The exit polls have gone wrong yet again in India. While all the surveys had predicted an edge for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), they also said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would be a close second. But as results came in on Saturday, the gap between the two was expected to be a nearly 100 seats.

Not just the Centres’ predictions went wrong, even the state predictions have gone wrong with the UPA allies contributing to the big success of the Congress giving Prime Minister Manmohan Singh another chance to form a stable government.

In Tamil Nadu, popular schemes like colour TV sets, 1 kg rice for Re 1 and loan waiver for farmers seemed to have worked wonders for ruling DMK which put up an impressive show in Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu defeating an alliance led by its rival AIADMK which had made Tamil Eelam an election issue. The DMK bagged 18 of the 21 seats it had contested.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday admitted that breaking away from the Congress led UPA was the “biggest mistake” that resulted in his party’s “heavy” defeat in Bihar. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad suffered a humiliating defeat in Patliputra Lok Sabha constituency by his friend-turned-foe Ranjan Prasad Yadav, but salvaged some pride by trouncing BJP rival Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) President Ramvilas Paswan, who was in the Union Cabinet in all governments since 1996, suffered a shock defeat in Hajipur. Paswan had represented this seat seven times in 1977, 1980, 1989, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004.

The bulk of seats in the Congress-led UPA’s stunning victory came mostly from the states where the Third Front partners had expected to do well and play kingmakers.

The exit polls had been wide off the mark even in the 2004 elections. Nearly all of them predicted an NDA victory by a wide margin, but the Bharatiya Janata Party-led grouping lost to a rejuvenated Congress.

Maruti has launched its seventh small car. You have to wait for the June issue of BSM for a detailed drive story to know about the Suzuki Ritz.

A diet that prevents and lowers high blood pressure has been linked to a reduced risk of heart failure in women, a new study finds.

“The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet may contribute to prevention of heart failure in some cases because it effectively reduced blood pressure and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol levels in clinical trials,” wrote Emily B. Levitan, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues.

“This diet features high intake of fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and whole grains, resulting in high potassium, magnesium, calcium and fiber consumption, moderately high protein consumption, and low total fat and saturated fat consumption,” the authors added.

The 25 percent of women with the highest DASH diet scores had a 37 percent lower rate of heart failure than the 25 percent of women with the lowest DASH diet scores, the researchers found. Women within the top 10 percent of DASH diet scores had half the rate of heart failure of those with the lowest DASH diet scores.

Previous research has shown that the DASH diet cuts systolic (top number) blood pressure by about 5.5 mm Hg, a decrease that could lower the rate of heart failure an estimated 12 percent, Levitan noted in a news release from the journal. Lower levels of LDL cholesterol, the estrogen-like effects of some of the nutrients in the diet, and a decrease in oxygen-related cell damage may also contribute to reduced heart failure risk in those who eat the DASH diet.

A group of adult patients who had chronic lower back pain are said be relieved after taking any kind of acupuncture treatment.

Daniel Cherkin, lead author of a report published in the May 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, had said “Acupuncture is an effective treatment for chronic back pain. People receiving acupuncture are more likely to get better.”

Chronic back pain is a chronic health issue in the United States, and is the top reason why patients go to acupuncturists, often when traditional therapies disappoint.

Japan’s Supreme Court sentenced a woman to death for killing four and making more than 60 ill by poisoning a large pot of curry at a summer festival in 1998. The incident shocked Japan as crime rates are relatively low and mass killings are extremely rare.

Reports say that Supreme Court upheld a lower court death sentence on Masumi Hayashi, 47, for the crime that took place in the western Japanese city of Wakayama.

Hayashi became furious after being avoided by her neighbors and put arsenic in the curry when she was alone in the garage where it was being prepared – the Prosecutors charged.

The Kimbell Art Museum will soon be the only U.S. museum to display a Michelangelo painting after acquiring his earliest known work, a rare treasure that was tucked away and doubted as authentic for more than a century.

“The Torment of Saint Anthony,” is a 15th-century oil and tempera painting on a wood panel that depicts scaly, horned, winged demons trying to pull the saint out of the sky. Experts believe he painted it when he was only 12 or 13 years old.

And only four such works — including this one — by the artist exist, and two of them are unfinished. Most of his paintings are frescos, the famous scenes on the ceiling and wall of Rome’s Sistine Chapel.

Experts in the Met’s paintings conservation department carefully cleaned it by removing decades of dirt, as well as paint layers that art restorers had applied through the ages to fill in chips or dull areas, Lee said.

When they examined the painting further using X-rays and infrared technology, they were able to see how the artist made certain brush strokes, scraped paint layers to achieve detail and even changed elements of the painting before the final version.

The generations of dirt and paint buildup had obscured the painting’s identity, and some doubted its authenticity because a similar painting existed, Lee said. But an art expert who extensively studied both paintings said the other was done in the 17th century.

Michelangelo’s piece has previously been known as “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” because he was inspired by a similar engraving of that name while learning to be an artist. But after the Kimbell acquired the oil painting, Lee decided to change its name because that engraving depicts a different scene, he said.

The painting will be displayed at the Kimbell starting this fall after a summer exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lee said he may loan the painting to other museums later for traveling exhibits.

In order to attract more sellers who occasionally auction off items, the online marketplace, eBay is eliminating some upfront fees.

EBay Inc. said on Tuesday that users will soon be able to offer up to five items for auction every 30 days without paying the fees that eBay usually charges to list goods. Those listing fees usually run 10 cents to $4, depending on the item.

EBay users will still have to pay fees for items sold. Under a new fee schedule that applies to no-listing-fee items, sellers pay a flat 8.75 percent of the sale price, with a cap of $20 per item. Usually, sellers pay different rates depending on the sale price, with no cap.

EBay spokesman Usher Lieberman said the change, which takes effect from June 16, is meant to make it simpler for consumers to list items on the site.

Over the last few weeks the solar activity has been very minimal and based on the observations made over past 100 years, Sun’s brightness has dimmed down over past few weeks.

The scientists watching the events closely as many of them believe this could be sign of next little ice age.The last time the little ice age occurres was between 1300-1850 ensuring heavy cold spells in Europe and North America.

The coldest period of the Little Ice Age, between 1645 and 1715, has been linked to a deep dip in solar storms known as the Maunder Minimum. And Scientists believe we could be in one of this period.

Source : National Geogrphic society

Scientists say the Maunder Minimum can be tracked based on the number of Sun spots visible. Sun Spots (dark spots in Sun) are caused by violent storms and usually they follow a 11 year cycle of High activity and a lull. The last lull was in 2008 and this year Sun should have started showing more activity. But It has become even quieter.

But many argue the effects of this cool period wont be felt due to Global warming. Lets wait and watch.

Humans currently have it. Pigs in US don’t. At least not yet, and U.S. pork producers are doing everything they can to make sure that the new H1N1 virus, known around the world as the “swine flu,” stays out of their herds. But farmers are said to be worried if their herds would get affected by this swine flu from human beings.

For a change lets protect these animals from Humans, atleast till the time they are slaughtered

A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved bidding procedures for the rapid sale of most of Chrysler’s assets, over objections from a group of lenders who called the accelerated timetable an “absurdity”.

Judge Arthur Gonzalez, who is overseeing Chrysler’s bankruptcy case in Manhattan, said late on Tuesday, the proposed procedures were “appropriate and necessary” given that there is evidence that “there is an urgent need for the deal to be consummated.”

The U.S. automaker, which filed for bankruptcy in New York on April 30, had asked for permission for a quick sale of most of its assets to a new company held by Italy’s Fiat SpA, a United Auto Workers union-aligned healthcare trust and the U.S. and Canadian governments.

A california man Sony Dong, 46 was arrested trying to smuggle dozens of song birds into US from Vietnam. He used a novel way of stitching extra pockets under his pants near calf area and placed the birds securely.

Luckily all the birds came into US without any major injury. He had three red-whiskered bul-buls, four magpie robins and six shama thrush under his pants, prosecutors said. Earlier in December he had tried to smuggle more birds in a suitcase but left the suitcase abanoned in fear of getting caught.

Songbirds cost 10-40$ in Vietnam and can be sold for as much 400$ in US. The authorities have investigating if any of the birds could have been infected with Avian influenza virus, if found healthy they might be released to zoo.

In this years UPSC final results the first three positions were clinched by women who are trying to break the barrier for second time in as many years. This years results saw a marked improvement over the last few years and top three candidates have very different story from each other the topper Shubhra Saxena is from IIT who resigned from a prosperous IT job to pursue her interest in Indian Administrative Services. She was ably helped by her husband for her second attempt at the exam.

Sharandeep Kaur from Chandigarh secured second position followed by
Kiran Koushal. You can see the list UPSC toppers below

UPSC 2008 results (IAS,IPS,IFS exam results)
http://www.upsc.gov.in/exams/final-results/csm/2008/idx,prnote&rol.htm#PageTop

UPSC 2009 links : http://www.upsc.gov.in/Query/csp/csp_venue_query.htm

IAS Toppers for 2008 (UPSC toppers)

1 159306 SHUBHRA SAXENA
2 307085 SHARANDEEP KAUR BRAR
3 055950 KIRAN KAUSHAL
4 170034 VARINDER KUMAR SHARMA
5 006731 BIJAY KETAN UPADHYAYA
6 109733 YASH GARG
7 047983 TARUN KUMAR PITHODE
8 005167 SURYA PAL GANGWAR
9 259842 S SASIKANTH SENTHIL
10 059632 MITHRA T

Microsoft Windows 7 Release candidate is available for download for the public and it is valid for one year without any need for illegal methods. yes MS is giving you a almost full copy of Windows 7 for one full year.

The Windows 7 was made public few days back and here is the dowload links for Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit) directly from Microsoft Technet. Usually Microsoft doesnt release its RC for public download and even if it does it wont allow you to preview for a year. With Windows 7 hailed as the best ever MS OS by many its yours for taking.

Download Page for Windows 7