Fantasy Bakery has withdrawn the case filed at the Civil Court against the Male City Council. The case was filed by the bakery pleading the court to order the City Council to provide a permit to reopen the bakery. The council closed down the bakery alleging that expired products were found in the kitchen used to prepare food sold in the bakery.
The case filed by Fantasy states that the council fined the bakery with MVR6,500 after shutting the bakery down and that when the bakery requested a permit to reopen on October 30, 2011 the request was denied.
The ruling by the Civil Court on the case on Wednesday stated that Fantasy’s lawyer Abdulla Saeed had provided a statement to the court requesting the dismissal of the case and thus cited that there are no grounds for further continuation of the case due to which the case is dismissed.
The Fantasy Store was also closed along with Bakery during the scandal, but the store was later allowed to reopen. The bakery has also now been given the permission to be reopened for business.
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
Pakistan donates MVR1 million to Maldives
Pakistan has donated MVR1 million as assistance to the Maldives. In a ceremony held at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, The donation was presented by the Pakistani High Commissioner to the Maldives, Akhtar Ali Sulehri. State Foreign Minister Dhunya Maumoon accepted the assistance on behalf of the Maldivian government.
Foreign Ministry stated that the donation will be used to build a three storey library building in Kolhumadulu Guraidhoo. It also stated that the public library will consist of a special children’s section, which would facilitate children to develop their minds and also help to practice reading as part of life.
Speaking at the ceremony, Pakistan High Commissioner said that he believed that the library will be a great benefit to the people of Guraidhoo and hoped that they will make the best use of it.
State Minister Dhunya thanked the Pakistan Government for the donation and also thanked the High Commissioner for his efforts to strengthen the close bilateral relations that exists between the two countries.
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Foreign Ministry stated that the donation will be used to build a three storey library building in Kolhumadulu Guraidhoo. It also stated that the public library will consist of a special children’s section, which would facilitate children to develop their minds and also help to practice reading as part of life.
Speaking at the ceremony, Pakistan High Commissioner said that he believed that the library will be a great benefit to the people of Guraidhoo and hoped that they will make the best use of it.
State Minister Dhunya thanked the Pakistan Government for the donation and also thanked the High Commissioner for his efforts to strengthen the close bilateral relations that exists between the two countries.
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WikiLeaks founder Assange faced tough choice: lawyer
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faced a "difficult choice" in defying a British police order for extradition to Sweden, one of his lawyers said Friday. Assange was confronted with risks no matter which path he took and is gambling that Ecuador will look sympathetically at his request for political asylum, said Michael Ratner, a human rights attorney who is on Assange's legal defense team.
The 40-year-old Australian refused to comply with a British police order to turn himself in for extradition to Sweden and instead walked into the Ecuadoran embassy in London on June 19, asking for asylum.
"He had two very difficult choices. I think he would go to Sweden immediately if he got assurances from the United States that there was not going to be a prosecution," Ratner told AFP.
But the US government would have to provide a clear guarantee with no "minced words," he said.
The United States has said it has no role in the extradition dispute.
Assange faces questioning in Sweden over sexual assault allegations but he denies the allegations and insists it is part of a politically-motivated effort to get him extradited to the United States, where he fears he could be put on trial for espionage or other crimes.
Confronted with the option of being transferred to a Swedish prison without the possibility of seeking political asylum, Assange made an understandable decision, Ratner said.
"Neither (option) is very palatable," said Ratner, president emeritus of the Center of Constitutional Rights who has represented detainees at the US-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"He made a very difficult choice for himself."
Assange's concerns that he could be prosecuted in a US court for serious crimes were well-founded, given details that have emerged about a grand jury investigation, public warnings from top US officials and reported questioning of WikiLeaks associates, according to Ratner.
US officials have refrained from making strident public comments about Assange in recent months, he said.
"I think they're quiet now because there's a grand jury or an indictment and they don't want to prejudice any ultimate trial. That would be my best guess."
Ratner said Assange could face difficult conditions in any "pre-trial confinement" in the United States, similar to those imposed on Army private Bradley Manning, charged with handing over a trove of secret files to Assange's WikiLeaks website.
WikiLeaks enraged Washington by publishing a flood of secret information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as more than 250,000 confidential US diplomatic cables.
His supporters paint him as a whistle-blowing hero but his critics denounce him as a traitorous anarchist.
His defense lawyer expressed cautious optimism that Ecuador would approve Assange's request for asylum.
"I'm very hopeful about it, I'll put it that way. They have the ability and the president and the country have the guts to stand up to the United States," said Ratner, citing Ecuador's decision to close a US military base in 2008.
He added: "Of all the countries that would be one of the most favorable (to Assange's request), it would be Ecuador."
Assange is beyond the reach of the police as long as he stays inside Ecuador's embassy on diplomatic territory.
Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa, who has often been at odds with Washington and offered Assange asylum in 2010, has said that the South American country will take its time considering the application.
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The 40-year-old Australian refused to comply with a British police order to turn himself in for extradition to Sweden and instead walked into the Ecuadoran embassy in London on June 19, asking for asylum.
"He had two very difficult choices. I think he would go to Sweden immediately if he got assurances from the United States that there was not going to be a prosecution," Ratner told AFP.
But the US government would have to provide a clear guarantee with no "minced words," he said.
The United States has said it has no role in the extradition dispute.
Assange faces questioning in Sweden over sexual assault allegations but he denies the allegations and insists it is part of a politically-motivated effort to get him extradited to the United States, where he fears he could be put on trial for espionage or other crimes.
Confronted with the option of being transferred to a Swedish prison without the possibility of seeking political asylum, Assange made an understandable decision, Ratner said.
"Neither (option) is very palatable," said Ratner, president emeritus of the Center of Constitutional Rights who has represented detainees at the US-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"He made a very difficult choice for himself."
Assange's concerns that he could be prosecuted in a US court for serious crimes were well-founded, given details that have emerged about a grand jury investigation, public warnings from top US officials and reported questioning of WikiLeaks associates, according to Ratner.
US officials have refrained from making strident public comments about Assange in recent months, he said.
"I think they're quiet now because there's a grand jury or an indictment and they don't want to prejudice any ultimate trial. That would be my best guess."
Ratner said Assange could face difficult conditions in any "pre-trial confinement" in the United States, similar to those imposed on Army private Bradley Manning, charged with handing over a trove of secret files to Assange's WikiLeaks website.
WikiLeaks enraged Washington by publishing a flood of secret information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as more than 250,000 confidential US diplomatic cables.
His supporters paint him as a whistle-blowing hero but his critics denounce him as a traitorous anarchist.
His defense lawyer expressed cautious optimism that Ecuador would approve Assange's request for asylum.
"I'm very hopeful about it, I'll put it that way. They have the ability and the president and the country have the guts to stand up to the United States," said Ratner, citing Ecuador's decision to close a US military base in 2008.
He added: "Of all the countries that would be one of the most favorable (to Assange's request), it would be Ecuador."
Assange is beyond the reach of the police as long as he stays inside Ecuador's embassy on diplomatic territory.
Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa, who has often been at odds with Washington and offered Assange asylum in 2010, has said that the South American country will take its time considering the application.
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Empty promises, then massacre in infamous Kadhafi jail
If the walls of Abu Slim prison could speak, they would tell the horrific tale of two days in 1996 when Moamer Kadhafi's forces gunned down 1,200 inmates. Those who lived still tremble with the memories of June 28 and 29. The families of those who didn't, who received terse death certificates only 12 years later, continue to be consumed with suffering.
But a three-day exhibition in the gutted grey complex in a southern district of Tripoli invites Libyans to take a deep, hard look at one of the darkest moments of their history, pay tribute to the dead and demand justice.
The target of those demands is Abdullah Senussi, spymaster for the late dictator, whose empty promises to striking prisoners set the stage for the massacre.
Abdesalam al-Ugbi, a 40-year-old sports teacher who lost his brother, insists that Senussi, now being held in Mauritania, be tried in Libya and punished in accordance with the teachings of the Koran.
"We want him to get the death penalty, with the sword, the Islamic way."
It all started when prisoners reportedly overpowered and captured two guards, stripping them of their keys.
Their demands were simple: no more torture, trials, time in the sun, family visits, access to books and information about the outside world, and the punishment of abusive guards.
Abu Slim was a top security prison notorious for torture and human rights abuses during the time of Kadhafi, who ruled with an iron-fist for 42 years until a popular uprising led to his ouster and killing in 2011.
Ali al-Kermi entered Abu Slim when he was just 22 and didn't leave for 28 years. He was arrested in 1984 for belonging to Liberation, an underground movement dedicated to creating an Islamic state in Libya.
In fluent French, he recalls the agony endured by prisoners.
Electroshock, rubbing salt on razor cuts, ripping out nails and teeth, hanging prisoners on a rod like a "roasted chicken," beating the soles of the feet and and penetration with white-hot metal rods.
Now a father of four, the youngest of whom is only 39 days old, he heads an association for prisoners of conscience.
Kermi said he was in a different wing of the prison the day hundreds were shot dead. He remembers hearing the terrifying racket of bullets raining from soldiers on the rooftop.
How it all started has become part of the collective memory.
As the story goes, Senussi came to speak with the prisoners. He negotiated the release of the captive guards and promised there would be no reprisals.
Sheikh Mohammed Abu Sedra said he told Senussi the prisoners wanted "either to live as honourable people or die as martyrs. You are trying to kill us your way; we want to die our way."
He told AFP Senussi approved most of the demands as reasonable but said any trial of prison guards would have to be sanctioned by Kadhafi.
"We asked people to please get back in (to their cells) because they told us we would be safe," said Abu Sedra, who spent 21 years in Abu Slim, adding that he survived "only by the grace of God."
But many of the prisoners saw it coming, hugging each other and begging each other for forgiveness in what proved to be their final moments.
United in grief and the desire to see the perpetrators tried, entire families drift as in a dream through damp corridors and into tiny, sombre cells that were once packed tight with more than 20 men each.
Only in his forties, but already an old man, Khaled is agitated as he brings his new wife to his old cell and shares the details of his most troubled days: "See these holes? It was the only to way to speak to our friends. There was no electricity."
He says he was jailed for wearing a long beard and calling for an Islamic state during a "tyrannical regime that manipulated and distorted the Muslim faith to oppress its people."
Sumaya Mohammed, who lost four siblings in the massacre, said she "wanted to see the place where my brothers were tortured and kept in solitary confinement."
The bodies of those killed in the massacre were never recovered by their families, and Hafiz Rahayib simply wanted to know: "Where is my brother's grave?"
Children carry pictures of loved ones never met but still remembered.
The heart of the exhibition is a courtyard displaying handicrafts made by the prisoners -- such as pouches made of wool and clothes hangers crafted out of plastic bottles -- as well as unsent letters and photographs of the dead.
Relatives recall gathering outside the gates and clamouring for news of their loved ones, only to be driven away by soldiers.
They brought clothes and food for years, unaware of their loss.
Now, 16 years later, Kermi says it is critical for old wounds to be healed in the courtroom.
"We don't want our enemies to drink from the same bitter cup," he said.
The exhibition opened on Thursday and closes on Saturday. The formal day of remembrance is Friday, with special prayers planned in both Tripoli and second-largest city Benghazi.
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But a three-day exhibition in the gutted grey complex in a southern district of Tripoli invites Libyans to take a deep, hard look at one of the darkest moments of their history, pay tribute to the dead and demand justice.
The target of those demands is Abdullah Senussi, spymaster for the late dictator, whose empty promises to striking prisoners set the stage for the massacre.
Abdesalam al-Ugbi, a 40-year-old sports teacher who lost his brother, insists that Senussi, now being held in Mauritania, be tried in Libya and punished in accordance with the teachings of the Koran.
"We want him to get the death penalty, with the sword, the Islamic way."
It all started when prisoners reportedly overpowered and captured two guards, stripping them of their keys.
Their demands were simple: no more torture, trials, time in the sun, family visits, access to books and information about the outside world, and the punishment of abusive guards.
Abu Slim was a top security prison notorious for torture and human rights abuses during the time of Kadhafi, who ruled with an iron-fist for 42 years until a popular uprising led to his ouster and killing in 2011.
Ali al-Kermi entered Abu Slim when he was just 22 and didn't leave for 28 years. He was arrested in 1984 for belonging to Liberation, an underground movement dedicated to creating an Islamic state in Libya.
In fluent French, he recalls the agony endured by prisoners.
Electroshock, rubbing salt on razor cuts, ripping out nails and teeth, hanging prisoners on a rod like a "roasted chicken," beating the soles of the feet and and penetration with white-hot metal rods.
Now a father of four, the youngest of whom is only 39 days old, he heads an association for prisoners of conscience.
Kermi said he was in a different wing of the prison the day hundreds were shot dead. He remembers hearing the terrifying racket of bullets raining from soldiers on the rooftop.
How it all started has become part of the collective memory.
As the story goes, Senussi came to speak with the prisoners. He negotiated the release of the captive guards and promised there would be no reprisals.
Sheikh Mohammed Abu Sedra said he told Senussi the prisoners wanted "either to live as honourable people or die as martyrs. You are trying to kill us your way; we want to die our way."
He told AFP Senussi approved most of the demands as reasonable but said any trial of prison guards would have to be sanctioned by Kadhafi.
"We asked people to please get back in (to their cells) because they told us we would be safe," said Abu Sedra, who spent 21 years in Abu Slim, adding that he survived "only by the grace of God."
But many of the prisoners saw it coming, hugging each other and begging each other for forgiveness in what proved to be their final moments.
United in grief and the desire to see the perpetrators tried, entire families drift as in a dream through damp corridors and into tiny, sombre cells that were once packed tight with more than 20 men each.
Only in his forties, but already an old man, Khaled is agitated as he brings his new wife to his old cell and shares the details of his most troubled days: "See these holes? It was the only to way to speak to our friends. There was no electricity."
He says he was jailed for wearing a long beard and calling for an Islamic state during a "tyrannical regime that manipulated and distorted the Muslim faith to oppress its people."
Sumaya Mohammed, who lost four siblings in the massacre, said she "wanted to see the place where my brothers were tortured and kept in solitary confinement."
The bodies of those killed in the massacre were never recovered by their families, and Hafiz Rahayib simply wanted to know: "Where is my brother's grave?"
Children carry pictures of loved ones never met but still remembered.
The heart of the exhibition is a courtyard displaying handicrafts made by the prisoners -- such as pouches made of wool and clothes hangers crafted out of plastic bottles -- as well as unsent letters and photographs of the dead.
Relatives recall gathering outside the gates and clamouring for news of their loved ones, only to be driven away by soldiers.
They brought clothes and food for years, unaware of their loss.
Now, 16 years later, Kermi says it is critical for old wounds to be healed in the courtroom.
"We don't want our enemies to drink from the same bitter cup," he said.
The exhibition opened on Thursday and closes on Saturday. The formal day of remembrance is Friday, with special prayers planned in both Tripoli and second-largest city Benghazi.
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Italy hospital conducts first fully robotic liver procedure
A medical transplant centre on the Italian island of Sicily said Monday it had carried out the world's first partial liver transplant using only a robot to remove the organ of the donor. According to a statement from the ISMETT transplant centre in Palermo, only the arms of a robot entered the abdomen of the 44-year-old donor looking to save his 46-year-old brother suffering from cirrhosis of the liver.
Thanks to the robot, only five keyhole incisions and one nine-centimetre (3.5-inch) incision were required for the operation, the centre said.
"This is the first case in the world performed entirely and exclusively with the robotic technique," the centre said.
The procedure, known as hepatectomy, was performed in March but the news was held until the recipient was given a clean bill of health and discharged from hospital, the centre said.
"In the past, some living donor liver transplants had been performed in the US using the robot," but were aided by a surgeon who inserted his hand through an incision to perform the surgery with the robot, the centre said.
The procedure lasted 10 hours and the two brothers recovered well, with the donor leaving hospital after nine days and the recipient leaving a few weeks later.
The surgical first was carried out using the Da Vinci SHDI robotic surgical system, a multi-tentacled device conceived at the Robotic Surgery Center in Pisa.
"The use of new technologies in transplant surgery is extremely important since reducing trauma for patients may encourage living organ donations and increase the number of transplants," the centre said.
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Thanks to the robot, only five keyhole incisions and one nine-centimetre (3.5-inch) incision were required for the operation, the centre said.
"This is the first case in the world performed entirely and exclusively with the robotic technique," the centre said.
The procedure, known as hepatectomy, was performed in March but the news was held until the recipient was given a clean bill of health and discharged from hospital, the centre said.
"In the past, some living donor liver transplants had been performed in the US using the robot," but were aided by a surgeon who inserted his hand through an incision to perform the surgery with the robot, the centre said.
The procedure lasted 10 hours and the two brothers recovered well, with the donor leaving hospital after nine days and the recipient leaving a few weeks later.
The surgical first was carried out using the Da Vinci SHDI robotic surgical system, a multi-tentacled device conceived at the Robotic Surgery Center in Pisa.
"The use of new technologies in transplant surgery is extremely important since reducing trauma for patients may encourage living organ donations and increase the number of transplants," the centre said.
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Popeye is right: spinach makes you stronger, study shows
Famous cartoon character Popeye is right to down a can of spinach when he wants his biceps to bulge, according to a Swedish study presented Monday showing why the leafy vegetable makes us stronger. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said Monday they had conducted a study showing how nitrate, found naturally in spinach and several other vegetables, tones up muscles.
For the study, which will be published in the Journal of Physiology, the research team had placed nitrate directly in the drinking water of a group of mice for one week and then dissected them and compared their muscle functions to that of a control group.
"The mice that had been on consistent nitrate had much stronger muscles," they said in a statement.
The nitrate used "was equivalent to a human's consumption of about 200 to 250 grammes of spinach a day, so it's a very easily obtained amount," one of the researchers at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Andres Hernandez, told AFP.
"Well, it is if you eat spinach. For people who don't eat their vegetables it will be more tricky," he added.
While no effect could be seen in the so-called slow-twitch muscles used for moderate exercise and endurance, the scientists saw a clear change could be seen in the fast-twitch muscles used for strength and more high-intensity exercises, Hernandez said.
The tricky question, he said, was determining why this happened.
The researchers discovered that the nitrates had prompted an increase in two proteins, found naturally in the muscles, that are used for storing and releasing calcium, which is vital to making muscles contract.
The protein increase in turn led to higher quantities of calcium released in the muscles, Hernandez said, pointing out that "if you have more calcium released, you have a stronger contraction."
Translated into human terms, consuming nitrates from for instance spinach increases the muscle strength available for things like lifting weights or sprinting up a steep hill.
It could also increase endurance, Hernandez said, pointing out that when stronger, the fast-twitch muscles, which fatigue faster than other muscles, do not need to contract as frequently.
This is not only good news for exercise buffs looking to improve their performance.
"The really exciting part is to go ahead and look at people with muscle weakness, with muscle diseases, and even aging, and see if this can actually improve their muscle function," Hernandez said.
He said the research team aimed to conduct a few more studies on mice but hoped to also carry out studies on humans soon.
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For the study, which will be published in the Journal of Physiology, the research team had placed nitrate directly in the drinking water of a group of mice for one week and then dissected them and compared their muscle functions to that of a control group.
"The mice that had been on consistent nitrate had much stronger muscles," they said in a statement.
The nitrate used "was equivalent to a human's consumption of about 200 to 250 grammes of spinach a day, so it's a very easily obtained amount," one of the researchers at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Andres Hernandez, told AFP.
"Well, it is if you eat spinach. For people who don't eat their vegetables it will be more tricky," he added.
While no effect could be seen in the so-called slow-twitch muscles used for moderate exercise and endurance, the scientists saw a clear change could be seen in the fast-twitch muscles used for strength and more high-intensity exercises, Hernandez said.
The tricky question, he said, was determining why this happened.
The researchers discovered that the nitrates had prompted an increase in two proteins, found naturally in the muscles, that are used for storing and releasing calcium, which is vital to making muscles contract.
The protein increase in turn led to higher quantities of calcium released in the muscles, Hernandez said, pointing out that "if you have more calcium released, you have a stronger contraction."
Translated into human terms, consuming nitrates from for instance spinach increases the muscle strength available for things like lifting weights or sprinting up a steep hill.
It could also increase endurance, Hernandez said, pointing out that when stronger, the fast-twitch muscles, which fatigue faster than other muscles, do not need to contract as frequently.
This is not only good news for exercise buffs looking to improve their performance.
"The really exciting part is to go ahead and look at people with muscle weakness, with muscle diseases, and even aging, and see if this can actually improve their muscle function," Hernandez said.
He said the research team aimed to conduct a few more studies on mice but hoped to also carry out studies on humans soon.
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'War on drugs' is fueling HIV epidemic: report
A pressure group that includes six former presidents called Tuesday for the United Nations to acknowledge that "repressive drug law enforcement" was driving an HIV/AIDS pandemic. The global "war on drugs" was forcing users away from treatment and into environments where the risk of contracting HIV was high, the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) argued.
In a report published Tuesday, the panel urged the UN to "acknowledge and address the causal links between the war on drugs and the spread of HIV/AIDS and drug market violence".
It also presented evidence that aggressive law enforcement policies created barriers to HIV treatment.
"The public health implications of HIV treatment disruptions resulting from drug law enforcement tactics have not been appropriately recognized as a major impediment to efforts to control the global HIV/AIDS pandemic," it argued.
The GCDP is a panel of politicians, writers and businessmen that advocates decriminalizing drug use by those who "do no harm to others".
Members of the GCDP include six former presidents, four of whom are from Latin America: Mexico's Ernesto Zedillo, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Colombia's Cesar Gaviria.
It was Gaviria who led Colombia when police gunned down the notorious drug-runner Pablo Escobar in 1993.
Other supporters include the European Union's former foreign policy chief Javier Solana and George Shultz, the who served as US secretary of state during Ronald Reagan's presidency.
The report accused the US, Russia and Thailand of ignoring scientific evidence about the relationship between law enforcement policies and HIV rates "with devastating consequences."
The increased availability of drugs worldwide proved that the strategy was failing, it added.
"The war on drugs has failed, and millions of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths can be averted if action is taken now," it concluded.
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In a report published Tuesday, the panel urged the UN to "acknowledge and address the causal links between the war on drugs and the spread of HIV/AIDS and drug market violence".
It also presented evidence that aggressive law enforcement policies created barriers to HIV treatment.
"The public health implications of HIV treatment disruptions resulting from drug law enforcement tactics have not been appropriately recognized as a major impediment to efforts to control the global HIV/AIDS pandemic," it argued.
The GCDP is a panel of politicians, writers and businessmen that advocates decriminalizing drug use by those who "do no harm to others".
Members of the GCDP include six former presidents, four of whom are from Latin America: Mexico's Ernesto Zedillo, Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ricardo Lagos of Chile and Colombia's Cesar Gaviria.
It was Gaviria who led Colombia when police gunned down the notorious drug-runner Pablo Escobar in 1993.
Other supporters include the European Union's former foreign policy chief Javier Solana and George Shultz, the who served as US secretary of state during Ronald Reagan's presidency.
The report accused the US, Russia and Thailand of ignoring scientific evidence about the relationship between law enforcement policies and HIV rates "with devastating consequences."
The increased availability of drugs worldwide proved that the strategy was failing, it added.
"The war on drugs has failed, and millions of new HIV infections and AIDS deaths can be averted if action is taken now," it concluded.
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Doctor pulls 13cm live worm from man's eye in India
A doctor in India has pulled a live 13 centimetre-long worm from the eye of an elderly patient who was complaining of persistent pain in an operation reminiscent of a far-fetched alien movie plot. When Dr V. Seetharaman examined 75-year-old patient P.K. Krishnamurthy at Mumbai's Fortis Hospital this week, the eye expert was shocked by the highly unusual sight of the writhing parasite and had to operate speedily to remove it before serious damage was caused.
"It was wriggling there under the conjunctiva," Seetharaman told AFP, referring to the thin membrane lining the eye. "It was the first time in my career of 30 years that I had seen such a case."
Krishnamurthy had been suffering for more than two weeks with redness and irritation before the doctor pin-pointed the threadlike creature under a microscope on Wednesday.
"He was also confused and very much disturbed," said Seetharaman.
The specialist removed the 13-centimetre (five-inch) worm by making a small opening in the conjunctiva -- a 15-minute operation that was observed by the patient's horrified wife, Saraswati.
"It just kept moving and jumping; it was scary for a bit," she told the Mumbai Mirror.
The patient was relieved of his symptoms while the worm, which was alive for another 30 minutes after surgery, was sent to the hospital's microbiologists to be identified.
Seetharaman had previously only heard of worms of about two to three centimetres being removed. "Probably this is a record," he said.
He suggested the creature could have entered the patient from a cut in his foot or from eating raw or improperly cooked food, before entering the bloodstream and travelling to the eye.
"If the worm was not removed it could have gone into the layers of the eye and caused visual loss," he said. "It could have entered the brain and caused major neurological problems."
Dr S. Narayani, the hospital's medical director, agreed it was an extremely rare case. "We have a very active ophthalmology department and we have not come across a case like this in the last 10 years," she said.
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"It was wriggling there under the conjunctiva," Seetharaman told AFP, referring to the thin membrane lining the eye. "It was the first time in my career of 30 years that I had seen such a case."
Krishnamurthy had been suffering for more than two weeks with redness and irritation before the doctor pin-pointed the threadlike creature under a microscope on Wednesday.
"He was also confused and very much disturbed," said Seetharaman.
The specialist removed the 13-centimetre (five-inch) worm by making a small opening in the conjunctiva -- a 15-minute operation that was observed by the patient's horrified wife, Saraswati.
"It just kept moving and jumping; it was scary for a bit," she told the Mumbai Mirror.
The patient was relieved of his symptoms while the worm, which was alive for another 30 minutes after surgery, was sent to the hospital's microbiologists to be identified.
Seetharaman had previously only heard of worms of about two to three centimetres being removed. "Probably this is a record," he said.
He suggested the creature could have entered the patient from a cut in his foot or from eating raw or improperly cooked food, before entering the bloodstream and travelling to the eye.
"If the worm was not removed it could have gone into the layers of the eye and caused visual loss," he said. "It could have entered the brain and caused major neurological problems."
Dr S. Narayani, the hospital's medical director, agreed it was an extremely rare case. "We have a very active ophthalmology department and we have not come across a case like this in the last 10 years," she said.
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Indian security forces kill 21 Maoist rebels
At least 21 Maoist rebels were killed in a series of violent clashes with security forces in the central state of Chhattisgarh, a hotbed of left-wing extremism, police said Friday. In one attack, 17 guerrillas were killed in a night-time gun battle with security forces in a thickly forested area of Chhattisgarh's Bastar region, about 295 kilometres (184 miles) south of the state capital Raipur.
Four more were shot dead in two separate incidents in the same region.
"A large number of forces are searching the forest to capture more Maoists sheltering there," district police superintendent Prashant Agrawal told AFP by phone.
A further 19 rebels were captured and taken into custody, Agrawal said.
It was a rare success for the security forces who have struggled to strike back at the rebels since the launch of a counter-insurgency drive known as "Operation Greenhunt" in 2009.
The guerrillas meanwhile have carried out repeated attacks on police and paramilitary targets, inflicting heavy casualties.
In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram praised the "courage and great skill" of the police units involved in the overnight shootouts.
Chhattisgarh is one of several states where Maoist guerrillas, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor tribals and farmers, have waged a decades-long battle to overthrow state and national authorities.
The government describes the guerrillas as the country's most serious internal security threat.
In recent months, the Maoists have carried out a series of high-profile kidnappings, including, for the first time, foreign targets.
Two Italian were kidnapped in March and later released unharmed.
The Maoists have in the past abducted government officials and police officers to raise ransom payments and negotiate other demands. Most hostages have been released, but some have been killed.
In April the rebels abducted a civil servant, shooting his bodyguards dead during his tour of a village in the state.
He was released from captivity after being held for nearly two weeks.
In March, they kidnapped a regional lawmaker, holding him hostage for more than a month in the neighbouring state of Orissa before releasing him.
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Four more were shot dead in two separate incidents in the same region.
"A large number of forces are searching the forest to capture more Maoists sheltering there," district police superintendent Prashant Agrawal told AFP by phone.
A further 19 rebels were captured and taken into custody, Agrawal said.
It was a rare success for the security forces who have struggled to strike back at the rebels since the launch of a counter-insurgency drive known as "Operation Greenhunt" in 2009.
The guerrillas meanwhile have carried out repeated attacks on police and paramilitary targets, inflicting heavy casualties.
In New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram praised the "courage and great skill" of the police units involved in the overnight shootouts.
Chhattisgarh is one of several states where Maoist guerrillas, who say they are fighting for the rights of poor tribals and farmers, have waged a decades-long battle to overthrow state and national authorities.
The government describes the guerrillas as the country's most serious internal security threat.
In recent months, the Maoists have carried out a series of high-profile kidnappings, including, for the first time, foreign targets.
Two Italian were kidnapped in March and later released unharmed.
The Maoists have in the past abducted government officials and police officers to raise ransom payments and negotiate other demands. Most hostages have been released, but some have been killed.
In April the rebels abducted a civil servant, shooting his bodyguards dead during his tour of a village in the state.
He was released from captivity after being held for nearly two weeks.
In March, they kidnapped a regional lawmaker, holding him hostage for more than a month in the neighbouring state of Orissa before releasing him.
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World Bank cancels $1.2 bn loan for Bangladesh bridge
The World Bank on Friday cancelled a $1.2 billion loan for Bangladesh's Padma bridge project, saying the government had not cooperated in investigating "high level" corruption in the project. "The World Bank cannot, should not, and will not turn a blind eye to evidence of corruption," it said, announcing the loan was being cancelled immediately.
The proposed 6.2-kilometer (3.8-mile) bridge over the Padma river -- the local name for the Ganges -- will connect the capital Dhaka to the country's coastal districts.
The $3 billion bridge, planned to go into service in 2014, is designed to carry a highway and rail line and is aimed at transforming the country's impoverished south.
The loan was originally approved in February 2011, but allegations of corruption in the tender process led the bank to freeze the loan by October.
The World Bank said it had provided evidence from two investigations into the bridge case to Bangladesh's prime minister, minister of finance and Anti-Corruption Commission chairman in September 2011 and April 2012.
"We urged the authorities of Bangladesh to investigate this matter fully and, where justified, prosecute those responsible for corruption."
"In an effort to go the extra mile, we sent a high-level team to Dhaka to fully explain the bank's position and receive the government's response.
"The response has been unsatisfactory," it said.
"We only finance a project when we have adequate assurances that we can do so in a clean and transparent way," the bank said.
The corruption allegations also involve Canadian contractor SNC-Lavalin. Late last year, Ottawa launched charges against two former company executives after a year-long investigation using evidence supplied by the World Bank.
"Investigation and prosecution are ongoing but the court filings to date underscore the gravity of this case," the bank said of the Canadian case.
The World Bank said that it had nevertheless decided to proceed with developing the bridge project because of its importance for the country's and region's development -- "provided the government took serious actions against the high level corruption we had unearthed.
The bank said it had asked Dhaka to place on leave all public officials suspected of involvement in the corruption until the investigation is completed.
It also had asked for the government to name a special inquiry team within the corruption office to run an investigation, and to agree that they work closely with a panel of experts named by the World Bank who would provide guidance and ensure the fairness of the probe.
But the lack of follow-through by Dhaka led to Friday's cancellation of the financing.
"We have both an ethical obligation and a fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders and (Bank) donor countries," it said.
"It would be irresponsible of the Bank not to press for action on these threats to good governance and development."
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The proposed 6.2-kilometer (3.8-mile) bridge over the Padma river -- the local name for the Ganges -- will connect the capital Dhaka to the country's coastal districts.
The $3 billion bridge, planned to go into service in 2014, is designed to carry a highway and rail line and is aimed at transforming the country's impoverished south.
The loan was originally approved in February 2011, but allegations of corruption in the tender process led the bank to freeze the loan by October.
The World Bank said it had provided evidence from two investigations into the bridge case to Bangladesh's prime minister, minister of finance and Anti-Corruption Commission chairman in September 2011 and April 2012.
"We urged the authorities of Bangladesh to investigate this matter fully and, where justified, prosecute those responsible for corruption."
"In an effort to go the extra mile, we sent a high-level team to Dhaka to fully explain the bank's position and receive the government's response.
"The response has been unsatisfactory," it said.
"We only finance a project when we have adequate assurances that we can do so in a clean and transparent way," the bank said.
The corruption allegations also involve Canadian contractor SNC-Lavalin. Late last year, Ottawa launched charges against two former company executives after a year-long investigation using evidence supplied by the World Bank.
"Investigation and prosecution are ongoing but the court filings to date underscore the gravity of this case," the bank said of the Canadian case.
The World Bank said that it had nevertheless decided to proceed with developing the bridge project because of its importance for the country's and region's development -- "provided the government took serious actions against the high level corruption we had unearthed.
The bank said it had asked Dhaka to place on leave all public officials suspected of involvement in the corruption until the investigation is completed.
It also had asked for the government to name a special inquiry team within the corruption office to run an investigation, and to agree that they work closely with a panel of experts named by the World Bank who would provide guidance and ensure the fairness of the probe.
But the lack of follow-through by Dhaka led to Friday's cancellation of the financing.
"We have both an ethical obligation and a fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders and (Bank) donor countries," it said.
"It would be irresponsible of the Bank not to press for action on these threats to good governance and development."
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