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Racy snowboards featuring naked women’s pics spark row in US

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:50:00 -0500

Racy snowboards featuring giant pictures of naked women have sparked a row about free speech and sexism between their supporters and opponents in Vermont, US.

The city leaders in Burlington have asked the manufacturers to stop making the range, whose images are taken from 1970s Playboy magazines.

Parents, politicians, and even the state''s Girl Scouts are protesting against the racy snowboards, reports the Telegraph.

However, their supporters insist that the right of people not to be offended out on the slopes is less important than the constitutional right to free expression.

Burton, one of the America’s biggest snowboard makers, said that the criticism had been "hurtful and out-of-line".

Several resorts have also barred their staff from using the boards.

The Girl Scout Council of Vermont is considering taking the issue to state legislators next month.

Brittany Wieland, a 16-year-old Girl Scout, told the Boston Globe that resorts should only allow people with offensive boards on to the slopes when children were not around. (ANI)

India briefs more envoys on Mumbai attacks

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:45:00 -0500

Continuing its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, India briefed more envoys on the recent Mumbai attacks in New Delhi on Wednesday.

A group of diplomats from various countries including the United States of America, Britain, Croatia and Switzerland met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

The envoys of Sri Lanka, Turkey and the Arab States, who were briefed on Tuesday, have condemned the terror attacks, which shook the Mumbai in November 2008.

The main focus of these meetings is to discuss the fallout of Mumbai
attacks and to build up international consensus to make Pakistan hand over the perpetrators of the attacks.

According to reports, the Indian officials discussed the present situation between Pakistan and India, and also put before them the evidence handed over to Pakistan on Monday regarding the involvement of ''elements'' in Pakistan in Mumbai attacks.

The evidence handed over to Pakistan includes a confession from the man India says is the lone surviving gunman, details of communications links with "elements in Pakistan", and data retrieved from GPS and satellite phones.

India says that it was not satisfied with Pakistan''s response. New Delhi wants Islamabad to dismantle what it says are terrorist infrastructure including training camps on Pakistani territory and extradite 40 suspects.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused Pakistan of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy against India. He further said that given the sophistication and military precision of the Mumbai attacks must have had the support of some official agencies in Pakistan. (ANI)

Radio Pakistan sees Punjabi language being erased in India

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:44:00 -0500

Even since the partition of the sub-continent and the migration of a large number of Punjabi refugees from Pakistan to India, the Punjabi language and cuisine has become popular all over the country. The All India Radio and Doordarshan beam Punjabi programmes in many of their broadcasts and telecasts.

But the Punjabi Durbar programme of Pakistan Radio seems to think otherwise. For the Punjabi Durbar, Hindi ‘imperialists’ are working hard to eliminate Sikhism and Punjabi from India.

In its latest broadcasts Radio Pakistan has been projecting that attempts are being made in India deny funds for promotion of Punjabi literature. It is also alleged that there is conspiracy to remove Punjabi and Gurmat teachings from academic syllabus.

Punjabi intellectuals were surprised to hear the broadcasts. They made a reality check about the actual state of affairs of Punjabi language.

"Punjabi language is flourishing in Punjab. Nobody can replace it. Before spreading or passing on any illogical comment, our neighbour should check the facts,” said G. S. Chahal, an expert on Punjabi culture

"As far as my relations with the Punjabi literature is concerned, the Punjabi script that has developed in Punjab is called Gurmukhi. People in Punjab follow Gurmukhi . People in Punjab do not write in Devnagri or Roman script. Every language adopts words from other languages which helps them develop,” said Prof. I. S. Godara, the Head of Punjabi department of DAV College in Abohar.

“In Pakistan, Punjabis write in Shamukhi script, which we also call as Farsi. They are trying to adapt Gurmukhi as their script. The propaganda of Pakistanis that Punjabi is language of Sikhs only is completely false. Punjabi is the language of the people of all the religions living in Punjab. The rumour of confiscating Punjabi from Punjab is completely wrong," said Prof. I. S. Godara added. (ANI)

Goal-setting programs make for more active co-workers

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:06:00 -0500

Office programs that persuade employees to set exercise goals help them become more active at the workplace, according to a new study that looked at physical activity levels of Home Depot employees who participated in the “Move to Improve” program.

Lead author Rod Dishman, Ph.D., said that the number of employees who regularly participated in either moderate or vigorous physical activity rose from about 30 percent at the start of the study to about 50 percent during the last six weeks of the study.

For the study, workers set personal and team physical activity goals weekly for three months, receiving incentives for achievement.

Throughout the intervention, researchers tracked changes in the 1,442 participants’ physical activity levels with pedometers.

At the end of sixth week of the study, 51 percent of program participants logged at least five 30-minute moderate exercise sessions or two to three 20-minute vigorous exercise sessions weekly, compared with only 25 percent of the control group.

Dishman said that the participants even sustained that level of activity through the end of the 12-week study, with few dropouts.

“The biggest pleasant surprise was the steady and sustained progress. That can probably be explained by the social incentives and support from personal goals and achievements that had direct impact on team success,” said Dishman.

Katherine Alaimo, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Michigan State University said that workplaces offer great opportunities for physical activity and wellness programs because they offer a captive audience.

She added that in the current study, success might be in part because investigators included a combination of things not usually in workplace wellness programs.

“They had individual goal setting — a common technique — but they also had group and organizational goal setting, which provided the peer encouragement that is necessary and important,” said Alaimo.

“Personal and team goals work best when they are self-set, specific about how much activity and when, realistic but attainable and easily assessed, such as by weekly logs or pedometer steps,” said Dishman.

The study will appears in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (ANI)

Teasing is ‘good for building character’

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:06:00 -0500

Playful teasing and being called names can be good for building character, a new study says.

The surprising research found that calling names such as "ranga" could be good for young people because it helps them bond and develop social skills.

It may even make "victims" more likely to take on leadership roles in the long term, reports News.com.au.

To reach the conclusion, Dr Erin Heerey, of the University of Bangor in North Wales, studied a group of university students in California and found that their "playful humiliations" led to them becoming better friends, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

In the study, boffins visited the group again a couple of years later and found that students who had been the butt of jokes were in leadership positions and now playing the same role in passing on these social norms.

According to Heerey, playground teasing was a normal part of school life and should not be stopped by politically correct teachers.

She said: "Teasing helps children to discover how to use their bodies, voices and faces to communicate nuances of meaning." (ANI)

480 women killed, 195 raped in Karachi in 2008

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:05:00 -0500

More than 1,885 incidents of violence against women took place in Karachi in which more than 480 women had been killed.

The report prepared by the Aurat Foundation said that over 279 women were murdered and more than 284 people — including 80 men – killed on the pretext of karo-kari, or honour killing, and attempts were made on the lives of 45 others.

The report says that 62 women were gang-raped, 86 raped; sexual assault was committed against 47 females and 157 suffered custodial violence and 414 others were abducted.

It says that 146 women committed suicide while 32 others tried to commit suicide, the Dawn reported.

Domestic violence was committed against 112 women, 135 others were hurt or received injuries, 12 women were burnt and acid was thrown at three others and 16 women were trafficked.

It says that of the 1,885 incidents, 354 occurred during the fourth quarter of the year in which 58 women were murdered and 51 others were eliminated on the pretext of honour killing, while attempt was also made on the life of 21 others. Some 38 women committed suicide and 34 others tried to kill themselves.

The report says that eight women were gang-raped, 15 were raped and 43 others were abducted.

It says that 23 women were hurt, custodial violence was committed against 20 women while nine faced domestic violence and five were trafficked, besides many others who faced various kinds of violence.

The report points out that most of the honour killings occurred in rural areas while a majority of murders were reported in urban areas. Weapons used included guns, batons, ropes, knives, bricks, iron rods, and poison. (ANI)

Pakistan Occupied Kashmir gets new Prime Minister

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:05:00 -0500

The newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), Sardar Yaqub, took oath of office.

POK President Raja Zulqarnain Khan administered the oath on Tuesday, the Online reported.

Former POK Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed was removed from office in a no-confidence vote amid allegations of corruption and nepotism; the Daily Times quoted sources, as saying.

Attique received only 17 votes against 31 in favour of Yaqub, they added.

Attique accused the government in Islamabad of engineering his ouster.

Attique’s supporters chanted anti-Zardari slogans outside the legislative assembly in Muzaffarabad.

“The central government interfered in our political system at a time when India was planning to attack,” he told reporters.

Attique’s ouster came amid a split in his Muslim Conference party. Yaqub leads the party’s breakaway faction that has the backing of the opposition including the PPP.

Raja Farooq Haider, who introduced the no-confidence motion, claimed Attique’s government had been working for the partition of Kashmir. (ANI)

Pak NA body wants to blunt Indian diplomatic campaign on Mumbai carnage

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:04:00 -0500

The Pakistan National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs has asked the government to send parliamentary delegations to different countries to present Islamabad’s case regarding the Mumbai terror attacks.

Members of the committee were of the view that Pakistan has not presented its case successfully at the international level, adding that the Foreign Office should be more proactive in giving a matching response to the Indian allegations.

Briefing the committee, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Malik Amad Khan said India had not shared ‘substantial’ evidence with Pakistan.

He said non-state actors had their own ulterior motives, the Daily Times reported.

Khan said that the Indian Government has not responded positively to Pakistan’s offer of a joint investigation into the attacks, and had instead, deployed troops at the border.

“India has not provided complete evidence. It is a part of evidence or something like that. We will wait for more,” Khan said.

Khan criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s allegation linking Pakistani state agencies to the Mumbai attacks.

“We are ready to cooperate with them. Therefore they should avoid making such statements,” he added.

Replying to committee members’ queries, the state minister said the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution was ‘not Pakistan-specific. It was terrorism-specific’.

About Monday’s meeting with the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan, Foreign Affairs Secretary Salman Bashir informed the NA body that India had only provided information and not evidence to Pakistan. “We don’t need information. We want legally suitable evidence.”

He said he had told the Indian high commissioner that Pakistan had also started an investigation into the case. He said India wanted to isolate Pakistan but the targeted action taken by the government at diplomatic front had so far foiled its designs.

Bashir said the government had serious concerns over the campaign launched by India to isolate Pakistan.

He said the post-Mumbai attacks situation was ‘evolving’ as the Indian Prime Minister had now stated that Pakistan was involved in the attacks. (ANI)

Jamaat-ud-Dawa warns Pak is making a ‘big mistake’ by acting against it

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:04:00 -0500

Terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba’s frontal organisation, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa has warned that Pakistan is making a ‘big mistake’ by acting against it.

“The ban by the United Nations Security Council was one-sided; we were not heard by the Security Council. They didn’t hear our clarification,” Abdullah Muntazir, a spokesperson for the Dawa, told an Indian news channel.

“What the UN has done is just on the basis of what the Indian media has reported,” the Daily Times quoted Muntazir, as saying.

“The US demanded only three sanctions but the Pakistan Government went way ahead of these sanctions. The government arrested dozens of our workers, closed all offices and put our top 10 leaders under house arrest. So, what the Pakistani government is doing was not demanded by the UN,” he said.

The JuD spokesman warned Pakistan not to go after the organisation. He said that he did not know what the Pakistani Government would do, but it would be a big mistake on their (government’s) part.

Muntazir said that it would not be acceptable at all to the people of Pakistan.

“Hafiz Saeed (JuD founder) has followers all over Pakistan, and it is not possible for the government of Pakistan to even think about handing him over to India,” Muntazir said.

He rejected allegations that the Dawa was a front for the Lashkar-e-Toiba. “No, that is a total misconception. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is different and LeT is different. We have no links with the Lashkar,” he said.

Muntazir denied knowing the whereabouts of Maulana Masood Azhar, who is wanted by India for terrorism. (ANI)

US urges India, Pakistan to cooperate in dealing with extremism

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:03:00 -0500

Stressing the need for calming India-Pakistan tensions over the Mumbai attacks, the United States on Tuesday urged the two countries to cooperate in dealing with the common threat from violent extremism.

“I would look at one part of this exchange as encouraging, that there is an exchange of information here between India and Pakistan. Now, of course, tensions need to be managed,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

“Thus far, we have seen that the two sides have an interest in doing that,” he added in response to a question about Islamabad’s rhetoric and insinuations on Tuesday of some Pakistani complicity in the Mumbai attacks.

McCormack emphasised at the daily briefing that violent extremists were a common enemy for both countries, the Daily Times reported. (ANI)