Dunya TV

Dhaka fall tragedy completes 40 years
Syrian rebels kill 27 troops, Canadians told to go
Putin rules out new election
South Africa on top in opening Test
Bopanna calls for Indo-Pak tennis
CNG stations to remain shut today in Sindh
Memo case: Mansoor Ijaz submits reply in SC
Noor Khan passes away
US: Defence bill has no bearing on aid to Pakistan
Pakistan officials: NATO apologized as it fired
Raymond Davis due in US court today
Memo case: Federation files reply, asks SC to dismiss petitions
Physical fitness pumps up Kids brains
Headaches may plague many with HIV/AIDS
Eating fruits, vegetables for teens, a must

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Pakistan was divided four decades ago and now Bangladeshis have realized that the bifurcation was an Indian conspiracy and they earned nothing from it. But have the Pakistanis learned any lesson from this tragedy? Former ambassador and Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Eng Munir-uz-Zaman Mian said that bifurcation of Pakistan was a wrong step however any Bangladeshi may land in jail while uttering these words publically. Talking exclusively to the Dunya News, he said India is blocking river water to Bangladesh as it is doing with Pakistan. He said that Bangladesh water reservoirs are drying up which is destroying its crops. He said that India created Bangladesh through a conspiray whereas all Banglis were not in favour of division. However, in Pakistan we have learnt nothing from the tragedy whereas the Hamood-ur-Rehman Report on Dahka fall was mad public.

Syrian rebels kill 27 troops, Canadians told to go

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Army defectors killed 27 government forces Thursday in apparently coordinated attacks that were among the deadliest by rebel troops since the uprising began nine months ago. The escalating unrest prompted Canada to advise thousands of its citizens in Syria to leave. The fighting began around daybreak in the southern province of Daraa, where the uprising against President Bashar Assad s authoritarian regime began in March. Syria has seen a sharp escalation in armed clashes recently, raising concerns the country of 22 million is headed toward civil war. The U.N. raised its death toll for the Syrian uprising substantially this week, saying more 5,000 people have been killed since the revolt began. "The attacks by army defectors are becoming more coordinated and more deadly. Unfortunately, this will likely lead to a new cycle of escalation by the regime," said Mohamad Bazzi, a Syria expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. Sanctions by Western powers, Turkey and the Arab League have added to the growing pressure on Assad from within Syria. U.S. State Department official Frederic Hof told Congress on Wednesday that Assad s repression may allow him to hang on to power, but only for a short time. Because of the turmoil, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Canadians living in Syria should leave as soon as possible while commercial flights are still available. Washington issued a similar warning for U.S. citizens in September. The Canadian ministry said there are about 5,000 Canadians in Syria. "Our best advice is to leave Syria immediately, by any available means and while options exist," Baird said.

Putin rules out new election

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Vladimir Putin dismissed calls to rerun a parliamentary election in a marathon phone call-in on Russian television yesterday and ignored most of the demands of protesters complaining of electoral fraud and demanding an end to his 12-year rule. In a four-and-a-half hour call-in question-and-answer show, the prime minister held out the prospect of slightly easing his political control but shrugged off the significance of the biggest opposition protests since he rose to power in 1999 and deflected attention by criticising the West. Reaction on the social network Twitter suggested Putin came across as out of touch and, dressed in a suit and tie at a large desk as he took questions by phone and from a studio audience, he looked less at ease than in previous years. "From my point of view, the result of the [parliamentary] election undoubtedly reflects public opinion in the country," Putin said in the show.

South Africa on top in opening Test

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Fast bowlers Vernon Philander and Dale Steyn helped South Africa bowl out Sri Lanka for 180 on Thursday as the hosts took control of the first Test on day one. The Proteas were 1-90 in their first innings at close of play at SuperSport Park. Graeme Smith (61) was out just before stumps. Sri Lanka has never won a Test in South Africa -- losing six of seven previous matches -- and was immediately under pressure in their first series in the country in nine years when Philander and Steyn shared nine wickets to bowl them out before tea. Philander continued his remarkable start in Test cricket with 5-53, his third five-wicket haul in three matches, and Steyn became the second-fastest bowler to 250 wickets as he took 4-18.

Bopanna calls for Indo-Pak tennis

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Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna used a visit to Pakistan on Thursday to call for cross-border tennis in a bid to raise the profile of a sport overshadowed by cricket in south Asia. The 31-year-old from Bangalore travelled to Pakistan to attend the wedding of his former Pakistani doubles partner Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi this week. "It s nice to be in Pakistan and I hope we resume tennis between the two countries which in turn would increase interest in the sport in both the countries," Bopanna told reporters after playing a practice game in Lahore. Bopanna and Qureshi, who doubled up in 2007 and shot to fame by finishing as runners up in last year s US open, have been poster boys for Indian-Pakistani rapprochement at a time of deep suspicion between the nuclear-armed rivals. Last month the pair parted ways as Bopanna wanted to find an Indian partner in a bid to qualify for next year s London Olympics. "We are good friends and will remain good friends," said Bopanna. "I am here to attend his wedding and am very happy at that." Dubbed the "Indo-Pak express", the duo actively promoted India-Pakistan rapprochement and even offered to play tennis over the border, which has a history of warfare and political tension. Bopanna said they were still waiting for permission for the "peace match." "We offered to play a match at the Wagah border and wrote letters to both governments, but we still await clearance," said Bopanna. A recent thaw in relations and a resumption of the tenuous peace process earlier this year has raised hopes that direct sports matches can resume, notably in India and Pakistan s twin obsession of cricket.

CNG stations to remain shut today in Sindh

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Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) will shut down gas to the CNG stations in Karachi and interior Sindh for 24 hours from 9 am on Friday. According to Sui Southern Gas Company, closure of CNG stations has become essential to make enough gas available for domestic consumption. Meanwhile, All Pakistan CNG Association has said that 50 per cent CNG stations have already been shut due to low pressure of the gas. They further said that this is last time that they are following the decision of the Sui Southern Gas Company. They threatened to take stern action if there is no improvement in gas pressure in future.

Memo case: Mansoor Ijaz submits reply in SC

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Mansoor Ijaz, Pakistani-American businessman, who created political storm in politics, Thursday submitted his reply to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in memogate case. The reply, which he emailed to the apex court, consisted of 81 pages, including documentary evidences, screened pages of his Blackberry messages, notes and details of his meeting with ISI chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha. Ijaz in his reply said he had met Pasha on October 22 in Park-lane Hotel in London on ISI chief’s request. He said the meeting continued from 6:30 pm to 10:30pm. He said that details of the data were examined during the four-hour meeting. Ijaz said Pasha had told him that he had come to meet him with the permission of Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. “Pasha said, background and writings of the memo could not be ignored,” Ijaz wrote in his reply to the SC. Ijaz said a man had also come with Pasha but he left the room shortly after shaking hand with him He said that batteries of his electronic devices were removed after mutual consent during the meeting. Ijaz also said in the reply that Hussain Haqqani might not have informed Pakistani government regarding his activities. It is to mention here that the SC had issued notices to 10 personalities, including, army chief, ISI chief, President, Prime Minister in the memogate case. However, Pakistan former ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani and Mansoor Ijaz have submitted their replies in the court so far. Today is the deadline to submit replies. The SC would hear the case on December 19.

Noor Khan passes away

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Noor Khan was under treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Rawalpindi where he passed away on Thursday. Air Marshal (retd) Malik Nur Khan was the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Air Force from 1965 to 1969. Considered the hero of the 1965 air war, he led the Pakistan air force achieve parity over the three times bigger Indian air force on the very first day of the 1965 war. He was widely respected not only for his integrity but also for his sharp intelligence and outstanding management abilities. He later served as the Governor of West Pakistan and President of Pakistan Hockey Federation and Pakistan Cricket Board. He was the founder of the annual Champions Trophy in field hockey as well as helping organise the 1987 Cricket World Cup in India & Pakistan as PCB head. Nur Khan also served as PIA s Managing Director from 1959 to 1965. His success in establishing PIA on a firm and profitable financial basis in six years is now a fact of airline history. Under his charismatic and inspirational leadership PIA became one of the leading and respected airlines of the world.

US: Defence bill has no bearing on aid to Pakistan

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The Obama Administration today said that there is no bearing on the current aid structure to the House bill that freezes USD 700 million aid to Pakistan; which a State Department spokesperson argued only requires a certification and that too has a waiver clause. "From what we ve seen, from what our embassy (in Islamabad) has seen, there has been some misunderstanding of this in the Pakistani press. What this piece of legislation requires is that the administration make certain certifications as to how our general relationship with Pakistan is going in certain categories in order to release the money," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference. "But this is not about cutting funding or freezing funding. We re working on setting the funding levels with the Congress. It is about imposing on the administration certain certification requirements before we would release the money that the Congress would give," she said. "This is very similar to procedures that we have on other kinds of money for countries around the world. These are certification requirements. In addition, I would say that, you know, they usually include some kind of waiver authorities for the Secretary. I d also like to say this in no way impinges on Pakistani sovereignty. There have been some strange assertions in the Pakistani press which are inaccurate," Nuland said. The US official said these are certifications that the US administration has to make to the Congress about how our relationship with Pakistan is going. "These are not responsibilities of the government of Pakistan," she said.

Pakistan officials: NATO apologized as it fired

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Pakistan officials say US forces knew they were opening fire on Pakistani forces, and even apologized to Pakistani officers, throughout the friendly fire incident that killed 24 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border in November. Pakistani officials briefed reporters in Washington on their findings, drawn from interviews with survivors and local residents in the remote, mountainous area. Results of NATO s official investigation are due next week. US officials believe confusion and miscommunication between a joint US-Afghan patrol and the Pakistani border posts led to the tragedy. Pakistani military officials have re-established contact, but have kept closed two border crossings used by NATO into Afghanistan, in protest over the deadliest incident yet involving NATO forces against Pakistan. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive strategic matters.

Raymond Davis due in US court today

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A CIA contractor involved in a fatal shootout in Pakistan is due in court in a separate case in the United States, where a judge will determine whether there s enough evidence to try him on assault charges related to a fight over a parking space.   Raymond Davis, 37, is accused of causing a vertebrae fracture and other injuries to Jeffrey Maes outside a Colorado food shop in October. Davis is due in court for a preliminary hearing Thursday.   In January, Davis said he had shot two men who tried to rob him in Pakistan, which released him March 16 after the victims  families agreed to accept $2.34 million. The shooting remains under investigation by US authorities.   Prosecutor Rich Orman mentioned the Pakistan shooting when asking a county judge to forbid Davis from carrying a gun while he s free on $10,000 bail. Orman said he s worried about another situation in which there could be a "potential lack of judgment."   Davis  defense attorney, William Frankfurt, argued that the two incidents were different and that the investigation into the shooting in Pakistan may eventually show that Davis used good judgment.   Davis said Maes got his cuts by falling into rocks.   Investigators said doctors told them Maes suffered a compression fracture of a vertebrae in the middle of his back, which is considered serious bodily injury. Maes appeared able to walk without visible assistance at a court hearing Oct. 4.

Memo case: Federation files reply, asks SC to dismiss petitions

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The Federation, while filing reply in the Supreme Court regarding the controversial memo case, challenged its hearing by the apex court. The Federation submitted its reply in the Supreme Court through the Attorney General of Pakistan, Molvi Anwarul Haq. It was pleaded in the reply that a parliamentary committee has already been constituted to look into the matter and the committee represents all the political parties in the parliament. It was also pleaded that no forum except the parliamentary committee can look into the issue. It was also said in the reply that the memo is fake and concocted and the person, who has raised it, has no link with Pakistan as he is a US national and his past is also dubious. It was also pleaded that the President, Prime Minister and the Federation have no connection in the matter and the Supreme Court cannot hear case. It was said in the reply that Parliament is supreme and the Supreme Court has no need and justification to hear the case in the presence of Parliament. The Supreme Court was requested to dismiss all such petitions in the light of the points as the case is not maintainable to be heard in the Supreme Court.

Physical fitness pumps up Kids brains

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Fitter kids tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory. According to study of University of Illinois, it included 49 kids and used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the relative size of specific structures in the brains. The study focused on the hippocampus, a structure tucked deep in the brain, because it is known to be important in learning and memory. “This is the first study I know of that has used MRI measures to look at differences in brain between kids who are fit and kids who aren’t fit,” said University of Illinois psychology professor Art Kramer, who led the study “Beyond that, it relates those measures of brain structure to cognition.” Researchers found that the physically fit children tended to have bigger hippocampal volume – about 12 percent bigger relative to total brain size – than their out-of-shape peers. The researchers measured how efficiently the subjects used oxygen while running on a treadmill to measure fitness. “This is the gold standard measure of fitness,” Chaddock said. Further analyses indicated that a bigger hippocampus boosted performance on the relational memory task. “If you remove hippocampal volume from the equation,” Chaddock said, “the relationship between fitness and memory decreases.” “If you get some lousy genes from your parents, you can’t really fix that, and it’s not easy to do something about your economic status. But here’s something that we can do something about,” Kramer said.

Headaches may plague many with HIV/AIDS

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According to new study, about 27.5 percent of the 200 HIV/AIDS patients in the study suffered "chronic migraine," a rare condition in which a person has migraine symptoms (with or without other headaches) for 15 or more days a month. This condition occurs in only 2 percent of the general population. "This translates into a 13-fold increased risk of chronic migraine among patients with HIV disease," study author Todd Smitherman, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Mississippi, said in a university news release. "The strongest predictor of headache was the severity of HIV disease, such that patients with more advanced disease had more frequent, more severe and more disabling migraines," he added. For the study, the researchers interviewed Montgomery, Ala., clinic patients who have HIV or AIDs and reviewed their medical records to look for any other cause of headache. The findings, recently published online in the journal Headache, could help lead to improved treatment and reduced medical costs for HIV patients who suffer headaches, the researchers said. "This research is of interest to clinicians and physicians for several reasons," Smitherman said. "Recent research from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, despite the availability of medications that effectively slow disease progression, most Americans with HIV do not have the disease under control.  Our study shows that patients with poorly controlled HIV/AIDS are most prone to suffer also from frequent, severe migraines at rates that far exceed those of the general population." The authors said theirs is the first study since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) became widely available to find that having HIV/AIDS is associated with a very high risk of headache, particularly migraines.  Doctors need to regularly monitor immune system functioning in HIV/AIDS patients and pay close attention to headache symptoms in those with more advanced disease, the researchers said.

Eating fruits, vegetables for teens, a must

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One would hope that during these years while they are still living at home with their parents, they would possibly have a shot at decent nutrition. But the latest research, alas, shows that is not the case, at least not when it comes to eating fruit and vegetables. According to a report from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the majority of teens in the United States do not consume the recommended daily amount of fruit or vegetables. The CDC researchers combed through the information gathered in the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study, which surveyed 10,765 high school students all around the country about what types of fruits and vegetables they had eaten in the past week and the frequency of consumption. The survey showed that about one-quarter of the participating high school students ate fruit less than once a day and approximately one-third ate vegetables less than once a day (unless you count pizza as a vegetable, as the US Congress now does). The recommended amount of these foods for teenagers is 1.5 cups of fruits and 2.5 cups of vegetables for girls and two cups of fruits and three cups of vegetables for boys per day. And that s for teens who are getting less than half an hour of exercise daily, which is a whole other story. Clearly -- with an average intake of just 1.2 fruits and vegetables per day -- many of them are falling far short. When the kids were broken down into subgroups, the researchers found that boys did a little better than girls when it came to fruit consumption. Boys averaged eating fruits 1.4 times each day, whereas girls averaged 1.2 times each day. Students who identified themselves as non-Hispanic black or Hispanic ate less fruit and vegetables than those self-identified as non-Hispanic white. Not even 17 percent of those surveyed ate fruits four or more times per day and only a measly 11 percent ate vegetables four or more times daily. This is sad news, since a healthy diet depends on fruit and vegetable consumption as its foundation because of their wealth of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fiber. And the bad choices that these kids are making now impact their still-growing bodies and set them up for a range of physical ailments in the future. It s hard, however, to blame the teenagers for their eating habits. After all, they were raised watching television chock full of commercials for practically every type of junk food known to man. The food industry spends $1.6 billion per year advertising directly to children. A 2009 study showed that children s networks exposed their little viewers to 76 percent more food advertising per hour than the networks featuring programming for adults. The study proved that the advertising really works, with the 4- to 6-year-old participants consistently rating snacks represented by a familiar cartoon character as superior to essentially identical snacks that were "untoonified." When kids get off to this kind of start, their eating habits aren t suddenly going to improve. They just eventually turn into the teenagers of the CDC report. In an ideal world, we can all work to mould our children s preferences in foods from a young age, teaching them to eat a great variety of fruits and vegetables every day, limiting their television time, and getting them physically active. But we don t live in an ideal world, and many parents haven t done any of that -- having trained their kids on buckets of fried chicken, with mash potatoes, gravy and biscuits. However, even if your children are already teens, it s not too late to help them turn around their eating habits and make positive changes. Be a good role model. Tell them your whole family is going to start being healthier together. Stop buying the junk and keep plenty of fresh fruit and veggies around. If they are really hungry for a snack and there are no chips or cookies on hand, they will eat the sliced apples or carrots and dip. They may not always make the best choices when it comes to what to eat when they are out with their friends, but you still have control at home while they live there. Make the most of it, and give them a sound foundation for the future.

PoliticusUSA

Cricket - Sports

Friday, December 16, 2011

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