chakravarthy

It is easier for flamingos to stand on one leg  than on two, as this helps them save energy, say scientists who have solved longstanding puzzle of why these birds perch on a single limb. Researchers showed that flamingos employ no active muscular effort when they are on one leg. A passive mechanism is engaged  in the one-legged position, allowing flamingos to stand even while taking a nap. Other researchers have proposed that this behaviour helps regulate body temperature. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first terror attack on Amarnath yatris in seventeen years is an act of desperation by terrorists seeking to communalise the Kashmir valley and the country after losing several men to security forces. The terrorists picked the weakest link in the security appratus: a bus with pigrims from Gujarat allegedly plying in violation of CRPF norms to strike. CRPF has stated that buses registered for the yatra move in a convoy protected by paramilitary/police personnel and halt at 7 P.M. But CRPF must probe whether check-posts allowed the bus to travel in violation of security norms. Intelligence agencies had last month warned a terror threat to the Amarnath Yatra and more troops were posted along pilgrimage routes. Hurriyat hardliner SAS Geelani dismissed this threat to the yatra claiming that Kashmiris have "always been friendly with yatris". Geelani and other separatists like Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik have strongly condemned the killing of the seven yatris. But they ...

The ongoing Doklam stand-off between India and China has to be seen in the larger context. The event was clearly precipitated by China's sudden move to shift the India-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction. There has been a long-standing dispute between Bhutan and China on the Doklam plateau. Tibetan and Bhutanese herdsmen have, for long, peacefully grazed their livestock on the grassy plain, till a few years ago, Chinese horsemen wearing People's Liberation Army (PLA) tunics and with military issue binoculars, started accompanying the Tibetan herdsmen. That's when the Bhutanese objected and it became a dispute between the PLA and Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) officials in Thimpu and New Delhi have always been in the presence of Indian military officers. India has always had a special relationship with Bhutan which is underscored by a treaty. India stations a brigade in Bhutan and substantially trains, arms and funds the Bhutan military. India and China also have an Agreement  on the Mai...

Pick any film that you loved - Queen, PK, Piku, Bajrangi Bhaijaan - and plonk into its story that devious and delicious plot device of yore: A villain or, better still, a vamp. Think Helen, Ranjeet, Bindu, Ajit, Amrish Puri, Shashikala, Danny...Anyone. So, a fiendish, obsessed neighour stalks Piku as she, her irritating father and Irfan Khan drive to Calcutta, giving us, at every stop and turn, the heeble-jeebles about sweet Piku falling prey to the malevolent man's evil designs. Next, think of a buxon siren in sequin who, obsessed with Hanuman-loving seedha-saadha Bajrangi Bhaijaan, keeps thrusting her ample stuff at him, to attract and waylay him. But he troops on and onwards on his mission, unaware, unsullied, cutie pie in tow. Frustrated, the vamp, in true Snow White's sauteli ma style, hands Bajrangi's adorable, innocent, silent companion a scrumptuous looking but actually poisoned tangri kebab . She opens her mouth to... Doesn't work, right? Feels as if Ekta ...

[ Based on an article written by Vikas Pathak, published in 'The Hindu' dated 12th December, 2015 (Sat) ]. Twenty-three years after it was banned following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, the Bajrang Dal on 06th December, 2015 renewed its pledge for a Ram temple at the mosque site. The anniversary of the demolition is technically a day of 'valour' (Shaurya Diwas) for the Hindutva outfit. This year, however, Shaurya Diwas wasn't subdued as in many past years. There were elaborate press releases and there was heightened activity on right-wing Twitter handles in support of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. In fact, it also appeared to be a coming-out party for the Bajrang Dal that has for many years now kept in the shadows of other Sangh organisations.  "We feel something will soon have to be done about the Ram temple. The Allahabad High Court and the Archaeological Survey of India said there was a temple. Yet, sections of Muslims and secularists...

Scientists have found that carnivores that have larger brains relative to their body size perform better in problem-solving tasks. The researchers presented 140 animals from 39 different mammalian carnivore species with a problem-solving task. "35% of animals (49 individuals from 23 species) were successful in solving the problem. The bears were the most successful, solving the problem almost 70% of the time", said Ben Dantzer from University of Michigan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Researchers have identified a 83-million-year-old species of a rare, primitive duck-billed dinosaur, after studying its fossils discovered in the eastern United States. This new discovery also shows that duck-billed dinosaurs originated in the eastern US, what was then broadly referred to as Appalachia, before dispersing to other parts of the world. They named the new dinosaur Eotrachodon Orientalis, which means "sawn rough tooth from the east. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Researchers at University of Texas have developed a 'bubble-pen' that uses micro-bubbles to inscribe nanoparticles on a surface, an invention that could help in manufacturing devices like tiny machines, optical computers and solar panels. Existing lithography methods are not capable of fixing nanoparticles to a specific location with precise and arbitrary control. Using microbubbles to transport the particles, the bubble-pen lithography technique can quickly arrange particles in various shapes, sizes, compositions and distances between nanostructures. Using the bubble-pen device, the researchers focus a laser underneath a sheet of gold nanoislands (nanoscale islands) to generate a hotspot that creates a vapourised water. The bubble attracts and captures a nanoparticle through a combination of gas pressure, thermal and surface tension, surface adhesion and convection. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------   

The strategy of electoral mobilisation and political competition in India may change to a great extent only if all young Indians (18-19 years) eligible to be registered as voters actually go to vote. From caste-based political mobilisation, which we witness at this moment, Indian elections may begin to witness an age-based voters' mobilisation. Unfortunately, that is missing in Indian elections as not only these young Indians do not form a political entity, but sadly, their enrolment rate is also very low. An analysis of the population data between the age of 18-19 years from Census 2011 and registered voters of the same age for 2014 Lok Sabha elections released by the Election Commission indicate only 45 percent of these young Indians were registered as voters, and thus surprisingly the names of more than 55 percent of these young people did not figure on the voters list. The young voters comprised roughly 2.6 percent of the total registered voters during the 2014 Lok Sabha el...

A 500-year-old Lord Hanuman statue was found during the desilting of Pasakkirabavi, a large well in Penukonda, summer capital of the erstwhile Vijayanagara empire, in the district. The well is believed to have been built during the reign of the emperor Krishnadevaraya for drinking water for Penukonda. Even as rain deficit hit ground water sources and wells dried up, the Pasakkirabavi continued to have a little amount of water even during summer. In the wake of heavy silt, the Bhogasamudram Jala Samrakshana Samithi took the initiative to remove silt from the deep well. During the excavation, the labourers noticed a seven-feet tall Hanuman statue at the end of the steps of the well on 08th July, 2017. Locals consecrated the statue, naming it Jala Abhayahanuman and are offering poojas. Tens and hundreds of devotees thronged the well. Experts say the statue was among 732 statues consecrated by Sri Vyasaraja, Rajguru and also emperor of the Vijayanagara empire to clear the Kuhu dosha of...

One does not have to be a revolutionary poet like Faiz Ahmad Faiz to look at events in the Muslim world and lament at being deceived by the promise of a false dawn - as he memorably did at the time of Indian independence, "Yeh woh sehar to nahin jiski arzoo le kar, chale the yaar ke mil jayegee kabhi na kabhi". In 2012, the Arab Street appeared to be on the cusp of a historic democratic revolution that was supposed to define Islam in the twenty-first century. An Islam compatible and at ease with the democratic values of free speech and tolerance. With Osama bin Laden dead and Ai-Qaeda in disarray, moderate Muslims were set to reclaim the much maligned political Islam from extremists. The sight of articulate young Muslims with their Blackberrys and iPhones yearning for change and pushing for a radical break with the past mesmerised the world. Even card-carrying Islamophobes were forced into rethinking their pet theories about Islam. It was hailed as Islam's belated Enl...

[ Based on an article written by Aakar Patel, columnist and executive director of Amnesty International (India), published in Deccan Chronicle dated 28th May, 2017 (Sunday) Oped. p.13 ]. A little under thirty years ago, after Vishwanath Pratap Singh became Prime Minister, he met with Sri Lanka's President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Singh, a polite man, says he was surprised when the first thing Premadasa said to him was: "When are you taking your Army back?" The reference was to the Indian Peace Keeping Force, a group of soldiers from the Indian Army sent to Lanka to fight the Tamil Tigers. India had deployed tens of thousands of its jawans (over 1,000 of whom would die fighting the Tamilians), and we had thought of it as a sacrifice for the Lankans. However, the Lankans, according to Singh, saw it as interference after a point and wanted the Indians out of their country. The civil war in Lanka ended with a victory of the Sinhalese nationalists, and today Lanka is no lon...

The Samma Dynasty was a Rajput power that ruled in Sindh, Kutch, Saurashtra and parts of Punjab from 1351 to 1524 CE, with their capital at Thatta in modern Pakistan. The Samma Dynasty took the title 'Jam', the equivalent of 'King', because they claimed to be descendents of Jamshid, a mytholigcal figure of Greater Iranian culture and tradition. Jam Unar was the founder of the dynasty, according  to Ibn Battuta, the famous traveller from North Africa. =============================================== 

Sindh is known for its distinct culture which is strongly influenced bu Sufism. Several important Sufi shrines are located throughout the province which attract millions of devotees annually. Historically home to the Sindhi people, it is also basically known as the Mehran. Sindhi culture is known all over the world for its arts, crafts and heritage. Sindh has a reputation for ajraks , pottery, leather work, carpets, textiles, and silk cloth which, in design and finish, are matchless. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------