c m y k c m y k

New Delhi !! Tuesday !! 17 May 2011

UN cheif Ban Ki-moon callsfor restraintbetween Israeland Palestine

9

InternationalItaly’s FM Franco Frattinisays Gaddafiregime daysare ‘numbered’

Saudi KingAbdullahopens largestwomen-onlyuniversity

AGETHE

Moscow, May 16: Repre-sentatives of MuammarGaddafi’s government wereexpected in Moscow onTuesday and Russia alsohoped to host Libyan rebelenvoys soon, foreign minis-ter Sergei Lavrov said onMonday.

“We agreed meetings inMoscow with representa-tives of both Tripoli andBenghazi. Envoys fromTripoli will be here tomor-row. Envoys from Benghaziwere supposed to be here onWednesday, but as theyinformed us, they wereforced to ask us to postponethis visit for technical rea-sons,” Mr Lavrov was quot-ed by the Itar-Tass newsagency as saying.

“We hope it will take placein the foreseeable future,”Mr Lavrov said, castingRussia as a potential peace-maker.

“We are ready to conductdialogue with all,” state-runItar-Tass quoted him as say-ing at a meeting in Moscowwith the UN envoy forLibya, Abdelilah al-Khatib.

Mr Lavrov repeated Rus-sia’s call for an end to fight-ing in Libya and the start oftalks. “Moscow is very, veryinterested in the swiftesthalt to the bloodshed inLibya and for a shift of thesituation into the channel ofpolitical dialogue.

Earlier on Monday, theInternational CriminalCourt prosecutor requestedarrest warrants for Gaddafi,his son Saif al-Islam and thecountry’s intelligence chiefon charges of crimes againsthumanity. AlthoughMoscow appeared set onestablishing a diplomatic

conduit out of Libya’s civilwar, analysts were sceptical.

“I think if an agreementdoesn’t begin with Gaddafiand his immediate familyleaving office it isn’t goingto fly with the opposition orwith NATO,” said DavidHartwell, Middle East ana-lyst at IHS Jane’s.

“The ICC warrant todayalso makes things morecomplicated. At the sametime, we have something ofa military stalemate andeven a lull. What is mostlikely happening is thatsome countries are usingthat to try and build up therebels while they soften upGaddafi’s forces with airstrikes.”

Mr Lavrov also said Rus-sia backed an initiative bythe UN humanitarian coor-dinator “for the declarationof a humanitarian pause toclarify the situation on theground and provide aid tothe population across all ofLibya”.

UN humanitarian chiefValerie Amos said on May 9that the way sanctions werebeing applied on Libya overthe Gaddafi government’swar with pro-democracyrebels had been delayingdelivery of supplies to itspopulation. Russia, a veto-wielding permanent mem-

ber of the UN SecurityCouncil, abstained from theMarch vote on a resolutionthat authorised militaryintervention to enforce no-fly zones. Russia hasaccused the Nato-led forcescarrying out airstrikes ofgoing behind their mandateto protect civilians, sayingthe coalition has essentiallytaken sides in a civil war.

—Reuters

A Libyan boy walks past a mural showing a caricature of Muammar Gaddafi at the revolution sqaure in theLibyan rebels’ stronghold eastern city of Benghazi on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

Residents of the southwestern Yemeni province of Saada hold up placardscalling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday, a day aftera Gulf mediator met with the embattled President in a new bid to resolveYemen’s political crisis. PHOTO: AFP

stir against Saleh

MAJEDA EL BATSH

MAJDAL SHAMS, GOLAN HEIGHTS

May 16: Hundreds of policefanned out across the GolanHeights on Monday insearch of refugees whocrossed over from Syria insome of the bloodiest vio-lence in years along Israel’sborders. In Lebanon, Syriaand the Palestinian territo-ries, people gathered tomourn the 14 people killedwhen Israeli troops openedfire on thousands of protest-ers who sought to breach itsnorthern borders.

Hundreds were injured in

the occupied Golan Heights,as well as in clashes withIsraeli troops in the WestBank and northern GazaStrip as Palestinians markedthe anniversary of Israel’sfounding in 1948, in anevent known in Arabic as the“nakba” or “catastrophe.”

Israeli police spokesmanMickey Rosenfeld saidhouse-to-house searcheswere ongoing on Mondayafternoon and roadblockshad been set up around theGolan Heights town of Maj-dal Shams, where protesterswho crossed over from Syriagathered.

On Monday morning, thepolice detained a a 34-year-old Syrian, who was tryingto leave the town in a taxidriven by a Palestinian fromeast Jerusalem, he said.Brigadier General YoavMordechai told Army radio

the military remained “in astate of high alert in thenorth, the south and the cen-tre.” Defence chiefs alsoextended a 24-hour lock-down on the occupied Pales-tinian territories which hadbeen due to end at midnighton Sunday.

Sunday’s violence wassome of the worst in theIsraeli-occupied GolanHeights since a 1974 truceaccord, and the clashesalong the Lebanese bordermarked the bloodiest con-frontation since the 2006war between the two neigh-bours. —AFP

Israel hunts Syria infiltrators

MARLOWE HOOD

LONDON

May 16: If alien geologistswere to visit our planet 10million years from now,would they discern a distincthuman fingerprint in Earth’saccumulating layers of rockand sediment?

Will homo sapiens, inother words, define a geo-logical period in the waydinosaurs — and their van-ishing act — helped mark

the Jurassic and the Creta-ceous? A growing numberof scientists, some gatheredat a one-day symposium thisweek at the British Geologi-cal Society in London, say“yes”. One among them,chemistry Nobel laureatePaul Crutzen, has even sug-gested a new name: theAnthropocene. Whether this“age of man” will be short orlong is unknown. But onething is clear, says Crutzen,who shared his Nobel for

unmasking the man-madechemicals eating away at theatmosphere’s protectiveozone layer. For the first ti-me in earth’s 4.7 billion yearhistory, a single species hasnot only radically changedearth’s morphology, chem-istry and biology, it is nowaware of having done so.

“We broke it, we bought it,we own it,” is how Erle Ellis,a professor of geographyand ecology at the Universi-ty of Maryland at Baltimore,

put it. “We don’t know whatis going to happen in theAnthropocene — it could begood, even better,” he said.“But we need to think differ-ently and globally, to takeownership of the planet.”

Dinosaurs were most like-ly wiped out by a giantmeteor that cooled earth’stemperatures below theirthreshold for survival.

An analogous fate couldawait humans if tempera-tures climb by five or sixdegrees Celsius, which cli-mate scientists say couldhappen within a century.

But dinosaurs thrived formore than 150 million yearsbefore a cosmic pebbleended their extraordinaryrun, while modern humanshave only been around forabout 200,000 years, a snapof the fingers by compari-son. Another key difference:

dinosaurs didn’t know whathit them, and played no rolein their own demise.

Humans, by contrast, havebeen the main architects ofthe enormous changes thatare threatening to throwwhat scientists now call theearth system out of whack.

Since Crutzen coined theterm a decade ago, theAnthropocene has beeneagerly adopted by scien-tists across a broad spectrumof disciplines. “It triggered

the realisation that we werein an entirely new era ofplanet earth,” said Will Stef-fen, head of AustralianNational University’s Cli-mate Change Institute. Italso triggered debate. At onelevel, the issues are narrowto the point of pedantry —rock experts quibbling overwhether mankind’s presentand future geological impr-int merits recognition by theInternational Commissionon Stratigraphy. —AFP

Extreme makeover: Are humans reshaping earth?

Israeli police spok-esman Mickey Ros-enfeld said house-to-house searcheswere ongoing onMonday afternoonand roadblockshad been set up

Tehran, May 16: IranianPresident MahmoudAhmadinejad announcedthat he himself will presidethe country’s oil ministryfollowing the mergers by anumber of ministries.

“The Iranian governmentand the Parliament haveconsensus on the oil min-istry merger.I am the care-taker for the oil ministry,”President Ahmadinejadsaid in a televised speechon Sunday.

The Iranian chief execu-tive added that the decisionto merge ministries wasmade based on a “legalduty” and “structural obli-gation” and emphasisedthat the government’s swiftimplementation of the lawhas “executive and scientif-ic” reasons.

Iran’s oil minister Mas-soud Mir-Kazzemi andother officials steppeddown following plannedmergers by a number ofministries.

Industry and mines minis-ter Ali Akbar Mehrabianand welfare minister SadeqMahsouli also left the Cabi-net. Iran last week mergedthe oil ministry with theenergy ministry, industriesand mines ministry with thecommerce ministry, and thewelfare ministry with thelabour ministry in a moveto cut the number of gov-ernment departments to 17from 21 and boost theadministration’s efficiency.

—IANS

Iran Prezto overseeoil ministry

Rome, May 16: Italy andits allies are working on apolitical solution thatwould allow Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi toresign, said Italian foreignminister Franco Frattini onMonday. \

“It would be a politicalexit that would removeGaddafi and his familyfrom the scene,” and allow“a government of nationalreconciliation,” to takeover, said Mr Frattini. Pos-sible members of Gaddafi’sgovernment who could takepart in the new government“have already been identi-fied”, he said, adding thatunveiling the plan, whichwas still being worked outtogether with the UN, couldcause it to fail. Meanwhile,the chief prosecutor at theInternational CriminalCourt on Monday is due toask judges in The Hague toissue arrest warrants forthree senior members of theLibyan regime.

—IANS/AKI

Italy, alliesplan Gaddafi‘political exit’

AASHIMA DOGRA

LONDON

May 16: By the end of thisyear many Britons might beable to get a vague ideaabout how long they willlive. If not a literal “dead-line”, a £400 test can tellyou how susceptible you areto a relatively short life, inother words, more prone toage related problems likecardiovascular disease, can-cer, low fecundity,Alzheimer’s etc.

A company called LifeLength is developing thecontroversial test that sim-ply needs a few drops ofblood to give precise results.It is busy striking deals withmedical diagnostic compa-nies all over Europe whileanticipating a positive reac-tion from members of the

public eager to know howlong they will live.

A deal with a companyoperating in the UK is likelywithin a year, The Indepen-dent reported.

The scientists who devel-oped the test are confident

that the length of the struc-ture on the tip of chromo-somes called telomeres isindicative of how fast anindividual is aging. Theyhave helped develop the testthat makes it possible tocompare the “biologicalage” with the “chronologi-cal age”.

A substantial amount ofresearch in the recent pasthas shown the link betweentelomere length and lifespan.

However, never has thisscientific discovery pow-ered an over the counter test,accessible to all.

Its sceptics have put fortharguments about ethicalconsiderations and warnedof abuse of such a tool byinsurance companies andquacks prescribing elixirs oflife.

£400 test determineshow long you will live

Gaddafi envoys, rebel leadersto hold peace talks in Moscow

Singapore, May 16: Terri-fied passengers aboard aCathay Pacific plane prayedtogether as their aircraft, oneof its engines on fire, madeits way back to Singapore onMonday, and their calmresponse earned praise fromthe captain.

Cathay Pacific said theAirbus 330, bound forJakarta with 136 passengerson board, landed back inSingapore “without inci-dent” just before 2 am. It

said the crew shut down theengine after receiving a“stall warning”.

Reuters photographerBeawiharta was aboard theplane with his wife, twosons and daughter.

About 20 minutes aftertake-off, there were twosharp bangs, sending cabinstaff scurrying to retrieve themeals they had only justbegun serving.

The plane began shakingviolently, he said, and the

lights went out. He couldsmell something burning.His son, Pradipta, 15, saidhe saw nothing as he peeredout the window.

“But I asked him to cup hishands to get a better view,”Mr Beawiharta said. “Heshouted: ‘I see fire! I seefire!’ “Panicked, he thenasked: ‘Will we die? Will wedie?’ I took his hand and toldhim firmly: ‘No, we aregoing to live.’ “Behind us,passengers were praying:

‘God, save our flight! Giveus your protection!’”

The prayers got louder andlouder, pierced by only theoccasional cry of panic.

“A stewardess told us anengine had caught fire andwe were on our way back toSingapore. Glued to thewindow, my son said hecould see lights, the sea andships and then lights on theground. We all grabbed lifejackets from beneath ourseats, but the plane landed

smoothly. “Within five minutes, as

firefighters doused the dam-aged engine, we walked offthe plane into the terminal,”he said.

In the waiting room, thepilot greeted assembled pas-sengers.

“The best that we can everask of passengers is to staycool, stay calm... which youdid,” he said. “And for thatwe thank you.”

—Reuters

Calm, prayers help steer stricken plane back to Singapore

London, May 16: She haskept mum about the “goodnews” for months andFrench First Lady CarlaBruni has now added fuel topregnancy rumours withher latest television inter-view.

The former supermodelwho is reportedly expectingtwins with President Nico-las Sarkozy, was congratu-lated by presenter Jean-Pierre Pernaut on the show13 Heures, at which the 43-year-old blushed andreplied “I congratulate youtoo,” without saying whatfor. Bruni had earlier pulledout of a red carpet appear-ance at Cannes film festi-val, citing ill-health and hasside-stepped the big ques-tion in interviews since.

When she scheduled a liveinterview on a prime timeTV show, it was expectedthat she will finally make itofficial, reported the Tele-graph online.

But instead of asking adirect question, presenterPernaut quizzed Bruni forseveral minutes on hercharity work against childilliteracy, before saying, “Iknow you don’t like peopletalking about your privatelife, but I just want to con-gratulate you.”

Bruni married Sarkozy,56, following a whirlwindromance in 2008. Themodel-turned-musician hadher first son Aurelien in2001 with former lover, theParisian philosopherRaphael Enthoven. —PTI

Bruni refuses todeny pregnancyrumour on TV

Muammar Gaddafi

Ahmadinejad

Tehran, May 16: Egypt’sforeign minister Nabil Al-Arabi was elected as ArabLeague chief after last-minute diplomacy left himas the only candidate in therace. Amr Moussa, a formerEgyptian foreign minister,was head of the ArabLeague for 10 years.

Egypt changed its candi-date for head of the 22-member Arab organisationat the last minute on Sun-day, backing Nabil Al-Arabi, who was quicklyelected. Al-Arabi replacesAmr Moussa, who hasresigned to run for theoffice of President inEgypt. “This is the toughestassignment I will have,” MrAl-Arabi said in an accept-ance speech that was broad-cast live on television.

Egypt’s state news agencyannounced the change incandidate and, shortly after,Qatar’s Abdulrahman binHamad Al-Attiyah, a for-mer secretary-general ofthe six-nation Persian GulfCooperation Council,announced his withdrawal.

Egypt had fielded a careerdiplomat — Mostafa el-Fekki — a former memberof Parliament for the for-mer President’s rulingparty, although he quit hispost during the 18-dayuprising. —IANS

Egypt FMelected ArabLeague chief

Cathay Pacific saidthe Airbus 330, bo-und for Jakarta wi-th 136 passengerson board, landedback in Singapore“without incident”just before 2 am. Itsaid the crew shutdown the engineafter receiving a“stall warning”.

Scientists claimtelomere testingwill become wide-spread within thenext five or 10 years

spotlight

PUNJAB STATE POWER CORPORATION LIMITED

GURU HARGOBIND THERMAL PLANT

LEHRA MOHABBAT

CORRIGENDUM-IIThe opening date of Enquiry

No. 114/O&M/PC-1270 dated 27-01-2011 for procurement S.S.Fluidizing Elements is herebyextended to 03-06-2011. Lastdate for issue of tender docu-ments is 30-05-2011 and tendersshall be received upto 03-06-2011 (11.30 AM).

All other terms & conditionsshall remain the same

For further details please referto PSPCL. website www.pspcl.in

Superintending Engineer/HQ,For Chief Engineer/O&M,GHTP, Lehra Mohabbat.

RO No. 1570/1575 dtd. 12-5-2011

X

A nearby star is bombard-ing its companion planetwith a barrage of X-rays,hundred thousand timesmore intense than theearth receives from thesun, a Nasa discovery says.

This radiation from starCoRoT-2a is strippingabout five million tonnes ofmatter from the planetCoRoT-2b every second,suggests data from theChandra X-rayObservatory and theEuropean SouthernObservatory’s Very LargeTelescope. CoRoT-2b has amass about thrice that ofJupiter and 1,000 timesthat of earth.

It orbits its parent star ata distance roughly 10 timesmore than that between theearth and the moon, thejournal Astronomy andAstrophysics reports.

“This planet is beingabsolutely fried by itsstar,” says study co-authorSebastian Schroeter.

— IANS

Can a computer tell whenit hurts? It can if you trainit, US researchers said onTuesday. A team atStanford University inCalifornia used computerlearning software to sortthrough data generated bybrain scans and detectwhen people were in pain.

“The question we weretrying to answer was canwe use neuroimaging toobjectively detect whethera person is in a state ofpain or not. The answerwas yes,” Dr Sean Mackeyof the Stanford UniversitySchool of Medicine inCalifornia, whose studyappears in the journalPLoS One. Currently, doc-tors rely on patients to tellthem whether or not theyare in pain. And that is stillthe gold standard forassessing pain, Mackeysaid. But some patients —the very young, the veryold, dementia patients orthose who are not con-scious — cannot say if theyare hurting, and that hasled to a long search forsome way to objectivelymeasure pain.

— Reuters

PPeeooppllee

OOtthheerr ssttoorriieess

FAMED CLIMBERBONATTI, 81, DIESRRoommee:: Italian Walter Bonatti,one of the world’s celebratedmountain climbers who fordecades was embroiled incontroversy over the firstascent of Pakistan’s K2, hasdied at age 81.

He succumbed to an illnesson Tuesday in Rome, accord-ing to his editor BaldiniCastoldi Dalai.

Bonatti pioneered routesfor peaks in Europe, SouthAmerican and the Himalayas.

MONEY DOES NOTMOTIVATE DiCAPRIOLLooss AAnnggeelleess:: Hollywoodsuperstar Leonardo DiCapriohas grossed more than $1 bil-lion at the box office over aspan of 18 years, but theactor says that money isn'twhat motivates him to pur-sue new projects. The 36-year-old, who has given hitslike Titanic, Blood Diamond,The Departed, Shutter Islandand Inception said moneydidn’t matter to him until heentered his 30s and wantedto produce, GQ magazinereported.

Demi and I likebeing romanticand doingspecial littlethings

–––– AAsshhttoonn KKuuttcchheerrActor

A COMPUTER PROGRAM TODETECT PAIN?

STAR BOMBARDSPLANET WITHRADIATION

CELEB TALK

PAGE 11

Amy Winehouse’s father says he fought

to get her off drugs

Charlie Sheen reunites with father Martin in comedy spoof

THURSDAY 15 | SEPTEMBER 2011NEW DELHI

Published by T. Venkateswarlu for and on behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited at S – 7 & 8, Green Park, Main Market, New Delhi – 110016 and Printed by him at BFL Infotech Limited, C – 9, Sector – III, Noida – 201301. Editor – T. Venkattram Reddy, RNI Registration number 57290/94, Postal registration number : DL(S)-05/3238/2009-11, Price in Nepal - Nep. Rs. 20.00 per copy.

NEWSMAKERS

OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS?

BEATLES LEGEND PaulMcCartney has reportedlyplanned to wed fiancéeNancy Shevell at his Englishfarmhouse this weekend.

The 69-year-old musicianproposed to New Yorksocialite Shevell, 51, in May2011 after four years togeth-er, and they have beenrumoured to be planning toexchange vows atMcCartney’s Sussex, retreatthis weekend, reported Usmagazine.

“It will be a small, intimatewedding. It’s going to be veryelegant and classic,” a sourcesaid. The couple is also saidto be organising a secondparty in the Big Apple follow-ing the farmhouse celebra-tion. “They are having a bigparty in New York to cele-brate later on,” the sourceadded. The nuptials toShevell will be McCartney’sthird. His first wife Lindadied in 1998 and his secondmarriage to Heather Millsended in a bitter divorce in2008. — PTI

A LETTER penned duringthe revolt of 1857 by NaharSingh, king of the thenprincely state ofBallabgarh, is set to gounder the hammer soon.

The handwritten letter to LordEllenborough, the governor-general ofIndia from 1842-44, is to be sold at theBonhams “Photography and Travel:India and Beyond” auction in London,on October 4 and is expected to fetch anestimated £1,000 to 1,500. “The letter, itseems was written as a ruse to deceivethe British in the event of his capture...As he was fully committed to the causeof Indian Independence” says an officialstatement by the auction house. — PTI

NNAAHHAARR’’SS 11885577 LLEETTTTEERR MMAAYY FFEETTCCHH ££11,,000000

SCIENTISTS HAVE discovered fos-silised remains of a large predatoryfish with a fearsome mouth which theybelieve prowled North American water-ways some 375 million years ago.

The lobe-finned fish, now calledLaccognathus embryi, probably grew toabout five to six feet long and had awide head with small eyes and robustjaws lined with large piercing teeth.The beast was likely a bottom-dweller,waiting on the seafloor to lunge at preypassing by, the researchers said. “Iwouldn’t want to be wading or swim-ming in waters where this animallurked,” Edward Daeschler, of theAcademy of Natural Sciences inPhiladelphia, said. — PTI

ACTOR ABHISHEK Bachchan wasinjured near the eye while shooting ascene for his next film Bol Bachchan atCity Place here on Wednesday.

The actor received six stitches on theinjury which will take a few days to heal.

“Abhishek had an accident on a set inJaipur. He has just flown back... 6 stitch-es near eye... Is well .. Will take somedays to recover,” his father AmitabhBachchan tweeted.Abhishek was shoot-ing with a rickshaw and fell from it,according to sources. He also receivedmild injuries on a hand and leg. The 35-year-old actor was taken to a private hos-pital from where he left for Mumbai in aplane. — PTI

Abhishek injured whileshooting, gets 6 stitches

MMccCCAARRTTNNEEYY TTOO MMAARRRRYY FFIIAANNCCEEEE TTHHIISS WWEEEEKKEENNDD

337755mm--YYRR--OOLLDD FFIISSHH FFOOSSSSIILLDDIISSCCOOVVEERREEDD IINN AARRCCTTIICC

HEALTH CHECK

MMuummbbaaii:: Much-talkedabout film Mausam, whichwas scheduled for a Fridayrelease, will now hit thescreens across the globeSeptember 23.

The decision has beentaken to avoid fragmentedrelease, said ShahidKapoor, who plays the leadrole in the film.

“We are here to announcethe changed release date ofour film from September 16to September 23. The rea-son for this is that we hadapplied for two permisions— a NOC (no objection cer-tificate) from the IAF(Indian Air Force) and cer-tification from the censorboard. We got U-certificatefrom the censor board, butIAF gave us a conditionalcertificate because theywanted a 30-second scenefrom a particular sequenceto be corrected,” Shahidtold reporters hereWednesday.

“They wanted a tiny little

detail changed. Because thescene required computergraphics, even a smallchange requires a lot oftime. That is why it took usso many days to make the

correction. We got the NOClast (Tuesday) night,”added the actor. Thescreenings of the film at theongoing TorontoInternational Film Festivalwere also cancelled due tothe censor delay, the organ-isers said.

“We are extremely disap-pointed that the studio hasinformed us that the filmwill not have received thenecessary regulatoryapprovals in India, forcingus to cancel all screeningsof Mausam,” CameronBailey, co-director of thefestival, said in a state-ment.

Mausam, a romantic film,is Shahid’s father PankajKapoor’s directorial debutand in the film Shahidplays a fighter pilot and isseen “flying” a fighter.

The romantic saga willsee Shahid falling in lovewith a Kashmiri girl,played by Sonam Kapoor.

— IANS

Mausam to be onscreen on Sept. 23

Models walk the ramp during Mercedes-Benz Spring 2012 Fashion Week in New York on Tuesday. — AFP,AP

Chris “The Dutchess” Walton shows off her fingernails,measuring 6.02 metres in length, at the New YorkPublic Library on Wednesday. Walton, who has beengrowing her nails for 18 years, will enter the GuinnessBook of World Records. — AFP

Actress Priyanka Chopra during the Ganesh Chaturthi fes-tival in Mumbai on Tuesday night. — AFP

Model Jessica Stam (from left), actress Jennifer Garner with a fan and Marissa O’Donnell during Toronto Internat-ional Film festival on Tuesday. — AP

AAAASSHHIIMMAA DDOOGGRRAA

LONDON

A condition of severeweakness called ChronicFatigue Syndrome (CFS),prevalent in the UK Asiancommunity, affects atleast2.6 per cent of the coun-try’s population andincurs heavy financialburden on UK economyand patient families. Newresearch showcased at the

British Science Festivalhas quantified these mone-tary losses to be over 102million sterling, muchmore than the amountspent on treatment andresearch.

Children suffering formCFS are severely affected,making them unfit for reg-ular schooling and in needof full-time care.According to the study,their families experience a

monthly loss of around£247 in income and spend£206 more than usual.

“In almost all the fami-lies we looked at [either ofthe parents] have had toreduce or give up workand at the same time theywere increasing expendi-ture on their children buy-ing beds, special diets,entertainment and otherchild care,” said Dr EstherCrawley of University of

Bristol, paediatrician andlead author of the study.

Early detection andtreatment is the best wayto neutralise personal andeconomic problemsbrought on by CFS. “Wefound that on average fam-ilies suffer for 3 years andthen seek medical servicesonly 18 months after quit-ting their jobs,” she said.Given the nature of thesymptoms, diagnoses is

not easy; in the UK only 40per cent of the GPs areconfident about diagnos-ing it in its early stages.

Scientists insists on bet-ter training for GPs torecognise CFS as a severemedical condition as theyare the first entry point tospecialised treatment.

The data came form fam-ilies of patients that areactively involved intreatthe ment.

Weakness disease brings financial losses WWaasshhiinnggttoonn:: A new studyhas found that curcumin,the main component inturmeric, kicks off can-cer-killing mechanism inhuman saliva.Researchers at theUniversity of California,led by Marilene Wang,found that curcumin sup-presses a cell signallingpathway that drives thegrowth of head and neckcancer. The inhibition ofthe cell signalling path-way also correlated withreduced expression of anumber of pro- inflamma-

tory cytokines, or sig-nalling molecules, in thesaliva that promote can-cer growth, said DrWang. “This study showsthat curcumin can workin the mouths of patientswith head and neckmalignancies and reduceactivities that promotecancer growth And it notonly affected the cancerby inhibiting a criticalcell signalling pathway,it also affected the salivaitself by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines,”she said. — PTI

‘TURMERIC COMPONENT CURBS CANCER’

! Film’s premiere in Toronto cancelled

X

BBrriieeffss

TIGER CENSUS TO BEGIN IN NAXAL AREARRaaiippuurr:: In a significant move,Chhattisgarh forest depart-ment has initiated steps toconduct tiger census in coreareas of tiger reserves, con-sidered Naxal strongholds, inthe state by adopting cameratrap method, official sourcessaid here on Tuesday.

The core areas of tigerreserves have, hitherto, beenleft out of census of big catsfollowing Naxal threats. Theremote areas of tigerreserves in Chhattisgarh arevirtually under the control ofthe Left-wing insurgents.

We have goodrelations withIndia. We canjointly fightterrorism.

–––– GGeenn.. AAbbdduull MMuubbeeeennBangla Army Chief

‘UNSC REFORM WILLENHANCE CREDIBILITY’UUnniitteedd NNaattiioonnss:: Arguing forurgent reform of the UNSecurity Council to reflect“contemporary realities”India has said a commonrefrain among countries isthat the world can no longerbe subjected to the merciesof a “woefully inadequatesystem” that was establishedmore than half-a-centuryago.

India’s ambassador to theUN Hardeep Singh Puri toldthe 15-member UN body thatits expansion and reform is“essential”.

CChhaannddiiggaarrhh,, NNoovv.. 2299:: Thebody of missing sub-divi-sional magistrate ofAnandpur Sahab was foundin the Bhakra canal nearKotli power house Tuesday,prompting OppositionCongress to demand a CBIprobe into his mysteriousdeath.

Karanveer Singh Mannhad gone missing undermysterious circumstancesafter he parked his officialvehicle near Bhakra Canalon Monday evening.

The police said somepassersby informed aboutthe body, and when it wasfished out from the canalnear Kotli power house, 25km from the divisionalheadquarters of Ropar, itwas identified as that of theSDM.

They said Mann, a seniorPunjab Civil Service (PCS)officer who had joined thepost of SDM at AnandpurSahab recently, might havecommitted suicide by jump-ing into the Bhakra Canal.

— PTI

MISSING SDM’SBODY FOUND INBHAKRA CANAL

AAGGEE CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTNEW DELHI, NOV. 29

The BSF will soon deploymore force and a fresh fleetof copters in the anti-Naxaloperations to aid securityforces. Besides deployingtwo new battalions (2000personnel) in Chhattisgarhand Orissa, six new MI-17copters and a “Dhruv”Advanced Light Helicopterwill be deployed in theNaxal-affected areas andwill be operated by the BSFair-wing to assist securitypersonnel in deployment,reinforcements and casual-ty evacuation.

The total strength of cen-tral forces involved in theanti-Maoist operations willgo up to about 93,000 per-sonnel with the inductionof the new battalions.

FORCES, FRESHFLEET OF COPTERSFOR NAXAL OPS

SPOTLIGHT

NATIONDIPLOMATIC VISIT

PAGE 5

Shatrughan files complaintwith TV association

over Bhojpuri KBC dues

No paper preparedto bring changesin CrPC, says Omar

WEDNESDAY 30 | NOVEMBER 2011NEW DELHI

National Defence Academy cadets celebrate after their passing-out parade in Pune on Tuesday. — PTIREADY FOR

BIG ROLE

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil meets students during her officialvisit to Santiniketan as an observer of Visvabharati University, inWest Bengal’s Birbhum district, on Tuesday. — PTI

PREZ MEETSSTUDENTS

OOtthheerr ssttoorriieess

BORDER ISSUE

AAKKSSHHAAYYAA KKUUMMAARR SSAAHHOOOOBHUBANESWAR, NOV. 29

The Orissa government’s frantic effortto resume construction work of the 12-million-tonne Posco-India steel plantnear Paradip might not bear any imme-diate fruit as the Communist Party ofIndia has become hostile after therecent arrest of Abhaya Sahoo, chair-man of Posco Pratirodh SangramSamiti (PPSS).

The party has threatened to intensifyits anti-Posco agitation with “more vig-orously” and “resoluteness” if thePPSS leader was not released immedi-ately. “The Orissa should governmentrelease Abhaya Sahoo immediately andunconditionally,” CPI national generalsecretary A.B. Bardhan said.

CCPPII DDEEMMAANNDDSS RREELLEEAASSEE OOFF AANNTTII--PPOOSSCCOO AACCTTIIVVIISSTT

BBeeiijjiinngg,, NNoovv.. 2299:: China must start tak-ing “pushy” India seriously as it hasstrategically placed itself in the US-China face-off to gain maximum bene-fits, a leading official newspaper heresaid on Tuesday.

Days after the postponement of the15th round of Sino-India border talks,Global Times, an influential tabloid ofruling Communist Party of China, saidthe talks need to be kept alive to averta breakdown in ties. In the first suchcomment from the Chinese media onthe postponement of the border talks,the paper said that of late Indiaappears to be interested in having aface-off with China and Beijing shouldstart taking it seriously. The Chinesemedia has so far avoided publishingany such reports. — PTI

AAGGEE CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTNEW DELHI, NOV. 29

A few days after New Delhi called offthe scheduled boundary talks withBeijing which were to be held here,external affairs minister S.M.Krishna has indicated that thedefence secretary-level talks betweenthe two countries will take place asscheduled.

The talks are slated to be held inNew Delhi on December 8 and 9.Asked if these talks will be held asscheduled by reporters on Tuesday,Mr Krishna said, “I think, we expectwhatever is in the pipeline will con-tinue. He was responding to querieson the sidelines of the PassportOfficers’ Conference here. The bound-ary talks were called off after Beijingdemanded that New Delhi prevent theDalai Lama from speaking at a vale-dictory function.

Sino-India defence talksnext month: Krishna

‘‘CCHHIINNAA SSHHOOUULLDD TTAAKKEEPPUUSSHHYY IINNDDIIAA SSEERRIIOOUUSSLLYY’’

AATTEEEEQQ SSHHAAIIKKHHPUNE, NOV. 29

Bangladesh Army Chief GeneralMohammed Abdul Mubeen on Tuesdayruled out that the Chinese developingport infrastructure for Bangladesh hadany strategic interest.

On Tuesday, Gen. Mubeen becamethe first Bangladesh Chief of Armystaff to review a passing out parade inIndia. Speaking at the occasion of thepassing out parade of the 121st courseof the National Defence Academy(NDA), Khadakwasla, Pune, he saidthat India and Bangladesh had a lot incommon — common inspiration andcommon problems including terrorism.He went on to add that he has come toIndia as a messenger of peace.

NNOO SSTTRRAATTEEGGIICC IINNTTEERREESSTTWWIITTHH CCHHIINNAA:: BBAANNGGLLAA

KK..AA.. DDOODDHHIIYYAAMUMBAI, NOV. 29

The use of cash in the retail sector maysoon be a thing of the past if theReserve Bank of India (RBI) accepts aIIT-B proposal that cuts bank fees fordebit card payments by bringing downmerchant discount rates or card com-missions.

A technical report “CashlessPayment System in India: A Roadmap”has been submitted to the RBI andtheir response is still awaited.

According to Professor Ashish Dasand Rakhi Agarwal, who undertookthe research and prepared the report,use of debit cards can be popularisedthroughout India by introducing thesame in the retail payment system.

IIIITT MMOODDEELL CCAANN CCUUTT BBAANNKKFFEEEESS OONN DDEEBBIITT CCAARRDD

AAGGEE CCOORRRREESSPPOONNDDEENNTTNEW DELHI, NOV. 29

It took more than a decadefor Abheena Aher, a trans-gender, to finally beallowed to be in her skin.While her mother had start-ed cursing the forefathersafter Abheena disclosedher identity to her, the fearof getting deprived of stud-ies never allowed her innerself to come out in open forthe “self declaration”.

At 35, Abheena is at ease— she dresses up like afemale, looks good in akajal and lipstick and canvery well manage walkingwith high heels. Abheenawas just 13 when sherealised that she was differ-ent. In her words, she knewthat she was the “chosenone” and it was at thatyoung age that she decidedthat she could not be aloser. “I knew that I wouldmake my life meaningful,”she said with confidence.

The change, however, didnot come handy. She strug-gled hard till the age of 28.

“After all I had to put an actof being a man. My motherand friends would tell meevery now and then to be aman. But it was really diffi-cult. I was eveteased andwent through a lot,” shesaid. After completing herstudies in college, Abheenadecided it was a time for thechangeover-she grew herhair and her wardrobe hadchanged-filled with allwomen clothes.

Things looked differenton Tuesday as the margin-alised groups — men hav-

ing sex with men (MSM),transgenders and hijracommunity — came out inopen in their support to thePehchan Programme,which is implemented byIndia HIV/AIDS alliance.The programme is buildingcapacity for 200 communi-ty-based organisations toprovide HIV preventionprogramming for this mag-inalised group of society.James Robertson, IndiaHIV/AIDS alliance countrydirector, said it was an“opportunity to unite andrenew the commitment ofstopping new HIV infec-tions”. “The programmehelps mitigate the gaps inthe National programme bytheir interventions.Thanks to this that lot ofownership for communityis there now,” saidAbheena, who works as aprogramme manager for aglobal fund project forMSM, transgender andHijra community.

Things may have changedfor Abheena but the suffer-ing still persists.

HIV plan for 200organisations

RRAAJJIIBB CCHHOOWWDDHHUURRIIKOLKATA, NOV. 29

In a major breakthroughinto Kishenji’s encounterprobe, the criminal inves-tigation department (CID)arrested two villagersfrom Jamboni in WestMidnapore on Tuesday forhelping injured femaleMaoist commanderSuchitra Mahato escapeduring the fierce gun bat-tle on November 24. One ofthe those arrested is anaged quack BhudebMahato of Benashuli.

Another is TarachandTudu alias Pintu of UttarSarakata village. Directorgeneral of police (CID)V.V. Thambi confirmedtheir arrest.

While fighting againstthe joint security forcesalong with Kishenji in thejungle, Suchitra hadreceived bullet injuriesbut she managed to sneakout of Burishole forest.The joint forces then start-ed search operations in theneighbouring villages for

Suchitra. While question-ing Pintu’s family mem-bers on November 26morning, the police cameto know that an injuredwoman had come to meethim on November 24evening.

The family members toldthe police that when theencounter began, all ofthem went inside thehouse except Pintu, 19. Hismother Lalita Tuduinformed that he wasstanding besides the cow-

shed. But Pintu, the son ofa National VolunteerForce Cadet of the statepolice, denied it.

Getting suspicious, thejoint forces detained himwith his brother Chamtafor questioning. Afterintense grilling, Pintufinally disclosed thatSuchitra, wearing a sari,had come limping to himwith injuries. Withoutwasting time, he took outhis cycle and rode her toMahato’s house for treat-ment, according tosources.

2 held for helping Naxal escape

GGuurrggaaoonn,, NNoovv.. 2299::Senior IAS officerPraveen Kumar, whowas in the news forslapping a clerk whenhe was allegedly foundcollecting bribe andalso for hitting himselfto calm protesters,found himself at thewrong end of the law.

The Haryana UrbanD i s t r i c tA u t h o r i t y ( H U D A )administrator was chal-laned by Gurgaon traf-fic police today for rid-ing on a motorcyclewithout helmet after hisphoto which capturedthis act was posted byan unidentified personon the Facebook ofGurgaon traffic policeon Monday.

Mr Kumar was seenwithout a helmet whiledriving a motorcycle ofan employee of hisoffice during a round ofthe areas near Sector 45where a demolitionexercise was underway.

When somebodyraised objections to thetwo-wheeler being dri-ven sans helmet, theIAS officer himself apol-ogised for violating therule.

A citizen uploadedthis photo on the face-book of Gurgaon trafficpolice which issued achallan to him, deputycommissioner ofpolice(traffic) MsBharti Arora said. MrKumar told PTI thatsince he had violatedthe traffic rule he wouldsoon deposit the penaltyamount with the policedepartment.

Justifying his actionof slapping the clerklast week, Kumarreportedly said thatpunishment is neces-sary at times since hefound out that the per-son was allegedly col-lecting bribes everydayand distributing it toother officers.

The IAS officer hadearlier resorted to beat-ing himself with hisshoe to calm protestersduring an anti-encroachment drive, adramatic action whichhit headlines. MsKumar was earlierFaridabad’s deputycommissioner.

IAS FINED FOR RIDING SANS HELMET

PPRRAATTIIKK SSAALLUUNNKKEEMUMBAI, NOV. 29

In a shift from the usual“Sena-style” practice, theShiv Sena on Tuesdayorganised a “discussionsession” on the Jaitapurnuclear power plant projectthat saw eminent scientists,experts and Jaitapur vil-lagers debating on a singledais.

Significantly, it was seenthat the villagers are stillangry, with most of thespeakers supporting the

nuclear project being heck-led and booed by the crowdat the packed Damodar hallin Dadar.

The experts present listedseveral scientific reasonsand the need for nuclearenergy in the country, butfailed to pacify the crowd.

Amidst the disturbance,Dr Srikumar Banerjee,chairman of the AtomicEnergy Commission, said,“India is an energy hungrycountry and we will have toexploit all resources. Whenit comes to radiation emit-

ted by the nuclear plant, itis a fact that it will notaffect human beings andother living organisms inthe vicinity.”

The discussion waschaired by retired ChiefJustice of the Delhi highcourt A.P. Shah, whorepeatedly requested theaudience to “respect” thespeakers. However, it pret-ty much fell on deaf ears,with the crowd interrupt-ing speakers with sloganslike “shame” and “you aretelling lies”.

Villagers boo speakers atSena’s Jaitapur debate

AAAASSHHIIMMAA DDOOGGRRAALONDON, NOV. 29

The WHO announced earli-er November that its expen-sive campaign against poliowas finally showing signsof complete eradication andIndia especially had madestartling progress. Only onecase of polio was recordedin India in 2011 and even itssewage was given an “all

clear”.This is great news but

new scientific discussionsdissuade us from gettingour hopes up. Re-immer-gence of polio is common; astraight line down to eradi-cation might be fantasy.China remained polio freein 2010, but recorded 18cases in 2011. Nigeria wentfrom 11 cases to 44 cases.

India itself topped the

polio charts very recently,having almost half of theworld’s polio cases in 2009.The number went down to40 in 2010 and this year onlyone case is recorded.

The threats of re-immer-gence comes form thenature of the virus — itsinfection is mostly inappar-ent, and also from acrossthe borders. Differentstrains of the polio virus

lurk in Pakistan andAfghanistan, two of the lastfew countries to harbourthe spread of polio. The re-immergence in China hasbeen shown to have originsin Pakistan.

Continuation of thenational vaccination pro-gramme, combined withactively vaccinating chil-dren at borders can helpkeeping the virus away.

But scientists worryabout the virus load wellwithin the boundaries ofnations. This week’sJournal of GeneralVirology is due to publish areview by Dr Philip Minorfrom the National Institutefor Biological Standardsand Control, a centre of theHealth Protection Agency.In the review, he puts a casefor more investigation to

find out if the virus, and notjust the disease has van-ished. “Improvement ofvaccination coverage isvery desirable but, in thecurrent situation, therewould inevitably be out-breaks unless the virus waseradicated,” he writes inthe review. He says, it isharder to get rid of poliothan it was to stamp outsmall pox.

1 polio case raises hope of complete eradication

KISHENJI ENCOUNTER

WORLD AIDS DAY TOMORROW

The programme isbuilding capacityfor 200 communi-ty-based organisations to provide HIVpreventionprogramming

X

FF or more than 40years actor MartinSheen has inhabited

complex characters fromthe troubled Capt. Willardin the Vietnam filmApocalypse Now to USPresident Josiah Bartleton the hit TV drama TheWest Wing. But for one ofhis latest projects, Sheen,71, did not have to reachfar. The devout Catholicnarrated the audio book ofBeyond Religion: Ethicsfor a Whole World, a newbook by the Dalai Lama.

Sheen, a longtime socialactivist, spoke to Reutersabout how the book’s mes-sage of compassion anduniversal ethics resonateswith his own beliefs.

QQ:: HHooww ddiidd yyoouu ggeett iinnttootthhiiss pprroojjeecctt??AA:: I have a very goodagent. My agent is aware

that I am asocial activistand this is the kind of pro-ject I’d support becauseI’m a big supporter of theDalai Lama and particu-larly his non-violentstance on political andsocial justice issues. So itwas a no-brainier. To behis voice for his book wasa very special opportunity.

QQ:: AAss aa ddeevvoouutt CCaatthhoolliicc,,hhooww ddiidd yyoouu ffeeeell aabboouutt nnaarr--rraattiinngg aa bbooookk tthhaatt ccaallllss ffoorrtthhiinnkkiinngg aabboouutt ssppiirriittuuaalliittyyaanndd eetthhiiccss iinn aawwaayy tthhaatt iiss““bbeeyyoonndd rreelliiggiioonn”” aallttoo--ggeetthheerr??AA:: You can’t separate anyhonest effort that is truth-ful. As my wife is alwaystelling me, the truth is uni-versal and omnipresent.You can’t question whereit comes from. The DalaiLama lives a very honestand truthful life. He’s areflection of the Gospels,whether he would call itsuch or not. What he isstriving to do with thisbook is to find a commonground in the secularworld because his wholepoint is that the vastmajority of the world is notreligious or religiouslyinclined.

QQ:: AArreenn’’tt tthheerree aallrreeaaddyy aalloott ooff eetthhiiccaall,, nnoonn--rreelliiggiioouussppeeooppllee??AA:: Sure and I think theDalai Lama’s book willencourage them and sus-tain them. It doesn’t saydrop your religion; youcan’t go this path andremain a Catholic or aProtestant or a Muslim ora Jew. On the contrary, it’sabout your humanity.That’s where we’re allunited. I think what he istrying to do is enlarge thecircle. He’s trying toensure people that they

don’t have to give up any-thing that they believe inorder to enlarge their pos-sibilities.

QQ:: HHooww ddiidd yyoouu ffeeeell aafftteerrwwrraappppiinngg tthhee nnaarrrraattiioonn ooffBBeeyyoonndd RReelliiggiioonn,, aatt aaggee 7711,,ccoommppaarreedd ttoo hhooww yyoouu ffeelltt,,ssaayy,, aafftteerr wwrraappppiinnggAAppooccaallyyppssee NNooww,, wwhheennyyoouu wweerree iinn yyoouurr 3300ss??AA:: I was fragile then, bothemotionally and physical-ly. I’d gotten very ill dur-ing the latter part of thefilming. So I had to recov-er, not just physically, but

psychologically, emotion-ally and spiritually. Thatreally began my transfor-mation into the rest of mylife and basically led meback to Catholicism. I did-n’t have any difficulty atall embracing the DalaiLama’s philosophy. I did-n’t have to go to a differentpart of myself, like a job,like I was playing some-body else. It took me threedays to record it here inLos Angeles, and each daythat I went back I wasmore nourished by what Iwas learning.

QQ:: YYoouu’’vvee bbeeeenn iinnvvoollvveeddwwiitthh mmaannyy ssoocciiaall jjuussttiicceeaaccttiivviisstt ccaammppaaiiggnnss.. WWhhaattiiss yyoouurr ttaakkee oonn tthhee OOccccuuppyyWWaallll SSttrreeeett mmoovveemmeenntt??AA:: I think it’s an inevitableexpression of the despairand equal measure of hopethat people in the 99 per-cent bracket have, andthank God they’re express-ing it with their voice andencampments instead ofwith guns and Molotovcocktails. It’s outrageouswhat’s happening in ourcountry.

And the rich don’t get it,they don’t understand.You can’t just keep trip-ping over Lazarus everyday that you leave yourhouse. He’s rotting in frontof your house, you’ve gotto be aware of it and you’vegot to become involved. It’sa reflection of your ownhumanity or lack of it.

QQ:: HHooww hhaass PPrreessiiddeennttOObbaammaa ppeerrffoorrmmeedd aannddwwhhaatt’’ss yyoouurr oouuttllooookk oonn tthhee22001122 pprreessiiddeennttiiaall eelleeccttiioonn??AA:: I think under the cir-cumstances, with what heinherited, two wars, aneconomy in the toilet, hehas done quite brilliant.I’m very confident he willbe re-elected and it’s goingto be a big surprise to a lotof people about how far infront he’s going to be.

The people get it: theyknow he’s on our side. He’sa good and decent man;he’s middle-class.

— Reuters

NNo matter whathappens at theEuropean sum-mit meeting onthe euro in

Brussels that begins onThursday, Britain is sureto lose.

There is looming recogni-tion at 10 Downing Streetthat if the euro falls,Britain will sink alongwith everyone else. But ifEurope manages to pullitself together by forgingcloser unity among the 17countries that use theeuro, then Britain facesbeing ever more margin-alised in decisions on thecontinent.

Many Europeans havebeen irritated by BritishConservatives’ quiet satis-faction throughout the cri-sis with the decision not tojoin the euro (the UnitedKingdom ostentatiouslykept its currency, thepound), particularly whenjuxtaposed with the panic

over Britain’s inability tohave any significantimpact on Europe’s biggestcrisis since the end of thecold war.

“Germany is the unques-tioned leader of Europe,”said Charles Grant, direc-tor of the Centre forEuropean Reform. “Franceis definitely subordinate toGermany, and Britain hasless influence than at anytime I can recall.”

Of particular concernhere is the health ofBritain’s financial indus-try, a vital economicengine at a time of slowinggrowth and deep cuts ingovernment spending,which is seen to be vulner-able to new European regu-lations that could hurtBritish competitiveness inglobal markets.

Despite all that is atstake, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron’s coalitiongovernment looks doomedto be cast in the role ofimpotent bystander, tornbetween anti-Europeforces and European lead-ers’ moves toward greaterfiscal integration on theContinent — with or with-out Britain.

On Wednesday, MrCameron told a fractiousParliament that his maingoal in Brussels was to“seek safeguards forBritain” and “protect ourown national interest” byresisting measures like aproposed financial transac-tion tax. But such Britain-centric rhetoric hasannoyed the brokers ofEurope’s future,Chancellor Angela Merkelof Germany and PresidentNicolas Sarkozy of France,who are trying to find away to save the euro whileimposing legally bindingfiscal discipline on theContinent’s flounderingsouthern economies.

They have not been shyabout expressing theirfrustration. Just six weeksago, after Mr Camerontried to inject himself intotalks about the euro, MrSarkozy said bluntly, “Youhave lost a good opportuni-ty to shut up.” He lateradded: “We are sick of youcriticising us and telling uswhat to do. You say youhate the euro and now you

want to interfere in ourmeetings.”

Steven Fielding, directorof the Centre for BritishPolitics at the Universityof Nottingham, said:“Cameron might sound offto look good to his back-benchers, but in Europe,he hasn’t got much to nego-tiate with. It’s been madeclear that France andGermany can do whateverthe hell they like andBritain can say yes or no,but it doesn’t matter, sincethey’ll do it anyway.”

The paradox of this isthat plans for tighter inte-gration among the 17 euro-zone countries are at thesame time destined to cre-ate greater divisions with-in Europe — divisionsbetween countries that usethe euro and those that donot, and divisions withinthe eurozone itself, depend-ing on the health andimportance of the variouseconomies. A two-, three-,four- and even five-tierEurope could possiblyemerge.

“The markets havedefined who are the goodguys and who are the badguys, and their interest

rates are in many ways themanifestation of this,” saidAlexander Stubb,Finland’s minister forEuropean affairs. “Whenwe look at future EU rules,it is the triple-A countriesthat are running theshow.”

The political price ofBritain’s self-proclaimedexceptionalism was madeclear with a vengeance toMr Cameron onWednesday, when he waspounded from all sides in araucous session in theHouse of Commons.Fractious Europe-hatingConservative back-

benchers called for him tostand firm on Europe, to“show bulldog spirit,” in a“resolute and uncompro-mising defence of Britishnational interests,” as onelegislator, AndrewRosindell, put it.

Trying to placate them,the prime minister pledgednot to sign anything thatdid not contain “Britishsafeguards.”

Meanwhile, should theEuropeans in the eurozone“go ahead with a separatetreaty” that leaves out thenoneuro countries, MrCameron explained, “thenclearly that is not a treatythat Britain would be sign-ing or would be amend-ing.” However, he said, hewould still retain “someleverage” over the process.

“The more the eurozonecountries ask for, the morewe will ask for in return,”he said. But France andGermany have alreadymade it abundantly clearthat they will go aheadwith their plans for theeurozone without regard tothe needs or interests ofBritain.

The explosive debate inBritain, while never wel-

come, comes at an unusual-ly inopportune time for MrCameron. The so-calledspecial relationship withthe United States is notlooking all that specialright now, and enormouscuts in defence spendingare making it hard for theBritish military to main-tain its status as America’sright hand.

The austerity budget isfraying at the edges, amidstrikes and protests overlayoffs and rising fees.Growth has been slowing,despite Mr Cameron’sinsistence that businesseswould pick up the pacewhen it became clear thatthe government’s financeswere sound. And nowBritain looks to be in anunusually poor position todefend its interests inEurope.

Members of the LabourOpposition lost no timeexploiting what they sawas Mr Cameron’s weaknesson the issue.

“Six weeks ago, he waspromising his back-benchers a handbaggingfor Europe, and now he’sjust reduced to hand-wringing,” the Labour

leader Ed Miliband toldParliament, as his partymembers whooped theirapproval. “The problem forBritain is that at that mostimportant European sum-mit for a generation, thatmatters hugely for busi-nesses up and down thecountry, the PrimeMinister is simply left onthe sidelines.”

Even more worryinglyfor the government, sever-al prominentConservatives, includingthe Cabinet minister incharge of NorthernIreland, Mr OwenPaterson, broke ranks withthe party line and said flat-ly that Mr Cameron shouldmake good on what theycalled his promise to hold anational referendum onany proposed Europeantreaty changes. With muchof Britain in the anti-Europe camp, the no sidewould surely prevail insuch a vote.

Ms Merkel has said thatshe would like any treatychanges to be approved bythe entire EuropeanUnion, so in theory Britaincould exercise a veto. ButGermany and France havealso said they will makechanges in the way theeurozone alone operates, ifthat is the only way todefend the common cur-rency.

Most dangerous to MrCameron was the unwel-come intervention of themayor of London, BorisJohnson, a potential wild-card rival for theConservative leadership.Mr Johnson, who is per-haps Britain’s most popu-lar politician, enjoysinjecting himself into ques-tions of foreign policywhen the spirit moves him.

If Britain was asked tosign a treaty creating “avery dominant economicgovernment” acrossEurope, he told BBC radio,then Mr Cameron shouldveto it. “And if we feltunable to veto it, I certain-ly think that it should beput to a referendum,” hesaid. He added that in res-cuing the euro, there was adanger of “saving the can-cer, not the patient.”

By arrangement with the New York Times

c m y k c m y k

PAGE 14

Justin Bieber turns photographer for his

girlfriend Selena Gomez

Charlize Theron relied on ‘a lot of alcohol’ to getthrough scenes in new film NEWS+

The markets havedefined who arethe good guysand who are bad,and their interestrates are in manyways manifesta-tion of this

–––– AAlleexxaannddeerr SSttuubbbbFinland minister

! There islooming recog-

nition at 10Downing Streetthat if the euro

falls, Britain willsink along witheveryone else.But if Europe

manages to pullitself together,then it faces

being evermore margin-alised in deci-

sions on thecontinent.

! Martin Sheenspeaks about

how book’smessage of compassion

and universalethics res-

onates with hisown beliefs

British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) and Opposition leader Ed Miliband

focus

Sarah Lyall andStephen Castle

meanwhileBernard Vaughan

FRIDAY 9 | DECEMBER 2011NEW DELHI

WWaasshhiinnggttoonn:: Virtualworlds can provide youthexclusive environmentsthat can help them learnand negotiate skills whichare used in real world set-tings, like organisationaland cognitive skills, a newstudy has revealed.

Academics on the Inter-Life project developed 3D“Virtual Worlds” (privateislands) to act as informalcommunities that allowyoung people to interact inshared activities usingavatars. The avatars arethree-dimensional charac-ters controlled by the par-ticipants.

Virtual Worlds offer thepossibility of realistic,interactive environmentsthat can go beyond the for-mal curriculum.

The project involvedyoung people undertakingcreative activities like filmmaking and photography,and encouraged them toundertake project activi-ties with the virtual envi-ronments.

The students had to learnto cope with many scenar-ios in their island, as wellas participate in the onlinecommunities over severalmonths. Throughout theproject, the researchersencouraged new forms ofcommunication, includingthose used in online gam-ing. — ANI

ooddddss

BAN ON FORWARDTRADING URGED

NNeeww DDeellhhii:: Communist mem-bers demanded in the LokSabha today a complete banon forward trading in thecountry. During the inconclu-sive debate on the ForwardContracts (Regulation)Amendment Bill, Mr V.P.Nayar and Mr K.K. Warriorsaid that forward trading mil-itated against the very grainof planned economy and sta-bilisation of prices. This wasdespite the minister of com-merce, Mr NityanandKanungo’s declaration thatthe stage when the country’seconomy was socialised mak-ing forward markets redun-dant was still far off.

Commending the bill for theacceptance of the House, MrKanungo struck an optimisticnote and said with theenhanced powers for govern-ment and the forward marketscommission, greater successcould be achieved in regulat-ing forward trading in thecountry. But his optimism wasnot shared by Mr N.R.M.Swamy and Mr A.C. Guha(both Congress). Mr H.C. Heda,another COngressman sug-gested that the bill be referredto a select committee so thatthe views of the parties affect-ed by the bill could be heardand it could be improved upon.

VIRTUAL AVATARSHELP DEVELOP REALWORLD SKILLS

MMeellbboouurrnnee:: Radiationsemitted from cell phonesmay protect against andeven reverse Alzheimer’sdisease, a new study hasrevealed. Researchers atthe University of SouthFlorida conducted a studythat exposed 96 mice, mostof whom had been geneti-cally altered to develop theAlzheimer’s disease asthey aged, to electromag-netic waves generated bymobile phones.

The mice were zappedwith 918MHz of frequencytwice a day for one houreach time over a period ofseven to nine months - theequivalent of severaldecades in humans, theHerald Sun reported.

— ANI

MOBILE PHONEMAY REVERSEALZHEIMER’S

Britain suffers as a bystander to crisis in Europe

The Dalai Lama at the Gyurmey Tantric Monastery atGurupura, Karnataka.

VVitamin C deficiencyis dangerously highamong elderly

Indians, according to a newstudy conducted in thenation’s rural and smalltowns. Seventy four percent of aged people in northIndia and 46 per cent insouth India were found tobe deficient of the essentialnutrient.

The study conducted byLondon School of Hygieneand Tropical Medicine andAIIMS, Delhi, found thatthe deficiency was commonin men, varied by seasonslike intake of fruit and veg-etable going down in themonsoons. In their find-ings, the authors point outpoor diet and exposure tosmoke in poor communi-ties as major causes.

Our bodies cannot pro-duce vitamin C on its own(just like most other vita-mins, except vitamin D.Therefore, it must beingested as part of the dietor supplements.

“Most studies show thathigh levels of vitamin Cdeficiency in older people.They are usually expectedto be the vulnerable group,”Prof. Astrid Fletcher of theLondon School of Hygieneand Tropical Medicine said,adding that the problem ofnot eating well in old age iscompounded in the low-income group, which oftenleads to problems likecataracts.

“In an earlier study, wehave shown a very strongassociation betweencataracts and the vitamin Cdeficiency in the Indianpopulation,” she said.

Apparently, the Indianway of life does not allowsufficient vitamin C tostack up. It is lost whenheated and processed. Thisway most Indian dishes areruled out as sources of vita-min c. “Loss of vitamin Coccurs with heating and,therefore, dietary vitaminC in our study and in otherstudies in India is probablyoverestimated by at least 25per cent since the mostcommon method of foodpreparation among theIndian population is cook-ing by heat, ” the paperpublished in Plos Onereads.

Primarily, vitamin C isrequired to help make col-lagen, strengthen immuni-ty and fight allergies. Butwhen the body is forced tospend most of its vitamin Cstock on fighting oxidativestress brought on bysmoke, not much is left forthe principle purposes,leaving the body malnutri-tioned.

Seventy per cent of adultsin India either smoke(mostly in the north) orchew (more common in thesouth) tobacco. Most fami-lies in the rural populationstill use cooking fires, thefumes of which causeoxidative stress, that isneutralised by furtherdepleting stock of vitaminC. These levels are marked-ly higher than those seen inlow-income groups in othercountries.

High deficiencyof Vitamin C inolder Indians

Sheen ‘nourished’ bynarrating Dalai’s book

asideAashima Dogra

AAccttoorr MMaarrttiinn SShheeeenn

50 YEARS AGO IN

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