In a first, US scientists have monitored a spring fish migration through DNA tests on water samples, a study said on Wednesday.

"Environmental DNA" or eDNA, strained from one-litre samples drawn weekly from New York's East and Hudson rivers over six months last year, revealed the presence or absence of several key fish species passing through the water on each test day.

The weekly data snapshots created a moving picture that largely reinforced and correlated with knowledge from migration studies conducted over many years with fishnet trawls.

The Rockefeller University study, published on Wednesday in PLoS ONE, pioneers a way to monitor fish migration that involves a fraction of the effort and cost of trawling, all without harming the fish.

eDNA is now also being assessed as an easy way to estimate the abundance of diverse fish species and other forms of marine life in the dark waters of rivers, lakes, and seas.

The paper, "Aquatic Environmental DNA Detects Seasonal Fish Abundance and Habitat Preference in an Urban Estuary", is authored by Mark Stoeckle and Director Jesse Ausubel of the Program for the Human Environment of The Rockefeller University.

John Bowne high school student Lyubov Soboleva and Rockefeller University scientist Zachary Charlop-Powers co-authored the paper.

As they swim, the fish leave traces of their DNA in the water, sloughed off their slimy, gelatinous outer coating or in excretions, for example.

"Researchers in Europe first demonstrated that relatively small volumes of freshwater and seawater environments have enough invisible bits of DNA floating in them to detect dozens of fish species," Stoeckle said.

"By conducting a series of tests over time, collecting surface water from the same point on both the Hudson and East rivers once a week for six months, wea¿ve successfully demonstrated a novel way to record fish migration."

"Our work also offers clear new insight into the durability of DNA in the water, which persists despite currents and tides with a goldilocks quality just right for research. If the DNA disappeared too quickly, we couldn't obtain an informative sample; if it persisted for too long, there would be too much DNA in the water to yield useful, timely insights."

In all, Stoeckle and colleagues obtained the DNA of 42 fish species, including most (81 percent) of the species known to be locally abundant or common and relatively few (23 percent) of the uncommon ones.

"We didn't find anything shocking about the fish migration — the seasonal movements and the species we found are known already," said Stoeckle.

"That's actually good news, adding to evidence that eDNA is a good proxy. It amazes me that we can get the same information from a small cup of water and a large net full of fish."

According to him, some species couldn't yet be distinguished, notably some in the herring family, which have identical sequences in the region of DNA used for testing.

As well, some of the DNA obtained couldn't be identified because the DNA reference library, while steadily growing, is incomplete.

"We knew that we had DNA from a fish, but couldn't pinpoint the species," Stoeckle added.

The work on aquatic DNA was carried out as part of the Marine Science and Policy Initiative of the Program for the Human Environment of The Rockefeller University and the Urban Coast Institute of Monmouth University.

NASA has released its latest global maps of Earth at night, providing the "clearest yet composite" view of the patterns of human settlement across our planet.

Satellite images of Earth at night — often referred to as "night lights" — have been a tool for fundamental research for nearly 25 years. 

They have provided a broad, beautiful picture, showing how humans have shaped the planet and lit up the darkness. 

By studying Earth at night, researchers can investigate how cities expand, monitor light intensity to estimate energy use and economic activity, and aid in disaster response.

These maps are generally produced every decade or so. But NASA's new global map of Earth at night, as observed in 2016, has been released this week just five years after the such map was released in 2012. 

A research team led by Earth scientist Miguel Roman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, plans to find out this year what would happen if night lights imagery could be updated yearly, monthly or even daily. 

In the years since the 2011 launch of the NASA-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, Roman and colleagues have been analysing night lights data and developing new software and algorithms to make night lights imagery clearer, more accurate and readily available. 

They are now on the verge of providing daily, high-definition views of Earth at night, and are targeting the release of such data to the science community later this year, NASA said.

Just 221 votes were cast on Thursday in the first two hours at 38 polling stations where re-poll is being held in Srinagar-Budgam parliamentary constituency on Thursday.

The voting process started at 7 am.

Authorities have imposed restrictions on pedestrian and vehicular movement in the area.

"The restrictions have been imposed to prevent violence in the district," authorities said.

For security reasons, polling stations at many places in the district have been clustered together in one building.

Three hundred police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have been deployed.

Re-poll was ordered in 38 polling stations of Chadoora, Chrar-e-Sharief, Khansahib and Beerwah tehsils of Budgam district where violence had disrupted the process on April 8.

Sunday's polling at these polling stations was disrupted by massive violence in which eight civilians were killed in clashes with the security forces.

Alarmed by the unprecedented violence, the Election Commission decided to defer the south Kashmir Anantnag Parliamentary seat by-poll to May 25. 

Voting in Anantnag constituency was otherwise scheduled for April 12.

Former chief minister and opposition National Conference President, Farooq Abdullah has challenged ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Nazir Ahmad Khan in the Srinagar-Budgam constituency.

Counting of votes will be held on April 15 and the result would be known the same day.

Former Ivory Coast and Chelsea star Didier Drogba has signed for US second tier team Phoenix Rising, vowing to help the club achieve its dream of entry to Major League Soccer.

A Phoenix statement said Drogba, 39, would be a member of the club's playing staff before eventually switching to an executive role.

"I have taken my time in deciding what I wanted to do next and am really excited about the opportunity at Phoenix Rising FC," Drogba said in a statement on Wednesday.

"After seeing first hand the potential for expansion of the sport in North America and getting to know the ownership group in Phoenix, I am convinced that I can help them develop their organisation on and off the pitch."

Phoenix currently play in the United Soccer League, the de facto second tier of US club football. Although there is no promotion and relegation between the USL and MLS, Phoenix is vying to become one of the top tier's expansion teams.

Drogba's arrival in Arizona comes after a turbulent spell with MLS side Montreal Impact came to an end last season.

The veteran's last season in the MLS was marked by tension between the player and his club, with the nadir coming in October when he refused to be a part of the Impact's matchday squad after learning he was not in the starting line-up.

USL President Jake Edwards welcomed Drogba's arrival to the junior league.

"He will be a great ambassador for our sport, using his experience, talent and vision to benefit fans, as well as fellow players," Edwards said.

"His invaluable mentorship will guide our young stars in the locker room and on the field, contributing to the future success of our league and the game for years to come."

Former Ivory Coast captain Drogba was linked to a move to Brazilian team Corinthians earlier this year, but turned down a contract worth $120,000 per week.

The two-time African Footballer of the Year is best known for his two stints with Chelsea, spending eight years at Stamford Bridge after joining from Marseille in 2004, winning four Premier League titles and the 2012 Champions League.

He returned for the 2014-2015 season and has also played for Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray in Turkey.

In a major U-turn, President Donald Trump has said that NATO is “no longer obsolete”, asserting that he is committed to the military alliance.

“I complained about that a long time ago and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete,” Trump told reporters at a joint White House news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“It's my hope that NATO will take on an increased role in supporting our Iraqi partners in their battle against the ISIS,” he said about NATO which was formed in 1949.

Since then its member states have more than doubled, increasing from 12 to 28. On Monday, he signed the protocol to approve the 29th, the country of Montenegro.

“In the coming months and years, I'll work closely with all of our NATO allies to enhance this partnership and to adapt to the challenges of the future, of which there will be many. This includes upgrading their focus on today's most pressing security and all of its challenges, including migration and terrorism, Trump said.

Observing that NATO countries must work together to resolve the disaster currently taking place in Syria, Trump appreciated the support of NATO members and partners in their condemnation of Assad's murderous attack using the most horrible weapons.

“The vicious slaughter of innocent civilians with chemical weapons, including the barbaric killing of small and helpless children and babies, must be forcefully rejected by any nation that values human life. It is time to end this brutal civil war, defeat terrorists, and allow refugees to return home,” he said.

“In facing our common challenges, we must also ensure that NATO members meet their financial obligations and pay what they owe. Many have not been doing that,” he said.

Trump and Stoltenberg agreed that other member-nations must satisfy their responsibility to contribute two per cent of GDP to defence.

If other countries pay their fair share instead of relying on the United Sates to make up the difference, they will all be much more secure, and the partnership will be made that much stronger, he said.
Trump is expected to travel to Brussels later this spring to attend the NATO Summit.
“Every generation has strived to adapt the NATO alliance to meet the challenges of their times. And during my visit to Brussels this Spring, which I look very much forward to, we will work together to do the same. We must not be trapped by the tired thinking that so many have, but apply new solutions to face new circumstances, and that's all throughout the world, he said.

Stoltenberg said a strong NATO is good for Europe, but a strong NATO is also good for the United States.
“I welcome the very strong commitment of the United States to the security of Europe. We see this commitment not only in words, but also in deeds.

Over the past months, thousands of US troops have been deploying to Europe, a clear demonstration that America stands with allies to protect peace and defend our freedom,” he said.

Noting that in a more dangerous and more unpredictable world, it is important to have friends and allies, Stoltenberg said in NATO, America has the best friends and the best allies in the world.

“Together, we represent half of the world's economic and military power. No other superpower has ever had such a strategic advantage. This makes the United States stronger and safer,” he said.

Observing that NATO plays a key role in many other ways also, he said all NATO allies are part of the global coalition to counter ISIL.

“NATO provides direct support to the coalition with training for Iraqi forces in their fight against terrorists, and more intelligence sharing. We have established a new division for intelligence, which enhances our ability to fight terrorism, and working together in the alliance to fight terrorism even an even more effective way, he said.

NATO, he asserted can and must do more in the global fight against terrorism.

“In the fight against terrorism, training local forces is one of the best weapons we have. NATO has the experience, the expertise and the staying power to make a real difference. And fighting terrorism will be an important topic when NATO leaders meet in Brussels in May,” the NATO Secretary General said.

Antoine Griezmann's penalty handed Atletico Madrid a slender 1-0 advantage over Leicester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

In a game of very few chances, Griezmann proved decisive as it was he who also won the penalty with a lung-busting run from well inside his own half before being brought down by Marc Albrighton midway through the first half on Wednesday.

The French international put his previous penalty demons behind him to convert from the spot and put Atletico in the driving seat for a third semi-final in four seasons.

However, Leicester still have reason to believe their dream run on their first appearance in the Champions League can continue when the sides meet again on April 18.

And manager Craig Shakespeare claimed his side were undone by referee Jonas Eriksson as he believed Griezmann was fouled outside the area.

"I think we were hard done by," said Shakespeare.

"I think it is one of the major decisions in the game. It is a definite foul but it is outside the box."

Atletico coach Diego Simeone lamented his side's inability to kill the tie, but lauded Leicester's defensive effort.

"Maybe we lacked a clinical finish," said the Argentine.

"After the 1-0 Leicester defended very well, sat deep, waited for a counter-attack and we couldn't create more chances.

"They bet everything on the second leg."

The behaviour of Leicester's travelling fans was in the spotlight after 10 were arrested in violent clashes with police on Tuesday night and Wednesday before kick-off.

However, the 3,000 travelling supporters high in the rafters of the Calderon were largely silenced by Atletico's dominance of the match.

Unusually for Simeone's men they were in almost complete control of possession, but largely limited to shots from long range.

Koke came closest from distance when he drilled an effort off the outside of the post after just five minutes.

Yannick Carrasco then slashed wildly at a volley when well-placed at the back post.

Griezmann and Saul Niguez were next to take aim from outside the box, but both failed to find the target with powerful drives that flew over Kasper Schmeichel's goal.

Leicester had been enjoying their best spell of the half when suddenly they were caught short-handed at the back on 27 minutes.

Griezmann collected the ball outside his own area and ran to just inside the Leicester box before being crudely barged over by Albrighton.

Schmeichel had saved a penalty in each of Leicester's two legs against Sevilla in the last 16 and Griezmann had missed his last four for Atletico, including in last season's Champions League final.

However, Griezmann sent the Dane the wrong way from the spot to register his 24th goal of the season.

Both sides seemed content to settle the tie at the King Power in six days' time with Atletico holding a 1-0 advantage after the break.

Leicester were without captain Wes Morgan due to a back injury and his return to health will be even more important for the second leg as Robert Huth will be suspended after being booked for chopping down Griezmann.

Griezmann was the standout performer and nearly added an assist to the only goal but Angel Correa couldn't quite stretch to reach his dangerous low cross 17 minutes from time.

Leicester, meanwhile, didn't threaten an away goal as Atletico held out for their 18th clean sheet in 22 home Champions League games since Simeone took charge.

Global software major Infosys Ltd has posted Rs.14,353 crore consolidated net profit for the fiscal 2016-17, registering 6.4 per cent annual growth from Rs.13,491 crore in the fiscal 2015-16.

In a regulatory filing to the BSE on Thursday, the IT major said consolidated revenue for the fiscal under review (FY 2017) increased 9.7 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) to Rs.68,484 crore from Rs.62,441 crore in the previous fiscal (FY 2016).

Under the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS), consolidated net income grew 4.3 per cent YoY to $2,140 million from $2,052 million, while revenue increased 7.4 per cent YoY to $10,208 million from $9,501 million in FY 2016.

Four persons including a woman have been arrested for allegedly duping a woman of Rs.56 lakh on the pretext of sending money from Iraq here.

The victim, Nitu Sharma, complained to the Superintendent of Police Bikaner that she was duped by a man with whom she had came in contact through a matrimonial site.

The man had introduced himself as an aircraft engineer working in Iraq and told her that he wanted to settle in India after marriage with her.

He told her that he has sent 2.5 million pound through a diplomatic pouch service from Iraq.

After some time, different men called her posing as officials of the Iraq embassy and other agencies and asked her to deposit different amounts in bank accounts in the name of various clearance.

Believing them, she deposited a total of Rs.56 lakh to various bank account.

“After a detailed investigation, the accused was identified as Ajit Kumar Yadav and he was arrested. He is a resident of Jharkhand. Shrawan Singh Sodha of Barmer, Virendranath of Jodhpur and Anita of Gurgaon have been arrested in this case,” Inspector General of Police, Bikaner, Bipin Kumar Pandey said.

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi has praised Sonam Kapoor as she got a special mention at the 64th National Film Awards for her portrayal of slain air hostess, Neerja Bhanot, in Neerja.

The 66-year-old actress, who essayed the role of Bhanot's mother in the movie, said she is glad to see the Raanjhanaa star's growth as an artiste and that the prestigious honour will motivate her to do better work.

"Sonam is like my own bachcha. To see her growth as an artiste is a very fulfilling experience for me personally. The National award for Sonam is such a glorious validation of her talent.

"It just makes her so much more confident to do better work. I am very proud of her," Azmi said in a poster which was shared by Sonam on social media.

"This made my day year and everything! Thank you @AzmiShabana and thank you @RamKMadhvani for showing me this," Sonam wrote alongside the photo.

While, Madhvani, who directed the movie, said, "High praise from @AzmiShabana and well deserved @sonamakapoor. Very happy for you."

Neerja also won National Award for the best Hindi feature film.

India captain Virat Kohli has fully recovered from his shoulder injury and is fit to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians, here on Friday.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Medical Team on Wednesday confirmed that Indian Cricket Team and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli has regained match fitness," a statement from BCCI read.

"He will now be available for RCB's next match against Mumbai Indians on April 14 in Bengaluru," it added.

Kohli underwent rehabilitation after sustaining an injury to his right shoulder while fielding during the third Test against Australia in Ranchi.

The injury forced Kohli to miss India's fourth and series-deciding Test against Australia in Dharamsala and also RCB's first three matches in the ongoing IPL 10.

Amid weak domestic economic data and mixed Asian markets, Indian benchmark indices were trading with declines in the late morning trade on Thursday.

At 11.00 am, the Sensex was trading 47 points or 0.16 per cent down at 29,597 while the Nifty50 was trading 16 points or 0.17 per cent lower at 9,187.

However, broader markets were trading in the positive zone. BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent each.

Among BSE sectoral indices, Metal index became the lead loser with a dip of 1.8 per cent. IT (down 1.7 per cent), Teck (down 1.4 per cent) and Telecom (down 0.5 per cent) indices were other notable losers. Oil & Gas and Really indices rose 0.8 per cent 0.7 per cent respectively.

On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex closed 145 points or 0.49 per cent down at 29,643 while the NSE Nifty ended 34 points or 0.36 per cent lower at 9,203.

India's Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation or retail inflation rose to 3.81 per cent in March from 3.18 per cent during the previous month.

Meanwhile, Country’s Index of Industrial Production (IIP) or factory output slipped by 1.2% on year-on-year basis for the month of February.

Top gainers in the Sensex-30 pack: ICICI Bank (up 1.3 per cent), Bajaj Auto (up 1 per cent), Power Grid (up 1 per cent), HDFC (up 1 per cent) and Reliance Industries (up 0.9 per cent).

Top losers in the Sensex-30 pack: Infosys (down 2.2 per cent), Adani Ports (down 2.1 per cent), TCS (down 2.1 per cent), Tata Steel (down 1.6 per cent) and Wipro (down 1.3 per cent).

The Rupee was trading 40 paisa higher at 64.28 against the US Dollar.

 Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan has urged people to pray for the safe return of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who has been sentenced to death by a Pakistan military court for allegedly spying and stoking violence in Balochistan.

The Sholay writer said here is a great opportunity for Pakistan to mend its relationship with India.

"Pakistan talks about maintaining a good relationship with India. Here is the opportunity. Let us pray for his safe return. Kulbhushan Jadhav," Khan tweeted on Wednesday night.

Quoting Prophet Muhammad, the veteran writer went on to add: "To kill an innocent is equivalent to killing entire humanity."

Jadhav was reportedly arrested in March last year in Balochistan, for allegedly being an Indian spy responsible for fuelling Baloch separatist movement.

Over the last year, the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav has witnessed several twists and turns.

While the Pakistani government has repeatedly alleged Jadhav is a Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) agent, India had been denying the charges, calling the death sentence a "pre-planned murder".

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday questioned the Election Commission's "open challenge" to political parties and experts to prove that EVMs can be manipulated.

Kejriwal wondered why the Commission was not coming out with any official statement and pushing the news of the reported challenge through "sources" instead.

"Why are these stories ascribed to "sources"? How credible are they? Why hasn't EC issued any formal statement? Or is it just a plant? Has anyone actually seen any official statement from CEC? Am trying to get it since evening. Is this news correct?" he said in a series of tweets.

Yesterday, official sources of the EC claimed that the commission will invite political parties, experts, scientists and technocrats in the first week of May to try and hack the machines.

They said the challenge will be open for a week or 10 days and will have various levels.

Actress Zoe Saldana says she was bullied at school for being an English speaker.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star moved to the Dominican Republic when she was 9, following the death of her father Aridio. She says she was bullied because she used English words rather than talking in Spanish, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"It was a very traumatising time for me because I didn't know how to stand up for myself. I was never equipped, trained or taught to defend myself. My mother never raised me believing that I was different, so the moment me and my sisters started getting attacked, shock was the first reaction," Saldana told Balance magazine.

"Bullies can reach a depth within you that may cause irreparable damage. There were years that I felt ashamed of myself, thinking, 'I should have known better, I should have always stood up for myself.'"

An Indian software engineer has won the top prize at a global challenge for an open-source tool that enables users to interactively view UN General Assembly resolutions and gain a deeper understanding of the voting patterns of member states.

Abdulqadir Rashik, also an entrepreneur, won the 'Unite Ideas #UNGAViz Textual Analysis and Visualisation Challenge' for his 'Global Policy', an open-source tool that enables users to search and interactively view General Assembly resolutions to gain a deeper understanding of the voting patterns and decisions made by United Nations Member States.

Rashik's prototype will be made public and shared with United Nations bodies and member states. He will also receive recognition from the Department of State and the Office of Information and Communications Technology.
Rashik is a frequent contributor to Unite Ideas challenges and he previously won the top prize in the #LinksSDGs challenge for his 'Links to Sustainable Cities', an interactive visualisation that identifies and maps the links between various Sustainable Development Goals.

The world body said the project was the first collaboration between the UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (OICT) and the US Department of State.

The UNGAViz challenged developers worldwide to create an open-source tool capable of providing greater visibility into Member State voting patterns, as well as greater public transparency about their voting choices. Solutions were judged not only on their technical merits, but also on their potential to support policymakers dealing with humanitarian challenges, peace and security issues, and other international matters, sometimes under extreme time pressure.
A State Department official Andrew Hyde said the UN General Assembly has drafted and passed thousands of resolutions affecting people in every corner of the world since its establishment in 1946.

“In support of transparency and accountability, we believe that everybody, from the general public to policymakers to diplomats, should have easy and timely access to this vast body of knowledge,” he said.

The first runner-up position was awarded to Maximiliano Lopez, an information technology consultant from Argentina, and the second runner-up was Thomas Fournaise, an information technology manager from France.

The Chief of the Global Services Division in the Office of Information and Communications Technology Salem Avan said the global network of talented open-source developers responded with insightful and practical solutions that can be easily implemented and made available to United Nations offices and Member States.

UNGAViz is the sixth challenge issued by Unite Ideas, a big data crowd-sourcing platform developed by the Office of Information and Communications Technology to facilitate collaboration among academia, civil society and UN offices, and to mobilise data scientists and software developers around the world to help tackle the complex issues faced by the Organisation and its member states through the creation of open-source technology solutions.

To date, academia, the general public and private companies have responded to the Unite Ideas challenges with more than 50 open-source solutions, many of which will be used by the United Nations or shared with member states.

Facebook has said it has started weeding out bogus accounts by watching for suspicious behaviour such as repetitive posts or torrents of messages.

The security improvement was described as being part of a broader effort to rid the leading social network of hoaxes, misinformation, and fake news by making sure people are who they claim to be.

"We've found that when people represent themselves on Facebook the same way they do in real life, they act responsibly," Shabnam Shaik of the Facebook protect and care team said in a blog post.

"Fake accounts don't follow this pattern, and are closely related to the creation and spread of spam."

Accounts suspected of being bogus are suspended and holders asked to verify identifies, which scammers typically don't do, according to the California-based social network.

In France, the new tactic has already resulted in Facebook taking action against 30,000 accounts believed to be fakes, Shaik said.

"We've made improvements to recognize these inauthentic accounts more easily by identifying patterns of activity — without assessing the content itself," Shaik said.

"With these changes, we expect we will also reduce the spread of material generated through inauthentic activity, including spam, misinformation, or other deceptive content that is often shared by creators of fake accounts."

Under pressure to stymie the spread of fake news, Facebook has taken a series of steps including making it easier to report such posts and harder to make money from them.

Facebook also modified its displays of trending topics to find stories faster, capture a broader range of news, and help ensure that trends reflect real world events being covered by multiple news outlets.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has sought to deflect criticism that the huge social network may have been used to fuel the spread of misinformation that affected the 2016 US presidential race.

Facebook last week unleashed a new weapon in the war against "revenge porn" at the social network as well as the messaging services Messenger and Instagram.

When intimate images shared on Facebook without permission are reported, confirmed and removed, the company will use photo-matching technology to prevent copies from being shared again on its platform.(AFP)