Record cereal output in India, China this year: FAO

LONDON, Dec 8: If you have ever wondered how insects walk or bounce on water, or skim across the surface of ponds, rivers and oceans, scientists have the answer.

The scientists have carried out a research and finally cracked the baffling ability of insects like water striders to leap onto water without sinking, British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' reported today.

"Insects like water striders have water repellent or superhydrophobic legs and they touch down at just the right speed not to sink," lead researcher Ho-Young Kim of Seoul National University in South Korea was quoted as saying.

The researchers solved the mystery of how the insects jump onto or "bounce" off liquid surfaces by dropping a highly water-repellent sphere onto the surface of water at different speeds, carefully tracking its motion with high-speed cameras.

Footage revealed that the ball must be travelling within a narrow range of velocities in order to bounce off the water's surface. The sphere may sink if it goes too fast and won't bounce back if it is too slow.

"Application of our study can be extended to developing semi-aquatic robots that mimic such insects having the surprising mobility on water," Ho-Young Kim said.

One team led by Metin Sitti at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, has already built a lightweight spider microrobot able to walk on water.

The real thing is extraordinarily mobile. Some water striders can propel their bodies across the water surface at nearly 3.5 feet, or 100 times their body length, per second. A six-foot-tall human swimming at a comparable speed would achieve around 400 mph. (PTI)

Bangladeshi aid worker freed by kidnappers in Afghanistan

DHAKA, Dec 8: A Bangladeshi aid worker, who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Afghanistan nearly three months ago, has been freed.

39-year-old Nurul Islam was abducted from his office in Afghanistan's Loger province on September 15. He was employed by the Bangladeshi Non-Government Organisation BRAC to oversee its micro-finance scheme in the war-ravaged nation.

"He is now staying at a government accommodation after his release late last night," a BRAC spokesman here said today.

BRAC's Public Affairs and Communications Director Anwarul Haq said they were expecting Islam to be handed back to Bangladesh authorities after the routine health check-up.

The development came hours after Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta told his Bangladeshi counterpart Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury yesterday that the security forces had traced the location where Islam was kept and were engaging influential locals to secure his safe release.

Bangladesh had earlier sought the US assistance for release of the BRAC official.

Afghan police said they had arrested three suspects in connection with the abduction, which they called a criminal act, not related to Taliban insurgents.

Unidentified Afghan gunmen had earlier shot dead another BRAC worker Abdul Alim while he was traveling through remote northeastern Afghanistan on a motorbike.

BRAC has been operating in war-torn Afghanistan since 2002. (PTI)

Surging divorce rate bad for environment, says research

WASHINGTON, Dec 8: Top democrats in the US Congress have slammed the Bush administration and the CIA for the destruction of two videotapes that documented harsh interrogations of terror suspects, seeking investigation into the matter by the Justice Department.

"The nation learned the CIA had destroyed videotapes of its employees in the act of using torture or other harsh interrogation techniques on detainees. Those tapes were not shown to Congress. They were not shown to any court. They were not shown to the bipartisan 9/11 Commission. Instead, they were destroyed," senior Democrat Edward Kennedy said in prepared remarks delivered on the Senate floor.

"What would cause the CIA to take this action? The answer is obvious -- cover up. The agency was desperate to cover up damning evidence of their practices," the senator said.

In a letter to agency employees on Thursday, CIA Director Michael Hayden claimed that the tapes were a security risk because they might some day "leak" and thereby identify the CIA employees who engaged in these practices. But that excuse won't wash, Kennedy said.

"It is particularly difficult to take the Director's explanation at face value when the news that these tapes were destroyed came the very same week that we learned that as many as ten million White House e-mails have not been preserved, despite a law that requires their retention," Kennedy who sits as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said.

"These efforts are wrong, and they must be stopped. I and other concerned Senators will call upon Attorney General to immediately begin an investigation into whether the CIA's destruction of these tapes violated the law," Kennedy said.

"The pattern is unmistakable. The past six years, the Bush administration has run roughshod over our ideals and the rule of law. For four of those six years, the Republican Congress did little to hold the administration accountable," Kennedy said, adding "Now, when the new Democratic Congress is demanding answers, the Administration is feverishly covering up its tracks."

"We haven't seen anything like this since the eighteen and a half minute gap in the tapes of President Richard Nixon," the Massachusetts Democrat said.

"The Intelligence Committee will be doing their own investigation. We will go back and look at the timing of the tapes - when they were done, why they were done, when they were destroyed, why they were destroyed, who said to do what. So we will get all of that information, and then be able to make some more informed decisions," Senator Dianne Feinstein, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said.

A Presidential candidate Christopher Dodd also slammed the administration and the CIA and refused to buy the argument put out by the Agency Chief that the videotapes were destroyed to protect employees and their families from terror outfits.

"I think many of us suspect the reason they were destroyed, because that's the kind of evidence that should have been turned over to the 9/11 Commission or to federal courts looking at these issues," Dodd said in an interview.

"You can't have a dual standard here. If we're opposed and agree that torture is wrong and unconstitutional, you can't have agencies of this government engaging in those kinds of activities," Dodd said.

At the White House the Press Secretary Dana Perino maintained that the President George W Bush had no knowledge of the destruction of the tapes and that he has the full confidence of the current head of the CIA. (PTI)

Sri Lanka to export SUVs to India

COLOMBO, Dec 8: Sri Lankan car company Micro Cars Ltd will export locally assembled South Korean Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) SsangYong Kyron to India from next year.

"There is a demand for quality SUVs in India," Micro Cars Managing Director Lawrence Perera told reporters here.

The company has already sent test vehicles to India and received "very good" response, he said, adding Micro Cars would export its locally assembled Kyron SUVs to India from next year.

The company is manufacturing two SUV type vehicles with the price staring from 7.5 million Sri lankan Rupees (around 68,000 dollars).

He said the company had invested Rs 300 million in the last six months for expanding its plant in Polgahawela, 60 kms north-east from Colombo.

Perera said the body of the vehicle, mirrors, seats and rubber component including the tyres would be manufactured in Sri Lanka.

"We are in the process of acquiring technology to have more local components to the vehicles," he said.

Perera added that the price of the vehicle would be considerably less than that of a directly imported vehicle.

The move by the government to purchase locally made cars would help to save foreign exchange, he said.

Micro Car is now in a position to manufacture 50 units per month. "This is why we are going in for exports," he added.

The company manufactures around 300 vehicles which include cars, SUVs and Micro vans for the local market.

SsangYong Motor Company is the fourth largest South Korean automobile manufacturer. (PTI)

UNESCO to "re-examine" statement condemning air attack on VoT

COLOMBO, Dec 8: Apparently bowing to pressure from the Sri Lankan Government, a UN agency has agreed to "re-examine" its statement condemning an aerial attack on an LTTE radio station by the security forces last month.

The 'Voice of Tigers' (VoT) radio station was bombarded by the Sri Lankan Air Force near the rebel-dominated northern Kilinochchi on November 27, killing five of of its staff members just before LTTE supremo V Prabhakaran was to make an address.

The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which had condemned the attack in a statement, has assured the government that it will "re-examine the entire issue," the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

This assurance was given by UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura to Sri Lankan Ambassador to France Chithranganee Wagiswara, who is also a delegate to the UN agency, it said.

It came after Wagiswara met the UNESCO head on Thursday to personally lodge Sri Lanka's protest against his recent statement in which he had "condemned" the air strike on VoT describing it as a "civilian" radio station.

During the meeting, Wagiswara said the UNESCO Director General's statement must be "retracted" as the VoT was a "clandestine" radio station directly operated by the LTTE, "a well-known terrorist organisation", and was neither legal nor legitimate, according to the statement.

"It was also noted that VoT cannot be considered as a civilian radio station and that those employed at the VoT facility cannot be considered as civilian media personnel," it said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama, who made a statement on this matter in Parliament on Wednesday, also brought the Sri Lankan government's concerns on the UNESCO Director General's statement to the attention of the UN Resident Coordinator in the island nation, Neil Bhune.

"The Resident Coordinator maintained that he was neither consulted nor made aware of the UNESCO Director General's statement, until he saw it reported in the media," the Foreign Ministry statement said.

The Minister demanded that the statement be retracted and told the UN Resident Coordinator that he should make UNESCO aware of the actual facts on the ground relating to the activities of the VoT.

Bhune assured the minister that he would convey his sentiments to the UNESCO Director General and brief him on the matter. (PTI)

IBM expects India revenues to touch 1 billion dollars in 2007

NEW YORK, Dec 8: IT major IBM today said it expects revenue from Indian operations to touch USD 1 billion by the end of December, growing at a rate of 39 per cent currently.

"We expect our revenues to reach USD one billion by the end of this calendar year up from 700 million in 2006 driven by strong factors. In the first three quarters of the current financial, the company’s revenue has grown by over 39 per cent," IBM Vice President (Financial Management) Jesse Green said here.

He said factors like competitive offerings, effective sales force, strong brand name, technology base along with the ability to offer hardware and software combination would contribute to the expected figure.

The USD 1 billion would include revenues from services and solutions provided by the IBM to domestic clients and other global corporates operating in India along with total revenues of IBM Daksh, its business process outsourcing unit.

Last year the company’s India revenue grew by 37 per cent as against 2005, while the CAGR from 2002 to 2006 was over 49 per cent.

"The company, which caters to around 17 industry sectors, experienced broad-base growth during 2002-2006 period in telecom, financial services and Small and Medium Businesses growing at 58 per cent, 34 per cent and 35 per cent respectively," Green said.

About 2010 roadmap, he said in future India will not only contribute to global revenue pool of IBM but also provide research software.

"We think about India as a support to entire IBM. The country will be a hub of global delivery which will help us improve margin components and growth initiatives," he said.

The recent deals, which IBM has inked with some of the big corporates in India, would also contribute to the revenues to a large extent.

In the telecom sector the company is working with Bharti Enterprises, while it has also entered into agreements with companies like the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), DLF, Idea, Financial Information Network and Operations (FINO), BSNL, and Apollo in 2007.

IBM currently employs around 5,300 employees in India working at 35 centres for 2500 Indian business partners. (PTI)

'Film enjoyment is contagious'

WASHINGTON, Dec 8: If you are you a movie buff then this research is sure to bring a smile on your face --- the presence of other people may enhance our movie-watching experiences.

Researchers from University of Chicago carried out a study and explained that ''the more in sync we are with the people around us, more we like the movie,'' the Science Daily reported.

They suggested that over the course of the film, movie-watchers influence one another and gradually synchronise their emotional responses.

''By mimicking expressions, people catch each other's moods leading to a shared emotional experience. That feels good to people and they attribute that good feeling to the quality of the movie,'' explain researchers Suresh Ramanathan and Ann L McGill.

In a series of experiments, the researchers had participants watch a video clip. Some of the participants watched alone, some with other people whose expressions could not be seen due to the presence of a partition, and some with other people whose expressions could be seen.

The participants used to indicate their feelings at each moment with the help of a joystick.

The researchers found that people watching a film together appeared to evaluate the film within the same broad mood, generally tracking up or generally tracking down.

In another study, the researchers videotaped participants and found that synchrony of evaluations can be traced to glances at the other person during the film and adoption of the observed expressions.

The researchers explained: ''Participants who looked at each other at the same time appeared to note whether the other person's face expressed the same or different emotion than their own. Perceived congruity of expressions caused participants to stick with their current emotional expression . . . Perceived incongruity, on the other hand, led to a dampening of subsequent expressions.''

''Social effects described above were bi-directional suggesting that such influences were mutual rather than the result of a leader-follower pattern,'' they concluded.

The researchers are the first to examine how a shared experience affects not just our immediate feelings, but also our overall impressions of the experience as a whole. (UNI)

Complacency could jeopardize Africa health gains:UN

LIBREVILLE, Dec 8: Progress by African countries in reducing child deaths from infectious diseases such as measles could be lost unless governments improve routine immunisation, a UN official said.

Vaccination campaigns funded by foreign donors have helped reduce deaths from measles in Africa by 91 per cent since 2000 to 36,000 last year, according to UN figures. Most of the victims are children.

Andy Gay, head of children's health at the United Nations Foundation (UNF), said the risk was now that some governments would assume the problem was solved and neglect vaccinations for diseases such as polio, meningitis, measles and tetanus.

''Vaccination programmes have a relatively direct impact on disease, but the problem with this success is that people tend to think the problem has gone away,'' she told Reuters during a measles immunisation programme in Gabon funded by the UNF.

African governments should capitalise on the swift progress made in fighting measles and aim now to eradicate the disease from the continent, Gay said yesterday.

Even when measles does not kill, it can leave children blind, brain damaged, or vulnerable to diseases such as pneumonia, the biggest cause of child mortality worldwide.

''This idea that this whole region could achieve something together is really important and countries need to feel that they are part of it, and that takes political leadership,'' Gay said.

Nigeria, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo, despite their large populations, had made progress on getting their citizens used to receiving vaccinations, she said.

''The countries here that have the highest incomes like Gabon and Equatorial Guinea ought to be doing more,'' she said, citing a lack of vaccines in Equatorial Guinea which lasted 13 months.

Despite per capita income of more than 5,000 dollar -- one of the highest in Africa -- immunisation levels in oil-rich Gabon remain around 50 per cent of its 1.6 million people.

Any country that falls behind with vaccination programmes and allows infection rates to rise, risks dragging down health indicators in neighbouring countries, Gay said.

The risk was acute in sub-Saharan African countries where ethnic groups often straddle national boundaries and populations are highly mobile.

Citing the example of polio, Gay said a backlash against immunisation in northern Nigeria in 2004 which suspended vaccinations for more than a year had allowed the disease to take hold again in the Sahel. More recently, Angola had been a reservoir for exporting the disease to neighbouring countries.

The UN Foundation is a charitable fund established by CNN founder Ted Turner with a 1 billion dollar grant in 1998 to support UN programmes.

(AGENCIES)

Lowering "bad" cholesterol cuts repeat stroke risk ....

NEW YORK, Dec 8: After a stroke or mini-stroke, intensive lowering of ''bad'' low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with a statin drug significantly reduces the risk of a second stroke, according to new data from the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels, or SPARCL, trial.

Previously published data from the trial, which involved more than 4,700 adults, showed that taking 80 milligrams per day of atorvastatin, sold as Lipitor, reduced the risk of stroke and major heart-related events in patients with a history of recent stroke or mini-stroke (also known as transient ischemic attack or TIA).

In taking a second look at the data, Dr Pierre Amarenco from Bichat University Hospital, Paris, France and the SPARCL team found that patients who achieved a 50 per cent or greater reduction in their LDL cholesterol level suffered fewer second stroke events than those who saw no change or an increase in their LDL cholesterol level.

Specifically, compared with no change or an increase in LDL cholesterol, patients achieving a 50 per cent or greater reduction in LDL cholesterol had a 31 per cent reduction in stroke risk, and a 37 per cent reduction in major coronary events.

There was also a trend for a ''dose-response'' in terms of decreased stroke risk in patients achieving more or less than a 50 decrease in LDL cholesterol. This, the investigators say, favors ''the hypothesis that a continuous relationship exists between LDL cholesterol reduction and stroke risk reduction.'' (AGENCIES)

Ethnic differences seen in parents' views of asthma...

NEW YORK, Dec 8: Parents' cultural backgrounds may sway their views of their children's asthma, including their trust in the medications used to prevent attacks, a study of British parents suggests.

Past studies in the UK have found that black and South Asian children are more likely than white children to visit the emergency room or be hospitalized for severe asthma attacks. Similar racial disparities are seen in other countries, including the United States, where African-American children are at greater risk of having poorly controlled asthma.

While there are multiple reasons for these disparities -- like poorer access to healthcare -- it's thought that parents' beliefs about asthma play some role.

In the new study, researchers found that South Asian parents were less likely than white parents to give their children preventive medication for their asthma. And they were three to four times more likely to believe that most medicines are addictive and likely to do ''more harm than good.''

Similarly, other ethnic minorities were more likely to have concerns about their children's asthma medication. And both groups of parents were generally more reluctant than white parents to tell friends and family about their child's asthma.

The findings suggest that parents' cultural views influence their beliefs about asthma and its treatment, lead researcher Dr Nigel C Smeeton, of King's College London, told Reuters Health.

He and his colleagues found ethnic differences not only in parents' views on medication, but also on the nature of asthma itself. Parents of South Asian background were more likely to believe their child's asthma would ''get better,'' while other minority parents were more likely than whites to believe that the asthma was out of their control and that ''faith was more important.''

The fact that minority parents were less willing to tell others about their child's asthma is ''a finding of great concern,'' according to Smeeton and his colleagues. It suggests that for some parents, there is a social stigma attached to asthma, they note.

The findings, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, are based on a survey of parents of 150 children treated at London asthma clinics. Forty-one parents were of South Asian background, while 42 were from ''other'' ethnic groups, including black Caribbean and black African. The rest of the parents were white.

The ethnic differences seen in the study suggest that doctors need to be aware of the cultural beliefs surrounding asthma and its treatment, according to the researchers.

Smeeton said he and his colleagues have developed a pamphlet for doctors to give to parents that explains how and why children should use their inhaler medication -- including a version in Punjabi, a major language of Pakistan and India. (AGENCIES)

Japan agrees not to cut US base funding:Report ..........

TOKYO, Dec 8: Japan has abandoned an attempt to slash its funding of US bases on its soil because of concerns about ties after Tokyo ended support for Washington-led military activities in Afghanistan, a report said today.

Japan and the United States have agreed to fix ''host nation support'' at this financial year's level of 140.9 billion yen for the next three years, Kyodo news agency said in a report published in the Japan Times.

Japan had hoped to slash the amount it pays for labour and operational costs as part of an effort to control its national debt. But the United States has been pressing its allies to help with funding as its military expenditure mounts in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Japan was forced to halt marine refuelling support for US operations in Afghanistan last month because an opposition majority in parliament's upper house refused to back it, saying it would only support UN missions.

Kyodo said there were concerns in Tokyo that cutting back on funding of US bases in the country would further strain ties.

Japan also took into account the fact that it wants to persuade the United States to keep North Korea on its list of terrorism-sponsoring nations until progress is made on resolving Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese citizens, Kyodo said.

Tokyo is seeking other ways of cutting what it pays to support the 50,000 or so US military personnel based in Japan.

The government wants to halt special allowances paid to Japanese civilians working on US bases, because this would not involve increased expenditure by the United States, but this proposal has led to strikes.

Tokyo is also requesting a reduction in the amount it pays for maintenance of accommodation for US personnel.

Japan also covers the rent for land used by US bases on the southern island of Okinawa.

(AGENCIES)

Doctors study nerve symptoms of US pork workers....

CHICAGO, Dec 8: Eleven workers who removed brains from slaughtered pigs at a plant in Minnesota have come down with a mysterious neurological condition, company and US health officials said.

State and federal officials were working yesterday to find out if other workers at Quality Pork Processors Inc. In the city of Austin may be in danger.

"As far as we know, it is a rare condition," said Dr Daniel Lachance, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, which tried to diagnose and treat the employees.

"To date, it has been seemingly restricted to this one workplace and not others of a similar nature, at least as much as I know right now from colleagues at the Minnesota Department of Health," Lachance said in a telephone interview.

"The reason for all this is not at all clear."

Kelly Wadding, president of Quality Pork, said he shut down the part of the plant where the employees worked.

"There is one area where we were harvesting tissue with compressed air blowing brains out of the cavity. It was a nasty looking place," he said in a telephone interview.

"I just said we would stop it for the time being until we could get further information."

Wadding said the Occupational Safety & Health Administration had sent officials to inspect the plant.

"They are looking at it. What they seem to want to do is basically work in concert with the health department," he said. "We’ve got the best people in the world working on this."

Hormel Foods Corp. Is Quality Pork’s sole customer. The factory processes 17,000 hogs per day and employs more than 1,200 people.

Julie Craven, a spokeswoman for Hormel, said she did not believe the company’s products were affected.

"What we can tell from the food experts is, it is not a food safety issue. What we are trying to determine is what exactly is it," Craven said. "It has got nothing to do with food safety."

Lachance said any number of things could cause neurological damage to the workers, including chemicals used to process the pork products or even a virus.

"There is a fair amount going into figuring this out (including) where the workers are located," he said.

The symptoms are vague.

"Patients feel a generalized illness and tiredness. They have a sense of fatigue or weakness in their legs," Lachance said. "It hasn’t really progressed to a severe form of weakness. Most of it is relatively mild to moderate severity." (AGENCIES)