News Update :

Search This Blog


Business

More...

Entertainment

More...

Sports

More...

Health Corner

More...

Economic growth falls to 4.5% in December quarter

Thursday 28 February 2013

Economic growth falls to 4.5% in December quarter

Manufacturing sector grew marginally by 2.5 per cent during Oct-Dec '12 as against 0.7 per cent growth registered in the same period of 2011—12, according to the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Economy grew by 4.5 per cent in the October—December period of the current financial year, pulled down by poor performance of farm, manufacturing and mining sectors.
The gross domestic product (GDP) had expanded by 6 per cent in the same period of last fiscal.
The economic growth in the first nine months of this fiscal (April—December) stood at 5 per cent, lower than 6.6 per cent in the year—ago period.
The economy had grown by 5.5 per cent and 5.3 per cent in the first quarter and the second quarter, respectively, of 2012—13.
In October—December 2012—13, manufacturing sector grew marginally by 2.5 per cent, against 0.7 per cent growth in the same period of 2011—12, according to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) today.
Farm sector output expanded by 1.1 per cent in the quarter under review as against 4.1 per cent in the same period last fiscal.
Mining and quarrying sector, however, showed some improvement and contracted by 1.4 per cent during the quarter, as against a decline in output by 2.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2011—12.
Trade, hotels, transport and communications segment also witnessed lower pace of growth at 5.1 per cent in the quarter against 6.9 per cent in the same quarter in year ago.
The growth rate of electricity, gas and water supply also dipped to 4.5 per cent in the third quarter, from 7.7 per cent witnessed in the same quarter of 2011—12.
Construction sector expanded by 5.8 per cent in Q3 of 2012—13, as against 6.9 per cent in the year—ago period.

LG’s Optimus G comes to India for Rs 34,500

LG’s Optimus G comes to India for Rs 34,500

LG’s much-awaited smartphone, the Optimus G in now out in India at a price of Rs 34,500. The smartphone runs Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS.
Key features of the device are:
•The smartphone has a 4.7-inch screen with a 1280×768 resolution with True HD and IPS.
• A 13-megapixel autofocus camera.
AP
LG Optimus G in this file photo. AP
• The G smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s quad-core processor clocked at 1.5Ghz and has a 2GB RAM along with 32GB built-in space. The smartphone does not have a Micro-SD card.
• LG also added new video-related features. The G can dim the video in a translucent layer, allowing users to send text messages or write emails while watching the show in the background. It also allows users to zoom into a scene while playing the video using a two-finger pinch.
Now that the Optimus G is finally here, will the Nexus 4 also hit the Indian market soon? Let’s hope so.
Watch video:

Google glasses hitting market this year: Brin

Google glasses hitting market this year: Brin

Sergey Brin envisions Google's Internet glasses hitting the market this year with an eye toward freeing people from unsocial habits engendered by "emasculating" smartphones. 
Brin spoke of inspiration behind Google Glass eyewear during a brief appearance Wednesday on stage at a TED Conference known for an inspiring mix of influential big thinkers and "ideas worth spreading.
He playfully demonstrated his point on stage by ignoring a theater audience to stare down at his smartphone, saying he was intent on a message from a Nigerian prince need of $10 million dollars.
"I like to pay attention because that is how we originally funded the company," the Google co-founder quipped about a well-known scam.
"Seriously, in addition to potentially socially isolating yourself when you are out and about using your phone, I feel it is kind of emasculating," he continued.
Brin described Glass as the first form factor to deliver on a vision he had from Google's inception that one day search queries would be outmoded and information from the Internet would come to people when they need it.
Glass frees the eyes as well as the hands when it comes to connecting to the Internet on the go, according to Brin.
"That is why we put the display up high, out of the line of sight," Brin said, wearing the Glass eyewear he is rarely seen without.
"If I wore a ball cap, the display would be on the brim and not where you are looking," he continued. "And sound goes through bones in the cranium, which is a little freaky at first, but you get used to it."
Glass wearers can speak commands to the eyewear, and built-in camera technology allows pictures or video to be captured from first-person perspectives while people take part in what is happening.
"Lastly, I realized I also have a nervous tic," Brin said. "The cell phone is a nervous habit. If I smoked, I'd probably smoke instead."
He observed that smartphones sometimes become props used by people as distractions or to appear busy, saying that Glass strips away excuses not to be sociable or to not be honest about simply wanting to take a break.
"It really opened by eyes to how much of my life I spent secluded away in email, social posts or what-not," Brin said. "There is nothing bad about that, but with this thing I don't have to be checking them all the time."
Brin said Glass eyewear will be available later this year at prices lower than the $1,500 charged to software developers and early adopters during a restricted test phase.
Wednesday was the last day for "explorers" with creative vision and $1,500 to spare to vie to be part of a select group of people who get to experiment with Glass.
A video intended to capture what it feels like to use Glass was online at google.com/glass/start/.
Google has been speaking with eyeglass frame companies about ideas for a consumer version of the glasses, which he expected would cost "significantly" less than the Explorer prototypes.
US adults interested in the program had to say what they would do if they had Glass eyewear and then post the messages at Twitter or Google+ social networks with hashtag #ifihadglass.
People chosen for the Explorer program will need to pick up in person at sessions to be held in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco.

Is Google finally planning to bring its hardware to India?

Is Google finally planning to bring its hardware to India?
Asus just let slip that they will be bringing the Nexus 7 to India in collaboration with Google and that raised quite a few interesting questions in our office. Is this the beginning of something bigger?

Asus India just announced its plans to bring the Google Nexus 7 to India by June 2013, in collaboration with Google. Now we are pretty excited about the Nexus slate coming to India, but we can’t help but wonder if this is going to be a game changing move by Google.
India has seen market trends change in the recent past, and gone are the days when manufacturers could just sit back and watch the consumer gobble up their devices. Apple has been very aggressively pushing the iPhone, increasing its revenue by 400%simply by offering its phone through easy installment options.
We’ve got makers like Micromax and Karbonn chewing through Samsung’s Android market simply by having a significantly lower price point coupled up with pretty decent hardware. With everyone stepping up their game, it’s hard to imagine that Google, the maker of the best Android phones, will just let the opportunity slip.
Now that the Nexus 7 is coming to India, we know that Asus will be pushing it through its own network of distributors, but the question is, will it also be available through the Google Play Store? Google’s just enabled its Books section on the Indian Play Store, so is the hardware section also waiting in the wings?
Well, we think that it would be the right thing to do for Google, seeing as how their devices are extremely well built, run the finest version of Android around (not to mention get updates before anyone else) and are very competitively priced.
If Google was to open up the Hardware section of its Play Store to India, we’re looking at some of the best Android devices coming to a performance conscious, price sensitive market. Such a move would really work in favour of Google, finally giving Apple stiff competition in the Indian market, while pushing manufacturers like Samsung to lower the prices of their devices in order to stay competitive.
Right now, Google hasn’t really been focusing much on India, with none of their Nexus devices having come to India via the official channels. Rumours would sprout every now and then during the Galaxy Nexus days that Samsung might be launching it at a particular time, but eventually didn’t end up doing so in order to protect its own interests in the market. However, if Google was to enter through Asus and LG, the makers of Nexus 7 and Nexus 4 respectively, Google would gain a serious advantage over every other manufacturer with respect to price, performance and features. Obviously, this would be contingent on Google pricing its products at the same rates as in US.
For example, the Nexus 4 16GB variant retails for $350, which roughly comes out to Rs. 20,000. The same price tag would allow the Nexus 4 to gain a huge market share, but if it were to cross over to the near 30K mark as most “high end” phones tend to, then there’s a very good chance that the phone will end up becoming just another face in the crowd.
Of course, at the moment, we can only speculate about Google’s Hardware Play Store coming to India. The signs are there, and the market is ripe for the taking, if Google decides to make the move. What do you think? Will the Nexus 7 mark the ushering in of a new era with respect to Google certified hardware?

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Bipasha Basu unveiled a new clothing brand and walked the ramp at the launch event, John Abraham promoted his new film 'I Me Aur Main'; here is what your favourite stars have been up to. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more
The lead cast of 'I Me Aur Main'- John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh and Prachi Desai were seen promoting their film in Mumbai. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more
The film has Prachi Desai and Chitrangada Singh vying for John's attention. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Produced by Shrishti Arya and Goldie Behl, the also features Raima Sen, Mini Mathur and Zarina Wahab. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Divya Dutta, Dimpy Mahajan and Sunaina Roshan were honoured at 'Savvy' Magazine's anniversary bash. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Sunaina came with her parents filmmaker Rakesh Roshan and Pinky Roshan for the event. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Dimpy was seen bonding with her sister-in-law Poonam Mahajan. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Chereographer Sandeep Soparkar was also spotted at the anniversary bash. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Former Miss World Yukta Mukhey was also spotted at the 'Savvy' anniversary bash. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Actress Poonam Dhillon at the 'Savvy' anniversary bash. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Actress Vidya Malvade came for designer Sonam M's store launch. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Starlet Hazel Keech at designer Sonam M's store launch. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Model-actress Gauhar Khan at Sonam M's store launch. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Juhi Chawla interacted with children with special needs at an event. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Juhi's husband, Jay Mehta was also spotted at the event. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Raveena Tandon at a launch of a cosmetic brand. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Veena Malik launched the first issue of new magazine 'Films Today'. 

StarGaze: Bipasha Basu walks the ramp, John promotes 'I Me Aur Main' and more

Govinda, who features on the cover of 'Films Today' was also present at the event. 

Only three, not 30 kissing scenes in '3G': Neil Nitin Mukesh

Only three, not 30 kissing scenes in '3G': Neil Nitin Mukesh

Mumbai: There are only three, not 30, kissing scenes in upcoming film "3G", says actor Neil Nitin Mukesh.
"When you people ask such questions, it feels bad... We are talking about onscreen chemistry. You are asking that there are 30 kissing scenes in the film. No, there are three! Watch the film," the 31-year-old said here Wednesday in an interview.
Neil was upset with the question, and upon being told that the 30 kisses bit has been in news, he said: "We also listen to a lot of news, if I write any nonsense about you will you start believing it? It's the same thing with us also. A lot of things are written but that is not true.
Only three, not 30 kissing scenes in '3G': Neil Nitin Mukesh
"Today you are asking us so I am telling you, there are not 30 kissing scenes, yes three and they have been tastefully filmed," he added.
Directed by Shantanu Ray Chibber and Sheershak Anand, "3G" hits theatres March 15. It also features Sonal Chauhan.


Priyanka Chopra ignores SRK, teams up with Ekta

Priyanka ignores SRK, teams up with Ekta:

Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka has given her dates to Ekta Kapoor for Milan talkies.
Priyanka Chopra one of the busiest girls in Bollywood has made her choices clear by choosing Ekta over Shah Rukh Khan.
According to reports, Priyanka Chopra was supposed to allocate dates later this year to either Shah Rukh Khan's home-production 'Happy New Year' or to Ekta Kapoor's 'Milan Talkies'. But surprisingly Priyanka Chopra has chosen Ekta or SRK. She has given her dates to Ekta Kapoor for her latest venture Milan talkies.
Priyanka already has her kitty full with Zanjeer, Gunday and the biopic on Mary Kom. Earlier there were speculations that Priyanka would give her dates to SRK's Happy New Year but now the tables have been turned and Priyanka is with Ekta.
Now the hunt is on for another girl who will star opposite Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan in Happy New Year.
Is Priyanka deliberately maintaining distance with 'friend' Shah Rukh?

Sridevi gets super selective

Sridevi gets super selective:


After garnering accolades for English Vinglish (2012), Sridevi has become one of the hottest celebrities on the ad circuit. The actor, who was barely seen in commercials before, is on the wish list of not just filmmakers, but also many big brands that are looking at her to endorse their products. 

In just a week, she has signed up for a leading jewellery brand and a new water purifier brand. 

Sridevi has been selective about her film roles, and has been choosing her endorsements with the same care. 

A source close to the actor says, “She is choosing products that she can relate to as a woman and a mother. The fact that she is a mother of two and still a name to reckon with has many brands targeted towards families and women in particular, approaching her. While she’s been approached by around 10 brands in just a few months, she has signed only two, and a third one is in the pipeline. She will sign it when she returns from the Celebrity Cricket League.”

Sachin Tendulkar would have traded 175-run knock for win over Australia at Hyderabad

Sachin Tendulkar would have traded 175-run knock for win over Australia at Hyderabad

Sachin Tendulkar says he would have traded 175-run knock for victory over Australia at Hyderabad

New Delhi: Feb 28, 2013

Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar says he would have "gladly traded" his knock of 175 against Australia in 2009 for an Indian victory even though he "certainly" rates it as one of the very best in his glorious ODI career.

Chasing 351 runs in the fifth of the seven-match ODI series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium inHyderabad, Tendulkar fell awfully close to pulling off an unlikely win with an incredible innings.

"It was certainly one of my best innings, but I would have gladly traded those 175 runs for a victory," Tendulkar said about the match which India lost by three runs.

He scored those runs off 141 balls and smashed 19 fours and four sixes. Tendulkar completed 17,000 runs in ODIs during the course of that innings.

"It was one of those days when nothing seemed to be out of place. I was able to execute my strokes well. Our middle order failed, but Suresh Raina batted fluently. We had a good partnership of 137. Suresh was caught behind at 299 in the 43rd over.

"Harbhajan Singh fell soon after, to make it 300 for six, but I believed we were very much in control. It was a question of hanging in there, running well and ensuring that bad balls were dealt with harshly," he said.

"We were only 19 away when I tried to lift [Clint] McKay over short fine-leg, only to be caught by [Nathan] Hauritz. It was a huge disappointment. The lower order tried hard, but more wickets fell, and we fell short by three runs," Tendulkar wrote in a piece for BCCI's official website.

 Tendulkar mentioned about the comparisons made between that knock and his back-to-back hundreds against the same opponent in Sharjah back in 1998.

"I have been asked on a few occasions to compare the 175 with the back-to-back hundreds against the same team at Sharjah in 1998. I don't think a comparison can be made. The expectations were way higher at the final stages of the tri-series in Sharjah," he said.

"The Hyderabad hundred was scored in the middle of a bilateral series, and hence the circumstances were very different, physically and even mentally."

The pressure was certainly there on that November evening as well as the series was tied at 2-2 going into the fifth ODI.

"The seven-match series against Australia was even when we took the field for the crucial fifth game at Hyderabad. The winner would take a 3-2 lead, and the loser would be under tremendous pressure before the last two matches," Tendulkar said.

The stadium in Uppal, which was back then a newly-built one, came in for praise from Tendulkar.
"I had pleasant memories of the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad. It was the venue where I had scored 186 against New Zealand in 1999-00. The new Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium has a much better facility. The ground was well-maintained, and the arrangements excellent for players and spectators," Tendulkar said.

"Of course, we weren't thinking about all that when Australia went on the offensive after winning the toss and electing to bat. Openers Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh put on 145 at a run a ball, and the middle order continued with the attack. When they finished with 350 for four, not many gave us a chance," he said.

Tendulkar almost chased the target on his own but, with just 19 runs short, he got out and the rest choked, falling short by three runs with two balls still to go.

"One of the good things about chasing a big total is that there is no ambiguity regarding the strategy you have to adopt. We knew we had to go for it from the outset and play strokes. I felt that I wasn't timing the ball well, and went in for a change of bat. I shifted to a brand new willow, and that changed things," he said.

"Australia had a decent bowling line-up comprising four pacemen in Ben Hilftenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Clint McKay and Shane Watson. Nathan Hauritz was their main spinner, with the likes of Adam Voges chipping in with his left-arm spin. Mike Hussey also sent down a few overs that evening."

India vs Australia 2013: David Warner doubtful for second Test after bout of gastroenteritis

India vs Australia 2013: David Warner doubtful for second Test after bout of gastroenteritis

India vs Australia 2013: David Warner doubtful for second Test after bout of gastroenteritis

Hyderabad: Feb 28, 2013

David Warner is concerned about recovering in time for the second Test starting this Saturday after a bout of gastroenteritis he picked up during Day four of the first Test at Chennai.

On the advice of teammate Peter Siddle, the Australian opener tasted vegetarian noodles which turned out to be too spicy for him. ''I took the Peter Siddle vegetarian noodle advice. He told me to try a bit and it was the hottest thing I had tried in my life. Now I totally regret it because I don't do too well with spices [sic],'' Warner said.

The Australians are already 1-0 behind in the four-match Test series after crumbling to an eight-wicket defeat at Chennai. The team think tank is contemplating to have two spinners in the playing XI after the debacle at Chennai where they played with three pacers and one spinner in the form of Nathan Lyon who was clobbered for runs.

Earlier Mickey Arthur had hinted at including left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty in the side. The Australian coach also discussed with former spinner Shane Warne about the dilemma to include the second spinner.

''Shane spoke to our spinners about the conditions and his experiences in such conditions while he also spoke to our batsmen about what a spin bowler is thinking about before they come in to bowl and what sort of plans he would have had in mind,'' Arthur was quoted by Sydney Morning Herald.

The Australian bowling attack in all probability will be led by James Pattinson who claimed five wickets in the first innings against India during the Chennai Test. Despite a series of breakdowns last year, selectors believe they can't afford to rest him at 1-0 down in the series and the team management is closely monitoring his fitness.

Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez's best press conference rants condensed in to a single minute: fact

Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez's best press conference rants condensed in to a single minute: fact

Rafa Benitez's extraordinary outburst against Chelsea's fans and owner was not the first time he had enlivened the usually prosaic art of the football press conference.


Following a routine victory over Middlesborough in the FA Cup Bentiez, who has been booed at every game since he took over as Chelsea's interim manager last year, cracked, letting rip on his tormentors and laying the blame at the door of the club's heierachy.
“There is a group of fans who are not doing any favours for the team,” said Benรญtez, his face flushed with anger.
"They are singing about me and wasting time making banners because somebody made a mistake and put an interim in front of my title as manager. I will leave at the end of the season so why waste time on me?
“Everybody is an interim manager because after you comes another one. Why put interim? It’s just to say to everyone, he was at Liverpool, he’s just interim.
“I’ve said it, I can’t change the title or the perceptions, it doesn’t matter now."
It isn't the first time Benitez has let his feelings do the talking in front of a microphone.
He famously told us all about the 'facts' of life when in charge of Liverpool, reading off notes he took in to a press conference, with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the Premier League is targets on that occasion.
Similarly, when in charge of Inter Milan he effectively handed in a public resignation letter during the Club World Cup, attacking the club's owners, including an almost Mourinho-like phrase about what a bottle of milk looks like...

Sutil gets second chance with Force India

Sutil gets second chance with Force India:

Force India Formula One driver Adrian Sutil of Germany drives during the qualifying session for the Indian F1 Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi October 29, 2011. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash

Adrian Sutil sealed his Formula One comeback on Thursday with Force India announcing they had given the 30-year-old German racer a second chance as team mate to Britain's Paul Di Resta this season.
The Silverstone-based team said in a long-awaited statement that they had re-signed the driver dropped at the end of 2011 to make way for compatriot Nico Hulkenberg, who has since moved on to Sauber.
The season starts in Australia on March 17 and Sutil's appointment fills the last remaining vacancy on the starting grid.
"I'm delighted to be back in Formula One, especially with a team I know so well," Sutil said in a statement issued by the team. "I'm very happy and I want to thank Sahara Force India for giving me a second chance.
"Having been away from the sport, I'm even more determined to achieve my goals in Formula One. Things went really well at the Barcelona test last week and it almost feels as though I've never been away."
The announcement came as no surprise after Nicolas Todt, manager to Sutil's rival for the seat Jules Bianchi, told Reuters on Wednesday he had been told by the team that the Frenchman had lost out.
Second chances are rare in Formula One but money has always talked and it was no secret that commercial considerations played a part in Sutil's return.
The German seemed last year to have a mountain to climb to get back into the sport after being given an 18-month suspended jail sentence and fined 200,000 eurosfor grievous bodily harm following a Shanghai nightclub brawl in 2011.
Eric Lux, the then-chief executive of Renault F1 (now Lotus) team owners Genii Capital, needed stitches for a neck wound caused by a champagne glass in that fracas.
If an unadventurous choice for some, Sutil will be a known quantity for the mid-grid team - despite last week's Barcelona test being his first time in a Formula One car in more than a year - after racing for them from 2007 to 2011.
He and Di Resta were also team mates in 2011, when Sutil scored more points and finished ninth overall. The German's best result was fourth in the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, where he started on the front row.
"The decision over our driver line-up has not been an easy one and we have given it great consideration over the last few months," said team co-owner Vijay Mallya.
"It was a close call, but ultimately we felt that Adrian's experience and historic links to the team gave him the edge, and will provide us with the best possible chance of realising our ambitions for the coming season.
"If he can rediscover the exceptional form he showed in the second half of 2011, I'm confident that we can pick up where we left off at the end of 2012," added the Indian drinks tycoon.
Mallya said Bianchi, who is a Ferrari academy driver as well as being last year's Force India reserve, had impressed the team and they hoped to continue working with him to help him to get a future race seat. (Editing by Clare Fallon)

A submerged continent found

A submerged continent found:

A group of scientists from Norway, Germany, South Africa and the U. K. have discovered a submerged continent in the Indian Ocean.
Their measurements predict that the continent, which they have named Mauritia, lies under Mauritius and its broken chunks today extend more than 1000 km northwards till Seychelles.
The discovery was sparked when they found crystals called zircons on Mauritian beaches. Zircons are resistant to erosion or chemical change and some of the ones they found were almost two billion years old, much older than any of the regular soil or sand samples found on nearby islands. Such old crystals, they thought, could only belong to a submerged continent, and may have perhaps been pushed up on the surface by underwater volcanoes.
To confirm whether these zircons indeed belonged to such a continent, they consulted satellite data which can help detect submerged land masses.
Nick Kusznir, professor of geophysics at the University of Liverpool in the U. K. and co-author of the paper that appeared this week in the journal Nature Geoscience, says: “We found that under Mauritius there were areas with an unusually thick Earth’s crust.”
In deep oceans the thickness of Earth’s crust, which forms the upper layer of the planet and protects us from the extremely hot magma underneath it, is about seven km.
But underneath Mauritius and leading to Seychelles, which is more than 1,000 km away, there were large chunks of the crust that were as thick as 30 km. “While we cannot be certain about the origins of the zircons, when combined with the evidence of thicker crusts in such big parts of the ocean floor, we can be quite certain that a small continent existed underneath Mauritius,” says Kusznir. There are a number of popular myths about submerged continents.
For instance, in the 19th century Lemuria, a large submerged continent in the Indian Ocean, was considered to extend from Antarctica to Kanyakumari. But its claimed existence did not stand the test of science. The Earth’s crust consists of seven or eight major “plates”, which are slowly but constantly moving relative to each other.
Over millions of years these have shaped how the world looks today. Some 140 million years ago, the Indian subcontinent split from a supercontinent called Gondwana, which also consisted of modern Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America.
It eventually collided with the Eurasian plate some 50 million years ago, raising the Himalayas in the process.
Scientists predict that it was in between leaving Gondwana and colliding with the Eurasian plate that this continent Mauritia may have existed as an archipelago, a cluster of islands, squeezed in between Madagascar and the Indian subcontinent.
On the uses of finding such a submerged continent Kusznir says: “A better understanding of the sea floor and such submerged land masses can help us in better exploration of oil and gas in the oceans.”

Super-massive black hole spinning at speed of light

Super-massive black hole spinning at speed of light:


Astronomers, for the first time, have measured the spin rate of a super-massive black hole — and found it is rotating at nearly the speed of light.
The super-massive black hole lies at the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 1365. The sphere is more than 2 million miles across — eight times the distance from Earth to the Moon.
Astronomers measured its jaw-dropping spin rate using new data from the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, and the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton X-ray satellites.
“This is the first time anyone has accurately measured the spin of a super-massive black hole,” said lead author Guido Risaliti of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and INAF — Arcetri Observatory.
This research is being published in the journal Nature.
A black hole’s gravity is so strong that, as the black hole spins, it drags the surrounding space along. The edge of this spinning hole is called the event horizon.
Any material crossing the event horizon is pulled into the black hole. Inspiraling matter collects into an accretion disk, where friction heats it and causes it to emit X-rays.
Risaliti and his colleagues measured X-rays from the center of NGC 1365 to determine where the inner edge of the accretion disk was located.
This Innermost Stable Circular Orbit — the disk’s point of no return — depends on the black hole’s spin. Since a spinning black hole distorts space, the disk material can get closer to the black hole before being sucked in.
Astronomers want to know the black hole’s spin for several reasons. The first is physical — only two numbers define a black hole: mass and spin. By learning those two numbers, you learn everything there is to know about the black hole.
Most importantly, the black hole’s spin gives clues to its past and by extension the evolution of its host galaxy.
“The black hole’s spin is a memory, a record, of the past history of the galaxy as a whole,” Risaliti said in a statement.
Although the black hole in NGC 1365 is currently as massive as several million Suns, it was not born that big. It grew over billions of years by accreting stars and gas, and by merging with other black holes.
Spin results from a transfer of angular momentum, like playing on a children’s swing. If you kick at random times while you swing, you will never get very high. But if you kick at the beginning of each downswing, you go higher and higher as you add angular momentum.
Studying a super-massive black hole also allows theorists to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity in extreme conditions.

Over 360 mn people suffering hearing loss: WHO

Over 360 mn people suffering hearing loss: WHO

Over 360 mn people suffering hearing loss: WHO
Geneva: A World Health Organisation (WHO) report has said there are an estimated 360 million people in the world who are suffering from hearing loss.

In the report prepared for International Ear Care Day (March 3), WHO said one in three people over the age of 65, or a total of 165 million people worldwide, live with hearing loss, and another 32 million affected by hearing loss are children aged under 15.

About half of all cases of hearing loss are easily preventable while many can be treated through early diagnosis and suitable interventions such as surgically implanted hearing devices, said Shelly Chadha of the WHO Department of Prevention of Blindness and Deafness.

She, however, warned that the current production of hearing aids met less than 10 percent of the global need.

"In developing countries, fewer than one out of 40 people who need a hearing aid have one," Chadha said. 


WHO encouraged countries to develop programmes for preventing hearing loss within their primary health care systems including vaccinating children against infectious diseases such as measles, meningitis and mumps.

It also recommended measures such as screening and treating syphilis in pregnant women, and early assessment and management of hearing loss in babies.

Popular Posts

U.S. News

More...

World News

More...
 

© Copyright A2Z Net Users 2011 | Design by Cinesarada | Hollywood | Bollywood | Tollywood | Kollywood.