SHIROMANI INSTITUTE hosted Bharat Shiromani Awards 2019
New Delhi: With the theme “How to Change Life”, Shiromani Institute on Saturday, 13th April 2019 in association with NRI Institute observed the Bharat Shiromani Awards 2019 to felicitate and honour individuals for their outstanding achievements in their area of expertise; contributions to the growth of nations. The remarkable day was held at New Delhi. Hon’ble Lord Swraj Paul graced the ceremony as a Chief Guest and H.E Jozef Drofenik, Ambassador of Slovenia; H.E Gudmundur Arni Srefansson, Ambassador of Iceland; Mr. James Dankenbrine, Mr. Sam Subramaniam, CEO Brand Capital Times Group; Dr. Arun Mohan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Ms. Shazia Illmi, Indian Politician graced the occasion with their striking presence. Also Read – An income drop can harm brain Manu Jagmohan Singh, Secretary General, Shiromani Institute, earnestly welcomed the guest and took the legacy ahead of his father, Late Sardar Jagmohan Singh and re-started the work with new zest and zeal after 10 years. The Secretary General Mr. Manu Jagmohan Singh announced the new initiative of Shiromani Institute “Mahila Shiromani Awards 2019″ which will work for the women progress and welfare and also felicitate Chief Guest Hon’ble Lord Swraj Paul with the Life time Achievement Award”. Also Read – Shallu Jindal honoured with Mahatma Award The gala ceremony was enlightened with the presence of eminent personalities who were felicitated and honoured for their outstanding contributions and achievements i.e Ms. Shazia Ilmi, Indian Politician; Mr. Sam Subramaniam, CEO Brand Capital Times Group; Ambika Pillai, Face of Indian Make-up Industry; Mr. Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna; Contemporary Designer of the year; Ms. Falguni & Shane Peacock; Internationally acclaimed fashion designer; Mr. Amjad Khan, Former Indian Boxer and Boxing Promoter ; Mr Ssumier Pasricha; Dr IPS Oberoi, Shri Paramaditya, DIG Goa Police; Mr. Rohit Kochhar; Managing Director, Kochhar & Co, Dr. Laxmi Gautam, Founder of Kanak Dhara Foundation; Ms. Pratibha Praladh, Guru Gopal Das Ji; Mr. K.L Ganju, Consul General (Hony.) of the Republic of Union of the Comoros; Dr. Charan Singh, Non-Executive Chairman of Punjab & Sind Bank. The gala award ceremony also witnessed the presence of several elite dignatories i.e Sh. Chitanya Lila Das, Monk Iskon Temple; Dr. Arun Mohan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Ms. Chandni Girdhar, Mr. Shiv Kumar Kohli; Renowned Self Defence Traine for women; Ms. Jupaka Madhavi, Senior Consultant at Ministry of Women & Child Development; Ms. Krishna Pujara, CEO Saheli; Ms. Kiran Seth, A.S.I Delhi Police; Ms. Maneesha Sharma, Working for Women Empowerment; Capt Dr. I.A Khan, running Effort Academy for Slum girls & rag picker and many more.
Metso’s industry-leading crushing and grinding technology status is well known throughout the mining world, but its valves expertise is, perhaps, not as familiar.Complementing both the minerals processing and pump technology the group produces, Metso has been engineering valve solutions for over 90 years. One of the group milestones was the establishment of Neles Oy in 1956, with a focus on Finland’s pulp & paper sector flow control solutions.Neles®has since become a household name across multiple industries, famous for premium engineered metal-seated valve solutions. The company also acquired the Jamesbury® business some decades ago to add a premium-performance soft-seated valve solution to the portfolio.Ville Kähkönen, Director, Industry Management, Metso Flow Control, told IM on site at the company’s Hakkila facility, close to Helsinki-Vantaa airport, Finland, that there is a clear distinction between the two product families.“Jamesbury valves are used in temperatures below 260°C,” he said, adding that the Neles metal-seated valves are the best choice for higher temperatures or when the process media includes abrasive fluids and solids like sand.Touring the facility and hearing from Kähkönen and Heikki Kärki, Industry Manager, Mining & Minerals Processing, Metso Flow Control, IM discovered just how many of these valves have found their way to mining operations around the globe.The company manufactures not only the valves, but also the actuators and smart controllers; a fact that sets it apart from many of its competitors supplying just one or two of these elements.On average, in a minerals processing plant, there can be around 10,000 valve installations across an operation each serving a specific purpose, according to Kärki.He told IM it is not only Metso knife-gate valves – used for isolation purposes in the mill circuit – that are found in the separation and refinery stages of mining operations; the company provides several types of valve solutions that can be tailor made to the specific application.This wide-ranging expertise is reinforced by a quick scan of the number of valve installations Metso has carried out over 2000-2018. During this period, the company’s supplied base has covered all but one continent (Antarctica the exception), with applications across what it terms “slurry, utility and severe services”.In addition to being one of the few companies able to supply the complete valve assembly, including the valve, the actuator and the intelligent valve controller, Metso is rare in having the capability to custom-engineer valves for the harsh, abrasive and acidic conditions that come with autoclave processing. This is a field that has been growing in the nickel, copper and gold space in recent years, Kähkönen said. Standard valves last a matter of weeks in these applications – where pressures can exceed 30 bars, temperatures can exceed 200°C and concentrations can be highly acidic.A materials technology team with decades of experience, plus an on-going relationship with an autoclave manufacturer, has enabled the company to come up with valve solutions offering a robust coating specifically designed to outlast other solutions in the autoclave market.The company was also keen to highlight its digitalisation capabilities within the valves space during the visit.Metso launched its first NP™ series pneumatic positioner already fifty years ago. A digital valve controller – the Neles ND9000 – was introduced by Metso all the way back in 1995 and, since the launch of this product, the company has established smart controllers that collect data to be analysed by Metso’s in-house team or the client themselves, the latest being its Neles NDX® controller.These controllers have gained such a reputation that other valve manufacturers regularly acquire them to complement their own valve solutions.Hakkila, which focuses on the Neles engineered valves and intelligent positioners, is one of several Metso valve technology centres worldwide. Its Shrewsbury factory, in Massachusetts, in the US, caters to demand for the Jamesbury valves, while its Horgau, Germany, facility specialises in high performance Neles butterfly valves.Chungju, in South Korea, looks after Neles globe valves, and its two plants in the Mumbai area, India, concentrate on Jamesbury EasyFlow valves and Neles scotch yoke actuators manufacturing for the India and global markets.On top of this, it has a second US facility in Minnesota (Fergus Falls), a service and supply centre in Brazil (Sorocaba), a technology hub in Shanghai, China, which manufactures standard Neles and Jamesbury products globally and provides service in the region, and a technology centre in Jiaxing, China, set to open next year.Annually, Metso delivers around 400 000 valves to different process industries. Additionally, Metso completes over 20,000 valve overhauls and 3,000 site visits. It also carries out over 250 major planned valve shutdowns a year – an element that is important to ensure valves keep working for as long as possible.And, the company has recently enhanced its valves manufacturing process with the ability to use 3D printing in certain valve components. This is a process offering previously unavailable engineering options that can, for example, improve some of the design features and decrease the weight of valve components.
Rape Crisis Centre 1800 778 888Towards Healing 1800 303 416Connect 1800 477 477One in Four 01-6624070The Samaritans 1850 60 9090 First posted at 11.14am Updated at 11.08pmSINCE JANUARY 1975, a total of 870 allegations of sexual abuse have been made about 325 Christian Brothers.In the same period, 12 convictions have been secured against offenders.The greatest concentration (about 70 per cent) of alleged incidences of abuse relate to a 20-year period from 1956 to 1975, the darkest period in the Congregation’s history.All allegations of abuse against Brothers have been disclosed to gardaí and PSNI. Of the 325 men accused, 145 are dead, 130 have left the Congregation and 50 are still living members.The National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland’s review of the province was published today and found that safeguarding practices and child protection structures have improved since failures were acknowledged in 2009.In a statement, the Christian Brothers said: they accept that a “deficit existed in the past and they deeply regret the hurt that this causes”.“We want to learn from the mistakes of the past and to create a safe environment for all children and young adults. By developing robust child protection measures and inviting the National Board to independently assess these, we aim to continuously enhance child protection safeguards so that the mistakes of the past may never be repeated,” they continued.The NBSCCCI said the files they read left them in no doubt that a “great number of children were seriously abused by Brothers”.However, it noted that it was not its remit to deal with historical issues but to review current practice and management of risk.To this end, the Christian Brothers said: “The Congregation accepts in full the National Board’s recommendations on how to further enhance safeguarding measures for the future. Half of the Board’s recommendations have already been implemented or are nearing completion and work on the remaining elements is underway.”Reviewers found that until “relatively recently, the internal Church processes within the Christian Brothers were not carried out, much to the detriment of both complainants and accused Brothers”.But there are now “clear protocols in place for Brothers with allegations and accusations”. The NBSCCCI noted the gravity of the challenge faced by those responding to the hurt caused by the abuse.Before 1997, 92 allegations of abuse were received but between 1998 and 2013, 794 allegations were made.“It is evident that the volume of allegations placed overwhelming pressure on the structures designed to address child protection concerns within the Province,” the report explains.Of the 325 Brothers against whom allegations were made, 50 are alive and live as part of the European Province of Christian Brothers. Reviewers says they believe it is safer for children for the accused to remain as part of the community where safety plans can be put in place. It notes that the accused men who have left the congregation and who have not been convicted are no monitored and supervised.Current make-up of the BrothersReviewers were informed that the Christian Brothers’ membership in Ireland now stands at 267 and the average age is 74 years old. There are no new brothers in formation and the Province’s historical base in Ireland has reduced substantially.There has also been a significant shift in the Christian Brothers work with children and young people in Ireland, which is a fractio n of what it was thirty years ago.The Brothers had closed all of the industrial schools between 1954 and 1974. In 2008, declining numbers of Brothers and an aging membership forced the Province to move out of direct education provision, transferring responsibility for the network of mainstream schools.Reporting of allegations now occurs promptly and a positive working relationship exists between them and the HSE.There were some negatives recorded about current practices, including the recording of safeguarding procedures. The board recommended separate files for safeguarding which can be kept alongside legal or litigation documents.It was also unclear from files if Brothers were removed from ministry once an allegation was made, as per the stated policy of the Province leadership.The Brothers were also told to consider a more pastoral response to allegations which would include meeting victims and hearing their experiences.For more from the fourth tranche of reports:Diocese of Down and Connor met 46 of 48 child safety objectivesAccused ‘Kiltegan Fathers’ on African missions “afforded too much tolerance”Diocese of Kerry dealt with 67 allegations of abuse about 21 priestsArchbishop of Cashel and Emly praised for speedy reaction to abuse claimsDiocese of Down and Connor met 46 of 48 child safety objectivesHelplines: 
THERE WAS A drop of 6.4 per cent in the number of new cars licensed in 2013, compared to the previous 12 months, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.Despite a boost in the middle of the year coinciding with the introduction of the new ’132′ registration plate, just 71,348 private cars were licensed, compared to 76,256 last year.There was a corresponding increase in the number of imported used cars licensed — rising 29.4 per cent to 49,762.Director General of car dealers’ body the SIMI Alan Nolan said that, though 2013 had been a poor year, it would have been far worse without the new number plate system.“Car sales recovered in the second half of the year after a slow first half with July, the first month of the new dual plate, up 160% on the previous July,” Nolan said.He said that, in spite of the low level of new car sales, there was an increase in employment in the sector, with 1,000 new jobs created. Nolan also pointed to an increase in activity on forecourts so far this year, “which may be a result of pent up demand from people holding off buying last year”.Licensing differs from registration in that a vehicle is only considered officially licensed when a valid motor tax disc is issued for it. ‘Registration’ happens when a vehicle gets its licence plate (registration number) for the first time.Licensing data is considered a better true reflection of car sales: in some cases a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale, whereas, typically, vehicles are only licensed at the point of sale.Read: Here’s how the 132 number plate did in its first 13 daysVideo : Motoring industry explains reasons for new number plates>
25 years since Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ron Goldman were murdered outside her home KUSI Newsroom, Posted: June 11, 2019 KUSI Newsroom 00:00 00:00 spaceplay / pause qunload | stop ffullscreenshift + ←→slower / faster ↑↓volume mmute ←→seek . seek to previous 12… 6 seek to 10%, 20% … 60% XColor SettingsAaAaAaAaTextBackgroundOpacity SettingsTextOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundSemi-TransparentOpaqueTransparentFont SettingsSize||TypeSerif MonospaceSerifSans Serif MonospaceSans SerifCasualCursiveSmallCapsResetSave SettingsSAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Tomorrow, it will be 25 years since Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were murdered outside her Brentwood home in the early morning of June 13, 1994Nicole’s family continues to bring awareness to the issue of domestic violence, which she suffered throughout her marriage to OJ Simpson.Nicole Brown Simpson’s younger sister, Tanya Brown talks to KUSI to share her memories and the mission that defined her life. June 11, 2019 Categories: Local San Diego News FacebookTwitter
Facebook0TwitterEmailPrintFriendly分享Kaladi Brothers Coffee in Anchorage and Soldotna have introduced a coffee blend to benefit University of Alaska Anchorage Athletics.The Team Spirit Seawolf Blend is locally roasted and distributed by Kaladi Brothers Coffee. Scott Heuiser, Soldotna Store Manager: “The notes are going to be spruce, smokey, and burnt sugar. It’s got a heavy body, which is that weight you feel on your tongue when you drink a cup of coffee, and it’s got a low acidity. It’s a smoother cup of coffee.” The coffee bag features a throwback school folder design, and highlights UAA sports programs. Heuiser: “This is a way for Kaladi’s to give back to the community, because Kaladi’s is all about giving back and being a catalyst for the community. This is just another way that we are doing that.”
10% of all sales of the coffee will go towards UAA Athletics to benefit existing programs and further athletic endeavors for individuals and teams competing for UAA.
BRTC buses. Photo: UNBFor the first time, garment workers have got 60 buses from Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) for their travel during Eid-ul-Fitr, reports UNB.The state-owned organisation has allocated the buses at the request of Rubana Huq, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).Rubana told UNB on Saturday that she urged the government to launch bus, train and launch services to facilitate the travel of their workers during Eid.Describing the initiative as a good one, she thanked the authorities concerned for allocating the buses. “Really, it’s a good initiative. Our workers have got the facilities for the first time,” she said.Of the 60 buses, 30 will remain standby at Gazipur Chowrasta on Monday while the rest 30 have already reached different BRTC depots, according to sources at the BRTC.Huge garment workers in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj left for their respective village homes just one or two days before the greatest festival of Muslims, putting huge pressure on transports.
Share Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesNew York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman speaks at a news conference after a DACA hearing at a Brooklyn court on Jan. 30. New York state is leading a group of 17 states in a lawsuit to try to remove a new citizenship question from the 2020 Census questionnaire.New York state is leading a group of 17 states, seven cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a lawsuit against the Census Bureau and Commerce Department to try to remove a new citizenship question from the 2020 Census questionnaire. It comes more than a week after California filed a similar lawsuit in San Francisco federal court against Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Census Bureau officials.The states joining New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman‘s lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court are: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington. The cities are: Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Seattle, and San Francisco, plus the United States Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan group.Photo by Carlo Allegri/ReutersAn aerial view of The Villages retirement community in Central Florida. The Villages has been the fastest growing metro area in the nation.The census has not asked all U.S. households about citizenship since 1950. The Justice Department requested the question be added back to the questionnaire so it can enforce the Voting Rights Act with a better count of voting-age citizens. But New York and other states are alleging that adding the question is unconstitutional because it would undermine the government’s constitutional responsibility of counting every person living in the U.S. every 10 years.Their complaint also alleges that the addition of a citizenship question violates the Administrative Procedure Act because there are sufficient citizenship numbers already to enforce the Voting Rights Act and the change does not meet the Census Bureau’s own standards for testing new questions.
Kolkata: Contrary to popular belief that rupee depreciation helps exporters, currency volatility not always brings benefits for the fraternity, EEPC India said Monday. “Our view has been that it is a stable currency that helps exporters, providing them with predictability of dealing with the buyers. Any fluctuation and volatility on either side does not help,” EEPC India chairman Ravi Sehgal said in a release. Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) said the country’s engineering export growth shrunk to single digit at 9.4 per cent in July, from sharp increases in the previous few months even as the rupee was depreciating against the US dollar during the month. It was a demonstration that a stronger dollar is not the only growth driver and does not always lead to export momentum, EEPC India said in an internal study recently. Also Read – Rain batters Kolkata, cripples normal life “Rupee depreciated more in July (6.56 per cent) as compared to June (5.19 per cent). But did exports grow at a higher rate and was there a currency depreciation advantage? No, exports in July this year expanded at a lesser pace of 9.37 per cent than 14.17 per cent in June. The dollar appreciation, conversely, is also making the raw material for exports expensive,” EEPC officials said. The rupee strengthened by 23 paise in early trade Monday to 70.77 against the US dollar. Also Read – Speeding Jaguar crashes into Mercedes car in Kolkata, 2 pedestrians killed EEPC officials said the key lies in improving the domestic efficiency levels so that the cost of production is brought down. Engineering exports had grown by 18.92 per cent in April, 2018, 14.59 per cent in May, 14.17 per cent in June and 9.37 per cent in July, a release said. EEPC pointed out that the best thing in the interest of exporters is a stable currency. In any case, the present depreciation of rtupee should get a contextual perspective that it is not the Indian currency alone which has lost ground against the US dollar.
Rocky Balboa is a cultural hero, an icon representing the underdog beating the odds and succeeding in following his dreams. His story initially tells of the long shot fight against the “Master of Disaster” boxing star Apollo Creed. Rocky loses by a decision in his first bout but ultimately wins thanks to his unrelenting passion and manages to turn from “nobody” into “somebody”.The original movie won three Oscars out of nine nominations and made 200 million dollars at the box office.As amazing as this movie is, the story behind making it is truly inspiring.Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa and Talia Shire as Adrian in Rocky. (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)Sylvester Stallone did not have it all throughout his life. His unique way of speaking and look to his face were a result of complications at birth that caused him nerve damage.He did not grow up in a stable family environment, with his parents fighting much of the time. Stallone and his brother Frank were therefore put into foster care.Before starting high school, the brothers came back to their home in Philadelphia. However, Stallone’s unstable childhood had left a strong mark on his psychological well-being.Stallone at the Ken Norton / Duane Bobick boxing match in 1977.He continued to struggle with school work and got expelled from different schools.During his teenage years, he discovered his passion for art which served to express things he was going through on the inside.He decided he wanted to try himself out as an actor at 18 years old. He had studied drama but did not follow through with it.Sylvester Stallone in 1988 in Sweden for Rambo III. Photo by Towpilot CC BY-SA 3.0After giving up on his academic pursuits he moved to New York to follow his dream of becoming a professional actor.Things still did not seem to pan out right for him from the beginning. He had to work multiple jobs to sustain himself and his wife.At some point due to his ongoing financial struggles, he took on a role in an adult film.Stallone with Brigitte Nielsen, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan at the White House, 1985By the end of his 20s, the unknown actor craved something bigger, something significant that would finally help him make his dreams come true.According to Forbes, Stallone explained: “And then one night, I went out to see Muhammad Ali fight Chuck Wepner. And what I saw was pretty extraordinary. I saw a man called ‘The Bayonne Bleeder’ fight the greatest fighter who ever lived. And for one brief moment, this supposed stumblebum turned out to be magnificent. And he lasted and knocked the champ down. I thought if this isn’t a metaphor for life.”Actor Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa.After witnessing the match Stallone started working on his own script about Rocky, that proved to be a materialization of Stallone’s own path in life. He finished the script of 90 pages in an astonishing three days.Rocky Balboa Statue in Philadelphia. Sylvester Stallone donated the bronze monument to the city.Sometime later, Stallone went to a casting call for a movie for which he was once again not a good fit as people were usually keen to hire already established names.However, on the way out he pitched his screenplay to the producers that agreed to read it.They loved his idea but did not want to have him as the lead role, so they instead offered him $360,000 for the script. An enormous sum in those days.Stallone signing autographs during the filming of Rocky Balboa.In his situation of utter financial insecurity, this offer was more than appealing. However, Stallone did not yield and decided to not settle on anything less than a lead role, no matter the money.The producers finally relented but decided to finance the movie only with 1 million dollars, a meager amount even at the time. But it allowed Stallone to act as Rocky.Rocky statueThe movie was shot fast, filming most of the footage in one takes in order to save film rolls. Stallone’s wife worked as a set photographer and extras worked for fried chicken.Take a closer look with this video:Gabe Sumner was working as a marketing specialist on the movie. He constructed the whole marketing strategy exactly around the similarities of the life paths of Rocky Balboa and Sylvester Stallone. While doing this he exaggerated many aspects so that people could more readily identify with the real underdog success story.Read another story from us: Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Trash Talking MomentsHowever, even when people found out about this nobody really cared. Rocky was already a cultural hero and Sylvester’s struggle to bring him to the silver screen on his own terms is what gave the movie its heart and soul. Rocky is here to stay with us, as evidenced by his boxing shorts now residing in the Smithsonian, and a bronze statue of him near Philadelphia’s iconic Museum of Art, where Rocky threw up his arms in triumph.
No related posts. MEXICO CITY — The day after a load of stolen radioactive material was found in a field, Mexican authorities had formed a perimeter around the area and were measuring for contamination as they planned the recovery process Thursday, according to Mexican news reports.Federal police and soldiers formed a cordon of several hundred yards around the highly radioactive container of cobalt-60, stolen earlier in the week in a carjacking as the material was being moved from a public hospital in the border town of Tijuana to a storage facility in central Mexico, news reports said.The carjackers, who set off international alarm bells by absconding with the material, most likely had no idea what they were stealing and will probably die soon from exposure, Mexican authorities said at the end of a brief national scare.The prospect that material that could be used in a radioactive dirty bomb had gone missing sparked an urgent two-day hunt, which concluded Wednesday afternoon when the cobalt-60, used in hospital radiotherapy machines, was found along with the stolen Volkswagen truck. Mexican officials said no public health risk remained, although one family who lived nearby may have been exposed.The driver of the cargo truck and his assistant worked for a licensed private company, and the lethal radioactive substance was sealed in the back, according to news reports.The truck, equipped with a crane, was nearing its destination early Tuesday morning, several hours before the storage facility opened. While waiting for daybreak at a gas station in the state of Hidalgo, north of Mexico City, the drivers were jumped by two gunmen who beat them and stole the truck, said Mardonio Jiménez, a physicist and high-ranking official with Mexico’s nuclear safety commission.With lethal radioactive material on the loose, Mexican authorities posted a lookout across six states. The International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the material “could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed” from its casing.“I believe, definitely, that the thieves did not know what they had,” Jiménez said. “They were interested in the crane, in the vehicle.”The cobalt-60 was found, removed from its casing, in a rural area near the town of Hueypoxtla, about 25 miles from where the truck was stolen. Jiménez said he suspected that curiosity got the better of the thieves, and they opened the box. So far the carjackers have not been arrested, but authorities expect they will not live long.“The people who handled it will have severe problems with radiation,” he said. “They will, without a doubt, die.”© 2013, The Washington Post Facebook Comments
Ex-FBI agent details raid on Phoenix body donation facility The presence of civilians across the battle zone is one of the main factors hindering the tactics and progress of government forces. Officials say that army operations are hampered not only by poor equipment and lack of air support, but by the presence of the militants in people’s homes, and fears that fighting in rural districts could set fire to the wheat crop now ready for harvest.Provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Sabor Nasrati conceded that “progress is slow.”“To avoid civilian casualties we can’t use heavy artillery and we don’t have air support” since the departure last year of international combat troops as the U.S. and NATO operations moved to a training and support role. “It makes our men on the ground extra careful and slows the operation.”A total of 204 war-wounded were admitted to Kunduz’s only trauma hospital, run by French NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres, between April 24, when the assault kicked off the Taliban’s annual warm-weather offensive, and May 11, said project coordinator Laurent Gabriel. “In just one week, May 11-17, 84 people arrived with war wounds, double the number in the same week last year,” he said. In this Thursday, May 21, 2015 photo, an Afghan refugee woman walks near her tent in a makeshift camp on the outskirts of Kunduz province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. When the Taliban descended a month ago on Dam Shakh, a hamlet on the wheat-growing plains of northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, nobody was prepared. By the time they were beaten back from the provincial capital of Kunduz, more than 100,000 people were forced from their homes and total of 204 war-wounded were admitted to Kunduz’s only trauma hospital, run by French NGO Medecins Sans Frontieres in less than a month. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Patients with chronic pain give advice Comments Share Mohammad Aslam welcomes the militiamen into his compound in Al-Chin, which he shared with the families of his five brothers until they found themselves on the front line of the newest war. Half the family compound was destroyed and most of the 40 residents fled. He remains with a couple of his young sons to tend the cows and donkeys tethered under a tree, and the chickens and ducks with their newly-hatched broods.“We fought here for a week alone, we were surrounded, we fought until we ran out of ammunition,” he said.Now as he kicks the charred bricks and wood of a brother’s house, Aslam worries that it will be a long time before lasting peace is assured.Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Milstead says best way to stop wrong-way incidents is driving sober Top Stories Former Arizona Rep. Don Shooter shows health improvement
New Valley school lets students pick career-path academies The hospital’s wards tell the tale of the past month’s violence.Seventeen-year-old Nasrullah was walking home from school on May 17 when he was caught in crossfire in the Iman Sahib district north of the city — scene of some of the worst fighting. “I heard the gunfire, but it slowed down and I thought it was ok to keep walking along the road,” said Nasrullah, who like many Afghans goes by only one name. He took three bullets in his left leg — now pinned and hoisted — and one in his right leg.In the opposite bed, 18-year-old policeman Abdullah Raouf is recovering from a May 19 mortar attack in Gor Tepa. Still dazed from surgery, he was unable to talk as two male relatives said both legs and his right shoulder were wounded.In areas returned to government control, a tense and uncertain peace prevails. The militias in mufti outnumber the army. Military Humvees and armored police vehicles come and go sporadically, and soldiers sit in watchtowers reinforced with dirt-filled Hesco bags. In the fields, the wheat is cut into sheaves, and the occasional shop opens for the residents who are tentatively making a return to their damaged homes.Residents of villages like Talawka, with 4,000 households and just a few kilometers from the front line at Gor Tepa, are not taking their shaky moment of respite for granted. Local militia groups were drafted for the front-line fight, some of them armed and paid by the provincial authorities. Now they patrol the cleared areas, walking in single file along the mud-brick walls of deserted compounds and through the shimmering wheat fields — their automatic rifles, grenade launchers and machine guns slung over baggy cotton shalwar khameez. KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (AP) — When the Taliban descended a month ago on Dam Shakh, a hamlet on the wheat-growing plains of northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz province, nobody was prepared.“They turned up suddenly and took us completely by surprise,” said resident Ghulam Sakhi of the night of April 24 when hundreds of Taliban militants launched a coordinated attack. “It was horrific. People just started running away as fast as they could and for those who stayed, we were on our own for 10 days. The government just couldn’t cope.” Military and intelligence authorities were equally surprised. Armed gunmen took over homes and used residents as human shields. Army reinforcements didn’t arrive for days and then lacked supplies — ammunition, food, fuel — because of poor logistics, Gov. Mohammad Omer Safi said. As government forces rallied their defenses, the fighting raged for more than two weeks as the militants came within three kilometers (less than 2 miles) of the provincial capital, Kunduz city, Safi said.For now, the city of Kunduz appears secured. A combined force of government troops and hastily recruited militiamen has pushed managed to push back the insurgents to Gor Tepa, some 15 kilometers (12 miles) from Kunduz city, and liberated occupied villages and hamlets such as Talawka and Dam Shakh.But the battle continues and Afghan officials concede it will be slow, bloody work to dislodge the insurgents much further. In the meantime, the region’s civilian population will bear the brunt of living on Afghanistan’s new northern front line. Already more than 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, many renting houses or staying with other families and receiving assistance from U.N. agencies and other charities. Parents, stop beating yourself up Sponsored Stories 5 treatments for adult scoliosis
Speculation continues on Tuesday over who would be in President Nicos Anastasiades’ new cabinet, suggestions that Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides will step down and the president himself saying the body would contains new faces, including women.Director of the President’s Office Michalis Sophocleous in a Facebook post all but confirmed Kasoulides’ retirement, saying “your departure would be a loss for the country.”Sophocleous added, “You are leaving as a gentleman, as you have always been. Cyprus owes you tremendous gratitude.”The comments follow those made by Health Minister Giorgos Pamboridis at Anastasiades’ victory speech on Sunday where he said he felt his time at the helm of his troubled ministry had come to an end and someone else should have the chance to take charge.Meanwhile in an interview with Euronews Anastasiades said “there will be more women, and new individuals.”In the current cabinet there is only one woman, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou. Anastasiades said the new complement of 11 ministers and the under-ministers in the process of being created will include more women.He said the cabinet will also include people in their 40s and 50s who have already shown a significant contribution over the previous five-year period.When asked about Kasoulides he said he would discuss his plans with him in the coming days.Speculation is rife that he will be replaced by current government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides.Earlier in the day on Tuesday in a statement Anastasiades said he wished to make it clear that “his main concern after his re-election is to define and prioritise a series of actions based on his election programme”.He will deal with the makeup of the new cabinet after planning the policies to tackle the problems and challenges the new government has to face, the statement said.Anastasiades is expected to make an announcement before the new government is sworn in on March 1 as to the new cabinet, but there is no indication at the moment as to when that may be.In the same interview Anastasiades said he planned to call Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci in the coming days.Anastasiades responded to Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s statement on Sunday that Greek Cypriots need to “change their mentality” if they want negotiations on the Cyprus issue to resume under UN auspices.The president dismissed changing the basis for negotiations as set by the UN Secretary-General. “Based on Mr Cavusoglu’s statements, there is no clear prospect” in sight, he said.Talking to Akinci would determine whether there was room for “productive dialogue,” said Anastasiades, who intends to contact his Turkish Cypriot counterpart “in a few days,” after the National Council convenes.Anastasiades accused the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot negotiating sides of not budging on their initial positions, and of not responding to the Greek Cypriot side’s proposals during talks in Crans-Montana last summer. Their refusal to compromise on the issue of Turkey’s right to intervene and on the presence of Turkish troops on the island led to “the worst” of “many [such] regressions” from progress achieved, he said, referencing recent news that the Turkish Cypriot side had withdrawn a territorial map submitted to the UN during reunification talks. Anastasiades blamed Ankara’s pressure on the Turkish Cypriot leadership for these backtrackings.Echoing Cavusoglu’s statement on Sunday, Akinci called on Anastasiades to “follow a more realistic and constructive policy” with regards to the Cyprus issue as he congratulated the president on his re-election on Monday. Akinci has also confirmed, following Ozdil Nami’s resignation, that he will not appoint a new negotiator, spelling difficulty in restarting talks.In spite of these developments, the president reiterated his commitment to dialogue, though he stressed that he will remain firm on his position on guarantees, rejecting any scenario that would compromise Cyprus’ “independence”. “The current, unacceptable situation is due to the presence of the Turkish army [on the island],” he said.Anastasiades also stressed the benefits that a solution to the Cyprus problem would spell for Turkey, which would gain a close partner in the EU.You May LikeDr. Marty ProPower Plus Supplement3 Dangerous Foods People Feed Their Dogs (Without Realizing It)Dr. Marty ProPower Plus SupplementUndoPopularEverythingColorado Mom Adopted Two Children, Months Later She Learned Who They Really ArePopularEverythingUndoTotal Battle – Online Strategy GameIf You’re PC User This Strategy Game Is A Must-Have!Total Battle – Online Strategy GameUndo Turkish Cypriot actions in Varosha ‘a clear violation’ of UN resolutions, Nicosia saysUndoConcern over falling tourism numbersUndoPensioner dies after crash on Paphos-Polis roadUndoby Taboolaby Taboola