about the pregency

The Basics

It’s important to take care of yourself and your baby during pregnancy. To keep you and your baby healthy:

·         See your doctor or midwife regularly.

·         Get important prenatal (“pree-NAY-tuhl”) tests.

·         Don’t smoke or drink alcohol.

·         Eat healthy foods and stay active.

·         Prevent infections.

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New fashion 2013 end

That is not to say that Cressida doesn't scrub up nicely. A roster of summer society weddings showcased her weakness for boho maxi dresses in jazzy patterns paired with neat cropped jackets. For a pre-Wimbledon party (she's a keen tennis player) she donned a wafty jumpsuit, posing politely with her half-sister Isabella Branson. She's wisely steered clear of hats, leaving millinery statements to her friends the Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, opting instead for hippie-ish flowers. Not for Cressie the thrice-weekly blow-dries; she prefers a more tousled, natural approach, and is as wedded to that aforementioned scrunchie as Kate is to her nude LK Bennett courts.

Cressie's way: boho chic at the wedding of Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs; a maxi dress with a sequined jacket at the wedding of Lady Melissa Percy; a striking jumpsuit at the Ralph Lauren Wimbledon Party. Photo: REX, Getty

If Tatler' s October issue is to be believed, Bonas reserves most of her sartorially inclined energies for parties. Tatler tells us she is "obsessed with fancy dress" - and they've dug out all the old Bystander pictures to prove it, the highlight of which shows her dressed as a caterpillar as part of her 2010 London Marathon effort. But most encouragingly, the tabloids have yet to uncover a photograph of Cressie topless. That, as she herself might say, would be cringe de la cringe .

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8 oct 2005 earth quake in pakistan

8th October 2013 - Let's take this moment to remember the Earth quake victims of Pakistan . This event was one of the worst events to happen in our country's history. We appeal all our friends to remember these earth quake victims in your prayers, also make a special prayer for Pakistan. May Allah (SWT) keep our beloved country & he Muslim Ummah safe in his kind care and protect from all enemies, calamities and disasters (Ameen)

Note: Here's the 8th October 2005 earthquake special report from Mansehra Hazara.

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qurbani animal cow and goat images and different information of all mandis of pakistan 2013

qurbani animal cow images 

guyss what price in this cow and weight ??
20 mann weight and 180000 price cow

beautifull cow image 

goat are sale abbottabad havelian mandi ..

sindh and punjab different information of mandis

goat are sale abbottabad havelian mandi ..

jarsi cross cow

goat are sale abbottabad havelian mandi ..2013

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I m malala has been published

New book from Malala Yousafzai details journey from schoolgirl to activist



A year ago, Malala Yousafzai was a 15-year-old schoolgirl in northwest Pakistan, thinking about calculus and chemistry, Justin Bieber songs and Twilight movies.

Today she’s the world-famous survivor of a Taliban assassination attempt, an activist for girls’ education – and a contender to win the Nobel Peace Prize later this week.

It’s easy to forget she is still a teenager, and now a long way from home.

The memoir I Am Malala goes some way toward redressing that balance. Published around the world on Tuesday, the book reveals a girl who likes Ugly Betty and the cooking show Masterchef, worries about her clothes and her hair, but also has an iron determination that comes from experience beyond her 16 years.

The book, written with the British journalist Christina Lamb, recounts Malala’s life before and after the moment on Oct. 9, 2012, when a gunman boarded a school bus full of girls in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and asked “Who is Malala?” Then he shot her in the head.

The shooting is described briefly but vividly in the book, which is briskly written but full of arresting detail. “The air smelt of diesel, bread and kebab mixed with the stink from the stream where people still dumped their rubbish,” Malala remembers. One of her friends tells her later that the gunman’s hand shook as he fired.

Around that pivotal event, the book weaves Malala’s life story into the broader tale of her home region of Swat, a remote, mountainous region near the Afghan border. She says it is “the most beautiful place in the world,” but it’s also a crossroads traversed for millennia by armies and invaders, from Alexander the Great to Winston Churchill.

Into this valley, in the years after 9-11 and the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, came the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban. The book describes their arrival – preaching against girls’ education, shutting down DVD sellers and barber shops and displaying the bodies of people they executed. They blew up the region’s ancient Buddha statues, and then they began blowing up schools.

“They destroyed everything old and brought nothing new,” Malala writes.

Malala considers herself a believing Muslim and a proud member of the Pashtun ethnic group, but recounts how from an early age she questioned her culture’s attitude toward women.

“When I was born, people in our village commiserated with my mother and nobody congratulated my father,” she writes.

Her father felt differently. The book recounts her debt to Ziauddin Yousafzai, an educator who founded the school Malala attended and kept it open to girls in the face of pressure and threats. He passed on to his daughter a hunger for knowledge and a questioning spirit.

At 11, she began giving TV interviews in Pakistan about girls’ education. In 2009, she started writing a blog for the BBC Urdu service under a pseudonym.

She soon became well known within Pakistan – and therefore a potential Taliban target. But she was reassured by the thought: “Even the Taliban don’t kill children.”

That optimism proved misplaced, but – miraculously, it seemed to many – Malala survived the shooting.

The final part of the book describes Malala’s life from the moment she regained consciousness in a British hospital, where she had been flown for specialist treatment, with the thought: “Thank God I’m not dead.”

She undergoes intense pain and multiple surgeries. In the hospital, Malala asks why her abdomen appears hard and swollen. It is the top of her skull, removed to alleviate pressure and stored there until it could be reattached.

There are other striking, surprising details. Malaala’s favourite actress is Angelina Jolie. She loves the TV show Ugly Betty, whose central character works at a fashion magazine; Malala dreams “of one day going to New York and working on a magazine like her.”

In the hospital she enjoys the Shrek movies, but is shocked by the scene in Bend it Like Beckham when the female soccer players take off their jerseys to reveal sports bras.

She reads The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – sent to her by former British prime minister Gordon Brown – and identifies with Dorothy, trying to get home.

Malala goes to school in England now, and lives with her family in a house behind a big gate in the city of Birmingham. It reminds her a bit of being under house arrest.

The Malala Fund set up in her name campaigns for girls’ education around the world. She has received multiple awards and addressed the United Nations on her 16th birthday. Later this month she is due to meet Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

She remains determined to return to Pakistan one day and enter politics. And she says the Taliban’s attempt to silence her has backfired spectacularly.

“When I was shot they thought the people would be silenced, they thought that no one would talk,” she told the BBC in a recent interview.

“I think they might be repenting why they shot Malala.”

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Unins FindStatesured More Success via Health Exchanges Run by

health care

 

“I am thrilled,” Ms. Skrebes said, referring to her policy. “It’s affordable, good coverage. And the Web site of the Minnesota exchange was pretty simple to use, pretty straightforward. The language was really clear.”

The experience described by Ms. Skrebes is in stark contrast to reports of widespread technical problems that have hampered enrollment in the online health insurance marketplace run by the federal government since it opened on Oct. 1. While many people have been frustrated in their efforts to obtain coverage through the federal exchange, which is used by more than 30 states, consumers have had more success signing up for health insurance through many of the state-run exchanges, federal and state officials and outside experts say.

Alan R. Weil, the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, an independent nonpartisan group, credited the relative early success of some state exchanges to the fact that they could leap on problems more quickly than the sprawling, complex federal marketplace.

“Individual state operations are more adaptable,” Mr. Weil said. “That does not mean that states get everything right. But they can respond more quickly to solve problems as they arise.”

In addition, some states allow consumers to shop for insurance, comparing costs and benefits of different policies, without first creating an online account — a barrier for many people trying to use the federal exchange.

The state-run exchange in New York announced Tuesday that it had signed up more than 40,000 people who applied for insurance and were found eligible.

“This fast pace of sign-ups shows that New York State’s exchange is working smoothly with an overwhelming response from New Yorkers eager to get access to low-cost health insurance,” said Donna Frescatore, the executive director of the state exchange.

In Washington State, the state-run exchange had a rocky start on Oct. 1, but managed to turn things around quickly by adjusting certain parameters on its Web site to alleviate bottlenecks. By Monday, more than 9,400 people had signed up for coverage. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange does not require users to create an account before browsing plans.

“The site is up and running smoothly,” said Michael Marchand, a spokesman for the Washington exchange. “We’re seeing a lot of use, a lot of people coming to the Web site. If anything, I think it’s increasing.”

Other states reporting a steady stream of enrollments in recent days include California, Connecticut, Kentucky and Rhode Island.

In Connecticut, a spokesman for the state-run exchange, Access Health CT, said users have generally had a smooth experience with the Web site other than “a couple of bumps and hiccups on the first day.”

By Monday afternoon, the Connecticut exchange had processed 1,175 applications, said the spokesman, Jason Madrak.

Daniel N. Mendelson, the chief executive of Avalere Health, a research and consulting company, said: “On balance, the state exchanges are doing better than the federal exchange. The federal exchange has, for all practical purposes, been impenetrable. Systems problems are preventing any sort of meaningful engagement.”

“By contrast,” said Mr. Mendelson, who was a White House budget official under President Bill Clinton, “in most states, we can get information about what is being offered and the prices, and some states are allowing full enrollment. All the state exchanges that we have visited are doing better than the federal exchange at this point.”

In California, Peter V. Lee, the executive director of the state-run exchange, said that more than 16,000 applications had been completed in the first five days of open enrollment. Mr. Lee said that while the consumer experience “hasn’t been perfect,” it has been “pretty darn good.”

Some state-run exchanges have run into difficulties because they rely on the federal marketplace for parts of the application process, like verifying an applicant’s identity. Minnesota, Nevada and Rhode Island are among the states that have reported problems with the “identity-proofing” process, which requires state-run exchanges to communicate with the federal data hub.

Brandon Hardy, 31, of Louisville, Ky., was one of the first to sign up for health insurance through Kentucky’s state-run exchange, working with an application counselor who guided him through the process last Wednesday. Mr. Hardy, who is uninsured and has epileptic seizures that land him in the hospital every few months, spent about 45 minutes filling out the online application, and learned that he would be eligible for Medicaid under the health care law.

“It was pretty easy,” Mr. Hardy said of the process. “What I really need is a neurologist, and now hopefully that will happen. This is like a huge relief.”

Attempts to sign up for coverage through the federal marketplace have often proved more frustrating.

Bruce A. Charette, 60, of Tulsa, Okla., said he had been trying to log onto the Web site for the federal exchange since last Wednesday, but had not been able to see the available plans or their rates.

Mr. Charette said he was asked verification questions that did not appear to match his identity. One question, he said, asked about the name of a pet for which he had purchased health insurance two years ago. “I don’t have any pets,” he said.

“It’s obvious that the site is overloaded,” said Mr. Charette, an electrician who works in the aviation industry and said he did not have health insurance. “I am not going to stare at a computer screen for 45 minutes, waiting for a response. It looks as if the Web site is freezing up.”

Still, some groups helping people sign up for insurance through the federal marketplace said they were finally able to complete applications on Tuesday, a week into open enrollment.

“This was the first day that I have been able to get onto the Web site and sign people up,” said Laura Line, corporate assistant director for Resources for Human Development in Philadelphia, which has a contract to help people in Southeastern Pennsylvania enroll in health plans through the federal exchange. “We have been setting appointments and answering a ton of phone calls now that we are able to do something.”

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muhammad asif qualify the semi final

Add caption

muhammad asif  win the quater final match and qualify the semi final ........

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snooker table pics

snooker table

snooker table pics

snooker table pics

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Prenatal Smoking Tied to Kids' Behavior Issues

Women who smoke during pregnancy may be putting their children at increased risk for conduct problems in childhood, researchers found.

Across three different studies, children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy -- whether they were reared by their genetically-related mother or an adoptive mother -- had higher mean scores on measures of conduct problems compared with children whose birth mothers did not smoke during pregnancy, according to Gordon Harold, PhD, of the University of Leicester in England, and colleagues.

In the two studies that included children raised by their genetically-related mothers, there was a positive association with number of cigarettes smoked per day and conduct problem scores among genetically-related children (P<0.001 and P=0.005), they wrote online in JAMA Psychiatry.

In the two studies (including one from the previous pair) that included children adopted at birth and raised by genetically-unrelated mothers -- but whose birth mothers smoked during pregnancy -- researchers found a positive association between conduct problem scores and the number of cigarettes that their genetically-related mothers smoked daily while pregnant (P=0.007 and P=0.04).

Prior studies have shown a relationship between children's conduct disorders and prenatal smoking in mothers, although that research did not separate prenatal environmental influences from genetic and postnatal environmental factors.

Past research also has shown a relationship between smoking while pregnant and a child's hearing loss and obesity in the offspring.

The authors studied the relationship between genetically-related mothers' smoking while pregnant with their children's conduct disorders in three studies of 1,088, 310, and 636 children, respectively, raised by genetically-related or -unrelated mothers.

The first study -- the Christchurch Health and Development Study -- was a longitudinal birth cohort in New Zealand that assessed maternal smoking during pregnancy and child behavior until age 7.

The second study -- the Early Growth and Development Study -- was a U.S., ongoing, longitudinal, multisite study of adopted children and parents, as well as birth parents. Birth parent data were used to assess maternal smoking, while adoptive parent data were used to assess the child's home environment.

The third study -- the Cardiff In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) study -- was an English study of children conceived through reproductive technologies such as homologous IVF, single-parent IVF, and embryo donation, where authors focused only on children born through maternal IVF.

Conduct problems were reported by mothers and teachers in the Christchurch study, by adoptive mothers and fathers in the Early Growth study, and by mothers and fathers in the IVF study.

Neonatal maternal smoking was reported retrospectively in each study.

Outcomes were adjusted for child sex, birth weight, race, placement age, breastfeeding, maternal education, maternal age at birth, family breakdown, parenting practices, and family socioeconomic status.

Parenting practices were assessed through measures of maternal emotional responsiveness and avoidance of restriction, and punishment and hostility.

Maternal smoking habits were broken down into zero cigarettes daily, one to nine cigarettes daily, and 10 or more cigarettes daily.

The prevalence of smoking varied by study. The New Zealand study had a prenatal smoking prevalence of 50% among children raised by genetically-unrelated mothers and 32.7% by those raised by their birth mothers. In the U.S. sample, smoking was common to 40.8% of pregnant mothers. The English study had a prevalence of 5.7% of smoking mothers who raised their children, and 3.9% of smoking mothers whose children were raised by others.

Although rates of conduct problems differed between studies, associations between maternal smoking and child behavior problems were significant in each. However, there was no significant relation between maternal smoking and behavior issues in children born through embryo donation (P=0.98).

An accompanying editorial by Theodore Slotkin, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center, noted that "There is little doubt that at least one component of tobacco smoke, nicotine, is sufficient to disrupt brain development and to evoke subsequent behavioral abnormalities" in prior research, and that the current study clearly shows that the effects seen in animal models are replicated in humans.

The model used in this literature should inform future studies into toxicants responsible for neurodevelopmental disorders related to cigarette smoke, Slotkin added.

The authors found their study was limited by the small number of genetically-unrelated smokers in the English study, as was the prevalence of maternal smoking during pregnancy among those genetically-related mothers. The study was also limited by a lack of data on co-exposure to other drugs or alcohol, use of self-reported smoking data, and lack of time-specific data on smoking and other behaviors and exposures.

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Prenatal Smoking Tied to Kids' Behavior Issues

Women who smoke during pregnancy may be putting their children at increased risk for conduct problems in childhood, researchers found.

Across three different studies, children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy -- whether they were reared by their genetically-related mother or an adoptive mother -- had higher mean scores on measures of conduct problems compared with children whose birth mothers did not smoke during pregnancy, according to Gordon Harold, PhD, of the University of Leicester in England, and colleagues.

In the two studies that included children raised by their genetically-related mothers, there was a positive association with number of cigarettes smoked per day and conduct problem scores among genetically-related children (P<0.001 and P=0.005), they wrote online in JAMA Psychiatry.

In the two studies (including one from the previous pair) that included children adopted at birth and raised by genetically-unrelated mothers -- but whose birth mothers smoked during pregnancy -- researchers found a positive association between conduct problem scores and the number of cigarettes that their genetically-related mothers smoked daily while pregnant (P=0.007 and P=0.04).

Prior studies have shown a relationship between children's conduct disorders and prenatal smoking in mothers, although that research did not separate prenatal environmental influences from genetic and postnatal environmental factors.

Past research also has shown a relationship between smoking while pregnant and a child's hearing loss and obesity in the offspring.

The authors studied the relationship between genetically-related mothers' smoking while pregnant with their children's conduct disorders in three studies of 1,088, 310, and 636 children, respectively, raised by genetically-related or -unrelated mothers.

The first study -- the Christchurch Health and Development Study -- was a longitudinal birth cohort in New Zealand that assessed maternal smoking during pregnancy and child behavior until age 7.

The second study -- the Early Growth and Development Study -- was a U.S., ongoing, longitudinal, multisite study of adopted children and parents, as well as birth parents. Birth parent data were used to assess maternal smoking, while adoptive parent data were used to assess the child's home environment.

The third study -- the Cardiff In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) study -- was an English study of children conceived through reproductive technologies such as homologous IVF, single-parent IVF, and embryo donation, where authors focused only on children born through maternal IVF.

Conduct problems were reported by mothers and teachers in the Christchurch study, by adoptive mothers and fathers in the Early Growth study, and by mothers and fathers in the IVF study.

Neonatal maternal smoking was reported retrospectively in each study.

Outcomes were adjusted for child sex, birth weight, race, placement age, breastfeeding, maternal education, maternal age at birth, family breakdown, parenting practices, and family socioeconomic status.

Parenting practices were assessed through measures of maternal emotional responsiveness and avoidance of restriction, and punishment and hostility.

Maternal smoking habits were broken down into zero cigarettes daily, one to nine cigarettes daily, and 10 or more cigarettes daily.

The prevalence of smoking varied by study. The New Zealand study had a prenatal smoking prevalence of 50% among children raised by genetically-unrelated mothers and 32.7% by those raised by their birth mothers. In the U.S. sample, smoking was common to 40.8% of pregnant mothers. The English study had a prevalence of 5.7% of smoking mothers who raised their children, and 3.9% of smoking mothers whose children were raised by others.

Although rates of conduct problems differed between studies, associations between maternal smoking and child behavior problems were significant in each. However, there was no significant relation between maternal smoking and behavior issues in children born through embryo donation (P=0.98).

An accompanying editorial by Theodore Slotkin, PhD, of Duke University Medical Center, noted that "There is little doubt that at least one component of tobacco smoke, nicotine, is sufficient to disrupt brain development and to evoke subsequent behavioral abnormalities" in prior research, and that the current study clearly shows that the effects seen in animal models are replicated in humans.

The model used in this literature should inform future studies into toxicants responsible for neurodevelopmental disorders related to cigarette smoke, Slotkin added.

The authors found their study was limited by the small number of genetically-unrelated smokers in the English study, as was the prevalence of maternal smoking during pregnancy among those genetically-related mothers. The study was also limited by a lack of data on co-exposure to other drugs or alcohol, use of self-reported smoking data, and lack of time-specific data on smoking and other behaviors and exposures.

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Obama nominates Caroline Kennedy as Ambassador to Japan

U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former president John F Kennedy, as his next envoy to Japan.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Kennedy would replace U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, who has been serving in this position since 2009.

Mr. Obama made the announcement along with nomination of some other key administration post, including Marcel Lettre as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defence for Intelligence, Department of Defence.

“These fine public servants both bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their new roles. Our nation will be well-served by these individuals, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come,” Mr. Obama said in a statement.

President of the John F Kennedy Library Foundation and Chair of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, Caroline is the editor of several New York Times best-selling books on topics including constitutional law, American history, politics, and poetry.

In September 2012, she was appointed as a General Trustee of the Board of Trustees of the John F Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts.

From 2002 to 2012, she served as Vice Chair of the Fund for Public Schools in New York City.

She is also on the Board of Directors of New Visions for Public Schools and serves as Honorary Chair of the American Ballet Theatre.

From 1998 to 2009, she served on the Board of Directors of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People Legal Defence and Educational Fund.

From 1994 to 2011, she served on the Board of Directors of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

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House rejects bid to curb spy agency data collection

(Reuters) - A U.S. spy program that sweeps up vast amounts of electronic communications survived a legislative challenge in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, the first attempt to curb the data gathering since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed details of its scope.

The House of Representatives voted 217-205 to defeat an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would have limited the National Security Agency's ability to collect electronic information, including phone call records.

Opposition to government surveillance has created an unlikely alliance of libertarian Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, The House vote split the parties, with 94 Republicans in favor and 134 against, while 111 Democrats supported the amendment and 83 opposed it.

The White House and senior intelligence officials opposed the amendment by Republican Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, which had been prompted by Snowden's revelations. Snowden, a fugitive from the United States, has been holed up at a Moscow airport for the past month unable to secure asylum.

The House later approved the defense appropriations bill, which included nearly $600 billion in Pentagon spending for the 2014 fiscal year, including the costs of the Afghanistan war.

Republican Representative Tom Cotton, who endorsed the NSA program, described the "metadata" being collected as essentially a five-column spreadsheet containing the number called, the number of the caller, the date, the time and the duration of call.

"This program has stopped dozens of terrorist attacks," Cotton said. "That means it has saved untold American lives. This amendment ... does not limit the program, it does not modify it, it does not constrain the program, it ends the program. It blows it up."

Cotton, a former Army captain who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said a comprehensive set of phone call records was needed in order for the program to work.

"If you want to search for a needle in a haystack, you have to have the haystack. This (amendment) takes a leaf-blower and blows away they entire haystack. You will not have this program if this amendment passes."

'SIMPLY WRONG'

But Amash, a conservative Republican, and other supporters of the amendment said the fundamental issue was whether the U.S. government had the right to collect and retain the personal communications data of American citizens.

"Government's gone too far in the name of security," said Representative Ted Poe, a Texas Republican. "Rein in government invasion, no more dragnet operations, get a specific warrant based on probable cause or stay out of our lives."

Representative Joe Barton, another Texas Republican, said the issue was not whether the NSA was sincere or careful in collecting data for use in anti-terrorism operations.

"It is (about) whether they have the right to collect the data in the first place on every phone call on every American every day," he said, noting that the law only allowed collection of relevant data. "In the NSA's interpretation of that, relevant is all data, all the time. That's simply wrong."

U.S. spy chiefs, the White House and senior lawmakers responsible for overseeing intelligence agencies in Congress had joined ranks against the effort to curb the program.

Representatives Mike Rogers of Michigan and Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, the Republican chairman and senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement after the vote that the amendment would have eliminated a "crucial counterterrorism tool."

"The charge that the program tramples on the privacy of citizens is simply wrong," they said, promising to work to build public confidence in the program's privacy protections.

In an unusually public discourse on a secret spying program, James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, urged the House in a statement on Wednesday to be wary of the "potential effect of limiting the intelligence community's capabilities" under the current law.

Clapper's statement came amid a push against the proposal by the White House and other senior intelligence officials, including Army General Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, who visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to warn about the implications of the amendment.

The House overwhelming approved a separate amendment dealing with the NSA surveillance program that was billed as an alternative to the Amash amendment.

But critics charged that the measure only restated current law, which prevents collection of the content of emails and phone calls, and would not deal with collection of "metadata."

(Reporting by David Alexander, Tabassum Zakaria and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Vicki Allen and Jackie Frank)

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Ladakh incursions: India-China border talks today

New Delhi: Amid fresh reports of Chinese troops intruding into the Indian territory in Ladakh region, India and China will hold border talks on Tuesday. 

Three months after the 21-day stand-off in Depsang valley in Ladakh, Chinese troops again came deep inside the Indian territory in that area last week to reach upto 2 kms close to Indian posts, in one of five such incursions in the recent past. 

In the Chumar sector, the Chinese troops had entered the area on July 16-17 and July 18 also and before that, their choppers had entered and violated Indian air space on July 11. 

Called the 'Working Mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border affairs,' the talks will look at the ground situation and how to resolve incursion. 

Depsang plains were the scene of a face-off in April when Chinese had pitched their tents 19 km inside India. 

They vacated their positions only after the two sides agreed to maintain pre-April 15 positions along the LAC in the entire Ladakh sector. 

During the incursion on July 16-17, around 50 Chinese troops entered the Chumar sector on horses and ponies and returned after spending the night in the Indian territory. 

In view of the increasing instances of incursion, the Indian Army formations in Ladakh have sought a flag meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Spangur Gap border meeting point in Ladakh, sources said. 

The meeting is expected to be held in the next few days. 

Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh, yesterday, briefed Defence Minister A K Antony on the current situation on the LAC, Army sources said. 

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LaGuardia Plane Crash: Eight People Injured

Eight people have been injured after a plane's landing gear collapsed as it touched down at a New York airport.

The accident left the Boeing 737 – operated by Southwest Airlines – with its nose resting against the runway at LaGuardia.

The accident forced the temporary closure of the airport, which mostly handles flights to and from other US cities.

Some 150 people were on board at the time.

The airline confirmed that emergency services had helped with the evacuation of the passengers and crew of flight 345 from Nashville.

"Eyewitness reports indicate the aircraft's nose gear collapsed upon landing," it said in a statement.

"Initial reports indicate local responders are caring for five customers and three flight attendants who have reported injuries at this time.

"Southwest is cooperating with local authorities, and the (US aviation safety body) NTSB has been notified."

Television images showed the plane with its nose angled down to the ground and its evacuation slides out. The fuselage was surrounded by emergency vehicles.

Passengers on board the plane saw sparks flying as the nose scraped along the runway, according to accounts given to waiting relatives and friends.

Planes scheduled to fly to LaGuardia were held at their origin airports, while those already en route were diverted to New York's other hubs, Newark and John F Kennedy, contributing to long delays.

All take-offs were suspended for more than two hours after the accident.

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Report: Apple experimenting with bigger iPhone, iPad screens

iPhone and iPad users looking with envy at the ever-ballooning screen sizes of Android devices shouldn't lose hope just yet.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has been experimenting with iPhone screen sizes larger than the current four inches, echoing rumors from earlier this year that the company may be looking to supplement its current offerings.

The WSJ also says that Apple is experimenting with larger iPads, specifically a model with a gigantic 13-inch display. While a larger iPhone would be in line with current trends, the trend in tablets has been toward smaller screen sizes, not larger ones.

In either case, those hoping for a bigger iPhone or lap-sized iPad shouldn't necessarily hold their breath.

Apple regularly tests out new screen sizes and even brand-new product lines without ever bringing them to market; those that do see the light of day can take their time emerging from Apple's labs.

The iPad mini itself was the subject of similar speculation in the months and years before it was finally released, and the iPhone 5's 4-inch screen was the subject of rumors that predate the 3.5-inch iPhone 4S.

Apple is expected to update both the iPad and the iPad mini later this year.

Speculation is that the larger tablet will go on the iPad mini diet, shedding some weight, thickness, and bezel width. The smaller tablet, on the other hand, may or may not receive a high-resolution Retina display -- these rumors have been known to change daily based on what the folks at Apple rumor sites see in their tea leaves each morning.

Both tablets were last refreshed in November 2012.

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Over 35 and pregnant? What you need to know

Approximately 20 percent of women in the United States have their first baby after age 35, and if you’re pregnant or trying to conceive, you might be worried about having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

After 35, a woman has a higher chance for having a baby with trisomy 13, 18 and 21.  Trisomy 21 is also known as Down syndrome, a condition that affects one in every 691 babies in the United States, according to the National Down Syndrome Society.

Down syndrome is a big concern for women. According to a recent survey by Ariosa Diagnostics, more than 50 percent of women said they were worried about Down syndrome and other genetic conditions.

At age 30, the chances of having a baby with Down syndrome are about one in 900 and at age 35, they increase to one in 300. Yet “the majority of babies with Down syndrome are born to women under age 35,” according to Dr. Genevieve Fairbrother, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Atlanta, Ga.  She said that although the individual risk is lower, more women under 35 are having babies.

Also, women over 35 who become pregnant have an increased risk for gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, placental abruption and placenta previa. They’re also more likely to be overweight and have high blood pressure, diabetes and thyroid disease.

If you’re over 35, here are some things you should consider:

Lose weight and get healthy

“There’s no magic threshold about 35,” Fairbrother said, who added that aside from genetic problems, most women who give birth after 35 will be fine. Yet many complications can be prevented with simple lifestyle choices. So if you have diabetes, thyroid disease or are overweight, get your health under control. And if you drink or smoke, stop immediately.

Take a prenatal vitamin

Starting a prenatal vitamin with at least 1 milligram of folic acid for at least three months before getting pregnant and continuing through pregnancy can help prevent neural tube defects like spina bifida.

Get an ultrasound at 6 weeks

Most providers won’t do an ultrasound until eight weeks, but if you’re over 35, you should consider an ultrasound at six weeks, according to Dr. Sara Gottfried, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Berkeley, Cali., and author of the New York Times bestseller The Hormone Cure. If you’re considering first trimester genetic screening, an early ultrasound can help you get ahead of the game and can also look for placenta previa – a condition that occurs when the placenta cover’s the mom’s cervix.

Get screened for high blood pressure

Since blood pressure drops in the second trimester, it’s important to have your blood pressure measured in the first trimester to determine your risk for pre-eclampsia. “You don’t want to miss that window,” Gottfried said.

Decide on genetic tests early

Before getting pregnant or as soon as you know you are, it’s important to decide if you want to have genetic testing.  Tests like chorionic villus sampling (CVS) need to be done early, usually around 11 weeks.

“I think one of the important pieces for a woman to understand (is) what her values are and what kind of testing she wants to do, because the timing of it can come up pretty fast,” Gottfried said.

Consider the risks

At age 35, you have the same risk of having a miscarriage or other issue if you have an amniocentesis as you do having a baby with a genetic problem. An amniocentesis is a prenatal diagnostic procedure that involves using a needle to take a sample of amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus. According to the Ariosa Diagnostics survey, 58 percent of women over 35 would avoid an amniocentesis. 

If you’re concerned, you might want to consider the new, non-invasive, and extremely accurate cell-free DNA tests. “I think every couple has to ask themselves, ‘How are we going to use this information, how accurate is it, how important is it for us, what level of certainty do we need to know?’” Fairbrother said.

Get screened for gestational diabetes

Gottfried recommends women over 35 get an early screening glucose loading test done at the first prenatal appointment to look for high blood sugar.  Women should then repeat the test between 24 and 28 weeks.

Eat right and exercise

“Pregnancy is a stress test on your body,” Fairbrother said. And gaining too much weight can increase your risk for gestational diabetes, weight problems and for having an overweight child.

Aim to eat an extra 200 to 300 calories a day, and be sure to eat plenty of lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and healthy fats. Also, 30 minutes or more of exercise on most days is ideal.

Julie Revelant is a freelance writer specializing in parenting, health, food and women's issues and a mom. 

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