My London eye

First handshake after Mumbai

2009-06-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Pakistani soil must not be used for terrorism – that’s what the India’s Prime Minster told his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.

President Asif Ali Zardari reports AFP, then asked journalists to be escorted from the room so the meeting could be continued in private.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders after the Mumbai attacks that claimed 166 lives. India blames Pakistan for the attacks.

"The most sensible thing to do now would be to resume dialogue as soon as possible," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, according to PTI.

The leaders were attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, a regional security body where both India and Pakistan are observers.

Tune stations

2009-03-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

Footsteps and music walk together. Many million people, many tube stations and those familiar tunes thankfully not through your ear plugs.

Everyone seems to be caught in a swirl – like one in a tea cup.

And like powdered sugar, music sweetens the journey.

They’ve been written about to death, but every single time I pass a busker I feel invigorated. It must take real love for music to play at a tube station like this.
If it didn’t the music would never be so enchanting.

To me, these tunes are motifs of struggle in the face of opposition. An ode to playing music with lyrics that announce: If you love to do something you’ll do it anyway.

I think it represents purity amidst the pathos, strength in the middle of disaster and the idea that adversity can be enjoyed.

It announces melodiously that the world is not sold out to greedy businesses and that everyone needn’t be institutionalised.

A penny for their music and a pound for the message.

Have you seen a Prickly lately?

2009-03-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

When did you last see a hedgehog? Not in a long time. Well, they are slowly becoming extinct in the UK. Watch this film and tell me what you think about it.

Why is the IMF meeting in Africa important?

2009-03-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

African countries have been badly affected by the global financial crisis. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) held a two-day conference in Dar es Salaam to look for solutions.

The task at hand is not an easy one. Bloomberg reports that Twenty-two poor countries, most of them in Africa, may need $25 billion and possibly as much as $140 billion in emergency aid to weather the global crisis, the fund estimates.

Countries like Zambia and Nigeria have suffered. Investments in areas like mining have dried up in recent months.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned yesterday that the threat of political conflict and even war has increased on the continent as incomes decline and job losses increase.

Source: Bloomberg, BBC World Service
*C* ALL PICTURES USED IN THIS BLOG ARE CREATIVE COMMONS. PLEASE CLICK ON THE PHOTO FOR SOURCE.

What is Dakar?

2009-03-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Dakar is the capital city of Senegal and also its largest. It's based on the Cape Verde Peninsula, on the country's Atlantic coast. It buildings, of late, have been reaching for the Senegalese sky with a boom in construction.

Dakar's position, on the western edge of Africa (it is the westernmost African city), is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade. This has helped Dakar become a major regional port.

According to December 31, 2005 official estimates, the city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 2.45 million people.

Dakar is a major administrative centre, home to the National Assembly of Senegal and Senegal Presidential Palace.

Construction in and around the city has been booming of late. Much of the 300 million dollars per year that expatriates send home is funnelled towards the construction business.

Sources: Wikipedia, BBC World Service

*C* ALL PICTURES USED ON THIS BLOG ARE CREATIVE COMMONS PICTURES

I poppy the question

2009-03-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

Q: Which country is the largest producer of Poppies in the world?

Answer: Afghanistan

Q: Which country is the largest consumer of opium in the world?
Answer: Russia
Source: BBC World Service

Good, now go back to work

ALL PICTURES USED ON THIS BLOG ARE CREATIVE COMMONS PICTURES

what is: SINN FEIN?

2009-03-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

It is a political party in Ireland which stands for Irish republicanism
Sinn Fein takes its name from the Irish Gaelic expression for ``We Ourselves''
It is led by Gerry Adams and is the second-largest party in the Northern Ireland assembly
It is believed to have had strong links with the provisional IRA in the past
It has condemned the recent attacks on police and military personnel in Ireland

Source: BBC, Wikipedia, Sinn Fein Website

What is the Good Friday agreement?

2009-03-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Signed on 10 April 1998, put into force in on 2 December 1999.
It is a major political development in the Northern Ireland Peace Process
It is also called the Belfast agreement. Among many other provisions it ensures that political parties will use peaceful and democratic means.
In a nutshell the Northern Ireland problem is this: many Protestant Unionists believe that Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK. Many Catholic Nationalists think it should join the Republic of Ireland.
‘The Troubles’ was a period of violence that began in 1969 when the two opposing groups marched in protest. The agreement is largely seen as the endpoint of The Troubles.
On 10 March 2009, the BBC reported that a policeman was shot dead just 48 hours after the murders of two soldiers.
A Dublin-based newspaper received a call from a group calling itself the "Real IRA". It claimed to have carried out the attacks on the Army soldiers.

Sources:
BBC news, Reuters and Wikipedia

Famous Last Words

2009-02-28T09:12:00.000-08:00

I grew up listening to news stories of more troops going to Iraq, then even more and then some more. Now, for the first time, they're coming back.

THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE, IN TIMES OF CRISIS

2009-01-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

London’s art market has been badly affected by the global financial crisis. But as the art market struggles to survive it could be reinventing itself. Not only is it subtly altering its business model but is also bringing hope to art buyers.

Find out how.

Click on the play button.

22 January 2009

2009-01-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

USA: FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST CITIZEN
Arriving on his first day at work at 0835 hrs, Barack Obama, read George Bush’s note.

The author of the note has changed the world forever. The reader plans to do so with a revamp of policy.

The New York Times reported that he plans on freezing salaries of senior White House staff, controlling lobbyists and setting a standard for greater government openness.

VOA reported that he later telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

A BBC report said that he later attended a prayer service at Washington's National Cathedral - a tradition dating to the time of George Washington.

Discussions on a $825bn rescue plan for the economy and the future Guantanamo Bay are expected soon.

ISRAEL: P for Phosphorus

Israeli army began investigations into use of white phosphorus shells in densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip during its offensive against Hamas militants, the Times Newspaper reported.

White phosphorus is legal if fired as a battlefield smokescreen but it is banned in civilian areas, where its use could constitute a war crime.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon demanded for a full explanation of recent "outrageous" attacks on UN facilities in the Gaza Strip, Africasia reported.

Four UN-run schools were hit. The one targeted on Saturday was in Beit Lahiya where some 1,600 people were sheltering, the website said.

GERMANY: Great Expectations?

April could herald positive growth for Germany, reported the Financial Times. The government is hopeful about 2009. Michael Glos, Economics minister was quoted in the paper as saying: “We are foreseeing an improvement by the middle of the year.”

Germany generates a third of Eurozone’s output.

Bad news wasn’t far away though. 500,000 will be jobless in 2009, reported AFP .

Many fear that Germany would suffer its worst recession since World War II this year.

Say Neehow to a new word order

2008-12-23T20:32:00.000-08:00

China, China, China. As the world sinks deeper into the financial crisis everyone is looking East. The second engine of the world – China – is at the tip of everyone’s tongue. Or is it? Listen and comment.

Click on the play button to watch the story.

A flat tyre industry?

2008-12-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

The auto industry in the United States is in trouble. Roiled by financial crisis, the industry shed over five hundred thousand jobs in November alone, AP has reported. What has gone so horribly wrong with these iconic companies and what can be done to save them?

These were pretty much the questions bogging decision makers down at Washington as the “Big Three” came knocking on the doors of the US congress. What do they want? Well, a “bail out” of about $ 15 Billion.

Associated Press has reported that the White House and congressional Democrats are working to provide this so as to avoid these companies from collapsing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would consider legislation next week to provide "short-term and limited assistance" to the U.S. auto industry while it undergoes "major restructuring,” the news agency reported.

The Senate is scheduled to be in session next week.

The spread of a crisis

GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said the firm needed a loan to span the "financial chasm" that had opened up, the BBC reported.

He reportedly told the Senate banking committee that the global financial crisis had caught up with the auto makers, not bad management.

Millions of jobs and four per cent of the GDP of the US could be at stake.

Support for the car makers hasn’t been whole hearted however.

The committee chairman, Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, said that the industry was "seeking treatment for wounds that were largely self-inflicted" the report said.

How will it all be done?

Some reports suggest that GM, Chrysler and Ford hope to convince members of the US Congress to vote on the car industry bail-out.

The Independent newspaper has said that the size of the package has not been finalised, but it is expected to be about 15 billion dollars (£10.1 billion).

The three top executives had put the figure to about 34 billion dollars (£22.9 billion).

"It sounds like we have agreement on those basic principles that would be required for a bill that the president could sign," Press secretary Dana Perino told the newspaper today.

Asked if an initial vote could be held tomorrow, she said that "it seems pretty soon if we haven't seen the language yet".

The White House wants the Big Three carmakers to show a detailed plan for how they will be viable in the long term and the Bush administration has said it will not support emergency help for car companies from taxpayers without such a plan.

New problems, new president?

Another school of analysts believe that outgoing president George Bush may not take a decision and leave it upto his successor president-elect Barack Obama to steer the industry out of difficult times.

While Obama has kept a low profile on the subject, CNN has reported that behind the scenes, the incoming administration is working hard on finding ways to ease the crisis.

President-elect Barack Obama and his advisers are studying options to deal with the auto industry.

Obama and his advisers are studying options for helping the automobile industry beyond what Congress does or doesn't do before he steps into office.

A possible short-term loan could be on its way to ease the crisis for the auto giants.

The picture is a creative commons picture from http://www.flickr.com/. You may click here to visit the photostream of the photographer.

BREAKING NEWS: F-18 jet crash

2008-12-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

Authorities in the United States have said that an F-18 military jet has crashed. The plane, reports the Winnipeg Sun has crashed in a residential neighbourhood of San Diego.

The BBC has said that the San Diego Fire Department described the scene of the crash as "a heavily-populated area" near the 805 freeway.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor told the Winnipeg Sun that the plane crashed shortly before noon today.

It was preparing to land at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

The crash occurred about three kilometres from the base reports the newspaper.

Associated Press reports it isn’t clear if there are any injuries. Television news footage showed one house and two cars on fire, the news agency said.

"At this point, the only indication is that the only person who may be injured is the pilot," Monica Munoz, spokeswoman for the San Diego police department, told local TV station KNSD, reports Reuters

Cpl. Frances Goch, a spokeswoman for the Air Station, said the plane is believed to have been an F-18 from a training squadron, Reuters reported.

The plane crashed into the residential neighborhood near Cather Avenue and Huggins Streets in University City, near University of California at San Diego, KTLA news has reported.

Gayle Newcomb from University City High School said the plane "missed the school entirely". All the students are reportedly safe, says a Reuters Report.

"We saw two big bangs," Scott Patterson, a local resident told KNX radio. "The smoke came up. We don't know what it was."

The F-18, one of the US military’s widely used jets.

Miramar is remembered for featuring in the Hollywood movie Top Gun. About ten thousand marines are stationed there.

GREEK STUDENT REACTION

2008-12-07T21:17:00.000-08:00

Riots broke out in Greece in December 06 over the shooting of a 15-year-old protestor. A citizen of Greece and resident of Athens reacts to the riots.

Elaina Ralli, student, Westminster University

Woolworths’ Titanic Fate

2008-12-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

450 jobs are to go at Woolworths. For a company that employs 25,000 people, it may not seem very much. But it is an indication of the uncertain future that lies ahead for the firm.

The branches that are taking a hit because of the job cuts are the ones in Marylebone Road, London, and Castleton, Rochdale. Administrators who are now in-charge launched what they described to the BBC its "biggest ever sale".

One retail analyst told the website that it "looked like a closing down sale" but administrators said it was "ongoing".

'Unsold stock'

The store is offering huge discounts on many of its products during the fire sale. Toys and greeting cards are being sold for half the usual price. Other entertainment goods are also going cheap.

Deloitte, the administrators of the company who moved in on November 26, told the Financial Times that the chain had picked up in the region of £25m through the sale. This could possibly be a record for the company.

Administrators have confirmed to various media outlets that they expected the sale to continue after Christmas and stores too would remain open.

The bidders

This leaves room for the question about who will buy Woolworths and if it will be bought as a going concern.

The administrators have maintained all through that many parties have been interested. Woolworths runs 815 stores across the country.

Dragons Den pulled out of the race on Thursday. Theo Paphitis of Dragons Den admitted that he could not reach a deal with Deloitte. He told the Press Association that a break-up of the business would raise more cash for creditors.

David Buchler, for Kroll chairman and retail executive Eddie Woolf will reportedly be bidding to keep 350-400 of Woolies’ stores. This could help retain Woolworths name on the high street and save about 15,000 jobs, the Times Newspaper reported.

The ripple effect

The collapse of the high street giant is having a major impact on the troubled sector as well. The sale has pressurised other stores to reduce prices considerably. Prices of toys and gifts are particularly being slashed.

Also, EUK a part of Woolworths sent Zavvi into a tizzy as it buys its supplies of CDs and DVDs from the store.
Some high streets could well have a new Tesco, Sainsbury or Iceland coming up to replace the old Woolworths store. But then again, some stores may not be sold at all.

David Harper, of property firm Harper Dennis Hobbs, told the Guardian newspaper, “I have never seen so many shops come on the market before Christmas. Fundamentally retail has changed and there will be less players in the future.”

THE DNA DEBATE

2008-12-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

The DNA database held by authorities in Britain will not be multiplying further. The European court of human rights has ruled that retention of such profiles is unlawful.
More than 1.6 million records may now be destroyed.

The court also observed that the UK was the only one of the 47 members of the Council of Europe to permit the "systematic and indefinite" retention of DNA samples, reported the BBC’s news website.

The case

The ruling is a victory for two Britons who went to court seven years ago. Both Michael Marper, 45, and a 19-year-old man from Sheffield were charged in 2001. One for robbery at age 11 and the other for harassing his partner.

The police retained their DNA information.

The 17 judges decided that Britain had not respected the right to private life in this matter. Both of them were awarded 42,000 euros each in expenses.

Peter Mahy, the solicitor who represented both men told The Times newspaper that the result was a “fantastic result after a seven-year hard-fought battle against the UK Government”.

Undemocratic

"The court was struck by the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention," Reuters reported.

The judges of the court have been quoted in the Guardian as saying that this is "Could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society".

Rights activists welcomed the verdict.

"The DNA profiles of roughly 85,000 innocent people should be taken off the National DNA Database," campaign group Liberty said in a statement to Reuters news agency.

Government response

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was reportedly disappointed by the ruling.

She told Bloomberg news agency that the "DNA and fingerprinting is vital to the fight against crime, providing the police with more than 3,500 matches a month”.

A spokesman for the National Policing Improvement Agency, which manages the database, told the Telegraph newspaper that, "The National DNA Database is a key information tool which has revolutionised the way the police can protect the public through identifying offenders and securing more convictions.”

The judgment is largely perceived to be a huge setback for the Government and police.

Where from here?

Now, the government has until March to implement the ruling.

They cannot appeal against it and will have to propose a plan. Till then, the records will not be removed from the database.

In Scotland information related with the DNA of a person is kept on the database for three years if a he/ she has been acquitted of a serious assault or sex crime.

This is the model that many are expecting the government to consider very closely.

A DEEP VOID

2008-12-02T23:02:00.000-08:00

As a reporter covering among other things, crime in Mumbai working for Times Now (A Times of India group company) and later another 24-hour English channel it was my job to regularly talk with the police.

A confirmation of a murder, a tip-off on some police investigation, a corroboration over the identity of some petty criminals or just ferreting out stories – a day would not pass when I did not speak with the Mumbai police.

We never loved our friends in uniform. And I am sure they never loved us. But the cat and mouse game of information seemed to be endless. Sometimes, the cat and mice became friends.

It’s a strange sort of friendship, but it blossoms over time. You start to respect a few good men and loath a most others.

The news of three top police officers being killed in the Mumbai attacks was hard to digest. Hemant Karkare was one officer that the force was proud of and his loss will always be felt.

Situated in zone 2 of the island city, the office of the Anti-Terrorism squad of the Mumbai police was an unending source of stories.

The boss of the squad was as many people described him – a gentle giant.

Karkare was from the 1982 batch of the Indian Police Service – the elite administrative cadre.

Ibnlive.com reports that he had returned to the state cadre (Maharashtra), after a seven-year tenure with the Research and Analysis Wing, Indian external intelligence agency, in Austria.

According to ndtv.com, Karkare was probing the Malegaon blasts case.

He was gunned down when he was leading an operation at Hotel Taj against terrorists who had taken 15 people, including seven foreigners, as hostages.

He was hit by three bullets in his chest.

The death of Mumbai’s top anti-terrorist officer is a devastating blow to a police force struggling to confine a burgeoning Islamist threat, reports the Times newspaper.

I spoke with a deputy commissioner of police after the incident and he told me that policemen are not used to being drowned in sorrow over the killings as they have to get on with the though job of policing.

This one instance, however, is an exception.

Sorry, we are not sorry: Smith refuses to apologise for Greengate

2008-12-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

The divisions in the cabinet, police and House of commons are not apparent over the arrest of Shadow Immigration Secretary, Damian Green. The Financial Times is reporting on the role of the speaker and action police chief moving into focus because of the matter.

Meanwhile the newspaper has said that Jacqui Smith the home secretary yesterday denied endorsing the methods used by the police.

The row over the arrest of Damian Green, shadow immigration secretary, has put the actions of the Commons Speaker, the acting Metropolitan police commissioner and ministers in the spotlight.

The newspaper quoted Harriet Harman, leader of the House, saying that the case “raised serious constitutional questions that needed to be addressed”.

Ms Harman pledged to hold an inquiry after the investigation was complete.

“MPs should be able to get on with their job without interference of the law,” she said.

Green’s arrest

Police told the BBC that Mr Green was held on suspicion of "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office". Media reports suggest that the politician was picked up for receiving leaked documents.

The MP denied any wrongdoing and said "opposition politicians have a duty to hold the government to account" and that he would "continue to do so".

He was questioned, but has not been charged and was bailed until February.

Mr Green's arrest is believed to be connected to the arrest of a man suspected of being a Home Office whistleblower, the Telegraph said in a report.

Speaking to reporters including those from the BBC, outside the House of Commons, Mr Green said: "I was astonished to have spent more than nine hours today under arrest for doing my job.

"I emphatically deny I have done anything wrong. I have many times made public information that the government wanted to keep secret - information that the public has a right to know.

"In a democracy, opposition politicians have a duty to hold the government to account. I was elected to the House of Commons precisely to do that and I certainly intend to continue doing so."

Political fallout

The fallout of all this could be severe, especially for two rival politicians. Jacqui Smith, the Home secretary and Michael Martin, the speaker of the House of Commons.

Newspaper reports suggest that the acting commissioner of police Sir Paul Stephenson’s career too could be damaged.

"Ms Smith's claim not to know that Tory MP was under investigation has been
directly challenged," the Times newspaper said in a report.

The Daily Mail reported that Sir Paul Stephenson is considering withdrawing his application for the top job in the wake of mounting criticism.

In the Telegraph, the Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane criticises Martin for allowing the raid on Green's parliamentary offices. "If the speaker has doubts," MacShane says, "he should consult Privy Counsellors rather than take the decision on his own."

Janet Daley writes in the Telegraph, under the headline Arresting MPs and nationalising banks happen in dictatorships that "the object of the exercise seems to have been intimidation and the flaunting of power".

However, the justice secretary, Jack Straw, denies that the UK is degenerating into a "police state" because ministers were not directing the police operations in the report.

MUMBAI TERROR ATTACK - STUDENT REACTION

2008-12-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

It is a day no one will forget. Arun Narang, a student at University of Westminster, talks about the the Mumbai terror strike.

THE WORLD, IN POSITIVES

2008-11-30T19:04:00.000-08:00

I stand at the entrance. Laurent Nkunda, leader of the CNPD party, sits behind a desk in his ramshackle office in North Kivu, DR Congo.

Behind me two rockets from the summer, launch into the blue skies of Gaza.

Like me, all the onlookers at the World Press Photo 2008 respond with awe, disgust, despair or a faint smile at each photograph. Currently on tour in London at the Royal Festival Hall at South Bank the exhibition has been a crowd puller.

Shooting at the warzone

Tim Hetherington's work from Korengal in Afghanistan transports you to a war zone.

These are photographs he clicked for Vanity Fair. "You perceive the world to be peaceful because your life is and then you begin to wonder," says Pierpaold Panfilo, a computer student and a photography enthusiast.

A photograph of a soldier wiping sweat off his forehead in Afghanistan won the World Press Photo 2008 award.

The world lens

There are winners in other categories too. Simple pictures of young girls from Turkey strike you. They've never been to school before and they're smiles are to die for. "All of them girls look so happy. They are so poor but so happy," marvels Louise Olareqvu, a primary school student.

My personal favourite are the pictures by Tim Clayton. Young boys jump off from a height playing Nagol. Nagol, is a sport in Pentecost, Vanuatu, that looks like bungee jumping, except, the nylon ropes are replaced with twigs from trees.

Pictures of Benazir Bhutto just before her assassination, a portrait of Putin or Qi Xiaolong's pictures of an ancient Chinese tradition of storytelling at tea houses never leave your mind.

Picks among pics

The idea started in 1955. This year’s photos come from all over the world. The exhibition has come to London and will travel to over 40 cities. 80,536 photographs were considered this year.

Gary Knight, the chairman of the jury, commented on British photographer Tim Hetherington’s photos on http://www.wordpressphoto.org/. “The image represents the exhausting of a man and the exhaustion of a nation,” said Knight.

Hetherington told The Independent in an interview, “I work consciously to find ways to close the gap between me and the person in the photograph,” he says.

Copyright issues, my vanity unfair and new found photographic vision push me to go for it. I click the reflection of the exhibition on the glass walls. World Press Photo 2009 winner? Probably not.

Bye Bye Blair

2008-11-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

It is the end of an era. The man who led London as the police commissioner during the ghastly 7/7 bombings yesterday left the police force. Put more politically incorrectly, he was forced out by London’s mayor Boris Johnson. His departure raises serious questions.

The BBC quoted Sir Ian Blair as saying that law must change to prevent another Metropolitan Police commissioner being “forced out” by London's mayor.

The commissioner of police quit the police in October. He accused the mayor of not backing him.

Speaking in his final interview as the commissioner of police for London Sir Ian Blair told the BBC that politicians were trying to hire and fire police chiefs.

The episode raises many serious questions about the relationship between the office of the mayor and the police chief.

New equation

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) oversees the force and approves its strategies and spending.

The powerful body, it was decided earlier this year, would be chaired by the mayor.

Boris Johnson met up with Blair and made it clear that he had to quit his post as Metropolitan police chief.

Legally speaking, the power to hire and fire the Met commissioner rests with the home secretary, the Guardian reported.

The MPA invoked "urgency powers" in the first week of October.

Politicisation of policing

On his last day in charge the top cop accused the mayor of politicising the police force.

Lord Stevens said of the whole affair that that the Metropolitan Police must never be politicised.

Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police was speaking to the Telegraph newspaper.

He warned his successor will not only have to battle the threat of terrorism and spiralling teenage murders, but the increasing politicisation of policing. He was quoted in the Independent newspaper.

Now, it only remains to be seen if Sir Ian Blair’s prophecy comes true.

Time up for Happy hour ?

2008-11-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

Politicians could ban the happy hour. Local authorities could be empowered to do away with the concept altogether. Does this country really have a drinking problem? If yes, is this a solution?

That’s what most people are wondering after reports in the media revealed the findings of the Home Affairs select committee. The BBC has reported that the committee said that reckless drinking was placing a heavy burden on police resources.

The report’s aims are to lay down ways of tackling challenges facing police forces in modern times.

Ministers told the BBC that they would "look carefully" at the report's recommendations.

The Guardian newspaper reported that the government is likely to take a more holistic approach on the issue.

This would include cigarette-style health warnings on television advertising for drinks, and labels on cans and bottles spelling out their alcohol-unit content.

The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, is expected to tell the alcohol industry that self-regulation over the years hasn’t actually worked.

The Telegraph reported that the ban would apply to "time-limited" cut-price drink offers, or happy hours

The human costs

The BBC has said in a report that evidence showed the biggest problem faced by police forces was violence and disorder caused by excessive drinking of cheap alcohol.

Drink-fuelled crime meant that many forces could not meet the public's expectations of high-profile visible policing at other times, despite currently having record numbers in uniform, the report said.

And there is another factor, the health costs.

The NHS spends about £2.7 billion a year treating alcohol-related illnesses. 811,000 alcohol-related admissions are made to hospitals each year, a report in the Times newspaper has said.

Supermarkets unhappy

A report in the Times newspaper has said that in 1953 there were just 24,000 off-licences in the whole of the UK, now there are more than 40,000. There were 61,000 so-called “on- licence” premises in 1953; now there are 78,500.

There is definitely a co-relation between accessibility and consumption.

When supermarkets were allowed to sell wine in New Zealand there was an immediate 16 per cent increase in consumption, says the report.

But supermarkets face a tough choice. Tesco spokeswoman Dharshini David told the BBC: “If we stopped promoting alcohol, people would go elsewhere”.

A spokesman for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association told the Independent newspaper: "We're in danger of alienating millions of ordinary people who enjoy a drink."

So, is anyone happy at this hour?

Yes, of course. The campaign group Alcohol Concern welcomed the report, calling on ministers to target discount sales and impose a minimum price per unit on alcohol.

Don Shenker, the organisation's chief executive told the Independent newspaper: "We know there is a clear link between the availability of alcohol and the level of abuse. The cheaper the alcohol is, the more it is abused."

(The picture is a creative commmons photograph from flickr.com. It belongs to Brian Rosner. Click here to go to his profile)

RAPIST FATHER SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMET

2008-11-27T20:33:00.000-08:00

Mr X who raped his two daughters has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The rapes on his daughters had lead to 19 pregnancies. The Prime Minster has promised overhaul of the child protection system.

According to a news report by the BBC, the 56-year-old man was sentenced to a life term for each of the rapes he had admitted to. He admitted to 25.

The Sheffield crown court heard the shocking case. Nine of the children were born. Two had died on the day of their birth. The other 10 pregnancies were miscarried or aborted.

The daughters released a statement to the BBC saying that "His detention in prison brings us only the knowledge that he cannot physically touch us again."

Mr X did not leave his prison cell to attend the sentencing. The Times of India has said that the man raped his daughters about a thousand times in eight years.

He is being compared to dungeon dad Josef Fritzl.

Investigations in the matter

The entire episode raises many questions. The sisters were in contact with helath professionals and social workers. Through investigations are now being planned into the matter, the Daily Mail newspaper has reported.

Jayne Ludlam from Sheffield City Council announced a review into the matter outside Sheffield Crown Court. She was speaking to the newspaper.

The newspaper has revealed that social workers in Sheffield were in contact with the family between 1976 and 1979.

The father took his family to Lincolnshire to avoid detection and in 2004 when they returned to South Yorkshire.

Both daughters went to hospital every time to give birth and they also had miscarriages and other medical problems.

A sad history

When either one of his victims tried to end the sexual abuse, he threatened to kill them and their children a report in the Guardian newspaper has said.

The mother’s role in the entire case has been one of a silent, somewhat aloof spectator, local newspaper The Star has reported. The newspaper has said that the mother turned a blind eye and walked away.
Nicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting, said it was believed the girls' mother knew her daughters were being abused by their father but did nothing to help.

On one occasion, the women called Childline and asked for a guarantee that they could keep their children, but when one was not offered they ended the call, the BBC has reported.

The Times newspaper has reported that social services in Lincolnshire had contact with the family when the daughters were young and suspicions were raised about the children’s parentage.

In 1997 the women’s brother came forward with “hearsay evidence” of incest. Police investigated the claim, but no further action was taken

For Better of for Verse

2008-11-26T17:59:00.000-08:00

The search has begun. Who will be the UK’s next poet laureate? A tradition that has lasted for several decades is now attracting many entries and a lot of existential questions.

The BBC has reported that for the first time it is the British people will have their say in the nomination of the poet laureate.

The current poet laureate is Andrew Motion who was appointed for a term of 10 years starting in May 1999.

He was the first poet laureate to be appointed for a fixed term. Before that, the post was meant to be for life.

Motion told BBC Radio 4's Front Row his successor would be "jerked into a more-or-less public life".

While Andy Burnham the Culture Secretary said it was "exciting to be looking to the future and to appoint a successor" to Motion.

The preface

What is the history behind this tradition? The Times newspaper reports that the job of Poet Laureate was at first that of a straightforward propagandist.

John Dryden was appointed by Charles II in 1668 as the poet laureate. The Times makes a sarcastic allusion calling the him a sort of poetic Alastair Campbell.

The main task of any poet laureate was to write verses for the court and national occasions. Medieval kings are believed to have had a bunch of poets and writers on the payroll.

A royal birthday, royal marriage and military victory etc were often the subjects that a poet laureate wrote about.

Colley Cibber (1730-1757), Nahum Tate (1692-1715) a Laurence Eusden (1718-1730), Nicholas Rowe (1715-1718) etcetera are some of the poets of olden times. This post however, was not reserved for the best poets. Many average writers have also been appointed to the job.

Some 19th century greats include: Robert Southey; William Wordsworth; Alfred, Lord Tennyson; John Masefield; Sir John Betjeman and Ted Hughes still have serious poetic reputations and none of them was a lackey of the administration of his time.

One of the most popular ones was Betjeman.

How do the words fall into place?

The process as explained in the newspaper is quite simple really.
It is up to the queen to make the choice from a list of poets. The nominees are compiled on behalf of the Prime Minister.

It is the Prime Minister who pitches in with his suggestions about the future poet laureate. Then, it is upto the queen to give her nod.

Once that is done, the Lord Chamberlain officially appoints the Poet Laureate by issuing a warrant to the Laureate-elect.

Questions about the role

Motion told the BBC in an interview in September 2008 that the post had been “Most damaging” to his work as a poet.

Also a report in the Guardian suggests that readers criticised Motion's poems. A report in the newspaper quotes from an earlier report – comments of another writer: "The kindest thing to be said about Andrew Motion's latest effort is that it is faithful to an ancient tradition: poets laureate have been writing very bad verses for centuries."

The list

Whatever may be the relevance of this post in modern times, here is a list of people who may be your next poet laureate, according to the Times Newspaper:

Simon Armitage

Carol Ann Duffy

Alice Oswald

Benjamin Zephaniah

Wendy Cope

I am wondering if I should apply,
Especially because of the short supply!