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JADE GOODY SECURES WEDDING DEAL FOR £700,000

Former reality TV star Jade Goody, who is battling cervical cancer, has secured a 700,000 pounds deal with a magazine for the rights to capture her wedding to 21-year-old Jack Tweed on Sunday. OK! Magazine has bought the rights to Sunday's ceremony for 700,000 pounds and has also secured the rights to the pictures of the christening of Goody's sons ahead of the wedding ceremony, her publicist Max Clifford said.
Living TV had already paid a reported 100,000 pounds to show it as part of their series, 'Jade'. Goody, who earned notoriety for her racist remarks directed at Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in the UK reality show Celebrity Big Brother, has been reportedly told by the doctors that her disease has become terminal and has decided to use the media to raise funds for her sons. Clifford said that after the wedding there "won't be more episodes of the series they have been filming." A spokeswoman for Clifford's office said Tweed would not receive any money from the deal and has agreed that the entire amount would be passed to Goody's sons -- five-year old Bobby and four-year-old Freddie. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown shared the concern of her well wishers. He said last night the entire country was concerned about Goody's health and that it was "tragic" her treatment had not worked.

Vilasrao Deshmukh turned Writer

By Vaidehi Sachin

The wheel has come full circle for veteran Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh who ruled as Maharashtra chief minister for two times. Vilasrao had to leave his post accepting moral responsibility of 26/11 terror attack. Now day he is busy writing book on his political journey. From a village sarpanch in Latur district to the top post for the two time, 59-year-old Deshmukh has extensive experience in the legislature and administration.
He hails from the economically backward region of Marathwada and is known for his administrative acumen. He had been a minister in various governments in Maharashtra from 1982 to 1995 holding the portfolios of revenue, cooperation, agriculture, home, industries and education.
A widely traveled man, he visited several foreign countries to study agricultural and industrial development trends. He became chief minister in 1999 but had to step down in January 2003 and make way for Sushilkumar Shinde, a prominent dalit face of Congress, following factionalism in the state unit of the party.

A known Sharad Pawar-baiter, Deshmukh suffered a major setback in the 1995 assembly polls when Janata Dal candidate Shivajirao Patil Kavhekar defeated him by over 30,000 votes in Latur assembly constituency. He won the seat in 1999 and retained it in that election.
During his entire political carrier he was trapped in so many controvercies, every time he had to quit his post due to some or other set back. This book will be about his political journey and the experiences he shared with various political leaders. Deshmukh is known for his silent and sober taunts he was never vocal and loud on any issue. When ever reporters used to ask him for explanation he used to answer then in very humorous way.There are so many minister so far written their biography, most of the biographies were authored by some well known people but vilasrao is writing his book himself. Let say their something better than nothing. At last Deshmukh got involved in some constructive task.When we asked Narayan Rane his opinion on writer Deshmukh “ smart rane very diplomatically said, that’s good I wish him all the best and wait for its launch.”After a great struggle he could get assure his stay with congress party, looking at the risk he avoided commenting further. Any ways this news made Rane giggle from bottom of his heart. People have seen lawyer vilasrao Deshmukh, politician, and educationnist now they will get to read hidden secreats of his life.When asked about the tiltle he told this paper “ it is yet to be decided, he wants to put his thought process in words and then he will decide about the title. This book will be dedicated to Party high command his mentors and Party.

OBAMA ANNOUNCES 17,000 SURGE IN US TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN

AFTER PAKISTAN, TALIBAN NOW PLAN TO TARGET INDIA
After Pakistan, Taliban has now set its sights on India, intelligence sources said on Tuesday. Pakistan has gambled that an offer to introduce Islamic law to parts of the northwest will bring peace to the troubled Swat valley, but analysts fear any lull won't last long and appeasement will embolden the Taliban.
Western officials fear Pakistan is taking a slippery road that will only benefit al Qaeda and the Taliban, but Pakistani authorities believe the alternative of using overwhelming force on people who are, afterall, Pakistani posed a greater danger.

The central government has said the Sharia Nizam-e-Adl, or the judicial system governed by Islamic sharia law, won't be implemented in the Malakand division of North West Frontier Province, which includes Swat, unless the guns fall silent. The Taliban announced a 10-day ceasefire on Sunday, while the NWFP government has said that while the military will remain deployed in Swat, there won't be any offensives, only reactive actions. Amnesty International estimates that between 250,000 and 500,000 people have fled their homes since late 2007, when the Taliban revolt began in Swat, an alpine region 130 km (80 miles northwest of Islamabad. Tens of thousands have fled since August last year after an earlier peace deal broke down.
US President Barack Obama has approved the deployment 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, as he said the situation in the Afghan-Pakistan region demands immediate attention.
"This increase is necessary to stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, which has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires," Obama said in a statement as he approved his commander's request to send more troops to the war-torn country. Immediately, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the deployment of more than 12,000 troops to Afghanistan. This includes 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, consisting of 8,000 Marines and 5th Stryker Brigade of 4,000 soldiers. While the Marines would hit the ground late spring 2009, Stryker's are likely to be in Afghanistan in mid-summer. Deployment of another 5,000 additional troops to support these combat forces would be announced at a later date, the Pentagon said.
Such an announcement was being anticipated for the past several days. Making the announcement, Obama said the Taliban is resurgent in Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda supports insurgency and threatens America from its safe-haven along the Pakistani border. The "responsibly draw down" of forces from Iraq, gives him the flexibility to increase US' presence in Afghanistan. "This reinforcement will contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to stability in Afghanistan," Obama said. The US President, however, clarified the surge of troops in Afghanistan does not pre-determine the outcome of Afghan strategic review, which is currently being done by his administration. "Instead, it will further enable our team to put together a comprehensive strategy that will employ all elements of our national power to fulfill achievable goals in Afghanistan," Obama said. "As we develop our new strategic goals, we will do so in concert with our friends and allies as together we seek the resources necessary to succeed," Obama said. Even before taking over presidency, Obama had announced his intention to increase the US troops in Afghanistan as he believes the main threat to the United States comes from the safe haven of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Easy money for City human guinea pigs

By Vaidehi Sachin
Poverty and greed, dragging city youth and housewives for clinical trials.
Mumbai’s huge illiterate population is in danger of being misused by unethical firms to test suspect drugs-this time helping in the search for a cure for various diseases. poor susceptible to pharmaceutical giants Lured by the money being offered by dozens of international pharmaceutical companies carrying out clinical trials, human guinea pig
Sarita, house wife, residing at Borivali lend her body to get tested sixth drug-this time helping in the search for a cure for asthma. While speaking to this paper she said “I am not educated enough to get some good employment, my husband has deserted me long back I have three growing children, I am the only earning member. Twice a month I help these medicine Companies to conduct clinical trial on my body, they pay me minimum 6 to 7 thousand. Per month I earn more than fifteen thousand. Some times these trials lead to side effects, but what to do? This earning is better than flesh trading.”
She further said its not only needy people, even college students come here, and after the age of eighteen any one can lend their body for clinical trial”. When asked she refused to disclose the location and company name.
She said most of us, has no knowledge at all about the drugs we have allowed doctors to introduce into our body over the past two years. For now, she has no regrets.
Every year there are so many volunteers they die or become disable due to overdose of tested samples.

When asked State Health Minister Rajendra Shingne he told this paper “foreign drug companies taking advantage of poverty and recession. This is serious issue; I am not much aware of this problem but will soon definitely look into the same. He has also appealed people to make immediate police complaint if they come across such companies.”
1000's of volunteers who are driving nascent clinical research industry, which has attracted global pharmaceutical firms.
According to a report by consultants McKinsey and Co, the city clinical research industry can earn revenues of some thousand millions by 2010, at which time the country will need 50,000 professionals and about 300,000 'subjects' or patients.

Dr Mohanti a Critic say “ not only Mumbai but India's huge illiterate population is in danger of being misused by unethical firms to test suspect drugs. But industry officials say each trial follows a strict code of ethics. Government has banned clinical trial on human body but it is never implemented”. These kind payments made to their human guinea pigs are so attractive generally no one reports against these research institutes.”

The volunteers undergo health tests such as blood, urine, chest X-rays and heart check-up. If they fail research institute do not enroll them for the test. Under Indian laws, only testing of new and generic drugs which have gone off patent and are manufactured in the country are permitted. All other pre-clinical trials, except those on rodents, are banned.

But as soon as pre-clinical trials on animals are over in a foreign country and the new drug has been tested on healthy volunteers in that nation, the drug can be used in India for so-called second and third phase trials.

Industry officials say it costs upwards of US$1 billion to make a new drug, with clinical trials accounting for almost two-thirds of the cost. Carrying out trials in India can cut costs by more than 55 percent, due to cheap and skilled scientific manpower and the availability of volunteers.

Department of Medical ethics has already published in their literature guide that “government should have some provision, to investigate such rackets and save their country men but such provision is not available. Moreover corrupt system can never create deterrence in such clinical laboratories.”
As a rule, studies that involve invasive medical procedures are more lucrative—the more uncomfortable, the better the pay—and in this study subjects had a fibre-optic tube inserted in their mouths and down their esophagus’s so that researchers could examine their gastrointestinal tracts.
Volunteers are paid not to do things but to let things be done to them.