Month: February 2014

Saudi Crown Prince to arrive in India today

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Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud will arrive here today on a three-day visit to India.

He is accompanied by a high-level delegation including cabinet ministers, senior officials and captains of industry.

Al Saud who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister will hold bilateral talks with the Vice President Hamid Ansari.

During his stay, the Crown Prince will also call on President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Increasing brain acidity may slow down anxiety

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Suffering from anxiety and related problems? Scientists have found a new target to treat anxiety disorder.

Increasing acidity in the brain’s emotional control centre can reduce anxiety, according to a new research.

At the cellular level, anxiety disorders are associated with heightened activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in the brain which is known to play a central role in emotional behaviour.

Many cells in the BLA possess acid-sensing ion channels called ‘ASIC1a’ that respond to pH changes in the environment outside of the cell.

Amar Singh even the score with SP Chief Mulayam

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AMAR Singh has hit back at Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for his antagonistic remarks about Rampur MP Jaya Prada. The spat between the friends- turned- foes have turned personal, leaving no room for their ceasefire.

“I heard Mulayam saying that Jaya, who used to look good, ran away with me. But I want to tell him that there were two actresses, Jaya Bachchan and Jaya Prada, who had joined the SP because of me. Jaya Bachchan remained with the party. But I never complained to anybody that she left me and went with Mulayam,” Singh said.

Mexican drug kingpin Guzman formally charged

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Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, world’s most wanted drug lord and the leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, was formally charged by federal courts in Mexico.

The charges were made Tuesday by the Third District Court of Federal Penal Processes and the Fifth District Court of Federal Penal Processes separately, reported Xinhua.

A statement issued by the third district court said Guzman, who was arrested over the weekend after escaping 13 years ago from a maximum-security prison in western Jalisco state, has three working days to appeal the charges.

AAP focus in Goa: Illegal mining, casinos

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Illegal mining, the casino industry and real estate regulation could be the issues likely to feature in the Goa Aam Aadmi Party’s election manifesto, a party member said.

AAP member Rajendra Kakodkar told IANS that most of the suggestions received by the party, which is now working towards putting together an election manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, hovered around these three issues.

“We will be getting all the demands vetted by specialists and activists who have been working on these issues for years before including solutions in our manifesto,” he said.

Sunny Wednesday in Delhi

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The national capital will experience a warm, sunny Wednesday and the maximum temperature will hover around 25 degrees Celsius, the Met Office said.

“The sky will remain partly cloudy through the day and the afternoon will be warm and sunny,” an official of the India Meteorological Department said.

Wednesday’s minimum temperature settled a notch above the season’s average at 12.5 degrees Celsius.

Uttarakhand minister booked for molestation in Delhi

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Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat has been booked for allegedly molesting a 30-year-old woman here last year, police said Tuesday.

“Harak Singh Rawat has been booked for molesting a woman at his house in Safdarjung area in south Delhi. The incident happened in September last year,” said a police officer.

Police said the woman has filed a written complaint, saying Rawat misbehaved with her and touched her inappropriately, when she met him in September 2013.

Tummy fat could signal health risks: Study

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Your tummy’s girth could indicate health risks, courtesy a new method developed by scientists to quantify the risk specifically associated with abdominal obesity.

In 2012, Nir Krakauer, an assistant professor of civil engineering in City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, and his father, Jesse Krakauer, MD, developed a new method to quantify the risk specifically associated with abdominal obesity.

Centre likely to decide on next Andhra govt today

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The immediate political future of Andhra Pradesh, prior to its planned bifurcation, may be decided on Wednesday with the Centre likely to decide on the next government there.

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh indicated this yesterday after talks between central party leaders and Seemandhra Congress leaders.

Digvijay said that Wednesday may bring clarity on the next government in Andhra Pradesh.

Car that runs on processed sewage!

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Turn your nose up first. Car maker Hyundai USA has announced a new vehicle this spring that is fueled by processed sewage!

Out for lease, the new Tucson Fuel Cell crossover vehicle runs on hydrogen gas derived from excreta.

For this innovative move, Hyundai looked at scientists working at University of California Irvine.

They were busy converting waste from toilets and sinks into hydrogen.

How did they do this?

Malleswaram bomb blast accused arrested

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The Tamil Nadu police arrested K. Sahul Hameed alias Paravai Basha, accused in the Mallaeswaram bomb blast case, on February 22. The Bangalore police hope to interrogate Basha and elicit more information on the blast which occurred a year ago.

Basha is said to have arranged the logistics and supplied explosives to those who executed the crime. The Bangalore police would get his custody in a few days.

Gujarat Gas gains on amalgamation plan

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Gujarat Gas Company stock closed Tuesday 6 percent higher on the Bombay Stock Exchange, after it received board approval for a proposed merger with other state-run firms involved in city gas distribution.

After climbing over 14 percent to its intra-day high of Rs.253.35, the company’s share closed at Rs.235.50, gaining over 6 percent or 13 points over its previous close Friday.

Titan unveils facility for jewellery artisans

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Titan Company Ltd. has set up a dedicated facility ‘Karigar Centre’ at Hosur across the inter-state border to craft handmade gold jewellery and revive the age-old profession and art of craftsmanship.

“Artisans who craft exotic jewellery provide a lifeline to our industry, which dates back 5,000 years in India. Lack of attention and support to the goldsmith community rendered the profession unattractive and inadequate,” Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat said Tuesday.

Assailants blow up gas pipeline in Egypt

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Unknown assailants blew up a natural gas pipeline in Egypt, a security source said.

The incident took place in Arish city of North Sinai governorate Tuesday evening, Xinhua quoted the source as saying.

“The assailants bombed the pipeline in southern Arish that provides natural gas to the industrial area,” the source said.

He added that the targeted pipeline provided natural gas to factories belonging to the armed forces.

Khurshid calls Modi ‘impotent’, BJP condemns

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Union minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday described Narendra Modi as “impotent”, a remark that invited a sharp condemnation from the BJP.

The external affairs minister’s fresh salvo against the BJP prime ministerial candidate at a rally in Farrukhabad came as he raised questions on the Gujarat chief minister’s handling of the post-Godhra riots in 2002. Khurshid had once compared Modi to the proverbial frog just out of the well.

Hyderabad tops list of world’s 10 least expensive office market

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Hyderabad has become the world’s most affordable office locations due to rupee depreciation and fall in rentals amid political instability over Telangana, according to global realty consultant DTZ.

Four other Indian cities — Chennai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata — figure in the DTZ’s list of top 10 least expensive office space market in the world.

“Devaluation of the Indian rupee in combination with declining rents led to Hyderabad overtaking Surabaya (Indonesia) as the least expensive market in 2013,” DTZ said in a report.

AMU proud of K.A. Abbas

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The AMU Tuesday remembered its alumnus K.A. Abbas, who shone as an author, journalist, filmmaker and screenplay writer.

Inaugurating a national seminar on “Bread, Beauty and Revolution: Exploring the Kaleidoscopic World of Khwaja Ahmad Abbas”, Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi said Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was creative genius who started his career as a journalist while still studying at the AMU.

Abbas was an activist of Progressive Writers’ Movement and a true democrat with secular thinking, he said.

Hope to work with Ranbir one day: Big B

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Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who is playing the protagnist in “Bhootnath Returns” says he didn’t have the opportunity to share screen space with Ranbir Kapoor, who does a cameo in the film, and hope they can work together some day.

“Ranbir has done a cameo but I have not shot with him. He is very popular and I can’t compare myself with him. Hope I get to work with him someday,” he told reporters during the trailer launch of “Bhootnath Returns”.

Amitabh says he enjoys working with new generation.

Construction of China-Russia railway bridge begins

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Construction started Wednesday on a railway bridge, the first of its kind spread across China’s border with Russia.

Designed with an annual cargo transport capacity of 21 million tonnes, the bridge will connect Tongjiang Port in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province with Nizhneleninskoye in Russia, reported Xinhua.

China and Russia had a five-year negotiation on the project.

———-IANS

Garfield, Stone support environmental campaign

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Actors Andrew Garfield and his girlfriend Emma Stone are supporting a new environmental campaign – Earth Hour Blue.

It is a new initiative by the organisers of power-saving lights-off event Earth Hour, which supports eco-friendly projects around the world.

The actors have both picked one of Earth Hour Blue’s projects. While Garfield is supporting a scheme to reduce deforestation in Nepal, his girlfriend Stone is backing plans to train sniffer dogs to crack down on illegal wildlife poaching, reports contactmusic.com.

Over 15,000 surrounded by armed groups in CAR: UN

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More than 15,000 people in 18 locations in the northwest and southwest of the Central African Republic (CAR) are being surrounded and threatened by armed groups, UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said Tuesday.

“These populations urgently need better security”, Nesirky said at a daily news briefing here, Xinhua reported. He, however, did not disclose more details on these armed groups.

Asia Cup: Malinga, Thirimanne clinch a thriller for Sri Lanka

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An excellent fifer by pacer Lasith Malinga and a century from Lahiru Thirumane guided Sri Lanka to a thrilling 12-run win over Pakistan in the first ODI of the Asia Cup cricket tournament at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium here Tuesday.

Opening batsman Lahiru Thirimanne struck a fine 102, his second ODI hundred, that took Sri Lanka to a challenging 296 for six in 50 overs. Kumar Sangakkara (67) and skipper Angelo Mathews (55 not out) also made valuable contributions.

While chasing a target of 297, Pakistan looked on course at 250 for five in 44 overs.

Challenge for Kohli-led India sans Dhoni

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It will be a new challenge for a young Indian team, led by Virat Kohli, as they start Asia Cup campaign with their first ODI against hosts Bangladesh here Wednesday.

Sans Mahendra Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, the young Indian team will be looking to come back to winning ways after suffering ODI series loss in South Africa and New Zealand. All the three players were medmbers of the team that played the last Asia Cup here.

While Yuvraj and Raina have been dropped for their poor performance, Dhoni was ruled out with a side strain.

Amitabh unveils ‘Bhootnath Returns’ trailer

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Megastar Amitabh Bachchan Tuesday unveiled the trailer of his much-awaited movie “Bhootnath Returns” in the presence of the entire cast of the film.

Bachchan said he was thankful to T-Series to have approached him again for the sequel.

“I am thankful to T-Series to have approached me for the sequel again. This small kid Parth is the only one who can see me in the film. In this film, he is the hero and I am zero,” Bachchan told reporters during the trailer launch.

“Bhootnath Returns” is a sequel to “Bhootnath” which was released in 2008.