News

Stem cells culled from bone marrow may prove beneficial in stroke recovery, scientists say. Scientists at University of California — Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center identified 46 studies that examined the use of mesenchymal stromal cells — a type of multipotent adult stem cells mostly processed from bone marrow — in animal models of stroke. They found MSCs to be significantly better than control therapy in 44 of the studies. The effects of these cells on functional recovery were robust regardless of the dosage, the time the MSCs were administered relative to stroke onset or the method of administration. The cells helped even if given a month after the event and whether introduced directly into the brain or injected via a blood vessel. “Stroke remains a major cause of disability, and we are encouraged that the preclinical evidence shows [MSCs’] efficacy with ischemic stroke,” said neurologist Dr Steven Cramer, clinic...

he Election Commission’s order banning two political leaders from addressing public meetings and rallies for their divisive and inflammatory speeches during the ongoing election campaign sends out a strong message to those who seek to exploit communal sentiments for electoral gains. Such resolute action is bound to find resonance with a vast majority of the people. For the past few weeks, the

  Demonstrating the function of the flare rack that carries silver iodide for cloud-seeding through an aircraft.  Water is essential for life on the earth. Precipitation from the skies is the only source for it. India and the rest of Asia are dependent on the monsoons for rains. While the South West Monsoon is the main source for India as a whole, Tamil Nadu and coastal areas of South Andhra Pradesh get the benefit of the North East Monsoon, which is just a less dependable beat on the reversal of the South West Monsoon winds.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin with Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.    India and China will on Monday afternoon hold the sixth round of their strategic dialogue, with the talks expected to lay the groundwork for a series of high-level engagements between the two countries set to take place in coming months following the Lok Sabha elections.

The U.N.’s expert panel on climate change on Sunday highlighted the disconnect between international goals to fight global warming and what is being done to attain them. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases must drop by 40—70 per cent by 2050 to keep the global temperature rise below the 2—degree C (3.6—degree F) cap set in U.N. climate talks, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The opposite is happening now. On average global emissions rose by 2.2 percent or 1 gigaton a year between 2000 and 2010, outpacing growth in previous decades to reach “unprecedented levels” despite some efforts to contain them, the IPCC said. “There is a clear message from science- To avoid dangerous interference with the climate system, we need to move away from business as usual,” said Ottmar Edenhofer, one of three co-chairs of the IPCC working group looking at ways to fight climate change. The panel didn’t get into w...

Number of deaths may shoot up to 1.2 million by 2035” Every year nearly one million new cancer cases are diagnosed in India, the prevalence being 2.5 million. With mortalities of 6,00,000-7,00,000 a year, cancer causes six per cent of all adult