Terror attacks in Mumbai

Its sad to know about the terror attacks in Opera House, Zaveri bazar and Dadar in Mumbai. Ammonium nitrate was used as explosives. Unfortunately, the security establishment woke up after the attacks. As usual, once the issue dies the security will become lax. The politicians will come back to normal routine: looting people by corruption and politics.
The solution to these problems should be effective and in long term. One, the heightened security apparatus. The corruption in Police should be eliminated by zero tolerance to corruption. In addition, the policemen should be given better salaries and perks for their performance. Their numbers should be increased so that whole of Mumbai feels secure. Second, the politicians should be united when it comes to response towards terror. No politics should be played over the bodies of terror victims. They should not have any role in influencing the functioning of police. Third, the citizens should be vigilant and alert the security if they notice any suspicious movements. They should let go of their "chalta hai" attitude.
I am sure that these changes will take years or decades to become reality. But, we should not leave hope.
Jai Hind

The profile of Ruslan medzhitov, a pioneer in Immunology

I came across the profile of Ruslan Medzhitov in HHMI website. I am reproducing this for the readers. His passion for science and immunology makes him break many myths in Immunology.
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Sometimes a little sweet talk goes a long way. A silver tongue catapulted Ruslan Medzhitov from Tashkent to Yale, where he's helped revolutionize our understanding of the immune system.
The early 1990s were a bleak time for science in the Soviet Union. As the empire crumbled, scientific resources drained away, until just a single battered copy of the weekly journals made the rounds at Moscow University. As a graduate student there, Medzhitov yearned to keep up with the latest advances, and his weekly hour with Science and Nature wasn't enough. So he headed to the Academy of Natural Sciences, which was then engaged in its own detente with the university. For various bureaucratic reasons, university students weren't allowed access to the library. "So I had to go and flirt with the librarians—there were several of them—and eventually they all knew me and let me in secretly and told me not to tell anyone," says Medzhitov.
There, in the stacks, the young biology student stumbled on a copy of Cold Spring Harbor Symposia. In it was the paper that launched his career. Written by the late Yale immunologist Charles Janeway (an HHMI investigator), the article sketched a new theory for how the immune system recognizes and responds to pathogens. Little was known then about the so-called innate immune system and how it identifies and reacts to invaders. Janeway's ideas ignited Medzhitov, sending him to his university's sole e-mail terminal. "I was able to send messages once a week," says Medzhitov. "And my first message was to Charlie." Medzhitov asked the professor for more details about his ideas. To Medzhitov's delight, Janeway responded, and the pair exchanged several more messages.
"Charlie's paper was the only paper that made sense of a lot of things," says Medzhitov. "That was the point I first thought about being a researcher in immunology. As an undergraduate student, I never had a course on immunology."
With a career path now in mind, Medzhitov landed a fellowship at the University of California, San Diego. There, working with protein evolution pioneer Russell Doolittle, Medzhitov contacted local immunologist Richard Dutton, who knew Janeway and recommended Medzhitov for a postdoctoral position in Janeway's lab. Janeway said yes. "I felt very lucky," says Medzhitov.
When he arrived at Yale—after a detour to Moscow to defend his thesis and sweat out a government coup and six months of uncertainty—Medzhitov felt overwhelmed. "Janeway's lab was very famous, and I imagine competition to get in was very high. And I was coming from just a few e-mail exchanges and a recommendation. My challenge was, not only did I not speak English well, I also had never done any experiments. In Russia, there was no money to do anything. All I could do was sit in the library. So I arrived without any experience, basically zero. I had to learn as quickly as I could."
It turns out that lack of experience helped Medzhitov in another way. Janeway's theory of how innate immunity acted, by recognizing bits of invading organisms, was "extremely speculative." And that meant it was risky to work on. But, being "oblivious to concerns about career," Medzhitov jumped in on the project. "I was just happy to be in a place where I could do science," he says.
In 1996, after just a few years working together, Janeway and Medzhitov made a breakthrough. They discovered receptors that alerted the second arm of the immune system, the more familiar T cells and B cells that attack pathogens. Studying these proteins, dubbed Toll-like receptors, quickly became one of the hottest areas in biology. "That was an extremely exciting time," says Medzhitov. "We didn't realize how much would come out of it eventually, that it would become such a huge area of research."
In the decade-plus since then, Medzhitov has piled one discovery after another upon the first, dramatically expanding our understanding of the key roles Toll-like receptors play in infection control, chronic inflammation, and even the growth of tumors. At the same time, he's branched off in a dozen directions: One example of many, Medzhitov is learning how commensal bacteria—which live in our guts and help us digest food—also help protect our intestines from injury.
Medzhitov now thinks that Toll-like receptors and related proteins may trigger the chronic inflammation that leads to coronary artery disease, Alzheimer's, and diabetes—some of our biggest killers. "I like a lot of areas of biology and it's hard for me to focus on only one," he says. Now, with plenty of journals to read and experiments to conduct, he doesn't have to.

Dr. Medzhitov is also Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine.

Is India rich????

The news of "treasure" at Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple estimated to be around 2 billion $ has amazed the media. There are questions on how to use the wealth. Of course, no one questions or suggests how to get back the black money to India and use it for the poor. Surprisingly, I did not come across articles asking the government to concentrate on getting back black money and leave the wealth of God untouched. the reason I feel is that almost every influential person (politicians, media and businessmen) are corrupt with an deposit in Swiss Banks (or any such equivalent). If one temple had such wealth, imagine the wealth looted by series of invasions by barbaric muslim invaders and cunning European masters!!!! We, Indians are helpless people who could not protect our own wealth. We praise ourselves when we see the treasures of British in Big Ben London. We do not have balls to get them back!!!
I hope the present species of dirty Indian politicians stop thinking of looting Lord's wealth.

The ambiguity of Indian politicians

The recent spate of protests by farmers in Uttar Pradesh rocked the whole country. They protested violently against the government's policy of forcible acquisition without giving adequate compensation. Some reports suggest that the UP government paid 45 lakh rupees per acre and sold the same for  more than one crore rupees. In addition, the protests by farmers took an ugly turn recently when the policemen retaliated by trashing the villagers. Today, the Congree MP Rahul gandhi defied the UP state police and went on to meet the farmer's families. Good job Rahul Gandhi!!!!! But, think about these too.
Congress Government is in power in the states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Recently, Andhra police had violently dispersed the farmers in Sompeta, Srikakulam district. The farmers protested the acquisition of fertile marsh lands for the power projects. Rahul, where were you then. Why did you not reach these farmers???
Congree rules Maharashtra. They want to acuire fertile land to build the largest Nuclear Power plant in Jaitapur. Same old story. Atleast, the UP government paid some money for the farmers. the congree government just exploited the people. Rahul, could you go and meet these farmers too???

Sai Baba: The GOD

I am deeply affected by the sad incident on auspicious Easter. My beloved mother Sai left the mortal body to further enhance our faith. i say this because of the outpour of devotees from all over the world. The state machinery is just over whelmed to handle the heavy influx of devotees. I am one of the unfortunate ones who can not physically make it to parthi.
however, I am one of the fortunate ones to have basked in the Glory of say as a student from 1998 to 2003. the fives years changed my life drastically. These five years were very hard for me due to severe family problems. In spite of all these problems, I had peace. Its possible only by SAI.

The Canadian attitude?

I read with great interest and shock about the treatment of Canadian Embassy in India. funnily, it describes border security force (BSF), a paramilitary force fighting the militants in different parts of the country as a "dangerous organisation". BSF is protecting millions of Indians from animals which are known as terrorists sponsored by "friendly neighbours" who are tempted to heaven after death where they can enjoy some virgins (not clear about number). I feel that Canadian officials in India should not be let off easily. they should get the taste of their own medicine. let them go to one of our militant-infested areas without BSF protection.
The Canadians should never give visas to people associated with "dangerous organization" especially those associated with Guantanamo bay and Abu-Gharib tortures.they do not have balls to say that as their own land will be eliminated in the name of searching for weapons of mass destruction like that happened to Iraq. being mean with friendly people can have bad consequences for future!!

Green Zone: A reality or a myth?

This weekend, I watched the movie "Green Zone" starring Matt Damon. The story revolves around the possible intelligence failure regarding the WMD (weapons of mass destruction) programme of Saddam Hussein government. The US army is unable to find the so-called  accurate locations of the facilities involved in WMD programme. It shows how some intelligence people distort the facts so that US government gets a reason to invade Iraq. The film ends with the chaos about the formation of new Iraqi government.
I should say that this movie is an eye-opener for me. One Iraqi general says that the US government never verified the facts before invading Iraq. It shows one chracter, a journalist from Wall Street Journal, who first reported the presence of WMD programme. However, the film shows the blame on the journalist and the intelligence agencies as the culprits. It fails to touch any aspect about White House.
The media should be careful when reporting any news. They should verify the facts before blindly publishing it. I am eager to see the media facing the music it normally gives to others. The so-called journalists who extoll the values of freedom of expression should be tried in media for their personal short comings. Unfortunately, media is a very strong weapon to shape public opinion and is indirectly controlled by political big-wigs and business interests. The public should read different opinions in the media before coming to a conclusion.
Seeing this movie, I feel that no country has the right to occupy the other country it feels a threat to others. Imagine country like India attacking the countries harboring terrorists. Does the so-called world police man allow it? Of course, our Indian politicians are more worried about the internal politics of money and sleaze than the security of the country.