Author Archives: Gunjan Priya

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World AIDS Day calls on people for awareness

World AIDS Day

World Aids Day reminds the world of the deadly disease which has almost engulfed both the hemispheres now. Despite being 30 years after its first case was reported in the United States, researchers and doctors have yet not succeeded in finding out a proper treatment for AIDS. The best way to save ourselves from AIDS is to stay away from the factors that cause HIV virus to communicate further.

 

Finger-prick blood testing has made it easier and faster to diagnose the disease. Antiviral medications also help in slowing down the decay of health due to HIV virus in a person who is HIV positive. Still HIV/AIDS seems to be a death sentence for people.

The grave concern regarding AIDS is that it’s still a matter of social stigma. People suffering from AIDS are considered untouchables, they are discriminated at jobs and socially discarded if they reveal their health conditions.

Lisa Cohen is working in this regard since 1981, as a health educator at Pinellas to make people more aware of AIDS. At present she is working as an operations manager and HIV/AIDS program coordinator.

According to Cohen, though there is more awareness among people regarding AIDS, there is still much to do. It’s great to see that even after catching AIDS, people can afford living longer due to better anti-viral medicines.

Today, celebrating the World AIDS Day, Cohen says, people should come forward to help those who are suffering from this life-paralyzing disease and show love to them.

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NASA set to launch new voyage to Mars

US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is launching a new space vehicle to reach Mars. The vehicle, named as “Curiosity” will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“Curiosity” weighs a tone and has six wheels, however it’s a dwarf-size vehicle equipped with instruments to find if there is or was any sign of life on Mars or any condition suitable for living organisms exists/ existed on the planet.

This robot is being launched by NASA on Saturday at 15;02 GMT.

The vehicle will be launched by Atlas 5 launch rocket. Technical experts and Space engineers found no fautlts in the vehicle after replacing a battery in Atlas 5 and weather conditions are also good at present.

This would complete, NASA’s long-cherished dream regarding the Red Planet.

There is a plutonium battery used in this instrument to provide ample power to the robot to keep it active for 10 years at least. However, there are chances that the robot might stop functioning before this.

The program called as Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has cost NASA $2.5 billion and has been subjected to severe criticism for budgetary burdens. However, the American space agency is very optimistic about the time when this vehicle would reach Mars’ surface after 8.5 months.

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Egypt restless owing to continuous protest against military regime

Cairo is rampant with protests and violent clashes between military regime’s security forces and opposition groups that are continuously demanding for transition of power.

Egypt’s capital city- Cairo witnesses another day of severe protests by the people who are opposing military rulers. The protesters are continuously gathering around Tahir Square in the central part of the city to demonstrate against the regime. The protests in Egypt follows the same in many nations of the Middle East asking for freedom from military or autocratic governments and advocating democracy or civilian rule—a trend which has emerged recently in many countries and popularly known as the Arab surge globally.

Around 3000 demonstrators in Egypt have surrounded Tahrir square in Cairo, whereas police is trying to scatter the crowd using rubber bullets and firing tear gas. Interior Ministry of Egypt is located very close to Tahrir Square, which has become an epicenter of protests, which finally forced President Hosni Mubarak out in February. However, the military has now postponed the transfer of power to civilian rulers by 2013.

The protests, however, have continued with a suspicion over the intentions of military rulers that they might try to retain power despite parliamentary polls and election of new government in Egypt.

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Syrian rebels fail to achieve Russia’s support against President Assad

Moscow seems unmoved from Syrian protesters’ call for endorsing their fight against President Bashar al-Assad.

Burhan Ghalion, the chief of Syrian National Council [SNC], and who is also leader the protesters demanding Assad’s resignation, stated that he failed to convince Russia to support their struggle. Ghalion was in Moscow for a talk with Russian diplomats.

Instead, Russian leaders asked SNC leader to negotiate with President Assad and stop violent demonstrations. Clashes between Syrian government forces and protesters have caused hundreds of deaths so far.

Last Monday, around 70 people lost their lives in another conflict. Human right activists are strongly opposing violence in Russia.

However, the claims of deaths of civilians can not be verified even as the Syrian government has restricted access to country for foreign media.

According to the United Nations, around 3500 people have died since demonstrations started in Syria calling  President Assad to resign. However, the Syrian government claims the deaths were caused by violence by militant groups.

The Russian government does not support UN Security Council’s criticism against Syria and also flayed the Arab League for suspending Syria’s membership. There was no agreement on any issue between the Syrian opposition leader and Kremlin, revealed Ghalion in Moscow. He further revealed that he felt President Assad’s oppressive government enjoyed full support from the Russian government.

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Rick Perry fights to win voters’ confidence

Rick Perry is trying hard to strengthen his position in the electoral race for presidential polls in 2012. Despite all his efforts, though, it seems Iowa is losing faith in Perry.

Brian Kennedy, Scott County finance chairman was found advocating President Obama and calling on people to endorse him. Obama visited Scott county twice this year campaigning for the elections.

Kennedy further stated that Scott County has become a battleground for all political rivals.Seeing a Romney leader focusing on the president, Perry can better realize that there is a need to go for Republican primary process before he could prove himself better that Obama. Already, anti0-Romney voters have split opinions about six different candidates. Thus, for Perry, it will be difficult to come even among the top ten candidates.

The Polls are scheduled in Hawkey State on Jan 3, which will further decide the future strategy of Perry for presidential polls. Before Perry could start his speech, Mike Batcher, another Iowan contesting for Congress, mocked him for his inability to remember thierd federal agency he referred.

However, Perry still tried to retain his calm and continued persuading voters to choose him. He stated, “The test of any American is not whether or not we get knocked down. We’re all going to do that. Every one of us has. But it’s whether we get up.”  He also hoped that Americans will define people by their values.

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Debt crisis continues in Europe owing to turmoil in Greece, Italy

There seems no end to political chaos in Greece and now even in Italy, which lingers over the fate of euro’s health. Italy faces crisis due to high-rise in its debt rates. Markets stay unstable due to political chaos in Italy and Greece and more negative traits are looming over the fate of European Union that will ultimately affect the entire global market too.

Greeks are looking forward to form a new transitional government. In Italy, the political chaos emerged with possibilities of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi losing power. This has put investors in doubt over the future market trends  as new democratic governments are likely to make changes unfavorable to investors and so they are pulling back their money leading to more financial turmoil.

Interest rates for Italy’s debt have been increased to 6.6 percent reaching its highest so far since the inception of euro. The finance market set itself into fire following the rumors of prime minister’s possible withdrawal from power but he refuted it later.

Greece’s rush to pull itself away from EU to save itself from the depreciating value of euro had ignited a crisis as international leaders severely criticized the decision. The EU threatened to expel Greece and stop providing any aid. This compelled the political parties of the country to make a written commitment and follow European leaders’ demands in order to get the next installment of aid of $11 billion from the EU.

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European Union warns Greece against drama over referendum to stay

European Union warns Greece against drama over referendum to stay

Tired of Greek illusion over the decision to withdraw from European Union to avoid damage to Greek currency, the EU threatens to expel.

European leaders—French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Merkel told Greek leader that Greece should help EU to stabilize euro instead of withdrawing to save its own national currency. The leaders also warned Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou that if Greece pulls itself from the union, they would stop providing any aid to the country. The meeting between EU leaders and Greek premier was held in in Cannes.

Following this dilemma, France’s biggest bank BNP Paribas also pulled its exposure to Greece, Spain and Italy to safeguard its balance sheet by reducing the total amount by $17 billion.

Greece was expected to receive an additional aid of 8 billion euro from EU in Novemeber.

German Chancellor Merkel stated during a news conference that she desired Greece to stay as a member of EU and help in stabilizing Euro.

Following the warning, Papandreou talked with Greek finance minister by calling emergency Cabinet meeting in Athens to solve the crisis and seek for a midway.

At the same time, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa also gathered to discuss and solve economic crisis in G20 summit that ended recently.

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Leaders expect UN nuk agency to reveal details on Iran’s weapons

Leaders expect UN nuk agency to reveal details on Iran’s weapons

Leaders expect UN nuk agency to reveal details on Iran’s weapons

International leaders stated International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] would reveal information about Iran’s computer models of nuclear war and its secret development of nuclear arms.

Tehran has allegedly continued secret work to develop nuclear warms, said the diplomats while talking to media on last Friday.

The IAEA  also aims to share  the satellite imagery of a steel container , which according to the UN atomic agency, is used for testing  nuclear arms-related high explosives, added the diplomats. The UN agency is going to reveal this to 35 board members.

The IAEA had also listed Iran’s activities that indicated that the country was secretly producing nuclear weapons for almost a decade.

The new findings have strengthened these doubts as the weapon-related work has now gone wider in volume and scope, as per the intelligence reports of the IAEA.

 

The revelation increases possibilities of international military actions against Iran’s nuclear activities.

Shimon Peres, Israeli President told on international leaders should consider breaking their silence and take military action instead of diplomatic negotiations with Iran over this issue.

Meanwhile, even British media has also spread words over the issue, citing authorities who claimed that the United Kingdom was also prepared to support in case the United States considers to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

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Oakland administration arrests people to avoid unrest

California government uses tear gas to scatter protesters from Oakland.

Anti-Wall Street demonstrations fill the streets of entire state of California on November 2. Around 8 people were injured during clashes between Oakland police officials and the demonstrators on Thursday.

Oakland people though claimed that the protesters were demonstrating through peaceful rallies against economic discrimination in the state and the United States.  The police claimed the officials were compelled to use tear gas to control the protesters who were turning violent. The police officials of riot gear surrounded hundreds of demonstrators who were participating in rallies in streets of Port of Oakland. The police fired tear gas in order to disperse thousands of protesters who caused almost a shutdown in the entire city.

The demonstrators mainly included working class people of the Oakland City, which is situated on the eastern bank of San Francisco Bay.

According to an official report, more than 80 people were arrested while 5 protesters and 3 police officials were injured during clashes between them.

The police claimed that they had to take initiatives against the agitating protesters who were vandalizing public properties and provoking the city administration.

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Israel denies financial aid to UNESCO to oppose Palestinian membership

Israel denies financial aid to UNESCO to oppose Palestinian membership

Benjamin Netanyahu ,After the United State, it was Israel’s turn to show anger over UN decision to give recognition to Palestine as a sovereign independent state and full membership. Israeli Prime Minister  called on to stop giving financial aid to UN cultural wing—UNESCO.

Netanyahu  stated that  Israel would discontinue its contribution to UNESCO’s annual budget as the United Nations has accepted Palestine as a member. Israel’s contributions to UN cultural wing accounts for $2 million.

“The prime minister also declared that instead of contributing to UNESCO, Isreal would prefer spending this money  for cooperative initiatives in its region to fulfill similar goals.

Netanyahu’s declaration comes following the United States’ fierce reaction to UNESCO’s voting to accept Palestine as a member of UN. Israel also joined hands with the United States and opposed UN decision.  Israel’s decision of taking back its financial support from UNESCO has been severely criticized by countries across the globe.

He stated that accepting Palestine as its member, UN has pushed peace process back.  Real peace can not be achieved by negotiations with conditions, he added.

The United States pulled its hands back from helping UNESCO. The UNESCO has been receiving 22 percent of its annual budget from the United States.