splendor heliport: January 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Whistle away the need for diapers: Vietnamese babies often out of diapers at nine months

Jan. 30, 2013 ? Western babies are potty trained later these days and need diapers until an average of three years of age. But even infants can be potty trained. A study by researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, followed 47 infants and their mothers in Vietnam -- where potty training starts at birth and the need for diapers is usually eliminated by nine months of age.

Not only does eliminating the need for diapers save money and remove one practical chore for parents, but the baby's ability to control its bladder improves efficiency and reduces the risk of urinary tract infection, researchers say.

International research shows that Western babies are being potty trained later these days and average 3-4 years of age before they can take care of their own toileting needs. The situation in Vietnam is very different.

Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, followed 47 Vietnamese mothers for two years to study their potty training procedure, which begins at birth and generally eliminates the need for diapers by nine months of age. The technique is based on learning to be sensitive to when the baby needs to urinate.

"The woman then makes a special whistling sound to remind her baby," Anna-Lena Hellstr?m says. "The whistling method starts at birth and serves as an increasingly powerful means of communication as time goes on."

According to the study, women notice signs of progress by time their babies are three months old. Most babies can use the potty on their own by nine months of age if they are reminded, and they can generally take care of all their toileting needs by the age of two.

"Our studies also found that Vietnamese babies empty their bladders more effectively," Professor Hellstr?m says. "Thus, the evidence is that potty training in itself and not age is the factor that causes bladder control to develop."

Swedes have grown accustomed to the idea that babies cannot be potty trained, but that parents need to wait until they are mature, usually when they decide that they no longer want diapers. The evidence from Vietnam demonstrates that more sophisticated communication between parents and their babies would permit potty training to start and be completed much earlier.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Thi Hoa Duong, Ulla-Britt Jansson, Anna-Lena Hellstr?m. Vietnamese mothers' experiences with potty training procedure for children from birth to 2 years of age. Journal of Pediatric Urology, 2012; DOI: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2012.10.023

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ZTI5tRKJydg/130130082726.htm

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British Virgin Islands national report prepared for the IDNDR mid-term review and the 1994 World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction, Yokohama, Japan, 23-27 May 1994

This report presents the institutional and legal framework for disaster risk reduction in British Virgin Islands, and describes its common disaster risks and natural hazards, such as hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, land slide and flood. It outlines the strategies, plans, projects and activities related to disaster prevention and risk management.

The report provides an evaluation of country's progress, achievements and challenges in disaster risk reduction during the first half of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), and highlights suggested activities and plans for the rest of IDNDR.

Keywords

Themes:Disaster Risk Management, Governance
Hazards:Cyclone, Earthquake, Flood, Land Slide, Tsunami
Countries/Regions:British Virgin Islands
Short URL:http://preventionweb.net/go/30863

Source: http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=30863

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan released from prison

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan arrives at a halfway house in Chicago Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, after serving five-plus years in federal prison on corruption charges. The 78-year-old Ryan began serving his 6 1/2-year sentence in November 2007 in Oxford, Wis., and was released from another prison in Terra Haute, Ind., to enter the halfway house under a work-release program. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, center, arrives at a halfway house in Chicago Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, after serving five-plus years in federal prison on corruption charges. The 78-year-old Ryan began serving his 6 1/2-year sentence in November 2007 in Oxford, Wis., and was released from another prison in Terra Haute, Ind., to enter the halfway house under a work-release program. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

CHICAGO (AP) ? Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan was released from federal prison and into a Chicago halfway house Wednesday after serving more than five years for corruption.

Ryan, 78, left the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., five months before his prison term officially ended, having qualified for early release to a halfway house.

Ryan did not stop to talk to reporters before entering the Salvation Army Freedom Center on the city's West Side before dawn. He was accompanied on the ride from the prison by his attorney, another former governor, Jim Thompson, who said Ryan talked during the journey about how good it felt to be out.

"Today is another step in a long journey for George Ryan," Thompson told the mass of reporters gathered outside the facility.

"He's in decent spirits. It is such a stark change from penitentiary life he has to become accustomed again to being on the outside," he said.

Ryan's release means Illinois no longer has the dubious distinction of having two former governors behind bars simultaneously. Ryan's successor, Rod Blagojevich, is now Illinois' lone imprisoned governor. The Democrat is serving a 14-year term for corruption at a federal prison in Colorado.

A jury convicted Ryan in 2006 of racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements to the FBI. Jurors found that Ryan had steered state business to insiders as secretary of state and then as governor for vacations and gifts. He also was accused of stopping an investigation into secretary of state employees accepting bribes for truck driver's licenses.

Ryan, a Republican, drew national attention as governor when he deemed Illinois' capital punishment laws flawed and emptied death row in 2003. That reignited a nationwide debate and led the state to abolish its death penalty in 2011.

While Ryan was in prison, his wife of 55 years died in 2011. Officials allowed Ryan to leave prison to visit her when she was sick with cancer, but he wasn't allowed to attend her funeral. Ryan has suffered from his own health problems, including kidney disease.

For decades, the Salvation Army has run a community program where inmates live for a short time, take classes to learn basic skills and receive counseling, among other things.

Ryan doesn't yet have a job lined up as required by his release. Thompson said they will worry about that once he is through processing at the halfway house.

Former Ryan aide Scott Fawell, also convicted in the corruption investigation, spent time at the West Loop halfway house, which is just a couple of blocks from the United Center, where the Chicago Bulls play. Last week, he described it as being "like a really bad dorm room." But he said "life is a little better" there than in prison.

Inmates at a halfway house get to wear their own clothes, work a job and can be eligible to be in their own homes within weeks, though they still have to keep close contact with prison officials.

Ryan owns a home in Kankakee, about 60 miles south of Chicago.

___

Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-01-30-Illinois%20Governor-Ryan's%20Release/id-77ae776775d44a59bbebb4d6d3d64ff1

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Kurdish militants set for Turkey ceasefire in February: paper

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Kurdish militants will halt hostilities with Turkey in February according to the timetable of a fledgling peace process aimed at ending 28 years of insurgency, a report in a mainstream newspaper said on Tuesday.

Turkish intelligence officials began talks with jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in late 2012 and preliminary talks have also been held with PKK members in northern Iraq, where most of the group's several thousand militants are based, it said.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting since the rebels took up arms in 1984 with the aim of carving out a Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey. The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Ankara, the United States and the European Union, has since moderated its goal to one of autonomy.

The conflict is the chief domestic problem facing Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after 10 years in power.

"According to the timetable on the table, the PKK will announce its decision to halt hostilities in February right after an official call by Abdullah Ocalan," the paper said.

As an initial confidence-building step, around 100 PKK fighters will hand in their weapons and leave Turkey, the Hurriyet daily said.

Hurriyet, which is regarded as authoritative on security-related matters, did not identify its sources and there was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.

When asked about the report, PKK spokesman Roj Welat said the group had not as yet declared any ceasefire.

"The PKK officially has made no such declaration for the moment," Welat told Reuters by telephone. "There is no such information in our hands."

The militants have announced unilateral ceasefires in the past, but these have been ignored by Turkish security forces.

Under a framework discussed with Ocalan, all PKK fighters will eventually disarm after the withdrawal from Turkey and in return the government will improve the rights of Kurds, who make up some 20 percent of Turkey's population of 76 million.

As part of those reforms, Turkey's parliament last week passed a law allowing defendants to use Kurdish in court in a move seen aimed at breaking a deadlock in the trials of hundreds accused of links to the PKK. [ID:nL6N0AU2VN]

NORTHERN IRAQ TALKS PLANNED

Only Erdogan and a few officials are believed to have first-hand knowledge of the peace framework. They have not disclosed details of the plan, nor have they denied reports on it by media close to the government.

With next year's local and presidential elections in mind, Erdogan has limited time and is keen to keep the process under wraps due to fears of a nationalist backlash against talks with a group reviled by most Turks.

A more senior delegation from the MIT national intelligence agency, possibly including its head - Hakan Fidan, was due to travel to Arbil in northern Iraq for more talks with the PKK in the coming week, the liberal Radikal daily reported.

Among those expected to take part in the meeting was Sabri Ok, a senior figure in the PKK who participated in previous peace talks with Fidan in Oslo. Those negotiations unraveled in 2011 when recordings of them were leaked to the media.

The planned withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish territory is expected to be monitored by representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The militants previously withdrew from Turkish territory on Ocalan's orders after his capture in 1999, as part of moves towards peace. However, several hundred militants are estimated to have been killed by security forces during that withdrawal.

In an apparent bid to ease PKK concerns, Erdogan gave his word this month that the same thing would not happen again.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey in Baghdad; Editing by Louise Ireland and Jonathon Burch)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pkk-guerrillas-made-no-official-ceasefire-declaration-spokesman-141709109.html

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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Accessible tourism and dementia

Jan. 29, 2013 ? Researchers are planning new ways of making tourist attractions dementia-friendly.

Fear of getting lost, fear of not finding the toilets or being misunderstood; there are many reasons why people with dementia and the families who care for them stop going on holiday.

For people with dementia, even simple days out can pose a host of hazards. Often, families say, it's easier to just stay at home. But Bournemouth University's newly launched Dementia Institute hopes to change that.

"We have a vision," says Professor Anthea Innes of the BU Dementia Institute (BUDI), "that perhaps in the future, Bournemouth might become a dementia-friendly tourist resort." An expert in health and social care research, Professor Innes is collaborating with Professor Stephen Page of BU's School of Tourism to launch pioneering research into dementia-friendly tourism -- developing venues where people with dementia will feel safe and at ease to enjoy themselves.

Encouraged by a government pledge to create 20 dementia-friendly cities, towns and villages by 2015, Professor Innes is working closely with those who need these facilities most.

"Our aim is to see how tourism can respond to the needs of people with dementia and their carers and find out if and why they haven't been able to access tourist attractions and leisure facilities," she says. "We hope to increase their use of tourist attractions, accommodation and resorts in the South of England."

While an exploratory pilot scheme will take place locally, Professor Innes hopes to expand the research to international, as well as UK, facilities. "Lots of work is currently going into dementia-friendly communities -- safe cashpoints, trained staff and police for instance -- but we are the only people looking specifically at leisure and tourism," she says.

Her initial focus groups with families of people with dementia will feed into research into voluntary organisations, NHS services and businesses themselves. BUDI plans to develop training to shape professional dementia care in the region. In the course of its research, BUDI's team will also interview the many tourist attractions that make up Bournemouth's seaside resort, such as the Oceanarium and venues such as tearooms, galleries, theatres and museums.

Dorset is home to one of the largest ageing populations in England and is a good place to start. Dorset also has the lowest rate of dementia diagnosis in the country, but not because of a shortage of people with the disease. Professor Innes estimates just one in four people with dementia in Dorset have actually been diagnosed.

"That's a shocking statistic. In other areas of the country about half the people with dementia are diagnosed, and if you don't have a diagnosis, you won't be able to access services and support. You might end up in a crisis situation because you and your family have not been able to plan for the future," she says.

Sometimes GPs are reluctant to give a diagnosis due to a lack of local services. A dementia label can also carry a stigma with families and communities -- meaning people are reluctant to admit a problem, and doctors might be unaware of the level of care available. Sometimes elderly people will already be in care homes, but labelled as 'pleasantly muddled,' rather than receiving a formal diagnosis.

A strong business case also exists for improving tourist facilities. Experts predict numbers of people with dementia will double over the next 30 years -- currently the disease costs the UK economy an estimated ?19 billion.

"If somewhere is labelled as dementia-friendly, it's good for the industry and people involved. Staff will be better trained and more aware -- and that's good for levels of service overall," says Professor Innes.

Reference: Innes, A, Kelly, F and McCabe, L (2012) (eds) Dementia in the 21st Century: Theory, policy and practice. London: Jessica Kingsley

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Bournemouth University, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/iyBDN07SRPg/130129080506.htm

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Obama to tread carefully in immigration debate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will wade cautiously into the debate over U.S. immigration reform on Tuesday, seeking to build momentum for a new bipartisan plan to offer a pathway to citizenship for the country's 11 million illegal immigrants.

Reflecting the growing clout of Hispanic voters, Obama will travel to Nevada little more than a week after his second inauguration and make the case for swift action by Congress to overhaul immigration laws.

Immigration reform could give Obama a landmark second-term legislative achievement, but he is expected to tread carefully in a speech in Las Vegas, just a day after a group of influential Senate Democrats and Republicans laid out a broad plan of their own.

Obama's challenge is to help build public support for the senators' framework, which is in line with many of his main ideas for a sweeping immigration overhaul, while not alienating his fiercest Republican foes who might resist anything with the Democratic president's name on it.

While Obama is likely to use the bully pulpit of the presidency, backed up by a White House-organized grass-roots campaign, he will likely be more circumspect for now about how personally involved he becomes in congressional negotiations.

"The minute it becomes Obama's plan, the Republicans kick automatically into opposition," said Bill Schneider, a political scientist at George Mason University in Virginia. "The White House knows to back off for now."

Scheduled to speak at a Las Vegas high school at 11:15 a.m. PST, Obama does not intend to unveil legislation of his own. He will instead urge lawmakers to press ahead with their efforts even as he restates the "blueprint" for reform he rolled out in 2011, which called for an "earned" path to citizenship, administration officials said.

The flurry of activity marks the first substantive drive in years to forge an agreement on fixing America's flawed immigration system. Though the debate is likely to be contentious there is a growing consensus in Washington that the conditions are finally ripe for tackling the problem.

Obama and his fellow Democrats see their commitment to immigration reform as a way to solidify their hold on the growing Latino vote, which they won handily in the 2012 election. Nevada, for example, has a fast-growing Hispanic population that helped Obama carry the state in the November election.

Many Republicans, worried that their party has alienated Hispanics with anti-immigrant rhetoric, are suddenly open to cooperation on the issue as they seek to set a new tone.

DEVIL IN THE DETAILS?

The eight-member Senate group includes John McCain, a Republican from the border state of Arizona; Charles Schumer, a centrist Democrat from New York; and Republican Marco Rubio of Florida, a Cuban-American favorite of the Tea Party movement who has helped garner support from influential conservatives.

Translating the aspirations expressed by the group into an inevitably lengthy and complicated bill will itself be a major challenge in Congress. At the same time, the White House wants to see further details before Obama will fully embrace the senators' approach.

In an attempt to build support, the Senate proposal would couple immigration reform with enhanced border security efforts aimed at preventing illegal immigration and ensuring that those foreigners temporarily in the United States return home when their visas expire.

Under the proposal, undocumented immigrants would be allowed to register with the government, pay a fine, and then be given probationary legal status allowing them to work.

Ultimately, these immigrants would have to "go to the end of the line" and apply for permanent status. But while waiting to qualify for citizenship, they would no longer face the fear of deportation or harassment from law enforcers if they have steered clear of illegal activity.

Obama's aides consider it a breakthrough that Republican members of the bipartisan group of senators have agreed to a path to citizenship, a concept that many in their party have long opposed as tantamount to amnesty for law-breakers.

The White House remains wary, however. The president's aides have written up extensive legislative language for an immigration overhaul and will step in with their own formal proposals if the Senate effort falls apart, an administration official said.

Immigration reform, sidelined by economic issues and healthcare reform during Obama's first term, is part of an ambitious liberal agenda he laid out in his second inaugural address. That agenda also includes gun control, gay rights and fighting climate change.

Last summer, Obama took executive action so that the federal government stopped seeking to deport illegal immigrants who had arrived in the United States as children - a dramatic change that was celebrated in the Hispanic community.

After winning the bitterly fought election, Obama promised to tackle the issue comprehensively early in his new term.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-tread-carefully-immigration-debate-061214111.html

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Egypt in show of defiance against Islamist leader

CAIRO (AP) ? Protesters battled police for hours in Cairo on Monday and thousands marched through Egypt's three Suez Canal cities in direct defiance of a night-time curfew and state of emergency, handing a blow to the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's attempts to contain five days of spiraling political violence.

Nearly 60 people have been killed in the wave of unrest, clashes, rioting and protests that have touched cities across the country but have hit the hardest in the canal cities, where residents have virtually risen up in outright revolt.

The latest death came on Monday in Cairo, where a protester died of gunshot wounds as youths hurling stones battled all day and into the night with police firing tear gas near Qasr el-Nil Bridge, a landmark over the Nile next to major hotels. In nearby Tahrir Square, protesters set fire to a police armored personnel carrier, celebrating as it burned in scenes reminiscent of the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak.

"I will be coming back here every day until the blood of our martyrs is avenged," said 19-year-old carpenter Islam Nasser, who wore a Guy Fawkes mask as he battled police near Tahrir square.

Angry and at times screaming and wagging his finger, Morsi on Sunday declared a 30-day state of emergency and a nighttime curfew on the three Suez Canal cities of Suez, Ismailiya and Port Said and their provinces of the same names. He said he had instructed the police to deal "firmly and forcefully" with the unrest and threatened to do more if security was not restored.

But when the 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew began Monday evening, crowds marched through the streets of Port Said, beating drums and chanting, "Erhal, erhal," or "Leave, leave" ? a chant that first rang out during the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak in 2011 but is now directed at Morsi.

"We completely reject Morsi's measures. How can we have a curfew in a city whose livelihood depends on commerce and tourism?" said Ahmed Nabil, a schoolteacher in the Mediterranean coastal city.

In Suez and Ismailiya, thousands in the streets after curfew chanted against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group from which he hails. In Suez, residents let off fireworks that lit the night sky.

"Oh Morsi, Suez has real men," they chanted.

In Ismailiya, residents organized street games of soccer to emphasize their contempt for the curfew and state of emergency.

On Morsi's orders over the weekend, army troops backed with tanks and armored vehicles have deployed in Port Said and Suez ? the two cities worst hit by the violence ? to restore security, but they did not intervene to enforce the curfew on Monday night.

The commander of the Third Field Army in charge of Suez, Maj. Gen. Osama Askar, said his troops would not use force to ensure compliance. Army troops in Port Said also stood by and watched as residents ignored the curfew.

Adding to Morsi's woes nearly seven months into his turbulent presidency, the main political opposition coalition on Monday rejected his invitation for a dialogue to resolve the crisis, one of the worst and deadliest to hit Egypt in the two years since Mubarak's ouster.

Nevertheless, the dialogue went ahead late Monday afternoon. A list of participants released later by the presidential palace showed that Morsi presided over an inaugural session made up almost entirely of fellow Islamists whose support for him has never been in question.

The violence first erupted Thursday and accelerated Friday when protests marking the two-year- anniversary of the start of the anti-Mubarak uprising turned to clashes around the country that left 11 dead, most of them in Suez.

The next day, riots exploded in Port Said after a court convicted and sentenced to death 21 defendants ? mostly locals ? for a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium a year ago. Rioters attacked police stations, clashed with security forces in the streets and shots and tear gas were fired at protester funerals in mayhem that left 44 people dead over the weekend.

The official MENA news agency said three more people died on Monday, succumbing to wounds sustained on Saturday, taking to 47 the number of people killed in the city over the past three days.

Earlier Monday, thousands in Port Said turned out for the funerals of some of those killed over the weekend. Witnesses later reported clashes in the city. The armed forces later said troops have repulsed an attack by six gunmen on motorbikes on the city's main prison.

In Cairo, white clouds of tear gas hung over Qasr el-Nil Bridge from early Monday morning and through the evening, wafting into nearby districts. The fighting was reminiscent of scenes two years ago to the day, when police and protesters battered each other on the same bridge in the most violent day of the 2011 uprising.

"People died to gain their freedom, social justice, bread. Now after 29 years of the despotic Mubarak, we're ruled by a worse regime: religious fascist, more dangerous," said Mohammed Saber, a 65-year old engineer who came to watch the clashes with his wife and children.

The clashes intensified in Monday evening. A group of protesters, including black masked youth, flashed the V-for-victory signs as they jubilantly milled around the burning police vehicle in Tahrir.

Outside Cairo, protesters marched, pelted police with rocks or cut off roads and railway lines in nearly a half dozen cities, including the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the country's second largest.

The geographical spread of the unrest and the tenacity of the protesters have showcased the depth of opposition to Morsi's rule outside the ranks of the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups.

However, it will take the mostly liberal and secular opposition time and effort to translate this popular resentment of the Islamists into electoral power and seriously challenge them at the ballot box. The Islamists have dominated elections for both houses of parliament late in 2011 and early 2012. Morsi narrowly won the presidency with under 52 percent of the vote.

The major opposition parties grouped in the National Salvation Front, led by reform leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Mohamed ElBardei, are seeking to leverage the turmoil roiling the country to break the Islamists' hold on power and force Morsi to make concessions.

ElBardei and other front leaders said they would only accept his invitation to join a national dialogue to resolve the crisis if he agreed first to form a national unity government and a commission to rewrite what they see as contentious parts of an Islamist-backed constitution adopted in a referendum last month.

The rejection of Morsi's offer is likely to lend more weight to ElBaradei and his colleagues in the Salvation Front at a time when protesters on the streets are increasingly showing their independence from politicians, voicing a wide range of non-political grievances.

The Front has painted the explosion of unrest as a backlash against attempts by Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists to monopolize power in Egypt. It says the instability is proof that Morsi doesn't have enough legitimacy to bring security or achieve reforms alone.

"We support any dialogue if it has a clear agenda that can shepherd the nation to the shores of safety," said ElBaradei, flanked by former Arab league chief Amr Moussa and leftist Hamdeen Sabahi.

The Front later issued a statement in which it said failure by Morsi to meet its conditions should be cause for early presidential elections, now scheduled for 2016.

It also called for mass, nationwide protests on Friday.

___

Associated Press writer Amir Makar contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-show-defiance-against-islamist-leader-214454219.html

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Monday, January 28, 2013

'Argo' on a roll with big win at SAG Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A few weeks ago, the Oscar race looked wide open. The stately, historical "Lincoln" seemed like the safe and likely choice, with the provocative "Zero Dark Thirty" and the quirky and inspiring "Silver Linings Playbook" very much in the mix for the Academy Award for best picture.

But now, an "Argo" juggernaut ? an "Argo"-naut, if you will ? seems to be rolling along and gathering momentum as we head toward Hollywood's top prize.

The international thriller from director Ben Affleck, who also stars as a CIA operative orchestrating a daring rescue during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, received the top honor of best ensemble cast in a movie at Sunday night's Screen Actors Guild Awards, their equivalent of the best-picture Oscar. It's a decent indicator of eventual Academy Awards success, with the two matching up about half the time.

The film, which also stars John Goodman and Alan Arkin as Hollywood veterans who help stage a fake movie as a cover, has received nearly unanimous critical raves and has proven to be a box-office favorite, as well, grossing nearly $190 million worldwide.

But "Argo" also won the Producers Guild of America Award on Saturday night, which is an excellent Oscar predictor, and it earned best picture and director statues from the Golden Globes two weeks earlier. The Directors Guild of America Awards next Saturday will help crystallize the situation even further.

The one tricky thing at work here: Affleck surprisingly didn't receive an Academy Award nomination in the director category, which most often goes hand in hand with best picture. (There are nine best-picture nominees but only five slots for directors.) Only once in modern times has a film won best picture without a directing nomination: 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy." The other two times came in the show's early years, at the first Oscars in 1929 with "Wings" and for 1932's "Grand Hotel."

Asked backstage at the SAG Awards what might happen when the Oscar winners are announced Feb. 24, Affleck said: "I don't do handicapping or try to divine what's going to happen down the road with movies.

"I didn't get nominated as a director and I thought, 'OK, that's that.' Then I remembered that I was nominated as a producer," said Affleck, who already has an original screenplay Oscar for writing 1997's "Good Will Hunting" with longtime friend Matt Damon. "Nothing may happen but it's a wonderful opportunity to be on the ride and I'm really honored."

Many of the usual suspects throughout the lengthy awards season heard their names called again Sunday night, including Daniel Day-Lewis as best actor for his intense, deeply immersed portrayal of the 16th U.S. president in "Lincoln." Accepting the prize on stage, he gave thanks to several of his colleagues including "The Master" star Joaquin Phoenix (who did not receive a SAG nomination), Leonardo DiCaprio and Liam Neeson.

Backstage, Day-Lewis elaborated for reporters that DiCaprio urged him to stick with Steven Spielberg's project, which was in the works for many years.

"He said, 'Don't give up, he's the greatest man of the 19th century,'" Day-Lewis said. "So this is all Leo's fault."

His co-star, Tommy Lee Jones, also won again in the supporting-actor category for his lacerating portrayal of abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens in Spielberg's Civil War epic.

Anne Hathaway, the front-runner for best supporting actress at the Oscars and a winner already at the Golden Globes, won at the SAGs for her performance as the doomed prostitute Fantine in the gritty musical "Les Miserables."

"I'm just thrilled I have dental," Hathaway joked on stage.

But in the already-tight best actress race, Jennifer Lawrence made things a little more interesting in winning for the drama "Silver Linings Playbook." The 22-year-old plays a damaged young widow opposite Bradley Cooper, whose character is fresh out of a mental institution. Jessica Chastain, the winner at the Golden Globes, has been her main competition as a driven CIA operative searching for Osama bin Laden in "Zero Dark Thirty."

Lawrence said on stage that she got her SAG card at 14 ? which was only eight short years ago ? for a promo for the MTV reality series "My Super Sweet 16," which she said felt like the best day of her life.

"And now I have this naked statue which means that some of you even voted for me, and that is an indescribable feeling," she said.

On the television side, the popular PBS series "Downton Abbey" bested more established shows like "Mad Men" to win the TV drama cast award in just its first nomination. "Modern Family won the comedy cast prize for the third straight year.

And Dick Van Dyke received the guild's life-achievement award, an honor he presented last year to his "The Dick Van Dyke Show" co-star, Mary Tyler Moore.

After receiving a lengthy standing ovation from the audience, he asked his fellow actors, "Aren't we lucky that we found a line of work that doesn't require growing up?"

____

Contact AP Movie Writer Christy Lemire through Twitter: http://twitter.com/christylemire

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/argo-roll-big-win-sag-awards-072049335.html

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Aresco says Big East looking to add 12th school

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) ? The Big East conference is looking to add another school, and may sign a TV package that includes multiple networks, commissioner Mike Aresco said Monday.

Aresco spoke at a local chamber of commerce breakfast, and talked to reporters afterward.

He said the Big East wants to keep its name as it rebrands, and no longer has any plans to expand further west than Texas.

"We probably at some point will add a 12th team," Aresco said. "We are going to have 11 when Navy comes in '15. We'll have 10 this year. There's no urgency, but we think we'll probably think about adding a 12th team."

Aresco believes the conference realignment picture may be settling down, following the departure of the so-called Catholic seven basketball schools from the Big East and the decisions of Boise State and San Diego State to return to the Mountain West.

He said the remaining Big East schools all are large research schools, with similar goals, and have good working relationships.

"I do think as conferences consolidate, as they get bigger, I think they rethink what they are doing, and I think there will be a period of calm," he said. "It doesn't mean it's over."

Aresco said the conference is getting close on a TV package that he said will add stability to the picture, but could not say when it might be finalized.

"We think we could end up doing a deal with multiple networks, we just don't know yet," he said.

Aresco lamented the role of money in ending some traditional rivalries in college sports, and cautioned executives that a balance must be maintained between doing what is best financially and doing what is best for college athletics and the college athlete.

He said TV games will lose much of their luster if they are played in half-empty arenas or stadiums.

He also said he doesn't believe the departure of the Catholic schools from the Big East necessarily means an end to some of the old Big East rivalries. He said because the separation has been amicable, he believes many of those schools will continue playing each other.

"We want our schools to play really good nonconference games," he said, "whether its football or basketball, because that's how you rebuild your brand ? prove it on the field."

Aresco dismissed talk that the Big East might reconsider its postseason ban for Connecticut's men's basketball team, allowing the Huskies play in this year's Big East tournament.

UConn was barred from the postseason by the NCAA due to previous low Academic Progress Rate scores, and the Big East followed suit. School officials have been lobbying against the ban, noting the team has improved those scores and no current players were involved in the previous problems.

"They've got a terrific APR now, they're doing much better," Aresco said. "This is just one of those things. It happened, and it's something they're going to have to get through."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-28-BKC-Big-East-Aresco/id-70e90a6edd04492b8ac13370f9c6353a

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Iran's first monkey astronaut survives flight, but doesn't look happy

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Monday it had launched a live monkey into space, seeking to show off missile systems that have alarmed the West because the technology could potentially be used to deliver a nuclear warhead.

The Defense Ministry announced the launch as world powers sought to agree a date and venue with Iran for resuming talks to resolve a standoff with the West over Tehran's contested nuclear program before it degenerates into a new Middle East war.

Efforts to nail down a new meeting have failed repeatedly and the powers fear Iran is exploiting the diplomatic vacuum to hone the means to produce nuclear weapons.

The Islamic Republic denies seeking weapons capability and says it seeks only electricity from its uranium enrichment so it can export more of its considerable oil wealth.

The powers have proposed new talks in February, a spokesman for the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Monday, hours after Russia urged all concerned to "stop behaving like children" and commit to a meeting.

Iran earlier in the day denied media reports of a major explosion at one of its most sensitive, underground enrichment plants, describing them as Western propaganda designed to influence the nuclear talks.

The Defense Ministry said the space launch of the monkey coincided "with the days of" the Prophet Mohammad's birthday, which was last week, but gave no date, according to a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

The launch was "another giant step" in space technology and biological research "which is the monopoly of a few countries", the statement said.

The small grey monkey was pictured strapped into a padded seat and being loaded into the Kavoshgar rocket dubbed "Pishgam" (Pioneer) which state media said reached a height of more than 120 km (75 miles).

"This shipment returned safely to Earth with the anticipated speed along with the live organism," Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told the semi-official Fars news agency. "The launch of Kavoshgar and its retrieval is the first step towards sending humans into space in the next phase."

There was no independent confirmation of the launch.

SIGNIFICANT FEAT

The West worries that long-range ballistic technology used to propel Iranian satellites into orbit could be put to use dispatching nuclear warheads to a target.

Bruno Gruselle of France's Foundation for Strategic Research said that if the monkey launch report were true it would suggest a "quite significant" engineering feat by Iran.

"If you can show that you are able to protect a vehicle of this sort from re-entry, then you can probably protect a military warhead and make it survive the high temperatures and high pressures of re-entering," Gruselle said.

The monkey launch would be similar to sending up a satellite weighing some 2,000 kg (4,400 pounds), he said. Success would suggest a capacity to deploy a surface-to-surface missile with a range of a few thousand kilometers (miles).

Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank, said Iran had demonstrated "no new military or strategic capability" with the launch.

"Nonetheless, Iran has an ambitious space exploration program that includes the goal of placing a human in space in the next five or so years and a human-inhabited orbital capsule by the end of the decade," Elleman said. "Today's achievement is one step toward the goal, albeit a small one."

The Islamic Republic announced plans in 2011 to send a monkey into space, but that attempt was reported to have failed.

Nuclear-weapons capability requires three components - enough fissile material such as highly enriched uranium, a reliable weapons device miniaturized to fit into a missile cone, and an effective delivery system, such as a ballistic missile that can grow out of a space launch program.

Iran's efforts to develop and test ballistic missiles and build a space launch capability have contributed to Israeli calls for pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and billions of dollars of U.S. ballistic missile defense spending.

MANOEUVRING OVER NEXT TALKS

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the powers had offered a February meeting to Iran, after a proposal to meet at the end of January was refused.

"Iran did not accept our offer to go to Istanbul on January 28 and 29 and so we have offered new dates in February. We have continued to offer dates since December. We are disappointed the Iranians have not yet agreed," Michael Mann reporters.

He said Iranian negotiators had imposed new conditions for resuming talks and that EU powers were concerned this might be a stalling tactic. The last in a sporadic series of fruitless talks was held last June.

Iranian officials deny blame for the delays and say Western countries squandered opportunities for meetings by waiting until after the U.S. presidential election in November.

"We have always said that we are ready to negotiate until a result is reached and we have never broken off discussions," IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.

Salehi has suggested holding the next round in Cairo but said the powers wanted another venue. He also said that Sweden, Kazakhstan and Switzerland had offered to host the talks.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference: "We are ready to meet at any location as soon as possible. We believe the essence of our talks is far more important (than the site), and we hope that common sense will prevail and we will stop behaving like little children."

Ashton is overseeing diplomatic contacts on behalf of the powers hoping to persuade Tehran to stop higher-grade uranium enrichment and accept stricter U.N. inspections in return for civilian nuclear cooperation and relief from U.N. sanctions.

IRAN DENIES FORDOW BLAST

Reuters has been unable to verify reports since Friday of an explosion early last week at the underground Fordow bunker that some Israeli and Western media said wrought heavy damage.

"The false news of an explosion at Fordow is Western propaganda ahead of nuclear negotiations to influence their process and outcome," IRNA quoted deputy Iranian nuclear energy agency chief Saeed Shamseddin Bar Broudi as saying.

In late 2011 the plant at Fordow began producing uranium enriched to 20 percent fissile purity, well above the 3.5 percent level normally needed for nuclear power stations.

While such higher-grade enrichment remains nominally far below the 90 percent level required for an atomic bomb, nuclear proliferation experts say the 20 percent threshold represents the bulk of the time and effort involved in yielding weapons-grade material - if that were Iran's goal.

Tehran says its enhanced enrichment is to make fuel for a research reactor that produces isotopes for medical care.

Diplomats in Vienna, where the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is based, said on Monday they had no knowledge of any incident at Fordow but were looking into the reports.

"I have heard and seen various reports but am unable to authenticate them," a senior diplomat in Vienna told Reuters.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which regularly inspects declared Iranian nuclear sites including Fordow, had no immediate comment on the issue.

Iran has accused Israel and the United States of trying to sabotage its nuclear program with cyber attacks and assassinations of its nuclear scientists. Washington has denied any role in the killings while Israel has declined to comment.

(Additional reporting by William Maclean and Marcus George in Dubai, Justyna Pawlak in Brussels, Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Mark Heinrich; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/six-world-powers-hope-meet-iran-atom-talks-120752016.html

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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Dogs and Humans Co-Evolved, Evidence Mounts Dogs and Wolves ...

It's clear dogs evolved alongside people. The evidence continues to mount. New research suggests dogs can digest carbohydrates far better than wolves can, and gaining that ability may have been an important step in taming the animals, as discovered by evolutionary geneticist Erik Axelsson of Uppsala University in Sweden and his colleagues report online January 23 in?Nature. Axelsson said that their findings show that the digestive system of dogs have adapted to be able to live on a diet similar to ours.

Comparing dog to wolf DNA, the authors pinpointed several changes in starch and sugar-processing genes that was presumably adapted early dogs to better able to digest the scraps they scarfed at the edge of human settlements.

And that's how it happened. Lots of evidence by those who study this sort of thing had suggested that a long lost relative of today's dog (a relative of today's wolf) began to take interest thousands of years ago in human settlements because they ate the trash which?bordered?these places. The clean-up crew benefited the humans. What's more they'd howl to warn of predators, big, giant sabre-toothed types, who were dangerous to people as well.

"Ah ha," said those early people, "This early warning is an inexpensive security system."

Okay - maybe they didn't put it in those words....but what happened from there - pretty quickly, over hundreds of years, some bold individuals began to go inside the human settlements (where they may have received extra food and protection) and had their puppies there. Those pups grew up to be trusted friends who would eventually accompany men on hunts, and provide further protection of the settlement. The relatives of dogs received food, and the symbiotic association between people and dogs began - and, of course, continues to this day. People thousands of years ago were even?buried?with dogs - suggesting the human/animal bond isn't a new?phenomenon.

According to Axelsson, the food our?ancestors?fed the early dogs wasn't exactly Royal Canin, it was a combination of roots, porridge and possibly bread. Of course, dogs chomped on bones of whatever they helped people to catch, and likely were fed scraps of meat.

No one knows for sure when or where the first true dogs came into being, likely their appearance even pre-dates Larry King, experts suggest around 12,000 years ago. ?Of course, over time, the relationship continued and some dogs bred?specifically?bred for various tasks, to hunt and to guard were likely the first, and later to herd, and eventually just to be our devoted friends.

So when a handful of dog trainers (like Cesar Millan) and others compare dogs and wolves, it's really no different than comparing people and gorillas.

(This post was suggested by Facebook friend Howard Miller)

Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/steve-dales-pet-world/2013/01/dogs-and-humans-co-evolved-evidence-mounts-dogs-and-wolves-more-different-than-we-think/

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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Ex-Officer For C.I.A. Is Sentenced In Leak Case

www.nytimes.com:

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The first Central Intelligence Agency officer to face prison for disclosing classified information, was sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison by a judge at the federal courthouse here.

Read the whole story at www.nytimes.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/ex-officer-for-cia-is-sen_n_2550679.html

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This Is Why You Always Ask for a Window Seat

The song's called America the Beautiful for a reason and it's easy to see why from a mile up. Frequent-flying photographer Julieanne Kost captured these incredible images, check out the rest of the gallery at Julieanne Kost Photography or in book form, Window Seat, The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking. Click on the images below to embiggen. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/fYz6ymxn2nc/this-is-why-you-always-ask-for-a-window-seat

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Chile aims to focus summit on its brighter side

People walk past high risers in the financial district of Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekend?s economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile _ the polished, upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparklingly clean financial district nicknamed ?Sanhattan,? well away from Santiago's slums. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Ricardo Gonzalez pours water on his head and also on of her 8-month old daughter Keyla at their home at San Pablo shanty town in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. At right is Gonzalez's son, Antonio, 3. European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekend?s economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile _ the polished, upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparklingly clean financial district nicknamed ?Sanhattan,? well away from Santiago's slums. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

A high riser is built in the financial district of Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekend?s economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile _ the polished, upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparklingly clean financial district nicknamed ?Sanhattan,? well away from Santiago's slums. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Luxury apartment buildings in Las Condes' neighborhood are seen at background as the San Pablo shanty town is seen at front in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013. European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekend?s economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile _ the polished, upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparklingly clean financial district nicknamed ?Sanhattan,? well away from Santiago's slums. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

Luxury cars drive past a five-star hotel in the financial district of Santiago, Chile, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekend?s economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile _ the polished, upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparklingly clean financial district nicknamed ?Sanhattan,? well away from Santiago's slums. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) ? European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders gathering for this weekend's economic summit will likely see only one side of Chile ? the polished, upscale country where tourists and investors stay in five-star hotels in a sparklingly clean financial district nicknamed "Sanhattan," well away from Santiago's slums.

Hundreds of security agents will ensure that presidents and prime ministers won't be exposed to activists demanding a wider distribution of Chile's copper wealth and decent educations for all. They also won't hear Mapuche Indians denouncing the dictatorship-era anti-terror laws used against Chile's largest indigenous group.

This 16.5 million-person Andean country has won worldwide acclaim for its modernizing economy and institutions, rarities in a region still struggling to leave behind centuries of economic dysfunction. Yet there's another side to the Chilean miracle, one that will sit just blocks from the conference halls and hotels where leaders will meet this week.

Chile, in fact, has the worst inequality rate among the 34 countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which includes other emerging economies such as Mexico and Turkey, according to the World Bank. Its rate of inequality is also worse than several Latin American countries with lower average incomes, including Peru, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.

"Chile is a country of contrasts. We have two countries, and the people who come to the summit will only see one of them - 'Sanhattan' and the macroeconomic data," said pollster Marta Lagos.

"It might be good for the government that the people in the summits don't realize this, but it's bad for Chile."

Promoting sustainable development by fighting poverty, reducing income inequality and protecting natural resources are actually primary goals of the summit, which brings together more than 60 nations from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the world's leading non-governmental organizations.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Spanish President Mariano Rajoy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among those joining a business conference Friday where 300 executives are formally seeking joint ventures with the same goals.

International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde framed their challenges starkly at last week's Davos Conference, saying the world's top executives agree that "severe income disparity" poses the greatest risk to the global economy in the decade ahead. "Excessive inequality is corrosive to growth; it is corrosive to society," she warned.

Other countries, however, can take many positive lessons from Chile.

The world's top copper producer is seen as probably the best managed economy in Latin America because of its strong growth, prudent fiscal and macroeconomic policies and strong institutions that make it an investor's paradise.

But critics say policies launched under former dictator Augusto Pinochet that privatized much of the country are still blocking urgent social reform and fostering social exclusion and inequality.

Pinera's government has been hit by wide protests demanding improvements in education, housing and health care and the protection of the environment from business interests. So while the country is expanding quickly, Chileans are asking for reforms to a system that they say still fails many.

Some of Chile's contradictions are in plain sight. Slum dwellers living in wooden shacks with zinc roofs at Campamento Juan Pablo II have a perfect view of elegant mansions, soaring skyscrapers and luxury car dealerships, just across a wide avenue in Las Condes, one of Santiago's wealthiest neighborhoods.

"The social gap is huge. The millionaires are right there next to us and we're stuck here living in this shantytown. The rich continue to get richer while the poor get poorer," said Raul Sanchez, 51, who earns poverty-level wages watching over cars at nearby parking lots.

No one can deny that President Sebastian Pinera has tried to fight poverty by encouraging job creation and giving cash handouts to the poorest of the poor.

But he has fallen far short of his campaign promise to eradicate poverty by the end of his term in 2014, and Chileans perceive the wealth gap as wider than ever, Lagos said.

Displaying economic success is particularly important to Chile, which is eager to be seen as a developed nation. Chile's business elites take particular pride in the country's membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The country's economy is expected to grow around 4.8 percent in 2013, outpacing every other country in the region but Peru, according to the United Nations.

Chile's strong standing has helped it weather the world economic crisis and withstand the contagion in the Euro zone, where the economy contracted by 0.5 percent last year. Along with mining, Chile enjoys strong consumer demand and profits from exports of salmon, forestry, wine and fruit. During a recent visit to Santiago, International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde praised Chile for being one of the fastest growing economies in South America and keeping unemployment at historically low levels while controlling inflation below a target 3 percent.

"Chile has been a successful country and there are many reasons why Chileans should be proud, but the country remains largely unequal despite progress," said Patricio Navia, a Chilean political scientist who teaches at New York University.

"Precisely because it has grown so much, one wonders why the government hasn't been able to do more to fight inequality."

Far from the summit's headquarters in a heavily guarded conference center in the Andean foothills, protesters were preparing to take the streets for a "people's summit" on Friday.

Students are demanding an end to the decentralization of education in Chile, which has created a system of failing public schools, expensive private universities, unprepared teachers and pricey student loans.

Mapuche Indians are demanding autonomy and a return of their ancestral territory in Chile's Patagonia region, where timber companies, foreign corporations and wealthy individuals control most of the land. Environmentalists are demanding an end to the privatization of Chile's water, another legacy of the Pinochet era.

The most common complaint of the protesters is that wealth and power has been concentrated in very few hands.

"The biggest problem in Chile is that the differences between the haves and the have-nots are very dramatic," Navia said. "So you are not likely to see poverty as you see in other countries, but you will see that wealth and income in Chile are very unequally distributed."

___

Luis Andres Henao on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisAndresHenao

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-01-25-CELAC-EU-Summit-Two-Chiles/id-a23e9c80f3f4495e929ca435a16a0745

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Top 3 Wildlife Sanctuaries in India | Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia

mikeihpl 24 January 2013

What Roars for the Top 3 Wildlife Destination in India
You mean besides Tigers? Lots, actually! Contrary to popular perception, tigers and lions are not the only sought-after animals on wildlife tours in India. India, with its rich and vivid wildlife, is home to 10000+ species of varied wildlife that has driven enthusiasts from far and wide to its rustic lands. However, tigers in India ? Asian and Bengal ? rule popularity curves. We researched and picked out the Top 3 Wildlife Sanctuaries in India. If you?re planning a Wildlife tour in India, this is a must read.

1-?? ?Corbett National? Park

Corbett National Park

Do we even need to introduce the Corbett National Park? For the sake of formality, Corbett National Park is Asia?s first national and India?s most popular national park. It is so huge that it covers 2 districts ? Nainital and Pauri and spans over a staggering 1288 sq. km. The Corbett has varied habitats for nurturing the immense variety of wildlife it inhabits. Although primarily popular for its Bengal Tigers and Asiatic Elephants, not many know that the Corbett National Park is home to 600+ species of avifauna.
When Should You Go ? November to February
Safari Costs ? 1800-2500 INR
Enquire About ? Elephant Safaris, Individual stories of each tigers
Yes Factor ? Highest probability of tiger spotting in India

2-?? ?Bandhavgarh National Park

Bandhavgarh National Park

Bandhavgarh National Park is located in Madhya Pradesh, central India and is the home of the Asian tiger. The 448 sq. km reserve also has a small Bandhavgarh Hill, 811 meters high. The park is picturesquely developed around a castle, the 2000 year old Bandhavgarh Fort. Besides its 60 tigers, Bandhavgarh sanctuary shelters more than 250 species of birds and 22 species of mammals.
When Should You Go ? November to February
Safari Costs ? 4000-5000 INR (Indians); 4500-5500 (Foreigners)
Enquire About ? Stuffed White Tiger ?Mohan? in Maharaja?s palace
Yes Factor ? 60+ Tigers in 450 sq. km area

3-?? ?Kanha National Park

Kanha National Park

Created in 1955, Kanha National Park was declared a Tiger Reserve in 1974. Kanha is 160 kilometers from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh and spans across 1940 sq. km. Kanha National Park has led the? animal conservation campaigns in India for the past 40 years. Interestingly, Kanha provides for ideal living conditions for both the prey (deers, chital and gaur) and the predator (tigers). The Park is particularly famous for its Hard ground Barasingha (Swamp Deer).
When Should You Go ? October- November or February-March
Safari Costs ? 1000/1500+230 INR (Indians); 2000-3000+500 INR (Foreigners)
Enquire About ? The Kanha Museum
Yes Factor ? Watching a full bodied tiger attack and kill its prey
P.S. ? Please have your reservations made prior to the actual travel. Last minute tickets to most Wildlife sanctuaries in India are a little tricky to get.

My name is Mike Budhani I belong from India. As all other Indian I like spices food, colors of nature, animals, I am passionate about traveling, especially in winter. I like to do workout if I manage some time form all other busy stuff.

Source: http://blog.travelandleisureasia.com/destination/2013/01/24/top-3-wildlife-sanctuaries-in-india/

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Source: http://sumneheegande.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-travel-insurance.html

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