e- Paper Andaman Sheekha 10042014

VOL: 03 I ISSUE NO: 10 I REG NO: ANDENG/2011/38184 I 10 APRIL 2014 I THURSDAY I Rs. 2.00 I DAILY I PORT BLAIR I www.andamansheekha.com

CELEBRATION OF DEMOCRACY TODAY

Andaman and Nicobar Islandsare all set to vote and

elect next Lok Sabha member

Port Blair, Apr 09: After apolitically intense campaign,Andaman and NicobarIslands are all set to vote for

Bureau ReportSheekha News Service

electing its next member toLok Sabha tomorrow, wherethe principal fight is betweenCongress and BJP.Meanwhile, addressing apress conference at Port Blairtoday the CEO, Mrs. Rina Ray

today said that 386 PollingStations, with a total votingpopulation of 2,69,360 wouldgo to the polls tomorrow. Thisis an increase of 4,324 fromthe General Elections 2009.There are also 39 more Polling

Stations this year comparedto GE 2009.

She said that as perthe Census data thepopulation aged 18 andabove is 70.40% and thenumber of person enrolled in

the Electoral Roll is 71%.Therefore the entire eligiblepopulation has been covered.100% of all electors have beenissued an EPIC Card of which99.3% have got the photo EPIC

(See page 2)

Major Fire Averted at Mayabunder

Mayabunder, Apr 04:Immediate intervention andtimely action of the staff of FireBrigade, Mayabunder savedlife and property during a fireaccident at GovernmentResidential Barrack occupiedby workers of ElectricityDepartment, Mayabunder,recently.

Fire Service Jawanscontrolled further spreading offire within 15 minutes of itsoccurrence. About 3 rooms ofthe barracks have been

damaged and no casualty hasbeen reported. The officials andpublic present at the location

appreciated the Staffs of FireService for their dedication andsincerity towards their duty.

Muralidharan PillaiSheekha News Service

Ex-Pradhan of Shorepointarrested for distributing

liquor before election

Port Blair, Apr 09: Andamanand Nicobar Police hasarrested the Ex-Pradhan ofShorepoint Panchayat Mr. P

Venkataraman yesterday forillegally distributing liquorjust before elections.

According toreports 55 bottles of liquorhave been seized from hispossession.

Staff ReporterSheekha News Service

Remember, It is Right to voteand it is your Right to vote

CAST YOUR VOTE TODAY

2 10.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair

card. The CEO expressed thehope that the number ofpeople voting in theseIslands would increasesubstantially as around one-third of the people did notvote in the last elections.Towards this end, extensiveefforts and wide spreadinitiatives were taken toenroll the entire eligiblepopulation. In addition to thesummary revision carried outlast year, the ElectionCommission of India alsoagreed to the request made bypolitical parties in theseIslands to extend the date forreceipt of claims andobjections by a further 15days, therefore giving moreopportunity to the people toenroll. The BLOs carried outextensive visits of their areasand camps were held atcolleges and various placesthroughout the islands.

A Special Camp wasalso held on 9th March 2014at all Polling Stations andvarious initiatives on votersawareness such as streetplays were conducted. TheCEO met with politicalparties in Port Blair,Mayabunder and CarNicobar and DEOs also hadregular interactions. Allpolitical parties wererepeatedly requested toencourage people to enrolland to bring to the notice ofthe authorities wheneverthey noticed that any nameswere missing. Printed copiesof the electoral roll and CDswere given to all recognizedpolitical parties. In additionto this all efforts have beenmade to ensure that allGovernment servants on dutyvote for which cleardirections were issued to allHODs. The completeelectoral roll is also availableat the website of CEO,Andaman and NicobarIslands at http://ceoan.and.nic.in with searchfacility. A separate SMSsearch has also been created.A helpline at 1950 has beenactivated.

These elections haveseen many “firsts” for thisAdministration and the

Election Department. Forexample it is for the first timethat every single PollingStation in each and every areaof this UT has been coveredthrough a communicationsystem of the Andaman andNicobar Police. Over 450 VHFwireless units have cometogether on to single grid toconvey full information forthe General Elections. Ac o m p r e h e n s i v eCommunication Exercisewas held on 3rd April 2014to check these facilities withthe Police and it was verysuccessful. On the day of pollthe Police will be playing amajor role in communicatingimportant informationregarding the conduct of theelections.

A very extensiveoutreach campaign under theSVEEP initiative waslaunched in all the PollingStation areas in all districts.A unique innovation was thesetting up of the VATANwhich stands for ‘VoterAwareness Team forAndaman and Nicobar’.These teams comprisingCollege students, performingartists and volunteers from allparts of this UT performedstreet plays, sung songs andencouraged people to comeout and vote.

A d d i t i o n a l l y ,hoardings and banners havebeen put up all over theIslands, songs have beencomposed and inserts havebeen brought out innewspapers. The leafletswhich have been printedwere distributed in largenumbers.

Many IT relatedinnovations were introducedsuch as placing the entireelectoral roll on the websiteand providing search andSMS search facilities. In fact,almost the entire work of theOffices of the CEO as well asRO and DEOs was doneelectronically.

For the first time, anattempt will be made on thepoll day to have livewebcasting from 5 PollingStations. This is a verychallenging task in this UT as

everyone is well aware of theproblems being faced interms of connectivity.However the CEO stated thatthanks to the efforts of the NICand also the IT Departmentof this Administration, shewas confident that thiswebcasting would befunctional. She also statedthat the IT Department hasdeveloped an application tofind out the Polling Stationdetails by giving the EPICnumber of the voter from his/her mobile phone.

Again, for the firsttime, poll data, that is, totalvotes polled shall be collectedand disseminated on 10thApril 2014. This shall be donefrom 10 a.m. onwards every 2hours and can be seen at theCEO website.

Also Voters Slipshave been issued for the firsttime to all eligible voters withfull information of the voter,the Polling Station and alsothe photograph of the voter.

Awareness on EVMshas been imparted for allpersons from variouslocations and is in fact stillcontinuing. This has been a-great help essentially for thefirst time voters on how to usethe EVMs on the day of poll.Campus Ambassadors wereappointed, and a Knowledge,Aptitude, Behaviours andPractices (KABP) Survey wascarried out. Football matchesbetween the first time votersand veterans were held andMatdan Mela was conductedon 5th, 6th and 7th April2014, particularly for the firsttime voters.

The CEO has alsoshared some interesting factsabout elections in theAndaman and NicobarIslands. The SouthernmostPolling Station in the countryis at Shastri Nagar, in theGreat Nicobar Island. Inaddition, around 60 personsfrom the Shompen tribe havevoluntarily taken the EPICCard and enrolledthemselves. A Polling Stationhas been created inside theShompen jungle for them. Toconclude, CEO requested allvoters to come out and vote.

celebration of... (From page 1)

In riot-free Raajhar, Muslims,dalits fall silent after Shah’s visit

RAAJHAR, SHAMLI: Tuckedaway behind mango grovesand lush poplar trees is thenon-descript Raajhar village inShamli district. It grabbedheadlines after NarendraModi's aide Amit Shah deliv-ered his "revenge" speech herelast week.

Negotiate a bumpyride from Muzaffarnagar, anarrow 3km dirt track

through thick groves andfields to reach Raajhar. Villag-ers wondered why a Gujaratleader bothered to visitRaajhar, about 50km fromMuzaffarnagar.

Suresh Pal Verma,husband of village pradhanSusheela, said, "Amit Panwarof the village boasts he isclose to Shah. He got Shahhere." The school where

Shah's meeting was held is runby Panwar's uncle.

On Sunday — acouple of days after Shah'svisit — TOI reached thesleepy village home toBatteesa khap comprising ahost of smaller khaps. It's thesecond largest khap, afterBaliyan khap, said Verma.

Jats were vocal aboutwho they'll vote for. Since

Shah's visit Muslims andDalits have gone silent, said aJat youth.

Even during Septem-ber riots, peace prevailed inRaajhar. "We'd pledged to pro-tect the Muslims and they hadcomplete faith in us," saidVerma. Jat elders and Mus-lims nodded in agreement.

Raajhar falls inKairana parliamentary con-stituency where Nahid Hasan(SP), son of sit ting MPTabassum Hasan, is locked ina close contest with uncleKunwar Hasan (BSP), riot-accused Hukum Singh (BJP)and Kartar Singh Bhadana(RLD).

By Verma's esti-mates, about 2,900 votes inRaajhar included about 1,000Jats, 700 Dalits, 600 Muslimsand 300 Brahmins. Jat votesare split between RLD andBJP. The BJP strongman's

visit doesn't seem to have in-fluenced many Jats to changetheir minds.

"Babu Hukum Singhis anti-Jat. At the panchayatheld before the riots, Jat lead-ers like Maharaj Singh Lakhwere thrown out of the dais.Post-riot, he joined RLD," saidVerma, adding, "Shah's visitseems a desperate bid to en-gineer a communal divide invillages which were riot-free."

Besides, Jat reserva-tion is bringing some Jatsback to RLD. Amid fellow vil-lagers, dalits said they'd votefor BJP. Later, they confessedtheir heart was with BSP, butthey were under pressure tovote for BJP.

Though Muslimsvacillated between SP andBSP, support for SP grew af-ter Shah's visit. This was alsospurred by the fear that BSPcould ally with BJP post-poll.

10.04.2014 Rs. 2.00 Andaman Sheekha Daily Port Blair 3

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Crescent Public School’s Annual Day Celebration

Port Blair, Apr 09: The Re-turning Officer, A & N Is-lands Parliamentary Con-stituency has told all contest-ing candidates that he or sheshall appoint only those per-sons as their polling agentswho are registered electorsand who have an EPIC or

Contesting Candidates Advisedany other document issuedby the government or anygovernment agency whichhas his/her photograph &establishes his/her identity.All polling agents shall dis-play the EPIC or said iden-tification document promi-nently on person on the dayof poll for easy & quickidentification.

Port Blair, April 9: CrescentPublic School WimberleyGunj is organizing their An-nual Day 0n 13th April atMini Stadium, WimberleyGunj from 4.30 Pm onwardsas named with “CRE-

SCENDO 2014”. Shri.D.N.Singh, (Secretary -cum-Director of Education, A &N Administration) will gracethe occasion as Chief Guest.And Shri. Mary Joseph(DEO, Wimberley Gunj) will

be the guest of Honor. Inthat event students willpresent a variety of CulturalProgram including songs,Dance, Skits and Drama,The Principal of the schoolsaid here.

15 candidates in the fray forlone Lok Sabha seat of A & N IslandsPort Blair, Apr 09: The Unionterritory of Andaman andNicobar islands goes to polltomorrow to send its lone rep-resentative to the Lok Sabha.There are 15 candidates in thefray, out of which five are in-dependents.

The poll battle is prac-tically a straight contest be-tween the Congress, whichwon the seat continuouslyuntil 2004 with the exceptionof 1999, and the BJP, thoughthere are national level par-ties like the NCP, BSP, CPI-M, SP and TMC in the con-test. The Bengali votes inNorth and Middle Andamansalong with Tamil in SouthAndamans and Nicobarese inthe Nicobar group of islandshold the key to winning the

election.There are 386 polling

stations for an electorate of2,57,856. Congress has fieldedKuldeep Rai Sharma as its can-didate while Bishnu Pada Ray,the sitting MP, is the BJP can-didate.

The main issue in theelection is the removal of the

buffer zone set up in the JarawaTribal Reserve area, wherecommercial activity is banned.The buffer zone restriction actsas a roadblock to full-fledgedtourism activity in the islands.Another issue is the introduc-tion of inner-line permit system,aimed at restricting influx ofpeople from outside.

Port Blair, Apr 09: The fastvessel of Coast Guard, ICGSRajshree is arriving at PortBlair on 12th April at 1000hrs. The ship will join CoastGuard fleet and will be based

ICGS Rajshree to joinCoast Guard’s Andaman Fleet

at Port Blair on arrival fromChennai. A welcome cer-emony will organize at CGjetty; Port Blair to receivethe ship at 1000 hrs is sched-uled on arrival.

Amit Shah moves HCagainst FIRs on hate speeches

ALLAHABAD: BJP leaderAmit Shah on Wednesdaymoved the Allahabad highcourt challenging the FIRslodged against him by theUttar Pradesh government foralleged hate speeches madeby him at election meetings inBijnore and Shamli districts.

A division benchcomprising justices ArunTandon and Satish Chandraposted the matter for Fridaywhile directing the state gov-ernment to submit CDs of thespeeches delivered by Shahat these two places. Shah,

who is the party's in-chargefor UP and a close aide of BJPPrime Ministerial candidateNarendra Modi, has beenbooked under Section 153 Aof IPC (promoting enmity be-tween different groups ongrounds of religion" and Sec-tion 125 of Representation ofPeople Act (promoting enmitybetween classes in connec-tion with election).

In the speeches de-livered over the last weekend,Shah had allegedly exhortedmembers of the Jat commu-nity to "avenge" the killings of

their caste brethren in theMuzaffarnagar communalviolence by voting for the BJP.

Shah has sought astay on his arrest in this con-nection besides quashing ofthe FIRs.

55% votes castin Arunachal Pradesh

I T A N A G A R :About 55 per centvotes were caston Wednesdayfor the two LokSabha seats and49 out of the 60assembly seats inA r u n a c h a lPradesh, where the simulta-neous polling was heldpeacefully.

The vote percentagewill go up as reports from in-terior districts are yet to bereceived, Election Commis-sion sources said.

Long queues of vot-ers were seen waiting out-side the booths after the poll-

ing hour ended at 5 pm.The two parliamen-

tary constituencies wherepolling was held are Westernand Eastern constituencies.

A total 11 assemblyseats have been won uncon-tested by Congress. Amongthe winners is chief ministerNabam Tuki from Sagaleeconstituency.

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10.04.2014 Daily Issue::80

EDITORIAL.....The 70-year solution

Should our politicians retirewhen they reach the age of 70?That's the question posed to hisCongress party colleagues byJairam Ramesh, who is be-lieved to be close to RahulGandhi.

Ramesh's questionseems to be very relevant, andnot just in the context of theupcoming elections. All otherswho have jobs — bureaucrats,executives, CEOs, teachers,defence personnel — havemandatory retirement ages.The unique exceptions to thisrule are politicians, who canhang on to their jobs ad infini-tum, age no bar. There are sev-eral political figures in Indiawho, now in their 80s, not onlyhold on to their gaddis but as-pire to even higher public of-fice. Indeed, even compara-tively young politicians — theso-called youth brigade — aregetting to be if not exactly longin the tooth at least not shortin it either. For instance, ifRahul had worked in the cor-porate world, and not in thepolitical realm, at 43 he wouldhave been closer to retirement(60), than to recruitment (say20, at the earliest).

The Indian polity is of-ten described as agerontocracy, a rule by the eld-erly, a tag that is a total mis-match with the country's in-creasingly youthful demo-graphic profile, which has agrowing number of 18-year-olds who will be exercisingtheir franchise for the firsttime in coming polls.

Urging Congress mem-bers to quit party posts at 70so that from being mentorsthey don't turn into 'tormen-tors' and act as a drag onprogress, Ramesh said that itwas high time for the old guardto make way for 'youngsters'.He did not name names, but at59 Ramesh himself has by hisown yardstick more than a de-cade of political life left inhim yet.

This old-versus-youngdebate is reportedly also tak-ing place in the BJP, where

party elders like L K Advani(86) are said to be given shortshrift in preference to rela-tively younger contenders,like PM-nominee NarendraModi (63) and Arun Jaitley(61).

Interestingly, however,records of 2004 and 2009elections show that the olderthe poll contestants the bettertheir chances of winning seatscompared with their youngercounterparts. For instance, inthe previous election 22.8%of the contestants in the +75age group proved successful asagainst only 1.3% in the 25-29 bracket.

Does this suggest thatthe electorate values age —and consequent experience —over new faces and, hopefully,new ideas? Perhaps. But ifpoliticians were made to retireat a given age, more youthfulcontestants would have betterchances of winning.

But that would leaveunresolved the problem as towhat to do with our retiredpoliticians. After a profes-sional lifetime spent in plot-ting and scheming, most if notall of them are far tooChanakyan, too wily and cun-ning at behind-the-scenes ma-nipulation, to be left to theirown devices. An idle mind issaid to be the devil's work-shop, and a retired politician'sidle mind is likely to be moredevil-friendly than most.

Should our retired poli-ticians be sent as India's am-bassadors to foreign shores? Ifthey start playing politicsthere, a sizeable number ofcountries so honoured by theirpresence might well end upbreaking off diplomatic rela-tions with us.

Maybe the best job forlaid-off politicians would be toturn them into anti-corruptionombudsmen, on the principlethat the person best qualifiedto catch a thief is another thief.Perhaps that's what we shouldhave: not a Lok Pal Bill but aLok Pol Bill, with Pol as in apolitico put out to pasture.

No one can revoke Article370: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed

SRINAGAR: Peoples DemocraticParty patron Mufti MohammadSayeed on Wednesday said no gov-ernment at the Centre can revokeArticle 370 and the special positionof Jammu & Kashmir within thecountry is non-negotiable.

"Whichever governmentcomes (at the Centre), the specialposition of Jammu & Kashmir is non-negotiable. Something has to be givenand not taken. No one can take awaythis (Article 370) from us," he toldreporters here.

In its election manifesto, theBJP said it is committed to abroga-tion of Article 370, saying if it comesto power, it will hold talks with allstakeholders.

Asked if his party will enterinto an alliance with the BJP after thepolls, Sayeed said he does not needto testify for it.

"I do not need to testify forit. But will say that the peace pro-cess started by the then NDA gov-ernment, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee,had shown the way which is still be-ing followed," he said.

The former chief ministersaid there is need to win the heartsand minds of people of the state.

"Gun is no option. We haveto win the hearts and minds of thepeople. We have to have a roadmapto give a place of respect and iden-

tity to Jammu & Kashmir," he said.The PDP patriach also criti-

cized the National Conference-Con-gress alliance, saying the situation inJammu & Kashmir has worsenedunder its rule.

"Unfortunately, wheneverthe NC-Congress alliance happened,the situation in the state worsened.In 1987, after the NC-Congress alli-ance, militancy erupted. Now again,after this coalition came into existencethere has been no year that has beengood for the state.

"Afzal Guru (Parliament at-tack convict) was hanged last year.Was there no one else for the UPAto hang? The hanging has increasedthe alienation of the people," Sayeedsaid.

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Bug killing chemical in soaps and toothpastesmay promote Staph infections: Study

NEW DELHI: In a bizarretwist, scientists have foundthat a bacteria killing chemicaladded to many soaps, sham-poos and toothpastes may endup promoting the growth ofanother bacteria in the nose.

Triclosan, the anti-microbial chemical finds itsway into human noses whereit promotes the colonization ofStaphylococcus aureus bacte-ria and could predispose somepeople to infection. These find-ings were reported by re-searchers at the University ofMichigan this week in a studypublished in mBio®, the onlineopen-access journal of theAmerican Society for Micro-biology. "It's really common inhand soaps, toothpastes andmouthwashes but there's noevidence it does a better jobthan regular soap," said BlaiseBoles, senior study author andan assistant professor of mo-

lecular, cellular and develop-mental biology at the univer-sity . "This agent may haveunintended consequences inour bodies. It could promoteS. aureus nasal colonization,putting some people at in-creased risk for infection."

S t a p h y l o c o c c u saureus, popularly known asStaph, causes skin infections,boils and pimples, respiratorydiseases, sinusitis etc. Its anti-biotic resistant strain calledMRSA causes deadly infec-tions, especially in institutionalconditions like hospitals andprisons. Such infections arevery difficult to treat.

Triclosan, a human-made compound used in arange of antibacterial personalcare products such as soaps,toothpastes, kitchen surfaces,clothes and medical equip-ment, was found in nasal pas-sages of 41% of adults

sampled, according to a reportby the American Society forMicrobiology. A higher propor-tion of subjects with triclosanalso had S. aureus colonization.S. aureus could promote infec-tion in some populations suchas people undergoing surgery.

Triclosan has beenaround for the past 40 years,according to Boles, and hasbeen incorporated into manyantibacterial household prod-ucts within the past decade.Other studies have foundtraces of triclosan in humanfluids including serum, urineand milk, and studies in mam-mals have found that high con-centrations of triclosan candisrupt the endocrine systemand decrease heart and skel-etal muscle function.

The study was fundedby the US National Institute ofAllergy and InfectiousDiseases.

Dabbawalas spreadawareness on malaria, dengue

Dabbawalas spread aware-ness on malaria, dengue In anovel move, Mumbai's fa-mous food deliveryworkforce popularly knownas Dabbawalas have joinedhands with World HealthOrganisation (WHO) tospread awareness about vec-tor-borne diseases like ma-laria and dengue.

The initiative waslaunched on Monday and un-der this the Dabbawalas willdeliver lunch boxes with spe-cially created tags by WHOto make people aware aboutdiseases like dengue, malariaand chikungunya, NutanMumbai Tiffin Box SuppliersCharity Trust?s (NMTBSC)

former president RaghunathMedge said.

"We have around5,000 dabbawalas carryinglunch to about two lakhpeople in Mumbai. We haveliterally forced them to readour messages," Medge said.

Talking aboutDabbawalas decision to teamup with WHO, Megde saidthat they wanted to ensurethat Mumbaikars understandthe value of their lives.

"As hospita ls anddoctors are increasing nowa-days, the number of peoplesuffering from diseases isalso increasing. Thousandsof rupees are being spent ontheir treatment. Citizens

should value their lives andtake protective measures," hesaid.

"In India, the risk ofvector-borne diseases is mas-sive. Weak collaborationacross agencies, sectors andlevels of government, includ-ing the regulatory mecha-nisms are some of the keychallenges," WHO represen-tative to India, Nata Menabdesaid.

"The recently con-ducted joint monitoring mis-sion on vector-borne dis-eases in India is a step to-wards reviewing disease con-trol efforts through healthsystems to identify criticalgaps," she added.

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Procrastinating on those taxes? Blame your genesNew research suggests the In-ternal Revenue Service shouldexpand the list of acceptableexplanations for procrastina-tors' yearly extension requestsand late tax filings. Two possi-bilities: "I was born this way"and "failure to evolve."

Procrastination, sug-gests a new study, is an evolvedtrait that likely served humanswell in a time when findingfood and water and fending offprey were job one. For man inthe state of nature, ponderinglofty goals for an indistinct fu-ture was sure to result in an earlydemise.

The inclination to de-fer unpleasant but necessarytasks appears to coexist inti-mately with the trait of impul-siveness. After all, before com-plex societies made a virtue oftimely tax preparation, com-pleted homework and avoid-ance of fattening foods, boldinitiative was a good thing. Act-

ing on impulse was more likelyto get one fed and spread one'sgenetic material than was care-ful planning and an unwaver-ing dedication to meeting dead-lines and looking good at thenext reunion.

Not surprisingly, then,psychologists have long notedthat impulsive people are highlylikely to be procrastinators, andthat procrastinators are verylikely to be impulsive.Thesedays, whole genomes may becheap and easy to sequence.But it remains a distant dreamto precisely locate the chunk ofcode in 3 billion DNA base pairsthat results in a behavioral traitsuch as procrastination. So theUniversity of Colorado teamexplored the genetic underpin-nings of procrastination the old-school way: by looking at iden-tical and fraternal twins, siftingthrough their likenesses and dis-similarities to each other, andinferring the degrees to which

their shared and not-sharedtraits are the result of sharedDNA.So when, say, a behav-ioral trait is shared 100% of thetime by identical twins but lessso by fraternal twins, it's rea-sonable to conclude - and it'spossible to calculate statistically- that that trait springs fromsomewhere in the genetic code.When identical and fraternaltwins are equally likely to share(or not share) a trait, it's a surebet that environment and expe-rience have shaped their behav-ior. (And when identical twinshave been separated at birth -believe it or not, it happens - re-searchers have a potential bo-nanza. When they see that de-spite different environments, theseparated twins absolutely sharecertain traits, they can confi-dently infer that those traits aregenetically determined. Wherethe same twins differ, it's a clearsign that their differing environ-ments and experiences have

Ethnicity has 'more impacton eye movements than culture'

Researchers studying eyemovements have found thatethnicity rather than cultureis the underlying factor in in-fluencing patterns. The find-ings dispute previous re-search which suggested thatneurological behaviour, suchas eye movement, is shapedby cultural influence.

Scientists at the Uni-versity of Liverpool testedthree groups of participants;Chinese (70), British Chinese(45) and White British (70),to look at the speed of smalleye movements called sac-cades. Subjects looked at a

white board and colouredlights would flash up on theboard. The time taken for theeyes to react was then re-corded by a headset.

The researchersfound that from the threegroups, subjects of Chineseethnicity had faster eyemovements than Caucasians,despite the British Chinesesubjects having different cul-tural values to Chinese sub-jects – as measured by ques-tionnaire.

Dr Paul Knox, theNeurophysiologist at the Uni-versity of Liverpool who led

the study, said: “Many scien-tists believe that the eyemovement patterns you de-velop are due to where youlive, the books you read andthe influence of your family,peers and community – yourculture.

“Our research hasshown that this cannot be thecase, at least for saccadebehaviour. What this leavesis the way we’re made, per-haps our genetics. And thismay have a bearing on theway the brains in differentgroups react to injuries anddisease.”

played the larger role.)The lat-est research delved into the be-havioral tendencies of 347 same-sex twin pairs - 181 of them iden-tical (or "monozygotic") and 166

fraternal ("dizygotic"). The av-erage age of the twins was 22years, and all had been recruitedto participate in an ongoingstudy of twins in Colorado.

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Congress does not talk about one individual: Rahul GandhiUDHARBOND (Assam):Taking a swipe at BJP, RahulGandhi on Wednesday saidCongress was a people-ori-ented party, unlike BJP whichwas about one individual.

"We, unlike BJP,have never said that makesomebody prime minister whocan solve all yours problems.For us, politics is all aboutpeople and they should havepower in their hands," Gandhisaid at an election rally here.

"Why should therebe one 'chowkidar' like they(BJP) want. We want tomake you (the people) the'chowkidar' of the country.

Hindustan ki chaabhi kisi ekhaath me nahi par sabke haathme hona chahiye (The keysof the nation should not bewith one person, but in thehands of all Indians)," he said.

The Congress leader,on his third visit to the statefor campaigning, attackedBJP for trying to impose the'Gujarat model' across thecountry.

"Assam does notneed Gujarat model. We haveAssam model here and eachstate must have their ownmodel," he said.

"In Gujarat, the poorcannot dream. It is only the

rich who can dream but forCongress, every individualhas the right to dream. Thepoor, labourers, farmers havethe right to dream of havingtheir children getting bettereducation and employmentopportunities," he said.

He said the opposi-tion talked about providingsecurity and empowerment ofwomen, but who had stoppedthem from doing so.

"It is the oppositionwhich stalled the passage ofthe Women's Reservation Billin Parliament guaranteeing 33per cent reservations to them,"Gandhi said.

Modi, Rahul are'threat' to country: Mayawati

MORENA(MP): BSP chiefMayawati has termed BJP'sprime ministerial nomineeNarendra Modi and Congressvice-president Rahul Gandhias a "threat" to the nation.

"I have no doubt thatboth Rahul Gandhi andNarendra Modi are a threatto the country," Mayawatisaid, addressing an electionmeeting here on Tuesdaynight.

Congress intends tomake Rahul the Prime Min-

ister even though it has notmade any announcementabout it, the former UttarPradesh chief minister said.

On the other hand,the BJP's candidate for thetop post is Modi, whom shedescribed as "someone re-sponsible for the 2002 riots inGujarat."

"I do not think thereis any way in which Modi canbe excused for his role dur-ing the 2002 riots in Gujarat,"the BSP chief said.

"On the other hand,Rahul Gandhi is a totally in-experienced person who can-not be trusted to run the af-fairs of the nation," she said.

Both the Congressand BJP come to power onthe support of capitalists andthen they make policies forthem only, she alleged.

"It is because of thisthat the poor and the dalitscontinue to languish more than60 years after independence,"Mayawati stated.

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As Mars comes closer to Earth,Mangalyaan crosses half-way mark

CHENNAI: As sky gazersacross India got ready to peerthrough telescopes for a viewof Mars which comes closeto Earth (9.2 crore km fromEarth) on Wednesdayevening, India's Mars OrbiterMission (MoM) went past thehalf-way mark to the redplanet.

After escapingearth's influence, MoM,which was launched fromSriharikota onboard PSLV-C25 on November 5, 2013, isnow in the Sun's influenceregion called the helio-centrictrajectory.

"On Wednesday at9:50am, India's Mars OrbiterSpacecraft crossed the half-way mark of its journey to thered planet along the desig-nated helio-centric trajectory,"the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation said in a state-ment. India's Deep SpaceNetwork, aided by Nasa, hasbeen tracking the orbiter sinceits launch and six orbit raisingmanoeuvres after which it leftthe Earth orbit on December1 last year.

"Some 250 scientistshave been working on the lastbig exercise before the space-craft left the earth's orbit,"Isro chairman KRadhakrishnan told TOI in anearlier interview.

Through six orbitraising exercises, scientistshave brought the apogee (thespacecraft's farthest point

from Earth) from the initial25,000km to 1.92 lakh km.

As the spacecraftgoes through the spheres ofinfluence of the Sun andMars, four trajectory correc-tion manoeuvres (TCMs)were planned to keep it oncourse. The first such cor-rection happened on Decem-ber 11 last year, soon after theorbiter crossed the sphere ofinfluence of Earth. Now itlooks like the life of the or-biter may be extended fromits original five months, asvery less fuel has been used

for manoeuvres. "As thespacecraft is on its designatedtrajectory, the TCM plannedfor April 2014 is not consid-ered essential. If required, thenext TCM is planned to becarried out in June 2014," Isrosaid.

Originally the TCMswere planned in April, Augustand September, 2014. TheMars orbiter insertion will becarried out on September 24,2014. If all goes fine, MOMwill study a range of thingsincluding early signs of life orsupporting system on the red

planet and its atmospherethrough five indigenous in-struments or for at least fivemonths.

India is among anelite club of nations to take upinterplanetary probes. Of the51 Mars missions by the USand Russia/ USSR, only 21had been successful. Fourteendays after India's MoM, theUS launched a similar mis-

sion, MAVEN, which is alsoon its way to the red planet.

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