Finally, the researchers have unravelled the secret behind the much hyped therapeutic power of the main component in turmeric, a spice regarded as auspicious and antiseptic in India.

The study was conducted by Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy, professor of biophysics, University of Michigan and his fellow workers.

The research indicated that turmeric has been used in various ways for hundreds of years in Indian folk medicine in order to heal injuries, infections and other troubles related to health.

Washington - Under government pressure to prove its viability by June 1 and bracing for a prolonged recession, General Motors on Thursday announced an unprecedented series of nationwide summer plant shut-downs to reduce ballooning inventory.

Meanwhile, with an April 30 deadline looming for the smaller Chrysler, the government was already drawing up a bankruptcy filing that would protect Chrysler union members' pensions and retiree health-care benefits, The New York Times reported.

According to the New York Times Monday reports, for the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler to qualify for additional loans from the US government, it must strike a deal with Italian auto biggie Fiat SpA by April 30. As per the terms of the alliance, Fiat would receive a 35 per cent stake in Chrysler, but would provide no cash infusion.

In case Chrysler, the third largest automaker, fails to materialize the projected pact with Fiat by the set deadline, it would receive no more aid from the government, because the Obama administration would not consider it a viable stand-alone company.

Detroit, Michigan  - With a worldwide recession driving car sales sharply lower, this week's Detroit Auto Show left most carmakers touting cheap, fuel-efficient and even electric cars as the wave of the future.

But Fisker Automotive, a California-based startup founded in 2005, is hoping the wealthy are just as interested in the environment as those looking to save money. The company rolled out a production-ready luxury sports car this week with a twin electric and petrol engine.

SAGINAW, Mich., Dec. 4 - A Saginaw, Mich., neighborhood watch group said it had to cancel a meeting after arriving members tripped a burglar alarm.

Bonnie Leiner, president of the Covenant Neighborhood Association, said the alarm started blaring after she opened the doors of Communications Workers of America Hall for Wednesday evening's meeting, the Saginaw News reported Thursday.

Leiner said members tried for almost an hour to contact someone who could switch the alarm off, but they were eventually forced to cancel the gathering 10 minutes after it was supposed to have started.

JACKSON, Mich., Dec. 4 - Authorities in Jackson County, Mich., said a 16-year-old girl being pursued by a police officer sped off in an unattended patrol car.

Blackman Township Public Safety Director Mike Jester said an officer responded to a domestic dispute early Monday morning and the 16-year-old, whose name was not released, fled on foot, the Jackson (Mich.) Citizen-Patriot reported Thursday.

Jester said the girl evaded the officer and entered an unattended police car that had been left unlocked. The dispatch tape from the evening recorded the girl using the car's radio to taunt the officer for "leaving his car unlocked."

The girl also used expletives to tell the female dispatcher to "shut up," the tape recorded.