India and Bangladesh squabbled incessantly over the New Moore Islands in the Sunderbans. But where the countries failed, Mother Nature succeeded. [Yahoo!]

NEW DELHI – For nearly 30 years, India and Bangladesh have argued over control of a tiny rock island in the Bay of Bengal. Now rising sea levels have resolved the dispute for them: the island’s gone.
New Moore Island in the Sunderbans has been completely submerged, said oceanographer Sugata Hazra, a professor at Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Its disappearance has been confirmed by satellite imagery and sea patrols, he said.

Most reports attribute it to global warming, perhaps rightly so. We were unable to find any links between the release of the new “Mile Sur” video and the hastening of the sinking of the island.

Scientists at the School of Oceanographic Studies at the university have noted an alarming increase in the rate at which sea levels have risen over the past decade in the Bay of Bengal.
Until 2000, the sea levels rose about 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) a year, but over the last decade they have been rising about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) annually, he said.

Fortunately, there was no one on board when the island sank.

India and Bangladesh both claimed the empty New Moore Island, which is about 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) long and 3 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. Bangladesh referred to the island as South Talpatti.
There were no permanent structures on New Moore, but India sent some paramilitary soldiers to its rocky shores in 1981 to hoist its national flag.

While various islands remain disputed between the two countries, rapidly rising sea levels could resolve these disputes sooner rather than later.

You may have heard of the movies ‘Bwana Devil’ (first American 3-D Color movie) and ‘The Ghost and The Darkness’ (starring Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas and our very own Om Puri) that were based on real life incidents connected to the Tsavo man-eaters of Kenya.

The Ghost, and the Darkness. Source: Wikipedia

New research suggests that the number of victims may have been much lesser than previously thought.

Over nine months the two voracious hunters claimed 35 lives _ no small figure, but much less than some accounts of as many as 135 victims.

It was 1898, when laborers from India and local natives building the Uganda Railroad across Kenya became the prey for the pair, a case that has been the subject of numerous accounts and at least three movies. Link.

Also, the scientific technique takes into account only the number of victims eaten by the beasts, and obviously not the victims that were killed but not eaten.

Researchers led by anthropologist Nathaniel J. Dominy and Justin D. Yeakel of the University of California, Santa Cruz, report in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

They noted that estimates of the death toll reported at the time ranged from 28 reported by the Ugandan Railway Company, to 135, claimed by Lt. Col. John H. Patterson, a British officer who killed the lions in December, 1898.

The researchers did note that their study covers only the number of people eaten, while the number killed may have been higher. They said the death toll may have been as high as 75.

More than a century and 10 years later, science can figure out how many people two lions ate. Isn’t science amazing?

And not to forget, regional Indian cinema had their own versions of the historical account, not necessarily set in east Africa, but same rail road in forests of Andhra Pradesh. Ladies and gentlemen, watch Chiranjeevi  below  (at least the part that has jay jay – j j j , can anyone suggest the original American movie/song  name?)

Happy Fathers Day to all our readers, particularly to those who are fathers. On the occasion of Father’s Day comes this story about single men (straight or otherwise) using surrogacy as a means for parenthood. [TOI]

Rafa, a 38-year old Spanish teacher, recently celebrated the birth of his twin boys whom he fathered through artificial reproduction and a surrogate mother. The woman delivered Rafa’s twins in Anand.

The backdrop to this story is the fact that Rafa was a single male who had no intention of getting married or getting into a relationship just for the sake of having children. Of course, there is always the controversy regarding the breakdown of traditional family structures and more importantly, the ethics of “renting a womb”. But
this path to parenthood has definitely benefited quote a few.

Take the story of this 28-year old single male Gujarati expat for instance:

A 28-year old expat Gujarati, who stays in the US, met with a serious accident and was hospitalized for two years battling paraplegia. Left with a certain disability, the young man expressed his feeling that he did not want to marry as he was too conscious of his handicap but would love to become a father.
“His parents approached us and using his sperms a surrogate just delivered a boy. Fatherhood has given the young man a new purpose in life,” said Dr Patel. Infertility specialist Dr Falguni Bavishi of Ahmedabad has also been approached by a single man from Canada to help him become a father. He had got his sperms frozen and will get a baby with the help of a surrogate.

The whole process of surrogacy being relatively new is not without it’s growing pains. For instance, the applicants backgrounds need to be screened better than solely checking the finances of potential parents. Then again, the fact that single men (and women) have such options as opposed to forgoing parenthood or getting into relationships solely for procreating is definitely a positive trend.

Last April Fool’s day, we almost ran a story that would’ve reported the discovery of chivda on Mars. This time we’re not kidding.

With India joining the space race, Indian scientists are boldly going where no Udipi restaurant has ever gone before. [Telegraph] (desinole via Über Desi on Twitter)

India, which is locked in a spacewrace (sic) with China and Japan, plans to send a man into space by 2015 and hopes to send some familiar food with him.

However, creating a curry that will taste good in space is no simple mission. The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is tackling the task, the Time reports.

The challenges are many …..

“Curry tends to be spicy, high in fat content and uses many ingredients;”

especially this one …..

“We cannot afford the stomach of an astronaut to be strained.”

Anyone who’s travelled on 16 hour non-stop India-US flights can attest to the deadly effects curry has on gastrointestinal systems, especially in close quarters high above terra firma.

Dosa and fried bhajis seem to be the food items of choice (and biggest challenge) the scientists seem intent taking on. Maybe by 2015, we will actually run real reports of the Mars Rover discovering crumbs of masala dosa.

Surely by now you’ve heard of the story of Nadya Suleman, the woman who gave birth to octoplets. For the mathematically challenged, that’s eight babies in one delivery session. [Reuters]

What makes the story even more curious is the fact that the woman already had 6 babies. That’s 14 children to those who’re keeping count. So while the world discusses the ethics of IVF treatments that made this population explosion possible, and to think India and China get blamed for overpopulation, we @ Über Desi are busy looking for the desi connection to this story.

One that jumps out is the similarity to Gandhari, from the Hindu epic, Mahabharat. Gandhari had a hundred kids. Nadya has 14, which accounting for inflation, roughly translates to 100. Gandhari chose to become blind out of love for her husband. Nadya, chose to turn a blind eye to reason when she carried 8 embryos.

The desi doc
img: via Yahoo

The other desi connection is with the team of doctors that made this unique event happen – 8 children delivered from the same mother in the same day. Dr. Mandhir Gupta, Neonatalogist, was one of those responsible for creating this modern day Gandhari and will also decide when the children are fit to be discharged from the hospital. [Yahoo]