Childhood inattention linked to poor grades later

Children who display higher levels of inattention at the age of seven are at risk of worse academic outcomes in their secondary examinations, research by an Indian-origin professor in Britain says.

The findings have significant implications for parents, teachers and clinicians. Researchers at the Universities of Nottingham and Bristol studied more than 11,000 children as part of the research.

Saida Bano Learning to fight the world in Kargil

Saida Banoo, a sixteen-year old Blue Belter, has been learning Taekwondo for the last five years. Nothing exceptional for a metropolitan reader but the context changes if Saida is a girl residing in Kargil, a region that remains cut-off from the world for six months, a place where girls have remained confined to their homes for several decades and have now taken on the fight, against all the odds, to set a mark in education, employment and sports.

Israeli woman fined 140 dollars per day to keep son uncircumcised

An Israeli woman has been fined 140 dollars per day for refusing to get her son circumcised.

An Israeli rabbinical court has ordered the mother to circumcise her son immediately, as required by Jewish law, or pay the hefty fine for each day her son remains uncircumcised, the Washington Times reported,

The boy’s mother, Elinor, said that her son was born with a medical problem which didn’t allow him to be circumcised on the eighth day as is customary but after she read about the procedure, she is reluctant to put her son through it.

Nearly 6 in 10 Pak mothers are illiterate

Nearly 59.3 percent Pakistani mothers have been reported to be illiterate in the latest National Nutrition Survey.

The survey results issued by the Planning and Development Division of the Planning Commission of Pakistan showed that the proportion was almost double in the rural areas than the urban areas, the Daily Times reports.

According to the report, 36 percent of the urban and 69.4 percent of the rural mothers are illiterate.

Former Miss South Africa embraces Islam

Allahu Akbar ALLAHU AKBAR’Lynn Massyn’, former Miss South Africa Beauty Pageant Winner (1976), converted(Reverted) to Islam on 10th of July; 2012 during the graduation ceremony for the students Regiment at the Islamic University of Gaza; College of Applied Sciences, Gaza (Palestine), through proclaiming the Shahada (i.e. Testimony of Faith – lāʾilāhaʾillā l-Lāh, Muḥammadur rasūlu l-Lāh) that ‘There is no God but Allah and Muhammad (S.A.W) is the Messenger of Allah’ in front of 10,000 guests and 450 students.

Tips for long lasting marriages revealed

In an attempt to find the magic formula for keeping a marriage healthy, researchers conducted a study that seems to signal greater marriage satisfaction.

Robert Levenson, director of the Institute of Personality and Social Research at the University of California, Berkeley, who has been studying 156 couples since 1989, has suggested that women may hold the key to resolving arguments, Fox News reported.

It was found that relationships in which the wives cooled down quickly after an argument were the happiest in both the short and long term.

The city in California where smokers can no longer even smoke at home

The California city of San Rafael has passed a smoking ban which officials have said is the strictest in the country.

The new law prohibits people from smoking cigarettes even in the comfort of their own home, the Huffington Post reported.

The ordinance bans smoking in building sharing a wall with another unit, which includes apartments, duplexes and condos.

The aim of the ordinance is to eliminate second-hand smoke from creeping through doors and windows, ventilation systems, floorboards and other susceptible openings.

20 pc people infected with HIV are unaware of having it

One in five people having HIV in UK are not aware of having the virus, a new survey has found.

Public Health England (PHE) said that of the 98,400 people having HIV, there are 21,900 who do not know about it.

These newly released numbers are for 2012, and have shown a slight decrease on the previous year, the Independent reported.

Some 47 percent of the 6,360 people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2012 were diagnosed at a late stage while the overall number of new cases was up 1 percent on the previous year.

Former sex workers, HIV patients bring down HIV incidence

The prevalence of HIV in Mizoram has come down appreciably in the last few years, thanks to the hard work put in by former sex workers and HIV patients in spreading awareness about the lethal nature of the virus and AIDS.

The Mizoram State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), the nodal agency working for spreading awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the state, has engaged 28 NGOs for the purpose of creating awareness, identification, counselling and care of the HIV-infected patients in the state.

Kids now less fit than their parents were when they were young

Studies on millions of children around the world has found that kids don’t run as fast or as far as their parents did when they were young.

On average, it takes children 90 seconds longer to run a mile than their counterparts did 30 years ago, Fox News reported.

Heart-related fitness has declined 5 percent per decade since 1975 for children ages 9 to 17.

The American Heart Association, whose conference featured the research on Tuesday, says it’s the first to show that children’s fitness has declined worldwide over the last three decades.

Bill Gates, wife head Forbes’ list of top US philanthropists

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have topped Forbes’ list of America’s top 50 philanthropists who have given away the most money in 2012, with the billionaire couple donating about USD 2 billion towards charitable causes.

Forbes magazine has compiled the list taking into account the total amount of money actually given and not just pledged by the philanthropists.

The Gates couple gave a total of USD 1.9 billion in 2012, which is 2.6 per cent of their wealth, bringing their total lifetime givings to USD 28 billion.

JFK, wife Jackie had sex a day before his assassination on Air force One

Former US President and Jackie Kennedy had sex on Air Force One during their short flight from San Antonio to Houston just a day before he was assassinated, it has been revealed.

The revelation was made by late historian and author William Manchester to Philip Nobile, a former staff writer for Esquire and New York magazine, in the mid-70s, the New York Post reported.

At the time, Manchester had admitted to Nobile that he had masked the intimate details in his 1967 book, ‘The Death of a President’, out of discretion.

Modi: Stumbling on history

It is difficult to anticipate what may cause a politician to stumble. When Narendra Modi was chosen by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as its prime ministerial candidate, his only disadvantage was his anti-minority image. It isn’t surprising, therefore, that he has been working overtime to refurbish his reputation in this respect – short of wearing a skull cap.

V-Empower creates a mobile phone App to connect with MP

V-Empower Inc. has designed and developed a mobile application called mpConnect which allows Indian citizens to connect and interact with their Member of Parliament.

mpConnect can be downloaded for free on Android and Iphone. Using mpConnect constituents can Call, Text and Email their member of parliament and have more influence in politics and get their views heard.

MP’s can also engage with constituents by interacting with them, get feedback, views and address their concerns.

Children with parental supervision less likely to gamble

Adolescents who had poor parental supervision at age 11, and which continued to decrease through age 14, were significantly likelier than others to become gamblers between ages 16-22.

The Columbia researchers and colleagues from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health followed 514 Baltimore youth surveyed on parental monitoring and gambling.

Late bedtime for teens linked to poor academic and emotional performance

A new study has revealed that teenagers who go to bed late during the school year are more likely to face academic and emotional difficulties in the long run, than teens who sleep early.

Researcher at UC Berkeley analyzed longitudinal data from a nationally representative cohort of 2,700 US adolescents of whom 30 percent reported bedtimes later than 11:30 p.m. on school days and 1:30 a.m. in the summer in their middle and high school years.

On 125th birth anniversary, Maulana Azad lies a forgotten man

Its red sandstone boundary walls are defaced with posters and betel juice marks. Shopkeepers hang cases full of clothes and jewellery on them. Inside the walls the dry fountains gather dust and filth. This is the state of the maosoleum of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first education minister, whose 125th birth anniversary will be observed Monday.

Diabetes `ticking time bomb` for young Indians

With the prevalence of diabetes increasing at an alarming rate worldwide, the proportion of young people with the disease is also soaring.

The major cause for the increasing prevalence of type 2 diabetes in young Asian adults is the increasing rate of obesity and decreasing rate of physical activity, leading to insulin resistance.

India today sits on the ticking time bomb of two closely interlinked epidemics- Obesity and Type 2 diabetes, aptly termed DIABESITY, Diabetic Living India reported.

How eating ‘jamun’ can be beneficial for diabetics

Jamun not only acts as a powerful antioxidant that helps to improve immunity but its most profound benefit lies in its being of special use in the treatment of diabetes.

The fruit is acidic and astringent in nature and has a sweet taste. Glucose and fructose are the major sugars found in the ripe fruit, it is also laden with minerals, and provides fewer calories, as compared to other fruits, Diabetic Living India reported.

Chinese investor converts to Islam in Iran’s Qom

Hong Jun Shen, known as Richard, has so far made investments in different parts of Iran, nedayeenghelab.com quoted Hawzah News Agency as reporting.

The conversion coincided with the Eid al-Ghadir celebrations which mark the anniversary of the appointment of Imam Ali(RZ) as the immediate successor to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The Chinese owner of numerous industrial factories converted to Shia Islam in the presence of senior cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Javad Alavi Boroujerdi.

Michelle Obama celebrates Diwali with Bollywood dance moves

US First Lady Michelle Obama lit a ‘diya’ (lamp) in the East room to start White House Diwali celebrations after trying out some Bollywood dance moves with some local students in the State Dining Room.

“We’ve celebrated this holiday here at the White House every year since (President) Barack (Obama) took office. And there’s a reason why we’ve done that,” she said welcoming guests including members of the Indian community and Indian-American officials Tuesday.

Spiritual values are tarnished with the intervention of Govt. in Deeni madarasas

(Siasat News) Islamic Deeni Madarasas have been established with the objectives of protecting the Islamic values and to impart Deeni Education. It also aims at inculcating moral values to mould a person into a good citizen for the country. Deeni Madarasa are doing this work only to pleased God. It is not the purpose of freeing the staff of these madarasas from the financial difficulties. These madarasa are not established to provide them a source of income.

Smokeless tobacco use rising in India

The use of smokeless tobacco is on the rise in India, especially among women, since it does not have the stigma of smoking attached to it, a release said here Tuesday.

As more and more women chew “gutka”, “khaini” and “zarda”, serious health problems like cancer of the mouth and neck and still births are increasing at a rapid pace, according to a factsheet released by the World Lung Foundation (WLF).

According to the WLF, there are many factors, including socio-economic and cultural, behind the increasing use of smokeless tobacco by women.

Hasty decision of Divorce and Qula shatter the families

(Siasat News) It is a joint decision of Muslim Ulema that every Muslim women has the right to demand Qula from her husband but unless the husband accepts her requests for separation, Qula will not be implemented. In such a case, the parties should approach an arbitrator for reconciliation or to take the help of the legal experts. These thoughts were expressed by noted Lawyer, Mr. Mohammed Osman Shaheed, Advocate at a meeting organized by All India Muslim front to consider the implications of the right to seek Qula and Divorce.