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by Wu Qiang, Jit Kumar

NEW DELHI, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) — Call it a shame but even after 62 years of Independence, growing criminalization of Indian politics has become an issue of major concern now, with morality and ethics above politics gradually taking a backseat in the country.

Political analysts claim that though the major political parties in India concur that politicians with active criminal background should be barred from contesting elections, the number of such people is only increasing.

In fact, more and more people with money as well as muscle power are getting patronage from political parties to fight elections, making the lives of commoners far worse than under the British during pre-independence.

\”Some years back, a survey showed that one in five Members of Parliament (MPs) had a criminal record, including some with charges of heinous crimes like murder, rape and kidnapping. The all-party consensus on decriminalization of politics has so far yielded virtually no positive results. Electoral politics, the lure of money and the thinking of criminals that they can escape punishment if elected to the legislative bodies in states or Parliament are all responsible for criminaliszation of politics,\” said political scientist Professor Ajay Singh.

In fact, criminalization of politics has been claiming a number of lives in India every year. People belonging to various political parties are being murdered while many get involved in the killing of rival politicians.

The most recent example is the killing of one Bahujan Samaj Party leader Neeraj Tiwari, who was allegedly shot dead by rival Bharatiya Janata Party leader Balwant Singh Kanyal inside a police station in the northern state of Uttarakhand on the night of Aug. 23.

\”What a shame! This happening inside a police station in India shows the rapid role of criminals in political parties. The parties are to be blamed rather than the politicians. Why are they giving patronage to criminals to fight elections?\” said political analyst Professor S. K. Gupta.

\”Well, the reason is money — you have money, you can get a ticket. With money, it shows, you can buy anything in India. This is harming the country. It\’s time all political parties should take a collective decision on this issue and implement it,\” he added.

Some time ago, India\’s former Chief Election Commissioner B. B.Tandon had claimed that identifying the growing role of money power in the elections is \”a big menace\” of Indian democracy, suggesting \”a suitable legislation based on the political consensus against it (democracy).\”

\”The political parties should take a pragmatic view on this issue and come out with a suitable measure. Political parties should also evolve a code of ethics among themselves and not give ticket to such criminal elements,\” he said.

A man passes by?a herd of life-sized \”baby elephants\” in London May 6, 2010. These highly collectable artworks will pop up at a host of London landmarks including Buckingham Palace, Parliament Square and the South Bank over the next few months, before being auctioned off. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)

Tourists walk among the elephant sculptures in London May 6, 2010. A herd of? life-sized \”baby elephants\” hand-painted by artists and designers were dotted around London to?raise awareness of the plight of Asian elephants.(Xinhua/Wu Wei)

A tourist walks among the elephant sculptures in London May 6, 2010. A herd of? life-sized \”baby elephants\” hand-painted by artists and designers were dotted around London to?raise awareness of the plight of Asian elephants.(Xinhua/Zeng Yi)

Tourists walk among the elephant sculptures in London May 6, 2010.(Xinhua/Wu Wei)

A baby takes a picture with an elephant sculpture in London May 6, 2010. A herd of?life-sized \”baby elephants\” hand-painted by artists and designers were dotted around London to?raise awareness of the plight of Asian elephants.(Xinhua/Zeng Yi)

Tourists walk among the elephant sculptures in London May 6, 2010. (Xinhua/Zeng Yi)

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First Lady Michelle Obama eats with fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in the First Lady\’s Garden.(Photo Source: Shanghai Daily)

BEIJING, Jan. 18 — The first harvest of US First Lady Michelle Obama\’s garden has been a bumper crop: 455 kilograms of fresh vegetables served in the White House, donated to a soup kitchen, and tended by schoolchildren. The plot has generated enthusiasm for home gardening, organic foods and healthy eating. Darlene Superville eats her spinach.

To Michelle Obama, her White House garden is more than a plot of land. It also is a soapbox, a podium from where she can send her message of healthy eating.

The South Lawn garden has given Mrs Obama a platform to speak out about a major childhood obesity problem in the United States, extol the benefits of eating fresh food and teach children early to appreciate vegetables.

It also has offered Mrs Obama another way to open the White House to people who do not normally visit.

The garden now is ready for winter, fitted with protective coverings called \”hoop houses,\” a kind of temporary greenhouse, to help keep various crops – spinach, cauliflower, lettuce, carrots, cabbage – growing during the cold months.

In its first year, aides say the garden has ex-\”seeded\” expectations. It has become so popular that even foreign dignitaries ask Mrs Obama about it when they meet. Crops have been donated to a neighborhood soup kitchen, and the First Lady\’s green thumb has inspired others to start gardening.

Local fifth-grade pupils whose public school has a similar garden helped prepare the plot, plant the crops and harvest the produce. They even were brought into the White House kitchen to cook some of the food and experience how eating \”fresh\” tastes.

During the First Lady\’s recent visit to the \”Sesame Street\” children\’s television program to help the muppet, Elmo, and some kids plant vegetable seeds, Big Bird asked if he had heard correctly that she eats seeds. Not exactly, she replied, but \”I do eat what grows from these seeds.\” She encourages the kids to eat all their vegetables, telling them that if they do, they will \”grow up to be big and strong just like me.\”

The garden also inspired a culinary showdown on an episode of \”Iron Chef America,\” a television series patterned on the Japanese \”Iron Chef.\” Filmed partly at the White House, the contest paired White House chef Cristeta Comerford and Bobby Flay against another duo of top American chefs, Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse.

Their challenge? Whip up five dishes using anything from the garden. The chefs harvested everything from fennel and collard greens to purple cauliflower and Japanese eggplant. Flay and Comerford, a Philippine-born naturalized American, won the cook-off.

NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) — Picasso on Tuesday claimed back the world record for artwork auction, just three months after conceding the record to an Italian sculptor.

Pablo Picasso\’s \”Nude, Green Leaves and Bust\” garnered over 106 million U.S. dollars at Christie\’s, beating the 104.3 million-dollar mark set in early February by Alberto Giacometti\’s \”Walking Man One\” at Sotheby\’s in London.

Art experts estimated that the Picasso canvas, depicting the Spanish maestro\’s mistress Marie-Therese Walter, would sell for more than 80 million dollars.

Several people bid on the 1932 painting, which Frances and Sidney Brody acquired in the 1950s from Picasso\’s dealers, with the winning bid taken by a Christie\’s executive via telephone.

The final price of 106,482,500 dollars included the auction commission.

Picasso\’s \”Boy With a Pipe\” was sold in May 2004 for a record high 104.1 million dollars reflecting the commissions of auctioneers.

Picasso was the first artist to ever go over the 10-million-dollar-mark at any auctions of artworks.

Related:

Picasso painting stolen from Sao Paulo museum

Pablo Picasso\’s oil painting, \”Portrait of Suzanne Bloch\”, is seen in this handout photograph released by the Sao Paulo Museum of Art on Dec. 20, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery>>>

Chinese painting sells for nearly $3 mln in New York

? Chinese painting \”Two Mynas on a Rock\” is exhibited during a Sotheby\’s auction preview in New York, the United States, March 19, 2010. The painting \”Two Mynas on a Rock\” sold for 2.994 million dollars at Sotheby\’s Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art on March 23, 2010. (Xinhua/Wu Kaixiang)

Spanish artist Miro\’s exhibition launched in Athens

Caption Joan Miro\’s Le Coq is seen in this handout photograph released by Christie\’s in London June 19, 2007. The painting was sold on June 18 for 6.6 million pounds (13.1 million U.S. dollars) — a world record figure for the artist.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Putin\’s sketch fetches over $1 mln at charity auction

Natalya Kurnikova, the owner of Moscow art gallery, toasts after purchasing an oil painting by Russia\’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a charity auction in St.Petersburg, Jan. 17, 2009. The painting was sold for 37 million roubles (1,137,062 U.S. dollars) with the proceeds going to charity. Putin took less than half an hour to complete the painting of a frosted window inside a Russian log hut with embroidered curtains. A professional artist added beads and small pieces of lace to the canvas. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

MOSCOW, May 5 (Xinhua) — Two Russian young men have been sentenced to prison for murdering and eating a 16-year-old girl, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

A city court jury in the northwestern city of St. Petersburg convicted the two 21-year-old men, one a floral designer, the other unemployed, of robbing and killing the 16-year-old girl in January 2009.

The pair — who were sentenced to 19 years and 18 years in prison for the death — drowned the girl in a bathtub and mutilated her body before cooking it with potatoes and eating some of the flesh, police said.

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Who\’s most charming football lady?(I)- Manchester United

BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhuanet)– All global football fans are crazy about the ongoing 2010 European Championship.

Bayern, Real Madrid or AC Milan…? It is too early to say which will claim the title.

Maybe those handsome football players fascinate you, but how about their charming ladies? Following are the ladies behind the potential champions.

2. Barcelona

éric Abidal(R) and his girlfriend?(Photo Source: bbs.huanqiu.com)

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Barcelona loses defender Abidal with calf injury

Thierry Henry\’s ex-wife Claire?(Photo Source: bbs.huanqiu.com)

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Henry emotional ahead of Arsenal return at Champions League

Gerard Piqué(R) and his girlfriend?(Photo Source: bbs.huanqiu.com)

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Barca wins in Madrid to take huge step towards Spanish title

Lionel Messi(L) and his girlfriend?(Photo Source: bbs.huanqiu.com) ? ?

Lionel Messi(L) and his girlfriend?(Photo Source: bbs.huanqiu.com) ? ? Unstopable Messi leads Barcelona over Arsenal Zlatan Ibrahimovi?\’s girlfriend?(Photo Source: bbs.huanqiu.com) ?

? (Source: CRI Online)

BEIJING, March?27 (Xinhuanet) –? To see the world in a grain of sand? Talented micro-sculptor Willard Wigan can prove you. The 52-year-old British man from Birmingham carved a church from a single granule that fits inside the eye of a needle.

Willard became famous for sculpting tiny recreations of Barack Obama and his family, as well as Neil Armstrong on the moon\’s surface.

This time he was challenged by his girlfriend who lives at the foot of Chosen Hill in Churchdown, near Gloucester, to sculpt the hilltop parish church St Bartholomew\’s.

It took Willard six weeks to finish the model which is too small to be seen by naked eyes. However, every proportion is perfectly right.

? (Source: CRI Online)

\”If I made a mistake it would have been impossible to fix. I wanted to put in as much detail as I possibly could.\” He said.

Willard uses tiny shards of glass stuck to a needle, and a brush made from one of his eylashes to creat the minute masterpieces.

Mr Willard says work of this scale is his passion and hopes to arrange an exhibition in Gloucestershire in the future.

? (Source: CRI Online)

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? (Source: CRI Online)

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A road sign in Pecica, Romania, reminds the drivers of drunkards.? (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign in Windach, Germany, reminds the drivers of snowflakes. (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign in Polokwane, South Africa, reads, \”We can\’t wait. Let\’s go 2010.\’? (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign in Montreal, Canada, reads: \”UFO land\”.? (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign in Johannesburg, South Africa, calls on witnessess to call the crime line. (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign in South Carolina, U.S., directs to two towns–Prosperity and Clinton.? (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A smiling face on a road sign outside the Buckingham Palace, London, Britain. (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign in Vientiane, Laos, reads. \”smoke-free Vientiane capital\”.? (Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign of the \”home of twins\” in Igbo-Ora, Nigeria.? ?(Photo: huanqiu.com)

A road sign erected in 1952 tells people where to dump their clean dirt.? (Photo: huanqiu.com)

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France\’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (C), patron of the French aerobatic squadron \”Patrouille de France\” poses with pilots after an exhibition in Salon, April 2, 2010.(Photo Source: chinanews.com)

Sexy photos of France\’s first lady at auction

Closer look at first ladies\’ life

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, sits in a jet of the French aerobatic squadron \”Patrouille de France\”, during an exhibition in Salon de Provence, southern France, Friday April 2, 2010.(Photo Source: chinanews.com)

A pilot of French aerobatic squadron \”Patrouille de France\” awards France\’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (R) after an exhibition in Salon April 2, 2010.(Photo Source: chinanews.com)

France\’s first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, patron of the French aerobatic squadron \”Patrouille de France\” poses near an Alpha jet after an exhibition in Salon, April 2, 2010.(Photo Source: chinanews.com)

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SANTIAGO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — Chile\’s northern Atacama region issued a sanitary alert on Tuesday due to a red tide on the local coast.

The alert warned local people and tourists not to eat local sea food, especially oysters, a delicacy in the summer time. Fishing between Ramada Island and Mansa Beach in Caldera was also restricted.

No report of poisoning has been found till now, according to local health department official Daniel Villalobos. The department is taking samples from the contaminated water. Once two consecutive samples are free of toxin, the department will lift the restrictions, Villalobos said.

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