W O R L D

‘Avatar’ driving us to suicide, say fans
Los Angeles, January 12
“Avatar” may have enthralled worldwide audiences with its imagery of a utopian alien world, but moviegoers have complained of depression and even suicidal thoughts after watching the sci-fi hit.

New Jersey road named after Indian American
Washington, January 12
A road in the US city of Edison will now be called ‘Mehtani Way’ in recognition of an Indian American whose chain of restaurants has contributed to popularising Indian cuisine and enriching the culture and economy of the township.

Another Indian thrashed in Sydney
Melbourne, January 12
A 28-year-old Indian, living in Australia for more than a decade, today claimed that he was beaten up by a group of locals on a beach in Sydney.

Jackson’s doc may face murder charges
New York, January 12
Late pop legend Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray is facing possible criminal charges in relation to the death of the pop icon last year.

Indian migrant workers rest under blankets at a gurdwara in Kabul on Tuesday. Some 200 Indian workers were left stranded after their agents fled leaving them penniless last month. Many flew home after their families scraped together funds for flights and travel documents, but some 30 of them are still stuck in the country. — AP/PTI

Indian gets life term for murder
London, January 12
Indian student Roshan Dantis, described as “one of the most dangerous murderers Scotland has known”, has been jailed for life for killing a Nepali student and trying to extort £120,000 from her husband. The sensational case involves engineering student Dantis (30) and his close friend Nepali student Nagendra Shah (32) and Shah’s 23-year-old wife Khusbu.

Facebook, Twitter to be part of school studies in UK
London, January 12
For the first time, Britain is planning to include social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, which are often described as a distraction to studies, in the school curriculum. The qualification, called “English studies: digital communication” would require pupils to understand the sites as part of the school curriculum.

‘Avatar’ driving us to suicide, say fans

Los Angeles, January 12
“Avatar” may have enthralled worldwide audiences with its imagery of a utopian alien world, but moviegoers have complained of depression and even suicidal thoughts after watching the sci-fi hit.

Fans of James Cameron’s 3D magnum opus are seemingly finding it hard to separate fact from fiction and Internet forums have been flooded with posts by moviegoers plagued with suicidal thoughts about not being able to visit planet Pandora, reported CNN online.

North American fan site “Avatar Forums” has received 2,000 posts under a thread entitled “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible”.

Forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian said, “The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don’t have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed.”

The blockbuster movie, which has already taken more than $1 billion at the box office, tells the story of a disabled marine sent on a mission to a planet called Pandora, home to a race of giant blue aliens.

Humans are intent on exploiting the planet for its resources, but clash with the native Na’vi, who inhabit their world in perfect harmony with nature.

Forum user “Okoi” writes, “After I watched Avatar at the first time, I truly felt depressed as I “wake” up in this world again”.

Another user Mike wrote on another fan site “Naviblue” that he considered suicide after watching the film.

“Ever since I went to see “Avatar”, I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it, I will be reborn in a world similar to Pandora,” wrote Mike.

The incredible visual realism of the film means viewers become particularly attached, say psychiatrists.

“The film is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far. It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as Utopian as it seems onscreen. It makes real life seem more imperfect,” said Dr. Stephan Quentzel, psychiatrist and Medical Director for the Louis Armstrong Centre for Music and Medicine.The film also failed to impress the Vatican, which has slammed the sci-fi movie as “sentimental hokum”. — PTI

New Jersey road named after Indian American

Washington, January 12
A road in the US city of Edison will now be called ‘Mehtani Way’ in recognition of an Indian American whose chain of restaurants has contributed to popularising Indian cuisine and enriching the culture and economy of the township.

The plaque of ‘Mehtani Way’ was unveiled by Jun Choi, the outgoing Mayor of the New Jersey city Edison, at a ceremony over the weekend in presence of Satish Mehtani, whose family runs a chain of Indian restaurants in New Jersey.

Noting that such a ceremonial honour is reserved for war veterans, Choi said: “It is the first time I am dedicating a street to an entrepreneur, Satish Mehtani, who has contributed to enrich the culture and economy of Edison Township”.

Edison has one of the largest concentrations of Indian Americans in the country.

Mehtani Way connects Oak Tree Road to Moghul Restaurant at Oak Tree Centre Mall, in the part of Edison that is known as ‘Little India’ as it has more than 300 South Asian businesses over a stretch of two miles.

Mehtani arrived in the US in March 1970 from India where he had won a ‘Gold Medal’ for the construction of an Indo-Swiss Training Centre for Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

After working as an insurance agent for 20 years in New York, he ventured into restaurant business along with his wife Sneh and opened a chain of restaurants in New York and St Thomas, Virgin Island.

After establishing Moghul and Ming in Edison, Mehtani launched three more restaurants, Ming II, Mehndi, and SM23, in Morristown, New Jersey.

He launched Edison Day Care Center in 2008 in partnership with Dinesh Patel to provide relief and comfort to the most vulnerable sections of the society-the seniors. “I have done my best to help the needy in the community where I live and work,” said Mehtani.

Yashpaul Soi, former president of Federation of Indian Association (Tri-state), complimented Mehtani on his accomplishment and said that Mehtani family has served the Indian American community for more than 35 years.

“They have been actively involved in the democratic process in USA and played important role during presidential and gubernatorial elections in the country. Mehtanis have always supported cultural and social events of the community,” Soi said in a statement. — PTI

Another Indian thrashed in Sydney

Melbourne, January 12
A 28-year-old Indian, living in Australia for more than a decade, today claimed that he was beaten up by a group of locals on a beach in Sydney.

The man, who refused to be named apparently due to safety reasons, said he was kicked and punched by the group near Coogee beach yesterday. He said he had been living in Australia for the past 11 years and had never experienced such a thing before. The police arrived 40 minutes after the incident and caught one person, he said.

While the man did not receive any external wounds, he said he was having severe pain in his neck, back and head. He did not give any other detail. However, the police has not issued any statement on the attack.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said India and Australia shared an excellent relationship and did not want the issue of attacks on Indians, mostly students, here to disturb the ties. Smith said he rang up his Indian counterpart SM Krishna yesterday after returning from holidays to brief him about the investigations. "We both agreed this was an issue we did not want to disturb or get in the way of what Krishna described as an excellent relationship," he was quoted as saying today.

"I undertook to keep Krishna informed of any developments in the investigation. I relayed to him personal condolences on the death of Indian student Nitin Garg and to Garg's family," Smith said. He told Krishna that the Victorian police continued to treat the case as one of "its highest priorities". — PTI

Jackson’s doc may face murder charges

Indian gets life term for murder

London, January 12
Indian student Roshan Dantis, described as “one of the most dangerous murderers Scotland has known”, has been jailed for life for killing a Nepali student and trying to extort £120,000 from her husband.

The sensational case involves engineering student Dantis (30) and his close friend Nepali student Nagendra Shah (32) and Shah’s 23-year-old wife Khusbu.

The Shahs married in Nepal before arriving to Glasgow in 2008. Dantis met Nagendra Shah in 2008 when both started a Masters course at the Strathclyde University in Glasgow.

Dantis arrived from India after completing an engineering course with his wife Astrid.

In a chillingly calculated murder on June 1, 2009, Dantis cut off Khusbu’s head and limbs with a meat cleaver, put her body parts in holdalls and dumped them.

Dantis has been imprisoned for life, and must serve at least 24 years in jail before being considered for deportation. Detective Superintendent Michael Orr of the Strathclyde police on Monday described Dantis as “one of the most dangerous murderers Scotland has known”.

It emerged during the trial that Dantis, who earned a low wage as a football steward, had become consumed with jealousy at Shah’s plans to buy a restaurant in Shetland and other purchases such as a secondhand car and a large-screen TV. — PTI

Facebook, Twitter to be part of school studies in UK

London, January 12
For the first time, Britain is planning to include social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, which are often described as a distraction to studies, in the school curriculum. The qualification, called “English studies: digital communication” would require pupils to understand the sites as part of the school curriculum.

“This qualification builds on students’ interests in digital texts and excites and engages both boys and girls in our pilot project. It reflects the changing needs and interests of learners,” a government spokesman said.

Teenagers could take the course as a stand-alone subject or alongside traditional English language and literature papers, The Telegraph reported.

British exam regulator Ofqual is currently looking at the course content and Edexcel, the exam board, aims to launch it next year. — PTI