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Kids who misbehave at school may suffer health and social problems as adults

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:15:00 -0500

A 40-year study of British citizens suggests that adolescents who misbehave at school are more likely to suffer health and social problems throughout their adult lives.

Appearing online in bmj.com, the study report suggests that these difficulties cover all areas of life, from mental health to domestic and personal relationships to economic deprivation.

Ian Colman, an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Population Health Investigator, and Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta''s School of Public Health, has revealed that his findings are based on more than 3,500 individuals taking part in the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (the British 1946 birth cohort), over a 40-year period.

According to him, all of the subjects were aged between 13 and 15 at the start of the study, and about a quarter of the participants had mild behavioural problems.

The researcher revealed that the participants were rated by their teachers as having severe, mild or no conduct problems.

He further revealed that the subjects were followed up between the ages of 36 and 53, when they were asked about their mental health, and social and economic status.

Colman said that the findings revealed disturbing new information about the societal impact of milder behavioural problems, showing that the participants with severe or mild conduct problems in adolescence were more likely to leave school with no qualifications.

He said that such children were also more likely to go on to suffer a number of problems throughout their adult lives, including depression and anxiety, divorce, teenage pregnancy, and financial problems.

The findings remained similar even after the researchers took into account predictors of outcomes in adulthood such as sex, father''s social class, adolescent depression and anxiety and cognitive ability.

However, unlike previous studies in the field, the current study showed that most of the participants who were badly behaved at school did not have alcohol problems as they got older.

"Given the long-term costs to society, and the distressing impact on the adolescents themselves, our results might have considerable implications for public health policy," Colman and his team concluded. (ANI)

Going overboard at office parties can ruin your career prospects

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:15:00 -0500

Too much drinking and partying at the annual company Christmas bash may put a deep blotch on your reputation around the office, says a leading expert.

According to employment advocate, Mark Nutsford, his company, Employment Relations Consultants, sees an upsurge in calls following workplace fallouts from the annual Christmas party.

He said that in January, he receives almost one call everyday with reference to incidents sustained over the festive season, most of which are alcohol fuelled.

One common scene at such parties was employees getting drunk and telling the boss what they really thought of them.

Nutsford said that it was also not uncommon to see theft charges being laid against employees after the Christmas party.

"...They take some of the companies surplus grog with them because they think its their property anyway because they''ve worked hard all year,” The NZPA quoted him as saying.

He said that then the management takes exception, isolates culprits and lays charges.

"In these cases, the company often lose otherwise highly productive people who would not have been lost with better planning again," said Nutsford.

And that impromptu romantic liaison may also initiate complications at company celebrations.

He said: "Hidden desires pent up for months in a sober office environment can lead to mutually consenting sex between adults in the toilets, on the boss''s desk...or anywhere.

"And a bonk between consenting adults on company premises is not really a criminal offence but some do lead to a loss of reputation which links to respect and authority in the workplace."

However, most of the times such problems were settled internally with a quiet word, or confidential meeting. (ANI)

It''s most difficult to restore trust if broken early in relationship

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:14:00 -0500

Trust, they say, once broken can never be built again, but researchers have now said that if the breach of trust happens in the beginning of a relationship, it is more difficult to overcome than a betrayal that occurs after ties are established.

According to the results, early violations can be particularly devastating, and plant seeds of doubt that may never go away

"First impressions matter when you want to build a lasting trust. If you get off on the wrong foot, the relationship may never be completely right again. It''s easier to rebuild trust after a breach if you already have a strong relationship," said Robert Lount, co-author of the study and assistant professor of management and human resources at Ohio State University''s Fisher College of Business.

He said that the results defy the popular notion that suggests many great relationships start off on a bad note.

"Our results fly in the face of this Hollywood notion of hating someone at first sight but then developing a wonderful, passionate relationship. The likelihood of that happening in real life is pretty low," he said.

For the study, the researcher conducted two related experiments, where college students participated in a game in which their partners violated their trust either right at the beginning of the game or somewhere in the middle.

Using a famous game in psychology called the prisoner''s dilemma, the researchers aimed at determining how much the students were willing to cooperate with the partner after trust was breached.

In the first experiment, 138 students played multiple rounds of the game on a computer, which they thought they were playing with a student via a computer in another room. However, they were actually playing with a computer that was programmed to defect at specific points during the more than 30 rounds of the game.

The results indicated that participants who experienced the immediate breaches of trust had the most negative evaluations of their partners.

It was found that participants who experienced a breach of trust during the first two trials of the game were also the least likely to cooperate at the end of the game, suggesting they had the least trust in their partners.

On the other hand, participants who experienced a trust breach latest in the game showed the most cooperation at the end of the game.

Lount pointed out that in all cases, the computer defected against the participants the same number of times, but the timing of the breaches was key.

"An immediate breach of trust is particularly difficult to overcome, and later breaches are considerably less harmful," he said.

After the experiment, the participants filled a questionnaire and it was found that those who experienced the immediate breach rated their partners as less trustworthy than did those whose partner defected later in the game.

In a second experiment, the researchers essentially repeated the first experiment with 108 students, but this time the students answered a short set of questions concerning their perceptions and feelings about their partner immediately following a breach and every 10 trials thereafter.

"Our results suggest that immediate breaches are especially costly because they seriously damage the impressions people have about their partner, and that''s hard to repair," he said.

The study has been published in a recent issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. (ANI)

Pakistan holds high level meet to discuss foreign policy post Kasab’s acceptance

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:14:00 -0500

The Pakistan Foreign Office called a high level meeting to discuss the country’s foreign policy, especially in regard the situation arising after its acceptance that its soil was used in the November, 2008 Mumbai attacks, the News reported.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and other Security officials discussed the foreign policy of Pakistan keeping in view the Ajmal Amir Kasab issue, and the rise in tension between India and Pakistan after the Mumbai carnage.

Pakistan had earlier accepted that the lone surviving Mumbai gunner, Ajmal Amir Kasab, belonged to its soil. However, the National Security Advisor of Pakistan Mahmud Ali Durrani was sacked by the Prime Minister Yususf Raza Gilani for making an ‘irresponsible’ comment on Kasab’s nationality, and accepting that he belonged to Pakistan.

According to the newspaper, the officials also planned to project Pakistan’s point of view during the forthcoming visit of US Vice-President elect Joseph Biden.

United States Vice-President-elect Joseph Biden is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on a two-day visit this week to defuse the rising tension between Pakistan and India. (ANI)

Bangladesh Parliament to convene on January 25

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:13:00 -0500

Bangladesh President Iajuddin Ahmed on Thursday summoned the first session of the country''s ninth Parliament on January 25 following the swearing-in of Sheikh Hasina-led Government on Tuesday.

"The order of the President has been sent to the Parliament Secretariat. The first session will begin at 3 p.m. local time on January 25," a spokesman at the presidential palace said.

The Parliament Secretariat also issued a press release in this regard.

Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina Wajed was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday after her party-led grand alliance swept the general elections a week ago.

She was administered oath of office by President Iajuddin Ahmed in the presence of 1,000 distinguished guests,including the Chief Adviser of the past interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed.

The President also administered the oath of office and secrecy to 23 cabinet ministers.

Awami league led grand alliance put up an impressive show in the recently held parliamentary elections by winning three fourths of the 300 parliamentary seats.

Her party’s landslide victory in 2008 elections marked the end of two years of emergency rule in the impoverished nation.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) delegation headed by party vice-president M. K. Anwar joined the function. The party supremo Khaleda Zia, however, did not attend the swearing in ceremony. (ANI)

Shias observe Ashura across Pakistan

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:13:00 -0500

Thousands of Shia Muslims held peaceful Ashura processions amid tight security across Pakistan on Thursday, commemorating the death of the Prophet Mohammed''s grandson Imam Hussein.

Police and paramilitary soldiers escorted the Shia community''s parades in several major cities, and commandos were perched on some rooftops along the routes in a bid to prevent violence, the Dawn reported.

Curfew was imposed the northwestern town of Hangu on Wednesday, where 40 people were killed in an Ashura attack in 2007 and 12 people were wounded in a mortar attack outside a Shia mosque last year.

Shia Muslims stage religious processions on Ashura to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein at Karbala in modern-day Iraq in 680 AD.

The mourners recited elegies, carried black banners and marched behind replicas of Imam Hussein''s tomb in Iraq, with some beating their chests and whipping their backs with flails in a bloody display of devotion.

The Ashura procession in Islamabad ended at a Shia mosque in Rawalpindi.

A similar procession in Lahore was to end at a mosque in the old part of the city late Thursday.

Other major Ashura events were held in Karachi and parts of central Punjab province, southwestern Balochistan and North West Frontier Province.

Shias make up about 20 per cent of Pakistan''s Sunni-dominated population of 160 million people. (ANI)

Sri Lanka Army claims capture of more LTTE territory

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:12:00 -0500

A spokesman of the Sri Lanka military said on Thursday that government troops have taken more territory from Tamil Tiger rebels in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara told a press conference here that the army has seized the town of Pallai and hopes to recapture the entire northern part of the country soon.

Pallai is south of Muhamalai, the northernmost defensive line of the rebels in Jaffna, which the troops captured on Tuesday.
The Tigers have not yet commented on the latest fighting in Jaffna.

He said that the army''s key objective is to open up the strategically located Elephant Pass, to allow free movement between Jaffna and the mainland.

Government troops are already at the southern end, he added.

The LTTEs'' administrative and political capital, Kilinochchi, fell to Sri Lankan troops last week.

The rebels have been fighting for the separate homeland for the past 25 years. At least 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict. (ANI)

Sri Lankan newspaper editor shot dead

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:12:00 -0500

Unidentified gunmen, riding on a motorcycle, on Thursday killed Lasantha Wickramatunga, the editor of the Sri Lankan daily, Sunday Leader, while he was en route to his office here.

Reports quoted the police as saying that Wickramatunga had died of head wounds received in the shootout. Doctors said they spent three hours trying to save his life.

Local media reports said that Wickramatunga was known for his criticism of the government.

Thursday''s incident was the second major attack on the media in Sri Lanka this week. On Tuesday, gunmen ransacked the offices of the largest private TV broadcaster in the country.

According to Amnesty International, at least 10 Sri Lankan media employees have been killed since 2006. (ANI)

Sacked Pak NSA says Kasab revelation was based on security agencies’ recommendation

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:12:00 -0500

Sacked Pakistan National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani has said that authorities, including powerful security agencies, had already decided to confirm that Ajmal Amir Kasab was Pakistani, before he made the announcement.

“The security agencies recommended it and ... they repeated it to me,” Durrani said.

‘It had been decided yesterday that we would tell the world that he is a Pakistani because hiding that makes no sense,” he said in an interview.

He stated that after Pakistan’s acceptance of the fact that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist, belonged to Pakistan, tension between India and Pakistan would ease out.

Commenting on his removal from the post of NSA, Durrani said that he was sacked by the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani because he was ignorant about the Kasab issue.

‘The Prime Minister happened to be ignorant. He was in Lahore and he didn’t know about it. He was out of the loop,” the Dawn quoted Durrani, as saying.

“I was dismissed because Gilani had not been informed about the decision to confirm Kasab’s nationality, and the Prime Minister had ‘felt the need to exert his authority,” he added.

However, the official statement from the Pak PM office said: “Durrani has been sacked ‘for his irresponsible behaviour for not taking the Prime Minister and other stakeholders into confidence’. (ANI)

Prachanda reinstates Indian priests

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:11:00 -0500

Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda has temporarily reinstated a group of sacked Indian priests to offer worship at the Pashupati Temple.

Prachanda late on Wednesday told the National Assembly that he had ordered officials "to manage normal worship at the temple by the same Indian priests for the time being."

Daily worship and religious functions at the centuries-old temple have been disrupted since last week amidst some priests protesting over the replacement of Indian priests with Nepali national.

Hindu organisations here have been protesting against the removal of the priests.

In New Delhi, protestors also accused the Nepalese Government of hurting Hindu sentiments by appointing Nepalese national as priest at the ancient temple.

For centuries the chief priest of the Pashupatinath Temple was appointed by temple authorities with approval of the king of Nepal from high caste Hindus from neighbouring India.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court had asked the government and the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) not to let the newly appointed Nepali priests offer worship at the temple till the Supreme Court issues its final verdict on the case.

The government had earlier said they defended their decision to appoint new priests at the temple.

Prachanda said that he would abide by the interim order delivered by apex court. (ANI)