Life & works of local literary icon on exhibit

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SINGAPORE: An exhibition that features the life and works of local literary icon Dr Muhammad Ariff Ahmad was launched at the National Library Building on Saturday.

"Sumbangsih MAS: Muhammad Ariff Ahmad" also showcases his writings that are displayed for the first time, including an unpublished manuscript.

The well-respected Malay language and cultural luminary turned 88 two days ago.

This exhibition - which recognises his efforts and contributions towards Singapore's literary scene, comes as a timely birthday gift.

Jointly organised by National Library Board, ASAS 50 and the Malay Language Council, the exhibition is in English and Malay to reach out to a wider community.

In conjunction with the exhibition, NLB published a bibliography on Dr Ariff's works, in the hope that it becomes a source of reference for researchers of Malay literature in Singapore.

The National Library Board also produced a collection of 25 of Dr Ariff's poems that were penned since 1947.

"What can be expected in this exhibition is the life and contributions of Cikgu Muhammad Ariff, mainly in the areas of language, literature and in the education field," said Juffri Supa'at, curator for the exhibition and senior librarian of the National Library.

The exhibition is part of NLB's Literary Pioneer Series in honour of Singapore's literary figures.

The exhibition runs at Level 9 of the National Library Building until 3 February 2013. It is open to public and admission is free.

- CNA/xq



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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

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MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced by a mix of ignorance, cautious optimism about partnerships and a whole lot of misguided paranoia. "Don't demonise the Chinese, please," Guha finally said in response to a question.

"China has existed in our imaginations," observed Sunil Khilnani, professor of politics and author of The Idea Of India. "There's been very little sustained engagement with the reality of China and very little of our own produced knowledge about China." It was after the events of 1962 ('war' in the popular imagination, 'skirmish' to the scholars participating in the discussion), explained Khilnani, that a miffed India "withdrew". It's the 50th anniversary of that exchange this year, and "what we haven't been able to do is learn from the defeat", observed Khilnani. Both could have benefited from greater engagement. "China has had a very clear focus on primary education and achieved high levels of literacy before its economic rise. It has also addressed the issue of land reform," said Khilnani. Guha added that China could learn from the "religious, cultural and linguistic pluralism" in India.

But China and India weren't always so out of sync with each other. Srinath Raghavan, a scholar of military history, got both Guha and Khilnani to talk about pre-1962 relations between the two when the picture was rosier. Tagore was interested in China and so was Gandhi. Both were very large countries with large populations and shared what Guha calls a "lack of cultural inferiority". "They were both," he continued, "also heavily dependent on peasant communities." Nehru was appreciative of China's will to modernize and industrialize and its adoption of technology to achieve those ends. In turn, Chinese politicians argued for Indian independence.

Things soured more, feel both Khilnani and Guha, after the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959. "He was welcomed here as a spiritual leader but the intensification of the conflict dates to the Dalai Lama's flight," said Guha. Both Guha and Khilnani argued that Nehru's decision to not react aggressively to China's occupation of Tibet was, in the long run, the right one and prevented further "militarization" of the region. An audience member wondered if that didn't make India "China's puppet". Guha disagreed. "If there's a Tibetan culture alive today," he said, "it's not because of Richard Gere. Don't believe in the hypocrisy of the Western countries. Will they give them land, employment, dignified refuge? The Tibetans is one of the few cases in which our record is honorable."

But the difference in levels of development and the lopsided trade relations between the two countries have only fuelled the suspicions many Indians seem to harbour about China. People were worried, said Guha, even about cricket balls made in China. Audience questions reflected those worries. A member asked about China's "strategy to conquer the world" and its likely impact on India. Guha cautioned against stereotypes; Khilnani explained, "History is littered with the debris of states that have tried to dominate the world. What we're doing may be more long-lasting."

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

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When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.

Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't need it to flourish. The research team from the University of Florida in Gainesville thinks this ability is related to a plant's inherent ability to orient itself as it grows. Seeds germinated on the International Space Station sprouted roots that behaved like they would on Earth—growing away from the seed to seek nutrients and water in exactly the same pattern observed with gravity. (Related: "Beyond Gravity.")

Since the flowers were orbiting some 220 miles (350 kilometers) above the Earth at the time, the NASA-funded experiment suggests that plants still retain an earthy instinct when they don't have gravity as a guide.

"The role of gravity in plant growth and development in terrestrial environments is well understood," said plant geneticist and study co-author Anna-Lisa Paul, with the University of Florida in Gainesville. "What is less well understood is how plants respond when you remove gravity." (See a video about plant growth.)

The new study revealed that "features of plant growth we thought were a result of gravity acting on plant cells and organs do not actually require gravity," she added.

Paul and her collaborator Robert Ferl, a plant biologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville, monitored their plants from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using images sent from the space station every six hours.

Root Growth

Grown on a nutrient-rich gel in clear petri plates, the space flowers showed familiar root growth patterns such as "skewing," where roots slant progressively as they branch out.

"When we saw the first pictures come back from orbit and saw that we had most of the skewing phenomenon we were quite surprised," Paul said.

Researchers have always thought that skewing was the result of gravity's effects on how the root tip interacts with the surfaces it encounters as it grows, she added. But Paul and Ferl suspect that in the absence of gravity, other cues take over that enable the plant to direct its roots away from the seed and light-seeking shoot. Those cues could include moisture, nutrients, and light avoidance.

"Bottom line is that although plants 'know' that they are in a novel environment, they ultimately do just fine," Paul said.

The finding further boosts the prospect of cultivating food plants in space and, eventually, on other planets.

"There's really no impediment to growing plants in microgravity, such as on a long-term mission to Mars, or in reduced-gravity environments such as in specialized greenhouses on Mars or the moon," Paul said. (Related: "Alien Trees Would Bloom Black on Worlds With Double Stars.")

The study findings appear in the latest issue of the journal BMC Plant Biology.


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Australian DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

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An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week.


Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter to the Max Moore-Wilton, chairman of Southern Cross Austereo, the Australian radio station's parent company.


Glenarthur said the prank humiliated "two dedicated and caring nurses," and the consequences were "tragic beyond words," The Associated Press reported.


DJs Mel Greig and Michael Christian, radio shock jocks at Sydney's 2Day FM have been taken off the air, but the company they work for did not fire them or condemn them.


"I think that it's a bit early to be drawing conclusions from what is really a deeply tragic matter," Rhys Holleran, CEO of Southern Cross Austereo told a news conference in Sydney. "I mean, our main concern is for the family. I don't think anyone could have reasonably foreseen that this was going to be a result."


Nurse Jacintha Saldanha was found dead Friday morning after police were called to an address near the hospital to "reports of a woman found unconscious," according to a statement from Scotland Yard.


Circumstances of her death are still being investigated, but are not suspicious at this stage, authorities said Friday.


Following news of Saldanha's death, commentary on social media included posts expressing shock, sadness and anger.








Jacintha Saldanha, Nurse at Kate Middleton's Hospital, Found Dead Watch Video









A sampling of some of the twitter posts directed at the DJs included: "you scumbag, hope you get what's coming to you" and "I hope you're happy now."


The hospital said that Saldanha worked at the hospital for more than four years. They called her a "first-class nurse" and "a well-respected and popular member of the staff."


The hospital extended their "deepest sympathies" to family and friends, saying that "everyone is shocked" at this "tragic event."


"I am devastated with the tragic loss of my beloved wife Jacintha in tragic circumstances, she will be laid to rest in Shirva, India," Saldanha's husband posted on Facebook.


The duchess spent three days at the hospital undergoing treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum, severe or debilitating nausea and vomiting. She was released from the hospital on Thursday morning.


"The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha," a spokesman from St. James Palace said in a statement.


On Friday, Greig and Christian had been gloating about their successful call to the hospital, in which they pretended to be Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles and were able to obtain personal information about the Duchess's serious condition.


"You know what they were the worst accents ever and when we made that phone call we were sure a hundred people at least before us would have tried the same thing," said Grieg on air. She added with a laugh, "we were expecting to be hung up on we didn't even know what to say [when] we got through."


"We got through and now the entire world is talking, of course," said her co-host Christian.


When the royal impersonators called the hospital, Saldanha put through to a second nurse who told the royal impersonators that Kate was "quite stable" and hadn't "had any retching."


The hospital apologized for the mistake.


"The call was transferred through to a ward, and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff," the hospital said in a statement. "King Edward VII's Hospital deeply regrets this incident."


"This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore," John Lofthouse, the hospital's chief executive, said in the statement. "We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously, and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols."


The radio station also apologized for the prank call.






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Yachting: Stamm takes lead in Vendee Globe

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PARIS: Switzerland's Bernard Stamm has taken the lead for the first time in the solo, round-the-world Vendee Globe race ahead of France's Francois Gabart, Jean-Pierre Dick and Armel Le Cleac'h, organisers said on Friday.

Stamm took pole position in the southern Indian Ocean after Le Cleac'h, who had held the lead for much of the last 18 days, paid the price for trying to cut off an anticyclone near the Crozet "ice gate".

The Swiss skipper was the first to pass the virtual marker post on Thursday morning and the first to meet gentle winds - those slower than 10 knots.

At 0400 GMT on Friday, he was sailing at no more than 4.6 knots while Stamm (15.5 knots), Gabart (14.3 knots) and Dick (13.4 knots) were travelling nearly three times faster and more southward, buoyed by more sustained wind.

Le Cleac'h dropped to fourth overall and those in his wake chose to delay heading through the gentle wind zone, crossing their fingers that it will disappear when they head northward to pass Crozet.

Stamm's performance in his third Vendee Globe is remarkable given that his boat "Cheminees Poujoulat" is the most powerful of the fleet but also the most demanding physically.

The 49-year-old, who is based in the Brittany region of northwest France, has a glittering record in world sailing, having twice won the Velux 5 Oceans in 2002/3 and 2006/7 and is experienced in the Southern Ocean.

Standings at 0400 GMT:

1. Bernard Stamm (SUI/Cheminees Poujoulat) 16,641 nautical miles (19,150 miles, 30,819 kilometres) from the finish

2. Francois Gabart (FRA/Macif) at 11.5 miles

3. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA/Virbac Paprec 3) at 59.5 miles

4. Armel Le Cleac'h (FRA/Banque Populaire) at 106.2 miles

5. Alex Thomson (GBR/Hugo Boss) at 145.3 miles

6. Mike Golding (GBR/Gamesa) at 653.7 miles

7. Dominique Wavre (SUI/Mirabaud) at 677.6 miles

8. Jean Le Cam (FRA/SynerCiel) at 678.1 miles

9. Javier Sanso (ESP/Acciona) at 1,295 miles

10. Arnaud Boissieres (FRA/Akena Verandas) at 1,515 miles

- AFP/de



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Cauvery water dispute tribunal award to be notified by December-end

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NEW DELHI: After nearly six years, the final award of the Cauvery water dispute tribunal will be notified by the end of this month, states sharing the disputed Cauvery river waters were informed today.

At a meeting of the Cauvery monitoring committee (CMC) , secretary water resources D V Singh — who chairs the panel — told representatives of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry that steps "shall" be taken to notify the final award of the tribunal at the earliest, "but not later than the end of this month."

The meeting of the CMC was convened today to give an interim order on water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Once a gazette notification is issued, institutions like the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) chaired by the Prime Minister and the CMC will cease to exist.

The Tribunal, comprising chairman Justice N P Singh and members N S Rao and Sudhir Narain, in a unanimous award in February, 2007 had determined the total availability of water in the Cauvery basin at 740 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet at the Lower Coleroon Anicut site.

The proceedings of the Tribunal, set up in June, 1990, went on for more than 16 years.

In, what was then described as a balancing act, the Tribunal gave Tamil Nadu 419 TMC of water(as against the demand of 562 TMC); Karnataka 270 TMC (as against its demand of 465 TMC); Kerala 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC.

For environmental protection, it had reserved 10 TMC. The Tribunal's award will come into effect within 90 days of its notification by the Centre. As per law, the award comes into being after being notified by the Centre through its publication in a gazette.

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Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

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November Unemployment Falls to 7.7 Percent

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The economy generated 146,000 new jobs in November and unemployment fell to 7.7 percent, better than economists expected, despite worries that superstorm Sandy and the looming fiscal cliff would dampen hiring.


There are still 12 million people unemployed in the country, but the Labor Department said Sandy did not "substantively impact" employment.


The Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics dialed back job gains for the previous two months. In October, the U.S. economy added 138,000 jobs, not the 171,000 reported before the election. The jobs added in September were also revised downward to 132,000 from 148,000.


Stephen Bronars, chief economist with Welch Consulting in Washington, D.C., said many economists believed Superstorm Sandy would have influenced Friday's jobs report after causing devastation especially in the Caribbean and U.S. Northeast. Many expected an addition of 90,000 jobs causing the unemployment rate to tick up slightly.


Though the job numbers seemed strong, Bronars still said the overall report was "mixed" as many people were giving up their job searches. He also said he expects the payroll number for November will also be revised downward in the next two months.


"We need to see a few more months of data to see the full impact of both Sandy and expiring unemployment insurance benefits," Bronars said.






Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images







Businesses and residents in the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which produce about one-eighth of U.S. GDP, experienced prolonged power outages and major infrastructure damage.


Bronars said, "Sandy hit the U.S. at a place where it inflicted close to the maximal possible economic damage from a storm that size."


New Jersey and New York were the hardest hit, with at least 120,000 jobs lost, at least temporarily, in those two states, some estimates showed. The Labor Department will release official regional and state unemployment estimates on Dec. 21.


Expiring unemployment insurance benefits for many jobless workers also affected the labor department's household survey as benefits have run out for hundreds of thousands of workers. A condition for receiving unemployment insurance benefits is an active job search.


"It is not surprising that some of the workers that have been out of work for a year and a half would give up job search, for a while, after their benefits ran out," Bronars said.


The labor force dropped by 350,000 in one month and employment fell by 122,000 according to the household survey.


"Those numbers are weak, even given Hurricane Sandy," Bronars said.


In addition, the employment to population ratio and the labor force participation rates fell.


On Wednesday, payroll provider ADP, reported that private companies added 118,000 jobs in November, down from 157,000 in October. However, ADP includes in its figures people as employed if they remain on payroll, whereas the Labor Department's includes workers as employed if they are paid.


Now that election season is over, employers and investors are surrounded by worries from another uncertainty, the fiscal cliff.


Read more: Eliminating Charitable Deduction Would Help Budget, Hurt Charities


Bronars said the November report will not have quite picked up effects of the looming fiscal cliff, as employers prepare for a mix of government spending cuts and tax increases after the end of the year.






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OUE sets deadline for F&N takeover offer

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SINGAPORE: A consortium led by property group Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) has set a deadline for its takeover offer of conglomerate Fraser and Neave (F&N).

Its S$13.1 billion offer for F&N will close on 3 January.

OUE is controlled by Lippo Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate that was founded by tycoon Mochtar Riady. Mr Mochtar is father of OUE's executive chairman Stephen Riady.

The OUE-led consortium offered to buy out shares of F&N at S$9.08 a piece on 15 November.

It is backed by Japanese brewer Kirin Holdings, which holds a 14.8 per cent stake in F&N. Kirin is also F&N's second largest shareholder.

OUE's offer was 2.25 per cent higher than the S$8.88 per share offered by rival TCC Assets, which is controlled by Thai beverage tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

Through his entities TCC and Thai Beverage, he now owns almost a third of F&N.

TCC's S$8.7 billion bid for F&N will close on 11 December.

Analysts expect both sides to battle it out for F&N given the attractiveness of its property and soft drinks business.

They say TCC, which has extended the deadline on its offer twice, could ask for yet another extension next Tuesday before making their next move.

Liu Jinshu, deputy lead analyst at SIAS Research said: "TCC can't drag this out over a prolonged period, with the OUE bid announced last month, there is pressure for them to raise the stake.

"The premium offered by OUE's offer at S$9.08 a share is not high. TCC might not find it attractive after they have invested so much resources and effort in F&N. There is potential for TCC to rope in a partner and put in a higher bid for F&N."

F&N's share price closed at S$9.39 on Thursday, leading analysts to say that shareholders are holding out for a better offer and that a bidding war could emerge.

"We are seeing steady level being held at around the S$9.40-S$9.50 share mark on the exchange traded share. At the moment we are waiting to see who would move first in terms of putting in a better offer… I think we are likely to see both sides improve before we actually get to the end of any takeover," said Head of Premium Client Management at IG Markets Jason Hughes.

F&N is expected to appoint an independent financial advisor to review OUE's offer.

- CNA/jc



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BJP is bigger evil than Cong and JD(S): Yeddyurappa

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BANGALORE: A week after snapping his four decade old association with BJP, former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa came down heavily on BJP, calling it 'a bigger evil' than Congress and JD(S).

"BJP is a bigger evil than Congress or JDS. So I have decided not to return to my previous party under any circumstance" Yeddyurappa said. However, he said he cannot forget the party as it has given him everything right from the post of president of a municipality to CM.

The 70-year-old former BJP strongman, who is set to formally launch his regional outfit Karnataka Janata Party in Haveri on Sunday said he has distanced himself from RSS ideology and is now wedded to the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Jayaprakash Narayan.

Yeddyurappa claimed that he has the support of 50 to 55 BJP MLAs and 12 MPs. He dared BJP leadership to take action against his supporters. In the same tenor, he also took on chief minister Jagadish Shettar. "I made a mistake in making Shettar CM. But I do not want to topple it and face allegations that I was responsible for it,'' he said.

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