Month: June 2013

Parents push children to fulfill own thwarted dreams

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Parents are pushy and scream from the sidelines or hover backstage because they want their children to reach their own thwarted dreams, the first experiments on the long-held belief suggest.

The research provides the first empirical evidence that parents sometimes want their child to fulfill their unfulfilled ambitions.

For example, parents who themselves faced rejection from a medical school, would like their children to become a doctor.

The experiments showed that pushy parents seem to share a common trait and they view their children as part of themselves.

Recipe: Baby Corn salad

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Ingredients

• 2 cups Baby Corn (finely sliced)
• 1 cup Peas (boiled)
• 1 cup Black Gram (sprouted)
• 1 tsp Pepper Powder
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Lime Juice
• Salt (to taste)
• Boiled Water

How to make

Place the baby corn in boiled water for 10 minutes, until tender.

In a large mixing bowl, add peas, black gram, pepper powder, sugar, lime juice and salt. Mix well.

Filter the water and add the baby corn to the bowl.

Mix well and serve.

SAD sufferers misreport sleep patterns due to depression

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Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have revealed that individuals with seasonal affective disorder (SAD)-a winter depression that leads to loss of motivation and interest in daily activities-have misconceptions about their sleep habits similar to those of insomniacs.

These findings open the door for treating seasonal affective disorder similar to the way doctors treat insomnia.

Britain set to allow babies to be born with 3 genetic parents

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Britain is set to become the world`s first nation to allow babies to be born with three genetic parents.

A landmark decision by the Department of Health opens the door to treatments for diseases that make use of donated DNA from a second donor “mum”.

New regulations to fertility law allowing the procedures will be issued for public consultation later this year and then debated in Parliament, the Mirror reported.

If MPs find them ethically acceptable the first patients could be treated within months.

Around 10 “three parent” babies could be born every year.

Processed carbohydrates tempt people to overeat

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A new study has found that eating highly- processed carbohydrates like cakes, cookies and chips could affect pleasure centers in the brain, leading to serious cravings that might cause people to overeat.

Our brains consist of a complex network of pathways and regions that control for all our bodily functions. Chemical messengers called neurotransmitters allow signals to pass from one nerve cell to the next to aid in these functions.

One neurotransmitter, dopamine, plays a major role in the brain`s reward pathways.

BJP steers clear of Munde controversy

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The BJP Saturday steered clear of the controversy over its leader Gopinath Munde’s reported remarks that he had spent Rs.8 crore for his poll campaign in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, saying it was a matter between him and the poll panel.

“It is between Shri Munde and the election commission,” Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi said replying to queries from the media.

There is speculation that the poll panel will seek a reply from Munde over his remarks.

Ritalin may help cure cocaine addiction

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A single dose of a stimulant drug prescribed to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) could improve brain function and modify connectivity in parts of the brain that are involved with self-control and craving when given to cocaine addicts, according to a new study.

Methylphenidate (brand name Ritalin) normalizes certain brain circuits that underlie self-control and craving among cocaine-addicted individuals, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found.

DGCI bans cosmetics with animal-tested ingredients: PETA

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The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has banned testing cosmetics and their ingredients on animals, an animal rights organisation said Friday.

“DGCI has announced that testing cosmetics and their ingredients on animals will not be permitted in the country. The announcement was made today (Friday) at Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) cosmetics sectional committee meeting,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an international animal rights group, said in a statement.

Channel Ten signs Ponting as Big Bash commentator

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Australian TV network Channel Ten has scored a major coup in its cricket war with new rivals Nine by signing former captain Ricky Ponting as a marquee commentator for the domestic Big Bash series this summer.

According to Telegraph.com.au, Nine has traditionally been the home of retired captains, featuring them as the centrepiece of its world-class coverage, adding that the channel has a 55-year lineage running through its former skippers with Richie Benaud first leading Australia in 1958.

I am not scared of losing anything: Irrfan Khan

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Irrfan loves his craft and aims to nurture his relationship with his fans by giving them “memorable films”. As far as money is concerned, the Padma Shri winner`s motto is to earn enough to enjoy life – and not to be the highest paid actor.

“I don`t look at my life that way and that`s not my goal. I don`t want to be the highest paid actor. The only thing I want is that whatever work I am doing, it should give me enough to enjoy my life,” Irrfan said.

‘India’s first midnight satellite launch progressing smoothly’

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The countdown for the first midnight launch of an Indian navigation satellite July 1 began Saturday at Sriharikota rocket launch centre in Andhra Pradesh and is progressing smoothly, a senior official said.

“The 64.5 hour countdown for India’s first navigational satellite IRNSS-1A began at 7.11 a.m today (Saturday). It is progressing smoothly,” a senior official at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told IANS.

According to the ISRO official, this is the first time India is launching a rocket from its soil around midnight – the rocket launch is fixed at 11.41 p.m. Monday.

Uttarakhand assembly speaker says 10,000 dead, Shinde says 900

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Confusion prevailed over the death toll in the Uttarakhand tragedy with state assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal Saturday claiming over 10,000 people had perished while union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the death toll was 900.

Kunjwal told reporters in Dehradun that during his earlier tour of the flood-devastated areas of the state he had put the death toll at 5,000-6,000.

“But after hearing accounts of the devastation from people coming down from the mountains and that of people calling me up of the piles of bodies, I feel the toll could be well over 10,000.”

Ranbir Kapoor disappointed Katrina Kaif?

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You need to invest time when in love, don’t you? This is exactly why most couples end up fighting over. And our very own stars from B-town are no different.

If the latest buzz is anything to go by, then Katrina Kaif is miffed with her alleged beau Ranbir Kapoor. The ‘Barfi!’ star apparently let his ladylove down by choosing his friends over her at Arjun Kapoor’s birthday bash held recently, a tabloid reported.

Katrina wanted to spend time with Ranbir but he was hell bent on being with his buddies.

Islamabad to have Pakistan-China friendship group in parliament

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Pakistani parliament will soon have a Pakistan-China Friendship Group in its lower house, Xinhua reported.

While meeting the Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong, Pakistan parliamentary speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, said Friday that this group would be set up shortly in the National Assembly. It would boost contact between parliamentarians of both the countries while advancing better understanding and pragmatic cooperation to meet challenges in pursuit of common development.

The speaker said Pakistan and China were not only neighbours but time- tested and all-weather friends.

‘Tayyab Ali’ reprised by Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha at ‘OUATIMD’ music launch

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Bollywood actors Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan promoted their upcoming gangster film, ‘Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai Dobara’ by reprising a famous song of the 1970s.

Performing on stage to the energetic dance number, Khan said the film is action packed, but has lighter moments, including the notorious song `Tayyab Ali ` in which Khan is teasing Sinha`s father about being a roadblock in their love story.

New computer program detects pulse from tiny head movements

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A new computer program can measure a person’s pulse by analyzing videos of them trying to hold still and spotting a tiny tic that betrays every heartbeat.

Not yet tested in a clinical setting, the algorithm could provide a way to check the health of newborns and elderly people with easily damaged skin, Fox News reported.

A camera feeding into the program could, in principle, monitor someone continuously.

NASA tests Mars rover prototype in Atacama Desert

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NASA scientists today said they were testing a prototype of a robot the US space agency hopes to send to Mars in 2020 in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

NASA hopes to use this kind of rover to explore life- friendly sites found by Curiosity, the rover already searching for signs of life on Mars. It has been there since last August.

The researchers say the desert, the driest spot on Earth, mimics the conditions of the Red Planet, and the agency has used it in the past to test space-bound equipment.

The robot, controlled remotely from the US, will continue testing through Sunday.

Pak court denounces running of detention centres by ISI

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A court in Pakistan has strongly denounced the running of illegal detention centres by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other intelligence and law-enforcing agencies of the country.

While hearing cases of 280 missing persons Thursday, Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan of the Peshawar High Court observed that the courts in the country would no longer tolerate running of such centres, The News International reported.

AirAsia to start India operations later this year

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Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia Saturday said its Indian operations should begin later this year with flights for southern region and the company would also look at setting up some ancillary businesses in the country.

“We are hopeful of starting Indian operations later this year with three aircraft serving Southern region,” AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes told reporters here.

The airline would expand its services to other parts of the country in the second stage, he said.

Govt cuts tariff value of gold with fall in global rates

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The government Saturday slashed the import tariff value of gold at USD 401 per ten grams and that of silver to USD 604 per kg as prices of the precious metals fell in the international market.

Tariff value — the base price on which the customs duty is determined to prevent under-invoicing — of gold and silver stood at USD 421 per 10 gram and USD 606 per kg, respectively earlier.

Sri Lankan army seeks officers’ training in Pakistan

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The Sri Lankan army has sought more training opportunities for its officers in Pakistan, in addition to the ongoing training programmes, Xinhua reported on Friday.

The matter was discussed as visiting Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met his Sri Lankan counterpart General Jagath Jayasuriya at the army headquarters, said Sri Lankan army’ media unit.

Discussions between both the army chiefs centred largely on military related matters of mutual interest, training and possibilities to further enhance bond of goodwill and cooperation, it added.

Islamabad parliament to have Pak-China friendship group

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Pakistani parliament will soon have a Pakistan-China Friendship Group in its lower house, Xinhua reported.

While meeting the Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong, Pakistan parliamentary speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, said on Friday that this group would be set up shortly in the National Assembly. It would boost contact between parliamentarians of both the countries while advancing better understanding and pragmatic cooperation to meet challenges in pursuit of common development.

The speaker said Pakistan and China were not only neighbours but time- tested and all-weather friends.

Will Yeddyurappa return to BJP

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in charge for Karnataka affairs, Thawar Chand Gehlot said here today that former Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has not yet sent any proposal to return to the BJP. “Our take on taking him back into the party is that he has sent in no request to us yet. He had left the party on his own accord. Now, if he wants to join back then he must send a proposal to the party. After that the state core group would decide on it. But the ultimate decision in this regard would be taken by the national authority, the parliamentary board.

‘US should have talked to Taliban in 2002 to find political solution’

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Top British commander has reportedly said that the west could have struck a deal with Taliban a decade ago when they had just been toppled from power.

General Nick Carter said the Taliban had been toppled from power in 2002 and if at that stage had the west been prescient, they may have spotted a final political solution to what started in 2001 which would have involved getting all Afghans to sit at the table and talk about their future, the Guardian reports.

26/11 attacks trial: New judge takes over in Pakistan

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A Pakistani court on Saturday summoned four witnesses for cross examination in the trial of seven Pakistanis, including Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks, for July 6.

Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi of The Anti-Terrorism Court, Islamabad, said he would hold the hearing next week within the closed doors of Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Sources said the judge had refused to hold the hearing in Islamabad till the Nawaz Sharif government provided him a ‘foolproof security’ from his residence (Sialkot district) to court (Islamabad).