Wednesday 5 December 2012

CNG stations reopen in Sindh after 48 hours


KARACHI: Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) pumps resumed supply of commodity after 48-hour closure in Sindh including commercial hub Karachi, Geo News reported.
Long queues of vehicles were witnessed at the pumps before reopening at 12:00 AM Thursday.
CNG stations were closed for 48 hours under load management plan.

Three killed in Mir Ali drone strike


MIR ALI: A US drone targeted a house located in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, killing at least three people in the wee hours of Thursday, sources said.
According to the sources, the drone fired missiles targeting a house located in Mubarak Shahi village of Mir Ali. Three people were killed in the strike.

200 CNG stations involved in gas theft


ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Petroleum Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain has rvealed that as many as 200 CNG stations were involved in gas theft, Geo News reported on Wednesday.
Talking to Geo News, he said that though the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority had been informed of the gas theft, no action was taken against the outlets.

The advisor refused to give names of the CNG stations involved in the gas theft but said the Ogra has been given the list containing their names.

Hockey Champions Trophy: Pakistan beats Germany in quarter-final


MELBOURNE: Pakistan has beaten Germany in the first quarter-final of the 34th Hockey Champions Trophy here at the State Netball Hockey Centre on Thursday, Geo News reported.
Pakistan humbled Germany by 2-1 where Shakeel Abbasi scored both the goals.
In the backdrop of three goals in as many outings and almost a dozen misses, Pakistan coaches worked all morning Tuesday to make players realise their mistakes.
In the 27 matches both countries have played so far in the Champions Trophy, Germany have won 12 times against 10 victories achieved by Pakistan. Five matches ended in draw.
Germany had a new look team with five players who helped them win the Olympic gold in London either dropped or rested.
Germany came from behind on Monday to upset India in the last pool A match.
German coach Markus Weise was all praise for the Pakistan team when he talked to the reporters here at the State Netball Centre
The Champions Trophy Hockey is witnessing the quarter-final stage for the very first time. The format has been changed to keep teams’ interest alive.
Besides a place in the semis, the victory over Germany has included Pakistan directly into next year’s Champions Trophy.
In another quarter-final on Thursday, Australia will be looking to beat England to keep themselves on the road for the record thirteenth Champions Trophy title.
However, to achieve that, Australia will need to find the back of the net more often. They scored just once during the last two games, a weakness that makes them less impressive this time. In the other quarter-finals, the Netherlands play New Zealand and India face Belgium.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

MOHARAM START IN PAKISTAN

MOHARAM

HHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOLIDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY  ON FRIDAY  
IN PAKISTAN FOR SECURITY REASONS

OGRA increases petrol price by Rs1.57/litre

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has notified an increase in petrol and a decrease in diesel as well as kerosene oil price with immediate effect, Geo News reported.
According to notification the petrol price has gone up by Rs1.57 per litre.
On the other hand the price of diesel and its light form have come down by Rs3.52 and Rs3.79 a litre respectively.
Kerosene oil price has also seen a cut of Rs4.23/litre.

SC office returns Beg’s review petition


ISLAMABAD: The office of Supreme Court returned the review petition filed by former army chief Aslam Beg challenging the apex court’s verdict in Asghar Khan case.
The court made an objection that the affidavit presented to the apex court’s office didn’t contain signatures of Aslam Beg.

Ruthless Chelsea sack manager again


Chelsea FC, one of the top clubs in Europe and the Barclays Premier League (BPL), has sacked manager Roberto Di Matteo after last night’s make-or-break Champions League group game with Juventus.
The 3-0 defeat in Italy proved to be the last straw for ruthless owner Roman Abramovich, who has axed Di Matteo despite the Italian guiding the club to glory in the FA Cup and Europe last season.
The Blues have also failed to win any of their last four Premier League games, a run which has seen them slip from top to four points behind leaders Manchester City.
Di Matteo took charge of Chelsea in March after the club had sacked Andre Villas-Boas, initially on a temporary basis.
Chelsea is now looking for a ninth manager ever since Abramovich took control of club in 2003.
According to foreign media sources, the Blues have already approached former Liverpool chief Rafa Benitez as a possible temporary replacement.

Warner hits out, injuries strike Proteas


ADELAIDE: Australian opener David Warner was in scintillating form amid a clatter of early wickets as South Africa suffered two injuries on the opening day of the second Test in Adelaide on Thursday.
Warner bounced back from a disappointing performance in the first drawn Test in Brisbane to lead Australia's fightback after the home side slumped to 55 for 3 after winning the toss.
At lunch, Warner had hit 67 runs off just 79 balls in a total of 102 for three, with skipper Michael Clarke unbeaten on 18.
South Africa's joy at their early successes was tempered by a hamstring injury that forced all-rounder Jacques Kallis from the field after he had taken 2-19.
Star paceman Vernon Philander was withdrawn from the team with a back problem before the start of play, making way for Rory Kleinveldt.
Australia's openers negotiated the first nine overs but Kallis, who came on to replace Dale Steyn, struck with his third delivery, dismissing Ed Cowan, caught and bowled for 10.
Rob Quiney, who kept his place when Shane Watson failed to recover from a calf injury, went for an eight-ball duck.
Morne Morkel enticed him to edge to Graeme Smith low down at first slip, leaving the Australians at 44-2 and Ricky Ponting's woes continued when he was bowled third ball for just four, playing inside Kallis.
The former Test skipper was out for a five-ball duck in Brisbane for his third duck in four Test innings against the Proteas and it was little better in Adelaide for Ponting, who stumbled and lost his footing.
Ponting's failure came despite a prolific record at the Adelaide Oval where he has accumulated 1,727 runs with six hundreds, the most runs by an individual at any Test venue in Australia.
But the Proteas faced a fresh injury setback when Kallis pulled up short while bowling the fourth delivery of his fourth over. Grimacing, he walked off for treatment for what proved to be a right hamstring problem.

SC directs AG to appear in IHC judges appointment case


ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court of Pakistan has directed Attorney General (AG) to appear before the court by 11 AM today in Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) judges appointment case.

Morsi bows out of D-8 summit


ISLAMABAD: Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has bowed out of a scheduled visit to Pakistan, where he was due to attend the Developing Eight summit in Islamabad, the Pakistani government confirmed Thursday.
Morsi -- who was thanked by the United States for helping to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas -- had been slated to join the Islamabad talks but state TV in Egypt said he would now stay home to monitor the truce.
In Pakistan, officials said they did not know why Morsi was no longer coming, but that Vice President Mahmud Mekki had arrived instead.
"The Egyptian vice president is representing his country at the summit on behalf of President Morsi, who is not coming," said one foreign ministry official on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
"I don't know the reason for the change of plans by the Egyptian president at the 11th hour," he added.
Pakistan, which wants to use the D8 to improve its international standing, had welcomed Morsi's prospective visit as the first by an Egyptian head of state in four decades.

Bangladesh bowled out for 387 in second Test


KHULNA: Bangladesh were bowled out for 387 in their first innings in the second Test against the West Indies in Khulna on Thursday with number 10 batsman Abul Hasan the last man out for a stunning 113.
Hasan and Mahmudullah (76) pair added 184 runs for the ninth wicket -- just 11 runs short of the world record set by South Africa's Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox against Pakistan in Johannesburg in 1998.
Fidel Edwards was the pick of the bowlers, taking six wickets for 90 runs.
The West Indies lead the two-Test series 1-0.

Whale worship a way of life for Vietnam fishermen


LY SON ISLAND: At a colourful temple next to the turquoise sea off Ly Son Island, weather-beaten Vietnamese fishermen offer up their prayers to an unusual god -- "Ca Ong" or Mr Whale.
Before setting sail on a month-long voyage, Nguyen Hoang Loi makes a pilgrimage to the ornately decorated Tan Temple, which houses the remains of two sacred giant whales.
"Praying to the whale will help us if we encounter trouble at sea," the 45-year-old said as he and his crew prepared to depart from Ly Son, an island of 21,500 people off the coast of central Vietnam.
Up and down Vietnam's 3,200 kilometres (2,000 miles) of coastline, fishing communities worship giant whales, which they view as their guardian angels -- a religious phenomenon of a type that experts say is unique to the country.
"If fishermen encounter a sudden storm when fishing and don't know where to shelter, then they pray to Mr Whale to help," Ly Son Island's whale priest Tran Ngo Xuong told.
"The whale will appear beside their boat, helping them through the dangerous moments," said Xuong, a 79-year-old retired fisherman who now acts as a custodian at Tan Temple.
After an elaborate prayer ceremony to appease the whale spirits, Xuong unseals two dimly lit rooms behind Tan Temple's ornate altar piece, where the bones of two giant whales are stored.
The whales -- which weighed between 50 and 70 tons when alive and were both more than 20 metres long -- beached in separate incidents on Ly Son's shores over 100 years ago, Xuong said.
The creatures were so big that hundreds of people would normally have struggled to haul them in, but after many prayers and rituals, just a few dozen islanders managed to drag them ashore with the help of a favourable tide, he said.
Beached whales are given traditional Vietnamese funerals -- they are buried for between five and 10 years, and then their bones are excavated and kept above ground.
Whale oil is separated off and stored in huge ceramic containers to be used during ritual cleaning of the whale bones on their death anniversary.

West Indies 62-2 at lunch in second Test


KHULNA: Bangladesh dismissed dangermen Kieran Powell and Chris Gayle to reduce the West Indies to 62-2 at lunch on the second day of the second Test in Khulna on Thursday.
Powell, who scored a century in each innings in the first Test, was caught off a short Rubel Hossain delivery for 13 while Gayle was caught behind off a miscued sweep off spinner Sohag Gazi for 25.
At the interval Darren Bravo (11) and Marlon Samuels (12) were at the crease with the tourists 325 behind Bangladesh's first innings total of 387.
Earlier, Bangladesh added 22 runs to their overnight score of 365-8 before the last two wickets fell in quick succession.
Abul Hasan, who on Wednesday became only the second man in 135 years of Test cricket to score a debut hundred while batting at number ten, was the last man out, caught in the slip off a short Fidel Edwards' delivery for 113.
The 20-year-old left-hander hit 14 boundaries and three sixes during his 163-ball knock.
He fell just four short of equalling the highest ever individual score by a number ten batsman set by Walter Read for England against Australia at The Oval in 1884.
His partner Mohammad Mahmudullah was the first wicket to fall in the day, caught and bowled by Darren Sammy for 76.
The Hasan-Mahmudullah partnership added 184 runs for the ninth wicket to lift the home team from a precarious 193-8 on the first day.
It fell just 11 short of the world record ninth-wicket partnership set by South African pair Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox against Pakistan in Johannesburg in 1998.
Edwards was the pick of the bowlers with 6-90, his 12th five-wicket haul in Test matches. Sammy chipped in with 3-74.
The West Indies lead the two-Test series 1-0 on account of their 77-run win in the first Test in Dhaka.

Study reignites controversy over mammograms


CHICAGO: As many as a third of cancers detected through routine mammograms may not be life threatening, according to a study published on Wednesday that raises fresh questions about the benefits of breast cancer screening.
The study, which looked at three decades of U.S. government data, found more than 1 million women may have been over diagnosed for breast cancer, needlessly exposing them to the anguish of a breast cancer diagnosis and the ordeal of treatment.
"It's a lot of women. It's a very substantial harm," said Dr. Gilbert Welch of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice in New Hampshire.
But proponents of mammograms have already begun poking holes in the study, by Welch and Dr. Archie Bleyer of St. Charles Health System in Oregon and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. While mammograms are not perfect, the proponents say, their benefits still outweigh the risks.
Welch has made overdiagnosis a major focus of his research. In an earlier study, he concluded that as many as 1 million U.S. men had been over diagnosed with prostate cancer since the introduction in 1986 of the widely used PSA test.
Such studies contradict the deeply ingrained belief that cancer screening is always good because it saves lives, an idea that is being steadily challenged by studies examining the harms of screening.
"We're not the first to suggest this, and it has come at a very huge human cost - the cost of telling a large number of women they have cancer and treating women for cancer with chemotherapy and radiation and surgery," Welch said in a telephone interview.
In 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government-backed advisory panel, issued new guidelines that suggested women should start routine mammograms at age 50 rather than 40, in part because the tests have such high false positive rates and the benefits in lives saved did not outweigh the worry and anguish caused by the false positive results.
That conclusion, which was based on a review of published studies, contradicted years of messages about the need for routine breast cancer screening starting at age 40 and triggered a backlash from cancer doctors, advocacy groups and lawmakers who said the tests save lives and are worth the risk of a false positive test result every now and then.
An independent panel of advisers in Britain that reviewed data from 11 studies backed up critics of the task force, saying that for every 10,000 50-year-old women invited to have a mammogram over the next 20 years, screening would prevent 43 deaths and result in 129 cases of over diagnosed breast cancers, preventing one breast cancer death for every three over diagnosed cases.
The matter, however, is still far from settled.
Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, said the new study was an "interesting conversation starter" but not the final say about the value of mammography in the early detection of breast cancer.
"It points out issues that many if not all experts agree on, but the degree of the number of women have been impacted and the true impact of the negative side of mammography is something that other researchers would disagree with," he said.
In the latest study, Welch and Bleyer looked to see how well mammography was working as a screening tool.
They figured that to reduce the rate of death from cancer, screening needs to not only find more early-stage cancers; it must also reduce the number of cancers that are discovered at a late stage, when treatments are less likely to work.
Using government health and census data, the team compared breast cancer diagnosis between 1976-1978, before mammogram screening was widely used, with data in 2006-2008, when routine mammograms had become well established.
They found that the introduction of screening mammography in the United States has doubled the number of cases of early-stage breast cancer detected each year, but the rate at which women are diagnosed with late-stage cancer has only fallen by 8 percent.
"You see with mammography a dramatic increase in early-stage disease, but you don't see much compensatory decrease in late-stage disease. That means you are finding a whole lot of early cancers that were never destined to become late-stage," Welch said.
Welch said that mammogram screening is likely not doing much to catch cancers at an even earlier stage of the disease, when they are more treatable.
The researchers estimated that breast cancer was over diagnosed in 1.3 million U.S. women in the past 30 years. In 2008 alone, they estimated that breast cancer was over diagnosed in more than 70,000 women, accounting for 31 percent of all breast cancers diagnosed.
Welch said the findings cannot answer the question of whether women should get screened for breast cancer, nor does it suggest that there are no benefits, but the findings do challenge the assumption that mammograms are always a good idea.
"I can't discount that there may be a tiny fraction of women who are helped by screening, but we can say it is very small - much smaller than conventional wisdom," he said.
Others were quick to dismiss the findings, saying the study by Welch and Bleyer was fundamentally flawed because it underestimates the annual rate of breast cancer growth.
Dr. Debra Monticciolo, a spokeswoman for the American College of Radiology and president of Society of Breast Imaging, said the paper was an "extensive analysis based on false assumptions."
For their analysis, the researchers assumed in their "best guess" estimate that breast cancer rates would remain fairly stable over the study period, increasing at a rate of about a quarter of a percent a year.
"They are off by a factor of 4," said Monticciolo, who said the real figure is closer to 1 percent increase per year.
"If you recognize breast cancer had been increasing for 1 percent per year, there is no overdiagnosis."
Welch dismissed the criticism as a "circling of the wagons" by a specialty group that is "simply not open" to consider that there might be any problems with mammography.
"It's is a lot easier to make a simple (and misleading) case for screening, than it is to try to do better. But it is not in the best interest of our patients," he said.
Dr. Colin Begg of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York said he thinks the study makes a pretty good case for overdiagnosis, but he questions the authors' assertion that the benefits of mammography are small.
"We have had umpteen randomized trials out there that show there is a mortality benefit of about 15 percent," he said.
Begg said the authors are concerned that women are being encouraged to get mammograms when it may not be in their best interest, but he said all screening tests have risks as well as benefits.
Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in women, exceeded only by lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
"I'm assuming most women who get mammograms are vastly more concerned about preventing their death from breast cancer than they are about the false positives of mammography," he said.

McCartney, Houston, Dylan lead Grammy Hall of Fame inductees


LOS ANGELES: Music by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Elton John and late singers Whitney Houston and James Brown will be inducted into the 2013 Grammy Hall of Fame, The Recording Academy said on Wednesday.
Paul McCartney & Wings' 1973 album "Band on the Run," long credited with reigniting McCartney's career following the Beatles' split in 1970, was one of the 27 new inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame, on display at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.
Houston's self-titled 1985 debut album was also named an inductee, following the singer's sudden death aged 48 in February this year. Australian hard-rock band AC/DC's top-selling 1980 "Back in Black" album was also named a new entry.
The Recording Academy, which also runs the Grammy awards, picks songs and albums from all genres that are at least 25 years old, with either "qualitative or historical significance" to be considered annually for the Grammy Hall of Fame by a committee.
"Memorable for being both culturally and historically significant, we are proud to add (the 2013 inductees) to our growing catalog of outstanding recordings that have become part of our musical, social and cultural history," The Recording Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow said in a statement.
As well as albums, the Grammy Hall of Fame also includes songs of historic and cultural significance and the inductees for 2013 see a range of classic American songs.
Iconic Dylan song "The Times They Are A-Changing" from 1964, R&B singer Ray Charles' 1961 tune "Hit the Road Jack," Rat Pack star Frank Sinatra's 1980 "Theme from 'New York, New York'", and 'Godfather of soul' James Brown's 1965 classic "I Got You (I Feel Good)" were all honored.
Other 2013 inductees include Elton John's 1970 self-titled second album and American debut, Billy Joel's 1973 hit "The Piano Man" and Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton's 1953 R&B classic "Hound Dog," later covered by Elvis Presley

Islamabad security on high alert; partial holiday announced


ISLAMABAD: Putting Islamabad security on high alert the Ministry of Interior has announced a partial local holiday in federal capital on Thursday (November 22) on the eve of D-8 Summit.
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Minister for Interior, Rehman Malik held here on Wednesday to review law and order and security situation of Federal Capital and arrangements made for Muharram-ul-Haram and D-8 Summit.
The meeting took decisions, which included that all schools, colleges and educational institutions (public and private) will remain close on November 22.
All offices of District Administration as well as Pakistan Secretariat will remain close except Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior, Chief Commissioner and DC Office, ICT Police, Capital Development Authority (CDA), Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (IESCO), National Assembly Secretariat and Senate Secretariat.
In addition the meeting also decided security measures for Thursday which included that no motorcycle will be allowed in Red Zone.
No member of general public would be allowed to enter in Red Zone on November 22 (Thursday) except authorized persons while no heavy vehicle will be allowed to enter in ICT from mid night Wednesday.
The other decision was taken that no construction activity and transfer of construction material will be allowed in ICT from mid night Wednesday.
No motorcycle and motorcar would be allowed to accompany the procession. Islamabad Administration was directed to ensure that no vehicle/motorcycle is parked and enroute to the procession at
reasonable distance to be determined by the Police.
Muharram procession must end before sunset, it was further decided.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Interior, Secretary
Foreign Affairs, Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Inspector General of
Police Islamabad and Director General of National Crisis Managemen

TTP claim Karachi, Rawalpindi attacks


PESHAWAR: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday claimed responsibility for twin bomb attacks targeting Shiite Muslims in Karachi and Rawalpindi, which killed 25 people.
"We carried out the attacks (on Wednesday) in Rawalpindi and Karachi because the Shiite community is engaged in defiling the Prophet," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Pedometers play up every step you take


NEW YORK: Pedometers have ticked off many miles since Leonardo da Vinci sketched his version, essentially a pendulum for walkers, in the 15th century.
While step counting will never be a magic fitness pill, experts say this most pedestrian of gadgets can put extra spring in an ambulatory routine.
"Just as a watch can't make a person be on time, a pedometer can't make a person active," said Dr. Barbara Bushman, an exercise specialist and personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). "But it's a good tool for promoting physical activity."
Bushman said research has shown that in various populations, wearing a pedometer helps with weight loss, as well as encouraging focus on physical activity.
A summary of 26 different studies showed that pedometer users walked at least 2,000 more steps each day than nonusers, according to the Harvard Health Letter, produced by experts at Harvard Medical School. Also, using a pedometer helped them increase overall physical activity levels by 27 percent.
For most healthy adults, 10,000 steps per day is a reasonable goal, according to ACSM.
Bushman recommends pedometers as an adjunct to activity and notes that old-fashioned pedometers can be an inexact measure of exercise volume. Position also matters.
"Tilting, angling, placing it off the body or on a loose waistband can affect accuracy," she said, noting the devices don't pick up non-ambulatory activities, such as stationary cycling or rowing.
She did a study with third-graders who wore the pedometers to encourage them to be more active during recess.
"But they figured out if they just jiggled in the seat they could trick the counter," she said. "It did make them fidget more."
INCREASING FITNESS AWARENESS
To test the accuracy of a pedometer, Bushman suggests, count out 20 paces. If the counter reads within 18 to 22, it's considered a reasonably accurate step counter.
Gregory Chertok, a sport psychology counselor and fitness trainer at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Center in Englewood, New Jersey, said studies show that just wearing a pedometer can increase fitness awareness.
"A pedometer is almost like a workout buddy, an ever-present truth teller," he said. "It provides constant, immediate feedback, and so acts as a behavior modification tool."
There is also the power of numbers.
"Most goals people set are measurable, numeric, so just having the number can encourage you to set your own goal," he said.
Chertok added that pedometers also help people realize that everyday activities, such as walking up stairs or through supermarket aisles, count toward that goal.
MONITORING PROGRESS
"Accountability is a big issue," Chertok explained, "accountability and social support."
Just as working out in groups increases exercise adherence, he suggests, a pedometer can be effective because people know they are being monitored, even if you're monitoring yourself.
To build a better pedometer, companies are moving from the spring-load, or old-fashioned, to microchip.
Garmin Ltd's 201 model is a wrist unit that uses GPS satellites to trace your outdoor workout. Besides showing speed, distance, pace, time and laps, it can even point you back to your starting place.
Using MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) technology, the technology in very small devices, Striiv is among the companies making pedometers that are smarter and contain no moving parts.
"It's the next generation," said Dave Wang, chief executive of the Redwood City, California-based company.
The new technology, he maintains, improves stepping accuracy to within one percent of every 100 steps on normal terrain.
Last month the company rolled out a free iPhone app that can be used alone or in conjunction with its Play Smart Pedometer that enables users to compete in various games and challenges via Facebook and email.
The new generation of pedometers can track running, and even climbing, but calories remain the final frontier.
"Calories are a little hard," Wang admits, although his pedometers do take a stab at it.
"We look at your height, your weight, your gender, your age, your cadence, your altimeter increase if you're walking up a hill," he said. "But at the end of the day ... it's a guess."

Govt urged to strengthen policies for diabetes prevention


KARACHI: Medical experts at a symposium called upon the government to implement and strengthen policies for the prevention and control of diabetes and disseminate tools to support national and local initiatives for the prevention and management of diabetes and its complications.
They were speaking at a seminar organized at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on Wednesday in connection to World Diabetes Day 2012 at its Ojha Campus. National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (NIDE) and DUHS also organized diabetes awareness walk, public awareness program and free diabetic camp at the campus.
Pro Vice Chancellor DUHS Prof. M. Umer Farooq, Director NIDE Prof. M. Zaman Shaikh and General Secretary Diabetes Association of Pakistan (DAP) Professor A. Samad Shera were among the speakers.
Prof. M. Umer Farooq said that World diabetes day was celebrated on November 14 every year internationally to raise awareness among people about diabetes. World Diabetes day is a call to all those who are responsible for Diabetes care and can contribute to control it. "There is need to encourage governments to implement and strengthen policies for the prevention and control of diabetes and its complications. It is also necessary to disseminate tools to support national and local initiatives for the prevention and management of diabetes and its complications."
Prof. M. Zaman Shaikh, in his address said, for the general public and people at high risk of diabetes, the campaign raises awareness of the warning signs of diabetes and promotes action to encourage early diagnosis.
He also said that, in the year 2009, it was estimated that Pakistan was ranking on number 7 in the world with respect to the diabetic population that was 7.1 million. At that time, it was estimated by IDF that Pakistan will jump, from 7th position in 2010 to 4th in 2030, with an increased diabetic population of 13.8 million.


Planet outside our solar system may support life: study

WASHINGTON: A newly-discovered alien planet seven times bigger than Earth may be able to support life, astronomers wrote in a study appearing in the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics."
The planet, dubbed HD 40307g, is one of only a few to be discovered in the "habitable zone": a sweet spot, neither too close or too far from its sun, where liquid water could exist.
The so-called "super-Earth" orbits its star -- HD 40307, a dwarf just slightly smaller, cooler and less bright than our Sun -- every 200 days.
It is relatively close to the solar-system neighborhood, just 42 light years away. A light year is equivalent to about 9,460 billion kilometers.
"The star HD 40307 is a perfectly quiet old dwarf star, so there is no reason why such a planet could not sustain an Earth-like climate," said astronomer Guillem Anglada-Escude of the University of Goettingen in Germany.
The next step is to use powerful telescopes to study the planet more closely.
A large number of observations will be necessary to confirm any other similarities with Earth, the astronomers said.
The study noted that the distance between the planet and its star is similar to that between the Earth and the Sun and that it is likely the planet rotates on its axis, which would create a day and night cycle like ours.
So far, some 846 planets have been found outside our solar system since 1995, using high-powered equipment, most notably the Kepler telescope, launched in March 2009 to search for Earth-like planets.
Most of the discoveries are of planets far larger than Earth.

California teen steps into rattlesnake nest, survives


SAN DIEGO: A teenage California girl searching for a cell phone signal to call her mother in a rural area outside San Diego inadvertently stepped into a nest of rattlesnakes and was bitten six times, but survived.
The 16-year-old, Vera Oliphant, spent four days in the intensive care unit of Sharp Grossmont Hospital, and doctors gave her 24 vials of antivenom after she was bitten by an adult rattlesnake and five young rattlers outside her uncle's home.
"I was trying to find a signal to call my mom and text my boyfriend," Oliphant said on Friday, a day after she was released from the hospital following the October 27 incident.
"I didn't see them until I already stepped on their nest and I felt them biting me."
"My vision started to go right away. First it looked like the snakes blended into the leaves and then I started seeing black spots around the edges and I started blacking out."
She returned to her uncle's home in Jamul, outside San Diego, and he immediately packed her into the car and rushed her to the emergency room, she said.
On the way, she talked to her mom and her boyfriend, who told her to stay calm so the venom wouldn't spread.
"I told my mom and my boyfriend I love them in case I don't get to see them again," she said.
Doctors there administered 24 vials of antivenom to quash the dangerous toxins, according to a hospital spokesman. Snakebites usually aren't fatal, although a handful of people die in the United States each year from snake bites, including bites from rattlesnakes.
Oliphant has recovered and will be returning to classes at Chaparral High School in El Cajon on Monday. She said the next time she can't get a signal, she will handle it differently.
"Be careful where you step," she said. "If you don't need to, just wait until you are somewhere that you can call people." (Reuters)

Sky-gazers in awe of total eclipse

PALM COVE: Sky-gazers in northern Australia donned protective glasses as the clouds parted Wednesday to allow them to witness one of nature's greatest phenomena -- a total eclipse of the sun.
All eyes and cameras turned to the heavens over tropical north Queensland as the moon began moving between the Earth and the sun, like a small bite which gradually increases in size.
Cloud cover threatened to spoil the party and huge cheers erupted when they parted to give tens of thousands of eclipse hunters a perfect view of totality -- when the moon completely covers the sun and a faint halo or corona appears.
"Wow, insects and birds gone quiet," one tourist, Geoff Scott, tweeted. Another, Stuart Clark, said: "This it. Totality now. Utterly beautiful."
The path of the eclipse got under way shortly after daybreak when the moon's shadow, or umbra, fell in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in the Northern Territory, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) east of Darwin.
The umbra then moved eastward before alighting in north Queensland -- one of the few places it could be viewed by humans and where tourists and scientists flocked to witness the region's first total solar eclipse in 1,300 years.
Totality lasted just over two minutes from 6.38am (2038 GMT Tuesday).
When it happened the early chatter of birds and animals was replaced by an eerie silence as the moon overtook the sun, casting a shadow that plunged the land into darkness, with temperatures dropping.
"Day into night, unbelievable, goosebumps, speechless, amazing," said Palm Cove eclipse watcher Simon Crerar.
Fred Espenak, an American astrophysicist and world authority on eclipses, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that while eclipses can seem somehow magical, in fact they can be predicted accurately.
"Certainly within 100 to 200 years we can predict when an eclipse will occur to within a second," he said.
"But the pattern of occurrence is a complicated one. They don't repeat on a time schedule like the seasons of the year."
He explained that when a total eclipse occurred "the darkest part of the moon's shadow sweeps across the earth's surface".
"Total solar eclipses occur once every one to two years but are only visible from less than half a percent of the earth's surface," he said.
The rare spectacle, which was viewed live by millions around the world, drew thousands of eclipse tourists to Queensland with the state government estimating that 50,000-60,000 people made the trip.
They include three charter flights with 1,200 scientists from Japan while six cruise ships were moored off the coast and hot air balloons dotted the skies.
Accommodation was solidly booked -- from five-star hotels to camping grounds.
Scientists will study the effects of the eclipse on the marine life of the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland's rainforest birds and animals while psychologists will monitor the impact on humans.
Total eclipses can be seen from a given point on Earth's surface only once every 410 years in the northern hemisphere, but only once every 540 years in the southern hemisphere.
The last total eclipse was on July 11, 2010, again over the South Pacific. The next will take place on March 20, 2015, occurring over Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway's far northern Svalbard archipelago, according to Espenak. (AFP)

Court doesn’t acknowledge bogus company: CJ


ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry remarked Thursday that the court doesn’t acknowledge any bogus company and the relevant documents will reveal if the company is real or fake.
A three-member bench of the apex court heard the Reko Diq case.
During the hearing, Advocate General Balochistan said that 1,000 square kilometre area could be allotted to explore reserves under the law but 13,000 square kilometre was allotted to the company by easing conditions in the regulations.
The chief justice in his remarks said that the court doesn’t recognise any bogus company and the only the authentic documents will prove if the company really exists or not.

We have been left at terrorists mercy: Qadir Gilani


ISLAMABAD: Abdul Qadir Gilani, a member of the National Assembly and a son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, has said that lives of his family members have been left at the mercy of terrorists, Geo News reported on Wednesday.

Speaking in the National Assembly, the MNA said that the Federal Investigation Agency was threatening him while nobody including the parliament and Rehman Malik took notice.
The MNA said that he along with his brother, MNA Ali Musa Gilani, would resign from the National Assembly if the excesses were continued to be committed against them.
He said though the Supreme Court had cleared him in the Haj scam, the FIA was still hurling threats.
Mr Gilani said his father had appeared before the apex court thrice. He demanded of Rehman Malik to resign from the post if he could not do something for them (Gilanis).
He said he received threats while on his way to the house to attend the NA session today (Wednesday). Panel of Chairperson Yasmin Rehman has summoned the FIA director general to inquire as to why the MNA was being threatened after Gilani fiery speech in the lower house of the parliament.

Targeted killing claims three more lives

KARACHI: Three people were shot dead in an incident of targeted killing in PIB colony on late Wednesday night, Geo News reported.
DSP Nasir Lodhi said unknown outlaws riding on motorcycle, sprayed bullets on a vehicle, killing two people on the spot and critically injuring the third who succumbed to injuries in a private hospital.
The two deceased were identified as Ziauddin and Javed Khan while the identity of third could not be ascertained.
Police have taken the vehicle in custody besides recovery shells of 9MM pistol from the site of incident.

Sheikhupura Interchange reopens as visibility improves

LAHORE: The motorway section from Thokar Niaz Baig to Sheikhupura Interchange has reopened after the fog has started to disappear, resulting in improved visibility Thursday, Geo News reported.
According to motorway police, thick fog had covered the motorway that increased in the morning and reduced the visibility to zero.
However, the motorway was reopened for traffic after few hours when the haze started to settle down. Long queues of vehicles were witnessed soon after the closure and the commuters resumed their journey after the motorway police allowed traveling.


Thursday 8 November 2012

The real Spider-Man: Stickiness goes to the next level

Geckos are among the superheroes of the animal world.
These colourful lizards can scamper rapidly up walls, scuttle along ceilings and even hang upside down on polished glass.
Yet the secret of their amazing climbing ability remained a mystery until relatively recently.
The underside of a gecko's foot looks like a tyre tread and is covered in millions of microscopic hairs. Each hair splits into hundreds of tips just 200 billionths of a metre wide.
The secret of this lizard's adhesion turns out to be the relatively weak intermolecular forces that draw materials together any time they get close.
These van der Waals forces nevertheless explain how a gecko can support its own body weight on just one finger, and a single gecko hair can lift the weight of an ant.
Gecko adhesionGecko climbing exploits weak physical forces between molecules
To un-stick, the gecko pulls its foot away at a different angle.
"What we're talking about is something that is about as sticky as sticky tape - it's not crazy glue," says Prof Kellar Autumn, who became intrigued by gecko adhesion after being funded to develop climbing robots by the US military.
Prof Autumn, from Lewis & Clark College in Oregon, added: "What is special about it is that it is controllable. And its controllability is based on geometry and physics, not chemistry."

Start Quote

The way gecko adhesives work is so bizarre... that I don't think we would have invented it”
Prof Kellar AutumnLewis & Clark College
The effort to uncover the mechanisms behind gecko climbing has already yielded synthetic material that sticks in the same way.
Stick, peel and re-stick a piece of existing adhesive tape several times and it quickly loses its clingy properties.
Prof Autumn and Mark Cutkosky, from Stanford University, compared natural and polymer-based synthetic gecko hairs using a machine that simulated gecko climbing. This showed both versions could be re-used some 30,000 times without losing their stickiness.
Synthetic adhesives could yield transformative applications in robotics, industry, medicine, sports and clothing.
But one possible use always comes up in any popular discussion: could they allow humans to scale walls like Spider-Man?
Dr Mark Miodownik tries out Stanislav Gorb's beetle-inspired sticky tape
In 2007, physicist and engineer Nicola Pugno, from Turin Polytechnic in Italy, calculated that a person wearing gloves and boots made of carbon nanotubes and structured to mimic gecko feet could indeed cling safely to a wall or a ceiling.
Challenges would include wear and tear and the propensity for dirt particles to collect and inhibit stickiness.
The suit would have to work on every kind of surface and for long periods of time. But Prof Pugno says: "We are not very far, in my opinion, from a kind of Spider-Man suit."
Prof Metin Sitti, from Carnegie Mellon University, says the idea is "not impossible". Selecting a lightweight person and applying the adhesive to many parts of the suit (not just the feet and hands) would improve the chances of success, he explains.
But, he comments: "We get questions like: 'Can you carry a one-tonne weight'. And we say: 'Maybe, but that's not our biggest advantage'."

Secrets of gecko climbing

Gecko adhesion
A. The toes of geckos are covered in ridge-like lamellae, producing a tyre tread pattern
B. Millions of microscopic hairs, or setae, cover each toe. These are only as long as two diameters of a human hair
C. Each seta ends in up to 1000 even tinier tips, called spatulae
D. The spatular tips are only 200 billionths of a metre wide -below the wavelength of visible light
Several institutes have been developing robots that can climb walls - Stanford University's "Sticky-bot" can be seen in action here. Some scientists envisage "geckobots" being used to search for survivors in a burning building or disaster zone, to explore the rocky terrain of Mars, or even as toys.
Stickybot  Mark R. Cutkosky, Stanford University and Sangbae Kim, MITStanford University's Stickybot uses the principles of gecko climbing
But many in the field are most excited by more routine applications.
Medicine is one target area for these adhesives. They could spawn advanced bandages that can be removed easily after healing or gripping surfaces on instruments designed for delicate surgery. Since the mechanism works in the wet, it could be used to affix implants within the body.
Stanislav Gorb, from the University of Kiel, studies biological adhesion; his work also looks at the way beetles stick to surfaces.
He says gecko material has several advantages when compared with generic sticky tape. There is no "visco-elastic" adhesive to dry out, so it stays attached for longer and leaves no residue.
But he says that with current production methods, they are unlikely to replace classical sticky tape.
"Maybe in 5-10 years we will have a method that will make the tape very cheap - right now it isn't. Secondly, right now, the forces are in the range or even lower than traditional sticky tape."
Zip it up
Metin Sitti thinks gecko material could provide alternatives to current "closure" technologies, such as hook and loop fastening, zips and sealing systems on food packaging.
It is one area he is exploring through his company NanoGripTech, set up to commercialise his lab's gecko work.
Synthetic gecko hairsSynthetic gecko-inspired adhesives can be even stickier than the real thing
Synthetic adhesives work best on glass; rough or uneven surfaces pose more of an obstacle. Getting high performance out of gecko material on a variety of surfaces and in different conditions represents the firm's first challenge.
"We have been focusing on what happens when the surface gets wet, oily, dirty and what happens when temperatures change from very cold to very hot," says Prof Sitti.
"The second challenge is how can you manufacture and sell this [material] at high volume and at low cost?"
Prof Sitti is working on this problem and expects within a year to begin manufacturing at low volumes.
A silicone-based bio-inspired adhesive made by German firm Binder has been on the market for some six months. Prof Gorb was involved with its development.
The company has been exploring medical applications and the "pick and place" technology used in clean rooms to precisely position components on to circuit boards.
"Clean rooms often work with suction systems. That generates dust and requires a lot of energy, which contributes to the cost," says Jan Tuma, managing director of Binder.
"We are only sticky on really flat, shiny surfaces. It depends on the pins per sq cm and at the moment we have 29,000 pins per sq centimetre.
"Geckos have more, but they have had millions of years to develop, and we have had only a few."
Prof Autumn says: "We can look to Nature as a giant library of design principles. The way gecko adhesives work is so bizarre and so different from the way that adhesives have been engineered, that I don't think we would have invented it."Spider-Man

Crude up in Asia on bargain-hunting

SINGAPORE: Crude rebounded in Asia Thursday with traders on a bargain-hunting spree after prices plunged as the US "fiscal cliff" loomed and European fears resurfaced, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, added 38 cents to $84.82 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for December delivery gained 52 cents to $107.34.
"We had quite a large move down yesterday as the worries over the fiscal cliff and European woes started to more than usurp the euphoria over the Obama re-election," Jason Hughes, head of premium client management for IG Markets Singapore told.
"Today in Asian trade prices have pushed back up... it's probably people covering positions after a big move."
Barack Obama's hard-fought victory, coupled with Republican control of the House of Representatives and the Democratic-majority Senate, worried traders, who fear more policy deadlock in the world's biggest oil consumer.
A combination of dramatic spending cuts and tax increases will take effect on January 1 without a deal on reducing the ballooning budget deficit, with Democrats and Republicans in Congress locked in a who-blinks-first stand-off.
Elsewhere, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's gloomy words on the 17-nation eurozone reignited fears over the frailty of the region.
"Unemployment is deplorably high. Overall economic activity is weak and it is expected to remain weak in the near term," Draghi told a banking conference in Frankfurt on Wednesday.

Bradley Wiggins: Tour de France winner injured in crash

Bradley Wiggins"He was in a lot of pain - he actually thought he had broken his ribs.

Barack Obama heads to White House as fiscal cliff looms

President Barack Obama waves as he exits Air Force One, 7 November 2012Obama and his family flew back into the Washington area aboard Air Force One
US President Barack Obama has returned with his family to Washington DC to face a bulging in-tray after winning a second term in office.
The Obamas flew from their Chicago base, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base about 18:30 (23:30 GMT).
He needs to work with Republicans in Congress to confront a looming "fiscal cliff" of tax rises and spending cuts.
The Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, but failed to take the Senate.
In his state-by-state battle with Republican Mitt Romney, Mr Obama has so far won 303 electoral college votes to Mr Romney's 206, past the 270-vote winning post.
In Florida, a state with 29 electoral votes, absentee ballots are still being counted and the race remains too close to call.
Before Mr Obama's Washington return on Wednesday, House Speaker John Boehner hinted at the possibility of a compromise if the president agreed to tax reform.
303
OBAMA
206
ROMNEY
  • California 55
  • Colorado 9
  • Connecticut 7
  • District of Colombria 3
  • Delaware 3
  • Hawaii 4
  • Iowa 6
  • Illinois 20
  • Massachusetts 11
  • Maryland 10
  • Maine 4
  • Michigan 16
  • Minnesota 10
  • New Hampshire 4
  • New Jersey 14
  • New Mexico 5
  • Nevada 6
  • New York 29
  • Ohio 18
  • Oregon 7
  • Pennsylvania 20
  • Rhode Island 4
  • Virginia 13
  • Vermont 3
  • Washington 12
  • Wisconsin 10
  • Alaska 3
  • Alabama 9
  • Arkansas 6
  • Arizona 11
  • Georgia 16
  • Idaho 4
  • Indiana 11
  • Kansas 6
  • Kentucky 8
  • Louisiana 8
  • Missouri 10
  • Mississippi 6
  • Montana 3
  • North Carolina 15
  • North Dakota 3
  • Nebraska 5
  • Oklahoma 7
  • South Carolina 9
  • South Dakota 3
  • Tennessee 11
  • Texas 38
  • Utah 6
  • West Virginia 5
  • Wyoming 3
270 to win
Mr Boehner, who negotiated with Mr Obama over a so-called "grand bargain" of spending cuts and new revenues in 2011, said he would accept new revenue-raising as part of a tax reform deal.
Time is tight: Bush-era tax cuts are due to expire at the end of 2012, and automatic, mandatory across-the-board cuts to military and domestic spending are also in the pipeline unless a deal can be reached.
Economists say the overall effect of falling off the "fiscal cliff" could tip the US into recession.