It was a myth so far

THE big bang gave birth to this universe. In the process, the cosmic explosion kicked off a rapid expansion of space. The universe is still expanding. The speed with which celestial bodies move to achieve this expansion is a mystery that has driven scientists up the wall.

New Snippets

>> In the second week of November, Sweden returned skulls taken from indigenous cemeteries in Hawaii in the 19th century. The remains were exhibited in Stockholms Antiquities Museum. Museum director Lars Amreus said most of the skulls were taken from burial sites in the Pacific islands by Swedish scientists in the 1880s. >> A UK government advert which claimed an engineering diploma would get teenagers into any university has been ruled misleading by the countrys advertising watchdog. It said Cambridge accepted the diploma only if it was taken alongside A-level physics.

Ears have been picked, where is the info?

information is critical to democracy, which holds the citizen as the sovereign. But In India, the citizen had no effective power to question, let alone get redressal for legitimate rights. For a long time the government could withhold information from people by using the draconian Official Secrets Act. The Right to Information Act, passed in 2005, empowers citizens to ask for information from their government, and has the potential of enforcing the majesty of the Indian citizen. In the last four years, citizens have used the right for innovative purposes.

Net effect

Councillors in a rural town in UK staged a mass resignation after getting tired of a bloggers criticism. Former vice-chairperson Anthony Canvin said 11 of Somerton Town Councils 15 members resigned on November 2. In his Muck&Brass blog, Niall Connolly called them jackasses. But Connolly rejected the idea that the resignation was a result of his blog. The councillors had for too long ignored the community which they were meant to serve and they cant stand any election, he said.

UK government censures Vedanta

THE UK government has criticized multi-national mining corporation, Vedanta Resources, for ignoring the rights of Dongria Kondh tribals of Kalahandi district in Orissa. The UK governments wing that deals with promoting guidelines on ethical behaviour for corporate bodies reprimanded Vedanta on October 13

New medias triumph

Social networking site Twitter evokes mixed feelings. It has been credited with helping organize political protest and has been criticized for disrespecting privacy. According to Alan Rusbridger, editor of The Guardian, in the rarest of cases, apparently, Twitter can do both. Rusbridger recently prevailed in a legal fight over the publication of secret documents.

News Snippets

>> A company in Scotland is advertising for interpreters to translate the Glaswegian dialect into standard English. It offers to pay more than US $200 a day to people with a knowledge of the areas vocabulary, accent and nuances. Scotlands biggest city, Glasgow, has long had a reputation for the most impenetrable dialect in Britain.

PETA has no meat

UKs advertising watchdog has banned an ad campaign by animal rights group Peta for misleading consumers that swine flu could be contracted by eating meat. Petas poster campaign stated Meat kills in large letters. In the background smaller text listed a range of superbugs including E coli, mad cow disease, swine flu and mrsa.

Road rage

When Paul Jacobs of a village in UK's Cambridgeshire county spotted a car marked Google car, he alerted other villagers. The people of Broughton quickly formed a human chain until the Google car slunk away with tailpipe between its tyres. The villagers complained Google had no right to take pictures of their homes, calling it an invasion of privacy and an invitation for burglars to strike.

Air combat