MEGA FRAUD

Pune businessman dupes 20 lakh investors of Rs 2,000 crore, arrested HT Correspondent, Mumbai | Updated: Dec 06, 2015 08:59 IST Share 8 Share Share Share A Pune-based businessman, who floated various companies, was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police on Friday night for duping around 20 lakh investors of Rs 2,000 crore. Fifty-six-year-old Balasaheb Bhapkar, managing director and chairman of Sai Prasad Properties Limited, Goa, and Sai Prasad Foods Limited, Pune, collected funds from investors without requisite permissions from the RBI and SEBI, said EOW officials, adding that the companies continued to operate despite both the RBI and SEBI sending them legal notices. The authorities are now on the lookout for at least five others, including two women and Bhapkar’s son, who could be involved in the racket. Bhapkar, meanwhile, was produced before a local court and was remanded in police custody till December 10. The EOW has currently frozen 193 bank accounts in 15 banks that hold Rs74 crore in connection with the case. “The investors were promised returns of 12% to18% via daily/monthly/ yearly schemes. There are numerous sister concern companies to which the funds have been rerouted,” said Dhananjay Kamlakar, joint commissioner of police, EOW, adding the companies already have five criminal cases registered against them in Gwalior, Jaipur and Chhattisgarh, with one case being probed by the CBI. The companies have holdings of 1,600 acres of land, parts of which they gave as collateral returns, after people invested money. Over a period of time, the companies inked agreements in lieu of land beyond their holding capacity, said police officers. The sister concern companies of the two main firms are into petroleum, energy and property development businesses, said officials, adding that the money collected from investors might have been invested in these businesses. I nterestingly, SEBI had launched an enquiry in 2010 against the companies, but l odged a for mal complaint with the Mumbai police only a month ago. After the complaint, a team of 50 EOW personnel was formed and simultaneous raids were conducted at 30 places, including 27 offices and three residential apartments, across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Goa. The teams seized 60 computer hard disks and Rs 60 lakh during the raids.

A NEW POLITICAL PARTY IN KERALAM

A NEW POLITICAL PARTY IN KERALAM Vellapally Natesan has formally inaugurated his new part with a separate emblem, a flag and a name. He claims his party is secular . There are a number of parties in this small state of Keralam; the new party will split the votes of CPM

PRACTICAL BIOLOGY

PRACTICAL BIOLOGY My grand daughter in Australia was very excited when she was given a live goat for dissection. She watched the heart beating . This gives me the idea that here in India too , we can give this chance to our students. Take them to a butcher. He will allow them to cut it. A fowl or goat may be dissected at Christian homes. The presence of a teacher is essential to explain the different organs . Any number of lessons in the text will not serve this purpose. Snakes are killed unnecessarily , because they are our friends ; they eat rats. After killing them no one dissects them. I too like to see the inside. I know that their lungs occupy almost the whole of the body. That is why they can run so fast . I like to see their sex organs. One cannot recognize which is male or female . Their digestive juice is the most powerful among animals . They dissolve even skeletons. We never see their droppings! Once I asked a foolish question to a fisherman:”Do fish have blood ?”, because I have not seen blood oozing from a fish, when it is cut. He looked at me in surprise:” Yes , they have a heart “ The reason why blood is not coming out , is still a mystery

THINNEST PLATE

Thinnest plates that can be manipulated by hand developed Press Trust of India | Washington December 4, 2015 Last Updated at 13:57 IST Tiny URL Add to My Page 21 ALSO READ Thinnest plates that can be picked up by hand created Scientists use graphene to create world's thinnest lightbulb Athiya, Sooraj walk IBFW ramp hand-in-hand Miranda Kerr goes hand-in-hand strolling with Snapchat's Evan Spiegel Dell launches 'world's thinnest' tab Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have developed the thinnest plates ever that can be picked up by hands and can spring back to original shape even after being bent and twisted. The plates are thousands of times thinner than a sheet of paper and hundreds of times thinner than household cling wrap or aluminium foil, researchers said. Like cling wrap, comparably thin materials immediately curl up on themselves and get stuck in deformed shapes if they are not stretched on a frame or backed by another material. Being able to stay in shape without additional support would allow this material, and others designed on its principles, to be used in aviation and other structural applications where low weight is at a premium. "Materials on the nanoscale are often much stronger than you'd expect, but they can be hard to use on the macroscale," said Igor Bargatin, professor at University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering in US. "We've essentially created a freestanding plate that has nanoscale thickness but is big enough to be handled by hand. That hasn't been done before," said Bargatin. Other atomically thin films like those made of graphene typically need to be stretched like a canvas in a frame, or even mounted on a backing, to prevent them from curling or clumping up on their own. "The problem is that frames are heavy, making it impossible to use the intrinsically low weight of these ultra-thin films," Bargatin said. "Our idea was to use corrugation instead of a frame. That means the structures we make are no longer completely planar, instead, they have a three-dimensional shape that looks like a honeycomb, but they are flat and contiguous and completely freestanding," he said. "It's like an egg carton, but on the nanoscale," said Prashant Purohit, an associate professor at the university. The researchers' plates are between 25 and 100 nanometres thick and are made of aluminium oxide, which is deposited one atomic layer at a time to achieve precise control of thickness and their distinctive honeycomb shape. Once finished, the plates' corrugation provides enhanced stiffness. When held from one end, similarly thin films would readily bend or sag, while the honeycomb plates remain rigid. This guards against the common flaw in un-patterned thin films, where they curl up on themselves. The plates could be used to make wings for insect-inspired flying robots, or in other applications where the combination of ultra-low thickness and mechanical robustness is critical. "The thinnest man-made wing material I know of is made by depositing a Mylar film on a frame, and it's about half a micron thick," said Bargatin. "Our plates can be ten or more times thinner than that, and don't need a frame at all. As a result, they weigh as little as than a tenth of a gram per square metre," he said. The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

NOBEL PRIZE

NOBEL PRIZE I AM NOT BOASTING . My thesis on photosynthesis is original and explains a process which is taught in schools . I published it in my blog and sent it to various universities the world over . Few responded positively . Recently my name was nominated for the prestigious Nobel prize , but got no response. I read in the ‘google news’ similar experience by another scientist , who felt that the Swedish Academy has never given a prize to Asiatic scientists. There never appeared any winners of Nobel Prize from China or Russia. These two countries are in the vanguard in research in science. Tolstoy ‘s ‘War and Peace ‘ failed to receive attention. An unknown author Boris Pasternak won the prize because he exposed the Communist system in Russia. My suggestion is to form a parallel commission by the Government of India, exclusively for Asian countries, including Russia . Your comments may be sent to my email address Anujan1933@gmail.com

FIRE BOMB ATTACK

16 killed in firebomb attack on nightclub in Egypt Last Updated: Friday, December 4, 2015 - 17:59 0 SHARES Facebook Twitter 1 Comment Cairo: At least 16 people, including five women, were killed today in a firebomb attack on a nightclub here by three motorcycle-borne masked assailants who threw Molotov cocktails on it, apparently after a dispute with the club's staff over their entry. The Ministry of Interior, in a statement, said a preliminary investigation indicated that the attack happened after a dispute between the nightclub staff and a group of youths, who then threw Molotov cocktails at the main entrance of El Sayad nightclub-cum-restaurant, located about 5km from the iconic Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. The incident was apparently not motivated by terrorism, the ministry said, adding that 11 men and five women were killed and three others injured in the attack. Police have launched a manhunt to nab the attackers who carried out the attack on the nightclub in the Agouza district because they were previously not allowed to enter, state news agency MENA reported. A thick cloud of smoke was seen billowing from the fire-ravaged nightclub. The youths had attacked the main entrance of the nightclub with about 15 Molotov bottles and birdshots. They used motorcycles to escape after the incident. Cairo has previously been rocked by a series of attacks on security forces and civilians carried out by suspected Islamist militants. An Islamist insurgency intensified in the wake of the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

PANCHANGAM

MALAYALAM PANCHANGAM PANCHANGAM One thousand one hundred and eighty five years ago, when none in the west knew about planets, namboodiries of Keralam made the first and only scientific calendar in the world! This followed accurate observation of the night sky, with naked eyes, so that they could predict the eclipse.(My grand mother could mention the time,simply looking at the night sky ).The elaborate calculations, involving calculus, is done without paper and pencil, using pebbles, the necessary technique having been handed over to the present day to one or two families. The panchang is not merely a calendar. It shows planetary positions during the twelve months and includes prediction of monsoon rains and a lot information about njattuvelas as guidance for farmers. A njattuvela is a fortnight. Even in my childhood, our farmers could predict the coming of rains so that ploughing could start in advance! Aryabhattan (a bhattadiri ) is credited with the necessary astronomical skills and Samkaracharya started the local era known as kollavarsham .The day was divided into sixty nazhikas. Each nazhika was divided into sixty vinazhikas. The method of determining a vinazhika using a vessel with a hole floated in water,has been prescribed in the Bhagavatam;it was a real surprise to me.In the panchang, time of the day, which begins with sun rise, not the idiotic midnight, is noted in terms of nazhika and vinazhika. Muhurth is also mentioned accordingly.Remember that, in the west, the year was divided into ten months initially.October, November and December denotes the eighth, ninth and tenth month. In contrast, in Malayalam panchang there is no leap year.Each year is calculated with accurate reference to the movement of the sun, obviating the need for a leap year. Buy a panchang and see for yourself. Useful information in the panchang is reproduced in Malayalam calendars.