NEW YORK, Apr 26: The research on whether acupuncture helps ease irritable bowel syndrome has so far been a mixed bag, according to a new review of past clinical trials. The review, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, found that in some trials, acupuncture seemed to work better than certain medications for irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. (agencies)

NEW YORK, Apr 26: Many doctors don’t expect new guidelines to affect how often they screen men for prostate cancer, results of a new survey suggest. Last fall, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a draft of new prostate cancer screening guidelines, which recommend against routine prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing in average-risk men. (agencies)

NEW YORK, Apr 26: Older adults with salty diets may have an increased risk of suffering a stroke, a new study suggests. The new findings strengthen the case for heavy salt intake as a stroke risk factor, according to Dr Francesco P. Cappuccio, of the University of Warwick in the UK, who wrote an editorial published with the study in the journal Stroke. Researchers found that of close to 2,700 older, mostly minority adults, those who got well above the recommended sodium intake were nearly three times as likely to suffer a stroke over 10 years as people who met guidelines recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA). (agencies)

CHICAGO, Apr 26: For California meat exporter James Geller, it’s just business as usual one day after the first case of mad cow disease in six years was confirmed in the United States. For Geller, president of Geller International in Burlingame, California, that means putting together an order of choice grade beef for customers in Hong Kong. (agencies)

WASHINGTON, Apr 26: US authorities reported the country’s first case of mad cow disease in six years on Tuesday, swiftly assuring consumers and global importers that there was no danger of meat from the California dairy cow entering the food chain. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack gave assurances that the finding posed “no risk to the food supply or to human health,” a line that seems to have been accepted by major foreign buyers. (agencies)

WASHINGTON, Apr 26: The discovery this week of the fourth US case of mad cow disease was one of two things for food safety experts: a validation of a decade-long focused surveillance regime or a lucky break that highlights the need to revisit previously scrapped efforts for more comprehensive surveillance. For now, calls for greater monitoring seem likely to go unheard, both because the “atypical” case appeared to be a one-in-a-million genetic mutation that officials said posed no threat to the food supply, and because of tightening budgets.(agencies)

WASHINGTON, Apr 26: The US has asked all nuclear- capable countries to exercise restraint after India and Pakistan test-fired ballistic missiles within a week.
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland in response to a question on the latest missile test by Pakistan, said, “(We give) the same message that we gave at the time of the Indian test: that we urge all nuclear-capable states to exercise restraint regarding nuclear and missile capabilities.”
Pakistan’s missile test came days after its neighbour India had a successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile Agni-V.
“We understand that this was a planned launch. The Pakistanis have said it wasn’t a direct response to the Indian test,” Nuland said.
“But what’s most important is that they do seem to have taken steps to inform the Indians, and we, as you know, are quite intent on those two countries continuing to work together and improve their dialogue,” she said. (PTI)

LONDON, Apr 26: The old, cozy, family and favourites and under the table style of doing business could destroy India’s commercial potential as it taps Africa’s vast markets, leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul warned today.
“India and Africa must understand that professionalism and transparency is the only path to progress in business,” Paul said while inaugurating the 10th Annual India Business Forum of the London Business School here.
With the economic and political landscape of the world changing in ways unimaginable a decade ago, he underlined that it is increasingly evident that professional business training is one of the essentials for the globalised economy.
“India has changed considerable in this respect – professional management has transformed Indian business – and for the better. I believe that lesson is not lost on African entrepreneurs,” he said in his speech at the event titled ‘India and Africa: Getting down to Business’.
“For too long both our societies have been burdened with this old, cosy, family and favourites, under the table style of doing and managing business,” he noted.
Recalling his personal experience, Paul, Chairman of UK-based Caparo Group, noted that one of the biggest challenges in his career came when, some three decades ago, he confronted two of the largest companies in India businesses.
“It was evident then that the commercial potential of India was destroyed by these unprofessional managements,” he said without naming the business groups.
Paul, Chancellor of two British Universities – Wolverhampton and Westminster – pointed out that in the past 10 years, the global economic and political landscape has changed dramatically with a remarkable transfer of wealth from Western world to the non-Western world.
“We have seen the powerful growth of countries that have had a long history of mediocre performance. We have seen how the world’s leading economies have stumbled and lost considerable dynamism.
“All this suggests that we are living in an era of unlimited possibilities- an era of great opportunities for regions that did not do very well for a long time,” he said noting that Indo-African trade has risen 10-fold to USD 50 billion and this figure was poised to increase to USD 70 billion.
Paul noted that India itself has opened the doors of economic success.
“Of course, there are pitfalls and potholes along the way. But a pattern and a pathway has been set. There is no going back to the days of the Control Raj. The issue now is how we go forward and how we can speed up and better define a process that has begun. The obstacles are many but the vision is clear,” he said.
He said India’s success has been, and will be, in the ways that it interacts with global markets and that some enterprises have already competed very effectively in the mature markets of Europe and America.
“But perhaps we have not given the attention we should to areas with such significant potential as Africa. Now, happily, that is changing,” he said.
“I am encouraged by the way in which the Government of India is now beginning a planned interaction with African countries and African markets,” Paul said while recalling the vision of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and African leaders like Nelson Mandela and Julius Nyerere who sought to nourish Indo-African trade and economic ties.
“Now, at last, we are beginning to appreciate how economic and business relations can build on these links to the mutual benefit of both Africa and India,” he said.
At the same time, he warned that it will not be a rosy path for Indian businesses in Africa.
“There is no fooling ourselves that everything in the future will be rosy. Indian interactions, especially on a business level, will have difficulties with several African nations.
“We have to understand, for instance, that Africa is not one entity but an agglomeration of diverse cultures, social practices and different lifestyles. Africans will have the same issues with us,” he said.
However, Paul said he was a firm believer in the human capacity to “adjust and accommodate”.
“Since we share the same hemisphere and the same ocean, this should not be a major barrier,” Paul said. (PTI)

LONDON, Apr 26: The old, cozy, family and favourites and under the table style of doing business could destroy India’s commercial potential as it taps Africa’s vast markets, leading NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul warned today.
“India and Africa must understand that professionalism and transparency is the only path to progress in business,” Paul said while inaugurating the 10th Annual India Business Forum of the London Business School here.
With the economic and political landscape of the world changing in ways unimaginable a decade ago, he underlined that it is increasingly evident that professional business training is one of the essentials for the globalised economy.
“India has changed considerable in this respect – professional management has transformed Indian business – and for the better. I believe that lesson is not lost on African entrepreneurs,” he said in his speech at the event titled ‘India and Africa: Getting down to Business’.
“For too long both our societies have been burdened with this old, cosy, family and favourites, under the table style of doing and managing business,” he noted.
Recalling his personal experience, Paul, Chairman of UK-based Caparo Group, noted that one of the biggest challenges in his career came when, some three decades ago, he confronted two of the largest companies in India businesses.
“It was evident then that the commercial potential of India was destroyed by these unprofessional managements,” he said without naming the business groups. (PTI)

WASHINGTON, Apr 26: More than two years after he gate crashed into the White House State Dinner hosted for visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tareq Salahi has announced his intent to run for governor of Virginia.
“It’s not part of reality TV. It’s not a stunt. It’s real,” Salahi told The Washington Post.
Salahi told the daily that he will run, as a Republican, to avenge a recent lawsuit brought against him by another GOP gubernatorial hopeful—Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II.
According to the daily, Salahi feels the lawsuit made him realise just how much taxpayer money politicians waste. So he decided someone else should run for the state’s top job.
“I woke up thinking ‘someone should do this’,” Salahi said.
“And I thought ‘Wait a minute. I’m someone!’, he said.
Salahi and his wife Michaele created a major security breach in November 2009 when the couple managed to enter the White House and attend the State Dinner hosted by US President Barack Obama for Singh. (PTI)