Asian News International

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

Auto industry seeks government support to increase exports

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Up against road blocks in traditional car export markets, Indian auto industry is looking to government support in its effort to enter new geographies.

Due to various regulatory issues in big export markets like Algeria and Sri Lanka and slowdown in Europe, in the April-September period, passenger car exports are down 8.27 percent to 2,68,727 units as compared to 2,92,952 units in the same period of previous fiscal.

Now car makers are looking at new avenues and have identified about over 20 new regions to keep overseas sales ticking.

Pinni Sweets

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Ingredients

250 gm urad daal flour, (you can also soak daal and grind it if you like)

100 gm ghee

175 gm sugar, powdered

100 gm almonds, chopped or whole

25 gm raisins

Method

Heat the ghee and roast the flour till it becomes light brown in colour and aromatic. Take it off the heat and let it cool.

When cooled to room temperature, add the sugar and mix well, rubbing the sugar in (will get a little damp). Mix in the raisins and the almonds and form into oblong shape.

Take some mixture in your fist, and close firmly to make a tight shape.

Kiwi Barfi

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Ingredients:

Khoya
Sugar
Ghee
Kiwi

Method:

1. Grate khoya and put it into a pan on slow fire. Blend in sugar and ghee and keep stirring until the mixture is soft and gives out an aroma.

2. Take it off the fire and spread it on a plate greased with ghee.

3. Allow it to set and then cut it with a knife into smaller pieces. Place kiwi slices between three pieces.

Is your kid hostile? Having a sibling can make them selfless!

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Siblings uniquely promote the development of sympathy and a quality relationship with a brother or sister increases levels of altruism in teens, a new study has found.

Researchers said the findings are surprising because boys typically report that they benefit less than girls from peer relationships.

“In our study, most relationships were not as important for boys as they were for girls,” said study co-author Laura Padilla-Walker from Brigham Young University.

Paris’s ‘sex toy-like sculpture’ taken down post being vandalized

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A controversial art installation on Paris ‘ tony Place Vendome that looked like a sex toy was recently taken down after it was vandalized.

The inflatable sculpture called “Tree” vaguely resembled a Christmas tree also a giant anal plug sex toy and the guide wires holding the sculpture in place were severed by vandals sometime overnight, Fox News reported.

Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin blasted the vandalism and said that it was “a serious attack on the principal of artistic freedom.” (ANI)

Google set to roll new update to fight most infamous pirate websites

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Search engine giant Google is reportedly set to roll out a new stricter update to fight against the most notorious pirate sites next week.

Google said that they have now refined the signal in ways that they expect to visibly affect the rankings of some of the most notorious sites.

It’s also extending this system to demoting auto-complete predictions that return results with many Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) demoted sites.

NASA orbiters set for close encounter with comet near Mars

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A comet called C/2013 A1 or Siding Spring will pass within about 139,500 kms of Mars Sunday, NASA said in a statement.

The distance is less than one-tenth that of any known comet flyby of Earth.

“This is a cosmic science gift that could potentially keep on giving, and the agency’s diverse science missions will be in full receive mode,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

India-Australia final ideal for 2015 Cricket World Cup: Ricky Ponting

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Two-time World Cup winning captain Ricky Ponting said Saturday that an India-Australia clash will serve up as an ideal final for the 2015 World Cup to be held in his country and New Zealand from Feb 14 to Mar 29.

“A final between Australia and India will be the ideal spectacle for the next World Cup. Especially with the powerful batting line-ups these teams possess, it would be a dream final next year,” Ponting said at the Aaj Tak conclave “Salaam Cricket”.

However, the Tasmanian had bad news for Indian cricket lovers.

What If movie review: Frivolous rom-com but offers nothing new

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What happens when a heartbroken, asocial, medical school dropout meets an easy-going, young girl who has a good love life and a long distance boyfriend?

The outcome is but obvious.

Film: “What If”; Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Rafe Spall, Adam Driver and Megan Park;

Director: Michael Dowse;

Rating: *1/2

Set in Toronto, Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) meets attractive animator Chantry (Zoe Kazan) whose boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall) is based in Dublin. Well, sparks don’t fly instantly, but the underlying attraction is evident.

Ask police, says Preity Zinta to queries on Ness Wadia case

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Actress-producer Preity Zinta, who filed a molestation case against her former boy friend Ness Wadia, Saturday declined to speak on the issue, saying all queries should be addressed to the Mumbai police chiefabout the details.

“I have come here for a different reason and I would appreciate if you ask the Mumbai police commissioner about this because even I want to ask him. I am specifically here for MAMI so let’s stick to this,” Preity Zinta told reporters at the 16th MAMI film festival.

US slams IS with 25 new air strikes in Iraq, Syria

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US war planes struck more than two dozen times in Syria and Iraq, hitting Islamic State jihadists and oil infrastructure they control, the American military said.

Of 15 air strikes in Syria, 12 were aimed at “degrading and destroying their oil producing, collecting, storage and transportation infrastructure,” the US Central Command said in a statement.

The jihadists control a swath of territory straddling northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, home to most of Syria’s main oilfields.

Yemen’s rebels attack home of Islamist, 12 killed

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Yemen’s empowered Shiite rebels attacked the home of a rival Islamist politician south of the capital on Saturday, setting off clashes that left 12 people dead, security officials said, adding that the politician was not home at the time.

The officials said Shiite rebels and allied fighters attacked the home of a local politician from the rival Islamist Islah party, killing two of his relatives in the town of Yarim, an Islamist stronghold in the Ibb province south of Sanaa. The ensuing clashes left eight rebel fighters and two bystanders dead.

No tie up with NCP: Prakash Javadekar

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The Bharatiya Janya Party (BJP), which is emerging as the single largest party in Maharashtra, today ruled out any alliance with NCP but appeared to be keeping its options open on former ally Shiv Sena to form the government in the state.

“We fought Congress and NCP, their corruption. We brought out skeletons of corruption from their cupboards. There is no question of allying with NCP,” Union minister Prakash Javadekar, a leader from Maharashtra, said.

It will be an insult to us and voters, he said when asked about possibility of BJP allying with NCP to form the government.

Over Rs 7.5-cr released for mid-day meals at Delhi schools

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Funds to the tune of over Rs 7.5 crore have been released for government-aided schools in Delhi for serving mid-day meals to students in their primary and upper primary classes.

“An amount of Rs 7,52,18,440 has been released towards cooking costs under mid-day meal scheme for primary and upper primary classes of government-aided schools for the 2014-15 financial year,” said a senior education department official.

At present, there are 95,182 students studying in primary and upper primary classes at government-aided schools in the national capital.

Green Diwali options: Upcycled candle moulds, sandstone diyas

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Upcycled candle moulds, rangoli-inspired bamboo trays and sandstone diyas are some of the ‘green options’ market players are coming out with to tap on to consumers preferring eco-friendly products this Diwali.

While the eco-friendly candles are the much sought after green product this season, a wide range of wares have also flooded the market to tap on to the modern-day consumers who want to make “responsible choices”.

These products are available in a number of online stores besides the shops at various markets.

Death toll rises to 50 in Hudhud-hit Andhra Pradesh; 3 still missing

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Death toll in the severe cyclonic storm ‘Hudhud’ that battered coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh has mounted to 50 as the government on Saturday renewed appeal for public donation and voluntary service to speed up the massive rebuilding exercise in affected areas. Twelve more deaths have been reported since Friday.

Advisor (Communications) to Andhra Pradesh government Parakala Prabhakar told PTI today that 50 people have lost their lives in the cyclone, which struck Visakhapatnam on Sunday last and caused large-scale devastation.

DDA Housing Scheme 2014: 8.5 lakh applications; low response due to lock-in period

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As many as 8.5 lakh applications have been received by DDA for it flagship ‘Housing Scheme 2014’, with the housing authority today attributing the “not-so-overwhelming” response to the five-year lock-in period imposed on the ownership of the flats.

“The total number of applications received so far stands at 8.5 lakh. Some of the bank branches are located in remote and far-flung areas, so the data reached our office late, after the closing date of the scheme,” an official told PTI.

Top-5 Sensex firms lose Rs 65,570 cr in market cap; TCS drags

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Dragged down by IT bellwether TCS, the combined market valuation of top-five companies slumped Rs 65,570.45 crore last week.

While TCS, ONGC, RIL, Infosys and Sun Pharma saw losses in their market valuation, ITC, CIL, HDFC Bank, SBI and ICICI Bank made gains.

TCS, the country’s largest software exporter, suffered a loss of Rs 45,883.21 crore to Rs 4,78,889.40 crore in its valuation.

The IT major had on Thursday posted 13.2 percent jump in September quarter net profit at Rs 5,244 crore, which failed to meet market expectations.

Govt okays Rs 14,500 crore for fertiliser subsidy

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Government on Saturday approved the Fertiliser Ministry’s proposal to provide Rs 14,500-crore subsidy to the cash starved fertiliser industry via a special banking arrangement (SBA) route.

“Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved ex post facto the implementation of the special banking arrangement (SBA) for Rs 14,500 crore for outstanding claims on account of fertilizer subsidy in the year 2013-14,” an official statement said.

Delhi govt not serious in fighting menace of child labour: Bachpan Bachao Andolan

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The Nobel Peace Prize to child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi may have put the spotlight on the issue of child labour, but his NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan says Delhi government is not serious about dealing with the “menace”, unlike many other states.

The NGO, which was set up by Satyarthi in 1980, said that as many as 238 rescued child labourers belonging to Delhi, many of whom were declared bonded labourers, are yet to be rehabilitated as per the Bonded Labour (Abolition) Act, 1976.

Now, airbag-equipped ‘motorcycle vest’ to protect against severe spinal injuries

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A new Spidi Neck DPS motorcycle vest has been designed, which is equipped with a built-in airbag system that could protect riders against severe spinal injuries.

Two airbags are installed into the collar of the vest and are attached to a small CO2 canister similar to those used by air guns, Fox News reported.

A tether connects the trigger for the canister to the motorcycle, and if a rider falls off it inflates the airbags within .2 seconds.

FDI dips to $1.27 bn in Aug, lowest in 8 months

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Foreign direct investment into India declined by about 10 percent in August this year to USD 1.27 billion, the lowest figure in the last eight months.

In August 2013, the country had received FDI worth USD 1.40 billion. Last time in December 2013, FDI into India was USD 1.10 billion.

However, for the April-August period of this fiscal, 2014-15, the foreign inflows showed a growth of 42 percent to USD 12.01 billion as compared to USD 8.46 billion in the first five months of 2013-14, according to the data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

NEC Corporation discovers easy way to monitor blood pressure

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NEC Corporation has developed a first-of-its-kind blood pressure measurement technology that enables high-precision blood pressure measurements with a low application of pressure (stress).

This new technology provides high-precision blood pressure measurements that can be applied for medical use while removing the need to apply pressure to the arm above the systolic blood pressure, which is essential when taking conventional measurements.

The effect of ‘red’ not limited to humans, says study

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A recent study has shown that the color red increases people’s attraction but the effect may not be limited to humans.

The research has shown that female monkeys also respond to the color red, suggesting that biology, rather than the culture, have been playing a fundamental role in the “red” reactions. And it could be possible that the color red and romance was a fundamental thing rooted in human biology.