Rushdie's
'psychological profile' may start new trend
LONDON,
Feb 10: The first 'psychological profile' of
controversial India-born novelist Sir Salman
Rushdie, depicting him as a purple lobster, may
trigger a new fashion in portraiture for
celebrities, a leading British newspaper reported
today.
The report
accompanying the profile in 'The Sunday Times'
said that that after hiding for more than a
decade with a price on his head, the author could
be forgiven for objecting to a portrait that
actually shows his face.
Instead of
attending a conventional sitting, the 60-year-old
Rushdie, submitted to a psychological test
conducted at his New York apartment with a couple
of Californian conceptual artists.
The result depicts
Rushdie, a slightly donnish, bearded figure, as a
purple lobster, floating before a fiery red
planet, surrounded by snowflakes.
The portrait
provides a psychological profile of the novelist
during the collapse of his marriage to his fourth
wife, the model and food writer Padma Lakshmi,
37, the report said.
Rushdie faced
death threats from Muslims after a fatwa was
imposed on him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,
Iran 's spiritual leader, in 1989 for his
controversial book 'The Satanic Verses'.
His knighthood,
announced last June, prompted riots in Pakistan,
and his separation from Lakshmi followed in July.
(PTI)
First Asian Film
Festival opens in Jeddah
DUBAI,
Feb 10: The 12-day long Asian Film Festival
got off to a colourful start in Saudi Arabia with
Bollywood movie "Chak De India", amidst
unparalled excitement by the people, gathered
there to celebrate the occasion.
The festival, held
for the first time here, was inaugurated by
Ambassador Mohammad Bin Ahmad Tayyab, who is the
Director General of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
Dr Ausaf Sayeed,
the Indian Consul General, lauded the gathering
and said that organising a film festival here is
rare and momentous occasion for the diplomatic
community.
The festival will
showcase some of the acclaimed movies from all
across the 11 Asian nations.
Another aspect of
the Festival is that it is also going to screen
for the first time Saudi short films and
documentaries, Sayeed said yesterday.
A Saudi
documentary 'Full Moon Night', directed by
Mamdouh Salem, was also screened.
The documentary
described the joyous traditions of the Hejaz area
during festive occasions and their impact on the
local youths.
Talking about
'Chak De India', Dr Sayeed said that it is a
story about honesty, sincerity, integrity and
commitment to a cause.
The festival would
screen the Japanese film 'Nitaboh' today. (PTI)
Impatient people
'are terrible procrastinators'
LONDON,
Feb 10: If you've found yourself putting off
important tasks over and over again, it's time
you consult a psychologist. Going by a new study,
you may be suffering from a condition that can
require therapy.
A team of
international researchers has found that
procrastinators are impatient people. In fact,
they have traced a clear link between the two
opposite traits which are "actually
different aspects of the same condition".
"Procrastination
seriously affects our productivity at work and
can cost people considerable amounts of money as
they postpone work indefinitely. People don't
want to procrastinate -- it is just that their
impatience gets in the way.
"A
procrastinator might work better with weekly
deadlines which force him to keep up to speed, as
opposed to a big deadline far in the
future," researcher Ernesto Reuben of the
Kellogg School of Management told 'The Daily
Telegraph'.
The researchers
came to the conclusion after designing an
experiment in which MBA students have won prize
money of up to 200 pounds, and have a choice of
receiving payment by cheque either immediately or
in two weeks.
They found that
the students who were impatient and wanted to
receive the prize money immediately were also
more likely to procrastinate and delay encashing
the cheque, even controlling for the amount of
prize money.
To test their
results, the team also asked the students to
complete two surveys, one mandatory as part of
their course and one voluntary, both with
specific deadlines. They found those who wanted
their cheques immediately were more likely to
leave the surveys until just before deadlines.
The researchers
also found an even stronger link between
impatience and procrastination in
"naive" students that is, those who
claimed that they do not procrastinate. (PTI)
UAE need more
workers in future
DUBAI,
Feb 10: In what could help Indians seeking
employment in the UAE, the gulf country is
witnessing a boom in the real estate sector with
estimates showing that the number of workers
needed by it would double in the next five years
to six million.
There are about
2.7 million expatriate workers in the country, 80
per cent of whom are working in the construction
sector.
Currently, the GCC
hosts 12 million expatriate workers and their
number is estimated to increase up to 30 million
by 2010.
"I believe 65
per cent of the workforce in the UAE are
unskilled. When I need 100 workers, I would seek
work permits for 150 people from the Ministry of
Labour," said the Khaleej Times quoting
Rashad Mahmoud, a construction company official.
Rafic Ali
Suleiman, project manager of an another
construction company, said the firms must be
given the right to choose skilled workers. (PTI)
SC upholds
discharge of habitual offenders in Air Force
NEW
DELHI, Feb 10: The Supreme Court has upheld the
discharge of certain Air Force officers by the
Government for being habitual offenders.
A bench of
Justices Arijit Pasayat and P Sathasivam said the
Government had sufficiently followed the Air
Force Rules, 1969, while discharging the
delinquent officers.
The apex court
upheld the discharge orders while allowing a
bunch of appeals filed by the Union Government
against the Rajasthan High Court’s orders.
The High Court had
quashed the discharge orders on the ground that
the disciplinary authority did not give proper
consideration to the replies filed by the
aggrieved officers in the show-cause notices
issued to them.
However, the apex
court after perusing the documents held that the
authorities had followed the relevant rules and
had given adequate opportunities to the
delinquent officers to voice their views before
discharging them from service.
The habitual
offenders policy was formulated by the Air Force
mainly to weed out indisciplined personnel from
the force.
The policy was
formulated on the basis of a study conducted by
the defence management, wherein it was held that
a core group of airmen had been regularly
contributing to the annual offences statistics in
the Air Force.
It was stated that
the behaviour of such officers had an adverse
effect and influence on the general morale and
discipline of others, particularly the younger
recruits. (PTI)
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