Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009

"For the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase"

Won by..,

Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak


This year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to three scientists who have solved a major problem in biology: how the chromosomes can be copied in a complete way during cell divisions and how they are protected against degradation.

They have shown that the solution is to be found in the ends of the chromosomes – the telomeres – and in an enzyme that forms them – telomerase.

The long, thread-like DNA molecules that carry our genes are packed into chromosomes, the telomeres being the caps on their ends. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered that a unique DNA sequence in the telomeres protects the chromosomes from degradation.


Carol Greider and Elizabeth Blackburn identified telomerase, the enzyme that makes telomere DNA. These discoveries explained how the ends of the chromosomes are protected by the telomeres and that they are built by telomerase.


If the telomeres are shortened, cells age. Conversely, if telomerase activity is high, telomere length is maintained, and cellular senescence is delayed. This is the case in cancer cells, which can be considered to have eternal life. Certain inherited diseases, in contrast, are characterized by a defective telomerase, resulting in damaged cells.

The award of the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of a fundamental mechanism in the cell, a discovery that has stimulated the development of new therapeutic strategies.




Jack Szostak Elizabeth Blackburn Carol W. Greider

Dilshan awarded the T20 cricketer of the year

by sopphrano

Tillakarathna Dilshan has won the award for the best Twenty20 performer of the year at the ICC cricket awards 2009, held on the 1st of october. He has won the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award in recognition of his breezy 96 off 57 balls against West Indies in the semi-final of the 2009 World Twenty20 in England. Dilshan's performance at The Oval included two sixes and 12 fours and helped steer his side into the finals of the tournament.

This is the second year the award has been given to recognise the most impressive performance by a player in Twenty20 internationals during the 12-month voting period, continuing to mark the advent of the shortest format of the game.

The award rounds off a good year of Twenty20 cricket for Dilshan who took the World Twenty20 by storm after showcasing his astonishing 'Dilscoop' - a flick-shot over his head - and also being named as Player of the Tournament, having scored 317 runs at 52.83.

According to the ICC Awards 25-member voting academy Dilshan's effort was the most impressive in the voting period between August 13, 2008 to August 24, 2009.

His performance beat competition from West Indies' Chris Gayle for his 88 off 50 balls against Australia, also during the 2009 World Twenty20 at The Oval; Umar Gul's 5 for 6 for Pakistan against New Zealand in the same tournament, as well as twin efforts from Shahid Afridi - a blitzkreig 51 off 34 balls and 2 for 16 against South Africa in the semi-final.

Collecting his award from last year's winner, Yuvraj Singh, Dilshan said: "This is a great feeling for me. I can't forget about that innings - it was so important and I was really happy about my overall performance in that tournament. It was a thrill for me to do well in England and do well for my team.

"I'm really proud of myself for having a new shot named after me (the Dilscoop). That shot has given me confidence. If I am under pressure I can play that shot and put the pressure back on the bowlers."

India hails Sri Lanka's new begining at the United Nations

(By Walter Jayawardhana)

India's External Minister S.M. Krishna told the United Nations that there is a new beginning in Sri Lanka today.

He said , " peace, security, stability and the welfare of India's neighbourhood is vital for India." This was an obvious reference to the end of the war by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)and the beginning of the development in the Northern and Eastern Provinces today.

"There is a new beginning in Sri Lanka; in Nepal strengthening the peace process is in our collective interest; and in Afghanistan, the international community must remain intensively engaged and support its development efforts and the maintenance of peace and stability. India is committed to establishing good neighbourly relations and resolving all outstanding issues with Pakistan through peaceful dialogue," the Indian Foreign Minister said, according to the transcript of his speech available on the UN website.

Ministry of Defence.
http://www.defence.lk

Gaddafi's Speech - Quotes

Gaddafi's Speech - Quotes

"All the terrorists in the house put your hands up!"


Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gestures at the end of his address to the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, September 23, 2009. Gaddafi, in his first ever address to the United Nations, on Wednesday accused the veto-wielding powers of the Security Council of betraying the principles of the U.N. charter. REUTERS/Mike Segar

Libyan leader and terrorist Muammar Gaddafi delivered his first ever address to the United Nations General Assembly today.

He had a 15-minute time limit. He went long.

(Note: Gaddafi = Gadhafi = Qaddafi)

From the New York Times:

In the first third of a speech that lasted more than 90 minutes, Colonel Qaddafi focused on what he called the inherent unfairness of the United Nations, which gives the five permanent members of the Security Council far more authority than the nations only in the General Assembly. This, Mr. Qaddafi said, was dictatorship, not democracy and, as such, “was terrorism itself.”

“We are not committed to obeying or adhering to resolutions by the Security Council in its composition right now,” he said, adding that the Security Council should be renamed the “Terror Council.” At one point, he even tore the edge of the founding charter of the United Nations he held in his hand, saying he agreed with the document’s preamble but nothing else.

He said the organization’s power dynamic should be reversed — to make the Security Council an instrument designed to “implement the will of the General Assembly.”

...Ali Abdussalam Treki, the Libyan diplomat who now holds the rotating presidency of the General Assembly, introduced him as the “leader of the revolution, president of the African Union, King of Kings of Africa.”

An hour into his address, Colonel Qaddafi began calling for investigations into each of the major wars since the United Nations was founded: the Korean War, the war over the Suez Canal, the Vietnam War and the ongoing war in Iraq, which he called “the mother of all evils.”

The Afghan war, too, he said, should be investigated for possible prosecution. At times, Colonel Qaddafi veered into conspiracy, saying, for example, that the H1N1 influenza virus, also called swine flu, might be a military or corporate weapon that got out of a lab, and he intimated that an Israeli hand was behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said, should be solved by the creation of a single state, which Mr. Qaddafi called Isratine, but Mr. Qaddafi stressed it was wrong to infer that Arabs hate the Jews. “You are the ones who burned them, not us. You expelled them,” he said, referring apparently to European nations.

For Mr. Obama personally, however, he had only warm words, calling on the collected nations to welcome “our son” on the occasion of his first United Nations appearance. “We are content and happy if Obama can stay forever as the president of America,” he said, and added that he feared America would return to its old ways after the end of Mr. Obama’s term.

Here's more, from Bloomberg:

In a rambling speech that lasted more than 90 minutes, Qaddafi tried to rip in two a pocket-sized copy of the UN Charter, charging that the council’s existence violated the provision that all UN members be treated equally. He called for power to go to the General Assembly, whose rotating presidency this year is held by Libyan diplomat Ali Treki.

“The Security Council since its establishment did not provide us with security but on the contrary provides us with terror and sanctions,” he said. “It was used against us. It should not be called a security council, it should be called a terror council.”

... “Sixty-five wars broke out after the establishment of the UN and the Security Council, and the victims are millions more than the victims of World War II,” he said. “Were these wars in the interest of all of us? No, they were in the interest of one country or three countries or four countries.”

Turning to the heads of state gathered in the assembly chamber, Qaddafi said, “You are just like speakers on Hyde Park Corner” in London. “You make a speech and then disappear.”

... “The General Assembly is the parliament of the world, the master of the world, and no one should object,” he said.

...The Libyan leader said he is proud of Barack Obama’s election to the U.S. presidency as a “son of Africa” and called him “a glimmer in the dark.” He praised Obama’s call for a reduction in nuclear weapons.

...Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just days after Obama urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to build two states living side-by-side in peace, Qaddafi said a two-state solution was “not practicable.”

“The solution is an Arab state without religious fanaticism,” he said. “Look at Palestinian youth, look at Israeli youth -- they want peace and want to live in one state.”

...At one point, Qaddafi noted that many world leaders appeared to have dozed off during his speech, and complained that holding UN sessions in New York caused jet lag. He said he had woken up at 4 a.m. because of the change in time zones.

More quotes, from the Wall Street Journal:

At another point, Mr. Gadhafi asked why the U.N. is situated in the U.S. and questioned whether it would be better to move the headquarters elsewhere.

"Everyone here today came across the Atlantic or the Pacific, and I ask you, why?" he said. "Is this Jerusalem, or Mecca? All of you have jetlag and are physically tired. Many of you are very tired because your biological mind should be asleep right now. Think about it, why should we continue to meet here in America?"

"We should not have to come to New York," he said.

But Mr. Gadhafi softened his tone when referring to Mr. Obama, saying, "We are happy and proud that a son of Africa is president of the U.S. in a place where blacks could not go in a bus where whites go." He said Mr. Obama was "the beginning of a change."

"Obama is a glimpse in the dark, and I am afraid that we may go back to square one. Can you guarantee how America will governed after Obama?" he asked, looking back at U.N. Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon. "As far as I'm concerned he can stay president of America forever."

Mr. Gadhafi later turned this attention to Iraq.

"The Iraqi war was the mother of all evils," he said. "Why did we invade? This should be investigated. It was a violation of the U.N. charter, without any justification."

He asked why prisoners of war were tried, including Iraq's president, Saddam Hussein. "How is the member of a government and president of a country be sentenced to hang? Who were these people in masks that did this? Did they have the right to do it?"

He said some believed that the executioners were Americans. "We don't the identify of these people. The U.N. has the duty to answer these questions, who implemented the death sentence."

Mr. Gadhafi then rambled further afield, even touching on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He asked who killed the U.S. president and why this hasn't been answered yet. "We know that the Israeli Jack Ruby killed Lee Harvey Oswald, who had killed the president," he said. "And then this Israeli died. … We have to know how and why this happened, so such things will not be repeated."

Touching on the subject of piracy, Mr. Gadhafi said he had met with pirates in Somalia who have made headlines in the past year for dozens of hijackings of cargo ships.

"These men are not pirates," he said. "We are the pirates. We are all pirates. We went there to their territorial waters, and they are just protecting the food of their children. The solution does not lie in sending military ships to Somalia."

If I were Obama I wouldn't be too pleased with Gaddafi's words of praise.

It's not good to be embraced by a terrorist and conspiracy nut like Gaddafi.


Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi waves as he leaves the podium after addressing the 64th United Nations General Assembly, at the U.N.headquarters in New York, September 23, 2009. Gaddafi, in his first ever address to the United Nations, on Wednesday accused the veto-wielding powers of the Security Council of betraying the principles of the U.N. Charter. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES POLITICS)

The Best Test Batsman in Sri Lanka-A Comparative Analysis

Nalin Abeysekera – Lecturer, Open University of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has narrowed the gap with number-one ranked South Africa to just two points in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship after winning the two matches Test series against New Zealand in Colombo. Now Reliance Mobile ICC ranking stands as follows:

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 30 August 2009) -

1 South Africa 122

2 Sri Lanka 120

3 India 119

4 Australia 116

5 England 105

6 Pakistan 84

7 New Zealand 80

8 West Indies 76

9 Bangladesh 13

The first Test series after the ICC Champions Trophy is West Indies’ tour to Australia for three Tests, followed by Sri Lanka’s tour to India which gives both India and Sri Lanka the first shot at the number-one spot. More importantly Sri Lanka will need to win the series to reach the top of the table, India will have to win 2-0(whitewash Sri Lanka) to topple South Africa. This time can be considered as a golden era of Sri Lankan test cricket. The contributions made by all players are enormous and this study will concentrate only to the batting department of this wonderful game.

Aravinda de Silva one of the finest batsmen produced by Sri Lanka Scored 6361 runs in 93 matches and 159 innings with one double century, 20 centuries and 22 fifties. He scored a century in every five matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 267 against New Zealand in Basin reserve, New Zealand. And Average was 42.98.Out of 6361 runs he scored 3290 in home with the average of 52.22.He scored 3071 away with the average of 36.13.He scored 11 centuries in Sri Lanka and 9 in overseas. Mr. Silva won 11 man of the match awards and more interestingly 7 were outside the country.

Former captain Mahela Jayawardena also considered as a batsman with class. He is still in the test arena .Up to now he scored 8747 runs in 107 matches and 177 innings with one triple century, five double centuries, 29 centuries and 25 fifties. He is scoring a century in every three matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 374 against South Africa in SSC, Sri Lanka. And Average is 52.53.Out of 8747 runs he scored 5663 in home with the average of 65.09.He scored 3084 away with the average of 40.05.He scored 18 centuries in Sri Lanka and 8 in overseas. Mahela won 08 man of the match awards and only 1 overseas in England at Loards.

Sri Lankan Skipper Kumar Sangakkara also can be considered as fine batsman in the world. Started as a Wicket keeping batsmen he now fully concentrates on his batting. Up to now he scored 7308 runs in 85 matches and 142 innings with six double centuries, 20 centuries and 32 fifties. He is scoring a century in every three matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 287 against south Africa in SSC, Sri Lanka. And Average is 55.36.Out of 7308 runs he scored 4233 in home with the average of 59.32.He scored 3075 away with the average of 50.41.He scored 13 centuries in Sri Lanka and 7 in overseas. Sanga won 10 man of the match awards and 2 in overseas.

Marvan Attapatthu fine opening batsman with classy batting style also considered as a one of the best players in Sri Lanka. He Scored 5502 runs in 90 matches and 156 innings with six double centuries, 16 centuries and 17 fifties. His conversion rate of fifty to century is high in comparison to other players. He scored a century in every four matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 249 against Zimbabawe in Queens Sports club,Zimbabwe.. And Average was 39.02.Out of 5502 runs he scored 2671 in home with the average of 38.71.He scored 2831 away with the average of 39.32.He scored 8 centuries in Sri Lanka and in overseas. Attapattu won 03 man of the match awards and all three were outside the country.

Veteran, former captain Sanath Jayasooriya also considered as legend in both form of Sri Lankan Cricket. He Scored 6973 runs in 110 matches and 188 innings with one triple century, three double centuries, 14 centuries and 31 fifties. He scored a century in every six matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 340 against India in Premadasa Stadium,Sri Lanka.. And Average was 40.07.Out of 6973 runs he scored 4114 in home with the average of 43.77.He scored 2859 away with the average of 35.74.He scored 9 centuries in Sri Lanka and 5 in overseas. Sanath won 04 man of the match awards and one outside the country.

Hashan Thilakarathe also considered as fine Batsman and he scored 4545 runs in 83 matches and 131 innings with one double hundred, 11 centuries and 20 fifties. He scored a century in every seven matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 204 against west Indies at SSC, Sri Lanka.And Average was 42.88.Out of 4545 runs he scored 2522 in home with the average of 54.83.He scored 2023 away with the average of 33.72.He scored 6 centuries in Sri Lanka and 5 in overseas. Hashan won three man of the match awards and all in Sri Lanka.

All fans are pleasing about Thilan samarawerra because of his consistency and sustainability in the test cricket. Up to now he scored 3787 runs in 54 matches and 85 innings with two double centuries, 19 centuries and 11 fifties. He is scoring a century in every four matches in average and at least century or fifty in once in every two matches. His highest score was 231 against Pakistan in national stadium, Pakistan . And Average is 51.88.Out of 3787 runs he scored 2219 in home with the average of 58.39.He scored 1568 away with the average of 44.80.He scored 07 centuries in Sri Lanka and 4 in overseas. Thilan won 03 man of the match awards and all in Sri Lanka.

Basically the players who play more than 50 matches and got the average of 39 or more are taken for the consideration in this study. Captain Kumar Sangakkara can be considered as the batsmen with highest average (55.36) with Mahela (52.53) and Thilan(51.88).When we look at the performance out side from Sri Lankan soil Kumar again scored 3075 away with the average of 50.41.Marvan Attapattu is the only player who scored same number of centuries in Sri Lanka and in overseas. And his average in overseas also better than inside Sri Lanka. Marvan won 03 man of the match awards and all in out side the country. Aravida de Silva also won 7 man of the match awards outside the country. He won 11 man of the match awards in his test match career which is the highest as a batsmen in Sri Lanka. Mahela Jayawardena scored one triple century, five double centuries, 29 centuries. He is the person scored (still scoring) highest number of runs and centuries for the country.

When comparing Sachin Tendulkar in India with kumar Sangakara, Sachin played(still playing) 159 matches and 261 innings.Sachin scored 12773 runs with four double centuries, 42 centuries and 53 fifties. But sangakakra had six double centuries under his belt. He played only 85 matches and 142 innings. Sangakkars ahead of Tendulkar in terms of centuries and double centuries scored per innings.( 0.1830 vs. 0.1762 per every inning).

Tendulakar is scoring a century in every three matches in average. His highest score was 248 against Bangaladesh in, Bangabandhu Stadium, Bangladesh and Sangas highest was 287 against South Africa in SSC, Sri Lanka. And Tendulkars overall Average is 54.59.(Sangas case it is 55.36)Out of 12773 runs he scored 5608 in home with the average of 54.98.He scored 7165 away with the average of 54.28.This is significant since his performance in overseas is excellent. Even master batsman Brian Lara’s averaged 58.65 in his country and in overseas it was only 47.80.But statistics and averages will not give you a clear picture about the quality and the caliber of batsman like Lara.

Sachin scored 18 centuries in India and 24 in overseas. This is remarkable as Sangarkara scored 13 centuries in Sri Lanka and 7 in overseas. And Sangakkara’s average in overseas is 50.41 with 59.32 in Sri Lanka.But we have to understand Kumar sangakkara was a wicket keeper in his early part of cricket career and had average of 39.55 in 79 innings. But as a specialized batsman his average is 76.18 in 63 innings.

This is unique since he is the only payer who had this average in Comparison to batting performances both playing as a Keeper and non Keeper. Anyway both Tendulkar and Sangakkara will go on making more runs and more records.

This is a small comparison and the reason to take Sachin, because he is considered as one of the best batsman produced by India and his technique and ability sometimes will reflects in statistics. For both Sanga and Sachin are remarkable players and we can see these players will conquer the world of test cricket in the future.

The contribution made by palyers like Arjuna Ranatunga, Sidath Wettamuni, Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinghe, Dullep Mendis and other players were enormous for the game of test cricket in Sri Lanka. This comparison will be helpful to understand the nature and dominant in test cricket in Sri Lanka. One also can argue how the players like Aravinda de Silva batted against the best bowlers like Wasim Akram, Richard Hadley etc in 1980s and 1990s despite the
Statistics!!!!!

Note: Statistics from Howstat.com

- Asian Tribune -

Sangakkara okay with not being favourites

Sangakkara okay with not being favourites

Posted using ShareThis