19 killed, 18 missing in two mine accidents in Ukraine

From Vinay Shukla Moscow, Jul 29 (PTI) At least 19 miners were killed and 18 others went missing in two separate accidents at coal mines in Ukraine today, officials said.Sixteen miners were killed instantly after an explosion in a coal mine in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine early today.The blast took place in the Sukhodolsk-Vostochnaya coal mine at Krasnodon in the Lugansk region. A total of 28 people were working at the pit when the explosion occurred, Interfax reported quoting disaster management authorities of Ukraine.Another three workers received burns and other injuries and were hospitalised. One of the injured died later of his wounds. The two injured were in a grave condition.The authorities said that the fate of 9 miners remains unknown.Officials did not provide details on the cause of the blast. Most of the country's mine disasters have been caused by build-ups of methane gas.In a separate accident, two miners were killed when an elevator collapse at the state-controlled Bazhanova mine in the town of Makiyivka in the neighbouring Donetsk region.Nine workers were missing and officials said it appeared they were still alive but trapped under the rubble.Today's twin disasters were the country's worst mining accidents since more than 100 miners were killed in a mine explosion in 2007.Deadly accidents are frequent in Ukrainian mines, with many of them are poorly equipped.

Reactive v/s Proactive person

As human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Look at the word responsibility -- "response-ability" -- the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.

Reactive people are often affected by their physical environment. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn't, it affects their attitude and their performance. Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them. They are value driven; and if their value is to produce good quality work, it isn't a function of whether the weather is conducive to it or not.

Reactive people are also affected by their social environment, by the "social weather." When people treat them well, they feel well; when people don't, they become defensive or protective. Reactive people build their emotional lives around the behavior of others, empowering the weaknesses of other people to control them.

Reactive people are driven by feelings, by circumstances, by conditions, by their environment. Proactive people are driven by values -- carefully thought about, selected and internalized values.

As Eleanor Roosevelt observed, "No one can hurt you without your consent. They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them."

It is our willing permission, our consent to what happens to us, that hurts us far more than what happens to us in the first place.

India, Pakistan foreign ministers say ties on 'right track'

Both the foreign ministers have called for a new spirit of co-operation [AFP]

India and Pakistan's foreign ministers have held formal peace talks in New Delhi.

Before the talks on Wednesday, the foreign ministers of the two countries called for a new spirit of co-operation.

SM Krishna, the Indian foreign minister, said that his country wanted to see a "a stable, smooth and prosperous Pakistan".

His Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, said their relationship "should not be held hostage to the past".

The bilateral meeting between the South Asian neighbours is expected to focus on confidence-building measures, trade and people-to-people exchanges.

After arriving in the Indian capital on Tuesday, Khar stressed the need for both countries to learn from, but not be burdened by, "the lessons of history".

They should move forward as "friendly neighbours, who have a stake in each other's future and who understand the responsibility that both the countries have to the region", she said.

Meeting with separatists

Khar reportedly met several separatist leaders from Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday evening.

The bilateral talks do not include Kashmiri representatives, though the divided territory's status is a major source of tension between the two rivals.

India and Pakistan both claim all of Kashmir and have fought two wars over the issue since 1947.

Wednesday's minister-level meeting comes a day after senior Indian and Pakistani officials held discussions in New Delhi that laid the groundwork for the talks.

Salman Bashir, Pakistan's foreign secretary, said on Tuesday that he hoped the dialogue will boost ties between the two countries.

"We have every reason to be satisfied with our joint endeavours for the cause of peace and stability and for good relations between our two countries," he said.

Nirupama Rao, India's foreign secretary, also said she was looking forward to the talks.

"We had a very good meeting in Islamabad last month and this has, in a sense, set the trend for our discussions here today," she said.

On agenda

Chintamani Mahapatra, a professor of international politics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said Kashmir would be a central issue in the dialogue.

"There is a proposal to boost the amount of trade between the Pakistani and Indian side of Kashmir," he told Al Jazeera.

Peace talks between the two countries broke down over a series of attacks across Mumbai in 2008 by 10 Pakistani men in which 166 people were killed.

"They are considering increasing the number of days residents from the two sides can engage in trade per week from two to four. They will also discuss smoothening the process of getting permits for trade," Mahapatra said.

"There is also a proposal to expand the number of facilities in the region, including telephone lines."

The two countries decided to restart the peace process in February and have since discussed a wide range of issues concerning the two sides, including Kashmir and the continuing threat of terrorism.

Rise of ADOLPH HITLER with AMAZING PICTURES!

During the Great War, Adolf Hitler laid blame on Jews and Marxists in Germany for undermining the war effort. That was the germination of his hatred towards Jews.

Hitler joins the German Workers' Party in 1920. He had joined politics. The German Workers' Party name was changed by Hitler to include the term National Socialist. Thus the full name was the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) called for short, Nazi.



The Beer Hall Putsch. After its failure many wrote off Hitler. They were wrong.


Hitler was tried for the uprising but the judges were sympathetic towards him. He got a light sentence and was taken to the old fortress at Landsberg and given a spacious private cell.


Hitler never actually sat down and pecked at a typewriter or wrote longhand, but instead dictated it to Rudolph Hess while pacing around his prison cell in 1923-24 and later at an inn at Berchtesgaden.

The Great Depression gave the chance Hitler was waiting for.

In the 1930 elections Germans voted to make the Nazi party the second largest in the country.


In 1933 Hitler became German chncellor.


The burning of the Reichstag in 1933 was another step in the march to total power over germany for Hitler. Van der Lubbe, the Communist arsonist, was tried and convicted, then beheaded. It gave Hitler enough ammunition against the communists.



The Enabling Act of 1933 made Hitler the dictator of Germany. Hitler with Germany's hero Field Marshal Hindenburg.

This American newspaper rightly described Hitler

[SHS St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Cartoon Collection, June 4, 1940]

What is that joyfulness?

People think, "I can enjoy this material world very nicely. Everyone is having such a good time. There is no reason I can't enjoy myself as much as they." This idea is illusion because there is no real enjoyment in the material world. We may be very good-looking, famous, well educated, wealthy and powerful, and we may have a very beautiful wife and children and hold the highest position in the country—but at any moment we are subject to be shot down. This is the nature of this world. There is no question of having pleasure without impediments. Even when the pleasures are earned after a great deal of struggle and sacrifice, they are temporary. In this material world there is no pleasure that can give us constant and unending enjoyment. One has to understand he is not the material body. Then one immediately becomes joyful. Just like if you are implicated in some undesirable affair and your lawyer advises, "Oh, you are free from this implication. The law does not bind you," you feel pleasure, "Oh, I'm free from this implication?" "Yes," similarly, as soon as one is convinced that "I am not this material body," then immediately he becomes joyful. What is that joyfulness? There is no hankering, no lamentation. Only Krishna can give us that. Therefore Krishna instructs in Bhagavad-gita that it is the welfare of every living entity to give up this material activity and just surrender unto Him, He will give protection from all sinful reactions. Unfortunately, people are so attracted by the glitter of material nature that they cannot do it. People always fear that by surrendering to Krishna they will lose something but Krishna is so kind that if He takes anything away, He will reward us a thousand-fold.

Smile more

A research done in England found that a baby smiles 400 times a day, an adolescent 17 times and an adult doesn't smile at all!  The more successful one keeps a very stiff face.  Is roughness a sign of success?  Is being stressed a sign of prosperity, growth or dignity?
 
You should smile more.  Every day, every morning, look at the mirror and give a good smile to yourself.  You know what happens when you smile?  All the muscles in your face get relaxed.  The nerves in your brain get relaxation, and you get the confidence, courage and energy to move on in life.
 
You know, your smile is so fragile!  Just one telephone call is enough to take it away!  Just see why your smiles go away? It may be because somebody said something stupid to you.  And why did they say a stupid thing?  Because they had some garbage they needed to throw out and you were there, ready to catch it!  And once you have caught it, you hold on to it so passionately! 

Wake up! Don't let your smile be snatched away by anybody!

An Website for pregnant Womens

MedHelp's free Pregnancy Calendar helps women keep track of everything happening during this special time - from baby kicks to pregnancy weight gain, from food aversions to food cravings, and from counting down the number of days until the due date to the test results of every ultrasound. Whether you're in your first or third trimester, you'll want to use our interactive pregnancy calendar to remember the details forever. Share your progress with others by displaying a ticker on other sites, so everyone can share in this special journey.
 http://www.medhelp.org/land/pregnancy-calendar

US edges closer to default as debt talks collapse

"For the first time in history, our country's triple-A credit rating would be downgraded, leaving investors around the world to wonder whether the United States is still a good bet," Obama said in remarks at the White House.

The United States edged closer to a devastating default on Tuesday, as President Barack Obama's Democrats and their Republican rivals were deadlocked over competing plans to raise the debt ceiling, one week before a deadline to act.

With no compromise in sight and the threat of a far-reaching US credit downgrade looming, IMF chief Christine Lagarde urged swift resolution of the political impasse in Washington, warning that failure to reach an agreement would have serious consequences for the world economy.

"The clock is ticking and clearly the issue needs to be resolved immediately," Lagarde told the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, according to a text of her remarks.

Obama, in a televised address late on Monday aimed at rallying public support for a package proposed by Senate Democrats, said failure to increase the $14.3 trillion US borrowing limit would severely hurt the nation.

"For the first time in history, our country's triple-A credit rating would be downgraded, leaving investors around the world to wonder whether the United States is still a good bet," he said in remarks at the White House.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers, despite weeks of intense talks, are far apart on a deal to reduce the budget deficit, which would clear the way for Congress to lift the debt ceiling by the Aug. 2 deadline, when the country runs out of cash to pay all of its of its bills. Democrats control the Senate. Republicans control the House of Representatives.

Markets have been rattled by the descent of negotiations into an acrimonious stalemate, with both sides offering competing plans that are unlikely to win bipartisan support.

"Every day that goes by without a deal will see investors become a bit more defensive," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

'I AM CONFIDENT' A key element of the standoff has been congressional Republicans refusing to allow any tax increase in deficit reduction packages.

Obama said a default would inflict the equivalent of a tax hike on all Americans by pushing up borrowing costs on things like credit card loans and mortgages, but he sought to assure markets a deal could be reached.

"I have told leaders of both parties that they must come up with a fair compromise in the next few days that can pass both houses of Congress -- a compromise I can sign. And I am confident we can reach this compromise," he said.

The dollar fell across the board, hitting a record low against the safe-haven Swiss franc, as Obama's comments indicated a swift breakthrough in the debt talks was unlikely.

Gold, seen as another safe haven from the American and European debt woes, rose to a record high on Monday and hovered near that level on Tuesday. However, financial markets are not showing any sign of panic.

Rating agency S&P warns it could downgrade the United States unless lawmakers agree on steps to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years.

A credit rating cut would be felt around the world. Investors will likely demand a higher return for holding US government debt, a benchmark for almost all other financial markets, forcing up interest rates and sapping asset prices.

Republicans and Democrats both insist they will not allow the United States to default and many investors expect the two sides to come to an agreement as well.

Despite little sign of movement, Gene Sperling, Obama's top economic adviser said on Tuesday that Republicans and Democrats were still capable of reaching a budget deal this week if the sides show a "minimum amount of compromise."

Investors are also still holding out hope for a deal. "My personal belief is that the US lawmakers will eventually raise the debt ceiling because the alternative is so much worse," said Guan Ong, former chief investment officer of Korea Investment Corp, South Korea's sovereign wealth fund, who now manages his own fund.

"But before we get there, I expect some level of volatility to occur and it will get worse with each day. This would be brinkmanship at its best, or worst, depending on how you look at it," he said.

Still, India's central bank said it was prepared for any market repercussions should the United States default on its debt. Central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said at a news conference that India had sufficient market liquidity to deal with the impact of a default.

Democrats want to shield cherished healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and say any spending cuts in these must be balanced by changes in the US tax code that generate more revenue in the future.

But Republican lawmakers are adamant they will not vote for a deal that includes tax increases, reflecting the determination of Tea Party conservatives elected last year to shrink government.

House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, must placate these demands and on Monday advanced a two-stage deficit reduction plan that would start with an initial $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years.

It is sure to be rejected by Obama though because it would raise the debt limit for only a few months. The issue would have to be revisited in early 2012 ahead of elections due in November, making it even harder for lawmakers to come to an agreement.

Democrats formally presented their competing plan to reduce the deficit by $2.7 trillion over the next decade, proposing an increase in the debt limit that would carry through the November 2012 election, when Obama and many lawmakers are up for re-election.

The Obama administration has not ruled out invoking the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution to sell debt, even if Congress fails to raise the borrowing ceiling.

Put the glass down!

A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see and asked the students,' How much do you think this glass weighs?'

'50gms!'.... '100gms!'.....'125gms'...the students answered.

What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?

'Nothing' the students said.

'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.

'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the students.

You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?'

'Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress and paralysis and have to go to hospital for sure!' ventured another student and all the students laughed.

'Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?’ asked the professor.

'No'

'Then what caused the arm ache and the muscle stress?'

'Put the glass down!' said one of the students.

'Exactly!' said the professor.' Life's problems are something like this.Hold it for a few minutes in your head and they seem OK. Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer and they begin to paralyze you.'

It's important to think of the challenges (problems) in your life, but EVEN more important to 'put them down' at the end of every day before you go to sleep. That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh and strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!

So, when you leave office today, remember to 'PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!'