shameen Human-induced activities may be destabilising desert ecosystems across the world, a new study has claimed.
Researchers from the Argentinian Institute of Arid Lands Research analysed the human impact on dryland ecosystems and found it was “drastically changing” mammal communities.
Scientists believe that activities such as overgrazing livestock are behind increasing local extinctions and a reduction in desert diversity, the BBC Nature reported.
Wayne Rooney has lifted the lid on his relationship with former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as his dressing room habits.
The 26-year-old United striker, currently sidelined with a thigh injury, has provided a unique insight into goings on at Old Trafford during the Portuguese superstar’s stay at the club.
In Rooney’s upcoming book, `My Decade in the Premier League`, extracts of which are being published by The Mirror, he reveals: “There’s a mirror by Ronaldo`s seat in the Old Trafford dressing room.
Two days after his much-awaited comeback match was washed out due to persistent rain, the focus is back on Yuvraj Singh as he looks to resume his innings in international cricket with the second Twenty20 game between India and New Zealand here on Tuesday.
The first T20 in Visakhapatnam was called off without a ball being bowled, leaving the thousands who had thronged the stadium to watch Yuvraj`s much-anticipated return from a successful battle against a rare germ cell cancer, disappointed as rain had the final say.
The Board of Reliance Capital Monday approved a special dividend of 50 percent for shareholders on the completion of 25 years of the financial services arm of the Anil Ambani group.
“The Board of Directors of the company met today and approved a special interim dividend of 50 percent,” Reliance Capital said in a BSE filing.
The special interim dividend will be paid to the shareholders of the company on or before October 10, 2012, the company said.
It is in addition to 75 percent dividend already paid.
Telecom services provider Sistema Shyam’s loss has widened to Rs 1,180.1 crore for the April-June quarter this year mainly due to fall in rupee against dollar.
The company, controlled by Russian conglomerate Sistema, had posted a loss of Rs 657.6 crore for the same period a year ago.
Gold prices touched new all-time high of Rs 32,500 per 10 grams in the bullion market Monday on seasonal demand amid strong global trend.
Gold, which has been on a record setting spree for the past three weeks, rose by Rs 50 to Rs 32,500 per 10 grams.
Traders said sentiment in gold remained bullish as the metal rose to near six-month high in global markets on speculations that central banks from the US and China would bring in more stimulus measures to revive economic growth, raising demand outlook for the precious metal.
Taliban insurgents are posing as “attractive women” on Facebook to befriend coalition soldiers for gathering sensitive intelligence about operations in Afghanistan, an Australian government report has warned.
The dangers of social media have been pointed out in a federal government review of social media and defence, which was finalised in March but has not been acted upon, defence sources said.
The review found an “overt reliance” on privacy settings had led to “a false sense of security” among personnel.
A bomb scare led to a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Lahore to Karachi being delayed for two hours.
Sources told Geo News that authorities at the Allama Iqbal International Airport received a phone call from an anonymous caller who claimed there was a bomb on board the PIA Lahore-Karachi flight PK-303, which could go off anytime.
Airport rescue teams along with bomb defusing experts searched the entire plane but found nothing.
An investigation was launched to trace the unknown caller as well as the motive behind the hoax.
IANS
Taliban on Monday threatened to kill Britain’s Prince Harry, who is serving a fresh deployment in Afghanistan as an Apache attack helicopter pilot, four years after his previous battle stint in the war-torn country was cut short over similar threats.
Describing 27-year-old Prince Harry as a “high-value target”, a militia spokesman said they will “make their best efforts to arrest or kill” him, the Sky news reported.
Indian-American Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley has slammed US President Barack Obama on his manufacturing policy, describing him as a “hypocrite”.
“It is the height of hypocrisy for President Obama to claim he cares about products being ‘Made in the USA’ when his administration bullies American companies trying to do just that,” Haley said in a statement on Sunday.
South Carolina saw Obama and his National Labor Relations Board put union bosses ahead of American business and workers when they sued Boeing in 2011, she said.
Rani Mukerji is looking for a tall, dark and handsome guy to marry.
So what happens to a certain Aditya Chopra, you may wonder. Fret not, because like many, this story too has evolved from Bollywood recipe.
Rani is all set to get married, but on screen. Rani, who essays the role of a Marathi girl in her upcoming movie ‘Aiyyaa’, will be seen hunting for the perfect groom.
‘Aiyyaa’ is Meenakshi Deshpande a.k.a Rani’s story, whose family is in search of a suitable boy.
Bollywood star Akshay Kumar didn`t have a star-studded birthday bash, rather he spent time with his family.
“Thank you so much everyone for all your wonderful wishes, I`d love to thank each and everyone of you personally, but I`ve just returned home from a long schedule in Muscat and I`ll be a little selfish and want to spend the last few hours of my birthday with my family,” tweeted the actor, who turned 45 Sunday.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani Monday attacked the Prime Minister’s Office for what he called attempts to “crush” a foreign correspondent for criticising Manmohan Singh in an article.
The BJP leader’s main target was the prime minister’s communications adviser Pankaj Pachauri, formerly a journalist with a leading Indian television channel.
Around 200 people were held by security men as normal life was affected across Odisha amid disruption of train and road traffic and closure of shops due to a state-wide bandh called by Congress against alleged police crackdown on partymen during a rally.
More than a dozen trains were stopped at several railway stations including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Khurda Road, Berhampur and Sambalpur as bandh supporters staged dharna on the tracks, a spokesman of East Coast Railway (ECoR) said.
Ingredients:
100 g butter, extra for greasing
50 g plain flour, sifted; a bit for dusting
3 eggs
100 g chocolate
100 g icing sugar
Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Grease 4 heart-shaped 300ml ramekins with butter.
Dust the ramekins with a little flour.
Break the chocolate into small pieces and put it in a bowl, over a pan of simmering water. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.
Add the butter to the chocolate, and let both melt.
In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar and eggs till there are no granules and the mixture is smooth.
Intake of blood pressure pills could increase the risk of potentially deadly appendicitis by up to 63 percent, a new study has found.
Types of blood pressure pill like ACE inhibitors and ARBs raised the risk considerably in millions of people.
The two types can cause swelling in the bowel which inflames the appendix a vestigial finger-like pouch connected to the large intestine, `The Sun` reported.
When this occurs, it must be removed within hours or a deadly infection can set in. Around 300,000 men and women were studied at the Beth Deaconess Hospital, Boston, US.
Nearly half of women may have mild-to-severe sleep apnoea, according to a new Swedish study.
As many as 50 per cent of 400 adult women who were given overnight sleep tests turned out to have the sleep disorder characterised by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep.
Scientists monitored sleep patterns of the women overnight and found that half experienced at least five episodes an hour when they stopped breathing for longer than 10 seconds – the minimum definition of sleep apnoea.
Scientists have now discovered a technique to regularise abnormal heartbeats.
A new freezing technology, called cryoablation, has shown promising results in normalising heartbeats after being tried out at Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital.
Some 2.5 million Americans alone suffer from abnormal heartbeats or atrial fibrillation, which causes deadly strokes.
TV actress Aamna Sharif, who enthralled the audience as Kashish, says being romantic to the core in her real life, she would go on her knees to propose the one she loves.
Aamna, who made her small screen debut in 2003 with Ekta Kapoor`s popular show `Kahiin To Hoga`, is now back with yet another romantic show `Honge Juda Na Hum`.
‘Kambakkth Ishq’ director Sabbir Khan, who is directing Jackie Shroff`s son Tiger`s debut film as an actor, says though he is excited about the project he also has an added responsibility of giving a fillip to someone`s career.
Sabbir is confident that casting a debutante in his second film is the right choice as Tiger fits the bill and can do justice to the character.
Indian companies are among the world’s 10 lowest paying employers in the IT space, with their mid-to-senior level staff getting an average salary of USD 38,767 (about Rs 21.5 lakh) per annum — less than one-fourth of the IT pay package at globally top-paying Swiss firms.
Salaries in the IT sector of Switzerland are the highest in the world at an average of USD 168,211 (about Rs 93 lakh) per annum, as per a study titled ‘World wide IT Salary 2012’.
The auditors of debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines have said the air carrier needs to strengthen its internal audit systems and have raised concerns over numerous issues including delayed or no-payment of dues.
Making some serious observations about the books of accounts of Kingfisher, the auditors in their report for 2011-12 have said the company has prepared its financial statements on a ‘going concern’ basis, despite its net worth having been completely eroded.
Republican challenger Mitt Romney faulted President Barack Obama for the country’s weak jobs outlook and looming defence cuts as he tried to blunt any momentum the incumbent picked up from the festive, well-choreographed Democratic National Convention.
Obama and Romney clawed for advantage yesterday in a post-convention push through some of the most closely contested states, Obama on a Florida bus tour, Romney rallying in Virginia, opening the homestretch to the November 6 election.
Each contender was seeking to frame the campaign on their own terms.
A USD 14,000 diamond that was swallowed by a Chinese man in an attempt to steal it, has been retrieved after laxatives were given to him, the police said.
“The Chinese man arrested on Wednesday had dropped the diamond with his excreta today. It was handed over to the Cinnamon Gardens police for verification”, police spokesman and Superintendent Ajith Rohana said yesterday.
The diamond believed to be worth USD 14,000 was swallowed by a Chinese national, Chow Wan, during the opening of FACET 2012, the annual international gem and jewellery exhibition.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signalled that efforts are on to repeal a Cold War-era legislation within this month that restricts trade ties with Russia.
“To make sure our companies get to compete here in Russia, we are working closely with the United States Congress to terminate the application to Jackson-Vanik to Russia and grant Russian Permanent Normalized Trade Relations,” Clinton said yesterday.