Friday, January 15, 2010

What is meant by liberalisation of the Indian Economy...?

Liberalisation of the economy forms one of the pillars of the New Economic Policy announced by the government in 1991-92.  Liberalisation means freeing the economy from direct or physical controls imposed by the government such as industrial licensing, price and distribution controls on products, import licensing, foreign exchange control, control of capital issues by companies (i.e. collection of funds by sale of their shares and debentures, or funds), direct control of credit (laying down the limit on credit that the financial institutions might grant), restriction on investment by large business houses, and the like, so that development and operation of the economy is increasingly guided by the freely operating market forces.  The new economic policy was built on the assumption that too many government controls gave room for widespread corruption and retarded the growth of the economy.  Accordingly, India has been consistently trying since 1991-92 not only to liberalise its economy but to integrate it with world economy (globalisation).
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What is deep freezing...?




Deep Freezing is a method of preserving food by lowering its temperature to 18 degree centigrade or below.  It stops almost all spoilage processes, although there may be some residual enzyme activity in uncooked vegetables, which is why these are blanched (dipped in hot water to destroy the enzymes) before freezing.  Micro-organisms cannot grow or divide while frozen, but most remain alive and can resume activity once defrosted.  Commercial techniques freeze foods rapidly in order to prevent the growth of large ice crystals which would damage the food tissue on thawing.

When were the Present Continents Formed...?



At the very time when oil was beginning to form, an enormous shift took place in the Earth's crust, which slowly resulted in the formation of the present continents.
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Numerous studies, even in recent years, confirm the theory that the great continental mass pushed out of the sea in the earlier periods and then split apart into several pieces which drifted about the Earth for hundreds of millions of years.  Finally, between the middle of Cretaceous and early Tertiary Periods (100 million to 50 million years ago) these pieces split up again to form land masses recognisable in form to the continents of today.  These sections are still drifting apart.
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This interesting suggestion, first put forward by the German meteorologist, Alfred Wegener (1880-1930), is known as the theory of 'continental drift'.  Wegener, who was also a daring explorer and experience geologist, published his ideas in a book printed in 1912.  It naturally created a great stir in scientific circles, which soon split into two groups, one of his supporters and one of his opponents.  They are both eager to prove or disprove his theory.
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In a few words, wegener's idea was as follows: in dim, distant times the continental masses were joined together in a single block (or shield), which Wegener called Pangaea.  The rest of the Earth was covered by a primeval mass of water, the Pantalaxia.
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During the Eocene Period, about 50 million years ago, a slow but steady movement then began.  The Pangaea cracked and, pulled apart by the rotating movement of the Earth, the bits began to drift away from each other as if they were floating on a heavier, more elastic base.
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According to Wegener, it was because of this shifting that the folds occurred in the Earth's crust which lifted up the loftiest mountain chains still existing in the world today.
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Sunday, January 10, 2010

HIV - 'RESERVOIR' FOUND IN BRAIN...ANI

Aussie scientists have discovered that the brain also acts as a key "reservoir" for HIV, a finding that may be a serious threat to the search for a way to eradicate the virus from the body.  While scientists are using antiretroviral drugs to get rid of HIV altogether, they are finding it difficult to perfect techniques to kill off infected cells in the known reservoirs for HIV in the body.
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Melbourne-based Dr. Melissa Churchill said that HIV was known to hide out in the thymus and lymph tissues, the gut, spleen, testes, bone marrow, but they have recently found that it also resides in astrocyte cells in the brain.
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"The astrocytes are basically the support cells - they mop up toxins released from other cells and maintain a really nice environment for the neurons to function," quoted Churchill as saying of the vital role played by these cells for congnition.
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"Previously, People weren't sure if we have to actually consider it as a genuine viral reservoir, but it is," she added.
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Churchill and an international team of researchers used latest in high-powered microscopes to examine brain tissue from HIV-Positive people to gauge the presence of the virus in these astrocyte cells.
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She said that it was believed that the virus had about a "One per cent" presence, but the research showed it was up to 19 percent and "very significant".
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In her opinion, the discovery poses several new challenges for scientists now progressing the work of finding ways to eradicate HIV from the body.
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"One of the issues of the brain as a reservoir is that it's quite inaccessible to the immune system and to anti-retrovirals," Churchill said.....Deccan Chronicle Article by ANI