Kelly Bensimon Rocks a Teeny Tiny Striped Bikini in Miami

It may still be winter in New York but Real Housewives star Kelly Bensimon will always find a way to show off her bikini bod!

The model-turned-reality star strutted her two-piece stuff in Miami earlier this week in a black and tan striped string bikini. Kelly lounged on a chaise and soaked up the sun (careful not to burn, Kelly!) and then exercised her impossibly long legs by taking a stroll on the sand.

Kelly is clearly enjoying herself while in MIA. “Just went jet-skiing,” Kelly tweeted on Saturday. “Miami is beautiful today.” Must be nice!

E-Payment Of Pension in Meghalaya Soon

Shillong, Mar 14 : Meghalaya government will soon put in place an electronic clearing system wherein pension would be directly put into the accounts of the retired employees from the treasuries, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma informed the assembly today.

To a query from Independent legislator Manas Chaudhuri, Sangma said 584 retired employees were yet to get pension benefits and the government was on job to ensure they are disbursed at the earliest.

Sangma said once the automated system is in place, the payment of pension would become simpler.

The pensions would be directly deposited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries who will not have to appear before the treasury officers every month.

"They will have to appear only two times every year for verification," Sangma said.

Each department will have a pension cell which will focus on speedy disposal of the pension cases, he said.

As of now, there is no dedicated team to prepare the pension papers of the retired employees, he added.

Hotmail Founder For Internet Election Campaign

Trinamool Congress ropes in Sabeer Bhatia for internet poll campaign

Kolkata, Mar 14 : The stodgy Communists in West Bengal are up against a formidable challenge this time: social communication technology. Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has roped in the services of ‘Hotmail’ Sabeer Bhatia to reach out to the new generation of voters in the upcoming assembly polls.

Bhatia, co-founder of Hotmail email service that he later sold to Bill Gates' Microsoft, will guide the party on how to use mobile telephony and the Internet to reach social communities for electoral dividends.

"We live in interesting times. As you've seen, the power of information and the power of the Internet have literally changed the world we live in. The entire Middle-East is witnessing revolutionary changes. That is primarily because information is in the hands of the people," Bhatia said.

"I think a revolution will take place in India because of the deep mobile penetration in the country," he said, adding more than the Internet, mobiles would be the choice of communication with voters.

The credit for bringing Bhatia on board goes to quiz master Derek O' Brien, who has been helping Mamata. "He encouraged me to share them with his party members," said Bhatia.

"We are excited about the opportunities demonstrated to us by Bhatia, particularly the use of mobile telephony in reaching out to voters," said Partha Chatterjee, leader of opposition in the West Bengal assembly.

Two IIM graduates, Hariharan Sriram and Mansha Tandon, will assist Bhatia.

Website Critical Of Myanmar Regime Hacked

Bangkok, Mar 14 : A Thailand-based news website critical of Myanmar's military government says it has been hacked by unknown attackers who posted fake articles on it.

The Irrawaddy website is run by exiled Myanmar journalists. It said on its home page Sunday that it was trying to fix the problem and prevent further attacks.

The Irrawaddy's coverage of Myanmar has included exclusive photos of secret military missions to North Korea. It has been the target of several denial-of-service attacks that are meant to make the site unreachable.

The fake articles concerned an alleged feud between Irrawaddy's editor and pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, and the purported death of a popular singer.

Indian Electricity Initiative Shines New Light on Farm Garbage

By Kurt Achin

 
A laborer works at a rice mill on the outskirts of Agartala, capital of India's northeastern state of Tripura, March 3, 2011

Agartala, Mar 14 : Some of India's most remote farming villages are beginning to see sundown in a new light, now that they are able to convert an abundant crop into electricity.

Remote regions are prime examples of what people describe as old India - parts of the country off the grid, literally, from new India and its high-tech urban centers.

Tamkuha, in the Indian state of Bihar, does not receive electricity from the country's main distribution network.  It gets by on traditional farming -  and for decades, as the sun went down, villagers turned to the dim light of candles or kerosene lamps.

But these days, thanks to an ambitious renewable energy project, life in Tamkuha no longer grinds to a halt around 6:00 p.m.  By the glow of florescent bulbs, residents have been able to extend their hours of productivity late into the night.

A woman says she used to work as a tailor only during the day.   Sewing was nearly impossible with a kerosene lamp. Now, she says she can work in her shop until very late at night.

Husk power
The source of the new electricity is something Tamkuha has in abundance: rice.

The startup company Husk Power Systems has designed a system fueled by the husk of rice plants - usually discarded after the rice grains are harvested.  When heated, rice husks release flammable gas that can be used to power electric generators.  A small plant can light up several hundred households for more than six hours at a time.

HPS Chief Operating Officer Ratnesh Yadav says the company's technology is a new spin on renewable energy. He says he started by looking at solar power and other options, but those seemed expensive.   People out here were dumping rice husks as waste - so, he looked into making use of it.  That was three and a half years ago, he says, and since then his company has set up about 60 husk power plants in India.

Husk power makes villages like Tamkuha less isolated by helping residents charge mobile phones.  The electricity is also giving the village new access to commerce and services during the night hours.

Shopkeepers can sell food and other needed items.  The village doctor, Farooq Ansari, can continue to see patients.

He says when he began his medical practice 27 years ago, he had trouble running the clinic at night.  With kerosene lamps, he had to close down everything by 7 or 7.30 in the evening.

Now, with electric lights, he says he can serve his people at the clinic until 11 at night.

Young students like Priyanka Yadav say electricity has given them a new lease on learning. She says she used to study by kerosene lamp.  It was stressful and she could not study for long.  Now she says she can study until midnight if she wants.

The husk power project is supported in part by the Indian government - which has set a target of deriving 15 percent of the country's energy from renewable sources by 2020.  But HPS Regional Manager Sanjay Chauhan says residents of Tamkuha are seeing a big change in their lives right now.

"Dream comes true"
He says villagers tell him it's like a dream come true.  They never dreamed that electricity would come to this area.  He says they are coming to understand how electricity can change their lives.

Yadav says previously young people here could never think of doing anything beyond village level farming. But now they are dreaming of becoming doctors, engineers and scientists.  The arrival of electricity, he says, is raising their ambition.

That is exactly the kind of ambition and talent new India will need as it ascends to superpower status on the world stage - nurtured by one of the most abundant by-products of old India's agriculture.

People Up in Arms Against Kaziranga Tiger Reserve

By Mukut Medhi

Assam: The Kaziranga National Park, of late, is in news for all the wrong reasons. The park has been declared a tiger reserve but locals are up in arms against the move.

The residents fear this could affect their livelihood, as a Tiger Tag will impose restrictions on the inflow of tourists.

It’s a haven for tigers, rhinos who drives tourists inside Kaziranga national park in Assam.

The people are worried because the formal process for declaring Kaziranga as a tiger reserve is now through. The fear is that the tiger tag will impose restrictions on the flow of tourist vehicles thus affecting their livelihood.

Others fear they will be asked to accept a rehabilitation package and be asked to move out of the tiger reserve. People here have now launched an agitation demanding the park be removed from the status of a tiger reserve.

"Our agitation will continue in entire Kaziranga, we do not want the NGOs here, if our demands are not looked into, we will not allow any activity here, we will even not allow foreigners," President, local agitator Punen Gogoi said.

The bone of contention being demarcation of 10 Km Eco-sensitive Zone around Kaziranga. There will be ban on constructing new resorts in the area and the number of vehicles entering the park will also be restricted.

But the government claims bringing Kaziranga under the umbrella of Project Tiger is important and there is no question of de-notifying it from tiger reserve status.

“This is the major source available for management of Kaziranga. If Kaziranga is de-notified as a tiger reserve the funds will stop and we will starve for funds that will adversely effect the over all management conservation in Kaziranga,” S Chand, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife, Assam said.

The big question is yet to be answered, is the fears of local people genuine or could it be that with elections round the corner, the park has become a victim of politics?

Somdev Stuns Baghdatis at Indian Wells

California: India's No. 1 Somdev Devvarman pulled off a stunner at the PNB Paribas tennis tournament by knocking out 19th seed Marcos Baghdatis in straight sets, 7-5, 6-0, here on Saturday.

Somdev, who earlier in the second round beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3, next plays the winner of Joe Wilfred Tsonga and Xavier Malisse in the third round.

Somdev, who qualified for the main draw along with his Davis Cup teammate Rohan Bopanna, was in complete control of the match as the Cypriot was in all kinds of problems. Baghdatis could neither serve well nor return it with any confidence.

It was a creditable performance by the Indian in a tournament in which the world's top four players Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are taking part.

After winning the first set 7-5, the Indian blanked Baghdatis in the second with some terrific ground strokes. He also converted five of the eight breakpoints he had while the Cypriot could barely manage to win one of the three.

Arunachal Warns Of Stern Action Against NSCN-K For Threat

By K Anurag

Guwahati, Mar 14 : The Arunachal Pradesh government has warned of stern action against the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang, the Naga rebel group, which recently 'directed' the 12 elected representatives from various constituencies in Tirap and Changlang districts to withdraw support to Dorjee Khandu-led Congress government in the frontier hill state.

A statement issued by the state government spokesman, Jarbom Gamlin, said, "The Arunachal Pradesh government has taken strong exception to this unethical, undemocratic and illegal act that amounts to anti-state and anti-national activity. The government condemns the act as misleading, mischievous and one crafted with ulterior political motives of creating confusion among the people."

"The government would like to send a very clear message that it will not bow down to such acts of subversion. This particular matter has been taken seriously. The matter will be investigated thoroughly and the guilty shall be dealt sternly as per the provisions of law."

The government has also lauded the solidarity demonstrated by the people, civil society, non-government organisations, and all the political parties of the state towards the greater interest of the state, in the wake of the threat issued to the legislators of Tirap and Changlang districts by the NSCN-K to withdraw support from the Khandu-led government.

The state government reiterated its commitment to maintain peace and tranquility in the state, including the districts of Tirap and Changlang at all cost.

Meanwhile, legislators from the state, including those from Tirap and Changlang district, have re-affirmed and re-assured their strong support to the ruling Congress government under the leadership of Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.

The NSCN-K, which has been in truce with the Indiam forces within Nagaland, is very active in Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Myanmar. The NSCN-K has its main base inside Myanmar where its 'chairman' S S Khaplang operates from.