Hot dogs and leukemia—the fatal connection

WASHINGTON: Preliminary studies by university of southern California researchers have linked hot dogs to the to-creaaed risk of childhood leukemia, reports Xinhua

The three studies involving a total of 621 cancer victims indicate that children who eat more than 12 hot dogs per month have nine times the normal risk of developing leukemia.

In addition the studies also suggest that children born to mothers who eat at least one hot dog per week during pregnancy have double the normal risk of developing brain tumours

The findings are presented in a cancer research journal, cancer causes and control, published Sunday bv the Harvard University School of Public Health

The trigger for the cancers, the researchers say. might be the nutrites used to preserve processed meats. The chemi cals are converted In the body to highly carcinogenic rtf

The 'darling' of Darjeeling

DARJEELING West Bengal Young, beautiful charming and fascinating, the popularly called 'toy train’ — the darling of tourists — is seen chugging up and down the Darjeeling hills, nestled in the foothills of mighty Himalayan ranges, stopping the heartbeat of many s tourist, reports PT1.

One of the most valuable and enviable asaet of the Northeast Frontier (NF) railway, the 'toy train" Is the cynosure of all eves- and retain Its original glory and gund splendour even after more than 100 years of its existence, says the NF railway general manager A N Sinha

Even today, the Darjeeling Himalayan railway with its centuries old steam locomotives, running on the two feet gauge Une. still going strong and popular among tourists, serve more as a tourist attraction rather than catering to the transportation needs of the people of Darjeeling. Sinha told journalists recently

There is a proposal to reduce the time taken by toy trains covering a distance of 88 km between the new Jalpaiguri railway station and the Darjeeling railway station (situated at an altitude of 2043.60 metres above sea level), from eight hours and 30 minutes to about five hours he said.

5000-yr-old idol of Durga unearthed

KATHMANDU Workers in Nepal found an ancient Hindu statue and stone inscriptions believed to be more than 5,000 years old. on the site of a temple the RSS news agency reported Sunday, says AFP

The idol of the Goddess of power. Durga. and the stone tablets came to light on the site of temple southwest of here while renovation work was being arried out on another temple on the site. _ —'