Michael Jackson, pop music legend, dead at 50

. Michael Jackson, the show-stopping singer whose best-selling albums -- including "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" -- and electrifying stage presence made him one of the most popular artists of all time, died Thursday, CNN has confirmed.

He was 50.

He collapsed at his residence in the Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles, California, about noon Pacific time, suffering cardiac arrest, according to brother Randy Jackson. He died at UCLA Medical Center.

Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office said an autopsy would probably be done on the singer Friday, with results expected that afternoon.

"Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of color," the Rev. Al Sharpton said. "To say an 'icon' would only give these young people in Harlem a fraction of what he was. He was a historic figure that people will measure music and the industry by."

Jackson's blazing rise to stardom -- and later fall from grace -- is among the most startling of show business tales. The son of a steelworker, he rose to fame as the lead singer of the Jackson 5, a band he formed with his brothers in the late 1960s. By the late '70s, as a solo artist, he was topping the charts with cuts from "Off the Wall," including "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

In 1982, he released "Thriller," an album that eventually produced seven hit singles. An appearance the next year on a Motown Records 25th-anniversary special cemented his status as the biggest star in the country.

And then "Dangerous" was knocked out of its No. 1 spot on the album charts by Nirvana's "Nevermind," an occurrence noted for its symbolism by rock critics.

After that, more attention was paid to Jackson's private life than his music career, which faltered. A 1995 two-CD greatest hits, "HIStory," sold relatively poorly, given the huge expense of Jackson's recording contract: about 7 million copies, according to Recording Industry of America certifications.

A 2001 album of new material, "Invincible," did even worse.

In 2005, he went to trial on child-molestation charges. He was acquitted.

Legless frogs mystery solved

.Scientists think they have resolved one of the most controversial environmental issues of the past decade: the curious case of the missing frogs' legs.

Around the world, frogs are found with missing or misshaped limbs, a striking deformity that many researchers believe is caused by chemical pollution.

However, tests on frogs and toads have revealed a more natural, benign cause.

The deformed frogs are actually victims of the predatory habits of dragonfly nymphs, which eat the legs of tadpoles.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, researchers started getting reports of numerous wild frogs or toads being found with extra legs or arms, or with limbs that were partly formed or missing completely.

The cause of these deformities soon became a hotly contested issue.

Some researchers believed they might be caused naturally, by predators or parasites.

Others thought that was highly unlikely, fearing that chemical pollution, or UV-B radiation caused by the thinning of the ozone layer, was triggering the deformations.

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"Deformed frogs became one of the most contentious environmental issues of all time, with the parasite researchers on one side, and the 'chemical company' as I call them, on the other," says Stanley Sessions, an amphibian specialist and professor of biology at Hartwick College, in Oneonta, New York.

"There was a veritable media firestorm, with millions of dollars of grant money at stake."

After a long period of research, Sessions and other researchers established that many amphibians with extra limbs were actually infected by small parasitic flatworms called Riberoria trematodes.

These creatures burrow into the hindquarters of tadpoles where they physically rearrange the limb bud cells and thereby interfere with limb development.

"But that was not end of the story," says Sessions.

"Frogs with extra limbs may have been the most dramatic-looking deformities, but they are by far the least common deformities found," he explains.

"The most commonly found deformities are frogs or toads found with missing or truncated limbs, and although parasites occasionally cause limblessness in a frog, these deformities are almost never associated with the trematode species known to cause extra limbs."

Ivory bird displays ancient skill

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A sculpted piece of mammoth ivory may be the earliest representation of a bird in the archaeological record.

The 30,000-year-old figurine, found at Hohle Fels Cave in Germany's Ach Valley, depicts what looks to be a diving cormorant with swept-back wings.

It was found with carvings of a similar style - one shaped like a horse's head; the other is half-animal, half-human.

Experts have told the journal Nature that the figurines are among the most exquisite examples of early human art.

It is not possible to say for sure which particular hominid species made the objects.

However, Professor Nicholas Conard, from the department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Tubingen University, who reports their discovery, says the sculptors were probably modern humans (Homo sapiens).

'Oldest musical instrument' found

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Scientists in Germany have published details of flutes dating back to the time that modern humans began colonising Europe, 35,000 years ago.

The flutes are the oldest musical instruments found to date.

The researchers say in the Journal Nature that music was widespread in pre-historic times.

Music, they suggest, may have been one of a suite of behaviours displayed by our own species which helped give them an edge over the Neanderthals.

The team from Tubingen University have published details of three flutes found in the Hohle Fels cavern in southwest Germany.

The cavern is already well known as a site for signs of early human efforts; in May, members of the same team unveiled a Hohle Fels find that could be the world's oldest Venus figure.

The most well-preserved of the flutes is made from a vulture's wing bone, measuring 20cm long with five finger holes and two "V"-shaped notches on one end of the instrument into which the researchers assume the player blew.

The archaeologists also found fragments of two other flutes carved from ivory that they believe was taken from the tusks of mammoths.

Creative origins

The find brings the total number of flutes discovered from this era to eight, four made from mammoth ivory and four made from bird bones.

According to Professor Nicholas Conard of Tubingen University, this suggests that the playing of music was common as far back as 40,000 years ago when modern humans spread across Europe.

"It's becoming increasingly clear that music was part of day-to-day life," he said.

"Music was used in many kinds of social contexts: possibly religious, possibly recreational - much like we use music today in many kinds of settings."

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The researchers also suggest that not only was music widespread much earlier than previously thought, but so was humanity's creative spirit.

Solar plane to make public debut

.Swiss adventurer Bertrand Picard is set to unveil a prototype of the solar-powered plane he hopes eventually to fly around the world.

The initial version, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly at night.

Mr Picard, who made history by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon in 1999, says he wants to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies.

He expects to make a crossing of the Atlantic in 2012.

The flight would be a risky endeavour. Only now is solar and battery technology becoming mature enough to sustain flight through the night - and then only in unmanned planes.

But Picard's Solar Impulse team has invested tremendous energy - and no little money - in trying to find what they believe is a breakthrough design.

"I love this type of vision where you set the goal and then you try to find a way to reach it, because this is challenging," he told BBC News.

Testing programme

The HB-SIA has the look of a glider but is on the scale - in terms of its width - of a modern airliner.

The aeroplane incorporates composite materials to keep it extremely light and uses super-efficient solar cells, batteries, motors and propellers to get it through the dark hours.

Picard will begin testing with short runway flights in which the plane lifts just a few metres into the air.

As confidence in the machine develops, the team will move to a day-night circle. This has never been done before in a piloted solar-powered plane.

HB-SIA should be succeeded by HB-SIB. It is likely to be bigger, and will incorporate a pressurised capsule and better avionics.

It is probable that Picard will follow a route around the world in this aeroplane close to the path he took in the record-breaking Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon - going from the United Arab Emirates, to China, to Hawaii, across the southern US, southern Europe, and back to the UAE.

Measuring success

Although the vehicle is expected to be capable of flying non-stop around the globe, Picard will in fact make five long hops, sharing flying duties with project partner Andre Borschberg.

The aeroplane could do it theoretically non-stop - but not the pilot," said Picard.

"We should fly at roughly 25 knots and that would make it between 20 and 25 days to go around the world, which is too much for a pilot who has to steer the plane.

"In a balloon you can sleep, because it stays in the air even if you sleep. We believe the maximum for one pilot is five days."

The public unveiling on Friday of the HB-SIA is taking place at Dubendorf airfield near Zürich.

The real success for Solar Impulse would be to have enough millions of people following the project, being enthusiastic about it, and saying 'if they managed to do it around the world with renewable energies and energy savings, then we should be able to do it in our daily life'."

Windows 7 pricing gets unveiled

Microsoft will not be offering an upgrade version of Windows 7 in Europe.

In the past Microsoft has given people already using Windows a chance to upgrade to a new version when it becomes available.

While that option will be offered in the US, Microsoft said its efforts to comply with competition regulations meant it could not do so in Europe.

European regulators dismissed the claim, saying the move limited choices rather than opening them up.

No choice

Windows 7 is due to go on sale on 22 October around the world.

Anyone outside Europe buying a new PC between now and then - running Windows Vista Home Premium, Business or Ultimate - will get the chance to upgrade the operating system on it, at no cost, to Windows 7.

While Microsoft will not charge for the upgrade, some PC makers may impose a fee to ship disks with Windows 7 on them to customers.

The worldwide upgrade option programme is due to begin on 26 June.

Those who want to upgrade to Windows 7 on a older PC will pay a reduced price for the software. Stand alone versions of Windows 7, that can run on more than one PC, will also be available.

Microsoft said these upgrade options will not be available to Europeans.

"We will not be able to offer an upgrade product within Europe," said John Curran, Windows business lead at Microsoft UK, adding that only the full version of the software will be available to Europeans.

Microsoft will make an upgrade offer to buyers of new PCs but will send them a full version of the software rather than an upgrade version.

In Europe, the full version will be priced as if it were an upgrade version.

Folic acid protects baby hearts

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Mandatory fortification of bread with folic acid would slash the risk of babies being born with a heart problem, experience from Canada shows.

Rates of severe congenital heart defects among newborns in Quebec fell significantly after the move to fortify flour and pasta began in 1998.

The British Medical Journal online study lends support to calls for introducing fortification to Europe.

But others argue against this, saying it would inevitably harm some people.

The fear is that adding folic acid to products like bread could harm some elderly people if they are deficient in other B vitamins.

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In extreme cases, this can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system.

There is also concern that it may also increase the risk of certain cancers, including bowel cancer, in some people.

In 2007 the UK's watchdog, the Food Standards Agency, agreed with expert recommendations to fortify bread or flour with folic acid.

Since then, at the request of the Chief Medical Officer, an expert working group on folate has been considering the results of recent trials looking at the effect of folic acid on the risk of some types of cancer.

The group is expected to report back to Sir Liam Donaldson this summer.

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Risk reduction

Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate, a B vitamin found in a wide variety of foods including liver and green leafy vegetables.

Pregnant women and those trying to conceive are already advised to take folic acid supplements to reduce the risk that their baby will have a "neural tube" birth defect like spina bifida.

But uptake is not ideal, particularly because some pregnancies are unplanned and can go unnoticed for some weeks.

The latest work suggests folic acid also cuts the risk of baby heart defects.

In the seven years after fortification was introduced there was a 6% drop per year in the birth prevalence of severe heart defects.

This compares with a 9% drop in neural tube defects.

Writing in the BMJ, lead author Professor Louise Pilote of McGill University in Montreal, said:

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"Given that severe congenital heart defects require complex surgical interventions in infancy and are associated with high infant mortality rates, even a small reduction in the overall risk will significantly reduce the costs associated with the medical care of these patients and the psychological burden on patients and their families."

How Susan Boyle won over the world

. Susan Boyle was just a face in the crowd.

Clips of her singing on Britain's Got Talent have notched up almost 50 million views on YouTube.

Her face appears on the front pages of papers in Britain and beyond, she has been offered a seat on Oprah's sofa and has been told she is as good as guaranteed a worldwide number one album.

The rise of the 47-year-old Scot has been a true global phenomenon.

Last Saturday, viewers saw Boyle, with double chin, unkempt hair, frumpy appearance and eccentric demeanour, step onto the talent show stage and proclaim her dream of being a professional singer.

The judges rolled their eyes and the audience pulled incredulous faces. Onlookers, on set and at home, were rubbing their hands at the prospect of another hopeless, deluded loser being crushed by a withering Simon Cowell insult.

Then she opened her mouth and sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.

Her voice confounded all expectations - the judges' eyes bulged, the crowd went wild and Boyle became an instant star.

Boyle has shattered prejudices about the connection between age, appearance and talent. She has proved that you don't have to be young and glamorous to be talented, and recognised as such.

The YouTube millions have cheered on the underdog, and seen in her the possibilities for their own hopes and dreams.

Immediately after her performance, one of the judges, Amanda Holden, said they had been "very cynical", and that the performance was the "biggest wake-up call ever".

Another judge, former newspaper editor Piers Morgan, appeared with Boyle on CNN's Larry King Show.

"I'm sorry because we did not give you anything like the respect we should have done when you first came out," he told her. Referring to her appearance, he said: "We thought you were going to be a bit of a joke act, to be honest with you."

Boyle would have a best-selling album and a world tour by the end of the year, whether she wins Britain's Got Talent or not, he assured her.

And mentioning fellow judge Simon Cowell, Morgan added: "It's fair to say that his eyes have been going ker-ching ever since Susan's performance."

Blogs, newspaper columns and talk shows have been full of discussion about why Boyle has sparked such a reaction.

Swine flu could hit one in three

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A third of the world's population could be infected with swine flu, expert projections suggest.

Researchers say swine flu has "full pandemic potential", spreading readily between people and is likely to go global in the next six to nine months.

Although one in three who come in contact will likely become infected, the Imperial College London team declined to estimate the death toll.

The study based on Mexico's experience is published in the journal Science.

The number of laboratory-confirmed swine flu cases has reached 5,251 in some 30 countries around the world, with 61 having died from the disease, the World Health Organization has confirmed.

Working in collaboration with the WHO and public health agencies in Mexico, the researchers assessed the Mexico epidemic using data to the end of April and taking into account factors like international spread and viral genetic diversity.

Lead researcher Professor Neil Ferguson said it was too early to say whether the virus will cause deaths on a massive scale, or prove little more lethal than normal seasonal flu.

His "fast and dirty" analysis of Mexico's swine flu outbreak suggests that the H1N1 virus is about as dangerous as the virus behind a 1957 pandemic that killed 2 million people worldwide.

But it's not nearly as lethal as the bug that caused the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which caused an estimated 50 million deaths in 1918.

Its full impact on the UK is not likely to be known until the annual flu season in the autumn and winter, when a "really major epidemic" can be expected in the northern hemisphere, says Professor Ferguson.

Prof Ferguson, who sits on the World Health Organisation's emergency committee for the outbreak, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "This virus really does have full pandemic potential. It is likely to spread around the world in the next six to nine months and when it does so it will affect about one-third of the world's population.

"To put that into context, normal seasonal flu every year probably affects around 10% of the world's population every year, so we are heading for a flu season which is perhaps three times worse than usual - not allowing for whether this virus is more severe than normal seasonal flu viruses."

His study suggests swine flu could kill four in every 1,000 infected people.

Professor Ferguson said his findings confirmed that decisions must be taken swiftly on vaccine production.

"We really need to be prepared, particularly for the autumn. At the moment, the virus is not spreading fast in the northern hemisphere, because we are outside the normal flu season, but come the autumn it is likely to cause a really major epidemic.

"One of the key decisions which has to be made this week by the world community is how much do we switch over current vaccine production for seasonal flu to make a vaccine against this particular virus? I think those decisions need to be made quickly."

Google unveils new search tools

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Google said in its quest to create the perfect search engine, it cannot afford to rest on its laurels.

The company's comments came at an event billed as a "state of the union" on search as it unveiled new products that aim to push search in a new direction.

Google has over 63% of the US market compared to rival Yahoo with 20%.

"The race in search is far from over and innovation and continued improvement is absolutely pivotal," said Google's Marissa Mayer.

"I've said this many times but search is still in its infancy. Our engineers are worried about what is the next big thing in search and how are they going to find it," said Ms Mayer who is the vice president of search products and user experience.

She said last year Google released over 365 products and in the first quarter of this year it was 120. Ms Mayer added that this was proof that "Google gets better all the time."

Google has in the past said that despite its lead in the marketplace, users were "one click away" from switching to other alternatives.

Vanessa Fox of SearchEngineLand told the BBC that Google's ability to constantly innovate gives them a leading edge.

"Google is saying we have to provide for all searchers and do things at scale. It means they have to launch all sorts of features while some companies can concentrate on just one thing. The key thing behind why they are still ahead is because they are able to innovate at such a pace," said Ms Fox.

Hyena giggles no laughing matter

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Researchers have begun to unravel the information and social content present in the hyena's famed laugh, which they say is only used in times of conflict.

The pitch and variability of the giggles may be used to indicate age or social status, they say.

Younger hyenas tend to have high-pitched giggles, and dominant females of the strongly hierarchical clans tend to have a narrower range of sounds.

The work will be reported at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.

The rich social structure of hyena clans gives rise to many vocalisations, ranging from "whoops" that travel great distances to quiet grunts among close individuals.

But it is the laugh of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) that has given them their more common moniker of "laughing hyenas".

"This is a very complex society of nocturnal animals, so acoustics is a very important communication channel for them," says Nicolas Mathevon, who led the research.

It has been hypothesised by researchers studying hyenas in the wild that the laughing is not, in fact, a sign of good humour.

Yet it remains unclear what social information the short fits of laughter - or giggles, as the researchers call them - convey.

Key coral reefs 'could disappear'

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The world's most important coral region is in danger of being wiped out by the end of this century unless fast action is taken, says a new report.

The international conservation group WWF warns that 40% of reefs in the Coral Triangle have already been lost.

The area is shared between Indonesia and five other south-east Asian nations and is thought to contain 75% of the world's coral species.

It is likened to the Amazon rainforest in terms of its biodiversity.

Temperature change

It's 2099, and across south-east Asia, a hundred million people are on the march, looking for food.

The fish they once relied on is gone. Communities are breaking down; economies destroyed.

That is what we can expect, says the new WWF report, if the world's richest coral reef is destroyed.

And that, it says, could happen this century.

It's billed as a worst-case scenario, but the report's chief author, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, says it is not as bad as the future we're currently headed towards.

"Up until now we haven't realized how quickly this system is changing," says Professtor Hoegh-Guldberg.

"In the last 40 years in the Coral Triangle, we've lost 40% of coral reefs and mangroves - and that's probably an underestimate. We've fundamentally changed the way the planet works in terms of currents and this is only with a 0.7 degree change in terms of temperature.

"What's going to happen when we exceed two or four or six?"

Climate change consequences

Avoiding a worst-case scenario would need significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and better controls on fishing and coastal areas, says the report.

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The Coral Triangle covers 1% of the earth's surface but contains a third of all the world's coral, and three-quarters of its coral reef species.

If it goes, an entire eco-system goes with it - and that, says Prof Hoegh-Gudberg, has serious consequences for its ability to tackle climate change.

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"Pollution, the inappropriate use of coastal areas, these are destroying the productivity of ocean which is plummeting right now. That is the system that traps CO2 - 40% of CO2 goes into the ocean.

"Now if we interrupt that, the problems on planet earth become even greater," says Prof Hoegh-Gudberg.

Indonesia is hosting the World Ocean Conference this week because, it says, oceans have been neglected so far in global discussions on climate change.

It wants the issue to have a bigger profile at UN climate talks later this year.

Meet the brains of the animal world

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"In the past, people thought birds were stupid," laments the aptly named scientist Christopher Bird.

But in fact, some of our feathered friends are far cleverer than we might think.

And one group in particular - the corvids - has astonished scientists with extraordinary feats of memory, an ability to employ complex social reasoning and, perhaps most strikingly, a remarkable aptitude for crafting and using tools.

Mr Bird, who is based at the department of zoology at Cambridge University, says: "I would rate corvids as being as intelligent as primates in many ways."

The corvids - a group that includes crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays and magpies - contain some of the most social species of birds.

And some of their intelligence is played out against the backdrop of living with others, where being intelligent enough to recognize individuals, to form alliances and foster relationships is key.

However, group living can also lead to deceptive behaviour - and western scrub jays (Aphelocoma californica ) can be the sneakiest of the bird-bunch.

Unseen Harrison lyrics displayed

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Lyrics written by former Beatle George Harrison that have never been seen before have gone on display at the British Library in London.

The untitled lyrics were written in early 1967 when Harrison was aged 23 or 24 while the Beatles had stopped touring to work in the studio.

Hunter Davies, who is researching the band's official biography, found the lyrics at the Abbey Road studio.

The hand-written lyrics were never put to music or recorded.

Jamie Andrews, head of modern literary manuscripts at the library, said: "The nation loves the Beatles so it's great to see George's lyric reunited with those of his band mates in the British Library."

Most of the British Library's Beatles collection is on loan by permission of Davies, who plans to donate it to the library after his death.

Little Thing

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Nature

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Lessons of War-II

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While the army was engaged in the most serious business of war on its own land, the Army HQ allowed many officers to opt for easy and lucrative UN assignments and overseas courses

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The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) succeeded in preventing the insurgents from capturing state power by force. Nevertheless, the actual counter-insurgency operations revealed some of the fundamental and inherent weaknesses of the RNA as regards its organization, recruitment, preparation, training, grooming of officers, intelligence, operations, logistics, system of reward and punishment, command and leadership.

When he insurgents were eliminating the police force in the country’s remote areas, the RNA knew very well that it would have to be mobilized sooner or later to combat the insurgency. But it remained indifferent to the situation as if everything would be fine by he blessings of Lord Pashupatinath. As a result the insurgents, equipped with a few 303 rifles and homemade weapons, managed to attack and overrun the Dang army barracks, which provided them a large number of modern weapons, ammunition, explosives and equipment for the first time.

The RNA’s training hardly paid any serious attention to the importance and sensitiveness of human rights issues, ignorance of which ultimately caused the greatest damage to the image and operation of the army. Moreover, during actual face-to-face combat with the insurgents, the RNA troops could hardly use the fundamental military tactic of fire and manoeuvre. And while each defensive position (comprising approximately 150 personnel) that fought successful defensive battle fired more than one hindered thousand rounds of ammunition plus several explosives in one night, the number of insurgents that fell was less than 50. The RNA’s training doctrine, which is generally based on foreign training doctrines, and false and unrealistic assumptions proved to be ineffective and irrelevant.

Distortion of information and reports happened to be the major disease afflicting the army. Almost every unit or formation distorted reports to demonstrate its effectiveness, which caused numerous problems and number of major disasters. Lack of good logistic support was another chronic problem, which limited the combat effectiveness of the troops. Ironically, while the troops were bleeding on the battlefield, the great game of commission, especially in the procurement of arms, ammunition and equipment, went on as usual.

Most probably, the RNA would have lost the overall battle without the dedicated support of Number 11 Brigade and its brave pilots and crew members who supported the fighting units, day and night, even in difficult terrain and weather conditions. Had the extremely bad weather conditions not prevented these brave pilots, the defensive position at Pili could have been definitely saved. In fact, the troops remained too dependent on air support, especially during contact with the insurgents.

It is an established fact that troops in the field give their best only when they perceive their commanders to be ready to share the risks of war. Several RNA officers commanded their units with distinction which was instrumental in successful battles in several places. At the same time, in many cases the field commanders proved to be grossly unprofessional and incapable of leading and commanding the troops. Many of them never conducted operations on their own without the support of expensive Special Forces Units from the Strategic Reserve Forces. They rarely left their fortified positions in the barracks, inducing junior commanders and troops to do the same.

Their main aim appeared to be to complete their command tenure as soon as possible, by hook or crook, and move to safer assignments and enjoy the perks. This was a serious flaw in the army’s training of leadership and command.

Throughout the insurgency period, the Army HQ faced tough problems to find capable and confident officers to assign to command appointments in the field. At the same time, the Army HQ faced difficulty in posting many officers who were deemed to be unfit to command. It simply meant that the selection, recruiting, training and grooming system of the officers in the past was very faulty and highly manipulated.

Some officers and commanders were crowned and others put on the cross for the same kind of action. Some soldiers and officers that deserted their positions and comrades during the heat of battle were set scot-free, which became a precedent thereafter adversely affecting the combat effectiveness, motivation, unit cohesion and morale of the troops engaged in the most serious business of life and death.

The basic duty of the military in peace time is to train the troops and commanders so that they are selflessly motivated to fight effectively in war. The deliberate evasion of combat duty is considered to be an unpardonable sin for a professional soldier. President Eisenhower faced an ethical dilemma in 1952 when the U.S Army posted his son, Major John, to an infantry unit fighting in North Korea. That assignment involved the real possibility of his getting killed or captured and the president being blackmailed. However, Eisenhower, himself a great professional soldier, allowed his son to carry on with his new assignment with one firm condition – he would accept the risk of his son being killed or wounded, but his son would take his life before being captured.

In our case, however, while the army was engaged in the most serious business of war on its own land and suffering an acute shortage of capable officers to command the troops on the field, the Army HQ allowed many officers to opt for easy and lucrative UN assignments and overseas courses. The army did not seem to be seriously concerned with defeating the insurgents.

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Moreover, though a number of sincere professional officers lost their near and dear ones in combat, many senior officers unethically managed to manipulate their posting gin order to spare themselves and their relatives in the army the risks and dangers of war.

To conclude, the National Security Doctrine/Strategy at the macro level is required to cater for two types of conflicts which a nation may face: first, an insurgency, and second, a protracted war of national liberation which may be required if and when foreign powers invade and occupy our nation. The lesson learnt from the counter – insurgency campaigns of the RNA could be useful for combating insurgencies. And how the Maoists conducted their insurgency campaign could provide valuable insight into how to organize, initiate and sustain a protracted war of national liberation to drive away foreign powers occupying our country. Nothing but an objective and detailed investigation of the armed conflict that Nepal faced can provide the insights required.

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The findings of such an objective investigation must be used to restructure the Nepal Army to successfully meet the security challenges of the future.

Mark Twain rises again

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They can't keep Mark Twain quiet.

The centenary of his death takes place next year but he is in the news again with the publication of a "new" short story, The Undertaker's Tale in The Strand magazine.

This in turn heralds a new whole new collection of fiction and non-fiction, Who is Mark Twain?, to be published next month.

Thirteen years ago, Twain made the headlines (and a special feature in the New Yorker) when a new "comprehensive" edition of Huckleberry Finn was published, including such previously unseen material as the Jim and the Dead Man sequence.

And in 2003, Shelley Fisher Fishkin published her edition of Twain's comic play, Is He Dead?

Never previously seen in print or on stage, that has now appeared in both media, with a successful Broadway debut in 2007 following book publication.

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Where does all this material come from? Well, mostly from the Mark Twain Papers in Berkeley, with its wealth of Twainiana.

Twain wrote compulsively in his lifetime: fiction, non-fiction, plays, letters, and autobiography (much of the latter, in fact, dictated), and there is still a mass of material yet to be published. It's not many one-man industries that will turn a profit a century after that individual's death.

And, though, as one would expect, much of this work tends not to live up to the standard of the work published in his life-time, it is still well worth reading. So the new Undertaker's Tale story has a nice line in black humour, with the boy who tells it - as a type of undertaker's assistant - describing how as business prospers, he and Grace (the daughter of the undertaker's family) are "as blithe and happy as birds" as Grace meanwhile, "wrought with her nimble needle upon a shroud".

This is a macabre humour right in line with the south-western frontier tradition which initially fostered the author.

I have been working on Twain now for the last decade or so, and I still find him very funny. He must surely have been one of the wittiest writers there have been - an American Oscar Wilde, but with a more down-to-earth and democratic nature. "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" (or words very close to these) was his well-known quick-fire reply in 1897 when the press mistook his cousin's serious illness for his own.

And "man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to," provides an ironic tag to a chapter to his late travel book, Following the Equator.

Here we go again

The new Undertaker's Tale story has a nice line in black humour.

The boy who tells it is working as a type of undertaker's assistant, describing the prospering business - the deaths in the community - in terms of his and the undertaker's families' own happiness and contentedness.

Indeed the strand of macabre humour that runs right through the story is in line with the south-western frontier tradition which initially inspired the author.

I'd defy anyone not break into precisely the smile that undertaker lacks when reading it.

So here we go again: more Twain stuff appears. I'm sure it will be a mixed bag but even if it is, his mixture of coruscating social criticism, of thought-provoking non-fiction, and of joyful and - finally - deeply humane comedy, is sure to be well worth the read.

The short story appearing in the Strand magazine will be published in the book Who Is Mark Twain

In pictures: Gay Icons -II

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Novelist and poet Sylvia Towsend fell in love with a woman and they lived together for more than 30 years.

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US actor Joe Dallesandro appeared in several of Andy Warhol's films. He identified himself as being bisexual and has been married three times.
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Peter Tatchell co-founded the gay and lesbian campaign group Outrage!

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British mathematician Alan Turing was alive when homosexuality was illegal. He was prosecuted after it was discovered he was gay.

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The exhibition, which runs from 2 July to 18 October, coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York.

In pictures: Gay Icons-I

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The first portrait exhibition to celebrate the contribution of gay icons in history is going on display at the National Portrait Gallery.

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The photos were selected by a panel of 10 people, including KD Lang, Elton John, Sir Ian McKellen and Sandi Toksvig.

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The selectors were asked to choose people - dead or alive - who had inspired them or was a personal icon to them.

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Quentin Crisp became a gay icon in the 1970s after the publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant.

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US politician Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. He was so influential a film has just been made about him.

£30,000 prize for UK photographer

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British photographer Paul Graham has been awarded the 2009 Deutsche Borse Photography Prize, winning £30,000.

Graham, 52, won for his publication, A Shimmer of Possibility, comprising 12 volumes of photographic short stories of life in contemporary America.

Judges praised the "sensitivity, subtlety and complexity" in the work.

The international prize is awarded to a photographer for their work in Europe through either an exhibition or publication over the past year.

Described as a collection of pictures that "manage to draw out something truly profound from the almost nothingness of everyday life", Graham beat three other photographers for the prize.

The other shortlisted artists, Emily Jacir from Kuwait and Americans Tod Papageorge and Taryn Simon were also each awarded £3,000.

All the shortlisted works are on show at The Photographers' Gallery in London until 12 April.

The exhibition will then tour to Berlin in late May and to Frankfurt in the Summer.

Hidden clue to composer's passion

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The French composer, Maurice Ravel may have left a hidden message - a woman's name - inside his work.

A sequence of three notes occurring repeatedly through his work spells out the name of a famous Parisian socialite says Ravel expert David Lamaze.

He argues that the notes, E, B, A in musical notation, or "Mi-Si-La" in the French doh-re-mi scale, refer to Misia Sert, a close friend of Ravel's.

Well known in art circles, she was painted by Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Ravel never married, but Misia was married three times. Ravel composed some of his work while staying on a boat belonging to Misia and her second husband.

"It has never been done before. To take one person and to place them at the centre of a life-long work," says Professor Lamaze of the Conservatoire de Rennes, who is working on a book about Ravel and Misia.

Professor Lamaze believes Ravel was romantically inspired by Misia. "To put the feeling of love at the very central point of the creation without us knowing it. That is typical of Ravel, I think."

Secretive

Ravel was notoriously secretive about all aspects of his life, from his compositional process to his private life, which has led to speculation that he may have been gay.

The Mi-Si-La motif appears, in particular, at crucial phases of Ravel's work La Valse, says David Lamaze.

At the beginning, in depicting a man and woman dancing a Viennese Waltz, he entwines Mi-Si-La with A and E - thought to denote Ravel.

Initially planned in 1906 as a tribute to the waltzes of Johann Strauss, La Valse became a much darker work when he completed it in 1920, following his experiences serving in the World War I and the death of his mother.

Cities switch off for environment

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Cities around the world have been turning out the lights for an hour to highlight the threat of climate change.

Sydney was the first major city to begin "Earth Hour", when at 2000 (0900 GMT), lights went out on landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

Lights were then turned off in Bangkok, Manila, Budapest, Copenhagen and Dublin as those cities joined the effort.

Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco were among several hundred cities in 35 countries taking part in the event.

Critics have dismissed the event as a gimmick that will have little effect.

Australians marked Earth Hour by holding candle-lit beach parties, dinners and poker games, while traditional Aboriginal torchlight performances were also held.

And in New Zealand, thousands of homes and more than 100 business in Christchurch turned out the lights.

WWF Thailand said the switch-off in Bangkok saved 73.34 megawatts of electricity, which would have produced 45.8 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Public pressure

The initiative began in Sydney last year when an estimated two million residents took part, cutting energy usage by more than 10% for the hour.

Organisers estimate that 380 towns and cities are taking part.

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In Britain, 26 councils dimmed lights, as did Prince Charles' private residence, Highgrove House and Winchester cathedral.

On the south coast, Brighton turned off the lights on its pier, and in London - which was not officially involved - lights were turned down at City Hall.

In the Irish capital, Dublin, the floodlights were turned off at the Custom House, the home of the Environment Department.

But in the city's financial district many lights were left on.

"The banks should have embraced this wholeheartedly and they didn't," said Cathy Flanagan, an Earth Hour organiser in the city. "But it's a start. Maybe next year."

In Copenhagen, people enjoyed a rare chance to gaze at the night sky.

"It's not often you can see the stars in a city," said local Earth Hour spokeswoman Ida Thuesen.

Kyoto change

Organisers insist the aim of Earth Hour is to show that communities care passionately about climate change and want to keep up the pressure on governments to act decisively.

Andy Ridley of the WWF, which is behind the initiative, says interest has been immense.

"We're aware of villages in Norfolk in England that are doing Earth Hour and we're aware of the big cities like Chicago and Sydney that are doing it," he told the BBC.

Internet search engine Google turned its normal white homepage black.

Australia is one of the world's worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases and many believe recent droughts and floods are the result of man's destabilising influence on the climate, the BBC's Phil Mercer reports from Sydney.

New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made the environment one of his priorities, signing up to the Kyoto Protocol on tackling climate change soon after he took office.

MTV and YouTube go head to head

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A higher percentage of 15-24 year olds in the UK have watched a music video on YouTube than on dedicated music channels, according to a new study.

The report found that 57% of 15-24 year olds watched music on YouTube, compared to 56% watching them on TV.

However, TV still has a commanding lead when it comes to adults as a whole.

The survey also found that half of all adults who watched a YouTube music video went on to buy music released by that artist.

The study, by market research firm Ipsos MediaCT, looked at the viewing habits of more than 1500 people, across the United Kingdom, in March 2009.

It found that double the number of 15-24 year olds were using YouTube to watch music videos, compared to other age groups. This percentage rose even more for those still in education, with 69% using the music channels on YouTube.

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ADULTS WATCHING MUSIC VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE IN LAST 12 MONTHS

Age 15 - 24 57%
Age 25 - 34 30%
Age 35 - 44 24%
Age 45 - 54 25%
Age 55+ 3%

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Speaking to the BBC, Ipsos' head of entertainment research, Ian Bramley, said that TV music channels may have to rethink their position.

"There is a significant shift in the way the youngest adult age group watches its music videos.

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One would think this age group would stick with watching music videos online as they get older.

"TV music channels are doing very well, but they need to look at exactly who is actually watching their channel. It's probably not who they think their target market is.

"There may be a case, when we do this again, that the market starts to fragment and that TV music channels will need to reposition themselves for an older market," added Mr Bramley.

Television still has the edge when it comes to children. Or at least, families with children aged 10-15.

48% of these families have watched a music video on TV compared with 39% having watched music videos on YouTube.

Wind-powered car breaks record

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British engineer from Hampshire has broken the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle.

Richard Jenkins reached 126.1mph (202.9km/h) in his Greenbird car on the dry plains of Ivanpah Lake in Nevada.

Mr Jenkins told the BBC that it had taken him 10 years of "hard work" to break the record and that, on the day, "things couldn't have been better".

American Bob Schumacher set the previous record of 116 mph in 1999, driving his Iron Duck vehicle.

"It's great, it's one of those things that you spend so long trying to do and when it actually happens, it's almost too easy," Mr Jenkins told the BBC.

The Greenbird is a carbon fibre composite vehicle that uses wind (and nothing else) for power. The only metalwork used is for the wing bearings and the wheel unit.

Sail away

The designers describe it as a "very high performance sailboat" but one that uses a solid wing, rather than a sail, to generate movement.

Mr Jenkins, from Lymington, spent 10 years designing the vehicle, with Greenbird the fifth vehicle he has built to try to break the record.

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Due to the shape of the craft, especially at such high speeds, the wings also provide lift; a useful trait for an aircraft, but very hazardous for a car. To compensate for this, the designers have added small wings to "stick" the car to the ground, in the same way Formula 1 cars do.

"Greenbird weighs 600kg when it's standing still," said Mr Jenkins. "But at speed, the effect of the wings make her weigh just over a tonne."

Richard Jenkins spent much of his childhood sailing on the South Coast of England and from the age of 10 was designing what he calls "radical contraptions".

He has also built a wind powered craft that travels on ice, rather than land.

"Now that we've broken the record, I'm going back on to the ice craft. There's still some debate as to whether travelling on ice or land will be faster," he said

"But I think we've got some time. 126.1 mph was a good margin to beat the record and I think it will be some time before anyone else breaks it."

Lessons of war – I

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The decade-long conflict needs to be seriously analyzed in order to draw objective lessons that could be invaluable in developing our national security doctrine

The experiences and lessons of war that a nation experiences in the course of its history can be a major source of knowledge for developing a coherent national security doctrine or strategy.

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Without such a doctrine, a nation cannot expect to secure and promote its national interests – be it territorial, economic, social or political. But the lessons to be derived from history needs to be accurate and relevant to the present an future security environments as they relate to national interests. Indifference to or application of wrong lessons derived from history (World War I ) resulted in disastrous consequence for a number of major countries in World War II.

The decade-long armed conflict that Nepal faced needs to be seriously investigated an analyzed especially by strategic institutions and academies in order to draw objective lessons that could be invaluable in developing our national security doctrine on which the survival and growth of Nepal as an independent nation-state depends.

Moreover, the celebration of Army Day on the auspicious day of Maha Shavaratri will be truly meaningful if the Nepalese as a whole and the Nepal Army (NA) in particular sincerely try to learn from this momentous historical event.

The most important lesson to be learned, perhaps , is the bitter truth that civil war is too costly in terms of men, material, money, mental agony and time. Approximately 15,000 Nepalese including 905 Royal Nepal Army (RNA) soldiers, 1,479 policemen, 303 Armed Police Force personnel, 21 National Investigation Department personnel, and more than 8,077 Maoist cares sacrificed their lives in this wild fire. Moreover, the civil war devastated our physical infrastructure worth several trillion rupees, displaced several hundred thousand people and delayed development projects for many years. What caused this wild fire? Basically, Nepal was forced to face this civil war because successive governments in the post Jana Andolan-I period could not provide good governance and visionary leadership to sincerely and wisely lead the country.

A nation threatened from within is threatened from every possible direction. Internal instability definitely invites foreign intervention in numerous forms and colors. The civil society and even members of the political parties that signed the famous 12 point-agreement now regret that the document was rafted and signed in foreign lands. Moreover, many politicians and intellectuals, rightly or wrongly, interpret this agreement as a foreign grand strategy designed to replace the kingdom with a federated republic based on ethnicity and finally integrate the country into Akhanda Bharat.

Though it remained undefeated and intact till the last moment, the RNA happened to be a silent witness to the fall of the royal government and the century-old institution of the monarchy. The armed conflict, once, again, proved the fundamental strategic truth that even when battles are not lost, wars can be lost if the national security doctrine is not correct, and the strategic environment is not favourable. Furthermore, for the troops to give their best in a protracted battle, they should know the basic cause for which they are fighting, and the countrymen must endorse and support this cause.

The civil war, which was accompanied by all forms of human tragedies and destruction across the nation, should enlighten the Nepalese that there is no short-cut solution to an insurgency, and a military approach in isolation is not an effective option for successfully combating this problem. Proper coordination and employment of all national instruments of power under a legitimate civilian government is the only effective solution to an insurgency. Moreover, it will b every costly to defeat an insurgency if it is not properly addressed in its formative stage.

The Maoist party managed to raise the level of political consciousness of ethnic groups and marginalized people, and gave them a sense of identity and hope. It unbelievable raised, organized and sustained its political organization, militia and guerrilla army across the nation to successfully engage successive governments and the national security forces. The civil war also demonstrated the vulnerability of the Kathmandu Valley, the country’s nerve centre. And how the insurgents indigenously managed to manufacture tens of thousands of socket bombs and crude domestic weapons and made the best use of media, psychological operations and the open international border to further their grand aims should open the eyes and ears of the security forces in New Nepal.

The unfortunate Holery incident was the consequence of an ill-conceived national Security Council (NS). Unfortunately, the political parties still do not seem to be serious about establishing a balanced and practical NSC that has several important tasks including the formulation of a national security doctrine or strategy.

The takeover of state power by the king with the support of the RNA gave a drastically new twist and dimension to the insurgency. This move benefited the army counter insurgency campaign tactically, but seriously handicapped it strategically. The great questions that will haunt the Nepal Army (NA) for years to come are.: Did the king seek the advice of the RNA? Was the RNA justified in blindly supporting the king to stage this coup? Did the military top brass seriously appreciate the implications of this move before advising the king? Was the king genuinely ignorant of the limitations and capabilities of the RNA in combating insurgency inn the absence of national and international support?

The fact was that an overwhelming number of very senior military officers in key positions including retired general officers were very much aware of the disastrous implications of this fateful move. Had those officers in uniform enough moral courage to strongly convince the king about the short-sightedness of his move, history would have taken a different turn, and the RNA would not have landed on the wrong side of the historical current at the end of the day. The NA, now, must do an hones soul-searching exercise to find out why the military top brass did not have courage when it was needed most. And an armed institution like the NA can never survive the stress of war without moral courage to speak and follow the truth.

Continued…………………..

Where to find Good Education?

Singapore has the answer

How do you achieve a school system consistently in the top three in the world for maths and science, fourth for literacy, and described by experts as leading the world in teaching quality? More over, how do you manage to get 80 per cent of pupils to meet minimum standards at the age of 16 when they are taught in their second language in classes of 35? The answers are found in Singapore.

On a study visit organized by the charity CfBT Education Trust, British Teachers were sent to several countries to see what they can learn from other school systems. So what did they expect to find? One assistant head teacher from central England expected to see “a very traditional curriculum, rows of pupils, teacher in front, students there to learn”. And indeed she did. But she also saw a whole lot more: traditional methods blended with more progressive thinking. It gave the British teachers plenty to ponder. International comparisons are fraught with difficulties; it is easy to forget that what works in one country will not flourish in another.

But Singapore has many similarities to the UK. The official language of school instruction is English, there is a national curriculum, and the national examinations are the British single-subject O-levels taken at the age of 16 and the more advanced single-subject A-levels taken at 18 or 19, all administered by Cambridge Assessment from the UK. It was soon clear to the British teachers that there are similar challenges. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multilingual society. Pupils are obsessed with mobile phones and computer games, and are, as one Singapore school principal put it, the “strawberry generation: easily bruised and damaged”. So why does it work? First, education is the government’s top priority.

That is not just rhetoric: a country with no natural resources ( it even has to import water) knows it lives and dies by its collective brainpower. The ministry of education is very close to schools; as all teachers and principals are civil servants, they regularly rotate through postings to the ministry. The government provides funds for school visits, clubs and extra-curricular activities, enabling them to make such activities compulsory. In another reform, the ministry announced recently that all primary schools would move to single-session teaching, with the juniors taught in the morning and the infants in the afternoon. This will bring smaller classes, better pupil-teacher ratios, and allow a programme of compulsory extra-curricular activities for the juniors in the afternoon.

In a reform called the Integrated Programme, schools with more able pupils are encouraged to bypass exams at 16, allowing greater curriculum flexibility. One visiting head-teacher from Essex was struck by the real stretch offered to more able pupils, the “clear articulation of ideas between government and schools”, and the way the whole system not only “talked the talk, but also walked the walk”.

Website for SAARC

Website for trade facilitation among SAARC states in offing

A common website has been established to connect the different databases of the network partners and identified data sources in all the SAARC member countries to create an easy entry point for trade information.

Though the website is awaiting formal launching.

It is expected to facilitate and promote trade among SAARC member states. Importers and exporters in the member states are expected to make use of the decisin support Business Information Service (BIS) that will be connected to a network of information providers in SAARC to promote inter-and-intra-SAARC trade.

The first Operations Committee (OC) meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation – Trade Information Project (SAARC-TIP) concluded here today. The two-day OC meeting provided an opportunity for its members to network with each other and to et to know each other’s profile and functions of the organization. In the two-day meeting, the OC members have agreed to support promotin and facilitation of trade in the region.

The meeting was organised by the SAARC Information Centre(SIC) and GTZ in order to make the OC members aware of the SAARC-TIP concept, modalities and its deliverables was participated by all the SAARC member countries including the SAARC Chamber of Commerce.

The OC constitutes the SAARC Informatin Centre (chair), GTZ, SAARC Chamber of Commerce, national chambers of commerce, government trade agencies and trade related organizations.

The SAARC-TIP intends to establish an easy accessible trade dtabase for traders by connecting trade databases within the SAARC countries to a common SAARC entry point for trade information.

Advisory Committee meeting was h eld last month to formulate the guidelines and suggestions for the OC that has representatives from various institutions.

Science of Romance

Brains have a love circuit, not heart

Like any young woman in love, Bianca Acevado has exchanged valentine hearts with her fiance. But the New York Neuroscientist knows better. The source of love is in the head, not the heart. She’s one of the researhers in a realitively new field focused on explaining the biology of romantic love. And the unpoetic explanation is that lvoe mostly can be understood through brain images, hormones and genetics. That seems to be the case for the newly in love, the long in love and the brokenhearted.

It has a biological basis. We know some of the key players,” said Larry Young of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta. There, he studies the brains of an unusual monogamous rodent to get a better clue about what goes on in the minds of people in love.

In humans, there are four tiny ateas of the brain that some researchers say form a circuit of lvoe. Acevedo, who works at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, is part of a team that has isolated those regions with the uromantic names of ventral tegmental area (VTA), the nucleus accumbens, the vental palidum and raphe nucleus.

The hot spot Is the teardrop-shaped VTA. When people newly in love were put in a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine and shown pictures of their beloved, the VTA lit up. Same for people still madly in love after 20 years.

The VTA is part of a key reward system in the brain.

“These are cells that make dopamine and send it to different brain regions,” said Helen Fisher, a researcher and professor at Rutgers University. “This part of the system becomes activated because you’re trying to winlife’s greatest prize – a mating partner.”

One of the research findings isn’t so complimentary: Love works chemically in the brain like a drug addiction.

“Romantic love is an addiction; a wonderful addiction when it is going well, a horrible one when it is going poorly,” Fisher said. “People kill for love. They die for love.”

The connection to addiction “sounds terrible,” Acevedo acknowledged. “Love is supposed to be something wonderful and grand, but it has its reasons. The reason I think is to keep us together.”

But sometimes love doesn’t keep us together. So the scientists studes the brains of the recently heartbroken and found accitional activity in th enucleus accumbens, which is even more strongly associated with addiction.

“The brokenhearted show moer evidence o f what I’ll call craving,” said Lucy Brown, a neuroscientist also at Einstein medical college. “Similar to carving the drug cocaine.”

The team’s most recent brain scans were aimed at people married about 20 years who say they are still holding hands, lovey-dovey as newlyweds, a group that is a minority of married people.

In these men and women, two more areas of the brain lit up, along with the VTA: the ventral palidum and raphe nucleus.

CWIN Lacks Monitoring

95 pc street children sniff glue

As the winter arrives, once again its time for people to go out shopping warm cloths buying heaters to keep their rooms and home warm and snuggle up in the quilt waking up leisurely late morning.

However, looking at skimpily dressed street children, you may wonder how they survive the freezing cold of Kathmandu. But they have their own way of keeping warm: they sniff dendrite.

Bibek Moktan, 12, who hails from Hetauda, warms up his winter morning by blowing into and inhaling from a plastic bag containing dendrite.

“I sniff one tube (50 grams) of dendrite a day,” said Moktan. “When I first tried sniffing, I felt a current flowing inside me, but slowly I got used to it.”

Kale Pariyar, 15, from Kalimati, was also sniffing from a dirty plastic with glue inside it. “I sniff, because I want to enjoy as others do,” said Priyar.

Bibek and Kale are not the only ones who sniff glue to keep warm and to be happy. There are hundreds of children on the streets of the capital addicted to glue despite various health hazards associated with it.

According to a research conducted by Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN), glue sniffing affects various organs including he brain, nervous system, eyes, blood, lungs and heart and even causes death.

However, the number of glue sniffers has gone up dramatically not only on the streets of the capital but also in other urban areas.

According to a CWIN survey, around 95 percent of 1,200 street children in the capital sniff glue, whereas there were only 51,7 percent street children who sniffed in 2002.

Director of Voice of Children, an non-governmental organization, Krishna Thapa said, “Street children suffer various psychological problems in society before they end up on the streets. They think sniffing glue empowers them to face any vulnerable situation on the street.”

Director Thapa also said, “Dendrite is easily accessible in both hardware shops and from street vendors at a very cheap price.”

“We have seen street vendors selling small packets of dendrite targeting other street children. But we have no authority to take legal action against them.” “The government does not have any legal agency to discourage such acts.”

“Until and unless the government builds a strong mechanism to control the sale of glue; and until all organizations working for children ally to create pressure on the government, the problems will not be solved,” said Sanu Giri, Programme Officer at CWIN.

Mozart Music

Celebrating the music of Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Amadeus literally translating to “Loved by God” in German – was born on January 27.1756 and is among the most significant and enduringly popular composers of European classical music.

His enormous output, despite his short life, includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber piano, operatic and choral music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertory and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

Family and early childhood years

Born in the city of Salzburg, Mozart was baptized the day after his birth at St.Rupert’s Cathedral. Mozart’s musical ability became apparent when he was about three years old. Mozart received intensive musical training from his father Leopold, who was one of Europe’s leading musical pedagogues, on instruction in clavier, violin, and organ.

The years of travel

Leopold realized that he could earn a substantial income by showcasing his son as a Wunderkind in the courts of Europe. Mozart soon gained fame as a musical prodigy capable of such feats as playing blindfolded or competently improvising at length on difficult passages.

An almost legendary tale occurred when he heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere once in performance in the Sistine Chapel, then wrote it out in its entirely from memory, only returning to correct minor errors. He thus produced the first illegal copy of this closely-guarded property of the Vatican.

From his earliest life, Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard. Since he traveled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from which to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London as a child, he met J C Bach and heard his music. When he visited Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there as well as the spectacular Mannheim Orchestra.

Mozart In Vienna

His marriage to Constanze Weber took place on August 4, 1782, against his father’s wishes. Although they had six children, only two survived infancy. Neither of these two married or had children.

The year 1782 was an auspicious one for Mozart’s career. His opera Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail (“The Abduction from the Seragli”) was a great success and he began a series of concerts at which he premiered his own piano concertos as conductor and soloist.

It was in his early Viennese years when Joseph Haydn met Mozart, he was soon in awe of Mozart. He told Leopold,” Before God and as an honest man, I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. he has taste, and what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition.”

Mozart spent 1786 in Vienna in an apartment which my be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St Stephen’s Cathedral. It was here that Mozart composed Le Noze di Figaro. He followed this in 1787, with one of his greatest works, Don Giovanni.

It was there on December 5,1791, that Mozart died while he was working on his final composition, the Requiem. His death record listed “hitziges Frieselfieber” (“severe military fever”), a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine.

According to a popular legend, Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper’s grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as before, he continued to have a well-paid job at the curt and received substantial commissions from parts of Europe.

Influence

Many important composers since Mozart’s time have worshipped him or at least been in awe of him.

Rossini averred, “He is the only musician who had as much knowledge as genius and as much genius as knowledge.”

Beethoven’s admiration for Mozart is clear: he used Mozart as a model a number of times, as in his A-Major Quartet from Op 18, which makes careful use of Mozart’s own Quartet in A K 464.

On his own part, after the only meeting between the two composers, Mozart noted that Beethoven would “give the world something to talk about.”