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| 3D Picture of Subhaditya Science News |
Top Science
News of this week:
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| Phoenix rising This handout illustration provided by Nasa shows a cosmic supermom galaxy that gives births to more stars in a day than the Milky Way does in a year. |
1) Is this
the largest galaxy in the universe? Newly-discovered 'Phoenix' system produces
740 new stars a year:
a)
Unnamed galaxy produces more stars in a day than the Milky Way spawns in a
year.
b)
Thought to be about 6 billion years old, and has appeared to have 'come back to
life'.
c)
Scientist says the galaxy 'pushes the boundaries of what we understand'.
Scientists
have found a cosmic supermom. It's a galaxy that gives births to more stars in
a day than ours does in a year.
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| Eyes in the sky The distant gigantic galaxy was spotted by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched into space in 1999. |
Astronomers
used Nasa's Chandra X-Ray telescope to spot this distant gigantic galaxy
creating about 740 new stars a year.
By
comparison, our Milky Way galaxy spawns just about one new star each year.
The
galaxy is about 5.7 billion light years away in the center of a recently
discovered cluster of galaxies that give off the brightest X-ray glow
astronomers have seen.
It is by
far the biggest creation of stars that astronomers have seen for this kind of
galaxy. Other types, such as colliding galaxies, can produce even more stars,
astronomers said.But this is the size, type and age of galaxy that shouldn't be
producing stars at such a rapid pace, said the authors of a study published
Wednesday in the journal Nature.'It's very extreme,' said Harvard University
astronomer Ryan Foley, co-author of the study. 'It pushes the boundaries of
what we understand.'
The
unnamed galaxy - officially known by a string of letters and numbers - is about
3 trillion times the size of our sun, said study lead author Michael McDonald
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.There's another strange thing
about this galaxy. It's fairly mature, maybe 6 billion years old.Usually, this
kind 'don't do anything new... what we call red and dead,' McDonald said in an
interview. 'It seems to have come back to life for some reason.'
Because
of that back-to-life situation, the team of 85 astronomers has nicknamed the
galaxy cluster Phoenix, after the bird that rises from the ashes.The galaxy
that is producing the stars at a rate of two per day is the biggest and most
prominent of many galaxies there.
It's
'helping us answer this basic question of how do galaxies form their stars,'
said Michigan State University astronomer Megan Donahue, who wasn't part of the
study but praised it.There's lots of very hot hydrogen gas between galaxies.
When that gas cools to below zero, the gas can form stars, McDonald said.
But only
10 per cent of the gas in the universe becomes stars, Donahue said.That's
because the energy from black holes in the center of galaxies counteract the
cooling.There's a constant 'tussle between black holes and star formation,'
said Sir Martin Rees, a prominent astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge
in England.
He was
not part of the study, but commented on it during a Nasa teleconference
Wednesday In this case, the black hole in the central galaxy seems to be
unusually quiet compared to other super massive black holes, Rees said. 'So it's
losing the tussle,' he said.But this massive burst of star birth is probably
only temporary because there's only so much fuel and limits to how big a galaxy
can get, Foley said.'It could be just a very short-lived phase that every
galaxy cluster has and we just got lucky here' to see it, Foley said.
I think
This newly -discovered cluster may give a scientific conclusion That " How
our Universe and stars were Formed Just After Big-Bang".
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| Using next-generation sequencing technology and a novel strategy to encode 1,000 times the largest data size previously achieved in DNA, a Harvard geneticist encodes his book in life's language. |
2) Writing
the Book in DNA: Geneticist Encodes His Book in Life's Language:
Using
next-generation sequencing technology and a novel strategy to encode 1,000
times the largest data size previously achieved in DNA, a Harvard geneticist
encodes his book in life's language.Although George Church's next book doesn't
hit the shelves until Oct. 2, it has already passed an enviable benchmark: 70
billion copies -- roughly triple the sum of the top 100 books of all time. And
they fit on your thumbnail.
That's
because Church, the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical
School and a founding core faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biomedical
Engineering at Harvard University, and his team encoded the book, Regenesis:
How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves, in DNA, which they
then read and copied.
Biology's
databank, DNA has long tantalized researchers with its potential as a storage
medium: fantastically dense, stable, energy efficient and proven to work over a
timespan of some 3.5 billion years. While not the first project to demonstrate
the potential of DNA storage, Church's team married next-generation sequencing
technology with a novel strategy to encode 1,000 times the largest amount of
data previously stored in DNA.
The team
reports its results in the Aug. 17 issue of the journal Science.
The
researchers used binary code to preserve the text, images and formatting of the
book. While the scale is roughly what a 5 ¼-inch floppy disk once held, the
density of the bits is nearly off the charts: 5.5 petabits, or 1 million
gigabits, per cubic millimeter. "The information density and scale compare
favorably with other experimental storage methods from biology and
physics," said Sri Kosuri, a senior scientist at the Wyss Institute and
senior author on the paper. The team also included Yuan Gao, a former Wyss
postdoc who is now an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Johns
Hopkins University.
And where
some experimental media -- like quantum holography -- require incredibly cold
temperatures and tremendous energy, DNA is stable at room temperature.
"You can drop it wherever you want, in the desert or your backyard, and it
will be there 400,000 years later," Church said.
Reading
and writing in DNA is slower than in other media, however, which makes it
better suited for archival storage of massive amounts of data, rather than for
quick retrieval or data processing. "Imagine that you had really cheap
video recorders everywhere," Church said. "Just paint walls with
video recorders. And for the most part they just record and no one ever goes to
them. But if something really good or really bad happens you want to go and
scrape the wall and see what you got. So something that's molecular is so much
more energy efficient and compact that you can consider applications that were
impossible before."
About
four grams of DNA theoretically could store the digital data humankind creates
in one year.
Although
other projects have encoded data in the DNA of living bacteria, the Church team
used commercial DNA microchips to create standalone DNA. "We purposefully
avoided living cells," Church said. "In an organism, your message is
a tiny fraction of the whole cell, so there's a lot of wasted space. But more
importantly, almost as soon as a DNA goes into a cell, if that DNA doesn't earn
its keep, if it isn't evolutionarily advantageous, the cell will start mutating
it, and eventually the cell will completely delete it."
In
another departure, the team rejected so-called "shotgun sequencing,"
which reassembles long DNA sequences by identifying overlaps in short strands.
Instead, they took their cue from information technology, and encoded the book
in 96-bit data blocks, each with a 19-bit address to guide reassembly.
Including jpeg images and HTML formatting, the code for the book required
54,898 of these data blocks, each a unique DNA sequence. "We wanted to
illustrate how the modern world is really full of zeroes and ones, not As
through Zs alone," Kosuri said.
The team
discussed including a DNA copy with each print edition of Regenesis. But in the
book, Church and his co-author, the science writer Ed Regis, argue for careful
supervision of synthetic biology and the policing of its products and tools.
Practicing what they preach, the authors decided against a DNA insert -- at
least until there has been far more discussion of the safety, security and ethics
of using DNA this way. "Maybe the next book," Church said.
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| Two new species of owls have been discovered in the Philippines, and an MSU researcher played a key role in confirming their existence (Top left Cebu Hawk owl Bottom right Camiguin Hawk owl). |
3) Two New
Owl Species Discovered in the Philippines
Two new
species of owls have been discovered in the Philippines, and a Michigan State
University researcher played a key role in confirming their existence.
The
discovery, which is featured in the current issue of Forktail, the Journal of
Asian Ornithology, took years to confirm, but it was well worth the effort,
said the paper's lead author Pam Rasmussen, MSU assistant professor of zoology
and assistant curator of mammalogy and ornithology at the MSU Museum.
"More
than 15 years ago, we realized that new subspecies of Ninox hawk-owls existed
in the Philippines," she said. "But it wasn't until last year that we
obtained enough recordings that we could confirm that they were not just
subspecies, but two new species of owls."
Announcing
the finding of a single bird is rare enough. But the discovery of two new bird
species in a single paper is so rare that Rasmussen and the other researchers
couldn't recall the last time it happened.
The first
owl, the Camiguin Hawk-owl, is found only on the small island of Camiguin Sur,
close to northern Mindanao. Despite being so close geographically to related
owls on Mindanao, it has quite different physical characteristics and voice. At
night, it gives a long solo song that builds in intensity, with a distinctive
low growling tone. Pairs of owls give short barking duets that start with a
growl. They also are the only owls to have blue-gray eyes.
The
second new discovery was the Cebu Hawk-owl. This bird was thought to be
extinct, as the forests of Cebu have almost all been lost due to deforestation.
But it had never been considered a distinct form. Study of its structure and
vocalizations confirmed that it was a new species. In fact, it was the unique
calling or vocalizations of both owls that confirmed that the new
classifications were warranted.
"The
owls don't learn their songs, which are genetically programmed in their DNA and
are used to attract mates or defend their territory; so if they're very
different, they must be new species," Rasmussen said. "When we first
heard the songs of both owls, we were amazed because they were so distinctly
different that we realized they were new species."
The owls
have avoided recognition as distinct species for so long because the group
shows complex variation in appearance that had been poorly studied, and their
songs were unknown. Both islands are off the beaten path for ornithologists and
birders, who usually visit the larger islands that host more bird species.
Sound
recordings of both new owl species and those from other islands are available
free on AVoCet.
Since the
discovery process is both tedious and time consuming, it took a team of
scientists and contributors to confirm the owls' existence. The team included
individuals from BirdLife International, the Oriental Bird Club, Philippines
Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. and Birdtour Asia. Additional support
was provided by National Geographic.
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| After producing neural connection maps, the researchers used electrodes (blue arrows and green crosshairs) to monitor the direct communication paths (yellow-orange) between the pulvinar and clusters of brain cells, which in this case are in the temporal lobe. |
4) Brain's
Mysterious Switchboard Operator Revealed:
A
mysterious region deep in the human brain could be where we sort through the
onslaught of stimuli from the outside world and focus on the information most
important to our behavior and survival, Princeton University researchers have
found.
The
researchers report in the journal Science that an area of our brain called the
pulvinar regulates communication between clusters of brain cells as our brain
focuses on the people and objects that need our attention. Like a switchboard
operator, the pulvinar makes sure that separate areas of the visual cortex --
which processes visual information -- are communicating about the same external
information, explained lead author Yuri Saalmann, an associate research scholar
in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute (PNI). Without guidance from the
pulvinar, an important observation such as an oncoming bus as one is crossing
the street could get lost in a jumble of other stimuli.
Saalmann
said these findings on how the brain transmits information could lead to new
ways of understanding and treating attention-related disorders, such as
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia. Saalmann
worked with senior researcher Sabine Kastner, a professor in the Department of
Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute; and PNI researchers Xin
Li, a research assistant; Mark Pinsk, a professional specialist; and Liang
Wang, a postdoctoral research associate.
The
researchers developed a new technique to trace direct communication between
clusters of neurons in the visual cortex and the pulvinar. The team produced
neural connection maps using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), then placed
electrodes along those identified communication paths to monitor brain signals
of macaques. The researchers trained the monkeys to play a video game during
which they used visual cues to find a specific shape surrounded by distracting
information. As the macaques focused, Saalmann and his colleagues could see
that the pulvinar controlled which parts of the visual cortex sent and received
signals.
Saalmann
explains the Princeton findings as follows:
"A
fundamental problem for the brain is that there is too much information in our
natural environment for it to be processed in detail at the same time. The
brain instead selectively focuses on, or attends to, the people and objects
most relevant to our behavior at the time and filters out the rest. For
instance, as we cross a busy city street, our brain blocks out the bustle of
the crowd behind us to concentrate more on an oncoming bus.
"The
transmission of behaviorally relevant information between various parts of the
brain is tightly synchronized. As one brain area sends a signal about our
environment, such as that a bus is approaching, another brain area is ready to
receive it and respond, such as by having us cross the street faster. A
persistent question in neuroscience, though, is how exactly do different brain
areas synchronize so that important information isn't lost in the other stimuli
flooding our brains.
"Our
study suggests that a mysterious area in the center of the brain called the
pulvinar acts as a switchboard operator between areas on the brain's surface
known as the visual cortex, which processes visual information. When we pay
attention to important visual information, the pulvinar makes sure that
information passing between clusters of neurons is consistent and relevant to
our behavior.
"These
results could advance the understanding of the neural mechanisms of selective
attention and how the brain transmits information. This is a necessary step in
developing effective treatment strategies for medical disorders characterized
by a failure of attention mechanisms. These conditions include ADHD,
schizophrenia and spatial neglect, which is an inability to detect stimuli
often observed following stroke.
"For
our study, we trained monkeys to play a video game in which they paid attention
to visual cues in order to detect different target shapes. We simultaneously
recorded brain activity in the pulvinar and two different areas of the visual
cortex. We could see a clear connective path from one portion of the cortex to
another, as well as connective paths from the pulvinar to the cortex. When the
monkeys paid attention to the visual cues, the pulvinar sent electrical pulses
to synchronize particular groups of brain cells in the visual cortex to allow
them to communicate effectively.
"A
challenge in this study was that we needed to record the activity of cells that
were 'speaking' directly with each other so we could trace the line of
communication. But there are billions of brain cells. Traditionally, finding a
cell-to-cell connection is as likely as randomly selecting two people talking
on cell phones in different parts of New York City and discovering that they
were speaking to each other.
"To
'listen in' on a direct cell conversation, we developed a new approach of using
electrodes to record groups of brain cells that were anatomically connected. We
first mapped neural connections in the brain via diffusion tensor imaging,
which uses an MRI scanner to measure the movement of water along neural
connections. We then used these images to implant electrodes at the endpoints
of the neural connections shared by the pulvinar and the visual cortex.
"Our
mapping of these communication networks and our finding that the pulvinar is
vital to attention prompts a new consideration of the mechanisms behind higher
cognitive function. We challenge the common notion that these functions depend
exclusively on the cerebral cortex, the outermost layer of the brain
responsible for decision-making, attention and language, among other abilities.
It also suggests that the prevailing view that visual information is
transmitted solely through a network of areas in the visual cortex needs to be
revised to include the pulvinar as an important regulator of neural
transmission."
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| T cells are immune cells important for the defence against viruses The on,going exposure to cytomegalovirus impairs their function In the picture Two T cells red interacting with a dendritic cell another type of immune cell. |
5) Virus
Throws a Wrench in the Immune System:
The cytomegalovirus
(CMV) is a member of the herpesvirus family. Although most people carry CMV for
life, it hardly ever makes them sick. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for
Infection Research and from the USA have now unveiled long term consequences of
the on-going presence of CMV: Later in life, more and more cells of the immune
system concentrate on CMV, and as a result, the response against other viruses
is weakened. These research results help to explain why the elderly are often
more prone to infectious diseases than young people.
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| Cytomeglovirus. |
The viral
immunologist Professor Luka Cicin-Sain, head of the junior research group
"Immune Aging and Chronic Infections" at the HZI in Braunschweig,
Germany, and his colleagues have now published their discovery in the open
access journal PLoS Pathogens. In the article, they describe that even months
after infection with CMV, mice still show weaker responses against other
viruses such as the flu virus.
Most
adults are infected with CMV, yet this infection goes unnoticed. Usually that
is of no consequence, because in the vast majority of cases, this herpesvirus
does not make them sick. Only for people with a weak immune system, like organ
recipients, AIDS patients, or unborn babies infected during pregnancy, the
infection is dangerous. In everyone else, the virus becomes latent and persists
in the body, but is kept at bay by the immune system. "In young people
this lasting activation of the immune system might even be beneficial, because
an active immune system may defeat other infections rapidly. But a bright
candle burns down faster," says Cicin-Sain, to clarify that the immune
defence will wear out over the years. In elderly, the immune system loses function
and its changes that present a clear loss of immune protection are summarily
termed the "Immune risk profile," shortly IRP. A relationship between
IRP and the presence of CMV has been observed in several clinical studies.
However, up to now it was unclear whether IRP is a consequence of the CMV
infection or, vice versa, the IRP resulted in increased susceptibility to CMV
infection.
The
results of Cicin-Sain's group and his American colleagues from the Oregon
Health and Science University in Portland and from the College of Medicine of
the University of Arizona in Tucson show that the on-going CMV presence
contributes to immune ageing. "Of course the immune system ages without
CMV as well," Cicin-Sain explains. On the other hand, CMV is a permanent
guest that demands a growing amount of attention from the T cells, an important
group of immune defence cells. The longer the mice were infected with CMV, the
more of these cells were engaged with the cytomegalovirus and were missing for
the fight against other pathogens. Accordingly, the immune system of
CMV-infected mice could not respond well to other infections, for instance to
the flu- or the West-Nile-virus. "We believe that the large number of
CMV-specific T cells in the lymph nodes is likely to impair the activation of
the remaining cells," the researcher concludes. What accelerated the
immune defence in the young organism now becomes a burden in an old organism
and takes its toll. Luka Cicin-Sain thinks a little further and summarizes:
"Our results clearly show how important it would be to develop a vaccine
against the cytomegalovirus, despite its low direct impact on human
health."
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| 3D Picture of Subhaditya Sports News |
Top Sports
News of This week:
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| Messi |
1) Messi
and Ronaldo back as La Liga begins:
The
Spanish league season kicks-off this weekend with Barcelona star Lionel Messi
insisting it is not just a battle between himself and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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| Cristiano Ronaldo. |
"With
Cristiano I have absolutely no problem. All that is said about us is to do with
the press who want us to have our own personal battle but I have never competed
with him or fought him," said the 25 year-old current holder of the FIFA
Ballon d'Or. "I just try to do my job in the best way possible to win
trophies for my national team and Barcelona", he continued after scoring in
Argentina's 3-1 win over Germany on Wednesday night.
The two
players were neck-and-neck in the goalscoring charts last season, with the
Argentinian hitting 50 in the league compared to Ronaldo's 46, with an
incredible 73 in all competitions for Messi and 60 for the Madrid star.
Madrid
finished the season nine points clear of a Barca side that still managed to
lift 4 titles in what was to be Pep Guardiola's last season of a hugely
successful time for the Catalans.
The two
giants kick-off the new campaign on Sunday with home games against Valencia and
Real Sociedad, with one eye on their two-legged Spanish Super Cup encounter
over the next two weeks.
The
first-leg is in the Camp Nou next Thursday before the return game in Madrid 6
days later.
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| olympic-closing Ceremony |
2) Olympic
Closing Ceremony 2012: British Closed Games with Amusing Spectacle:
The
closing ceremony is one of the best things about the Olympics because it
signifies that the Games are finally coming to a close. The countries and their
athletes have all earned the right to kick back and enjoy themselves.
These
Olympians have spent the past three weeks putting their bodies on the line for
their countries, and the closing ceremony is a way for the host country to give
the athletes a party to celebrate their accomplishments. It's the host
country's way of saying, "Thank you."
Musical
Portion
In one of
the most varied musical performances ever done, the Brits definitely surprised
and accomplished everything they needed to. From the youthful One Direction,
Tinie Tempah and Ed Sheeran to the more experienced George Michael, Fatboy Slim
and the Spice Girls, the spectacle was fun and a great expression of not just
British music, but their hospitality.
The best
part of the musical portion, though, was easily when the band Queen came out
and had Jessie J singing with them. She has an underrated vocal ability, and I
enjoyed their rendition of "We Will Rock You."
It was
also pretty awesome to see video of Freddy Mercury and John Lennon projected on
screens as part of the Games this year. It wouldn't have been the same without
having original music from those two performers, as they are two of the biggest
British musicians of all time.
Comedic
Portion
Opening
with "Mr. Blue Sky" by the Electric Light Orchestra was a beautiful
touch, especially with the human-cannonball part leading into Monty Python doing
a Bollywood dance at the end of it. There is an actual human cannonball to
close out the act?
Part of
what makes the British sense of humor hilarious is that it's just completely
random and nonsensical. That same style continued here at the end of the
Olympic Games with the comedic portion. There was no rhyme or reason to the
act, just random British humor. And in this case, simpler was not just better,
it made the closing ceremony worth watching.
Overall,
I was thoroughly entertained. This was an amazing way to end the Games. It
didn't have the same kind of substance as the opening ceremony did, but it
didn't have to. It was fun and entertaining. It's just what the world needed.
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| Team USA Wins the Olympics |
3) Team USA Wins the Olympics! That Is How It
Works, Right?
The
United States ended the 2012 Olympics with 104 medals, including 46 gold,
leaving London as the clear winner of the Olympics. If the International
Olympic Committee gave out medals for the country with the most medals, Team
USA would have won another gold medal.
China
finished second in the medal count with 88 total medals, 38 gold. Great Britain
finished with 65 medals, including 29 gold, giving those in the host nation the
bragging rights of most medals per capita.
Still, no
matter how many people live in the respective countries or how many athletes
those countries sent to compete in the Olympics, it is clear the United States
won the 2012 Summer Games. We are the winners at winning. The best. The
greatest. Raise our flag and sing our national anthem for the 47th time in 16
days,
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| VVS Laxman smashes to the boundary as Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist (L) looks on during the second day of the first three-day match between India and Australia in Nagpur, 18 February 2001. |
4) VVS
Laxman announces retirement from international cricket:
VVS
Laxman, who won many a match for India with his wristy elegance including an
epic 281 against Australia in Kolkata, today announced his retirement from
international cricket with immediate effect, bringing down the curtains on a
glorious career spanning 16 years. The 37-year-old Laxman, one of the finest
batsmen in contemporary cricket, said that he felt it was the right time to bid
adieu to the game which he played with "great pride for the country".
"I
would like to announce my retirement from international cricket with immediate
effect. I think it's right time to move on", an emotional Laxman told a
press conference here.
Laxman,
who was picked in the Indian squad for the two-match Test series against New
Zealand beginning here from August 23, surprisingly chose to hang his boots
with immediate effect without taking the opportunity to bow out of
international cricket in front of his home crowd.
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| 3D Picture of Subhaditya Political News |
Top
Political and other News of this week:
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| Assam violence fallout: Thousands of Northeast people flee Bangalore after rumours: |
1) Assam
violence fallout: Thousands of Northeast people flee Bangalore after rumours:
Rumour
mongering over Assam violence has caused panic among the Northeastern students
and professionals. An estimated 4,000 people who hail from the Northeast, but
were living in Bangalore, are now rushing to leave the I-T city and return to
their home states as a fallout of the recent communal clashes.
This is
because they fear for their safety after many reportedly received anonymous
SMSes saying they would be targeted in retaliatory attacks. "Our relatives
in the Northeast are calling us back due to security reasons," one of the
Northeast students said.
Many were
seen boarding trains out of Bangalore on Wednesday, even after Karnataka's Home
Minister R Ashok addressed them on the station's PA system to reassure them of
their safety.
Karnataka
Home Minister R Ashok spoke on the station public announcement system and
appealed the Northeast people not to leave Bangalore. "Bangalore is safe,
don't believe in rumours, don't leave Bangalore," he said.
Karnataka
DGP Lalrokhuma Pachuau appealed to the Northeast students to not panic.
"People claim they have received anonymous messages and saw updates on the
social media. They should not panic as there is not a single attack anywhere.
Northeast students are meeting state home minister and other senior police
officials at 11 am. We have called a meeting at 4 pm of the Northeast leaders
and other community leaders," he said.
The
government says there is no need to panic. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde have spoken to Karnataka Chief Minister
Jagadish Shettar. He has also called a high-level meeting with senior police
officials and Northeast community leaders.
Ranjan
Biswas, PRO divisional office Bangalore, said, "There were too many people
going to Guwahati, so we had to give them two special trains."
But not
just Bangalore, there have been similar attacks elsewhere as well. Thirteen
people were arrested for allegedly beating up Northeastern students in Pune
last week. The Pune police met members of the Muslim community urging them to
disregard a controversial MMS clip that has been doing the rounds. Police say
the clip is doctored and aimed at creating communal tension. A case has been
filed against unknown persons for circulating it. Security is being stepped up
at colleges in the city.
Meanwhile,
a Tibetan college student was stabbed in Mysore by two people who suspected him
to be from the Northeast.
Government
must take rapid and proper action to stop the Assam Violence. People Who
threatening Northeast people in many states should be punished immediately
before it became a Horrible situation. These violent incidents affects our
Integrity and National Harmony. Let`s Hope and Prey for best.
It is
very shocking that none of the Government Machinery in the rumoured states
taking Proper action against those violence towards Northeast people but they
are just blaming on social network like Facebook and Twitter for spreading
those rumours.
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| (CAG report on coal block allotment has said private firms are likely to gain Rs 1.86 lakh crore from coal blocks that were allocated to them on nomination basis instead of competitive bidding.) |
2)
Coalgate: CAG reports slam UPA government, BJP demands PM's resignation:
Three key
CAG reports were tabled in Parliament on Friday indicting the government of
causing a combined loss of crores of rupees to the national exchequer.
The
much-awaited CAG report on coal block allotment said private firms are likely
to gain Rs 1.86 lakh crore from coal blocks that were allocated to them on
nomination basis instead of competitive bidding.
The audit report on Delhi airport slams the
levy of development fee on passengers and says the civil aviation ministry
violated the bid conditions for the benefit of GMR-led DIAL to the tune of over
Rs 3,415 crore.
 |
| CAG report on Reliance Power |
The third
CAG report flays post-bid concessions to Reliance Power and says the Anil
Ambani-led firm got undue benefit of Rs 29,033 crore when the government
allowed use of surplus coal from blocks alloted to Sasan power plant for its
other projects.
Reacting
to the CAG reports, minister of state in Prime Minister's office V Narayanasamy
said that the govt auditor was not following its mandate.
Meanwhile,
the BJP demanded resignation of the government alleging that scams in the coal,
power and airport sectors had exposed the "loot and plunder" of the
country. "
The party
sought Prime Minister's resignation as he headed the coal ministry at the time
of alleged irregularities.
Government
is badly exposed by the three CAG reports on power, coal and Delhi airport. The
magnitude of these scams, according to the CAG report, is between Rs 1.6 and
1.86 lakh crore," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters
outside Parliament.
CAG's
coal report
The CAG
in its report, tabled in Parliament, names 25 companies including Essar Power,
Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power which have got the
blocks in various states.
"Delay
in introduction of the process of competitive bidding has rendered the existing
process beneficial to the private companies. Audit has estimated financial
gains to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore likely to accrue to private coal block
allottees," CAG said in a report on allocation of coal blocks. The CAG
said it has arrived at the estimates based on the average cost of production
and average sale price of opencast mines of Coal India in the year 2010-11.
"A
part of this financial gain could have accrued to the national exchequer by
operationalising the decision taken years earlier to introduce competitive
bidding for allocation of coal blocks," CAG said.
The
auditing body said it is "of strong opinion that there is a need for
strict regulatory and monitoring mechanism to ensure that benefit of cheaper coal
is passed on consumers".
The
concept of allocation of captive coal blocks through competitive bidding was
announced in 2004. However, government is yet to finalise the modus operandi of
competitive bidding.
 |
| Delhi-Airport |
3) CAG
slams development fee, concessional land to GMR-led DIAL
Government auditor CAG today slammed the
government for giving out Delhi airport and its land with a potential earning
capacity of Rs 1,63,557 crore to private-led operator DIAL which made a total
equity contribution of only Rs 2,450 crore.
 |
| GMR |
With an
equity contribution of Rs 2,450 crore of which the private GMR-led consortium's
share was Rs 1,813 crore, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) got a
brownfield airport for 60 years, the report of the Comptroller and Auditor
General (CAG) said. A brownfield airport is one which is already in existence.
The CAG
report on the 'Implementation of Public private partnership Indira Gandhi
International Airport, Delhi', tabled in Parliament, claimed that the
commercial rights of land was valued at Rs 24,000 crore with a potential
earning capacity according to its own estimates of Rs 1,63,557 crore.
Currently,
the DF is charged from both outgoing and incoming domestic and international
passengers at the Delhi airport. The fee, levied in terms of distances, ranges
from Rs 220 to Rs 520 for domestic passengers and Rs 490 to Rs 1200 for
international ones.
Allowing
DIAL to levy DF "vitiated the sanctity of bidding process" and led to
undue benefit of Rs 3,415.35 crore to the private firm GMR, the CAG said. GMR
Infrastructure holds 54 per cent stake in DIAL.
"It
was noticed that Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India, on
some occasions, violated the provisions of the transaction documents in the
interest of the concessionaire," the official auditor said.
 |
| Gopal-kanda-news |
4) Geetika
death case: Kanda gets 7-day police custody:
Former
Haryana minister Gopal Goyal Kanda, a key accused in the Geetika Sharma suicide
case, was on Saturday remanded by a Delhi [ Images ] court to 7-day police
custody.
Additional
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate D K Jangala remanded Kanda to police custody
after the Delhi police said they need his sustained custodial interrogation to
recover various documents and some hard drives which were missing from the MDLR
Group's office and they also need to confront him with other documents which
they have recovered till now.
During
the hearing the police sought 14-days remand of Kanda saying that he is the
sole source through whom they can collect all the documents and key evidence
relating to the case.Kanda, who was arrested in the wee hours on Saturday after
being on the run for the past 10 days, was produced in the court room which was
packed to capacity.Many of his supporters were stopped from entering the court
with police personnel bolting the door from inside.
Senior
advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for Kanda, vehemently opposed the police' plea
for 14-days custody saying that his client was not an absconder as termed by
the police and he himself had surrendered in a police station.He said that no
purpose will be served by keeping his client in police custody as the cops have
already searched the premises and his office.
 |
| Julian Assange's Wikileaks website published leaked diplomatic cables. |
5) Julian
Assange: Ecuador grants Wikileaks founder asylum:
Ecuador
has granted asylum to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange two months after he took
refuge in its London embassy while fighting extradition from the UK.
It said
his human rights might be violated if he is sent to Sweden to be questioned
over sex assault claims.Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would not
allow Mr Assange safe passage out of the country and the move was also
criticised by Stockholm.Ecuador said it would seek to negotiate arrangements
for Mr Assange to leave.
"We
don't think it is reasonable that, after a sovereign government has made the
decision of granting political asylum, a citizen is forced to live in an
embassy for a long period," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said.Mr
Assange took refuge at the embassy in June to avoid extradition to Sweden,
where he faces questioning over assault and rape claims, which he denies.Mr
Patino had accused the UK of making an "open threat" to enter its
embassy to arrest Mr Assange, an Australian national.
Mr
Assange said being granted political asylum by Ecuador was a "significant
victory" and thanked staff in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
However,
as the Foreign Office insisted the decision would not affect the UK's legal
obligation to extradite him to Sweden, Mr Assange warned: "Things will get
more stressful now."It was not Britain or my home country, Australia, that
stood up to protect me from persecution, but a courageous, independent Latin
American nation," said Mr Assange, who watched the announcement with
embassy staff in a live link to a press conference in Quito.
 |
| The militants managed to escape after carrying out the attack. |
6) Yemen
attack: 'Al-Qaeda' fires on Aden intelligence HQ:
Suspected
al-Qaeda militants have attacked the intelligence headquarters of Yemen's
southern city of Aden killing 14 people, officials say.
The
militants attacked the building from two sides, firing rocket-propelled
grenades and automatic weapons inside.The "well-planned" attack took
place in Aden's coastal Tawahi neighbourhood. Al-Qaeda remains active in the
area, after a security vacuum was created in a year of protests against former
president Ali Abdullah Saleh.Militants have seized large parts of the south and
east of the country.
A recent,
two-month military offensive backed by the US drove them from their strongholds
in towns in the southern Abyan province but many escaped into nearby mountains
from where they continue to launch attacks.Among the dead in the Aden attack
were at least 11 soldiers, many of whom were reported to be sleeping when hand
grenades were thrown into their rooms.The militants launched the attack from
both sides of the intelligence complex, situated next to a state television
building. They then managed to escape.
"The
operation seemed to have been well planned," a security source told
Reuters, adding he believed the attackers belonged to al-Qaeda.A few weeks ago,
suspected al-Qaeda militants carried out a suicide bombing that killed at least
45 people during a funeral in the city of Jaar. In May, more than 90 people
died in a suicide bomb attack at a military parade rehearsal in the capital,
Sanaa.
 |
| 3D Picture of Subhaditya Movies News |
Movie
release of this week:
 |
| The
Expendables 2 Poster |
Starring:
Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Stallone
Jason Statham Jason Statham
Jet Li Jet Li
Dolph Lundgren Dolph Lundgren
Chuck Norris Chuck Norris
The
Expendables are back and this time it's personal! After Tool (Mickey Rourke),
the heart and soul of the Expendables, is brutally murdered on a mission, his
comrades swear to avenge him. They're not the only ones who want blood. Tool's
beautiful young and wild daughter Fiona embarks on her own revenge mission,
complicating matters when she is captured and ransomed by a ruthless dictator
plotting to destroy a resistance movement. Now Barney and the Expendables must
risk everything to save her and humanity.
 |
| The Awakening Poster |
Starring:
Rebecca Hall Rebecca Hall
Dominic West Dominic West
Imelda Staunton Imelda Staunton
Lucy Cohu
John Shrapnel John Shrapnel
Haunted
by the death of the fiancé, Florence spends her time debunking supernatural
claims, using methodical and rational explanations to disprove the notion that
the dead can still haunt us. She feels compelled to accept a request to go to
Rookwood, a boarding school in the countryside where a boy has recently been
found dead and rumours about a ghostly boy haunting the school are causing
panic amongst pupils and parents alike.
Florence
sets to work immediately, laying traps, gathering scientific evidence,
uncovering secrets and seemingly unravelling the mystery. However, as Florence
is about to leave, she has a chilling spectral encounter which defies all of
her rational beliefs and sets her on a journey toward a heartbreaking climax.
 |
| Chicken
with Plums Poster |
Starring:
Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric
Edouard Baer
Maria de Medeiros Maria de Medeiros
Golshifteh Farahani Golshifteh Farahani
Eric Caravaca Eric Caravaca
Teheran,
1958. Since his beloved violin was broken, Nasser Ali Khan, one of the most
renowned musicians of his day, has lost all taste for life. Finding no
instrument worthy of replacing it, he decides to confine himself to bed to
await death. As he hopes for its arrival, he plunges into deep reveries, with
dreams as melancholic as they are joyous, taking him back to his youth and even
to a conversation with Azrael, the Angel of Death, who reveals the future of
his children... As pieces of the puzzle gradually fit together, the poignant
secret of his life comes to light: a wonderful story of love that inspired his
genius and his music.
 |
| Cosmopolis Poster |
Starring:
Robert Pattinson Robert Pattinson
Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche
Sarah Gadon Sarah Gadon
Mathieu Amalric Mathieu Amalric
Jay Baruchel Jay Baruchel
New York
City, not-too-distant-future: Eric Packer, a 28 year-old finance golden boy
dreaming of living in a civilization ahead of this one, watches a dark shadow
cast over the firmament of the Wall Street galaxy, of which he is the
uncontested king. As he is chauffeured across midtown Manhattan to get a
haircut at his father's old barber, his anxious eyes are glued to the yuan's
exchange rate: it is mounting against all expectations, destroying Eric's bet
against it. Eric Packer is losing his empire with every tick of the clock.
Meanwhile, an eruption of wild activity unfolds in the city's streets.
Petrified as the threats of the real world infringe upon his cloud of virtual
convictions, his paranoia intensifies during the course of his 24-hour
cross-town odyssey.
 |
| ParaNorman Poster |
Starring:
Kodi Smit-McPhee Kodi Smit-McPhee
Tucker Albrizzi Tucker Albrizzi
Anna Kendrick Anna Kendrick
Casey Affleck Casey Affleck
Christopher Mintz-Plasse Christopher
Mintz-Plasse
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