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Delhi Govt plans ban on diesel cars (30,Nov 2007)

The Delhi Government may ban diesel vehicles in the city if other measures to curb pollution donot work.In 2005-06 18% of all cars in the city were running on diesel.Currently every car model comes with a diesel variant.The Delhi Govt is determined to tackle rising air pollution caused by the vehicular emission. For 7 of the 10 months between Jan and Oct 2007 ,PM 2.5 levels breached the proposed norms. Moon Mission on April 9 India's moon mission Chandrayaan-1 will blast off on April9,2008.ISRO fixed the date and month of the launch after taking into account the mission' s work schedule and meterological factors. The moon mission inludes launch of a satellite and moon impact probe a small device that will crashland on the moon to study its surface and mineralogical content.

Massive DNA toxicity in Punjab: Study (29,Nov 2007)
A report submitted by PGI has confirmed the worst fears of medical investigators.The report says that the high degree of ground water contamination in large parts of Punjab has led to massive DNA toxicity and DNA damage among a substantial segment of people.According to the study in 80% of ground water samples the mercury levels were much higher than permissible limit.Arsenic was detected in 70% of effluent,57% ground and 50% of tap water samples.Three pesticides -heptachlor,endosulphan and chloryriphos were found in concentration exceeding the maximum residue limit. Samples from the drains of Budha Nala in Ludhiana,Hudiara and Tung Dhab in Amritsar,Kala Singha in Jalandhar and East Bein drain in Nawanshahar confirmed that DNA adducts in blood samples confirmed varying degree of mutation in 65% of the cases.

India to launch Israeli Spy Satellite (17, Jul 2007)
India will launch a foreign satellite with a top secret payload in September. The satellite developed by the Israeli aircraft industry is fitted with synthetic aperture radar. This will enable the satellite to see extremely tiny objects. Some of the secret images taken by the satellite are likely to be shared with India.

Gene making kids prone to diabetes found (17, Jul 2007)
Scientists have found a gene that increases a child's risk for type 1 diabetes. In a breakthrough scientists have found that the gene KIAA0350 on chromosome 16 triggers the immune system cells to attack the pancreas. It is the loss of insulin -producing islet cells in the pancreas that causes type -1 or juvenile diabetes.

NRI doctor builds artificial muscle from carbon nanofibre (17, Jul 2007)
An Indian origin scientist at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy New York is attempting to build artificial muscles using carbon nanofibres.Artificial muscles change length in response to a stimulus thereby creating a smoother more human like motion than jerky electric motors or pneumatic devices. As such they could be used to power robots, prosthetic limbs and artificial tissue for implantation. To test the nanotubes ability to resist fatigue the team led by Victor Pushparaj took a two -milimetre -square block in which many millions of nanotubes were aligned vertically and repeatedly compressed it between two steel plates.

Shrieking weapon to ward off enemy (17, Jan 2007)
A non lethal weapon called LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) is now being used by the Army, Navy, law enforcement agencies and oil companies to counter various potentially threatening situations without firing a single bullet. LRAD uses sound as a no lethal weapon to exclude people from a given area. If an unauthorized approach takes place, the device increases the intensity of sound gradually to very uncomfortable level which could cause nausea and extreme pain in the ear.

India may be birth place of TB (12, Jan 2007)
A new study by researchers at the University of Hyderabad suggests that India may be the birth place of Tuberculosis (TB) After studying over 90 samples of TB from all over India, it was discovered that the ancestral strains of TB were widespread indicating that India might be the ancient reservoir for TB from which more recent strains evolved and spread to other countries.

Dark Matter mapped for first time (8, Jan 2007)
Astrophysicists have unveiled the first atlas of "dark matter" which comprises most of the cosmos and is one of the greatest mysteries of space science. An international team of astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has created the first three dimensional map of the large scale distribution of dark matter in the universe. There is still debate about the exact characteristics of dark matter, though according to some estimates, almost four fifths of the matter in the universe is "dark". This chart is a technical breakthrough, not only because of its size, but also because of its accuracy.

Continents to merge into a new Super Continent (10, Jan 2007)
Geologists predict that the world's continents will all merge to form a new super continent 250 million years from now and that this super continent will encircle what remains of the Indian Ocean. The geological forecast shows that Africa will shift to the north into Europe, fusing the two landmasses, eliminating the Mediterranean Sea and replacing it with the Mediterranean mountains. 25 to 75 million years from now, Australia will move north to slam into Indonesia and Malaysia, finally smashing into the Philippines and then Asia, eventually merging with it.