shameen

Data from Chandrayaan-1 being used for 2nd moon mission

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Chennai, September 06: Further research was being carried out for the Chandrayaan-2 project, based on the quality data and photographs taken by Chandrayaan-1, whose mission came to an abrupt end last week, a top ISRO official said today.

“We have received about 70,000 photographs and data from Chandrayaan-1. Based on these data, further research is being carried out for the Chandrayaan-2 project, which is expected to be completed by 2012”, Project Director of the Chandrayaan-1 mission M Annadurai told reporters here.

‘Late-night snacks could pack on the pounds’

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Washington, September 06: Midnight raids on the refrigerator may have worse consequences than indigestion — a study in mice boosts the theory that when you eat affects whether the calories go to your hips or get burned off.

Mice fed during the daytime — when they normally would be sleeping — gained more weight than mice fed at night, Fred Turek of Northwestern University in Illinois and colleagues found.

Key component in preeclampsia development identified

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Washington, September 06: Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have found a key contributor in the development of preeclampsia in pregnant women – a condition that can result in miscarriage and maternal death.

The researchers in the study focused on identifying the differences in the uteri of pregnant women with and without preeclampsia and how the mother”s tissues vary from the immediately adjacent foetus” tissue in preeclamptic women.

Sulabh adopts ‘miracle baby’ with protruding heart

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New Delhi, September 06: The 10-day-old baby who has undergone a rare surgery here after he was born with a protruding heart has found support from the NGO Sulabh International.

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Thursday operated upon the infant and pushed the heart inside the body after creating space for it. The boy, whose parents are poor, is now recovering at the hospital.

Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak Saturday said he will look after the post-operative care of the baby and give a job to his father Chander Majhi in his organisation.

Smaller thighs linked to heart disease risk, premature deaths

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Washington, September 06: Men and women whose thighs are less than 60 cm in circumference have a higher risk of premature death and heart disease, says a new study.

Berit Heitmann, based at Copenhagen University Hospital, says his research may help doctors identify patients who are at an increased risk of early death and developing heart disease.

While several studies have already demonstrated that being either very overweight or underweight are related to premature death and disease, this is the first to investigate the implications of thigh size on health.

Found: Antibodies to target HIV more effectively

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Washington, September 06: The discovery of two powerful new HIV antibodies will help tackle HIV more effectively. Researchers will now try to exploit a newfound vulnerability on the virus to craft novel approaches to designing an AIDS vaccine.

Besides, the global collaboration that led to the discovery of the two new broadly neutralising antibodies (bNAbs) are likely to produce more such antibodies.

They may further reveal additional vulnerabilities of HIV, adding still more vitality to the effort to develop a vaccine against AIDS.

Health freak Salman Khan trying to quit smoking finally!

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New Delhi, September 06: He might be known as the Bollywood brat, but it looks like Salman Khan is now trying to turn a new leaf. He says he is trying to quit smoking.
Asked about the habit that is hard to kick, he said: “I`m trying to (quit smoking)… Smoking is something people start to either enter a social circle or to show off.”

But he does have a word of advice for others trying to quit cigarettes too.

Railway women employees to test food in trains

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Kolkata, September 06: Call it the influence of a woman railway minister or an acknowledgement that the fairer sex is a better homemaker – the South Eastern Railway (SER) has deployed a team of its female employees to test the quality of food and beverages served in trains.

The initiative is a brainchild of SER general manager AK Jain who constituted the team comprising five women officials spearheaded by assistant commercial manager Indrani Bandyopadhyay.

The officials will pay surprise visits to trains in five different SER divisions to check the quality of food items.

Ramzan Special: Shami Kebab

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Break your Ramzan fast by digging into these rich and succulent kebabs.

Ingredients

½ kg minced meat without fat
2 tbsp chana dal (split gram) washed and soaked in water for ½ hr
2 pieces dalchini (cinnamon)
3 cloves
1 piece ginger
1 tsp coriander and cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala (mixed spices)
10 garlic flakes
2 elaichi (cardamom)
1 tsp chili powder
A pinch of pepper. A handful of Kothmir and chopped pudina (mint leaves)
1 egg
Juice of ½ a lemon
1 finely chopped onion
Oil for frying
Salt to taste

G20 nations agree on measures to counter tax havens

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London, September 06: Finance Ministers of G20 countries, including India, on Saturday decided to take counter measures against tax havens, particularly the non-cooperative ones, to prevent money laundering and terror financing from March next year.

Following up on the decisions taken at the G20 summit here in April, the meeting decided on steps that could enable governments get information from such tax havens.

Iraqi Arabs protest US plan for Kurdish patrols

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Baghdad, September 06: Hundreds of Sunni Arabs opposed to the presence of Kurdish troops in disputed areas of northern Iraq demonstrated Saturday against a plan to deploy a mixed force of American, Kurdish and Iraqi soldiers in the area.

More than 300 people in the Sunni-dominated town of Hawija, once an insurgent stronghold, gathered in a stadium to protest the inclusion of Kurdish troops in these patrols.

Yemen says Shiite rebels break cease-fire

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Sanaa, September 06: A Yemeni government minister accused Shiite rebels on Saturday of breaking a cease-fire, hours after it went into effect in an effort to let aid workers get food and medical aid to thousands of displaced civilians.

However, a spokesman for the rebels, Mohammed Abdel-Salam, denied that his group has resumed its fighting, and accused the government of “making up excuses to keep the conflict going.”

South Sudan and leading opposition party form alliance

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Khartoum, September 06: South Sudan’s ruling party signed an accord with a leading opposition party on Saturday, forming an alliance ahead of a general election next April.

The deal was witnessed by Salva Kiir, the president of south Sudan and chairman of the south’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), and Sadeq al-Mahdi, a former prime minister and the head of the northern-based Umma party.

Bridges Linking Roads to Rashidiya Metro Parking Ready to Open on Sept 9

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Dubai, September 06: The bridges linking roads to the Rashidiya Metro Station parking lot, built at a cost of nearly Dh700 million, will open on September 9 as part of the Dubai Metro launch, according to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

In a statement on Saturday, Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board and executive director ofRTA, said the project included the construction of ramps at the intersection of Emirates and Khawaneej roads, in addition to two bridges at Khawaneej Road.

Two Quarries Shut Down, 13 Face Closure

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Dubai, September 06: Thirteen stone quarries in the Northern Emirates and Fujairah will be shut down during this month for non-adherence to green regulations and causing pollution, according to the Ministry of Environment and Water.

Two other quarries in Ajman have already been closed for polluting the environment. The errant quarries will be closed for violating health safety regulations and local municipalities’ rules, said Minister of Environment and Water Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad.

22 Filipino Runaway Maids Repatriated

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Dubai, September 06: Twenty-two household workers, who abandoned their employers in the UAE for various reasons, were repatriated to the Philippines over the weekend, the largest group sent back this year by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Manila.

Welfare Officer Mary Cimangan told Khaleej Times that the 22 belonged to the first batch in a series of repatriations planned by OWWA.

“Fifty per cent of the employers, whose maids ran away, have refused to release their passports unless the expenses incurred on bringing them to UAE were refunded,” Cimangan said.

DPG Staff Work off Kilos During Eight-week Summer Challenge

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Dubai, September 06: More than 70 employees of Dubai Properties Group participated in an eight-week healthy lifestyle campaign, titled Summer Challenge, which concluded on Saturday.

Organised in collaboration with City Hospital, a multi-disciplinary hospital at Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC), the Summer Challenge offered complimentary weight monitoring and check-ups for blood pressure, body mass index (BMI) and sugar levels.

The winner of first prize, Jameel Moidheen, lost 14.9kg weight during the campaign, dropping 4.3 points on the BMI scale.

Big Response to Dubai’s Traffic Call-in Initiative

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Dubai, September 06: The General Department of Traffic of Dubai Police has recorded 15,767 traffic violations through the traffic police initiative ‘All of us police’, a police official said.

The initiative saw an interactive process where people called in or sent photos of reckless motorists on the city’s roads to the Operation Room of 
Dubai Police.

Memorising Quran Improves Academic Performance

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Dubai, September 06: Some youngsters may not get the time for memorising the 
Holy Quran because of their tough 
educational requirements, but this 
is not the case with 20-year-old 
Yaseen Mamduh.

A student of medicine, Mamduh is representing Syria in the Dubai International Holy Quran Award. He has been nominated by the Syrian Ministry of Awqaf.

Talking to Khaleej Times, Mamduh said he started memorising the holy Quran at the age of five and finished 
at seven.

Report H1N1 Cases to ADEC, Capital Schools Told

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Abu Dhabi, September 06: Public and private schools in Abu Dhabi have been instructed to report suspected cases of swine flu to the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), which will refer them to the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

“Private and public schools in Abu Dhabi emirate should follow the official pathway by notifying ADEC of all H1N1 suspected cases,” asserted Dr Amer Al Kindi, school health manager in ADEC.

Five arrested over Serbia factory blast: report

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Belgrade, September 06: Five workers at a munitions factory in Serbia where a series of blasts this week killed seven people have been arrested in connection with the incident, the news agency Beta reported Saturday.

The four men and one woman are suspected of being responsible for negligence in security measures which may have led to the blasts at the Prvi Partizan factory in Uzice, southwest Serbia, the news agency said, citing police.

The Serbian government declared Saturday a national day of mourning for the deadly explosions, which also left some 14 people injured.

Spacewalkers to outfit station for final node

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Cape Canaveral, September 06: A pair of spacewalking astronauts from the U.S. shuttle Discovery worked outside the International Space Station on Saturday to lay power cables for the orbital outpost’s last connecting node.

The node, named Tranquility, was due to arrive in February, leaving NASA with four supply runs to outfit the $100 billion station before the space shuttles are retired.

The last flights will include delivery of a Russian docking module and the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a particle physics experiment involving 60 agencies in 16 countries.

Top official in volatile Chinese city sacked

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Beijing, September 06: Chinese leaders sacked the head of a western city wracked by communal violence and a bizarre string of needle attacks, hoping to calm uneasy mobs and end protests that percolated for a 3rd day.

The removal of Urumqi’s Communist Party Secretary Li Zhi on Saturday came amid reports of police again using tear gas to disperse crowds outside Urumqi’s government offices, and more unconfirmed reports of hypodermic attacks, including one on an 11-year-old boy in a downtown square.

North Korea’s Kim wins backing for succession plan

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Pyongyang, September 06: North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il has suspended a propaganda campaign to promote his youngest son as future leader after apparently winning the regime’s support for the succession plan, analysts say.

After securing acceptance of Jong-Un’s position as eventual heir, Kim may be concerned not to weaken his own authority in the interim, they say.

Succession speculation began in earnest after Kim, now 67, suffered a stroke around August 2008.

US seeks clarity from North Korea on uranium

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Washington, September 06: North Korea’s pursuit of a second path to nuclear weapons by enriching uranium is a problem likely to persist and Pyongyang needs to come clean about its intentions, a US envoy for the reclusive state said.

North Korea, which has produced enough plutonium for an estimated six to eight bombs, said on Friday it had made advances in uranium enrichment, a move analysts saw as a tactic to put pressure on regional powers after a month of conciliatory gestures.