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Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

Aani's Page
   http://www.lankanewspapers.com/Aani - Archive of Nov 2008




How Kumara went to Australasia - A riddle yet answered
Saturday, 1 November 2008 - 11:21 AM SL Time

It`s something that has puzzled us for a long time.

Is there a Chinese connection in all this?

Did the Tamils help Kumara along?

The answers are difficult to prove and give rise to more questions.

KUMARA

The kumara, or sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam., a member of the plant family Convolvulaceae, is cultivated for its edible swollen roots. The most important of the small array of Maori cultigens in pre-European times, it is the only one to become established in the modern New Zealand diet and is grown commercially in the Auckland Province. In the predominantly Maori communities of northern rural areas, kumara is still grown as a house-garden plant, and two groups of varieties are found those considered to be of pre-European Maori introduction and those introduced by nineteenth century whalers. The latter, which were first planted by the Bay of Plenty Maoris, became widely distributed among northern tribes and the modern commercial types were derived from these varieties.

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There`s something about Maria (that`s not right)
Sunday, 2 November 2008 - 1:49 AM SL Time

Roles reversed as play reveals truth about Maria and the Baroness

`Sound of Music`s` leading lady was the true villain of the piece, writer claims

By Arifa Akbar, Arts Correspondent
Saturday, 1 November 2008

Fans of The Sound Of Music know and love its leading lady, Maria, as the sweet singing nun who wins the heart and hand of Captain von Trapp over her arch rival, Baroness Schr der.

But while the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical depicted the baroness as a Nazi sympathiser cast aside for the virtuous Maria, a play is being researched that claims that in real life she was a much-maligned character who lost her love to the pushy Maria.

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Can you klearn to like it?
Sunday, 2 November 2008 - 3:27 PM SL Time

The M1 appreciation course

By Stephanie Holmes
BBC News

There`s more to motorways than tarmac, tailbacks and tepid coffee served at tourist prices. To prove it a lecturer took a minibus of students on a day-long tour of the M1.

Many people suppress feelings of mild dread at the idea of spending any time at all on a motorway. Few struggle with secret yearnings for the over-lit service stations areas that dot their routes.

Certainly, most would not choose to spend half their weekend thundering down the M1 - the road leading 193 miles (311 km) out of London - without the promise of, at least, arriving somewhere else.

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Great future for Hambantota port
Monday, 3 November 2008 - 9:44 AM SL Time

Investors shun Greek debt as shipping crisis deepens
Freight rates for shipping are crashing at the fastest pace ever recorded as banks shut off credit lines to the industry, precipitating a sudden crunch in world trade.

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Rowena Mason

Investors shun Greek debt as shipping crisis deepens
The Baltic Dry Index measuring rates for coal, iron ore, and grains, and other dry goods plummeted below 1000 yesterday, down 92pc since peaking in June.

The daily rental rates for Capesize big ships have dropped $234,000 to $7,340 in weeks, leaving operators stuck with heavy losses on long leases. Empty ships are now crowding Singapore and other global ports.

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Veerayas of a different kind
Tuesday, 4 November 2008 - 12:36 AM SL Time

Financial Foot Soldiers, Feeling the World`s Weight
By DAN BARRY
Published: November 2, 2008
New York

The New York Stock Exchange, draped with the American flag.
What`s up, Lenny, a broker on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange says, just before the ringing of the Pavlovian bell that opens the financial market. Lenny answers this morning bid with the customary response: What`s up.

Posed less as a sincere inquiry into one`s well-being than as a passing nod to another day in the financial scrum, the greeting can also be interpreted in these uncertain times as a question baldly seeking reassurance: What`s up?

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India - Far Sighted
Tuesday, 4 November 2008 - 10:46 AM SL Time

Indian Moon probe pictures Earth

India`s Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft has sent back its first images.

The probe was launched on 22 October to embark on a two-year mission of exploration at the Moon.

Ground controllers in Bangalore instructed the probe to take pictures with its Terrain Mapping Camera as the spacecraft made a pass of the Earth.

Chandrayaan also fired its engines for three minutes to carry out an orbit raising manoeuvre which takes the probe closer to the lunar body.

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A recipe for repair and growth
Wednesday, 5 November 2008 - 12:35 AM SL Time


These are times of destruction and regression.

We need something new!





Quinoa: A Protein-Packed Alternative to Grains

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN
Published: November 3, 2008

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) is a relative newcomer to the American pantry. The tiny, ancient Peruvian seed, which has a mild, nutty flavor, is related to leafy green vegetables and is often used like a grain. Quinoa is as versatile as rice but it has a protein content that is superior to that of most grains, because it contains all the essential amino acids. In particular, quinoa is high in lysine, an amino acid important for tissue growth and repair. It`s also a good source of manganese, magnesium, phosphorus and copper, and it has a high iron content.

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Plot to blow up parliament foiled
Wednesday, 5 November 2008 - 8:29 AM SL Time




In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain`s most notorious traitor.

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

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Army Commander Resigns - Over Civilian Massacres
Wednesday, 5 November 2008 - 5:22 PM SL Time

Responsibility and answerability are extremely important for any public servant. It is even more important when you wield the gun, in the name of the country. Protecting the civilian lives is a sacred duty of every soldier. When soldiers carry out mass murder, the command responsibility goes right to the top of the hierarchy. The buck stops at the Commander in Chief. We have seen this in the cases of Milosovic and Karadzic.




Colombian Army Commander Resigns in Scandal Over Killing of Civilians

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Footprints of tears sweat and blood finally arrive at destination
Thursday, 6 November 2008 - 10:23 AM SL Time

Waiting more than a century for change

By Stephen Foley in Atlanta, Georgia
Thursday, 6 November 2008

Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106 year old Atlanta woman whose long life was put on an international stage in Barack Obama`s sweeping victory speech, had declared she `ain`t got time to die` because she wanted to watch a black man elected president of the United States.

When Mrs Cooper was born on 9 January 1902, in Shelbyville, Tennessee, 50 miles south of Nashville, women and African Americans were denied the vote. White women were enfranchised in 1920, but she had to wait until 1965 when she was 63 for black Americans to be certain of the same rights. And as hundreds of thousands of Atlanta residents flooded to the polls in early voting last month, she cast her ballot for the history-making Democrat. `No matter what, you get out and vote,` the former socialite declared then, when she was greeted at the polling station by the Atlanta mayor and a barrage of television crews. Later she told CNN that she was waiting for election night with much excitement. `I ain`t got time to die, because I got to see a black person. Yeah, I got to watch that.`

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Quiz: Name this country
Friday, 7 November 2008 - 1:43 AM SL Time

Sarah Palin didn`t know Africa was a continent, claim McCain aides
Posted By: Philip Sherwell at Nov 6, 2008 at 13:11:41 [General]

The recriminations on the Republican side have begun. And boy, if the first barrage is anything to go by, it`s going to be nasty.

I`ve just watched Carl Cameron, the Fox News correspondent who covered the Republican ticket, regale anchor Shep Smith with a litany of complaints from unnamed John McCain aides about Sarah Palin.

The Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate, according to their version, did not know that Africa was a continent, could not name all three countries in the North American Free Trade Agreement (that would be the US, Canada and Mexico) and declined to prep for her now infamous Katie Couric interview.

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Let`s tie the knot:))
Friday, 7 November 2008 - 4:46 PM SL Time



Wearing wrong tie to interview could cost you the job
Wearing the wrong tie to an interview could cost you the job, it has been claimed.

By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 8:36AM GMT 07 Nov 2008

A red tie gives an impression of strength, passion and masculinity Opting for a purple tie could be seen as a sign of arrogance while woven ones may overpower the interviewer.

According to the style guide, produced for the tie maker Peckham Rye, the colour and type of neck wear can reveal a great deal about its owner.

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Sri Lsanka excluded?
Saturday, 8 November 2008 - 8:45 AM SL Time

Does this apply to SL?







Tolerance Over Race Can Spread, Studies Find
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: November 6, 2008
This was supposed to be the election when hidden racism would rear its head. There was much talk of a Bradley effect, in which white voters would say one thing to pollsters and do another in the privacy of the booth of a backlash in which the working-class whites whom Senator Barack Obama had labeled bitter would take their bitterness out on him.


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Any journalist out there (? SF, ?Muttley) - Don`t drink on duty
Sunday, 9 November 2008 - 2:44 AM SL Time
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/LTOXlo1npmY/default.jpg
US election reporter`s drunken `resignation` lands on YouTube

Saturday, 8 November 2008

Many of us have done it: had one too many, said something we shouldn`t have, woken up the next morning regretting it, and still had to go to work.

Few, though, can claim to have blundered quite so spectacularly as Adam Smith, a reporter for the Birmingham Mail, who woke up the morning after Barack Obama`s historic election victory to be told by friends to check YouTube, where he could find a video of himself issuing a drunken, expletive-ridden resignation to his editor.

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At the end of the day, at this moment in time, with due respect to Mr. B, I personally think that it`s not rocket science to see that it`s absolutely a nightmare to be on the fairly unique LNP 24/7, shouldn`t of?
Sunday, 9 November 2008 - 2:10 PM SL Time

Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases
A top 10 of irritating expressions has been compiled by researchers at Oxford University.

By Charlotte Bailey
Last Updated: 3:18PM GMT 08 Nov 2008

Heading the list was the expression `at the end of the day`, which was followed in second place by the phrase `fairly unique`.

The tautological statement `I personally` made third place an expression that BBC Radio 4 presenter John Humphreys has described as `the linguistic equivalent of having chips with rice.`

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Cow Catchers on the Indian Express
Monday, 10 November 2008 - 8:46 AM SL Time

Urban Cowboys Struggle With India`s Sacred Strays

By JEREMY KAHN
Cow catchers rely on rope lassos and brute strength to capture the cows, whose slaughter is banned throughout most of India.
But he can lay claim to being a real-life urban cowboy. Mr. Singh is among the dozens of men who spend their days roping cattle on the streets of this city as part of a long and frustrating battle to rid India`s capital of stray cows.

There is perhaps no more stereotypical image of India than that of a stray cow sauntering down the middle of a busy city street, seemingly oblivious to the traffic swerving around it.

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We all should take note of this
Monday, 10 November 2008 - 6:03 PM SL Time

Statin drug trial halted six months early after success

By John von Radovitz

One of the largest trials of a cholesterol-lowering drug ever conducted was halted more than six months early after dramatic reductions in illness and death were seen in treated patients.

The Jupiter trial investigated the effects of rosuvastatin on almost 18,000 patients with low to normal cholesterol levels but raised concentrations of an inflammation protein, C-reactive protein (CRP).

Under normal circumstances, the patients would not be considered at risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, or dying from a heart-related cause. Yet those receiving medium doses of the drug, sold as Crestor, experienced far fewer adverse heart events than those given a placebo.

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Our Chief of Staff (no pun intended)
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 - 9:25 AM SL Time

When Barack Obama asked Congressman Rahm Emanuel to be his White House chief-of-staff, few political insiders were surprised. The Chicago politician and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus has been described as a profane, hyperactive attack dog and his supporters argue that this steamrolling personality would make him an effective, formidable gatekeeper to the Oval Office. Emanuel`s lengthy political background and knowledge of individual lawmakers not to mention his fund-raising prowess don`t hurt either.

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Remembering only one side`s fallen heroes - are the others children of a lesser God?
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 - 4:42 PM SL Time

The Armistice

The term `armistice` means a cessation of hostilities as a prelude to peace negotiations. In the context of the First World War `the armistice` is generally referred to in context of the agreement between the Germans and the Allies to end the war on November 11, 1918.

However it was by no means the only armistice of the war. The battle on the Eastern Front was brought to a close in December 1917 (and followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk), as was Romania`s war (resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest).

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Long Kongn and Gai Laan at Loon Moon
Wednesday, 12 November 2008 - 9:51 AM SL Time

It`s all Chinese to me
Nick Wyke sets about demystifying the Chinese supermarket experience and its Asian ingredients

From Toronto and San Francisco to Rome and Liverpool, many cities have a Chinatown. In fact, China`s surging economy has kick-started a race to build the world`s largest Chinatown, with St. Petersburg, Dubai and Las Vegas all currently vying for the title.

For many Westerners, stepping into a city`s Chinatown still registers a cultural tremor, however small. The glossy ducks splayed in restaurant windows above trays of Day-Glo orange squid and boxes of baton-like root vegetables and spiky fruits feel like a world apart from most food malls. As well as somewhere to eat out, a city`s Chinatown can be a great enclave to shop for exotic, authentic ingredients to add to a stir-fry or to buy a cheap, pukka wok or bamboo steamer.

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Who do you believe in this (cyber) world?
Thursday, 13 November 2008 - 6:13 AM SL Time

Senior Fellow at the Institute of Nonexistence

By RICHARD P REZ-PE A
Published: November 12, 2008
It was among the juicier post-election recriminations: Fox News Channel quoted an unnamed McCain campaign figure as saying that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent.

Eitan Gorlin as the phony McCain adviser Martin Eisenstadt.
Who would say such a thing? On Monday the answer popped up on a blog and popped out of the mouth of David Shuster, an MSNBC anchor. Turns out it was Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser, who has come forward today to identify himself as the source of the leaks, Mr. Shuster said.

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A message of love for the Kafirs (^)
Thursday, 13 November 2008 - 2:35 PM SL Time
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The Crucifix
Dr. John S Hislop was one of those fine instruments used by Bhagavan Baba to spread His Message across the continents. Most of you might have read his wonderful books like `My Baba and I` and `Conversations with Sai.` Swami gave Hislop innumerable experiences so that the latter could get a feel for all aspects of Baba`s Divinity. Baba also granted Hislop any number of Interviews, answered his questions in detail, came to his rescue during illness, saved him from disaster, created unusual objects for him and once even blessed him with a vision of Krishna. But relevant to this Christmas issue of Heart to Heart is the famous episode dealing with the creation by Baba of a crucifix for Hislop. Interestingly, the crucifix was created on Mahasivarathri Day in the year 1973, deep in the forest! This holy festival was celebrated by Baba in the company of a small group almost in privacy, and not before massive crowds as normally happens. Let us hear Hislop recall the event:

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Nale anna should stop drinking or go to Estonia:))
Friday, 14 November 2008 - 4:00 PM SL Time

UK healthcare `worse than in Estonia`

By Tom Morgan, PA

Patients receive worse healthcare in the UK than in former Soviet state Estonia, a report claims today.

Services in Britain were ranked 13th - one spot above Hungary - in a league table of 31 European nations.

Responding to the results, Health Secretary Alan Johnson condemned the data as `flawed`.

The UK improved on its position last year, when it was four places lower, the report claimed.

The best-performing countries in the Euro Health Consumer Index, conducted in Brussels, were Holland, Denmark, Austria and Luxembourg.

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Insuring the Insurer
Saturday, 15 November 2008 - 6:44 AM SL Time

What Happens When Your Insurer Goes Under?

By RON LIEBER
Published: November 14, 2008
Ever since the problems at the American International Group burst into the consciousness of everyday consumers two months ago, a sort of low-grade fear has set in among policyholders at insurance companies of all kinds.

This week, the concern moved up a notch or two. First, the federal government raised its A.I.G. bailout commitment to $150 billion. Then, a Goldman Sachs research report suggested that some insurance companies might have to exit the business altogether.

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SOS Penn?
Saturday, 15 November 2008 - 9:58 AM SL Time

Obama `mulls Clinton for top job`

Hillary Clinton joined Mr Obama on the campaign trail
US President-elect Barack Obama has met former rival Hillary Clinton to discuss offering her a top job in his administration, US media reports say.

Speculation in the US is rife, with some reports suggesting Mrs Clinton could become his secretary of state.

She has refused to comment, and Mr Obama`s transition team have not confirmed any of the reports.

Mr Obama is also said to be considering New Mexico governor Bill Richardson for the role of secretary of state.

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APC proposals to be `Made in India?`
Sunday, 16 November 2008 - 1:26 AM SL Time

The Wrong Message in a Bottle
By ROGER BATE
Published: November 15, 2008
Washington

IN late September, the authorities in Belgium seized more than two million counterfeit painkillers and antimalarial drugs that had been manufactured in India and were en route to Africa. It was the largest seizure ever of fake pharmaceuticals in Europe.

The incident shines a light on one of the most pressing problems in delivering life-saving medicines to the world`s poorest patients: the proliferation of low-quality and counterfeit products, many of which are dangerous. If aid organizations are serious about combating the spread of deadly diseases in the developing world, they must do more to ensure the safety and quality of drugs.

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A break with the past - Can we do it?
Sunday, 16 November 2008 - 11:58 AM SL Time

Mustafa Kemal Atat rk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and it`s first President, is the national hero of Turkey. He has founded the modern Turkish Republic out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire which was in recession period and came to known as the `the sick man of Europe` at the end of the 18th century.
Emerging as a military hero at the Dardanelles in 1915, he became the charismatic leader of the Turkish national liberation struggle in 1919. As a triumphant commander who crushed the invaders of his country following a series of impressive victories against all odds, he led his nation to full independence. Neither The Turkish Republic nor the Ottoman Empire has ever been a colony in the history. At the 1st world war The Ottoman Empire formed alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary so lost the war with them. The victorious powers France and Britain tried to dominate Turkey. Ataturk led the war of independence against them. And although those day`s Ottoman Empire is today`s more than 30 countries, a compact Turkish Republic compared to the Ottoman Empire was formed.

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Where is the Leader?
Wednesday, 19 November 2008 - 12:25 PM SL Time

The curious case of the disappearing despot

Mystery of leader`s health undermines North Korea

By Patrick Cockburn in the Demilitarised Zone
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

The world`s most heavily guarded frontier, the line that divides North and South Korea, is the focus of renewed tensions with confrontation looming on several fronts. From 1 December, the secretive North Korean leadership will close the land border between the Koreas at the few places where there are still openings.


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Who wants to live forever?
Friday, 21 November 2008 - 2:43 AM SL Time

Scientists take a step closer to an elixir of youth
A naturally occuring substance that can create `immortal cells` could be the key to finding a real elixir of youth, scientists claim.

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 4:44PM GMT 20 Nov 2008

Researchers believe boosting the amount of a naturally forming enzyme in the body could prevent cells dying and so lead to extended, healthier, lifespans..

The protein telomerase helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes which act like the ends of shoelaces and stop them unravelling.

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Once were rebels
Friday, 21 November 2008 - 12:43 PM SL Time

Nicaragua: Betrayal of the revolution

Sandinistas were idealists who ousted a corrupt dictatorship. Now they are stealing elections and crushing their opposition. John Carlin reports

Friday, 21 November 2008

In March 1983, a few days before the arrival of Pope John Paul II in Nicaragua, Father Bismarck Carvallo sinned. Never at peace with his vows of chastity, he succumbed to the allure of a comely Sandinista intelligence agent who invited him at night into her home. He did not know she was a plant of the revolutionary government, whose left-wing doctrine the Catholic Church denounced as heretical, often out of the mouth of Fr Carvallo himself, who was the Church`s official spokesman. At a critical moment, a man posing as her husband burst into the house, dragged him naked out of bed and threw him out on to the street, where the unhappy prelate was blinded by a barrage of camera flashes. The intelligence people, naturally, had tipped off the press.

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TV entusiasts take note
Saturday, 22 November 2008 - 2:12 AM SL Time

What Happy People Don`t Do

By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: November 19, 2008

Happy people spend a lot of time socializing, going to church and reading newspapers but they don`t spend a lot of time watching television, a new study finds.

That`s what unhappy people do.

Although people who describe themselves as happy enjoy watching television, it turns out to be the single activity they engage in less often than unhappy people, said John Robinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and the author of the study, which appeared in the journal Social Indicators Research.

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Abandoned by the West, token gestures only by impotent India, forgotten by the Budhist Srilanka - but can you snuff out the spirit of freedom?
Saturday, 22 November 2008 - 7:35 PM SL Time


By EDWARD WONG
Published: November 21, 2008
DHARAMSALA, India In this Himalayan hill town, where Tibetan prayer flags flutter and red-robed monks study Buddha`s call for forbearance, talk is brewing of kicking off the world`s next separatist movement.

A Tibetan Buddhist monk read a Tibetan newspaper on Friday in Dharamsala, during a break in a meeting of exiles.
Posters around town advertise the word rangzen Tibetan for independence. Not in years has it been heard so much in the streets here, falling from the lips of members of the Tibetan diaspora whose frustration runs as deep as the mountain ravines of their homeland. Decades of dialogue with the Chinese government, they say, have failed.

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Am I a saffron terrorist? :))
Sunday, 23 November 2008 - 11:17 AM SL Time

`Hindu terrorism` debate grips India

By Zubair Ahmed
BBC News, Nasik, western India


It`s argued that Hinduism and terrorism are incompatible
A new and highly controversial phrase has entered the sometimes cliche-riddled Indian press: `Hindu terrorism`.

As with the term `Islamic terrorism` and `Christian fundamentalism`, this latest addition to the media lexicon is highly emotive.

It was in the aftermath of the 29 September bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in the western state of Maharashtra that the term `Hindu terrorism` or `saffron terrorism` came to be used widely.

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Breaking News: Jacko sets example of solution to war on Terror. Lets all do it
Tuesday, 25 November 2008 - 8:39 AM SL Time

Michael Jackson `converts to Islam and changes name to Mikaeel`
Michael Jackson has reportedly become a Muslim and changed his name to Mikaeel.

By Graham Tibbetts
Last Updated: 10:33AM GMT 21 Nov 2008

The singer, who was raised as a Jehovah`s Witness, converted to Islam in a ceremony at a friend`s house in Los Angeles.

He is said to have sat on the floor and worn a small hat while an imam officiated.

According to The Sun, the ceremony took place while Jackson, 50, was recording an album at the home of Steve Porcaro, a keyboard player who composed music on his Thriller album.

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Investment idea for Junta, and the Hambantotta port:))
Tuesday, 25 November 2008 - 4:15 PM SL Time

Somali pirates hijack Yemeni shipTimes Online
Pirates have seized another cargo ship off the coast of Somalia, the 10th vessel to be captured in 17 days.

The Yemeni ship Adina was last heard of a week ago, after it had been out to sea for a week. Yemen`s interior Ministry announced last night the ship had been hijacked in the Arabian Sea.

The ship`s cargo and other details were not immediately known.

Its capture came as the Polish captain of Saudi oil tanker Sirius Star, said his crew, including the two Britons James Grady and Peter French, would be allowed to talk to their families over the next few days.

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Pirate vs Pirate - Budhu Amma ship
Wednesday, 26 November 2008 - 7:29 AM SL Time

Indian navy `sank Thai trawler`

The Indian navy says the INS Tabar fired upon a pirate ship threatening it

The owner of a Thai fishing trawler has said the Indian navy sank it off Somalia`s coast last week after wrongly assuming it was a pirate `mother ship`.

Wicharn Sirichaiekawat said the Indian frigate had attacked the Ekawat Nava 5 while it was being hijacked by pirates.

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Americans spend millions to discover what Indians already knew:))
Wednesday, 26 November 2008 - 3:05 PM SL Time

Yippee! Houston we can turn urine into water

Astronauts fix purification equipment that will allow more crew on space station

By Leonard Doyle in Washington
Tuesday, 25 November 2008

With a cry of `yippee!` the commander of the orbiting International Space Station told mission control that a contraption for turning urine into drinking water was finally working and the crew were heading to bed.


The astronauts also managed to repair one of the space station`s solar arrays that has been out of order for more than a year and, as a result, the right-hand solar wing can now follow the sun automatically to generate electricity for the station.

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Leading role in world affairs hmmmm:))
Thursday, 27 November 2008 - 6:13 AM SL Time

DR Congo declines Indian troops

Indian troops make up a quarter of peacekeepers in DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo has asked the United Nations not to send any more Indian peacekeeping troops to the troubled east of the country.

A government spokesman told the BBC there were already enough in the force but gave no further reason.

Over the last few years, Indian peacekeepers have been accused of gold trafficking and sexual abuse.

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What`s ailing LNP... I mean the web?
Friday, 28 November 2008 - 4:02 PM SL Time

Microsoft Examines Causes of `Cyberchondria`

By JOHN MARKOFF
Published: November 24, 2008
If that headache plaguing you this morning led you first to a Web search and then to the conclusion that you must have a brain tumor, you may instead be suffering from cyberchondria.

On Monday, Microsoft researchers published the results of a study of health-related Web searches on popular search engines as well as a survey of the company`s employees.

The study suggests that self-diagnosis by search engine frequently leads Web searchers to conclude the worst about what ails them.

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Tigers and SLA to train Indians?
Sunday, 30 November 2008 - 7:48 AM SL Time

1. Indian navy is busy blowing up Thai fishing trawlers in Somalia while a group of Pakistanis land with weapons, at the CBD of their own financial capital.

2. Indian radars and personnel are busy looking for tiger tincans while they miss things in their own backyard.

3. No attempt to open negotiations with the attackers at least to buy time and gather intelligence. This is different to all other hostage situations we have known.

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Tragedy that moved a nation
Sunday, 30 November 2008 - 4:16 PM SL Time
The memorial stone, at the site|Close up showing engine number plate|The magnificient Ruapehu volcano|Whangaehu River making a turn at the site|Dry river bed, prone to flash floods|
The Air NewZealnd Airbus crash on Nov 28th occured on the 29th Anniversary of the Air NewZealand crash on Mount Erebus, killing 257 people.

Apart from the ANZAC soldiers who died valiantly in Galipoli in the first world war, Mout Erebus and Tangiwai tragedy are the two instances where the whole nation was united in grief. I will reproduce here an account found in the web, of the Tangiwai tragedy, the site of which I happened to visit recently.

The Tangiwai Tragedy
The most tragic of all such occurrences was the death of 151 men, women, and children on Christmas Eve, 1953, when a sudden discharge of thousands of tons of water from the crater lake of Mt. Ruapehu destroyed the railway bridge at Tangiwai, 10 miles south of Ohakune, and provided a death trap for a crowded holiday night-express train on its way from Wellington to Auckland. In some instances, whole families of holiday makers, young and old, perished together in the most horrible conditions. When the lake waters found an outlet beneath the Whangaehu Glacier, they swirled tumultuously into the Whangaehu River, carrying with them ice, ash, boulders, and debris. The swift and sudden deluge, known scientifically as a lahar, hurled itself against the powerful concrete pylons of the railway bridge and swept away 154 ft of the 198 ft of decking and track. The night-express raced on to the bridge at high speed and plunged to its doom. Engine and fuel tender flew from the broken permanent way, smashed their couplings, and crashed into the opposite bank, 40 yards away. The following carriages continued on and fell 35 ft into the raging filth of the river below. Five carriages were immediately submerged and a sixth teetered on the brink until it too toppled over and was swept downstream. Only three cars remained on the rails. It was the torrent of water, ice, silt, and ash, together with the oil fuel from the crashed tender, that took the toll of life, not the impact of the crash. Those who extricated themselves from the carriages were stripped, choked, and asphyxiated by the foul flood in which they found themselves. Darkness lent added horror to the scene and greatly hampered the rescue work of railwaymen, road travellers, and Army personnel from Waiouru Military Camp, 10 miles away. The efforts of this determined band of workers were characterised by such courage and resource that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, who was in New Zealand at the time, made immediate awards of the George Medal and the British Empire Medal to mark the gallantry of four men. The freak flood subsided with uncanny swiftness and the search for the dead began in earnest. Out of 285 persons known to have been on the train only 134 survived. A total of 131 bodies were recovered and 20 other passengers have never been accounted for.

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