ప్రపంచం తీరూ తెన్నూ

A study conducted by the BMC has revealed that hypertension is the second-largest killer of pregnant women, claiming more victims than even tuberculosis and sepsis (a life threatening ailment that can occur when the body reacts to an infection). Excessive bleeding was found to have caused the deaths of maximum pregnant women . According to data collected by the civic body, out of the 248 pregnant women who died in the city's hospitals from April 2012 to January 2013, most (11 per cent) died due to excessive bleeding during and after childbirth and hepatitis, followed by 10 per cent due to hypertension, tuberculosis (8 per cent)and sepsis (5 per cent).The remaining were attributed to other medical conditions. Hypertension affects a woman's organs during pregnancy. However, what medical experts dread is the onset of a serious condition called 'Preeclampsia', where the woman starts passing protein in her urine. The condition can affect the placenta...

Mothers are bombarded with around 300 questions from their children on a daily basis, with girls the most inquisitive lot, a new UK study has found.Researchers found that mothers are the most quizzed people in the UK, and on subjects far and wide, they are asked more questions every hour than a primary school teacher as well as doctors and nurses.The study of 1,000 mothers discovered girls aged four are the most curious, asking an incredible 390 questions per day - averaging a question every 1 minute 56 seconds of their waking day, a media report said. From breakfast in the morning at 7.19 am to tea time in the evening at 7.59 pm, the average mother faces a testing 12.5 hour day of questioning - working out at one question every 2 minutes 36 seconds. It is during meal times when most questions are asked, young children rattling off 11. This is closely followed by a routine trip to the shops, prompting 10, and the reading of a bed-time story, which typically results in ...

Two young women were among 12 people whose feet Pope Francis washed and kissed at a traditional ceremony in a Rome youth prison on Holy Thursday, the first time a pontiff has included females in the rite. The pope travelled to the Casal del Marmo prison on Rome's outskirts for the traditional Mass, which commemorates Jesus's gesture of humility towards his apostles the night before he died. The ceremony has been traditionally limited to men because all of Jesus' apostles were male. The Vatican spokesman said two of the 12 whose feet were washed were Muslim inmates. While the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio included women in the rite when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, it was the first time women had taken part in a papal Holy Thursday ceremony. Taking the ceremony to a youth prison was also a papal first and Francis, who was elected only two weeks ago, said he wanted to be closer to those who were suffering. All popes in living memory have held th...

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today conferred the National Photo Awards- 2011-12 to eminent photojournalishts at a function held in New Delhi. The Life-Time Achievement Awards were given to Pranlal Patel, T S Nagarajan and T N A Perumal. Patel, 104 years of age, had been the primary school teacher who was inclined to photography as an amateur but gradually the passion turned into profession. He captured the memories of our struggle for independence through his photographs. His picutures celebrate the glory of black and white. Nagarajan's works have been exhibited and published widely in India and aborad. He had held exhibitions of his works all over the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, in 1982. He has won several awards. Perumal is considered a doyen of wildlife photography in India. He embraced bird photography as passionate profession in 1960 and won several international awards.In the Professional Category, the ‘Best Professional Photographe...

Lung infections that are easily treated in the young are a cause for great concern in elderly people such as South Africa's 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, experts say. With age, muscle function declines and the nervous system that sends the impulse to breathe becomes less responsive, meaning that less oxygen enters the lungs on breathing in, and more carbon dioxide stays behind on breathing out. It becomes harder to clear mucus that collects in the lungs, especially when people lie in bed or sit for long periods -- a high risk factor for lung infections like bronchitis or pneumonia because of the accumulation of mucus. At the same time, a weakening immune system means the body is less able to fight infection, according to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). "When we are young and fit, we cough up (mucus) vigorously. When we are old, we cough less easily and if we already have weakened lungs the mucus stays behind and there is a high r...

A large Company School album of watercolours of costumes, craftsmen, trades and processions in India providing a fascinating insight into the culture of the early 1800s will go under the hammer in LONDON next month and is expected to fetch anything between 200,000 and 300,000 pounds. This album is remarkable for the size, quality and range of subjects of the watercolours, the auction house said. It will be sold in Sotheby's Arts of the Islamic World sale on April 24. In an era before cameras and photography, administrators, officials and visitors to the East India Company would commission such albums, painted by local Indian artists to bring back and show their friends and relatives. Superior to the majority of similar related productions of Company patronage, the album is remarkable for both its size and quality, and also for its uncommon subject matter. Alongside depictions of craftsmen, processions, dancers and contemporary costumes, the album also contains a...

The majestic Queen's Necklace - Marine Drive- in the southern tip of the megapolis is all set to host a mobile restaurant where visitors can dine atop an open-air bus. In a first of its kind initiative in Mumbai, a private company today launched a 'moving restaurant' which will let customers enjoy their meals as they drive down Marine Drive, the four-km seaside stretch. The service, launched by Chennai-based The Moving Cart, will include a 90-minute each ride along the Netaji Subash Chandra Road facing the Arabian Sea, three times a day. "We will offer 12-course vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals during the ride," Moving Cart co-founder Hardik Shah said, adding one such bus is already operational in Chennai. Food will be pre-cooked and bought from a nearby hotel to be heated and served to the patrons due to which prior online booking has to be done, he added. The bus has a capacity to accommodate 20 people on each deck. While the top deck is a...

Rome has printed one million bus and metro tickets bearing Pope Francis' silhouette, the city's transport operator said today. Atac said the limited edition tickets will go on sale tomorrow and depicts the Argentinian pontiff as he greeted the crowd from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica just after his appointment on March 13. The tickets are valid for a limited period on all of Rome's bus and metro services. "Atac pays homage to the new pope who appreciates public transport," it said, referring to the Argentinian pontiff's habit of using the bus- and metro system when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno welcomed the news. "It's a beautiful initiative," he said. "It's a way of greeting the new pontiff and wish him welcome." Just two weeks into his pontificate, the pope has gained a strong following for his simple and friendly manner, drawing large crowds to the Sunday Angel...

The immigrant owner of a New Jersey convenience store has come forward to claim the USD 338.3 million jackpot in the Powerball lottery, media reports said today. Pedro Quezada, 44, has handed in what he says is the golden ticket he bought on Saturday. "I can't believe it. I'm overwhelmed. I just can't get over it," the Dominican-born father of five was quoted as saying by the New York Post. "I was praying so much for this. I'm just giving thanks to God." Officials did not immediately announce Quezada's win, but did confirm that the winning ticket, matching five numbers and a Powerball, was drawn in the Eagle Liquors store which he frequented in his hometown of Passaic. Quezada appeared shocked by his success against 175 million to one odds, reports said. It was only yesterday, when he made his daily visit to Eagle Liquors, that he realised. "He didn't know he won when he came in because he stopped to check the board,...

A five-month-old girl who was diagnosed with a congenital heart ailment, was successfully operated upon at a hospital in Ra jahmundr y . The daughter of Sreenu and Varalakshmi from Mallepalli village in Gandepalli mandal of East Godavari District got successfully operated upon by chief cardio-thoracic surgeon at the GSL Medical College General Hospital Dr T Rajendra Prasad and his team of doctors. According to doctors, the baby had developed breathing problem a few days after her birth. "Two months after the birth, the baby again developed difficulty in breathing, for which she was admitted at the Government General Hospital Kakinada and was kept on ventilator for 10 days and then got discharged," a GSL medical college release said here today. However, since the problem persisted, the baby was admitted to the department of paediatrics at GSL Medical College and was diagnosed PDA (patent ductus arteriosus). The baby is recovering well and consuming food with...

YouTube, the world's largest online video-sharing platform, today said it now has more than a billion unique users every single month, or nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits the Google-owned site. "If YouTube were a country, we'd be the third largest in the world after China and India. Nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits YouTube," the YouTube Team said in a blog post. "PSY (the South Korean rapper) and Madonna would have to repeat their Madison Square Garden performance in front of a packed house 200,000 more times. That's a lot of Gangnam Style!" said the fast-growing video website. From the aspiring filmmaker in his basement and the next great pop musician, to the fans all around the world who tune in, subscribe and share their favourite videos with the planet, thank you for making YouTube what it is today. You have truly created something special, said the YouTube Team. Founded in 2005, YouTube allows b...

The reason some kids fear new foods has less to do with what's on their plate and more to do with their genes, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that genes play a significant role in children's eating behaviour, including the tendency to avoid new foods. "In some respects, food neophobia, or the aversion to trying new foods, is similar to child temperament or personality," said lead researcher Myles Faith. "Some children are more genetically susceptible than others to avoid new foods. However, that doesn't mean that they can't change their behaviours and become a little less picky," she said in the study published in the journal Obesity. The study looked at 66 pairs of twins between ages 4 and 7 years old, and found that genes explain 72 per cent of the variation among children in the tendency to avoid new foods, while the rest was influenced by environment. Previous research has shown ...

Pope Francis will celebrate a mass next week before Easter in a youth detention centre in Rome during which he will wash the feet of prisoners, the Vatican said in a statement today. The Vatican said the Holy Thursday mass continued a tradition of the then Jorge Bergoglio when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires and held masses in prisons, hospitals or old people's homes. Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI also celebrated mass in the Casal del Marmo prison in northwest Rome in March 2007. The washing of feet during mass on Holy Thursday is a tradition based on the belief that Jesus Christ washed the feet of his apostles before the Last Supper with them before his crucifixion. The Vatican said Francis will also celebrate mass earlier on Holy Thursday in St Peter's Basilica. The new pope, Latin America's first pontiff, has called for the Roman Catholic Church to be closer to ordinary people and has warned Catholic leaders to abandon the pursuit of world...

"Paan Singh Tomar", based on the true story of an Indian athlete who turns into a dreaded outlaw, struck gold at the National Film Awards announced on Monday, winning prizes for best film and best actor in a rare triumph for Bollywood. In its citation, a jury headed by film-maker Basu Chatterjee praised the movie directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, lauding its "sleek and sensitive handling of a not-too-common subject with remarkable aplomb." Irrfan, who played Paan Singh Tomar in the film, shared acting honours with Vikram Gokhale who won for the Marathi film "Anumati". Bollywood films usually play second fiddle to regional language cinema at the National Awards, but prevailed in key categories this year. "Vicky Donor", a light-hearted take on sperm donation, won trophies for the male and female supporting roles and shared the award for best popular film with the Malayalam movie "Ustad Hotel". Annu Kapoor won the sup...

Brain-dead farmer gives life to 5, sight to 2 Their awareness about organ donation has saved at least five lives and given sight to two persons. On the eve of World Kidney Day, the family of a farmer from Andhra Pradesh, who was declared brain-dead by a hospital here, donated his organs. Ram Murthy (47), who stayed in Bellary, suffered a brainstroke last week. "He was brought to a hospital lin Bangalore and underwent a surgery. But he suffered another stroke, which proved to be fatal. Doctors at Chinmaya Mission Hospital (CMH) declared him brain-dead and explained about organ donation to the family. As CMH is not empanelled with Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka (ZCCK) for transplantation, Murthy was shifted to Manipal Hospital . A team of doctors harvested his kidneys, valves, corneas and liver to transplant to patients on the waiting list with ZCCK," said Jency Antony, ZCCK, coordinator. Over 700 people are awaiting...

A UK-based inventor claims to have developed the ultimate green vehicle - a car that runs only on cold air - and it can reach speeds of up to 48 km per hour. Peter Dearman has modified his run-down jalopy - a 25-year-old Vauxhall Nova - to run on nothing but air. The vehicle by 61-year-old from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire can drive for about five km and reach speeds of up to 48 km per hour, New York Daily News reported. "It won't produce any emissions because it's only air we're using. We're not burning anything. We're just using heat from the atmosphere and liquid air," the man told ABC News. Dearman's propulsion system is inspired by a steam engine, except he uses very cold liquid air. He said he chose liquid air as a fuel source because it's light and cheap. At around -190 degree Celsius, air turns into a liquid that can be stored in insulated, vacuum-sealed containers. Dearman uses a beer keg as a makeshift contain...

Misao Okawa celebrates her 115th birthday in Osaka, western Japan on March 5, 2013. Okawa was formally recognized as the world's oldest woman.

Difficulty or inability to write a coherent text message, even in people who have no problem speaking, may become a "vital" tool in diagnosing a type of crippling stroke, according to a new research. Scientists at Henry Ford Hospital focused on a 40-year-old man visiting the metro Detroit area on business who showed signs of "dystextia," a recently coined term for incoherent text messaging that can sometimes be confused with autocorrect garble. But in his case, the man saw nothing wrong with the garble. The patient had no problem with a routine bedside test of his language abilities - including fluency of speech, reading, writing, comprehension and other factors. However, when asked to type a simple text message, he not only produced garble, but he was unable to see it as such. Despite showing only slight facial asymmetry and no other symptoms, doctors determined the man had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, in which a clot or other blockage cuts off blood supply t...

Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis I today, becoming the church's first Latin American pontiff after a conclave to elect a leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. The 76-year-old conservative emerged from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica to the cry of "Habemus Papam!" ("We Have a Pope!"), as tens of thousands of pilgrims clambered over barriers and broke down in tears, overcome with emotion after suspenseful prayer vigils worldwide. White smoke earlier billowed from the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St Peter's Basilica rang out, signalling the election had taken place after five rounds of voting in the Vatican -- one more than when Benedict XVI was elected in 2005. Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope and is believed to have been the runner-up in 2005. Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 13, 2013. Pope Francis is gre...

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi receives his portrait created by artist Satish Patil with 10 crore dots in Gandhi Nagar.

Artists peform a dance during the Asian Cycling Championship in New Delhi. Girls perform 'malakhamb' during an event on the occasion of International Women's Day at a college in Mumbai.

The government has proposed to lower the age for consensual sex from 18 to 16 and reintroduce the word 'rape' instead of 'sexual assault' in the new criminal law amendment bill. (The issue of consensual sex is often only brought up when there is some sort of doubt about whether both people engaging in sex want it to happen. However, consent is a topic that should be discussed whenever you're thinking about a possible sexual encounter. In fact, consent should be the basis for every sexual encounter. Engaging in a sexual act without the other person's consent is considered sexual assault or rape. Every act requires consent. Even if you have been kissing, that does not mean you cannot say "no" to anything further). The draft of the bill has been readied by the government to replace the recently-promulgated criminal law amendment ordinance. Official sources said the Union Cabinet is expected to discuss the draft of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2013 in...