Only 22 of 1,517 housing projects completed under JNNURM: CAG

NEW DELHI: Only 22 of the 1,517 housing projects approved under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission were completed by the due date of March 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General has stated, while noting that the ministries of central government were "not equipped" to monitor a project of this magnitude.

The report, which was tabled in the Parliament today, also observed that a crucial objective of bringing about reforms in the governance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) could not be achieved through the scheme.

"We observed that a total of 1,517 and 1,998 housing and infrastructure projects respectively were approved for implementation between 2005 and 2011. However, as on 31 March 2011, in respect of the housing projects, only 22 of the 1517 approved projects were completed," the CAG report said.

"The status of dwelling units within these housing projects was only marginally better but remained low as only 26 per cent of approved dwelling units had been completed. In respect of urban infrastructure projects, we observed that out of the 1,298 projects approved, only 231 projects (18 per cent) were completed," the report stated.

The JNNURM is a central government scheme which is implemented by the ministries of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation with an aim to improve infrastructure and governance in Indian cities.

In the report, the CAG stated that the ministries of the central government were not equipped to monitor a project of JNNURM's magnitude.

Only 11 out of 216 sample projects selected by it for the period 2005-06 to 2010-11 had been completed and also referred to "various deficiencies" that it found in the implementation of these projects, the report stated.

"This included deficient preparation and appraisal of detailed projects, non availability of land, escalation in costs, change in design and scope etc. In the housing projects many dwelling units remained incomplete primarily for want of land," it said.

The report said that against an allocation of Rs 66,084.66 crore by the Planning Commission, the Government of India had only made an allocation of Rs 37,070.15 crore of which only Rs 32,934.59 crore had been released by March 31, 2011.

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Caterpillar Fungus Has Anti-Inflammatory Properties

In the Tibetan mountains, a fungus attaches itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It infects and slowly consumes its host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to a position from which the fungus can grow and spore again.

Sounds like something out of science fiction, right? But for ailing Chinese consumers and nomadic Tibetan harvesters, the parasite called cordyceps means hope—and big money. Chinese markets sell the "golden worm," or "Tibetan mushroom"—thought to cure ailments from cancer to asthma to erectile dysfunction—for up to $50,000 (U.S.) per pound. Patients, following traditional medicinal practices, brew the fungal-infected caterpillar in tea or chew it raw.

Now the folk medicine is getting scientific backing. A new study published in the journal RNA finds that cordycepin, a chemical derived from the caterpillar fungus, has anti-inflammatory properties.

"Inflammation is normally a beneficial response to a wound or infection, but in diseases like asthma it happens too fast and to too high of an extent," said study co-author Cornelia H. de Moor of the University of Nottingham. "When cordycepin is present, it inhibits that response strongly."

And it does so in a way not previously seen: at the mRNA stage, where it inhibits polyadenylation. That means it stops swelling at the genetic cellular level—a novel anti-inflammatory approach that could lead to new drugs for cancer, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular-disease patients who don't respond well to current medications.

From Worm to Pill

But such new drugs may be a long way off. The science of parasitic fungi is still in its early stages, and no medicine currently available utilizes cordycepin as an anti-inflammatory. The only way a patient could gain its benefits would by consuming wild-harvested mushrooms.

De Moor cautions against this practice. "I can't recommend taking wild-harvested medications," she says. "Each sample could have a completely different dose, and there are mushrooms where [taking] a single bite will kill you."

Today 96 percent of the world's caterpillar-fungus harvest comes from the high Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan range. Fungi from this region are of the subspecies Ophiocordyceps sinensis, locally known as yartsa gunbu ("summer grass, winter worm"). While highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine, these fungi have relatively low levels of cordycepin. What's more, they grow only at elevations of 10,000 to 16,500 feet and cannot be farmed. All of which makes yartsa gunbu costly for Chinese consumers: A single fungal-infected caterpillar can fetch $30.

Brave New Worm

Luckily for researchers, and for potential consumers, another rare species of caterpillar fungus, Cordyceps militaris, is capable of being farmed—and even cultivated to yield much higher levels of cordycepin.

De Moor says that's not likely to discourage Tibetan harvesters, many of whom make a year's salary in just weeks by finding and selling yartsa gunbu. Scientific proof of cordycepin's efficacy will only increase demand for the fungus, which could prove dangerous. "With cultivation we have a level of quality control that's missing in the wild," says de Moor.

"There is definitely some truth somewhere in certain herbal medicinal traditions, if you look hard enough," says de Moor. "But ancient healers probably wouldn't notice a 10 percent mortality rate resulting from herbal remedies. In the scientific world, that's completely unacceptable." If you want to be safe, she adds, "wait for the medicine."

Ancient Chinese medical traditions—which also use ground tiger bones as a cure for insomnia, elephant ivory for religious icons, and rhinoceros horns to dispel fevers—are controversial but popular. Such remedies remain in demand regardless of scientific advancement—and endangered animals continue to be killed in order to meet that demand. While pills using cordycepin from farmed fungus might someday replace yartsa gunbu harvesting, tigers, elephants, and rhinos are disappearing much quicker than worms.

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Two Winners in Record Powerball Jackpot

Winning tickets for the record Powerball jackpot worth more than $587 million were purchased in Arizona and Missouri.

Missouri Lottery official Susan Goedde confirmed to ABC News this morning that one of the winning tickets was purchased in the state, but they would not announce which town until later this morning.

Arizona lottery officials said they had no information on that state's winner or winners but would announce where it was sold during a news conference later in the day.

The winning numbers for the jackpot were 5, 23, 16, 22 and 29. The Powerball was 6.

The jackpot swelled to $587.5 million, according to Lottery official Sue Dooley. The two winners will split the jackpot each getting $293.75 million. The cash payout is $192.5 million each.

An additional 8,924,123 players won smaller prizes, according to Powerball's website.

"There were 58 winners of $1 million and there were eight winners of $2 million. So a total of $74 million," said Chuck Strutt, Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association.

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This is the 27th win for Missouri, ranking it second in the nation for lottery winners after Indiana, which has 38 wins. Arizona has had 10 Powerball jackpot wins in its history.

Players bought tickets at the rate of 131,000 every minute up until an hour before the deadline of 11 p.m. ET, according to lottery officials.

The jackpot had already rolled over 16 consecutive times without a winner. That fact, plus the doubling in price of a Powerball ticket, accounted for the unprecedented richness of the pot.

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"Back in January, we moved Powerball from being a $1 game to $2," said Mary Neubauer, a spokeswoman at the game's headquarters in Iowa. "We thought at the time that this would mean bigger and faster-growing jackpots."

That proved true. The total, she said, began taking "huge jumps -- another $100 million since Saturday." It then jumped another $50 million.

The biggest Powerball pot on record until now -- $365 million -- was won in 2006 by eight Lincoln, Neb., co-workers.
As the latest pot swelled, lottery officials said they began getting phone calls from all around the world.

"When it gets this big," said Neubauer, "we get inquiries from Canada and Europe from people wanting to know if they can buy a ticket. They ask if they can FedEx us the money."

The answer she has to give them, she said, is: "Sorry, no. You have to buy a ticket in a member state from a licensed retail location."

About 80 percent of players don't choose their own Powerball number, opting instead for a computer-generated one.
Asked if there's anything a player can do to improve his or her odds of winning, Neubauer said there isn't -- apart from buying a ticket, of course.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning this Powerball pot at one in 175 million, meaning you'd have been 25 times more likely to win an Academy Award.

Skip Garibaldi, a professor of mathematics at Emory University in Atlanta, provided additional perspective: You are three times more likely to die from a falling coconut, he said; seven times more likely to die from fireworks, "and way more likely to die from flesh-eating bacteria" (115 fatalities a year) than you are to win the Powerball lottery.

Segueing, then, from death to life, Garibaldi noted that even the best physicians, equipped with the most up-to-date equipment, can't predict the timing of a child's birth with much accuracy.

"But let's suppose," he said, "that your doctor managed to predict the day, the hour, the minute and the second your baby would be born."

The doctor's uncanny prediction would be "at least 100 times" more likely than your winning.

Even though he knows the odds all too well, Garibaldi said he usually plays the lottery.

When it gets this big, I'll buy a couple of tickets," he said. "It's kind of exciting. You get this feeling of anticipation. You get to think about the fantasy."

So, did he buy two tickets this time?

"I couldn't," he told ABC News. "I'm in California" -- one of eight states that doesn't offer Powerball.

In case you were wondering, this Saturday's Powerball jackpot is starting at $40 million.

ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

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US 'welcomes' China participation in naval drills

BEIJING: The United States welcomes China's participation in US-led joint naval exercises next year, navy secretary Ray Mabus said Wednesday during an official visit to the country.

"We welcome China's participation in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise in 2014," Mabus said in a statement distributed by the US embassy in Beijing.

The embassy could not confirm if China had formally accepted the invitation to participate, made by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta when he visited China in September.

Some 22 nations and more than 40 vessels took part in the latest round of the international maritime exercises, described by the US Navy as the world's largest, which took place from June 29 to August 3 around the Hawaiian Islands.

The US invitation comes as Washington tries to reassure Beijing over its strategic "pivot" to the Pacific and China's growing assertiveness in territorial disputes with several Asian neighbours.

"Cooperating with China to realise shared goals is important to the maintenance of peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and central to our approach," Mabus said.

China said Sunday it had carried out the first landing of a fighter jet on its new aircraft carrier in a move that extends Beijing's ability to project its growing military might in territorial disputes.

Tensions between China and Japan, a US ally, have risen dramatically in recent months over islands in the East China Sea which Beijing calls the Diaoyus and Tokyo, which administers them, names the Senkakus.

China is locked in similar rows with Vietnam and the Philippines over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

At a key Communist Party congress earlier this month, outgoing President Hu Jintao urged China to push forward fast-paced military modernisation and set the goal of becoming a "maritime power".

- AFP/jc

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Youth detained for posting 'abusive' comments against Raj Thackeray on Facebook

MUMBAI: While the Bal Thackery Facebook controversy that led to the arrest of two girls is still going on, another incident of detention of a 20-year-old computer student over his alleged abusive comments against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS ) leader Raj Thackeray surfaced in Palghar city on Wednesday.

The "abusive" comment came at a time when the Palghar taluka unit of the Shiv Sena had called for a bandh on Wednesday to protest against the suspension of cops in the Bal Thackery Facebook case.

Sunil Vishwakarma, a class 12 drop out pursing a computer course in Vasai was handed over to the Palghar police by MNS activists on Wednesday noon. Vishwakarma, a resident of a chawl in Manor Naka told the police that his account was hacked.

The comment which abuses Raj and the ' Marathi manoos' was posted under the name of 'Sunil Vishvakrma' . The account was created in early November this month.

The complaint was registered by Bhavesh Churne, MNS Thane rural student wing president. Churne said, "We got information about the comment on Tuesday night. He was called to our office and he said he had not posted the comment. We informed the police."

The comment was posted from a mobile phone at around 3.47 pm on Monday. The comment was followed by a comment by one Preme Patil who abused Sunil for his comment. It was followed by another comment by Sunil who further abused the MNS leader.

Thane rural SP (incharge) Anil Kumbhare said that the complaint had been received and the case was referred to the Cyber Crime cell of Thane Rural. Sunil has been detained at the Palghar police station to prevent the mob from assaulting him.

Sunil said that he was aware about the facebook controversy involving Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan and had not gone online since then. His father Rajaram had bought him a computer a few weeks ago. He said that his son would not use foul language against anyone. He said that they monitored his Facebook and mobiles. Sunil is the only member in the family who has a facebook account. His two teenage sisters have never used Facebook.

Sunil's mother Paunavi who accompanied him to the police station collapsed and was taken for medical aid to a nearby hospital.

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Powerball Fever Sweeps the Nation, Fuels Jackpot

The allure of the record $500 million Powerball jackpot has led to long lines across the nation at local mini-marts and gas stations, with Americans hoping their champagne and caviar dreams become a reality when the numbers are drawn tonight.

The jackpot was boosted Tuesday from $425 million to the now historic $500 million sum, which is expected to get sweeter as millions of Americans rush to the store for their last chance to purchase a ticket and become a multi-millionaire overnight.

Powerball officials tell ABC News they expect to sell more than 105,000 tickets every minute before the drawing. When the dust settles, more than 189 million tickets would have been sold for the half a billion-dollar jackpot. That's more than double the number sold for Saturday's $325 jackpot that nobody won.

ABC News was allowed access to the Powerball studios in Tallahassee, Fla., where the 11 p.m. ET drawing will take place. The closely guarded machines and balls are locked in a vault before the numbers are drawn and only a select few are allowed inside the room during the actual broadcast.

Anyone who enters or leaves the vault is documented and workers who handle the lottery balls wear gloves, worried that human touch might change what numbers are randomly drawn.

Cameras are located in every nook and cranny of the Powerball studio, spying on workers as they ready the machines for the big moment. Lottery officials in several states will be watching those feeds in real time to monitor the proceedings.

Not everyone has Powerball fever in the country as tickets for tonight's jackpot are not offered in eight states. But that has not stopped many Californians and Nevadans who have flocked to Arizona to get in on the action.

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"I'd say the line has to be like three, three and a half hours," one person told ABC News while waiting online to purchase tickets Tuesday.

Still, the long lines have not deterred those who hope to dramatically change their lifestyle and make their wildest dreams become a reality.

"I'm going to the Bahamas and enjoying myself on an island," said one Powerball hopeful.

Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Des Moines, Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, said the chance of getting a winner tonight is approaching 60 percent.

"We call it the redneck retirement fund cause sooner or later, somebody is going to," said one man.

There has been no Powerball winner since Oct. 6 – that's 16 consecutive drawings without a winner. It's the second-highest jackpot in US lottery history, behind only the $656 million Mega Millions prize in March.

Powerball tickets doubled in price in January to $2, and while the number of tickets sold initially dropped, sales revenue has increased by about 35 percent over 2011, according to the Associated Press.

Lottery officials put the odds of winning Wednesday's Powerball pot at one in 175 million. With so many people plaything this time around, some are worried it may hurt their odds.

"Your odds of being a winner are still the same. With so many people playing, it does mean are more likely to split the jackpot if you want," said Scott Norris, math professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Everyone who lines up with cash in their hand and dreams in their head seems to have a strategy in picking the winning combination of numbers. Or, do you simply let the computer pick for you?

"It doesn't matter. Your odds of winning are actually the same no matter who picks it," said Norris.
Norris says the only real advantage that can help someone is buying more tickets.

"Your odds increase directly proportional to the number of tickets you buy. So if you buy 100, your odds are 1 in 7 million, but still astronomically small," he said.

With odds so small in a game where just about anyone who plays is a loser, there is some hope for those living in Illinois and New Jersey. Both states have sold three winning tickets for jackpots worth at least $300 million.

A single winner choosing the lump sum cash option would take home more than $327 million before taxes.

ABC News' Steve Osunsami and Ryan Owens contributed to this report.

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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.

Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

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PM Lee sends condolences to Bangladesh PM over factory fire

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has extended his condolences to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the lives lost in the Ashulia garment factory fire and the Chittagong flyover collapse.

Prime Minister Lee said he is confident that under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership, Bangladesh will pull together and recover from the tragedies.

The factory fire in Ashulia and the flyover collapse in Chittagong happened on Sunday.

Over 100 people were killed in the fire while more than 10 people died in the flyover collapse, which also left many injured.

- CNA/lp

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Alok Joshi to be new RAW chief

NEW DELHI: Alok Joshi, a 1976 batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre, has been appointed chief of India's external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

Joshi has been appointed for a period of two years or until further orders, whichever is earlier by the Appointments Committee of the cabinet. He will replace S K Tripathi, who completes his tenure on Dec 29, according to an official statement.

Joshi is presently special secretary of RAW, which is under the Cabinet Secretariat.

Yashovardhan Azad, an IPS officer of 1976 cadre from Madhya Pradesh, and currently special director, Intelligence Bureau, has been appointed secretary (security), at the Cabinet Secretariat in place of A B Mathur, who has retired.

TY Das, an IAS officer of the 1982 batch and presently joint secretary, in the development of North Eastern region (DONER) ministry, has been appointed secretary, Central Information Commission, in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary. Das has been appointed to fill the vacancy created by Bipin Bihari Srivastava, IAS officer from Bihar of 1978 batch, the release said.

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