As part of its endeavour to create a shield against incoming enemy missiles,the indigenous interceptor was fired from Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast near Dhamra in Bhadrak district.

"Aimed at developing a full fledged multi-layer Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system, the trial was carried out from two launch sites of ITR off Orissa coast," defence sources said.

An Oxford University study suggests that nearly one in three of us who use the internet have visited online dating sites. An international survey of 24,000 men and women who are presently online found that just six per cent had gone to dating websites in 1997 but by 2009, 30 per cent of the sample had tried them with 15 per cent finding their current partner that way. 

The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) conducted an online questionnaire with 12,000 couples from 18 countries, all of whom had regular access to the internet. They were asked a series of questions about whether they had visited dating websites, other online services and where else they might go looking for a partner. The questions related to the period 1997 to 2009.

Retirements are parts and partciple of life. Retirements make us remember the fact that nothing is permanent in this world - may be it is Dictator of a nation or a Space Shuttle.

NASA will be missing it's one of the most sincere and reliable workhorses soon. Space shuttle Discovery roared off the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin its last mission to the International Space Station. The 39th flight of NASA’s most flown shuttle is scheduled to last 11 days (Now extended by NASA to 13 days),began it's journey on Thursday, Feb. 24.Space shuttle Discovery and the six-person STS-133 crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 24, 2011, and reached the International Space Station Safely after one day.

And finally On 24 February 2011, The United Nations Celebrated the historic launch of UN Women, its newest organization, with an evening including luminaries from the worlds of politics, entertainment, business, the media, music and film in the UN General Assembly Hall. 

UN Women, formally known as the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, combines four previous UN bodies and represents the United Nations’ most ambitious effort ever to accelerate actions to achieve gender equality. Around the world, supporters of women’s rights have heralded its debut.

The estimated half-million garbage pickers in Brazil, known as catadores, turn waste into gold: they sort out recyclable items in the country’s dumps, then sell their findings to recycling companies. The collection of recyclable material in Brazil is largely from these waste pickers. Waste picking activities are supported by government. In Brazil waste picking is now recognized as an occupation . And organized waste pickers are seen as legitimate stakeholders who can voice their opinions at the local, state, and national levels.  But the catadores typically receive only a fraction of the value of the materials they collect because they usually sell to middlemen who earn most of the profits. The process of getting the recyclables to their final destination involves fleets of fuel-consuming vehicles which accounts for one-fifth of their operating expenses.

Now — with help from some MIT students — the catadores have a less-expensive and environmentally friendly fuel option: recycled cooking oil. 

Borobudur is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world. Founded by a king of the Saliendra dynasty, it was built to honour the glory of both the Buddha and its founder, a true king Bodhisattva. The name Borobudur is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit words vihara Buddha uhr, meaning the Buddhist monastery on the hill. Borobudur temple is located in Muntilan, Magelang, and is about 42 km from Yogyakarta city... 

In Pakistan, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.2 degree on the Richter scale shook various parts of the country in the wee hours today. It jolted residents of cities as far apart as Delhi and Dubai, but the epicenter was far from major population centres...