Washington, Nov 19 (ANI): Eating broccoli and similar veggies can reduce a smoker's risk of developing lung cancer, says a new study.

The study has been presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

Cruciferous vegetables have been shown to be protective in numerous studies, but this is the first comprehensive study that showed a protective benefit in smokers, specifically in former smokers, according to lead author Li Tang, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

"Broccoli is not a therapeutic drug, but for smokers who believe they cannot quit nor do anything about their risk, this is something positive," Tang said.

"People who quit smoking will definitely benefit more from intake of cruciferous vegetables," the expert added.

Li and colleagues conducted a hospital-based, case-controlled study with lung cancer cases and controls matched on smoking status. The study included all commonly consumed cruciferous vegetables, and also considered raw versus cooked form. Researchers performed statistical calculations to take into account smoking status, duration and intensity.

Among smokers, the protective effect of cruciferous vegetable intake ranged from a 20 percent reduction in risk to a 55 percent reduction in risk depending on the type of vegetable consumed and the duration and intensity of smoking.

For example, among current smokers, only the consumption of raw cruciferous vegetables was associated with risk reduction of lung cancer. No significant results were found for consumption of vegetables in general and fruits.

Researchers further divided their findings by four subtypes of lung cancer and found the strongest risk reduction among patients with squamous or small-cell carcinoma. hese two subtypes are more strongly associated with heavy smoking.

"These findings are not strong enough to make a public health recommendation yet," said Li.

"However, strong biological evidence supports this observation. These findings, along with others, indicate cruciferous vegetables may play a more important role in cancer prevention among people exposed to cigarette-smoking," the researcher added. (ANI)

New Delhi, Nov 21 (ANI): German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeierho is on a three-day maiden visit to India to enhance bilateral ties between the two countries, met Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee last evening.

Issues like current global economic crisis and environment protection are likely to be the focus during his visit. The issue of escalating violence in Afghanistan is also expected to come up during his discussions with Indian leaders.

A delegation of businessmen is accompanying Steinmeier. Steinmeier will inaugurate new German Consulate General in IT city Bangalore. Germany is India's sixth largest trading partner and seventh largest foreign investor in India. Bilateral trade between India and Germany is growing steadily, with more and more German companies investing in India. According to reports, trade between the two countries doubled in last three years to 12 billion euros. (ANI)

Hyderabad, Oct 01 (ANI/Business Wire India): Venturian Media Limited a leading global online publishing and marketing company today announced the launch of their Indian consumer finance news and comparison site www.money-india.com which offers free and comprehensive tools for helping consumers to make better and faster choices when searching for the right product to suit their needs.

Ross Travill, Marketing Director at Venturian said: "Our model is based on simplicity and offering a faster route to product application. Today's lifestyle means that consumers often need to make decisions quickly and don't have the time to look at multiple, often confusing offers meaning they end up with an unsuitable product. Our smart comparison tools cut through the noise and give the facts on the best products available saving our user's time as well as money."

The site launched earlier this month and has already established itself as the number one destination for Indian consumers looking to find the cheapest and latest offers on credit cards, loans, insurance and banking products with its instant popularity proving to be a draw for India's largest financial services companies looking to feature their products.

Agreements have been signed already with Kotak, ICICI, Barclays, Deutsch Bank and Tata AIG with many more in the pipeline. Money India is expecting complete coverage of the Indian marketplace by early next year with their impartiality and commitment to best practice ultimately benefiting the consumer.

Additionally, a dedicated news team based in Hyderabad and headed up by Sharat Prabhakar, a former Manager for South East Asia at New Corporation will be providing interactive news, insight and analysis aimed to appeal to a broad cross section of readers from educating the layman to professional and topical debate on the issues faced by the industry.

Mr Prabhakar commented: "There is a lot of disinformation in the marketplace meaning that too often people are entering in to unsuitable credit arrangements, ultimately leading to a vicious cycle whereby borrowers default and therefore lenders are more likely to keep interest rates higher in order to compensate. Our aim is to educate consumers in to making sensible choices by only working with reputable lenders. By making people aware of the small print before they apply this will be beneficial to all stakeholders."

Whilst the Indian retail banking sector is still not as evolved as some other nations Prabhakar feels that Money India has launched at exactly the right time for the consumer with an increasing presence from Global lenders and the relaxing of previously tight anti-competition legislation - "Competition is finally increasing here too which is great news for the consumer providing they're properly educated. Even government owned banks are waking up from a deep sleep and finding that in order to survive in this brave new world where customer is king they need to compete." (ANI)

London, Oct 21 (ANI): Monty Panesar, the first Sikh to represent the English cricket team, will train under veteran Pakistani spin bowler Mushtaq Ahmed ahead of the forthcoming series against India later this year, said England chief coach Peter Moores.

"It's a great opportunity for him. He wants to go there and learn. He's been before and he knows conditions are tough. He wants to get himself ready for India. Monty has not played for a while because he is not in the one-day squad. So he has this opportunity to get better and move himself forward," the Daily Times quoted Moores as telling The Sun.

England has hired the services of Ahmed to train its spin bowlers, while another Pakistani veteran fast bowler Waqar Younis will tour India with the team during India series, reported the Pakistani daily.

According to the paper, Panesar will spend a month on the Indian subcontinent training with the world's best spinners ahead of his team's tour of India.

Moores said Panesar will be training with Ahmed and several other spinners in India and Sri Lanka before the two-Test tour. (ANI)