Field Manager required at UNDP Pakistan

"Reducing Risk and Vulnerabilities from Glacier Lake Outburst Floods in Northern Pakistan" 
is a four year initiative of UNDP and Government of Pakistan. The purpose of this project is to reduce risks and vulnerabilities from Glacier Lake Outburst Floods and snow-melt flashfloods in Northern Pakistan. Applications are therefore invited for,
                            Field Manager Project sites in GB/Chitral
Contact: Detailed term of references are available on the UNDP Pakistan website: http://jobs.undp.org.pk
Applications need to be sent online through th aforementioned UNDP website.
Last Date: November 18,2011

WOMEN'S INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & HUMANITIES, ISLAMABAD

WISH announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Commerce - Religious Studies - Social Sciences - Science others - Management Sciences - Education - Computer Sciences & Information Technology - Languages - Media Studies - Biological & Life Sciences - Physics & Numerical Sciences - Chemical & Material Sciences - .

Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

VIEW THE AD FROM HERE.

MEHRAN UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, HYDERABAD

MUET announces admission to MASTER degree programs in Engineering - .

Last date to submit admission application is 11-11-2011.

NATIONAL COLLEGE OF ARTS, LAHORE

NCA announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Art & Design - .

Last date to submit admission application is 11-11-2011.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ADVERTISEMENT

NATIONAL COLLEGE OF ARTS, RAWALPINDI

NCA announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Art & Design - . Last date to submit admission application is 11-11-2011.

VIEW ADVERTISEMENT FROM HERE.

David Copperfield

Author: Charles Dickens

Set in the mid-Victorian era, the story starts with young David Copperfield living a fairly comfortable life with his mother and caretaker until an unexpected change occurs -- the first in a series that completely alter his life -- his mother's second marriage. The story evolves as Copperfield experiences hardships and trials at the hands of his step-father, grief at his mother's death, care in his aunt's home, brotherly affection for a fellow-playmate and eventually love for a woman.

On his journey, Copperfield encounters many-a-great relationships; of love and hatred, of camaraderie and envy and of affection and betrayal. The story in itself relates the early experiences of Dickens' own life and brings into reality the society of the Victorian era. A must-read!

PIMSAT INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, LAHORE

PIMSAT announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Management Sciences - Commerce - Engineering - Chemical & Material Sciences - Computer Sciences & Information Technology - Media Studies - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

PIMSAT announces admission to MASTER degree programs in Commerce - Management Sciences - Biological & Life Sciences - Engineering - Computer Sciences & Information Technology - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

ZIA-UD-DIN MEDICAL UNVERSITY

ZMU announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Medical Sciences - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT UNIVERSITY WEBSITE BY CLICKING HERE.

SHAH ABDUL LATIF UNIVERSITY, KHAIR PUR

SALU announces admission to POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA degree programs in Computer Sciences & Information Technology - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

SALU announces admission to MASTER degree programs in Commerce - Social Sciences - Languages - Management Sciences - Physics & Numerical Sciences - Biological & Life Sciences - Chemical & Material Sciences - Education - .

Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

LAHORE SCHOOL OF FASHION DESIGN, LAHORE

Lahore School of Fashion Design announces admission to UNDER GRADUATE DIPLOMA degree programs in Art & Design - .Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

It also announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Art & Design - .Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

It also announces admission to POST SECONDARY CERTIFICATE degree programs in Art & Design - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

INDUS INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION, KARACHI

INDUS announces admission to BACHELOR degree programs in Engineering - Chemical & Material Sciences - Art & Design - Management Sciences - Computer Sciences & Information Technology - Commerce - Education - Social Sciences - .Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

INDUS also announces admission to MASTER degree programs in Management Sciences - Engineering - Chemical & Material Sciences - Commerce - Education - Finance & Accounting - .

Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.


INDUS also announces admission to M.PHIL degree programs in Management Sciences - Education - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.

 INDUS announces admission to DOCTORATE degree programs in Management Sciences - Education - .
Last date to submit admission application is 10-11-2011.
For more details visit the website of the institute by clicking here.

The 29th annual CSU Pow Wow in Colorado University

Colorado, Nov 5: Pow-wow was held in LSC (Lory Student Center) in Colorado State University, USA today. It is a wonderful way to remember and celebrate heritage, culture and traditions among Native Americans.


Foreign Reports Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

Google Offers Free Websites For Small Indian Firms

By Anum Rasheed

PRESS RELEASE:
NEW DELHI: Internet giant Google on Wednesday launched a free start-up scheme to help small Indian businesses host their own websites as the country’s booming economy increasingly moves online.



Firms will be able to set up and maintain basic websites to boost their Internet profile and find new customers, the company said at the unveiling of the programme in New Delhi.



Registry costs and all technological support on building the website would be free for a year before pay-as-you-go fees kick in.



“Out of eight million small and medium enterprises in India, only 100,000 have a website of decent quality,” Rajan Anandan, managing director of Google India, told reporters.



“We aim to get 500,000 businesses online over the next three years by offering a quick, easy and free tool to set up and host a website,” he said, adding it would take just 15 minutes to get online with a .in domain name.



Google is the search engine market leader in India with a 89 per cent share, according to a report last year by the Aegis research group.



The Indian government expressed support for the scheme, saying it would help the small business sector.



“This initiative has come at an opportune moment,” Jairam Ramesh, the federal minister for rural development, said at the launch, stressing that small businesses were crucial for future economic growth.



Google declined to give details of charges after the first free year but said the programme, which has been run in several other countries, was not aimed at generating immediate profits.



“In terms of revenue, there are no near-term expectations linked directly to this initiative,” said Nikesh Arora, senior global vice-president of Google.

Microsoft Defends Against Espionage Virus

By Anum Rasheed

PRESS RELEASE:


Microsoft has released a temporary software patch to defend against the threat from Duqu, an espionage virus thought to be closely related to Stuxnet, the cyber attack that disrupted the Iranian nuclear programme

Duqu was first detected last month and, according to security analysts, is designed to steal sensitive information from industry.

Microsoft said it exploited a vulnerability in the Windows TrueType font parsing engine to gain control of infected computers. The temporary patch will be replaced by permanent update at an undisclosed later date.

Whoever was behind Duqu was able to “install programs; view, change or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights", Microsoft said.

It has also shared technical details with anti-virus firms.

"This means that within hours, anti-malware firms will roll out new signatures that detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability,” Microsoft said. “Therefore, we encourage customers to ensure their antivirus software is up-to-date.”

The Laboratory of Cryptography and Systems Security at Budapest University, which first detected Duqu, has said it is spread by a bogus Word document.

Only a handful of targets have been identified, according to anti-virus firms, leading them to suspect the virus is being used as part of a highly-targeted espionage operation, potentially as a prelude to further Stuxnet-style attacks.

“Duqu's purpose is to gather intelligence data and assets from entities, such as industrial control system manufacturers, in order to more easily conduct a future attack against another third party,” Symantec said.

Similarities between Duqu and Stuxnet have led to claims they must have been created by the same state-sponsored entity. Israeli and American intelligence agencies are widely belive to be behind the attack on the Iranian nuclear programme

Hobby: Paper Beading

Anum Rasheed

"A person who finds an interesting hobby finds happiness."Today I would really like you people to indulge in a beautiful artistic hobby of making beautiful paper beads from magazines, newspapers, catalogs or any kind of paper that has become "old news." It is an easy and cheap way to feed your obsession for arts.It is a very fascinating and engaging craft and has been around for many years. It is not just for kids anymore, the many things you can do, the possibilities are endless.Paper Beading is a very simple craft and the idea of recycling your many magazines and tons of shopping catalogs, which you get everyday,  into beautiful beads can just get you all busy and excited.

I hope to be able to convince my readers to take on the journey of turning old magazines and newspapers into wearable art! Good Luck :)

Alzhiemer's Disease

Sadaf Faisal Bhopal

Mbbs Student

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in elderly and about 5 million people in the United States are estimated to be afflicted by this disorder, resulting in 100,000 deaths per year,the number doubling with every five years of age.
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disorder or premature aging of the brain. The cause of the disease is unknown but there is evidence of genetic predisposition. Patients with trisomy 21 (Down’s syndrome), high levels of blood lipids, diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis are also at a higher risk for developing this disease but the exact cause and its cure is an area of great interest for researchers world over.
Alzheimer’s disease results in extreme loss of mental powers, memory loss, disintegration of personality, deterioration of speech, visuospatial deficits and restlessness and in later stages the patient becomes mute, incontinent and bedridden. Pathological studies show increased amount of beta amyloid peptide in widespread brain areas including the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, basal ganglia, thalamus, and the cerebellum. These beta amyloid plaques are basically accumulation of several proteins around degenerating nervous tissue and they lead to deficiency of acetylcholine neurotransmitter thus resulting in the various symptoms of the disease.
At present there is no clinical test for making definite diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease apart from taking careful history, psychiatric examinations and checking the amyloid peptide levels in serum or cerebrospinal fluid. As is the cause and diagnosis, the treatments for the disease are also under research although administration of cholinesterase inhibitors( which increase the neurotransmitter acetyl choline levels in the brain) have shown to alleviate some of the symptoms of the disease.

Periodic Table Swells As Three New Elements Named

Anum Rasheed

Students often memorize names and sequence of elements in periodic table with the help of famous songs. Time for them to change songs as three new elements gets added by Scientists.

Three elements 110, 111 and 112 have been named darmstadtium (Ds), roentgenium (Rg) and copernicium (Cn) by IUPAC General Assembly.

Dr Robert Kirby-Harris, Secretary-General of IUPAP, said: “The naming of these elements has been agreed in consultation with physicists around the world and we’re delighted to see them now being introduced to the Periodic Table.”

The elements are very large and unstable and can only be made in the lab. They  quickly break down into other elements.

Copernicium was named after Prussian astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who first suggested that the Earth revolves around the sun.
Roentgenium and darmstadtium were originally discovered in 1994 when a team at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany created three atoms of the element. Darmstadtium is named after the city of Darmstadt, where the GSI Helmholtz Centre is based. Roentgenium has been named after Nobel Prize winning German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, who first produced and detected X-rays in 1895. 

Travel to River Seine in Paris

Anum Rasheed

Some of the best things in life -- and in Paris -- are free. Walking the paths and bridges that line and cross over the River Seine is one of the most quintessential "Paris" things to do, and it's also very lovely. All you really need to accompany your meander is some comfortable shoes, a camera (for some excellent photo ops), a croissant/baguette (for nourishment, depending on the time of day), and if it's available, your significant other's hand.



Experts and travelers agree that one of the best ways to experience Paris is to hop on a Bateaux-Mouche tour. These boats -- which dock along the Port des Champs Elysées just southwest of the Tuileries -- coast by some of the city's major sights, including Notre-Dame, Place de la Concorde and the Louvre.For more information, check out the Bateaux-Mouche website

Source:

http://travel.usnews.com/Paris_France/Things_To_Do/

Megavirus - World’s Biggest Virus

By Rabia Sultan

A team of researchers trawling the ocean floor has discovered the largest virus discovered till now.
Its diameter is 700 nano-meters and it can be seen with basic light microscope. Before Megavirus, Mimivirus was largest discovered virus with 400 nano-meter width. Where average viruses size fall in range 20-300 nano-meter. 

Murder Rates In America

By Rabia Sultan
In 1980 murder rate was 10 in 100,000 people. Recent stats from FBI reports show this rate has fallen to 4.8 murders per 100,000 people.
Baltimore, Washington and Detroit have made noticeable improvements over the past decade. But Newark, St Louis and New Orleans have become even deadlier.

http://www.economist.com

Ocean Acidification

By Haleemah Zia

Shallow-water creatures, like these corals, are extremely vulnerable to carbonic acid. Scientists are calling for drastic measures to avert massive bleaching of the world's reefs.

Recent studies suggesting a drop in Surface pH have been of great concern to scientists all over. The cause mentioned is uptake of "anthropogenic" C02 from atmosphere.

Photograph from National Geographic

Light Pollution:Getting Rid of It!

Haleemah Zia


Light Pollution, as defined by Wikipedia is " excessive or obtrusive artificial light".Any Lighting source or system that disturbs  environmental peace contributes to Light Pollution.If I am up in the night with all switches on and any light penetrates outside my house and reaches the streets or neighbour's territory , then I am a culprit!

Recently National Geographic published an article which suggests certain measures to help humans eradicate this problem.Usage of Light only between necessary timings and efficient design of lighting system are two of the important advices presented.
The first one, it suggests , can be aided through certain technology gadgets such as Dimmer Switches, Motion Sensors or timers.The main purpose is to switch on any artificial lights only when time imposes its need!

The second one, which I personally found very important, refers to the usage of Shielded fixtures and low-wattage bulbs etc.Light that is scattered too much not only degrades quality but  wastes resources as well, hence producing light pollution!

SpaceX Will Make 'Reusable' Spacecrafts!

Saad Riaz Qazi
Technology Writer

It was told by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk that the company is planning for the development of reusable spacecrafts which using retrorockets can land softly on Earth and other planets also.

This idea is for both space capsule and its rocket booster which can do the “propulsive landing,” when they enter back into the atmosphere then using rocket thrusters soft landing can be done on the surface.

For this spacecraft to become reality the testing is in progress and designs are also made to make sure it is possible or not.

Musk says that;  

We are not still sure that we can get success in this project but we are trying, making designs on paper and doing calculations.

This kind of landing would need much fuel energy as compared to the landings with parachutes. Russians are using the technique which is first slow down the rocket with parachute and a moment before landing a rocket burst is used for soft landing on the surface.

SpaceX is testing the launch escape system. Musk says that the thrusters are on the sides of the spacecraft and a propulsive landing could be done by this, in addition it can be helpful in gentle landing on Mars.

Dragon spacecraft’s first design is ready to take the astronauts to the space station and then back to the Earth.