Tax fight sends GOP into chaos

The main thing that has held Republicans together philosophically is the belief in holding down taxes. Not one of them in Congress has voted for a significant increase in more than two decades. Now that very issue is tearing the GOP apart and making it an all-but-ungovernable majority for Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) to lead in the House. Disarray is a word much overused in politics....

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New diagnostic kit allows testing for ricin poisoning

SINGAPORE: A new diagnostic kit developed by Singapore's DSO National Laboratories and the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) in Australia will allow for the testing of a potent toxin, known as ricin, in humans.Ricin is found in the common castor bean plant and oil produced from the plant is widely used industrially.A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult...

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India to open its first drug inspection office in Beijing by Mar 1

NEW DELHI: Increasing the heat on Chinese drug firms exporting medicines to India, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is all set to open its first foreign drug inspection office in Beijing by March 1. Around four Indian drug inspectors will be posted in China to inspect manufacturing sites and check whether good manufacturing practices (GMP) are being complied with. DCGI Dr G N Singh...

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Pictures: Fungi Get Into the Holiday Spirit

Photograph courtesy Stephanie Mounaud, J. Craig Venter InstituteMounaud combined different fungi to create a Santa hat and spell out a holiday message.Different fungal grow at different rates, so Mounaud's artwork rarely lasts for long. There's only a short window of time when they actually look like what they're suppose to."You do have to keep that in perspective when you're making these creations,"...

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'Cliff' Deniers Put Faith in No Deal

Not everyone thinks the "fiscal cliff" is so bad.If the Dec. 31 deadline passes, income taxes will go up and across-the-board spending cuts will hit government programs. But while most of the political world frets as if a major disaster is looming, others have treated it more like the Y2K bug: a fiscal canard ginning up a lot of unnecessary panic.The cliff is a "fantasy," former...

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Nesting turtle numbers fall in South Asia: experts

KOLKATA: Conservationists have expressed alarm over the low number of turtles arriving on the coast of east India and Bangladesh for the nesting season, blaming overfishing and climate change for the decline.Between November and March, several species of sea turtle, including the Olive Ridley, travel thousands of miles to nest on the sandy shores of Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove...

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Pakistan 'Islamised' sarees, like its happening to Urdu: Chishti

VADODARA: The humble six yards was 'Islamised' by Pakistan much like what is happening to Urdu in India. Noted textile researcher and sari expert Rta Kapur Chishti said this here on Friday. Author of 'Saris-Tradition and Beyond', Chishti said that women in Pakistan used to wear sarees in the post partition era till 1970s. "But after 1970s, sarees were Islamised and women stopped wearing it in...

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Winter Solstice 2012: Facts on the Shortest Day of the Year

Today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It's all due to Earth's tilt, which ensures that the shortest day of every year falls around December 21.Some predicted that today would also mark Earth's doomsday, thanks to a longstanding rumor that the Maya calendar ends on December 21, 2012. But earlier this year, National Geographic grantee William...

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NRA to Speak on Stopping Newtown Repeat

For the past week, leadership at the National Rifle Association has largely stayed away from the media, but this morning the group may weigh in on how to keep a deadly shooting massacre like last week's at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school from happening again.The NRA will hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., just before 11 a.m.Its leadership has held off on interviews...

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China economic growth likely to pick up: analysts

SHANGHAI: China's economic growth may pick up to above 8 per cent in 2013, as economists expect the government to launch policies to boost recovery.The country is expected to report 7.5 per cent this year, the slowest pace in recent years. Economists say investment will remain as the pillar of growth the Chinese economy in the short term, despite the government's push for consumption....

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