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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 696, 6 DEC. - 12 DEC, 2016 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

Donald Trump adviser says ‘If China doesn’t like it, screw ‘em’ as diplomatic row escalates Donald Trump should not worry about insulting China and if Beijing objects to him speaking to Taiwan, “screw ‘em”, an economic adviser to the US president-elect has said. Stephen Moore, chief economist of The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, said Mr Trump was right to risk China’s displeasure by speaking on the phone with the president of Taiwan, which the Chinese regard as a breakaway province.

He said: “Too many namby-pamby people in the foreign policy shop are saying ‘Oh my gosh we can’t do this, we might insult the Chinese.’ I don’t care if we insult the Chinese. “Taiwan is our ally. That is a country that we have backed because they believe in freedom. We ought to back our ally, and if China doesn’t like it, screw ‘em.”

Mr Moore added: “We see what’s happening in China the way they’re

Arvind Kejriwal, Bains brothers’ 1st AAP-LIP rally on Dec 11 AAM AADMI Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal and Bains brothers of Lok Insaf Party (LIP) would be addressing a Beimaan Bhagao rally in Ludhiana on December 11. The name of this rally, according to MLA Simarjit Singh Bains, has been decided to tell people to throw out ‘beimaan Badals and Captain’ this time. However, with a section of AAP volunteers refusing to accept ‘outsider’ Bains brothers, the rally is going be a litmus test for both AAP and LIP. The entire AAP top brass, including Kejriwal, HS Phoolka, Sanjay Singh, Gurpreet Waraich Ghuggi and Bhagwant Mann, is expected to attend the rally, which would be held at Dana Mandi on Gill Road in Bains’s Atam Nagar constituency. It will be the first rally post the AAP-LIP alliance.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Simarjit Singh Bains claimed that “more than one lakh people

sabre rattling out there in the East, it’s about time we do what Reagan did, we stand up to these bullies.” His comments came after Mr Trump stoked a diplomatic row by accusing Beijing of currency manipulation and flexing its muscles in the South China Sea. He also became the first US president or president-elect since 1979 to speak by phone with a leader of Taiwan, talking with President Tsai Ing-wen. The US does not recognise Taiwan as a sovereign nation. The White House said Mr Trump’s Taiwan phone call could “undermine” US relations with China.

Josh Earnest, President Barack Obama’s spokesman, said efforts had been made to reassure Chinese officials.

It came as Mr Trump, who once claimed climate change was a hoax invented by the Chinese, appeared to reverse course dramatically on that issue as he met with Continued on Page 4 Al Gore, the

Punjab election office seeks weekly progress report from police on law and order The Punjab state election commission has asked the police to submit weekly progress report with regard to implementation of action plan on

Earlier, the state election office had asked Punjab police to nab all the proclaimed offenders (POs), gangsters and bailjumpers as early as possible in

the law and order situation in the poll-bound state.

Besides, directions have also been issued to other departments including excise and narcotics control bureau to submit their action-taken report on plan prepared for preventing misuse of drugs and liquor.

view of the assembly elections due early next year.

In an action plan submitted to it, the state police had said they were taking several steps including to review of gangsters, POs at police stations, collecting and generating intelligence to arrest Continued on Page 4

H.S. Phoolka and Simranjit Singh Bains in Ludhiana will attend the rally”.

Asked about the AAP volunteers, who have rejected the alliance, Bains said, “Punjabis all over have overwhelmingly welcomed and celebrated this alliance. This rally is going to be a great success and Kejriwal ji would also see how enthusiastically crowds will participate. In fact, it is only because of pressure from my volunteers that this alliance materialised.”

He further stated that he has put just one condition to Kejriwal. “I have asked for a huge financial package for Ludhiana and its industry if AAP wins in 2017 and he has agreed,” he informed. “We are expecting minimum one lakh people to attend it and that is why Dana Mandi has been chosen as the venue,” said Bains. “Beimaan Bhagao rally will be a message to the people Continued on Page 4 of Punjab

Issue - 696 (2)

6 Dec. - 12 Dec., 2016

Apple reveals autonomous Swiss restaurant still in world’s top 10 despite chef’s suicide vehicle ambitions

SAN FRANCISCO Apple has revealed it is investing heavily in autonomous vehicles in a letter asking the government to make it easier to develop selfdriving cars.

The company is “excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation,” Apple said in a November 22 letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offering Apple’s opinion about draft regulations for the sector.

“Apple looks forward to collaborating with NHTSA and other stakeholders so that the significant societal benefits of automated vehicles can be realized safely, responsibly, and expeditiously,” the company’s director of product integrity Steve Kenner wrote.

Apple issued the letter because it is “investing heavily in machine

learning and autonomous systems,” an Apple spokesman said in an email to AFP. “There are many potential applications for these technologies, including the future of transportation, so we want to work with NHTSA to help define the best practices for the industry.”

Rumors about Apple’s ambitions in the sector have circulated for years. The company has a separate organization called “Project Titan” that is developing automotive projects.

Although Apple has never officially confirmed the project, several of CEO Tim Cook’s comments have fueled speculation. After a $1 billion investment in a Chinese ridehailing service called Didi Chuxing, he spoke of “some strategic things that the companies can do together over

time.”

However, in early September, The New York Times reported that the group had narrowed its ambitions, laying off dozens of staff as part of the project’s “reboot.”

Instead of designing and producing a complete self-driving car, the group will now concentrate on developing underlying technologies for autonomous vehicles.

In its letter, Apple urges the NHTSA not to penalize new participants in the sector by restricting the testing of cars under development on public roads, for which established automakers generally have exemptions.

“To maximize the safety benefits of automated vehicles, encourage innovation, and promote fair competition, established manufacturers and new entrants should be treated equally,” it says.

Apple also encourages data sharing, particularly for accidents, saying that would enable the industry to “build a more comprehensive dataset than any one company could create alone.”

Most major auto manufacturers and many technology groups are currently developing autonomous vehicles, considered to be the future of the automobile, along with electric power, with first production models promised for around 2020.

PARIS The Swiss restaurant named the best in the world last year remained in the top 10 of the La Liste ranking Monday despite the tragic loss of its star chef who killed himself weeks after lifting the honour. The Restaurant de l’Hotel de Ville at Crissier near Lausanne came joint fourth in the latest French-based guides aggregator, which claims to be more “more scientific and reliable” than its British-based rival, the 50 Best Restaurants.

Benoit Violier, 44, shot himself in January seven weeks after receiving the award, but his widow Brigitte vowed that the restaurant would remain open. It has also since retained its maximum three-star Michelin Guide rating.

While French chef Guy Savoy topped this year’s rankings for his Paris restaurant in la Monnaie, the old French national mint, Japanese restaurants came out on top overall.

Two Tokyo institutions made the top 10: the minuscule Kyo Aji, and Kyubey, whose sushi is renowned for being both “extraordinary and reasonably priced”, La Liste said.

Two New York restaurants were up there alongside them, double Emmy-award-winning US television chef Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin fish restaurant - which came joint second - and JeanGeorges in Trump Tower.

Italy’s Osteria Francescana in Modena - which topped the 50 Best rankings - came joint third in La Liste, which praised not only its inventive use of the local Parmigiano Reggiano cheese but also “its deep commitment to fighting food waste”.

Restaurants in Italy also came out best overall for value for money, it said.

La Liste bills itself as a “guide of the guides”, pulling together reviews from almost 400 guidebooks, newspapers and online sites from TripAdvisor to the New York Times and the prestigious Michelin rankings.

An aggregator, its list of the 1,000 top-rated restaurants in the world is modelled on the world tennis rankings, the Shanghai Ranking for universities - and film reviews website Rotten Tomatoes.

This year it has added a smartphone application for the 10,000 eateries which its analysis found to be the best value for money.

The snake-catching tribe saving lives in India CHENGALPATTU A small scythe, a crowbar and a bundle of canvas bags are all that Kali and Vedan carry when they venture into the fields of southern India to catch some of the world’s deadliest snakes.

Their skills, passed from generation to generation of the Irula tribe they belong to, are crucial for the production of antivenom in a country with the world’s highest number of deaths from snake bites.

Since it began in the 1970s, the Irula snake-catchers’ cooperative on the outskirts of the southern city of Chennai has revolutionised the treatment of snake-bites in India, enabling it to produce enough anti-venom to supply hospitals across the country.

It also provides much-needed income for the Irula, one of the region’s most deprived groups, who used to hunt snakes and sell the skins but lost their livelihood overnight when India banned the practice in 1972.

Kali learned the intricate skill of tracking and then catching snakes from his father, whose

abilities were renowned in the small community.

Now the 36-year-old uses those same skills to catch snakes for the cooperative, which keeps them for a month under licence from the government and harvests their venom before returning them to nature.

This month he is tasked with catching the sawscaled and Russell’s vipers - two of India’s four deadliest snake varieties - under the quota system the cooperative uses to ensure it harvests the right quantity of venom.

Within 20 minutes of starting the search in rice fields less than a mile (kilometre) from a busy highway, he has spotted a tiny snake concealed under the bark of a fence post, its brown markings barely visible against the wood.

Minutes later his partner Vedan has expertly manoeuvred the slithering creature with his bare hands into a canvas bag, which he secures with a tight knot and slings into a plastic shopping basket.

“It’s an adult female sawscaled viper, one of the most venomous snakes,” says Kali, who like many

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“In winter they like to hide in tree bark, that’s how we found it.”

Kali will be paid 300 rupees ($4.5) for the viper under a tariff system

that rises to 2,500 rupees for a cobra.

Sometimes he gets lucky and finds a snake quickly; other times he will go for days without a catch, but the money is good, and unlike him, Kali’s children are able to attend school regularly.

The cooperative, which was set up by the American conservationist Rom Whitaker and is now controlled by the state authorities, will keep the snake for a month and harvest its venom four times.

Non-lethal amounts of venom from four snake species are injected into horses, which then produce antigens that are used to make antivenom for all bites.

That is the only reliable treatment for a human bitten by a venomous snake, although the Irula also use herbal treatments that they say give them more time to reach a hospital.

India has 244 snake species and the four most venomous, the cobra, krait, Russell’s viper and saw-scaled viper, are found throughout the country.

Experts say thousands of people die every year from snakebites in India, still a predominately rural economy where farmers run the risk of being bitten every time they go into their fields.

Government figures show just a few recorded cases every year, but most go unreported because

victims never reach hospital and a 2011 study put the number of annual deaths at around 46,000.

Villagers living near the cooperative said snakes frequently entered their homes, putting them at risk of being bitten in their sleep - but were pretty nonchalant about the threat.

“In our village one person was bitten by a snake. He was taken to hospital and he recovered,” said Maragadham, a 36-year-old child minder.

“Snakes are found in most homes, but they are not a threat to us.” That is because most health facilities in India now have sufficient supplies of anti-venom.

Back at the cooperative, Kali and Vedan have placed their catch in a clay pot in preparation for the extraction process.

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Issue - 696 (3)

6 Dec. - 12 Dec., 2016

Tim Peake spacecraft to arrive in UK in 2017 LONDON The UK has bought the capsule which sent Tim Peake into space and returned him to Earth.

BBC News has learned that the vehicle will be go on display in the Science Museum in London in early 2017. The Russian Soyuz TMA-19M craft has been refurbished, but is still slightly singed from re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Major Peake told BBC News that he was “absolutely delighted” to hear his spacecraft would be brought to the UK. “Hopefully it may act as an inspiration for the next generation of scientists and engineers,” he said. “Flying into space is a huge privilege but it also comes with risk and one of the highest risk areas are launch into space and reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere. “The Soyuz spacecraft is designed to protect the crew from these harsh conditions.

So you get very attached to your spacecraft because it definitely does save your life.”

Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman, said she hoped the acquisition

would have an inspirational effect.

“I think it is a tremendous thing to have Tim’s capsule.

Not just a Soyuz capsule but it is Tim’s. And the fact that we know that our astronaut was actually inside it - he physically sweated inside that suit, he looked outside of that window and saw what it was like to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere - it really provides us with the link to our own astronauts,” she told BBC News.

The space suit used by Ms Sharman on her mission to the Mir space station in 1991 is on display at the Science Museum.

She said that it was important to have real artefacts that had actually been in orbit for people in

the UK to view.

“Even now, 25 years after my space flight, people want to touch me even though every cell in body has probably regenerated,” she said.

“It is really significant (having Tim’s Soyuz in the UK). It is not a mock up, it is not a simulator, it is not someone else’s Soyuz.

The fact that our own astronaut actually did things inside provides us with a connection to human spaceflight.

“It might only be psychological as it will look very similar to other Soyuz spacecraft that have actually re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, but it’s not - this is Tim’s.”

The Science Museum’s group director, Ian

Blatchford, said he hoped that the museum’s acquisition would help inspire future generations.

“It is a great honour to be here to officially acquire the first flown human spacecraft in the Science Museum Group collection, one which allowed Tim Peake to make his historic journey to the International Space Station which we plan to share with the public,” he said.

Ms Sharman said that seeing the spacecraft would make children believe that they too might be able to follow in Tim Peake’s footsteps.

“I think that is the whole point about all this - the fact that someone else sat in that seat. Well you know what? So can they,” she said.

“Astronauts might be well trained - but basically we are just people, like everybody else. And there are many other people we hope will be inspired - if not to go into space themselves one day, to think about the science that enables astronauts to go into space and make the world a better place.”

Plot to attack US Capitol: Ohio man to be sentenced soon

Cincinnati A 22-year-old man accused of plotting to attack the US Capitol in support of the Islamic State group will soon find out how many more years he must serve in prison.

Christopher Lee Cornell of suburban Cincinnati was arrested by the FBI on January 14, 2015. He pleaded guilty to three charges including attempted murder of US officials and employees.

Court documents show Cornell said he wanted to attack during President

Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

Prosecutors have recommended a 30-year sentence to US district judge Sandra Beckwith.

Cornell’s attorneys say a significantly lower term would be more appropriate. They say he has rejected “radical Islamic propaganda” that influenced him.

Defense attorneys plan to call a psychologist on Monday to testify in the sentencing hearing about Cornell’s mental condition.

Trump attends ‘Villains I will cut your throat: Hijab-clad Muslim cop, son harassed in US and Heroes’ party

NEW YORK US President-elect Donald Trump attended a “Villains and Heroes” costume party at a major donor’s Long Island home on Saturday night, but declined to don any garb that was in keeping with the theme.

Trump entered the party hosted by the Mercer family, one of his biggest donors, at their home in the village of Head of the Harbor in St James, NY, wearing a suit and a blue and white checked tie.

Security guards at the event however were dressed as biker gang

members Hell’s Angels.

Trump walked into the home and gave reporters, who were not allowed inside, the thumbs up and posed briefly for photos, but did not respond to questions except to mouth “me,” pointing to himself when asked who he was dressed as.

Trump spoke briefly at the party, thanking the Mercer family, according to a member of his press team, staying for just under two hours. It was his only outing from his Manhattan home on Saturday. None of Trump’s immediate family members attended,

but his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, was on hand, dressed as Super Woman.

Trump’s designated White House strategist Steve Bannon was also on hand, but appeared not to be in costume.

Music by Adele, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Sia and Céline Dion emanated from the Christmas light decorated home.

A wifi network set up for the party used the password “HeroesWin!” Robert Mercer, the billionaire at whose mansion on Long Island’s tony North Shore the party was held, is co-chief executive of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund. Daughter Rebekah Mercer sits on Trump’s transition team. Trump is in the midst of choosing cabinet members.

Mercer initially supported Ted Cruz for the Republican nomination before putting his support behind Trump in the November presidential election.

New York An off-duty hijab-clad Muslim police officer was called “ISIS (expletive) “ and told to go back to her “country” by a white man who also pushed her 16-year-old son, the latest in a series of incidents in which headscarf-wearing women have been targeted in the US following Donald Trump’s win.

Officer Aml Elsokary, who was off duty and wearing her hijab, dropped off her son in Brooklyn. After parking her car, she returned to the scene to find her son being shoved by the suspect, a white man in his 30s.

When the officer a native New Yorker approached, the man said, “ISIS (expletive), I will cut your throat, go back to your country!”

Elsokary did not identify herself as a police officer, and was unarmed, the New York Daily News reported, citing police sources. The suspect then fled the scene. Police were trying to track him down. The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is probing the episode as a bias incident which took place on Saturday. Officer Elsokary who proudly wears her hijab on duty - was touted as a hero by the New York city mayor after she ran into a burning building to save an elderly man and baby girl in April 2014.

Responding to a call about a fire over the police radio, Elsokary and her partner had rushed to a smoke-filled building.

The decorated officer had joined the force shortly after the September 11 terror attacks to “show people that the terrible

acts of that day contradicted the teachings of Islam,” Mayor de Blasio had said at a 2014 dinner.

The mother-of-five had received a medal for her bravery. Saturday’s incident comes amid a slew of intimidation and assault cases that have been reported across the country against hijab-clad women following Trump’s win.

On Thursday, a Muslim student was allegedly assaulted aboard a subway train by three drunk white men who repeatedly screamed “Donald Trump!” and hurled anti-Islam slurs before trying to rip her hijab off.Earlier this month, a Hijab-clad Muslim student was allegedly struck in the face with a glass bottle in broad daylight at the University of Washington campus in Seattle. In another incident, a hijab-clad woman was allegedly accosted at a US store by another customer who called her a “terrorist” and told her to “get out” of the country.

Issue - 696 (4)

6 Dec. - 12 Dec., 2016

Cyprus minority sees chance to save ancient language KORMAKÍTIS In a village in northern Cyprus, a community struggling to save its ancient language has seen a glimmer of hope in intensified efforts to reunify the divided island. Kormakitis was once the hub of Cyprus’s Maronite minority, descendants of Syrian and Lebanese Christians who spoke Sanna, a unique dialect of Arabic influenced by the Aramaic spoken by Jesus.

The language is now severely endangered, according to UNESCO. Uprooted by the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, many Maronites assimilated into Greek Cypriot communities where they sought shelter. They have seen fresh

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hope in recent months as the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders intensified their efforts to reunite the island.

Talks in Switzerland ended on November 21 with no breakthrough, but the leaders have since agreed to resume negotiations and are due to meet again in Geneva in January.

The Maronites hope a deal could eventually encourage the community to return to live in northern Cyprus.

That could help revive Sanna, which is in decline despite years of classes, the efforts of NGOs and an annual summer school in the village.

“The problem is that because we have lost our village it’s very difficult to keep our language,” teacher Katy Foradari said, taking a break from teaching Sanna under the vaulted ceiling of an 18th century church in Kormakitis.

Able to visit and stay in the village despite living outside the Turkish-controlled part of the island, young Maronites have attended Sanna classes at a summer camp there every August since 2008.

In sunbaked sandstone chapels and whitewashed bungalows around the small main square, around 100 children aged five to 17 took part in this year’s camp.

They learnt basics from the alphabet codified for the first time only a few years ago - to songs, vocabulary and grammar.

Making up less than one percent of the island’s population, Maronites are a branch of the Catholic church and have been in Cyprus since the eighth century.

Like many of the volunteers at the school, Foradari grew up in Kormakitis, the largest of the island’s four Maronite villages and the last where Sanna was spoken.

But when she was 16, Turkey occupied the northern third of Cyprus after an Athens-backed coup in the capital

Nicosia.

She and most of the community fled to the south, leaving their homes behind.

They established Maronite churches in their new communities, with parts of services still given in the ancient Semitic language of Syriac - like their more numerous counterparts in Syria and Lebanon.

But Sanna did not weather the displacement well.

Because Maronite children do not go to school in Kormakitis, “we have started losing our language,” Foradari said. “We are used to speaking Greek.”

A few hundred, mostly elderly, residents remained in the village after 1974, using Sanna in their daily life and helping out with the summer camp.

But of nearly 5,000 Maronites living across the island today, only around 1,000 speak

Sanna.

Some of them see the peace talks as the best hope in years for reviving their language.

For Yiannakis Mousas, the community’s representative to the parliament, only a solution to the Cyprus dispute can save Sanna.

“Only through the return of the Maronite people, of their property, of their schools, of their churches, only in this way do we have a good chance to revive the language,” he told AFP. Since 1974, Mousas and many other Maronites have been based in Nicosia, the island’s divided capital.

They have a modern church and a small social club named after Kormakitis, where they sip coffee a few hundred yards from the UN buffer zone that splits the old town.

Donald Trump adviser says ‘If Arvind Kejriwal, Bains brothers’ China doesn’t like it, screw ‘em’ 1st AAP-LIP rally on Dec 11 continued from page 1 as diplomatic row escalates to chase away dishonest politicians Badals and Captain

continued from page 1 environmental activist and former US Vice President. I stirred up some controversy last week when I told a conference of several dozen House Republicans that the GOP is now officially a Trump working-class party. For better or worse, I said at the... nationalreview.com Mr. Gore, who has devoted his time since leaving office to the issue, praised the businessman for what he called a “sincere” discussion. He said: “I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued.” Mr. Gore had gone to Trump Tower in New York for what was expected to be a meeting with the billionaire’s daughter Ivanka, who reportedly wants to make climate change a signature issue in her role as first daughter. But Mr. Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his climate change campaigning, said he spent the bulk of his time there talking to the president-elect. The decision to meet Mr Gore appeared at odds with views previously expressed by Mr. Trump. In 2012 Mr Trump said: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive.”

Amarinder Singh from the state,” he added.

Meanwhile, senior AAP leader and Dakha candidate HS Phoolka, who is addressing introduction meetings of AAP and LIP volunteers, said, “It is a decision which has been taken by the party and volunteers, who are truly loyal to the party, should stand with the party. Here, what matters now is the party’s decision and they need to put in all efforts to make AAP-LIP win in 2017. That is why we are mobilising volunteers to bring maximum crowds to the rally. A huge number of volunteers from my own constituency Dakha will also join.” Meanwhile, both parties have already started ‘introduction meetings’ to introduce volunteers from both sides to avoid any embarrassment on the day of the rally.

Amrit Pal Singh, AAP sector coordinator, said, “We are introducing volunteers from both sides to each other and they will jointly bring crowds to the rally. Senior leaders are being invited to address them so that they are motivated.”

Asked about rebel volunteers, who have refused to accept Bains brothers, he said, “We are trying our best to bring rebel volunteers back to the party but none can be forced.

Majority of them are happy with the alliance.”

Punjab election office seeks weekly progress report from police on law and order continued from page 1 criminals, checking money flow to gangs operating in the state, taking action with regard to disposing of benami properties

of gangsters, avoid giving parole to criminals till elections, among other measures, said an official. Notably, Punjab police faced major embarrassment when

a group of armed men stormed the highsecurity Nabha jail last week in Patiala district and managed to free six prisoners including two militants.

Issue - 696 (5)

6 Dec. - 12 Dec., 2016

Dera chiefs play gurus to tallest of politicians NIDHI SHARMA You need a guru in life to guide you. Be it a property dispute between brothers, a good match for marriage,

learning a sport or even fighting an election, you need baba’s blessings for just about everything. This belief leads many people in

Punjab to seek solace in a dera, the colloquial word for a camp where the baba or spiritual guru provides guidance. Ahead

Dera Sacha Sauda: Messenger of SAD

Based in Sirsa in Haryana, this dera has a massive following in Punjab’s Malwa region. Despite courting several controversies, dera head Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh continues to wield influence in India and beyond among lakhs of followers across the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the UAE. Dera Sacha Sauda is the only dera which openly gives a political line to its followers. It operates through political committees formed at block levels. This is the only dera which asked its followers to vote for the Congress in the 2007 election. However, after the party lost the election, the dera head had to bear the consequences as an antagonistic Shiromani Akali Dal -BJP government assumed power.

Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh has made amends since and openly supports the ruling combine. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move, Singh gave an elaborate sermon welcoming the decision.

“PM Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise notes is in the national interest and our followers will support this move. When our martyrs can take

bullets on their chests for the sake of the country, people of this country will not complain if they have to suffer small hardships for the sake of a positive change,” Singh said at a satsang in Sirsa, just a week after the decision.

Even as the Modi government received flak for playing up the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Singh has already started shooting a film eulogising the covert operation. It is an open secret that the dera is set to support the incumbent coalition.

It is a leg-up for SAD-BJP as the dera has lakhs of followers, especially among Dalits and OBCs, who traditionally vote for the Congress. Singh’s clout is visible in the number of people waiting for a darshan and describing very elaborately their last meeting with the spiritual guru.

“He is a rock star. Do you know he may come out of this gate?” gushed Deepender, who waited patiently with his nine family members to give the first wedding card to the dera head.

The baba’s security is tight. He ventures out in a cavalcade with private security guards. There are dummy vehicles that travel alongside baba’s car so that people do not know which car he is travelling in.

The entire settlement has its own marketplace, c being connected with an overhead flyover to the resort. The entry fee just for a look around inside the resort is a whopping Rs 500.

There are whispers that the room rents are as high as Rs 1.5 lakh, something that dera officials did not confirm.

Mobile phones are strictly not allowed inside the dera or the satsang hall.

of elections, political leaders queue up before babas. The meetings are keenly watched for indications of which way

the deras are leaning given the influence these spiritual gurus wield over their followers. As Punjab moves towards what appears to

be a close election, ET travelled to the three most prominent deras in terms of influence.

Dera Beasi: Rahul, Kejri and Badals fans Radha Soami Satsang, popularly known as Dera Beasi, is the largest dera in Punjab, with following among all communities.

Based in Beas, 50 kilometres from Amritsar, the dera has lakhs of followers across the world.

However, it has never aligned itself to any political party. It provides spiritual and philosophical guidance and makes a conscious effort to stay away from politics.

However, this does not deter leaders from across the political spectrum to seek an audience with the dera head, Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

Singh’s influence can be gauged from the fact that Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, chief ministerial candidate Captain Amarinder Singh, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Badals have met him multiple times in the run-up to Assembly elections.

The dera does not have any political committees.

The guru’s pravachan

(discourse) is never on political matters. This makes the meetings very significant as followers get a hint of which way, if at all, the Baba is leaning.

Though the dera has had ideological issues with SAD’s philosophy of devotion to Guru Granth Sahib and not to any living guru, the Badals have a close relationship with the dera head.

Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal’s brother-in-law Bikram Majithia is married to the dera head’s niece Ganieve Grewal.

With elections round the corner, political meetings have been on the

upswing. The SAD-BJP government has appointed Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon’s brother-in-law Parminder Singh Sekhon as advisor to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

He has been accorded the status of minister.

This is being taken as an indication of Baba’s increasing proximity w i t h SAD .

Dhillon makes it a point to balance out such meetings. Followers pointed out that after a meeting with Sukhbir Badal, the Baba went to the house of Sant Baljeet Singh Daduwal, a Takht head who has openly come out against SAD.

Dera Sach Khand: Hub of Dalit politics Dera Ballan, head quartered in Ballan village in rural Jalandhar, enjoys a following among the Ravidasiya community. It is subdued in comparison to Dera Sacha Sauda’s opulence but commands respect among lakhs of followers in Punjab’s Doaba region, which is dominated by Dalits.

Since Congress was traditionally strong in Doaba region, the dera was seen as close to the party.

With BSP positioning itself as a party representing Dalits, its leaders have been frequenting the dera. The ties were so close that the foundation stone of the dera’s Guru Ravidass Gate at Varanasi was laid down by BSP founder Kanshi Ram.

It was later inaugurated by President KR Narayanan.

However, the dera maintains it has welcomed leaders from across the political spectrum.

Captain Amarinder Singh, Badals, Mayawati and Kejriwal have been regular visitors this season.

When Kejriwal visited the dera recently, the BSP wanted to protest against him but was stopped by the dera. Like most other deras, Dera Ballan officially maintains that it stays away from politics and does not support a political party. The dera’s general secretary Satpaul Virdi said, “We are apolitical.

The reason is simple we don’t know which political party would come to power. Then the easiest thing for them to do is target

deras and its followers.

“Virdi said that after the dera’s deputy head Sant Ramanand was killed in Vienna in 2009, the Badal government had offered to the dera that they would open a university in his name and the dera should recommend a place.

“But we never gave any letter. It is the government’s job; let them do that. This was our way of showing that we will never ask any government for a favour lest it should be taken as affiliation,” said Virdi.

However, politicians have elaborate discussions with dera heads. “I have been talking to our dera babaji. He says I am with you. This is all I need,” a sitting MLA, who was recently denied a ticket by his

party, told ET on condition of anonymity, This dera does not have political committees. But it has serious differences with the SAD since the dera announced its own separate religion Ravidasiya and holy

book Amrit Bani in 2009. The resentment has only grown as the Badal government has resisted the dera’s attempts to replace Guru Granth Sahib with Amrit Bani at community shrines.

Issue - 696 (6)

6 Dec. - 12 Dec., 2016

Fake US embassy in Ghana shut down Virgin Galactic spaceship after issuing fake visas for a decade makes first glide flight

Accra Authorities in Ghana have busted a fake US embassy in the capital Accra run by a criminal network that for a decade issued illegally obtained authentic visas, the US State Department said.

Until it was shut down this summer, the sham embassy was housed in a run-down, pink two-storey building with a corrugated iron roof and flew a US flag outside. Inside hung a portrait of President Barack Obama.

“It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law,” the State Department said in a statement released late on Friday.

Turkish citizens, who spoke English and Dutch, posed as consular officers and staffed the

operation. Investigations also uncovered a fake Dutch embassy, the State Department said.

Officials in the Netherlands were not immediately reachable for comment on Sunday.

The crime ring issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate U.S. visas and false identification documents, including birth certificates at a cost of $6,000 each, the statement said.

During raids that led to a number of arrests, authorities also seized authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone visas and 150 passports from 10 different countries along with a laptop and smart phones. The statement did not say how the gang obtained the authentic visas.

And the State Department did not say how many people were believed to have illegally entered the United States and other

countries using visas issued by the crime ring, which used bribery to operate unhindered.

“The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored,” the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from Ghana’s Criminal Investigations Division.

Visas for Western countries are in high demand in Africa and embassies say the visa market is a big target for organized crime.

The real U.S. embassy in Ghana is a prominent and heavily fortified complex in Cantonments, one of the capital’s most expensive neighbourhoods. Lines of people queue outside each day for visa appointments and other consular business.

The fake embassy was open three mornings a week and did not accept walk-in appointments.

Instead, the criminals advertised on billboards in Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast and brought clients from across West Africa to Accra where they rented them hotel rooms in nearby hotels.

U.S. authorities conducting a broader security operation were tipped off about it and assembled a team including the Ghana Detectives Bureau and police as well as other international partners to shut down the ring.

WASHINGTON Virgin Galactic’s new spaceship has made a successful first glide flight, a key step after a deadly crash of its predecessor two years ago, the spaceflight company said the other day.

The new SpaceShipTwo, dubbed VSS Unity, was hoisted aloft by carrier airplane WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve from the Mojave Air & Space Port in California, the company said on Twitter.

Released from the mothership, VSS Unity flew home to Earth on its own, according to the company owned by British billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson. “VSS Unity has landed.

Vehicle and crew are back safe and sound after a successful first glide test flight,” Virgin Galactic tweeted at #SpaceShipTwo. Unity’s weight was kept light for the first flight, Virgin Galactic said. Its success now opens a phase of tougher flight testing before the spacecraft’s hybrid

rocket motor will be fired in flight.

The company’s efforts faced a major setback in October 2014, when the first version of the SpaceShipTwo disintegrated over California’s Mojave Desert.

Although the pilot was injured, he successfully deployed his parachute. The co-pilot died.

Investigators blamed premature brake deployment during the test flight.

Virgin Galactic unveiled the new spaceship at the Mojave site in February. It looks largely the same as its predecessor.

The company stressed that commercial space flights would not take place until it is satisfied it can carry them out safely.

SpaceShipTwo is a commercial version of SpaceShipOne, the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space in 2004.

The company’s goal is to take tourists to the edge of space, more than 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth.

HIV ‘game-changer’ now on NHS ‘Where am I What happened’ Syrians LONDON A drug that dramatically reduces the risk of being infected with HIV will now be given to patients by the NHS in England.

The health service lost a court battle in the summer after arguing responsibility for paying for it

should fall to local authorities not the NHS. Now at least 10,000 people will be given the “Prep” drug in a three-year-long clinical trial. NHS England says this will help them understand how to offer it more widely. It costs £400 a month per person and trials suggest it can cut the risk of being infected by up to 86%. NHS England, which fought not to offer the drug, said in a statement there was “strong” evidence that it was effective.

However, it said there were still questions to be answered about how it is used on a wide scale across England. Its trial on at least

10,000 people will try to figure out how to get the drugs to the right people, how popular it would be and for how long they would take Prep.

Dr Ian Williams, chairman of NHS England’s group on HIV, said: “This announcement demonstrates NHS England’s commitment to fund Prep and provides the chance to best prepare England for optimal roll-out following this large-scale clinical trial.

“For now, the trial will provide access to Prep for thousands of people most at risk of acquiring HIV.” Dr Michael Brady, medical director of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said the evidence on Prep was “overwhelming” but the new trial could help understand how it will work in real life.

He added: “However, we do still need answers to many questions about the trial, in terms of how exactly the trial will work in practice, how those at risk will be able to access Prep, no matter where they live, and what will happen after the trial.”

Deborah Gold, chief executive of the National Aids Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted that following our wins in court, NHS England, working with Public Health England and local government, will be now making Prep available on a large scale, and quickly, to those who need it.”

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return to see ravaged homes in Aleppo Aleppo Amina Hamawy burst into tears and then fainted when she returned to eastern Aleppo to find that looters had ransacked her home. “Where am I? What happened?” she asked after her husband and daughter revived her. “We have lost everything.”

They were among a few hundred residents who fled fighting in the Hanano neighbourhood last month and were able to return after government forces drove out Syrian rebels, whose besieged and bombed out enclave in eastern Aleppo has begun to collapse.

After registering with authorities, Hamawy’s family was driven past blackened shells of buildings and mounds of rubble, devastation wrought by more than four years of near-daily airstrikes, including explosivesfilled barrels dropped from helicopters.

Their single-story home was still intact, but the television, electrical cables and a large battery that supplied power for the home had been taken, either by retreating rebels, advancing

forces or thieves exploiting the chaos.

The looters left the old refrigerator and the washing machine behind. “If it had been a new, fully automatic one they would have stolen it,” said

Hamid Malaji, Hamawy’s husband. “The work of decades disappeared in a few hours.”

It could be much worse. His family survived and was able to flee when government forces moved in. And their gray and white cat emerged when they returned, meowing from hunger but otherwise unharmed.

Few residents of eastern Aleppo have been as fortunate. The city became the epicentre of Syria’s civil war when the rebels captured the

eastern districts, starting with Hanano, in the summer of 2012.

The city has been fiercely contested since then, and earlier this year government forces fully besieged rebel-held eastern Aleppo, where nearly every hospital has been destroyed, and so many people have been killed that there are few places left to bury them.

The rebels are finally buckling under pressure. They have been retreating for more than a week, and while a prolonged battle is expected in the narrow streets of Aleppo’s Old City, government forces are likely to prevail.

The loss of eastern Aleppo would mark the greatest victory for President Bashar Assad’s forces and his Russian and Iranian allies since the conflict began in 2011 with peaceful protests against his family’s fourdecade rule.

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Issue - 696 (7)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after referendum defeat

Matteo Renzi will resign as Italian prime minister after being roundly defeated in a referendum to change the constitution, marking a major victory for antiestablishment and rightwing parties and plunging the eurozone’s third largest economy into political chaos. The prime minister conceded defeat in an emotional speech at his residence, Palazzo Chigi, and said he would submit his resignation to Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, on Monday afternoon.

“My experience in

government ends here …

I did all I could to bring this to victory,” Renzi said. “If you fight for an idea, you cannot lose.”

It w a s a n o t a n unexpected defeat but it was nevertheless a humiliating one, with 59.1% of Italians voting against the proposed reforms, which would have made sweeping changes to Italy’s constitution and parliamentary system.

Pointing to the high voter turnout – 65% of eligible voters cast ballots in the referendum – Renzi said the vote represented a “feast of democracy”.

The 20-point margin was a major victory for the p o p u l i s t F i v e Sta r Movement, which led opposition to the reform, and the xenophobic Northern League. The parties are not traditional allies but locked arms to take on Renzi in the hope – now realised – of driving him out of office. Weeks ago both party leaders, Beppe Grillo and Matteo Salvini, were exuberant in the face of Donald Trump’s victory in the US, with Grillo claiming it represented a big “fuck you” to the political establishment.

World’s oldest person marks 117th birthday in Italy VERBANIA Emma Morano, thought to be the world’s oldest person and the last to be born in the 1800s, celebrated her 117th birthday on Tuesday, still

Maggiore, to mark the latest milestone, presenting her with a large white birthday cake.

“My life wasn’t so nice,” she told Reuters TV as she sat in an armchair by her

swearing by her diet of two raw eggs a day. Morano was born in November 1899, four years before the Wright brothers first took to the air. Her life has spanned three centuries, two World Wars and over 90 Italian governments.

Friends, neighbours and her doctor gathered in her small apartment in the northern town of Verbania, on the shores of Lake

window, a white shawl over her shoulders. “I worked in a factory until I was 65, then that was that.”

In an interview with La Stampa newspaper five years ago she said her fiance had died in World War One and that she had then been forced to marry a man she did not love. “‘Either you agree to marry me or I will kill you’,” Morano said, recalling his

proposal. “I was 26. We got married.”

It was not a happy marriage. They had a boy in 1937, but the baby died after just six months and the following year Morano kicked out her abusive husband. “I separated from him in 1938. I think I was one of the first in Italy to do that.”

Morano lives alone and has outlived all her eight brothers and sisters, including one who died at 102. She has thrived despite an unorthodox, unbalanced diet.

“When I first knew her she used to eat three eggs a day. Two raw, and one fried.

Today she has slowed down a bit, reducing the number to two some days because she says three can be too much,” her doctor Carlo Bava told Reuters TV. “She has never eaten much fruit or vegetables. Her characteristic is that she always eats the same thing, every day, every week, every month and every year.”

Despite suffering kidney failure, Sushma Swaraj helps an Indian in London Here’s how Twitterratis reacted

New Delhi External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been unwell for some time, but that didn’t stop her from performing her duties.

Swaraj, who is recuperating from a kidney failure in AIIMS, has come to the rescue of a Londonbased NRI seeking help in renewing his passport.

Kunwar Bisht wants to visit the country for a medical emergency in the family.

Bisht had sought help from the External Affairs Minister for a visa renewal so that he could attend his ailing father, who is on ventilator support.

Swaraj was quick to act and tweeted: “Indian High Commission in London will help you.”

The Twitterratis jumped to joy seeing their favourite minister back in action.

People flooded her twitter account with best wishes and recovery messages.

After the news of her illness spread, several people had voiced their interests on social media platforms to donate their kidneys to Sushma Swaraj. She had herself tweeted about her illness and that she needed to undergo a kidney transplant. A team of top

doctors constituted for her treatment included Nikhil Tandon, head of endocrinology, Randeep Guleria, head of pulmonary medicine and Sandeep Mahajan, chief of cardio thoracic and head of nephrology, among others.

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Issue - 696 (8)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Periodic table expands TOKYO The periodic table got larger Wednesday after four new elements were officially named and added to the chart, including ‘nihonium’ - the first ever to be

discovered by Japanese scientists.The new name for element 113, a highly radioactive element with an extremely short half-life, comes from Japan’s name in Japanese - ‘nihon’, literally ‘the land of the rising sun’.“The element, named for the first time by Japanese and in Asia, will occupy a place in the periodic table - an intellectual asset of mankind,” Kosuke Morita, who led the team that created the element, said in a statement.The periodic table, pored over by science students the world over, arranges chemical elements in the order of their atomic number.Some elements, such as hydrogen, carbon or magnesium, are found in nature while others, including nihonium - official symbol Nh - are

synthesised in laboratories.All the discovered elements after 104 are synthetic ones produced through laboratory experiments.Tradition dictates that newly discovered elements

be named after a place, geographical region, or scientist, according to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), which made the announcement on the names Wednesday.A joint team of Russian and US scientists named element 115 moscovium - symbol Mc - after the Russian capital, where much of the relevant research was conducted.For similar reasons, they also named element 117 tennessine - symbol Ts - after the US state of Tennessee. The third one they discovered, element 118, was named oganesson - symbol Og - in homage to Russian nuclear physicist Yuri Oganessian, in recognition of his “pioneering contributions” in elements research. North

Gun that almost killed poet Rimbaud goes under hammer

PARIS The most famous gun in French literature, the revolver with which Paul Verlaine tried to kill his lover and fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud, is going under the hammer on Wednesday. The Christie’s auction house in Paris estimates the 7mm six-shooter could fetch up to 60,000 euros ($65,000).

Verlaine bought the weapon in Brussels on the morning of July 10, 1873, determined to put an end to his torrid two-year affair with his teenage lover. The 29year-old poet had abandoned his young wife and child to be with Rimbaud, who was 10 years his junior. But after an opium- and absinthe-soaked stay in London, which would inspire Rimbaud’s “A Season in Hell”, Verlaine wanted to go back to his wife.

He fled to the Belgian capital to get away from Rimbaud only for

the younger man to follow him.

It was in a Brussels hotel room where, after a teary, drunken row - according to Rimbaud - the suicidal Verlaine raised the pistol.

Verlaine fired twice at Rimbaud, one bullet hitting him in the wrist while the other struck the wall and then ricocheted into the chimney.

But Rimbaud still wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Having been bandaged up in hospital he again begged the author of “Poemes Saturniens” not to leave him.

Verlaine pulled out the revolver again and threatened him with it in the street.

He was arrested by a passing policeman and sentenced to two years in jail with hard labour.

The confiscated gun found its way into the hands of a private collector, Christie’s said.

Carolina-based IUPAC said that the names were officially accepted after a 5-month public review period.

“The names of the new elements reflect the realities of our present time,” IUPAC president Natalia Tarasova said on its website, citing the “universality of science” as well as “the pivotal role” of Oganessian. With the latest discoveries, the periodic table is now complete down to the seventh row.Underscoring the importance of the discoveries, the scientists behind the four new elements had been seen as strong candidates for this year’s Nobel Chemistry Prize.Japan has a proud research tradition and its citizens have won about 20 Nobel prizes in science and medicine, including Yoshinori Ohsumi who won the Nobel Medicine Prize this year.

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Dead stowaway discovered on Nigerian plane in South Africa

LAGOS A dead body was found on Wednesday in the wheel well of a Nigerian plane after it landed in South Africa, the airline said in a statement. The body was found on a plane operated by Arik Air, one of Nigeria’s largest airlines, that had departed from the country’s commercial hub of Lagos and landed at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport Tuesday evening. “The lifeless body of a stowaway was on Wednesday, November 30, 2016 found in the main wheel well of one of Arik Air’s A330-200 aircraft,” Arik Air spokesman Adebanji Ola said in a statement. South African engineers “discovered the body of the stowaway during

inspection,” the statement said.”Investigations are ongoing to determine how the stowaway found his way into the aircraft’s main wheel well.”

In the past five years there have been reports of dead Nigerian stowaways found in planes travelling from Lagos to Johannesburg and New York who have frozen to death or have been crushed by a wheel.

Dire economic conditions force Nigerians to embark on risky trips in search of better lives abroad, with many attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe.

Nigerians have also been among the hundreds of illegal migrants intercepted off the Red Sea coast of oil-rich Saudi Arabia this year.

‘We cannot imagine China carrying out demonetisation’ says Chinese media Beijing The Chinese media on Saturday said it “could not imagine what would happen in China” if the government undertook a similar demonetisation move, which it termed “bold” but risky.

China would “draw lessons” from the Modi government’s move and the public reaction to it, said a Saturday editorial in the Global Times, a widely read Communist Party-run tabloid.

“Modi’s move is very bold. We cannot imagine what would happen in China if the country bans its 50- and 100-yuan notes,” the editorial said.

The 100 yuan note (around Rs. 1,000) is the highest currency note in China. A new 100 yuan note with improved security features was introduced in

November 2015 to battle a widespread counterfeit problem.

In a single case in 2014, $35 million worth of fake notes were uncovered in southern Guangdong province.

BEIJING PHASES OUT OLD NOTES Beijing however has been gradually introducing the new note, rather than adopt a drastic measure fearing disruption and the old note is being slowly withdrawn from circulation. A more bottom-up approach has been followed to tackle fake notes with a programme to install government-approved detectors for cashiers in most retail establishments.

The Global Times editorial said concerns on public reaction in one party-ruled China were a big

Malaysia rescuers find Aussie hiker after two-week ordeal KUALA LUMPUR An Australian hiker who went missing for nearly two weeks after losing his bearings in remote Malaysian jungle was found by rescuers on Tuesday and taken to hospital, police said. Andrew Gaskell, 26, had set off alone on October 20 into Mulu National Park, which is at the heart of vast and rugged rain forests on Borneo island.

Gaskell got lost after eschewing local park regulations requiring that visitors take a guide, district police officer-in-charge Gabriel Marudi told AFP by phone. But he was found on Tuesday

afternoon after a nearly weeklong jungle search by around 40 rescue personnel.

Gaskell was thin and weak and had an injured foot but was flown by helicopter to the town of Miri and was expected to recover, Marudi said. “It was very lucky for him to be found still alive after such a long time,” said Marudi, adding he had no further details on how Gaskell survived. Mulu National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site famed for some of the world’s largest caves, striking limestone karst pinnacles above ground and dense jungle.

factor in the introduction of similar reform measures.

REFORM ON FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS “China’s reform and opening-up has been going on for nearly 40 years,” it said. “It had ups and downs but remained largely stable. Its success is based on broad public support. The strong execution capabilities of the Communist Party of China are built on the consensus of the entire country. By observing India’s reforms we will draw lessons, which would in turn help us understand our own reforms.”

Modi faced a “dilemma”, the editorial suggested, between cracking down on black money on the one hand and “the governance principle of winning support of the public before initiating a new policy” on the other.

SUCCESS DEPENDS ON COOPERATION OF SOCIETY “The Western-style democratic system of India allows little room for such bold moves,” the editorial said. “However, he is really carrying it out, and will create a precedent no matter he succeeds or fails.” “Reform is always difficult and requires more than just courage,” the paper cautioned.

“Modi’s demonetisation came with good intention but whether it can succeed depends on the efficiency of the system and the cooperation of the entire society.

More and more people are growing pessimistic about the ability of Modi’s government to control the process.

Issue - 696 (9)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Will Narendra Modi be the Time’s Person of the Year, 2016?

New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to lead in Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ 2016 poll, and is way ahead of world leaders like Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin or Donald

Trump.

With just two days left for the voting to be over, Narendra Modi is leading the readers poll with a whopping 18 per cent of the total ‘yes’ votes as on Friday.

The only persons to come closest to Modi in the Time’s Person of the Year 2016 poll are US President Barack Obama, Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange and US President-elect

Donald Trump- but all these three have just earned seven per cent of the all ‘yes’ votes.

Modi is, thus, far ahead of Obama, Trump and Assange with a huge gap of 11 per cent.

It is for the fourth time in a row

that Modi is one of the contenders of the Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ honour, which the US magazine bestows every year to the one “who has most influenced the news and our world in the past year, for good or ill.”

Modi had won the readers’ poll of Time’s Person of the Year poll in 2014, securing more than 16 per cent of the almost five million

American woman allegedly gang raped by 5, including tourist guide, in a hotel

New Delhi A 30-year-old American woman was allegedly gang raped in a hotel of new Delhi area. Delhi Police got a complaint via NGO regarding this case. The complaint alleged the woman with her at the hotel in Delhi’s Connaught Place was gangraped by five men, including the tourist guide. Police sources said in her complaint that she had come to visit India, she stayed at the hotel in Delhi’s Connaught Place raped her in the hotel room. The woman registered her complaint through e-mail. The woman, as per the report, said that she would come to Delhi to record her statement once an FIR was registered. An NGO has alleged that an American tourist was allegedly gangraped by five men in March at a five-star hotel in Connaught Place. They were investigating a complaint from an NGO, through an email, stating that the US citizen was gangraped by five men who entered into her room on the pretext of some tour and travel

related work.

The woman came to India as part of a group. The travel agent in US had contacted their Indian franchise to make arrangements for the stay. Source say the woman had given the card key of her room to main suspect, a tour guide. She further claimed that attendant had given a bottle of water. After drinking water, she felt drowsy. The tour guide, attendant, guide’s cousin and two others sexually assaulted for two days.

The woman said she was threatened not to tell anyone.

Three days, she wrote an email from Pennsylvania after she got in touch with an NGO. Police has identified the travel agency and tour guide. FIR of gangrape is to be filed. Cops have convinced the woman to record her statement and identified the suspects.

Sushma Swaraj also tweeted in support of the matter, saying that the government would initiate action against the culprits who allegedly gang-raped a US woman at a five-star hotel near Connaught Place earlier this year.

votes cast. He was again among the contenders for the annual honour in 2015 but was not among the final eightcandidates shortlisted by the TIME magazine editors for the title.

Last year, it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel who won the Time’s Person of the Year poll.

Interestingly, the current poll results suggest that the voter preferences changes not only across the world, but also differ between US states.

Poll host Apester, as reported in Time, analysed the poll results and found that Narendra Modi performed extremely well among voters in California and New Jersey, earning 17 and 12 per cent of all ‘yes’ votes in those states, respectively.

In Washington, the most popular were Michelle Obama, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, while in Rhode Island, Julian Assange was the voter’s choice.

The voting for this readers poll will end on December 4 i.e.

Sunday at 11.59 pm ET, and the results will be declared on December 7 (Wednesday).

Software professional stabs wife 15 times

Hyderabad In a horrific incident in Hyderabad, a software engineer working with the Bank of America (BoA) allegedly stabbed his wife nearly 15 times after a quarrel. The man went to the nearest police station after committing the murder.

As per the Jawaharnagar Police, Chakrapani attacked his wife Madhavi at their residence at Ayyappa colony in Dammaiguda on Thursday evening. The accused was demanding divorce from Madhavi. The couple was married since last 10 years and has 8-year-old son and 3-year-

old daughter.

Madhavi and children were living with her parents. Chakrapani in an inebriated condition went to Madhavi’s parent’s house on Thursday evening.

“As he was abusive and adamant, Madhavi decided to return to their Dammaiguda residence along with her husband. After reaching home, they again had an argument after which Chakrapani killed her” said Jawaharnagar inspector S Ashok Kumar.

Police recovered the murder weapon and a case has been registered against Chakrapani.

US House to hold hearing on curbs on Christian NGO in India New York A powerful Congressional committee will next week hold a hearing on restrictions imposed by the Indian government on an American NGO. The announcement for a Congressional hearing by the House Foreign Relations Committee came the day Colorado-based Compassion International launched a national campaign against the Indian Government’s decision which it alleged is preventing it from sending funds to its more than 500 local child development projects throughout the country.

“In three weeks, Compassion International - which provides critical tutoring, nutrition and medical services to children in India - could be shut down...”

Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said.

“It is my hope that by bringing attention to this issue, 145,000 children will not be tragically denied services they desperately need. And then, relations between the two countries will be even stronger,” said Royce, who is known as one of the best friends of India in the Congress.

He was one of the founders of the House Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and is its previous cochairs.

Titled ‘American Compassion in India: Government Obstacles’, the House Foreign Affairs Committee has invited three experts for the hearing.

They are Stephen Oakley from Compassion International, John

Sifton from Human Rights Watch and Irfan Nooruddin from Georgetown University.

“Since the start of its humanitarian work in India in 1968, more than a quarter-million Indian children and their families have benefited from Compassion’s programmes,” said Compassion president and CEO, Santiago Jimmy Mellado.

“Our desire to continue serving these children has led us to encourage our supporters to request the help of their congressional representatives.

We want nothing more than to comply with Indian law and find favour in the eyes of those with the power to authorise our ongoing care to these children who are suffering in extreme poverty,” Mellado said.

Earlier in the day, Compassion International launched a nationwide campaign to protect its holistic child development work in India, where the organisation has operated since 1968. Due to recent changes to the Indian government’s interpretation and application of

the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), Compassion has not been allowed to send funds to its more than 500 local child development projects throughout India, it said.

This change has directly impacted nearly 145,000 children registered in Compassion’s program within the country, the NGO claimed.

The new rules required each of Compassion’s 580 child development centers to submit an application to the Indian government by October 31, 2016, it said adding that 63 of Compassion’s partners were denied FCRA approval.

“Despite repeated requests, the Indian government has not provided an explanation for these denials. Compassion made the difficult decision to end its partnership with the 63 centers, impacting more than 14,500 Compassion children in India,” the media release said.

Compassion is also unable to fund any of the remaining partners that received FCRA approval, it said.

Issue - 696 (10)

Jat Sikh parents seek a professional match for their handsome, Canadian citizen son, well settled in Toronto as a professional Chartered Accountant (CA-CPA), born May-1979, 6'-1" tall. Clean shaven, non-drinker, raised in Canada. The girl should be professionally qualified, family oriented with a balance of eastern & western values. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: a.aulakhfamily@gmail.com or call: 905-796-2044 ***698*** Well educated Nai Sikh family seeking a qualified match for their daughter, 83 born, 5’-1" tall, smart/beautiful, MBA from USA, on H1B visa, working as a Manager in MNC . Family is well settled in Canada. Please send your bio-data and recent pictures to: drchandansingh@hotmail.com or call: 1-204-881-3814 ***697*** Suitable match for handsome, slim, clean-shaven, graduate, Sikh Tonk-Kashtri Canadian citizen boy, 5'-10'’ tall, (28/09/ 1984 born in Moga 7:35 am), Legally divorced after short marriage. The girl should be family-oriented, from Sikh/Hindu families. The girl on Visitor/ Student Visa or Work permit can also be considered. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: rskambo40@gmail.com or call 1-778-318-4240 (Vancouver) ***697*** jatt Sikh Canadian PR, 24 yrs. old, 5'-5" tall, B.com,, Buisness management (BCIT),, Red seal certified cosmetologist (ITA), Provincial instructor, slim, fair, beautiful daughter belongs to cultural family. The boy should be handsome, professionally qualified, well settled, jatt Sikh from a landlord family. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: Sransurrey@gmail.com or call: 1-604-779-0046 or 1-604-7672727 ***697*** Jatt Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their Canadian citizen daughter, 30 yrs. old, 5'-5" tall, diploma in business administration an accounting, licensed optician, currently working as optician. The boy should be Canandian citizen/ immigrant, educated, well settled. Please send your recent picture and bio-data to: bsingh2557@gmail.com or call: 416-879-2595 ***697*** Ramgaria Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, age 32 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, B.Tech in ECE, working in I.T., Canadian Immigrant, divorced, family oriented, well versed in both cultures. The boy should be equally qualified & employed, well versed in both cultures.Please send your biodata and recent pictures to: amarjeetjeetsinghj454@gmail.com or Call : 1-204-583-847, 011-9181466-57115, ***697***

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Punjabi parents seek a suitable match for their son, 35 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, naver married, American Citizen, clean shaven, Master’s in Elecrical Engineering, employed as a I.T. professional in a well reputed company of California U.S.A. The girl should be educated, family oriented, well versed in both culturesd, only girls can be considered who wants to relocate. Caste no bar. Please send your bio-data and recent pictures to: shbasra@yahoo.com or Call : 1510-742-2200 ***697*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitalble match for their son, 34 yrsÍ old, 5’-6” tall, Minor Psysical disablity, graduate, Canadian born, having good job. The girl should be Canadian/American Immigrant or Citiizen. Divorcee can also be considered. Please send your bio-data and recent pictures to: anita.k.gataric@gmail,com or Call : 1-604-837-8062 or 1-604525-8062 ***697*** Jatt Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, born Aug., 1983, 5’-7" tall, master’s in Nursing, currently working as a Nurse practitioner, American Citizen, having strong family values. The boy should be Jatt Sikh, well educated, family oriented with good family background and from USA. Please send your bio data and recent picture to: sandip4289@yahoo.com or call:1-559-346-7832 ***697*** Jat Sikh parents invite a matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 29 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, Diploma in Hair dressing from Australia, beautiful, family oriented from a good family background, living in India and managing Canadian family business in India and Africa, widw (one daughter). The boy should be Canadian/American, Immigrant/Citizen, well educated, settled with family values. Whole family is well settled in Canada.

Respond with family details to:dsahsi@gmail.com Or Call : 1-604-618-5834 ***697*** Well settled Jat Sikh parents seeking professionally qualified Jat Sikh match from U.S.A. or willing to relocate in U.S.A. for their daughter, 36 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, American Citizen, Graduated, Currently Working as Human Resource Information Systerm “HIRS” Analyst with well known Health Care Organisation in Bay Areas, California. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: wss4279@gmail.com Or Call : 1-408-657-7644 ***697*** Sikh Khatri parents seek a suitable match for their teetotaler, US Citizen son, 28 yrs. old, 5’4’’ tall, master’s degree in engineering from a top US university, working at a private

company in New York area. The girl should be family oriented, educated, beautiful, preferably residing in US. Please send your biodata & recent pictures to: chhabra.harjitsingh59@gmail.com or call: 1- 347- 921-1453 *** 697 *** Punjabi Brahman Doctor parents seek a suitable match beautiful girl for their son, 28 yrs. old, 6’ tall, doctor in punjab. The girl should be beautiful, preferably from medical line. The boy wants to settle his own business in Ontario. Any upper caste also welcome. Younger brother software engineer is in Ottawa and relatives are well settled in Ontario & Quebec. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to:ishan247@yahoo.co.in or call: or call: 011-91- 91987-2614118 ***697*** Jat Sikh educated family seek a suitable match for their American citizen daughter, 31 yrs. old (born in 1985), 5'-3" tall, well settled in job. Boy preferred to be in USA or have a work permit.Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: bobby21_52@yahoo.com or call: 1- 209-629-3506 *** 697 *** Suitable match for Jassal boy, 26 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, clean shaven, B.Pharma, Own Business in India. The girl should be Canadian Immigrant or Citizen. Parents Currently in Canada on visitor visa. The boy’s two sisters are well settled in Canada. Caste No Bar. Please Call : 416-540-0080 ***697*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their Mangleek son, 25 yrs. old, 5’-10” tall, Canadian Immigrant, Bachelor in IT, well settled. The girl should be Canadian/American, Immigrant/ Citizen, educated with family values atleast 5’-5” tall. First preference goes to Chandigarh, Mohali and Patiala. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: barren44@gmail.com Or Call : 1-206-229-3330 ***697*** Jat Sikh Gill family seeks a suitable match for their daughter, 33 yrs. old, 5’-6” tall, College graduate with diploma in Business Administration and Accounting. The boy should be 33-37 yrs. of age, well qualified and raised in Canada. Please Call : 905-874-0721 ***697*** Tonk Kshatriya Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their Canadian Citizen daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, B.Com, CGA, Working with the government. The boy should be Canadian Citizen or PR, equally qualified, well settled in job in Toronto or surrounding area. Preferebly clean shaven.

Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: singhjag_@hotmail.com Or Call : 416-722-9771 ***697*** Looking for suitable match for 34 yrs. old, Canadian born male, 5’-

5” tall, with athletic built, minor physical disability, however fully independent and capable. The girl should be from Canada/America only. Divorced may also be considred. Please Call : 1-604722-0279 Or : 1-604-525-8062 ***697*** Jat Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their daughter, 26 yrs. old, 5’-2.5” tall, American Citizen, Registered Nurse (RN).

The boy should be professionally educated.

Seattle (USA), Malwa (India) prefered. Please email recent picture and bio-data to: rurkaps08@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-206-391-8477 ***697*** Saraswat Brahmin family seek a suitable match for their son, 28 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, M.Tech.

Mechanical, College Professor in India. The girl should be educated, American/Canadian Immigrant or Citizen. Uncle is well settled in U.S.A. Caste No Bar. Please send your biodata and recent picture to: ashokkumar1955@hotmail.com Or Call : 1-408-960-9190 ***697*** Well settled Ramgarhia Sikh family seeks a professionally qualified match from Canada for their beautiful, fair daughter, 25 yrs. old, 5’-3” tall, Architect, P.R. Applied, based at Hyderabad India. Father retired Army Major & Businessman.

Please respond with bio-data and recent picture to: gurubani97@hotmail.com Or Call : 647-669-7997 ***697*** Punjabi Brahmin family seek a suitable match for their son, 28 yrs. old, 6’ tall, M.S. (Artho Doctor), working in Govt.

Hospital in India as a surgeon, wants to settle his own Business in Canada. The girl should be from Medical Profession, beautiful, Canadian Immigrant/Citizen atleast 5’-6” tall or above. Caste No Bar. Brother & Close relatives are well settled in Canada. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: mehta_tarun@yahoo.com Or Call : 647-282-9503 Or : 647347-3685 ***697*** Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their daughter, 33 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, U.S.A. born, beautiful, Degree in Accounting & Finance, working in her own field, family oriented. The boy should be atleast 6’ tall,

handsome, equally educated, preferably from Bay Area. The boy on HI Visa can be considred. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: balwindersaran2560@gmail.com Or Call : 1-408-849-1525 ***697*** Sikh Khatri parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 32 yrs. old, 5’-7” tall, teetotaller, working as software consultant in Wisconsin on H1B Visa. Green Card is in process. Looking for a family oriented educated girl.Please respond with bio-data and recent picture to: rktsp4554@yahoo.com Or Call : 1414-552-7913 ***697*** Sharma family seek a suitable match for their son, 34 yrs. old, 5'8'’ tall, fair, Masters degree in business and technology from University of Waterloo, Masters in computers applications from India, Canadian immigrant (PR), working as an I.T engineer in Tata Consultancy services / BMO in Toronto. The girl should be Canadian/American immigrant/ Citizen, well educated/qualified. The girl on student visa or work visa can also contact. Caste no bar. Please send your bio-data & recent picture to: aseemsharma27@gmail.com ***697*** Punjabi Sikh parents seeking a match for their Canadian born & raised, clean shaven son, 33 yrs. old, 6’-1” tall, handsome, Doctor M.D., completed internal Medicine residency & fellowship (Specialization), now working as a specialist in G.T.A. The girl should be resident Doctor/M.D. or Physician. Born & raised in Canada from Ontario, beautiful atleast 5’-6” tall with family values. Please send your bio-data and recent picture to: sm9058@ hotmail.com ***697*** Khatri parents seeking a suitable match for their daughter, 28 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, Amrican Citizen, professionally settled (Doctor) in her job. The boy should be American Citizen, well educated and well settled in job. Please Call : 1-347251-9112 ***697*** Prajapat parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter 25 yrs. old, 5’-2” tall, B.Sc. Nursing degree holder, working in govt. job in India, beautiful, family oriented. The boy should be American Citizen, educated and from a good family background. Close relatives well settled in America. Please Call : 1916-505-8907 Or : 011-91-9592925551Or Call: 1-408-476-0721 ***697***

Lady Helper White House Canada in Brampton, requires a Live-in lady helper. Hotel experience preferred but will train the suitable candidate. Must be available to stand, walk and bend for extended periods of time. Duties include making beds, dusting, cleaning bathroom, vacuuming, replenishing supplies, cooking and elderly care (1 hr. daily approx)

Pls. call

647-970-2665

Issue - 696 (11)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Former UK PM Cameron says fight against racism is never entirely won

New Delhi he rise of populist and extremist political forces in the West and racist attacks can be countered by addressing the concerns of the people who feel they did not benefit from globalisation, former British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Saturday.

Cameron acknowledged he had lost his job because of a “populist upsurge” in Britain, and said the struggle against racism and intolerance is “never entirely won” and has to be fought by every generation.

“I think the answer is you have to condemn the racism, the xenophobia, the discrimination, but you have to take away from the populists the mainstream issues that give them a proper platform,” he said at the second and final day of the 14th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Then, he said, “these people are left only with their unpleasant and discriminatory views”.

Cameron was responding to a question on how extreme

rightwing views were entering the political mainstream across the world, accompanied by a spike in attacks on minorities such as Indians.

Forces such as the UKIP, Swedish Democrats, Holland’s Party for Freedom and France’s National Party can be checkmated by addressing the

concerns of those “economically left behind”, along with concerns about “immigration and movement of people”, he said.

There was a spike in racist attacks and harassment of minorities after both the June 23 referendum that led to Britain’s exit from the European Union and Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Cameron quit after Britons voted to leave the EU. Despite these incidents, Cameron held up Britain as a successful example of a multicultural society.

“You can see role models in every aspect of British life, from India or Pakistan or East or West Africa or the Caribbean. I think we have a real claim to be a genuine multiracial success story,” he said.

Indian-origin woman reunites with family in France with help from Maneka Gandhi NEW DELHI A 35-year-old woman of Indian origin will be reunited with her adoptive parents in France for Christmas, thanks to Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi who intervened to facilitate her travel after some hiccups.The marketing manager, working in Chennai since 2014, had written to Gandhi seeking her help to get an NOC fromCentral Adoption

Resource Authority (CARA), required as an essential document to prove her Indian origin before being granted an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status.In her letter she had also expressed that she wanted to c e l e b r a t e Christmas with her family in France but wasn’t sure whether she would be able to go out of India as she only had a Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card but not an OCI card, according to a source.

Supreme Court rejects plea to play national anthem in courts

New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea filed by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay seeking playing of national anthem in all courts before the beginning of the proceedings.

A bench of justices comprising of Amitava Roy and Dipak Misra said that it is not inclined towards entertaining the plea of the BJP leader post Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said that the petitioner is required to file a proper application first.

“Whether right or wrong, our order should not be overstretched. Bar (referring to Upadhyay) should show some retrain,” the bench said.

Earlier on Friday, the BJP leader submitted the plea before the bench which had a few days ago made it compulsory for all the cinema halls to play national anthem before the beginning of a movie Along with this, the bench had also said that the people present in the hall must stand and exhibit respect.

In its November 30 order, the apex court had said that “love and respect for the motherland is reflected when one shows respect to the national anthem as well as to the national flag.

That apart, it would instill the feeling within one a sense committed patriotism and nationalism.”

AAP rebels’ group announces to contest all 117 seats in Punjab

UAE-based Indian teen wins prestigious children’s peace prize Hague An Indian schoolgirl based in the United Arab Emirates has won this year’s prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize for her fight to save the

their work and not bother about it,” Basu, born in Dubai to Indian parents, told AFP. “Do not stop what you’re doing.

No matter what happens, we have to continue to save the

planet.

Kehkashan Basu was presented the award by Bangladesh’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate and anti-poverty campaigner Mohammad Yunus at a glittering ceremony in The Hague.

Basu is an environmental activist fighting against climate justice and combating environmental degradation through her child-run organisation Green Hope, which now has more than 1,000 volunteers in 10 countries around the world.

“These are uncertain times, but I want to tell people to continue

planet.”

Inspired by her grandmother’s rooftop garden in Kolkata, the ambitious teen founded Green Hope at the age of 12 and within four years managed several successful environmental projects, including planting 5,000 trees in Colombia, France, Mexico, Nepal, Oman and the United States.

“What started as one young girl’s initiative is now a sizeable organisation... with a management team comprised entirely of children who even use their own pocket money to fund

their environmental activities,” said competition organisers KidsRights.

Apart from planting trees, Green Hope also focuses on activities such as cleaning up mangrove swamps around the UAE, said Basu, who hoped to draw special attention to the threats facing fragile coastal forests.

The prize is awarded annually “to a child who fights courageously for children’s rights,” KidsRights said. It also includes a 100,000 euro investment for projects in the winner’s home country.

Past winners include Pakistani education campaigner Malala Yousafzai and the prize’s first recipient, Nkosi Johnson, a South African boy who shone a light on the plight of children with HIV/AIDS.

Erection Problem?

416-992-5489

Jalandhar Accusing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of selling tickets to outsiders and tainted candidates, party rebel volunteers on Saturday decided to contest assembly polls on all 117 seats in Punjab against the AAP nominees.

“Earlier, we had decided to contest on 59 seats from where the AAP has fielded tainted and outsiders. But today, all volunteers were of the opinion that we should contest polls on all seats to expose the AAP and its claims of being an honest party,” said party rebel from Tarn Taran Harinder Singh Zira after a meeting of disgruntled AAP volunteers at Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall here.

The volunteers also adopted a few resolutions in which it was decided to bring all disgruntled AAP leaders, except former party Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, to “guide” them. “Except Chhotepur, the volunteers’ front was united in inviting Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, Fatehgarh Sahib MP Harinder Singh Khalsa, Dr Daljit Singh, Jassi Jasraj, Karamjit Singh and all others to guide the front in exposing the double standards of AAP national

convener Arvind Kejriwal and his team in allotting tickets. The political affairs committee will visit all these leaders appealing them to join us,” said Zira.

Accusing the AAP leadership of corruption, party volunteer Amarjit Singh Khalsa said: “A few days before the ticket allotment, party’s Jalandhar zone observer Rajiv Chaudhary said ticket would be given to those who could spend Rs 2 crore in elections. This was the party’s ploy to give ticket to Chandan Grewal, who joined party a day before the ticket allotment.”

However, Chaudhary denied the charges.Some volunteers alleged that the party asked its candidates to shell out at least Rs 40 lakh each for showing achievements of the Delhi government through LED screens, posters and the hoardings. “We had a notion that Kejriwal was not aware of the misdeeds of the party affairs incharge Sanjay Singh and organisational head Durgesh Pathak, but now it is clear how all this is being done at the behest of the party chief, just to keep Punjabi leadership at bay,” said another volunteer Bharpur Singh. Later, the volunteers burnt Kejriwal’s effigy..

Issue - 696 (12)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Rebuilding history Debate rages over lost Afghan Buddhas BAMIYAN For centuries they stood, two monumental ancient statues of Buddha carved into the cliffs of Bamiyan, loved and revered by generations of Afghans - only to be pulverised by the Taliban in an act of cultural genocide. It felt like the loss of family for many who live and tend their crops nearby - but some 15 years on they are hopeful these aweinspiring relics can be reconstructed.

But experts are divided on the value of rebuilding the artefacts, with some insisting it is more important to preserve the remains of the entire crumbling site. Archaeologists and restorers, mostly Afghan, German, Japanese and French, working in the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan will meet from December 1-3 in Munich, Germany. There they will try to move forward on the issue, as much a matter of the conservation of the UNESCO World Heritage Site as of the memories and culture of a brutalised community.

All Afghans, especially the peasants tending potatoes at the front of the cliffs, mourn the loss of the tutelary silhouettes - the largest, the Salsal, was 56 metres high; its feminine version, the Shamama, 38 metres. They were blasted in April 2001 by the Taliban, who had taken control of the province and killed thousands of Hazara civilians, a

Shiite Muslim minority in Bamiyan.

“For us, they were like parents,” said Hakim Safa, the 27-year-old representative from the Afghan culture ministry selling tickets at the site. “I feel as though I had lost family.”

“In the villages local people very much want the Buddhas to be rebuilt... They are always asking us, when will you be ready to begin?” says Rassoul Chojai, professor of archeology at the University of Bamiyan.

But the statues were so thoroughly destroyed that it is not even clear if they ever could be reconstructed.

UNESCO and the archaeologists have gathered fragments, a clutter of rocks and stones of various sizes. But the bulk of the monuments has simply vanished, reduced to dust.

“The destruction of the great Buddhas is total,” confirms Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (DAFA) and member of the committee for the preservation of Bamiyan which will meet in Germany. The cliff, he says,is “pierced with thousands of decorated caves, connected by stairs, corridors, used in the past by monks and hermits” until the slow arrival of Islam from the 8th to the 11th centuries. It was the Buddhist history of the area that the Taliban wanted to erase in the name of Islam, when they

China hikes tax on ‘super cars’ amid luxury crackdown

SHANGHAI/BEIJING China will impose an extra 10 percent tax on super cars and other luxury models costing 1.3 million yuan ($188,852) and above, in a bid to rein in lavish spending and to reduce emissions, the ministry of finance has said.

The new tax rate will potentially affect pricing for top of the range models from carmakers like BMW, Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz and Audi AG, as well as super high-end brands like Ferrari, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce.

Carmakers played down the impact, saying the tax hike would only impact a small number of models, while executives said wealthy Chinese buyers were unlikely

to be put off by a relatively marginal price hike on already expensive cars. China, spearheaded by President Xi Jinping, has been cracking down on ostentatious shows of wealth over the past few years, a drive that has hit domestic luxury sales from premium alcoholic spirits to handbags.

Beijing issued new rules saying top officials should cut down expensive travel and avoid owning fancy cars, the official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

The tax hike, effective from Thursday, also comes as prices of luxury cars have been falling steadily in China, in part due to consumer criticism that global car brands have been overcharging Chinese buyers.

blew the statues up in 2001.

The explosions left deep cracks along the niches, which over the years have expanded, weathered, the rock crumbling

designs and were painted,” says Ghula Reza.

German restorers, in favour of reconstructing the statues, have already rebuilt the feet of the

against the elements.

Greatly weakened the cliff threatens collapse, Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento adds.

“The focus for UNESCO is to preserve the remains of the statues,” said Ghula Reza Mohammadi, representative of the UN agency in Bamiyan.

UNESCO has reinforced the niche of the Shamama with the help of Japanese funding, and is now working on that of the Salsal, enmeshed in giant scaffolding.

“Since 2001, German researchers have also worked on protecting the wall murals - there are more than 4,000 caves in Bamiyan and all of them have

smaller Buddha, nearly ten metres long.

“We have some fragments of the original Buddhas,” says Bert Praxenthaler, a Bavarian art historian who has worked in Bamiyan since 2003.

“It would be a kind of statue with a lot of gaps and holes of course, but this is the first honourable approach to the history,” he argues. “If we have a really good funding, we could do it in a period of about five years.”

But why bother, wonders Bendezu-Sarmiento: “In history so much has disappeared yet we have still kept the memory, the Buddhas will remain in the collective memory even so,” he

says.

“Leaving aside nostalgia, the urgency is rather to prevent it from happening again,” he concluded, citing Palmyra, the Greco-Roman oasis in the Syrian desert devastated in 2015 by the Islamic State group.

The debate surrounding the Buddhas is not only technical, says Masanori Nagaoka, director of cultural heritage at UNESCO in Kabul, arguing that consideration must also be given to ethical, humanitarian and human rights points of view.

“Statues are not just a physical representation... they have meaning for people, to represent their history and their diversity of culture or in depth respect for religious dialogue.

“So if the reconstruction of the Buddha statues would contribute to revitalising such memories or dignity, this has to be (considered),” he added, describing a rebuild as a potential “contribution to a peaceful world.”

The debate will not be decided in Munich, where experts will simply agree on the work to preserve the site - or in Abu Dhabi, where Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will attend a separate conference on safeguarding cultural heritage this weekend.

But the question is already on the agenda of an international conference on Bamiyan next autumn in Tokyo.

Thailand’s new king makes first public appearance Bangkok Thailand’s new king on Friday made his first public appearance since ascending the throne the previous day, ending a period of uncertainty since the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, on Oct. 13.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, 64, took part in a merit-making ceremony at Bangkok’s Grand Palace to mark 50 days since his father’s death plunged the country into grief.

Civil servants dressed in black and white, the official colours of mourning, lined the streets to the palace as the new king’s convoy passed.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who was then the crown prince, surprised some when he asked to delay his succession following the death of his father, leaving the throne unoccupied for seven weeks.

His official taking of the throne, in a brief ceremony televised late on Thursday, ends that unprecedented interregnum while raising new questions about the palace’s relationship with the generals who have been in power since a 2014 coup.

The military government has made it clear it wants to oversee economic and political developments for years to come, even after a general election it has promised to hold in 2017.

Critics say a military-backed constitution, which will need the new king’s stamp of approval, will consolidate the army’s power, but financial analysts were upbeat about the outlook.

“Forget about Game-of-Thrones intrigue. With a new constitution in place and the royal succession behind, the conditions for institutional stability are in place,” Tim Condon, chief economist for Asia at ING in Singapore, said in a note.

“We blame its absence since 2013 for the dismal economic performance and we consider its return an important turning point.”

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has suffered over more than a decade of on-off political unrest stemming from confrontation between the old royalist establishment and new populist political forces.

Since taking power in 2014, the junta has struggled to revive an economy hobbled by weak exports and slack domestic demand.

“Thailand remains politically fragile and it remains to be seen how the new king will navigate uncertain waters,” a senior Western diplomat based in Bangkok, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy but the palace is one of its most influential institutions.

On a street near the Grand Palace, shops on Friday displayed gold-framed portraits of the new king alongside pictures of his father.

Criticism of the monarch, the regent or the heir, known by the French term lese majeste, is a crime that carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years in Thailand.

Issue - 696 (13)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

UK Parliament clears new surveillance law dubbed ‘snoopers’ charter’

Daying county Construction on the world’s first full-sized Titanic replica has started in China, a country with a well-documented fascination with the tale of the ill-fated ocean liner. The 300-meter (984-foot) vessel being built by the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Co. is scheduled for completion by the end of 2018 and will remain permanently docked as a tourist attraction in landlocked Sichuan province. Wuchang executives told a provincial newspaper that its liner will faithfully replicate the original Titanic, with a dining hall, theater, luxury first-class cabins and swimming pool.

The vessel, however, won’t be able to sail away from the reservoir near the hilly Sichuan

village where it’ll be docked although guests onboard will be able to dine and stay overnight.

The original Titanic sank in 1912 after striking an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people.

The 1997 film by James Cameron was one of the first foreign films to enter modern China and became such a massive hit that then-president Jiang Zemin reportedly recommended that the entire Communist Party Politburo see it .

The 2012 3D-remake broke box office records in China and to this day, a significant portion of Chinese of a certain generation can sing “My Heart Will Go On,” the Celine Dion theme song.

“Titanic” is a story of a poor young man and a rich girl, which more accords with Chinese

audiences’ taste. This kind of plot has a long history in the popular culture of China,” opined People’s Daily in 2012. The Communist Party’s official mouthpiece also urged China’s budding film industry to copy Cameron’s “professional spirit.”

To film his 1997 title, Cameron built and sank a replica constructed at a scale of 90 percent.Wuchang’s ship could be the first full-scale replica after recent reports emerged that Australian tycoon Clive Palmer’s plans to build a working replica, the Titanic II, have been delayed.

Wuchang, the shipbuilder, is owned by China’s central government and builds nuclear submarines, China Daily quoted an executive involved in the project as saying.

China court clears man executed 21 years ago for murder Shijiazhuang China’s top court on Friday cleared a man executed 21 years ago for murder more than a decade after another man confessed to the killing.

The case of Nie Shubin, who was 20 years old when he faced a firing squad in 1995 after being convicted of rape and murder, is the latest miscarriage of justice in the Communist-ruled country.

“The Supreme People’s Court believes that the facts used in the original trial were unclear and the evidence insufficient, and so changes the original sentence to one of innocence,” it said in a statement on a verified social media account.

Chinese courts have a conviction rate of 99.92 percent, and concerns over wrongful verdicts are fuelled by police reliance on forced confessions and the lack of effective defence in criminal trials.

Overseas rights groups say China executes more people than any other country, but Beijing does not give figures on the death penalty, regarding the statistics as state secrets.

Nie was convicted of raping and murdering a woman whose body was discovered by her father in a corn field on the outskirts of

Shijiazhuang city, in the northern province of Hebei.

But the time, method and motive for the murder could not be confirmed, and key documents related to witnesses and the defendant’s testimony were

missing, the supreme court said.

The “primary evidence was that Nie Shubin’s confession of guilt corroborated the other evidence”, but “there are doubts over the truth and legality of his confession of guilt”, the statement added.

Nie’s family had been campaigning for justice since a serial murderer arrested in 2005 confessed to the killing. But the case was only formally reopened in 2014.“Thanks to all those who helped on Nie Shubin’s case!” his mother, Zhang Huanzhi, 72, said on social media.

The Hebei high court, which convicted and executed Nie, “expressed deep, deep regrets” to his relatives and would investigate “possible illegal problems related to the trial” soon, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Thousands displaced for China’s huge telescope PINGTANG Humanity’s best bet at detecting aliens is a giant silver Chinese dish the size of 30 football fields - one that simultaneously showcases Beijing’s abilities to deploy cutting-edge technologies and ignore objectors’ rights as it seeks global prominence. The Fivehundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in the country’s southwest, which began operations in September and cost 1.2 billion yuan ($180 million) to build, is the world’s largest radio telescope. Once fully operational, FAST will be able to peer deeper into space than ever before, examining pulsars, dark matter and gravitational waves - and searching for signs of life.

Authorities also hope it will bring tourist dollars to the province of Guizhou, one of China’s poorest regions. But it comes at the cost of forcibly displacing about 9,000 villagers who called the site in Pingtang county their home.

Many were outraged at being forced to leave the valley surrounded by forested karst hills and hundreds of families are now suing the government, with some cases being heard this week.

Octogenarian Han Jingfu drank pesticide days after being made to sign a relocation contract and died at his front door, neighbours and relatives said. China built FAST as part of efforts to take

on international rivals and raise its embarrassingly low tally of Nobel Prizes, explained Peng Bo, director of China’s National Astronomical Observatories, which oversees the telescope.

The 500-metre-wide (1,640 feet) dish dwarfs its nearest competitor, the US’s Puerto Rico-based Arecibo telescope, which is only 305 metres across.

“We said we had to be a little more daring, because we had to surpass the US no matter what,” Peng said. “I think we can get a few Nobel prizes out of it. We as Chinese people really want to win them.”

The world’s most populous country and second-largest economy has so far only won one scientific Nobel, awarded last year to chemist Tu Youyou for medicine.

FAST’s receivers are more sensitive than any previous radio telescope, and its pioneering technology can change the shape of the dish to track celestial objects as the Earth rotates. It could catalogue as many pulsars in a year as had been found in the past 50, Peng said. But he acknowledged that FAST will be overtaken by the larger Square Kilometre Array telescope in South Africa and Australia, which will be built over the next decade.

FAST needs a five kilometrewide (three miles) “radio silence” buffer zone around it with

electronics banned in order to reduce interference with the sky’s much fainter frequencies.

Relocated residents would “enjoy better living standards”, the official Xinhua news agency

he told AFP, adding that authorities had “pushed ordinary people into a corner. It’s really unbelievable”.

A neighbour also surnamed Lu said: “They’ve chased us all off

said when the dish was completed in July.

“Villagers in nearby communities admired their luck, saying they should ‘thank the aliens’,” it added. But locals allege land grabs without compensation, forced demolitions and unlawful detentions, and up to 500 families are suing the Pingtang county government.

Lu Zhenglong, whose case was heard Tuesday, said officials demolished his house without warning or consent when he was not even present, burying his furniture. “What would have happened if I had been inside?”

to some wasteland and ordered us to live there with no way to maintain our old standards of living. For 90 percent of us, basic survival is a problem.”

The rubble of their homes now lies under soil and new saplings in a tourist park just outside the radio silence zone, with a museum, a space-themed hotel and visitor reception facilities which will sell tickets for nearly $100 each.

According to the Pingtang county government website, the park was aimed at “high-end people from developed cities” and cost over 1.5 billion yuan - more

than the telescope itself.

Meng Xiujun, whose Elites Law Firm in the southern city of Guangzhou is handling most of the cases, said officials tried to intimidate him, telling him he should “see the bigger picture for a key national project”.

But he told AFP: “This isn’t just a matter of economic interests once you start asking average citizens to kneel down or beat them, it becomes about human rights and problems with China’s rule of law.”

The Pingtang county government did not respond to requests for comment by AFP. Andreas Wicenec, head of data intensive astronomy at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research in Australia, said that FAST had “world class” potential and its engineering was “absolutely a marvel”.

Unusually, the FAST programme was “remarkably, extremely open” to outside collaboration, he said.

It was not clear how many tourists have visited the park since it opened - almost none were present when AFP visited recently.

But authorities have high hopes.

Along the roadside, governmentsponsored billboards emblazoned with the dish declared: “Rapidly build a unique astronomy tourism site based on ‘China’s eye to the sky’”.

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6 - 12 Dec., 2016

PM Modi serves langar at Golden Temple in Amritsar, offers prays at shrine Amritsar Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday took a heritage walk and visited the Golden Temple soon after arriving in this holy town to attend the Heart of Asia conference.

Modi and Ghani walked through the renovated heritage corridor before reaching Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, where a large number of people, waiting for hours, welcomed them.

The temple premise was decorated with lights and flowers and the two leaders were taken to various parts of the temple complex.

GHANI, MODI PRAY AT TEMPLE Ghani and Modi also offered prayers at the temple. They spent over 30 minutes braving cold weather.

Modi also served langar in

the community kitchen of the shrine as Ghani stayed along with him.

The two leaders were given a 24-carat gold replica of the Golden Temple and a set of five books besides a ‘siropa’ (robe of honour) and shawl.

Modi’s visit to the Golden

Temple is seen by some as an attempt to connect with the Sikh community ahead of elections in the state next year.

PM RECEIVED BY MJ AKBAR AT AIRPORT Earlier in the evening,

Ghani was received at the airport by Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar.

Ghani and Modi will jointly inaugurate the Heart of Asia Ministerial conference on Sunday.

They will also have a bilateral meeting during

which both sides are likely to finalise broad contours of a bilateral air cargo service pact to boost trade. In the meeting, Afghanistan is also likely to seek enhanced supply of military hardware from

Punjab ex-DGP among four cops acquitted in 1991 fake encounter case Rupnagar The sessions court in Rupnagar on Saturday acquitted former Punjab director general of police SK Sharma and three

Barnala police station on May 1. The SSP also said Kuldeep was wanted in many extortion, robbery and dacoity cases.

After a long legal battle,

other cops in a 25-year-old fake encounter case.

Sessions judge BS Sandhu gave benefit of doubt to the four accused, including then Morinda station house officer Balkar Singh, ex-deputy inspector general SPS Basra and former assistant sub-inspector Gurcharan Singh.

Amrali village resident Ajaib Singh had alleged that his son Kuldeep Singh was picked up by police on October 24, 1990, from Krishna Mandi area in Morinda.

On May 15, 1991, Ajaib Singh read a report in a newspaper wherein then Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) SK Sharma claimed that Kuldeep was killed in an encounter at Tholiwal village under the

charges were framed against the accused under section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (murder),201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 120B(criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code(IPC) on June 3,2014.

After the acquittal, Kuldeep’s relatives created a scene inside the courtroom and later raised slogans.

Ajaib said great injustice had been done to them, adding that they would appeal against the judgment in the high court.

He also demanded a judicial inquiry into the case. Kuldeep’s cousin Satwinder Pal Singh said

the police had given in writing to the human rights commission and United Nation agencies that Kuldeep was not wanted by them in any case. The acquittal is shocking, he added.

SK Sharma’s counsel Harmohan Singh Paul said no case was made out against his client, who was falsely implicated in the case. He said there was no evidence against Sharma.

Case files Oct 24, 1990: Rupnagar resident Kuldeep Singh kidnapped by unidentified persons from Morinda.

May 15, 1991:.Kuldeep’s father Ajaib Singh sees a newspaper report wherein then Patiala SSP SK Sharma says Kuldeep has been killed in an encounter with police on May 1, 1991. Police say Kuldeep was wanted in many extortion, robbery and dacoity cases.

March 14, 2002: Complaint filed against four cops SK Sharma, Balkar Singh, SPS Basra and Gurcharan Singh Aug 28, 2010: Rupnagar court summons accused June 3, 2014: Charges framed against the four accused for murder Dec 3, 2016: Sessions judge acquits the four accused for want of evidence

India in strengthening its armed forces.

Afghanistan has been trying to revamp its military to fight the resurgent Taliban after drawdown of NATO forces began nearly two years ago.

Last week, India had given to Afghanistan the last of the four military helicopters.

INDIA TRAINS AFGHAN SECURITY PERSONNEL India has trained hundreds of Afghan security personnel but has been adopting a cautious approach in providing weapons. Afghanistan has also been seeking India’s assistance in making functional Soviet-era helicopters and transport aircraft which were not in a flying condition and the issue may figure in Sunday’s talks. India and Afghanistan have also been exploring various connectivity projects for greater two-way trade and the issue may figure in talks. In May, India, Iran and Afghanistan had signed an agreement to set up a trade and transport corridor with Chabahar in Iran as the hub with an aim to develop a transit corridor.

Bilawal Bhutto to contest elections, says will be Pakistan PM in 2018: Reports

Islamabad Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has announced that he will contest elections from his mother’s constituency Larkana and aims to become the prime minister of Pakistan in 2018, according to media reports on Saturday.

Bilawal, the only son of assassinated former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, has said earlier he will contest byelections or general elections - whichever come first. At a Foundation Day gathering in Lahore on Saturday, Bilawal targeted Nawaz Sharif, saying that the prime minister did not know how to rule the country. “The time will come when PPP’s flag will hoist on houses of all chief

ministers, the prime minister and the president of Pakistan.”

“With your support, I will become Pakistan’s prime minister in 2018,” the 28year-old said.

Bilawal, who is the nominal chief of the PPP although his father Asif Ali Zardari wields real influence in the party became eligible to stand for elections only three years ago when he turned 25.

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6 - 12 Dec., 2016

WorksVinayak in bits & parts

IF Vidya Balan was looking for a big bang comeback in the wake of her recent slump, this isn’t it. Kahaani 2, though, has just about enough punch to keep her hardcore fans happy. The film does amply to exorcise the demons of consecutive duds she has had lately. Sujoy Ghosh has returned with a functional dose of suspense drama, which tapers down to a predictable ending after a superb first half build-up. Sujoy, who last wielded the megaphone for Kahaani in 2012, brings back the typical, deceptively quiet eeriness of the first film in this sequel.

Like the first film, Kahaani 2, too, uses a larger socio-cultural context to set up its thriller quotient. The narrative, however, is not as captivating as the first time. The filmmaker in fact has tried maintaining every formula that worked the first time.

Like Kahaani, the sequel wholly banks on weekend REVIEWS Vidya’s screen presence. Sujoy has given her a powerful

By

Chakravorty Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Jugal Hansraj, Manini Chadha Direction: Sujoy Ghosh

role once again and a fine prop cast including a smattering of talent from Bengali cinema — help maintain performance quality. Like the first film, the milieu is Bengal this time too. The story knits flashback with the present, moving between the Bengal smalltowns of

Chandan Nagar and scenic Kalimpong.

Like Kahaani, Sujoy uses maternal instincts this time too, to set up the drama, to manipulate audience emotion. If Kahaani convinced till the end Vidya Balan’s protagonist was pregnant, Kahaani 2 starts off with the actress playing Vidya Sinha, single mother of a paraplegic girl.

One day, Vidya returns from office to find her girl missing.

An anonymous caller demands a meeting if she must save her child.

Vidya sets off to meet her caller but has an accident on the way, which leaves her in a coma. Twist in the tale comes when the investigating officer (Arjun Rampal) identifies her as

Durga Rani Singh. Durga, it turns out, is wanted for the kidnapping of a child and murder in Kalimpong. Kahaani 2 does adequately while establishing its suspense quotient in the first hour. It needed tighter, smarter writing in the second half. Things become too obvious as clues unravel. If the film was meant to score by teasing you with guesswork, the climax lacks the necessary nuances. The film is a Vidya Balan vehicle, as promised all along, and the actress lives up her role.

She strikes the right amount of aggression and quietude. Every other cast member does sufficiently in roles that do not demand much. Kahaani 2 is a typical sequel, rehashing formula that worked the first time but not quite living up to the comparison.

Leaves a wicked aftertaste ‘WICKED’ would be a one-word review of Tisca Chopra’s debut short film as a producer. Chutney wastes no time in getting into the mood it sets out to serve, in its very opening scene. A typical Dilliwaala party is on, with the men talking — what else — all things naughty. The women are bitching — particularly about one of their lot who happens to be from heartland Ghaziabad and seems a little too simple. The woman in question is played by Tisca, aided by an obviously gifted make-up artist who transforms her imaginatively into a smalltown housewife. Her husband (Adil

Chutney (short film) Cast: Tisca Chopra, Adil Hussain, Rasika Duggal Direction: Jyoti Kapoor Das

Hussain) seems to enjoy doling out flirty nothings to a younger, definitely perkier lady (Rasika Duggal) at the bar, who seeks a few helpful tips from the wife on good cooking. She is invited to the couple’s home the next day.

Debutant director Jyoti Kapoor Das’ film unfolds as an engaging black comedy through its crisp runtime of

just below 17 minutes. The humour is subtle and blends well with a creepy note as the housewife reveals her secret recipe of the delicious chutney she has served the young lady guest with her plate of pakoras.

Chutney unfolds with Roald Dahl relish. It is witty, simply told and credibly acted out. Like chutney itself, the film leaves a tangy aftertaste once you have savoured it.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

Issue 696 (16)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

I don’t like anything about my job: Kangana Ranaut She may have bagged National awards and won a lot of acclaim for her work, but actress Kangana Ranaut has said she does not like “anything” about her job.

The 29-year-old actress said she does not like what she goes through while portraying different characters in her films.”I don’t like anything about my job, to be honest. I don’t like to meet these crazy people who I have to, as my characters. I don’t like the situations and circumstances my characters go through. I don’t like to emote to imaginary circumstances.”

“I don’t like to go in mud and water when it is zero degree.

Honestly I don’t like anything about my job.” When asked how does she deal with it, she quipped, “I remind myself

the bills that I have to pay.”

Kangana was in conversation with Manu Joseph at the Times LitFest in Mumbai.

The 29-year-old said when she is approaching a new character in a film, her process involves “sculpting” the imaginary person in front of her and conversing with her, before finally fully knowing the role.

The process, however, can be too taxing at times with the character almost overpowering the real self which can be dangerous for actors. “Actors need to bring about certain sensitivity by stimulating to situations which don’t exist, where you can almost behave mechanically to situations.

Like ‘action’ and you have to enact. Over a period, you can

grow to be emotionally unhealthy, or sensitive,” she added.

The Queen star recalls how she went through a very emotional process while shooting for Katti Batti. “When I was playing a cancer patient in Katti Batti, I was enacting my death scenes, I would cry all the time even for the smallest things. I had become so sensitive that I had to literally take care of myself, that it doesn’t affect my emotional and physical health.”

Kangana says, it is in this regard that if not an actress, she would rather be a director as soon as she can.

“I would rather be a director.

There is always that next step that you want to take, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot

(get) enough to unleash my creative forces where I already am. At some point I would like to (be a director), as soon as I can.”

When it comes to directing films, it’s First, let’s understand the meaning of quality over quantity for Ajay Devgn our National Anthem: Richa Chadha

Actor filmmaker Ajay Devgn does not believe in quantity, but quality of films. The 47-year-old directed his latest film, Shivaay, after a gap of eight years. He says he wouldn’t direct a project unless it “moves him”.

“Firstly, I was busy doing too many films between U, Me Aur Hum, (2008); his last directorial) and Shivaay. Then, whatever story I’m supposed to direct, should first have some kind of connection with me. With Shivaay, when I was writing it, I wanted to convey a thought. At that particular time, which was two years back, I was feeling a very strong emotion with children. That is the only form of unconditional love you will find and I wanted to explore something on those lines: the bond

between a parent and his child. In this case, between a father and his daughter,” he says.

“I still have that feeling. But about two years ago, I got the idea and I started writing down the thought.

It was woven into a simple story, but the way I designed it was pretty difficult to make. I wanted it to have a certain impact on the audiences,” adds Devgn. The film, however,

failed to make a mark at the box office. The actorfilmmaker insists that once the film is made, he doesn’t worry about the outcome. “I’m never scared about that. If anything, I am anxious to see how people react, and that’s it.”

For Shivaay, Devgn worked with 13-year-old British actor Abigail Eames and 28-year-old Polish actor Erika Karkuszewska. Casting, Devgn says, is very important. “It took me one year to crack the casting. If it’s a performance oriented script, then one should focus on the casting from the script’s point of view.

In this case, the script demanded foreign actors and that’s how we went ahead with Abigail and Erika,” says Devgn.

Hrithik Roshan is not holidaying in Singapore, it is just work Reports have been rife that Hithik Roshan recently left for a holiday in Singapore with ‘someone special’ as he was spotted leaving without his entourage. The actor’s team has denied the news and said that he was reportedly in the island city not to spend time with `someone special’ but for a business meeting with Hollywood executives.

Hrithik’s spokesperson said, “Hrithik visited Singapore three days ago purely for work. He was there to meet a team of executives from a Hollywood studio and had gone alone. He returned to India within a day, on Wednesday morning.”

On a related note, the 42-year-old actor is currently busy with promotions of Kaabil, opposite Yami Gautam that is set for a Republic Day weekend release along with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Raees.

Supreme Court’s recent order to make National Anthem mandatory before film screenings in theatres had Bollywood fraternity divided. While some supported and lauded the move, others called it ridiculous. Actor Richa Chadha , however, has a rather strong point to make. The 29-year-old actor feels it’s imperative that people first understand the meaning of the country’s anthem. “I think the Supreme Court should also pass a ruling that makes it compulsory for people to learn the meaning of the National Anthem. It is an anthem praising the beauty and people of India, all regions and people included. It doesn’t point any threat from an enemy, doesn’t say we will defend the country till we die, or that we must have a war.

It’s a positive anthem that lets people be. That should be the aim — to live and let live,” says Richa who has been a part of critically acclaimed films. Acting on a petition to list down things that amounts to abuse of the anthem, the SC said that when the National Anthem is played it is imperative for everyone to show honour and respect for it as it would instil

a sense of committed patriotism and nationalism in masses. When asked if such a ruling will make any significant difference to the thinking of masses, Richa asserts, “Yes. Standing up is a physical action, it won’t change how people feel. If we must, let’s investigate why people don’t feel like standing for the National Anthem. But first, let’s understand the meaning of the anthem we are standing up for.”

Salman Khan welcomes Ahan Shetty in Bollywood Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has congratulated Ahan Shetty, son of actor Suniel Shetty, for signing his first Bollywood film. Ahan will be launched by ace filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala and is currently preparing himself in acting.

“Ahan Looking good! I’m so happy, just heard you signed a film with Grandson @NGEMovies.

Welcome to the Indian film Industry,” Salman posted

on Twitter alongside Ahan’s photo.

Ahan’s sister Athiya was launched in Bollywood by Salman with the remake version of Hero last year.

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6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Why did Sylvester Stallone walk out of Godforsaken?

Hollywood ation star Sylvester Stallone has quit the STX

Entertainment action film Godforsaken, just two weeks before the production was set to begin. The 70-year-old actor was supposed to play an ex-con who

learns that his estranged son has been killed. He must then set out on a mission to protect his remaining family while also seeking vengeance against his son’s killers, reported The Wrap.

The shooting is scheduled to start in Atlanta on December 5.

Jim Mickle is set to direct the project with Lawrence Grey producing through his Grey Matter production banner.

Daniel Casey and Eric Heisserer are writing the screenplay. It is said that Stallone worked on it with Grey and the writers.

Who’s this mysterious man Amber Heard is cosying up to?

Actor Amber Heard, who had a public fall out with her former husband and actor Johnny Depp in 2016, was recently spotted cosying up to a mystery man outside a club.

After enjoying an evening with the man at the No Name Club, she coyly smiled as she hugged him outside, reports dailymail.co.uk.

She looked chic in a black jacket with a cream trim, skinny jeans and black heels.

She kept things coordinated with a plain white top and a black over-the-shoulder bag. The mystery companion wore a vintage brown leather jacket with blue jeans, a buttoned down yellow shirt and brown shoes.

I was pushed to my limits It will follow me to my on La La Land: Ryan Gosling grave: Helen Mirren on her ‘sex symbol’ tag

Actor Ryan Gosling said he had fun working on the musical La La Land with actress Emma Stone, but learning his lines, songs, dance routines and jazz piano was a lot to take in. The 36-yearold star has claimed he was pushed to his limits on the movie set to see what he was capable of, reported Femalefirst.

“Trying to fit the keytar into my schedule of things I had to learn was pretty funny.

But we were all being pushed to our limits to see what we were capable of. We worked for three months on, for instance, one number that happens at sunset where it starts as a scene, then it becomes a song, and then it’s a dance and then it’s a scene again and it all happens in one take,” Gosling said.

The scene was a homage to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers’s “Isn’t this a lovely day (to be caught in the rain)” routine from Top Hat, and Gosling loved getting

the chance to put a new spin on the iconic footage.

“That idea, just the clever nuance of the way Fred and Ginger’s characters were trying to make the best of a bad situation, we tried to subvert that lyrically in our scene. We tried to make the worst out of a good situation,” he said.

Veteran actor Helen Mirren feels she will be a sex symbol until the day she dies.

The 71-year-old feels people will always talk about her appearance, reported Us magazine.

“I think it’s probably going to follow me to my grave,” Mirren said.

The actor, who is in the seventh decade of her life, feels better now about life than she did when she was 25 years old. “The idea of dying young when you’re 25 is kind of cool - a bit romantic, like James Dean. But then you realise that life is too much fun to do that. It’s fascinating and wonderful and emotional... So you

Amy Schumer to star in a Barbie movie that’ll address body image issues

Tilda Swinton dislikes Harry Potter as it romanticises cruel boarding schools

When Matthew McConaughey gave lift to Texas University students Tilda Swinton says she does not like Harry Potter movies as they romanticise “cruel boarding school”.

The Doctor Strange actor feels separating children from their parents could be harmful rather than beneficial, reported Digital Spy. “I think they are a very cruel setting in which to grow up and I don’t feel children benefit from that type of education. “Children need their parents. That’s why I dislike films like Harry Potter, which tend to romanticise such places,” Swinton, 56, said.

just have to find a way of negotiating getting old psychologically and physically. “The best thing about being over 70 is being over 70. Certainly when I was 45, the idea of being 70 was like ‘Arghhh!’

Matthew McConaughey surprised some lucky students of his alma mater, the University of Texas, by giving them a lift in a golf cart. The actor, who attended a football match of his alma mater, hung around campus post match.

He was participating in the University’s SURE Walk programme, which offers free rides to students heading home after a late night, reported the Entertainment Weekly.

“Longhorns take care of each other, and it’s ‘safe’ to say Matthew McConaughey agrees. Don’t forget to use SURE Walk when traveling home late at night; you never know who might pick you up! #BeSafe #SafeChats,” The University of Texas Student Government posted with a picture of the actor sitting on the driver’s seat.

Actor Amy Schumer is in early talks to star in upcoming live-action Barbie film.

The original idea and screenplay has been written by Hilary Winston, although it is expected that Schumer and her sister, Kim Caramele, will rewrite it for the film, reports variety.com.

The story is in the vein of body swap movies Splash, Enchanted and Big. In the film, the main character gets kicked out of Barbieland for not being perfect enough and lands in a real-

world adventure.

Barbie is a global brand power house with sales of over $3 billion dollars worldwide. Barbie has taken on more than 150 roles through her more than 50 years as a doll, including princess, president, mermaid and movie star.

The film will set to release in summer 2018.

Schumer was last seen in Trainwreck. She can be seen next in the currently untitled motherdaughter comedy with Goldie Hawn.

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6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Indian-origin Oxford graduate sues university for £1m over boring teaching

London An Indian-origin Oxford graduate has sued the university for £1m claiming the “appallingly bad” and “boring” teaching resulted in him getting a second class degree and in turn led to loss of earnings during his career as a lawyer.

Faiz Siddiqui, 38, studied modern history at Brasenose College at the university and

accuses its staff of “negligent” teaching of his specialist subject course on Indian imperial history, which led to him getting a 2:1 back in 2000, the High Court in London heard this week.

A judgement is expected later this month.

Siddiqui’s barrister Roger Mallalieu told the judge that the problem came down to four of the seven staff teaching Asian history being on sabbatical leave at the same time during the 1999-2000 academic year, The Sunday Times reported.

Siddiqui

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believes he could have had a high-flying career as an international commercial lawyer if he had not got lower grades.

He singled out the “boring” standard of tuition that Siddiqui had received from David Washbrook, an expert on the history of southern India between the 18th and 20th centuries.

Mallalieu claimed that the eminent historian’s teaching had suffered from the “intolerable” pressure of the staff shortages on the course.

“There is no personal criticism of Washbrook. Our target is on the university’s back for allowing this to happen,” Mallalieu told the court. Siddiqui, who trained as a solicitor after college, suffers from depression and insomnia, which he links to his “disappointing examination results”, and has said he has a “fundamental inability to hold down any professional day job for any significant length of time”.

Oxford University argues that the claim is baseless and should be struck out because of the number of years that have passed since Siddiqui graduated.

Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa dies at 68, to be cremated at MGR’s memorial site

Tens of hundreds of mourners started filing past the flowerbedecked body of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa early Tuesday as Tamil Nadu mourned the death of one of its most popular and charismatic leaders who passed away overnight at the age of 68.

Draped in the Tricolour, the body of the AIADMK leader was kept at the Rajaji Hall, a British-era building in Chennai, where tearyeyed people paid homage to the six-time chief minister.

The government said the cremation of Jayalalithaa – popularly known as “Amma” — will take place at 4.30 pm near the iconic Marina beach, at the memorial site of her mentor and former chief minister MG Ramachandran.

The state government

declared a seven-day mourning period beginning Tuesday.

Schools, colleges, offices and businesses were to be closed for the next three days, which have been designated a public holiday in the state.

Jayalalithaa will be accorded a state funeral. Flags will be flown at half mast. The Centre has declared a one-day mourning at the chief minister’s demise.

Draped in her favourite green colour saree, Jayalalithaa’s body was taken from her Poes Garden residence to Rajaji Hall where hundreds and thousands of supporters queued up to have a last glimpse of the powerful leader, nicknamed ‘Puratchi Thalaivi’ (revolutionary leader).

As the casket carrying the body was placed on the steps of Rajaji Hall, in the heart of the city off arterial Anna Salai, four armymen covered it with the Tricolour.

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Issue 696 (19)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Cornered Sartaj says don’t blame only Pak Amritsar and New Delhi National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had a clear message for Pakistan Prime Minister’s advisor on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, as the two met briefly on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia summit in Amritsar: walk the talk against terrorism. A source close to Doval told MAIL TODAY, “Our message to Pakistan is that whatever they say they do to counter terror activities should also be followed by action on ground against groups spreading terror in India.” According to sources, India maintained that it is ready to start a dialogue on terrorism, but for that to happen, Pakistan will first have to take action against the terror groups operating from within the country.

The tough talk heard on the sidelines was also backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the sixth edition of the summit, as 40 countries, including major regional and global powers and blocs, passed the Amritsar Declaration after two days of deliberations. Pakistan was cornered as the declaration called for dismantling of terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens in the region, as well as disrupting all financial, tactical and logistical support for terror networks. India was joined by Afghanistan, which is chairing the meet, as its President minced no words at the inaugural session. Delivering a hard hitting address Ghani accused Pakistan of being the root cause of terror in the region.

“Despite our intense engagement with Pakistan on bilateral and multilateral basis, the undeclared war – the name that I gave to the phenomenon in the winter 2014 – not only has not abated but also intensified during 2016, with special intensity right after the Brussels Conference,” Ghani said. “The response of the states has been fragmented and some still provide sanctuary and support or tolerate these networks. As Mr. Kakazada, one of the key figures in the Taliban movement recently said, if they did not have sanctuary in Pakistan, they would not last a month,” he

added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi then underlined terrorism and ‘externally induced instability’ as gravest threat to Afghanistan’s peace, stability and prosperity that endangers the entire region.

“Support for voices of peace in Afghanistan alone is not enough.

It must be backed by resolute action. Not just against forces of terrorism, but also against those who support, shelter, train and finance them. Silence and inaction against terrorism in Afghanistan and our region will only embolden terrorists and their masters,” Modi said in his speech.

Pakistan though remained defiant in its response. At the ministerial session, Sartaj Aziz, the first veteran Pakistani leader to visit India in months following derailed bilateral talks and recent escalation at the LoC, refuted the allegations. “The security situation in Afghanistan is very complex. It is simplistic to blame only one country for the recent upsurge in violence. We need to have an objective and holistic view,” Aziz responded. The Amritsar declaration unveiled at the end of the conference also came down

hard on Pakistan without naming it though. But all the terror outfits operating out of Pakistani soil were named in a more hard hitting joint document compared to the previous declarations. “We remain concerned by the gravity of the security situation in Afghanistan in particular and the region and the high level of violence caused by the Taliban, terrorist groups including ISIL/ DAISH and its affiliates, the Haqqani Network, Al Qaida, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, Lashkar-eTaiba, Jaish-eMohammad, TTP,

Jamaat-ulAhrar, Jundullah and other foreign terrorist fighters,” para 14 of the 33 para declaration read.

Meanwhile, India and Afghanistan held bilateral talks following Sartaj Aziz’s meeting with Ghani on Sunday morning ahead of the conference. A statement released by the Indian External Affairs Ministry said, “The two leaders agreed to strengthen counter terror cooperation and enhance coordination at the UN and other relevant fora.” India also pledged one billion for capacity building, skill and infrastructure development.

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Money launderers in a holy garb tap international hawala channels

TEMPLES ANSWER PRAYERS OF BLACK MONEY HOARDERS Ghaziabad IT’S A sordid scandal involving hawala and secretive money transfers by spiritual leaders and priests of popular centres of faith, in a rare spotlight on financial malpractices at religious institutions. As part of a series of stories exposing cash mafias following the November 8 ban on highdenomination banknotes, India Today TV’s special investigation team found several avowed holy men and women blackmarketing illicit wealth for hefty commissions. The government decision has tested the ingenuity of cash hoarders as they rush to save their dirty money accumulated without paying taxes. At the Vaishno temple in Ghaziabad near Delhi, its revered head, Radha Mata, quickly activated hawala operators when the undercover reporters approached her for the swap of fictitious unaccounted money.

Radha Mata, who draws the faithful faithful from as far as southern India, offered exchange of the outlawed notes from banks at half their original value of ‘2.5 crore. “Son, that bank person will take 50 per cent (commission) and will provide all services at your doorstep,” she told the reporter, who was posing as a holder of black money.

“He’ll give you new notes. You can also take a cheque.” Her shady network appeared to be transnational as she also suggested payments through international hawala channels. “You’ll get dollars wherever you want,” claimed Radha Mata. “Can they give the money to me in Dubai?” asked the reporter. “Yes,” she replied. “Take it in Dubai, Canada or England.” In no time, Radha

Mata called in a broker, who arrived in a UP government car. Surendra Sharma, the hawala middleman, proposed to transfer the cash in Dubai at a premium price of ‘125 per dollar. Secret remittances of corrupt wealth by spiritual gurus like Radha Mata is just one side of the story. The investigation also dredged up the other - sacred shrines short-changing invalid currency. In the ancient temple town of Mathura, several religious officials were

found to be replacing scrapped banknotes clandestinely for huge cuts. Anirudh, a priest at the Vrindavan Bihari temple, readily agreed to manipulate accounts to show black money as donation in back date. “It doesn’t matter even if you give black money to us. I’ll show it in accounts and it will be deposited,” he said. He then introduced India Today TV’s reporters with Ram Guru, the chief of the temple trust, for a firm deal.

Ram Guru quoted a 35 per cent commission

for the conversion, saying he could pay up to 25 lakh rupees in legal notes immediately for ‘1 crore in black. “You’ll get Rs 65 for every 100,” he said. But rates for bartering the tax loot varied from temple to temple. After a bargain, Sudha Bhardwaj, the head of Delhi’s Siddha Peeth Kalka shrine, guaranteed up to 50 per cent in legal tender. “We’ll pay you 40 per cent back and the 60 per cent will go into our trust,” she said before settling on a 50/50 share. “You’ll get all of it in new notes.” Next, India Today TV’s crews met a member of the Sai temple near Noida’s Atta market, who demanded a 40 per cent commission for the interchange. “We’ll initially deal in Rs 5-10 lakh,” said Manoj Paudwal, the temple member. “We have a month’s time. We’ll do whatever can be done in this period.”

Paudwal promised the exchange in new banknotes. “Brother, it will cost you 40 per cent,” he said.

BJP walks the cashless talk by training cadre New Delhi FOR the BJP, long journey towards a cashless society has begun with a single step and this first step has been taken in its own backyard. The party has designed a detailed plan to educate its own cadre and activists to use cashless modes of transactions. This educating spree goes will start from the booth level. BJP’s national head of IT and Communications, Amit Malviya said that if the government says that we need to embrace digital economy, then

the practice must start first at home with the cadre, activists and those who sympathise with the party. “As part of this exercise, BJP has embarked on a massive education programme. We have held several meetings across the country through various means such as contacting the state cadre via video conferencing to educate them to start using cashless modes,” he said.

According to the party, the mode of dissemination has been the usual “trickle down” mode: educative sessions

are being held at the national level where cadre from the states is being taught along with the staff of the party and those who have a daily association with the party office. The cadre then moves to their respective states and teach there, which in turn goes to the grassroots level of the booths. Another distinguishing feature is that it is being customized for those who are being taught. “We are trimming the education according to the need of the people who we are teaching,” he said.

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s to exchange old notes with new ones, foreign currency

27 bankers suspended after ‘5.7cr cash haul

CHINA OFFERS HELP TO TACKLE FAKE NOTE MENACE

Beijing CHINA said on Friday it would like to strengthen cooperation with India to make a common effort to fight “the cancer of corruption”, in the wake of the demonetisation move. India and China are looking to set up a joint working group on fake currency. Hong Kong has emerged as a key route for funnelling Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) into India, with the recent arrest of a Pakistani national in Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, triggering alarm bells. India has asked China to crack down on the racket. China is also battling a graft problem and attempting to recover illgotten assets, with a corruption crackdown a priority for the Xi Jinping government. On the demonetisation measure, the Chinese foreign ministry told India Today that its embassy in Delhi had reminded its citizens in India to pay attention to the new measures to protect “their legitimate rights and interests”. While Beijing said it would not comment on the merits of the move since it was an internal matter for the Indian government, at the same time it was keen to deepen cooperation with India on the issue of battling corruption. “We have noticed that India has introduced currency reform recently. I will not comment on this since it is India’s internal affair,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told India

Today on Friday. “Considering there are many Chinese citizens in India, Chinese Embassy in India has, in order to ensure their legitimate rights and interests, released a consular notice to remind them to pay attention to Indian government’s announcements and to deposit or exchange the older currency at the bank in time.” Geng said Beijing was keen to make “common efforts” with India on the corruption issue.

“In terms of anti-corruption cooperation, we would like to strengthen cooperation with all parties, India included, and make common efforts to eliminate the cancer of corruption,” he said. China’s top security czar Meng Jianzhu was visiting Delhi on the day of the announcement of the demonetisation measure, and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 9. Both sides discussed the problem of fake currency during the visit, including Hong Kong’s emergence as a key gateway for funneling Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) into India. Home Minister Rajnath Singh raised with Meng the arrest of a Pakistani national in Guangzhou with fake notes and “asked Beijing to clamp down on Pakistan’s nefarious designs to smuggle fake Indian currency into India through China”. Both sides also discussed setting up a joint work group to deal with FICN and setting up a 24x7 hotline to exchange information.

New Delhi THE government has suspended as many as 27 officials of various public sector banks and another six officers have been transferred to non-sensitive posts for irregular transactions that include helping black money hoarders to launder their cash. “While all efforts are being made to facilitate genuine transactions, illegalities will not be tolerated and appropriate action will be taken against individuals involved in irregular and unauthorised activities,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The Income Tax Department has seized a huge cache of `5.7 crore in new currency notes as part of unaccounted income found in the raids for which the role of some bankers is also being investigated. I-T officials said the cash found, after searches were launched on Thursday in Bengaluru on the premises of two engineers, working with the state government, and two contractors has risen to `5.7 crore and these notes are in the denomination of the newly introduced currency of ` 2,000. A senior I-T department official said at a time when there is a acute shortage of cash such a large volume of new currency notes cannot be obtained without the connivance of bank officials. In fact the huge pile of new currency notes had come as surprise to the tax authorities at a time when new notes are not available to the public which is queueing up to withdraw even small amounts from their accounts, a senior official remarked. Both the I-T department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), along with other enforcement agencies and police, are undertaking these operations after reports of instances of illegal exchange of old currency and stashing of new currency notes to perpetrate hawala and money laundering like activities. Two days ago, the ED had seized Rs 10 lakh cash in

new notes of Rs 2,000 from the premises of a Kolkata-based doctor. ED had conducted nationwide search operations yesterday at 40 locations and seized about Rs 1 crore in new notes. A manager and a cashier of a public sector bank were arrested at Bhatinda in Punjab on Friday for allegedly charging money for replacing demonetised currency notes which shows that some unscrupulous bank staff are exploiting the situation, a senior official said. The Income Tax Department said it detected unaccounted income worth Rs 152 crore after it conducted searches in a dozen premises in Bengaluru and other locations. The department also recovered 7 kg bullion and jewellery weighing 9 kg, worth Rs 5 crore, after these operations.

About 90 lakh has been found in the old demonestised currency. In addition, several property documents were also found and seized. A team of over 50 I-T sleuths and police personnel had launched operations yesterday and searched premises in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode in Tamil Nadu. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policymaking body of the tax department, had said in a statement here yesterday that: the new notes and bullion are learnt to have been obtained by exchange of demonetised notes by payment of commission of an engineer and a contractor. The tax sleuths had also seized some notes of Rs 100, demonetised notes of Rs 500 and a few gold biscuits during the operation, they said, adding the department had to call in note counting machines and additional staff to ascertain the value of the cash. What had surprised the tax authorities is the sheer amount of new currency stashed by these individuals at a time when new notes are not available to the common public which is queueing up to withdraw even small amounts from their accounts.

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Sheila Dikshit’s daughter faces attack, 3 held

New Delhi Delhi Police have arrested three persons for trying to barge into the house of Latika Dikshit, the daughter of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. An FIR has been registered at Barakhamba Road police station. The complaint alleged that Latika’s estranged husband Imran had sent the men to threaten her. Imran was recently arrested by the Delhi Police from Bengaluru on charges of cheating and theft. He is currently out on bail. Latika’s friend Shashi Kant Sharma lodged a complaint alleging that seven men had assembled outside Latika’s apartment on Hailey Road and two of them chased him on a bike till Khan Market on the night of November 17. Sharma, a member of Delhi youth congress and grand son of former MLA Tek Chand Sharma, along with his friend Manish Chaudhary, had left Latika’s Upasna apartment around 11.30pm when he noticed people outside the apartment.

“Two of the strangers started following our car on a motorbike

while the remaining stayed there. They followed us till Khan Market when we realized that Latika faced a threat from them. We immediately returned to Upasna Apartment. In the meantime, we informed Delhi police. On reaching there, three of them escaped from there in a Toyota Etios car,” Sharma said in his complaint. One of the accused failed to get inside the car and was apprehended by police. Later, two more accused were arrested. He also alleged that Latika’s husband Syed Mohammad Imran was behind the incident.

Sharma also claimed that Imran’s men tried to hold him and another friend Manish during a hearing in the Patiala house court. The FIR said that Latika overheard some unknown persons asking about her address outside her flat.

When contacted, an official of Barakhambha Road police station confirmed that FIR has been registered under sections 451 (House-trespass in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy) of IPC and arrested three accused. Delhi police has also seized a car and two motorbikes. “We cannot share further investigation details in this matter until rest of the accused are apprehended. Sharma and Latika also requested for police protection for themselves and strong action against accused,” the official said.

NIA scans Zakir’s terrorist fanboys

New Delhi THE recent arrest of five terror suspects of the al-Qaida-inspired terror module by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a shot in the arm as various security agencies had failed to arrest them for nine months. The group had orchestrated five blasts in five locations across south India since April this year. The terror module had stayed away from the internet and mobile phones, but a slip up by 23-year-old techie Dawood Suleiman helped the police to crack the terror conspiracy. A BTech, Suleiman was arrested in Chennai where he worked as a system analysts in an IT firm. To stay undetected by the security agencies, he had requested a female colleague to procure an explosive for a “science project”.

In good faith the woman approached her NIA scans Zakir’s terrorist fanboys father, who procured the explosive which was then used as a filament in the bomb blasts. Both the father and the daughter were questioned by

France’s Hollande throws in the towel Francois Hollande on Thursday night became the first French president in recent history to say he will not seek a second term of office. In a colossal admission of failure, the embattled 62-year-old Socialist went on live television to say: “I’ve decided not to be a candidate to renew my mandate.” Mr Hollande, who according to various polls is by far the most unpopular head of state since the Second World War, said he had ‘only just come to the decision’.

It follows more than four years of economic failure, including strikes and violent demonstrations.

Hollande also faced ridicule in office when he effectively ‘sacked’ his first lady girlfriend, Valerie Trierweiler, and replaced her with a secret lover - TV actress, Julie Gayet. The rotund president had been using a moped and two security guards to enjoy trysts with Ms Gayet at a flat close to the Elysee Palace. A new poll on Wednesday predicted Mr Hollande would win just seven percent of votes if he stood in the first round of next May’s presidential election. This means he is viewed a lame duck by his own party, prompting leadership challenges from a number of colleagues. Last Sunday Francois Fillon, the former prime minister, emerged as the Republican Party candidate who will fight for the presidency.

He is already being described as a ‘French Margaret Thatcher’ who will aim to replace socialism with tax cuts and longer working hours.

Fillon also wants to sack up to 500,000 civil servants, and smash the trade unions who have been behind so much industrial action under Hollande. During this victory speech, Mr Fillon described Mr Hollande’s presidency as ‘pathetic’ - a word that was echoed in an editorial in Le Monde. It said that the Socialists risked tearing themselves apart and “the person who is most responsible is Francois Hollande, who has not given a meaning to his time in office, occupied the job with authority or imposed himself as the legitimate candidate for his party.”

Hollande came to office in 2012 promising to be a ‘Mr Normal’ after five years of rule by the flamboyant Nicolas Sarkozy, who married supermodel Carla Bruni in office, and was seen as a friend of the super rich. But Hollande’s presidency was anything but normal. Beyond the economic problems, there were three major Islamist terror attacks. Marine Le Pen’s National Front is also now challenging for power, showing just how much the Right has flourished under Mr Hollande’s weak leadership. Hollande’s withdrawal from the 2017 contest leaves the field open for the divided Socialists, who begin accepting candidates for president on Thursday for a party primary race due on January 22nd and 29th. Arnaud Montebourg, a leftist former economy minister, has already submitted his name while ambitious Prime Minister Manuel Valls would also be expected to run.

the security agency; they will be made witnesses in the case.

Investigations have revealed that Suleiman used WhatsApp to send messages to this colleague.

During investigation, it was found that Suleiman was using controversial televangelist Zakir Naik’s photograph as his WhatsApp profile picture. The conversations between Suleiman and his colleague, and the use of Naik;s photograph will be used as evidence against him.

According to investigators, Suleiman will be questioned about his possible link with Naik.

So far many terror suspects, who have been arrested, named Naik as their inspiration. Abu Anas, a key accused in the ISIS terror module case, told the

investigating agency that he had received three scholarships amounting to `1.5 lakh from the Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation. NIA has already registered a case against Naik under sections 10, 13, 18 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section 153A of the Indian Penal Code in a separate case. Suleiman was earlier part of group formed by N Abbas Ali — a painter in Madurai city who brainwashed three others to form the terror module. Later, Suleiman took over the reins. He used his tech skills to draft threat messages against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and various foreign countries that were stored in a pen drive which was recovered from the blast site.

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SC stands up for national anthem GIVING the nation a surprise lesson on patriotism and nationalism, Justice Dipak Misra of the Supreme Court on Wednesday said it is time the people expressed their love for the motherland. He ordered all cinema halls across the country to play the national anthem before the screening of films and said cine-goers are “duty bound” to show respect by standing while the anthem is being played. The 63-yearold judge hailing from Odisha said cinema halls should also display the national flag on screen when the anthem is played. Justice Misra also ordered that doors of the movie halls should be closed before playing the anthem “so that no one can cause any disturbance”.

The Supreme Court’s directions immediately went viral on the social media. Many who took to Facebook and Twitter were, however, divided in their opinion with several of them questioning if “patriotism can be forced down anybody’s throat”.

“The directions are issued for love for the motherland. Respect to national anthem as well as the national flag is essential for it. That apart, it would instill the feeling within one, a sense committed to patriotism and nationalism. Let it be stated, a time has come that the citizens of the country must realise that they live in a nation and should express their love for their motherland,” Justice Misra said while hearing a PIL filed by Bhopal resident Shyam Narayan Chouskey on the issue. The Bench said it wanted to lay down specific guidelines on showing respect to the national anthem and the flag and

prevent its commercial use. It sought the assistance of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi in this regard. It said that the order should be distributed to chief secretaries of states and Union Territories and be widely published by the electronic and print media so that “people wake up to see the order in its letter and spirit”.

The court said the directions should be implemented within a week. As the PIL complained of misuse of the anthem in TV shows or movies, the court also ruled that it should not be commercially exploited or dramatised.

It was mandatory for cinema halls to play the national anthem after every movie in the 1960s. The practice faded away over the years, as multiplexes dramatically changed the movie-watching experience.

In 2003, Maharashtra had ordered that the anthem has to be played before the screening of any film.

How other countries treat their anthems United States of America: When the anthem played, whether or not the American flag is displayed, all individuals should face the flag/ the source of music and stand at attention with the right hand over their hearts. But the US does not discipline its citizens for failing to stand up.

Italy: The anthem not played at schools or other public places, except during sporting events, at formal state ceremonies and at public rallies attended by the President. No one is required to sing along or behave in some particular way while the national anthem is being played. However, Italians are required

to stand and show respect to any national anthem.

Japan: No provisions for usage and treatment of the symbol. Each city is free to make their own regulations regarding the national anthem.

Mexico: All schools and universities are supposed to honour the flag on Monday mornings, and the beginning and end of school terms. Honouring the flag involves a pledge and the national anthem. At many schools children are expecting to wear a different uniform on Monday, generally all white, out of respect for the flag and anthem. Teachers walk around to check whether the children are actually singing.

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You are enthused with courage to stand up for values and priorities in personal relationships and demand space in work situations this week. You feel unburdened, free and happy and opt for freedom in relationships and expression of individuality in professional aspects. A new opportunity allows you to expand your horizons. Travel and movement give you a sense of release and respite from routines and patterns. You delegate responsibility and allow others around you to flower and grow to their potential. You are not likely to conform to patterns.

Unexpected happenings and happy surprises liven up activities and routines at work and at home this week.

Professional changes prove to be fortunate for you as you move up the ladder of success. Visitors and news from overseas can open new vistas for expansion. Professional projects, which have been stuck, finally start moving ahead. Personal relationships are moving ahead steadily into lasting commitments. Physical problems or handicaps are overcome. Your confidence is restored as you are supported and loved by people who are important in your life.

You perfect and complete an important professional project or assignment this week after a period of strife and labour. It’s a lucky time as business matters are settled and conflicts are resolved to your satisfaction. A clever and subtle approach is needed to tackle a difficult and sensitive situation in the family. Personal relationships are loving and supportive. Hurried actions and judgments can lead to chaos and confusion, be patient and persevering. It’s best to tie up loose ends, complete unfinished business and be ready to take up new opportunities.

You achieve professional goals by applying your intelligence and management skills this week. You have a lot of emotions in your heart and ideas in your head that you keep hidden for now, to be exposed when the time is right. Listen to your wisdom and be prudent about your plans lest others block you. A beloved supports you and you need to show your appreciation. Your creativity flowers and potential actualizes in a project that starts at the end of the week. Health, finances and relationships should not be taken for granted.

Avoid going to extremes in all areas of life.

New concepts and ideas are appreciated and circulated in the work area as management goals and schedules change. A more relaxed atmosphere encourages progress and growth. You actualize some of your potential in the field of art, theatre, music or media. A new approach to the same old problem can be the ultimate solution. It’s a good time to make changes at home and at work to bring fresh energy and ambiance. Your social life is enviable as you make new connections and meet interesting personalities. Start afresh when things get heavy or confused in relationships.

You combine duality within and outside to strike a special note in professional and personal situations! You may be thrown temporarily by new situations and people but you recover very swiftly. Personal relationships, business collaborations and partnerships are wonderful and supportive but vulnerable so be aware. You are likely to be involved in creative and arty pursuits.

You achieve aims and goals with integrated support and a positive approach. You meet and connect with special people with extraordinary gifts and abilities. In depth study of your subject takes you to higher aspects and creative levels.

Love, romance and celebration this week changes your mood to a happy one after a period of frustration. It’s best to be practical and realistic at this point as great ideas and expectations in which you invest time and energy do not actualize according to plan.

Disruption in the work area is temporary. There is duality and division as you deal with two situations at the same time. Over analyzing professional situations and personal relationships only causes stress and conflict.

Your heart gives you the best answers and your intuition reveals uncanny insights.

You go forward progressively in personal and professional aspects this week. A major change is on the cards as you look at new opportunities and relationships. A residential move or change of work place is likely. Some of your business and personal plans are about to be actualized.

Spiritual growth and awareness lead to new attitudes, priorities and values. It’s best to move independently for now and then others join you in your march towards freedom and progress. You are family oriented, as well as, individualistic when making plans for the future.

You are ambitious and ready to achieve professional goals and targets this week! Negative forces and destructive people can block creative business ventures so keep them at bay with diplomacy and tact. You are receptive to new people and connections. Spiritual pursuit and meditation can be transforming. You grow and transform as you pass through a touching emotional experience with your partner. Beware of a clever person in the family who involves you in an argument and repeats your remarks out of context.

Stay away from competitive, jealous and destructive people who undermine your confidence.

Multifarious activity and personal relationships are likely to keep you busy and involved this week. Your intuition about personal relationships leads to deep understanding and commitment. Your inner strength and wisdom take you in a positive and progressive direction. Business projects and commercial transactions are completed successfully at this point. You are likely to play three different roles in your life and gain from them if you keep them independent of each other.

You need not get identified with any of them but view them from a higher perspective.

You are greeted with love and happiness, which is reflected in intimate personal relationships. You experience intense joy and ecstasy in a romantic involvement. Warm friendships are cheering as you share interests, hospitality and celebrate memorable events together. A brief vacation or pleasure trip is on the cards! Beware of dissipation or waste. You need to avoid over indulgence in food, drink or emotions.

Professional assignments are completed with ease. You are likely to splurge during a shopping spree and blow your budget.

You gain from material, creative and earthy aspects. Continue working persistently towards creative and professional plans that are set to actualize. Your plans are now matching with divine plans and have a magical quality of perfection and completion. Success in business and love in personal relationships transforms your life and attitudes in the coming months. Appreciation and media exposure are added rewards for your hard work. You establish professional repute and make gainful investments to achieve success in the future as well.

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Technology Facebook Sheryl Sandberg COO Mark Zuckerberg sells another $95 million in donates nearly $100 mn to charity

New York Facebook Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sheryl Sandberg has transferred nearly $100 million in Facebook stock into a charitable fund.

According to a report in the technology website Re/code on Wednesday, 880,000 shares were transferred into a donor advised fund which is controlled by Fidelity.

"Sandberg has the chance to steer the money where she wants it," the report added.

The fund includes women's empowerment groups like Lean In (founded by Sandberg), anti-poverty organisations like Second Harvest Food Bank and grief organisations like Kara.

Sandberg has also filed paperwork to rename her current foundation the "Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation" after her late husband who died about 18 months ago.

The non-profit foundation will serve as an umbrella organisation for both LeanIn.org and a new one Sandberg is starting called OptionB.org which is intended to help people cope with loss and hardship.

This comes months after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan said they would donate more than $3 billion toward a plan to "cure, prevent or manage" disease.

Last December, Zuckerberg and

Instagram will notify you if your friend screenshot Direct Messages

New York With the roll-out of a new update, Facebook-owned photo sharing app Instagramwill now notify your friends when you take a screenshot of their Direct Messages (DM) -- just like its rival Snapchat, a media report said.

However, the notifications are only for the new disappearing message feature, Mashable reported.

To use the new feature, a user can swipe right into the camera to take a photo or video, then tap the arrow to send it privately.

A user can choose a group or

create one in just a few taps and can also send to individual friends at the same time.

According to Instagram's statement, "Unlike other messages in Direct, these photos and videos disappear from your friends' inboxes after they have seen them. And you will see if they replayed it or took a screenshot."

Also, you can take a screenshot of your feed and Instagram will pop a new window down saying, "You can share this post with your friends" -- offering a user a few ways to officially share the image if you tap the button.

his wife Priscilla Chan pledged to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares -- about $45 billion -- to advance human potential and promote equality for children.

Declaring the "Chan Zuckerberg Initiative" as they welcomed their first girl Maxima Chan Zuckerberg, the couple said they have created a new foundation that would initially focus on "personalised learning, curing disease, connecting people and building strong communities".

"As you begin the next generation of the Chan Zuckerberg family, we also begin the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to join people across the world to advance human potential and promote equality for all children in the next generation," they posted in a 2,200-word letter to their new-born daughter on Facebook.

"We will give 99 percent of our Facebook shares during our lives to advance this mission. We know this is a small contribution compared to all the resources and talents of those already working on these issues. But we want to do what we can, working alongside many others," the couple wrote.

Facebook stock: Report

New York Continuing on his goal to improve the world with his donations, Social networking giant Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sold $95 million in Facebook stock between November 17 and 18, according to regulatory filings.

The sale follows $190 million in Facebook stock sold by the same entities in October and another $190 million sold in September, Forbes reported on Monday adding that Zuckerberg has said that he will not sell or give away more than $1 billion in Facebook stock per year through 2018. "Zuckerberg's net worth at $52 billion. His net

worth has increased over the past year despite the stock sales as a result of the rise in Facebook's stock price," noted the report. In September Chan and Zuckerberg had pledged to spend $3 billion over next decade to combat disease.

Facebook CEO had said at that time that if they could develop new tools, they could empower scientists all around the world to make much faster progress and breakthroughs.

According to the Forbes estimates, Zuckerberg is currently the fourth richest person in the world. Facebook Sheryl Sandberg COO donates nearly $100 mn to charity

Facebook builds censorship tool to attain China re-entry Facebook Inc has quietly developed a censorship tool that could persuade China to allow the world's biggest social media network to re-enter the world's second largest economy after a seven-year ban, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Facebook developed the software, which suppresses posts from appearing in people's news feeds in specific geographies, with the support of Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, the newspaper said, citing unnamed current and former employees.

Zuckerberg in March met China's propaganda tsar Liu Yunshan who said that he hoped Facebook could strengthen exchanges and improve mutual understanding with China's internet companies, according to state news agency Xinhua.

"We have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country," Facebook spokeswoman Arielle Aryah said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

"However, we have not made any decision on our approach to China. Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside China by using our ad platform."

Foreign companies in China, especially in media, face political pressure from a range of regulations. The country's military newspaper calls the internet the most important front in an ideological battle against "Western anti-China forces."

China, which has the world's largest population of internet users, banned the website following the

Urumqi riots in July 2009 in an effort to stem the flow of information about ethnic unrest which left 140 people dead.

Though Facebook has developed the new tool, it does not intend to suppress the posts itself, NYT said.

Facebook would instead offer the software to enable a third party to monitor popular stories and topics that gain visibility as users share them across the network, according to the Times.

The third party partner would have full control to decide whether those posts should show up in users' feeds.

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Pak claims Trump heaped praise on ‘terrific’ Nawaz PAKISTAN said Donald Trump praised its prime minister as a “terrific guy” and offered support for a “fantastic” country, in an effusive phone call that baffled many after sharp criticisms in the past. The Pakistani government released the candid account, complete with Trump’s trademark language, after Nawaz Sharif phoned the billionaire real estate mogul to congratulate him on his election victory. The widelycirculated statement released late Wednesday caused surprise given the anti-Muslim rhetoric of the Trump campaign and the president-elect’s past

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description of Pakistan as “not our friend”.

It said Trump told the embattled Pakistani leader, currently embroiled in a corruption court case, that he has a “very good reputation”. “You are a terrific guy. You are doing amazing work which is visible in every way. I am looking forward to see you soon. As I am talking to you prime minister, I feel I am talking to a person I have known for long,” it quoted Trump as saying. “Your country is amazing with tremendous opportunities. Pakistanis are one of the most intelligent people,” Trump said according to the statement, while also offering to help solve the nation’s many challenges which include a violent insurgency. “I am ready and willing to play any role that you want me to play to address and find solutions to the outstanding problems. It will be an honour and I will personally do it.” Trump has long been disdainful of Pakistan on social media. On January 17, 2012, he tweeted: “Get it straight: Pakistan is not our friend. We’ve given them billions and billions of dollars, and what did we get? Betrayal and disrespect — and much worse.” Pakistanis have also been suspicious of his relationship with archrival India. Pakistan heavily relies on US aid and is likely to get around $1 billion in economic and security assistance in the 2017 financial year.

Relations plummeted after it emerged in 2011 that the US had carried out a raid to kill AlQaeda leader Osama bin Laden, found hiding in Pakistan, without Islamabad’s consent. Trump’s election has met with concern over what it could mean for aid commitments and bumpy diplomatic relations. However, the government statement said Trump urged Sharif to call him “any time even before 20th January” when he takes power. Trump also responded to an invitation to visit Pakistan by saying he would “love to come to a fantastic country, fantastic place of fantastic people”, it said. He would be the first US

president to visit since George W. Bush during military leader Pervez Musharraf’s rule in 2006. “His visit to Pakistan would be most welcome,” a foreign ministry spokesman said Thursday. Pakistan “would like to strengthen ... the existing relationship further and we would like to continue working with the new administration when it takes over,” he continued. Daily

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Ali’s boxing gloves, Fidel Castro cigars highlight sports auction NEWYORK Muhammad Ali’s fight gloves and

a box of cigars signed by the Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro are among some of the highlights in an auction of memorabilia steeped in sporting history.

Ali’s gloves from the 1970 match at Madison Square Gardens in which he defeated Oscar Bonavena are expected to fetch upwards of $60,000, auctioneer Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions said. “They are really important gloves, because obviously they

are fight-worn gloves, but also, a lot of his fight-worn items don’t

come up for auction very often,” Julien said.

Another key item belonging to the late Ali is a box of cigars autographed by Castro, who died last week at age 90. Ali was given the gift when he and longtime friend Howard Bingham visited Cuba on humanitarian efforts in 1998.

“This has really become an important lot now because of Fidel’s recent passing,” Julien said.

‘Dozens of Islamic State militants in Europe, more coming to attack’

The two items are among the top draws at the “Icons and Idols: Sports 2016” auction that will be held in Los Angeles on Saturday and will feature more than 500 lots of sports memorabilia, from baseball to racing.

The Ali items come from photographer Bingham, and include both personal and professional items of the late boxing legend, who died in June at age 74, after a long battle with Parkinson’s syndrome.

An autographed mouthguard that Ali wore during the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” fight is projected to bring in upwards of $5,000.

“Because it’s from the historic fight and such a unique item, it will sell for a lot more,” Julien said.

Also to be sold at the auction are items belonging to retired Brazilian soccer star Pele, including his shirt from a 1971 soccer match between Santos and Chelsea, estimated to fetch upwards of $8,000, and a recent personal passport, expected to fetch around $2,000.

“Pele is still alive, fortunately. He and Muhammad Ali are the greatest athletes of all times,” Julien said.

“Sometimes the passing of a celebrity does help the value, but because it’s Pele, you know, he’s somebody that’s always going to be highly collectable.”

Taliban hang student suspected over assassination of senior leader- official

Kabul Taliban militants hanged a university student in public in a village west of Kabul after accusing him of involvement in the death of a senior Taliban official, a local government spokesman said on Saturday.Abdul Rahman Mangal said Faiz ul Rahman Wardak, a fourth-year student at Kabul Polytechnic University, was hanged in Sewaka village in Chak district, 60 km (37 miles) outside the Afghan capital.

He said local Taliban insurgents accused him of being involved in the assassination of a Taliban intelligence official named Mullah Mirwais.

“He wanted to spend his holiday at home but was captured on Thursday by local Taliban and

they hanged him in public,” Mangal said. “As soon as we got information, we tried to help him but the Taliban hanged him immediately.”

Photographs apparently showing the body of the man, hanged by the neck from an improvised gallows, circulated on social media. Zabihullah Mujahid, the main Taliban spokesman, said the case was under investigation.

“Once we finish our investigation and fact-finding, we will share the details,” he said.

The Taliban, who US authorities say control or contest around a third of Afghanistan, have an extensive presence in Maidan Wardak, just to the west of Kabul, where they challenge the authority of the Western-backed government.

Human ancestor Lucy spent much of her time in trees The Hague Islamic State is likely to launch more attacks in Europe, the EU police agency Europol warned on Friday, with several dozen militants already in place and more possibly arriving as IS faces setbacks in Syria and Iraq. In a report on the threat the Islamist group poses to the 28-nation bloc, Europol said the most probable forms of attack would be those used in recent years, from the mass shootings and suicide bombings seen in Paris and Brussels to stabbings and other assaults by radicals acting alone.Car bombs and kidnappings, common in Syria, could emerge as tactics in

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Europe, it said, while protected sites such as power grids and nuclear power stations were not seen as top targets.Essentially the entire European Union is under threat as almost all its governments back the U.S.-led coalition in Syria, the agency said, warning that IS was likely to infiltrate Syrian refugee communities in Europe in an effort to inflame hostility to immigrants that has shaken many EU governments.“If IS is defeated or severely weakened in Syria/Iraq by the coalition forces, there may be an increased rate in the return of foreign fighters and their families from the region to the EU or to other conflict areas,” Europol said in a statement.It said Islamic State was also likely to start planning attacks and sending militants to Europe from Libya and that other groups, including al Qaeda and its affiliates, also continue to pose a threat to the continent.Europol Director Rob Wainwright said EU states had stepped up their security cooperation in the wake of IS attacks in the last couple of years, allowing more plots to be thwarted.

WASHINGTON Lucy, the ancient ancestor of modern humans, probably spent at least a third of her day nesting in trees, according to new research unveiled Wednesday.

Our 3.18 million-year-old relative, whose fossilized partial skeleton was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, likely got around as much like a modern chimpanzee as a modern human, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE by scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and the University of Texas at Austin.

The beloved, 3-foot-6-inch (about one meter) bipedal Australopithecus afarensis has confounded paleontologists for years. They have been debating whether the 60-pound (27 kilogram) hominid spent most of her time on the ground, like modern humans, or in the trees, like chimpanzees.

The study finds that Lucy had strong upper arms, suggesting she regularly climbed trees. She also had relatively week legs that were not used for climbing and were inefficient for walking.

The combination of the two discoveries led researchers to conclude that Lucy probably nested in tree branches at night in order to avoid predators, used her arms to travel between trees and may have even foraged for

food among branches. The researchers arrived at their conclusions by conducting new high-definition scans of Lucy’s bones - combining 35,000 individual images taken with a powerful scanner capable of penetrating the layers of

minerals in her fossilized remains.

They studied the internal structures of the upper bones of Lucy’s two arms, and the femur bone of her left leg, discovering that her upper limbs were highly developed - suggesting they sustained strong muscles similar to tree-climbing modern chimpanzees.

“It is a well-established fact that the skeleton responds to loads during life, adding bone to resist high forces and subtracting bone when forces are reduced,” said John Kappelman, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas, and one of the main authors of the research.

Chimpanzee skeletons have more solidly built upper limbs, because they use their arms to

climb, while humans have more developed lower limbs due to walking, according to Christophe Ruff, anatomy professor at The Johns Hopkins University and a co-author of the study.

“The results for Lucy are convincing,” he said.

Another recent study concluded that Lucy probably died from a fall from a particularly tall tree.

The study, published in the British magazine Nature, arrived at that conclusion after analyzing a bone fracture in Lucy’s fossilized remains.

But scientists have had trouble determining exactly how much of Lucy’s time was spent off the ground. The new study suggests that if she slept around eight hours a day, she would have spent at least a third of her time in and among branches.

Other comparisons in the study suggest that even when Lucy walked on her two legs, she did so less efficiently than modern humans, limiting her ability to move long distances by foot.

Long considered the longest living human relative, Lucy was dethroned of her status in 1994 following the discovery - also in Ethiopia - of Ardi, a female Ardipithecus ramidus who lived 4.5 million years ago.

She is the most ancient hominid fossil from the evolutionary branch that led to humans.

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‘They whipped me repeatedly on my head’ Detainee recounts Islamic State torture Fadiliyah Abdel Razzaq Jalal paused, visibly traumatised, as he told how Islamic State militants

tortured him in a Mosul prison to force him to say he was a spy. “I never confessed. I knew the punishment would be death,” he said.

The ultra-hardline group arrested the 39-year-old in his village near Mosul in northern Iraq earlier this year, accusing him of spying for Kurdish forces.

After six nights and seven days of beatings, abuse and death threats, he says the militants let him go, after an Islamic State judge ruled there was not enough evidence to sentence him.

Jalal was lucky to escape with his life. Islamic State has executed scores of people it accused of spying in Mosul in recent weeks alone, as USbacked Iraqi forces push further into its city stronghold.

He knew it could have been worse. The fate of several fellow villagers from Fadiliya, a few miles northeast of Mosul, and of many others arrested elsewhere during Islamic State’s more than two-year rule, remains unknown.

While the physical scars faded Jalal showed months-old pictures on his phone of bruises and cuts all over his body - the ordeal remains etched in his memory.

“They hung me upside down from my feet and beat me for two hours. That was on the first night,” Jalal said.

“They used cables, wooden sticks, and one of them - there were three or four - pistol-whipped me repeatedly on my head.”

The militants, all from Mosul’s surrounding areas, tried to make him confess to spying for Kurdish peshmerga forces who had been fighting against Islamic State, he said.

When he refused, they stepped up the abuse and threats.

“The second day, they lay me flat on my stomach with my hands tied behind my back. One man stood on my legs, another on my head, and they began raising my arms. I thought my chest was going to break.”

Before he was tried, the militants put him into an orange jumpsuit - the clothing in which Islamic State often kills its victims - and told him he would be sentenced to death by decapitation.

Two of his more than 40 cell mates were killed that way, he said, after they confessed under duress to directing air strikes against Islamic State fighters.

Reuters was not able to independently verify his account.

Still missing Jalal said he did not know why he was arrested. He was a local member of a Kurdish political

Ford recalls 650,000 vehicles in N America

NEW YORK Ford on Friday announced the recall of nearly 650,000 cars in North America over defective seat belts that can fail in a crash. The automaker said two accidents and two injuries have been blamed on the defect, which involves overheating of the cables in the pre-tensioning system of the seat belts, which can prevent them from functioning correctly in an accident. Of the total recalled, 602,000 were sold in

the United States, 35,600 in Canada and 8,600 in Mexico.

The recall covers the 2013-2016 Ford Fusion and the 2013-2015 Lincoln MKZ, produced at plants in Flat Rock, Michigan and Hermosillo, Mexico. Some Ford Mondeos also have been recalled but they are not in North America. In the United States, vehicle manufacturers are legally obliged to publicly announce recall operations to correct defects found on their vehicles.

party, he said, but denied spying.

“They had every detail on me and my family. It must have been from informers - locals - in the village,” he said quietly.

Jalal had been terrified of rearrest. Upon returning to Fadiliya after his incarceration, he told villagers he was well treated, in case Islamic State’s spies reported back to them.

A small number of Islamic State sympathisers or supporters in Fadiliya have been rounded up

by Kurdish security forces since the peshmerga recaptured it in late October, local officials say.

“If I found another informer, I’d turn him in - even if it were my own brother,” Jalal said.

For him, the ordeal is over, but others in Fadiliya suspect their relatives are still suffering a similar fate, or worse.

Abdel Ilah Jassem’s 25-year-old brother Iden was arrested at an Islamic State checkpoint just outside the village more than two years ago. He has not heard from him since.

“I went to a Daesh (Islamic State) police station. They said Iden had been killed, but didn’t provide me with proof - no body, not even a paper saying he was executed,” said Jassem, 45, who lost his other brother in 1988 in the Iran-Iraq war.

“I’m sure he’s still alive,” he said, referring to Iden. “Every day I ask people in the area if they’ve heard anything new. So far, there’s nothing.”

Burhan Wani spoke to Hafiz Saeed, sought his ‘blessings’ to fight ‘common enemy’ - Tapes reveal all

New Delhi An audio tape has revealed that days before he was killed, Kashmiri militant leader Burhan Wani had spoken to Lashkar-eToiba chief Hafiz Saeed.

The audiotape of the conversation between Saeed and Wani from the latter’s Valley hideout has been accessed by CNN-News18.

Notably, the channel has not verified the authenticity of the tape.

As per the channel, the audio tape revealed that Wani sought Saeed’s ‘blessings’ and offered to put up a united front of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and his own Hizbul Mujahideen in their ‘jehad’ against India.

The conversation between the two was intercepted by Indian intelligence agencies, it said.

In the tape, Wani is heard requesting Saeed to extend more support to LeT militants in the Kashmir Valley in terms of arms, ammunition, and money.

“You people are living in very

difficult conditions. But you don’t have to worry. Whatever you need just tell us, we are ready for every help. Will be ready for anything. You just have to tell us,” Saeed is heard telling Wani in the tape.

Saeed could also be heard heaping praise on Wani for his “great work and sacrifices” and offering help to Hizbul militants fighting for the ‘Kashmir cause’ and religion.

Wani tells Saeed that “the enemy is almost defeated and we have to maintain this”.

“We have to go all out on attacks and shouldn’t lose this opportunity. For this, we need ammunition and support from the back. We should work together (Hizbul and Lashkar) for this,” Wani is heard as saying.

Wani, 22, was the poster boy of Kashmiri militancy and his death in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag in July this year had set off a storm of protests in the Valley.

Coming soon: Obama TV? Forget it, White House says WASHINGTON US President Barack Obama’s frequent remarks on the spread of information in the social media age have fueled rumors about his life after the White House.

But his team quashed speculation Friday that he is

media and “launching his own media company.” Numerous times during the bitter campaign to pick his successor, Obama expressed concern about how information is distributed and digested. The current media ecosystem “means everything is

going to launch a career in the media business. “@POTUS is interested in the changing ways people consume info, but he has no plans to get into the media business after he leaves office,” White House Communications Director Jen Psaki said in a tweet, referring to Obama by his Twitter handle. It was apparently in response to an article Friday on the Mic news site that the soon-to-be ex-president was considering working in digital

true and nothing is true,” he told The New Yorker. “The capacity to disseminate misinformation, wild conspiracy theories, to paint the opposition in wildly negative light without any rebuttal - that has accelerated in ways that much more sharply polarize the electorate and make it very difficult to have a common conversation.” Asked by Rolling Stone about his transition out of the Oval Office, Obama explained that he wanted to set

up his presidential center to focus on training and empowering up and coming leaders. “How do we rethink our storytelling, the messaging and the use of technology and digital media, so that we can make a persuasive case across the country?” he asked rhetorically.

“And not just in San Francisco or Manhattan but everywhere, about why climate change matters or why issues of economic inequality have to be addressed.” Obama also revealed his immediate plans for after the official January 20 handover to President-elect Donald Trump. “You know, I’m gonna sleep for a couple of weeks when I get out of here, take my wife on a well-deserved vacation,” he said.

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Fiat heir fakes kidnapping, had run out of cash after 2-day drug-alcohol binge New York The stylish grandson of the Italian founder of Fiat Automobiles falsely claimed he was held against his will by an escort with

concocted the whole story and made up the false imprisonment tale after he ran out of money following his two-day encounter with the escort, said the official,

whom he had spent two days consuming drugs and alcohol in New York, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Lapo Elkann, 39, was arrested on Saturday night outside a Manhattan public housing complex after his family contacted police, telling them Elkann had demanded $10,000 from them “to guarantee his safety”, the official said.

Elkann ran out of cash Investigators determined Elkann

who wasn’t authorised to discuss an ongoing case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Elkann was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting an incident. He was given a ticket and is due back in court on January 25.

He hasn’t returned a message seeking comment. His publicist, Alessia Margiotta Broglio, declined to comment.

Using cocaine a mistake Elkann made headlines in Italy

It is actually sad to be rich: SoftBanks billionaire chief

in 2005 after he was hospitalised for a drug overdose in the Italian city of Turin. He told an Italian TV interviewer two years later that his past cocaine use had been a “mistake.”

“The mistake I made was to use cocaine during my life,” he said then. Elkann’s design company, Italia Independent, dropped to historic lows on reports of his arrest, hitting 2.70 euros per share in Milan trading on Tuesday.

A company spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.

An eye for design Elkann, who was born in New York City, is the grandson of Gianni Agnelli, who for decades ran Turin-based Fiat Automobiles SpA and its affiliated companies.

He is part of the shareholding family but has no role in the company. In recent years he has focused on design, with his Italia Independent company most famous for carbon fiber sunglasses. He also has designed furniture and collaborated on a Gucci design for the new Fiat 500.

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WASHINGTON Being a billionaire and losing 99 per cent of wealth might not make many happy but SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son feels otherwise saying such an event helped him “feel the joy of work and value of money” again.

Son, one of the worlds richest individuals now, saw almost his entire wealth being wiped off in the wake of the dot com burst in 2000 as Softbanks market capitalisation plunged from USD 200 billion to just USD 2 billion.

“I was richer than Bill Gates for 3 days. So in that year, my net worth was growing at USD 10 million a day and I started asking myself what is money. “The way I looked at my friends or other people started getting affected. I start losing the joy of shopping.

If I go to the department store, I get no excitement, I can buy the entire department store instead of one bag. So I lost excitement of shopping,” Son reminisced.Admitting that he even felt sad at that time, Son said, “Its actually sad to be rich”.

Son said he was thinking of

donating his wealth till the dot com burst happened. “I got the answer to my question.

Next year, I lost 99 per cent of that. So I didnt need an answer to my question... In 2000, I actually became happy. After losing 99 per cent, I said now I have to work. Now I feel the joy of work, now I feel the value of money, again,” he said. While he was almost broke, Son said, “we survived and somehow, I am continuing running the company”. “So I am excited again that after having a tough time, I understand the value again and I am still betting for the future,” Son said at the HT Leadership Summit here.

SoftBank, which has invested in multiple startups in India, including Ola, Snapdeal and Oyo, has also designed a robot called Pepper. Asked about how he would want to be remembered, Son said as a “crazy guy who bet on the future”.

The net worth of Son, who is the second richest person in Japan, is estimated to be more than USD 17 billion.

Obama says wife Michelle will never run for White House: ‘She’s too sensible for that’

Washington Outgoing US President Barack Obama has said that his wife and the current First Lady Michelle Obama will never run for the White House, despite a growing chant.

The social media has been abuzz for Michelle Obama to run for the 2020 Oval office, however, those close to her have uniformly expressed her disinterest, Aol.com reported on Wednesday.

In a recently released interview, Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner had asked President Obama about his wife possibility of entering politics.

To which, Obama said: “Michelle will never run for office.

She is as talented a person as I know. You can see the incredible resonance she has

with the American people. But I joke that she’s too sensible to want to be in politics.”

MICHELLE FOR 2020 The call for her to become a candidate in the 2020 race began soon after US Presidentelect Donald Trump clinched victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton on November 8.

In another similar reaction to a radio show ‘Sway in the Morning’ in October, Obama had said: “Michelle does not have the patience or the inclination to actually be a candidate herself.

“That’s one thing y’all can take to the bank.”

During an event at the White House recently, Michelle Obama had chuckled when an audience member shouted, “Run for president!”

Facing impeachment threat, scandal-ridden South Korea president offers to resign Seoul South Korea’s embattled President Park Geun-hye today said that she will resign her office once parliament develops a plan for a safe transfer of power. The surprise announcement, which the opposition called a ploy to delay impeachment, comes amid prosecution claims that she colluded with a friend who wielded government power from the shadows.Hundreds of thousands of people have rallied in Seoul each Saturday for the last five weeks to demand that Park step down.Park would be the first South Korean leader to resign since the country’s first president, Syngman Rhee, quit and then fled to Hawaii amid a popular uprising in 1960. The succeeding government was overthrown by a coup by Park’s late father, the military dictator Park Chung-hee, whose rule also abruptly ended after he was assassinated by his spy chief in 1979.

Ensure a safe transfer of power “I will leave the matters about my

fate, including the shortening of my presidential term, to be decided by the National Assembly,” Park said today in a live address to the nation, referring to parliament.

motion against Park, and even her allies in the conservative ruling party have called for her to “honorably” step down rather than face impeachment.

An impeachment motion vote

“If the ruling and opposition parties discuss and come up with a plan to reduce the confusion in state affairs and ensure a safe transfer of governments, I will resign from the presidential position under that schedule and by processes stated in law.”

A ploy to avoid impeachment Opposition parties had been closing in on an impeachment

has been planned for Friday. The country’s two largest opposition parties were also planning on Tuesday to nominate a special prosecutor to independently investigate the scandal.

The country’s largest opposition party, the Minjoo Party, called Park’s address a ploy to avoid an impeachment vote and said the party would continue to push for impeachment as planned.

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Hijab-clad US univ student struck in face with glass bottle SAN FRANCISCO A Hijab-clad Muslim student was allegedly struck in the face with a glass bottle in broad daylight at a university campus in the US, the latest in a series of hate incidents in which headscarfwearing women have been

targeted followingDonald Trump‘s win.The Council on American Islamic Relations has offered a reward of $ 5,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whoever assaulted Nasro Hassan, a 19-year- old a Somali American student, on the campus of the University of Washington, Seattle.Hassan was wearing a head scarf when she was hit in the face with a glass bottle. The attack happened in broad daylight on November 15.

“The incident, which possibly fits a pattern of hate attacks against American Muslim women locally and nationwide, has caused a wave on concern on campus for

their own security,” Arsalan Bukhair, executive director of CAIR of Washington, was quoted as saying as Seattle PostIntelligencer.The student suffered bruises on her face and a concussion. Mina Sultana, copresident of the Muslim Student

Association at the University of Washington (UW), said the assault has increased concerns about the safety.“Since the incident fear about personal safety has increased significantly among Muslim students on campus,” she said.

Students and leaders are especially concerned because they say UW police failed to notify the campus community about the assault. The department says it followed federal criteria about informing students of criminal activity on campus.Major Steve Rittereiser of the UW police was quoted as saying, “This particular situation didn’t fit that criteria. It’s listed

Indian-American executives arrested on fraud charges in US WASHINGTON Two top Indian-American executives were on Thursday arrested in the US for allegedly misrepresenting their company’s finances to inflate its stock price.

Nandu Thondavadi, 62, CEO of Schaumburg-based Quadrant 4 System, and Dhru Desai, 55, its chief financial officer and

chairman, were charged with wire fraud and certifying false financial reports related to two acquisitions and the settlement of a lawsuit against the company in 2013.

Thondavadi faces an additional charge of making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission in May during an investigation into the company’s financial practices.

Both appeared in Chicago federal court to hear the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 20

years each for wire fraud and certifying false financial reports.

The company also has its office in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and Madurai.

Quadrant 4, which launched in 2010, provides software and consulting services to health care and education customers.

The firm reported $52 million in revenues and a net loss of $516,000 for 2015, according to financial filings.

As a publicly traded company, Quadrant 4 is required to provide to the SEC on a quarterly and annual basis a detailed report of its financial condition.

Federal authorities launched an investigation of the company earlier this year based on indications that the firm’s recent annual reports to the SEC contained false information, the complaint states, the Department of Justice said in a statement.The investigation revealed that Thondavadi and Desai certified the reports even though they knew the documents did not fairly present the true financial condition of the company, according to the complaint. Thondavadi then lied under oath when questioned by the SEC in May about some of the falsehoods, the complaint states.

as an assault case, and an assault case general doesn’t get that type of notification.”

Ayn S Dietrich, spokeswoman for the FBI’s Seattle office, said the agency was aware of the incident but would “defer to the investigation by the primary responding agency, and maintain communication should our partners develop information that suggests a federal crime was committed.”

The incident comes amid a slew of intimidation and assault cases that have been reported across the country against hijab-clad women post election. Earlier this month, a hijab-clad woman was allegedly accosted at a US store by another customer who called her a “terrorist” and told her to “get out” of the country. Also, a Muslim student’s hijab was allegedly ripped off and her hair pulled down by a classmate at a school in Minnesota. In another incident, a Muslim student of Michigan University was approached by an unidentified man who yelled at her and threatened to set her on fire if she did not remove her hijab.

Muslim woman wears hijab, burkini in Minnesota beauty pageant

BURNSVILLE A Muslim woman has become the first to compete in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant while fully clothed.

Halima Aden made the semifinals of the competition over the weekend while wearing a hijab. She also wore a fullbody outfit called a burkini during the swimsuit competition. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Aden’s swim outfit stood in contrast to those of the other 44 contestants, most of whom wore bikinis. Before the competition, the 19-year-old Somali-

American woman told Minnesota Public Radio News that the pageant was “a great platform to show the world who I am.”

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When a Muslim-American stand-up comic sat next to Donald Trump’s son NEW DELHI A Muslim-American comedian, Mohammed ‘Mo’ Amer, discovered he had an interesting flight companion for his transatlantic trip to Scotlandrecently - US PresidentelectDonald Trump‘s son Eric.

While this was interesting in itself, Mo faced a particular challenge. He knew a conversation would give him plenty of material for his standup comedy, or as he described it, “Sometimes God just sends you the material.” But what would or should he say to a man whose father promised to ban all Muslims from the US and set up a ‘Muslim registry’ - a network that would register, trace and track Muslims living across the US.Mo did the simple thing. He asked Eric Trump about it and then mentioned the answer on a Facebook post.

In the post that features a selfie with Mo and Eric, the former says:”Good news guys Muslims will not have to check in and get IDs. That’s what I was told,” wrote Mo.Mo’s Facebook post invited a whole bunch of hilarious comments from his friends and followers and some ripostes from Mo himself.

One said: “Best post I’ve seen all day. God has a wicked sense of humor - love it!”

To which Mo said: “I know. Not sure where to start. He did order the pork chop. I think he’s f***ing with me.” (Muslims don’t eat pork for religious reasons, just like Jews eat only ‘kosher’ food. Mo was making a joke.) The US President elect has also said he

would build and “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall” between the US and Mexico to keep immigrants from the latter out of the US.About that, one wag wrote to Mo: “Yanni get his business card I know some brothers and some amoos, that

of the most nonjudgemental people on the planet Mo Mo. If anyone can make the most of this moment with class, it is you.

Miss you and the Showcase gang! Hope all is well with you and the family.”

Some wondered whether the seating was done the way it was

want to put bids in to build that wall.” Someone also asked the Houston-raised stand-up comic “Are you being vetted for a cabinet position?” and Mo replied “ I think so.”

In the selfie, Eric is shown wearing a sweater with the word ‘Trump’ on it. A lot of people found that funny and wondered if the Trump scion was afraid he would lose his sweater.

“He has his name on his sweater.

HE HAS HIS NAME ON HIS SWEATER” said one commenter. Another wrote that he has a name on his sweater “ In case he gets lost! “ Many commended Mo for his resolve to not change seats.

“You are a better person than I am Mo. I would have asked to move,” said one. Another said: “I love this so much! You are one

on purpose. Mo said the seating was “random.” A few didn’t believe him. “Randomly chosen lol. I think it is deliberate effort by the airline to reduce Eric’s Islamophobia. There is a good chance that by the end of the flight he will hand you a hand written ID card. The process starts!” said one person.

Another asked: “Was you all sitting in First Class or Coach?

That probably will tell if this is staged or not.” Mo assured “First (class)...wasn’t staged...I don’t think so at least.”

And possibly the most wickedly funny comment was this one: “All I see is a Trump personally escorting an immigrant out of the country......and so it begins....” and then the commenter added, “in first class......to a golf course in scotland...”

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Mahler symphony score sells for record £4.5m LONDON The complete score of Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony was sold in London for £4.5 million on Tuesday, a record for a

musical manuscript, Sotheby’s auction house said.

The handwritten 232-page score includes the composer’s deletions, alterations and annotations, many of them done in a vivid blue crayon.

The score was owned by US businessman Gilbert Kaplan who became obsessed with the work, known as the “Resurrection Symphony”, and dedicated his life to conducting it before his death earlier this year.

The only comparable sales, both sold at Sotheby’s, were a manuscript of nine Mozart symphonies for £2.5 million ($3.1 million, 3 million euros) in 1987 and the manuscript of Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony for £1.5 million in 1994.

“The result establishes a new auction record for a musical

manuscript,” Sotheby’s said in a statement.

“The work retains the form in which Mahler left it, reflecting and revealing the compositional

process for the work,” it said, adding that it was the only complete Mahler symphony ever sold at auction.

There were four telephone bidders for the Austrian composer’s work but the eventual buyer chose to remain anonymous.The starting price had been set at £3.5 million.

In the same auction of musical manuscripts, a score said to be autographed by Beethoven, but the authenticity of which had been questioned, failed to sell.

The manuscript of the Allegretto in B Minor for String Quartet had been put up for sale by Sotheby’s with a starting price of £150,000.

But Barry Cooper, a musicologist and Beethoven scholar, told BBC radio there were inconsistencies in how the notes were written.

Some notes were “slightly

ambiguous” but for others it was “clear” that “copiers simply miscopied a note in a way that Beethoven certainly wouldn’t,” he said.

“The curves in this copy are much more curved and elegant than any curves in Beethoven’s manuscript,” he said.

Simon Maguire, head of musical manuscripts at Sotheby’s, said the work had been authenticated by two Beethoven experts.

“If we got something wrong, we would have to pay out,” he said.

Kaplan became infatuated with Mahler’s symphony after seeing it performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall in 1965.

“Zeus threw the bolt of lightning.

I walked out of that hall a different person,” Kaplan said.

The economist then trained with the world’s top conductors to be able to perform the piece and went on to do so more than 100 times around the globe.

The monumental symphony premiered in Berlin in 1895 and is performed with a 90-piece orchestra, soprano and alto soloists, chorus and organ.

“This was the first major work that saw the composer confront the universal themes of life and death, which were so characteristic of his oeuvre,” Sotheby’s said.

The manuscript was given by Alma Mahler, the composer’s widow, to the conductor Willem Mengelberg, a friend of Mahler’s, in 1920.

Kaplan bought it from the conductor’s estate in 1984.

Indians no longer biggest migrant community in UK, Romanians lead

London Romania has overtaken India to emerge as the biggest migrant community in Britain, according to the latest UK figures.

In 2015, some 54,000 Romanians had shifted base to Britain, while some 36,000 Indians migrated to the country during the period, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) said.

“Immigration levels are now among the highest estimates recorded. The inflow of EU citizens is also at historically high levels and similar to the inflow of non-EU citizens,” PTI quoted Nicola White, head of ONS, as saying.

“These long-term immigration figures run up to the end of June, so it is too early to say what effect, if any, the EU referendum

has had on long-term international migration,” she added. The issue of immigration is believed to be one of the major issues that influenced the Brexit vote in the June 23rd referendum.

The annual net migration to Britain before the vote was pegged at 335,000.

The UK government plans to limit the migration to “tens of thousands”.

British Prime Minister Theresa May is committed to bring down the net immigration to sustainable levels, the report quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

This year’s mammoth migration of people to Britain was due to the influx of EU nationals to the country – pegged at 650,000 for the year until June 2016.

UK pensioner returns library book...63 years late

Politician Balls wins hearts in UK TV dance show LONDON Britain’s tabloids mourned Monday after former politician Ed Balls was booted out of a television dance contest, having won hearts with his try-hard

attempts to improve his clunky “dad dancing”.Balls finally got the chop on the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing”, one of Britain’s most popular TV shows, after 10 weeks of pouting, hip-thrusts and comically clodhopping efforts.

The tubby 49-year-old novice, a former education minister but never the most popular of politicians, had been the surprise star of the show, despite his dodgy dancing.“I so enjoyed myself and got so much further

than I ever thought I could and I am going out on a high,” said Balls, also a former Labour Party finance spokesman who lost his seat in last year’s general election.He even won the

plaudits of his political foes, with Conservative former prime minister David Cameron and finance minister George Osborne rallying to the cause.

Newspapers lamented Balls’ last tango.“We’ve enjoyed watching the transformation of a politician we loved to hate into a dancer to use the word in its loosest sense - we just love to love,” The Sun said in its editorial.The Daily Mirror’s TV editor Nicola Methven said: “The public took him to

their hearts, because us Brits can’t help loving a trier.”Balls came 6th out of 15 celebrity contestants, outlasting singers Anastacia and Will Young and 2012 Olympic champion long jumper Greg Rutherford.

Arch-enemy Osborne called his achievements “amazing”.

“Well done Ed Balls. That took guts,” he said. Even Cameron whom Balls regularly riled in parliament - tweeted his best wishes.“We’re very proud of you!

Strictly won’t be the same without you,” he said.

Commentator and ex-contestant Esther Rantzen wrote in the Daily Mail: “Not only had he tried harder than anyone, he had more to contend with: mainly the fact that he is the wrong shape to dance gracefully, and worse, that for most of his life he thought he could dance - and he was wrong.” “Strictly Come Dancing” pulls in around 11 million viewers, nearly a sixth of the population.A former lead economics writer for the Financial Times newspaper, Balls was the chief economic advisor to the Treasury, the schools minister and then Labour’s finance spokesman in opposition.He is now a senior fellow at Harvard University’s business and government centre.

LONDON A British pensioner has returned a library book to her school some 63 years after taking it out, the librarian said Friday.

The woman, now in her 70s, found the 1929 copy of “Travels With A Donkey In The Cevennes”

by Robert Louis Stevenson while clearing out her house.

The book, which charts the author’s 120-mile (195-kilometre) solo hike through the Cevennes mountains in southern France, contained a stamp showing it was due to be returned to North Walsham High School in Norfolk, eastern England, in 1953. Luckily for the student, the market town school has a policy of not fining students for overdue books.

“The lady who brought back the Robert Louis Stevenson book apologised for not returning it sooner - but better late than never,” school librarian Liz Sawyer said, appealing for others with overdue books to do

the same. “While we don’t lose many books, there must have been a few which have been inadvertently retained by students over the years,” she said, adding: “It would be really nice to get some of them back.”

The world’s largest fine for an overdue library book is $345.14 (323 euros) according to Guinness World Records.

That book, returned after 47 years by the borrower’s daughter, was lent out by Kewanee Public Library in the US state of Illinois, and was due back in April 1955.

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Indian national pleads guilty to visa fraud in US

New York An Indian businessman in the US has pleaded guilty to committing a visa fraud by enrolling foreign nationals at a college and illegally obtaining full-time work authorisations for them without attending classes.

45-year-old Tejesh Kodali admitted to recruiting foreign nationals and enrolling them at the New Jersey college to maintain their student-visa status and obtain full-time work authorisations without having to attend classes, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.

Kodali, who lives in Edison city of New Jersey, pleaded guilty before the US District judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court.

He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for March 13, 2017.

According to court papers, Kodali, who was the director of operations of Promatrix Corp and Blue Cloud Techs Corp, purported international student recruiting and consulting companies located in Edison.

In total, Kodali and his conspirators fraudulently maintained and attempted to obtain 37 student visas and work authorisations.

Kodali told his foreign national clients that for a fee, they could enroll at University of Northern New Jersey without having to attend any classes and that their enrollment would enable them to

fraudulently maintain their nonimmigrant status.

With full knowledge that the recruits were not bona fide students and would not attend any courses, earn credits, or make academic progress toward any legitimate degree at UNNJ, Kodali caused Forms I-20 to be issued to the foreign nationals, federal prosecutors alleged.

As per court papers, Kodali also caused the foreign nationals to be reported in government databases as legitimate foreign students.

In order to deceive immigration officials, Kodali and his foreign clients obtained and created fraudulent student documents, including attendance records and transcripts.

After enabling them to maintain their student visa status, Kodali also conspired to secure fraudulent work authorisations for some of their foreign clients, federal prosecutors alleged.

In his guilty plea Kodali admitted that his intention was to profit from the scheme by outsourcing these foreign individuals through Promatrix and Blue Techs as information technology consultants with various businesses in the United States for commissions.

Pakistani man arrested for trying to import heroin in the US

New York A 68-year-old Pakistani citizen has been arrested for attempting to import heroin into the United States with an aim to establish an international narcotics smuggling empire.

Shahbaz Khan was taken into custody by Liberian authorities on December 1 and brought to the United States. He was presented before United States Magistrate Judge James Cott yesterday, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said.

Bharara said Khan allegedly had “designs on establishing an international narcotics smuggling empire” and sought to arrange for five kilos of pure heroin to be imported to New York from Asia, promising to supply hundreds of kilograms more.

Between August and October 2016, Khan participated in a series of telephone calls and inperson meetings in countries in

Southwest Asia with undercover law enforcement officials who he believed were heroin traffickers interested in purchasing kilogram quantities of heroin for importing into the US. Khan agreed to supply hundreds of kilograms of heroin from Southwest Asia, saying he could send heroin to the US, Canada, and “anywhere else in the world”, and that he was able to send the narcotics by plane or ship.

In late September, Khan travelled to a country in Southwest Asia where he met with the undercover officers and agreed to provide an initial shipment of five kilograms of heroin. He said once the five kilograms of heroin successfully arrived in New York City, he would begin supplying larger quantities of heroin on a regular basis. If convicted, Khan faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

about nine percent of all new HIV cases in the nation.

But less than one percent of federal funds to fight HIV goes to needle exchange programs, Frieden said.

“The science shows that syringe services programs work. They save lives and money,” he told reporters.

“And study after study has shown that they don’t increase illegal drug use or crime.”

- They won’t be forgotten The University of Miami’s new needle exchange is housed in two freshly painted trailers, stocked with syringes, tourniquets, cookers, condoms, blankets, food and free HIV tests.

Emelina Martinez has worked with people on the streets since the mid-1990s, doing HIV outreach, and said she is looking forward to helping at the new facility.

“These are my people,” she said, smiling as she spoke of sharing hugs and stories with people who call her “Emy.” “I hope at least health-wise it helps a lot. With clean needles there is less infection, fewer wounds,” she said.

“They will be healthier, just in general. And they won’t be forgotten.

“So maybe it will inspire some of them to get better.”

‘Riskiest city’ for HIV, Miami opens first needle exchange MIAMI Homeless men curl up on mattresses along a broken sidewalk littered with trash and syringes in Miami, a city struggling with the highest rate of new HIV infections of any big American metropolis. Around the corner, Florida’s first-ever needle exchange program opens Thursday, decades later than in many parts of the United States, and experts hope not too late to curb the burgeoning health crisis.

“We already have the perfect storm here in Miami,” said Hansel Tookes, a 35-year-old doctor who began working several years ago to open a needle exchange in south Florida. “We have a serious heroin epidemic. We were a cocaine town, but now we have this transition into opiate use,” he added, referring to prescription painkillers that some inject to get high. Miami’s rate of new HIV infections - 51.2 per 100,000 people - far exceeds any other metropolitan area in the United States, according to data released this week by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The nearly 1,400 new HIV infections last year in Miami - a metro area including some 2.7 million people - is about double the rate of all other big American cities, after adjusting for

population size.

“Miami has overthrown Baton Rouge, Louisiana as the riskiest city for HIV,” said Ethan Reynolds, a spokesman for GetTested.com.

And there is little help for those who inject drugs and want to stop.“There are barriers everywhere,” Tookes said.

“The system is built to make things more difficult for our patients.”

The idea for needle exchange programs began in Amsterdam in 1983, with the goal of helping addicts avoid sharing dirty needles that spread blood-borne diseases, including hepatitis.

Users could bring their old needles to a clinic and trade them for new, sterilized ones.

Similar programs spread through the United States, beginning with San Francisco in the late 1980s.

But a limited number of cities have hosted needle exchanges.

Critics have long held that the programs encouraged illegal drug use and did nothing to rehabilitate addicts.

There was also a long-time ban on federal funding, which was effectively lifted in December 2015, when President Barack Obama signed a budget that allowed federal funds for syringe services programs, just not the needles themselves.

That funding change was

“essential,” said David Rosenthal, medical director of the Center for Young Adult, Adolescent and Pediatric HIV at Northwell Health in New York.

“Clearly, patients need to be ready to stop using drugs” for a needle exchange program to be effective, he said.

“Until individuals are ready to change their behaviors and stop using substances, we need to make sure we are giving them tools to keep themselves as healthy as possible.”

A surge of HIV infections last year in Indiana - nearly 200 in a rural community of 4,200 people - shocked the nation.

The infections spread mainly among whites who were crushing painkillers and sharing needles to inject them among friends and family members.

Eventually, Indiana Governor Mike Pence - who is now the vice president-elect - reversed course by lifting a ban on programs that distribute clean needles.

This week, as World AIDS Day approached, CDC director Tom Frieden warned that “opiates threaten to undo the progress we have made preventing HIV over the past three decades,” and called for wider use of needle exchanges.

Injecting drug users make up about 3,000 new HIV infections per year in the United States -

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‘Likely hacker attack’ hits almost 1 million German homes FRANKFURT Internet service for almost one million households in Germany was disrupted by likely deliberate hacking, provider Deutsche Telekom said Monday.

Around 900,000 customers using specific models of router have been affected since Sunday afternoon, the firm said, with some unable to connect at all while others suffered intermittent problems.

“We believe that influence was exerted on the routers from outside,” a Telekom spokesman told AFP, saying software had been installed on the devices that prevented them from

connecting to the company’s network.

It did not provide details of which models of router - network hardware that connects households to their internet and telephone service provider - were

Apple founder street name shakes Paris suburb to the core

affected.

Deutsche Telekom said that its engineers and colleagues from the companies that produce the devices had been working through the night to find a solution.

Customers affected have been advised to disconnect their routers from the network since the problems began on Sunday afternoon.

Germany has been the target of repeated cyber attacks in recent years.

In September, several political parties were targeted with fake emails purporting to be from NATO headquarters but which in fact contained a link that installed spying software on victims’ computers.

Meanwhile, hackers targeted the Bundestag (German parliament) in a 2015 attack that security services have since blamed on Russia.

With federal elections slated for autumn 2017, Germany has anxiously eyed the impact of leaked documents obtained by hackers on the US presidential polls this year.

US authorities have accused Russia of orchestrating the leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee that embarrassed candidate Hillary Clinton.

A cyber attack in October also made large portions of the US internet unavailable for millions of users worldwide.

Vegetarian cafe refuses new £5 note

Cambridgeshire A vegetarian cafe is refusing to accept the new £5 note after it emerged the currency contains animal products.Sharon Meijland, owner of the Rainbow Cafe in Cambridge, has put up signs warning customers about the policy.There was outcry from some vegetarians and religious groups when it was revealed the polymer used for the notes contains tallow - a type of animal fat.The Bank of England declined to say whether there was a legal obligation to accept the notes.

Mrs Meijland said she had made a “promise” to customers that the cafe was an “ethical establishment”.“[Tallow’s] an animal product isn’t it? Our whole business is based around not having anything like that on the premises,” Mrs Meijland said.

“Although the same person doesn’t handle the money that handles the food, that’s not really

the point.”

She said she was “mystified” by the meat content in the currency, and added: “This is so repulsive... we are actually going to have to say that we can’t take the notes in our restaurant.”

Since the posters went up on Wednesday no customers had complained, she said.

Mrs Meijland said the majority of customers paid by card but if they only had a new £5 note staff would “try to find an alternative and accommodate them in some way”.

Since the “bendy” notes were introduced into circulation by the Bank of England in September, a petition calling for the tallow to be removed, gained more than 120,000 signatures within a few days of posting.

The bank has said its supplier was working on “potential solutions” to the issue of animal fat in its new £5 notes.

Let women drive, urges Saudi prince

PARIS He changed technology and how the world communicates.

Now, five years after he died, Apple founder Steve Jobs may be remembered in another way - on a Paris street.

“Rue Steve Jobs” is among names shortlisted for one of the new roads in the French capital’s southeastern 13th arrondissement that will lead to a new incubator for hi-tech startups.

The tech titan’s name was put forward by the district’s socialist mayor who credited Jobs whose company altered the face of computing, revolutionised music with the iPod and launched the iPhone and iPad with “changing our daily lives”.

But the mayor, Jerome Coumet, has faced a backlash from elected Communists, who in a statement said “the reality of the legacy” of Jobs was “insufficient wages” and “forced overtime” for Apple subcontractors.

They also hit out at what they alleged was the technology

giant’s “use of illegal tax arrangements” across the globe.

Coumet said he was not seeking controversy. “I wanted a name that speaks to as many people as possible,” he said.

Among other suggestions was Alan Turing, in memory of the British mathematician and computer scientist whose wartime work allowed the allies to crack German codes and defeat Nazism. Grace Murray Hopper, an American computer scientist and former Navy rear admiral who pioneered coding, is also proposed.

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RIYADH An outspoken billionaire Saudi prince wants an “urgent” end to his country’s ban on women driving, saying overturning the law was a matter of women’s rights and economic necessity.

“Stop the debate: Time for women to drive,” Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said on his official Twitter account, @Alwaleed_Talal.

Alwaleed is an unusually outspoken member of the Saudi royal family who holds no political posts but chairs Kingdom Holding Co., which has interests including US banking giant Citigroup and the Euro Disney theme park. He is a longtime advocate of women’s rights in the Islamic kingdom, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive. In conjunction with his short tweet, Alwaleed’s office issued an unusually long statement late Tuesday outlining his reasons for supporting an end to the ban.

“Preventing a woman from driving a car is today an issue of rights similar to the one that forbade her from receiving an education or having an independent identity,” Alwaleed said.

“They are all unjust acts by a traditional society, far more restrictive than what is lawfully allowed by the precepts of religion.” He also detailed the

“economic costs” of women having to rely on foreign private drivers or taxis, since public transit is not a viable alternative in the kingdom. Using foreign drivers drains billions of dollars from the Saudi economy,

call on behalf of those with “limited means”.

A slow expansion of women’s rights began under the late king Abdullah, who in 2013 named them to the Shura Council which advises cabinet.Abdullah also

Alwaleed said. He calculated that families spend an average of 3,800 riyals ($1,000, 940 euros) a month on a driver, money which otherwise could help household incomes at a time when many are making do with less.Even if their husbands can take time out to transport the women, that requires temporarily leaving the office and “undermines the productivity of the workforce,” Alwaleed said.“Having women drive has become an urgent social demand predicated upon current economic circumstances.”

The prince said he is making his

announced that women could for the first time vote and run in municipal elections, which were held last December.These and other decisions in Saudi history were initially opposed by “certain elements” but soon became accepted, Alwaleed said, calling for “a similarly decisive” political act.In April, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said change cannot be forced, and “it is up to Saudi society.”

In Alwaleed’s view, however, “what cannot be allowed is to have one segment imposing its preferences on the rest of society.”

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Punjab-born Bharara agrees to remain US attorney under Trump admn

New York Preet Bharara, the powerful US attorney who has facilitated many high-profile insider trading convictions, has agreed to remain in the position after meeting President-elect Donald Trump.Appointed as the US attorney for the southern district of New York by outgoing US President Barack Obama in 2009, Punjab (India)-born Bharara has earned the reputation of a “crusader” prosecutor.“The President-elect asked, presumably because he’s a New Yorker and is aware of the great work that our office has done over the past seven years, to meet with me to discuss whether or not I’d be prepared to stay on as the United States attorney to do the work as we have done it, independently, without fear or favour for the last seven years,” Bharara said.“We had a good meeting,” he said in a brief interaction with reporters after his meeting with Trump on Wednesday.“I said I would absolutely consider staying on.

I agreed to stay on,” said Bharara, who is in his late 40s.

“I have already spoken to senator (Jeff) sessions, who is the nominee to be the attorney general. He also asked that I stay on, and so I expect that I will be continuing to work at the southern district,” said the top Indian-American attorney.

Born in a Sikh family in Ferozepur, Punjab, in 1968, Bharara grew up in New Jersey after his parents moved to the US.After being appointed as the US attorney for the powerful south district of New York, Bharara has made a national and international mark for himself with many high-profile cases and investigations including foreign countries, insider trading and those involving US politicians.

It was under Bharara’s prosecution that India-born former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was convicted for insider trading in 2012.

“Leaving Preet in office sends a powerful message to Wall Street that this is not open season for Wall Street folks to run around

and do whatever they want,” Greg Morvillo, a partner at Morvillo LLP, told The Wall Street Journal.

Morvillo LLP had represented hedge-fund manager Anthony Chiasson whose insider-trading conviction was obtained by Bharara’s office.

New York senator Charles Schumer welcomed the move and said Trump had called him last week and asked for his thought on Bharara staying in this position.

“I told him I thought Preet was great, and I would be all for keeping him on the job and fully support it,” Schumer said.

“Preet has shown as a prosecutor that he is willing to take on the political establishment,” Arlo DevlinBrown, a former chief of Bharara’s corruption unit who is now a partner at the law firm Covington and Burling told The New York Times.

“He’s also shown he can win.

There is no question that these are qualities that the presidentelect admires,” he said.

Homeless California woman jailed for anti-Trump graffiti on government buildings

California A homeless California woman was sentenced to months in jail on Thursday after admitting to tagging government buildings in downtown Los Angeles with expletive-filled graffiti against President-elect Donald Trump.

Victoria Bay, 37, was detained on November 22, two days after she spraypainted the walls of the Hall of Justice, the Hall of Records, a criminal justice center and a nearby business with messages insulting Trump.

She was arrested by patrol

officers who had seen surveillance video and recognized her distinctive electric-blue hair.Authorities said she had caused more than $10,000 in damage. Bay pleaded guilty to one felony count of vandalism on Thursday and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and three years probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution in an amount not yet set.

US bans smoking in public housing WASHINGTON Smoking will be banned in all US public housing as of fall 2018 to reduce the exposure of residents to secondhand smoke, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development said on Wednesday. Healthcare groups including the American Lung Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have long sought the ban because of the numerous illnesses secondhand smoke causes, including asthma attacks, respiratory infections and sudden infant death syndrome. The ban is expected to affect two million Americans, including 760,000 children and more than 300,000 senior citizens who live in more than

940,000 public housing units, HUD said. More than 600 of the nation’s 3,100 public housing agencies already prohibit indoor

smoking. The new rule extends the ban to smoking cigarettes, cigars and pipes within 25 feet of all federally owned apartments, public areas and administrative offices. Electronic cigarettes are exempted.

‘False is good’: 18-year-old Macedonian shows how fake news is done Macedonian town On the second floor of a noisy sports centre in the Macedonian town of Veles, a teenage purveyor of fake news cracked open his laptop and laid out his case for why lying is more lucrative than the truth.

Real news gets reported everywhere, he argued. Made-up stories are unique.

“The fake news is the good news,” the 18-year-old said, pointing to a graph showing his audience figures, which reached into the hundreds of thousands, a bling watch clasped firmly around his wrist. “A fake news article is way more opened than any other.”

As US?President Barack Obama, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, journalists and academics argue over the impact of social media-driven propaganda on the latest American election, this sleepy former manufacturing town overlooking the Vardar river in central Macedonia has found itself increasingly drawn into the debate.

BuzzFeed News identified Vales

as a hub of the fake news industry seeding sensationalised or falsified information across Facebook. A reporter from Britain’s Channel 4 News chased the industry’s adolescent kingpins across town, cornering one 16-year-old fake news baron who said he had no plans to stop even though he acknowledged it was wrong.

But there were no such qualms from the teenager who spoke to The Associated Press at Veles’ Gemdidzii Sports Hall.

Retreating from a spirited indoor football game into an empty office, he walked an AP journalist through the ins-and-outs of his fake news operation on condition that neither he nor his stable of bogus news sites would be identified, because otherwise that would hurt his business.

He showed the AP how he ripped much of his material off The Political Insider, a right-wing news site that produces a steady drumbeat of pro-Donald Trump pieces. He then flipped over to Google Analytics, an audience tracking tool, to show that he’d managed to gather more than

685,000 page views a week.

The teen said his monthly revenue was in the four figures,

websites, including knockoffs of well-known US media outlets.

Typical headlines include “Wow!

a considerable sum in a country where the average monthly pay is 360 euros ($383). As he navigated his site’s statistics, he dropped nuggets of journalism advice.

“You have to write what people want to see, not what you want to show,” he said, scrolling through The Political Insider’s stories as a large banner read “ARREST HILLARY NOW.” Using the web intelligence service Domain Tools, the AP confirmed that the teen is behind more than a dozen different

Queen Elizabeth Invited Trump This Is A Game Changer” or “BREAKING: What George Soros Just Did Will Leave You SICK!” Both pieces carried untrue or questionable assertions.

A simple Domain Tools search revealed roughly 200 US-oriented news websites registered in Veles, most created within the last 12 months.

These sites tend to follow one of two patterns: Some masquerade as well-known outlets like The New York Times or Fox News, while others operate under

made-in-America-sounding names like USA Daily News 24.

That latter site’s lead story “Michelle Obama DEMANDS Americans PAY UP To Give Her Mom A Cushy $160k Pension” is entirely false .

A message seeking comment from USA Daily News 24’s administrator, Goran Trajkov, was not immediately returned.

Most of the sites appear fuelled by plagiarism. Stories are cribbed from blogs, conspiracy sites and fake news outlets, and reposted across social media.

For the residents of Veles, a Macedonian rust belt town of 50,000 people with shuttered factories and high unemployment, the thousands of dollars brought in by fake news operations aren’t necessarily unwelcome.

“They see it in a positive way,” said local journalist Petar Peckov. “They say, ‘The boys are working. There is money and we will benefit from it.’ “For everyone else on Facebook, Veles’ new cottage industry means a bewildering assault of misinformation and propaganda.

Issue 696 (35)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Wankhede Stadium track will Mumbai Test: England’s sensation be slow turner: MCA sources Haseeb Hameed is back after injury

Contrary to popular perceptions that Wankhede Stadium pitch for the fourth Test will be a rank turner, one of the MCA groundstaff actively involved with the preparation of the 22-yard strip stated that it is expected to assist slow bowlers only from the third day.

“The wicket will be normal.

It won’t turn on the first day and it can slowly start turning (assisting spin) from day three,” a source told PTI on Monday.

England are down 0-2 in the five-game series after the draw in the series opener at Rajkot and losses in the next two

games at Vishakapatnam and Mohali. The visiting team must win the game here in order to have a chance to square the series at Chennai, slated to host the final match from December 16-20. “No special preparations are being made. The World T20 and Ranji matches have happened here. We have to prepare well for an international match and we have done that,” he added.

“We got 20 days to prepare the wicket as a Ranji Trophy game was shifted away from the stadium (to another venue). In our opinion, there will be little bit of

How this Pakistani batsman escaped death in Karachi hotel fire Pakistan cricketer Sohaib Maqsood, who has played 26 ODIs and 20 T20Is, had a narrow escape as the hotel where he was staying in Karachi caught fire.

At least 11 people, including three women, were killed and 75 others injured when a huge fire here ripped through a four-star hotel, the fourth blaze to hit Pakistan’s largest city in the last two weeks.

The blaze broke out in the kitchen located at the ground floor of the Regent Plaza hotel at the city’s Shahrah-i- Faisal and spread across the six-floor building, trapping nearly 100 hotel guests in their rooms.

Three fire tenders of the fire brigade reached the site and started an operation to rescue the guests. The firefighters were able to contain the fire after three hours, with 11 people

having been killed, said Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation.

A crucial match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was

abandoned after members of the competing teams in the tournament suffered trauma and injuries due to the incident. Two teams, United bank and Sui Southern Gas, were staying at the Hotel Regent. Three members of the UBL team including Pakistan all-rounder Hammad Azam, spinner Yasim Murtaza and Karamat suffered injuries while trying to escape from the fire while other players were traumatized by the experience included Pakistani batsmen Shaan Masood and Sohaib Maqsood.

bounce. “We are watering as per the usual procedure. There was a little dew factor that we had to take into consideration and have done watering accordingly. Because of the dew, we watered it less,” they added.

The sources also dismissed news reports that instructions have been received from team management with regards to the preparation of the pitch. Another MCA official said that “it will be good wicket” where one can expect good cricket, adding around 60-65 per cent season ticket sales have taken place so far.

Rookie England batsman Haseeb Hameed, who grabbed eyeballs and made the cricketing world take note of his temperament and technique in the ongoing Test series against India, is all set to return to the sub-continent after successfully undergoing surgery on his left hand last Friday.

The 19-year-old, who scored an unbeaten 59 with a plastered finger in the Mohali Test, flew back home to undergo treatment and was ruled out of the series. After a successful operation, Hameed has decided to watch his team battle it out in the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium from Thursday. England are currently trailing 0-2 in the five-match series.

“Hameed’s elder brother Safwaan informed me that he underwent surgery on Friday and will arrive tomorrow to watch the Test in Mumbai,” Hameed’s Mumbai coach Vidyadhar Paradkar told mid-day yesterday.

Maidan lessons It was only last year that Hameed visited the city to fine-tune his batting skills under the watchful eyes of Paradkar. The Bolton-born teenager also played a few matches at Cross Maidan.

Paradkar is glad Hameed will be in Mumbai, but advised his ward to undergo proper rehab.

“Though it seems tough, it is a good decision to be with the team. It’s offseason in England so watching England play here will be a good learning experience.

Though he’s young, his approach is always positive and he’s eager to learn, which I think is a rare quality,” he added.

Hameed, who made his

debut during the first Test in Rajkot, ended his series with 219 runs from three Tests with a highest score of 82 at 43.80. He scored two fifties.

Unflappable young man England captain Alastair Cook called him ‘unflappable’ for his calm and level-headed approach. Hameed’s teammate Adil Rashid had said: “He has got a good head. He is very clever and works hard in the nets. He has also got a very good sense of humour and he is fitting well in the dressing room.” Now you know why he wants to be with the team five days after his surgery.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan, officials splurged millions on tours According to a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) report, it has been revealed that the board officials have wasted millions of rupees on international tours, with chairman Shahryar Khan alone spending Rs. 5.5 million on 14 tours.

After the Ministry of InterProvincial Coordination asked the PCB to submit the details of its officials’ foreign tours, the cricket body, in its report, stated that Shahryar undertook 14 tours between October 2014 and July 2016 on account of International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings and various trips to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE and England.

According to the Express Tribune, approximately Rs. 3.5 million was spent on accommodation and daily allowance, while another Rs. 2 million was incurred as travel expenses.

The report also states that the PCB Executive Committee chairman, Najam Sethi, went on 19 tours between November 2014 and June 2016, with most of his travels being to Dubai, twice to India and once to Qatar. Like the PCB chairman,

Sethi also attended ICC meetings, but a majority of his travels were also for Pakistan Super League (PSL)-related activities, negotiations with India over the bilateral series

and procurement of bulletproof buses.

It is estimated that Rs. 6.8 million were spend during Sethi’s tours, including Rs. 3.3 million on accommodation and daily allowance and Rs. 3.5 million on travel expenses. The report further states that these figures neither include air tickets and lodgings provided by the ICC and other boards, nor the travel expenditure incurred

by Sethi between 2013 and 2014 as the PCB chairman, when he went on eight international tours five to UAE,

two to Bangladesh and one to England.

During his term as the PCB chief, Sethi also attended ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meetings the airfare was covered by the hosts, but the accommodation, daily allowance and other travel expenditure were drawn from the PCB coffers, an amount of Rs 3.3 million. The report further states that between January 2013 and March 2014, former cricket board chairman Zaka Ashraf toured India, UAE, England, South Africa and Singapore seven times, with the vast majority of these tours being for ICCrelated duties. It is stated that Ashraf received approximately Rs. 1.5 million as accommodation and daily allowance, whereas the reimbursement of his travel expenses summed up to Rs. 1.7 million.

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Issue 696 (36)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

JAPAN MAY HIRE A LAKH INDIANS FOR OLYMPICS New Delhi THE warm chemistry between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, is seemingly set to blow in a job windfall for tens of thousands of skilled but unemployed Indians. Going by the buzz in top government circles, particularly in the Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry, about one lakh Indian youths are set to board planes to Tokyo in phases to be part of the skilled workforce for the 2020 Olympic Games. Japan’s barriers to foreign labour are falling by the wayside as preparations for the mega sports event threaten to exacerbate the worst shortage of construction workers in almost 20 years. So, to start with, a group of 10,000 young workers from India will arrive in Tokyo soon under the Skill Development Ministry’s Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) with Japan’s International Training Cooperation Organisation (JITCO). Subsequently, more batches would be sent as per the demand raised by Japanese companies and receiving organisations in Tokyo, said a senior Skill Development Ministry official. Apart from the Olympics, many Indian youths may get a chance to work in the bullet train factories and on construction sites as well as management of high-speed corridors. The same workforce, when back in India, can be accommodated on key Japanese projects here, assuring them a stable job and income based on their skills and exposure gained. With Japan largely having an ageing population, there is a huge requirement to handle jobs in key sectors in the run-up to the Olympics. Part of the problem relates to the workforce, which fell as Japan lost nearly a million people between its 2010 and 2015 national censuses. The population now stands at about

SKILL MISSION ON A ROLL 127 million people. China had to train its youth for three years to learn English and handle tourists and visitors for the 2008 Beijing Games. Japan wants to be prepared with its best skills at hand and on time, a characteristic of the country.

Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy sees the joint initiative as a game-changer.

“The Prime Minister’s dream to make India skilled at par with global standards is set to take wings with our youth getting the best of opportunities to convert their training into jobs in foreign land like that of Japan and enhance their skills to earn a modest living,” he said. “It is a golden opportunity for our youth to enhance their skills and work

in high-technology-enabled environments under this initiative between the two nations.” The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a sending organisation is working closely with the ministry to facilitate and ensure the success of the programme to make India’s youth globally employable.

Sources added the initiative has just begun and will be on for some years under the IndoJapan sustained economic cooperation programme. Mail Today has learnt that Japan was not “happy with the workforce it was getting from SAARC countries and Southeast Asia”. India was sounded off about the demand and ministries like Skills,

* To begin with, 10,000 youths from India would arrive in Tokyo under the Skill Development Ministry’s Technical Intern Training Programme with Japan’s International Training Cooperation Organisation. * Besides Olympics, a lot of Indian youths may work in bullet train factories, construction sites and in management of highspeed corridors. * Japan was reportedly not happy with the workforce it was getting from SAARC countries and Southeast Asia region.

Labour and Commerce latched on to this opportunity to take the mission to a new level – training and jobs in a foreign country. Since Shinzo Abe came to power at the end of 2012, the number of foreigners living in Japan has risen by almost 10% to 2.2 million, with the number of “technical interns” rising 27% and

* India was sounded off about the demand and departments of skills, labour and commerce lapped up the opportunity to take the PM’s Skills Mission to a new level — training and jobs in a foreign country. * The Skills Development Ministry, it is learnt, has been asked to identify suitable people with quality skills in core sectors such as constructions, logistics, services, retail, events & stadium security in the run-up to the Olympics. the number of foreign students up 36%. However, the Skills Ministry has specifically directed to go for skilled and educated workforce to deliver on the Japanese “perfectionist work culture”‘ demands so that more and more workers continue to reach Tokyo over the next few years.

Dancing amid guns and drunken men: Story of Janu, killed in firing at a wedding in Bathinda Twenty-four-year-old Janu, as the parents fondly called her, performed to add glamour to weddings. Fighting poverty, braving gun-wielding men who often went wild in celebrations, Kulwinder was the sole breadwinner of the family.

There was a pal of gloom in a suburban street of Malout on Monday, where the dead

woman’s parents sat in shock after performing her last rites. “She was taking care of all of us... she was our son. Her brother had died and she was taking care of his three children as well,” said Kulwinder’s father Baldev Singh, who works as a labourer.

Dhillon Market on Court Road in

Bathinda is a hub of orchestra groups, where artistes

narrated how they faced harassment from the “uncivilised rich”. Sonali, who runs a musical group, cancelled a wedding booking following Kulwinder’s death. “Bathinda has more than 100 orchestra groups, which perform in other cities of the state too,” said Sonali.The young women are paid between Rs 2,500 and 5,000 for a single show.

“Dancing for hours together is common and sometimes it continues till 4am,” she said.

“Poverty, of course, is the reason for these girls to perform in front of unruly revellers at night,” she added.

As per the official record, Bathinda district alone has 24,000 firearm licences with around 20 new added to the list every day.

Issue 696 (37)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Health Oral hygiene: Try these natural remedies to treat gum pain!

Eat these foods to keep your liver healthy!

New Delhi Liver is an important organ of our body as it performs many vital functions like eliminating waste and removing harmful toxins from the blood. So, it is very necessary to keep our liver healthy and it can be done only by eating a healthy, balanced diet. An unhealthy diet can overload the liver, thus making it unable to process toxins and fat efficiently.

Here are some foods that helps

to keep our liver healthy: Grapefruit Drink a glass of grapefruit juice daily for a healthy liver as the fruit contains rich amount of vitamin C and antioxidants that helps flush carcinogens and toxins.

Beets Being a rich source of flavonoids and beta-carotene, beets are good for the liver. So, include this veggie in your daily diet to keep your liver healthy.

New Delhi Do you suffer from gum pain frequently? It usually happens due to an underlying inflammation of the gums and when the person doesn’t practice proper dental hygiene.

Instead of going to the dentist to treat gum pain, one can opt for natural home remedies to cure it..

Aloe Vera Being a rich source of therapeutic properties, aloe vera helps in reducing inflammation and swelling of the gums. Aloe Vera also aids in the treatment of gum diseases.

Neem One can also opt for neem mouthwash to treat gum pain as it acts as an effective natural remedy to deal with gum swelling, pain and gingivitis. Besides lowering the bacterial load, it also prevents other oral problems.

Men more prone to Type 2 diabetes than women

London Researchers said men could be more prone to Type 2 diabetes as they accumulate more iron than women. As compared to one-fifth of women, two-fifth of men were at risk of the disease.

Iron is a micronutrient which is required in the formation of some essential body proteins and enzymes, like haemoglobin, cytochromes and peroxidase.

Though it is harmful when stored in excess in the body, but promotes the release of free radicals that damage the

secretion capacity of beta cells of pancreas to produce insulin.

The findings said, it also decreases insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues and organs involved in glucose metabolism.

The study led by Alex O. Aregbesola from University of Eastern Finland, showed that men have 61 per cent higher prevalence and 46 per cent increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes when compared with women.

Excess body iron accumulation is a known risk factor of Type 2

diabetes in hereditary hemochromatosis — a disorder that causes the body to absorb too much iron from the diet.

However, the study showed that even mildly elevated body iron contributes to the prevalence and incidence of Type 2 diabetes.

This excess iron was found to disturb the glucose metabolism in the body. On the other hand, moderate iron stores were found safer than depletion toward iron deficiency.

Iron depletion toward deficiency did not offer protection against Type 2 diabetes.

The type of association between iron stores and the risk of Type 2 diabetes showed that the risk was lowest on moderate levels, the researchers said.

“This study provides a new body of evidence that mildly elevated body iron is an important risk factor of glucose metabolism derangement, which contributes to the increase in the prevalence and incidence of Type 2 diabetes,” Aregbesola said, in the paper published in the journal Annals of Clinical Biochemistry.

Salt water One of the easiet and traditional ways to keep your teeth and gums healthy is to gargle with salt water daily after brushing your teeth. Doing so prevents gum pain and risk of dental problems.

Clove oil This oil is commonly used to treat toothache and gum pain because of its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. Take a few drops of clove oil on cotton and dab it on the affected area for quick relief.

Tapeworm infection: Know its signs and symptoms!

New Delhi Tapeworm infection is an infection caused by a flat, long segmented worm that is found in uncooked meat, especially pork. The worm can also cause a wide array of symptoms, apart from severe abdominal pain, that need medical attention.

Here are some common symptoms of tapeworm infections: Weight loss If you feel that there is a drastic change in your weight along with severe stomach pain, then you might be suffering from tapeworm infection. As the worm feeds on the food that you eat, there are high chances that you will experience weight loss.

Blood in stools The worm attaches itself to the

walls of the intestines and becomes immobile thereby causing tiny ulcerations. This causes bloody stools in people suffering from the infection.

Diarrhoea Severe diarrhoea along with unexplained and sharp abdominal pain could be the symptoms of tapeworm infection. The body parts of tapeworm and eggs will show up in your stool, if you have the infection.

Nausea and vomiting Nausea and vomiting are the initial signs of indigestion and stomach discomfort. If you experience this symptom after having a non-vegetarian meal, then consult a doctor as you might be suffering from tapeworm infection.

Issue 696 (38)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Weight loss: Five effective ways to rev up your metabolism!

New Delhi You probably must've heard people who struggle to lose weight putting their blame on a slow metabolism.

Metabolism is a natural process that takes place within the cells of living organisms.

During metabolism, your body converts what you eat and drink into energy required to power everything you do, from moving to thinking to growing.

While there are some things about your metabolism that you can't change - such as age, your medical history - there are a number of things you can

do to boost your metabolism and speed up the rate at which you burn calories and lose weight.

Here are five most effective ways: Eat well Remember when you cut back on calories, your body slows the rate at which it burns calories to conserve energy, causing your metabolism to slow.

This is because your body's not getting enough energy required to carry out normal day-to-day functions. Instead of dieting that can slow a person's metabolism, try eating enough calories to maintain

a healthy metabolic function.

Don't skip breakfast Many people skip breakfast or meals in an attempt to cut calories and lose weight, which is wrong. Eeating regular, frequent meals, especially breakfast can help kickstart your digestion and fire up your metabolism as well as helping the body regulate blood sugar levels.

Include omega-3 fatty acids Taking omega-3 fatty acids may help improve body composition by boosting metabolism and fat burning potential. They also seem

Suffering from acidity? Include these foods in your diet!

New Delhi Do you often suffer from acidity? Well, it is mostly because of long gap between meals, having too much of spicy food and tea or coffee regularly.

It causes uncomfortable symptoms, pain, and even severe health problems.

Though there are many medicines easily available to us to treat acidity, but one can easily get rid of acidity instantly by eating the right kind of foods.

Here are some foods that helps to get relief from acidity which we all should know: Banana Being a rich source of potassium, banana is considered the best natural antacids that guards against acidity. So, eat this fruit whenever you feel discomfort and heartburn.

Coconut water Drinking a glass of coconut water helps you get relief from acidity as it helps turn your body’s pH level from acidic to alkaline and also protects the stomach from harmful effects of further acid production.

Basil leaves Basil leaves contains soothing properties in it that helps to get instant relief from acidity. So, chew on some basil leaves or drink a cup of hot basil leaves water.

Buttermilk Buttermilk contains the lactic acid that normalizes the acidity in the stomach.

Cold milk Drinking cold milk helps in getting rid of acidity as the calcium in it prevents acid to build up and absorbs the excess acid produced, thereby reducing the symptoms of the problem.

to help balance blood sugar and reduce inflammation, which aids in regulating metabolism.

Aerobic activity It is a well-known fact that aerobic activity is the most efficient way to burn calories. Try to do 150 minutes of aerobic activity, such as walking, cycling, a week. You can achieve this by doing 30 minutes five days a week. Physical activity, when combined with a sensible diet, can help you lose weight faster.

Rest well You've done all these, but still it's not helping you much. This could be because you aren't letting your body get adequate sleep. There's a proven link between sleep deprivation and poor metabolic rate.

Sleep loss can affect the basic metabolic functions of storing carbohydrates and regulating hormones.

Because sleep plays a vital role in regulating metabolism and appetite, the metabolic system will be out of balance when you don't get enough sleep, which will ultimately affect the dietary choices you make.

Lesser-known health benefits of cauliflower!

New Delhi Who doesn’t like to eat cauliflower? Everyone likes to eat this vegetable except for few.

Many of us might not be aware that cauliflower is not tasty but also promotes numerous health benefits as it contains a good proportion of sulphur compound in it. It is also known to support the liver’s ability to neutralize toxins. Here are some health benefits of cauliflower which we all should know: Lowers cholesterol Cauliflower contains a rich amount of fiber in it that helps lower and keep our cholesterol levels in check.

Helps lose weight If you want to lose

weight, then start eating cauliflower as it contains vitamin C and folates that helps to shed off those extra kilos.

Strengthen bone and teeth Being a rich source of calcium, cauliflower helps make our bones and teeth strong.

Fights cancer This veggie helps in preventing the deadly disease cancer, as it contains sulforaphane - a sulfur compound kills cancer stem cells by slowing tumor growth.

Good for heart Cauliflower is considered good for heart as it contains sulforaphane that helps in maintaining the cardiovascular system.

Cancer and suicide: Young people at twice the risk London A new study has found that cancer survivors diagnosed before the age of 25 may be at more than two-fold increased risk of suicide compared to their non-cancer peers.

According to the research, survivors of brain tumours, leukaemia, bone and soft tissue sarcomas and testicular cancer are more vulnerable in terms of risk of suicide.

"It is not possible to say whether there is a connection between the cancer diagnosis and suicide on an individual level, but what we see is an association at population level," said Maria Winther Gunnes, researcher and medical doctor at University of Bergen (UiB) in Norway.

According to Gunnes, the individual background of this increased suicide risk cannot be traced. Often, these survivors do not know where to turn to for help, and they might not find the right help, the researchers observed.

"We do not have any proper follow-up system for adult long time survivors of young age cancer," Gunnes said.

For the study, the research-

ers analysed the 1.2 million people born in Norway between 1965 and 1985, among which a total of 5,440 individuals received a cancer diagnosis before the age of 25. The two groups were compared and were tracked until 2008.

During follow-up, a total of 24 of the cancer survivors committed suicide.

The absolute risk of committing suicide for cancer survivors is low, Gunned pointed out.

"It is, however, important to be aware of these new findings in order to develop appropriate surveillance and intervention strategies

as part of a long-term followup programme of these cancer survivors," Gunnes noted.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancers figure among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012.

The research has been published in the paper published in the International Journal of Cancer.

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6 - 12 Dec., 2016

Slow Cooker Enchiladas Tangy Honey Glazed Ham

Ingredients: 1 pound lean ground beef 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas, quartered 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix 1 1/4 cups water

1 (12 ounce) jar chunky salsa 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions: Crumble the ground beef into a skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook and stir until evenly browned. Add taco seasoning and water; simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.

In a medium bowl, stir together the salsa, cream of mushroom soup and cream of chicken soup. Mix in most of the cheese, reserving 3/4 cup for later.

Place a layer of tortillas covering the bottom of a slow cooker.

Scoop a layer of the ground beef over that, and then spoon a layer of the cheese mixture. Repeat the layers until you run out of stuff, ending with a layer of tortillas on the top. Top with remaining cheese.

Cover, and cook on High for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Hearty Vegetable Lasagna Ingredients: 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper 3/4 cup chopped onion 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 (26 ounce) jars pasta sauce 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 eggs 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cold water, and drain. In a large saucepan, cook and stir

mushrooms, green peppers, onion, and garlic in oil. Stir in pasta sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, and eggs. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread 1 cup tomato sauce

into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/2 each, lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering, and top with remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Pineapple Chicken Tenders Ingredients: 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper 3/4 cup chopped onion 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 (26 ounce) jars pasta sauce 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 (15 ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 2 eggs 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese Directions: Cook the lasagna noodles in a large pot of boil-

ing water for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cold water, and drain. In a large saucepan, cook and stir mushrooms, green peppers, onion, and garlic in oil. Stir in pasta sauce and basil; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella cheese, and eggs. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread 1 cup tomato sauce into the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/2 each, lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering, and top with remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Ingredients: 1 (10 pound) fully-cooked, bone-in ham 1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar 1/3 cup pineapple juice 1/3 cup honey 1/3 large orange, juiced and zested 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Place ham in a roasting

pan.

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, pineapple juice, honey, orange juice, orange zest, Dijon mustard, and ground cloves. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

Bake ham in preheated oven uncovered for 2 hours.

Remove ham from oven, and brush with glaze. Bake for an additional 30 to 45 minutes, brushing ham with glaze every 10 minutes.

Grilled Lemon Herb Pork Chops

Ingredients: 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon pepper 6 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops Directions: In a large resealable bag, combine lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Place chops in bag, seal, and refrigerate

2 hours or overnight. Turn bag frequently to distribute marinade.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Remove chops from bag, and transfer remaining marinade to a saucepan. Bring marinade to a boil, remove from heat, and set aside.

Lightly oil the grill grate.

Grill pork chops for 5 to 7 minutes per side, basting frequently with boiled marinade, until done.

Issue 696 (40)

6 - 12 Dec., 2016