Land on Earth was once gathered together in a supercontinent known as Rodinia, shown here as it was during its break-up 750 million years ago. Now scientists believe they have found a fragment of it buried under the Indian Ocean. Fragments of an ancient continent are buried beneath the floor of the Indian Ocean, a study suggests. Researchers have found evidence for a landmass that would have existed between 2,000 […]
Sri Lankan security forces have committed crimes of sexual violence against ethnic Tamils in state custody, a new Human Rights Watch report says. The study focuses on cases of alleged rape of men, women and minors detained between 2006 and 2012 because of their suspected links to Tamil Tiger rebels. It documents 75 accounts of alleged sexual abuse and torture, saying most of them are backed by medical evidence. Sri […]
The lyrical article on open software, in The Hindu, by Rahul Dé, professor at IIM, Bangalore, (editorial page, “Like poetry for software,” February 2, 2013) is of interest for several reasons. He compares the work of the great poet, Ghalib, with the computer code written by modern open-source programmers. Open source programmers have been in the forefront of the evolution of new, and often original, software suites for years and […]
In Pic :Journalist Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui addressing the media along with his family at Press Club of Bangalore, after releasing from Parappana Agrahara Central Jail on 26,02,2012. Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy “If I was the mastermind, then why are the others still in jail?” A day after his release from jail, 26-year-old journalist Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui has accused the police of harbouring an “institutional bias” against the Muslim community. “If I wasn’t […]
Why should you call it a conspiracy? If Dec 13 is a conspiracy, then entire Kashmir militancy is,” Afzal told Hizb chief Salahuddin through an Urdu weekly editor in 2008 Nearly five years before his execution at Delhi’s Tihar Jail for the December 13, 2001, terrorist strike on Parliament, Afzal Guru purportedly justified the attack in a letter to the editor of an Urdu weekly in Srinagar. Writing by hand, […]
Tinsukia: Among upper Assam’s many tea estates, the Kunapathar Tea Estate was known till recently mainly for its sheer size of 1,000 acres. Then, in December, in the middle of a sunny afternoon, a mob armed with bows and arrows tore its way into the house, attacked the owners, and then set the sprawling five-bedroom home on fire. The four security guards at the house said they were outnumbered; any sort […]
New Delhi/Washington: India has sharply rejected that it “financed problems” in Afghanistan to create trouble for Pakistan, as alleged by Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s Defence Secretary nominee. Despite the controversy, the US Senate on Tuesday cleared the way for confirmation of Mr Hagel to be the US’ next Defense Secretary. The confirmation is expected later in the day. “Senator Hagel’s remarks are in sharp contrast to the viewpoint of the […]
Scientists including one of Indian-origin have discovered that a modified Newcastle disease virus can kill all kinds of prostate cancer cells without harming normal body cells. The modified virus is now ready to be tested in preclinical animal models, and possibly in phase I human clinical trials, scientists said. “A treatment for prostate cancer based on this virus would avoid the adverse side effects typically associated with hormonal treatment for […]
A sub-inspector and a constable were attacked by a mob of around 20 when they tried to nab illegal migrants in Navi Mumbai, police said. Mumbai Special Branch-I wing sub-inspector S Bandekar and constable S B Lande are currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mulund, police said. Acting on a tip-off, Bandekar, along with his team went to Mankhurd late on Sunday night where they caught […]
Kuala Lumpur Making a breakthrough in the treatment of cancer, a team of UAE University researchers has discovered that manuka honey could effectively inhibit the growth of a variety of cancer cell types including breast, skin, and colon cancer. Though the honey, obtained from nectar collected by honey bees from manuka trees found in New Zealand, has been recognised for its anti-bacterial and wound healing properties for many years, it has […]
