ప్రపంచం తీరూ తెన్నూ

UK researchers have developed a revolutionary new gene therapy which may pave way for a single jab to help reverse the damage caused by a devastating heart failure. The gene could restore proper pumping function to failing hearts, halving the risk of death or need for heart transplants, experts behind the ground-breaking treatment claim. "While drugs can offer some relief, there is no way of restoring function to the heart," British Heart Foundation (BHF) medical director Professor Peter Weissberg said. "Gene therapy is one of the new frontiers in heart science and is a great example of the cutting-edge technologies that the BHF is using to fight heart failure," Weissberg said. A trial is to start in the next three to six weeks with the first of 200 patients from around the world being treated at hospitals in London and Glasgow, 'Daily Express' reported. All the patients suffer from severe chronic heart failure, both due to the after effec...

It was essential to inculcuate mathematical thinking in the minds of children for them to excel in any branch of learning as they grow up, observed Parveen Sinclair, Director of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). "What makes mathematics different from other disciplines is its thinking style. If our students need to excel in learning and in life they should be helped develop mathematical thinking ability," Sinclair noted while inaugurating the Nu Mats camp for mathematically talented students of the state.The programme is being conducted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) here for students pursuing the state syllabus. Whether it was music, sports, dance or any other human activity Mathematical thinking has a prominent role since critical thinking is the essence of mathematics, she opined.

Nearly 15 years after a woman died due to medical negligence during child birth, the apex consumer commission has held Delhi-based Parmarth Mission Hospital guilty and directed it to pay a compensation of Rs 4.1 lakh to her husband. In 2007, Delhi State Consumer Commission had awarded Rs 50,000 as compensation to the deceased woman's husband. However, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission enhanced the compensation to Rs four lakh saying it was not in agreement with the decision of state commission, which had said that though medical negligence was established, the same was not the cause of death of the 27-year-old woman. "State Commission had while concluding medical negligence awarded a compensation of Rs 50,000 on the ground that though medical negligence had been established, it was not the direct cause of the patient's death... in view of the opinion of medical experts, we are not in agreement with this part of the order of State Commission. "Unde...

People given large servings of food eat more than those given smaller servings, even after they have been taught about the impact of portion size on consumption, a new study has found. The study, published in the Journal of Health Psychology, highlights the need to find new ways to reduce the effect of portion size on overeating. "Studies have consistently shown that increases in portion sizes for a wide range of foods and beverages result in increased energy intake. And the impact is not affected by factors such as hunger or the taste of the food," said Dr Lenny Vartanian, a senior lecturer in the University of New South Wales School of Psychology and an author of the paper. The team, including researchers from the University of Toronto in Canada, found that learning how to engage in mindful - rather than mindless - eating also did not decrease food intake by a significant amount in those given large servings. In the study, 96 women were served either a 3...

Scientists have sequenced the genome of the African coelacanth, an ancient-looking fish with lobed fins, and found that its appearance has changed little over 300 million years as its genes are evolving very slowly. A sea-cave dwelling, five-foot long fish with limb-like fins, the coelacanth was once thought to be extinct. A living coelacanth was discovered off the African coast in 1938. Since then, questions about these ancient-looking fish - popularly known as 'living fossils' - have loomed large. Coelacanths today closely resemble the fossilised skeletons of their more than 300-million-year-old ancestors. Its genome confirms what many researchers had long suspected: genes in coelacanths are evolving more slowly than in other organisms. "We found that the genes overall are evolving significantly slower than in every other fish and land vertebrate that we looked at," said Jessica Alfoldi, a research scientist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvar...

Advertising and digital media agency Focus Group today launched a social networking website 'Worldoo', aimed at children aged between 6-12 years. "Worldoo will offer a platform to kids to live, express and play. They will have access to educational content and games from the likes of Cartoon Network, ZeeQ, National Geographic, Warner Bros and Shemaroo, so that they can learn and enjoy themselves, while staying safe on the Internet," Focus Group MD Monish Ghatalia told reporters here.  Other partners include Amar Chitra Katha, Landmark, Champak, international destination Sentosa and Sony Pictures, he added. Besides, the members can also make friends on the website and chat with them. "We are confident that Worldoo will provide the kids with a creative platform for engagement and prevent them from consuming content online that isn't designed for them," he said. The children will need parental consent before joining the website, following which th...

12th March 1864: Two storied, third class carriage on the Bombay, Baroda and Central India railway. Original Publication: Illustrated London News - pub. 1864 (Photo by HultonArchive/Illustrated London News/Getty Images) India's first passenger train journey is the subject of Tuesday's Google doodle. The day April 16, 2013... marks 160 years since the a passenger train set out on its maiden journey in India. Since that first journey in 1853, railways have have become one of the most important modes of transportation in the country. Here's a look back at the early days of Indian railways in a series of photographs from the 19th century. The history of rail transport in India goes all the way back to 1832, when a plan for a rail system in India was first put forward. The first rail line in the Indian sub-continent came up near Chintadripet Bridge (in modern-day Chennai) in 1836 as an "experimental line". In 1837, a 5.6 km long rail line was established bet...

 Goa will not be home to the country's first Playboy club with the state government deciding to reject a proposal for opening this facility at Candolim beach amid a controversy that it would promote vulgarism. Bowing to pressure from within ruling BJP against the US-based Playboy club's move to open a branch in the tourist state, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the application would not be considered by his government on "technical grounds". "The Playboy club's application for setting up the facility in beach shack would be rejected as shack licences are usually given to individuals and not to the companies", Parrikar told the state Assembly. Technically, it is not possible for the state government to grant license to Playboy club, he added. Goa attracts 24 lakh tourists, both foreign and domestic, annually. The Playboy club, a chain of nightclubs and resorts, had applied for setting up its facility in a beach shack at Candolim ...

A carved granite temple step similar to those found in the ancient city of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka will be sold in Bonhams Indian and Islamic sale in London on April 23. The auctioneer Bonhams says the carved granite step is a Sandakada Pahana - also known as Moonstone - similar to those found in temples dating from Sri Lanka's Anuradhapura period (c400BC-1000AD). The magnificent work of art featuring lions, horses, elephants, birds and Brahim cows, has come to light in the garden of a Devon bungalow. It is estimated to attract bids in excess of 30,000 pounds. The beautiful 1,000 year old pre-Hindu stone step is one of only six examples known to date from the period, making this discovery the seventh. The temple step is a feature unique to Sinhalese architecture in Sri Lanka. The massively heavy – three-quarters of a tonne stone - measure eight foot by four foot and is six inches thick. Sam Tuke of Bonhams in Exeter says of the discovery: "I met the clie...

  Social media is likely to influence 160 Lok Sabha seats in the next general elections, a study has said. "There are 160 high impact constituencies out of the total of 543 constituencies, which are likely be influenced by social media during the next general elections," the study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation and Internet and Mobile Association of India has said. The state of Maharashtra has the maximum 21 high impact constituencies followed by Gujarat (17), the study -- Social Media and Lok Sabha Elections -- said.High impact constituencies are those where the number of Facebook users is more than the margin of victory of the winner in the last Lok Sabha election, or where Facebook users account for over 10 per cent of total voters in a constituency. Uttar Pradesh has 14 high impact constituencies, while Karnataka has 12 such seats. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala has 12, 11 and 10 such seats respectively. Madhya Pradesh has nine high impa...

Teens who have high levels of anxiety and drink alcohol are more emotionally connected to Facebook, using it as a platform to connect with others, a new US study has found. Russell Clayton, a doctoral student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found that anxiety and alcohol use significantly predict emotional connectedness to Facebook. Clayton's research, conducted under the supervision of Randall Osborne, Brian Miller, and Crystal Oberle of Texas State University, surveyed more than 225 college freshmen students concerning their perceived levels of loneliness, anxiousness, alcohol use, and marijuana use in the prediction of emotional connectedness to Facebook. They found that students who reported higher levels of anxiousness and alcohol use appeared to be more emotionally connected with the social networking site. Clayton and his colleagues also found that students who reported higher levels of loneliness and anxiousness use Facebook as a plat...

The fairer sex may have all but abandoned the struggle for equality, for a new survey suggests that most men want a traditional wife and women are often only too happy to oblige. A British research from the Yorkshire Building Society showed that many females are making conventional choices by eschewing the sexual revolution plank of feminism in favour of more traditional values. Infact, the poll among more than 1,500 adults resembled a manual to happy married life from the 1950s. The survey suggested that most women desire a "retrosexual" man, who are more hunter gatherer than a "metrosexual" stay-at-home father. It found that women are increasingly reluctant to opt for a career because they feel "looking after their family or home" was more important. On attributes 'most valued' in a spouse or partner, men put 'taking care of the home', on top of the list followed by cooking, cleaning and great parenting. The research found many wom...

Fifty per cent couples in the US are choosing to live together before they are married and forty per cent of them end up tying the knot, according to new research. The number of women who move in before marriage has increased across all race groups, except for Asian women, the study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found. Researchers found that between 2006 and 2010, about half of women included in the study had lived in with a partner before getting married, versus 43 per cent in 2002 and 34 per cent in 1995. The relationships might even be better for it as 40 per cent of those women ended up married within three years and one in five became pregnant, New York Daily News reported. The amount of time couples live together before marriage has also increased - from an average of 13 months in 1995 to 22 months in 2006-2010. Education plays a big part in cohabitation, according to the study. Seventy per cent of women without a high school diploma moved in before...

Pope Francis today urged Vatican disciplinarians to act "with determination" against sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic clergy, in his first public pronouncement on the issue. "The Holy Father in particular asked that the congregation ... act with determination in cases of sexual abuse," the Vatican said in a statement, referring to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles such cases, after the pope met with its director. The statement noted that the policy followed "the line established" by Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI. The Argentine pope, elected last month, asked for "stepped-up measures to protect minors and help those who were subjected to such violence in the past". Also in line with his predecessor, Francis asked for a continuation of "procedures against the guilty and the commitment of bishops' conferences (national churches) to formulate and implement the necessary d...

In comments that may be seen as an attack on Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi today said alienation of minorities hurts the country's growth as he reached out to the industry for parternship in building a "brave empowered India" with inclusiveness and compassion. In his first elaborate interaction with the industry, the 42-year-old who is seen as the next Prime Ministerial candidate of Congress dubbed as "irrelevant" the talk about whether or not he would lead the country, saying one individual could not address all the complex problems of the country. The Congress Vice President shared his vision with the top business leaders of the country during an hour-long interaction at CII meet here, emphasising on the need for bringing about structural changes to empower common people and providing basic infrastructure in all respects. "Let us work together to build a brave empowered India," Gandhi said while inviting the business to partner the go...

Scoffing at Congress' assertion that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi shared a "unique" relationship, BJP today said though Singh was technically at the helm, the real power rests in the hands of Gandhi. "Andhra Pradesh may not have power but Dr Manmohan Singh needs the charging of power by Sonia Gandhi to establish his authority as Prime Minister. "Should the Prime Minister of a big country like India need to have the charging from a battery to show his own authority. Manmohan Singh is in chair but not in power," said BJP's Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad. Rubbishing "two power centres" remarks of its general secretary Digvijay Singh, Congress had yesterday said the relationship that has existed between Sonia Gandhi as Party President and Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister is "unique and ideal". Taking on Singh for his statement that the country's economy was facing a...

Indian-American Ro Khanna, who previously served in the Obama Administration as one of its top trade officials, today announced his Congressional bid for the 2014 general elections. Though it was expected for long time, 36-year-old Khanna would contest against his own Democratic party incumbent Mike Honda from California's 17th Congressional district. The new California laws allows two opponents from the same party to run against each other in the general election. Author of best seller "Entrepreneurial Nation", Khanna has already impressed political pundits with his fund raising skills. As per the latest filing reported with the Federal Election Commission, Khanna has already amassed USD 1.2 million for his congressional bid. "People come here from around the world to put their dreams into action - that's the promise of America, and it's why my parents came here from Asia," Khanna said announcing his Congressional bid. "But Silic...

Cambridge University is working on a major digitisation project that will make some of the rarely seen historic papers associated with Charles Darwin available at a click of the mouse. The project will begin with a correspondence of some 1,400 letters with botanist Joseph Hooker, the closest friend of the celebrated British naturalist best known for his theory of evolution. "Hooker was admitted into the select group of those with whom Darwin felt able to discuss his emerging ideas," Alison Pearn, associate director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, told 'The Independent' ahead of an official launch later this month. "In perhaps his most famous letter of all, Darwin wrote to Hooker in 1844 of his growing conviction that species ‘are not... immutable’ – an admission he likened, half-jokingly, to ‘confessing a murder’… It was also to Hooker that Darwin sent the manuscript of On the Origin of Species for comment," Dr Pearn added. Cambridge University Li...

Pope Francis used his first Easter Sunday address to call for peace in the world and appealed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. In his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message, Francis also called for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, an end to the civil war in Syria, and political solutions to conflicts in several African countries. The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, who has made defence of nature an early hallmark of his pontificate, also condemned the "iniquitous exploitation of natural resources" and urged everyone to be "guardians" of creation. Francis delivered his message from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica - the same spot from where he first appeared to the world as pope after his election on March 13 - to a crowd estimated by the Vatican at at least 250,000 people. "Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome an...