Month: August 2013

Pregnancy length in humans can vary naturally by as much as 5 weeks

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A new study has found that the length of a human pregnancy can vary naturally by as much as five weeks.

Normally, women are given a date for the likely delivery of their baby that is calculated as 280 days after the onset of their last menstrual period.

Yet, only four percent of women deliver at 280 days and only 70 percent deliver within 10 days of their estimated due date, even when the date is calculated with the help of ultrasound.

Australia has `reasons to cheer` following `heroic comeback` in Old Trafford Test

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An article in a British newspaper has claimed that the fact that England cricketers were celebrating after rain forced a draw in the Old Trafford Test, was a reason the Australian Ashes squad could be cheerful, after being humiliated at Lord”s last month to trail 2-0 in the five-Test series. According to the Mirror, Australia had lost the Ashes superbly and they were the better team by a distance in Manchester, and if the rain had not intervened, they might have won the Test.

Walking to work can keep diabetes at bay

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A new study has found that people who walk to work are around 40 percent less likely to have diabetes as those who drive.

Researchers at Imperial College London and University College London examined how various health indicators related to how people get to work, using data from a survey of 20,000 people across the UK.

They found that cycling, walking, and using public transport were all associated with lower risk of being overweight than driving or taking a taxi.

`Hungry as ever` Serena Williams says will be only satisfied if wins in every `big` tournament

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World No.1 Serena Williams is reportedly ”hungry as ever” for more success, saying that she will be satisfied only if she wins every big tournament that she enters.

According to the Independent, Williams, who is the first player to qualify for the season-ending Women”s Tennis Association Championships and has already won seven titles this year, suffered surprisingly early defeats in the two other Grand Slam tournaments, losing to Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open and Sabine Lisicki at Wimbledon.

Dilshan heroics inspire Lanka to `not easy` victory in third T20 against SA

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Tillakaratne Dilshan, who helped Sri Lanka get a consolation victory in the third T20 match against South Africa in Hambantota, has said that 164 was not an easy target to chase for the team but veteran player Jayawardene had helped release the pressure. According to Sport24, Dilshan brought up the thrilling win off the first ball of the 19th over, lofting Morné Morkel for his second six and also hit nine boundaries, finishing 74 not out.

Sharapova tops Forbes list of best-paid female athletes with whopping 29 mln-dollar earnings

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Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova has reportedly topped the Forbes magazine”s list of the world”s ten best-paid female athletes with total earnings of 29 million dollars between June 2012 and June this year. According to The Nation, although tennis stars dominated the Forbes list, however, it has highlighted the yawning earnings gap with their male counterparts in most sports.

Over 1,000 cases booked in SA protests

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As many as 1,024 cases have been registered in connection with the protests going on in different parts of the Rayalaseema and Andhra region.

According to Additional DGP (Law & Order) VSK Kaumudi, the State Police was acting tough to contain violence during the protests. He informed that as many as 221 protestors have been arrested while over 1,000 people were taken into preventive custody. He said that over 39 cases have been booked for damaging the statues of the national leaders and 94 persons had been arrested.

Centre will stop Telangana formation process, claims Lagadapati

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Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Wednesday claimed that the Congress-led UPA Government would stall the process of formation of Telangana State.

Talking to reporters after Seemandhra MPs of Congress party met at his residence here, Lagadapati said that the MPs got clear indications from the Centre that the State’s bifurcation process would be stopped. He said an official announcement in this regard was expected soon. He said the decision would certainly bring the on-going agitations in Seemandhra region to a halt.

Srisailam Goud quits YSRCP over Telangana

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Qutubullapur MLA Koona Srisailam Goud on Wednesday announced his resignation from the YSR Congress party over the Telangana issue.

Srisailam Goud said that the YSR Congress party has changed its stand on Telangana demand. Although it support statehood for the region in its plenary session, it switched its stand and proved itself to be a Seemandhra party when all its MLAs resigned from their post after Centre took a favourable stand on Telangana. Therefore, he said he has decided to resign from the YSRCP.

1,000 held in week-long protests against AP division

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Over 1,000 people have been taken into preventive custody in connection with the agitation by supporters of united Andhra Pradesh even as the protests continued for the eighth consecutive day on Wednesday, a senior police official said.

Also, 221 persons were arrested so far and as many as 124 criminal cases were registered against the protesters in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra districts in the wake of the Samaikyandhra agitation over the past one week, under specific sections of the IPC and other Acts, Additional Director General (Law and Order) of Police VSK Kaumudi said today.

Father- agar tum fail hue to

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Father- agar tum fail hue to
mujhe daddy mat kehna… result
aane par..
Father- Kya hua result ka ?
Son- Sorry yaar aatma ram tune
baap kehlane ka haq kho diya…

Boy asked his dad 4 a bike.

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Boy asked his dad 4 a bike.

Dad : why did god give u 2 legs ?

Boy : one to change gear & other
to apply break.”!

Youngster rock.
Parents shock……

Forget elephants! Dolphins have ‘longest social memory’ among non-humans

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Scientists have revealed that dolphins have the longest memories yet found in a non-human species.

Researchers in the US have found that dolphins can remember the distinctive whistle of another dolphin they haven’t seen in two decades, the BBC reported.

The authors believe that these long-term memories are a product of the complex social connections that dolphins have evolved.

Study on how plants avoid sunburn can help develop drought resistant crops

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A team of researchers has discovered a group of stress-related proteins which shows how plants avoid sunburn in intense light.

The finding could one day help biotechnologists to develop crops that can better cope with hotter, drier conditions occurring in climate change.

The study, titled “Subset of heat-shock transcription factors required for the early response of Arabidopsis to excess light,” was led by researchers from Dartmouth, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Australian National University.

Sensex down 38 points on weak rupee, global cues

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A benchmark index of Indian equities markets was trading in the red Wednesday, after crashing 450 points in the previous session due to weak rupee and negative cues from the global markets.

The 30-scrip S&P Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened in the positive at 18,758.53 points, was trading 18,695.20 points in the afternoon session, down 0.20 percent or 37.84 points from its previous day close at 18,733.04 points.

Light from 12-billion-year old star’s explosion detected

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Researchers have detected the light from a star that exploded more than 12 billion years ago.

At its death it glowed so brightly that it outshone its entire galaxy by a million times.

This brilliant flash travelled across space for 12.7 billion years to our planet Earth that hadn’t even existed at the time of the explosion.

By analyzing this light, astronomers learned about a galaxy that was otherwise too small, faint and far away for even the Hubble Space Telescope to see.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to buy Washington Post

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Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos will buy the Washington Post newspaper for USD 250 million in a surprise deal that ends the Graham family’s 80 years of ownership and hands one of the country’s most influential publications to the businessman whose Internet company has transformed retailing.

Bezos, hailed by many as technology visionary, called his acquisition a personal endeavor and reassured employees and readers of the 135-year-old newspaper he will preserve its journalistic tradition, while driving innovation.

Govt, RBI taking steps to stabilise rupee: Chidambaram

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Attributing the decline in the rupee to a host of global and domestic factors, the government on Tuesday informed Parliament it has taken a slew of steps to check forex volatility and is monitoring the situation.

“The government is continuously monitoring the emerging external sector developments leading to higher CAD and rupee depreciation.

CNG prices to jump by Rs 11.7 due to gas price hike

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The government decision to double natural gas prices from April next year will translate into a hike of Rs 8.20-Rs 11.72 per kg in CNG rates in cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

The government had in late June decided to price all domestically produced natural gas at an average of global hub rates and cost of imported LNG. Accordingly, gas price is expected to be in the range of USD 8.2 to 8.4 per million British thermal unit in April as against current USD 4.2.

Canshala : A school of hope for kids with cancer

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It’s called Canshala and is an island of peace and learning for a group of ailing children for whom education had, at one stage, become a distant dream due to their treatment for life-threatening cancer.

The children mingle with normal children in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) school in south Mumbai’s Parel area, where they are taught by regular teachers, two of whom are provided by the civic agency and the remaining by NGO CanKids.

This formal education helps them make up the time lost due to staying away from school or dropping out for treatment.

Centre plans to give freedom to states to hike PDS sugar price

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Food Minister K V Thomas on Wednesday said his ministry has moved a cabinet proposal to give freedom to state governments to hike the retail price of sugar sold in ration shops.

At present, sugar is being sold at Rs 13.50 per kg in the public distribution system (PDS). This price has not been revised since 2002 despite increase in open market price to Rs 35-40 per kg.

A $5mn boost for India studies in US

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A $5 million gift to the India studies centre at a New York University is set to make it one of the pre-eminent resource centres for the study of Indian culture and civilisation in the US.

The donations make the Centre for India Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University as the recipient of the largest gift ever made to a US public university for India Studies.

doctor tries to rape patient

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A registered medical practitioner (RMP) allegedly molested a 17-year-old girl and attempted to rape her when she went to his clinic for medicines in JyotiNagar area on Tuesday. When the girl started shouting for help, the accused fled. The family members of the victim demonstrated at the JyotiNagar police station demanding his arrest.

According to the police, the man, identified as Omprakash Tak, runs a clinic in Katputli Nagar near Jyoti Nagar locality. His house is attached to the clinic. “The 17-year-old victim knew the RMP and called her uncle.

Don”t politicize LOC killings, says Tewari to opposition

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Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Wednesday appealed to opposition parties to rise above politics and unite for a constructive discussion on what should be India”s response to Pakistan on the killing of five Indian Army soldiers in Poonch District on Tuesday morning. “Well, I am extremely anguished that, on a day when the nation is still mourning the death of its five brave soldiers who were killed on the LOC, that there should be parties and politics played on this issue,” Tewari said.