London, Oct 9 : Secondary school pupils in Britain are abandoning books for the Internet, according to a new research.

Jonathan Douglas, the director of the National Literacy Trust, said that publishers must adapt titles to the demands of modern young readers who spend more time on the Internet if they are to succeed in persuading the next generation to read.

The typical eight-year-old reads nearly 16 books a year but, by the time they reach 15 or 16, this has dwindled to just over three books per year.

Stockholm  - On the eve of Thursday's announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature, punters seemed to favour a winner from other countries than the United States.

At least according to two online betting sites.

The speculation mirrors that of Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter that in a survey Wednesday concluded that 85 per cent of all literature laureates since 1995 have been Europeans.

Washington, Oct 7 : Girls find it more difficult than boys to adjust to new surroundings, where they are required to learn a new language, according to new Michigan State University research.

The study, conducted on three- to six-year-old kids attending an international school in Beijing, found that generally girls faced more social adjustment problems than boys.

All the students, belonging to 16 nationalities, were dealing with both Chinese and English, which implied that each child was learning at least one new language.

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 4: The Malaysian Indian Congress will continue to monitor the development of Tamil schools in the country and extend its help in their growth.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department S. K. Devamany said about this after making a surprise visit to the Ulu Remis Estate Tamil School in Layang Layang, Johor.

He said the MIC, through its president S. Samy Vellu, was looking into the development of all Tamil schools in the country and also ensuring speedier action in rebuilding them.

Devamany said the MIC president was also working hard to ensure that Tamil school pupils were given the best facilities to help them achieve academic excellence.

Amsterdam  - Paper, pencil and books are the key to developing one's creativity and maximizing one's intelligence, says Dutch psychologist Christof van Nimwegen.

The Dutch researcher recently completed a PhD dissertation at the University of Utrecht about the effects of software on the functioning of the human brain.

In "The Paradox of the guided user: assistance can be counter- effective," van Nimwegen asked two groups to perform the same tasks.

The first was allowed use a computer; the second group only got a pen and pencil.