British school bans Muslim teens for not shaving

A Muslim family in Britain has claimed that its two teenaged boys have been subjected to discrimination at school for not having shaved their beard. The school authorities said it was a matter of dress code, not religion.

The two Muslim 14-year-olds say they are being excluded because of “pure discrimination”. They have been banned from attending lessons with other pupils at a school in Lancashire’s Accrington town because they refuse to shave their beards, reported The Independent citing one of their family members.

Hindu communal elements active before Eid-ul-Azha

Once again the Hindu communal organizations have become active. They have started stopping the vehicles carrying animals. They are confiscating the animals and assaulting the driver and the owners. In the name of Gow Rakhsha, they are also confiscating bullocks and calves whereas under the prohibition of slaughter act is applicable only in respect of cows. There is no ban on transporting buffalos, bullocks and calves. They are also seizing the vehicles and pressurizing the police authorities to register cases against the lorry drivers and the transporters of animals.

Did Gandhi and Jinnah almost establish a legal partnership?

Could Mahatama Gandhi and Mohammed Ali Jinnah have had established a legal partnership in South Africa, 50 years before Indian and Pakistan were formed?

Yes, it could have been possible, according to noted historian and author Ramachandra Guha who made the deduction on the basis of available literature and archival records.

“A logbook at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad maintains the record of letters sent to Gandhi between the years 1895-97. In this logbook, there are two letters from a certain M A Jinnah, and they are dated 21 January and 23 March, 1897,” Guha said.

Divorce makes life hell for men: study

Divorced men have higher rates of mortality, substance abuse, depression, and lack of social support, a new study has revealed.

Authors Daniel S. Felix, PhD, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, W. David Robinson, PhD, Utah State University, Logan, and Kimberly J. Jarzynka , MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha demonstrate an urgent need to recognize and treat men’s divorce-related health problems in a provocative case study and review of the literature entitled ‘The Influence of Divorce on Men’s Health.’

Chinese doctor builds new nose on man’s forehead

A surgeon in China says he has constructed an extra nose out of a man’s rib cartilage and implanted it under the skin of his forehead to prepare for a transplant in probably the first operation of its kind.

Surgeon Guo Zhihui at Fujian Medical University Union Hospital in China’s southeastern province of Fujian spent nine months cultivating the graft for a 22-year-old man whose nose was damaged.

Families of Muzaffarnagar victims to get govt jobs: UP govt

An order has been issued by the Uttar Pradesh government to provide government jobs to the families of those killed during riots in Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas, an official spokesman said here.

“Implementing the announcement made by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on September 15 that kin of those killed in riots will be given government job according to their qualification an order has been issued,” he said.

The spokesman said that 62 people were killed in the violence of which five remain unidentified.

India among ‘densest use’ countries in Facebook’s updated global friendships map

Facebook’s recently released global friendships map shows India among the ‘densest use’ countries where the social networking site is accessed the most to form friendships across the world.

The new map shows Facebook’s global reach now impacting India, Africa and South America.

The original version of the map, which was released three years ago, shows most of the world illuminated by transcontinental friendships, with oceans dominated by blue arcs of light, metro.co.uk reports.

Artificial sweeteners may raise your sugar craving

Brain can’t be fooled! Choosing diet drinks and artificial sweeteners as an alternative to high-calorie treats may actually increase your craving for sugar, a new study has found.

The findings imply that it is hard to fool the brain by providing it with ‘energy-less’ sweet flavours.

Our pleasure in consuming sweet solutions is driven to a great extent by the amount of energy it provides: greater reward in the brain is attributed to sugars compared to artificial sweeteners.

Simple tips to reduce stomach acid

Stomach acid is very important for digestion but it should not become very high, says a food expert. Avoiding spicy food is the best way to keep it under control.

According to Geeta Sidhu-Robb, raw food pioneer and creator of the Nosh Detox – a diet that helps in removing toxins from the body, one should avoid spicy food that causes such a problem.

She also shares other tips to reduce stomach acid, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

– Eat smaller and lighter meals regularly.

– Avoid eating late in the night, also sleep with your head in a raised position.

– Avoid peppermint tea.

Hijab girl Shaheen is an example for lethargic youngsters

(Siasat News) A pan shop at NTR Nagar, is attracting a large number of customers because a Muslim girl clad in Hijab prepares pans for the customers. She also sells other articles also in the pan shop. She is a 15 year old girl who was selling cigarettes and other articles. On contacting her she told that this pan shop belongs to his brother Mr. Jan Mohammed Jaffer. He is from Jharkhand, he came to Hyderabad 4 years back and started pan shop business. He opens the shop immediately after Fajr prayer and goes for taking meals at home.

Racism can lead to depression and anxiety in youth

A new study has found that children and young people experience poor mental health, depression and anxiety following experiences of racism.

The first of its kind, the review showed 461 cases of links between racism and child and youth health outcomes.

Lead researcher Dr Naomi Priest at the McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing at the University of Melbourne said that the review demonstrated racism as an important factor influencing the health and wellbeing of children and youth.

25 % of Japan population over 65

The Japanese government said Sunday that population of elders aged above 65 hit a record high at 31.86 million as of Sunday, an increase of 1.12 million from previous year, media reported.

The figure was up 0.9 percent to 25 percent and was based on births and deaths registered since a census in 2010, said Japan’s Kyodo News, quoting the internal affairs ministry, Xinhua reported.

This means that one in four people in the country are aged over 65.

The ministry said in a demographic estimate that the record high figure was trigger by the baby boom after the World War II.

Why diabetic women are likelier to develop kidney failure than men

A new study has linked a genetic variant on chromosome 2 with kidney failure in diabetic women but not in men.

Niina Sandholm from Helsinki University Central Hospital and Folkhalsan Research Center, in Finland designed a study to detect genetic variants that might predispose diabetic women to kidney failure and identified a genetic variant on chromosome 2 that was linked with kidney failure in women with type 1 diabetes but not in men.

Born in India, alien at home: Border dwellers’ plight

Disowned by his own country, where he was born more than 30 summers ago, an Indian man is now forced to live as an illegal immigrant in Bangladesh, far from his family which has been yearning to see him for over a year. And his plight exemplifies the pitiful story of over 50,000 people who are victims of the unratified India-Bangladesh Land Border Agreement.

Documents reveal NSA routinely shares Americans’ `snoop-data` with Israel

The secret documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden indicate that the US’ National Security Agency (NSA) routinely shares ‘snoop-data’ with Israel, which also includes data about American citizens.

The agency is said to hand over intercepted communication to its Israeli counterpart without sifting phone call data and emails of American citizens and the agreement between the two agencies places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis.

Amino acid found in salmon could help beat diabetes

New research has suggested that the amino acid arginine, which is found in foods like salmon, eggs and nuts is able to boost the body’s ability to metabolise glucose.

Arginine stimulates a hormone linked to the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Majority of people globally unaware they suffer from hypertension

A worldwide study has found that many people don’t know they have hypertension, and even if they do, very few are receiving adequate drug therapy for their condition.

This is true in high income countries, like Canada, as well as middle and low income countries, according to an international team of researchers led by the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.

US think-tank website to push India-Pakistan dialogue

Working with bloggers in India and Pakistan, a US think-tank has launched a website to stimulate a cross-border dialogue on security issues and promote normal and cooperative relations between the two South Asian neighbours.

Called “South Asian Voices: Generation Why” the new “website is designed to serve a new generation of young analysts in India and Pakistan to enable them to find common ground and communicate directly with each other on security issues that now divide their nations”, according to the Stimson Center President and CEO Ellen Laipson.

King Solomon’s copper mines found in Israel

The copper mines in Israel thought to have been built by ancient Egyptians in the 13th century BC actually originated three centuries later, during the reign of the legendary King Solomon, a new study has found.

Based on the radiocarbon dating of material unearthed at a new site in Timna Valley in Israel’s Aravah Desert, the findings overturn the archaeological consensus of the last several decades, researchers said.

Effect of Siasat News – Ms. Asma and Ms. Najma rehabilitated after six years

(Siasat News) On 8th February 2007, a pathetic incident occurred in a house in Bharath Singh Nagar, Saroornagar in which the drunkard father of 2 daughters had left them starving. Ms. Asma and Ms. Najma have been starving for a long time and there was no one who take care of them. A report was published in Siasat after which Jamaet-Ulema provided Rs. 30,000/- and Mr. Hafiz Irfan, Project Manager of IMRC trust provided Rs. 1,90,000/- for the construction of house for them.

It’s official: heart attacks occur more in winters

tA new study has found that the risk of getting a heart attack increases with decrease in temperature.

By means of a multivariate analysis, researchers revealed that acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was strongly dependent on temperature.

It was found that AMI increased by 7 percent for each 10 degree Celsius decrease in minimal temperature.

Time series and univariate analysis of 15,964 AMI patients revealed a significant positive correlation between AMI and air pollution and an inverse correlation between AMI and temperature.

Meet the chimpanzee who won 10,000 dollars as prize for abstract painting

A chimpanzee named Brent has reportedly won 10,000 dollars at an art contest in the US, with the prize money going towards his home sanctuary Chimp Haven in north-west Louisiana.

The 37-year-old former lab animal Brent got the most votes in the chimpanzee art contest organized by the Humane Society of the United States for his painting, which he made by using his tongue to apply delicate smears of blue, violet, yellow and turquoise instead of a brush, the Guardian reported.

Indian-origin scientist invents gum scaffold in Singapore

An Indian-origin scientist has emerged as a star in Singapore after an invention that will help one to ease the pain of tooth extraction, earning him praise from even the city-state’s Prime Minister.

Dr Margam Chandrasekaran, whose family hails from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, led a team of seven to eight researchers, who invented a tiny cylindrical bone tissue scaffold that helps with bone growth and retain the gum’s shape after tooth extraction, a Singaporean Indian community weekly ‘Tabla!’ reported.

The scaffold is made from a bio-polymer which disintegrates within two to six months.

Indian-origin cardiologist named White House fellow

Kapil Parakh, an Indian-origin cardiologist working in Washington area, is among a dozen people chosen by the White House for its prestigious fellowship programme for 2013-14.

A Zambia University graduate, Parakh is the director of heart failure at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Centre and assistant professor in the Departments of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Behaviour and Society.