Immersed in a changing flux of molecules

In 2004, a rash of early scientific reports suggested that cell-phones, which produce radio frequency energy, might cause a fatal form of brain cancer called ‘glioma,' reminisces Siddhartha Mukherjee in The Emperor of all Maladies: A biography of cancer (www.harpercollins.co.in). “Gliomas appeared on the same side of the brain that the phone was predominantly held, further tightening the link. An avalanche of panic ensued in the media…” Recall bias The Pulitzer-winning book goes on to inform that an enormous British study was launched in 2004 to confirm these ominous early reports; and ‘cases' (patients with gliomas) were compared to ‘controls'...

Read more »

Wockhardt Gets FDA Approval for Marketing Generic Aricept

Mumbai based pharmaceutical company, Wockhardt has revealed that it has got a tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its generic copy of Aricept tablets used in treatment of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Wockhardt said that it expects to launch the Donepezil HCl tablets by May 8 this year and added that the approval has been given for 5 mg and 10 mg versions of the tablet. The company is confident of getting a substantial slice of the $2.5 billion market that the drug commands in the US. “We are continuing to get a steady stream of FDA approval and are able to launch them on the date the generic market opportunity...

Read more »

Surge in Number of Cesareans in Cherthala Hospital Arouses Suspicion

There have been complaints about the increase in the number of cesarean deliveries in the Taluk Hospital in Alappuzha district just before the Easter break, allegedly planned by doctors so that they can enjoy the Easter holidays without interruption. Initial round of investigations have confirmed this unusually high number of deliveries. Read more: Surge in Number of Cesareans in Cherthala Hospital Arouses Suspicion The report says that the Taluk hospital in Cherthala conducted 21 cesarean deliveries on April 18 and 19th. . Even women with due dates a week later were forced to undergo deliveries earlier before the commencement of the Easter...

Read more »

BlackBerry Touch Could Make Waves Soon

RIM seems to have some ruthless plans for the smartphone market this year. RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie recently told investors that the company is currently undergoing an enormous transition that will reach the surface in the coming months. The BGR has the scoop on RIM's next flagship smartphone, the BlackBerry Touch high-end smartphone sporting a 3.7-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen. The BlackBerry Touch will be powered by BlackBerry 6.1, a software upgrade RIM says will include a range of new APIs for developers to take apps to a new level for BlackBerry phones. The apps will run on BlackBerry 6.1 for smartphones and BlackBerry Tablet OS for...

Read more »

Resourcesat-2 to beam pictures from Thursday

Chennai: India's latest advanced remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2, launched last week, is all set to beam back pictures Thursday onwards, the Indian space agency said. A statement issued by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Monday said the three cameras of Resourcesat-2 have been oriented towards Earth and all checks prior to their switching on have been completed. ISRO said the first imaging is expected to cover about 3,000 km stretch of Indian landmass from Joshimath in Uttarakhand to Kannur in Kerala. On April 20, an Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C16) launched three satellites -- the 1,206 kg Resourcesat-2,...

Read more »

Next generation Nintendo console confirmed for 2012

Nintendo announced the Wii's rumoured successor without pomp or pageant in an open letter to the company’s investors Monday. The announcement came alongside an earnings release describing yet another decrease in the Japanese game giant's annual profit. A brief note on Nintendo’s investor relations site titled simply “Wii’s successor system” states that “Nintendo Co., Ltd. has decided to launch in 2012 a system to succeed Wii, which the company has sold 86.01 million units on a consolidated shipment basis between its launch in 2006 and the end of March 2011.” The brief, three-sentence missive goes on to say that the system will be shown in...

Read more »

Hackers keep PlayStation Network offline for fifth day

Hackers have kept Sony's lucrative PlayStation Network offline for a fifth day while engineers scramble to overhaul the system and make it more secure. Sony's equivalent of Apple's iTunes Store, PlayStation Network is the internet-based retail service that allows users of its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable devices to buy games, films, music and game add-ons, and to chat with one another. Sony confirmed on Friday that the service had been attacked by hackers, describing it on the official PlayStation blog as an "external intrusion". Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications, wrote that Sony planned "a thorough investigation...

Read more »

Remixes can't dent popularity of original: Asha Bhosle

Singing legend Asha Bhosale believes remixed songs can never dent the popularity and the timelessness of the original classic numbers. "No matter how many films are remade and songs are remixed, the original is the best and is always remembered," Asha said while interacting with mediapersons after the 'muhurat' shot of her debut Hindi film as actor, 'Maaee'. The 77-year-old singer said she had not heard the remixed version of her 1970s blockbuster song 'Dum Maro Dum', in the Abhishek Bachchan-starrer that released last week. "I have no intention of doing so," she added. "My songs like 'Yeh Mera Dil Pyar Ka deewana' and 'Dum Maro dum' have...

Read more »

Rana Daggubati Replaces Abhishek In RGV's Film

Abhishek Bachchan is no longer part of Ram Gopal Varma's ambitious project Department. RGV has roped Abhi's co-star in Dum Maaro Dum Rana Daggubati for the role, instead. Considering it has come immediately after the Dum Maaro Dum SMS fiasco, where Ramu was reportedly accused of revealing the ending of the film and making a dig ot Abhishek, it is quite likely that it has lead to a fallout between the director and the actor. This film is touted as Ramu's most expensive project with Amitabh Bachchan playing a gangster-turned-politician and Abhishek Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt playing cops. Now, Rana will reprise Abhishek's role in the film. A...

Read more »

Prithviraj to wed Supriya Menon today

Malyalam actor Prithviraj is creating quite a stir, what with the rumours of his impending marriage to Supriya Menon doing the rounds. According to sources, the actor is tying the knot with Supriya Menon, a BBC journalist, in a small ceremony today, in the district of Palakkad, Supriya's hometown. The couple reportedly wanted an intimate ceremony with only a small group of 50 people including family and friends in attendance. The couple plans to throw a lavish reception party for everybody else later. Here's wishing the couple all the be...

Read more »

India working to narrow trade deficit with China

While staying concerned over the huge trade deficit with China, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Anand Sharma expressed optimism that recently unveiled 12th Five Year Plan for 2012-14 of China, with a strong slant for a domestic consumer driven economy will give enormous opportunity for Indian exporters to access China’s huge consumer market in the coming years. The trade deficit for India for 2010 stood at USD 20.02 billion, more than USD 15.87 billion trade deficit in year 2009 with China, which is an export driven economy. He met the Jiang Jufeng, Governor of Sichuan Province of China, a province with which India’s trade relations...

Read more »

Maruti Q4 net up at Rs 660 cr; board proposes 150% dividend

New Delhi : The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India, has reported a marginal rise in its net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2011, at Rs 659.86 crore. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 656.55 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2009-10 fiscal, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) said in a statement today. During the quarter, total income from operations increased by 18.93 per cent to Rs 10,092.18 crore from Rs 8,485.83 crore in the same period previous fiscal. Total automobile sales stood at 3,43,340 units (2,87,422 units), up 19.46 per cent. For the entire 2010-11 financial year, Maruti Suzuki’s consolidated net...

Read more »

Nifty in tight range; Axis Bank, SBI, RIL most active

The benchmark Nifty was trading in tight range of 5875-5900 since the beginning of trade. On the one side, Reliance, DLF, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco were dragging the markets down, at 12:07 hours. However, SBI, ONGC, Infosys, L&T, ITC, BHEL, Sterlite, HUL, HDFC, Tata Steel and ICICI Bank were supporting the benchmarks. According to Devina Mehra of First Global, the market would be close to the fairly valued range. “We don’t see a very big move on either side right away,” she adds. She further says, 2011 is more likely to be a down than an up year. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 19,637, up 35 points...

Read more »

Gaddafi Safe And His Morale High: Spokesman

Tripoli : Muammar Gaddafi is in a safe place and his morale is high, a regime spokesman said today after an overnight NATO air strike on the Libyan leader’s compound wrecked his office. “The leader is working from Tripoli. The leader is well, is very healthy, is leading the battle for peace and democracy in Libya,” Mussa Ibrahim told reporters outside the destroyed building at Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya residence. “The leader is in a safe place. He is leading a battle...  he works every day. He led the battle to provide people with services, with food, medicine, fuel,” Ibrahim told a news conference in the presence of several ambassadors. He...

Read more »

Nearly 500 Taliban Flee In Daring Afghan Jailbreak

Kandahar : Almost 500 Taliban fighters and commanders escaped from a prison in an audacious jailbreak in southern Afghanistan which the government admitted today was a security “disaster”. The Taliban said it sprung the inmates out of the prison in Kandahar through a one-kilometre tunnel that took five months to dig, and claimed all those who escaped belonged to the militia, including over 100 commanders. The daring breakout in the Taliban’s heartland, the second from the prison in three years, threatens to undermine recent gains claimed by NATO forces in the area after a US-led troop surge, just as the annual fighting season begins. It...

Read more »

Al Qaeda Threatens Nuclear Hellstorm If Osama Is Caught Or Killed

Washington : Al-Qaeda terrorists have threatened to unleash a “nuclear hellstorm” on the West if their leader and world’s most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden is nabbed. A senior al-Qaeda commander has claimed that the terror group has stashed away a nuclear bomb in Europe which will be detonated if bin Laden is ever caught or assassinated, according to new top secret files made public by internet whistleblower WikiLeaks. The documents are secret details of the background to the capture of each of the 780 people held at or have passed through the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, along with their medical condition and the information...

Read more »

Truck Rams Into Wagon R Near Shahdara, One Killed, Two Critical

New Delhi : A truck driver on Monday night rammed into a Wagon R from behind near the Shahdara flyover, killing one of the three youths inside the van and critically wounding two others, reports India TV reporter Inderjeet. The Wagon R, which was coming towards Shahdara from Dilshad Garden, turned turtle and was again hit by a Tata 407 mini-truck coming from the opposite direction. Rahul, 30, Mohit 28 and Honey 25 were injured in the mishap. They were rushed to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in Shahdara where Rahul succumbed to injuries. The truck driver escaped with his vehicle soon after the accident. Ramveer, a helper sitting inside the...

Read more »

VHP Defends Sadhvi Pragya, Lt Col Purohit

Indore  : The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) today came in defence of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lt Colonel Prasad Purohit, prime accused in the Malegaon blasts, and called the imposition of MCOCA against them as ‘political conspiracy’. “MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) was not imposed on the Mumbai terrorist attacker Kasab, but the same act has been applied in the case of Sadhvi and Purohit,” said the International General Secretary of VHP Praveen Togadia, adding, “both of them are a victim of political conspiracy”. Thirty-five people were killed in the blast in the powerloom city of Malegaon in Nashik district in...

Read more »

No Govt Interference In Sai Trust: Swami Ramdev

Puttaparthi  : Yoga Guru  Swami Ramdev  on Monday  said that there should not be any government interference in the affairs of Satya Sai Central Trust here. “There should be trust on Sai Trust. Crores of people have played their role towards the Trust. So there should not be any type of government interference in the Sai Trust activities,” Ramdev told reporter after paying homage to Sai Baba here at the Sai Kulwant Hall at Prasanti Nilyam. Ramdev said it was the first time he was visiting the place. “Sai Baba was god to all those people particularly the poor people who are benefited from the exemplary works undertaken by...

Read more »