13-12-11 News Highlights

Sex Education for 10 years old kids in South Africa

Children as young as 10 could be taught about safe sex in South African schools as the country battles to contain pre-teen pregnancy and HIV infection, the department of health said on Monday.

Health and education officials are scratching their heads over when kids are old enough to hear about the birds and the bees in an education plan due next year.

"Is 10 too early or too late? We want to start as early as possible," said education ministry spokeswoman Hope Mokgatlhe.

A health ministry report on HIV infection among pregnant women published last week showed an increase in infections among young girls aged 10-14 in 2010. Almost 10 percent of the 121 future young mothers carried the virus.

"A number of young kids are falling pregnant, kids as young as 11 to 12, contracting sexually-transmitted diseases," health ministry spokesman Fidel Hadebe told AFP.

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Men Are Not Sex Crazed After All : New Study

Everyone knows the old urban legend that men think about sex every minute of the day, but now that appears to have been debunked. Men are not so sex crazed after all, say researchers from Ohio State University.

Their research appears to discredit the persistent stereotype that men think about sex every seven seconds, which would amount to more than 8,000 thoughts about sex in 16 waking hours. In fact, over the course of their study, the median number of young men's thoughts about sex stood at under 19 times per day. Young women in the study reported a median of nearly 10 thoughts about sex per day.

Their study, which is scheduled for publication in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of Sex Research compares163 female and 120 male college students between the ages of 18 and 25 who were enrolled in a psychology research participation program. Of those, 59 were randomly assigned to track thoughts about food, 61 about sleep and 163 about sex. Most students were white and self-identified as heterosexual. The college-student sample made it comparable to previous research and involved an age group at which gender differences in sexuality are likely at their peak.

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12-12-2011 Highlights

Erotica gives book publishers surprising boost 

"Thong on Fire" may sound more painful than sexy, but erotic books like it may just help keep the struggling publishing industry afloat. The popular novel is by Noire, a “twenty-something” writer of urban erotic fiction who has sold hundreds of thousands of books since she started publishing just a few years ago. Her book sales are huge numbers in the world of publishing and have made her something of a minor celebrity. 

Mainstream publishing has gone sexually wide-open. Seventy-seven years ago it took an order by a federal judge, John Woolsey, to overturn the government’s obscenity ban on James Joyce’s classic novel "Ulysses." But in the past few years, Random House, Penguin, Kensington, Simon and Schuster and others have all inaugurated erotica imprints. 

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Young people worldwide having more unsafe sex

Young people across the globe are having more unprotected sex and know less about effective contraception options, a multinational survey revealed on Monday. 

The "Clueless or Clued Up: Your Right to be informed about contraception" study prepared for World Contraception Day (WCD) reports that the number of young people having unsafe sex with a new partner increased by 111 percent in France, 39 percent in the USA and 19 percent in Britain in the last three years

.

"No matter where you are in the world, barriers exist which prevent teenagers from receiving trustworthy information about sex and contraception, which is probably why myths and misconceptions remain so widespread even today," a member of the WCD task force, Denise Keller, said in a statement with the results of the study.

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Mind-blowing SEX actually can wipe memory clean

A 54-year-old woman showed up in the emergency room at Georgetown University Hospital with her husband, unable to remember the past 24 hours. Her newer memories were hazy, too. One thing she did recall: Her amnesia had started right after having sex with her husband just an hour before.

While sex can be forgettable or mind-blowing, for some people, it can quite literally be both at the same time. The woman, whose case was reported in the September issue of The Journal of Emergency Medicine, was experiencing transient global amnesia, a rare condition in which memory suddenly, temporarily, disappears.

People with transient global amnesia suffer no side effects, and the memory problems usually reverse themselves in the span of a few hours. It's a rare condition, affecting only about 3 to 5 people per 100,000 each year. But what makes transient global amnesia so eerie is that researchers aren't sure what causes it, or why patients remain otherwise chatty and alert while missing large chunks of their memories.

"We don't know very much about the cause," said Sebastian Ameriso, a neurologist at the Institute for Neurological Research in Buenos Aires, who was not involved in the 54-year-old woman's case. "It causes a lot of alarm, but this is not a stroke or an event that causes damage to the brain. It's almost always very benign."

Mind-erasing activities 
Sex can trigger transient global amnesia, as can other physically strenuous activities. People in their 50s and 60s are the most likely to experience an episode, but strangely, most people with transient global amnesia have it only once. In most cases, the amnesia is anterograde, meaning people have trouble forming new memories. Sometimes, people also experience transient retrograde amnesia, forgetting some portion of their previous memories. In the case of the 54-year-old woman at the Washington, D.C., hospital, the last day was a fog, and she had been forgetful and confused since having sex.

As with most patients, the woman's brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) showed nothing unusual and no damage to the brain. By the time she left the emergency room, her symptoms were almost gone.

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Scientists suspects wi-fi laptops can damage sperm

"The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps”

According to BBC News , Scientists are questioning if using wi-fi on a laptop to roam the internet could harm a man's fertility, after lab work suggested ejaculated sperm were significantly damaged after only four hours of exposure.

The benchside tests showed sperm were less able to swim and had changes in the genetic code that they carry.

Experts stress this does not mean the same would occur in a real-life setting and say men should not worry unduly.

But they are recommending more studies.

The preliminary research, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, looked at semen samples from 29 healthy donors.

Each donor sample was separated out into two pots. One of these pots was then stored for four hours next to a laptop that was wirelessly connected to the internet. The other was stored under identical conditions, minus the laptop.

The scientists, from Argentina and the US, suspect that the effect seen is unrelated to the heat kicked out by a laptop, although heat can damage sperm.

The UK's Health Protection Agency has been closely monitoring the safety of wi-fi.

It says people using wi-fi, or those in the proximity of wi-fi equipment, are exposed to the radio signals it emits - and some of the transmitted energy in the signals is absorbed in their bodies.

However, the signals are very low power.

The HPA says there is no consistent evidence to date that exposure to radio signals from wi-fi adversely affects the health of the general population.

UK fertility expert Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "The study is very well conducted, but we should be cautious about what it may infer about the fertility of men who regularly use laptops with wi-fi on their laps.

"Ejaculated sperm are particularly sensitive to many factors because outside the body they don't have the protection of the other cells, tissues and fluids of the body in which they are stored before ejaculation." Therefore, we cannot infer from this study that because a man might use a laptop with wi-fi on his lap for more than four hours then his sperm will necessarily be damaged and he will be less fertile.

"We need large epidemiological studies to determine this, and to my knowledge these have not yet been performed."

He said men should still be cautious about balancing a laptop on their thighs for hours on end.

"We know from other studies that the bottom of laptops can become incredibly hot and inadvertent testicular heating is a risk factor for poor sperm quality.

"There is a case report of a man who burnt his penis after using a laptop resting on his lap for a long time. Therefore, there are many reasons to try and use a laptop on a table where possible, and this may in itself ameliorate any theoretical concerns about wi-fi."

Read More on BBC News 

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Hot Geordie model FRANCOISE BOUFHAL is talk of the town

LUCKILY there's no hosepipe ban in the US - otherwise FRANCOISE BOUFHAL might be in trouble.

The Geordie model has made her big break in America by appearing in Playboy USA.
Francoise, who came to prominence after being named face of RIO FERDINAND's No5 magazine, features in the latest issue.

She's pictured in a bikini spraying water all over her curvaceous body in a special introductory feature.
It wasn't too long ago the former Byker Grove star struggled to get the modelling jobs she wanted due to her mammoth 28H chest.

Now she's a hit Stateside.
 
Francoise Boufhal (born on 18 December 1988) is an English model, actress and presenter.

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'Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1' Dowing well at box office. Touches $500 Mil Worldwide

Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 1 had the sharpest bite at the Thanksgiving box office, winning the extended holiday with $62.3 million and pushing its worldwide came to nearly $500 million.
Breaking Dawn's domestic came through Sunday is an estimated $221.3 million, while it earned another $71.5 million at the international box office this weekend for a foreign came of $268 million and worldwide total of $489.3 million. Domestically, the film continues to pace slightly behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which had earned $230 million at the same point.
Read more

Top 5 Divas in Wresting History

1. Trish Stratus

Trish had it all. On top of being gorgeous, she was one of the more talented diva wrestlers the WWE has ever had. She brought her sexy back on this past season of Tough Enough...this time as a brunette. This is a true testament to her beauty, where after years of being a blonde bombshell, she comes back and rocks our world as a sexy brunette. Oh, and she has a new-found love for yoga, which is never a bad thing. We are thrilled to have her back in the WWE, and although she is not on the show that often.

2. Stacy Keibler

The way she entered the ring says it all. That sexy, slow, bent over entry would just make every guy in the audience drool. The WWE knew how sexy she was and just continued to tease fans with segments like this and this...and this. Who am I kidding, we all know just how hot she is, and she continues to turn heads to this day. She was rumored to have been with George Clooney recently, and if that means more Stacy in the public eye, then it's..

3. Sable

Sable was every boys dream in the 1990's. She would come out to the ring and everything would get quiet in the room as you and your friends just watched in awe. She went on to be one of the most successful and sexy divas the WWE has ever seen. Her success in the ring led to multiple Playboy appearances, only further wowing us. 

4. Sunny

Sunny. Oh Sunny. True fact about Sunny, I once won a signed picture of her from a charity auction and it is currently on my mantle. Does that make me a loser or does that make me somebody who appreciates beauty. In my opinion, it's the latter. She had the ultimate strut out the ring and knew how good she looked. She pulled off the school girl look better than almost anyone else in the industry. What Sunny wants Sunny gets! She is widely..

5. Maryse

Maryse was a two time WWE Diva Champion and is probably the sexiest Diva the WWE has had in the past five years. So why the hell would you ever release her from her contract?! It seems like Vince wants to get the hottest divas out of the company for whatever reason. She was a pretty talented wrestler and was known for the occasional wardrobe malfunction. She also had a pretty memorable Playboy shoot in 2007. 

Pamela's Baywatch costume is a bit small for Teen bride Courtney Stodden

Red alert! There's a new Baywatch babe on the beach.

Sadly this isn't a casting call for the a remake of the classic life guard television series, but a Twitter pic of Pamela Anderson wannabe and teen bride, Courtney Stodden.

The 16-year-old blonde bombshell tweeted the photo of curvaceous figure in the iconic red swimming costume yesterday with the message, 'Just completed my session; Court does Pam! XO's.' 

Stodden became a household name on May 20 when she married 51-year-old Green Mile star Doug Hutchison in a whirlwind Las Vegas ceremony.

Despite her mother, Krista, claiming that Courtney is a good, Christian girl, the high-cut swim suit and provocative pose suggest a much raunchier reality.

Stodden wasn't even born when Baywatch hit the airwaves in 1990 and catapulted Pamela Anderson to instant fame as she ran down the beach alongside a bare-chested David Hasslehoff.

The signature fire engine red swimming costume decorated the walls of teenage boys around the world in the 1990s when Pamela was in her prime.

Baywatch was the most watched TV show, topping 1.1 billion viewers worldwide each week, states the Guinness Book of Records.

While Stodden is no where near as famous or talented as Pammy, she is turning into a queen of self-promotion.

According to RadarOnline.com, the newly-wed and her actor husband are reportedly in talks to star in a reality show about their lives and the controversy surrounding them since they walked down the aisle.

Full News Here...

Fuss over my PETA ad was good for the cause: Anderson

 Former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson is glad her racy PETA promo was banned in her native Canada as she feels the furore over the picture make headlines around the globe.
The advertisement for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shows the former "Baywatch" babe wearing a bikini and sporting the words of butchers' cuts of meat printed all over her flesh.

"It was good for us actually. It was banned from the square, the Montreal downtown because it actually made worldwide news that way, so thanks Montreal. It was good because we just wanted to get the message out that we all have the same parts and that there are all different reasons to go vegetarian. Spread the word," dailystar. co. uk quoted her as saying.
Anderson went to Montreal last month to unveil the poster at Jacques-Cartier square, but city officials refused to allow the event to go ahead insisting the image was "sexist". (IANS)

Pamela Anderson adopts abandoned dogs
Former "Baywatch" star Pamela Anderson has taken her animal welfare work to a new level as she has adopted two new dogs after they were abandoned at animal shelters in Louisiana after the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April.
The actress has teamed up with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), to relocate around 50 pooches to Virginia.
Pamela who has two sons, Brandon, 13, and Dylan, 11, from her marriage to ex-husband Tommy Lee said: "My son was hoping we could take all 50.
"People can't afford to feed their families, so the family member that gets left behind and has to go is the pet," contactmusic. com quoted her as saying.

The owners in the oil-spill affected regions abandoned their pets as they lost their jobs or moved away from the area. The breed of her pets has been identified as Chihuahua.

Megan Fox's welcome returns

MEGAN Fox's curves have made a welcome return after she was seen looking shockingly skinny recently.

The actress showed off a fuller figure in leather hot pants and a black vest on the LA set of her new movie This Is Forty. 

Over the last few months, the Hollywood pin-up has been pictured out in public cutting a worryingly waif-like figure.
However, she's back to her best now, sporting significantly more flesh on her arms, legs and body.
Last year she was famously fired from the Transformers franchise after comparing director Michael Bay to Adolf Hitler.

Full News Here... 

Countrywide protests in support of Anna Hazare

Protests swelled across the nation on Wednesday in support of Gandhian Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death in Tihar Jail.

The 74-year-old Anna fasted on Wednesday as thousands of his followers gathered outside the jail, the latest development in a crisis that saw him arrested on Tuesday and then refuse to leave jail after the government ordered his release.

Thousands of Anna supporters on Wednesday also took out a march from India Gate to Jantar Mantar to express solidarity with the Gandhian in his fight against corruption.

Protesters, some of them dressed in T-shirts and Gandhi caps with slogans "I am Anna", gathered at the war memorial at around 4 pm and began marching towards Jantar Mantar, where Hazare had sat on a fast in April which forced the government to expedite the introduction of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament.

The march choked the roads in and around India Gate and brought traffic in Lutyen's Delhi to a halt putting commuters to inconvenience. 

 Full News Here...

Pakistani on hunger strike, inspired from Anna Hazare

Taking a cue from Anna Hazare, a 68-year-old Pakistani businessman is set to go on hunger strike in Islamabad from September 12 to declare war on endemic corruption in his country. Expressing his admiration for Hazare, Jehangeeer Akhtar complained that corruption was a far more serious disease in Pakistan.

Activist Akhtar wants the Pakistan Parliament to pass an anti-corruption law -- like what India is now planning.

"I demand that an anti-corruption bill be presented in the National Assembly," said Akhtar, who has closely followed the anti-corruption war in India.

He said the Pakistani bill should be on the lines of what gets passed in India's parliament. 

"Corruption in Pakistan is more than in India... bahut zyada (much more)," Akhtar told IANS in a telephonic interview from Islamabad where he runs a photography business.

It is not the first time Akhtar will be taking up cudgels for a cause.

"I once sat on a hunger strike for 22 days for the sake of traders in Islamabad," he recalled. It was about tenants being forcibly vacated.

On another occasion, he went on hunger strike for eight days.

Full News Here.... 

Get rid of unhealthy habits to improve your SEX Life

Do you want to improve your sex life? Then, get rid of your unhealthy habits.
A study has indicated that overeating, being sedentary, smoking, and drinking booze can dampen your sex drive and improves your odds of not having any sex.
A study found that vices contributed to sexual dysfunction in men, and unhealthy lifestyles are more common among both men and women who aren''t sexually active.

Danish researchers surveyed more than 5,500 adult men and women, and found that unhealthy habits increase the chance of not having sex by up to 78 percent in men and 91 percent in women.
Among the men in the survey who had sexual partners, those with a large waistline had a 71 percent increase in the risk of sexual dysfunction. Hard drug users had an 800 percent increase in risk. For women, those who smoked hashish had three times the risk of losing the ability to climax during sex.
"Hopefully our findings can be used in future counseling of patients with unhealthy lifestyles," the Independent quoted study researcher Morten Frisch, of Statens Serum Institut in Denmark, as saying in a statement.
"Knowing about possible negative consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle to one''s sexual health may help people quit smoking, consume less alcohol, exercise more and lose weight,” added Frisch.
The study has been published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. (ANI)

Sony to release "Amazing Spider-Man 2" in May 2014

Sony Pictures on Friday said a sequel to "The Amazing Spider-Man" will kick off the 2014 summer movie season.

Andrew Garfield portrays the crime-fighting webslinger in "The Amazing Spider-Man," which is scheduled to hit theaters in July 2012, and he will be back wearing the spider suit for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," now set for release on May 2, 2014.

It's rare that a studio announces a release date on a sequel so far in advance of the first movie's debut. They typically prefer to wait and judge the success of the movie.

"I think it speaks volumes about our confidence in what we are seeing on the new film and our desire to move quickly on the next installment," said a studio spokesman.

At last month's giant Comic-Con pop culture showcase in San Diego, Garfield and others involved in the movie put in an appearance to answer questions for enthusiastic fans.

Border Agent Put His Wife on Terrorist List

Immigration officer fired after putting wife on list of terrorists to stop her flying home

An immigration officer tried to rid himself of his wife by adding her name to a list of terrorist suspects.

He used his access to security databases to include his wife on a watch list of people banned from boarding flights into Britain because their presence in the country is ‘not conducive to the public good’.

As a result the woman was unable for three years to return from Pakistan after travelling to the county to visit family.

The tampering went undetected until the immigration officer was selected for promotion and his wife name was found on the suspects’ list during a vetting inquiry.

The Home Office confirmed today that the officer has been sacked for gross misconduct.

The incident is likely to raise new questions over levels of efficiency in the UK Border Agency, the organisation formed nearly three years ago by then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to take over all immigration controls.

It has been criticised for poor performance by the Parliamentary Ombudsman and has suffered its share of humiliating incidents – for example the incident 19 months ago when an illegal immigrant escaped from the channel tunnel port at Folkestone by clinging to the underside of a bus carrying Border Agency staff.

The Agency is charged with putting into operation the Coalition’s policy of reducing numbers of workers from outside Europe allowed into Britain.

A spokesman said: ‘We expect the highest levels of integrity. Allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated and we always take action swiftly where we find members of staff who have abused their position.

‘On the extremely rare occasions where this occurs, the strongest action is taken.’

The officer in the latest incident to come to light was employed by a unit maintaining watch lists.

He is understood to have worked at the Agency’s headquarters at Lunar House in Croydon, South London.

His wife visited family in Pakistan but when she tried to return to Britain she was not allowed onto the aircraft. Airline and immigration officials refused to explain to her why.

She was forced to remain in Pakistan for three years until her husband’s manipulation of the suspect list came to light.

He is understood to have applied for a promotion that would have meant a higher level of security clearance.

During the vetting process the name of his wife was discovered on the suspect list, to the surprise of security staff.

When questioned, the officer confessed to his alteration of the lists and was sacked.

Chinese teen sells his kidney for an iPad 2

Just for the sake of owning an electronic equipment, can any one donate his organ? It seems quite unbelievable, but it is true. A Chinese teenager was so desperate to buy the new iPad 2 that he sold one of his kidneys for just £2,000 to pay for it, according to reports.

The 17-year-old boy, identified only by his surname, “Zheng”, confessed to his mother that he had sold the kidney after spotting an online advertisement offering cash to anyone prepared to become an organ donor.

“I wanted to buy an iPad 2, but I didn’t have the money,” the boy told Shenzhen TV in the southern province of Guangdong, “When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by agent saying they were able to pay RMB20,000 to buy a kidney.” After negotiations, the boy travelled north to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province where the kidney was removed at a local hospital which discharged him after three days, paying a total of RMB22,000 for the organ.

Trading organs online is a common practice in China, despite repeated attempts by China’s government to stamp out the practice. Last year Japanese television reported that a group of “transplant tourists” had paid £50,000 to receive new kidneys in China.

According to official statistics more than a million people in China need a transplant every year, but fewer than 10,000 receive organs, driving an almost unstoppable black-market organ trade that enriches brokers, doctors and corrupt government officials.

Sexy Namitha is Box Office Darling

Say what the critics may but the loyal fans of Namitha are lining up to watch her movie ‘Black Stallion, which despite a slew of bad movie reviews, is going strong at the box office down south.

Namitha’s magic works again and the producers of ‘Black Stallion’ are galloping their way to the bank. Yes, reports from the South indicate that the trilingual movie (in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu) has managed to break-even and might even rake in a handsome profit.

The movie has Namitha playing a sexy bar dancer who is constantly being wooed by lusty men. Kalabhavan Mani, who plays the eponymous hero, tries to woo her but only gets stabbed by her. The film’s other hero, Bala, plays a photographer who promises to help Namitha reform her life.

One reason why the movie managed to break even could be that it was made on a shoe-string budget of Rs 2.85 crore in the first place. Secondly, the intensive publicity campaign that focused on Namitha’s glamour and sexiness seems to be paying the dividend.

Critics may have panned the film but the fans are loving it. And at the end of the day that’s what matters for Namitha and the film’s makers. 

Kangana Ranaut in Widow Role!!

The retro Bollywood widow is all set to make a comeback in Reliance Entertainment's and Maruti International's 'Double Dhamaal' .

The film sees Kangana Ranaut play a character inspired by Jaya Bachchan's role in Sholay.

Says a source from the sets, "The quintessential widow from Sholay is back with Kangana in Double Dhamaal. Inspired by Sholay's iconic widow, played by Jaya Bachchan, the director has styled Kangana in a similar look for one of the scenes in the film. Instead of wearing normal clothes required for the scene, the director told the stylists to give Kangana an old white saree, just like the ones widows in old films wore."

Director Indra Kumar says: "It is a spoof, a funny scene all in good humour. We are not making fun of or passing derogatory remarks on Jayaji and Sholay. It's just that in earlier times all widows were stereotyped. They wore white sarees and would only cook gajar ka halwa and aaloo parathas for their sons. The particular scene, with all the other actors, is a spoof where she is in a widow's garb with minimal make-up. In the film, she plays a modern, smart and sexy young secretary to Sanjay Dutt."

Amazing storm cloud builds over family homes

 Brave snapper Pat Kavanagh took this shot of an explosive black storm from the roof of his house in Taber, Canada last month.

Expecting the sunny weather to take a turn for the worse he watched intently as the billows started spinning into a furious funnel.

The dad-of-three said: "It was a nice evening and the sun was shining when I suddenly heard claps of thunder which was strange.

"My wife went to look out the front door and saw the clouds blowing up from the south. I took one look and headed back into the house to get my camera.

"We watched the storm for a few minutes when I noticed that the cloud was starting to spin. I got my ladder and climbed up on my roof to get a better view.

"It never got the momentum to create a tornado, but it did look like it was going to happen before out eyes. We watched for 45 minutes as it slowly moved back into cloud formation."

Tornadoes are very unusual in Taber so this picture taken on July 17 was a once in a lifetime sighting for the Human Resource manager.

He said: "Our area of the country seldom sees Tornadoes so this was a rare sight indeed and with the rainbow underneath it, made it even more special to see."

China again playing dirty game of stapled visas

Itanagar: China has begun a practice of issuing stapled visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, which it considers it as disputed, extending its controversial 'paper visa' regime from Jammu and Kashmir to the country's remote north-eastern state.

The practice came to light when two sportsmen from Arunachal Pradesh were prevented by immigration officials from boarding a flight on Wednesday from New Delhi to Beijing since they had stapled visas issued by the Chinese Embassy on their passports. India considers as 'invalid' the stand-alone Chinese 'paper' visas given to some of its nationals and the contentious issue had figured during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi last month.

Wen had said that officials of India and China should have "in-depth" discussions to resolve the differences on stapled visas issued to those hailing from J and K. He also said that China takes India's concerns on the issue seriously.

Indian Weightlifting Federation's Joint Secretary Abraham K Techi along with a weightlifter of the state were taken aback when immigration officials at New Delhi's IGI Airport stopped them and turned the two men away because of the stapled visas issued by the Chinese Embassy.

Techi and the weightlifter, who were to visit the country at the invitation of Chinese Weightlifting Association president Menguang for the January 15-17 China Weightlifting Grand Prix at Fujian province, thereafter got in touch with the Chinese Embassy.

The Chinese officials at the Embassy informed me that the 'right' visas have been issued to us, Techi told PTI.

"This is an insult and unnecessary harassment to Arunchalees," Techi said.

Reacting to the incident, Congress Lok Sabha member Takam Sanjoy said though Sino-India relations have been improving with New Delhi and Beijing taking positive steps, the border issue, China's repeated claims over Arunachal Pradesh territory and stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir were contentious issues which were hindrances.

Sanjoy said though India, particularly Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, took very bold steps during Wen's visit in December last year to further strengthen bilateral ties, the Chinese government had proved its policy to consolidate its claim on Arunachal territory.

China started the practice of issuing stapled visas to people from Jammu and Kashmir two years back. India sees this as an act amounting to questioning the state's integration with rest of the country.

In 2007, China had denied visa to senior IAS officer Ganesh Koyu who hailed from Arunachal Pradesh and was a member of 107 strong IAS officers' team on a management programme to China.

A study visit to Beijing and Shanghai, part of a programme to learn more about Chinese economic growth and policies, was cancelled at the intervention of the Prime Minister because of Beijing's refusal to grant visa to Koyu.

Earlier, Vishal Nabam, now advisor to Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, had visited China on a month-long tourist visa in 2006.

India donates $ 500,000 for the relief in St Lucia for Hurrican Tomas

Washington: India has donated USD 500,000 for the relief and rehabilitation efforts in St Lucia in the aftermath of Hurricane Tomas.

Indian Ambassador to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri handed over a cheque to St Lucian Ambassador to the UN, Donatus Keith St Aimee in New York.

New Delhi had condoled the loss of lives and expressed solidarity with the people of Saint Lucia following the devastating effects of Hurricane Tomas.

In a response to a request from the Government of St Lucia, India had decided to make a cash donation of USD 500,000 towards assistance in recovery and rehabilitation following Hurricane Tomas, an official Indian statement said.

St Lucia and St Vincent bore the brunt of the passage of Hurricane Tomas in late October last year with the death toll in St Lucia at seven.

Six-month baby taken away on promise of film role

Coimbatore: Police are on the look out for a a woman who had taken away a 6-month old baby from their parents in Anamalai, about 70 KMs from here, on the promise of giving a role in a film, a week ago.
 

According to a complaint lodged by the mother of thebaby the woman had approached her on December 31 last year to give her baby for film shooting in Kozhinjapara in neighbouring Kerala and in return had given Rs 5,000, police sources said.

The grandfather of the baby had accompanied the woman to Kerala. As the baby and grandfather have not returned for two days, the mother lodged a complaint, polcie said.

Police said a special team had been sent to Kerala for investigation.

Apple iPhone tops US smartphone market

Now Smarphone consumer market capture is race among the big smartphone giants which attracted attention of all the smartphone business experts. Apple is still leading while Google's Android approaching it slowly.

Nielsen, a market research company, has released a report on Monday which says that Apple's iPhone operating system is still the top mobile OS in the United States. It has captured 28.6 percent of smartphone market. Second is Google's Android platform by having 25.8 percent of the market share.

On the other hand BlackBerry from Research in Motion continues on its steady decline and now able to control only 26.1 percent of the market. As you know, once BlackBerry was the leader in the smartphone trades. Last year in June, BlackBerry was far ahead of Apple and Google with 33 percent share.


Even more interesting is data that says of those buying a smartphone in the last 6 months, 40.8% bought Android phones, while iOS phones had a 26.9 percent share, RIM grabbed 19.2% of the new buyers for its Blackberry phones.

According the Nielsen report that now owning the consumer market share is tighter than it has ever been since the smartphone emerged several years ago.

It can be easily assumed that if the trends continue, it's likely Android will be in the smartphone numbers lead soon, but many analysts continue to predict Apple will remain number 1 in profitability.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal Play Tennis on Water in Doha

Doha Bay, Qatar:  It was an unusual tennis experience as the world's top two male tennis players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, played on a special water court ahead of the season opener in Qatar.

The water court had been constructed in the waters of Doha Bay.

The two are the top seeds at the Qatar Open that begins today, and will again be the players to beat during the 2011 ATP World Tour season, which comprises a total of 63 tournaments in 32 countries.

Spaniard Nadal will begin the event as top seed.

"The best of the history is here, Roger and a lot of very good players, former champions, (Nikolay) Davydenko, (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga, (Philipp) Kohlschreiber, (Ernests) Gulbis, (Viktor) Troicki - lot of very good players are here so it's going to be a really interesting hunt for sure, competitive tournament," said Nadal.

Two-time champion Federer is next in the list of eight seeded players. After beating Nadal in the 2010 season-ending World Tour Finals, Federer is excited to begin his 2011 campaign.

"Now I'm really prepared for it. The break wasn't very long, which I think in this case is quite an advantage for me because I played so well at the end, so I actually haven't lost much of my game and I feel like I'm actually playing pretty well already," Federer said.

Nadal and Federer have won 21 of the past 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

Later this month in Melbourne, Nadal will attempt to become the first player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam trophies at the one time, while Federer will look to add to his record haul of 16 major titles.

In 2010 Nadal won Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open, where he completed a career Grand Slam, en route to finishing year-end number one for the second time.

Federer, whose strong finish to 2010 included a fifth title at the ATP World Tour Finals, will be the defending champion in Melbourne.

Nadal and Federer will, though, have plenty of competition throughout the season as world number three Novak Djokovic, world number four Andy Murray and world number five Robin Soderling continue to turn up the heat.

And plenty of interest surrounds the return from injury of 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, and the performances of players like Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Andy Roddick, Fernando Verdasco, Mikhail Youzhny, Jurgen Melzer, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Estonia becomes 17th member of the euro zone

Estonia has become the 17th member of the eurozone - the first ex-Soviet state to adopt the EU single currency.

The changeover from the kroon to the euro started at midnight (2200 GMT) in the small Baltic nation of 1.3m people.

Despite market pressure on the eurozone and the Greek and Irish bail-outs this year, polls suggested most Estonians wanted the euro.

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip marked the event by withdrawing euros from a cashpoint.

"It is a small step for the eurozone and a big step for Estonia," he said, holding the euro notes.

For many Estonians, 20 years after breaking away from the Soviet Union, the euro is proof that they have fully arrived in the West, the BBC's Baltic region correspondent, Damien McGuinness, reports.

Estonia joined the EU in 2004 - one of eight former Communist countries that did so, including its Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania.

Two other ex-Communist countries - Slovenia and Slovakia - are already in the eurozone.

Anxiety about prices

Estonia's government says the euro will attract foreign investors because devaluation is then ruled out.

However, poorer Estonians fear that prices will be rounded up, and that food will become even more expensive. And the prospect of having to contribute to bail-outs of richer eurozone countries is hard to stomach, our correspondent reports.

In the past year Europe's debt crisis has hit Estonia severely. The tough cuts in state spending, necessary to join the eurozone, have pushed unemployment to more than 16%.

To avoid a last-minute rush, Estonians were able to swap kroons for euros commission-free from 1 December, the AFP news agency reports.

Kroons will be used in parallel with the euro for the first half of January. Banks will swap Estonians' kroons for euros until the end of 2011 and the central bank will carry on doing so indefinitely.

The kroon has been pegged to foreign currencies from the start, first to the deutschmark and, in 2002, to the euro.

The rate of 15.65 kroons to one euro has never changed.

Anna Chapman named Russia's Woman of the Year

London: Even after being expelled from the US, undercover Russian spy Anna Chapman has been named Woman of the Year by a Russian TV station.

The state-owned Channel One honoured the 28-year-old when she appeared on its ''This Is Your Life-style'' show.

The channel dedicated a prime time slot to Chapman where she was presented with a lion cub live as a gift.

Her relatives and teachers also made appearances, and her first boyfriend even spoke of their first kiss, as her life story was told.

She revealed that she would secure her own Russian TV show in the New Year following on from a lingerie shoot for Maxim magazine in November.

However, the spy gave no secrets away about her time in London or her spying mission.

"I will never confirm whether I worked in intelligence,'' the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

She insisted that, "Loving your motherland is absolutely necessary to be happy."

Chapman even refused to condemn the Russian ''traitor'' who spilled her identify as a spy to the Americans.

"It’s not for me to judge, I wish for nothing negative to anyone, even a traitor. It’s his problem, not mine," she said.

"What happened is for the best. It’s a beginning of something great and beautiful," she added.

Andrei Malakhov, host of ''Let Them Speak'', said, "She is without exaggeration the woman of the year."