Stop the Madness of Hatred

Posted on | oktober 13, 2012 | No Comments

The chilling pictures that shows the persecution of Buddhist minority in Bangladesh is shocking. I guess this has come in reaction to the Buddhists violence against Rohinga Muslims in Myanmar .

The Myanmar government doesn’t deny its involvement in the slaughter of Rohingya Muslims, so it is accepting responsibility and cocking a snoot at Muslims. But why Bangladesh government should act like Myanmar .

As an Islamic country, the Bangladeshi government must bring to book the criminals behind such outrageous act. It’s high time they should refrain from blaming this atrocity on ‘international conspiracy. Instead of being seen in contempt and complicity Bangladesh government should track down the scoundrels behind the attack and set an example of living in peaceful co existence.
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Category: minorities, religion, South Asia, war & conflicts
Tags: Babu Bajragi > Bangladesh > Buddhist > Islamic > Muslims > Rohinga

Palestinian-Dutch “Disarming Design” project inspired by artwork in captivity

Posted on | oktober 13, 2012 | No Comments

An artisan in Hebron works on a design created by Majd Abdel Hamid
(Annelys de Vet)

Jewelry is intimately connected to resistance in Palestine. On a recent trip to the West Bank, the designer Annelys de Vet learned of how prisoners smuggle little gifts out of jail. The most prized possessions among Palestinians include beautifully hand-decorated jewels that prisoners make for their children.

De Vet is a curator of the Disarming Design project, which aims to bring to market collections of Palestinian design products for the bedroom, kitchen, living room, garden and even a collection of toys.

Prototypes of the products have been developed at a workshop hosted by the International Academy of Arts Palestine in Ramallah. Disarming Design is supported by UNESCO, the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Dutch anti-poverty organization ICCO.
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Category: Middle East, Netherlands, NGO
Tags: Adri Nieuwhof > Annelys de Vet > Disarming > Dutch > Hebron > ICCO > Jewelry > jewels > Palestine > UNESCO

Food speaks the language of Tradition and Culture

Posted on | oktober 12, 2012 | No Comments

Food is not just a commodity; it holds much to it then to its literal meaning. Having said that food not only explores the possibilities of opportunity but it is a way of life or existence. It is said food not only satisfies your appetite but it psychologically makes you feel at home. Like such, the Nepali tradition of food certainly highlights a great deal of importance in its cultural and traditional values.

“To know the food is to know the culture and tradition,” This statement certainly justifies the meaning as food that entails different aspect of traditional values. Nepali food is something that gives you the right taste and flavors. In Nepal there are around 50 different ethnic groups, with distinctive languages, dress, and customs and to degree cuisines. In remote areas, there is little choice, you eat what you grow. But the foods prepared during festivals are rare and unique in their own way. Nepalese recipes consist of many spices and herbs, which are used in each dish in a different proportion and manner. This makes each recipe unique in its own way. Heavily influenced by Indian and Tibetan cuisine Nepalese food still hold its unique taste and presence where it is highly considered healthy and extremely nourishing.
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Category: culture, South Asia
Tags: Bhancha Ghar > churpi > cuisine > curries > dal > dal-bhat-tarkari > ethnic > flavor > food > gundruk > herbs > Indian > Kathmandu > Khumbu > Langtang > Nepal > Nepalese > nourishing > pickles > recipes > rice > saag > sisnu > spices > taste > Thakali > Tibetan > tradition > traditional > tsampa > Tukuche > Tukuche Thakali > Tukuche Thakali Kitchen > values > variation

Execution of at least 10 prisoners postponed until Saturday

Posted on | oktober 12, 2012 | No Comments

Yesterday, Iran Human Rights (IHR) and several other human rights organizations reported on the imminent execution of at least 10 prisoners scheduled for early this morning.

According to reports from sources in Iran, the scheduled executions have been postponed until Saturday morning. The source that contacted IHR underlined that the sentences have not been stopped but only postponed for another two or three days.

It is believed that media attention on the case, both from inside and outside Iran, may be a main reason why the executions were not carried out today.
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Category: crime, human rights, Middle East
Tags: execution > Iran > postponed > prisoners > UN

Aeras, GSK deal to Advance TB Vaccine research

Posted on | oktober 11, 2012 | No Comments

War against tuberculosis has gone a notch higher following an agreement between Aeras and GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines, S.A. (GSK) to provide resources to run a multi-center proof of concept clinical trial to test a vaccine candidate in healthy adults between 18 and 50 years of age in Kenya, South Africa and India beginning next year pending approvals from authorities.

The new agreement comes after promising results from early stage clinical trials showed that the GSK TB vaccine candidate known as M72/AS01_E^* has an acceptable safety and reactogenicity profile and demonstrated an immune response.

This novel research and resource-sharing agreement between the largest non-profit TB vaccine biotech and one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies marks advancement in the race to develop new vaccines against TB, a global infectious disease killer.
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