US gets guilty plea on illegal exports to India

WASHINGTON, Mar 14: The owner of an electronics company pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally export sensitive computer components, including missile technology, to India, the US Justice Department said.

Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 47, admitted he took part in a scheme to provide the parts to government entities in India that develop missiles, space launch vehicles and fighter jets, department officials said.

According to court documents, Sudarshan did business as Cirrus Electronics and said he was the chief executive officer, managing director, president and group head. It has offices in Simpsonville, South Carolina; Singapore; and Bangalore, India.

He had many years of experience as an electrical engineer in the research and development section of India's state-run defense industry, before he emigrated to Singapore and started Cirrus in 1997, the officials said.

''By fraudulently acquiring and shipping controlled missile technology overseas, this defendant violated both our federal law and our national security,'' Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a statement.

Among the recipients of the US technology were the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Bharat Dynamics -- key state agencies in India's space and defense sectors.

Between 2002 and 2006, Sudarshan acquired in the United States electrical components that have applications in missile guidance and firing systems, but concealed the true destination of the parts, the officials said.

They said he also acquired microprocessors for a fighter jet under development in India. The microprocessors were necessary for navigation and weapons systems and were shipped without the required export licenses, the officials said.

Sudarshan pleaded guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to cooperate. Sentencing has been scheduled for June 16 and he faces up to five years in prison, though he could get less because of his cooperation.

Sudarshan was one of four Cirrus defendants charged last year. The others were Mythili Gopal, the company's international sales manager, Akn Prasad in Bangalore and Sampath Sundar in Singapore.

According to the indictment, Cirrus made the illicit shipments working closely with an unidentified Indian Government official located in Washington who was not charged.

In a separate case, a Minnesota company, MTS Systems Corp, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years of probation and fined 400,000 dollar for submitting false export license applications involving proposed shipments to India of equipment to test nuclear power plant components, officials said. (AGENCIES)

Software 'hiccup' undermines trip past Saturn moon

WASHINGTON, Mar 14: A software malfunction prevented a key piece of equipment on the Cassini spacecraft from recording data as it flew through the plume from a geyser shooting off a moon of Saturn, NASA said.

NASA called the problem ''an unexplained software hiccup'' that came at a very bad time, preventing Cassini's Cosmic Dust Analyzer instrument from collecting data for about two hours as it flew over the surface of the moon Enceladus on Wednesday.

A key objective of the fly-by was to determine the density, size, composition and speed of particles erupting into space from the moon's south pole in a dramatic plume.

Bob Mitchell, Cassini program manager, said the problem meant that the instrument did not collect data as the craft flew through the plume -- a process lasting under a minute.

''When it went through the plume, it was not working properly,'' Mitchell said in a telephone interview, expressing disappointment. ''We had tested that software very carefully. We don't know why it didn't work properly.''

The Cassini spacecraft, studying the giant gaseous planet Saturn and its moons in a joint US-European mission, flew as close as 50 km over the surface of Enceladus (pronounced en-SELL-ah-dus) on Wednesday.

''During the fly-by, the instrument was switching between two versions of software programs. The new version was designed to increase the ability to count particle hits by several hundred hits per second,'' NASA said in a statement late yesterday.

''The other four fields and particles instruments on the spacecraft, in addition to the ion and neutral mass spectrometer, did capture all of their data, which will complement the overall composition studies and elucidate the unique plume environment of Enceladus,'' NASA said.

The Cassini spacecraft, which first spotted the geysers in 2005, flew over the moon at 32,000 miles per hour (51,500 kph) in the first of four fly-bys of Enceladus scheduled this year.

One of about 60 moons of Saturn, Enceladus is considered among the most intriguing bodies in the solar system, owing to the geysers that spurt from fractures in the surface at the south pole and spew material about 800 km into space at about 1,450 kph.

Enceladus, whose diameter is 500 km, is one of the solar system's brightest objects. Encased in ice, it reflects almost all of the sunlight that strikes it.

Some scientists surmise hot water must exist under the surface to eject these plumes. The presence of liquid water raises the possibility Enceladus may boast conditions conducive to the development of life, perhaps in the form of microbes.

NASA said images taken by the spacecraft showed that the north polar region is much older and more pockmarked with craters of various sizes than much of the southern hemisphere, in particular the south pole.

The images show craters that were caused by impacts of objects onto the moon's icy surface in varying stages of alteration by tectonic activity and probably from past heating from below the surface, NASA said.

Enceladus is one of Saturn's innermost moons. The eruptions from its geysers seem to be continuous, generating an enormous halo of fine ice around the moon and supplying material to one of Saturn's famed rings.

(AGENCIES)

UN launches handbook for staff coordination with military

NEW YORK, Mar 14: The United Nations and the European Commission have launched a new handbook to help humanitarian staff coordinate with military forces during emergency operations.

The UN Civil-Military Coordination Officer Field Handbook seeks to provide those working in the field with information to help carry out their tasks, given there are more situations in which the military and civilian relief providers are working in the same humanitarian areas, such as the transport of emergency food and medicine supplies to remote areas by heavy-lift military helicopters.

"Coordination between civilian and military actors is often essential during an emergency response," said John Holmes, who serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and as Emergency Relief Coordinator.

He noted that the new guidelines will help aid workers ensure that this coordination is effective and is based on internationally recognized principles and guidelines.

These principles specify that the objectives and procedures of civilian groups and military forces in the context of humanitarian emergencies remain distinct. They also stipulate that any relief aid provided be neutral, impartial and based on identified needs.

The EC funded the workshop and preparatory work for the creation of the Handbook. (PTI)

When strippers take over the club

SAN FRANCISCO, Mar 14: When dancers at San Francisco's Lusty Lady turned the exotic club into an egalitarian co-op, they found it tough to reconcile their lofty ideals with the aesthetic realities of the sex trade.

One of the first things the dancers did was to toss out rules about maintaining the same body type as the day they were hired, and ones regarding height-weight proportion. A list of acceptable hair colors was scrapped, along with a policy regulating the quantity and location of tattoos.

Now, larger dancers and those who might not be stereotypically ''pretty'' are welcome on the Lusty stage, but this emphasis on inclusion has brought difficulties for the 60 or so dancer-owners.

The performers -- many of whom take on stage names -- run from tall to short, and thick to thin.

Lilah Mayhem is pale with long dark hair and a thin frame, while Cinnamon Rose has shorter, red-streaked hair and a darker complexion. Wendy works the stage in striped pink knee socks and glasses, while another dancer wears old wedge sandals and a cheerfully curling brown wig. Many sport multiple piercings and tattoos.

After buying the club for $400,000 in 2003, the next step was to put themselves through guerilla business school.

The Lusties, as they call themselves, enlisted the help of other local co-ops such as Rainbow Grocery and Good Vibrations, a local female-run sex-toy shop.

They learned the ins and outs of running a collective business and hammered out articles of incorporation within days.

Seven committees were created to oversee mundane but necessary business items such as insurance and licensing, finance, incorporation, bylaws and media relations.

All new proposals, from bylaw modifications down to buying new carpets, would need approval from general co-op membership and the board of directors. Every worker, whether support staff or performer, had the right to submit a proposal, and decisions would be made by majority vote via paper ballot.

But the theater's mission statement, which seeks to break down hierarchy, made the creation and enforcement of managerial policies difficult.

''It's hard, because we'd elect people to enforce our performance standards, but we hadn't yet decided on what those are,'' said former dancer Lili Marlene, who was involved in the transition. ''Hygiene rules are easier.''

Dancers learned how to take disciplinary action against each other via new policies such as peer-based performance reviews. Each week performers evaluate their onstage colleagues, considering general appearances, customer interaction, and levels of eye contact.

The first years of self-governance were the most difficult.

''On a good day, it's like Peter Pan,'' said Lili Marlene. ''On a bad day, it was like Lord of the Flies. We can do whatever we want, and there's nobody to tell us what to do.'' (AGENCIES)

UK rules out blanket amnesty to illegal immigrants

LONDON, Mar 14: Ruling out a blanket amnesty to over 4 lakh illegal immigrants, Britain has said it will deal with the issue on case by case basis while it sought cooperation from Indian community to make the controversial new points-based immigration system "fair and stable".

"Over 1,000 case workers are currently engaged in making decisions on case by case," Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said at a seminar on immigration organised by the Ethnic Minority Citizens Forum here last night.

Faced with a barrage of complaints about the "disastrous" impact of the new immigration system on Indian restaurants in the UK and the accute shortage of low-skilled workers in the curry houses, the minister said the current visa system needed an overhauling as it was "clumsy, outdated and wretched."

He sought cooperation from the Chinese and Indian communities to make the new points-based immigration system "fair and stable". At the moment there were 80 different ways in which immigrants could come to the UK.

"We want to make the immigration system simpler, fair and stable," Byrne, who recently took a cross-party delegation of Asian community leaders to India, said.

The points-based system will allow non-European migrants in the country only if they can prove that there is shortage of their skills in the UK and has been criticised as discriminatory.

Byrne said he would publish a blueprint of the new immigration system in a month's time. Besides, the Migration Advisory Committee, an independent committee, will publish a list showing occupational shortages.

The Minister, however, rejected a proposal for a cap on immigration.

"I reject emphatically that there should be a cap on immigration. There are over tens of thousands of students in Britain contributing 8.3 billion pounds student fee annually and how can we put a cap on them," Byrne asked.

On complaints of series of raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate on Bangladeshi-run Indian restaurants here during the last few days, Byrne said he would talk to the Director of Enforcement about it.

During the seminar, some of the hotel representatives claimed that the 10,000-strong Indian restaurant industry, with a turn-over of 3.5 billion pounds annually and employing 250,000 persons directly or indirectly, was on the verge of collapse owing to accute shortage of low-skilled workers and sporadic raids by enforcement directorate to detect illegal workers.

They wanted the minister to open up the Tier III in the new points based system facilitating low-skilled hotel workers to come here for short periods.

Jabez Lam, Chinese Immigration Concern Committee, said in China Town in London, a number of Chinese restaurants were closing down owing to shortage of low skilled workers.

The Minister said Government was currently focusing on removal of foreign national prisoners from the country and over 4,000 were sent from the UK last year.

The second focus was to remove illegal workers, who were not only being exploited by the employers, they were also not paying any tax.

"We are making it easier for employers to engage legal workers by providing them ID cards," Byrne said. (PTI)

Crackdown fallout hits Myanmar tourism hard

BAGAN, MYANMAR, Mar 14: It may be awash with cultural splendours, topped off by the 1,000-year-old temples of Bagan, but a reviled military government has ensured Myanmar has never been flooded with foreign tourists.

Six months after September's bloody crackdown on monk-led protests, that trickle of visitors -- 350,000 in 2006 compared to 13 million in neighbouring Thailand -- has all but dried up.

The former Burma's rigidly controlled domestic newspapers admit tourism almost halved in the three months after the crackdown, in which the United Nations says at least 31 people were killed.

But in Bagan, a mystical plain studded with more than 4,000 temples and stupas on the banks of the mighty Irrawaddy River, hotel and restaurant operators say occupancy rates and takings are just 20-30 per cent of the same time last year.

Given that the unrest, and the shocking images of soldiers attacking monks and unarmed demonstrators, fell on the eve of the ''cool season'' -- the traditional peak time for tourism -- the decline is threatening many with ruin.

''There are so few visitors at the moment,'' said tour guide Aung Myint with a shake of the head. ''Many people are wondering how they will support their families during the low season. Now is when we're meant to be making all our money.''

Although it only took a few days for the junta to crush the biggest democracy protests in 19 years, pictures, including the shooting of a Japanese journalist, reinforced the image of the former British colony as an unstable, hostile place.

Besides a growing number of Russian tour groups, the only visitors who appear to have shrugged off scruples or the perception of risk are German.

''I don't know why but most of the tourists now are Germans,'' said Aung Thein Myint, owner of a swish open-air restaurant on the banks of the Irrawaddy, where takings in October and November were down by 80 per cent.

''They seem to think that until they start shooting Germans, it's still safe to visit,'' he said.

BLAME IT ON THE MEDIA

In typically uncompromising tone, the junta -- the latest face of 46 years of unbroken military rule -- blames the decline on the foreign media and dissidents who smuggled out pictures and reports of atrocities on the Internet.

''Some foreigners attempted to tarnish the image of Myanmar by posting in the Web sites the photos of the protest walks,'' Deputy Tourism Minister Aye Myint Kyu, a brigadier-general, wrote in state-run papers in January under a widely known pseudonym.

However, in one sense he is right: coverage of the crisis put the oft-forgotten southeast Asian nation firmly in the world spotlight and bolstered the cries of many anti-government organisations telling potential visitors to stay away.

Under the slogan ''The cost of a holiday could be someone's life'', groups such as the Burma Campaign UK argue that every tourist dollar props up a regime that uses forced labour, child soldiers and systematic rape of ethnic minority women -- allegations the junta denies.

Boycott campaigners also say that the jobs of people working in tourism are an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of the wider effort to overthrow the generals.

''The tourism industry in Burma is tiny. The vast majority of people will never see a tourist in their life,'' said Anna Roberts of the Burma Campaign UK.

SHOULD I STAY, SHOULD I GO?

Even though the call for a boycott came from detained Nobel peace laureate and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, it is not without its critics.

In particular, detractors argue it is an empty gesture since the cash gleaned directly and indirectly from tourism is a tiny fraction of that from gems and natural gas, which made the generals more than 2 billion dollar in sales to Thailand alone in 2007.

They also say it pushes them further into the isolation on which they appear to thrive.

''The boycott is totally pointless,'' said Ton Schoonderwoerd, an independent Dutch tourist watching the sun rise above Bagan's temples, the product of 230 years of building by Buddhist kings that came to an abrupt end with a Mongol invasion in 1287.

''It may seem good to politicians in the US and Europe, but out here it just means that people struggle even more to make ends meet,'' he said.

Rather than coming down on either side of what is a passionate debate, backpacker bible Lonely Planet chooses simply to outline the pros and cons of visiting, and urges those who do to avoid government-run hotels and airlines. (AGENCIES)

Trauma, poverty shred young Iraqis' dreams

BAGHDAD, Mar 14: As a teenager, Mazin Tahir dreamt that the US-led invasion of Iraq would bring new freedoms and democracy with the fall of Saddam Hussein.

As a young adult, his hopes have been replaced by despair after five years of unremitting violence.

''It's sad, or funny. The Iraqi dream has turned into a nightmare,'' said Tahir, who was 15 when the Americans came.

''When I was young I dreamt of getting rid of the dictatorship and replacing it with democracy. Saddam has gone but Iraq is in worse shape. There are killings every day, politicians are like thieves ... It's like a curse from God.''

Tahir had his life before him when the invasion started and his heart was full of hope. Now, like many others who grew from teens to adults during the occupation, he just wants to get out.

Fatma Abdul-Mahdi was 17 at the time of the invasion.

''When Saddam was ousted I thought the doors of happiness would be opened, I thought I could stop wearing second-hand clothes and I could be like the girls I was watching on TV,'' the 22-year-old said.

Fatma now works as a teacher in the southern oil hub of Basra but, like so many of her peers, she says her life is worse and her family is poorer after five years of instability and hardship.

''I still wear second-hand clothes. If I could find a job, even in Sudan or Somalia, I would flee Iraq as soon as possible. I wish I had never been born in Iraq,'' she said.

Psychiatrists fear that young Iraqis, so badly disillusioned after their teenage hopes and dreams were dashed, might turn to more drastic measures than just seeking to leave.

TEENAGERS AN EASY TARGET

Haider Abdul-Muhsin, a psychiatrist at Baghdad's Ibn Rushid hospital, said that disillusionment -- and poverty -- force many teenagers and young adults to leave school and university early.

Bitter and without direction, young people then become easy targets for exploitation by militants whose violence has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since the invasion began.

''That is the start of their suffering. They leave because they think their studies will not guarantee them a bright future,'' Abdul-Muhsin told Reuters.

''Some of them are then exploited by armed groups into conducting violent acts. Teenagers are an easy target,'' he said.

Young Iraqi adults suffer in other ways, too, when they see the way their peers live in richer, more stable Arab states and in the West. Security fears mean it is hard to keep up social networks and there are few entertainment options.

While no statistics are available, he says he is seeing far more patients now than before 2003.

''Mostly their families come to my clinic complaining that they suffer from insomnia, or they are taking drugs or they have psychiatric problems,'' Abdul-Muhsin said.

Of course, the pain is even more acute for the many thousands of Iraqis who have lost family members in the violence.

Sabreen Jawad, a 21-year-old Sunni Arab, left school after her father, a member of Saddam's elite Republican Guard, was killed during the invasion.

''Can you imagine my feelings? A girl my age adores her father, he was always pampering me,'' she said.

''From having a social life and luxury and servants we became a displaced family,'' she said. Her family fled to Syria before returning to Baghdad recently.

Abdul-Muhsin said many young Iraqis have become reserved and introspective while the more resilient take a pragmatic approach to what has happened.

Nooreldin Ibrahim, from the ethnically and religiously mixed city of Baquba north of Baghdad, was also 15 and in high school when U.S.-led forces invaded.

He, too, had dreams of liberties unthinkable under Saddam, like mixing freely with girls. Those dreams started to fade after about a year when shops slowly began to close as Baquba became a hotbed of insurgent and sectarian fighting.

Now studying for an Arts degree in Baghdad, he says he has come to terms with the constant interruptions to his studies since universities became frequent targets for attacks.

''One day we'll study and then we'll have to stay home for 10 days. I love football so that means I am able to play my favourite sport,'' he said.

''I don't have any more dreams now, just finish my studies and become a civil servant,'' he said.

(AGENCIES)

Immune system may cause reaction to cancer drug

WASHINGTON, Mar 14: People who live in parts of the US south may have pre-existing immunities that cause a severe allergic reaction to the widely used cancer drug Erbitux, US researchers reported.

They found that patients who had the sometimes life-threatening reactions had a pre-existing immunity to a sugar compound found in the drug made by ImClone Systems Inc.

The discovery, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, might help explain why people living in certain regions of the United States are much more likely to have the reaction, the researchers said yesterday.

Potential patients should be tested before getting the drug, which had global sales of 1.1 billion dollar in 2006 for use in treating colon, head and neck cancers, the researchers said.

Erbitux, known generically as cetuximab, is a monoclonal antibody, a genetically engineered immune system compound designed to target cancer cells.

But some patients have a severe allergic reaction to the drug.

Dr Thomas Platts-Mills of the University of Virginia and colleagues looked at reports of these cases, which suggest that as many as 22 per cent of patients treated with Erbitux in Tennessee and North Carolina reported some kind of reaction including anaphylaxis, which can rapidly lead to difficulty breathing, shock or fainting.

''It's stunning,'' Platts-Mills said in a telephone interview.

Even higher rates were reported from parts of Arkansas, Missouri and Virginia. But fewer than 1 per cent of patients treated in the Northeast reported any reactions.

CLASSIC IMMUNE RESPONSE

Tests showed a significant number of these patients were having immunoglobulin E or IgE responses -- the classic immune response that causes anaphylactic seizures. Many had them almost instantly after getting the drug, which suggests they had a pre-existing immunity, Platts-Mills said.

His team tested 538 people, including 76 cancer patients who got Erbitux in Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina and healthy volunteers from Tennessee, California and Boston.

Of the 76 cancer patients, 25 developed hypersensitivity reactions and 18 had IgE antibodies to the drug.

Of the noncancer patients, antibodies against Erbitux were found in 21 per cent of the samples from Nashville, 6 per cent of the samples from California and fewer than 1 per cent of the samples from Boston.

''We all said why? Why on Earth would they have them?'' Platts-Mills said. Possible culprits included ticks, roundworms and certain microbes.

Then Platts-Mills went on a mountain hike. ''My feet started itching and I took off my shoes and there were all these baby ticks -- little ones,'' he said.

He realized these insects, known locally as seed ticks, are found only in the South -- the same states where patients were reacting to Erbitux.

''We are making extracts of ticks to test people for IgE antibodies,'' Platts-Mills said. ''We need to know much more about the immune response to ticks in these people.''

''These intriguing research findings not only are potentially important to physicians treating certain cancer patients, but also may have broader implications for the use of immunotherapies for other diseases,'' said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped pay for the study. (AGENCIES)

PPP-PML(N) hammer out cabinet deal

ISLAMABAD, Mar 14: The Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N have agreed to share berths in the cabinet of ministers and parliamentary committees according to the proportion of their seats in the National Assembly.

Dawn newspaper quoted PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi as saying, after a meeting of his party, the formula for distribution of ministries at the centre and in Punjab had been finalised. PML chief and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif presided over the meeting.

According to the formula, the PPP would have 54 per cent share in the federal cabinet, the PML-N 40 per cent and the Awami National Party six per cent.

Mr Hashmi said the ministries would be allocated after negotiations. He said the heads of the parliamentary committees would also be nominated through mutual understanding under the same formula.

He said opposition members would also be asked to head some parliamentary committees.

Mr Hashmi alleged that the presidency had made as many as 21 attempts to create rift among political parties. It was also creating hurdles in the formation of governments in Punjab and Balochistan.

He said the political parties had foiled all attacks from the Aiwan-i-Sadr or President House with the support of the people.

The PML-N leader said there had been no change in Nawaz Sharif's stand on President Pervez Musharraf, whom his party considers an ''illegal and unconstitutional'', President.

He said lawyers, the media and members of the civil society would be taken into confidence about every decision.

The supremacy of the Constitution and the restoration of judges would be the first priority of the government.

PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said Mr Sharif had taken the party into confidence about his talks with PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari.

He said the PML-N had recognised the PPP's right to nominate a candidate for the prime minister's post, but it had requested that the person should have an ability to implement the Charter of Democracy in letter and spirit. He said the PML-N would fully support the PPP's prime minister.

Mr Hashmi said there could be a confrontation between the new assembly and the Aiwan-i-Sadr if President Musharraf did not respect the will of the people. He said the people wanted the judges, who were sacked with imposition of emergency in the country on November 3, restored because they had been removed unconstitutionally.

Mr Sharif has convened the first meeting of the party's parliamentary group at the Parliament House before the National Assembly session on March 17.

(UNI)

EU aims to set the pace in fighting climate change

BRUSSELS, Mar 14: EU leaders agreed on a timetable for action to tackle climate change that they hope will enable them to set the pace in global talks next year, but some voiced unease about the methods.

The European Union sees itself as a world leader in the fight against global warming after EU countries agreed last year to cut emissions by 2020 and increase the share of wind, solar, hydro and wave power in electricity output by the same date.

After chairing the first day of a two-day summit, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa told a news conference all 27 leaders agreed to adopt a liberalisation of the European energy market in June and a package of measures to fight global warming and promote green energy in December.

''We must reach agreement in the first months of 2009 at the latest,'' said Jansa.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was hopeful of reaching a package deal on climate change under France's presidency of the EU in the second half of this year.

But several leaders said a deal would be difficult because of conflicting national priorities.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel led a group of countries demanding early guarantees of special treatment for energy-intensive industries such as steel, cement, paper and aluminium, so they could plan investments, diplomats said.

Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands opposed Merkel's demand that the EU agree in 2009 on conditions for big energy users, saying it would weaken the EU's hand in global negotiations on curbing emissions.

''Everybody stated their priorities. Many were quite nervous about liberalisation and carbon leakage,'' a senior EU diplomat said. ''Carbon leakage'' occurs when production is transferred to countries with lower environmental standards.

Sarkozy told reporters: ''The main concern is implementing a mechanism that will hit imports from those countries that don't play the game.''

But Merkel believed any EU measure would have to be compatible with World Trade Organisation rules, diplomats said.

CURRENCY WORRIES

Failure to agree on the details by this time next year would delay EU laws and weaken the bloc in United Nations talks on curbing emissions with other countries, including the United States, in Copenhagen in November 2009.

Leaders also approved a watered-down Franco-German plan for a Union for the Mediterranean to boost ties with the EU's southern neighbours after months of bitter wrangling.

Highlighting threats to European economic growth, the euro hit another record high of $1.56 on Thursday and oil prices hovered near a peak of $110 a barrel.

That prompted the head of the main EU employers' group, Ernest-Antoine Seilliere of BusinessEurope, to call for international talks on stabilising foreign exchange markets.

But Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who chairs the group of 15 euro zone countries, said he thought growth in the area was not at risk.

Showing his green credentials, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters on a train to Brussels he would propose EU sales tax breaks on eco-friendly fridges, light bulbs and other domestic appliances.

But European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso brushed the idea aside, saying several EU states had said they opposed it and that tax proposals required unanimous agreement.

Aside from cutting emissions by at least one-fifth by 2020 from 1990 levels, EU states have agreed to use 20 percent of renewable energy sources in power production and 10 percent of biofuels from crops in transport by the same date.

Jansa acknowledged growing debate among scientists and economists about the desirability of the biofuels target, saying: ''We're not excluding the possibility that we'll have to amend or revise our goals.''

Environmental pressure group Greenpeace called the emissions target ''way short of the mark''.

''We have wasted a lot of precious time, too much time, during Bush's administration,'' Greenpeace's Mahi Sideridou told Reuters, adding she expected that whoever succeeds President George W. Bush's next year will be more committed to action.

Some fear the cost of tackling global warming could drive industry out of Europe. John Monks, general secretary of the European Union Trade Union Confederation, called for a ''carbon tax'' on imports from less environmentally conscious parts of the world.

(AGENCIES)

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Cult of celebrity 'harming children'

LONDON, Mar 14: Celluloid heroes like Abhiskek Bachchan or cricketers MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar are often idolised by kids. But, a new study has claimed that obsession with celebrities is actually harming the children.

Researchers in Britain have carried out the study and found that the cult of celebrity is producing a generation that believes education and hard work are not at all important in achieving success.

According to the study by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the United Kingdom, these children would grow up to feel a sense of failure, alienation and low self-esteem when celebrity status is not achieved.

"Celebrities can have a positive effect on pupils. They can raise pupils' aspirations. But we are concerned that many pupils believe celebrity status is available to everyone.

"They do not understand the hard work it takes to achieve such status and do not think it is important to be actively engaged in school work as education is not needed for a celebrity status," the association's General Secretary Mary Bousted was quoted by 'The Daily Telegraph' as saying.

The researchers came to the conclusion after they conducted a survey in which 70 per cent of teachers in primary and secondary schools said that the cult of celebrity was perverting children's aspirations and expectations.

About 37 per cent of the teachers interviewed believe their pupils want to be famous for being famous. They fear that many youngsters do not realise how hard their idols have worked to earn their fame.

According to 53 per cent of the teachers surveyed, David and Victoria Beckham are the celebrities most British students model themselves on.

Overall, sports stars are the most popular type of celebrity with pop singers, such as the Sugababes and Leona Lewis, ranking a close second, 60 per cent of teachers said in the survey. (PTI)

Drowning, suffocation among leading
causes of child death: UN

NEW YORK, Mar 14: Injuries resulting from drowning, suffocation and road accidents are among the leading killers of Asian children, a new study shows.

The study, conducted jointly by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Alliance for Safe Children (ASC), found that risk of death from injuries rises after infancy as children become independent and danger from infectious and non-communicable diseases decreases.

"If we are ultimately going to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce child mortality, it is imperative that we take action to address the causes of childhood injury," said Anupama Rao Singh, Regional Director of UNICEF East Asia and Pacific, calling for increased investment in public awareness campaigns and arming children and their parents with knowledge and skills.

Working in partnership with local public health teams, in-person interviews for the study were done in over half a million households, comprising more than 2 million people in five countries: Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The causes of death and disability among a representative sample of all children up to 18 years of age were reliably recorded for the first time ever in these nations, UNICEF said.

The study found that the causes of injuries differ by age group. Infants under 12 months are not as exposed to injury, while toddlers between one and four years of age are at the greatest risk of drowning. (PTI)