Largest floating fortress for Chelsea owner
INT12International/LifestyleLargest floating fortress for Chelsea ownerBy Venkata VemuriLondon, Oct 6 IANS What would a billionaire do if pirates tried to board his yacht In the case of Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, he would quietly slip out in his personal submarine.The submarine is just a part of an array of latest security gizmos adorning Eclipse, the superlative personal yacht commissioned by Abramovich, who is one of the richest Russians.At 200 million pounds $350 million and a 550 foot span, Eclipse will be the most luxurious and largest of all sea charters in its category. It is being built secretly at the shipyard in Germany that produced the World War II battleship the Bismarck, Daily Mail reports.The yacht will include radar equipment designed to warn the crew of incoming rockets, together with bullet-proof windows and armour plating on the bridge and around the 41-year-old Russian tycoon's cabin. There will be twin helicopter pads and anti-bugging equipment, while the crew of 70 will include former Special Air Service and Special Boat Service personnel. It will also have cabins for 24 guests as well as a cinema, aquarium, disco and hospital.If intruders make it on board the Eclipse, named so because it is intended to overshadow all other private boats, Abramovich could escape in a yellow submarine which can dive to 160 feet.Eclipse is Abramovich's answer to growing international piracy. According to the International Maritime Bureau, pirates attacked 269 vessels last year, took nearly 300 hostages and killed five people. Even the Mediterranean, where Abramovich usually keeps his yachts, is becoming less safe. In August, a gang boarded a 20 million pound yacht off Corsica and robbed guests and crew of 100,000 pounds.Under maritime law, non-naval ships are banned from carrying firearms. Some yacht owners are adopting high-powered water cannon, earsplitting klaxons and lubricant foam intended to make unwanted boarders slip.--Indo-Asian News Serviceven/sh/jg346 Words06100943
2008-10-06 00:00:00Roadshow: Stranger comes to rescue of blinded driver
Blinded by a large piece of cardboard that blew onto his windshield, motorist Mark Underwood was rescued by a passenger in a white truck who leaned out his window at 50 mph to pull the cardboard off U...
2008-10-05 05:08:48Experts Analyze Virgin Mary Window Image
Experts have been called in to evaluate a mysterious image in a window at a Springfield hospital that hundreds say is an image of the Virgin Mary....
2008-10-05 05:07:40West Bengal rocks to fusion Puja chic
NAT10National/Religion/Society/CultureWest Bengal rocks to fusion Puja chicBy Madhusree ChatterjeeKolkata, Oct 5 IANS The sultry October afternoon does not deter the crowd in a south Kolkata market from thronging the shops that line a busy thoroughfare. It is carnival time for shoppers in this eastern megalopolis scouting for the best festival bargains.For the Durga Puja, the biggest annual festival here, the flavour this year is fusion. It swings between the glittering chic from Gujarat and Maharashtra to eco-crafts from rural Bengal.The shop windows in the markets and the new malls that have mushroomed all over the city are crammed with the latest designer labels - the traditional Bengali sari, dhoti and kurta having taken a backseat.The look is a mix of mirrors, glass work, zari, zardosi, sequins, crystals, bamboo, palm fronds, shola weeds and clay puja pandals at the fashion counters.The budgets of puja organisers are big, Rs.500,000 on an average this year. The cost is no less than Rs.100,000 even for private family pujas."Security is tighter than usual because of the recent terrorist violence in northern and western India. But I am sure nothing will happen in Kolkata. All the terrorists stay here in the city," laughs Mayor Subroto Mukherjee over a cup of 'cutting chai' at the venue of one of the most expensive and prestigious Durga Pujas in the city, Ekdalia Park."It is a transit point for the Islamic terror modules sneaking in from Bangladesh, Nepal and the neighbouring states. They would not want to harm their safe transit hideout," Mukherjee told IANS.The residents of Ekdalia Park, who are celebrating their 65th Durga Puja, are creating a 100-foot artistic marvel in glass, mirrors and plywood painted in a dull shade of ochre with a square chandelier for a ceiling. It has a distinct Gujarati look.Mukherjee, the president of the puja committee, holds forth: "We will not take away from the traditional core of the festivities despite the new ethnic look."At Park Circus, a few kilometres away, an army of artisans is building a 75-foot ethnic temple in bamboo, dry date palm fronds and hemp. The indigenous "mooli" bamboo has been sourced from Kamalgachi, 30 km from the city.Along the eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the organisers of a community puja are recreating Bengali novelist Manik Bandopadhyay's "Padma Nadir Majhi" The Boatmen of River Padma in bamboo and thatch. An artificial river will have seven country boats to round off the ambience from Bangladesh, where the novel is set.In Behala, almost all the pujas are themed on ethnic crafts from across the country.The central theme of glass and mirrors spills over into the markets as well. The accessories shops in the bazaars of south Kolkata, New Market and College Street in north Kolkata shone with the glitter of crystal, mirror and glass eardrops, danglers and kundan jewellery from Rajasthan."The designs are a bit north Indian this year, but that is what women are looking for this season. They have been inspired by Bollywood," a shopkeeper in south Kolkata said.The usual explosion of street-side kiosks hawking terracotta jewellery from the villages of Bengal is missing. "I could find only one shop that was selling terracotta jewellery in Gariahat," said Rashi Bhatnagar, a tourist, who wanted to pick up clay trinkets for her family back home in Haryana.The icons of the goddess and her four children are also moving towards Bollywood glitter in Kumartuli, a 250-year-old colony of traditional craftsmen, where most of the idols are made. Glass, mirrors and zari have replaced the traditional shola a thin white paper-like weed used as ornaments and finery to deck up the gods. Artisans attribute it to two reasons."The supply of shola weeds has dwindled because the rivers are drying up in south and north Bengal, where the weeds are cultivated in the shallow waters of the rivulets."Second, the community puja committees want their icons to stand out and are willing to fork out more money for idols decorated with zari and mirror chalchitra traditional background motifs that adorn the central frame of the icons in true tradition of Bollywood film sets."Tradition is being compromised," rued master craftsman Pashupati Rudra Paul, nephew of legendary artisan Rakhal Paul of Kumartuli, in a chat with IANS.--Indo-Asian News Servicemch/ak/jg770 Words**05101112
2008-10-05 02:00:00Audience votes add suspense element to TV reality shows: Shaan
ENT5Entertainment/Showbiz/InternationalAudience votes add suspense element to TV reality shows: ShaanBy Aroonim BhuyanDubai, Oct 5 IANS Do audience votes really help in identifying the actual singing talent in television reality shows Views differ, but what audience votes do is to add the suspense element to such shows, according to well-known Bollywood playback singer and reality show host Shaan."Left to the judges, they can listen to everyone three or four times at the most and they can tell you that he or she is your best singer," Shaan told IANS here in a freewheeling interview."But that sense of uncertainty, that sense of suspense... Who is gone this time What is going to happen It all stems from this audience voting," he said.The singer was here to perform along with Pakistani band Strings at a concert organised as part of the 'Eid in Dubai' festivities.He dismissed notions that channels gain financially through the SMSes by which viewers send in their votes to choose their favourite singer."A lot of people think that revenues have come to the channel and that is why they have started this SMS system. But that's not true. The channel gets no money. It's only the SMS people mobile service operators who get the money," said the host of such popular reality shows like 'Sa-Re-Ga-Ma' on Zee TV and now 'Star Voice of India' on Star Plus."But it audience vote leaves that little window of suspense and climax at the end," he said.The audience voting system also helps in the longevity of such shows, which usually run for three-odd months or so, Shaan added.Asked whether winners of such reality shows actually find a place in the music industry after the show gets over, Shaan said the participants sometimes found themselves in an ironic situation."It's a very ironic situation that occurs once you become a popular name through reality shows. You have become popular but in a way you have not attained success because you have not made your own music."A lot of people want to be successful so that they can drive big cars and buy a nice house and do lots of shows and be popular and sign autographs."Now, a reality show winner does that without a single song, you know, without a solid repertoire of music of his own. But where is the thirst, where is the want The fringe benefits are already there," he said.So, what would be his advice to such participants"The passion and the thirst has to stay. If you feel that you are in music for the popularity, for the name and the fame, then it's not going to help."It has to be that spirit, that thirst to do something musical, to grow as a musician and that should be your connection with music right from the beginning to the end."Asked how many of such reality show participants have actually found a foothold in the music industry, he said: "Lots of them."As examples, he named 'Sa-Re-Ga-Ma' winner Debojit Saha, 'Indian Idol' participant Rahul Vaidya and Toshi Sabri, who came fourth in 'Star Voice of India'.He also made a special mention of Irfan Ali who had lost out in last year's 'Star Voice of India'."Irfan - there is a boy I have a lot of hope for to come and do better later," he said.But if there is one singer Shaan will really bet on, it is Debojit Saha."I think Debojit is fantastic. He has got a brilliant voice, a brilliant range, he is a complete singer. If I have to take one bet, I think it is Debojit," he stated.--Indo-Asian News Serviceab/jg665 Words**05100912
2008-10-05 00:05:07KANNUR KERALA
NAT28National/CrimeGold, cash worth millions burgled from Kerala bankKannur Kerala, Oct 4 IANS A bank was burgled of gold and cash worth millions of rupees here, police said Saturday."The bank authorities informed that gold worth around Rs.40 million and Rs.800,000 in cash was kept in the bank's strong room. The forensic team is now inspecting the building and the strong room. Only after their work is complete, we may be able to give the exact amount lost in the burglary," a police official told IANS.He said as per initial estimates burglars took away around Rs.15 million worth of gold from the bank at Ponnyam, around 25 km from here Friday night. The burglars entered the head office of the Ponnyam Service Cooperative Bank after breaking a window on the rear side of the building. They broke into the strong room drilling a hole in the wall, the official added.The incident came to the notice of the bank authorities Saturday morning.Additional director general of police northern range K.S. Jangpangi, who visited the spot, told reporters police would constitute a special team to probe into the incident.--Indo-Asian News Servicejmk/pb/tb206 Words04101627
2008-10-04 07:02:12Indian artists and their craft gain from art camps With Images
NAT7National/ArtIndian artists and their craft gain from art camps With ImagesBy Madhusree ChatterjeeKolkata, Oct 4 IANS Indian art is being enriched with a free flow of ideas and concepts between creative people at exchange forums like art camps, which are gradually breaching the divide between the old and new order of artists. Art camps and live workshop-cum-interactions, where not only do artists execute new works of art but also cull influences from each other, help spawn new artistic concepts. At Gen Next III, an art camp hosted by the Aakriti Gallery and Emami Chisel Arts in Kolkata Oct 2-3, 40 artists, including three foreigners, splashed colours on new canvases, spinning a million dollar business-cum-creative endeavour. The artists included 31 young contemporary artists, fresh out of art institutes, and nine senior contemporary artists. The camp held in the sprawling campus of the Emami Chisel Auction House on the fringe of Kolkata saw more than 45 new art works at the end of two-day artistic initiative. "Art camps are very important platforms for young artists. They connect junior artists like us to senior ones and to art lovers and industry stake-holders. This is the only way we can see new works by senior artists and pick up influences," K. Prasoon Roy, a graduate from Santiniketan Visva-Bharati University, told IANS. Roy has displayed solo at the Jahangir Art Gallery in Mumbai this year. The works at the camp were a medley of influences, with younger artists like Nantu Bihari Das, Chandan Bhandari, Hem Raj, and Korou K.H. drawing subtle artistic inspirations from their senior counterparts like Sekhar Roy, Partha Pratim Deb, Manish Pushkale, Amitabha Dhar, Sunil Dey, Tapas Konar and Chhatrapati Dutt.However, the younger lot held their own, innovating on set contemporary art formats. For instance, Roy used rubber emulsion on his canvas to treat the surface and to highlight some smaller motifs with a three-dimensional look. Italian artist Serena Scapagnini used bits of sepia photographs depicting scenes from the Renaissance era in Europe with acrylic paints to create a theme collage in mixed media. The canvases evolved by the hour. At 11 a.m., while Gen Next III organisers spread out the plastic sheets on the floor as shield against colour stains, laid out the tables, propped up the easels and canvases, the artists were busy conceptualising their themes on sheets of paper. A handful of them had brought along computer prints of the themes. An hour later, the first trickle colours flowed on the canvas, mostly in the form of textured or innovative backgrounds either in monochrome shades, textures, muted pastel waves, and in combination hues like red and gold. Two hours of drying later, the first pencil, pen and brushstrokes gave the early hint of the shapes to come. By evening, the canvases were ready and breathed life like newborns, which bore virtually no resemblance to the specs, dots and flat brush-strokes on the canvases of the morning. The styles blurred and colours overlapped - only the themes were different.At the end of the camp, almost all the canvases were ready, waiting to be put on the shelves for sale. The art works will be auctioned by Emami Chisel Arts in November. However, many veterans did not sound too enthusiastic about art camps. "Art camps are more like carnivals. Everyone works in their own compartment, but one has to acknowledge the element of collective exchange that takes place. It is definitely important for artists who want to be part of the set. The promotional aspect plays a role in art camps because an artist has to survive," senior artist Sunil Dey said.However, young artist Korou K.H. of Manipur - who drew an escapist fish luring a group of people from an open window, reminiscent of the slippery Piscean Nemo in the movie "Finding Nemo" - felt art camps provide great exposure. "This is a great way to exchange and silently hear the seniors out and pick up from their work. Art camps are giving Indian artists great exposure across the world," he said.--Indo-Asian News Service mch/sh/jg750 Words**04101024
2008-10-04 01:01:07Secret BBC script from 1970s for nuclear apocalypse announcement released
London, Oct 3 ANI: A top secret BBC script for an announcement to be broadcast if the UK came under nuclear attack in the early 1970s has been released from files in the National Archives in Kew, west London.According to a report by BBC News, the script has been in a file of documents kept secret for more than 30 years.Drawn up amid secret discussions between the Government and the BBC on how a new Wartime Broadcasting Service would operate in the event of a conflict involving the Soviet Union, the pre-recorded announcement is short on theatrics, with little to offer but a stiff upper lip.A terrified population were to be told simply to "stay calm and stay in your homes". The advice the population would have been offered was simple. Echoing public information leaflets available at the time, people were told to make the most of supplies of tinned food, save water and stay tuned to the BBC.News that British civilisation was facing its great ever threat was to be announced in a few crisp sentences like, "This is the Wartime Broadcasting Service. This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known.""We shall bring you further information as soon as possible. Meanwhile, stay tuned to this wavelength, stay calm and stay in your own homes," it added.The horror of radioactive fall-out is spelt out in with the simple warning: "Remember there is nothing to be gained by running away.""Make sure gas and other fuel supplies are turned off and that all fires are extinguished," the public were then told.They were to use tap water, if it was still running, to fight any fires before filling buckets and containers to store supplies for drinking and cooking."Water must not be used for flushing lavatories: until you are told that lavatories may be used again, other toilet arrangements must be made," the announcement says, opting for the polite term.Without mention of nuclear shelters, people were to be advised to take cover in a "fall-out room" in the middle of their home, away from doors and windows.The script is contained in a file of documents kept secret for more than 30 years discussing arrangements for communicating with the public in the event of a nuclear war. ANI
2008-10-03 23:00:00South Ossetia explosion kills seven Lead
INT56International/Terrorism/DefenceSouth Ossetia explosion kills seven LeadMoscow, Oct 3 DPA At least seven people were killed and three injured Friday when a bomb planted in a car went off near a Russian army installation in Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia, Russian news reports said. The powerful blast damaged the Russian infantry staff building and blew out windows in surrounding structures up to a half-kilometre distant, the Interfax news agency citing South Ossetian government sources said.It was not clear from early reports the precise number of Russian service personnel, and Ossetian civilians killed or injured in the blast. Emergency medical crews and fire trucks were responding to the scene. The Russian army base adjacent to the blast is home to a battalion of "peacekeeper" infantry, an elite Russian combat unit. The Lenta.Ru news website, citing Mikhael Mindzaev, a South Ossetia police spokesman, said the seventh victim died in hospital as a result his injuries.Three persons were injured and transported to hospital, the Novosti.Ru news agency reported. The ITAR-TASS news agency reported the bombing seemingly had been aimed at Anatoliy Margiev, a regional administrator appointed by Russian forces. Margiev's vehicle had just passed the bomb when it went off, said Irina Gagloeva, a South Ossetian spokeswoman. The bomb was likely detonated remotely by radio command, according to Russian language news reports citing Ossetian police. The explosion was caused by a bomb concealed in an UAZ four-wheeler, eyewitnesses said. Eduard Koikoty, South Ossetia's leader, was quick to accuse Georgian special forces of organising the attack. The count of injured was expected to rise and it includes civilians and Russian military personnel, he said. The blast took place exactly one week before Russian troops were scheduled to evacuate positions within South Ossetia and Georgia proper. Koikoty has been outspoken in previous weeks in calls for Russian troops to remain in South Ossetia, despite a ceasefire agreement obliging most of them to leave by Oct 10. South Ossetian law enforcers within minutes of the explosion were claiming remains of the car bomb showed the vehicle had been used by Georgian nationals to transport weapons illegally.--DPAskp/vt390 Words*03102142
2008-10-03 13:04:15HONG KONG
INT11International/Society/CrimeChildren are victims as murder-suicides rise in East AsiaBy Hazel ParryHong Kong, Oct 2 DPA Businessman's son Leung Tze-ho was only a few days away from his third birthday when he was found dead in his Hong Kong home, curled up in the lifeless arms of his mother and father.Messages left by his seemingly well-off parents indicated they faced financial ruin and decided to kill themselves. But why did they take their son with them to the graveMurder-suicides involving children are on the rise in Hong Kong and other Chinese societies across Asia - and researchers examining the tragic trend believe a deluded sense of kindness lies behind the killings.In Hong Kong, the number of cases has risen from five to six a year in the past 10 years while in Taiwan, the annual rate has leapt from around six to 28 a year, a joint study by Hong Kong and Macau universities has found.Some cases are particularly shocking.In October 2007, a 36-year-old Hong Kong mother whose husband had cancer tied up the hands and feet of her nine-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter and pushed them from the 24th floor of a building. She then leapt to her death herself.In August this year, a 33-year-old father in financial difficulties was found dead with his three-year-old daughter after lighting charcoal and lying down with her in the bedroom of his Hong Kong apartment.A detailed study of police and coroners reports including suicide notes related to murder-suicides in Hong Kong over the past two decades found child killers often believe they are acting out of love.Murder-suicides in Asia are more likely to involve children than such cases overseas."Suicide involving the killing of children is not common in western countries. It happens more in Asian countries," said Paul Yip Siu-fai, director of the University of Hong Kong's Suicide Research and Prevention Centre and co-author of the report."Here in Hong Kong, about 20 percent of homicide-suicide cases involve children."In the majority of cases involving children in Hong Kong, the researchers found, the motive on the part of the killers was altruism - the belief that it is kinder to kill the child rather than leave him or her alone in the world."This type of perpetrator is generally the breadwinner of a family and tends to be overly responsible for the family," according to the report, to be published shortly in the international Journal of Affective Disorders."The event is often precipitated by the suicidal deliberation of the perpetrator whose primary motive for killing is altruistic desire to protect the victim from life."Yip explained: "We call it delusional altruism. The parent or parents think they are doing something good for the victim. It is not true. It is just that in their state of mind, they believe it is the best option for the children."In the case of two-year-old Leung Tze-ho, it was clear that the two parents loved the child. They felt that if they left the child behind, they couldn't tell what would happen to him. They thought it was the best option for this young boy to die with them, which is very unfortunate."In Chinese communities, some people see young children as their possessions. They think they own them. They see death as the best possible outcome for those who will remain by themselves if both of the parents are gone."The trend also reflects the general sense of social isolation which many people in Hong Kong feel, Yip believes. If Leung Tze-ho's parents decided they wanted to die, why was there no one they could leave their son with"We see many situations in Hong Kong where people do not know even know the people who live next door to them," he said. "They are disconnected from society and this is very common in Hong Kong. In western countries, this does not happen so much."They don't have anyone to turn to for help. The other thing is that they do not want to put a burden on other people. Men in particular find it difficult to seek help. Only 20 cent of suicidal people in Hong Kong seek help. The other 80 percent don't seek any help."Two key factors appear to be driving up the rate of murder-suicide. The first is the declining economy which has seen a marked rise in the number of professional people committing suicide in Hong Kong in recent months.The second aspect is the emergence since 1998 of charcoal burning as a popular method of suicide in Hong Kong. It is now the second most common method of suicide after jumping from high buildings and has been widely used in suicide pacts."It is very drastic to throw a baby or child out of a window but when you burn charcoal it is much less violent," said Yip. "Charcoal burning provides a convenient method in these cases."Suicide prevention workers are already taking steps to try to tackle some of the factors driving Hong Kong's murder-suicide rate up by controlling the availability of charcoal and pressing for front-line police and social workers to be alert to "warning signs" from suicide-risk families.The best guardians against more murder-suicides, however, may turn out to be neighbours and friends, according to Yip."Everybody can be a gatekeeper," he said. "Apparently the father of Leung Tze-ho withdrew money from the bank and the family sold things before the tragedy, so there were signs and symptoms."If we see people facing some kind of financial crisis or relationship problems, we have to be more careful and pay more attention to them. That way we may be able to save lives."--DPAdkg/jg/ky 1028 Words02100900
2008-10-02 03:00:00
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