Friday, July 30, 2010

Paypal India Electronic Withdrawal Back, PayPal India News!

We’ve received good news. India users can do electronic withdrawals right now as you did before. In appreciation for the loyalty from our India users, we will extend the processing fee refund of $5 USD for any cheque withdrawals made from July 29, 2010 until further notice.

Thank you,
The PayPal Asia Team

Previous Days News:

PayPal introduces withdrawal of funds via cheque: PayPal has announced a new decision with effect from August 1.

PayPal will no longer allow electronic withdrawal of funds but has advised everyone to withdraw funds by means of cheque. This has been decided as per regulatory instructions. PayPal will withdraw its withdrawal fee on every cheque withdrawal with effect from 29th July, 2010.

Process of withdrawal: Log into your PayPal account, click on ‘Withdraw’. Click on the ‘Request a cheque from PayPal’ link.

Enter the withdrawal amount and select your mailing address, then click ‘Continue’. Click ‘Submit’ to confirm your request.

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PayPal Electronic Withdrawal Service Continues in India, Latest News from Paypal

We’ve received good news. India users can do electronic withdrawals right now as you did before. In appreciation for the loyalty from our India users, we will extend the processing fee refund of $5 USD for any cheque withdrawals made from July 29, 2010 until further notice.

Thank you,
The PayPal Asia Team

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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Animation Voice Artists to Speak Up at the Academy

Beverly Hills, CA – The artists who voice Dug the Dog, Minnie Mouse, Natasha Fatale, Rocky the Squirrel and Winnie the Pooh will sound off at “Voices of Character,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 16th installment of the Marc Davis Celebration of Animation, on Thursday, August 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Hosted by animation historian Charles Solomon, the event will feature onstage discussions with such legendary voice artists as Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh), Susan Egan (Meg of “Hercules”), June Foray (Natasha Fatale and Rocky the Flying Squirrel), Yuri Lowenthal (Ben Tennyson) and Russi Taylor (Minnie Mouse), along with animation director Bob Peterson (who voices Dug the Dog in “Up”), animator James Baxter and casting executive Rick Dempsey.

While animators have been called “actors with pencils” who create the “illusion of life,” animated characters equally depend on the unique talents of voice artists to breathe life into their visual components. Vocal range and consistency, comic timing, emotional impact, character definition and song styling are just a few of the very specific choices that can make or break a coordinated effort between picture and sound. The panelists will discuss how they approach their work, as well as what they admire in the work of others.

Tickets to “Voices of Character” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at the 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

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Nations Advance on Climate Finance Outlined in Copenhagen Accord

Washington - In the months since the international community negotiated the Copenhagen Accord at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark in December, 136 countries have associated themselves with the brief document that outlines key elements of a long-term global climate change solution.

Critical among these elements is finance, and the accord includes provisions for new financial help for developing countries that cannot afford to reduce their rising greenhouse gas emissions or cope with the effects of a warming planet.

The accord ( http://unfccc.int/home/items/5262.php ) includes short-term and long-term financial plans.

Developed nations committed to provide $30 billion in short-term, fast-start financing until 2012 to support developing countries' mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Over the longer term, by 2020, they committed to making sure developing countries have access to $100 billion a year in public and private funds.

"We know that a great many developing countries need assistance to change their development trajectories and to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change," Jonathan Pershing, the State Department's deputy special envoy for climate change, said July 27 in testimony before the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment.

"The global community will need to rapidly and substantially ramp up financing, technical and technological assistance," he added. "Otherwise the world will not be able to minimize global emissions or adapt to the ever-increasing damages associated with climate change."

According to scientists, climate change will lead to population displacement from sea level rise; declines in global food supply, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia; massive losses in species diversity; and major shortages of water all over the world.

SIGNIFICANT STRIDES

Developed countries are working out the details of their financial commitments and, according to Pershing, have made "significant strides" in increasing their fast-start contributions. So that funds can be delivered quickly, they come from existing programs and institutions like the Climate Investment Funds ( http://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/cif/ ), the Global Environment Facility ( http://www.thegef.org/gef/ ) and established bilateral programs.

In the United States, at the urging of President Obama, Pershing said, Congress appropriated $1.3 billion for climate finance in 2010. Obama then asked for more than $1.9 billion for fiscal year 2011 for U.S. fast-start activities. Congress has not yet approved the 2011 budget.

Now in preparation for fiscal year 2012 (October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012), as part of the U.S. fast-start contribution, the administration has pledged to provide $1 billion for the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation ( http://www.un-redd.org/ ) (REDD+) program.

"It is vitally important for our overall climate diplomacy goals - and for the credibility of the Copenhagen Accord - that the U.S. make a strong contribution to fast-start finance," Pershing told the House subcommittee.

"The president's 2011 request was designed to put us on track to meet our fair share of the fast-start commitment," he said, "and we strongly urge the members of this subcommittee to support this request in full."

In 2010, Pershing said, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development ( http://www.usaid.gov/ ) are delivering $30 million for the Least Developed Countries Fund ( http://unfccc.int/cooperation_support/least_developed_countries_portal/ldc_fund/items/4723.php ), $20 million for the Special Climate Change Fund ( http://unfccc.int/cooperation_and_support/financial_mechanism/special_climate_change_fund/items/3657.php ) and $10 million for the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility ( http://www.forestcarbonpartnership.org/fcp/ ). Nearly two-thirds of U.S. bilateral adaptation funding in 2010-2011 is focused on small-island developing states, least-developed countries and Africa.

MOVING TOWARD 2020

The international community has also begun tackling the issue of long-term public financing for climate change efforts, Pershing said.

In February, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon created a 21-member High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing ( http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/pages/financeadvisorygroup ) to analyze financial resources that could help meet the $100 billion goal. The group has met twice ? in London in March and in New York in July ? with a third meeting to be held in Ethiopia.

The group will present its report at the end of October, in time for the 16th conference of the parties (COP-16 ( http://www.cc2010.mx/swb/ )) of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change ( http://unfccc.int/2860.php ), which begins November 29 in Cancun, Mexico.

"According to a recent analysis by the International Energy Agency, the incremental cost to keep emissions at a level that would prevent global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius is $10 trillion between now and the year 2030," Pershing said, with the vast majority coming from countries' own public and private finances.

"The commitment to mobilize $100 billion must therefore be seen for what it is," he said, "a catalytic effort to help jump-start the world on the pathway to a cleaner economy, but quite a small share of the total effort."

Want to learn more about climate change? Join the global conversation ( http://www.facebook.com/conversationsclimate ) on Facebook.

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Breaking Online Barriers

By Karen A. Frenkel

Technology may provide the tools to overcome Internet censorship. This article appears in the "Defining Internet Freedom ( http://www.america.gov/defining_internet_freedom.html )" issue of eJournal USA ( http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa.html ).

Millions of Internet surfers living in closed societies use free anti-censorship technology to break through online barriers imposed by their authoritarian governments. Several organizations produce that software, including the Censorship Research Center (CRC), the Global Internet Freedom Consortium (GIF), Torproject.org, and the University of Toronto's Citizen Labs (UTCL), which is affiliated with the OpenNet Initiative.

Governments that censor the Internet employ three technical methods. The first blocks visits to specified Internet Protocol addresses. The second filters content, cutting off access to any site with keywords prohibited by the censoring government. The third technique, called Domain Name Redirect, is similar to changing a person's phone number. It makes sites impossible to find.

Software designed to dodge the censor can also work in several different ways. GIF's software tools defeat the blocks, monitors, and traces authorities use to surveil individually owned computers. For example, censor-busting software might scramble the bits and bytes flowing in and out of a Chinese user's computer, so the "Great Firewall of China," as it is known, cannot see patterns in the traffic.

UTCL's software, called Psiphon, is a browser proxy. It enables users behind firewalls to see otherwise-blocked content by delivering Web pages through an intermediate server in an uncensored country. The system works based on trust; someone already with a Psiphon account must invite first-time users. The invitation is an Internet address combined with a code. These enable the newcomer to log in to get credentials and visit an address without anyone knowing they're using Psiphon to get there. The user enters that address into an address bar on any browser and can surf freely from then on.

Torproject.org's Tor software protects users' anonymity by preventing those watching from conducting traffic analysis. It distributes transactions along a random Internet pathway so no single point links a user to his or her destination.

The Censorship Research Center ( http://www.censorshipresearch.org/ ) offers the newest addition to the anti-censorship toolkit. It developed "Haystack" software after an Iranian government crackdown on Internet use after 2009's disputed presidential election. Haystack uses a mathematical formula to hide users' real Internet identity when they visit Web sites. The program lets people in Iran use the Internet "as if there were no Iranian government filters," CRC Executive Director Austin Heap told Business Week.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. government.

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President's Forum with Young African Leaders: Opportunity

Narrator:

President Obama will host the President's Forum with Young African Leaders in Washington from August 3rd to August 5th. The three-day event brings together Americans and Africans to develop innovative solutions to regional challenges. One of the major themes of the forum is increasing economic opportunity.

During his historic visit to Ghana ( http://www.america.gov/obama_ghana.html ) in July 2009, President Obama spoke of the need to take steps to advance entrepreneurship, education, and the use of technology.

President Obama:

These steps are about more than growth numbers on a balance sheet. They're about whether a young person with an education can get a job that supports a family; a farmer can transfer their goods to market; an entrepreneur with a good idea can start a business. It's about the dignity of work; it's about the opportunity that must exist for Africans in the 21st century.

Narrator:

Despite impressive economic growth in recent years, Africa has yet to be fully integrated into the global economy. Africa's share of world trade is less than 2 percent, and Africa's tremendous wealth in natural resources has not translated into greater prosperity for its people.

The Obama administration is dedicating significant resources to help address these challenges. The $3.5 billion food security initiative called Feed the Future ( http://www.america.gov/st/develop-english/2010/July/20100722113758cpataruk0.2630579.html ) assists 12 African focus countries in modernizing their agricultural sectors. The Obama administration is also working with African partners to maximize the opportunities created by the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

Africa also faces a massive digital divide with the rest of the world. Better use of technology holds enormous potential to increase the competitiveness of African companies on the global stage. Recently in Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about the more effective use of technology in development.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton:

I've said many times that while talent may be distributed universally, opportunity is not. And the reality of the world we live in today is that technology and innovation are the great equalizers and can be used to create opportunity where there is very little of that commodity.

Over the last 17 years, and particularly in the last year and a half, I've seen that happening. I've seen it happening in Kenya, where farmers have had their incomes grow by as much as 30 percent since they started using mobile banking technology. In sub-Saharan Africa, women entrepreneurs are using the Internet to get microcredit loans. And in many countries, text-based tip lines are providing unprecedented access to expert advice on everything from agriculture to health care. And we need to replicate that progress and take it to scale in the lives of the billion people at the bottom of the world's economic ladder.

Narrator:

An example of the effective use of technology in development can be found in the Apps for Africa ( http://www.america.gov/st/scitech-english/2010/July/20100716150132SztiwomoD4.928225e-02.html ) program. The program is a partnership involving the U.S. State Department and three African technology organizations - the Innovation Hub, or iHub; Appfrica Labs, and the Social Development Network, or SODNET. Bruce Wharton, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the State Department's African Affairs Bureau explains the program.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Bruce Wharton:

Apps for Africa is a competition basically, a challenge, in which program developers from five East African countries are being challenged to come up with simple online tools that address problems or challenges in Africa. Computer-based or cell phone-based or hand-held that will give people some kind of tool that they need. A farmer being able to get an accurate weather forecast via SMS or health information over cell phones. Basically we're leaving it up to the African developers to sit down with civil society and find out what the challenges are and develop responses to them.

Narrator:

The President's Forum with Young African Leaders takes place in Washington from August 3rd to August 5th. For more information, visit www.america.gov ( http://www.america.gov ).

To learn more about the Apps for Africa program, visit the program website at apps4africa.org ( http://www.apps4africa.org/ ).

This podcast ( http://stream.state.gov/streamvol/libmedia/usinfo/4770/en/en_072810_pfyal_econ.mp3 ) is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other Internet sites or opinions expressed should not be considered an endorsement of other content and views.

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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

New York : Restaurants Grading Begins

By the end of Wednesday, several restaurant windows in New York are quite likely to display a new attraction alongside the usual menus and reviews: a brilliantly colored placard bearing a letter grade.

But much less visible is the months-long effort by city health officials to prepare for this day — the debut of their controversial new system to rate the cleanliness of the city’s more than 24,000 restaurants with an A, B or C.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has added 23 inspectors to its 157 to conduct annual visits that are expected to rise by more than one-third, to 85,000 from 60,000. The wireless hand-held computers that inspectors use to calculate scores have been upgraded with new hard drives, memory cards and software.
The department’s printing presses have produced 28,000 letter-grade placards and enough new procedural guides for every food establishment in the city. Workshops to help restaurant employees and operators understand the new system — conducted in English, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese — have attracted about 2,000 participants.
And starting Wednesday, a new Web site, nyc.gov/health/restaurants, will offer the public up-to-date specifics on each restaurant’s inspection, as well as maps and even street views of the establishments.
“This is the biggest change we’ve implemented in many years,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, commissioner of the health department, which has budgeted $3.2 million for the effort.
Public pressure exerted by the letter grades, Dr. Farley said, will “force restaurants to be diligent about good food-safety practices.”
The city is not the only body gearing up. Two weeks ago, the New York State Restaurant Association, which has fought the grading system since it was first proposed 19 months ago, sent a letter to some 3,500 eating establishments, rallying opposition and raising money for a possible legal challenge, said Robert Bookman, legislative counsel for the group’s New York City chapters.
“We don’t know that the government can compel you to post a sign that expresses an opinion about your business that you do not share,” Mr. Bookman said.
The new ratings will arrive piecemeal. During inspections on Wednesday, only the 8-by-10-inch placards designating an A grade are expected to be posted, since restaurants that receive a lower grade will automatically be inspected again at a later date. If the restaurants are still unhappy with their grade, they have the right to seek an administrative hearing.
Indeed, the first B’s and C’s may not be posted until late August, and rating placards will not reach all restaurants until fall 2011.
The new inspection rules require restaurateurs to post the placards prominently, displaying ratings that were previously available only at the health department or on its Web site. Failure to do so will be punishable by a $1,000 fine, with additional penalties for counterfeiting.
The placards have been knocked out at the rate of 6,000 an hour in the department’s print shop in the basement of 80 Centre Street. The blue A card will correspond to 0 to 13 points under the old system, which imposed numerical penalties for each violation. A green B will designate a less sanitary 13 to 27 points, and an orange C will represent 28 points or more. A black-and-white “grade pending” sign will be posted in restaurants that are appealing their scores.
It is perhaps a measure of the department’s optimism that Nicholas J. Monello, director of printing operations, said he had fulfilled orders for 9,375 A’s — more than the number of B’s and C’s combined. All have been numbered and embossed to prevent counterfeiting.
The department has replaced its paper documents with an electronic system to handle the increased demand that it expects for administrative tribunals, the courts that assess fines and adjudicate disputed inspections, said Daniel Kass, a deputy commissioner. For the first time, online settlements will be permitted, if restaurants acknowledge their violations in exchange for discounted fines.
More than 200 hand-held scoring devices have been rebuilt. Every unit “had to be encrypted, which took from two to three hours for each,” said Robert D. Edman, an assistant health commissioner.
“That’s so that if they are lost,” he continued, “no one can access their information.”
Inspectors have attended four-hour training sessions on letter-grade issues, and health officials have held dozens of educational meetings with restaurant workers.
One morning this month, in the basement auditorium of the Queens Public Library in Flushing, Elliott S. Marcus, an associate health commissioner, answered questions from 70 restaurant workers and owners.
“You have to post the cards on a front window, door or exterior wall within five feet of the main street entrance, from four to six feet in height,” Mr. Marcus said.
Many restaurateurs contend that the new system is confusing, and some have predicted a mass shuttering of businesses rated B and C. Through months of public debate, the department removed many inspection categories from the scoring process, so that restaurants would not receive low grades based on administrative violations like a failure to post informational signs. Some requirements, like those governing food temperature, have been relaxed.
Still, Mr. Bookman, counsel for the restaurant association, said, “We don’t think they went nearly far enough in making changes.”
At the Queens workshop, Anna Nikopoulos, owner of Pete’s Cafe in Bayside, complained that “they are trying to implement too much here in a recession.”
But Sarvjit Singh, owner of the Sohna Punjab restaurant in Bellerose, said he had no worries about maintaining a clean restaurant. “I tell my chef he should be cooking as if he were eating that food,” he said.

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Telefónica Wins Control of Brazilian Operator After Raising Bid

Telefónica of Spain won full control of the mobile phone joint venture it had with Portugal Telecom in Brazil after raising its bid for a third time to 7.5 billion euros, thereby overcoming opposition from the Portuguese government.
The deal, worth about $9.8 billion, was announced Wednesday morning by the Spanish stock market regulator.
It should end a lengthy tussle between two European operators that have come to rely increasingly on earnings from Brazil’s fast-growing mobile phone market to offset sluggish sales at home.
Telefónica will now be paying almost a third more than it initially offer in early May for Portugal Telecom’s 50 percent stake in the holding company that controls Vivo, the leading operator in Brazil.
Last month, the Portuguese government vetoed an increased offer of 7.15 billion euros. José Sócrates, the Portuguese prime minister, justified the decision by saying that a presence in the lucrative Brazilian market was “strategic and fundamental for the development of Portugal Telecom.”
The government’s veto overrode a vote by Portugal Telecom shareholders in favor of the Spanish offer. The European Court of Justice also found that the government had used an illegal method to block the deal.
The agreement Wednesday is likely to come as a relief to investors on both sides, after the Spanish operator had threatened to launch what was likely to be a lengthy and costly legal battle to circumvent the Portuguese veto and gain control of Vivo.
A report Wednesday on the website of Jornal de Negócios, a Portuguese newspaper, said that Portugal Telecom planned to use part of the proceeds from the Vivo sale to buy a stake of 21 percent in another Brazilian operator, Oi, for about 3.75 billion euros. That deal, if completed, would allow Portugal Telecom to maintain a Brazilian presence.
Telefónica and Portugal Telecom shares were suspended from trading on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, the shares of Banco Espirito Santo soared 5 percent. The bank is the largest shareholder in Portugal Telecom, with a stake of 8 percent, and had already voted in favor of the earlier bid.
Telefónica revenues in Spain fell 3.9 percent in the first quarter, while revenues from Brazil and its other Latin American businesses rose 4.2 percent. A similar scenario has unfolded for Portugal Telecom, whose domestic wireless revenues fell 6.5 percent in the first quarter while revenues from its Brazilian wireless business rose 26 percent.

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Don’t Give the Tax Credit Too Much Credit

The Home Buyer Tax Credit contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has been given much credit for buoying the housing market. But simple arithmetic shows that the credit’s effect has been minimal.
The law passed in February 2009 included a temporary 10 percent capped tax credit for qualified first-time home buyers. Later the program was expanded to include repeat home buyers, and recently home buyers were given until September 2010 to complete their qualified transaction.
Last week the Federal Housing Finance Agency released its housing price index for May 2010, and yesterday the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index was released. Both show that housing prices have not fallen significantly, if at all, from what they were a year before. News articles have asserted that housing prices stopped falling because of the tax credit and have planted seeds of worry that a housing-market collapse could continue when the credit expires.
The Internal Revenue Service reports that only $19 billion of tax credits have been claimed so far. The average credit was $6,000 to $7,000, small compared with the average sales price for a home of more than $200,000. More importantly, most home sales transactions involved no tax credit because the buyer was unqualified, or perhaps unaware. If these transactions were at all affected by the credit, it was only because they occurred in a wider market in which some transactions did involve credits.

But the wider market is quite a bit wider: the stock of owner-occupied houses in the United States is worth about $14 trillion, with an additional $3 trillion of rental housing. From this perspective, the $19 billion in first-time home buyer tax credits amounts to about one-tenth of 1 percent.
For the same reason, the possible expiration of credit is not an important event for the housing market. The credit was not designed to last more than year or two, whereas houses last decades or even centuries. Most of the value of a house accrues in the decades after the first year or two of its existence.
Certainly some housing construction projects and housing purchase deals were accelerated to conclude before the credit expired. But accelerating a deal is far different than creating a deal out of thin air.  That’s why I expect little, if any, housing price reduction after the credit expires.

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THE Thai Union to Buy MWB in $884 Million Deal

Thai Union Frozen Products, a seafood exporter, said Thursday that it had agreed to buy MW Brands, a tuna canner, from Trilantic Capital Partners to form one of the world’s largest seafood companies. The deal values MW Brands at 680 million euros, or $884 million.
MWB controls brands like John West, Petit Navire, Hyacinthe Parmentier and Mareblu, while Thai Union owns Chicken of the Sea.
Thiraphong Chansiri, president of Thai Union, said the deal would give his Thailand-based company better access to supplies and end markets, double the fleet size, improve its position in tuna canning and create cost-saving synergies. MWB, with its headquarters in Paris, had sales of 448 million euros for the last fiscal year, Thai Union said.

Thai Union beat out a number of private equity firms including Blackstone Group, which advanced the most in the bidding, as well as Bolton Group, a tuna canner, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Once combined with MWB, Thai Union will have a total debt to Ebitda ratio of 4.25, the person said, asking to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Ebitda stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.

Thai Union shares fell 1.5 baht, or 3.14 percent, to 46.25 baht, or $1.43, in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Thai Union, which said the financing was fully arranged, used Morgan Stanley and Bualuang Securities as financial advisors, while Trilantic Capital Partners relied on UBS.

MW Brands had been in the hands of Trilantic, a private equity firm, since 2006, when it was bought from HJ Heinz.

Based in New York, Trilantic was once Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking, the buyout business of the failed investment bank. After its parent’s collapse, the unit was bought by Reinet Investments, run by the Rupert family of South Africa.

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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Digital Web Awards, An Appreciation for Web Creations and its Creators

Digital Web Awards is a Web Award Program, Initiated by Yrox Digital Web Media 1.0 (A Unit of Iwebion Technologies), to recognize web creations and Initiatives. Creating a Unique, Genuine Creations is Appreciated Everywhere, Now Let's Recognize them (for their excellence production). There are no limitations in submitting multiple category applications. Anyone from anywhere in the world, can participate/sponsor/partner into the program.

A Group of Professional Selection Committee will review all applications upon successful validation steps, and the Selection Committee decision is final. So, best thing you can do is choosing a right "Category" which describes your creations best.

All the Best, Enjoy the Program!

For more details, Goto: Official Digital Web Awards Website

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Thursday, July 22, 2010

.CO Domains are Now Available - What is .CO Domain?

A New Era is coming. .CO is the next address for your COmpany online.

The good names in .com have exhausted, get the name of your choice in the .co space today! Find the domain name you're looking for when you use the newest domain extension. With a .CO domain name you will have more choices in branding your online presence with a truly global, recognizable and credible option for a Web address.

What is .CO

Associated globally with the words “COmpany”, “COrporation” and “COmmerce” – the .CO domain opens up new opportunities in the currently saturated online environment.

.CO domains are easy to recognize, simple to remember, and flexible to use. The .CO extension also offers the perfect platform for a new generation of socially-networked individuals and businesses to COmmunicate and COllaborate online.

Q. What are the benefits of registering a .CO domain?
A. There are several key benefits of choosing .CO:

.CO is a truly global, recognizable and credible domain
.CO gives businesses and brands the chance to create a worldwide footprint
.CO is relevant to individuals, businesses and organizations
.CO is meaningful, memorable and intuitive to use for people around the world
.CO appeals to today's socially-networked individuals and entrepreneurs

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Cairns radio station 4CCR breaches licence condition

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has found that community radio broadcaster 4CCR Cairns has breached the licence condition that requires licensees to encourage community participation in the operations of the service.

After investigating a series of complaints from members of the Cairns community, the ACMA found that the licensee was not encouraging the community to become involved in the operations of the service as it had policies that restricted membership. The ACMA considers open membership to be critical to encouraging participation in the operations of a community broadcasting service.

In response to the breach finding, 4CCR has begun the process of redeveloping its membership policies and constitution to ensure it has open membership. This process is being undertaken in conjunction with a range of agreed measures that were implemented in December 2009 when 4CCR’s licence was renewed.

The ACMA considers that 4CCR is demonstrating a commitment to meeting its obligations under the licence conditions and that the current management committee is working to address these operational issues. While the ACMA will take no further action at this time, it will continue to monitor 4CCR’s implementation of the agreed measures. In this regard, 4CCR is required to provide regular reports to the ACMA.

Cairns Community Broadcasters Inc (4CCR) holds a long term community broadcasting licence to provide a radio service in the Cairns RA2 licence area in Queensland.

More information about community broadcasting is available on the ACMA website.

A copy of the investigation report 2350 is available on the ACMA website.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Donald Robertson, Media Manager, on (02) 9334 7980, 0418 86 1766 or media@acma.gov.au.

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LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN ON THE RISE AGAIN, UN ECONOMIC SURVEY FINDS

Latin America and the Caribbean is consolidating its recovery from the global economic slowdown, posting higher-than-expected growth in recent months, although some countries in the region face serious pitfalls, according to a new United Nations report.

The 2009-2010 regional economic survey, conducted by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and released today, forecasts that the region will expand by 5.2 per cent this year after the recovery began in the second half of last year. Overall unemployment rates are likely to ease from 8.2 per cent to 7.8 per cent.

But growth is forecast to slow to 3.8 per cent next year because of continued uncertainty about global economic prospects, especially in Europe, a potential fall in remittances to some countries and the risk posed by the high debts of some Caribbean countries.

Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, told the report’s launch today in Santiago, Chile, that this year’s growth rate is higher than expected.

“What stands out are the members of Mercosur [a South American trade grouping] and countries with greater capacity to implement public policies, as well as those with strong domestic markets spurred by regional activity and their exports to Asia,” she said.

Some of the region’s largest economies are driving the revival, according to ECLAC. Brazil is expected to record a growth rate of 7.6 per cent this year, while Uruguay (7.0 per cent), Paraguay (7.0 per cent), Argentina (6.8 per cent) and Peru (6.7 per cent).

Private consumption is on the rise again following the slight improvement in employment, while lending has also increased, as have investment and export revenue.

In its survey ECLAC found that macroeconomic policies by some governments in the region in the years before the global economic crisis have also assisted, ensuring that those countries have better public accounts, reduced debts and increased international reserves.

Yet other countries are continuing to struggle. Venezuela’s economy is forecast to contract by 3 per cent, there will be negative growth in several Caribbean nations as well and Haiti will endure a fall of as much as 8.5 per cent because of the catastrophic earthquake in January.

ECLAC warned that the patchiness of the economic recovery in other regions, particularly Europe, dampens the prospects of strong growth next year. The amount of remittances – which comprise a significant segment of the gross domestic product (GDP) of countries such as Ecuador – are likely to fall.

Many Caribbean nations also have high debt burdens which leave them vulnerable to economic problems in the months ahead. The debt owed by Barbados is equivalent to 93 per cent of its GDP last year and for Grenada the figure is 83 per cent.

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Academy Ventures Out of This World

Beverly Hills, CA – Can you travel at warp speed? Hear a scream in space? Rocket to the future? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will explore the physical realities of science fiction movies in the three-evening series “Out of This World: The Science of Space Movies” beginning on Thursday, August 5. “Out of This World” will continue on Friday, August 6, with a presentation of Fritz Lang’s 1929 silent classic “Woman in the Moon” and conclude on Saturday, August 7, with screenings of “Project Apollo” (1968) and “For All Mankind” (1989), documentaries that focus on NASA’s Apollo program.

All three evenings are being presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council. The following is information for each night:

“Out of This World: The Science of Space Movies”
Thursday, August 5, 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Beverly Hills

Hosted by Adam Weiner, the program will examine the physics principles behind many science fiction movies and explore how the fictional world of Hollywood can often provide an effective springboard into investigating real science.

In an interactive presentation, Weiner will lead a physics-based analysis of famous scenes from such movies as “Planet of the Apes” (1968), “Superman” (1978), “Apollo 13” (1995), “Contact” (1997), “Event Horizon” (1997), “October Sky” (1999) and “Star Trek” (2009).

Joining Weiner onstage will be writer Ann Druyan (“Contact”), writer Philip Eisner (“Event Horizon”) and former NASA flight director Gerry Griffin, who served as a technical advisor on “Apollo 13” and “Contact.” The program also will feature the films’ technical teams who will explain how scenes were created, as well as discussion with experts on space travel.

Weiner is the author of Don’t Try This at Home! The Physics of Hollywood Movies. He currently teaches physics at The Bishop’s School, a private high school in La Jolla, California.

“Woman in the Moon” (1929)
Friday, August 6, 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater, Hollywood

Considered to be one of the most influential science fiction films of its time, this Lang classic, based on Thea von Harbou’s novel “Frau im Mond,” tells the story of a group of scientists and adventurers who take a rocket trip to the moon. The film stars Klaus Pohl, Willy Fritsch, Fritz Rasp and Gerda Maurus. The film was directed and produced by Lang and written by von Harbou.

This evening also will be hosted by Weiner.

“Project Apollo” (1968) and “For All Mankind” (1989)
Saturday, August 7, 7 p.m. at The Silent Movie Theatre, Los Angeles

In collaboration with The Cinefamily, “Out of This World” continues with screenings of “Project Apollo” and “For All Mankind.”

Using fluid camera work and no narration, experimental filmmaker Ed Emshwiller’s “Project Apollo” was made for the United States Information Agency and gives a fascinating portrait of NASA’s Apollo project a full year before the actual moon landing.

“For All Mankind” is an Academy Award®-nominated documentary chronicling NASA’s Apollo missions from the 1960s and ‘70s. It features original mission footage, and interviews with the astronauts and excerpts from actual mission recordings. The documentary was directed by Al Reinert, and produced by Reinert and Betsy Broyles Breier.

Tickets for “Out of This World: The Science of Space Movies” on August 5 and 6 are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open one hour prior to each event. All seating is unreserved.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at the 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

To order tickets for “Project Apollo” and “For All Mankind,” visit www.cinefamily.org.

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Sunday, July 18, 2010

How to Type Indian Rupee Symbol? Type Indian Rupee Symbol Easily!

Hai Frnzzz,
All we know that recently our Indian Government, Approved/Introduced a Symbol/Sign for Indian Rupee.


Here it is:


Then, How to type this symbol? Here is the Solution (very simple one),
Just Download and Install the Rupee Symbol Font and
Type the Rupee Symbol Easily: Click Here to Download (Orkut Account Needed)

Foward It!

India Rockzzzzzzzz

Your's Colleague Indian,

Mohith Agadi
Profiles: Orkut - Facebook
Gtalk: reach@mohith.net

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

U.S. Aid to Mexico in Wake of Flood

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
July 13, 2010

QUESTION TAKEN AT THE JULY 13, 2010 DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

MEXICO: Aid to Mexico Due to Flooding

Question: Is the U.S. providing assistance to Mexico in wake of the flooding that has occurred? If so, what assistance are we providing?

Answer: The United States has provided $100,000 in disaster assistance to support the local purchase and delivery of emergency relief supplies for disaster-affected populations in Mexico. In addition, a five-person USAID assessment team is currently on the ground to monitor humanitarian conditions and coordinate the U.S. Government (USG) response. The U.S. and Mexican sections of the International Boundary and Water Commission have been and will continue to coordinate flood control measures in the Rio Grande river basin.

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Obama's Interview with South African Broadcasting Corporation

QUESTION: Mr. President, you reached out yesterday to President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, pledging U.S. support after the twin bombings in Kampala. Can you share some of the details of that conversation with us?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I expressed, obviously most immediately, the condolences of the American people for this horrific crime that had been committed. And I told the President that the United States was going to be fully supportive of a thorough investigation of what had happened.

Al Shabaab has now taken credit, taken responsibility for this atrocity, and we are going to redouble our efforts, working with Uganda, working with the African Union, to make sure that organizations like this are not able to kill Africans with impunity.

And it was so tragic and ironic to see an explosion like this take place when people in Africa were celebrating and watching the World Cup take place in South Africa. On the one hand, you have a vision of an Africa on the move, an Africa that is unified, an Africa that is modernizing and creating opportunities; and on the other hand, you've got a vision of al Qaeda and Al Shabaab that is about destruction and death. And I think it presents a pretty clear contrast in terms of the future that most Africans want for themselves and their children. And we need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to support those who want to build, as opposed to want to destroy.

Q: These attacks are very much about what is happening in Somalia today. How does that change, if at all, the game plan of the United States with regard to the Transitional Government that is in power there?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, obviously Somalia has gone through a generation now of war, of conflict. The Transitional Government there is still getting its footing. But what we know is that if Al Shabaab takes more and more control within Somalia, that it is going to be exporting violence the way it just did in Uganda. And so we've got to have a multinational effort. This is not something that the United States should do alone, that Uganda or others should do alone, but rather the African Union, in its mission in Somalia, working with the Transitional Government to try to stabilize the situation and start putting that country on a pathway that provides opportunity for people, as opposed to creating a breeding ground for terrorism.

Q: Former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania -- you might know him -- Charles Stith -- has just written a piece about radical Islam in Africa specifically, and I'd like to quote something from it. He says, "It became clear to me that the dirty little secret that no one wanted to discuss openly was political Islam's corrosive effect and adverse impact on development and stability on the African continent. It is inarguable that Islam is a factor in Africa."

In your view, are there strategies in place to deal with this?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think -- look, Islam is a great religion. It is one that has prospered side by side with other religions within Africa. And one of the great strengths of Africa is its diversity not only of faith, but of races and ethnicities. But what you have seen in terms of radical Islam is an approach that says that any efforts to modernize, any efforts to provide basic human rights, any efforts to democratize are somehow anti-Islam. And I think that is absolutely wrong. I think the vast majority of people of the Islamic faith reject that. I think the people of Africa reject it.

And what you've seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organizations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself. They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents without regard to long-term consequences for their short-term tactical gains.

And that's why it's so important, even as we deal with organizations like Al Shabaab militarily, that, more importantly, we also are dealing with the development agenda and building on models of countries like South Africa that are trying to move in the right direction, that have successful entrepreneurs, that have democracy and have basic human freedoms -- that we highlight those as an example whereby Africans can seize their own destiny, and hopefully the United States can be an effective partner in that.

Q: So this is a link to poverty, that's what you're saying.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's not just link to poverty. I mean, I think there's an ideological component to it that also has to be rejected. There's -- obviously young people, if they don't have opportunity, are more vulnerable to these misguided ideologies, but we also have to directly confront the fact that issues like a anti-democratic, anti-free speech, anti-freedom of religion agenda, which is what an organization like Al Shabaab promotes, also often goes hand in hand with violence.

Q: Sudan. The International Criminal Court has added the charges of genocide to the arrest warrant of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. There's a view in Africa, certainly with the African Union, that the pursuit of President Bashir will be undermining or detrimental to the Doha peace process. What's your view?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, my view is that the ICC has put forward an arrest warrant. We think that it is important for the government of Sudan to cooperate with the ICC. We think that it is also important that people are held accountable for the actions that took place in Darfur that resulted in, at minimum, hundreds of thousands of lives being lost.

And so there has to be accountability, there has to be transparency. Obviously we are active in trying to make sure that Sudan is stabilized; that humanitarian aid continues to go in there; that efforts with respect to a referendum and the possibility of Southern Sudan gaining independence under the agreement that was brokered, that that moves forward.

So it is a balance that has to be struck. We want to move forward in a constructive fashion in Sudan, but we also think that there has to be accountability, and so we are fully supportive of the ICC.

Q: Is peace not at risk if he were to present himself to the ICC?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that peace is at risk if there's no transparency and accountability of the actions that are taking place, whether it's in Sudan or anywhere else in the world.

Q: The World Cup, Mr. President, you mentioned that. To a certain extent, I imagine around the world, it was overshadowed by what happened in Uganda. But South Africa was basking in the glory of having successfully hosted this World Cup. But let's acknowledge the skeptics -- and there were quite a few of them and they were quite loud. I wonder if you were one of them.

THE PRESIDENT: No, I wasn't. I, having visited South Africa and seen the extraordinary vitality of the people there, having gotten to know President Zuma and understanding the extraordinary pride that his administration expressed, which I think was a pride that was shared by all South Africans, I had confidence that this was going to be a success.

Obviously, it was just a terrific showcase, not just for South Africa, but for Africa as a whole, because what it lifted up was the fact that Africa -- all the stereotypes that it suffers under, all the false perspectives about Africa capacity, that when given an opportunity, Africa is a continent full of leaders, entrepreneurs, governments that can operate effectively. What we now have to do is build on that positive image that comes out of the World Cup.

And when I was in Ghana last year, I was very clear on what I think the agenda has to be -- Africa for Africans. That means that we can be partners with Africans, but ultimately, on whether it's issues of eliminating corruption, ensuring smooth transitions of democratic governments, making sure that businesses are able to thrive and prosper and that markets are working for the smallest farmer and not just the most well-connected person -- those are issues that Africans can work on together.

And in terms of my orientation working to help in Africa's development, we want to provide resources, but we want to partner with those who are interested in growing their own capacity over time and not having a long-term dependency on foreign aid.

Q: You also spoke in Ghana about the need to stop the blame game.

THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. Well, look, I feel very strongly that -- you talk to the average person in Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria; they will acknowledge a tragic history in terms of colonialism and negative Western influences. But I think what they'll also acknowledge is their biggest problem right now is the policeman who's shaking them down, or the inability for them to be able to get a telephone in a timely fashion in their office, or having to pay a bribe. Those are the impediments to development right now. And those are things that Africans can solve if there is a determination and there's strong leadership.

And Nelson Mandela set us on a path in understanding the standards of leadership that are needed, and I think those standards can be met. And you're seeing countries around the continent who are starting to meet those high standards that are so necessary to ultimately help the people.

Q: I want to talk about President -- former President Nelson Mandela in a second, but before that, let's just touch on this bid, the U.S. bid for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. How serious are Americans about soccer? My sense is that they're feeling fairly partial to it.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, listen, I think that you saw a quantum leap this year because of the excellence of the U.S. team. It's absolutely true that they call baseball the national pastime here in the United States; that basketball is obviously a homegrown invention; and we dominate American football. Those are all sports that developed here and that the United States is obsessed with.

Soccer is a late entry. But what you saw with the U.S. team was huge enthusiasm of the sort that I haven't seen about soccer before. And the younger generation is much more focused on soccer than the older generation. I mean, my daughters, they play soccer, they paid attention to who was doing what in the World Cup. And so I think what you're going to continue to see is a growing enthusiasm and I think people are very serious about the World Cup being hosted here in the United States.

Q: I want to touch on AIDS. Mr. President, there's been a great deal of appreciation and goodwill towards the United States for the Global Health Initiative, of which PEPFAR is the cornerstone. Some criticism, though, from AIDS groups in South Africa that there's a de facto decrease in funding, even though there's a 2.3 percent increase. How do you respond to that? It's based on inflation. Inflation in developing countries tends to be higher than it is in the United States. It's a 2.3 percent increase, and they're saying it's a de facto decrease.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I have to say that we are seeing not a decrease, but an increase in PEPFAR, an increase in the Global Health Initiative. And I promise you when I'm fighting for that budget here in the United States, people don't see it as a decrease. They see it as an increase. They understand we're putting more money into it, and it's the right thing to do.

What we do want to make sure of is that as successful as PEPFAR has been, as important as it is for us to, for example, get antiviral drugs in there, that we're also helping to build up capacity -- consistent with what I said earlier.

So, for example, what are we doing in terms of creating public health systems and infrastructure in a place like South Africa so that the incidents of infection are reduced? We're not just treating the disease itself, but we're also doing a much better job in terms of general public health so that fewer people are getting infected in the first place.

I think that kind of reorientation you're going to start seeing in some areas. We'll continue to provide increases in antiviral drugs, continue to provide millions of rand, billions of U.S. dollars to basis assistance, but we also want to build capacity at the same time.

Q: Final question, Mr. President. Nelson Mandela will be 92 on Sunday. Your thoughts?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, he looked terrific, first of all.

Q: Didn't he?

THE PRESIDENT: And when I spoke to him on the phone after the tragic loss of his granddaughter, he sounded as clear and charming as he always has been.

And he continues to be a model of leadership not just for South Africa, but for the world. So we celebrate him here in the United States, as you do in South Africa. We wish him all the best. And we are constantly reminded that his legacy of seeing every person as important, and not making distinctions based on race or class but the degree to which they are people of character -- that's a good guidepost for how all of us should operate as leaders.

And so I wish him all the best. And South Africa continues, I think, to be blessed by not just a national treasure but a world treasure.

Q: Well, South Africans wish you best. Thank you very much. Very good to meet you.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I enjoyed it.

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Sci-Tech Applications for 2010 Academy Awards® Due July 16

Beverly Hills, CA — The submission deadline for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2010 Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards is Friday, July 16. A completed entry form must be submitted to the Academy online by 5 p.m. PT.

In May, the Academy mailed more than 850 “call for entries” letters to individuals and companies around the world specializing in motion picture science and technology.

“The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee casts a wide net when looking for achievements to consider for Academy Award® recognition,” explained Awards Administration Director Rich Miller. “The achievement can be a device or a discovery, a formula or a method, but it must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.”

The committee, which is composed of film industry engineers, scientists and craftspeople, will evaluate all submissions before making recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for award consideration.

The Academy recognizes scientific and technical achievement on three levels: Technical Achievement Award (a certificate), Scientific and Engineering Award (a plaque) and the Academy Award of Merit (an Oscar® statuette).

The 2010 Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation will be held on Saturday, February 12, 2011, at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills.

All interested individuals and companies must submit any applications online at http://www.oscars.org/awards/scitech/apply.html.

Further information may be obtained at the website or by contacting Miller’s office at (310) 247-3000, ext. 131, or via e-mail at scitech@oscars.org.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

White House on National HIV/AIDS Strategy

White House Announces National HIV/AIDS Strategy

$30 Million of Prevention Fund Dedicated to Implementation of Strategy

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In the United States, approximately 56,000 people become infected with HIV each year and more than 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV. To combat this growing epidemic, the White House today released the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/onap/nhas ) and accompanying NHAS Federal Implementation Plan ( http://aids.gov/federal-resources/policies/national-hiv-aids-strategy/ ).

Secretary Sebelius also announced that $30 million of the Affordable Care Act's Prevention Fund will be dedicated to the implementation of the NHAS. This funding will support the development of combination prevention interventions. It will also support improved surveillance, expanded and targeted testing, and other activities.

"We can't afford complacency - not when in the ten minutes I've been talking to you, another American has just contracted HIV," Secretary Sebelius said. "That's why our strategy calls for aggressive efforts to educate Americans about how dangerous this disease still is and the steps they can take to protect themselves and their loved ones."

The vision of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy is to make the United States "a place where new HIV infections are rare, and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socio-economic circumstance will have unfettered access to high-quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination."

The NHAS has three primary goals:

1) Reducing the number of new infections;

2) Increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes for people living with HIV;

3) Reducing HIV-related health disparities;

To accomplish these goals, the NHAS calls for a more coordinated national response to the HIV epidemic and includes a NHAS Federal Implementation Plan that outlines key, short-term actions to be undertaken by the federal government to execute the outlined recommendations. Additionally, the White House issued a Presidential Memorandum directing agencies to take specific steps to implement this strategy.

Since taking office, the Obama Administration has taken extraordinary steps to engage the public to evaluate what we are doing right and identify new approaches that will strengthen our response to the domestic epidemic. The Office of National AIDS Policy hosted 14 HIV/AIDS Community Discussions with thousands of Americans across the U.S. and reviewed suggestions from the public via the White House website. ONAP also organized a series of expert meetings on several HIV-specific topics, and worked with Federal and community partners who organized their own meetings to support the development of a national strategy.

Go to www.AIDS.gov

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American Medical Volunteers in Haiti

Washington - As Haiti recovers from a devastating January earthquake, American doctors, medical students and personnel are helping the country rebuild its health care system.

In June, doctors and students from Tufts University School of Medicine ( http://www.tufts.edu/med/ ) in Boston arrived in the first group of Tufts medical personnel who will rotate in and out regularly. They offered their services in a tent-city clinic in the capital, Port au Prince, and at the Sacre Coeur Hospital, 120 kilometers to the north, where earthquake damage was minimal. Many of the most severely injured patients had been transported to Sacre Coeur.

The lead doctor of the Tufts delegation, Dr. Mark Pearlmutter, said most of the Tufts students recently completed their first year of medical school and had little clinical experience. They performed support functions, such as taking family health surveys, measuring patients' vital signs and recording medical procedures, according to Pearlmutter. Some students also performed Pap smears, drew blood samples and inserted catheters, while others learned how to make artificial limbs, then trained Haitian counterparts to do the same, he added.

Several of the Tufts doctors and students said they found the experience inspiring.

"I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the local community health workers," said Adam Nadolski, a student. "They work with little or no infrastructure and even less funding."

Graham Brant-Zawadzki, also a student, commented on the resiliency of the Haitian patients, who lived in tents with temperatures that rose as high as 49 degrees Celsius during the day. "They haven't been home in five months and probably don't even have a home to go back to, but they are smiling, singing and laughing," he said.

Dr. Joyce Sackey, the medical school's dean of multicultural affairs and global health, said she was impressed by the way Haitians were reaching out to their injured neighbors by assisting them with bathing and feeding. Haitians were "encouraging people with new disabilities to dance in their wheelchairs," she said.

Sackey said that the earthquake caused many psychological as well as physical injuries to Haitians. "Thousands need rehabilitation. The goal is to get them productive again," she said.

Tufts students also devised a project to equip community health workers with cell phones, which they would use to notify Sacre Coeur Hospital of medical emergencies, receive advice or prepare patients for entry. A Catholic foundation, CRUDEM ( http://www.crudem.org/ ), which operates Sacre Coeur Hospital, supports the cell phone project.

Doctors and medical support staff from the U.S. Children's National Medical Center ( http://www.childrensnational.org/ForPatients/default.aspx?gclid=CO6M3efm6KICFSFN5QodCgqtMQ ) in Washington also work through CRUDEM to travel to Haiti and contribute care to patients and training to the Haitian medical staff there.

Dr. John F. Lovejoy III, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, twice led groups from the children's medical center to Haiti. The first group arrived January 17, five days after the quake, and stayed for a week. His father, John Lovejoy Jr., a retired orthopedic surgeon residing in Jacksonville, Florida, was the chief medical officer at Sacre Coeur, where he has been volunteering for more than a decade. The younger Lovejoy said the doctors performed 140 surgeries on children and 15 to 20 more on adults during their week there. He said working with his father in Haiti was "an amazing opportunity ... I'll probably never get again. We both saw incredible reward in the care we were able to provide. We're both going to continue going back to Haiti and continue to help the hospital expand its capabilities."

The younger Lovejoy will make his next medical volunteer trip to Haiti in December. The elder Lovejoy will revisit the country next February.

In his home city, the elder Lovejoy raised about $60,000 for a prosthetics laboratory and arranged for its construction and shipment to the Sacre Coeur Hospital, according to his son. The prosthetics laboratory went into operation in May and is able to produce about two dozen artificial limbs during a 10-day period when there is adequate staff to operate it, he added. He said the prosthetics lab "was an amazing effort, and it will give benefits for years to come. I couldn't be more proud of my father."

Suresh Magge, a pediatric neurosurgeon from the Children's National Medical Center, traveled to Haiti with the younger Lovejoy on his second trip. Magge said his week there treating children and training doctors was an eye-opening experience.

"I realized how much need there is in many places and we can do a lot of good. I realized that many things we take for granted here are luxuries there. If more volunteers go to places like Haiti, we can do a lot of good there," Magge said.

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Celebrate National Dance Day with "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE" Sat July 31

As part of his commitment to support dance education and physical fitness in the United States, Nigel Lythgoe, Judge/Executive Producer of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, is launching NATIONAL DANCE DAY Saturday, July 31! It will include a variety of dance-themed activities across the country that will empower, challenge and inspire people of all ages to try various styles of dance ranging from hip-hop to ballroom to anything that moves. Above all, it encourages everyone to DANCE as a means to stay fit and be healthy. And did you know, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE celebrates its 150th episode Wednesday, July 21 at 8/7c? Even more reason to celebrate and dance!

Get inspired by tuning in to SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Wednesdays at 8/7c and Thursdays at 9/8c and by re-watching your favorite Season 7 routines at fox.com/dance because for the first time in SYTYCD history full episodes are available online.

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"AMERICAN IDOL" AUDITIONS

Do you have what it takes to become the next AMERICAN IDOL? Before AMERICAN IDOL, Lee DeWyze worked as a paint store clerk, Kris Allen was a college student, David Cook tended bar, Chris Daughtry was a service advisor at a car dealership, Carrie Underwood lived on a farm, Jennifer Hudson was a cruise ship performer and Kelly Clarkson was a waitress. One audition changed the rest of their lives.

In celebration of the momentous 10th anniversary and in an effort to continue to find the best undiscovered talent in the nation, AMERICAN IDOL is expanding the eligibility age range for the first time ever to include hopefuls from 15 to 28 years old. (The previous minimum age requirement was 16). So, if you or someone you know is an aspiring singer, take advantage of this incredible opportunity to audition in cities across the country to become the next AMERICAN IDOL. The No. 1 show on television begins auditions for its milestone 10th season on Saturday, July 17 in Nashville, TN, and continues in Milwaukee, WI, on Wednesday, July 21; New Orleans, LA, on Monday, July 26; East Rutherford, NJ, on Tuesday, August 3; Austin, TX, on Wednesday, August, 11; and San Francisco, CA, on Thursday, August 19.

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Don't Miss the Premiere of "MASTERCHEF" Starts Cooking TUE JUL 27 at 9/8c

In just two weeks, Gordon Ramsay brings the world's biggest cooking competition to America on Tuesday, July 27 at 9/8c! The new series takes amateur chefs, many of whom simply cook as a hobby, and attempts to turn one of them into a culinary master. Contestants on MASTERCHEF will be put through the paces with various challenges as they compete head-to-head to create delicious dishes. The series will serve as a unique platform for people from all walks of life who want to follow their dream of working as a professional chef. These contestants will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show their passion and excitement for food as their skills and palate are tested with the hopes of becoming the winner of MASTERCHEF.

With Ramsay at the helm of the competition, restaurateur wine maker Joe Bastianich and four-star chef Graham Elliot join the show, and together, they coach and judge the contestants along the way. Bastianich is a partner of Mario Batali and has established some of New York's most-celebrated restaurants, including Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, Lupa Osteria Romana and Del Posto. Graham Eilliot is the youngest four-star chef in the U.S. and the mastermind behind Chicago's first "bistronomic" restaurant, Graham Elliot. "I'm hugely excited to have Joe and Graham join me as judges on MASTERCHEF," said Ramsay. "Both bring a phenomenal wealth of expertise and professional experience to the show."

Who will go from amateur chef to MasterChef? Tune-in TUE JUL 27 at 9/8c to find out!

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Ban Warns of Costs of InAction on Climate Change

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today warned of the risks posed by inaction on climate change, as the high-level group he set up earlier this year to mobilize financing to help developing countries combat global warming reported that they have made progress on the issue.

“The more we delay, the more we will pay – in lost opportunities, resources and lives,” Mr. Ban told reporters today.

The Copenhagen Accord reached at last December’s UN conference in the Danish capital aims to jump-start immediate action on climate change and guide negotiations on long-term action, scaling up support for developing nations for mitigation and adaptation to reach 100 billion dollars per year by 2020, in addition to 30 billion dollars until 2012.

The Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, established in February, is seeking to identify “economically sound” and “politically viable” sources of longer-term financing, Mr. Ban said today.

“Climate financing is an investment in a safer, cleaner, more prosperous future for us all,” he said, stressing that “delivering on these pledges is essential.”

The Secretary-General attended last evening’s session of the body’s two-day meeting in New York, which he characterized as “very stimulating.”

The Group is expected to submit its final report to Mr. Ban before the next conference of parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Cancun, Mexico, later this year.

Its co-chairs, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, told journalists that discussions are moving forward.

Mr. Zenawi voiced confidence that the Group will be able to submit a “very robust” report to the Secretary-General by the end of October.

For his part, Mr. Stoltenberg, who replaced former United Kingdom leader Gordon Brown last month as co-chair, noted that there are numerous sources of resources for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

“So the problem is not the number of possible sources of financing,” he said, adding that the Group’s main task is translating these potential resources into reality.

The New York gathering, which wraps up today, is the body’s second meeting. It met in London in March, and is scheduled to hold its next meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Its 21 principals include philanthropist George Soros, French Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment Christine Lagarde, and prominent British academic Nicholas Stern.

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NEW APPROACH TO HIV TREATMENT COULD SAVE 10 MILLION LIVES, SAYS UN REPORT

A new United Nations report says that a radically simplified approach to ensuring access to HIV treatment for everyone who needs it could prevent 10 million deaths by 2025 and 1 million new infections annually.

The so-called Treatment 2.0, says the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), could lower the cost of treatment, simplify treatment regimens, ease the burden on health systems, and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV and their families.

“We can bring down costs so investments can reach more people,” Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, said at the report’s launch in Geneva today. “This means doing things better – knowing what to do, channelling resources in the right direction and not wasting them, bringing down prices and containing costs. We must do more with less.”

The agency estimates that there were 33.4 million people living with HIV worldwide at the end of 2008, as well as nearly 2.7 million new infections and 2 million AIDS-related deaths.

It adds that only one third of the world’s 15 million people in need of HIV treatment are accessing life-saving medicines.

For the new plan to succeed, the agency’s Outlook report calls for action to be taken across five key areas.

Firstly, it calls for the creation of a better pill that is less toxic and for a simple diagnostic tool to monitor treatment.

Secondly, evidence suggests that people living with HIV who have reduced the level of virus in their bodies, through antiretroviral therapy, are less likely to transmit it. As a result, UNAIDS says that if everyone in need has access to treatment, this could reduce the number of new HIV infections by one third annually.

The report also urges slashing the cost of antiretroviral treatment, especially for hospitalization and monitoring treatment, which can cost twice as much as drugs.

Fourth, UNAIDS stresses the need to improve voluntary HIV testing and counselling, since starting treatment at the right time, optimally when their CD4 count – a measure of immune system strength – is around 350, boosts the efficacy of treatment and increases life expectancy.

Lastly, Treatment 2.0 will be fully successful if communities are mobilized and involved in managing treatment programmes and access.

“Not only could Treatment 2.0 save lives, it has the potential to give us a significant prevention dividend,” said Mr. Sidibé.

The report also shows that young people are leading the prevention revolution, with 15 of the most severely affected countries reporting a 25 per cent drop in HIV prevalence among this key population.

In eight countries – Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe – significant HIV prevalence declines have been accompanied by positive changes in sexual behaviour among young people.

Mr. Sidibé cautioned that flatlining or reductions in investments in HIV will only hurt the AIDS response, with nearly $27 billion required this year to meet country-set targets for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

“The AIDS response needs a stimulus package now,” the official underlined. “Donors must not turn back on investments at a time when the AIDS response is showing results.”

His agency recommends that nations invest between 0.5 and 3 per cent of government revenue into their AIDS response programmes, but warned that for the majority of countries severely affected by the epidemic, national investments, even at optimal levels, are insufficient.

Also included in the report released today are the results of a public opinion poll that shows that nearly three decades into the epidemic, countries continue to rank AIDS high on the list of the most important challenges the world faces.

Overall in the survey, AIDS is perceived to be the top healthcare issue in the world, followed by safe drinking water.

The publication wraps up with a “Last Word” from UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox, who said that “as a woman and mother, I feel compelled to speak out, and try to raise awareness in the best way I can, to try to use my platform to do so.”

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Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra - Rath Yatra 2010

Today Rath yatra 2010 the most popular festival in orrisa is scheduled. As per the The Rath Yatra wil begin at the outer of the Lion’s gate of Jagannath temple, further there are huge towering chariots that would be carried with the idols of Lord Jagannath and his siblings. In the morning time rituals have been performed. Puri Rath Yatra was flagged off by Gujrat’s CM Narendra Modi on Tuesday early hours. High safety preparations have been made for the Puri Rath Yatra after the capture of 2 SIMI suspects with a few weapons & bullets by the Ahmedabad crime branch tomorrow.

The Rath of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra & Subhadra will go through the fourteen kilometers long way & end at the Jagannath shrine.

Around one million public are probable to reach the sacred town to join in the impressive celebration that rejoices the week-long voyage of the gods – Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra & Devi Subhadra from the major temple to Shree Gundicha Temple. The drawing of chariots is planned to start by 3pm.

Ratha Jatra, the Festival of Chariots of Lord Jagannatha is celebrated every year at Puri, the temple town in Orissa, on the east coast of India on the second (dwitiya) day of shukla pakshya (waxing cycle of moon) of Ashadh Maas (3rd month in Lunar Calendar). The presiding deities of the main temple, Lord Jagannatha, Lord Balarama and Goddess Subhadra, with the celestial wheel Sudarshana are taken out from the temple precincts in an elaborate ritual procession to their respective chariots. The huge, colourfully decorated chariots, are drawn by hundreds and thousands of devotees on the bada danda, the grand avenue to the Gundicha (King Indradyumna’s Queen) temple, some two miles away to the North. On their way to the Gundicha Temple, the three Lords are believed to stop for a while near the Mausima Temple(Aunt’s Abode) and have an offering of the Poda Pitha, which is a special type of pancake supposed to be the Lord’s favourite. After a stay for seven days, the deities return to their abode.

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President Obama on 15th Anniversary of Genocide at Srebrenica

Statement by the President on the 15th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the genocide at Srebrenica, and on behalf of the United States, I join my voice with those who are gathered to mourn a great loss and to reflect on an unimaginable tragedy.

Fifteen years ago today, despite decades of pledges of "never again," 8,000 men and boys were murdered in these fields and hills. They were brothers, sons, husbands, and fathers, and they all became victims of genocide. I have said, and I believe, that the horror of Srebrenica was a stain on our collective conscience. We honor their memories and grieve with their families, as many of them are laid to rest here today. They were people who sought to live in peace and had relied on the promise of international protection, but in their hour of greatest need, they were left to fend for themselves. Only those of you who suffered through those days, who lost loved ones, can comprehend the unspeakable horror. You have carried this burden and live with pain and loss every moment of your lives.

This atrocity galvanized the international community to act to end the slaughter of civilians, and the name Srebrenica has since served as a stark reminder of the need for the world to respond resolutely in the face of evil. For fifteen years, the United States has joined with you to foster peace and reconciliation in this troubled land. We recognize that there can be no lasting peace without justice, and we know that we will all be judged by the efforts we make in pursuit of justice for Srebrenica's victims and those who mourn them. Justice must include a full accounting of the crimes that occurred, full identification and return of all those who were lost, and prosecution and punishment of those who carried out the genocide. This includes Ratko Mladic, who presided over the killings and remains at large. The United States calls on all governments to redouble their efforts to find those responsible, to arrest them, and to bring them to justice. In so doing, we will honor Sr
ebrenica's victims and fulfill our moral and legal commitments to end impunity for crimes of such awful magnitude.

We have a sacred duty to remember the cruelty that occurred here, and to prevent such atrocities from happening again. We have an obligation to victims and to their surviving family members. And we have a responsibility to future generations all over the globe to agree that we must refuse to be bystanders to evil; whenever and wherever it occurs, we must be prepared to stand up for human dignity.

May God bless you all, and may God bless the memory of all those who rest here.

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Fulbright Program Celebrates 60 Years in Pakistan

Washington - For 60 years, Pakistani and American scholars have visited each other's educational institutions, shared knowledge and fostered cultural understanding through academic collaboration. The Fulbright Program has made many of these relationships possible.

The Fulbright Program is the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange designed to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and people of other countries. It promotes leadership development through learning and international cooperation. The United States and Pakistan initiated their Fulbright partnership on September 23, 1950, and each country immediately began sending scholars abroad to the other country.

In 2010, the United States will send nearly 2,500 Pakistani students, teachers and other professionals to the United States for exchange programs while American scholars go to Pakistan to conduct research and teach at Pakistani universities, according to a June 30 statement ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/June/20100630171356SBlebahC6.548274e-02.html ) from the White House's National Security Council (NSC). The U.S. is dramatically increasing academic and professional exchange programs with Pakistan as part of the growing U.S.-Pakistan partnership ( http://www.america.gov/st/sca-english/2010/May/20100521105053kJleinaD0.833172.html ), NSC spokesman Mike Hammer said in the statement.

"Our countries are strengthened by the people-to-people ties built by this program and the alumni of other U.S. sponsored academic and professional exchanges," Hammer said. "As the President has said, 'both America and Pakistan care deeply about the education of our young people for the jobs and economies of the future.'"

The United States-Pakistan Fulbright agreement was one of the first of its kind, and 155 more partnerships with other countries have followed. Though the Fulbright Program has expanded worldwide, its program in Pakistan remains the largest.

"Over the arc of 60 years, nearly 4,000 Pakistanis and Americans have participated in Fulbright exchanges," said U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson in celebration of the program's anniversary at the 7th Annual Fulbright and Humphrey Alumni Conference ( http://islamabad.usembassy.gov/pr-10042303.html ) in Islamabad April 23.

As Patterson highlighted in her remarks, in just the last five years, 947 Pakistani scholars traveled to the United States on Fulbright grants. Of these individuals, 42 percent were women. The scholars represent 74 different Pakistani cities and an array of academic disciplines, Patterson said. Additionally, 96 Pakistanis received Humphrey Fellowships, which provide for one to two years of professional enrichment in graduate-level study in the United States. These grants are available to mid-level professionals.

Fulbright recipients contribute invaluably to the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, Patterson said. She especially highlighted the contributions Pakistani scholars have made to American institutions.

"Nothing can substitute for the people-to-people contacts achieved by inviting some of the world's best scholars to enrich America's campuses by teaching, studying and conducting research alongside their American counterparts," Patterson said.

"Foreign scholars contribute to our universities not only in their scholarly pursuits, but also by weaving strands of their home culture into the American fabric," she added.

DUAL EXCHANGES

The exchanges work in the opposite direction as well. Americans go to Pakistan for education opportunities under such programs as the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program and the Fulbright U.S. Specialist Program.

Through the Scholar and Specialist programs, American scholars and professionals will visit Pakistan to lecture, conduct research and participate in seminars and collaborate with Pakistanis throughout 2010.

Administered by the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan, the Pakistan Fulbright program ( http://fulbright.state.gov/fulbright/regionscountries/whereare/south-and-central-asia/pakistan ) has plans to expand in 2010 and beyond. In fall 2010, 94 Pakistani students will begin master's degree programs in the United States, while 60 scholars will begin American doctoral courses. Efforts to send more Americans to Pakistani institutions are also under way.

"We believe that seeing Americans on your campuses will help connect Pakistani young people to the world, much as having Pakistanis on our campuses helps us," Patterson said.

Funding for Fulbright exchanges comes from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau for Educational and Cultural Affairs and the government of Pakistan. Additional support from the Pakistani Higher Education Commission and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) helps to sustain the program.

FULBRIGHT'S LONG HISTORY, ACTIVE FUTURE

The Fulbright Program began as the brainchild of the late Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright.

"Having studied at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar from 1925 to 28, he well understood the powerful impact on young imaginations of a combined international exchange and scholarship experience," Patterson said. "He wanted Americans and young people from around the world to benefit from a similar experience."

In addition to master's and doctoral degree exchanges and the Humphrey Fellowships, the Pakistan Fulbright Program offers several other opportunities for study in the United States in 2010.

The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program will send seven Pakistani teachers of English to American universities. These teachers will work to improve their English instructional skills while teaching Urdu, Pashto or Punjabi to their American counterparts. Through the Fulbright Scholar Program, 10 Pakistanis will participate in lectureships and/or post-doctoral research for 10 months at a U.S. college. Finally, one Pakistani student received the International Fulbright Science and Technology Award, which supports coursework and/or research toward a doctoral degree in science, technology or engineering.

Fulbright recipients are determined through a merit-based, transparent selection process.

BEYOND FULBRIGHT: OTHER EDUCATIONAL EXCHANGES

The success of the Fulbright Program serves as a model for several other educational exchange programs between the United States and Pakistan.

For students, these programs include a summer institute that brings Pakistani youth to the United States to study international relations, as well as two programs for Pakistani undergraduates to study at American institutions and participate in leadership training and other opportunities. The program aims for students from diverse backgrounds without previous international experience.

Two programs provide Pakistani teachers with training at United States universities. One leadership institute trains science teachers, while another provides enrichment for English teachers.

The Community College Initiative Program enables students from Pakistan to study for one year at a community college in the United States, earning a vocational certificate on completion of their studies. Sixty individuals are participating in 2010. The program could help provide a blueprint for vocational training in Pakistan, according to Patterson.

"The experiences of the 102 participants who have taken part in this new program to date, a large proportion of whom are from previously underserved areas, may be instructive as the [Pakistani] government begins to build its own program," Patterson said.

Looking to the future, the United States plans to invest more in Pakistan's higher education initiatives to help Pakistan build capacity "to research and propose policy solutions for its socio-economic challenges," Patterson said.

These investments in education projects also help to strengthen the United States-Pakistan relationship.

"I hope and believe that the next 60 years will bring us even closer as a result of our sustained efforts to promote educational and cultural exchanges between our two countries," Patterson said.

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In Haiti, U.S. Works to Improve Lives, Livelihoods

Washington - For the United States, the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti is a long-term commitment in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake that destroyed sizeable sections of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding countryside, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says.

"Over the last six months, the Haitian people have again shown their resilience and strength," Clinton said July 12 ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/July/20100712141513su0.1359217.html ). The United States remains committed to aligning its support with the needs of the people and their government, she said.

"We are committed to helping them realize the Haitian vision for a better nation," Clinton said.

Cheryl Mills, the secretary's counselor and chief of staff, said Haiti and the international community ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/July/20100712170809su0.8700678.html ) have moved past the immediate crisis and are beginning to look toward the longer-term process of reconstruction and the challenges that this transition generates. She said that even at this early stage in the transition, there are successes: no major disease outbreak, the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) has met and will oversee the more than $5.27 billion pledged by nearly 40 countries and international institutions over the next two years for reconstruction, construction has begun on temporary shelters for the homeless, and there has been little or no local inflation as aid assistance pours into the country.

World Bank economists have forecast that complete reconstruction of Port-au-Prince and the immediate surrounding area could take more than a decade with adequate international support and financial assistance.

Haitian authorities have said that approximately 230,000 people were killed in the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and many more were injured. More than 1.5 million people were displaced by the devastation. Authorities also have reported that approximately 30 percent of the country's civil servants were killed in the earthquake and 28 of 29 government ministries collapsed, making recovery and reconstruction even more challenging.

The United States spent more than a half billion dollars in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and sent more than 20,000 U.S. civilian and military personnel to Haiti to carry out activities including search-and-rescue operations, restoring air and sea ports, and providing lifesaving medical care, food, water and shelter.

Mills said that since March the United States has spent another $178 million for Haitian assistance.

The U.S. Congress still has to act on legislation that would provide an additional $1.15 billion for Haiti relief over two years.

Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the international community, working in partnership with the Haitian government, effectively met the food needs of more than 3.5 million vulnerable people. In addition, the international community has effectively vaccinated more than a million Haitians and has averted any large-scale epidemics that might have arisen.

The international community is in the process of providing emergency shelter to more than a million Haitians, and is also working on transition strategies to get people into transitional housing and to rehabilitate existing, but damaged, homes, Shah said.

Shah pointed out some unique successes, including the use of mobile telephones and mobile banking platforms when more than 90 percent of Haitians did not have access to formal banking services.

One of the challenges confronting Haitians is what to do with 25 million cubic meters of debris in an environment that is congested and where infrastructure was already challenging, Shah said.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - A Tale of Seven Murals

Seven hand-painted murals have turned the construction fence at our future Seattle headquarters at 500 Fifth Avenue North into public artwork. The murals tell a story—and have a story of their own we would like to share.

Supported by a foundation grant, a Seattle job-training program for teenagers called Urban Artworks created the series of murals. The murals give the public insight into the foundation's global work to help the world's poorest people—from a rural farmer in the field to a child receiving a vaccine.

Look closely at the painter on the ladder in the mural "Youth" (above). The life-like figure is a whimsical trick of the eye—and also an inspired way to connect our local roots and global mission. The waves connect the Seattle painter's hand to lively faces of young people over the seas.

The story behind the murals

Art is a means to an end at Urban Artworks. Teens come to perform 12 weeks of court-ordered community service, and they leave with skills they will need to hold down a job. Working on teams led by a professional artist, they learn timeliness, cooperation, reliability, perseverance, and respect for peers and mentors.

"The teenagers we work with have had minor brushes with the law," says program coordinator Kathleen Warren. "It's such an important time to turn kids in another direction."

The combination of making art and strengthening job skills works well. Only 6 percent of Urban Artworks teens turn up again in King County's juvenile court.

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Academy to Celebrate Tech Pioneer Petro Vlahos

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will pay tribute to the life and career accomplishments of special effects inventor and engineer Petro Vlahos on Thursday, July 29, at 8 p.m. at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the program will be hosted by Academy governor Bill Taylor and feature an onstage conversation with Vlahos, his friends and colleagues.

Considered to be one of the leading scientific and technical innovators in the motion picture and television industries, Vlahos consistently devised solutions for problems that had resisted years of well-funded, concerted effort by his predecessors and peers.

Vlahos has more than 35 wide-ranging patents for camera-crane motor controls, screen brightness meters, safe squib systems, cabling designs and junction boxes, projection screens, optical sound tracks and even sonar. He also created analog and digital hardware and software versions of Ultimatte, the first high-quality electronic compositing system.

As the original patents ran out, many other digital bluescreen and greenscreen compositing systems were derived from Ultimatte and joined it in the marketplace. As a result, every greenscreen or bluescreen shot in innumerable films (including every blockbuster fantasy film of recent times) employs variants of the original Vlahos techniques.

Vlahos’s notable achievements include his work on sodium and color difference traveling matte systems. His version of the sodium system was used on dozens of Disney films, including “Mary Poppins” (1964), “The Love Bug” (1969) and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” (1971), and was borrowed by Alfred Hitchcock for “The Birds” (1963) and Warren Beatty for “Dick Tracy” (1990). He developed the color difference system (the perfected bluescreen system) for “Ben-Hur” (1959); it was later used in hundreds of films, including those in the first “Star Wars” trilogy (1977–1983) and “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes” (1984).

A member of the Academy’s original Motion Picture Research Council, Vlahos has been honored by the Academy many times, starting with a Scientific and Technical Award in 1960 for his contributions to a camera flicker-indicating device. He earned an Oscar® statuette in 1964 for the conception and perfection of techniques for color traveling matte composite cinematography, and another in 1994 for the conception and development of the Ultimatte electronic blue screen compositing process for motion pictures. Vlahos also received an Academy Medal of Commendation in 1992 and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, an Oscar statuette, in 1993.

Vlahos received an engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1941. Since then, he has served in the motion picture industry as a design engineer, field engineer, systems engineer and as the chief scientist for the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ Research Center.

Tickets for “A Conversation with Petro Vlahos” are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase by mail, at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood.

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