Science

India breaks gender bias, hires women border guards

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Fri, 4 Apr 2008 19:01:00 +0500

NEW DELHI ( 2008-04-04 18:49:44 ) :

India is enrolling women for the first time in a combat role, overturning a mindset in the country's security establishment that women are no good at defending frontiers or fighting wars.
The largely conservative country's 1.3-million strong army has less than 1000 women, all of them in non-combat jobs such as engineering and nursing.
But India's Border Security Force (BSF) says it wants to change with the times and recognise the many roles Indian women play today -- from software engineers and space scientists to sportswomen and business czars.
"So far we were not recruiting ladies, maybe because of the nature of our duty, and the thought was that ladies are not suitable," Ashish Kumar Mitra, BSF's director general, told Reuters in an interview late on Thursday.
To begin with, BSF will recruit 750 women guards primarily for frisking duties, checking human trafficking and drug smuggling.
Once seasoned, they will be deployed along the country's borders with Pakistan to the west, and Bangladesh in the east, which New Delhi says are the most common entry points for militants plotting attacks against the country.
Mitra said the BSF was turning to women after it found that male guards were unable to effectively frisk women drug peddlers.
Last year, the BSF arrested over 700 women for smuggling narcotics and human trafficking along both the border with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Hundreds of women also get away because male guards are not allowed to carry out body search of women.
Like their male colleagues, women guards would be posted on patrolling duties and would be armed with automatic rifles.
"So far as the charter of duties is concerned, they would be expected to do the normal job of men," Mitra said.
"The arms training will be the same as those given to men, and the equipment given will be the same," Mitra said.
The women guards will be deployed in the northwestern state of Punjab, bordering Pakistan, and the eastern state of West Bengal which shares its boundary with Bangladesh.
Mitra says the BSF, which has about 200,000 guards, could eventually raise exclusive women's battalions.
"In course of time, we plan to recruit more as they are capable of doing as good a job as men."

Bush urges Nato to open its doors to Georgia, Ukraine

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 2 Apr 2008 20:45:00 +0500

BUCHAREST ( 2008-04-02 10:05:34 ) :

US President George W. Bush pressed Nato on Wednesday to offer Georgia and Ukraine a 'clear path' towards membership in the transatlantic alliance.
Whether to open the door to the two erstwhile Soviet republics is a divisive issue at the Nato summit that opens later on Wednesday in the Romanian capital Bucharest, in light of Russian objections to Nato's eastward expansion.
"Here in Bucharest, we must make clear that Nato welcomes the aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine for their membership in Nato and offers them a clear path forward to meet that goal," Bush said.
"My country's position is clear: Nato should welcome Georgia and Ukraine into the Membership Action Plan," he said, referring to a Nato scheme to provide a stepping stone to full membership.
"Nato membership must remain open to all of Europe's democracies that seek it, and are ready to share in the responsibilities of Nato membership."
On the eve of the biggest Nato summit yet, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon warned that ushering Georgia and Ukraine into the alliance might upset the balance of power in Europe.
Instead, speaking on French radio, Fillon urged Nato allies to do more to reach out to Russia.
Almost a dozen other Nato member countries are thought to be opposed as well. Under Nato's tradition of decision-making by consensus, only one "no" vote is needed to stop Georgia and Ukraine in their tracks.
In a significant show of Washington's support for Ukraine's Nato ambitions, Bush visited Kiev ahead of coming to Bucharest, after receiving his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili last month.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Georgia and Ukraine were "shamelessly" being pushed towards joining Nato, as he accused the United States of "infiltrating" ex-Soviet states.

Putin to become Russian PM in May: report

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Tue, 1 Apr 2008 19:47:00 +0500

MOSCOW ( 2008-04-01 15:07:08 ) :

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be voted in as prime minister immediately after the inauguration of Dmitry Medvedev as president, the speaker of parliament said Tuesday, news agencies reported.
"Why put it off," Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov told journalists on Tuesday when asked if confirmation could take place on May 8, one day after Medvedev's inauguration, Interfax news agency reported.
Under the Russian constitution, the president puts forward a candidate for prime minister. The Duma, or lower house of parliament, then has to vote to approve the candidate.
"I think it is fully realistic that the senators, deputies will meet... and support the candidacy of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin," Gryzlov was quoted as saying, referring to the May 8 date.
Putin is expected to wield significant powers as prime minister under Medvedev, a close ally who won a landslide majority in a March 2 presidential election.
Putin and Medvedev are supported by a large majority in parliament.

FUTURE FLIGHT

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 23:03:00 +0500

US envoys call on Musharraf

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:44:00 +0500

ISLAMABAD ( 2008-03-25 15:24:28 ) :

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher called on President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday at the Presidential House.
The meeting mulled over all issues including the national political situation. At present, the meeting between the leaders of Pakistan and USA is in progress.
Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrived in the early hours on the latest in a series of trips to the frontline state in the "war on terror".
US embassy spokesman Kay Mayfield said while talking to a French news agency, "They arrived this morning. This is part of an ongoing series of visits to Pakistan -- they will meet with a wide variety of people."

ISLAMABAD ( 2008-03-25 15:24:28 ) :

Belly Dance - The Shimmy

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:21:00 +0500

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7 Knots Every Scout Should Know

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:59:00 +0500

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Human Chairs Game

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:22:00 +0500

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SUICIDAL ATTACK IN LAHORE

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:43:00 +0500

Germany's airports hit by strike

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:42:00 +0500

German airports have been severely disrupted after members of the Verdi public sector union went on strike, state media reported Wednesday. Frankfurt airport canceled about 80 flights and said services would not back to normal until Thursday.

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US may be allowed to use Uzbek military base: NATO

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:38:00 +0500

Uzbekistan may let the United States use a military airbase for operations in Afghanistan after evicting U.S. troops in 2005, a NATO official and diplomats said on Wednesday.

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Indian spy reaches home

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:34:00 +0500

LAHORE - Kashmir Singh an Indian man granted freedom in Pakistan headed home on Tuesday after spending 35 years in prison, after he was accused of spying in mid of 1970. Kashmir Singh,60, was released on Monday from Kot Lakhpat jail on the order of President Pervez Musharraf, said Javed Latif, superintendent of the said prison.

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US to meet Pakistan's defence needs: Mullen

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:27:00 +0500

ISLMABAD - Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff US Armed Forces, Admiral Michael Mullen held meetings separately here on Tuesday with President Pervez Musharraf, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majid and Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

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Russia, China block UN Iran resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:23:00 +0500

VIENNA: Russia and China on Tuesday scuttled a Western attempt to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, diplomats said.The decision appeared to be the result of lingering unhappiness by the two world powers about not being informed earlier of plans for such a resolution.

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Seven killed in firstever attack on Navy personnel

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 22:04:00 +0500

LAHORE: In yet another attack on armed forces, two suicide bombers blew themselves up on the premises of the prestigious Naval War College here Tuesday, killing seven people and injuring over 20.

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Feds to release flood in Grand Canyon

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 21:58:00 +0500

Federal agencies are gearing up to release a manmade flood aimed at refreshing the ecosystem of the Grand Canyon. A three-day torrent of water will be released from Glen Canyon Dam on the Arizona-Utah state line beginning Wednesday morning.

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Clinton, Obama vow to go on

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 21:47:00 +0500

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama said Wednesday that he will prevail despite key Democratic presidential primary losses to rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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Dark-coated pooches tend to linger in shelters the longest

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 21:45:00 +0500

It's not like Pamela Gregg was a stranger to helping out the underdog. She thought she knew what kinds of pooches linger the longest in animal shelters: Older dogs, abused dogs, sick or injured dogs — dogs like George Bailey, the hound mix she'd rescued after he'd been struck by a car.

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Venezuela moves tanks to Colombian border

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:51:00 +0500

The two countries have tightened borders, deploying thousands of troops

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Ocean fertilization firm Climos gains financial backing

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:39:00 +0500

Climos, a start-up that plans to mitigate climate change by stimulating plankton growth, said on Wednesday that it has raised a series A venture capital round of $3.5 million.

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Rumors of Facebook music service bubbling again

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:36:00 +0500

Facebook may be getting closer to launchin

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Lopez Gets in Line on Broadway

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 19:31:00 +0500

Mario Lopez has danced himself all the way into the director's chair.

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Victory is sweet for Clinton after 11 losses

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 17:54:00 +0500

The confetti cannons that bathed the Columbus Atheneum in a rainbow of tiny pieces of plastic made it seem as if Hillary Clinton was onstage at the Denver Convention basking in her presidential nomination.

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The Truth About BILAWAL BHUTTO ZARDARI

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 17:28:00 +0500

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari

noreply@blogger.com (Hafiz Imran) — Wed, 5 Mar 2008 17:27:00 +0500