26 APRIL 2014

Ø  In a major setback to Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court extended the stay on the State government’s order, directing the release of seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. A Bench of Chief Justice P. Sathasivam and Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana said the petition filed by the Centre, challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to remit the sentences, will be referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench. On February 20, the court had directed the Tamil Nadu government to maintain status quo in its decision to release Sriharan alias Murugan, T. Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A.G. Perarivalan alias Arivu. The apex court had also stayed the release of Nalini, Robert Pius, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.

Ø  In a bid to make Facebook a more useful resource for journalists and news publications, the social networking site late Thursday launched FB Newswire that promises to offer scribes a repository of verified, real-time content for use. The Facebook page will have hand-selected and journalist-verified news stories from across Facebook’s platform. FB Newswire has been launched in partnership with News Corp-owned Storyful, a news agency that aggregates news content shared on social networks. FB Newswire will include stories from around the word, including stories in languages other than English.

Ø  In a major breakthrough, scientists have been successful in developing the first lab-grown epidermis — the outermost skin layer — which could replace animals in drug and cosmetics testing.  The new epidermis, grown from human pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), could also help develop new therapies for rare and common skin disorders. The research, done by King’s College London and the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC), describes the use of human induced iPSC to produce an unlimited supply of pure keratinocytes — the predominant cell type in the outermost layer of skin. This closely matches keratinocytes generated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and primary keratinocytes from skin biopsies.

Ø  As the Indian Navy’s INS Shivalik prepared to leave Qingdao port after a six-day stay in China, both countries declared that the missile frigate’s visit had gone a long way in deepening strategic trust between two navies that are increasingly coming into contact on the high seas. Officials on both sides said the Shivalik’s visit and participation at the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) 65th anniversary celebrations – marked by first-ever maritime exercises involving 7 nations in China – had sent a strong signal of India’s keenness to deepen navy-to-navy links with China.