NASA Rocket Takes Off as Clouds Break

After rising through blue sky for two minutes, the first stage expended its fuel at an altitude of more than 25 miles, separated and parachuted into the ocean. After separation, the dummy second stage spun around before plunging into the ocean. The final Ares I rocket is to have a second-stage engine and a crew capsule to carry four astronauts into orbit to the International Space Station.
As tall as a 32-story building but with a first stage only 12 feet wide, the Ares I-X looked skinny and top-heavy. Yet it flew as envisioned.
For the NASA team working on costallation programme to send astronauts to the Moon and beyond, the flight was a moment of smiles and joy, if not quite vindication. Critics have described the Ares I, which would be the first Constellation rocket to fly, as too expensive and technically flawed.
“Vindication really does not describe it well,” the program manager, Jeffrey Hanley, said at a news conference after the flight. “It’s a sense of validation that the course we have laid out is executable.”

EU leaders urge Iran to accept nuclear fuel deal

European Union leaders urged Iran on Friday to accept a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal, saying progress would open the way to cooperation with the EU.
Iran has proposed changes to the agreement reached with the United States, France and Russia, Iranian media said on Thursday, making demands that appeared to challenge its basis.
The deal, drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), would involve Iran sending potential nuclear fuel abroad for processing to allay Western concerns that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
A statement due to be issued by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels said they remained gravely concerned about Iran's nuclear programme.
"The European Council also calls upon Iran to agree with the IAEA to the scheme of nuclear fuel supply for the Tehran research reactor, which would contribute to building confidence while responding to Iran's need for medical radio-isotopes," said the statement, which was obtained by Reuters.

22 lakh poor families to come under health insurance cover

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala plans to bring 22 lakh families at the bottom level of society under the modified version of the Centre’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), an ambitious health insurance scheme for the poor, now being implemented in the State, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.
Addressing a national conference on the insurance scheme here on Wednesday, he said 11.79 lakh families in the State, coming under the BPL (below the poverty line) norms of the Planning Commission, had already been covered by the modified RSBY, called the Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
He said the norms, in reality, would keep out large sections of the poor from the purview of the RSBY. Therefore, the State government would bear the expenses towards the insurance premium of over 10 lakh more poor families. Families in the APL (above the poverty line) category too could join the scheme on paying the insurance premium.

22 lakh poor families to come under health insurance cover

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala plans to bring 22 lakh families at the bottom level of society under the modified version of the Centre’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), an ambitious health insurance scheme for the poor, now being implemented in the State, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.
Addressing a national conference on the insurance scheme here on Wednesday, he said 11.79 lakh families in the State, coming under the BPL (below the poverty line) norms of the Planning Commission, had already been covered by the modified RSBY, called the Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
He said the norms, in reality, would keep out large sections of the poor from the purview of the RSBY. Therefore, the State government would bear the expenses towards the insurance premium of over 10 lakh more poor families. Families in the APL (above the poverty line) category too could join the scheme on paying the insurance premium.

IGNOU, Ericsson sign pact for education using 3G Telephony

In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has signed a pact with Swedish telecom giant Ericsson to provide access to educational content using third generation (3G) mobile telephony.
The university, which has 2.5 million students on its rolls, will initially roll out the 3G application for 1,000 students pursuing certificate course in information technology here. This will be a pilot project for the next six months, officials said.
Soon after the university has planned a pan-India roll-out, extending to all courses.
'With Ericsson's help, we will create a learning platform that uses mobile devices to build educational excellence and exchange information,' V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, the vice chancellor of the university, said after signing the pact.
'The concession on the 3G usages will be worked out with the governments and the telecom companies later. But we will charge a very minimal money, around Rs.25 or even less, for making distance education available through 3G applications,' Pillai added.
The IGNOU is also in talks with telecom operators like the state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam who have already already rolled out their 3G services to enable students to learn through this mobile-based application.

Manmohan, Wen Agree to Build India-China Trust

(IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao met for nearly an hour here Saturday and agreed to build 'trust and understanding' in their bilateral relationship.

The two leaders had 'good discussions' and 'a productive meeting' at Hotel Dusit Thani, the venue of the Asean and East Asia summits, official sources said.

Wen said: 'We want to have a healthy and steady relationship with India. I hope we can use this opportunity to exchange our views on all related issues.'

The much awaited meeting was aimed at easing tensions between the two countries centred on their unresolved border dispute. Official sources, however, said Arunachal Pradesh and Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama did not figure in the discussions.

The two countries also agreed to beef up their strategic and cooperative partnership.

Manmohan Singh told Wen: 'I am excited to see you.' He said the Chinese people have had a number of achievements 'and we share their sense of accomplishment'. He said this in the context of the 60th anniversary of the founding of modern China.

Manmohan Singh also recalled his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Russia in June this year.

Earlier, the Chinese premier received Manmohan Singh like an old friend and spoke of the meetings they have had in the past.

Industrialised countries must cut emissions: Jairam Ramesh

industrialized countries must make deep cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions and this must be verifiable internationally for a global climate deal in Copenhagen this December, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said here Monday, hours after being charged by Indian government negotiators and civil society groups of turning the country's climate policy around.

The minister faced flak for writing a letter to the prime minister in which he suggested that in order to be seen as a deal-maker rather than a deal-breaker in Copenhagen, India give up its insistence on saving the Kyoto Protocol - the current global treaty to fight climate change.

Ramesh told a select group of journalists here that the media report about his letter was a gross distortion. He said there had been no change in his position on the basic issues of what developed and developing countries should do to fight climate change, but everything else was negotiable.

Botswana's President Khama wins new term

Botswana's President Ian Khama secured a new five-year term on Sunday, extending his rule over the world's largest diamond producer, after his governing BDP party swept to victory in a parliamentary election.

Khama's party extended its majority in parliament by capturing one more seat than before Saturday's election

"I'd like to congratulate the BDP, parliament members and councillors for winning the 2009 election, and also members of the opposition for giving us competition at the election," said Khama, addressing thousands of supporters clad in his party's red colours at a rally in a dusty football pitch in Gaborone.

A Nobel first: economics prize goes to a woman

A U.S. academic who proved that communities can trump state control and corporations became the first woman to win the Nobel prize in economics on Monday, sharing it with an expert on how companies make decisions whose work could influence post-crisis regulation.

Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University defied conventional wisdom with studies that showed that user-managed properties -- such as community fish stocks or woodland areas -- more often than not were better run than standard theories predicted.

University of California, Berkeley economist Oliver Williamson, the other winner, looked at how incentives within companies, government and other organizations affect decisions, adding human dimensions such as social norms to a field often thought of in terms of a hypothetical perfect market.

The two will share the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences award of 10 million Swedish crown ($1.4 million) prize.

Before Ostrom, the previously accepted view was that common property was poorly managed and should be either regulated centrally or privatized.

"Since we have found that bureaucrats sometimes do not have the correct information while citizens and users of resources do, we hope it helps encourage a sense of capacity and power," Ostrom told a news conference via telephone.

After a week of Nobel drama that included the gasp-inducing selection of U.S. President Barack Obama for the peace prize, the economics category risked being an anti-climax.

But the choice of a woman for a prize in a field dominated by men added a final twist to this year's awards, showing again the Nobel committees' penchant for springing surprises.

"There are many, many people who have struggled mightily and to be chosen for this prize is a great honor and I'm still a little bit in shock," Ostrom, a professor in political science, told the news conference.

ARMY WILL NOT BE USED AGAINST MOIST SAID P.M.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday affirmed the government's determination not to succumb to the increasing threat of Maoists but ruled out the use of the army against them.
'It shows the measure of challenge we face. We will never succumb,' Singh told reporters in Raichur, about 400 km from here, after he made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in parts of north Karnataka.
'We are not talking of using armed forces. Police and paramilitary forces will be mobilized,' the prime minister said.
Maoists had killed 17 policemen in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra Thursday in the latest attack by them on police and police stations.

Nothing wrong in Rahul's visit to villages says RSS

Rajgir (Bihar), Oct 10 (PTI) Differing with the BJP over its criticism of Rahul Gandhi''s visit to villages, RSS has said it was good to talk about villages and see the plight of people living in rural areas. "Bharatiya ho kar gaon ki baat karne mein galat kya hai.
sabhi bharatiya ko gaon jana chahiye aur uski baat karni chahiye (every Indian should visit the villages and talks about it there is nothing wrong in it)," RSS media in-charge Mohan Vaidya said here yesterday. He was asked about BJP''s criticism of Gandhi''s visit to rural households.
The BJP has termed as "farce" the Congress leader''s visit to dalit villages in Uttar Pradesh. Stressing the need for accelerating village-centric development, Vaidya said RSS felt that it would come in handy in reining in migration of people from one state to another in search of jobs.
"Migration from villages should be stopped and development must be defined in a village centric manner," Vaidya said on the second day of the three day-long meeting of the Executive Committee of the organisation inaugurated by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat here. He said the meeting, the first-ever of the outfit in Bihar, would discuss issues related to internal security in the wake of threat from Maoists, cross border terrorism, disputes related to Indo-China, Indo-Pakistan borders, environmental pollution and adopt separate resolutions.

Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Ramakrishnan, Steitz, Yonath

Stockholm, Oct 7 (DPA) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath have won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, it was announced in Stockholm Wednesday.
Ramakrishnan and Steitz are US citizens, Yonath is from Israel.
The trio were cited 'for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome' one of the core processes in life, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Riobosomes produce proteins that control the chemistry in all living organisms.
Their research is used by scientists hoping to develop new antibiotics.
The chemistry prize was the third of this year's Nobel Prizes to be announced following the medicine prize announced Monday and the physics prize announced Tuesday.

Hilary Mantel wins Booker Prize

Wed, Oct 7 05:59 AM
London, Oct 7 (DPA) Hilary Mantel, author of the historic novel Wolf Hall, Tuesday received the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction.
The 50,000-pound ($80,000) prize was awarded for her much-praised novel about Thomas Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court of the 1520s, the Booker prize website said.
'Wolf Hall ... peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage,' the committee said in a press release.
Mantel's book was chosen from a shortlist of six titles that included works by AS Byatt, JM Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer and Sarah Waters.