Involve panchayati raj institutions in food delivery: NHRC

KOCHI: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has written to chief secretaries of all states to ensure that the system of food delivery be firmed up by active involvement of Panchayati Raj institutions. "It is mandatory not just to have food as matter of right but also to ensure proper nutrition. Schemes are already available but we have to see and remove the discrepancies in existing schemes....

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.The long-overdue regulations are aimed at reducing the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria...

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Cleaners Blamed in Deadly Meningitis Outbreak

Jan 4, 2013 11:41am Credit: Minnesota Department of Health/AP PhotoThe pharmacy at the heart of the fungal meningitis outbreak says a cleaning company it hired should share the blame for the tainted steroid injections that caused more than 600 illnesses in 19 states, killing 39 people.Click here to read about the road to recovery for fungal meningitis victims.The...

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Abbas sees Palestinian unity as Fatah rallies in Gaza

GAZA (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas predicted the end of a five-year split between the two big Palestinian factions as his Fatah movement staged its first mass rally in Gaza with the blessing of Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave. "Soon we will regain our unity," Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 civil war between the two factions,...

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Delhi gang-rape victim's boyfriend speaks out

NEW DELHI: The boyfriend of a 23-year-old woman who died after a brutal gang rape on a New Delhi bus spoke out Friday for the first time about the savage attack that has sparked protests across the nation and his own trauma over his inability to save her.The 28-year-old man, who suffered a fractured leg and other injuries in the attack, has been deeply traumatised and is currently at his...

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Congress leader held for Bodo woman's 'rape'

GUWAHATI: A prominent Congress leader of the state was arrested on Thursday on the charge of allegedly raping a 40-year-old Bodo woman who's a mother of two at her home at Salbari in Chirang district in the Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) area.The accused, Bikramsing Brahma, is alleged to have committed the crime on Wednesday night at the victim's house where stayed overnight. But it...

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CDC: 1 in 24 admit nodding off while driving

NEW YORK (AP) — This could give you nightmares: 1 in 24 U.S. adults say they recently fell asleep while driving.And health officials behind the study think the number is probably higher. That's because some people don't realize it when they nod off for a second or two behind the wheel."If I'm on the road, I'd be a little worried about the other drivers," said the study's lead author, Anne Wheaton...

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Sandy Hook Parents Cope With Students' Return

Sandy Hook parents put their children on school buses this morning and waved goodbye as the yellow bus rolled away, but this first day back since the pre-Christmas massacre is anything but normal for the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School.Erin Milgram, the mother of a first grader and a fourth grader at Sandy Hook, told "Good Morning America" that she was going to drive...

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Syria rebels in push to capture air base

AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - Rebels battled on Thursday to seize an air base in northern Syria, part of a campaign to fight back against the air power that has given President Bashar al-Assad's forces free rein to bomb rebel-held towns. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the 21-month-old uprising and civil war, the United Nations said this week, sharply raising the death toll estimate...

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British PM dismisses Argentina's Falklands demands

LONDON: British Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed Thursday a renewed call by Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner for Britain to return the disputed Falkland Islands.Cameron said the 3,000 residents of the South Atlantic archipelago had a strong desire to remain British and would have a chance to express their views in a referendum on their political status this year.A spokesman...

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