs.2,141.15 went up Rs.108.40 or 5.33 percent to Rs.2,032.75. Bharti Airtel at Rs.785.05, gained Rs.38.40 or 5.14 percent to Rs.746.65.Among losers Tata Steel shed the most, losing Rs.19.75 to Rs.425.60, down from Rs.445.35.Tata Motors at Rs.344.20 lost Rs.11.65 or 3.27 percent from Rs.355.85, Ranbaxy Laboratories at Rs.247.75 lost Rs.8.10 or 3.17 percent from Rs.255.85 and Grasim shed Rs.44.70 or 2.58 percent to Rs.1,687.60 from Rs.1,732.30.Reflecting the short covering trend and the underlying nervousness in the market despite the Sensex finishing in the green was the fact that fewer stocks advanced compared to declines.Advances were 1,277 or 47.79 percent compared to declines of 1,316 or 49.25 percent while 79 remained unchanged.Analysts said, given the grim liquidity situation the world over, the Tuesday rally is unlikely to be sustained in the coming days until the US bailout plan is put in place. --Indo-Asian News Servicearj/vt995 Words*30091954
2008-09-30 10:03:09India-born former Australian Medical Association head assaulted
INT50International/Diaspora/CrimeIndia-born former Australian Medical Association head assaultedBy Neena BhandariSydney, Sep 29 IANS India-born doctor and former Australian Medical Association AMA head Mukesh Haikerwal is recovering in hospital after being brutally assaulted and mugged in Melbourne, an attack that has shocked the country's medical authorities.Haikerwal sustained serious head injury when he was assaulted at around 11 p.m. in Williamstown suburb of Melbourne on Saturday night. He is recovering at the Western Hospital after undergoing an emergency surgery to remove blood clotting in his brain. The police are investigating the incident.A champion of public health, the 47-year-old doctor is a member of the Australian government's National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission and chair of the World Medical Association Finance and Planning Committee."Mukesh is a very generous person and has readily given so much of his time, passion and commitment to improving patient care in Australia. He is admired by patients, colleagues, and policymakers alike," a shocked AMA president Rosanna Capolingua said."That a defenceless man going for a walk can be set upon so violently by other humans is shocking. He is in our hearts and prayers today and in the days ahead. We hope his recovery is swift and complete," Capolingua added.Haikerwal was president of the AMA from 2005 to 2007. At Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2020 summit in Canberra recently, he lobbied for integration of information technology in healthcare.Wishing Haikerwal a speedy recovery, Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said: "Mukesh is an extremely gentle and kind individual - it is difficult to imagine anyone less deserving of such a vicious attack. Our thoughts are with Mukesh's wife Karyn and their three sons, Suresh, Ajaya and Jeevan, at this extremely difficult time."Haikerwal was born in Lucknow, but grew up in England. In 1990, he moved to Australia and set up a medical general practice in Melbourne's western suburbs, where he still works.--Indo-Asian News Servicenb/am/dg344 Words*29091653
2008-09-29 07:10:19Congress putting together poll strategy for Jammu and Kashmir
NAT32National/Kashmir/PoliticsCongress putting together poll strategy for Jammu and KashmirJammu, Sep 27 IANS Aiming to push back the memories of the fall of its government in July, the Congress party in Jammu and Kashmir is putting together its strategy for the elections due in November and plans to stress on its development work when it was in power.Party leaders have started meeting workers to devise strategies for the elections. Union Water Resources Minister and Congress state unit president Saifuddin Soz and All India Congress Committee General Secretary Prithvi Raj Chavan, in charge of Jammu and Kashmir, have asked party leaders and workers to "face the people on the strength of the work we have done". "This is our message to our people here. We are on a strong footing and our record development that took place during the Congress rule in the state is our biggest strength," Chavan told newsmen on the sidelines of a two-day-convention of the party leaders Saturday. The Congress, which came to power in the state after 30 years its last government was in 1975 when it handed over power to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah as per the Indira Gandhi-Sheikh accord in 2005, had to face an ignominious exit after chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad failed to face a vote of confidence in the 87-member legislative assembly July 7 and resigned. He was asked to seek a trust vote after major ruling alliance partner People's Democratic Party PDP withdrew support to the government over the Amarnath land row. The PDP was protesting against the Azad government's delay in rescinding a land allotment of less than 40 hectares to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, a trust that manages a shrine of Hindu Lord Shiva in south Kashmir. However, the order was cancelled July 1, three days after the PDP walked out of the government. The cancellation of the land order ignited an over two-month-long agitation in July and August. The government signed an agreement Aug 31 on restoring the land to the shrine board for the two-month pilgrimage period. The Congress' role in the entire episode has damaged it politically both in the Kashmir valley and Jammu region. The damage was more in Jammu region, where it had 16 out of 21 seats in the house of 87. "That is a forgotten chapter. We are here to take care of the grievances of all the regions. The Congress will be in the forefront to do so, as we have a presence in all the three regions - Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir," Soz said. The Congress, he claimed, can keep the state together. "Our cadres are ready to face any challenge," he said. This was a second meeting of the party leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. A similar convention was held in Srinagar last week to deliberate on the strategies to reach out to the people. The party is counting on the infrastructure development of all the three regions in the state. --Indo-Asian News Servicebj/rn/jg559 Words27091547
2008-09-27 06:03:09
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