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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 636, 13 OCT. - 19 OCT. 2015 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

‘HISTORY MURDERED’ Shiv Sena’s attack on Sudheendra Kulkarni, a black day for Mumbai

15 Indian Writers Return Sahitya Akademi Awards, More Expected To Follow Suit

MUMBAI Nine more writers returned their Sahitya Akademi awards on Sunday, citing stifling of freedom of speech under the present government.

Now the tally of those who have lodged their protest at the Akademi is 15, not including Kannada author Aravind Malagatti, who resigned from the Akademi’s general council yesterday. This number is expected to cross 20, with more authors gearing to return their awards. “We clearly see a threat to our democracy, secularism and freedom. There have been attempts to curb free speech earlier also, but such trends have become more pronounced under the present government. These are visible all over,” said Hindi poets Mangalesh Dabral and Rajesh Joshi to The Indian Express.

It all began when Hindi writer Uday Prakash returned his award last month over the the murder of author M. M. Kalburgi. “Kalburgi’s

murder has shaken the writer inside me,” he wrote in a Facebook post where he announced he was returning the award.

“Now is not the time to

remain silent and hide in safety. Otherwise these threats will become bigger for us.” The writers are protesting against recent incidents that have

threatened free expression in the country, including the brutal murder of a 52-year-old Muslim man in Dadri for allegedly slaughtering a

cow and eating beef.

Besides Prakash, Dabral and Joshi, writers who have returned their awards include renowned Vadodara-based literary

Why equate Sahitya Akademi with govt, asks Mridula Garg?

Noted Hindi writer Mridula Garg, who won the Sahitya Akademi award for her novel Miljul Mann in 2013, explains in an exclusive statement what’s troubling her about the protests. A dilemma has been troubling me which I want to share with my fellow writers. As a writer, I strongly protest the violent intolerance prevailing in all the states of the country and the Centre, with government indifference, if not connivance. I have written about it.

I sympathize with writers who express their anguish by returning their Sahitya Akademi awards or quitting their posts there.

Dissent with intolerance and protest against imposition of a mono cultural value system by

self-appointed moral custodians is inherent in the act of writing. But if we express our protest by returning the Sahitya Akademi (SA) awards or quitting our posts there, are we not in effect saying that the Sahitya Akademi is not an autonomous body but a branch of the government?

Remember what Pandit

Nehru said when he was both president of the Akademi and Prime Minister.

He will not let the Prime Minister interfere with the decisions of the president of Sahitya Akademi, as it is an autonomous body of writers with an elected board. Are we not weakening the Sahitya Akademi by equating it with the government? I am haunted by the fear that the government might take its cue from the writers and appoint its representative on SA under the pretext of an endangered Akademi. The culture minister in his statement has endorsed

the autonomy of the Sahitya Akademi but also issued a thinly veiled threat that the government was keeping a close watch on the dissentions, etc., surrounding the Akademi. We all know what keeping a watch means. Do we want to give Big Brother an excuse to take over the autonomous Sahitya Akademi?

I concede that the Sahitya Akademi should have not only held a condolence meeting for M M Kalburgi but also condemned his murder. There is a difference between a writer dying a natural death and being killed for his beliefs.

I have also written a letter to the president of Sahitya Akademi about it. A widely attended condolence Continued on Page 2

critic Ganesh Devy; Konkani writer N. Shivdas; Kannada writer Kum Veerabhadrappa; and renowned authors Mr. Gurbachan Singh Bhullar and Waryam Singh Sandhu, and playwrights Ajmer Singh Aulakh and Atamjit Singh were the first ones to return their awards from the Punjab.

“It is with utmost regrets that I would like to convey to you that I wish to return the 1993 Sahitya Akademi Award ... I do this as an expression of my solidarity with several eminent writers who have recently returned their awards to highlight their concern and anxiety over the shrinking space for free expression and growing intolerance towards difference of opinion,” Devy said in his letter to the Akademi.

Writers have accused the Akademi of maintaining silence over recent incidents that have threatened freedom of expression in India. “A week after his killing, I participated in a Continued on Page 2

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15 Indian Writers Return Sahitya Akademi ....

Continued from Page 1 seminar organised by the Sahitya Akademi. I was quite dismayed to see that the seminar began without a word of reference to the recent attack on a scholar honoured by the Akademi,” said Devy.

Even as Sahitya Akademi chairperson Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari came out with a statement saying the apex literary body stands for freedom of expression and condemns attack on any writer or artist anywhere, he told Indian Express that he couldn’t make a “statement against the government”.

“We also condemn the attack on writers. But before making a statement against the government I need to consult the executive board. I will take up the issue at the board meeting of the Akademi,” he said. Now, Kashmir’s literary body Adabi Markaz Kamraz (AMK) has asked its awardees to stand in solidarity with these authors and question the Akademi’s silence. Earlier, writers Nayantara Sehgal, Sara Joseph, Ashok Vajpeyi, and Aman Sethi also returned their awards.

Meanwhile eminent poet and writer K Satchidanandan also resigned from all committees of the Sahitya Akademi, saying the literary body had “failed” in its duty to stand with writers and uphold freedom of expression.

Token gesture or effective act of protest?

The domain of literature has always been closely linked to politics with literary figures constantly helping in shaping opinions and challenging norms through their works. Sahitya Akademi, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the country, has been awarding writers from different languages for their role in the growth of literature. While being

felicitated by the Akdemi has for long been a source of pride for a literary figure, writers and poets have recently been returning their awards to protest against what they deem a lack of freedom of speech in the country.

After the murder of rationalist MM Kalburgi and Narender Dabholkar many writers including Nayantara Sehgal, Ashok Vajpeyi announced that they will return their Sahitya Akademi awards. Now, prominent Punjabi writers including Surjit Patar, Ajmer Aulakh, Atamjit, Gurbachan Bhullar, Waryam Sandhu, Jaswinder Singh, Baldev Singh Sadaknama and Darshan Bhuttar have also announced that they would give up their awards.

Commenting on why he returned the award, Surjit Pattar said, “India is a country having different languages and culture but it seems that now people have no right to express their thoughts. Sahitya Akademi is not fulfilling its proper role and intellectuals and rationalists are being killed. Writers are the voice of voiceless, so it was the duty of Sahitya Akademi to speak for them.

Despite Shiv Sena’s Paint Attack, Kasuri’s Book Launched Unfazed by the Shiv Sena protest and blackening of

’Neither a Hawk Nor a Dove’ took place as scheduled on Monday evening. The event was held amidst tight security for the visiting dignitary in the wake of Shiv Sena’ threat to disrupt the function despite appeals to it to give up its protest.

Kasuri echoed the sentiments after the morning’s event outside the house of Kulkarni, Chairman of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), the think-tank and organiser of the book launch show, had left a bad taste when Shiv Sena activists smeared black paint on his face.

He began by thanking Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis for excellent security at book launch. “I would like to thank Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis for providing excellent protection (provided to him) ever since I landed in Mumbai airport (last evening),” he said at the book launch. Taking a jibe at Shiv Sena, Kulkarni welcomed the former Pakistan Minister to the megapolis of Mumbai in Marathi. “I also express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have come to attend the function notwithstanding the extra ordinary circumstances in which it is being held.

“This shows your resolve, our resolve and common resolve, the resolve of millions of Mumbaikars to

thoughts and opinions”.

Mumbai cherishes the right to dissent. I am immensely proud of Marathi, Mumbai.

Mumbai is Maharashtrian, but before that it is national and international city,” he added in the Marathi language. He said Mumbai has a very special place in India’s freedom Movement with Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammed Ali Jinnah spending “maximum years” substantial part of their lives in the city, which served as “karma bhumi” of the both the leaders and attributed the book launch function as “an effort to undo the mistakes of the past” between the two nations.

He referred to a line from the book “na banduk se na goli se, baat banegi boli se” insisting dialogue between the two countries must go on irrespective of circumstances.

Attack on Sudheendra Kulkarni: A Black Day For Mumbai More than half-a-dozen Sena workers on Monday morning attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni, head of the organization that brought a former Pakistan foreign minister for his book launch to Mumbai, with paint, exposing the state government’s helplessness in protecting the city and its people from the party’s strong-arm tactics and reinforcing to the world how increasingly intolerant the

the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni, the launch of former Pakistan External Minister KM Kasuri’s book

defend the values of tolerance and diversity,” Kulkarni said while making opening remarks at the event held at Nehru Centre in Mumbai. It was attended among others by noted lawyer and historian A G Noorani, journalist Dileep Padgaonkar and film actor Naseeruddin Shah, who were panelists at the launch. Without naming Shiv Sena, Kulkarni evoked President Pranab Mukherjee’s recent remarks that “tolerance and diversity and core values of Indian civilisation and these must be defended”, he said adding “we shall defend them”.

Terming Mumbai as a “tolerant, inclusive, liberal, democratic and multi-faith city”, Kulkarni said the mega polis celebrates diversity of every kind including “diversity of

city has become to divergent political views.

The planned attack on Kulkarni occurred just outside his residence around 9.30am, less than 24 hours after BJP chief minister Devendra Fadnavis dared the Sena to disrupt the launch of Khurshid Kasuri’s book, ‘Neither a Hawk nor a Dove’, organized by the Observer Research Foundation.

The main evening function went off without any untoward incident at the Nehru Centre amid a twotier security arrangement comprising 200 cops, and police, by the end of the day, had arrested six suspected assailants, including Sena’s Antop Hill shakha pramukh. The CM, drawing comfort from the evening’s events, iterated he would not let Maharashtra become a

Returning awards is a stand against communalisation While a few members of society raised apprehensions over writers returning their awards, others welcomed it as a stand against communalisation and the curbing of freedom of speech. Ramanjit Kaur, MA Punjabi first year student at Government College for Girls, said, “This is a good decision as their act of returning the awards has brought their protest to the forefront. The media has given coverage to their stand because of which more people are

discussing the issue.”

Gurjanwala Gurananak Khalsa College’s principal Manjit Singh Komal was of the view that the writers should shun away the rewards given to them in order to draw attention towards the subjugation of the intelligentsia by the fundamentalist.

“It was a good decision to return the awards. Other writers should also return their awards because fundamentalist forces never care for intellectuals and upcoming times could be very dangerous for Punjab”.

“banana republic”. But the morning’s events were enough to raise serious questions about his government’s control over its ally and its ability to enforce the rule of law.

Political observers see the Sena’s heightened belligerence and its shrill anti-Pak agenda more as a fight for political space within its alliance with the BJP, in which it is getting increasingly marginalized.

The bitter war of words over the Kalyan-Dombivli civic polls formed the backdrop to all this, they said.

Kulkarni, who was earlier with the BJP and was a close aide of two BJP stalwarts, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy, L K Advani, met Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday evening to ask for his cooperation. But Monday’s events-and the hawkish posture the Sena took after the attackemphasized how the dynamics of coalition politics overrode all other considerations. The attack triggered nationwide outrage, with Congress leader Digivijay Singh referring to the Shiv Sena as a “Desi Taliban”. From the other side of the political aisle, L K Advani said, “In the last few days, there are these signs where any person or any point of view is not acceptable, then you resort to violence or turn intolerant towards them.”

But the Sena stayed its belligerent self. “The blackening of Kulkani’s face was a mild protest. See what happens in the evening,” Sena MP and Saamna editor Sanjay Raut said in the afternoon. He called Kulkarni a Pakistani agent and Kasuri anti-India.

“We will continue to boycott all events related to Pakistanis until they stop supporting terror,” he added. Kulkarni, who refused to wash off the paint till the afternoon, held a press conference with Kasuri soon after the attack, declaring as a defacement of the Tricolour

and insisting the evening event would go ahead, which it did.

A triumphant Kulkarni thanked the audience after the book launch in the evening-his face by then not betraying any evidence of the assault-and said: “This shows the common resolve of millions of Mumbaikars to preserve the values of tolerance and diversity.

Mumbai celebrates diversity and the right to dissent.” Kulkarni also defended Advani’s speech, during his Pakistan visit in which he called Jinnah a “secular leader”, an episode that led to the BJP veteran’s ultimate isolation within the party. “He had to pay a heavy price for a baseless controversy by some people in India,” Kulkarni said.

Kasuri said he was unhappy and saddened by the attack. “I have not come to fight. I have come with a message of peace.”

Speaking about his book, Kasuri said it was an attempt to correct wrong perceptions. “We have murdered history in both countries. Let us learn from history.” Kasuri said he was optimistic about peace between the countries.

“Don’t think that ordinary people are idiots. The people in both India and Pakistan are peace-loving.

It is the leaders who should stop misguiding them.”

Referring to the 26/11 terror strike as “unfortunate”, he said there was no scope for non-state actors in a democracy. “This is an important realization.

Today, Pakistan is engaged in hand to hand combat in its tribal areas,” he said.

Late Monday evening, the police arrested six people for threatening, abusing and smearing paint on Kulkarni.

Immediately after the morning incident, Mumbai police commissioner Ahmad Javed and joint commissioner (law and order) Deven Bharti chalked out a comprehensive plan to provide cover for the launch of the book at Nehru Centre.

Why equate Sahitya Akademi with govt...

Continued from Page 1 meeting was held in Bangalore with the vicechairman in attendance but I will not argue either way about the venue. Another moot point is why only the awards given by the Sahitya Akademi are being returned; why not those given by various governments over the years? But let that go too.

I fear we might undermine our duly elected autonomous institution by targeting it

instead of the government.

By fighting among ourselves, we strengthen the hands of a government ready to take over autonomous institutions. The president of the Sahitya Akademi has announced an emergency meeting of the board, comprising writers from all over the country. Let us wait for their statement and not hasten the dissolution of the Sahitya Akademi’s autonomy.

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Your thoughts shape your reality and destiny!

I think it is important, is it not, to understand the meaning of words, not only superficially, according to the dictionary, but also to see their significance beyond the mere superficial level, because we are mesmerized by words, and we think that by understanding a word we understand the whole content of that word. The word becomes significant only when we go beyond the superficial level, the ordinary or common usage, and see the deeper meaning of it.

We have been mesmerized by certain words like God, love, the simple life; and especially in these times when there is so much confusion, when there are so many leaders, books, theories, and opinions, we tend to be easily mesmerized by the word activity or action.

So, I think it would be worthwhile to go into the problem of what we mean by

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action and not merely be hypnotized by that word. We think we are very much alive and active when we keep going, when we are constantly in movement, when we are doing something, either at the club, in politics, in the family, or what you will. We think activity is life - and is it life? Living in the mechanical responses of everyday existence - is that life? Since mere activity takes most of our energy, is it not important to understand and not be mesmerized by the words action and activity?

Action is obviously necessary; action is life, but at what level? We act according to opinion, according to memory; we are a whole series of conditioned responses, memories and traditions. Our action and our morality are based on what has been or what will be, and our thinking, which is obviously the basis of our action, is almost mechanical; most of us are like machines in what we do. You give a machine certain information, and it gives you certain responses; similarly, we receive certain information through our senses and then respond. So, our thinking and our activities are almost mechanical, and this mechanical thinking, with its responses and activity, we call “living.” We are satisfied to live on that level, and we are mesmerized by our leaders, by ourselves; by our environmental influences, to continue living in that state.

- Jiddu Krishnamurti Jiddu Krishnamurti (1896-1986) was a speaker and writer on philosophical and spiritual subjects. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher by Dr. Annie Besant (a British socialist, theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self-rule), but he later rejected this mantle and withdrew from the organization behind it. He claimed allegiance to no nationality, caste, religion, or philosophy, and spent the rest of his life travelling the world, speaking to large and small groups and individuals. He wrote many books; among them are The First and Last Freedom, The Only Revolution, and Krishnamurti’s Notebook. Many of his talks and discussions have been published. His last public talk was in Madras, India, in January 1986, a month before his death at his home in Ojai, California. The core of Krishnamurti’s teaching is contained in the statement he made in 1929 when he said: ‘Truth is a pathless land’. Man cannot come to it through any organization, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. He has to find it through the mirror of relationship, through the understanding of the contents of his own mind, through observation and not through intellectual analysis or introspective dissection. Man has built in himself images as a fence of security - religious, political, personal. These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden of these dominate man’s thinking, relationships and daily life. These are the causes of our problems for they divide man from man in every relationship. His perception of life is shaped by the

SUNNY BAINS

concepts already established in his mind. The content of his consciousness is this consciousness. This content is common to all humanity. The individuality is the name, the form and superficial culture he acquires from his environment.

The uniqueness of the individual does not lie in the superficial but in the total freedom from the content of consciousness.

Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not choice. It is man’s pretense that because he has choice, he is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction, without fear

of punishment and reward. Freedom is without motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first step of his existence. In observation one begins to discover the lack of freedom.

Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence.

Thought is time. Thought is born of experience, of knowledge, which are inseparable from time. Time is the psychological enemy of man. Our action is based on knowledge and therefore time, so man is always a slave to the past.

When man becomes aware of the movement of his own consciousness he will see the division between the thinker and the thought, the observer and the observed, the experiencer and the experience. He will discover that this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure observation which is insight without any shadow of the past. This timeless insight brings about a deep radical change in the mind.

Total negation is the essence of the positive. When there is negation of all those things which are not love - desire, pleasure - then love is, with its compassion and intelligence.

Here’s a Chinese proverb by an unknown on the same subject. ‘Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words. Be careful of your words, for your words become your actions. Be careful of your actions, for your actions become your habits. Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character. Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny. If we slow down and examine what was shared so many years ago by the abovementioned greats, we’ll discover that we were told how we can change or direct our destiny.’

What we think often comes out of our mouth and into someone else’s ears. Our

words impact how we feel about ourselves, and they can impact how others think and feel. Words are symbols that communicate what’s going on inside our heads to ourselves and others. We share our fears, our sorrow, our joy, our love and our dreams with our words. Our words create action. Our words can create intimacy or separation. With our words we can motivate ourselves to do things we never thought we could do, and our words can also move others to step forward into their own personal power so they can be of service to their community. Words can calm us or excite us. Words can actually change the direction of a nation. So watch what you think and be aware of the words that come from your thoughts, and the actions that follow your words.

A habit is an action we do regularly, often without thinking. It’s just what we do.

If we do an action and it feels good or we get the results we want, then we often repeat it over and over. Some habits are beneficial and some can be detrimental. If it’s detrimental, it’s usually called an addiction.

If it’s beneficial, it’s called a good discipline. Our day is full of small little “habits” that we do unconsciously. Some of us are habitually tidy, or messy, or early, or late, or rude, or courteous, or happy, or angry. These are all habitual ways of being. So, our habits become who we are, or they become our character.

Others know us by our character. It’s our stamp of individuality. It’s all of our distinctive qualities. When we describe someone, we are describing the person’s character. “He’s a great guy!” “When I want something to be done right, I give it to her!” “When I’m around him, I watch my pockets, because he’s always trying to get me to buy into a scheme” “When I think of her, a smile comes on my face and I just feel at peace.” Our character comes from the thoughts and actions we do habitually through time.

The thoughts and actions we do habitually through time determines our destiny. If I think negative thoughts, and if I am filled with judgments towards myself and others, my actions will follow my thoughts, and I will get what I focus on. Most people will not want to be around me, because they don’t like being judged and they don’t like hearing me judge others. I will feel lonely and victimized, which will cycle around and around and in time my destiny will appear bleak. However, if I think positive thoughts and take positive actions toward my goals, my destiny can be one of joyful and uplifting, with moments of gleefulness. I might fall and get a few bruises along the way, but if my habit is to get up one more time than I fall, my destiny will be one of success.

People will want to be around me because of my positive thinking. They will want to know how I create so many wonderful things in my life. Because of my abundance and my generous character, I’ll freely give the joy and love that percolates in my heart. Thus, by holding positive thoughts, habitually taking positive action, I create a character destined for upliftment.

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China says unconcerned about India-US joint military exercises

Before I start writing this para, I must ask, ‘Are you sure that you are actually reading this? Maybe you are dreaming. Perhaps this is all taking place in your imagination. It may seem very real but then dreams often do. I shall wait a moment whilst you pinch yourself ... Well, that seems to decide the matter. Now, what about everything else that seems to be going on in your life?

You aren’t dreaming, even if some of what you are going through seems unreal. Nor is it bad. The potential now is for a dream to come true. !!!

If we didn’t have tough times, what would the good times mean to us?

There would be no contrasting experience for us to make a comparison with, thus we would hardly be as appreciative as we ought to be. Now, please don’t worry. I’m not making statements like that in an attempt to prepare you for tricky times ahead. The tough times that I mentioned just a few sentences ago, are in your past - or they very soon will be! Here comes the muchdeserved relief, release and reward that finally makes it all seem worthwhile. !!!

We all know that relationships, be they emotional or social, must be constantly revived and renewed. We are never wise to take one another for granted. But does that mean that we must conduct all our interactions in strict accordance with agreements reached long ago? Are we not entitled to revisit those psychological contracts and reappraise the behavioral borders and boundaries which may once have seemed mutually suitable yet need no longer hold such sway?

It’s fine to do that now as long as you go gently. !!!

The longer two people coexist, the harder it gets

for each of them to find out more about the other.

Soon after a first encounter, it is fine to enquire about tastes and preferences, likes and dislikes. But after months, years and decades, we run the risk of provoking a different reaction. ‘After all this time that they are supposed to have known me, I can’t believe that they are having to ask me this!’ But honesty is always a better policy than deception, subterfuge and assumption. Be brave, be blunt and you will yet be happy. !!!

You are more sensitive than most people realize.

But what you, in turn, may not realize, is that someone else is just as sensitive! Just as they are capable of accidentally treading on your toes, you have an inadvertent tendency to ride roughshod over their feelings. This is nobody’s fault. This is the human condition, the way of the world. But even though every cookie has the potential to crumble, there is much we can do to preserve and protect any situation that is dear to our hearts. Be as kind as you can, and all will yet be well. !!!

When we aren’t on the best of terms with those around us, we become a little edgy and uncomfortable. Even if we consider ourselves capable of compartmentalizing our feelings and pushing aside our needs while we focus on other matters, we can’t really put our hands on our hearts and swear that all is well. So our decisions get affected, and we may make what we later look back on and see as strange choices. Coming soon? A chance to heal a rift, build a bridge, deepen a bond and vastly improve your outlook at every level of life.

As India and China on Monday kicked-off their annual anti-terrorism joint military exercises, Beijing said it wasn’t bothered by India hosting naval exercises this week with the United States and Japan in the Bay of Bengal.

While China had in the past objected strongly to India including Japan in its annual naval Exercise Malabar with the US, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday in response to questions about the India-US-Japan drills, “We are not that fragile. We are having both sound relations with India and the US, and we hope relevant countries will contribute to regional stability and contribute more positive energy to that.”

This year’s exercise is particularly significant as tensions between the China and the US over the South China Sea are rising, with the US Navy saying this

True to the teachings of Sikh Gurus, Langar Aid bring smiles in war torn areas

Langar Aid has already dispatched their first food delivery to Yemen three months ago and are all set for the second delivery.

They help the families facing food shortage due to the destruction caused by war.

A humanitarian relief agency Khalsa Aid has been voluntarily visiting war torn areas and helping numerous refugees by providing them food.

The relief agency which started in 1999 works on the teachings of Sikh Gurus, and has a branch called Langar Aid which has collaborated with Mona Relief in Yemen to cater to hundreds of families stuck in the war zone.

Langar Aid has already dispatched their first food delivery to Yemen three months ago and are all set for the second delivery.

week it planned to challenge China’s claims by sailing ships within 12 nautical miles of disputed islands that China has artificially reclaimed through recent construction work.

India too has recently been

with China, having exercises with Beijing the same week. On Monday, 350 personnel from India’s Naga Regiment and the People’s Liberation Army’s 14th Group Army kicked off 11-day anti-terror “Hand in Hand” exercises near

more vocal on stressing the importance of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, underlined in a “joint strategic vision” for the Asia-Pacific that it released with the US in January.

China on Monday warned the US that it “opposes infringement on China’s territorial sea and airspace under the pretext of freedom of navigation.”

At the same time, India is also building defence ties

Kunming.

Lt. Gen. Zhou Xiaozhou, the Deputy Commander of the PLA’s Chengdu Military Region, who launched the exercises on Monday morning along with Lt. Gen. Surinder Singh, Commander of the 33 Corps of the Army’s Eastern Command and Indian Ambassador to China Ashok Kantha, said the exercises “will help enhance mutual

understanding and communication and cooperation between the armed forces of India and China.”

The drills, which include displays, demonstrations and a comprehensive exercise that will conclude on October 22, were an important part of confidencebuilding measures that India and China had put in place to ensure peace and tranquility in border areas, said Kantha.

The hope is that the two militaries will address mistrust in the wake of recent stand-offs along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC), most recently in mid-September when India accused the PLA of constructing a watchtower 1.5 km on its side of the LAC, a charge denied by China.

The border incidents and recent “confrontations” were “not created on purpose but happened by accident,” Wang Dehua, a Chinese strategic expert, said in a commentary published Monday in the Party-run Global Times.

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Syrian army advances with help of intensified Russian air strikes Russian war planes pounded Syrian rebels unaffiliated with Islamic State on Sunday, insurgents said, helping Moscow’s ally Bashar alAssad reclaim territory and dealing a fresh setback to the strategy of Washington and its allies.

Russian war planes pounded Syrian rebels unaffiliated with Islamic State on Sunday, insurgents said, helping Moscow’s ally Bashar alAssad reclaim territory and dealing a fresh setback to the strategy of Washington and its allies.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the 4-year-old conflict, said the Syrian military and its Lebanese Hezbollah militia allies had taken control of Tal Skik, a

highland area in Idlib province, after fierce Russian bombing.

That brings Syrian government forces closer to insurgentheld positions along the main highway that links Syria’s principal cities. The area is held by a rebel alliance that excludes Islamic State fighters.

“The coming battles are going to be ferocious, the Russians are using scorched earth policy and they are hitting the targets very accurately but this is a battle of destiny,” said Abu Hamed, the head of the military bureau of Jabhat Sham, an insurgent group that operates mainly in Hama province.

“We are fighting for our very existence and so this is why our fighters are exhibiting heroism and

fighting for our beliefs against the Russian occupiers,” he said.

The Syrian army had made advances from the towns of Mourek and Atshan in Hama province using tanks, heavy artillery and new surface-to-surface missiles, he said.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday its planes had flown 64 sorties, striking 63 targets and

Florida man blames his dog for drunk driving In a bid to evade arrest after being caught following a long police chase, a man in the US state of Florida blamed his dog for driving

his car in an inebriated condition.

Reliford Cooper III, 26, was engaged in a lengthy pursuit with Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday evening after a patrol team spotted

him driving erratically.

The car chase began at 21st Avenue East in Florida when the patrol team tried to stop a white

car moving at a high speed.

During the chase, the car rammed many road signboards and damaged public property until it ran into a ditch near a house, Patch.com reported on Saturday.

The man got out of the car and fled from the spot.

On enquiry, residents said that they saw a man jumping a fence behind the house and running towards a church in the area. With the help of church’s pastor, the deputies nabbed him from the church’s bathroom.

“My dog was driving that car,” Cooper told the deputy while trying to lay blame on his canine, adding, “I ran (be)cause I wanted to”.

The man was booked on criminal charges, including damage to public property, aggravated fleeing and eluding and leaving the scene of an accident and was being held in lieu of $26,120 bond as of Friday.

destroying 53 fortified positions in the last 24 hours. As in the past, it described all targets as belonging to Islamic State, although most of the areas it said it struck are not held by that group.

Syrian state television also reported the capture of Tal Skik after an “extensive military operation” backed

by Russian air strikes against “terrorist

own lives in modern South Africa. The 12 artists are all from Soweto, the former heartland of the violent struggle against apartheid

that has now developed into a sprawling town of brick houses and tinroofed shanks outside Johannesburg. Gojo, 33,

Lebanese Hezbollah militiamen and hundreds of Iranian troops, shifting the balance of power in the civil war.

Russia’s intervention has infuriated Assad’s regional foes, including most Arab countries and Turkey.

In his biggest effort yet to reach out to Assad’s Arab foes, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who holds a senior post in the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates.

At the meeting on the sidelines of a Formula One motor race in Russia’s Sochi resort, Putin said he welcomed the opportunity to discuss security in the region, particularly in the light of bombings on Saturday that killed up to 128 people in Turkey.

Australian art gallery to return 2,000 yrs old Buddha idol Close on the heels of Germany returning an ancient Durga idol, an Australian art gallery has agreed to give a 2,000year-old Buddha sculpture back to India. The Sitting Buddha sculpture, whose roots could be traced to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, is currently with a national art gallery in Canberra, Australia, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials here said. “Last week, the Australian art gallery intimated the Union Culture Ministry that they intend to return it. The sculpture made of sandstone is an image, which is very unique to the Mathura region,” ASI sources told PTI. With the Canberra-based art gallery giving its consent, the ASI has requested the Ministry of Culture to send an official team to examine the antique idol dating to the first century. “Now, the

Old tyres inspire S.African artists On land that is both a marshy field and a rubbish dump in the township of Soweto, artist Mzi Gojo is looking for a special material to use in his latest work cow dung. “The good thing about summer is that the cow dung is very green and it stays very green on my canvas,” he explains.

Gojo is a member of Ubuhle Bobuntu (“beauty of humanity” in Zulu), a group of artists who use recycled materials and experimental techniques to express their

organisations” in the area.

However, the advance came at a cost, with the Observatory and a Lebanese television station reporting that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in the battle while fighting on the Syrian government’s behalf.

In recent days, Russia has dramatically intensified its 10-dayold bombing campaign. Moscow says it is targeting the Islamic State militant group, but most of its strikes have hit other rebel factions fighting against Assad, some of which have the support of Arab powers, Turkey or the United States.

The Russian bombing has been accompanied by a major advance led by Syrian government forces, backed by thousands of

carefully mixes the dung in water and adds a little bit of glue to achieve the variety of colours and textures needed to produce his mysterious, elegant abstract paintings. As well as a normal brush, he uses a broken comb, a blade or a piece of plastic grid.

“Cow dung is like a soccer ball. I can control it,” he told AFP, wearing an immaculate white shirt and brown chinos on his search through wasteland and stagnant water for the exactly right droppings.

gallery has agreed to return the sculpture. It is necessary for us to authenticate the sculpture,” they said, adding it is part of the process involved in retrieving the object. Asked whether any case regarding the missing of the sculpture has been registered in India, sources said there was no complaint available with

the police “as of now”.

However, ASI sources said, the design employed in crafting the sculpture is quintessentially associated with Mathura, an important Buddhist centre several hundred years ago.

Besides, they said, a state archaeological museum in Uttar Pradesh has similar Buddha statues, indicating towards the sculptures Mathura links.

British company invents world’s first curvy caravan A quirky British company has created the world’s first curvy caravan - which is rounded on the outside.

The retro-style Barefoot mobile holiday home is a fibreglass bubble which boasts a modern bathroom, a stylish kitchen and a 6ft x 6ft bed. Customers who splash out the £21,950 asking price receive a bespoke model in a shade of their choice, with custom furnishings and

solid oak worktops.

Purchasers of the van are even treated to a Roberts Revival DAB radio to

match - as well as a wardrobe, LED ceiling lights, floor lighting and a gas hob, fridge and freezer.

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13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Indian help’s hand chopped off

by Saudi employer, incident unacceptable, says Sushma Swaraj

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has reacted strongly to reports of an Indian woman’s right arm being chopped off by her employer in Saudi Arabia after she tried to escape.Describing the incident as unacceptable, Sushma Swaraj said she has taken up the issue with Saudi authorities. She said that officials of the Indian Embassy are in touch with the victim and providing all possible help.“We are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia. This is unacceptable.

We have taken this up with Saudi authorities.Our embassy is in touch with the victim,” the minister said.Chopping of hand of Indian lady - We are very much disturbed over the brutal manner in which Indian lady has been treated in Saudi Arabia.Sushma

Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 9, 2015. The incident reportedly happened on the night of September 29 when Kashturi Munirathinam, 58, working as a domestic help, tried to escape from her employer’s house. Her family in Tamil Nadu has alleged that she was being tortured by her employer.“Kashturi’s employer was angered after she apprised local officials about the harassment she was facing there, she was not even provided food,” S Vijayakumari, sister of Munirathinam, told PTI. “When she tried to escape the harassment and torture, her right hand was chopped off by the woman employer. She fell down and sustained serious spinal injuries,” Vijayakumari said. “She has now been hospitalised in Riyadh and is in a serious condition,” she added.

Dalit family bares it all after Greater Noida police fails to register their FIR A National Commission for Scheduled Castes team on Friday visited the Dankaur area in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar and met the Dalits, who were arrested on charges of public obscenity.

Five people, including three women, were arrested on Thursday after they allegedly stripped in a market in Dankaur in Gautam Budh Nagar, to protest the police’s alleged refusal to register a complaint of robbery.The whole episode flared up after a video of a naked Dalit family protesting against alleged inaction of the Uttar Pradesh Police in Gautam Budh Nagar district went viral in social media on Thursday.

Media reports said that the Dalit couple resorted to nude protest after the Greater Noida police failed to register their FIR of an alleged robbery despite their requests.

According to reports, one Sunil Gautam, approached the Dankaur police station on Wednesday along with his wife and other family members to file a case of robbery against his neighbour Mahavir, with whom he also had a land dispute. “Mahavir attacked our house on Wednesday night along with his men and robbed us of valuables.

We immediately informed the police but they were in no mood

Most slaughter houses in UP are run by Hindus In an exclusive interview to Aaj Tak’s Seedhi Baat, senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has alleged that President Pranab Mukherjee communicated his displeasure about the kind of statements being made post the Dadri incident to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that is what compelled the PM

to issue a statement of condemnation.

Speaking to Aaj Tak in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, Azam said that the PM made three provocative statements on Thursday but after the President sent word of displeasure, Modi was forced to change his tune and make an appeal for communal harmony in his final speech at Navada. In a bid to calm down the communal tempers rising across the country, Azam hit out at independent J&K MLA Engineer Rashid for throwing a beef party in Srinagar. He said, “In a country as diverse as India, one has to be considerate of the feelings of members of other communities.BJP MLAs slapping Rashid was wrong but it was also wrong

of Rashid to provoke Hindus by throwing a beef party.”

Azam called for a ban on beef exports, saying if Modi is keen on protecting the cow he should walk the talk and ban beef exports. He also said that he has proof of BJP leaders having stakes in slaughter houses in UP, adding that beef exports were rising under Modi’s rule and while BJP is seeking votes in the name of protecting the cow, the party is doing precious little to actually implement.

Khan alleged that it is a misconception that only Muslims kill cows because data shows that most abattoirs are run by Hindus. Khan also accused Modi of shedding copious tears for his mother at the Facebook office in California, saying, “If Modi is so fond of his mother, why has he left her to fend for herself?”

Justifying his statement of comparing Dadri to Babri, Azam said that it’s not just the killing but the message that was being sent to the minority community.

He said it’s unfair to blame the police for failing to protect law and order in UP, because a group of cops can do little before a violent mob. Khan then took on the RSS alleging that elements of the Sangh Parivar are deliberately vitiating the communal atmosphere.

to arrest him. Instead, they were trying to protect him.” Gautam said.

After a heated argument with the cops, the family went out of the police station and bared it all

Some other reports, however, said that the couple was beaten up badly by the cops and stripped naked.

Dismissing the allegations that the police paraded the family

alleging that the police were trying to defend the accused.

“We had already registered a case against Mahavir and others against whom the family had filed a compliant. We are also conducting raids to arrest the accused.

On Thursday, they came to the police station and entered into a scuffle with me and other policemen. I tried my best to pacify them but they even attacked me with a rod and tried to snatch my service revolver”, station officer of Dankaur police station Praveen Yadav said.

nude, Yadav said, “We made all efforts to prevent them from doing this and even tried to cover them with their clothes.

However, by the time women police officers managed to reach the spot they had already created a scene”.

While the police tried to pacify the family, some passerbys filmed them and posted the video on social networking sites, which later went viral.

As the news spread, senior police officials reached the spot along with women police force and the family was taken away.

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13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

India to become #1 suicide capital of the world; depression main cause New Delhi October 10th is World Mental Health Day and depression is one of the most common problems affecting the mental health of youngsters these days.

Depression in youngsters is fast becoming a matter of concern because the problem doesn’t just stay. It gives rise to other more dangerous problems like suicide.India is on the verge of becoming the suicide capital of the world with over 90 percent of deaths caused due to various types of depression including bipolar depressive disorder, doctors said on Thursday. The doctors also said that in the last few decades, the number of suicides have tripled and has

been the highest in the age group of 15-24 years.

‘It has been found that about 40 percent suicides among males and 56 percent of suicides in females are in the age group of

15-24 years and the leading cause is depression, which is the biggest form of mental disorder,’ said Atmesh Kumar, consultant of mental health at city-based Saroj Hospital.

Kumar said that due to the ignorance, depression not only affects the mental health but also the depicts various bodily symptoms like muscle pain, fatigue and head ache. ‘Almost 90 percent of suicide victims suffer from some psychiatric disorder and the majority are due

to depression.

The increase in suicides are due to increasing stress levels, lack of family support and lack of timely treatment and many socioeconomic factors and substance, intoxicant abuse,’ he said. Priyaranjan Avinash, senior psychiatrist of ePsyClinic.com, an online health portal said that the rise in the suicides of youngsters is related to the change in the ethos of the society.‘There are many types of depression. One way to classify would be endogenous and reactive depression.

Endogenous are considered mostly biological while reactive is considered to be caused by life events,’ said Avinash. Speaking about the anti-depression pills used by the youngsters to avoid depression, he said that there are some patients with depression who require more than just medications and may require various psychological and physical therapies like, ECT, rTMS etc. A recent survey, conducted among college students of Delhi also stated that, 64.6 percent of the students are experiencing depressive symptoms and mood fluctuations.

Why CBI is worried about Indian men’s lust for violent porn

New Delhi The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has made a shocking disclosure: Indian men are fuelling violent porn in cyber space.Filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Thursday, the CBI said that men were behind the surge in pornography on the web.

According to reports in newspapers, the CBI said that violent porn was witnessing a rise in cyberspace due to the domineering male population’s “insatiable lust” and “penchant for salacious material, including violence against women”.

Also Read: Porn survey - Delhi no 1; ‘animal porn’ in Pune “Rape and gang-rape represent the oldest and longest continuing instances of a criminal man’s inhumanity on woman.

Sneezing monkey, ‘walking’ fish found in Himalayas NEW DELHI A monkey that sneezes when it rains and a “walking” fish are among more than 200 species discovered in the ecologically fragile eastern Himalayas in recent years, according to conservation group WWF. WWF has compiled a survey of wildlife discovered by scientists across Bhutan, northeast India, Nepal, northern Myanmar and southern Tibet, in an attempt to raise awareness of the threats facing the sensitive region. The species include what the WWF described as a blue-coloured “walking snakehead fish” which can breathe air, survive on land for four days and slither up to 400 metres (a quarter of a mile) on wet ground.

Others include an ornate red, yellow and orange pit viper that could pass for a piece of jewellery, a fresh-water “dracula” fish with fangs and three new types of bananas. In the forests of northern Myanmar, scientists learnt in 2010 of a black and white monkey with an upturned nose that causes it to sneeze when it rains. On rainy days they often sit with their heads tucked between their knees to avoid getting water in their snub noses.

The 211 new species discovered between 2009 and 2014 include 133 plants including orchids, 26 kinds of fish, 10 amphibians, 39 invertebrates, one reptile, one bird and a mammal.

Dipankar Ghose, WWF director of species and landscapes in India, described the region as a “unique treasure house” that has

not yet been fully explored by scientists. In its report WWF said the region, home to Mount Everest, is rugged with vast forests, rivers and streams protected by mountain ranges, meaning species have evolved and survived unnoticed for centuries.

“Some (species) are so unique

released this week. But WWF warned of a series of threats to the region including population growth, deforestation, overgrazing, poaching, mining and hydropower development.

Just 25 percent of its original habitats remain intact and hundreds of species are considered to be globally

and charismatic that scientists are often at a loss as to how to classify them,” said the report

threatened, the report said.

“The challenge is to preserve our threatened ecosystems before

these species, and others yet unknown, are lost,” said Sami Tornikoski, who heads the WWF Living Himalayas Initiative. The report calls for more sustainable development, singling out a need for greener hydropower plants and government help for communities to adapt to climate change. Ghose urged a wholegovernment approach, and stressed the need for administrations across the region to work together to strike a balance between development and conservation.“The forestry department alone for example cannot handle this. It takes coordination across multiple areas of government,” he told AFP on Tuesday. “Countries also need to work together to protect the immense biodiversity that the region holds.” Bhutan agriculture and forests minister Yeshey Dorji warned of the impact of climate change, with temperature increases hitting hard the Himalayas, which are a “lifeline to millions of people and are critical to the economies of the countries that share the region”.

Committing such abhorrent crimes, recording them and disseminating them across the world through Internet-enabled media serve to titillate and indirectly embolden other males to commit such heinous crimes.

These not only add to the misery of existing victims but also endanger and threaten the safety of other innocent women and children,” the CBI’s affidavit said.

The CBI filed the affidavit in response to a PIL by NGO Prajwala on violent porn in Indian cyberspace.

The CBI said the Indian male population is a potential market and added: “The cyber-porn invasion of Indian cyber ecosystem is also on account of the huge market potential carried by a large population like India, particularly the domineering male population that has time and again shown an insatiable lust and penchant for salacious material, including violence against women.”

The CBI contended that a central law enforcement authority needs to be given powers to investigate and prosecute all cyber crimes in order to safeguard young women and children.

Further, the agency called on the apex court to designate the CBI as the national agency to probe cybersex offences and prosecute offenders. The CBI said it has the “highest experience and expertise in pursuing trans-jurisdictional investigations” which will help in tracking and prosecuting sex offenders who operate in foreign locations. The CBI affidavit further blamed rapid urbanization and its effect on the youth for surge in cyber crimes. “The sharp rise in rapes with the ubiquity of Internet-enabled pornography, coupled with the forces of rapid urbanization that lead to disconnected lives of youth have produced a complex social crisis in this country, which can be correlated to the rampant proliferation of such (cyber) crimes.”

Giant car motors into Indian museum

HYDERABAD After designing cars shaped like a hamburger, tennis ball, shoe, handbag and a toilet, quirky Indian artist Sudhakar Yadav decided to go big.

The result is an eight-metre (26foot) high car modelled on the 1922 Ford Tourer, which has gone on display at Yadav’s museum in the southern city of Hyderabad. “We are aiming for

the Guinness record of the world’s largest art car. It’s a new record and hopefully I will get it,” Yadav told AFP. “It can also simulate the sound of an F1 car. I have designed this car especially for children who love to visit my museum,” said Yadav, who took three years to design and build the piece. The car, which is also 15 metres (50 feet) long and 5.7 metres (19 feet)

wide, boasts timber doors, windows and a staircase inside, although there is no engine under the hood.

A chess board, complete with black and white pieces, hangs from the ceiling, along with mini hot-air balloons. The piece has been drawing a number of visitors since its unveiling on Tuesday.

All of the museum’s cars have been made from scrap,

according to Yadav, who already holds the Guinness World Record for the largest tricycle, standing 12.67 metres high.

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13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Bizarre! Saudi man sexually assaults maid, wife faces jail Dubai A woman catching her husband cheating on her would normally bring trouble for the man.

However, in a bizarre case, a woman in Saudi Arabia is now facing jail for doing the same.

As per reports in the international media, the Saudi woman recorded a video of her husband attempting to molest a family maid and posted the

same on social media.The video was filmed using a hidden camera and clearly shows the man to be at fault.

However, it is the woman who is now facing a jail term.As per The Daily Mail, the video which was uploaded on YouTube shows the Saudi man forcing himself on one of the family’s members of staff.

The maid is seen trying to resist his advances.While the man is

seen talking to the maid, another woman, also believed to be a maid, is seen walking around in the kitchen.The man then kisses the maid while she is attempting to escape his clutches.The enraged wife uploaded the video online and wrote, ‘The minimum punishment for this husband is to scandalise him.”While the video went viral on social media in Saudi Arabia, it has attracted a lot of trouble for the woman.She now faces a year’s jail term or a fine of SR500,000 (£87,214) for defaming her husband.“She faces up to one year in prison or a fine of SR500,000 (£87,214) for defaming her husband in line with the law on information technology crimes,” lawyer Majid Qaroob told a local newspaper.“This law includes stiff punishment for anyone using mobile phones with camera or other equipment to photograph others and defame them,” he said.

Saudi tycoon raises stakes in twitter RIYADH Saudi tycoon Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding Company announced Wednesday they have increased their stake in Twitter Inc to become the firm’s secondlargest shareholders.

They raised their holdings over the past six weeks to 34,948,975 shares, more than five percent

of Twitter’s common stock, Alwaleed and Kingdom Holding, which he chairs, said in a joint statement. “This combined investment makes Prince Alwaleed and KHC the second largest shareholders in Twitter,” it said.

Twitter shares closed Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange at $27.62, giving the

Alwaleed-Kingdom stake a market value of more than $965 million. Alwaleed and Kingdom had already bought into Twitter in 2011, before the social media firm’s 2013 initial public offering.

As well as media stakes, Kingdom Holding’s diversified interests range from the Euro Disney theme park to Four Seasons hotels and Citigroup.

Mysterious hybrid of crocodile and a buffalo terrifies villagers in Thailand

Bangkok If crocodiles were not scary enough for you, check out this hybrid which has scaly skin like a reptile and a crocodileshaped head despite being born from a buffalo. This bizarre creature have left villagers of a Thai village scared and terrified by its weird appearance. This odd creature was was laid out on a table and a crowd examines its scaly skin and

head with candles lighted up around it.Born to a buffalo, the animal was found in High Rock, Wanghin in Thailand. It is believed that earlier the buffalo had given birth to a healthy calves. But how did a Buffalo born grew scales and formed an elongated snout similar to a crocodile is a mystery in itself.The villagers in Wanghin believe that this creature will bring good luck to them.

On 20th birthday, man gets childcare expiration certificate from parents Different cultures bring up their children differently. In the US, the legal adulthood age is 18, in Japan one is legally an adult the day he/she turns 20. And with that turn of the year, everyone has to grow up and shoulder his or her responsibility towards society which has taken care of them for 20 long years.But for one Twitter user, the transition came out of the blue on his birthday, when his mom and dad handed him a written

notice of the expiration of their childcare services towards him.In the notice, the parents congratulated him for graduating from childhood and celebring his newfound freedoms.

Issue - 636 (10)

Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonail alliance for their dauther, born and raised in Canada, 30 yrs. old, 5’ 6” tall, post gradute degree in Clinical Psyclology, professionally employed, well versed in both cultures, can speak punjabi as well. The boy should be well educated, professionally settled with family values between 28-34 yres. of age.

Lower Mainland area prefered.

Please email recent picture and bio-data to: parmjit50@gmail.com or Call : 1604-317-7576 ***636*** Well settled Jat Sikh parents seeking a suitable match from Canada/America for their Canadian born son, 29 yrs. old, 6’ tall, educated, handsome, wears turban. The girl should be educated, attractive, having good family background. Please send you bio-data and recent picture to : skaur222@outlook.com Or Call: 1-604-728-3530 ***636*** Jat Sikh parents seeik a suitable match for their Canadian born daughter, 25 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, well educated, working in her own field. The boy should be gursikh, professionaly qualified, settled with family values. Please send you bio-data and recent picture to : skaur222@outlook.com Or Call : 1-604-728-3530 ***636*** Jat Sikh parents looking for a suitable match for their only son, age 25 yrs., 6’ tall, owns rural, urban property, Mech. engineer, currently lliving in India. The girl should be Canadian immigrant/ Citizen and from a good family background. Please send you bio-data and recent picture to: rbhullar@yahoo.com Or Call : 1734-891-8822 ***636*** Amritdhari Jat sikh, USA citizen, Engineer boy, 28 yrs. old, 5’-9" tall, Working as Engineer in Government Dept. The Girl should be Amritdhari and professionally qualified. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: khalsa9450@gmail.com ***636*** Saraswat B\rahmin family seek a suitable match for their Manglik son, Jan. 26, 1984 born, time 10.30 A.M. (Jagraoon), 5’-10” tall, Canadian Immigrant, M.Sc., B.Ed., living in Winnipeg. The Girl should be Canadian/American Immigrant or Citizen, well educated, Manglik, Preferably from Canada. The Girl on Studen/ Visitor/Work Permit Visa can also be considered. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : sharmatejpal@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-204-951-9909 ***636*** Well educated/employed match for 1989 born, 5’-2-1/2 tall, MBA (HR), Indian Ramgaria Sikh Girl, Working in Brampton. Recently shifted to Canada on permanent resident basis, can relocate to USA if necessery. Caste no bar.

Doctor/Software engineer prefered. Photo & bio-data at first instance. Serious enquiries only

13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Email : sukhman89@gmail.com Or Call : 905-654-0784 ***636*** Delhi based Sikh family invites matrimonial alliance for their son, 39 yrs. old, 6’ tall, Unmarried, Clean shaven, Australian Citizen.

Elder brother is well settled in California (bay area) USA. The girl should be Canadian/American Immigrant/Citizen. The boy is willing to relocate. Caste and religion no bar. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to : jitsahota@yahoo.com Or Call : 1510-224-7191 ***636*** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their beautiful daughter, 5’-9” tall, fair complextion, M.Sc. in Iridology, born and raised in Vancouver, currently residing in Surrey BC. The boy should be very handsome, atleast 6’-4” tall, age 32 yrs., professionally Qualified/Medical doctor, holistic, kind, caring with sense of humour, well settled in surrounding Surrey area. The boy should contact the girl directly at : Ph. No. : 1-604-779-1903 ***636*** Jat Sikh family seeking a suitable match for their Canadian born and raised Son, 34 yrs. old, 5’-10 tall, well setlled in Job. The girl should be beautiful educated and family oriented from BC area only.

Please Call: 1-604-671-0002 ***636*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their son, 35 yrs. old, 5’-11” tall, well educated & well settled, Canadian Citizen, Govt. employee, divorcee (One daughter custody with mather).

The Girl should be educated, beautiful & family oriented. Divorce girl on work permit/student visa & visitor can also be considered.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: ss100283@ gmail.comOr Call : 647-719-0077 ***636*** Ja Sikh Brar parents invite materimonial alliance for their daughter 28 yrs. old, 5’4” tall, BSc. Nursing four years degree holder, well versed in both cultures and family oriented. The boy should be professionally qualified with family values from Jat Sikh family only. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : avtar.brar@hotmail.com Or Call : 416-930-3261 ***636*** Professionally qualified match for Lubana Sikh Girl, 26 yrs. old, 5’4” tall, vegetarian, Pharmacy degree from Toronto University, Working with a reputed company of Brampton in her own field. The boy should be turbuned, vegetarian, equally qualified & employed. G.T.A preferred.

Please send your bio-data & recent piture to nsm_pu@yahoo.com Or Call : 647-938-9464 ***636*** Ravidassia Sikh family seek a suitable match for their son, 28 yrs. old, 5’-8” tall, J.B.T. B.A., living, in Malasiya. The Girl should be Canadian/American Immigrant or Citizen, family oriented.

Divorcee can also be considered.

Please send your bio-data & recent picture to rash46@shaw.ca Or Call : 1-778-866-7755 ***636*** Jat Sikh Parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, Canadian born, DOB 1980, 5’-5” tall, University graduate, working in government job, divorced after a short marriage. The boy should be Jat Sikh, University educated in raised in Canada. Please Call : 1-604-214-0911 ***636*** Jat Sikh parents invite materimonial alliance for their son 24 yrs. old, 5’-9” tall, BDS (Dentist), presently in India practising in Dentistry. The girl should be Canadian Immigrant/ Citizen, educated, beautiful and family oriented, parents are in Canada these days on visitor Visa. Younger brother is settled in Canada. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: amanpreetaujla@ymail.com Or Call : 416-953-2504 ***636*** Seeking a professionally qualified Jat Sikh match for a Jat Sikh Canadian Citizen girl, 80 born, 5'7" tall , Convent Educated, B.Sc. Computer Science working as a Programmer Analyst in a Software Company in Toronto, Canada.

Please respond with your bio-data and recent picture to: d.sdhindsa@yahoo.com or contact 011-91921-6713431. ***636*** Jat Sikh Cheema Parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 26 yrs. old, 5’-6”, tall, at present in Canada on work permit, working as a manager in a reputed transport company, very handsome and belong to a good family. The girl should be Canadian Immigrant/Citizen, educated, beautiful with family values, girls on student visa or work permit may also be considered. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: kanwarpalc@gmail.com Or Call :416-803-533 ***636*** Match for Canadian PR Jat Sikh boy, 28 yrs. old, 5’-8”, tall, M.Tech. from Canadian University, working as electrical engineer in Bramton, Urban and rural property in Punjab.

Looking for educated, beautiful, family oriented girl having PR/work permit/student visa in Canada.

Please email recent picture and bio-dafta to: thindmohie@yahoo.com Or Call : 905-412-0225 ***636*** Jat Sikh Parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-4”, tall, B.Sc. (Medical) from India, Postgraduation in bio-technology from Canada, family oriented and well settled in job. The boy should be well educated, professionally settled, from a good family background. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : preetmann58@ yahoo.com Or Call : 011-91-98158-91252 ***636*** Jat Sikh Parents seek a

suitable for their Canadian Citizen son, 31 yrs. old, 6’ tall, well educated, well settled, professionally Employed. The Girl should be from Canada, beautiful, tall, slim, fair, family oriented, professionally Educated or Employed. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: bajwap@hotmail.com ***636*** Jat Sikh Dhaliwal Parents looking for suitable match for their 28 yrs. old, 5’-5” tall daughter, born and raised in Canada, holding two degrees in health. The boy should be Canadian Citizen or immigrant.

Please email you information to: abc_1512@hotmail.com or call 416-357-0472 ***636*** Well Established US Jat Sikh parents seek a Jat Sikh match for their handsome, clean shaven MD son, 29 years, 6’ tall. The girl should be born and raised in USA or Canada, at least 5’4" tall, non-drinker and highly educated with strong family and Sikh values. Please send biodata and recent photo to 113hsingh@gmail.com or call: 1- 916-296-1528. *** 636*** Jat Sikh Sidhu family seek a suitable match for their beautiful, fair, slim daughter, 30/ 04/1986 born, 5’-5" tall, Highly educated (B.Sc., M.Sc.Botany, B.Ed., PGDCA), working as a Lecturer (Botany) in a reputed college in Punjab, well-cultured and pure vegetarian. Good status family.

Many respectable well established close relatives in Surrey, BC. Early marriage.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: sidhugurpreet91@yahoo.co or call: 1- 604 825 4276 (before 9am or after 8pm BC time) or 011-91- 9464419612 (India) *** 636*** 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 successul business. The Girl should be well Educated, beautiful, attractive. Please send your biodata & recent picture to: ssandhu1966@gmail.com Or Call: 1-209-890-9384 ***636**** 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 should be tall, educated from good family. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: manpreetgill48@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-778-344-0303 ***636*** Saini Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 25 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, living in India, B.Sc. B.Ed., bearutiful, slim, having 10 yrs.

Multiple Visa of Canada. The boy should be clean shaven, Canadian/American Immigrant or Citizen, Educated, belong to a well settled family. Caste no Bar. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: lakhbir184@gmail.com Or Call: 1-250-885-1291 ***636** Saini Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5’-1” tall, Canadian imiigrant, did Engineering, Working as a I.T. Consultant in a Major Bank of Toronto, beatiful, family oriented, well versed in both cultures. The boy should be professional, family oriented & well versed in both cultures.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: saini080185@gmail.com Or Call : 647-709-1853 ***636** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 38 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, Canadian Citizen, Never married, well versed in both cultures, working full time in health field, family oriented. The boy should be Jat Sikh, professionally employed, clean shaven, well versed in both cultures. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: health2016@hotmail.com ***636** Jat Sikh Parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 22 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, born and raised in Argentina, School graduate, diploma holder, handsome with family values. The girl should be Canadian Citizen/ immigrant and family oriented.

Uncle (Chacha Ji) is well settled in Canada. Divorced may also be considered. Please email recent picture and bio-data to : pdeol3@yahoo.ca Or Call : 647-740-5792 ***636*** Ramgaria Sikh parents a seek a match for their son 26 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, Bachellor in engineering, living in India. The girl should be beautiful, Canadian/American immigrant citizen. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: sohalsp@gmail.com Or Call : 647-829-5872 (Leave Message) ***636***

Disinherited Notice I, Jagjit Singh Mann, resident of 4 Soaring Rock Crt., Brampton, On. L6R 3G7 Canada, give notice to all that my son Dilshan Singh Mann and daughter Puneet Kaur Mann are out of my control. I disinherited my son and daughter from all of our moveable and immoveable properties in India and Canada. The persons who deal with my son and daughter shall themselves be responsible for all their deeds and contracts. All concerned my please note. ***636***

Issue - 636 (11)

13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Filmmaker sentenced to 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment for acid attack on ex-girlfriend MUMBAI A special women’s court on Friday convicted filmmaker Jerrit John and sentenced him to five years’ rigorous imprisonment for attacking

evidence of the doctor, her vision was reduced and she was going for checkups until December 28, 2012, which is more than 20 days. She was suffering from an eye problem and

his ex-girlfriend Aryanka Hosbetkar (28), with acid at her Worli residence in 2012. John has been incarcerated at Arthur Road jail since his arrest on November 10, 2012 and this period has been set off against his five-year sentence.

Special judge Vrushali Joshi while stating that the attempt to murder charge (IPC 307) was not proved against John (36), convicted him on the lesser charge of causing grievous hurt (IPC 326). “Though nature of injury mentioned is simple, mental trauma and shock of a sudden acid attack should be considered in this case.

The accused has caused grievous hurt by means of corrosive substance which he splashed on her face. It is proved to be hydrochloric acid,” judge Joshi observed. “As per the

due to the trauma,” the judge said.

Hosbetkar’s advocate Faiz Merchant, said the Hosbetkar family was happy that justice had been done. When asked if the family would appeal against the acquittal on the graver charge of attempt to murder, he said it would be looked into only after procuring the reasoned judgment copy.

“This just reaffirms our faith in the judiciary. I know what she had to go through,” Merchant told TOI. Following the conviction, defence advocate Amin Solkar urged the court to be lenient and said the victim didn’t suffer any disfiguration. But chief public prosecutor, Kalpana Chavan sought the maximum sentence of 10 years against John, while citing the alarming rise in

Gurgaon A live heart in a box snaked through narrow lanes and overcame stubborn traffic between Gurgaon and Delhi in less than a quarter of an hour to breathe new life into a teenager on Friday.

An ambulance carrying the organ from a brain-dead accident victim and another medical van leading the way hurtled from a Gurgaon hospital to the Delhi border in eight minutes but had a rough time thereafter despite travelling through a “green corridor” earmarked for the e m e r g e n c y. M e d i c a l officials on the vehicles said they were left to fend for themselves while Delhi Police offered little help, as they repeatedly drove down the wrong side of streets with their sirens blaring to beat morning rush hour traffic.“It’s a live organ transplantation where time is of great essence,” said

one of them. “The organ needs to be transplanted within a few hours of retrieval for the surgery to be a success. Delhi Police did not coordinate with the

acid attacks in failed relationships. “This is not just an attack against the victim but also against the society. The entire attack was planned with a very cool mind and he had knowledge about the chemical. He wanted to punish her and even locked the door after throwing acid to ensure this,” Chavan told the court.

John was also convicted under the charge of housetrespass, after preparation for causing hurt, assault or wrongful restraint (IPC 452) and wrongful confinement (IPC 342). Referring to the latter charge, the judge said it was proved by the statement of a witness who is a neighbour of the Hosbetkars, as he was the one who opened the door bolted by John who ran away after the attack.

Justifying the fact that the neighbour knew little of the incident, the judge said, “Though he was staying next to the flat of the victim, he did not ask about it and she (Hosbetkar’s mother who called him) did not disclose it. It proves the non-interfering attitude of the residents of Mumbai.”

Hosbetkar is a physiotherapist and has an older sister who lives in London. Their mother retired as a stenographer from the city civil and sessions court, while their father died in 2003.

When a live heart raced across Delhi-Gurgaon, saved a life

ambulances and that cost us more time than expected.”

The convoy reached the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at exactly 10.01am, completing the nearly 22km journey in 38 minutes and 55 seconds, while doctors waiting there successfully transplanted the heart into the 13-year-old boy who was battling for survival.“We had already informed police officials of both cities regarding the movement of a live organ,” said a

representative of the Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) in Gurgaon.The back-up ambulance took the lead and cleared the route for the one carrying the heart, as the drivers made repeated announcements through the public address system, honked and even rolled down their windows to shout at stubborn commuters to make way.

Delhi Police, however, rejected charges about lack of assistance, saying the route was altered in the morning because of a massive public gathering.

“It was initially decided that they would take national highway 8, but at the last minute Gurgaon Police officials and the doctors decided on an alternate route,” said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (traffic).

Indian air force opens the way for women to pilot fighter jets NEW DELHI India is opening the way for women pilots to fly fighter jets in combat, its air force chief said, as one of the world’s biggest military forces shakes off its reluctance to give greater responsibilities to women.

Several countries, from the United States to Israel, and even neighbour and arch-rival Pakistan, have women flying their fighter planes, but India’s military has kept them out of that role, as well as frontline warships and ground combat.

In recent years, however, Indian courts have pushed the military to widen opportunities for women, by giving them permanent commissions, for example, instead of limiting them to five-year terms.

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said he expected the first women pilots to be commissioned within the next two to three years, following an air force proposal to the defence ministry.

“We have women pilots flying transport aircraft and helicopters,” he said at a parade on Thursday to mark the 83rd anniversary

fleet. In April, a parliamentary defence panel urged the government to tackle the IAF’s problems.

of the Indian Air Force.

“We are now planning to induct them into the fighter stream, to meet the aspirations of the young women.”

The step comes just a year after Raha turned down the possibility of putting women in that role, newspapers said, quoting him as having said women were unfit to fly fighter aircraft for long stretches.

But the air force now faces a shortage of pilots, at the same time as it struggles to modernise its Soviet-era

“Our squadron strength is already short of what has been authorised, and moreover, insufficiency in the number of available pilots further deteriorates our operational capabilities,” it said in a report.

India’s army, with 1.1 million troops, ranks among the world’s largest. Its air force is around 120,000 strong, with just 1,500 women, of whom 108 are transport and helicopter pilots.

Issue - 636 (12)

13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

ISIS recruit from Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh begs to come back Washington An Indian ISIS recruit from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, disillusioned and fearing for his life, wants to break free from the terror group and return home from his crusade in Iraq and Syria.

Intelligence agencies got a whiff of his plan while trailing his Indian handler. The man, whose identity has been kept under the wraps, is said to be in his late 20s.He was recruited into the ISIS by an Indian in the UAE about six months ago after he was radicalised on the social media.Agencies are facilitating, through various channels, his return and his handler is under surveillance.

Some of the Indians living in West Asia and a few members of the home-grown terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM), have been recruiting for the ISIS and identify vulnerable Muslim youth.

But in this case, the handler is not linked with Indian Mujahideen, an official privy to the details told Mail Today. “We are tracking his activities and he has been making efforts to recruit

Indian youth,” said the official.The man was in touch with his handler online for months and he moved to Turkey, from where he was instructed to reach Syria.Initially, IM members would join ISIS and also recruit for the terror group. Some new Indian recruiters and handlers in West Asia have also surfaced now,

sources said.

Several Indians living in UAE, said to be ISIS aspirants, have been under watch. While two persons from Kerala were deported to India after their ISISrelated activities on social media were noticed by intelligence agencies, over 10 Indians were detained in the country for their

Why ISIS jihadis are so obsessed with Toyota trucks?

Washington Toyota has spoken with US officials about the prominent use of its vehicles by militants in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Toyota trucks are conspicuous in extremist propaganda and

are often what carry Islamic State group fighters into war with large calibre weapons affixed to truck beds.The company says it maintains “a strict policy to not sell vehicles to potential purchasers who may use or modify them for paramilitary or terrorist activities.”The Treasury Department’s Terrorism and

Financial Intelligence wing monitors monetary transfers and the flow of goods that could aid militants, and an abundance of any company’s product being used by extremists would draw attention. Yet such inquiries are

often part of a more comprehensive look into how money and material flows in areas of strife where militants operate.Toyota released a statement that suggested just such an inquiry.

“We are committed to complying fully with the laws and regulations of each country or region where we operate, and

require our dealers and distributors to do the same,” the company said. “We are supporting the US Treasury Departments broader inquiry into international supply chains and the flow of capital and goods in the Middle East.”

The Treasury declined to comment Wednesday on any specific inquiry.

“In line with our usual approach to understanding ISIL’s financial and economic activities, we are working closely with foreign counterparts and stakeholders worldwide,” the Treasury Department said in a printed statement, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.While there are procedures in place to help prevent its products from being diverted for unauthorized military use, according to Toyota, the company says that it’s impossible for it or any automaker to control the channels through which its vehicles can be misappropriated, stolen or resold by third parties.

pro-ISIS activities.Five Indians suspected to have links with ISIS were deported recently, including a 37-year-old woman Afsha Jabeen alias Nicky Joseph, an alleged recruiter.Fresh estimates show that the number of people of Indian origin wanting to join ISIS has gone up to 20.Among these, six have been killed while

fighting for the ISIS.Sources said that after the recent bombings by Western forces in Islamic Statecontrolled areas, the youth from Azamgarh got in touch with his family asking them to “save him”. “The family approached security agencies for help, which are trying to get in touch with the youth, who is in ISIS-held areas in Iraq, bordering Syria,” said an official. The youth had passed Class XII and had been involved in small businesses before leaving the country to join the Islamic group. Amidst growing ISIS threat, India has come up with a new strategy focussing on de-radicalistation of youth. Knee jerk arrests are a strict “no” and the focus is on constant monitoring of the social media which is making an impact on young impressionable minds.The Ministry of Home Affairs, along with state governments, has stressed on the need for carrying out deredicalisation programmes, win the confidence of the Muslim community and get community leaders to be part of this drive.

ISIS may attack India using Pak sleeper cells, counterfeit money

New Delhi In the backdrop of reports claiming that Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) threat is looming over India, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ponder upon those options which could be used by these dreaded militants to garner Pakistan’s help for accomplish their mission.

Swamy took to microblogging website Twitter urging PM to step up action against ISIS and wrote: “Now PM must analyse options to meet ISIS proposed terrorist attacks on India using Pak sleeper cells and

counterfeit money.”

Recently, according to an internal recruitment document of the feared group which also seeks to unite the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban into a single army of terror, had reportly said that the ISIS is preparing to attack India to provoke an Armageddon-like confrontation with the US. An investigative story published by the USA Today and reported

by American Media Institute refered to a 32-page Urdu document obtained from a Pakistani citizen with connections inside the Pakistani Taliban.

Love for Muslim boy made ex-Army officer’s daughter ‘like’ Islamic State!

New Delhi The daughter of a retired Army Lt Colonel, about whom her father had alerted the National Investigation Agency over suspicion that she was planning to join the Islamic State terror group, had pretended to be radicalised in order to spite her parents, a report has claimed.

As per the Times of India, the 25year-old Hindu woman was in a relationship with a Muslim man and decided to spite her parents after they rejected her demand to marry her Muslim boyfriend.

She started visiting websites containing material on the Islamic

Sta t e d e s p i t e n o t h a v i n g a n y interest in its ideology.

The lady told Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials that she was angry at her parents and started looking for information on IS activities and reading up on Islam on the Internet.

According to the daily, the woman further told IB sleuths that it was her boyfriend who had instigated her to read material on IS on the Internet. In fact, he had even shared stuff on the terror group with her.

IB officers “suspect that the boy might be in touch with people either associated with Islamic State or other outfits”, the daily reported.

The father had come to know about his daughter’s interest in joining IS nearly three months ago while scanning through her laptop.

“Nothing suspicious was found against the girl though and she has been de-radicalized. She was not in touch with any ISIS member online. It was out of anger she did what she did,” an IB officer told the daily.

Indian intelligence agencies are now in touch with Australian authorities to seek more information about the woman’s Mumbai-based boyfriend - the duo had fallen in love while in Australia for higher studies.

Issue - 636 (13)

13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Pune man beheads wife, walks streets with her head in hand

New Delhi Residents of Pune were shocked on Friday morning by the sight of a 60-year-old man walking the streets of the city with the severed head of his wife, whom he

allegedly beheaded with an axe.Ramu Chavan, who works as a watchman in a housing complex in Katraj area, allegedly killed his 45-year-old wife because he suspected her of infidelity, police

said.Dramatic footage aired on television channels showed Chavan, clad in a white kurta and dhoti, nonchalantly walking on the street with the severed head in one hand and the axe in the other as

two policemen tried to reason with him.The footage showed several passers-by and motorists looking on as the policemen led Chavan away.Chavan was taken into custody by police. According to the

FIR filed by police, he killed his wife Sonubai because he suspected she was having an affair with her son-in-law.He was booked under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to murder.

Indian-origin Singaporean jailed for fixing football match Indian-Canadian Sikh dumped from SINGAPORE An Indian-origin Singaporean has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for fixing a football league match by bribing referee and a national-level player of Indiandescent here, a media report said on Saturday. Selvarajan Letchuman, 52, on Friday admitted to one charge of corruption and two cheating charges involving 15,500 Singapore dollars (USD 11,111) He fixed the result of a May 2012 match between teams from Singapore and Sarawak in the Malaysian Super League by bribing Malaysian referee Shokri Nor, 50, and Thanasegar S Sinnaiah, 40, an Indian-origin Malaysian national football player. Singapore’s LionXII won the May 22 match by 3-0.

The result won Selavarajan 20,625 dollars bets placed with the Singapore Pool, which runs lotteries and betting on football.

Prior to the match week, Selavarajan had worked out arrangement on bet sharing with Shokri and Thanasegar.

Pressing for a stiff sentence, deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Khoo highlighted several aggravating factors,

Indian-origin woman’s store robbed in US WASHINGTON An Indian-origin convenience store owner has been robbed at gunpoint by three unidentified hooded men in the US state of Virginia. The three men wearing dark cloths entered the Du Drop store in Madison Heights on Tuesday. They pointed a gun at the owner, Sarla Patel, grabbed some cash and the fled the scene. “Today, It’s happened to me tomorrow somebody else,” wset.com quoted Patel as saying. Patel has no visible injures but the emotional wounds of being held at gunpoint run deep. “I didn’t sleep for two nights. Every time that scene come to in my mind,” said Patel.

Investigators are still trying to identify the three men. A surveillance camera at the store captured the whole incident.

Patel and her husband opened the Du Drop convenience store in Madison Heights 9 years ago.

pointing out that Selavarajan has heavily involved in fixing the match result.

“This was the first case where

match-fixers have been prosecuted for cheating Singapore Pools by using the public institution to monetise their illegal fix,” The Straits Times quoted Khoo as saying.

“A strong message must be sent to the accused and potential match-fixers that Singapore has zero tolerance towards criminals monetising their fixes through our legal betting operator,” he

said.

Selvarajan, who has two unrelated convictions, had his sentence backdated to

November 17 last year.

He could have been fined up to 100,000 Singapore Dollars (USD 71,689) and jailed for up to five years for corruptions; and jailed up to two and a half years and fined for each charge of cheating.

Thanasevgar has been dealt with earlier and is now serving two years jail for his part in the match fixing. Shokri, a Malaysian, is still at large.

parliament polls over ‘gay cure’

TORONTO An Indian-Canadian Sikh candidate, who was to fight parliament elections on October 19 and who claimed that homosexuality was unnatural and gays can be cured into straight people, has been dumped by his party for his views.Jagdish Grewal was the candidate of the ruling Conservative Party from the Toronto suburban constituency of MississaugaMalton.

Grewal, who also runs a paper called Punjabi Post, was dumped by his party for writing an editorial in his paper in which called homosexuality “unnatural behaviour” and heterosexuals as “normal”.In his editorial titled “Is it wrong for a homosexual to become a normal person?” Grewal wrote that people become gay

because of some “shock” in their childhood but it can be “corrected”.

Dumping him, the Conservative Party said: “Mr. Grewal is no longer an official candidate for the Conservative Party.”

“These (Grewal’s) comments do not reflect the views of the Conservative Party of Canada.

We believe that all Canadians -- regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation -deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”

Canada legalised homosexuality in 2004 and the Toronto Pride (gay) Parade is one of the biggest such event in the world.

Mumbai is the cheapest ‘world city’ to live in LONDON Of 12 cities considered the most cosmopolitan in the world, Mumbai is the cheapest city to live and work in, says Savills World Research.

“Mumbai is the only city we looked at as it is the only ‘world city’ in India which shares in the same fame, prominence, international reach and ‘investability’ as other global cities such as New York, Hong Kong and Sydney,” said Yolande Barnes, director of Savills World Research. London, Hong Kong and New York are the world’s most expensive cities for companies to accommodate employees. Costs in London, especially, are going through the roof, says Savills World Research. So what makes London so expensive and Mumbai so cheap? “Mumbai’s live/work costs are low but it is actually the most expensive city to live and work in relative to

productivity, with live/works costs a very high - five times per head GDP. This reflects the fact that most workers in the city do not

Barnes said.

In Mumbai, it costs just $29,088 to accommodate an employee, up only 2.4% since 2008. In

live and work in the internationalstandard accommodation that Savills measures. London, meanwhile, has the highest live/ work costs, but when this is compared to its GDP they are only twice the GDP, meaning that it is relatively cheaper to live and work in than Mumbai,”

Shanghai the cost to accommodate an employee has risen 15.6% to $38,089.

The average cost of living and working in Mumbai has risen over the past seven years, to U$29,088 per year as of June 2015, from US$ 28,394 per year in December 2008. By

comparison, other global cities have seen an increase of only 2.4%, in average cost of living and working.

“With India now likely to outperform China economically in the near future, we anticipate that there will be even more interest in Mumbai’s real estate, leading to the average live/work cost continuing to increase and making Mumbai even less affordable if the GDP doesn’t also increase at a rate that exceeds accommodation costs.” The index, which measures the combined cost of residential and office rental per person per year, shows that London’s costs averaged $118,425 in the first half of 2015, an increase of 20.7% since the index was launched in 2008. This is marginally more expensive than Hong Kong where costs have risen just 0.4 per cent since 2008, and New York, which has seen 28.4% growth.

Issue - 636 (14)

13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

2 Indian-American teens among Nasa’s 3-D space contest finalists Washington Two Indian American teenagers figured among 10 finalists of Nasa’s national 3-D Space Container Challenge which

allowing plants to grow roots in it.Hydroponics, growing plants without soil, would be very effective in spacecrafts because it requires less space and

asked students to design models of containers that could help astronauts keep things in order in space.

However, both Rajan Vivek from Arizona and Prasanna Krishnamoorthy from Delaware failed to win the prestigious competition which went to Ryan Beam of California.Beam’s ClipCatch design will allow astronauts on the space station to clip their fingernails without worrying about the clippings floating away and potentially becoming harmful debris.

Rajan’s Hydroponic Plant Box container tackles the challenge of containing water in a microgravity environment while still

plants grow faster and stronger, Nasa said.

Prasanna on the other hand developed a Collapsible Container. In order to use the limited space on international Space Station, the Collapsible Container can expand and compress to perfectly fit its contents.

When empty, it can compress fully for easy storage, Nasa said.

“The simplest tasks on Earth can be quite challenging, and even dangerous, in space,” said Niki Werkheiser, Nasa’s InSpace Manufacturing project manager. “Being able to 3-D print technical parts, as well as the

lifestyle items that we use every day will not only help enable deep space travel, but can make the trip more pleasant for astronauts,” he said.NASA, in partnership with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Foundation, which managed the competition, announced the winners of the Future Engineers 3-D Space Container Challenge on Thursday.

The winning designs focused on making life in space a little more comfortable for astronauts, NASA said. The 3-D Space Container Challenge asked students to design models of containers that could be used in space. They could range from simple containers that could be used to hold collected rocks on Mars or an astronaut’s food, to advanced containers for experiments that study fruit flies.Students across the US spent part of their summer using 3-D modelling software to design containers that could be 3-D printed, with the ultimate goal of advancing human space exploration on the International Space Station, Mars and beyond.

LONDON Schools should prepare kids for a future where the working age may reach 100 years and people may have to adapt to a variety of jobs to make ends meet, Indian-origin business consultant Rohit Talwar has warned.As businesses become more automated there will be fewer jobs and many of the old occupations will be filled with robots, said Rohit Talwar, chief executive of consultancy Fast Future, at the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference in Scotland on

Tuesday, The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.

“On the one hand, we’ll be living longer, on the other hand, we’re not sure how people are going to earn the money to buy the goods and services that will largely be produced by smart software and robots... Will it be right to assume that everyone will still have a job,” he said.

Talwar added the youngsters should be ready to have 40 jobs during their career, working “potentially up to the age of 100” and living up to the age of 120.“Or will it be natural for 50 percent of

the population to not be working... If they do have a job all the way through their career, that means they’ll be working potentially up to the age of 100.”And they “might well have 40 jobs in that period in ten different careers”, he added.The next generation could survive by driving Uber taxis and renting out rooms via Airbnb or could receive a “universal basic income” from the government, he said.He also warned that policymakers around the world were “behind the game” in understanding how fast the world is changing.

Children should be prepared to work until 100 years, says Indian biz guru

Indian-American groups to campaign on immigration issues NEW YORK Indian-American groups have called for a campaign on immigration issues affecting the Indian diaspora including use of H-1B visa by technology companies from India and growing backlog of family visas. The call was made at an immigration seminar organised by Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO-New York), South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) and the Kerala Centre in Elmont, New York recently. Grass-root actions were also required to support President Barack Obama’s executive actions that were announced in November 2014, participants said.While immigration reform holistically seems to be stalled, Obama’s executive actions are designed in a piecemeal manner aimed at improving the overall immigration law system. The participants also hoped that extreme backlogs for Indian nationals in many visa classifications may be reduced in some fair manner. These backlogs have resulted in families being separated for long periods of time despite one

of the major tenets underlying US immigration law being family unity. H1B non-immigrant professional and specialty occupation work visas continue to be scrutinized heavily by such agencies

Treaty Investment and Treaty Trader category for the immigration visa purpose.

It is not clear why Bangladesh and Pakistan and Sri Lanka all have E visas but India does not,

as the US Homeland Security, State, and Labour departments, the seminar noted. Additionally, many of the largest users of the H-1B visa are very significant technology companies from India, the seminar noted. Grassroots efforts should be made to help the government understand that India is not the only user of these technology visas, it suggested. Attempts to avert a form of reverse discrimination should be undertaken soonest, the participants suggested.

Among other issues raised was India’s exclusion from

the participants noted. It was resolved that GOPIO and other community groups must campaign on these issues. “It is important for the Indian American community to take up such issues with Obama administration and elected officials and make them aware of importance of such issues for the country as a whole,” said GOPIO’s founder president Thomas Abraham. The panelists were attorneys Michael Phulwani and David Nachman of NPZ Law Group and Anand Ahuja.

Abraham moderated the discussion.

Issue 636 (15)

13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback has far too many tears and screams Director: Sanjay Gupta Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan, Shabana Azmi, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Jackie Shroff, Atul Kulkarni Ratings: 2 Stars Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) is a runner, a yoga practitioner, a stylish lawyer with hefty fees and a single parent who is not able to make much time for her only child. Soon Mumbai’s “brilliant lawyer” is helpless after her daughter is abducted. She will get back her child only after she meets the kidnapper’s wishes: free a man,

Seven Days, Jazbaa shows the Indian judicial system working at the speed of light and also a leading lady going over the top.

Anuradha reopens the case and turns sleuth to prove that a nefarious man, who has admitted his guilt to her, is innocent.

There is supposed to be nothing ethically wrong with this because after all it is not a smart lawyer but a desperate mother at work here. For all her willingness to fight this battle on her own, Anuradha is but obviously incomplete without the support of a man. She needs muscular shoulders

Niyaaz, (Chandan Roy Sanyal) accused of a brutal rape and murder. She has four days in hand.

Based on Korean drama

to cry on and someone to do all the running around and the fighting. In comes suspended police officer Yohaan (Irrfan). He has fan-

cied her since school but she has been out of his reach, we are told. They have a lot in common such as their love to dress in black, not bother much with principles and just turn up at places out of the blue.

More than blue, audiences will find their eyes assaulted by frames illuminated with colours such as green, pink, grey and red. Gupta and cinematographer Sameer Arya go overboard with the Instagram filters as they try to give their film some visual flair which ends up being an eyesore.

They also frequently cut to

panoramic views of Mumbai skyline which are supposed to show the passage of time.

The case itself is a bloody mess. Irrfan’s Yohaan sums it up best when he says, “Yeh case gutter banta jaa raha hai”. It’s complicated with appearances by the victim’s mother (Shabana Azmi), the victim’s druggie boyfriend (Siddhanth Kapoor) and his politician-father (Jackie Shroff) and some guy called Benny who makes a fleeting appearance. Anuradha at one point indulges in unapologetic character assassination of the victim to make her case stronger. In doing so, she shockingly reinforces stereotypes that a

Matt DaMon anD naSa offer a thrilling riDe to MarS Direction: Ridley Scott Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor Ratings: 4 Stars Rarely do you have a film packing in science fiction, human emotion, generous doses of humour, a fight for survival, all kinds of hostility, indecision - and all in perfect balance. And in the process, leave you biting your nails one moment and misty-eyed the next. Ridley Scott’s latest offering, The Martian, does exactly that and more. Oh, and did we mention the film stays on course, more or less, vis-a-vis the science? Except for a few loopholes,

though, but more on that later. In 2011, Andy Weir’s novel The Martian hit the shelves. In 2013, Drew Gorrard made a screenplay out of it. Finally, we’ve got The Martian on the screens now. To begin with, Weir had tried and kept his Martian as close to science as was possible. Scott, on his part, hand-delivers the precision to the screen, and gets NASA to oversee the science and logic in the film.

The result? Two-and-a-half hours of fun with your gut in a knot and your heart in the mouth. Two-and-a-half hours, in other words, damn well spent. Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed dead and left on Mars by his astronaut colleagues, when a mission on

the red planet goes awry.

Once the crew is on their way home, turns out Mark is alive. He realises that he is injured, deserted, and alone on an entire planet. It would be another four years till the next vehicle reaches Mars. By then, even under non-extenuating circumstances, he would probably be dead. But endowed with a ramrodstraight will, Mark gets to work. In his words, “You solve a problem, there’s another. You do the math.

You solve the problem. You get back home.” And he does seek help from his Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Botany and basic human instincts to make it through the adversity.

Back on earth, several days after the spacecraft

has left Mars, the NASA guys discover that Mark is alive. Thus begin the efforts to bring their ‘Martian’ home. Matt Damon nails his character, making sure never for once does the viewer give up on Mark Watney. Over a period of some 500+ sols (the Martian solar day, just about 39 minutes more than the one on the earth), Mark Watney’s solo survival struggle keeps you hooked on to the screen, blinking at the risk of missing something irreplaceable. The rest of the cast aces their roles, and never, not even for a moment, does anybody feel out of place - right from Jessica Chastain’s Commander Lewis to Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Vincent Kapoor.

woman who lives alone, has many male friends and does drugs is but of course one courting trouble. Given Jazbaa’s release comes a week after Talvar, which was based on the Aarushi murder case, these judgements make for a disconcerting viewing especially coming from an educated woman. There is a re-emphasis on the mockery of justice but it is taken to unintentionally hilarious levels as the courtroom becomes a stage for drama. Baffling behaviour on part of supporting characters makes it difficult to take the film seriously. The kidnapper turns up to meet Anuradha wearing a gas mask but also brings the victim along for some inex-

plicable reason. Yohann, who is suspended, somehow knows where all the bad guys are. Always.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan spends ample time screaming, shedding tears and looking perturbed but her pathos rarely resonates thanks to a script which is more occupied to give its leading star a comeback than present a poignant, compelling drama. Irrfan is left to deliver Gupta’s wisecracks which become tiring as the film progresses. When Khan accuses a character of watching far too many Bollywood films, the irony is not lost. Jazbaa is a ham-fisted drama which is loud and never hits the right notes.

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Vidya Balan not ready to Till date, every cheque I get, goes be part of garba nights to my parents says Sonakshi Sinha The garba season has begun and Bollywood celebs are all set to add glamour to the dandiya nights. While celebs are a common sight at these functions, Vidya Balan is not too keen to be part of such programmes. The Kahaani actress has turned down requests from Ahmedabad, Surat and Pune which even came with a fat offer, as reported by Mid-Day.com. The reason being Vidya’s interest in putting the money to a correct use like social causes involving child education or sanitation campaigns and therefore, she wants the organisers to pay heed to her demands. Now isn’t that a good idea?

Vidya Balan as Charlie Chaplin Vidya Balan had earlier expressed a desire to play the legendary actor, Charlie Chaplin, on screen. “I loved Sridevi as Charlie Chaplin in Mr India... And I’d love to attempt Charlie Chaplin too.He has been a huge inspiration,” she had admitted. According to a report on Mumbai Mirror, Malayalam film director, R Sarath, has approached her for a Hindi film with Chaplin as the central character. Confirming this, Sarath has been quoted in the report as saying that, “Yes, I have approached Vidya to play the title role of Chaplin and she has agreed.

I’m coming to Mumbai next week to meet her. We’ll take things forward from there.

The Hindi film will not be a biopic but a serious piece of fiction with lots of smiles and tears,” he promises. An official confirmation is now awaited from Vidya’s end.

Sonakshi Sinha took Bollywood by a storm when she made her debut with Dabangg and soon other films followed, cementing her position in the industry. However, the actress, who is all set to make a statement with AR Murugadoss’ Akira, is still a dutiful daughter.

She apparently gives all her paycheques to her parents and asks them for money, when she needs it. Talking about the same, she has been quoted in a Mumbai Mirror report as sayin that, “I got my first pay cheque when I volunteered as an usher at a

fashion week. I was still in college then and I was being paid Rs 500 a day.

By the time the event ended, I had earned Rs 3000. I gave the cheque to my parents. My mother has framed it and kept it as a memento. I gave my first pay cheque from Dabangg, my debut film, to my parents too, after donating a part of it to Salman’s charity foundation. Till date, every cheque I get, goes to my parents. I have few needs so whenever I need money, I ask them.”

I’ve grown up putting bullies in their place Sonakshi Sinha was

trolled on Twitter recently for expressing her views on #Meat ban in Mumbai due to the ongoing Jain festival. She had tweeted, “This is a free country!

Welcome to BAN-istan...

I meant india.. Stupid autocorrect(sic).” This apparently did not go down too well with the Twitterati who called her ‘fat’ and ‘stupid’. However, two days after all this happened, Sonakshi has no plans of mending her views. In an interview with Mumbaimirror.com, the Dabangg actress said, “I’ve grown up putting bullies in their place, that too face-to-face.

Salman Khan snubs Sonu Nigam?

Salman Khan reportedly recently had a tiff with singer, Sonu Nigam. If a report on Bollywoodlife.com is to be believed then Salman Khan, who was one of the top stars attending the event held by TSeries, hosted by Sonu Nigam, took digs at the singer when he was invited to the stage. The report states that the Bajrangi Bhaijaan seemed to be enjoying himself throughout the evening, humming songs to himself. However, things reportedly took a turn for the worst

when the superstar was called on the stage.

Apparently, Salman claimed that he did not need a playback singer to croon for him in the

movies. A source has been quoted in the report as saying that Sonu looked visibly upset with Salman’s comments. He further asserted that Salman was adamant to prove that singers have a very easy job to do and that he even went on to say that he has a decent voice that can be bettered with technology and made to sound good. The source adds that Bhai then boasted that he wouldn’t need a Sonu Nigam or anyone else to croon for him.

Happy with my paycheques says Kareena Kapoor While B Town celebs are making hype over female actors not being paid well, Kareena Kapoor Khan is happy with her paycheques. Talking about the issue in a recent interview, the 35-yearold actress said that everyone has raised a hue and cry about salaries but she never had an issue, was reported.

The Bajrangi Bhaijaan star further said that she isn’t complaining that she is

not paid well in fact she is happy with it. Kareena also added that script is more important to her than the pay cheques. She also talked about how her sense of script has improved over the years. While Bajrangi Bhaijaan continues to win hearts, Kareena Kapoor Khan is gearing up for R Balki’s Ki and Ka, wherein she will be seen alongside Arjun Kapoor.

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Natalie Dormer used to ‘pig comparisons’ Actress Natalie Dormer was bullied at school for having “pig nose”, but the “Game of Thrones” star is now used to the comparisons and laughs off

the suggestion. The 33year-old English actress, who made an appearance at New York Comic Con, said people also compare her to The Muppets star Kermit the Frog’s new girlfriend Denise, reported Contactmusic.

“When I saw Kermit’s new girlfriend, I was like ‘Maybe I’m a bit responsible for that.” she said. The actress has now learned to joke about herself and even asked Game of Thrones writers to include a reference to her nose in an episode. “There’s a scene in season three where I’m walking on all the cliffs with Sansa, and I’m telling her how I was teased as a young girl for my nose.

“I asked in a dinner with David (Benioff) and Dan (Weiss), ‘Please, can you put in a line about a pig nose?

I was bullied at school, I used to get told I had pig nostrils.’ I said, ‘For my own demons, it would be sticking two middle fingers up to the bullies of my childhood’,” she said.

Gwyneth Paltrow moves forward with Brad Falchuk

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has reportedly given Brad Falchuk keys to her house.

The 43-year-old, who has been dating the Glee cocreator for more than a year, is said to be practically living with him at her mansion in Brentwood, California, reports femalefirst.co.uk. “They spend every minute together as it is, so it just seemed silly to not make it official. Still, this was a

big step forward for Brad and Gwyneth,” Star magazine quoted a source as saying. The couple earlier went public with their romance at the Scream Queens premiere here and Paltrow, who has daughter Apple and son Moses with former husband Chris Martin, even shared a photograph of her “date” on Instagram. “She’s so happy to have found a man like Brad,” the source added.

I just don’t have bikini body Cate Blanchett to visit India for Women in the World summit says Drew Barrymore Drew Barrymore is known for her carefree nature and the actress prefers to stay the same when it comes to her body

shape, calling it her choice. The 40-year-old 50 First Dates star says she is loving the way her body currently looks,

reported People magazine. “I am who I am and I just don’t have a bikini body. I don’t even have a one piece body anymore! But I am loving the long rash guard, boardshorts look,” she said.

The actress joked that if someone asks her for a beach outing she go berserk thinking what she is going to wear. “It’s not always easy to be so laid-back about it. I’ve beaten myself up about not being a certain thing. If someone says, ‘Let’s go to the beach today,’ my first thought is, what am I going to wear?,” she said.

Vin Diesel answers ‘‘body-shamers’’ with sixpack abs “Furious 8” star Vin Diesel posted on Instagram a new photo of him showing of his abs in a reply to people, who mocked his round belly.

Diesel made headlines for showing off his round belly during his stay at a hotel in Miami earlier this month. The 48-year-old actor took to Instagram on Saturday, October 10 to address the news and say that “body-shaming is always wrong,” reported Aceshowbiz.

Diesel posted a photo of him standing upright in a black shirt showing off his muscular pecs. He looked mysterious as he wore black glasses and held mobile phone on one hand.

“It is amazing the response from the journalists who I have been talking to for the last two days in New York. Today one wanted to see the dad bod. Haha,” he wrote.

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Woman mistakes glue for eyedrops, gets her eye shut

This woman from Florida found herself to be in an unimaginable situation when she realized she glued her eye shut.

Katherine Gaydos of Lantana called a friend for help when a piece of debris entered her eye while blowing leaves last week.

The friend mistook glue for eyedrops and Katherine had to face severe consequences.

She used a glue which is used to apply artificial nails or tips, hence hav-

ing a strong effect. She called 911 immediately but more than a week later too she has her eye shut.

Katherine was unable to get her eye operated due to lack of funds but she soon received a call from a doctor in Lake Worth who got her eye open and has made a future appointment so that the rest of the glue can be removed from her cornea.

Good thing, she might not even get a permanent damage.

Donald Trump unlikely to be next President says Obama

President Barack Obama said Donald Trump was “the classic reality TV character” who had tapped into something real in the Republican Party but was unlikely to end up as president.

“He is a great publicityseeker - and at a time when the Republican Party hasn’t really figured out what it’s for as opposed to what it’s against,” Obama said of Trump during an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” program airing on Sunday night.

Opinion polls put Trump at the front of a crowded Republican field seeking the party’s nomination for the November 2016 presidential election.

British woman jailed for checking Facebook while son drowned A British mother was sentenced to five years in prison for child cruelty after her two-year-old son drowned while she was checking Facebook on her phone, the media reported on Saturday.

Claire Barnett, 31, was criticised by the judge for her “bad parenting” and told she posed a danger to any child for whom she had responsibility during a hearing at Hull crown court on Friday, The Guardian reported.

Joshua Barnett died on March 17, 2014, after falling into a pond while playing in the garden at his home in Beverley, East Yorkshire.

Barnett was looking at her phone at the time of the boy’s death, it was revealed. She attempted to save the child but he

died in hospital later the same day.

While police interrogation, she gave varying accounts of what had happened in the garden of her former

counts of child cruelty.

Judge Jeremy Richardson said, “Your son died due to your neglectful conduct. You will have to live with that for the

residence.

The court also heard how she had let Joshua play out in the road. Neighbours contacted social services after he narrowly avoided being hit by a car. Barnett pleaded guilty to four

remainder of your life. For a parent to behave as you did, repeatedly, amounts to consistently bad parenting. You pose very serious risks to any child for whom you might have responsibility.”

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After 75 winners, Nobel Economics Prize still contentious STOCKHOLM For economists, who often disagree with one another and get their forecasts wrong, the idea of a Nobel Prize for economics remains controversial after 75 years.

This year’s winner of the “Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel” will be announced on Monday at 1:00

pm (1100 GMT) at a ceremony in Stockholm that wraps up the 2015 Nobel season. But is it a “real” Nobel prize, or merely an event seeking to profit from the venerable Swedish brand?

Each year, critics note that Alfred Nobel, the Swedish philanthropist and scientist who founded the other awards, never had the idea to reward economists. The economics prize was created in 1968 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Swedish central bank, and the first laureate was named a year later. Unlike the medicine, physics, and chemistry prizes announced the week before, “economics

is not an experimental science,” Peter Englund, the former head of the Economic Sciences Prize Committee, wrote on the Nobel Foundation’s website. Others say economics can indeed be experimental. In 2002 the prize went to Vernon Smith of the United States, who got his students to set up small

markets for establishing “laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis.”

This year the jury may choose to honour someone who has combined a research career with the harsh reality of the financial crisis: France’s Olivier Blanchard, who stepped down as chief economist of the International Monetary Fund this month, or Ben Bernanke, the former chairman of the US Federal Reserve. Still, the favourites are a host of decidedly more low-key professors at US universities such as Indian-born Avinash Dixit of Princeton, American

economist Robert Barro of Harvard and Finland’s Bengt Holmstrom at MIT. The diversity of the potential candidates reflects profound differences within the field.

Economics largely lacks the universal “laws” other disciplines are built on. For example, the notion that consumers are rational which is the basis of a lot of research was dismissed by 2013 laureate Robert Shiller.

For Sheila Dow, an economics professor at the University of Stirling in Scotland, the diversity is an asset.

“It is better to have a range of approaches to draw on to address new economic problems,” she said.

Saying she appreciated the “plurality”, she emphasised that “economics can be a mature social science and yet not aspire to establish universal laws or general agreement.”

The very same thing however is criticised by some of her peers. They say honouring the best researchers puts too much emphasis on abstract, intellectual models that are far removed from the daily workings of the economy.

“The trouble with the Nobel award is not so much its choice of man but its designation of economics as a scientific field worthy of receiving a Nobel prize,” Michael Hudson, an American economics professor, wrote in 1970.

Girls more likely to be married off than go to high school LONDON Girls are more likely to be married off before their eighteenth birthday than enroll in secondary school in an “alarming” 26 countries, a global charity said on Friday. Niger, where 76 percent of girls marry before they turn 18 and only 10 percent enroll in secondary school, topped the list compiled by CARE International, followed

by Chad, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Somalia.

“Girls shouldn’t be walking down the aisle in greater numbers than into secondary school classrooms,” Helen Pankhurst of CARE International said in a statement. “Every time a girl under 18 is forced into a

marriage or prevented from attending school, it’s a missed opportunity to improve that girl’s life and strike at the roots of poverty.” Child marriage deprives girls of

education and opportunities and puts them at risk of serious injury or death if they have children before their bodies are ready.

They are also more vulnerable to domestic and sexual violence. Although many

countries have closed the gender gap in primary education, they still have significant gaps when it comes to secondary education, said CARE in a report published ahead of International Day of the Girl Child. Each day about 39,000 girls worldwide are forced to marry, said CARE, citing United Nations figures.

Meanwhile, 62 million girls are not in school, half of them adolescents. Some of the underlying causes of child marriage, such as poverty and gender discrimination, apply across countries. Others are more localised, like trafficking of girls in Mauritania, dowry considerations in Bangladesh or conflicts in Afghanistan and Mali, CARE said.

AI system has same IQ as 4-year-old

London If you were already concerned that robots may one day take your job, the latest results from MIT may make difficult reading. An artificial intelligence system called ConceptNet recently took an IQ test designed for children and scored higher than an average fouryear-old. After five tests focusing on word reasoning and vocabulary, ConceptNet achieved a total score of 69 while a comparable preschooler achieved 50 - and the system is expected to get smarter.

ConceptNet is an open-source project run by the MIT Common Sense Computing Initiative. The team’s ConceptNet 4, used in the study at the University of Chicago, uses ‘concepts’ with what’s known as a ‘relation’. When asked to explain what a fawn is, for example, it understands that a ‘fawn is a deer’ rather than a ‘deer is a fawn’ by understanding the concept of the animal and the relation between the two words and concepts. It can also use a socalled ‘polarity flag’ to indicate a negative correlation, such as

penguins can’t fly. The WPPSI-III IQ test has 14 subtests and a complete assessment consists of a Performance IQ and a Verbal IQ (VIQ). The Verbal IQ consists of questions designed to test a child’s word reasoning, vocabulary and comprehension. Each IQ score has a mean of 100 and the study concentrated on the Verbal IQ test.

Test questions, such as ‘Why do we shake hands?’, ‘Why do we wear sunscreen in the summer?’ and ‘Why is it bad to put a knife in your mouth?’ were translated into ConceptNet 4 using natural language processing tools. For the study, the researchers led by Stellan Ohlsson from the University of Chicago scored the WPPSI-III subtests once using the top-scored answer to each item. It then scored them a second time using the best answer from among the five top-scoring answers to each item. They called the former ‘strict scoring’ and the latter ‘relaxed.’ In the Information subtest, ConceptNet scored 20 while scaled scores taken from a four-year-old scored 10.

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By Baishali Adak Seema Shukla’s (named changed) tears can’t stop flowing as she squats on the floor of the gynaecological department at Safdarjung Hospital.

Hair dishevelled, clad in a shabby saree, she keeps passing out even as a woman councillor holds her tight, trying to console her. Seema’s four-year-old daughter was brutally gang-raped by at least two men, and her entire body slashed with a knife on Friday evening near her home in Keshav Puram, northwest Delhi. Her privates had been torn apart, which forced specialised doctors to perform a three-hour colostomy surgery on her in the wee hours of Saturday. The girl, who has barely survived the ordeal and is battling for life, will live with a stool bag for the next few months. “We had not anticipated this when we shifted to Delhi from Orai in Uttar Pradesh’s Jalaun district around a decade ago,� the girl’s grandfather told Mail Today. “We are poor. I work as a labourer.

My son was a painter and daughter-in-law Seema is a household maid. When we found a shelter in the Lawrence Road jhuggis, I could see that the mahaul (environment) was not good, but there was no other option. Now we are paying for it.�

The girl’s father recalls Friday evening’s horror. “My father had

returned from work around 5pm and saw my daughter playing in the house. He had to meet someone in the locality for work-related enquiries when she went out with her friends. We don’t know when the girls reached the railway phatak (crossing). “A group of men are always drinking and playing cards there. The other girls now tell us that two men offered her toffees and biscuits. One of them picked her up in his arms and left.� Two hours

\HDU ROG UDSHG VRGRPLVHG VODVKHG later, when the family was already exhausted searching for her on every road in the area, a woman brought her back soaked in blood. She had apparently been taken to a jungle near the railway line, brutalised and dumped.

The area is full of concrete materials dumped and locals use it for defecating. The woman was also out to relieve herself at the spot. “She could not speak a word when she recovered. Doctors told us she was throttled. However, they have assured us that she will get back her voice,� the grandfather said. Dr Akai, medical superintendent, Safdarjung Hospital, said the girl was brought to the hospital at

around 8pm after being referred from three-hour colostomy to provide an alternate Bhagwan Mahavir Hospital. “She was opening for her to pass stool. “Her colon will take time to recover and come back to normal functioning. A surgery to close the colostomy will be required later,� said Dr Rai. The Delhi Police have registered a case under relevant sections of IPC and POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Acts and a manhunt has been launched. The accused are yet to be identified. “We have zeroed in on some suspects and we are keeping a watch.

Once the girl recovers, we will brought with cut marks all over her face be able to get more clues about the and abdomen, her vagina and rectum both accused,� an officer said, requesting seriously injured. “We had to perform a anonymity. Delhi Commission for Women

Âś:RPHQ VKRXOGQ¡W VXIIHU LQ VLOHQFH¡ Delhi Police chief BS Bassi on Saturday emphasised the importance of adequate safety and security for women and said that they should not suffer in silence but seek the help of police in times of crisis. The Commissioner of Police, who gave a presentation on women safety and security before a gathering of representatives of about 200 Self Help Groups, said: “Safety, security and reporting of every crime against women are priorities of the Delhi Policeâ€?.

The programme, organised by Delhi Police’s Special Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC), was attended by over 800 representatives of different SHGs, a senior police officer said.

The powerpoint presentation given by Bassi also

focused on women safety initiatives, gender sensitisation, data on crime against women and self-defence training for them. It was followed by a short documentary on ‘Himmat’ App which was launched by Delhi Police for women in distress.

Bassi also interacted with women during the over three hour long programme and assured them that necessary action will be taken on the suggestions and complaints made by them. Several other senior Delhi Police officers, including Senior Special CPs Dharmendra Kumar, Dipak Mishra, Special CPs Amulaya Patnaik, S. Sundari Nanda Taj Hasan, Joint Commissioners of SPUWAC, Crime and different Ranges, DCPs were also present in the programme.

(DCW) chief Swati Maliwal visited Safdarjung Hospital on Saturday noon and spoke to the distraught parents. She tweeted: “Visited the little girl, her condition can’t be described.

Horrific. Her parents are extremely poor.

When will this heinous crime stop in Delhi [sic].� She also wrote on Twitter later: “Every day we have a Nirbhaya in Delhi and the Nirbhaya Fund is lying unused. “Pathetic. In 2014, only nine accused were convicted in Delhi in crime against women. Can you imagine! Tabhi to Delhi mei kisi ko darr nai hai (That’s why no one is scared in Delhi).�

Sampoorna, a woman counsellor from an NGO, which works with DCW to help such victims, said: “Providing psychological aid to the poor girl will come later. “Right now her mother herself is in such a sorry condition. In hours, she has not been able to answer even one of our questions.�

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Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. Though the reason of their meeting is not yet clear, speculations suggest that the Indian cricketer invited PM Modi for his wedding. Harbhajan Singh is all set to tie the knot with his long time ‘rumoured’ girlfriend and Bollywood actress Geeta Basra on October 29 this year. The initials of Geeta and Harbhajan’s names have been engraved on the covers. Noticeably, the boxes contain a personal invite and a packet of sweets. The box contains an admit card too!

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Since Nirbhaya’s brutal rape case, there has been a considerable rise in rape cases of children in the entire country that has left the citizens angry

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By Sneha Agrawal Since Nirbhaya’s brutal rape case, there has been a considerable rise in rape cases of children in the entire country that has left the citizens angry.

Several protests have been staged for the strict conviction of the offenders. In Delhi, the data for rape of children 10 years or below are rising at an alarming rate. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 364 rape cases of girl child of 10 years of age and below were reported in 2013 and 2014.

While the figures for 2015, are not available, the child rights’ activist say that the crime rate against toddlers is on rise and frightening. In yet another unfortunate case in the Capital, the rape of a fouryear-old has shocked the Capital once again. Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal said: “The cases of child rape are being reported every other day. There is no doubt that the cases have increased. “The only way to discourage such incidents is by the means of conviction. The conviction rate of the POCSO is very less. This four-year-old had gone out of her house for some

time and became a victim of such a heinous crime.

Today, we were reported about another rape of a seven-yearold and we are looking into the matter.”

Maliwal said that the commission has asked police to collate specific data on child rape.

“Delhi government and the Delhi Police needs to sit down together and work towards the reduction of sexual abuse against children. Till there is a fear of law, such incidents would not stop,” she added.

Nishit Kumar, Communications and Strategic Initiatives Head at Childline India Foundation told Mail Today, that sexual abuse against children is rising rapidly in all geographical directions. “From January to September, 1,743 cases of child rape were reported at Childline. In total 3,030 cases of child abuse were reported to us from across the country in this period,” he said.

The data, by Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, mentions that the violation of Section 35(2) of POCSO Act, mandating fast completion of trials. The report, calculates the average percentage of convictions to be about 2 per cent. Just 15 per cent cases are disposed of.

South Korea’s government has announced controversial plans to control the history textbooks used in secondary schools.

Currently, secondary schools can choose from textbooks published by eight different publishing companies.

However, the government says that from 2017, all secondary schools must only use history textbooks issued by the state.

The move has sparked fierce criticism from academics and opposition parties. The government has argued that current history textbooks are too left-leaning and encourage anti-American and proNorth Korea feelings, the BBC’s Kevin Kim in Seoul reports. The new textbook, which will be called The Correct Textbook of History, will be written by a government-appointed panel of history teachers and academics.

Opposition politicians and some

academics have protested against the move, accusing the government of “distorting history”. A student group also held a rally on Saturday, telling the Korea Times: “Such a textbook will allow the government to interfere with the interpretation and teaching of history... This infringes on the independence and political neutrality of education guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Hwang Woo-yea, chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party, said in September that the governmentissued textbooks would be “neutral” and that the change was necessary because “students and their parents are discontented with the current textbooks”, Yonhap news agency reported. History is a frequently contested issue in East Asia - often fuelling territorial disputes and diplomatic rifts in the region, including in China and Japan, our correspondent says.

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everyone haS a SacreD cow horSe Slaughter banneD in uS Everyone has his sacred cow, even the American who ridicules the Indian’s opposition to cow slaughter.

Only the American’s ‘sacred cow’ is the horse.

Horse slaughter is effective banned in the US through a convoluted budget tactic while two bills are pending before the US Congress to make it permanent.

While the bill for an outright ban works its way through Congress, the present backdoor horse slaughter ban works like this: The budget that was passed

by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama last year prohibited the Agriculture Department from spending money on inspecting horse slaughter houses.

Without inspections, the slaughter houses cannot operate legally and that effectively banned horse slaughter.

Twenty Republican and 50 Democratic Representatives jointly

introduced a bill in the lower house in April for an outright ban on horse slaughter and its export for butchering. Two senators from each of the two parties followed suit the next month and the bills are pending in Congress.

Several organisations like the Humane Society and Equine Advocates have been lobbying for ending the killing of horses for food.

Cultural reasons that verge on religious fervour in this predominantly Christian nation are the main motivators for banning horse slaughter. In its mobilisation efforts Equine Advocates uses a quote that elevates horses to the

level of a national icon and invokes the nation’s cultural heritage.

“Our forefathers honored The Horse as a ‘favored’ animal like dogs and cats when this country was founded,” Cathleen Doyle, who led the efforts to ban horse slaughter in California, is quoted as saying. “Dog, cat and horse slaughter are not part of our culture or heritage.

We should no more be slaughtering our horses for export than we should slaughter our dogs or cats for export to countries where their meat is eaten.”

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says that according to a 2012

national poll 80 percent of Americans are against horse butchering. Moreover, the Bible in the books of Deutronomy and Leviticus put horses in the category of the “unclean” and, therefore, not to be eaten because unlike cattle they do not chew the cud.

Even though cultural reasons are the motivation, the antihorse slaughter advocates present it as a health issue claiming that the medications given to horses can be harmful to humans. The legislators, who call call their measure Safeguard American Food Exports or SAFE Act, avoid the cultural or religious reasons and say that the proposed law is for health reasons.

Horses have not been slaughtered in the US since 2007 when Illinois State, where the last American horse abattoir was operating, banned horse slaughter.

Spain banker accused of trying to smuggle Picasso art

Courts are prosecuting a prominent Spanish banker accused of trying to smuggle a 26 million-euro Picasso painting out of Spain on a yacht, sources said Friday. Jaime Botin, former head of Spanish lender Bankinter and a member of the family that founded giant lender Santander, has been trying to get the painting out of the country for months. French customs seized the work “Head of a Young Girl”, worth the equivalent of about $30 million, on July 31 on board the yacht in Corsica. The Spanish state has taken possession of the painting and handed it to the Reina Sofia modern art museum in Madrid.

Picasso painted it during his pre-Cubist phase in Gosol, Catalonia, in 1906.

It was bought in London in 1977. A court in the affluent suburb of Pozuelo de Alarcon is investigating Botin, who has an appeal pending against the judicial

procedures, sources close to the investigation said.

He had been trying since 2012 to get permission to export the work but Spanish authorities refused on the grounds that it was a unique example in Spain of that period of Picasso’s work.

It was seized on board the “Adix”, a British-flagged yacht. Botin’s lawyers have argued that the artwork counts as property under British law.

But the Spanish courts in May ruled he could not export it on board the yacht which was moored in the Spanish port of Valencia. Auction house Christie’s had already tried to export the painting to Britain on Botin’s behalf in 2012 but the Spanish culture ministry blocked that move. Botin later claimed that the picture was not in Spain after all and that he owned it indirectly through a Panamanian company.

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Biggest mystery of universe is women: Hawking CAMBRIDGE He has grappled with some of the biggest questions about the universe but Professor Stephen Hawking has revealed one mystery still baffles him - women.

Making the comments during a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, the eminent physicist said the opposite sex is ‘life’s most intriguing mystery,’ but admitted it is a mystery that should remain unsolved. Although the questions were posted back in July, the scientist has only just responded, discussing topics as diverse as artificial intelligence to his favourite song. Asked what the one mystery in life he found most intriguing was, he replied: ‘Women. My PA reminds me that although I have a PhD in physics, women should remain a mystery.’ Elsewhere, he reiterated claims he has

made previously about the threat of artificial intelligence adding that the greatest risk from AI will be its ability to disregard

its goals.

He said: ‘The real risk with AI isn’t malice but competence. ’A superintelligent AI will be extremely good

green energy project and there’s an anthill in the region to be flooded, too bad for the ants.

‘Let’s not place humanity

humans rather than deliberately destroy them.

He said artificial intelligence is unlikely to hold a grudge against mankind, but may ultimately harm us as a result of trying to achieve

at accomplishing its goals and if those goals aren’t aligned with ours, we’re in trouble. ‘You’re probably not an evil ant-hater who steps on ants out of malice, but if you’re in charge of a hydroelectric

SQUAMISH A company with global plans to pull carbon from thin air to make fuel, while tackling climate change, opened a pilot plant Friday

Corless. “It’s now possible to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, and use it as a feed stock, with hydrogen, to produce net zero emission fuels.” The

in this remote western Canadian community.

Carbon Engineering, backed by Bill Gates and other investors, unveiled a test facility able to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using giant fans. That carbon goes through a series of chemical processes and emerges as pellets, which can be used to make fuel or simply be stored underground.

The company was founded in Calgary in 2009 by David Keith, a Harvard University climate scientist, with funding from private investors. Unlike existing machines that capture carbon from smokestacks like those of coal-fired power plants, the direct air capture plant deals “with emissions from sources you just can’t otherwise capture,” said company chief executive Adrian

benefit of those synthesized fuels, Corless told AFP, is they can be tailor-made for use in existing systems, from petrol pumps to automobiles and airplanes.

“You don’t have to re-tool the $30 trillion in (global) infrastructure now used to

is most exciting.” “The economics are attractive,” said scientist Hadi Dowlatabadi, of the University of British Columbia. This small town north of Vancouver welcomed the company moving into an unused industrial site, and the opening was blessed by members of the aboriginal Squamish Nation as a working example of traditional teachings to take care of the world.

“We have to adapt to the modern world,” said councilor Chris Lewis.

Mark Jaccard, professor of sustainable energy at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, said the technology holds promise to reduce greenhouse gases and climate

in the position of those ants.’ Professor Hawking, who is the director of research at the department of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge, added an AI computer could eventually evolve to have a desire to survive.

He said: ‘An extremely intelligent future AI will probably develop a drive to survive and acquire more resources as a step toward accomplishing

deliver fossil fuels,” Corless said. While alternative energies, from wind to solar, are being developed, “there’s not a lot of options to power airplanes and vehicles,” said Corless. “For me, this

change. “What humans really should be doing is really either not using fossil fuels or using fossil fuels and capturing the carbon so it doesn’t go into the atmosphere,” Jaccard said.

Canadian firm opens facility to pull carbon from air

whatever goal it has, because surviving and having more resources will increase its chances of accomplishing that other goal. He continued that if AI machines develop the ability to improve themselves without human help, it could result in an ‘intelligence explosion’ that will result in computers becoming as superior to us as we are to snails.

However, he added that researchers were a long way from being able to produce computers with artificial intelligence equivalent or beyond the human brain. ‘When it eventually does occur, it’s likely to be either the best or worst thing ever to happen to humanity, so there’s huge value in getting it right. ‘It might take decades to figure out how to do this, so let’s start researching this today rather than the night before the first strong AI is switched on.’

The Reddit AMA with Professor Hawking attracted more than 9,000 questions and comments, making it the third most popular of the events that the website has hosted. It

took nearly four months before Professor Hawking was able to reply and he responded to just 11 questions.

Most of the questions he chose to answer focused on the topic of artificial intelligence - something he has spoken about extensively recently.

Earlier this year he signed a letter, along with several other leading scientists and computing entrepreneur Elon Musk, warning about the threat posed by artificial intelligence. He has also warned that robots may eventually take over human capability in the next century and so it was essential scientists ensured their goals are aligned to those of humanity.

The Reddit discussion is also not the first time Professor Hawking, who has been married and divorced twice, has confessed to being baffled by the opposite sex. In an interview in 2012 to mark his 70th birthday, he admitted he spent most of the day thinking about women. He said: ‘They are a complete mystery.’

Green sea turtles nest in record numbers in Florida

MIAMI A record number of endangered green sea turtles nested in the US state of Florida in 2015, suggesting that conservation efforts are paying off, authorities said Friday.

Approximately 28,000 nests were discovered across 26 state beaches, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said.

Nearly 30 years ago, only 464 green sea turtle nests were documented in the same areas. “It’s exciting to hear that our efforts to protect Florida’s environment are helping the sea turtle population

thrive,” said Florida Governor Rick Scott. The number of nests has been on the rise in recent years with just more than 10,700 in 2011 and a recordsetting 25,553 in 2013.

FWC scientist Simona Ceriani said that the latest numbers suggest that 2013’s record was “not a fluke, but that green turtle populations are indeed increasing in Florida.” In light of the numbers, environmental officials have discussed lowering the green sea turtle’s status in Florida and off Mexico’s Pacific Coast from “endangered” to “threatened,” the US Fish and Wildlife Service said in

March. Breeding colony populations outside of those areas are already listed as threatened, according to the agency.

Green sea turtles are harmed by excessive egg collection, hunting, entanglement in fishing nests and destruction of beach nesting sites, the World Wildlife fund said.

Measures in place to protect these habitats and the use of turtle-friendly fishing gear has helped numbers increase. Green sea turtles live along the coast of more than 140 countries, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

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This actionoriented week can bring promising results if you channel your energy into key goals and ambitions. The more willing you are to override your limitations, the more successful you can be. Tread with care on Tuesday, as a fiery combination could cause an argument or even a minor accident. This is one day when it pays to go slowly.

Feelings could be intense, yet you might keep them to yourself, which wouldn’t be such a good idea. The pressure could be explosive, especially on Tuesday, causing a bout of anger and frustration. To avoid this, it would be best to tackle issues as they arise and discuss them with those who need to know.

Not only will this help create a solution but can save you a lot of stress as well.

Your social life bubbles with excitement and opportunity. The more people you meet, the more your life opens up in interesting ways. It would be best to avoid cantankerous folks or those looking for trouble on Tuesday. Keep a low profile.

Mercury eases into Pisces and your career sector on Thursday, encouraging you to research your options, apply for jobs.

There’s plenty of activity in your career, kickstarting a new phase. If you’re looking for work, the presence of Mars encourages a proactive approach to getting what you want. Use creative solutions and try to stand out from the crowd and showcase your skills. Avoid impulsive moves on Tuesday, particularly when dealing with those in authority.

The desire for adventure continues to show up this week, spurring you to take up new challenges. An unexpected romantic opportunity could appear, disrupting your best-laid plans. Think very carefully about getting too involved, as it might not be in your best interests and could even have negative consequences.

Go easy regarding finances this week, as it could be all too easy to make the wrong moves.

Overspending or the unwise use of funds in general could leave you struggling at a later date. If you need to talk, discuss things with a professional adviser who can help set you on the right track. Tuesday is the day to watch out for splurging and melting your plastic.

Your relationships can be very direct and honest this week. An upbeat aspect on Monday could encourage you to melt the ice concerning someone you’ve admired for some time. You’ll need to be careful and sensitive to other people’s feelings on Tuesday. Even an innocent remark could cause a spat, leaving you hurt as a result.

There’s a pleasant focus on your romance sector, paving the way for some wonderful date nights. Use your leisure time to channel your creative skills, as doing so can be very therapeutic now.

You can make great strides this week where your job and career are concerned if you focus on one goal and work to achieve it.

The fun meter is set on high, with m a n y opportunities for leisure and pleasure providing thrills and spills. Romance can also be a heady subject, bringing passion and intensity your way. There’s little chance you’ll want to make a commitment, however, which is just as well. Avoid dangerous sports or activities on Tuesday, when it’s best to keep things low-key.

It’s “all systems go” at home, with a chance that the days ahead could be fun yet disruptive. Unexpected events will mean that your best-laid plans may fall by the wayside. Avoid frustration if possible, as that will only make things worse. If you’re feeling annoyed or edgy, channel your energy into exercise or a long walk. Doing so will be calming and therapeutic.

Communication is fast paced this week. You may be busy closing deals, discussing ideas, and generally interacting with others. There’s a lot to be gained from expanding your network and meeting new people, as the lucky breaks will come rolling in. It would be to your advantage to avoid arguments on Tuesday.

An upbeat aspect on Monday can be excellent for attending interviews and meetings with a view toward getting results. Your ability to project a confident demeanor can go a long way to helping you succeed. Avoid impulsive spending on Tuesday, as it will certainly do more harm than good. Channel your energy into exercise instead, which will leave you feeling calm and centered.

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Technology PoSt tweetS after 5 PM to get MaxiMuM retweetS If you want to see more retweets to your post, focus on tweeting in the evening hours during weekdays when people are back home from work or relaxing at a bar, reveals a new study.

When it comes to observing Twitter traffic, nothing much happens in the early morning. Then people get into work and retweet intensely, as they do their morning surfing.

The number of retweets drops as the day progresses with a slight uptick at 5 p.m. Then it picks up again later “when people get back to their computers after dinner, or are out at a bar or

restaurant using their phones”, said lead researcher William Rand from University of Maryland. Rand and his team has demonstrated that an algorithm that

takes into account the past activity of each of your followers and makes predictions about future tweeting can lead to more “retweets” than other commonly used methods such as posting

at peak traffic times. For this, the team examined the retweeting patterns of 15,000 Twitter followers during two different five week intervals from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Retweets are

Soon, app to report over-speeding vehicles Aiming to promote road safety and proper highway management, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will introduce a

mobile application integrated with a transport registration network in the coming months, an official said here.

“This will take may be a month or two to create but we shall get it going and make it available to the citizens so that they can check on their mobile, may be take a

photograph of the vehicle which is speeding or violating any structures relating to transport and be able to press a button and it will get registered

against the name of that vehicle,” NHAI chairman Raghav Chandra said at an event organised by Assocham.

The app will facilitate people to report any vehicle which is overspeeding or violating transport structures.

“All the citizen complaints about the vehicles will get

registered in the ledger pertaining to that vehicle whereupon the police or transport department can take further action about it,” he added.

Highlighting that human interface pertaining to roads requires collection of data and policing, Chandra said the highways body will soon introduce reforms for better highway network management.

NHAI is also working towards building up complete information of data bank of all the highways which is called the Road Asset Management System which has already been commissioned for 3,000 kilometres of roadway.

especially valuable to marketers because they help to spread a brand’s message beyond core followers. Monday through Friday follow roughly the same after 5 p.m. pattern but Saturday and Sunday show markedly different behaviour, with much smaller morning spikes and less decline during the day. A “seasonal” model of posting the folkwisdom model would suggest posting whenever there are peaks in that recurring weekly pattern.

“Which peaks you choose would depend how many tweets you expect to send,” the authors noted.

The findings serves as a demonstration that applying analytic methods to Twitter data can improve a brand’s ability to spread its message.

The paper is forthcoming in the journal Proceedings of Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM).

Are lay-offs on the cards at Twitter?

Within days of Jack Dorsey taking over Twitter’s command as permanent CEO, come some sombre news. The company is reportedly preparing to hand out pink slips across the board. The social networking giant is planning company-wide layoffs next week. It is unclear how much of the staff will be culled, but Re/code reported insiders saying it would likely affect most of the departments. The downsizing comes at the same time Twitter is restructuring its engineering organisation to make it leaner and more efficient. Probability

is high that many of those in the line of fire could be engineers, who make up about half the staff. The reorganisation seems to be in line with what Dorsey has been preaching for the last four months - that Twitter needs to be more focused.

Twitter had roughly 4,000 employees last quarter, more than double the roughly 2,000 employees it had in the second quarter of 2013 just before the initial public offering (IPO).

There has been a feeling of late in close quarters that Twitter’s engineering team is much larger than it needs to be.

Facebook now loads News Feed quickly on slow connections on android

Facebook has released an update of its News Feed so that content can be loaded faster on Android devices with slow connections.

According to The Next Web, the company has developed an open source Network Connection Class that helps its app determine how fast a user’s connection is.

If the user has a slow connection, Facebook

will start loading articles, pictures and videos while they are reading other posts.

The company says it is also developing ways to prioritise which stories to load in order to minimise interruptions.

The company said it is now using a progressive JPEG image format, which displays a lowerquality version of photos while it is still downloading. This helps

cut down on the time the users have to wait before they can view content. In addition, when there is no connectivity, Facebook will now display stories it has previously downloaded. It loads these from memory rather than loading them again from the cloud, but updates them with new comments or likes when the users are connected again.

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Isolated North Korea says ready for war with US Isolated North Korea marked the 70th anniversary of its ruling Workers’ Party on Saturday with a massive military parade overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, who said his country was

ready to fight any war started by the United States.

Thousands of troops stood at attention under a blue autumn sky in Pyongyang’s main Kim Il Sung Square, named after Kim Jong Un’s grandfather and the founder of the nation, as Kim, appearing relaxed and confident as he leant heavily on the lectern, made his speech.

Kim was accompanied by senior Chinese

Communist Party official Liu Yunshan, with whom he was seen speaking throughout the event and occasionally shared laughs, and flanked by senior “The party’s revolutionary

armament means we are ready to fight any kind of war waged by the US imperialists,” Kim said in a speech strikingly more forceful than previous public comments, praising the feats of past leaders and the ruling party.

The speech was followed by troops marching in formation, first by a corps of soldiers dressed in the style of the revolutionary force that fought Japan during World War Two. To

follow was a procession of tanks and other military might rolling past the square. Impoverished North Korea and rich, democratic South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict

ended in a truce, not a treaty. The North, slapped with UN and US sanctions for its nuclear weapons and rocket programmes, often threatens to destroy the South, and its major ally the United States, in a sea of flames. In a letter delivered by Liu, the most senior Chinese official to visit Pyongyang since leader Kim came to power following his father’s death in 2011, Xi said China attached vital importance to

its relationship with North Korea, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

China is North Korea’s chief ally and its main trading partner, although ties have been strained over the North’s nuclear programme.

Xi said in the letter that China had “been striving to treat the bilateral relations from a strategic and longterm perspective”. Liu reiterated China’s position that it wanted an early resumption of the so-called six-party talks aimed at reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. “The Chinese side is willing to seek closer communication and deepen cooperation, pushing for a long-term, healthy and stable development of the SinoDPRK ties,” Xi said in the letter cited by Xinhua, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim, who is in his early thirties, told the visiting Chinese delegation on Friday that North Korea was also keen to bolster ties, the North’s official KCNA news agency said on Saturday.

PJ Harvey releases first poetry collection

British singer P. J. Harvey released her first book of poetry on her 46th birthday on Friday - based on journeys to Afghanistan, Kosovo and the United States. The book, entitled “The Hollow of the Hand”, is a collaboration with photographer Seamus Murphy and is based on travels between 2011 and 2014.

“Gathering information from secondary sources felt too far removed for what I was trying to write about,” Harvey said in a statement released by the book’s publishers, Bloomsbury. “I

wanted to smell the air, feel the soil and meet the people of the countries I was fascinated with,” she said.

Murphy said: “It is our look at home and the world.”

The two friends already worked together on Harvey’s last album “Let England Shake”, for which Murphy took photographs and shot films. In January and February, two-time Mercury Prize-winner Harvey recorded her ninth studio album in front of an audience hidden by oneway mirrored glass, as if an exhibition.

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Obama apologises to MSF chief for Afghan hospital strike

WASHINGTON US President Barack Obama apologised and expressed his condolences to the head of medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) for the deadly American airstrike on its hospital in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz that killed 22 people, including women and children.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Obama called MSF chief Joanne Liu “to apologise and express his condolences” over the weekend attack.“President Obama spoke by telephone with Doctors Without Borders International President Dr Joanne Liu, to apologise and express his condolences for the MSF staff and patients who were killed and injured when a US military air strike mistakenly struck an MSF field hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan over the weekend,” Earnest told reporters.He said Obama assured her that there would be a thorough and objective accounting of the facts. Obama told her that the US, if necessary, would make changes that would

make tragedies like this one less likely. MSF, which has condemned the attack as a war crime, has demanded an international probe into the attack that killed at least 22 people, including women and children, after reports said NATO’s top regional commander thought US forces broke rules of engagement.The medical charity’s demand came a day after General John Campbell, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said the “hospital was mistakenly struck.”MSF has brushed aside Campbell’s explanation, saying “a mistake is not an answer for us.”

Campbell’s admission was the latest in a series of shifting accounts the Americans have offered for the strike, which have ranged from dubbing the bombing “collateral damage” to saying it was carried out to protect American troops. Three separate investigations -- by the US military, NATO and Afghan officials are underway into the deadly strike on Saturday.

Earnest said Obama also spoke

with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and pledged to keep working closely with his government.

“After completing that call, the President telephoned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to express his condolences for the innocent loss of life in that incident,” he said.

During the call with Ghani, Obama reiterated his commitment that the Department of Defence would conduct a transparent, thorough and objective investigation into the incident.“...when we make a mistake, we’re honest about it, we own up to it, we apologise where necessary, as the president did in this case and we implement the kinds of changes that make it less likely that those kinds of mistakes will occur in the future,” Earnest said.

Drunk man wants sex, girlfriend refuses, man calls cops, gets arrested

WASHINGTON Men, this is a warning to you all.

If you are drunk and feeling a bit naughty, but your lady partner refuses to get down and dirty with you, you should ideally back off and go to the drawing room and sleep it off on the sofa. Unless you want to land up in jail like this South Carolina man.

Patrick Doggett, 53, was arrested after he called 911 to complain that his girlfriend, Faye Woodruff, “would not give him any a**”. Ironically, when the police arrived, they arrested

Doggett and put him in a separate holding cell all by himself because of how drunk he was.Before Doggett got into bed with Woodruff looking for a little romp in the hay, he had been drinking all day and Woodruff had her grandchild with her.When the police arrived, Doggett was sitting outside the house drinking some alcoholic beverage. He was arrested for public intoxication. The police also advised Woodruff to evict Doggett from her residence lest he trouble her again.

Divisive issue of reaching $100b in climate funds LIMA The movers and shakers of the world economy are trying to close in on the magic number of $100 billion a year to fight climate change as they meet this week in Peru. But with the world well shy of that target, everyone seems to think the rest of the money should come from somewhere else. The global talks on fighting climate change have stumbled over the issue of getting money to the countries that are most vulnerable to global warming and often least responsible for causing it. Wealthy nations have pledged to come up with $100 billion a year by 2020, but with two months to go to clutch United Nations climate talks, a new report this week found the world is less than two-thirds of the way there.

Murdoch says Obama not a ‘real Oldest-known fetal horse black president’, apologises fossil is 48m years old

WASHINGTON A 48-million-year-old fossil of a pregnant horse and fetus is the oldest of its kind known to science and contains unusually well-preserved evidence of tissue from the womb, researchers said Wednesday. The fossil was discovered in Germany in 2000, but the scientific analysis was only now completed and published in the open-access journal PLOS One. The animal was an early relative of the modern horse - known as Eurohippus messelensis - and would have been about the size of a small dog. The fetus is about

five inches (12.5 centimeters) long and is mostly intact, except for a crushed skull. Scientists believe the mother may have died shortly before she was due to give birth, but that her death was not linked to her pregnancy. In addition to skeletal remains, researchers “found preserved soft tissue, like the uteroplacenta and one broad uterine ligament, which may represent the earliest fossil record of the uterine system of a placental mammal,” said the study. The finding suggests that the reproductive system of horses has changed little over the course of tens of millions of years.

Washington Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, is not a “real black president”, Rupert Murdoch has tweeted, triggering angry reactions and

earlier tweet directly implied that Obama, whose mother was a white American and whose father was a Kenyan studying in the United States, did not deserve to be classified as African

forcing the powerful media mogul to apologise for his racially offensive comments.Murdoch’s tweet was championing Ben Carson, a Republican who is the only African-American candidate in the presidential race.

“Ben and Candy Carson terrific,” 84-year-old Murdoch wrote yesterday. “What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else.”He then directed followers to an article in New York magazine that he said showed “minority community disappointment” with the president’s record.However, his

American. Both of Carson’s parents were black and born in the United States.The tweet ricocheted around the web and was widely denounced.About 11 hours later, Murdoch tweeted an apology: “Apologies! No offence meant. Personally find both men charming.”Murdoch’s use of the word “real” in his original tweet flabbergasted many online onlookers, some of whom concluded that the media mogul was questioning Obama’s race and identity.54-year-old Obama, the first black president of the United States, has also been dogged by false accusations

that he is not an American citizen.What did Murdoch mean? “We don’t comment on his tweets,” a 21st Century Fox spokeswoman said.

Murdoch is the owner of Fox News Channel and a huge portfolio of other media brands, from the Fox broadcast network to the FX cable channel. He is the co-executive chairman of 21st Century Fox. He recently handed over the CEO reins to his son James.

Murdoch is an unusual user of Twitter, occasionally dashing off his thoughts about politics and world affairs without ever quite mastering the medium, CNN reported.He followed the Carson tweet with one that said “Read New York magazine for minority community disappointment with POTUS (President of the United States).” He didn’t link to it, but he was apparently referencing a column titled “Has Barack Obama Done Enough for AfricanAmericans?”Murdoch has been boosting Carson in tweets for months. On Tuesday he plugged Carson’s appearance on the Fox News programme “The Kelly File.”Last week he wrote, “Everywhere pundits keep underestimating Ben Carson.

But public understand humility as admirable, listen to the multifaceted strong message.”

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Nasa unveils missing pieces in journey to Mars MIAMI NASA on Thursday outlined the many challenges that remain before humans can set foot on Mars, calling the problems “solvable” but setting no firm date for an astronaut mission to the Red Planet.

Updated details of the US space agency’s Mars strategy were contained in a 36-page document released to the public ahead of upcoming talks with Congress about budgets for space exploration and a major international meeting of the space industry to be held in Jerusalem next week. The United States is “closer to sending American astronauts to Mars than at any point in our history,” said NASA administrator Charles Bolden.

“In the coming weeks, I look forward to continuing to discuss the details of our plan with members of Congress, as well as our commercial and our international partners, many of whom will be attending the International Astronautical Congress next week,” he said in a statement. Astronauts who journey to Mars could spend

three years in deep space, where radiation is high and so are the risks of cancer, bone loss and immune problems, said the document, called “NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration.” “Living and working

in space require accepting risk, and the journey is worth the risk,” it said, calling Mars “an achievable goal” and “the next tangible frontier for expanding human presence.” The plan ahead is divided into three stages, the first of which is already under way with testing and experiments on human health and behavior, life support systems like growing food and recycling water, and 3-D printing aboard the International Space Station. The second phase, called “Proving Ground,” begins in 2018 with the launch of the new deep space capsule Orion and the most powerful rocket ever built, known as the Space Launch System, or SLS. The space agency plans to practice other missions in the area of space between the Earth and Moon, or in the Moon’s orbit, known as cislunar space.

These include sending a robotic spacecraft in 2020 to lasso a boulder from a near-Earth asteroid and ferry it to an area in deep space that astronauts can investigate. “NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment that allows crews to return to Earth in a matter of days,” said the report. “Primarily operating in cislunar space, NASA will advance and validate capabilities required for human exploration of Mars.” The third phase involves living and working on Mars’ surface and in transiting spaceships “that support human life for years, with only routine maintenance,” as well as “harvesting Martian resources to create fuel, water, oxygen, and building materials.”

NASA gave no precise dates for this phase in the report, though one graphic mentioned “human missions to Mars vicinity in 2030+.”

As NASA presses further into space, the agency acknowledged that the problems will grow more complex. “Future missions will face increasingly difficult challenges associated with transportation, working in space, and staying healthy,” said the report. NASA also said it needs to develop adequate space suits for deep space exploration, and must test advanced solar electric propulsion to power spacecraft efficiently. “NASA will have to learn new ways of operating in space,” said the report. “Crews must be protected from the unique hazardous environments of deep space and on the Martian surface. Often, systems will have to operate autonomously or remain dormant for years in preparation for crew,” it said.

Obama calls for fair, orderly and lawful immigration system

Washington Asserting that the US needs an immigration system that is fair, orderly and lawful, President Barack Obama has said his government is taking steps to reach out to people who are eligible to become citizens and attract immigrant entrepreneurs as well as educate STEM students. “We’re taking new steps to reach out to folks who are eligible to become citizens, and attract immigrant entrepreneurs, and educate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students,” Obama said in his address to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala last night.“We’re going to help more husbands and wives of American citizens get their green cards without separating them from their families,” he said.Both of these measures are expected to benefit thousands of Indians living in the US and a large number of Indian techies aspiring to make a living in the US.“The deferred action policies I announced last year will help millions of mothers and fathers remain in the USA with their families ?and although it is taking us longer than we hoped, I know we’re on the right side of the law and we are going

to keep fighting to prove it,” Obama said.Today, more than 680,000 dreamers live and study and work freely and openly in the country they’ve always called home, he said.“We’ve got smarter enforcement priorities, because it makes no sense to focus on separating families when we can be going after felons instead,” he added. Obama said he believed the US needed “an immigration system that is fair and orderly and lawful.”People who come here illegally should have to pay a fine and pay their fair share of taxes, and get registered, and get right with the law and go to the back of the line before they earn citizenship, he said.Obama, who has been unsuccessful so far in his comprehensive immigration reform, cited the efforts of his predecessor in this regard.“It wasn’t that long ago that my predecessor, George W Bush, a conservative Republican from Texas, with whom I disagreed with on a whole lot of things, made immigration reform one of his core priorities,” Obama said.“We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain.

UN warns against ‘designer babies’ in editing of human DNA UNITED NATIONS Warning that rapid advances in genetics make “designer babies” an increasing possibility, a United Nations panel Monday called for a moratorium on “editing” the human genome, pending wider public debate lest changes in DNA be transmitted to future generations or foster eugenics.

While acknowledging the therapeutic value of genetic interventions, the panel stressed that the process raises serious concerns, especially if the editing of the human genome should be applied to the germline, thereby introducing hereditary modifications.

“Gene therapy could be a watershed in the history of medicine and genome editing is unquestionably one of the most promising undertakings of science for the sake of all humankind,” the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a statement on a report by its International Bioethics Committee (IBC).

But the IBC added: “Interventions

on the human genome should be admitted only for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic reasons and without enacting

shared, value-based approach to what are fundamentally moral questions.”

In 2004, former Secretary-

modifications for descendants.”

The alternative would “jeopardize the inherent and therefore equal dignity of all human beings and renew eugenics,” it said. This is not the first time that a UN body has raised such concerns. In 2010, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said that “as we develop technologies that enable us to make life-ordeath decisions, we need a

General Kofi Annan questioned whether such processes might promote a world dominated by eugenics like that imagined by Aldous Huxley in the novel Brave New World. “The greatest fear is that we may be trying to ‘play God,’ with unforeseeable consequences, in the end precipitating our own destruction,” Mr. Annan warned

then, asking whether the dangers outweigh the benefits and where the line should be drawn between what is feasible and what is desirable or ethical.

In today’s report IBC, comprising scientists, philosophers, lawyers and government ministers, noted that recent advances have opened the door to genetic screening and testing for inherited diseases, gene therapy, the use of embryonic stem cells in medical research and the possibility of cloning and genetic “editing” for both medical and non-medical ends.

It noted that scientists and bioethicists are calling for a wider public debate about the power of science to modify genetically human embryos in the laboratory, so as to control inherited traits, such as appearance and intelligence. A new genome “editing” technique called CRISPR-Cas9 makes it possible for scientists to insert, remove and correct DNA simply and efficiently, IBC added. It holds out the prospect of treating or even curing certain illnesses, such as sickle cell diseases,

cystic fibrosis and some cancers.

But germline editing can also make changes to DNA, such as determining a baby’s eye colour, easier for scientists working with human embryos, eggs and sperm.

The report also cautions against the hidden danger of do-ityourself genetic testing, saying that consumers who tested their own DNA using so-called Directto-Consumer (DTC) kits bought online, needed professional genetic and medical counselling to understand and act on the results. It called for clear regulations and information for consumers about such tests.UNESCO member States adopted the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights in 2005 to deal with ethical issues raised by rapid changes in medicine, life sciences and technology. It states lists the human genome as part of the heritage of humanity, outlining rules that need to be observed to respect human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

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Pak probably most dangerous country for world: Ex-CIA official Pakistan is probably the most dangerous country for the world as it is ripe with the threats of terrorism, a failing economy and the fastest growing nuclear arsenal, a retired CIA official said.

“While Pakistan is not the most

dangerous country in the world, it is probably the most dangerous country for the world, and as such, a serious case for close and continued US engagement with Pakistan can be made,” Kevin Hulbert, a former top intelligence officer who retired in June 2014, wrote in an op-ed in The Cipher Brief.

“As a country ripe with the triple threat of terrorism, a failing economy, and the fastest growing nuclear arsenal, Pakistan has the potential to create more nightmare scenarios for US policymakers than any other country,” said Hulbert, who previously served multiple overseas tours as CIA chief of

station and deputy chief of station.

Like it or not, Pakistan is similar to a bank or company considered too big to let fail because of the ripple effect it might cause across the entire

economy.

The spectre of the sixth largest country in the world being a failed state is a hypothetical catastrophe that would unleash a world of unintended consequences, he said.

“Rather than risk it, and as much as we might like to move on, we really should increase the level of engagement with Pakistan, not decrease it,” he recommended.

Hulbert said many of the trend lines in Pakistan now seem to be moving in the wrong direction.

For years, Pakistan felt justified in its use of jihadist militias to attack India in a war of attrition.

It pursued a perverse doubledealing game where they

U.S. jobless claims fall to near a 42-year low

The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits fell more than expected to near a 42-year low last week, pointing to ongoing tightening in the labor market despite the recent slowdown in hiring. The

data released on Thursday provides an upbeat check on the health of the labor market after last week’s monthly employment report increased doubts the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by the end of this year.Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 for the week ended Oct. 3, the Labor Department said.

That was the lowest since midJuly when the number of claims was at its lowest since 1973.

Hitting such a historical low is remarkable considering the U.S. workforce has grown considerably since the 1970s. It was also the 31st straight week that claims remained below the

300,000 threshold, which is usually associated with a strengthening labor market. The Labor Department said there were no special factors impacting last week’s claims.

Claims for the prior week were revised lower by 1,000. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a more modest decline in claims to 274,000 last week. The fourweek moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, dropped 3,000 to 267,500. U.S. Treasury yields were little changed following publication of the data, and U.S. stock futures continued their declines. While businesses appear to have little reason to let workers go these days, in recent months they have not shown much gusto in adding new hires. U.S. employers added just 142,000 jobs to their payrolls in September and 136,000 in August, which was well below the averages in prior months of about 200,000 new jobs added every month.The slowdown in hiring has boosted expectations the Fed will wait until early next year to raise interest rates for the first time in a decade.

supported ‘good’ radical Muslim extremists that helped them in their proxy war against India, while at the same time trying to hold the line against the ‘bad’ radical Muslim extremist elements who focused on bringing down the Pakistani state, he observed.

A large percentage of the Pakistan population does not view jihadi groups, including the Taliban and other militant religious groups, as dangerous elements, but rather as good soldiers of Islam comprised of men performing their religious duty, he said.

“The fight against al Qaeda in Pakistan was largely seen as a US fight, not a Pakistan fight, and Pakistan’s unwillingness to make the hard choices required to confront the growing menace of radical extremism, created a monster,” the former CIA official said.Today, Pakistan finds itself in a very complicated security situation where there is little differentiation among radical groups, he noted.

Terrorist groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, are suddenly allied with al Qaeda, while Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Pakistan Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, and other assorted miscreants and non-state actors are intent on bringing down the elected government of Pakistan.

While the Pakistan government dithered, the militancy in the country took firm hold, he said.

Oregon shooter’s mother allowed him to have guns, didn’t know he was potentially violent

The mother of a gunman who killed nine people and himself at an Oregon community college allowed her troubled son to have guns and acknowledged in online posts that he struggled with autism, but she didn’t seem to know he was potentially violent.

The online writings by Laurel Harper date from a year ago to nine years ago and offer fresh insight into the gunman, 26-yearold Christopher Harper-Mercer, and his relationship with his mother.

The Associated Press didn’t speak with Harper about the online postings; a knock on her door went unanswered Tuesday, and her phone’s voicemail box was full. However, the postings included an email address that is linked to Harper.

Harper and son shared an apartment outside Roseburg.

Investigators have recovered 14 firearms, six found at Umpqua Community College, where the killings occurred, and eight at the apartment. Neighbors of the mother and son in California, where they lived before moving

to Oregon in 2013, have said Harper-Mercer and his mother would go target shooting together.

Investigators say HarperMercer’s mother has told them the son was struggling with some mental health issues.

In her online postings, Laurel Harper talked about her love of guns and her son’s emotional troubles but there are no hints of worry that he could become violent.

“I keep two full mags in my Glock case. And the ARs & AKs all have loaded mags. No one will be `dropping’ by my house uninvited without acknowledgement,” reads a 3year-old posting.

She was referring to a Glock handgun and to military-style rifles. A Glock and a militarystyle rifle were among the weapons seized after the Roseburg shooting rampage.

Laurel Harper wrote in another posting: “I love the long guns & I have an AK-47 en route.” She complained about gun-control efforts in “lame states.”

assailants knew who Stone was.

Bernard said he did not know whether Stone was drinking, but

two of his childhood friends from Sacramento, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos and

others in his group were. Kirk said Stone remained heavily sedated in the hospital’s intensive care unit. He declined to discuss any details about the surgery or whether any vital organs were damaged in the stabbing, beyond saying Stone had “significant injuries.” The airman arrived at the nearby hospital conscious despite his wounds, the doctor said. “I suspect given his history of recent events he is quite a fighter,” Kirk said. He said Stone’s family asked him to convey “their deepest gratitude for all the expressions of concern for his welfare at this very difficult time for them.” In August, Stone and

college student Anthony Sadler, were vacationing in Europe when they sprang into action aboard a Paris-bound passenger train and tackled Ayoub El-Khazzani, a man with ties to radical Islam. He had boarded the train with a Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol and a box cutter. Stone, who is assigned to Travis Air Force Base in California, suffered a severely cut thumb and a knife wound to his neck during the struggle with the gunman. President Barack Obama met with the three Americans last month, praising them for their quick thinking and courage and calling them “the very best of America.”

US hero who thwarted French train attack stabbed in brawl

U.S. airman Class Spencer Stone, celebrated as a hero for helping to stop a terror attack on a French train over the summer, was stabbed and seriously wounded outside a bar in his hometown early Thursday in what police said was an alcohol-related brawl.Stone, 23, was knifed three times in the upper body but was expected to survive after about two hours of surgery, said Dr. J. Douglas Kirk, chief medical officer at UC Davis Medical Center.

“This incident is not related to terrorism in any way,” Deputy Police Chief Ken Bernard said.

“We know it’s not related to what occurred in France months ago.”A grainy surveillance video from a camera outside a liquor store showed a man who appeared to be Stone fighting with several people at an intersection. The group spilled into the street as people took swings at each other, and one person got knocked down.Police said two assailants fled in a car. No immediate arrests were made.Bernard said Stone was out with four friends when they got into a fight with another group of people. The deputy chief would not say what sparked the argument. He said there was no evidence the

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Britain tops world ‘Quality of Death’ index LONDON Britain topped an 80-country “quality of death” study released Tuesday, which warned that

“Many developing countries are still unable to provide basic pain management due to limitations in staff and basic

ageing and booming populations would make palliative care a growing worldwide issue. The 2015 Quality of Death Index, compiled by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit, found Britain to be the best at palliative care. “Its ranking is due to comprehensive national policies, the extensive integration of palliative care into the National Health Service, a strong hospice movement, and deep community engagement on the issue,” the EIU said.

Britain was followed by Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Belgium and Taiwan. Palliative care provision was found to be worst in Iraq among the 80 countries studied, with Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nigeria and Myanmar rounding out the bottom five. The report praised progress made by less wealthy states.

infrastructure,” it said. “Yet some countries with lower income levels demonstrate the power of innovation and individual initiative.” It said Panama (31st) was building palliative care into its primary care services, Mongolia (28th) had seen rapid growth in hospice facilities, while Uganda (35th) had made impressive advances in the availability of opioid painkillers.

China (71st) was found to be among the most vulnerable from population ageing and rising incidences of conditions such as cardiovascular disease. “The adoption of palliative care in China has been slow, with a curative approach dominating healthcare strategies,” the study found.

“Many other developing countries will also need to work hard to meet rising future need as the incidence of non-

Man flattens pub after being refused drink. Fun fact: It was his own pub!

London Alcohol and rational thought are a two things that can never be found together. An example of this was put on display a couple of months ago when a man, Mark Swistun, got drunk at a bar in Penclawdd, Gower, South Wales. Swistun became infuriated at not being served his drink after last orders at 11pm.

He became so angry that he stomped out of the bar - Royal Oak Pub - and returned around 1 am with a 28-tonne yellow digger and wrecked the pub.

Ironically, Swistun himself owned the pub after having invested 60,000 pounds in it with his business partner Colin McDonald. The pub had been

opened only a few months ago after it had been refurbished.

Swistun’s angry JCB attack on the pub left the establishment without its extension roof, outer wall, and with a gaping hole in the side of the building. The outside picnic tables and parasols were also damaged.

The net worth of the damage was estimated to be nearly 40,000 pounds.

Thankfully, the pub had been empty at the time and there was gas or water leakages reported from the pub.

Swistun was later arrested on charges of causing criminal damage. He was later released as no one filed any charges against him.

Top 10 countries 93.9 - Britain 91.6 - Australia 87.6 - New Zealand 85.8 - Ireland 84.5 - Belgium 83.1 - Taiwan 82.0 - Germany 80.9 - Netherlands 80.8 - United States 79.4 - France Bottom five: 17.1 - Myanmar 16.9 - Nigeria 15.3 - Philippines 14.1 - Bangladesh 12.5 – Iraq communicable disease increases and their populations grow older,” the report said.

The study found that income levels correlated strongly with success in delivering palliative care, though some, such as Singapore (12th), Hong Kong (22nd) and Saudi Arabia (60th), were lagging. The study said that, overall, palliative care was rising up the agenda as “seismic demographic shifts” force governments to confront the reality of providing for ageing populations. Wealthy nations will have to shift from curative care to managing long-term conditions.

Meanwhile developing countries would have to deal with booming populations and increasingly unhealthy lifestyles that will force healthcare systems to adapt to chronic condition like diabetes.

First ancient human genome from Africa is sequenced MIAMI Scientists have sequenced the genome of a 4,500-year-old man in Africa for the first time, a difficult achievement since the hot climate has made DNA difficult to recover from old remains, researchers said Thursday.

The breakthrough was made using the skull of a man buried face down in a cave in the southern Ethiopian highlands, according to the study in the journal Science. The cave was cool and dry enough to preserve his DNA for thousands of years, said the study, which noted that previous ancient genome analysis has been limited to samples from northern and arctic regions.

While the man died before a wave of migration back into Africa from western Eurasia around 3,000 years ago, his genome showed that this migration “was up to twice as significant as previously thought, and affected the genetic make-up of populations across the entire African continent,” said the research team in a statement. This event, known as the “Eurasian backflow,” occurred when people from regions of western Eurasia such as the Middle East and Anatolia suddenly flooded back into the Horn of Africa. By comparing his

ancient genome to DNA from modern Africans, researchers found that East African populations today have as much as 25 percent Eurasian ancestry from this event.

Beyond the region, African populations across the continent

can trace at least five percent of their genome to the Eurasian migration.

Researchers believe their findings show that the massive wave of backflow migration was far bigger than previously thought and may have amounted to a quarter of the population of the Horn of Africa at the time. “With an ancient genome, we have a direct window into the distant past. One genome from one individual can provide a picture of an entire population,” said Andrea Manica, of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, a senior author of the study. “The question is: what got them moving all of a sudden?”

The cause of the mass movement remains a mystery.

British Ebola survivor nurse back in ‘serious condition’ London A British nurse who was successfully treated in January after contracting Ebola in Sierra Leone was in a serious condition in hospital Friday due to rare late complications with the virus.

Pauline Cafferkey, who voluntarily went to the west African country to treat Ebola patients, was flown from a Glasgow hospital to London’s Royal Free Hospital, which houses Britain’s only isolation ward for the lethal disease.

She had been admitted to hospital in Glasgow on Tuesday after feeling unwell.

She was transferred to London in a military aircraft early Friday “due to an unusual late complication of her previous infection by the Ebola virus”, the Royal Free said in a statement.

She was being treated in the isolation ward.Cafferkey “is in a serious condition,” the hospital said.It added: “The Ebola virus can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person while they are symptomatic so the risk to the general public remains low.”

The Scottish health authorities were to get in touch with a small number of Cafferkey’s close contacts as a precaution.

Cafferkey was diagnosed with Ebola in December after returning to Glasgow from Sierra Leone.

She spent almost a month in the isolation unit at the Royal Free

he told the Science Media Centre in London.

“The newly-discovered twist on this post-Ebola syndrome is that, in some cases, the health

Hospital and was treated with an experimental anti-viral drug and blood from survivors of the Ebola disease.

Details of her condition have not been disclosed for reasons of patient confidentiality.

Doctor Ben Neuman, a lecturer in virology at the University of Reading, said Cafferkey could be only the second known case of “reactivated” Ebola.

“Over the past few years, there has been mounting evidence of the mental and physical problems in Ebola survivors that can last for years after the virus is cleared from the bloodstream,”

problems often including damage to the eyes and joints - is actually caused by live Ebola virus growing in bodily fluids in some of the less accessible compartments of the body.”

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there had been no new confirmed Ebola cases in the past week -the first such lull in a year and a half.The deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak since the virus was identified in central Africa in 1976 has killed 11,312 of the 28,457 people infected since December of 2013, according to the latest WHO figures.

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2015 Saudi stampede the deadliest haj tragedy ever?

Riyadh One survivor of last month’s deadly crush and stampede at the haj in Saudi Arabia recalled seeing so many bodies that he couldn’t tell how many there were.The Associated Press sought to answer that question, arriving at a death toll of at least 1,470. That made the September 24 disaster the deadliest accident ever at the annual pilgrimage. And hundreds remain missing.The AP count is 701 higher than Saudi Arabia’s official tally of 769 killed and 934 injured in the September 24 disaster in Mina, a few miles from the holy city of Mecca.Saudi officials, who could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday, previously have said their tally remains accurate, although an investigation into the causes of the tragedy is ongoing.

Authorities have not updated their casualty toll since September 26.

The hesitancy to acknowledge a higher toll may reflect the leadership’s reflex to clamp down on information as it struggles with multiple pressures. The kingdom is dealing with a war in Yemen, Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict and low oil prices that are straining the budget and the haj tragedy is already opening it up to sharp criticism from opponents, particularly Iran.

The previous deadliest-ever incident at the annual haj happened in 1990, when a stampede killed 1,426 people.

Stampedes and crushes are a

major danger at the haj since it attracts more than 2 million pilgrims a year, all moving simultaneously in close quarters through a number of rituals over the course of five days.

The AP figure comes from statements and officials’ comments from 19 of the over 180 countries that sent citizens to the five-day annual pilgrimage.

Authorities have said the crush and stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road, causing hundreds of people to suffocate or be trampled to death.

Mohammed Awad of Sudan told the AP at the time that he and his 56-year-old father were separated in the pushing and shoving. The 36-year-old pilgrim later found him alive under at least 10 bodies. “You can’t count how many bodies there were.

They were stacked high,” Awad said. Iran says it had 465 pilgrims killed, while Egypt lost 165 and Indonesia 120.Others include India with 101, Nigeria with 99, Pakistan with 93, Mali with 70, Bangladesh with 63, Senegal with 54, Benin with 51, Cameroon with 42, Ethiopia with 31, Sudan with 30, Morocco with 27, Algeria with 25, Ghana with 12, Chad with 11, Kenya with eight and Turkey with three.

Hundreds remain missing, according to these countries.Any disaster at the five-day haj, a pillar of Islamic faith, could be seen as a blow to the kingdom’s cherished stewardship of Islam’s holiest

sites. This season saw two tragedies — the stampede and the September 11 collapse of a crane at Mecca’s Grand Mosque

management of the hajj with other states,” said Hani Sabra, the head of the Middle East practice at the Eurasia Group.

that killed 111 people. Shiite-led Iran, the kingdom’s top rival in the region, has blamed the disaster on the kingdom’s “mismanagement” of the pilgrimage. The Islamic Republic also has called for an independent body to take over the haj.Experts say there’s no way that will happen. Patronage of Mecca and Medina is one cornerstone of the Al Saud family’s legitimacy. Among King Salman’s titles as it was for his predecessors is the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, referring to sites in the two cities.“The Saudis are not for a nanosecond going to entertain any proposals to share

Still, he said, the haj deaths “reinforces a view that at this moment, Saudi Arabia looks weak.”The delay in announcing new figures may come from wanting not wanting to fuel more criticism from Iran, or because of the kingdom’s traditional topdown governance.Despite Iran’s sharp rhetoric over the deaths, other countries have been far more muted. That is likely due to Saudi Arabia’s powerful influence, including years of patronage using its oil wealth, and because the kingdom can set the quota of pilgrims each country can send to the haj. “This is really unfortunate that in an event where people are dead, the

families don’t have any kind of transparency,” said Madawi alRasheed, a visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science’s Middle East Center. “Unfortunately for these Muslim countries, they are at a weaker position,” he said, “and a lot of them worry about future pilgrimages, where they might not get the full quota allocated to them.”

That kind of hesitancy about criticism has been seen in Pakistan. Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Electronic Media Regulatory Authority sent text messages to executives at independent television networks, warning them that criticism of Saudi Arabia could be viewed as illegal under the country’s constitutional prohibitions on affecting relations with “friendly countries.”But Saudi Arabia will maintain its “monopoly” over the haj, even though it will likely face larger and larger crowds as time goes on, said Jon B Alterman, a senior vice-president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.“The challenge is not so much that it happened but how do you respond?” Alterman said.

“Saudi Arabia has a consistent problem developing a managerial culture. Decisions are kept very, very high in the system and people aren’t always held accountable for their failures.

There have been a lot of signs over the last 20 to 30 years of trying to change that culture, but it’s very hard.”

China’s smoking death toll to Mobile phones transforming Africa but growth to slow double to 2 million in 2030 PARIS Cigarette smoking will kill about two million Chinese in 2030, double the 2010 toll, said researchers Friday who warned of a “growing epidemic of premature death” in the world’s most populous nation. On current trends, one in three young Chinese men will be killed by tobacco, the team wrote in The Lancet medical journal. Among women, though, there were fewer smokers and fewer deaths. “About two-thirds of young Chinese men become cigarette smokers, and most start before they are 20.

Unless they stop, about half of them will eventually be killed by their habit,” said the article’s co-author Zhengming Chen from Oxford University.

China consumes over a third of the world’s cigarettes, and has a sixth of the global smoking death toll. “The annual number of deaths in China that are caused by tobacco will rise from about one million in 2010 to two million in 2030 and three million in 2050, unless there is widespread cessation,” the researchers wrote. “Widespread smoking cessation offers China one of the most effective, and cost-effective, strategies to avoid disability and premature death over the next few

decades.” The 2010 death toll was made up of some 840,000 men and 130,000 women in China, which has a population of about 1.4 billion. Smokers have about twice the mortality rate of people who never smoked, with a higher risk of lung cancer, stroke and heart attack. The proportion of deaths attributed to smoking among Chinese men aged 40-79 has doubled from about 10

percent in the early 1990s to 20 percent today, said the researchers.Among city dwellers the figure was even higher a quarter of all male deaths, and rising. “Conversely, the women of working age in China now smoke much less than the older generation,” said a statement from The Lancet. “About 10 percent of the women born in the 1930s smoked, but only about one percent of those born in the 1960s did so.” Less than one percent of deaths in women born

since 1960 are due to tobacco, said the study.The researchers relied on data drawn from two nationwide studies involving some 730,000 Chinese people in total.

The first study ran over several years in the 1990s, the second started in 2006 and continues today. There were a few silver linings, the authors said including that the number of smokers who quit rose from three percent in 1991 to nine percent in 2006.

Those who stopped smoking before they developed any serious illness had a similar disease risk ten years later than people who never smoked. “With effective measures to accelerate cessation, the growing epidemic of premature death from tobacco can be halted and then reversed, as in other countries,” said the study led by researchers from Oxford University, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. In a comment also carried by The Lancet, Jeffrey Koplan and Michael Eriksen of the Emory Global Health Institute in Atlanta pointed out that China was not only the world’s largest consumer of tobacco, but also the largest grower and cigarette manufacturer.

CAPE TOWN The rapid spread of mobile phones across Sub-Saharan Africa is transforming the region, but record levels of growth are due to slow sharply, an industry report said this week.

The industry contributed more than $100 billion to the region’s economy last year equivalent to 5.7 percent of gross domestic product, according to a study released at a conference in Cape Town by the GSMA association which represents mobile operators. It forecast that there will be 386 million mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa by the end of this year equivalent to 41 percent of the population. “The mobile industry remains a key driver of economic growth and employment in SubSaharan Africa, making a vital contribution given the population growth and high unemployment levels seen in many countries,” said GSMA acting director general Alex Sinclair.

“Mobile technology is also playing a central role in SubSaharan Africa by addressing a range of socio-economic challenges, particularly digital and financial inclusion, and enabling access to vital services such as education and healthcare.” For many Africans faced with poor or non-existent

landline infrastructure, mobile phones are the route to the Internet instead of laptops or desktop computers.

The number of subscribers has

grown by 13 percent a year during the first half of this decade more than twice the global average of six percent. But the growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to slow sharply over the next five years, to around six percent. The rapid growth in the first half of the decade was partly due to starting from a low base, with less than a quarter of the population having a mobile subscription in 2010.

Another factor limiting future growth is the “weak business case for rural network rollout” where the income from remote communities makes it difficult to justify the high investment costs, the study says. “Future progress will depend on governments working with the industry to provide a regulatory environment that encourages investment and innovation,” said Sinclair.

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Sleeping with the fishes When it comes to honeymoon destinaWHEN it comes to honeymoon tions, most newlyweds have set aside destinations, most newlyweds have nice little bundle a nice set littleaside bundlea for their ultimate for their But ultimate getaway. getaway. a unique suite in the But a unique suite in the Maldives Maldives while offering unbeatable — while offering unbeatable views of views of the local marine - is likely the local marine life — islife likely to eat up entire wedding to eatthe up the entire average average wedding budget, let alone the honeymoon budget, let alone the honeymoon accommodation costs. accommodation costs.

Conrad hotels Conrad hotels are offering a breathtaking at their Maldives Rangali Islands aresuite offering a breathtaking suite at their resort, which has to be seen to be believed.

Maldives Rangali Islands resort, which Normally the hotel’s Ithaa restaurant, the domed “reverse is being has to be seen toaquarium” be believed.

Nor- converted into a special submerged bedroom mally the hotel’s ‘Ithaa’ restaurant, the in honour of the hotel’s fifth anniversary.

A night below the surface is ofbeing the Indian domed ‘reverse aquarium’ Ocean would have to rank as the numconverted into a special submerged bedroom in honour of the hotel’s fifth Underwater bedroom for anniversary. A night below the surface newlywed couples of the Indian Ocean would have to rank as the number one night to remember, ber one night to remember, and the and the romantic experience comes romantic experience comes with a complimentary champagnechampagne breakfast the folwith a complimentary lowing morning. breakfast following Of coursethe the aquatic morning. entertainment — provided theaquatic likes of blue-striped snapOf coursebythe entertainment per, sting rays, parrot fish and moray eels provided by the likes of blue-striped — is also (quite literally) on the house.

Unsurprisingly, however, thefish hotel is keepsnapper, sting rays, parrot and ing a “price on application” policy —on the moray eels is also (quite literally) Ithaa wedding experience is not listed on the house. the Conrad hotels website, and potential guests are advised to personally request Unsurprisingly, however, the hotel is the room at least 14 days in advance. keeping a ‘price on application’ policy A King Deluxe Water Villa — until now the top-of-the-range accommodation the Ithaa wedding experience is not at the Maldives Rangali Islands resort — is listed the Conrad website, a tidy on £1,156 (aroundhotels `84,000) a night... and aboveguests water. are advised to and it’s potential It’s safe to say that this experience is personally request the room at least not for the budget-minded.

14 days in advance.

TRANSFORMATION: The hotel’s Ithaa restaurant (top) will be converted to a submerged bedroom (left) for the hotel’s fifth anniversary. The hotel normally charges around `84,000 a night for its deluxe water villas (above) at the resort (below).

After giraffe, Danish children to watch lion dissection COPENHAGEN A Danish zoo said Thursday it would dissect a lion in front of children, undeterred by the international outrage that hit a Copenhagen zoo that last year did the same thing to a giraffe.

“The reason we are dissecting it is that we believe there is a lot of education involved in dissecting a lion,” Michael Wallberg Sorensen, a zookeeper at the Odense Zoo in central Denmark, told AFP. The animal was put down nine months ago because the zoo had too many lions and it has since been kept in a freezer. It will be dissected on Thursday next week, to coincide

with Denmark’s autumn school break, in front of a crowd that is expected to include children as well as adults. “Although we are in contact with a lot of other zoos and try to relocate them, we can get a surplus,” Sorensen said, explaining the reason why it was put down. The zoo has performed public dissections of lions in the past without prompting any negative reactions, he added.

Visitors are mostly “really interested in it and find it interesting to see a lion that up close,” he said. A Copenhagen zoo prompted a storm of criticism in February last year for putting down a healthy giraffe and

dissecting it in front of children.

The zoo’s scientific director

received death threats after Marius, a healthy 18-month-old

giraffe, was put down despite numerous offers for him to be rehoused and thousands signing an online petition to save him.

After the dissection the animal’s meat was fed to lions. In Denmark, where farming is an important part of the economy, schoolchildren sometimes visit slaughterhouses on tours that include watching pigs on the slaughter line. Many Danes were surprised and even angered by what has been dubbed Mariusgate, and the Copenhagen Zoo’s scientific director Bengt Holst was among those decrying the “Disney story” shaping many people’s view of zoo creatures.

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Sursock reborn as Beirut’s 14 elephants die of first interactive museum poisoning in Zimbabwe BEIRUT From nighttime walks around the city to workshops on art conservation, Beirut’s grandiose Sursock Museum reopens this

week as Lebanon’s first interactive museum of contemporary art.Closed for eight years for major renovation work, the impressive

mansion-turned-museum is to open to the public from Thursday, free of charge, with exhibits honouring the history of art in Beirut. The walls have been

adorned with photographs from Lebanese collector Fouad Debbas and vibrant, geometric paintings from the country’s “golden era” in

Austria launches language app for migrant children

VIENNA Austria’s government, under pressure from the far-right over the migrant crisis, announced on Thursday a new app for smartphones and tablets to help foreign children learn German.

“Learning the language is a vital key for integration. This new app represents a major step in promoting language-learning,” Education Minister Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek said. The “hallo App Deutsch” contains 1,000 everyday words as well as pictures and sound, something which will help kids who can’t yet read roman script. The app, cofunded with corporate sponsorship, is also set to be launched in Germany - the main destination for migrants in recent months - and a version for adults

is also planned. Austria has seen more than 200,000 migrants enter the country since the beginning of September, most of whom travel onwards to Germany or Scandinavia. But the government still expects some 85,000 asylum claims this year, making the Alpine country of 8.5 million people one of the highest recipients in Europe per capita.Concerns about the inflow have boosted support for the farright Freedom Party (FPOe), which is leading in opinion polls nationally with more than 30 percent of the vote. Surveys indicate that the FPOe might come first in elections in Vienna on Sunday, a first in a European capital and which would put Chancellor Werner Faymann under severe pressure.

Kashmir jewellery sold at record price in HK A string of natural grey pearls and a Kashmir sapphire broke world records at an auction in Hong Kong, auctioneers Sotheby’s say. A rare grey pearl necklace that once belonged to a British aristocrat sold for HK$41m ($5.3m; £3.5m).

Meanwhile, a 27.68-carat Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring, The Jewel of Kashmir, sold for HK$52.28m.Both pieces of jewellery were bought by Hong Kong collectors on Wednesday, Sotheby’s announced. The string of pearls was part of the collection of Viscountess Cowdray, Lady Pearson, famous for her collection of art and furniture as well as jewellery.

the 1960s. Outside, two grand white staircases curve upwards in an arch above the entrance, overlooking a spacious mezzanine to be used for a host of activities.

“For a lot of people, a museum is a place to visit and to look. We hope that this museum will be more than this that it’ll be a place for interaction,” said Tarek Mitri, who chairs the museum’s committee.

Among the plans are nighttime walks throughout Beirut hosted by local artists and photography classes for teenagers. The projects are a welcome innovation for Beirut residents, whose city has few museums of any kind and little public space. “Although we are a museum, we should be seen as a space for exchange, for encounter,” said museum director Zeina Arida. “We lack public spaces, spaces where we can quarrel, get along, where we can express without getting into conflict,” Arida told AFP.

HARARE At least 14 elephants died from poisoning in three separate incidents in Zimbabwe last month with poachers suspected of being behind 11 of the deaths, parks authorities said Wednesday.Five of the pachyderms were poisoned in Hwange National Park, the country’s largest, and six more were found dead by a patrol outside the park in the nearby Deka Safari area. Some of the dead animals had their tusks removed, Carol Washaya, spokeswoman for the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said in a statement.She said

police had picked up five men in connection with the deaths in Hwange in northwestern Zimbabwe. “A total of 11 elephants died to chemical poaching in Hwange National Park and Deka Safari Area, and another three of dump-site poisoning,” Washaya said.

Laboratory tests showed the three deaths were due to cyanide poisoning, and authorities believe that the three elephants consumed the toxic material from a dump in Kariba town. Poaching is common in Zimbabwe’s game parks with elephants and rhino as the main targets.

expensive gadgets it’s just you and your baby, with other parents, being guided by a professional. You know everyone is in the same boat. Hong Kong can be a difficult and

Physiobaby, told AFP: “The growing trend to exercise whilst baby-wearing is fine, as long as the baby sling is very supportive, and the activity level of the baby wearer is not too vigorous.”

unwelcoming city for new mothers.”While in many cities frazzled parents can soothe their baby - and stretch their legs - by strolling through the park with the pram, Hong Kong’s high-rise living and unwieldy streets can leave many here feeling trapped and lonely in relatively small apartments. New mother Angela Gou explains: “I was looking for a way to get out and meet other mums. I always want to exercise but it’s hard to leave the baby at home. So these sessions solve the problem. Plus my baby likes it and thinks we’re playing a game.”Most baby-wearing exercise programmes recommend infants are three months or older to take part to ensure adequate neck control, and check positioning to ensure babies hips are protected.

Chartered physiotherapist Helen Binge, who runs paediatric firm

From structured types for sport to traditional woven cloth style, there is now a baby-wearing option for every occasion.

“Carriers have been used across cultures for thousands of years, but, like breastfeeding, went out of ‘vogue’ for a long period as people moved toward a more product-driven approach toward caring for small babies,” says Trish Kelly who co-founded Hong Kong’s Babywearing group.

She adds that renewed interest in natural birth and breastfeeding has meant traditional approaches to child-rearing are back in fashion. “But for Hong Kong I think it comes down to practicality. Moms like what works. Baby-wearing is a practical way of getting around.

It is notoriously wheelchair and stroller unfriendly — I feel like every ramp has a set of stairs at the end.”

Baby-wearing revival gets a fitness twist in Hong Kong HONG KONG High up in one of Hong Kong’s ubiquitous skyscrapers a group of women are being put through their paces, straining against the weight of a novel training accessory - their children.

Dubbed ‘Mumba’ these exercise classes are a new twist on the baby-wearing trend gripping mothers in the city.

Once the preserve of traditional communities, the art of wrapping a baby across a caregiver’s body so it can be carried during daily activities is being taken up by modern parents. In Hong Kong, where narrow hilly streets and unforgiving urban landscape often render strollers and prams useless many frustrated parents are now going back to basics out of necessity. Proving the old adage, invention has followed.

‘Mumba’ fitness, baby-wearing bellydance, ballet, yoga and pilates classes, and even suspension training (TRX) classes have sprung up in recent months - all allowing parents to exercise while their baby is strapped to them in a carrier. “There is huge demand from mums who wanted to get back in shape and to get strong again after the challenges of labour, but who also didn’t want to leave their young babies behind while they spent time exercising,” explains Ifat Hindes, co-founder of Mumba Fitness.

“We have combined different types of exercise including yoga, dance, TRX, and pilates, and the bonus is that you are using your baby for weight training,” she says. “There’s no need for

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China’s new glass bridge tests courage of tourists

PINGJIANG China’s first glass suspension bridge, which dangles 180 metres (594 feet) over a canyon in the central Hunan province, has excited and terrified thousands of visitors since opening two weeks ago. “I’m afraid to look down. I can only look straight ahead,” said one young woman crossing the 300metre long structure. Visitors were apparently not put off the experience despite news this week of cracks appearing on a glass walkway over a canyon in nearby Henan province, reportedly because someone dropped a stainless steel cup on it. Authorities insisted it was still safe. Visitors flocked to the Hunan glass bridge, in a scenic area of Pingjiang county, where officials were forced to impose a cap of 10,000 people a day during recent holidays.

The glass-bottomed bridge,

which replaced a wooden walkway, opened on September 24 just in time for China’s weeklong National Day holiday, a peak travel period.As dozens of people trudged across the bridge it shook underfoot and photos posted online showed some visitors kneeling or crouching on the transparent surface, too scared to move. “The glass bridge is a little scary to me since I have a fear of heights. I didn’t look down,” said a muscular young man, though his phobia didn’t stop him from striking a ballet pose on the bridge.The structure is made from two layers of hardened glass with a total thickness of 24 millimetres (0.9 inches), according to state media. One family crossed hand-in-hand with their son in the middle. “We are not scared at all, it’s so much fun,” the mother said, as they strode boldly forward.

Samsung’s Lees top Asia’s richest families list SINGAPORE South Korea’s Lee family, which controls the formidable Samsung conglomerate, topped an inaugural list of Asia’s 50 richest families published Thursday by Forbes Asia magazine.

The family had a net worth of $26.6 billion as of late September, with second- and third-generation members now running more than 50 businesses, the magazine said. The Samsung empire, founded in 1938 by wealthy landowner’s son Lee ByungChull, has diversified interests ranging from mobile phones to construction and shipbuilding.

Forbes Asia said Samsung, the biggest of the “chaebol” or familyrun conglomerates dominating South Korea’s economy, accounted for 22 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2014.

“Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are of Chinese descent, yet none of the inaugural 50 is based in the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by the first generation,” it said in a report.

The second richest is the Hong Kong Chinese family, also surnamed Lee, which controls Henderson Development and boasts a fortune of $24.1 billion.

The third richest are the Ambanis of India’s Reliance Group with a combined net worth of $21.5 billion, followed by Thailand’s Chearavanont family with $19.9 billion, generated from the

The top 10 richest families in Asia on the Forbes Asia list with their main businesses: 1) Lee from South Korea (Samsung): $26.6 billion 2) Lee from Hong Kong (Henderson): $24.1 billion 3) Ambani from India (Reliance): $21.5 billion 4) Chearavanont from Thailand (Charoen Pokphand): $19.9 billion 5) Kwok from Hong Kong (Sun Hung Kai): $19.5 billion 6) Kwek/Quek from Singapore, Malaysia (Hong Leong): $18.9 billion 7) Premji from India (Wipro): $17 billion 8) Tsai from Taiwan (Cathay Financial): $15.1 billion 9) Hinduja from India, Britain (Hinduja Group): $15 billion 10) Mistry from India (Shapoorji Pallonji Group): $14.9 billion agriculture-based Charoen Pokphand group.

Rounding out the top five is the Kwok family, which controls Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai property empire, with a combined net wealth of $19.5 billion. Only families with business involvement extending to at least three generations were included in the survey, the magazine said.

The family of Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, who has a current net worth of $25 billion based on a Forbes global list, was excluded because he has no grandchildren who have taken serious roles in the family business, it said. The estimates of family fortunes were based on stock prices and exchange rates at the close of markets on September 25.

One-fingered Japanese Toyota unveils climber fails to summit Everest self-driving car

TOKYO A one-fingered Japanese climber who was attempting the first summit of Mount Everest since this year’s deadly quake said Thursday he had turned back

before reaching the summit.This is the fifth season Nobukazu Kuriki, who lost nine fingers on the mountain in 2012, has tried to scale the world’s highest peak and he is the only climber making the dangerous attempt this year. Climbers have abandoned Everest after an earthquake-triggered avalanche killed 18 people at the mountain’s base camp, and regular aftershocks since have

increased the chance of avalanches.“Did my best, but figured will not be able to return alive if I go further due to strong wind and heavy snow,” the 33year-old wrote on his Twitter

account. Kuriki said continuing his attempt to scale the 8,848metre (29,029-foot) colossus in those conditions would leave him dangerously exposed, with not enough time to return safely to camp. His overnight ascent had taken him well into the “death zone” - the height above 8,000 metres notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air.

“Decided to climb down at around 8,150 metres. I truly

appreciate everyone’s support,” he added. Scaling Everest has been all but abandoned this season following April’s earthquake, which killed nearly 8,900 people and devastated large parts of Nepal, including the capital Kathmandu.

It is the second spring season with virtually no one reaching the summit after an avalanche in 2014 killed 16 Nepali guides and also sparked a shutdown.

Mountaineers usually begin their summit attempts late at night, which allows them to descend in daylight, lowering the risk of them falling to their deaths due to exhaustion.

Mountaineering experts say climbing in autumn is more dangerous than spring due to high winds and lower temperatures.Kuriki, who planned to summit alone without the aid of bottled oxygen, was forced to abandon a bid last month because deep snow made it difficult for him to climb quickly during the final stretch.

Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for impoverished Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres, but the April 25 earthquake has raised fears for its tourism industry.

TOKYO Toyota Tuesday unveiled a car that can drive itself along a highway, the latest foray by a major manufacturer into the world of automated vehicles. The car, a modified Lexus GS, uses sophisticated sensors to navigate roads, merge lanes and overtake other vehicles.

The company hopes to make other cars with similar features available within five years, in time for Tokyo’s hosting of the Olympics.

“We aim to be operational by 2020, the year when Tokyo welcomes the Olympic Games,” Yoshida Moritaka, Toyota’s chief safety technology officer, told reporters at the car’s unveiling.

In its current incarnation, the car only switches to fully automated mode once it reaches the less frenetic confines of a highway and passes a sensor. “The car we have here is able to drive independently from the highway entrance to the exit,” Moritaka said.

But Toyota hopes the technology will help it one day build an entirely driverless car as well as reduce accidents and congestion. Toyota has been a relative latecomer to the rush to

design automated cars. But last month it announced plans to invest $50 million in building artificial intelligence into its vehicles. The joint research with Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology will take place over the next five years, Toyota Motor Corporation said. Several major carmakers and technology giants have been pursuing autonomous vehicle technology.

Google has been testing selfdriving cars in Silicon Valley, while Nissan has vowed to put an automated car on Japan’s highways as soon as 2016. In 2018, Nissan models should have the ability to avoid hazards and to change lanes, and by 2020 vehicles should be able to autonomously manoeuvre through crowded city roads.Apple is also rumoured to be pursuing the technology.

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Beginning of the end for MS Dhoni’s captaincy? PCB still hopeful of series against When Indian fans made their displeasure felt during India’s T20 loss against South Africa at Cuttack by throwing bottles, the entire cricket fraternity was upset with what was one of the most disgraceful days for Indian cricket. While the cognoscenti demanded strict action against the stadium authorities, MS Dhoni found the incident funny and defended the spectators.

Had India won the match, it could have been a different story, but it sounded ludicrous when Dhoni said, “We should not be taking such things seriously. I still remember we played in Vizag once

and we won the game very easily and that time also a lot of bottles were thrown.

It starts with the first bottle

and then its more of a fun for the spectators.”

While it was possibly a good move from the Indian captain to back the fans

since his own form hasn’t been great of late, practically, it was the last thing expected from him.

Even after India lost the series 2-0 to the Faf du Plessis-led team, Dhoni said, “I personally feel that I used too much brain in

Vijender’s pro debut success could boost boxing market in India As Vijender Singh’s victory over the unfancied Sonny Whiting on his professional debut creates hope and hype, boxing could eye an opportunity in an Indian market that is embracing franchise sports leagues and tapping into the country’s vast TV audience. The Olympic medallist is set to fight again on October 30, and the first few opponents chosen for him are unlikely to be unduly tough as the promoters seek to market his fights in India.

The boxer understands this and appears ready to do the hard yards before the tougher contests begin. “I am very happy for this win.

It’s just a beginning as I have to go a long way. I will work harder and have to be a professional champion one day,” Vijender said after his victory at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night.

“I never got nervous during the bout. My punches have replied to Sonny Whiting in the ring,” he added, referring to the Briton’s trash talk of vowing to put him ‘through absolute hell’ — a facet of build-ups to professional fights.

But semantic improprieties are the least of the sport’s

problems globally. The bigticket Floyd MayweatherManny Pacquiao showdown notwithstanding,

boxing has been losing its fan base worldwide to MMA (mixed martial arts), struggling to connect with a younger audience amid a scarcity of top talent. The Money-PacMan clash reportedly netted close to $300 million for winner Mayweather and Pacquiao, motivating Vijender to turn pro than bide his post-amateur time as a music video protagonist and showbiz wannabe.

this format.” Perhaps only he understood what he actually meant, when he added, “You can convert 1.8 runs or 1.9 runs into 2, but not 1.75 or 1.7.”

His statements of late haven’t been upto the mark, just like his form, which is deteriorating with each innings.

When Mahi returned to international cricket after a three-month gap to lead India in T20 series against South Africa, the entire cricket fraternity waited with baited breath to see whether his failure in the Indian Premier League earlier this year was just an aberration. But Dhoni failed to find form, as he scored 25 runs from two innings with the final match being washed out.

The ODIs were expected to be a fresh start, his 30-ball 31 at Kanpur was an innings that cost India the game as he failed to score 11 runs off the last six balls, against a 20-year-old bowler who later confessed to being under tremendous pressure.

There is no doubt that Dhoni is one of the best finishers the game has ever seen. He has singlehandedly pulled off spectacular chases for India in the past, something which has earned him enormous respect from his troops.

India in December 2015

The Pakistan cricket authorities have not ruled out the possibility of having a short limited over series against India in December even as their top officials are in Dubai to attend the ICC meetings. Even though the PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said at a press conference in Lahore last week that he had little hopes of the series with India being held in December due to the existing relations between the two countries but well-informed sources have not ruled out some sort of compromise.

“A revised series with only ODIs and T20 matches is a possibility in the UAE in December,” a PCB source said. “Pakistan needs the series to be held because of the financial benefits it can earn from the series.

So it is keeping its options open and these could be discussed on the sidelines of the ICC meetings in Dubai,” he added.

Shaharyar Khan had told the press conference that

the environment in India with reference to Pakistan was not conducive for the planned series but confirmed he would be talking to Indian cricket officials in Dubai.

The former Chairman of the PCB and now the head of its executive committee, Najam Sethi also disclosed last week that he and Khan could travel to India soon to meet with the newly elected President of the Indian cricket board, Shashank Manohar, who apparently is not attending the ICC meeting. “Yes, we have plans but nothing is final as yet. We might go to India,” Sethi said. He however ruled out any possibility of the Pakistan Super League T20 event being organized in December if the India series didn t materialize as feared. The PSL will not be held in December. It will be held as planned in February. If India doesn t play than the PCB has to look at other alternates, Sethi said.

Carlos Alberto emerged to form the ‘dream team’ that had the world in awe at the 1970 World Cup. Pele was still there, in his prime. That seems like

light years away. Brazil have long since been knocked off their perch and Pele blames it on lack of cohesion.

“The team game is missing. We have some of the best players in Brazil but unfortunately we don’t play as a team. We didn’t have much time to prepare the team before the World Cup. You have to have the players together for a longer time to prepare better but that wasn’t possible.

Nowadays top Brazilian players go to Europe and the impresarios (managers/agents) decide for them if they would be playing for the club or country.

Brazil’s got talent, not team

Eduardo Vargas and Alexis Sanchez dealt the latest blow. It was another night of pain for Brazil as they lost to Chile in their opening World Cup qualifier. However, July 9, 2014 was when they had reached their lowest, when the Selecao lost 71 to Germany in the World Cup semi final at Estadio Mineirao.

It cost Luiz Felipe Scolari his job and Dunga was brought back to take charge of the team as Brazilian football sought to redeem itself. Fifteen months down the line, nothing seems to have changed. The great football nation still produces exceptional talents like

Neymar, but the whole has ceased to be greater than the sum of its parts.

The decline is hurting the legend. Pele had been the face of Brazilian foot-

ball when it ruled the world.

They had Garrincha, Didi, Vava, but Pele was the jewel in the crown. Later, Tostao, Rivelino, Jairzinho and

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Pakistani-Canadian deportation punches holes in Islamabad’s terrorism narrative About the time Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his cohorts were laboring to build a narrative about their country being a frontline state/ victim of terrorism and the India’s role in fermenting unrest in the country, two Pakistanis in Canada were being bundled on to airplanes for deportation to Pakistan because they were considered a terrorist threat to Canada’s national security.

In itself, the deportation was not unusual; Pakistanis are deported and extradited all the time across the world. But this particular episode was on unfamiliar territory because both deportees were permanent residents of Canada, and Ottawa, after stripping them off their status, was forcing

them back to their home country amid protests from Islamabad. In fact, the deportation followed weeks of diplomacy between Canada and Pakistan, which was reluctant to take the men back, according to Canada’s National Post, which first reported the incident.

The episode is the first test of a controversial new law enacted by the Stephen Harper government in Canada that can actually revoke even the citizenship of convicted

terrorist who is born and brought up in Canada.

At least Jahanzeb Malik and Mohammed Aqeeq Ansari, the first two accused, had the misfortune of being born in Pakistan. The case of Saad Gaya tests the limits of the new law: Gaya, 27, will be the first Canadianborn citizen (terrorist or not) to ever face the prospect of being stripped of his citizenship.

Until now, there was no legal mechanism to undo what has long been considered an irreversible birthright, according to Maclean’s magazine, which examined the issue at length in a recent issue.

The fact that all three cases involve terrorists of Pakistani origin is not lost on Canada, US, or the international community.

Areeb in custody, ‘IS account’ tweets scenes from his Iraq, Syria flashback Fresh images have surfaced online of civil engineering student Areeb Majeed’s days as a member of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria along with the claim that he had returned to India last November to carry out a suicide attack.

A string of posts on Wednesday night from a Twitter account believed to be operated by Fahad Shaikh one of the four youths from Kalyan in Thane, including Areeb, who joined the IS last May claimed to reveal the “truth about Areeb Majeed, an Indian IS martyrdom operator”.

The handle @spamci17, under the name ‘Magnet Gas’, claimed that Areeb was lured back to India as he believed his sister had been insulted by police, and that he decided to return to carry out a suicide attack on the “police headquarters”.

The account also has images of Areeb currently

in judicial custody posing with two other fighters, and with an assault rifle during his days with the IS. When contacted, Areeb’s lawyer described the tweets as an attempt to “sabotage” his client’s case. ”This could be some mischief by a

Agency (NIA) said it has taken note of the tweets.

“We are aware of the fresh photographs and claims about Areeb Majeed posted by an account operated by Fahad Shaikh.

If necessary, we can even confront Areeb with these

person who is unhappy with Areeb’s return to India and cooperation with police, or mischief by someone to sabotage Areeb’s case or scuttle his chances of securing bail and some pending applications moved by us.

We have a very strong case in Areeb’s favour,” said Abdul Wahab Khan, Areeb’s lawyer. The National Investigation

claims about the attack on the police headquarters,” said a senior NIA officer.

“Areeb was very happy with his work in serving Islamic State as a civil engineer,” @spamci17 tweeted, along with a photograph of a smiling Areeb on a motorbike with a rifle slung over his shoulder, set against the backdrop of a construction site.

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Health Navjot Singh Sidhu diagnosed with DVT Are Health benefitsthese of you making Know about this life threatening disease! firstmulberry! aid mistakes?

Former India cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, was admitted to the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

Sidhu was diagnosed with acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition which is caused by a blood clot in a deep vein, hindering blood flow.

Now all of you who are wondering about this condition, read on!

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is the formation of a blood clot within a deep

vein, predominantly in the legs. Blood clots occur when the blood thickens and clumps together it blocks the flow of blood in the affected vein.

Deep vein thrombosis is a serious condition because blood clots in your veins can break loose, travel through your bloodstream and lodge in your lungs, blocking blood flow (pulmonary embolism). If not treated on time, this can become a life threatening condition.

Are you running the right way?

If you think that running is the easiest way of maintaining good health, then you might be wrong as there are multiple technicalities that one should keep in mind while running, otherwise one can face adverse effects.

Researchers explained that if the runner increases the distance, then he shouldn’t increase the speed, one should always do pre-run stretches and should make sure to wear the right shoes, the

Independent reported.

Xavier Amatriain, Vice President of Engineering at Quora and regular marathon runner, said that to avoid injuries one should limit the speed if willing to increase the distance of the run or if one is running faster then he should keep it shorter.

Amatriain added that by just focusing on running without doing leg/core strengthening exercises or quad/gluts exercises one could end up having injury.

The people who are at the most risk are those

accident, or when you are confined to a hospital or nursing home bed.

Deep vein thrombosis signs and symptoms can include: Swelling in the affected leg or swelling in both legs.

Cramping pain in your affected leg that usually begins in your calf An area of skin that feels warmer than the skin on the surrounding areas Skin over the affected area turning pale or a reddish or bluish color Your legs feel very weak and you feel tired

who have to sit for long periods of time. DVT is a common occurrence among people sitting for long periods on flights. It also affects people who don’t move for a long time, such as after surgery, following an

How to prevent DVT: Quit smoking Make it a point to exercise daily, even for a few minutes Walk regularly to improve circulation in your legs.

Eat balanced, high-fibre meals to prevent obesity

Required and used by everyone, first aid is a necessity within every single household. First aid supplements should always be kept handy and around you at all times.

It encompasses every aspect of a medical emergency. You may have got out of sticky conditions that could have become serious had you not had first aid around you.

Be it a sudden illness or a sudden injury like a bee sting, a deep cut, sprain or a fracture, etc. or even a small one, for instance, something as minute as a shoe bite.

Doesn’t it always help to have a band-aid or some kind of antiseptic around?

But, many people do some things while giving first aid to themselves or others that shouldn’t be done.

To ensure complete medical safety, below are a few points that you

should make sure you don’t do while giving first aid.

1. Allowing adhesive bandage to stay on a cut for days on end: When you put antibacterial adhesives on a cut, keeping it on for days will increase the moisture on the cut.

After a day, remove the bandage and let it heal on its own. If the cut is deep, change adhesive bandage twice a day.

Make sure the entire area is clean and dry.

2. Rubbing eyes: A speck of dirt, dust or other debris in your eye irritates you.

Rubbing eyes doesn’t help you get rid of it, but causes more damage. Rinse your eyes with clean water and if the itching or discomfort continues, check with your doctor.

3. Hot compress on a sprain or fracture: If what you are dealing with are aches and pains, heat works great.

All about that bass: How gene affects women‘s figures, diabetes risk A new study has shown a genetic variant to influence women’s body shape and diabetes risk.

A genetic variant near the KLF14 gene regulates hundreds of genes that govern how and where women’s bodies store fat, which affects their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to

research presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2015 Annual Meeting in

Baltimore.

Specifically, different “alleles” or “versions” of the variant cause fat-

storing cells to function differently. At the whole-body level, these differences between alleles are not associated with changes to overall weight or body mass index, but they do affect women’s hip circumference, explained lead author Kerrin Small of King’s College London.

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13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015

Know if your child is at risk of hypertension!

As per a recent study, adult high blood pressure risk is identifiable in childhood.

Groups of people at risk of having high blood pressure and other

related health issues by age 38 can be identified in childhood, the University of Otago’s study suggests.

High blood pressure is commonly treated in middle and old age. It has been described as a “silent killer” because most people are unaware of having the condition, which is one that puts them at greater risk of heart disease. The findings are the latest to emerge from the

internationally renowned Dunedin Study, which has tracked more than a 1000 people born in Dunedin in 1972-3 from birth to the present. The research is published in

the international journal Hypertension.

Using blood pressure information collected between the ages of 7 to 38 years, researchers identified study members as belonging to one of four different blood pressure groups. They found that more than a third of them were at risk of developing clinically high blood pressure levels by early mid-life.

Lead author Reremoana Theodore said they were

also able to identify a number of factors in early life that increased the odds of being in a high risk blood pressure group. These included being male, having a

family history of high blood pressure, being first born and being born lower birth weight.

This new information is useful for screening purposes to help clinicians identify young people who may develop high blood pressure later in adulthood, she noted.

The study also showed that having a higher body mass index (a measure of overweight and obesity) and cigarette smoking over

time were associated with increasing blood pressure levels over time, especially for individuals in the higher blood pressure groups.

Professor Richie Poulton added that encouraging lifestyle changes beginning early in life that include the maintenance of a healthy body weight, weight reduction and stopping smoking may help to lower blood pressure levels over time, particularly among those individuals on a trajectory to developing hypertension.

Those individuals in the higher blood pressure groups were also more likely to have other negative health related conditions by age 38 years including higher blood cholesterol levels.

The findings can be used to inform early detection, targeted prevention and/or intervention to help reduce the burden associated with this silent killer,Theodore says.

The study appears in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Got post-heart attack blues?

Start exercising and stop smoking Smokers, you may want to start exercising and kick that habit if you are suffering from depression after a heart attack as a new study suggests so.

Depression is almost three times more common in people who

Patients who are depressed after a heart attack have a two-fold risk of having another heart attack or dying compared to those who are not depressed, added David Nanchen of University of Lausanne,

frequently smokers than those without depression.

At one year, smoking cessation had the strongest association with improvement of depression with a 2.3 greater chance of improving depression in

have had a heart attack than in those who haven’t, said Manuela Abreu, a psychiatrist at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, adding that cardiac rehabilitation with aerobic exercise can reduce depressive symptoms and improve cardiovascular fitness.

Switzerland.

The study found that at one year, 27 percent of heart attack patients had persistent or new depression and 11percent had improved depression.

Patients with depression were less frequently married, had more diabetes, and were more

quitters compared to those who continued smoking. Depressed patients who had higher physical activity at the beginning of the study were also more prone to improve their depression.

Heart attack patients who smoke and are depressed are much

more likely to improve their depression if they kick the habit, said Dr Nanchen, adding while the observational study was unable to find an impact of exercise after heart attack on depressive symptoms, researchers did show that patients who were already physically active were more able to improve their depression.

Nanchen noted that they believe that the benefits of exercise after heart attack would be shown in a randomised trial, but such a study is difficult to perform for ethical reasons.

Nanchen advised heart attack patients to discuss smoking cessation with their doctor and to be physically active. “You should do moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for 30 minutes at least three times a week to be within recommended levels. Make sure you are working hard enough to break out in a sweat,” he said.

10 facts that you should know about mental illness!

Despite advancements in education and medical science, mental illness in our society is still considered a stigma.

Basically neglected and frowned upon, mental disorders are not taken seriously in our society which then escalates to menacing heights. For several Indians, the subject of mental health is still a taboo. Look around, anyone could be suffering from a mental illness but won’t voice his/her concern because of the fear of being judged. World Mental Health Day is an endeavour to raise awareness about such mental disorders and promote a healthy thinking.

Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning.

Here are some facts enumerated by WHO which you should know: 1. Around 20% of the world’s children and adolescents have mental disorders or problems 2. Mental and substance use disorders are the

leading cause of disability worldwide 3. About 23% of all years lost because of disability is caused by mental and substance use disorders.

4. About 800 000 people commit suicide every year 5. War and disasters have a large impact on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing 6. Mental disorders are important risk factors for other diseases, as well as unintentional and intentional injury 7. Stigma and discrimination against patients and families prevent people from seeking mental health care 8. Human rights violations of people with mental and psychosocial disability are routinely reported in most countries 9. Globally, there is huge inequity in the distribution of skilled human resources for mental health 10. There are 5 key barriers to increasing mental health services availability

Immune gene can help keep Parkinson’s disease, dementia at bay

A team of researchers has found that functional changes in an immune regulating gene can prevent Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia. Research team at University of Copenhagen, Denmark, has discovered that noninheritable PD may be caused by functional

changes in the immune regulating gene Interferonbeta (IFNbeta). Treatment with IFNbeta-gene therapy successfully prevented neuronal death and disease effects in an experimental model of PD. The results have just been published in prestigious scientific journal Cell.

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TIM TAM PAVLOVA Ingredients: 6 egg whites 1 2/3 cups sugar 1 tbsp. cocoa powder 2 tsp. corn starch 1 1/4 tsp. white vinegar 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 (7 oz.) packet Tim Tam Original, lightly crushed Whipped cream, for serving Instructions: Preheat oven to 300°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Using an electric hand mixer, beat whites while slowly adding sugar until stiff peaks form. Add cocoa powder, cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla and beat until glossy and thick. Gently fold in all but 1/2 cup Tim Tams.

Spread onto prepared baking sheet

PORK AND DUCK SAUSAGE

into a 10" x 8" rectangle, about 3" thick; reduce oven temperature to 250° and bake for 2 hours, or until cooked through. Turn off oven and let cool in oven with door ajar.

Serve with whipped cream over the top and remaining Tim Tams sprinkled over.

CILANTRO MOJO

Ingredients: 1 tbsp. whole black peppercorns 1 tsp. caraway seeds 1 tsp. whole allspice berries 1/2 tsp. juniper berries 4 whole cloves 2 bay leaves, torn into pieces 2 lb. pork belly, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 3/4 lb. pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch pieces 6 oz. duck liver, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 cup white wine 2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. fine sea salt 1 (9-oz.) duck leg, bone removed, cut into 1-inch pieces 8 3/4 oz. skinless duck breast, cut into 1/3-inch pieces Hog casings, for stuffing

TATER TOTS

Ingredients: 1 tsp. coriander seeds 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds 1 green cardamom pods 1/2 cup minced cilantro 2 cloves garlic 1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and minced 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil Kosher salt, to taste Instructions: Put coriander, cumin, and cardamom in an 8" skillet over medium heat and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until seeds are toasted, about 5 minutes.

Finely grind seeds in a spice grinder and transfer to a medium bowl along with cilantro, garlic, and jalapeños.

Using a fork, whisk in olive oil and season sauce with salt; cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

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 po-

PESTO POTATO SALAD

COCONUT HORCHATA

Ingredients: 2 lb. multi-color new potatoes 5 tbsp. olive oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish 1/4 cup basil leaves 1/4 cup parsley leaves 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish 2 tbsp. parmesan cheese 1 clove garlic 1 lemon, zest and juice 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas, thawed and blanched Instructions: Heat oven to 400°. Toss potatoes with 3 tbsp. oil, salt, and pepper; transfer to a baking sheet and roast until tender, 30-35 minutes. Meanwhile, place

Instructions: Pulse peppercorns, caraway seeds, allspice, juniper berries, cloves, and bay leaves in a spice grinder until coarse.

Combine spices, the pork belly, 1/3 of the pork shoulder, the duck liver, wine, salt, and duck leg in a bowl; transfer remaining pork shoulder and the duck breast to separate bowls. Cover bowls and chill until very cold, 3 hours. Pass meat mixture through a grinder set to large dice; pass remaining pork shoulder through a grinder set to fine dice. Mix ground meat mixtures and the duck breast. Stuff sausage mixture into casings.

remaining oil, the herbs, hazelnuts, parmesan, garlic, zest and juice, salt, and pepper in a food processor and blend until smooth. Toss potatoes with pesto, mint leaves, hazelnuts, and peas.

tatoes until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer potatoes to a wire rack; season with salt and serve immediately.

Ingredients: 2 cups boiling water 2 cups long-grain white rice 1 stick cinnamon, crushed, plus sticks for garnish 2 cups unsweetened coconut water Cheesecloth, for straining 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk 2/3 cup sugar 1 pinch kosher salt Instructions: Stir water, rice, and cinnamon in a bowl; cover and let sit at room temperature overnight. The next day, transfer rice mixture to a blender. Add coconut water; purée until smooth, 3–4 minutes.

Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a pitcher; cover and chill until ready to serve. Heat coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a 2-qt. saucepan over low; cook until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. in ice-filled glasses; grate fresh cinnamon Let milk cool; stir into rice mixture. Serve over top and drop sticks into glasses.

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13 Oct. - 19 Oct. 2015