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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

3D Printer Creates Working Loudspeaker



Engineers at Cornell University have printed an entire working loudspeaker in one operation using a 3D printer.

The device emerged from the printer ready to use, requiring only to be connected to an amplifier and sound source. In a demonstration the researchers played a clip from President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech which mentioned 3D printing.

Although it is now possible to buy relatively cheap 3D printers which can make intricate parts from plastic, creating working electronic components remains a difficult problem.

Printers can be constructed with multiple cartridges for different materials, just as traditional 2D printers use differently coloured inks. But the large hurdle to overcome is that these materials need to be extruded at different temperatures and have different curing times, making printing one object with two or more materials troublesome.

If it becomes possible to do so cheaply then it would pave the way for entire products such as radios, cameras or mobile phones to be printed.

Creating the speaker involved printing a plastic housing, a flexible diaphragm, a conductive coil and a magnet. The conductive parts were created with silver ink , while the magnet was created from a viscous blend of strontium ferrite. The rest was printed with traditional plastic materials.

The project was led by mechanical engineering graduate students Apoorva Kiran and Robert MacCurdy, working with associate professor and 3D-printing pioneer Hod Lipson.

Creating a market for printed electronic devices, Lipson said, could be like introducing color printers after only black and white had existed: “It opens up a whole new space that makes the old look primitive.”

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Wildlife and Animal Museum Promotes Nature



Wild animals found dead in nature are taken to a wild life and animal museum with the help of academics and Trakya University Biology department displays the animals in the university, aiming to raise awareness to wildlife.

The biology department academic Beytullah Ozkan said to Anadolu Agency there are many wild animals living near and around Edirne and many of them are found dead from car accidents. The aim is to raise awareness to prevent these kinds of accidents. The dead animals are taken by the villagers and given to the academics because the academics wanted to make a wildlife animal museum to raise the awareness. Ozkan said the animals are sometimes used in biological and scientific research.

“There are many animals that die from car accidents. We use taxidermists to display these animals,” he said.

Noting there are many animals in the museum, Ozkan said their aim is to display these animals with a right purpose.

Water monkeys, wild reed cats, foxes, moles, squirrels and foumarts are some of the animals in the museum, said Ozkan, adding there are also skeletons.

Ozkan said the museum raised awareness in the village and now the villagers are more aware of the wildlife and how wildlife is important for nature. Noting that they go in the village and speak to people and leave their contacts, Ozkan said, we want them to tell us about the animals and bring them to us if anything happens to them.

“While speaking with the villagers, we see that they have been very careful with the wildlife, thanks to the information they learn from us and the media,” said Ozkan.

Learning to live with wild animals With this move, the villagers do not attempt to kill wild animals when they see them, he said. They scare these animals and tell academics they need help to learn to live with these wild animals.

That’s why we need to help them, said Ozkan. “We leave our contact details and want them to get in contact with us if they need help with the wild animals.”

The academics also give information to the villagers about the animals and educate them. “We give them information on reptiles, vertebras, other animals and biology.” For example the museum team has started to display an Alacalı foumart that was found dead in Sazlıdere Village last year. This is an important move when wild life animals are facing extinction, he said. For example, the Alacalı Foumart is one of the rare species in the world and face extinction. The team has examined the animal and decided that it was hit by a car.

Anxiety Linked to Higher Risk of Stroke



The greater your anxiety level, the higher your risk of having a stroke, according to a new study. The study is the first in which researchers have linked anxiety and stroke independent of other factors such as depression.

Anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental health problems. Symptoms include feeling unusually worried,stressed, nervous or tense.

Over a 22 year period, researchers studied a nationally representative group of 6,019 people 25 to 74 years old in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) in US.

Participants underwent an interview and took blood tests, medical examinations and completed psychological questionnaires to gauge anxiety and depression levels.

Researchers tracked strokes through hospital or nursing home reports and death certificates. After accounting for other factors, they found that even modest increases in anxiety were associated with greater stroke risk.

People in the highest third of anxiety symptoms had a 33 per cent higher stroke risk than those with the lowest levels.

“Everyone has some anxiety now and then. But when it’s elevated and/or chronic, it may have an effect on your vasculature years down the road,” said Maya Lambiase, study author and cardiovascular behavioural medicine researcher in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

People with high anxiety levels are more likely to smoke and be physically inactive, possibly explaining part of the anxiety-stroke link. Higher stress hormone levels, heart rate or blood pressure could also be factors, Lambiase said.

The research was published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Chewing Gum can give Kids Migraine



Chewing too much gum can give teenagers and younger children migraine headaches, a new study has warned.

Dr Nathan Watemberg of Tel Aviv University-affiliated Meir Medical Center found that gum-chewing teens and younger children could be giving themselves headaches.

Until now there has been little medical research on the relationship between gum chewing and headaches.

At Meir Medical Center’s Child Neurology Unit and Child Development Center and community clinics, Watemberg noticed that many patients who reported headaches were daily gum chewers.

Teenage girl patients were particularly avid chewers – a finding supported by previous dental studies. Watemberg found that in many cases, when patients stopped chewing gum at his suggestion, they got substantially better.

Taking a more statistical approach, Watemberg asked 30 patients between six and 19 years old who had chronic migraine or tension headaches and chewed gum daily to quit chewing gum for one month.

They had chewed gum for at least an hour up to more than six hours per day. After a month without gum, 19 of the 30 patients reported that their headaches went away entirely and seven reported a decrease in the frequency and intensity of headaches.

To test the results, 26 of them agreed to resume gum chewing for two weeks. All of them reported a return of their symptoms within days.

Two previous studies linked gum chewing to headaches, but offered different explanations. One study suggested that gum chewing causes stress to the temporomandibular joint, or TMJ, the place where the jaw meets the skull.

The other study blamed aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in most popular chewing gums. TMJ dysfunction has been shown to cause headaches, while the evidence is mixed on aspartame.

Watemberg backed the TMJ explanation. Gum is only flavourful for a short period of time, suggesting it does not contain much aspartame. If aspartame caused headaches, he reasoned, there would be a lot more headaches from diet drinks and artificially sweetened products.

Hair Care in Winter



As cool, dry air blows you feel dry skin, nails cracking and hair falling along with dandruff. If you end up having snowflakes on your shoulders in winter it is not due to snowing ,but dandruff has found its way into your scalp. Dandruff is not a serious health condition, but the victims of dandruff will do everything to prevent that particular kind of snow from falling as it leads to hair fall. Preventing winter dandruff and hair fall is a challenge that you can win with a proper hair care routine.

Shampoo your hair twice a week only

Excessive shampoo can be harmful for your hair and cause hair loss. It is recommended to wash your hair only twice a week so that you don’t lose the extra nourishing oils that your hair naturally produces. Over shampooing can make your hair dry and fizzy. To prevent dandruff apply a quarter-sized amount of specially formulated dandruff shampoo to your hair. Work the shampoo through your hair, cleansing the scalp area. Let the shampoo sit for five to seven minutes to properly work, and then rinse it out. Wash your hair once a day with the dandruff shampoo, which is formulated to eradicate the malassezia fungus.

Rinse with vinegar

To let your hair shine rinse your hair with vinegar when you are finished with shampooing. Take two tbsp. vinegar and mix it in ten tbsp. water. Now rinse your hair with it and don’t wash it with water later. Your hair will not have the white snowy flakes and hair fall would be much less.

Massage your hair with warm oil

Heat the oil you use. Coconut oil or olive oil are best for the extra moisture your hair needs. Massage warm oil in your hair slowly to let the hair gently sink into your scalp. For better results wrap a warm towel on your head after applying warm oil to your scalp. The oil will get penetrated more deeply inside your dry scalp. Thus preventing dandruff and hair fall.

Sit in the sun
Walk or sit outside in the sun for 20 to 30 minutes each day. Some people find that the ultra-violet rays from the sun help to reduce dandruff in the winter months. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen.

Fenugreek (Methi) seeds

Grind one tbsp. of methi seeds coarsely and soak it in two cups of cool water. Leave it overnight. Strain and use the water as a last rinse.

Neem leaves

Make a paste of neem leaves by soaking the neem leaves in water and grinding it. Apply the neem leaves’ paste on hair. Let it sit on your scalp for half an hour before rinsing it. Don’t apply any shampoo for best results. This remedy is not only best to cure dandruff but also very effective for hair loss. It also helps in hair growth.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Obesity May Make Kids Stressed



Obesity may make children more stressed-out as compared to their normal-weight peers, a new study has found.

Overweight children naturally produce higher levels of a key stress hormone than other youngsters, researchers said. The body produces the hormone cortisol when a person experiences stress, researchers said.

When a person faces frequent stress, cortisol and other stress hormones build up in the blood and, over time, can cause serious health problems.

Researchers measured cortisol in scalp hair, which reflects long-term exposure and has been proposed to be a bio-marker for stress. The study is the first to show obese children have chronically elevated levels of cortisol.

“We were surprised to find obese children, as young as age 8, already had elevated cortisol levels,” said one of the study’s authors, Erica van den Akker, from Erasmus MC-Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

“By analysing children’s scalp hair, we were able to confirm high cortisol levels persisted over time,” said van den Akker.

The observational case-control study analysed hair samples from 20 obese children and 20 normal weight children to measure long-term cortisol levels. Each group included 15 girls and 5 boys between the ages of 8 and 12.

Obese subjects had an average cortisol concentration of 25 pg/mg in their scalp hair, compared to an average concentration of 17 pg/mg in the normal weight group.

The hormone concentrations found in hair reflect cortisol exposure over the course of about one month. “Because this study took an observational approach, more research will determine the cause of this phenomenon,” van den Akker said.

“We do not know whether obese children actually experience more psychological stress or if their bodies handle stress hormones differently. Answering these key questions will improve our understanding of childhood obesity and may change the way we treat it,” said van den Akker.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Prototype Solar Cars Train Future Alternative Energy Experts



JOHANNESBURG — In South Africa, students at the University of Johannesburg have taken on the challenge of building their own solar cars and racing them in competitions. While it offers plenty of thrills, the goal behind the program is to train future experts in alternative energy.

Young engineers from the University of Johannesburg built a 300-kilogram solar-powered car. The car can go faster than 100 kilometers per hour and uses less electric power than a household kettle. The students who designed it will drive it in the Solar Challenge, a national racing competition for cars that use alternative energy.

Kegan Smith, the university’s former project manager, says the aim is to make these future engineers aware of the possibilities of green energy through a real world example.

“With what we do at the moment in fossil fuels, if we continue like this, there is not going to be a future. And if we do this kind of alternative energy, the cars are one application. But the nice thing with the cars it that it’s a mindset change. If you can start shaping students’ mind now, it’s going to change the mindset of people in general. How do you use your lights? How do you use your electricity?” explained Smith.

Smith was one of the six undergraduate students who decided to take an end-of-the-year paper design assignment a step further. The group built their own design, a hybrid alternative-energy powered car, in 2010.

Since then, more cars have been built, using both hydrogen and solar power. Warren Larter, a former student, is the university’s solar car project manager. While he does not expect solar cars to become mainstream, he pointed out that they do offer an important learning tool in the development of sustainable technologies.

“For us, it’s a research thing. Our exact example is Formula One. You’ll never see those cars on the road, but the technologies that go into them, you see it in every single car in every single household across the world. So that’s where we are pushing it. This is our Formula One of alternative energy,” said Larter.

White House review Panel Proposes Curbs on some NSA Programs



Among the panel’s proposals, made in the wake of revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the most contentious may be its recommendation that the eavesdropping agency halt bulk collection of the phone call records, known as “metadata.”

Instead, it said, those records should be held by telecommunications providers or a private third party. In a further limitation, the US government would need an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for each search of the data.

“We don’t see the need for the government to be retaining that data,” said Richard Clarke, a member of the panel and a former White House counterterrorism adviser.

The panel’s report expressed deep skepticism about both the value and effectiveness of the metadata collection program.

Lenovo Yoga goes Enterprise



Lenovo has launched a new range of enterprise devices, including a convertible ThinkPad S1 Yoga and new ThinkPad ultrabooks T440,T440s and X240s Ultrabooks. All these devices are powered by Intel’s fourth generation Haswell Core processors.

The ThinkPad S1 Yoga is a multi-mode device designed to function optimally in different scenarios, eliminating the need of separate ultrabooks and tablet. Like the first Yoga, this device can do a 360 degree flip from laptop mode to stand mode and tent mode to tablet mode. The keyboard is disabled when it is not in the laptop mode. With a pre-loaded Intel SBA platform, it allows better security and business continuity. ThinkPad S1 Yoga is priced at Rs 80,000 onwards.

The ThinkPad T440 Ultrabook has a 14-inch HD or HD+ screen with optional multitouch capability and a trackpad that supports Windows 8 gestures. Priced at Rs 78,000 onwards, the device comes with 1TB storage and 10 hours + battery life. With military-specific durability and glass fiber design for a touch, it is a durable device.

The ThinkPad T440s has a carbon fiber top cover that makes the device light and durable. It has has a wide range of connection options and touch capability with Windows 8 Pro. T440s is priced at Rs 90,000 onwards

The ThinkPad X240s Ultrabook is the thinnest and lightest full featured ThinkPad yet. Weighing just 1.28 kg, this device comes with full HD IPS touch screen display, carbon fibre construction and a glass TrackPad. This premium device is available at Rs 95,000 onwards.

Euro Satellite to Count a BILLLION Stars, find Origin of Milky Way



The European Space Agency’s billion-star mapper Gaia blasted off this morning aboard a Soyuz rocket on its mission to study millions of suns.

The satellite has been dispatched to create the most accurate map yet of our galaxy, using accurate measurements of positions and motions of one per cent of the roughly 100 billion stars in the Milky Way to answer questions about its origin and evolution.

Gaia will check out each of the billion stars an average of 70 times each over its five years of operation. Each time, it will plot the position of the sun and its key physical properties, like brightness, temperature and chemical composition.

The huge census should provide boffins with the position, motion and properties of the stars to give the most complete picture of the galaxy yet.

“Gaia represents a dream of astronomers throughout history, right back to the pioneering observations of the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchos, who catalogued the relative positions of around a thousand stars with only naked-eye observations and simple geometry,” said Alvaro Giménez, ESA’s director of science and robotic exploration.

“Over 2000 years later, Gaia will not only produce an unrivalled stellar census, but along the way has the potential to uncover new asteroids, planets and dying stars.”

Over 400 different people at scientific institutes across Europe will end up processing and analysing the huge amount of data Gaia will collect, estimated to exceed one petabyte.

The Soyuz booster lifted off without a hitch at the scheduled time of 9.12am GMT from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. Around ten minutes later, after the first three stages had separated, the Fregat upper stage ignited and carried the probe into a temporary parking space in a 175km high orbit.

From there, Fregat fired again to take Gaia into its transfer orbit, before it separated from the upper stage 42 minutes after blastoff. ESA boffins in Darmstadt in Germany have already taken control of the spacecraft and started booting it up.

The sunshield, which both protects the satellite from soaring temperatures and carries solar cells to power the craft, has been deployed and Gaia is now en route to the stable point at L2, around 1.5m km from Earth as seen from the Sun. Tomorrow, mission control will get Gaia to perform the first of two critical thruster firings to make sure its on the right path to its new home, followed by the second around 20 days later to stick it in operational orbit.

“After years of hard work and determination of everyone involved in the mission, we are delighted to see our Gaia discovery machine on the road to L2, where we will continue the noble European tradition of star charting to decipher the history of the Milky Way,” said Giuseppe Sarri, ESA’s Gaia project manager.

Man Charged in Burglary Swallows 2 Necklaces



A man faces burglary and tampering charges after an X-ray machine revealed a dark mass near his stomach while he was being booked into jail.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s officials say the mass turned out to be two necklaces stolen during a Dec. 10 burglary in Safety Harbor.

Twenty-one-year-old Joseph Ramos was arrested Dec. 11 when he was stopped for driving a vehicle that was stolen during the burglary. Various items from the home were inside the vehicle.

When Ramos was being booked into jail, he stepped on the SecurPass X-ray machine and the dark spot was identified as the necklaces. He underwent surgery to remove them. The owner later identified the items.

Jail officials have been using the X-ray machine since June to detect items concealed on inmates.

Woman’s secret Santa turns out to be Bill Gates



One woman’s secret Santa this holiday season turned out to be one of the richest men in the world: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

The gift exchange happened through the website Reddit’s secret Santa event, in which users swap presents across the country.

A spokesman for Gates confirmed he participated. Spokesman John Pinette says the billionaire philanthropist wanted to engage with Reddit’s community and promote Heifer International, a foundation that provides seeds and animals to people in need in the developing world.

The woman, identified only as Rachel, wrote in a blog post that she was surprised to find out Gates was her Secret Santa. She received a stuffed cow toy, a signed card, a National Geographic travel book and a $500 donation to Heifer International in her name.

CCTVs Installed for Effective Surveillance in Kashmir





 

In a bid to secure border areas and curb intrusion attempts in Kashmir, the police has began installing a network of Close-Circuit Television (CCTVs) in the sensitive areas.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Poonch district, Shamsher Hussain said that 16 CCTV towers had been erected in the area.

“There is a need to install CCTV cameras in Kashmir, especially Poonch for effective surveillance. In the first phase, we have erected 16 CCTV towers and cameras would be installed within two months,” said Hussain.

Meanwhile, residents in the area urged authorities to speed up the installation work and ensure that the area was under constant surveillance.

“Poonch area is close to the border and it is very important to ensure that it is safe. Militancy has always disrupted routine life here and there are constant inputs about infiltration. We urge the state administration to ensure that cameras are installed on time on the towers, so that we are safe and the police are also not burdened,” said Sartaj Ali, a resident.

Devyani Khobragade Case - US should Understand Value of Partnership : Indian FM

NEW DELHI: India and the US are in “conversations” to resolve the standoff over diplomat Devyani Khobragade, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid today said as he described the US as a valuable partner and asked it to “understand the value” of the partnership.



“We are in a conversation at different levels. Let the conversation go to its logical conclusion,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a FICCI event.

The Minister further emphasised, “We have an extremely exceptionally valuable relationship with the US and I do believe that they have similar sentiments about us…and it must understand value of partnership.”

39-year-old Khobragade, a 1999-batch IFS officer posted as Deputy Consul General in New York, was taken into custody last week on visa fraud charges as she was dropping her daughter to school before being released on a $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty in court.

Khobragade was put through both strip and cavity searches, procedures normally used for criminals, evoking a sharp reaction from India.

India had demanded that the case against Khobragade be dropped unconditionally.

The Minister also said by arresting the senior diplomat, the channels of communication got interrupted which was a matter of “concern”.

“..I speak to America through diplomatic channels and my diplomatic channels have been interrupted. That is my concern. That was my agony that my diplomatic channel has been interrupted,” Khurshid said.
Khurshid, who was criticised for allegedly not helping the riot victims of Muzaffarnagar, said, “People do not like the idea that I said if I do not get justice for my diplomat in the US, I will not comeback to Parliament. Was that a terrible thing to say.

“There are people who think I am being dramatic in saying that somebody said to me there are 50,000 Muslims in Muzaffarnagar and you did not say you will not comeback to Parliament if they were not given justice. I believe that giving them justice is in my control, my right within democratic governments of UP and India and we will do that,” he said.

“It is for me to be able to exercise the same right with the US,” Khurshid said.

Pakistan's Ex-Hockey Players Protest Outside Parliament over Slump



ISLAMABAD (AFP) - A group of Pakistani Olympic hockey greats protested in front of parliament in a desperate bid to revive the former world-beating country's struggling fortunes.

About a dozen former players demonstrated in Islamabad Thursday in the hope that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will step in and help reverse the team's decline.

Pakistan are three-time Olympic champions and four-time winners of the World Cup, an event they introduced in 1971. They failed even to qualify for next year's edition.

"We thought of staging a protest at the parliament because this is the place where our voices can reach the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif," said Shahnaz Shaikh, a member of Pakistan's 1978 World Cup winning team.

"We will protest again early next month at the parliament and continue until the prime minister addresses the situation," he added.

Pakistan, winners in 1960, 1968 and 1984, finished seventh at last year's London Olympics, and they were 12th and last at the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi.

The future also looks bleak as Pakistan finished ninth in the Junior World Cup in India last week.

"The federation officials are politicized. hockey should be free from politics," said Sami.

"It is high time that we save our national game and we request the prime minister to take stringent measures to restore the pride in the game," said Sami.

Syria views Saudi Arabia as Number One Enemy

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Syria now views Saudi Arabia as its number one enemy and accuses it of trying to destroy the country by arming jihadists and other rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

The oil-rich Gulf monarchies have sided with the opposition from the start of Syria s conflict in March 2011, with Riyadh leading calls for the fall of Assad.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad told AFP this week that Saudi Arabia was providing unfettered support for "terrorist groups" in Syria, while other nations had reviewed their positions.





"I think that all those who supported these terrorist groups have the feeling now that they have made big mistakes," Muqdad said in an interview on Thursday, referring to the rebels seeking to topple Assad.

"The only party who is declaring the full support to the terrorist groups, to Al-Qaeda, is Saudi Arabia," he said.

Muqdad urged the world to press Saudi Arabia to halt its support for the rebels, to prevent what he said was "another 11 September incident".

"I think that if the world wants to avoid another 11 September incident, they must start telling Saudi Arabia  enough is enough ," he said, referring to Al-Qaeda s 2001 attacks on the US.

Earlier this month, Assad s government urged the United Nations to take a stand against Saudi support for Islamist groups whose influence has grown on the battlefield.

"We call on the UN Security Council to take the necessary measures to put an end to the unprecedented actions of the Saudi regime, which is supporting takfiri (Sunni extremist) terrorism tied to Al-Qaeda," the foreign ministry said in a message to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

It was the first time the Syrian government has appealed to the international body to take action against Riyadh.

"Saudi Arabia is not content to merely send weapons and to finance but also mobilises extremist terrorists and sends them to kill the Syrian people," the Syrian message said.

 

Pakistan Film Zinda Bhaag is Out of Oscar Race

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Oscars organizers shortlisted nine movies including Palestinian, Danish and Hong Kong films Friday for best foreign language prize, offering surprises and some unexpected snubs.

Films left out included Saudi Arabia's first-ever candidate and Pakistan's first entry in five decades, while an Oscar-winning Iranian director also failed to make the cut.

Films by Belgian, Bosnian, Cambodian, German, Hungarian and Italian directors are on the shortlist, which did not include any women filmmakers.

"The Hunt" by Dane Thomas Vinterberg, "The Grandmaster" from Hong Kong's Wong Kar-wai and "The Great Beauty" by Italian Paolo Sorrentino could be among the frontrunners.

But Iranian entry "The Past" -- by director Asghar Farhadi, who won the best foreign film Oscar in 2012 for "A Separation" -- was not on Friday's list, despite forecasts that it would be among the leading nominees.

The films were whittled down from a long list of 76 movies announced in October by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes Hollywood's biggest annual awards fest.




They will be reduced to five nominees next month, before nods in all Oscar categories are announced on January 16. The 86th Academy Awards will be held on March 2.

The nine shortlisted foreign language films are:

- "The Broken Circle Breakdown," Belgium, director Felix van Groeningen.

- "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker," Bosnia and Herzegovina, director Danis Tanovic.

- "The Missing Picture," Cambodia, director Rithy Panh.

- "The Hunt," Denmark, director Thomas Vinterberg.

- "Two Lives," Germany, director Georg Maas.

- "The Grandmaster," Hong Kong, director Wong Kar-wai.

- "The Notebook," Hungary, director Janos Szasz.

- "The Great Beauty," Italy, director Paolo Sorrentino.

- "Omar," Palestine, director Hany Abu-Assad.

Industry journal Variety said the most surprising snubs were for Chilean Sebastian Lelio's "Gloria," Poland's "Walesa: Man of Hope" by Andrzej Wajda, as well as the Iranian and Saudi entries.

The Saudi long-list candidate, "Wadjda" by Haifaa al-Mansour, is an avowedly feminist movie about a young girl's quest to own a bicycle in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom where women are deprived of many rights, among them driving.

Directed by Saudi Arabia's first female filmmaker and shot entirely in the Gulf state, the film won best Arabic feature award at the Dubai Film Festival last year and picked up an award at Cannes in March.

For Pakistan, "Zinda Bhaag" ("Flee Alive") was the first Oscar entry in more than 50 years. It is a comedy-thriller about three young men trying to escape the drudgery of their everyday lives through unconventional means.

Other high-profile titles not on the shortlist include Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's "Back to 1942," "Winter of Discontent," by Egypt's Ibrahim El Batout and Israel's "Bethlehem" by director Yuval Adler, Variety said.

The Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color" from France did not make the list, because its release date did not meet Oscar nomination criteria, but it could still feature in other categories, including for best picture and actress, the industry journal noted.

The French film, an explicit tale of lesbian love, has been widely tipped for Hollywood awards-season gold. But to be eligible for the Oscars, foreign films must screen for at least a week between Oct. 1, 2012 and Sept. 30, 2013.

When the Academy unveiled the 76 eligible films in October, foreign-language committee chairman Mark Johnson told Variety: "We take great pride in being flexible; we want to include movies, not reject them.

"But if they're ineligible, they're ineligible," he said.

US Space Walkers get Ready for Orbiting Lab Repairs

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two American astronauts are to step out Saturday on the first of three spacewalks to replace a broken cooling pump at the orbiting International Space Station.

The spacewalk is set to begin at 7:10 am (1210 GMT) and last six and a half hours, NASA said.

As the ISS spins around the Earth at a speed of five miles (eight kilometers) per second, veteran spacewalker Rick Mastracchio will lead the way, followed by Mike Hopkins, making his first venture outside the global research lab.




From the inside, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will operate the station's 50-foot (15-meter) robotic arm, hoisting Mastracchio and hefty equipment from one section of the lab to another.

"There are quite a bit of arm maneuvers throughout all of these EVAs so I'm sure Koichi will be getting a workout," said lead spacewalk officer Allison Bolinger, using the NASA acronym for spacewalk: extravehicular activity (EVA).

While Mastracchio, 53, soars around with his boots attached to a foot-plate on the robotic arm, Hopkins, 44, will be the designated free-floating astronaut of the day.

The men's first task is to disconnect the ammonia pump, which is about the size of a refrigerator.

On the second spacewalk, set for Monday, the astronauts are to remove the pump so it can be replaced with a spare that was already stowed at the ISS.

A third spacewalk is planned for Christmas Day, when the failed pump will be shuttled away and final installations made on its replacement.

However, there is a chance the astronauts will be able to complete all their work in two spacewalks, NASA has said.

If not, the Christmas Day outing would be the first since 1974, when a pair of NASA astronauts "stepped outside the Skylab space station to retrieve film from a telescope and photograph Comet Kohoutek," the US space agency said.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Profit Taking Pulls KSE-100 Index 143 Points Down







KARACHI: Profit taking at Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) on Wednesday took away some gains from previous sessions, as the benchmark KSE 100-share Index slipped 143 points to close at 24,445.
The trade volume stood strong at 200 million shares with scrips of 363 companies exchanging hands. Shares of 147 companies registered gains and 188 dropped while 28 closed at the opening rates.
KSE-30 Index finished the day 102 points down at 18,383.

Punjab University Debars 21 IJT Students For Two Weeks






LAHORE: The administration of Punjab University (PU) has debarred 21 students associated with Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) from entering classes for two weeks on charges of manhandling teachers and causing riots.
According to PU sources, the disciplinary committee handed down the above punishment to the students after receiving a letter of complaint from teachers.
The teachers had listed seven charges against the 21 students including sparking riots and manhandling teachers.
Most of these students are from the Law College and belong to IJT.

Supreme Court To Announce Decision On Raja Pervez Ashraf Uplift Schemes






 ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan will announce decision about the cases pertaining to uplift schemes initiated by former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday.
The Pervez Ashraf government had approved Rs52 billion uplift schemes in his last days of government.

Drone Attacks: KP CM, Cabinet To Protest Outside Parliament Today






PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervaiz Khattak along with provincial cabinet members will stage protest demonstration against drone attacks outside the parliament today (Thursday), Geo News reported.
According to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) spokesperson, CM Khyber Pukhtunkhwa with cabinet members will gather at D Chowk from where they will move to parliament house in the form of rally.
The Chief Minister and cabinet members will meet NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Khan and Opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah and would present a petition against drone attacks.

Supplies Continuing Through Other Routes: US


WASHINGTON: The US State Department said on Wednesday that supplies to Afghanistan were continuing through alternative routes.

The State Department said the US favours using Pakistani overland routes for retrograde movement of equipment out of Afghanistan and voiced the hope that the current situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with regard to the Torkham route will not have a long-term impact.

“We favour shipping cargo via Pakistan because of the cost. And hopefully, I don’t anticipate that there will be any long-term impact on our retrograde movement because of the current situation,” Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said at the daily briefing.
She was responding to a question about the viability of Pakistani Ground Lines for Communication (GLOCs) for US shipments of equipment as the US, currently moving cargo out of landlocked Afghanistan in view of the 2014 drawdown, temporarily suspended shipments through the Torkham Pass.

In answer to another question, the spokesperson said US Special Representative James Dobbins is visiting Afghanistan as part of his regular regional consultations.
Earlier, the US military suspended Nato shipments of equipment out of Afghanistan through Pakistan, citing protests that posed a risk to truck drivers, officials said.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

India Expands Nuclear Weapons Site: Think Tank



WASHINGTON: India has expanded a secretive site that could be used to enrich more uranium for nuclear weapons, a US think tank said Wednesday, citing satellite imagery.

The Institute for Science and International Security, a private group opposed to nuclear proliferation, said that India appeared to be finishing a second gas centrifuge facility at its Rare Materials Plant near the southern city of Mysore.

"This new facility could significantly increase India´s ability to produce highly enriched uranium for military purposes, including more powerful nuclear weapons," the institute said in a report that analyzed an image taken in April.

The institute said that India started building a second centrifuge plant near Mysore in 2010, but it was unclear whether it was a replacement for the first facility at the site or a supplement.

If it is a new facility, "India could have more than doubled its enrichment capacity, if the original building continues to function as an enrichment plant," it said.

India closely guards its nuclear sites and says little about them publicly. In the past, India has complained about footage of sensitive infrastructure taken by commercial satellite services such as Google Earth.

Indian officials have reportedly said that highly enriched uranium from Mysore would fuel its new nuclear-powered submarines. India´s nuclear weapons program has traditionally been based on plutonium, not uranium. (AFP)

Fast and Furious Star Died from Trauma, Thermal Injuries



LOS ANGELES: "Fast and Furious" star Paul Walker died of "traumatic and thermal injuries" in a fiery car crash, coroners said Wednesday, as the franchise's makers said they were shutting down production at least temporarily.

Walker, 40, was killed Saturday when he was in the passenger seat of a red Porsche sports car driven by his friend Roger Rodas in the Californian city of Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.

Rodas died of "multiple traumatic injuries," according to preliminary autopsy results, while Walker´s cause of death was listed as the "combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries."

The results of toxicology tests are still pending, and could take six to eight weeks, the LA County Coroner´s office said.

Meanwhile makers of the blockbuster film franchise announced they have shut down production of "Fast and Furious 7" following Walker´s death.

"Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul´s immediate family and our extended ´Fast & Furious´ family of cast, crew and filmmakers," said a statement cited by industry journal Variety.