Revealed: The Secrets Behind The Nightmares That Leave Us in a Sweat

By Fiona Macrae

Wake with a jump: Falling is a common theme in dreams

Losing a loved one, being chased by a monster or running hopelessly late for a vital appointment - it's all the stuff of nightmares.

And for some of us, it's a show of horrors that unfolds most times we go to sleep.

Others claim never to be troubled by dreams of any sort.

Scientists are trying to unravel the meaning behind the disturbing dreams that leave us waking in a panic.

They believe that while the nightmare may not directly correspond to waking life, it can reflect the sleeper's emotions or concerns.

The five most common themes are falling, being chased, feeling paralysed, being late and the death of a loved one.

Hair or tooth loss and sitting exams are also common themes, even among those too young to go bald and too old to sit exams.

But there were clear differences in the topics that haunted the sleep of the sexes in the study conducted in Germany.

Men are more likely to have nightmares about violence or being sacked while bereavement and sexual harassment crop up more in women's nightmares, says a report in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience journal.

In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers asked more than 2,000 men and women about their bad dreams.

A calm and collected 48 per cent said they never had nightmares. 

But one in 10 said they had frightening dreams several times a year and almost one in 20 were bothered by them at least once a fortnight.

Those who owned up to having a lot of nightmares were also asked to describe their contents.

'Topics like falling, being chased or paralysed do not have direct correspondences to waking-life experiences,' said researcher Dr Michael Schredl from the International Association for the Study of Dreams.

'A monster chasing you in a dream might reflect a daytime fear of a particular task lying ahead that one wishes to avoid.'

Dreams about hair and tooth loss are more common in women - perhaps signifying anxieties about losing their looks.

The findings came from a study in which researchers asked 2,000 men and women about their dreams.

A calm and collected 48 per cent claimed they never had nightmares. One in ten said they had frightening dreams several times a year and almost one in 20 woke up in terror at least once a fortnight.

Davina Mackail, a Daily Mail columnist and dream expert, said: 'Nightmares are a response to something unresolved. They can be exacerbated by stress.

'If you deal with what is showing up, they will go away.

'You can lie to yourself when you are awake but not in your dreams.'

She said women tended to have more nightmares because of their hormones.

'Often they can dream about violence just before their period is due.'

Dreaming is part of the normal sleep pattern and happens every night, even for those who insist they don't dream.

Sleepers are most likely to remember nightmares and bad dreams if they wake up during them.

Sikh Army Captain Graduates: Tejdeep Singh Rattan Is First Sikh US Army Officer In Decades

San Antonio, Mar 23 : Amid lines of soldiers, one after the other in standard-issue fatigues and combat boots, was one in a turban and full beard on Monday – the first Sikh in a generation allowed to complete U.S. Army officer basic training without sacrificing the articles of his faith.

Capt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, a 31-year-old dentist, graduated Monday at Fort Sam Houston after the Army made an exemption to a uniform policy that has effectively prevented Sikhs from enlisting since 1984.

"I'm feeling very humbled. I'm a soldier," he said, grinning after the ceremony as other members of the Sikh community milled about nearby. "This has been my dream."

Rattan had to get a waiver from the Army to be allowed to serve without sacrificing the unshorn hair mandated by his faith. An immigrant from India who arrived in New York as a teenager, Rattan said it was important for him to serve a country that has given him so many opportunities.

The Army in 1984 eliminated an exemption that had previously allowed Sikhs to maintain their articles of faith while serving, but officials can issue individual waivers to the uniform policy after considering the effects on safety and discipline, said Army spokesman George Wright. Only a handful of such individual religious exemptions are ever granted.

Rattan and Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, who will attend basic training this summer after completing an emergency medicine fellowship, are the first Sikhs to receive exemptions in more than 25 years.

Rattan and Kalsi both offer health care skills that are in high demand in an Army stretched by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

1st Sgt. Jeffrey DeGarmo said he made sure the officers-in-training in his unit understood that Rattan wasn't a foreign national and had received the Army's permission to maintain his beard and turban. Once the other soldiers understood that, there were no issues, he said.

"It went pretty well," DeGarmo said. "I think he did an outstanding job adjusting."

For Sikhs, the unshorn hair wrapped in a turban and beard are required to keep adherents in the natural state in which God made them, said Amardeep Singh, director of the Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy group that helped Rattan and Kalsi push for Army admittance.

During training, Rattan wore a helmet over the small turban, which he doesn't remove, and was able to successfully create a seal with his gas mask despite the beard, resolving the Army's safety concerns, said Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's legal director.

Rattan worked with an Army tailor to create a flash, the insignia patch worn on soldiers' berets, that could be affixed to his black turban, she said.

Singh said allowing Sikh adherents to serve in the Army is an important part of ensuring they are an integral part of American life. He said it also could counter prejudice.

"If government can say to someone 'You can't serve, not for any reason that has to do with your abilities,' that sends the wrong message," he said. "We don't want to be perpetual outsiders."

The Sikh community has a long tradition of military service in India, from where most adherents originally emigrated, and in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada.

Sikhs represent 2 percent of India's population but make up about 30 percent of that country's army officers, Singh said.

An estimated 300,000 Sikhs live in the United States.

Before the Army's regulation change in 1984, Sikhs served in the U.S. military during every major armed conflict going back to World War I. Those who joined before the change were allowed to serve with their beards and turbans, but the policy effectively prevented new enlistment of Sikhs, Kaur said.

She said her group will continue to push for a change in Army policy.

"We're still working toward a day when Sikhs don't have to check their faith at the door," she said.

Canadian University Tells Ann Coulter To Watch Her Mouth

A Canadian university has forewarned Ann Coulter to be mindful of what she says when she speaks on its campus this week.

The National Post reports that University of Ottawa Academic Vice President and Provost Francois Houle e-mailed the controversial pundit on Friday. He wrote:

"Our domestic laws, both provincial and federal, delineate freedom of expression (or "free speech") in a manner that is somewhat different than the approach taken in the United States. I therefore encourage you to educate yourself, if need be, as to what is acceptable in Canada and to do so before your planned visit here."

He continued, "Promoting hatred against any identifiable group would not only be considered inappropriate, but could in fact lead to criminal charges."

Houle also reminded Coulter of the strong Canadian tradition of "restraint, respect and consideration."

In response to Houle's e-mail, Coulter wrote on Big Government that she was "hoping for a fruit basket" from the university -- "not a threat to prosecute."

Coulter's visit also raised the ire of some students on campus. According to Macleans, University of Ottawa students started a "Ban Coulter from Campus" Facebook group and forbade signs advertising the talk from being posted in a main campus building.

Coulter, while known primarily for her barbs aimed at the Middle East, has been critical of Canada. She once said that Canadians "are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent."

Coulter was invited to speak at the school by the University of Ottawa Campus Conservatives. The full text of the e-mail is below.

coulter email 3 21 -

A Canadian university has forewarned Ann Coulter to be mindful of what she says when she speaks on its campus this week. The National Post reports that University of Ottawa Academic Vice President ...

Infosys to Revive Eastern India Plan

By Amit Tripathi

Mumbai, Mar 23 : Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest IT firm by employee strength, is looking at setting up special economic zones (SEZs) in West Bengal and Assam, a senior executive of Infosys told DNA.

The move will throw up more job offers for computer science graduates and engineers in Eastern India.

Infosys already has a development centre in Software Technology Park at Bhubaneshwar, set up in 2000, which now employs about 3,000 software engineers. The firm is now looking to invest Rs 300 crore for its second project in Bhubaneshwar that will have a capacity of 5,000.

In Kolkata, Infosys had planned to invest Rs 500 crore to set up a development centre in 2004, housing 5,000 people. The project got delayed and in June 2009 an IT township project in Salt Lake, Kolkata was scrapped by the West Bengal government following a controversy.

However, in September the state government offered 45 acres each to Infosys and Wipro to set up development centres. But by then Infosys had developed second thoughts on the offer due to uncertainty in business environment.

“We were going slow on the offer due to the market meltdown. Additionally, the political climate in the state was not conducive then. But now we are considering the offer and evaluating it again,” said the Infosys executive who did not wish to be named as the company is in the mandatory silent period before the announcement of quarterly results.

Besides Kolkata, Infosys is also evaluating setting up an SEZ in Assam in the North East. “We are looking at North East to expand as well, but the problem there is of infrastructure and availability of professionals,” said the Infosys executive.

The company is looking to hire more than 20,000 professionals in FY10-11 due to improving business scenario. Infosys, which had 109,882 employees at the end of calendar year 2009, sees about 2,500 employees leave the firm every three months.

The Infosys move comes close on the heels of interest from Union government to attract investment in developing North East.
Earlier this month Sachin Pilot, minister of state for IT and communications spoke about government’s interest in developing Northeastern India. “North East can become a big centre for attracting investments from the private sector in business process outsourcing and knowledge process outsourcing,” Pilot said.

According to the minister, the Union government has helped Sikkim to set up a 50-seater business process unit and launched 3G services through BSNL. Similarly, the government is planning a software park at Itanagar for developing computer software and extending related professional services.

“I have already met the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh. We are hoping to start this project soon. The state will then have a lot more money from the central government, which it can’t afford now,” the minister had said.

via DNA

India-NSCN(IM) Talks Deadlocked

By R Dutta Choudhury

Guwahati, Mar 23 : The talks between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) are deadlocked over the two “core demands” of the militant outfit.

Meanwhile, the Government of India has taken up the allegations of violation of the ground rules of ceasefire agreement by members of the outfit with the leaders of the NSCN in the meetings of the ceasefire monitoring group.

Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the NSCN leadership submitted a 30-point charter of demands to the Government of India and the “core demands” of the outfit are not acceptable to the Government. Sources said that the demand for integration of the “Naga inhabited areas” for creation of greater Nagalim is not acceptable to the Government of India.

Sources pointed out that the NSCN has been demanding vast areas of the States of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh as the outfit claimed that those were Naga inhabited areas.

But the Government of India, on principle, is not ready to accept the demand. Only if the concerned States accept the demand, the Government of India can think in the same lines.

But under the circumstances, no State would be ready to give up land and the Governments of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur have already passed resolutions in the State Assemblies against the creation of greater Nagalim. The Centre, on its part, is not willing to persuade the concerned State Governments to give up land for the creation of greater Nagalim, sources added.

The second core demand of the NSCN, which is not acceptable to the Government of India is the demand for a separate constitution for Nagalim to protect the unique identity of the Naga people. Sources said that the Government is not willing to allow a State to have a separate constitution as it might lead to serious consequences in the days to come.

However, the Centre is willing to discuss the issue of expanding the scope of federalism for giving more powers to the States within the framework of the Constitution of India. Sources said that the Government is also ready to discuss issues like giving greater powers to the States over the natural resources.

Sources said that apart from the two “core demands” of the NSCN, the other demands enlisted in the charter of demands are negotiable but the talks are deadlocked over the core demands. With the NSCN leadership also maintaining a rigid stand, no immediate solution to the issues is in sight, sources admitted.

However, on the positive side, sources revealed that the top leaders of the NSCN including chairman I Swu and general secretary T Muivah are now using Indian passports to travel abroad.

On the allegations of violation of ground rules of the ceasefire agreement by the NSCN members, official sources said that two committees are in place for monitoring the implementation of the ground rules. One committee is entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the situation in Nagaland and the other, headed by a Special Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible to deal with any violation outside Nagaland.

The allegations leveled against the NSCN members for violation of ground rules are taken up with the leaders of the outfit from time to time. “On some occasions, the NSCN leaders simply deny the allegations and sometimes they assure to discipline their cadres,” sources added.

It may be mentioned here that the NSCN general secretary Muivah reportedly told the cadres of the outfit in camp Habron yesterday that solution to the Naga problem would not be possible within the framework of the Constitution of India.

via Assam Tribune

Bushfire Razes 30 Houses in Hailakandi

Silchar, Mar 23 : A blaze in a jhum field on a hill slope in south Assam’s Hailakandi district gutted around 30 houses last night, forcing Reang tribal residents there to flee to the plains in the Baldabaldi gaon panchayat area under the district’s Katlicherra block along the Mizoram border.

A forest department official said bushfire is lit every summer in the hilly and wooded areas under the Katlicherra block to clear the jungle for cultivation of paddy and vegetables.

The hill areas provide enough lands to the tribals to cultivate paddy.

These tribals practice farming in a cyclical manner on the lands after burning and then slashing the under-growth and bushes, which is popularly known as the jhum method of farming.

Though the Integrated Tribal Development Project was set in motion by the Assam government in the late sixties for weaning the tribals away from the injurious jhum cultivation after prodding them to take up the alternative permanent farming, it could not make any substantial breakthrough in the block, thus keeping thousands of tribal jhum peasants there dependent on this primitive form of cultivation.

A hilly land comprising 6,000 acres in Katlicherra area is still being tilled for jhum cultivation, mainly by hill tribes like Reangs, Hrangkhawls, Chirus and Chakmas.

Such kind of farming is also widespread in Mizoram and North Cachar Hills, which are adjoining to Barak Valley areas.

While practicing jhum, helped by the speedy winds, sometimes fire leaps out of the fields and spread to the tribal settlements on the hills near the jhum lands, creating havoc there in its aftermath.

As many as seven persons were burnt to cinders last week in Mizoram as the forest fire from jhum fields spread. Over 30 houses in North Cachar Hills were razed in at least two jhum sites recently.

Breast Feeding Saves 1.7mn Kids in Assam

New Delhi, Mar 22 :  Assam is doing much better than the rest of India in exclusive breast feeding to infants and has saved 1.7 million kids from slipping into under-nourishment, the UNICEF said Monday.

“In Assam, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in infants younger than six months increased from 29 percent in 1999 to 63 percent in 2006, the UNICEF said.

However, in India, only 46 percent of infants are exclusively breastfed and rates of exclusive breastfeeding have shown little improvement in the last decade. “Some states are an exception to this rule. Assam is one of them,” said the UN agency on health and child welfare.

“Unquestionable global evidence demonstrates that breastfeeding counseling and support is the most important child survival intervention,” added Victor Aguayo, the chief of Child Nutrition and Development Programme with UNICEF here.

The children’s health watchdog said that an accelerated effort to increase the exclusive breastfeeding in the northeastern state has helped protect 1.7 million children from under-nourishment.

The Indian government and international organizations recommend that infants be fed only breast milk for the first six months of life, with no other foods or fluids added, not even water. This is referred to as exclusive breastfeeding.

Every year, two million Indian children die before their fifth birthday, most of them from preventable causes. Global evidence shows that in developing countries, optimal breast feeding is the most important child survival intervention and the earlier the baby is breastfed, within the first hour of birth, the better.

India to go Maximum Extent to Find Solution to Naga Issue: Pillai

New Delhi, Mar 22 : Union Home Secretary G K Pillai has said that the Central Government would go maximum extent possible to find a solution to the vexed Naga issue.

‘All I can assure you from the Government of India side is that you will not find us wanting, we would be flexible, we would recognize the history of the Nagas,’ said Pillai.

‘We would try to go the maximum extent possible to find a solution which is honorable and which everybody can accept and live in peace in the future,’ he added.

Pillai sought cooperation from the community in moving ahead with the peace talks.

‘I only hope that we will have and I would request all your cooperation in the months to come as we go ahead with these peace talks. It’s not easy, there are lots of difficulties ahead of us; let us not minimize the problems that lie ahead,’ said Pillai.

‘But I have no doubt that if there is sincerity and goodwill on both sides we should be able to find a solution to the problem that has lingered for more than 60 years,’ he added.

Earlier this month, the leaders of the powerful Nagaland rebel group National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) held talks with the Centre eyeing upon carrying forward the peace talks.

The NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah headed the delegation to New Delhi last month.

The Centre had offered a 1986 Mizo Accord-type solution to the (NSCN-IM), which the group rejected.

The NSCN-IM wants ‘Greater Nagaland’ comprising Naga-inhabited areas of the neighboring states of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, which would unite 1.2 million Nagas, a demand opposed by these states.

‘Naga problems cannot be solved within Indian Constitution’

Camp Hebron (Dimapur, Nagaland) : NSCN (IM) General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah on Sunday said he had told Union government during talks that Naga problem could not be solved within the framework of Indian Constitution.

"We have told both the Prime Minister and Home Minister during our meetings in no uncertain term that a permanent solution cannot be found within the Indian Constitution since the Naga problem is unique.

"It needs a unique settlement," Muivah told a function to celebrate the 30th 'Republic Day' of NSCN(IM) here.

Muivah, who came to Nagaland on Thursday after holding talks with the Central leaders in New Delhi, said both Prime Minister and Home Minister were sincere to reach an honorable settlement.

We have also expressed our commitment to hammer out a negotiated solution, but no imposition from New Delhi will be accepted by the Nagas" he said.

NSCN(I-M) has been steadfast on the historical rights of the Nagas while holding the peace talks with the Centre during the past 12 years and hoped the Government would respect these inalienable rights, he said.

Muivah asked the Nagas to take a right decision since the "time for our victory is not far away."

Turning to the problems of the Nagas, he was critical of some recent incidents within the NSCN(I-M) and also in the Naga society and said that "degeneration" of values might destroy the Naga political struggle. He called upon all to retrospect to find out where the Nagas had gone wrong.

In his read out speech, NSCN(I-M) Chairman Isak Chishi Swu said Nagas have been seeking for peace but with justice.

"Peace cannot not found by suppressing the rights of the victims, violating human rights and denying the rights of self-determination to the rightful people," he said.

Referring to the present situation in the Naga society, he regretted "our society is invaded by social evils such as organized crime, drug abuse and alcoholism" and said such degradation would not be tolerated.

Calling upon the people to pursue education, the chairman insisted on upholding the Naga culture of paying respect to women and gender-equality.
Besides armed members of the NSCN(I-M), the function was attended by representatives of several Naga civil society organizations, tribal councils, students and youth bodies, women groups and nearby villagers.

Leaders of Naga civil society organizations urged the NSCN(I-M) to expedite the peace talks and maintain transparency while negotiating with the Centre.

NSCN(K) also celebrated the day at its designated camp at Khehoi, near Dimapur and supported the on-going Naga peace and re-conciliation process initiated by Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR), a body comprising members from churches, NGOs, civil societies and tribal councils.