Archive for March, 2008

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Discovery to bring in channel for DTH

Monday, March 31st, 2008
Nearly 13 years after launching in India, Discovery Communications may soon bring in a fourth channel exclusively for the direct-to-home (DTH) platform. Discovery Communications India currently has three niche offerings – Discovery Channel, Discovery Travel & Living and Animal Planet. Discovery Networks India Executive Vice-President and MD Deepak Shourie said that the DTH platform has been able to quickly penetrate cable homes by reaching out to 5 million subscribers within a couple of years. “We have a host of offerings at Discovery Communications and we may bring in a channel for the DTH platform exclusively this year,” Shourie told Business Standard at the launch of the Hindi feed of Animal Planet. Discovery Communications globally offers channels such as Discovery Health, Military Channel, TLC, Science Channel, Investigation Discovery among others. The group might bring in one of these channels for the DTH platform, sources indicated. Currently, only BBC Worldwide offers two channels (BBC Entertainment & CBeebies) exclusively for Tata Sky. Apart from Dish TV and Tata Sky, the two private DTH operators currently offering their services to 5 million subscribers, four more DTH entrants are scheduled to launch their services this year, fuelling the demand for exclusive channels for DTH. Discovery Networks India has decided to air Animal Planet with Hindi feed after the Discovery Channel. This move is aimed at attracting more advertisers as the Hindi feed will cater to viewers with different profile as against the viewers of English language Discovery and Animal Planet channels. Shourie termed the partial roll-out of conditional access system (CAS) in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata as a complete failure. “The government should first take stock of the situation arising out of the CAS failure before extending it further. With DTH services likely to become cheaper once more entrants start their services, viewers will prefer DTH over cable,” The niche television entertainment genre is currently dominated by the three Discovery channels that directly compete with National Geographic and History Channel, its rivals. According to industry sources, the niche television entertainment genre is worth about Rs 110-120 crore with Discover Networks having a major share. Discovery Communications reaches 1.5 billion cumulative subscribers across 170 countries led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, HD Theater among other offerings. Discovery Communications is owned by Discovery Holding Company, Advance/Newhouse Communications and John S Hendricks, Discovery’s founder and chairman. source: google news http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com Tags:

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Clinton takes hit in new poll on White House race

Thursday, March 27th, 2008
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s positive rating has dropped to a new low of 37 percent in an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on Wednesday. According to the poll, the New York senator’s positive rating slid 8 percentage points in two weeks and she had a negative rating of 48 percent in a week where she admitted making a mistake in claiming she had come under sniper fire during a 1996 trip to Bosnia. Clinton’s Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, also saw a slight dip in his positive rating, to 49 percent from 51 percent, the poll found. Clinton, who would be the first female U.S. president, and Obama, who would be the first black president, are in a heated battle for the Democratic nomination to face presumptive Republican nominee John McCain in November’s election. The survey was taken after Obama gave a speech last week on race in America and rejected racially charged remarks by his pastor in Chicago of two decades, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. NBC said 32 percent of respondents said Obama “sufficiently addressed the issue” and 26 percent said he needed to say more about the Wright controversy. More than half of those surveyed — 55 percent — said they were “disturbed” by the videos of Wright that were widely circulated on television and the Internet, the poll found. In head-to-head matchups, Obama and Clinton were even at 45 percent. In general election matchups, Obama led McCain by 44 percent to 42 percent and McCain led Clinton by 46 percent to 44 percent. When asked which candidate could unite the country if elected, 60 percent said Obama, 58 percent said McCain and 46 percent said Clinton. The poll of 700 registered voters was conducted on Monday and Tuesday and had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points. NBC said its pollsters oversampled African-Americans to get a more reliable cross tabulation on questions regarding Obama’s speech on race. source: google news http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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Orissa doctors on restive

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
Homoeopathy, ayurvedic and veterinary doctors as well as staff nurses went on astrike. on sundy junior doctor’s also companied them. Strike took place for the Increase in their salaries as per allopathic doctors.One week notice is already been given to the state government by the veterinarians but ayurvedic doctors straight away went on strike on 28 March midnight. Crucial services during recent cholea outbreak were outlooked by the State Government In a related development, the Orissa Nursing Employees Association announced its decision to go on mass strike from March 27. Orissa Veterinary Association (OVA) president Ramakanta Mohapatra said the State government recently extended the 5th Pay Commission recommended to medical officers. “When the same commission emphasised on equal pay for both the disciplines and almost all the States have adhered to the norm, the State government has not implemented the recommendations in spite of several appeals by the association,”

Describing the critical role being played by vets, OVA General Secretary Muktikanta Bhuyan warned, if governement does not act till the deadline given by the veterinarians, not only withdraw from the bird flu monitoring and prevention activities and stop producing vaccines but also paralyse hospital operations. A strength of 1104 vets who claim to be responsible for controlling diseases communicable to man from animal and birds and vice versa like anthrax, bird flu, brucellosis and rabies. Moreover, they threatened to halt vaccine production at the Orissa Biological Products Limited. The spate of threats came following Naveen Patnaik government’s succumbing to the mass resignation threat made by the Orissa Medical Services Association (OMSA). http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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Parikson’s treatment in mice by cloned cells

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
To treat Parkinson’s disease the cloned embryonic cells of the mice were used. Work  of cloned   cells were better than the original one. Cloned cells taken from the other mice were far more destructive than the mouse own cloned cells. When we do this in mice, matched cells are not transplanted in them. By demonstration we suspected that genetically matched tissue worked better. Non-Matched brain cells did  more poorly then the mice cloned cells.  
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Red Wine May Prevent High Blood Pressure in Older Women?

Monday, March 24th, 2008
Further evidence that red wine may be beneficial for the heart has emerged in the form of a Spanish study, which says polyphenols found in red wine help keep blood vessels healthy and prevent high blood pressure Older women who are postmenopausal are naturally prone to high blood pressure because of the paucity of female sex hormones. Estrogen especially keeps the lining of the lining of the blood vessels smooth. After menopause estrogen levels decline leading to high blood pressure or hypertension. Earlier studies have highlighted the usefulness of red wine in preserving heart health, but very few have focused on older women. The compound reservatol found in red wine is thought to be useful in protecting from heart disease. It is speculated that polyphenols found in red win exert estrogenic effects on blood vessels. In the current study, which appears in the latest issue of the journal Hypertension, researchers from University of Granada and the University Complutense of Madrid, used female rat models to gauge the effect of polyphenols on hypertension. The female rats were engineered to have menopause as well as hypertension. Half the rats were given the beneficial red wine polyphenols along with their normal diet, while the rest were treated as a control group. After five weeks, the blood pressure of female rats treated with red wine polyphenols was at least 9 percent lower than the control group. “All these results suggest that a chronic treatment with RWPs reduces hypertension. and vascular dysfunction through reduction in vascular oxidative stress in female SHR in a manner independent of the ovarian function,” the authors led by Rocío Lopez-Sepulveda wrote. Polyphenols are thought to be important nutrients for human health especially in combating oxidative stress, which is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. Dietary sources of polyphenols include apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, grapes, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, celery, onion and parsley. Polyphenols are also found in red wine, chocolate and green tea. source: google news http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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Foreign medical studies in india

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
India recognises medical degrees of many other countries like Myanmar, Italy, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Japan, and Hong Kong. Now, government will be recognising the medical degrees of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. However, these degrees will be recognised on condition that they are recognised in the country from where it is obtained for enrolment of medical practitioners. Under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 on March 10 a notification to this effect was issued. According to the Medical Council of India (MCI), the total number of registered allopathic doctors in the country is 6,83,582 with the population ratio working out to 1:1634. In addition, there are more than 6 lakh practitioners of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy in the country. There are 271 medical colleges in the country, out of which 138 are in the government sector and the remaining 133 in the private sector. The MBBS students’ intake capacity of these colleges is about 31,172 and the number of seats available in various post-graduate medical courses is approximately 11,005 annually. The Centre has decided to give recognition to acclaimed postgraduate medical degrees awarded in English speaking countries. This will not only facilitate Indian students to pursue their PG medical studies in these foreign countries but will also make them eligible to practise medicine in specialised fields back in India. In addition, there are many Indian citizens who are living abroad, possessing these foreign postgraduate medical degrees and are willing to return to India. Recognition of these degrees has now cleared the way for these Indians to come back and pursue their medical profession. http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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Court Hands Setback to Microsoft

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
Microsoft defeated in washigton supreme court. As, suit was brought up by Novell, which is being proved in court papers. Microsoft “deliberatedly targeted and destroyed” its Word Perfect and Quatropro pograms to safe its Window Operating System Monopoly. Word Perfect and Quatropro pograms had been sold to Corel Corporation by Novell in 1996.   http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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Protein ‘reverses eye diseases’

Monday, March 17th, 2008
A drug to tackle two of the leading causes of blindness is a step closer after successful experiments in mice. Activating a specific protein in the eyes prevented blood vessel damage which can cause sight loss. The research has implications for macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy - two common conditions associated with blood vessel problems. The University of Utah study, published in Nature Medicine, could also provide clues for treating other diseases. Both of the types of eye problems are common in older people, and involve both leakage of blood vessels within the eye, and the formation of abnormal new blood vessels. Researchers had already identified a protein called Robo4, which appeared to play an important role in the development of stable, working blood vessels. The proteins were activated in mice bred to mimic the effects of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy. The scientists saw that the blood vessel damage was prevented, or in some cases, reversed. While this does not prove that the same principle works in humans, or that a drug could be developed to harness this without side-effects, the researchers described the work as a “major breakthrough”. Professor Randall Olson, director of Utah’s John A Moran Eye Center, said: “We are excited about taking this opening and moving the frontier forward with real hope for patients who have but few, often disappointing options.” The scientists believe that it will still take some years before a working drug can be provided for patients. Dr Hemin Chin, from the US National Eye Institute, said: “Given that vascular eye diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, are the number one cause of vision loss in the US, the identification of new signalling pathways that prevent abnormal vessel growth and leakage in the eye represents a major scientific advancement.” Cancer hope However, researchers in other fields are excited by the possibilities offered by Robo4. The damage caused by many other conditions, including serious infections such as SARS, are the result of damage to blood vessels. Cancer scientists are already investigating ways to use the protein presence on the surface of tumours to help target drugs. Among those is Professor Roy Bicknell, from the University of Birmingham, who was one of those who discovered the Robo4 gene in humans in the 1990s, originally naming it the “Magic Roundabout” gene. He said he was “very excited” by the research: “If this can really fix these eye conditions, then it is a big achievement. “I thought when I found this that this was going to be really big, and that appears to be the case.”   source: google news http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com http//blogs.mindbodynsoul.com Tags:

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Aslam criticises Aiyar, seeks PM help to save Indian hockey

Friday, March 14th, 2008
An angry hockey great and former Parliamentarian Aslam Sher Khan on Friday criticised Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar for refusing to take action against IHF Chief KPS Gill and said MPs would seek the Prime Minister’s intervention to revive hockey in the country. Aslam, who was a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team, has launched a campaign to remove Indian Hockey Federation President Gill and save the game by obtaining signatures of over 100 Member of Parliaments on a memorandum addressed to PM Manmohan Singh. “Government should look after proper utilisation of the facilities they provide like infrastructure, coaches and funds to the Federation. The Government also gives permission to teams for their foreign visits. Aiyar can’t bail himself out of the situation,” The MPs are agitated because of the country’s failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympic Games and as a result Indian team would not be a part of the sporting extravaganza for the first time in 80 years. “The MPs are very angry and want me to do something in order to save hockey and remove Gill. All senior and new MPs have come together and I have collected signatures of around 100 members and the memorandum will be signed on Monday or Tuesday. The number of supporting MPs could go up to 200,” Aslam said. source: google news http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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LS notice to Sena chief on Bihar remark

Thursday, March 13th, 2008
The Lok Sabha secretariat has sent a notice to Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray seeking his explanation about the ‘disparaging’ remarks made by him on the MPs from Bihar during the course of a media interview. After some of the MPs made clear their intention to move the House privileges panel for action against the Sena chief, the LS secretariat, as the first step, wrote to Thackeray for his response. Sources said Thackeray’s reply would be placed before Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who had the authority to decide whether the remarks of the Sena supremo in his party’s mouthpiece Saamna amounted to a breach of privilege case. The privileges committee would initiate proceedings against Thackeray depending on the Speaker’s opinion. As is the practice, Thackeray has been given a timeframe to write back to the Lok Sabha secretariat explaining his remarks. While Lok Sabha has almost unbridled powers with regard to breach of privilege cases, it may have to calibrate its moves on the Thackeray issue. The Sena chief is not fond of the Capital. He has never visited the city, and may not relish the prospect of having to come here to defend himself — as Ronen Sen, ambassdor to US, had to do — before a group of MPs many of whom are not fond of his brand of politics. source: google news http://blogs.mindbodynsoul.com http://www.currentnewsaffairs.com Tags:

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