Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Kim Il-sung had army of agents in Europe for fast car, luxury carpet shopping spree: Book

VIENNA - North Korean dictators Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il had placed special agents across Europe for shopping sprees which included buying, luxury carpets, gold-plated guns, small Cessna planes and high-priced foreign cars such as Mercedes-Benz and Lincolns, according to the memoir of former Army Col. Kim Jong-ryul.

Kim, who is hiding in Europe for 16 years, sometimes spent months at a time looking for all the goods, big and small, on the shopping list, the tell-all book, ‘In the Dictator’s Service’ written by two Austrian journalists reveals.

Kim revealed how Kim Il-sung known as The Great Leader ignored the suffering of his people, and placed special agents in Europe just to buy the fancy items he wanted, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

An engineer, Kim Jong-ryul said he was asked to design a special filtration system for the shelter in which Kim Il-sung and his family could hide in order to survive a nuclear attack.

According to him, Kim Il-sung “only ate foreign food” and had his chefs study in Vienna.

He also had a passion for high-priced foreign cars, ranging from Mercedes-Benz and Citroens to Cadillacs and Lincolns, made in the lairs of his worst enemy, the United States.

Colonel Kim fears that exposis about the personal lives of North Korea’s leaders has put his life at risk.

“Maybe I’ll be shot, killed in the next few days,” Kim, who lives at a secret address, told reporters in Vienna after the book came out.

At least, “now I can die with a clear conscience,” he said. But “without [publishing] this book, I didn’t want to die.”

Kim Il-sung died just as North Korea was entering a famine in which 2 million people are estimated to have died. (ANI)

Kidney donation doesn’t shorten donor’s life

WASHINGTON - Donating a kidney does not appear to significantly increase long-term risk of death, says a new research.

An examination of results for live kidney donors in the U.S. over a 15-year period showed they had similar long-term survival rates as their healthy counterparts who had not donated a kidney.

The study has appeared in the March 10 issue of JAMA.

The authors write: “Although many healthy adults are eager and willing to accept the risk of donor nephrectomy [surgical removal of a kidney] to help their loved ones, the responsibility lies within the medical community to quantify these risks as best as possible and to make this information available to those considering donation.”

Dorry L. Segev of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and colleagues analysed the outcomes of live kidney donors (80,347) in the US between April 1, 1994, and March 31, 2009, who were drawn from a mandated national registry. Median follow-up was 6.3 years. A matched group was drawn from 9,364 participants of the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).

During the study period, there were 25 deaths within 90 days of live kidney donation, with the risk of death being 3.1 per 10,000 donors, compared to a rate of death for the NHANES III matched group of 0.4 per 10,000 persons. By 1 year followingnephrectomy , risk of death in the matched group was similar to the live donor group, likely representing deaths attributable to comorbidity (co-existing illnesses) rather than death because of the surgery. The scientists discovered that long-term mortality was similar or lower for livekidney donors than for the matched NHANES III group throughout the 12-year period of follow-up (5-year follow-up, 0.4 percent vs. 0.9 percent; 12-year follow-up, 1.5 percent vs. 2.9 percent, respectively).

The authors say: “Surgical mortality did not change during the 15-year period, despite differences in surgical practice and donor selection. Men had a statistically significantly higher surgical mortality than women did, as did black individuals vs. white and Hispanic individuals.” Donors with hypertension also had a statistically significantly higher surgical mortality than did donors without hypertension.

The authors conclude by saying: “Regardless of what physiologic changes might occur in a healthy adult after kidney donation, our findings of similar long-term survival between donors and healthy comparison patients suggest that these physiologic changes do not result in premature death. Although additional studies are clearly needed to better understand the physiologic changes afterkidney donation, the current practice of live kidney donation should continue to be considered a reasonable and safe modality for addressing the profound shortage in deceased donor organs.” (ANI)

First-ever ‘conception’ recorded on Twitter!

MELBOURNE - A best man’s prank turned out to be an embarrassing internet extravaganza for a newlywed couple, after intimate details of them conceiving a baby were Tweeted live from their bedroom.

While the prank resulted in possibly the first-ever conception recorded on Twitter, the parents-to-be may never know thousands were watching.

The best man had allegedly created the Twitter account @newslywedsontjob to send live tweets every time the couple got active in the bedroom.

“You’ll know when it starts, when it ends, the force, a rating on the frenzy index and a judge’s comment - all broadcast live toTwitter,” News.com.au quoted the man as saying on the twitter page.

“(My best friend) stitched me up something rotten when he was my best man so I reckon this is reasonable payback,” he added.

The best man, inspired by another project that tweeted a co-worker’s flatulence, says he hooked up the bed with motion-sensing and pressure-sensitive technology for extra details.

On the first night back from their honeymoon in December, the newlyweds apparently had no idea there was an online audience.

“They’re on the job! #2 - Action commenced at 15.50GMT. Weight: 51KG,” the first bed tweet said.

Over three months, the couple recorded frenzy indexes from 2, through to 10. They frequently recorded levels of 8 or 9, and on average the bed tweeted sessions lasting 19 minutes every 3 days.

In an interview with men’s wedding website iamstaggered.com, the best man said that he planned to reveal all to his friend in February.

But his friend gave him the big news that his wife was about nine weeks pregnant.

Now, the prankster has said that he realised the conception was likely to have been tweeted and decided to dismantle the setup without telling his best mate.

“Its one thing to have a joke on him. But I’m not sure how he’d react if I told him that I’d made it so twenty-odd thousand people could watch him make a baby,” he told the website.

Calculations indicate the baby will be due in late September. (ANI)

Chidambaram calls on CISF to start R and D unit

Ghaziabad, Mar 10 (ANI): Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday asked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to come up with its own Research and Development (Rand D) wing to meet the growing demands of a changing security scenario.

Interacting with media, on the sidelines of the CISF’s 41st Raising Day, Chidambaram said: “CISF is not like other paramilitary forces—CRPF and BSF to march in strait away with gun. It’s duty is to secure vital, iconic establishments. They need to guard establishments with the help of developing technology.”

“I suggested them to recruit engineering and science background youths, and start a small R and D wing, so that the force can be equipped with new security systems,” he added.

He further said that as the CISF is guarding range of installations from atomic energy to airports, to mines, where every section different from other and added “The R and D section should study developing industrial security system through out the world and try to implement the same in Indian scenario.”

In his address, Chidambaram criticized ‘hostile’ forces for creating disturbances in the country and attempting to destabilize economy.

“Hostile forces, seek to undermine security of the country. They try to destabilize our economy. But our security forces are always ready to tackle such attempts,” he said.

The CISF, which came into existence in 1969 with a strength of about 3,000 personnel. Today the CISF has taken on multi-faceted role where by in addition to its traditional role of industrial security, it has also moved into new areas like airport security, security of government buildings, monument security, disaster management, VIP security Delhi metro rail, etc.

The CISF is providing security cover to over 290 units including 57 airports spread all over the country with the strength of over 1,22,000 personnel.

With the growing threat of terrorist outfits, over 100 private sector industries approached the government to get the CISF security cover. (ANI)

Shortage of 14,448 officers in Army, Navy and Air Force

New Delhi, Mar 10 (ANI): The Armed Forces are no more considered a viable career option and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission to make the Services more attractive has not been able to reduce the shortage of 14,448 officers in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

The Defence Ministry which is engaged in the task of making a career in the Armed Forces more attractive is not successful in reducing the shortage of officers..

"There has been shortage of officers in the Armed Forces. The shortage of officers in the Army is around 11,500 and in the Navy, the shortage is 1606. The number of vacancies in Air Force is 1342," Defence Minister AK Antony said on Wednesday.

"The shortage is partly attributable to accretions in the Armed Forces from time to time, tough selection procedures, difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk involved in service career," he said in Rajya Sabha.

Antony said that a number of steps have been taken to attract the talented youth to join the defence forces.

"All officers including those in Short Service Commission (SSC) are now eligible to hold substantive rank of Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel after two, six and 13 years of reckonable service respectively. The tenure of SSC officers has been increased from 10 to 14 years," the Defence Minister said.

"A total number of 750 posts of Lt. Colonel have been upgraded to Colonel towards implementation of AV Singh Committee Report (Phase-I).

"Further, 1896 additional posts in the ranks of Colonel, Brigadier, Major General and Lieutenant General and their equivalents in the other two Services have been upgraded towards implementation of AV Singh Committee Report (Phase-II)," he added. (ANI)

Now, mobile phones to offer X-ray vision

Sydney, March 10 (ANI): Researchers at the University of South Australia have developed mobile phone software that can offer X-ray vision to see what's on the other side of the building in front of you.

Christian Sandor said that the application works by using the phone's camera, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.


He said that users can point the camera at a building and an image of it would appear on the screen. Then, the image would change to show what was behind the building, as if it was no longer there, Sandor said.

Sandor said the research group collaborated with Nokia to build the application, which it hoped could be introduced in the next two years.

The technology, known as augmented reality, appears to be X-ray vision, but in reality it uses pictures and images that already exist in databases such as Google Earth and Google Streetview.

Sandor said that the application needs two pieces of information: 3D model of the area or city the phone user is in and the user's exact position.

He said that a 3D model of a city could be built using information collected from aerial surveys.

Survey planes capture the shape and size of the buildings in a city. That data is merged with images from databases to complete the 3D model.

GPS is used to work out the user's exact position. Once the software knows this information, it uses information and images from the 3D model to display a picture of what is behind the building.

Sandor said that the technology could not be used to see into people's houses because only the exterior views of buildings and streets were held in the databases. (ANI)

Gurkha activists' fury over British minister's attack on cause campaigner Joanna Lumley

London, Mar. 10 (ANI): British Defence Minister Kevan Jones came under fire after accusing Gurkha campaigner Joanna Lumley of "deathly silence" over the allegations that war veterans hoping to settle in UK are being forced to pay hundreds of pounds for legal advice in Nepal.

Gurkha campaigners came out in Lumley's defence saying that the minister was playing politics to muddy the British actress's name.


"It is disgraceful they are using politics to muddy her name after all she's done. It is a bit rich these allegations are being highlighted now - we raised them with the MoD three years ago," The Daily Express quoted Kieran O'Rourke, of the Gurkha Justice Campaign, as saying.

"Joanna will be appalled to know Gurkhas are being ripped off," he added.

Earlier, Jones has said that he was "irritated" over the fact that the actress, who led a victorious campaign in forcing a Government U-turn on Gurkha citizenship rights, had not spoken out following allegations that veterans' organisations in Nepal were extracting money from Gurkhas and then referring them to UK solicitors.

In evidence to a Commons committee on Tuesday, Jones said Justice Minister Lord Bach launched an inquiry after it emerged legal aid was being claimed for advising veterans, even though advice was freely available at an MoD-funded settlement office in Kathmandu.

Jones highlighted the alleged relationship between the Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen's Organisation and Howe and Co, a firm of solicitors which advised the campaign to extend the settlement rights of veterans.

"As I understand it, you go to Gaeso, a voluntary donation is made of about 500 pounds and you then get passed on to Howe and Co. I am not sure what the relationship is then," he said.

"Howe and Co were the solicitors arguing for the campaign, along with Joanna Lumley. Gaeso, I understand, organised her victory tour to Nepal," he added.

However, O'Rourke, a partner with Howe and Co, said: "We've never taken a penny from Gaeso, we're never taken a penny from a Gurkha." (ANI)

Soon, men in minority? Sonia has a solution

"Then we will have reservation for men," Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in a lighter vein on Wednesday when a Trinamool Congress leader contended that men would be a marginalised lot if the Women's Reservation Bill was enacted and implemented.

The 20-minute interaction happened inside the Lok Sabha after the proceedings had been adjourned following uproar over the Bill.

The contention of Kalyan Banerjee, a close associate of Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, was that women could spread their wings to general seats besides having their hold on the 33 per cent seats reserved for them in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.

Coupled with this, it was a possibility that the constituencies which get rotated for women's reservation could see the fairer sex continue to occupy the seats which were no longer reserved.

In such a scenario women could dominate and their share in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies could be more than 33 per cent much to consternation of men, he contended.

By this time, over 30 members, including some from Congress, had gathered around Gandhi.

"Men will still be winners," Gandhi remarked, making light of the argument made by Kalyan Banerjee.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also present during the interaction.