Indian academic leads British team on arsenic prevention project

August 23rd, 2009 DHAKA - Ahead of Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni's visit to India Sep 7, Dhaka wants more information on Delhi's plan to build Tipaimukh dam in Manipur state, a senior official has said. Foreign Secretary Mirajul Quayes described last month's visit to India by a parliamentary team as "useful" and said the data supplied by India was being examined by a committee of experts, New Age newspaper reported Sunday.

August 3rd, 2009 DHAKA - The battle lines have been drawn in Bangladesh against India's proposed Tipaimukh dam with opposition leader Khaleda Zia accusing the Sheikh Hasina government of hatching "a foreign conspiracy" and blessing a "long march" against the dam. Zia alleged at a rally Sunday that India was building the dam "step by step", contravening a promise its Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made to his counterpart Sheikh Hasina at a meeting on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit that New Delhi would do nothing to hurt Dhaka's interests.

July 28th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh will insist on a joint study to determine any adverse impact on its ecology that a dam India proposes to build near its border, a senior politician said Tuesday. A day before a Bangladesh team's departure for New Delhi, former Water Resource Minister Abdur Razzak was quoted by bdnews24.com as saying that pending such a study, he would seek a assurance that India will not go ahead with the project, nor divert water from the river that is common to both neighbours.

July 27th, 2009 DHAKA - The Bangladesh team preparing to study the Tipaimukh dam project in India has promised to do its 'best', but says it would depend upon the extent to which the hosts facilitate all its movements. "We will not be able to roam around at will while visiting the Tipaimukh dam, as we will be guided by the Indian counterpart," chief of the delegation Abdur Razzaq, who is also chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources, told the media Sunday.

July 24th, 2009 LONDON - Police officials in Hertfordshire, England, are reportedly taking crime-prevention tips from 12 prolific burglars in return for not being jailed. Cops are being aided by the robbers, who are said to have committed thousands of break-ins, as part of the Choices and Consequences project, which is aimed at reducing burglaries.

July 7th, 2009 DHAKA - India's plan to build the Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river could benefit Bangladesh, a minister has said, urging a patient approach by all concerned as Dhaka prepares to send a team to visit the project site. The delay in finalising the team was because the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was yet to nominate its members, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen said Monday.

July 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research has suggested that many of the ancient mummies from the South American Chinchorro culture were victims of arsenic poisoning. The Chinchorro mummies are mummified remains of individuals from the South American Chinchorro culture found in what is now northern Chile and southern Peru.

June 25th, 2009 LONDON - Indian investments need not cause fears of an Indian Raj over Britain, the House of Lords has been told by an Indian-born member, but instead would surely show Britain a way out of the current recession. In the 17th century, Britain entered into trade with India in the name of the British East India Company, Lord Navneet Dholakia of the Liberal Democrat Party told the British upper house of parliament.

June 25th, 2009 DHAKA - Opposition leader Khaleda Zia is free to send her own team to see the Tipaimukh dam project in India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said while reiterating her decision to send an all-party parliamentary team to look it up. Accusing her political rival of seeking political mileage out of the proposed dam project on Barak river in India's Manipur state, Hasina assured that her government would study the reports submitted by both teams and decide "in the best interest of the country".

June 25th, 2009 LONDON - An Indian-born member of the British House of Lords has told the historic chamber that growing Indian investments need not cause fears of an Indian Raj over Britain. Rather than causing a reversal of history, he told members, Indians could surely show Britain a way out of the current recession.

June 16th, 2009 DHAKA - A Bangladeshi team of parliamentarians and water experts is to visit an Indian dam construction project to assess its possible ecological effects on the country, a parliamentary panel said Tuesday. "We have decided to send a delegation to India to witness its Tipaimukh project," said Abdur Razzak, the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the Water Resources Ministry.

May 27th, 2009 DHAKA - A team of lawmakers and experts from Bangladesh will visit the Tipaimukh project in India's northeast to study if it could adversely affect the flow of river Barak that is common to both the South Asian neighbours. The team was being dispatched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following a proposal mooted earlier this month by India through its high commissioner Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty.

April 27th, 2009 LONDON - Dhani Harrison, the only son of the late Beatle George Harrison, is the second richest youngster in Britain, according to the country's most authoritative wealth list. Dhani, whose name means 'wealthy' in Hindi and is also a play on the Indian musical notations of 'Dha' and 'Ni', has been valued by the Sunday Times Rich List as worth 140 million pounds.

April 24th, 2009 LONDON - A respected Perth academic of Indian origin, who was threatened with deportation, was celebrating after being given a reprieve by the British Home Office. A judge had originally rejected Swarthick Salins application for leave to stay in Britain after his bank balance fell below the minimum level set by the UK Border Agency.

April 13th, 2009 LONDON - The British Steam Car Challenge team is all set to attempt a new world steam-powered land speed record, following successful tests last week. According to a report in New Scientist, the project, which is designed to raise awareness of clean-burning fuels, is aiming to reach 270 kilometers per hour with its steam car later this year.