E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

Right royal mystery!
THE massacre that took place in Kathmandu on that fateful Friday night should rank among the worst tragedies ever to befall a royal family, or any family for that matter.

Tax holiday for whom?
THE Centre has exempted industries in Kutch from paying excise duty for five years. The Gujarat government in a matching-show of generosity has decided not to charge sales tax on goods sold in the same territory for the same period.

Heading for a crunch
GOVERNMENT finances have entered the zone of anaemic paleness. Tax collection is dipping, expenditure is soaring, disinvestment is a non-starter and borrowing in the first two months has already crossed the halfway target. 

OPINION

US Missile Defence Plan
Implications for India are manifold
R. S. Bedi
IN a major policy speech on May 1, President Bush unveiled his National Missile Defence strategy at National University, Washington. In that he presented a fait accompli to rest of the world. Needless to say, the Europeans will soon fall in line with the USA without much ado. The Russians too will acquiesce finally after initial murmurs. The Chinese will, however, continue to make noises. 

MIDDLE

Flout without falling out
D.K. Mukerjee
THE little appreciated mango and jamun trees provide the only splashes of green in the so-called and neglected green belt of our Sector. Sitting on a bench and away from the maddening crowd and pollution, I could see the rising sun, watch the dewdrops glisten like pearls in the first light of dawn, hear the soft whispering of the birds and enjoy the gifts of nature to my heart’s content. 

REALPOLITIK

Media arm-twisting: ominous portents
P. Raman
“TODAY, the newspaper world is gripped by an unarticulated fear - the fear of consequences that can follow non-conformist writing. New Delhi is always willing to use its arm-twisting skills against the press barons to fix the newspapers....Abuse of government media such as radio and TV has now transgressed all bounds of decency. 

Teenage crushes can cause mental illness
Tracy Mcveigh
THEY spend their days dreaming of pop stars and gossiping to friends about teenage crushes. But schoolchildren may unwittingly be laying the groundwork for mental illness because of their inability to cope with the emotional turmoil of early relationships.

75 YEARS AGO

Map of Simla

‘Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai’ is a hit
THE Hindi film industry can heave a sigh of relief as it finally has its first super-hit film of the year 2001. Comic actor-turned-filmmaker Satish Kaushik, who debuted as a director with lavish flops like “Prem” and “Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja,” has turned around the slumping fortunes of Hindi cinema.

• It goes beyond Viagra

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Right royal mystery!

THE massacre that took place in Kathmandu on that fateful Friday night should rank among the worst tragedies ever to befall a royal family, or any family for that matter. But it is the subsequent veil of secrecy that has made the “incident” (or the “accident” or whatever else the Nepalese agencies choose to call it) an intriguing mystery. In the absence of a convincing explanation about what exactly happened, dark rumours are floating around and becoming nastier by the hour. Fewer and fewer people are willing to buy the initial story that it was Crown Prince Dipendra, whose death was announced today only a few hours after being anointed King, who killed his father, mother, brother, sister and other family members just because he was not being allowed to marry a girl of his choice. Instead, a conspiracy theory is gaining ground. New King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev owes it to his people, the world at large and, above all, to himself, that the whole unvarnished truth is revealed at the earliest, so that such theories can be discounted. After all, even though all dramatis personae are of blue blood, it is a case of plain murder. In such crimes, the beneficiary is always looked at with suspicion, unless it is proved otherwise. As the saying goes, Caeser’s wife should be above suspicion. So should be the King, all the more so when he is revered as no less than a God personified by his people.

Tax holiday for whom?

THE Centre has exempted industries in Kutch from paying excise duty for five years. The Gujarat government in a matching-show of generosity has decided not to charge sales tax on goods sold in the same territory for the same period. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee performed the duty of announcing the concession in excise duty as an expression of the nation's concern for the earthquake ravaged region. Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel announced the sales tax exemption on behalf of his government. The two of them can be said to have found simple solutions to complex problems. Whenever a region is flattened by an earthquake offer all manner of tax concessions to the sufferers. And hey presto, life will be the same again for them. Of course, it was reassuring to hear the Chief Minister speak. Mr Keshubhai Patel had lost his speech when the worst tremor in living memory hit the Bhuj belt on Republic Day. He became speechless, not because he was responsible for the devastation, but because of the tardy response of his government to cries for help from the victims buried in debris of what were once seen as safe shelters for them. The tragedy exposed the dirty games the builders were playing in cahoots with their patrons among the council of ministers and senior bureaucrats. The well connected builders have still not been touched. They are said to be in hiding because arresting them and making them speak will cause more embarrassment to the Chief Minister and his minions.

Even a former US President's high profile visit to the devastated zone has not made much difference to the lives of the sufferers. It is not that international aid agencies and those in India have not responded to the tragedy in Gujarat. The victims continue to suffer nearly six months after the devastation in spite of all manner of relief material pouring in from all corners of the country and the world. The are suffering because the relief material is ending up in wrong hands. But Mr Vajpayee and Mr Keshubhai Patel believe that the tax concessions they announced during the Prime Minister's visit to Bhuj would help wipe out the tears from the eyes of the sufferers, who after being rendered shelterless should brace themselves for coping with the effects of a normal monsoon. And if the met office's prediction prove wrong, the ghost of drought would continue to haunt them as usual. If excise duty concession helps them get shelter, they should express their gratitude to the Prime Minister. If sales tax exemption provides them food and medicines, they should forever feel beholden to their Chief Minister.

Heading for a crunch

GOVERNMENT finances have entered the zone of anaemic paleness. Tax collection is dipping, expenditure is soaring, disinvestment is a non-starter and borrowing in the first two months has already crossed the halfway target. A credit rating agency, Fitch, has downgraded India from stable to negative. Now Fitch is not as well known and authoritative as Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s. But the bases of its analysis are very valid and command respect. Government finances are deteriorating, the fiscal deficit is increasing, privatisation is in paralysis and industrial production is coming down. The impact of the last two factors will be to reduce revenue collection and widen the fiscal deficit. Then there is the threat of a looming recession. Already demand for consumer goods like soap, toothpaste and detergents is falling and only a good monsoon and revival of the rural economy will reverse the trend. But that is some months away. Sale of automobiles which accelerated at a healthy rate two years ago has slumped, signalling a shrinkage of purchasing power among urban middle classes. A more reliable indicator is the sharp fall in imports, which unfailingly mirrors a lower rate of industrial production.

All these seem to be structural in nature. An analysis by an economic newspaper shows that despite a lower tax rate, tax collection as a percentage of the GDP has fallen. It was above 10 per cent in 1991 when Mr Manmohan Singh launched the reforms. Like his mentor Mr V.P. Singh, he boldly brought down the rates of all taxes and duties and for one year there was a dramatic improvement in revenue. But it was shortlived and by last year the percentage has shrivelled to about 8 per cent. This despite the much publicised efforts to widen the tax base and bring more people into the income tax net. What this proves is that India has always been a difficult laboratory to test economic theories. The route to greater revenue by lower taxes was chartered by an American economist named Laffer. He said initially there will be a drop in revenue but then a steady climb, the socalled Laffer curve. In this country the presence of black money and the love for it have defeated the curve. Equally dismaying is the level of borrowing by the Centre. It has budgeted a net borrowing of Rs 77,353 crore (gross borrowing minus redemption) but has already borrowed Rs 41,250 crore by May end or in the first two months. Running the government on borrowed funds and not on tax revenue is a risky proposition.

US Missile Defence Plan
Implications for India are manifold
R. S. Bedi

IN a major policy speech on May 1, President Bush unveiled his National Missile Defence strategy at National University, Washington. In that he presented a fait accompli to rest of the world. Needless to say, the Europeans will soon fall in line with the USA without much ado. The Russians too will acquiesce finally after initial murmurs. The Chinese will, however, continue to make noises. In contrast, India beat everybody by promptly endorsing the US plan.

As the nuances of the NMD are slowly becoming more comprehensible, the US paradigm shift from deterrence to defence can be seen in better perspective. Its impact on India’s nuclear posture and that of its neighbours, therefore, needs to be evaluated.

India’s response has been variously described as hasty, premature and even effusive. Until now, India had been opposing the NMD on the ground that it would lead to an arms race. And yet in the face of others’ cautious reaction, India went overboard in endorsing it without any debate or discussion in the Cabinet or Parliament. The somersault to the “other side” seems perplexing, to say the least. It is that India has fallen for the US’ promises of unilateral reduction of missile arsenal and global disarmament (since Russia is no longer a challenge)? Or is it that India is choosing sides early on in an increasingly unipolar world? Or perhaps India perceives in this arrangement a sense of security? No doubt, India is more comfortable with NMD since it literally throws out the CTBT. Notwithstanding, there is something more than what meets the eye. Sanctions, transfer of critical technologies and candidature for the UN Security Council being India’s more critical concerns had perhaps formed the basis of quid pro quo.

US shift from MAD to defence strategy is cause and effect of its perceptions. Being the unchallenged leader in the existing unipolar world, impulse to maintain the status quo through the 21st century is predominant. With its unsurpassed technological and economic prowess, it has the potential. All it needed was the political will to take off from where Reagan had left. Bush did not take long to unfold the American vision.

It would take decades before Russia could turn around and pose a challenge in the emerging global architecture envisaged by the USA. Bush’s strategic vision, if it succeeds would leave the Russians by the side in the race for global supremacy. Since NMD like defences are prohibited by the 1972 ABM treaty, the USA is willing to abrogate it unilaterally. With a weakened Russia, the USA finds the treaty defunct and the theory of deterrence obsolete.

Paradoxically, Russian reaction has been ambivalent, varying between mild criticism and subtle aquiescence. In fact, far more criticism has come from some of the European allies. The Russians seem to be steering towards more flexible response so as to have minimum confrontation. They are aware of their constraints in opposing the inevitable and insisting on their own vision of global security. The Americans are also aware of their limitation of not being able to beat Russia’s sophisticated countermeasures. President Bush’s statement that he would proceed with the NMD regardless of Russian response is only suggestive of his perception that after some face-saving workout, the Russians would eventually give in. Russians are rather sensitive to unilateral abrogation of the ABM treaty.

India’s thoughtlessly premature “endorsement is likely to affect Indo-Russian relations adversely. India was, however, able to retrieve the situation to some extent by emphasising during Foreign Minister Ivanov’s visit to New Delhi that India did not endorse US’ unilateral attempts to abrogate the ABM treaty. India thus shared Russia’s concern without hurting its earlier pro-NMD stand. Nevertheless, “hints of displeasure” were perceptible during Ivanov’s visit. The fact that India did not care to apprise its “strategic partner” in advance was rather disconcerting for Moscow, though not expressed vehemently.

The USA is sugar coating the pill by claiming to achieve nonproliferation, counter proliferation and unilateral reduction of strategic nuclear arsenal to a level of 2000 or so as envisaged in START II. The reality is quite different. NMD seeks to prevent other nations from developing their own nuclear missiles. “NMD will make unnecessary some states producing their own missiles as a response to threat from a neighbour”, said the Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Richard Armitage in New Delhi. “They would have another option — defence rather than offence”, he clarified further. NMD is not only for defence of continental America as generally believed but a ballistic missile defence (BMD) for global security.

The missile defence shield will comprise a constellation of 24 low orbit space based infrared satellites (SBRIS) by the year 2010. Five ground based radars along with another nine X-band radars deployed world wide will receive data from space. Ground based interceptor boosters with three stage high speed rockets carrying exo-atmospheric kill vehicles (EKV) will destroy the incoming missile through collision.

The air component of NMD will have two modified B-747-400 F aircraft with laser, capable of shooting down the missiles in the boost phase. Operating from a height of 40,000 ft, while one will illuminate the missile with the laser, the other will fire a burst of 3-5 seconds to destroy it in the launch area itself.

The third component of the NMD would be sea based which is not expected to be ready before 2012. It would complement other two options and would be deployed all over the seas. It would have vast capabilities of scanning, tracking and engaging up to a hundred target missiles on the surface, under water and in the air. The battle management command, control and communication would be the heart of the NMD.

Such a vast and complex network that may cost up to $ 24.4 billion by the year 2007 and $ 43.2 billion by 2026 when all components would be operational is surely not meant for a few “rogue states” like Iran, Iraq, Libya and N. Korea. They are only an alibi. Their offensive capabilities are laughable, to say the least. Their proximity to Asia, Russia and Europe is far greater than the USA. If there is any threat to US hegemony on the horizon, it is from the Chinese dragon, euphemistically called the “strategic competitor”.

No wonder China’s reaction to the NMD has been most uncompromising. NMD will marginalise China’s nuclear capabilities and global power aspirations. It will also throw up more contradictions in China’s nuclear posture. Despite being a signatory to the NPT, it has been building its nuclear arsenal without inhibition. Now that the NMD threatens to neutralise its modest arsenal of 18 to 20 ICBMs, it may be driven further to enhancing its stockpiles so as to ensure some effectiveness against NMD. But technologically, it may not be feasible for the Chinese to achieve this objective. Any attempt to chase the mirage would only blunt its economic growth and impoverish its populace further. It may be deja vu for the Chinese who have only recently seen the erstwhile Soviet Union brought to its knees by a similar competition with the USA.

But what if China and Russia join hands? Together they may be able to overcome the handicap. However, it wouldn’t be possible as long as India maintains its strategic relationship with the Russians. China cannot bear India as part of the same loop. Since the Americans are still debating the highly doubtful NMD technology, in case of failure, they may end up creating a different world order.

Pakistan’s reaction is equally important from India’s point of view. NMD targets ‘rogue states’ and “some in India’s neighbourhood”, said Richard Armitage in New Delhi. NMD stands to undermine Pakistan’s offensive nuclear policy posture. Pakistan has been blackmailing the world that Kashmir is a nuclear flash point. Bush statement that NMD is aimed at “states for whom terror and blackmailing are a way of life”, ought to worry Pakistan. This would push Pakistan further in China’s lap.

Sino-Pak response to NMD will put India in a different position. Will India take up the cudgels with China, despite its minimum credible nuclear deterrence and global disarmament posture or fall for the US cover in its new avatar of NMD. Whatever be India’s approach, Sino-Indian relations will be adversely affected. However, India has to be careful in not allowing itself to be used by the USA as a frontline state against others. There is little doubt that in this major geo-political shift, the USA is trying to forge a closer relationship with India in order to counter China.

The only redeeming feature, if at all there is one, is the element of uncertainty in the NMD project. Various integrated flight tests conducted in the past viz April and June ‘98, April and October ’99, January and July 2000, failed to varying degrees. The certainly of future tests, three each year, to be conducted between 2001 and 2005 and subsequent first launch with low orbit satellite in 2006 remains equally doubtful. The ballooning cost and the uncertainty factor has aroused an intense debate in the USA and Congress. With so much yet to be achieved and critical performance features yet to be demonstrated, the world will remain in suspense for years to come, unless the Americans are driven to abandon it earlier.

Air Marshal Bedi (retd) is Director, Strategic Research Centre, Chandigarh. 

Flout without falling out
D.K. Mukerjee

THE little appreciated mango and jamun trees provide the only splashes of green in the so-called and neglected green belt of our Sector. Sitting on a bench and away from the maddening crowd and pollution, I could see the rising sun, watch the dewdrops glisten like pearls in the first light of dawn, hear the soft whispering of the birds and enjoy the gifts of nature to my heart’s content. This has been my escape from huffing and puffing. It has also come as a refuge from a long painful ailment and a source for speedy recovery.

Alas, this pleasure has recently been snatched away by the development-appreciative and enthusiastic Municipal Corporation which has constructed a gloomy walking track and christened it as a park without providing flowers, creepers, ornamental plants, musical fountains etc which could bring a fresh lease of life and colour to the place. All of a sudden this has attracted many health conscious people of all age groups, dog lovers and young cricketers, who convert the track into pitch and start playing the game unmindful of the injury that they may cause to others. I have thus witnessed the demise of the flourishing system of walking down the four corners of the belt, enjoying fresh air and keep ailment away through natural life style.

It appears that the power that could be woke from its deep slumber and realising the danger caused by such invasions, has displayed boards announcing that “Dogs and Playing of Cricket not allowed in the Park”. Little did they know our creative skills, abilities to twist and interpret such instructions to our likings and requirements. Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Government disallowed beauty contests in the State. Yet the organisers crowned Miss Lucknow in the City of Jaipur. Putting up of the barbed wires on the hedges grown outside the dwellings has been disallowed but these have been replaced by thorny bushes. As forbidden fruits are sweet how could the green belt remain different?

It is now football or games other than cricket and a few unchained dogs unaccompanied by their owners can be seen enjoying their freedom. The efforts for improvements have remained fruitless. It is just like a mismatched marriage.

Remember the case of the famous Grewal Sports Association of Kila Raipur in Ludhiana district who conduct animal sports, including bullock cart races? This was objected to by some animal lover who lodged a complaint to the authorities pointing out that it is tantamount to cruelty to animal. His plea was first accepted and a ban imposed. However, it was immediately followed by a clarification that the ban was not on animal sports but on cruelty to animals. Needless to say that the sports festival was conducted as planned. Was it a case where law was shown to be an ass or a bullock?

I am reminded of an incident when the Professor taking our class asked me to “go out” as I was disturbing others. I complied and re-entered through the second door. When the teacher gave me a stern look I merely uttered “Sir, you never said don’t come in”. He had a smile on his face and so had all my classmates. I was 16 then.

Media arm-twisting: ominous portents
P. Raman

“TODAY, the newspaper world is gripped by an unarticulated fear - the fear of consequences that can follow non-conformist writing. New Delhi is always willing to use its arm-twisting skills against the press barons to fix the newspapers....Abuse of government media such as radio and TV has now transgressed all bounds of decency. Our short-sighted rulers do not seem to realise that once these media lose credibility with the people, they cannot be effective even as drum-beaters of the ruling party - a task they have shamelessly undertaken.”

This is not the angry outburst of an aggrieved Outlook Editor-in-Chief Vinod Mehta against the pressures put on him by the PMO. This prophetic warning against the consequences of “arm-twisting” the media was sounded by none other than Atal Behari Vajpayee himself. This was in his presidential address to the inaugural conference of the Bharatiya Janata Party at Bandra on December 28, 1980. The new party of the former Jana Sangh under Vajpayee was then advocating Swadeshi-based ‘Gandhian socialism’ and ‘value-based’ politics - the two political planks that now remain greatly eroded.

Vajpayee, then on the receiving end of the political spectrum, was referring to the muzzling of the media by Congress Chief Ministers in states like Bihar and Orissa and the news management system under the Indira Gandhi establishment. Few had then anticipated that the same charges would one day be hurled back at this old champion of the Press freedom under almost similar circumstances. Before going into the specific allegations of muzzling the media, it is pertinent to take note of the high priority the Vajpayee establishment attaches to the efficacy of media management.

The BJP is the one party that has been conducting frequent study classes for its workers from central to local levels on the importance of being media savvy and how to deal with those do not fall in line. The party has elaborate papers on winning over what Vajpayee had two decades back described as ‘press barons’ and the scribes at the ground level. Vajpayee has one of the heaviest media management setup - recently two have left - in his PMO. They handled media men and the ‘barons’ at the appropriate levels depending on their status.

Its successive information ministers used their part of the ‘arms-twisting skills’ - again, to quote Vajpayee - to bring round the electronic media. At the party level the media cell also keeps a close watch so that the problems could be referred for rectification. Over the years, all these have become the establishment’s accepted practice. For long, the Chief Ministers did it by simply withdrawing government advertisements to the erring newspapers. Denial of import licences (under licence raj) and tax raids and slapping of the FERA cases can be traced back to the pre-emergency era.

The late Ramnath Goenka has been the worst victim of the official wrath. Parliamentary records will show how frequently inspired questions about the rebel media ‘baron’ were asked and ready assurances given by the ministers against his newspapers. From the long association with his daily, this writer has been witness to the Emergency censors deliberately keeping the stamped pages until other newspaper bundles leave the spot. This was aimed at throttling the circulation. Even after the emergency, at one time there has been a claimed three dozen cases against the newspaper group.

To start with, Vajpayee did not have any problem with the media which had willingly cooperated with him in the task of right projections. His occasional faux pas were quietly ignored. Rajiv’s year-end holidays were lampooned as youth orgy with taxpayers’ money. But not Vajpayee’s biannual holidays. This writer was witness to a senior editor rejecting one of those ‘sleeping Gowda’ pictures just because Vajpayee too was seen his eyes closed. The media’s willing cooperation has been part of a post-1997 Vajpayee project launched with the support of an influential section of the domestic business. He was seen as a saviour who could restore stability.

Some mistook it as middle classes’ honeymoon with a new hero. In politics everything has its own momentum, quick or slow. Thus the Vajpayee project worked only until things began turning sour. This is a stage when the media comes face-to-face with harsh facts and the dire compulsions of being a good boy. Media ‘barons’ with industry and business are the most vulnerable lot as the Outlook case reveals. Every one knows financial bunglings have become part of successful contemporary business, domestic or foreign. Hence any ‘baron’ can be caught if the media owned by him turns disobedient. The clever ones play safe until the running cases - may be of FERA - are closed and then goes back to business as usual.

It is nobody’s case that the enforcement agencies should not do their duty unhindered. Neither is it to suggest that just because a business runs a newspaper, they should not be subject to routine actions under the normal course of the law. But in the Outlook case, bland statements by a tax officer alone cannot brush aside the ulterior intentions. The PMO had often expressed displeasure at the stories in the journal. The editor alleges that warnings came from the highest levels. Later, Vajpayee himself had summoned the editor who had in his subsequent article narrated the details of the conversation. Apparently, this disclosure by a highly respected editor has made the PMO lose balance.

A dispassionate look at the weekly’s previous issues will reveal no evidence of a mala fide onslaught on the PMO. Its pieces, including a cover story, are well marshalled by facts and within the journalistic propriety. Intolerance to criticism, impulses for highhandedness and proclivity for retaliation are sure signs of the rulers’ increasing insecurity. Even if the tax men have acted on their own, it is in Vajpayee’s own interest to be seen as not resorting to what he had said two decades back - ‘arms-twisting. ‘In case the Outlook editor is forced out by the management, as had happened in some cases in the past, it will further tarnish Vajpayee’s image as a tolerant statesman.

Middle classes, who have begun feeling disillusioned with the government as is evident from the recent elections,have been watching with unease all the vendetta against Tehelka for their exposure of corruption in the government. The dotcom is being forced to seek the help of the NRIs who will be free from the government ‘arms-twisting’. “We have faced the wrath of an incensed government. We find our associates cornered and our credit lines choked. In a way we find ourselves fighting for survival”, Tehelka alleges while seeking public cooperation. Of late, journalists have suffered for their non-compliance. An active freelance journalist who had written about the wranglings in the PMO early this year, had lost a subscriber under official pressure.

Time is running out for Vajpayee to heed his own warning: “Our short-sighted rulers do not seem to realise that once these media lose credibility with the people, they cannot be effective even as drum-beaters of the ruling party - a task they have shamelessly undertaken.” He should not be unaware of the public aversion the fast spreading ‘unarticulated fear’ will have on his own image.

Teenage crushes can cause mental illness
Tracy Mcveigh

THEY spend their days dreaming of pop stars and gossiping to friends about teenage crushes. But schoolchildren may unwittingly be laying the groundwork for mental illness because of their inability to cope with the emotional turmoil of early relationships.

Whether the attachment is real or to a much-kissed poster on a bedroom wall, falling head over heels before the age of 17 has a significant effect on a child’s vulnerability to both depression and alcohol abuse.

Research has found that love wreaks its worst damage on the minds of young girls. A four-year US study suggests that romance increases a girl’s risk of developing symptoms of depression by up to a third.

The joint study by sociologists from Cornell University and the University of North Carolina may go some way to explaining the gender gap. Young women are twice as likely as young men to suffer from depression in both the USA and the UK.

The greater vulnerability of teenage girls to romances explains, to a great extent, why females begin exhibiting higher rates of depression in adolescence than males,’ said Kara Joyner, Assistant Professor at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology.

She said that lovesick boys were more likely to turn to delinquency and alcohol than girls and also suffered a ‘significant’ increase in depression rates.

These results offer no suggestion that females’ greater vulnerability to romantic involvement is down to a greater interest in romance. In fact, girls show less of an interest in relationships at the younger age groups than do males.

“Furthermore the more interest that an adolescent expressed in romance, the larger their increase in depression, compared with their counterparts who showed no or little interest,’ said Joyner. The damage often carried on into adulthood.

“Depression is often used as an indicator of adolescent well-being and depression in adolescence also has been linked to well-being in young adulthood including depression, early marriage and marital dissatisfaction,” she said.

While previous research has pointed to romantic relationships having a positive effect on grown-ups, giving adults positive feelings of well-being and self-esteem, this is the first study of its kind of children, and results are worrying.

More than 12,000 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 were questioned by the American sociologists. They came from 134 schools picked at random from across the public, private and religious sectors and were questioned at yearly intervals.

While the effects of romance seem to tail off by the age of 17, the researchers found that the most dangerous age to fall in love for girls would seem to be 13 to 14 and for boys between 14 and 16.

The number and stability of relationships also appear to be far more critical factors than school performance in explaining the larger incidence of depression among involved boys and younger involved girls.

The major detrimental effect would seem to come from the stereotypical ‘head in the clouds’ symptoms when as concentration goes, schoolwork and relationships at home are allowed to slip.

“In general these results suggest that the detrimental effects of romantic involvement are explained by changes in relationships with parents, school performance, and the number and stability of relationships,” said Joyner. — The Observer

75 YEARS AGO

Map of Simla

The Drawing Office of the Survey of India has issued a very interesting guide map of Simla. The most important features of the map are that roads are easily followed, public and private roads being distinguished and a reference list of buildings very conveniently arranged. Names and numbers are in Alphabetical and consecutive order, respectively. The map has contours and layers of colour to show uphills. Visitors to Simla will find the map very useful. The map also shows Simla neighbouring Hill States.

‘Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai’ is a hit

THE Hindi film industry can heave a sigh of relief as it finally has its first super-hit film of the year 2001.

Comic actor-turned-filmmaker Satish Kaushik, who debuted as a director with lavish flops like “Prem” and “Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja,” has turned around the slumping fortunes of Hindi cinema.

Kaushik’s “Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai” has been declared a blockbuster — the first Hindi film to win the status since Rakesh Roshan’s “Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai” more than 17 months ago, which rocketed son Hrithik Roshan to stardom.

Incidentally, MKKH launches Jeetendra’s son Tusshar Kapoor. Rakesh Roshan, who directed his son Hrithik in “Kaho Naa...Pyar Hai” says, “Tusshar has got a personality that grows on you. As you watch the film you begin to like the boy and the film immensely.”

But the actual beneficiary of the blockbuster is Kareena Kapoor. Though her launch film “Refugee” wasn’t a big success, Kareena certainly was a hit. Many film industry sources, including Kareena herself, felt unsure about carrying off the woman-of-today trendy look after playing a conservative Muslim girl in “Refugee.”

MKKH is a remake of a super-hit Telugu film “Tholi Prema” featuring Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi’s brother as a gawky collegian who cannot bring himself to confess his love for a non-resident Indian beauty. In the original film, Keerthi Reddy played the role of the leading lady. IANS

It goes beyond Viagra

Viagra allows impotent men to have sex — albeit for a limited time. But now a rival drug is offering men hope that sex can last longer.

A new clinical trial shows that Cialis can enable impotent men to enjoy a spontaneous sex life, which the makers claim will enhance the quality of their relationships.

Viagra takes effect an hour after taking the little blue pill and the benefits only last for four to five hours. Users complain that it means sex has to be carefully planned.

Drug company Eli Lilley, which makes Cialis, claims that its effects start within 20 minutes and last for at least 24 hours. Impotent men are then able to have intercourse spontaneously, or to have sex at night and again on waking in the morning.

The claim was made as the results of a clinical trial on 284 impotent men were presented this weekend at the annual scientific meeting of the American Urological Association in California.

On average men with erectile dysfunction - the inability to achieve and maintain an erection — were able to perform normally on average 20 minutes after taking the pill, and that for most the effects lasted up to 24 hours, when the study stopped.

The researchers believe that many of the men carried on being responsive for up to 48 hours.

Cialis proved as effective as Viagra, with both drugs helping more than 80 per cent of men with erectile dysfunction, with limited side-effects.

Ann Tailor, Director of the UK Impotence Association, who was at the conference, said: “It is a highly effective treatment, regardless of the severity of erectile dysfunction. These new data suggest that a large number of men with erectile dysfunction will be able to achieve an erection, following sexual stimulation, any time over a 24-hour period.”

In surveys, 90 per cent of men with erectile dysfunction said that being able to be responsive for a long time was either ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’. The surveys showed that the men believed the ability to enjoy spontaneous sexual relations with their partners would return a feeling of normality to their lives, and so enhance their relationship. The Observer

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

Behold the birds of the air,

They build themselves no granaries;

They construct no tanks of water,

They depend on the forest trees,

And on the natural pools,

The Lord provideth them all.

Thou alone art!

Thou alone art!

Guru Nanak Dev, Rag Majh ki Var. Sri Guru Granth Sahib, pages 144-145

*****

O most gracious Lord

Make my senses and my mind

strong and healthy.

May it be Thy pleasure to protect

And make us the possessor

of all good things in the world.

In Thee O Lord are the treasures of the highest wisdom.

So will, that the best riches,

such as the glories of the empire,

be for our benefit

and enable us to attain them.

— Yajurveda, V.II.10

*****

God is not like any object that the human mind can conceive; no attributes can be ascribed to Him that bear the least resemblance to any quality of which human beings have conception from their knowledge of material objects. The perfection of piety consists in knowing God; the perfection of knowledge is the affirmation of his verity the perfection of verity is to acknowledge His Unity in all sincerity; and the perfection of sincerity is to deny all attributes to the Deity.

*****

He who refers an attribute to God believes the attribute to be God and he who so believes an attribute to be God, regards God as two or part of one. He who asks where God is assimilates Him with some object. God is the creator, not because He himself is created; God is existent, not because He was non-existent; He is with every object, not from resemblance or nearness; He is outside of everything, not from separation. He is the Primary Cause (fa’il) not in the meaning of motion or action; He is the Seer, but no sight can see Him. He has no relation to place, time or measure.

— Hazrat ‘Ali, the fourth Caliph