The government will soon announce a policy on construction of greenfield airports across the country to meet growing air traffic demand. "A consolidated and updated policy on greenfield airports is under consideration of the government,' civil aviation minister Praful Patel said in Lok Sabha in the question hour session.

An inter-ministerial group constituted to suggest measures for checking steel prices, has recommended a 10% export duty on steel and 15% on iron ore. The report will be submitted to PM Manmohan Singh before the meeting of cabinet committee on prices. It is learnt that the proposal has got the approval of FM P Chidambaram who has been insisting on a revenue-neutral scheme to control steel prices.

Ranbaxy is understood to be finalizing a plan to announce an open offer for Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals. Solrex, believed to be backed by Ranbaxy's promoters, has already bought 11.3% stake in Orchid, and according to market sources, later upped it to 14.7%. This is marginally less than the 15% limit required to make an open offer for an additional 20% stake in the company. When contacted Ranbaxy chief executive officer and managing director, Malvinder M Singh said

Sisi slowly browses through the yellow pages, looking not for a phone number but for peanuts and sunflower seeds hidden in the directory. Mali plays with a block of ice containing apples and oranges, crushing it with her feet to get at the fruit. Sisi, a 23-yearold orangutan, and Mali, a 33-year-old elephant, are two of the mammals and birds undergoing behavioral therapy at Manila zoo as part of a program to combat the stress and boredom of living in captivity.

Atsugi (Japan): Planning for your old age? Designers in Japan are. Carmaker Nissan Motor is using a specialized driver's suit and goggles to simulate the bad balance, stiff joints, weaker eyesight and extra 5kg that may accompany senior citizenry. Associate chief designer Etsuhiro Watanabe says the suit's weight and constriction help in determining functionality and accessibility within cars by putting young designers not only in the minds of the mobility-challenged, but also in their bodies.

Molecules from snail venom could help in the development of an oral drug to treat chronic pain, a new study has found. Studies have shown that these molecules are effective in relieving neuropathic pain in animals, a very severe form of chronic pain and very difficult to treat,' said Richard Clark of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) who conducted the study along with David Craik.

Extracts from a mushroom used for centuries in Eastern Asian medicine may stop breast cancer cells from growing and could become a new weapon in the fight against the killer disease, scientists said. Laboratory tests using human breast cancer cells show the mushroom called Phellinus linteus has a marked anti-cancer effect, probably by blocking an enzyme called AKT. Dr Daniel Sliva of the Methodist Research Institute in Indianapolis said the it reduced uncontrolled growth of new cancer cells, suppressed their aggressive behavior and blocked new tumor-feeding blood vessels.

Washington: A chemical in some plastic food and drink packaging including baby bottles may be tied to early puberty and prostate and breast cancer, US said on Tuesday. Based on draft findings by the National Toxicology Program, part of the US National Institutes of Health, senior congressional Democrats asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider its view that the chemical bisphenol A is safe in products for use by infants and children. The chemical, also called BPA, is used in many baby bottles and the plastic lining of cans of infant formula.

Washington: The world's beaches and shores are anything but pristine. Volunteers scoured 33,000 miles of shoreline worldwide and found 6 million pounds (3m kg) of debris from cigarette butts and food wrappers to abandoned fishing lines and plastic bags that threaten seabirds and marine mammals.

Berlin: A 13-year-old German schoolboy corrected Nasa's estimates on the chances of an asteroid colliding with Earth, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday, after spotting that the boffins had miscalculated. Nico Marquardt used telescopic findings from the Institute of Astrophysics in Potsdam (AIP) to calculate that there was a 1 in 450 chance that the Apophis asteroid will collide with Earth, the Potsdamer Neuerster Nachrichten said.