Science
News This Week:
1)
Prehistoric migrations: DNA study unravels the settlement history of the New
World Arctic:
We know
people have lived in the New World Arctic for about 5,000 years. Archaeological
evidence clearly shows that a variety of cultures survived the harsh climate in
Alaska, Canada and Greenland for thousands of years. Despite this, there are
several unanswered questions about these people: Where did they come from? Did
they come in several waves? When did they arrive? Who are their descendants?
And who can call themselves the indigenous peoples of the Arctic? We can now
answer some of these questions, thanks to a comprehensive DNA study of current
and former inhabitants of Greenland, Arctic Canada, Alaska, the Aleutian Islands
and Siberia, conducted by an international team headed by the Centre for
GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen.
Looking
for ancient human remains in northern Greenland.
The North
American Arctic was one of the last major regions to be settled by modern
humans. This happened when people crossed the Bering Strait from Siberia and
wandered into a new world. While the area has long been well researched by
archaeologists, little is known of its genetic prehistory. In this study,
researchers show that the Paleo-Eskimo, who lived in the Arctic from about
5,000 years ago until about 700 years ago, represented a distinct wave of
migration, separate from both Native Americans -- who crossed the Bering Strait
much earlier -- and the Inuit, who came from Siberia to the Arctic several
thousand years after the Paleo-Eskimos."Our genetic studies show that, in
reality, the Paleo-Eskimos -- representing one single group -- were the first
people in the Arctic, and they survived without outside contact for over 4,000
years," says Lundbeck Foundation Professor Eske Willerslev from Centre for
GeoGenetics at the Natural History Museum, University of Copenhagen, who headed
the study."Our study also shows that the Paleo-Eskimos, after surviving in
near-isolation in the harsh Arctic environment for more than 4,000 years,
disappeared around 700 years ago -- about the same time when the ancestors of
modern-day Inuit spread eastward from Alaska," adds Dr. Maanasa Raghavan
of Centre for GeoGenetics and lead author of the article.
Migration
pulses into the Americas
Greenlandic
Inuit from the 1930s pictured in their traditional boats (umiaq), used for
hunting and transportation.
In the
archaeological literature, distinctions are drawn between the different
cultural units in the Arctic in the period up to the rise of the Thule culture,
which replaced all previous Arctic cultures and is the source of today's Inuit
in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. The earlier cultures included the Saqqaq or
Pre-Dorset and Dorset, comprising the Paleo-Eskimo tradition, with the Dorset
being further divided into three phases. All of these had distinctive cultural,
lifestyle and subsistence traits as seen in the archaeological record. There
were also several periods during which the Arctic was devoid of human
settlement. These facts have further raised questions regarding the possibility
of several waves of migration from Siberia to Alaska, or perhaps
NativeAmericans migrating north during the first 4,000 years of the Arctic
being inhabited."Our study shows that, genetically, all of the different
Paleo-Eskimo cultures belonged to the same group of people. On the other hand,
they are not closely related to the Thule culture, and we see no indication of
assimilation between the two groups. We have also ascertained that the
Paleo-Eskimos were not descendants of the Native Americans. The genetics
reveals that there must have been at least three separate pulses of migration
from Siberia into the Americas and the Arctic. First came the ancestors of
today's Native Americans, then came the Paleo-Eskimos, and finally the
ancestors of today's Inuit," says Eske Willerslev.
Genetics
and archaeology
The
genetic study underpins some archaeological findings, but not all of them.
It rejects
the speculation that the Paleo-Eskimos represented several different peoples,
including Native Americans, or that they are direct ancestors of today's Inuit.
Also rejected are the theories that the Greenlanders on the east coast or the
Canadian Sadlermiut, from Southampton Island in Hudson Bay, who died out as
late as 1902-03, were surviving groups of Dorset people. Genetics shows that
these groups were Inuit who had developed Dorset-like cultural traits.The study
clearly shows that the diversity of tools and ways of life over time, which in
archaeology is often interpreted as a result of migration, does not in fact
necessarily reflect influx of new people. The Paleo-Eskimos lived in
near-isolation for more than 4,000 years, and during this time their culture
developed in such diverse ways that it has led some to interpret them as
different peoples."Essentially, we have two consecutive waves of
genetically distinct groups entering the New World Arctic and giving rise to
three discrete cultural units. Through this study, we are able to address the
question of cultural versus genetic continuity in one of the most challenging
environments that modern humans have successfully settled, and present a
comprehensive picture of how the Arctic was peopled," says Dr. Raghavan.
The first
inhabitants
The study
was unable to establish why the disappearance of the Paleo-Eskimos coincided
with the ancestors of the Inuit beginning to colonise the Arctic. There is no
doubt that the Inuit ancestors -- who crossed the Bering Strait about 1,000
years ago and reached Greenland around 700 years ago -- were technologically
superior.The Inuit's own myths tell stories of a people before them, which in
all likelihood refer to the Paleo-Eskimos. In the myths, they are referred to as
the 'Tunit' or 'Sivullirmiut', which means "the first inhabitants."
According to these myths they were giants, who were taller and stronger than
the Inuit, but easily frightened from their settlements by the newcomers.
2) Home is
where the microbes are:
Person's
home is their castle, and they populate it with their own subjects: millions
and millions of bacteria.A study published tomorrow in Science provides a
detailed analysis of the microbes that live in houses and apartments. The study
was conducted by researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne
National Laboratory and the University of Chicago.
The
results shed light on the complicated interaction between humans and the
microbes that live on and around us. Mounting evidence suggests that these
microscopic, teeming communities play a role in human health and disease
treatment and transmission."We know that certain bacteria can make it
easier for mice to put on weight, for example, and that others influence brain
development in young mice," said Argonne microbiologist Jack Gilbert, who
led the study. "We want to know where these bacteria come from, and as
people spend more and more time indoors, we wanted to map out the microbes that
live in our homes and the likelihood that they will settle on us."They are
essential for us to understand our health in the 21st century," he said.
The Home
Microbiome Project followed seven families, which included eighteen people,
three dogs and one cat, over the course of six weeks. The participants in the
study swabbed their hands, feet and noses daily to collect a sample of the
microbial populations living in and on them. They also sampled surfaces in the
house, including doorknobs, light switches, floors and countertops.Then the
samples came to Argonne, where researchers performed DNA analysis to
characterize the different species of microbes in each sample."We wanted
to know how much people affected the microbial community on a house's surfaces
and on each other," Gilbert said.They found that people substantially
affected the microbial communities in a house -- when three of the families
moved, it took less than a day for the new house to look just like the old one,
microbially speaking.
Regular
physical contact between individuals also mattered -- in one home where two of
the three occupants were in a relationship with one another, the couple shared
many more microbes. Married couples and their young children also shared most
of their microbial community.Within a household, hands were the most likely to
have similar microbes, while noses showed more individual variation.Adding pets
changed the makeup as well, Gilbert said -- they found more plant and soil
bacteria in houses with indoor-outdoor dogs or cats.In at least one case, the
researchers tracked a potentially pathogenic strain of bacteria called
Enterobacter, which first appeared on one person's hands, then the kitchen
counter, and then another person's hands.
"This
doesn't mean that the countertop was definitely the mode of transmission
between the two humans, but it's certainly a smoking gun," Gilbert said.
"It's
also quite possible that we are routinely exposed to harmful bacteria -- living
on us and in our environment -- but it only causes disease when our immune
systems are otherwise disrupted."Home microbiome studies also could
potentially serve as a forensic tool, Gilbert said. Given an unidentified
sample from a floor in this study, he said, "we could easily predict which
family it came from."The research also suggests that when a person (and
their microbes) leaves a house, the microbial community shifts noticeably in a
matter of days."You could theoretically predict whether a person has lived
in this location, and how recently, with very good accuracy," he
said.Researchers used Argonne's Magellan cloud computing system to analyze the
data; additional support came from the University of Chicago Research Computing
Center.The study was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Additional
funding also came from the National Institutes of Health, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and the National Science Foundation.
3)
Electric current to brain boosts memory: May help treat memory disorders from
stroke, Alzheimer's, brain injury:
Stimulating
a particular region in the brain via non-invasive delivery of electrical
current using magnetic pulses, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation,
improves memory, reports a new Northwestern Medicine® study.The discovery opens
a new field of possibilities for treating memory impairments caused by
conditions such as stroke, early-stage Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain
injury, cardiac arrest and the memory problems that occur in healthy aging.
"We
show for the first time that you can specifically change memory functions of
the brain in adults without surgery or drugs, which have not proven
effective," said senior author Joel Voss, assistant professor of medical
social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
"This noninvasive stimulation improves the ability to learn new things. It
has tremendous potential for treating memory disorders."The study will be
published August 29 in Science.
The study
also is the first to demonstrate that remembering events requires a collection
of many brain regions to work in concert with a key memory structure called the
hippocampus -- similar to a symphony orchestra. The electrical stimulation is
like giving the brain regions a more talented conductor so they play in closer
synchrony."It's like we replaced their normal conductor with Muti,"
Voss said, referring to Riccardo Muti, the music director of the renowned Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. "The brain regions played together better after the
stimulation."The approach also has potential for treating mental disorders
such as schizophrenia in which these brain regions and the hippocampus are out
of sync with each other, affecting memory and cognition.
TMS
Boosts Memory
The
Northwestern study is the first to show TMS improves memory long after
treatment. In the past, TMS has been used in a limited way to temporarily
change brain function to improve performance during a test, for example, making
someone push a button slightly faster while the brain is being stimulated. The
study shows that TMS can be used to improve memory for events at least 24 hours
after the stimulation is given.
Finding
the Sweet Spot
It isn't
possible to directly stimulate the hippocampus with TMS because it's too deep
in the brain for the magnetic fields to penetrate. So, using an MRI scan, Voss
and colleagues identified a superficial brain region a mere centimeter from the
surface of the skull with high connectivity to the hippocampus. He wanted to
see if directing the stimulation to this spot would in turn stimulate the
hippocampus. It did."I was astonished to see that it worked so
specifically," Voss said.
When TMS
was used to stimulate this spot, regions in the brain involved with the
hippocampus became more synchronized with each other, as indicated by data
taken while subjects were inside an MRI machine, which records the blood flow
in the brain as an indirect measure of neuronal activity.The more those regions
worked together due to the stimulation, the better people were able to learn
new information.
How the
Study Worked
Scientists
recruited 16 healthy adults ages 21 to 40. Each had a detailed anatomical image
taken of his or her brain as well as 10 minutes of recording brain activity
while lying quietly inside an MRI scanner. Doing this allowed the researchers
to identify each person's network of brain structures that are involved in
memory and well connected to the hippocampus. The structures are slightly
different in each person and may vary in location by as much as a few
centimeters."To properly target the stimulation, we had to identify the
structures in each person's brain space because everyone's brain is
different," Voss said.
Each participant
then underwent a memory test, consisting of a set of arbitrary associations
between faces and words that they were asked to learn and remember. After
establishing their baseline ability to perform on this memory task,
participants received brain stimulation 20 minutes a day for five consecutive
days.During the week they also received additional MRI scans and tests of their
ability to remember new sets of arbitrary word and face parings to see how
their memory changed as a result of the stimulation. Then, at least 24 hours
after the final stimulation, they were tested again.At least one week later,
the same experiment was repeated but with a fake placebo stimulation. The order
of real stimulation and placebo portions of the study was reversed for half of
the participants, and they weren't told which was which.Both groups performed
better on memory tests as a result of the brain stimulation. It took three days
of stimulation before they improved.
"They
remembered more face-word pairings after the stimulation than before, which
means their learning ability improved," Voss said. "That didn't
happen for the placebo condition or in another control experiment with
additional subjects."
In
addition, the MRI showed the stimulation caused the brain regions to become
more synchronized with each other and the hippocampus. The greater the
improvement in the synchronicity or connectivity between specific parts of the
network, the better the performance on the memory test. "The more certain
brain regions worked together because of the stimulation, the more people were
able to learn face-word pairings, " Voss said.
Using TMS
to stimulate memory has multiple advantages, noted first author Jane Wang, a
postdoctoral fellow in Voss's lab at Feinberg. "No medication could be as
specific as TMS for these memory networks," Wang said. "There are a
lot of different targets and it's not easy to come up with any one receptor
that's involved in memory."
4) Wake of
nearby supernova hints at explosion's origins:
Observations
add fuel to the debate over what causes some cosmic blasts. Radiation pouring
out of a nearby supernova is giving astronomers an in-depth look at the
aftermath of a stellar explosion. The unprecedented peek has revealed
never-before-seen details of how gamma rays are produced by such detonations.
Although these observations confirm some long-held predictions, the debate
continues about what causes some supernovas to explode.
The
nearby explosion, named SN 2014J, is one of a class of powerful supernovas
known as type 1a, which can outshine an entire galaxy and are used as evidence
for the accelerating expansion of the universe. SN 2014J, discovered in
January is right next door
cosmologically speaking: a mere 11 million light-years away in the M82 galaxy.
Type 1a’s are rare. The last time astronomers saw one as close was 1972, when
they weren’t able to make such detailed observations.
5) Walking
fish reveal how our ancestors evolved onto land:
About 400
million years ago a group of fish began exploring land and evolved into
tetrapods -- today's amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. But just how
these ancient fish used their fishy bodies and fins in a terrestrial
environment and what evolutionary processes were at play remain scientific mysteries.
Researchers at McGill University published in the journal Nature, turned to a
living fish, called Polypterus, to help show what might have happened when fish
first attempted to walk out of the water. Polypterus is an African fish that
can breathe air, 'walk' on land, and looks much like those ancient fishes that
evolved into tetrapods. The team of researchers raised juvenile Polypterus on
land for nearly a year, with an aim to revealing how these 'terrestrialized'
fish looked and moved differently.
"Stressful
environmental conditions can often reveal otherwise cryptic anatomical and
behavioural variation, a form of developmental plasticity," says Emily
Standen, a former McGill post-doctoral student who led the project, now at the
University of Ottawa. "We wanted to use this mechanism to see what new
anatomies and behaviours we could trigger in these fish and see if they match
what we know of the fossil record."
Remarkable
anatomical changes The fish showed significant anatomical and behavioural changes.
The terrestrialized fish walked more effectively by placing their fins closer
to their bodies, lifted their heads higher, and kept their fins from slipping
as much as fish that were raised in water. "Anatomically, their pectoral
skeleton changed to became more elongate with stronger attachments across their
chest, possibly to increase support during walking, and a reduced contact with
the skull to potentially allow greater head/neck motion," says Trina Du, a
McGill Ph.D. student and study collaborator.
"Because
many of the anatomical changes mirror the fossil record, we can hypothesize
that the behavioural changes we see also reflect what may have occurred when
fossil fish first walked with their fins on land," says Hans Larsson,
Canada Research Chair in Macroevolution at McGill and an Associate Professor at
the Redpath Museum.
Unique
experiment The terrestrialized Polypterus experiment is unique and provides new
ideas for how fossil fishes may have used their fins in a terrestrial
environment and what evolutionary processes were at play.
Larsson
adds, "This is the first example we know of that demonstrates
developmental plasticity may have facilitated a large-scale evolutionary
transition, by first accessing new anatomies and behaviours that could later be
genetically fixed by natural selection.The study was conducted by Emily
Standen, University of Ottawa, and Hans Larsson, Trina Du at McGill University.
6) Robot
swarm takes many shapes:
Kilobots
follow simple rules to take the form of a wrench and more. One Kilobot is not
very smart. Each quarter-sized bot scuffles along on three rigid legs and can
communicate only with its neighbors. Yet by instructing more than 1,000
Kilobots to follow a few simple rules, computer scientist Radhika Nagpal and
her team at Harvard can get the crude bots to assemble into multiple shapes including a wrench (left),a star
and the letter K without human intervention.
The
demonstration, reported in the Aug. 15 Science, is the closest scientists have
come to mimicking cooperative swarms in nature, such as ants that clump
together to form makeshift rafts (SN Online: 6/17/14). Previous attempts
involved smaller swarms of more expensive and sophisticated robots. But
Kilobots, which the Harvard team developed in 2011, cost about $20 apiece; they
move using the motors that make cellphones vibrate. The trick was developing a
program that made the most of the bots’ capabilities, along with patience: The
bots need about 12 hours to form each shape.
Eventually
researchers hope to develop intelligent swarms of sand-grain-sized robots that
autonomously form 3-D structures say, an actual wrench. To entice robots to
form shapes, researchers upload an image of the desired shape (shaded area) to
each bot. The four white bots are called seed robots they mark the position and
orientation of the shape and never move. The other bots use information from
neighbors to figure out their distance from the starred seed bot; the farthest
ones (darkest red) start moving along the edge of the swarm. Upon reaching the
seed bots, the moving bots are able to triangulate their exact position. The
bots stop when they are within the shaded area and either reach the boundary or
touch the bot that has just stopped in front of them. Following these rules,
the bots gradually fill in the shape
Movies
Release This Week:
Based on
the novel The Switch, by Elmore Leonard, Louis and Ordell — two common
criminals in 1970s Detroit — kidnap the housewife of a corrupt real estate
developer and hold her for ransom
Code
named ‘The November Man’, Peter Devereaux (Pierce Brosnan) is a lethal and
highly trained ex-CIA agent, who has been enjoying a quiet life in Switzerland.
When Devereaux is lured out of retirement for one last mission, he must protect
valuable witness, Alice Fournier, (Olga Kurylenko). He soon uncovers this
assignment marks him a target of his former friend and CIA protégé David Mason
(Luke Bracey). With growing suspicions of a mole in the agency, there is no one
Devereaux can trust, no rules and no holds barred.
Detective
Hazel Micallef hasn't had much to worry about in the sleepy town of Fort Dundas
until a string of gruesome murders in the surrounding countryside brings her
face to face with a serial killer driven by a higher calling.
From
"The Hollywood Reporter": Story follows an American (Facinelli),
widowed from his Colombia-born wife, who flies to Bogota with his new fiancée
(Myles) to retrieve his rebellious teenage daughter Jill (Ramos). After a car
accident leaves them stranded in a rundown isolated inn, they discover the old
innkeeper has locked a young girl in the basement and their decision to set her
free has unintended consequences.
Meet
Shivani Shivaji Roy, Senior Inspector, Crime Branch, Mumbai Police, as she sets
out to confront the mastermind behind the child trafficking mafia, which makes
the mistake of kidnapping and smuggling a teenage girl who is like a daughter
to her. Fighting a war which is very personal and in an obsessive hunt for the
girl, Shivani stumbles into the world of debauchery, cruel desires and
exploitation and onto a case that will change her life forever. What follows is
a cat and mouse game between a fearless cop and a young and ruthless mafia
kingpin. Catch Rani Mukerji in the lead, playing an edge of the seat role of a
lifetime, in this raw and gritty film which will be a distinct departure from
Pradeep Sarkar's style of filmmaking
Director:
Pradeep Sarkar
Running
time: 152 minutes
Cast:
Rani Mukerji, Jisshu Sengupta, Tahir Bhasin, Sanjay Taneja
Music
composed by: Shantanu Moitra, Karthik Raja
Political
News This Week:
1) SC
notice to Centre on PIL for precautions against Ebola:
The
Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre on a Public Interest
Litigation seeking immediate steps for proper screening of international flyers
coming to India from Ebola virus-affected countries to prevent the deadly virus
from spreading.
A bench
of Chief Justice R M Lodha, justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman also issued
notice to ministries of Health, Home Affairs, Civil Aviation and External
Affairs and the governments of Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and
West Bengal and sought their response on the PIL filed by an advocate.
The
petition by advocate Vineet Dhanda sought the court's direction to the Centre
and state governments to take adequate steps to prevent the deadly epidemic of
Ebola Virus Disease from spreading.It sought the government "to ensure
proper facilities at the airports to isolate and cure the possibly infected
travellers to avoid infection to other citizens and patients".
The
petition said that the government and other ministries should spread the
information regarding the virus throughout the country to create more awareness
about it. According to the World Health Organisation, EVD, formerly known as
Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans. Its
fatality rate is up to 90 per cent and EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote
villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rain forests.The virus is
transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population
through human-to-human transmission. Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are
considered to be the natural host of the virus, as per the WHO.The petition
said that WHO has declared international emergency regarding EVD as 1,500
people have died so far across the world."International passengers are
travelling to India from these Ebola-affected nations and no check whatsoever
is being done by the government authorities to properly screen the passengers
of possible virus infection," it said.
2) BSF,
Pak Rangers meet amid firing in Samba:
backdrop
of the night-long firing by Pakistan Rangers targeting civilians areas and
BoPs, BSF troops and the Rangers on Friday held a commandant-level flag-meeting
along International Border in Samba sector of Jammu and Kashmir, during which
they impressed upon each other to respect the ceasefire."BSF and Pak
Rangers held a flag-meeting in Ramgarh sector of Samba district on
Friday," a police officer said.The commandant-level flag meeting was held
at zero-line between Ballard Post of India and Imran Post of Pakistan this
afternoon, he said, adding the Indian side was represented by Commandant of 126
Battalion, Hari Singh. As per reports, two sides are reported to have impressed
each other to respect ceasefire along Indo-Pak border.
Barely
seven hours after the commandant-level flag meeting to resume derailed talks
and prepare ground for sector commander-level flag meeting, Pakistani troops
violated ceasefire "again" and resorted to firing on forward Border
Out Posts and civilian areas along International Border in Jammu's Akhnoor
sector."There was firing by Pak Rangers on BoPs and civilian areas in
Devora forward belt in Pargwal sub-sector of Akhnoor teshil around 2315 hours
last night and it continued till 0430 hours today," police said.This is
the second commandant-level flag meeting in series of meetings scheduled in
various affected sectors ahead of formal sector commander (DIG-Brigadier) level
meeting to defuse the tension and bring much needed peace on two sides of IB.
India and
Pakistan on Thursday held a commandant-level flag meeting to resume the
derailed talks following heaviest shelling and firing along IB since 1971 war
in Jammu sector, as Pak requested a sector commander level flag meeting to
defuse the situation on the border and bring peace.
3) Ganpati
Bappa Morya: Bringing the Lord home:
It's that
time of the year again, when the homes in Mumbai turn into temples.As Lord
Ganesha comes to visit his devotees, homes are scrubbed clean and a special,
beautifully decorated area is created for the Lord.The fragrance of incense
fills the air, merging with the aroma of delicious home cooked meals and
prasad.
The sound
of soothing bhajans and the rise of voices in prayer have a purifying effect
even as family and friends, dressed in their best, walk in to take Lord
Ganesha's blessings and share in the festive joy.Sonil Dedhia, Hitesh
Harisinghani and Afsar Daytar bring you glimpses of the first day of
Ganeshostav, Mumbai's favourite festival.
There is
a festive atmosphere in the streets of Mumbai. Over the past night and through
the day, many enthusiastic Mumbaikars -- as the citizens of the megapolis are
called -- have spilled out into the city's streets. They are bringing home
their favourite God, Lord Ganesh.Cymbals and drums set up a foot-tapping beat
that urges you to dance; there seems to be no other appropriate way to express
your joy.Accompanied by the bursting of crackers and the singing of favourite
bhajans -- yes, it's also blasted it on loudspeakers (everything is forgiven
these 10 days :)) -- the elephant-headed deity begins his journey on two
wheelers, four wheelers, carts... many even carry Him home, balanced on their
head or cradled lovingly in their arms.
Hundreds
of Ganesha idols -- from tiny little home made ones to those who tower several
stories tall -- are ceremonially welcomed into homes and pandals. The 11-day
Ganesha festival has begun, and the zeal and fervour with which it is
celebrated needs to seen to be experienced.Roads and bylanes glitter with
lights and decorations, and the city is resounds to the chant of ‘Ganpati Bappa
Morya’.
4)
Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif booked in murder case:
Lahore
Police on Friday finally registered a murder case against Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif, his brother Shahbaz, key cabinet members and senior
officials for their role in the killing of 14 supporters of Tahir-ul Qadri in
the city, meeting a major demand of the fiery cleric.
Although
minister and close aide of the prime minister, Pervaiz Rashid on Thursday made
it clear that the government would not register the FIR against the premier and
others unless Qadri ended his sit-in in Islamabad, on Friday on the Lahore High
Court's order the police had to register the murder case against 21
persons."The FIR has been registered on the order of the LHC," Punjab
police spokesperson Nabila Ghazanfar confirmed to PTI. She said the FIR had
been registered on Qadri's PAT application under murder and other charges.
Pakistan Awami Tahreek head Qadri has rejected the FIR saying the section 7
Anti-Terrorism Act had not been included in it as the PAT's application had
this section."Unless the Sharifs and others are booked under terrorism
charges we will not accept this FIR," he said.
The FIR
No 696 has been registered against 21 persons, including Premier Sharif, Punjab
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his son Hamza Shahbaz, Interior Minister
Chaudhry Nisar Ali, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Pervaiz
Rashid, Railways Minister Saad Rafique, State Minister Abid Sher Ali (also a
relative of Sharifs), former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah and those
senior police officers who took part in the operation.
A source
in ruling PML-N said Premier Sharif after consulting his brother today morning
gave a go-ahead to Inspector General Police Punjab Mushtaq Sukhera to register
the FIR to meet the demand of Qadri to defuse the crisis.
"After
registration of the FIR, Qadri will have no justification to continue with his
sit-in along with his thousands of supporters in Islamabad," the source
said. Fourteen people including two women were killed and 100 suffered bullet
injuries when police raided the house and offices of Qadri in ModelTown on June
17 in a bid to remove barriers from there.The sessions court had ordered
registration of the FIR on Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tahreek.Three federal
ministers (named in the FIR application) challenged the decision in the LHC but
it upheld the lower court's decision.
The
filing of murder charges is the first major concession by the government and a
sign of its increasing vulnerability to the threats by Qadri and Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, who is protesting against alleged rigging
in last year's general election.Political stalemate has continued for the last
two weeks with Khan's PTI and Qadri's PAT refusing to budge from their demand
for the prime minister's resignation.The protesters have been sitting in front
of the Parliament House and the Supreme Court building since August 19,
demanding Sharif's resignation.
5) Railway
minister's son accused of rape, cheating by actress:
The
Karnataka government on Thursday said the law would take its own course on the
complaint of rape and cheating lodged by an actress against the son of Railway
Minister Sadananda Gowda, who maintained he had been falsely implicated.
As the
issue snowballed, the woman, a small-time model-turned actress, appeared on TV
channels, insisting she was married to the minister's son' Karthik Gowda and
their family should accept her as the daughter-in-law.
The issue
also reached Karnataka Women's Commission, whose chairperson Manjula Manasa
said the woman's sister had approached it. "I will talk to the woman and
her family. An FIR has been registered. We will write to police
department."The woman alleged she and Karthik knew each other from May and
got married in June in the presence of Karthik's driver. "I want his
(Karthik) family to take me as their daughter-in-law and I will be good
daughter-in-law to them."On allegations that her photo with Karthik may be
morphed, she said, "These are not morphed photos, because they were not
taken by me. These were actually taken by his friends....which he sent
me.""Law will take its own course," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
said in his reaction.
The
railway minister, who faced severe embarrassment over the unfolding drama, said
in Kochi,"...it's a falsely implicated complaint ...you very well
understand as a minister I'm here (in Kochi) today in spite of that
complaint.""I don't want to say anything, law will take its own
course, even if it is my son or somebody law will take its own course. I will
not interfere in the matter, I will do my duty," he said.A case was booked
on Wednesday night against Karthik under sections 376 (punishment for rape) and
420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code on the basis of the complaint filed by
the woman on a day when his engagement ceremony with another woman took place
at Kushalnagar in Kodagu district.Karnataka Home Minister K J George said,
"She has given a complaint. Investigation officer will probe into the
complaint and will take action in accordance with law."
The
government would in no way interfere in the case, he said, adding, "The
investigation officer will be given a free hand."Responding to questions
on some allegations that the Congress is behind the incident, he said, "No
one is behind it. A complaint has been registered and based on it an
investigation officer will probe; we will not interfere in any way. I don't
know who is behind it."
6) Rajnath
refuses to play blame game on 'rumours' about son:
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday refused to point fingers as to who could be behind "rumours" of his son being ticked off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an alleged "misconduct", which have been denied by the Prime Minister’s Office."You are an investigative journalist and you should find out who is the rumour mongerer," was his curt reply to queries by reporters on whether he suspected any person or leader to be behind the "rumours".
Singh had
on Wednesday asserted that he would quit politics if even "prima
facie" it is proved that any of his family member had been involved in any
misconduct following reports which claimed that his son Pankaj had been ticked
off by the prime minister for an alleged "misconduct".The PMO too had
reacted sharply saying, "The reports are plain lies, motivated and
constitute a malicious attempt at character assassination and tarnishing the
image of the government.""Those indulging in such rumour-mongering
are damaging the interest of the nation. These reports are strongly
denied," the PMO had said.The denials came in the wake of a media report
that Singh was unhappy over rumours being spread by "a ministerial
colleague" and "party rival" about his son being pulled up by
the PM over some alleged misconduct.
7) Happy
over success of 'experiment' with RJD, Cong: Nitish:
With the
"secular alliance" successfully halting a Bharatiya Janata Party
victory in Bihar bypolls, an elated Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar today
expressed satisfaction over the "experiment" and said the results
would have been better had the parties discussed seat sharing in better
way."The experiment we made through tie-up has proved successful. People
have expressed their mind and mood in favour of it," a visibly happy
Nitish Kumar told media persons. As per results and trend available so far, the
secular alliance has won four seats and is ahead in two more seats. The BJP has
won three seats and is ahead in one.The BJP had bagged six seats out of the 10
in 2010 election while the Rashtriya Janata Dal had 3 and JD-U 1. The secular
alliance has annexed two seats from BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.Kumar
said, "The results in the bypoll would have been better if we had taken a
decision on seat sharing in a better way." In the bypolls, RJD and JD-U
contested on four seats each while the Congress fought on two seats.
"But,
still in a short span of time the alliance has managed a good show in the
bypoll that has taken place a little after the general election in which the
BJP had registered stupendous victory in Bihar," Kumar accompanied by
state JD-U president Basistha Narayan Singh and state minister Shyam Rajak,
said at his 7 Circular road residence.
"Though
the results are satisfactory, we still need to do a lot in future for more
better outcome," he said.
Kumar
took the opportunity to attack the BJP. "They had made tall claims (of
winning all 10 seats)...the results of bypoll have a clear message that people
will not tolerate divisive politics," Kumar said, adding the voters have
expressed their "displeasure" over the government at the Centre
within a little time of its formation.
"They
managed to win some seats but if their arrogance continued they will not have
even this," the senior JD-U leader, who resigned from the post of chief minister
in the wake of Parliamentary poll debacle, said.He said, "The myth that
BJP enjoys support of upper castes has also been broken in the
bypoll.""The secular alliance candidates (belonging to upper castes)
have won at Parbatta, Jale, Bhagalpur and Chapra," he said. Asked that his
reunion with Lalu was described as "immoral" by the opposition, the
JD-U leader dismissed the charge.
"In
1967, the Congress and Jansangh had united, in 1977 Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan
had brought together many parties to form Janata Party while V P Singh
government enjoyed support of the Left as well the BJP," he said to
justify his alliance with the RJD and the Congress."Today, BJP is in the
centre of power so parties opposed to its policies will naturally unite against
it," he said. On question of leadership of the alliance for assembly poll
next year, Kumar said "every partner party will first discuss the issue
within its own organisation and than will talk with each other at the
appropriate time."Kumar took potshots at BJP whose leaders have said that
the state did not deserve special category status and said "while
displaying this arrogance they forget the fact that Bihar contributed a lot in
putting them in power in Delhi."
Sports News
This Week:
1) India
tour of England: Rohit Sharma ruled out of ODI series with fractured finger:
India
claim first Win in the one-day international series against England
.jpg)
India
opener Rohit Sharma will miss the next three one-day internationals and the
one-off Twenty20 game against England with a finger injury and will be replaced
by Murali Vijay, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said on Friday.
“Rohit
Sharma has sustained a fracture on the middle finger of his right hand, and has
been ruled out of the ongoing ODI and T20 International series against England,
as a result,” BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said in a statement.
Sharma
scored 52 in India’s 133-run win in the rain-marred second one-dayer at Cardiff
on Wednesday to help the visitors go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
Nottingham hosts the next match on Saturday.
The UP
batsman raced away into the 90s with back to back fours off Ben Stokes and with
a single off a Jordan full toss, brought up a memorable hundred. His first in
four years seven months and 13 days, and his first-ever outside the
sub-continent. Raina perished soon after, to Woakes, but not before preparing a
platform for the bowlers to bowl India to their first high after the abysmal
lows of the past one month.
Rain
followed Raina, and the target was revised to 295 from 47 overs. Cook and
debutant Alex Hales gave England a half-century starts. But after the skipper
fell to a dubious lbw decision off Mohammad Shami, England’s wheels came off.
Ravindra Jadeja, pedestrian during the Tests, looked unplayable here as the
home team lost their next nine wickets for just 107 runs to be bowled out for
168 in 38.1 overs.
Colour
returned to the Indian camp with a 1-0 lead. But a word of caution here: The
last time MS Dhoni & Co led a five-match series after game two, they went
on to lose it 3-1.
2) Assured
bronze, PV Sindhu scripts history at World Championships:
PV Sindhu beats world no.2 Shixian Wang in the quarter-final of the World Badminton Championships at Copenhagen. Assured at least a bronze, she becomes first Indian to win two medals at the Championships.Sindhu beat her opponent from China 19-21, 21-19, 21-15 in an evenly fought contest on Friday.Earlier, India’s star shuttler Saina Nehwal crashed out of the World Badminton Championships after suffering a straight game defeat at the hands of top seed Li Xuerui of China.
The
seventh-seeded Saina was no match for World No.1 Xuerui, who took just 45
minutes to sent packing the Indian with identical 15-21 15-21 scoreline.With
this victory at the Ballerup Super Arena, the Chinese had extended her
head-to-head win-loss record against Saina to 8-2.Olympic bronze medallist
Saina, who had to fought her way back from a game down to register a 14-21
21-18 21-12 win over Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in the previous round, looked
rusty from the start and was trailing Xuerui in the entire first game.Xuerui
took advantage of Saina’s erratic play and raced to a 9-4 lead before the
Indian brought the gap down to 10-8. But just when it seemed Saina is slowly
getting her acts together, the Chinese regrouped herself and increased her lead
to 18-11 before closing down the first game.
The
second game was more competitive as it was neck-and-neck fight between Saina
and Xuerui till the first five points before the Indian pocketed four
consecutive points to lead 9-5.Saina maintained her four point lead till 12-8
before Chinese shuttler earned four straight points to draw level at
12-all.Fatigue seemed to have caught up Saina thereafter as she struggled to
match her opponent, who rose from strength to strength.From 13 apiece, Xuerui
again won four consecutive points to take the lead for the first time in the
game and then sealed the match in her favour with another straight
points.Xuerui will play 16th seed Minatsu Mitani of Japan in the semifinals.
Mitani stunned fifth seede Ji Hyun Sung of Korea 9-21 21-18 22-20 in
hard-fought contest.
3)
Refreshed Murray beats Bachinger in straight sets:
Eighth
seed Andy Murray, who overcame cramping in his first-round victory, roared past
unseeded German Matthias Bachinger in straight sets on Thursday to reach the
third round of the U.S. Open.Murray, the 2012 U.S. champion and 2013 Wimbledon
winner, looked fresh and strong in cool, breezy conditions as he rolled to a
6-3 6-3 6-4 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium in his first meeting against the
German.The Briton, never broken in the one hour 46-minute match, ripped 36
winners, more than doubling the 17 unforced errors he was charged with.
Murray
said he was well over the effects of the cramps he suffered in Monday's
first-round match against Dutchman Robin Haase.
"I
felt fine the last couple days. Had no problems on the Tuesday or
Wednesday," the Scotsman said. "I practiced well and didn't have any
problem. Tonight was fine, too."Murray also had few problems deflecting
questions about his thoughts on a referendum on Scottish independence next
month."I haven't thought that much about that yet because I don't think
it's looking too likely that it's going to happen," said the London-based
Murray, adding that he had watched about 45 minutes of the second debate.
Murray
did concede he would play for Scotland at the 2016 Rio Olympics, if they gained
independence from the rest of Britain, though was not keen on getting too drawn
into a political discussion."I'm not going into that," he said.
"I don't want to talk about politics in here. I'll worry about my
tennis."Murray will next meet Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, who eliminated
31st seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain in five sets 6-3 4-6 4-6 7-5
6-3."He's had a couple big wins in the slams this year," said Murray.
"He beat (David) Ferrer at Wimbledon and obviously today against
Verdasco"I've never played him before. I don't know his game that well,
but I've seen him play a little bit. He hits the ball pretty flat."Likes
to go for his shots a lot. This court's fairly quick, so that will probably
help him."
Maria
Sharapova, of Russia, blows kisses to the crowd after defeating Alexandra
Dulgheru, of Romania, during the second round of the 2014 U.S. Open tennis
tournament, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2014, in New York
4) Del
Piero signs for Delhi in Indian Super league:
Former
Italy great Alessandro Del Piero will play for the Delhi franchise of the
Indian Super League (ISL) and will also be the competition's brand ambassador,
the ex-Juventus player has said."I am happy to announce that I have just
signed a contract that will tie me to the club Dynamos Delhi and the Indian
Super League for the season that is about to begin," Del Piero said on his
website (www.alessandrodelpiero.com).
"I'll
be a member of the team that will participate in the new Indian football
championship and being the ambassador of this league I will have the honour and
responsibility of promoting the image and popularity of football in the
country."
Delhi
Dynamos officials were not immediately available for comment.Del Piero left
Australian club Sydney FC earlier this year after a two-year stint that helped
lift the A-League's profile and he will be expected to play a similar role with
the eight-team Indian league that runs from Oct. 12 to Dec. 20."I've always
looked for something different, I see myself as a 'traveller on the roads of
football', for me, the pitch isn't the only thing that counts, that what
surrounds the game counts just as much," said the Italian who turns 40 in
November."This is the reason why I went to Australia. Also why I'm happy
with the results obtained with Australian football (soccer!), in the two years
I was there, and with everything that country has given me."This is the
reason why I'm going to India."Another stopover during this fantastic
journey."Former France and Juventus striker David Trezeguet, his
compatriot Robert Pires, Spaniards Joan Capdevila and Luis Garcia and former
Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra have also confirmed their participation
in the league
5) In
kabaddi, the classic Ram-Shyam tale unfolds:
Chaos and
high-intensity jostling: It’s almost always on display when a raider gets a
touch on a defender in kabaddi. As such it becomes hard for referees to
ascertain who is the tagged player in the melee once the attacker gets back to
the mid-line. Over the years, Indian officials had steadily gotten sharper in
judging the genuine touch. Very rarely could a defender, or even a raider fake
his way to save or earn an extra point. That is until Ram and Shyam entered the
kabaddi court.
The
identical twins from Kolkata would often cause mayhem when either was tagged.
The touch, the ensuing hustle, and both raider and referees would be confused
as the attacker would end up tagging the same twin twice. “Sometimes they’d
just tag Shyam or me more than once thinking they touched us both. Sometimes
the raider did tag us both but we’d claim he only touched one. We cause so many
fights that way,” chuckles Ram Kumar Saha.
Book Of
This Week:
Flaubert's
Parrot by Julian Barnes :
Which of
two stuffed parrots was the inspiration for one of Flaubert's greatest stories?
Why did the master keep changing the colour of Emma Bovary's eyes? And why
should it matter so much to Geoffrey Braithwaite, a retired doctor haunted by a
private secret? In "Flaubert's Parrot", Julian Barnes spins out a
multiple mystery of obsession and betrayal (both scholarly and romantic) and
creates an exuberant enquiry into the ways in which art mirrors life and then
turns around to shape it.The novel follows Geoffrey Braithwaite, a widowed,
retired English doctor, visiting France and Flaubert locations. While visiting
sites related to Flaubert, Geoffrey encounters two incidences of museums
claiming to display the stuffed parrot which sat atop Flaubert's writing desk
for a brief period while he wrote Un Coeur Simple. While trying to identify
which is authentic Braithwaite ultimately learns that Flaubert's parrot could
be any one of fifty ("Une cinquantaine de perroquets!", p. 187) that
had been held in the collection of the municipal museum.
Although
the main focus of the narrative is tracking down the parrot, many chapters
exist independently of this plotline, consisting of Braithwaite's reflections,
such as on Flaubert's love life and how it was affected by trains, and animal
imagery in Flaubert's works and the animals with which he himself was
identified (usually a bear, but also a dog, sheep, camel and parrot)
Julian
Patrick Barnes: is a contemporary English writer of
postmodernism in literature. He has been shortlisted three times for the Man
Booker Prize--- Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998), and Arthur
& George (2005), and won the prize for The Sense of an Ending (2011). He
has written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh.
Following
an education at the City of London School and Merton College, Oxford, he worked
as a lexicographer for the Oxford English Dictionary. Subsequently, he worked
as a literary editor and film critic. He now writes full-time. His brother,
Jonathan Barnes, is a philosopher specialized in Ancient Philosophy.He lived
in London with his wife, the literary agent Pat Kavanagh, until her death on 20
October 2008
Nature Magazine
National Geographic
Cartoon Games
History Channel
Online Movies
Scientific American
Filmfare Mag
Online Britannica
Time Mag
Unexplained Mysteries
No comments:
Post a Comment