NEW YORK - A 2-year-old dog swallowed 10 rocks, the biggest the size of a chicken egg.Mia, a German shepherd-greyhound mix was taken in to the Willakenzie Animal Clinic in Eurgene, Ore. after her owner, Vivian Cooper, tossed a ball for the pooch to fetch and heard a noisy rattle.“The sound was really quite loud, like she had marbles in her pocket,” the New York Daily News quoted Cooper as telling peoplepets.com“I leaned down and put my head near her ribcage and shook her. Inside it went, clunk-clunk-clunk-clunk-clunk.”X-rays showed 10 rocks in Mia’s stomach. She had swallowed these from the backyard water fountain.However, Mia is doing fine - since the rocks were big and smooth they didn’t hurt her stomach’s lining or make her sick. (ANI)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
BSF deployed on highway to bring life-saving drugs to Manipur
BSF has been deployed on a vital road link between Manipur and Silchar in Assam to bring life-saving drugs and foodgrains here as the two national highways remained blocked for over a month by Naga students.BSF personnel have been deployed on the National Highway to bring in oil tankers, trucks laden with goods and other vehicles stranded at Jiribam, about 200 km from Imphal, on Manipur-Assam border, officials said.The Naga students are opposing holding of election to the autonomous district councils in the hill districts of Manipur and protesting Manipur government's decision to prevent NSCN (I-M) leader T Muivah from visiting his native Somdal village in Ukhrul district.Meanwhile, IAF cargo planes continued to airlift rice and life-saving drugs since Monday from Guwahati for Manipur.In view of the acute shortage of essential items, Manipur government has requested neighbouring Mizoram to allow it to bring essential supplies from Silchar via Aizawl, they said.So far, 50 vehicles loaded with essential items, cement, building materials and other goods have reached Churachandpur district in Manipur, the officials said.
46 students held for demonstrating before VC's residence
Forty-six students were arrested for demonstrating in front of the official residence of Vice Chancellor of the Mizoram University in Aizawl.The students were angry over allegations that the university authorities have deliberately sidelined local candidates in the recruitment of 117 assistant and associate professors by insisting on good academic records and had in the past recruited 28 alumni of Benaras Hindu University, his alma mater.Forty six students, including Vice President of the Mizo Students' Union (MSU) R B Lalmalsawma, demonstrating before the residence of Prof A N Rai at Tanhril in the campus, were in jail custody, Aizawl District SP Lalbiakthanga Khiangte said.The MSU insisted that Mizo candidates should not be barred from appearing in the interviews solely because they did not get first divisions in all the four examinations -HSLC, HSSLC, degree course and post graduate levels.The allegations were denied by the University sources, which said the recruitments were based on academic record of the candidate.Many students continued to have sit-in demonstration in front of the Vana Pa Hall here in protest against the arrest of their fellow students.
Pakistan bans Facebook over Prophet cartoons
Pakistani authorities on Wednesday cut off access to Facebook following a court's order to block the popular social networking website over a page featuring blasphemous caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.Justice Ijaz Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court issued the order to temporarily block Facebook till May 31 while acting on a petition filed by the Islamic Lawyers Forum, which had sought a complete ban on the website.The court directed the foreign ministry to raise the issue of the blasphemous caricatures at international forums.It also asked the Foreign Secretary to register a protest with the concerned countries.Acting on the court's order, the Information Technology Ministry directed the Pakistan TelecommunicationAuthority to block Facebook and all "other internet links displaying sacrilegious caricatures" of the Prophet Mohammed.The ministry also directed PTA to "remain alert and watchful and block all such links displaying the profane caricatures immediately", an official statement said. The ministry asked people to inform it about "objectionable caricatures" at any website.PTA also said it had established a "Crisis Cell" to monitor objectionable contents on websites.Thousands of members of Facebook launched a campaign demanding a boycott of the website over the offending page called "Draw Mohammed Day" that invited people to send in caricatures of the Prophet till May 20.The depiction of the Prophet in any form is strictly prohibited in Islam and Pakistan witnessed violent protests after blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Mohammed were carried in European newspapers in 2005.Facebook users across Pakistan were unable to access the website on their computers by late afternoon. However, some users were able to log in to Facebook using their smartphones.Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi strongly condemned the competition for blasphemous caricatures on Facebook. In a statement, he said the blocking of such websites would only provide a temporary solution as "anti-Islam elements have been hurting the sentiments of the Muslims in the past too".An effective plan of action should be devised against the perpetrators of such acts, he said.Kazmi urged Islamic countries to join hands for devising an effective policy so that nobody could dare publish such caricatures in future.Religious parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Jamiat Tulba and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam organised protests against the caricatures on Facebook in Lahore, Kasur, Narowal, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.
