I would have liked to have dinner with Mahatma Gandhi: Obama

Washington, Sep 9 (IANS) US President Barack Obama has said that if he could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, it would be Mahatma Gandhi, adding he is 'a real hero of mine'.

Obama had gone to Wakefield High School in Arlington to give a speech welcoming students back to school, when he took a few questions from ninth-graders.

Lily, a student, asked: 'And if you could have dinner with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?'

'Well, you know, dead or alive, that's a pretty big list,' Obama was quoted as saying by Los Angeles Times Wednesday.

'You know, I think that it might be Gandhi, who is a real hero of mine.'

Obama said: 'Now, it would probably be a really small meal because, he didn't eat a lot.'

'But he's somebody who I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr. (Martin Luther) King, so if it hadn't been for the non-violent movement in India, you might not have seen the same non-violent movement for civil rights here in the United States.'

Obama told the students that Gandhi represents the power of change through ethics and how to use that morality to foster change, themes he has repeated through his presidential campaign and administration.

Facing sharp divisions in Congress and within his own Democratic Party, Obama stressed Gandhi's fighting spirit and will to overcome long odds.

Gandhi helped 'people who thought they had no power realise that they had power and then helped people who had a lot of power realise that if all they're doing is oppressing people, then that's not a really good exercise of power'.

Mahi is dead - Uncovered manholes - Is there a solution?

All hopes of four-year-old Mahi coming alive out of the 70-foot-deep borewell at Kasna village here were dashed on Sunday afternoon, when Army personnel brought out her decomposed body after an 86-hour rescue operation that had kept the people nationwide glued to their TV sets.

The operation — launched soon after Mahi fell into the borewell on Wednesday night during her birthday celebrations and was prolonged by almost 48 hours as the rescue team ran into rocky terrain — ended around 1.30 p.m. on Sunday, when a team of personnel pulled her out.

The girl, wrapped in a green cloth, was immediately rushed to the ESIC Hospital at Manesar in an Army ambulance, amid loud applause by locals who had gathered at the spot in large numbers since early morning, anticipating a successful climax. But the child was declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The body was then sent to the Gurgaon Civil Hospital mortuary.

Post-mortem revealed that Mahi died of asphyxia just in a couple of hours of the fall. “She died three-four hours after she fell into the borewell,” said a doctor at the Gurgaon Civil Hospital.

The rescue team had reached Mahi in the early hours of Sunday, negotiating around a boulder in the rescue tunnel, but there was delay as it had to cut through a rock in the borewell also, where the bloated body was found stuck.

Chase Your Dreams to make it Become True : Sachin Tendulkar 100th Ton

Mirpur: 

 It's here at last. After a year of keeping India waiting, Sachin Tendulkar has scored his 100th international ton. An entire nation heaved a collective sigh and uncrossed its fingers.

The 100th Sachin ton came against Bangladesh during the fourth match of the Asia Cup on Friday. Immediately after, he quipped that he had shed "50 kilos". The weight of the expectations of millions no doubt. "Enjoy the game and chase your dreams. Dreams do come true," said crickets most prolific run-getter, denying that he was ever under pressure to get here. "When I scored my 99th hundred nobody spoke about it. The 100th hundred was a media creation. I was not bothered," he said. 


But it mattered to his fans. And today, anyone who hesitantly tried to take away from the colossal achievement by pointing out that Sachin’s ton of tons came against minnows Bangladesh, was batted down sharply by ten other people. There is celebration in the air; #sachin is trending at number 1 worldwide on Twitter, pushed there no doubt by the hundreds and thousands of Indians now saying, "Thank You Sachin Tendulkar."


Calm at the crease, Sachin took his time getting to the milestone. No one else was breathing. Especially at 99. First a Suresh Raina single took him to the non-batting end as an over ended. Ten runs came off that over before Sachin got strike. He played two balls for no runs and the over changed again. No one exhaled. So it was Raina on strike again, who took a single on the third ball to give strike to Sachin. The stadium roared. Shakib Al Hasan, now a firm part of history, came in to bowl and Sachin took a single to score his ton of tons.
Then the quintessential Sachin moment. He took off his helmet, looked at his bat, then heavenwards. He then kissed his helmet.

FIGHTING COMMON COLD

The common cold is a viral infection that affects the upper airways including the nose, voice box, throat, windpipes and the lungs. 

There are more than two hundred viruses that can cause colds and are commonly known as rhinoviruses or the nose viruses.

These viruses cause inflammation or swelling of the mucous membrane lining the airways.

Early Symptons:

• Early signs of a cold are a sore, scratchy throat, sneezing, and a runny nose.
• Other symptoms are headache, watering eyes, chills, weakness, cough and congestion, fever and muscle ache. 
• The symptoms generally last for 2 to 7 days and in some cases may last for weeks.

Simple Ways to avoid cold:

• You should also get plenty of sleep or rest. If you are tired and fatigued, your body's resistance decreases, making you more susceptible to common cold.
• You should avoid drinking milk as it causes mucus to form and coat your throat making it very difficult for you to swallow and cough.
• You should eat spicy foods. Spicy hot foods will cause your body to expel mucus.
• When you eat these types of foods, your nose will start to run and you will begin to cough up mucus.Spicy foods work just like a natural decongestant but without side effects.
• Drinking plenty of liquids can help. Water, juice, clear broth or warm lemon water with honey helps loosen congestion and prevents dehydration.
• A saltwater gargle - 1/2 teaspoon salt in a glass of warm water - can temporarily relieve a sore or scratchy throat.
• Hot Soup is also a better way to rid off cold.
• Avoid alcohol, coffee and caffeinated sodas, which make dehydration worse.
• Dont take any pain relief pills(non-prescribed), wihich may make the situation worst after somedays.

Three-year-old girl dies after rape

Lucknow: A three-year-old girl died after she was allegedly raped by a youth in Hariparvat area in Agra district, police said today.


According to the victim's father Manoj Kumar, Sanjay alias Neeraj raped his daughter in Hariparvat area late last night when he had gone to attend a marriage.

The complainant said that the child later died while being taken to the hospital, police said, adding that Sanjay has been arrested.

Orissa: Maoists kidnap District Collector of Malkangiri district

Bhubaneswar: A senior IAS officer in Orissa's Malkangiri district has been kidnapped by the Maoists. District Collector R Vineel Krishna was kidnapped while he was returning after an interaction programme in Gumma block of tribal-dominated Malkangiri district.

The incident happened on Wednesday, just two days before Home Minister P Chidambaram's scheduled video-conference with the Collectors of 60 Maoist-hit districts.

Malkangiri Additional SP A Das said there has been no communication with the Collector since Wednesday afternoon. Thirty-year-old Vineel Krishna, an IIT-Madras graduate, joined administrative service in 2005. Krishna was posted as the District Collector of Malkangiri 16 months ago. He is known to be popular with the local people and interacts closely with them.

What is 2G spectrum scam?

New Delhi: From the time allegations of misappropriation during the bidding for allocation of 2G spectrum surfaced, till Telecom Minister A Raja's ouster, high drama charged both politics in Delhi and Tamil Nadu. So what exactly is the Spectrum Scam that led to all this?



WHAT IS SPECTRUM SCAM?
•2G licenses issued to private telecom players at throwaway prices in 2008
•CAG: Spectrum scam has cost the government Rs. 1.76 lakh crore
•CAG: Rules and procedures flouted while issuing licenses

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES ON FORMER TELECOM MINISTER A RAJA?
CHEAP TELECOM LICENSES
• Entry fee for spectrum licenses in 2008 pegged at 2001 prices
• Mobile subscriber base had shot up to 350 million in 2008 from 4 million in 2001
•Rules changed after the game had begun
•Cut-off date for applications advanced by a week
•Licenses issued on a first-come-first-served basis
•No proper auction process followed, no bids invited
•Raja ignored advice of TRAI, Law Ministry, Finance Ministry
•TRAI had recommended auctioning of spectrum at market rates

WorldCup 2011 Indian Squad

Ashish Nehra	Gautam Gambhir	Harbhajan Singh
Suresh Raina	MS Dhoni	Yusuf Pathan
Ravichandran Ashwin	Sreesanth	Munaf Patel
Piyush Chawla	Virat Kholi	Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sehwag	Yuvraj Singh	Zaheer Khan

                                                                 Praveen Kumar

The Other Half: Making the invisible visible

The most striking photograph of the farmers' agitation against the Yamuna Expressway last month was that of a 45-year-old woman, Rajkumari Devi (Indian Express, August 29, 2010). Captioned “Protesting Farmer, Zikarpur Village, Aligarh”, the story that accompanied the photograph described how Rajkumari, holding a lathi in her hands, sat in protest for days on end with other men and women, demanding more compensation for their lands that had been acquired for the Yamuna Expressway.
 

Her life was her land. “My day would start at four in the morning, feeding the cattle and then tilling the land. I would take a brief lunch break and get back to the field. It was during the evening that I finished my household chores and spent some time with my family and neighbours.” She told the reporter that she knew no other life than working in her fields, something she had done even as a child as her father was a farmer. “A farmer has no holidays. One is supposed to work everyday and all the time”, she said.

Dogs ‘can tell if you’re getting bowel cancer’

Believe it or not, dogs can sniff out bowel cancer in breath and stool samples, with a very high degree of accuracy, even in the early stages of the disease, a new research has revealed.


According to researchers, the man’s best friend’s sense of smell is 1,000 times more sensitive than a human’s, and as a result it can apparently pick up chemical compounds specific to certain cancers.
In the research, published in the ‘Gut’ journal, a labrador detected traces of cancer with more than 90 per cent accuracy from samples provided by volunteers.

Mobile phone health hazard: call for changes in radiation norms

Taking a stringent view of the health hazards posed by radiation from mobile phones, towers and base stations, a high-level inter-ministerial committee (IMC) has called for revision of radiation norms according to Indian needs.

According to the report submitted by the IMC, radiation from mobile phones and towers could lead to symptoms like fatigue, sleep disturbance, dizziness and lack of concentration.

It said it could also lead to slowing down of reaction time, loss of memory, headache, disturbance in digestive system and heart palpitation.

Virat Kohli likes to win WC for Sachin and country

Talented batsman Virat Kohli feels that it would be the best gift to Sachin Tendulkar if the Indian team can win the cricket World Cup which will start in another two weeks time.



“What he (Sachin) has achieved in his entire career, I don’t think anyone else will be able to achieve that. So it will be a great thing if we can win the World Cup not only for our fans but also for Sachin who is a special person,” the youngster commented during an interaction with the media at a promotional event here today.


The U-19 World Cup winning captain feels that the biggest challenge during the cricketing extravaganza will be to keep the external pressures not affect their game.

2G scam: Raja 5 days with CBI

New Delhi: The CBI today accused former Telecom Minister A Raja of causing a loss of Rs. 22,000 crore to the exchequer by favouring some telecom firms in award of the 2G spectrum licences and demanded his custody for five days, which a city court granted.


Raja, former Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura and Raja's former Personal Secretary R K Chandolia, were produced before Special CBI Judge O P Saini a day after they were arrested in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

Wearing a grey safari suit, the 47-year-old DMK MP appeared cool and composed and greeted the judge with folded hands. His counsel Ramesh Gupta sought time for a privateconversation with Raja, which the judge allowed for ten minutes.

BSP MLA accused of rape goes missing

Lucknow: A day after Mayawati's government gave clearance to the Uttar Pradesh police to arrest BSP MLA Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, accused of raping a minor girl, he went missing. The UP police admits the MLA is on the run. There is still no word on his whereabouts and arrest.



Chief Minister Mayawati summoned officials of the Crime Branch and CID who are investigating the case.


A preliminary inquiry by the CB-CID into the Banda rape case found that Dwivedi had raped the teenager and framed her in a false theft case. The girl is still behind the bars.


She appeared before civil judge junior division Ravi Kumar Gupta and had alleged in her statement that Dwivedi raped her twice while his aides teased her, prosecution sources said.


She also alleged that no action was taken against Dwivedi as police was conniving with the MLA and his aides. The girl had given a similar statement to a three-member team of National Commission of Women (NCW).

Striking a mind-body balance

The erstwhile ‘rubber-band', as she was dubbed in school thanks to her flexibility, Payal Gidwani-Tiwari feels elated for having been able to use her passion to help others attain physical and emotional fitness.


With her book From XL to XS, published by Random House India, being released recently, Payal talks about her tryst with yoga and fitness, how it has become a way of life and how it can change your life as well.


Tell us about your journey so far.

'Leaks has provided a target list for al-Qaeda'

The U.S. today termed as “deeply disturbing” the release of secret cables by WikiLeaks and said the whistleblower website was “inviting” terrorist attacks from groups like the al-Qaeda by making public documents about some of the key infrastructures projects across the globe.

“Without discussing any particular cable, the release of this kind of information gives a group like al-Qaeda a targeting list. This is why we have condemned WikiLeaks for what it has done,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added that the release of documents possesses potential damage to U.S. friends and partners.

A(H1N1): officials asked to visit houses

The First Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday instructed the State government to issue a direction to officers of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Health Sub Centres to visit swine flu-affected houses and other houses to control the situation.







The Bench, comprising Chief Justice M. Yusuf Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, also wanted the government to provide all possible treatment to the 130 persons afflicted with swine flue and submit a report about the result of treatment.






“It is needless to say that the monitoring committee should continue to monitor the situation,” the Bench said after the State government submitted a report in the court on swine flue situation and steps taken by it to control the disease.

Tendulkar short-listed for three awards

 Maestro Sachin Tendulkar and dashing opener Virender Sehwag of India, along with South African batsman Hashim Amla and England off-spinner Graeme Swann, have been short-listed for the top honours at the LG ICC Awards 2010.







The votes have now been cast by the independent 25-person academy and one of the four players will receive the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for Cricketer of the Year at a glittering ceremony in Bangalore on October 6.






Tendulkar, Sehwag and Amla are also in the running for the Test Player of the Year award, alongside South Africa paceman Dale Steyn.






Tendulkar is in contention too for the ODI Player of the Year award with the Australian duo of Shane Watson (pace bowling all-rounder) and Ryan Harris (paceman) as well as South Africa's A.B. de Villiers (batsman).






The Twenty20 International Performance of the Year sees New Zealand's Brendon McCullum short-listed alongside Australia's Michael Hussey, Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene and South Africa's Ryan McLaren.






Player short-list (in alphabetical order): Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Graeme Swann (Eng), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind).






Test Player of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), Virender Sehwag (Ind), Dale Steyn (SA), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind).






ODI Player of the Year: Ryan Harris (Aus), Sachin Tendulkar (Ind), A.B. de Villiers (SA), Shane Watson (Aus).






Emerging Player: Umar Akmal (Pak), Steven Finn (Eng), Angelo Mathews (SL), Tim Paine (Aus).






Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year: Ryan ten Doeschate (Ned), Trent Johnson (Ire), Kevin O'Brien (Ire), Mohammed Shahzad (Afg).






Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Michael Hussey (Aus) for his 60 not out off 24 balls against Pakistan in the semifinal of the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in St. Lucia on May 14, Mahela Jayawardene (SL) for his 100 off 64 balls against Zimbabwe in Guyana on May 3 and his 98 not out off 56 balls against West Indies in Bridgetown on May 2010 both during the ICC World Twenty20 2010, Ryan McLaren (SA) for his five for 19 against the West Indies on May 19 in Antigua, Brendon McCullum (NZ) for his 116 not out off 56 balls against Australia in Christchurch, New Zealand on February 28.






Women's Cricketer of the Year: Katherine Brunt (Eng), Shelley Nitschke (Aus), Ellyse Perry (Aus), Stafanie Taylor (WI).






Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Tony Hill, Simon Taufel.






Spirit of Cricket: India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe.

Infosys will never be the same after Murthy: Thomas Friedman

NEW DELHI: Thomas Friedman, Commentator and New York Times columnist said that IT bellwether, Infosys will never be the same after chief mentor and chairman Narayana Murthy retires from the company. Murthy said on August 10 that the company co-founded by him will get his suitable successor well in time before his retirement in August 2011. 

Friedman said, "Mr Murthy is a truly historic figure in Indian economics and politics. He and Nandan Nilekani and the other founders did a great thing. They showed Indians of this current generation just how much they could bring their talents to the global economic playing field and play not only as equals but as leaders with any other country in the world." 

Infosys' nominations committee has started the search for Murthy's successor, as the he would retire in August next year after he turns 65. 

No exercise, long work hours double heart failure risk

London, Sep 7 (IANS) Sedentary men who work beyond 45 hours a week double their risk of dying from heart failure. However, men who keep fit or exercise and work long hours face no increased risk of dying from cardiac conditions.


The study examined data for 5,000 men -- aged between 40 and 59 years from 14 different companies -- which included their fitness levels over 30 years, reports the Daily Mail. The men did cycling exercise tests to assess their fitness and provided details on the average number of hours they worked every week, according to the journal Heart.


Around 70 percent of men worked between 41 and 45 hours a week, while around 20 percent worked longer hours. Over the course of the study, there were 587 deaths from heart disease caused by the narrowing and hardening of arteries.


Experts found that men who were unfit were at the greatest risk of dying from heart disease, particularly if they worked long hours.


Those who were both unfit and worked more than 45 hours a week were more than twice as likely to die from the disease than men working fewer than 40 hours.


And men who worked 41 to 45 hours a week had a 59 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease compared to those working under 40 hours.


Physically fit men working longer hours were 45 percent less likely to die of heart disease and 38 percent less likely to die of other causes than those who were unfit.


The findings, by a team from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment in Denmark, held true despite factors likely to influence the results, such as work stress and living conditions.