UN votes to boost Syria mission

The United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed in a vote on
Saturday to send 300 observers to Syria to monitor a shaky ceasefire
as UN monitors visited the restive province of Homs.
The council's 15 members endorsed Resolution 2043, authorising up to
300 unarmed military observers to go to Syria for an initial 90 days
to monitor the truce and implementation of a six-point peace plan.
A small advance team of monitors toured several districts of Homs
city, including the neighbourhood of Baba Amr where hundreds of people
were killed in a month-long bombardment by regime forces, monitors
said.
"A team of international observers visited the province of Homs and
met the governor,"the state-run news agency SANA reported.
The US envoy to the United Nations Susan Rice, current president of
the 15-member Security Council, said Saturday's resolution was
passed"unanimously."
According to its text the resolution calls on President Bashar
al-Assad"to carry out promises on troop movements and heavy
weapons,"in line with a six-point peace plan drawn by international
envoy Kofi Annan.
Syria agreed to the plan which also called for the ceasefire that went
into effect April 12.
But the new resolution also adds two new calls to complete the
pullback of troops and weapons from population centres, where the
previous resolution only spoke of beginning the withdrawal.
Saturday's resolution does not mention any threat of new sanctions
against the Syrian regime but says the council will evaluate the
situation and"consider further steps"if Damascus does not allow
implementation of the observer mission.
The resolution says Syria must ensure"unhindered deployment"of mission
personnel and give them"full, unimpeded freedom of movement and
access"including ability to communicate freely and privately with
individuals throughout Syria without retaliation against them.
It also notes that the cessation of violence is"clearly incomplete"as
reports from Syria continue to speak of casualties and violence.
On Saturday the opposition Syrian National Council claimed that Homs
neighbourhoods were being pounded, although an activist there said the
situation was calm.
But in the town of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border in Homs province,
a sniper shot dead a woman on Saturday, said the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights.
Also in the run-up to the UN vote, state media reported the release 30
people detained for their alleged role in Syria's anti-regime
uprising, but who have"no blood on their hands."
The move takes to nearly 4,000 the number of people the authorities
have freed since November, SANA said.
Ahead of the vote, many Western nations, including the United States,
had strong doubts that the resolution would be passed, and several
Western envoys highlighted the risks of sending monitors to Syria.
"The deployment of the first 10 observers in Syria has not changed the
murderous behaviour of the regime,"said France's UN ambassador Gerard
Araud, who added that Assad had shown"contempt"for UN action.
However Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, whose country played a
leading role in drawing up the resolution, told the council:"This
resolution is of fundamental importance to push forward the process of
the peaceful settlement in Syria."
On top of the military observers, civilian experts will go to Syria to
advise on political and public security developments.
The council approved an advanced mission of 30 observers and seven are
already in Syria where the UN says more than 9,000 people have been
killed in the 13-month crackdown on dissent against Assad's rule.
Meanwhile the Syrian Observatory reported that"a loud explosion was
heard Saturday at the Mazzeh military airport in Damascus,"but
provided no further details.
Activists however told AFP that the army blocked the road leading to
the base while snipers took position on rooftops in the area.
Sporadic clashes between government troops and army deserters have
rocked Damascus in recent weeks, ahead of the April 12 ceasefire.
Elsewhere, an"armed terrorist group"on Saturday blew up a section of
an oil pipeline in the Deir Ezzor region of northeast Syria, SANA
said.
On Friday, violence persisted on the ground, with at least 46 people
killed as thousands of Syrians protested against Assad's regime,
according to monitors and activists.
Monitors say more than 200 people have been killed in Syria since the
shaky ceasefire to which the government and rebels committed
themselves went into effect./

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Eagle Story is about a wounded Eaglet who was rescued by a kind farmer:

Eagle Story is about a wounded Eaglet who was rescued by a kind
farmer. Farmer found Eaglet in oneof his fields, and so took him home,
tended to his wounds, and then placed him outside in the barnyard to
recover.
Strangely enough, Eaglet soon adapted to the habits of all the
barnyard chickens. Eaglet learned to walk and cluck like chickens.
Eaglet learned to drink from a trough and peck the dirt for food, and
for many years Eaglet peacefully resigned himselfto this new life on
the farmand grow up to become beautiful Eagle.
But then one day, one of the farmer's friends spotted the Eagle and
asked, "Why in the world isthat Eagle acting like a Chicken?" The
farmer told him what had happened, yet the friend could hardly accept
the situation.
"It's just not right," said thefriend. "The Almighty Creator made that
Eagle to soar in the sky, not scavenge in the barnyard!" So he picked
up the unsuspecting Eagle, climbed onto a nearby fence post, and
tossed him into the air. But the confused Eagle just fell back to
earth and scurried off in search of his feathered friends.
Undaunted, the friend thengrabbed the Eagle and climbed to the top of
the barn. As he heaved him off the roof, the Eagle made a few
halfhearted squawks and flaps before falling intoa bale of hay. After
shakinghis head a few times, the Eagle then made himself comfortable
and began mindlessly pecking at pieces of straw.
The friend went home that night dejected, and could barely sleep as he
remembered the sight of those powerful talons caked with barnyard mud.
He couldn't bear the thought, so the very next day, he headed back to
the farm for another try. This time he carried the Eagle tothe top of
a nearby mountain where the sky unfolded in a limitless horizon.
He looked into the Eagle's eyes and cried out, "Don't you understand?
You weren't made to live like a Chicken! Why would you want to stay
down here when you were born for the sky?" As the man held the
confused Eagle aloft, hemade sure the Eagle was facing into the
brilliant light of the setting sun. Then he powerfully heavedthe bird
into the sky, and this time the Eagle opened his wings, looked at the
sun, caught the updraft rising from the valley, and disappeared into
the clouds of sky.
Moral ♥ :Do you know that we, too, were born for some high purpose in
this life? The Almighty Creator has called us to live in the heights,
yet too many of ushave huddled together in the barnyard, not
struggling to search for ourown Islamic identity and the purpose of
Islamic life? —

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Sunstroke: Prevention and Prevalence:

Don't fall prey to the unrelenting Indian summer heat. Take these
precautions and keep yourself and your loved ones safe from sunstroke.
What is sunstroke?
Sunstroke is a severe form of heat stroke, which if nottreated
quickly, can endanger life. It occurs when the body is unable to
regulate its temperature due to exposure to excessive heat. Much like
a thermostat, our body has a mechanism to control the temperature.
This heatregulating system helps the body stay cool in summer and warm
in winters. The body perspires in summers to stay cool.
Dehydration can lead to sunstroke. The body loses water to excessive
perspiration and if this is not replenished the body takes up water
from the blood stream. This has an impact on the heart and brain.
Sunstroke has to be treated as a medical emergency. Dehydration can
also lead to other complications like difficulty in passing urine,
burning sensation and urinary tract infections.
Prevalence of sunstroke in India
With global temperatures rising, Indian summers aretaking a heavy toll
of life. Temperatures are reachingas high as 48-50 degrees in places
like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.
Heat wave conditions are an everyday reality in peak season.
Those unable to withstandsuch high temperatures immediately fall prey
to it.Young children and elderlypeople are high-risk groups that need
to stay protected during the peak of summer.
Symptoms of sunstroke include
*. Dizziness
*. Headache
*. Rapid pulse rate
*. High fever
*. Rise in body temperature
*. Unconsciousness
*. Nausea
*. Hallucinations
*. Convulsion
Treatment of sunstroke
Identify the symptoms as early as possible and treat the condition
like an emergency. Try to lower the body temperature by using ice
packs on the head and covering the body with wet towels. Give fluids
to the patient –electrolyte fluids or fresh lime or coconut water are
recommended. In severe cases IV fluids may be required.
In case of fits and seizures rush the patient to a hospital.
Prevention of sunstroke
*. Schools switch to summer timings after exams but you still need to
take care that on the way back children do notlinger about in the sun
to play and get back home quickly.
*. Adults should try to avoid going out in the heat between noon and 3pm.
*. The elderly at home should be made to drink water at intervals even
ifthey are not thirsty. As the constitution is weak in old age the
body can still develop heat stroke conditions even while at home in
front of the cooler.
*. Wearing loose fitting, light cotton clothes is a good idea.
*. Keep plenty of cool drinking water available for everyone.
*. Avoid excessive physical activity in the mid day. Workouts and
practices should be completed in the cool early morning hours./

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Hijaab: definition and conditions:

Hijaab is an Arabic word that describes the Muslim woman's entire
dress code, which includes a veil and whatever else is needed to cover
everything except the face and hands. It is adopted at puberty - an
age when, according to Islam, people become accountable for their
actions.
This essay will attempt to brieflyenumerate the basic requirements
regarding the Hijaab as stipulated by the Sharee'ah (Islamic Law). The
term Hijaab includes not only dress and the covering of the body, but
also the methods of behaviour that one has before members of the same
and/or opposite sex, promoting privacy for females and prohibiting
loose intermingling between males and females; it is, therefore, an
encouragement of modesty, decency, and chastity.
The following requirements represent the ones agreed uponby the
overwhelming majority ofIslamic scholars and are all solidly backed by
firm evidence taken from the Quran, the Sunnah (Prophetic traditions)
and the practice of the Companions of the Prophet .
1. The Extent of Covering
The dress worn in public must cover the entire body except what has
been specifically excluded, based upon the following verse:
Allaah Says (what means): "And tell the believing women to reduce
[some] of their vision andguard their private parts and not display
their adornment [Zeenah] except only that which [ordinarily] appears
thereof and to draw their headcovers [Khumur] over their chests and
not display their adornment [i.e.,beauty] except to their husbands,
their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands'
sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their
female slaves, their women [i.e., their sisters in Islam], or those
male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet
aware of the private aspectsof women. And let them not stamp their
feet to make knownwhat they conceal of their adornment. And turn to
Allaah inrepentance, all of you, O Believers, in order that you might
succeed." [Quran 24:31]
The word Zeenah in the above verse literally means adornment, and includes both:
(a) That which Allaah has adorned (i.e., the woman's natural and/or
physical beauty), and,
(b) That with which they adorn themselves (i.e., jewellery, eye
shadow, attractive clothing, hand dye, etc). The word 'Khumur' (pl. of
'Khimaar') refersto a cloth that covers the head (including the ears),
hair, neck and bosom.
2. Thickness
The garment should be thick andopaque so as not to display the skin
colour and form of the body beneath it. Delicate or transparent
clothing does not constitute a proper covering. Imaam Al-Qurtubi
reported anarration from 'Aa'ishah that some women from the tribe of
Banu Tameem came to see her wearing transparent clothing. 'Aa'ishah
said to them: "If you are believing women, these are not the clothes
of believing women." He also reported that on another occasion, a
bride came to see her wearing a sheer, transparent Khimaar, whereupon
'Aa'ishah remarked: "A woman who wears such clothing does not believe
in Soorah An-Noor (i.e., the chapter in the Quran that contains the
abovementioned verse regarding the Hijaab)." Moreover, the following
Hadeeth makes this point graphically clear. Prophet Muhammad said:
"There will be among the last of my Ummah(Nation), scantily dressed
women; they will wear their hairon top of their heads, like a camel's
hump. Curse them - for verily they are cursed."
3. Looseness
The clothing must hang loosely and not be so tight and fitting asto
show the shape and size of the woman's body. This obviously prohibits
such things as skin-tight body suits and the like. The following
Hadeeth proves this point clearly. Usaamah bin Zayd said: The Prophet
once gave me a gift of thick Coptic cloth that he had received as a
gift from Dahiyyah Al-Kalbee, so I gave it to my wife. Afterwards, he
asked me: "Why haven't you worn the Coptic cloth? I replied: 'I gave
it to my wife.' The Prophet then said: "Tell her to wear a thick gown
under it (i.e., the Coptic garment) for I fear that it may describe
the size of her limbs." [Narrated by Ahmad, Al Bayhaqi & Al-Haakim]
4. Colour, Appearance and Demeanour....

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