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Deployment of women constables cheers farmers in Punjab’s border villages

September 12, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Rorawala (India-Pakistan Border), Sep.11 (ANI): As women constables of the Border Security Force (BSF) were deployed at the India-Pakistan International Border on Friday, a wave of cheer overwhelmed the villagers here.

Male farmers expressed their delight over the development, saying the presence of women security personnel would encourage their womenfolk to join them in the fields near the border.

The fencing of the 553-kilometer-long border since the 1990s; has created a feeling of reluctance among rural women to cross the border gates to work in fields or to deliver meals.

Most of them were hesitant in undergoing a frisking of their bodies, a security provision to check against the smuggling of unwanted material from across the border.

In such conditions, farmers were compelled to hire outside help on daily wages.

Hailing the step, farmers in the border area said their financial burden would be reduced with their women stepping in to assist them.

They also said that the deployment of women constables would enable them to access cheap labour.

Raj, a woman labourer, said: “I am very happy since it was difficult to get work in the village. We can now go to the fields beyond the fencing and earn much for our families.”

Balwinder Kaur of Rorawala village said that her family owned about ten acres of land beyond the fencing and some times it was difficult to cultivate it due to the shortage of labourers.

Now, with the presence of female security personnel, she said that she and other females of the family were ready to help in the cultivation process beyond the fenced wiring.

Joginder Singh, a farmer, said that he was now looking forward to the fresh meals brought to him by the womenfolk of his family.

Mohammad Aquil, DIG (Border Range) BSF, said the deployment of the lady BSF constables would be done in the state of Punjab within two months.

A senior BSF official said about 178 girls would be posted at the international border dividing India and Pakistan. At a later stage, 60 of these women constables would be deployed along the India-Bangladesh border

These women are aged between 19-25 and are fully trained in the use of weapons, patrolling and other combat tasks, they will be assigned non-combat duties along the fenced border.

Gurbir Kaur, a woman constable, said that the (soldiers)’ uniform always fascinated her. She said that being in uniform was a dream come true.

Raman Preet Kaur, another lady constable, said that apart from frisking, she was also trained to handle a security-related crisis at the border.

These women passed out of the BSF academy in Kharkan near the town of Hoshiarpur on July 25 this year. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)

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Astronauts fix Hubble gyroscopes, despite technical glitch

May 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Astronauts have managed to repair gyroscopes in the Hubble, the most critical repair to the giant space telescope, despite facing significant glitches in the process.

According to a report by BBC News, in a second spacewalk, mission specialists Mike Good and Mike Massimino put a refurbished pair of gyroscopes into the telescope after a new set refused to go in.

Besides the gyroscopes, which would enable the Hubble to orient precisely, the giant telescope also got fresh batteries to ensure five more years of life.

Despite the setbacks, scientists said that Hubble would function well, pointing to ever-distant objects in the cosmos.

The troubled spacewalk on May 15 was the longest yet, lasting eight hours.

“At times, I felt like I was wrestling a bear,” Mike Massimino was quoted as saying by AFP news agency, as he and Mike Good struggled to install the gyroscopes, or “rate sensing units” (RSUs).

Previously, only three of the six gyroscopes worked.

But, after the marathon spacewalk, Hubble has four brand new sets and two refurbished ones. Only two are needed to orient the telescope properly.

Of the six gyroscopes replaced, three had failed, two were acting up and one was working properly.

Gyroscopes keep the 19-year-old Hubble telescope pointed where it should be, and hence the replacement operation was the most important part of this mission’s five scheduled spacewalks.

The first part of the spacewalk was to replace the three RSUs, each of which contains two gyroscopes.

While the first RSU went in as planned, the second one did not seat properly on its plate. The crew opted to place the third RSU in the slot of the second.

The same problem occurred when the RSU meant for the second slot was placed into the third, so the crew opted to install a refurbished unit instead.

But, Hubble’s deputy senior project scientist, Mal Niedner, said he was not concerned that the astronauts had to resort to refurbished gyroscopes, which lack the latest anticorrosive wiring.

“It’s the difference between an A and an A-plus,” he was quoted as saying by AP news agency.

The three batteries that were replaced were the original equipment installed on Hubble 19 years ago, intended to have just a five-year lifespan. (ANI)

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Intelligence is largely inherited

March 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, March 18 (ANI): Scientists at the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) say that a new study lends more force to the suggestion that intelligence is largely inherited.

The researchers used a new type of brain-imaging scanner to show that intelligence is strongly influenced by the quality of the brain’s axons, or wiring that sends signals throughout the brain.

Given that the integrity of the brain’s wiring is influenced by genes, the researchers suggest that the inheritance of genes play a far greater role in intelligence than was previously thought.

Paul Thompson, a professor of Neurology, points out that genes seem to influence intelligence by determining how well nerve axons are encased in myelin, the fatty sheath of “insulation” that coats the brain’s axons and allows for fast signalling bursts.

The thicker the myelin, says the researcher, the faster the nerve impulses.

During the study, Thompson and his colleagues scanned the brains of 23 sets of identical twins and 23 sets of fraternal twins-considering that identical twins share the same genes while fraternal ones share about half their genes.

The researchers said that they were able to compare each group to show that myelin integrity was determined genetically in many parts of the brain that are key for intelligence-including the parietal lobes, which are responsible for spatial reasoning, visual processing and logic, and the corpus callosum, which pulls together information from both sides of the body.

Thompson highlights the fact that the myelination of brain circuits follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory, peaking in middle age and then slowly beginning to decline.

He believes that identifying the genes that promote high-integrity myelin is critical to forestalling brain diseases like multiple sclerosis and autism, which have been linked to the breakdown of myelin.

“The whole point of this research is to give us insight into brain diseases,” he says.

The researcher says that his study has already narrowed down the number of gene candidates that may influence myelin growth, and may one day lead to a therapy that could make people smarter by enhancing their intelligence.

“It’s a long way off but within the realm of the possible,” Thompson said.

A research article describing Thompson’s study has been published in the Journal of Neuroscience. (ANI)

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Danny Boyle’s dad weeps watching his Bafta success

February 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Feb 10 (ANI): English director Danny Boyle’s father Patrick was so overjoyed to see his son picking awards at the BAFTA, that he cried with joy.

For the proud father, Danny making a special mention of him while picking up seven awards for his movie Slumdog Millionaire left him feeling ecstatic.

“The wiring in my dad’s house blew overnight and it’s a big shout out to everyone who helped him get the extension cable in so he could watch this,” the Mirror quoted Danny as telling the celebrity audience.

Patrick, 88, from Radcliffe, Gtr Manchester, revealed the power actually blew over a week ago.

“It was just a nice way to let me know he was thinking of me,” he stated.

Frank, a retired power station worker, added: “I went to see Slumdog Millionaire in the cinema. I thought it was great, and I suppose after all these awards it must be.” (ANI)

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Computer model shows how foetal brain wires up for action

February 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, February 9 (ANI): Indiana University researchers in Bloomington have developed a computer model of 1000 neurons, which simulates the way the retina of the eye connects to a region of the mid-brain that controls eye movements, to understand how the foetal brain undergoes the complex process of refining the connections between its different regions.

Project leader Jean-Philippe Thivierge has revealed that the new model shows that weak waves of spontaneous electrical activity over a small number of neurons are the most efficient at forging new connections, rather than big waves that sweep across the whole region.

The researcher further says that timing also proved to be critical, with fluctuations as short as a millisecond instrumental in the wiring process.

As regards the importance of the new model, according to New Scientist magazine, Thivierge said: “It’s a big challenge to have a system that is ready by the time of birth so that newborns can begin experiencing the world right away.”

A report describing the research team’s work has been published in the journal Neural Networks. (ANI)

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Queen told to open Buckingham Palace to the public more often

January 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Jan.27 (ANI): A powerful committee of MPs has urged Queen Elizabeth to open Buckingham Palace more often to the public in return for an increase in taxpayers’ money for the upkeep of the Royal palaces.

According to The Telegraph, the decision of Michelle Obama, America’s new First Lady, to pledge to make the White House more accessible was held up as an example by the MPs to the Monarchy, which only opens Buckingham Palace in August and September for fee-paying tours when no member of the family is there: a total of 63 days a year.

Some MPs proposed it opened at weekends throughout the year when the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh are elsewhere.

Sir Alan Reid, the Keeper of the Privy Purse, was giving evidence to the Commons public accounts committee after the government rejected an appeal from the Queen to increase the taxpayer-funded grant for the Palaces by four million pounds a year. The grant has been frozen at 15 million pounds for 12 years.

Sir Alan said that members of the Royal Family are in residence at the Queen’s London home for around 300 days of the year with the Queen at Buckingham Palace three to four days a week.

He said it was not practical for members of the public to wander around the royal residence during a state visit while a foreign head of state was in the building.

But Committee Chairman Edward Leigh countered by saying: “You cannot close the whole palace because the Duke of York is sitting in his flat upstairs.”

The plight of some of the palaces, whose maintenance is paid for by the taxpayer, is causing growing concern to the Queen.

The Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore, near Windsor Castle, which houses the tomb of Queen Victoria, has been designated by English Heritage as “at risk” after part of the ceiling fell in.

A large stretch of roof at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace also needs replacing after some masonry fell off narrowly missing the car owned by the Princess Royal.

Some of the grandest state rooms at Buckingham Palace have not been redecorated since the Queen came to the throne in 1952.

The ornate Blue Room, has now turned a pale shadow of grey. The palace wiring, which should have been replaced 10 years ago, was installed in 1949.

Leaks in the roof of the palace’s picture gallery have been identified as a threat to works by masters such as Rembrandt. The crumbling façades on all sides of the quadrangle at Buckingham Palace are in need of maintenance. The work, which is classed as urgent because of the potential danger to those walking underneath, will cost an estimated 3m pounds over five years

The hearing was called by the committee after a report by the National Audit Office criticised the Government’s handling of the maintenance backlog. (ANI)

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Electricity broadcasting technology may make electrical wiring history

January 5, 2009 By Rajiv Gupta Leave a Comment

London, January 5 (ANI): A ground-breaking technology that broadcasts electricity may render electrical wiring ancient history, say its inventors.

The device called WiTricity beams power to laptops, mobile phones and stereos without cables or sockets.

It is being showcased this week in Las Vegas at the world’s biggest gadget trade show.

“We’re going to delete the word ‘recharge’ from the dictionary,” British tabloid The Sun quoted David Graham, co-founder of makers PowerBeam, as saying.

He has revealed that the technology converts electricity into an invisible heat laser, and shoots it across a room.

As soon as the laser hits a solar cell inside any electric appliance, according to him, it is converted back to electricity.

David says that, presently, the gizmo can beam 1.5watts of power to a solar cell 30ft away, and that can easily be scaled up.

In future, WiTricity is expected to operate like internet Wi-Fi with “hotspots”, where all gadgets would power up automatically.

Scientists deny that wireless broadcasts can trigger cancer.

James Holland, editor of gadgets website electricpig.co.uk, said: “You’d buy a desk that charged any gadget placed on it. You’d never need to hunt for the right charger again.” (ANI)

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Powerline networking: Another way to high-speed Internet

January 4, 2009 By Rajiv Gupta Leave a Comment

Berlin – Networking PCs and other devices can be a tricky process. One false check in the automatic IP assignment settings or an outdated driver for a WLAN card and the whole system will refuse to function properly. Powerline adapters can provide an alternative path.

The companies behind the technology claim that it makes household networks simpler to set up. The idea of sending data over the electrical wiring already in your home has been around for decades. Powerline adapters have in fact been available for some time now. The new wrinkle: adapters are now capable of providing enough bandwidth to transmit HD films. They are also the first devices on the market with simple to use encryption, their makers report.

At least two adapters are required. These come equipped with a traditional wall power plug. Depending on the model, the other end of the adapter offers an Ethernet or a USB port to connect to the computer or another device to be added to the network. Powerline is an alternative to their WLAN or a cable-based Ethernet network.

Powerline is convenient because the user is freed, either partially or completely, from configuration work. In most cases, the user just plugs in the Powerline units and switches on the other devices – and the network is formed automatically. Until now the bandwidth supported through this technology has not been sufficient to stream videos smoothly.

The current generation of adapters, though, provides gross data transfer rates of up to 200 megabits per second (9MBit/s). The net value is around 90 Mbit/s, reports Christoph Roesseler from hardware maker Devolo. The actual transfer speeds vary from house to house.

Among the manufacturers marketing products that work with the technology are Allnet, Devolo, D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, and Siemens. Devolo has the dLAN 200 AVeasy in its catalog – consisting of two adapters. It harnesses the power mains for applications like Internet television in HD quality. It can reach up to 200 metres within an electric circuit.

Powerline is not without its issues. “It’s not as simple as it looks at first glance,” says Peter Knaak from the German consumer testing organisation Stiftung Warentest in Berlin. Aside from the fact that the house’s wiring can have a powerful influence on the bandwidth of the powerline network, users must also clear up space to plug the adapter directly into the wall jack. Even manufacturers like Devolo advise against plugging the adapters into power strips because they will adversely affect transmission speeds.

It may also be possible under certain conditions for unauthorised third parties to hack the network using an identical adapter, or at least one that uses the same standard. For that reason, users should always encrypt their powerline data. The IT security for powerline products is generally based on each manufacturer’s proprietary solutions, says Sebastian Frank from the German Federal Agency for Security in Information Technology (BSI) in Bonn.

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