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Murder charges likely over Nigerian massacre

March 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Nigerian authorities are planning to lay murder charges against 49 people accused of involvement in the massacre of villagers at the weekend.

Nigerian police say most of those facing charges of murder are Muslim militants from the Fulani ethnic group.

It is alleged that gangs armed with machetes attacked predominantly Christian villages near the city of Jos, hacking to death women and children.

Initial reports claimed as many as 500 people had been killed, but local police now say just more than 100 people died.

The region remains tense and hundreds of people have fled their home fearing further attacks.

Soldiers are enforcing a dusk-to-dawn curfew in and around Jos, which has increasingly become a flashpoint for sectarian violence.

SMS: Nigerian authorities are planning to lay murder charges against 49 peo

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Manmohan Singh hosts Iftar party

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 19 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hosted an Iftar party here on Friday.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, several foreign dignitaries and many political leaders were among those who attended the party.

Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India, Shahid Malik, and several prominent Muslim religious leaders were also among the invitees.

During the holy month of Ramadan Muslims observe a daylong fast without water and open it in the evening.

The month-long dawn-to- dusk fast started on August 22, after the sighting of the new moon. (ANI)

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Migrating birds chill at stopovers to save energy

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 11 (ANI): In a new research, scientists have suggested that migrating birds drop their body temperature at night during stopovers to save energy and build up their reserves faster.

Scientists Michal Wojciechowski and Berry Pinshow carried out the research.

Collecting migrating blackcaps at their stopover site on the Sede Boqer Campus of Ben-Gurion University and near Toron, Poland, Wojciechowski and Pinshow weighed the birds and monitored their body temperatures and metabolic rates as the birds stocked up on fruit supplemented with mealworms.

During the day, the birds’ body temperatures hovered around 42.5 degrees Celsius, but as dusk fell, their temperatures began to drop.

The average normal body temperature at night was about 38.8 degrees C, while one particularly skinny individual’s temperature plummeted to 33 degrees C.

When the team plotted the birds’ body masses against their nocturnal temperatures, the smaller birds’ temperatures correlated with their body masses.

Finally, the team looked at the relationship between the birds’ temperatures and their metabolic rates and found that the heavier birds dropped their metabolic rates least, while the lightest birds dropped their metabolic rates most.

Some conserved a remarkable 30 percent of their energy by becoming hypothermic.

Knowing that small birds also conserve energy by huddling together for warmth, Wojciechowski and Pinshow suggest that migrating birds may combine both strategies to shorten refuelling stopovers to fatten up fast before hastening on their way. (ANI)

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London Mayor blasted for asking Brits to fast like Muslims during Ramadan

September 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 5 (ANI): The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has been criticized for asking Brits to fast for a day so they would know what it is like to be a Muslim.

Johnson said people should starve themselves from dawn until dusk during Ramadan and then end their fast during a visit to their local mosque.

Steve Uncles, South East chairman of the English Democrats, blasted Johnson’s comments.

He said: “The indigenous culture of this country is based on Christianity and Paganism. Of course, as an open and tolerant society, if people want to practise other religions then good luck to them. But the state should not be funding them because otherwise we will lose our culture.”

Johnson, 45, was visiting the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre when he made these comments, the Daily Star reported.

“Whether it’s in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community.

“That’s why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque,” Johnson said.

He added: “There are valuable lessons that people of all backgrounds can learn from Islam, such as the importance of community spirit, family ties, compassion and helping those less fortunate, all of which lie at the heart of the teachings of Ramadan.” (ANI)

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Amphibians like to mate under a full Moon

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 14 (ANI): Scientists have discovered that amphibians around the world synchronize their mating activity by the full Moon.

According to a report by BBC News, this global phenomenon has never been noticed before, but frogs, toads and newts all like to mate by moonlight.

The animals use the lunar cycle to co-ordinate their gatherings, ensuring that enough males and females come together at the same time.

In doing so the creatures maximize their spawning success and reduce their odds of being eaten.

Biologist Rachel Grant of the Open University, UK, was studying salamanders near a lake in central Italy for her PhD in 2005 when she noticed toads all over the road, under a full Moon.

“Although this might have been a coincidence, the following month I went along the same route every day at dusk and found that the numbers of toads on the road increased as the Moon waxed, to a peak at full Moon, and then declined again,” she said.

A review of the scientific literature found little mention of any similar records, so Grant returned to the same site in 2006 and 2007 to survey the amphibians in more detail.

She then collated her data with a 10-year analysis of the mating habits of frogs and toads at a pond near Oxford, UK, collected by her supervisor Tim Halliday, and with data on toads and newts living in Wales collected by colleague Elizabeth Chadwick from Cardiff University, UK.

“We analysed the data, and found a lunar effect at all three sites,” Grant said.

For example, the common toad (Bufo bufo) arrives at all its breeding sites, mates and spawns around the full Moon. The common frog (Rana temporaria) also spawns around the time of the full Moon.

“Newts also seem to be affected by the lunar cycle but the results are less clear,” said Grant.

Newt arrivals peak during both the full and new moons.

The researchers have also looked at historical data collected in Java on the Javanese toad and found that it too mates by the lunar cycle, with females ovulating on or near to the full Moon.

“We now have evidence of lunar cycles affecting amphibians in widespread locations. We definitely think that Moon phase has been an overlooked factor in most studies of amphibian reproductive timing,” said Grant.

“We think this may be a worldwide phenomenon. However, differences between species in ecology and reproductive strategy may mean that not all amphibians are affected in the same way. This is something we would like to investigate further,” she added. (ANI)

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Leopard caught on camera while taking a relaxing dip in spa hot tub

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 9 (ANI): It seems that leopards too believe in beauty treatments, for a wild big cat was recently caught on camera taking a break from her cubs with a relaxing dip in an outdoor spa hot tub.

She even found time for a rest on a lounger after her wash.

In the picture, the big cat can be seen creeping onto the balcony of a cabin in Tintswalo Safari Lodge, in South Africa.

Guests stood at a safe distance and watched the leopard, capable of killing a buffalo, slip into the warm bubbling water at dusk.

The big cat took her dip outside the lodges spa centre, usually frequented by human visitors for pampering and beauty treatments.

“We were all watching from a safe distance because this was a wild big cat, it was absolutely amazing to watch her take a bath just like one of us,” the Telegraph quoted Mike Clarke, from Tintswalo Safari Lodge, which lies on the edge of the Kruger National Park, as saying.

“We have had a few leopard mothers who stay close to the lodges because of the safety of it when they have cubs.

“This mum must have decided it was time for some time to herself and decided to come over to the spa.

“She acted just like a person might do after a hard day at work or with the kids.

“After she had relaxed and decided she was clean enough, she simply got up and made her back into the bush, it was incredible,” he added.

Clarke, who helps run the 5,000-a-night lodge, revealed that the cat was caught on camera just three weeks ago by staff at the park.

“We offer everything you could imagine at the park, but nowadays we are getting leopards, lions, buffalo and even herds of elephants coming through, it’s a very special experience,” he said.

“Obviously we make sure all the guests are safe because these are still wild animals and our wardens make sure everyone is aware of what’s going on,” he added. (ANI)

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Mysore shutdown evokes mixed response

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mysore July 4 (ANI): A dawn to dusk shutdown call given by the Hindu Jagaran Vedike in protest against an attack on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) youth leader evoked a mixed response here today.

Normal life was partially affected by the shutdown.

It may be recalled that a mob armed with weapons attacked Giridhar, the President of Mysore unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), and his friend Wajid on Friday evening. Giridhar is said to in critical condition at Mysore’s Apollo Hospital.

Police said that some persons have been arrested in connection with the attack.

Meanwhile, Karnataka’s Home Minister V.S.Acharya is visiting Mysore this evening to asses the situation and expected to visit the riot-hit areas. (ANI)

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New adidas sunglasses, England players’ mantra for improving catching skills by a third!

June 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, June 26 (ANI): The adidas Eyewear claim that light-stabilising tinted lenses worn by several leading England players could improve their ability to catch the ball by as much as 28 per cent, compared with standard sunglasses.

Eight England players, including captain Andrew Strauss and fast bowler James Anderson, wear such lenses in the field, and the trend in day/night matches, when fielders are often looking into the setting sun, is a further reason for using them.

The research, funded jointly by the ECB and adidas, has been conducted over the past two years, The Times reports.

“Cricket is probably the most visually demanding of sports. Most players were feeling tired and were getting headaches. We found sunglasses to be the easiest way of shaping sensory information, 82 per cent of which comes from the visual system,” Nick Dash, the ECB’s consultant optometrist, said.

Light-stabilising lenses reduce the amount of glare and enhance red light; hence visibility is accentuated as the background colours of brickwork and spectators’ clothing are subdued and the ball becomes easier to spot, the paper reports.

Catching tests conducted with young England cricketers revealed an improvement in performance. Conventional grey sunglasses were found to be too dark by all players in bright conditions, whereas bright orange tinted lenses were more effective at dusk, especially when a white ball was used, it adds.

Andy Flower, the new England coach, is intent on improving the team’s fielding and has backed the use of the same by his players.

The sunglasses are for sale in shops for about 135 pounds a pair, the paper reports. (ANI)

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Monkeys and humans share ‘diet control’ habits

May 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 20 (ANI): In a new research, behavioural ecologists working in Bolivia have found that wild spider monkeys control their diets in a similar way to humans, contrary to what has been thought up to now.

Rather than trying to maximize their daily energy intake, the monkeys tightly regulate their daily protein intake, so that it stays at the same level regardless of seasonal variation in the availability of different foods.

Tight regulation of daily protein intake is known to play a role in the development of obesity in humans, and the findings from this research suggest that the evolutionary origins of these eating patterns in humans may be far older than suspected.

The research also provides valuable information about which trees are important for the monkeys’ diet, which is relevant to conservation.

In addition, it may help to improve the care of captive primates, which can be prone to obesity and related health problems due to their diet.

Dr Annika Felton, a Departmental Visitor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, spent a year in the Bolivian rainforest, familiarizing the Peruvian spider monkeys to her presence and then observing their feeding habits.

She followed 15 individual monkeys (7 adult males, 8 adult females), conducting continuous observations of the same animal from dawn to dusk, and following each of the monkeys for at least one whole day a month.

During observations, she recorded everything they did and ate and for how long.

Where possible, she counted every fruit and leaf they ate, and collected samples of what they had eaten from the actual trees the monkeys had chosen.

The samples were then dried and sent to the laboratory in Australia where they were analysed for their nutritional content.

It is unusual for a study of feeding habits in wild primates to be conducted in this detailed way.

It enabled Dr Felton and her colleagues to calculate how much an individual monkey had consumed and the nutrients involved.

According to Dr Felton, “We found that the pattern of nutrient intake by wild spider monkeys, which are primarily fruit eaters, was almost identical to humans, which are omnivores.”

“What spider monkeys and humans have in common is that they tightly regulate their daily protein intake, that is, they appear to aim for a target amount of protein each day, regardless of whether they only ate ripe fruit or mixed in other vegetable matter as well,” she said. (ANI)

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Solar energy brightens Madhya Pradesh villages

April 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Chaith (Madhya Pradesh), Apr 26 (ANI): After living in the dark for ages, the residents of Chaith village in Gwalior District of Madhya Pradesh are now enjoying the benefits Solar energy.

Chaith, which has a population of about 12,000, is among the several villages where electrification project has been commissioned under one of the Central Government’s rural development schemes.

Consequent to the execution of this solar electrification project in rural areas, many families from this village have now set up solar energy sensor plates on the rooftops of their houses.

Today, children of this village are able to study in comfort after dusk.Around 250 families in the village have solar power. Earlier when there was no light, insects used to fall into our food plates. But, now we don’t have that problem. Children also can study well under lights and do not have problems to sleep in the night. We do not have fear of snakes and dacoits now. Most of our problems have now been solved,” observed Kamala Bai, a resident of Chaith.

Apart from Chaith, 26 other villages have also been electrified under this project.

Chaith village has become a shining example of putting solar energy to use.

“In total, 182 homes have been electrified and lights have been fitted. 18 street lights and many more gadgets are going to be fixed to finish the final phase of electrifying the entire village,” said S. K. Chauhan, Divisional Officer of Energy Development Corporation.

Renewable energy sources contribute about five percent of India’s electricity. Solar energy with an apt technology promises to be one of the most replenishing, pollution free and inexhaustible sources of energy. By Ashok Pal (ANI)

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The biological basis for the 8-hour work-shift

April 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, April 24 (ANI): Your usual nine to five office shift has a biological reason behind it, and now scientists have found that some genes in the body are switched on once every 12 or 8 hours, which in turn keeps us actively involved in the work, according to a new study.

The findings by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies indicated that shorter cycles of the circadian rhythm are also biologically encoded.

Already, scientists know that some genes are controlled by the clock and are turned on only one time during each 24-hour cycle.

In the new study, researchers looked at gene activity in the mouse liver every hour for 48 hours using a novel time-sampling approach.

They also found 10-fold more genes controlled by the 24-hour clock than previously reported.

This the first report where researchers have found other periodicities than the 24-hour cycle functioning in a live animal.

According to researchers, these findings have implications for better understanding disruptions to normal circadian rhythms that contribute to a host of pathologies such as cardiovascular and metabolic disease, cancer, and aging-related disorders.

“The principal frequency, which is not a surprise, is the 24-hour cycle, and it is the most prevalent. What was a surprise to us – although we set up the experiment to see exactly this – are the 12-hour and the 8-hour cycles,” said senior author John Hogenesch, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology in the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at Penn.

To uncover these shorter oscillations, researchers isolated RNA from the livers of mice every hour for 48 hours.

Microarray analysis showed that more than 3,000 genes were expressed on a circadian rhythm – which account for approximately 4 percent of all of the genes expressed in the liver.

In addition, 260 genes were expressed on a 12-hour cycle and 63 genes were expressed on an 8-hour cycle.

The researchers saw similar 12-hour gene expression patterns in five other tissues.

“There is an obvious biological basis to a 12-hour rhythm. The 12-hour genes predicted dusk and dawn. These are two really, really stressful transitions that your body goes through and your mind goes through. Anybody who has young children realizes that they are more likely to cry around those times – and you’re more likely to cry with them,” said Hogenesch.

The shift in gene expression controlled by these harmonics can help an animal prepare for the behavioural and physiological changes that accompany the shift from light to dark and back.

“We have less of a handle on the 8-hour rhythms, but the fact that we can see them reliably means to me there is the possibility that there could be a biological basis to an 8-hour cycle,” he said.

The study appears in the April issue of PLoS Genetics (ANI)

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Navy Seals kill three Somali pirates

April 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Apr.13 (ANI): Navy Seals killed three Somali pirates and rescued an American ship captain in a daring operation in the Indian Ocean on Sunday.

The encounter ended a five-day hostage standoff between United States naval forces and a small band of brigands in a covered orange lifeboat off the Horn of Africa, reports the New York Times.

Acting on President Obama’s authorization and in the belief that Captain Richard Phillips was in imminent danger of being killed by his captors, the Navy Seals opened fire and picked off the three captors who were on the fantail of the destroyer Bainbridge.

Two of the captors had poked their heads out of a rear hatch of the lifeboat, exposing themselves to clear shots, and the third could be seen through a window in the bow, pointing an automatic rifle at the captain, who was tied up inside the 18-foot lifeboat, senior Navy officials said.

It took only three remarkable shots – one each by snipers firing from a distance at dusk, using night-vision scopes, the officials said. Within minutes, members of the Special Forces slid down ropes from the Bainbridge, climbed aboard the lifeboat and found the three pirates dead. They then untied Captain Phillips, ending the contretemps at sea that had riveted much of the world’s attention. A fourth pirate had surrendered earlier.

Shortly after his rescue, Captain Phillips was taken aboard the Bainbridge, underwent a medical exam and was found to be in relatively good condition for a 53-year-old seafarer who had been held since Wednesday by pirates who had demanded two million dollars for his life. (ANI)

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Shortage of electricity provokes UP villagers to boycott polls

April 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Banthara (Lucknow), Apr 13 (ANI): Peeved at shortage of electric power and other civic amenities, residents of Banthara, a village in Uttar Pradesh, have decided to boycott upcoming parliamentary polls.

They have also resolved not let any politician or party representatives enter their village.

Incidentally, Bantahra with a population of 3500, is located just 22 kilometres away from Lucknow, on the outskirts of a radar tracking station of the Indian Air Force.

Yet it has been facing severe shortage of electricity as a result of which, the residents are unable to draw water from their bore-wells.

As if to add to their woes, the water taps in the village are erratic.
Consequently, the villagers wished to express their ire and they have erected banners reading ‘No electricity-no vote’ on the main road leading to Banthara.

According to the residents, they anticipated that the Central parliamentarian and state legislator whom they elected would understand their plight and take up remedial measures.

However, their hopes happened to be a mirage, prompting the village en-masse to boycott the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha.

“This time, we have decided, ‘no electricity-no vote’. Even though we are just 18-22 kilometres from the capital, we don’t get electricity for eight hours. In this situation, we are forced to boycott the elections. We are worse than interiors regions. If we don’t get electricity we are as good or bad as an interior isolated habitat,” said Brijesh Singh, a resident.

The villagers claim that they receive electricity for merely 90 minutes in a day, bringing to standstill almost all activities.

The traders complain of huge losses due to lack of electricity. The students say they can hardly study after dusk for want of light.

“The main problem is that the children can’t study. We can sleep using mosquito repellents or mosquito nets but studies of children suffer. There are very few water taps in the village and people have water pumps. The water problem is related to shortage of electricity. Rest development has taken place in our village,” added Yogendra Singh, another resident. By Kamna Hajela (ANI)

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British police clash with G20 protesters

April 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Police clashed with demonstrators gathered around the Bank of England in the heart of London’s financial centre on Wednesday during a day of protest against the G20 summit.

Riot police staged baton charges to try to disperse several hundred people protesting against a financial system they said had robbed the poor to benefit the rich.

Demonstrators earlier attacked a nearby branch of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), shattering three windows.

Rescued by the government in October, RBS and former boss Fred Goodwin, who controversially refused to give up a pension of 700,000 ($1 million), became lightning rods for public anger in Britain over banker excess blamed for the financial crisis.

During the protests one man died after he collapsed and stopped breathing. Police said they tried to resuscitate him but that they came under a hail of bottles. The man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A police source said it was likely the man died from a medical condition but that a post-mortem was needed.

The protests in London’s City financial area coincided with a G20 meeting of the world’s leading and emerging economies.

Protesters hurled paint bombs and bottles, chanting: “Our streets! Our banks!”

RBS said in a statement it was “aware of the violence” outside its branch and “had already taken the precautionary step” of closing central City branches.

As dusk fell, police charged a hard core of anti-capitalist demonstrators in an attempt to disperse them before nightfall. Bottles flew through the air towards police lines and police on horseback stood by ready to intervene.

Some protesters set fire to an effigy of a banker hanging from a lamp post.

Police brought out dogs as they tried to channel the few hundred remaining protesters through the narrow streets surrounding the classical, stone-clad Bank of England.

Police said 63 protesters had been arrested by late evening and at least one officer was taken to hospital for treatment, although he was not believed to be seriously hurt.

Some 4,000 protesters had thronged outside the central bank. A Gucci store nearby was closed and had emptied its windows.

Demonstrations were planned for Thursday at the venue in east London where world leaders will discuss plans to fight the financial crisis, police said.

HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE

During Wednesday’s protests, demonstrators marched behind models of the “four horsemen of the apocalypse” representing financial crimes, war, climate change and homelessness.

Some threw eggs at police and chanted, “Build a bonfire, put the bankers on the top”. Others shouted “Jump” and “Shame on you” at financial sector workers watching the march from office block windows.

“I am angry at the hubris of the government, the hubris of the bankers,” said Jean Noble, a 60-year-old from Blackburn in northern England.

“I am here on behalf of the poor, those who are not going to now get their pension or who have lost their houses while these fat cats keep their bonuses, hide their money in tax havens and go and live where nobody can touch them.”

A smaller demonstration against Britain’s military role in Iraq and Afghanistan attracted several hundred people in Trafalgar Square, not far from parliament.

The protests, which brought together anti-capitalists, environmentalists, anti-war campaigners and others, were meant to mark what demonstrators called “Financial Fools’ Day” — a reference to April Fool’s Day which falls on April 1.

Police stopped a military-style armoured vehicle with the word “RIOT” printed on the front and a police spokesman said its 11 occupants were arrested for having fake police uniforms.

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Thai monks offer prayers for peace in Bodh Gaya

November 5, 2008 By Rajiv Gupta Leave a Comment

Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Monks from Thailand offered prayers for world peace and sculpted out an idol of Lord Buddha in Bodh Gaya on Sunday.

The 33-member delegation offered prayers for the well being of the people of the entire world.

“We have come from Thailand to build Lord’s Buddha idol,” said Payap Shinawatra, a monk from Thailand.

Later, the monks got together and worked continuously for 12 hours to sculpt out a statue of Lord Buddha.

The monks said that according to the culture of northern Thailand, making a statue of Lord Buddha from dawn to dusk, without any break, fulfills one’s wishes.

Lord Buddha, founder of Buddhism, had attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya in Bihar. (ANI)

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