In a move that would raise the cost of air travel, the government Monday said it has allowed airlines to charge passengers for preferred seats on a flight, check-in baggages and meals, among other things.
“Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has decided to permit scheduled airlines to unbundle certain services and to charge fees for these services separately,” an official release said.
Peas & Tomato Rice is spicy and tangy. It makes a great one-dish meal.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice – 1 1/2 cups, soaked in 10 mins
Green Peas – 1 1/2 cup
Tomatoes – 2 medium size, chopped
Onions – 1 large size, sliced
Jaggery – 1/2 teaspoon
Cashewnuts – a handful
Salt – to taste
Red Chilli Powder – 1 1/2 teaspoon
Garam Masala – 3/4 teaspoon
Coriander Powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Jeera – 1/2 teaspoon
Coriander Leaves (cilantro) – a handful
Coconut Gratings – 2 tablespoon
Ghee – 2 tablespoon
Using bundles of vertical zinc oxide nanowires, researchers have fabricated arrays of piezotronic transistors capable of converting mechanical motion directly into electronic controlling signals.
The arrays could help give robots a more adaptive sense of touch, provide better security in handwritten signatures and offer new ways for humans to interact with electronic devices.
The arrays include more than 8,000 functioning piezotronic transistors, each of which can independently produce an electronic controlling signal when placed under mechanical strain.
The European Commission received the go-ahead Monday to slap a two-year ban across the European Union on the use of pesticides blamed for a sharp decline in bee populations, an EU diplomat said.
A key committee cleared the way for the European Union executive to implement a two-year moratorium on three pesticides that is expected to enter into force late this year, a diplomat told AFP.
Countries opposed to the ban, including Britain and Hungary, failed to muster enough support to block it, with 15 nations, including France, voting in favour, France’s EU delegation said on Twitter.
Over 600 Chinese have applied to join an ambitious Dutch aerospace project that plans to send humans on a one-way trip to Mars for permanent settlement.
The Dutch project, while triggering enthusiasm to explore outer space, is also under fire with the trip being viewed by some as a suicide mission, with applicants being shipped to a planet that is uninhabitable by humans.
The project, Mars One, is being launched by a Dutch non-profit organisation, and is scheduled to take four humans to the Red Planet in 2023.
Actor Aamir Khan, who has delivered several hits in his film career like `Taare Zameen Par`, `3 Idiots`, says because of his `one film at a time approach` industry people often told him that his career will be finished soon.
Aamir began as a child actor at the age of eight in Nasir Hussain`s `Yaadon Ki Baaraat` (1973) and `Madhosh` (1974). Eleven years later, he made his acting debut as an adult in Ketan Mehta`s `Holi` (1984) that went unnoticed.
Actress Chitrangada Singh, who has experimented with offbeat as well as commercial roles, says she would love to play a character like Begum Samru on screen.
Begum Samru was the ruler of Sardhana, near Meerut. She started her career as a nautch girl in 18th century India.
Chitrangada too hails from Meerut, but she started her career in Delhi as a model and then later moved to Mumbai to become an actress.
Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia is reportedly making a film on the life of Begum Samru, and Chitrangada believes “she had a very interesting life”.
Actor Shahid Kapoor, who has been shooting hardcore action sequences for Prabhudheva’s ‘Rambo Rajkumar’, managed to escape a serious injury.
It happened Friday when the 32-year-old was shooting at Kamalistan Studio for a scene where he has to enter a burning house. He finished his shot and was stepping out of the burning house, when some hot chemical solution dripped on to his back and arms.
Navdeep-Sneha Ullal starrer Telugu romantic-drama ‘Antha Nee Maayalone’ went on the floors here Monday. The team will shoot one of the songs in the film.
“`Antha Ne Maayalone` Day 1. Ready to go and excited to feel the magic again,” Sneha posted on her Twitter page.
The film is directed by debutant P.V Krishna and also features Rajendra Prasad and Poonam Kaur in important roles. It is produced by Suryadevara Vinod.
A Spanish software company is developing a computer tool that will help improve building safety in earthquakes and can also be used in construction projects by companies located in seismic zones.
The new aspect of this software, which is geared toward architects, engineers and construction firms, is that it is capable of calculating the effect that the facades, the partitions and the walls – which have a tendency to develop cracks in a quake – will have on the overall structure of a building.
Tamil actress Aishwarya Arjun fainted on the sets of upcoming Tamil romantic-comedy ‘Pattathu Yaanai’ Sunday in Trichy due to extremely hot weather.
“We were shooting outdoors in extremely hot conditions of Trichy for the last few days. Since we were shooting non-stop, she couldn`t handle the heat and fainted. We have given her medical attention and have requested her to rest for a while,” a source from the film`s until told reporters.
Directed by Boopathy Pandian, ‘Pattathu Yaanai’ also features Vishal Krishna, Santhanam, Sita, Jagan, Mano Bala and Karthik in important roles.
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health are studying fats, or lipids, to learn more about normal and abnormal biology in the body.
When you have your cholesterol checked, the doctor typically gives you levels of three fats found in the blood: LDL, HDL and triglycerides.
In human plasma alone, researchers have identified some 600 different types relevant to our health.
Leech therapy is providing much needed relief to the patients suffering from various ailments here. Dr. Nassir Hakeem said patients are reacting positively to the leech therapy. Leech therapy is applied on skin diseases, arthritis, chronic headaches and sinusitis.
A sample survey by the government, conducted in schools in three cities, has shown that more than one percent of children suffer from diabetes, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Lok Sabha Monday.
Azad, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said that under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke, a study was conducted on 92,047 school children in Nainital (Uttarakhand), Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh), and Bhilwara (Rajasthan).
One sinus expert at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) said despite a late spring, the summer allergy season will be strong.
To take on the days ahead, Richard Waguespack, M.D., clinical professor and newest addition to the UAB Division of Otolaryngology, said avoidance is the best line of defense.
“When it is reasonable and consistent with your lifestyle, if you have outdoor allergies, you should stay indoors when everything is in bloom,” Waguespack advised, adding that checking the pollen counts online before heading out can help with decision-making.
A deaf and dumb youth, who went missing last week, was found dead in a stream in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir today, police said.
Body of Nazir Ahmad Lone (19) was fished out from a stream near his house at village Hayan Paulpora, 40 kms from here, a police spokesman said.
Lone, who was deaf and dumb, was missing since April 24.
The body of the deceased was handed over to his next of kin for last rites after legal formalities, the spokesman said, adding, a case has been registered and investigations are on.
———PTI
Scientists have identified new drug-resistant strains of the parasite that causes malaria.
They found malaria-causing parasites in western Cambodia that are genetically different from other strains around the world.
These parasites could also withstand treatment by artemisinin – a frontline drug in the fight against malaria, the researchers found.
Reports of drug resistance in the area first emerged in 2008. The problem has since spread to other parts of South East Asia.
A few simple changes to diet and lifestyle can protect you against a string of killer diseases and add years to your life, a landmark study has shown.
Following seven golden rules not only cut the risk of dying from cancer by 20 per cent, it also slashed risks of lung disease by half and heart attacks by 44 per cent, the study of nearly 380,000 people by scientists at Imperial College London found.
The Congress would build world class infrastructure in ‘Bengaluru’ if voted to power again in Karnataka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday while attacking the ruling BJP for its “corruption” which had stalled the development of the city and the state.
Being forced to exercise can reduce anxiety and depression just as much as voluntary exercise does, according to new research.
Past studies have shown that people who exercise are more protected against stress-related disorders. And scientists know that the perception of control can benefit a person`s mental health.
However, it has been an open question whether a person who feels forced to exercise, eliminating the perception of control, would still reap the anxiety-fighting benefits of the exercise.
Using mice as a model organism, scientists from ETH Zurich have shown for the first time that brown and white fat cells in a living organism can be converted from one cell type to the other.
Their work provides important new insights into the origin of brown fat cells, which is a prerequisite for the development of successful anti-obesity therapies.
Two types of fat cells can be found in mammals and hence in humans: White fat cells function mainly as highly flexible energy stores which are filled in times of calorie abundance.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered a missing link in understanding how damage to the body`s cellular power plants leads to Parkinson`s disease and, perhaps surprisingly, to some forms of heart failure.
These cellular power plants are called mitochondria. They manufacture the energy the cell requires to perform its many duties. And while heart and brain tissue may seem entirely different in form and function, one vital characteristic they share is a massive need for fuel.
The Supreme Court Monday directed Delhi Police to file an affidavit giving details of steps taken after they received a complaint from the parents of a five-year-old girl who was gang-raped after being abducted in the capital.
The apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Justice Vikramajit Sen and Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde directed police to file the affidavit on the petition of NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan.
The court sought the details of steps taken by police after the girl’s parents gave a complaint after she went missing from Gandhi Nagar in east Delhi April 15.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has agreed to allow the financial business to be taken up in the Parliament on Tuesday, today said that it would continue with its agitation and mount pressure on the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre on issues concerning the coal scam and the 2G spectrum scam.
“It is not a drama. It is a national call taken by the BJP that we will continue our agitation. We are not suspending our agitation. We will continue with our agitation. We will keep our pressure, but only for tomorrow”s financial business,” said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
Showing no signs of withdrawing from the Indian territory after their incursion in Ladakh two weeks ago, Chinese troops have erected an additional tent in the Daulat Beg Oldi(DBO) sector raising to five the number of such structures in the area.
The Chinese troops have also deployed Molosser dogs to keep a vigil, according to latest reports today from the site of incursion, 70 km south of Burtse in Ladakh division. The reports said the Chinese side have increased the number of tents to five.