KOLKATA, 18 JUNE: Gold and silver ornaments worth over several lakh have been stolen from a locked flat in Rameshwar Malia Lane in Howrah. The incident took places just a few metres from the official residence of the police commissioner. The burglary came to light this morning after the house owner returned and found the collapsible gates and almirah in the rooms broken. Mr Madan Lal Joshi (56), who lives on the top floor of the six-storey Sharma apartment at Rameshwar Malia Lane, said the house was locked since 30 May as he, along with his wife and daughter, had gone to attend a wedding in Bikaner of Rajasthan. Mr Joshi, claimed 25 grams of gold and silver ornaments and cash worth Rs 3.5 lakh cash stashed in the lockers of the almirah was stolen. He accused the poor lightning system in the building coupled with no security apparatus being the main reason for the theft. “The top three floors are plunged in darkness even during the day providing ample opportunity for burglars to perform the heist,” he said. He, however, added he has been living in the same place since the past 30 years and such incident has never taken place before. Policemen who rushed to the apartment after being informed recovered a screwdriver used to commit the crime. “It seems to be a job of an insider who was aware the family was not in the city. We have got certain clues and the accused will soon be arrested,” said a police officer. sns

Math has entered the bio lab to help fight cancer, says s ananthanarayanan
WHILE genetics and molecular biology have made advances with the mechanism of life processes, scientists still cannot observe and monitor activity at the microscopic and cellular levels. Methods of statistics and analysis of numbers, hence, need to come in for an assessment of how effective an intervention has been.
   Fabrice Le Boeuf, Cory Batenchuk, Markus Vähä-Koskela, Sophie Breton, Dominic Roy, Chantal Lemay, Julie Cox, Hesham Abdelbary, Theresa Falls, Girija Waghray, Harold Atkins, David Stojdl, Jean-Simon Diallo, Mads Kaern and John Bell, a multidisciplinary team at Ontario, Canada, report in the journal, Nature Communications, their analyses and assessment of ways of using viruses to knock out cancer cells in the body.
Cancer cells are those that multiply without regulation. This may be due to failure of the cells’ own control over growth and multiplication or the failure of the body&’s defence mechanisms to destroy such cells. In either case, cancer cells create tumours, invade neighbouring organs, create a blockage or ulcers and spread to other parts of the body. Curative action, apart from surgery to remove tumours, is mainly through agents that destroy cancer cells and leave healthy cells comparatively less affected. While a host of such agents has been identified, a promising line of attack is to deploy viruses that selectively strike at cancer cells.
Viruses are entities, like cells, which have an envelope and are programmed with DNA, but little else, and the programme is only to reproduce. Viruses evolve the structure of the envelope to exactly fit features of the specific target cell exterior so that they are able to enter. Once within the host, they release their reproductive machinery and feed on the hosts’ nutrients, since they have none of their own, to create clones of themselves. The hosts’ own function is thus suspended, which causes disease, but the virus multiplies, sometimes a millionfold, within the cell. The cell wall then collapses and the generations of viruses spread out to enter other cells, and so on.
The body&’s defence against a virus attack is through the immune system, which kicks in when cells under stress release a signal protein called interferon (IFN). This is so called because its first role is to interfere with the replication of viral cells. But its other role is to communicate with other cells to slow down replication so as to impede the growth of the virus and also to convey to active agents in the immune system the features of the virus, for recognition. In this way, the immune system is often able to win the race against the virus. One encounter also leaves the body with the template of the virus, which helps in a faster, and generally effective, response in case of another attack.
A class of viruses known as Oncolytic viruses (OV) comprise those that get blocked by the IFN activity of normal cells but multiply in the usual way in tumour cells. The reason that normal cells can stop viruses is often that the virus is not able to counter the anti-virus response that IFN sets off. In cancer cells, the IFN response is sometimes sluggish, because of changes that cause and result from malignancy. Such cells are great breeding grounds for OVs.  But the extent of this IFN defect in cells is variable and this can reduce the efficacy of treatment with OVs. It is, hence, an objective of research to find ways to suppress IFN signalling in tumour cells without affecting the same function in normal cells.
The Ontario team describes the cycle of infection and protection by a schema shown in the picture. Uninfected cells first get the virus and start creating IFN. As their numbers increase, with the spread of infection, IFN creates an activated population where virus replication is controlled and more IFN is produced. And then there are protected cells, which have overcome the infection, and keep up the defence activity. Viruses that infect cancerous cells will have the benefit of the fast reproducing environment of the malignant cell. But at the same time, the IFN production would suppress replication and it is the balance between the two processes that would decide the efficacy of the virus in putting down the cell.
With the help of this model of the virus action and response, the team simulated the outcome of different IFN evasion strategies that were used by the OVs against three different kinds of cells — normal cells, cancer cells that did not respond to IFN and cancer cells that did. The different results would then guide the best characteristics to find in OVs, either by genetic engineering or by selection of specific OVs.
First, it was taken that the cells differed mainly in how they helped or hindered viruses in replication and in activating IFN. The reaction of these cell types to infection was then quantified, using experimental data of the response after 72 hours of infection. With these figures in place, the model was used to simulate different combinations of the rate of virus replication, IFN-mediated defence response and the destruction of cells.
Constraints in the trials were that the population was a mixture of healthy and cancerous cells and then the uncertainty of values of parameters that had been assumed.
The trials, thus, had to be by thousands of simulations with random insertion of cells with different characteristics, using a technique called Monte Carlo sampling, to make estimates of the outcome of different strategies.
The Monte Carlo method is a statistical technique of estimating trends based on partial data. To estimate the ratio of the area of an irregular figure to that of a circle drawn within the figure, for instance, one method would be to paint the circle and then the whole figure. The quantity of paint used each time would give the ratio we need. But this would be an exact method, with full data.
Another way would be to sprinkle drops of paint randomly on the surface. A count of how many drops fall within the square, as compared to all the drops, would also give us the ratio — but approximately. Obviously, just a few drops may all land in the circle and be misleading. But the result gets very close to the correct answer as we increase the number of drops.
This method of estimation, which is useful in gambling games, was so named by its inventor after the well-known casino in Monaco.
The Ontario group, which included doctors, systems biologists and a physicist, carried out huge numbers of trials using different combinations of virus properties, both known and proposed. First, they tried the model out with a known OV, which blocks IFN production in target cells. The model correctly showed that the virus could eliminate both healthy and cancerous cells.
And also that suppressing the IFN blocking quality would make the virus ineffective against normal cells, but still effective against cells that did not respond to IFN.  The group then tried out chemical manipulation, which increased the blocking action in IFN responsive cancer cells but found that the strategy seemed to affect healthy cells as well.
The third strategy they tried was where the virus was wired to create an IFN blocking decoy just when virus replication was initiated. This linking of the creation of the decoy with replication results in a spiralling feedback which sustains the strategy .The effect of high rate of replication, which happens in cancer cells, is to increase the rate of decoy-blocking of IFN, which would allow the virus to keep replicating and, hence, make more IFN. But as normal cells do not replicate fast, the decoy would not become active and normal cells would be able to survive the OV attack. This last strategy was also tried out in practice, successfully, with cancerous mice.
The study used sophisticated mathematical tools to simulate OV replication dynamics, including the use of differential equations, which is to make computations not of quantities but of how fast those quantities change.
“What is remarkable is how well we could actually predict the experimental outcome based on computational analysis,” says Dr Bell, who, with Dr Mads Kaern, directed the study. “This work creates a useful framework for developing similar types of mathematical models in the fight against cancer.”

The writer can be contacted at
simplescience@gmail.com

Math has entered the bio lab to help fight cancer, says s ananthanarayanan
WHILE genetics and molecular biology have made advances with the mechanism of life processes, scientists still cannot observe and monitor activity at the microscopic and cellular levels. Methods of statistics and analysis of numbers, hence, need to come in for an assessment of how effective an intervention has been.
   Fabrice Le Boeuf, Cory Batenchuk, Markus Vähä-Koskela, Sophie Breton, Dominic Roy, Chantal Lemay, Julie Cox, Hesham Abdelbary, Theresa Falls, Girija Waghray, Harold Atkins, David Stojdl, Jean-Simon Diallo, Mads Kaern and John Bell, a multidisciplinary team at Ontario, Canada, report in the journal, Nature Communications, their analyses and assessment of ways of using viruses to knock out cancer cells in the body.
Cancer cells are those that multiply without regulation. This may be due to failure of the cells’ own control over growth and multiplication or the failure of the body&’s defence mechanisms to destroy such cells. In either case, cancer cells create tumours, invade neighbouring organs, create a blockage or ulcers and spread to other parts of the body. Curative action, apart from surgery to remove tumours, is mainly through agents that destroy cancer cells and leave healthy cells comparatively less affected. While a host of such agents has been identified, a promising line of attack is to deploy viruses that selectively strike at cancer cells.
Viruses are entities, like cells, which have an envelope and are programmed with DNA, but little else, and the programme is only to reproduce. Viruses evolve the structure of the envelope to exactly fit features of the specific target cell exterior so that they are able to enter. Once within the host, they release their reproductive machinery and feed on the hosts’ nutrients, since they have none of their own, to create clones of themselves. The hosts’ own function is thus suspended, which causes disease, but the virus multiplies, sometimes a millionfold, within the cell. The cell wall then collapses and the generations of viruses spread out to enter other cells, and so on.
The body&’s defence against a virus attack is through the immune system, which kicks in when cells under stress release a signal protein called interferon (IFN). This is so called because its first role is to interfere with the replication of viral cells. But its other role is to communicate with other cells to slow down replication so as to impede the growth of the virus and also to convey to active agents in the immune system the features of the virus, for recognition. In this way, the immune system is often able to win the race against the virus. One encounter also leaves the body with the template of the virus, which helps in a faster, and generally effective, response in case of another attack.
A class of viruses known as Oncolytic viruses (OV) comprise those that get blocked by the IFN activity of normal cells but multiply in the usual way in tumour cells. The reason that normal cells can stop viruses is often that the virus is not able to counter the anti-virus response that IFN sets off. In cancer cells, the IFN response is sometimes sluggish, because of changes that cause and result from malignancy. Such cells are great breeding grounds for OVs.  But the extent of this IFN defect in cells is variable and this can reduce the efficacy of treatment with OVs. It is, hence, an objective of research to find ways to suppress IFN signalling in tumour cells without affecting the same function in normal cells.
The Ontario team describes the cycle of infection and protection by a schema shown in the picture. Uninfected cells first get the virus and start creating IFN. As their numbers increase, with the spread of infection, IFN creates an activated population where virus replication is controlled and more IFN is produced. And then there are protected cells, which have overcome the infection, and keep up the defence activity. Viruses that infect cancerous cells will have the benefit of the fast reproducing environment of the malignant cell. But at the same time, the IFN production would suppress replication and it is the balance between the two processes that would decide the efficacy of the virus in putting down the cell.
With the help of this model of the virus action and response, the team simulated the outcome of different IFN evasion strategies that were used by the OVs against three different kinds of cells — normal cells, cancer cells that did not respond to IFN and cancer cells that did. The different results would then guide the best characteristics to find in OVs, either by genetic engineering or by selection of specific OVs.
First, it was taken that the cells differed mainly in how they helped or hindered viruses in replication and in activating IFN. The reaction of these cell types to infection was then quantified, using experimental data of the response after 72 hours of infection. With these figures in place, the model was used to simulate different combinations of the rate of virus replication, IFN-mediated defence response and the destruction of cells.
Constraints in the trials were that the population was a mixture of healthy and cancerous cells and then the uncertainty of values of parameters that had been assumed.
The trials, thus, had to be by thousands of simulations with random insertion of cells with different characteristics, using a technique called Monte Carlo sampling, to make estimates of the outcome of different strategies.
The Monte Carlo method is a statistical technique of estimating trends based on partial data. To estimate the ratio of the area of an irregular figure to that of a circle drawn within the figure, for instance, one method would be to paint the circle and then the whole figure. The quantity of paint used each time would give the ratio we need. But this would be an exact method, with full data.
Another way would be to sprinkle drops of paint randomly on the surface. A count of how many drops fall within the square, as compared to all the drops, would also give us the ratio — but approximately. Obviously, just a few drops may all land in the circle and be misleading. But the result gets very close to the correct answer as we increase the number of drops.
This method of estimation, which is useful in gambling games, was so named by its inventor after the well-known casino in Monaco.
The Ontario group, which included doctors, systems biologists and a physicist, carried out huge numbers of trials using different combinations of virus properties, both known and proposed. First, they tried the model out with a known OV, which blocks IFN production in target cells. The model correctly showed that the virus could eliminate both healthy and cancerous cells.
And also that suppressing the IFN blocking quality would make the virus ineffective against normal cells, but still effective against cells that did not respond to IFN.  The group then tried out chemical manipulation, which increased the blocking action in IFN responsive cancer cells but found that the strategy seemed to affect healthy cells as well.
The third strategy they tried was where the virus was wired to create an IFN blocking decoy just when virus replication was initiated. This linking of the creation of the decoy with replication results in a spiralling feedback which sustains the strategy .The effect of high rate of replication, which happens in cancer cells, is to increase the rate of decoy-blocking of IFN, which would allow the virus to keep replicating and, hence, make more IFN. But as normal cells do not replicate fast, the decoy would not become active and normal cells would be able to survive the OV attack. This last strategy was also tried out in practice, successfully, with cancerous mice.
The study used sophisticated mathematical tools to simulate OV replication dynamics, including the use of differential equations, which is to make computations not of quantities but of how fast those quantities change.
“What is remarkable is how well we could actually predict the experimental outcome based on computational analysis,” says Dr Bell, who, with Dr Mads Kaern, directed the study. “This work creates a useful framework for developing similar types of mathematical models in the fight against cancer.”

The writer can be contacted at
simplescience@gmail.com

DIAMOND HARBOUR, 18 JUNE: Former Trinamul ‘karmadhaksha’ in Magrahat-I panchayat samiti, Mr Moshrafil Mollah, joined the Congress today. Mr Pradip Bhattacharya, the PCC president, welcomed him at Baneswarpur under Usthi police station in South 24-Parganas during a rally where hundreds of TMC supporters joined the Congress, Mr Sujit Patwari, the district congress general secretary said. Mr Mollah is contesting in a Congress ticket in the same panchayat samiti seat from which he won as a TMC candidate, Mr Patwari said. During the rally, Mr Bhattacharya alleged money meant for several projects was sent back because the TMC-led zilla parishad couldn’t utilise the money. Mrs Maya Ghosh, a PCC leader, and Mr Manab Mitra, the district Congress president, were present. sns

press trust of india
BANGALORE, 18 JUNE: In a bizarre political fight, a rival of senior Karnataka Congress leader and MLA Mr D K Shivakumar has alleged that his henchmen had dug a deep trench around his house in Kanakapura constituency, making it difficult for them to move out.
JDS worker Mr G H Prakash, who left the Congress a month before the 5 May Assembly polls, alleged he and his family are victims of a political vendetta by Mr Shivakumar’s supporters.
He said about 300 to 400 of Mr Shivakumar’s supporters came to his house recently, threatened him and later dug up a six-feet by eight-feet trench around the house.
Ramanagaram Superintendent of Police Anupam Agarwal said the Deputy Superintendent of Police has submitted a report on the case after investigating the matter and he has dispatched it to the district Deputy Commissioner.
The report also states that the land belongs to Mr Shivakumar and Mr Prakash had encroached upon it, he said.
“Now Mr Shivakumar wants to build a compound and hence, has dug up the trench around the house,” he said.
Former minister and JDS leader Mr P G R Sindhia alleged that the digging of the trench around Mr Prakash’s house smacked of the political vendetta.
Mr Shivakumar said the land where the trench was dug belonged to him and his family and accused Mr Sindhia of trying to damage his image.

stanley theodore
HYDERABAD, 18 JUNE: The concept was there ever since Internet arrived, but it has now come home. 
A seven-month-old start-up, www.myhomefarm.in, is selling vegetables online in Hyderabad at prices 10 per cent cheaper than those at supermarkets or the government&’s famous Rythu Bazaars.
“My open challenge is to show any place in the twin cities which sells better vegetables,” its founder and CEO Mr Suresh Iyer said.
A customer goes online and chooses a regular or medium basket, enough for a family of four for a week, or builds one&’s basket and gets the delivery on a pre-determined day of the week before 10.30 a.m. Other than credit cards, cash on delivery is also accepted.
Mr Iyer says, “Online booking is a must. We do not accept telephone orders, except from senior citizens. If a customer persists we explain the risk of us forgetting or causing a mismatch with another customer. They do understand.” 
He has other unconventional mantras. “If the service provided to a customer does not yield a profit after satisfying the customer, then there is no sense saying customer is king.” Today a customer got two snake gourds less. 
“It was in short supply or was bad. I messaged that the money would be refunded.” 
He grows vegetables with six farmers on a 20 acre farm at Vantimamidi, 33 kilometres away. Harvesting is done before sunset and moved to his warehouse in Secunderabad. The office kills any notion of e-commerce. Two tables, with two worn out computers, are surrounded by plastic chairs. They separate an almirah and a pedestal fan. Two vans outside deliver vegetables packed in plastic nets in modular baskets across Hyderabad.
Mr Iyer, 50, an electrical engineer from Osmania University was an advertising professional before joining a software company. During his visit to Texas ranches in 2011 he realised his passion for farming. “I returned home and resigned my job which was paying me Rs 1.5 lakh a month. Everyone called me a fool.”
He won’t say that he is proving them wrong, yet. “I have to reach the magic number of 600 customers from today&’s 300 to break even. The subsequent plan is multi-city franchises and 10,000 customers.” 
Why vegetables and not groceries or anything else? “Selling vegetables does not attract taxes,” he grins.
“The real challenge is to keep afloat for the next 6-12 months and we will be there. Actually it has to click, as I don’t have any other option,” he says with measured confidence.  "He knows it&’s vital as he has invested Rs 27 lakh and has a turnover of Rs 6.2 lakh.”
Have supermarkets felt his impact? “No. Many are not even aware. I just deal with a small miniscule part of the market.” He will sell one tonne a day when with 1,000 customers when government data states Hyderabad&’s daily vegetable tonnage is 800 tonnes worth Rs 2 crore.
“When I started I had 100 customers and I thought I will touch 600 in no time as I have plenty of friends. But only six friends are using my service. The others are net-savvy, but have not booked a vegetable basket even once. This was a shocker. It rankles me even now.” “The other thing is customers are not referring customers. They are happy, book week after week and don’t have complaints. They willingly put their testimonials with their pictures on my website, but don’t refer anyone. Incomprehensible!” he exclaimed.

alok kumar
NEW DELHI, 18 JUNE: The blow hot, blow cold relationship between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party struck a conciliatory note today with the latter saying it would welcome any move by the former to go to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections under the stewardship of Mr Rahul Gandhi.
The minister of state for agriculture and food processing and senior NCP leader, Mr Tariq Anwar, told The Statesman the NCP will abide by any decision to project the Congress vice president as the party’s face to lead the 2014 parliamentary polls as well as to project him as the prime ministerial candidate of UPA-III. "The NCP has a considered view on this issue that the Congress being the largest constituent of the UPA has every right to choose its prime ministerial candidate for the next elections,” Mr Anwar said. If the Congress decides about Rahul, the NCP will have no objections, he said. The NCP leader also confirmed that his party will contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in alliance with Congress at least in three states, Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat. In other states, he said the party is looking for alliances with other like-minded parties.
Welcoming the  decision of the JD-U to quit the NDA over the BJP’s decision to elevate Mr Narendra Modi, Mr Anwar said his party will have no inhibitions in joining hands with Mr Nitish Kumar in Bihar now. Denying differences with the Congress on any issue, Mr Anwar, who is also the NCP general secretary, said: “Now a coordination committee has been put in place which meets on regular  basis and it is functioning to our satisfaction. Whatever differences we have on issues we iron out through discussions.” Mr Anwar, however, clarified that his party is against the Centre’s intended move to push through the Food Security Bill via an ordinance. “The NCP is opposed to such an important legislation being brought into effect  by simply promulgating an ordinance. What is the hurry to adopt the ordinance route,” he asked. Asked about Mr Sharad Pawar’s chances of becoming Prime Minister, the NCP leader said as a UPA constituent the right to select the PM goes to the Congress, but in the event of the Congress failing to form a government and the choice of other like-minded political outfits falling on Mr Pawar, "he (Pawar) will not shirk from the responsibilities to lead the country”.
 Mr Anwar said Mr Pawar has all the attributes to become a Prime Minister but the numerical strength of his party would not permit it. “However, if other secular political outfits want him, he will not run away,” he added.

WASHINGTON, 18 JUNE: Spelling out his goal of a stable, non-sectarian and representative government in Syria, President Barack Obama today said the USA is ramping up support for both political and military opposition to the Assad regime.
“In terms of what my goals are, the goals are a stable, non-sectarian, representative Syrian government that is addressing the needs of its people through political processes and peaceful processes,” Mr Obama said.
“We’re not taking sides in a religious war between Shia and Sunni,” he said. “Really, what we’re trying to do is take sides against extremists of all sorts and in favour of people who are in favour of moderation, tolerance, representative government, and over the long-term, stability and prosperity for the people of Syria,” he said in an interview to PBS channel.  Noting that the USA has been helping the Syrian opposition along with its international partners, he said this includes the military opposition as well. “We’ve been assisting not only the political opposition but also the military opposition. So, there’s a counter-weight that can potentially lead to political negotiations ~ with the evidence of chemical weapons, what we’ve said is we’re going to ramp up that assistance,” Mr Obama said.
“And my hope continues to be, however, that we resolve this through some sort of political transition,” he said. pti

agence france-presse
BELO HORIZONTE, 18 JUNE: Nnamdi Oduamadi claimed a hat-trick as Nigeria shook off the jet lag to thrash minnows Tahiti 6-1 in their opening Confederations Cup game in Belo Horizonte on Monday.
The African champions only arrived in Brazil 36 hours before the game after a row over bonus payments, but they could even afford some wasteful finishing as they leapfrogged world champions Spain to the top of Group B.
It was a predictably chastening experience for Tahiti, ranked 138th in the world, but they were nonetheless able to celebrate when Jonathan Tehau headed in their first ever goal at a high-profile international event.
Tehau’s goal, early in the second half, trimmed Nigeria’s lead to 3-1 after a deflected Uwa Echiejile shot and a pair of goals from Oduamadi had put Nigeria in command.
However, the south Pacific islanders’ hopes of a famous comeback were dashed as Tehau put through his own goal before Oduamadi and Echiejile added further goals to give Stephen Keshi’s men a spring in their step ahead of Thursday’s crucial showdown with Uruguay.
A sparse crowd of just 20,187 made their way to the newly renovated Estadio Mineirao but they were vocal in their support of Tahiti, who registered the game’s first shot on target through Vincent Simon.
Fortune deserted the underdogs moments later, however.
After the ball bounced off referee Joel Aguilar, Echiejile launched a speculative shot that deflected off Tehau and captain Nicolas Vallar and ricocheted past Tahiti goalkeeper Xavier Samin. Oduamadi added two more, neatly side-stepping a pair of challenges and sweeping home in the 10th minute, before tapping in his second when Samin spilled a low cross from Ahmed Musa.
Nigeria made heavy work of putting the game to bed though, with Musa miskicking in front of an open goal before Anthony Ujah and Sunday Mba both allowed Samin to save when clean through on goal.
Tahiti had already seen their one professional player, Marama Vahirua, drive a shot narrowly over, and they threatened to make things interesting as Steevy Chong Hue headed wide from a Ricky Aitamai cross.
Musa miscued again from 12 yards early in the second half, before the goal that Tahiti had been threatening arrived in the 54th minute.
The honour fell to Tehau, who headed in a deep corner kick from Vahirua at the back post and then led his ecstatic team-mates in a canoe-paddling celebration.
The goal also sparked jubilation on the bench, coach Eddy Etatea leaping from the dug-out with his fists in the air.
But Tehau’s day took a turn for the worse in the 68th minute when he inadvertently toed the ball into his own goal to restore Nigeria’s three-goal advantage.
Oduamadi tucked in a cross from substitute Brown Ideye to complete his hat-trick in the 76th minute, with Echiejile adding a sixth shortly after as Tahiti’s reserves of resistance finally ran dry.

associated press
BRASILIA, 18 JUNE: Only one game into the Confederations Cup, and Brazil is already talking about a possible matchup with Spain. A day after the Spaniards enjoyed an easy victory over Uruguay in its opener, the Brazilian players couldn’t avoid talking about the World Cup champions.
Brazil and Spain first need to make sure they advance to the second round of the Confederations Cup, but Real Madrid left back Marcelo said it would be a "great match" if the teams end up playing each other in the World Cup warm-up competition. Defensive midfielder Luiz Gustavo, who helped Bayern Munich eliminate Barcelona in the semifinals of the Champions League earlier this year, even tried to offer some tips on how to play Spain.
Brazil, which hasn’t faced Spain in nearly 14 years, opened with a convincing 3-1 win over Japan on Saturday. Its next match is against Mexico, then it closes Group A against Italy.
 "We are not worried," Marcelo said. "We haven’t played against them in a long time, but if we have to play them, it won’t be a problem. We have to be prepared to play everybody and it won’t be different if it’s against them."
Spain is in Group B, so the teams can meet either in a semifinal or in a final if they advance past the group stage of the eight-nation tournament among continental champions.
Spain defeated Uruguay 2-1 on Sunday. "It’s not like Spain has already reached the final and is just waiting for us, the tournament has just started," Marcelo said. "We still have to play against Mexico and Italy. But if we do play them, I’m sure that it could be a great match."
Spain will play Tahiti on Thursday, then closes the group against Nigeria on Sunday.
The last time Brazil and Spain met was in 1999 in a friendly in Spain that ended in a scoreless draw. In eight matches between the countries’ senior squads, Brazil have won four times and Spain two.
 The teams drew twice. "We are talking about two national teams with a lot of quality," Luiz Gustavo said. "But to reach our goal of making it to the final we need to get past all these national teams, not only Spain." In the Champions League, Luiz Gustavo played twice against Barcelona, which has nine players in the Spanish squad that is playing at the Confederations Cup.
"There’s no recipe," the 25-year-old Brazilian said when asked about how to stop the Spaniards.

RIO DE JANEIRO, 18 JUNE: Japan are favourites to beat Italy in the Confederations Cup on Wednesday because of their Italian manager and the fact they have had more rest, according to Azzurri coach Cesare Prandelli.
He believes Japan’s Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni’s familiarity with his compatriots might cause Italy problems.
"Japan will have the slight edge, I think, because they have an extra day of rest," said Prandelli. "Plus, Alberto knows us very well, he knows how we work. I expect him to prepare a trap for us. "From tonight, we will begin planning for the Japan game. I trust that he will come up with an interesting strategy against us," Prandelli was quoted as saying on www.fifa.com.
Italy have never lost to Japan but goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon knows they must improve to stand any chance of winning the Confederations Cup for the first time. Italy opened their account on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Mexico at the Maracana Stadium in Rio and face the Japanese in their second match in Recife on Wednesday.
"Success is being crowned champions and that is our objective," Buffon was quoted as saying by Globo on Monday. "You do that by paying attention to the details. We’ll certainly be better against Japan than we were in Sunday’s game."
Japan need to get points on the board after losing 3-0 to hosts Brazil in their opening game on Saturday.
"We take the field knowing that this is like a final for us," said Zaccheroni. "We will be giving it our all, because we know that if we lose it’s all over."afp

rajinder puri
After the announcement of the formal split between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal United (JD-U), the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is left with three alliance partners ~ the BJP, Akali Dal and Shiv Sena. Mr Sharad Yadav, JD-U President, has resigned as National Convener of the NDA. Mr LK Advani continues to be the Chairman of this shrunken body. He reportedly contacted BJP President Mr Rajnath Singh after the split to point out that it was Mr Narendra Modi&’s elevation as Chairman of the BJP National Campaign Committee that had led to the split. What was the point of Mr Advani reiterating this obvious fact which every child knows? It can only be that it was stated as a complaint and a vindication of his opposition to Mr Modi&’s elevation. So, what will Mr Advani do next? Will he resign again or will he sulk as a dissident attempting to stall the party at every juncture?
Readers might recall that before Mr Advani had withdrawn his resignation, I had written that the political developments on the ground dictated that a split in the BJP was the natural and welcome option. A split was advocated in order to polarise the party on a genuine political issue. It is always better to split honestly and take the issue of discord to the public rather than continue with a hypocritical unity based upon dissidence and constant covert sabotage. Mr Advani failed to act then. Now, the logic of ground realities has driven him and his party sympathisers to confront the same hard decision they failed to take earlier due to lack of courage and conviction.
If Mr Advani did not deem the continuation of the NDA important, he should not have expressed his displeasure publicly in the first place. If he thinks it vitally important to the future of the BJP, he should take his opposition to its logical end. That is how honourable and principled politics should be conducted. It does not behoove a senior political leader to sulk and promote dissidence.
A few days ago, advising Mr Advani and his followers to split and join the proposed Federal Front, I wrote: “Both factions of the BJP would gain. Unfettered by dissidence, Mr Modi could exploit his enormous popularity at the polls, which his followers believe he possesses. Mr Advani would have the opportunity to test his belief that only inclusive politics can succeed in India by strengthening a Federal Front. Both Mr Advani and Mr Modi can test their beliefs. The public could judge. The nation would gain.”
This writer stands by his advice. The question is, will Mr Advani and his followers within the party stand by their beliefs?

The writer is a veteran journalist and cartoonist. He blogs at www.rajinderpuri.wordpress.com

OCCASIONAL NOTE

The success achieved by Lord Kitchener in Egypt adds to his already great reputation for statesmanship and for the possession of keen insight into the needs and aspirations of the common people. It would have been fortunate for India if Lord Kitchener had returned to this country as Viceroy. We should certainly in that event have been spared the Delhi “boons”, and the ryot would have found a sympathetic friend and a practical benefactor. Lord Kitchener&’s report, like the annual account formerly given by Lord Cromer of his stewardship, is obviously of great interest, and there is justice in the gibe of the Times in comparing it with the “slovenly belated hack-work called the Moral and Material Progress Report which is annually flung by the India Office at an unheeding Parliament.” If the affairs of India were presented to the British public in the manner in which the affairs of Egypt have been presented to them for many years past, there would be far greater interest displayed in India at Home, and less difficulty would be experienced in raising loans in the London market for reproductive purposes in this country.

NEWS ITEMS

MR TAGORE’S RECEPTION IN LONDON
Growth Of The National Spirit
London, June 17
Mr. Tagore held a reception of Indian students in Britain at the Criterion, at which 300 persons were present. Mrs. Naidu, the poetess, garlanding Mr. Tagore as a declaration of the love borne him by his young countrymen, said that that would help to further the ideal of consecrating their lives to the service of the Great Mother, to whom they all cried bande mataram. The national spirit in India was overcoming all distinctions of caste and creed, for Mahomedans, Hindus and Parsis were together in that room to express a common admiration for the great Indian.

BALKAN LEADERSHIP
Crisis Suddenly Arises
Austria Angry With Russia
Sequel To The Tsar&’s Telegram
London, June 17
While the replies of King Ferdinand and King Peter may be construed as an intimation that they acquiesce in the Tsar&’s arbitration, the actual situation is still regarded with considerable apprehension. The overthrow of the Servian Cabinet implies disapproval of any yielding on the part of Servia. The newspapers in Servia and Greece continue to print violent attacks upon Bulgaria, the Press of which replies with equal acerbity.
Newspapers in Vienna are perturbed by the tone of the Tsar&’s telegram to the Balkan Sovereigns, and have opened a campaign against any assumption by Russia of the supreme leadership of the Balkan States.

18 June, 1913

statesman news service
KOLKATA, 17 JUNE: Police arrested armed robbers who were trying to make their getaway on a motorbike after snatching valuables and injuring two youths following a desperate highway chase at Pragati Maidan late last night.
  Police said that four armed robbers on a motorbike stopped two youths on their bicycles near Choubhaga on Basanti Highway.
The duo, Hari Shankar Shaw and Rahul Shaw, were heading toward their flats in Nonadanga. The accused, armed with a pistol and a dagger, threatened them and asked them to hand over their valuables at gunpoint.
They had handed over their mobile phones and Rs 800 in cash.
When the accused were about to make their getaway on the motorbike, Hari caught one of the criminals who was riding  pillion and had a pistol.
Both of them fell to the ground. In a bid to free their associate one of the accused stabbed Hari on his back and right leg when he was trying to salvage his valuables.
They beat up Rahul and fled towards Bantala on the motorbike.  Within a few seconds a patrol team, led by Mr Saroj Ghosh, officer-in-charge of Pragati Maidan police station, reached the spot.
Police took Rahul in their car and began a chase for the four youths who were trying to flee at a breakneck speed on the Basanti Highway.  Mr Ghosh tipped off another patrolling team who approached from the opposite direction and the accused’s motorbike collided head on with the police’s patrolling van. They fell from the bike and Md Aziz (19), one of the accused, tried to open fire at the policemen.He was caught immediately, said a senior police officer. Another accused, Md Zamir (18), was also arrested but two others managed to flee. Police seized the motorbike, the firearm and recovered Rs 800 in cash from them.
Police raided Tiljala areas at 3.30 a.m. today and arrested Amin Ali Gazi (19) and Abdul Sajjad (19). Police said that the area remains deserted after 9 p.m. and this the reason for frequent patrolling. The measure was taken to avoid any untoward incident on the stretch of the Highway  that comes under the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police.

statesman news service             
NEW DELHI, 17 JUNE: Moving forward from the passenger-friendly e-ticketing initiative, the Railways from next month, will be launching a pilot project of ticket booking through non-internet-based mobile phones.   
The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the ministry of railways, will be launching the project.  
This will enable people using non-Internet-based mobile phones to easily access railway ticketing services through SMS/IVRS/USSD. The scheme is user-friendly, secure and eco-friendly, as no printout is required.  
The railway minister had made an announcement on the launch of ticketing through mobile phones in the Railway Budget this year.  
There will be a dedicated number on which text messages can be sent, which in turn would eliminate need of Internet at any stage ~ booking, payment, cancellation.
However, one will need to register the mobile number as well as one&’s bank account and one time password issued by it with the IRCTC for authorisation of payment.  The passenger has to type the train number, destination, journey date, class and passenger details like name, age and gender on the SMS box.  
The sender will receive transaction ID and then make payment through sending another SMS by typing PAY followed by the transaction ID, MMID as received from the bank and password.  
On successful booking of a ticket, a message will be sent to the user by IRCTC which will suffice as valid authority to travel along with a photo ID card in original.  
Cancellation of tickets can also be done through the cancellation option.  
The scheme is on a pilot basis and will not be available during the 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. for booking ARP/Tatkal/general tickets.

IRCTC&’s pilot project will enable people using non-Internet-based mobile phones to easily access railway ticketing services. The scheme is user-friendly, secure and eco-friendly, as no printout is required

CHENNAI, 17 JUNE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said India would convey its views on alleged attempts by political parties in Sri Lanka to repeal the 13th Amendment to its Constitution, after considering its implications. “While this is a matter on which a decision will be taken by various political parties within Sri Lanka, we will certainly consider its implications and make known to the Sri Lankan authorities our views in the matter,” the PM said in a letter to DMK chief M Karunanidhi. Mr Singh said the Centre had consistently worked for all communities in Sri Lanka to find their rightful place in the country. pti

press trust of india
HYDERABAD, 17 JUNE: Twenty-two legislators belonging to TRS and BJP, along with two Independent MLAs associated with them, were today suspended from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for two days for constantly disrupting proceedings of the House on Telangana statehood issue.
Of the total suspended members, 17 belonged to Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), three to BJP and an Independent each associated with these parties. These members stayed put in the Well of the House as soon as the proceedings began this morning and demanded the House adopt a resolution seeking statehood for Telangana region.
The House was adjourned within minutes as the din continued and Speaker Nadendla Manohar called a meeting of floor leaders to break the deadlock.
At the end of a three-hour meeting, the House resumed but the TRS and BJP members continued to disrupt the proceedings.
Finance minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy appealed to the protesting members to let the House function as there was important business to be transacted in the next five days.
“There are 12 important Bills that have to be passed and we also need to discuss the reports submitted by the Departmentally-Related Standing Committees on the Budget proposals. At the end of it we have to pass the Appropriation Bill. Hence, I request the Opposition MLAs to let the House run smoothly,” the finance minister appealed. His appeal, however, fell on deaf ears as the TRS and the BJP MLAs raised slogans pressing for their demand.
The Speaker then asked the finance minister to move a motion for suspension of the agitating members.
The motion was carried through voice vote and the 22 MLAs were suspended from the House for two days.
Marshals were called in to bodily lift the suspended members from the House as they refused to move out.
The CPI MLAs staged a walkout protesting the police crackdown
on Telangana activists during the "Chalo Assembly" programme last Friday. The CPM, too, registered its protest on the issue.