SiTU global NEWS

HOT TODAY, JANUARY 19, 2014

WASHINGTON: Led by an Indian-American, a team of scientists at a US university are genetically engineering tulsi or basil to enhance its pharmaceutical value, the institute said.

In his lab at the Owensboro facility, Chandrakanth Emani, Assistant Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at the Western Kentucky University and his students are genetically engineering the basil to produce more eugenol, a compound in basil that "has a very great pharmaceutical value because it's shown to control breast cancer," the University said in a statement.

Nun gives birth in Italy, names baby Francis

ROME: A Salvadorean nun who said she had no idea she was pregnant gave birth in Italy this week after she felt stomach cramps in her convent and was rushed to hospital, Italian media reported on Friday. The 31-year-old mother and her baby boy, who weighs 3.5 kilogram (nine pounds), are doing well and other new mothers in Rieti hospital have begun collecting clothes and donations for her, the reports said.
"I did not know I was pregnant. I only felt a stomach pain," the nun was quoted as saying at the hospital,

RIO DE JANEIRO: The iconic statue of Christ overlooking Rio de Janeiro has been damaged during a storm.
Officials said on Friday that the right thumb was chipped, apparently by a lightning strike on Thursday night.
The middle finger of the right hand had been chipped during a storm last month.

The statue underwent a $4 million renovation in 2010 to repair badly eroded parts of its face and hands. (AP Photo)