China's November industrial output up 10.1% on-year

BEIJING - Production at China's factories, workshops and mines rose 10.1 percent in November compared with the same month last year, data showed Sunday, a further sign of strength in the world's second largest economy.The result, reported by the National Bureau of Statistics, was better than October's gain of 9.6 percent.The economy grew 7.4 percent in the three months through the end...

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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

Shreya Roy Chowdhury, TNN Dec 8, 2012, 06.12AM ISTMUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the...

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

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Gay Marriage: Will Justices Follow Popular Opinion?

The Supreme Court's announcement that it would hear two cases challenging laws prohibiting same-sex marriage has reinvigorated one of the most hotly contentious social debates in American history, a debate that has been fueled by a dramatic change in attitudes.With some states taking significant steps towards legalizing gay marriage, the hearings come at a critical moment.This...

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Protests turn violent at trade talks in New Zealand

WELLINGTON: A protest aimed at disrupting Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks in New Zealand turned violent Saturday as demonstrators attacked security forces, police said.Two police officers were kicked "numerous times" and a woman was accused of stomping on a constable's head when protesters tried to force their way into Auckland's SkyCity building where the talks were taking...

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India misguided, paranoid over China: Guha

MUMBAI: A good half-hour into the discussion on 'India, China and the World', historian Ramachandra Guha issued a disclaimer—all the three members on the panel had been to China only once. "We should learn their language, promote quality research, and have a panel on China driven by Chinese scholars," he said. And that was the general tenor of the debate—that the Indian attitude to China was influenced...

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Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

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Federal Agencies Brace for Deep Cuts Post-'Cliff'

Dec 7, 2012 4:22pm Toby Jorrin/AFP/Getty ImagesWith the “fiscal cliff” quickly approaching, federal agencies are stepping up preparations for deep automatic budget cuts that will kick in Jan. 2 unless the White House and Congress can reach a deal.The Office of Management and Budget told ABC News that a memo went out to federal agencies earlier this week seeking “additional...

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Survey shows falling satisfaction among federal employees

When he released a federal worker survey on the afternoon before Thanksgiving, Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry forthrightly noted that “continued tight budgets and pay freezes” contributed to many lower ratings. The report goes a bit further, suggesting “the downward trend of many of the survey items . . . suggest that the continued tight budgets, salary freezes and...

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Three Malaysians jailed for cheating MBS casino

SINGAPORE: Three Malaysian brothers have been sentenced to jail for cheating the Marina Bay Sands casino of S$344,350 worth of gaming chips.The heaviest sentence was meted out to Matthias Ng Khay Yeek, 24, who was working as a croupier at the casino at the time of the offence.He received 40 months' jail for one count of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT).Mark Ng Khay Shuean, 21, and Matthew...

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