Zardari, Karzai discuss regional security
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Wednesday held wide-ranging talks focusing on jointly fighting terrorism, strengthening bilateral ties and ways to address regional issues related to peace and security.
President Karzai who flew in here late afternoon on a two-day visit arrived at the Aiwan-e-Sadr and met President Zardari soon after his arrival. The two leaders who have frequently met in the past expressed the resolve to remove misunderstandings of the past and to jointly move forward in the fight against militancy.
During the exclusive and delegation-level talks President Zardari stressed for enhanced interaction between the two countries to better cope with the issues of terrorism and extremism.
He said unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan were of great importance and termed terrorism a common challenge to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan was determined to fight militancy to the end, which was a long drawn battle and there were no quick solutions to this problem.
During the delegation-level talks President Zardari was assisted by Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Secretary General to the President Salman Farooqi and Spokesman to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar.
President Karzai was aided by Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Zalmai Rasoul, National Security Advisor Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Education Minister Dr. Farooq Wardak and Afghan Charge d’ Affaires Majnoon Gulab.
President Zardari said Pakistan believes that military action alone was not a solution to the problem.
He stressed the need for greater economic cooperation, adding the government was determined to correct the past mistakes to carve out a better future for posterity.
Afghan President Karzai urged for a partnership which allows realization of the full potential of human and natural resources and want greater connectivity, more trade and economic cooperation. He called for new development projects and investments in the two countries driven by energy corridors in the region.
Karzai thanked for Pakistan’s support and efforts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Afghanistan.
President Zardari pointed that Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Afghanistan was US$ 1.4 billion in 2008 and there was a vast economic potential and great opportunities for cooperation.
He said the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement was under negotiations and hoped it would further boost economic interaction.
President Zardari also pointed to the over 3 million Afghan refugees that were still in Pakistan and said an early restoration of peace and normalcy in Afghanistan will enable the return of these refugees to their motherland.
The two sides focused on the need for greater harmony between the two countries.
Inadequate sleep leads to weight gain
LONDON: Sleep wrong and you will pile on pounds, for a new study has found that too much or too little shut-eye helps putting on weight - and it is the worst kind of fat.
Recent studies have suggested that inadequate amounts of sleep may lead to weight gain, obesity, and even an raised risk of developing diabetes.
Now, an international team, led by Wake Forest University, has carried out the study and found a clear link between sleep and getting fat - more or less shut-eye both are harmful, the New Scientist reported.
For the study, researchers monitored 1100 African and Hispanic Americans for a period of five years. Both groups are at a high risk of obesity-related disorders.
People under 40 gained 1.8 kilogrammes more on average if they got less than 5 hours of sleep per night than if they slept for 6 or 7 hours. Those regularly sleeping for more than 8 hours gained 0.8 kilogrammes more than the medium-sleep group, the study found.
CAT scans revealed increases in visceral fat, which accumulates around the internal organs and is particularly dangerous to health, according to Kristen Hairston, who led the study.
PCB bans Yousuf, Younus for life
LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Wednesday slammed lifetime ban on Muhammad Yousuf and Younis Khan and one year ban on Rana Naveed Ul-Hasan and Shoab Malik, imposing fine on them among other players, Netkarachi reported.
Recognizing the recommendations of PCB’s enquiry committee, the board fined Rana Naveed Ul-Hasan and Shoab Malik Rs 20 lakhs each. The board also fined Umar Akmal Rs 20 lakhs, Kamran Akmal Rs 30 lakhs, Shahid Afridi Rs 30 lakhs.
Muhammad Yousuf and Younis Khan have been banned for life, PCB officials said, adding that both the player were not able to represent Pakistan at any forum.
PCB said the dispute between both the players severely harmed team performance.
Kareena Kapoor shoots for Pakistans fashion house
KARACHI: This is for the first time an Indian actress has shot for a fashion house in Pakistan. In keeping with the nation’s sensibility, Kareena’s dresses are modern yet traditional. In vibrant hues she looks glamorous and the shalwar-suits from the designer house makes her looks elegant.
Bollywood’s style icon is making her presence felt in the fashion circuit across the border.
Humans can run as fast as 65 km/hr
DALLAS: Human running speeds of 35 to 40 mph may be biologically possible, concludes a new study.
Such a feat would leave in the dust the world’s fastest runner, Usain Bolt, who has clocked nearly 28 mph in the 100-meter sprint. Published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, the study offers intriguing insights into the biology and perhaps even the future of human running speed. The newly published evidence identifies the critical variable imposing the biological limit to running speed.
The new paper, “The biological limits to running speed are imposed from the ground up,” was authored by Peter Weyand of Southern Methodist University, Rosalind Sandell and Danille Prime, both formerly of Rice University; and Matthew Bundle of the University of Wyoming. “The prevailing view that speed is limited by the force with which the limbs can strike the running surface is an eminently reasonable one,” said Weyand, associate professor of applied physiology and biomechanics at SMU in Dallas.
“If one considers that elite sprinters can apply peak forces of 800 to 1,000 pounds with a single limb during each sprinting step, it’s easy to believe that runners are probably operating at or near the force limits of their muscles and limbs,” he said. “However, our new data clearly show that this is not the case. Despite how large the running forces can be, we found that the limbs are capable of applying much greater ground forces than those present during top-speed forward running,” he added.
In contrast to a force limit, what the researchers found was that the critical biological limit is imposed by time - specifically, the very brief periods of time available to apply force to the ground while sprinting. In elite sprinters, foot-ground contact times are less than one-tenth of one second, and peak ground forces occur within less than one-twentieth of one second of the first instant of foot-ground contact.
The researchers took advantage of several experimental tools to arrive at the new conclusions. They used a high-speed treadmill capable of attaining speeds greater than 40 miles per hour and of acquiring precise measurements of the forces applied to the surface with each footfall. They also had subjects’ perform at high speeds in different gaits.
Garlic may help fight cancer
OHIO: In a small pilot study, a new urine test developed by researchers suggests that the more garlic people consumed, the lower the levels of the potential carcinogenic process were.
The research is all about body processes associated with nitrogen-containing compounds, scientists say. These processes include nitrosation, or the conversion of some substances found in foods or contaminated water into carcinogens.
“What we were after was developing a method where we could measure in urine two different compounds, one related to the risk for cancer, and the other, which indicates the extent of consumption of garlic,” said Earl Harrison, senior study co-author and professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University (OSU).
“Our results showed that those were inversely related to one another - meaning that the more we had the marker for garlic consumption, the less there was of the marker for the risk of cancer.”
Ultimately, the scientists hope to find that a nutritional intervention could be a way to stop the process that develops these carcinogens. This process is most commonly initiated by exposure to substances called nitrates from certain processed meats or high-heat food preparation practices, or to water contaminated by industry or agricultural runoff.
About 20 percent of nitrates that are consumed convert to nitrites. A cascade of events can convert these compounds into what are called nitrosamines, and many, but not all, nitrosamines are linked to cancer.
Vegetables also contain nitrates, but previous research has suggested that the vitamin C in vegetables lowers the risk that those nitrates will convert to something toxic.
Researchers suspected that nutrients in garlic could have similar antioxidant effects as vitamin C, said an OSU release. The study was published in a recent issue of Analytical Biochemistry.
Oscars 2010: Hurt Locker rules the roost
The Iraq War drama “The Hurt Locker” won best picture and five other prizes at the Academy Awards, besides best director for Kathryn Bigelow, making her the first woman in the 82-year history of the Oscars to earn Hollywood’s top prize for filmmakers.
Sandra Bullock went home with best actress award for ‘The Blind Side’; Jeff Bridges as best actor for ‘Crazy Heart’; Mo’Nique as supporting actress for ‘Precious’ and the first black actress to win an Oscar; and Christoph Waltz as supporting actor for ‘Inglourious Basterds’. ‘Precious’ also won the adapted-screenplay Oscar for Geoffrey Fletcher. ‘Avatar’ won three Oscars, for visual effects, art direction and cinematography, beating ‘The Hurt Locker’ for the latter. ‘The Hurt Locker’ also won out over ‘Avatar’ for film editing, sound editing and sound mixing.
‘Hurt Locker’ screenwriter Mark Boal, won the Oscar for original screenplay.
‘Up’ earned the third-straight feature-animation Oscar for Disney’s Pixar Animation, which now has won five of the nine awards since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added the category. Argentina’s ‘The Secret in Their Eyes’ pulled off a surprise win for foreign-language film while ‘Crazy Heart’ also won for original song with its theme tune ‘The Weary Kind’. ‘The Cove’, an investigation into grisly dolphin-fishing operations in Japan, was picked as best documentary.
Oscar hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin opened the show with playful ribbing of nominees.
Chinese toddler weighs 6.5st at the age of two:
BEIJING: She may be just two years old, but Pang Ya is already tipping the scales at 6.5st.
The toddler’s size means she now weighs the same as an average female Chinese adult.
Although her alarmed parents admit that their daughter has a healthy appetite, they are desperate for help.
Her father said: ‘Doctors can’t figure out the reasons for her obesity, which worries us a lot.’
Pang Ya, who is from Taocun town, Shanxi province, was born weighing an average eight pounds.
A recent government survey declared there are 60 million obese people in China, with the number doubling between 1992 and 2002.
Signal-free corridor IV CDGK gets one month to file EIA report
KARACHI, March 5: The Environmental Protection Tribunal, Sindh, on Friday directed the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) to submit an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report of its underconstruction flyovers on Sharea Faisal to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa).
The tribunal, headed by its chairperson Ashraf Jahan with members Dr Samiuzzaman (technical) and Abdul Karim Memon (legal), after hearing the arguments in the case of four flyovers being constructed by the CDGK as part of its fourth Signal-Free Corridor (SFC) project, gave one-month time to the CDGK for submission of the EIA report and observed that it should ensure the compliance of the environmental laws in the public interest.
During previous proceedings in the case, the complainant, Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment, had referred to the construction of various flyovers and bridges, initiated about five months back as part of the SFC-IV project, at different sites along Sharea Faisal and stated that the activities were in total disregard of Section 12 of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (Pepa), 1997 and, Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and EIA Regulations, 2000.
Appearing on behalf of the complainant NGO, a member of its executive committee, Roland de Souza, had also stated that Sepa had not been taking the legal measures available to it under Pepa to enforce the environmental laws and as such it was colluding with the CDGK in violation of Pepa provisions.
He had also requested the tribunal to issue an order halting immediately the construction of SFC-IV at different sites as Sepa had failed to ensure the compliance of various conditions it had imposed while granting a ‘disputed’ IEE to the CDGK.
U.S. seeks to smooth China ties, win backing on Iran
BEIJING: Top U.S. and Chinese diplomats will grapple with how to deal with the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea in meetings that Washington hopes will help ease tensions with Beijing.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and the National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs, Jeffrey Bader, were due to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for the talks with Chinese officials.
Steinberg will be the most senior U.S. diplomat to visit Beijing since a flurry of disputes in January and February over Internet censorship, trade, arms sales to Taiwan and Tibet unsettled ties with China.
“We’ve gone through a bit of a bumpy path here, and I think there’s an interest both within the United States and China to get back to business as usual as quickly as possible,” U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters in Washington on Monday, speaking about Steinberg’s trip.
China, too, appears to want to lower the temperature of friction with the United States, a key trade partner.
Beijing has not yet acted on its threat to sanction U.S. companies involved in the Taiwan arms sales, and on the weekend, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he wanted trade friction with the United States to ease.
Crowley said the talks in Beijing would cover Iran, where the United States and other Western powers want China’s backing for a proposed U.N. resolution slapping new sanctions on Tehran, which they say is seeking the means to make nuclear weapons.
Iran was China’s third biggest source of imported crude oil last year, and Beijing has long been reluctant to support stiff sanctions against Tehran.
China could use its power as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to veto any proposed resolution.
Analysts and officials say China will resist any proposed sanctions that threaten flows of oil and Chinese investments, but most believe it will accept a more narrowly cast resolution that has more symbolic than practical impact.
NORTH KOREA
Steinberg will also discuss North Korea, whose nuclear arms plans have alarmed the North’s neighbours and the United States, said Crowley.
Nations involved in six-party talks aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme have been seeking to revive negotiations, stalled since last year after North Korea pulled out and held a nuclear test.
North Korea has previously put conditions on its return to the talks, including ending U.N. sanctions and having discussions with the United States on a peace treaty to replace the cease-fire that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
China’s Foreign Ministry has not said what it hopes to achieve from the talks with Steinberg, merely noting that the U.S. side requested the meetings and the two sides will discuss “issues concerning China-U.S. relations”.
A report in China’s state-run Xinhua news agency on Monday suggested that Beijing would use the talks to press its complaints about U.S. policy towards Taiwan and Tibet.
In January, the Obama administration said it was going ahead with new arms sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled and democratic island that Beijing claims as its own. The following month President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader reviled by Beijing.
After Beijing, Steinberg and Bader are due to meet with senior officials in Tokyo on Thursday and Friday.
Google acquires photo-editing site
SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc acquired online photo-editing site Picnik, as the Web search leader continues with a deal binge includes three acquisitions in about three weeks.
Google did not disclose the financial terms of the deal for Picnik, a 5-year-old Seattle-based start-up which said on its website that it has 20 employees.
Google spokesman Andrew Pederson said in an email message that the Picnik team has joined Google’s Seattle office and will work with Google’s Picasa group. Picasa is Google’s Web photo sharing service.
The deal is the latest example of Google’s increasing appetite for acquisitions, as the company’s core Internet search business has benefited from a recovery in the advertising sector.
In October, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the company would resume its historic pace of acquiring one small company per month on average, with larger deals happening every year or two.
Last month Google acquired Aardvark, a social search engine and mobile Web email service reMail. Since September, Google has acquired 8 companies, said Pederson.
Google Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference conference on Monday, said that Google was beefing up its ranks as business conditions improve.
“The bottleneck for us right now is engineering. How many engineers can we find given that we have all these great opportunities?” Pichette said.
Picnik allows users to edit online photos from directly within a Web browser, eliminating the need for special, stand-alone editing software.
Nasa radar finds ice on moon’s north pole
WASHINGTON : A US radar that launched into space aboard an Indian spacecraft has detected craters filled with ice on the moon’s north pole, Nasa scientists said on Monday.
The US space agency’s Mini-SAR radar found more than 40 small craters ranging in size from one to nine miles (1.6 to 15 kilometers), each full of water ice.
“Although the total amount of ice depends on its thickness in each crater, it’s estimated there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice,” Nasa said in a statement.
The finding came weeks after President Barack Obama put on ice US ambitions to return astronauts to the moon.
The lightweight, synthetic aperture radar’s findings “show the moon is an even more interesting and attractive scientific, exploration and operational destination than people had previously thought,” said Paul Spudis, lead investigator of the Mini-SAR experiment at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas.
The Mini-SAR has spent the last year mapping the moon’s permanently-shadowed polar craters that are not visible from Earth, using the polarization properties of reflected radio waves.
“After analyzing the data, our science team determined a strong indication of water ice, a finding which will give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit,” said Jason Crusan of Nasa’s Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington.
The radar’s findings, to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, are consistent with findings of other Nasa instruments and add to the growing scientific understanding of the multiple forms of water found on the moon.
Nasa’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, which was also on board Chandrayaan-1, has discovered water molecules in the moon’s polar regions, while water vapor was detected by Nasa’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS.
Indian scientists reported last year in papers published in the journal Science that they had analyzed light waves detected by Nasa-made instruments on board the Indian satellite and two US probes, and determined that they showed there was water on the surface of the moon.
Until then, scientists had advanced the theory that except for the possibility of ice at the bottom of craters, the moon was totally dry.
Anti-terror expo opens
KARACHI, Feb 22: Dawn’s second annual Anti-Terrorism and Disaster Management Conference and Exhibition opened here on Monday with the inauguration of a two-day exhibition displaying the latest technology and gadgets related to the theme.The conference will be held on Tuesday.
The exhibition, being held at a local hotel, features nearly 20 exhibitors displaying their wares related to securing facilities as well as managing post-disaster situations. Various gear was on display including helmets, stun grenades as well as protective body suits.
Other products included advanced security cameras, video security systems and surveillance gear. There was also a stall displaying different radio communications equipment, while one exhibitor was giving details of an allterrain vehicle, though a model was not on display. Most exhibitors had pamphlets of their products available, while some were also giving video-based demonstrations of their products’ capabilities.
Representatives from the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee, the Civil Hospital’s Mass Casualty Management Plan, the city district government Karachi and the provin cial disaster management authority were also on hand, with some displaying various rescue tools used in emergency situations.
Numerous security companies had also sent their representatives while other vendors were displaying metal detectors, bomb detectors, walkthrough gates and de-mining equipment.
According to a press release issued by the organisers, the event seeks to “bring together a wide range of com panies who will showcase the latest and most effective anti-terror security products and solutions as well as technological innovations that can play a pivotal role in improving security and combating terrorism”.
Federal finance minister Shaukat Tareen has resigned from his post here on Tuesday.
Shaukat Tareen told that he has resigned and sent his resignation to the prime minister.He said that he always worked on principles and has resigned for the principles. Now, he wants to focus on his business.Yesterday, this was mentioned in whispers during the meeting between prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Mian Nawaz Sharif that Shaukat Tareen would soon resign as finance minister.Names of former governor State bank of Pakistan Dr Ishrat Hussain, Dr Hafeez Pasha and Naseem Baig are being taken for new finance minister.
Ajay Devgn and Kajol will bring in their 11th wedding anniversary on Feb 24.
This superstar couple who usually take a few days off each year just around their anniversary are planning a party with closest friends and family at their Juhu bungalow. Their six-year old daughter Nysa is going to play host to her parents and some of her aunts and uncles.
Ajay who loves Kajol to distraction hasn’t shown his affection publicly. However, one hears that with each passing year, he has learnt to appreciate his wife’s dedication to the institution of marriage. And he gives Kajol full marks for making their marriage so succesful. Chalo here’s one couple who can’t have enough of each other despite the years.
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