Sydney, Dec 8 : An Australian astronomer has claimed to have solved the mystery of the Bethlehem star, that suggests Jesus Christ was born on June 17, not December 25, which if proven true might change the date when Christmas is celebrated in the world.

According to biblical mythology, the Bethlehem star was the guiding star that led the three wise men, or magi, to the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

Now, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Dave Reneke, News editor of Sky and Space magazine and also an astronomer, has said that complex charting software has allowed astronomers to map the night sky as it would have appeared more than 2000 years ago and has revealed a spectacular astronomical event at the time of the birth of Christ.

Former Maharashtra deputy chief minister R.R. Patil, who was tipped to be state unit president of the National Congress Party (NCP) after he stepped down last week, has declined to accept the post. 

Patil, who was also the state home minister before he resigned in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack on Nov 26 that killed at least 180 people, has instead preferred to take a break. 

The former minister told NCP president Sharad Pawar that he would like to have a break till after the forthcoming state assembly elections, said a party functionary.  

At 11am, Indian Stock markets were trading with decent gains. NSE Nifty was up by 76 points at 2790. BSE Sensex was at 9223 with a gain of 258 points. Among sectoral indices, BSE Auto was up by 61 point while BANKEX was up by 138 points at 4845.

Metal and Energy counters were trading strong as well. Almost all sector indices were trading in positive.

Among major gainers on NSE were Unitech, DLF, Suzlon Energy, Idea Cellular and HDFC.

Reliance Infra was trading 5.2% higher at 11 am. SAIL, Cairn India, GAIL, Grasim and Tata Steel were trading with a gain of over 5 per cent.

Among technology stocks, Wipro, Satyam Computers, Infosys Technologies and Tech Mahindra were trading strong.

London, Dec 8: Instead of thinking that nanotechnology is safe, a group of scientists have revealed that people who are aware of the novel science become sharply polarised along cultural lines.

The findings of the study conducted by the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School in collaboration with the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, have important implications for garnering support of the new technology.

The researchers conducted their study on a diverse sample of 1,500 Americans, the vast majority of whom were aloof to nanotechnology, a relatively new science that involves the manipulation of particles the size of atoms and that has numerous commercial applications.

Nearly 62 pc electorate exercised their franchise during the re-polling in 130 booths across 16 districts of Rajasthan. 

The re-polling was necessitated due to complaints of rigging, booth capturing and malfunctioning of EVMs in the 4th December assembly polls in the state. 

The constituencies where repolling were held included Todabheem, Deeg-Khumher, Pushkar, Khanpur, Kolayat, Kota-South Kotputali, Civil Lines (Jaipur), Sanchore, Bilara, Khandela, Mundawar, Nokha, Dholpur, Sawaimadhopur, Mandalgarh, Dausa Bandikui, Baran-Atru, Fatehpur, Bari, Mehava, Gangapur and Karauli.  

The re-polling was marred by a caste clash between two communities in Todabheem assembly constituency, injuring eight persons, official sources said.  

Tamil Nadu on Sunday sought Rs 1,893 crores from the Centre for flood-relief work. 

Heavy rains brought by Cyclone Nisha battered 12 coastal districts, causing extensive damage and killing 189 people. As many as 1,597 villages were still under water, officials said. Over 3.23 lakh people were living in relief camps. 

The torrential rains have destroyed standing crops in over 550,000 hectares of land. 600,000 farmers have been hit hard by the calamity.