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Antarctica is, in fact, a desert!

2012-01-04T06:22:00.000+05:30

Antarctica, as many of us know, is a continent around the South Pole, situated mainly within the Antarctic Circle and almost entirely covered by ice sheets.

Antarctica is considered a desert, and here is why:

There is little precipitation in Antarctica since it is a polar region. It has neither lakes nor rivers and is actually the driest continent.

It is known as the world’s driest desert, because in its interior region the extreme cold freezes the water vapor out of the air.

Annual snowfall is equal to less than 5 centimeters of rain. Antarctica is also the only place in the world not claimed or owned by any country.

Little Johnny and School

2011-11-13T13:48:00.000+05:30

Summer vacation was over and Little Johnny returned back to school.

Only two days later his teacher phoned his mother to tell her that he was misbehaving.

"Wait a minute," she said. "I had Johnny with me for three months and I never called you once when he misbehaved!"

Little Johnny wasn't getting good marks in school. One day he surprised the teacher with an announcement. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "I don't want to scare you, but my daddy says if I don't start getting better grades, somebody is going to get a spanking!"

Little Johnny's kindergarten class was on a field trip to their local police station where they saw pictures, tacked to a bulletin board, of the 10 most wanted men.

One of the youngsters pointed to a picture and asked if it really was the photo of a wanted person.

"Yes," said the policeman. "The detectives want him very badly."

So Little Johnny asked, "Why didn't you keep him when you took his picture?"

One evening, Johnny was sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework while his mother watched television.

Upon hearing the evening news, his mother let out a shriek, "Little Johnny! China just launched a nuclear missile toward the United States."

Little Johnny looked up from his book with a confused expression on his face.

"Do you understand what this means?" his mother implored.

Little Johnny quickly replied, "No school tomorrow?"

VELAYUTHAM tamil film reviews

2011-10-27T14:39:00.001+05:30

Velayudham and 7am Arivu of Kollywood are 2 of the much awaited films in India recently as they have released for this Diwali (26-Oct-2011) after a long wait. Here we have reviews Velayudham.

Sify review

Vijay is back in action with Velayudham an out and out mass entertainer with all Navarasas of commercial cinema mixed in the right proposition.

Read 7am Arivu Review here

Director M Raja has packaged it as a Thali meal catering to the taste of all sections of the audiences.

It is Vijay’s Diwali treat to his fans. The film makes no bones, no pretences. It is an old-fashioned masala entertainer that plays to the galleries- a rocking introductory song, two glam girls, adrenal pumping action scenes, comedian Santhanam the current flavour of the season in some hilarious situations, sister sentiments and a message. But that's all part of the design.

One major plus for the movie is Vijay Antony's songs which are melodious and mass. The Vijay introductory song Sonna Puriyadhu.., Chillaxxx.. and Molachu Moonu... are the pick of the lot. Raja has taken the basic thread of the film from Nagarjuna’s Telugu film Azad directed by his friend the late Tirupathi Samy. The original itself was etched out of Amitabh Bachchan’s Main Azaad Hoon which was inspired by Hollywood 1941 classic Meet John Doe.

Rediff review

Ilaya Thalapathi Vijay has his comfort zone in the form of formula mass films that have a superhero at its epi-centre, destroying evil; saving his world; offering safety and security to those around him: all preferably done with panache and the prowess of a superman.

Read Ra.One Review here

Velayudham, remade from the Telugu hit Azad, with suitable modifications, has a story that's as old as the hills but there are a few elements that do add some flavour to the old wine in a new bottle.

Saranya Mohan, as his sister has precious little to do except look adorable and hug him a lot, which she does dutifully. She gets almost as much screen-time as Genelia D'Souza, who, for once, has given up the giggling school-girl act and actually has something to do. Hansika, however, doesn't, and her tittering gets on your nerves after a while.

Santhanam delivers his usual, as is his wont. The rest of the cast: Suri, Shayaji Shinde, Manivannan, et al merely form part of the backdrop.

Velayudham doesn't take itself seriously and doesn't expect you to either. In other words, it's paisa vasool.

Rediff reviews 7am Arivu and Ra.One

2011-10-26T14:49:00.001+05:30

Ra.One of Bollywood and 7am Arivu of Kollywood are 2 of the much awaited films as they have released for this Diwali (26-Oct-2011) after a long wait. Here we have reviews for both films.

7am Arivu review

Considering the hype that's surrounded the movie, it's almost a given that you're going to end up with mixed feelings about it. It would be impossible to give a linear review for a film that traverses several plot-lines.

Read more film reviews

The first half-hour of the film. It might be slightly in the style of a documentary but the camera-work, the SFX and the maker's obvious love of history transport you back 1600 years into the past, to the reigning Pallava dynasty, and to the surroundings of Kanchi, to a land that is at the height of both martial and medical prowess. It's here that you're introduced to Bhodhi Dharmar (Suriya), a Pallava Prince who leaves his family behind and journeys to China. His travel across the lands, and the way he slowly assimilates the life of an ascetic, casting away his princely robes is a revelation. It takes him three years to reach China -- where a completely different life awaits him.

7am Arivu has several things working for it -- its historical background, and a rock-solid villain who uses mind-control, and an intelligent heroine, among other things.

Ra.One review

Ra.One is a subpar superhero film with a mediocre soundtrack and occasionally terrific effects. For those of you looking to compare, it's well below Krrish on the superpecking order, and far, far below Robot.

More about Indian films..

It has a good villain in Arjun Rampal, a striking heroine in Kareena Kapoor and a visual effects team that, while derivative, gets the job done rather well. The problem lies in the hodgepodge script -- a congealed instant-noodles mess of mixed flavours and overzealous Bollywoodisation -- and, even more crucially, in the man.

There is far too much Shah Rukh Khan in Ra.One, and while the man can normally be counted on to entertain no matter how completely he overwhelms us with his presence, this is him trying too hard in a film that straddles the disparate worlds of Shankar and Farah Khan, and, having been made by Anubhav Sinha, falls painfully flat.

Sayali Bhagat - Shiney made passes at me

2011-10-25T13:37:00.000+05:30

Shiney Ahuja seems to be on the bad side of women all the time. Most recently, the actor has been accused of sexually harassing his co-star Sayali Bhagat according to media reports.

Well, if what actress Sayali Bhagat is saying is true then Shiney Ahuja seems to have not learnt from his past experiences.

This is not the first time that Shiney has been in the eye of storm over such allegations. In 2009, the actor's maid filed a case against him alleging rape.

Shiney was sentenced to seven years in prison by a Mumbai sessions court on March 30 this year. About a month later, however, he was released on bail.

Sayali Bhagat, however, cannot decide whether her 'Ghost' co-star Shiney Ahuja misbehaved with her on the sets of the film. For the past 7 months now, Sayali has been going back and forth on her allegations.

Reportedly, there was news that Sayali Bhagat was miffed with the gossip circulated all over that Shiney pinched her butt while filming their upcoming flick ‘Ghost’. Later she enlightened more on the lecherous habits of Shiney saying that he didn’t pinch her butt, but made quite a few passes at her and also made it quite clear that working with Shiney was no less than mental molestation.

"My life has been a living hell ever since a leading film magazine (Stardust) came out with the story that Shiney misbehaved with me on the sets of our upcoming film Ghost. I was under tremendous pressure to deny all the claims and allegations I made in my interview, so I gave into the pressure," says Sayali.

According to the actress, the crew of the film also noticed Ahuja's behaviour towards her. "During a scene wherein I teach him how to chop vegetables, he asked me to feel up his arms at least ten times, so much so that even the light-man threw the lights and left the sets out of disgust. Then while our shots were getting ready, Shiney would often whisper into my ears that he can’t resist me, suggesting that we should hook up."

It didn’t stop there. Even after the shooting was over and done with, Sayali received text messages and calls from Shiney at odd hours.

After the story appeared in the magazine, Sayali claims she received several messages from Shiney's wife that she shouldn't have said such defamatory things about her husband. "I am the last person to speak out strongly against anyone, but I am at the end of my tether. I will not take this kind of harassment lying down and I want Shiney and Anupam to leave me alone," Sayali states loud and clear.

The actress has decided to go to the police and lodge an official complaint against Shiney Ahuja and his wife Anupam.

So after the rape case, it will be off to court for a sexual harassment case.

Superstar Rajinikanth in Tirupati

2011-10-20T16:50:00.000+05:30

Having recovered well from his kidney ailment, South Indian Superstar Rajinikanth chose to go to Tirupati hill shrine and offer prayers to Lord Balaji with his family.

Superstar Rajinikanth, accompanied by his family members, was in Tirumala on Wednesday evening as a thanksgiving visit after recovering from ailment recently. He offered prayers at the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara and performed various rituals.

Speaking to reporters, he said, "I am thankful to all my fans who prayed for me while I was undergoing treatment. By the grace of the Almighty, I am fine now and took part in the shoot of Ra.One recently. This is a thanksgiving visit to the Lord for answering our prayers."

The actor, who took ill during the shoot of the film 'Rana' in April, underwent treatment at a hospital in Singapore for reported kidney problem.

Team Anna embroiled in a fresh crisis

2011-10-19T11:24:00.000+05:30

Obituaries are being written about Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement. Two core Team Anna members, PV Rajagopal and Rajinder Singh, have quit or moved away.

Barely three months after it gained country-wide name as Team Anna, an anti-corruption movement it is spearheading suffered a blow on Tuesday (18-Oct-2011) as these two key associates of Gandhain activist Anna Hazare quit the core committee of his team objecting to the movement taking a political turn.

The trigger was the group's decision to unleash an anti-Congress campaign in Hisar, which the two claimed had not been taken by the core committee.

"I dissociate with the team. The team is turning political. There were statements indicating that including the on Hisar," Rajinder Singh said.

Rajagopal, who is in Kerala`s Attappadi as part of an all-India yatra for land rights, wrote to Core Committee convenor Arvind Kejriwal about his decision while Singh said he did not feel the need to write any such letter as he had not sought any membership in the first place.

Both Singh, and Rajagopal had joined the anti-graft team after some persuasion and their presence in the team was seen as a counter to the allegation that Team Anna represented a very small section of civil society.

God Bharai / Baby Shower for Aishwarya today (18-Oct-2011)

2011-10-18T15:28:00.000+05:30

Eight months and expecting, the Bachchan 'bahu' Aishwarya is going to have her 'god bharai' or baby shower today (18-Oct-2011), according to media reports.

Aishwarya has not made too many public appearances since June. The shoot for a soap brand she endorses caught the first glimpse of the baby bump a few months back. Recently at Mata ki Chowki hosted by Sanjay Dutt and the North Mumbai Durga Puja hosted by Rani Mukherjees family, Aishwarya was seen with Amitabh and Jaya covering her baby bump with her sari or dupatta.

Her baby shower today (18-Oct-2011) can be expected to be one of the biggest events on the Bollywood calendar.

Gumby-themed Google Doodle celebrates Art Clokey's 90th birthday

2011-10-12T11:12:00.000+05:30

A set of five Google-coloured clay balls spring to life on Google's home page as a tribute to Arthur 'Art' Clokey, a pioneer in the art of stop motion clay animation.

Past Doodles have at times been interactive such as The Muppets and its creator Jim Henson, what would have been Freddie Mercury‘s 65th birthday, Les Paul the guitar hero and so on.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Art Clokey began experimenting with stop-motion clay animation in the 50′s. He and his wife created the Gumbasia project, which morphed into the Gumby series. Gumby has remained popular more or less ever since, even spawning a movie as recently as the mid-90′s.

Art Clokey died in 2010 and is remembered today as one of the key figures in American animation. His influence extends to many of the 20th century’s key animators, ranging from the likes of the Czech Republic’s Jan Svankmajer to Britain’s own Tony Hart.

The Gumby Google Doodle features a wooden block for the "G," with clay balls following the Google color scheme sitting in a row, just waiting for you to click and bring them to life. Gumby, in place of the "L," gives a wave when you land on the page, pointing to the clay balls. At the top of the screen, "Art Clokey’s 90th Birthday" links to the search results page for Clokey.

Hovering over each clay ball causes it to compress; moving away releases it to full shape... but when you click on them, they come to life.

Google doodles have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google team has put out commemorative doodles on events ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history.

Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010 and about 200 in 2011.

The Big Ben is becoming leaning tower of London

2011-10-09T17:08:00.000+05:30

The Big Ben, the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster in London, is leaning and its tilt is now visible to the naked eye, engineers have claimed.

Civil engineers have discovered that the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster is no longer ramrod straight and the problem is getting worse every year.

The top of the tower is now almost one-and-a-half feet off the perpendicular and if left uncorrected it would eventually fall.

It would still take four thousand years for the tower to reach the angle of Italy's famous leaning tower of Pisa and even longer to reach tipping point.

The problem has been blamed on decades of building work that have gone on around the foot of the structure - 315ft (96m) tall, with 11 storeys and 393 stairs - since it was completed in 1858.

These have ranged from a sewer built in the 1860s to the District Line the following decade and an underground car park for MPs in the 1970s.

When the Jubilee Line was extended through Westminster in the late 1990s, special techniques were used to create a concrete barrier under the tower, in a bid to secure it.

Yet a new survey for London Underground and the Parliamentary Estates Department has found that the rate of movement has accellerated in recent years.

The tower is now leaning towards the northwest at an angle of 0.26 degrees, meaning the top of the tower is 1ft 5in from vertical. John Burland, emeritus professor and senior research investigator from Imperial College London who has worked on the Big Ben tower, said: "The tilt is now just about visible. You can see it if you stand on Parliament Square and look east, towards the river."

Zinc plays vital role in functionality of brain

2011-10-09T00:37:00.000+05:30

From the moment the scientists across the world established that the elevated attentiveness of several substance in synaptic vesicles, which is generally identified as an important portion of the neuron, which supplies neurotransmitters, till date the researchers have been trying hard to fix the role of zinc in the functioning of the brain.

Of late, zinc has made its presence felt in the medical arena both as a helper and a threat, if present in excess.

Now, scientists at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), and colleagues at MIT and Duke University have found that zinc plays a key role in regulating how neurons communicate with one another, and could affect how memories form and how we learn.

The researchers studied neurons in a brain region called the hippocampus, which is associated with learning and memory formation. They found that removing zinc interfered with a process called long-term potentiation, which strengthens the connection between two neurons, and is believed to be important for memory and learning.

Lisa Haydon would love to do Kollywood films

2011-10-05T17:45:00.000+05:30

Supermodel-actress Lisa Haydon, who is also a filmstar now, is connected to Chennai in many ways. Born in Chennai to a Malayali father and an Australian mother, Lisa is a trained Bharathanatyam dancer, and like all Chennaiites, loves Kollywood too.

There used to be a time when models, who wanted to be part of the film industry, were questioned on their capability to actually act.

However, model-turned-actress Lisa Haydon sees no logic in that question anymore. "Aren't there plenty of models who can act well and look good at the same time?" she questions, adding, "Over the years, models — men and women — have proven their credibility as versatile actors. This thought that models can't act, should be made obsolete."

Lisa, who made her film debut with Anil Kapoor's Aisha, says excitedly, "I was born in Chennai, but didn't get a chance to spend my growing years here. However, once I started modelling, I came here often on assignments. I haven't explored the city much, but I keep track of whatever happens here. I sometimes head to Puducherry from Chennai for surfing. I was in the city even two weeks ago."

Sharing screen space with Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Dutt in forthcoming Bollywood movie 'Rascals', Lisa says she enjoyed working with them.

"They both have a great sense of fun and sharing screen space with them was just amazing," says Lisa. Asked who does she think is the biggest 'rascal' of them, she says: "I think I am the biggest rascal amongst all the leading stars, including Ajay and Sanjay."

Ask her if it's just a matter of days before she signs her first Tamil film, and she says, "I'd love to do Tamil movies. As long as I get a very good role in a good film, I'm game for Kollywood as well. Interestingly, a lot of Tamil movies get remade in Hindi and vice versa. I've heard so much about the actors down south like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. I even know a few stars from the south like Rana Daggubatti. I'm just waiting for a good script so that I come make a mark here as well."

Angry bus driver kills tourist passengers by running the bus over them

2011-10-05T16:56:00.000+05:30

In an act of cold-blooded murder, a bus driver Wednesday (05-Oct-2011) ordered tourists to de-board and then ran the vehicle over them in Rajasthan, killing seven people including a girl, police said.

Ten others were injured in the incident, which occurred at college road this morning in Karauli, 160 kms from Jaipur. All the victims were from Agra, Superintendent of Police Omprakash said.

The passengers, who were on their way to Keladevi temple, had an argument with the driver (identified as Raju) of the private bus plying between Jaipur-Hindaun over fare.

The injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, the police said, adding that the matter was under investigation.

The driver is absconding. A case has been registered against him under different sections including for 302 (murder) of IPC, Mr. Omprakash said.

India's SM Krishna meets Pak's Hina Rabbani Khar in US

2011-09-27T16:55:00.001+05:30

Expressing happiness over meeting his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar at a reception in New York on Tuesday (27-Sep-2011), External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said such social exchanges would go a long way in normalising relations with the neighbouring country.

Asserting that there cannot be a "selective approach" in the fight against terrorism, India today hoped that Pakistan will be "serious" in dismantling terror camps on its soil and live up to its pronouncements.

"I am sure they (Pakistan) will realise and they have, by now they should have (realised) that terrorism cannot be fought selectively," external affairs minister SM Krishna said after meeting his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar at a reception hosted by her here.

In a series of media interviews, Hina Rabbani Khar has challenged the US to share with Pakistan any evidence it might have about Pakistani involvement with the militants.

She has highlighted the sacrifices Pakistan has made in the fight against terror.

At the outset, the foreign minister praised Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon for his excellent work in the service of his country, saying she found him to be the most popular envoy here. Diplomats and journalists especially noted the presence of Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, who came to the reception with his UN ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.

Last year Pakistan voted for India when it won a non-permanent seat. In her speech, Khar reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to multilateralism and the principles and purposes enshrined in the UN Charter as she focused on her country’s role in the the peacekeeping missions around the world, the world body’s flagship activity.

Indian envoy to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier said that the "possibility" of a meeting between Krishna and Khar in a social set-up "is very likely."

Krishna recalled that Khar had mentioned during her visit to New Delhi in July this year that her country too was a victim of terrorism.

Replying to a question that US too is talking in the same voice as India on the terror network in Pakistan, Krishna said terrorism has to be fought across the board and not in a selective manner.

Google Doodle commemorates Muppet creator Jim Henson

2011-09-24T14:55:00.000+05:30

On September 24, Muppets creator Jim Henson would have been 75, had he been alive. And in his honor Google has rolled out its latest amazing Doodle a little early.

James Maury Henson is best known for ‘The Muppets’ and memorable shows such as Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper.

Internet search giant Google has created a new interactive doodle that allows users to control digital puppets to celebrate what would have been the 75th birthday of the Muppets creator.

"Become a digital puppeteer today and tomorrow with our homepage tribute to Jim Henson!" Google tweeted.

Google posted a message on its official blog, in which Brian Henson, the chairman of The Jim Henson Company, described his father as a playful, happy, forgiving, visionary and creative figure.

The Doodle is fully interactive with five different muppets on show. Simply use the buttons below each of the muppets to activate their individual animations.
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The Doodle allows users to become puppeteers through the Google homepage. Six original characters include their own animations including ‘bonus/hidden’ animations which can be discovered by patient Google puppeteers.

The characters were designed at the Henson Company and modeled into a digital puppet in Jim Henson's Creature Shop before being handed over to Google.

Reviews for tamil film Engeyum Eppodhum

2011-09-19T17:48:00.000+05:30

Engeyum Eppodhum (Tamil: எங்கேயும் எப்போதும், English: Anywhere Anytime), produced by A. R. Murugadoss in association with Fox Studios is a romantic Tamil film written and directed by newcomer M. Saravanan. Starring Jai, Anjali, Ananya and Sharvanand in the lead roles the film released worldwide on 16th of September 2011.

Rediff Review

It is refreshing to see a debutant director bring a tale of urban love and its pain in not just a convincing fashion, but with large dollops of comedy and a twist that jolts you out of your seat.

Fox Star Studios, venturing into Tamil cinema under the aegis of A R Murugadoss, looks like it's landed itself a winner with Engeyum Eppodhum (Anywhere, Anytime), directed by M Saravanan.

Velraj's camera-work and Antony's editing are excellent; but it's the SFX team that deserves kudos.

Praise goes, deservedly, to the director for choosing a simple story that focuses on the smaller joys and sorrows of life, of personal tragedy that barely makes a mark in public consciousness. Director M Saravanan weaves a tale of love, but also has other characters you might miss if you blink, but who still have their parts to play. His biggest strength is that the screenplay rarely loses pace and manages to be realistic most of the time.

The Hindu Review

Engeyum Eppodum, a production of Fox Star Studios in association with A. R. Murugadoss Productions, conveys a message, but subtly. Shouldered entirely by a young cast, it works because of the chemistry between the lead actors.

All the lead actors — Jai, Anjali, Sharvanand and Ananya — excel in their comic timing and dialogue delivery. The director has tried to keep their performances real.

Despite some clichés, the movie works well. The dialogues are crisp and the technical aspects top-notch. R. Velraj's cinematography and Kishore's editing are a standout. It is refreshing to see the way Tiruchi has been brought to screen. The elaborate sequences inside the buses have also been photographed effectively. The tight editing has kept the non-linear narrative not too confusing.

Deccan Chronicle Review

Living up to all the hype and expectations is Engeyum Eppodhum.

Though it is helmed by newcomer Saravanan, the fact that it is produced by filmmaker A.R. Murugadoss and Fox Star Studio makes it a grand affair.

It is a mix of romance and feel-good moments that end up with a riveting climax. A bus journey filled with twists and turns, ‘EE’ is a smooth ride that ends with a strong message.

Pace suffers in the first half. The movie, which has a larger message and comes in a neatly packaged manner, is a must watch for everyone!

6 injured as low-intensity explosion rocks Agra hospital

2011-09-17T21:13:00.000+05:30

An explosion rocked a private hospital in Agra on Saturday (17-Sep-2011), leaving six persons injured. The blast took place in the reception of Jai Hospital where explosives were kept under a chair, said Inspector General of Police, Agra Range, PK Tiwari.

Police called it a crude explosive, but it was still too early to determine a motive or whether it was the handiwork of terrorists.

The Home Ministry said it had dispatched commandos to Agra and was in the process of collecting evidence from the scene.

"It was an explosion with a bang when I was getting down the stairs and when I turned back, there was panic all around," said an eye witness.

An team from the anti-terror squad has been sent to the hospital, Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Brij Lal told PTI.

The motive behind the blast is yet to be discovered, said Agra zone deputy inspector general of police Asim Arun. The police and administration is looking after the victims and all possible help is being extended, he added.

Cricketer Azharuddin's son Ayazuddin dies 5 days after bike crash

2011-09-16T18:49:00.000+05:30

Five days after he was rushed to a Hyderabad hospital after a road accident, Ayazuddin, son of former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin, has died.

The 19-year-old, a budding cricketer, breathed his last in Apollo Hospital this morning (16-Sep-2011) after fighting for his life for six days.

Ayaz was seriously injured in a motobike crash on Sunday (11-Sep-2011) last on the Outer Ring Road of Hyderabad and his condition was very critical since then.

A promising cricketer, Aiyazuddin was a second year B.Com student and was the younger of Azharuddin's two sons with his former wife, Naureen.

Ayazuddin's cousin, Ajmal-ur-Rahman (16) who was riding pillion, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment.

Azharuddin was out of the country when the accident happened.

Petrol prices hiked by 3.14 INR

2011-09-15T22:21:00.001+05:30

Petrol prices were hiked for the 10th time since June 2010, by a little over Rs.3.14 a litre from Friday (15-Sep-2011), as India's oil retailers sought to pass most of the burden of the falling value of the rupee and high crude prices on to consumers.

The increase in petrol price is the latest after a record 5 rupee hike in May 2011. Petrol prices vary from city to city depending on VAT and other local levies.

Oil companies in India have been free since June 2010 to set their own prices for petrol, which is considered a rich person's fuel. Raising the petrol price is politically easier than lifting state-controlled diesel prices, which New Delhi did in June after months of delay.

The recent depreciation of the rupee, which has fallen nearly 8 percent from its 2011 high, adds to the subsidy burden for oil marketing companies.

Petrol price were freed from the government control in June last year but the retail rates have not moved in line with cost as high inflation rate forced the oil companies to seek 'advice' from parent oil ministry before revising rates.

Invisible alien planet discovered by Nasa's Kepler telescope

2011-09-15T15:15:00.000+05:30

Scientists belonging to the Harvard University have made a claim that the universe is also home to two 'alien' planets, which they refer to as being 'invisible'.

Both the planets, known as Kepler-19b and Kepler-19c, were detected by NASA's Kepler space telescope which was launched in 2009 with an aim to hunt for alien worlds.

First, Kepler spotted 19b as it passed in front of, or transited, its host star. Then, scientists inferred the existence of 19c after observing that 19b's transits periodically came a little later or earlier than expected. The gravity of 19c tugs on 19b, changing its orbit.

The method used to discover Kepler-19c is only a few years old, it is a modern variation on the process used to identify Neptune.

Kepler, an Earth-orbiting space observatory responsible for finding hundreds of alien planet candidates, was launched in March 2009. It searches for planets by looking for dips in stars' light caused by planets passing in front of them.

The telescope's Holy Grail is to find an Earth-sized planet orbiting within the "habitable zone" of its star that would enable it to support liquid water, and possibly life.

"Although additional observations will be needed to achieve that milestone, Kepler is detecting planets and planet candidates with a wide range of sizes and orbital distances to help us better understand our place in the galaxy," NASA officials wrote in a statement.

Supreme Court asks Jayalalithaa to appear before Karnataka court on October 20

2011-09-12T16:11:00.000+05:30

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was today (12-Sep-2011) asked by the Supreme Court to appear personally on October 20 before a Karnataka trial court, adjudicating a disproportionate assets case against her.

Rejecting Jayalalithaa's earlier plea for grant of exemption from personal appearance, an apex court bench had on September 5 observed that she was trying to delay proceedings. Jayalalithaa had sought exemption from personal appearance for recording her statement under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code on grounds of threat to her security.

She will appear before the court Oct 20. Jayalalithaa faces charges for accumulating wealth disproportionate to known sources of income when she was the chief minister from 1991 to 1996.

The case was transferred from Chennai to Bangalore.

A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma, however, left it to the trial court judge to decide her plea for being examined at a separate building, other than the regular court, in view of security considerations.

The apex court said the presiding judge shall ensure that she is examined in a proper environment.

Azharuddin's son in critical condition after bike accident, nephew dead

2011-09-11T17:05:00.001+05:30

Ayazuddin, the youngest son of former Indian cricket captain and Congress MP Mohammad Azharuddin, is in a serious condition after crashing his motorcycle. He was riding with his cousin Ajmal-ur-Rahman (16) who died after being admitted to a city hospital.

Update: Ayazuddin is dead

Ajmal-ur-Rahman, nephew of former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin, died in Hyderabad while the cricketer's son Mohammed Ayazuddin is fighting for his life after an accident early Sunday (11-Sep-2011), police said.

According to Rajendra Nagar police, Ayazuddin, who is studying for his B.Com, was reportedly riding a sports bike when he met with the accident on Outer Ring Road near Narsingh toll gate. Ajmal was the pillion rider.

Ayazuddin and Ajmal were rushed to Apollo Hospital in Jubliee Hills around 9 a.m. Both received head injuries, hospital sources told IANS.

"In medical terms, they had both gone into a state of cardiac arrest. In spite of our best efforts we could not revive Ajmal. Aiyazuddin has suffered serious injuries on his head, chest and abdomen and is at present undergoing surgery. His condition is very very critical. We are trying our best to resuscitate him," Dr Joshi said. Ajmal-ur-Rehman is son of former Congress Rajya Sabha MP Khalil-ur-Rehman who passed away in January this year.

Mr. Azharuddin, who was away in London, is rushing back to Hyderabad. His relatives and friends including Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, reached the hospital.

Ayazuddin is the younger of Azharuddin's two sons from his first wife, Naureen. Both he and Asaduddin, the elder son, are cricketers.

Scientists discover our 'earliest' ancestors

2011-09-10T14:21:00.000+05:30

Scientists in South Africa say they have discovered a potential missing link in the evolutionary chain, after they claim to have found the fossilised remains of our earliest ancestors.

The ancient remains of two human-like creatures found in South Africa could change the way we view our origins.

Humans are thought to have descended from a creature called Homo erectus, which lived more than a million years ago, and it in turn was descended from more primitive species.

Palaeontologists have unearthed the remains of a primitive ape-like creature which they believe could be the man's earliest ancestor that lived almost two million years ago.

The hominin, named Australopithecus sediba, was discovered in a cave in South Africa and has been dubbed the "missing link" between apes and humans.

From head to toe, the bones reveal an unexpected patchwork of primitive and advanced traits, the researchers reported in the journal Science. The tiny skulls, long arms and diminutive bodies were all chimp-like; yet the hands, ankles and pelvis were surprisingly modern.

After examining A. sediba's anatomy, for instance, scientists think they may have evidence that the species was capable of making and using tools.

In addition, the team thinks it may have found samples of fossilized skin. If confirmed, the discovery would mark the first time any type of soft tissue has been recovered from an early human ancestor.

Uranium lead dating of the flowstone, conducted by the University of Melbourne, combined with palaeomagnetic analysis of sediments surrounding the fossils, conducted by La Trobe University, provide the tightly constrained new age.

The team was able to pin down the age of the fossils to within 3000 years of 1.98 million years, a massive advance on the age range of around 200,000 years from the 2010 estimate.

Scientists analysed the brain, pelvis, hands and feet of the Australopithecus sediba that existed around the same time when early Homo species first began to appear on the earth. The analysis shows that Australopithecus sediba had 'mosaic' nature of the hominin's features.

Whatever the correctness of the analysis, the creature certainly has a fascinating mix of features - some archaic, some modern.

Independent scientists describe the fossils as exquisite and utterly fascinating.

Did Kajal pose topless for FHM magazine cover?

2011-09-07T18:08:00.000+05:30

South sensation Kajal Agarwal, who debuted as the girl next door alongside Ajay Devgn in SINGHAM, has shocked one and all with her latest avatar. The pretty actress, who was mostly seen in salwar-kameez in the action blockbuster, was seen topless in the latest issue of FHM magazine.

The popular magazine's September issue carries the interview of the actress and the cover page has her posing topless. The actress was shown topless and also sporting an haute pair of stockings with polka dots.

Interestingly, soon after the magazine hit the stands, Kajal Aggarwal washed her hands off the 'bold' act. She has completely denied posing 'topless' and giving an interview to the men's glossy. However, she accepted she did shoot for the pictures, but with teeny-weeny clothes on (the Punjabi-born prominent south actress claims she was wearing a tube top for the photo-shoot).

She says the family was upset since they were getting innumerous calls from friends, family and well-wishers from the industry, expressing shock over the issue. "We had to explain to them that it was a morphed picture and exposed the unprofessional conduct of the publishing house," she adds.

Kajal, who is currently shooting for the Tamil film Maatran, is upset with the final outcome of the pictures and the story. "I'm not the kind of person who would ever do a topless shoot. My reputation and work stands by me. Publishing a distorted version of the photo is wrong and unethical," she states.

The image on the cover was doctored and the interview which appeared in the magazine was also entirely fabricated, Kajal has attested. She said that her legal representatives will deal with the matter from this point.

So, did a famous magazine like FHM fall back on photoshop tools to strip Kajal digitally?

Responding to Kajal Aggarwal’s sister Nisha Aggarwal's allegation that her elder sister's topless photo published on the cover of FHM’s September issue was morphed, the FHM India officials clarified that Kajal Aggarwal’s topless picture in the magazine is real.

Kabeer Sharma, the editor of the magazine said that the pictures used were real and his magazine has never ever stooped to the level of using morphed images of celebrities. There is ample proof of his statement, the editor said and he will be perfectly able to back it up in court, should it come to that. Kajal's statement is slanderous and casts slurs on the reputation of the brand, he added.

10 dead and many injured in powerful blast outside Delhi High Court

2011-09-07T14:04:00.000+05:30

At least 10 people have been killed and 65 others injured in a bomb blast outside the Delhi High Court on Wednesday (07-Sept-2011) morning.

Confirming the toll, home minister P Chidambaram in his statement in Parliament severely condemned the bomb blast that killed at least nine people outside the Delhi high court.

Terming the blast as a terrorist attack, Chidambaram said it was not possible at this stage to identify the terrorists who exploded the bomb outside the court.

The blast, from a sophisticated explosive device, had a precursor just four months ago – on May 25 – when a low-intensity bomb had gone off in the same area, though outside a different gate.

Police officials said the bomb went off at 10.15 am outside gate 5 which was jampacked with visitors waiting for entry passes.

Local police said no one had claimed responsibility for the incident, but security officials suspected that the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown extremist network, could have carried out the strike.

Cash-for-votes scam - Amar Singh arrested, sent to Tihar jail

2011-09-06T18:11:00.000+05:30

Rajya Sabha MP and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and two former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs were Tuesday (06-Sep-2011) arrested and sent to judicial custody for alleged involvement in the cash-for-votes scandal during the July 2008 trust vote in Parliament.

Amar Singh is the latest in a long line of high profile politicians and corporate honchos to be housed in the sprawling prison complex in west Delhi.

Singh was denied bail by a Delhi court today (06-Sep-2011) and remanded in judicial custody till September 19. Two former BJP MPs Faggan Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora were also arrested and sent to judicial custody in cash-for-vote case.

The crime branch of Delhi police has named Singh in an 80-page chargesheet as the person who was instrumental for distribution of Rs 1 crore to Kulaste and Bhagotra to abstain from voting with BJP members in July 2008 on a confidence motion moved by the Manmohan Singh government.

Tamilnadu Arasu Cable TV Launched

2011-09-03T00:49:00.000+05:30

Jayalalithaa has made good on one of the major promises of her election campaign - she has made cable television available in Tamil Nadu through a government service.

For Rs 70, customers will be able to get 90 channels. Most private operators charge double that for similar services.

The Tamil Nadu government revived the dormant State-run cable TV service by formally launching its operations on Friday (02-Sep-2011).

The ACTVC was the brainchild of the previous DMK government which set it up in 2007 at the height of a feud between the families of then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and his grand nephews Dyananidhi Maran and Kalanidhi Maran.

The move then was seen as an attempt by Karunanidhi to cut to size the Marans whose Sumangali Cable Vision dominated the cable TV business. But later both patched up ahead of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, leaving the Arasu Cable TV Corporation in limbo.

Giving fresh life to the Arasu Cable TV Corporation to fulfill the AIADMK’s poll promise, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said, with mentioning names, “one particular family” was enjoying monopoly over the cable TV business.

While the cable network operators are relieved that the new government-owned multi-system operator (MSO) will break the domination of private operators in the cable TV market, they are wondering what to tell customers as some popular pay channels will not be part of the bouquet.

Arasu Cable will operate in all districts except Chennai, which is expected to get the licence for conditional access system.

Mankatha - Tamil film reviews

2011-09-02T18:22:00.000+05:30

Mankatha (Tamil: மங்காத்தா) is a 2011 Tamil action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu. The Kollywood movie features Ajith Kumar in the lead role, starring in his 50th film,[6] along with an ensemble cast including Arjun, Trisha Krishnan, Vaibhav Reddy, Lakshmi Rai, Andrea Jeremiah, Premji Amaren and Anjali.

Rediff Review

The first thing that needs to be said about the enormously anticipated movie of the year, Cloud Nine and Sun Pictures' Mankatha, directed by Venkat Prabhu, is that this is probably the film Ajith has enjoyed making the most. This being his 50th film, as the title scorches the screen, you expect fire-works. Fireworks there are aplenty: guns blaze, men are liberally killed and gangsters run all over the place.

Ajith, the star that he is, has carried practically the whole film on his capable shoulders -- and he's simply had a blast as the guy whose character sports negative shades.

And you wonder why no one ever gave him a role like this after Vaali. The man's screen-presence works wonders -- and here, he's also had a blast dancing.

Director Venkat Prabhu has made a name for himself on his ability to wring humour from his tried and tested cast.

Sakthi Saravanan's camera-work isn't scintillating, but it manages to keep you interested. Praveen K L and N B Srikanth's editing could not have been more effective. Yuvan Shankar Raja's Vilaiyadu Mankatha is mesmerising; he also plays around with some of his father's tunes for the background score, appropriately placed.

Galatta Review

Mankatha is everything one would expect (or want?) it to be: A complete masala entertainer with doses of slickness, comedy and riveting dishoom-dishoom.

...And one unique element added to this? The unabashed portrayal of negative shades of characters and lack of forced moral correctness! Yes. In this movie, it's not always that the good guys defeating the bad guys; just as the bad guys are fun enough that you'd want them to win!

An entertaining end to an entertaining movie: The end credits are un-missable so don't get up and walk away thinking the movie's over! Hilarious and uber cool!

Foreign exchange violation case against Baba Ramdev and his trust

2011-09-01T15:32:00.000+05:30

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a case stating that yoga icon Baba Ramdev and his trust have violated foreign exchange laws.

There is trouble for Baba Ramdev. The Enforcement Directorate has finally found evidence of FEMA violations in two of his trusts - Divya Yog Mandir Trust and Patanjali Ayurveda Ltd.

Ramdev's castle on Scotland's The Little Cumbrae Island, is also being investigated. The island off the fishing town of Largs in Scotland, serves as Ramdev's base overseas and also as a wellness centre.

The ED is verifying the holding patterns and other details of the companies through the Registrar of Companies (RoC) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

However, Ved Pratap Vaidik, a close associate of Ramdev, said the case has been filed because of "vendetta and revenge".

"The timing of the case is suspect. If the government had all this information, why did they not file a case earlier," Vaidik told reporters.

The case has been registered under the Foreign Exchange Managment Act (FEMA), official sources added.

Strange marine fish now regarded as terrestrial creature

2011-08-31T23:00:00.000+05:30

A new study has found that one of the world's strangest animals — a unique fish that lives on land and can leap large distances despite having no legs — has a rich and complex social life.

Alticus arnoldorum is a species of combtooth blenny found in coral reefs in the Pacific ocean. It was first named by Curtiss in 1938, and is commonly known as the Pacific leaping blenny or the Leaping rockskipper.

The odd lifestyle of the Pacific leaping blenny (Alticus arnoldorum) has been detailed for the first time in research findings that throw new light on how animal life first evolved to colonise the land.

The Pacific leaping blenny is a marine fish in all aspects...except for the tiny detail that it spends all its time living on land. It could help us understand how the first animals colonized the land billions of years ago.

Adult blennies shelter in rock crevices at high and low tide, emerging only at mid-tide to feed, breed and socialize in surprisingly complex ways, Terry Ord of the UNSW Evolution and Ecology Research Center said.

The study has been published in the journal Ethology.

Astronauts travelling to Mars are likely to be farmers and chefs

2011-08-30T18:04:00.001+05:30

A high-tech 'kitchen garden' may be the answer to the worry about what astronauts may eat on a long journey to Mars.

Astronauts on the first manned missions to Mars could tend “kitchen gardens” of salad and vegetables onboard spaceships, scientists claim.

Maya R Cooper, a senior research scientist at the NASA Johnson Space Center in the Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston, Texas, says that feeding astronauts could be one of the greatest challenges to the first manned mission to Mars.

Cooper explained that the challenges of provisioning space vehicles and Martian surface bases begin with tangible factors, such weight and nutrition, and encompass psychological nuances, such as providing a varied, tasty menu that wards off boredom.

Experts say the crops would not only give crews healthy food to eat during the long journey to the red planet, but would also improve the atmosphere onboard by producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide.

These gardens, maintained by the astronauts, can give all the necessary fruits and veggies during the mission. The only weight added to the shuttle will be seeds. Currently, the list consists of lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, spring onions, radishes, peppers, strawberries, herbs and cabbage.

Space food has evolved from freeze-dried blocks and gooey messes - squeezable from toothpaste-like tubes - since the advent of space travel in the early 1960s. These days, astronauts are able to select their own menus in advance of the mission, which features rehydratable, thermostabilized, irradiated and natural form items, according to NASA's Web site.

Earliest known mouse-like animal redefines mammal history

2011-08-29T22:41:00.000+05:30

A newly found mammal fossil pushes back the date when two lines of mammals diverged, researchers say. Scientists unearthed the 160-million-year-old fossil of a shrew-like mammal in northeast China.

Named the "Jurassic mother from China" (Juramaia sinensis), the newfound fossil species is the earliest known ancestor of placental mammals—animals, such as humans, that give birth to relatively mature, live young—according to a new study.

The small, furry placental mammal lived in what is now north east China during the Jurassic era when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

Features of the creature clearly set it apart from marsupial mammals, which adopt a very different reproductive strategy.

The discovery pushes back the date the two groups took up their separate lines, according to Nature magazine.

Until now, the oldest known ancestor to placentals was a small mammal that dates back about 125 million years, to the Cretaceous period.

The new fossil has a well-preserved skull with all its teeth intact. Based on the teeth, the researchers determined that the mammal was more closely related to modern placentals than to modern marsupials.

"Because it lived 160 million years ago, and nobody was there to sign the birth certificate of its descendants, Juramaia could be our great grandmother 160 million years removed or it could also be our great grand aunt that represents a relative on the side lines," lead author Zhe-Xi Luo told Discovery News.

Luo, a Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist, and his colleagues Chong-Xi Yuan, Qing-Jin Meng and Qiang Ji analyzed the well-preserved remains of the prehistoric animal, which was discovered in Liaoning Province.

Indian cine actress Celina Jaitly marries Dubai based hotelier Peter Haag

2011-08-29T18:39:00.000+05:30

Indian actress Celina Jaitly recently announced her wedding on Twitter. The couple had plans to marry in September in Egypt. However, because of a family tragedy, they got hitched at a quiet ceremony.

Celina Jailty broke the news of her wedding to Dubai-based hotelier Peter Haag on Twitter over the weekend. Rumours about this impending union were doing rounds for quite a while.

The actress tweeted: Beloved tweeple. ..With great pleasure I would like to announce my wedding with @peterhaag on the 23rd of last month at a thousand year old monastery in Austria. We seek your blessings and good wishes, and apologize for the delayed announcement due to a family tragedy. Here is a picture of the most cherished moment of our lives. [The following picture features myself and my beloved husband, flanked by my dearest father in law to my left, and my brother in law to Peter’s right.]

Peter Haag is a hotelier based in Dubai. He describes himself on twitter as, "Hotelier. Marketeer. Brand Strategist. Passion for Luxury, Hotels, Fashion, Photography, Design, Innovation and Nature. Apple-fanatic."

They were engaged in a small ceremony in Mumbai earlier this year. At that time, Celina, tourism ambassador of Egypt, had insisted that they would only tie the knot in Egypt.

Tamil woman sets herself afire in protest against death penalty for Rajiv killers

2011-08-29T02:36:00.000+05:30

Senkodi, 27, a woman member of a Tamil chauvinist group died on her way to hospital within two hours after her self-immolation outside a government office in Kanchipuram, police said.

The campaign to seek commutation of the death sentences of three convicts in former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination turned tragic on Sunday (28-Aug-2011) with a woman setting herself afire to allegedly press for the demand, according to a letter recovered from her.

P. Senkodi died within two hours after she set herself on fire. She emptied two litres of petrol from a bottle before setting herself ablaze.

Police sources said eyewitnesses had noticed a young woman, dressed in a salwar kameez, walking into the office around 5.45 p.m. Minutes later, they heard a woman's cries and rushed to the spot and noticed her engulfed in a ball of fire. Residents and the skeleton staff of government offices, including the police and fire stations, put out the fire. A government ambulance stationed nearby rushed her to the Government General Hospital, where she succumbed to injuries around 7.30 p.m.

Police sources said Senkodi was completely charred above her waist and her chances of survival were slim when she was brought to the hospital.

Elsewhere in Tamil Nadu various Tamil groups have launched fast demanding the commutation of the death penalty to the Rajiv assassins.

Kancheepuram police recovered a suicide note from Senkodi in which she urged Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to take a humane view and release the three convicts, who have already spent 21 years in jail. “If my life can save their three lives I will die happily’” she had said in the note.

The process to hold their death sentences was set in motion on Friday (26-Aug-2011) with the Vellore Prison authorities receiving the communication from Rashtrapathi Bhavan that the president has rejected the clemency petition filed by the three LTTE activists.

Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated while proceeding to an election meeting in Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

The three convicts, along with 23 others, who stood trial in the case, were sentenced to death by the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act Court-1, Poonamallee on January 28, 1998.

The mercy petitions of the three were rejected by President Pratibha Patil earlier this month, 11 years after they were filed, and the Union Home Ministry has notified her decision to the Tamil Nadu government. Of the three, Murugan and Santhan are Sri Lankan Tamils.

Giant underground river discovered 13000 feet beneath the mighty Amazon

2011-08-28T18:41:00.000+05:30

Scientists led by an Indian-origin researcher have discovered a huge underground river which, they believe, is flowing some 13000 feet beneath the mighty Amazon River in Brazil.

In an amazing discovery, scientists have found signs of an underground river flowing below the Amazon.

The Amazon basin covers more than 7 million square kilometres in South America and is one of the biggest and most impressive river systems in the world. But it turns out that - until now - we have only known half the story.

Researchers at the department of geophysics of the Brazil National Observatory have showed evidence of the existence of an underground river that flows 13,000 feet beneath the Amazon.

The finding came from studying temperature variations at 241 inactive oil wells drilled in the 1970s by Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras, the Daily Mail reported.

Researchers decided to name the underground river the Hamza, in tribute to the scientist of Indian origin Valiya Mannathal Hamza, who has been studying the region for more than four decades.

It is believed the river originates from the region of Acre and reaches the sea at Foz do Amazonas, flowing through the basins of Solimoes, Amazona and Marajo.

Even though the two rivers cover a similar path they have differences. The underground river flows at a far slower pace and empties into the ocean deep underground.

The findings were presented recently at a meeting of the Brazilian Geophysical Society in Rio de Janeiro.

Salman Khan to be treated for nerve disorder in the US

2011-08-28T13:35:00.000+05:30

Salman Khan will fly to the United States to undergo treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia, a nerve disorder that causes intense pain in the face.

Seeing Salman Khan beat up a dozen goons at a time, one may feel that he is invincible. However, even superstars like him can suffer bouts of ill health.

The actor has been suffering from Trigeminal Neuralgia, which gives him shooting pain in his jaw. When he was being examined for this problem, he was also diagnosed with an aneurysm at the back of his head.

He will undergo two surgeries within four days and miss action in Mumbai for almost a month.

Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by intense pain across the face, even during the most benign act of biting into a sandwich.

Unfortunately, Salman will be missing all the action on the release of his much-awaited flick ‘Bodyguard’, which is slated to hit the screens this Eid (31-Aug-2011).

Anna Hazare: This is half a victory

2011-08-27T23:33:00.000+05:30

Anna Hazare declared on Saturday that the nation's people had won a great victory as he announced he would end his fast at 10am on Sunday (28-Aug-2011).

"Parliament has spoken, it is the will of the people," a smiling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday (27-Aug-2011) after both the houses adopted a "sense of the house" on the key demands of Anna Hazare. The prime minister was speaking after the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha saw almost eight hours of debate on the Lokpal bill.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who negotiated with Team Anna to resolve the Lokpal logjam, said he was happy with the resolution of the issue.

It was victory for Anna Hazare and a triumph for people's power at Delhi's historic Ramlila Maidan. When Union minister Vilasrao Deshmukh handed over a letter from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveying Parliament's resolution on Hazare's demands to him, history was made.

Even before he was picked up in a police swoop down on the day he was due to begin his fast, Anna has been maintaining simply that it was the massive support he received that gave him energy, he continues his fast, which is in its last few hours. In spite of the twists and turns today (August 27) Anna has only been smiling, a simple reminder of how he's won over the masses with this movement.

Exotic planet seemingly made of Diamond discovered in our own Milky Way galaxy

2011-08-26T16:18:00.001+05:30

In what could be called a gem of a discovery, astronomers claim to have found a planet entirely made of diamonds.

An international team of astronomers, led by Australia's Swinburne University of Technology professor Matthew Bailes, has discovered a planet made of diamond crystals, in our own Milky Way galaxy.

But, at 4,000 light years from Earth, it is out of human reach - for now.

The odd planet was discovered orbiting what's known as a millisecond pulsar — a tiny, fast-spinning corpse of a massive star that died in a supernova.

Pulsars are highly magnetized, rotating neutron stars that emit a beam of electromagnetic radiation. The radiation can only be observed when the beam of emission is pointing towards the Earth.

The new planet is far denser than any other known so far and consists largely of carbon. Because it is so dense, scientists calculate the carbon must be crystalline, so a large part of this strange world will effectively be diamond.

"The ultimate fate of the binary is determined by the mass and orbital period of the donor star at the time of mass transfer. The rarity of millisecond pulsars with planet-mass companions means that producing such exotic planets is the exception rather than the rule, and requires special circumstances," said Benjamin Stappers from the University of Manchester.

Astronomers estimate that the newfound planet is 34,175 miles (55,000 kilometers) across, or about five times Earth's diameter.

Get to know what Coriander oil can cure

2011-08-25T00:11:00.000+05:30

Coriander oil could be used to cure a host of infections including food poisoning and the superbug MRSA, say researchers.

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to 50 centimetres (20 in) tall.

A team of researchers at the University of Beira Interior, Portugal, found coriander to be toxic to a broad range of harmful bacteria.

The scientists tested samples of the oil — taken from the seeds of a coriander plant — against 12 bugs and found that their growth was reduced significantly.

More importantly, most of the bacteria were killed by a solution containing less than 1.6 per cent of the oil, the Daily Mail reported. According to the researchers, the oil attacks and kills the outer membrane of bacteria cells, including salmonella, E.coli and MRSA.

This study not only shows that coriander oil also has an antibacterial effect, but provides an explanation for how it works, which was not previously understood.

Google Doodle commemorates Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges

2011-08-24T14:08:00.000+05:30

The 112th birthday of Jorge Luis Borges, the famed Argentinian author known for his works that explored dreams and unreality, has been celebrated with a colourful Google Doodle

Google doodles have gained immense popularity over the past few years and the Google team has put out commemorative doodles on events ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history.

We see many different GOOGLE DOODLEs now which can vary to interactive creations or actual playable games.

Before there was the World Wide Web, the Internet, hypertext markup, or even a digital computer, there was Jorge Luis Borges’ idea of "forking paths." The Argentinean writer who envisioned "a massive branching structure as a better way to organize data and to represent human experience," was born 112 years ago today and is the subject of a special Doodle on Google home page on 24-Aug-2011.

On June 14, 1986 Jorge Luis Borges died of liver cancer aged 86.

His 1941 short story 'The Garden of Forking Paths' is viewed by many as the basis for what we know today as the World Wide Web.

Over the years Google doodles have been commemorating important dates in history. Some of these, including the most recent one for Les Paul was an interactive video.

Mystery behind the lager beer cracked by researchers

2011-08-23T23:25:00.000+05:30

The long-missing parent yeast of lager beer was discovered newly, and is believed to have sailed from Patagonia in South America, taking a 7000-mile journey to Bavaria, the birth place of the most popular alcoholic beverage of today.

Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager.

Yeasts are microscopic fungi that feast on sugar, converting it to carbon dioxide and alcohol via the process of fermentation.

German lager yeast appears to have originated on beech trees in southern Argentina. But how did it get to Europe 600 years ago?

Scientists have identified a yeast that led to the discovery of lager.

The researchers isolated the new species in the frozen forests of Patagonia in South America.

Their discovery suggests that this yeast crossed the Atlantic hundreds of years ago and combined with one traditionally used in Europe to make ale.

The discovery is described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Credit for the discovery of this wild yeast goes to Diego Libkind of the Institute for Biodiversity and Environment Research in Bariloche, Argentina, who was interested in the ball-shaped lumps of sugar that form on beech trees there.

The lumps, called galls, are an immune response to invasion by a fungus. They are abundant in the spring and local Aborigines such as the Mapuche traditionally use them as a slightly-sweet topping for salads.

Sulphur-belching fossil microbes discovered in Australia

2011-08-22T16:29:00.001+05:30

Archaeologists have found something that seems to interest them a lot right now. They have apparently found the world's oldest fossils which seem to be as old as 3.4 billion years old.

The fossilised remains of the oldest known lifeforms on Earth have been discovered in samples of rock collected near a remote watering hole in the middle of the Australian Outback.

The Strelley Pool Formation in Western Australia was once a beach, but is now more than 100 Km inland near(ish) the town of Marble Bar, and is popular among paleontologists because of the stromatolites preserved there.

According to a report in Nature, the structures spotted in black sandstone at the Strelley Pool appear to have biological origins. The researchers, led by University of Oxford paleobiologist Professor Martin Brasier, said the 5-80 micrometer structures show traces of cell walls and spherical, rod and ellipsoid shapes.

Scientists say their analysis of the microfossils clearly shows the organisms were processing sulphur for energy and growth - not oxygen.

The team says the microbe remains offer a fascinating insight into conditions on the ancient Earth.

Significance of the first 1,000 days of a child's life

2011-08-18T15:36:00.000+05:30

After decades of research, researchers at Southampton University have developed a theory, according to which, the first 1,000 days of a child's life – the nine months in the womb and the first two years out of it, are vital in determining a child’s long-term health prospects.

According to Professor David Barker and his colleagues from the Southampton University, the stages in a child’s development have an impact on later life, like poor nutrition in a prospective mother may have an adverse effect on her baby’s weight.

Similarly smoking, stress, drugs and alcohol also leaves their impact on the child.

Since, the development of pancreatic cells responsible for making insulin takes place in the womb; the seeds of diabetes are also sown before birth.

Professor Barker believes many health problems can be traced back to poor growth in the womb.

He has shown that the lighter a baby is at birth, the higher its odds of heart disease in later life. On average, a baby weighing less than 5lb 7oz is twice as likely to die from a heart attack than one born at 9lb 7oz.

Barker adds that the key to health is ensuring women eat well throughout their lives.

He says, "What we are seeing is a window of opportunity where we can make better people."

Japan: Tsunami was observed by radar

2011-08-18T14:36:00.000+05:30

For the first time a tsunami has been observed by radar, raising the possibility of new early warning systems. As it swept toward their coasts the tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11 was picked up by high-frequency radar in California and Japan according to U.S. and Japanese scientists.

Scientists in California got an early look at the tsunami generated by the massive earthquake in Japan as it rippled across the Pacific Ocean.

This is the first time a tsunami has been observed by radar, raising the possibility of new early warning systems.

A new radar system could help California brace for the next tsunami.

At least, that is the hope of John Largier, oceanography professor at the University of California, Davis, Bodega Marine Laboratory. In a paper published in the journal Remote Sensing, Largier and co-authors describe how radar detected the March 11 Japan tsunami that also damaged Crescent City and Santa Cruz.

Potential new treatment for asthma patients

2011-08-14T19:51:00.000+05:30

Scientists have stumbled on a potential new treatment for delayed asthma attacks which can occur several hours after exposure to allergens, a study shows.

A typical early asthmatic response occurs within an hour of exposure to allergens such as chemicals, grass pollen or house-dust mites. However, after the primary attack, about 50 percent of the asthma patients experience delayed symptoms that causes difficulties in breathing for up to as long as 24 hours.

In research on mice and rats, scientists from Imperial College London have now found evidence that the late asthmatic response happens because the allergen triggers sensory nerves in the airways.

These nerves activate reflexes which trigger other nerves that release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, causing the airways to narrow. It means that drugs that block acetylcholine - called anticholinergics, which includes tiotropium - could be used to treat asthma patients who experience late phase responses.

At present, steroids are the main treatments for asthma but they are not effective for all patients.

Shammi Kapoor's demise - Celebrities express grief

2011-08-14T18:45:00.000+05:30

Legendary actor Shammi Kapoor passed into the ages on Sunday (14-Aug-2011) morning. He was 79.

The original rockstar and perhaps the only real rebel, might have succumbed to renal failure, but Shammi Kapoor's silver screen journey is immmortal.

Years of hard struggle, patient perseverance and even hard-hitting brickbats created the "Shammi Kapoor phenomenon" which is remembered by his fans even after he bade adieu to the silver screen.

Amitabh Bachchan, who worked with Shammi in the 1991 film 'Ajooba', said, "Shammi Kapoorji passed away this morning at 5:15 am. Rushing there now. The flamboyance and 'joie de vivre' of the Industry lost!. An entire life full of optimism and happy spirit, caring loving to all. Now suddenly silent."

Expressing grief over the death of veteran actor Shammi Kapoor, legendary playback singer Lata Mangeshkar remembered him as a "cheerful and courageous" person.

"I am saddened with the death of Shammi Kapoorji. He was a big star of the film industry and also a very good human being. He was very lively person... courageous, faced all difficulties very bravely," Lata said on micro-blogging site twitter.

South Indian superstar Rajinikanth paid tribute to the legendary Shammi Kapoor, who passed away in the early hours of Sunday.

"I am a great admirer and a huge fan of Shammiji. His energy on screen is a treat to watch and I have loved every bit of it. His demise is a huge loss to the film industry and fraternity and mainly to his millions of fans. I convey my heartfelt condolences to all in his family. O Mere Sona, you will always live in our hearts," Rajni said.

Sharmila Tagore and Saira Banu who made their Bollywood debuts with Shammi Kapoor in 'Kashmir Ki Kali' and 'Junglee' respectively said they will miss the star who was "high spirited and so full of life".

Aditya Raj Kapoor, the son of legendary actor Shammi Kapoor who passed away this morning, described his father as a happy person who lived life to the fullest.

"He was a very happy and lively person. He was unwell for sometime...he was on dialysis. He died of kidney failure," Aditya told reporters outside Kapoor's residence at Malabar Hill in south Mumbai.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also condoled the death of the veteran Bolywood actor.

"I am sad to learn of Shammi Kapoor's demise. He was an accomplished actor who entertained millions and millions of fans in India and abroad. I share his family's grief," Manmohan Singh was quoted in an official statement.

Darkest known planet discovered by astronomers

2011-08-13T15:10:00.000+05:30

Astronomers have discovered what they claim is the darkest known planet -- a distant, Jupiter-sized gas giant known as TrES-2b.

An international team says the exoplanet reflects less than 1 per cent of light, which makes it blacker than coal or any planet or moon in our solar system, the 'Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society' reported.

NASA's Kepler spacecraft detected it lurking around the yellow sun-like star GSC 03549-02811 some 750 light years away in the direction of the constellation Draco.

The dark planet lies in the field of view of the Kepler space telescope, whose primary mission is to spot exoplanets using extremely sensitive brightness measurements as far-flung worlds pass in front of their host stars.

First spotted five years ago, TrES-2b races around its star at a distance of just five million kilometers (three million miles).

This is scorchingly close when compared to Earth's 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) distance from the sun and Jupiter's 778 million kilometers (483 million miles).

DNA in space - Meteorites contain chemicals linked to life

2011-08-12T19:27:00.000+05:30

In what appears to be seriously big news from a team of NASA-funded researchers, scientists have found evidence that some building blocks of DNA--including two of the four nucleobases that make up our genetic code--found in meteorites were created in space, lending credence to the idea that life is not homegrown but was seeded here by asteroids, meteorites, or comets sometime in Earth’s early lifetime.

Life on Earth may have its origins in outer space, according to Nasa research.

Scientists have analysed meteorites that formed billions of years ago before falling to Earth.

For 50 years, scientists have debated whether the components of DNA — the molecule central to all life on Earth — could spontaneously form in space. A new analysis of a dozen meteorites found in Antarctica and elsewhere presents the strongest evidence yet that the answer is yes.

Meteorites are space rocks that have fallen to the ground, and the new report bolsters the notion that heavy meteorite bombardment of the early Earth may have seeded the planet with the stuff of life.

The discovery has added to a growing body of evidence that the chemistry inside asteroids, meteorites and comets is capable of making building blocks of essential biological molecules.

Daughter of IAF pilot, forgives Pak pilot who killed her dad more than 40 years ago

2011-08-12T02:35:00.000+05:30

The daughter of an IAF pilot, who was killed when a Pakistan Air Force combat pilot shot down his civilian aircraft during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, has 'forgiven' her father's killer.

A Pakistani fighter pilot who shot down an Indian civilian aircraft more than 40 years ago has written to the family of the dead Indian pilot.

The Pak pilot named Qais Hussain, in an unusual heart-warming gesture, sent a note of condolence to the daughter of the Indian pilot killed in the incident, and on Wednesday he (10-Aug-2011) received a response.

In his email, Qais Hussain said he was sorry for the loss of precious lives during the incident and was acting under orders from his superiors.

Mr Hussain was a young flying officer during the 1965 war between India and Pakistan.

Accepting the apology tendered by Pakistan Air Force pilot Qais Hussain for shooting down the aircraft flown by her father during the 1965 War with the very same tenderness with which it was offered, Farida Singh on Wednesday hoped his touching letter would heal wounds not just on a personal scale but in a much wider arena.

In her reply – which Mr. Hussain posted online with her permission – Ms. Singh said: “Most of all, my father would have liked that it goes towards bringing a spark of forgiveness between our two peoples, who after all were one.” Mr. Hussain wrote the letter on August 5 and it was reported in the Pakistani daily The News under the logo ‘Aman ki Asha’.

Explaining why he had chosen to get in touch with the slain pilot’s daughter, Husain says, “I have chosen to go into this detail to tell you that it all happened in the line of duty and it was not governed by the concept that ‘everything is fair in love and war’, the way it has been portrayed by the Indian media due to lack of information. I did not play foul and went by the rules of business but the unfortunate loss of precious lives, no matter how it happens, hurts each human and I am no exception. I feel sorry for you, your family and the other seven families who lost their dearest ones.”

Social activist Anna Hazare finally gets space, to fast near Kotla

2011-08-11T10:59:00.000+05:30

With just six days left for Anna Hazare to start indefinite fast on the Lokpal Bill, he agreed on Wednesday (10-Aug-2011) to stage the fast at Jaiprakash Narayan Park, near Feroz Shah Kotla ground, in New Delhi.

Police approved the group’s request to hold the protest for a month. The official approval does not put any limit to the number of participants, unlike the protest organised by Baba Ramdev in June.

"The offer was communicated to them in the evening. A decision on the time period will be taken once they get the requisite permission from the CPWD," said a police officer.

The venue offered is located next to the Shahidi Park, which was one of the four places proposed by Team Anna.

"We have been informed about it. We will soon approach the land owning authority, seeking permission for holding the fast," said a team member.

The Anna Hazare Team on Thursday (11-Aug-2011) expressed satisfaction over the venue offered to them by police for holding the indefinite fast against Lokpal Bill even as they denied any going back on their stand on the legislation.

The Core Committee of the Hazare team met in New Delhi on Thursday morning. The meeting was attended by Mr. Hazare and others including, activist Arvind Kejriwal.

"We are satisfied with the venue provided by Delhi Police. It is at a good location. Core committee is chalking out the plan on how to go about the fast," he told reporters.

Giant birds as big as an Ostrich lived among dinosaurs

2011-08-10T22:32:00.000+05:30

An enormous jawbone found in Kazakhstan is further evidence that giant birds roamed - or flew above - the Earth at the same time as the dinosaurs.

Palaeontologists have found the fossilised remains of a giant bird that lived in central Asia more than 65 million years ago, a finding that challenges theories about the diversity of early birds.

The creature may have been taller than an ostrich if it had been flightless and, if it flew, had a greater wingspan than that of the albatross, they reported in the British journal Biology Letters.

The bird, called Samrukia nessovi after the mythical Kazakh Phoenix, lived in what is now Kazakhstan.

"In fact, these big birds fit into the idea that the Cretaceous wasn't 'a non-avian dinosaurs-only theme park.' Sure, non-avian dinosaurs were important and big in ecological terms, but there was at least some space for other land animals," lead author of the paper, Darren Naish said in a report by Discovery News.

The findings were based on all that's left of the animal, a toothless lower jaw found in Late Cretaceous sediment in Kyzylorda, southern Kazakhstan.

Studies try to find where does the intelligence come from

2011-08-10T19:26:00.000+05:30

DNA research suggests genetic differences could account for up to half the difference in individuals' intelligence. Researchers have found that up to half of our intelligence (or lack of it) is inherited.

Previous family and twin studies strongly suggest that many characteristics of intelligence are inherited, but no specific genes or gene variants have been linked with intelligence traits.

The international team, led by Ian Deary of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Peter Visscher of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane, Australia, compared the DNA of more than 3,500 people, middle aged and older, who also had taken intelligence tests. They calculated that more than 40% of the differences in intelligence among test subjects was associated with genetic variation.

Past research had suggested that bright parents tend to have bright kids. However, the extent to which genetics contributes to intelligence, as opposed to other contributing factors such as environment, has been hotly debated.

No single gene variant has yet been identified as reliably linked with intelligence. Instead, scientists investigated the potential role of many common genetic variations on human intelligence.

In the new study, investigators found that many different gene variants with small individual effects are involved in human intelligence. But the scientists still couldn't pinpoint the specific genes involved.

"It's been kind of a shock to the system that it hasn't worked," said psychologist Eric Turkheimer at the University of Virginia, who had no role in the study. "We can't find the effects of any individual genes that are large enough to seem worth worrying about."

Seed Giant Monsanto to offer genetically engineered sweet corn

2011-08-09T20:30:00.000+05:30

Monsanto Co. (MON), the world's biggest vegetable seed maker, said it will begin selling genetically modified sweet corn in the US this year, the first product it has developed for the consumer market.

The sweet corn seeds are engineered to kill insects living above and below ground and to tolerate applications of the company’s Roundup herbicide, Consuelo Madere, Monsanto vice president for vegetables, told reporters at company headquarters in St. Louis. They will be introduced to growers serving the U.S. fresh corn market starting in the autumn, she said.

Monsanto produces a wide range of seeds and develops biotechnology traits that assist farmers in controlling insects and weeds as well as provides other seed companies with genetic material and biotechnology traits for their seed brands. Now, the company has developed its first product for the consumer market.

The Creve Coeur-based company said the corn would be available in limited markets, but did not specify where. The corn will be sold under the Seminis brand, which Monsanto purchased in 2005.

The company, however, will not use the Monsanto brand to advertise the new line of sweet corn.

Though this is Monsanto's first biotech vegetable launch, Madere said other companies have already brought genetically altered vegetables to market and she did not anticipate significant consumer backlash.

"This is our first launch. We think it is a good product and we'll work to make sure we educate folks to the benefits," she said.

Aamir will not be replacing Sanjay as MUNNABHAI

2011-08-09T17:35:00.000+05:30

There were all kinds of rumours abuzz in B-town that Aamir Khan will replace Sanjay Dutt as the new Munna Bhai. However, Aamir has denied these rumours as completely baseless!

Few days back, the gossip mills went into a tizzy after reports appeared in newspapers about Aamir Khan portraying the famous character of Munnabhai in the Munnabhai series from henceforth. The Munnabhai franchise, made famous by the Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi Jodi, was to have a makeover with the casting of Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi, or so said the reports.

"Really? Is that what people are saying? I am unaware of it," Aamir exclaims. Even if Aamir is unacquainted with the rumor, will he step into Sanju Baba's shoes and essay the lovable character of Munnabhai, if the makers offered him the role? "No way! I think there cannot be a better Munnabhai than Sanju. If the makers do approach me with the role in question, I would hand over Sanju's cell phone number to them," he smiles.

With entire Bollywood speculating whether Aamir Khan and Sharman Joshi have replaced Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi as the new Munna Bhai and Circuit or not, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra finally breaks the suspense.

Talking to a daily, the official representative of Chopra rubbished the rumours saying, “We are not even ready with the script of the next ‘Munna Bhai’ flick and this is a baseless humour. Vidhu Vinod Chopra doesn’t begin the casting for his films until he completes his script. Besides, Aamir Khan is not free for another two years.”

Samacheer Kalvi to be implemented in TN from current academic year

2011-08-09T15:17:00.000+05:30

Honouring the Supreme Court verdict on the Uniform Education System, Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday (09-Aug-2011) said it would implement it from the current academic year itself.

In a major setback to J. Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court has ordered the state government to implement uniform system of education in schools proposed by the previous DMK government.

The state government wanted to postpone the implementation of the DMK-launched scheme by a year. The court, however, directed it to implement the scheme immediately.

The uniform system was brought in by the earlier DMK government. On assuming office in May this year, J Jayalalithaa brought an amendment to the law deferring the system for a year. This was done as she was believed to have found the text books under the system to be full of praise of M Karunanidhi.

The State government will abide by the order of the Supreme Court on the Samacheer Kalvi issue, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa made it clear in the Assembly on Monday. Intervening in a debate on the State budget, the Chief Minister said the State government, which had approached the Court, was awaiting the order. "We will take action as per the order of the Supreme Court."

After two months of uncertainty, more than 1.3 crore school students in the state just get to know what they will be studying.

Samacheer Kalvi will be implemented in Classes 2 to 5 and 7 to 10 in schools across the state this academic year.

Karnataka - Sadananda Gowda forms 21-member cabinet

2011-08-08T21:03:00.000+05:30

Four days after DV Sadananda Gowda took oath as Karnataka chief minister, succeeding scam hit BS Yeddyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministry in the state was expanded on Monday (08-Aug-2011) evening with the induction of 21 members.

It was raining the day BS Yeddyurappa walked to the Karnataka Raj Bhawan to submit his resignation. That set in motion fast-paced political developments, drama and dissidence that culminated in the swearing in of 21 Cabinet ministers today (08-Aug-2011). It rained again.

Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda expanded his five—day—old ministry inducting 21 with Cabinet rank but left out the mining magnates Reddy brothers and their close associate Sreeramulu.

Also not included in Monday's list are Vijayshankar, forest minister in the Yeddyurappa ministry, and Mumtaz Ali Khan, Waqf minister in the previous ministry.

Out of 21 ministers, 12 are from the Yeddyurappa camp and nine from Jagadish Shettar faction.

Some more entries are likely to be made into the ministry over the next few days, BJP sources said.

Giant Sausage Skin claimed to cure diabetes

2011-08-08T18:29:00.000+05:30

British scientists have developed an implanted sleeve that looks like a giant sausage skin, which they claim can cure diabetes.

A team, led by Dr. John Mason of the Trafford Healthcare National Health Service Trust U.K., says that the two-feet-long device can reverse diabetes within weeks — in fact, it acts as an incision-less alternative to a weight loss surgery known as duodenal switch.

The duodenum is the name for the first 10 to 12in of the small intestine, which attaches to the stomach.

A duodenal switch is a keyhole procedure that involves making two incisions at the start and end of the duodenum. The lower part of the intestine is attached to the stomach, forming a new pathway.

Food then bypasses most of the duodenum, which limits absorption.
Long-term risks include hernia and bowel obstruction.

The device, the EndoBarrier, is designed to have the same effects as surgery but is far safer. It is a plastic sleeve that lines the duodenum, meaning food can only be absorbed lower down the intestine.

However, the procedure is performed under anesthetic, which is less than an hour and the sleeve made from a thin plastic is inserted through the mouth then passed into the digestive tract with a thin tube. Once it’s placed, a ‘sprung titanium anchor’ stops it from slipping out and it is taken out after a year.

In the research, the researchers discovered that in obese patients with diabetes, the disease was excluded, and at first the experts were of the belief it came as a result of weight loss, though many patients were able to stop their diabetes medication before they began losing weight.

The discovery has led to clinical trials at three British hospitals, which found the implant also lowers cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

The Earth is surrounded by a belt of antimatter, Scientists say

2011-08-08T16:00:00.000+05:30

Planetary scientists claim to have for the first time spotted a thin band of anti-matter particles, called anti-protons, enveloping the Earth.

The find, described in Astrophysical Journal Letters, confirms theoretical work that predicted the Earth's magnetic field could trap antimatter.

A team of more than 60 researchers identified signs of antiprotons in the Van Allen belt using data from the Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (Pamela) satellite.

The team says a small number of antiprotons lie between the Van Allen belts of trapped "normal" matter.

Cosmic rays bring our planet a steady stream of protons, electrons, and other particles. As these collide with nuclei in the upper atmosphere, they create new particles, including antiprotons. And some of this antimatter is sticking around above our world.

The discovery could help manking to explore the stars, with some researchers believing that the belt of antimatter could be used as a source of fuel.

Congress functionaries pray for Sonia's speedy recovery

2011-08-08T15:26:00.000+05:30

Congress members, including legislators and functionaries, today offered prayers at the Manakula Vinayakar temple here seeking speedy recovery and good health for AICC (All India Congress Committee) leader Sonia Gandhi, who has undergone a surgery abroad for an undisclosed medical condition.

There has been rumor all over that 64-year-old Ms. Sonia Gandhi has been admitted to the Cancer Centre, but it has not been confirmed.

The Congress has refused to reveal her disease and the type of the surgical procedure.

A handful of supporters of Congress President Sonia Gandhi gathered outside a local hospital in New York, where they believe she had been admitted, and prayed for her speedy recovery from the surgery for an undisclosed ailment.

More than 10 supporters belonging to the ‘Indian Congress Party USA,' assembled outside the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on Saturday (06-Aug-2011) and wanted to offer prayers inside the hospital's chapel, but were denied permission by authorities.

Sonia was yesterday (07-Aug-2011) moved out of the ICU of the hospital. She will spend a few more days under observation of the doctors at the hospital.

Social Networking and the Digital Natives

2011-08-08T02:00:00.000+05:30

Today's teens and college students are what researchers call digital natives, or the iGeneration, a generation constantly connected to the Internet and Facebook, texting and instant messaging.

Parents, who are thinking of ways to secretly monitor their child's social networking, are wasting their time, a new study has suggested.

Post this, comment on that. Social media are a part of the daily routines of many adults and children. And the identifiable pros and cons of social networking among kids are beginning to emerge, according to a presentation at the American Psychological Association meeting.

The new research suggests that overuse of media and technology can negatively affect health of children and teens, especially with psychological disorders- making users more likely to experience anxiety and depression.

How does a parent best raise a teen growing in a culture of constant communication they just don't understand?

"Kids are still kids, and kids need parents. Good parenting is linked to everything good all the way though your life," says Larry Rosen, a researcher at California State University and author of "REWIRED: Understanding the iGeneration and the Way They Learn" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

The news is both good and bad, according to Larry Rosen who's been studying the effect of technology on people for more than 25 years. Recently, he's done several studies on how the social networking site affects children.

While teens who use Facebook more often show more narcissistic tendencies, they also have chances to learn how to socialize, particularly shy teens. And while Facebook can be distracting, negatively impacting teen grades, social networking can also provide tools for teaching in compelling ways that engage young students.

Western Ghats - New species of frogs found

2011-08-07T19:59:00.001+05:30

New species of frogs were discovered by a team of bio-diversity researchers led by Dr. Anil Zachariah, Veterinary Surgeon, Dept of Animal Husbandry, during their recent exploration in the Western Ghats.

A team headed by Dr Anil Zachariah, a renowned scientist, has discovered 10 new species of frogs from the hill ranges of Southern Western Ghats with the help of Zoological Survey of India.

The discovery has been published in the latest issue of Biosytamatica, an international journal on animal taxonomy, ecology and zoogeography. Of the 10 species, nine species of frogs belong to the Raorchestes genus.

The remaining one belongs to the Polypedates genus under the family Rhacophoridae. One species in the Raorchestes genus has been named Raorchestes agasthyaensis, after the Vedic sage Agastya, while Raorchestes manohari is named after principal chief conservator of forests T.M. Manoharan.

The distribution of frogs ranges from tropic to subarctic regions, but most species are found in tropical rainforests. Consisting of more than 5,000 species described, they are among the most diverse groups of vertebrates. However, populations of certain frog species are declining significantly.

The discovery shows that the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, still has many new species of amphibians waiting to be discovered.

The Western Ghats or Western Ghauts (Marathi/Konkani: सह्याद्री, Kannada/Tulu: ಸಹ್ಯಾದ್ರಿ, Malayalam: സഹ്യാദ്രി / സഹ്യപര്‍വതം, Tamil: மேற்குத் தொடர்ச்சி மலைகள்) also known as the Sahyadri Mountains, is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea.

Google celebrates Lucille Ball's 100th birthday with a Doodle

2011-08-07T13:08:00.000+05:30

America still loves Lucille Ball and is celebrating her 100th birthday by remembering her. Google celebrated the occasion by dedicating an interactive doodle to the world famous comedian.

Visitors to Google.com are met with the boxy, vintage television set and a short video that features the word "Google" scrawled over a black-and-white heart that mimics the opening of Lucy. Following that, a play button pops up, inviting visitors to use the television's dial to choose from several iconic clips from the show, which ran on CBS from 1951 to 1957.

In a blog post, Google doodler Jennifer Hom explained: "Lucy's creativity, absurdity, and ever-changing facial expressions (especially when she was scarfing down candy, stomping on grapes, or touting a new energy drink) have brought joy and laughter to generations of viewers.

Five-time Emmy winner Lucille Ball died in 1989 in Los Angeles, but her legend lives on, most famously via her iconic TV show, I Love Lucy. The show ran from 1951 to 1957, but can be seen in syndication around the world, introducing generation after generation to Ball's comic stylings.

Google Doodles are now an established part of Internet culture.

Apart from the static image doodles Google also puts up animated and interactive doodles. Interactive and animated Google doodles have now become a regular feature on the Google home page.

Google has more than 50 domains in 50 different countries, and it creates Doodles specific to many of them.

Rahul Dravid announces retirement from ODIs, T20s

2011-08-07T02:38:00.000+05:30

Veteran Indian batsman Rahul Dravid, who was surprisingly recalled to the Indian limited-overs squad, had a surprise announcement of his own after the practice match concluded: he said he would retire from the shorter formats.

On the day that he was handed a shock recall to the one-day side, Rahul Dravid has said that the England series will be his final limited-overs assignment. He said he wanted to retire from the shorter forms and concentrate on Test cricket.

Dravid, like his teammate Sachin Tendulkar, has over 10,000 runs in both the Test and ODI cricket, with 10,765 runs in 339 one-dayers -- the seventh highest scorer in that format.

“Since I had not been picked for one-day cricket for the last two years, I was obviously a little surprised and to be honest, because I had not been picked,” he said in the statement issued after the warm-up game.

He said he now wants to concentrate on Tests in the future though he had not informed about it to the BCCI before his selection.

Notorious Facebook 'spam king' Sanford Wallace

2011-08-06T17:05:00.000+05:30

An American guy charged with sending more than 27 million spam messages to Facebook users has turned himself in. Sanford Wallace, who is known as the Spam King, surrendered to FBI agents in California.

Sanford Wallace, 43, was indicted in July by a San Jose, Calif., grand jury on three counts of intentional damage to a protected computer and two counts of criminal contempt, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of California. Wallace allegedly compromised approximately 500,000 Facebook accounts during three separate attacks on the social-networking giant between November 2008 and March 2009.

Wallace gained fame as one of spam's most vocal defenders back in the 1990s and he has faced numerous civil actions over his activities, including lawsuits from MySpace and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

However this is the first time he's facing criminal charges.

Wallace appeared in federal court on Thursday (04-Aug-2011) afternoon and was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond. He was again ordered not to access sites like Facebook and MySpace. He is scheduled to appear in court on August 22.

If convicted of all charges, Wallace could face nearly 40 years in prison and fines of more than $2 million.

Sun-powered NASA spacecraft Juno begins 5-year trip to Jupiter

2011-08-06T13:23:00.000+05:30

NASA has launched a probe on a five-year mission to Jupiter to learn more about the giant planet and how the solar system was formed. It's the first solar-powered mission to venture so far from the Sun.

The unmanned Juno spacecraft costing $1.1bn (£0.7bn), launched from Florida, will cruise beyond Mars to put itself in orbit around the gas giant in 2016.

Scientists said the spacecraft will study the giant planet's core, atmosphere, powerful magnetic field and auroras.

Once it reaches its target it will be the furthest-travelled solar-powered probe and the fastest man-made object in history after travelling at 160,000mph.

If you take everything else in our solar system (not including the sun), it would all fit inside Jupiter. In terms of understanding our solar system, NASA says, Jupiter's importance cannot be underestimated.

Now NASA is looking for the clues to help answer pressing questions about the early days of the solar system. Because whatever was in Jupiter at the beginning — more than 4.5 billion years ago, when the solar system was formed — is still there, scientists say, hiding in a mysterious gas giant made up of dust and gas left over by the Sun.

Sonia Gandhi recovering after surgery outside India

2011-08-05T18:03:00.000+05:30

Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India's governing Congress party, has undergone surgery abroad for an undisclosed illness. A spokesman for the party said on August 5 that the surgery had been successful.

Sonia underwent an operation yesterday (04-Aug-2011), which was described by her surgeon as “successful,” Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said in a text message sent to reporters today (05-Aug-2011). While her party has refused to state where Gandhi went for treatment, Indian media have reported that she is in the U.S., citing Congress officials they haven’t named.

The Italian-born Mrs Gandhi, 64, holds no official government post but is seen as India's most powerful politician.

Wishes for speedy recovery

The BJP on Thursday wished speedy recovery to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has gone abroad for a surgery for an undisclosed ailment.

“We wish her a speedy recovery. We hope and want that she regains her health quickly and return,” Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who was accompanied by her counterpart in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, told journalists.

DMK president M Karunanidhi today expressed "shock" over Congress President Sonia Gandhi taking ill and wished her a speedy recovery and early return to the country.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi also wished ailing Congress President Sonia Gandhi a speedy recovery. Modi has conveyed his best wishes for speedy recovery to Sonia who is under treatment abroad, a Gujarat Government statement said. In his message, Modi said he prayed to the almighty for her speedy recovery and return to best of her health, it said.

I AM KALAM film reviews

2011-08-05T16:08:00.000+05:30

Bollywood film I Am Kalam, released this Friday (05-Aug-2011) in India, has been showcased in various film festivals and has bagged various awards and honors.

I am Kalam revolves around the story of a child who is inspired by Dr. Abdul Kalam (former Indian President); and his trials and tribulations when he dares to dream to become like him. The film has so far won 1 National Award and 11 international awards.

The film celebrates the survival of human spirit against overwhelming odds and highlights the need for underprivileged children’s education. The film, aims at inspiring the poor to educate their children.

Rediff Review

Devoid of absolutely any known name in its cast, save for Gulshan Grover [ Images ], I Am Kalam is a welcome addition to the children's film genre which has often received short shrift from mainstream Bollywood.

On the basis of its story alone, this is a winner. However, director Nila Madhab Panda builds maudlin subplots around Chhotu which takes a great deal away than adds to the film. Chhotu itself is a wonderfully alive character, at par with Swami of Malgudi Days or Chaipau of Salaam Bombay!

There's a possibility that some day boys like Chhotu will grow up to lead this country. Whether he wears a tie, a Nehru jacket or styles his hair like Kalam, is entirely his discretion.

NDTV Review

His toothy, high-wattage grin is an outright winner. It lights up the desultory desert landscape. But there is infinitely more to I Am Kalam than child actor Harsh Mayar’s heart-warming screen presence.

This sparkling little tale of ordinary people with their desperate dreams and tremulous hopes, their stray highs and persistent heartbreaks, follows a genteel, unhurried narrative trajectory.

I Am Kalam draws its lifeblood primarily from the innate authenticity of its tangible characters and the sustained evenness of its pragmatic tone.

Wrapping up of filming the SRK starrer RA.One celebrated

2011-08-04T18:00:00.038+05:30

From dancing on the tables to cutting a three-tier cake, Shah Rukh Khan had a blast at the RA.One wrap up party on Sunday (31-July-2011) at the nightclub, Escobar, in Mumbai.

Shah Rukh Khan came in a rather relaxed mood with wife Gauri, as the film’s cast and crew celebrated the wrapping up of the shoot of their forthcoming film.

Kareena Kapoor looked pretty hot in a black number after apparently shooting all day long for another of her film. But going by her excitement, she didn’t seem to mind her hectic pace at all.

However, model-turned-actor Arjun Rampal, who plays a villain in RA.One, missed the wrap-up party of the mega-budget film due to the shooting of Rascals.

"In Bangkok for Rascals, missed the RA 1 wrap party cause was on flight, want to thank the whole team, for the special film," Arjun posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Human brain may have reached its full capacity of intelligence

2011-08-04T17:00:00.001+05:30

The human brain has reached the physical limits of intelligence and is physically impossible for us to become any smarter, according to researchers.

A team at Cambridge University, led by Professor Simon Laughlin, says this is because the people are unable to provide the amount of extra energy and oxygen needed to become more intelligent.

The scientists have based their findings after analysing the structure of the brain and worked out how much energy its cells use up.

"You pay a price for intelligence. Becoming smarter means improving connections between different brain areas but this runs into tight limits on energy, along with space for the wiring," said Ed Bullmore, a professor of psychiatry at Cambridge.

As increases in brain power require disproportionate increases in energy consumption, human intelligence faces tight constraints, the study said.

Researchers even claim that the human brain could shrink in size over time, towards our Neanderthal ancestors, in order to reduce the amount of energy it needs.

Speaking on the topic, Professor Simon Laughlin said, “We have demonstrated that brains must consume energy to function and that these requirements are sufficiently demanding to limit our performance and determine design.”

Researchers also claim that the human brain’s network of fibres that link different areas to one another can’t get any better.

DIRTY PICTURE heroine Vidya Balan rubbishes marriage rumours

2011-08-04T11:12:00.000+05:30

Vidya Balan and her rumored marriage to UTV top honcho Siddharth Roy Kapoor has sent fans and movie buffs on an overdrive on social networking sites.

The latest buzz in tinsel town is that Vidya Balan has secretly married her beau, UTV top honcho Siddharth Roy Kapoor. Fans and movie buffs are on an overdrive on twitter commenting on the issue and discussing it at length.

Finally the actress reacts to rumours on her hush-hush marriage with Siddharth Roy Kapur. Rather than being angry, she just laughs off the news.

The actress clarified through her spokesperson that she hasn’t tied the knot yet.

"I am NOT yet ready to make a WEDDING album. I'm busy making Dirty Pics for the moment," quipped Vidya. The Dirty Picture is a biopic based on the life and death of southern siren Vijayalakshmi, popularly known as Silk Smitha and her journey to stardom and the fall. The 33-year-old actress, Vidya Balan, is playing the role of Silk Smitha in the film.

Earth may once have had two moons

2011-08-04T09:53:00.000+05:30

Two moons may have once circled the Earth in the same orbit until a slow-motion collision blended the larger object with a sister satellite one-thirtieth its mass to create the Moon we see today.

A whack from a smaller sibling could, it seems, account for one of the abiding mysteries about the Moon — why the side seen from the Earth is so different from its other hemisphere.

Researchers suggest the collision may explain the mysterious mountains on the far side of our Moon.

The scientists say the relatively slow speed of the crash was crucial in adding material to the rarely-seen lunar hemisphere.

The nearside is low and flat, with lava-filled basins that are readily visible as dark patches which early astronomers mistakenly labelled as ‘maria' (or seas). In 1959, the Soviet Union's Luna 3 became the first spacecraft to go behind the Moon and the photographs it sent back showed the far-side to be mountainous.

Later studies also showed that the Moon's crust was much thicker on the far-side. The nearside, on the other hand, has rocks rich in potassium, rare earth elements and phosphorous, which the other side lacked.

The moon was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, after a Mars-sized body slammed into the molten Earth and flung a ring of debris into space. Much of that debris coalesced into a rocky satellite, which was roughed up about half a billion years later by a barrage of asteroids and other interplanetary material, leaving scars in the form of craters.

But at what point the moon became lopsided, and how, is still unclear.

Some scientists speculated that the moon's internal dynamics pushed material around. Others wondered whether the mountains were created by debris ejected from a freshly smashed crater.

Massive cyberspying across the globe detected

2011-08-04T00:32:00.000+05:30

In the biggest ever series of cyber attacks uncovered to date, hackers were found to have broken into networks of the Indian government, United Nations and US defence companies, with security experts pointing to China as the culprit.

The security company has said it believes there was one "state actor" behind the attacks but declined to name it, though one security expert who was briefed on the hacking told Reuters that the evidence points to China.

Beijing has always denied any state involvement in cyber-attacks, calling such accusations "groundless,"

The company, McAfee, said it had alerted the 72 targets it identified and also informed law enforcement agencies, which it said were investigating. The 14-page report calls the attacks highly sophisticated and says they appear to have been operated by a government body, which it declined to name.

McAfee said that it had come across the extent of hacking in May and had dubbed the uncovering of the plot as ‘Operation Shady RAT’.

In his 14-page report on McAfee's findings, Dmitri Alperovitch, McAfee's vice president of threat research, asserts that Operation Shady RAT may have cost its victims billions in terms of lost revenues and stolen secrets.

"What we have witnessed over the past five to six years has been nothing short of a historically unprecedented transfer of wealth," he said.

Deepika Padukone has no problem with Kareena

2011-08-03T15:53:00.000+05:30

Deepika Padukone started her bollywood career with SRK in Om Shanti Om and will be seen with Big B in Aarakshan. After an eventful 2010 where Deepika had as many as five of her films arriving in quick succession, she also gained in her personal life with love coming her way.

Not quite worrying about any preconceived notions that come with a quintessential Bollywood heroine - This is pretty much the 'mantra' that Deepika Padukone is following when it comes to 'Aarakshan'. When majority of other actresses have reservations about being a plain Jane for a film, especially when they are known for their glamorous image and are relatively new in the industry, Deepika is taking a different route.

Deepika Padukone wasn’t at ease while working with Amitabh Bachchan in the initial days of the shoot of Aarakshan.

In the movie, Amitabh Bachchan plays a college principal and Deepika plays his daughter. The actress says she was quite flustered by the idea of shooting with Big B.

Quiz her on working with the rest of the cast and Deepika adds, "Prateik was like a breath of fresh air and his spontaneity is remarkable. I didn’t have much on screen space with Manoj (Bajpai) and Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) is truly a stalwart. It’s a dream come true."

Of course, there’s Saif too, who Deepika has worked with before in the hit Love Aaj Kal and for yet another home production of his. "Just like there’s excitement to work with a new face, especially because of the unpredictability, it’s reassuring to have someone I’ve worked with before. And Saif makes me comfortable. I’m very fond of his works and think he’s one of the finest actors today," she explains.

When asked if there is really a cold war between Kareena and Deepika, here comes the smart reply: That is not true at all. In fact, it is upsetting when people say that because we have actually reached the stage today where we are very comfortable with each other. We sit together and we can talk. When she came to London and Hyderabad to meet Saif we all hung out together. So, it is upsetting when they report something that is not true.

Remains of 20 million-year old ape unearthed in Uganda

2011-08-02T23:01:00.000+05:30

Researchers working in Uganda say they have unearthed the well-preserved fossil skull of an ancient primate. The 20 million-year-old specimen comes from the site of an extinct volcano in Uganda's north-east Karamoja region.

The skull belonged to a male Ugandapithecus major, an ancestor of today's great apes.

The expedition was led by Pickford, of the Collège de France in Paris, and professor Brigitte Senut of the Paris-based National Museum of Natural History, reported Uganda's New Vision website.

Preliminary studies of the fossil showed that the tree-climbing herbivore, roughly 10 years old when it died, had a head the size of a chimpanzee's, but a brain the size of a baboon's, Pickford said.

The team said their discovery at Napak XV is a ‘sub-complete’ Hominidae skull and it is believed to be aged between 19 and 20 million years.

The term Hominidae refers to a scienticic family classification which included chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans which are closely related to humans.

The discovery will enhance understanding of the development of apes and humans, the scientists said.

Ugandan Tourism Minister Agnes Okiror said he believed the latest discovery would help put his country "on the map." Last year, researchers in Chad unearthed a 6—million—year—old hominid fossil, which was considered one of the great modern discoveries in the field, as it helped clarify the evolutionary chart.

The physics of the mysterious crop circles

2011-08-02T17:30:00.000+05:30

There's no reason to think that Crop Circles are the work of aliens - particularly when human pranksters have already admitted to making them - but they're still mysterious... not to mention a fascinating junction point between physics and art.

Crop circles, elaborate designs that are etched into farmlands that are a thing of beauty when viewed from the air have long been determined to be the work of pranksters.

Crop circles have confounded farmers and scientists alike since they were first recorded in the 17th century, and now physicist Professor Richard Taylor says the phenomenon is growing alongside advances in technology.

Taylor says physics could hold the answer, with crop—circle artists possibly using the Global Positioning System (GPS) as well as lasers and microwaves to create their patterns, dispensing with the rope, planks of wood and bar stools, the journal Physics World reports.

Microwaves, Taylor suggests, could be used to make crop stalks fall over and cool in a horizontal position - a technique that could explain the speed and efficiency of the artists and the incredible detail that some crop circles exhibit, according to an Oregon statement.

And another question -- why does an academic feel the need to get caught up in the world of alien landing conspiracies?

Matin Durrani, editor of Physics World, said Taylor was "merely trying to act like any good scientist -- examining the evidence for the design and construction of crop circles without getting carried away by the side-show of UFOs, hoaxes and aliens."

Hina Rabbani Khar would not like to be depicted as Fashion Icon

2011-08-01T17:40:00.000+05:30

Pakistan's youngest foreign minister Hina made a style-statement with her three-day visit to India. Hina Rabbani Khar, aged just 34, is the first woman to be appointed foreign minister of Pakistan.

Hina, who was only appointed recently after serving as a junior foreign minister since February, has become the face of Pakistani diplomacy at a critical time, despite questions over her youth and inexperience.

Pakistan's youngest foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar might have held the Indian media in thrall with her precious South Sea pearls, Roberto Cavalli shades and Birkin bag, but the media spotlight on her style and fashion statements left her incandescent with rage.

Hina, a headscarf-wearing mother of two daughters, is inevitably compared to Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic female prime minister of Pakistan who was assassinated when trying to regain power in 2007. She reacted angrily to questions pertaining to coverage of her fashion style in leading Indian dailies.

"You see paparazzi are every where. Besides, you (referring to media) should not do such acts," Ms. Khar said, replying to a question at the Lahore airport on her arrival from India.

So irked was she at the question that she refused to take any more questions and left for Islamabad.

During her visit to New Delhi, she was the talk of the town, with the media closely following her fashion accessories.

With the media spotlight focused on her fashion accessories during her recent trip to India, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar wonders whether a man in her position would have attracted similar attention.

The 34-year-old is quite a style icon back in her own country, reveal Pakistan’s noted fashion designers.

The Twitter world reacted strongly to the 34-year-old's upmarket dressing. Some, including actress Gul Panag, gave it a thumbs up, while others questioned the viability of flaunting expensive brands.

World Breastfeeding Week - 1 to 7 August 2011

2011-08-01T13:47:00.000+05:30

With a goal to boost the health of infants worldwide and encourage mothers to breastfeed, nearly 120 countries around the world celebrate World Breastfeeding Week from 1-7 August every year.

Breastfeeding is the best way to provide newborns with the nutrients they need. World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding until a baby is six months old, and continued breastfeeding with the addition of nutritious complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

“Losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare, especially when it can be avoided. Why let this happen when you can protect the health of your child simply by breastfeeding him or her?” asked Dr RK Agarwal, a paediatrician.

The World Health Organisation declared the first week of August as World Breastfeeding Week in a bid to ensure that children are not denied of the right to live simply because of lack of awareness on the part of the care takers.

Breastfeeding is known to reduce deaths among children aged below 5 by 13%.

According to statistics, out of 27 million babies born in India each year, close to 1.2 million babies do not get past the first one month. This is due to poor neonatal care and malnutrition which are the main reasons for infant mortality in India.

One million infant lives can be saved by just breast feeding in the 1st Hour following the birth of the child. If mothers and families comprehend the benefits of breast feeding for six months, it can save the lives of 250,000 babies annually.

Trojan asteroid detected in the Earth's orbit

2011-08-01T00:57:00.000+05:30

Unraveling of the wonders in outer space continues with the latest discovery of an asteroid that is expected to keep company with earth, for several hundred years.

A team of Canadian scientists have discovered a "Trojan" asteroid that is caught in a synchronized orbit with the Earth.

Trojans are asteroids that share an orbit with a planet, locked in stable orbits by a gravitational balancing act between a planet and the Sun. Neptune, Mars and Jupiter are known to have Trojans.

Two of Saturn’s moons share orbits with Trojans. Scientists had predicted Earth should also have Trojans, but they have been difficult to find because the Trojans are relatively small and appear near the sun from Earth’s point of view.

This diminutive asteroid has a diameter of just 300 metres but is called a Trojan because of its particular position in a stable spot — either in front of a planet or behind it. Because the asteroid and planet are constantly on the same orbit, they can never collide.

Currently, it is about 50 million miles away, and should come no closer than about 18 million miles.

IE users are dumb, recent study says

2011-08-01T00:13:00.000+05:30

If you are yet to ditch Internet Explorer 6, a web browser released in 2001, now is the time to do it. Unless you want to be called dumb.

Here comes the flame war. According to a new report, dumb people are more likely to use Internet Explorer than smart people.

A survey used tests offered through Web searches or in online ads to measure the IQ of browser users.

Internet Explorer users scored lower on online IQ tests than users of other browsers
Report says people on the old IE 6 browser scored lowest; Opera users the highest
The survey, by a consulting company, wasn't conducted scientifically

It’s also interesting to note that average IQ scores of IE6 users were significantly higher in 2006, and that the IQ scores get better with newer versions of IE.

A company called AptiQuant, a self-proclaimed “world leader in the field of online psychometric testing,” tested the IQs of users and grouped the results according to which browser respondents used.

The survey findings were reported by Jared Newman on PC World with the headline "Internet Explorer Users Are Kinda Stupid" and as his story spread AptiQuant started to receive hate mail from IE users.

Guwahati-Bangalore Express collided with Ajamgarh-Marwa Express

2011-07-31T22:55:00.000+05:30

At least two people were reportedly killed and nearly 30 injured in a train accident in West Bengal's Malda district on Sunday (31-July-2011) evening.

The accident took place near Jamirghata in Malda district. One bogie of the derailed train caught fire.

Two bogies and the engine of the Guwahati-Bengaluru Express, which was on its way to the southern city, derailed first and were hit by the Azimganj-Malda Town Passenger leading to further derailment of bogies of both the trains, Railway sources said.

An Eastern Railway spokesman said the injured had been admitted to local hospitals and efforts were on to rescue passengers trapped inside two bogies.

Senior Railway officials rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operations and a relief train had been sent.

The railways has confirmed that the driver of the passenger train that was coming from the opposite side on the adjacent track tried to apply emergency brakes when he saw the derailed express train but could not completely prevent a collision.

Funny Clean Animal Jokes

2011-07-30T20:59:00.000+05:30

Deep within a forest a little turtle began to climb a tree. After hours of effort he reached the top, jumped into the air waving his front legs and crashed to the ground. After recovering, he slowly climbed the tree again, jumped, and fell to the ground.

The turtle tried again and again while a couple of birds sitting on a branch watched his sad efforts. Finally, the female bird turned to her mate.

"Dear," she chirped, "I think it's time to tell him he's adopted."

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn't find one big enough for her family.

She asked a stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any bigger?"

The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."

A man was driving down the road with twenty penguins in the back seat. The police stop him and say that he can't drive around with the penguins in the car and should take them to the zoo. The man agrees and drives off.

The next day the same man is driving down the road with twenty penguins in the back and again. He is stopped by the same police officer who says, "Hey! I though I told you to take those to the zoo."

The man replies "I did. Today I'm taking them to the movies."

A man goes to a bar with his dog. He goes up to the bar and asks for a drink. The bartender says "You can't bring that dog in here!" The guy, without missing a beat, says "This is my seeing-eye dog." "Oh man, " the bartender says, "I'm sorry, here, the first one's on me." The man takes his drink and goes to a table near the door.

Another guy walks in the bar with a Chihuahua. The first guys sees him, stops him and says "You can't bring that dog in here unless you tell him it's a seeing-eye dog." The second man graciously thanks the first man and continues to the bar. He asks for a drink. The bartender says "Hey, you can't bring that dog in here!"

The second man replies "This is my seeing-eye dog." The bartender says, "No, I don't think so. They do not have Chiwauas as seeing-eye dogs." The man pauses for a half-second and replies "What?!?! They gave me a Chihuahua?!?"

TN Police: Stalin was not arrested

2011-07-30T19:16:00.000+05:30

Denying that Stalin, son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi was arrested or detained, Tamilnadu police said that he was merely moved as he was obstructing traffic.

Earlier reports said that M K Stalin was detained by police at Tiruvarur. The DMK leader was trying to stage a protest, when police attempted to arrest DMK's Tiruvarur secretary Kalaivanan.

The police had been looking for the DMK functionary in connection with the death of a school student in a road accident in Tiruvarur on Friday.

Mr Stalin had reportedly demanded an arrest warrant or FIR copy before the arrest, and it was then that he was taken into detention.

The DMK had given the call for boycott of schools and colleges to press for implementation of the Uniform System of School Education (Tamil: Samacheer Kalvi), introduced by the Karunanidhi regime.

The AIADMK Government is engaged in a legal battle after it decided to defer implementation of the scheme citing its "lack of quality".

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa yesterday (29-July-2011) blamed the DMK protest for leading to the death of the boy and charged Kalaivanan with instigating his party workers to prevent students from attending classes.

Student's death

Police registered a case against Mr. Kalaivanan in connection with the death of Vijay of Manjakollai, an eighth standard student of the Government Higher Secondary School, Koradachery. Vijay died on his way home from school on Friday when the government bus in which he was travelling met with an accident.

The children were sent from school after an agitation organised by Mr. Kalaivanan for implementing the Samacheer Kalvi system immediately. Three other students were injured in the accident. Baskar, father of one of the injured students, lodged a complaint with police that Mr. Kalaivanan was responsible for the accident as he (Mr. Kalaivanan) had insisted on the students' boycotting classes.

The police registered cases against Mr. Kalaivanan under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 188 (preventing people from discharging duties), 268 (conspiracy and 506/2 threat to murder.

As the news about the alleged arrest of Mr. Stalin spread, DMK cadres organised demonstrations at various places in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts. They were arrested by the police and later released.

Reviews for the tamil film VEPPAM

2011-07-30T00:03:00.000+05:30

Veppam, directed by debutante director Anjana and produced by Gowtham Vasudev Menon, has finally hit the theaters this Friday (29-July-2011) after a long delay.

Rediff review

As expected from someone who worked first in ad films and later as associate director with Gautam Vasudev Menon in Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu, Anjana's debut film Veppam (Heat) is certainly very chic. Together with cinematographer Om Prakash, she has crafted a film that is easy on the eye and possesses a style that reminds one of Gautam Menon himself. Photon Kathaa's Veppam (Heat), is a slickly made film.

Nani and Bindhu Madhavi, newcomers to Tamil films, do very well and manage to engage our interest. Nithya Menen has a very small role to play while Karthik plays to his strengths and doesn't really move out of his comfort zone. The rest of the cast is, truth be told, no great shakes.

Antony's editing is adequate though it could have been better in the second half. Mayan's art-work is realistic, bringing the scenes to life.

A tauter screenplay, more logic in the sequences and realistic dialogues would have made Veppam an eminently enjoyable film.

Super Good Movies review

A movie set in Chennai slum, directed by debutant Anjana, Veppam promises aplenty. With a strong technical team behind, Veppam is a movie different from the rest.

It is a movie set in the backdrop of Chennai slum. It reminds one of movies like Pattiyal and Drohi a lot. Anjana has given her hard wolrk and the result is there to be seen in parts. The script is racy and the first half with some breezy moments passes off quickly. The twists and surprising turns in the story are enjoyable.

It has a very sleek cinematography by Om Prakash. He has penned a poetry through his camera. The songs by Joshua Sridhar stands out. All the seven songs including Veppam, the theme song, is worth a listen.Anthony's crispy editing adds pace to the script.

Nani plays his part well while Karthi is breezy and entertaining. Bindhu Madhavai has a limited scope while Nithya Menon hogs limelight with her character.
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Hina Rabbani Khar and her 'Fashion Icon' tag

2011-07-29T15:47:00.000+05:30

Pakistan's young Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar might have caught New Delhi's imagination, but her depiction in the Indian media as a 'fashion icon' seemed to have irked her.

Hina Rabbani Khar, aged just 34, is the first woman to be appointed foreign minister of Pakistan. Hina, who was only appointed last week after serving as a junior foreign minister since February, has become the face of Pakistani diplomacy at a critical time, despite questions over her youth and inexperience.

She is rich, stylish, and travels the world - so what's the big deal about Pakistan's youngest and first female foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar's Birkin bag, Roberto Cavalli shades and Jimmy Choo heels that were on view during her visit here, ask Indian and Pakistani designers.

Her classic black Hermes' Birkin could cost anything above $10,000-$15,000, her Roberto Cavalli shades cost over $500 and the Jimmy Choo heels over $900.

Karachi-based designer Huma Adnan admits Khar, whose three-day trip to India concluded Thursday (28-July-2011), is one of the most stylish politicians in her country, but finds it strange that there is so much discussion in India over her dressing.

Khar, a headscarf-wearing mother of two daughters, is inevitably compared to Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic female prime minister of Pakistan who was assassinated when trying to regain power in 2007.

She has already attracted widespread attention in the Islamic nation where women seldom feature in public life, and a newspaper picture of her wearing tight jeans caused a shimmer of disapproval.

When Khar landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Tuesday (26-July-2011) for talks with her Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna, her blue ensemble, teamed with a simple string of pearls, oversized handbag and shades grabbed many eyeballs.

An Indian newspaper, while writing about her arrival in New Delhi, said: "her monotone outfit of a blue the colour of the season, tasteful accessories Roberto Cavalli sunglasses, oversized Hermes Birkin bag and glass pearl jewellery added a glamour to her look."

The 34-year-old is quite a style icon back in her own country, reveal Pakistan’s noted fashion designers.

The Twitter world reacted strongly to the 34-year-old's upmarket dressing. Some, including actress Gul Panag, gave it a thumbs up, while others questioned the viability of flaunting expensive brands.

Celebrate health with nutritious and delicious tomatoes

2011-07-29T14:50:00.001+05:30

Tomatoes are now hot-favourites thanks to the much-talked about Tomato Festival in Spain as shown in the 2011 Bollywood movie Zindagi Milegi Na Dobaara.

They’ve been doing it in Spain since about 1945. Every August, tens of thousands of people flock to the town of Buñol to chuck tomatoes at each other. This weekend, July 31, the tradition is starting in Minnesota.

Let's talk tomatoes. The market is seeing lots of tomatoes. The amount of tomatoes, as well as the number of varieties, is remarkable. You can get green ones (fried green tomatoes), ripe red ones, yellow ones, heirloom varieties, all kinds of curry tomatoes and even yellow Romas.

A Research Proves that the fresh tomatoes be an effective alternative to drugs in decrease cholesterol, control blood pressure and stop heart disease.

Tomatoes have high levels of lycopene, with half a litre of tomato juice taken daily, or 50 grams of tomato paste, providing protection against heart disease, according to an Adelaide statement.

Lycopene is better absorbed in processed and cooked tomatoes or tomato paste rather than fresh tomatoes. As a supplement, lycopene is available in soft gelatine capsules or tablets.

Jordan Katie Price expects to have 12 husbands!

2011-07-28T16:39:00.000+05:30

She's worked her way through two so far, but Katie Price reckons she'll reach a tally of 12 husbands -- Read further to know what more the mum-of-three has said recently.

Jordan Katie Price is best known as a businesswoman these days but she's still keen to return to her roots as a glamour model.

The 33-year-old started taking her clothes off for the camera and adopted the name Jordan when she was just 18, but has since developed a clothing line, written novels and is the star of her own TV show.

Katie, who first appeared in her birthday suit in Playboy magazine in 2002, is quoted to have said: "I've got another Playboy shoot in me. I still love getting my kit off because it's what I do best and it's got me where I am today. And I've also got plans for a film and a West End show."

She added: "I'll also have more kids, more horses and probably more husbands, about 12, I expect!"

Katie has been married twice - first to Peter Andre, with whom she has two children, Junior, six, and Princess Tiaamii, four, with and secondly to Alex Reid, who she divorced after a year of marriage in February 2011, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Hackers ask PayPal users to quit using the service

2011-07-28T01:05:00.000+05:30

Hacking group Anonymous is asking PayPal users to "immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative," as a way of protesting the arrests of 14 people tied to a denial-of-service attack on PayPal's website last December. That attack, which brought down the site, was said to be retribution against PayPal for dropping WikiLeaks' donation account.

"PayPal continues to withhold funds from WikiLeaks, a beacon of truth in these dark times," the groups said in a statement.

"We encourage anyone using PayPal to immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative," they said.

"The first step to being truly free is not putting one's trust into a company that freezes accounts when it feels like, or when it is pressured by the US government," they added.

Various Anonymous Twitter accounts are making a call for action. Anonymous Press tweets: "Paypal suspended the closing of accounts online, so call in and close ur account 1-888-221-1161 make sure 2 quote #OpPayPal via@odotm"

Wikileaks is showing support by tweeting: "We support the work of #Anonymous in drawing attention to the economic blockade of #Wikileaks by corrupt financial institutions. #OpPayPal"

So far, however, the campaign may not be having much effect.

"We haven't seen any changes to our normal operations (including account opening and closing) overnight," a PayPal spokeswoman told CNN via e-mail on Wednesday (27-July-2011).

Anonymous wants PayPal users to switch to other similar services.
"Get yourself a slice of MyBitCoin, Liberty Reserve, WebMoney, Neteller, Moneybookers, and start using prepaid credit and gift cards," tweeted allied hacking group LulzSec.

WHO report - India named world's most depressed nation

2011-07-27T17:45:00.000+05:30

According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, India has the highest rate of major depression in the world.

The World Health Organization has released the findings of a survey that reveals India has the largest number of people who suffer from depression at some point in their lives.

The study, ‘Cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV major depressive episode,’ based on interviews of nearly 90,000 subjects across 18 countries with different income levels, was published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Medicine by Biomed Central.

The US, China, Japan, India, Brazil, Mexico, Ukraine and Spain, Germany, Lebanon, Mexico, and South Africa were included in the study.

Major Depressive Episode (MDE) is characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed.

Lowest prevalence of MDE was in China (12%). The average age of depression in India is 31.9 years compared to 18.8 years in China, and 22.7 years in the US.

Foreign ministers of India and Pakistan begin talks

2011-07-27T12:56:00.000+05:30

India's external affairs minister SM Krishna and his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday (27-July-2011) began talks that are expected to culminate in a host of confidence-building measures (CBMs).

While India will talk of eradicating terror in the region, Pakistan is expected to insist on maintaining peace in the area.

The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan are expected to follow a carefully drafted template to take the peace process forward through a 'step-by-step' approach.

In his public welcoming remarks, Mr Krishna said, "India looks forward to a cooperative relationship with Pakistan... it is in the interest of peace not only for our two countries but for the entire region and beyond. Perhaps we owe this to ourselves as well as to succeeding generations."

Ms Khar, who is Pakistan's youngest Foreign Minister, said, "Pakistan sees good friendly and cooperative relations with India as an important neighbour.

"We feel the relationship between the two countries should not be held hostage by the past." She also stressed that officials on both sides must be "respectful of the reality of the two countries."

The meeting comes five months after the South Asian neighbours resumed bilateral discussions.

Talks were suspended after the 2008 Mumbai (Bombay) attacks which India blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

But earlier this year, leaders vowed to resume their dialogue.

Correspondents say the talks are unlikely to throw up any major policy statements, but they will be another step in improving relations between the neighbours.

Amy Winehouse - Funeral Pictures

2011-07-26T23:48:00.000+05:30

A private funeral for Amy Winehouse was held at Edgwarebury Cemetery in London on Tuesday (26-July-2011), with family and friends in attendance including Kelly Osbourne, "Back to Black" producer Mark Ronson and recent boyfriend, filmmaker Reg Traviss.

Wearing dark suits, black dresses and the occasional beehive hairdo, friends and family said goodbye to Amy Winehouse with prayers, tears, laughter and song at an emotional funeral ceremony.

Amy Winehouse lived her chaotic life through a lens. But her family made sure at least part of her funeral was a sedate and private affair.

According to Amy's wishes, she has been cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. Her ashes have been placed alongside her grandmother, Cynthia, who was a jazz singer and a great influence on Amy and her music.

The soul diva, who had battled alcohol and drug addiction, was found dead on Saturday (23-July-2011) at her London home. She was 27.

VEPPAM (Sega) to see its much-awaited release

2011-07-26T18:01:00.000+05:30

Veppam (English: Heat) is an upcoming Indian Tamil action thriller written and directed by newcomer Anjana Ali Khan,[2] starring Nani, Karthik Kumar, Bindu Madhavi and Nithya Menen.

Director Anjana Ali Khan's debut venture 'Veppam', which will also be released simultaneously in Telugu as 'Sega', this Friday (29-July-2011), took nearly three years to shape up to what it is today.

Anjana says that people in the age-group of 18-29 years should be able to connect with her film.

The title of the movie is synonymous with the climate of Chennai. "One thing that we all keep complaining about is the heat and soaring temperatures in the city, also known as ‘Veppam’ in Tamil (‘Sega’ in Telugu)," the director explains.

Armed with a university gold medal, Anjana Ali Khan went into advertising as a copy writer, transitioned to making ad films, started her production house in 1997 and made lots of television commercials, music videos and corporate documentaries, some of which won awards.

When she felt that she wanted to tell a longer story, her struggle started. It took her seven years to make her first feature film, Veppam, in Tamil. During this period, she worked with Gautham Vasudev Menon on his film Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu, as an associate director.

When his associate Anjana was ready with a 'good script' and was looking for a producer, her mentor Gautham Vasudev Menon readily came forward to fund the project, and the end-product 'Veppam' is now all set to hit the screens.

There are five sound tracks in this movie, which has been set to tune by Joshua Sridhar. It may be recalled that the audio of Veppam was release way back in January.

Funeral of singer Amy Winehouse to be held today (26-July-2011)

2011-07-26T13:05:00.000+05:30

The lifeless body of Amy Winehouse was discovered in her home at 3.54pm on Saturday. Within hours, rumours were circulating on Twitter, before finally being confirmed by police sources, and then backed up by someone claiming to know the officer who had been called to the scene.

Once upon a time, Amy Winehouse was a musician who earned a living by recording songs and offering them to the public.

Singer Amy Winehouse may have sensed her impending death - she had chosen to spent the last three weeks contacting her friends with whom she had not spoken for years.

Sources close to the 'Rehab' hitmaker, who was found dead in her North London home on Saturday, feel that probably Winehouse knew that 'her end was near', reported Sun online.

An autopsy on singer Amy Winehouse failed to determine what killed the 27-year-old star, leaving fans and family with a weeks-long wait for the results of toxicology tests. Her funeral will be held tonight (26-July-2011).

An intimate funeral for Amy Winehouse will take place Tuesday, the singer's spokesman said.

Sparse details are being released about the ceremony -- including exactly when and where it will occur -- though spokesman Chris Goodman said "it will be a small, private event for a few friends and family."

Amy, who struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, won five Grammy awards for her album "Back To Black" and was considered by many critics to be one of the most soulful and talented British female singers of her time.

Crowds have gathered outside her north London home since her death to light candles and leave flowers and other tributes.

Amy Winehouse - Death and mystery

2011-07-25T13:16:00.000+05:30

Globally known British singer Amy Winehouse had a medical examination the night before her death and was given the all clear, it has been reported.

Sordid details surrounding Amy Winehouse's tragic death have emerged, with claims that she bought a cocktail of narcotics including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine in her final hours.

Amy Winehouse gained a lot of accolades for bringing such genres of music like Soul and Jazz to the mainstream, paving way for other emerging musicians, not only from the UK but also from other parts of the world.

Celebrity friends and her fans have been paying tribute to the singer, Amy Winehouse

The police are to fix a date later for the post-mortem examination into the death of Amy Winehouse.

Amy reached far and wide with her music, popularising her genre, gaining recognition and respect for her talent and sharing the rare gift that she had.

Amy Winehouse's final night was spent watching videos with her bodyguard, her management said, contradicting reports that she bought drugs hours before her death.

AMY's unfinished third album could be released posthumously, The (London) Daily Telegraph reports.

While it is believed that the songs recorded by the 27-year-old British singer are still nothing more than demos, sources told the newspaper there was plenty of material available for another album.

Unfortunately, her life was peppered with a manic depressive disorder and encounters with drugs and alcohol. She'd shown the first signs of a self-destructive tendencies as a kid. Her father Mitch Winehouse was once quoted as saying, "She's always been a very self-willed kid."

Kanchana as reviewed by Rediff and The Hindu

2011-07-25T11:32:00.001+05:30

Kanchana is a 2011 Tamil horror film directed and written by Raghava Lawrence as a sequel to his previous venture, Muni (2007). The film features himself in the lead role with Sarathkumar and Lakshmi Rai in other roles.

Rediff review

Choreographer Raghava Lawrencce's Kanchana is a continuation of his earlier film Muni as far as the characters are concerned, but is not technically a sequel.

It's supposed to be a horror film, but also has a 'cause' towards the climax which however gets drowned in the narrative.

The film may scare kids but no one else. The acting in many scenes is over the top and it's obvious that every effort is being made to appeal to the masses.

Lawrencce's acting is okay, but a bit overdramatic in most scenes and the dancing scenes are expressly for him. As a director he should have developed the theme better.

The Hindu review

Like the eerie tales telecast on Tamil satellite channels at nights for thrill-hungry viewers, Kanchana (U/A) is bound to find takers.

The latest from Raghava Lawrence's stable, is another foray into the occult and comes as a sequel to the 2007 film, Muni, also directed by him.

Lakshmi Rai returns after quite a while. Paired with Lawrence, it's a glam show all the way. And that's about it.

Thanks to effective CG, the supernatural sequences (there are several) in Kanchana impact.

As an actor Raghava Lawrence overdoes, as a dancer he is inimitable, as a director he impresses and as a storyteller he scores.

Scientists build Artificial Intelligence in test tubes

2011-07-24T23:07:00.000+05:30

Scientists have now taken a major step towards creating artificial intelligence, not in a robot or a silicon chip, but in a test tube.

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a circuit of interacting molecules that can recall memories based on incomplete DNA patterns, just like the human brain.

Supercomputers, robots and the human brain represent the artifacts of a long evolutionary chain stretching back to a soupy mass of molecules floating in Earth's oceans billions of years ago. Now researchers have gone back to the primordial ooze by creating a new type of artificial intelligence based on DNA inside of test tubes.

The neural network is made up of just four artificial neurons, as opposed to the human brain's 100 billion real ones.

To test the network, the scientists played a game with it. That game started with the network being trained to "know" four scientists, each one identifiable by a unique combination of yes/no answers to the same four questions (such as "Is the scientist British?"). Human players then chose one of those scientists, and provided the network with an incomplete set of the identifying answers. They did this by dropping DNA strands that were programmed to correspond to those answers, into water in a test tube that contained the neurons.

Communicating through fluorescent signals, the network would then either correctly identify the chosen scientist, it would indicate that it didn't have enough data to identify just one scientist, or it would state that the data didn't match any of the scientists.

Biochemical systems with artificial intelligence — or at least some basic, decision—making capabilities — could have powerful applications in medicine, chemistry, and biological research, the researchers say.

In the future, such systems could operate within cells, helping to answer fundamental biological questions or diagnose a disease.

The human brain consists of 100 billion neurons, but creating a network with just 40 of these DNA—based neurons — 10 times larger than the demonstrated network — would be a challenge, according to the researchers.

Test on newborn babies believed to help predict teen trouble

2011-07-23T23:28:00.000+05:30

The health test conducted on babies minutes after they are born may help detect whether a child will have trouble in school as a teenager, a new study has claimed.

The study appears in the August issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Babies who get low scores on a test of heart, lung and brain function given just a few minutes after birth may be more likely to need special education as teenagers, suggests this new study from Sweden.

Researchers looked at 877,000 Swedish children and compared their school grades and graduation rates when they were teenagers with their Apgar scores and post-birth health. The Apgar test is a 10-point scale, and much research has shown that it reliably predicts how much medical care a newborn will need.

The researchers found that there is a relationship between having an Apgar score below 7 and having cognitive deficits later in life. They say better understanding the relationship may provide insights into what early problems might cause those deficits.

The Apgar system has been used in the delivery room since it was devised by American Dr Virginia Apgar in 1952.

The test is commonly used as a basis for looking at the long-term implications of a baby's health.

This is largest ever study to look at the link between cognitive ability in teenagers and the Apgar test.

Chennai - Fire in KMC, three dead

2011-07-23T21:50:00.000+05:30

Three people have been confirmed dead after a fire broke out at the Asthama allergic treatment centre of the Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital in Chennai.

Two women died of asphyxiation due to the fire at the Intensive Care Unit of the government hospital early Saturday (23-July-2011) morning. Another male patient who was also in the unit died a few hours later.

Five others in the ICU were immediately shifted to different wards, hospital sources said.

Police said an electric short-circuit in the split air-conditioning unit in the ICU was the probable cause of the fire.

Fire fighters battled hard for more than three hours to put out the flames, the sources added.

Expressing sorrow over the incident, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said she had ordered the authorities concerned to take adequate preventive measures in all government hospitals to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

The hospital authorities have instituted an enquiry.

Bollywood film SINGHAM reviews

2011-07-22T14:24:00.000+05:30

Bollywood action flick SINGHAM, released this Friday (22-July-2011), is one of the quickest remakes to have been made in recent times. While the Tamil version had released last year with Suriya and Anushka Shetty as the lead couple, within a year the Hindi version is also ready. Here this blog lets you know about reviews for the film.

Rediff Review

In Rohit Shetty's mass-masala movie Singham, Ajay Devgn plays an upright, honest and do-gooder cop who goes way beyond the training and duties of a regular Indian Police Service officer.

He will stop to push a cart if its wheel is stuck in the mud; play with little kids; become a part time no-interest loan financier to settle a dispute between two people in his village, especially if someone is about to get married and it is their 'izzat ka sawal'.

Singham is packed with a lot of bone crunching sounds, and loud action moments. Gone are the days when Bollywood films just featured dhishum-dhishum in the fight scenes.

The fights are long, painful and yet fun to watch.

NDTV Review

For one, Rohit Shetty’s nifty reworking of the 2010 Tamil hit of the same title nurses no pretences. It is an out-and-out potboiler.

Shetty plays up the epic quality of the good vs evil clash without letting go of the strong streak of humour that is the Golmaal director's obvious forte. Thoroughly entertaining and consistently watchable, Singham delivers more than your money’s worth. If a feral analogy could be applied to a film, Singham is like the roar of a lion, unsubtle, unambiguous and power-packed.

Singham is an old-fashioned but rousing Hindi commercial film that pretty much restores one’s faith in this often-maligned brand of cinema. It has super-duper hit written all over it.

Yahoo Review

The film is about a humble village cop, Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn) who enforces law like a preschool moral science teacher. All accused and convicts are let off with a warning, as they're usually his friends and/or belong to the good ol' gaaon ki mitti, which is later distinguished from shehar ki dhul through a clichéd reference.

Singham also flexes his perfectly sculpted body to slap-whack-smash goons who try to get fresh with Kavya (Kajal Agarwal), a family friend, who plays quite 'easy to get' and swiftly falls in love and establishes herself as the female lead.

Devgn does a fair job and conveys sufficient conviction and humility through his character. Kajal Agarwal makes an unobjectionable debut and her eyes would surely inspire a few compliments.

Google Doodle celebrates Alexander Calder's 113th birthday

2011-07-22T13:23:00.000+05:30

The latest Google Doodle celebrates the 113 birth anniversary of Alexander Calder, the American sculptor and artist famous for inventing the mobile sculptures and mobile art.

Two days ago, it was an arrangement of peas. Today (22-July-2011), it's an interesting looking kinetic artwork that has replaced the Google logo, to celebrate the 113th birth anniversary of American artist and sculptor Alexander Calder.

Friday's Google doodle shows a mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture that was invented by Alexander Calder. Mobiles take advantage of the principle of equilibrium and have objects hanging from rods. Kinetic art uses motion for an artistic effect.

Mobiles are usually brightly coloured free-moving creations in abstract shapes made from sheet metal. The mobile Google doodle sways on its own and can also be controlled by mouse gestures.
The Google doodle shows a mobile, a type of kinetic sculpture invented by Alexander Calder.

Google in a blog post confirmed that the Alexander Calder Google Doodle today is the first of its kind, not only because it’s the first Doodle to flaunt a shadow below the search input bar, but the technique used to create it is the modernist way that only an advanced web browser can support all of its hidden and obvious features.

Google regularly replaces its corporate logo with so called Google doodles which celebrate special occasions.

Recently the search engine celebrated music legend Les Paul’s birthday by featured an animated guitar which could be strummed.

Google also marked the 30th anniversary of the arcade game Pac Man by hosting a playable game on its homepage.

IT dept raids premises of actors Mammootty and Mohanlal

2011-07-22T12:33:00.001+05:30

Income tax sleuths have raided the houses, offices and hotels of Malayalam film stars Mammootty and Mohanlal. The searches started at 6.30am on Friday (22-July-2011) morning.

The operation followed allegations of amassing wealth disproportionate to their income. More details about the nature of the raid have not been revealed.

The raids were conducted at premises in Kochi, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Mohanlal is currently shooting for a film in Rameshwaram and his statement is being recorded, while Mammootty is in Chennai.

On July 11, the Income Tax sleuths raided the houses of several Kannada film makers and distributors and seized many documents. Reports said that the I-T officials raided the houses of Kannada TV and film stars Ravikiran, Sihi Kahi Chandru and K Manju and others at Teachers Colony, J P Nagar, Vijayanagar, Sadashivanagar, Jayanagar etc.

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