The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning "to cultivate", generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity. Anthropologists most commonly use the term "culture" to refer to the universal human capacity to classify, codify and communicate their experiences symbolically. This capacity is long been taken as a defining feature of the genus Homo. However, primatologists such as Jane Goodall have identified aspects of culture among our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.Goodall, J. 1986. The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior.

Defining "culture"

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Sify.com News

Death toll in Madrid plane crash rises to 153
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:57:41 +0530
With six more survivors succumbing to their injuries, the death toll in the Spanair plane crash at Madrid's Barajas International Airport on Wednesday rose to 153, Spanish Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said in a press conference.
This man has bought a new car every year since 1955
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:11:50 +0530
There are loyal customers, and then there's Joseph Macko. The 84-year-old Flint man has bought or leased a new Cadillac every year since 1955, the year Disneyland opened in Anaheim.
Man shoots five times in head, survives
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:57:44 +0530
An 84-year-old Argentine man who shot himself five times in the head in an apparent suicide attempt has been survived miraculously.
PPP parliamentarians nominate Zardari as president
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:15:22 +0530
Parliamentarians belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have nominated party co-chair Asif Ali Zardari for next month's presidential elections, a party leader told reporters on Wednesday evening.
149 dead in plane crash at Madrid airport
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:38:23 +0530
A Spanish airliner bound for the Canary Islands crashed, burned and broke into pieces Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid's Barajas airport, killing 149 people on board, officials said.
Cell phone photo foils man in Pizza Hut plot
Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:20:13 +0530
A man, accused of trying to extort $500 from a Pizza Hut in Elko, was foiled by his own cell phone camera. Police said a former employee of the restaurant allegedly called the manager on Friday and told him he had five Pizza Hut signs that are used on the roofs of vehicles and wouldn't return them unless he was paid $500.

India-The Times of India

NSG meet today to decide on waiver for India
As the Nuclear Suppliers Group gather this morning, India will be seeking the nod to be able to keep both civilian and military nuke programmes without signing the NPT.
Kalam moots single agency for intelligence-gathering
Advocating a "national drive" against terrorism, former prez Kalam has pitched for a single agency for gathering and dissemination of intelligence.
Centre sets up 6 working groups to bolster policing
Buoyed by the success of cracking the Ahmedabad blasts case, the Centre has set up six high-level working groups in the home ministry as part of its new policing mission.
SC notice to media a case of misplaced priorities
The Supreme Court was barking up the wrong tree when, glossing over the complicity of the police, it blamed the media for the damage done to Rajesh Talwar's reputation.
What will be the nationality of a surrogate baby?
Surrogate Japanese baby Manji Yamada will continue to stay with her grandmother in India, at least for the time being.
Japanese ships on way to India for joint exercise
With both India and Japan keen to build the strategic focus in their "global partnership", the two nations are steadily stepping up their military ties, especially in the maritime domain.

Hindustan Times News Feeds 'India'

‘Subhan key suspect in Mumbai blasts too’
Police claim that the alleged mastermind of the July 26 Ahmedabad serial blasts, Abdul Subhan, was a key planner of the July 11, 2006, blasts in Mumbai suburban trains that claimed 189 lives.
Affidavit on SIMI ban
The Centre on Wednesday filed an additional affidavit in Delhi High Court, detailing the “unlawful” activities carried out by the SIMI since February 2006.
‘Pistol’ found in Gurgaon Class IX student’s bag
A loaded pistol was allegedly recovered from the bag of a Class IX Kendriya Vidyalaya student in Gurgaon yesterday, reports Sanjeev K Ahuja.
Locust swarms damage crops in west UP
Farmers in several villages of Agra and Mathura districts have suffered huge losses because of attacks by locust swarms, reports Darpan Singh.
No successor, it’s all Maya
Mayawati is well aware that if the Dalits desert her, other castes will leave her just as quickly. It is her unique capacity to ‘transfer’ Dalit votes that is the envy and awe of other political leaders.
Educated bombers on the prowl
All nine suspects in the July 26 serial bombings in Gujarat are well educated — at least two of them possessing degrees in Psychology and Commerce — investigators told HT.

The Indian Express

Disinvest or write off Rs 24k cr to revive PSUs
The fertilisers department has suggested that the government should invite private sector to revive six ailing units of two...
Three medals full
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Troops to be pulled out from Georgia by Friday: Russia
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The Thursday syndrome
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India find medal path
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State of play
Purists will disagree, but sports are a continuation of politics. The Beijing Olympics have, from the outset...

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