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12 year old gang raped and now pregnant

2012-01-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

Amid threats in Bawana near Delhi, this girl and her stunned family bravely tell us what happened.

A 12 year old gets raped in Bawana, a place on the outskirts of Delhi and her parents discover the only after she gets 4 months pregnant.

3 men gang rape minor girl for 5 months, 1 held

A 20-year-old man was arrested for sexually exploiting a 12-year-old Class 5 girl student at Bawana Industrial Area in outer Delhi, police said on Saturday. Two other persons also joined in exploiting her.

Five months ago, they gang raped her at a factory owned by one of the accused. They continued to force themselves on her.

“We have arrested one of the accused, Deepak Shah, who was labourer at the factory,” said a senior police officer. His friends, Vicky and Lucky, both in their thirties, are still at large.

Lucky was the owner of the factory. The incident came to light on Saturday morning when the minor, a student of a government school at Shahabad Dairy and resident of Bawana Industrial Area, was not feeling well. Her parents took her to hospital, where during treatment doctors found that she was four-month pregnant.

Then the parents heard everything. They went to Shahabad Dairy police station, where the girl told police that she has been sexually exploited for the last five months.

She said a few months ago, she used to go to her father’s tea stall at the industrial area to help him, as her mother was unwell. “During that time, she also used to visit some factories to deliver tea to workers,” said a police officer.

When she went to a factory at C-106 in Sector 5 to give tea, the plant owner, Lucky, along with Deepak Shah and Vicky gang raped her. They threatened her that they would kill her parents if she complained to anyone.

Traumatised, she did not tell anyone and she was exploited repeatedly.

“We have filed a case of rape against the three. Deepak Shah has been nabbed, and we will find the rest soon,” said the officer.

Veena Malik goes missing in Mumbai

2011-12-18T11:32:00.001-08:00

Mumbai, Dec 17 Controversial Pakistani actress and model Veena Malik has gone missing in Mumbai since Friday morning, her manager said here Saturday.

Shooting for a Bollywood flick, 'Mumbai 125 kilometres', at Film City in Goregaon of northwest Mumbai, Malik left in a car after pack-up Friday morning and was not reachable since.

'Veena left after the pack-up yesterday (Friday) morning. In the afternoon, I received an SMS from her where she apologised for not being able to concentrate on the shooting, stating that she was disturbed,' the film's director Hemant Madhukar said.

'I called her immediately, but her number was not reachable. I have not been able to get in touch with her since,' he added.

Malik's manager Pratik Mehta also confirmed the development. 'I have been trying to reach her since yesterday, but have failed. I have approached the officials at Bandra police station and have sought help in finding the whereabouts of Veena.'

Watch Video:

Video: ANI

However, the Bandra police denied they have registered a missing person's complaint for Veena Malik.

Malik came into limelight in 2010 after she testified against her boyfriend, Pakistani fast bowler Mohammed Asif alleging that he was involved in match fixing.

She then garnered more attention after she participated in the fourth season of reality show 'Bigg Boss'.

She has also been condemned by Islamic clerics for her nude photos in an Indian magazine.

The actress is set to have her 'swayamvar' on India's national television, through Imagine TV, which has earlier hosted swayamvars of Rakhi Sawant, Rahul Mahajan and Ratan Rajput.

Also see

Hot Shot: Guess Who!

2011-12-14T05:13:00.001-08:00

Chris Brown- Photos

Guess which Pop princess these well dressed feet belong to.

Hint:
She has a history with fellow entertainer Chris Brown.
Find out who it is below…

Sarah Shahi Heats Up a Bikini in December

2011-12-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

It could be considered a bold move to strip down in the cold, but c'mon… Just look… The actress is heating up the beach.

PM writes to Tamil Nadu CM on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue

2011-12-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

December 1, 2011New Delhi

The Prime Minister has written to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Ms J. Jayalalithaa replying to her letters on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue.The text of the Prime Minister's letter is as follows:"I have received your letter of 29th November, 2011 as well as your earlier letter on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue.I have made a note of the points raised by you and also heard the issues raised by a delegation of Ministers from the Government of Kerala. I have pointed out to them that the matter is currently before the Supreme Court Empowered Committee. I believe that nothing should be said or done to create undue alarm among the people. I am sure that, given goodwill on both sides, an amicable and mutually acceptable solution can be found through a process of dialogue and communication. I have accordingly advised the Ministry of Water Resources to arrange an early meeting between the officials of the two sides to sort out outstanding issues and allay genuine concerns.I look forward to you cooperation in this matter."

PM grieved over loss of life in Kolkata hospital fire- sanctions relief

2011-12-13T04:42:00.000-08:00

December 9, 2011

	The Prime Minister is grieved to learn about the loss of life in the fire accident at the AMRI hospital, Kolkata. The Prime Minister has sanctioned ex- gratia of rupees 2 lakh each to the kin of the persons diseased and rupees 50,000 each to those seriously injured in the accident, from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Attempts to divide Kerala and TN: CM

2011-12-13T04:39:00.000-08:00

Pathanamthitta 12-12-2011: Kerala wishes an amicable solution to the Mullaperiyar issue as early as possible M blamed attempts of vested interests to create a rift between Kerala and Tamil Nadu citing the Mullaperiyar issue. These kinds of attempts are unfortunate..

Kerala is united in giving water to Tamil Nadu. There are no different opinions on this. Kerala is showing utmost restraint in these provocative situations.

Land allotted for Garbage Treatment Plant at Aranmula

2011-12-13T04:34:00.000-08:00

Pathanamthitta 12-12-2011: CM has instructed to allot revenue land for construction of a Garbage Treatment Plant at Aranmula so that the waste from the Aranmula temple and that of the Aranmula Vallasadya can be effectively treated. The decision was taken at the Mass Contact Programme here.

CM has also decided to give sanction for the Upper Kuttanad Drinking Water Project thereby bring in a permanent solution to the scarcity of drinking water faced by the people of Kadapram, Niranam, Nedumbram and Peringara panchayaths.

CM also distributed financial aid to 15 SC/ST families residing at Adichipuzha colony for constructing houses under the Indira Aawas Yojana.

CM also gave title deeds for 18 SC/ST families. Financial aid of Rs 24.85 lakhs were given to 497 youths under the project of Agricultural Department. Rs 41 lakhs have been sanctioned for the project implemented at the Thottapuzhasseri Panchayath based on the Vadakancherry model project. Pampa labour group secretary received the amount form CM. Rs 9.44 lakhs has also been sanctioned for the paddy farmers of Niranathidam who incurred loss.

CM meets Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi, sought intervention

2011-12-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

02-12-2011 :CM has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention for an early solution to the Mullaperiyar dam row. The Chief Minister, who met Prime Minister, described Tamil Nadu's stand of dismissing fears over the dam's safety as unfortunate.

Earlier, Chief Minister met Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Yesterday, CM wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, asking her to reduce the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam, mainly for safety reasons - the structure is more than 100 years old and the region where it is located has seen several tremors lately, since July.

Tamil Nadu, however, has been demanding that the dam's water level be increased to meet its growing irrigation needs.

Ms Jayalalitha sent an acerbic reply in which she referred to "unwarranted provocations from across the border" and "the fear psychosis generated in Kerala."

In the Supreme Court, Tamil Nadu argued that the Kerala government "is spreading panic among the public about the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam which is not true." Ms Jayalalithaa has asked the court to stop officials in Kerala from commenting on the possible construction of a new dam.

But CM today reiterated that building a new dam was one of the options which should be considered. "We are ready to give full assurance to Tamil Nadu on water" he said.

"There are two limitations for the Centre. The matter is with the Supreme Court and this is a dispute between two states," he said, adding that his government is ready for discussions on the issue .

The lengthy and bitter hostility between the two states has already seen the PM's intervention. In a letter written to Ms Jayalalithaa, Prime Minister said that "nothing should be said or done to create undue alarm" over the dam.

"I am sure that, given goodwill on both sides, an amicable and mutually acceptable solution can be found through a process of dialogue and communication. I have accordingly advised the Ministry of Water Resources to arrange an early meeting between the officials of the two sides to sort out outstanding issues and allay genuine concerns," he further added in the letter.

The Kerala Assembly has called a special session on December 9 to discuss the dispute.

CM writes to Prime Minister

Download Letter

TopGoogle Page rank in 1 Step- No moNey,No Registration

2011-12-10T04:17:00.000-08:00

What’s It All Mean?

Commitment: Every successful project I’ve ever worked on has involved a client whose team is enthusiastic and engaged. Whether you’re big or small, one uninterested department or person can sabotage everything.

Planning: Success in any pursuit begins with setting goals and developing a plan to achieve them — detailing the strategies and tactics you’ll use, the people and resources needed, and so forth. Search marketing is no different. Read: Planning an SEO Campaign

Product/Service: Although you can fool some people into buying crap for a while, real long-term success involves a product or service that people want or need. There’s no substitute for quality.

Education/Information: You’re a business owner; you don’t need to become an SEO expert. But you’ll succeed faster if you have access to great information. And as fast as the search marketing industry changes, ongoing access to intelligent information is critical.

Patience: True, there are exceptions every now and then, but for the vast majority of companies big or small, search marketing is a process that takes time to implement correctly. There are no short cuts, no quick fixes. Success almost always takes many months, if not a year or more.

Design & Usability: Yes, there are some ugly sites that make lots of money; but there are more that don’t. Your best bet is to have a web site that’s attractive and easy to use. Get out of your customers’ way and let them do what they came to your site to do.

Keyword Research: If you target the wrong keywords, you’re doomed to fail. You’ve heard that a million times, I hope. More than that, you also need to know what to do with your keywords.

Analytics: How will you know you’re successful if you have no way of measuring what you’ve done? Measure, analyze, adjust strategies and tactics as needed.

Tools: Having access to appropriate SEO tools can give you an advantage over the competition. Of course, more important than the tools is knowing how to interpret the data they provide.

Crawlability: A search engine cannot index pages that its spider cannot crawl. Be careful with the Flash movies, the complicated DHTML and javascript, the robots.txt file, etc. Here are 5 common crawlability mistakes you need to know about.

Content: This can take many forms: a blog, articles, videos, a FAQ page, or even user-generated content like product/service reviews. When you get this one right, you’ll have an easier time getting…

Links: Your great content isn’t going to rank well without links, preferably from relevant, quality sites. I brain-dumped (almost) everything I know about links early last year.

Social/Local Findability: Let me explain this since I might be inventing a new term. Social Media Marketing and Local Search are musts. The size and scope of your company may dictate which you emphasize more, but neither should be ignored. Local SEO is a must for most small businesses, but social media can work, too. Bigger companies that target an audience more than a location will find social media offers a lot of opportunities. In either case, the goal is findability. You want customers to be able to find you as easily as possible, and you can do this on social media sites that make local networking easier.

Reputation Management: It’s imperative to know what people are saying about your company. This isn’t just for Big Business, either: An old client of mine runs the only roller skating rink in our area, yet is probably losing business because they have a couple negative reviews on a certain Local Search site. Given the growing influence of user reviews, knowing how to manage your reputation is a must.

Trust: In my first post of 2007, I said trust is the No. 1 factor, and nothing has changed since then. Trusted domains are powerful domains. When you have trust, from users and search engines, you’re on the way to search marketing success. Don’t miss this more recent article: Why Trust Matters & How To Earn It.

As you climb the pyramid, you’ll find buzz/word-of-mouth marketing or maybe community helping you along. To a large degree, these are two sides of the same coin. It’s the people factor, the human element that often separates the winners and losers in search marketing. Get people talking positively about you, whether it be one-to-one conversation among friends or in the larger setting of an online community, and you’ll climb the pyramid that much faster.

If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to my feed and share it on your favorite social/bookmarking site. Thanks!

Traits of a Great SEO Client: Commitment

2011-12-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

We spend so much time talking about what your SEO provider should and shouldn’t do, what strategies and tactics the SEO provider may or may not employ on your SEO campaign, what makes a great SEO provider, and so forth. Let’s talk about the other side of the equation: What should the client do? If this were the 1960s, I might say, Ask not what your SEO provider can do for you; ask what you can do for your SEO provider! Okay, cheesiness aside, the question is this:

What traits make a great SEO client?

There are several things that make a great SEO client. The one I’m going to start with in this post is commitment.

What I Mean by ‘Commitment’

In short, if you want to succeed with an SEO campaign, a PPC campaign, a social media marketing campaign, you name it … you must be fully involved in the entire process. That process goes from

A) planning, to
B) developing a strategy, to
C) implementing tactics, to
D) measuring what worked and what didn’t, to
E) repeating steps B, C, D, and E.

No shortcuts. No sitting out one of those steps. No deciding you’ll let the SEO company worry about measuring results because you don’t have time. That’s what I mean by commitment.

What if I’m a sole proprietor?

In my previous job, the best clients I had were sole proprietors — one man or one woman flying solo. What made them great? They already knew the value of commitment because they couldn’t get a business off the ground without it! Once we established a solid working relationship based on trust, it was never difficult to complete those five steps above, no matter how busy and overworked the client was.

What if it’s not just me running the business?

Several years ago, I worked with a pair of very smart guys — partners in a business they were passionate about and excelled at. But they couldn’t agree on anything where their web site and search marketing was concerned. One dropped out of the picture every now and then and was hard to reach. The other would submit change requests without his partner knowing. The project as a whole stalled — “failed” as far as I was concerned — because they were not equally committed.

Problems crop up as companies get bigger.

The Product Development team might be the ones pushing the idea of a search marketing campaign.

But the Owner/President might see it as a waste of time. Result: Project failure.

The Marketing gal — she’s more interested in print and television, not this SEO stuff. Result: Project failure.

Maybe the Tech/Web site guy isn’t interested in fixing those crawlability issues you have. Result: Project failure.

Conclusion

In both my current and previous jobs, the best clients were the ones who showed the greatest commitment. It’s not a coincidence that theirs were also the most successful projects.

It only takes one person in a company to undermine a search marketing campaign. Commitment is your first job; it’s the first trait of a great client.

How to SEO Your Site in Less Than 60 Minutes

2011-12-10T04:07:00.000-08:00

I’ve been a bad blogger. I’m swamped at work and have been distracted outside of work, and I’ve been trying to get by here on SBS with list links and even some of my best Flickr photos. I can’t remember the last time I posted something helpful / educational. My bad….

Let me take a stab at making things better.

I often get asked to review a web site and give quick feedback on the site’s SEO. The issue: Is the site doing well, or in desperate need of SEO help? To answer those questions, I’ve developed a speedy system to go through a site and take a quick SEO snapshot. I’m going to give that system away here. On a smaller site, this should take about 20 minutes. Even on the biggest sites, it’s never taken me more than an hour.

SEO Your Site in Less Than an Hour

A. Visit the home page, www.domain.com.

Does it redirect to some other URL? If so, that’s bad.
Review the Page Title. Does it use relevant, primary keywords? Is it formatted correctly?
Review site navigation:
- Format — text or image? image map? javascript? drop-downs? Text is best.
- Page URLs — look at URL structure, path names, file names. How long are URLs? How far away from the root are they? Are they separated by dashes or underscores?
- Are keywords used appropriately in text links or image alt tags?
Review home page content:
- Adequate and appropriate amount of text?
- Appropriate keyword usage?
- Is there a sitemap?
- Do a “command-A” to find any hidden text.
- Check PageRank via SearchStatus plugin for Firefox
View source code:
- Check meta description (length, keyword usage, relevance).
- Check meta keywords (relevance, stuffing).
- Look for anything unusual/spammy (keywords in noscript, H1s in javascript, etc.).
- If javascript or drop-down navigation, make sure it’s crawlable.
- Sometimes cut-and-paste code into Dreamweaver to get better look at code-to-page relationship.

B. Analyze robots.txt file. See what’s being blocked and what’s not. Make sure it’s written correctly.

C. Check for www and non-www domains — i.e., canonicalization issues. Only one should resolve; the other should redirect.

D. Look at the sitemap (if one exists).

Check keyword usage in anchor text.
How many links?
Are all important (category, sub-category, etc.) pages listed?

E. Visit two category/1st-level pages.

Repeat A1, A2, A3, A4, and A5 – this will be quicker since many objects (header, footer, menus) will be the same. In particular, look for unique page text, unique meta tags, correct use of H1s, H2s to structure content.

Check for appropriate PageRank flow. Also look at how they link back to home page. Is index.html or default.php appended on link? Shouldn’t be.

F. Visit two product/2nd-level pages.

Same steps as E.

Also, if the site sells common products, find 2-3 other sites selling same exact items and compare product pages. Are all sites using the same product descriptions? Unique content is best.

G. Do a site:domain.com search in all 3 main engines.

Compare pages indexed between the three. Is pages indexed unusually high or low based on what you saw in the site map and site navigation? This may help identify crawlability issues. Is one engine showing substantially more or less pages than the others? Double-check robots.txt file if needed.

~~H. Do site:domain.com *** -jdkhfdj search in Google to see supplemental pages.~~

~~All sites will have some pages in the supplemental index. Compare this number with overall number of pages indexed. A very high percentage of pages in the supplemental index = not good.~~

(Note: The above is no longer a way to view supplemental results in Google, and Google has said it no longer distinguishes between a main set of results and a supplemental set.)

I. Use Aaron’s SEO for Firefox extension to look at link counts in Yahoo and MSN. If not in a rush, do the actual link count searches manually on Yahoo Site Explorer and MSN to confirm.

…..END…..

That’s what I do when making a quick SEO site analysis. Important: This is for identifying problems, not fixing them. And it doesn’t replace a real and complete SEO analysis. (There are several shortcomings, for example. Here’s one: Steps E and F assume that all category pages across the site will be the same, and that all product pages will be the same. This is not always the case, so you may miss problems/issues that a real, deeper analysis would reveal.)

Questions for you:

- What other flaws do you find with this?
- What other steps do you take when doing a quick SEO analysis?

How To Build Your Wealth With A Loan

2011-12-10T02:54:00.000-08:00

Personal Finance debt, i.e. taking a loan, can be a great tool to build your wealth.

Loans can offer you many benefits, for example home and car loans help you achieve the financial goal of buying a home or a car (by making payments over a period of time) without having to wait and save enough to make an outright purchase.

However loans are often misconstrued as an instrument for the non-wealthy, when this is indeed not the case. Wealthy investors often use loans to help themselves get even wealthier. Where loans are concerned, you might find that you are one of two broad types of individuals. Each type has a unique viewpoint when it comes to taking a loan.

First, there are the emotional extremes - those individuals who either dislike loans so much that they will not borrow even a rupee, or those who like loans so much that they have over-leveraged themselves and might be now struggling under their EMI burden.

Second, there are the 'I'll Take It, But I Won't Like It' individuals. These are the ones that take a middle approach when dealing with their liability. Once they have taken the loan because they need it - the logical step, they then do their best to repay / prepay it as quickly as possible because of the mental or emotional discomfort caused by being 'in debt'. Most of us find ourselves in this second category.

The simple truth of the matter however, is a very factual truth.

A loan is simply the borrowing of funds, to be used for a particular purpose. Loans will simply give you the opportunity to incur the expenditure (for example, buy the house or the car) that you wish to incur, when you wish to incur it, and repay the amount a little at a time every month, over a specified tenure.

In this article, we will cover 2 aspects to personal finance debt.

Different Kinds of Loans Available, and How to Ensure You Don't Over-Borrow
Why it is sometimes Not better to prepay your loan

Different Kinds of Loans Available and How to Ensure You Don't Over-Borrow

Unsecured Loans
An unsecured loan refers to any kind of loan that is not attached by a lien on any of your specific assets. This means that in case you default on the loan due to bankruptcy or any other reason, the unsecured debt lender does not have the right to claim any specific asset.
An example of this is credit card debt or perhaps a personal loan from a friend or relative.

Secured Loans
A secured loan is one where you, the borrower, pledge some asset of yours as collateral to the loan. This means that in case of bankruptcy or any other reason for defaulting on the loan, the lender of your secured debt has the right to take possession of the asset (known as repossession) , and sell it to recover some of his loss.
An example of this is your car loan and home loan.

There are many options of loans and different lenders (from banks to housing finance companies to your relatives), which can help you take a loan when you need one. You need to ensure however that you don't over-borrow and put a strain on your finances. There is a simple way to check whether you are over-leveraged or not.

It is the Debt to Income Ratio.

Total monthly outgoings on liabilities (EMIs)
Debt to Income Ratio = Total monthly income from fixed sources

As discussed, this ratio is simply the sum of your monthly outgoings (EMIs) on your liabilities, divided by your total fixed monthly income. It ideally should not be more than 0.35 (or 35%), else you may be putting a strain on your income to service your debt.

Before taking a loan, assess your monthly income and expense, see how much additional outflow you can afford to have on an EMI, and accordingly decide how much loan you can comfortably handle.

Remember, if you take a higher loan, you have to pay a higher EMI. The broad thumb rule is, your EMI will be as many thousands per month, as every 1 lakh loan you take.
So, if you take a loan of Rs. 20 lakhs, your EMI will be (approximately) Rs. 20,000 per month.

Why It Is Sometimes NOT Better To Prepay Your Loan

At PersonalFN we have come across many clients, who once they have taken a loan, prefer to prepay it as soon as possible because the idea of being 'in debt' is not comfortable for them.

This is a personal matter and while there is no question that these clients are genuinely feeling uncomfortable about the loan - it does not necessarily make financial sense to prepay as early as possible.

The reason is simply the opportunity cost of your money.

This means, if you have a loan which is charging you interest at 10% p.a., and you suddenly come into some surplus funds which you can either use to prepay all or part of your loan, or to invest, the first thing you need to do is check the opportunity cost of these surplus funds.

Would it make more sense to prepay the 10% interest loan, and thereby save yourself from paying the 10% interest? Or would it make more sense to invest the funds into an investment instrument that would earn you more than 10% - based on your risk appetite and time horizon?

For example, Mr. Shah (our favourite fictional character) has taken a home loan on which he is paying 10.50% interest currently. He has recently inherited Rs. 10 lakhs and wants to use it to partly prepay his loan. As there is no prepayment penalty any longer, he wants to prepay the loan up to Rs. 10 lakhs - the entire extent of the inheritance.

However, instead of prepaying the loan, if he invests the Rs. 10 lakh into a strong performing diversified equity mutual fund, then in the long term (3-5 years plus) he will likely earn a return of 15% per annum on this investment. So instead of saving 10.50%, he is earning 15%.

This is what we mean by opportunity cost. If he chooses to prepay the loan and save 10.50% interest, he is losing out on the potential earning of 15% return.

Remember, if there is an investment instrument which would give you a long term rate of return that is higher than the rate of interest you are paying on your loan, it would be financially more prudent to invest the funds and earn the higher rate of return, than to prepay the loan (in full or in part) and save yourself the lower rate of interest.

In addition, certain loans have tax benefits. For example, a home loan on a self occupied property helps you get a tax benefit of up to Rs. 1 lakh on principal repayment u/S 80C and interest repaid is deductible up to Rs. 1.50 lakhs. On a let out property, the interest deductible is not limited, you can claim full interest paid as a deduction from your annual taxable income.

So, remember - a loan can be a great tool to help build your wealth. Just remember to only take the amount of loan you are able to service without adding financial stress, and have a contingency fund set aside as well.

Sensex Down 190000 Points - Ever in History

2011-12-10T02:51:00.000-08:00

The BSE benchmark Sensex tumbled by over 334 points in opening trade on Friday, extending Wednesday's losses on concerns over slowing industrial growth and a weakening trend in the rest of Asia amid renewed worries about the euro zone debt crisis.

The 30-share Sensex, which lost nearly 389 points in Wednesday's trade, plunged by 334.27 points, or 2.02 per cent, to 16,153.97 in opening trade on Friday.

In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index declined by 91.20 points, or 1.84 per cent, to 4,852.45.

All the sectoral indices were trading in the negative zone with losses of up to 2.14 per cent, led by financial and metal stocks.

Brokers said the market sentiment was badly dampened by reports that industrial output contracted during October, in addition to a weakening trend on other Asian bourses following overnight losses in the US on fading hopes for a speedy resolution to the euro zone's debt crisis.

In the Asia region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 1.90 per cent and Japan's Nikkei index lost 1.70 per cent in morning trade on Friday. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.63 per cent lower in Wednesday's trade. PTI SUN

Growth in the September quarter had slipped to 6.9 per cent, the weakest pace in more than 2 years, and many private-sector economists have slashed their growth forecasts to about 7.5 percent for the full year.

India's industrial output likely shrank 0.5 percent in October from the same month a year ago, its first decline in over two years, hurt by a slowdown in export growth, a Reuters poll showed. The data is due on Monday.

By 11:30 a.m. (0600 GMT), the 30-share BSE index was down 1.4 per cent at 16,257.4, with all but two of its components in the red. The benchmark had fallen as much as 2 percent at one stage.

"Indian stocks are like a cycle stand," said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of research at SMC Investments and Advisors. "If one falls, others follow suit."

Energy major Reliance Industries , which has the heaviest weight in the main index, fell more than 2 percent after Nomura downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy', citing worsening exploration and production possibilities and declining refining margins.

Private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank fell more than 1.5 percent as slackening growth and a vulnerable rupee, which had hit a record low last month, drove investors away from stocks.

Brokerage Macquarie said it would continue to be bearish on the Indian banking sector because of deteriorating asset quality and a possible tightening of margins due to an increase in savings rate.

The Reserve Bank of India is widely expected to pause at its meeting next Friday after raising rates 13 times since early 2010 to fight stubborn inflation.

The rupee, which is the worst performing Asian currency this year, fell as much as 1 percent in early trade.

Shares in export-focused software services company Infosys shed nearly 1 percent, while smaller rival Wipro was down 0.6 percent.

The 50-share NSE index fell 1.37 percent to 4,876.2. In the broader market, there were 2.7 losers for each gainer on a total volume of 223.6 million shares.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was trading down 2.5 percent on growing doubts that European leaders can forge a credible borrowing scheme to tackle the euro zone's debt crisis at a summit in Brussels.

Food inflation rate falls to near 3-1/2 yr low

2011-12-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual food inflation eased to its lowest in nearly three-and-a-half years in late November, driven by a sharp fall in prices of vegetables and protein-rich food, bolstering the case for a pause in rates when the RBI reviews policy next week.

Food inflation sharply eased to 6.60 percent in the year to November 26, government data on Thursday showed, from an annual 8.00 percent in the previous week.

New crop arrivals in the market have broadly pushed down vegetable prices, with potatoes leading the fall with a more than 4 percent drop in the latest week. Prices of protein-rich items like eggs, meat and fish also fell by more than 1 percent.

The annual fuel inflation remained unchanged at 15.53 percent in the latest week, data showed.

"There are seasonal advantages in place which explains the declining trend in food inflation. This was expected, but the only issue is this could partly be offset by the impact of the weak rupee on core inflation," said Shubhda Rao, chief economist with Yes Bank.

"I still expect November (headline) inflation to come in at 9.04 percent," Rao said.

The government will release October's industrial output data and November's headline inflation data next week.

"I would still bet on a pause in the December review," Rao said, adding, if October's industrial output growth slumps, and if other macroeconomic indicators continue to disappoint, the Reserve Bank of India could cut rates as early as in January.

Others echo her views.

The headline inflation has stayed stubbornly above 9 percent for the 11th month in October, despite 13 rate increases by the RBI since March 2010.

"If food inflation is collapsing, it will feed into other inflation very soon. So my view is that we are in a position to cut rates today," said Surojit Bhalla, chairman of Oxus Investments, a Delhi-based consultancy firm, earlier.

"In my opinion, the past two rate hikes were unnecessary and applied because of the RBI's ludicrous obsession with the spot level of inflation. Worse still, they have barely started to feed through," said Patrick Perret-Green, head of forex and local markets strategy for Asia at Citigroup said in a note.

India's benchmark 10-year bond yield briefly fell as much as 3 basis points to 8.50 percent, following the weekly price data release.

In its October review, the central bank had said if inflationary pressures started to abate by December, more rate increases may not be needed.

The RBI had said that taming food inflation also needs supply-side responses and had indicated that the government needed to do more to smoothen supply-side responses.

India suspended on Wednesday plans to open its $450 billion supermarket sector to foreign firms such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT - NewsWMT.N), backtracking from one of the government's boldest reforms in years in the face of a huge political backlash.

Various government officials had said that allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail could have eased supply-side bottlenecks and tamped down on food inflation which is typically outside the purview of monetary policy.

Is India's debt as bad as Europe's?

2011-12-10T02:39:00.000-08:00

The European debt crisis seems never ending with both Germany and France lowering expectations for a deal to save the Euro at the upcoming European Union summit. The European Central Bank (ECB) has agreed to act as a lender of last resort only on the condition that governments show credible fiscal consolidation. A similar situation might be arising in India.

India's fiscal situation is getting out of hand. The country's fiscal deficit reached almost 71% of its full-year target in the first half of the year. This cast doubts over the government's ability to meet budget goals as federal finances feel the pressure of squeezed revenues and slowing growth. The government is set to fall short of its fiscal deficit target of 4.6% of GDP for 2011-12 by at least 1% and this will take the deficit to 5.6%, higher than the 5.1% deficit seen in 2010-11. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been consistently warning the government about the worsening fiscal situation. But the government has so far ignored the RBI's warning and has failed to implement any kind of reforms with respect to food, fuel, fertiliser and power subsidies. It has also made no progress in improving the tax to GDP ratio. The government subsidy bill in the current fiscal is likely to go up by a massive Rs 1 trillion from Rs 400 bn on account of higher outlays towards fertiliser, food and oil.

But what is more worrying is the worsening fiscal situation of states. The states' fiscal position is also getting into a mess with expected losses of Rs 1 trillion of SEBs (State Electricity Boards) having to be borne by state governments. State level fiscal deficit will exceed 2.2% of GDP projected for 2011-12 if the SEB losses are taken into consideration. As a result India's total debt to GDP ratio is expected to increase from 65% to more than 70% in FY12.

So unless urgent reforms are undertaken by the government, the fiscal situation is not likely to improve any time soon. In fact with economic growth slowing down, revenues to the government might also take a hit, thus adding to the fiscal woes. It is time for the government to end policy paralyses and take some hard decisions. Any slippage on the fiscal gap target has the potential of worsening India's inflationary woes and choking private investment.

Govt cuts growth f'cast, warns on balance of trade, deficit target

2011-12-10T02:37:00.000-08:00

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India slashed its full-year growth forecast on Friday amid slowing domestic and global demand, with officials warning the government was facing a serious balance of trade problem and will have a tough time meeting its fiscal deficit target.

Asia's third-largest economy is now expected to grow by 7.25 to 7.5 percent in the fiscal year ending next March, the government said in a mid-year review, down sharply from an estimate of 9 percent issued in February.

The slowing economy has put government finances under further stress, fueling a recent sell-off in the rupee. While tax receipts so far have lagged the budgeted estimates, expenditures are climbing at a faster clip.

"There can be no denial that meeting the target (of fiscal deficit) will not be easy this year," the finance ministry said in its review, without giving a revised forecast.

Separately, the trade deficit for the fiscal year ending March 2012 is expected to sharply widen to $155-$160 billion from $104.4 billion a year ago, posing further downside risks to the weak Indian currency.

Slowing demand for Indian merchandise in overseas market is also making the government uncertain about achieving its annual export target of $300 billion.

"There is clear evidence of a deceleration in exports growth," said Rahul Khullar, trade secretary, after releasing the provisional trade data for November.

"There is a serious balance of trade problem."

Net tax revenues have grown at just 7.3 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2011/12, while expenditure has jumped by about an annual 10 percent.

Adding to the gloomy outlook, the government said raising a budgeted 400 billion rupees via stake sales in state-run companies in choppy market conditions would be hard to achieve.

"There can be no denial that meeting the target (of fiscal deficit) will not be easy this year," the finance ministry said in its review, without giving a revised forecast.

With less than four months of 2011/12 still remaining, economists say the full-year fiscal gap may be almost one percentage point higher than the budgeted target of 4.6 percent of GDP.

The fiscal deficit has already reached nearly 74 percent of the full-year target.

Any slippage on the fiscal front is expected to force the cash-strapped government to borrow more from the market. It has already unveiled 528 billion rupees of extra borrowing for the remainder of this year.

The government blamed its rising subsidy bill for higher expenditures but said it is determined to keep any slippage in the fiscal deficit target to a minimum level.

Early this week, the government forecast its subsidy bill for the full year to rise by 1 trillion rupees.

HEADWINDS

India may face its worst financial crisis in decades if it fails to stem the slide in the rupee, leaving the Reserve Bank of India (Toronto:RBI.TO - NewsRBInull) with a difficult choice over how to make best use of its limited reserves to maintain the confidence of foreign investors.

Unlike most of its Asian peers, India has recently been running large current account and fiscal deficits. That means it must attract sufficient foreign money -- namely U.S. dollars -- to close the gap, and a weaker home currency makes that costlier.

Europe's festering debt crisis and worries about the U.S. economy have seen global investors pull funds from emerging markets in recent months, adding to pressure on their currencies.

The rupee is facing the brunt of this capital flight. The partially convertible currency is down nearly 17 percent against the U.S. dollar this year and is the worst performer in Asia.

The government has attributed the depreciation in rupee in part to global reallocation of funds toward safe-haven assets and has reiterated its policy of forex intervention to control volatility rather than alter the trend.

The weak rupee is confounding India's inflation management by pushing up the cost imported items. Headline inflation has been steadfast above 9 percent for the past 11 months despite 13 rate hikes by the central bank since March 2010.

The government said softening global commodity prices on slowing demand should cool inflation beginning December and slow it further to 7 percent by March.

Rupee falls to over 1-week low

2011-12-10T02:35:00.000-08:00

The rupee declined most in more than a week on Friday, on worries that the European leaders will struggle to resolve the debt crisis denting demand for riskier assets, while dollar demand from oil importers and a slide in local equities also weighed.

At 02:25 p.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 52.21/22 per dollar, sharply weaker from its 51.75/76 close on Thursday, after dipping to 52.35 in early trades -- a level not seen since November 30. Most traders expect the rupee in the 52.10-52.40 range in the day.

Traders said dollar buying by oil companies and negative domestic shares hit by growth concerns pulled down the unit. Risk-off sentiment globally as hopes dimmed that a European Union summit would make substantial progress toward containing the euro zone debt crisis also weighed.

The euro dipped on Friday and languished near a one-week low as hopes dimmed that a European Union summit would make substantial progress toward containing the euro zone debt crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao on Thursday had said rupee was always on the RBI's radar and the central bank will intervene only to manage volatility.

However, on Wednesday, Subir Gokarn, a deputy governor at the RBI, had said the bank does not want the current fall in the rupee to spiral out of control.

Gold buying trend stays weak as rupee tumbles

2011-12-10T02:33:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Gold buying in India, the world's biggest consumer of bullion, continued its weak trend, after the rupee tumbled 1 percent, pushing premiums lower, dealers said on Friday.

* "We are virtually jobless from October 8, retail buying is missing... Indian rupee interest rates are high and people prefer to park money in fixed deposits," said Daman Prakash Rathod, director with Chennai-based MNC Bullion.

* Gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange was trading at 29,077 rupees per 10 grams helped by a weaker rupee and global markets. The yellow metal has gained more than 5 percent since November.

* Premiums charged on London prices also fell to $1 per ounce as buying weakened, from last week's $3 an ounce. Scrap flow continues unabated.

* The rupee, which fell 1 percent on Friday, plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the dollar-quoted yellow metal.

* Weddings season demand will end by last week of December, and halt briefly for three weeks, before re-starting at the end of the month.

* Near-month silver on the MCX was 56,356 rupees per kg, up 0.21 percent on day.

Over 85 killed in Kolkata hospital fire, 6 directors arrested

2011-12-09T21:44:00.001-08:00

More than 85 patients in Kolkata's well known AMRI hospital were killed along with three staffers when a blaze started in the basement of the annexe building early Friday and toxic fumes quickly spread to the other floors, trapping hundreds of people. Updates:
Six AMRI directors arrested, hospital licence cancelled

Noted industrialists S.K. Todi and R.S. Goenka and four other directors of the city's AMRI hospital, where a fire broke out claiming 88 lives Friday, were arrested and booked for several non-bailable offences, police said. The hospital's licence was also cancelled, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced.

'Six directors of the AMRI hospital have been arrested today in connection with the fire tragedy. Those arrested include S.K. Todi, R.S. Goenka and Ravi Todi. They have been bookes for several non-bailable offences, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder,' Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Damayanti Sen.

President grieves over Kolkata hospital fire deaths

President Pratibha Patil expressed her grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the fire at AMRI Hospital in Kolkata Friday.

In her message to the governor of West Bengal, Patil said she is saddened to know about the massive fire at AMRI Hospital in which more than 80 people, mostly patients, were killed.

A blaze started in the basement of the annexe building early Friday and toxic fumes quickly spread to the other floors, trapping hundreds of people.

The president also conveyed her condolences to the families of the deceased and wished speedy recovery to the injured.

Relatives fight tears, anger at morgue

'I know this is not him,' murmured a young wife each time she removed the white satin covering the face of those killed in Kolkata's AMRI Hospital fire. The woman came out the SSKM hospital morgue with a wry smile, saying 'Maybe he is alive' but her hopes were soon dashed.

An ambulance carrying three more dead bodies halted near the morgue gate and one of the three was that of her husband. She stared blankly at the body before breaking down inconsolably.

The steady flow of bodies continued as ambulances carrying them entered the SSKM hospital one by one and after autopsy and identification, the bodies were handed over to their relatives. Read on

'Don't worry, nothing will happen, they said'

The families of patients and witnesses Friday recounted harrowing tales of a fire at AMRI Hospital that claimed over 90 lives, saying the authorities neither woke up to the danger on time nor allowed locals to help rescue trapped victims.

'We were sleeping. Then we heard someone screaming that there was a fire,' said a woman who was inside the hospital.

Some said the the hospital authorities kept giving false assurances.

'We were told 'don't worry, nothing will happen',' said a man quoting the hospital staff.

No radiation leak at fire-hit Kolkata hospital

Amid fears of radiation hazard from the equipment used in the cancer department at AMRI hospital after a major fire, a team of National Disaster Response Force Friday visited the oncology wing and said later there was no radiation leak.

Wearing gas masks and carrying sophisticated anti-radiation equipment, the NDRF team went to the hospital but said there was no leakage.

'There is no excess radiation and no leakage,' said the team commander Mukesh Kumar Verma.

PM mourns deaths in Kolkata fire, sanctions relief

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday expressed grief at the deaths of 73 people, mostly patients, in a fire in Kolkata's AMRI Hospital.

The prime minister also sanctioned ex-gratia grant of Rs.200,000 each to the families of those killed and Rs.50,000 to each of the injured.

'The prime minister expresses shock and anguish over the loss of lives in the hospital fire in Kolkata. He conveys his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy,' said a statement issued by his office.

Hospital staff abandon patients to fire

Medical staff at an Indian hospital abandoned their patients and fled for safety early Friday as fire and smoke poured through the building, leaving 65 people dead, many from smoke inhalation, government officials said.

As rescuers scrambled to evacuate survivors, police filed a case against the hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata for violating safety procedures and top government officials vowed to hold the hospital accountable for the tragedy.

"It's a very serious offense, and we will take the strongest action," Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the state of West Bengal, said at the scene.

More Kolkata like fires waiting to happen

The fire in the Kolkata hospital that killed at least 60 people was 'absolutely preventable', Neelam Krishnamurthy, who lost two children in the 1997 Delhi Uphaar cinema blaze, said , while blaming the 'lackadaisical' government and judiciary.

'This incident was absolutely preventable. It is very unfortunate that the government departments have once aging failed to function and the common man is suffering,' Krishnamurthy, convenor of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), said.

'The government and judiciary have a lackadaisical attitude regarding this issue. If something is not done, I am sorry to say but many more similar tragedies will take place,' she added.

Banerjee came to the narrow lane leading to the hospital - co-founded by private firms along with the West Bengal government - around 9.45 a.m., and immediately a stream of people as also mediapersons rushed towards her.Police personnel, at their wits end after having spent hours controlling the mob, which was venting its ire at the hospital authorities, tried to put up a cordon around the chief minister.

But as the surging crowd became uncontrollable, leading to a near stamplede, the lawkeepers wielding the baton, which worsened the situation. Read on

Hospital fire kills at least 73 Kolkata

A fire ripped through a seven-storey hospital in Kolkata before dawn on Friday, killing at least 73 people, most of them patients who were asleep when the blaze started.

Thick smoke engulfed the hospital and firefighters smashed windows to evacuate people down ladders to safety from upper floors. Other patients were rolled out on stretchers.

The tragedy unfolded over many hours as patients were suffocated to death, some trapped in their beds, others dying in their sleep, too infirm to escape the smoke. The lucky few were brought down the side of the four-storey glass facade building, only six years old, using ropes and ladders as thousands looked on in horror.

The fire brigade allegedly reached late and were initially ill-equipped - coming without masks with only rickety manual lifts - to deal with the disaster.

While hospital authorities said 70 patients and three staffers had been killed, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had confirmed 61 deaths earlier in the day

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2011-12-09T06:08:00.000-08:00

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PETA Protests

2011-12-08T07:09:00.001-08:00

Recently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) raised more than eyebrows when it launched its porn website, featuring risqué ad campaigns alongside hidden-camera footage of animal cruelty. Now, PETA is turning heads again with new campaigns against the killing of seals, snakes and other animals. Hollywood celebrities who have featured in racy PETA ads include Maggie Q, Charlize Theron, Anna Nicole Smith and Pamela Anderson.

A People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) activist poses with her body painted like snakeskin during a protest at the entrance to a shopping mall in Bangkok on December 8, 2010. The protest was organised to denounce the use of exotic animals' skins by luxury fashion brands - namely Hermes. AFP PHOTO/Christophe ARCHAMBAULT

Foods that boost male fertility

2011-12-08T05:37:00.001-08:00

Almost 40% of the current male population is reported to suffer from problems relating to infertility.

This has been credited to the lifestyle that men nowadays lead accompanied by a not so healthy dose of fertility busting foods like junk food, caffeinated drinks and alcohol. Instead of indulging in such harmful foods here are foods that will increase your odds of becoming a parent.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin seeds contain a good dose of zinc which is said to increase the sperm count. They also contain essential fatty acids like Omega-3 which enhance the blood flow to sexual organs. Other good sources of Omega-3 acids are almonds, sardines, salmon and flaxseed.

Pomegranate

Pomegranate contains a huge amount of antioxidants which help prevent damage against sperms that leads them to becoming sluggish and losing the ability to fertilize an egg. Drinking pomegranate juicealso increases the sperm count as well as fight against erectile dysfunction.

Oysters

Oysters are well-known as aphrodisiacs which are famous for boosting one's sexual drive. Likepumpkin seeds, oysters are also rich in zinc. Consuming a mere 15mg of oysters a day, reportedly helps you to repair the sperm damage caused by environmental and chemical factors.

Asparagus

Asparagus is one food that has been celebrated since the medieval ages for its ability to rev up the sexual drive in both men and women. In fact, asparagus was used by people of medieval ages to treat infertility. It contains Vitamin C which aids in raising your testosterone and sperm count.

Other Fruits and Vegetables

There are many other fruits and vegetables that can increase you chances of preventing fertility. An apple a day is said to keep the sperm count increasing. Another fruit banana is known as a "sexual super food" since it is a rich source of protein, magnesium, Vitamin A, B1 and C. Tomatoes are said to contain an antioxidant called carotenoid lycopene which helps in increasing the sperm count since men struggling with infertility generally have low lycopene levels in the body.

S’pore sixth most expensive city in Asia

2011-12-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

A recent global survey shows S'pore rising to be the sixth most costly city in Asia

S’pore sixth most costly city in Asia: Survey

Regional director of ECA International Asia Lee Quane said rising prices in Singapore might erode the cost advantages it used to have over other cities in the region. (Yahoo! file photo)

Singapore has jumped two places to be the sixth most expensive city in Asia, according to a global survey.

This comes on the back of a stronger local dollar against major currencies and a 5.7 per cent rise in the average price of goods and services.

For the first time, Singapore also ranked ahead of its closest competitor Hong Kong, which slipped from sixth last year to ninth position in this year.

The annual Cost of Living survey, conducted by ECA International in September this year, used indicators comprising of day-to-day goods and services such as the price of groceries, clothing and electrical goods. It measured cost of living in more than 400 cities.

Regional director of ECA International Asia Lee Quane said, “When we look at the overall cost of ECA’s basket of goods and services in Singapore a year ago, these items were 1.7 per cent less expensive in Singapore than when purchased in Hong Kong.”

“Now those same items are 8.5 per cent more expensive in Singapore than Hong Kong.”

With rising prices in the Lion City, Quane noted that this might erode some of the cost advantage that Singapore used to have over other destinations in the region.

For one, companies will now have to pay their staff a higher allowance when they send them to Singapore, she said. However, the rising prices are “unlikely” to deter companies from relocating their staff to the country, she added.

Compared to countries worldwide, Singapore rose from 42nd to 32nd position while Hong Kong, which saw an increase in the price of goods, dropped 26 places to 58th position – the largest fall among Asian cities.

"When we look at Hong Kong in a regional context, the weak dollar means that the city is now cheaper than a number of other locations including Singapore, Beijing and Shanghai, where not only has there been significant price inflation but also currencies have strengthened,” said Quane.

Meanwhile, Tokyo remains the most expensive city in Asia for the second consecutive year. It is followed by three other Japanese cities, Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe, as well as the Korean city of Seoul.

Rounding up the top ten after Singapore is Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Busan.

The Japanese capital also topped the global ranking for the second year running, due largely to the recent sharp rise of the country’s currency. Coming in second and third are Oslo and Geneva.

NASA finds planet that can sustain life

2011-12-06T06:51:00.000-08:00

A spacecraft confirms the first alien world sitting in its star's "habitable zone"

NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5).

The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700.

The potentially habitable alien world, a first for Kepler, orbits a star very much like our own sun. The discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding a planet like our own — one which could conceivably harbor life, scientists said.

"We're getting closer and closer to discovering the so-called 'Goldilocks planet,'" Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said during a press conference today. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]

The newfound planet in the habitable zone is called Kepler-22b. It is located about 600 light-years away, orbiting a sun-like star.

Kepler-22b's radius is 2.4 times that of Earth, and the two planets have roughly similar temperatures. If the greenhouse effect operates there similarly to how it does on Earth, the average surface temperature on Kepler-22b would be 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius).

Hunting down alien planets

The $600 million Kepler observatory launched in March 2009 to hunt for Earth-size alien planets in the habitable zone of their parent stars, where liquid water, and perhaps even life, might be able to exist.

Kepler detects alien planets using what's called the "transit method." It searches for tiny, telltale dips in a star's brightness caused when a planet transits — or crosses in front of — the star from Earth's perspective, blocking a fraction of the star's light.

The finds graduate from "candidates" to full-fledged planets after follow-up observations confirm that they're not false alarms. This process, which is usually done with large, ground-based telescopes, can take about a year.

The Kepler team released data from its first 13 months of operation back in February, announcing that the instrument had detected 1,235 planet candidates, including 54 in the habitable zone and 68 that are roughly Earth-size.

Of the total 2,326 candidate planets that Kepler has found to date, 207 are approximately Earth-size. More of them, 680, are a bit larger than our planet, falling into the "super-Earth" category. The total number of candidate planets in the habitable zones of their stars is now 48.

To date, just over two dozen of these potential exoplanets have been confirmed, but Kepler scientists have estimated that at least 80 percent of the instrument's discoveries should end up being the real deal.

More discoveries to come

The newfound 1,094 planet candidates are the fruit of Kepler's labors during its first 16 months of science work, from May 2009 to September 2010. And they won't be the last of the prolific instrument's discoveries.

"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.

Mission scientists still need to analyze data from the last two years and on into the future. Kepler will be making observations for a while yet to come; its nominal mission is set to end in November 2012, but the Kepler team is preparing a proposal to extend the instrument's operations for another year or more.

Kepler's finds should only get more exciting as time goes on, researchers say.

"We're pushing down to smaller planets and longer orbital periods," said Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead at Ames.

To flag a potential planet, the instrument generally needs to witness three transits. Planets that make three transits in just a few months must be pretty close to their parent stars; as a result, many of the alien worlds Kepler spotted early on have been blisteringly hot places that aren't great candidates for harboring life as we know it.

Given more time, however, a wealth of more distantly orbiting — and perhaps more Earth-like — exoplanets should open up to Kepler. If intelligent aliens were studying our solar system with their own version of Kepler, after all, it would take them three years to detect our home planet.

"We are getting very close," Batalha said. "We are homing in on the truly Earth-size, habitable planets."