Putin returns to Kremlin amid protests

Moscow, May 7: Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia’s president on Monday in a glittering Kremlin ceremony that took place less than 24 hours after protesters opposed to his rule had battled police in downtown Moscow. “I swear on the power invested in me as president of the Russian Federation to respect and protect the rights and freedom of its citizens,” Putin said, his right hand placed on a red-bound copy of the Russian Constitution.

Russia’s nuclear suitcase was handed over to Putin immediately after his inauguration. Putin’s motorcade had earlier sped through empty streets locked down by a heavy security presence on its way to the Kremlin State Palace, where some 2,000 guests had gathered to witness his inauguration for a six-year term.

Those assembled included Putin’s handpicked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, and Patriarch Kirill, head of Russia’s powerful Orthodox Church. Former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was also in attendance.

“We are entering a new stage of national development,” Putin said. “We want to live in a democratic country…in a successful Russia.”

Police made 120 arrests as some 200 people, including Yeltsin-era deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, protested Putin’s return to the presidency at separate locations near the Kremlin. Putin was forced to step down in 2008 by a constitution that forbids more than two subsequent terms, but is silent on further periods in office.

He shifted to the post of prime minister after installing his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the Kremlin, but remained by far Russia’s most powerful politician. He won a landslide victory in the March 4 presidential elections marred by allegations of vote fraud.

Medvedev said shortly before Putin’s inauguration that the authorities had become ‘more open to dialogue’ during his four-year rule. Russia’s constitution was amended in 2008 to increase the presidential term of office from four years to six. (IANS/RIA Novosti)

Putin proposes Medvedev as Prime Minister

Moscow, May 7: President Vladimir Putin proposed Dmitry Medvedev for the post of prime minister on Monday, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament said.

Putin first put forward the idea of a job swap with Medvedev, who stepped down as president on Monday after four years in office, last autumn. Then prime minister Putin told a congress of the ruling United Russia party that he would back Medvedev for premier in the event of his victory at presidential polls.

Putin won a landslide victory at the on March 4 presidential elections marred by allegations of vote fraud.

Parliament will consider Medvedev’s candidacy on Tuesday afternoon. The vote would appear to be a formality, as Medvedev enjoys the backing of United Russia, the leadership of which he is set to inherit from Putin in June. (IANS/RIA Novosti)

Hollande, the next French president

Paris, May 7: Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande defeated incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday’s decisive presidential runoff in France and will now become president though he has never held a government post at the national level. Hollande will be the second left-wing president, after Francois Mitterrand, founder of the French Socialist Party, served two seven-year terms as president from 1981.

He is regarded by many as an affable moderate whose quiet - some even say dull - manner contrasts sharply with the intensity and glamour of conservative president Sarkozy, BBC reported.

The president-elect, born in August 12, 1954 in northern France, has a shining education background. He was mayor of Tulle in central France from 2001 to 2008, as well as a member of parliament, Xinhua reported. However, Hollande has never held a government post at the national level, which bothered some French voters and cast doubts over his ability to lead the country out of its economic crisis.

Bespectacled and with a scholarly air, Hollande has successfully portrayed himself as a ‘normal president’ as opposed to hyperactive Sarkozy, taking advantage of public’s disappointment with the incumbent president. In his campaign for president, Hollande pledged to fight record high unemployment, including hiring 60,000 more teachers in his term in addition to creating 150,000 state-aided jobs.

Hollande opposed a financial policy solely based on austerity, and planned to open negotiations on the European fiscal pact reached last December by adding new clauses focusing on economic growth and job creation. He pledged to reach a zero budget gap in 2017 and urged the establishment of a European rating agency.

The Socialist also proposed a 75-per cent tax rate on those who earn over 1 million euros ($1.3 million) a year, and an increase in the minimum wage. On foreign policy, Hollande said he would pull out French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, and would only intervene in foreign countries under the UN mandate in the future.

After beating Sarkozy in the first round of the 2012 French presidential election with more than 28.6 percent of the vote, Hollande took the people by surprise in the only TV debate against the incumbent for being unusually argumentative and aggressive, revealing more strength and potential than just being ‘quiet’ and ‘unflappable’. (IANS)

Abolish visa regime even if India hesitates: Nawaz Sharif

Islamabad, May 7: Pakistan’s main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif has called for unilaterally abolishing the visa regime with India even if New Delhi ‘hesitates to reciprocate’ the move.

During an interaction with an Indian delegation at his Lahore residence Sunday, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif urged the Yousuf Raza Gilani government to step forward and take the initiative to abolish the visa regime so as to facilitate people-to-people contact that could accelerate the peace process, News International reported on Monday.

Nawaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, stressed on ending hostilities between the two neighbours. “Pakistan should move ahead with the decision of abolishing the visa regime unilaterally even if India hesitates to reciprocate the initiative at this point in time. I believe India will be forced to follow suit once Pakistan breaks this barrier. In my opinion, this step can go miles in bringing these two nuclear powers closer,” he was quoted as saying.

He said that peace initiatives would lead to great prospects for mutual prosperity, and asked the government to open up the trade policy as well as relax the rules wherever possible. Stressing that it was high time for seeking a resolution of all bilateral issues, he said: “We have assured the government of (our) complete support in this regard. However, it seems, the government is not doing enough.”

Nawaz Sharif highlighted the significance of peace in the region and called for a hands-on approach for settling all outstanding disputes.

The India delegates included President of Confederation of Indian Industry Adi Godrej, Chairman Bajaj Auto Limited Rahul Bajaj, Chairman Hero Corporate Service Limited Sunil Munjal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Bharati Enterprises Limited Rakesh Mittal, Director General Confederation of Indian Industry Chandrajit Banerjee, Vice President Confederation of Indian Industry Ajay Shriram, Chairman Shell India Vikram Singh Mehta, and former chairman NASSCOM Harsh Manglik. (IANS)

China saw 80 bn yuan in public donations in 2011

Beijing, May 7: About 80 billion yuan ($12.6 billion) in public donations were made in China last year, a minister said on Monday, citing a preliminary tally. Xinhua said the estimate surprised many who thought China’s charity sector had sustained irrevocable damage after the sector’s credibility was tarnished by embezzlement scandals that surfaced last year. A famous case involved a young woman who called herself ‘Guo Meimei’. She claimed to work for an organization under the Red Cross Society of China and posted photos of her lavish lifestyle on the Internet, prompting speculation that she had embezzled money to fund her extravagances. The Red Cross Society of China denied employing her. Minister of Civil Affairs Li Liguo said the assessment of China’s philanthropic development would not be affected by a certain charity or the misconduct of an individual, which he said will not be tolerated. China received public donations worth 100 billion yuan in 2008, after the country’s southwestern regions suffered from a massive earthquake. In 2009, the figure fell to 54 billion yuan, but in 2010 it topped 100 billion yuan again, partly because of the Yushu earthquake in northwest China's Qinghai province. Li has promised further efforts to promote information transparency among China's charity sector. Philanthropy in China has made significant progress in recent years, said Li, noting that the number of non-governmental organizations established in China has hit 457,500, and most of them are involved in public service. However, the minister said that modern philanthropy in China is still in a preliminary stage and problems exist in internal management, supervision and policy-making. The Ministry of Civil Affairs will further relax restrictions on registering eligible social organizations and accelerate the formation of relevant regulations to ensure the healthy development of China's charity sector, Li said. (IANS)

Eye colour linked to severity of skin conditions

Washington, May 7: Eye colour can tell whether you're at risk of serious skin conditions. The blue eyed are less likely to have vitiligo, while the brown eyed may have lower risk of melanoma, says a new study. Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin disease in which pigment loss results in irregular white patches of skin and hair. Melanoma is the most dangerous kind of skin cancer. The study, led by the University of Colorado School of Medicine (UCSM), looked at almost 3,000 people with vitiligo of Non-Hispanic European ancestry, identifying 13 new genes predisposed to vitiligo, the journal Nature Genetics reports. “Genetically, in some ways vitiligo and melanoma are polar opposites. Some of the same genetic variations that make one more likely to have vitiligo make one less likely to have melanoma, and vice-versa,” said Richard Spritz, director of the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program at the UCSM. “Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease, in which a person’s immune system attacks their normal pigment cells. We think that vitiligo represents overactivity of a normal process by which one’s immune system searches out and destroys early cancerous melanoma cells,” added Spritz, according to a Colorado statement. People with vitiligo are at higher risk of various other autoimmune diseases, such as thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Their kin are also at higher risk for these same diseases, even if they don't have vitiligo. Spritz said this means there must be some genes that push towards these autoimmune diseases in general, while other genes and environmental triggers determine which autoimmune disease occurs and when. So, as scientists learn about the genetics of vitiligo, they are also learning about the genetics of these other autoimmune diseases. (IANS)

A breakthrough in Alzhemier’s or Parkinson’s treatment

London, May 7: Injecting a protein into the brain could protect its nerve cells from prion disease, a condition which causes the brain to wither away, says a new study. Because the process by which prion disease affects mice brains is similar to some degenerative brain conditions in humans, scientists are hoping that the findings could be a breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. In each case, brain cell death is linked to the build-up of misshapen proteins, forming plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers and lewy bodies in the nerve cells of those with Parkinson’s, the journal Nature reports. In the mice with prion disease, researchers found that when the faulty proteins begin to accumulate, their cells activated a defence mechanism which halted the production of such proteins, according to the Telegraph. The halt ought to be temporary, but in the diseased mice the production of proteins, crucial to cell survival, did not start up again. Scientists found that by injecting a different protein which prevents the supply from being ‘switched off’, they could protect the mice’s brain cells for longer and extend their lives. Giovanna Mallucci, professor at Leicester University, who led the research, said that it could provide a ‘way forward in how we treat other disorders.’ Roger Morris, professor at the School of Biomedical Sciences at King’s College London, described the findings as a ‘major breakthrough’ and said there were ‘good reasons’ for thinking it could also apply to Alzheimer’s. But Eric Karran, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, warned that the research on the prion protein was in its ‘early stages’ and added: “We would need to see the same results confirmed in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s to really strengthen the evidence.” (IANS)

World’s tallest log cabin destroyed in fire

Moscow, May 7: Once the world’s tallest wooden skyscraper, the 13-storey Sutyagin House in Russia has been destroyed in a fire, officials said. The 144-foot-tall Sutyagin House was situated in Arkhangelsk region, the regional emergencies department said on Sunday. The fire started at a nearby bath house and spread to the wooden skyscraper, completely destroying the lob cabin within a few hours. “Strong winds spread the fire to the wooden skyscraper and completely engulfed it,” officials said. The wooden residence was built by local entrepreneur Nikolai Sutyagin in 1992 without any construction permit and was reportedly the world’s tallest wooden building. In the late 1990s, the construction was suspended after Sutyagin was sentenced to several years in prison for racketeering. It was restarted after he served his prison term. In 2008, local authorities had recognized the wooden skyscraper as a fire hazard. (IANS)

Over 50 fall ill at China wedding

Beijing, May 7: At least 56 people have been hospitalised for food poisoning after eating at a wedding banquet in China, officials said. The victims suffered from diarrhoea, a day after the wedding ceremony was held in Jingning county in northwest Gansu province, Xinhua reported. Later, 15 people were discharged from hospital, but 41 are still being treated, an official said. The hotel in which the wedding banquet was held has suspended its operations, and health authorities have launched an investigation. (IANS)

Ouch! When a suitor got rejected as packed stadium watched

London, May 7: A rugby fan proposed marriage to his girlfriend in front of a packed stadium in Britain — and got turned down. The fan popped the question as onlookers saw them on a 15 feet big screen at Glasgow Sevens tournament, reported The Sun. But his girlfriend promptly turned him down and marched out of the Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow’s west end. “The poor guy had maybe had a bit much to drink and made the gesture during a break between games. It went on the big screen but she just rebuffed him and stormed off,” a source was quoted as saying. (IANS)

‘Share evidence against Hafiz Saeed with us’

ISLAMABAD, May 7: Pakistan on Monday countered US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks that it had not done enough against the 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed saying any evidence against him should be shared with Islamabad so that it can be examined by the courts. “Our position on Hafiz Saeed is clear. We have independent and active courts. If anyone has proof against him, they should share it with us so that the courts can examine it,” Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan said. Speaking in Kolkata, Clinton had said she had authorised a 10-million dollar reward for information leading to the capture and prosecution of Saeed, who now heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawah. “We’re well aware that there has not yet been the steps taken by the Pakistani government to do what both India and the US have repeatedly requested them (to) do...And we’re going to keep pushing that point. So it’s a way of raising the visibility and pointing out to those who are associated with (Saeed) that there is a cost for that,” Clinton said. Saeed was placed under house arrest after the UN Security Council declared the JuD a front for the LeT in the wake of the 2008 Mumbai attacks but he was freed within six months on the orders of the Lahore High Court. (PTI)

Fearing racism, Scotland Yard says ‘no’ to blacklist

London, May 7: The word ‘blacklist’ has been banned from use by Britain’s Scotland Yard over fears that it is racist, a media report said on Monday. Not just that. The computer term whitelist that was used to denote a list of acceptable contacts has also been banned, reported The Sun. Scotland Yard put out an e-mail warning that the words were no longer ‘appropriate’. Security services chief Brian Douglas wrote: “IB (Information Board) are uncomfortable with the use of the term Whitelist (and I presume Blacklist). I am sure we can appreciate the sensitivity around the use of such terminology today so please ensure it is no longer used.” He then goes on to suggest options like calling green and red list. Sources described it as ‘bizarre’. Scotland Yard said this was not a change in policy. “It is a change in internal Information Communications Technology terminology which reflects a more appropriate use of language.” (IANS)