Bhanwari Devi Case

Bhanwari case: CBI grills Malkhan,
 Maderna's wife for 2nd day
Jodhpur,-Congress MLA Malkhan Singh and
sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna's wife Lila Maderna
were today grilled for the second day in Bhanwari Devi missing
case by the CBI here.
Malkhan, who represents Luni constituency in Rajasthan
Assembly, was grilled along with Lila at the circuit house in
the city, officials said.
Later, after coming out from the circuit house, Lila -
who had yesterday accused the media of trying to target her
husband - told reporters the CD purportedly showing Maderna in
compromising state with Bhanwari "was fabricated and aimed at
maligning the legacy of her family by their rivals".
Lila claimed she does not have any clue of any
relationship between Bhanwari and her husband.
However, she said, even if they were in a relationship
"it was not an offence and an act of mutual consent".
A CD allegedly showing Maderna and Malkhan in
compromising position with 36-year-old Bhanwari, an auxiliary
nurse midwife at a sub-centre in Jaliwada village - around 120
km from here, had come to light after she went missing from
Jodhpur's Bilara area on September 1. Her husband Amarchand
had alleged she was abducted at the behest of Maderna.
Sources said it is believed that Bhanwari was introduced
to Maderna some years back by Malkhan, who had already
admitted to CBI that he knew her.
CBI had yesterday questioned Mahipal, Lila, Malkan and
his sister Indira, who had earlier told media that Bhanwari
wanted a "settlement of the deal" with former Water Resources
Minister Maderna and she had approached even the Pali MP Badri
Ram Jakhar.
Maderna was sacked from the state cabinet on October 16
after his name cropped up in the case.
Sam for early passage of higher education bills
New Delhi,-Favouring early passage of key
bills related to higher education, Advisor to the Prime
Minister on Public Information and Innovations Sam Pitroda
today said they were vital for the nation's economy.
"Higher education reforms are essential if the nation is
to meet the serious challenge of skill shortage that will not
allow the economy to grow at 8 to 10 per cent annually," he
said.
In this context, he stressed on early passage of the
12-odd bills on higher education pending in Parliament and
especially referred to about "five bills which has been
drafted but not been tabled in Parliament as yet".
He said while several recommendations of the National
Knowledge Commission are in the process of being implemented,
they were awaiting the government to act on recommendations
relating to reform of higher education.
Talking about the ambitious National Knowledge Network
(NKN), Pitroda said the project is expected to be ready in
about nine months entailing USD 5 billion.
The network would be a state-of-the-art multi-gigabit
pan-India network for providing a unified high speed network
backbone for all knowledge-related institutions in the
country.


A urine test to predict pre-eclampsia!
London,-Now, a simple urine test during
pregnancy can predict whether a mom-to-be can develop pre-
eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition, say scientists.
The scientists say the new test detects specific kidney
cells in patients' urine to determine whether a woman can have
pre-eclampsia which appears in late stages of pregnancy and is
characterised by hypertension and excess protein in the urine.
In its research involving 300 women, a team at Mayo
Clinic found that out of 15 women who developed pre-eclampsia,
all tested positive for the cells.
Dr Vesna Garovic, who led the team, assessed a test
which detects the shedding of kidney cells called podocytes in
the urine. The team had previously found podocytes present in
patients with pre-eclampsia when they gave birth.
In this study, all the women who went on to develop pre-
eclampsia had podocytes in their urine, while none of the 15
who went on to develop high blood pressure or the 44 healthy
pregnant women did, the 'BBC' reported.
Although carried out on small numbers of women, the
researchers say the test is highly accurate for predicting
pre-eclampsia and could alert doctors early to the problem.
Andrew Shennan, Professor of obstetrics at St Thomas
Hospital in London, said: "Being able to use a simple accurate
test in pregnancy, such as from a urine sample, would be
valuable in identifying those women to watch closely.
"Current tests are not reliable enough, and further
work is needed to confirm these promising findings in larger
groups."


Sanjana to quit Prithvi Theatre
     Mumbai,-Sanjana Kapoor, whose name has been
synonymous with the Prithvi Theatre, the place of experimental
theatre in Mumbai, is planning to move on.
     Kapoor now wants to focus on her new organisation,
'Junoon'.
     The Prithvi Theatre Company was set up by Sanjana and her
brother Kunal in 1993. It was named after their grandfather,
actor-director Prithviraj Kapoor.
     PT hosts summer-time theatre programmes, workshops,
plays, theatre festivals, etc.
     But Sanjana now plans to quit its directorship. "Next
year will see some exciting changes in my life, with the
birth of new organisation, Junoon," she said in a statement
here.
     "To focus on Junoon and give my family time, I need to
step back from my involvement at Prithvi Theatre.... this
decision was taken in consideration with my brother Kunal."
     From April 1, 2012 Sanjana would cease to be the director
of Prithvi Theatre.
     "Kunal shall be the new person for any ideas and decision
to be taken for Prithvi Theatre."
     At Junoon, the statement said, Sanjana intends to
replicate the work done by Prithvi. It will take plays from
around the country to smaller towns.

BJP wants Rajarhat township renamed after Shyamaprasad
Kolkata, -BJP has thanked West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the move to change
the name of 'Jyoti Basunagar' at Rajarhat and suggested that
it be renamed 'Shyamaprasad Mukherjeenagar' as a fitting
tribute to the patriot.
 Stating that no township should be named after Jyoti
Basu 'who pushed back progress' of West Bengal during his
tenure as chief minister, BJP state president Rahul Sinha
said "I must thank Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for saving
the dignity of the residents of the township."
Sinha said that it was in the fitness of things that
the township be renamed after Mukherjee whose efforts provided
shelter to innumerable refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan
in Bengal after Partition.

Students recycle cigarette butts into T-shirts
London,-A small group of Japanese students
has invented a way of turning cigarette butts into T-shirts.
The unusual recycling project involves the students
collecting old cigarette butts from outlets such as local
pachinko parlours and gas stations. And, after employing a
technique developed by scientists to reduce harmful toxins,
the threads are then woven into a fabric before being used
to make T-shirts, the 'Asahi Shimbun' newspaper reported.
In fact, the idea was the brainchild of Shinji Sawai, 21,
a student at College of Economics of Ritsumeikan University,
who was inspired by the quantities of butts he saw every day
at his local station while commuting.
Sawai subsequently formed a group called AOI with other
university students devoted to recycling the cigarette butts
obtained from overflowing ashtrays in local outlets.
The technology required to eliminate toxins from the
butts came about as a result of a collaboration with a
professor at the Kyoto Institute of Technology.
A number of companies in Osaka and Wakayama regions
have also become involved in spinning and weaving the threads
into a fabric, of which around 30 per cent is directly from
the butts, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.
The end result is a fabric which is well-ventilated and
highly absorbent with a slightly uneven surface and varying
thickness levels, Sawai was quoted as telling the leading
Japanese newspaper.