Fire breaks out in Sharjah Industrial Area

 Photo courtesy: http://gulfnews.com

Abu Dhabi:  A large fire broke out near the National Paints Roundabout in Sharjah in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“The blaze is believed to have started in a warehouse in Sharjah Industrial Area at 7 a.m on Saturday morning,” Gulf News daily reported.

Fire breaks out in Sharjah Industrial Area

 Photo courtesy: http://gulfnews.com

Abu Dhabi:  A large fire broke out near the National Paints Roundabout in Sharjah in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“The blaze is believed to have started in a warehouse in Sharjah Industrial Area at 7 a.m on Saturday morning,” Gulf News daily reported.

Baby brain' in pregnancy sharpens mothers' memory later

Toronto:Have you gone through the forgetfulness and fogging thinking episodes during the last trimester of pregnancy or soon after giving birth, known as 'baby brain'?

Good news is that 'baby brain' is not permanent and over the long term, motherhood can actually improve brain activity, a research revealed.

A mother's brain returns to normal size about six months after she gives birth.

Animal studies suggest that mothers do better on tests of memory and multitasking than females that have not given birth.

'There are a lot of brain changes that happen during pregnancy and post-partum. It is not really surprising, given the dramatic changes in physiology, that pregnancy also affects the brain,' Liisa Galea, a neuroscientist at University of British Columbia in Canada, was quoted as saying.

A woman's brain shrinks between four and eight percent during pregnancy, Galea added.

What is behind these changes?

The flood of hormones that pump through a woman's body for nine months.

'Stress hormone levels double, progesterone levels rise 20 times higher than normal and estrogen jumps 300 times higher than normal,' Galea noted.

The memory and spatial navigation impairments women suffer during pregnancy may just be the brain rearranging to get ready for the arrival of a baby, researchers added. IANS

Baby brain' in pregnancy sharpens mothers' memory later

Toronto:Have you gone through the forgetfulness and fogging thinking episodes during the last trimester of pregnancy or soon after giving birth, known as 'baby brain'?

Good news is that 'baby brain' is not permanent and over the long term, motherhood can actually improve brain activity, a research revealed.

A mother's brain returns to normal size about six months after she gives birth.

Animal studies suggest that mothers do better on tests of memory and multitasking than females that have not given birth.

'There are a lot of brain changes that happen during pregnancy and post-partum. It is not really surprising, given the dramatic changes in physiology, that pregnancy also affects the brain,' Liisa Galea, a neuroscientist at University of British Columbia in Canada, was quoted as saying.

A woman's brain shrinks between four and eight percent during pregnancy, Galea added.

What is behind these changes?

The flood of hormones that pump through a woman's body for nine months.

'Stress hormone levels double, progesterone levels rise 20 times higher than normal and estrogen jumps 300 times higher than normal,' Galea noted.

The memory and spatial navigation impairments women suffer during pregnancy may just be the brain rearranging to get ready for the arrival of a baby, researchers added. IANS

Ward boy allegedly killed medical student inside ICU in Assam hospital

Dibrugarh:A post graduate medical student of the Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh was killed inside an ICU allegedly by a ward boy triggering an indefinite strike by the junior doctors of the hospital, police said on Friday.

The body of the student, Dr Sarita Tasniwal, was found this morning with a surgical knife stabbed inside the left side of her neck lying on the bed of the doctor's resting room inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), police sources said.

At about 8 am, the nurses of the ICU found Sarita's body after her night duty, which lasted from 10 pm on Thursday night to 6 am on Friday, sources said.

The doctors claimed that Sarita was working till 5.30 am on Friday when she had gone to the doctor's rest room.

The ICU's ward boy Khiru Mech along with four others picked up by police, confessed that he had killed Sarita, a first year obstetrics and gynaecology MD student, police said.

The junior doctors and students launched an indefinite strike in protest demanding security for them, particularly women, punishment for Sarita's killer and installation of CCTV in the ICUs to prevent such incidents in future.

Talking to the media, the agitating doctors urged the faculty to also join the strike in support of their demands.

Police suspected that the culprit may have attempted to rape her but unable to do so, killed her.

Sarita, hailing from Sibsagar district, had passed her MBBS from the AMCH, college sources said.

She was to get married to a fellow doctor on July 7, sources said. PTI

Ward boy allegedly killed medical student inside ICU in Assam hospital

Dibrugarh:A post graduate medical student of the Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh was killed inside an ICU allegedly by a ward boy triggering an indefinite strike by the junior doctors of the hospital, police said on Friday.

The body of the student, Dr Sarita Tasniwal, was found this morning with a surgical knife stabbed inside the left side of her neck lying on the bed of the doctor's resting room inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), police sources said.

At about 8 am, the nurses of the ICU found Sarita's body after her night duty, which lasted from 10 pm on Thursday night to 6 am on Friday, sources said.

The doctors claimed that Sarita was working till 5.30 am on Friday when she had gone to the doctor's rest room.

The ICU's ward boy Khiru Mech along with four others picked up by police, confessed that he had killed Sarita, a first year obstetrics and gynaecology MD student, police said.

The junior doctors and students launched an indefinite strike in protest demanding security for them, particularly women, punishment for Sarita's killer and installation of CCTV in the ICUs to prevent such incidents in future.

Talking to the media, the agitating doctors urged the faculty to also join the strike in support of their demands.

Police suspected that the culprit may have attempted to rape her but unable to do so, killed her.

Sarita, hailing from Sibsagar district, had passed her MBBS from the AMCH, college sources said.

She was to get married to a fellow doctor on July 7, sources said. PTI

44 Indians shortlisted for one-way trip to Mars

London: Forty-four Indians, including 17 women, are among 705 aspirants shortlisted for an ambitious private mission to send four people on a planned one-way trip to Mars in 2024 to colonise the red planet.

The Netherlands-based non-profit organisation Mars One announced that 353 hopefuls from around the world have been eliminated from the selection programme to become the first human Mars colonists.

The number of people remaining in this “once in many lifetimes opportunity” is now just 705, including 44 Indians of whom 27 are men and 17 are women.

The Indian aspirants come from cities such as New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram.

The applicants came from over 140 countries and more than 20,000 Indians had applied for the first round.

The remaining candidates will be interviewed by the Mars One selection committee.

“We’re incredibly excited to start the next phase of Round 2, where we begin to better understand our candidates who aspire to take such a daring trip. They will have to show their knowledge, intelligence, adaptability and personality,” Mars One Chief Medical Officer Norbert Kraft, said.

In December 2013, Mars One announced the selection of 1058 candidates, including 62 from India, from the original pool of over 200,000 applicants.

Mars One asked them to complete two tasks by March 2014: to provide a medical statement of health from their physician and open their on-line Mars One applicant profile to the public.

The 418 men and 287 women who successfully completed both tasks will be invited for a personal interview. 313 candidates originally come from the Americas, 187 from Europe, 136 from Asia, 41 from Africa, and 28 from Oceania.

The group of candidates that will not continue to the interview round dropped out due to personal reasons and medical reasons.

“The withdrawals due to personal reasons were mostly in the age group 40-50. Candidates who had to withdraw from their dream due to medical reasons were mostly in the age group of 20-35,” Mars One said.

“What really left an impression with us is the fact that the medical tests turned out to have a major impact on the candidate’s lives, as some of them found out that they needed to undergo an operation, were sick and needed medical attention, or even had a malignant form of cancer that otherwise would not have been detected in such an early stage,” Kraft said.

After the interview round, the group of candidates will be narrowed down to several international teams consisting of two women and two men.

These teams of prospective Mars settlers will be prepared for the mission by participating full time in an extensive training programme.

Training to go to Mars will be their full time job. Whole teams and individuals might be selected out during training when they prove not to be suitable for the mission.

Mars One will repeat the selection process regularly to train additional teams to replace eliminated teams and crews of settlers that have successfully left Earth to live on Mars.

Ultimately, six teams of four people will be selected to train from 2015 to 2024, leading up to the final four who will make the historic one-way trip to Mars.

PTI

44 Indians shortlisted for one-way trip to Mars

London: Forty-four Indians, including 17 women, are among 705 aspirants shortlisted for an ambitious private mission to send four people on a planned one-way trip to Mars in 2024 to colonise the red planet.

The Netherlands-based non-profit organisation Mars One announced that 353 hopefuls from around the world have been eliminated from the selection programme to become the first human Mars colonists.

The number of people remaining in this “once in many lifetimes opportunity” is now just 705, including 44 Indians of whom 27 are men and 17 are women.

The Indian aspirants come from cities such as New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram.

The applicants came from over 140 countries and more than 20,000 Indians had applied for the first round.

The remaining candidates will be interviewed by the Mars One selection committee.

“We’re incredibly excited to start the next phase of Round 2, where we begin to better understand our candidates who aspire to take such a daring trip. They will have to show their knowledge, intelligence, adaptability and personality,” Mars One Chief Medical Officer Norbert Kraft, said.

In December 2013, Mars One announced the selection of 1058 candidates, including 62 from India, from the original pool of over 200,000 applicants.

Mars One asked them to complete two tasks by March 2014: to provide a medical statement of health from their physician and open their on-line Mars One applicant profile to the public.

The 418 men and 287 women who successfully completed both tasks will be invited for a personal interview. 313 candidates originally come from the Americas, 187 from Europe, 136 from Asia, 41 from Africa, and 28 from Oceania.

The group of candidates that will not continue to the interview round dropped out due to personal reasons and medical reasons.

“The withdrawals due to personal reasons were mostly in the age group 40-50. Candidates who had to withdraw from their dream due to medical reasons were mostly in the age group of 20-35,” Mars One said.

“What really left an impression with us is the fact that the medical tests turned out to have a major impact on the candidate’s lives, as some of them found out that they needed to undergo an operation, were sick and needed medical attention, or even had a malignant form of cancer that otherwise would not have been detected in such an early stage,” Kraft said.

After the interview round, the group of candidates will be narrowed down to several international teams consisting of two women and two men.

These teams of prospective Mars settlers will be prepared for the mission by participating full time in an extensive training programme.

Training to go to Mars will be their full time job. Whole teams and individuals might be selected out during training when they prove not to be suitable for the mission.

Mars One will repeat the selection process regularly to train additional teams to replace eliminated teams and crews of settlers that have successfully left Earth to live on Mars.

Ultimately, six teams of four people will be selected to train from 2015 to 2024, leading up to the final four who will make the historic one-way trip to Mars.

PTI

Saudi Arabia bans import of Indian chili peppers

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia, the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables from India, has banned the import of Indian chili due to the presence of high pesticide residues in it, media reported Friday.

"We have been informed about the Saudi ministry of agriculture's decision to ban chili pepper beginning May 30," Arab News quoted Surinder Bhagat, second secretary of politics and commerce at the Indian embassy here, as saying.

"We are in touch with the Saudi authorities to resolve the issue," he added.

An agriculture ministry official said that the decision to ban the import of chili peppers was made after a sample testing of an Indian shipment found the presence of high level of pesticides, the report said.

"It has been brought to the attention of the authorities here that in recent vegetable consignments from India, there have been interceptions of higher than permissible levels of residues of pesticides," the ministry statement said.

"If the situation persists, the government of Saudi Arabia will take action in the near future," it added.

Following the Saudi government statement, Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) advised exporters to adhere to the this Gulf nation's import requirements and sought the testing of products before they are exported.

"As a region, West Asia is very important to us. We, therefore, do not want to face repercussions from Saudi Arabia, or any other country in the region. Hence, we have advised our members to test export oriented goods carefully before shipping," an APEDA statement said.

The Indian Spices Board said chili peppers are one of India's largest foreign currency earners, and, in the period between April and November 2013, 181,500 tonnes of chili peppers were exported for $3 million.

The European Union (EU) has also temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes and four other vegetables from India May 1.

The decision made by the EU's standing committee on plant health came after 207 consignments of fruits and vegetables imported from India in 2013 allegedly contained excessive pesticide residues.

IANS

Saudi Arabia bans import of Indian chili peppers

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia, the fifth-largest importer of fresh vegetables from India, has banned the import of Indian chili due to the presence of high pesticide residues in it, media reported Friday.

"We have been informed about the Saudi ministry of agriculture's decision to ban chili pepper beginning May 30," Arab News quoted Surinder Bhagat, second secretary of politics and commerce at the Indian embassy here, as saying.

"We are in touch with the Saudi authorities to resolve the issue," he added.

An agriculture ministry official said that the decision to ban the import of chili peppers was made after a sample testing of an Indian shipment found the presence of high level of pesticides, the report said.

"It has been brought to the attention of the authorities here that in recent vegetable consignments from India, there have been interceptions of higher than permissible levels of residues of pesticides," the ministry statement said.

"If the situation persists, the government of Saudi Arabia will take action in the near future," it added.

Following the Saudi government statement, Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) advised exporters to adhere to the this Gulf nation's import requirements and sought the testing of products before they are exported.

"As a region, West Asia is very important to us. We, therefore, do not want to face repercussions from Saudi Arabia, or any other country in the region. Hence, we have advised our members to test export oriented goods carefully before shipping," an APEDA statement said.

The Indian Spices Board said chili peppers are one of India's largest foreign currency earners, and, in the period between April and November 2013, 181,500 tonnes of chili peppers were exported for $3 million.

The European Union (EU) has also temporarily banned the import of Alphonso mangoes and four other vegetables from India May 1.

The decision made by the EU's standing committee on plant health came after 207 consignments of fruits and vegetables imported from India in 2013 allegedly contained excessive pesticide residues.

IANS