Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN Sports) – Southern California took another loss Wednesday, and it wasn’t on the field.

According to the Los Angeles Times, citing several sources close to the situation, USC lost its appeal of penalties from the Reggie Bush case.

Because Bush was found guilty of receiving impermissible benefits, the football program was banned from postseason play for two seasons and lost 30 scholarships during a three-year period.

According to school officials, the NCAA will release its ruling to the public Thursday.

The Trojans sat out a bowl game in 2010 but have not instituted the scholarship ban. USC will be ineligible for a bowl game this season and the inaugural Pac-12 championship game, and the BCS could strip the school of its 2004 national championship, a season Bush played.

“(The BCS presidential oversight committee) will act when we learn something officially from the NCAA,” BCS executive Bill Hancock told USA TODAY.

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DHAKA, Bangladesh (IRIN) – Despite various government and non-governmental initiatives to stem child marriage in Bangladesh, parents are continuing to marry off their underage daughters, health experts say.

“Early marriage is a big problem for Bangladesh. We cannot reduce maternal mortality and morbidity if we do not stop early marriage,” Gias Uddin, a project manager for the Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (FPAB), the largest family planning NGO in the country, told IRIN.

Efforts have been, and are being, made to this end: Bangladesh has been offering secondary school scholarships to girls who postpone marriage since 1994, and a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) programme for adolescent empowerment conducts training in over 25 of the country’s 64 districts.

According to UNICEF’s 2011 State of the World’s Children report, about a third of women in Bangladesh aged 20-24 are married by the age of 15, and 66 percent percent of girls will wed before their 18th birthday – up 2 percent from 2009.

The root causes of child marriage – the prospect of reduced dowry payments, and fears of sexual harassment – are continuing to prompt parents to marry girls off before they reach adulthood, according to Zinnat Afroze, a social development adviser at Plan International, Bangladesh.

In many cases, parents marry off their daughters at an early age to prevent them from being stalked or sexually harassed, she said, adding: “Parents can give less dowry money if they marry off their daughter at an early age.”

Law enforcement

According to the 1929 national Child Marriage Restraint Act, it is illegal for parents to marry off children under 18.

Occasionally the authorities have intervened to stop child marriages: In March police halted the wedding of 10-year-old Sathi Akter, daughter of an agricultural worker in Saturia village, Manikganj District, 70km northwest of Dhaka.

But more often the law is not enforced, and parents marry off their daughters secretly, with devastating consequences for their health and well-being.

“Early marriage means early pregnancy and there are serious health consequences of early pregnancy. The maternal mortality rate is high among girls who are married off at an early age,” Plan’s Afroze said.

Dulali Begum, married at 14, died during pregnancy. “She died from different complications soon after her marriage,” said her father, Dudu Mia, a rickshaw puller who lives in Mirer Bagh in Dhaka. He married off his daughter due to financial hardship.

“I am responsible for my daughter’s death. If I had not married off my daughter at 14, she would not have died… No one should make this mistake. Whenever I get the chance, I ask every one not to marry off their daughters at an early age,” said Mia.

Advocacy on the consequences of child marriage is the only way to put an end to the harmful practice, according to Afroze.

“There should be massive awareness programmes from government, NGOs, civil society and everyone to make people aware of the negative side of child marriage. Only then can we stop it,” said Afroze.

Meanwhile, government officials say they are doing what they can: “We are working to create massive awareness against early marriage through different campaigns across the country. The government has also taken steps so that the law is enforced properly,” said Tariq-ul-Islam, secretary to the Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affairs.

mw/dm/cb

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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Hartford, CT, United States (AHN Sports) – A major donor to the University of Connecticut football program, apparently unhappy that he was allegedly shut out of discussions in the hiring process for a new football coach, is reportedly demanding the return of $3 million in donations.

Robert Burton, chief executive officer of Burton Capital Management based in Greenwich, Conn., indicated in a Jan. 19 letter to UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway his demand to the school to return his $3 million donation.

He has also asked the university to remove his family name from UConn’s football program’s on-campus facility, the Burton Family Football Complex.

The Greenwich businessman, the biggest benefactor for the University, wrote in the letter that his input was not sought in the search for a replacement for Randy Edsall, who left UConn for Maryland.

UConn eventually hired Paul Pasqualoni, a former coach at Syracuse.

According to the Hartford Courant, citing sources, Burton’s top choice was Steve Addazio, who also worked for Syracuse. Addazio served as the Orange’s offensive line coach from 1997-98, the same time Burton’s son, Joe, played at Syracuse (1997-2001) under Pasqualoni.

Burton and his family have reportedly given more than $7 million in donations for scholarships and other programs, including one of two $2.5 million “lead gifts” for the construction of the football complex.

In the letter, obtained by The Courant Tuesday, Burton also said that he is pulling his $20,000 a year donation to the summer head coaching clinic.

The letter was also sent to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, incoming President Susan Herbst and UConn Board of Trustees chairman Lawrence McHugh.

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Myrtle Beach, SC, United States (AHN Sports) – For the fourth year in a row, Myrtle Beach will host a three-day indoor beach volleyball classic, which was expected to draw over a hundred of participants on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Organized by Grand Strand Juniors Volleyball Club with cooperation from the Beach Ball Classic organizers, the 4th Annual Myrtle Beach Volleyball Classic will once again kick off this coming January 15-17 on Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Around 150 of the finest female beach volleyball teams from six different states are set to compete in a number of age group tournaments, starting from the 12-under category up to 18-under.

Grand Strand Juniors member Alex Sing is expecting a fierce competition among participants this year, as several teams featured blue chip prospects on their lineup.

“The competition will be great,” Sing told WMBF News.com Saturday. “Many of these girls play club volleyball in hopes of getting college scholarships.”

The 2011 Myrtle Beach Volleyball Classic is sanctioned by USA volleyball and a part of Palmetto Region’s tournament schedule.

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Doha, Qatar (TML) – The four young finalists are lined up on stage, standing stiffly and exchanging nervous smiles with the audience and with each other, as the votes of the jury and then television viewers are tallied to the breathless commentary of an emcee and dramatic music. Farouk El-Baz, the head juror comes up on stage and to applause declares, “This proves that we Arabs, given the opportunities, can reach the highest heights.”

The emcee opens the sealed envelope. Ahmad Al-Ghazi, a Saudi, places fourth, taking home a $50,000 cash prize. Hind Hobeika, from Lebanon and the only female finalist, takes third and a $100,000 check. Now, the music reaches a dramatic crescendo as the emcees skips directly to the winner. It’s 26-year-old Kuwaiti Sadek Qassim, who pumps his arm in a clenched fist of victory as friends and family surround him with hugs and kisses.

Qassim, Hobeika and Al-Ghazi didn’t do a cover of a popular hit or a successful turn with a celebrity on the dance floor. Nor is El-Baz a music-industry executive or a celebrity chef. He’s an Egyptian-American scientist, widely known for his work at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Qassim took home a cool $300,000 for inventing an automated multi-functional oil samples lab tester.

And, Stars of Science, the competitive reality show that concluded its second season at the end of November, is television with a mission. Produced and funded by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development and broadcast across the Middle East, its aim is to make science sexy for young Arabs.

“The program was very successful. Applications more than doubled for the second season,” Ali Hariri, the show’s Beirut-based production supervisor told The Media Line. “Young people are very interested in this type of show. Many of them have scientific potential, especially in the Gulf states. You can see the enthusiastic reactions in the talkbacks on the website.”

The foundation has its work cut out for it. As the U.S. and Europe transition into post-industrial knowledge-based economies, with Asia following closely behind, the Arab world is way behind by every measure of science and innovation. It lacks scientists and top-notch universities and devotes little money or attention to research and development. The best minds emigrate to greener pastures in the West.

The Arab world spent just 0.2% of its gross domestic product on research and development in 2007, the same level as in 2002 and half the rate in Africa, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 2010 Science Report. By comparison, Europe spent 1.6% of GDP on R&D in 2007 and China 1.4%.

There are some 123,000 scientists and researchers in the Arab world, but there are fewer per million of the population than in the developing world as a whole. Even with huge amounts of money being pumped into projects like Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz University for Science and Technology, the amount spent per researcher was a paltry $38,400 in 2007. China spent almost twice that and Europe almost four times as much, even after taking account differences in costs, UNESCO estimates.

Only one of the world’s top 100 most frequently cited scientists comes from the Arab world, while the region has produced a single Nobel laureate – Egyptian Ahmed Zewail, who won the chemistry prize in 1999 while working at California Institute of Technology.

“Arab leaders and policy makers don’t believe in science as the way to development. They think we can own the technology by buying it,” Wasim Maziak, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at University of Memphis, told The Media Line by e-mail. “The social environment lacks democratic institutions and the free atmosphere needed for scientific inquiry to flourish and be protected.”

Born and raised in Syria, Maziak said he was determined to practice science in his home country. In 2002, he founded the Syria Center for Tobacco Studies. But four years later, at age 46, he gave up and relocated in the U.S. “I couldn’t combine the two components of my dream, so I had to leave,” he said.

Indeed, one of the objectives of Stars of Science is to fight brain drain, Tariq Al-Sada, an official with the Qatar Foundation, told The Media Line. “We don’t want people to come up with inventions and then emigrate,” he said. “The Sudanese inventor who won second place last season returned to work in a scientific center in Sudan.”

The Arab world can’t afford to ignore science and technology. While the oil-rich states of the Gulf are living off energy for now, their leaders are preparing for the day when reserves run out. More immediately, they need to create high-paying, rewarding jobs for their rapidly growing populations, said Ranjit Rajan, a Dubai-based research director for International Data Corporation (IDC), a technology-market intelligence firm. That means developing high technology and other knowledge-intensive industries, he said.

Nor can poorer economies afford to ignore science, Rajan said. Saudi Arabia, for instance, isn’t producing enough graduates with information technology (IT) skills to supply the domestic market – he estimates that the kingdom’s IT industry will be short some 30,000 professionals by 2014 – and the shortfall will have to be filled by expatriates from places like Egypt, he said.

Most governments in the Arab world have no national policy for science or technology, but in the Gulf, oil billions are being used to jump start world-class research institutes and lure elite universities and scientists from the U.S. and Europe.

Qatar, which hosts Stars of Science, launched a five-year program in 2006 to increase R&D spending to 2.8% of GDFP from 0.33%. Its 14-square kilometer (five-square mile) Education City hosts engineering programs from Texas A&M University and Carnegie Mellon.

Abu Dhabi has slated $1.3 billion in funds for research and development through 2018 under a strategic plan for higher education announced last June. The Sorbonne and New York University have set up branches in the emirate, with the hope that they will evolve from teaching undergraduates to full-fledged research universities.

But the most ambitious plans are being pursued by Saudi Arabia. The government has stepped up science and technology spending in the last two years, with annual allocations set to grow to more than $1.6 billion annual over the next few years from $530 million in 2008 and $160 million a year on average in the two decades before that.

The King Abdulla University for Science and Technology opened in September 2009 with a $10 billion endowment and English as the language of instruction. The government has a letter of intent with Georgia Institute of Technology of the U.S. to build the first institution to offer foreign-accredited, postgraduate research degrees inside the kingdom. The King Abdullah Foreign Scholarships Program has sent about 85,000 Saudi students to study at leading overseas universities.

But scientific excellence requires more than deep pockets, warned Maziak of the University of Memphis. In any case, said IDC’s Rajan, it will take time for improved educational systems to begin producing the quantity and quality of graduates needed by knowledge-intensive industries. It will take even longer to change attitudes that hinder innovate thinking, he added.

“Besides all the technical skills, there’s also a problem with soft skills,” Rajan, told The Media Line. “There’s a problem with English language, there’s a problem in gaps in problem solving, so it’s not just a matter of quantity but quality as well.”

Nor is academic science alone going to address the Arab world’s need to create employment and non-oil growth. Getting R&D out of the laboratories and into new, innovative products is just as critical.

But private business in the Arab world spends almost nothing on developing new products and processes, said Wagdy Sawahel, a Cairo-based science policy adviser and founder of the sciencedev.net website. They account for just 1% of total R&D spending in the region, with universities making up 30% and government a whopping 69%. In developed economies, the weightings are almost exactly the opposite, with business making up 70%, he told The Media Line in e-mailed remarks.

“The shortcomings of science education in the Arab countries have been highlighted by the lack of entrepreneurship and innovation,” Sawahel said. “For innovation to take root, the golden triangle of academic institutions, government and the private sector must cooperate.”

(With reporting by David Miller)

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Each card holder is liable to spend their debts with accompanying high interest rates. Now due to the worldwide economic recession men and women have lost their jobs. The closure of many firms can also be attributed to this sad plight. With no jobs, or lower wages it truly is just impossible to spend credit card bills on time. If they cannot pay the minimum sum, then their debts merely accumulates every month. So as a solution to assist these people pay their debts, credit card debt relief consolidation and debt relief grants were introduced to eliminate credit card debt

The charge card holder is assisted by the debts relief organization via correct communication with the bank or card corporation on how the card holder can spend his or her debts. It is what we call the settlement part. Which is why it’s really crucial to select a financial debt relief firm that will represent you correctly. When the settlement has been finalized, the analysis and documentation processes come next. The financial analysis will show the paying capacity of the card holder. This could be reflected on how much he or she can shell out each month and this figure might be utilized to negotiate with the lender and even write off some in the debts.

Whilst the final settlement volume is still getting discusses, the pertinent documents are becoming submitted towards the bank for the negotiation. The most essential portion about the card holders side is to amass as numerous waivers on the outstanding volume.

Most banks and lenders want the opposite of it and that’s why you require a excellent business or unsecured debt advisor to do this for you. A really very good charge card debt relief firm can get you a 25% to 60% discount.

These settlements are legal methods to remove charge card debt for both the card holder and also the bank. This may be the principal reason why debt settlement is preferred by many card holders. It is the finest approach to pay charge card debts than ending up with negative debts and poor credit records. This really is also a single technique to encourage debtors to pay out their creditors.

Anybody who is up to their neck in credit score card debt doesn’t have to listen to a constant stream of phone calls and demands for payment when their is support at hand that could help you to legally eliminate credit card debt fast.

Friends:

Yet another meeting of the Congress Chief Ministers Council has come and gone by. We have reviewed and reflected on our performance. We have renewed our commitment to the people through a reaffirmation of Congress Ka Haath, Garib Ke Saath.

A number of issues have emerged from our discussions, some of which relate to governance where we are in power and some concern us as a political party with the single-minded objective of defeating the forces of communalism. We will be following-up with you on all the important points that have been made. Let me this afternoon deal with some larger concerns.

Many of our chief ministers have spoken of the urgent need to have an effective ideological counter to the Saraswati Shishu Mandirs where the seeds of bigotry are first planted in young and impressionable minds. Some of our states have taken initiatives but these have to go well beyond government-run programmes. This has to become a movement, a peoples’ campaign.

Yesterday, I spoke about the need to enforce the law of the land without fear or favour to deal with all those who disturb social peace and harmony. I would like to emphasise this today as well. We must not waver in our determination to deal with religious fundamentalism of all kinds. We must and we will do all we can. At the same time, there is urgent need to amend existing laws like the Indian Penal Code and enforce some of them like the Representation of Peoples Act effectively to deal with the growing menace of communalism of all varieties. While political will is essential, I would also urge all of you to take the strictest action against those in the administration who are unable to control effectively communal tensions and their fall-outs. There should also be prompt and uniform compensation to all victims of communal violence

On matters relating to governance, we have gone over an extensive agenda.

I spoke yesterday of the need for expediting the completion of reliable surveys on BPL families. I would urge the chief ministers to ensure that this gets done in the next two months.

We have underscored the need for massive employment guarantee schemes but it is clear without the assistance of the central government, we will not be able to make the type of impact that is needed.

We have drawn attention to the proliferation, politicisation and fragmentation of all rural development schemes that have diluted their impact at the grassroots. The merging of DRDAs with zilla panchayats , the direct financing of PRIs/nagarpalikas and the augmentation of untied grants must all receive top priority.

We have recognised the imperative for agricultural diversification and value-addition, apart from the need to significantly step-up public investment in agriculture, irrigation and rural infrastructure.

We have recalled the need to make panchayats and nagarpalikas as vibrant institutions of self-government. It is now time for the simultaneous devolution of funds, functionaries and finances. The 16-point draft action programme should be adopted by all PCCs at state-level conventions before August 20, 2003.

Many of our chief ministers have spoken on mid-day meal schemes and how they can be further improved. We will take up this particular matter with the centre. Personally, I believe that midday meal schemes, if implemented well, will make a dramatic difference both to education and nutrition.

We have highlighted the criticality of the 3Es for the weaker sections of society—education, employment and empowerment. I commend the land distribution programmes of the type that have taken place in some of our states. We must also equip the weaker sections in the modern sector and technical skills. The strictest vigil must be maintained against atrocities on the weaker sections.

There has been a widespread appreciation of the self-help group approach that is so visibly transforming the lives of so many poor women across the country. I would urge the states to radically increase their efforts and targets for self-help groups.

On health, a number of our colleagues have spoken of the need to ensure that the infrastructure that has been created in rural areas functions effectively. Health insurance for the poor is a vast unmet need. Some of our states have launched new schemes in this area but clearly the scale needs to be expanded.

We have had a very substantive discussion on administrative reforms. What is needed now is not tinkering but systemic change. Political leadership is key to giving the administration a firm and clear sense of direction. We must the set the standards for transparency, accountability, probity and efficiency. Discretion and patronage must be minimised.

Enhancing investments in vital social sectors depends crucially on improvements in the fiscal position of states. And the fiscal position of states itself depends predominantly in the success of power sector reforms. The need for a vital national consensus on this has been pointed out by many of the chief ministers.

All of us have expressed our deep concern over the grim employment situation. This is a direct outcome of the policies of the central government. I hope that all our states will enact laws to protect workers in the unorganized sector and enhance their social security. This must become a political campaign as well.

It has been five years since we had the Pachmarhi conclave. Since then, we have had five meetings of the Congress Chief Ministers Council and a number of AICC sessions as well. But it is time for another exercise in self-introspection and brainstorming on fundamental political, economic and social issues. This is essential even as we prepare to fight the electoral battles ahead. We will be announcing the details of this conference shortly.

Let me in closing thank all of you for being here and making the deliberations so very meaningful. I invite you to join me in the Press Conference in the next room.

Chiefly, human beings go for swimming for bathing, calming down, loosening up, fishing, exercising and for sporting activities.Since the density of the human body is like to that of water, it lays lesser stress on the joints and back which makes it an effectual way to relax and get refreshened. People take to swimming for a whole body workout, to relax and to play water games. As an occupation, it could take the frame of being a pearl-diver for economic reasons or being a life-guard who salvages others from drowning. As a competitive sport it claims covering a given distance in the shortest possible duration of time or crossing long channels within a specified time or under-water diving for those who find the life under water entertaining.

Swimming benefits the human body in umpteen ways as it grants both stretching and relaxing in turns. Swimming is beneficial especially in trimming the probabilities of heart stroke and diabetes. People suffering from back pain and arthritis may extract a plenty of gain from swimming. It is also recommended for pregnant women. It is a great stress buster and claims minimal risk of harm.

It is an effective way to cut down fat as it is corresponding to a full body exercise. It helps in building up muscle strength and keeps the body toned up. Weight loss is a major benefit of swimming regularly. There are a lot of styles to explore swimming which could be termed as swimming exercises. A number of styles account for this, including breast stroke, freestyle, butterfly and backstroke. The advantages of swimming are numerous. It regularises the respiratory system and equilibrates out the blood pressure; also, it steps-up the muscle strength and heightens cardiovascular system. And the best characteristic is that neither size nor the age of the swimmer counts as far as swimming as an exercise is concerned.

Some of the popular ones are:

1. Pell Grants For Low Income Families
2. Scholarships For Moms
3. Scholarships For African-American Mothers
4. Moms Go Back To School Program, among others.

Each one of these programs has different requirements and will award you a different amount of money. Some scholarships offer $4,500 at the max, while others will give you a lump sum of money of $10,000.

The scholarship funds can be used to pay for a vast array of things that are connected with education including paying for a babysitter while you are at college, tuition fees, books and other supplies, computers and also transportation and meal expenses. Some scholarships like Scholarships For African-American Mothers only allows you to use the money to cover tuition fees and a couple of other school fees, but not school supplies or other personal expenses.

And while most people will be able to come up with a vast list of things that they could justify spending this money on, you need to do your homework and find out what kind of expenses you can cover using the scholarship money. These scholarships allow people to get ahead in life and get a degree.

There are also scholarships available for working women. Since Obama took administration he has encouraged these scholarships and nowadays there is an array of different scholarships that are available. These scholarships are aimed at wide variety of different people including single parents, mothers and just women in general. These scholarships allow people to get ahead while also stimulating the economy. You can look into scholarships for moms, Pell Grants for low income families among others.

Free $10,000 Scholarship For You!

It is not actually that difficult to find out about the scholarships so they are worth looking into. It is also fairly easy to apply, as it is a case of filling in a couple of forms on the internet with basic details. These forms will generate an email and then you just confirm it. Once you have submitted an application you will automatically be entered into the monthly draw. New scholarships are granted every month so there is a good chance of winning.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) screens the right candidate for Lectureship in Indian colleges and universities and Junior Research Fellowships (JRF) on the basis of an eligibility test named “UGC – National Eligibility Test(NET)”. The UGC- NET is conducted for 77 subjects – which includes Humanities (comprising languages), Forensic Science, Social Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Computer Applications and Science and Electronic Science at 66 selected University Centres spread all over India.

The UGC conducts test for most of the social science subjects and humanities, while the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research conducts (CSIR) organises tests for other Science subjects, namely, Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences Chemical Sciences and Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences. These tests are conducted twice yearly, generally in June and December. The Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) is available for the meritorious candidates who opt for the same. This programme is for five years and certain requirements need to be fulfilled by the aspirant.

Candidates with a minimum of 55% marks in Master’s Degree or equivalent from a UGC recognised Universities/Institutions can apply for this test. appearing candidates can also apply for the same. The Visually Handicapped (VH)/Physically Handicapped (PH)/Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) category candidates with at least 50% marks in Master’s degree exams are eligible for the Test.

Age-limit

For Junior Research Fellowship the age limit is not more than 28 years. A 5 yrs relaxation is provided to the SC/ST/OBC/PH/VH categories and women candidates.

For lectureship there is no upper age limit.

Scheme for the examination

The UGC-NET-JRF sample papers will comprise of three tests -

First I paper will be of 100 marks with duration of 1¼ Hours.

Second II paper will be set for 100 marks with maximum duration of 1¼ Hours

Third III paper will comprise of 200 marks with total time allotted 2½ Hours.

UGC-NET- JRF papers-I

general nature questions are given. They is intended to analyse the research /teaching aptitude of the candidate. It will basically be designed to test comprehension, reasoning ability, general awareness and divergent thinking of the candidate.

UGC-NET- JRF papers-II

It consists of short questions based on the selected subject by the candidate. Each of the papers will include a Test Booklet with 50 objective type questions.

UGC-NET- JRF papers-III

This will consist of descriptive type UGC-NET-JRF question papers from the chosen subject. The format of Paper-III format has been revised w.e.f. June, 2005 UGC-NET and is present on the UGC website .

Syllabus and UGC-NET-JRF papers can be downloaded from the websites, such as latestt.com, which give you a course wise description of the same. This will give you an insight of the exams.