Concern at MNCs theft of Indigenous Knowledge
Mangalore: At the national seminar on "Intellectual Property Rights", organised by Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College of Business Management in Mangalore, the country's scientists have raised serious concerns at the bio-piracy of natural resources in the country by multi-national companies (MNCs). They have pointed out that that indigenous knowledge (IK) plays an important role in developing a people's bio-diversity register, and hence needs to be adequately safeguarded.

Scientist have pointed out that said that most of the MNCs provide funds to various non-governmental organisations, institutions, universities, and government departments, for research projects dealing with bio-resources. In turn these MNCs collect authentic information for their own benefit.IK is a valuable and sophisticated knowledge system developed over generations by local communities in various parts of the world. According to the scientists the economic value of IK in herbal medicine is likely to touch $5 trillion by 2020, and hence conservation of IK and bio-resources should be taken up on a priority basis.
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CBI to probe Tagore medal theft
New Delhi: The CBI said it was waiting for a formal notification from the West Bengal government in order to take up the probe into the burglary of Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medallion and other possessions from Shantiniketan.

The West Bengal government has recommended a CBI probe after the state CID failed to make any headway into the theft for three days since the incident. Meanwhile the state police has said that with two more detentions, so far 15 persons, mostly professional burglars, have been interrogated in connection with the theft.
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Multan Test: Sehwag unbeaten on 228
Multan: An unbeaten double century by Virender Sehwag powered India to 356 for two against Pakistan on the first day of the first Test at Multan.At stumps, opener Virender Sehwag was not out on 228 and Sachin Tendulkar was not out on 60.
With this score Sehwag overtook Sanjay Manjrekar as India's highest scorer in a Test innings in Pakistan. Manjrekar had made 218 at Lahore on the 1989 tour. Sehwag's unbeaten 228 runs came off 271 balls and contained 30 boundaries and 5 sixes. His century came off just 92 balls.

Anil Kumble, is the lone spinner in the Indian team that also includes three seamers - Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and L Balaji. Yuvraj Singh has taken Ganguly's place in the side and Parthiv Patel is back as specialist wicket-keeper.
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Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne quits
Colombo: Hashan Tillakaratne quit as the Sri Lankan cricket captain immediately after Australia achieved victory in the third test, to become the first touring team to sweep a three-Test series in Sri Lanka. Tillakaratne's only win in 11 matches as captain was in the third Test against England in December last year . He was involved in four losses and six draws.
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NASA successfully tests scramjet technology
Pasadena: NASA has successfully launched an experimental jet capable of reaching speeds approaching 5,000 miles or over Mach 7 (8,000km) per hour. The unpiloted X-43A made a 10-second powered flight before it plunged into the Pacific Ocean. According to scientists no "air-breathing" jet had ever before reached Mach 7, that is, seven times the speed of sound.

The X-43A was developed to test a type of engine called a supersonic-combustion ramjet, or scramjet. Theoretically, scramjet technology could allow rocket-speed travel around the world, for the technology allows considerable savings in weight. Rockets must carry their own oxygen to combust the fuel they carry aboard, while scramjets can scoop it out of the atmosphere.
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Air Deccan to further reduce fares
Bangalore: Air Deccan hopes to further reduce its fares with the acquisition of all its aircraft and the stabilization of its routes. It will be inducting seven A-320s in phases. While three will be delivered to the airline this June, two more will follow in February and the final two in September.

From April 15, the airline will be linking all cities in Maharashtra and Gujarat with poor connectivity. The flights will operate between Mumbai-Surat, Mumbai-Bhavnagar, Mumbai-Kolhapur, Kolhapur-Belgaum, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad-Baroda, Ahmedabad-Bhuj and Rajkot-Jamnagar.
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