A ray of hope for infertile couples

Infertile couples have yet another reason to smile for researchers have identified a gene that plays a crucial role in regulating and blocking ovulation, opening up the avenues for developing new medications that may help them in producing children.

A team of Canadian and European researchers have identified a gene called Lrh1 with the potential to both regulate and block ovulation.

"Our findings demonstrate that the Lrh1 gene is essential in regulating ovulation," said Bruce D. Murphy, director the Animal Research Centre at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and an adjunct professor of and obstetrics and gynaecology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universite de Montreal.

"Until this point, the role of Lrh1 in female fertility was unclear, but we have found the gene regulates multiple mechanisms of ovulation and may affect fertilization. This is an important development, since 15 percent of couples are infertile.

"The widespread role of this gene in the ovary indicates that it may be targeted to stimulate ovulation and, eventually, conception," he added.

Since Lrh1 gene also plays a critical role in blocking ovulation, the discovery has opened up the possibility of developing new contraceptives for effective birth control. During the study, the research team developed a new type of genetically modified mouse whose Lrh1 gene was selectively blocked in the ovary. They found that deletion of the Lrh1 gene effectively stopped ovulation.

“This discovery means we can envision new contraceptives that selectively stop ovulation,” said Murphy. If created, these new contraceptives would be more effective and produce less side-effects than current steroid-based forms of birth control," he added.

The new study is published in the latest issue of the journal Genes & Development.

Bill Gates wants India to quit smoking

Taking on cigarette giants that are aggressively targeting developing countries, billionaires Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg have jointly pledged USD 500 million for a massive anti-smoking campaign with special focus on India and China.

A world without tobacco "is a world in which people live longer and have happier lives," Bloomberg, New York Mayor who has a fortune of USD 16 billion, said at a joint press conference with the Microsoft founder Gates.

Gates and Bloomberg said the money would go to anti-smoking groups working with governments to curb the consumption of tobacco and related products, including World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The global tobacco market is expected to rise to USD 464 billion by 2012 and the campaign against "global tobacco epidemic" comes at a time when number of smokers in the US is decreasing and American multinationals are looking for markets for cigarettes abroad especially in the developing nations.

Bill and Malinda Foundation will donate USD 125 million to the campaign while Bloomberg will contribute USD 250 million, apart from the USD 125 million he pledged earlier.

The two most populous countries, India and China, need special attention, said Gates. He is worth USD 58 billion and stepped down as full time executive of Microsoft in June.

But China is more difficult as the government owns cigarette manufacturing companies and draws revenue from them, Bloomberg, a former smoker, added.

"We do not want the modern-day heroes to be cigarette smoking," Bloomberg said.

Opportune time to invest in power stocks over 1-3 years

Amid the new found euphoria, power stocks have emerged as the best bet to invest in, according to market analysts who foresee great potential for the sector.

With the political uncertainty over the 123 agreement now behind, analysts feel that the Indo-US nuclear deal will give a major fillip to this sector. This was evident from the jump in all power stocks on Tuesday ahead of the trust vote.

The biggest plus for the sector is the support of the government, which has allocated around Rs 5,00,000 crore for power in its 11th Five Year Plan.

The country’s total installed capacity is currently 1,44,565 MW. The capacity addition envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan is 82,000 MW, comprising 30,000 MW of hydro, 40,000 MW thermal and 11,000-13,000 MW nuclear.

“No government can ignore power, as it’s the backbone of industrial production. This sector alone constitutes 3.5 per cent of GDP production, as against 2.5 per cent by agriculture sector,” said Dillip Davada, an independent research analyst.

In the last five years, all power sector companies have recorded a CAGR of 24 per cent on an average and Davada expects this figure to reach 30-35 per cent in a year’s time.

A good number of power companies are expected to raise Rs 1,50,000 crore from the market for their expansion projects by the end of 2009. National Thermal Power Corporation, shares of which closed at Rs 190.25 on Wednesday, plans an investment of Rs 29,000 crore while Reliance Infrastructure (earlier Reliance Energy) and Reliance Power are planning a total capital expenditure of Rs 60,000 crore. Tata Power will invest Rs 12,000 crore in greenfield projects.

“As of now, power sector is the safest bet to park your money in stock markets. Banking on the huge energy requirements of the country, power companies will continue with their greenfield projects,” said P K Agarwal, head of equity research, Bonanza Portfolio.

Rs.1016.70), Tata Power (LTP: 1124.40), Reliance Power (Rs 171.10), Power Grid Corporation of India (Rs 102.40), Power Finance Corporation (Rs 135.25) are value buys for investors.

Increasingly, natural gas is now replacing crude oil as an energy resource. Recently, NTPC tied up with Petronet LNG for its gas based power plant.

“If this trend continues, it will play a key role in boosting the power sector,” added Agarwal, who feels that the steel and cement companies having captive power plants of 200-300 MW will sooner or later emerge power scrips as well.

However, the depleting stock of coal in India might pose a threat to thermal power generation companies, which constitute 53.3 per cent of total power produced.

Said Alex Mathew, head of technical research at Geojit Financials, “the stock of coal in India is limited. Sooner or later, nuclear power will take over from thermal power, the former having the cheapest tariff per unit.”

Companies like NTPC and others are shortly planning to set up nuclear power plant, according to Mathew.

He does not find anything worrisome in it, as power companies are now bidding for coal mines in Australia and South Africa, joining hands with miners abroad.

Geojit’s research reveals that some power stocks that have outperformed the markets so far are quoting at higher price to earnings multiple than the benchmark Sensex. These are Tata Power (PE ratio of 14.9), Reliance Infra (PE: 20.16) and NTPC (PE: 20.03).

In a bearish market, it is an opportune time to invest in power stocks with a time horizon of 1-3 years, concluded Geojit’s Mathew.

Today, the BSE Power Index was down 0.47 per cent to 2,694.49 in comparison to the benchmark Sensex which was down 0.90 per cent to 14,807.24 after touching a high of 15,130.09.

The gainers comprised Reliance Power (up 5.15% at Rs 179.80), GMR Infrastructure (3.48%), Suzlon Energy (2.04%), Reliance Infrastructure (1.89%), Crompton Greaves (1%), ABB (0.91%), and Torrent Power (0.48%).

Soy-based foods may lower sperm count: study

Eating a half serving a day of soy-based foods could be enough to significantly lower a man’s sperm count, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.The study is the largest in humans to look at the relationship between semen quality and a plant form of the female sex hormone estrogen known as phytoestrogen, which is plentiful in soy-rich foods.

"What we found was men that consume the highest amounts of soy foods in this study had a lower sperm concentration compared to those who did not consume soy foods," said Dr. Jorge Chavarro of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, whose study appears in the journal Human Reproduction.

"It was a relatively large difference," Chavarro said in a telephone interview.

Chavarro said studies in animals have linked high consumption of plant-derived estrogens known as isoflavones with infertility, but so far there has been little evidence of their effect in humans.

"We wanted to know if it would affect sperm production and could serve as a marker for the effects on the reproductive system," Chavarro said.

STRIKING DIFFERENCE

Chavarro’s team analyzed the intake of 15 soy-based foods in 99 men who went to a fertility clinic between 2000 and 2006.

They were asked how much and how often in the prior three months they had eaten soy-rich foods including: tofu, tempeh, tofu or soy sausages, bacon, burgers and mince, soy milk, cheese, yogurt and ice cream, and other soy products such drinks, powders and energy bars.

Because different foods have different levels of isoflavones in them, the researchers set a standard for serving sizes of particular foods. Then they divided the men into groups according to soy consumption levels. Men in the highest group on average ate half a serving per day.

"In terms of their isoflavone content that is comparable to having one cup of soy milk or one serving of tofu, tempeh or soy burgers every other day," Chavarro said.

The difference was striking. Men in the highest intake category had 41 million sperm per milliliter less than men who ate no soy foods. A normal sperm count ranges from 80 million and 120 million per milliliter, and a sperm count of 20 million per milliliter or below is considered low.

"It suggests soy foods could have some deleterious effect on the reproductive system and especially on sperm production," Chavarro said.

The researchers found the association between soy foods and lower sperm count was stronger in overweight men, which might suggest hormones are playing a role.

"Men who are overweight or obese tend to have higher levels of androgen-produced estrogen. They are converting a male hormone into a female hormone in their fat. The more body fat you have, the more estrogen you produce in your fat," Chavarro said.

Chavarro said the study was not sufficient to suggest that soy intake would have health implications such as inducing infertility. Much bigger studies would be needed to answer that question, he said.

Lonely without love? Try virtual dating!

If you are in a long distance relationship and have been missing your partner, don’t fret. With communication getting easier day-by-day, the Internet is turning out to be a blessing for people involved in long distance relationships, shows a new survey.

According to the study, social networking websites have led to a boom in long-distance relationships. Some 14 per cent of people quizzed said they were dating a partner who lived miles away.

More than three-quarters of them said it was now far easier to enjoy a long-distance relationship – thanks to networking sites, videophone calls and text messaging. And 10 per cent of the 2,000 adults polled admitted dating people they met through dating or social websites.

One in four had begun a relationship over the net at some point. But telephone remains the most common way to stay in touch during a long-distance relationship. It was followed by text and email, the report found.

Love knows no boundaries...

...and the internet has certainly made this old adage come true. The World Wide Web has become the new meeting place for singles, who see social networking websites not just as the best place to keep in touch with friends but also to find their ‘special someone’.

Neha who works with a multinational company in Delhi says, “I really liked a guy when I was in school but I could never muster the courage to reveal my feelings. After eight years, I came across his profile on a social networking website and contacted him. It was only 3 months ago that I told him that I love him and now we are dating each other. It’s strange but had I not come across his profile on the internet I might never have been able to find him again.”

I-T returns made simpler through e-filing

As July 31 — the last date for filing income-tax returns for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families and other non-corporate assessees — draws closer, taxpayers have started preparing themselves for the yearly ritual of poring over their documents and making hurried calls to their chartered accountants. Though e-filing of returns is not compulsory for individual taxpayers, it has picked up in a big way because of the convenience it offers.

All you need to do is to log on to the official website http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in or www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in, and register with your PAN, which will act as your user ID. Next, you need to identify the return form (in excel format) applicable to you and download the same. A salaried assessee with no other income (except interest from bank deposits) has to fill the form ITR 1. If he/she has also earned income by way of rent, selling a house property or stocks and so on, ITR 2 will be applicable.

The Form-16 issued by your employer will serve as a helpful guide to filling the return forms. You need to go to Tools > Macro > Security and set the security level to medium and enable the macros. Once you are done with filling the form, you need to validate all the information by clicking on the Validate key and proceed to generate an XML file, which will have to be uploaded on to the site by hitting the Submit Return key. If you have obtained a digital signature (DS) certificate, you need to upload it along with the XML file.

Once the website displays the acknowledgement details, your task can be considered complete. You can preserve a print-out of the acknowledgement slip for your records. However, in case you have submitted the return without a DS, the ITR-V form will be generated, which will have to be filled and submitted to your local income-tax office within 15 days of e-filing your return. In case you are unable to so, your return is rendered invalid. ITR-V has to be signed and submitted in duplicate.

The I-T department will retain a copy and hand over the other duly stamped copy to you. This copy will serve as a proof that you have submitted ITR-V within stipulated time. While you are not required to attach any documents like the Form-16 or TDS certificates along with ITR-V, it is advisable to attach photocopies of the same to enable the taxman assess your return easily.

A digital signature (DS) is required to validate the electronic documents. A DS can be obtained for a fee from any of the seven Certification Agencies (Cas), including TCS, National Informatics Centre and MTNL, which are authorised by the government to issue digital signatures. An individual assessee is required to obtain Class II/Class III digital signature certificates, which are issued after the submission of relevant identity and address proofs.

Usually, these are certificates issued with a validity period of 1-2 years, and need to be renewed thereafter. The process of obtaining a DS can take up to 1-2 weeks. The fees charged for issuing a DS depend on the vendor and the validity period. The cost of obtaining a Class II DS could range from Rs 300 to Rs 2,000.

While e-filing has certainly made the taxpayer’s life simpler, certain hiccups such as slow downloading and uploading do crop up at times. One of the drawbacks of this system is that it does not guide you with helpful tips and information, points out Pune-based chartered account Vaibhav Sankhla. Besides, the portal’s functioning gets disrupted even if minor typographic errors such as extra spacing between the words or usage of an incorrect date format occur, says PricewaterhouseCoopers executive director Sandip Mukherjee.

People who do not have the time or patience to file their returns directly through the official website can opt for the services offered by e-filing specific portals like Taxsmile and Taxspanner, who promise to simplify the procedure further for a fee (starting from Rs 250 a year).

They arrange for a DS as well. Taking this route could make your task easier. “These portals provide useful inputs and tools that can guide the users properly,” says Mr Sankhla. You can also courier your ITR-V to their offices, which will in turn, submit the form at the local I-T offices, marking the culmination of the return-filing process. However, if you happen to miss the bus this time, you have an option of filing a belated return till March 31, 2010.

But if the return is filed after March 31, 2009, you may have to shell out penal charges of up to Rs 5,000 if your papers are picked up for assessment by the taxman. Moreover, if any tax remains unpaid, the tax payer will also be liable to pay a penal interest of 1 per cent per month on the amount of unpaid tax from the date immediately following the due date, i.e. July 31, 2008, till the day the tax amount is finally paid.

Brokers rush in where FIIs fear to trade

Did brokers see the slide (from January) coming? The answer could be yes, if the Bombay Stock Exchange’s statistics on proprietary investments are any indications. The over Rs 19,000-crore worth of proprietary book investments over the past seven months highlight the fact that many brokers are still flush with funds.

One explanation could be that these brokers had booked profits while the market was on an uptrend till January. That money is now being steadily ploughed into the beaten down shares.

While investors, FIIs and domestic institutions sold mercilessly during March and April, the prop books of brokers show net purchases on all months since January. Brokers bought shares worth Rs 2,092 crore, Rs 3,448 crore and Rs 3080 crore in March, April and June, respectively. According to sources, July is expected to log record investments with about Rs 3,377-crore worth of broker money already invested in the market.

“Towards end-January, margin funding had dried up for most brokers. Brokers with surplus cash would have invested in market or scrounged for arbitrage opportunities,” said India Infoline vice-president (strategy) Harshad Apte.

Brokers’ proprietary positions, where they invest their own money in the stock market, have been on the rise, with the numbers very high in the futures and options market. The increase in brokers’ own investments in the markets is conventionally seen to conflict with the positions they take on behalf of their clients, market experts opine.

According to data from the NSE, in the futures and options segment the average daily proprietary position of nearly 80% of the brokers was above 20% for June. The proprietary position of brokers holding 100% in the segment has shot up from 60 brokers in January to 64 in April and 72 in June. A 100% proprietary holding indicates that their (broker’s) entire investments for the month were for themselves rather than their clients.

“About 25-30% of the 600-strong active brokers (those who trade on a day-to-day basis) only trade in their proprietary accounts. Most of them do not have clients worth mentioning,” said Fortune Financial Services managing director Nimish Shah. According to Mr Shah, several brokers anticipated the market to correct considerably in January. However, none of them would have ever expected the market to enter a bearish phase, he added.

A section of the market attributes the rise in proprietary positions to brokers doing arbitrage between the cash and derivatives market. This is evident from increased proprietary investments in the derivatives market over the last few months, brokers opine.

“Brokers are largely resorting to arbitrage transactions where the risk of loss is minimal. Such trades cannot be called naked investments or even positional calls. Many of them could just be hedging their positions in the cash market,” said Edelweiss Capital managing director Rasesh Shah.

“Most brokers would not have that kind of money (referring to Rs 19,370 crore) with them to invest in market. They have to maintain capital adequacy; no broker would like to place his capital in positional risk by investing in such markets. As a matter of fact, about 50-60% of brokers’ capital lies with the exchanges,” Mr Shah added. He also attributed the rise in proprietary investments to several brokers (about 50% of all brokers) only doing only proprietary trading.

A gun that can regulate bullet speed

A US company is developing a gun that can fire bullets with variable speed and can be set to kill, wound or just cause a bruise.

Lund and Company Invention, a Chicago-based toy design studio, which makes toy rockets that are powered by burning hydrogen, is receiving funding from the US army to adapt the same technology for firing bullets as the army is interested in weapons that can be switched between lethal and non-lethal modes.

The new weapon, called the Variable Velocity Weapon System, lets the soldier use the same rifle for crowd control and combat, by altering the muzzle velocity. It could be loaded with "rubber bullets" to deliver blunt impact, full-speed lethal rounds or projectiles somewhere between the two.

The gun works by mixing a liquid or gaseous fuel with air in a combustion chamber behind the bullet. This determines the explosive capability of the propellant and consequently the velocity of the bullet, as it leaves the gun.