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Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan Singh briefly detained; Congress chief lashes out at centre

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and senior party leaders Manmhoan Singh and AK Antony were detained on 6 May for trying to march towards the Parliament while it was in session.

In an aggressive speech, Sonia Gandhi targeted both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS. She accused the RSS of driving the Modi government's decision from Nagpur. She also said that the BJP has undone all the good work done by the Congress in the last 60 years in just two years of being in power. She accused the government of "murdering democracy" and toppling elected Congress governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.

Kejriwal asks DU to make Modi's BA documents available online

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to the vice chancellor of Delhi University on Thursday, asking him to put documents relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BA degree on the university website.

In his letter to VC Yogesh Tyagi, Kejriwal said this was for two reasons. First, because the people of India should know how educated their PM is, and second, because if there are allegations that the PM does not have a BA degree though Gujarat University confirms that he has an MA, then this is a grave matter and the truth should be revealed as soon as possible, according to The Indian Express.

Got an incorrect map of India? Go to jail for 7 years and pay a fine of Rs 100 crore

The draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016 makes it a crime to publish in incorrect map of India, with a fine up to Rs 100 crore and up to seven years in jail.

The move is aimed to correct maps of India that show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh located out of India. A recent case in which a social networking site published a map that showed Jammu as being in Pakistan and Kashmir in China was corrected after protests from the Government of India, according to The Indian Express.

Army officer in Assam arrested for theft of gold worth Rs 14.5 crore

An army officer in Assam was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stealing gold bars worth Rs 14.5 crore that were being smuggled into India from Myanmar.

Police alleged that Col Jasjit Singh, commandant of the Aizawl-based 39th battalion of the Assam Rifles, had ordered eight of his armed jawans to ambush the consignment on the Aizawl-Lunglei highway on 14 December last year.

According to The Telegraph, the police made the arrest based on an FIR filed on 21 April by Lalnunfela, the driver of the ambushed vehicle, which alleged that his vehicle was waylaid by armed personnel from the 39 Assam Rifles who stole 52 gold biscuits worth Rs 14.5 crore.

World's longest insect is Chinese

The longest insect in the world is Chinese. Zhao Li of the the Insect Museum of West China has recently discovered what is being called the world's longest insect - it's a species of stick insect of the genus Phryganistria that measures over half a meter. Zhao has named the insect Phryganistria chinensis Zhao (after himself of course) and says he found it during a field trip in the Guangxi Zhuang region in 2014.

However the insect has already laid six eggs and the smallest of the brood measures 26 centimeters in length- he longest-insect label may be replaced sooner than we think.

Apple to open retail stores but can't sell refurbished phones in India

Apple's iPhone sales in India may have grown by a whopping 56% and its plans to open retail stores may have gotten a nod from the Indian government but one aspect of its plans are failing in the country. The companies plans to sell refurbished iPhones are hitting a roadblock with resistance from the Mobile and Communications Council, a newly formed industry body comprising smartphone rivals Samsung, Micromax and Intex, among others. The government has rejected Apple plans to import "certified pre-owned" iPhones and sell them in the country according to a report from Bloomberg.

Use of cosmetics during pregnancy leads to complications in newborns

A recent study has discovered that the usage of personal or cosmetic products like soaps and creams during pregnancy can have a detrimental effect in newborns. The study comes from SUNY Downstate Medical Centre in the US and has been published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

According to their study, explained researcher Laura Geer, there's "a link between women with higher levels of butyl paraben, which is commonly used as a preservative in cosmetics, and the following birth outcomes - shorter gestational age at birth, decreased birth weight, and increased odds of preterm birth." An important antimicrobial compound which is usually used in soaps, triclocarban was directly associated with shorter gestational age at birth. Propyl paraben, which is used in lotions and creams, was associated with decreased body length.

Surgery has ritual roots?

Between around 6,000 and 4,000 years ago, skilled surgeons in southwestern Russia cut holes the size of silver dollars, or larger, out of the backs of people's skulls. But the risky procedure wasn't performed for medical reasons: These skull surgeries fulfilled purely ritual needs.

Skulls of 13 people previously excavated at seven ancient sites in this region contain surgical holes in the same spot, in the middle of the back of the head, scientists reported in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Carving a center hole in the back of peoples' heads was a potentially fatal procedure. Yet 11 of 13 skull openings show signs of healing and bone regrowth, reads a report in Science News.