Author: News Desk

In an interesting find, researchers have sighted a critically endangered species of tarantula for the first time beyond its known habitat in the Eastern Ghats. The spider belonging to the genus Poecilotheria, commonly known as the Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula was spotted by a team of researchers of the Puducherry-based Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee in Villupuram district. Chance spotting The team of wildlife researchers was involved in fieldwork in the reserve forests recently when they sighted a Gooty Tarantula (Poecilotheria Metallica) resting in a cave. The species was later cross-matched with photographic…

Former India opener Gautam Gambhir has slammed ex-Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi after the latter said that he will soon visit the Line of Control (LoC) to “express solidarity with our Kashmiri brethren” following the government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The cricketer-turned-politician took to twitter and said: “Guys, in this picture Shahid Afridi is asking Shahid Afridi that what should Shahid Afridi do next to embarrass Shahid Afridi so that’s it’s proven beyond all doubts that Shahid Afridi has refused to mature!!! Am ordering online kindergarten tutorials for help.” After Pakistan Prime…

Police in Virginia have arrested a naked man suspected of killing two women and a child who was reportedly related to Tampa Bay Rays minor-league player Blake Bivens. Matthew Thomas Bernard, 18, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, authorities say. Police in Keeling, Va., warned that a dangerous gunman in a white T-shirt and jeans was on the loose Tuesday after three bodies were found at a home in the city. Pittsylvania County Sheriff Mike Taylor said the suspect is related to the victims. One woman was found dead in the driveway and the other two victims were inside the home, he…

A newly discovered bloodsucking, olive-green leech with three jaws and about 60 teeth have been found about 40 miles outside of downtown Washington. A team led by a researcher at the Sm Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History discovered the new species, Macrobdella mimicus, in the swamps of southern Maryland’s Charles County. It’s the first time since 1975 a new medicinal leech species has been found in North America. Anna Phillips, the museum’s curator of parasitic worms, led the team that made the discovery. She waded in murky waters for days wearing shorts — with bare legs and sandals — looking for…

They’re one of the must-have souvenirs from Disney’s “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” in California and Florida, but good luck trying to get the “Star Wars”-themed Coke bottles home. The Transportation Security Administration has officially banned the grenade-shaped bottles from both carry-on and checked luggage. The announcement was made before the Florida version of “Galaxy’s Edge” opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The reason for the ban is the soda bottles, which are designed to resemble the film saga’s thermal detonators, look too much like a replica explosive and replicas are not allowed on planes, TSA spokesperson Jim Gregory told. Some travelers who took…

A Mexican college student is alive after falling 80 feet from her balcony while practicing a yoga pose. Alexa Terrazas, 23, was known to do yoga on her sixth-floor apartment’s balcony, often using the guardrail as a prop for extreme poses. But a risky move nearly cost the yogi her life on Saturday afternoon, as she slipped and landed on the pavement outside her building in the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León, according to reports. The health and nutrition student at Tecnológico de Monterrey was treated by paramedics with the Red Cross and Nuevo León Civil Protection, then brought to…

Rajasthan Police has asked all its personnel to maintain their uniform’s dignity after a pre-wedding video shoot showing a police officer on duty being ‘bribed’ by his bride-to-be went viral on Youtube, leaving senior officers embarrassed. The video, which has Bollywood songs playing in the background, shows police officer Dhanpat stopping and penalizing Kiran (now his wife) for riding a two-wheeler without wearing a helmet. She is then seen putting money in his uniform pocket and riding away. Later, Dhanpat realizes his wallet has been taken by Kiran. He goes on to track her but the two falls in love…

She was declared “born dead” and thrown in the garbage by the doctors of a Kanpur hospital. A relative saw signs of life in the newborn and picked her up. The baby girl grew up physically challenged due to the first few minutes of negligence by the doctors. Twenty-nine years later, Noopur Singh, won Rs 12.5 lakh at the country’s most celebrated game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC) hosted by superstar Amitabh Bachchan. She answered 12 questions. Noopur, who lives in Bighapur in Unnao district, was born to a farmer Ramkumar Singh and his wife Kalpana Singh. Mother Kalpana Singh…

At first glance, it seems like a story straight from a Bollywood potboiler. Payal, a constable from Uttar Pradesh, first met Rahul Tharasana (30), a gangster, at a court in Greater Noida where his case was being heard. Rahul was accused of murdering a trader named Manmohan Goyal and had been arrested on May 9, 2014. He has also accused in over a dozen cases of loot and murder. Payal met Rahul at the Surajpur court where she was posted and immediately fell in love with him. She remained in touch with Rahul even as he continued to be in…

Indonesian authorities recovered the bodies of a Saudi woman tourist and her daughter after they had drowned there, reported on Wednesday. The mother, 45, and the daughter, 26, drowned earlier this week off the Ketapak Beach in Lombok in Indonesia’s West Nusa Tenggara province. The women, identified as Jamilah Abdul Malik and Elham Abdulsalam, were natives of the western Saudi city of Jeddah. “Both traveled to Lombok and were staying at a private villa in the Senggigi area, West Lombok,” Wiswananda, a spokesperson of the Mataram Search and Rescue Agency, as saying. They were among a group of tourists who…