Posts Tagged ‘center’
Written by Rahul on 22 August 2009
Los Angeles (US), Aug.22 (ANI): Racist slurs against Asians in Hollywood’s latest movie “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” has angered Asian Americans, who came out to protest against the film’s maker on Friday.
Karen Narasaki, President and Executive Director of the Asian American Justice Center, said in a statement that the use of harmful, racist slurs and treatment of hate crimes in the film are “unacceptable and should not be tolerated.”
Although billed as a satirical comedy, there is nothing funny about using slurs that simply reinforce negative stereotypes, nor in making light of violent hate crimes, Narasaki stressed.
“Hate crimes are very real and have a devastating effect on our communities. Employing the use of racial slurs and hate-based violence for comic relief is unacceptable,” Xinhua quoted Narasaki, as saying.
Meanwhile, Stewart Kwoh, President and Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, said: “We condemn any portrayals of a hate crime as ‘comedy’-as advocates who have worked closely with the families of hate crimes victims over the years, including those who have lost loved ones to hate violence, we are appalled at the film’s flippant disregard of the human cost of hate violence.” (ANI)
Tags: advocates, american, American Justice, ANI, Asian, Asian American, asian pacific american, asians, Aug, center, comedy, comic relief, cost, crime, disregard, effect, Employing, executive director, film, Friday, Goods, Hard, hate, Hate Crime, hate crimes, Hollywood, justice, Justice Center, Karen Narasaki, Legal, light, Live, Los Angeles, maker, movie, Negative Stereotypes, nothing, Pacific, Portrayals, president, Racial Slurs, racist, Racist Slurs, relief, Satirical Comedy, statement, Stewart Kwoh, treatment, us, use, violence, Violence Hollywood, Violent Crimes, Xinhua
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Written by Rahul on 29 April 2009
London, April 24 (IANS) Pop legend Michael Jackson has found himself at the centre of hit-and-run allegations after his driver allegedly smashed into an ambulance on his way to pick up the singer from a Los Angeles hospital.
The chauffeur has been accused of sideswiping an ambulance and breaking off its wing mirror as he went to meet Jackson at Cedars Sinai Medical Center Wednesday, reported femalefirst.com.
The incident was reported to cops at the Beverly Hills Police Department, who have confirmed a hit-and-run accident occurred involving ‘a dark coloured SUV’ that was ‘being followed by a group of paparazzi at the time of the collision.’
However, authorities have yet to confirm the ‘Thriller’ hitmaker’s involvement, stating ‘the suspect is unknown at this time’.
No one was injured in the crash and police are currently investigating the incident.
The reason behind Jackson’s hospital visit was unknown, but the singer who was wearing a surgical mask during the trip, has been plagued by rumours of ill health for months.
Tags: accident, allegations, ambulance, April, april 24, authorities, Beverly, beverly hills police department, car, case, Cedars, cedars sinai medical, cedars sinai medical center, center, centre, chauffeur, collision, com, cops, crash, Department, driver, femalefirst, group, Health, Hills, hitmaker, hospital, ians, ill health, incident, involvement, Jackson, legend, London, Los Angeles, mask, Medical, Michael Jackson, Mirror, one, Paparazzi, police, Pop, pop legend, reason, rumours, s hospital, Sinai, sinai medical center, singer, surgical mask, suspect, SUV, thriller, time, trip, visit, way, Wednesday, wing
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Written by Rahul on 21 April 2009
Looks like Mallika Sherawat is a favourite in the ‘West’!
Last we heard was that the actress was invited as a special guest at a Wine Tasting Luncheon at the Malibu Family Wines, Malibu, California. Mallika was also ‘auctioned’ there as part of a fundraiser hosted by IFFLA (Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles). And now, while the sexy actress is in Los Angeles for the post production work on her much talked about project ‘Hissss’ with Hollywood Director Jennifer Lynch, she recently attended an elite luncheon hosted by the Mayor of LA.
And though the gorgeous lady has been in the city for only four short weeks, she is already rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of the glamorous city. She will also be attending the weekend’s Fangoria Conference at the LA Convention Center to talk about ‘Hissss’ and interact with fans there.
Well, seems like Mallika Sherawat is not just a favourite among the Hollywood celebrities but is a regular on the U.S social circuit too!
Tags: Actress, California, center, Circuit, city, conference, convention, director, elite, family, Fangoria, fans, favourite, Festival, film, fundraiser, Glamorous City, Gorgeous Lady, guest, Hissss, Hollywood, hollywood celebrities, Hollywood director, iffla, INDIAN, Indian Film Festival, interact, Jennifer Lynch, La Convention Center, Lady, looks, Los Angeles, luncheon, Malibu, malibu california, mallika, Mallika Sherawat, Mayor, Mingling, part, post, production, Project, sexy actress, sherawat, shoulders, tasting, The, us, weekend, west, wine, wines, work
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Written by Rahul on 10 April 2009
Sampurn, Bollywood Trade News Network
KAL KISSNE DEKHA is a common adage heard whenever a conversation veers towards future. Time and again one wonders about what future has in hold for us but the end result is always a casual shrug of shoulders.
Well, that’s not something that Bollywood is content with though. The film industry, which is forever looking for newer and creative ideas, has quite happily grabbed the idea of looking into the future. Result is that there have been three such releases in recent times that had a common theme of venturing into a territory that has been hitherto unexplored while a fourth is already on its way.
These films are TASVEER 8X10, AA DEKHEN ZARA, 13B and KAL KISSNE DEKHA. While future gazing is of course a favorite topic [AA DEKHEN ZARA, KAL KISSNE DEKHA], even supernatural element around a non-living subject defining our tomorrow (or yesterday) held prominence in at least a couple of films [TASVEER 8X10, 13B].
In AA DEKHEN ZARA, director Jehangir Surti focused on a camera which had the ability to look into the future and warn in advance about what’s going to happen next. Well, seems audiences were truly warned about what was really in store as they chose to stay away from the film which has failed at the box office in two weeks flat.
With a camera gadget doing the trick, one wonders where does the place remain for a conventional lead hero in Bollywood?
“Exactly the point”, says R. Madhavan, “My 13B didn’t have any conventional male lead in fact. Instead, it was the TV which played the main lead.”
In such poor times at the box office when films are failing left, right and center, Madhavan’s 13B has still managed to hold fort to an extent by accumulating 8 crores at the box office during its four week run so far.
The biggest of them was touted to be Akshay Kumar starrer TASVEER 8X10 though where a photo frame held prominence in the film’s narrative. This time around it was a journey into the past through this frame. However, present audience was hardly interested in the past and caused a dent to Akshay’s future by giving it thumbs down. Result is that the film has turned out to be one of the biggest trade disasters of Akshay’s near two decade career.
One looks forward to the fourth movie with a ‘future’ subject being explored – KAL KISSNE DEKHA. The film talks about the power of seeing the future though this time around it’s the lead protagonist himself and not a gadget or a picture that does the trick.
“Nihal Singh is a gifted boy. He realizes only after a point in time that he gets some true premonitions. He isn’t sure about it to begin with but later settles down to this gift”, says Jackky Bhagnani, the debutant lead of the film in a guarded tone. Of course there is a lot more to the storyline but with the film still being a few more weeks away from release, he is rightly holding on to the information.
Well, with quite a few innovative story ideas failing when it came to execution, all eyes are now set on KAL KISSNE DEKHA to ’see’ (pun intended) if the ‘future’ actually holds good for Bollywood. With debutant Vaishali Desai in the lead and director Vivek BHOOTHNATH Sharma at the helm of direction, this Vashu Bhangani production which has music by Sajid-Wajid could arrive on 1st May if the stand off between producers and multiplexes gets cleared by that time!
Tags: 13b, ability, adage, advance, Akshay, Akshay Kumar, audience, audiences, being, Bhagnani, Bhangani, BHOOTHNATH, Bollywood, Box, boy, camera, Career, center, content, conversation, couple, course, Creative Ideas, crores, debutant, decade, DEKHA, Dekhen, dent, Desai, direction, director, element, end, end result, execution, extent, fact, film, Film Industry, Fort, frame, future, future films, Future Time, gadget, gift, helm, hero, hitherto, hold, idea, industry, information, Jackky, Jehangir, journey, Kal, KISSNE, Kumar, lead, lot, Main Lead, May, movie, Music, narrative, Network, News, news network, Nihal Singh, office, past, photo, Photo Frame, picture, place, point, power, production, prominence, protagonist, Pun, R Madhavan, release, result, right, run, Sajid, Sampurn, Sharma, Shrug, something, stand, starrer, store, story, storyline, supernatural, Supernatural Element, Surti, Tasveer, territory, The, theme, time, tomorrow, tone, topic, trade, trade news, trick, Vaishali, Vashu, Vivek, Wajid, way, week, yesterday, Zara
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Written by Rahul on 10 April 2009
Sampurn, Bollywood Trade News Network
KAL KISSNE DEKHA is a common adage heard whenever a conversation veers towards future. Time and again one wonders about what future has in hold for us but the end result is always a casual shrug of shoulders.
Well, that’s not something that Bollywood is content with though. The film industry, which is forever looking for newer and creative ideas, has quite happily grabbed the idea of looking into the future. Result is that there have been three such releases in recent times that had a common theme of venturing into a territory that has been hitherto unexplored while a fourth is already on its way.
These films are TASVEER 8X10, AA DEKHEN ZARA, 13B and KAL KISSNE DEKHA. While future gazing is of course a favorite topic [AA DEKHEN ZARA, KAL KISSNE DEKHA], even supernatural element around a non-living subject defining our tomorrow (or yesterday) held prominence in at least a couple of films [TASVEER 8X10, 13B].
In AA DEKHEN ZARA, director Jehangir Surti focused on a camera which had the ability to look into the future and warn in advance about what’s going to happen next. Well, seems audiences were truly warned about what was really in store as they chose to stay away from the film which has failed at the box office in two weeks flat.
With a camera gadget doing the trick, one wonders where does the place remain for a conventional lead hero in Bollywood?
“Exactly the point”, says R. Madhavan, “My 13B didn’t have any conventional male lead in fact. Instead, it was the TV which played the main lead.”
In such poor times at the box office when films are failing left, right and center, Madhavan’s 13B has still managed to hold fort to an extent by accumulating 8 crores at the box office during its four week run so far.
The biggest of them was touted to be Akshay Kumar starrer TASVEER 8X10 though where a photo frame held prominence in the film’s narrative. This time around it was a journey into the past through this frame. However, present audience was hardly interested in the past and caused a dent to Akshay’s future by giving it thumbs down. Result is that the film has turned out to be one of the biggest trade disasters of Akshay’s near two decade career.
One looks forward to the fourth movie with a ‘future’ subject being explored – KAL KISSNE DEKHA. The film talks about the power of seeing the future though this time around it’s the lead protagonist himself and not a gadget or a picture that does the trick.
“Nihal Singh is a gifted boy. He realizes only after a point in time that he gets some true premonitions. He isn’t sure about it to begin with but later settles down to this gift”, says Jackky Bhagnani, the debutant lead of the film in a guarded tone. Of course there is a lot more to the storyline but with the film still being a few more weeks away from release, he is rightly holding on to the information.
Well, with quite a few innovative story ideas failing when it came to execution, all eyes are now set on KAL KISSNE DEKHA to ’see’ (pun intended) if the ‘future’ actually holds good for Bollywood. With debutant Vaishali Desai in the lead and director Vivek BHOOTHNATH Sharma at the helm of direction, this Vashu Bhangani production which has music by Sajid-Wajid could arrive on 1st May if the stand off between producers and multiplexes gets cleared by that time!
Tags: 13b, ability, adage, Akshay Kumar, audiences, Bhagnani, Career, center, content, conversation, course, Creative Ideas, crores, debutant, Desai, director, element, end, end result, execution, Film Industry, Fort, future films, Future Time, gadget, gift, hitherto, hold, idea, industry, information, journey, KISSNE, lot, Main Lead, narrative, news network, Photo Frame, place, production, prominence, Pun, right, run, Sampurn, Sharma, Shrug, something, starrer, store, story, Supernatural Element, territory, time, tomorrow, tone, topic, trade, trade news, trick, Wajid, Zara
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Written by Rahul on 09 April 2009
With the New England Journal of Medicine’s last week published study about a newer DNA test for human papillomavirus (HPV) being more effective in detecting cervical cancer than the conventional Pap Smears – which involves a small scraping of cells from the cervix- a lot of questions have arisen about whether the HPV test will substitute Pap Smears! As women suffering from cervical cancer are looking for further details and elaborations about the HPV test, some of the pertinent clarifications on HPV test vis-a-vis Pap Smears have come from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
According to ACOG’s current recommendations, yearly Pap screens are helpful in detecting cervical cancer in young women aged 21 or those who have been having sex for nearly three years, whichever of the two conditions comes earlier.
For women aged 30 years and above, with three negative Pap results, ACOG puts forth three alternatives to choose from, namely – continuing with yearly Pap testing; or switching over to screening every two or three years; or adding screening with an HPV-DNA test.
Kenneth Noller, ex-ACOG President and Chairperson of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts Medical Center, said that both HPV and Pap Smears have nearly the same results when used repetitively over some years, though extensive HPV testing in younger women group may lead to “unnecessary testing, treatment, and worry!”
Tags: ACOG, american, American College Of Obstetricians, American College Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists, Cancer, center, cervical cancer, cervix, chairperson, clarifications, College, Conventional Pap, Department, DNA, england journal of medicine, ex, group, Gynecologists, Gynecology, HPV, Hpv Dna Test, Hpv Testing, HPV-DNA, Human Papillomavirus, Journal, journal of medicine, Kenneth Noller, lot, Medical, Medicine, New England, new england journal, new england journal of medicine, Obstetricians, Obstetricians And Gynecologists, Obstetrics, obstetrics and gynecology, Pap, Pap Results, Pap Smears, president, screening, sex, Smears, study, Test, testing, treatment, Tufts, Tufts Medical Center, week, Women Group, younger women
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
For its Indian operations, independent IT management software company CA has nominated Saurabh Srivastava as Chairman, effective from April 6, 2009.
Mr. Michael Christenson, President and Chief Operating Officer, CA made this declaration.
Mr. Michael stated, ?This announcement is an indication of the importance of India to us as a market and as a global technology center. Saurabh brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience about the Indian market and IT industry, which will be helpful as we seek to expand our operations and position ourselves with the country?s technology, government and venture capital communities. He is widely accepted as one of the architects of the Indian software industry and a role model for entrepreneurs.?
Srivastava will look after sales and development operations of the company, and will report directly to Christensen.
India is CA’s fastest growing geography. It has offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi and a research and development (R and D) facility in Hyderabad.
At present, more than 30% of CA’s global development is performed in India and India is CA’s fastest growing geography, the release added.
Srivastava said, ?CA is on the leading edge of the software industry in helping companies effectively manage the IT services required to drive business success.?
?The Company has made a substantial investment in India and is a perfect partner for not only Indian companies, but India’s growing IT service providers. I look forward to representing CA and helping in its efforts to expand operations in India,? he added.
Srivastava?s IT career spans business and start-up companies, and industry associations.
Before becoming a capitalist and venture capitalist, he worked expansively in the US, UK, India and Singapore in higher positions with top international companies including IBM and Unisys.
He is the founder of IIS Infotech, which in 1998 amalgamated with Xansa, an outsourcing and technology company. He co-founded Infinity Ventures and is the chairman of the Indian Venture Capital Association.
Moreover, Mr. Srivastava also has played a significant role in upgrading technology in the country (India) and with the Indian administration.
He co-founded Nasscom and was chairman of the Indian Government?s Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council. He has also chaired the IT Committee of the Federation of India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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Written by Rahul on 08 April 2009
Washington – The 13 victims of Friday’s shooting at a service center for immigrants in a New York town included two US citizens and people from seven other countries.
The largest number of victims – four – were from China, ranging in age from 22 to 54, the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin reported online Monday.
The information was released by city officials in Binghamton, where the shootings took place at the American Civic Association, which provides services to refugees and immigrants and classes to prepare them for US citizenship naturalization.
Among the victims of the killer, himself a Vietnamese immigrant, were a married couple from Haiti, who left behind a daughter, age 6, and a son, age 12.
The couple, Marc Henry Bernard, 44, and Maria Sonia Bernard, 46, worked in entry-level jobs at McDonalds, the Sun Bulletin reported.
The other victims came one each from Vietnam, Iraq, the Philippines, Pakistan and Brazil.
The two dead Americans were Roberta King, who was teaching the English class where most of the killings took place, and Maria Zobniw, a receptionist in the lobby. The alleged shooter, Jiverly Wong, 42, blazed into the centre firing two hand guns.
A second receptionist survived her wounds, as did three others who suffered gunshots.
Immigrants who aspire to US citizenship must pass a test in English on American civic life, and learning the language is the first step on the path.
The Press and Sun-Bulletin quoted from an e-mail sent by one of Zobniw’s relatives, who wrote that the victims were “simply all representative of (the) aspiration for the realization of the American dream.”
Tags: age, american, american civic association, american dream, aspiration, association, Binghamton, binghamton press and sun, binghamton press and sun bulletin, Brazil, bulletin, center, centre, china, citizenship, city, city officials, Civic, civic life, class, couple, daughter, Daughter Age, Dream, e mail, english, entry level jobs, firing, Friday, Haiti, hand, hand guns, immigrants, information, Iraq, Jiverly, killer, killings, language, life, lobby, marc henry, Marc Henry Bernard, Maria Sonia Bernard, Maria Zobniw, married couple, McDonalds, Monday, naturalization, New York, number, online, Pakistan, path, Philippines, place, press, press and sun bulletin, realization, receptionist, representative, Roberta King, Service, shooter, Shooting, son, step, Sun, Test, town, us, Vietnam, vietnamese immigrant, Washington, Wong
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Written by Rahul on 05 April 2009
Cairo, April 2 (EFE) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said that his country ‘would have no problems in receiving’ prisoners released from the detention centre for suspected terrorists at the US navy base in Guantanamo, Cuba.
‘We wouldn’t have any problem receiving a human being,’ Chavez said in a phone-in interview program on Qatar-based Al Jazeera television Wednesday.
The Venezuelan president, however, added that so far, his country has not been asked to assist in efforts to close the detention center at Guantanamo.
Chavez, who travelled to Qatar for a summit of Arab and South American nations, expressed hope that new US president, Barack Obama, would release all the prisoners at Guantanamo ‘and return Guantanamo Bay to Cuba and do away with that miserable prison.’
The Venezuelan leader also expressed the hope that Obama ‘makes himself into the empire’s last president,’ but he also expressed his scepticism about that possibility.
‘I don’t have much hope (because) there’s an empire behind (him). I hope that the United States’ own dynamic, and above all what we can do, helps there to be a change,’ Chavez said.
Wearing an olive green jacket and red shirt and occasionally using a world map to illustrate his points, Chavez lamented the fact that ‘in some parts of the world’ people label him as a dictator.
‘In Spain there’s no dictatorship, but the Spanish prime minister, just like the Venezuelan (president) can be elected as many times as the people want,’ Chavez said.
‘In France (it’s) the same, and in almost all European countries … That’s a strong reflection of how they see us,’ he added, calling himself the victim of a ‘double standard’.
In the 90-minute interview, Chavez mentioned, among other people, Karl Marx, Jesus Christ, Nelson Mandela and Mao Zedong.
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Written by Rahul on 13 March 2009
Washington, March 13 (ANI): A new research has shown that as a result of increases in aerosols, or airborne pollution, clear sky visibility over land has decreased globally over the past 30 years, turning gray skies to blue.
The research, by a University of Maryland-led team, has compiled the first decades-long database of aerosol measurements over land, making possible new research into how air pollution changes affect climate change.
“Creation of this database is a big step forward for researching long-term changes in air pollution and correlating these with climate change,” said Kaicun Wang, assistant research scientist in the University of Maryland’s department of geography and lead author of the research paper.
“And it is the first time we have gotten global long-term aerosol information over land to go with information already available on aerosol measurements over the world’s oceans,” he added.
Wang, together with Shunlin Liang, a University of Maryland professor of geography, and Robert Dickinson, a professor of geological science at the University of Texas, Austin, created a database that includes visibility measurements taken from 1973 – 2007 at 3,250 meteorological stations all over the world and released by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).
Visibility was the distance a meteorological observer could see clearly from the measurement source.
The more aerosols present in the air, the shorter the visibility distance.
According to the researchers, the visibility data were compared to available satellite data (2000-2007), and found to be comparable as an indicator of aerosol concentration in the air.
Thus, they conclude, the visibility data provide a valid source from which scientists can study correlations between air pollution and climate change.
Studies of the long-term effects of aerosols on climate change have been largely inconclusive up to now due to limited over-land aerosol measurements, according to Wang and his team.
However, with this database, researchers can now compare temperature, rainfall and cloud cover data from the past 35 years with the aerosol measurements in the new database.
According to the authors, a preliminary analysis of the database measurements shows a steady increase in aerosols over the period from 1973 to 2007.
Increased aerosols in the atmosphere block solar radiation from the earth’s surface, and have thus caused a net “global dimming.”
The only region that does not show an increase in aerosols is Europe, which has actually experienced a “global brightening.”
The largest known source of increased aerosols is increased burning of fossil fuels. And a major product of fossil fuel combustion is sulfur dioxide.
Thus, the team notes, that their finding of a steady increase in aerosols in recent decades, also suggests an increase in sulfate aerosols. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 13 March 2009
Washington, March 13 (ANI): The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a strong new line of evidence that halos of dark matter are embedded around small galaxies.
Looking into the turbulent center of the nearby Perseus galaxy cluster, Hubble discovered a large population of small galaxies that have remained intact while larger galaxies around them are being ripped apart by the gravitational tug of other galaxies.
The Hubble images provide further evidence that the undisturbed galaxies are enshrouded by a “cushion” of dark matter that protects them from their rough-and-tumble neighborhood.
Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that accounts for most of the Universe’s mass.
Astronomers have deduced the existence of dark matter by observing its gravitational influence on normal matter, such as stars, gas and dust.
“We were surprised to find so many dwarf galaxies in the core of this cluster that were so smooth and round and had no evidence at all of any kind of disturbance,” said astronomer Christopher Conselice of the University of Nottingham, UK, and leader of the team that made the Hubble observations.
“These dwarfs are very old galaxies that have been in the cluster for a long time. So if something was going to disrupt them, it would have happened by now. They must be very, very dark- matter-dominated galaxies,” he added.
The dwarf galaxies may have an even higher amount of dark matter than spiral galaxies.
“With these results, we cannot say whether the dark matter content of the dwarfs is higher than in the Milky Way Galaxy,” Conselice said.
“Although, the fact that spiral galaxies are destroyed in clusters, while the dwarfs are not, suggests that this is indeed the case,” he added.
First proposed about 80 years ago by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky, dark matter is thought to be the glue that holds galaxies together.
Astronomers suggest that dark matter provides a vital scaffolding for the Universe, forming a framework for the formation of galaxies through gravitational attraction.
Observations by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys spotted 29 dwarf elliptical galaxies in the Perseus Cluster, located 250 million light- years away and one of the closest galaxy clusters to Earth.
Because dark matter cannot be seen, astronomers detected its presence through indirect evidence.
Conselice and his team derived a new technique for uncovering dark matter in these dwarf galaxies by determining the minimum additional mass contribution from dark matter that the dwarfs must have to protect them from being disrupted by the strong, tidal pull of gravity from larger galaxies. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 13 March 2009
New York, Mar.13 (ANI): Ponzi king Bernie Madoff will be going from his plush, multi-million dollar penthouse to a spartan seven-and-a-half-foot by eight foot cell in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
He is likely to be provided with a bare bunk bed, whitewashed cinderblock walls and a shared sink.
Inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center, typically home to terrorists, gangsters and drug dealers, the high-rolling the Ponzi scheme mastermind will be one of 750 inmates.
After 45 years of waking up with wife Ruth, Madoff, Bernie will now share his room with another inmate.
Instead of a leisurely weekend brunch, the 70-year-old Madoff will get a 6 a.m. wake-up call with breakfast served 30 minutes later.
Rather than a tasteful custom-tailored gray suit, he’ll don a baggy brown prison-issued outfit.
Lunch is at 11:30 a.m., and dinner at 5 p.m. Lights out is at 11 p.m. sharp.
Depending on the location of his cell, Madoff might catch a glimpse of Manhattan’s bright lights from its small single window.
Entertainment options are sparse, too. The only TVs are in common areas, where he can share the viewing with fellow felons.
Every other day, Madoff can enjoy outdoor recreation – on the lower Manhattan building’s caged roof, a comedown from his glass-topped seven million dollar penthouse.
Inside, he can kill time reading in the prison library or playing Ping-Pong – sad substitutes for 18 holes of golf or a 50 dollar Palm Beach pedicure. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 13 March 2009
Kohima, March 12 (ANI): Dedicated to the cause of providing employment and a sustainable livelihood to young girls of Nagaland, a toy production unit here is making a difference to the lives of several young girls.
Established in 2006 and situated in the premises of the Industrial Training Institute in Kohima, LadyBug Toy production unit offers training in stitching, cutting, and stuffing of soft toys.
Various resident girls, who today appear as if they have been gifted with creativity and a flair for fine details, produce a range of soft toys and home decor accessories, along with dedicated quality – checking for manufacturing the finest products here.
“By doing these things, we can help ourselves, earn pocket money in different ways. These days it is very difficult to get government job. But this really helps us that we can do something and help our family and ourselves and our creativity can also be utilized. So, this work is good, ” said Ajano, an employee of the LadyBug Toy production unit.
“I have learnt a lot from this center. Even if people study a lot, government jobs are difficult to get. So I encourage people like me to join in such productive work,” said Aphai, another employee,” said LadyBug Toy production unit.
Several girls, who were dropouts from school or college, have been trained to make soft toys at the Institute of Toy Making Kolkata (ITMT). It could be possible with the support of the Ministry of Department of North Eastern Region (DoNer) and the Chief Minister’s Corpus Fund, Nagaland government.
Apart from providing livelihood to the girls, the training given by the unit also prepares them for future endeavors.
“We make different kinds of dolls, we are now starting to make Naga dolls as people like it. We are also planning to make dolls of different designs in the future. (In: 00:43-00:57) (Insert Shots) In future we are not only going to have a unit, but we have plans to set up a whole company that is why many people come and we are all are working hard,” said Bobbi, supervisor at LadyBug Toy Production Unit.
About 100 toys are sold on an average day. The favourites among customers are the Naga dolls dressed in traditional fineries.
The Unit also takes part in various exhibitions as well as the annual Hornbill Festival, which is held in the state.
Demand for the products of the LBTPU has been growing and it hopes to emerge as a big exporter of toys in the future. By Vibou Ganguly (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 09 March 2009
Harare (Zimbabwe), Mar. 8 (ANI): Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party has said it will conduct its own investigation in the mysterious death of Tsvangirai’s wife.
The Movement for Democratic Change so far believes that the highway crash that injured Tsvangirai and killed his wife Susan, 50, on Friday was an accident.
But many civic activists and party supporters remain profoundly skeptical that elements in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party were not somehow involved in the crash, the New York Times reports.
Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti said a further investigation of the crash was needed and contended that it could have been prevented if the police had provided the prime minister with an escort. Both the party and the police will look into the causes of the crash, he said.
The sport utility vehicle carrying the Tsvangirais was sideswiped by a truck that delivers American-supplied antiretroviral drugs to treat people with AIDS, a senior American official said.
A female passenger in the aid truck said the driver lost control after hitting a rough patch.
“From our initial understanding, it seems the truck hit a pothole, lost control, crossed the center line and sideswiped Morgan’s car, causing it to turn over several times. It looks like it truly was an accident,” the American official said.
Tsvangirai, who has been the target of assassination attempts in the past and fled the country last year out of fear for his life, was sworn in as prime minister in a power-sharing government with Mugabe only last month.
Both parties have been involved in the power struggles since.
Susan, Tsvangirai’s wife of more than 30 years and the mother of their six children, was thrown from their vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, in the crash and died shortly afterward. She will probably be buried Tuesday or Wednesday in Tsvangirai’s rural home in Buhera, a party official said.
People who have spoken with Tsvangirai said he was shattered by the loss of his wife. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 09 March 2009
New York, Mar.8 (ANI): Only a legitimate and credible government in Afghanistan can neutralize the advances being made by the Taliban in that country, feel experts.
“I think it is clear that you have to have a political solution to Afghanistan, and I wouldn’t rule anything off the table, including conversations with some aspects of the Taliban,” said Reuben Brigety, an Afghanistan expert at the Center for American Progress.
“The key to winning back the population is to establish legitimate government,” the New York Times quoted Clare Lockhart, a former adviser to the Afghan government and the co-author of “Fixing Failed States”, as saying.
“If you give people a government with sufficient credibility – and basic jobs – you can win back their trust,” she added.
“There are multiple motivations for why these insurgents could be fighting,” Brigety asserts, suggesting that for some lower-level Taliban, the fight against NATO forces could emanate from something other than a desire to bring down the Afghan government or to defeat the United States.
“More importantly, though, is there are fissures that could be exploited. As long as we’ve adopted a position that all are our enemies, we could be missing an opportunity to exploit those divisions,” Brigety said, returning to the divide-and-conquer theme.
Daniel Markey, a former South Asia expert at the State Department under President Bush, said that lessons learned in Iraq – where the Bush administration enlisted Sunni militias as allies by negotiating with tribal leaders – don’t necessarily apply in Afghanistan.
“The tribal structure in Afghanistan is different than in Iraq. There’s no clear hierarchy. If you make a deal with one guy, you have a deal with one guy, and not his whole clan,” Markey said.
“You fight, you talk, you fight, you talk. If by talking, you can divide your enemies, talk. But if by talking, you’re just giving your enemies breathing space, then don’t talk,” he concluded. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 07 March 2009
Washington, March 7 (ANI): NASA’s Kepler mission, which would search other Earth-like planets, has been successfully launched into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, US, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II.
Kepler is designed to find the first Earth-size planets orbiting stars at distances where water could pool on the planet’s surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.
“It was a stunning launch,” said Kepler Project Manager James Fanson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“Our team is thrilled to be a part of something so meaningful to the human race – Kepler will help us understand if our Earth is unique or if others like it are out there,” he added.
Engineers acquired a signal from Kepler at 12:11 a.m. on March 7th, after it separated from its spent third-stage rocket and entered its final sun-centered orbit, trailing 950 miles behind Earth.
The spacecraft is generating its own power from its solar panels.
“Kepler now has the perfect place to watch more than 100,000 stars for signs of planets,” said William Borucki, the mission’s science principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California.
“Everyone is very excited as our dream becomes a reality. We are on the verge of learning if other Earths are ubiquitous in the galaxy,” he added.
Engineers have begun to check Kepler to ensure it is working properly, a process called “commissioning” that will take about 60 days.
In about a month or less, NASA will send up commands for Kepler to eject its dust cover and make its first measurements.
After another month of calibrating Kepler’s single instrument, a wide-field charge-couple device camera, the telescope will begin to search for planets.
The first planets to roll out on the Kepler “assembly line” are expected to be the portly “hot Jupiters” – gas giants that circle close and fast around their stars.
Neptune-size planets will most likely be found next, followed by rocky ones as small as Earth.
The true Earth analogs – Earth-sized planets orbiting stars like our sun at distances where surface water, and possibly life, could exist – would take at least three years to discover and confirm.
Ground-based telescopes also will contribute to the mission by verifying some of the finds.
In the end, Kepler will give us our first look at the frequency of Earth-size planets in our Milky Way galaxy, as well as the frequency of Earth-size planets that could theoretically be habitable. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 06 March 2009
Washington, March 6 (ANI): A vaginal microbicide gel has for the first time shown some promise to prevent HIV infection in women in a clinical trial involving more than 3,000 subjects in the U.S. and southern Africa.
While making a presentation on the trial’s findings at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the researchers said that one 0.5 per cent dose of a microbicide designed to prevent HIV from attaching to cells in the genital tract, was 30 per cent effective.
While the results of the study known as HPTN 035 are encouraging, the researchers behind it say that additional evidence is needed to determine more definitively its effectiveness.
“These findings provide the first signal that a microbicide gel may be able to prevent women from HIV infection,” says Dr. Salim S. Abdool Karim, professor of clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, pro vice-chancellor (research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, and director the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa, who led the multi-center study for the U.S.-based Microbicide Trials Network (MTN).
“Indeed, for the millions of women at risk for HIV, especially young women in Africa, there is now a glimmer of hope. But these findings also indicate that more research is needed; we can’t yet say that we have an effective microbicide,” he added.
Microbicides are substances intended to reduce or prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections when applied topically.
While various microbicides are being tested in clinical trials, none of them has ben approved for use as yet because previous trials have yielded disappointing results.
The study-conducted between February 2005 and September 2008, and involving 3,099 women at six sites in Africa and one in the U.S.-evaluated the safety and effectiveness of two candidate microbicides for preventing male-to-female sexual transmission of HIV.
“I am particularly impressed by and grateful to the women who took part in HPTN 035. “We have reached an important milestone in HIV prevention research, and these women deserve credit for the success of the study,” said Dr. Sharon Hillier, vice chairman and professor, department of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and MTN principal investigator. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 06 March 2009
Washington, March 6 (ANI): In a new report, geologists have mapped large rock formations in the United States that can also absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), which they say might be artificially harnessed to do the task at a vastly increased pace.
The report, by scientists at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the U.S. Geological Survey, shows 6,000 square miles of ultramafic rocks at or near the surface.
Originating deep in the earth, these rocks contain minerals that react naturally with carbon dioxide to form solid minerals.
Earth Institute scientists are experimenting with ways to speed this natural process, called mineral carbonation.
If the technology takes off, geologic formations around the world could provide a vast sink for heat-trapping carbon dioxide released by humans.
According to Lead author Sam Krevor, a graduate student working through the Earth Institute’s Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, the United States’ ultramafic rocks could be enough to stash more than 500 years of U.S. CO2 production.
Conveniently, most of them are clustered in strips along the east and west coasts, some near major cities including New York, Baltimore and San Francisco.
“We’re trying to show that anyone within a reasonable distance of these rock formations could use this process to sequester as much carbon dioxide as possible,” said Krevor.
Ultramafic rocks generally form in earth’s mantle, starting some 12 miles under the surface and extending down hundreds of miles.
Bits of these rocks-peridotite, dunite, lherzholite and others – may be squeezed to the surface when continental plates collide with oceanic plates, or, less often, when the interiors of continents thin and develop rifts.
Because of their chemical makeup, when the rocks are exposed to carbon dioxide, they react to form common limestone and chalk.
A map accompanying the report shows that most such rocks are found in and around coastal mountain ranges, with the greatest concentrations in California, Oregon and Washington, and along the Appalachians from New England to Alabama.
Some also occur in the interior, including Montana. Worldwide, other formations are scattered across Eurasia and Australia.
The major drawback to natural mineral carbonation is its slow pace: normally, it takes thousands of years for rocks to react with sizable quantities of CO2.
But, scientists are experimenting with ways to speed the reaction up by dissolving carbon dioxide in water and injecting it into the rock, as well as capturing heat generated by the reaction to accelerate the process.
“It offers a way to permanently get rid of CO2 emissions,” said Juerg Matter, a scientist at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where a range of projects is underway. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 06 March 2009
London, March 6 (ANI): NASA is planning to launch an orbiter in 2016 that could map methane on Mars and help settle whether the gas has a biological or geological origin.
According to a report in New Scientist, the orbiter will fly on its own or with the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) ExoMars rover.
NASA will launch the orbiter in 2016 to help boost telecommunications around the planet as existing orbiters age.
A rover or lander may follow in 2018, as a next step in the path to one day returning samples of Martian rocks and soil to Earth.
Though the exact payload and budget of the 2016 probe are not yet set, but a team of researchers has presented a vision of the probe’s basic payload that could clear up the picture of how methane on Mars is distributed and where it comes from.
Ground-based observations of the Red Planet led by Michael Mumma of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center suggest methane on Mars actually stems from a few hotspots that could be linked to underground pockets of gas created by the interaction of water with volcanic rock, or perhaps, by methane-producing microbes.
But, some remain unconvinced of the hotspot result, arguing that the gas should be evenly spread since it moves quickly and seems to have a long lifetime in the atmosphere.
The 2016 orbiter could help determine whether there are indeed methane hotspots.
One idea is to use a spectrometer to look through the Martian atmosphere when the Sun passes behind the planet – an event called a ’solar occultation’.
By measuring how much sunlight is absorbed by the atmosphere during the occultations, the spectrometer could detect the concentration of gases in the atmosphere to a sensitivity of several parts per trillion.
“It has more than enough accuracy to test Mumma’s report,” said Jim Kasting of Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and a member of the 2016 probe’s Science Definition Team.
“You will also get better spatial and temporal accuracy of the distribution of methane over the planet,” Kasting told New Scientist.
The case for a biological origin for the gas would be strengthened if there is an overabundance of methane laden with the isotope carbon-12, which life prefers to process over heavier isotopes.
If, however, the atmosphere also contains heavier hydrocarbons uch as ethane, which life as we know it cannot produce, that ould point to a geological source for the methane. (ANI)
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Written by Rahul on 06 March 2009
Washington, Mar 6 (ANI): Here’s some bad news for people who carry excess weight around the middle: love handles can impair lung function.
According to a report published in American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Medicine, a high weight circumference is strongly associated with decreased lung function.
o reach the conclusion, researchers analysed health information of more than 120,000 people from the Paris Investigations Preventives et Cliniques Center, and assessed demographic background, smoking history, alcohol consumption, as well as lung function, including FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in one second) and FVC (forced vital capacity, or the total expiratory volume) with respect to BMI, waist circumference and other measures of metabolic health.
“After adjustment for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, alcohol consumption, leisure time physical activity and cardiovascular history, metabolic syndrome remained independently associated with lung function impairment,” wrote lead author Natalie Leone, M.D., of French National Institute for Health and Medical Research.
“We found a positive independent relationship between lung function impairment and metabolic syndrome due mainly to abdominal obesity,” the expert added.
Abdominal obesity was defined as having a waist circumference of greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men.
“[This] study demonstrated that only mild abdominal adiposity, even with a normal body mass index (BMI), in associated with lower FVC,” said Paul Enright, M.D., of the University of Arizona, in an accompanying editorial.
While more research will undoubtedly shed light on the underlying mechanisms linking abdominal fat to lowered lung function, there is an immediate clinical consideration: “I believe there is now enough evidence to recommend that waist circumference always be measured before spirometry tests.
“Abdominal obesity could then be highlighted on the printed report so that the physician interpreting the report could take the effect of obesity into account,” wrote Dr. Enright. (ANI)
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