Updates Frm The Ruts: Cameron rules out return of Kohinoor

Updates Frm The Ruts: Cameron rules out return of Kohinoor: "Cameron rules out return of Kohinoor on July 29th, 2010 Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron has clearly ruled out the return ..."

Cameron rules out return of Kohinoor

Cameron rules out return of Kohinoor

on July 29th, 2010

Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron has clearly ruled out the return of the Kohinoor diamond to India, saying if such demands were agreed to, it would lead to empty rooms in British Museums.

“I know there is also a great argument about the original provenance of the Kohinoor diamond. I’m afraid this will disappoint viewers, but it’s going to have to stay put,” Cameron said in an interview to NDTV news channel.

The issue about the fabled diamond, which was mined in the Deccan and is now part of the British crown jewels, had been raised by British MP of Indian origin Keith Vaz just before Cameron began his two-day visit to India.

Vaz had said in a statement: “I believe that this is the perfect opportunity for the prime minister to discuss the issue of the Kohinoor. It would be very fitting for the Kohinoor to return to the country in which it was mined so soon after the diamond jubilee of the Indian republic and 161 years after its removal from India.”

Cameron, however, pointed out that the return of the diamond would set a precedent, which could lead to the emptying of museums in Britain.

“What tends to happen with these questions is that if you say yes to one, you suddenly find the British Museum will be emptied,” he asserted.

Greece has also been vocal about its demand for return of the marble frieze looted from the Parthenon by the Earl of Elgin 200 years ago.

India and Britain will be signing a bilateral deal related to culture during Cameron’s visit that ends Thursday.

Jeremy Hunt, the British secretary of state for culture, media and sports, pointed out that Cameron’s trip was “to discuss about cultural exchanges and to create a climate for holding several cultural exchange programmes.”

But he parried a question from us on whether Britain was open to exhibiting the Kohinoor in India saying, “it’s a controversial issue and (he) would not like to comment”.

Trial shows an AIDS gel can protect women???????

       SOUTH AFRICA - A trial of women in South Africa shows that a gel made using Gilead Sciences Inc's HIV drug tenofovir lowered the rate of HIV infections in women by 39 percent over two and a half years.


It is the first trial to show a microbicide might protect women from the deadly and incurable virus, which has killed 25 million people since the AIDS pandemic started in the 1980s and which infects 33 million today.


Here are some facts about the trial:


* The trial was run by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa or CAPRISA at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.


* It enrolled 889 South African women aged 18 to 40 who were HIV-negative, sexually active, and at high risk of becoming infected with HIV.


* All were given packets of applicators filled with gel and told to insert one dose up to 12 hours before sex and a second no more than 12 hours afterwards.


* Half the women got placebo gels and half received gels containing a very low dose of tenofovir, an inexpensive HIV drug.


* At the end of the study 422 women remained in the tenofovir arm and 421 in the placebo arm, a retention rate of 95 percent, which suggests the gel was not unpleasant to use.


* At 30 months, 98 women were infected with HIV -- 38 of them had been given tenofovir and 60 were on placebo. This is a 39 percent reduction in HIV incidence for tenofovir.


* At 12 months into the study, women who got tenofovir were 50 percent less likely to be infected than women who got placebo.


* 54 of the women became pregnant and delivered 31 babies. None had any congenital problems and the miscarriage rate was normal.


* Blood tests showed the tenofovir stayed in the vagina and did not cause effects elsewhere in the body. This suggests side-effects will be low and also suggests that women who become infected with HIV will still be able to take pills without being resistant to their effects.


* In a surprise finding, researchers said the gel also reduced the risk a woman would get genital herpes by 51 percent.


* The main side-effect was slightly more mild diarrhea in the women who got tenofovir.

Rising Indian Ocean levels may worsen flooding in India

Washington, July 14 (IANS) Rising levels in parts of the Indian Ocean may worsen monsoon flooding in India and Bangladesh.According to a study led by Weiqing Han, the associate professor in atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, US, this is attributed to warming caused by manmade increases of greenhouse gases.
The parts affected by the rising sea levels are the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, reports Nature Geoscience.
The key player in the process is the Indo-Pacific warm pool, an enormous, bathtub-shaped area of the tropical oceans stretching from the east coast of Africa west to the International Date Line in the Pacific.
The warm pool has heated by about 1 degree Fahrenheit, or 0.5 degrees Celsius, in the past 50 years, primarily caused by manmade increases of greenhouse gases, said Han, according to a Colorado University statement.
Along the coasts of the northern Indian Ocean, seas have risen by an average of about 0.5 inches, or 13 mm, per decade, the study said.
The Indian Ocean is the world's third largest ocean and makes up about 20 percent of the water on earth's surface.

Your longevity depends on your brain size!

London, July 16(IANS)  Mammals with larger brains in relation to body size tend to have longer lives.
This finding is based on an analysis of about 500 mammal species by the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications (CREAF), affiliated to Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.
The brain size of some mammals like chimps, gorillas, whales, dolphins and elephants are larger than expected for their body size, reports the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
Scientists spent years probing why nature favours the development of large brains given that they require much more time to reach functional maturity and they use so much energy, said a centre release.
One of the classical explanations is the theory of Cognitive Buffer Hypothesis (CBH). It suggests that a larger brain provides more flexibility in behaviour when facing environmental changes and makes learning easier.
CREAF researchers Cesar Gonzalez-Lagos and Daniel Sol, together with Simon Reader of University McGill, Canada, conducted the research, reports the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
Using statistical methods, the authors analysed data from 493 mammal species - from rodents and bats to cetaceans, felines, ungulates and marsupials and concluded that having a larger brain entails having a longer life.

Indian rupee gets a symbol, joins elite currency club

NEW DELHI: The Indian rupee will soon have a unique symbol — a blend of the Devanagri 'Ra' and Roman 'R' — joining elite currencies like the US dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen in having a distinct identity.

The new symbol, designed by Bombay IIT post-graduate D Udaya Kumar, was approved by the cabinet today — reflecting that the Indian currency, backed by an over-trillion dollar economy, was finally making its presence felt on the international scene.

"It's a big statement on the Indian currency... The symbol would lend a distinctive character and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and global face of the Indian economy," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Though the symbol will not be printed or embossed on currency notes or coins, it would be included in the 'Unicode Standard' and major scripts of the world to ensure that it is easily displayed and printed in the electronic and print media.

Among currencies with distinctive identities, only the pound sterling has its symbol printed on the notes.

Unicode is an international standard that allows text data to be interchanged globally without conflict. After incorporation in the global and Indian codes, the symbol would be used by all individuals and entities within and outside the country.

The symbol will be adopted in a span of six months in the country, and within 18 to 24 months globally, Soni said, adding that it will feature on computer keyboards and softwares for worldwide use.

Soni said that the symbol, which reflects the Indian ethos and culture, would help distinguish the currency from the rupee or rupiah of other countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Besides this, state governments would be asked to proactively promote the use of the new symbol, she added.

Kumar's entry was chosen from 3,000 designs competing for the currency symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5 lakh.

"It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters — capital 'R' and Devanagri 'Ra' which represents rupaiah, to appeal to international and Indian audiences... My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between," a visibly-happy Kumar said.

The jury, which had sent the five short-listed entries for the cabinet's approval, was headed by a Reserve Bank Deputy Governor. 

Wiki Search -:  "New Indian Rupee Symbol"

Some More intrasting pics

Lets Get Hand Shaked.........
My Name Is Rutin...My frnds also call me Ruts..
by Profession or Occupation i m a student & will be
a student Through out my life...This what i think.

I m a Science Student So i wont belive in all those
superstitions etc etc..i m str8 Forward, Thinking +
helps you grow & -ve thinking Lets you Down..
Enjoy This Wonderful Video