6 Indian-Americans figure on list of 30 Soros Fellows

NEW YORK, Mar 25: Six Indian-Americans have been declared winners of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

The Indians were—Manav Bhatnagar, Sudeb Dalai, Sushma Gandhi, Sandeep Kishore, Krishnan Subrahmanian and Vijay Yanamadala. There were 30 winners of the honour which included a Pakistani-American Noorain Khan.

According to a statement issued by the New York-based fellowship foundation, a New American is an individual who is a resident alien (green-card holder) or a naturalised citizen.

The fellowship is open to individuals who retain loyalty and a sense of commitment to the country of their origin as well as to the US, and will continue to regard the US as their principal residence and focus of national identity.

One of the Indian-Americans—Manav Bhatnagar—is a second-year student at Yale University. In high school, he worked with Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. He spends his college summers in Kashmir with a human rights organisation and continues to work on Kashmir-related human rights issues. Manav intends to use his education in the service of the US Government in a legal or policymaking capacity.

Sudeb Dalai is a medical student at Stanford University, where he is completing his MSc and is a Howard Hughes research fellow. His current research investigates viral evolution, pathogenesis, and drug resistance in HIV-1 subtype C in sub-Saharan Africa. Born in Missouri, he helped found a non-profit organisation in Massachusetts that collected unexpired AIDS drugs and donated them to Dr Paul Farmer’s HIV Equity Initiative in Haiti.

Sushma Gandhi is in her second year at Harvard Law School. She focussed her legal interests on economic security issues for people and communities, working currently on the threat of foreclosures resulting from subprime loans. Sushma aspires to start her own socially minded private bank "that is committed to political advocacy and focussed on providing credit in distressed urban centres and credit-needy countries."

Sandeep Kishore is a third-year MD/PhD candidate at the Weill Cornell/ Rockefeller/Sloan Kettering Tri-Institutional program. To combat the rise in heart disease globally, he worked with the Dean of Weill Cornell, public health officials, and a fellow classmate to petition successfully the World Health Organisation to include a generic version of US blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) on the WHO’s Essential Medicines List, enabling mass drug donation by UN organisations and philanthropic foundations to 156 national Governments.

Indian-American Krishnan Subrahmanian is currently Border State Director of Obama for America, supplementing field efforts for the presidential campaign. He founded and directed the Cambridge Student Partnership, a student organisation that connected needy Cambridge and Boston residents to community resources available to serve them. He was awarded a year-long Richardson Fellowship in Public Affairs, which he used to initiate a camp in southern Africa for orphans and children suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Vijay Yanamadala is a first-year student at Harvard Medical School. His long term goal is to pursue a career in academic medicine, allowing him to combine his passion for research, teaching, and clinical care. "Physician-scientists are in a particularly important position at the crux between science and society," the Texas-born Indian said. (UNI)

CBI cuts UK economic growth forecast for 2008

LONDON, Mar 25: Global credit turmoil will hurt British economic growth well into next year, the Confederation of British Industry said on Tuesday as it cut its 2008 and 2009 growth forecasts.

''This is as much as 2009 story as it is one for 2008,'' said Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic advisor.

''It's a much more prolonged headwind we will be driving into, a headwind rather than a short, sharp shock. The second-round effects will be felt for some time after the immediate problems are solved.''

The UK's top business lobby group said market turmoil, rising commodity prices and weaker demand had led it to cut its growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 1.8 percent for this year, against government forecasts for 1.75-2.25 percent growth.

The forecast for next year paints an even more pessimistic picture, at a downwardly-revised 1.7 percent -- significantly lower than finance minister Alistair Darling's current range of 2.25 to 2.75 percent.

The CBI expects increasing consumer price inflation, revising its estimates upwards to a peak of 3.2 percent in the third quarter of this year.

Official figures released last week showed CPI hit a nine-month high of 2.5 percent in February, well above the Bank of England's two percent target.

The Bank faces the tough task of balancing these rising inflationary pressures while trying to encourage growth in a slowing economy.

On top of that, liquidity problems have forced U.S. And European central banks to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into credit markets.

But the CBI said no amount of action by central banks would end an unwillingness among commercial banks to lend funds to each other.

''The current problems in the interbank markets will not be resolved until this transparency, the ability to trust counterparties, is restored,'' McCafferty said.

''Injections of liquidity can prevent bank failure and the cuts in interest rates can make it more attractive to lend, but neither will solve that fundamental problem of valuing the necessary writedowns and thus fully restore that trust.'' (AGENCIES)

Nippon Steel to build mill in Brazil-Nikkei

TOKYO, Mar 25: Japan's Nippon Steel Corp, the world's second-largest steelmaker, plans to spend 500 billion to 600 billion yen ($5-6 billion) to build a steel factory in Brazil, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

It would be the first integrated mill to be built by a Japanese steelmaker overseas and comes amid stronger-than-expected demand for steel from North America, Europe and developing countries, as well as spiralling prices of raw materials.

Seeking to narrow the gap with industry leader ArcelorMittal , Nippon Steel has been in talks with its Brazilian affiliate Usiminas about building a new blast furnace in 2010 to 2011 but has yet to comment on the size of its investment.

''We are discussing a plan to build an integrated steel mill in Brazil but no details have been decided,'' said a Nippon Steel spokesman, who declined to be identified.

The Nikkei newspaper said Nippon Steel would build the mill through a joint venture with Usiminas, with Nippon Steel taking a controlling stake in the project.

The first blast furnace would be constructed for a little less than 300 billion yen with an annual output of 3 million tonnes, the Nikkei said.

A second furnace would be added as early as 2010, doubling output to 6 million tonnes, it said.

Usiminas may make a formal announcement about building the mill this week and the two firms are expected to hammer out details by May, the paper added.

(AGENCIES)

CBI cuts UK economic growth forecast for 2008

LONDON, Mar 25: Global credit turmoil will hurt British economic growth well into next year, the Confederation of British Industry said on Tuesday as it cut its 2008 and 2009 growth forecasts.

''This is as much as 2009 story as it is one for 2008,'' said Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic advisor.

''It's a much more prolonged headwind we will be driving into, a headwind rather than a short, sharp shock. The second-round effects will be felt for some time after the immediate problems are solved.''

The UK's top business lobby group said market turmoil, rising commodity prices and weaker demand had led it to cut its growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 1.8 percent for this year, against government forecasts for 1.75-2.25 percent growth.

The forecast for next year paints an even more pessimistic picture, at a downwardly-revised 1.7 percent -- significantly lower than finance minister Alistair Darling's current range of 2.25 to 2.75 percent.

The CBI expects increasing consumer price inflation, revising its estimates upwards to a peak of 3.2 percent in the third quarter of this year.

Official figures released last week showed CPI hit a nine-month high of 2.5 percent in February, well above the Bank of England's two percent target.

The Bank faces the tough task of balancing these rising inflationary pressures while trying to encourage growth in a slowing economy.

On top of that, liquidity problems have forced U.S. And European central banks to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into credit markets.

But the CBI said no amount of action by central banks would end an unwillingness among commercial banks to lend funds to each other.

''The current problems in the interbank markets will not be resolved until this transparency, the ability to trust counterparties, is restored,'' McCafferty said.

''Injections of liquidity can prevent bank failure and the cuts in interest rates can make it more attractive to lend, but neither will solve that fundamental problem of valuing the necessary writedowns and thus fully restore that trust.'' (AGENCIES)

'Dr Death' Kevorkian plans to run for US Congress

SOUTHFIELD, MICH, Mar 25:Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, known as ''Doctor Death'' for helping more than 100 people end their lives, said he will run for the US Congress.

The 79-year-old pathologist announced his bid to run as an independent less than a year after being released from prison where he served eight years for second-degree murder.

''I have no ties, no fetters. I am free,'' Kevorkian told reporters yesterday, adding that he planned to run against the ''tyranny'' of the US Supreme Court which he said has robbed Americans of their rights.

In the 1990s Kevorkian became one of the most prominent and polarizing figures in the debate over euthanasia by assisting in some 130 suicides and for his outspoken advocacy of the ''right to die.''

Kevorkian, who was paroled in 2007, said he will run as an independent for a congressional seat representing the Detroit suburbs, near the area where he presided at dozens of suicides in cheap hotel rooms and the back of his rusty van.

He was convicted after a CBS news program aired a video showing Kevorkian administering lethal drugs to a 52-year-old man suffering from debilitating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

His candidacy will pit Kevorkian against Republican incumbent Joe Knollenberg and Democrat Gary Peters in Michigan's 9th District, which includes the upscale suburbs of Bloomfield Hills and Birmingham. Political analysts rate the race between the two main candidates could be close.

Kevorkian had been required to gather 3,000 voter signatures on a petition in order to qualify for the ballot.

As a condition of his parole, Kevorkian vowed not to assist with any suicides although he said he would continue to lobby for the legalization of assisted suicide in the United States.

In 1997, Oregon became the only US state to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. Efforts to pass similar measures in other states including Michigan and Hawaii have failed. (AGENCIES)

US jaguars threatened by Mexico border fence

SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS, ARIZ, Mar 25: Jaguar biologist Emil McCain stoops over a remote-sensing camera attached to a tree in these rugged mountains a few miles to the north of the Arizona-Mexico border.

The researcher is checking for images of a handful of extremely rare jaguars that prowl up from Mexico over mountain trails in some of the wildest country in the southwest, although they are now under threat.

Scrolling through images of bobcats and deer snapped by the camera, he explains how the habitat for one of the United States' most elusive predators is being pressured by illegal immigration from Mexico and the controversial remedies sought by the US Government to curb it: building fences.

In this election year, Washington hopes to complete 1,070 kilometres of pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers in a bid to seal off some of the most heavily crossed areas of the nearly 3,200 km border, despite opposition from some landowners and environmentalists.

''The low flat valleys are effectively walled off to wildlife. As a result everything is funneled up through the high mountain ranges that span the border'' McCain said, standing by the camera box in an area spotted with trash tossed by illegal immigrants.

''The border barriers are directly linked with the funneling of people into the last remaining habitats. Jaguars are very solitary animals, they can't move freely where there are a lot of people.''

SOLITARY HUNTERS

Jaguars are powerful, solitary hunters that were revered by ancient cultures including the Aztecs and the Maya who believed they had supernatural powers. They roam over a vast habitat ranging from northern Argentina in the south to the rugged, borderland wildernesses of Arizona and New Mexico, although they are rarely seen.

The sturdy, spotted cats -- which are the only roaring felines in the Americas -- were believed to have become extinct in the United States until an Arizona rancher photographed one he encountered while hunting mountain lions in the far southwest corner of New Mexico in 1996.

''It was unforgettable, probably the most exciting day I have had in my life,'' Warner Glenn said of his brush with the burly, roaring male jaguar, which his hounds briefly brought to bay on a pillar of rock in the Peloncillo Mountains.

Proof positive of their presence in the United States was gained six months later when another Arizona cougar hunter, Jack Childs, treed and photographed a second jaguar in the distant reaches of the Baboquivari Mountains southwest of Tucson.

''They were on the brink of extirpation and to find out they were still here was a really great thing,'' Childs said of the animal, another male, which his hounds chased up into an alligator juniper tree.

''It was indescribable, a life-changing experience. We tipped our hats to it, thanked it for the experience and it went on its way.''

NO BREEDING POPULATION

Neither jaguars were harmed. The photographs taken by Glenn and Childs helped win federal protection for the animals as an endangered species the following year and stirred interest from researchers eager to find out about their population and movements.

Childs, his wife Anna Mary and McCain subsequently founded the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project, a nonprofit which set up some 40 to 50 cameras to photograph jaguars roaming through a highland wildlife corridor in the southwest known as the ''Sky Islands.''

The mountainous archipelago linking Arizona with the Sierra Madre Mountains in northwest Mexico is a unique zone where temperate species like the wolf and black bear mingle with Neotropical animals such as the jaguar and coatimundi, a sociable raccoon-like animal sometimes mistaken for a monkey.

Over the past seven years researchers repeatedly photographed four or five jaguars. They found that all were males straying north from breeding populations in Mexico, a discovery with considerable implications for their survival in the US southwest.

''Because there are no females and no reproduction, jaguars in the United States are totally dependent on cross-border movement,'' Said McCain. ''That connectivity with Mexico is absolutely crucial.''

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

As the construction of barriers continued to pressure that connectivity, the US government decided at the start of the year to abandon the recovery of jaguar populations as a federal goal, further calling into question the future of the animals.

McCain says he is concerned that there is no conservation plan to protect the big cats and their core habitat in the United States, which, he says, leaves them increasingly vulnerable should any decision be taken in the future to secure remaining areas of the border with fencing.

''After the Border Patrol finishes securing the lowland areas they will be forced to extend those walls out across the mountain ranges and totally seal off any hopes of jaguars crossing back and forth,'' he says.

While jaguars would not die out as a species -- fewer than one percent of their total number live in the United States -- losing this elusive predator would signal a retreat on protecting this fr!gile borderland wilderness for posterity.

''The jaguar is a great emblem of wildness and an example of a healthy ecosystem,'' McCain said.

''It really inspires people and creates a sense of wonder at the natural world. And in today's world, we really need that.'' (AGENCIES)

Muslims question Vatican baptism of Islamic critic

PARIS, Mar 25: The Easter baptism of an Italian Muslim by Pope Benedict was a provocative act that raises questions about the Vatican's approach to Islam, a leading participant in Christian-Muslim dialogue said.

Aref Ali Nayed, a key figure in a group of over 200 Muslim scholars launching discussion forums with Christian groups, said the Vatican had turned the baptism of Egyptian-born journalist Magdi Allam into ''a triumphalist tool for scoring points.''

He said the Vatican should distance itself from a searing attack on Islam that Allam published on Sunday in the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, where he is deputy director.

Commentators in Algeria and Morocco echoed Nayed's view, saying Allam's conversion was a personal affair but his attacks on Islam and his headline-grabbing baptism by the pope strained relations between Muslims and the Catholic Church.

''The whole spectacle... Provokes genuine questions about the motives, intentions and plans of some of the pope's advisers on Islam,'' Nayed, who is director of the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, said in a statement yesterday.

''Nevertheless, we will not let this unfortunate episode distract us from our work on pursuing 'A Common Word' for the sake of humanity and world peace. Our basis for dialogue is not a tit-for-tat logic of reciprocity.''

Nayed was one of 138 Muslim scholars who last October issued an unprecedented appeal entitled ''A Common Word'' that urged a serious dialogue between Christians and Muslims on the basis of the shared values of love of God and neighbour. Dozens more scholars have since signed the appeal.

Protestant churches have mostly reacted in a positive way, but the Roman Catholic Church -- which accounts for more than half of the world's two billion Christians -- has been hesitant and agreed to dialogue only after some delay.

HIGH PROFILE BAPTISM

A ''Common Word'' delegation met Vatican officials early this month in Rome and agreed to a formal dialogue session in November during which they will meet Pope Benedict.

In his statement, issued after consulting several other signatories of the dialogue appeal, Nayed said Allam's conversion was his personal decision and asked whether he had been influenced by Catholic schools he attended as a child.

He said it was ''sad that the particular person chosen for such a highly public gesture has a history of generating, and continues to generate, hateful discourse.'' Allam has been a fierce critic of radical Islam and defender of Israel.

Mohamed Yatim, commentator for the Moroccan daily Attajdid, called the high-profile baptism ''a new provocation for the Islamic world and part of a trend that has intensified in recent years with the caricatures of the Prophet.''

Cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad printed by some European newspapers sparked widespread riots in the Muslim world in 2006.

In Algeria, deputy editor Mahmoud Belhimer of the popular El Khabar newspaper said Allam's conversion ''could have been normal if he had not made anti-Islamic comments.''

The Saudi daily al-Watan reported the baptism on its front page and described Allam as someone who ''worked tirelessly to attack Islam'' and was close to pro-Israel groups.

Rev. Christophe Roucou, the French Catholic Church's top official for relations with Islam, also questioned the publicity surrounding Allam's conversion. ''I don't understand why he wasn't baptised in his hometown by his local bishop,'' he said. (AGENCIES)

Animal group files suit to stop sea lion killings

PORTLAND, OREGON, Mar 25:Animal protection groups filed a lawsuit to prevent Washington state and Oregon from killing sea lions that feed on dwindling US Pacific Northwest salmon populations.

The Humane Society of the United States and others filed the suit yesterday in a federal court in Oregon after the National Marine Fisheries Services granted permission last week to the states to target up to 85 sea lions a year near the Bonneville Dam.

Jonathan Lovvorn, a vice president with the Humane Society, said in a statement it was ''outrageous and patently illegal'' for the government agency to allow the killing of sea lions while at the same time increasing harvest quotas for fishermen.

Salmon-gobbling pinnipeds have been a problem in West Coast waters for over a decade and at the Bonneville Dam for about five years. About 100 California sea lions make the 241-kilometre trip upriver to feast on spawning salmon channeling into the dam's fish ladders.

State and federal governments have spent billions trying to protect once-abundant salmon and fishery managers have also proposed a virtual shutdown of salmon fishing this year in California and Oregon coastal waters.

The Humane Society said killing sea lions is unnecessary since this year's salmon run on the Columbia River is expected to be triple last year's migration, prompting authorities to raise human fishing quotas on the river.

Officials have tried to drive the sea lions away using non-lethal methods such as protective barriers, firecrackers and rubber bullets. The Humane Society has pushed for authorities to continue with these methods.

The suit names the Secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service director as defendants.

Spokesmen for both the federal agency and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife declined to comment, saying they have not had a chance to look at the lawsuit. (AGENCIES)

Attorney in Britney Spears case loses appeal

LOS ANGELES, Mar 25: A California court denied an attorney's bid to challenge an order that gave control of troubled pop star Britney Spears' personal and business affairs to her father, Jamie Spears.

But attorney Jon Eardley vowed to continue his battle on behalf of the 26-year-old singer, saying he will now challenge the conservatorship order on two key issues.

A three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeals said yesterday an appeal to the overall conservatorship granted to Jamie Spears cannot be heard because ''granting letters of temporary conservatorship is specifically excluded from those orders made appealable'' under California law.

However, Eardley said in a statement he will petition for a rehearing on grounds that two specific orders -- the inability of a conservatee to bind the estate and the inability of the conservatee to choose her own counsel -- can be appealed.

On March 11, Eardley filed his initial challenge to the conservatorship that put Jamie Spears and lawyer Andrew Wallet in charge of the singer's affairs. Wallet and Spears were made co-conservators by a California court in early February, and the order now extends to July 31.

Britney Spears, 26, has seen her life spiral out of control since her November 2006 breakup with ex-husband Kevin Federline. She has been in rehab, lost custody of her two sons and in January was taken to two Los Angeles-area hospitals where she was put under psychiatric evaluation.

In recent weeks, however, Spears seems to have been on the mend, and will appear on Monday in US television show, ''How I Met Your Mother.''

Sam Lutfi, the self-styled manager who was Spears' constant companion through much of 2007 has had a temporary restraining order issued against him to keep him away from Spears. That order remains in place until April 16.

Lutfi and Eardley are both represented by the same Los Angeles-based spokesman, Michael Sands, but Sands has not disclosed any connection between them.

Eardley said in a court filing that Britney Spears hired him in a telephone conversation.

In February, Eardley tried to move the conservatorship case from state court to federal court, where he believed he might obtain legal standing.

But a federal judge ruled he could not represent Spears because at the time he said he had been hired, Spears had no legal authority to hire a lawyer.

(AGENCIES)

UN agency seeks addl funds of USD 500 mn

NEW YORK, Mar 25: Rising food and fuel prices globally has hit hard the United Nations agency, forcing it to seek an additional funding of USD 500 million from donors to enable it to continue its relief operations at the current level.

"We urge your Government to act quickly on this request so that we may avoid cutting the rations for those who rely on the world to stand by them during times of abject need," Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said in a letter, released today.

The price of food and fuel has risen to record levels in recent years, shooting up at an "aggressive pace" of 55 per cent since June 2007, Sheeran noted, saying that WFP had taken many steps to mitigate the increases, including buying 80 per cent of its food supplies in local and regional markets.

Due to the sharp price rises, however, the new estimated figure to cover this year's projects across 78 countries is USD 3.4 billion, which does not include unforeseen emergency operations, the agency said.

Rising prices also mean that the world's poorest people will have to spend a larger proportion of their income on food, the agency said.

"Our efforts will include working with governments, UN agencies and other partners to address long-term solutions while we tackle these urgent needs," Sheeran said.

Countries where price rises are expected to have a direct impact include Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Haiti, Djibouti, Gambia, Tajikistan, Togo, Chad, Benin, Myanmar, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal, Yemen and Cuba, according to WFP. (PTI)

Unlocking the psychology of snake and spider phobias

WASHINGTON, Mar 25: Snakes and spiders scare human beings the most and researchers are attempting to unlock this phobia.

Scientists earlier believed that humans possess an evolutionary predisposition to fear the unpopular animals but researchers at University of Queensland, School of Psychology have proved otherwise.

''Previous research shows that we react differently to snakes and spiders than to other stimuli, such as flowers or mushrooms, or even other dangerous animals or cars and guns, which are also much more dangerous,'' Dr Helena Purkis said.

''In the past, this has been explained by saying that people are predisposed by evolution to fear certain things, such as snakes and spiders, that would have been dangerous to our ancestors,'' she added.

''However people tend to be exposed to a lot of negative information regarding snakes and spiders, and we argue this makes them more likely to be associated with phobia,'' she explained.

In the study, researchers compared the responses to stimuli of participants with no particular experience with snakes and spiders, to that of snake and spider experts, Science Daily reported.

The study is the first to establish a clear difference between preferential attention and the accompanying emotional response: that is one can preferentially attend to something without a negative emotional response being elicited.

''The findings could significantly increase understanding about the basic cognitive and emotional processes involved in the acquisition and maintenance of fear,'' Dr Purkis remarked.

''If we understand the relationship between preferential attention and emotion it will help us understand how a stimulus goes from being perceived as potentially dangerous, to eliciting an emotional response and to being associated with phobia,'' she said. (UNI)

Cod liver oil ‘can help ease pain of arthritis’

LONDON, Mar 25:A daily dose of cod liver oil can help in easing the pain of arthritis in patients suffering from the condition, a new study has revealed.

A team of researchers from Edinburgh University and Dundee University in the United Kingdom has found that taking 10 gm of cod liver oil every day can cut the use of painkiller drugs in arthritis patients by almost a third.

According to lead researcher Prof Jill Belch, "This study offers hope to many rheumatoid arthritis patients for whom cod liver oil supplements can offer a natural pain management treatment without the harmful side-effects associated with the use of anti-inflammatory drugs.

"It reinforces previous research that has shown cod liver oil, and its high content of omega-3 essential fatty acids, to have significant anti-inflammatory properties in patients with rheumatoid arthritis."

In fact, the researchers came to the conclusion after studying 97 adults with rheumatoid arthritis, half of whom took 10 gm of high strength cod liver oil a day and half of whom took a placebo. Over nine months, the patients were asked to reduce their intake of anti-inflammatories.

The team found that almost 40 per cent of those taking cod liver oil could reduce their intake by over 30 per cent while only 16 per cent of those taking the placebo achieved that reduction. The group on cod liver oil also showed no increase in pain, the ‘Rheumatology’ journal reported.

Prof Belch said that the study offered hope to many rheumatoid arthritis patients who wanted to reduce the amount of pain medication they take.

"I would advise people to give cod liver oil a try for 12 weeks alongside their non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and then try to cut it down. If you can get off NSAIDs it will be much safer," Prof Belch said.

Leading experts in this field have also welcomed the research. "Anything that can help to reduce NSAID use is going to be safer for patients. It does look as if the results are positive and that is quite interesting.

"I would say to patients by all means take cod liver oil and when you feel ready start to reduce your NSAID dose," the media quoted British Society for Rheumatology President Dr Andrew Bamji as saying. (PTI)