shameen

Rupee touches 4-week high, gains 57 paise against dollar

by

The rupee gained a hefty 57 paise to move past the 55 level against the dollar for the first time in nearly four weeks on sustained capital inflows amid government measures to revive the economy, and continued selling of the American currency by exporters.

The local unit opened marginally higher at 55.41 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, and rose by 57 paise to trade at 54.86, a level last seen on June 7.

The rupee had ended 18 paise higher at 55.43 against the dollar following sustained selling of the American currency by exporters and some banks in yesterday’s trade.

Euro 2012: Champions return home

by

Spanish players carried the Euro 2012 championship trophy back to their native land Monday, ready to accept a hero`s welcome and lead their economically troubled nation in a second night of jubilant celebration.

Team captain and goalie Iker Casillas proudly held the tournament cup as he emerged from the plane in Madrid with coach Vicente del Bosque a day after the soccer team`s crushing 4-0 win over Italy. The Iberia plane that brought them from Kiev bore the logo “proud of our national team.”

UN designates Western Ghats as world heritage site

by

India’s 1600-km long Western Ghats mountain chain, which has forests older than the Himalaya mountains, has been added to list of world heritage sites by the United Nations.

The Western Ghats mountain chain is recognised as one of the world’s eight “hottest hotspots” of biological diversity. The chain’s forests, which are older than the Himalaya mountains influence the Indian monsoon weather pattern.

Sridevi goes the plain jane way in `English Vinglish`

by

After almost 14 years, Sridevi is returning to the big screen with R Balki`s `English Vinglish`, but the actress has chosen to play the role of a housewife, struggling with the language.

In the first look of the film, directed by Gauri Shinde, the Bollywood diva has sported a de-glam look and is clad in a carrot coloured sari like a simple middle class woman.

The trailer of the film begins with Sridevi reading from the film (censor) certificate spread out like wallpaper with her back facing the viewer. Sridevi starts struggling with reading the words.

`Coffee could reduce your risk of common skin cancer`

by

Increasing the number of cups of coffee you drink daily could lower your risk of developing the most common form of skin cancer, a new study has claimed, but cautioned that one should not start consuming the beverage excessively based on this finding.

Researchers at Brigham and Women`s Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston found that people who drank more cups of caffeinated coffee had a reduced risk of developing basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer which causes considerable morbidity despite being a slow-grower.

IVF treatment to remove cancerous genes in embryos

by

Genes that predispose fertile Australian women to breast and ovarian cancers are increasingly being treated by the In-vitro-fertilisation (IVF) technique which removes the cancerous genes from the embryos.

Two clinics in Melbourne are treating women with a `pre-implantation` genetic diagnosis technique to remove these genes in the embryos so that the mutation is not passed on to the off-springs.

Mutation in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes increases the chances of breast cancer in women by 60-80 per cent, the report said.

Fast food can bring on diabetes, heart disease

by

People who consume fast food even once a week elevate their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 20 percent, compared to people who avoid fast food, according to the latest research.

For people eating fast food two-three times each week, the risk increases by 50 percent, and the risk climbs to nearly 80 percent for people who consume fast food items four or more times each week. It also increased the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 27 percent.

Hope for mouth cancer treatment

by

A protein active in mouth cancer has been identified that could lead to new methods to treat the disease, according to a British study.

The protein FRMD4A is permanently switched on in cancer, and higher the levels, the more likely cancer is to spread and return, Xinhua quoted the Cancer Research UK as saying.

By blocking the protein, researchers were able to stop cancers growing and spreading, and increased the survival of mice with cancer.

Acid attacks: SC fiat to Centre, states

by

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to apprise it of their measures to regulate the sale of acid to prevent its misuse as a weapon, particularly against women by their jilted lovers.

The court sought a “comprehensive affidavit” from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which was asked to “consider proper action” for making appropriate provision for “regulation of sale of acids so that it is not easily or readily available to offenders.”

Moderate earthquake hits Iranian town

by

Iran’s state TV is reporting that a 5.4 magnitude earthquake has jolted a sparsely-populated area in the eastern part of the country.

Today’s report says people poured into the streets out of fear after the quake hit Khauf town, some 1,000 kilometres east of the capital Tehran, in the darkness of early morning.

There was no information on possible casualties and damage.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes, experiencing at least one slight quake a day on average.

Japan’s Oi nuclear reactor reaches critical level

by

A reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant in western Japan reached criticality on Monday after it became the first one to be rebooted last night in the aftermath of last year’s meltdowns at Fukushima.

After being idled for over 15 months for mandatory checks since March last year, the No 3 reactor at the Kansai Electric Power Co Plant in Fukui Prefecture is now slated to gradually increase output and restart power transmission as early as Wednesday.

It is due to go into full operation possibly by next Sunday, Kyodo news agency reported.

Musharraf fears another military coup in Pakistan

by

Claiming that Pakistan was being run to the ground, the country’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has not ruled out a fresh military takeover of the nation.

“The state is being run to the ground at the moment, and people are again running to the military to save the country,” Musharraf told a gathering in Aspen in Colorado in the US.

While he maintained that Pakistan’s Constitution was “sacrosanct”, the former dictator also questioned: “Should we save the country, and do something unconstitutional or uphold the Constitution of the country, and let the state go down?”

Muhammad Yunus made chancellor of UK varsity

by

Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who pioneered the concept of micro-finance and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, will be the new Chancellor of the Glasgow Caledonian University in the UK.

He succeeds Lord Macdonald of Tradeston, who has completed a distinguished five-year term of office, the university said.

Mumbai attackers were helped by 40 Indians: Pak

by

Days after terror suspect Zabiuddin Ansari’s revelations about the Mumbai attacks being controlled and facilitated from Karachi, Pakistani authorities have claimed 40 Indian nationals were involved in the terrorist incident.

“Our information is that there were at least 40 Indian nationals who helped the attackers. We want India to come clean on this,” an unnamed official of Pakistan’s Foreign Office was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.

India to launch $40 bn Phase II of JnNURM: Kamal Nath

by

India will launch the USD 40 billion second phase of its urban renewal mission in about four months, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath told delegates attending the World Cities Summit here Monday.

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) phase II would be carried out over the next five years as India works to cover its infrastructure deficit throughout the country and manage massive urbanisation programmes, he told the Summit’s opening plenary session.

Lack of rest killed us against Spain: Cesare Prandelli

by

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli acknowledged Monday his side had struggled to cope with the physical demands of Euro 2012 after their 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Spain in the final.

Goals from David Silva, Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata secured the title for Spain in a showcase of sublime passing and ruthless finishing.

Italy had periods of pressure but couldn`t make them count, especially when their third substitute Thiago Motta went off with a hamstring injury to leave his team to play out the last half hour with 10 men.

Russian spacecraft returns to earth

by

A Russian spacecraft with three crewmembers on board returned to earth Sunday.

The Soyuz spacecraft landed safely in Kazakhstan, Russia’s mission control centre said.

The crew included Russian astronaut Oleg Kononenko, American Donald Pettit and Dutch Andre Kuipers.

It undocked from the International Space Station at 0448 GMT and landed on earth at 0815 GMT, Xinhua reported. The trio spent 193 days in space.

IANS

Doctors extract stem cells to grow bones

by

Three doctors, attached with some of the premier hospitals in the country, claimed to have evolved a teeth implantation procedure which could prove boon mainly for senior citizens.

The doctors used stem cells, extracted from human bone marrow, to regenerate bone cells that can be used to implant teeth in senior citizens suffering from bone “melt down”.

Sohail Khan’s car crushes 70-yr-old woman to death

by

It’s yet another Bollywood actor who has been caught in a controversy. A 70-year-old woman was allegedly mowed down under the wheels of Actor Sohail Khan’s car on Sunday midnight near Bandra in Mumbai.

The woman who was rushed to a nearby hospital was declared brought dead by doctors. According to reports, Sohail Khan was not present in the vehicle when his driver Dhananjaya Pimpale was driving the car.

`Jayanta Bhai Ki Luv Story` to release in October

by

Producer Kumar Taurani`s ‘Jayanta Bhai Ki Luv Story’, starring Vivek Oberoi and Neha Sharma, will hit the big screen in October this year.

“We are happy to announce our next venture `Jayanta Bhai Ki Luv Story`, which will release October this year. The shoots have been on schedule and we are very excited with the way things are shaping up. We can`t wait for the film to hit theatres,” Taurani said in a statement.

The film is a romantic comedy.

IANS

PM concerned over quality of medical education

by

Expressing concern over the quality of medical education, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said a “credible regulatory” mechanism should be put in place and a “serious look” given at the curriculum.

“There is a perception of deteriorating quality. We cannot allow this situation to continue. We must put in place a credible regulatory and institutional mechanism to help develop standards in our medical education”, he said in his address at the third Convocation in Jawaharlal Institute of Post graduate Medical Education and Research here.

Adarsh scam: Now Ashok Chavan blames Deshmukh

by

The blame-game over Adarsh scam continued on Saturday with former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan pointing a finger at his predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh, saying as revenue minister during the latter’s tenure it was beyond his jurisdiction to allot land to the society.

Taliban at Guantanamo could leave: Report

by

The Obama administration is considering a new gambit to restart peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan that would send several Taliban detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a prison in Afghanistan.

Under the proposal, some Taliban fighters or affiliates captured in the early days of the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan and later sent to Guantanamo under the label of enemy combatants would be transferred out of full US control but not released, US and Afghan officials told a news agency.

Haqqani network ‘common enemy’ of US, Pak: Panetta

by

Calling the Taliban-linked Haqqani network a “common enemy”, the US has made it clear to Pakistan that both countries have to work together to deal with the dreaded terror outfit responsible for attacks on coalition forces based in Afghanistan.

Stating this, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Pakistan too has been a victim of terrorism and cited the recent killing of 17 Pakistani soldiers by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“They lost 17 Pakistanis on a patrol to the TTP. And so every day they too are the victims of terrorism,” he noted.

Wimbledon 2012: Roger Federer rallies past Benneteau

by

Roger Federer overcame a two-set deficit Friday at Wimbledon to avoid his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2004.

The six-time champion found himself two points from defeat on six occasions but survived a tense fourth-set tiebreaker and beat Julien Benneteau in the third round, 4-6, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-1.

“It was a tough match,” Federer said. “Oh my God, it was brutal. Obviously, a bit of luck, maybe, on my side. Who knows? But I tried hard. I fought `til the very end.”