Asian News International

Asian News International. Multi-media news agency, content for information platforms: TV, Internet, broadband, newspapers, mobiles.

Apple planning early August launch for iPhone 6

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Apple is reportedly planning an early launch for its much anticipated iPhone 6.

According to News 24, Apple plans to release its new iPhone in August, a month earlier than expected, after sales were hit by new big-screen models from its rivals, a major Taiwanese newspaper reported on Friday, citing supply chain sources.

The iphone maker has asked Taiwanese electronics contract makers including Foxconn and Pegatron to start their assembly lines for the new handsets likely around late June, the report adds. (ANI)

Michelle Obama outraged over abducted Nigerian girls

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US First Lady Michelle Obama appeared Saturday on the White House weekly address to express her outrage over the recent kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria.

“Like millions of people across the globe, my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night,” Obama said in the address.

The schoolgirls were seized from their boarding school April 14 at night in the town of Chibok in the country’s north-eastern Borno state.

‘See’ the sound with this device

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Ever thought of ‘seeing’ the sound with bare eyes? Whether this apparently crazy idea has come to your mind or not, scientists have developed a device that can make sound visible.

CymaScope is “an ingenious and surprisingly simple” device patented by acoustic researchers Erik Larson and John Stuart Reid.

The CymaScope turns sound vibrations into visible images by recording the play of light on the surface of purified water in a round dish.

The study of the visible manifestations of vibrations and sound – or cymatics – has been around for a long time.

Central Bank of India Q4 profit declines 4% to Rs 162 crore

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Central Bank of India recorded a 4 percent decline in net profit to Rs 162.44 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31.

The state-owned bank had posted a profit of Rs 169.15 crore in the January-March quarter of 2012-13, according to a filing to the BSE. Total income increased to Rs 6,961.67 crore from Rs 6,403.57 crore.

For 2013-14, the bank made a loss of Rs 1,262.84 crore, compared with a profit of Rs 1,014.96 crore in the previous financial year, due to higher provisioning.

Total income in 2013-14 rose to Rs 26,350.13 crore from Rs 23,527.98 crore in 2012-l3.

Mahindra First Choice Services to open 450 outlets in 3 years

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n a bid to consolidate its presence in the Rs 14,000 crore car servicing industry, Mahindra First Choice Services, the multi-brand car service division of the Mahindra Group, said it plans to set up 450 outlets in the country in next three years.

The firm entered the division in 2009 and has opened 28 company-owned outlets across the country. They plan to open 450 outlets, including franchise and company-owned outlets in three years, Mahindra First Choice Services’ Chief Executive Officer Y V S Vijay Kumar said.

Jubilant FoodWorks to make India largest market for Domino’s outside US

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Jubilant FoodWorks, the operator of Domino’s Pizza in India, today said it aims to make the country the largest overseas market for the US-based restaurant chain in terms of store numbers.

“We will be the largest market for Domino’s outside the US and target to achieve it in the next six months. The US has close to 5,000 stores, so with the US, you can’t compare. At present, we have around 750 stores. As and when we reach the number of 800-plus stores, is when we would be the largest market outside of the US,” Jubilant FoodWorks Chief Executive Officer Ajay Kaul told reporters here.

Modi doesn’t understand India, snoops on women: Rahul

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Taking Narendra Modi head on, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate does not understand the strength of India and its people and accused his party of following a politics that was “full of anger”.

Also attacking him on Snoopgate issue, Gandhi advised Modi to change slogans on his posters where it was promised that he would give power to women, as “he was the person sending police after women and tapping their phone in Gujarat.”

Keeping a promise yields much happiness: Study

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If you think reaching the restaurant where you are to meet your girl an hour before the planned time will make her happy and pardon you for promises you didn’t keep, you may be wrong.

Exceeding a promise may not be worth the effort you put in, and keeping a promise is not only valued but yields more happiness, a new study has suggested.

“Take efforts into keeping promises, not in exceeding them,” said Nicholas Epley of University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business in the US.

Kashmir’s traditional ‘Kahwa’ tea lures tourists to valley

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The Kashmir Valley’s traditional tea, ‘Kahwa,’ is luring tourists.

Kashmiris relish ‘Kahwa’ at breakfast along with a snack known as ‘Baqirkhani’.

The recent opening of the Tulip Gardens to visitors has also helped in boosting tourism in the valley.

To promote their traditional tea and to entice visitors to come, tourism authorities have put up stalls serving this popular tea at various locations.

“This is the best experience. I never thought it would be so good, and drinking Kahwa is very refreshing. It is beautiful,” said a tourist, Arjun Kumar.

Rajdhani Express derails in Madhya Pradesh, no one hurt

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The engine of the 2433/Chennai Central-Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express derailed in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha District on Saturday morning after a herd of cattle’s strayed on the railway track.

While 50 cattle died, commuters on the train escaped unhurt.

“Timely response by the railway engine personnel averted a mishap. The train derailed near Karondia village level-crossing between Sanchi- Salamatpur stations on at 10 a.m.,” said an official.

Arunendra Kumar,Chairman,Railway Board, confirmed the news of the derailment to ANI.

Color blind person creates world’s first cyborg man to hear colors

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Neil Harbisson, has crafted the world’s first cyborg man that allows him see colors by conveying musical tones to his brain.

The 31-year-old music artist said that it can be used to transmit colors from anyplace in the world but the overall aim is to search the use of bluetooth and Wi-Fi so he can have bone conducted internet connections and telephone calls using the antenna, the Daily Star reported.

Harbisson, who was born colour-blind, joined hands with his friend who was studying cybernetics and created a project where sounds were used to determine around 25 colors.

Google Glass celebrates Mother’s Day!

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As the world prepares to celebrate Mother’s Day Sunday, a new promotional Google Glass short film features the love between a mother and her son.

Made by an Indian-origin filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty, who wore Google Glass throughout the shoot, the two-and-a-half minute film “Seeds”, released Friday, was shot over the course of 10 days in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo and India.

The story talks about the journey of a young married man traveling all the way from San Francisco to India to tell his mother the new development in his life.

Figure flattering tips for curvy ladies

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Everyone has body hang-ups, some likes to flaunt it while others like to cover it up with clothes to look good and confident. From maxi to wrap dresses, one can try out different cuts, patterns and sizes to hide body flaws.

Whether its your legs, arms or belly, don’t hide your figure but find that perfect dress to boost your confidence, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

* Legs: Surprisingly a maxi dress can be very flattering as it disguises the legs and can lengthen them. Sneak a pair of high heels underneath to give yourself the extra height.

Kajol launches ‘Mighty Raju Rio Calling’ trailer in Mumbai

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Kajol recently launched the trailer of ‘ Mighty Raju Rio Calling’ at an event in Mumbai.

The makers of the film also felicitated the ‘Fanaa’ star with the ‘Mighty Mom’ award.

Whilst speaking about the movie, 39-year-old actress said, “‘Mighty Raju’ is supposed to be something that a child could relate to”.

“We are expecting a child to identify with it, not an adult so much”, added Kajol. (ANI)

Delhi University professor arrested for ‘Maoist links’

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The operation which was carried out by Maharashtra police team that lasted for two hours at last detained Delhi University professor G N Saibaba from north campus on Friday and took him away to Mumbai on charges of alleged links with the banned CPI (Maoist).

According to Police sources, the wheelchair-bound English teacher at Ram Lal Anand College, who has been questioned twice in the past eight months, was well-informed on CPI (Maoist) chief Ganapathy and central committee members through a series of couriers and carried out their directives.

Indian-origin scientist makes leadless pacemaker

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The world’s first leadless pacemaker, developed by an Indian-origin scientist Vivek Reddy, has shown promising results after one year of human trials on 32 patients who received the pacemaker.

“This is the first time we have seen one-year follow-up data for this innovative, wireless cardiac pacing technology. Our results show the leadless pacemaker is comparable to traditional pacemakers,” said Reddy, director of arrhythmia services at the Mount Sinai Hospital here.

The findings further support the promising performance and safety of this minimally-invasive, non-surgical pacing device.

Love kills negative emotions to make you strong

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Love does not just make you fall for her, it also helps boost your personality even if you are no more hit by cupid!

German psychologists have discovered that a romantic relationship can have a positive effect on personality development in young adults.

To prove this, scientists focused on neuroticism – one of the five characteristics considered to be the basic dimensions of human personality which can be used to characterise every human being.

Rahul, Kejriwal battling for second position in 2014 poll: Naqvi

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Bharatiya Janata Party vice president Muktar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday said the battle for second position in the 2014 general elections is between the Congress Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, suggesting that there was no doubt in his mind that the BJP will emerge as the top contender to form the next government

Talking to ANI, Naqvi described the poll competition for second spot as being between Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as the “Maalik” or “Master”, and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal as the “Mohra” or “Pawn”.

Anjuman student scores perfect 100 in Math

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Ms. Samah Syed daughter of Barmavar Nasir, student of Anjuman scored 100% marks in Math, Chemistry and 99% in Physics. Her overall percentage is 96.33%.

Ms. Nafisa Nashwa daughter of Mohd Jafer has topped and scored 95.33% in Commerce and Ms. Fatima Suhera daughter of Mohd Shafi has topped in Arts and scored 88.33%.

The pass percentage in commerce section is 98% in Anjuman PU Girl’s College. A total number of 33 girl students have obtained distinction.

The boys of Anjuman PU College have also done very well by obtaining 91.15% in overall result.

Pak seeks to recover $200 bn black money from Swiss banks

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Pakistan on Friday said it is in touch with Swiss authorities to recover a whopping USD 200 billion stashed by Pakistanis in the European country’s secretive banking system.

Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan told the National Assembly that the cabinet has approved a summary to re-negotiate the existing Pakistan-Switzerland Tax Treaty.

The re-negotiation of this treaty will help identify those Pakistanis who have illegally stashed away their money in the Swiss banks.

Eating grapes reduces knee pain

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Suffering from knee pain? Adding grapes to your diet can help you lessen that excruciating knee pain.

Daily grape consumption may help alleviate pain associated with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee and improve joint flexibility and overall mobility, a research said.

This is possible because of polyphenols (antioxidants) found in grapes.

Panasonic Appliances launches coloured electric cookers

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Japanese home appliances maker Panasonic Appliances India Company Friday launched a range of coloured electric cookers and hoped it would contribute to the bottomline and put the firm into the black soon.

“We hope the move will improve the profitability of the company,” Hidenori Aso, managing director, told reporters after the launch here.

However, he declined to share the sales target for the company’s electric cookers and mixers this fiscal on the pretext of the company being a listed one.

My life changed post ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’: Konkona Sen Sharma

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Actress Konkana Sen Sharma, who made her acting debut at the age of three while hanging out on a Bengali film set with her actor-turned-director mother Aparna Sen, says her relationship with films changed after she did ‘Mr and Mrs Iyer’.

Sharing her Bollywood journey with a packed audience here at Australia India Institute’s Satyajit Ray memorial lecture, Sen said the movie that got her the National award for best actress gave her a chance to see all the aspects of acting in films.