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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 639, 3 NOV. - 9 NOV. 2015 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

No trust in Mumbai police, Delhi cops to quiz Rajan

More Pak guns to guard Dawood NEW DELHI Security around India’s most-wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim has been enhanced in Pakistan, with elite commandos of the Pakistani army deployed at his safe houses in Islamabad and Karachi.

Indian intelligence agencies have been tipped off from a foreign counterpart about the Pakistani army intensifying its efforts to keep Dawood safe. Sources said it is believed in Pakistan that there could be a serious threat to his life. “His two residences, one each in Karachi and Islamabad are under heavy security of the Pakistan army,” said an intelligence official.

Recently, the security of 26\11 masterminds Hafiz Saeed and Zaki-UrRehman Lakhvi was also beefed up.

Before National Security Advisor-level talks between the two countries were cancelled, India had prepared a fresh detailed dossier on Dawood mentioning over 10 locations where he has been living for the last few years.

Passport details of his wife, son and daughter were also part of the dossier. One of the locations mentioned was an ISI safe house on the Islamabad-Muree road about 20 kms outside the capital city of Islamabad in a hilly region. Muree is a

hill station located North East of Islamabad, connecting Pakistan’s Punjab province to PoK.

aware of his location. The Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary had said in

the country after his named cropped up in investigations.

Other than Dawood,

be taken up during the talks. Based on fresh intelligence inputs gathered recently about

Council’s (UNSC’s) Al Qaeda’s sanctions list.

“Since Pakistan is a UN member state they should

The fresh information based on the latest intelligence gathered by Indian agencies was put together soon after Home Ministry’s blunder in Parliament in June, when it stated that the government is not

Parliament that Dawood has not been located so far, leading to a controversy that embarrassed the government. Dawood is wanted for the Bombay 1993 blasts and has been in Pakistan since he fled

details of assets and residential addresses of Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Hafiz Saeed - the masterminds of 26\11 Mumbai attack - also figure in the latest dossiers being prepared that could

their assets and locations in Pakistan, the dossier was put together and given to MEA for further action.

MHA has asked for freezing of their assets since all three are in the United Nations Security

act and freeze their assets.

These are international obligations that Pakistan is bound to fulfil,” said a government official.

Dawood has been in the UNSC sanction list

Punjabi Punjabinow nowthird thirdlanguage languagein inParliament Parliament of of Canada Canada

‘Sikh’ and tired: Lawyer seeking Santa Banta ban also blames Khushwant Singh for ‘disservice’ to community New Delhi They are goofy, slightly confused about everyday realities, and they utter with silly abandon what regular intelligent people would stay clear of. Hilarious, innocent, chaotic and idiotic at the same time, Santa Continued on Page 2

Continued on Page 2

Toronto Four years after Punjabi became Canada’s third most common language; it has now attained the same status in the country’s new Parliament after English and French following the election of 20 Punjabi-speaking candidates to the House of Commons. Twentythree Member of Parliaments of South Asian-origin were elected

to the House of Commons, Parliament of Canada on October 19 parliamentary elections.

Three of them, Chandra Arya - born and raised in India, Gary Anandasangaree - a Tamil and Maryam Monsef - of Afghan origin, do not speak Punjabi, The Hill Times Online reported.

Of the 20 who speak Punjabi, 18 are Continued on Page 2

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Issue - 639 (2)

3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Punjabi now third More Pak guns to guard... language in...

Continued from Page 1 Liberals and two are Conservatives. Among the newly-elected Punjabispeaking MPs, 14 are males and six are females.

Ontario elected 12, British Columbia four, Alberta

three and one is from Quebec. Prime Ministerdesignate Justin Trudeau is scheduled to unveil his Cabinet this week and some of these Liberal MPs are expected to be included in the front bench.

“The voice of the IndoCanadian community will now be very well represented in the Parliament. In the overall aspect of it, the South Asian community won,” MP Deepak Obhrai of Conservative Party said.

In an interview with the paper, Navdeep Bains, a Liberal MP, said although

20 Punjabi-speaking MPs have been elected, these MPs represent all constituents regardless of their party affiliation or ethnic origin. “It speaks to our commitment to diversity and allowing individual (MPs) to play an important role in our political institutions. The main issue to understand is that we have a very clear mandate to execute our platform and we also have a responsibility to represent our constituents, which are very diverse,” Bains said. Iqra Khalid, the Liberal MP who was born in Pakistan, said the diversity of the newlyelected House reflects the true make-up of Canada.

According to Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey, 430,705 Canadians identified Punjabi as their mother tongue, making it the third most common language after English and French.

Continued from Page 1 since 2003 and action against Saeed and Lakhvi was initiated after the Mumbai attack in 2008.

Saeed is the head of Jamat-Ud-Dawa, which works in the garb of a charitable organisation and is linked to LeT. Despite India handing over evidence of Saeed’s role in the 2008 Mumbai attack, Pakistan has maintained that he is not associated with LeT. Lakhvi, who was in prison for his involvement in the 26\11 attack, was released from Adiala jail in Pakistan in April.

Delhi cops to quiz Chhota Rajan Many eyebrows were raised in the security establishment when Delhi police, after the CBI, was roped into the operation to bring Chhota Rajan back to India. TOI was told by reliable sources, holding senior positions in the security establishment, that the Centre is not comfortable in allowing Mumbai police to handle the Rajan case. Delhi police, which reports to the Centre, is considered more reliable.

Moreover, Rajan has long been an asset for Indian

intelligence agencies against Dawood Ibrahim and his empire. Any further blow to him will not only put the “credibility of Indian agencies at stake”, but also shake the confidence of its agents and informers globally, the officer said.

Delhi police may get to

1999 and 2001, respectively.

Elaborating on why Delhi police apart from the CBI, which is the usual coordinating agency in such offshore cases, was involved, sources said that Mumbai police do not hold a “good record” in the eyes

interrogate Rajan “on merit” after he arrives in the Capital on Tuesday or Wednesday.

This would be in connection with an FIR they had registered against him for an extortion call which the don had allegedly made in 2011 to a southeast Delhi businessman. The twomember team has taken along documents pertaining to this case along with that of six other FIRs registered against Rajan’s men in west and southeast Delhi in

of Indian intelligence when it comes to Rajan. One of its operation in 2005, wherein Mumbai sleuths had cornered a former intelligence chief, who now holds a key position in the government, near Ashoka hotel in Delhi, along with two of Rajan’s associates, is a case in point. The Mumbai team, allegedly tipped off by the DCompany, had refused to let go of Vicky Malhotra and his aide Farid Tanasha

despite the officer repeatedly telling them that they were assisting the Indian intelligence.

Second, it was Delhi Police which had tapped conversation between Chhota Shakeel and three of Rajan’s men, including a Chembur-based hawala operator and his cook, wherein the latter were tipping off Shakeel about Rajan’s locations in Australia. The intercepts were conveyed to the highest level in the government by the Delhi police chief in mid-April this year. As reported by TOI in July, the operation had saved Rajan’s life, as he was mysteriously informed about the plans and went underground thereafter.

Who is Chhota Rajan?

Delhi Police have seven cases registered against Rajan and his associate.

The special cell team, which includes DCP Pramod Kushwah and inspector Rahul, have also taken along details of these cases. Five of these cases were registered in one go after the special cell had nabbed Rajan’s men, including Farid Tanasha and others in 1999.

‘Sikh’ and tired: Lawyer seeking Santa Banta ban also blames Khushwant Singh for...

Continued from Page 1 and Banta have made us laugh for generations. But the lovable sardar duo may go out of circulation soon if Harvinder Chowdhury has her way. The 52-year old lawyer has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a ban on the duo’s antics. She feels sardarji jokes are giving a bad name to the community across the world.

A two-judge bench of the apex court has agreed for a possible hearing on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by her a month later from now. Chowdhury, a senior standing counsel in the Supreme Court, did her Masters in Law from Liverpool and had also worked as a legal correspondent for a national English daily during her initial days.

Besides pursuing her legal career, this mother of three grown-up children is also writing two books. In a freewheeling chat, Chowdhury speaks to us about her PIL and circumstances that compelled her to ask for a ban on Santa and Banta.

Lawyer seeking Santa Banta ban also blames Khushwant Singh for ‘disservice’ to the community. Our reporter spoke with Harwinder Kaur in her office.

The Sikhs in India are known for their sense of humor and wit. They

are a self-assured community which can take a joke on themselves. They have even scripted jokes on themselves. There never has been an objection. What made you take the legal route on this issue?

It’s wrong that objection wasn’t raised against jokes on sardars. A large numbers of jokes aimed at Sikhs (sardars) is not done innocently, but is a deliberate attempt to project them as unintelligent, stupid, idiot, foolish, naïve and inept.

The fact that the characters are not well-versed in the English language is seen as a mark of foolishness and stupidity. The Sikhs are recognized by their turban (headgear). Now there are websites of jokes on sardars, which ridicule sardars wearing turbans as people with low intellect.

As a result, several Sikh students are racially targeted abroad. For example, they say Iske to 12 baj gaye …12 baje sardar pagla jayega (He is a gone case … at 12 noon sardar will go mad). To stop this nuisance, I filed this PIL. Why now?

Better late than never. It’s high time that we came out strongly against the wrong portrayal of the Sikhs through Santa Banta kind of jokes. Many of the

jokes are highly objectionable and have pornographic content. I have been contemplating

for quite some time, but it got little delayed as I had to deal with several other problems in work and life.

In between, I had been gathering evidences on this issue.

How can jokes on sardars demean the Sikhs and what are its repercussions?

My children ask me - in fact, many in our community do so that as Sikhs, do they have some problem in their DNA that all sardars are ridiculed and jokes are cracked on them. Do we have any answer for this? For centuries, Sikhs have made major contributions in every field, agriculture, sports, defense services, etc. Sikhs are present in 170 countries and have contributed to the nations’ economies. They played

an important role during India’s freedom struggle, but why are they selectively targeted through jokes? Till now, people didn’t have realization about this issue. Due to this, a large number of Sikhs have given up wearing turbans and dropped Kaur and Singh from their surnames. This is a violation of our Right to Freedom of Religion and our expression of faith.

They face racial discrimination abroad and have even faced physical assault.

Did you personally face any insult that made you firm on taking this issue head on?

Yes, personally I’ve been facing this pinch - even today, despite being a senior lawyer. Even on the day when I filed my PIL before the bench, a lawyer sitting behind in the courtroom (in the Supreme Court) sarcastically remarked “Yeh sardarwala petition sirf ek sardarni hi file kar sakti hai” (This typically sardar-type petition could be filed only by a sardarni).

Can you imagine the audacity of that lawyer? In August, in the Bar-room we were discussing an amendment in a case related to rape. A lawyer passed a comment at me and the time was noon.

“Inke to barah baj gaye”

(literally means she’s a gone case). Even at market places, I’ve faced comments like “Aap ne to sardar wali baat kar di”, which means you’ve talked like an idiot (sardar). During the Sikh riots, I lost members of my family, and my hair and hands were burnt, because outside my house the name plate displayed that it was a Sikh family’s residence.

What is your plea before the court?

We’ve sought mandamus through the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) to ban websites portraying the Sikhs as fools and to install web-filters so as to filter websites which target the Sikh community through objectionable content. It’s violation of sections 153A and 153B of IPC. What the apex court has asked from you after the PIL was filed?

The court was very sensitive and took note of this issue.

It has asked me to provide documents to prove how these websites on jokes have been perpetually causing injury to the sentiments of the Sikh community, violating secularism and national integration, and crossing the level of amusement by creating absurdity. The court has also wanted to know whether or not websites on sardar jokes violate the Fundamental Right of Life

and to live with dignity guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, by projecting the Sikhs as stupid, idiot, foolish and of low intellect.

Have you demanded any compensation?

Yes, I’ve demanded it for the damages incurred to Sikhs due to derogatory language used to portray them through jokes. I don’t want it should go to the National Legal Aid Committee for a social cause.

What will be your next move?

I’m contemplating an FIR against these websites.

There are more than 5,000 websites on sardar jokes.

And, I’m told that the Santa Banta joke website’s revenue is more than Rs 500 crore!

The Ministry of IT, Cyber Law Cell has asked us to file FIR against these websites for further action. There should be an act in the IPC to stop this public nuisance.

Are you getting support from any organization?

We’ve undertaken a signature campaign and obtained 10,000 signatures. The World Sikh Association and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee have joined this movement. More than anything, it’s the common man coming forward to fight for the cause.

Issue - 639 (3)

3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Issue - 639 (4)

3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

The next generational crisis war is just around the corner!

According to the Generational Dynamics’ world view this week, Russia has poured millions of dollars of heavy weapons into Syria, and is now sending in Russian troops to establish bases in Syria.

Recently, Russia launched 27 cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea to targets in Syria. Iran is pouring new troops into Syria. Iran has also given Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group a great deal of money, and Hezbollah has sent thousands of troops into Syria to support Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad. Al-Assad’s genocidal attacks on innocent Syrian Sunnis, killing hundreds of thousands and forcing millions from their homes, has caused Sunni jihadists from all of the world to fight against al-Assad, Russia, Hezbollah, and Iran in Syria. Along the way, these jihadists formed the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh).

And now, on Friday’s Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a pronouncement that Barack Obama was going to trigger a “proxy war” in Syria by sending in 50 special operations forces.

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You can’t make this stuff up. Thanks to Iran, Russia, al-Assad and Hezbollah, there are now tens of thousands of foreign troops fighting each other in Syria, with alAssad in particular supported by massive amounts of foreign weapons. But somehow, those tens of thousands of foreign fighters don’t make it a “proxy war,” but America’s 50 Special Forces troops do. You can’t trust any garbage that comes out of Lavrov’s mouth, or out of al-Assad’s mouth, or out of Vladimir Putin’s mouth, but I listen to BBC, Al-Jazeera, FOX, CNN and other media sources all the time, and I see these news anchors report this crap with a straight face all the time. I don’t know whether it’s more sickening to watch those fatuous news anchors, or to watch the fawning Secretary of State John Kerry suck up to Lavrov and Putin, which has happened in issues involving Ukraine, Iran’s nuclear development, and Syria.

All this verbiage is coming out of a meeting in Vienna whose purpose is to find a “political solution” to the Syria problem.

With hundreds of thousands of Syrian migrants pouring into Europe, and with hundreds of ISIS militants returning to Russia to fight Putin, there’s a lot of pressure to find a “political solution.” But this week’s announcement that Iran will fully enter the war in Syria on the side of the Syrian regime makes any “political solution” farther away than ever. On the contrary, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries will never agree to anything like the emerging situation. Actions by Russia and Iran, intervening militarily in Syria, are an emerging disaster, likely triggering a sectarian Sunni versus Shia war throughout the region.

Syria’s civil war In 2011, when the Syrian civil war began, the whole world thought that the war should fizzle within a year or two. Syria’s last generational crisis war was civil war that climaxed in 1982 with the massacre at Hama. There was a massive uprising of the 400,000 mostly Sunni citizens of Hama against Syria’s president Hafez Assad, the current president’s father. In February, 1982, Assad senior turned the town to rubble, 40,000 deaths and 100,000 expelled. Hama stands as a defining moment in the Middle East. It is regarded as perhaps the single deadliest act by any Arab government against its own people in the modern Middle East, a shadow that haunts the Assad regime to this day. As a related matter, the civil war in Lebanon also climaxed that year, with the bloody massacre at Sabra and Shatila occurring in September 1982. And it occurred as the Iran/Iraq war was ongoing, three years after Iran’s bloody Great Islamic Revolution in 1979. At that time, much of the Mideast was re-fighting World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, 60 years earlier.

There are too many survivors who remember the 1982 slaughter, and do not want to see it repeated. And so there’s been no massive anti-government uprising, as there was in 1982, and Bashar alAssad’s Shia/Alawite troops have been fighting half-heartedly, with many soldiers defecting or deserting. But the war did not fizzle. It should have fizzled in 2011 or 2012, but Hezbollah and Iran starting pouring troops in to support al-Assad. And foreign fighters from around the world arrived to fight al-Assad and to form ISIS. Earlier this year, it looked like al-Assad’s army was near collapse. In July, a desperate al-Assad gave a national speech in which he admitted he was losing. The war should have fizzled this year. But now, Russia and Iran are pouring tens of thousands more troops into Iran to bolster al-Assad.

We hear a lot about the number of civil wars going on in the world today, so this is a good time to discuss civil wars.

Among generational crisis wars, an

external war is fundamentally different than a civil war between two ethnic groups. If two ethnic groups have lived together in SUNNY BAINS peace for decades, have intermarried and worked together, and then there’s a civil war where one of these ethnic groups there have been three non-crisis wars tortures, massacres and slaughters their between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. next-door neighbors in the other ethnic In each case, the Israelis destroyed group, then the outcome will be Hamas’s infrastructure, ending the war. The fundamentally different than if the same war began again each time when Hamas’s torture and slaughter is rendered by an infrastructure was rebuilt. But the point I external group. In either case, the country want to make is that these three non-crisis will spend the Recovery Era setting up rules wars were all directed by politicians. and institutions designed to prevent any Palestinians attacked when the leadership such war from occurring again. But in one told them to, and stopped attacking when case, the country will enter the Awakening the leadership told them to stop. There is era unified, except for generational political emerging a major, fundamental, historic differences, and in the other case, the change in the mid-east. country will be increasingly torn along the In the emerging situation, young people today are no longer willing to listen to these same ethnic fault line.

The period following the climax of a crisis leaders. According to the CIA World Fact war is called the “Recovery Era.” One path Book, 20% of Gaza’s population is in the that the Recovery Era can take is that the 15-24 age range, and so is 21% of the leader of one ethnic group decides that West Bank - about 200,000 males in each the only way to prevent a new civil war is territory, or 400,000 young males total. On for him to stay in power, and to respond to the Israeli side, there are over 600,000 peaceful anti-government demonstrations young males in the same age range. There by conducting massive bloody genocide, have been unconfirmed reports of young torture and slaughter of the other ethnic Israelis also disgusted with the leadership. group, in order to maintain the peace. Dear It’s possible that, like the young Reader, I assume you’ve grasped the irony Palestinians, they’re willing to take matters of the last sentence. For example, into their own hands. So in this Burundi’s Hutu president Pierre environment, what could happen next? The Nkurunziza has been using such violence last three Gaza wars were non-crisis wars, to quell Tutsi protests since the beginning but the next one could be a crisis war of this year, supposedly to avoid a repeat between Israelis and Palestinians. of the 1994 Rwandi-Burundi genocidal war How can a crisis war begin? How about if those 200,000 young male Gazans blow between Hutus and Tutsis.

As another example, Zimbabwe’s holes in the walls, pour across into Israel president Robert Mugabe was even worse. and start killing Israeli citizens en masse His 1984 pacification campaign was known in their homes and villages? And how about as “Operation Gukurahundi” (The rain that if they’re joined by those 200,000 young washes away the chaff before the spring male Palestinians on the West Bank, who rain). During that campaign, accomplished start with the Jewish settlers and continue with the help of Mugabe’s 5th Brigade, trained by North Korea, tens of thousands of people, mostly from the Ndebele tribe, were tortured and slaughtered. Later, Mugabe singlehandedly destroyed the country’s economy by driving all the white farmers off the farms, resulting in one of the biggest hyperinflation episodes in world history. That’s what Bashar al-Assad is doing in Syria. Fearing a Sunni uprising, like the one in 1982, al-Assad is conducting a massive “peace campaign” by slaughtering and displacing millions of innocent Sunnis. As I said earlier, the Syria war should have fizzled in 2011 or 2012, but it’s turned into a proxy war, and with the Jews in Jerusalem. And how about it’s a disaster for the Mideast and the world. if the young Israeli males strike back and But none of the above three examples is a start killing Palestinians in their homes crisis civil war. A crisis war has to come and villages? Israel’s tanks and bombers from the people, not from the politicians. would not be of much use. You can’t So, for example, there’s a massive crisis bomb Jerusalem, and you can’t bomb civil war going on today in Central African Israeli villages and settlements to kill Republic (CAR), between the Muslim ex- Palestinians.

Seleka militias fighting Christian anti- That’s the difference. That’s what a Balaka militias. Unlike the previous generational crisis war is like. It’s not examples, CAR is in a generational Crisis two tanks shooting at each other. It’s hand hand combat in homes, era. CAR’s last generational crisis war was to the 1928-1931 Kongo-Wara Rebellion neighborhoods and streets by people (“War of the Hoe Handle”), which was a armed with sticks and knives. It’s what very long time ago, putting CAR today happened in Central African Republic last deep into a generational Crisis era, where year, it’s what happened in Rwanda in a new crisis war is increasingly likely. 1994, in Bosnia in 1994, and in Palestine That’s why the CAR is a genuine crisis in 1947. And by the way, that assumes civil war, and won’t fizzle out. In fact, it that the bloody mess stays confined to won’t end until it’s reached some kind of Israel and the Palestinian territories. The explosive conclusion - of the kind we Palestinians are likely to be joined by described in Hama or Sabra and Shatila. tens or hundreds of thousands from Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. The recent The war between Palestinians widely reported changes in the attitudes and Israelis I’ll discuss one more example - not a civil and behaviors of young Palestinians is a war, but very similar to a civil war, with the sign that this kind generational crisis war same kinds of issues. In the last few years, is coming.

Issue - 639 (5)

3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

US intelligence expert doesn’t rule out ISIS role in downing Russian plane

Imagine you are out walking in the countryside. You wander into a field that contains a rampaging ... well, is it a bull or a behemoth?

How can you tell? All you know is that you want to get away but, there is no nearby gate. Then your prayers are answered.

You spy a hole in the hedge.

Stumbling through, you scratch yourself on a thorn. This becomes a source of irritation for several days.

So, do you have a cause for complaint or a reason to celebrate? It is only right and proper that you look on the bright side! !!!

A bus stopped sharply because a rabbit ran across the road. The breaks seized on, immobilizing the bus, causing a traffic jam.

This, in turn, delayed the engineer who was travelling to repair a broken cable carrying all communications from that part of town. This diverted a crucial call to a wrong number. Thus the President’s message, ‘don’t fire those missiles’, was never heard. And that’s how WW3 began!

Only, it didn’t. Don’t waste your day envisaging an unfortunate (and highly unlikely) chain of events. !!!

From an early age, we all become preoccupied with fairness. Why this child is allowed that when we are not? How come she is in trouble for something yet her friend is getting clean away with the same behavior?

As we grow older, we may become more sophisticated in our assessments of comparative justice, but these issues become no less relevant. We can, indeed, become so irate about an imbalance that we can hardly think about anything else. A situation may well be less unfair

than you think. !!!

They say that if we are only willing to make enough effort, we can accomplish anything. Yet don’t they also say that there is such a thing as trying too hard? There are times when we all push further than we should or become too worked up about matters we would be wiser to relax about. Wherever there is stress or tension in your life, don’t drive yourself into a frenzy trying to fix what’s wrong.

Comfort yourself simply by remembering that sometimes, things naturally work out just as they need to. !!!

Aren’t you supposed to be worrying about something? Isn’t there a problem that needs urgent attention? Surely you can’t afford the time to feel happy? It is all well and good being glad to be alive, but aren’t there bills to pay, obligations to honor and conflicts to engage with?

I’m sure there are but actually, right now, it is enough just to stop for a few moments and celebrate the simple, perfect, gift of life itself.

Make that your priority and all else will fall into place. !!!

Wise, mature, adults are able to ‘agree to differ’.

Or so we are told. Some of us, it seems, find it hard to accept the way in which other people’s views clash with our own, no matter how wise or mature we may try to be. And can it really be wise or mature to just accept a statement or a belief that seems entirely unacceptable?

Much depends on what else is at stake. For the sake of one very big thing, you may have to resist the impulse to reject something else which is almost, but not quite, as big.

ST. PETERSBURG James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, says he cannot rule out the possibility of the Russian passenger plane, which crashed in the Sinai, being brought down by Islamic State extremists. Clapper told reporters in Washington that “we don’t have any direct evidence of any terrorist involvement yet” in the crash on Saturday that killed all 224 people on the Metrojet. But he noted that the Islamic State group, which has claimed responsibility, has a significant presence in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

Asked if Islamic State extremists had the capabilities to bring down a passenger jet, he said, “It’s unlikely, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”

The United States, Germany and Britain all had overflight warnings in place for Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, where a Russian passenger plane went down killing all 224 people on board Germany’s warning, filed with the UN’s International Civil Aviation

Organization on October 5 remains in place until 2016, as do the British and American warnings. In a response dated October 15, Egypt’s civil aviation authority replied that “all necessary measures for safeguarding the airspace

the US Federal Aviation Administration described as having the potential to reach high altitudes.

Robert Galan, a French aviation expert, says comments by a Metrojet executive that an “external impact” brought down its

23 minutes later. But Galan said that any plane on a tarmac can be surrounded by more than a dozen mechanics or other technicians. Sabotage would require familiarity with the electrical or fuel systems of the A320-200,

are already taken from our side.” The warnings advised airlines to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula below 26,000 feet and to avoid the Sharm el-Sheik airport due to extremist violence and, notably, the use of antiaircraft weapons with what

plane in the Sinai point to two possibilities: a bomb or sabotage. Galan, who has written a history of airline disasters, says he was not familiar with security at the Sharm el-Sheikh airport where the plane took off Saturday before crashing

but he said hiding a bomb would need less knowledge. Galan said analysis of the black box will not confirm either a bomb or sabotage, as it records only the pilots’ communications and technical readings.

Sikhs And Christians More Likely to be Jailed than Hindus and Muslims New Delhi They make up no more than 4% of India’s 1.2 billion people but Sikhs and Christians are more likely to be undertrials, detenues and convicts than Hindus and Muslims. Hindus are least likely to be undertrials and convicts. Christians are most likely to be detained and imprisoned. These data, contained in Prison Statistics India 2014, were released last month by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). There are relatively more Sikhs in prison (as undertrials, convicts, detenues and other prisoners) than followers of any other faith. 840 per million Sikhs are in prison followed by Christians (601), Muslims (477) and Hindus (305).

The highest number of Christian undertrials comes from Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Orissa, accounting for nearly half (46%) of all Christian undertrials. These are also states where the Christian population is overwhelmingly poor: drawn from scheduled-caste converts in Tamil Nadu and tribal converts in Jharkhand and Orissa. As many as 282,879 people are

undertrials in jails across India. 70% of these undertrials are Hindu, 21% Muslim, 4% Christian and 4% Sikh. Of 131,157 convicts, 72% of convicts (95,348) are Hindus, 16% (21,550) are Muslim, 4% Christian and 6% Sikh. The

people. An estimated 397 per million Christians, 346 per million Muslims and 204 per million Hindus are undertrials. The religious profile of convicts is along similar lines. The proportion of Hindu convicts (72%) is eight percentage points less

proportion of undertrials who are Hindus (70%) is 10 percentage points less than their proportion in the general population (80%), according to an IndiaSpend analysis of NCRB data. The proportion of Muslim undertrials is seven percentage points more than their proportion in the general population.

Hindus Least Likely To Be Undertrials 490 per million Sikhs are undertrials, the highest for any faith. The figure for India is 234 undertrials per million

than their proportion in the general population (80%).

The proportion of Muslim convicts is two percentage points more than their proportion in the general population.

Hindus Least Likely To Be Convicts 350 per million Sikhs are convicts, the highest for any faith. The national figure is 109 convicts per million people. An estimated 185 per million Christians are convicts, compared to 125 per million Muslims and 99

per million Hindus.

Christian undertrials increase 53% over five years There was an 18% increase in undertrial prisoners across India over the past five years.

Christian undertrials increased 53% from 7,198 in 2010 to 11,048 in 2014; however, there was a decline of 11% in 2014 over 2013. In overall terms, there was an increase of 5% in convicts over the past five years. Sikh convicts increased 32%, from 5,500 in 2010 to 7,286 in 2014, while Christian convicts went up 24% over the same period.

The number of Hindu convicts rose 4%; Muslim convicts declined 5%.

Tamil Nadu, home to most Christian undertrials The highest number of Christian undertrials is in Tamil Nadu (2,538). Hindu undertrials increased 18% over the past five years, followed by Sikh (17%) and Muslim (12%). As many as 197,273 Hindus were undertrials at the end of 2014 across India, followed

by Muslims (59,550), Christians (11,048), Sikhs (10,203) and others (4,805).

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Pakistan bans media coverage of Hafiz Saeed’s Jamat-ud-Dawah Pakistan government on Monday banned the coverage of Jamaatud-Dawa (JuD) and its chief Hafiz Saeed after the outfit was added to the international list of terrorist

groups. Hence, no channel and newspaper in the country can advertise JuD and Mumbai

attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

According to the Interior Ministry, the decision to ban the coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) was taken following the inclusion of

the outfit’s name in the United Nations’ (UN) list of terrorist organizations. Saeed has been

97-year-old US woman gets high school diploma

A 97-year-old woman has received an honorary diploma from a high school in Michigan, 79 years after she was forced to drop out to care for her sick mother.

Margaret Thome Bekema who would have walked with the Catholic Central High School class of 1936 in Grand Rapids, had to drop out in her junior year to care for her cancer-afflicted mother.

Over the summer, her family contacted the school and shared her

story, 'Time' reported. Bekema was overwhelmed and burst into tears when she received the honorary diploma in front of her friends and family at Yorkshire and Stonebridge Manor senior community on October 29. Congratulations, Margaret Thome Bekema; Grandmother.Web Presence "I don't know how to express my thanks. I'm sorry. I'm just plain chicken," she said.

Bekema has done clerical work for the armed forces and served as a preschool teacher.

facing charges from India for allegedly masterminding the Mumbai attacks of November 11, 2008 in which over 160 people were killed and hundreds others injured. In June last year, the US declared JuD an affiliate of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is a proscribed outfit.

The Washington also announced head money of 10 million dollars for Saeed.

In July, Pakistan ruled out the possibility of banning JuD, claiming that there is no evidence to link it with terrorism and the outlawed Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Minister for States and Frontier Region retired Gen Abdul Qadir Baloch said the UN Security Council had in a resolution listed the JuD as LeT with a new name, but no supporting evidence had been shared with Pakistan to establish the connection.

UP man held for cannibalism In a horrific incident, a 25-yearold man has been arrested for cannibalism after villagers found him stealing body parts from pyres at a local cremation ground and eating them later.

Thakurdwara circle officer SN Singh told TOI, “Residents of Surajnagar villager informed us that the suspect, identified as Akhilesh from Sultanpur district, was involved in cannibalism.

According to them, he was found eating human flesh from bodies at the local shamshan ghat. His family has been informed.”

Singh said the man seems to be mentally ill and any action against him would be taken after a medical examination.

The CO said his belongings will be sent for forensic tests.

DK Bharti, a local who informed the police, said, “Villagers had come here for the cremation of a body when they noticed this man getting too close to a burning pyre. When they chased him, he ran away and hid himself

under a bedsheet inside a room at shamshan ghat.” Bharti added when locals removed the bedsheet, there were human organs and flesh hidden under it.

gations, Lonsdale, a 2003 graduate from Stanford, was banned from the university's campus.

On Monday, a university spokeswoman said a university investigator had considered "new evi-

Stanford campus," the spokeswoman said in a statement.

No further terms were disclosed in the filing on Monday in US District Court in San Francisco.

Lonsdale did not immediately

dence that came to light during litigation" and determined that Lonsdale did not violate Stanford's sex discrimination policies.

"Accordingly, there is no basis to support a ban from the

respond to an email requesting comment. Jennifer Lin Liu, a lawyer for Clougherty, declined to comment.

Lonsdale worked as an intern at PayPal (PYPL.O) in 2002, where he met entrepreneur Peter Thiel and other influential members of the so-called "PayPal mafia." He co-founded secretive technology firm Palantir Technologies, a private company with a valuation of about $9 billion, and is a founding partner of venture-capital firm Formation 8. Clougherty now works as a data scientist in the Washington, D.C., area, according to her LinkedIn profile. Sexual harassment has been under the spotlight in recent months in Silicon valley, in large part because of a high-profile discrimination lawsuit brought by a former partner at venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The former partner, Ellen Pao, lost her case earlier this year, but sparked a broad and ongoing discussion about gender issues in technology.

Woman drops sex assault case against US venture capitalist A woman who accused prominent US venture capitalist Joseph Lonsdale of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit has dropped all of her legal claims against him, according to a court filing on Monday.

Lonsdale, who had denied plaintiff Elise Clougherty's allegations, also dropped counterclaims against her, including defamation, and each side will bear their own costs and expenses connected to the lawsuit, according to a joint filing.

Clougherty, who started dating Lonsdale in 2012 while she was a Stanford University student and he was her mentor, accused him of sexual assault and related charges in a lawsuit filed in January. The case shocked Silicon Valley, in part because of its lurid details.

In a countersuit filed in February, Lonsdale denied the charges, accusing Clougherty of defamation and emotional distress as part of a "vicious and vengeful campaign" that sought to destroy his reputation.

As a result of Clougherty's alle-

Al Qaeda chief urges militant unity against Russia in Syria Al Qaeda leader Ayman alZawahri called on Muslim supporters to band together to confront the threat from the West and Russia in Syria and Iraq, the latest recording suggesting greater unity between al Qaeda and Islamic State.

“The Americans, Russians, Iranians, Alawites, and Hezbollah are coordinating their war against us -- are we not capable of stopping the fighting amongst ourselves so we can direct all our efforts against them?” Zawahri said in an audio recording released on the Internet on

Sunday.

It was not clear when the recording was made but references to Russian aggression suggest it was made after Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, launched air raids against opposition groups and Islamic State in Syria on Sept. 30.

In a recording released in September, Zawahri dismissed Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as illegitimate but said his followers would join them in fighting the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria if

A few villagers said they had spotted this man around the cremation ground for the past 15 days. According to cops, Akhilesh left his parents’ house in Sultanpur five years ago.

possible.

“My mujahideen brothers in all

places and of all groups ... we face aggression from America, Europe, and Russia ... so it’s up to us to stand together as one

from East Turkestan to Morocco,” Zawahri said.

Islamic State, the ultra-hardline group that controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, has called for a holy war against both Russia and the United States in response to air strikes on its fighters in Syria.

Any cooperation between al Qaeda and Islamic State would further complicate efforts to stabilise the Middle East, where militant groups have gained influence and escalated attacks since the Arab uprisings of 2011 toppled autocrats who had contained them.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Progress observed toward better battery to power cars WASHINGTON Scientists have created a battery whose technology in principle could power electric cars and other energy-hungry devices far better than current lithium-ion batteries, but it remains years away from commercial use.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge on Thursday announced the creation of a laboratory demonstration model of a lithium-oxygen battery that overcomes many of the barriers that have held back the development of this technology. They said the battery boasts very high energy density, is about 93 percent efficient - better than previous efforts - and can be recharged more than 2,000 times. Clare Grey, a Cambridge professor of materials chemistry who led the research, called it “a step towards a practical battery, albeit with many hurdles ahead.” The researchers said it could be more than a decade before a practical lithium-oxygen battery is ready, in part because the battery’s ability to charge and discharge is too low. In cars, the range for a compact, fully charged battery has been unable to reach that of a full tank of gasoline in a regular engine because current lithiumion batteries do not pack that kind

of power punch. The lithium-ion rechargeable battery, first introduced in 1991, helped power the portable electronics revolution including laptops and smartphones as well as powering some vehicles. Lithium-oxygen batteries, also called lithium-air batteries, have the potential to

deliver the desired power thanks to a high energy density - a measure of energy stored for a given weight - that could be 10 times that of lithium-ion batteries and approach that of gasoline.

They also could be a fifth the cost and a fifth the weight of lithiumion batteries. But problems have beset lithium-oxygen batteries that affect their capacity and lifetime, including troublesome efficiency, performance, chemical

reaction and potential safety issues and the limitation of needing pure oxygen rather than plain old air. The Cambridge demonstrator battery employs different chemistry than previous work on lithium-air batteries, for example using lithium hydroxide rather than lithium peroxide. It

also uses an electrode made of graphene, a form of carbon. The result was a more stable and efficient battery. Grey said it is too early to gauge lithium-oxygen battery range limits in vehicles.

Intellectual property from the research is owned by Cambridge Enterprises, the university’s commercialization arm, and has been patented, Grey said. The research was published in the journal Science.

Nobel medal fetches nearly $800K at auction

LOS ANGELES The Nobel Prize awarded in 1963 to a Cambridge professor for his revolutionary work on the central nervous system has sold at auction for nearly $800,000.The 23-carat gold medal awarded to the late Alan Lloyd Hodgkin went under the hammer in Los Angles late Thursday and was purchased by an unidentified private collector.

Bidding for the medal sold by Nate D. Sanders Auctions began at $450,000 dollars and shot up to $795,614 as four people vied for the prize, the auction house said.

The medal features the relief portrait of Alfred Nobel on its front and the

laureate’s name and the year it was given on the back. Another Nobel Prize auctioned in May sold for $765,002.

Since early 2014, about 10 Nobel medals have gone up for auction as laureates or their families cash in on the prestigious prize. The 1936 Peace Prize awarded to Carlos Saavedra Lamas of Argentina went for a staggering $1.16 million last year, after being found in a pawn shop.

But the field of medicine holds the top spot for the highest price ever paid for a Nobel medal. US scientist James Watson, who won the 1962 award for his co-discovery of the structure of DNA, cashed in a record $4.76 million for his medal in December 2014.

Ozone hole gets wider but don’t panic GENEVA The UN’s weather and climate agency said on Thursday there was no cause for alarm about a record-size hole this month in the ozone layer, that shields life on earth from the sun, as it should shrink again.

The ozone hole that appears over Antarctica fluctuates in size, normally reaching its widest in the polar spring as extreme cold temperatures in the stratosphere and the return of sunlight unleash chlorine radicals that destroy ozone.

Last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said it detected the first sign of ozone recovery, largely thanks to a 1987 ban on gases that cause ozone depletion, but said it could be a decade before the hole begins shrinking. This year, a colder than usual stratosphere widened the hole to a peak of 28.2 million square km (10.9 million square miles) on Oct. 2, bigger than Canada and Russia put together. It was a record for a hole recorded on Oct. 2 of any year, and the hole has remained at daily record levels on every day since then, the WMO said, citing data from NASA. Over the 30 days around the peak, the hole averaged 26.9 million square km, making it the third largest, after 2000 and 2006.

“This shows us that the ozone

hole problem is still with us and we need to remain vigilant. But there is no reason for undue

alarm,” WMO Atmospheric and Environment Research Division senior scientist Geir Braathen said in a statement. “Overall, however, this does not reverse the projected long-term recovery in the coming decades,” the statement said. Ozone depleting chemicals, including the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) once widely used in refrigerators and spray cans, were banned under the 1987 Montreal Protocol. The UN Environment Programme has said the treaty will prevent 2 million cases of skin cancer annually by 2030.

“The Montreal Protocol is in place and is working well,” Braathen said. “But we may continue to see large Antarctic ozone holes until about 2025 because of weather conditions in the stratosphere and because ozone depleting chemicals linger in the atmosphere for several decades after they have been phased out.”

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

New York braces for $2b bumper art sales It’s fall. Leaves in Central Park are golden and so are profits in the art world, as Christie’s and Sotheby’s prepare to auction off $2 billion worth of works in New York.

From November 4 to 12, the two auction houses go head to head

in selling hundreds of pieces of modern, impressionist, post-war and contemporary art, six months after the spring season smashed a string of records and netted more than $2.6 billion.

Fuelled by rising demand from Asia and the Gulf, it was 10 days of eye-watering extravagance that set a new world record for any work of art sold at auction - $179.4 million for a Picasso.

“Buyers in the art market have

never been more diversified,” explained Michael Macaulay, head of evening sales in contemporary art at Sotheby’s.

“Ten years ago you’d say an American abstract expressionist painting is probably going to end up in the States but I think now

genuinely, as never before, it could go to any corner of the world.”Sotheby’s kicks off the season by selling the private collection of the American philanthropist Alfred Taubman but it is rival Christie’s that grabs the headlines with two top lots. The work estimated to be the most expensive is a sensuous nude

by Amedeo Modigliani valued at $100 million, followed by an iconic pop art masterpiece from

300 million-year-old supershark fossils found in Texas

Scientists in America have recovered two fossil braincases from massive extinct relatives of modern-day sharks that were roaming Texas 300 million years ago. According to a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the huge sharks were roaming Texas at a time called the Carboniferous, even before the age of dinosaurs.

The size range estimated for these two Texas ‘supersharks’ was between 18 and 26 feet in length. The largest of these specimens was 25 per cent bigger than today’s largest predatory shark, the Great White.

Although not nearly as large as Megalodon, which might have reached up to 67 feet in length, the fossil sharks from Texas would have been by far the biggest sharks in the sea. These fossil braincases may belong to

an extinct species of shark called Glikmanius occidentalis, or they may represent a new and larger related species that is new to science.

After a careful study of these fossils, researchers from the Dallas Paleontological Society and American Museum of Natural History were able to estimate how big the entire sharks would have been by comparison with smaller and more complete fossils of closely related sharks.

The largest shark that ever lived, commonly called “Megalodon,” is much younger, with an oldest occurrence at about 15 million years ago. The new fossils from Texas indicate giant sharks go much further back into the fossil record, researchers said.

Previously, giant sharks had only been recovered from rock dating back 130 million years, during the age of the dinosaurs.

Roy Lichtenstein estimated at $80 million.

Modigliani’s “Reclining Nude” comes to auction for the first time, expected to set a new record for the Italian artist. The picture of the naked woman reclining on a luscious red couch and blue cushion, painted in 1917-18, provoked a scandal when it was first exhibited in Paris. “It is unquestionably a masterpiece,” said Jessica Fertig, co-head of the Christie’s sale. Christie’s believes Lichtenstein’s “Nurse” -- a shocked looking blonde with sexy red lips -- could also fetch more than $100 million, which would nearly double the artist’s current record.

That would make it a shrewd investment for its most recent owner, who acquired the comic book-inspired portrait for $1.65 million in 1995. US billionaire and Republican party donor, Bill Koch, can also expect a giant windfall.

He is parting company with Picasso’s “La Gommeuse,” the portrait of a cabaret artist dating back to 1901 when the artist was just 19 years old and grieving the suicide of a close friend. Koch bought the canvas for $3 million in 1984. Sotheby’s expects it to fetch around $60 million.

Nasa astronauts kick off spacewalk for upgrades at ISS

Two NASA astronauts stepped out on a spacewalk Wednesday for upgrades and maintenance at the orbiting International Space Station, the US space agency said.Spaceflight veteran Scott Kelly, who is in the midst of a year-long stint at the ISS, began the first spacewalk of his career at 8:03 am (1203 GMT), according to a live broadcast on NASA television.

His colleague, flight engineer Kjell Lindgren, is also embarking on his first spacewalk, the US space agency said.

Lindgren accidentally turned on his spacesuit’s water switch too early in the process of preparing to float outside the airlock, and NASA experts at mission control in Houston were closely

monitoring the cooling system on his spacesuit “just to be sure,” a NASA commentator said.

Their tasks during the six and a half hour spacewalk include installing a thermal cover on a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which has been attached to the space station since 2011.

They also plan to “apply grease to components on the space station’s robotic Canadarm2, and route cables to prepare for new docking ports for US commercial crew spacecraft,” NASA said.While it is a pioneering spacewalk for both Kelly and Lindgren, it is the 189th in support of space station assembly and maintenance.

Russia no longer a superpower, its economy deteriorating Russia is no longer a superpower as its deteriorating economy is ranked “somewhere behind Spain”, the White House on Friday said and stressed that Moscow’s influence is limited compared to the erstwhile Soviet Union.

“Russia is no longer a superpower. Observed in the last couple of weeks that the condition of Russia’s economy is weak and further deteriorating,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

“They are now the 15th-largest economy in the world, and they rank somewhere behind Spain,” he said.Earnest said Russia does not have the kind of influence that the Soviet Union once did and it does not have the kind of economic power that the Soviet Union once was able to flex.“Their economy is getting worse, and Russia is isolated in a significant way. Not just from countries in Europe, but, as they get further engaged in a sectarian quagmire inside of Syria, they’re finding that the only friends that they have there to fight in a difficult fight with them is a floundering Syrian government and the Iranian regime,” he said.

Meanwhile, Earnest earlier today said that the US Navy scrambled four fighter jets to intercept Russian warplanes

earlier this week near a US aircraft carrier operating off the Korean peninsula in the Sea of Japan.

Two Russian planes flew close to the USS Ronald Reagan, prompting the mobilisation of four FA-18s, he said.

“There were four FA-18 firers from the carrier airwing five that

international waters and international airspace,” Earnest said.

The US has regularly urged the Russian military to make sure that their operations in this space were consistent with generally accepted international protocols.

This is a particular situation that

were launched to intercept the bombers and the US Navy aircraft did escort the Russian aircraft until they departed the area where the carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan was operating,” he said.“We have previously raised concerns about Russian military aircraft essentially carrying out incursions on the sovereignty of other countries...

This is a little bit different than that. This is -- these are

did not result in a significant confrontation for that reason, he added.Earnest acknowledged that there’s no doubt that there are some vigorous disagreements between our two countries on issues like Ukraine and Syria, most prominently.“We’ve been pretty candid about our concerns about Russians behaviour, particularly with regard to those two countries,” he said.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Australia says linking sausages to tobacco risk ‘a farce’ SYDNEY One of the world’s top meat exporters Australia Tuesday ridiculed a landmark UN report linking sausages and ham to cancer, saying it was “a farce” to suggest they could be as lethal as cigarettes. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) analysed 800 studies from around the world and found that processed meats such as sausages, ham, and hot dogs cause bowel cancer, and red meat “probably” does too. It placed processed meat into its Group 1 category of carcinogens. Other substances in the group include alcohol, asbestos and tobacco. “No, it shouldn’t be compared to cigarettes and obviously that makes the whole thing a farce comparing sausages to cigarettes,” Australian Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce told national radio.

“I don’t think that we should get too excited that if you have a sausage you’re going to die of bowel cancer because you’re not. You just don’t want to live on sausages.”The Australian meat industry’s research and development corporation, Meat

and Livestock Australia, said “promoting red meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet is important”.“Red meat such as beef and lamb is a critical, natural source of iron and zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3 - essential nutrients needed to keep the body and brain functioning well,” it said

processed meats are associated with around one in six bowel cancers diagnosed in the country.

Meat producers elsewhere were also sceptical of the report with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) saying IARC “tortured the data to ensure a specific

the world and excellent health”.

In Hong Kong, where bowel cancer is the number two topkilling tumour, the food industry blasted the findings as “too rash” saying they failed to specify what kind of preservatives and additives in processed meat are carcinogenic.“They should

in a statement.Australians are among the biggest consumers of meat in the world. They also have the eighth highest incidence of colorectal cancer globally, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.Cancer Council Australia estimates that red and

outcome”.NAMI vice president Betsy Booren pointed to the high consumption of processed meats as part of the Mediterranean diet, yet “people in countries where the Mediterranean diet is followed, like Spain, Italy and France, have some of the longest lifespans in

explain if some processed food does not contain these kinds of additives, the risk of causing cancer would be lower,” Simon Wong Ka-wo, chairman of the Chamber of Food and Beverage Industry, told the South China Morning Post.

All-female Russian crew starts Moon mission test MOSCOW Six Russian women on Wednesday clambered into a mock spaceship to begin a unique experiment testing how

an all-female crew would interact on a trip to the Moon and back.

For eight days, the female volunteers will live inside a woodpanelled suite of rooms at Moscow’s Institute of Biomedical Problems, renowned for its wacky research into the psychological and physical effects of space travel.

The institute in 2010 locked six male international volunteers in an isolation experiment lasting 520 days, to simulate a flight to Mars and back. “Such a crew is taking part for the first time in a simulation experiment. It’s interesting for us to see what is special about the way a female crew communicates,” said Sergei Ponomaryov, the experiment’s supervisor. “It will

be particularly interesting in terms of psychology,” said the institute’s director Igor Ushakov.

“I’d like to wish you a lack of conflicts, even though they say

that in one kitchen, two housewives find it hard to live together,” he added.

The volunteers include scientific researchers, a doctor and a psychologist.The test period simulates a flight to the Moon and back, with the women carrying out 10 experiments covering psychology and human biology. Russia sent the first woman into space, Valentina Tereshkova, in 1963 but has lagged behind since. Last year it sent its fourth female cosmonaut into space, Yelena Serova.

Serova complained of a flurry of media interest in how she would wash her hair aboard the International Space Station, pointing out that male

cosmonauts did not face the same line of questioning.

Ponomaryov called the latest experiment an effort to make up for lost time.

“There’s never been an all-female crew on the ISS. We consider the future of space belongs equally to men and women and unfortunately we need to catch up a bit after a period when unfortunately there haven’t been too many women in space.”

Despite the mission being presented as a giant step for gender equality, the women - who wore red jumpsuits - found themselves fielding questions at a press conference about how they would cope without men or makeup for eight days. “We are very beautiful without makeup,” parried participant Darya Komissarova.

Her colleague Anna Kussmaul was more direct: “We are doing work. When you’re doing your work, you don’t think about men and women.”

Like their counterparts on the International Space Station the women will have no shower, washing with wet wipes instead.

They plan to spend their 1 1/2 hours per day of free time watching films, reading and playing board games.

Team leader Yelena Luchnitskaya said she expected the women to deal with any conflict. “I’m sure we all have the education, personal qualities and the upbringing, at the end of the day,” she said. “So far I can’t imagine what would rattle us.”

Australia’s Joyce said “the biggest thing is to make sure you get a balanced diet” as it was impossible for humans to avoid every cancer causing toxin in modern day life.

“If you got everything that the World Health Organization said was carcinogenic and took it out of your daily requirements, well you are kind of heading back to a cave,” he said.

“If you’re going to avoid everything that has any correlation with cancer whatsoever - don’t walk outside, don’t walk down the streets in Sydney, there’s going to be very little in life that you do in the end.”The IARC evaluation revealed “strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect” for red meat consumption - mainly for cancer of the colon and rectum, but also the pancreas and prostate, said the agency based in Lyon, France.As for processed meat, including hot dogs, sausages, corned beef, dried meat like beef jerky or South African biltong, canned meat or meat-based sauces, there was “sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.”

Astronaut Scott Kelly to break US spaceflight record

MIAMI NASA astronaut Scott Kelly will Thursday set a new record for the longest single stretch of time spent in space by an American, with 216 consecutive days at the International Space Station.

Kelly is more than midway through an entire year at the ISS, as part of an experiment to study the effects of long-term spaceflight on the body and mind. Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko is also spending a year at the orbiting outpost for the study.

Kelly’s twin brother, Mark, is taking part on Earth to help scientists compare any genetic changes they see in Scott while in space. Astronauts typically spend no longer than five to six months at a time in space.

“Breaking such a record for time in space is important because every additional day helps us better understand how longduration spaceflight affects

bodies and minds, which is critical to advancing NASA’s journey to Mars,” the US space agency said in a statement.

NASA hopes to send people to the Red Planet by the 2030s. But it remains unknown if explorers could survive the long term journey, which might last three years. Concerns for the health of pioneers in deep space include exposure to potentially cancer-causing levels of radiation, and the psychological difficulties of living in an enclosed space with no access to nature, family, or friends.

The record for longest single spaceflight was previously held

by American astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who spent 215 days in space as commander of the ISS in 2006. Since Kelly has already flown in space several times before, he broke another record earlier in October for the most cumulative days spent in space by an American.

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Saini Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance from the GTA for their slim, fair, beautiful, 5’2"/ ’83 born daughter, born, raised, educated in Canada, Bachelors in Business Management, and employed in the Finance division of a reputable Canadian company. The boy should be clean shaven, born, raised and educated in Canada & professionally employed. Please email sub2405@gmail.com or call 416-741-0777 *** 642 *** Ramgarhia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 25 yrs. old, 5’-8” tall, Dental Surgeon in India at present in USA on visitor visa, belongs to a very well settled family. The girl should be American Citizen, beautiful and family oriented. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: piarausa@hotmail.com Or Call: 1662-347-9532 ***639** Mazbi Sikh parents living matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 37 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, Bechelor in Computer Science from Canadian University, well employed in govt.sector as senior Analyst, never married before. The boy should be professionally educated and employed, with family values. Caste no bar.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

matrimonial alliance for their beautiful daughter, 26 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, partialy manglik, very pretty, family oriented, M.B.A. degree in Accounting and presently living in India. The boy should be Canadian Immigrant/ Citizen, professionaly qualified and employed. Brother is well settled in Canada. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: navtejsingh@hotmail.com Or Call : 647-701-5157 ***639*** California based educated Punjabi family, seeks educated, U.S.A. green card/citizen & family oriented girl for 33 yrs. old, 6’ tall, handsome, M.B.A., B.Tech. SAP Certified, Canadian Citizen, Innocently divorced, Engineer boy, Now in U.S.A. Caste no Bar. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: svk.live@live.ca Or Call :1-916-539-5484 ***639*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, Canadian Citizen, 30 yrs. old, 6’-2” tall, born in India, University degree holder from Canadian University, running his own successful business. The girl sould be tall, educated from good family.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : manpreetgill48@yahoo..com Or Cal : 1-778-344-0303 ***639*** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 27 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, Canadian Citizen, beautiful, very fair, slim, dental lhygienist, family oriented and well versed in both cultures. The boy should be handsome, Jat Sikh, Clean Shaven, professionally qualified and employed, settled businessman with good family values, preferably from GTA (Toronto). Respond with bio-data and recent picture to : sarjeet_dhugge@hotmail.com Or Call : 647-502-4220 ***639*** Jat Sikh Brar parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, B.Sc. Nursing four year degree holder, well versed in both culters and family oriented. The boy should be professionally qualified with family values from Jat Sikh faimily, Canada only.

Please email recent picture and bio-data to avtar.brar@hotmail.com Or Call :416-930-3261 ***639*** Arora Sikh family seek a suitable match their son, 31 yrs. old, 5’-5” tall, American born, well educated, good job. The girl should be beautiful, educated, family oriented from Canada/ America only. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : ajayraj10@aol.com Or Call :1732-789-7348 ***639*** Jatt Sikh parents seek a educated match for their daughter, 36 yrs.old, 5'-8" tall, Canadian born, slim, well educated. The boy should be

from British Columbia. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: lookingformatch@hotmail.com or Call: 1- 604-507-6558 *** 639*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, 26 yrs. old, 5’-10" tall, Canadian born and raised, well versed in both cultures, university educated, working full time as a Chartered Accountant in reputable accounting firm. Girl should be Canadian born/raised, Jat Sikh, family oriented, well versed in both cultures, and university educated. Please send your biodata & recent pictures to: ssg5815 @gmail.com or call: 416-554-0113 *** 639*** Jat Sikh Toronto resident parents seek a compatible match for their son, 05/1987 born, 5'-6.5" tall, family oriented, non alcoholic, having B.Engg. and M.Engg. from Toronto Universities, suitably employed with an Engineering Company in Toronto drawing handsome salary. The girl should be slim, university graduate and well settled. Please send your biodata & recent pictures to: ravi9106@gmail.com or call: 647 294 9721 *** 639*** Mair Rajput family seek a good looking , well educated , well settled American citizen boy for their extremely beautiful, slim, fair daughter, 31yrs old, 5'-2" tall, Born and brought up in India,Currently on student visa and residing with family in USA. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: mickychauhan21 @gmail.com or call: 1-518-751-6162 or 1-209451-5541 *** 639*** Parents seek a suitable match for beautiful, slim, Sikh girl, American Citizen, 39 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, bachelor in I.T. system, project manager, Lgally divorced. Caste no Bar. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : smsingh6@gmail.com Or Call : 1-908-265-0263 ***639*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their clean shaven handsome, good natured, 31 yrs. Old, 6’ tall, professionally qualified, working as a senior financial Analyst largest company in Toronto. The girl should be well educated, tall, fair, slim and family oriented.

Please send your bio date and recent picture to: matrimonial600@yahoo.com ****639*** Looking for a match in Canada for British Jat Sikh Girl, 29 yrs., 5'-3" tall, graduate from London.

Currently visiting her well-settled family here. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: Jaswindertaggar@gmail.com *** 639*** Jat sikh parents seek a suitable alliance for their son, Toronto Based, Canadian Citizen, 30

yrs old, 5'-6" tall, smart, handsome, clean shaven, family oriented, B.Eng and M.E.Sc from Canadian University having good engineering job. The girl should be slim and well qualified.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: inderpreetsran@gmail.com or call 647 449 1640 *** 639*** Well educated Jat Sikh Sidhu family seeking Professionally qualified match for their son, 84 born, 6'-2" tall, MS in Engg from USA. Call: 1- 916-339-7051 *** 639*** Down-to-earth, handsome, intelligent, family-oriented Jat Sikh boy living in US since 1998, Belongs to well-educated, humble family, Age 29, June 1986 born, 5'-10" tall, US Citizen, slim and athletic, Graduated from UCLA and working as a Mortgage Loan Officer. Girl should be educated and residing in US/Canada/UK. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: gsranu@yahoo.com or call: 1559 540 4851 *** 639*** Ramgarhia Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, 26 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, bachelor in engineering, living in India. The girl should be beautiful, Canadian/American immigrant or citizen. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: sohalsp@gmail.com Or call : 416-247-8865 ***639*** Suitable match for Canadian PR Sikh Tonk Kshatriya boy, born 83/ 5’-11”, I.T. Professional.

Preference Canadian PR/ Immigrant, well educated, beutiful, 5’-5” girl. Email: contactsunny114 @gmail.com Or Call: 905-494-0326 (Please call after 6 PM) ***639*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their Canadian born daughter, 38 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, professionally graduate from U.B.C. & Employed, well settled. The boy should be atleast 6’ tall, professionally employed. Vancouver area preferred.

Call:1-604-596-4945 Or 1-778240-8051 ***639*** Well settled Jat Sikh parents living in North California USA seek a suitable match for their very handsome son, 26 yrs. old, 6’-2” tall, American born, well settled, owns a very successful business. The girl should be well

educated, beautiful, attractive.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: ssandhu1966@gmail.com Or Call:1-209-890-9384 ***639*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suiable match for their daughter, 36 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, beautiful, innocentrly divorced, Canadian Citizen, well versed in both cultures, professionally employed in Toronto. The boy should be family oriented and from a respectable Jat Sikh family. Please send your biodata and recent picture to : torontomatrimonail@gmail.com Or Call : 416-509-5012 Or 416418-5151 ***639*** Saini Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 33 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, Canadian Citizen, Hon’s Bachelor from Canadian University, beautiful, slim, fair, pretty, working in finance in down town Toronto. The boy should be professionoally educated and settled, clean shaven, between 34-38 yrs. of age from a respectable family from Canada/USA. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to : rsaini1877@gmail.com Or Call : 647-688-1877 ***639*** Well settled Jat Sikh parents living in North California USA seek a suitable match for their very handsome son, 26 yrs. old, 6’-2” tall, American born, well settled, owns a very successful business. The girl should be well educated, beautiful, attractive.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: ssandhu1966@gmail.com Or Call: 1-209-890-9384 ***639*** Ramgarhia Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 27½ years old, 5'- 3" Inch tall, B. Sc Nursing degree holder, registered nurse, at present living in India. The boy should be Canadian/American, immigrant or citizen. Please email recent picture and biodate to:sohalsp@gmail.com or Call: 647-829-5872 (Leave Message) ***639** Jatt Sikh Dhaliwal parents seek a suitable match for their son, September 1985 born, 6' tall. B. Pharmacy, Living in India. The girl should be educated Canadian/ American immigrant/ citizen. Please call at: 011-9197810-22328 or 905-789-8454 ***639***

Housekeeper Wanted Everyday duties include: Cleaning the house on 3 levels, kitchen, dishes, counter, floor, fridge, cupboards, dishwashers, washing, drying clothing and ironing, preparing lunch & dinner, grocery shopping, keeping the household supplies fully stocked, receiving & serving guests, bed making, linen changing, daily massage for elderly woman, etc. Driving license a must. Livein only. Serious inquiries please. Be prepared to state your salary expectations. Must have 1-2 yrs. of working experience in a fast paced environment.

Please call: 647-632-3999

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Exclusive: 10 shocking revelations that prove ISI, Pak army back terror networks in India The Indian intelligence agencies began compiling the list and building a database after the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack in which 164 people were killed and 300 injured.

Soon after the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack, Indian intelligence agencies began compiling a list of officials of Pakistan’s ISI and Army who were working with the terror groups inside India. A top secret intelligence report lists the names of these officers as well as the names, addresses and other details of their contacts in India.

TEN NEW REVELATIONS 1. For the first time, intelligence agencies have compiled a list of more than 30 senior officials of Pakistan’s notorious agency ISI (Inter Service Intelligence) and Army having a direct link with the terror networks operating inside India.

2. The Indian intelligence agencies began compiling the list and building a database after the deadly 2008 Mumbai attack in which 164 people were

killed and 300 injured. The subsequent investigations revealed that two ISI officials - identified as Major Samir Ali and Major Iqbal - had collaborated with the top leaders of the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) terror group in planning and

Tayyeba (LeT) in the 1990s to carry out militancy in Kashmir and their leaders like Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi enjoyed the status of heroes in Pakistan.

4. The top secret intelligence report

names have been added to the database.

5. The report reveals that Pakistani officials were carrying out activities such as collecting sensitive information on high value targets, passing instructions to the

training the cadres that were involved in the attack.

3. The intelligence report corroborates the recent admission of former Pakistan Army Chief and President General Pervez Musharraf that Islamabad supported and trained groups like the Lashkar-e-

accessed by India Today TV lists the name, designation, contact names and numbers of their Indian contacts etc.

The report accessed contains the names of ISI officials involved with the terror groups up to 2013.

It is believed some more

handlers of Pakistanbased terror organisations, interacting with the separatist leaders based in the Valley in a bid to foment trouble in the Valley and were also indulging in a disinformation campaign by selectively briefing human rights activists.

6. These Pakistani

Pakistan deploys special army commandos to secure Dawood Ibrahim As India prepares to bring gangster Chhota Rajan back from Bali, Indonesia, Pakistan has reportedly beefed up security of wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Police reached Bali on Monday. Sources said all formalities are over and Rajan could be deported to India on Wednesday.

Earlier, while being taken for questioning in Bali,

According to reports available with the intelligence agencies, special army commandos have been deployed at Dawood’s residences in Islamabad and Karachi.

The development comes even as India ramped up efforts to bring Chhota Rajan back from Bali, where he was arrested last week. A special team comprising of officers from the CBI, Delhi and Mumbai

Chhota Rajan told reporters that Dawood was in Pakistan under the protection of ISI. While Pakistan has been denying presence of Dawood on its soil, India has maintained that the most-wanted gangster, who is wanted in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, has his base in Karachi.

India had also released documentary evidence along with Dawood’s

photograph ahead of the National Security Advisor (NSA)-level talks between India and Pakistan. The talks, however, were cancelled later.

The agencies also have documents that show that Dawood’s family members travelled between Pakistan and Dubai. They also have evidences of Dawood’s Pakistani passport.

With passport numbers, flight and passenger manifest details available with Indian agencies, there is enough evidence that Dawood and his family stays in Karachi.

The dossier on Dawood and his reported dens was made on the basis of intelligence inputs that say there are four new safe havens in Pakistan, including two each in Islamabad and Karachi.

Three years ago, New Delhi had tracked three locations of Dawood and the same was communicated to Islamabad. But all the efforts to repatriate him went in vain.

officials, mostly from the ISI’s wing JIN (Joint Intelligence North) which is mainly tasked with directing anti-Indian activities, were in touch with the terror networks spread across key cities in Jammu and Kashmir, New Delhi and Mumbai. They were using satellite phones, mobiles, social media and emails to correspond with and pass instructions to the terrorists.

7. The proactive tracking of the activities of ISI officials in India helped the intelligence agencies bust a major terror-cum-spy network that was being operated from Mumbai. In 2013, acting on an intelligence tip-off, the Mumbai police arrested two Kashmiri nationals who had been collecting information on high value targets and passing on the same to their handler in Pakistan, suspected to be a senior ISI official.

The two men were identified as Farooq Naikoo, alias Farooq Tendulkar, and Mohammad Talukdar, both residents of

Baramulla.

8. Intelligence agencies found that Naikoo had been in touch with his Pakistani handler through email, under the cover of working for an exportimport firm dealing in dry fruits/ spices in Mumbai.

9. The intelligence agencies also found that on the directions of his Pakistani handler, Naikoo had passed on a list of “high value targets” to a Pak-based HM (Hizbul Mujahiden) operative code named Muntazir Tariq through another email ID. From November 2009 to November 2011, he had passed on sensitive information such as:(a) Details of the Azad Gunj Bridge in Baramulla;(b) Deployment details of Indian Army;(c) Details of movement of convoys on Indian side;(d) Xerox copies of OP (Operation) Sadbhavna (2010-2011) files.

10. Naikoo’s communication to his Pakistani handler suggested that he had cultivated an official in the Ammunition Depot who was willing to work for money.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Romanian nightclub fire leaves 27 dead, 155 injured A fire and explosion in a Bucharest nightclub killed 27 people and injured 155 during a rock concert that featured fireworks late on Friday, Romanian government officials and witnesses said.

In one of the capital’s worst disasters in decades, about

400 people, mostly young adults, stampeded for the exit as the club filled with smoke.

Several witnesses said there were fireworks inside the club.

Colectiv Club’s Facebook page said the show would feature pyrotechnic effects.

A pillar and the club’s ceiling went up in flames and then there was an explosion and heavy smoke, the witnesses said.TV footage showed police

officers and paramedics trying to resuscitate young people lying on the pavement while sirens wailed with more ambulances deployed to the scene.

“There was a stampede of people running out of the (Colectiv) club,” a man who escaped without shoes told Reuters.

A young woman who was released from the hospital after minor injuries described the club bursting into flames.

“In five seconds the whole ceiling was all on fire. In the next three, we rushed to a single door,” she told television station Antena 3.

The victims were admitted to 10 hospitals in Bucharest, said Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat.

“The situation is slowly

stabilising ... we have many people with burns, intoxicated with smoke and people squashed,” he said, adding many victims have no identification.

Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea said an investigation into the causes of the incident was already under way, and the health minister launched a public appeal for blood donations.

Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement: “I want to assure you of all support from rescuing forces and ask you to trust they put all efforts to limit the impact of this catastrophe.”

An emergency meeting of cabinet ministers was set for early on Saturday to assess the incident.

Some of the deadliest nightclub disasters in the world were started by fireworks.

In the southern Brazilian college town of Santa Maria in 2013, a musician lit an outdoor flare inside the Kiss nightclub and started a fire that killed at least 241 people, investigators said.

Fireworks were also blamed for nightclub fires in Russia’s Perm that killed 156 people in 2009 and in Argentina’s Buenos Aires in 2004 that killed 194.

China to start work on super, super-collider by 2020 China will begin work on the world’s largest super-collider in 2020, state-run media reported Thursday, in an attempt to increase understanding of the Higgs boson, or “god particle”.

The facility, designed to smash subatomic particles together at enormous speed, will reportedly

be at least twice the size of the Swiss-based CERN, where the Higgs boson was discovered.

Scientists believe the particle is one of the fundamental building blocks of the universe.

The final concept design for the project is on schedule to be completed by the end of next year, Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics

at the China Academy of Sciences, told the China Daily.

The facility is expected to generate millions of Higgs boson particles, far more than the capacity of Europe’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), helping scientists to answer some fundamental questions about

how the universe works.

As planned, the Chinese project will generate seven times the energy of the LHC, colliding electrons and protons at super high speeds to generate the elusive particles on an unprecedented scale. “LHC is hitting its limits of energy level,” Wang told the China Daily, which is published by the

government. “It seems not possible to escalate the energy dramatically at the existing facility.”

At a time when austerity measures have led many developed nations to reduce research funding for projects without clear applications, China is pouring huge sums money into theoretical as well as practical science, hoping to become a world leader in fields from biology to cosmology.

Planning for the project began in 2013, shortly after the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, according to slides from a presentation by Wang in Geneva that appeared on his institute’s website.

He suggested Qinhuangdao, a northern port city that is the starting point of the Great Wall, as an ideal location for the underground facility, noting its favourable geological conditions and local wineries as important selling points. China’s rapid economic growth and large population put it in a unique position to invest in basic scientific research, he wrote.

“This is a machine for the world and by the world: not a Chinese one,” he added, noting that physicists from around the globe had travelled to China to help with the project.

UN says 4 staff members dismissed for sending child pornography

Four United Nations staff members were dismissed for sending and storing child pornography on UN computers and another was dismissed for using a UN vehicle to transport approximately 173 kilograms of marijuana, according to a UN report.

The report on UN disciplinary matters and cases of criminal behaviour, which was published on Friday, covers a year-long period through June 2015, and documents about 60 cases that resulted in disciplinary measures, among the organization’s worldwide staff of about 40,000.

It does not identify any of the staffers or where they worked, nor does it include the over 100,000 UN peacekeepers, who are under the jurisdiction of their home countries.

The report, circulated late last month, states that during the year-long period eight cases involving “credible allegations of criminal conduct by United

Nations officials or experts on mission were referred to member states.”

It provided no further information and didn’t say whether any of the unidentified countries sought to prosecute the individuals.

The disciplinary cases range from a senior staff member’s demotion for harassing a subordinate to dismissal of a staffer caught trying to steal money from the wallet of another staffer, and termination of the contract of a staffer performing security and screening duties at an airport who took $2,200 from the luggage of a passenger travelling on a UN flight.

The report gave no details on the four staffers sending child pornography. It said a fifth staffer was demoted for storing pornographic material on a computer and failing to report that another UN staffer had sent it through the UN’s email system.

China’s new baby policy spells bad news for condom maker

Shares of companies that make diapers, baby strollers and infant formula got a boost from China’s decision to scrap its one-child policy. But for the maker of a popular brand of condoms, it was not the brightest of days.

Investors are betting on a bump in sales for companies with baby or child-related businesses after China’s Communist leaders announced that all married couples would be allowed to have two children. The economic waves travelled as far afield as New Zealand, where the currency of the dairy exporting country surged.Analysts at investment bank Credit Suisse estimated that the relaxed

controls would result in an extra 3-6 million babies born annually in the five-year period starting in 2017. China, the world’s most populous country with nearly 1.4 billion people, has about 16.5 million births each year.The onechild policy began in 1979 to curb a surging population at a time when extreme poverty was widespread in China.

Japanese condom maker Okamoto Industries Inc., a favourite of Chinese visitors to Japan, slumped 10% in Tokyo.

Formula makers in mainland China rose strongly, led by Beingmate Baby & Child Food Co., which jumped 10% on China’s smaller Shenzhen stock exchange.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Deal on Antarctic marine sanctuaries fails SYDNEY International efforts to create two vast marine sanctuaries to protect the pristine wilderness of Antarctica failed Friday for the fifth time, but delegates said China’s support for one reserve and Russia’s commitment to further talks gave them hope.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting closed Friday with no agreement on the two proposed areas, designed to protect species including whales and penguins. Officials said China had at the last minute indicated it would support one of these reserves in the Ross Sea, which is known as the “Last Ocean” because it is considered the only intact marine ecosystem left on Earth. But it was ultimately blocked by Russia, which along with China also stopped a proposal for a marine protected zone in the East Antarctic coastal region, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance of environmental groups said. “It is appalling that while the majority of CCAMLR members are more than ready to create significant marine protected areas in Antarctic waters, China and Russia have blocked efforts to negotiate a successful outcome,” said the alliance’s Jill Hepp. Both proposals have now been shot

down five times at the annual CCAMLR meetings, which require consensus from all 24 members countries and the European Union to progress. But delegates welcomed China’s support for the Ross Sea sanctuary, which it had blocked in previous years, saying it made a future deal more likely.

“That’s important because now only one country remains that isn’t supportive and so we’re closer. This is an important country to have gotten on board,” head of the US delegation Evan Bloom told AFP.New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Murray McCully also welcomed China’s support as a “major step”, saying the proposal was designed to balance scientific, environmental and fishing interests. “We also welcome Russia’s statement that it is open to working with members on the MPA ahead of the next CCAMLR meeting in 2016,” he said.The head of the Russian delegation could not be reached and the foreign ministry in Moscow declined to comment, as did the Chinese foreign ministry. The US and New Zealand-backed Ross Sea proposal was this year enlarged to more than 1.5 million square kilometres (600,000 square miles) although the overall no fishing zone was slightly reduced to about 1.1 million

Dog shoots owner in foot

square kilometres.The second proposed protected area, the Australia, France and EUbacked East Antarctica sanctuary, is for a one million square kilometre zone over four areas where some fishing and research would be allowed, with environmental restrictions. Both reserve proposals have been on the table with CCAMLR - a treaty tasked with overseeing conservation and sustainable exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean, also known as the Southern Ocean - since 2011.

Each has been modified as members have debated how to manage the region, which environmentalists say is home to more than 10,000 unique species, including seals and colossal squid. It is also critical for scientific research. Andrea Kavanagh, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts, said she took hope from China’s change of direction and the fact that Russia

had said it was willing to work with other members on the proposals. “This is a stunning accomplishment to come out of this particular meeting when there was so much disagreement and dissention on the floor,” she told AFP. Ultimately, however, she said the talks were a replay of the previous four meetings, bringing no relief for the millions of animals that live in Antarctic

waters.“What is most disturbing about this year’s failure is the systematic disintegration of CCAMLR’s ability to deliver on its mandate for marine protection,” said Mark Epstein, executive director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.

The failure of the Antarctic deals came after New Zealand, Chile and the Pacific state of Palau have recently announced new marine protection zones.

Death toll of Zimbabwe elephants rises to 60 HARARE Suspected poachers have used cyanide to kill 23 elephants in Zimbabwe’s Hwange national park, raising the death toll there and in the northern part of the country to 60 since late September, officials said on Thursday. Hwange national park in western Zimbabwe currently hosts 53,000 elephants, twice the park’s carrying capacity.

Park rangers recovered most of the tusks after the 23 elephants were killed with the deadly poison last Friday but poachers got away with three tusks,

officials said. Cyanide is widely used in Zimbabwe’s mining industry and is relatively easy to obtain.

“The possibilities of trying to control this huge source of cyanide, which is creating so much revenue for the country, is going to be extremely difficult for us to do,” said Brant Williamson, a local conservationist told the state broadcaster.

“People have access to this awful poison and they don’t understand the devastation that it causes by putting it into one water hole and how far that

devastation reaches.”

Poachers have used rifles and traps to poach Zimbabwe’s elephants over the years and started using cyanide in 2013.

Elephant conservation groups said in 2013 that as many as 300 elephants died in Hwange park after poachers laced salt pans there with cyanide. The government strongly disputed the figure, saying only a few dozen animals had died. Hwange was home to Zimbabwe’s most famous lion Cecil, which was killed by an American dentist in July.

LIBREVILLE Lion populations could be halved across much of the African continent within 20 years, with those in west Africa in danger of being wiped out due to hunting and humans’ increasing need for cultivated land, a new study says. The 20-year study, to be published by the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, sounds the alarm over the future of Africa’s estimated total of 20,000 of the big cats.

The only exceptions are the intensively managed populations in the southern countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, where lion numbers are increasing. The researchers estimate that in the mid-20th century there were around ten times the present number of lions, 200,000 spread throughout Africa.

“Many lion populations are either now gone or expected to disappear within the next few decades to the extent that the intensively managed populations in southern Africa may soon supersede the iconic savannah landscapes in East Africa as the most successful sites for lion conservation,” the study said.

One of the study’s authors Philipp Henschel, lion survey coordinator for the New Yorkbased Panthera conservation

group, said that lions can now be found in just a quarter of the territory which they used to roam.

The situation in western Africa is the most critical, the study found.

Based on the kind of drop in

highlighted recently by the case of Cecil the lion.

Cecil’s death during a hunt arranged for a US dentist provoked worldwide outrage after it turned out that the lion was a

numbers since 1990, the lions of west Africa - where only two large groups now live, one in Cameroon the other on the Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger borders - are expected to be cut in half within 20 years.

“Already recognized as critically endangered in West Africa, our analysis supports listing (lions) as regionally endangered in Central and East Africa,” where they are currently classified as “vulnerable”, the report’s authors said.The disappearance of the iconic big cats is due mainly to humans, either through their cultivation or hunting - as

well-known attraction among visitors to Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park and was wearing a tracking collar as part of an Oxford University research project.Some lions are killed for their skins, or for use in traditional Chinese medicine, sometimes in place of tiger bone which has become very rare.

It will take a big effort to protect the lions, and above all money, according to the researchers.

“A recent study showed that it takes around $2,000 dollars per square kilometre per year to properly protect the lions,” said Henschel.

Lion numbers could be halved by 2035

Indiana A dog named Trigger shot his 25year-old owner in the foot in a bizarre accident that had Indiana officials reminding hunters to take safety lessons. Allie Carter of Avilla was wounded during a waterfowl hunt on Saturday morning at the Tri-County Fish and Wildlife Area in northern Indiana, according to Indiana Department of Natural Resources. She laid her 12gauge shotgun on the ground while repositioning herself and her 11-year-old chocolate Labrador stepped on the gun, depressing the trigger, said Indiana Conservation Officer Jonathon Boyd.

The safety of the shotgun was not on, so it went off and Carter was shot in the left foot, Boyd said. Carter, who had never completed a hunter education course, was hospitalized. She suffered non-life-threatening injuries from the bird shot pellets and was treated and released,

Boyd said. Indiana officials said that users of firearms should always point the muzzle in a safe direction and use the safety mechanism. Anyone born after Dec. 31, 1986 is required to take a certified hunter education course before purchasing a hunting license in Indiana.

However, anyone can get up to three apprentice hunter’s licenses without taking such a course, if accompanied by a person who has taken it, Boyd said. Carter had an apprentice license and does not face any charges.“We encourage everyone to take a hunter education course before they venture out in the field,” Boyd said.Boyd, who has been a conservation officer for seven years, remembered one other occasion when a dog shot its owner - a man hunting rabbits was shot after he leaned a gun against a tree, and his beagle stepped on it. Carter could not be reached for comment.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Fish cry for help to escape predators Oldest specie of ‘common ancestor’ found SYDNEY Distressed fish caught by predators emit a cry for help to attract other carnivores so they can escape during the ensuing chaos, Australian

University told AFP, adding that most fish displayed similar behaviour. “For them, it’s like somebody ringing a dinner bell. So other predators swoop in and start chasing the

scientists said Thursday.

While researchers had discovered that fish emit a chemical substance found in their skin when injured to alert others nearby of the dangers, they did not know whether the distress call also benefited the captured prey. “Within a minute (of the chemical alarm being emitted), you get this aggregation of little predators coming in,” the study’s co-author Mark McCormick of James Cook

predator that first caught the little prey fish and in doing so, disrupt the initial predator. “The inital predator ends up 40 percent of the time, we found, dropping the prey and the prey swims off and survives.” The research, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, studied damselfish - a small, primarily tropical marine species - that have similar characteristics to larger,

MIAMI An unmanned NASA spacecraft is about to make its deepest dive ever into the icy spray emanating from the underwater ocean on

widening the search for alien life in our solar system. While the Cassini probe’s flyby on Wednesday will not be able to detect if there are life forms in the spray,

Saturn’s moon, Enceladus.The tiny moon orbiting the sixth planet from the sun stunned scientists when they discovered it had an icy plume in 2005. After years of observations, NASA announced earlier this year that Enceladus definitely has a subterranean ocean,

scientists hope the close pass will give them new insight into the habitability of the extraterrestrial ocean.“This daring flyby will bring the spacecraft within 30 miles of the surface of Enceladus’s south polar region,” NASA said in a statement. “The encounter will allow Cassini to obtain

more commercially important fish such as coral trout and snapper.

“You can see how that (call for help) would have developed and how, because of the benefit of attracting other predators, that alarm-cue signalling would be maintained in the population of prey because it’s so advantageous,” McCormick said.

“Lo and behold, who comes to save the day but other dangerous predators.” The scientists said the next step would be to expand the research to see how fishes’ distress calls were affected by damaged reefs. “When reefs degrade in some species, the chemical cues are quite disrupted. The environment ends up modifying or masking those chemical alarm cues so they can no longer be used in the same way,” said McCormick, who is based at the university’s Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. “It means that the fundamental way that predators interact with prey, and vice versa, will change.”

Nasa spacecraft to fly through icy spray of Saturn moon

the most accurate measurements yet of the plume’s composition, and new insights into the ocean world beneath the ice.” The flyby should take place at 1522 GMT on Wednesday, though the scientific data it collects may not be published for months.

Scientists hope that the trip will tell them how much icy material is emanating from Enceladus, and perhaps what kinds of complex organic molecules it contains, though not with enough detail to determine if anything is alive. The $3.26 billion mission is a joint project by the US space agency, European space agency and Italian space agency. Cassini is the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, and it has been circling the planet since 2004. It is making a series of flybys of Enceladus, including a final pass in December.

Ancient crystal suggests life on Earth appeared 4.1b years ago

Sydney An ancient zircon crystal unearthed in Western Australia may hold evidence that life appeared on the planet 4.1 billion years ago, or about 300 million years earlier than previously thought, according to a team of U.S. researchers.

Scientists from Stanford

University and the University of California, Los Angeles said they recently collected some 10,000 multibillion year-old zircons in Jack Hills, Australia, including one believed to contain a carbon deposit that is 4.1 billion years old, give or take 10 million years.“Its complete encasement in crack-free,

undisturbed zircon demonstrates that it is not contamination from more recent geologic processes ... (and) may be evidence for the origin of life on Earth by 4.1 (billion years ago),” according to a paper published by the team in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.

Barcelona Scientists have discovered a new species of small ape that may have been the last common ancestor to humans, chimpanzees and gibbons. Named Pliobates cataloniae, the

the larger-bodied great apes, such as orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees.

Along with humans, they belong to the family Hominidae. Pliobates cataloniae was found to have features of both

images, scientists discovered the fossils belonged to an adult female that weighed between 4kg and 5kg (9lbs and 11lbs). This made the species similar in size to a gibbon. Nicknamed Laia

species existed around 14 million years ago, before the evolutionary split between ‘large apes’ and ‘lesser apes’. The discovery fills a gap in the fossil record, and suggests that root of the entire ape family tree evolved from a far smaller creature than previously believed. Living hominoids are a group of primates that includes the small-bodied apes, such as gibbons and siamangs.

Collectively, they are known as Hylobatidae.

Hominoids also include

groups, suggesting it was one of our last common ancestors. The partial skeleton that led to the announcement was discovered during the construction of a landfill in Barcelona, Abocador de Can Mata. It was made up of 70 fossils dated to 11.6 million years ago. The remains were so fragmentary that researchers relied on a virtual reconstruction based on high-resolution computed-tomography.

Using the computer

- after the patron of Barcelona - her skull and some parts of her postcranial skeleton were similar to living gibbons.

But her arm anatomy, specifically the wrist bones and the joint between the humerus and radius, had the basic design of living hominoids. This suggests she moved through the forest canopy by climbing and suspending below branches. Based on microscopic marks on her teeth, researchers believe Laia consumed soft fruits.

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Randeep Hooda carries the film on his shoulders Director: Prawaal Raman Cast: Randeep Hooda, Adil Hussain, Richa Chadda, Tisca Chopra Ratings: 3 stars Meet Charles (Randeep Hooda). He is hypnotic.

He is brutal. He is intelligent. He knows 14 languages. Writer-director Raman spells everything

out to build an aura around a character that is inspired by the infamous criminal Charles Sobhraj. But words alone are never enough to convince you that this is a man capable

of seduction, deception and murder. You need to see it to believe it. That’s where Main Aur Charles fails - You are never quite sold on Charles.

Randeep Hooda puts on a wig, speaks with a French accent, crosses his legs, talks at a leisurely pace and flashes an all-knowing smile and look that is sup-

posed to make women go weak in their knees and make men feel like losers.

He is the lone spark who tries hard to showcase the charisma of Charles but even he can’t do much in

what’s ultimately an insipid outing with a poor script. Why does Charles murder women and rob people, you ask? In Raman’s point of view, it is because he is a product of a dysfunctional family, which is never seen.

Case closed.

Raman struggles with the screenplay which in the first ten minutes travels

through three decades beginning with 1968 in Thailand and landing in Tihar jail in 1986. It may be a move that intends to get straight to the point, but here the point is seeing bare backs of countless women and Charles eyeing his prey. Women here are fan-eyed girls who buy Charles’ lies and deliver lines such as “I feel like

having sex with him” and “I need a divorce” which can’t help but make you laugh. The crux of the story, which is plotting the escape from Tihar jail, is left for late. Adil Hussain plays a constantly irritated good cop who hates being outshined by his nemesis. The less said about Richa Chadda’s gullible criminal law student the

better.

A colourful character is made dull in Main Aur Charles. Exactly what makes him such a babe magnet is never quite understood. This Charles has got a lot of swag, but little substance. 2.5 stars for Main Aur Charles solely for Randeep Hooda’s efforts to carry the film on his shoulders.

and a mother of one. The rest is consistent with what to expect from a film about wayward talent and redemption, with one lady love thrown in even though the film itself proclaims that “consistency is death”.

Bruhl and Miller are woefully underused. There are many

beautiful shots of dishes that seem pretty inconsequential in size but we are not expected to voice those opinions in public. There is awful behaviour and lot of hand-wringing over things left unattended for a minute but we are expected to ignore the first for the second.

And there are some instructive episodes about how Michelin men come to judge, unexpected and unannounced, how cooking stations are soaped and scrubbed, as well as how food at a restaurant should make you “stop eating” and, on the other hand,

“sick with longing”. At least that explains the size of those dishes. Meanwhile, the only person actually interested in eating is Helena’s daughter Lily. In Jones’s duty, Helena is so tired that she can’t rustle up a breakfast for Lily before school.

Burnt

Directed by John Wells Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Bruhl, Emma Thompson, Matthew Rhys Ratings: 2 stars You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Presumably you can’t do so without breaking a few dishes too. That’s the takeaway from this film about a badly behaved celebrity chef seeking his third Michelin star though don’t expect anything as ordinary as an omelette here. Masterchef already tells us that courtesy and cuisine rarely mix, with the steam sizzling off cooking stations barely matching that let off by chefs encountering a dish they don’t life. Masterchef and other cooking shows also tell us that kitchens are pressure cookers, with orders being thrown about as frequently as the meat to be cooked. What they don’t tell us is that plates, chairs, pans are also up for sacrifice in the course of a celebrity chef’s day out, particularly when staring

down a counterpart. Many go that way in the course of Burnt. Still, and that’s the film’s weakest link, Bradley Cooper’s Adam ‘The Notorious’ Jones gets barely a stain on his apron as he marches towards cooking-dom’s ultimate goal. Yes there are ghosts to be slayed, debts to be paid, beatings to be had, but however much he insults and assails, a helping hand and at least three people in love with him are never too far away. Adam is in London two years after having a meltdown in Paris sparked by booze and drugs (“sniffed, snorted, injected in”), during the course of which he has lost a restaurant and acquired two goons on his tail. He is sober now and believes he has a shot at a resurrection. His first stop is Tony (Bruhl), who has the money to finance his dreams, followed by a series of talented people, some of whom he has worked with before. The new face that he assiduously pursues is Helena (Miller), an underpaid cook

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Is Deepika Padukone trying to follow Priyanka Chopra’s footsteps?

Deepika Padukone is keen on doing Hollywood films and wants to explore to work in the West. “I am interested in doing Hollywood films. I am ready to explore working in the West. I couldn’t do Fast and Furious. I am glad I chose to do Ram Leela promotions,” Deepika said. She was speaking about her journey in Bollywood at the ongoing Jio MAMI festival. “If something interesting comes up I will take up. Here we are subject to shelf life keeps arising and times have changed. There it is not like that,” the 29-year-old actress said.

The Chennai Express star is happy with the way her career has shaped up and insists success has not changed her as a person. “I have not changed, my family would speak about it. I do wash dishes at home. I did that last night. My parents and school friends are supportive and encouraging,” Deepika said. “They have not stopped their lifestyle.

They continue doing work they do know I am going to work. Father

locked me if I change,” she added.

Her rumoured boy-friend Ranveer Singh in an audio visual message expressed happiness over the success Deepika has achieved in her career till now. He even went on to suggest that Deepika must do films in the West. Actors like Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have made appearances in Hollywood projects.

Priyanka is playing the lead in TV series Quantico. The actor is playing the role of Alex Parrish, a rookie FBI recruit with a mysterious past.

And now Deepika is all set to take up a Hollywood project if it comes to her. Meanwhile, Deepika will be seen in Tamasha and Bajirao Mastani. In Tamasha, Deepika will be seen with Ranbir Kapoor and on the other hand, Deepika will be sharing screen space with Ranveer Singh in Bajirao Mastani.

Salman Khan wished SRK in person on his 50th birthday

Not so long ago at a birthday party, the two reigning superstars of the country indulged in a public spat and parted ways. Years later they are creating moments for every cinegoer to cherish. After making peace at ‘their’ sister Arpita’s wedding, Salman Khan visited Shah Rukh Khan’s residence on his 50th birthday and wished him in person. SRK took to Twitter to share two pictures when Salman paid a late night visit to his friendturned-foe-turned-friend’s residence. The first picture that he posted, he captioned it as, “Bhai teaching me the moves for Sultan on my birthday,” and the moves did seem perfect for two wrestlers indulged in a friendly fight.

The next picture was a ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ moment for SRK captured.

The two superstars’ relations have come a long way since they did their first movie ‘Karan Arjun’

together. After their reported fight in 2008, the third wheel of the Khan troika Aamir Khan was said to be in good terms with Salman, but not with SRK. But seems like the trio have resolved their differences and of late, can be seen amicably exchanging tweets. On SRK’s 50th birthday on November 2, Salman Khan said, “We are friends,” when IndianExpress.com asked him about Shah Rukh Khan. “He came in much later into the industry. Aamir debuted first, then I came in followed by Ajay and then SRK came in,” added Salman. Wishing his friend on his 50th birthday, Salman said, “I wish him all the very best. I wish the best of health for him and his entire family. May they have the most amazing life. I hope his whole family to be healthy and for his children to take his name forward and take it beyond what Shah Rukh has achieved.”

Ranbir-Deepika’s chemistry in Tamasha Here’s what Katrina Kaif thinks

Steering clear of commenting directly on the popularity of the pairing of her boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor and his exflame Deepika Padukone, actor Katrina Kaif says that everybody is free to work with each other.

When Ranbir and Deepika were cast in Tamasha, and their on-screen chemistry became quite the talk of the town, rumours were rife that Katrina was getting insecure about the same. Ranbir and Deepika were in a relationship for about a year.

The two were seen together on the big screen for the first time in the 2008 Bachna Ae Haseeno. Once the two had parted ways, they reunited for Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawaani

Hai Deewani, which hit the theatres in 2013.

Now, Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha has the exes together for the silver screen yet again. And gauging from the general view, the Deepika-Ranbir pair is a hit. An online survey has claimed that Ranbir-Deepika would be the industry’s next Shah Rukh Khan-Kajol, who are considered an iconic on-screen couple. When asked what she feels about it, Katrina said, “I am not a director, so I don’t look at actors like that. Everybody is free to work with each other.”

The actor was speaking at the opening ceremony of the 17th Jio MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival in Mumbai on October 29.

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Kate Winslet in yet another historical role? Kristen Stewart to star The powerhouse performer, who played a Nazi concentration camp guard in The Reader about seven years ago, is now in talks to play the role of World War II journalist Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller.

Elizabeth ‘Lee’ Miller was an acclaimed correspondent who worked for Vogue magazine during World War II. Before she became a journalist, Lee Miller was the muse for famed artists like Pablo Picasso and Man Ray. The model-turned-war journalist covered historical events such as the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau.

The untitled Lee Miller biopic will be based on The Lives of Lee Miller, a biography written by her son, Antony Penrose.

Given the eventful life of Lee Miller and Kate’s amazing list of roles, the makers could not have thought of anybody

better than Kate Winslet for the part.

Also read: 8 things Kate Winslet is absolutely right about Lee Miller’s son too welcomed reports Kate Winslet is to play his mother in a new biopic, saying the star has all the qualities to portray someone who was so strong, brilliant and complicated.

“She (Winslet) is gritty, she’s funny, she’s tender and she’s tough,” Tony Penrose said on Wednesday. “If it’s true I cannot think of anyone better,” he told The Guardian. For Kate Winslet authorbacked roles are cake walk. Be it the role of Rose in hugely popular Titanic, the critically acclaimed role of April Wheeler in Revolutionary Road or Hanna Schimtz in The Reader for which she bagged her first Oscar. She’s re-written rules with each of her performances.

Kate will be next seen as Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs biopic with Michale Fassbender in the titular role. Joanna Hoffman was late Apple CEO’s close associate.

in Lizzie Borden movie?

Actresses Kristen Stewart and Chloe Sevigny are in talks to star in an untitled film based on the life of Lizzie Borden, who was infamously accused of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892.

While Sevigny will play Borden, Stewart is attached to essay the role of Bordens’ live-in maid Bridget Sullivan, who might have been in the home when the murders were committed. She testified at the trial for the murders which ultimately

resulted in Borden’s acquittal, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The crime inspired children’s rhymes sung to the tune of the then-popular song Ta-ra-ra Boom-deay. The case also spawned several theories about who committed the murders and why.

One of the theories suggested that Borden and Sullivan were lovers. Pieter Van Hees will direct the psychological thriller, which is slated to release in 2017.

Reese Witherspoon honoured with Katie Holmes ‘regrets’ American Cinematheque award upsetting Leah Remini “Legally Blonde” star Reese Witherspoon received American Cinematheque Award at a gala dinner. The 39-year-old actress was feted by Jennifer Aniston, Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Sofia Vergara, and Jennifer Garner among others, reported Ace Showbiz.

“I really thought if I worked hard and did my very, very best, one day I could get Matthew McConaughey to come on a big public stage and say really nice things about me,” Witherspoon joked after given the award by the actor. “I actually think that’s pretty much every Southern woman’s dream. This whole experience is just overwhelming and unbelievable because I’m really just a girl from Nashville who had a dream,” she said. Witherspoon brought her two kids, Ava, 16, and Deacon Phillippe, 12, to the event.

Her husband Jim Toth was also there. She joined another honouree, DreamWorks Animation honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg. Isla Fisher and Laura Dern were among the attendees. Kenny Chesney performed a rendition of “Wild Child”.

Katie Holmes has expresses regret over an incident long time ago when actress Leah Remini challenged Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology. In an interview, Holmes responded to Remini’s claims about meeting the Mission Impossible star when he was in a relationship with Katie.

Remini reportedly made several comments about the incident

and about Tom’s place in the Church, TMZ reports.

In a 20/20 clip released, Leah said Tom and Katie were busy in some serious PDA during the visit, which provoked her to say, “hey, get a room.” According to a representative of Katie, they gave the following statement in the interview: “I regret having upset Leah in the past and wish her only the best in the future.”

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1962 War: nehru’s Words pinch our hearts, says rijiju Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s words in Parliament on the Chinese aggression in Ladakh and Arunachal had really pinched our hearts, and had demoralised our forces and the local people.

“Participating in a debate in Parliament over the Chinese aggression, the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said: ‘In those barren land and mountains of Ladakh and Arunachal, not even a blade of grass grows, why

Parliament is wasting time,” said Rijiju, adding that it is a reality that China took over the entire western part of Arunachal Pradesh, which was a part of Assam in 1962.

“The Chinese had reached

Assam in the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh, and the then prime minister Nehru had stated, ‘my heart goes out to people of Assam’, which amounted to surrendering of our territories to the

Chinese,” said Rijiju.

The Chinese went back on their own and declared a unilateral ceasefire, claimed Rijiju, adding: “This is a part of the history and we must come to term that if anything wrong has happened in history, we should accept it.”

He said that he was not creating anything from his own figment of imagination, and he was only stating the facts, adding that the Congress, too, should not be intolerant about accepting something which is a fact.

Justice for 1984 riot victims would have prevented Gujarat, Dadri incidents says Arvind Kejriwal If the accused of 1984 anti-Sikh riots were punished, incidents like 2002-Gujarat riots and Dadri would not have happened, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday.

The Chief Minister along with his Deputy Manish Sisodia was distributing

compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh to the victims on the 31st anniversary of the 1984 riots.

“If those guilty in the 1984 riots were punished in the past 31 years, then incidents like those in Gujarat and Dadri would not have happened. “No one would have dared to

spread hatred among people on basis of religion and such intolerance

would not have spread in the country,” the Chief Minister said, as quoted

by PTI. The Chief Minister also claimed that “intolerance and hatred is thriving because those perpetrating it know that those in power will protect them”.

Fatwa against model Arshi Khan for saying she had sex with Afridi

A fatwa has been reportedly issued in Pakistan against Indian model Arshi Khan for posting on social networking site Twitter that she had a physical relationship with Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi.

Reacting to the fatwa, Arshi Khan tweeted, “Very disappointed with Pakistan. Not a word of support for me from anyone against d fatwa.

Wake up PakistanArshi expressed her “disappointment” at the development.

Very disappointed with Pakistan. Not a word of support for me from anyone against d fatwa.

Wake up Pakistan

@SAfridiOfficial In September, Arshi had posted on Twitter, saying:” Yes, I had sex with Afridi! Do I need the Indian media’s permission to sleep with someone? It’s my personal life. For me it was love.”

Yes, I had sex with Afridi!

Do I need the Indian media’s permission to sleep with someone? It’s my personal life. For me it was love.

The fatwa has been issued against her by some section of Pakistan clergy. Sources revealed that fatwa has been issued because Arshi Khan’s tweet put both Pakistan and Islam in bad light.

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Feathers fly over Thailand’s Mysterious disease killing Millions of starfish lucrative cockfighting pits BANGKOK The cry of roosters drowns out the roar of engines beneath a Bangkok flyover as all eyes are trained on two sparring birds, a bloody, high stakes battle in a country where cockfighting is big business.

The birds do not usually fight to the death, as in many parts of the world, but they can still inflict fatal damage to their

opponents in contests almost always accompanied by lucrative gambling. For the few dozen men surrounding a technically illegal but tolerated underpass ring, cockfighting is as much a generations-old Thai tradition as it is commerce.

“Probably it’s genetic as my parents like cockfighting too,” a 42-year-old electrician from northeast Loei province told AFP as he cradled his battered but still-standing “Little Red” at half-time. Like most of the working-class men priming their roosters, the pony-tailed and tattooed man - who withheld his name

- began cockfighting in his rural birthplace before bringing the hobby to the heart of the Thai capital where he now lives. While they risk up to two years in jail for gambling at an unregistered ring, authorities routinely turn a blind eye to such activities.

Thailand is dotted with much larger, official cockfighting stadiums that draw vast, big-

spending crowds. At the Bangkok Cockpit in Samut Prakan, a province on the outskirts of the capital, a 1,000-strong throng cheers on a pair of avian fighters whose necks are locked in combat as bets furiously exchange hands.

“We don’t think it’s violence as it’s a kind of sport,” said regular punter Suwan Cheunchom, 35, after winning 500 baht on a round which ended in a tie. His prize is on the lower end of a betting spectrum in a nation where most forms of gambling are outlawed. A few weeks later the same stadium raked in

22.2 million baht ($618,000) for a record-breaking bet, venue manager Banjerd Janyai told AFP. In this lucrative industry “good fighting birds” can sell for more than $85,000, he added, with Thailand exporting cocks to neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia and buyers arriving from as far afield as France and Bahrain.

Unlike in the Philippines, where roosters can be seen fighting with blades attached to their feet, Thailand’s birds usually compete with their spurs wrapped in fabric.

The cocks are judged on their fighting prowess rather than their ability to kill, with proponents like Banjerd arguing such protections mean “there are not many injuries”. “It’s a way to preserve ancient Thai culture and pass it on to our children,” said the 50-year-old.

Champion birds attract a cult following like “muay thai” kickboxers, with entire magazines dedicated to the bloodsport. But some Thais are fighting for an end to the practice in a country where the concept of animal welfare is only slowly emerging. “It’s torture, from any point of view. But the people who get involved claim that it’s the nature of the animal to fight,” said Roger Lohanan, founder of Thai Animal Guardians Association.

Creativity at NYC Halloween parade NEW YORK New York City’s giant Halloween Parade brought thousands to the streets to celebrate the ghoulish and spooky - from Donald Trump to witches; from bacon to a

in the world. Keeping it political, there were party goers dressed as Donald Trumps, the brash Republican contender for president, and a Hillary Clinton witch-puppet on a broomstick. Keeping it

pervert in training. Organized on balmy autumnal night, it was the 42nd edition of a parade that marches up Sixth Avenue, and calls itself the largest celebration of its kind

sporting, revelers donned Mets hats or shirts in honor of the once-moribund New York team’s place in the World Series, 30 years after it last clinched victory. Rashers of

bacon and posters proclaiming love for pork were also popular - just days after the United Nations warned the cured meats give you cancer. But as befits the entertainment capital of the United States, it was above all a bonanza of pure creativity, style and sexual outrageousness. “It’s our Mardi Gras,” said Catherine Schuller, an image consultant who teaches fashion and is friends with the organizers.

“It’s the ultimate creative expression, and this is what we do best.” Pediatrician Alon Leibovitz, 38, was one of those dressed as Trump, loathed by a swathe of Democratic New York for his bombastic style and opinions on immigration. “There’s not that many news stories,” he said. “He’s very funny,” he told AFP, dressed in a grey suit, Trump blonde wig and Trump campaign trucker hat promising to “Make America Great Again.

California Scientists are shocked by the epidemic of colorful starfish that are committing suicide along North America’s Pacific coast.

For the last two years the stunning phenomenon that’s been called ‘the Wasting,’ had Marine biologists intent on solving the mystery as to why millions of starfish were suddenly dying.

According to Yahoo News, scientists recently discovered that starfish, also known as sea stars, are essentially devouring themselves along the coastline from Mexico to Alaska thanks to a virus.

The virus, Sea Star Associated Densovirus, or SSaDV, that has been identified within many of the species that are dying has been around for nearly 70 years. Scientists are searching for what is causing the infected to starfish to die all of a sudden from

the virus. ’There’s some trigger, probably an environmental trigger,’ Rebecca Johnson, a Citizen Science Research Coordinator at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco told Yahoo.

The virus causes white lesions to appear before the animal’s body sags, ruptures and spills out its internal organs. Johnson explained that a new app is creatively helping marine biologists and scientists investigate the problem.

The app called iNaturalist, allows people who see any starfish on the beaches of the Pacific West Coast to upload photos and information for researchers to enter into a database. It allows researchers and scientists to help track the problem. ‘Anybody who sees something, any observation of nature could be important,’ Johnson told Yahoo. ‘It’s kind of like Facebook for nature.

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By GIRIDHAR JHA Addressing his final rally for the Assembly elections in Bihar on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress saying the party should hang its head in shame for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and had no moral right to lecture the NDA on intolerance.

“Today is November 2. Do you recall 1984? Lakhs of Sikhs were massacred in Delhi and across the country following Indira Gandhi’s killing. Serious allegations were made against the Congress and its leaders.

“Today on the same day, the Congress is lecturing you on the issue of tolerance. Doob maro.

Doob maro (drown yourself),” the prime minister said at a rally in Purnea of Seemanchal region, which has a sizeable Muslim population.

Modi said the tears in the eyes of victims had not yet dried.

“Their wounds have not healed and you are resorting to dramebaazi (antics) on this day,” he added.

Modi’s remarks came after Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday expressed concern and vowed to fight divisive forces in the country.

The prime minister also hit out at the leaders of the Grand Alliance and accused them of spreading canards about the NDA on the quota issue.

“They cooked up a lie about the quota issue, but I pricked their balloon by releasing videos of their speeches in which they advocated for quota on religious grounds,” Modi said, adding that the leaders have not been able to recover from the jolt.

Asserting that the three leaders of the Grand Alliance - Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and Sonia Gandhi have never shared a common dais, Modi said the learned people of Bihar should question them about how they plan to run the state together if they cannot share the same stage due to their mutual distrust.

Modi also flayed the Grand Alliance over the issue of national security, saying the blasts in Mumbai and Pune in the past had given rise to a new term - Darbhanga module as some people from the district were aiding and abetting terror.

“But, when a probe initiated by a woman and Dalit police officer indicated links of some leaders here, she was forced to leave the state,” he alleged.

“Will you elect a government of such people?” he asked the crowd, while addressing another rally in Darbhanga.

Modi said that Bihar would write a new history by voting for development and alleged that Nitish, Lalu, and the Congress did not want to talk on any issue that had ruined Bihar during their combined regime of 60 years.

“The poison of casteism and the rage of communalism have been the bane of democracy, but this election in Bihar will force all parties to contest the polls on the issues of growth in future,” he added.

Meanwhile, the BJP said the ongoing protests against intolerance are politically motivated,

and termed Sonia Gandhi’s decision to meet President Pranab Mukherjee over the issue as the joke of the decade.

“The Congress talking about intolerance is like the devil quoting scriptures. Their move to meet the president is against intolerance is the joke of the decade. They and their political friends are intolerant of the people’s mandate,” Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu said.

Naidu also raked up the Emergency, the antiSikh riots, mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and well-publicised killings of individuals for ideological reasons in Kerala, and wondered why many of intellectuals were silent then.

By AMIT AGNIHOTRI The “riot versus riot” debate was back on the political scene, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi shaming the Congress on the anniversary of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the Opposition hitting back by questioning his silence over the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi called on President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday, triggering speculation that she had raised the issue of growing intolerance in the country.

She will follow up by leading a march to the president’s house on Tuesday to submit a memorandum on the issue.

“The Prime Minister’s statement is politically motivated, mischievous, and is only aimed at rub into the wounds of the victims after 31 years,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said.

Invoking former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had asked then chief minister Modi to follow his Raj Dharma after the 2002 Gujarat riots, Sharma asked if the prime minister had forgotten his duty this time as well.

“The prime minister has endorsed intolerance by his studied silence over acts of hate and violence,” said Sharma, adding that Modi was guilty of damaging the country’s social fabric by selectively targeting the minority community.

Charging that the prime minister was acting like a member of a political party, the Congress leader reminded Modi that he was the country’s leader.

“He should act as the prime minister of

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‘Congress talking about intolerance is like the devil quoting scriptures,’ said Modi at a rally in Purnea, Bihar.

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ARE YOU CONFIDENT OF VICTORY IN THE SIX SEATS THAT YOUR PARTY IS CONTESTING IN SEEMANCHAL? We are very sure that we will be able to move masses to vote for us.

We are confident that we will win these seats as people here have been neglected by past governments and are looking for an alternative.

WHY DO YOU THINK THE PEOPLE WILL VOTE FOR YOU AND NOT THE MAHAGATH BANDHAN? Muslims of Seemanchal have been a neglected lot for many decades now and under all the dispensations of the past.

The area has been kept underdeveloped and backward by the Congress and Lalu, as well as the Nitish Kumar regime.

Even the BJP is a culprit in this conspiracy as they too were in the race. Seemanchal needs hospitals, schools and doctors.

More than anything, to bring about a change, we need more

Muslim boys in Bihar Assembly.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE MUSLIM ISSUES? Areas in Seemanchal such as Kishenganj have lost out on decades of development.

Muslims are the most backward of all societal sections in Bihar.

Compare the number of schools in Kishanganj and Munger. Look at the number of high schoolswe have 25 while Kaimur has 55.

Around 55 per cent of newborns die soon after birth here.

Agriculture is stunted as seeds are deficient and the manure is smuggled out to Nepal.

Nitish worked for development, but was restricted to only Nalanda, Munger and Patna.

WHAT ABOUT THE QUOTA FOR MUSLIMS, AN ISSUE THAT HAS RAISED A LOT OF POLITICAL RABBLE? The BJP is trying to polarise voters communally.

Narendra Modi is the first prime minister of India who is trying to drive a wedge between Muslims and the backwards.

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Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee triggered speculation that she had raised the issue of growing intolerance in the country.

India. He should not be thinking or acting like a BJP leader or a RSS pracharak. He should fulfill his constitutional and moral duty as India’s Prime Minister,” Sharma said.

The Congress spokesperson downplayed Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley’s statement on Sunday, in which he defended Modi saying that the leader had been a victim of ideological intolerance since the 2002 Gujarat riots. “Jaitley is a very good lawyer but is defending a very poor case,” said Sharma.

Amidst the ongoing protests in the country on intolerance, former Union Minister Arun Shourie again attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he should have spoken on incidents like Dadri.

In an interview to India Today TV, Arun Shourie said terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the worst victim of ideological intolerance is the most dangerous thing to do because it will give him grounds to be vengeful.

He was referring to Finance !

Minister Arun Jaitley’s remark that Modi was the worst victim of ideological intolerance.

Shourie told Karan Thapar of India Today TV that the prime minister’s behaviour has lowered him to

the level of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, and made Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a statesman.

The former minister said Modi’s silence was deliberate and it encouraged the fringe groups.

A ruler is known by the character of the persons surrounding him, he said. “If you go back to his election speeches, he talked of pink revolution. Beef business can be linked to it. They were encouraged by people around Modi, who used provocative language and did not break his silence on the Dadri lynching,” he said.

Shourie, who was a minister in the Vajpayee-led government, supported the writers’ protest of returning their awards against intolerance.

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as Badal clears deck, cBi to proBe sacrilege cases Amritsar Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday cleared the deck for transferring the investigation of three cases concerning alleged sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Confirming the development, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema told that the three separate cases registered at the Baja Khana Police Station in Faridkot - theft of the Guru Granth Sahib, putting up of objectionable posters, and sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib (tearing of the holy parts (Angs) of the holy scripture) - would be handed over to the CBI. Cheema said, “The Chief Minister, who is deeply anguished over the incidents, took the decision to get these cases investigated by the

highest investigative agency in the country. And thus, on Sunday evening, he gave his nod to the handing over the cases to

the CBI.” “The Chief Minister also took into cognisance the demands made by various religious organisations as well as kin of the accused, and decided to fully respect the sentiments of everyone in this regard,” said the Cheema.

Punjab has been witnessing relentless protests by anguished Sikhs for over past two weeks. Two Sikh men were

killed allegedly in a police firing during a protest.

Several organisations, including Sant Samaj, Damdami Taksal, Panthik

Tal Mail Sangathan and Parcharak , often staged strong protests against the state government over inordinate delay in bringing culprits to the book.

Various Sikh organisations, however, have threatened that they would be staging protests till November 15. A ‘Sarbat Khalsa’ will also be held on November 10 on a call given by Simranjit Singh Mann. However, none of

the organisations have withdrawn their protest even after the Chief Minister clearing the deck for a CBI probe.

Adviser to Badal Harcharn Bains said the Chief Minister was “extremely keen” to send a strong message to the perpetrators that such a heinous outrage against the humanity won’t work. “The incidents that shook the psyche of people from every religion had particularly left the Sikhs devastated e m o t i o n a l l y, leading to public expression of their hurt,” he said.

“The Punjab government wants these heinous crimes to be thoroughly probed in an atmosphere of ‘complete trust’ between the Sikhs and the investigating authorities, and thus the Chief Minister has given his clearance to transfer all the three cases to the central agency.” added Bains.

Must worry about female foeticide, not religious imbalance says Muslim cleric

New Delhi Muslim cleric Imam Umer Iliyasi today drew attention towards the rising cases of female foeticide and downplayed the RSS resolution asking the government to reformulate the population policy to check demographic imbalance.

“Instead of worrying about the increase or decrease of population of the country, we must worry about female foeticide. The balance of the country’s population is being disturbed because of this.

If you look at Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, you will notice that our balance has been disturbed in a way that the women population has gone down and male population has increased,”

he said.

“As far as the demographic balance is concerned, it is the work of God to maintain the balance. It cannot be handled by man. An example of the interference by man in maintaining balance can be seen in China where they started a 100 years policy and now the result is in front of all. They are now requesting people to give birth to more and more number of children,” he added.

The RSS on Saturday sought a review of the population policy to counter “severe demographic changes” in India, flagging what it considers a high rate of growth among Muslims in the country.

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Air India cracks down on cough syrup smuggling Air India is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. While it’s no secret that a section of its cabin crew and some pilots were found involved in theft, pilferage and smuggling of bottles of single malt, food and toiletries in the past, this time cough syrup smuggling has come as an embarrassment for the airline. A section of Air India’s cabin crew on a Delhi-London flight was caught smuggling as many as 450 bottles of the cough syrup Benadryl.

This happened about a month back.

Since cough syrup is not available over the counter in the United Kingdom or most other countries outside India (it is popular among teens who drink it to get high), a section of the Air India cabin crew started smuggling bottles

of Benadryl to London and elsewhere, our sources in the airline said. Finally, there were caught.

The airline’s top bosses are

officer. “A chargesheet has been issued in this case against the errant cabin crew to explain their action, pending which a

guilty,” he said.

Warning It is learnt that the airline has issued stern warning to its staff as such conduct

in no mood to take this lightly. They have swung into action to do an immediate damage control, said a senior

final disciplinary action would be taken. The cabin crew involved in the incident face termination from services if found

dents the public image of the national carrier.

Speaking to Mail Today, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma

Behave, don’t embarrass party AAP Punjab chief to leaders after Mann issue WHILE the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has backed its Sangrur MP, Bhagwant Mann, over allegations that he attended a religious

anyone in the party.

The party has decided to stand by the Sangrur MP. Moreover, many AAP leaders are of the view that

function drunk, the party’s Punjab Affairs incharge, Sanjay Singh, has warned leaders to behave as national convenor Arvind Kejriwal was capable of throwing anybody out of the party.

Sanjay Singh chaired several sessions of a review meeting that spanned two days and which concluded on Thursday evening. Senior AAP leaders said that during one of the sessions, Sanjay Singh talked tough and told them not to make mistakes that could embarrass the party.

Bhagwant Mann was part of the meeting.

“Sanjay Singh was very clear in the message he wanted to convey. He did not single out anyone but the message was loud and clear. He kept saying everybody knows why he had broached the subject,” said a senior AAP leader praying anonymity. The leader made it clear that Mann was not told anything directly by

consuming liquor is not looked down upon in Punjab the way it is in other parts of the country.

Mann, meanwhile, has taken to social media to defend himself. He has claimed that he is being

discredited by vested interests and is aware of his responsibility as an AAP leader. He has also written on his Facebook account that he is getting messages pf support from NRIs that he should not lose heart. Sources in AAP said Kejriwal is abreast of the issue.

Kamboj entry blocked The Congress leader C D Singh Kamboj’s entry into AAP has been blocked by state AAP leaders for the time being. A senior leader said he had bypassed the local leadership and got in touch with the high command directly and that this has not gone down well with the Punjab leaders.

said: “There is zero tolerance for any act of indiscipline and misconduct by our staff both on-board and at the airports. Immediate action will be taken and penalties slapped if such things come to light.” Air India’s new CMD Ashwini Lohani, who has been trying to mobilise the airline’s staff to maximise operational output and raise the target of economic returns, also said he won’t tolerate misconduct or indiscipline.

A top airline official said: “We want to redefine the image of the national carrier.

We have terminated the services of three members of the cabin crew including one woman who was caught smuggling. One was caught redhanded with 90 kilo grams of cheese. He was later handed over to the customs department

for further action.” In three separate cases, Air India management noticed that cabin crew members were using their luggage to smuggle goods. One had hidden 10 contraband tablets in his bag and landed in Delhi airport. He was caught red handed and handed over to customs department. Another member of the cabin crew was trying to smuggle spy cameras. His services were terminated with immediate effect. “We have adopted zero tolerance policy for such illegal activities in Air India so that the national carrier’s image can be given a boost. Sadly, no one had taken serious steps earlier,” an Air India official said. “We have deployed officials to keep a check on errant staff.

We want to clear the airline of rotten apples,” he added.

PM Modi got palm read by me, claims Bejan Daruwalla After PM Modi targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for visiting a tantrik, renowned astrologer Bejan Daruwalla on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consulted him earlier.

Daruwalla revealed that PM Modi had shown him his palm, and his reading showed that the leader possessed great strength.

Daruwalla, who was in Indore on a private visit, told reporters that though Modi, who didn’t have lines but mounts on his hand which explained his strength had power personally but his Bharatiya Janata Party was weak, which would lead to problems for him in the coming time. He said

Modi, in comparison to previous prime ministers, had a more influential personality. Daruwalla, however, did not disclose

are seeing that they are losing in the state, they are reaching out to tantriks.

“Does Bihar need ‘mantratantra or democracy? Will

when and where he had read Modi’s hand. Taking a jibe at Nitish, Modi had claimed that since the members of the Mahagathbandhan comprising of JDU, RJD and Congress

people with a mentality of the 18th century run the state? Will Bihar prosper in the hands of such people,” Modi asked people of Bihar while addressing a rally.

India rises to be world’s 7th most valued ‘nation brand’ India has moved up one position to become the world’s seventh mostvalued “nation brand”, with an increase of 32 percent in its brand value to $2.1 billion - the highest among all the top 20 nations on the list. As per a report on world’s most valuable nation brands by global consultants Brand Finance, India is sole among the Brics nations to have witnessed an increase in its brand value, with the others - Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa - seeing a drop in their respective brand valuations. India is the second most valued among these emerging economies after China,

followed by Brazil, Russia and South Africa. Brand Finance specialises in brand valuation and the valuation of intangible assets. The US retains its pole position with a valuation of $19.7 billion, followed by China and Germany at the second and the third positions respectively. “The US remains the world’s most valuable nation brand. Its value comes in large part from the country’s sheer economic scale. Not only is there a large, wealthy market predisposed to ‘buy American’ but also an unrivalled group of established companies and organisations exporting worldwide,” said

Brand Finance. “The US’ world-leading higher education system and the soft power arising from its dominance of the music and entertainment industries are significant contributors too. This soft

power will help the US to retain the most valuable nation brand for some time after China’s seemingly imminent rise to become the world’s biggest economy,” the report added. China has retained

its second position despite a decline of one per cent in its brand value to $6.3 billion. “China’s recent stock market turbulence and slowing growth will also extend the US’ tenure of the topspot. The slump in commodity prices brought about by China’s slowdown has affected the nation brand values of commodity exporters even more significantly than China,” it said.

Britain is ranked fourth, Japan is at fifth position and France is sixth.

While India and France have moved up one position each since last year, all the top five countries have retained their respective places.

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You'll be in your element and eager to forge ahead with your brightest and best ideas.

You're more action oriented, too, and willing to do whatever is necessary to further your plans. Where finances are concerned, it's a good time to hunt for bargains, especially on any typically expensive items. Some research could save you a lot of money.

Don't ignore your dreams or i n t u i t i v e hunches, as you could benefit from valuable guidance if you pay attention. If you feel like retreating from the hustle and bustle of life, it's entirely natural. The Taurus Sun actively encourages you to take time out to relax and recharge. A focus on your money zone emphasizes your canny ability to spot a deal.

As Venus dances into your sign this week you'll become everyone's favorite. People will be attracted to what you have to offer.

Your warm, cuddly persona could draw folks your way, for business or for romance, if you're looking for love. Things have eased since the frenetic pace you experienced earlier in the year, making this a good time to consolidate your gains.

A serious mood works to your advantage if you can make important decisions and stick to them. With a focus on job and career matters, you'll certainly benefit from a more action-oriented approach to getting results. However, your social life continues to flourish, making this a good time to expand your network and move in new circles.

Work, communication, and home and family concerns keep you busy, but don't feel like you have to do it all. The wheels of commerce are turning in your favor, meaning you have every opportunity to get ahead if you're willing to network and get yourself known in all the right places.

Your love life also gets a boost as Venus dances into Cancer on Thursday.

If someone opposes your idea, use a bit of charm and you'll be likelier to get your way. This is especially so when it comes to your job or an interview. The presence of Venus in Cancer hints that a capable yet courteous approach can win you Brownie points. When it comes to romance, there's still plenty of time to indulge your sensuous side.

Dealing with ongoing chores and other responsibilities early can clear the way for more fun later. Midweek could see you putting effort into resolving an issue that has caused frustration for some time.

Yet your actions or approach to life may need to change in order for things to be different. Later, ask yourself if something you desire is worth the price.

To keep from getting swamped by too much work or everyday responsibilities, devise a plan and stick to it. You might even want to delegate some of your tasks where appropriate. Lifestyle issues might also be at the forefront of your mind, especially if you want to lose weight or get fitter in general. Romantic relationships continue to show a positive side.

Say yes to any unexpected invitation. This week it seems that you won't have to venture too far out of your local area to have fun. Once Venus edges into Cancer it lights up your relationship sector, bringing warmth and understanding to your interactions. Meanwhile, you're eager to research your options regarding health and wellness issues.

You and your friends are on the same wavelength and may join forces for a cause. Aligning yourself with like-minded people can give you a feeling of purpose and power. Good news could come in the form of a moneymaking idea, raise, or possibility for advancement.

Information you learn could have the potential to enhance earnings.

While intuition and inspiration can be helpful, keep your feet on the ground and don't get carried away by a wild idea. If you need to make an important decision this week, it might be helpful to meet with a good friend who can to offer up ideas and suggestions that you haven't considered. When Venus edges into Cancer you'll enter a pleasure peak.

It's a mixed week that seems to flow along nicely.

Monday brings a chance to earn extra cash with a bright idea or new enterprise.

If you need to make a decision, meet a deadline, or research your options, midweek may be your best bet. Homey ideas and family matters come to the fore when Venus glides into Cancer on Thursday.

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Technology soon, control your computers With smile, Blink Scientists are developing new technologies that will allow computers to recognise non-verbal commands such as gestures, body language and facial expressions.

For most people, using a computer is limited to

clicking, typing, searching, and, thanks to Siri and similar software, verbal commands.

“Compare that with how humans interact with each other, face to face smiling, frowning, pointing, tone of voice all lend richness to communication,” researchers said.

The new project titled “Communication Through Gestures, Expression and Shared Perception,” aims

to revolutionise everyday interactions between humans and computers.

“Current human-computer interfaces are still severely limited,” said Professor Bruce Draper, from Colorado State University (CSU), who is leading the

project.

“First, they provide essentially one-way communication: users tell the computer what to do.

This was fine when computers were crude tools, but more and more, computers are becoming our partners and assistants in complex tasks. Communication with computers needs to become a two-way dialogue,” said Draper.

The team has proposed creating a library of what are called Elementary Composable Ideas (ECIs).

Like little packets of information recognisable to computers, each ECI contains information about a gesture or facial

expression, derived from human users, as well as a syntactical element that constrains how the information can be read.

To achieve this, the researchers have set up a Microsoft Kinect interface.

A human subject sits down at a table with blocks, pictures and other stimuli.

The researchers try to communicate with and record the person’s natural gestures for concepts like

“stop,” or, “huh?” “We don’t want to say what gestures you should use,” Draper said. “We want people to come in and tell us what gestures are natural. Then, we take those gestures and say, ‘OK, if that’s a natural gesture, how do we recognise it in real time, and what are its semantics? What roles does it play in the conversation? When do you use it? When do you not use it?’” Draper said.

Their goal: making computers smart enough to reliably recognise nonverbal cues from humans in the most natural, intuitive way possible.

According to the project proposal, the work could someday allow people to communicate more easily with computers in noisy settings, or when a person is deaf or hard of hearing, or speaks another language. The project, which falls broadly under Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s basic research arm, is focused on enabling people to talk to computers through gestures and expressions in addition to words, not in place of them, researchers said.

50 percent Indian children trust strangers on web

Over 50 percent Indian children admit to meeting or wanting to meet a stranger they first met online, a new study by USbased Intel Security Group showed.

The study, named Teens, Tweens and Technology Survey, examines online behaviours and social networking habits of tweens and teens aged eight to 16 years.

The study also surveyed the concerns of parents, revealing that when it comes to online activity, 48 percent parents believe that the worst thing to happen to their children is interacting with strangers online. “This concern is warranted given that 44 percent children polled would meet or have met someone in person that they first met online,” the study said. “As with every edition of our Teens, Tweens and Technology survey, this year too, we see some concerning

issues being raised. In analysing the responses of both parents and children, what is evident is that there are a lot more open conversations and disclosures between them,” Melanie Duca, Asia Pacific consumer marketing director, Intel Security, said. “While there are open conversations, work is required on ensuring that these go beyond casual chats. It is imperative to focus on ensuring children understand the consequences of their actions as well as agree on good internet etiquette,” she added. According to the study, the most discussed topics between parents and children are cyber criminals and identity theft (71 percent), privacy settings (62 percent), cyberbullying (57 percent), online reputation (53 percent) or popularity among friends (52 percent).

Skype brings first ‘talking Twitter launches Brand pictures’ to instant messaging Hub to help advertisers Micro-blogging site Twitter on Wednesday launched its Brand Hub feature that will help

understand their brand’s share of conversation, key audiences, and trends about their brand’s

advertisers understand more about their brands.

“Today Twitter is excited to announce Brand Hub, the newest addition to our suite of analytics tools. It helps advertisers quickly

conversation,” the company said in a release. “This 360degree, real-time view gives the brand the opportunity to learn, take action and see the impact of their initiatives on Twitter. With Brand Hub,

users will see insights about your brand in a number of areas,” it added.

Under the new analytics tool, the company has introduced TrueVoice a new metric available within Brand Hub to help advertisers track their share of conversation in real time.

“Share of conversation empowers marketers to learn more about the conversation happening about their brand on Twitter in fact, a research has shown that Tweets that mention brands have been linked to a direct increase in sales,” Twitter said.

Microsoft’s instant messaging, voice and video calling platform Skype on Thursday launched new interactive videos and moving emoticons specifically designed for India.

The new interactive videos or talking pictures, named Mojis by Skype, are the first-of-a-kind very small clips of video (both Bollywood and Hollywood) that the company claims will revolutionise chat platforms.

For the new feature, Skype has partnered with Indian studios Yash Raj Films and ErosNow, the ondemand entertainment platform of Eros International, to develop custom Mojis for Skype

users.

“We identified that these clips might be heavy on data usage for users and hence we have cached

the success of the new feature keeping in mind the high data tarrifs in the country.

“There are about 100 Mojis

them on the app itself reducing the need for the user to download them everytime while sending them over the platform,” Gurdeep Pall, corporate vice president, Skype told IANS when asked about

now and we will keep adding them on the app.

We are also thinking about including several features which may allows users in the future to send custom Mojis via the instant chat,” Pall said.

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‘Disappointed’ Nirbhaya’s parents question govt.’s concern for women Expressing anger and pain over the early release of the juvenile convicted in the Nirbhaya rape-case, the parents of the victim questioning the government’s policy said that a country that cannot keep their women safe, can never become ‘mahaan’ (great).

Drawing attention to the hearing, which took place at 3 am, in the Supreme Court against the execution of Yakub Memon for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, the victim’s mother questioned the government’s seriousness in dealing with issues concerning women. “I want to ask that if the court can open at midnight to decide over a terrorist then can’t they schedule a meeting and form a committee to deliver justice to the girls of the nation. A criminal has the right to demand freedom, but suffering parents and girls have no right. The country where women are not safe that country can never become

‘mahaan’ (great),” she said. The victim’s mother said the government is

trying to save him and thus releasing him before his present term. “We don’t want him to get released at all. What I don’t understand is that why our government does not have affection for these little girls, but has ample affection for the criminals,” she told ANI. “For their votebank, sometimes our government says the age limit must be 15 years and then we get to hear that they are releasing the culprits before their term.

If this is the case, then why this pretence of ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’,” she

added. She urged the people of the country to come together in protest just as they did three years ago when the unfortunate incident took place. The victim’s mother further said the government is in a way encouraging juvenile crimes with the move to release the accused. “If this is what they have to do then why do they even arrest juveniles? They must leave them after awarding them and saying ‘you leave. It is okay. Girls

are not important. They don’t even have the right to live in this country’. If girls are not important then why keep the juvenile in the jails and away from their parents even for three years?” she asked. “By leaving him, the government is in a way giving the right to people that they can kill and rape anyone before the age of 18,” she added.

Commenting on the recent cases of juvenile rapes, she said that if there was no limit to the victim’s age then there should be no age bar for convicts.

“This idea of reducing the age from 18 to 16 makes no sense to us.

If there is no age bar in raping... a two-and-a-halfyear-old child is getting raped, five-year-old is getting raped then while punishing the culprits, there should be no question of age,” she said.

“It is our request to the government that they must relook into their decision in the Nirbhaya case’s juvenile culprit.

Congress: Investors summit drama to promote Harsimrat Kaur’s ministry

TAKING A dig at the investment summit conducted by Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Congress spokesperson Nimisha Mehta has said the entire exercise was a “show only aimed at promoting Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s ministry of food processing.”

In a statement, Mehta alleged that the summit was a drama staged by Badals at the cost of public money. The Congress spokesperson claimed that Sukhbir had offered special incentives to investors in the food processing ministry whereas investors such as Rahul Bajaj in their address on the first day of the summit had openly said they were being

offered better incentives in other states. Therefore, the Dy CM stood exposed The summit had nothing to attract major investors but was a mere gimmick to save Harsimrat’s Cabinet berth, the statement alleged.

Targeting Sukhbir over his claims of getting investment worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore in Punjab, Mehta said everybody in Punjab was aware that in 2013, Sukhbir had made claims of getting Rs 63,000 crore investment in Punjab and not even half of the MOUs signed had materialised.

The Congress spokesperson said Sukhbir must explain why other industries were not offered similar incentives as those to the food processing industry.

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Imran, Reham part ways LAHORE Imran Khan’s marriage to former BBC presenter Reham collapsed as he was facing a lot of pressure from his family and some party leaders, a source in the PTI leadership told the news paper..

“Things had turned so bad that Imran was not even on speaking terms with his sisters. They did not attend the marriage ceremony and never invited the couple to visit their houses. They did not even vote in the NA-122 election.”“There were some people in the party who did not like the popularity that Reham was getting. They thought it was not in the interest of party and continuously poisoned Imran not to involve her in politics. She was ambitious and ran a good campaign in Haripur election on August 16. PTI lost the election and these people in the party blamed her for weak campaign.”

“These PTI leaders did not want her to interfere in party’s affairs.

They convinced Imran and he barred her from taking part in politics. She was however not deterred and came to PTI public meeting in Samanabad as a participant. Reham visited the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar and continued to make statements on social media. These leaders were

disturbed and convinced Imran, who had also developed differences with her on other issues, to get rid of her in an amicable way. They had put Imran in a situation of no return,” the PTI source told The Nation.

the PTI leader claimed last night.

According to the source Khan dismissed her suspicion that Jemima was behind a “smear” campaign against her which included photographs of her wearing Western clothes.

“Among the many differences that had developed between the couple was Imran’s staying at Jemima’s house whenever he visited UK,” the source said.

Another reason was that Imran had rejected Reham’s fears that his former wife Jemima was waging a smear campaign against her, a close associate of

The claims emerged yesterday after the couple confirmed their separation in a sensational series of statements on social media.Their divorce after just ten months of marriage was disclosed on the eve of today’s crucial Local Bodies elections and could affect their outcome.

Senior PTI leaders fear it could cause damage to the party’s

VW’s Bentley to recall 27,640 cars due to faulty batteries

FRANKFURT Volkswagen’s luxury brand Bentley has recalled 27,640 cars worldwide because of potentially faulty battery cable connections, a Bentley spokesman said on Tuesday.

The models affected were all Continental GT/GTC/Flying Spur and new Flying Spur cars built between February 2011 and June 2014, the spokesman said in an emailed statement. “On a limited number of cars, a bolted connection for a battery cable joint could be loose,” the statement said. “To address this, we will replace the components with a new connection system for all vehicles, which will take

approximately two hours per car.”

All Bentleys built outside of these dates, and all Mulsanne models, are unaffected.

The number of recalled vehicles included 5,906 cars in China, the brand’s second-biggest market after the Americas, Bentley said.

“This is a voluntary recall and is in no way connected to any other recalls from other automotive manufacturers,” it added.

Bentley’s parent company VW is currently embroiled in its biggest-ever scandal after admitting that it had fitted 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide with software to skew emission tests.

electoral prospects, while there are contrasting reports that his separation could impact female vote.An official statement by PTI spokesman Naeemul Haq announcing their divorce around noon yesterday was initially met with disbelief but the news was quickly confirmed by Reham herself in a post on the social media site Twitter. “We have decided to part ways and file for divorce,” she said.

Shortly after, Imran Khan made his own statement confirming their separation and pleading for privacy. “This is a painful time for me and Reham and our families.

I would request everyone to respect our privacy,” he said. He defended his estranged wife against personal attacks and said he had the “greatest respect for Reham’s moral character and her passion to work for and help the underprivileged.”He rejected claims that she will receive 180 million rupees ($1.8m) and gold and diamond jewellery. “Reports and speculation about financial settlements are absolutely false and shameful,” he added.

Rumours of problems in their marriage surfaced last summer and appeared to culminate in a fierce denial by the PTI leader in

September when he said he was “shocked by a TV channel making slanderous statements about my marriage. I strongly urge them to desist from such baseless statements.” His wife also rejected the claims and suggested ill-will by unnamed figures would not “stop Imran and I from the path we have chosen.

We will both continue to work hard to deliver a Naya Pakistan together,” she said on September 23rd.

They were speaking after a series of articles in the British Daily Mail tabloid portrayed her as a Westernised party girl who had abandoned her Islamic culture to get to the top, including appearing in a video cooking forbidden pork sausages.

In August the paper published affectionate photographs of Jemima Khan with two of sons from her marriage to the PTI leader with his sister Aleema.

His ex-wife posted the pictures online with the caption ‘with phuphi’ suggesting a continuing warm relationship with Khan’s family, which was believed to have opposed his marriage to Reham.Two weeks later the Mail carried an interview in which her ex-husband publicly accused her of making false domestic violence claims about him. She had used him ‘like toilet paper to clean up her image’ following the criticism of her Western lifestyle, he said.

Dutch mediaeval master paintings likely imitations THE HAGUE Two famous paintings thought to be works of mediaeval Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch are likely to have been imitations painted around the same time, Dutch media reported on Saturday.

The works “Christ Carrying the Cross” (around 1515-16) and “The Seven Deadly Sins” (around 1500) “were made at the same time, but likely to have been made by imitators,” public news broadcaster NOS said. The conclusion was made after years of research by the Bosch Research and Conservation Project (BRCP), which since 2010 have been studying and documenting the early Dutch master’s works, the NOS said.

Researchers were able to compare paintings using infrared reflectography, ultrahighresolution digital macro photography and other modern techniques, the BRCP said on its website. “Together with the microscopic study of the paintings, all of this enabled us to write extensive research reports detailing the conditions of the works,” it added.

The project’s team includes researchers from Amsterdam’s famous Rijksmuseum, Radboud University in Nijmegen and the

century were cited by the Surrealists as precursors of their own visions,” London’s National Gallery described Bosch’s

University of Arizona in Tucson.

“Christ Carrying the Cross” currently hangs in the Museum of Fine Arts in the Belgian city of Ghent, while “The Seven Deadly Sins” is in Madrid’s Prado Museum.

Both paintings have long been regarded as seminal works by Bosch, known for his love of fantastical angels and saints, diabolical monsters and devils and nightmares taken from Biblical themes.“Bosch’s works particularly influenced Bruegel in the 16th century... and in the 20th

works. The Netherlands -- and in particular the southern Dutch city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, better known as Den Bosch, after which the painter is named -- is gearing for the 500th anniversary of his death next year. The city’s Noordbrabants Museum plans to stage an exhibition with one of the largest collections ever of Bosch’s paintings on loan from the Prado, the Louvre in Paris, New York’s Metropolitan Museum and Rotterdam’s Boijmans Van Beuningen museum.

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RSS seeks review of population policy to counter Muslim growth The RSS on Saturday sought a review of the population policy to counter “severe demographic changes” in India, flagging what it considers a high rate of growth among Muslims in the country.

The Hindutva outfit – considered the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP at the Centre – passed a resolution on the contentious issue at its threeday national executive in Jharkhand’s capital.

The RSS and its affiliated organisations have been citing the last census figures to claim that the Hindus are facing the threat of being swamped by Muslims, though the minority community accounts for only 14.2% of the country’s population while their population is growing at a slower rate.

The Hindu population was pegged at 79.8% of the population by the religion data of Census 2011.

“The share of population of religions of Bharatiya origin has slipped from 88% to 83.5% between 1951-2011 censuses while Muslim population has increased from 9.8% to 14.23% in the intervening period,” said the resolution, a copy of which was released to the media.

The RSS considers the Hindus as Bharatiyas (Indians) to make

a distinction with Muslims and Christians whom the organisation claims arrived with “invaders” like the Mughals and British.

Expressing concern over the “demographic imbalances”, the RSS urged the Centre to

reformulate the national population policy keeping in view the availability of resources in the country and future needs, the same idea floated by the outfit’s top leader Mohan Bhagwat in his Vijaya Dashami speech in Nagpur on October 22. It also pointed out alleged abnormal rise in population of Muslims and Christians in some Northeast states like Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

“The Muslim population growth rate has been higher than the national average in border states

Indian airline blocks woman in short dress from flight

Honda launches new £120,000 NSX

of Assam, West Bengal and Bihar indicating unabated infiltration from Bangladesh which is corroborated by the Upamanyu Hazarika commission report and judicial pronouncements from time to time,” the resolution read,

adding that the infiltrators were usurping the rights of the natives and resulting in socio-cultural and economic tensions. The organisation said that the “unnatural growth of Christian population in many districts of the country indicates targeted religious conversion activity by some vested interests” and threatening the unity, integrity and cultural identity of the country. RSS leader Krishna Gopal said though India was one of the early countries in the world to announce as early as 1952 that it will have population planning measures, it was only in 2000 that a comprehensive population policy was formulated and a population commission was formed. In January this year, BJP leader Sakshi Maharaj had asked all Hindu women to bear four children to protect the religion, which was slammed by women rights activists and minority organisations.

By this time next year, Honda will (finally) be building the new NSX. It may even have made it to the UK by then - either way, right-hand drive production will be happening and ten years after the original went off sale, Honda will be back in the supercar market.

Developed by arguably the greatest F1 driver of all time, Ayrton Senna, the original has gained iconic car status - some big shoes to fill.

So does the much-anticipated rebirth of the Honda NSX have the credentials to ruffle the feathers of supercar royalty? AutoCar put it to the test for us to see if it matched the latest offering from Ferrari and Lamborghini, we reveal the results here.

The new NSX is all-aluminium and very Calais: A man looks at the carcasses of long-finned pilot whales stranded on a beach in the northern French city of Calais. Ten beached whales, including a dominant male of 4,5m in length, were discovered in the early morning. Six of the whales had already died by the time firefighters and members of the local Animal Protection League (LPA) got to the scene, but they were able to revive four of the mammals, including two calves, and helped them return to the sea. Its 3.5-litre V6 engine is mated to three electric motors

and a nine-speed dual-clutch gearbox, and the whole lot gives you 573bhp to enjoy.

There’s one electric motor at the back to provide low-speed torque while the engine’s twin turbos are spooling up, which sounds like a smooth idea. Up front are the other two, one at each wheel, taking care of your four-wheel drive and torque-vectoring needs.

For what it’s worth, they also give you some EV capability. But with only 72bhp between them, it won’t be long before you hear the petrol engine firing up.

When it does, you might be a bit nonplussed by the noise. At least, you might if you’re used to driving conventional supercars, because it lacks the sound and fury that’s part of the fun. It’s also best left in auto mode, simply because with nine speeds it’s getting to the point where the human mind isn’t fast enough to cope. This particular human mind, at least. But let it do the work for you and it does it very well indeed.

Talking of things done well, the cabin is a finely worked combination of nice shapes and classy, sporty materials, even if some of the stuff is also found on lesser Hondas. Lesser Hondas with somewhere to put your bits and bobs, we might add, which the NSX mainly leaves out.

Navtej Sarna named high commissioner to the United Kingdom A female passenger was prevented from boarding a domestic flight in India because she was showing too much leg, the budget carrier IndiGo and newspaper reports said on Thursday.

The woman travelling from the western city of Mumbai to India’s capital New Delhi was not allowed to board Monday’s flight because her dress was too short, the Indian Express reported. An official at IndiGo, who asked not to be named, told AFP that the dress had stopped above the knee, in violation of rules issued to employees and relatives of staff.

The woman was formerly employed by the airline and was travelling on a special ticket because her sister worked for the company, the

official said. “Employees and the nominated family members are required to maintain a specific dress code, as and when they fly with the airline under the staff leisure travel privileges,” read an IndiGo statement. “Keeping in mind this policy, the Mumbai ground staff followed the protocol to brief this passenger on the dress code policy,” it added.

The Indian national changed her attire and was allowed onto a later flight, the official said, stressing that the dress code was not for ordinary customers. IndiGo is India’s only consistently profitable airline and commands almost 40 percent of its home market, the biggest share of any airline.

It is currently seeking to raise $460 million through an initial public offering.

Navtej Singh Sarna, an Indian Foreign Service officer of 1980 batch, will be India’s next high commissioner to UK, the external affairs ministry said in a release on Saturday. Sarna, an author of many fiction and nonfiction books, is currently serving as secretary (west) in the ministry. He will succeed Ranjan Mathai, a former foreign secretary, as India’s envoy in the UK. “He is expected to take up his assignment shortly,” the release said.Sarna was the longestserving spokesperson of the ministry and its most visible face from 2002 to 2008. He served as India’s ambassador to Israel from

2008 to 2012. For two years from August 2012, Sarna served as additional secretary in-charge of international organisations.

He was then made secretary (west) in the ministry. He represented India at the officers’ meeting at the India-Africa forum

summit that concluded on Thursday. Sarna is also wellversed in Russian and Polish languages and has served in various Indian missions, including Moscow, Warsaw, Tehran, Geneva, Thimphu and Washington.

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Internal security going to be a big challenge for India says Doval Managing internal security is going to be a major challenge for the country, national security advisor Ajit Doval said on Saturday as he asked the police force to train and equip themselves to tackle the “fourth generation” warfare with an invisible enemy.

Speaking after reviewing the

passing out parade of the 67 RR (2014 batch) of Indian Police Service (IPS) probationers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad, Doval said India cannot become a

great and powerful country without managing its internal security.

“When you retire probably from 35-37 years from now, this will be an entirely new India. This will be an India, which will be a global power and it will be a big and great India, which will have great economic challenges, great

economic opportunities and which will have much greater population, more opportunities and more problems,” he said.

Stating that India would face more and more internal security problems, Doval said, “You

Global Sikhs raise issues about community

cannot have a great powerful country if you cannot manage its internal security. It is only the policemen who can fight this battle and win it. Train yourself to become powerful intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, as strong as possible you can.”

“You have to master the technology. The biggest challenge will be now if you have to fight and win this fourth generation of warfare, whether it is organised crime, terrorism, insurgency or foreign powers trying to meddle into your internal affairs you have got to be demonstrative.

“From normal policing to crime detection, organised crime, management of borders, cyber security, banking frauds... acquire lot of knowledge and skills,” Doval advocated. “Now it is a war of a policeman, as civil society is mostly affected. If you win, the country wins. Many countries are collapsing with internal security problems. Only police can fight and win the battle,” he said.

According to him, in the post war period, 37 countries have failed or have degraded themselves. Out of that only nine were due to external aggressions while 28 degraded themselves or became a failure because they could not manage their internal security. “Whether it is Pakistan or even for that matter erstwhile Soviet Union,” Doval pointed out adding internal security is most important.

No commercial surrogacy, only for needy Indian couples, Govt tells SC The government on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that it does not support commercial surrogacy and that a proposed new law will allow surrogacy only for Indian couples and not foreigners.

Submitting its affidavit in the court, the government said only “altruistic surrogacy” to needy infertile married Indian couples will be provided after their cases are examined by a competent authority.

“The government does not support commercial surrogacy and also the scope of surrogacy is limited to Indian married infertile couples only and not to foreigners…adequate provisions will be made in the enactment to prohibit and penalise commercial surrogacy services,” stated the affidavit.

According to the draft of the new law, The Assisted Reproductive Techniques (Regulation) Bill, 2014, various provisions relating to surrogacy and rights of the surrogate mothers have been incorporated and the consultation process was underway to finalise the Bill.

Further, in view of objections by the Health ministry, the government said the Commerce ministry has restricted the import of embryo for research purposes; it cannot be imported for commercial surrogacy any further.On a court query whether both the surrogate mother and the genetic mother can be said to be the mother of the surrogate child, the affidavit replied parentage is “very complex” and this issue will be settled in the

proposed law after consultation with the ministries of Law and Women and Child Development.

Moreover, under the new law, penalty on couples refusing to take custody of a surrogate child born with disabilities has also been proposed. “The respondent

(government) is in the process of bringing a comprehensive legal framework for not only protecting the rights of surrogate mothers but also for prohibiting and penalising commercial surrogacy. In order to do so, the respondent will require some time,” pleaded the government.

The affidavit has been filed in response to 14 specific issues that were framed by a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice N V Ramana which heard a matter relating to commercial surrogacy. The case came up for hearing on Wednesday but the bench declined a plea by Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to tender the affidavit in the court and respond. The bench asked Kumar to file the affidavit in normal course and fixed the case for hearing on November 24.

NRI who shot dead his friend, bought gun from a criminal in Mohali Sikh organizations across Europe and USA have sought intervention of UN and America in addressing the community’s issues prominently among them the oppression on Sikhs in India.

Movement Against Atrocities and Repression (MAAR) president Harminder Singh Khalsa informed TOI on Saturday that Sikh representatives from as many as a dozen nations gave a memorandum to UN secretary general demanding UN-led inquiry into the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

He said they also informed UN that US President Barack Obama, while speaking in Delhi in January, had also criticized Narendra Modi-led NDA government by making a plea for freedom of religion to be upheld in India. He said they had also demanded release of Sikh political prisoners and expressed concern over recent incidents of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab.

The memorandum submitted to UN also informed in detail about the use of police to control

protesting Sikhs which resulted in death of two persons.

The US Sikh Congressional Caucus has also taken a strong exception to the desecration of holy scripture and has taken up the matter with the American administration. “The caucus has written a letter of concern to the US secretary of state John F Kerry expressing deep concerns over the desecration of the Sikh holy scriptures and the subsequent violence against protesters in Punjab,” informed American Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee coordinator Pritpal Singh.

He said that US Congressmen Patrick Meehan and Johan Geramandi had also written to Kerry apprising him of the incident of stealing of Guru Granth Sahib from a gurdwara at Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village of Faridkot district of Punjab and tearing of pages of holy scriptures followed by unrest among Sikhs. He said Congressmen were concerned due to large American Sikh population in their districts and around the country.

The US-based NRI, Manish Prabhakar, who had allegedly shot dead his friend in a druginduced haze at a roadside near Phase VIII on October 10, had purchased a pistol with cartridge from his friend, who was also facing criminal charges, in Sangrur, police have claimed.

Manish who was sent in police remand for five days and later judicial remand, told the police that he went to Sangrur and purchased the country-made weapon from his friend Rajwinder Singh alias Raju, 24, a resident of Sangrur.

The crime investigation agency has already arrested Rajwinder Singh from Sangrur. He was involved in various crimes and booked in an attempt to murder

case at Dhuri. He has also served one-year and eightmonth jail terms in two separate cases. About six months ago he was released on bail, said Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar.

Prabhakar was also a habitual offender and a proclaimed offender (PO) in a two-year-old assault case in Barnala, Punjab. He had managed a gym in his home town and drove a truck in the US. Prabhakar was now lodged in Nabha jail under judicial custody. The police have also nabbed the two other accused, Iqbal Singh Bhuttar and Avatar Singh Bhuttar, who were booked along with Manish for the murder of Harpreet Singh.

Manish when caught was unstable and he was unaware about the fact that he had murdered his friend. He was admitted to civil hospital and then at PGI to remove the influence of drugs from his body.

After which he was sent for police remand.

Makhan Singh, father of the NRI, claimed, “The pistol belonged to the two other accused .

I and the family of Harpreet Singh will submit a request before the SSP and other authorities to investigate the matter form another angle. My son never came home. How come then he purchased a pistol from Sangrur? He was picked up by his friends from Nepal border.”

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German IS rapper who threatened Obama killed in air strike

Washington A German rapper who publicly threatened US President Barack Obama after joining the dreaded Islamic State (IS) has been killed in an air strike in Syria, a defence official said.

Denis Cuspert, also known by his artist name Deso Dogg, used to rap in Berlin and was one of the most famous Western fighters for the IS. “I can confirm that an October 16 strike near Raqa killed Denis Cuspert,” US defense department spokesperson Elissa Smith said.

Cuspert joined IS in 2012 and went on to appear in numerous videos from the militant group, including one in November last year “in which he appears holding a severed head he claims belongs to a man executed for opposing ISIL,” the state department previously said.

Cuspert had pledged an oath of loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr alBaghdadi and was a chief recruiter of German fighters.

According to Smith, Cuspert had

threatened Obama and US and German citizens, and had also encouraged Western Muslims to carry out IS-inspired attacks.

“Cuspert was a foreign terrorist fighter and operative for ISIL who used social media to take advantage of disaffected youth and potential Western recruits,” she said, using an alternative name for the IS group.

IS prohibits music, but singing is allowed, and some of the jihadists’ grisly videos have a vocal sound track.

Earlier in the day, a defense official speaking on condition of anonymity said that Cuspert “was not considered a high-value target (and) we were not specifically targeting him.”

He also noted that other IS jihadists may have been hit.

Jihadist sources in April 2014 said Cuspert had been killed in Syria but they later retracted the claim.

Cuspert, who later went by Abu Talha al-Almani, was listed as an Al-Qaeda supporter by the United Nations.

US to send special forces to help Syrian rebels against IS Washington In a major escalation of its engagement in Syria, the United States on Friday announced it will send Special Operations Forces there to help rebels fighting the Islamic State (IS).

Around the same time, foreign ministers of 20 countries meeting in Vienna asked the UN to explore a political solution in Syria through talks, followed by a new constitution and elections.

This is much in line with India’s position on dealing with the crisis in Syria that it needs to be solved politically, with cessation of violence by both sides.

The foreign ministers asked the UN in a communique to call a meeting of the Syrian government and opposition to find a solution that leads to “credible, inclusive, nonsectarian governance, followed by a new constitution and elections”. In the same communique, the foreign ministers resolved to ensure the defeat of Da’esh, another name for IS, and other terrorist groups designed by the UN.

Indian-origin cousins sentenced in US for murder conspiracy WASHINGTON Two Indian-origin cousins, convicted for conspiring to commit murder of the wife of one of them in 2013, have been sentenced to 15 years each in prison by a US court, media reports said.

Pratikkumar Patel and his cousin Kalpesh Patel of Gallatin city in Tennessee, received the sentence of 15 years each from Circuit Court Judge for trying to arrange the murder of Krupaben Patel, the

wife of Prattikumar Patel, wgnsradio.com reported. They were arrested in September 2013. The Patels were found guilty in August this year of paying

Chris Robinson of Rutherford county to have Pratik’s wife killed because they couldn’t get a divorce.

Robinson instead cooperated with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who set up a taped call with Prattikumar Patel and arrested both men. The Patels, who owned a handful of convenience stores and gas stations in Sumner and Rutherford counties, will be eligible for parole after serving 30 per cent.

IS recruiter Afsha Jabeen was Islamic State beheads 4 Iraq living illegally in Dubai since 2009 Kurd fighters after joint US raid

Baghdad Four Iraqi Kurdish fighters were beheaded by the Islamic State jihadists following a joint raid with American special forces at a prison in which around 70 people were freed, according to a video posted online.

The US-Kurdish operation last week deepened American involvement in the war against the jihadists and led to the first US combat fatality in Iraq since its 2011 withdrawal from the country.

The video sought to portray the operation as a failure, with speakers saying the attacking forces were unable to overcome numerically inferior jihadists and displaying used first aid supplies that were left behind.

It included images of areas said

to have been hit by air strikes in the course of the operation, and ended with the execution of four men, said to be members of the Kurdish peshmerga security forces.

Four black-clad masked militants used knives to behead the men, who were dressed in orange jumpsuits and had their hands bound behind their backs.

It was not clear when the beheadings took place.

IS has seized control of large parts of Iraq and Syria, declaring a cross-border “caliphate”, imposing its brutal interpretation of Islam and committing widespread atrocities.

A US-led coalition launched air strikes against the jihadists in August 2014, supporting Iraqi forces, including Kurdish

NEW DELHI slamic State online recruiter Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph and her family was living illegally in Dubai since 2009 as their visas had expired and they didn’t have money to extend their visas.

Subsequently, after the premature birth of her second and third daughter in 2012 and 2013, she and her husband Devender Kumar Batra’s passport were kept by hospital authorities in Dubai since couldn’t pay the hospital fees.

Batra had converted to Islam after the marriage.

Jabeen, told the Intelligence Bureau officials that they “owed huge amount to immigration authorities in Dubai for regularization of their stay” there. Deported from Dubai in September, Jabeen along with her associate Salman Mohiuddin had motivated several youths from different cities to join the militant outfit. Jabeen is being questioned by agencies about her association with other members who radicalized youngsters on social networking sites and Facebook pages.

ToI exclusively accessed her interrogation report in which she talks about her schooling, her love marriage with a Hindu boy against her parents’ wishes, her stay in Dubai, developing

interest in religious activities and Jihad and influencing youngsters to join the outfit.

visa and we stayed illegally from 2009 onwards,” she said.

Talking about her stay in UAE,

Jabeen lived with Batra and her three daughters in- Satwa, AlKarama and Al-Nahda areas of Dubai since 2006. Batra did real estate work and some stray jobs there while she stayed at home looking after her elder daughter. “After reaching Dubai, we faced a lot of problems from our sponsor as he demanded 10,000 dirhams to sponsor visas for us,” Jabeen told interrogators. Senior officials said that Jabeen and her family required to extend their visas for which they had to pay money to a contact person. “Due to this problem (money), we did not get

Afsha told interrogators, “I was suffering from hypothyroidism due to which I conceived and gave birth to a premature baby (girl) in May 2012. Similarly, my third daughter was born prematurely in November 2013.

Due to birth of my two immature babies, we suffered a lot financially as my babies were kept in incubators for two months each. As we were unable to pay the medical bills, the hospital kept our passports as security”. She further says that “we owed huge amount to immigration authorities in Dubai for regularization of our stay”.

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Teenager invents

revolutionary device Which has the potential to charge a cell phone within just 20 SECONDS A California teen has attracted the attention of tech giants Google for her potentially revolutionary invention which charges a phone in 20 seconds flat.

The super-fast charging device

has been dubbed a supercapacitor by 18-year-old Esha Khare, of Saratoga - as she took home $50,000 from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which took place in Phoenix this week.

The device will make waiting hours for a phone to charge a thing of the past and the gizmo

Texas man tired of homeless people sleeping on his property

Builds a fake GRAVEYARD complete with old tombstones - only to find out they were made for real dead people One rankled resident in Texas used a very morbid trick to try and deter vagrancy outside of his home.

A downtown Houston home owner installed three grave sites complete with fake headstones to try and prevent people from loitering or littering on his much-traversed property.

However the headstones, which appear at the corner of Houston Avenue and North Memorial Drive, were actually discarded from a local monument company and are inscribed with the names of actual deceased people.

The home owner (who wished to remain anonymous) told Houston’s KTRK that he was out of town but over the phone he said he was unaware the markers were at one time authentic. He told the station, ‘he regrets that.’

The downtown resident said he installed the fake graveyard to deter vagrancy, a legitimate problem in his neighborhood.

The headstones were put in place about a year ago.

That timeline fits with the account of tow-truck driver Fernando Villa, who witnessed the home owner installing the pretend cemetery at about that time.

‘I saw them putting a fence up, and about maybe two to three months later, the headstones are put up.’

Villa did seem to sympathize with the owner’s attempt at combating the vagrants.

‘There were no bodies there.

But it’s to keep the vagrants out of here because they were always sleeping right there.’

The three headstones are inscribed with the following actual people: Johnny Mack Chappell, Dee Brown Hancock and Sandra Ruth Howen.

Wayne Chappell, the brother of Johnny Mack Campbell informed ABCNews.com that he and other family members were ‘tickled’ by the story.

‘He would get his friends and have a beer party next to it or something,’ said Chappell.

packs more energy into a smaller space than traditional phone batteries and holds the charge for longer.

So far, Khare has only used her supercapacitor to power a lightemitting diode or LED - but she sees a bright future that one day will see her invention powering cellphones, cars and any gadget that requires a rechargeable battery.

Heading to Harvard, Khare told CBS San Francisco that this is only the start and that she will ‘be setting the world on fire’ from here.

‘My cellphone battery always dies,’ she told NBC News when asked what inspired her to work on the energy-storage technology.

Specializing in nanochemistry allowed Khare to reduve the size of her invention. ‘Really working at the nanoscale to make significant advances in many different fields.’

‘It is also flexible, so it can be used in rollup displays and clothing and fabric,’ Khare added.

‘It has a lot of different applications and advantages

over batteries in that sense.’

The supercapacitor is flexible and tiny, and is able to handle 10,000 recharge cycles, more than normal batteries by a factor of 10.

How an 18-year-old girl has managed to figure out something that multi-national corporations have not has led to her being flooded with offers for her amazing leap forward.

Google have been in contact with Khare to explore how she plans to change the makeup of cell phone battery life.

Nightclub bosses install two-way mirror in women's toilets So groups of men can leer at clubbers using sinks from private booths A Scottish nightclub has installed a two-way mirror allowing male revellers to secretly spy on women when they visit the venue’s toilets.

Only clubbers who hire out either of the two £800-a-time private rooms at The Shimmy Club in Glasgow can view the spyglass which overlooks the sinks in the women’s toilets.

Similar to the those used in police interrogation rooms, the mirror allows revellers in the private function rooms to spy on those in the women’s toilets without their knowledge.

A picture taken inside one of the rooms and leaked on the internet shows two female clubbers applying make-up in the toilets completely unaware they are being watched.

The two-way mirror has outraged female guests and women’s rights campaigners.

The nightclub, which is owned by millionaire entrepreneur Stefan King’s G1 Group, has defended the ‘interactive feature’ as ‘a bit of fun’. A comment posted on the nightclub’s Facebook page read: ‘The Shimmy Club’s two-way mirror is a design feature created as a bit of fun, an interactive feature which we hoped would act as a talking point for people visiting The Shimmy.

The vast majority of people who have visited the club have taken it as such. ‘It’s clear that those who are negatively commenting online may not have been lucky enough to get past the door staff yet and viewed the area as they would have seen that the sight line is very limited and allows for glimpses into the wash up area only of the ladies loos (there is also a separate mirror area which is completely out of view of the club). ‘There has always been signage in the toilets which no-one has

mentioned thus far but as a result of the media feedback clearer signage has been put in

I find it absolutely outrageous that a club can get away with this, it is a complete invasion

place to inform our female customers.

‘Overall our customers seem to enjoy this unique idea, loads of you have used the opportunity as it was intended and knowingly had pictures taken acting up to the camera individually or in a group of friends. ‘However we are committed to listening to you guys who are our core customer base and hugely appreciate your loyalty so if your feedback (and not that of the media) is that you want the mirror area to change then we will listen to that and make changes.’

A spokesman for the club claimed that men and mixed groups are not allowed to hire the rooms. But a photograph on the venue’s own Facebook site showed two young women in a bathroom while a man looks on from the other side of the mirror, the Daily Express reports.

Shocked female revellers have told how they were completely unaware of the mirror and had no idea they could be viewed by people in private rooms as they used the venue’s toilet. One clubber whom asked not to be named told the newspaper: ‘I was completely shocked to discover that the mirror in the ladies’ bathroom is a two-way mirror facing out onto the club.

of privacy of the unsuspecting girls.’Nowhere is it made clear that this is the case so when visiting the bathroom for the first time, there are women bending over the sink, pouting into the mirror to redo their lipstick, adjusting themselves whilst unknowingly being watched by people on the other side.

‘The fact that these two-way mirrors only look into the ladies’ bathrooms and not the men’s makes it clear that the intention is to sexualise women as objects, allowing men to make inappropriate gestures and leer disgustingly at them.’

The Scottish arm of sexual harassment group Hollaback said it was ‘shocked’ at the reports, saying they were ‘gob smacking’.

Glasgow MSP Drew Smith said he was concerned about the set up, adding: ‘I think most of us find the concept of a voyeur toilet disturbing.

‘I would urge the management of this club to board it up and show their customers some respect. ‘Women using a washroom should not have to worry about whether they are part of some kind of bizarre peep show.’ An online petition has also been started calling for awards that were given to venue owner G1 Group to be retracted.

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Publisher of slain atheist writer’s books murdered in Dhaka

The publisher of an atheist writer killed earlier this year by suspected Islamists was hacked to death in Bangladesh on Saturday, hours after two secular bloggers and another publisher were also attacked.Both attacks in the capital Dhaka the latest in a wave of violence targeting secular activists blamed on a banned Islamist group followed the same pattern, with the assailants attacking the men with machetes and cleavers, leaving them in a pool of blood and padlocking their offices from the outside as they left, police said.Faisal Arefin Dipan, 43, was killed in his third-floor office in central Dhaka, his father Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq, a noted intellectual and writer, told AFP.“I

rushed to his office at Aziz Market and broke the padlock. And I saw him lying upside down in a massive pool of blood. They slaughtered his neck. He is dead,” he said.

Police inspector Mozammel Haq also confirmed Dipan’s death.

Haq told AFP that he became worried about his son after he heard of the earlier attack that left publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and bloggers Ranadipam Basu and Tareq Rahim severely injured.“He published the books of Avijit Roy. They also attacked other publishers of Roy but only my son died,” Haq said. Atheist blogger Roy was killed in February the first death in the wave of violence against secular writers in Bangladesh.

Nepal Parliament elects Bidya Bhandari as the first woman president Nepal’s parliament on Wednesday elected a Communist leader who has long campaigned for women’s rights as the nation’s first female president.Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti announced that Bidya Devi Bhandari of the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist received

327 votes against her opponent’s 214 in parliament. Bhandari is Nepal’s second president since it turned into a republic after abolishing the centuries-old monarchy. Ram Baran Yadav was the president for the last seven years because it took that long for the constitution to be prepared and adopted.

Singapore has been declared as the world’s healthiest country in a recent reports with India securing the 103rd position. The list ranked the countries with the help of the data from the United

least 1 million, reports the Independent.

The ratings were given depending on factors such as birth, mortality rates and cause of death. Health risks are based on

China says will support Nepal ‘sovereignty’ after landmark fuel deal A day after signing a first ever fuel agreement with Nepal, China said on Thursday it would continue to support Kathmandu’s ‘sovereignty and independence’ and extend assistance, amid a continuing blockade on the Nepal-India border.

the Constitution issue.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it would continue to support Nepal’s efforts in ensuring its “sovereignty”. “In response to a request from the Nepali side the Chinese government decided to supply a certain amount of

The Chinese government said it had decided to supply emergency fuel assistance after a working group from Nepal came to China for urgent talks, triggered by the continuing blockade of fuel imports from India.

Nepal had in the talks requested for emergency assistance to alleviate shortages that have been worsened by ongoing blockades along the Nepal-India border on account of protests in the Madhesi region against the Constitution.

The deal ends India’s status as a sole supplier of fuel for Nepal and will pave the way for closer economic relations and trade with China, officials said, amid Kathmandu’s on-going differences with New Delhi over

emergency fuel assistance so as to help Nepal tide over fuel shortage,” spokesperson Lu Kang said.

“A working group from Nepal also visited China. They had discussions with relevant authorities in China on the trade of oil products.”

Lu also congratulated Nepal on the election of Bidhya Devi Bhandari as its first female president. “We hope under the leadership of the new president and the Nepali government, the Nepali people can unite together

and jointly build a Nepal that is peaceful, stable and prosperous,” Lu said.

China has taken a different position from India on the Constitution issue, giving its support to Kathmandu although Beijing has also urged Nepal to ensure interests of all sections are represented. “China and Nepal are friendly neighbours,” added Lu. “We support Nepal in its efforts for ensuring independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We will lend assistance to Nepal within our capabilities.”

According to Nepali reports, the fuel agreement was reached with China after the working group held talks in Beijing.

Details on the amount of fuel to be supplied and logistics still need to be worked out. The deal follows an earlier agreement to supply 1.3 million litres of gasoline.

China earlier this month also moved to reopen its land border with Nepal at an earlier-thanexpected date. The border had been closed following an earthquake and landslides in Tibet. China accelerated construction work to reopen the border after Kathmandu requested urgent assistance following the blockade in the India border, which has strained India’s ties with Nepal amid worsening fuel shortages.

China signs $17 billion deal to buy 130 Airbus aircraft

Singapore ranked first in world’s healthiest countries list while India secured 103rd position

Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation.

In order to identify the healthiest countries in the world the Bloomberg Rankings created health score and health risk scores with populations of at

factors such as number of young people who smoke, people suffering from high cholesterol and number of immunisation.

Singapore receives an overall grade of 89.45%. Italy is in second place with 89.07%, while

Australia comes third with 88.33%.

The rankings are dominated by Asian and European countries.

North and South American countries did not feature in the top 20s.

Israel was the only Middle Eastern country to make it in the top 10 league.

The UK also failed to reach the top 20, ranking at number 21 with a score of 76.84% per cent, behind Belgium, Ireland and Norway.

India ranked 103rd with an overall score of 22.17%.

Most African nations occupied the latter half of the list with Lesotho, Democratic republic of Congo, Chad and Mozambique falling in the bottom 10.

Swaziland was the at the very bottom of the list with an overall grade of just 0.26 per cent. The study also pointed towards a global rise in the level of consumption of healthy food like fruits and vegetables, along side an increasing intake of unhealthy junk food.

China on Thursday signed a USD 17 billion contract with European aerospace consortium Airbus to buy 130 aircraft as German Chancellor Angela Merkel began a visit to the worlds second largest economy, which is also the worlds leading aviation market. State-owned China Aviation Supplies Holding Group and Airbus signed the giant deal to buy 30 wide-body A330 planes and 100 single-aisle A320 aircraft. The order, valued at USD 17 billion, was announced after Merkel met Chinas Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing. China is the European Unions largest trading partner and several major EU countries including Germany, Britain and France are wooing the country in the hope of becoming hubs for the growing overseas trade of Chinas yuan currency.

Airbus, the worlds second-

largest aerospace company behind Boeing Co, is battling its US rival for dominance of the Chinese market. During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US last month, Seattle-based Boeing announced a record purchase of 300 aircraft worth around USD 38 billion. China is leading the world in air passenger growth.

Its domestic air traffic is expected to surpass that of all other countries within the next 10 years, the Airbus said in statement. Around 5,400 new passenger and cargo planes will be needed in China in the coming 20 years, including about 1,700 wide-body aircraft such as the A330, the Airbus said. The A330 Family, which seats 250 to 440 passengers, is one of the most efficient aircraft in the world, with the lowest operating costs in its category.

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Antarctica is gaining ice

LONDON Antarctica is gaining more ice than what it loses from its glaciers, new research by Nasa claims.

It says Antarctica’s ice sheet is currently thickening enough to outweigh increased losses caused by melting glaciers,

which is attributed to global warming.

The research challenges the conclusions of other studies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2013 report, which says that Antarctica is losing land ice overall. But it also warns that losses could offset the gains in years to come.

The increase in Antarctic snow began 10,000 years ago and continues in East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica by an average of 0.7 inches (1.7cm) per year, according to the space agency.

Researchers analysed satellite data to demonstrate the Antarc-

tic ice sheet showed a net gain of 112 billion tons of ice a year from 1992 to 2001. That net gain slowed to 82 billion tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2008.

‘We’re essentially in agreement with other studies that show an increase in ice discharge in the Antarctic Peninsula and the Thwaites and Pine Island region of West Antarctica,’ said Jay

Tokyo Motor Show revs up with self-driving cars

TOKYO Self-driving cars, the latest fuelcell technology and a concept vehicle with tablet-style touch screens aimed at the digital generation were among the innovations on display at the Tokyo Motor Show Wednesday.

Nissan unveiled an autonomous electric vehicle that it said would “revolutionise the relationship between car and driver, and future mobility”, while Volkswagen shifted into damage control with another apology for an emissions scandal that has rocked the auto industry. The biennial motor show’s 44th edition, which runs until November 8, features 160 exhibitors from a dozen

countries including foreign automakers such as MercedesBenz, BMW, Peugeot Citroen, Porsche and Jaguar.

It starts a week after Honda said it would put a commercialised self-driving car on the road by 2020, as automakers bet on vehicles that can drive and, in some cases, park themselves.

Its bigger rival Toyota plans to roll out an autonomous car by 2020, when Tokyo hosts the Olympics. Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn said it was on track to put the selfdriving technology in multiple vehicles by 2020. The company aims to put an experimental automated car on Japan’s highways as soon as next year.

Zwally, a glaciologist with Nasa Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland and lead author of the study published in the Journal of Glaciology.

‘Our main disagreement is for East Antarctica and the interior of West Antarctica - there, we see an ice gain that exceeds the losses in the other areas.’

Dr Zwally said his team ‘measured small height changes over large areas, as well as the large changes observed over smaller areas.’

They calculated how much the ice sheet is growing or shrinking from the changes in surface height that are measured by the satellite altimeters.

In locations where the amount of new snowfall accumulating on an ice sheet is not equal to the ice flow downward and outward to the ocean, the surface height changes and the ice-sheet mass grows or shrinks.

It has previously been assumed that gains seen in the ice sheet in East Antarctica are due to recent increases in snow accumulation.

But using meteorological data beginning in 1979, his team showed snowfall in East Antarctica actually decreased by 11 billion tons per year during 1992 to 2001 and 2003 to 2008.

Men can eat their wives if severely hungry, says top Saudi Sheikh’s fatwa

London The last time there was a mention of a fatwa was when one was issued against maestro AR Rahman for composing music for an Iranian film titled Muhammad: The Messenger of God, and he had given the Mumbai based Sunni Muslim group, Raza Academy a classic reply. Now, Saudi Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah has issued a new fatwa saying men in Saudi Arabia “can eat their wives if they are suffering severe hunger”, reports the Mirror. The ruling is said to represent the “sacrifice of women and obedience to her husband”, but human right activists are enraged by the fatwa.The fatwa guidelines allow a husband to eat

his wife’s body parts in extreme circumstances. Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah had earlier stirred a controversy when he called on all churches to be destroyed under the Islamic law. However, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh has denied issuing such a fatwa. His statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) says “attempts by enemies to distract society from their main cause at the moment, which is standing together behind our wise leadership against attempts to distort the ummah [the world’s Muslims].” The news of the fake fatwa was first mentioned in a sarcastic column written by a satirst Moroccan blogger called “Israfel alMaghribi”, reports the CNN Arabi.

Global warming to increase heat in SE Asia

BANGKOK Rising temperatures and humidity due to climate change are likely to increase the number of days with unsafe “heat stress,” putting Southeast Asia at great risk of significant drops in productivity, a research firm said on Wednesday.

Southeast Asia over the next three decades could lose 16 percent of its labour capacity due to rising heat stress, which could cause absenteeism due to dizziness, fatigue, nausea and even death in extreme cases, the British firm Verisk Maplecroft said.

The company predicted the biggest losses in productivity in Singapore and Malaysia,

with 25 percent and 24 percent decreases from current levels.

Indonesia could see a 21 percent drop, Cambodia and the Philippines 16 percent and Thailand and Vietnam 12 percent. “Climate change will push heat stress impacts to boiling point with significant implications for both national economies and the health of vulnerable workers,” said James Allan, head of environment at Verisk Maplecroft, in a statement.

The company used climate projections to calculate the drop in labour capacity, based on the occurrence of conditions that prompt heat stress and leave workers unable to perform physical activity. It said by 2045 the number of heat stress days

in Singapore and Malaysia will rise to 364 (from 335 and 338 respectively); to 355 from 303 in Indonesia; and to 337 from 276 in the Philippines.

Calculating potential lost productivity for 1,300 cities, the company found 45 of the 50 highest risk cities were in Southeast Asia, including Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta. Twenty of the 50 highest risk cities are in Malaysia, 13 in Indonesia, four in the Philippines and three are in Thailand. Highrisk cities outside the region included Cartagena, at the top of the list, and Barranquilla in Colombia, Panama City and Arraijan in Panama, and Manaus in Brazil.

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WWII bomb discovered at German airport A World War II bomb was destroyed in a controlled explosion Monday at the main international airport in the western German city of Duesseldorf, briefly halting air traffic. Flights at the hub,

Germany’s third busiest in terms of passengers, were interrupted for an hour in the morning while the 125-kilogramme (275-pound)

bomb was neutralised, the airport said in a statement. Two departing flights and five arrivals were axed from the schedule and 34 other flights had to be brought forward or delayed on safety

grounds, an airport spokesman said. The bomb had been discovered overnight near the main runway during construction work.

Before it was exploded, the bomb was placed in an eight-metre (26foot) deep hole to limit any collateral damage.

“The bang of the detonation could be clearly heard near the airport,” the city said in a statement.

Authorities fear other bombs might still be hidden beneath the earth at Duesseldorf airport and further digs are planned this month to comb the grounds for WWIIera explosives.

In 2009, a 500-kilo bomb was unearthed near the site and destroyed.

Seventy years after the end of fighting, parts of Germany remain riddled with unexploded bombs from the Allied campaigns, and construction workers regularly uncover them, often leading to mass evacuations.

Aladdin with his “magic carpet” shocks the streets of New York This cool and quirky Halloween stunt shocked many people on the streets and has garnered massive attention.

Filmmaker Caset Neistat in collaboration with Pranks Vs. Pranks attempted to troll people on the streets of New York and was quite successful. They dressed a man like Aladdin who travelled all over the streets on a skateboard which looked like Aladdin’s magic car-

pet. The onlookers were shocked and were keen on finding out what the secret behind the “magic car-

pet” was.

To reveal the secret and show people how the magic carpet was made, Neistat posted a behind the scenes video.

A battery powered skateboard was attached to a cloth frame to make the skateboard look like a carpet. Jesse, the skater Aladdin held the remote control in his hand and skated to surprise everyone.

Gender roles all mixed up...until it comes to sex Men exaggerate their number of partners while women downplay theirs When it comes to sex, we all want to be normal - and will lie to keep up appearances, according to new research.

Both men and women fib about their sexual behaviour to match cultural expectations, the study found.For men, this meant being seen as ‘real men’ - the kind who had many partners and a lot of sexual experience.

Women, on the other hand, wanted to be seen as having less sexual experience than they actually had, to match cultural stereotypes.

‘There is something unique about sexuality that led people to care more about matching the stereotypes for their gender,’ said Terri Fisher, author of the study and professor of psychology at Ohio State University.Meanwhile, the study found that men were willing to admit that they sometimes engaged in behaviors seen as more appropriate for women, such as writing poetry, The same was true for women, who didn’t hide the fact that they told obscene jokes, or sometimes participated in other ‘male-type’ activities.

‘Sexuality seemed to be the one area where people felt some concern if they didn’t meet the stereotypes of a typical man or a typical woman,’ said Fischer.

Typically male and female behaviours were identified, such as wearing dirty clothes, telling obscene jokes and singing in the shower (male) and writing poetry, lying about your weight

(female).

Then 293 college students between the ages of 18 and 25 were asked how often they engaged in 124 different behaviors (from never to a few

and spent long hours behind a desk.

They also cited readily available junk food as a reason for their unhealthy eating habits and a main cause for their expanding waistline.

The survey also found that

and a quarter ate out three or more times a week.

Just under 10 per cent reported eating lunch out of the vending machine at least once a week, while 70 per cent of workers said they snacked during the day. Despite more than half of

employees found controlling portions and counting calories especially challenging while at work. More than half of employees admitted to going out to eat at least once a week,

all workers feeling overweight, nearly 6 of 10 employees said they work out on a regular basis.Just under 50 per cent percent went to the gym at least three times a week.

times a day).

Some participants filled out the questionnaire attached to what they were told was a working polygraph machine or lie detector (which was not switched on).Others were connected to the apparatus before the study began supposedly to measure anxiety - but the machine was removed before they completed the questionnaire.In general, the results showed that both men and women tended to act as would be expected for their gender. Men reported more typical-male behaviors and women reported more typicalfemale behaviors, regardless of whether they were attached to the lie detector or not.

But for non-sexual behaviors, the participants didn’t seem to feel any added pressure to respond in stereotypical ways for their gender.

Saudi prince sues Is your job making you fat?

Forbes for libel Because they said he was only worth $20billion in magazine's Rich List A Saudi prince is suing Forbes magazine for libel because it said he was only worth $20billion in its annual rich list instead of $30billion.Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the world’s richest businessmen, claims the magazine underestimated his wealth by £9.6billion when it placed him at 26th in this year’s list.Being listed as worth $29.6billion would have placed him in the list’s top ten.

Alwaleed accused Forbes of ‘flawed and inaccurate, displays bias against Middle East investors and financial institutions’ in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in March.

The prince has now brought libel action against the magazine’s publisher Randall Lane and two journalists in the High Court in London, reports the Guardian.He will claim that the Rich List caused serious

harm to his reputation and to his company Kingdom Holdings’ finances.

His company Kingdom Holdings controls investments

including stakes in Apple, Facebook, Twitter and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.His property includes the Savoy Hotel, the Plaza in New York, the Four Seasons hotel chain and a stake in the owners of London’s Canary Wharf complex.

Receptionists are most likely to pile on pounds You might expect that being A chef puts you at the highest risk of putting on weight, but you’d be wrong.

New research has found that working as a teach or as an engineer puts you at greater risk of being overweight.

The poll also found that being a factory worker or a scientist made you less likely to be obese.

The survey, carried out by jobsearch company CareerBuilder, polled nearly 3,700 workers.

It found that found that 55 per cent of employees considered themselves overweight.

It also discovered that 41 per cent gained weight as a result of their current job and of those, 59 per cent gained more than 10 pounds. Just under a third gained more than 20 pounds.

But earning a living didn’t always mean gaining weight: 16 per cent of all workers said they had lost weight while at their current job.The poll found that those who had put on weight had done so because of they were exposed to high levels of stress

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IPL has taken ‘ugly sledging’ away from cricket says Dhoni

AB is going to be more popular than Sachin says Fanie de Villiers AB de Villiers is a very popular cricketer in India thanks to the Indian Premier League. When he walks out to bat for the

Stressing the need to keep the spirit of gentleman’s game alive, Indian limitedovers skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday said IPL has helped players from across the globe connect with each other and taken “ugly sledging” away from cricket.

Popularly known as ‘captain cool’, the Chennai Super Kings skipper has hardly lost his bearing on and off the field and the humble cricketer from Jharkhand is of the opinion that the Indian Premier League and all such T20 leagues of the world have led to a good on-field environment in international matches.

“We play a gentleman’s game. We want to win, but have to do it in the right way. IPL has taken the ugly sledging away from cricket. Friendly banter is good and that’s what these Twenty20 Leagues has done. Really helped the cricketers in streamlining in what was known as

sledging,” Dhoni, who shared the stage with West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, said at a promotional event to kick off the “Yaari” digital movement in a city hotel here.

“IPL has helped us a lot to deal with it (sledging). IPL has helped different players from different cultures come together and share the same dressing room.

IPL got me closer to many individuals, whom I might not have interacted with otherwise,” Dhoni said.

“I don’t even interact with Indian players in IPL fearing what their team’s policy might be, so I take care of all these things. But my equation with many players has improved just because of IPL,” the wicketkeeper-batsman added. Gayle, who shares a great rapport with Dhoni, not only mimicked the batsman’s patent ‘helicopter shot’ on stage but also agreed with the skipper on IPL easing tension between players.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis dream run continues

Her 177-kmph down-themiddle serve whizzed past the rooted Garbine Muguruza like an errant biker at a traffic signal.

Sania Mirza clenched her fists and turned to her bench with a look that screamed, ‘bring it on’.

That was in the first game of the 66-minute title match of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals which the Indian powerhouse domi-

nated with electric shotmaking, cheeky interceptions and strong serving.

All week, nay all year, the top seeds Sania and Martina Hingis, who have swept everything in their path, winning nine titles as a team, including two Grand Slams, have been drawn into debates of doubles specialists thriving in a world sans the cream of singles talent.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, the crowd invariably get behind him with chants

of “ABD! ABD!” But in the ongoing series against India, AB de Villiers has shown he can have the same effect on the crowds

when he is turning up in South African green against India’s men in

blue. Former South African fast bowler, and one of the more popular South African players in the 1990s, Fanie de Villiers thinks AB de Villiers can go one step further. “Can I tell you something about AB de Villiers? AB is going to be more popular than Sachin Tendulkar in world cricket,” Fanie de Villiers told Times of India in an interview.

“That’s the calibre of a person we are talking about; that’s the cricketer we are talking about; that’s the loveable, marketable player we are talking about.

He is in the Sachin Tendulkar category. If you are in the Tendulkar cat-

egory, when it comes to marketing the game of cricket, you are special.”

This was Sachin Tendulkar walking out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Boxing Day Test in 2011. Not for the first time, Tendulkar was greeted with wild cheers from a capacity crowd on foreign soil.

Granted, a good percentage of fans for India’s away matches are usually Indian expats and tourists and this was expected to be the last time Tendulkar played in Australia. But the adoration Tendulkar received from fans around the world was truly remarkable.

Kohli’s India in selection dilemma ahead of 1st Test Even as he is all set to pad up for his Test captaincy debut at home, Virat Kohli has a few questions staring at him - the most critical one being what would be his ideal combination in the first of the four games, at Mohali, against South Africa, the No. 1 team in the world. The answer to this complex riddle isn’t easy, but if cracked, it could well be the formula applied to avenge the humiliation the tourists have heaped on India by winning the T20 and ODI series on this tour.

The chief problem for Kohli starts right at the top.

There are three or probably four claimants for the opening slot. While it is most likely that Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay would open, the former’s woes in the ODI series would not be lost out in the captain.

He managed just 126 runs in five games@25.20.

Dhawan has slammed hundreds in his last two Tests (against Bangladesh and

Sri Lanka), but make no mistake, the dashing lefthander would be under extreme pressure to retain his place in the side, es-

Keeping Dhawan on his toes would be in-form KL Rahul. The youngster has already slammed a couple of hundreds in his fledgling

pecially if he fails and India go on to lose the first Test.

However, it would be foolhardy to expect a class batsman like him to stay without runs for long. The fact that he would be returning to a venue where he made a dream Test debut (187 vs Australia in March, 2013) may just fire the Delhi batsman even more.

career so far. Though the way he got out in the last Test against Lanka at the SSC (bowled while shouldering arms to incoming deliveries) left a lot to be desired.”Dhawan should at least get one Test to prove his form,” former India opener Chetan Chauhan told TOI on Sunday.

The other big debate revolves around Cheteshwar Pujara and to an extent,

Rohit Sharma. It would be impossible to ignore Pujara especially after the way his hundred in the last game helped India clinch the game and the series against Sri Lanka in July.

The fact that he did so while opening the innings provides Kohli with another tempting option. Though the No.3 position looks perfect for Pujara.

Sharma has been inconsistent in Tests he has played in so far, but there is a case for the gifted right-hander to be somehow shoehorned in, at least at No.6, considering how comfortable and dominating he has looked in the T20 and ODI series against the South African attack.

He has scored two hundreds against SA on this tour so far. “It is very interesting,” said former India wicketkeeper and chief selector Kiran More, while talking about the dilemma likely to confront the Indian team management over the next few days.

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Raised eyebrows as Harbhajan Singh offers hookah to wedding guests

By MANJEET SEHGAL After creating a row by deploying bouncers outside a Sikh shrine, spinner Harbhajan Singh has courted another controversy by offering hookahs to guests during his marriage celebrations.

Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) while accusing Bhajji of making available 113 types of tobacco for hookah lovers who attended his wedding.

The Sikh Action Committee, in a letter written to

Sikh organisations are up in arms against Bhajji, who allegedly violated Sikh religious norms by allowing the smoking of tobacco, which is forbidden in Sikhism.

Sikh organisations, in a complaint, have written to the Shiromani

the Jalandhar police commissioner, has demanded action against the cricketer.

Irate Sikhs have accused Bhajji of hurting the religious sentiments of Sikhs by allowing people to smoke hookah while he took his wedding wows with his long-time

girlfriend Geeta Basra.

“Despite being a Sikh, Harbhajan Singh insulted the Sikh religion by offering hookah to guests.

Using tobacco has been banned in Sikh religion.

He had earlier too violated norms when on Thursday he deployed bouncers outside a gurudwara and closed it so others could not enter the shrine.

“The bouncers misbehaved with devotees,” Sikh Action Committee spokesperson RS Bagga said.

Sikh organisations have also approached SGPC to take action against Bhajji.

All India Sikh Students Federation chief Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad said keeping in view the palpable tension in the state over desecration of a holy book, the cricketer should have solemnised his marriage in a simple manner.

“He (Harbhajan Singh) violated the norms by providing hookahs to the guests.

Even the gurudwara where he

solemnised his marriage was closed to the general public that caused inconvenience to the devotees.

He should apologise for the same,” Peer Mohammad said.

Earlier, his bouncers had allegedly manhandled mediapersons on the night of October 29.

The police have arrested

four bouncers for allegedly manhandling journalists and damaging their cameras.

Akali Dal leader Jarnail Singh Grewal has already filed a complaint against Bhajji for preventing devotees from entering the gurudwara at the Guru Nanak Mission Netraheen Vridh Ashram.

Harbhajan is no stranger to controversies, with past escapades including slapping fellow cricketer S Sreesanth, calling Andrew Symonds a monkey, an altercation with former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, and a controversial 2011 liquor ad.

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Health Five junk food products that are actually good for you!

by Udita Madan Junk foods are considered to be a strict no-no when it comes to dieting or managing your weight. Your conscience tells you to avoid it, while your heart shamelessly urges you to reach out for those delicious bites of carbohydrates and fat.

Dieticians and consultants stand fast by their statements that junk food should be avoided at all costs. But what they probably don’t tell you and what most people aren’t aware of is that there are certain junk-foods that actually do more good than harm to your body.

I’m sure that made you take notice. Well, time to pay attention, because, we are listing down five such junk foods and junk-food products that offer loads of health benefits. Take a look!

1. Chocolates: We know you were probably wishing this would be a part of the list and here it is! Yes, chocolates are actually good for health, if taken in moderation, of course.

Why? Because they help

chocolate is loaded with flavonoids, the compound that is also present in green tea and red wine.

So, don’t give it another thought. Go for the sinful indulgence!

2. Sour cream: Surprised? Before you start ticking off points that negates its values, you’ll feel better when you hear this. Even though, almost 90% of sour cream is fat (yes, we know that), but it’s total amount is not half as bad. A serving of sour cream is generally two full tablespoons which makes it about 52 calories. That’s half the

staple has high levels of polyphenols and antioxidants that can protect against heart disease and certain

Nonetheless, beer is actually good for health.

Offering 150-200 calories per serving, beer is great if consumed in

cancers. As long as it comes without added flavours, you don’t need to control the foodie in yourself.

4. Beer: Junk beverage would be a suitable term here.

moderation.

The antioxidant levels in beer are equivalent to that of wine and it’s a significant source of silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density. So, bottom’s up, people!

Health benefits of Back pain at work? mulberry!

Simple tips for relief

Most people, specially those who have to sit long hours at work, struggle with back pain – whether it’s dull and achy or sharp and stabbing, it hurts.

It is said that back pain may make you less productive, which in turn can hamper your career as well.

Understanding what causes back pain and taking steps to prevent it can make this crippling pain vanish.

Here are some helpful measures that can help ease back pain while at work: Make sure that you pay attention to your posture while sitting in front of a computer.

Avoid sitting for long periods in front of a computer.

Take frequent short breaks – if possible, try taking a five minute walking break every hour.

Make sure you change your posture as much as you can, rise up and stretch whenever you feel tired.

Choose a chair that is comfortable and support your back as well as that allows you to rest both feet flat on the floor and shoulder-width apart.

When sitting, try to position your knees at 90 degrees, directly over your ankles to keep your spine comfortably upright.

Don’t sit with your legs crossed. It will make difficult to keep your spine straight and shoulders squared, thereby worsening back pain.

Place your system at an optimal level so that you don’t have to contort your head and neck to work on it.

Keep your screen at eye level about an arm’s length away.

Why whole eggs are healthier than egg whites! you live longer. According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition, researchers have found that chocolates are high in polyphenols which is known to reduce the risk of mortality by 30% compared to those diets which contain less amounts. Dark chocolate lovers? No problem. No need to lose heart because that’s even better. Apart from being good for your heart, dark

amount present in a single tablespoon of mayonnaise and less saturated fat than you’d get from drinking a 12ounce glass of 2 % reduced-fat milk. That got you thinking, right? No need to feel guilty while having some!

3. Popcorn: You’ll go to the movies more often after this!

Agreed that it’s low on calories, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacks nutrition as well. This movie

You must have heard people say eating whole eggs is bad for you and that egg whites are a healthier option.

While egg whites does have lower fat and cholesterol content, whole eggs contain numerous nutrients that are key to good health.

Bottom line is that whole eggs are healthier than egg whites as majority of the nutrition lies in the yolks.

Even for those people who are on diet, eating whole egg won’t cause weight gain

as long as they control their overall calories.

Here are a few reasons to eat the whole egg than

The yolks are a great source of vitamin A, which is good for skin, and B vitamins for energy

just opting for the white portion only-

Egg yolks also contain choline, an essential

nutrient for brain health, muscles, and is necessary for a healthy pregnancy.

The saturated fat in yolks is vital for hormone production and the body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals.

Whole eggs also have an antioxidant capacity equal to that of an apple.

Both egg yolks and whites are sources of dietary protein although the amount of protein content in egg whites are slightly more.

Issue 639 (38)

3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

Reach out for that fruit basket for better health!

In this day and age of burgers, pizza’s, other fast food and mouthwatering cuisines like Chinese, Thai, Mexican, etc., making their cut in the world, the consumption of healthy fruits seem to be slipping.

Children prefer fast food and other snacks, so it is up to the parents to make healthier options like fruits a part of their daily diet.

Whether eaten in organic form, as or in a salad, or in the form of fresh juice, fruits pack a mean punch when it comes to health.

Below, we not only give you reasons to reach out

sense. This super-fruit helps control insulin levels by releasing sugar slowly into the bloodstream. Apples are high in fibre and help maintain a healthy weight.

2. Mangoes: Mango is not known as the ‘king of fruits’ for nothing.

Not only does it taste good, but it also has many health benefits to offer.

Loaded with antioxidants like quercetin, isoquercitrin, astragalin, mangoes help fight cancer. Moreover, mangoes keep cholesterol in check and

for that fruit bowl more often, but also list a few fruits that you can stock your fruit basket with.

Take a look!

1. Apples: The old saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ holds true in every

cleanse the skin.

3. Guava: Guava helps slow down the absorption of sugar in the blood. Known for its natural sugar and high fibre content, it is an excellent food choice for diabetics. Besides

regulating blood pressure, guavas are beneficial in promoting

healthy thyroid function.

4. Papaya: Referred to as the ‘fruit of angels’, papaya is loaded with digestive, nutritional and medicinal features with curing capabilities for many medical ailments like dengue and skin problems.

It has digestive enzymes that digest proteins by breaking the protein content and aids in losing weight too.

5. Litchi: Litchis have a cooling effect on the human body. They are an excellent source of Bcomplex vitamins such as thiamin, niacin, and folates. Eating litchis helps the body metabolize

carbohydrates, protein, and fats easily.

6. Apricots: Apricots are full of betacarotene and fibre. They help prevent various medical problems related to the heart and eyes.

The fruit helps protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation, which in turn keeps away heart diseases.

7. Bananas: One of the most affordable fruits, bananas are packed with lots of nutrients to benefit your health in several ways.

Eating bananas on a regular basis prevents heart ailments and controls high blood pressure. Bananas also help maintain regular bowel

movements, regulate heart rhythm and maintain good eye health.

8. Watermelon: Watermelons have incredible health benefits.

It helps lower blood pressure and acts as a natural diuretic that can help hydrate your body.

Furthermore, the fruit is low in calories and free from cholesterol.

9. Grapes: Last but not the least, grapes which are rich in vitamins A, C, B6 and folate, have the ability to treat constipation, indigestion, fatigue, kidney disorders, macular degeneration and prevent cataracts.

The delicious fruit also has essential minerals like potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium and selenium.

Do workouts to keep your brain young

The secret to a younger brain may lie in exercising your body, according to recent research.

INeuroimaging studies, in which the activity of different parts of the brain can be visualised, have provided some clues as to how does being physically fit affect our aging brains?

The exciting new study led by Dr Hideaki Soya from the University of Tsukuba in Japan and his colleagues show, for the first time, the direct relationship between brain activity, brain function and physical fitness in a group of older Japanese men.

They found that the fitter men performed better mentally than the less fit men, by using parts of their brains in the same way as in their youth.

As we age, we use different parts of our brain compared to our younger selves. For example, when young, we mainly use the left side of our prefrontal cortex (PFC) for mental tasks involving short term memory, understanding the meaning of words and the ability to recognize previously encountered events, objects, or people. When older, we tend to use the equivalent parts of our PFC on the right side of the brain for these

tasks. The PFC is located in the very front of the brain, just behind the forehead. It has roles in executive function, memory, intelligence, language and vision.

With tasks involving the temporary storage and manipulation of memory, long term memories and inhibitory control, young adults favor the right side of the PFC, while older adults engage both the right and left PFC. In fact, with aging, we tend to use both sides of the PFC during mental tasks, rather than just one. This phenomenon has been coined HAROLD (hemispheric asymmetry reduction in older adults) and reflects the reorganisation of the brain as compensation for reduced brain capacity and efficiency due to age-related structural and physiological decline.

Using clever statistical tests called mediation analyses to look at these interactions, the researchers found that aerobically fitter older men can perform better mentally than less fit older men by using the more important brain regions when needed. In fact, the fitter older men are using parts of their brains in the same way as when they were younger.

Alcohol intake may up breast cancer risk Alcohol intake increases the chances of developing breast cancer and this risk quadruples with the intake of each daily glass of wine or beer, a new study has warned.

Thanks to the altruistic collaboration of 334,850 women between the ages of 35 and 70 from ten European countries, an international team of researchers has corroborated the link between alcohol consumption and an

increased risk of suffering from breast cancer.

The study by five Spanish universities (Asturias, Granada, Murcia, Navarra and San Sebastian) confirms previous evidence concerning the relationship between alcohol intake and breast cancer. Of all of the females examined, 11,576 were diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of the elevenyear monitoring study. “A woman’s average risk of

being diagnosed with breast cancer increases by 4 per cent with each additional 10 grams/day of alcohol.” said Maria

Dolores Chirlaque, one of the Spanish scientists who was part of the team. “In other words, a daily intake of one glass

of wine or beer - or less would correspond to a risk value of 1. However, if we increase our intake to two daily glasses of wine or beer, our risk would rise by 4 per cent,” she said. “Using a reference value between 0 and 5 grams per day, an increase of up to 15 grams/day is linked to a 5.9 per cent greater risk of breast cancer,” said Chirlaque, professor from the University of Murcia.

The number of years of

exposure to alcohol intake also influences a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

Thus, the longer a woman has been exposed to alcohol consumption, the greater a risk she has, especially if alcohol intake began before her first pregnancy. “Alcohol intake is a breast cancer risk factor that can be changed by a personal decision to form healthy habits.

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3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015

GOAN FISH CURRY Ingredients: 2 lb. boneless, skinless cod fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice Kosher salt 3 tbsp. vegetable oil 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, mashed into a paste 1 (2-inch) piece ginger, mashed into a paste 1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. ground cumin 1/2 tsp. chile powder 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric 3 tbsp. white wine vinegar 2 small green chiles, thinly sliced 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk fresh cilantro, to garnish cooked basmati or long grain rice,

TATER TOTS for serving Instructions: Toss fish with lemon juice and salt in a medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high; add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and ginger pastes and cook 1 minute longer. Add coriander, cumin, chile powder, and turmeric and cook 1 minute more. Add vinegar, sliced chiles, and the coconut milk and simmer, stirring occasionally, 6-8 minutes.

Add the fish and simmer gently until fish is cooked, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and divide among plates; top with cilantro and serve with rice.

HOMEMADE RICOTTA

until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to a wire rack; season with salt and serve immediately.

URUGUAYAN STEAK SANDWICH Ingredients: 1 tbsp. canola oil 1 (1/4") boneless strip loin steak 2 tbsp. mayonnaise 1 milk bun or kaiser roll 2 slices bacon, cooked 1 (1-oz.) slice fresh mozzarella 1 hard-boiled egg, cooled, peeled, and sliced 2-3 pickled hot peppers Lettuce, to serve Tomato, to serve Instructions: Heat oven broiler. Heat oil in a 12? skillet placed over medium-high flame.

Season steak with salt and pepper; cook, flipping once, until browned and cooked through, 3–4 minutes. Spread mayonnaise on insides of a sliced milk bun or kaiser roll; broil until lightly

Ingredients: 5 qt. whole milk 5 cups full-fat buttermilk 3 cups half & half Instructions: Heat milk, buttermilk, half & half in a large heavy-bottomed pot over high heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until curds begin to form, 6–8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, without stirring, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the milk reads 175°, about 25 minutes. Let cool; cover and chill completely. Set a cheeseclothlined sieve over a bowl. Ladle curds into sieve and cover with plastic wrap; chill overnight, and then transfer ricotta to a container. Discard whey or save for another use. Chill up to 1 week.

WHOLE GRILLED SEA BASS Ingredients: 4 (1-lb.) whole sea bass (or sea bream or red snapper), cleaned 2 tsp. crushed red chile flakes Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 3 lemons 1 bunch marjoram 1 bunch thyme 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened 6 cloves garlic, minced Instructions: Heat a charcoal or woodburning grill or set a gas grill to medium-high. (Alternatively, heat a cast-iron grill pan over high.) Season cavity of fish with chile flakes, salt, and pepper; stuff with lemons and herbs. Mix butter and garlic in a bowl; rub over outside of fish;

Ingredients: 2 qt. duck fat, clarified butter, canola oil, or a mixture 2 lb. Idaho Potatoes, peeled and grated 2 tbsp. finely chopped thyme Kosher salt, to taste Instructions: Line an 8” x 8” square baking dish with parchment paper and set aside. Fill a 6-qt. Dutch oven with fat; add potatoes and cook until a deep-fry thermometer reaches 220°, and potatoes are translucent and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Strain, saving fat; season potatoes with thyme and salt. Press potatoes into prepared sheet tray and refrigerate overnight.

Heat reserved fat in a 6-qt. Dutch oven until a deep-fry thermometer reads 360°.

Slice potatoes into 2 1/2" x 1" rectangles; working in batches, fry potatoes

SEA BASS CRUDO

grill, flipping once, until slightly charred and cooked through, 12–15 minutes. Serve with more lemon.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless sea bass, thinly sliced Kosher salt, to taste 1 red Holland chile, seeded and minced 1 lime, zested 3 tbsp. lime juice 1 medium white turnip, thinly sliced on a mandolin 1 small white onion, thinly sliced, soaked in ice water 10 minutes, drained 1/2 bunch cilantro sprigs, trimmed Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling Instructions: Arrange bass on a platter; season with salt. Sprinkle with chile, plus lime zest and half the juice. Toss remaining lime juice, the turnip, and onion in a bowl; sprinkle over fish. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and a drizzle of olive oil.

toasted, 1–2 minutes. Place bacon and fresh mozzarella over one half of roll; broil until cheese is melted, about 1 minute.

Add reserved steak; top with egg, pickled peppers, lettuce, and tomato. Serve with french fries, if you like.

Issue 639 (40)

3 Nov. - 9 Nov. 2015