WASHINGTON - With the help of equipment that could revolutionize underwater archaeology, archaeologists will try to uncover the secrets of Pavlopetri in Greece, which is the world’s oldest submerged town.

US Army opens mental health probe as soldier charged in killings of 5 comrades in Baghdad

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military command launched an investigation Tuesday into whether it offers adequate mental health care to its soldiers, a day after a sergeant finishing up his third tour of Iraq allegedly shot and killed five comrades at a clinic on a U.S. base.

A BJP candidate who believes in namaz and Hindu gods

RAMPUR - He is a Muslim man who also visits Hindu temples. He offers the namaz but also sports a tilak on his forehead. Meet Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president and candidate in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur Lok Sabha constituency.

Madonna adoption: Dispute over whether man trying to stop proceedings is father

BLANTYRE, Malawi — Malawi’s highest court began deliberating on Madonna’s bid to adopt a 3-year-old girl from the southern African country, as a dispute erupted over whether a man trying to stop the proceedings is the girl’s father.

In view of Rihannas misspelled tattoo, Hindus call for Sanskrit training for tattoo industry

In view of recent controversy surrounding singer-model Rihanna’s misspelled Sanskrit tattoo and surge in celebrity interest in Sanskrit tattoos, Hindus have urged tattoo artists worldwide to undertake basic training in ancient Sanskrit language and culture surrounding it.

Nobel Laureates bullish on India at Science Conclave

Dec 17, Allahabad (Sampurn Media): The 8 Nobel Laureates who have reached the IIIT-Allahabad for the Nobel Laureates’ Science Conclave are very bullish on India. Most of them have come in with their spouses and are looking forward to spending time in India and also visiting other Indian cities. While some of them seemed a bit apprehensive about coming to India after the terror attack in Mumbai, all of them were convinced that barring a few incidents, India is a safe place to live, work and travel.

Speaking at the formal inauguration of the Science Conclave on Tuesday morning they all echoed the same sentiment and feeling. "India and Indian youth have contributed greatly to the international scientific community though they have a long way to go," was the common refrain in their speeches.

Jerome Issac Friedman who has worked under stalwarts like Encrico Fermi and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1990 for discovering quarks (the building blocks of protons in an atom) said that in addition to technology, we need to focus on the development of basic science. "We need to concentrate on basic research," he said, adding that the greatest invention of this century the transistor (a semi-conducting device used in every electronic micro chip) is responsible for 2/3rds of the economy of certain modern nations, referring to countries in South East Asia which have a flourishing semi-conductor manufacturing business and account for almost 50 per cent of all the semi conductors manufactured in the world. He wondered why India was not able to catch on the manufacturing boom particularly in semi-conducting devices and electronic gadgets like other nations like Taiwan, Malaysia and Korea in spite having a huge pool of technocrats and scientists.

Facebook and Twitter among Pentagon’s newest tools to reach out to younger Americans

FORT MONROE, Va. — You don’t often hear a three-star general using the word “friend” as a verb.

Pope greets native Canadians, expected to express concern for suffering

VATICAN CITY — A group of Canadian aboriginals attended Pope Benedict XVI’s general audience on Wednesday before a private meeting where the pope was expected to express concern about the former policy of forced attendance of Indian children at Christian-run schools.

Freighter sinks replica of Ming Dynasty Chinese sailing junk near Taiwan, sailors rescued

HONOLULU — A replica of a Ming Dynasty Chinese sailing ship sank off the coast of Taiwan after it was rammed by a freighter, but its sailors were rescued, relatives of Hawaii-based crew members said Monday.

Moily claims his constituency is free from caste considerations

CHIKKBALLAPUR - Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily has said that his constituency is free from all caste considerations.

Vice President Ansari concludes Kuwait visit

NEW DELHI - Vice President Hamid Ansari has left for New Delhi after his three-day Kuwait visit during which India and Kuwait decided to take their economic and political ties to a higher level.

Surrendered ULFA rebels wants to participate in general elections

NALBARI - Surrendered rebels of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) express their desire to participate in upcoming general elections.

Faiz’s poetry witnessing revival in India: daughter

NEW DELHI - One of the most popular contemporary Urdu poets from Pakistan Faiz Ahmed Faiz, known for his sonnets of peace, love, secularism and human suffering, has become a Bollywood peace mascot again. His poetry is being used for a track in the movie ‘Sikandar’ which is expected to hit the theatres in April.

Madonna should persuade court, not public, says adoption official

LONDON - Madonna should focus on persuading Malawian courts and not the public, if she wishes to adopt another child from the African country, a government official has said.

Billy Joel tune is a good fit for Obama’s economy theme song

WASHINGTON - A New York University professor, Robert Wright, has suggested that a good theme song on Obama’s message for the economy is an old Billy Joel tune: “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

Holi, Eid-e-Milad are about brotherhood, harmony: Sonia

NEW DELHI - In her message on Holi and Eid-e-Milad, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Tuesday underlined the ideals of peace and brotherhood.

President, PM greet nation on Eid-e-Milad, Holi

NEW DELHI - President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greeted the nation on the occasions of Eid-e-Milad and Holi praying for peace and prosperity.

Karnataka offers a slew of reliefs with eye to polls

BANGALORE - With an eye to the upcoming general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka sought to woo all sections of the people by proposing a please-all budget for the ensuing fiscal 2009-10.

China’s Schindler: An unlikely German hero

BERLIN - John Rabe is an unlikely hero.

He was a member of the Nazi party and the German electronics giant Siemens’ man in China during the tense buildup to World War II. But based in Nanking in 1937, Rabe also helped to save about 250,000 Chinese from the clutches of Japan’s vicious military machine as Tokyo stepped its drive into China.

Rajasthan royal art, Indian bio-diversity to be showcased in Britain

NEW DELHI - A relatively unknown genre of religious and traditional court paintings from Rajasthan and the Indian bio-diversity will be the themes of the English summer in UK in 2009 in a collaborative venture between the HSBC Bank and the British Museum in May.

Despite death warrant, Centaur Hotel to get Rs.416-mn facelift

NEW DELHI - Centaur, the state-owned hotel located near the Delhi airport, will be given a Rs.416.5-million facelift even though it will be demolished after the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, official sources said.

Strict action against troublemakers on Valentine Day: Delhi police

NEW DELHI - Strict action would be taken against troublemakers on the Valentine Day, Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal said Wednesday, and assured that an attack like the one in a Mangalore pub will not be allowed here.

Obama getting tough on ‘Wall Street idiots’

WASHINGTON - A day after President Barack Obama bashed bailed-out banks for giving huge bonuses, the White House pledged action against such ‘irresponsible’ behaviour and a Democratic senator proposed capping executive salaries at companies accepting government funds.

US a nation of Christian, Muslims, Jews, Hindus: Obama

WASHINGTON - Paying tribute to the ‘patchwork heritage’ of the US, President Barack Obama in his inauguration speech called it ‘a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and nonbelievers’.

White Tiger raises Nepal’s hackles

KATHMANDU - Indian author Aravind Adiga’s debut novel ‘The White Tiger’ that went on to win the prestigious Booker prize in 2008, has raised hackles in Nepal over what is being regarded as the belittling stereotyping of Nepalis.

Mining by NRI-owned British firm triggers protests in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - Hundreds of tribals armed with bows and arrows Saturday marched in an Orissa district protesting against mining in a hilly area by a British firm owned by an NRI.

Shabana Azmi keeps her date with Nepal

KATHMANDU - Though Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan dropped his plans to visit Nepal in view of the growing dispute over the revered Pashupatinath temple, another cinema icon from India, Shabana Azmi, has kept her date with the Himalayan republic.

One more Indian priest quits Pashupatinath

KATHMANDU - As the controversy over the ouster of three Indian priests from Nepal’s Pashupatinath temple, one of the holiest shrines of billions of Hindus worldwide, deepened Monday, a fourth Indian priest handed over his resignation while temple authorities engaged two more Nepali priests in violation of a court order.

It’s Vikings versus alien in ‘Outlander’ (IANS Preview)

NEW DELHI - Blending myth with sci-fi and taking alien monster movies to a next level, Hollywood director Howard McCain’s forthcoming venture ‘Outlander’ weaves the legend of Vikings with pop culture, pitting it against a threatening fiend in a gory tale of survival.

Hasina seeks opposition help to present ‘new political culture’

DHAKA - Riding a massive poll victory, Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina Wednesday called upon the opposition, which is unhappy with the verdict, to cooperate to end ‘destructive politics’ and jointly present the South Asian nation with ‘a new political culture’.

Archaeologists to reveal secrets of world’s oldest submerged town in Greece