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THE CONTACT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ISSUE - 708, 27 FEB. - 06 MAR., 2017 PH: (905) 671 - 4761

ESCAPING ISIS JAWS INDIAN AGENCIES RESCUE DOC FROM SYRIA BUTCHERS

IT WAS midnight in Libya’s Sirte district, an area overrun by Islamic State. Dr Ramamurthy Kosanam was about to go to bed when there was a knock on the door. As soon as he opened it, Kosanam was captured and put in a car along with a fellow Indian, Shyam. Both were dispatched to a jail near the local airport.

This was September 2015, the beginning the doctor’s 18-month ordeal under one of the most oppressive regimes of all times. “They did not kill or harm us as we are qualified people. Like I was a doctor and they thought that I can be of use to them and that is why I was saved,” Kosanam, his left arm in a sling, told MAIL TODAY in an interview. The doctor from Andhra Pradesh was in Libya for the last 18 years and was trying to get back over `10 lakh from health authorities as part of his gratuity when he was put in jail by ISIS. Indian embassy officials met Kosanam frequently after they came to know about him and finally on February 14, he was safely taken out of Libya to Istanbul from where he reached India on

Saturday morning, on his way to his family in Andhra Pradesh. “I want to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and national security adviser Ajit Doval for getting me to back to my family,” he said.

LOOKING BACK The doctor recalls that the early days in the prison were full of fear and intimidation as they were scared of the brutalities committed by the jihadi fighters and authorities who would speak cruelly with the inmates. “Every day, we were shown the videos of the brutal killings of the Shias, Yazidis and Christians across Iraq and Syria by the ISIS fighters to instill fear amongst us. People from all nationalities like Turks, Filipinos and others were scared that we may also meet the same fate,” said the doctor who was in the ISIS jail in Sirte for 10 months.

Efforts were also made by the ISIS men to make the inmates follow and convert to Islam but they were not extensively forced. “People from all religions were made to offer Muslim prayers five times

a day and they were very particular about people following their religious practices.

I was also made to follow the same even though I am a Hindu,” he said. After he had spent a couple of months, the ISIS leaders asked the doctor to serve in the field hospitals to treat their fighters who

were getting seriously injured in fighting with local government forces on several fronts. “But I expressed my inability to do so as I was seriously ill myself with frequent severe back pains, blood pressure and other ailments. I told them I would not be Continued on Page 4

India prepares SPYDERs for Pakistan border THE Indian Air Force will in the next few weeks finish weaving a security web with the Israeli SPYDER air defence missile system on the western borders in a bid to strengthen its preparedness to strike down any aerial threat from Pakistan. The induction process was delayed by over three years due to the nonavailability of Czech-made Tatra trucks on which the missiles were to be carried. “The SPYDER missile system is already in the process of deployment along the western borders where it will help in tackling any aircraft, cruise missile, surveillance plane or drone that tries to violate our airspace,”

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senior defence sources told MAIL TODAY. The SPYDER (Surface-to-air PYthon and DERby) is a low-level, quick reaction missile (LLQRM) to neutralise hostile targets up to 15 km away and at heights between 20 and 9,000 metres.

The Python-5 is currently the most capable air-to-air missile (AAM) in Israel’s inventory, while the Derby is an active radar homing AAM that provides the SPYDER missile system with a fireand-forget option. “The IAF will use the SPYDER along with the madein-India Akash surface-to-air missile which has a little longer effective range of 25 km as part of a layered approach to defend vital assets and locations in the country,” the sources stated. The SPYDER deal was completed by the IAF with Rafael and Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) in 2008 and supplies were to begin in three to four years. But the process got delayed due to the unavailability of the Tatra trucks, which got mired in a controversy over bribery allegations. “Due to the lack of heavy specialised trucks, changes had to be made in the contract with the vendors and a Continued on Page 4

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Memes erupt as Donald skips dinner with media President Donald Trump has announced that he will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this year in a shocking break with tradition. “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!” Trump tweeted on Saturday afternoon. Social media users were quick to mock Trump’s decision, and memes ensued. His announcement comes amid growing tensions between his administration and media outlets. Trump attended the dinner in 2011 with his wife Melania where he was repeatedly mocked by then-president Barack Obama. He skipped the dinner in 2016 during the presidential campaign where Obama again took aim at the then-candidate, saying: “I’m a little hurt that he’s not here tonight. It’s surprising. You got a room full of reporters, celebrities, cameras, and he says no.” While he has not cancelled the event, Trump is breaking tradition by not attending the dinner on April 29. He will be the first president not to attend in 36 years — in 1981 Ronald Reagan was recovering after being shot. The annual dinner has only been cancelled or downsized before due to death or other major global events. In 1930, the dinner was cancelled due to the death of President Taft. In 1942 it was cancelled due to the United States entry into the Second World War and in 1951 President Truman cancelled it over what he referred to as the ‘uncertainty of the world situation’. The White House Correspondents’ Association is an organisation of journalists whose job it is to cover the acting president. The yearly dinner has become somewhat of a Washington tradition after it was started in 1920. It is traditionally held on the last Saturday of April every year at the Washington Hilton. The Dinner is held as a scholarship benefit, raising money for gifted students in college journalism programs. Multiple major news networks such as CNN, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair had already announced that they were thinking about not attending the annual dinner. It comes as Trump has quickly made himself known as an “anti-press” president having criticised many major news networks as being ‘fake news’. The President this week blocked multiple news outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Buzzfeed, and DailyMail.com from a press gaggle with Sean Spicer. The annual dinner was likely going to be a logistical public

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relations nightmare for his administration given the event traditionally features a comedian brought in to roast the president and other celebrities in attendance. The

commanderin-chief usually then takes the microphone and fires back with some oneliners of their own. Trump, who has been roasted at many correspondents’ dinners in the past, was likely to take a beating

from comedians and news organisations alike. Seeing as it is customary for the president to speak, Trump would have had to find the fine line between humour and criticism at the dinner.

Petition calls for Obama to be France’s President THE French are set to elect a new president in April. But those who are unhappy with the current candidates are making a last ditch attempt to recruit another contender — Barack Obama. The Obama17 petition is currently circulating with the aim of gathering a million signatures to convince the former US president to run for office in France. About 500 posters of Obama’s face have been plastered across Paris in recent days, urging people to visit the petition website. The slogan reads: “Oui on peut”, which is French for “Yes we can”. The website says the former commander-in-chief “has the best resume in the world for the job”. “We wish to strike a blow by electing a foreign

president at the head of our beautiful have to learn French and become a country,” the website reads. “Barack citizen before he could even be in the running to be France’s president. The creators of the petition, who wanted to remain anonymous, told NPR it was a joke but it was started out of frustration about politicians in France in general. “We were thinking about French politics and saying that we were fed up with the fact that we all the time had to vote against someone and how it would be cool to be able to vote for someone we admire. We came up with Obama,” one creator said. “It’s definitely a joke. But it Obama has completed his second term could make people think a little bit about as president of the United States... why what we could do differently in French not hire him as president for France?” It politics... the idea was to make people should be pointed out that Obama would wake up.”

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

INDIA AND PAK’S MOST UNWANTED Man with Pakistani passport and Indian voter ID languishing in Delhi detention centre as family tries to secure release

INDIA and Pakistan appear to be in agreement on one issue: neither country wants Mohd Qamar. The fate of the 58year-old inmate of a detention centre in Delhi is in limbo as he strives to reunite with his wife and five children living in Meerut. Qamar recently approached the Delhi High Court through his advocate, ND Pancholi, seeking permission to be released and allowed to stay with his family till the question of his nationality is settled under the Foreigners Act. The two countries have detained hundreds of each other’s citizens for illegally crossing the frontier and for spying, as well as holding prisoners from the three IndiaPakistan wars. The court has sought the Centre’s response. Rajesh Gogna, counsel for the Union of India,

said, “We have learnt that the Pakistan government is not accepting him as its citizen and India is saying that he is not ours. This makes him fall in the category of a ‘stateless person’. We will be filing the status report as per the instructions from the Centre.” Born to Indian parents in Meerut in 1959, Qamar says he

moved to Pakistan with his mother at the age of seven on a three-month visa.

“After my father died, my mother and I along with my stepbrother went to Pakistan. During the visit my mother died, leaving me at the mercy of my maternal grandmother and other relatives in Pakistan,” Qamar told Mail Today.

Sharing his ordeal in the petition, he said, “I never wanted to stay in Pakistan.

I was too little to manage on my own and even lost my Indian passport. Under forced circumstances and technical difficulties, I obtained a Pakistani passport with a view to come back to India. Any assertion of Indian nationality while living in Pakistan could have brought trouble to me including jail term for several years.” Qamar came to India in 1990 and married Shahnaaj Begam.

He worked as a labourer for the next two decades. However, a complaint was filed with the Meerut police in 2011 that he was a Pakistani national living illegally in India. Qamar accuses his relatives of implicating him in a false case over a property dispute. The local intelligence unit arrested him that year under the Foreigners Act. Finding evidence against Qamar, the trial court in 2014 convicted him of residing in India as a Pakistani national without valid documents. He was sentenced to jail for three years and six months and fined Rs 500. His lawyer said, “Qamar has an Indian voter card issued to him in 2011. He is an Indian citizen and deporting him to Pakistan or elsewhere merely on the wrongful assumption that he is not an Indian national will deprive him of his right to life and impact his family. He did not renounce his Indian citizenship voluntarily.” Pancholi said there are several cases where merely obtaining the passport of a different country cannot in all cases merely mean receiving the passport.

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Pakistan diplomat deletes tweet on Ahmadi Muslim Mahershala Ali’s Oscar win

New Delhi There are several Muslim-majority countries where Mahershala Ali’s Oscar win for his role in Moonlight won’t be celebrated. That’s because he belongs to the minority Ahmadi sect.

In countries such as Malaysia and Pakistan, Ahmadis are reviled by hardline Sunni Muslim groups as heretics, apostates and even infidels.

So much so that Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s envoy to the United Nations, deleted a tweet on Monday that noted Ali was the first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award. The tweet, however, was spotted by eagle eyed Twitter users who saved screen grabs.

Ali, who was born a Christian, converted to Islam in his final year at graduate

THE CONTACT STAFF: EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Sunny Bains Lt. Hon. President : Dr. (Prof.) Darshan Singh

school after the woman who would become his wife, Amatus Karim, invited him to an Ahmadi mosque.

In Pakistan, the government of then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was pressured by religious hardliners to amend the Constitution in 1974 to declare members of the Ahmadiyya sect “nonMuslims”.

Another constitutional amendment by military ruler Zia-ul-Haq in 1984 further restricted religious freedoms of Ahmadis, who were barred from referring to themselves as Muslims and from calling their places of worship mosques. Anyone doing so could be sent to prison for three years.

Even now, every Pakistani applying for a passport has to sign a declaration that states Prophet Mohammed was the final prophet and that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya sect, an “imposter nabi” (false prophet) and his followers “non-Muslims”.

Who are the Ahmadis?

The Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya sect takes its name from Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was born on February 13, 1835 in the town of Qadian in Gurdaspur district,

currently in Indian Punjab. In Pakistan, the derogatory terms “Qadiani” and “Mirzai” are often used to refer to Ahmadis.

Ghulam Ahmad angered other Muslims when he claimed he had been chosen by Allah as the “Mahdi” or messiah in the late 1880s. His followers too regarded him as a prophet, further angering Sunnis who considered this heretical as they believed Prophet Mohammed was the final

ESCAPING ISIS JAWS

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prophet.

He died in Lahore in May 1908 and was buried in Qadian. During Partition in 1947, Ghulam Ahmad’s followers shifted the movement’s religious headquarters from Qadian to Rabwah in Pakistani Punjab, which they projected as their “promised land”.

But less than a decade later, Ahmadis were targeted in violent riots in Lahore in 1953 that followed protests spearheaded by groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Following years of persecution, the Ahmadis moved their central headquarters to London. The sect now has adherents in Britain, the US and African and European countries though there are no reliable numbers for the followers.

In Pakistan, Ahmadis continue to be targeted by religious hardliners and terror groups. In May 2010, nearly 100 Ahmadis were killed in near simultaneous terror attacks on two mosques of the sect in Lahore. The country’s only Nobel laureate, Abdus Salam, who played a key role in the nuclear programme and whose work led to the discovery of the so-called God Particle, has been shunned in Pakistan because he was an Ahmadi.

More recently, army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa was the target of a vicious whisper campaign that claimed he was an Ahmadi because his wife reportedly has some Ahmadi relatives.

continued from page 1 able to stand for more than 10 minutes at a stretch and they let me be in the jail,” Kosanam recalls. He said similar requests were made three to four times but he refused to work in field hospitals. “Once the seniormost ISIS leader in the jail Abdurr Rehman fell seriously ill due to chest infections and I was asked to treat him. I gave him antibiotics which helped him recover in one week and impressed by me, they put me in the nearby field hospital on night duty where I had to provide and suggest medicines for their surgeons treating their fighters, “he says. On the horrific stories of treatment with women, Kosanam says he also heard similar tales but since he was in captivity, he did not

come across any such victims personally.

However, he recalls some of the foreignorigin females fighting for the ISIS were referred to him for treatment when he was in the Sirte jail. “I could not help them as they had gynaecological problems,” he said. “There were a couple of women who were kicked near the stomach deliberately to cause damage to their kidneys for torture but I did not come across any such mass level brutality there.” Asked whether he came across any Indians working for the ISIS during his ordeal there, he said, “While discussing the wellbeing of Indians there, I heard one day that a Muslim boy from Tamil Nadu had committed a suicide bombing against Libyan government forces there while fighting for ISIS.

continued from page 1 made-in-India truck has been used for carrying the SPYDER system, which has been tested extensively resulting in delays,” the sources said. Both the SPYDER and Akash are all-weather missiles and the process to seek and engage an aggressive aircraft or missile is automatic. Besides aircraft and UAVs, they can also neutralise lowlevel cruise missiles. The IAF has taken a slew of measures to strengthen its air defence capabilities in the recent past as it is also going to deploy another air defence system called the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) system from Israel, which can strike down targets at 50-70km. The force would receive a major boost when it starts getting the S-400 air defence missile system from Russia, which can take out targets at 400 km and can be very effective against enemy AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) and cruise missiles at great distances.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

‘Dance bar ban to Buckigham Palace guards’ spur f lesh trade’ band plays ‘Jai Ho’ as India, UK launch Year of Culture MAHARASHTRA’S bar dancers have waltzed up to the Supreme Court and argued that the prevailing ban-like atmosphere in the state could push them into activities like prostitution. Members of the Bharatiya Bar Girls Union knocked on the SC’s door on Monday against the “unjust and arbitrary” new restrictions such as curbs on body movement, ban on acceptance of tips and showering of money as well as serving of liquor in performing area apart from mandatory installation of CCTV cameras. They reminded the court that the closing down of the bars in 2005 left over 75,000 female workers unemployed. They brought to the apex court’s attention the observation of another bench that struck down a similar state law. The plea will be heard on March 2. The Maharashtra government had over a decade ago suspended the licences of bars and hotels where young women were employed to dance to racy film songs for male customers, claiming they were a bad influence on society. But the top court said last year that bars could once again apply for licences. The SC had in an earlier judgment said, “It has been brought on the record that many of them (bar dancers) have been compelled to take up prostitution out of necessity for maintenance of their families. In our opinion, the impugned legislation has proved to be totally counterproductive and cannot be sustained”. This is the first time that bar dancers themselves have come

forward to oppose the Maharashtra law. Till now the challenge was only from hotel, restaurant and dance bar owners. The fresh plea has termed the new Act as “arbitrary” and “violative” of their right to earn a livelihood through legitimate means. The union alleges

that the term “obscene dance” in the Act has been deliberately kept vague to allow police to harass performers.

The SC had earlier slammed the Maharashtra Police on the matter. The apex court summoned and reminded the Mumbai DCP (licensing) that it was better for women to perform in dance bars than indulge in “unacceptable activities”. “You have to change your mindset,” Justice Dipak Misra had said. “Regulation is different from prohibition.”

London The band of the Grenadier Guards played Indian themed music near the Buckingham Palace on Monday during a ceremony to mark the start of UK India Year of Culture.

The change of guards at the palace – widely watched by tourists and others – took place to the tunes of AR Rahman’s song ‘Jai Ho’ from the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.

Chefs from Veeraswamy, the oldest Indian restaurant in London, rustled up Indianthemed menu in the royal kitchen to mark the event.

The year of culture was announced during the November 2015 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the Brexit vote six months later has prompted extra focus as India is among the top countries Britain

is courting to compensate for the loss of European market.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is on a fourday visit mainly to represent India at the event, joined by celebrities such as Kapil Dev, Katrina Kaif, Joe Wright, Anoushka Shankar and Rio Ferdinand.

The India day at Buckingham Palace is part of a busy calendar of events that has been put together to celebrate the year, which also marks 70th year of India’s independence.

It includes events by Indian and British institutions such as the British Film Institute, British Library, Kew Gardens, Open University and the Science Museum. Copies of the Magna Carta and Shakespeare’s First Folio are being exhibited in India.

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The Great American Gag Order

THE White House blocked most of the media from attending the briefing on Friday several hours after the President called some of them ‘fake news’. Spicer canceled a planned, on-camera briefing and held a private briefing inside his office that was open to only certain reporters.

Among the outlets allowed in were Breitbart News, the previous employer of chief strategist Steve Bannon. Others to be allowed access were Fox News. The ones banned included DailyMail.com, the BBC, the New York Times, Politico, and CNN — which hours earlier Trump had called the Clinton News Network. The ban is the latest round in Spicer and his boss’s war with the media — dubbed the ‘opposition party’ by Bannon. “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” Trump tweeted last week. He doubled down Friday morning at CPAC, mocking the ‘Clinton News Network’ and continuing to call the ‘fake news media’ the ‘enemy’. “They’re very dishonest people,” he said. “They’re very smart, they’re very cunning and they’re v e r y dishonest.”

And Friday evening Trump tweeted: “FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn’t tell the truth. A great danger to our

country. The failing @nytimes has become a joke. Likewise @CNN. Sad!” Spicer allowed in what is known as the White House ‘pool’, a rotation of reporters who report on behalf of all outlets, and then hand-picked who else he let in . CBS was the news network that was assigned to represent all the major networks today as part of what is known at the television pool. A BC, NBC and Fox News were all allowed in. So was One America News Network. That left CNN banned. Other broadcasters from abroad also kept out, including BBC and Al Jazeera. CNN issued a defiant statement saying: “This is an unacceptable development by the White House. This is how they retaliate when you report facts they don’t like. We’ll keep reporting regardless.” The news network was already involved in a confrontation with the White House on Friday morning after it reported Thursday night White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had tried unsuccessfully to have the FBI deny there had been contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia. The report led to the White House conducting a briefing with two officials who it asked reporters not to name, to contest elements of the CNN story. Shortly after the White House’s briefing, Trump told the CPAC crowd: “They shouldn’t be allowed to

Sniper takes ISIS kill tally to 321 A VETERAN sniper has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 300 ISIS fighters in two years after volunteering to join the fight against jihad in his home country. Abu Tahseen, 63, who has previously fought in five conflicts, volunteers with Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation

Units. Now the silver-haired sniper has killed 321 militants since 2015, according to military.com. Tahseen is a legend among his comrades and is so committed to the cause that he even spends his time off tracking down ISIS fighters. In videos the sniper appears calm and focused as he talks about using his deadly skills to kill the enemy.

Following his 173rd kill last year, the fighter released a video in which he appeared to take out an enemy sniper. And the soldier has spoken of how ISIS militants live in fear of entering the area he patrols. As he gazes over the Makhoul Mountains, in North Baijiin, Mr Tahseen says: “You see this area?

I guarantee to God no one would come up it. “I’m relaxed. My mind is relaxed. When I get my rotation I just want to get back here. “Last time they gave me a month off and after 12 days I came back.”

The pensioner, who has bullets longer than his fingers strapped to his belt, talks about what his powerful weapon does to his targets, saying it ‘pushes him back one metre before putting him down’. Tahseen has fought in the Yom Kippur war, the IranIraq war, the invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf War.

use sources unless they use somebody’s name. Let their name be put out there. A source says The Great American Gag Order that Donald Trump is a horrible, horrible human being,” he mocked, reading an imaginary story. “Let ‘em say it to my face!” Trump said some reporters are ‘great’ and ‘talented’, but declared ‘we are fighting fake news. It’s fake!

Phony! Fake!” “A few days ago I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And they are. They are the enemy of the people,” he insisted. But in the resulting media coverage, he said, ‘the dishonest media did not explain that I called ‘fake’ news the enemy of the people. They dropped the word fake.”

Chinese firm claims its coconut juice can turn girls busty

A CHINESE drink company has been criticised for claiming its latest product can enlarge women’s breasts in a controversial advert. The Coconut Palm Group launched its new juice with an advert featuring wellendowed models.

One beauty in a plunging top runs along a beach in slow motion while holding the drink in one hand. A slogan on the screen next to her reads: “A can a day and you’ll be white, tender and busty” as the model says: “A can of Coconut Palm a day will give you a graceful figure.” The company faced huge criticism from viewers on social media for the ‘ridiculous’ association between coconut juice and breast enlargement. The drink is not a nutritional product so the company is not allowed to make such claims under Chinese regulations. Chinese authorities from the country’s Consumer Protection Bureau as well as the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television are expected to investigate the controversial

advert. The firm faces punishment for sexualised

imagery and vulgar language. A member of staff at the Coconut Palm Group said the drink did not include any new ingredients and pointed to 20-year-old research as the basis for the claim that coconut drinks can enlarge breasts. They told Beijing News: “We saw this benefit from a Hong Kong newspaper in 1997. “Our manager recently felt it could be included as part of our marketing.

So we used it as a reference.”

The firm did not conduct any studies into the drink’s breast enhancement abilities.

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Issue - 708 (7)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Arts save young Mexicans from crime MEXICO CITY Ex-drug addict Fernando Rivera lived through hell as a youth from a poor and violent suburb of Mexico City - until art saved him.

Now, aged 24, he smiles as he shows the mask with a skull design that he wears when he creates paintings with a spray-can.

After spending time in a

Rivera started off at the center six years ago on a photography course and traveled the country taking pictures of folk customs.

That led to an interest in social anthropology, a subject he is now studying at university level. Without the center, he says, “my life would have been totally different.”“We are at war

rehab clinic, he ended up at the Arts and Crafts Factory (FARO), a network of municipal centers that have saved thousands like him from lives of drugs and violence.

“It is like being shipwrecked and then finding a place of refuge,” he tells AFP. The dead bodies of crime victims used to be found at dawn on the spot where the vast warehouses housing the FARO now stand, on the outskirts of the capital.

The spot is home to the Eastern FARO, offering free workshops in art, crafts, drama, literature and more to 2,000 locals.

here against the gangs to see how you can recruit more young people - with culture or with drugs,” says award-winning photojournalist Jesus Villaseca, who teaches at the center.He says authorities have neglected the surrounding Santa Martha Acatitla district.

Cracks run through the walls of the nearby houses and the ground, unrepaired following an earthquake.

There are two jails in the neighborhood but no university.

That is where the FARO the acronym means “Lighthouse” in Spanish comes in.It started 18 years

ago and has since spawned three other similar centers in other troubled neighborhoods.One of Villaseca’s students, Emiliano Lopez, aged just 12, has been taking photographs since he was six. He specializes in pictures of demonstrations.“Photographing protests is a way to give a voice to people,” he says, “and also to express my own complaints.”Alam Yael Bernal recalls that his aunt brought him to the center “almost by force” when he was a child.He was living with relatives after seeing his mother killed in a shoot-out that landed his father in jail when Alam was 11.Many of his old schoolmates are either dead, jobless or in gangs. But Bernal, now 23, is studying politics at FARO. He wants to study to become a journalist to report on politics and social justice.On arriving, “I believed in nothing. I did not trust the institutions,” he recalls. “This helped me find a way out.”Guadalupe Vallejo, 39, records her own hip-hop songs in a studio at the FARO.She had a birth defect that has caused her to have a speech impediment and means she has to use a wheelchair.

I got rape threats for opposing ABVP, says Kargil martyr’s daughter New Delhi The Delhi University student, whose social media campaign against ABVP recently went viral, alleged on?Sunday to have received “rape threats”.Lady Sri Ram Ram College student Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of Kargil martyr Captain Mandeep Singh, said she has attracted a barrage of hate messages over her stand on the issue.

“I have been getting a lot of threats on social media. I think it is very scary when people threaten you with violence or with rape,” she told NDTV. Giving rape threats “in the name of nationalism” is not right, she added.

Her comments received widespread support including from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“Just listen to this. THIS is BJP. They will destroy our country. Everyone must rise against their goondaism,” he tweeted while sharing her statement.

After the North Campus clash, Kaur had changed her Facebook profile picture holding a placard which read “I am a student from Delhi University. I am not afraid of ABVP. I am not

alone. Every student of India is with me. #StudentsAgainstABVP”.

Delhi University’s Ramjas College had on Wednesday witnessed large-scale violence between members of AISA and ABVP workers.

The genesis of the clash was an invite to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid to address a seminar on ‘Culture of Protests’ which was withdrawn by the college authorities following opposition by the ABVP.

Tiny plastic particles from clothing clogging oceans GENEVA Invisible particles washed off products like synthetic clothing and car tyres account for up to a third of the plastic polluting

management, tiny plastic particles are in fact a bigger source of marine plastic pollution than plastic waste.In addition to car tyres and synthetic

oceans, impacting ecosystems and human health, a top conservationist body warned Wednesday.

Unlike the shocking images of country-sized garbage patches floating in the oceans, the microplastic particles that wash off textiles and roadways leave the waterways looking pristine.But they constitute a significant part of the “plastic soup” clogging our waters accounting for between 15 and 31 percent of the estimated 9.5 million tonnes of plastic released into the oceans each year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).In its report “Primary Microplastics in the Oceans”, IUCN found that in many developed countries in North America and Europe, which have effective waste

textiles, such particles stem from everything from marine coatings and road markings, to city dust and the microbeads in cosmetics.“Plastic waste is not all there is to ocean plastics,” IUCN chief Inger Andersen said in a statement, insisting that “we must look far beyond waste management if we are to address ocean pollution in its entirety.”

“Our daily activities, such as washing clothes and driving, significantly contribute to the pollution choking our oceans, with potentially disastrous effects on the rich diversity of life within them, and on human health,” she w a r n e d . W h i l e microplastics are hard to spot, they can seriously harm marine wildlife and as they enter the global food and water supplies they are believed to pose a significant risk to human health.Karl Gustaf Lundin,

who heads IUCN’s Global Marine and Polar P r o g r a m m e , acknowledged that few studies have been done so far on the impact of tiny plastic particles on human health.But he pointed out to AFP that such particles are small enough to actually move through our membranes, “so we have to assume that there probably will be considerable impact.”

IUCN is calling on the makers of tyres and clothing especially to shift their production methods and make products that pollute less.

Lundin pointed out that tyre makers could for instance revert back to using mainly rubber, while textile makers could stop using plastic coatings on clothes.Washing machine makers could also install filters that could catch micro and even nano plastic particles, he said.

Such steps are vital to limit the damage, he said, warning that the situation is particularly worrying in the Arctic - the biggest source of sea food in Europe and North America.

“It seems the microplastic is freezing into the sea ice, and since you actually lower the melting point of ice when you have small particles in it, you have a quicker disappearance of sea ice,” he said.Lundin pointed out that when the ice melts, it releases plankton that attracts fish, allowing the plastic particles to “go straight into our food chain.”

Issue - 708 (8)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

US belongs to all nations, Ex-Iran president writes a letter to Donald Trump New York Iran’s former hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter Sunday to President Donald Trump, striking a somewhat conciliatory tone while applauding immigration to America and saying it shows “the contemporary US belongs to all nations”.It isn’t the first

dispatch sent by Ahmadinejad, who has counted US Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama among his pen pals.But this letter, weighing in at over 3,500 words, comes as criticism of Trump over his travel ban affecting seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran mounts in Tehran. It also may serve to burnish Ahmadinejad’s image domestically after the nation’s Supreme Leader warned him not to run in Iran’s upcoming May presidential election. In the letter, published by Iranian media outlets, Ahmadinejad noted Trump won the election while he “truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt”.

Ahmadinejad decried US “dominance” over the United Nations, as well as American meddling in the world that has brought “insecurity, war, division, killing and (the) displacement of nations”. He also acknowledged the some 1 million people of Iranian descent living in America, saying that US policies should

“value respect toward the diversity of nations and races.”“In other words, the contemporary US belongs to all nations, including the natives of the land,” he wrote. “No one may consider themselves the owner and view others as guests or immigrants.”

A judge later blocked Trump’s travel ban, and an appeals court refused to reinstate it. Trump has promised to issue a revised order soon, saying it’s necessary to keep America safe.Entirely missing from the letter was any reference to Iran’s nuclear program. Under Ahmadinejad’s presidency, Iran found itself heavily sanctioned over the program as Western governments feared it could lead

Soldiers catch man trying to cross Indo-Pak border to meet ‘Facebook love’

Chandigarh A 30-year-old city resident was nabbed on Sunday by BSF from near the Indo-Pak border at Ferozepur while trying to sneak out of the country to meet his “Facebook girl friend” at Lahore.

Sikandar Khan, a resident of Sector 49 in Chandigarh, was caught while “moving under suspicious circumstances” near Lakho Ke Behram border in Ferozepur district, police said.

“A patrolling team of Border Security Force (BSF) caught Sikandar Khan who wanted to go to Pakistan to meet a woman whom he loved,” said Ferozepur DSP Balwinder Singh.

DSP said Sikandar came into contact with the woman on the social networking site over two years ago and claimed that both of them were in love.Sikandar, who works at a marriage bureau in Chandigarh, was not carrying his passport, DSP said.

BSF handed him over to the local police, which has booked him under section 12 of the 416-886-7370 Passport Act, 1967.

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to the Islamic Republic building atomic weapons. Iran has long maintained its program was for peaceful purposes.Iran under current President Hassan Rouhani struck a nuclear deal with world powers, including the Obama administration, to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. Trump campaigned promising to renegotiate the deal, without offering specifics.

Ahmadinejad gave the letter to the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests in Iran. The embassy declined to comment Sunday while American officials could not be immediately reached. The letter comes ahead of Iran’s presidential election, in which Rouhani is widely expected to seek a second four-year term.

While allies of Ahmadinejad are expected to run, he himself won’t after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned him in September his candidacy would bring about a “polarized situation” that would be “harmful for the c o u n t y. ” A h m a d i n e j a d ’ s popularity in Iran remains in question. During his tenure, he personally questioned the scale of the Holocaust and predicted the demise of Israel.

Daily prayers to determine salary of court employees in PoK

Islamabad The court employees in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK) will have to offer daily prayers punctually - both in and outside the court- as their annual raises would now hinge on their offering prayers regularly and on the prescribed times, a top Judge has said.

Ibrahim Zia, who took oath as the 12th chief justice of the PoK Supreme Court yesterday, has directed the court employees to ensure punctuality in the court and in their prayer timings, the Express Tribune reported.

“The annual salary hikes of court employees would now hinge on their offering prayers regularly and on the prescribed times,” he said, while declaring that offering prayers was now mandatory for all employees of the court.

Zia said the move would ensure

that employees offer daily prayers regularly and he himself would be leading some prayers.

“To make sure employees offer their prayers regularly, Justice Zia said they would be secretly checked by the court,” the paper said.

However, it was not clear what mechanism he would use to check employees’ punctuality of prayers outside the office.

Five times daily prayers is one of the pillars in the faith of Islam and an obligatory religious duty for Muslims.

The Chief Justice also directed court employees to work with dedication, honesty and regularity to ensure speedy justice to the public. After taking oath, Justice Zia administered oath to officers working in the Supreme Court, a first in the history of the apex court.

older population are in place,” Ezzati said.

“The social implications of this change will also likely require changes to pensions and retirement.” The South Korean success story is built on broad gains in economic status, along with improved child nutrition and

and violence, and insufficient healthcare,” the study concluded.

Among the countries canvassed, the United States has the highest child and maternal mortality, homicide rate, and body-mass index, a standard measure of obesity.

broad access to health care and modern medical technology, the study noted. The East Asian nation of 50 million, along with its neighbour Japan, has also maintained significantly lower rates of obesity, and of smoking among women.

In the United States, by contrast, life expectancy at birth is currently below most other highincome countries, and is poised to fall even further behind.

“The poor recent and projected US performance is at least partly due to high and inequitable mortality from chronic diseases

Of the 35 wealthy OECD nations, it is the only one not to have universal health care, which the researchers identified as the “cornerstone” of other countries’ strategies for reducing adult mortality. To improve on earlier estimates of future lifespan, the study leveraged statistical techniques used in weather forecasting and developed 21 independent models, rather than just one. In 2015, women in Japan, Singapore and Spain topped the longevity list at 87, 86 and 85.5 years respectively.

South Korea placed fourth.

Life expectancy to break 90 barrier by 2030

PARIS By 2030 life expectancy for South Korean women could top nine decades, an average lifespan long thought to be out of reach, researchers said Wednesday.

South Korea is not only the first country in the world where women may live past 90 on average, it is also the one on track to log the biggest jump in longevity, they reported in The Lancet medical journal.

Other developed countries are not far behind: the longevity of French and Japanese women are more likely than not to stretch past 88 years.

“As recently as the turn of the century, many researchers believed that life expectancy would never surpass 90 years,” said lead author Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London.Nations boasting the greatest longevity among men by 2030 - 84 years in each case will likely be South Korea, Australia and Switzerland, according to the study.Among 35 well-off countries examined, life expectancy was predicted to increase across the board over the next 15 years.While a marker of progress, ageing populations also pose huge challenges to health care systems and social services, and may require pushing back the age at which people stop working, the study warned. “It is important that policies to support the growing

Issue - 708 (9)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Pak Airline Allowed 7 Passengers To UK robotics research Stand In Aisles Through Entire Flight gets £17.3m pledge

ISLAMABAD A Pakistan International Airlines flight, last month, from Karachi to Saudi Arabia’s Madina carried seven extra passengers who were made to stand in aisles, prompting a probe into the serious breach of security regulations by Pakistan’s lossmaking national carrier, according to media reports. A Boeing 777 aircraft has a seating capacity of 409, including jump seats for staff, while flight PK743 carried 416 passengers from Karachi to Madina. The seven passengers, aboard the three-hour long PIA flight PK-743 on January 20, were forced to stand after the airline boarded excess passengers, Dawn newspaper reported.

The PIA management appears to have taken this lightly as no action has been taken against those responsible for the incident, the paper said.

PIA spokesperson Danyal Gilani

said the matter was being investigated. Mr Gilani told the BBC that an internal investigation has been initiated “and appropriate action will be taken once responsibility is fixed”.

If someone was found responsible for any wrongdoing, the PIA would take stern action against them under the company rules, he said.

The report said allowing seven passengers to travel by standing all the way to the destination constituted a serious air safety breach as in the case of an emergency, passengers without seats would not have access to oxygen. It could also cause congestion in case of an emergency evacuation.

The boarding passes issued to the extra passengers were hand-written and not computergenerated, sources said. The computer-generated list, provided to the aircraft crew by

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau expected to visit India later this year

New Delhi Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to make a state visit to India later this year, External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said in New Delhi.

“We expect the Canadian Prime Minister to visit India sometime later this year,” Swarup said.

Swarup was speaking at a party organised to bid farewell as he leaves the office of the spokesperson of the Indian

External Affairs Ministry. Swarup is headed to Canada where he will take up the position of India’s High Commissioner to the country.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already visited Canada, becoming the first prime minister in 42 years to visit the North American country while still in office.During Modi’s trip, India inked a multi-million-dollar deal for uranium to power its civilian nuclear programme for five years and also inked 13 agreements, including on skill development, following talks with then Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

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the ground traffic staff, did not mention the details of the seven extra passengers, the report said.

Sources said that the senior purser, Hina Turab, maintains that she informed the captain about the chaos in the cabin, but the captain told her to “adjust” those passengers as the aircraft was on the taxi way.

However, Captain Anwer Adil who operated the flight maintains that the computergenerated sheet did not show excess passengers. He said: “I had already taken off and the senior purse did not inform me about extra passengers before closing the aircraft door.

Therefore after take-off immediate landing back at Karachi was not possible as it required lot of fuel dumping which was not in the interest of the airline.”

Protocol necessitates that in such cases, the aircraft should be brought back to the terminal and excess passengers offloaded, sources said. Only then can an aircraft resume its flight.Interestingly, the crew of the flight conveniently did not mention the incident in their reports at the end of the journey or after returning to Karachi, the newspaper said.

Pakistan’s national carrier suffers from huge debts, an ageing fleet and a string of corruption scandals. The airline has accumulated liabilities of over Rs. 300 billion and an additional loss of over Rs. 5.6 billion is being added to this amount every month.

LONDON Funding of £17.3m ($22m) for artificial intelligence and robotics research to be carried out by British universities is to be announced by the government.

It is part of the government’s digital strategy, to be published

by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley on Wednesday.

A report by Accenture released last year estimated that AI could contribute up to £654bn to the UK economy by 2035. But the government was criticised last year for its support of the UK tech scene. As part of the new digital strategy, computer scientist Prof Dame Wendy Hall and tech CEO Jerome Pesenti, former chief data scientist at IBM, have been asked to review the UK’s artificial intelligence sector.“Our scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of the development of artificial intelligence and I’m looking forward to exploring how industry and government can work together to support the technology in the UK,” said Dame Wendy.Mrs Bradley described the UK as a pioneer

of artificial intelligence.“Backing our thriving digital economy to expand and grow by putting the best foundations in place to develop new technology is a vital part of this government’s plan to build a modern, dynamic and global trading nation,” she said.However, in January this year the organiser of the CES tech fair told the BBC it was “a source of embarrassment” that there was a small British presence at the event compared with other countries.More than 177,000 people attended the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas, at which robotics was a theme.

The event drew thousands of exhibitors from around the world seeking investment, distribution deals and publicity, but France sent almost five times more tech firms than Britain.“Britain’s been a little slow to the game honestly. We have a minister from Britain coming but there’s not a lot of activity that we’ve seen at CES,” said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, which organises the event.

Hitler lookalike arrested in Austria VIENNA Austrian police arrested an Adolf Hitler lookalike on Monday after he was spotted wandering around the Nazi dictator’s hometown sporting his infamous moustache and side parting, a spokesman said.

The 25-year-old Austrian national was detained in his flat in the quaint northern town of Braunau am Inn where the Fuehrer was born on April 20, 1889.

The man, who reportedly called himself “Harald Hitler”, was arrested under a 1947 Austrian law which made it illegal to promote Nazi ideology.

“It was obvious that he glorified Hitler,” police spokesman David Furtner told AFP. Authorities became aware of his existence after photos emerged on social media of the man posing outside Hitler’s actual birth house, a large yellow corner house in the town’s historic centre.

Other snaps showed him standing in a Braunau pub dressed in traditional garb including a loden jacket and lederhosen.

According to local media reports, the copycat introduced himself to patrons as “Harald Hitler” and insisted on being served “Austrian

mineral water”.

The suspect who offered no resistance during his arrest had moved to Braunau in mid-January, police said.

The case once again puts the spotlight on Braunau, a town of 17,000 on the German border which has repeatedly made headlines because of its historical ties to Hitler.

Most recently it drew attention after the government in December expropriated the dilapidated building where Hitler came into the world.

The move followed years of bitter wrangling with owner Gerlinde Pommer who had been renting the premises to the interior ministry since the 1970s and refused to sell or carry out essential renovation works.The government said the seizure had been necessary to stop the building from becoming a pilgrimage site for Nazi sympathisers.

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Issue - 708 (10)

Saini Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance from the GTA for their slim, fair, beautiful, 5’2"/’83 born daughter, born, raised, educated in Canada, Bachelors in Business Management, and employed in the Finance division of a reputable Canadian company.

The boy should be clean shaven, born, raised and educated in Canada & professionally employed.

P l e a s e email sub2405@gmail.com or call 416-741-0777 *** 707*** Well settled Jat Sikh parents seking a suitable match for their daughter, born and raised in Canada, 40 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, pretty, fair complextion, professionally employed with Toronto Board of Education as a teacher, never married before, having good family values. The boy should be professionally qualified and employed and family oriented. Caste no Bar. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: jim.dtoronto@gmail.com Or Call : 416-716-2040 ***707** Well established Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, born and raised in Canada, 35 yrs. old, 6’ tall, degree om Criminal Justice, running his own business, very handsome and family oriented. The girl should be born or raised in Canada, well educated, professionally employed, beautiful, tall with family values. Other castes no bar. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: jim.dtoronto@gmail.com Or Call : 416-716-2040 ***707** Jatt Sikh Sandhu family seek a suitable match for their daughter, 25 yrs. old, 5'-6" tall, M. Tech.

(Energy Science), working for a big corporation, only child of parents belonging to a decent well-settled family, living in India, looking for a Canadian/ American citizen or immigrant boy. Serious inquiries only.

Please send your biodata & recent picture to: S A N D H U R I S H T A @hotmail.com or call: 647 875 9342 ***707** Hindu Brahman parents looking for a suitable match for their daughter, 27 yrs. old, 5’-4” tall, Canadian Citizen, University educated, professionally employed. The boy should be Canadian/Amarican professionally educated, employed, non-drinker, nonsmoker, vegetarian with family values. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: matrisearch7325@gmail.com ***707** Match for Jat Sikh Dhillon girl, 1985 born (looks like 24-25 yrs old), 5’-5" tall, beautiful, wellcultured, canadian pr, B. Tech (india), Post graduate project management (canada), working

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

in admn. dept in canada. Brother & Parents in USA. The boy should be Jat sikh, equally qualified, clean-shaven. Only serious inquiries via email (no sms/what’s app). Contact father. Please send your biodata & recent picture to : dhillonintl@yahoo.com call: 1718-414-4618 ***707** Well settled & established business Jat Sikh family seek a suitable match for their only son, 26 yrs.old, 5’-11” tall, certified professional accountant, doing last year of M.B.A. (Schilich school of Business) working a top class company. The girl should be Canadian immigrant or citizen, professional, homely, beautiful.

Call: 647-290-9267 ***707** Jatt Sikh parents seek a suitable match for their canadian born daughter, 24 yrs. old, 5'-7" tall, university graduate. The boy should be living in the Ontario Canada, well settled, belong to Jatt Sikh family, under 28 yrs. old, graduate. Call: 416-6692144 or 647-574-2434 ***707** USA settled wealthy Jat Sikh family seek a m suitable match for theirson, 25 yrs. old, 5’-11” tall, handsome, clean shaven, Convent educated, studying in Australia, having decent commercial & Agricultural property bac home consider him well settled in U.S.A. The girl should be Canadian/American Immigrant or Citizen & from Jat Sikh family. .Please send you recent pictures and bio-date to: ss202@yahoo.com Or Call : 1317-918-1718 (Whatsapp) ***707** Jat sikh family seek a suitable match for their beautiful daughter, 24 yrs. old, 5'-4'’ tall, Indian born, Master’s of Science in Education from Canadian university, working in teaching profession. The boy should be Jat sikh, Canadian immigrant/ citizen, well educated, professionally employed, well settled , having good family values. Please send your biodata & recent picture to :jatsikhmaterimonial @gmail.com or call: 1-289-5691895 ***707** Jat Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their Medico daughter, 35 yrs. old, 5’-9” tall, U.S. Citizen. The boy should be American/Canadian, clean shaven, well educated and from Jat Sikh family. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: srsingh191@gmail.com ***707** Jat Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their Canadian born son, 28 yrs. old, 6’ tall, handsome, working as power engineer, family is well settled in Vancouver area and belong to Jalandher. The girl should be good looking, educated with good family values.

Please Call : 1-604-724-0079 Or 1-604-244-0094 ***707** Well educated Jat Sikh parents invite a matrimonial alliance for their son, DOB 1991, 6’ tall, turbaned, B.Tech in Computer Science from Thaper University, Patiala (India),working in one of the top ranking MNCS in Delhi, earining handsome salary, nondrinker, non-smoker. The girl should be Canadian/US Citizen/ Immigrant, well educated, beautiful with family values.

Canada prefered. Sister’s family well settled in Canada. Please Call : 647-569-6787 (Whats app) Or 011-91-98726-56787 (Whats app) ***707** Ramgarhia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their daughter, 31 yrs. old, 5’ tall, B.Sc. Nursing degree from India, residing in India, beautiful, fair and from good family background. The boy should be Canadian/American, Immigrant/ Citizen, educated with family values. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: bloorkiplinggac@gamil.com Or Call : 647-829-5872 ***707** Ramgarhia Sikh parents invite matrimonial alliance for their son, 27 yrs. old, 5-8”’ tall, Dental Surgeon in India, at present on visitor visa in USA. The girl should be American Citizen/green card holder, faimly oriented. Please email recent pictures and bio-data to: sukhjits031@gmail.com Or Call : 1-662-347-9532 ***707** Jat Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their daugter, 30 yrs. old, 5’-5” tall, currently living in Canada. The boy should be educated and must have received ITA in express entry.

Family well settled in Canada.

Please Call : 905-462-5927 ***707** Well settled Chandigarh based Arora Sikh family seek a suitable match for their son, 33 yrs. old, 6’ tall, clean shaven, M.B.A. (USA) working as a programme Manager in Amazone (Sansfrancasco based). The girl should be beautiful educated, family oriented. Please send you recent pictures and bio-date to: jashanbathla@gmail.com Or Call : 1-480-646-2882 ***707** Jat Sikh parents seeking a suitable match for their only son, 30 yrs.old, 5’-11” tall, Canadian citizen, well educated, running his own business. The girl should be Canadian immigrant or citizen, educated, beautiful with family values. BC area prefered.Girl on student visa/ work permit may also be considered. Call: 1-778-5520316 ***1216*** Jat Sikh parents invite a matrimonial alliance for their son, 31 yrs. old, 6’-2” tall, Canadian Citizen, professionally

educated, running his own successful business. The girl should be from USA/Canada, educated, beautiful, tall, family oriented with good family values.

Please Call : 1-778-344-0303 ***707** 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 : 1-604-722-0279 Or : 1-604-525-8062 ***707** 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 biodata to: rurkaps08@yahoo.com Or Call : 1-206-391-8477 ***707** 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 ***707** 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 ***707** 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 biodata and recent picture to: mehta_tarun@yahoo.com Or Call : 647-282-9503 Or : 647-

347-3685 ***707** 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 ***707** 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 : 1-414-552-7913 ***707** 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 ***707** 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 ***707** 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 : 1-347-2519112 ***707**

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).

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647-970-2665

Issue - 708 (11)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

AAP under fire for fielding ‘don’

THE AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday gave the BJP and Congress yet another opportunity to slam it as the party gave ticket for the upcoming civic polls to someone with a ‘criminal background’.

“Wajid Khan, who is contesting from Okhla, has a minimum of five FIRs registered against him in the past one-and-a-half year.

He is a classic case of rags to riches,” a resident of Okhla told MAIL TODAY . “Back in the day, he would supply building material in an auto, but now, owing to his metamorphic rise, he is one of the richest builders,” the resident added, not wishing to be named. MAIL TODAY has

in possession an FIR naming Khan on charges of assault. Mohammed Parvez, who is locked in a court case against Khan in a case of assault, said, “It is shocking to see AAP has issued ticket to someone who has attacked former AAP member Taseer Ahmed along with 7-8 men, issued a life threat to Haji Kadeer Qureshi and has gone to jail for attacking another political leader in the area.” Sources told MAIL TODAY that Khan has been given a ticket because he has previously been associated with Amanatullah Khan, an AAP member. “This has stripped Okhla of a credible candidate with no criminal record.” Talking to MAIL TODAY, Khan refuted the allegations and denied any criminal record. “I have no criminal record against me or anything

Forces do an ISIS, line up 30 corpses in Mosul IRAQI forces line up the corpses of more than 30 dead ISIS fanatics killed in a single battle west of Mosul. Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) have killed dozens of Islamic State terrorists in the western countryside of Mosul as Iraqi officials continue their work toward taking back the city. The PMF are Iraq’s governmentsanctioned paramilitary forces, made up mainly of Shiite militiamen.

Video footage from the Tal Afar countryside on Thursday shows the corpses of terrorists killed by the Hezbollah Battalion, of the PMF, also known as the Hashd AlSha’abi. The video clip was published to Twitter on Thursday by a user who claims more than 33 terrorists were killed. “A gift to all victims of Da’ish terrorism.#Iraq’s Hashd killed dozens of Da’ish

terrorists in a single battle west of #Mosul. 33+ corpses,” Haidar Sumeri wrote on Twitter. The PMF are moving their units toward Tal Afar’s countryside as allies in the Iraqi Army and Federal Police continue their offensive in the western sector of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city. PMF’s spokesman Ahmed al-Asadi said

villages located southwest of the town of Tal Afar are still held by ISIS. He didn’t provide details but the move by PMF is likely coordinated with government effort to recapture western part of Mosul from ISIS. The Shiite militias hold a small airport outside Tal Afar, which is s located some 93 miles east of the Syrian border.

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illegal in any court of law. I have been involved in petty fights, which have been resolved. I am only looking forward to serve local residents.” Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, while interacting with media personnel in the city on Saturday, once again trained guns on Delhi Police, accusing it of working at the behest of the NDA government at the Centre and targetting his party leaders. Kejriwal also condemned the way Delhi Police acted over the Ramjas College fiasco. “Delhi Police is working as agents of the central government. It is clear from the way they brutally assaulted AISA supporters at Ramjas college,” he said.

US to seek extradition of ex-Guatemalan vice president on drug trafficking charges

New York The US government will seek the extradition of former Guatemalan Vice-President Roxana Baldetti and ex-Interior Minister Hector Mauricio Lopez Bonilla on drug trafficking charges, the embassy said in a statement. Baldetti and Lopez Bonilla were indicted in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday, according to the statement.

Each faces a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and knowing that it would be imported to the United States.

Baldetti’s attorney, Gustavo Juarez, said they had not been notified of the US allegations.

Juarez read a statement from Baldetti, in which she dismissed the charges as “one more of the lies in the persecution I have suffered since 2015.”She wrote “I have never participated in this type of activity, neither before I was vice president nor after.”

According to the indictment, Baldetti and others conspired between 2010 and 2015 to import cocaine to the US. The embassy was awaiting the formal extradition request from

the US Justice Department.

Baldetti resigned in 2015 and was formally charged for corruption last year. She has been in custody on charges of allowing and benefiting from an alleged customs graft scheme that defrauded the country of millions of dollars.

Then-President Otto Perez Molina also resigned and has been in custody. In that scheme, companies paid bribes to avoid customs duties.Another corruption scheme ensnared dozens of people with prosecutors alleging that kickbacks from government contracts were used to buy goods and services for Baldetti, including real estate and luxury vehicles, as well as USD 4.3 million in gifts.Baldetti was accused of receiving USD 38 million in kickbacks between 2009 and 2015 for at least 70 public works projects. On one trip to Miami, she allegedly spent USD 27,000 on designer shoes and clothing.The former vice president had denied all of those accusations. She had not faced drug charges in Guatemala.

Pope Francis quietly trims sanctions for sex abusers seeking mercy Vatican City Pope Francis has quietly reduced sanctions against a handful of pedophile priests, applying his vision of a merciful church even to its worst offenders in ways that survivors of abuse and the pope’s own advisers question. One case has come back to haunt him: An Italian priest who received the pope’s clemency was later convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against children as young as 12.

The Rev Mauro Inzoli is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him, The Associated Press has learned. The Inzoli case is one of several in which Francis overruled the advice of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and reduced a sentence that called for the priest to be defrocked, two canon lawyers and a church official told AP. Instead, the priests were sentenced to penalties including a lifetime of penance and prayer and removal from public ministry. In some cases, the priests or their highranking friends appealed to Francis for clemency by citing the pope’s own words about mercy in their petitions, the church official said, speaking on condition

of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential.

“With all this emphasis on mercy … he is creating the environment for such initiatives,” the church official said, adding that clemency petitions were rarely granted by Pope Benedict XVI, who launched a tough crackdown during his

section and will be replaced before leaving March 31.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the others too will be replaced and that staffing in the office, which has a yearslong backlog of cases, would be strengthened after Francis recently approved

2005-2013 papacy and defrocked some 800 priests who raped and molested children.At the same time, Francis also ordered three longtime staffers at the congregation dismissed, two of whom worked for the discipline section that handles sex abuse cases, the lawyers and church official said. One is the head of the

hiring more officials.

“The speed with which cases are handled is a serious matter and the Holy Father continues to encourage improvements in this area,” Burke told AP.

Legal Advice 416-792-7771

Issue - 708 (12)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

When should teen be tried as adult Albany Luis Padilla remembers the terror he felt as a 16-year-old arrested on a robbery charge and locked up with adults in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail.

At one point, he pretended to be suicidal so he could be placed in the relative safety of a locked observation cell.Angry Mob Set Truck Ablaze As11-year-old dies After Being Hit “Even now if I see a Rikers bus, I start to get jumpy and scared,” said Padilla, now 23, who was released after two months and now works nights at a warehouse in Harlem. New York and North Carolina are the last two states that still prosecute all 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in criminal court and house many in adult facilities. But changes may be coming.Both states are considering bills to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 18, with backers saying the measures could save millions of dollars by providing rehabilitative services young people need to keep from reoffending. The proposal also would allow young offenders to avoid adult records that can affect their opportunities for housing, loans and higher education.“You can’t go to a

tanning booth without your parents’ permission if you’re not 18,” said Paige Pierce, chief executive of child advocacy group Families Together in New York State. “Voting, joining the military, buying cigarettes, these are regulated because they’re minors. Why would we, in this one area, consider 16- and 17year-olds as adults?” Child advocates say the research is clear: The brain of a 16- or 17year-old is not fully developed, and the adult criminal system does not include parental or community involvement for mental health, public education and social services that younger offenders need to create a life outside of the criminal system.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that youths in the adult criminal justice system are 34 percent more likely to be arrested again than those in the juvenile system, costing states millions more.

In North Carolina, which places about 30,000 16- and 17-yearolds a year into the adult system, the lure of an estimated $52 million in such savings is pushing the GOP-controlled Legislature closer than ever to raising the

Avoid Indian languages in public places: Indians in US share dos and don’ts

Hyderabad “Don’t talk to each other in Hindi or any other Indian language when you are at a public place in the US. It might land you in deep trouble.” This is one of the suggestions doing rounds among Indians in the US in their social media groups.

That sums up the fear psychosis among Indians, especially Telugus who are in large numbers in the US, after a Hyderabad-origin techie, Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed and his friend Alok Reddy Madasanni was injured in a shooting at a Kansas City bar on Wednesday.Stating that life is precious than anything else, Vikram Jangam, general secretary of the Telagnana American Telugu Association (TATA), has suggested a few dos and don’ts for community members and people of South Asian descent.

The tips he mentioned include: •Do not get into argument with others at public places •Should someone be provoking you, avoid confronting and please leave the place immediately.As much as we love talking in our mother tongue, it can often be misconstrued. Please see if you can communicate in

English in public places.

•Isolated places can often be targets. Please avoid going or staying single.

•In emergency situations, please do not hesitate to call 911. Officers can come and help in such situations.“Please be aware of your surroundings and say something if you see anything suspicious,” Vikram said.Echoing the view, A Venkat Reddy, a Telugu techie who returned to India after spending more than a decade in the US couple of years ago and is still a regular US visitor, said it was always better to avoid confrontation with unknown Americans on streets. “The best way is to leave the place without any argument,” he said.

Surprisingly, Telugu NRIs residing in California, Washington DC and New York are not very much worried of hate-crime incidents, such as that of Kansas shooting.

“These are the areas where there is a large number of Indians. And Americans are also very friendly with us. So far, we have not faced such bad experiences here. There could be one or two such isolated incidents,” Sharath Devulapalli, a software engineer from Bay Area, told HT.

age this year, said Democratic Rep. Duane Hall, sponsor of the proposal. In New York, which has at least 28,000 16- and 17-

has called the issue a key priority and has promised to negotiate with Republicans and district attorneys who have

year-olds treated as adults every year, a measure to raise the age has so far been gridlocked in technical and political squabbles.

Like it has in years past, the Assembly’s Democratic majority has already voted to move all 16and 17-year-olds, except for violent felons, out of criminal court by next year. The vote that matters, however, is in the divided Senate where most proposals ride on a rogue coalition of eight Democrats who change the chamber’s majority by voting with Republicans.The group’s leader, Sen. Jeff Klein,

opposed the measure before.

Prosecutors say the sealing of records in family court would prevent them from understanding whether the teenager is a first-time or repeat offender when making plea deals. The attorneys also say an influx of cases could burden smaller family courts upstate. New York already has some systems in place to treat youth differently than adults.

A judge can award a youthful offender status alongside a punishment that would prevent a teenager from carrying a criminal conviction.

Senate Republican leader John Flanagan said the issue has prompted some strong feelings among Republicans and is complicated. He said a compromise will be a significant part of the final spending agreement with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who included raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18 in his $152 billion dollar budget.Cuomo’s plan would stretch the age increase out until 2020 and exclude a wider array of crimes. Democrats say they are worried compromising will result in weak changes to a broken system.

Padilla has seen it from both sides. He was 13 and in the juvenile justice system for burglary before his arrest at age 16 and his time in Rikers. He said if it hadn’t been for staff at the juvenile center that taught him music, took him camping on weekends and told him he could be different, he never would have left or gotten an education. “I probably would have been dead or in jail,” Padilla said. “I would have stayed in the neighborhood and joined gangs instead of understanding there’s resources out there.”

US Girl Scouts mark 100 years of their iconic cookies CHICAGO On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Molly Sheridan is hard at work in front of a Starbucks coffee shop in Chicago.The 13-year-old is playing her ukulele and, along with her five-year-old sister Edie, singing about Girl Scout cookies - boxes of which she has arranged for sale on a table.

“Singing with my ukulele, I think that brings in people,” Molly says.It is Girl Scout cookie season, a uniquely American tradition marking its 100th year.

This time of year is eagerly anticipated by the millions of Americans who crave the sweets that can only be purchased a few weeks each year, and can’t be found in stores. Some fans take home a pile of boxes and squirrel them away in the freezer to enjoy all year until cookie season rolls around again.The cookies aren’t made by the scouts, but rather are marketed and sold by members of the service organization between January and April - the local weather determines the timing - to raise money for their activities.

The tradition has been interrupted only during World War II, when a shortage of ingredients led the scouts to sell calendars.This weekend, the Girl Scouts will celebrate selfproclaimed National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend, and scouts will be out in force selling the 12 varieties of cookies.

“Most people know their favorites,” Molly said, proven right just moments later by Anthony Stratton, 27, who stopped by to pick up several boxes.His

favorite: the Samoas - a rich treat covered with caramel and toasted coconut.“It just has a yearly draw to it,” Stratton said, “Knowing that the cookies come around once a year, it’s pretty special then.”Jean Niederman, 56, stopped by to purchase Thin Mints, chocolate and mint cookies that are among the most popular.

and eBay are prohibited. Scouts are supposed to maintain one-onone interactions with their customers, so they must use the Scouts website and personally invite customers to buy online.

Still, boxes of cookies can be found on e-commerce sites for a markup - at times twice their original price.

The Girl Scouts organization says

“My older brother loves Thin Mints, and these are his 60th birthday present,” she said.Niederman can remember back to her own childhood, selling the same cookies door to door in the late 1960s. Back then, they were $1 per box. Now they’re $5, she pointed out with a hint of irritation.“Girl Scout cookies have always been popular,” she said.There are other differences today: a new box design, and a Scouts-specific digital selling platform that allows girls to sell to people anywhere in the United States, its territories and even on military bases in other countries.

Sales on sites such as Amazon

it sells some $800 million worth of cookies a year. The girls keep the proceeds of what they sell.Last year, Molly sold 1,500 boxes, raising hundreds of dollars to go on a nature trip with other scouts.While that’s a lot of sugar, butter and flour, she’s not the most prolific saleswoman.

Katie Francis of Oklahoma City sold 22,200 boxes in 2015 alone.

The 14-year-old has sold more than 85,000 boxes overall - one of the best sales records at the Girl Scouts.“It really takes a lot of time, and I’ve learned that attitude is everything,” Katie said, detailing real-life lessons in entrepreneurship, service and resourcefulness.

Issue - 708 (13)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

From Diet Pills To Underwear: Chinese Firms Scramble To Grab Ivanka Trump Trademark BEIJING China is still coming to terms with President Trump, but his daughter Ivanka has never been more popular here.

Chinese companies have been scrambling to add her name to their products since her father won the U.S. presidential election in November. There’s even a new Chinese cosmeticsurgery firm offering the chance to look a little more like her.An incredible 258 trademark applications were lodged under variations of Ivanka, Ivanka Trump and similar-sounding Chinese characters between Nov. 10 and the end of last year, records at the China Trademark Office show.

None appear to have a direct business link with the U.S. president’s daughter.The trademark applications cover a dizzying array of products, including diet pills, anti-wrinkle cream, spa services, massage machines, cosmetic surgery, underwear and sanitary napkins.Then there are applications for women’s blouses, jewelry, swimwear and towels, as well for a whole range of products that seem to bear little relation to the business executive and former model: milk powder, canned food, honey, candy, coffee, wine and beer; mirrors, mattresses and sofas; medical equipment; and even agricultural technology.

Ivanka, of course, has her own line of fashion items and has registered nine trademarks in China, with 26 applications pending and three rejected. Her applications include items such as skin care and cleansing products, leather goods, purses, suitcases, umbrellas, dresses and other clothes, and computer software.Ivanka’s pending applications were all submitted in May and June last year by Chinese attorneys Chang Tsi & Partners.But many other companies want to take advantage of her fame.

Li Jun, the founder of Foshan Bainuo Sanitary Products has applied for the trademark for Chinese characters for a range of women’s sanitary napkins, underwear and incontinence pads, using the usual transliteration of Ivanka’s name in Chinese, yiwanka (pronounced ee-wan-ka).

“I first saw her giving a speech on television to support her father’s election,” he said. “I was captivated by her incomparable disposition and air, even the way she tucked her hair behind her ear. Her speech was full of elegance and charisma.”

Ivanka was popular even before the election, admired for her fashion sense and what Chinese Netizens call her “goddess” good looks.

A video of her young daughter, Arabella, reciting a Chinese poem to celebrate Chinese New Year in 2016 went viral on the

Internet here after the election, garnering nearly 9 million views in just a few days.Ivanka won more fans when she and Arabella visited the Chinese Embassy in Washington to celebrate Chinese New Year this month.“I think her name will be very helpful for the publicity of our brand and products, because I believe she is a very positive role model for all women,” Li said.

Other applications have been lodged for “Ivanka,” “Ivanka Trump,” and a few for Chinese characters that also spell yiwanka.Another company in the southern city of Foshan had the foresight to register its name Foshan Yiwanka Medical Management - just before the election. With just 15 employees, it offers cosmetic surgery around the eyes and nose, as well as liposuction and breast enlargement, said human resources manager Li Yunxing.

“Young women in China like to change their looks to copy film stars’ eyes, noses and lips,” he said. “No doubt young women here want Ivanka’s big eyes, her pretty nose and lips and her flawless figure.“Her facial features, disposition and appearance are perfect,” Li added, “no matter whether they are judged by the beauty standards of the East or the West.”

Taking advantage of - or faking foreign brands is common in China, as is the practice of “trademark squatting,” whereby

someone preemptively registers a spurious trademark claim in the hope they will later be paid to relinquish it.

Whether any of these trademark claims will be successful is another matter entirely.China’s enforcement of trademarks has been brought closer to global standards in recent years, and in January the Supreme People’s Court issued guidelines specifically outlawing use of the names of public figures involved in politics, economy, culture and religion.In December, the court also revoked the right of sportswear-maker Qiaodan Sports to use Michael Jordan’s last name written in Chinese characters, ruling that Jordan is “well recognized” here and should have the legal right to his name.

At Foshan Bainuo Sanitary Products, Li said he realized there was a possibility his trademark application would be rejected. “But I have to try,” he said. “I can’t let go of such a good name from this influential woman for our sanitary napkins.”

President Trump has also waged several battles to trademark his own brand name in China,

winning an appeal last year to claim the “TRUMP” name for construction services from a man named Dong Wei, who had held the trademark for a decade, apparently without using it.

Although trademark lawyers said there were sound legal reasons for Trump to have won the appeal, the victory did prompt speculation he may have received special favors from the Chinese government.

The Chang Tsi law firm declined to comment for this story, but if Ivanka’s company chooses to contest any trademark claims in China, the cases are sure to attract international interest and scrutiny.

Scott Palmer, a partner and leading trademark lawyer in the China office of Sheppard Mullin in Beijing, said he had seen “no evidence whatsoever” that the Chinese government had provided Trump any favors over his trademark. But, he added, the fact that Trump has long traded on the value of his name makes this uncharted waters for an American president.

White House Staffer Quits US President Indo-Americans should unite in Donald Trump’s Office Over Travel Ban face of hate crimes: US Sikh body WASHINGTON Hijab-wearing Muslim ex-White House staffer of Bangladeshiorigin has said she quit her job after US President Donald Trump announced his controversial travel ban, lasting just eight days in the new administration.

Rumana Ahmed was hired in 2011 to work at the White House

the only hijabi in the West Wing - and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included,” she wrote in an article published in The Atlantic.

Ms Ahmed said that like most of her fellow American-Muslims, she spent much of 2016 watching with “consternation” as Mr Trump “vilified our

and eventually the National Security Council (NSC).

“My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijabwearing Muslim woman - I was

community”.“Despite this - or because of it - I thought I should try to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration, in order to give the new president and his aides a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America’s Muslim citizens.“I lasted eight days. When Trump issued a ban on travellers seven Muslim416-886-7370 from majority countries and all

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Syrian refugees, I knew I could no longer stay and work for an administration that saw me and people like me not as fellow citizens, but as a threat,” she said.Ms Ahmed said the evening before she left her job at the White House, she notified Mr Trump’s senior National Security Council (NSC) communications adviser, Michael Anton, of her decision.“His initial surprise, asking whether I was leaving government entirely, was followed by silence - almost in caution, not asking why. I told him anyway,” she wrote.“I told him I had to leave because it was an insult walking into this country’s most historic building every day under an administration that is working against and vilifying everything I stand for as an American and as a Muslim,” Ms Ahmed said.

She told Mr Anton that the administration was attacking the basic tenets of democracy. She said Mr Anton just looked at her and said nothing.Ms Ahmed, whose parents immigrated to the US from Bangladesh in 1978, said inspired by then president Barack Obama, she joined the White House in 2011, after graduating from the George Washington University.

Washington The US-based Sikhs Political Action Committee (SikhsPAC) chief has condemned the shooting incident that resulted in the death of an Indian engineer in Kansas, saying there is a need for Indo-Americans to unite. “Our first priority needs to be ensuring safety and security of every Indian and Sikh living in the US,” Gurinder Singh Khalsa, founder and chairman of the SikhsPAC said.The organisation aims to raise awareness of Sikh culture, identities and values, promote diversity through interfaith dialogue and pave the way for the community’s involvement in American politics. Khalsa announced to organise the community nationwide to work with the states and federal government to ensure that Indians

and people of Indian origin no longer become victim of hate crimes.“While the new immigration guidelines nominally continue the previous administration’s emphasis on targeting criminals, there are significant changes... There is a lot of uncertainty about the rules right now,” said the community leader from Indiana.Khalsa also plans to travel to Washington DC in the next few days to meet with members of the Congress and the Trump administration about clarification on the new guidelines.“The tragic death of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in a hate crime in Kansas is further proof that xenophobic rhetoric can and does have consequences... We all need to work together to ensure that this type of violence is never repeated,” he said.

Issue - 708 (14)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

UAE grapples drones after airport closures DUBAI Dubai authorities are grappling with new ways of keeping the emirate’s skies safe after drones halted air traffic at one of the world’s busiest airports three times last year. The delays were necessary to protect passengers, officials said, but they hit thousands of travellers and cost airlines millions of dollars. Drones pose a “threat to the flying public” and “to an aircraft in operation,” said Ismaeil alBlooshi, deputy head of the air safety department of the United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation authority.

He compared drones to the threat posed by birds, but said they were less predictable and harder to avoid.“We have means and data to predict when and where is the bird migration... but with drones, you have this object in the air and you don’t know the intentions” of the operator, he said.

The cost of closing airspace for one hour runs into millions and creates a

long backlog, but there is no room to compromise on safety, Blooshi said.

“The economic impact is not even on the table” when considering the risks, he said. “The number one priority is avoiding harm to passengers.”Drones have become a more common sight in the skies above the emirate as related technology has plunged in price, with professional photographers eager to use them.“The drone has helped us all. Before we needed a plane and a big budget to do aerial shooting. It’s much easier and cheaper now,” said videographer Murad alMasri, as he shot footage of a desert festival.After last year’s incidents, operator Dubai Airports stressed that flying drones within five kilometres (three miles) of airports was illegal.New regulations introduced last year stipulate up to three years in jail or a fine of 100,000 dirhams ($27,000, 25,000 euros) for flying a drone over a prohibited zone.

But Dubai-owned carrier Emirates, the world’s busiest international passenger airline, urged

one of the largest arms fairs in the Middle East, on Monday showcased a private company’s drone

authorities to go further, introducing drone detectors.“Flight diversions and network disruptions due to unauthorised drone activity... cost Emirates airline millions of dirhams on each occasion, and impacted thousands of passengers,” it said after one drone-related delay in November.Authorities have even examined the possibility of hunting down the devices.

The International Defence Exhibition and Conference,

hunting system.

Dubai-based SkyStream said it had crafted a threephase system that could identify whether the drones were “friendly,” jam their signals in case they were not and subsequently bring them down.

A security official told AFP Dubai police now have the ability to overpower a drone and bring it down but did not elaborate on how.

The aviation authority has introduced a mobile phone application that clearly marks out no-fly zones for drones across the country, telling users immediately where they can and cannot fly.Out-of-bounds areas include those around airports, military zones and other government

Woman journalist says being targeted by Sudan Islamic hardliners Khartoum A Sudanese female journalist and critic of government policies said on Sunday that she is under fire from hardliners who have accused her of “insulting Islam” in one of her columns.

Shamael al-Nur said she has become a target of a radical Islamist and a section of Sudan’s hardline media for criticising government public health policies in a column published on February 2 in Al-Tayar newspaper.

Nur, 36, wrote that Islamic regimes were increasingly busy with “matters of virtue and women’s dress rather than health and education issues”.

“It is easy to cut spending on health in the state budget, but it is very difficult for the ministry of health to distribute condoms,” she wrote in the column on a sardonic note.

Less than 3% of Sudan’s budget was usually allocated for health and education, according to Nur.Nur said she has written several articles criticising the government but that this particular column had triggered a campaign against her.

“I wrote an article about how the state is imposing dress codes for women and how people should pray,” Nur told AFP at her newspaper’s offices in Khartoum.“Because I am

a woman, the attacks have increased.”

“In the Sudanese community it becomes a problem when a woman speaks of such issues or criticises Islamic scholars,” said Nur, dressed in a leather jacket and jeans.

A Khartoum-based radical Islamist, Mohamed Ali alGhazouli, said Nur’s

writings were against Islam.

“What Shamael al-Nur has written is insulting to Islam and Islam’s main virtues,” Ghazouli, wearing a business suit, told AFP. “She says that those who pray can’t build modern states... Such writings are also against Sudanese law and the constitution,” said Ghazouli.

Kabul to set penalties for subculture of boy slaves

KABUL Afghanistan is set to lay out stringent penalties for sexual slavery and abuse of boys - for the first time, officials say, in a landmark move against the deeply entrenched practice. AFP revealed last year how the Taliban were exploiting rampant sexual slavery in police ranks to mount deadly insider attacks, exposing a hidden epidemic of kidnapping of young boys for institutionalised sexual slavery. The revelations intensified longstanding demands by campaigners

for Kabul to enact an incisive legal provision to curb literally “boy play” which has seen a striking resurgence in post-Taliban Afghanistan.A raft of punishments will now be listed in Afghanistan’s revised penal code - from up to seven years in jail for sexual assault to capital punishment for “aggravated cases” such as violating more than one boy.

“There is an entire chapter on criminalising the practice in the new penal code,” Nader Nadery, a senior advisor to President Ashraf Ghani, told AFP.

installations.The authority also wants drone owners to register their devices.

Another measure under study is geo-fencing, meaning that drones are pre-programmed to make them unable to enter restricted areas even if users try to send them there.“We are talking to various manufacturers to impose this as an import requirement for the UAE,” said Blooshi, although he said this is hard because drones are produced by many different manufacturers. Authorities in Europe have also scrambled to apply rules on flying drones after mishaps at airports.

“The risk of collision is to be taken seriously,” said Yves Morier of the European Aviation Safety Agency. “The introduction of drones has to be done in a safe manner,” said Morier, whose agency is to work on common regulations for the European Union.

“There have been incidents in Europe and their number has risen in the past years.”France has forbidden flying drones within 10 kilometres (six miles) of an airport, the French civil aviation authority says, twice the

maximum distance in the UAE. But while drones can pose risks to aviation, UAE authorities are keen to make use of them for policing, rescue and security purposes.

“We use drones in various aspects, including securing events, detecting explosives and (securing) motorcades” of high profile figures, said Sergeant Abdullah al-Harbi, head of the technical support team at Dubai’s General Department of Protective Security and Emergency.

He said authorities plan to use drones equipped with face detection software to hunt for suspects.

Rescue services in the emirate of Ajman have also deployed drones to help in sea rescue operations, local press has reported.

The drones are equipped with thermal sensors and cameras that scan the waters to locate casualties, and carry buoys that can be dropped to them by remote control.

And the labour ministry has been using drones since 2014 to inspect construction sites and make sure companies are giving workers their compulsory midday break during hot weather.

Issue 708 (15)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

VINTAGE SPIRIT RANGOON is a Bollywood crossover genius’s ode to traditional mainstream mush, wrapped in the wanton colours of a bygone era. Broadly, that is what Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet was trying to be, although hawking an entirely different story.

Vishal Bhardwaj’s track record at tackling mainstream elements (as well as its stars) is more impressive than Kashyap’s — which probably explains why Rangoon manages retaining some of its rhythm while setting up a lazy, oldworld tale of love.

Vishal puts to good use his famed flair at storytelling — an aspect that becomes important because the film’s love triangle story would otherwise seem jaded despite its extravagant period backdrop. The idea of narrating a tale of love in the time of war has, of course, raised comparisons with random romantic wartime dramas that Hollywood has made, from the classic Casablanca in 1942 to Allied last year.

Thematically, if Rangoon does little to reinvent the love triangle as a Bollywood formula, Vishal tries making amend with

Vinayak Chakravorty

By

Rangoon Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Richard McCabe, Satoru Kawaguchi Direction: Vishal Bhardwaj production values. This is one of the most spectacular films Bollywood has ever made. Trumpcard in the cast is Kangana Ranaut. She plays Miss Julia, a preIndependence era actress who obviously reminds of Bollywood’s stuntwoman superstar of the 1930s, Fearless Nadia (Vishal, though, has denied any resemblance, for the evident reason of avoiding controversy). In the early forties 1940s, as World War II rages on, Julia’s filmstar-producer boyfriend Rusi Billimoria (Saif Ali Khan) sends her to Burma, in order Split Cast: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Haley Lu Richardson Direction: M. Night Shyamalan THIS is the cracker M. Night Shyamalan fans were forever waiting for, eversince the Indian origin Hollywood maverick seemed to have lost his licence to thrill. Split marks Shyamalan’s return to the famed form of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable.

The film actually bears a direct connect with Unbreakable in its finalé — but that’s meant to be the film’s starry surprise. Shyamalan’s latest is pitched as a

to regale Indian troops fighting Azad Hind Fauj. On the way, a sudden strike cuts off Julia from the rest of her group along with her armyman bodyguard Jamadaar Nawab Malik (Shahid Kapoor). As she spends time in the Burmese wilds with Nawab, Julia gets to know cold facts of the freedom movement. Vishal’s films have always reserved excellent roles for his handpicked cast, and Rangoon lets three talented actors have a field day. The film ushers a bonanza for Kangana fans. She dazzles in an authorbacked role meant to make her look good and powerful. Saif is impressive in an understated way, as the dapper Rusi. The film, however, belongs to Shahid. He powers his way through a rather lazy screenplay with his solid act, banking largely on silences for impact. Rangoon is old-school in every sense — from story and storytelling to the brand of entertainment it doles out. Lovers of classic mainstream will savour the film with a

Shyamalan returns psycho thriller delving deep into the realm of split personality. You spot the filmmaker’s familiar grip on storytelling as he piles on layers of intrigue in what must be one of the most bizarre tales of identity crisis Hollywood ever made.

Splitis about a psychotic patient diagnosed with 23 distinct personalities, played with relish by James McAvoy.

The thriller factor lies in the fact that the psycho has kidnapped three young girls.

wistful grin. The catch is we normally go in for a Vishal Bhardwaj film hoping to watch the unprecedented.

Worse, it soon becomes apparent that he is set to unleash a 24th persona that could spell doom for all. Shyamalan reveals the impressive control of his early years as he gets down to dissecting the extremes of good and evil through a pulsating couple of hours. The film is dark, yet smart enough to keep viewers engaged. This is McAvoy’s show. He lives it up as the man with multiple personalities and cuts an eerie picture as his protagonist progressively hurtles to darker spaces of the mind.

Budding actress Anya Taylor-Joy, as one of the victims, looks promising. Split mixes basic teen horror elements with the classic psycho template impressively. It is your film if you love your scares served raw.

— Vinayak Chakravorty

Issue 708 (16)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Aamir Khan’s look from Shruti Haasan ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ not talks about turning vegan revealed yet Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s look from his upcoming film ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, which is doing rounds on social media, is not from the movie, but a special collaboration of the actor, his spokesperson said.

The turbaned look, showcasing Aamir as a sardar, is his look from another venture.

“The sardar look that has been doing the rounds is a look from a very special collaboration of Aamir and not from ‘Thugs of Hindostan’,” Aamir’s spokesperson said.

Aamir will start shooting for ‘Thugs Of Hindostan’ in May. He has been training hard for the film and his look will be lean, not as muscular as look he sported for his last film ‘Dangal’.

‘Thugs of Hindostan’ is slated to release on Diwali 2018.

Shruti Haasan took to Twitter to declare that her decision to turn vegan has been lifechanging. The actress, who altered her eating habits four months ago, claims it has made her healthy and happy.

“I’ve been vegan and dairy free for the past four months and it’s been one of the best decisions of my life!!”, wrote Shruti Haasan on Twitter.

In fact, Shruti has recommended her near and dear ones to adopt a vegan lifestyle. Wonder if her Londonbased beau, Michael Corsale, who she convinced to fly to Mumbai for back treatment, will follow suit.

Varun Dhawan: Twitter is fast becoming a platform just for debate In 2016, Varun Dhawan topped the Most Talked About Gen Next Celebs’ list as an under-30 star on Twitter’s Year of Bollywood report, which was shared exclusively with mid-day. However, popularity can only do so much to shield one from trolls.

The Grammar Nazi had a field day when Varun recently tweeted the poster of his next, ‘Judwaa 2’, writing ‘whose’ instead of ‘who’s’. Earlier this week, he was targeted again when he mentioned that he votes ‘every year’ and had even exercised his franchise for the Rajya Sabha elections earlier.

The Twitterati was quick to enlighten him by stating the difference between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

When mid-day caught up with Varun during the promotions of ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ and asked him about being trolled frequently, he sarcastically remarked, “There is uproar over everything these days. Twitter is a big kitty party and I am sure a lot of people will agree with me on this. It’s fast becoming a platform just for debate. If someone asks me if I can really express myself there [on the medium], I will have to say no. The judgment level is too much. People are attacking, and trolling behind masks. You don’t who they are; there’s no context to their existence.”

Salman Khan wants Katrina Kaif to do a cameo in ‘Tubelight’?

While Salman Khan will feature alongside Chinese actress Zhu Zhu in Kabir Khan’s ‘Tubelight’, buzz is that the star wanted his rumoured ex-beau, Katrina Kaif to make a special appearance in the film. Sallu, who is also the coproducer of the historic war drama, apparently told director

Kabir Khan to include a cameo for Kat. However, given that the film is set against the 1962 SinoIndian war, amending the script for the actress would be unsuitable. Did the recent rumoured rift between Salman and Kabir have anything to do with this ‘demand’?

Lights, camera, action for Shattered about my top-notch scenes being edited: Kangana Ranaut Kareena Kapoor Khan

Kareena Kapoor Khan was on her feet throughout her pregnancy, hanging out with her girl gang, making public appearances and even flaunting her big baby bump on

ramp. She has been just as active after turning mom — she left 45-dayold Taimur back at home to close a prestigious fashion week as showstopper.

A couple of days ago, Bebo faced the camera for the first time since her baby’s arrival, shooting for a jewellery commercial at a Bandra studio. The actress reached the set on time and had a blast with her team all through. Of course, she kept an eye on the watch and after pack-up, headed home straight. There’s no stopping her. Attagal!

Actor Kangana Ranaut says despite some of the top-notch scenes being edited from the film “Rangoon”, she is happy with the response it is getting.

“Those scenes were my topnotch performances and I was shattered when I came to know about the edit. I thought without those scenes my performance would be regarded as satisfactory and it won’t be appreciated that much. Despite that, people loved it. I am very happy,” Kangana said at a media interaction here on Friday.

“Some of my favourite scenes, which were important for the graph of my work were edited. I prepare my character’s graph in a linear pattern so when I saw the film Vishal Ji explained why the editing was legitimate,” the

“Queen” actor said.

On being asked about compliments from the industry, she said: “More than I expected.

Many from industry have complimented and messaged me which is a very sweet gesture.”

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Tom Cruise to get back in Johnny Depp blames years of touch with daughter Suri? tax problems on ex-managers

Hollywood star Tom Cruise is allegedly trying to get in touch with his estranged daughter, after three years.

The 54-year-old star is on a path to “some reprioritising in his life”, after the death of his mother, Mary Lee South, who passed away at the age of 80 earlier this month, reported In Touch magazine.

“Tom now wants to re-establish his relationship with his daughter (Suri) and begin seeing her on a regular basis,” a source said.

The “Mission: Impossible” actor is “ready to ramp up his relationship with her in a big way,” the insider added.

It is being said the ten-year-old daughter of Cruise and Katie Holmes, 38, will need some time to warm up to her father.

“Tom knows that she won’t just go jumping back into his arms, and that he’s going to have to take it slow and steady to show her he’s back in her life for good,” the source added.

Cruise will reportedly tell Holmes “through their handlers and attorneys that he wants to see Suri within the next few weeks” and that he is “willing to make time for Suri” by taking up lesser projects.

The former couple parted ways in 2012, after six years of marriage.

Hollywood star Johnny Depp has accused his former managers of costing him more than USD 6 million in tax penalties and fines as part of their ongoing legal battle.

The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star sued bosses at The Management Group (TMG) for fraud last month, alleging they mishandled his finances by collecting USD 28 million in fees he never agreed to, repeatedly failing to file his taxes in a timely manner, and loaning roughly USD 10 million of his money without being authorised to do so.

TMG heads Joel and Robert Mandel fired back with their own complaint, blaming the 53-yearold actor’s tendency to live beyond his means for his money issues. Depp’s lawyer has now filed new papers in the dispute in a bid to have the countersuit dismissed.

In the documents, the actor provides a string of receipts from America’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS) detailing the tax troubles he found himself in from 2000 to 2015 as a result of TMG’s alleged “negligence and misconduct”.

According to TMZ, the actor also had to deal with a costly mistake they reportedly made on his California state taxes. He has since settled all the IRS bills, but maintains he wouldn’t have fallen foul of tax authorities if TMG representatives had done their jobs in the first place. After TMG bosses filed their countersuit, Depp’s attorney Adam Waldman wasted no time in hitting back, accusing the fired managers of using the actor’s worldwide fame to their advantage by attempting to turn the public against him. “(TMG) have chosen to employ a reprehensible ‘blame the victim’ strategy in a transparent

Emma Thompson rules out ‘Love Actually’ return

Actress Emma Thompson has ruled out a “Love Actually” reunion because she says it would have been too sad to bring her character back without late star Alan Rickman, her cheating husband in the movie.

The film’s director Richard Curtis has reassembled his all-star cast for a Comic Relief TV ‘sequel’, with Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, and Bill Nighy all on board - but Thompson, who played Karen in the 2003 film, won’t be part of the get together, reported Daily Mirror.

“Richard wrote to me and said, ‘Darling, we can’t write anything for you because of Alan’, and I said, ‘No, of course, it would be sad, too sad’,” Thompson said.

“It’s too soon. It’s absolutely

right because it’s supposed to be for Comic Relief but there isn’t much comic relief in the loss of our dear friend really only just over a year ago.

“We thought and thought (about it) but it just seemed wrong to revisit the wonderful fun

characters of Bill Nighy and Hugh Grant and Liam (Neeson) and all of that... It was absolutely the right decision.”

Rickman died in January, 2016, aged 69.

Asked what she thinks her character would be doing now, Thompson said, “I would be working on some kind of ward.”

Curtis’ 10-minute sequel, titled Red Nose Day Actually, will air in Britain during the BBC’s Red Nose Day broadcast on March 24. The short film will revisit the characters from the original 14 years later.

The director co-founded the telecast with comedian Lenny Henry to help support antipoverty causes around the globe.

attempt to save their own skin and deflect away from their malfeasance, which is chronicled in Mr. Depp’s 48 page complaint,” Waldman wrote in a statement to People.

“Mr. Depp did not sue his former business managers for his own personal investment decisions or the ‘financial distress’ they wildly allege - Mr. Depp sued them for fraud and multiple breaches of their fiduciary duty, among other claims.

Gaslighting the public with global press releases will not save the defendants in court from their gross misconduct set forth in the complaint.”

When Kim Kardashian found a three-page letter by her father

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian found a three-page letter written by her father, Robert Kardashian which was addressed to her on his 73rd birth anniversary.

The 36-year-old reality TV star

took to Twitter to remember her father in a series of tweets and also said she writes a letter to her children, daughter North, 3 and son Saint, 1, as an annual ritual, which she will hand over to them when they come of age.

“I found a three-page letter my dad wrote me right after high school about life and it’s so special to have. I re-read it last night.

“I write my kids a letter each year reflecting on the year we had together and fun memories. I’ll give the letters to them when they turn 21,” Kardashian wrote.

She later tweeted the link from her website, “I found this funny video of my dad and I at my Sweet 16. It’s up on.”

Hugh Jackman rules out Wolverine/Deadpool movie Ryan Reynolds may be very excited to team up with Hugh Jackman for any Wolverine/ Deadpool movie in the future, but the latter doesn’t think it will happen.

In Facebook Live Q&A Jackman, who appeared along with “Logan” director James Mangold and costar Patrick Stewart, responded to fan’s question about Wolverine/Deadpool movie.

The question was coming from

France and read by Stewart.

“Hugh, would you ever consider teaming up with Deadpool?”

Stewart recited the question.

Jackman jokingly replied, “I’ve not heard that one. Deadpool is the other mutant?” And Mangold said, “It’s Green Lantern in a different outfit.”

Jackman later suggested that the collaboration might be possible only if it happened ten years ago. “Look, if that movie

had appeared ten years ago, it’d be a totally different story,” said Jackman.

“But I knew 2.5 years ago that this was the last one. The first call I made was to Jim (Mangold). I said, ‘Jim, I got one more shot at this.’ As soon as I got with Jim and started working on the idea of it, I was never more excited.

But it feels like the right time,” the actor said.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

‘PORN LED MY HUBBY TO COMMIT ADULTERY’

55-year-old tells SC that addiction to sex sites erodes self-esteem, kills trust & creates unreal expectations HER 60-year-old husband brought a woman half his age home and started an illicit relationship. But Saroj Kansal (name changed) had seen it coming.

Now the 55-year-old social worker specialising in counselling sessions to save marriages shudders at the sight of her own matrimonial life in tatters. Her husband, says Saroj, is addicted to online pornography and this infixed in him insatiable lust. “The woman is now coercing my husband to secure a divorce from me and to discard me and my family from his life,” she told Mail Today. Experts say men who habitually use pornography sometimes withdraw from intimacy and occasionally make demands on female partners for sexual acts that are uncomfortable, painful or degrading to the woman. The couple has a son and daughter aged 30 and 23 respectively. Saroj was working as a chemical engineer and says her husband asked her to quit the job after their wedding in 1984. She knocked on the Supreme Court’s doors last week through lawyer

Kamlesh Vaswani, seeking to become party to a public interest litigation already filed by the advocate in 2013 in which the court is issuing periodic directions towards completely blocking online

pornography. Saroj says if her husband suffered from the addiction despite being a well-educated person and in an advanced age, pornography sites would have far more harmful impact on the youth. “I appeal for complete blocking of porn sites. I approached the Supreme Court as I feel nobody else should suffer like me.

I am unfortunately a victim of matrimonial problems resulting out of

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porn addiction of my husband,” she says. Millions of Indians access pornography on their smartphones or by inserting memory chips containing racy

videos that are easily available at low prices, say reports. Some Internet companies say it is impossible to block all such sites as many of the servers that host them are outside India. Also, the sites can be accessed through proxy servers.

“Families in India are being ruined because of the porn addiction by some or the other member. Porn addiction leaves a deep impact on children, youth, and adults in particular who in turn become perverted and indulge in wrongful and anti- social activities punishable under the laws of this country,” says Saroj. On Wednesday, she filed a fresh affidavit based on her interaction with several women who suffered like her.

“I and my children are suffering as a result of the porn addiction of my husband. Being a social worker I respectfully submit that there is easy accessibility of porn websites which are abundant in number. Easy access of violent and hardcore porn websites is causing immense damage to family values in India. People of all ages are becoming perverted and morally bankrupt due to porn addiction,” she argues. The case comes against the backdrop of the Centre blocking hundreds of adult

websites in 2015 to prevent porn becoming a “social nuisance”, sparking a debate about censorship and freedom in the world’s largest democracy. The ban was partially lifted days later following a wave of criticism. Saroj says easy accessibility of porn now-a-days in India is a major cause of increasing sex crimes against women and minor girls. Delhi-NCR is now notorious as the “rape capital”. Many porn videos show children and women in poor light, objectifying and disgracing them, she maintains. The apex court earlier asked the Centre to find out “ways and means” to block “blue films” on the Internet, saying obscenity, which is a crime under the Indian law, “cannot be allowed to be perpetuated”. While some analysts treat porn as a harmless habit, near-universal among men, a second perspective sees it as a kind of gateway drug—a vice that paves the way for more-serious betrayals.

The court is also exploring the possibility of banning watching of pornographic material in any form at public places and has also sought the view of the Centre on if it can be made a crime.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Indigenous families are the worst hit in Colombia’s drug war

A TURF war for control over drug trafficking routes in isolated jungles has left thousands of terrified indigenous families starving to death. The cries of hungry babies pierce the quiet of dawn in the green jungles of northwestern Colombia. For thousands of indigenous families displaced by war, recent peace efforts have brought no relief. Sordid fighting over drugs and land continues.

Terrified locals are starving to death.

“There is no food here,” says John Hamilton Sagugara, a school teacher in Tasi, one of a grouping of local indigenous communities. Many people have diarrhea, vomiting and fever.’ With the youngest of her seven children clinging to her breast, Mariluz Dari confirms it.

Her baby has been sick for the past three weeks. Naked children with bellies swollen by hunger roam the mud streets between the wooden houses. Local authorities say two children died here last year from gastric and respiratory conditions caused by malnutrition.

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize last

year for reaching an accord with the leftist FARC rebels to end five decades of conflict. His government has also launched peace talks with the country’s last remaining rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN). But local officials here say that the ELN is still fighting against right-wing paramilitary groups — remnants of a long, manysided conflict. “There is a really strong presence of ELN here,” says Dayro Palacios, an administrator in Pie de Pato, municipal capital of the surrounding district. “They are seeking control of the drug-trafficking and that means they are constantly fighting for territory.” The violence forced hundreds of people to abandon their homes near the Upper Baudo river in 2014 and resettled in other nearby communities. One of them, Tasi community leader Jeison Mecha of the indigenous Embera people, says he eats

once a day on average: “nothing but bananas”. Despite the peace efforts, “we are still suffering”, he says in broken Spanish. The locals used to grow corn, plantains and rice. They used to rear pigs

and hens. They have had to abandon it all for the jungle. “We ran in fear,” says Sagugara, the schoolteacher, his golden tooth glinting in the midday sun. Upriver in the village of Puesto Indio, resettled families live crammed in overcrowded huts perched on piles. On January 9, armed guerrillas burst into a meeting of local

Deadly radioactive particles found across Europe A SPIKE in the levels of dangerous radioactive chemicals has been recorded across Europe. Air quality stations across the continent detected traces of radioactive Iodine-131 in January — but scientists are yet to work out where the particles came from.

Traces of Iodine-131 were first recorded in Norway and have now been found in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, France and Spain. The isotope has a half-life of only eight days, which suggests the particles must have entered the atmosphere after a recent event.

The pattern of movement of the particles suggests they may have originated in Eastern

Europe, according to the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA). “It was rough weather in the period when the measurements were made, so we can’t trace the release back to a particular location,” Astrid Liland, head of emergency preparedness at the NRPA, told the Barents Observer. “Measurements from several places in Europe might indicate it comes from Eastern Europe. “Increased levels of radioactive iodine in air were made in northern-Norway, northern-Finland and Poland in week two, and in other European countries the following two weeks.” She said it is difficult to pinpoint where the radioactive material came from. But 416-886-7370 it’s possible that the

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particles could have come from an incident at a nuclear reactor.

The compounds may have also come from an Iodine plant. The isotope Iodine-131 is used in medicine to treat to thyroid problems and is produced commercially across Europe.

Iodine-131 can cause harm because it has a very short half life of just eight days, making it very radioactive. When it is present in high levels in the environment, it can contaminate food and after it is swallowed it accumulates in the thyroid.

leaders and threatened to kill them. “They accused us of collaborating with the paramilitaries,” said one leader, who has not been named to protect him from reprisals. “We were very, very afraid.” The Red Cross has mediated to help calm the conflict in the region and aid civilians.

But for fear of being attacked, locals stay in their settlements, guarded by indigenous strongmen with wooden staves. Stuck there without access to their crops, they are slowly starving.

“When people are hungry, there is no peace,” Jaime Valderrama, a senior official in the Upper Baudo district government. As well as extortion and reprisals by the fighting sides, locals fear being caught in the crossfire. They say they are also at risk from bombardments by government forces targeting drugtraffickers and illegal mines. The United Nations warned last year that the local Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations needed ‘urgent’ protection.

Authorities say 6,000 people are displaced and 7,000 confined to their homes in Choco region fearing violence.

Pak girl drenched in acid regains her face A PAKISTANI woman has been left horrifically scarred after a jealous friend who did not want her to become an air hostess targeted her in an acid attack.

Kanwal Qayyum, 29, was horrifically injured after being doused with sulphuric acid while she slept by a bitter former pal who hated the idea of her bettering herself. She lost her nose in the attack and surgeons have spent the past decade painstakingly rebuilding her features. Kanwal has has now shared pictures of her remarkable facial reconstruction after medics completely rebuilt her nose using tissue from her thigh. The photographs show the extraordinary transformation in Kanwal’s appearance since

the attack 10 years ago as surgeons rebuilt her face and created a nose for her. One of the team helping her has been hair transplant surgeon Asim Shahmalak, from Manchester, who travelled to Karachi to create two new eyebrows and new eyelashes in the left eyelid for Kanwal from hair taken from the back of her scalp. Shahmalak, known for his work with celebrity hair transplant patients like Calum Best, was reunited with Kanwal on a trip to Karachi last week where she showed off her new eyebrows and eyelashes which have grown back following his reconstruction work two years ago. Before the surgery, she used a black marker to give the impression that she still had eyebrows.

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The accountancy firm in charge of the Oscars resultPwC, formerly Price Waterhouse Coopers, released an apology statement hours after the Academy Awards ended on Sunday night. In a heart-stopping moment, the stars and producers of La La Land were stopped midway through their acceptance speeches and forced to hand their trophies to the stars of Moonlight after their film was announced as Best Picture in one of the biggest blunders in Oscar history. The terrible end to an otherwise triumphant show left the audience gasping in horror as Beatty revealed he had incorrectly read La La Land as the winner. As the La La Land cast was walking on stage to accept the accolade, a stagehand standing in the wings could be heard saying “Oh ... Oh my god, he got the wrong envelope” and walking back and forth, according to the LA Times.

However, the apology statement said,”We sincerely apologise to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, it was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.” While still on stage, Beatty blamed the epic mishap on being given the wrong envelope, saying he had seen the name Emma Stone from La La Land when he opened his envelope. “I want to tell you what happened I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land and that is why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny. This is Moonlight for best picture,” Beatty told the shocked crowd as he explained the blunder. An investigation is continuing into how La La Land was wrongly named Best Picture rather than the triumphant Moonlight.

Only two people know the Oscars winners list and supervise the counting procedures-PwC tax adviser Martha Ruiz and Brian Cullinan an accountant who is the chairman of PwC’s US board. Cullinan and Ruiz carry a suitcase containing a copy of the winning envelope for all the categories—meaning there are two envelopes. The pair stand on opposite sides backstage and memorise the winners to avoid having to write them down and have revealed in the past how they carry out their rigorous checks When Beatty and Dunaway took the stage to announce the Best Picture award, Cullinan and Ruiz realized that they still had two best picture envelopes, meaning that the envelope taken on stage was a duplicate for an award that had already been announced.

The news was broken to the La La

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Moonlight shines over La La Land but gaffe at Oscars steals the limelight

Land cast and crew after they had started their acceptance speeches. La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz returned to the microphone after being told about the mix up and said ‘Moonlight won Best Picture’ and insisting that ‘this is not a joke’.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Forest dept says godmen & ghettos with political patronage inflicting severe damage on Capital’s ridge area and ecology

BABAS & SLUMS RUPTURE CITY’S GREEN LUNGS SPIRITUAL sects, squatters and political slums are eating away at the national Capital’s last remaining swathe of greens – the 7,800-hectare Ridge which experts describe as the functioning lungs of an ailing city.

In a 350-page affidavit submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently, the Delhi forest department has listed the status of the Ridge, with encroached areas and illegal occupants in each ‘khasra’ (the agricultural field number measured by land record officer) of the green belt.

The field survey presents a bleak picture. “Wherever these squatters settle they cut trees for firewood and clear the foliage, further fragmenting the forest,” a senior forest department officer told Mail Today, requesting anonymity. “They create footpaths and roads, illegal sewers and electricity lines. They dump their construction and other waste in the notified areas. They are a big headache for us.” The officer said the area is affected by encroachments of the ‘religious kind’ and unauthorised colonies, which later attain local political patronage on their numerical strength. The affidavit names the well known ‘Radha Soami Satsang’ sect as an “illegal occupant” squatting on a huge 174.98 acre of forest land in Asola Mines, Chhatarpur.

Several shrines and ‘cremation grounds’ also find mention in the document as encroachers. Other ‘occupants’ that find mention are Ramdev Ka Dera (not party of Patanjali group), BSS Camp and Krishna Kewal Camp in Rajokri Ridge; Shankar Camp, Israel Camp, Nala Camp and Gulabo Camp in Rangpuri Pahari; and Jawahar Colony, Bapu Camp, Shambhu Camp and Shanti camp near Dera Mandi, Mehrauli.

When contacted, a Radha Soami representative refuted the claims made the forest department

affidavit. “These allegations are incorrect. We have bought this land and our papers are in order.

We can present these documents to valid authorities.

We do not cause any issues.”

The affidavit was filed in response to NGT’s resolute pushing of ‘demarcation of the Ridge boundaries’ in the city which has, surprisingly, been pending for 23 years. Explaining the case, senior advocate Raj Panjwani said, “Two notifications were issued by the Delhi Government, under pressure from the Supreme Court in 1994 and 1996, to create ‘Reserved Forests.’ This included 20 villages, plus the Asola Bhatti Mines.” Petitioner in the case, Sonya Ghosh said, “It is amazing how different departments have allowed the Ridge to be chipped away. The SC had ordered for relocation of one illegal Sanjay Nagar Colony, which is just next to Asola Bhatti Wildlife sanctuary, in 2008-09. Even a relocation site was fixed and buildings built there. But they weren’t evicted.” “Now, they create a ruckus whenever monkeys from the sanctuary come and bite them and claim compensation, but won’t leave.

They even have Ration Cards and other requisite ID papers thanks to local politicians who shelter them for vote bank,” she added.

Since 1996, the government needed to inform villagers residing in the area that they cannot claim any land rights up till what they already have and finally, fix the limits. This exercise is stuck between the revenue and forest departments who cannot come to a conclusion. The revenue department told NGT last year that they shall complete all villages for the Southern Ridge

by April 2017. But it now appears unlikely. One example is a road from Rajokri Village to Vasant Kunj which runs in the Ridge

forest but is almost pucca and routinely used by trucks, cranes and DJB water tankers. The heavy-duty traffic disturbs the otherwise quiet habitat which houses wildlife like birds, jackals, blue bulls etc. RTI activist and lawyer Anil Sood, who has long been fighting for the Ridge said the government institutions are the biggest violators of the Ridge. “The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) campuses have all come up illegally on the Ridge. But who cares?”

Djoker caught bickering with wife

NOVAK DJOKOVIC and his wife Jelena were caught in a classic married-couple bickering session on Facebook Live after the pair mistakenly thought the broadcast had finished. Jelena was filming Djokovic as he trained for the BNP Paribas Open, which takes place next month.

As the training session finished, Djokovic, 29, walked toward the camera thanking his fans for watching. Then the 12-time Grand Slam winner strolled over toward his wife and took the camera from her hands, saying that it was “more intimate” if he held the recorder. “No, I like to get near the camera so it makes it feel more intimate, more friendly,” Djokovic says as his wife starts to back away. She let him finish

his kind words before asking her husband: “Where are your manners, huh?” “Thank you, love, thank you,” she adds. “Isn’t that the correct way to say it?” Jelena then looks down at her phone and realised that the camera was still filming on Facebook Live and quickly turned off the recording.

The tennis star had not taken the video down from his Facebook page. Djokovic and Jelena wed in 2014, in Montenegro.

The childhood sweethearts have one child together. The Serbian couple have been together for more than ten years, and Jelena is often seen in the crowd cheering him on at major tournaments across the world.

Jelena is the director and co-founder of the Novak Djokovic Foundation.

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Experts say after 17 years in power, Putin has amassed $200bn fortune with 20 palaces, 58 planes & choppers RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin might be the richest man in the world, according to experts who believe he could have a net worth of $200billion (‘13.4 lakh crore).

The official richest man in the world, according to Forbes, is Microsoft’s Bill Gates with a net worth of $75billion.

During his nearly two decades in power, Putin’s net worth has been widely speculated, with the former KGB agent likely having private assets in real estate and company holdings. One of the most quoted guesses of the 64-year-old’s net worth is political analyst Stanslav Belkovsky’s 2007 estimation of $40billion (‘2.67 lakh crore), but Bill Browder, author and a former fund manager in Russia, has said the president has a higher worth — upwards of $200billion. IBTimes raised the question of Putin’s wealth last week, pointing out that Browder spoke to Fareed Zakaria GPS in 2015, claiming that Putin’s years in power have led him to gain quite a fortune. “I believe that it’s $200 billion,” he said at the time. “After 14 years in power of Russia, and the amount of money that the country has made, and the amount of money that

Russian Prez ‘real richest’ man of world

hasn’t been spent on schools and roads and hospitals and so on, all that money is in property, bank — Swiss bank accounts — shares, hedge funds, managed for Putin and his cronies.” And yet, Putin has been snubbed from the official Forbes list of the world’s richest men and women over the years. “We value individuals’ assets–including stakes in public and private companies, real estate, yachts, art and cash — and take into account estimates of debt. We also consult an array of outside experts in various fields,” Forbes wrote in 2015.

WITHOUT mentioning Putin or any other names, Forbes said the magazine excludes world leaders, particularly “dictators who derive their fortunes entirely as a result of their position of power”. Still, even Belkovsky’s low estimation of $40billion would put Putin, who’s rumored to be dating Olympic gold medalist Alina Kabaeva, into the top ten

of Forbes’ billionaires list. Belkovsky said that much of Putin’s net worth was thanks to the oil business, saying the Russian president controlled 37 per cent of the oil company Surgutneftegaz, 4.5 per cent of the natural gas company Gazprom, and had holdings in the commodities trader, Gunvor. Gunvor denies that Putin ever had any ownership in the company, which made $93billion (‘6.2 lakh crore) in revenue in 2012, according to TIME. Since first estimating that Putin was worth $40billion, Belkovsky upped his estimate to $70billion (‘4.7 lakh crore), claiming he gained more information from “confidential sources around the corporations”, according to an interview with The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. A net worth of $70 billion (‘4.7 lakh crore) would put Putin in second place on the Forbes billionaires list, only behind Gates and right above Zara’s Amancio Ortega. A well-

That’s nuts! Builder fires nail into his own crotch A 22-YEAR-old workman is lucky to be alive after accidentally firing an inch-and-a-half nail into his own crotch — only just missing his penis. The builder mistimed pulling the trigger on a hydraulic hand nail gun while working on a site near Swansea and was left with an excruciating injury.

Horrifying photographs of the accident were captured by Mathew Meagher, a colleague of the unfortunate 22-yearold who does not want to be named.

Meagher, 30, from Swansea, claims

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the construction worker “wasn’t fazed” as he stood with the heavy-duty nail embedded into his crotch last Thursday. Meagher, who runs his own building firm, said: “For want of a better phrase, the nail was pretty much through his d**k. He was very, very lucky.” “If it had been any closer the doctors said it would have gone straight through one of the main arteries. He came over to me and said he’d shot himself.” “It’s something that shouldn’t happen, and at first I couldn’t see anything. And then I saw it. I just went white. I said to him, “Jesus, what’s that?” I couldn’t believe it.” “He wasn’t crying or screaming in pain or anything, he was just dead calm.

known sign of wealth for Putin is his $35million (‘234 crore) super yacht named Olympia. Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is claimed to have given Putin the yacht after he became president of Russia. But perhaps one of Putin’s most visible signs of wealth is a palace on the Black Sea that’s reportedly worth $1billion (‘6,700 crore). If Putin, a judo black belt and amateur ice hockey player, not only has access to the country’s corporate wealth, but also to the oligarch slush fund, his assets expand tremendously. According to a dossier written by a political rival of the Russian president, Putin could have access to up to 58 planes and helicopters, a $500,000 (‘3.5 crore) watch collection and 20 palaces and country retreats. The report also claimed he uses a private jet with an $137million (‘917 crore) cabin which has a bathroom complete with gold fittings.

Gritty waitress drags giant lizard out by tail A FEARLESS waitress rose to the occasion when an intruder crawled into her restaurant – only to discover it was a monster lizard when she dragged it out by the tail. French national Samia Lila, 25, thought the scaly surprise was a dog when it clambered its way into Mimosa Winery in the NSW South Coast. Footage shows her blocking the 180cm long reptile from screaming customers before wrangling it outside with her bare hands, earning her the nickname ‘Goanna Girl’ online. “I looked at it and thought it was a dog at first!...But then I realised it was a goanna,” she told Bega District News.

Lila lost no time coming to the aid of customers when the reptile got too close

for comfort, putting a chair in its path. “I wasn’t scared, I like reptiles so was a bit excited.” Social media footage of the reptile’s eviction has struck a chord on social media, drawing 225,000 views and thousands of shares. Commenters have hailed the waitress a hero. “I hope Samia gets a pay rise for this effort. She didn’t hesitate to protect the guests. Very brave.

Thanks Samia for such service today,” wrote a user.

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Issue 708 (24)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

This is an auspicious time for important events, or to tackle difficult tasks and encounter tough people. It’s also a good time to take a quantum leap into new business ventures and the unknown future.

Material gain is on the cards! Travel and movement are important as you make connections for further expansion.

Communications from overseas are heartening.

It’s party time as you have fun and meet up with good friends and family. You may need to centre within to deal with the cyclonic rush of happenings around you.

You are likely to be a consultant or advisor, sharing your knowledge and experience with others. Mastery of your skills or craft brings appreciation and fresh opportunity.

Health problems can be resolved with a bit of attention. Your personal presence and participation is necessary for things to go well at home and at work. Get in touch with your inner strength and wisdom to feel rejuvenated, before attempting monumental tasks. You may be prone to excesses while celebrating, be aware.

Meditation and introspection touch deep spaces of silence and harmony within your being.

Swords are crossed, as there is mental discord and antagonism, which finally melt into harmony at home and peace at work. Contradictory aspects combine successfully and add strength to a business project or partnership. After quarrels are made up and peace is restored there is still some tension remaining, as egos are strong and unbending. You tend to be indecisive about personal and professional matters and need to put them on hold till you are clear. You gain perspective and clarity in personal relationships, business partnerships and family situations as attitudes, values and priorities change.

You need to conserve health and energy this week and deal with practical details and finances clearly and efficiently. It’s best not to waste time and energy worrying about everything! Rather put the same effort into action. Personal relationships are invaluable and need your participation. Go past ego conflicts to restore peace and harmony.

Don’t allow your emotions to influence professional decisions. Try not to push and pull blocked situations, as given time, they are like to change by themselves. Meditation will come naturally and show you the way.

You are loving and caring in established personal relationships and can expect loyalty and support therein. Children demand energy and attention and also bring great joy. You are quick to respond to attraction and can be enthused by new ideas, but find it hard to maintain interest in the long run. Beware of being too sensitive and taking things personally during family meetings. It’s best not to take loving relationships for granted; rather infuse them with love and romance and share feelings and plans.

Your mind is intelligent and can handle business or professional matters efficiently this week. Beware of destructive logic and negative attitudes when stressed in personal or professional aspects. You are firm and clear about priorities and values for others to respect them. Intellectual activity is rewarding. Business routines move ahead smoothly. A cunning young woman in the work area needs to be avoided or you could be drawn inadvertently into a controversy. It’s time to breakthrough old mindsets and emotional blocks as opportunities are passing you by.

Your heart is blessed with intense joy and happiness in personal relationships as promises are fulfilled and commitments are honored this week. There is harmony at home and synergy at work, which enables you to achieve professional goals and take care of family duties and responsibilities.

You share hospitality, warmth and a happy time with family and friends. You feel relaxed and selfcontained and are more loving and caring about yourself and others now. A balanced perspective at work and a loving response in personal relationships brings harmony all around.

You are on the threshold of an important inner change and need to let go of the past to make a new beginning and be liberated. You can already perceive that a productive work situation is finished or a supportive personal relationship is completed and has to be left behind. Something greater is waiting for you in the near future and new dimensions are there to be discovered. Wait and watch rather than react to difficult situations as people and attitudes start to change on their own. Look beyond the obvious to know the truth in all aspects of life.

It is time for some clear thinking about business and family matters or there might be confusion and chaos. As you take definite steps towards a positive direction in business matters there is clarity about goals and participation of key people. Sorting out the important from the trivial adds to good management of financial, professional and personal matters. Once you have taken the final step new dimensions and experiences are waiting in the wings to embrace you. Looking at who is important in your life and what is meaningful in your work will make it easier to make decisions and take a stand.

Plans and ideas actualize as your work is accepted and appreciated.

Success in a brilliant venture brings you material gain and professional stability. At this point change brings stability in material aspects and warmth in emotional relationships. Trust your intuition rather than your analysis about people and situations. Personal relationships are full of fun and romance and you decide to make a lasting commitment. You can expect faithful friends to support you through a personal ordeal. Spiritual growth and awareness lead to new attitudes, priorities and values.

Intellectual activity and creative expression help you establish a strong position in your field of activity. Rather than hold suggestions, ideas and feelings inside, it’s better to express them, as they are received well. You find answers to most problems when you focus on them with intelligence and clarity.

List your priorities before making decisions or choices. Media attention, exposure and participation can be gainful. With your gift of communication your social circle widens attracting a variety of new interesting people towards you.

You have an opportunity this week to share your love, joy and laughter with others and feel even more fulfilled than you were. Remain centered and aware since you are affected by situations and influenced by people around you. A fine balance of energies brings inner and outer stability after a period of indecision and insecurity. Everything seems to be coming together now in loving relationships and creative activity as you integrate inner resources and outer forces. You can ground yourself and let the abundance in and around you overflow.

Issue 708 (25)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Technology Facebook deletes accounts posting fake child-cancer posts

Facebook has deleted two accounts following a complaint from a mother of a three-yearold, whose stolen photos were being falsely used to claim he had cancer. According to a report in the BBC on Tuesday, the photographs of Jasper Allen were taken a year back when he had a bad case of chickenpox.

The fake posts urged users to comment and like the photos, claiming that Facebook would donate money for surgery if users reacted. The post garnered more than a million reactions. Sarah Allen, the mother, believes the photos were stolen from online news stories published about Allen’s chickenpox in August 2016.

“We were warned people might take his pictures… because if

you Google chickenpox his pictures are there,” Sarah said.

After her son’s photos were being circulated on Facebook, Sarah got calls from her friends asking if Allen really had cancer. Sarah repeatedly asked Facebook to take action and complained about copyright infringement.

The Facebook on February 10 informed her that one of the accounts had been removed for breaching the site’s rules.

However, the account was restored within 24 hours.

Following the pressure from the media, Facebook instructed its complaints team to revisit the case.

The social networking site had initially only removed the posts featuring Allen, but later deleted the associated accounts.

Wittyfeed surpasses Twitter and Instagram and becomes 20th most visited website in India New Delhi WittyFeed, world’s second largest and India’s largest viral content company has also emerged as 20th most visited websites in India surpassing the most major social networking sites Twitter and Instagram being the fastest and youngest company to attain this ranking.

The latest Alexa ranking as on 22nd February shows as the 20th most visited website in India. This is an enormous achievement for the viral content website from tier II cities in India called Indore.

Started from a small hostel room this startup has achieved a lot from its inception.

WittyFeed which began with barely a hundred thousand users has quickly built up its user base. And now it has successfully acquired the position of 20th most visited websites in our country beating Instagram, a mobile photosharing application and Twitter, one of the leading social networking service providers.

Initially, they begin with only its owners’ Facebook content but have since diversified into 18 categories including travel,

You can now update your Whatsapp status with text, image or gif and it will vanish in 24 hours a la Snapchat!

Whatsapp has finally officially launched their new Status feature which had been in beta mode since long. The Whatsapp feature was much discussed and it was known that Whatsapp would be rolling out the feature as early as last year and after months of waiting, the feature is finally unveiled. This is the second major update to the app Whatsapp has launched in the new year and looks like the trend of updating the a with newer features will continue throughout this new year. Coming back to the present rollout, the new feature apes Snapchat and gives a major boost to the status feature which has been present but so far redundant in Whatsapp.

Although the new feature is a direct copy of the Snapchat Status feature, it is bound to bring some form of excitement make

the otherwise boring Whatsapp status tab more fun. The new update lets Whatsapp users keep changing their Status and share it with family and friends

(all their Whatsapp contacts) throughout the day. They can keep posting their activities in real time and share it with contacts.Not only can images be shared but the new feature also supports videos and gif images, making it a lot more fun. The new status feature also comes with the time limit, meaning the images or video that you upload stays on for just a limited time – 24 hours, post which it gets auto deleted. This makes the feature even more fun and keeps encouraging people to 416-886-7370 share more and more of

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their daily activities through the new platform. While Facebook users do have the option of adding Images or Videos and Gifs to their profile photos, Instagram users still do not have the luxury. Does this mean that post Whatsapp, Insta users will also get a few updates? The new feature will be available to users with the latest upgrade, which is being rolled out in parts. Once the users download the new, upgraded version, they can start adding their custom images to status. The new feature has an all new tab called Status, which will be placed right next to the present Chat, Calls, etc tab.

Users are free to post any content they want and this new Status tab will act as the timeline where other friends can check out what you have been posting. The Status feature will also let users limit their posts – meaning if you wish to share something with friends but not with family (eg, that crazy gif from last night’s party), you can limit it to only friends and exclude family from the sharing.

inspiration, relationships, health and fitness, and celebrities. It has 21000 stories by 200 writers from across the globe to back its claim.

WittyFeed is an indigenous and a 100 percent bootstrapped company which has thrived and grown to this stratum. It is currently valued at USD 30 million. The company registered a revenue of Rs. 26 crore in the last FY and expects to cross Rs. 35 crore this year. The company is looking to expand more in the US market as it contributes to company’s 30 percent traffic.

On this achievement Vinay Singhal, Co-Founder and CEO, WittyFeed said, “This is indeed a very significant achievement for

us, and I am very glad that WittyFeed had reached to this position. It is a great achievement for our entire team to transcend some leading social networking sites just in two years. This feat motivates us to believe in ourselves and works hard to accomplish new milestones in coming years. I wish that the future holds more heights of success for WittyFeed”.

To match up to the latest trends and viewer’s preferences, WittyFeed has also launched Web Series to engage with its audiences. It also plans to launch portals in other languages like Tamil, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali etc. other than its English and Hindi platforms.

Truecaller joins Facebook, Google in 100 mn impressions club New Delhi Mobile communication app Truecaller has become the only platform apart from Facebook and Google that delivers over

100 million impressions in a single day, a company statement said on Friday. An impression is when an ad is fetched from its source, and is countable. Whether the ad is clicked or not is not taken into account. Each time an ad is fetched, it is counted as one impression.

The daily impression on

Truecaller’s ad platform has grown with over 200 per cent during the past six months, the company said. ”Our targeting capabilities backed by call intent based approach ensures brands witness desired visibility and engagement with Truecaller users,” said Tejinder Gill, Head of India Operations, Truecaller, in a statement.

The mobile communication app delivered over 133 million impressions for e-commerce portal Jabong. “Truecaller has been fantastic for us in terms of delivering high impact and reach amongst smartphone users,” added Rahul Taneja, Chief Business Officer, Jabong.

Issue 708 (26)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Gujarat cops ‘foil’ lone-wolf attacks Police claimed brothers had plans to target religious places

THE Gujarat ATS on Sunday arrested two brothers with suspected ISIS links who allegedly hatched plans to conduct lonewolf attacks in the state. Wasim Ramodiya and Naeem were allegedly in contact with ISIS handlers and were planning to target religious places like Chotila, police said, adding they have recovered bomb-making material from them. Based on a specific information about their alleged activities inspired by the jihadi ideology of ISIS, ATS officials nabbed Wasim from Rajkot and his younger brother Naeem from Bhavnagar during an early

morning operation. According to inspector general of Gujarat ATS, J K Bhatt, explosives as well as jihadi literature stuffs were found from these suspected ISIS operatives during raids at their residences in Rajkot and Bhavnagar. “We have been keeping a close watch on them since last three months, as they were found to be in contact with ISIS through Skype and other social media platforms like Telegram, Twitter and Whatsapp. We conducted raids in Rajkot and Bhavnagar and nabbed the duo,” Bhatt said. “Investigation has revealed that the two had planned to

attack the famous temple at Chotila town of Surendranagar district. To create terror, they planned to record and upload the video of the attack on social media. They had also planned to carry out blasts at different places and also set on fire vehicles to spread terror,” ATS ACP B S Chavda said. . The brothers, who had degrees in computer application, were indoctrinated in jihadi philosophy during the last two years after coming in contact with ISIS literature online, Chavda said “They were also in touch with ISIS’ controversial preacher Mufti Abdus Sami Qasmi, arrested by NIA in February 2016,” said the officer. “When we arrested them, they were in the process of making an improvised bomb to carry out lonewolf style attacks,” he added. Lone-wolf style attacks are those wherein a person prepares and commits violent acts alone without assistance from

any group. However, he or she may be influenced by the ideology of an external group, and may act in support of such a group. Arif Ramodiya, the father of the suspects, claimed that he did not have any knowledge about the activities of his sons. According to him, Wasim used to work at a Rajkot-

based graphic-designing firm after completing his MCA, while Naeem used to work with a shiprecycling unit in Bhavnagar after completing his BCA. “No one from my family knew about it.

This is really shameful for me.

It has ruined my reputation,” said Arif, who was visibly shocked over the arrests.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Wikipedia bots more like humans than expected: study London ’Benevolent bots’ or software robots designed to improve articles on Wikipedia sometimes have online ‘fights’ over content that can continue for years, say scientists who warn that artificial intelligence systems may behave more like humans than expected.

Editing bots on Wikipedia undo vandalism, enforce bans, check spelling, create links and import content automatically, whereas

other bots (which are nonediting) can mine data, identify data or identify copyright infringements. Researchers from the University of Oxford and the Alan Turing Institute in the UK analysed how much they disrupted Wikipedia, observing how they interacted on 13 different language editions over ten years (from 2001 to 2010).

They found that bots interacted with one another, whether or not this was by design, and it led to unpredictable consequences.

Researchers said that bots are more like humans than you might expect. Bots appear to behave differently in culturally distinct online environments. The findings are a warning to those using artificial intelligence for building autonomous vehicles, cyber security systems or for managing social media.

We may have to devote more attention to bots’ diverse social life and their different cultures, researchers said. The research found that although the online world has become an ecosystem of bots, our knowledge of how they interact with each other is still rather poor. Although bots are automatons that do not have the capacity for emotions, bot to

Archaeologists hunt for long-lost tomb of Scottish king

bot interactions are unpredictable and act in distinctive ways.

Researchers found that German editions of Wikipedia had fewest conflicts between bots, with each undoing another’s edits 24 times, on average, over ten years. This shows relative efficiency, when compared with bots on the Portuguese Wikipedia edition, which undid another bot’s edits 185 times, on average, over ten years, researchers said.

Bots on English Wikipedia undid another bot’s work 105 times, on average, over ten years, three times the rate of human reverts, they said. The findings show that even simple autonomous algorithms can produce complex interactions that result in unintended consequences – ‘sterile fights’ that may continue for years, or reach deadlock in some cases.

While bots constitute a tiny proportion (0.1 per cent) of Wikipedia editors, they stand behind a significant proportion of all edits. Although such conflicts represent a small proportion of bots’ overall editorial activity, the findings are significant in highlighting their unpredictability and complexity.

“We find that bots behave differently in different cultural environments and their conflicts are also very different to the ones between human editors,” said Milena Tsvetkova, from the Oxford Internet Institute. ”This has implications not only for how we design artificial agents but also for how we study them. We need more research into the sociology of bots,” said Tsvetkova.

US group asks Sikhs to be vigilant after Kansas shooting

New York A Sikh civil rights group has urged members of the SikhAmerican community to exercise caution and be extra vigilant in the wake of a possible hate crime in Kansas city that left an Indian engineer dead and another injured.

The Sikh Coalition said its prayers go out to the family of Srinivas Kuchibhotla, 32, who was killed when 51-year-old Olathe man Adam Purinton shot him at a bar in the city on Wednesday. Another Indian engineer Alok Madasani, 32, was injured in the incident and has now been discharged from hospital on Thursday. Purinton has been charged in Johnson County district court with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Bond has been set at $2 million.

The advocacy group urged “every Sikh-American to exercise extra vigilance and caution during this period of heightened vulnerability”. It urged members of the community to call law

enforcement immediately if they have been a victim of hate violence or received threats of violence.

Kuchibhotla worked in aviation systems for Olathe-based Garmin Ltd. Madasani was his co-worker at Garmin. “It was a tragic and senseless act of violence,” Olathe police chief Steven Menke said in The Kansas City Star. Another individual Ian Grillot, 24, was reportedly shot while attempting to stop Purinton. Grillot said he was happy to see Madasani is recovering.

Following the shooting, Olathe residents went to the bar where the incident took place to lay flowers and offer condolences to staff, patrons and victims’ families.“You just can’t help but your heart goes out to them, and it’s such a sad story for the community but I just wanted to support and of course honour the lives and everybody involved,” nearby business owner Amber McCracken said in a report in KSHB Kansas City.

Boxing icon Muhammad Ali’s son detained at US airport, asked ‘Are you Muslim?’

EDINBURGH The tomb of a medieval king whose murder changed the course of Scottish history in a reallife “Game of Thrones” could be unearthed in a new hi-tech project launched Saturday.

Archaeologists and virtual reality artists want to digitally recreate the court of King James I of Scotland in Perth, around 40 miles (64 kilometres) from Edinburgh, and try to find the king’s tomb buried beneath the modern-day city. They are also looking for the remains of his queen, Joan Beaufort, and of Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII of England and wife of James IV of Scotland, who

was also buried there a century later.

The team has been inspired by the discovery of King Richard III of England beneath a car park in Leicester.“It’s like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Outlander’ all rolled into one - except this story is real,” said Paul Wilson, who is leading the digital visualisation project at Glasgow School of Art (GSA).

James I was assas-sinated on February 21, 1437, by supporters of a rival claimant to the throne, an act which historians say brought an end to his ambition to make Perth the capital of Scotland.

“That day changed Scotland forever,” Wilson said. The king’s mausoleum lay at the heart of a Carthusian priory called the Charterhouse, which was modelled on the Grande Chartreuse in the French Alps.

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Washington A son of boxing legend Muhammad Ali was held for questioning for two hours at a Florida airport on his return from Jamaica because of his Arabicsounding name, US media reported.Muhammad Ali Jr, 44, who was born in Philadelphia and has a US passport, was travelling with his mother Khalilah Camacho-Ali, the late sports icon’s second wife, friend and lawyer Chris Mancini told the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Mancini told the newspaper that both were held for questioning at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport on February 7 because of their Arabicsounding names.

Camacho-Ali however was released after she showed US Customs agents a photo of herself with her ex-husband.

Ali Jr had no such photo, and according to Mancini, was held for nearly two hours and repeatedly asked “Where did you get your name from?” and “Are you Muslim?”

When he said that he - like his

father - was a Muslim, the agents asked more probing questions.

“To the Ali family, it’s crystal

the Ali family are trying to find out how many other people were stopped for similar questioning, and are considering a federal

clear that this is directly linked to Mr. Trump’s efforts to ban Muslims from the United States,” Mancini told the Courier-Journal, a reference to President Donald Trump’s late January executive order imposing a 90-day entry ban for citizens of seven Muslim majority countries.

The travel ban has since been halted by a US federal court.

Mancini said that he and

lawsuit. Airport and Customs officials did not answer queries from the newspaper about the case. Muhammad Ali, one of the iconic 20th century sports heroes, died after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease on June 3. He was 74.

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Issue - 708 (28)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Kansas shooting: Neighbour say bar attack suspect ‘drunken mess,’ not political Olathe, Kansas The Kansas man accused of shooting two Indian immigrants and a third man at a bar, in what some believe was a hate crime, was always a drinker but became a “drunken mess” after his father died about 18 months ago, a long-time neighbour said Saturday.Andy Berthelsen said his neighbour Adam Purinton, who is charged with murder and attempted murder in Wednesday night’s attack, was very close to his father, who died of pancreatic cancer.He said in the past year, Purinton bounced from one menial job to the next and was sometimes drunk by midmorning. But in the 15 years he’s lived across the street from Purinton in Olathe, Berthelsen said he’s never heard him make a racist remark or talk politics.

He said he doesn’t believe the shooting stemmed from hatred, and that it likely resulted from Purinton’s physical and mental deterioration.“This is someone who’s gone downhill very quickly,” Berthelsen told The Associated Press by phone Saturday. “He was a drunken mess.”

Purinton, 51, was arrested hours

after the attack at a restaurant and bar about 70 miles (110 kilometers) from Olathe in Clinton, Missouri. He is jailed on murder and attempted murder charges, and he didn’t have a lawyer as of Saturday, according to court records. His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.

Purinton’s mother, Marsha Purinton, told The New York Times that her son “snapped, and this is not his typical self.” The newspaper said she declined to elaborate, and calls by the AP to a home listing believed to be hers got a busy signal.

According to witnesses to the attack at Austins Bar and Grill, which is about a mile from Purinton’s home, Purinton yelled “get out of my country” at the two Indian men before he opened fire.

Srinivas Kuchibhotla, a 32-yearold engineer at GPS devicemaker Garmin, was killed. His friend and colleague, 32-year-old Alok Madasani, and a man who tried to intervene, 24-year-old Ian Grillot, were wounded. Madasani was released from the hospital Thursday. Grillot remains hospitalized.

Authorities on Friday declined to

discuss a possible motive for the attack or to say if they were investigating it as a possible hate crime. But Madasani’s father in India described it as such, and the incident has stoked fears about the treatment of immigrants, who feel targeted by President Donald Trump’s promises to ban certain travellers, build a wall along the Mexico border and put “America first.”The Kansas City Star, without citing its sources, reported that Purinton allegedly told a bartender at the Missouri restaurant where he was arrested that he needed a place to hide because he had just killed two Middle Eastern men.

Madasani, also a Garmin engineer, told The New York Times on Friday that Purinton had been sitting near him and Kuchibhotla on the bar’s patio.

Madasani said he asked them what type of visas they were on and whether they were in the US illegally. Both were in the country legally.

“We didn’t react,” Madasani said.

“People do stupid things all the time. This guy took it to the next level.”

Madasani said he went to get a

Dutch MPs pass bill to back regulated cannabis growing The Hague The Netherlands took a step closer to regulating the wholesale cultivation of cannabis after lawmakers today narrowly passed a bill to back

criminals to meet demand.

The bill, suggested by progressive D66 party member Vera Bergkamp, has been “approved”, the Dutch lower house said on its website.

legal growing and sale of the soft drug under government control.

The Dutch decriminalised the sale of small amounts of cannabis — less than five grams — in 1976 and allowed each person to legally grow five plants for personal use.

But the wholesale growing and sale of marijuana remains banned, forcing some 600 authorised owners of so-called “coffee shops” to buy from

It was accepted by a narrow majority of 77 MPs versus 72 against in the 150-seat lower house, Dutch newscaster NOS said.

It now has to be approved by parliament’s upper house, but may not pass as parties who voted against the proposal in the lower house hold a majority in the Senate.

The Netherlands also heads to the polls on March 15, so it is unlikely that the draft bill will be handled in the Senate before then, Dutch media reports said.

Bergkamp argued the 416-886-7370 cultivation and sale of

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cannabis will be better controlled if it is regulated by the government.

This means that coffee shop owners will be able to buy cannabis from certified growers within a “closed system” controlled by the government.

“It will be better for citizens’ health if we know where the weed comes from and we’ll be able to demand quality standards,” Bergkamp told parliament earlier this month.

It will also help fight criminality, stop coffee shop owners from having to deal with criminal gangs, clarify legislation around the issue and simplify measures to discourage smoking dope, she said.

Opponents of the legislation, however, said regulated cannabis cultivation broke international rules and would lead to more addiction among the youth.

Organised crime, which mainly cultivates marijuana for export, would just continue to grow it for the international market, opponents told the NOS. Dutch coffee shops generate millions of euros annually, and in major hubs such as Amsterdam have proven a draw for some of the millions of tourists that visit the country every year.

manager, but when he got back to the patio, the man was already being escorted out.

Authorities say Purinton returned a short time later and opened fire.

Berthelsen said Purinton owned shotguns for bird hunting and inherited handguns from his father. He said neighbors did not feel unsafe around Purinton.

While Purinton is a registered Republican, Berthelsen said he didn’t ever hear him mention Trump or former President Barack Obama.

Purinton is a Navy veteran and former air traffic controller, and Berthelsen, a 57-year-old contractor, said his neighbor did IT work in the past. But over the past year, Purinton worked at liquor and hardware stores and washed dishes at a pizza parlor, Berthelsen said.

Austins reopened on Saturday.

Many of the people who trickled in for lunch hugged staff

members or other patrons. A makeshift shrine of flowers continued to build beneath a tree near the main entrance. And police in three vehicles monitored across the parking lot.

One of the co-owners, Brandon Blum, said the bar has been a neighbourhood fixture for 30 years and that everybody’s upset by the attack. He declined to discuss it further or to say whether Purinton frequented the bar.John Teegarden, a regular who has been going to Austins for two decades, said Saturday that he didn’t know the victims well but had seen them around.

He said the bar staff and guests are “like one big family,” and his older son even works there, though he wasn’t on duty when the attack happened.

He called Grillot’s attempt to intervene in the attack unsurprising.

“If it wasn’t him, it would’ve been someone else,” Teegarden said.

Kim Jong Nam murder: Malaysia to issue arrest warrant for North Korean diplomat

Kuala Lampur Malaysia said on Saturday it would issue an arrest warrant for a North Korean diplomat wanted for questioning over the murder of Kim Jong Nam if he doesn’t voluntarily cooperate with the police.

Earlier this week, Malaysia said 44-year-old Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, was wanted for questioning over the death of the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “Reasonable” time will be given for the diplomat to come forward before police take further action, said Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief for Selangor state.

Samah said if the person concerned did not cooperate the police would issue a notice under

Malaysian law, “compelling” them to appear before the investigation team.

“And if he failed to turn up upon given this notice, then we will go to the next step by getting a warrant of arrest from the court,” he told reporters.

It was unclear if the embassy official can be detained since police have said he has diplomatic immunity.

Eight North Koreans are wanted in connection with the case, including the diplomat. One has been detained by the Malaysian police, four are believed to have fled to North Korea, while two are still in Malaysia.

Police are trying to locate the eight suspect, another North Korean, Ri Ji U, whose whereabouts are unknown, Samah said on Saturday.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Indian-origin MP among antiTrump voices in UK Parliament

London Indian-origin Labour MP Seema Malhotra was among a number of British MPs who spoke out

against US President Donald Trump’s proposed state visit to the UK in Parliament.

The MP for Feltham and Heston said many of her constituents are very concerned about the visit planned for later this year during the three-hour-long debate in Westminister Hall yesterday.

“Does the Minister agree at least extending a state visit in this way and at this time could effectively be seen as a validation of the views and statements of President Trump? It has been seen in that way by many of my constituents, who feel very concerned about the message that it sends,” she said, referring her question to UK Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan.

“I do not accept that the process of a State Visit will be seen as

such validation The government strongly believe that it is a perfectly legitimate decision to use the full impact of an invitation

to maximise the diplomatic significance of a State Visit at the start of President Trump’s term of office,” Duncan said, presenting the UK government stance on the debate which followed a public petition opposing the tour attracting over 1.8 million signatures.

“President Obama and President George W Bush both visited the UK on a state visit during their first term in office, so it is entirely appropriate that President Trump, too, should be invited in his first term,” he said.

Among some of the harsh comments by British MPs against Trump’s state visit, which is traditionally hosted by the Queen and involves considerable pomp and pageantry, included describing him as “racist and

sexist”.

“To do so now [invite Trump], now that he is President, would only reinforce and condone his actions and his divisive, racist and sexist messages We cannot support what he is doing by offering him legitimacy,” said Naz Shah, a Pakistani-origin Labour party MP. Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Alex Salmond criticised British Prime Minister Theresa May’s body language during the US visit when she had relayed Queen Elizabeth II’s invitation to Trump for the State Visit. “As an example of fawning subservience, the prime minister holding hands [with Trump] would be difficult to match. To do it in the name of shared values was stomach churning. What exactly are the shared values that this house, this country would hope to have,” the former Scottish first minister questioned. The MPs were speaking as hundreds of protesters gathered in Parliament Square to protest against the visit, chanting and waving placards reading “no to racism; no to Trump”. The state visit, expected around August/ September this year, has been at the centre of a string of protests and controversy, including House of Commons Speaker John Bercow’s impartiality coming into question after saying that Trump should be barred from addressing Parliament during any such visit to the UK.

Man jailed for Facebook threat to Cambodian PM Hun Sen

Phnom Penh A Cambodian court today sentenced a 27-year-old to two years in jail for Facebook posts that threatened strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen. Ven Sopheap, a resident of eastern Prey Veng province, admitted during his trial last week to posting threats against Hun Sen — the authoritarian premier who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades.

He reportedly wrote “Hun Sen, today is the day of your death” and “Beheading Yuons (derogatory term for Vietnamese people) is the duty of all Khmer children” on his Facebook account, leading to his arrest in October. On Friday a Phnom Penh court handed the man two years in prison for issuing a death threat and inciting discrimination, according to judge Ly Sokleng.

Rights groups criticised the verdict as the latest smothering of free speech in Cambodia as Hun Sen clamps down on critics

ahead of a 2018 poll. ”Flippant social media posts or throw away comments, without any real intention to follow through, should be handled with a common-sense approach and treated with leniency,” Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told AFP. Prison sentences for social media posts have become increasingly common in Cambodia and around the region, with governments often leaning on defamation laws to muzzle dissent. The clampdown in Cambodia comes as 64-year-old Hun Sen brandishes his own social media arsenal in a bid to connect with young voters fed up with the corruption and rights abuses that have flourished under his tenure.The premier’s political rivals have accused him of buying “likes” from foreign click farms to boost engagement on his active Facebook page — a charge Hun Sen vehemently denies.

The coalition has often seen VBIEDs depart on missions, only for their drivers to veer off course and attempt to hide behind structures.

“We see a VBIED going to its attack, going off and hiding,” Isler said.

launched an operation aimed at flushing the jihadists from Mosul’s west bank.

Yesterday, they thrust into Mosul airport on the southern edge of the IS stronghold for the first time since the jihadists overran the region in 2014.

“We see a party going to find the AWOL VBIED driver, we see (IS) command and control trying to figure out where their VBIED driver’s gone, we’ve seen multiple VBIED drivers going AWOL.” The coalition first saw drivers being chained into trucks when Iraqi security forces approached the Tigris river as they cleared eastern Mosul, Isler said.

The operation to free Iraq’s second city of IS control began in October. After clearing the east side, Iraqi forces on Sunday

Iraqi troops backed by jets, helicopter gunships and drones blitzed their way across open areas south of Mosul before entering the airport compound.

Although they apparently met limited resistance, they strafed the area for suspected snipers.

As its fighters are killed off and it loses ground, the IS group has developed new ways to counterstrike, including by steering hobby drones fitted with grenades and bombs at troops and civilians.

Obamas just can’t quit Broadway, IS forcing children, disabled ex-US prez goes to see ‘The Price’ into suicide cars: US general with daughter Malia

New York The Obamas just can’t quit Broadway. Former US?president Barack Obama and his daughter Malia Obama have caught a new revival of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” They attended the play starring Danny DeVito, Mark Ruffalo, Tony Shalhoub and Jessica Hecht at the American Airlines Theatre on Friday.

In “The Price,” a police officer feels that life has passed him by while he took care of his nowdead father. He and his estranged brother must reunite to sell off dad’s possessions.

The Obamas were big boosters of Broadway during his presidency, especially “Hamilton,” ‘‘A Raisin in the Sun” and “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” Members of the Obama family also attended “Memphis,” ‘‘Kinky Boots,” ‘‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” ‘‘Sister Act,” ‘‘The Trip to Bountiful,” ‘‘Motown the Musical” and “The Addams Family.”

Hillary and Bill Clinton have also been attending Broadway shows since the election, seeing the musicals “In Transit” and “The Color Purple”.

Washington Islamic State jihadists are forcing children and disabled people into explosives-laden trucks and making them drive at Iraqi security forces in Mosul, a general from the US-led coalition has said.

The barbaric tactic, coupled with other increasingly desperate battlefield measures, is a sign the IS group knows defeat is inevitable, officials say.

The jihadists have used exploding trucks, known in military circles as VBIEDs — vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices — and pronounced “Vee-Bids,” to devastating effect in numerous engagements during the Mosul offensive and elsewhere in Iraq.

Speaking to AFP and other reporters in Baghdad this week, US Air Force Brigadier General Matt Isler said the IS group had adopted coercive new techniques in its use of suicide car bombs because the jihadists appear to be running out of willing drivers.

“We saw people being led to a VBIED, being put in (it) and being chained in the VBIED,” he said.

“We’ve seen children put in VBIEDs as drivers, people that aren’t able to walk… I don’t know if they signed up for this service.”

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Comics, music shows in KSA ‘It’s like tripping’ says French artist entombed in rock draw rebuke from clerics PARIS An artist entombed inside a 12tonne rock for nearly three days has described the experience as like “tripping”, insisting he would stick it out for a week.Speaking to AFP through a crack in the limestone boulder late Friday,

Abraham Poincheval said he had been buoyed by how his performance has “got into people’s heads”.The artist made headlines worldwide when the two halves of the rock closed around him on Wednesday at a Paris art museum.Poincheval, 44, had carved out a hole inside the rock in his own image, just big enough for him to sit up in, with a niche to hold supplies of water, soup and dried meat.

“People seem to be very touched. They come and talk into the crack, read poetry to me, or tell me about their nightmares or their dreams,” he said.

“They are not so much talking to me, I think, as to the stone. I am very happy that the stone has got into their heads.”If he survives the ordeal, the performance artist who has previously spent a fortnight sewn-up inside a stuffed bear, will attempt to become a human hen and hatch a dozen eggs by sitting on them for weeks on end.

Lack of sleep rather than claustrophobia is his biggest

worry inside the darkness of the rock, he confessed.Without a watch - and with only an emergency phone line - he has no way to tell the time.

“I can sleep but it is very hard. It is very strange, I don’t know whether I am sleeping well or

not.”Even though he can only move his feet and hands a few inches, “I do not feel oppressed (by the rock), I feel completely at ease, in real connection with it.“Right now, it’s sweet. Like when you are starting to climb a mountain. But I know it will get difficult,” said Poincheval, who is having store his own excrement around him.“For now, it is OK,” he said, adding there had been “no accidents” peeing into his empty water bottles.“We are already locked into our own bodies,” the artist told AFP minutes before climbing inside the rock at the Palais de Tokyo to become what he called the boulder’s “beating heart”.However, he admitted that emotionally, his time inside has been something of a rollercoaster.“It’s very complex.

You pass from one feeling to an another. Like you are being carried away on a raft,” he said.

“It’s like tripping.”

To keep a hold on himself, the man dubbed France’s most extreme artist has been keeping

Guantanamo Bay prison healthy for national security: White House

Washington US President Donald Trump believes that the Guantanamo Bay prison is serving a healthy purpose towards the national security, the White House has said, indicating that its closure is unlikely. ”I think he (Trump) has made very clear though, that he believes that Guantanamo Bay does serve a

very, very healthy purpose in our national security and making sure that we don’t bring terrorists to our seas,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters yesterday.

Asked whether the terror suspects picked from overseas would be shifted to Guantanamo Bay, he said, “I’m not gonna get into what we may or may not do in the future.” “As the president has said very clearly before, we don’t telegraph what we’re gonna do,” he added.

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a diary, which he will later publish.Poincheval is certainly no stranger to bizarre and hairraising performances.

He ate worms and beetles while living inside the bear, was buried under a rock for eight days and navigated France’s Rhone river inside a giant plastic corked bottle.He has crossed the Alps in a barrel, and last year spent a week on top of a 20-metre (65foot) pole outside a Paris train station.The artist also spent 20 days underground as a human mole and lived like a Stone Age man with his former sidekick Laurent Tixador on a small rocky island in the Mediterranean off the southern city of Marseille.

The pair also walled themselves into a cave for a night with hundreds of mosquitos and crossed France in a straight line on foot.

Poincheval’s big dream, however, remains to “walk on the clouds.

I have been working on it for five years, but it is not quite there yet,” he added.

Unorthodox ideas seem to run in the family.

His inventor father Christian, who sports a bowler hat and a white Santa Claus beard, is best known for coming up with pills that make farts smell of roses, violets and even chocolate.

The artist said his spirit of adventure comes from a childlike love of exploration.

RIYADH A comic show and a recent pop concert have drawn rebuke from powerful religious figures and social media users in Saudi Arabia this week, highlighting the sensitivity of cultural reforms underway in the conservative kingdom.

Thousands of Saudis - including women - decked out in costumes and face paint attended the country’s first-ever Comic Con in Jeddah on Sunday.

The event was held by the staterun General Entertainment Authority (GEA), which has bucked some of the Islamic kingdom’s strict social codes to host a series of festivals, comedy shows and concerts this year.

It came weeks after Saudi Arabia saw its first major public concert in over a decade, also in Jeddah.

Authorities announced this week that the headline act, Saudi superstar Mohammed Abdo, would perform in the more conservative capital Riyadh in March.

“We were astonished by the hideous act of the Entertainment Authority, by these events held in Jeddah that are not in line with good behavior or our great religion,” Hussein Al-Sheikh, the imam of the Prophet’s Mosque, posted on Twitter.

“It is a duty upon officials to consider God in these actions,” he said, calling on Saudi citizens to boycott events like it.

Sheikh Adel al-Kalbani, the former imam of Mecca’s Grand Mosque, said the state body set up to promote the kingdom’s entertainment drive “violates human nature.”“Humans are meant to seek refuge in God in times of difficulty,” he wrote.

Four Indonesians wealthier than poorest 100 million JAKARTA The four richest Indonesians are wealthier than the poorest 100 million people in the country, a study has found, highlighting how huge numbers have been left behind as the economy booms. Oxfam said that President Joko Widodo had failed to fulfil pledges to fight inequality and called on the government to urgently increase spending on public services and make corporations and the wealthy pay more tax.

Indonesia has enjoyed an economic boom that has reduced the number of people living in extreme poverty but the gap between rich and poor has risen faster than in any other Southeast Asian country in the past 20 years, the Oxfam study said. “The benefits of growth have not been shared equally, and millions have been left behind,” said the research, which was released earlier this week. “The widening of the gap between the rich and the rest is a serious threat to Indonesia’s future prosperity. If inequality is not tackled, then reducing poverty will be much more difficult, and social instability could increase.” In 2016, the collective wealth of the four richest Indonesians, all

men, was $25 billion, Oxfam said. This was more than the total wealth of the 100 million poorest, out of a population of 255 million, it said. According to Forbes rich list, the wealthiest included three tobacco tycoons - brothers Michael and Budi Hartono, and Susilo Wonowidjojo.

The study said inequality has been rising since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which led to the introduction of more free market policies.

This shift allowed those at the top to capture the greatest share of the

benefits of years of strong growth, it said. The study pointed to rising inequality within cities, and between urban and rural areas.

Oxfam said Indonesia’s taxation system had failed to play a role in redistributing wealth as it was not collecting nearly as much revenue as it should, while an underfunded education system was stopping many from getting better jobs.

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Canada conservationist warns of ‘cyber poaching’

OTTAWA Photographers, poachers and eco-tour operators are in the crosshairs of a Canadian conservationist who warns that tracking tags are being hacked and misused to harass and hunt

endangered animals.

Steven Cooke, a biology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, says that the very tools used by scientists to study and protect animals and fish are being hijacked to do just the opposite.

Cooke, the Canada research chair of environmental science and biology, is the lead author of a paper published this week in the journal Conservation Biology.

The research paper cites the example of anglers in the US state of Minnesota who petitioned for access to data on northern pike movements, arguing that it should be publicly available because the research was publicly funded.

Australian authorities have used

tags to locate and cull sharks while in India, attempts were made to hack the global positioning system (GPS) collars on endangered Bengal tigers in a case of “cyber poaching.”

Cooke said that it is a new

phenomenon and there is no data available to quantify this “troubling and unanticipated” problem.

But he provides a broad range of anecdotal evidence in his scholarly article.

Scientists are scheduled to meet in June in Australia to discuss the problem as well as potential fixes.

In the meantime, Cooke is calling for encryption and strict rules to secure data and limit the use of telemetry tools for nonresearch activities.

In an interview with AFP, Cooke noted that natural history, ecology, conservation and resource management have all benefited from the use of electronic tagging technology.

Alphabet accuses Uber of stealing self-driving car technology

SAN FRANCISCO The race to develop self-driving vehicles took a new turn on Thursday when Google’s parent company Alphabet filed a lawsuit against Uber, accusing it of stealing technology.

Alphabet contends that a manager at its autonomous car subsidiary Waymo took technical data with him when he left to launch a competing venture that went on to become Otto, Uber’s self-driving vehicle unit, in a reported $680 million deal.“Otto and Uber have taken

Waymo’s intellectual property so that they could avoid incurring the risk, time and expense of independently developing their own technology,” Waymo said in a San Francisco federal court filing. Waymo is calling for a trial to stop Otto and Uber from using what it says is patented technology. Waymo also wants unspecified damages in what it described in court documents as “an action for trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement, and unfair competition.”

But if left unchecked, abuses could not only cause harm to animals, it could significantly hamper research.

“Just think about all the weird ways that people might try to exploit this technology,” Cooke said.

The idea for this research came during a family vacation last summer to Banff National Park in Canada. It was then that he learned that the park authority had imposed a public ban on VHF radio receivers after photographers used telemetry to track tagged animals.

Canadian officials were concerned that the animals may be spooked, stressed or habituated to human interaction, which can alter their behavior and thus influence research findings, or lead to human-wildlife conflicts.

The tags, Cooke explained, send out pings that can be tracked with a cheap handheld radio receiver.

“So you can stalk these animals in their natural environment, instead of waiting for them to wander over to you,” he said.

Following one tagged animal could also lead poachers to others in its group.

Convincing scientists to restrict access to their data may prove problematic, Cooke acknowledged.

“It runs counter to the open data movement,” he said, describing the widespread use of social media and other outreach to share findings.

In some cases, researchers who receive government grants may be obligated to disseminate the information.

Citing cases of US ranchers accused of trying to interfere with the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone National Park, and divers in the Bahamas who removed satellite tags from sharks, Cooke also warned about so-called “telemetry terrorism.”

There is potential for this if people oppose tagging. For example, some Canadian Inuit fear acoustic transmitters will scare away culturally important marine wildlife, and some park visitors have complained that tags distract from the “wilderness experience.”

Where commercial interests conflict with conservation goals or where they overlap, there is also a risk.

After the publication of his article Monday, Cooke said he received a call about a safari company that has been tagging animals in order to find them to show guests, rather than waiting patiently near watering holes hoping for wildlife to show up.

Many eco-tour operators offer discounts if no wildlife is seen during a trip.

“There’s a pretty strong financial motivation for them to consistently find animals,” Cooke commented.

Indian leader arrested for kicking pregnant woman

WEST BENGAL A panchayat pradhan belonging to the BJP has been arrested in West Bengal for allegedly leading an attack on a pregnant woman that killed the unborn baby.

The 29-year-old woman, a resident of Tantla village in Nadia district, was allegedly assaulted on February 21 for complaining against a public address system playing devotional music, disturbing students preparing for board examination, sources said.

Palash Kumar Biswas, who was arrested the next day, denied the charge and said he was being framed. BJP supporters blocked NH-34, which connects Kolkata with north Bengal, on Thursday afternoon, demanding unconditional release of Biswas.

Another BJP functionary, Prahlad Santra, was also arrested while three men were missing, sources said.

The woman was allegedly kicked when she tried to help her nephew who was being beaten up a group led by Biswas, sources said.The men were upset as the boy had complained about blaring music being played in a puja pandal in the village, the woman’s husband said.

The woman was rushed to

Dhubulia rural hospital, where the doctors referred her to Krishnagar. But, on Wednesday afternoon she miscarried.

In the evening, Biswas, the panchayat pradhan of Sadhanpara II gram panchayat under Krishnagar II block, was arrested.

“We have to wait for the outcome of the investigation. We deplore the incident but it is becoming a trend to blame any wrongdoings on BJP leaders,” state BJP secretary Sayantan Basu said.

As the BJP tries to make inroads in West Bengal, it is facing stiff resistance from the ruling Trianmool Congress, often leading to clashes. Nadia like rest of the south Bengal is Trinamool stronghold.

BJP’s Nadia district general secretary Mahadeb Sarkar said Sadhanpara was a party bastion and the Trinamool was trying to take control of the area.

“Earlier, they had tried to put our up-pradhan behind bars over a family dispute. Now they have targeted the pradhan,” Sarkar said.Krishnagar South MLA Ujjal Biswas, a Trinamool leader, denied the allegation of conspiracy. “The BJP is a party of inhuman elements. How can anybody kick a pregnant woman?” he said.

‘Record’ anti-venom dose saves boy from deadly Australian spider

SYDNEY A 10-year-old Australian boy has survived a bite from one of the world’s deadliest spiders after taking a record 12 vials of antivenom, local media reported.

Matthew Mitchell was helping his dad clear out the back shed at their home north of Sydney when he was bitten on the finger by a funnel-web spider, that had been lurking in his shoe. “It sort of clawed onto me and all the legs and everything crawled around my finger and I couldn’t get it off,”

he told Friday’s Daily Telegraph.

His family used his shirt as a compression bandage to try and slow the venom’s spread and rushed him to hospital. He experienced convulsions but survived after being given 12 vials of anti-venom, which local media said was an Australian record.

The funnel-web spider is among the world’s deadliest spiders. Its venom attacks the nervous system causing foaming at the mouth, muscle spasms and potentially death.

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Japanese men hold competition to celebrate baldness

IN THE latest addition to the growing list of acronyms in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, SP MP from Kannauj Dimple Yadav on Sunday redefined ‘Kasab’—the abbreviation coined by BJP chief Amit Shah. BJP says Ka stands for Congress. “Your Akhilesh bhaiyya says Ka stands for Computer, Sa stands for smartphone, through which you can get all the information

Dimple offers new meaning for Kasab about the policies of the government and b stands for bachche (children), Dimple, wife of chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said at an election rally in Jaunpur amid loud applause.

The ruling Samajwadi Party has a scheme to distribute laptops to meritorious students and promised to give smartphones if it returns to power in the state.

Shah at a rally last week at Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur had used the ‘Kasab’ acronym to .

Agencies describe Ka for

Congress, Sa for SP and ‘b’ for BSP. Shah coined the acronym matching the name of terrorist Ajmal Kasab—one of the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai attack. Akhilesh had earlier hit out at the BJP chief for his Kasab barb, saying Ka actually

stood for kabutar (pigeon), while BSP supremo Mayawati had said, ‘There cannot be a bigger Kasab than him’ and dubbed Shah a terrorist. Dimple said SP would give 35 per cent reservation to women, and pregnant women would get foodgrains delivered at their doorstep. “If SP is voted to power, we will do away with the age-limit for women in Class-III and IV government jobs,” she said. The Kannauj MP also said that for every gas stove

minister Akhilesh Yadav also slammed the PM by asking him why he was waiting for the results of the Uttar Pradesh election to waive farmers’ loans.

“Why Modi is waiting for the UP poll outcome to waive farmers’ loans. He is the PM and he can do it any time. Farmers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other states are also waiting for this (waiver,” he said while addressing a press conference hours before the fifth phase polling.

purchased, her party would give a pressure cooker. Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said, “The people of the country while listening to PM’s ‘Mann ki Baat’ have not realised how the prices of LPG cylinders have gone up.” Chief

TSURUTA CITY More than 30 bald men gathered at a hot spring facility in Tsuruta City, Japan, on Wednesday to show off their hairless heads and have fun.

Members of the city’s Bald Men Club took turns competing in a unique game of tug-of-war by sticking a suction cup, which is attached to a single red rope, to each of their heads. Both sides then attempt to pull the cup off of their opponent’s head. “My head still hurts,” Toshiyuki Ogasawara, 43, said with a smile. “I think I need to ice it!”

Masatomo Sasaki, 64, a firsttime participant at the tournament, said he used to feel insecure about his baldness but now feels differently. “I feel proud.

Or maybe I should say, I feel good about being a bald man,” Sasaki said, adding that he started losing his hair when he was 40. “And that is thanks to this bald men’s club.” The club, which has attracted roughly 65 members from all over the country since its founding in 1989, encourages people to “view baldness in a positive manner, to have fun, and to brighten the world with our shiny heads,” according to its website.Teijiro Sugo, 70, the club’s chairman, hopes the gathering will turn into something much larger. “I want all the bald men all over the world to gather here so we can organize a bald men’s Olympic tournament,” Sugo said. The event is held every year on Feb. 22.

Turkish army lifts ban on female officers wearing veil

Ankara Turkey’s Defence Ministry lifted the ban on female officers wearing the veil, local media reported. The Ministry on Wednesday issued a decree to the commanders of land, air and naval forces noting that female military personnel are allowed to wear headscarves if they wish, Efe news reported.The decree is considered a significant change for the Turkish military, as the veil has always been considered a

political symbol of Islam in Turkey.

Since the republic was declared in Turkey in 1923, women covering their heads in public has been a matter of social debate.However, since the Justice and Development Party rose to power in 2002, restrictions on wearing the veil have been alleviated. In August 2016, the Turkish interior issued a decision allowing female members of the gendarmerie and coast guard forces to cover their heads.

Ex-MD behind ‘world’s cheapest smartphone’ held in India NEW DELHI The former managing director of a little-known Indian company that claimed to be selling the world’s cheapest smartphone has been arrested for fraud, police said Friday. Mohit Goel, boss of the domestic handset maker Ringing Bells, was taken into custody in Ghaziabad late Thursday after a distributor complained it had not received phones worth 1.6 million rupees (around $24,000). Ayam Enterprises said it had paid 3 million rupees ($45,000) after Goel persuaded it to distribute

the Freedom 251 smartphone in November 2015 but only received 1.4 million rupees’ worth.

Deputy superintendent of police Manish Kumar Mishra said Goel had been arrested in Ghaziabad, which is on the outskirts of New Delhi, on Thursday night and was to appear in court on Friday.

“He’s been charged with fraud and forgery.

Investigations into the matter will continue,” Mishra told AFP. Mishra said police were on the hunt for four other officials of Ringing Bells who were named in Ayam’s complaint.

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Uber image battered by company culture skids SAN FRANCISCO Accusations of sexism, cutthroat management, and a toxic work environment have Uber trying to pull its image out of a skid as competition revs in the on-demand ride market.

“Experienced managers know how to prevent these kinds of problems, or make it look like there isn’t a problem at all,” analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group said while discussing Uber’s travails.“It is showcasing a severe lack of skill at the top.”

Uber hired former attorney general Eric Holder to review workplace conditions after an exemployee alleged sexual harassment and sexism at the firm.Susan Fowler, an engineer who worked at Uber until the end of last year, said in a blog post that her manager made sexual advances shortly after she joined the company.She said she complained to upper managers and the human resources department, but was told that it was the man’s “first offense” and that they wouldn’t feel comfortable punishing a “high performer.” Fowler told of later meeting other women engineers at the company who said they had experienced similar harassment, including inappropriate behavior from the same manager she had

reported.Men engineers were gifted leather jackets, while women were left out, she noted.

“In the background, there was a game-of-thrones political war raging within the ranks of upper management in the infrastructure engineering organization,” Fowler said, comparing the scene to a hit fantasy television drama in which rival nobles viciously vie for power.“It seemed like every manager was fighting their peers and attempting to undermine their direct supervisor so that they could have their direct supervisor’s job.”A New York Times report on Friday depicted a “Hobbesian environment” at Uber in which workers were pitted against one another and misbehavior by top performers was overlooked.

The story included tales of a director shouting a homophobic slur in a meeting; a manager threatening to beat an underperforming worker with a baseball bat, and women employees groped at a Las Vegas retreat where cocaine was used in bathrooms during private parties.Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said that Holder and another attorney will look into issues raised by Fowler, “as well as diversity and inclusion at Uber more broadly.”

Holder was former US president

Britain appoints first woman Scotland Yard chief in 188 years

LONDON Cressida Dick was named the new commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Policeon Wednesday, the first woman to lead Scotland Yard in its 188year history.Dick, a former assistant commissioner of the force, succeeds Bernard Hogan-Howe, who is stepping down next week.

The Met is Britain’s biggest and oldest police force, with 43,000 officers. Home secretary Amber Rudd said that 56-year-old Dick “has a clear vision for the future of the Metropolitan Police and an understanding of the diverse

range of communities it serves”.

Dick, who left the police force in 2015 to work at the foreign office, led the security operation for the 2012 London Olympics and was highly regarded by many Scotland Yard peers.

She had drawn criticism for commanding an operation after the July 2005 London bombings in which a Brazilian man, Jean Charles de Menezes, was shot after being mistaken for a suicide bomber.

A jury cleared Dick of blame but relatives of de Menezes’ had called for her not to be given the top job at Scotland Yard. The family of de Menezes said they had “serious concerns” about the appointment. “The message is that police officers can act with 416-886-7370 impunity,” they said.

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Barack Obama’s attorney general between 2009 and 2015.

The lawyers were to be aided by journalist Arianna Huffington, who is a member of the Uber board.

The controversy threatened to revive a #DeleteUber campaign triggered by Kalanick’s shortlived plan to be part of a business advisory group for US President Donald Trump.

Kalanick quit the group under pressure from a growing movement to stop using the ridesharing service because of his connection to the new administration, and by extension an anti-immigrant agenda.

As the campaign picked up speed, rival Lyft’s popularity accelerated.“Now, they are facing yet another avoidable backlash where people are disconnecting themselves from the (Uber) app,” analyst Enderle said.“Lyft is likely the biggest beneficiary, but at the same time, Google is coming to market with its Waze carpool service - this is the wrong time for Uber to have this.”Meanwhile, the race to develop self-driving vehicles took a turn on Thursday when Google’s parent company Alphabet filed a lawsuit against Uber, accusing it of using stolen technology.Alphabet contends that a manager at its autonomous car subsidiary

Waymo took technical data with him when he left to launch a competing venture that went on to become Otto, Uber’s selfdriving vehicle unit, in a reported $680 million deal.Waymo is calling for a trial to stop Otto and Uber from using technology taken in a “calculated theft.”Waymo also wants unspecified damages in what it described in court documents as “an action for trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement and unfair competition.”San Franciscobased Uber acquired commercial transport-focused tech startup Otto last year as it pressed ahead with a pursuit of selfdriving technology.“We take the allegations made against Otto and Uber employees seriously

and we will review this matter carefully,” an Uber spokeswoman said. In the eyes of consumers, Uber’s controversies pack together into “a snowball of trouble rolling down the hill getting bigger and bigger,” said brand management specialists Bruce Turkel.

Once people switch to a new ride-hailing app, they are likely to stick with it and forget about using Uber, according to analysts.“Uber can do all the damage control they want, it’s not going to change who they are at their very core,” Turkel said.

“And, unfortunately, when you watch Travis Kalanick when he is on TV or whatever, he has that frat boy kind of attitude anyway.

So, when you hear about sexual harassment, it actually fits.”

In rare statement, Taliban leader urges Afghans to plant more trees Kabul Springtime in Afghanistan usually brings a spike in violence as the Taliban takes advantage of the thaw to launch a wave of fresh attacks. But the Taliban’s leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, has just issued a statement calling on Afghans to plant more trees.In a public letter issued on Sunday in four languages, including English, Akhundzada said, “the Mujahideen and beloved countrymen must join hands in tree planting”.

The statement does point out that the Taliban remain, “actively engaged in a struggle against foreign invaders and their hirelings” — a reference to the Kabul government that the militant group seeks to overthrow.

Shah Hussain Murtazawi, deputy spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, dismissed the statement as an attempt to “deceive public opinion” and distract from the Taliban’s “crimes and destruction”.

“Since the establishment of the Taliban movement the only things that these people have in their minds are fighting, crimes and destruction,” he said.

“How is it possible for the Taliban to think about planting trees or protecting the environment in the country?”

Most of Afghanistan’s big cities, including capital Kabul, are overpopulated and there are few public green spaces or parks.

According to officials from the public health ministry, up to 4,000 citizens die each year in Kabul due to illnesses brought on or exacerbated by air pollution.

Wahid Muzhda, a political analyst in Kabul, said announcements like this — and other statements where they claim to be building roads and bridges — could be part of a

Taliban campaign to show that they would provide enlightened leadership in areas of the country that they control.

Akhunzada’s statement cites Islamic tradition and the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammed to reinforce its environmental message.

“Tree planting plays an important role in environmental protection, economic development and the beautification of the earth. Allah Almighty has interconnected the lives of human beings with plants,” it says.

“Plants live off soil while humans and animals live off plants. If the plants and trees are eradicated, life itself would be put in peril, Allah Almighty says.”

Kerala man suspected of joining ISIS killed in Afghanistan drone strike Thiruvananthapuram One of the Indian youth who allegedly joined the ISIS from Kerala’s Kasargode was allegedly killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan. Although there is no official word from any government authority about the deceased, identified as Hafesudhen TK, reportedly, the family of the men received a Whatsapp message which claimed that he was killed in a strike on February 25.

According to reports, the family received the message from another Indian who went missing who claimed that they are waiting

for their turn to be ‘martyred’. The sender of the message also said that they consider Hafesudhen TK a shuhada (martyred). There is however no official report of his death.In June 2016, around 17 people, which included pregnant women and three children were suspected to have joined the ISIS. They went missing and following that their families received messages which made the National Investigation Agency suspect their alliance with the ISIS.As per security agencies, Hafesudhen TK used to work in the middle-east initially but soon returned to Kerala.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

For Kim’s brother, her looks did kill

POSING for a Facebook selfie, this is the woman suspected of killing Kim Jong-un’s brother — in an image posted online days before the assassination. Doan Thi Huong, who is being held in Malaysia over the killing of Kim Jong-nam in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, can be seen wearing a shirt with ‘LOL’ emblazoned on the front. A similar white top was worn by a woman shown in CCTV footage from the terminal minutes after Jong-nam was poisoned to death. Separate photos, in a Facebook account under the name of Ruby Ruby, show her posing in a revealing red swim suit and wearing a black dress with floral patterns. Just days before the death of Jong-nam a photo was posted on her profile showing her in a shirt with the acronym ‘LOL’ — similar to the one scene in CCTV images of her at Kuala Lumpur after the North Korean was poisoned.

The 28-year-old had posted to Facebook under the name Ruby Ruby, according to her 18-year-old niece, Dinh Thi Quyen and photographer Keow wee Loong who knows a friend of Huong. Her profile picture shows Huong wearing a red cut-out swimsuit at a pool. Other photos are selfies taken in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

BRITONS are often accused of being too prudish about sex. And we in turn suspect the French of being too laissez faire. But new evidence shows that our continental neighbours are shockingly unbuttoned — at least when it comes to onscreen sex. New figures reveal that the French film watchdog is happy for toddlers to watch films about sadomasochism that are only deemed to be fit for adults in the UK. France’s Centre Nationale de la Cinematographie has given its softest possible classification — ‘TP’, or ‘tous public’ — to a string of shockingly sexual movies, which have been handed an 18 certificate in Britain and the strongest possible R rating in America. The Duke of Burgundy, focuses on a sadomasochistic lesbian relationship, and was described as ‘filth’ by critics - but the French watchdog handed it the equivalent of a U certificate. The CNC was almost as relaxed about Lovelace, the biopic of porn actress Linda Lovelace, who has claimed in her autobiography that she was beaten, raped and abused.

US Powerball jackpot grows to $403m, 10th largest ever

WASHINGTON The jackpot in the US lottery Powerball grew to $403 million before the drawing on Wednesday, making it the 10th largest in the game’s history.

The drawing is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday (0359 GMT on Thursday). The winner will get annual payments over 29 years, totaling $403 million, or $243.9 million in a lump sum payment, before taxes. The last time a winning ticket in the jackpot was sold was on Dec. 17. The odds of winning the jackpot is 1 in 292,201,338. Powerball’s jackpot swelled to a record $1.6 billion in January 2016, when

French censors let kids see sex on screen

three winning tickets were sold in Florida, California, and Tennessee. The game and a second major US lottery, Mega Millions, have exceeded $400 million only a few other times.

Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Players can buy the $2 tickets with their own numbers or have the numbers randomly generated by a computer. Half of Powerball sales goes to prizes, 40 percent to state governments for items such as education and 10 percent to retailers who sell the tickets and for other administrative costs.

Long-lost lions from Charles V’s tomb to be auctioned

LONDON A sculpture of two lions carved for the tomb of French king Charles V that was thought lost in the French Revolution will soon go under the hammer in London, auction house Christie’s said Tuesday.

The 14th-century marble work

by French artist Andre Beauneveu, which had been held in a private British collection for more than two centuries, will be sold on July 6. The lions were carved as near mirror images of each another, with strikingly detailed manes and one baring its teeth.

Beauneveu was commissioned by the king shortly after he came to the throne, and was tasked with constructing four family tombs.

The lions were sculpted over two years from 1364 to 1366, according to Christie’s, and placed at the foot of Charles’s tomb in what was then the Abbey of Saint Denis in Paris.

But the family tombs were dismantled in 1793 by France’s revolutionary government, and the lions were purchased in 1802 by Thomas Neave, a

British aristocrat.

The emergence of the sculpture represents a “remarkable rediscovery”, Christie’s said.

“The discovery of these lions in a private English collection is wonderful news for collectors and scholars who previously thought they had been lost during the French Revolution,” said Donald Johnston, Christie’s international head of sculpture.

Their appearance had previously been known only from an 18th-century engraving.

Sotheby’s has not yet estimated a sale figure for the work, though it is expected to be high.

A pair of marble figures from the tomb of Charles’s brother, the Duke of Berry, were sold last year to the Louvre museum for 5 million euros ($5.3 million).

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Tendulkar comes out in support of beleaguered Kohli & co

‘INDIA WILL BOUNCE BACK’

CRICKET icon Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday threw his weight behind the beleaguered Indian team and said that the Virat Kohli-led side will bounce back from the embarrassing defeat against Australia in the first Test in Pune. India

lost to Australia by a huge 333run margin in the first Test failing to score even 110 runs in both innings.

Tendulkar said that four-match Test series is still wide open. “Coming to India-Australia Test series, it was a tough Test match for us. But it is a part and parcel of the game.

The loss (in the first Test) does not mean that the series is lost, the series is still wide open,” Tendulkar said. “Knowing the spirit of the Indian team I know that they will fight back hard. Australian team also knows about it because when we beat them, we also knew that they are going to come back at us really hard. I have no doubt that the Indian team is going to come back and compete hard,” he added. Tendulkar said tough moments come in every team and sportsperson’s career and that makes sports interesting. “There are good moments and there are tough moments

but it is all about how you stand back on your feet again and start competing.

That is what makes the sport interesting. That is what sportspersons play for,” said Tendulkar who retired from international cricket in 2013 on pile of records, including an incredible 100 centuries. Meanwhile, in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Sunday, Kohli remained the highest-placed Indian batsman at second, while off-spinner Ravichandaran Ashwin held on to his top position in both the bowlers’ and all-rounders’ list. The Indian team was unaffected by the debacle at least in the ICC rankings. In fact, opener KL Rahul claimed his career-best ranking of 46th after scores of 64 and 10 in the match. The Australians, however, made substantial gains with match heroes Steve O’Keefe, Steve Smith and Matt Renshaw attaining significant gains.

“Australia Smith reached a career-high 939 rating points after an outstanding batting effort in the Test which his team won by 333 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the

four-match series,” the ICC said in a statement. Umesh Yadav gain four slots to reach 30th rank.

Azhar calls for Jayant Virat will come back & Ishant to be dropped hard, warns Harbhajan

FORMER India captain Mohammed Azharuddin feels that Indian team will be forced to make a couple of changes in their playing XI for the second Test against Australia after the hammering it took in the opening match. “Any batting debacle leaves a team on the backfoot. I am not saying series is lost but one needs to look at the kind of track that you want to play. I reckon Chinnaswamy won’t have this kind of turn. So my gut feeling is that Jayant Yadav and Ishant Sharma may be dropped from the playing XI,” Azharuddin said.

India lost the match by a whopping 333 runs and the second Test will be played in Bengaluru, from March 4. Asked to explain his observation, Azhar said: “Going by their batting performance, I expect them to play an extra batsman — that is Karun Nair. He should be replacing Jayant in all likelihood.” “Also

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on the tracks that we are playing, Ishant’s back of the length stuff is not going to work. It is better that a swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar is brought into the team by Virat.” For someone who has played 99 Tests and captained India for close to a decade, Azharuddin was critical of the performance by the Indian spinners on a rank turner. “I think a similar pitch was prepared when Michael Clarke got his 6 for 9 in Mumbai. This was a bad pitch to bat on. But I am not at all happy with how the spinners bowled on a track like this — especially Ravindra Jadeja,” said Azhar.

In fact, the stylish Hyderabadi feels that Steve O’Keefe showed exactly how to bowl on a turner. “O’Keefe bowled the line that Jadeja should have bowled. If you looked at Jadeja’s line, it was on offstump or slightly outside the off-stump trying to make use of the rough. That was where he made the mistake. On this track, Jadeja’s channel would have never got him wickets and that’s precisely what has happened.

ONE bad Test for Virat Kohli prompted former Australian skipper Michael Clarke to virtually throw a challenge at the Indian captain. Clarke believes with India 0-1 down, the remainder of the series will be a massive challenge for Virat, not just as a batsman but as a leader of this Indian team.

But Harbhajan Singh has now warned Clarke to wary of Virat as the Indian skipper thrives on such challenges. “He (Virat) is a champion batsman and every time you put him under pressure or throw a challenge at him, he will come out with flying colours. I am sure he will come out and score big runs in Bangalore. He has been the backbone of Indian batting and has set the benchmark really high.

I am sure the talent he possesses, he will make it big in Bangalore itself,” Harbhajan told India Today. The Pune wicket came in for a lot of flak with the match ending inside three days. The ball was turning square from the first over itself. Harbhajan believes on wickets like these the true potential of a player

cannot be judged as toss becomes a crucial factor. “On wickets such as these, it’s advantage to the team batting first but I must say Australia played really well. If the Tests last five days, India will always have the upper hand because there are players in their ranks who are tailor-made for these conditions,” said Harbhajan, whose 32 wickets in the famous threeTest series back in 2001 against Australia, is still regarded as one of the finest performances by a spinner. Before the series began, Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan had both predicted that India will sweep the series 4- 0 but after the result of the first Test, the Indian off-spinner was trolled on social media. Harbhajan doesn’t regret what he said.

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Issue 708 (36)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Plaintiffs allege five automakers knew Takata air bags were dangerous

Detroit Plaintiffs in dozens of lawsuits against air bag maker Takata and five automakers allege the car companies knew that Takata’s products were dangerous yet continued to use them for years

Unlike most other air bag makers, Takata uses the explosive chemical ammonium nitrate to inflate air bags instantly in a crash. But the chemical can deteriorate when exposed to prolonged airborne moisture.

in order to save money, hours before the automaker is expected to plead guilty and pay $ 1 billion penalty over ruptures of its air bag inflators.

The allegations against Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford and BMW were made in a filing Monday with a federal court in Miami, which is handling pretrial evidencegathering in lawsuits against Takata and the automakers. The filing says documents produced in the case show the auto companies had independent knowledge that Takata’s air bag inflators were unsafe before putting them in millions of vehicles.

The allegations come just hours before Takata is expected to enter a guilty plea to one criminal charge and agree to pay a $1 billion penalty at a hearing in Detroit.

Takata’s air bag inflators can explode with too much force, hurling shrapnel into drivers and passengers. The inflators are blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide and more than 180 injuries. The problem touched off the largest automotive recall in US history involving 42 million vehicles and up to 69 million inflators.

Monday’s filing says that after an inflator ruptured in 2009, one of the auto companies described the problem as “one in which a passenger protection device was transformed into a killing weapon.” The company was not identified in the document.

The court filing marks the broadest allegation yet that automakers knew about Takata’s problems yet continued to use the inflators and put their customers in danger. The lawyers are trying to counter the auto companies’ assertion that they shouldn’t be liable because they, too, were deceived by Takata.

“The automotive defendants were aware that rupture after rupture, both during testing and in the field, confirmed how dangerous and defective Takata’s air bags were,” the attorneys allege in the court filing, called a “status report.” But the automakers have pointed to Takata’s plea agreement, in which the Justice Department says Takata got the car companies to keep buying its inflators “through submission of false and fraudulent reports and other information that concealed the true and accurate test results.”

In addition to the deaths and injuries caused by Takata air bags, lawyers allege that vehicles sold by the automakers declined in value because they kept using the Takata equipment.

The filing Monday includes specific allegations that each of the automakers knew about Takata’s problems: •Honda, Takata’s largest customer, was intimately involved in designing Takata inflators, and two Takata inflators exploded and ruptured at Honda facilities in 1999 and 2000. “Before Honda initiated its first narrow recall in 2008, at least eight ruptures had occurred in Honda vehicles,” the lawyers allege.

•Toyota had quality concerns about Takata in 2003, the same year that an inflator ruptured at a Toyota testing facility, the document says. At least 15 inflators in Toyotas blew apart by 2014, when the company issued a nationwide recall.

•Ford picked Takata inflators over the objections of its own inflator expert because Takata was apparently the only company that could provide the number of inflators Ford needed, the lawyers wrote. One document obtained through the pretrial process said that Ford had a “gun to its head, so it had to accept ammonium nitrate.”

•Nissan, the document said, switched to Takata inflators “primarily, if not solely” to save about $4 per inflator. Another automaker told Nissan about the risky inflators in 2006, eight years before Nissan began a national recall, the document said.

•At BMW, documents show the company went to Takata seeking cost savings. As early as 2003, a Takata inflator ruptured in a BMW in Switzerland,.

BMW and Nissan said they couldn’t comment on pending litigation. Toyota declined to comment. Honda was preparing a statement. A message was left Monday with Ford.

US transgender teen wrestler forced to compete against girls wins championship New York Mack Beggs, a 17-year-old high school wrestler who is transitioning from female to male, took home gold in the 110weight class of the Texas girls state championship after the state refused to allow the student to compete against boys.

Beggs, his family and many of his opponents wanted him to wrestle against male wrestlers, but state sport regulations require athletes to compete according to their birth gender.

Some of the wrestler’s opponents have said Beggs had an unfair advantage among girls because of the testosterone he is taking as a part of his gender transition.

The University Interscholastic League, which governs school sports in Texas, said the state’s education code allows the use of a banned drug such as steroids if it “is prescribed by a medical practitioner for a valid medical purpose.”

Beggs’ win came days after the Trump administration revoked landmark guidance to public schools letting transgender students use the bathrooms of their choice, reversing a signature initiative of former Democratic President Barack Obama.

Reversing the guidelines stands to inflame passions in the conflict in the United States between believers in traditional values and those advocating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

Beggs, a junior at Trinity High School in the Dallas suburb of Euless, had a 52-0 record ahead of the weekend tournament and was favoured to win the high school championship in his weight class. On Saturday, he beat Chelsea Sanchez 12-2 to earn the championship.

After his victory Beggs told reporters he wanted the focus of Saturday’s championship to be on his teammates rather than him.

“That’s honestly what the spotlight should’ve been on, my teammates,” said Beggs, while backed by his team and wearing a gold medal around his neck.

“The hard work that I put in the practice room with them beside

me ... that’s what the spotlight should have been on ... because I would not be here without them,” Beggs said.

About a week ago, Beggs won a regional championship after a female wrestler from a Dallasarea high school forfeited the final.

The parent of another girl who wrestles for the same Dallasarea high school had filed a lawsuit trying to block Beggs, saying his use of testosterone increases his strength and could pose a risk to opponents.

Nancy Beggs, the wrestler’s grandmother and guardian, told the Dallas Morning News after the forfeit in the regional championship match: “Today was not about their students winning. Today was about bias, hatred and ignorance.”

His grandmother could not be reached for comment by Reuters on Sunday.

According to transathlete.com, which provides information for transgender athletes, Texas is one of seven U.S. states with policies it sees as discriminatory against transgender athletes.

The day after the championship, Beggs was both praised and criticized on social media.

Mussolini was a violent lover who asked for sex constantly THE story begins like a romantic novel.

On a glorious spring day in Rome in April 1932, stunning 20- year-old heiress Claretta Petacci and her dashing fiance, an army lieutenant, took off in their chaffeured limousine for a day at the beach. Giggling excitedly between them on the back seat of the Lancia was Claretta’s nine-year-old sister, Myriam, there as chaperone. The road to the coast was a marvel of modern engineering, a motorway built at the command of Italy’s fascist dictator — prime minister Benito Mussolini. At 49, he was at the height of his powers, adored by Italians who knew him as Il Duce and feted by leaders around the world. Winston Churchill called him the ‘Roman genius’, and even Mahatma

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Gandhi praised his ‘passionate love for his people’. That same day, Il Duce was also taking a spin in the sunshine along the Via del Mare in his bright red Alfa Romeo 8C, with its long running boards and rear fin like the crest of a Roman god’s helmet.

Near Ostia, Mussolini’s car recklessly overtook the limousine, blasting his horn as he did. The young woman in the back smiled and waved. For a fleeting moment Mussolini looked into her eyes — and was smitten.

Pulling over, he signalled for the Lancia to stop. Claretta recognised Mussolini at once and scrambled out of the car. ‘I’m going to pay homage to him,’ she declared. ‘I’ve been waiting for such a long time.’ That fateful first encounter and the passionate, but doomed affair that followed between Claretta and her ‘Ben’ is detailed

in a riveting new biography of Petacci by historian Richard Bosworth. Claretta had been besotted with Mussolini for years, ever since a 1926 assassination attempt when the insane Irish aristocrat Violet Gibson took a potshot at him with a revolver.

The bullet just nicked the bridge of his nose.

Then a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Claretta had been aghast at the news and penned a gushing letter to him: ‘O, Duce, why was I not with you? Could I not have strangled that murderous woman?’

She told him she dreamed of putting her ‘head on your chest so I could still hear the beats of your great heart. Duce, my life is for you’. Now her teenage fantasies were about to be realised. Claretta was far from the first to be infatuated. Many women found Mussolini irresistible. In

1926, Churchill’s wife Clementine wrote to her husband saying Il Duce was ‘most impressive: very dignified, with a charming smile and the most beautiful golden brown, piercing eyes, which you can see but can’t look at. He fills you with a sort of pleasurable awe’. And yet his treatment of women was appalling. Born in 1883, in the northern Italian town of Predappio in Forli, Mussolini was the son of a socialist blacksmith. By his teens, he was a regular at the town brothel, and throughout his life claimed that to be aroused he had to imagine that the woman sharing his bed was a prostitute. The only love-making he understood was tantamount to rape, and his sexual appetite was vast. He needed up to four women a day and at times had more than a dozen casual mistresses on call. After he came to power in 1922, his staff were under orders to sift through letters from female admirers — mostly married women — and select the likeliest candidates for sex.

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28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Health Are you a victim of inadequate sleep? Dietary prebiotics might help you out!

New Delhi If you have been facing sleep disorder since a long time, dietary prebiotics consumption can help you out.

Now a first-of-its kind study by University of Colorado Boulder, scientists suggests that lesserknown gut-health promoters called prebiotics, which serve as food for good bacteria inside the gut, can also have an impact, improving sleep and buffering the physiological impacts of stress.

“We found that dietary prebiotics can improve non-REM sleep, as well as REM sleep after a stressful event,” said Robert Thompson, a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Integrative Physiology and first author of the new study. It was published in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. Prebiotics are dietary fibers found naturally in

foods like chicory, artichokes, raw garlic, leeks and onions.

When beneficial bacteria digest prebiotic fiber, they not only multiply, improving overall gut health, but they also release metabolic byproducts.

Some research suggests these byproducts can influence brain function, explains lead author Monika Fleshner, a professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology. For the study, the researchers fed three-week-old male rats a diet of either standard chow or chow that included prebiotics.

They then monitored the rats‘ body temperature, gut bacteria and sleep-wake cycles - using EEG, or brain activity testing over time. They found that the rats on the prebiotic diet spent more time in non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep, which is restful and restorative, than those on the non-prebiotic diet.

Back pain? You have 13% higher chance of dying early New Delhi Back pain is one of the most common complaints that people of all ages make nowadays. The problem has become too common that people begin to take it casually without realising the consequences that it can cause in their life.

In fact back pain is one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor or miss work and a leading cause of disability worldwide.

Signaling that people suffering from the condition need to recognise and treat the symptoms seriously, a new research warns that older people with back pain have a 13 per cent higher chance of dying prematurely.

The study by researchers at University of Sydney in Australia of 4,390 Danish twins aged more than 70 years investigated whether spinal pain increased the rate of all-cause and diseasespecific cardiovascular mortality.

Low back pain is a major problem, ranked as the highest contributor to disability in the world, researchers said.

“Our study found that compared to those without spinal pain (back and neck), a person with spinal pain has a 13 per cent higher chance of dying every year. This is a significant finding as many people think that back pain is not life-threatening,” said Associate Professor Paulo Ferreira, from the University’s Faculty of Health Sciences.

“As this study was done in twins, the influence of shared genetic factors is unlikely because it was controlled for in our analysis,” Ferreira said.

“With a rapidly growing ageing population, spinal health is critical in maintaining older age independence, highlighting the importance of spinal pain in primary health care as a presenting symptom,” lead author Matthew Fernandez from the Faculty of Health Sciences, said.

Researchers said back pain should be recognised as an important co-morbidity that is likely to impact people’s longevity and quality of life.

“Policy makers should be aware that back pain is a serious issue - it is an indicator of people’s poor health and should be screened for, particularly in the elderly,” said Ferreira.

Recent research has also found that commonly prescribed medications for back pain such as paracetamol and anti-

inflammatory drugs are ineffective in treating pain and have side effects.

“Medications are mostly ineffective, surgery usually does not offer a good outcome ? the best treatment for low back pain is a healthy lifestyle, including physical activity. People need to get moving,” Ferreira said.

Few studies have examined the potential reduced life expectancy associated with spinal pain in an ageing population, particularly after controlling for familial factors, including genetics.

This study follows previous research which found that people with depression are 60 per cent more likely to develop low back pain in their lifetime.

Although anyone can get back pain, there are measures people can take to prevent or relieve the symptoms of this irritating health episodes. These may include – exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, getting treatment, ect.

Medical experts have stressed the need for developing costeffective access to dialysis in various countries including India.

Experts in the new research paper titled ‘Ethical issues in dialysis therapy’ published in the Lancet today said that a mere 30 per cent of patients manage to receive this life-saving therapy in India.

“Efforts to providing affordable dialysis to those with end-stage kidney disease should be done in conjunction with more costeffective efforts to prevent its development and reducing its progression using proven methodologies,” the paper argued.

This comes after the Indian government has initiated a National Dialysis Services Programme to provide dialysis services in all district hospitals.

Health Ministry officials had recently said that the programme is already running in 294 district hospitals, and approval has been given to 516 such hospitals.

This is what excess smartphone Essential to develop cost-effective access to dialysis, say experts usage does to you A new study has found that excess use of smartphone can make a person stressed.

More than four out of five adults in the US (86 per cent) report that they often check their email, texts and social media accounts, according to a report by American Psychological Association (APA). This attachment to devices and the constant use of technology is associated with higher stress levels, researchers found.

The excessive technology and social media use has paved the way for the “constant checker” those who check their email, texts and social media accounts on a constant basis.

“Taking a digital detox is one of the most helpful ways to manage stress related to technology use,” said Lynn Bufka, APA’s associate executive director for practice research and policy.

The survey found that stress runs higher, on average, for constant checkers than for those who do not engage with technology as frequently.

On a 10-point scale, where one is “little or no stress” and 10 is “a great deal of stress,” the average reported overall stress level for constant checkers is 5.3, compared with 4.4 for those who do not check as frequently.

Among employed Americans who check their work email constantly on their off days, their reported overall stress level is even higher, at 6.0, the report said.

Issue 708 (38)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Suffering from irritable bowel syndrome?

Avoid these foods

New Delhi Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common problem which affects the large intestine causing abdominal cramping, bloating, and a change in bowel habits.

But, symptoms of IBS can be managed by making simple changes in your diet and lifestyle.

So, here are some foods to avoid if you are suffering from IBS: Alcohol Avoid drinking alcohol as it can induce or worsen IBS symptoms. It can affect the motility of the digestive tract.So, one should limit alcohol intake to no more than two units per day.

High-fat meals High-fat meals have been shown to worsen symptoms in IBS. Studies have shown that people with IBS have a more sensitive gut following a high-fat meal than healthy people.

Fatty foods are thought to alter gut motility, and effect gut hormone release which may further influence motility. So, avoid eating common high-fat foods like fried meats, chips, sausages, pizza, pies, crisps and creamy sauces.

Caffeine Caffeine can worsen IBS symptoms by increasing gut motility, and stress hormones such as cortisol which may lead to over activation of the gutbrain axis. It is said that caffeine is not only found in tea and coffee, but in many soft drinks and energy drinks also.

Spicy food One should avoid eating hot and spicy dishes as they are trigger of IBS-like symptoms. The active component of chilli is called capsaicin, which has been shown to increase gut motility and abdominal pain in some individuals.

New Delhi Experiencing severe deprivation and neglect in childhood can have a lasting psychological impact into early adulthood, according to a unique study conducted at the UK-based University of Southampton, which has followed the mental health of a group of children adopted from Romanian institutions to UK families in the 1990s.

Published in The Lancet, this is the first large-scale study to follow a group of children who were subjected to extreme deprivation into adulthood, tracking how their mental health and cognition has developed as a result.

The English and Romanian Adoptees study is a collaborative study between the University of Southampton and King’s College London and began shortly after the fall of the communist regime in Romania. Children living in institutions were subjected to extremely poor hygiene, insufficient food, little personalised care and no social or cognitive stimulation. The study, running since 1990, analyses the mental health of 165 children who spent time in Romanian institutions and who were adopted by families in the UK between the ages of two weeks and 43 months.

In the UK, they joined socio-economically advantaged, stable, caring and supportive families.

Comparing against 52 children adopted within the UK, the study has followed them throughout their childhood using

If you are skipping breakfast, these things might happen to your body!

New Delhi Do you often skip your breakfast? If yes, then it is not good and can cause many health problems. It is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and one should not skip it.

Here are some things which might happen to your body if you do not eat

your breakfast: Diabetes Skipping breakfast increases the risk of developing diabetes disease especially in women. Studies have found that women doesn’t eat breakfast were at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who ate breakfast daily.

Heart disease People who e a t s breakfast 416-886-7370 everyday has

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lower incidence of heart disease than those who doesn’t eat. A study has found that skipping breakfast was associated with hypertension, insulin resistance and elevated blood sugar levels.

Migraine Skipping meals can lead to migraine as it trigger a massive dip in sugar levels that could compensate for the low glucose levels.

Skipping breakfast also increases the blood pressure levels, triggering migraines and headaches.

Hair loss Breakfast is the essential meal of any day and has a major role in promoting the growth of hair follicle.

Eating a meal that contains dangerously low levels of protein could affect the levels of keratin, averting hair growth and triggering hair loss.

Neglecting your child can affect his mental health questionnaires, IQ tests and interviews with the children and their parents to analyse social, emotional and cognitive outcomes at ages 6, 11 and 15.

The latest part of the study, led by Professor Edmund Sonuga-Barke while he was at the University of Southampton, followed the adoptees to ages 22 to 25 years old. It includes around three-quarters of the original adoptees - 39 UK adoptees, 50 Romanian adoptees who had spent less than six months in an institution as children and 72 who had spent over six months.

The researchers found that the amount of time spent in a Romanian institution was an important marker of children’s future mental health.

Romanian adoptees who had spent less than six months had similar rates of mental health symptoms as UK adoptees. However, adoptees who had spent more time in the institutions had higher rates of social, emotional and cognitive problems throughout their lives.

People who had lived in

Romanian institutions for more than six months as children had higher rates of social problems including autistic features, difficulties engaging with others, inattention and over-activity which persisted from childhood into adulthood. They were also three to four times more likely to experience emotional problems as adults, and had lower educational attainment and employment rates than the other UK and Romanian adoptees. This all despite living in strong and supportive families for over 20 years.

As children, more adoptees who lived in Romanian institutions for over six months had an IQ of less than 80, but this recovered within normal levels (an IQ of 90 or above) by early adulthood, suggesting developmental delays but no permanent impact on general cognitive abilities. Additionally, one in five (21 per cent, 15 children) adoptees who spent over six months in Romanian institutions did not experience any mental health problems throughout their lives. The next steps

of the research will involve an in-depth genetic analysis of the most exposed adoptees who did not develop mental health problems to distinguish whether genetic and epigenetic differences contribute to resilience.

“Being exposed to very severe conditions in childhood can be associated with lasting and deep-seated social, emotional and cognitive problems, which are complex and vary over time,” said lead author Professor Sonuga-Barke, who is now at King’s College London.

“This highlights the importance of assessing patients from deprived backgrounds when providing mental health support and carefully planning care when these patients transfer from child to adult mental health care. Although focussed on children adopted from Romanian institutions in the early 1990s, our findings may also be relevant to large numbers of children who are still exposed to abusive or neglectful conditions around the world.”

A fasting diet may help reduce symptoms of diabetes New York A new study has showed that a fasting diet may help in treating diabetes.

A type of fasting diet may reprogramme pancreas cells, promote the growth of new insulin-producing pancreatic cells and reduce symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

For the study led by researchers from the University of Southern California, mice were placed on fasting mimicking diet (FMD) for four days each week which showed remarkable reversal of diabetes.

The mice regained healthy insulin production, reduced insulin resistance and demonstrated more stable levels of blood glucose — even in the later stages of the disease, the researchers.

The genes normally active in the developing pancreas of embryonic/ foetal mice are reactivated in diabetic adult mice when cycling FMD with normal diets.

This increases production of the protein neurogenin-3 (Ngn3) and, as a result, promotes the creation of new, healthy insulin-producing beta cells.

Researchers also examined pancreatic cell cultures from human donors and found that, in cells from Type 1 diabetes patients, nutrients mimicking fasting also increased expression of the Ngn3 protein and insulin production.

“These findings warrant a larger FDA trial

on the use of the Fasting Mimicking Diet to treat diabetes patients,” said Valter Longo from the University of Southern California.

“People with diabetes could one day be treated with an FDA-approved Fasting Mimicking Diet for a few days each month, eat a normal diet for the rest of the month, and see positive results in their ability to control their blood sugar by producing normal levels of insulin and improving insulin function,” Longo added.

Issue 708 (39)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017

Chicken and Yellow Rice Casserole

Ingredients: 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 1 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 whole chicken

salt and pepper to taste seasoning salt to taste 1 (10 ounce) package yellow rice 1 (4 ounce) jar diced pimentos, drained Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a Dutch

oven, toss the onion, green bell pepper, and water chestnuts with olive oil to coat. Rub the chicken with salt, pepper, and seasoning salt, and place on top of the vegetables in the Dutch oven. Cover, and cook the chicken 1 hour and 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Remove from heat. Leaving the vegetables in the Dutch oven, remove the cooked chicken, cool, skin, debone, and shred meat.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the yellow rice according to package directions. Mix the shredded chicken and cooked rice into the Dutch oven with the vegetables. Return to the 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven, and continue cooking 15 minutes before serving.

Spicy Three Pepper Hummus Ingredients: 2 (16 ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/8 cup lemon juice 2 tablespoons tahini 8 cloves garlic, minced 2 slices jarred jalapeno pepper, chopped, 1 teaspoon liquid from the jar of jalapeno peppers 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano Directions: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, garlic, jalapeno, and juice from the jalapeno jar. Season with black pepper, cayenne, cumin and oregano. Mix using

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced 1 onion, thinly sliced 1 stalk celery, sliced thin 1 green bell pepper, minced 2 (16 ounce) cans diced tomatoes 1 bay leaf 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender (about 4 minutes). Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook this Creole sauce 3 minutes longer, stirring often.

Arrange the chicken breasts in an 8 x 11 inch baking dish. Pour the Creole sauce over the chicken. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender and white throughout.

Chili Chicken

the whisk attachment on low speed until the ingredients start to blend, then turn the speed to medium, and blend to your desired consistency.

Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to blend.

Make sure your container is sealed well, or your fridge will smell like garlic!

Egg-White Crepes Ingredients: 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 2 egg whites 1/2 cup skim milk 1 pinch salt 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries, thawed and drained 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting Directions: Whisk together the wheat flour, egg whites, milk, salt, and oil in a large bowl until smooth.

Lightly coat a skillet with

Chicken Creole

cooking spray and place over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the skillet.

Tilt the pan in a circular motion to allow the batter to spread to the edges. Cook until the bottom is light brown, about 2 minutes. Flip the crepe and place 2 tablespoons of the mixed berries in the center of the crepe; cook another 2 minutes. Fold the crepe in half and remove with a spatula to a serving plate. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves chopped 1 cup chopped onion 1 1/2 cups chicken broth 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper 2 (19 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained

and rinsed 2 green onions, chopped 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese Directions: Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add chicken and onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir in broth, chile peppers, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, cilantro and red pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in beans and simmer for 10 minutes; top with green onion and cheese and serve.

Issue 708 (40)

28 Feb. - 06 Mar., 2017