Two rare vulture species sighted in Rajasthan

Baran: In a good news for environmentalists, two rare species of vulture were reportedly sighted in Rajasthan's Baran district. "Two rare vulture species -- white rumped and long billed -- were sighted in large numbers on the banks of Villasi river in Kishangang and Kraye river in Shabad respectively," SDM Muktanand Agrawal said here today. According to environmentalist Vittal Sanadhaya, vulture population has diminished rapidly across the country in the last decade. The species is on the verge of extinction and in Rajasthan it is found in small number in some areas in Kota and Bundi districts, he said. "The recently found colonies of vultures...

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Intel launches chip for tablet computers

SAN FRANCISCO — Intel Corp. has launched a new chip for tablet computers, as the world's most powerful semiconductor company aims to become a contender in the market for mobile chips. Intel's chips are in 80 per cent of laptops and desktop PCs, but it's had less success getting its chips into smaller devices such as cellphones and tablets. Known for pushing the processing speeds of its chips to the limit, energy efficiency has now become critical for Intel as gadgets and their batteries get smaller, testing the limits of engineering in a different way. And with more consumers starting to opt to buy tablets instead of upgrading their PCs, Intel...

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Sony Xperia Play Review

Sony Ericsson's long-awaited PlayStation Phone finally becomes a reality - we go hands-on to see if it can live up to the hype, and if it's a viable challenger to the iPhone's overwhelming dominance. PlayStation Phone. Those words just roll off the tongue, don't they? The idea of fusing one of the world's most iconic gaming brands with mobile connectivity is practically a no-brainer, which makes it all the more puzzling that Sony Ericsson has waited this long to fulfil the tantalising promise. Sure, we've had devices that have alluded to the notion -- the PS3-linked Aino, for example -- but the Xperia Play is the real deal, even if it doesn't...

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Indiatimes Partners with Google to Stream Indian Premier League on YouTube

Good news for Cricket fans. Indiatimes has announced its partnership with Google’s YouTube. All 74 matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) games will be streamed on Indiatimes’s YouTube channel and microsite. “Users all over the world will be able to enjoy the entire season both on Indiatimes.com as well as the Indiatimes’ channel on YouTube ( youtube.com/indiatimes ) with a 5 minutes delay in India, match-length delay in US and live webcast for Rest of The World. Match highlights and other catch-up clips will be made available after the matches,” the statement explained. The partnership with Google is made possible as Indiatimes is the...

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Sensex on a downslide, opens 161 points down

Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex continued its decline for the sixth day on Wednesday, opening 161 points down on sustained selling in line with weak global trends and sober domestic market sentiment on the back of low industrial output. The 30-share barometer, which had lost 440 points in the last five sessions, slumped by another 160.91 points, or 0.83 per cent to 19,101.63 level during the first few minutes of trade today, with realty, consumer durables and metal stocks remaining under pressure. In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index slid by 50.15 points, or 0.86 per cent to 5,735.55 points. Brokers...

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Japan starts removing highly radioactive water at plant

The operator of a troubled nuclear power plant in north-eastern Japan started to transfer highly radioactive water to a nearby storage vessel, news reports said on Wednesday. A series of strong temblors on Monday and Tuesday caused a delay in the pumping operation, but Tokyo Electric Power Co, which runs the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, started at 7:30 pm (10:30 GMT) Tuesday to pump out of a reactor building, where the radiation-contaminated water has hindered workers’ efforts to contain the crisis. Some 700 tons are to be moved into a condenser where, in normal operations, steam created from the reactor is cooled down. The pumping...

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Indian PM Manmohan Singh heads to China for talks

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is travelling to China, as the two countries look to boost economic ties. In December, the two countries agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100bn (£66bn) by 2015, up from $60bn in 2010. Mr Singh will also attend a summit in China that will include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. China is India's largest trading partner. However, the two countries still share a very unbalanced trade relationship. "India's import dependence on China has gone up significantly on critical items," said Samiran Chakraborty, regional head of research for India at Standard Chartered Bank. "Whereas if you look...

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Amitabh apologises to Rajnikanth

Amitabh Bachchan didn't think that his twitter joke on Tamil superstar Rajnikanth would anger so many of his fans. 'Someone sent me this on mobile: "When Graham Bell discovered the telephone, he found two missed calls from Rajnikant!!" Brilliant,' Bachchan had tweeted earlier. He immediately corrected: 'Ok! Graham Bell 'invented' the telephone ... not 'discovered' as written earlier .. in Rajni joke .. !!! Apologies!!' He clarified to a fan that he wasn't making fun of the superstar. 'Not making fun of him ...praising his status and his greatness ..he is noble successful humble person , and revered like a God,' he add...

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Rockstar sends Ranbir into depression

In a bid to get rave reviews, Ranbir Kapoor seems to have taken his latest character a tad bit too seriously, literally speaking. Buzz is that the otherwise easygoing actor suffered severe depression and turned morose in an effort to get the acting right. Ranbir's upcoming film has been directed by Imtiaz Ali and also stars the sizzling model Nargis Fakhri. The actor admitted to a daily, "Yes, Imtiaz`s film took a lot out of me and shook me up," reports Spicezee Bureau. According to sources, "The emotional scenes that he shot for, took its toll. He went into a shell and didn't meet anyone during this time. It took a lot of coaxing from friends...

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Dum Maro Dum's cop a layered character: Abhishek

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, who steps into the shoes of a police officer in his upcoming movie 'Dum Maro Dum', says that the layered character of ACP Kamath was a challenge for him. Though the actor has played cops on screen before, the character was unique in it's attitude, said Abhishek. "Playing a police officer is nothing new for me but in 'Dum Maro Dum', I am playing a different type of police officer, ACP Kamath. A unique and layered character and the attitude of the character appealed to me," Abhishek who was in town to promote the film, told reporters. "ACP Kamath is a person with so many emotions, turmoil, rage, aggressiveness,...

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When weapons lose their potency

Man's quest to remain healthy is sometimes derailed by diseases of the metabolism triggered either by internal mechanism or by environmental factors. Sometimes there are diseases caused by infective organisms like bacteria which subvert health and cause critical and sometimes irreversible illnesses. When research led to discovery of disease causing organisms it was naturally followed by research to tackle them leading to the birth of the antibiotics, beginning with Pencillin. With its advent, it looked like panacea for all infectious diseases of the time. That is because bacteria have found ways to see that the medicine does not cause them any...

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PM urged to ban sale of tobacco products

Kolkata, : Seventeen regional cancer centres in India have urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to ban the sale of tobacco products like gutka and pan masala in the country. “India has the highest number of oral cancer cases in the world with 75,000 to 80,000 new cases being reported every year and chewing of tobacco and gutka contribute to 90 per cent of oral cancer in the country,” Mr Jaydip Biswas, Director, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute (CNCI), said here. He said the 17 regional cancer centres, including CNCI, had decided to join hands to fight the menace and urged the Prime Minister in this regard. In a communication...

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Health Ministry Says Delhi Water Safe, Calls For Emergency Meeting

The Union Health Ministry has called an emergency meeting over the claims by international health journal 'The Lancet' about the presence of deadly superbug bacteria NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1) in the water being supplied to the residents of the national capital. Officials from the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the city's top microbiologists are attending today's meeting, which is being held under the aegis of the Director General of Health and Services (DGHS). Meanwhile, the Delhi Government has appealed to the people of the city not to panic over reports...

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Hosni Mubarak Hospitalised: Report

Cairo : Hosni Mubarak, the deposed Egyptian president, has been hospitalised at the Red Sea port of Sharm el-Shaikh, where he has been staying since he quit following a massive popular uprising in February, a media report said today. “He has been under house arrest in Sharm el-Shaikh ever since he was ousted from power. We are still not sure of what condition he is in, but the former president has been complaining that he’s been unwell for some time now,” Al Jazera said. 82-year-old Mubarak has kept a low profile since he quit on February 11 following an 18-day popular uprising against his rule. The report said the former dictator has been...

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Urgently Bring 26/11 Perpetrators To Justice: US To Pak

Washington : The US has reminded Pakistan of its “special” responsibility to bring perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to justice and asked it to do so “urgently”. “There’s an international responsibility to cooperate to bring the perpetrators to justice and that Pakistan has a special responsibility to do so transparently and urgently,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference. He was responding to queries on a statement of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, Pakistani-Canadian accused in the terror attack case, in court that he provided “material support” to the terrorists at the behest of the Pakistan...

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Rana, Headley Implicate Pak, ISI During ISI Chief's Visit To US

Washington : David Headley aka Daood Gilani and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the two Pakistani expat foot soldiers who allegedly planned and conducted the Mumbai recce before the 26/11 terrorist carnage have implicated the Pakistani government and its intelligence agency ISI in the ghastly attack, reports Times of India. In court documents that have surfaced ahead of his upcoming trial in Chicago, Rana says his acts of providing material support to terrorists in the Mumbai attacks as alleged by US prosecutors ''were done at the behest of the Pakistani government and the ISI, not the Lashkar terrorist organization.'' The documents also cite Rana invoking...

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Hasan Ali 'Stalling' Probe, ED Tells Court

Mumbai : Hasan Ali Khan, the Pune stud farm owner under arrest on money laundering charge, is “stalling” the investigations by not disclosing details of transactions in his foreign accounts, the Enforcement Directorate has told a court. In its remand application submitted to the court, the ED has said though Khan had admitted to have opened a large number of foreign accounts, he did not explain why these were opened and what transactions took place. The sessions court is likely to take up the application for extension of Khan’s judicial custody tomorrow. The document claimed Khan had also admitted to have dealt with antique jewellery belonging...

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Ramnavami Celebrated With Fervour

New Delhi : Faithful thronged temples since daybreak as special prayers and dips in sacred rivers marked Ram Navmi, the birthday of Lord Rama, which was celebrated across the country today with religious fervour and gaiety. Amid blowing of conch shells and rendering of devotional songs, devotees offered prayers at illuminated temples as huge posse of policemen stood guard outside the shrines. In holy city Haridwar in Uttarakhand, tens of thousands of people took dips in surging waters of river Ganges and paid obeisance at temples amid tight security. The national capital saw devotees, carrying offerings to deities, flocking to decorated temples...

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DGCA Cracks Whip On Four Airlines

New Delhi, Apr 12: The DGCA cracked the whip on four airlines for violating its directive not to operate flights to Goa during certain hours when ground navigational aids at the airport are not operational forcing pilots to make blind landings. The action by the aviation regulator came even as the Indian Commercial Pilot's Association(ICPA) gave a directive asking all its members not to undertake flights to Goa till April 30 in the wake of violation of flight safety rules by soem air carriers and blind landings at Dambolim airport. ICPA is a body of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had issued...

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Do Aliens Exist? If So, Will They Kill Us?

We're an inquisitive lot, we humans. But could our inquisitiveness ultimately kill us? In a new Discovery Channel documentary "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking," the world's most recognized physicist speculates about different forms of alien life and explores efforts under way to search and communicate with intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations. However, he cautions that perhaps we shouldn't be advertising our location; perhaps we should just sit back and listen instead. WATCH VIDEO: Will the real ET be little green men or little green bacteria? SETI Institute Senior Astronomer Seth Shostak theorizes what our first alien encounter...

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Penguin, Krill Populations in Freefall

Numbers of Chinstrap and Adélie penguins in the Antarctic Peninsula region have dropped by more than 50 percent in the last 30 years, driven mainly by dramatic declines in supplies of tiny, shrimp-like krill, their main prey, says a new study. Krill, meanwhile, have declined by 40 to 80 percent, due primarily to rapidly warming temperatures in the area -- the South Shetland Islands near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby sites. This is one of the fastest-warming places on the planet with winter mean temperatures some 10 degrees Fahrenheit warmer now than in pre-industrial times. Researchers previously thought that chinstrap penguins...

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China launches navigation satellite

China has launched its eighth satellite orbiter as part of its navigation and positioning network, state media reported. A Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying the "Beidou," or Compass, navigation satellite took off before dawn from the Xichang satellite launch centre in southwest Sichuan province, the China Daily's website reported. The satellite launch will establish a basic navigation and positioning network system, a launch centre official said, AFP reports. China will launch more satellites within two years to complete an Asia-Pacific regional network to provide services for mapping, fishery, transportation, meteorology and telecommunication industries, the official said. The network is expected to provide global services by 2020, the report sa...

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Droid X2 and Droid Incredible 2 Appear in Photos

A recent Verizon Wireless leak revealed a bunch of new smartphones, including the Motorola Droid X2 and HTC Droid Incredible 2. Android Central recently posted hands-on photos of both smartphones (here and here). While the Samsung Droid Charge will soon join the HTC Thunderbolt in Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE lineup, the Droid Incredible 2 and Droid X2 will likely both be CDMA/EV-DO smartphones. The Droid Incredible 2 will be a "with Google" smartphone, meaning that we should expect the full package of Google Mobile services. Specs include an 8-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording and dual LED flash, 4-inch WVGA SLCD capacitive screen,...

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'Android will emerge as the core platform for gaming'

Sony Ericsson aims to make Xperia Play the 'ultimate smartphone gaming experience'. Android will emerge as the core platform for gaming, according to Matt Beavis, head of PR & sponsorship at Sony Ericsson. The company's goal is "for Xperia Play to deliver the ultimate smartphone gaming experience for consumer audiences". "As the world’s first PlayStation certified smartphone, our goal is for Xperia Play to deliver the ultimate smartphone gaming experience for consumer audiences, including casual and enthusiastic gamers," Beavis told Nowgamer. "We believe that Android will emerge as the core platform for gaming and is optimised for multi-media...

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