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India Air Force activates Nyoma airfield close to China border

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 18 (ANI): The Indian Air Force in a significant move today activated its Nyoma Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) to support the Army in carrying out operations in the inhospitable terrain.

An IAF AN-32 aircraft landed at Nyoma ALG, which is located at an altitude of 13,300 feet in Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir, at 6:25 a.m. today. It is located 23 kms from the Line of Actual Control. (LAC).

The successful landing of a fixed wing aircraft at Nyoma marks the culmination of joint effort by the IAF and Indian Army to enable the IAF to operate in the inhospitable terrain of Leh-Ladakh region in support of the Army.

The landing comes just fifteen months after an AN-32 landed at Daulat-Beg-Oldie (DBO), the highest airfield in the world situated at an altitude of 16,200 feet.

Group Captain SC Chafekar touched down on the Nyoma airstrip. Air Marshal NAK Browne, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Air Command and Lieutenant General PC Bharadwaj, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command on board.

Though helicopters have been landing at this ALG, this is for the first time that a fixed wing aircraft has landed at the compact airstrip of Nyoma.

After deliberating on all aspects and carrying out aerial and ground inspection, it was concluded that Nyoma could be developed for fixed wing operations as well.

The Engineer Regiments of 14 Corps undertook the herculean task of developing the ALG to the standards required for fixed wing operations.

Joint development of Nyoma braving the extremely difficult working conditions and hostile weather is yet another step towards enhanced joint partnership between the two services.

Nyoma has been developed with an aim to connect the remote areas of Ladakh region to the mainland. This would also ensure movements in the area when the road traffic gets affected, during the harsh winters besides enabling improved communication network in the region. (ANI)

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NASA’s Swift satellite makes best-ever ultraviolet portrait of Andromeda galaxy

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 17 (ANI): NASA’s Swift satellite has acquired the highest-resolution view of a neighboring spiral galaxy ever attained in the ultraviolet.

The galaxy, known as M31 in the constellation Andromeda, is the largest and closest spiral galaxy to our own.

“Swift reveals about 20,000 ultraviolet sources in M31, especially hot, young stars and dense star clusters,” said Stefan Immler, a research scientist on the Swift team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

“Of particular importance is that we have covered the galaxy in three ultraviolet filters. That will let us study M31′s star-formation processes in much greater detail than previously possible,” he added.

M31, also known as the Andromeda Galaxy, is more than 220,000 light-years across and lies 2.5 million light-years away.

On a clear, dark night, the galaxy is faintly visible as a misty patch to the naked eye.

Between May 25 and July 26, 2008, Swift’s Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) acquired 330 images of M31 at wavelengths of 192.8, 224.6, and 260 nanometers.

The images represent a total exposure time of 24 hours.

The task of assembling the resulting 85 gigabytes of images fell to Erin Grand, an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland at College Park who worked with Immler as an intern this summer.

“After ten weeks of processing that immense amount of data, I’m extremely proud of this new view of M31,” she said.

Several features are immediately apparent in the new mosaic.

The first is the striking difference between the galaxy’s central bulge and its spiral arms.

“The bulge is smoother and redder because it’s full of older and cooler stars,” Immler explained. “Very few new stars form here because most of the materials needed to make them have been depleted,” he added.

Dense clusters of hot, young, blue stars sparkle beyond the central bulge.

M31′s disk and spiral arms contain most of the gas and dust needed to produce new generations of stars.

Star clusters are especially plentiful in an enormous ring about 150,000 light-years across.

“Swift is surveying nearby galaxies like M31 so astronomers can better understand star- formation conditions and relate them to conditions in the distant galaxies where we see gamma-ray bursts occurring,” said Neil Gehrels, the mission’s principal investigator at NASA Goddard. (ANI)

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Pak-New Zealand ODI series to be held in UAE

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Lahore, Sep 14 (ANI): Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ijaz Butt has said that he has had constructive talks with Emirates Cricket Board officials about holding a proposed ODI series against New Zealand there later this year.

Butt, who is in London, said that he would officially announce the venues for the four One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 matches on Monday after returning home.

“The venues, 90 per cent, would be Abu Dhabi and Dubai once again,” The News quoted Butt, as saying.

New Zealand has refused to tour Pakistan for the scheduled series in October this year because of the volatile security situation in the country.

However, it has agreed to play the matches at neutral venues and host the three Tests in New Zealand in November-December.

Pakistan has already played a one-day series with Australia in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in April-May this year.

Butt visit to the Emirates came after differences erupted over the hosting fees being demanded by the Abu Dhabi and Dubai cricket bodies.

After meeting with the Emirates board officials, Butt travelled to London where he held two rounds of talks with Giles Clarke who heads the Wales and English cricket Board and also leads the special task force of the International Cricket Council formed to explore possibilities for resumption of international cricket in Pakistan. (ANI)

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Onus on Pak to unveil 26/11 conspiracy, says Krishna

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep.10 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday put the onus of unveiling the conspiracy behind the Mumbai attacks on Pakistan.

While confirming that the foreign secretaries of the two countries – Nirupama Rao and Salman Bashir – would be meeting in New York on the sidelines of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly, Krishna ruled out having any meaningful dialogue with Islamabad till it took concrete steps to nail those responsible for last year’s terror strike.

Krishna also said that he would be meeting his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York.

He said Rao and Bashir would discuss the progress made on the investigation of the 26/11 attacks and prosecution of those arrested in connection with it.

“It is in our vital interest to normalize our relations with Pakistan. However, we are at a stage where it is for Pakistan to determine the kind of relationship that it wants to have with India,” Krishna told the Editors Guild in New Delhi.

“Clearly, the onus is on Pakistan to unveil the conspiracy,” he said, adding India had sought to “assist” them in that task by providing vital evidence.

He said Pakistan is safeguarding terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed and that the Indian Government was in no doubt that he was the brain behind the Mumbai terror attack.

Krishna underlined that terrorism would remain his focus when he meets Qureshi.

New Delhi maintains that it has given enough evidence to Islamabad for it to prosecute the 26/11 accused.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who is currently in the United States briefing the Obama administration about the steps New Delhi has taken so far vis-’-vis the 26/11 probe, has categorically stated that the Pakistan Government is holding up the trial of Saeed and other state actors. (ANI)

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Chidambaram discusses counter-terrorism, 26/11 update with US officials

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram held meetings here with senior Obama administration officials, including National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. (retired) James Jones, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and the U.S. Attorney General Eric H Holder Jr. on Wednesday.

Enhanced co-operation between India and US on tackling terrorism particularly in South Asia dominated the discussions, sources said.

Pakistan’s inaction in dealing with the perpetrators of 26/11 was also raised.

Chidambaram also met Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Chairwoman of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Chidambaram is scheduled to meet the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday.

On Tuesday, officials from FBI, intelligence and security agencies and the New York Police briefed Chidambaram about the measures being taken by them to prevent a Mumbai-type terrorist attack.

From walking at the Penn Station, to a briefing by the New York Police, which had made several changes in its counter-terrorism measures post the 26/11 attacks, Chidambaram and his team of officials got to know what a mega city like New York can do to protect itself from terrorists without inconveniencing its residents.

Chidambaram was also informed about the coast guard facility at Staten Island. It was an important aspect of his trip given that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26 last year entered Mumbai through the sea route.

Within hours of his landing in New York, Chidambaram visited the Joint Terror Task Force Centre of the FBI where he was given an exclusive briefing by the New York Police Department.

Before leaving New York City for Washington by train, Chidambaram was briefed about security of the Mass Transport System at the Penn station.

The Home Minister is also scheduled to meet the top US intelligence and security officials, including FBI Director Robert Mueller and Director of National Intelligence Dennis C Blair; besides meeting National Security Adviser, Gen (Retd) James Jones at the White House. A tour of the National Counter-terrorism Centre in Virginia is also on his itinerary.

Besides meeting experts and think-tanks” members, Chidambaram is expected to hold talks with key US lawmakers, including Senator Joe Lieberman, Chairman, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; and Congressman Sylvester Reyes, Chairman, House Select Committee on Intelligence. (ANI)

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Forgotten memories still exist in the brain

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): A new research by UC Irvine neuroscientists suggests that memories exist even when forgotten.

With the help of advanced brain imaging techniques, the study’s scientists discovered that a person’s brain activity while remembering an event is very similar to when it was first experienced, even if specifics can’t be recalled.

“If the details are still there, hopefully we can find a way to access them,” said Jeff Johnson, postdoctoral researcher at UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and lead author of the study, appearing Sept. 10 in the journal Neuron.

“By understanding how this works in young, healthy adults, we can potentially gain insight into situations where our memories fail more noticeably, such as when we get older,” he said.

“It also might shed light on the fate of vivid memories of traumatic events that we may want to forget,” he added.

In collaboration with scientists at Princeton University, Johnson and colleague Michael Rugg, CNLM director, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity of students.

Inside an fMRI scanner, the students were shown words and asked to perform various tasks: imagine how an artist would draw the object named by the word, think about how the object is used, or pronounce the word backward in their minds. The scanner captured images of their brain activity during these exercises.

About 20 minutes later, the students viewed the words a second time and were asked to remember any details linked to them. Again, brain activity was recorded.

Utilizing a mathematical method called pattern analysis, the scientists associated the different tasks with distinct patterns of brain activity. When a student had a strong recollection of a word from a particular task, the pattern was very similar to the one generated during the task.

When recollection was weak or nonexistent, the pattern was not as prominent but still recognizable as belonging to that particular task.

“The pattern analyzer could accurately identify tasks based on the patterns generated, regardless of whether the subject remembered specific details,” Johnson said.

“This tells us the brain knew something about what had occurred, even though the subject was not aware of the information,” the expert added. (ANI)

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MIC CWC candidate urges Indian businessmen to think big

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Petaling Jaya (Malaysia), Sep. 9 (ANI): Malaysian Indian Congress’s CWC seat hopeful Jaspal Singh has urged Malay-Indian businessmen to think big and incorporate technology into their ventures for more profit.

Singh said Indians should be prepared to work hard and take up challenges to compete at a global platform.

“Investors will come to Malaysia to open business here and we cannot be asking for protection. We must prepare ourselves to stand on our own two feet,” the Star Online quoted Singh, as saying.

Singh has been given the task of coordinating the construction of two 18-storey tower blocks in Bandar Utama which will become the new MIC headquarters.

During his campaign, Jaspal said he would strive for excellence, bring innovation to deliver change effectively and efficiently and be result-oriented.

Singh, who born in Bedong in 1962, enrolled for a engineering degree course at Universiti Malaya.

The secretary of the MIC economic bureau is credited for a development programme to assist new entrepreneurs. (ANI)

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Chidambaram meets FBI, New York Police officials, gets anti-terrorism tips

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York/Washington, Sep.9 (ANI): India’s Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday, was briefed by officials from FBI, intelligence and security agencies and the New York Police about the measures being taken by them to prevent a Mumbai-type terrorist attack.

Within hours of his landing in New York, Chidambaram visited the Joint Terror Task Force Centre of the FBI where he was given an exclusive briefing by the New York Police Department.

Before leaving New York City for Washington by train, Chidambaram was briefed about security of the Mass Transport System at the Penn station.

In Washington, Chidambaram will meet with top Obama Administration officials, heads of intelligence and security agencies and influential lawmakers over the next three days.

Apart from discussing the 26/11 dossiers that India has submitted to Pakistan,Chidambaram will also discuss issues related to combating financing of terrorism and steps which will need to be taken in this regard as well as with regard to prevention of money laundering.

Ways to strengthen Indo-US anti-terrorism cooperation are among the issues likely to figure prominently in the talks on Wednesday and Thursday.

Chidambaram will meet his counterpart Janet Napolitano; Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Attorney General Eric H Holder.

Besides meeting experts and think-tanks’ members, Chidambaram is expected to hold talks with key US lawmakers, including Senator Joe Lieberman, Chairman, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; and Congressman Sylvester Reyes, Chairman, House Select Committee on Intelligence. (ANI)

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Malaysian Indian Congress working committee has two Punjabis candidates

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur, Sep. 7 (ANI): In an unprecedented move, the Malaysian Indian Congress has kept two Punjabi hopefuls on the preferred list of candidates for the party’s central working committee (CWC).

MIC President S. Samy Vellu has endorsed J. Randhir Singh from Johor and G. Jaspal Singh from Selangor among 27 candidates, who will be part of party’s decision making body.

According to a part source, one of the two was being groomed by Samy Vellu to fill the vacancy left by former vice president K.S. Nijhar.

“But it will be an uphill task since both are newcomers and are going for the same allocation. And there are only a few north Indian delegates,” the New Strait Times quoted him, as saying.

“There are many candidates vying for the 23 CWC seats and these two are newcomers. They have so little time and the delegates want to get to know them more. They will have to work hard in whatever little time they have,” said another source.

Though popular in their own states, the two candidates are relatively unknown at the national level.

But Randhir is not letting that hamper his chances. He is leveraging on his father Jasbir Singh’s popularity, who has been the Pontian division chairman for the past 45 years.

“I am using the picture with my father because many people recognise my father for his long service to the party. I want to tell them that I am the second generation who will continue what he has been doing for the community,” Randhir said of an appeal in newspapers which shows him along with his father.

Being a non-Tamil speaking candidate in a predominantly Tamil speaking party is a non-issue, as far as he is concerned.

“My father doesn’t speak Tamil as well and he has been division chairman for 45 years. Language is not a barrier. What is important is your ability and willingness to work for the betterment of the community,” he said.

Being on Samy Vellu’s list of endorsed candidates showed that the president recognises the work of non-governmental organisations, he said. (ANI)

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Malaysian Indian Congress working committee has two Punjabis candidates

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

MIC President S. Samy Vellu has endorsed J. Randhir Singh from Johor and G. Jaspal Singh from Selangor among 27 candidates, who will be part of party’s decision making body.

According to a part source, one of the two was being groomed by Samy Vellu to fill the vacancy left by former vice president K.S. Nijhar.

“But it will be an uphill task since both are newcomers and are going for the same allocation. And there are only a few north Indian delegates,” the New Strait Times quoted him, as saying.

Though popular in their own states, the two candidates are relatively unknown at the national level.

But Randhir is not letting that hamper his chances. He is leveraging on his father Jasbir Singh’s popularity, who has been the Pontian division chairman for the past 45 years.

Being a non-Tamil speaking candidate in a predominantly Tamil speaking party is a non-issue, as far as he is concerned.

“My father doesn’t speak Tamil as well and he has been division chairman for 45 years.

Language is not a barrier. What is important is your ability and willingness to work for the betterment of the community,” he said.

Being on Samy Vellu’s list of endorsed candidates showed that the president recognises the work of non-governmental organisations, he said. (ANI)

‘Musharraf to participate in Pak politics after November 30′

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep 7 (ANI): Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would actively participate in politics after November 30 when a two-year constitutional bar on him holding public office comes to an end, according to a former minister.

Addressing reporters in Islamabad, former federal minister and central leader of the PML-Q, Chaudhry Shahbaz, said on Sunday that he held several meetings with the former president in London and also met him recently in Jeddah.

“Musharraf would unite various factions of the PML-Q and participate in politics from that platform,” said Shahbaz who served as Minister for Population Welfare in the Musharraf regime.

He said the two-year constitutional restriction, which prevents Musharraf from participating in politics, would end on November 30, after which he would announce his future strategy, the Daily Times reported.

Shahbaz termed Musharraf a “visionary leader whose services are required by the nation.

“After Benazir Bhutto, we have no leader … who can deliver lectures in 17 countries. Musharraf is recognised all over the world,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said he was part of the Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain-led faction of the PML-Q.

Asked about differences between Musharraf and the Chaudhry brothers, he said, “Sometimes, even brothers can develop differences. But these differences can be settled.”

Asked if any mutual friends were trying to resolve differences between the two sides, he said an effort could be launched.

“It would not be an uphill task,” he said. He said a trial for the former president could open a Pandora’s box. (ANI)

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Senior FBI agent says Gaddafi may have sanctioned Lockerbie bombing

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Jerusalem, Sep. 4 (ANI): A senior FBI agent has claimed that Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi must have personally okayed the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people.

Richard Marquise, an FBI veteran who led the US task force probing the December 1988 blast, said it is unthinkable that such a major terrorist attack in a regime like Libya could have been authorized without Gaddafi’s approval.

“If you were a senior minister, would you do this without telling the boss? I doubt it. I have to think [Gaddafi] knew something was going to happen, something that the US would be pissed about, and he said OK,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Marquise, as saying.

He said investigators had tried to pursue the chain of responsibility up through the Libyan hierarchy, but had been unable to muster the necessary evidence.

“We couldn’t make the connections… A lot of names came up… We had names of people in the Libyan hierarchy, buying radios, making inquiries about putting bombs in radios,” Marquise said.

The bomb that destroyed Pan Am 103 was hidden in a Toshiba radio cassette player.

“But there was no real overt act [that could serve as the basis for an indictment. It would have been nice to indict the entire Libyan regime, but our system wouldn’t allow for it. It would have been a real struggle to show Gaddafi and others in the chain,” he said.

Marquise said he was also convinced that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the former Libyan intelligence officer who is the only man ever convicted in the attack, was no “rogue” agent.

“It had been hoped that Megrahi would give us the whole story, and go up the chain. That didn’t happen. And Megrahi never talked. He did everything for his leader,” he said. (ANI)

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Maoists attack private plant in Bihar, kidnap security guards

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, Sep 2 (ANI): About 400 armed Maoists attacked a plant owned by a private road construction firm and kidnapped six security guards on Wednesday in the Jamui district of Bihar.

The Jamui district comes under the Maoist affected areas of the state.

According to Additional Director General of Police Neelamani, the red ultras raided the SMPL’s plant at Hariondhi village and damaged pay loaders and three trucks.

Neelamani confirmed the kidnapping of six private security guards of the company by the Naxals.

The non-payment of ransom demanded by the Maoists from the private firm owner was said to be the reason behind the attack, Neelmani said

The Special Task Force (STF) And the District armed policemen had an encounter with the Maoists for some time after the incident, but they managed to escape into the thick forest area on Jamui-Chakai road, sources said. (ANI)

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First round of Indo-Swiss talks on black money to be held in December

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug. 31 (ANI): The first round of consultations between New Delhi and the Swiss Government on tracing the black money deposited in tax havens in that country will be held in December.

However, there is no guarantee of prosecution of offenders on the basis of information secured from them.

According to Finance Ministry sources, Indian officials will have their first round of discussions with officials of Swiss government to evolve a legal system that will enable India to trace black money.

They said that such a system could be evolved through a Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty (DTAT) with Switzerland on the model of the agreements reached with countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Although, the DTAT could lead to information being secured from Switzerland in specific cases (in which individuals would have violated laws in India), but it cannot guarantee that such persons could also be prosecuted for that offence, they pointed out.

In April, Germany gave information in a case where an individual had violated tax laws and on the information given by the German government tax due from him was also collected.

But Germany gave the information on the specific condition that no prosecution would be launched against the individual and the government had to comply with that condition

Getting information from the Swiss banks was not an easy task, and Indian government will have to become eligible to ask for such information under a proper bilateral treaty.

Recently, the US government successfully tracked some cases of American citizens stashing away their money there. The US could even prosecute them. (ANI)

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Reserve Bank engaged in keeping inflation low

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug. 31 (ANI): Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty on Monday said the bank is faced with the challenging task of keeping inflation in check, when food price inflation has already reached around 10 percent.

“The food price inflation is already around 10 percent. Our key challenge is how to keep the inflationary pressure low,” he said while speaking at an event of the Institute of Banking.

He dwelt on a range of issues from drought to interest rates to government borrowings, and said the country would continue to grow at 6 percent-plus.

However, he pointed out that if the “drought affects the agriculture growth, it will partly affect the growth number”.

Commenting on interest rates, he ruled out any further cuts and said the central bank could even reverse its expansionary stance if the drought-induced inflationary prices go out of control.

“I don’t think today anybody is expecting interest rates to come down further,” he said.

Admitting the huge government borrowing to have exerted some pressure on interest rates, which have “already gone up a little-bit,” he said he expects interest rates to be stable as of now. (ANI)

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Government to scrap all health regulatory bodies

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug.28 (ANI): The Union Health Ministry has decided to scrap all health regulatory bodies, including the Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India, Pharmacy Council and the Nursing Council.

There will instead be a single regulatory body-the National Council for Human Resources in Health, which will oversee seven departments related to medicine, nursing, dentistry, rehabilitation and physiotherapy, pharmacy, public health/hospital management and allied health sciences.

However, the move needs a formal government notification.

Sources have claimed that medical education today is dictated by bank balance and caste.

The existing councils, besides being unwieldy, have failed to provide a synergistic approach and there is an urgent need for innovation in health-related education.

Sources said the task force report has been discussed with the Prime Minister on August 26, 2009, which state, “Professional councils such as the MCI/ Nursing and Pharmacy Councils have been set up to regulate the practice of their respective professions, including education.

However, it also says that many of these councils have drawn criticism from all sections of society and got judicial censure on several occasions.”

This action comes barely two months after a private television channel exposed private medical schools in Tamil Nadu charging students huge capitation fees.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has since initiated action against the erring colleges. The state government has issued showcause notices to both the private medical colleges after the scam came to light. (ANI)

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Mirren to star in big-screen remake of Graham Greene’s novel Brighton Rock

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 28 (ANI): Actress Dame Helen Mirren is set to star in new film Brighton Rock, adapted from Graham Greene’s classic 1939 novel of the same title.

The Oscar winner will play amateur detective Ida Arnold in the movie.

The plot revolves around teenager Pinkie, who seduces a young waitress after she stumbles on evidence linking him and his gang to a revenge killing committed by Pinkie.

Mirren will have the task cut out to find the truth behind the killing.

Rowan Joffe has written the script and will direct the film too.

And he intends to make it look as contemporary as possible.

“We’re making Brighton Rock as contemporary as we possibly can because the story feels ‘modern’. It’s too alive, too vibrant and too relevant to be contained in the late 1930s,” the BBC News quoted him as saying.

Also starring in the film, set in 1964, is Sam Riley, who will play the lead character Pinkie Brown apart from Pete Postlethwaite and Happy Go Lucky’s Andrea Riseborough.

Shooting is scheduled to start in October this year. (ANI)

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Malay minister backs adding Tamil language in ATMs

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 27(ANI): Malaysian Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam has said he would to ensure that the Tamil language is included in ATMs.

Currently, banking transactions can only be done in English, Malay or Chinese.

Subramaniam said that in the Internet era, it would not be a difficult task for banks to incorporate Tamil in their machines. (ANI)

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Brain predicts what eyes in motion will see

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 26 (ANI): A New study ahs shown that the brain predicts what one is going to see before the eyes take in a new scene.

Published in the Journal of Vision, a research article on the study reveals that people participating in it were asked to shift their eyes to a clock with a fast-moving hand, and to report the time on the clock when their eyes landed on it.

The report says that the average reported time was 39 milliseconds before the actual time.

As a control task, the clock moved instead of the eyes, and the reported arrival times averaged 27 milliseconds after the actual time.

“We’ve revealed a moment in time when things are not perceived as they actually are. These findings serve as a reminder that every aspect of our experience is constructed by our brains,” said lead researcher Dr. Amelia Hunt, of the University of Aberdeen’s School of Psychology.

The study suggests that the prediction is a result of remapping, where neurons involved in visual perception become active or dormant to help the brain maintain a stable visual environment despite the constant shift of images on the retina.

The report says: “Remapping allows locations to be continuously represented across the eye movement by maintaining both current and expected locations simultaneously, facilitating the transition between the two.” Hunt added: “The finding implies that we experience the predicted consequence of an eye movement as though it is actually occurring, albeit just for a moment.”

Hunt said that the research might lead to more investigation of the brain’s ability to predict and its role in perception, as well as the link between brain activity and actual experience.

She said that the next step might be to examine under what circumstances predictive processes occur, what function they serve, and to what degree they influence the perception of events. (ANI)

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The more you ‘media multi-task’, the worse you are at it

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Melbourne, August 25 (ANI): An American study suggests that media multi-taskers who like watching YouTube, following Twitter, writing e-mail, and talking on the phone are generally not very good at any of their tasks.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the study was led by researchers at Stanford University.

In their study report, the researchers have revealed that they were looking for the secret to good media multi-taskers, but instead found broad-based incompetence.

“We knew that multitasking was difficult from a cognitive perspective. We thought, ‘What’s this special ability that people have that allows them to multitask?’” ABC Science quoted lead author Professor Eyal Ophir as saying.

“Rather than finding things that they were doing better, we found things they were doing worse,” Ophir added.

During the study, the researchers questioned a group of Stanford students about their use of media to categorise them as either heavy or light media multi-taskers, and then conducted a series of tests that involved comparing two patterns of rectangles shown 900 milliseconds apart to determine if they were identical.

The team observed that, without distractions, both groups performed equally.

However, upon adding distractions, the researchers observed that the heavy media multi-taskers took longer to respond and made more mistakes.

The experts said that similar results emerged when they conducted a second test, involving switching from a number task to a letter-based task.

Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that high media multi-taskers had difficulty focusing, and were not able to ignore irrelevant information.

“Heavy media multi-taskers are more likely to respond to stimuli outside the realm of their task. They may be sacrificing performance on the primary task to let in other sources of information,” they wrote in the study paper.

The researchers believe the study is significant as multitasking is becoming more widespread, with some jobs requiring workers to keep an instant message window open.

Ophir, however, says that there is one bright side to such distraction – media multi-taskers will be first to notice anything new. (ANI)

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