United States

US will not mediate between India and Pakistan: Holbrooke

Richard HolbrookeNew Delhi, Apr. 8: President Barack Obama’s Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke has said that the US could not mediate between Pakistan and India, and that the two neighbouring countries would have to solve their long impending issues between themselves bilaterally.

Addressing media persons in Islamabad before emplaning for New Delhi, Holbrooke said: “Washington cannot negotiate between the two countries, they should normalise mutual ties.”

Terming the November 2006 Mumbai terror attack as ‘strategic terrorism’, he said the strikes were an attempt to destabilize both countries.

Antibiotic treatment may offer cystic fibrosis treatment

Antibiotic treatment may offer cystic fibrosis treatmentWashington, Apr 8 : Researchers from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a novel antibiotic treatment for human genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF).

By modifying the properties of the antibiotic gentamicin, commonly used to treat bacterial infections, the researchers claim to have developed a novel treatment for many human genetic diseases, including cystic fibrosis (CF), Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Usher Syndrome and numerous cancers.

Gentamicin belongs to a class of antibiotics called aminoglycosides.

Holbrooke meets CII chief mentor

Holbrooke meets CII chief mentorNew Delhi, Apr 8: United States Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke met Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) chief mentor Tarun Das here on Wednesday.

The Chairman of the U. S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was also present.

The meeting assumed significance in view of the top US officials huddling with India strategy group of CII over Indo-US cooperation in reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Holbrooke, along with Mullen, are expected to meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and National Security Advisor M. K. Narayanan later in the day.

Adult human brain processes fractions ''intuitively''

Adult human brain processes fractions ''intuitively''Washington, April 8 : Fractions are often considered a major stumbling block in math education, but the adult brain encodes them automatically without conscious thought, says a new study.

The study, conducted by researchers Simon Jacob, MD, and Andreas Nieder, PhD, at the University of Tübingen in Germany, has shown that cells in the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and the prefrontal cortex - brain regions important for processing whole numbers - are tuned to respond to particular fractions.

Oral contraceptives ‘increase lupus risk’

Washington, April 8 : Use of oral contraceptives is associated with an increased risk of autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus, a new study has shown.

The study found that the risk was mostly limited to current users, those who had just started using contraception, and those using older first- and second-generation oral contraceptives instead of third-generation ones.

Led by Dr. Samy Suissa of the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology at Jewish General Hospital of McGill University in Montreal, researchers obtained data on more than 1.7 million women ages 18-45 from the U. K. General Practice Research Database, which contains more than 6 million people.

Michelle Obama’s wax statue unveiled

Michelle Obama’s wax statue unveiledWashington, Apr 8 : After US P

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