First Look at Firefox 2 RC1 from CNET
Sep 27, 2006
Sep 26, 2006
Sep 22, 2006
stem cells are here in india... as expected
India to cure killer diseases from siliconindia.com
New Delhi: India will launch its first stem cell transplant center in Chennai, opening next month. Killer diseases like leukaemia, stroke, diabetes and crippling spinal cord injuries could now be treated in India only.
LifeCell, a pioneer in stem cell banking and research in India, in collaboration with the US-based Cryo-Cell Inc would be launching this center. The company has invested $4mn to set up the transplant center at the Sri Ramachandra Medical Center of Excellence, which will be fully operational by the end of this year.
"In India the concept of preserving the stem cell is gradually gaining momentum and the potential for this is huge," said Prasad Mangipudi, vice president of LifeCell.
"Stem Cell therapy is fast emerging as a revolutionary way to treat various diseases and injuries with wide ranging medical benefits," said Anthony Finch, who joined as Advisor to LifeCell, which is launching the country's first stem cell transplant centre.
Stem cell transplantation has been used for more than 30 years to treat a variety of cancers as also some types of solid tumors where other treatments have failed.
"Bone marrow cells are being used for transplants for the past 30 years. Its only in 1988 that the first cord blood transplant was done," informed Mangipudi.
Patients suffering from haematological and oncological ailments would be treated first using stem cells from various sources -- adult bone marrow, umblical cord blood and peripheral blood. The transplant centre would be operational by next month, Mangipudi said adding that he would like to wait for six months before venturing out on an expansion plan.
LifeCell currently offers umblical cord stem cells banking facilities and has about 4,000 subscribers. Stem Cells are undifferentiated cells that retain the ability to produce an identical copy of themselves when they divide and differentiate into other cell types. They have the ability to act as a repair system for the body replenishing other cells as long as the host organism is alive.
Stem cells, obtained from cord blood cells during childbirth, have the potential to cure over 75 diseases that humans face today as they can be used to repair specific tissues, according to researchers.
As for the future the company plans to open collection centers in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore. Their Dubai center would have its own collection bank while the Malaysian center would be their Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) hub.
Sep 20, 2006
they know when to change and what to change... Thailand's millatry coup
Thailand's military tightens grip from BBC
Martial law has been declared, with large gatherings of people and critical news reporting banned.
Mr Thaksin's deputy and chief aide, Chidchai Vanasathidya, has been taken into army custody.
Army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin said in a TV address that the coup was necessary to unite the country.
The military had no intention of holding onto power, he added.
The coup leaders have announced that regional army commanders will take charge of areas outside the capital, Bangkok.
...
In the capital Bangkok, tanks have cordoned off the government district. They have yellow ribbons tied around their barrels to signify loyalty to Thailand's revered king.
On the surface, Bangkok is functioning as normal, says the BBC's Kate McGeown there. The city's monorail system is packed with commuters, and cafes and street vendors are open for business.
Sep 13, 2006
Now that is something...
Samsung Develops Tiny 32 Gb Flash Chip
Samsung Electronics says it has developed the world’s first 40-nanometer 32-Gb Flash memory, which is just about the size of a thumbnail but able to store 1,000 MP3 music files. The president of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business Hwang Chang-gyu announced the next-generation of memory at a press conference in Seoul on Monday.
Have the politician succeeded in dividing the Indian youth???
Caste-based bias rampant in AIIMS from NDTV
On Tuesday, elections to the Resident doctors association saw all pro-reservation candidates withdraw just a day before polling leaving only one contestant per post.
"The elections polarised, a meeting was held by director where it was decided to hold elections, what was the hurry to hold elections, the atmosphere is quite charged up right now," said Dr Sunil Chumber, Vice Dean, AIIMS.
Fight to continue
Nevertheless, the administration declared the elections valid. And the doctors who have won say they will continue to fight caste-based quotas.
Pro-reservation students say the caste-based discrimination at AIIMS has become even uglier after the anti-quota agitation.
Reserved category students have vacated their rooms and are now restricted to just one block of the hostel.
For the first time about a week ago, 40 students complained to the Director. But so far, there's been no action.
What's worrying is that what happens at this premier medical college seems to set a precedent for the rest of the country.
Aug 31, 2006
Aug 24, 2006
Happiness
The world will never know my beauty..,
It is far too ignorant and blind to understand...
Or even see something so exalted.
I’ll love whomever I please, and
I have, and still do..
I’m broken but strong, knowing
I’ll never die by society’s hand- though
Its weight makes it harder to breathe...
So I walk on and I walk tall,
With every moment of pain displayed on my delicate skin..
A road map to what once was,
A place I never plan to venture.
I live for the moment alone,
Forget the future and the past,
They exist only in one’s mind.
I expect little but hope for the world,
Think small but dream big..
The world will never know my beauty,
For I could never be part of this world...
Unknown Poet
-- via license to dream
It is far too ignorant and blind to understand...
Or even see something so exalted.
I’ll love whomever I please, and
I have, and still do..
I’m broken but strong, knowing
I’ll never die by society’s hand- though
Its weight makes it harder to breathe...
So I walk on and I walk tall,
With every moment of pain displayed on my delicate skin..
A road map to what once was,
A place I never plan to venture.
I live for the moment alone,
Forget the future and the past,
They exist only in one’s mind.
I expect little but hope for the world,
Think small but dream big..
The world will never know my beauty,
For I could never be part of this world...
Unknown Poet
-- via license to dream
Intersting...
Nuclear deal: the untold story from The Hindu
This means that the just passed nuclear agreement will reflect the interests of the U.S. energy industry, of the nuclear industry in particular. The details of the proposed deal, when reduced to basics, seem to bear this out. While the agreement is complex, one feature stands out: it calls on India to stop its thorium based research and development in exchange for uranium based technology and fuel (uranium) to be supplied by the United States. There is a great deal of verbiage about inspection and proliferation, but these are not central to the deal. It is best to focus on the central theme, which is `yes' to uranium and `no' to thorium.
It is this exchange that has the Indian scientific community up in arms against the deal. They fully realise that by agreeing to this deal India will be sacrificing its unique capability while relying on American businesses to supply its future non-fossil energy needs. India has substantial thorium reserves but little uranium. India also has outstanding technical capability in building reactors based on the thorium cycle, as good as any in the world. But the Indian political-bureaucratic establishment does not trust its own scientific talent. Western lobbyists, in the U.S. in particular, seem to have played on this Indian weakness to press a deal that is disadvantageous to India's long-term energy interests.
Please tell me there is a better reason for not being worried abt the N-Treaty...
Manmohan: I have Bush's assurance from The Hindu
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that United States President George W. Bush had assured him that he did not intend shifting the goalposts of the July 2005 civilian nuclear agreement. However, if extraneous elements, not envisaged in the agreement, found their way into it, we would draw "appropriate conclusions," Dr. Singh said.
The U.S. Congressional process was not yet over and he could not predict what would emerge. "If it goes in a direction that hurts us, we will draw appropriate conclusions and will do nothing that will compromise the scope of our strategic programme, which will be determined by the people, the Government and Parliament," he said in a 40-minute reply to a discussion on the agreement.
Aug 23, 2006
Quotes
Success in marriage does not come merely through finding the right mate, but through being the right mate.
-- Barnett R. Brickner
What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.
-- George Levinger
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
-- Rita Rudner
-- Barnett R. Brickner
What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.
-- George Levinger
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
-- Rita Rudner