A Hope Is Lost

Pakistan's charismatic Opposition leader and two-time former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who escaped death by a whisker during a terrorist attack on her homecoming parade in Karachi just over two months ago, was assassinated on Thursday evening in an attack by a suicide bomber and AK-47-armed gunmen who shot her in the neck and chest as she was leaving an election rally in the cantonment town of Rawalpindi, near here.

Ms Bhutto, 54, was killed just after she had finished addressing a large public rally at the historic Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi as part of her barnstorming campaign across the country for the January 8 general election.

She succumbed to her wounds on the operation table at the Rawalpindi General Hospital at 6.16 pm local time (6.46 pm IST).

Ms Bhutto, who is survived by her husband Asif Ali Zardari and three children Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Asifa, will be buried at Larkana, the family's ancestral home in Sindh province, close to the grave of her father Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, a former Pakistan President who was hanged by the Zia-ul Haq regime in 1979. The Pakistan government has announced a three-day state of national mourning..
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Article taken from the issue: 28 Dec 2007

Kidnappers shot dead at spot they killed 11-yr-girl

The three main accused in the kidnap and murder of 11-year-old M. Manisha were killed in an "encounter" with the police at the same spot where the girl was murdered.

The reported encounter occurred after the three gangsters were taken by the police to Thatikayala village on Wednesday morning to reconstruct the crime. They had thrown the body of the girl into a well in the village after strangling her.

"All of a sudden, one of the accused, Thokala Raju, snatched my pistol and tried to shoot us," said the Circle Inspector, Mr K. Dakshina Murthy.

He added that police personnel retaliated immediately by opening fire. "The two other accused, L. Ashok, and Bandi Naresh, tried to escape and they were also shot down," said the CI.

"Had we delayed our retaliation by a moment, we would have been killed in the hands of the notorious criminal," said the police officer. Manisha, a class-five student, was kidnapped on December 10 and was killed three days later by an eight-member gang led by Thokala Raju.

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Article taken from the issue: 27 Dec 2007

Celina miffed at racist attitude

Three Marathi actors recently being denied entry into a restaurant in a suburban Mumbai 7-star hotel isn't an isolated case. Celina Jaitley had a nightmarish experience at the same establishment.

Recalling the inci dent, Celina says, "I went into the sports lounge of this hotel. I saw a imposing middleaged German guy making obscene gestures at me. At first I ignored him but then he got bolder and starting using explicit language in German. "He didn't know I speak German fluently. I asked the hotel's authorities to deal with the situ ation, since they hadn't allowed my bodyguard in. Forget about con fronting him, they said they didn't know who he was! Luckily I had seen him sign his room number on his bill."

When the posh hotel's personnel did nothing to help Celina, she left but returned the next day with three vans of cops, got the man out of his room and confronted him. "He fell to his..
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Article taken from the issue: 26 Dec 2007

The vacation spirit takes over now

December is the most awaited time of the year as children have their winter holidays and families like to take a short break this season. Like all other Indians, Hyderabadis have also planned their New Year trips to different locales and exotic locations.

The favourite holiday destinations are the beaches of Goa and Kerala. Mohd Abdul Saleem, Assistant manager of Raj Travels, Hyderabad says, "This year also Goa is the most sought after place for spending New Year's eve. The next favourite is Kumarkam (beach waters) in Kerala. Jaipur and metros like Delhi and Mumbai are also popular."

Adventure seekers are more likely to spend their New Year's eve in places like the Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh), Jim Corbett National Park (Uttranchal), Kabini (200 km away from Banaglore) and Dandeli (near Goa).

"This year there is a hike of 20 per cent in the number of bookings from Hyderabad and since it's the wedding season a lot of people have booked their honeymoon packages together with the New Year trip," adds Saleem.

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Article taken from the issue: 18 Dec 2007

Col. Gaddfi prefers only women guards

When it comes to protecting his body, it seems that Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi prefers the fair sex over hefty male security personnel. The flamboyant leader arrived in France on Monday flanked by 30 blue-uniformed females, dangling their guns from their shoulders as they protect him around the clock.

All the female bodyguards wear nail varnish, perfume and lipsticks, and style their hair, probably to spare the loss of femininity suffered by their counterparts in Western countries. But don't be deceived, they are trained to kill. Col. Gaddafi, always seen dressed in Bedouin robes, has also brought his own tent and camel "to greet visitors in the true desert tradition" during his stay in Paris, the Daily Mail reported here on Tuesday. "His country's traditions dictate that he travels with his tent and a camel, and arrangements are being made for this," a spokesman was quoted by the British newspaper as saying. The Libyan leader also met French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had extended the invitation after Paris became involved in the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a doctor who were condemned to death in Libya earlier this year.

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Article taken from the issue: 12 Dec 2007

Tomatoes for oily skin..

Juicy tomatoes taste great in a salad, but keep some aside and use them as a simple beauty aid for normal to greasy skin. Completely natural, these home remedies have no side effects. For normal skin: 50 ml tomato juice 1tsp lemon juice Apply this mixture evenly over your face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water. Use twice a week for soft, glowing skin.

For greasy skin: Take a fully ripe tomato and extract the pulp. Apply this on your face and neck. Rinse after 20 minutes. Or, take: 50 ml tomato juice 4 tsps fresh curd Mix and use as face pack. Leave on for 15 minutes and wash off with plain water. Apply twice a week to balance out greasy skin.

For enlarged facial pores: 2 tsps multani mitti (fuller's earth) 4 tsps tomato juice Make a paste and apply on your face and neck. Wash off after 15 minutes
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Article taken from the issue: 10 Dec, 2007

Lipstick can lead to breast cancer: Study

With the twist of a stick and a couple of strokes, lipstick can transform your face from blah to bright in seconds. But ladies, give a second thought before lining your lips - it can raise the risk of breast cancer.

Researchers have carried out a study and found that the chemicals in lipsticks actually interfere with the healthy development of breast tissue leading to the cancer, the Daily Mail reported on Thursday.

"We are the first to report that neonatal or prepubertal exposure to butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP) induced modifications in the gene expression of the mammary tissue. BBP is in the environment, so a constant exposure via inhalation and digestive tract can reach many different organs including the breast," lead researcher Dr Jose Russo of the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in America was quoted as saying.

BBP, the man-made substance, is part of the phthalate family of chemicals which mimic female sex hormone oestrogen. In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after analysing the effects of BBP found in lipsticks on rodents.

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Article taken from the issue: 7 Dec, 2007

New syllabus gives students sleepless nights at exam time

The reforms outlined by both: National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) may be good enough for bringing out analytical and reasoning abilities in students preparing for the highly-touted Std X and XII exams, but not by any means the way forward to destress students and prevent suicides.

Experts are viewing the examination as more stressful than ever before owing to uncertainty of the new curriculum and "out of syllabus" analytical or higher order thinking skills, popularly called HOTS. This is coupled with loss of appetite and sleep.

Though temporary, stress of this kind can turn to the more subtle chronic type with successive examinations performed under pressure. Peer pressure and post-exam analysis, in more serious terms, can destabilise memory and concentration and weaken the immune system, thereby limiting its ability to fight off even the most harmless of illnesses, warn experts.

According to them, the stress factor often goes unnoticed because the damage done gets blamed on other diseases and conditions. Apart from exerting mental pressure and psychological changes, physically, a child can experience heart pounding, headaches, sweaty palms, indigestion, sleeplessness, and a tight stomach under extreme circumstances - things likely to prevent one from giving their best shot. Researchers at Michigan State University say that exam pressure is more likely to impair the performance of good students than average ones by affecting their strong short-term or working memory that enables them to process numbers and thoughts while focusing on a problem.

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Article taken from the issue: 5 Dec, 2007

New test identifies heart risk better

Scientists from US and Germany claim to have developed a new test that identifies heart disease risk of a patient better than the existing ones.

The new test, known as ‘Omega-3 Index', measures the level of Omega 3 fatty acid in a patient blood. "If your level is low you're at a higher risk of a heart attack, if it's higher you're at a much reduced risk of a heart attack," said Wendy Morgan, the executive director of the Omega-3 Centre.

The researchers have described the new test as an improvement on other blood pressure and cholesterol tests, reported the online edition of ABC News. "The test can be done now but it's just a lengthy procedure, so the rapid analysis technique is being worked on very hard so I would hope within a few months that (test) would be available in Australia," Morgan said.

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Article taken from the issue: 4 Dec, 2007

Bishan Bedi calls Bhajji a ‘chucker'

Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi, no stranger to controversy, may have stirred the pot once again when pointing a finger at Harbhajan Singh's bowling action. In Australia to play charity cricket, Mr Bedi was quite uncharitable about two leading off-spinners of world cricket today (Harbhajan and Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan) when he spoke to a Melbourne newspaper. Speaking to the Sunday Age, Mr Bedi said: "He (Harbhajan) is not any different (from..

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Article taken from the issue: 3 Dec, 2007