SPICES AND THEIR MEDICINAL VALUE

SPICES AND THEIR MEDICINAL VALUE

COLDS  Mix a gram of cinnamon powder with a teaspoon of honey to cure cold. Prepare a cup of tea to which you should add ginger, clove, bay leaf and black pepper. This should be consumed twice a day. Reduce the intake as the cold disappears. GINGER FOR COLDS.  Ginger tea is very good to cure cold. Preparation of tea: cut ginger into small pieces and boil it with water, boil it a few times and then add sugar to sweeten and milk to taste, and drink it hot. DRY COUGHS. Add a gram of turmeric powder to a teaspoon of honey for curing dry cough. Also chew a cardamom for a long time. BLOCKED NOSE. For blocked nose or to relieve congestion, take a table spoon of crushed carom seeds and tie it in a cloth and inhale it. SORE THROAT.  Add a tea spoon of cumin seeds and a few small pieces of dry ginger to a glass of boiling water. Simmer it for a few minutes, and then let it cool. Drink it twice daily. This will cure cold as well as sore throat. AJWAIN/AJMO FOR ASTHMA.  Boil ajwain in water and inhale the steam. CURE FOR BACKACHE.. Rub ginger paste on the backache to get relief. GARLIC FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE. Have 1-2 pod garlic first thing in the morning with water HONEY AND GINGER FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE.  Mix 1 table spoon and 1 table spoon ginger (adrak) juice, 1 table spoon of crushed cumin seeds and have it twice daily. MIGRAINE. .  For the cure of migraine or acute cold in the head; boil a tablespoon of pepper powder, and a pinch of turmeric in a cup of milk, and have it daily for a few couple of days. BITTER GOURD IS GOOD.. A tablespoon of amla juice mixed with a cup of fresh bitter gourd juice and taken daily for 2 months reduces blood sugar. TURMERIC CURE FOR INJURIES For any cut or wound, apply turmeric powder to the injured portion to stop the bleeding. It also works as an antiseptic. You can tie a bandage after applying haldi/turmeric. CRAMPS You must do a self-massage using mustard oil every morning. Just take a little oil between your palms and rub it all over your body. Then take a shower. This is especially beneficial during winter. You could also mix a little mustard powder with water to make a paste and apply this on your palms and soles of your feet. HEADACHES. If you have a regular migraine problem, include five almonds along with hot milk in your daily diet. You could also have a gram of black pepper along with honey or milk, twice or thrice a day. Make an almond paste by rubbing wet almonds against a stone. This can be applied to forehead. Eat an apple with a little salt on an empty stomach everyday and see its wonderful effects. OR When headache is caused by cold winds, cinnamon works best in curing headache. Make a paste of cinnamon by mixing in water and apply it all over your forehead FOR ARTHRITIS. Turmeric can be used in treating arthritis due to its anti-inflammatory property. Turmeric can be taken as a drink other than adding to dishes to help prevent all problems. Use one teaspoon of turmeric powder per cup of warm milk every day. It is also used as a paste for local action. GOOD FOR THE HEART  Turmeric lower cholesterol and by preventing the formation of the internal blood clots improves circulation and prevents heart disease and stroke. Turmeric can be taken as a drink other than adding to dishes to help prevent all problems. Use one teaspoon of turmeric powder per cup of warm milk every day. It is also used as a paste for local action. GOOD FOR INDIGESTION  Turmeric can be used to relieve digestive problems like ulcers, dysentery. Turmeric can be taken as a drink other than adding to dishes to help prevent all problems. Use one teaspoon of turmeric powder per cup of warm milk every day. It is also used as a paste for local action. HONEY IS A GOOD CURE FOR ALL DISEASES Mix 1 teaspoon honey with 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder and have at night. HICCUPS Take a warm slice of lemon and sprinkle salt, sugar and black pepper on it.. The lemon should be eaten until the hiccups stop. HIGH BLOOD CHOLESTEROL In 1 glass of water, add 2 tbsps of coriander/dhania seeds and bring to a boil. Let the decoction cool for some time and then strain. Drink this mixture two times in a day. OR Sunflower seeds are extremely beneficial, as they contain linoleic acid that helps in reducing the cholesterol deposits on the walls of arteries. PILES  Radish juice should be taken twice a day, once in the morning and then later in the night. Initially drink about ? cup of radish juice and then gradually increase it to ? cup. OR Soak 3-4 figs in a glass of water Keep it overnight. Consume the figs on an empty stomach, the next day in the morning VOMITING Take 2 cardamoms/elachi and roast them on a dry pan (tava). Powder the cardamoms and thereafter add a tsp of honey in it. Consume it frequently. It serves as a fabulous home remedy for vomiting. OR In the mixture of 1 tsp of mint juice and 1 tsp limejuice, add ? tsp of ginger juice and 1 tsp honey. Drink this mixture to prevent vomiting. OR Limejuice is an effective remedy for vomiting. Take a glass of chilled limejuice and sip slowly. To prevent vomiting, drink ginger tea. OR In 1 glass water, add some honey and drink sip by sip. WARTS Apply castor oil daily over the problematic area. Continue for several months. OR Apply milky juice of fresh and barely-ripe figs a number of times a day. Continue for two weeks. OR Rub cut raw potatoes on the affected area several times daily. Continue for at least two weeks. OR Rub cut onions on the warts to stimulate the circulation of blood.. OR Apply milk from the cut end of dandelion over the warts 2-3 times a day. OR Apply oil extracted from the shell of the cashew nut over the warts. OR Apply Papaya juice OR Apply Pineapple juice. URINARY TRACT INFECTION  In 8 oz of water, put ? tsp of baking soda and drink it. OR Drink plenty of water, as it aids in flushing out the waste products from the body. OR Drink Cranberry juice. You can also add some apple juice for taste. SINUSITIS Mango serves as an effective home remedy for preventing the frequent attacks of sinus, as it is packed with loads of vitamin A. OR Another beneficial remedy consists of consuming pungent foods like onion and garlic, as a part of your daily meals. OR Fenugreek/methi leaves are considered valuable

Police set fire to the village and chase away 54 families: Governor’s (Brigadier) order

Police set fire to a Muslim village and chase away 54 families: Governor's (Brigadier) order

http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=10233

Police set fire to Muslim village and chase away 54 families: Governor's (Brigadier) order (Lanka-e-News, Nov04, 2010, 11.10PM)

Last 31st Sunday, a group of policemen have arrived at dawn and set fire to a Muslim village Kandalkadu and a Muslim mosque in the Kinniya District and chased away 54 families who were resident there.

The victims say that the police has told them that this suffering was inflicted on the poor villagers by the Governor of the East Brigadier Mohan Jayawickrema.

These unfortunate Muslims are long time residents of Kandalkadu village, and they have registered deeds which they received in 1933 and 1945.There are over 130 families who were displaced due to the war resident in this village and had taken up residence in Kandalkadu. They have gone to their homes after the Trincomalee District Secretary had given written permission to them to stay.

Though these victims have shown their deeds and the letter given to them by the District Secretariat, the police have not heeded any of their pleas. The police had said they have no right to be in those places and questioned how they came into those jungles. After saying that they should obey what they say, the Police have set fire to the houses.

The mosque that was also set fire by the police had been built in 1972, the Kandalkadu residents say. These victims are refugees in the Kinniya Al adhan Vidyalaya.

The Governor, Brigadier Jayawickrema Mohan had arranged for a meeting with these Muslim victims yesterday, he has later postponed it.

A report had been asked from the Kinniya Grama niladhariya. The Grama nildhariya has reported that the victims are resident for a long time ; they have the janasaviya and samurdhi reliefs ; and they are registered even in the electoral registers.

When Lanka e news tried to contact the Governor over the phone regarding this issue, a person answering the call told,Jayawickrema has not come to office today.

When Ranjith Silva's office was contacted, an officer answering said, the District Secretary had gone to the Kinniya District Secretariat.

The pictures depict the raging fire engulfing the houses; a house that has been completely burnt down; a family which is rendered destitute after the fire waiting with their remaining implements and wares; and the police guarding the place burnt down preventing anybody from entering the area.

Top 10 Environmental Disasters

Top 10 Environmental Disasters

Source : Times Magazine

Chernobyl

The worst nuclear-power-plant disaster in history. On April 26, 1986, one of the reactors at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded, resulting in a nuclear meltdown that sent massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere, reportedly more than the fallout from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That radiation drifted westward, across what was then Soviet Russia, toward Europe. Since then, thousands of kids have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and an almost 20-mile area around the plant remains off-limits. Reactor No. 4 has been sealed off in a large, concrete sarcophagus that is slowly deteriorating. While the rest of the plant ceased operations in 2000, almost 4,000 workers still report there for various assignments.

Bhopal

Around midnight on Dec. 2, 1984, an accident at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, resulted in 45 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate escaping from the facility. Thousands died within hours. More followed over subsequent months — about 15,000 in all. In total, about half a million people were affected in some way. Many of those who survived suffered blindness, organ failure and other awful bodily malfunctions. A shockingly high number of children in the area have been born with all manner of birth defects. In 1989, Union Carbide paid out about half a billion dollars to victims, an amount the afflicted say is not nearly enough to deal with the decades-long consequences. Bhopal remains the worst industrial disaster ever.

Kuwaiti Oil Fires

Saddam Hussein knew the war was over. He could not have Kuwait, so he wasn't about to let anyone else benefit from its riches. As the 1991 Persian Gulf War drew to a close, Hussein sent men to blow up Kuwaiti oil wells. Approximately 600 were set ablaze, and the fires — literally towering infernos — burned for seven months. The Gulf was awash in poisonous smoke, soot and ash. Black rain fell. Lakes of oil were created. As NASA wrote, "The sand and gravel on the land's surface combined with oil and soot to form a layer of hardened 'tarcrete' over almost 5 percent of the country's area." Scores of livestock and other animals died from the oily mist, their lungs blackened by the liquid.

e Canal

In 1978, Love Canal, located near Niagara Falls in upstate New York, was a nice little working-class enclave with hundreds of houses and a school. It just happened to sit atop 21,000 tons of toxic industrial waste that had been buried underground in the 1940s and '50s by a local company. Over the years, the waste began to bubble up into backyards and cellars. By 1978, the problem was unavoidable, and hundreds of families sold their houses to the federal government and evacuated the area. The disaster led to the formation in 1980 of the Superfund program, which helps pay for the cleanup of toxic sites.

The Exxon Valdez

On the night of March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground on Bligh Reef in the pristine waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound. The first of what would turn out to be 10.8 million gal. of oil began to spew forth into the cold waters. It would eventually spread almost 500 miles from the original crash site and stain thousands of miles of coastline. Hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, seals, otters and other animals would perish as a result, despite the mobilization of more than 11,000 people and 1,000 boats as part of the cleanup. While the Exxon Valdez oil leak is considered to be the largest man-made environmental disaster in U.S. history, the Gulf of Mexico spill may eventually surpass it in severity.

Tokaimura Nuclear Plant

On Sept. 30, 1999, Japan's worst nuclear accident happened in a facility northeast of Tokyo. Three workers at a uranium-processing plant in Tokaimura, then the center of the Japanese nuclear-power industry, improperly mixed a uranium solution. A blue flash heralded trouble. As TIME wrote, "One [worker] was knocked unconscious. Within minutes, the others were nauseated, and their hands and faces were burned bright crimson." Two ended up dying, and hundreds were exposed to various levels of radiation.

The Aral Sea

In early April 2010, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Central Asia, where he laid eyes upon a "graveyard of ships" — rusting fishing trawlers and other vessels stranded in a desert that stretched for miles in all directions. It was the Aral Sea ... or what used to be the Aral Sea. Situated between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral was once the fourth largest lake on earth, as big as Ireland. Since the 1960s, however, when Soviet irrigation projects diverted several of its source waterways, the Aral has shrunk 90%. What was once a vibrant, fish-stocked lake is now a massive desert that produces salt and sandstorms that kill plant life and have negative effects on human and animal health for hundreds of miles around. Scores of large boats sit tilted in the sand — a tableau both sad and surreal.

Seveso Dioxin Cloud

On July 10, 1976, an explosion at a northern Italian chemical plant released a thick, white cloud of dioxin that quickly settled on the town of Seveso, north of Milan. First, animals began to die. As TIME wrote about a month after the incident, "One farmer saw his cat keel over, and when he went to pick up the body, the tail fell off. When authorities dug the cat up for examination two days later, said the farmer, all that was left was its skull." It was four days before people began to feel ill effects — including "nausea, blurred vision and, especially among children, the disfiguring sores of a skin disease known as chloracne" — and weeks before the town itself was evacuated. Residents eventually returned to the town, and today a large park sits above two giant tanks that hold the remains of hundreds of slaughtered animals, the destroyed factory and the soil that received the largest doses of dioxin.

Minamata Disease

For years, residents of Minamata, a town located on Kyushu (Japan's most southwesterly island), had observed odd behavior among animals, particularly household cats. The felines would suddenly convulse and sometimes leap into the sea to their deaths — townspeople referred to the behavior as "cat dancing disease." In 1956, the first human patient of what soon became known as Minamata disease was identified. Symptoms included convulsions, slurred speech, loss of motor functions and uncontrollable limb movements. Three years later, an investigation concluded that the affliction was a result of industrial poisoning of Minamata Bay by the Chisso Corp., which had long been one of the port town's biggest employers. As a result of wastewater pollution by the plastic manufacturer, large amounts of mercury and other heavy metals found their way into the fish and shellfish that comprised a large part of the local diet. Thousands of residents have slowly suffered over the decades and died from the disease. It has taken as long for some to receive their due compensation from the corporation.

Three Mile Island

"Nuclear Nightmare," screamed the April 9, 1979, cover of TIME magazine. On March 28, the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor near Harrisburg, Pa., partially melted down. Coming two weeks after the release of the Jane Fonda film The China Syndrome, the Three Mile Island incident became the natural outlet for fears about the nuclear-power industry. The ironic thing is that while it has become known as one of America's worst nuclear accidents, nothing much really happened. No one died, and the facility itself is still going strong. While the near meltdown is often cited as the reason no new nuclear plant has been built in America in the past 30 years, the industry had begun to slow down construction before Three Mile Island ever happened.

Air disasters timeline

Air disasters timeline

A chronology of some of the world's recent air disasters:

2010

12 May: An Afriqiyah Airways Airbus 330 crashes while trying to land near Tripoli airport in Libya, killing more than 100 people.

10 April: A Tupolev 154 plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski crashes near the Russian airport of Smolensk, killing more than 90 people on board.

25 January: Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet crashes into the sea with 89 people on board shortly after take-off from Beirut.

2009

15 July: A Caspian Airlines Tupolev plane crashes in the north of Iran en route to Armenia. All 168 passengers and crew are reported dead.

30 June: A Yemeni passenger plane, an Airbus 310, crashes in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros archipelago. Only one of the 153 people on board survives.

1 June: An Air France Airbus 330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashes into the Atlantic with 228 people on board. Search teams later recover some 50 bodies in the ocean.

20 May: An Indonesian army C-130 Hercules transport plane crashes into a village on eastern Java, killing at least 97 people.

6 April: An Indonesian army Fokker-27 crashes on landing near Bandung, West Java, killing 24 people.

25 February: A flight from Istanbul to Amsterdam crashes short of the runway at Schiphol international airport. Of the 135 people on board, nine are killed and at least 50 injured.

12 February: A passenger plane crashes into a house in Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground.

8 February: A passenger plane crashes into a river in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, killing 24 people, most of whom were from the same family.

2008

14 September: A Boeing-737 crashes on landing near the central Russian city of Perm, killing all 88 passengers and crew members on board.

24 August: A passenger plane crashes shortly after take-off from Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, killing 68 people.

20 August: A Spanair plane veers off the runway on take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 154 people and injuring 18.

Wreckage of the Spanair MD82, 21 August 2008 [Pic: EFE]
Three days of mourning was declared after the Madrid air disaster

2 May: South Sudan's defence minister is among 22 people killed after engine trouble causes a plane carrying a military delegation to crash about 400km (250 miles) west of Juba.

15 April: Some 40 people die when a DC-9 skids off the runway while attempting to take off in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma during heavy rain, smashing through a wall and into a busy residential area.

24 January: Nineteen people die when a Polish Casa C-295M military transport plane crashes in the country's north-west, carrying officials who had attended an air safety conference.

2007

30 November: All 56 people on board an Atlasjet flight are killed when it crashes near the town of Keciborlu in the mountainous Isparta province, about 12km (7.5 miles) from Isparta airport.

16 September: At least 87 people are killed after a One-Two-Go plane crashed on landing in bad weather at the Thai resort of Phuket.

17 July: A TAM Airlines jet crashes on landing at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, in Brazil's worst-ever air disaster. A total of 199 people are killed - all 186 on board and 13 on the ground.

5 May: A Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 crashes in swampland in southern Cameroon, killing all 114 on board. The official inquiry is yet to report on the cause of the disaster.

7 March: An Indonesian jet crashed and burst into flames on landing at Yogyakarta airport in Java, killing 22 people. The state-owned Garuda airline, which operated the Boeing 737-400, said that 118 people had survived.

1 January: An Adam Air Boeing 737-400 carrying 102 passengers and crew comes down in mountains on Sulawesi Island on a domestic Indonesian flight. All on board are presumed dead.

2006

29 September: A Boeing 737 carrying 154 passengers and crew crashed into the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, killing all on board, after colliding with a private jet in mid-air.

27 August: A Comair CRJ-100 jet goes down shortly after taking off from Lexington in the US state of Kentucky, killing 49 people.

22 August: A Russian Tupolev-154 passenger plane with 170 people on board crashes north of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine.

9 July: A Russian S7 Airbus A-310 skids off the runway during landing at Irkutsk airport in Siberia. A total of 124 people on board die, but more than 50 survive the crash.

3 May: An Armavia Airbus A-320 crashes into the Black Sea near Sochi, killing all 113 people on board.

2005

10 December: A Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 crashes in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, killing 103 people on board.

6 December: A C-130 military transport plane crashes on the outskirts of the Iranian capital Tehran, killing 110 people, including some on the ground.

22 October: A Bellview airlines Boeing 737 carrying 117 people on board crashes soon after take-off from the Nigerian city of Lagos, killing everyone on board.

The crash site of Mandala Airlines flight A330
The Mandala crash in Medan in Indonesia killed more than 100

5 September: A Mandala Airlines plane with 112 passengers and five crew on board crashes after take-off in the Indonesian city of Medan, killing almost all on board and dozens on the ground.

23 August: A Tans airline Boeing 737-200 crashes on an internal flight in Peru, near the city of Pucallpa. There are 40 people reported dead and 58 survivors.

16 August: A Colombian plane operated by West Caribbean Airways crashes in a remote region of Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board. The airliner, heading from Panama to Martinique, was packed with residents of the Caribbean island.

14 August: A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus to Prague with 121 people on board crashes north of the Greek capital Athens, apparently after a drop in cabin pressure.

16 July: An Equatair plane crashes soon after take-off from Equatorial Guinea's island capital, Malabo, west of the mainland, killing all 60 people on board.

3 February: The wreckage of Kam Air Boeing 737 flight is located in high mountains near the Afghan capital Kabul, two days after the plane vanished from radar screens in heavy snowstorms. All 104 people on board are feared dead.

2004

21 November: A passenger plane crashes into a frozen lake near the city of Baotou in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China, killing all 53 on board and two on the ground, officials say.

3 January: An Egyptian charter plane belonging to Flash Airlines crashes into the Red Sea, killing all 141 people on board. Most of the passengers are thought to be French tourists.

2003

25 December: A Boeing 727 crashes soon after take-off from the West African state of Benin, killing at least 135 people en route to Lebanon.

8 July: A Boeing 737 crashes in Sudan shortly after take-off, killing 115 people on board. Only one passenger, a small child survived.

26 May: A Ukrainian Yak-42 crashes near the Black Sea resort of Trabzon in north-west Turkey, killing all 74 people on board - most of them Spanish peacekeepers returning home from Afghanistan.

8 May: As many as 170 people are reported dead in DR Congo after the rear ramp of an old Soviet plane, an Ilyushin 76 cargo plane, apparently falls off, sucking them out.

6 March: An Algerian Boeing 737 crashes after taking off from the remote Tamanrasset airport, leaving up to 102 people dead.

19 February: An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying 276 people crashes in the south of the country, killing all on board.

8 January: A Turkish Airlines plane with 76 passengers and crew on board crashes while coming in to land at Diyarbakir.

2002

23 December: An Antonov 140 commuter plane carrying aerospace experts crashes in central Iran, killing all 46 people aboard.
German air crash, July 2002
The 2002 collision in Germany was blamed on air traffic control

The delegation had been due to review an Iranian version of the same plane built under licence.

27 July: A fighter jet crashes into a crowd of spectators in the west Ukrainian town of Lviv, killing 77 people, in what is the world's worst air show disaster.

1 July: Seventy-one people, many of them children die when a Russian Tupolev 154 aircraft on a school trip to Spain collides with a Boeing 757 transport plane over southern Germany.

25 May: A Boeing 747 belonging to Taiwan's national carrier - China Airlines - crashes into the sea near the Taiwanese island of Penghu, with 225 passengers and crew on board.

7 May: China Northern Airlines plane carrying 112 people crashes into the sea near Dalian in north-east China.

7 May: On the same day, an EgyptAir Boeing 735 crash lands near Tunis with 55 passengers and up to 10 crew on board. Most people survive.

4 May: A BAC1-11-500 plane operated by EAS Airlines crashes in the Nigerian city of Kano, killing 148 people - half of them on the ground.

15 April: Air China flight 129 crashes on its approach to Pusan, South Korea, with over 160 passengers and crew on board.

12 February: A Tupolev 154 operated by Iran Air crashes in mountains in the west of Iran, killing all 117 on board.

29 January: A Boeing 727 from the Ecuadorean TAME airline crashes in mountains in Colombia, killing 92 people.

2001

12 November: An American Airlines A-300 bound for the Dominican Republic crashes after takeoff in a residential area of the borough of Queens, New York, killing all 260 people on board and at least five people on the ground.

8 October: A Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) airliner collides with a small plane in heavy fog on the runway at Milan's Linate airport, killing 118 people.

4 October: A Russian Sibir Airlines Tupolev 154, en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk in Siberia, explodes in mid-air and crashes into the Black Sea, killing 78 passengers and crew.

3 July: A Russian Tupolev 154, en route from Yekaterinburg in the Ural mountains to the Russian port of Vladivostok, crashes near the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing 133 passengers and 10 crew.

2000

30 October: A Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 bound for Los Angeles crashes after take-off from Taipei airport in Taiwan, killing 78 of the 179 people on board.

23 August: A Gulf Air Airbus crashes into the sea as it comes in to land in Bahrain, killing all 143 people on board.

25 July: Air France Concorde Air France Concorde en route for New York crashes into a hotel outside Paris shortly after takeoff, killing 113 people, including four on the ground.

17 July: Alliance Air Boeing 737-200 crashes into houses attempting to land at Patna, India, killing 51 people on board and four on the ground.

19 April: Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 from Manila to Davao crashes on approach to landing, killing all 131 people on board.

31 January: Alaska Airlines MD-83 from Mexico to San Francisco plunges into ocean off southern California, killing all 88 people on board.

30 January: Kenya Airways A-310 crashes into Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, en route for Lagos, Nigeria. All but 10 of the 179 people on board die.

1999

31 October: EgyptAir Boeing 767 crashes into Atlantic Ocean after taking off from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on flight to Cairo, Egypt, killing all 217 on board.

24 February: China Southwest Airlines plane crashes in a field in China's coastal Zhejiang province after a mid-air explosion. All 61 people on board the Russian-built TU-154 flying from Chongqing to the south-eastern city of Wenzhou are killed.

1998

11 December: Thai Airways International A-310 crashes on a domestic flight during its third attempt to land at Surat Thani, Thailand, killing 101 people.

2 September: Swissair MD-11 from New York to Geneva crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Canada killing all 229 people on board.

16 February: Airbus A-300 owned by Taiwan's China Airlines crashes near Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek airport while trying to land in fog and rain after a flight from Bali, Indonesia. All 196 on board and seven people on ground are killed.

2 February: Cebu Pacific Air DC-9 crashes into mountain in southern Philippines, killing all 104 people aboard.

Courtesy : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/2008892.stm

Internet - Password Security Tips

Password Security

With most websites requiring you to create an account, do you find yourself in a bit of a pickle when it comes to inventing passwords? Many people use the same password for all their online accounts and often forget the password they came up with months ago. Hands up who doesn’t feel like banging your head against the wall trying to remember the password you created months ago?

Let’s face it - everyone has problems with creating and remembering secure passwords. That’s why we decided to help.

Tips on how to create and remember your passwords:

•Use the first letters of a sentence that you will remember,e.g. "I have 3 cats: Fluffy, Furry and Shaggy" gives: Ih3c:FF&S, or “Bouncing tigers have every right to ice-cream” becomes: Bther2I-C.

•Take the name of the website and then add your personal twist, like your height or your friend’s home address (e.g. “AmazonOceanRd6’ 2”). Avoid using your own contact details like your phone number or house number.

•Remove the vowels from a word or phrase e.g. "I like eating pancakes” becomes: Ilktngpncks”.

•Use a phrase from your favourite book and then add the page, paragraph or chapter number.

The Do’s and Don'ts of creating passwords

Do:

•Mix letters, numbers and symbols, and use case sensitivity (upper and lower case letters)

•The longer the better. Use passwords that are longer than 6 characters.

•Change your passwords at least every 60 days, cycling the numeric values up or down makes the new password easy to remember.

•Try copying and pasting at least some of the characters in your password that way keyloggers won’t be able to track your keystrokes.

Don't:

•Don’t use words or phrases or numbers that have personal significance. It is very easy for someone to guess or identify your personal details like date of birth.

•Avoid writing your password down, use a reputable password manager to manage all your passwords.

•Don’t use the same password for several logins, especially if they involve sensitive financial or other personal information.

•Don’t tell anybody your password.

•When registering on websites that ask for your email address, never use the same password as your email account.

Earthquake in Chile( a devastating magnitude 8.8-one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded)

At 3:34 am local time, February 27th, a devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded. According to Chilean authorities, over 400 people are now known to have been killed. The earthquake also triggered a Tsunami which is right now propagating across the Pacific Ocean, due to arrive in Hawaii in hours (around 11:00 am local time). The severity of the Tsunami is still not known, but alerts are being issued across the Pacific.

1.Cars lie overturned after the highway they were travelling on was destroyed in an earthquake in Santiago February 27, 2010

2.A resident of Talca, Chile, walks amid debris of a destroyed house after a powerful earthquake struck the country early Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

3.Residents look at the body of a dead man lying in a street of Talca, some 275 kilometers south of Santiago, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, after an 8.8-magnitude struck central Chile. The quake hit 200 miles (325 kilometers) southwest of the capital and the epicenter was just 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city.

4.The walls and aisles of a pharmacy in Vina del Mar are seen destroyed after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early on February 27, 2010. The massive quake plunged much of the Chilean capital, Santiago, into darkness as it snapped power lines and severed communications, and AFP journalists spoke of walls and masonry collapsing. People in pajamas fled onto the streets.

5.People walk along a highway with a collapsed bridge in the background in the outskirts of Santiago after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early on February 27, 2010.

6.A police officer controls the traffic aside of an elevated highway that collapsed in Santiago following a powerful earthquake in central Chile, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

7.Smoke from a burning building fills the sky in the outskirts of Santiago after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile on February 27, 2010.

8.A resident takes photos of a building damaged in Talca, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

9.With a computer graphic showing the possible path of tsunami waves from an earthquake in Chile, Dr. Charles McCreery speaks on the phone at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The State of Hawaii is under a tsunami warning after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake rattled Chile today.

10.A police officer and residents carry a body from a destroyed house in Talca, Chile, some 275 kilometers south of Santiago, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 after an 8.8-magnitude struck central Chile.

11.The walls of a hotel in Vina del Mar are seen destroyed after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile on February 27, 2010.

12.A woman sits in front a quake-damaged house in Talca, Chile, after a 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck the country early Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

13.Rescue workers search for victims and survivors after an apartment complex collapsed during an earthquake in Concepcion some 100 km (62 miles) south of the epicenter, February 27, 2010.

14.A survivor is lowered by a cable as rescue workers search for victims after an apartment complex collapsed during an earthquake in Concepcion, Chile on February 27, 2010.

15.A man moves his belongings inside his home destroyed in an earthquake in Valparaiso February 27, 2010.

16.A man walks past a wrecked church in Santiago, Chile on February 27, 2010.

17.People observe a highway and cars destroyed by an earthquake in Concepcion, Chile on February 27, 2010.

18.Cyclists observe a bridge that collapsed in an earthquake in Concepcion, Chileon February 27, 2010.

1st Update, 1:35 pm Eastern Time

---

19.Photograph taken this morning of Concepcion, Chile by astronaut Soichi Noguchi, aboard the International Space Station: "Concepcion, Chile. Mega earthquake (M8.3) hit this city this morning. Photo taken a few hours ago. We pray for you." On TwitPic

20.Vehicles sit on a destroyed motorway in Santiago following a powerful earthquake in southern Chile, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

21.An overturned vehicle sits amidst rubble of a collapsed elevated highway in Santiago, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010. A powerful earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday.

22.Residents look at a collapsed building in Concepcion, Chile, Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 after an 8.8-magnitude struck central Chile. The epicenter was 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city.

23.A man carries a child next to a damaged building in Concepcion, Chile, Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 after an 8.8-magnitude struck central Chile.

24.A resident walks along a damaged street in Talca, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010, after a powerful earthquake struck central Chile.

2nd Update, 4:30 pm Eastern Time

---

25.An apartment block leans over after an earthquake in Santiago February 27, 2010.

26.An immigrant from Peru steps over debris after a major earthquake destroyed homes along Santo Domingo Street in Santiago February 27, 2010.

27.A man looks at the damage to the Accademy of Fine Arts building in Santiago after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early morning killing at least 147 people, on February 27, 2010.

28.A man rides his bicycle past a destroyed building in Concepcion, Chile, Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 after an 8.8-magnitude struck central Chile. The epicenter was 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city.

29.A man looks at rubble in Valparaiso, Chile, after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked the country early morning killing at least 147 people, on February 27, 2010.

3rd Update, 6:15 pm Eastern Time

---

30.A destroyed bridge is seen next to Talca some 300 km (186 miles) south of Santiago February 27, 2010.

31.A man carries a religious icon after an earthquake in Santiago February 27, 2010.

32.Women cry next to a destroyed building in Talca, Chile on February 27, 2010.

33.Fishing boats washed up by a wave generated by an earthquake are seen in Talcahuano Port, a city just outside Concepcion, Chile on February 27, 2010.

34.Children walk past shipping containers washed up by a wave caused by an earthquake in Talcahuano Port, a city just outside Concepcion, Chile on February 27, 2010.

35.A policeman looks at cars washed against an apartment building by a wave generated by an earthquake in Talcahuano Port, near Concepcion, Chile on February 27, 2010.

4th (and final) Update, 12:15 pm Eastern Time, 2/28

---

36.Chile's President Michelle Bachelet looks at collapsed houses after an earthquake in Concepcion, Chile, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010.

37.A house lies destroyed by a major earthquake in Pelluhue February 27, 2010.

38.Residents sleep in their cars, some because their homes are damaged and others for fear of aftershocks, after an earthquake in Concepcion February 28, 2010.

39.A car is seen submerged in a flooded area due to a tsunami in Talcahuano the day after a huge 8.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Chile early morning killing at least 300 people, on February 28, 2010. The South American nation has been hit by numerous aftershocks, some reaching over 6 points on the Richter scale, as well as heavy damages in coastal towns resulting from subsequent tsunamis.

40.A flooded area is seen after an earthquake in Pelluhue, some 322 kms, about 200 miles, southwest of Santiago, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010.

41.People walk along the shore after an earthquake in Pelluhue, some 322 kms, about 200 miles, southwest of Santiago, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010.

42.Residents try to force their way into a supermarket to buy food and essentials as police try to keep order after an earthquake in Concepcion February 28, 2010.

43.Residents loot a supermarket after an earthquake in Concepcion February 28, 2010. Chilean rescuers used shovels and sledgehammers on Sunday to find survivors of a huge earthquake in Chile that unleashed a Pacific tsunami and triggered looting by desperate and hungry residents.

44.A man holds up a Chilean flag in a flooded area after an earthquake in Pelluhue, some 322 kms, about 200 miles, southwest of Santiago, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010.

45.Relatives of victims of an earthquake cry outside a destroyed building in Concepcion, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010.