Daily Archives: July 17, 2013

At least 22 Indian children killed and 25 are ill after eating school dinner ‘made from unwashed ingredients covered in insecticide’

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India-Schoolchildren receive treatment at a hospital after falling ill soon after eating free school meals1At least 22 Indian children killed and 25 are ill after eating school dinner ‘made from unwashed ingredients covered in insecticide’ At least 22 children died and many others were sick after eating a free school lunch that was tainted by a heavy dose of insecticide, officials in India said today. It was not immediately clear how chemicals ended up in the food in a school in the eastern state of Bihar, although one official said the food may not have been properly washed before it was cooked. The children, between the ages of 8 and 11, fell ill yesterday soon after eating their school lunch in Masrakh, a village 50 miles north of the state capital of Patna. School authorities immediately stopped serving the meal of rice, lentils, soya and potatoes as the children started vomiting. In addition to the 22 children who died, another 25 children as well as the school cook have been taken to hospital, he said. Eight of them were in a serious condition. The deaths have sparked violent protests in Dharmasati Gandaman in the Saran district, where four police cars were set on fire during a demonstration by parents and hundreds of villagers. Authorities suspended an official in charge of the free meal scheme in the school and registered a case of criminal negligence against the school headmaster, who fled as soon as the children fell ill. India’s midday meal scheme is one of the world’s biggest school nutrition programs. It was first introduced in southern India, where it was seen as an incentive for poor parents to send their children to school. Since then the program has been replicated across the country covering some 120million school children as part of an effort to address concerns about malnutrition. According to the government, nearly half of all Indian children suffer from malnutrition.

In Major Policy Shift, Armenia Demands Lands from Turkey

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Harut SassounianBy Harut Sassounian

Publisher, The California Courier

 

Ever since independence in 1991, Armenia’s leaders have been reluctant to make any concrete demands from Turkey beyond recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

 

Only in recent years, Armenian officials have begun to speak about “the elimination of the consequences of the genocide,” without specifying the ‘consequences’ and the means for their ‘elimination.’

 

Earlier this month, however, a major shift was announced in Armenia’s foreign policy vis-à-vis Turkey, when Aghvan Hovsepyan, the Prosecutor General of Armenia, called for the return of historic Armenian territories at an international conference of Armenian lawyers in Yerevan. This is the first time that a high-ranking Armenian government official has made such a public demand from Turkey.

 

In a lengthy and comprehensive speech, Hovsepyan stated that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by various countries is simply a moral and emotional issue. Calling for a switch to “the legal field,” the Prosecutor General indicated that “to eliminate the consequences of the Armenian Genocide” Turkey must “pay compensation to heirs of the Armenian Genocide, return to the Armenian Church the miraculously still standing Armenian churches and properties in Turkey, and give back the ‘lost territories’ to the Republic of Armenia.”

 

Prosecutor General Hovsepyan insisted that unless Armenians adopt this bold approach, they will not accomplish any concrete results in the next one hundred years, just as they did not in the last one hundred years. He proposed a thorough legal review of all international agreements regulating Armenia-Turkey relations, from the Berlin Treaty of 1878 to the signed but not ratified protocols of 2009. He also declared that the region of Nakhichevan is “an inseparable part of Armenia, albeit occupied by Azerbaijan.” Hovsepyan urged the assembled lawyers from around the world to prepare the legal case for territorial demands from Azerbaijan and Turkey and present it to the Armenian government for eventual submission to the International Court of Justice (World Court).

 

Statements made by a prosecutor general usually do not carry much weight in international affairs, if it were not for the fact that several other high-ranking officials, including Pres. Serzh Sargsyan, President of the Constitutional Court Gagik Haroutyunyan, Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, Armenia’s Minister of Justice Hrair Tovmasyan, and Minister of Justice of Artsakh (Karabagh) Ararat Tanielyan, also made remarks on restitutive justice at the lawyers’ conference. It was clear that the Prosecutor General was the designated spokesman of the Armenian government to articulate its new tougher line toward Turkey in advance of the Genocide Centennial.

 

Pres. Sargsyan, using more circumspect language than the Prosecutor General, told the lawyers’ conclave: “The international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, and elimination of its consequences will always remain a salient issue. As long as the Armenian State is in existence, all efforts to deny and send into oblivion this historical reality will be doomed. This greatest crime against humanity must be recognized and condemned once and for all, and first of all, by Turkey itself.”

 

In keeping with the government’s new policy orientation, Constitutional Court President Gagik Haroutyunyan announced that a special committee will be formed to prepare the legal documentation necessary for the pursuit of Armenian Genocide claims.

 

At the conclusion of the conference, the participants issued a joint statement asserting that the priority for Armenian lawyers is not proving the self-evident facts of the Genocide, but preparing a comprehensive legal document “to remedy the consequences of the Armenian Genocide.”

 

This is a welcome development in terms of arriving at a consensus between the Armenian government and the Diaspora on the objectives to be pursued for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

 

However, in order to move beyond mere emotionally inspiring statements, the Armenian leaders must take two immediate steps:

 

1) Withdraw the Armenian government’s signature from the counter-productive Armenia-Turkey Protocols. On the eve of the Genocide Centennial, it would be inconceivable to move forward with fruitless efforts to improve relations with Turkey, while preparing to file a lawsuit for restitution.

 

2) Form a team of international law experts to begin structuring the legal case against Turkey in the World Court and/or the European Court of Human Rights.

 

While skeptics may not take seriously the recent policy pronouncements of the Armenian authorities, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has no such doubts. Last week, Ankara denounced the Armenian territorial demands, announcing angrily that “nobody can dare to claim territory from Turkey!”

 

Chinese airline hires ‘flight aunties’ as stewardesses because they are more reliable than ‘trolley dollies’

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A Chinese airline has launched a recruitment drive for married women with children to become 'flight auntiesA Chinese airline has launched a recruitment drive for married women with children to become ‘flight aunties’.

Spring Air, China’s biggest budget carrier, wants to recruit college-educated women aged between  25 and 45 to become its latest flight attendants.

The airline, which is calling the role ‘flight aunties’ says applicants who are married with children will be given top consideration.

As reported by China Real Time Report, the new approach is a unique shift from the normal recruitment by China’s state-owned carriers.

Spring Air’s previous age cap for new staff was 35.

But it said it was raising this to 45 following the results of a recent survey which concluded that 72 per cent of people preferred to be served by an experience flight attendant.

The airline says having a wider age profile among flight attendants will be beneficial. It said air hostesses who are younger are more enthusiastic while older ones can be more reliable and mature.

 

President Serzh Sargsyan held a meeting with the leadership of the RA State Revenue Committee at the newly constructed administrative office of the Mashtots branch of the SRC

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Serzh Sargsyan

 President Serzh Sargsyan participated today at the inauguration of the new, fully equipped with all modern devised administrative office of the Mashtots branch of the RA State Revenue Committee. After the opening ceremony, he met with the leadership of the State Revenue Committee.

After the introductory remarks made by the Head of the Committee Gagik Khatchatrian regarding the SRC activities for the first six months of 2013 and Committee’s upcoming programs, the First Deputy Armen Alaverdian presented a report on the results of the Committee’s work for the first half of this year.

At the meeting, the Head of the Major Tax Payers Division Rafik Mashadian reported on the works carried out with the key tax payers. The Head of the Department of Information Technologies of the SRC Michael Pashayan presented the process of introduction of the information technologies in the Committee.

Concluding the meeting, President Sargsyan spoke about his approaches regarding the reported works and touched upon general objectives of the SRC.

Serzh Sargsyan noted that reports made during the meeting, prove once again that the results of the first half of year 2013, works carried out with the major tax payers as well as the steps aimed at the modernization of the works of the State Revenue Committee show progress.

The President attached importance, regardless of the existing difficulties, to the consistent work of the SRC aimed at the large-scale improvement, completing by the Committee of the earmarked indicators envisaged by the law on state budget and upgrading of the provided services. Underscoring that progress in the tax area is observable for everybody, including the entrepreneurs, Serzh Sargsyan noted that despite positive changes, people are still far from the idea that the works of the SRC are totally improved and perfect. He stressed that along with the already accomplished works, there is still much to be done.

“People see that now they are spending much less time to file their returns and, generally, in their interaction with the tax bodies. It’s a fact. We, naturally, have to carry on with this trend. I wish, we saw the same progress in the work of the customs bodies,” the President of Armenia said. Serzh Sargsyan informed the participants of the meeting that already this week, he will sign a decree on introducing the “one window” work mode, which will be made with the engagement of a professional structure.

“I believe that along with the construction of new checkpoints, we have to ensure that there are no additional problems in this area and that our checkpoints in their appearance and substane correspond to the European standards.

Last time we spoke about it and I saw during my visit your educational and retraining facilities. The number of those who take advantage of those facilities should be increased, involving also average inspectors. It is critical that the level of their professionalism, which I already observe in case of the high-ranking staff, is present also in the ranks of middle and junior personnel. It is very important, probably even more important than in case of superiors, because our people, our citizens, tax payers and in general all those who cross our state border, interact with regular inspectors, with the people who directly represent our state,” the President noted and underscored that it was also important to pay attention to the improvement of the SRC staff’s ability to interact with the public, to communicate with individuals, not neglecting also tidy appearance of tax inspectors, as it should be with any uniform. All this, according to the President, is shaping an attitude toward our state structures.

Once again stressing the necessity of bringing the process of reformation to its conclusion, Serzh Sargsyan highlighted the importance of bringing to its minimum the contact of a tax inspector and representatives of the business community and ensuring the best results.

“Even though in the last 4-5 years, we have doubled the revenue part of our budget, it is not enough. It is not enough in two regards: first, we have no other revenues, other sources to get funds for expenses such as keeping army, hiring teachers and doctors. We have to increase tax revenues constantly. And second, we know that although we have done a considerable job of reducing the “gray economy,” nevertheless, it still exists and compared to other, more developed countries its share is significant. Among the most critical tasks facing the tax and customs bodies is that of creating conditions for competition and equal opportunities. If one businessman in working in “gray economy” while the other is paying taxes, it is quite natural that opportunities for development of these two businesses are unequal. It is, certainly, is not a problem for the tax bodies only, however your share of the job is a large one,” the President said. At the conclusion of the meeting, he expressed hope that at the next meeting they would talk about the successful implementation of the programs mentioned today. According to President Sargsyan, SRC’s current approaches undoubtedly provide the opportunity for the structure to solve all existing problems.

Serzh Sargsyan wished all the best to the SRC employees in their important mission.

Venice finally mapped by Street View: Google staff ditched the famous car and strapped cameras to their backs in order to capture the city’s canals

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Google has finally overcome the obstacle of a lack of streets as they capture Venice on footThe Italian city of Venice has finally made it onto Google Street View – despite being built on water.

Google has finally overcome the obstacle of capturing a city with no streets after strapping 360° cameras to employees who have travelled around Venice on foot.

Normally, Google Street View images are taken by a specially equipped car, but in the case of the popular Italian destination, extreme measures had to be taken.

Employees have made their across Venice’s piazzas and narrow walkways wearing backpacks containing the 33lbs cameras, and images should be available in two weeks.
The cameras, named The Trekker, have been used by Google to capture places only available by foot, such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

 

This super-fan in Vietnam chased the Arsenal team bus for miles – and then Wenger and their big-hearted superstar players invited him on for pictures and autographs (and a much-needed rest!)

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Arsenal's Mikel Arteta poses with 'The Running Man'As Arsenal continued their Asia Tour in Hanoi, the team took some time off to visit the One Pillar Pagoda and naturally were chased by many local fans hoping to catch a rare glimpse of the Gunners in person as they ventured across Vietnam on their team bus to the historic Buddhist temple.

Many tried to dart in and out of traffic on bikes, but it was one man who caught the squad’s undivided attention as he impressively ran alongside the bus, keeping pace despite bumping into a few trees and lampposts. And the bus was soon full of chants from the Arsenal team singing: ‘Sign him up, sign him up.’ One player is heard to joke: ‘He’s fitter than Aaron Ramsey!’

Striker Olivier Giroud filmed the run on his phone before uploading it on to his Facebook page where he claimed the fan had followed the bus for 15 minutes.

So impressed were the Arsenal squad that cheers of ‘sign him up’ soon filled the bus, before the fan eventually jumped on to the back of a bike near the end of his pursuit, to cheers from the Arsenal players.

But by that point the Arsenal touring party had been won over and took time out to allow the fan they have now dubbed as ‘The Running Man’, after the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, on to the bus to get pictures with the players as well as his replica shirt signed.

Wojciech Szczesny, whop helped narrate the video on the Arsenal website, claimed how the team were impressed with the physique of the fan.

Arsenal opened up their Asia tour with a 7-0 win over the Indonesia XI and face Vietnam on Wednesday at the My Dinh National Stadium.

The north London side then travel to Japan where they will face Nagoya Grampus on July 22 and Urawa Red Diamonds four days later to complete their Asia tour.