Month: May 2013

Women could `evolve` out of menopause to bear children later

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Women may evolve out of the menopause and bear children into their fifties and beyond, an Indian-origin genetics expert has claimed.

Dr Aarathi Prasad speaking at the Hay Festival in UK, said that since there were no longer any benefits associated with the menopause, it was now “not normal for nature”.

According to the expert, menopause dated from a time when generations of women were competing over scarce resources and it was not ideal for them all to be bearing children at the same time.

Robbery

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Police rescued two workers of a jewel shop from whom an eight member gang had robbed two kg of gold and Rs seven lakh cash and then left them locked in their car here last night.

Police said they received the complaint from the local people that they were hearing noise from a locked-car parked opposite to a hotel and rushed to the spot.

They found the workers Manikandan and Muthuraja bound with clothes and crouched between the seats.

They broke open the car’s door and rescued them.

Minor boy shot dead at home

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A 13-year-old boy was shot dead by unidentified persons in Faridinagar area of the city, police said today.

Maaz Ahmed, a student of class six, was shot at his home in front of his family members by three youths last night,they said, adding that the unidentified assailants later fled on a motorbike.

He was rushed to the trauma centre in a serious condition, where he was declared dead, police said.

Four bullet marks — three on the chest and one on shoulder — were found on his body, they said.

US honours 3 Indian-Americans with ‘Champions of Change’ award

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The US has honoured three Indian-Americans with the prestigious Champions of Change awards for their achievements as immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs.

The three — Shradha Agarwal from Chicago, Riddhiman Das from Kansas and Amar Sawhney from Massachusetts — were
presented with the award at the White House.

They were among 11 people honoured yesterday.

The Indian-Americans and others were felicitated at the “Champions of Change” event at the White House that

Palestine: Israeli settlers burn cars, write racist graffiti, near Tubas

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A group of Israeli settlers invaded the Az-Beidat area, near the West Bank city of Tubas, burnt four cars and a tractor, and wrote racist graffiti against the Arabs and Palestinians.

Hamza Zbeidat, representative of the Development Work Center in the Jordan Valley, stated that the settlers invaded the village, and burnt the vehicles before fleeing the scene.

He added that the vehicles belong to Eyad Mohammad Zbeidat, Mohammad Hasan Zbeidat, a car that belongs to Mohammad’s brother, and Ziyad Mohammad Zbeidat.

Sensex gains 68 points; auto, FMCG stocks rise

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A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Thursday closed 67 points up on the back of healthy buying in automobile, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and power stocks.

However, metal, oil and gas and bank scrips took a plunge.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,066.94 points, closed at 20,215.40 points, up 67.76 points or 0.34 percent from its previous day’s close at 20,147.64 points.

Sensex touched a high of 20,254.03 points and a low of 20,066.14 points in intra-day trade.

7 dead in New York crash

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Officials in upstate New York say seven people have been killed in a crash involving a tractor-trailer and a minivan.

Sheriff’s Department Captain Mark Helms says the crash occurred yesterday evening on Route 13 about 40 kilometers
south of Syracuse.

Helms said seven of the eight passengers in the minivan died. The eighth person’s condition was unknown.

Helms said two people in the tractor-trailer were not injured. He said a section of Route 13 has been closed in both directions while police investigates the matter.

Britain police charge London attack suspect with murder

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One of two suspects shot by the UK police at the scene of last week’s terror attack on a London
street in which a British soldier was beheaded has been charged with the murder.

Michael Adebowale, 22, a Londoner of Nigerian descent has been remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. The second suspect, Michael Adebolajo, 28, remains under arrest at a London hospital.

Drummer Lee Rigby, 25, was stabbed to death in a street attack in Woolwich, south-east London, on May 22.

Shutdown in J&K to protest restriction over Malik’s Doda visit

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Maisuma locality and adjoining parts here observed a shutdown on Thursday to protest the Jammu and Kashmir government’s decision not to allow JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik in the earthquake-affected Doda region of the state and pushing him back to Kashmir.

Shops and other business establishments downed their shutters in Maisuma and Budshah Chowk after Malik’s supporters came out on streets in protest, official sources said.

First look into HIV’s coating may lead to AIDS cure

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Scientists have for the first time built a detailed molecular model of the complex structure of the inner protein shell of HIV, paving way for potential new treatments for the deadly virus.

A team led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine described the 4-million-atom structure of the HIV’s capsid, or protein shell.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, could lead to new ways of fending off an often-changing virus that has been very hard to conquer.

”Second Internet revolution” will bring great changes in technology: AOL chief

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Internet pioneer Steve Case, co-founder of AOL ”America On-Line” said that the second revolution of Internet would bring about significant changes in the Internet technology, and will improve education, health care, energy and transportation.

Case founded AOL in 1991, at a time when only few Americans used the Internet. Today more than 80 percent of the Americans have Internet access.

Case believes that more important innovation will occur in the second revolution than the first, as Internet is now omnipresent and mobile, reports Fox news.

New treatment may hold key to diabetes cure

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A new treatment that uses an injection of adult stem cells from bone marrow in combination with a drug may provide a cure for diabetes, scientists claim.

“We discovered that type 1 diabetes destroys not only insulin-producing cells but also blood vessels that support
them,” said lead researcher Habib Zaghouani from the University of Missouri.

When we realised how important the blood vessels were to insulin production, we developed a cure that combines a drug we created with adult stem cells from bone marrow.

Cricket”s reputation not dented, will speak at right time: Dhoni

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Making it clear that he would not answer questions related to the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal, Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni today said that he would definitely speak at the right time. “It is not as if the reputation is gone, when the right time comes I will answer all the questions relating to the recently concluded Indian Premier League,” Dhoni told in a press conference here. “If we look at the international set-up of sports we will find some individuals mentally weaker than the others.

Cricketer Ankeet Chavan allowed to leave jail for marriage

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Rajasthan Royals cricketer Ankeet Chavan, arrested in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal, was Thursday granted interim bail by a Delhi court to get married June 2.

Additional Sessions Judge Vinay Kumar Khanna granted Chavan interim bail till June 6 on a personal bond of Rs.1 lakh and a surety of equal amount.

Chavan was Tuesday denied relief by a magisterial court which said that social stigma could not be a ground to give him the concession.

London attack suspect appears in court

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One of the two main suspects, charged with murdering a British soldier in a terror attack on a busy London street last week, on Thursday appeared in handcuffs in a court here to confirm his name and address.

Michael Adebowale, a 22-year-old Londoner of Nigerian descent, spoke only to confirm his name and address during a short hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.

He was remanded in custody and will appear next at the Old Bailey court here on Monday.

17 militants killed in Pakistan

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At least 17 suspected militants were killed when army jets pounded their hideouts in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, media reports said.

Unidentified officials told local media that in a pre-dawn attack, army jets attacked four militant hideouts in Parachamkani in Kurram Agency along the Afghan border, Xinhua reported.

Identities of those killed have not been determined yet.

Congress hints at new alliance in Bihar

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Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla on Thursday said the Congress will form a new alliance in Bihar ahead of the next general elections in 2014.

“Congress is working towards the formation of a new alliance in Bihar before the next Lok Sabha polls,” Shukla told newspersons here.

Shukla was here on his way to campaign for the party candidate in the June 2 Lok Sabha byelection from Maharajganj constituency in the state’s Saran district.

Uncle rapes 16-year-old niece

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The accused Ali Hasan had called his niece from Sabhapur to his house in Mustafabad for some work.

But on the night of May 27 Ali Hasan allegedly forced the girl to drink a glass of milk in which he had mixed drugs. He then raped the girl and threatened her to not reveal about it to anyone.

The police have registered the rape case and arrested the accused uncle.

Chhattisgarh all-party meet on Naxals for better coordination to tackle menace

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An all-party meeting convened by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh here on Thursday on the Maoist issue urged the Central Government to come out with a work plan, and called for better coordination to tackle the threat.

The meeting, which was attended by leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Left Parties, concluded that the Maoist issue is a national problem and not specific to a particular state.

BJP to decide PM candidate ‘soon’

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There is “no question mark” on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and the party will “soon” decide its prime ministerial candidate, BJP president Rajnath Singh has said.

“The decision on the prime ministerial candidate will be taken at the right time and it may be soon,” Rajnath Singh told IANS in an exclusive interview here.

Asked if Modi could be the party’s choice for the prime minister’s post ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha battle, he refused to make a comment but said Modi’s popularity cannot be denied.

“There is no question mark on the popularity of Modi.”

Ban tobacco advertising: WHO

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) Wednesday called on nations to ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship to help reduce the number of tobacco users and keep young people from becoming addicted.

As the May 31 World No Tobacco Day approaches, Douglas Bettcher, director of the WHO`s Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases Department, said most tobacco users start their deadly drug dependence before the age of 20.

World No Tobacco Day: 2500 die in India daily

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The tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced. Mass media campaigns, graphic warnings and alternative crop options for tobacco growers can help stop or reduce the estimated 800,000-900,000 tobacco-attributable deaths per year in India, experts say.

According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) – India 2010, tobacco use is a major preventable cause of death and disease and is responsible 1 in 10 death among adults worldwide. Approximately 5.5 million people die around the world every year – with India accounting for nearly a fifth of this.

Salman Khan, Suzuki Motors help drought-hit farmers

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Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and Suzuki Motors have joined hands to provide relief to the drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra.

Khan’s NGO, Being Human Foundation, and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt. Ltd, have donated 100 good quality water tanks each with a storage capacity of 2,000 litres to drought-hit people in Beed, Osmanabad, Jalna, Aurangabad and Nanded in the past few days.

The water tanks have been procured from Nagpur and are being routed through the respective district collectors to ensure a direct impact at the grassroots levels.

Chechen killed by FBI in Boston bombing probe was unarmed

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A Chechen man, who was fatally shot by an FBI agent last week during an interview about one of the Boston bombing suspects, was unarmed, US law enforcement officials have said.

An air of mystery has surrounded the FBI shooting of Ibragim Todashev, 27, since it occurred on May 22.