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Dowry a major cause of chronic poverty in Bangladesh

Washington, Oct 31 : Dowry is one of the major causes of chronic poverty in Bangladesh, according to a new study from University of Bath.

The research found that those households with lower levels of education, that owned less land had fewer assets and had many young children,

Moreover, elderly relatives faced the most difficulty in escaping poverty.

Dowry payments of more than 200 times the daily wage and costly medical expenses are major causes of this chronic poverty.

Though dowry is illegal in Bangladesh, but is still practised by most families living in rural areas.

Bacteria ‘listen in’ to neighbours and follow the crowd to grow

Washington, Oct 31 : When it comes to the decision to grow, the bacteria "listen in" to find out what their neighbours are doing and then follow the crowd, a new study has found.

The research team found that the spores of soil-dwelling bacteria could sense the presence of so-called muropeptide fragments released from the cell walls of other growing bacteria.

Those muropeptides act as powerful germinants, stimulating the spores to exit the safety of their dormant state and start growing.

The researchers hope that the discovery could lead to a new kind of anti-microbial agent that works by keeping dormant bacteria—which typically resist traditional antibiotics—inactive.

Bug-eye-inspired camera has six times the field of view of conventional ones

London, October 31 (ANI): A tiny bug-eyed camera, which provides a field of view six times that of the conventional camera, has been tested by researchers at a defence company in the UK.

Experts at BAE Systems at Great Baddow have revealed that the new system, called BugEye, has been developed primarily for use on missiles to keep track of targets.

The researchers add that the prototype camera is so small that it can also be used on endoscopes, giving an improved field of view in keyhole surgery.

Barack Obama’s debating style likened to Muhammed Ali’s boxing technique

Washington, October 31 : Two Kent State University sociology professors have likened U. S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s debating style to the technique boxing legend Muhammed Ali relied on during his matches.

Drs. Will Kalkhoff and Stanford W. Gregory Jr. say that Obama demonstrates a “rope-a-dope” debating style, which is similar to the way Ali would hang back during the beginning of a fight until his opponent exhausted himself, and then would dominate the end of the match, winning most of his contests with this style.

Lawson says sacking influenced by politics, change in PCB set up

Lahore, Oct 31 : Geoff Lawson believes his sacking as the Pakistan cricket coach had nothing to do with his performance but was influenced by political changes in the country and the change in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) set-up.

The former Australian bowler will return home on Friday after just over a year as coach of the national team.

The PCB cleared his financial dues with a final payment of 80,000 dollar, which included a bonus for guiding the national team into the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year.

Lawson had refused to leave until the PCB cleared all his payments and this was done on Monday by the board, the Daily Times reported.

Pak cricket stadiums get Rs.800 million facelift before India series

Lahore, Oct 31 : The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident of getting all its stadiums ready to host the home series against India in January and February.

The board has decided to spend Rs. 800 million on refurbishing all five venues for the tour, which includes three Tests, five ODIs and a Twenty20.

Salim Altaf, the PCB’s director general, is confident the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium will be ready in time to host the second Test and third one-dayer.

The venue was dropped from the Champions Trophy as the renovation work wasn’t complete and the ICC wasn’t convinced about the security situation there.

The tournament was eventually postponed due to security concerns, the Daily Times reported.

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