Poll panel warns of stern action on cash-for-votes

Chennai, April 10 :

 The Election Commission Sunday warned of stringent action against Tamil Nadu's political parties if cash or gifts are distributed among voters aheadof the April 13 assembly polls.

In a statement issued here, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said: "In some constituencies incidents of distribution of cash or gifts to lure voters have been detected. The Election Commission of India has viewed it with serious concern as not conducive to conduct of free and fair elections."

Courtesy:IANS

He said the commission is closely monitoring the situation and in case of repeat incidents it shall be constrained to take stern measure as may become necessary.

Unaccounted cash and articles worth over Rs.30 crore has been seized by flying squads comprising electoral and income tax department officials across the state.

--IANS

Scuffles break out as teachers protest for job stability, higher wages

By ARAB NEWS

Published: Apr 11, 2011 00:20 Updated: Apr 11, 2011 00:20

JEDDAH: 

A number of teachers who belong to the illiteracy eradication program scuffled with security guards at the Ministry of Civil Service's provincial headquarters in Jeddah after they were prevented from meeting with Suhaimi Al-Hajri, director general of the office.

The fistfight took place while four teachers of the same department were meeting with Al-Hajri, Al-Watan Arabic daily reported on Sunday. The teachers who fought with the guards were carrying placards demanding their jobs be made permanent.

Muhammad Al-Siraj, one of the teachers involved, said his colleagues were happy when they read a report that women teachers in the department would be made permanent, thinking that the decision would also cover male teachers. But it was later learned that it covered only women.

“This forced us to launch a campaign through Facebook and hold a protest in front of the ministry's office in Jeddah,” Al-Siraj said.

The teachers raised their voices, prompting the guards to force them to leave. They also prevented reporters and photographers from taking pictures of the fistfight.

An old man named Uncle Saleh, who is one of the students of the illiteracy eradication program, came to the ministry to support the teachers. He called upon Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to protect the teachers' rights.

Ali Al-Aseeri, a teacher, expressed surprise at the department’s decision not to make male teachers permanent, even though they also work for the same department as the women teachers who were made permanent.

Al-Hajri, the director general of the ministry's office, said a ministerial committee has been set up to look into the complaints. “Our office has nothing to do with this issue. It should be handled by the Ministry of Education,” he said.

Meanwhile, dozens of unemployed university graduates and teachers staged protests on Sunday demanding jobs and better wages.

Over 20 protesters gathered outside the Education Ministry office in Jeddah while around 20 collected outside the ministry in the capital Riyadh, witnesses and participants said.

“God willing, I’ll be here until Friday if I have to. We don’t care anymore after seven years of unemployment. We have no other choice,” said Omar Alharbi, a 34-year-old Arabic language teacher who took part in the Jeddah protest.

The father of six now works as a teacher in a private school making only SR1,800 a month, below the country’s unemployment handout of SR2,000.

Teachers are offered SR1,800 a month in a private school for a job that pays around SR9,000 a month in government schools, protesters said.

Some of the protesters said they had been unemployed since 2003. They estimated the number of unemployed Saudi Arabic language teachers to exceed 10,000.

Earlier this year, some 250 unemployed graduates gathered at the Education Ministry in Riyadh to demand employment and vowed to continue demonstrating until the government produces jobs.

The group later dispersed after hearing promises from ministry officials saying they will deal with their issue.

Courtesy:Arabnews

Hazare-Pawar confrontation continues

2011-04-10 22:40:00 Last Updated: 2011-04-11 00:59:39 New Delhi: The confrontation between Anna Hazare and NCP escalated today with the anti-corruption crusader saying Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar should resign if people demand that the NCP leader step down. The NCP, a key UPA ally, on its part again disapproved of the way Hazare and his activists went about their agitation making the government "bow to pressure tactics." Asked about his earlier comment that Pawar should step down, Hazare said, "He has already resigned from one Group of Ministers (GoM). This is a democracy, if people demand that he should step down(as union minister), then on moral grounds he should. Corrupt people should not be in power". NCP General Secretary Tariq Anwar agreed that corruption is a very big issue for the nation. "A solution should be found, a way should be formulated, a law must be created," he said. "But, the way which was adopted...pressure tactics through its issue to make the government bow and agree to theri demands is not right. It is becoming a new trend." Anwar said yesterday that the government has committed a "mistake" by accepting Hazare's demands. "Corruption is undoubtedly a burning issue facing the country ... but I differ with Anna Hazare as the way adopted by the Gandhian leader has not been the right way. "The way Anna Hazare got his demand conceded I want to be clear is not correct ... and the government has committed a mistake by accepting his demands," Anwar had said. Hazare on Wednesay stepped up attack on Pawar saying he resigning from Group of Ministers(GoM) on corruption will not serve "any purpose" and he should quit the Union Council of Ministers too.   All About: Hazare, Shard Pawar, Corruption, Lokpal Bill, Topnews, Union Council of Ministers Courtesy:PTI

17,500 rally against nuke plants

Kyodo News

About 17,500 people held two rallies Sunday against nuclear power plants, reflecting public rage over the crisis unfolding at the Fukushima No. 1 power station some 220 km northeast of Tokyo.

Around the JR Koenji Station in Suginami Ward, some 15,000 people took part in a demonstration march organized by local shop owners. The turnout rose after several people went online to issue calls to join the event, organizers said.

One of the organizers of the rally, Hajime Matsumoto, said he was amazed that so many people showed up just on their own.

"It's epoch-making that so many people gathered without being mobilized by a large organization," he said. "It's become powerful because we joined hands over the Internet."

In Shiba Park in Minato Ward, about 2,500 people gathered at a civic rally to demand that Chubu Electric Power Co. shut down its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. Critics says the plant is situated "right above" the epicenter of a predicted major quake.

"We've learned that nuclear plants cannot be controlled by human power," said photographer Gentaro Todaka, 34. "We hope to halt the Hamaoka plant, which is said to be the most dangerous, and hope the campaign to halt nuclear plants will spread elsewhere”

Courtesy:Japantimes.

STRESS MANAGEMENT : WHY NEGLECT BRAIN CARE?

Brain: Hippocampus
The hippocampus is located in the medial temporal lobe of the brain. In this lateral view of the human brain, the frontal lobe is at left, the occipital lobe at right, and the temporal and parietal lobes have largely been removed to reveal the hippocampus underneath.

It’s hard to deny that we live in a stressful society. Many of us are busy from the instant we wake up to the moment we fall asleep, taking care of children, commuting to and from work, putting in a solid eight to twelve hours at the office, keeping up with our reading and e-mail and phone correspondence, and then having to confront 100-odd cable TV channels.

The human response to stress—an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, metabolism, and blood flow to muscles—has evolved over millions of years and is responsible, in no small measure, for the survival of our species. It also contributes to peak performance under pressure—an asset to athletes, firefighters, and countless others. But the inappropriate activation of the stress response, in a world where people rarely face life-or-death situations, can eventually damage both the heart and the brain.

Researchers have examined how stress affects people in various ways. As one example, in a five-year study published in 1998, psychologists gave memory tests to people in their 70s and asked them to find their way through different mazes. The subjects who did the worst on the tests had the highest levels of cortisol, a stress hormone in the glucocorticoid family. Over the years these same people had lost the most brain cells from the hippocampus, a brain structure critical for memory.

Some studies imply that there is a link between a shrinking hippocampus, and chronic exposure to glucocorticoids like cortisol. We see this most clearly in an extreme condition called Cushing’s syndrome, in which the adrenal glands release large quantities of glucocorticoids.

This condition is accompanied by memory problems known as Cushingoid dementia. MRI brain scans performed at the University of Michigan showed that the hippocampus shrinks in Cushing’s patients. People who secreted the most glucocorticoids suffered the most serious memory problems and the worst hippocampal atrophy.

However, other studies question whether the glucocorticoids alone are responsible for the degeneration of hippocampal neurons. A 1999 study performed at the University of Washington exposed aging rats to elevated glucocorticoid concentrations for 12 months without increasing their exposure to stress.

The average size of the hippocampus in these rats, as well as the number and density of neurons in that region, remained the same as in an unexposed control group. Hippocampal damage, the researchers concluded, must arise from other effects of stress, perhaps in conjunction with elevated glucocorticoid levels but not due only to them. These results hint that the organic effects of stress on the brain are complex and unlikely to yield to a simple remedy.

Unfortunately, stress is not the only thing we have to worry about. Research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that chronic depression can also harm the hippocampus.

In a 1999 study, investigators scanned the brains of 48 women, ranging from age 23 to 86. In women who had a history of depression, the size of the hippocampus was 9 percent to 13 percent smaller. The hippocampal volumes were smaller in women who had been depressed more often, but age was not a factor. Glucocorticoids may be involved here, too, as depressed patients produce abnormally high quantities of this stress hormone.

Fortunately, there are techniques for managing stress. Physical conditioning can help by lowering your blood pressure, and resting heart rate. Exercise—such as aerobic workouts and competitive sports—can also provide an outlet for relieving some of the stress and frustration that build up in a day. Some people achieve deep relaxation through contemplative activities like yoga and meditation, while others may prefer listening to Mozart or wild dancing.

People who handle stress well generally have strong social ties with others.

Whenever possible, they avoid putting themselves in situations in which they feel helpless, buffeted by forces beyond their control. However, when things don’t go their way, they try to take it in stride.

Tags:Stress management techniques

http://ezinearticles.com/?Simple-Stress-Management-Techniques:-How-to-Calm-Down-and-Cope&id=5923511

Musharraf abandons plans to return to Pak: Report

pdated on Sunday, April 10, 2011, 15:56

Islamabad: Former president Pervez Musharraf has abandoned plans to return to Pakistan from self-exile in Britain after the military leadership here "cold-shouldered" his demands for extra security to counter multiple threats to his life from militant outfits like al Qaeda and Taliban.

 

The military also turned down Musharraf's request to use its influence to prevent his arrest on arrival in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in the killing of ex-premier Benazir Bhutto and Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, a media report said today.

 

Musharraf, who resigned as president in 2008 and has been living in self-exile in Britain for the past two years, faces threats from Balochistan and the tribal areas, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying.

 

He is also one of the top targets of the Taliban and Baloch nationalist militants.

 

The former president, who launched a new political party in October last year, has claimed several times that he will return to Pakistan to lead the All Pakistan Muslim League.

 

Musharraf's aides told the daily that he has been seeking guarantees from the military leadership for more security than that to which he is entitled as a former president.

 

"He is scared... naturally, the level of threat he faces is much higher... That's why he wanted to be dead sure that enemies couldn't get him if he comes back," said a friend of Musharraf who did not want to be named.

 

"And of course who else other than the military, the Army, can provide that sort of security," the friend said.

 

Musharraf's hopes faded when the military hierarchy "cold-shouldered his demands for extra security to spearhead his politics in Pakistan," the report said. 

"It looks like they (military generals) are not interested in him and his political designs anymore... it is not their tradition to support a former chief's political gamble... because they are of no use," said another associate of Musharraf.

Al Qaeda, which operates in Pakistan's tribal areas with associates like the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, poses a threat to Musharraf.

 

He was twice targeted by al Qaeda's 313 Brigade and the Amjad Farooqi group of the Punjabi Taliban when he was the President. 

The military raid on Islamabad's Lal Masjid also turned all 'jihadi' groups against Musharraf.

The killing of Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti in 2006 too earned him the ire of militants of Balochistan.

 

"And now he can be an easy prey for them... they might still want to get him whenever possible," said an unnamed friend of Musharraf. 

PTI

Courtesy: zeenews 

 

Drafting of Lokpal Bill to be videographed: Anna Hazare

Updated on Sunday, April 10, 2011, 19:15

New Delhi: A day after he ended his fast demanding a stronger anti-graft Lokpal Bill, social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said the process of formulating the act will be videographed and the procedures will be made public. 

"The committee will start its work on the draft from April 16, the procedures will be video graphed and made public. The procedure will be totally transparent, from formulation to the time after it is passed and selection of Lokpal," Hazare told reporters.

"If people find out any shortcoming they can point this out," he said. 

Stating that questions were being asked if the bill will solve the problem of corruption, Anna Hazare said that if not 100 percent, it will solve the problem of corruption up to 90 percent.

"People ask if it will solve problem of corruption, if not 100 percent, it will solve the problem 90 percent. The rest will be done through the medium of electoral reforms and decentralisation of power," he said. 

IANS:

zeenews

Baba Ramdev denies rift over Lokpal Bill panel

Updated on Sunday, April 10, 2011, 12:15

Tags: Baba Ramdev, Lokpal Bill, Anna Hazare

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: Amid reports that Baba Ramdev was unhappy with the presence of father son duo of Shanti Bhushan and Prashant on the joint committee that will draft the Lokpal Bill, the yoga guru on Saturday, in an exclusive chat with Zee News, denied that he had made the nepotism charge.

 

Ramdev said there were questions about nepotism in people’s mind, not his, and he had only forwarded this view in an earlier chat with the media.

The yoga guru, who is one of the founders of India Against Corruption that spearheaded this week’s non-violent protests against corruption across the country, said he had no problems with the constitution of the committee which includes five members each from the government as well as civil society.

 

Noted social activist Anna Hazare, who this week sat on a fast unto death at the capital’s Jantar Mantar until the Central government accepted the demands for a joint committee to draft a stronger Lokpal Bill, is also part of the committee.

 

Speaking to reporters earlier this morning, Hazare reacted to Baba Ramdev’s purported unhappiness with the composition of the joint committee and appealed to him not to rake up such issues as the movement against corruption is for the betterment of the nation.

 

Hazare said “the persons included in the panel have been chosen keeping in mind their knowledge of law”. “I would touch his (Baba’s) feet and request him not to make such comments,” Hazare added.

“It is a temporary panel constituted for two months to draft the Bill,” the iconic Gandhian leader said.

 

Baba Ramdev was reported to have objected to the inclusion of both former law minister Shanti Bhushan and his advocate son Prashant in the joint drafting committee.

 

"Why is there nepotism in the committee? Why both father and son are accommodated in the committee?" a news agency had quoted the yoga guru as saying.

 

Ramdev today told Zee News that he had no role to play in the drafting committee. Hazare and Kejriwal had earlier defended the inclusion of both Shanti Bhushan and Prashant in the drafting committee.

 

"Nothing wrong in having two members of the same family in the panel. We need experience. We need expertise," Hazare said. "It is a coincidence that they are father and son. But they are experts, they are very experienced and independent lawyers," said Kejriwal.

The agency also quoted Prashant Bhushan as saying, "Personally I wouldn`t like to be in the panel. Ideally, somebody else should be a member... We were involved in drafting of the Lokpal Bill. So, Anna made us members. As of now, I am not withdrawing myself but if it comes to that I am willing to withdraw myself."

 

Hazare also rejected the idea of holding a special session of Parliament to get the Bill passed. “There’s no need for a special session as it would be a wastage of money,” he said. Reiterating his earlier remarks, Hazare told reporters that the fight against corruption has just begun and the government has to be continuously pushed forward to get an effective Lokpal Bill passed.

 

After forcing the government to bow down before people’s power and accept the demands for a stronger Lokpal Bill, Hazare had on Saturday ended his 98-hour-long hunger strike after the government issued a gazette notification to set up a joint committee to draft an effective Lokpal Bill.

Courtesy:Zeenews Bureau 

Willpower and Self Discipline

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http://www.successconsciousness.com/index_000077.htm

Iraqis demand end to American occupation

BAGHDAD : Tens of thousands of demonstrators on Saturday took to the streets of Baghad to mark the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq  and demand the departure of the American troops, Aswat al-Iraq newsagency reported

Protesters, mainly followers of the Shiite Sadrist Leader Muqtada al-Sadr, carried Iraqi flags and raised slogans condemning the U.S. forces presence in the country. The prominent cleric al-Sadr is one of the most vocal critics of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

"The slogans of the demonstration are concentrating on the demands for the departure of the U.S. occupation forces from Iraq and a call on the Iraqi government to put an end for the foreign presence of those forces and the non-renewal of their existence in Iraq," al-Sadr's media spokesman told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Hazim al-Aaraji said during his reading of Sadr's statement before the demonstrators that the leader has called for an open sit-in demonstration to force the American forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year.

Passenger buses  coming from different southern Iraqi provinces were seen entering Baghdad carrying tens of thousands of demonstrators. A curfew on vehicles was imposed to prevent any movement around the venue of the demonstration.

The Mahdi Army, formed by al-Sadr in 2003, was involved in clashes with U.S. forces. It suspended its activities in 2007, bringing a significant decline in violence.

According to a security agreement between Baghdad and Washington, all U.S. forces will be withdrawn by the end of 2011. Less than 50,000 US troops remain in Iraq, eight years since since the U.S.-led war began March 20, 2003.

--BNO News

Abusing women is un-Islamic: Saudi mufti

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al-Asheikh

By MUHAMMAD HUMAIDAN | ARAB NEWS

Published: Apr 8, 2011 19:05 Updated: Apr 8, 2011 20:41

JEDDAH: Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh has strongly warned against maltreating women in any form and said this is totally against Islam.

In his Friday sermon at Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh, the mufti said only bad people treat women badly.

"The psychological or physical abuse of wives, daughters and sisters is against the Islamic Shariah and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)," he said.

Al-Asheikh warned husbands and fathers who take the salaries of their wives and daughters that they are committing anti-Islamic acts.

"The fathers who make it a condition to have their daughters' salaries before they give their consent for marriage are equally wrong. Husbands who force their working wives to share in home expenses are committing erroneous acts. Islam made it the responsibility of the man to spend on the house," he told the worshippers.

The mufti also said it is haram (forbidden in Islam) when husbands ask their wives who request divorce to return the dowry before they consent to divorce. He also said burdening women with bank loans and letting them suffer the payment of installments is equally haram.

The mufti said polygamy, which is allowed by Islam under the condition of being just and fair, is not a loose right. "The first wife should have all her rights," he said.

He also warned against relying on matchmakers who draw a bright picture of the groom who may turn out in the end to be an unethical and irresponsible man.

"Matchmakers should convey a true picture of the groom and the bride," he said.

The mufti asked people to make the Prophet a role model in his treatment of women, citing a number of Hadiths that the Prophet never maltreated women.

"The Prophet was completely refined in the treatment of his wives, daughter and other Muslim women," he said.

The Prophet has said: "The best of you are the best to their wives; and I am the best to my wives."

The Ministry of Social Affairs has toll free telephone numbers in several cities and towns for women to report cases of violence against them.

Courtesy:ArabNews

Tamil Nadu a model state: Manmohan Singh

2011-04-09 21:40:00 Last Updated: 2011-04-10 01:05:58 Coimbatore: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said Tamil Nadu has become a model state in the country under the leadership of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who heads the DMK. 'Under the visionary leadership of the 'Kalaignar' (scholar of arts - as Karunanidhi is popularly described), Tamil Nadu has become a model state for others,' the prime minister saaid. 'For the past five years, the Congress at the centre and the DMK at the state worked together for rapid development of the state and the country,' Singh said. The prime minister was addressing at an election rally here, around 500 km from the state capital Chennai. Praising the rich tradition and the culture of the Tamil civilisation, Singh said the central government accorded the Tamil the classical language status fulfilling the 150-year-long aspiration of the state's people. Referring to the central schemes implemented in the state, the prime minister said unprecedented expansion and modernisation work has been undertaken on the national highways sector. He also referred to the other major centrally aided projects in Tamil nadu. Singh assured the people that the Sethusamudram Canal Project will be implemented in the state after clearing the legal hurdles. Expressing concern over the problems faced by the dyeing units in Tirupur and the textile units in the state, he said the Rs.25,000 crore Textile Upgradation Fund will help the weavers to a large extent. Declaring that the Congress and its allies are alive to the problems of the common man, the prime minister said the country cannot progress if all the sections of the society do not move ahead together. He said the United Progressive Alliance government is sensitive to the concerns of the socially and economically disadvantaged groups like the Dalits, minorities, women and the children. He also said that the government is committed to implement reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and cited the reservation for them at the local body level. Referring to a report of eminent economists that ranked Tamil Nadu as the number one state in the country, Singh appealed to the voters to elect the Congress-DMK combine to take the state to further heights. The Congress is contesting 63 seats as part of the DMK-led alliance in the April 13 assembly elections in the state. http://www.sify.com/news/tamil-nadu-a-model-state-manmohan-singh-news-national-lejvEficdjh.html