'Aspirin could tackle dementia'

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

'

Sydney: An Australian university has been commissioned by the US-based National Institutes of Health to investigate aspirin's anti-dementia powers, local media reported Monday.

Dementia, where a person's cognitive mind, function and memory dissolves, is one of the biggest medical challenges for elderly people.

Monash University in Melbourne has begun a 50 million Australian dollar ($41 million) trial called ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE), Xinhua reported.

It is a joint study with the Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research in Minneapolis in the US and involves more than 19,000 Australian patients in the trial.

Aspirin's properties revolve around its ability to stop blood platelets clumping together, reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But its active ingredient is salicin, which has an anti-inflammatory effect and is derived from willow trees.

Sunanda Pushkar was murdered: Delhi Police

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda Pushakar did not commit suicide but was murdered, Delhi Police Chief B.S. Bassi said Tuesday.

'We have got the final medical report from AIIMS, and we have been told that it was an unnatural death,' Bassi told the media.

'She died due to poisoning. Whether the poison was given orally or injected into her body is being investigated,' he said, adding the report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was received Dec 29.

A murder case had now been registered, Bassi said.

Pushkar was found dead in mysterious circumstances at a luxury hotel here Jan 17, 2014.

US concerned over rising India Pakistan tension

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

 

Washington : The US Monday expressed concern over rising India-Pakistan tensions and the exchange of fire along the working boundary, which claimed four Pakistani civilian lives, Geo News reported Tuesday.

Washington encourages Islamabad and New Delhi to engage in a dialogue. Â'We certainly remain concerned and watch over tensions along the border. We encourage dialogue between the (two) countries,Â' State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

When her attention was drawn to the reports of four Pakistanis deaths in Indian fire in Sialkot sectors, the spokesperson said she did not have any confirmation but added the US would obviously sympathise with families on loss of any lives. Â'Our hearts will go out to the familiesÂ' for any lives lost.

In response to another question, the spokesperson noted that Washington has been supporting dialogue between Islamabad and New Delhi. There have been some steps in the past and positive exchanges over the years but Â'obviously more work needs to be done.Â'

On US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, she said the two sides work on a range of issues including counter-terrorism and security issues.

Oil prices tumble, Sensex plunges over 588 pts

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

Mumbai: Oil prices tumbled below $50 a barrel on Monday, spooking global financial markets and signaling that the remarkable 50 percent price drop since June was continuing this year and even quickening.

The new drop in U.S. and global benchmarks of more than 4 percent was accompanied by reports of increased Middle Eastern oil exports, continuing increases in U.S. production and renewed worries about the declining economic fortunes of Europe.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled over 588.15 points to 27,254.17 and the NSE Nifty dipped below the 8,300-mark in opening trade today on heavy selling by funds and investors amid global sell-off on worries about Eurozone
and sinking oil prices.

The 30-share barometer plunged by 588.15 points, or 2.11 per cent, to 27,254.17 with all sectoral indices led by auto,
IT, realty and capital goods, trading in negative zone with losses up to 2.42 per cent.

The index had lost 45.58 points in the previous session.

On similar lines, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty slipped below the 8,300-mark by falling 174.40 points, or 2.08
per cent, to 8,204.

Brokers said heavy selling by participants, following a weak trend at other Asian markets and an overnight slump in US
shares on worries about the Eurozone and sinking oil prices, dragged down the key indices.

Globally, US oil prices finished at USD 50.04 per barrel, down five per cent, after sliding below USD 50 a barrel
earlier in yesterday's trade.

Prominent losers among the 30 Sensex stocks were Tata Motors, ONGC, GAIL, HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank, Hero Moto, Infosys,
L&T, Maruti Suzuki, RIL, SBI, Sesa Sterlite, Sun Pharma, Tata Power, Tata Steel, TCS and Wipro.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.87 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei fell 2.62 per
cent in early trade today.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.86 per cent lower in yesterday's trade. PTI

People on Pak boat were suspected terrorists, not smugglers, says Parrikar

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

NEW DELHI: Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said it is evident that the men on the Pakistani boat, which sank after being intercepted off the coast of Porbander, were suspected terrorists.

"I think they were suspected terrorists, as they committed suicide. A normal boat even carrying drugs can surrender. The location was not normal sea route; even the smugglers normally take the busy route so that they can mingle with boats. Pakistan is trying to divert attention after what happened in Peshawar," said Parrikar.

Parrikar's comments to reporters come amid speculation that the vessel was a fishing boat or even one that was smuggling contraband and not one carrying terrorists.

"The coast guard has done the right job at the right time based on intelligence inputs as they reacted immediately. The boat was on surveillance for 12 hours and it was intercepted as soon as possible," he added.

According to reports, intelligence agencies had picked up phone intercepts from the boat near Karachi about "expensive cargo" to be delivered near India.

On Friday, a possible 'terror' attack was averted when a suspicious fishing boat carrying explosives in the Arabian Sea was intercepted near the India- Pakistan maritime boundary, approximately 365 kilometres away from Porbander.

The four persons on board ignored warning shots from the Coast Guard and tried to flee, but when they couldn't make it, set the boat on fire.

The boat sank in the early hours of January 1, and the people on board could not be saved or recovered.

40 tourists fall ill over suspected food poisoning

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

PURI (ODISHA): At least 40 tourists, hailing from West Bengal, fell ill over suspected food poisoning after having meal at an eating joint here, police said today. The tourists, from Hooghli and Midnapore district of West Bengal, complained of vomiting, headache and nausea after consuming food from an eating joint near Swargadwar area yesterday evening, police officials said. 26 victims of alleged food poisoning were admitted to various hospitals in the town including the district headquarters hospital, they said. Most of the affected persons were discharged from hospitals today morning, hospital officials said.

New compound to kill cancer cells identified

New York: A small molecule that resets the 'biological clock' of cancer cells can help shrink tumour growth and lead to potential new therapy to treat cancer, says a research.

The molecule called 6-thio-2'-deoxyguanosine (6-thiodG) can stop the growth of cancer cells, the findings showed.

'We observed broad efficacy against a range of cancer cell lines with very low concentrations of 6-thiodG,' said Jerry Shay, professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre in the US.

The researchers did not observe serious side effects in the blood, liver and kidneys of the mice that were treated with 6-thiodG.

The molecule acts by targeting a unique mechanism that is thought to regulate how long cells can stay alive, a type of ageing clock.

This biological clock is defined by DNA structures known as telomeres, which cap the ends of the cell's chromosomes to protect them from damage and which become shorter every time the cell divides.

Once telomeres have shortened to a critical length, the cell can no longer divide and dies though a process known as apoptosis.

However, cancer cells are normally protected from this death by an RNA protein complex called telomerase, which ensures that telomeres do not shorten with every division.

But 6-thiodG can be used to disrupt the normal way cells maintain telomere length.

'Since telomerase is expressed in almost all human cancers, this work represents a potentially innovative approach to targeting telomerase-expressing cancer cells with minimal side effects on normal cells,' Shay pointed out.

IANS

Egypt court orders retrial in Al-Jazeera journalists' case

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

 

CAIRO: An Egyptian appeals court ordered a retrial Thursday in the case of three Al-Jazeera English journalists held for over a year, overturning the ruling in a case that ensnared the reporters in a wider conflict between Egypt and Qatar.

The decision by Egypt's Court of Cassation came after a hearing that lasted less than half an hour. However, Canadian-Egyptian Mohammed Fahmy, Australian journalist Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohammed, who have been held their arrest in December 2013, were not released on bail.

The three journalists did not attend the brief hearing that began around 9 a.m. local time (0700 GMT, 2 a.m. EST) in Cairo. Reporters gathered to report on the hearing were not allowed in for those arguments, but later entered the court.

Defense lawyers said they believed a retrial for the three men would be held within a month and that they hoped for speedy trial given a changing political climate between Egypt and Qatar — believed to be underpinning the whole case. The Al-Jazeera satellite news network is based in Qatar, a country which recently promised to ease tensions in the greater Middle East by dropping its support for Islamist groups throughout the region, like Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Defense lawyers expressed relief over the retrial, though family members of those imprisoned said they hoped for their loved ones' immediate release. Legal experts said releasing the men was outside of power of the Court of Cassation.

Lois Greste, Peter Greste's mother, said after the hearing that the verdict was 'not as good as we hoped.'

Adel Fahmy, Mohammed Fahmy's brother, said he had hoped his brother would have been freed Thursday. He said each lawyer received three minutes to argue their stance on the case.

'I hoped for more today,' he said.

Greste's lawyer, Amr El Deeb, hailed the ruling.

'This is a very good and optimistic decision. It will give them a second round of mitigation,' El Deeb said. 'Hopefully when we go to the retrial, we can defend the defendants and present adequate support to try to set them free.'

Fahmy's lawyer, Negad al-Borai, said seven lawyers represented the three journalists and four other defendants who are Brotherhood members.

Egyptian authorities offered no immediate comment on the ruling. The prosecutor who spoke at the hearing was not the prosecutor who initially tried the case, but rather one attached to the appeals court.

Authorities accused Al-Jazeera of acting as a mouthpiece for the Brotherhood after the July 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The station long has denied the accusations and said the journalists were doing their job.

'Baher, Peter and Mohammed have been unjustly in jail for over a year now,' Al-Jazeera said in a statement after the court's decision. 'The Egyptian authorities have a simple choice: free these men quickly or continue to string this out, all the while continuing this injustice and harming the image of their own country in the eyes of the world.'

Fahmy's brother told reporters the journalists 'should not be caught in the middle of this remote conflict between two nations.'

'They are the only ones paying the prices,' he said. 'They are being punished on behalf of Qatar and Al-Jazeera.'

Fahmy and Greste were sentenced to seven years in prison at their initial trial, while Mohammed got 10 years — three more because he was found with a spent bullet casing. Rights groups dismissed the trial as a sham and foreign countries, including the U.S., expressed their concern over the journalists' detention.

At trial, prosecutors offered no evidence backing accusations the three falsified footage to foment unrest. Instead, they showed edited news reports by the journalists, including Islamist protests and interviews with politicians. Other footage submitted as evidence had nothing to do with the case, including a report on a veterinary hospital and Greste's past reports out of Africa.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi also has the power to pardon or deport the foreigners under a new law, whether or not the court grants the appeal. That would allow Greste to go home and would allow Fahmy to go to Canada if he drops his Egyptian nationality. Mohammed's case would remain more uncertain as he holds only Egyptian citizenship.

IANS

Petrol, diesel prices cut Rs.2 a litre each

New Delhi: With international crude oil rates slipping below $55 a barrel, state-run oil marketers had a New Year Day gift of a cut petrol and diesel rates by Rs.2 a litre, excluding local taxes.

Allowing for local levies, petrol per litre from Thursday costs Rs.61.33 in Delhi, Rs.68.86 in Mumbai, Rs.68.65 in Kolkata and Rs.63.94 in Chennai.

The new per litre prices for diesel are Rs.50.51 in Delhi, Rs.57.91 in Mumbai, Rs.55.00 in Kolkata and Rs.53.78 in Chennai.

Petrol and diesel prices were last cut each by Rs.2 a litre on Dec 15, and prior to that on Dec 1 by 91 paise and 84 paise respectively.

Prices have also been cut for the non-subsidised LPG cylinder, that a consumer may buy at market rates after exhausting the quota of 12 cooking gas cylinders, by Rs.43.50 in Delhi.

The new year's price per 14.2 kg cylinder is Rs.708.50 in Delhi, Rs.725.50 in Mumbai, Rs.746 in Kolkata and Rs.705 in Chennai.

Earlier, to make up for fall in taxes due to the sustained decline in international crude oil prices, the government hiked excise duty by Rs.1.50 a litre on both the fuels first on Nov 12. Later, on Dec 2, the duty on petrol was hiked by Rs.2.25 per litre and on diesel by Re.1 a litre.

Though consumers have been spared the impact of the excise hike, with the current cuts the government has responded to critics that the excise hike was preventing the benefit of falling oil prices from passing to consumers.

In October, the government deregulated diesel prices by linking the fuel cost to market-based pricing.

The price of the Indian basket of crude oils on the last trading day Wednesday fell to $53.53 per barrel. A barrel is equal to 159 litres.

IANS

6 BTech students killed in early morning road accident at Chathanur

________ A to Z kerala .......... [kvk] [www.atozkerala.in , www.atozkerala.blogspot.com]

2015

 

Kollam : In a gruesome road acident on New Year's day, six engineering college students were killed at Chathanur in Kollam district when the car in which they were travelling rammed into a tractor lorry in the wee hours of Thursday. The deceased were third year BTech students of TKM Engineering College here.

Sayeed Insam Thangal (19), hailing from Kollam, Aathil Sha (19) from Kollam, Sijo George John (19) belonging to Pathanamthitta, Kollam native Nixxon Aby Mathew (19), Arun K Babu (19) from Kothamangalam and Aju Prakash (19) from Kollam were the deceased.

The students were returning from the Varkala beach in the Alto car belonged to Nixxon after attending the New Year bash.

The speeding car crashed against the lorry and got crushed underneath the lorry at the Indira junction in Karamkode. The tractor lorry, which was proceeding to the IOC plant in Paripally, had slowed down on seeing the speeding car.

'The car was moving at high speed and it rammed into my lorry. The bodies were taken out with great difficulty. All of them died on the spot,' the driver told the media persons.

The Chathanur police have booked a case.