There seems to be no end to bad news for BP. BP’s bad day had started ever since April 20^th, 2010 when an oil spill stemmed from a sea-floor oil-gusher Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion, situated about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of the Louisiana coast in the Macondo Prospect field. It has been termed as the largest and most devastating oil spill in the entire history of mankind.

This week they have been seriously hit, and both of them are tantamount to plummeting stones. First being the Development Driller-2 drilling, a relief well, at the affected site had to be withdrawn on account of bad weather and storm forecasts. Work will need to be shut down for at least two weeks, and the other one more abashing and shaming the company is they have been caught cheating. They released false edited images of relief work in areas where nothing is happening at all. Photoshop designer were called in to edit an image of clear empty underwater area and it was modified to show relief work being in progress.

This oil spill has been devastating in terms of the colossal effect it has produced on environment. The spill continues to cause extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries, and in such times things so vile done by the criminal is the vilest deed!

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Bangalore: In a shocking revelation, Bangalore based techie Ashish Goel committed suicide after his wife allegedly threatened him with a false dowry harassment case if he does not pay 1 crore to her.

Fearing that the dowry laws are heavily loathed against a man, Ashish killed himself by hanging at his BTM Layout residence leaving behind a suicide note which clearly implicated his wife in his death.

Ashish, a resident of Aligarh got married to Ruchi who hailed from Meerut. It is learnt that Ruchi came to know about Ashish’s pre-marital affair and that became a constant source of torture for Ashish as Ruchi left his home three months after marriage. Later, Ashish brought her to Bangalore, but was being pressurized from Ruchi’s family to take up a job in Meerut.

Ashish got a call from Ruchi on June 20 in which she apparently demanded Rs. 1 crore from him failing which she would file a dowry harassment case against him and his family. This threat acted as the trigger for Ashish committing suicide.

Interestingly, the Mico Layout Police inspector refused to register a suo motu case against Ruchi despite the suicide note clearly holding her responsible for the suicide. He said he would book even a dog if a woman files a complaint against it.

It is pertinent to mention here that when a married woman commits suicide within 7 years of her marriage, due to any reason, immediately the husband and his family is thrown behind bars without any investigation under Section 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

This bias exists against men despite the fact that every year almost double the number of married men commit suicide compared to married women as per official suicide statistics from National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). NCRB records say that from 2005 – 2008, 223, 167 married men have committed suicide vis-à-vis 1,18,345 married women.

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On Friday, the world shuddered with terror, as two bomb-blasts rocked Iran. After what occurred in Uganda and Pakistan, suicide bombings, the terribly familiar twin-attacks, killed over 26 people and injured 300 after striking a mosque. The Sunni militant group, Jundallah has claimed responsibility for these blasts. This comes a month after the execution of Jundallah leader, Abdolmalek Rigi in June following his arrest earlier.

The first blast took place at a checkpoint outside the Jamia mosque in the city of Zahedan. A few seconds later, came the second explosion. Speaking to Fars news agency, MP Hossein Ali Shahriari said, "The [first] attacker, dressed in women’s clothing, was trying to get in the mosque, but was prevented.” He added that by the time people came to help, the second bomb blew up. About three to four people were killed in the first attack, he said.

Muslim clerics have fallen on the US and Israel, calling it a American ploy to cause unrest in Iran. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has condemned these blasts, calling for a concerted global approach to fight terrorism.

Though the Jundallah group, like this time, has unscrupulously targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Group in the past, there is a growing perception that this blast by a minority Sunni group was primarily targeted against the predominantly Shiah establishment in Iran.

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That’s vital. While the LDS church in Argentina had announced its neutrality to the gay-marriage legalization issue, a senior church official, Carlos Aguero had reportedly attended a rally to protest against same-sex marriage along with other religious leaders.

The church, however has maintained that this move should not be construed as an official position of the church. A church spokesperson was quoted as saying. “The [LDS] Church has made its support of traditional marriage clear but it does not involve itself institutionally in every same-sex election contest. The church took no official position on the marriage legislation in Argentina and did not organize its members to participate in opposing the legislation.”

However, the matter assumes great importance because the rally, which many prominent Christian leaders from other orthodox churches had attended, drew huge crowd support in its opposition to this landmark proposition. On Sunday, an assembly of Mormon Church leaders reiterated their support for ‘traditional’ marriage. Nevertheless, the Argentinean Senate has already ratified this, thus becoming the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage. Uruguay and Colombia have already allowed civil unions for homosexual couples. Hopefully, we might see more progress soon.

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Well, if you are wondering what our profound researchers are up to nowadays, here it is. They are busy trying to find an answer to the age-old riddle, “Who came first? Chicken or egg?” one of the most profound questions ever to baffle the human mind (ahem!) and reportedly, have found it. It’s the chicken dear!

According to some scientists from in the U.K., egg shells can only be formed by a particular protein called named ovocledidin-17 which is found in a chicken’s ovaries. It is this protein that is instrumental in converting calcium carbonate to calcite crystals, which form the shell of the egg.

Dr. Colin Freeman of Sheffield University’s engineering department was quoted saying, "The protein had been identified before and it was linked to egg formation. But by examining it closely we have been able to see how it controls the process."

For rustics like me, it’s but a hyper-hyped answer to a trivial riddle. For Colin, it isn’t that. “Understanding how chickens make egg shells is fascinating in itself but can also give clues towards designing new materials and processes,” he says. So, this time, while I am going to feast on my all-favourite chicken roast, I will owe her a look of awe and respect. After all, she’s the victor of world’s longest-running contest. Hail Chick!

P.S: I owe my friend Amit $10. Recall our bet, buddy?

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This can be called the height of cosmopolitanism. Or a new chapter in political history? Or a new chapter in Hollywood? Or is it a bizarre contradiction? Or what the hell is this anyway? 29 year old Omar bin Laden, son of the dreaded terrorist Osama has made his ambitions of dating 35 year old Drew Barrymore crystal clear, shortly after splitting from his six-time married grandmother wife Zaina, who is 25 years older to him!

"I want to go to America and I would love to meet Drew Barrymore. I am single now and she is the most beautiful woman in Hollywood," he told ‘The Sun’. Laden Junior asserted how he is quite fond of American culture and also expressed his admiration for Jim Carrey, American football, Laurel and Hardy and pop star Madonna! "She’s such a great dancer for a woman of her age," he said about Madonna.Junior Laden also seemed to take quite a good interest in soccer too. Lionel Messi, according to him, was his favorite player.

The implications and interpretation of a dreaded anti-American terrorist’s son asserting his love for the US can be varied. But the Junior Laden tried to show that he loved both his father and America. This is nothing short of a contradiction. "My dad is on the Earth but I don’t know where. He’s still alive. If that sort of person dies, you could never make it a secret. The world changes if he dies," Omar said.

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Skincare company Vaseline has taken out a new software to make Indians look whiter and reduce five kinds of dark spots on Facebook. This is a part of a campaign by the cosmetic company to promote their new fairness product.

Fairness creams have always been popular in India, as having a fairer skin is considered an asset in many parts of the country. The newer market is for fairness creams is aimed at the male population of the country, with traditional fairness creams aimed primarily at females. The Vaseline Men Facebook page has more than 500 members which points to the fact that appearing whiter has become quite popular amongst Indian males in the 21^st century. Even Fair and Lovely had earlier come up with an alternate Fair and Handsome!

Bollywood influence amongst the youth is high, and the growing inclination of the Indian Film Industry towards fairer skin in the present age is primarily responsible for tilt towards a lighter skin tone.

The Facebook community is also providing tips to look better. One such advice on the Facebook page says, “Short hairstyles usually suitable for every face shape except square shape. If you have a square face shape, you can wear a style that cleans squared off corners. Short hairstyle is mostly suit for oblong face shape. Because it will add width to your face shape.”

By the way,for the moment you can just try out whether this software works!

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"We are here today to make sure that never happens again," those were the unforgettable words of House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

Obama’s latest attempt to ensure that “this never happens again” may not have many takers but again, destiny is by Obama’s side. The Republicans were contemplating upon a filibuster to block, what is arguably, the most important social legislation in the States in the last 40 years. But now, Obama’s Finance Bill has the support of three Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts and is believed to sail through the floor of the house.

This development comes months after the President and his lobby’s tireless campaigning in favour of this bill. While cynics dismiss the bill as a dangerous attempt to infringe upon private ownership, supporters of the Bill claim that the Bill addresses some of the most vital problems of the current economic scenario, including the malfunctioning of the banking sector. One of the most important proposals in the bill in this regard is the regulation of the proprietary trading activities in the banking sector. Given that banks’ erratic functioning is widely believed to one of the major reasons of this financial crisis, the intent is to strip the banks of their proprietary trading activities and regulate their activities with regards to their investment in hedge funds.

The complicated bankruptcy procedure is also reportedly going to be simplified through a liquidation provision stipulated in the draft. Among other significant innovations, the bill also proposes the creation of a Consumer Protection Agency, much on the lines of the model present in Canada, which will focus on the abusive practices of the credit card companies,. The derivative market is also likely to suffer many changes following the implementation of the bill. Though significant proposals of the bill are likely to be diluted during its passage, the legislation promises to bring the much-needed reforms in America’s ailing economy. Hopefully, Ms. Pelosi is true!

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A man called Paul D Cegalia of Wellsville has filed a legal case against Facebook, and not only that, has also demanded monetary damages. A claim filed in the New York Supreme Court says that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg owed this Paul D Cegalia 84% of Facebook as per a contract!

As per the terms of the contract as claimed by Cegalia, Zuckerberg had agreed to pay him $1,000 and give him a 50% stake in the website they developed. Zuckerberg had allegedly agreed to pay an additional 1 percent stake per day until the website was completed. This amounted to a staggering 84 percent stake in the company as of February 4, 2004.

Following this case, Facebook has landed in some fresh trouble. Judge Thomas Brown has issued a prohibitive order on the transferring of Facebook’s assets.

Facebook, meanwhile reacted strongly to the news. "We believe that this suit is completely frivolous and we will fight it vigorously", reacted the official spokesperson for Facebook. The social networking giant wants the case to be moved to federal court.

This however is not a new kind of a story. Many a company’s rise has been associated with false and frivolous cases claiming some sort of share in it. And especially when it is a formerly small concern that has made it big , like Facebook.

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An Iranian scientist disappears while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The Scientist is an academician but many suspect that he worked secretly for Iranian Nuclear Programme. Iran claims that CIA abducted the scientist. The US media reported that the Scientist has defected to US willingly and is helping CIA. Meanwhile, the conflicting videos continued to surface on YouTube. In one of these videos, the scientist claims he was abducted by Americans. In another, he says he is freely studying in US.

This is the story of Shahram Amiri, an Iranian Scientist, who suddenly surfaced in Pakistani embassy in Washington. The Pakistan embassy in US serves the diplomatic interests of Iran in US as Swiss embassy does for US in Iran after the countries severed their diplomatic ties in 1979. As the Iranian officials in US prepare to fly Mr. Amiri out of US, It’s interesting to see how the US would react. It will be surely an embarrassment for Washington who has been severely trying to isolate Iran over its nuclear programme. Hollywood, in the meanwhile, has a new plot to consider.

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