RAKHI OR RAKSHA BANDHAN

TODAY 24TH AUGUST 2010 IS THE LOVING FESTIVAL OF RAKHI OR RAKSHA BANDHAN

Rakhi festival also called Raksha Bandhan is being celebrated over whole country today. Rakbhi Falls on every SHravan Purnima and considered as one of the biggest festivals of India.

Rakhi: The Thread of Love

In India, festivals are the celebration of togetherness, of being one of the family. Raksha Bandhan is one such festival that is all about affection, fraternity and sublime sentiments. It is also known as Raksha Bandhan which means a 'bond of protection'. This is an occasion to flourish love, care, affection and sacred feeling of brotherhood.

Not a single festival in India is complete without the typical Indian festivities, the gatherings, celebrations, exchange of sweets and gifts, lots of noise, singing and dancing. Raksha Bandhan is a regional celebration to celebrate the sacred relation between brothers and sisters. Primarily, this festival belongs to north and western region of India but soon the world has started celebrating this festival with the same verse and spirit. Rakhi has become an integral part of those customs.
Raksha Bandhan in History

The traditional Hindu festival 'Raksha Bandhan' (knot of protection) was came into origin about 6000 years back when Aryans created first civilization - The Indus Valley Civilization. With many languages and cultures, the traditional method to Rakhi festival celebration differs from place to place across India. Following are some historical evidences of Raksha Bandhan celebration from the Indian history.
Meaning & Significance of Raksha Bandhan
The Meaning of Raksha Bandhan

Relationships are the essence of any festivity and it holds true for any Indian festival. Each occasion brings the family together which calls for a celebration. Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of one such relation - that of a brother and a sister. This relationship is no where so celebrated as in India. Raksha Bandhan is a festival which celebrates the bond of affection between brothers and sisters. It is a day when siblings pray for each others' well being and wish for each others' happiness and goodwill.

The name 'Raksha Bandhan' suggests 'a bond of protection'. On this auspicious day, brothers make a promise to their sisters to protect them from all harms and troubles and the sisters pray to God to protect their brother from all evil. The festival falls on the Shravan Purnima which comes generally in the month of August. Sisters tie the silk thread called Rakhi on their brother's wrist and pray for their well being and brothers promise to take care of their sisters.
The Significance

Raksha Bandhan is now considered as a day to celebrate the sacred relation of a brother and a sister. Yet there have been examples in history where in rakhi has just been a raksha or protection. It could be tied by wife, a daughter or mother. The Rishis tied rakhi to the people who came seeking their blessings. The sages tied the sacred thread to themselves to safe guard them from the evil. It is by all means the 'Papa Todak, Punya Pradayak Parva' or the day that bestows boons and end all sins as it is mentioned in the scriptures.

Previously, Rakhi festival encompasses the warmth shared between the siblings but now it goes way beyond it. Some people tie Rakhi to neighbours and close friends signifying a peaceful co-existence of every individual. Rakhi Utsav was first popularized by Rabindranath Tagore to promote the feeling of unity and a commitment to all members of society to protect each other and encourage a harmonious Social life.

In today's scenario, the day has a different perspective. The occasion involves a pledge of life-time practice of moral, cultural and spiritual values. The values and the sentiments attached to the rituals of this festival are worth inculcating by the whole human race, the sentiments of harmony and peaceful coexistence. The festival of Raksha Bandhan assumes all forms of Raksha or protection, of righteousness and destroyer of all sin. The ritual of Rakhi tying has become so important that come what may, brothers and sisters try to visit each other place on this particular day tin order to bring back the oneness of the family, binding the family together in an emotional bond of love.

A Brother Just Like You

I just want to let you know
You mean the world to me
Only a heart as dear as yours
Would give so unselfishly

The many things you've done
All the times that you were there
Help me know deep down inside
How much you really care

Even though I might not say
I appreciate all you do
Richly blessed is how I feel
Having a brother just like you.

  

Shilpa Shetty's Yoga Video

Watch full video of Shilpa's yoga  (click here)

Short documentary on bhopal gas tragedy

Bhoapal gas tragedy

Bhopal Gas tragedy: A chronology of events

After 26 years of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial disaster, the court today held all the eight accused guilty.

Following is the chronology of the events:

December 3, 1984: Toxic methyl isocyanate gas releases from Union Carbide India Ltd’s (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal killing about 15,000 people and injuring at least five lakh others. Millions were left sick and the affected passed on the harmful effects of the gas to the next generations.

December 4, 1984: Warren Anderson, the chairman of Union Carbide, is among nine people arrested. But he was freed on bail of $ 2,000, upon a promise to return. Union Carbide is named as the 10th accused in a criminal case charged with culpable homicide.

February, 1985: Indian government files claim for $ 3.3 billion from Union Carbide in a US court.

1986: US District Court judge transfers all Bhopal litigation to India.

December 1987: CBI files chargesheet against Warren Anderson and other accused, including UCC (USA), Union Carbide (Eastern) Hong Kong, and UCIL. Summons served on Anderson and UCC on charges of culpable homicide.

February 1989: CJM, Bhopal, issues non-bailable warrant of arrest against Warren Anderson for repeatedly ignoring summons.

February 1989: Indian government and Union Carbide strike an out-of-court deal and compensation of $ 470 million is given by Union Carbide.

February - March 1989: Public protest against the unjust settlement followed by filing of a number of review and writ petitions against the settlement in the Supreme Court by the Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sangatan (BGPMUS), the Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangarsh Sahayog Samiti (BGPSSS) and other concerned groups.

1992: Part of $ 470 million is disbursed by the government among Bhopal gas victims.

February 1992: Anderson declared fugitive by law for ignoring court summons.

November 1994: Despite numerous petitions by survivors’ groups, the Supreme Court allows Union Carbide to sell stake in UCIL to McLeod Russell (India) Ltd of Calcutta.

September 1996: Supreme Court dilutes charges against Indian officials of Union Carbide India Limited -subsidiary, majority owned by Union Carbide Corporation [UCC] - partly on grounds that culpability lies with UCC.

August 1999: Union Carbide announces merger with US-based Dow Chemicals.

November 1999: International environment watchdog Greenpeace tests soil, groundwater and wells in and around the derelict Union Carbide factory and finds 12 volatile organic chemicals and mercury in quantities up to six million times higher than expected.

November 1999: Several victims and survivors’ organisations file an action suit against Union Carbide and its former CEO, Warren Anderson, in federal court of New York, charging Carbide with violating international human rights law, environmental law, and international criminal law.

February 2001: Union Carbide refuses to take responsibility for UCIL’s liabilities in India.

January 2002: A study by Srishti and Toxics Links finds lead and mercury in breast milk of nursing mothers in communities near the plant.

June 2002: Bhopal gas tragedy survivors launch a protest in New Delhi when they hear the Indian government plans to drop charges against Anderson.

August 2002: Charges of culpable homicide are maintained against Anderson by Indian court, which demands his extradition to stand trial. Meanwhile, a British newspaper reports that Anderson is in New York after US authorities say they are unable to locate him.

October 2002: Protests to clean up former UCIL factory site in Bhopal that activists say contains thousands of tonnes of toxic waste.

May 2003: The Indian government formally conveys its request for extradition of Anderson to the US.

March 2004: A US court says it could order Dow Chemicals to clean soil and ground water in the abandoned factory site if the Indian government provides a no objection certificate. The Indian government forwards the certificate to the United States.

June 2004: The US rejects India’s request for extradition of Anderson saying the request does not “meet requirements of certain provisions” of the bilateral extradition treaty.

July 19, 2004: India’s Supreme Court orders the Central Bank to pay out more than 15 billion rupees, part of the original $ 470 million received as compensation kept in the account since 1992.

October 25, 2004: Bhopal gas victims protest the failure of the government to pay victim’s compensation.

October 26, 2004: India’s Supreme Court sets deadline of November 15 to pay out the rest of $ 470 million paid by Union Carbide as compensation.

June 7, 2010: All eight accused, including the then Chairman of Union Carbide Keshub Mahindra, in the Bhopal Gas disaster case convicted by a court.

Source: The Hindu (New Delhi)

Bhoapal gas tragedy

Bhopal Gas Tragedy Case Study Pictures’ For More Updates’ bhopal, bhopal gas tragedy case study, bhopal gas tragedy pictures, warren anderson, union carbide. Bhopal, June 7 – Over 25 years after a gas leak from the Union Carbide plant on the night of Dec 2-3, 1984, killed thousands of people, all eight accused in the case were Monday held guilty by a local court.

The gas mishap caused death of at least 4,000 people who died due to the leak of methyl isocyanate which is a harmful pesticide chemical from the plant in Bhopal in 1984. Amongst the eight is Warren Anderson, former chairman ofUnion Carbide Corporation, US, who is absconding. Manmohan Singh last year called the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 as a “tragedy of neglect.”

For more details please click here

Let us do something for disabled children

Structure of Immune Molecule That Counteracts HIV Strains Determined

In findings that contribute to efforts to design an AIDS vaccine, a team led by Scripps Research Institute scientists has determined the structure of an immune system antibody molecule that effectively acts against most strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS.

The study, which is being published in an advance, online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) during the week of June 1, 2010, illuminates an unusual human antibody called PG16. 

"This study advances the overall goal of how to design an HIV vaccine," said Scripps Research Professor Ian Wilson, who led the team with Dennis Burton, Scripps Research professor and scientific director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Neutralizing Antibody Center at Scripps Research. "This antibody is highly effective in neutralizing HIV-1 and has evolved novel features to combat the virus."

The new study reveals the structure of an unusual human antibody against HIV called PG16. (Credit: Image courtesy of Scripps Research Institute)

For detailed story please click on the following link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100601171846.htm

Email Formatting Issue

Email Formatting Issue

JCVI: First Self-Replicating, Synthetic Bacterial Cell Constructed by J. Craig Venter Institute Researchers

JCVI: First Self-Replicating, Synthetic Bacterial Cell Constructed by J. Craig Venter Institute Researchers

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PhD Admissions

INSTITUTE OF MICROBIAL TECHNOLOGY (IMTECH)

(Council of Scientific & Industrial Research)

 Sector 39-A, Chandigarh-160 036

Director, Institute of Microbial Technology, invites exceptionally motivated candidates who have passed M.Sc. and cleared CSIR/UGC NET, DBT JRF examination (A Category), or ICMR JRF examination (NOT THE NET LECTURESHIP OR THOSE SELECTED FOR WORKING IN ICMR PROJECTS ONLY) to appear for a walk-in interview on July 14, 2010, (Reporting Time 9.00 a.m. to 12 noon; kindly confirm your presence by e-mail at phd@imtech.res.in This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) for pursuing doctoral research at IMTECH under the aegis of the Ph. D degree program being jointly run by IMTECH and the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. For details please click here.

For other university and colleges admission dates and notification please click http://www.admissiondates.com/Tags/phd-admission  

A Tribute to Manglore Aircrash Victims

It was very shocking news for me. May God help their family and make them strong enough.

Please click here to see more pictures.

How did the plane crash in Mangalore?

Neandertal genome yields evidence of interbreeding with humans

 

After years of looking, geneticists are shocked to find a link

Some people don’t just have a caveman mentality; they may actually carry a little relic of the Stone Age in their DNA.
A new study of the Neandertal genome shows that humans and Neandertals interbred. The discovery comes as a big surprise to researchers who have been searching for genetic evidence of human-Neandertal interbreeding for years and finding none.
About 1 percent to 4 percent of DNA in modern people from Europe and Asia was inherited from Neandertals, researchers report in the May 7 Science. “It’s a small, but very real proportion of our ancestry,” says study coauthor David Reich of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. Comparisons of the human and Neandertal genomes are also revealing how humans evolved to become the sole living hominid species on the planet.

 These three fragments of Neandertal bones yielded the first DNA evidence of human-Neandertal interbreeding.

Neandertals lived in Europe, the Middle East and western Asia until they disappeared about 30,000 years ago. The new data indicate that humans may not have replaced Neandertals, but assimilated them into the human gene pool.

“Neandertals are not totally extinct; they live on in some of us,” says Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and leader of the Neandertal genome project.

He and other geneticists involved in the effort to compile the complete genetic instruction book of Neandertals didn’t expect to find that Neandertals had left a genetic legacy. Earlier analyses that looked at only a small part of the genome had contradicted the notion that humans and Neandertals intermixed (SN Online: 8/7/08).
“We as a consortium came into this with a very, very strong bias against gene flow,” Reich says. In fact, when he and his colleagues announced the completion of a rough draft of the Neandertal genome a year ago, the researchers said such genetic exchange was unlikely (SN: 3/14/09, p. 5).

But several independent lines of evidence now convince the researchers that humans and Neandertals did interbreed. “The breakthrough here is to show that it could happen and it did happen,” Pääbo says.

The result came as no surprise to some scientists, however. Archaeologists have described ancient skeletons from Europe that had characteristics of both early modern humans and Neandertals; evidence, the researchers say, of interbreeding between the two groups. But until the cataloging of the entire Neanderthal genome, genetic studies could find no evidence to support the idea.

“After all these years the geneticists are coming to the same conclusions that some of us in the field of archaeology and human paleontology have had for a long time,” says João Zilhão, an archaeologist and paleoanthropologist at the University of Bristol in England. “What can I say? If the geneticists come to this same conclusion, that’s to be expected.”

Researchers recreated the Neandertal’s genetic blueprints using DNA extracted from three bone fragments — each from a different Neandertal woman — found in a cave in Croatia.

Comparing the resulting blueprints of the female Neandertals, who lived about 40,000 years ago, with those of five present-day humans from China, France, Papua New Guinea and southern and western Africa, revealed that people outside of Africa carry Neandertal DNA.

Scientists were surprised to find that people from China and Papua New Guinea (places where Neandertals never lived) have just as much Neandertal ancestry as people from France. The group did not find traces of Neandertal heritage in the two African people studied. The result probably means that interbreeding between Neandertals and humans took place about 50,000 to 80,000 years ago in the Middle East as humans began migrating out of Africa to colonize the rest of the world, Reich says.

It is not clear how extensive interbreeding was; the data are consistent with either a short period with a great deal of interbreeding or with a long period of little interbreeding, says Richard E. (Ed) Green, a genome biologist now at the University of California Santa Cruz and a coauthor of the new study.

Comparison of the Neandertal genome to human and chimpanzee genetic sequences have led to some clues about recent human evolution. Neandertals “were not genetically very distinct from us,” says Pääbo. For example, the researchers were able to find only 78 proteins in which humans carry a different amino acid than is found in Neandertals and chimpanzees. That means that few changes in proteins have taken place in the past few hundred thousand years of human evolution. Researchers don’t know yet whether the changes in the proteins alter their function or give humans some survival advantage.

But some parts of the human genome clearly do produce an evolutionary advantage, the researchers say. Again, the team compared the human genome to those of Neandertals and chimpanzees and identified places where humans differ. If nothing of importance had happened in human evolution since humans and Neandertals diverged, such changes would be spread evenly across the genome, Green says. Instead, the researchers found large swaths of the genome where humans have distinct changes not found in Neandertals or chimpanzees. The team identified 212 such regions where “selective sweeps” were likely to have happened, many of which include genes involved in brain function. The researchers don’t yet know what the changes are or how they produce a selective advantage.

“These data are really a goldmine for understanding recent human evolution,” Green says.

Since humans and Neandertals could interbreed, some people question whether the two groups are different hominid species. The question doesn’t hold interest for John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Genealogically, he says, the new study shows that many humans had a Neandertal great-great-great-great … grandfather.  “It’s impossible to talk about them as ‘them’ anymore,” he says. “Neandertals are us.”

Source: Science News (May 6th 2010)

New Nerve Cells -- Even in Old Age

Yes, Researchers Find Different Types of Stem Cells in the Brains of Mature and Old Mice. 

After birth the brain loses many nerve cells and this continues throughout life -- most neurons are formed before birth, after which many excess neurons degenerate. However, there are some cells that are still capable of division in old age -- in the brains of mice, at least. According to scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, different types of neuronal stem cells exist that can create new neurons. While they divide continuously and create new neurons in young animals, a large proportion of the cells in older animals persist in a state of dormancy. However, the production of new cells can be reactivated, for example, through physical activity or epileptic seizures. What happens in mice could also be applicable to humans as neurons that are capable of dividing also occur in the human brain into adulthood.

Different types of stem cells in the brain of mature mice. (Credit: Verdon Taylor (from: Lugert et al., Cell Stem Cell, May 7th, 2010))

The research is published in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

You can't teach an old dog new tricks. The corresponding view that the brain loses learning and memory capacity with advancing age prevailed for a long time. However, neuronal stem cells exist in the hippocampus -- a region of the brain that plays a central role in learning and memory functions -- that can produce new nerve cells throughout life. It is known from tests on mice that the newly formed cells are integrated into the existing networks and play an important role in the learning capacity of animals. Nonetheless, the formation of new cells declines with age and the reasons for this were unknown up to now.

Together with colleagues from Dresden and Munich, the Freiburg researchers have now succeeded in explaining for the first time why fewer new neurons are formed in the adult mouse brain. They managed to identify different populations of neuronal stem cells, thereby demonstrating that the hippocampus has active and dormant or inactive neuronal stem cells. "In young mice, the stem cells divide four times more frequently than in older animals. However, the number of cells in older animals is only slightly lower. Therefore, neuronal stem cells do not disappear with age but are kept in reserve," explains Verdon Taylor from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology.

The precise factors that influence the reactivation of dormant stem cells are not yet clear. The cells can, however, be stimulated to divide again. The scientists observed more newborn hippocampal neurons in physically active mice than in their inactive counterparts. "Consequently, running promotes the formation of new neurons," says Verdon Taylor. Pathological brain activity, for example that which occurs during epileptic seizures, also triggers the division of the neuronal stem cells.

Horizontal and radial stem cells
The different stem cell populations are easy to distinguish under the microscope. The first group comprises cells which lie perpendicular to the surface of the hippocampus. Most of these radial stem cells are dormant. As opposed to this, over 80% of the cells in the group of horizontal stem cells -- cells whose orientation runs parallel to the hippocampus surface -- continuously form new cells; the remaining 20% are dormant but sporadically become activated. The activity of genes such as Notch, RBP-J and Sox2 is common to all of the cells.
Radial and horizontal stem cells differ not only in their arrangement, apparently they also react to different stimuli. When the animals are physically active, some radial stem cells abandon their dormant state and begin to divide, while this has little influence on the horizontal stem cells. The result is that more radial stem cells divide in active mice. The horizontal stem cells, in contrast, are also influenced by epileptic seizures.

It would appear that neuronal stem cells are not only found in the brains of mice. The presence of neurons that are formed over the course of life has also been demonstrated in the human hippocamus. Therefore, scientists suspect that different types of active and inactive stem cells also arise in the human brain. It is possible that inactive stem cells in humans can also be activated in a similar way to inactive stem cells in mice. "There are indicators that the excessive formation of new neurons plays a role in epilepsy. The use of neuronal brain stem cells in the treatment of brain injuries or degenerative diseases like Alzheimers may also be possible one day," hopes Verdon Taylor.


Source: ScienceDaily (May 9, 2010)
 

Mother's Day

The history of Mother’s Day is centuries old and goes back to the times of ancient Greeks, who held festivities to honour Rhea, the mother of the Gods. The early Christians celebrated the Mother’s festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honour Mary, the mother of Christ.

Interestingly, later on, a religious order stretched the holiday to include all mothers, and named it the Mothering Sunday. The English colonists settled in America and discontinued the tradition of Mothering Sunday because of lack of time.

In 1872 Julia Ward Howe organised a day for mothers dedicated to peace. It is a landmark in the history of Mother’s Day.
In 1907, Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), a Philadelphia schoolteacher, began a movement to set up a national Mother’s Day in honour of her   mother, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis. She solicited the help of hundreds of legislators and prominent businessmen to create a special day to honour mothers.

The first Mother’s Day observance was a church service honouring Anna’s mother. Her hard work finally paid off in 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as a national holiday in honour of mothers.

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It is my Birthday today: 8th May

Housefull: Movie Review

Story: 
Housefull is a romantic comedy about a man named Aarush, played by Akshay Kumar; he is the unluckiest man in the world when it comes to love.
Aarush believes his bad luck can vanish if he finds true love. In his quest for true love one lie leads to another and different people from different walks of life come together, adding even more confusion to this hilarious comedy of total chaos and mayhem.
As his co-star Deepika Padukone tells Akshay in the film: 'jis jhooth se kissi ka ghar basta ho, voh jhooth jhooth nahin hota.' Aarush ends up in these crazy situations because he has been hiding a deep secret; he actually has three wives! His first wife Sandy, played by Deepika Padukone, has always wanted to be in love, but thinks it only happens in fairy tales. His second wife Heetal, played by Lara Dutta, loves her husband so much that she feels as if she is living a fairy tale, while Devika, played by Jiah Khan, is a simple old-fashioned small-town girl.
No one knows about Aarush's secret except his best friend Bob, portrayed by Ritesh Deshmukh, who is as close as only a brother can be to Aarush. Aarush and Bob face a dilemma when Aarush's wives express that they want to move in with Aarush.
Aarush agrees to his wives' requests, but has to figure out a way to avoid that they find out what's going on, which is nearly impossible since they all live under one roof.
However, Sandy finds out and tells everything to her big brother Krishna, played by Arjun Rampal. Krishna goes to Aarush and finishes his whole game.