Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March 17, 2014

Disturbing scenarios on MH370

Even 10 days after the Malaysia Airline’s Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight MH370 went mysteriously missing, no definite information has been made available either to the families of the passengers, or in the public domain. Several theories have been floated on what could have happened to the aircraft. Aviation expert A. Ranganathan analyses the probable theories and comes up with a scary scenario:

Unease grows among U.S. doctors over Indian drug quality

(Reuters) - Some U.S. doctors are becoming concerned about the quality of generic drugs supplied by Indian manufacturers following a flurry of recalls and import bans by the Food and Drug Administration. India supplies about 40 percent of generic and over-the-counter drugs used in the United States, making it the second-biggest supplier after Canada.

It takes courage to fight the odds(dealing muscular dystrophy)

Though there is no cure, treatments in the form of therapies can greatly lessen symptoms of muscular dystrophy and improve the quality of life Last week, I learnt that Vishal had succumbed to the disease he had so valiantly fought for nearly 25 years. Though I had anticipated this news, it nevertheless affected me immensely. Vishal was born a healthy, chubby baby; everyone adored him, and his grandparents couldn’t get enough of him.

The new Cold War

The March 16 referendum on whether the southeastern Ukrainian province of Crimea should unite with Russia or have greater autonomy within Ukraine has presented the United States and the European Union with their most severe political test in decades.

Classified 1962 war report revealed for first time

The Hindu Archives A wounded Indian soldier being evacuated to hospital during the 1962 war with China. For the first time, a large section of the still classified Henderson Brooks Report, which details a comprehensive operational review of India’s military debacle in 1962, has been made public

धरती के गर्भ में है महासागरों से ज़्यादा पानी

हीरे के अंदर संरक्षित खनिजों ने धरती के गर्भ में दबी चमकदार नीली चट्टानों के बारे में संकेत दिए हैं, जिनमें इतना पानी हो सकता है जितना सारे महासागरों में है. मध्य-पश्चिम ब्राज़ील से मिले एक हीरे में ऐसे खनिज मौजूद हैं जो धरती से करीब 600 किलोमीटर अंदर बनते हैं और इनके अंदर पर्याप्त मात्रा में पानी मौजूद है.

बिहार की बाल वधू से ब्रिटेन की डेम का सफ़र(;ब्रिटेन में डेम का सम्मान पाने वाली वे भारतीय मूल की सिर्फ़ दूसरी महिला हैं).

बिहार में जन्मी और ब्रिटेन में रहने वाली आशा खेमका साधारण महिला नहीं हैं. ब्रिटेन में डेम का सम्मान पाने वाली वे भारतीय मूल की सिर्फ़ दूसरी महिला हैं. 14 मार्च को ब्रिटेन की महारानी एलिज़ाबेथ ने उन्हें इस पदवी से सम्मानित किया.

‘Aerosols can enhance monsoon rains’

Study finds correlation between rainfall in India and aerosol levels over W. Asia Monsoon rains over India could increase if desertification leads to more dust from West Asia and North Africa swirling into the air, suggests a research report being published in  Nature Geoscience. There has been growing interest in examining how fine particles in the atmosphere, known as aerosols, affect the climate. However, much of this research has looked at particles generated by human activity, especially the role of soot. Aerosol role But natural aerosols, such as sea-salt and dust, are far more abundant than human-produced ones, remarked V. Vinoj, who is currently with IIT Bhubaneswar. The research appearing online in  Nature Geoscience  was carried out by him with Philip J. Rasch's group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the U.S. Analysing observational data, Dr. Vinoj and his colleagues found that monsoon rainfall during June, July and August over central I