In a unique way to rally support for Barack Obama, the actor-turned-director Ron Howard reprises his role on “The Andy Griffith Show,” in a video posted Thursday on Funnyordie.com.

The Web video features iconic North Carolina actor Andy Griffith praising Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Griffith, a resident of Manteo, N.C., has made numerous ads for Democratic candidates, but the video is his first endorsement in a national race, and the only one he has done in character as Mayberry’s Sheriff Taylor.

A complaint has been filed with the Federal Election Commission, by a watchdog group, against Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, the Republican National Committee, Larson and other political operatives associated with the RNC, alleging that the Republican Party improperly spent $150,000 on clothing for Palin and her family.

According to the campaigns finance report for September, Jeff Larson, a Minnesota-based Republican consultant, made most or all of the purchases at high-end chain stores in Minneapolis.  

The 30-share index, BSE Sensex, lost more than 700 points soon after the announcement of credit policy review by the central bank.

Metals, banks and realty stocks were hammered badly.

The central bank kept the Bank Rate unchanged at 6% in its mid-term review of the annual statement on monetary policy for the year 2008-09.

Meanwhile, repo rate was also kept steady at 8%, to judge the impact of a heavy, surprise cut earlier this week to suppress the financial system from the worldwide financial crisis.

If the beginning of this week had the former Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell, announcing his endorsement of Obama, the end of the week has former White House Press Secretary, Scott McClellan, going Obama’s way too.

The accomplished Bush loyalist no more who has an uncanny knack for dropping bombshells, did it this time around with his tell-all book about life and lies in President Bush’s inner circle. The book has McClellan bashing his former bosses in the Bush administration.

McClellan’s declaration of Obama endorsement, taped for a new weekend CNN show, “D.L. Hughley Breaks the News,” comes through his dramatic statement that he has a favorite in the presidential election, and “it is not John McCain.”

US researchers say hydrogen sulfide, known for its bad smell is important for regulating our blood pressure. According to the study published in Science, researchers at John Hopkins University, in Maryland found that hydrogen sulfide; a toxic gas responsible for the foul odor of flatulence is also produced by an enzyme called CSE in the thin lining of the blood vessels. This regulates blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels.

Guangdong Yang, PhD, of the University of Saskatchewan and Lakehead University in Canada, and colleagues examined two groups of mice in the study. One group of mice was normal while the second group of mice had been engineered to not have CSE, an enzyme long suspected of making hydrogen sulfide.

Violence in Bihar has forced the Eastern Railway authorities to cancel seven trains that pass through Bihar.  

"Though there has been no news of any fresh violence on this day, the railway authorities did not want to take any chances," said an Eastern Railway official.

The cancelled trains list includes Bhagalpur-New Delhi Vikramshila Express, the Bhagalpur-Muzaffarpur Jansewa Express, the Sealdah- Balia Express, the Howrah-Patna Janshatabdi Express, the Howrah-Hardwar Puja Special, the Howrah-Raxaul Mithila Express and the Sealdah-Jaynagar Gangasagar Express, an ER press release said. The Sealdah-Udaipur Ananya Express was diverted via Pradhankhunta.