Author: Starvision News Desk

Baghdad, Sep 27 (IANS) At least 114 people were killed and more than 200 injured after a massive fire ripped through a wedding hall in Iraq’s Nineveh province, a top official announced on Wednesday.The updated figures were confirmed to the media by Nineveh Governor Najm al-Jubouri, reports Xinhua news agency.The fire broke out on Tuesday night in the al-Haytham Wedding Hall in al-Hamdaniya town, 35 km southeast of the provincial capital Mosul, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted the Iraqi Civil Defence as saying.It said that initial reports indicated that fireworks were used during the celebration, which may have…

London, Sep 26 (IANS) Indian-origin British MP Nadia Whittome has tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons calling the UK to halt its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks with India in the wake of the ethnic violence in Manipur.The motion, signed by 21 other MPs, also urged the government to raise the issue of human rights violations in Manipur with the Indian government.”While the Tories are negotiating a free trade agreement with India, minorities face persecution under BJP rule. I tabled a motion highlighting the campaign of violence against the Kuki-Zo people in Manipur,” Whittome wrote on…

Washington, Sep 27 (IANS) The US Senate has unveiled a short-term spending bill that would keep the government open through November 17, with $6.2 billion in funding for Ukraine and $6 billion for domestic disasters, the media reported.The government funding is scheduled to expire on Saturday.The Senate took an initial step to advance its bipartisan stopgap bill on Tuesday with a procedural vote of 77 to 19, reports CNN.As he outlined the Senate’s stopgap proposal, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “We will continue to fund the government at present levels while maintaining our commitment to Ukraine’s security and humanitarian…

Prague, Sep 27 (IANS) The Agriculture Ministers of the Visegrad Group (V4) countries have called on the European Union (EU) to tighten control on the routes for Ukraine’s grain exports and to introduce new measures.”We want to propose the European Commission to introduce refundable deposits or another financial mechanism for traders who import grain from Ukraine. If they can prove that the grains leave Europe via the Baltic or Polish ports, they will get their money back,” Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Vyborny said on Tuesday in a statement.He made the remarks following a meeting with his counterparts from Hungary,…

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Adding yoga therapy as a complementary treatment for heart failure and heart diseases is beneficial, according to a study led by a scientist at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR).Heart failure is a form of cardiovascular disease where the heart muscle is either too weak or too stiff to pump properly, often leading to fluid buildup, shortness of breath and other complications.Ajit Singh, a research scientist for the ICMR at Kasturba Medical College & Hospital in Karnataka, conducted the study on 75 patients, aged between 30 to 75 years, at a tertiary care centre…

United Nations, Sep 26 (IANS) India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday declared India a “Vishwa Mitra”, a friend of the world, that will be a bridge-builder, but will also challenge the power structure and give voice to South as it claims its due.”When we aspired to be a leading power, this is not for self-aggrandisement, but to take on greater responsibility and make more contributions,” he said at the high-level meeting of the General Assembly.”All nations pursue the national interests (but) we, in India, have never seen that as being in contradiction with global good,” he said.Outlining India’s…

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Safeguarding patient privacy, which includes personal information, medical history, test and treatment, plays a key role in the digital transformation of the healthcare industry, according to a report on Tuesday.The pandemic and quarantine measures prompted a growth in telemedicine as well as a general increase in the usage of digital technologies across the board.However, if cybersecurity and data protection are not given top priority in the technological infrastructures of the healthcare industry and medical device manufacturers, the possibility of the exposure of private medical data severely jeopardises patient privacy, said the report by GlobalData, a…

Mandi, Sep 26 (IANS) Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi have designed a protein-based vaccine against Pork Tapeworm (T. solium).T. solium is responsible for both intestinal infections and the more severe brain infection that leads to seizures. The World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies the pork tapeworm as a major cause of foodborne deaths, causing substantial disability-adjusted life year losses.It contributes to 30 per cent of epilepsy cases in developing nations, rising to 45 -50 per cent in areas with poor hygiene and free-roaming pigs.While the mass administration of deworming drugs such as Albendazole and Praziquantel has been…

New York, Sep 26 (IANS) A common brain network likely exists among people addicted to nicotine, alcohol, cocaine or heroin, finds a study. The findings, published in Nature Mental Health, suggests a potential brain circuit to target with neurostimulation therapies.”Our study found that different brain regions implicated in addiction are all a part of a common brain circuit,” said Michael Fox, from the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the US.The team evaluated data from across more than 144 studies of addiction, involving more than 9,000 participants. Within each of those studies, different brain regions…

New York, Sep 26 (IANS) Scientists have developed a novel Artificial Intelligence-based method that can test for signs of past or present life on Mars and other planets.In the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ (PNAS), the team said their Artificial Intelligence (AI) -based method can distinguish modern and ancient biological samples from those of abiotic origin with 90 per cent accuracy.”The search for extraterrestrial life remains one of the most tantalising endeavours in modern science,” said lead author Jim Cleaves of the Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC.”The implications of this new research…