London, Nov. 25 : The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed the loss of almost 200 memory sticks, desktop computers, laptops and hard drives this year.

The Scotsman quoted Junior Defence Minister Kevan Jones as saying last night that some 74 media storage devices were also stolen this year.

He said that from 1 January to 5 November 2008, losses included 59 memory sticks, 62 laptops, four desktop PCs and 72 hard drives. Stolen items listed for the same period were six memory sticks, 58 laptops, eight desktops and two hard drives.

The TDSAT has directed sports broadcaster ESPN India to supply its signals to Sun Direct at half the cable rates specified by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Headed by Justice Arun Kumar, the Telecom Disputes and Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) said, “The sports broadcaster will supply signals as per the directions to TRAI of its channels within one week from the date of the order passed on a la carte basis at 50 per cent of its declared Non-CAS cable rates."

Singapore - Singapore share prices rose 2 per cent on Tuesday, following trends of most Asian stock markets which welcomed the US government bailout of Citigroup.

The Straits Times Index rose by 2 per cent or 32.96 points to 1,653.25.

The Singapore Exchange closed with 208 losers against 206 gainers. Volume totaled 1,090.8 million shares.

London, November 25 : Swiss chemists have developed a new material from polyester fibres coated with millions of tiny silicone filaments, which they claim is the most water-repellent clothing-appropriate material ever created.

Stefan Seeger, the University of Zurich researcher who led the creation of the waterproof material, has revealed that drops of water stay as spherical balls on top of the fabric, and a sheet of the material need only be tilted by two degrees from horizontal for them to roll off like marbles.

The researcher says that a jet of water goes off the fabric without leaving a trace.

He attributes the incredible water resistance of the material to a layer of silicone nanofilaments, which are highly chemically hydrophobic.

Kolkata, Nov. 25: As cars roll into the parking lot of the shopping mall off the Eastern Bypass in Kolkata, the drivers are met with women parking attendants, a rare sight in India.

These women guide the cars into the earmarked slots. They put on the parking tickets and even collect the money with great aplomb.

An initiative by the Sabita Swanirbhar Goshti, this parking attendants venture has provided gainful employment to 11 underprivileged women in the Santoshpur area.

The women were struggling to make ends meet when Goshti came up with the idea.

Berlin- A former state premier who was a prominent minister at federal level quit Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) on Tuesday after receiving a reprimand over critical remarks that "breached party solidarity."

Wolfgang Clement ended 38 years of membership in the centre-left party that co-rules in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives after calling the rebuke "inappropriate and wrong."