"World's Oldest Woman" Died At 122. She Lied about Age, Says Researcher

Agencies
January 6, 2019

Jan 6: Jeanne Calment died in 1997 in the southern French town in which she was born, and her death drew a flurry of attention.

At 122, an age that had been certified by the Guinness World Records as well as public health researchers, she was the oldest documented person to ever have lived.

But a Russian mathematician is casting doubt on her record. Nikolay Zak, of the Moscow Center For Continuous Mathematical Education, said in a report that he believes that Calment was actually Yvonne Calment, Jeanne's daughter, who had assumed her mother's identity to avoid inheritance taxes in the 1930s. That would have made her 99 when she died.

The evidence produced by Zak in a paper published recently on the portal ResearchGate is not definitive.

He points to studies that showed that Calment had lost less than an inch of her height by the time she was well into her hundreds, significantly less than what would have been expected; Yvonne was also taller than Jeanne, he says. A passport for Jeanne in the 1930s lists different eye colors for her than she had later in life. And he raises questions about other physical discrepancies in her forehead and chin. He also claims that Calment had destroyed photographs and other family documents when she had been requested to send them to the archives in Arles.

The study has caused a global stir since it was issued. It has been covered by news media organizations around the world. Sample headline: "Jeanne Calment cheater?" France Inter radio asked.

But it has been denounced by some scientists, including the Jean-Marie Robine, who validated Calment's age and wrote a book about her around the time of her death.

"All of this is incredibly shaky and rests on nothing," Robine told Le Parisien.

According to Smithsonian magazine, he said Jeanne answered questions when he interviewed her that only she would have known the answer to, like the name of her math teacher and housekeepers in her building at the time.

"Her daughter couldn't have known that," he said. And he said that the whole town of Arles would have been in on the ruse.

"Can you imagine how many people would have lied? Overnight, Fernand Calment [Jeanne's husband] would have passed his daughter for his wife and everyone would have kept silent?" Robine said. "It is staggering."

Michel Vauzelle, who was the mayor of Arles when Calment died, has said the Russians' theory is "completely impossible and ridiculous."

Nicolas Brouard, research director at France's National Demographics Studies Institute said that there are some in the research community who do "favour of exhuming the bodies of Jeanne and Yvonne Calment" because of Zak's study, according to French public radio broadcaster RFI. He also said that DNA testing could settle the debate.

In an email, Zak told the Washington Post that he became convinced that Calment's age was suspicious in February while studying mortality patterns of people older then 105.

He said he started to investigate her life in September.

"I funded the work myself, it was a fascinating detective story in front of me," he said. "Those who criticize my work heavily are those who have a huge conflict of interest or those who didn't read it."

He called critics of his report "dishonest," and released a document where he sought to rebut their rebuttals point by point.

Still, he admitted to Reuters that he does not have "cast-iron proof."

"I reviewed the whole situation," he said. "There are lots of small pieces of evidence."

Guinness World Records said that it was aware of the report.

"Extensive research is performed for every oldest person record title we verify, which is led by experts in the gerontology field, and they have been notified of the current situation," it said in a statement distributed by spokeswoman Rachel Gluck.

Robine did not respond to a request for comment.

A Washington Post story about Calment's 120th birthday describes the broad contours of her life. She was born in Arles, in southern France, on Feb. 21, 1875, before the invention of the lightbulb. She grew up to marry Fernand Calment at 21.

"She dabbled in painting, played the piano in her parlor, rode her bicycle around town, hiked and hunted," reporter Dana Thomas wrote, buoyed by the success of her husband's fabric shop.

She said she met Vincent van Gogh as a teacher when he came to Arles to paint in 1888, saying she found him "very ugly, ungracious, impolite, sick."

"Pardon me, but we called him 'the madman.'" she said. She outlived much of her family. Yvonne died at 36 of pleurisy, Thomas wrote. Fernand died in 1942 at the age of 72 from eating tainted cherries. And her only grandchild, Frederic was killed in a car accident at 36 in 1963.

Questions about age-related records are not uncommon. Shigechiyo Izumi, of Japan, was dubbed the world's oldest man when he died in 1986 at what was believed to be 120 years old. But research that came out later claimed that he was around 105. Others claiming ages as high as 125 and up have lacked the required documentation to prove their ages.

And the secrets of an exceptionally long life remain elusive. Obituaries about Calment noted that she was known for her love of chocolate - she reportedly ate two pounds a week - treated her skin with olive oil and rode a bicycle until she was 100. She had only quit her two cigarettes a day habit a few years before her death - not for health, but because she could no longer light her own cigarette without asking for help, the Washington Post wrote.

Under an obscure French system called viager, where a buyer purchases a home from an older person and begins paying its mortgage, and are only able to move in after they die, Calment had a man paying her mortgage for more than 30 years, The Post reported. She had signed the deal with him when she was 90.

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Agencies
June 23,2020

Belgrade, June 23: Novak Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia.

The top-ranked Serb is the fourth player to test positive for the virus after first playing in Belgrade and then again last weekend in Zadar, Croatia.

His wife also tested positive. “The moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive, just as Jelena's, while the results of our children are negative," Djokovic said in a statement.

Djokovic has been criticized for organizing the tournament and bringing in players from other countries amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Viktor Troicki said Tuesday that he and his pregnant wife have both been diagnosed with the virus, while Grigor Dimitrov, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist from Bulgaria, said Sunday he tested positive.

Borna Coric played Dimitrov on Saturday in Zadar and said Monday he has also tested positive. There were no social distancing measures observed at the matches in either country and Djokovic and other players were seen hugging each other and partying in night clubs and restaurants after the matches.

 “Everything we did in the past month, we did with a pure heart and sincere intentions,” Djokovic said.

“Our tournament meant to unite and share a message of solidarity and compassion throughout the region.” Djokovic, who has previously said he was against taking a vaccine for the virus even if it became mandatory to travel, was the face behind the Adria Tour, a series of exhibition events that started in the Serbian capital and then moved to Zadar.

He left Croatia after the final was canceled and was tested in Belgrade. The statement said Djokovic was showing no symptoms.

Despite the positive test, Djokovic defended the exhibition series. “It was all born with a philanthropic idea, to direct all raised funds towards people in need and it warmed my heart to see how everybody strongly responded to this,” Djokovic said.

"We organized the tournament at the moment when the virus has weakened, believing that the conditions for hosting the Tour had been met. “Unfortunately, this virus is still present, and it is a new reality that we are still learning to cope and live with.”

Djokovic said he will remain in self-isolation for 14 days and also apologized to anyone who became infected as a result of the series. Organizers of the Adria Tour said the third stage of the event, scheduled to held next week in Bosnia, has been cancelled.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had "unconstitutionally" merged six MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with the Congress in Rajasthan, he did the same in his earlier tenure too, for which we wanted to teach him and his party a lesson, said BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday.

The BSP chief added that her party could have gone to courts earlier but decided to wait for the "right opportunity".

"In Rajasthan, after elections results, BSP gave unconditional support of all its 6 MLAs to Congress. Unfortunately, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, out of his malicious intent and to damage BSP, merged them with Congress unconstitutionally. He did the same even during his earlier tenure," Mayawati said here.

"BSP could have gone to the court earlier too but we were looking for the time to teach Congress party and CM Ashok Gehlot a lesson. Now we have decided to go to the Court. We will not let this matter alone. We will go even to the Supreme Court," she added.

The BSP chief further reiterated that the party has asked the six MLAs to vote against the Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot if a trust vote takes place on the floor of the Rajasthan Assembly, failing which "their party membership will be cancelled".
She further said that the merger of BSP MLAs with Congress was immoral and went against the mandate given by voters in Rajasthan.
"Ulta-chor kotwal ko daante (the thief accuses the cop of wrongs) they (Congress) themselves indulge in wrongdoing and then accuse us," she further said.
On Sunday, the BSP issued a whip to six MLAs, asking them to vote against Congress in case of a no-confidence motion or any proceedings to be held during the Rajasthan Assembly session.

National General Secretary of BSP Satish Chandra Mishra, while speaking to news agecncy said, "Notices have been issued to the six MLAs separately as well as collectively, pointing out that since BSP is a National Party, there cannot be any merger at the state level at the instance of six MLAs unless there is a merger of BSP at the national level. If they violate it, they will be disqualified.

Notices have been issued to all six MLAs- - R Gudha, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, JS Awana, Sandeep Kumar and Wajib Ali, who are elected to the Rajasthan Assembly."
However, later on Monday, Lakhan Singh, hit back saying he and the five others had already joined the Congress.

"We six MLAs have already joined the Congress. BSP remembered us after nine months. They have issued this whip, after a message from the BJP. On this basis they are going to court", said Karauli MLA Lakhan Singh.

Rajasthan government is in turmoil after simmering differences between Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was removed as the Deputy Chief Minister and the state unit chief of Congress.

The Congress has accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading to bring down the Gehlot government. The BJP has rejected the allegations.

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News Network
March 6,2020

New Delhi, Mar 6: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday will move the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019 for consideration and passing in Lok Sabha.

In December last year, the Union Cabinet had approved a proposal to promulgate an ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016.

The amendments will remove certain ambiguities in the IBC 2016 and ensure smooth implementation of the code, an official statement said.

The move is aimed at easing the insolvency resolution process and promoting the ease of doing business. Aimed at streamlining of the insolvency resolution process, the amendments seek to protect last-mile funding and boost investment in financially-distressed sectors.

Under the amendments, the liability of a corporate debtor for an offence committed before the corporate insolvency resolution process will cease.

The debtor will not be prosecuted for an offence from the date the resolution plan has been approved by the adjudicating authority if a resolution plan results in change in the management or control of the corporate debtor to a person who was not a promoter or in the management or control of the corporate debtor or a related party of such a person.

The amendments are aimed at providing more protection to bidders participating in the recovery proceedings and in turn boosting investor confidence in the country's financial system.

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