News and Events - AUGUST 2009

[Pintu]

Plane hits wall at Iranian airport, killing 17 | World | Reuters

Plane hits wall at Iranian airport, killing 17
Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:41am IST

By Zahra Hosseinian

TEHRAN (Reuters) - At least 17 people were killed and 23 injured when a passenger aircraft veered off the runway and hit a wall while landing at Mashhad airport in northeastern Iran on Friday, media reports said.

The plane, an Ilyushin Il-62 leased by Iran's Aria Tour from Kazakhstan, left the runway and crashed into a boundary wall, state television said.

There were 153 people on board the aircraft, which had flown to Mashhad from Tehran, it said.

Television showed images of the plane with its nose section badly damaged and said the accident was due to a malfunction in the front landing wheels. It said the pilot was among the dead.

Ali Ilkhani, director of Iran's civil aviation, told state television the plane appeared to have tried to land while flying too fast. He said 13 of the dead were crew members, nine of them from Kazakhstan.

Earlier reports said the aircraft had caught fire.

Mohammad-Reza Moti, a provincial emergency aid official, told the state news agency IRNA the injured were being treated in hospitals in Mashhad, an important pilgrimage site for Shi'ite Muslims. The majority of Iranians are Shi'ites.

"Some of the injured are in bad condition," he said.

The crash occurred around 6:20 p.m. (1350 GMT).

"We felt the plane hit uneven ground right after landing ... after the emergency exit was opened, no one dared to jump because it was too high, so we got out over the wing," one of the passengers told state television.

On July 15, a Russian-built Tupolev operated by Iran's Caspian Airlines flying to Armenia crashed in northwestern Iran, killing all 168 people aboard.

U.S. sanctions bar the sale of Boeing aircraft to Iran and hinder it from buying other aircraft or spare parts from the West. Many Western aircraft rely on U.S.-made engines and parts.

 

[xebex]

In my openion gay marriage cant be legalize as it lead to an unstable social enviornment..... artificial sperm and lesbian marriage....man we are going to be OBSOLETE.:12:

 

[I-G]

China launches Arabic international TV channel

China launches Arabic international TV channel
AFP 25 July 2009, 11:47am IST


BEIJING: China on Saturday launched an international Arabic-language television channel as part of an ambitious programme to promote the communist country's views abroad.

State-run China Central Television (CCTV) said the new service would broadcast news, entertainment and education programmes 24 hours a day to a potential audience of about 300 million people in 22 countries.

CCTV vice-president Zhang Changming said in a statement the channel "would serve as an important bridge to strengthen communication and understanding between China and the Arab countries."

The network, which already broadcasts in English, French and Spanish, also has plans for a Russian-language service.

CCTV began work last September on launching its new Arabic channel.

The satellite channel can be received across the Middle East, North Africa and in the Asia-Pacific region, the statement said.

The move is part of an ambitious programme of international expansion by the state-controlled media to promote the image of China abroad. Xinhua news agency, which already reports from more than 100 countries and territories, also plans to open more foreign bureaus.

"We must increase our broadcasting capacity to positively influence international public opinion and to give an good image of our nation," propaganda chief Wang Chen declared in January, as quoted by Xinhua.

Hong Kong daily the South China Morning Post has reported that Beijing was prepared to put 45 billion yuan (6.6 billion dollars) into the development of its media, an amount which could not be confirmed by Chinese sources.

Beijing has complained about "biased" coverage of China by foreign media but strictly controls its own media.

China launches Arabic international TV channel - China - World - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[I-G]

2 Chinese teams break new ground in stem cell research

2 Chinese teams break new ground in stem cell research


Live mice created from cells derived from skin tissue

WASHINGTON: Two teams of Chinese scientists have made a major advance in mice in the development of a new kind of stem cell that does not involve destroying embryos.

These cells are derived from ordinary skin cells, and were hailed as a breakthrough when they were created two years ago from human skin and genetically reprogrammed. But questions remained on whether they could act as chameleon-like as embryonic stem cells and morph into any cell type in the body.

One way to show that versatility was if the new reprogrammed stem cells could be used to produce an entire new life. And now researchers have shown that they can, in mice.

For the first time, they were able to produce live mice from stem cells that were coaxed from the skin tissue of adult mice and then reprogrammed. While there were abnormalities and unusual deaths with some of the first generation of mice, one team produced enough normal mice through this method to create hundreds of second and third generation mice.

Studies on this type of stem cell, called iPS for induced pluripotent stem cells, were released on Thursday by two competing scientific journals, Nature and Cell Stem Cell.

“We demonstrated the practicality of using iPS cells,” said Fanyi Zeng, associate director of the Shanghai Institute of Medical Genetics and co-author of the larger, more successful study which appears in Nature.

Dr. George Daley of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Children’s Hospital of Boston, a leading U.S. stem cell researcher who was not part of either study, hailed the work as important because it shows that the new type of stem cells “satisfy the most stringent criteria of embryonic stem cells — the ability to make a mouse entirely from cells in a petri dish.”

Less controversy


These stem cells generate less controversy than embryonic stem cells, which scientists have been studying for more than a decade. Embryonic stem cells involve the destruction of embryos, usually excess from fertility clinics.

The new type of stem cells uses a virus to reprogramme the genetic information of the skin cell to make it a stem cell. Because it cannot create a placenta, the Chinese researchers had to then combine the new stem cell with cells that provide a placenta.

Dr. Zeng said all types of stem cell research should continue, not just the new type. Her study produced 27 live mice, some of which had “abnormalities.” However, she declined on adding what those were or how extensive the problems were. “That will be in a future report,” she said. The 27 mice produced second and third generations that included hundreds of mice with no noticeable abnormalities.

The other team of scientists got only four births — three died quickly and only one made it into normal adulthood.

“Unethical for humans”


“We are confident that tremendous good can come from demonstrating the versatility of reprogrammed cells in mice,” Dr. Zeng said in an e-mail, adding that while this is just in mice, it could help doctors “understand the root causes of disease and lead to viable treatments and cures of human afflictions.”

Dr. Daley and Dr. Zeng noted that the process is not very efficient — many attempts were required to get stem cell generated births. “There’s a lot more (to do) before we can even mention humans,” Dr. Zeng said. She said it would be unethical to try and use these stem cells for reproduction of life in humans. — AP

The Hindu : Front Page : 2 Chinese teams break new ground in stem cell research

 

[I-G]

Married lesbian couple seeks protection from NHRC

Updated on Saturday, July 25, 2009, 14:20 IST

Muzaffarnagar: A lesbian couple, who invited wrath of their families after they eloped and entered into a wedlock, has sought protection from NHRC fearing threat to their lives, police said on Saturday.

The two girls -- Pinki (19) and Komal (18) – belonging to Shamli, 35 KM away, shocked their parents by expressing desire to marry two months ago.

The marriage came to light after Pinki filed a complaint with a senior police official alleging harassment by her parents, police said.

The police team, which is investigating into the matter, yesterday received a copy of the complaint filed by the couple with the National Human Rights Commission seeking protection, they said.

Meanwhile, Bhartiya Kisan Union president Mahendra Singh Tikait said such a marriage is against the ethos and tradition of any religion and should be opposed

Married lesbian couple seeks protection from NHRC

 

[I-G]

UN commends Saudi Arabia's generosity

UN commends Kingdom’s generosity
Ghazanfar Ali Khan | Arab News

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has been ranked as “the largest international donor to humanitarian appeals” when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). The Kingdom gave 0.19 percent of the value of its economy to humanitarian funding abroad. This is large in comparison to the US, which spent 0.02 percent of its GDP on humanitarian aid in 2008.

“The US came in 19th on the list,” said a report released by the United Nations last week.

Commenting on the report Riyad Musa, the UN’s resident coordinator in Saudi Arabia, said that the rise of Saudi Arabia as the world’s top humanitarian donor “is a great success and shows the strong commitments of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.”

“Recent years have seen the rise of Saudi Arabia as an important and growing force in global development and humanitarian initiatives,” added Musa. “The UN office in Riyadh commends the nation for its solidarity with fellow countries, and stands ready to continue this agenda through our cooperation programs and initiatives in the Kingdom and abroad.”

Referring to the humanitarian gesture of the Saudi government, the report said Riyadh not only led humanitarian donors as a percentage of GDP when compared to the US, but also in comparison to the more generous European countries, such as Sweden (0.14 percent) and Norway (0.13 percent).

“Many small European countries, with large and generally affluent populations, were also part of the lead countries by GDP,” explained the report.

The United Nations has announced that it is running a record funding-shortfall of $4.8 billion for its aid operations in 16 crisis-ridden countries, thanks largely to the global economic downturn that has disproportionately affected the impoverished in the developing world.

The UN says it has received less than half of the $9.5 billion it needs to carry out humanitarian operations this year.

Calling on nations to render urgent support, the UN said that the number of people needing help this year was 43 million compared to 28 million last year. As a consequence, more money is needed to care for them. The United Nations says it requires $1.5 billion, or 19 percent, more money this year to maintain its operations.

John Holmes, the top UN humanitarian official, has been quoted as saying in the report that “the global recession itself is having an effect on the number of people in need.”

He said that more people need assistance in the Palestinian territories because of the conflict with Israel early this year.

But Holmes notes the most dramatic need is in Pakistan.

“Pakistan has seen probably the most dramatic and dramatically changing humanitarian situation this year with up to two million people fleeing the military operations in parts of Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan,” he added.

Other areas of concern include Zimbabwe, which continues to suffer from being unable to feed its population.

UN commends Kingdom’s generosity

 

[I-G]

Outcry over disowned US rape girl

Page last updated at 04:40 GMT, Saturday, 25 July 2009 05:40 UK
E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Outcry over disowned US rape girl

Offers for help are pouring in for an eight-year-old Liberian girl disowned by her own family in Phoenix, Arizona, after being raped by four boys.

The girl is under the care of the Arizona Child Protective Service (CPS) because her parents said she had shamed them, and they did not want her back.

Phoenix police said calls had come in from all over the US offering money, or even to adopt the young girl.

The boys, Liberian immigrants aged nine to 14, have been charged with rape.

The case has sparked outrage across the US and even drawn condemnation from Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, an outspoken anti-rape campaigner.

"I think that family is wrong. They should help that child who has been traumatised," Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf told CNN.

"They too need serious counselling because clearly they are doing something, something that is no longer acceptable in our society here," she added.

Brutal attack

Media reports said the girl was lured into a shed on 16 July with promises of chewing gum by the four young boys.

There, they held her down and took turns assaulting her for 10 to 15 minutes, before her screams alerted officers nearby.

The oldest suspect, a 14-year-old boy, will be tried as an adult on charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, police said on Friday. He is being held in police custody until trial.

The other three - aged 9, 10, and 13 - are charged as juveniles with sexual assault and kidnapping.

But the police said no charges will be filed against the parents.

"They didn't abandon the child," Phoenix police sergeant Andy Hill told AFP news agency. "They committed no crime. They just didn't support the child, which led to CPS coming over there."

Sgt Hill said people from eight or nine US states had called wanting to adopt the girl or donate money.

"It has been unbelievably fantastic in terms of support for the child," he said.

BBC NEWS | Americas | Outcry over disowned US rape girl

 

[I-G]

UK teen held for acid attack

UK teen held for acid attack
AFP 25 July 2009, 12:43am IST


LONDON: Police in London were on Friday questioning a teenager after a man allegedly had acid poured over him, in what they say may be a Muslim “honour” attack.

The Danish victim, who is aged 24 and fighting for his life in hospital, was reportedly suspected of having an affair with a married Muslim woman with roots in Pakistan. She has now been warned her life could be in danger.

Detectives re-arrested a 16-year-old who is one of seven young men held since the attack in Leytonstone, northeast London, on July 2. “He is currently being questioned at a police station in east London,” a police spokesman said.

The victim suffered burns to at least 50% of his body in the attack, which seriously damaged tissue in his throat and on his face and burnt away at his tongue. He was also blinded in one eye and stabbed twice in the back.
Asked whether it was an “honour” attack, the spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police said: “We keep an open mind and it will be a line of inquiry.”

Two men appeared in court on Thursday charged with attempted murder in the ca e and are due back in court on September 30. The London police spokesman confirmed that one line of inquiry is that the victim was attacked with acid over his friendship with a woman.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/N...ow/4817889.cms

 

[I-G]

Four arrested in Jind youth's lynching incident

Updated on Saturday, July 25, 2009, 16:07 IST

Chandigarh: Police on Saturday arrested four persons who were allegedly part of a mob that lynched a youth in police presence on Wednesday for marrying a woman of the same sub-caste, even as she told a court that she was drugged and lured by the man.

"Four persons were arrested this afternoon and they are being interrogated," Jind district Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Shayin said on phone.

He, however, said they were not related to the girl's family and further details would be given later.

The incident had taken place in Singhwal village, about 165 km from here, when 21-year-old Ved Pal of Matour village in neighbouring Kaithal district accompanied by a warrant officer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and police had gone to take his wife Sonia Banwala from her house.

A mob of 400 villagers attacked the police party and lynched the youth. Police claimed that he had tried to escape from the spot in a bid to save himself but ran into the mob that beat him to death.

Yesterday, Sonia had appeared in the court of Sub Divisional Magistrate at Narwana and said that she was lured by Pal into leaving home and kept in a "drugged state" for several weeks.

Sonia claimed in court that she was staying with her maternal uncle in Jind town for past several days and she was unable to remember anything about her relationship with Ved Pal as she was regularly administered some drugs by him.

She also told the court that she faced no threat from her family.

Yesterday, Station House Officer Balwant Singh, under whose jurisdiction Singhwal village falls, was suspended for dereliction of duty as he was in charge of Ved Pal's security.

Two days after his death, the victim's distraught father Hari Krishan vented his anger against the warrant officer saying it was he who prevailed upon Pal to accompany him to the girl's house in Singhwal despite his initial reluctance to do so.

Krishan said that politicians were not intervening in the matter, and added, "They could pressurise the administration to punish all those who are guilty for murdering my son, but no one is speaking a word about the incident."

Four arrested in Jind youth`s lynching incident

 

[Jeypore]

FIR against Airport Officials who Frisked Kalam

The Government has filed an FIR against four employees of a US airline for frisking former Indian president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam at the Delhi airport on April 21.

Continental Airlines has apologized to Kalam for the incident. Kalam was made to take off his shoes, hand over his belongings for scrutiny, and asked to wait before being frisked.

The airlines called the incident a misunderstanding/inconvenience after the government filed an FIR against it for allegedly breaching Indian aviation rules. "Our intention was never to offend Dr Kalam or the sentiments of the people of India. Continental Airlines takes great pride and is honoured to have flown a respectable leader such as Dr Kalam," said the airlines on Wednesday.

The FIR has been lodged against Laurent Recoura, country director, Allen Field, station manager of Continental, Cynthia Carlier, area security manager, and Jaideep, security in-charge. Rajya Sabha MPs on Tuesday condemned the security check and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel called the incident “unpardonable”. India has a list of VIPs exempted from routine security checks and frisking. This is applicable even when they are travelling by commercial flights.

The list includes 18 VIPs including the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, former Presidents, Lok Sabha Speaker, Chief Ministers, Chief Justices of High Courts and the Cabinet Secretary.

FIR against Airport Officials who Frisked Kalam | India.com

 

[I-G]

Task force in Vidharbha soon to curb private money lending

Task force in Vidharbha soon to curb private money lending

Nagpur (PTI): The Centre has decided to set up a task force to deal with private money lending in Vidarbha region, where a large number of debt-ridden farmers committed suicides, on the recommendations of a committee headed by then Pune University Vice-Chancellor Narendra Jadhav.

"Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee made announcement of setting up of a task force during his budgetary speech in Parliament and made specific references of private money lending thriving in Vidarbha region," Mr. Jadhav told reporters here on Saturday.

"Vidarbha region, which had in the past witnessed a few thousand farmers committing suicides, was indeed 20 per cent beneficiary of Prime Minister's Financial Package to the tune of Rs 71,000 crores," Mr. Jadhav, now a Planning Commission member, said.

Maharashtra's share was Rs 9900 crores, he said, adding 55 per cent share went to Western Maharashtra, surprisingly where farmers suicides were not much relevant.

He said private money lending has been extended to lending seeds and fertilisers in Vidarbha which was alarming.

He ridiculed his critics, including Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari, for their allegations that report was pro-government and also expressed surprise why they want State government to implement his committee's report.

The Hindu News Update Service

 

[I-G]

Anti-dowry oath must for state jobs in Uttar Pradesh
By Amrit Dhillon, Correspondent
Published: July 24, 2009, 22:47


New Delhi: Any man taking up a new government job in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh will have to take a solemn oath to have no truck with the practice of dowry. If he is already married, he has to sign an affidavit declaring that he did not demand a dowry from his wife's family at the time of getting married.

If unmarried, he must pledge that he will not demand a dowry when he gets married.

Such a requirement for all new civil servants was introduced in 2004 but has been observed by only 2,000 or so of the 200,000 employees in the state. Now Chief Minister Mayawati, (who goes by a single name) has dusted off the rule and ordered that it should be strictly enforced both with existing employees and in all future recruitment.


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"We are going to look at everyone on the rolls. All those who have failed to sign this declaration will be punished," said Welfare Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha. "Taking or demanding dowry is a criminal offence and we can't have civil servants breaking the law."

The practice of dowry is rampant throughout urban and rural India, despite laws banning it. A villager in Uttar Pradesh last week shaved his wife's head and paraded her bare on the main street for not bringing enough dowry.

The custom is so deeply rooted that, over millennia, it has been prodigiously refined into a very precise calculus. There are different 'rates' depending on the groom's job.

A poorly educated man in a meagrely-paid job can only demand a limited amount of dowry. A graduate in a white-collar job can make huge demands.

A few years ago, The Times of India printed a listing of the expected price on grooms from different professions. The more prestigious or lucrative the job, the bigger the dowry.

A businessman with an MBA, for example, could fetch Rs.1.5 million (about $37,500 or Dh137,000) while a member of India's civil service could ask for two million rupees ($50,000).

The reason for the hefty price on civil servants is not the salary they earn but the vast scope for bribe-taking that comes with a government job.

Nothing moves in a government office without a bribe. A civil servant will sit behind his desk, piled high with files, and point to the one containing your request or application. The applicant knows the file will remain at the bottom, unattended, until a bribe is handed.

In some areas of India, people who go to the local electricity office to pay their bill have to pay a small bribe to the official to accept their payment.

"One of the main reasons why people are so eager to get a government job is not just the security but the massive dowry they can command from the bride's family," said Atul Ghosh, a voluntary worker in Lucknow, capital of UP.

Without giving a generous dowry, a woman's parents have little chance of finding a husband for her.

But the status of grooms keeps changing. Until the recession, India's software engineers were able to command huge dowries. With layoffs they have lost the status and government employees, who had fallen down the ranks, have re-emerged as highly desirable grooms.

Gulfnews: Anti-dowry oath must for state jobs in Uttar Pradesh

 

[I-G]

Gujarat govt regrets Surat civic chief's comments on migrants

Gujarat govt regrets Surat civic chief's comments on migrants
PTI 25 July 2009, 09:59pm IST


SURAT: The Gujarat government on Saturday issued an apology for the remarks of Surat municipal commissioner, who asked migrants to return to their places.

Surat civic chief S Aparna during her visit to a slum area in the city on Friday reportedly told migrant workers to go back to their native place if cities to which they belong provide better civic amenities than Surat.

Later in the evening, she expressed regrets for her remarks, saying if her isolated statement hurt anybody, she was sorry.

Earlier, one of the migrants in Sanjaynagar locality had an argument with her saying that even cities in the states they come from have better civic amenities than Surat.

Reacting to the argument, Aparna had said, "Nobody is stopping you from going back to your cities in UP and Bihar. But does any municipal commissioner in your cities visit slum areas to find out about the condition of the people. So you should not make such comments."

The migrant workers, who came in large number to the state to work in textile and other industries, had demanded that Aparna should apologise for her remarks.

State government, in a statement issued on Saturday night, expressed regrets over the remarks made by Aparna.

"Gujarat welcomes people from all over the country. Government of Gujarat is committed to provide civic amenities to the people who come here for jobs," urban development minister Nitin Patel said in the statement.

Gujarat govt regrets Surat civic chief's comments on migrants - Surat - City - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[NSG_Blackcats]

Thousands of China steel workers clash with police

BEIJING (Reuters) - Some 30,000 disgruntled Chinese steel workers clashed with riot police in protest over a takeover deal, resulting in the death of an executive from another steel company, a human rights group said.

News that Beijing-based Jianlong Steel Holding Company would buy a majority stake in state-owned Tonghua Iron and Steel Group triggered Friday's protest, which also led to 100 people being injured, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said on its website. Discontent over inequality and unemployment amid the economic downturn has triggered social frustration in China, with many cases of riots by angry citizens. Friday's clash happened in the northeast province of Jilin. Chen Guojun, the general manager of Jianlong, was beaten to death by workers who were angry that Chen was paid about three million yuan ($440,000) last year, while Tonghua's retired workers received as little as 200 yuan a month, the centre said.
A police officer from the Tonghua municipal public security bureau confirmed the riot and the death of Chen, who was in his 40s, the South China Morning Post said on Sunday. "Yes, it did take place," the newspaper quote the officer as saying. "Workers from Tonghua would not allow ambulance and medical practitioners to enter the building to rescue Mr. Chen and he died."

Calls to Tonghua by Reuters were unanswered on Sunday.

Tonghua's workers blocked highways and smashed three police vehicles in Tonghua city on Friday afternoon, the centre said, adding that they dispersed late at night after Chen's death. Jianlong, which temporarily controlled Tonghua last year, is attempting to buy Tonghua for the second time, according to the centre. China, the world's top producer and consumer of steel, has been forcing its mammoth steel sector to slim down and consolidate, but its plans have generally met with resistance, with many local governments anxious to preserve their own sources of revenue. Local television announced on Friday night that the deal would be shelved permanently, the South China Morning Post said.

Link

 

[Avinash R]

Southern and eastern Africa gets hooked to India

Southern and eastern Africa gets hooked to India
Sunday 26th July, 2009 (IANS)

A long-expected fibre-optic cable linking southern and eastern Africa to global telecommunications networks via India and Europe has gone live with high expectations it will lower the cost of telecommunications in Africa. Its switch-on date was delayed for a month after threats by Somali pirates along the Indian Ocean route from India to Kenya disrupted cable installation plans.

The cable has simultaneously launched in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda on July 23. It is widely seen to be opening up opportunities for governments and business to use the network as a platform to compete globally and drive economic growth.

Backhauls linking Johannesburg, Nairobi, and Kampala with coastal landing stations have also been established. Additionally, SEACOM, the fibre-optic company behind the operation, is working with national partners to commission the final link to Kigali, Rwanda, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The US$600 million cable has direct connections to India and from India to Europe, making it the first cable to hook east and southern Africa to India and Europe. The 17,000 kilometer cable has a capacity of transmitting data amounting to 1.28 terrabytes per second.

According to reports, SEACOM management is marking the launch of the cable with a one gigabytes per second live international connection and live high-definition video feed over an IP network to interconnect representatives and dignitaries across the five African countries.

The Common market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said that most countries in the Comesa region will connect to the cable for broadband services.

'In fact [in the] Comesa region, we are constructing a fiber cable called the Lower Indian Ocean Network under the Indian Ocean that will connect to the SEACOM cable for broadband services to our member countries,' Ngwenya said.

Many other countries in the Comesa region, Ngwenya said, are developing inland cables that will soon be connected to the SEACOM cable.

Comesa is a regional economic bloc, which has more than 19 member countries including Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia Rwanda and Uganda, and is chartered to accelerate the region's economy through improved communication and business.

Broadband connectivity means the region will have no problems linking to medical and education institutions in India for telemedicine and tele-education, Ngwenya said.

The SEACOM cable, which is privately funded and three-quarters African owned, is expected to provide bandwidth on an open access basis, allowing all operators to have equal access to the cable.

African countries currently rely on expensive and slow satellite connection for telephones and the Internet.

 

[Avinash R]

Racist Web Posts Traced to US Homeland Security

Racist Web Posts Traced to US Homeland Security
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/nyregion/25immig.html?_r=1
By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: July 24, 2009

After federal border agents detained several Mexican immigrants in western New York in June, an article about the incident in a local newspaper drew an onslaught of vitriolic postings on its Web site. Some were racist. Others attacked farmers in the region, an apple-growing area east of Rochester, accusing them of harboring illegal workers. Still others made personal attacks about the reporter who wrote the article.

Most of the posts were made anonymously. But in reviewing the logs of its Internet server, the paper, The Wayne County Star in Wolcott, traced three of them to Internet protocol addresses at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border protection.

Homeland Security started an investigation into the posts this month, according to the reporter, Louise Hoffman-Broach, and Richard M. Healy, the Wayne County district attorney. A spokeswoman for the federal agency’s inspector general said she could neither confirm nor deny an investigation; department rules prohibit the use of office equipment for the personal transmission of material that could offend fellow employees or the public.

Coming on the eve of the apple harvest season, the Web posts and the investigation — first reported this week on The Star’s Web site — have ratcheted up longstanding tensions in Wayne County, where farmers and laborers have accused immigration officials of using heavy-handed tactics like racial profiling and arbitrary or unjustified detentions.

Such tactics, the farmers say, have scared Hispanic farmworkers from the region just as growers are preparing for the harvest.

Representative Dan Maffei, who represents the area in Congress, said the allegations of overaggressive immigration enforcement, coming from a wide range of constituents, were “of extreme concern.”

“I’m investigating these reports to make sure that people’s rights aren’t being harmed and that the economy of Wayne County is not being harmed,” said Mr. Maffei, a Democrat.

A. J. Price, a regional spokesman for United States Customs and Border Protection, defended the work of the area’s officers. “We are constantly criticized for doing our job, and that’s just part of our job,” Mr. Price said.

Local officials and residents say that beginning about 2006, federal officials stepped up their enforcement of immigration laws in western New York.

Farmers and other residents said the push created a climate of fear in communities whose economies depend on migrant laborers, many of them illegal immigrants.

The Obama administration has moved to a less confrontational policy at work sites, focusing on employers. But Customs and Border Protection, which does not conduct work-site inspections, had not changed its strategy in New York, Mr. Price said.

The latest flare-up began with a boat trip on June 12. A local farmer, Robert Norris, decided to take a Mexican employee and relatives of another worker for a spin on Lake Ontario, Ms. Hoffman-Broach said.

Federal agents stopped the boat because it had too many people on board, Mr. Price said. When some of the passengers were unable to produce documentation proving they were citizens or legal immigrants, he said, they were detained. All but one was eventually released, The Star reported.

The article about the arrests, posted on June 16, led to a torrent of angry Web postings. One, sent from a fake e-mail address, said, “watcha doing to mi wifey, no checky her papeles. she no legal, but she havey benifit card.”

A response, which carried a Homeland Security Internet protocol address, read: “That sounds like my boyfriend. Leave him alones and get your own. My boyfriend works sometimes but he is really good at getting FREE benefits from the Federal and State government.”

Another post, apparently sent from a separate computer linked to Homeland Security, read in part: “These farmers have a problem because the gravy train that they were riding for soooooo long is being brought to light.”

The newspaper removed the posts. It also reported that it had discovered others, dating to last year, that appeared to have come from computers affiliated with Homeland Security.

 

[Avinash R]

HP researchers develop browser-based darknet

HP researchers develop browser-based darknet | Security - CNET News
by Tom Espiner

Two researchers for Hewlett-Packard have created a browser-based darknet, an idea that could make it easier for businesses to keep eavesdroppers from uncovering confidential information.

Darknets are encrypted peer-to-peer networks normally used to communicate files between closed groups of people. Most darknets require a certain level of technological literacy to set up and maintain, including taking care of the necessary servers. However, HP researchers Billy Hoffman and Matt Wood plan next week to demonstrate a browser-based darknet called "Veiled," which they claim requires little proficiency to set up and run.

"This will really lower the barriers to participation," Wood told ZDNet UK. "If you want to create a darknet, you can send an encrypted e-mail saying, 'Here's the URL.' When (the recipient visits) the Web site, the browser can just get (the darknet application) going."

Hoffman and Wood are scheduled to demonstrate the technology next week at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.

Wood said HP does not want to turn the project into a commercial product. While the company does not plan to make the source code available, the researchers do plan to open source their idea, so to speak, so other security researchers can "pick up the baton."

"HP has no desire to patent or copyright or release any code," Wood said. "Black Hat is one of the top security conferences, and we want to get this cool idea into the hands of people who are really smart."

Businesses could use browser-based darknets to set up workgroups to exchange commercially sensitive information, or to have a means of making anonymous suggestions to management, Wood said. "I like the idea of a suggestions box on the Web," he said. "It provides an anonymous way to make suggestions to your boss."

HP's darknet research came about when the researchers realized the potential of new browser technologies, according to Wood.

Browsers with HTML 5 support--such as recent versions of Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer--allow files to be stored "persistently" on the client, for working on them when offline. This feature, coupled with the distributed grid-computing nature of a darknet, means files can be effectively uploaded in perpetuity, even when the initial browser has been shut down. It also makes the darknet resilient, said Wood.

"One of the benefits of a darknet is that they are distributed," said Wood. "To destroy it, you would have to take down all of the clients, because if one server gets compromised, you just shift to a different server. They can hop around."

Advances in JavaScript engines, such as Google's Chrome V8 and Mozilla's TraceMonkey, have also helped make browser-based darknets possible, according to Wood. These engines allow browser-based communications to be set up quickly and encrypted. The Veiled darknet uses RSA public key cryptography, but any cryptography will work.

"Cool advances in JavaScript technology allow encryption in the browser," said Wood. "Browsers are getting really powerful."
----

Time for pirates to jump TPB ship and form their own bays.

 

[youngindian]

US Senator mistakenly calls India a security threat, apologizes

26 July 2009

WASHINGTON: Just how bad is the economic pain and job loss in the United States? Bad enough for an Indophile Senator to get New Delhi and Beijing mixed up in his mind.

A key US Senator who has extensively supported India, including the passage of the nuclear deal, stunned his Indian and Indian-American supporters this weekend when he identified India as a US national security threat and clubbed it with North Korea and Iran, while arguing for continuing the F-22 fighter jet programme, which would keep up to 100,000 jobs going in the US.

''It (the F-22 program) is important to our national security because we're not just fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,'' Texas’ Republican Senator John Cornyn said in a TV interview. "We're fighting  we have graver threats and greater threats than that: From a rising India, with increased exercise of their military power; Russia; Iran, that's threatening to build a nuclear weapon; with North Korea, shooting intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of hitting American soil.''

Turns out the Senator had a 'slip of the tongue.'

''Senator Cornyn misspoke saying 'India' when he meant to say 'China.' As Founder and Co-chairman of the Senate India Caucus, no Senator has greater respect or admiration for India or values our relationship with them more. Sen. Cornyn regrets the mistake and apologizes for any misunderstanding this may have caused,'' his spokesman Kevin McLaughlin clarified after the remarks were brought to his notice.

Misunderstanding and ire there certainly was for a moment from a very sensitive Indian lobby. One community activist wanted to know what the Senator had been drinking. And coming on a day India launched its first indigenously built nuclear submarine, it certainly raised eyebrows.

Finally, it was the Senator’s Indian supporters who brought what was obviously a flub to his notice.

''Senator Cornyn is a friend of India and Indian American community. He considers India a strong ally of United States. He is the senator who initiated and successfully established friends of India caucus in the senate. He spear headed the support for the civil nuclear and was first to be co-sponsor of the bill,'' Ashok Mago, a Texas realtor, said in an email before getting Cornyn’s office to issue the clarification.

Cornyn was one of 40 Senators who failed to stop the Obama administration’s move to kill the 30-year old F-22 stealth fighter jet program that employed up to 100,000 people directly and indirectly in 46 American states. By a 58-40 vote, the Democrat controlled Senate voted last week to scrap the program that was widely seen as a baby of the military-industrial complex, contractors, and lobbyists.

The US has 187 F-22’s ─ each costing between $ 135 million to $ 300 million depending on how one computes the inputs  made principally by a Lockheed Martin and Boeing collaboration. It was increasingly seen as a white elephant and killing the program was widely hailed by many military analysts even as several lawmakers like Cornyn pressed for it to save jobs in their states and districts. India accidentally got nicked in the crossfire that eventually led to its demise.

US Senator mistakenly calls India a security threat, apologizes - US - World - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[Pintu]

True , the ongoing turmoils including Financial Crisis in the USA may took a toll on the Senator , that can be the reason of Slip of the tongue.

Regards

 

[I-G]

Panchayat forces minor to marry her molester

Panchayat forces minor to marry her molester
TNN 26 July 2009, 03:44am IST


RAMGARH(Jharkhand): A village panchayat in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district forced a Class V student to marry the man who tried to molest her.


Sources said Indra Bedia, president of Gram Shiksa Samity, was caught red-handed by villagers while he was trying to molest Reema Kumari (name changed). The villagers beat up the accused, who is married and a father of four, and took him to the panchayat at Joba village.

The panchayat found both Bedia and Reema guilty and asked Bedia to marry the girl three times younger than him. School records show Reema was born in 1994 and joined her school in 2006 under the ‘School chale abhiyaan’. The girl told villagers that Bedia had tried to molest her.

Village sources said no one has so far challenged the marriage between Bedia and Reema, who belongs to the same caste.

"We are investigating. We will take action according to our findings. No FIR has been filed as yet," Ramgarh SDPO Dhananjay said.


Panchayat forces minor to marry her molester - India - NEWS - The Times of India