Tweeting soon, world’s greatest works of literature

 

Twitterature: Two US university students have summarised the stories of some of the world’s greatest literary works in to Twitter messages

  Two students in the US have summarised the stories of some of the world’s greatest literature in to 140-character messages using the popular micro-blogging site Twitter.

Emmett Rensin, an English and philosophy student at the University of Chicago, and friend Alexander Aciman, who is studying comparative literature, condensed the plot lines in Twitterature: The World’s Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter, soon to be published by Penguin.

According to the Telegraph, the book reads Dante’s Inferno as: “I’m having a midlife crisis. Lost in the woods. Should a bought my iPhone.” Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is trimmed to: “PARTY IN THEBES!!! Nobody cares I killed that old dude, plus this woman is all over me.” Homer’s The Odyssey, and the work of Milton, Kafka and Shakespeare also feature in the tome.

Rensin said: “It’s funny if you’ve read the books.” Aciman added: “There were some lines in the book where we’re sitting on a couch and we’re writing it, and we’d both laugh and say ‘there’s no way they’re going to let us write that’.

“Some people think it’s funny and some people think it’s disrespectful. “I’m not going to say it’s high art. There is some value to it, I feel, aside from the fact we’re making available the idea behind great works of art.”

Shilpa’s wedding date finalised

 

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty says that her wedding date has been finalised, but she will announce it only when her sister Shamita is by her side.

“I know everyone’s eager to know about the wedding date. All I can say is yes it’s been finalised and I will make an official announcement as soon as I know when Shamita’s coming out,” Shilpa, who got engaged to London-based Raj Kundra, posted on her blog.

Shamita is currently participating in the Colors’ reality show Bigg Boss 3. She is locked in the house with 10 more inmates and has no connection with the world outside. Shilpa says she missed her sister.

“It’s been a time of both joy and sorrow for me. The joy is obvious because Raj and I feel happy to take our relationship to the next level, but as most of you know my sister Shamita is still in the Bigg Boss house and could not attend. She doesn’t even know.

“The date was decided a week ago and we all came to the consensus that we should go ahead because another good mahurat (auspicious time) was a long way off. And considering Raj’s parents and relatives were down from London for a week, so it seemed convenient,” she wrote.

“I wanted to have Shamita there during this special moment, but I had to be considerate towards Raj’s family too. So for all those who wanted to know why I went ahead without Shamita, it was a difficult decision but this is the answer.”

Shilpa admits that when her sister comes out of Bigg Boss house, the news of the engagement will shock her.

“I know Shamita will be shocked… she’ll kill me. Missed her more than words can describe but I’m sure she’ll understand! Can’t wait to show her my ring,” she wrote.

So far Shilpa has not commented on her sister’s stay in Bigg Boss house. But now she says that she is proud of Shamita.

“I’ve never commented on what I think of her in there, but just want to say she’s been the pampered baby in our house. It made our whole family so proud to see her have no airs and do all the chores with no qualms,” wrote Shilpa.

“She’s never cooked in her life and I saw her make rotis. I felt terrible watching her cry on TV, but I am amazed to see her growth on the show. This will definitely make her a stronger person. So proud of the way she’s conducting herself with so much dignity.”

IGNOU ties up with Ericsson for 3G Mobile education services

 

Students of IGNOU can now look forward to downloading their study course contents and get SMS alerts through mobiles.

India’s largest university will ink a pact with telecom major Ericsson on Thursday to provide facilities supported by 3G Mobile services in Open and Distance education.

“IGNOU is open to latest technologies that can be used to reach maximum students. We specifically target rural students who cannot always have a one-to-one meeting with teachers to clear their doubts among other things,” IGNOU Vice-Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said.

“A certificate course in IT, covering 5,000 students, will be held as the pilot project in which the 3G service will be utilised. Based on its success we will then chart out courses and contents,” IGNOU VC K.R. Srivasthan, who conceived the idea, said.

Under the programme, mobile service provider Ericsson, which has a network practically covering the entire north-east, will help students access parts of the course web pages, download files like assignments and video clips.

“The service will be available in any mobile handsets having a 3G service,” Goton Achaibar, president and country head of Ericsson India, said in reply to a query.

The 3G technology helps a learner stream through video, audio and selective Internet browsing.

The total investment in rolling out the project will be worked out on the basis of the pilot project.

“Each student may have to shell out an additional around Rs. 25 to the service charges they are paying now. Also the government should give concession to those who cannot afford it. More students using the facility means less cost per head,” Mr. Pillai said.

When asked whether students especially in rural areas can afford handsets with 3G service, Mr. Srivasthan said, “Our aim is to create a 3G technology platform. So the student can go to the nearest Internet or link and make use of the facility.”

“Techniques like web-mentoring and web-procuring will help students to have not only a two-way audio and video interactives, but also access a delivery of classroom discussion or a seminar.”

Ericsson India Chief Achaibar said the rollout process (after the pilot project) is relatively easy in India as it has established network providers (BSNL, MTNL), and a large per cent of mobile users besides technology.

“Seven hundred million people in India are outside metro areas. But we are encouraged with the success of 2G which has 400 million customers. Also two-third of its population are mobile users,” he said.

A kiwifruit a day keeps doctor at bay

Kiwi and Orange Souftle: Kiwi appears to be the perfect food for preventing all sorts of liver problems.

Kiwi fruit has been labelled as the best source of vitamin C, which can have wonderful health benefits, according to an expert.

Professor Robin Fraser, of Otago University’s Christchurch School of Medicine, has said that the furry fruit could be the key to living longer as it appears to be the perfect food for preventing all sorts of liver problems as well as keeping white blood cells health. Fraser, who has seen many unhealthy livers in his time as a pathologist, is a convert to the benefits of the fruit.

“It just seems as though it works. I’m so convinced that I eat kiwifruit every morning for my breakfast,” Stuff.co.nz quoted him as saying.

Fraser compared the liver to a sieve that when working properly effectively filtered the carrier of cholesterol.

But, he said, those holes could be closed because of excess drinking, an overly fatty diet, smoking, illicit drug use and stress, which could lead to atherosclerosis- a major killer through heart failure, strokes, gangrenous feet and aortic aneurism.

But he pointed out that a daily dose of kiwifruit, along with a healthier lifestyle, appeared to be able to reopen those holes in the liver-which, in his opinion was an exciting development. He said kiwifruit was the most efficient way of getting the recommended dose of vitamin C, the active ingredient that appeared to fix the liver.

Dr Margreet Vissers, the dean of research at Otago University in Christchurch, said that vitamin C was also needed by white blood cells to kill bacteria and ensured they did not kill off everything else in the process.

Fraser presented his findings at the annual scientific meeting of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia in Christchurch on Saturday

Hussain Welcomes Indian PM for Talks Offer to Hurriyat

New Delhi, Oct 27 – A Pakistani senator Tuesday welcomed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s readiness to talk to the separatist Hurriyat Conference in Jammu and Kashmir.

‘I will welcome it but with cautious optimism. Kashmiris have to be taken aboard the dialogue process. Good Indian leaders have started doing it,’

said Mushahid Hussain, who was information minister in the Nawaz Sharif government.

Manmohan Singh said in Thai resort Hua Hin Sunday that he had held two or three rounds of talks with Hurriyat leaders and they had promised to revert to them. He said he was waiting for them.

Hussain welcomed Manmohan Singh’s initiative to re-start a dialogue with Kashmiri separatist leaders and ‘quiet diplomacy’ to solve problems in the troubled state.

Asked about military aid from Pakistan to Kashmiri militants, he said: ‘You ask this to Kashmiris if their struggle isn’t indigenous, popular and genuine.’

So wasn’t Pakistan resorting to blame game tactics in accusing India? Pat came the reply: ‘(The) same can be said about India.’

‘In the end, the two countries have to work jointly in curbing the menace (of terrorism), which is common not only to them but to the entire humankind.’

Hussain is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Pakistan Senate. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference against terrorism organised by the Jama Masjid United Forum at Oberoi Hotel here.

At the same time, Hussain echoed the Pakistani establishment line that India was covertly assisting the Taliban — an allegation New Delhi has dismissed with contempt.

‘India is drawing vicarious pleasure from Pakistan’s troubles. Some elements in India are using our problems to what they think is their advantage. They are following the Chanakya principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ he said.

Hussain condemned terrorism but warned that ‘the menace won’t end until the Kashmir and Palestine issues were solved peacefully and democratically’ – a popular line Pakistani leaders have been maintaining when accused of sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

‘It is our official and realistic policy that the Kashmir issue has to be solved as per the wishes and aspirations of Kashmiris, as laid down in the UN resolutions,’ he said.

Both India and Pakistan have to be ‘realistic that neither can Kashmir be held militarily nor can we snatch it militarily’.

‘We have been the biggest victims of terrorism. There is a terror corridor that runs from Iraq into Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

‘India is promoting and aiding Taliban in Pakistan and should understand that if it doesn’t stop fomenting terrorism against Pakistan, the corridor won’t stop at the Wagah border (in Punjab) and would very much enter into India,’ said the alumnus of the School of Foreign Service in Georgetown University, US.

Fortnight’s Judicial Custody for IIT Scholar

New Delhi, Oct 27 – A city court Tuesday sent a 34-year-old PhD scholar of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, held for the murder of a Manipuri teenager, to 14 days judicial custody.

Metropolitan Magistrate Saurabh Singh sent Pushpum Sinha to 14 days judicial custody for allegedly killing his 19-year-old neighbour, Ramchanphy Hongray.

According to Police, Sinha is suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder and produced some medical reports in the court to substantiate the same.

Sinha, who is unmarried, was arrested late Monday after four hours of intense questioning by police. According to the police, he has confessed to strangling Hongray in her Munirka home in south Delhi. He then burnt the girl’s face to mislead the police into thinking that she died in an accidental fire.

Earlier, the police, too, thought it was a case of accidental death. However, the post-mortem examination revealed that she did not die of burns but had been strangulated.

Exercise with pal, burn more fat

London: Heading to the gym? Well, don’t forget to take along your friend, for a new study has claimed that exercising with a partner boosts weight loss.

To reach the conclusion, Professor Shiriki Kumanyika and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, conducted the two-year trial. The study included 344 men and women.

The volunteers’ goal was to achieve and maintain a 5 per cent to 10 per cent weight loss. They were educated on a healthy diet and physical activity, given pedometers and enrolled in exercise sessions, reports The Telegraph.

A total of 63 people enrolled in the programme alone and 281 enrolled with a friend or family member.

The groups were split into three sections, those who trained alone, those who had a partner that received little coaching and those who were with a friend who also had a high level of coaching.

Their progress was then measured at intervals of six, 12, 18 and 24 months, according to the research, published in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine journal.

After analyses, researchers found that the participants with a partner in the high support group lost the most weight at all the measurement periods.

Kumanyika said: “We evaluated family and friend social support as a specific cultural adaptation strategy.

“Beneficial effects on weight loss were linked to actual rather than assigned partner participation and to partner success in losing weight.

“Further studies may elucidate ways to facilitate effective family or friend participation and to improve absolute weight losses.”

Don’t travel to Pakistan: India

 

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday advised all Indian citizens to avoid visiting Pakistan in view of deteriorating security situation there following a string of militant attacks on military, police and civilian targets.

“The government of India is of the view that it is not advisable for the Indian pilgrims to visit Pakistan in the prevailing situation when frequent terrorist attacks are taking place in Punjab province of Pakistan, where all gurudwaras are situated,” said a statement issued by the home ministry.

“Accordingly, the government advises all Indian citizens to avoid undertaking any visit to Pakistan for this purpose, till the security situation in Pakistan improves.”

Nearly 200 people have been killed in the latest wave of militant violence, which started with a suicide bombing at the offices of the UN World Food Programme in Islamabad Oct 5.

The most audacious attack came on Oct 10 when 10 terrorists in military uniform laid siege to the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, close to the capital. At least 19 people, including nine raiders, died in the 22-hour standoff.

The brazen attacks have shown a range of tactics and targets. While some have been suicide blasts by attackers on foot or in vehicles, others have involved teams of gunmen staging raids.

Kurnool still sunk under garbage

 Hyderabad: Nearly 7,500 tonnes of muck is being removed every day, but the biggest-ever garbage cleaning operation in the state has failed to bring much respite for residents of flood-hit Kurnool.

This shows the enormity of the task at hand as the government sets about bringing life to normal in the areas that went under floodwaters last month. Though 25 days have passed since the floods receded in the town, the district administration is still finding it difficult to clear thousands of tonnes of garbage that has piled up on the streets.

About 50,000 houses were affected in the floods. The stinking streets with mounds of decomposed garbage in front of every house is spreading illness among the residents. Authorities have so far spent Rs 3.52 crore just to clean the garbage — which is more than what has been spent on the development in the town.

The government has engaged a principal secretary, four IAS officers, six municipal administration officers, 53 municipal commissioners and 2,700 sanitation staff to clean up the city.

This apart from deploying 275 tractors, 46 JCBs, 28 bulldozers, 35 fire engines, 60 water tankers, 10 gopher machines to clear drains and 500 bin-carts.

In the process, Kurnool has set a new record in handling the highest garbage in a day, surpassing the record of Greater Hyderabad Mu-nicipal Corporation, which has the capacity of removing about 3,200 tonnes of garbage every day. In Kurnool, the sanitation staff is removing about 7,500 tonnes of garbage every day.

Fire in car accessories godown

 

WHAT NEXT: A resident watches the billowing smoke after breaking open the closed door of the basement on Minister’s Road in Secunderabad on Tuesday when a fire broke out. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

 Panic prevailed in the residential colonies around the Minister’s Road in Secunderabad after fire broke out in the godown of a car accessories shop situated on the ground floor of a residential complex, on Tuesday.

The godown, which has many tyres stored, caught fire in the morning, forcing the authorities to close the Minister’s Road for traffic, which led to massive traffic jams on Sardar Patel and Rani Gunj roads.

Thick plumes of smoke engulfed the entire area forcing residents in the colonies to evacuate. Many were complaining of breathlessness and burning eyes. Fire tenders were being rushed from other stations to control the fire.

Authorities did not hazard a guess as to the origin of the fire. No casualties were reported.

Helping UNKNOWN/ UNCLAIMED/MISSING/UNIDENTIFIED dead body creamtion

Human being is more precious among all the creations made by supreme power the god, but we are not being able to keep the preciousness of it. At the same point of time unfortunately creations made by the supreme power also vanishes from this earth.

Come on wakeup and help the unknown/unindentified dead bodies to kae their sould rest in peace, who cannot communicate to you as they are dead. As said in GITA by Lord Kirshna death is changing the body by a soul, just as we change the dress next day / jour / minute.

So why not help their soul in reaching the god and help them in taking re-birth without considering his Cast / Religion / Race / Colour / Sex by cremating the unknown / unidentified dead body on humanitarian grounds.

One of the point as per NEETI Shastra is helping unknown / unidentified dead body cremation is equivalent to performing ASHWAMEDHA YAGA which can be done only by helping in unknown / unidentified dead body cremation in your life.

In the twin cities of Hyderabad and secunderabad, it is a routine the deaths are taking place of different persons for various reasons i.e., either due to accidents, murders or suden deaths etc. Most of such cases are being registered by the police and keeping the dead bodies in the hospital mortuaries as unknown / unclaimed dead bodies, due to lack of identity of the persons by their families, the families of the dead of their persons have no information of the dead of their persons.

Sri Kanugula Rajeshwar Rao Photographer has stared taking photos since 1999 of unknown unclaimed dead bodies in the mortuary of Osmaina General Hospital Hyderabad and keep the photos in hundreds to identify the same by the heirs of dead bodies.

The Satya Harishchandra Foundation has been formed mainly keeping in view the human values and to maintain dignity of human being after death of person whose bodies are unclaimed / unknown in tune with the need for up keeping righteousness i.e. Manava Dharma.

This foundation has been established during 2004 with like minded members and started its activities gradually with the help of two photographers Mr. Sai Kishore & Mr. Mahesh & Maintaining photographs albums of preserved, unknown / unclaimed dead bodies are in a library like things in the office to make available and to be traced by the concerned persons.

The organization has obtained permission in the December � 2005 from the commissioner of police Hyderabad to cremate the unknown / unclaimed dead bodies which are kept in hospital mortuaries and it has also started web site  www.helplineunknownbodies.com  in 2006 in the office for public convenience as well as for official purpose to assist the police and health department etc.

The organization has been maintaining the registers and photo library of all unknown / unclaimed dead bodies which are kept in the mortuaries of Osmania General Hospital Hyderabad and Gandhi Hospital Secunderabad etc. with the assistance of police and health authorities to take photographers by our photographers and collecting all available particulars of the unclaimed dead bodies to enable general public to trace / find out easily to their families in this manner the organization has been assisting several people to trace out their relatives either the help of photo library and web site in the office daily.

The organization has started cremating unknown / unclaimed dead bodies since January 2006. the first mass cremating of 24 dead bodies took place on 22 Jan 2006 which pertains to the mortuary of Osmania General Hospital Hyderabad. And second mass cremation was done on 14 Feb 2006 of 22 dead bodies of Gandhi Hospital Secunderabad since then the organization is continuously cremating about 5 to 10 bodies every week in electrical crematorium at Amberpet grave yard Hyderabad. Like this more than 950 above dead bodies have cremated by the organization up to Aug 2008.

The police are often receiving complaints of missing cases and if such missing persons are already dead in disposed off as an unknown / unclaimed dead bodies then the missing cases remain unsolved. Our photo library assisting the police and relatives in establishing the identity of death person and almost more than 400 above dead bodies have been traced out since Jan 2006 to Aug 2008.

Simultaneously the organization has obtained permission in October � 2006 from the commissioner of police Cyberabad to extend the limitation and activities in Ranga Reddy district area as well.

The foundation has prepared sticker and displaying posters at all Police stations Railway stations Bus stands and Hospitals etc. for wide publicity and to create awareness among the common people.

The certain individuals and some donors are coming forward and co-operating for such good cause on humanitarian grounds and helping the organization in cremating regularly the unknown / unclaimed dead bodies.

The press & Electronic media are closely watching the activities of our organization and publishing the same in the news papers / Electronic media and some time they are cooperating with us by publishing in the news papers to identify the unknown / unclaimed dead bodies.

Through certain departments like police and health department are assisting the organization in its main activities of cremation of unknown / unclaimed dead bodies, unfortunately till date there is no full fledged cooperation or assistance from the Government. Either by the way of recognizing the activities of the organization or granting any formal assistance in running the activities of the organization.

If philanthropic organizations or individuals who want to serve the humanity come forward and help the organization in the noble cause, the organizations would be very happy to receive them and involve their activity in the activities of the organization.

Paying their last respects

  

Their work involves unclaimed bodies, death threats, complications due to administrative delays and a zeal to ensure that humans are not denied respect at the final hour.
While youngsters and NGOs are busy in various charitable activities, a small organisation has taken up a rare kind of service. Their mission — to give a decent farewell to the unknown and the unclaimed.
Satya Harischandra Foundation, nestled between the Afzalgunj police station and a hotel, is housed in a 17 square-yard space. The founder K. Rajeshwar Rao, runs his mission equipped with digital cameras, two computers, a printer and a land-line. He is supported by 20 odd students, including four girls. “The work is emotionally satisfying, though it may appear shocking to onlookers,” he says.
Sixteen-year-old Kavitha, an intermediate student, joined the foundation one month ago. “My sister was suffering from TB and was admitted to OGH, that’s when I came to know about the foundation,” she says.
Lavanya, 24, joined them after having completed her graduation. She says, “Our work involves packing bodies, often in decomposed states and shifting them to a graveyard on the city outskirts before cremating them. We scout hospitals and collect details of unclaimed people. Their photographs are stored in a database.”
“So far we have profiled over 10,000 photographs,” says Srinivas, one of the founder members. “My father-in-law went missing and despite scanning the city for three days we could not trace him. Finally, I located his body through this foundation. I’ve been a full time member since then,” says 40-year-old Syed Salim, a resident of Bahadurpura.
Sadly, the foundation has to struggle to give a decent burial to the unknown bodies. But the members are unperturbed by the resistance. “Very often, we are chased from the grave yard, when we try to cremate these bodies,” Saleem says.
The foundation sustains on funds donated by like-minded individuals and organisations. Donations also pour in from unexpected quarters. A lorry driver called up Rajeshwar Rao and pledged a monthly contribution of Rs 100.
“A person is called by his/her name as long as he/she is alive. But when they die, we just call them a body. The least we can do is let the families know what became of their missing kin,” Rao said.

 For more details just click the below link:

 http://unknownbodies.org/

Really a good service to the unknown/missing/unidentified bodies…We can really appreciate for their great work..

“Service to man is Service to God “

Avoid Pakistan, Government Tells Pilgrims

New Delhi/Amritsar, Oct 27 – The government Tuesday advised Indian pilgrims to avoid visiting Pakistan in view of the deteriorating security situation there. But the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) said it was awaiting clearance for Sikh devotees wanting to visit Pakistan for a festival next week.

The home ministry said in a statement that it was ‘not advisable for Indian pilgrims to visit Pakistan in the prevailing situation when frequent terrorist attacks are taking place in Punjab province of Pakistan, where all gurdwaras are situated’.

The SGPC, the mini parliament of Sikh religion headquartered in Punjab’s Amritsar city, has applied for permission from the home ministry to allow Sikhs to go to Pakistan next week in connection with Gurpurab, the birth anniversary celebration of Sikhism’s founder Guru Nanak Dev.

The birthplace of Guru Nanak is Nankana Sahib, near Lahore. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar told IANS Tuesday that the Pakistan visit was an important religious event.

‘We understand that the government issued the travel advisory in view of the bad situation in Pakistan. Anything can happen there. If the government feels that it (Pakistan) is unsafe, it should ban all travel to that country,’ Makkar said.

‘We have applied for permission for our jatha (group) to go there. If the clearance is given, it becomes the responsibility of the Indian government to talk to Pakistan to ensure security of the Sikh pilgrims,’ he added.

The SGPC jatha for the Nov 2 event could have 1,500-2,000 devotees.

‘The (travel) advisory alone does not help. If we (SGPC) don’t send pilgrims, and pilgrims decide to go in smaller groups, it will be embarrassing for us,’ Makkar added.

Earlier this month, over 200 Indians who had gone to Pakistan on pilgrimage had to cut short their visit due to security concerns after the Pakistan Army’s GHQ was attacked by terrorists in Rawalpindi.

Nearly 200 people have been killed in the latest wave of militant violence that began with a suicide bombing at the offices of the UN World Food Programme in Islamabad Oct 5.

The most audacious attack was on Oct 10 when 10 terrorists in military uniform laid siege to the Pakistan Army’s General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. At least 19 people, including nine raiders, died in the 22-hour standoff.

Two Maoists Arrested in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Oct 27 – Two Maoists were arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambhi district with arms and material used for making landmines. The two have told police that Maoists were planning to target railway tracks in several districts of the state.

Harishchandra and Jagli Nishad – both in their early 40s – were nabbed late Monday evening in Ujhaini Khalsa village in Kaushambhi district, some 300 km from Lucknow.

‘The two were nabbed while they were returning after participating in a meeting held in the Puramufti area of the district,’ police inspector R.R. Singh told IANS on phone.

‘The two have admitted that several Maoist leaders operating in various districts including Mirzapur, Chandauli and Sonbhadra attended the meeting,’ he added.

According to police, two guns, several cartridges and wires used in landmines were recovered from the two.

In their statement to police, they said that during the meeting the leftwing guerrillas drew up plans to target railways tracks in several districts.

‘We have learnt that a number of Maoists are still hiding in the Puramufti area. We have initiated an operation to nab other rebels,’ said Singh.

Several Bangalore Doctors Fall Prey to Swine Flu

Bangalore, Oct 27 – Members of the medical fraternity across Bangalore’s hospitals are undergoing special screening tests for the H1N1 virus, after seven doctors in the city tested positive for swine flu recently.

The seven are from Victoria Hospital and Bowring Hospital, informed a health department official.

‘Hospitals across Bangalore are conducting special screening tests for H1N1 virus among its doctors to keep the pandemic at bay. It’s not just the doctors and nurses treating swine flu patients who are at the risk of getting infected by the virus, but medical staff in every hospital is at risk, as they come across people who are suffering from swine flu,’ principal secretary for health I.R. Perumal told IANS.

Health officials maintain that medical staff are taking all precautionary measures including using triple layered masks and special hand sanitisers.

‘While treating swine flu patients, doctors take adequate measures not to get themselves infected by the H1N1 virus. However, every day medical staff treat patients who are yet to be tested positive for the virus without any protection,’ said Shashidhar Buggi, director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD), Bangalore’s main hospital treating swine flu patients.

Health officials maintain that there is adequate supply of masks to hospitals and all the medical staff including doctors are being educated about the protective measures.

‘Initially, prophylactic dosages of Tamiflu were being administered to doctors and paramedical staff. However, we’ve stopped the process. Prophylactic dosage of Tamiflu does not give permanent protection from H1N1 virus. If medical staff develop swine flu later, Tamiflu will not have any effect on their body,’ Perumal said.

At least 55 doctors and paramedical staff across Bangalore have shown symptoms of swine flu so far.

Karnataka has the second highest number of swine flu related deaths in the country after Maharashtra. The state has already registered 111 swine flu related deaths. Of them, 82 were in Bangalore. The total number of confirmed swine flu cases in the state till date is 1,392, health officials stated.

The ‘Thriller’ is back

 

“This Is It”, a quick fix of nostalgia for Michael Jackson fans hits the screens tomorrow. Mini Anthikad Chhibber on the making of the film Michael Jackson was a Pop cultural phenomenon who strode the dance floor like a colossus. He was the essence of the Eighties who gave a new meaning to the word showman. All the later strangeness, the multiple plastic surgeries, the collapsing nose, changing skin colour, the child molestation cases and the bankruptcy, could not take away from the sheer performing brilliance of the man who made music and electric dance moves segue together to take the audience breath away. While Pink Floyd’s stage shows are supposed to be the last word in psychotropic tripping, Jackson on stage had the energy of a gazillion whirling dervishes. Watching him do the moonwalk to ‘Billie Jean’, lead the nimble zombies in the iconic mini-movie ‘Thriller’ or trip the light fantastic to Eddie Van Halen’s screeching riffs in ‘Beat It’ is guaranteed to bring out goose bumps every single time. While there was no way he could top 1982’s ‘Thriller’, from the mid-Nineties on, Jackson was more in the news for his eccentric lifestyle than his music. So die-hard fans were thrilled to bits when this March, Jackson announced his “final curtain call”, a series of comeback concerts in London’s O2 arena, called ‘This is it’. The response caused the original 10-date concert tour to be increased to a 50-date one. Just three weeks before the concerts were to begin on July 13 this year, Jackson died of cardiac arrest on June 25 at the age of 50. The world was engulfed in a tidal wave of grief fuelled by wall-to-wall media coverage. All of us dusted off our Michael Jackson albums and swapped stories of how we first saw the moonwalk back in the days of black and white telly on DD’s Friday night western music special, ‘Hot Tracks’. Behind-the-scenes And just when you thought it was safe to mourn other things such as Amitabh Bachchan in the weird and wonderful guise of pop philosopher in the strangely titled ‘Bigg Boss’ came the news of “This is it”, a concert movie created from over 100 hours of behind-the-scenes footage of Jackson rehearsing for the show. Released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, “This is it” will be released on October 28 worldwide for a limited two-week engagement. Directed by Jackson’s long-time collaborator Kenny Ortega, the film is produced by Randy Phillips, Ortega and Paul Gongaware. Ortega, who also collaborated with Jackson on his ‘Dangerous’ and ‘History’ tours, apart from directing Miley Cyrus in ‘Best of Both Worlds Tour’ and has been quoted as saying the film is a “kind of musical mosaic. It is sort of like you get a backstage pass or a private sort of peek into the world of a great genius and watch him through his last creative process interacting with musicians, dancers, and singers, filmmakers, costume designers, production designers, interacting with all of us.” Travis Payne who has had stars including Madonna and Britney Spears and Jackson dance to his tunes has choreographed “This Is It”. While the makers insist that the movie is way of shutting up all who said Jackson was too frail and too out of it to do the demanding tour, cynics would see the film as one more opportunity to make money of a memory. Fans would anyway watch the film for a quick fix of nostalgia. For fans in India, where Jackson’s contribution to mainstream cinema cannot be dismissed, the film would be a chance to watch the original, the baap of Mithun Chakraborty and Prabhudeva, set the screen on fire with his killer moves.

‘Pushpa yagam’

TIRUMALA: Religious fervour marked the annual ‘pushpa yagam’ that was conducted at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara on Monday.

 Large variety of aromatic flowers weighing over 10 tonnes were used in the ‘pushpa yagam’ festival. The day commenced with ‘snapana thirumanjanam’ to the processional deities at the kalyana mandapam situated inside the Sampangi Prakaram followed by ‘pushpa yagam’ in the afternoon.

 As a prelude to the festival ‘ankurarpanam’ was observed on Sunday evening. In connection with the festival the temple management dispensed with the performance of daily rituals inside the temple like thomala, archana, visesha pooja, vasanthotsavam, kalyanotsavam, unjal seva and other arjitha sevas.

Flexible degree courses in distance learning

VISAKHAPATNAM: GITAM University which recently introduced distance learning mode of education in degree, postgraduate and diploma programmes through its Centre for Distance Learning (CDL), is starting soon flexible system for B.A. and B.Com. programmes, in both Telugu and English media. “Formal education is not required and one who had completed 18 years and has the ability to read and write English. Candidates will be selected for the course after they qualify in an entrance test. Notification about the course will be issued in a few days”, GITAM University Vice-Chancellor G. Subrahmanyam, said at a press conference here on Monday. The flexible system for B.A. and B.Com. study was introduced to take education to as many people as possible, particularly the rural areas and the poor, he said. There would be a common foundation course during the first year of both courses and after first year one could change from B.A. to B.Com. or vice-versa. DCL has received approval of the Distance Education Council of IGNOU and has adopted the course material of IGNOU, the standard body for distance education in the country, Prof. Subrahmanyam said. GCDL’s fee was also less than that being charged by many distance education institutions. GCDL was also giving special focus on good placement for its students and would conduct personality development and career orientation programmes for its students.

SBI training for job aspirants begins

VIJAYAWADA: The State Bank of India (SBI) is recruiting 11,000 candidates as clerks through an examination that will be conducted across the country on November 8, 15 and 22. SBI Assistant General Manager S. Eswaran says that at the Vijayawada centre, nearly 75,000 candidates are appearing for the written examination and massive arrangements are being made for this. For the candidates belonging to the SC, ST, minority and ex-servicemen categories, the SBI on Monday began conducting a pre-examination training programme. It will continue till October 31. Another training programme will be conducted from November 1 to 6. The programme would be conducted at Sree Vidya Sadan, beside Maris Stella College, and in the meeting Hall, SBI, administrative unit, Suryaraopet. SBI Deputy Manager Sudhakar said there was an overwhelming response for the programme that started on Monday at Sree Vidya Sadan and at the bank’s administrative unit.

17-kg gold vessel donated at Tirumala

Tirumala: An ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara from New Delhi on Monday donated a huge golden vessel to the hill temple. According to the temple sources, it weighed over 17 kg and the cost is put around Rs. 3 crore. The devotee wished to remain anonymous and handed over the princely offering to TTD Chairman D.K. Adikesavulu Naidu inside the temple.

Rs. 2,919-cr. loss in Kurnool

KURNOOL: The Central team comprising top government officials arrived in Srisailam for a two-day visit of flood-ravaged areas in Kurnool district on Monday. The team landed at Sundipenta and proceeded to the left powerhouse of Srisaialm hydel station which suffered a loss to the extent of Rs. 300 crore. Later, the team also visited the right powerhouse and the bridge downstream. Flood loss Briefing the visiting team, Collector Mukesh Kumar Meena put the loss on account of the flood at Rs. 2,919 crore and the toll at 43. He said some rural pockets and Kurnool city suffered extensive damage. Later, talking to reporters, the team leader said the Union Government would be apprised of the loss on account of the flood with suitable recommendations. ent. The team would start assessing the damage in the core areas beginning with Nidjur and Sunkesula near Kurnool.