salman_jobs Mobile-based games that are actually tests of cognition or other brain functions can offer researchers an exciting new means to gather inexpensive big data, say researchers.
A fast-paced game app where players pretend they are baggage screening officers operating airport x-ray scanners can provide researchers with billions of pieces of data in record time, they added.
The Reserve Bank is likely to cut rates by 0.25 percent in February’s monetary policy review as its target of six percent inflation by January 2016 is likely to be met, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has said.
“In our view, inflation is well set to achieve RBI’s eight percent January 2015 and six percent January 2016 CPI inflation targets. We continue to expect Governor Raghuram Rajan to cut rates by 25 basis points on February 3,” the investment banking major said in a note.
Fighting all adversities and a tougher regulatory regime, mutual funds are headed for a cash-rich 2014 with an estimated addition of about Rs three lakh crore to its asset base to become a Rs 11-trillion market.
Helped by a smart rally in the equity market, the mutual funds’ assets under management hit a record high of Rs 10.96 lakh crore in October itself and has remained near Rs 10.9 lakh crore as the year draws to a close.
Fund houses are upbeat about the industry performance for the next year as equity markets are expected to continue to deliver making the segment attractive.
Riding high on the sentiments, the stock market is gearing up for its best performance in five years with a rally of over 6,000 points in the benchmark Sensex in 2014 — which also saw the investors’ wealth hitting Rs 100 trillion level for the first time in history.
With just four days of trading left this year, the Sensex has rallied by nearly 29 percent so far in 2014 with a gain of 6,038 points — the highest annual gain since the year 2009 when the bluechip index had rallied by 7,817 points.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ruled out privatisation of Railways and said that people must not be wary of foreign and private capital being utilised for improving infrastructure of the national transporter which, in turn, will help boost the country’s economy.
On a visit to his constituency here, Modi recalled his childhood days when he had sold tea near a railway station, saying, “I have an association with Railways that is older than what most of Railway employees can claim to have.
Scientists have revealed the mystery behind spreading of lung cancer. The researchers at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute discovered that the ties which lash cells together – controlled by a protein called TIAM1 – were chopped up when cell maintenance work goes wrong. Healthy cells routinely scrap old cell parts so they could be broken down and used again. But this process spiraled out of control in lung cancer cells, which scraped too many TIAM1 ties. Targeting this recycling process could stop lung cancer from spreading by keeping the cells stuck firmly together.
More Americans may be able to travel to Cuba sooner than expected. President Obama had only recently announced a major policy change towards the isolated nation, but the would-be tourists are all set to scurry towards the country, the Washington Times reported. Insight Cuba, a non-profit travel organization that has specialized in legal “people-to-people” travel to Cuba for Americans for years, has added 70 additional departure dates to keep up with the sudden surge in interest and bookings since Mr. Obama’s revelations.
A Pakistan parliamentary committee has accepted a proposal to give voting rights to Pakistanis with dual nationalities, but rejected their right to contest general elections.
National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights in a meeting held yesterday rejected the part of the Twenty-Fourth Amendment Bill-2014 recommending permission to Pakistanis holding dual nationalities to contest elections.
The committee, however, approved the part proposing their right to vote.
Vice President M. Hamid Ansari on Wednesday conveyed his warm greetings and best wishes to all the citizens on the auspicious occasion of Christmas. “I convey my warm greetings and best wishes to all our citizens on the auspicious occasion of Christmas,” Ansari said. “As we celebrate the birthday of Lord Jesus Christ, let us commit ourselves to his noble message of peaceful coexistence, universal brotherhood and love and compassion for all,” he added. He hoped that the festival brings peace, prosperity and happiness for all.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will provide food to passengers free of cost on board if the train is delayed beyond two hours due to fog. Scores of north-bound trains are getting delayed for several hours due to dense fog. IRCTC, a railway subsidiary, is taking all efforts to provide meals to the passengers, if the journey is extended by more than two hours.
ANI
Nepal Vice President Parmanand Jha on Thursday lauded India’s late educationist and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malaviya on his birth anniversary, saying he taught value based education to the world which is still relevant.
Malviya has been chosen by India for country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna along with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“Malviya has taught value based education to the world which is still relevant in this (Indian sub-continent) region,” Jha said at a function organised by Madan Mohan Malviya Mission here to mark his 153rd birth anniversary.
China on Thursday said it has developed a vaccine to combat the spread of deadly Ebola virus that has killed more than 7,000 people in three West African countries, and the test of the drug on humans would begin this month.
Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters that the vaccine has been developed by a research team at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, one of the top research units of China’s People’s Liberation Army.
“The vaccine has recently passed appraisal by state and military authorities and will begin clinical tests in December,” said Yang.
Iran has rejected claims by Mehmet Ali Agca that late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered him to assassinate Pope John Paul II.
The Turkish gunman earlier this week reiterated in a Serbian TV interview the claims he made in his book “They Promised Me Paradise.” Agca says he told John Paul of the Iranian connection when he visited him in prison.
The Iranian Embassy in Belgrade on Thursday strongly denied the claims, saying “Imam Khomeini during his rich spiritual life maintained very good relations with different religions, including the pope.”
A rocket hit a storage tank at the eastern Libyan oil port of Es Sider as armed factions allied to competing governments fought for control of the country`s biggest export terminal, officials said on Thursday.
Clashes were also reported from Sirte, a city west of Es Sider, killing up to 19, residents said. No more details were immediately available.
Es Sider and its adjacent Ras Lanuf terminal have been closed since a force allied to a rival government in Tripoli moved east trying to take them.
Beijing”s new airport, the construction for which is set to start on Friday, will be fully operational in five years.
According to China Daily, the project, which was given final approval by the National Development and Reform Commission last week, will involve nearly 80 billion yuan (13.1 billion dollars) of investment, making it the costliest project in China”s civil aviation history.
The airport, which is yet to be named, will have the space to accommodate 72 million passengers, 2 million metric tons of cargo and 620,000 flights annually after 2025.
Office Online users will now be able to start a chat while working on Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word documents.
According to PC World, Microsoft says users will be able to continue any chats started in Office Online on Skype on the desktop or their smartphone after the file is closed.
With the addition of this new feature, Microsoft intends to make its services into cross-platform tools.
However, the new feature is not yet available in Excel or OneNote Online, the report said.
ANI
A 36-year old father of three, Umar Mansoor alias Dera Khan, reportedly masterminded the Dec. 16 Peshawar school attack.
According to Dawn, a video posted on Thursday on a website used by the Taliban shows a man with a luxuriant chest-length beard, holding an admonishing finger aloft as he seeks to justify the Dec. 16 attack. The caption identified him as Umar Mansoor.
Mansoor said in the video that the groups would fight the army using their own style of attack, adding that it will take revenge on innocents.
All India Football Federation president Praful Patel Wednesday indicated his preference to stage the under-17 football world cup final in Kolkata, saying he would use his good office to make it a reality.
“I will use my good office to ensure the Under-17 football world cup final is held in Kolkata,” Patel said at the felicitation function of the ISL champions Atletico de Kolkata organised by the state government.
Patel said that besides hosting the under-17 event, India would also bid for the Club World Cup for 2018 and the under-20 football world cup to be held in 2020.
IANS
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday rubbished the Narendra Modi government’s decision to observe Dec 25 as ‘Good governance day’, saying “every day is good governance day”.
“If someone says Bada Din (Christmas) is Good Governance Day, I disagree. Every day is Good Governance Day,” Banerjee said during a Christmas function at the St. Xavier’s College here.
While Christians celebrate their biggest festival Christmas Dec 25, the Modi government has decided to call it ‘good governance day’ in observance of the birthday of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
A new research has revealed that dieters weighing themselves frequently lose more weight than their counterparts. The researchers from Tempere Univeristy of Technology in Finland analyzed 2,838 weight measurements (up to a years’ worth of weigh-ins) from 40 overweight individuals (with a body mass index of 25 and over) who indicated that weight loss was a personal goal or concern and found that weight loss was related to how often individuals weighed themselves. Lead author Elina Helander said that the more often you weigh yourself the more weight you lose.
Using ibuprofen regularly can extended the lifespan by up to 10 years, says a new study. Dr. Michael Polymenis, an AgriLife Research biochemist in College Station said that they first used baker’s yeast, which is an established aging model, and then tried the same process with worms and flies and saw that not only did the organisms lived longer, but they also appeared healthy. He said the treatment, given at doses comparable to the recommended human dose, added about 15 percent more to the species lives. In humans, that would be equivalent to another dozen or so years of healthy living.
Scientists have found that early exposure to antidepressants may not be good for the offsprings as adults. Many women tend to suffer from anxiety disorders and depression during their pregnancies, and are prescribed antidepressants. However little is known about how early exposure to these medications might affect their offspring as they mature into adults. The answer to that question is vital, as 5 percent of all babies born in the U.S. – more than 200,000 a year – are exposed to antidepressants during gestation via transmission from their mothers.
A new study has found that taking multivitamins daily during pregnancy results in longer pregnancies bigger, healthier babies. According to the large randomized trial conducted by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, supplements containing 15 vitamins and minerals given daily to pregnant women in rural Bangladesh reduced pre-term births, increased infant birth weight and resulted in healthier babies overall.
The researchers have recently revealed the key molecular mechanism, which identifies that dietary restrictions or reduced food intake without malnutrition are beneficial for health.
The findings here show that restricting two amino acids, methionine and cysteine, results in increased hydrogen sulfide (H2S) production and protection against ischemia reperfusion injury, damage to tissue that occurs following the interruption of blood flow as during organ transplantation and stroke.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced a slew of measures following an outbreak of jaundice in Odisha’s Sambalpur town where 17 people have died since May and 1,547 infected by the disease.
Accompanied by chief secretary GC Pati, the chief minister visited the area and reviewed the situation with the key officials at the district headquarters town, about 320 km from Bhubaneswar.
Pattnaik said his government has been taking all necessary measures to prevent further spread of the disease.