Rare honour for Britain’s vanishing owls
London: Two of Britain’s most secretive owls — shadowy long-eared owl and its short-eared cousin — will be classified as ‘rare’ to find out if they are disappearing, Daily Express reported.
These owls are to come under the gaze of conservationists.
Concern has risen since 20 years ago there were only 1,500 nesting pairs of long-eared owls and 1,000 pairs of short-eared owls. Their numbers are feared to have declined further.
The Rare Breeding Birds Panel, experts supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the British Trust for Ornithology, last week announced it would start monitoring both owls and three other species: the willow tit, the Arctic skua and lesser-spotted woodpecker.
Inclusion of owls in the panel’s annual report has surprised birdwatchers.
RSPB spokesman Grahame Madge said: “The inclusion will encourage birdwatchers to look out and note any signs of nesting. Hopefully, further records will shed light on these masters of darkness.” (IANS)
Prince Harry to celebrate b’day sans booze and girlfriend
London: Prince Harry, who will be turning 27 on 15th September, will be celebrating a sober birthday this year.
The party-loving Prince of Wales will be flying his Apache helicopter on the day of his 27th birthday, thereby abstaining from alcohol, the Daily Mail reported.
Along with adhering to the “no bottle to throttle” drinking ban, the prince will also be without his on-off girlfriend Chelsy Davy – who is currently dating property developer Taylor McWilliams.
Harry is reportedly taking part in a series of Apache helicopter training courses in the US, beginning next month, and will spend three months honing his military aviation skills. (ANI)
Mexico recovers stolen 18th century painting
Mexico City: An 18th century oil painting that was stolen in 2009 from Santa Maria Tlacatecpa church in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala has been recovered, authorities said.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office, or PGR, said Saturday that its agents discovered the work of art during a search carried out in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, during which one person was arrested.
The oil painting of St. Francis of Assisi dates back to the 18th century and was stolen on Jan 21, 2009.
Found in the dwelling were 100 other works of art that “are being analyzed by experts to determine whether they are related to other crimes”, authorities said. (IANS)
Dentist retrieves tooth from bin, fixes it back
London: A lady in Britain was shocked after her dentist first mistakenly pulled out the wrong tooth, then replanted it by allegedly retrieving it from a medical waste bin.
The incident took place after Kim Green, a mother of three from Wellington, Somerset called the ADP practice near her home with acute pain caused by a decayed and infected tooth.
Green claims that Dentist Justin George took an X-ray of her mouth but did not check the images. He relied on her pointing to the throbbing tooth, Daily Mail reported.
The lady rang up the surgery back two hours later claiming that he had pulled out the wrong one. When George examined the X-ray, he realised his blunder.
The lady was summoned back and informed that her healthy tooth would be sewn back in.
Unable to bear the pain anymore she couldn’t think straight and just agreed to whatever the dentist told her. “He told me he could save the healthy tooth he had removed and that he performed operations like that all the time,” said Green.
Green, who was in agony from a root canal infection, did not know that her healthy tooth had lain among bloodied tissues, saliva wipes and needles used on other patients.
She said: “He had sewn the healthy tooth back into the infected area with the decayed tooth still in place.”
Green was sent back home with a prescription of pain killers. But her pain worsened once again later. In the end, it got so bad that she was taking the suggested pain killers every hour. But still the pain didn’t stop.
“I was crying with pain. I phoned an emergency general practitioner (GP) who asked what painkillers I had,” said Green.
She was admitted to a hospital in Taunton – where George used to practise.
A shocked surgeon there removed both the replanted and the infected tooth. He reported George, the dentist, to the local health authority and General Dental Council. The dentist has now been suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. (IANS)
Radio Pakistan to spread awareness about dengue
Islamabad: Pakistan’s state-run radio service, the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) or Radio Pakistan, will broadcast special programmes to help people affected by floods and diseases, especially raising awareness about dengue.
A recent outbreak of dengue fever in the eastern province of Punjab has led to the death of at least 10 people and affected 2,200 others. Dengue, spread by the bite of the aedes mosquito, has been endemic in Pakistan for the last few years. It occurs mostly after the rainy season in July-August when pools of stagnant water serve as ideal mosquito breeding spots.
All AM and FM stations of Radio Pakistan will air special news bulletins with particular emphasis on weather updates in flood-hit areas, according to Online news agency. The radio service has also initiated a campaign to create awareness about dengue. (IANS)
Indian-origin tycoon penalised for dodging parking fees
London: An Indian-origin multi-millionaire in Britain has been penalised for using a deceased person’s “disabled” sticker for parking his 140,000 pounds (over $2,22,000) Ferrari for free.
Chirag Patel, 33, founder of a chain of cosmetic dentists, was branded a skinflint, miser and a cheat, his lawyer said, for dodging the 15-pound-a-day parking fee, the Daily Express reported.
Patel is said to have started using the sticker, which was issued to his business partner’s dad prior to his death, when he bought the bright red Ferrari California convertible. He had a 540 pound-a-year parking permit for another of his top-of-the-range cars. However, instead of applying for a new permit for the Ferrari or paying the 15 pound-a-day fee, he started displaying the disabled user’s sticker.
Patel was secretly filmed as he parked the sports car outside one of his salons in Putney, south-west London, in December 2009. (IANS)
B’deshis get life terms for throwing acid on girl
Dhaka: Four Bangladeshi men have been sentenced to life in prison for throwing acid on a girl who rejected their advances, a media report said.
The incident had taken place in 2006 in northeastern Habiganj district along the border with India, the Daily Star reported.
The four men were identified as Abdul Quaiyum, Haris Miah, Auli Miah and Alkas Uddin. They were convicted and sentenced in absentia by the district and sessions court in Habiganj of breaking into the house of Abdur Rahman and hurling acid on his 18-year-old daughter Mayarunnesa in February 2006. Only Haris Miah was arrested, while the others are still at large. The judge also imposed a fine of 50,000 taka on each of the convicts. (IANS)