HEALTH : SYNTHETIC CHEMICAL FOUND IN BABY FOOD

WASHINGTON: Infrared lasers have helped researchers detect minute traces of a synthetic chemical like melamine in baby formula, within minutes.
Melamine, used in plastics and other products, has been found in baby formula and other milk-based products imported from China. High doses of melamine were associated with cancer in some animals, and it is especially dangerous for infants, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We have found detection methods that are inexpensive and do not require a lot of the product or time for sampling," said Lisa Mauer, professor of food science, at Purdue University. Mauer obtained unadulterated samples of powdered formula and measured them using near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy techniques.

"The melamine structure is very different than the formula, so you can see differences in the spectrum," Mauer said. "Because they are so different, we can detect down to one part per million of melamine." Federal guidelines permit only one part per million of melamine in infant formula and up to two and a half parts per million in other products.

Having an inexpensive and quick test would make it easier to test imported or domestically made products for melamine, said a Purdue release. Mauer and her graduate students found the melamine detection process after she received a new software programme that she wanted the students to become familiar with.

Mauer challenged them to use spectroscopy to detect melamine, thinking they might be able to do so at high concentrations. After successful tries at higher concentrations, Mauer and the students kept lowering the concentration of melamine until they reached one part per million. These findings were published in the online version of The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

CAROL ANN DUFFY NAMED THE FIRST FEMALE POET LAUREATE IN THE 341YEAR HISTORY

LONDON: Carol Ann Duffy was named Poet Laureate on Friday, the first woman to hold the title in the post's 341-year history. The 53-year-old, born in Glasgow, Scotland, said she had thought "long and hard" about accepting the position, seen by some as a poisoned chalice due to the public scrutiny that comes with it.

Duffy was firm favourite to take over the role from Andrew Motion, who has stepped down after completing a 10-year tenure. The royal post, held by the likes of John Dryden, William Wordsworth and before Motion, Ted Hughes, used to be for life, but Duffy, like Motion, will hold it for 10 years. "I look on it as a recognition of the great women poets we have writing now," Duffy told BBC Radio. "I've decided to accept it for that reason."

She had been in the running for the role in 1999 but lost out to Motion over what media reports said were concerns about how people would react to a lesbian laureate. Duffy is probably best known for her 1999 collection "The World's Wife" in which she tells the stories of the women behind some of the leading men through history.

Other highlights among her collections, many of which have won major awards, are "Standing Female Nude" (1985), "Mean Time" (1993), "Feminine Gospels" (2002) and "Rapture" (2005). Duffy also writes picture books for children and plays. Last year, Britain's biggest exam board, AQA, was accused of censorship after it removed a poem by Duffy containing references to knife crime from the GCSE syllabus. The poem starts: "Today I am going to kill something. Anything./I have had enough of being ignored and today/I am going to play God."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called her "a truly brilliant modern poet who has stretched our imaginations by putting the whole range of human experiences into lines that capture the emotions perfectly." Judith Palmer, director of the Poetry Society, which marks its centenary this year, also welcomed the appointment.

"It shows how far this country has come that a woman, and a woman like Carol Ann, can hold an appointment such as Poet Laureate," Palmer told Reuters. "That is incredibly heartening for all of us. It focuses attention on the wide range of excellent women poets working in Britain at the moment."

The new appointment is likely to reignite debate among literary circles over whether Britain really needs a Poet Laureate, who is expected to compose poems to mark major state occasions and other national events.

The post is seen as a difficult one. Motion, generally viewed as a successful laureate for actively promoting verse, complained last year of suffering from writer's block. "The pressures and peculiarities of the laureateship, some of which I put myself through, did have a rocky effect on my life," he said in an interview with the Independent newspaper.

"It was a strange mix of making me self-conscious, that so few writers are made to feel because of being so public. There is an isolation in being the Poet Laureate." The holder of the title receives 5,750 pounds a year. Duffy said she would give the fee to the Poetry Society. According to the Society, the laureate's original salary was 200 pounds per year plus a butt of canary wine. John Betjeman had the tradition revived in 1972, and today's laureate continues to receive a barrel of sherry. The first official Poet Laureate is widely recognised to be John Dryden in 1668, although others fulfilled a similar function before him.

CHANDIGARH IN TIMES BEST ASIAN SPOTS AS ' THE THINKING MAN'S CITY '

CHANDIGARH: The world, it seems, is celebrating India’s first modern city. Even as London fetes the brilliance of master architect Le Corbusier through an ongoing exhibition, ‘Time’ magazine has dubbed Chandigarh as ‘’the thinking man’s city’’ amidst ‘’a continent of mindless growth’’.

Featured as one of the 15 places in ‘Best of Asia-2009’ list, the city has been detailed as a model - almost un-Indian - city, with its ‘’egalitarian sectors’’ and ‘’tranquil settings’’. In a fitting tribute to the venerated Swiss-French creator, Chandigarh, the magazine says, reflects the ‘’Best Application of Corbusian Principles’’. Applauding the title, the first chief architect of Chandigarh, MN Sharma, says, ‘’The city deserves this status.

The architectural plan, which was prepared after studying several European cities, envisaged a unique destination, which Chandigarh has truly become.’’ However, hitting a cautionary note, ‘Time’ mentions: ‘’Today, the city is threatened by its very success, as Indians have been lured here in droves by its relatively high living standards and high percentage of greenery. An old vision of modernity is being replaced by the latest model.’’

Giving ballast to this debate, Sharma states, ‘’If UT administration wants to maintain the city’s status, it must be very conscious about pursuing future plans. As a standard, Le Corbusier’s dreams must be abided by at every step.’’ The nodal officer of Le Corbusier Centre in Sector 19, VN Singh, calls the architect ‘’the genius of 20th century’’. ’’

People of Chandigarh have an emotional attachment with Le Corbusier,’’ he notes, and adds the Frenchman - who considered himself a painter first, and then an architect - worked between the polarities of ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’. Resonating this, the magazine states, ‘’he (Corbusier) intended for Chandigarh to be a statement of innovation for a nation where material progress would be wedded to ancient values of simplicity and rootedness.’’ ’’

Chandigarh is on its way to become the world’s number one city,’’ Singh opines. Having created the world-famous Rock Garden, Padma Shri Nek Chand says it is gratifying to hear about the honour. ‘’The city deserves this status and it is due to its well-planned nature that Rock Garden has become so famous all across the world.’’ For a city that was conceived soon after Independence - in the backdrop of tragedy and bloodshed - the city continues to stand testimony to aspirations of the new people.

‘’Chandigarh is still the place to ponder what rational planning might have done and still can do,’’ the article puts it aptly.