'World's smelliest flower' bloom

GENEVA: Thousands of plant lovers have flocked to the northern Swiss city of Basel to-see a giant, stinky flower bloom for-the first time.

The Basel Botanical Gardens expects 10,000 people to-see its amorphophallus titanum, or corpse flower, in full glory before the bloom wilts late Saturday or Sunday. The plant is 17 years old and has never bloomed before.

Visitors haven't been deterred by the strong stench of rotting flesh the flower emits to attract-insects for pollination.

The 6.6-feet (2-meter) tall flower is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the last one to bloom in Switzerland was 75 years ago.
Worldwide, there have been only 134 recorded blooms from artificial cultivation.

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "phallus", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. (The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant-kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera).

Due to its odor, which is reminiscent of the-smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also-known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (Indonesian: bunga bangkai - bunga means flower, while bangkai means-corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).

Condoleezza Rice to start acting is set

LONDON: Former US Secretary Condoleezza Rice is set to make her-acting debut on hit comedy show ''30 Rock''.  The 56-year-old diplomat will appear in a brief cameo on the American sitcom, reported the Daily Mail.  The announcement was made yesterday by the show's star and creator, Tony Fey, who described the cameo as "amazing".  Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, bragged that the former-diplomat, who currently teaches political-science at Stanford University in California, was his former flame throughout the first season of the programme.  Earlier former vice president and Noble Peace prize winner Al Gore made a guest appearance on the show. But former US President Bill Clinton recently turned down the same offer.

Honey, secret of energy booster

 

KARACHI: Did you know that the athletes in Ancient Greece relies on intake of honey to improve their performance in the face of Olympic sport?

Honey made their secret recipes as they contain-glucose and fructose which are capable of producing supplies of glycogen in the liver.

For that, it’s no wonder that eating one tablespoon of honey before bed can also increase fingsi-brain. Because fructose is stored as energy reserves in the liver and the brain will be working at night.

In addition, honey can boost the immune system and has antibacterial effects both internally and externally so that helps speed up recovery of the body.

Cheating In SSC Exams:

KARACHI: The annual examination 2011 of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Part-I and II, (Science and General Group) began today amid complains of non-issuance of admit cards and cheating at examination centers, media reported.

Meanwhile, several reports of cheating and copying have reached here despite imposition of Section-144 in and around examination centers.

Though SSC exams are on news for some days even then authorities concerned did not bother to transport question papers to examination centers on time, student complained.

In Karachi, more than 300,000 students are appearing in 9th and 10th class exams being conducted under Board of Secondary-Education Karachi (BSEK).

Over 225 examination centers have been set up for conducting exams.

Earlier, students who have not received admit-cards assembled outside the office of Board of Secondary-Education Karachi (BSEK).

Chairman BSEK Prof. Anwar Ahmed Zai said that the board had already completed all arrangement for conducting the matriculation-exam. He said the students who have failed to submit their examination forms due to any reason could appear in supplementary exam, adding such a decision has taken by Sindh Governor Dr. Ishratul Ibad Khan.

Chairman said that the candidates could not enter any examination centre without showing valid admit card. He said more than 311000 male and female candidates will appear in the annual examination-2011 of BSEK, to be held in 225 examination centres established in different private and government's schools of the city.

He said that the SSC part-I exam would be held from 09:30 am to 12:30 pm, while SSC part-II be held from 02:30 pm to 05:30 pm as per schedule.

In case, a student changes his or her examination centre without permission of BSEK, then action would be taken against the concerned centre superintendent and officers as per law, Prof. Zai said.

Aamir on 100 most influential people list :

MUMBAI: It was just after India's World Cup Cricket triumph that a very important news did not get the coverage that it deserved from the media.

Ironically, it was about the man whose first film as a producer, 'Lagaan', took cricket to the Oscars! Yes, it is non other than Hindi cinema's superstar Aamir Khan!

Aamir Khan has made it to the list of nominees of TIME magazine's poll for 100 Most Influential People of the World. The actor producer has been nominated among 204 world leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes encompassing people from all walks of life and countries.

In fact Aamir is the only Indian actor nominated in this year's TIME 100 poll. Other Indians nominated this year include, Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Indian-American physician Siddhartha Mukherjee and Indian-American neuroscientist-author V.S. Ramachandran.

Earth Poster Movie 11x17 Aamir Khan Maia Sethna Nandita Das Kitu Gidwani

Aamir Khan is currently ranking at #31, and is the highest-ranking Indian in this list even beating US President Barack Obama and Hollywood giants like Johnny Depp, George Clooney and Colin Firth.

The online voting for the 2011 TIME 100 poll closes on April 14.