Eindhoven University Developed High Precision Eye-Surgery Robot

Researcher Thijs Meenink at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has developed a smart eye-surgery robot that allows eye surgeons to operate with increased ease and greater precision on the retina and the vitreous humor of the eye. The system also extends the effective period during which ophthalmologists can carry out these intricate procedures. Meenink will defend his PhD thesis on Monday 31 October for his work on the robot, and intends later to commercialize his system.

• Filters-out tremors :-

Eye operations such as retina repairs or treating a detached retina demands high precision. In most cases surgeons can only carry out these operations for a limited part of their career. "When ophthalmologists start operating they are usually already at an advanced stage in their careers", says Thijs Meenink. "But at a later age it becomes increasingly difficult to perform these intricate procedures." The new system can simply filter-out hand tremors, which significantly increases the effective working period of the ophthalmologist.

• Same location every time :-

The robot consists of a 'master' and a 'slave'. The ophthalmologist remains fully in control, and operates from the master using two joysticks. This master was developed in an earlier PhD project at TU/e by dr.ir. Ron Hendrix. Two robot arms (the 'slave' developed by Meenink) copy the movements of the master and carry out the actual operation. The tiny needle-like instruments on the robot arms have a diameter of only 0.5 millimeter, and include forceps, surgical scissors and drains. The robot is designed such that the point at which the needle enters the eye is always at the same location, to prevent damage to the delicate eye structures.

• Quick instrument change :-

Meenink has also designed a unique 'instrument changer' for the slave allowing the robot arms to change instruments, for example from forceps to scissors, within only a few seconds. This is an important factor in reducing the time taken by the procedure. Some eye operations can require as many as 40 instrument changes, which are normally a time consuming part of the overall procedure.

• High precision movements :-

The surgeon's movements are scaled-down, for example so that each centimeter of motion on the joystick is translated into a movement of only one millimeter at the tip of the instrument. "This greatly increases the precision of the movements", says Meenink. 

Robot Eye-Surgery

• Haptic feedback :-

The master also provides haptic feedback. Ophthalmologists currently work entirely by sight the forces used in the operation are usually too small to be felt. However Meenink's robot can 'measure' these tiny forces, which are then amplified and transmitted to the joysticks. This allows surgeons to feel the effects of their actions, which also contributes to the precision of the procedure.

• Comfort :-

The system developed by Meenink and Hendrix also offers ergonomic benefits. While surgeons currently are bent statically over the patient, they will soon be able to operate the robot from a comfortable seated position. In addition, the slave is so compact and lightweight that operating room staff can easily carry it and attach it to the operating table.

• New procedures :-

Ophthalmologist prof.dr. Marc de Smet (AMC Amsterdam), one of Meenink's PhD supervisors, is enthusiastic about the system not only because of the time savings it offers, but also because in his view the limits of manual procedures have now been reached. "Robotic eye surgery is the next step in the evolution of microsurgery in ophthalmology, and will lead to the development of new and more precise procedures", de Smet explains.

• Market opportunities :-

Both slave and master are ready for use, and Meenink intends to optimize them in the near future. The first surgery on humans is expected within five years. He also plans to investigate the market opportunities for the robot system. Robotic eye surgery is a new development; eye surgery robots are not yet available on the market.

Bhutan's King Wangchuck marriage with Pema happenned today in style

Poems of joy were by children, exclusive dances by flight attendants and bank clerks, the airwaves were flooded with wedding fever as the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan prepared for the marriage of its beloved fifth Dragon King. 

The ceremony on Thursday, while far less star-studded than the year's other royal wedding - of William and Kate - will be no less elaborate in its uniquely Bhutanese way.

During the hours of ceremonies, the 31-year-old king, Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, will be adorned with royal scarves. His bride, 21-year-old Jetsun Pema, will present him a chalice filled with the ambrosia of eternal life that he will drink, and he will place a crown upon the new queen's head.

Wangchuck marriage

"It's a very emotional experience, a spiritual experience as well,"Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley told media.Yet there will be no foreign princes, no visiting heads of state, no global celebrities, just the royal family, thousands of nearby villagers and the rest of the country's 700,000 people watching live on TV.

"The whole theme of the wedding was to keep it a simple family affair, that is the Bhutanese family,"said Kinley Dorji, Bhutan's secretary of information.

Bhutanese have been waiting for their bachelor king to find a bride and start a family of his own since his father retired and handed power to him five years ago.

The Oxford-educated king is adored for pushing development and ushering in democratic reforms. His teen-idol looks - slicked back hair, long sideburns - his penchant for evening bike rides through the streets and his reputation as a laid back, accessible leader, also make him the rare monarch whose picture adorns the bedroom walls of teenage girls.

Mahindra launches Verito Executive

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra  today launched a limited edition of its Verito sedan called Verito Executive, priced in the range of Rs 5.95-7.09 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The new variant, targeted at corporate professionals or businessmen, will be available in two colours--pearl white and walnut brown, the company said in a statement.

The Verito Executive diesel variants have been priced at Rs 6.94 lakh (Diesel BS3) and Rs 7.09 lakh (Diesel BS4), while the petrol variants with 1.6 litre engine are priced at Rs 5.95 lakh (BS 3) and Rs 5.99 lakh (BS4).

Verito

The launch of the Verito Executive Edition will add a more premium status quotient to the sedan. Together, with the propositions of space and mileage, which Verito is already known for, this new edition will provide premium interior and exterior features to our customers, M&M Senior Vice-president for Marketing, Automotive Sector, Vivek Nayer said.

Just over a year after breaking up its joint venture with the French Renault, M&M had renamed the Logan sedan as Verito this April.

Last April, M&M and Renault had agreed to part ways from their joint venture -- Mahindra Renault-- that was formed in 2005 to produce and sell the Logan in India as the car failed to meet expectations. M&M agreed to buy out Renault's 49% stake in the JV for an undisclosed sum.

Congress slams opposition parties for supporting Hazare

The Congress party has slammed the opposition for extending support to social activist Anna Hazare's crusade over the Lokpal Bill, even after it being tabled in Parliament.

Talking to reporters here, Congress party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said political parties are exploiting the movement for their own benefit.

"Today, though it may seem temporarily expedient or politically advantageous for you (political parties), we ask you to consider the repercussions on democracy and the political process itself," said Singhvi.

He said that their (the Opposition) support to Hazare over the bill, which is now a property of the Parliament, is the ignorance of history and a humungous ignorance of the Constitutional process and law of the country.

Justifying the Delhi Police's act of arresting Hazare and his associates, Singhvi said: "If Delhi Police, of course in its wisdom, has imposed certain reasonable restrictions nobody is suggesting that I, you, Delhi Police or civil society is infallible; they are very wrong if anybody is aggrieved by any lack of reasonableness in any restriction, what is the only method known, it is to go to the only dispute redressal mechanism namely the courts."

Importance of Local issues in India

It is common knowledge today that waste material can help in power generation. Still, it is quite an irony that localities face a double whammy of power cuts and poor public hygiene (unseemly waste disposal), that too in a global city like Delhi.

Our society is always mismanaged. There are many issues that are specifically at local levels but are equally important at national level, for example, unscheduled power cuts. A power outage means a short or long term power loss to an area. These days such power outages are very frequent. There is no specific set time or schedule for power cuts in the society due to which people are suffering much.

Popular headlines read, “Delhi reels under long power cuts”, “Power cuts these days adding to people woes” but people are hardly in a position to make any good use of this information.

The erratic electricity supply creates a chaos among people especially when it’s scorching heat outside. People cannot relax even as diesel rate hikes dis-incentivise generator usage. It becomes very difficult for students to cope with such long power cuts and it hampers their studies.

No doubts though that consumption is increasing by the day. High usage of heavy electrical appliances and the soaring power demand under sultry conditions has aggravated the power woes.

Another major problem prevailing in our society is improper waste management. We can see dust bins clogged with garbage left in the open while the local authorities concerned are least bothered to take any steps. The foul smell apart, the main danger that comes with these open pits is the spread of diseases mainly caused by rodents and bugs. An example of this is malaria, which flourishes in open areas with stagnant water and particularly hot and muggy temperatures.

But luckily the advances in technology have led to many new discoveries. The enormous increase in the quantum and diversity of waste materials generated by human activity and their potentially harmful effects on the general environment and public health, have led to an increasing awareness about an urgent need to adopt scientific methods for safe disposal of wastage. While there is an obvious need to minimize the generation of wastes and to reuse and recycle them, the technologies for recovery of energy from wastes can play a vital role in mitigating the problems. Besides recovery of substantial energy, these technologies can lead to a substantial reduction in the overall waste quantities requiring final disposal, which can be better managed for safe disposal in a controlled manner while meeting the pollution control standard.

The bio gas plants are now gaining much popularity. A bio gas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops. Bio gas is practically produced as landfill gas (LFG) or digester gas. A bio gas plant is the name often given to an anaerobic digester that treats farm wastes or energy crops.

Bio gas can be produced utilizing anaerobic digesters. These plants can be fed with energy crops such as maize silage or biodegradable wastes including sewage sludge and food waste.

Bio gas can be used to produce electricity on sewage works. The Deenabandhu Model is a new biogas-production model popular in India. The unit usually has a capacity of 2 to 3 cubic metres. It is constructed using bricks or Ferro cement mixture. In India the brick model costs slightly more than the Ferro cement model, however India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy offers some subsidy per model constructed.

Dispersants being used to Neutralise the Oil-Spill at Mumbai Coast

Dispersants have been used to neutralise the oil at Mumbai coast. Since Indian Coast Guard has been using dispersants to neutralise most of the oil patches to minimise the impact, only the left over oil will reach the coast. Regional Centre of National Institute of Oceanography, Mumbai is regularly collecting water samples to assess the impact of oil.

Oil Spill Modelling and trajectory prediction System of Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management, (ICMAM) Project Directorate under the Ministry of Earth Sciences is used to generate likely trajectory scenarios for the prediction of movement of spilled oil, its spreading, direction, from sunken ship. Wind and Current are the primary factors responsible for spreading of oil.  Tidal current and winds predominantly drive the patches.

In the model tidal current generated by ICMAM PD using Mike 21 software and winds predicted by NCMWRF have been used.  In the model only oil from ship used and it does not account for Coast Guard intervention of using dispersants to neutralise the oil.  Model outputs indicated that coastal waters and beaches around Juhu, Thane creek and also Uran are likely to be affected by the oil spill, provided that no dispersant to neutralise the oil is used.

These information are provided to the Coast Guard time to time (since 7th Aug, 11) to combat the oil.  Coast Guard spotted oil patches 7-8 NM off Mumbai harbour on 8th Aug 11.  Most of the observed patches were found moving towards North West direction since 6 pm 8th Aug.11 which agrees with the model prediction. The situation of oil spill has changed now, since only 0.5 ton/hr spillage has been reported by the Coast Guard and oil is being neutralised.

It takes about 48 hrs for the untreated oil patches to reach the shore from the spill location.  This will be a continuous situation at the current rate of leakage and prevailing wind and current conditions.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) reported spillage of approx 1-2 tonnes/hr of Diesel oil on 7th Aug, 11 onwards. The Fuel oil tanks are said to be intact and no leakage reported.

Walmart : Final FDI policy to decide entry into multi-brand

US retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc today said its entry into India's multi-brand retail would depend on the FDI policy and the conditions required for getting into the segment.

The company, which operates a 50:50 joint venture with Bharti Enterprises for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India, is currently watching developments regarding allowing of foreign direct investments (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

"It all depends on when the FDI is allowed and how it is allowed,"Walmart India President Raj Jain told media when asked if Walmart would re-consider its current business model in India if the FDI in multi-brand retail is allowed.

Recently, a Committee of Secretaries (CoS) had proposed allowing up to 51 per cent FDI in the politically sensitive multi-brand retail segment with a rider that a minimum of USD 100 million investment should be made.

Moreover, the CoS had also recommended that 50 per cent of FDI component would have to be deployed in the back-end infrastructure, like warehousing and cold storage.

The existing policy allows 51 per cent FDI in single brand retail and 100 per cent in wholesale cash-and-carry but none in multi-brand.

Jain said Walmart is happy with its current partnership with Bharti.

The Bharti-Walmart joint venture currently operates seven cash and carry stores under the'Best Price Modern Wholesale'brand. It also supplies to the retail stores operated by Bharti Retail.

6 foods to help you have great sex

They say sex is a great stressbuster. They are right because love-making has been found to relive the pressure of the burdens of life, ease stress, soothe chronic aches and pains, spur creativity and rev up the energy levels.

Experts say that anything that makes you feel good, alive and physically excited will make you feel as if you've shed years. And all these things are associated with sex.

You are probably aware of the basics of terrific sex, but let us suggest you a few aphrodisiacs which can add zing to your sex life.

Figs have been found to be brimming with minerals like magnesium, manganese and zinc and also Vitamin E. All of them can do wonders to spice up your sex life.

The flashy-red watermelons contain a substance called citrulline, which sends the body the signals to release arginine, which relaxes blood vessels. This produces an effect similar to Viagra. And need we give you details about what Viagra does?

You've tried whiskly, you've tried wine but didn't feel the buzz. Pick a bottle of champagne and feel the difference. It enters the bloodstream faster than the wine does, so make sure you don't drink too much of it. Many champagnes have been found to have the same amount of antioxidants as red wine.

6 foods

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers can bring out the hotness in you. They help recreate the symptoms of arousal: flushed cheeks, a quiver on your tongue, and more kissable lips. They also up the heat in the body.

Cheese releases 10 times more endorphins than the great ol' aphrodisiac - Chocolate. It will help you set the right mood.

Chocolate has been your trusted friend when it comes to having a great sex. You just need to maintain the bond. Its aphrodisiac property has been ascribed to two chemicals. One, tryptophan, which is the building block of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sexual arousal. And two, phenyethylamine, a stimulant.

So the kind of food we gorge upon can do wonders with our sex life. Right food can make you positively sexual.

The 6 Risks of Using Personal Checks

 Like many Americans, I use my debit card more often than personal checks. But there are instances when electronic payments are not offered, or when paying by debit card may put me at risk of fraud (as when the pizza delivery guy creates a paper copy of my debit card as he swipes it). In addition, there are times when clients or buyers want to pay me by check. From years of experience using personal checks in such cases, here are the risks I've learned to avoid.

Stolen Checks

When my car payment and water bill were stolen from my mailbox, my personal checks were forged by the thief and cashed for four times the original amount, withdrawing $1,600 from my checking account. Though my bank ultimately reimbursed me, I had to prove that I had not written the checks despite the fact that my signature was on them. To protect yourself against check fraud, use a fraud-proof pen with ink that can't be washed off your check (you'll find cheap options at office supply stores). And drop your envelope in a post office mail collection box instead of leaving it in your own mail box.

Risk of Insufficient Funds

If you miscalculate your bank balance and your personal check bounces, you'll incur double fees. Your bank will charge you for a bounced check, while the person you wrote the bad check to will be charged for a failed transaction, a fee that he will pass on to you. To avoid this risk of double penalty, enroll your checking account in your bank's overdraft protection plan. Your bad check will then be accepted, preventing a fee from the recipient bank, though you will still be charged an overdraft fee from your own bank.

Cost of Checks

There are three risks involved with ordering checks. You may make a mistake in the personal information printed on the check and have to pay for a corrected order. Your address or phone number may change before you use up all your checks. Or your checks may be stolen while on their way to you. To avoid these risks, carefully review your order before buying checks. Order one box of checks at a time in case your information changes in the near future. Shop around with check printing companies instead of ordering directly from your bank. And ship your checks by express mail, which is safer and allows you to track your package.

Cashing Personal Checks

If you wish to cash a personal check without a bank account, consider your options carefully. If you visit a branch of the same bank from which the check was written, you may have to pay a small fee for the service but you will likely be able to cash the check without waiting for the funds to clear. For an out-of-state personal check, your best option for receiving the funds immediately is a check cashing store. However, most will charge a 5% fee ($50 for a $1,000 check). If you have a Wal-Mart near you, visit their in-store check cashing service which charge a nominal fee of $3 for a $1,000 check and even less for smaller amounts (see restrictions).

Risk of Accepting Personal Checks

Unless you are cashing your tax refund or a check from an established company, you stand the risk of incurring bounced check fees every time you deposit a personal check. In addition, between the time you make the deposit and the actual clearing of the funds, the writer of the check may place a stop payment with his bank, in which case any credit of the funds to your account will be withdrawn by your bank and you will be charged the failed transaction fee. To protect themselves, small businesses typically refer to a "bad check list" for information about persons passing bad checks. But as an individual, it is best to accept personal checks from people you know and trust only.

Check Scams

When I advertised my Ducati for sale on Craig'slist, a buyer offered to get the bike sight unseen. "After you deposit my check, you can ship me the bike," he said. Had I done so, the out-of-state check would have bounced a few days after the bike was gone. According to Fraud.org fake checks are commonly used for advances, down payments, and purchases. Once the victim deposits the check, he is asked to wire a fee or release merchandise. Only after several days does he realize that the fake check never cleared. To avoid the risk of check scams, always wait seven days for a check to clear if you are dealing with someone new. Do this even if your bank reflects the funds in your account immediately, because when a check bounces your bank will withdraw the funds.

NIA searches home of Ranchi man - Mumbai blasts

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team Friday searched the home of a man in this Jharkhand capital in connection with the Mumbai triple bombing, police sources said.

However, Manzar Imam, said to be in his 30s, was not at his home in Bariatu locality when the team from India's premier anti-terror agency went. Police sources said the NIA sleuths spoke to his family and searched his computer for information.

Mazar, sources said, is a neighbour and friend of Danish, whose name figured in the probe into the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bombings, in which at least 50 people were killed.

'My son is being implicated as he was a friend of Danish,' said Manzar's father Ali Imam.

His family said Manzar was not at home as he was unwell and had gone for treatment.

According to police sources, Danish's mail was tracked by investigating agencies who believed that some Ranchi youth were associated with the Indian Mujahideen.

87 telangana congress MLA's resigned in Andhra pradesh.

 The stage was set for a constitutional crisis in Andhra Pradesh with almost 87 of the legislators in the 294-strong state assembly belonging to the Telangana region submitting their resignations to deputy speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka in support of their demand for a separate state on Monday afternoon.

Those who submitted their resignations comprised 49 Congress MLAs including 11 ministers in the Kiran Kumar Reddy government, 37 TDP MLAs and one PRP MLA. Of the 119 MLAs that belong to the Telangana region, the Congress accounts for 53. The only four Telangana legislators from the ruling party who did not resign were city ministers Danam Nagender and Mukesh Goud and MLAs M Shashidhar Reddy and deputy chief minister Damodar Raja Narasimha.

Eleven out of 15 ministers of Andhra Pradesh cabinet hailing from Telangana region on Monday resigned from their posts as well as membership of the legislative assembly on separate statehood issue but maintained that it was"not to defy"Congress high command.

The Kiran Kumar government has a strength of 154 MLAs in the 295 assembly and has the support of 18 PRP MLAs, 7 belonging to the MIM and a few independents. Interestingly, among the first to resign on Monday from the ruling party were Konda Surekha, an ardent supporter of YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy, and P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, city MLA who has stayed away from either the CM or Jagan group.

Soon after submitting their resignations, the panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy said that their sole aim was to achieve Telangana and they would continue to remain in the party and fight for a separate state. He expressed happiness that they had chosen to submit resignations on July 4 which happens to be the United States'independence day and hoped that Telangana region would get independence soon.

Another minister, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said that the move made by the Congress leaders should not be viewed with any doubt."We are very serious and there is no question of going to Delhi for talks unless the central leadership announces that they will carve a separate state. But soon after, the panchayat raj minister K Jana Reddy said that he was going to Delhi in the afternoon as he had been called by the party high command.

Admitting that they could be staring at a crisis, aides of the chief minister said they are assessing the situation."Vikramarka, the deputy speaker who accepted the resignations, is likely to wait for speaker Nadendla Manohar to return to Hyderabad  from his trip abroad for a decision to be taken on the resignations. In the meantime, the Congress high command too will swing into action. We are confident that the Kiran government will survive,"said a CM aide.

But New Delhi is already feeling the heat. Six Congress Lok Sabha MPs and one from the Rajya Sabha arrived in the national capital on Monday morning and were scheduled to submit their resignations to Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and Rajya Sabha deputy chairman M Hamid Ansari later in the afternoon. AICC general secretary in-charge of AP Ghulam Nabi Azad again urged restrain on the part of the Telangana elected representatives and claimed he has summoned a team of MLAs to New Delhi for urgent talks.

In the meantime, the Telangana Political JAC went into an emergency meeting and is likely to urge the 11 TRS MLAs also to follow suit with their resignations so that the entire region acts in one voice in order to achieve their goal of a separate state. On the other hand, keenly monitoring the developments, the MPS, MLAs and MLCs of all the major political parties belonging to the Seema-Andhra region were huddled in closed door meetings and planning their move to counter the Telangana leaders. Earlier, they were scheduled to meet the Congress central leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Neeraj Grover murder case

Held guilty only for destroying evidence in the brutal murder of television executive Neeraj Grover three years ago, small-time Kannada actress Maria Susairaj walked free on Friday as a Mumbai court sentenced her to three years in jail – time she has already served as an undertrial.

The maximum time for her conviction is three years.

Her boyfriend, former Navy officer Emile Jerome Mathew – convicted of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' – was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On Thursday, the Mumbai court had absolved the two of murder and held them guilty of lesser offences as the Mumbai Police failed to conclusively prove the motive behind the crime.

Jerome was convicted of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' under Section 304 (part I) IPC which attracts a life term in jail or imprisonment up to 10 years. Both he and Maria were also found guilty of causing the disappearance of evidence under section 201 IPC which provides for a maximum three years in jail.

Amid criticism over silence, PM meets editors tomorrow

Under attack from civil society activists, the media and Opposition parties, voicing the need for him to be more communicative over critical issues facing the nation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is planning to meet tomorrow morning with editors of newspapers and magazines, say sources.

The last few months have seen Dr Singh's government functioning in a continuum of crises. Financial scandals have tumbled out of the offices of some senior ministers. And the controversy over the Lokpal Bill - which has headlined the summer - has left people asking why the Prime Minister isn't offering his opinion on what sort of Bill the government plans to introduce to check corruption.

Opposition parties have said the Prime Minister needs to explain the "governance deficit" that they allege has crippled the UPA coalition. Activists led by Gandhian Anna Hazare - who describe the government's version of the Lokpal bill as a "betrayal" have said repeatedly that they don't understand the PM's silence on a matter of such great importance.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV earlier this week, Home Minister P Chidambaram accepted, "Yes, I acknowledge that lots of people would like the Prime Minister to step up to the plate, so as to say, and speak more often. But that is the style of the person."

Dr Singh has so far held only three nationally-televised press conferences in the last seven years.

Sanjay Dutt's Incredible Action Hulk in Agneepath

Sanjay Dutt dons into yet another look for Karan Johar's Agneepath returns. The look - inspired by popular comic hero, The Incredible Hulk - has Sanju Baba sporting some inevitable tattoos on his well built arms and going all bald, whilst escorting himself in a loose printed, yellow shirt.

Co-starring alongside Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra, the film is said to be a remake of yesteryear's runaway hit Agneepath (1990), which starred Amitabh Bachchan in his much-celebrated character of Vijay Deenanath Chauhan.

For this ultra-villainous look of Kancha Cheena, Sanjay Dutt was believed to be working very hard, working out at least twice a day - one hour for cardio and a hour and half for weights. Over his deadly look, Dutt was recently heard saying that he did this for his fans as well as himself. The actor has been looking to get back in shape for a while now.

While Sanju Baba escorts the Hulk Hogan look, Hrithik's look on the other hand is expected to be intense and menacing.

Sunflowers to clean radioactive soil in Japan

Campaigners in Japan are asking people to grow sunflowers, said to help decontaminate radioactive soil, in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster that followed March's massive quake and tsunami.

Volunteers are being asked to grow sunflowers this year, then send the seeds to the stricken area where they will be planted next year to help get rid of radioactive contaminants in the plant's fallout zone.

The campaign, launched by young entrepreneurs and civil servants in Fukushima prefecture last month, aims to cover large areas in yellow blossoms as a symbol of hope and reconstruction and to lure back tourists.

"We will give the seeds sent back by people for free to farmers, the public sector and other groups next year," said project leader Shinji Handa. The goal is a landscape so yellow that "it will surprise NASA", he said.

The massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 23,000 people dead or missing on Japan's northeast coast and crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant that has leaked radiation into the environment since.

Almost 10,000 packets of sunflower seeds at 500 yen ($6) each have so far been sold to some 30,000 people, including to the city of Yokohama near Tokyo, which is growing sunflowers in 200 parks, Handa said.

Handa -- who hails from Hiroshima, hit by an atomic bomb at the end of World War II -- said the sunflower project was a way for people across the nation to lend their support to the disaster region.

"This is different from donations because people will grow the flowers, and a mother can tell her children that it is like an act of prayer for the reconstruction of the northeast," Handa said.
"I also hope the project will give momentum to attract tourists back to Fukushima with sunflower seeds in their hands. I would like to make a maze using sunflowers so that children can play in it."

EU proposes 150m euros to aid farmers

Producers of salad vegetables have seen sales plummet in the outbreak, which has killed 22 people and sickened more than 2,400.EU agriculture ministers are holding crisis talks in Luxembourg.

The EU health commissioner said the outbreak was limited to north Germany and did not need Europe-wide controls.John Dalli also warned against releasing unproven information on the outbreak, saying it had spread fear and adversely affected farm producers.

European agriculture commissioner Dacian Ciolos told journalists ahead of the Luxembourg talks: "I will propose 150m euros today.Compensation will cover the period from late May to late June, he said, but the amount paid could change once each country's reported losses are known.

Spain has been demanding 100% compensation from Germany for huge losses suffered by its farmers because of the false accusation that the outbreak began in Spanish cucumbers.Spain's fruit and vegetables exporters association has estimated losses at 225m euros (£200m) a week.

All the deaths from the outbreak, bar one in Sweden, have been in Germany. Twelve countries have been affected, with the cases outside Germany linked to travel there.

HarrHarrison Ford criticises "soulless" action films ison Ford criticises "soulless" action films

In a dig at films like Transformers and Avatar, the veteran Star Wars actor said they end up looking like video games because of their reliance on computer generated images.

"I think what a lot of action movies lose these days, especially the ones that deal with fantasy, is you stop caring at some point because you've lost human scale," Ford told the LA Times.

"With the CGI, suddenly there's a thousand enemies instead of six – the army goes off into the horizon. You don't need that."

Ford, best known for action films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Fugitive, added: "The audience loses its relationship with the threat on the screen. That's something that's consistently happening and it makes these movies like video games and that's a soulless enterprise. It's all kinetics without emotion. I don't have time for that."

Ford, 68, spoke out against CGI while filming his latest movie Cowboys and Aliens, which relies on computer generated images.

The actor stars opposite James Bond star Daniel Craig in the film which pits cowboys against alien invaders.

But he said the film was different.

"The trick of this thing and the beauty of this thing is that it’s a cowboy movie first and then stuff happens," he said.

"Even after stuff happens it doesn’t change - it hasn’t suddenly changed into another kind of movie. It’s still a cowboy movie. And that’s what’s incredible about it because nobody has done that before, that’s new

Serb police arrest war crimes suspect Mladic

Serbia said on Thursday it had arrested Bosnian Serb wartime general Ratko Mladic after years on the run from international genocide charges, opening the way for the once-pariah state to seek to join the European Union.

"On behalf of the Republic of Serbia I can announce the arrest of Ratko Mladic. The extradition process is underway," Serbian President Boris Tadic told reporters in Belgrade.

Tadic said Mladic was arrested in Serbia, which had long said it could not find him.

"This removes a heavy burden from Serbia and closes a page of our unfortunate history," he said.

Commander of Bosnian Serb forces in the 1992-95 Bosnia war, Mladic was indicted by an international war crimes court in 1995 on genocide charges for the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and 43-month siege of Sarajevo.

A family friend earlier told Reuters Mladic had been taken to the headquarters of the Serbian intelligence agency after an interior ministry official said police had arrested someone thought to be Mladic and were checking his identity.

"He has some physical features of Mladic. We are analyzing his DNA now," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Mladic kept a low profile after the Bosnia war -- Europe's worst fighting since World War Two -- and then faded from public view in the early 2000s. Yet the fugitive continued to cast a long shadow over Serbia, as the EU made Belgrade's integration contingent upon his arrest.

The European Union said his arrest would show the country wanted to move forward on European Union membership.

Mladic, seen by many Serbs as a hero for his loyal and fearless service to the Serb cause, is expected to quickly be transferred to the Hague court to face a trial.

The prosecutor's office at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague said it could not comment on operational issues.

450 'high risk' violent prisoners wrongly released in California due to computer errors

COMPUTER errors resulted in some 450 inmates with "a high risk for violence" being wrongly released from California prisons.

On top of the 450, more than 1000 prisoners, deemed to be at high risk of committing drug and property crimes, were also released into the community, the Los Angeles Times reports.

All the offenders were placed on "non-revocable parole" - a program that does not require them to report to parole officers. The program, which started in January 2010, was intended for inmates considered to be at low risk of reoffending.

Reviewing 200 case files of the 10,134 former inmates on non-revocable parole last July, investigators uncovered that 31 were not eligible for the program, while nine of the 31 were deemed likely to commit a violent crime.

It was estimated, using a 15 per cent error rate found in the sample, that more than 450 violent prisoners were let go in the program's first seven months.

However, the findings were disputed by prison officials who said that some of the computer glitches had since been corrected, making the margin of error eight percent, according to a report by the inspector general.

None of the wrongly-released offenders have since been placed on supervised parole or returned to jail, inspector general spokeswoman Renee Hansen said.

Authorities declined to name the concerned prisoners and would not say what crimes they had committed.

On Monday, a divided Supreme Court ordered California to reduce prison overcrowding, a decision that could force the release of tens of thousands of inmates.

12 killed in Karachi naval base raid

It was the worst assault on a military base since the army headquarters was besieged in October 2009, piling further embarrassment on the armed forces three weeks after US troops killed Osama bin Laden under their noses.

Up to 20 militants crept into the base in the teeming port city of Karachi from three sides under the cover of night late Sunday, officials said, triggering gunbattles and a series of explosions.

  
More than 12 hours later, officials were unable to confirm that the attack on the PNS Mehran, a sprawling compound of the Pakistani navy's air arm, was over. By mid-morning, fire crews had doused towering flames over the base.

Rehman Malik, the interior minister, said the "terrorists" sneaked into the base from three points adjacent to residential areas in the city of 16 million people, whose port is a vital hub for Nato supplies bound for Afghanistan.

"A (single-storey) building in the premises is still under their occupation from where they are exchanging fire with our soldiers," Mr Malik said.

"It is not just an attack on a navy establishment, it is an attack on Pakistan," Mr Malik added, warning that those who sympathise with the Taliban and al-Qaeda should instead "join hands with us to save our country".

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks claiming to avenge the May 2 death of bin Laden, said the militia had dispatched 15 to 20 suicide bombers equipped to fight for a week.

"We had already warned after Osama's martyrdom that we will carry out even bigger attacks," a Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

"Our people present inside are all fedayeen (suicide bombers). They are 15 to 20 in number and were sent after proper planning. They can fight for one week and until they embrace martyrdom," he said.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed by US commandos in a garrison town north of Islamabad, in a raid that humiliated Pakistan's security establishment. The militants' attack deep inside Karachi underlined the military's vulnerability.

Navy spokesman Commander Salman AliIt was the worst assault on a military base since the army headquarters was besieged in October 2009, piling further embarrassment on the armed forces three weeks after US troops killed Osama bin Laden under their noses.

Up to 20 militants crept into the base in the teeming port city of Karachi from three sides under the cover of night late Sunday, officials said, triggering gunbattles and a series of explosions.

More than 12 hours later, officials were unable to confirm that the attack on the PNS Mehran, a sprawling compound of the Pakistani navy's air arm, was over. By mid-morning, fire crews had doused towering flames over the base.

Rehman Malik, the interior minister, said the "terrorists" sneaked into the base from three points adjacent to residential areas in the city of 16 million people, whose port is a vital hub for Nato supplies bound for Afghanistan.

"A (single-storey) building in the premises is still under their occupation from where they are exchanging fire with our soldiers," Mr Maliksaid.

"It is not just an attack on a navy establishment, it is an attack on Pakistan," Mr Malik added, warning that those who sympathise with the Taliban and al-Qaeda should instead "join hands with us to save our country".

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks claiming to avenge the May 2 death of bin Laden, said the militia had dispatched 15 to 20 suicide bombers equipped to fight for a week.

"We had already warned after Osama's martyrdom that we will carry out even bigger attacks," a Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said.

"Our people present inside are all fedayeen (suicide bombers). They are 15 to 20 in number and were sent after proper planning. They can fight for one week and until they embrace martyrdom," he said.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed by US commandos in a garrison town north of Islamabad, in a raid that humiliated Pakistan's security establishment. The militants' attack deep inside Karachi underlined the military's vulnerability.

Navy spokesman Commander Salman Ali said that 11 navy officials and one paramilitary force member had been killed in exchanges of fire with the militants, who he said numbered from 10 to 15.

"They have destroyed two P-3C Orion aircraft," he added. The United States delivered the two maritime patrol aircraft to PNS Mehran only last June.

The attack was also likely to raise further concerns about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, which reportedly number more than 100.

The New York Times said that a mere 15 miles away from PNS Mehran, Pakistan was believed to keep a large depot for nuclear weapons that can be delivered from the air.

Karachi is Pakistan's financial capital and its port is used by NATO to ship supplies to the estimated 130,000 US-led foreign troops fighting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The assault was the fourth on the navy in Karachi in a month. Three bombings in late April killed nine people, including eight naval personnel.
said that 11 navy officials and one paramilitary force member had been killed in exchanges of fire with the militants, who he said numbered from 10 to 15.

"They have destroyed two P-3C Orion aircraft," he added. The United States delivered the two maritime patrol aircraft to PNS Mehran only last June.

The attack was also likely to raise further concerns about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, which reportedly number more than 100.

The New York Times said that a mere 15 miles away from PNS Mehran, Pakistan was believed to keep a large depot for nuclear weapons that can be delivered from the air.

Karachi is Pakistan's financial capital and its port is used by NATO to ship supplies to the estimated 130,000 US-led foreign troops fighting the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The assault was the fourth on the navy in Karachi in a month. Three bombings in late April killed nine people, including eight naval personnel.