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Pak inks 220-million-dollar satellite deal with China

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, Sep. 19 (ANI): Pakistan has signed an agreement with China to provide a 220-million-dollar financial grant to help the Islamic country launch a communication satellite.

The operational life of Pakistan’s existing satellite PAKSAT-1 will be over in November 2011.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Luo Zhaohui and Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Secretary Farrukh Qayyum signed the contract.

“China has agreed to fund the project through a soft loan with low mark up for a period of 20 years,” the Daily Times quoted Qayyum, as saying.

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Organisation (SUPARCO) and the China Great Wall Industry Corporation have agreed to develop the new satellite PAKSAT-1R, which would replace PAKSAT-1 in September 2011, he added.

The satellite will support all conventional and modern fixed satellite service (FSS) applications.

The satellite will have 30 transponders, 18 in the Ku-band and 12 in C-band (ANI)

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Faster, simpler Facebook Lite site available in India, US

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 12 (ANI): Social networking site Facebook has launched a slimmed-down version of its site for people with slow or poor Internet connections, and it is currently available only in India and the US.

Facebook’s Lite site, which will be faster and simpler because it offers fewer services than the main site, had initially been meant to support users in developing countries, where bandwidth constraints make the current version too slow to use.

The company said around 70 percent of its more than 250 million users were from outside America, with countries in Southeast Asia and Europe seeing a massive increase in growth where fast Internet connections are more common.

News about Facebook testing the Lite site first leaked out in August, with its options said to be limited to letting users write on their wall, post photos and videos, view events and browse other people’s profiles.

“It appears, at a quick glance, to be a better site for Facebook newbies or for anyone who finds the current site overwhelming and noisy,” the BBC quoted Rafe Needleman at technology website Cnet as saying.

“The new layout feels almost Twitter-like,” he said.

Terence O’Brien at Switched.com gave the slimmed-down version of what he called “ol’ blue” the thumbs-up because it “strips away distractions”.

“The simple site loads noticeably faster, is easier to navigate, and is much easier on the eyes thanks to the lack of people sending you ‘virtual booze’ or asking you to join their ‘vampire fraternity’,” he said.

“The new layout seems like a direct challenge to Twitter, which can attribute much of its success to is simplicity and portability,” he stated.

Many industry watchers said they believed that even users with good Internet connections might well flock to Facebook Lite because of its new look and ease of use.

“That is what some US users are planning to do,” Eric Eldon of InsideFacebook.com said.

“Indeed the reaction from US users has prompted Facebook to release it intentionally for US users, something it hadn’t previously planned on doing,” he added.

Eldon also said he believed a “worldwide rollout doesn’t seem too far away”.

Facebook has acknowledged this is a possibility in a statement on the site, which said the firm was “working on translating Lite into other languages”.

Anyone who switches to Facebook Lite and does not like it can switch back to the fuller version of the site. (ANI)

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Britain, France feared Berlin Wall fall would mark return of Nazi era

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep.10 (ANI): Britain and France feared the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 would return Nazi-era ambitions to Germany.

East German border guards demolished a section of the wall on November 11, 1989

Secret British government documents to be published on Friday reveal the deep anxieties felt by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Frangois Mitterrand, following the fall of the wall.

According to The Telegraph, the documents, published by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, show that Mitterrand privately warned Lady Thatcher that a reunited Germany might “make even more ground than had Hitler”.

They also show that in January 1990, weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mitterrand warned Lady Thatcher that the prospect of reunification was turning the Germans into the “bad” people they used to be.

Thatcher’s deep-seated opposition to reunification, and her disagreement with the FCO over the issue, also emerges in the 500 published papers.

The Government’s decision to publish the papers, ahead of Germany’s 20th anniversary celebrations of the fall of the wall, will be seen as an attempt to show that officials were positive about reunification early on, despite Lady Thatcher’s personal concerns. (ANI)

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1st century A.D. colossal statue of Greek God Apollo unearthed in Turkey

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 9 (ANI): Italian archaeologists have unearthed a 1st century A.D. colossal statue of Apollo, the Greek god of the sun, light, music and poetry, from white calcified cliffs in southwestern Turkey.

Colossal statues were very popular in antiquity, as evidenced by the lost giant statues of the Colossus of Rhodes and the Colossus of Nero.

Most of them vanished long ago, with their material re-used in other building projects.

“This colossal statue of Apollo is really a unique finding. Such statues are extremely rare in Asia Minor. Only a dozen still survive,” team leader Francesco D’Andria, director of the Institute of Archaeological Heritage, Monuments and Sites at Italy’s National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News.

Split in two huge marble fragments, divided along the bust and the lower part of the sculpture, the 1st century A.D. statue was unearthed at the World Heritage Site of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale.

Founded around 190 B.C. by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum (197 B.C.-159 B.C.), Hierapolis was given over to Rome in 133 B.C.

The Hellenistic city grew into a flourishing Roman city, with temples, a theatre and popular sacred hot springs, believed to have healing properties.

Standing at more than four meters (13 feet) in height, the newly discovered statue, which is missing the head and the arms, might have been one of the most impressive sights in the city.

“It depicts the Greek god Apollo sitting on a throne and holding the cithara with his left arms. The god wears a wonderfully draped tunic. The cloth has a transparency effect to reveal mighty muscles,” said D’Andria.

Inspired by the great classical masterpieces, the artist did not pay the same peculiar attention to the back of the statue.

“This shows that the sculpture was placed against a wall and was supposed to be seen only frontally,” D’Andria noted.

Standing in all its massive regality, the statue was particularly important for the city, since Apollo was venerated as Hierapolis’ divine founder.

The colossal statue was probably the main sculpture at the sanctuary of Apollo, which was intentionally built over an active fault.

“Hierapolis is a unique site, and archaeologists are bringing to light incredible findings each year. As with all the other ancient buildings, the statue will be virtually reconstructed in full detail,” Francesco Gabellone, an architect at the National Research Council in Lecce, told Discovery News. (ANI)

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How birds and mammals evolved to have 4-chambered hearts

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 3 (ANI): Scientists have discovered the first genetic link that can explain how the heart evolved from being a three-chambered to four-chambered organ.

The discovery has shed light on how cold-blooded birds and mammals became warm-blooded.

Frogs have a three-chambered heart consisting of two atria and one ventricle, which sends a concoction of blood that is not fully oxygenated to the rest of the frog’s body.

On the other hand, turtles’ hearts have three chambers, but the single ventricle starts developing a wall, or septum, which makes the heart send blood that is slightly richer in oxygen than the frog’s.

However, birds and mammals have a fully septated ventricle-a bona fide four-chambered heart, which ensures the separation of low-pressure circulation to the lungs, and high-pressure pumping into the rest of the body.

As warm-blooded animals, we use a lot of energy and therefore need a great supply of oxygen for our activities. The four-chambered heart gives us an evolutionary advantage- we’re able to roam, hunt and hide even in the cold of night, or the chill of winter.

But many humans suffer from congenital heart disease, a very common birth defect, which is usually caused by VSD, or ventricular septum defects-a condition that is frequently correctable with surgery

Benoit Bruneau of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, who studies the transcription factor, Tbx5, in early stages of embryological development, has called it “a master regulator of the heart.”

He teamed up with scientists at Michigan State University to examine a wide evolutionary spectrum of animals and found that in the cold-blooded, Tbx5 is expressed uniformly throughout the forming heart’s wall.

On the other hand, warm-blooded embryos showed the protein very clearly restricted to the left side of the ventricle, which allowed for the separation between right and left ventricle.

Interestingly, in the turtle, the molecular signature was found to be transitional as well.

A higher concentration of Tbx5 is found on the left side of the heart, gradually dissipating towards the right.

“The great thing about looking backwards like we’ve done with reptilian evolution is that it gives us a really good handle on how we can now look forward and try to understand how a protein like Tbx5 is involved in forming the heart and how in the case of congenital heart disease its function is impaired,” concluded Bruneau. (ANI)

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High-priced hooker’s mum dismayed over ex-NY Guv Spitzer’s comeback moves

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, Sep.2 (ANI): The mother of the high-priced hooker who famously serviced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has expressed dismay over reports that he may consider running for office again less than two years after the sordid sex scandal.

“Only in America,” Ashley Dupre’s mom, Carolyn Capalbo, told The New York Post.

While Spitzer is discussing the possibility of a run next year, Dupre-who was 22 when the self-described “steamroller” of Albany paid to play with her-is struggling to get back on her feet, said Capalbo.

“I really can’t blame him, but at the same time, my daughter’s having a rough go,” she said at the beach, near her home in Wall. “I can imagine she’s not happy about it.”

“He has more credibility than a 22-year-old,” Ashley’s mom said in disbelief.

Capalbo said her daughter had turned down lucrative offers to make a buck off of the scandal, including posing for nude magazines.

Less than 18 months after he left Albany in a prostitution scandal, Spitzer has held informal discussions in recent weeks about the possibility of making a bid for state comptroller or the US Senate seat currently held by Kirsten Gillibrand, sources said.

The hooker-happy Democrat has also discussed his own halfway-decent poll numbers in recent surveys, which have shown him more popular than Gov. Paterson, whose own numbers have tanked.

“He”s weighing it,” said one source.

But Spitzer hasn”t shown any interest in campaigning for the office he briefly held, sources said.

The sources stressed that Spitzer, who also served two terms as state attorney general before his landslide election as governor in 2006, has not engaged in any active discussions with political consultants.

Reached at his father”s real-estate firm, where he has been working since he resigned as governor last spring, Spitzer declined comment.

But a source close to him insisted, “It”s not true,” and two other close associates also insisted he was not interested in running for office again and was looking at a range of other options.

Spitzer quit in disgrace in March 2008 after he was unmasked in Manhattan federal court as “Client 9″ in a prostitution bust involving a major call-girl ring. He was revealed to have paid 4,300 dollars for a romp with escort Ashley Dupre, then 22. (ANI)

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Urine LAM-ELISA not effective as independent diagnostic test for pulmonary TB

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 28 (ANI): A trial of the new diagnostic urine LAM-ELISA has indicated that it may not be useful as an independent diagnostic test for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB).

Detailed in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases, the results suggest that it was only capable of identifying 50.7 per cent of TB cases.

Klaus Reither led a team of researchers from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Germany, the University College London, UK, and the NIMR-Mbeya Medical Research Programme, Tanzania, who tested LAM-ELISA in 291 Tanzanian patients suspected of having TB.

He said: “Only 35 out of 69 pulmonary TB cases, confirmed by smear microscopy and/or solid culture and/or liquid culture, showed at least one positive LAM-ELISA result. This 50.7 per cent sensitivity of the LAM-ELISA was disappointingly low. The specificity of 87.8 % also fell far short of expectations.”

The LAM-ELISA detects lipoarabinomannan (LAM), a mycobacterium-specific lipopolysaccharide component of the bacilli’s cell wall.

In active mycobacterial disease, LAM is released into the blood and passes the renal barrier without major changes – suggesting that its detection in urine should be a reliable diagnostic indicator.

Urine can be easily obtained, and its collection is often more culturally accepted than the collection of sputum or blood samples.

The LAM-ELISA might not have fulfilled the requirements for a stand-alone diagnostic test for pulmonary tuberculosis, but the researchers speculate that it may still be of some use.

“In our opinion, further investigations are needed to elucidate if the LAM-ELISA, in this stage of development, is valuable as a supplemental tool for the diagnosis of HIV-associated TB. This seems particularly important, when taking into consideration that TB is one of the most important opportunistic infections of HIV patients and that the sensitivity of smear microscopy in immunocompromised patients is low,” they say. (ANI)

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Ashes hero Trott is also a diehard Hotspur fan!

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug.26 (ANI): The signed England shirt and cricket stump will not be the only mementoes on the walls of Jonathan Trott’s Birmingham home.They will be given equal billing alongside his other most-prized sporting possession, his autographed Tottenham top from manager Harry Redknapp.

Trott, whose brilliantly assured second-innings century on his Test debut helped lay the foundations for the triumph, is not just a cricket lover – he’s a Spurs nut.

And he was gobsmacked that Redknapp, boss of the current Premier League leaders, sent him a shirt as a wedding present when he tied the knot with Abi in April.

Trott said: “The shirt says ‘To Trotty, Up the Spurs, Harry Redknapp’. Then there’s a card from him which says ‘To Trotty. Have a Great Day’.

“I love Spurs, I’m a massive fan and it would be fantastic if they could get into the Champions League to go with us winning The Ashes.

“Even during the Test on Sunday, I caught the TV at lunchtime and checked on the Spurs line-up for the game against West Ham, just to make sure Harry got it right. I wanted to know the final score while I was fielding but I never did and only found out after we had won The Ashes.”

Trott now looks a certainty to make England’s tour to South Africa having proved how cool he is under pressure – despite Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting’s claim he could crumble.

His Spurs allegiance was passed on from his English-born dad Ian and, growing up in Cape Town, he never missed coverage of them.

“I had loads of pictures on my wall and I’ve got tons of old Spurs shirts. I used to walk round with ‘Sheringham’ on my back. The first time I saw Spurs live was at Birmingham in 2003. I was in the Spurs end, we lost 1-0 to David Dunn penalty.

Despite being born and schooled in South Africa, Trott considers himself a proper Englishman.

He added: “I had a British passport from birth and can remember travelling to England in 1996 with the South African Under-15 side.

“Everyone else needed a visa and I just walked straight in. Mind you, I had more trouble getting back into South Africa than anyone else.

“My dad was born in England, my parents live in Surrey and my uncle and granddad live in Kent.

“I didn’t come here as a young guy just to try and take the cash back to South Africa. My home is in Birmingham, I’m an adopted Brummie and I’m very proud.”

Trott’s favourite memory of the triumph is not actually his ton.

He added: “For the rest of my life I’ll remember fielding at deep point to Michael Hussey when he hit it to Andrew Flintoff.

“I had a perfect view. Freddie’s direct hit was phenomenal and to run out Ricky Ponting was the defining moment of the game.” (ANI)

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Kerry Katona to get her drug-ravaged nose ‘rebuilt’

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 26 (ANI): Drug-scandal hit Kerry Katona may soon have to undergo reconstructive surgery for her drug- ridden nose, it has emerged.

Coke sprees have left a hole in the former Atomic Kitten’s septum, the dividing wall between the two nostrils.

The Daily Star quoted a pal as saying: “Kerry is determined not to dabble ever again.

“She knows how close she has come to losing everything and isn’t going to take any more chances.

“She reckons if she pays for an op to rebuild her nose it will act as an incentive never to be tempted again.”

Kerry’s stepsister Pat Ferrier said the reality TV star was so addicted to cocaine that she had snorted up of 250 pounds of the drug in a day.

Pat said she had once seen Katona pull out a cartilage lump from her nose with a pair of tweezers.

She said: “It looked like when you get the fat off bacon.

“She told me rotting black stuff builds up inside and she has to dig it out every few weeks. But it didn’t stop her taking drugs.”

“Her nose is caving in. She needs to get help or she’ll die,” she added. (ANI)

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Robert Pattinson shower curtain offers female fans chance to be close to him

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, August 25 (ANI): ‘Twilight’ star Robert Pattinson’s face has been emblazoned on a shower curtain, which is expected to gain popularity among his female fans.

The young English actor can be seen with his recognisable tousled hair and rugged jawline on the hand-painted curtain.

The black and white curtains sold like hot cakes when they were first put up for sale on Etsy, the craft website, in June.

The Toronto manufacturer is presently said to be out of stock.

According to reports, each curtain comes fitted with hook holes to allow it to be hung up in any bath or shower.

The curtain’s maker insists that it can also be displayed as a work of art.

“Hand-painted with a brush just like a piece of art. Hang it in your shower, on your wall, in a window, behind your bed as a headboard, or frame it and display it just like any art portrait in your home,” the Telegraph quoted the listing as stating.

Pattinson has become one of the most desired actors on planet since starring as Edward Cullen in the film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s teenage fantasy novel.

He has been strongly linked to ‘Twilight’ co-star Kristen Stewart.

However, he has proved reluctant to talk about his love life, insisting that he spends most of his time at home watching films and reading. (ANI)

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‘Thick’ blood causes as well as protects from heart attack, stroke

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 25 (ANI): Animal studies carried out by researchers at Heidelberg University Hospital have shown that “thick” blood can not only cause heart attack and stroke, but also prevent them.

In their study report, the scientists say that mice with a greater tendency to form blood clots have larger plaques in their vessels, but they are more stable.

Thus, there is less risk that these plaques will rupture and obstruct circulation.

Usually, the more blood coagulates, the greater is the risk of vascular obstruction, and anticoagulants are used to protect against these complications.

However, clinical studies have thus far not proven that an increased clotting tendency also has a detrimental effect for plaque development.

Led by Dr. Berend Isermann, the researchers examined mice with elevated blood fat levels, and a genetic defect that leads to an increase in blood clotting.

They found that the mice developed larger plaques than those without the genetic defect, but the plaques were more stable.

In addition, no vascular obstruction was observed, as the vascular wall expanded to adapt to the new situation.

The negative effect of larger plaques on circulation was compensated by the positive effect of stability and a greater vessel diameter.

However,the long-term use of anticoagulants (in this case, low molecular weight heparin) reversed these advantages- the size of the plaques was reduced, but stability was lost, increasing the risk of complications.

“Our findings were made on mice, but they confirm the results of clinical studies on humans. In addition, in vitro studies show that human cells react similarly to mouse cells,” said Isermann.

The team assumed that the results could be transferred to humans and recommends weighing the advantages and disadvantages of anticoagulants carefully before administering them to a patient.

“Currently, there is no indication that these new observations also apply to drugs that inhibit the function of platelets,” said Isermann.

When deciding on therapy, the cause of the coagulation disorder and the degree of already existing atherosclerosis should be taken into consideration.

Additionally, the researchers recommended using anticoagulants that inhibit specific coagulation factors in order to preserve the positive effects on plaque stability.

Various new drugs that inhibit specific coagulation factors are currently being studied in clinical trials.

“It is important that plaque stability and the influence on atherogenesis are also studied in these trials,” said Isermann.

The study has been published in the journal Circulation. (ANI)

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George Clooney ‘declares war’ on peeping paparazzo in Italy

August 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 15 (ANI): George Clooney is planning to sue a paparazzo, who allegedly climbed the wall of his Lake Como retreat in Italy and took snaps of a topless 13-year-old girl changing in one of the star’s guest bedrooms.

The photographer also reportedly took shots of Clooney and his girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis enjoying private moments in the yard of his estate, reports Contactmusic.

The Hollywood hunk is also planning to take legal action against the two magazines that bought and published the pictures.

In a statement, Clooney said, “We’re suing two magazines and a photographer. I don’t know about the law in the United States but in Italy it’s illegal for photographers to climb over my wall and to take long lens pictures of a 13-year-old girl in her bedroom. I draw the line of privacy at that.” (ANI)

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Heidi Pratt goes nude for Playboy

August 13, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, August 13 (ANI): Heidi Pratt has dropped her layers to pose for a racy Playboy photoshoot.

The 22-year-old, best known for appearing on the MTV reality series “The Hills”, said she would bare it all after getting more plastic surgery, adding she wants “to go bigger on my boobs” for her husband Spencer Pratt, 26.

“I did pose nude,” Us magazine quoted her as telling Spencer, who interviewed her for Playboy.

She added: “The body is a beautiful creation. If anything, the reason I didn’t show everything is because I plan to get a few more upgrades. I’m definitely not done with my surgical quest.”

Spencer revealed he had hung up poster-sized photos of the nude shots on his bathroom wall.

He added: “Now when I’m peeing, I get to see a 10-foot naked photo of of my wife.” (ANI)

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Pre-historic cave discovered in Madhya Pradesh

July 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Raisen (Madhya Pradesh), July 16 (ANI): A cave, which is of great archaeological interest and could hold immense tourism potential, has been discovered at Patni village of Raisen district in Madhya Pradesh.

The one-mile long cave known as Mrigendranath cave sits underneath the green and partially rocky hill of Patni village. Locals had known it for long as a religious site where Hindu sages and ascetics used to come for meditation.

However, it has recently been acknowledged as an important archaeological site, prompting the state Culture and Public Relations Minister, Laxmikant Sharma, to visit the cave along with officials of archaeological department.

After walking 100 metres down into the cave, it becomes so narrow that only one person can walk at a time literally clinging along the wall. As one moves deeper in the cave it feels as if one is walking in a pitch-dark, narrow and air-conditioned tunnel.

However the cave becomes wider in the middle and there is enough room to seat a large number of people there. This wide space in the middle of the cave has been a favourite place for Hindu sages to mediate and perform rituals in front of the dhooni (holy fire). There are some paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses on the wall and some rocks resembling animal figures.

After visiting the cave, Sharma said he would do his best to develop it as a tourism spot and facilitate basic infrastructure at the site.

” We will do everything possible for the development of the hill and the cave from the point of archaeology. However, it has a great potential of tourism. World tourism will be attracted to this. This place should be developed from the tourism point of view, the entrance of the cave should be more open and convenient and the place should be more reachable and there should be basic facilities installed at the place,” he added.

Kapoor Singh, a villager who is the most frequent visitor of the cave, even after coming here on and off for over two decades had admits that he still hasn’t explored the cave fully and doesn’t know where it ends or leads to.

“I know the cave since 1984-85. Many sages used to come here to this cave. I stayed with them. Basically they discovered this and there are many images of Hindu gods and goddesses in the cave,” he said.

Experts are working to ascertain the period the cave belonged to even though a large circle of archaeologists link it to the prehistoric period.

According to some experts the cave could be deemed a world heritage site like the Bhimbetka cave, which is only 80 kilometres away from it.

It will be studied whether there was any link between the two caves or the people who used them. Both the caves are in Raisen district.

“It seems, primitive man used to live in large groups. In the other Bhimbetka cave primitive man lived in smaller groups. But after seeing this cave, it seems they lived here in a community,” said DK Mathur, Archaeological department official.

The newly-discovered cave is expected to boost tourism in the state which boasts of other sites of historical importance. By Ramchandra Sahu (ANI)

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15th century Peruvians sacrificed humans to appease El Nino

July 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Caracas (Venezuela), July 16 (ANI): Archaeologists have found evidence that a woman from the Chimu culture was buried alive in the 15th century at the Chan Chan archaeological complex in Peru to ameliorate the various effects of what we today call the El Nino weather phenomenon.

“This is the first time that evidence has been found that some people from the epoch were buried alive to prevent, in this case, the actions of El Nino from having effects on the city of mud,” said Cristobal Campana from Peru’s National Institute of Culture (INC).

According to a report in Latin American Herald Tribune, the skeletal remains of the woman, who was in her early 20s, were found during work to restructure the western perimeter wall of the Nain An (House of the birds) palace, which is part of the Chan Chan mud citadel.

The archaeological complex is recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site, but it is also on the list of imperiled sites because of the fragility of its structures due to the effect of the rains and intense heat in the region.

Chan Chan is one of the most important ceremonial centers in northern Peru.

The skeletal remains are of a woman who stood 1.55 meters (5 feet) tall, who was strangled and buried alive, from the position of her arms and jaw, which reflect her final desperate struggle to free herself from the fabric tied around her throat, according to Campana.

In addition, the victim had had both feet amputated in the same manner that the Chimu did with other sacrificial victims at another palace in the same region.

According to Campana, the remains will be removed this week from inside a structure that is protecting them from sun and rain, and they will be taken for further study to the INC laboratory in the province of La Libertad, where Chan Chan is located. (ANI)

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Visually impaired bamboo artist enables others for self-reliance

July 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Gangtok, July 15 (ANI): A visually impaired bamboo artisan in Sikkim imparts training to many other disadvantaged people like him and help them gain self-reliance in life.

The 37-year-old Chandra Singh Gurung is one of the visually challenged workers offering training to enthusiastic artists under Directorate of handloom and industry in Cane and Bamboo crafts.

Gurung is a master bamboo and cane artist. He has been working in the bamboo and cane unit of the Directorate of Handicrafts and Handlooms for over a decade and has set an example of self-reliance.

The principal handicrafts of the region include basketwork, cane furniture, bamboo flower, mats and woodcarvings. The items which are made include stools, flowers, pen stands, picture frames, baskets, dust bins, beer mugs, hair clips and butterfly wall decoration.

Having learnt the art of Moda making (cane or bamboo stools) at the Kalimpong Salvation Army Institution, the Braille matriculate Gurung joined the Directorate as an artisan in 1986.

He tells that Government has opened many schemes for the people like him where they could learn the art as per their talent.

“Indian Government has opened many schemes for the people like us. I’m doing this cane and bamboo work in Sikkim. Others can go in for light engineering while still others can take up physiotherapy as per their talent,” said Gurung.

Every ‘moda’ Gurung makes sells at anything between 9.24 dollars to 10.27 dollars a piece.

Gurung is today not just a worker but a trainer as well and has trained jail inmates at the state prison in Rongyek, near Gangtok.

Namrata Thapa, directorate of Handicraft and Handloom Industry, Sikkim said that in this institute the students could earn while they learnt.

“This is the institute where we are providing employment opportunities to the physically handicapped people as far as possible not only the employment opportunities but we are giving them training in different crafts also as per their aptitude in their fields that they are interested to pursue,” said Thapa. By Tashi Pradhan(ANI)

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MJ’s new songs not to be released anytime soon

July 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 10 (ANI): While sales of Michael Jackson’s earlier albums have boosted in the past few weeks, the new music recorded by the late King of Pop before his death is not expected to be release anytime soon, revealed president of his record label Epic.

Jackson had been working on new music for several years with hip-hop and R and B stars like Will.i.am, Ne-Yo and Akon.

“We just want to pay our respects to Michael. We don’t want to be seen to be jumping on any bandwagon associated with his death,” the BBC quoted Amanda Ghost as saying.

In an interview with BBC 6 Music, Ghost said that “the appetite is definitely there” for new material.

“If we do release anything of unreleased material, it has to be fantastic and it can’t damage in any way his legacy or his legend and I won’t let that happen at Epic.

“I have no idea when it’s coming out, but it will come out on Sony/Epic. We haven’t made any decisions because we just want to be respectful for his memory and not be seen in any way as trying to cash in,” she added.

In fact, the release of new music could also be delayed as legal negotiations over his estate continue.

Bruce Swedien, a producer and engineer who worked on ‘Off The Wall’ and ‘Thriller’, has said that he believed Jackson was working on instrumental music as well as a pop album. (ANI)

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Indian-origin scientist finds genetic switch that may help treat vascular diseases

July 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 6 (ANI): Taking a big leap towards finding a treatment of vascular diseases, a team led by an Indian-origin scientist at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease (GICD) has discovered a key switch that makes stem cells turn into the type of muscle cells that reside in the wall of blood vessels.

Dr. Deepak Srivastava’s study claimed that the same switch could be used in the future to limit growth of vascular muscle cells that cause narrowing of arteries leading to heart attacks and strokes, limit formation of blood vessels that feed cancers, or make new blood vessels for organs that are not getting enough blood flow.

It was found that a tiny RNA molecule, called microRNA-145 (miR-145), not only had all the information necessary to turn a stem cell into a vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC), but could also affect VSMCs in the adult artery.

VSMCs possess the unique property of dividing on their own when an artery is injured or during atherosclerosis, ultimately causing narrowing of the vessel leading to occlusion.

The researchers found that miR-145 and its sister microRNA, miR-143, work together to stop the pathologic division of VSMCs.

But in the setting of vessel disease, their activity was turned down, which made the VSMCs to divide and clog up the artery.

MicroRNAs are small RNA molecules that do not make protein, but instead affect that amount of protein synthesized by the cell from their target mRNAs-the blueprints for translating the genetic code into proteins.

The researchers found that miR-145 and miR-143 together controlled the synthesis of a network of “master regulators” that control VSMCs, and thereby were able to function as a central “switch” for the behaviour of these important cells.

“The ability of miR-145 to efficiently direct the cell fate of vascular smooth muscle cells from stem cells represents the power of these tiny microRNAs to exert major effects on cells. We hope that we can use this knowledge to control when the body makes or does not make new blood vessels,” Nature magazine quoted Srivastava as saying.

He added: “Our findings in this study offer insights into regulatory mechanisms that govern the differentiation and proliferation of smooth muscle. They have fundamental implications for the treatment of vessel diseases like atherosclerosis and also may be important for cancer.”

The study has been published in the current issue of the journal Nature. (ANI)

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Doctors rebuild toddler’s heart using cow tissue

July 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, July 5 (ANI): In an astonishing seven-hour operation, doctors have successfully rebuilt the heart of a toddler with a help of a tissue taken from cow.

Jamie Goodier was diagnosed with life-threatening abnormality called atrioventricular septal defect.

His heart had only two valves instead of four so it struggled to pump blood around his body.

“When they said what they were going to do we were totally shocked,” the New of the World quoted mother Rebecca as saying.

“But we just wanted to save him – and if it took part of a cow to do it then fine, whatever helped Jamie survive,” she added.

Jamie was put under five months of tender care until he was strong enough for the surgery.he doctors performed tripe-le bypass, where they used tissue from around a cow’s heart to repair the missing main wall in Jamie’s before splitting his two valves into the four he needed.

“This was a very unusual case. We used a plastic band on one of Jamie’s main arteries to restrict blood flow to the lungs,” said Cardiac surgeon Nelson Alphonso.

“That allowed his condition to improve until he was strong enough for the operation.

Now 21 months old, Jamie has gone from strength to strength. “He’s a lovely healthy colour and he’s full of energy,” said Rebecca. (ANI)

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Gilani stresses on US-Mexico like fencing along Pak-Afghan border

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Islamabad, July 4 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has stressed on the need of fencing the country’s border with Afghanistan on the lines of the US and Mexico border wall to stop terrorist infiltration and drug trafficking.

Talking to US Secretary for Homeland Security, Janet Napilitano, Gilani urged the United States to provide immediate military assistance to help Pakistan tackle the rampant Taliban effectively in the tribal areas.

It may be noted that Napilitano, as governor of Arizona, had initiated action to erect a boundary wall along the US-Mexico border to check the extensive drug trafficking.

Gilani also asked the Obama Administration to provide Cobra helicopters and other military hardware, as well as financial assistance to assist the Pakistan Army to establish their control over the Swat and Malakand Divisions after the offensive in the region is called-off.

Referring to the exodus of over two million people in Swat due to the military operation, Gilani said the international community should come forward and help Pakistan come out of the crises.

He said the aid received by Islamabad has proved inadequate so far, and urged the US and international donors to deliver on their pledges made in the Friends of Democratic Pakistan meeting in Tokyo, The News reports. (ANI)

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