Month: April 2014

Nicole Kidman turns brunette

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Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman has coloured her hair brown for her upcoming movie ‘Strangerland’.

The 46-year-old actress, who is a redhead, has gone for the new hair colour for her role in the movie, which is slated to be released in 2015.

The thriller-drama will also star Hugo Weaving and Joseph Fiennes, said the Hollywood Reporter.

“The moment I read Strangerland I knew this was a film I couldn’t say no to. I’m looking forward to working on a film in Australia, and I’m very excited to be working with Joseph Fiennes and Hugo Weaving,” said Kidman.

‘How I Met Your Mother’ title was a fake-out: Josh Radnor

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Actor Josh Radnor, who played the role of Ted Mosby in Emmy Award-winning series ‘How I Met Your Mother’, feels the title of the show was a fake-out.

The 39-year-old actor said the show’s title was more about the crazy adventures and the lessons Ted had to learn before he met the mother of his children, said the Hollywood Reporter.

The series that ended on March 31 after completing nine seasons showed Ted finally getting back with friend Robin Scherbatsky.

‘Love hormone’ may promote lying, dishonesty

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‘Love hormone’ oxytocin, usually associated with trust and bonding, may actually promote dishonesty and lying among people to benefit their group, a new study has found.

Researchers found that oxytocin caused participants to lie more to benefit their groups, and to do so more quickly and without expectation of reciprocal dishonesty from their group.

Oxytocin is a hormone the body naturally produces to stimulate bonding.

Lankans eye revenge, Windies aim for encore

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In their bid to reach their second successive World T20 final, defending champions West Indies will be looking to put up another clinical performance when they take on a gutsy Sri Lanka, who in turn would be hoping to avenge their loss in the last edition’s summit clash.

One can expect a good encounter as both teams have a lot in common going into the big semi-final clash here tomorrow.

Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have had identical victories in their final group league encounters in which they had crushed their respective opponents for paltry scores of less than 100 runs.

‘Sewing machine’ idea gives insight into Alzheimer’s origins

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Researchers have developed a new imaging technique inspired by the humble sewing machine which provides fresh insight into the origins of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

These diseases are caused by tiny toxic proteins too small to be studied with traditional optical microscopy, according to researchers from Lancaster University.

Previously it was thought that Alzheimer’s was caused by the accumulation of long ‘amyloid’ fibres at the centre of senile plaques in the brain, due to improper folding of a protein called amyloid-beta.

Petha goes missing from Agra railway stations

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Petha is no longer easily available at Agra’s three railway stations where transit passengers hop off to purchase the city’s famous sweets.

Hundreds of railway passengers passing through Agra or boarding trains from Agra Cantt or Raja ki Mandi stations cannot readily locate the petha seller these days. Railway authorities said that the firm that had the contract has not shown interest in renewing it and the process of tendering to appoint a new one is to be finalized by the Allahabad divisional office.

The matter has been dragging for more than three years.

Mango & banana smoothie

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Cool down this summer with a fresh and fruity smoothie

Ingredients

1 medium mango
1 banana
500ml orange juice
4 ice cube

Method

Cut the mango down either side of the flat stone, then peel and cut the flesh into chunks.
Peel and chop the banana.
Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender, then process until smooth and thick. Keep in the fridge and use the day you make it.

Nearly 100 Bihar IAS officers fail to declare assets

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As many as 94 of 210 Bihar cadre IAS officers have failed to declare their assets, officials here said.

Forty-five percent of the IAS officers failed to declare details of their assets to the state government despite an official directive and now the government has warned them of action if these details are not submitted in 15 days, officials Wednesday said.

“Ninety-four of 210 Bihar cadre IAS officers have failed to declare their assets despite end of deadline,” an official of the state’s general administration department (GAD) said.

Tiny robot surgeon to get inside astronauts’ gut

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Researchers have developed a fist-sized robot surgeon that slides into the body through an incision in the belly button and can help perform surgery on astronauts in deep space.

After the robot enters the abdominal cavity – which has been filled with inert gas to make room for it to work – the robot can remove an ailing appendix, cut pieces from a diseased colon or perforate a gastric ulcer.

The robot, developed by Virtual Incision in Lincoln, Nebraska, will have its first zero-gravity test – in an aircraft flying in parabolic arcs – in the next few months, ‘New Scientist’ reported.

Bajaj Auto’s March sales up one percent

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Two- and three-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto Wednesday reported a marginal increase of one percent in its sales for March at 304,330 units from 301,231 units in the corresponding period of last year.

Exports, however, grew by 17 percent at 118,183 units from 101,374 units shipped-out during the corresponding period of 2013.

According to the company, motorcycle sales too reported one percent growth at 270,591 units from 267,037 units sold in March, 2013. However, commercial vehicle sales declined by one percent at 33,739 units from 34,194 units in the like period of last year.

Early depression turns men into couch potatoes

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Does your hubby spend most of his leisure time online or in front of the TV set to the extent of ignoring family? The reason may well be depression early on his life, a study suggests.

Young men who have experienced depression early on are more vulnerable than women to becoming sedentary later in life, the study found.

Warne drops in at SA nets to help Tahir before India game

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As the South African spinners geared up to counter a formidable Indian line-up, they had a pleasant surprise awaiting them at the net session when legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne came over to hand them tips ahead of the second semi-final of the ICC World T20 on Friday.

“We were all surprised to find him at the nets. May be he was getting bored at the hotel and came over to have a bowl,” team’s senior batsman Hashim Amla would give nothing away.

When multiple sex prevents male extinction!

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Promiscuous female fruit flies with high sex drives are key to preventing extinction of its male species, a study shows.

Flies in the northern parts of the US are more inclined to have multiple partners in order to reduce the occurrence of an X chromosome which causes the production of only female offspring.

With a view to replicating itself, SGE (selfish genetic element) genes, found in large numbers in many organisms, kill the sperm that carry the Y chromosome and the males with SGE produce fewer sperm.

Woman committed suicide

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A dowry death case was registered by KPHB police against a human resource manager of an optics firm and his family members after his 26-year-old wife committed suicide by hanging at their house in Nizampet on Tuesday.

Indira, the victim of aged 26, wife of Vastavai Deepak Varma from Bhimavaram.

Deepak and Indira were classmates while pursuing MBA at Eluru a few years ago. The couple fell in love with each other and got wedded with the blessing of their parents two years ago. Indira left behind a seven-month-old daughter.

DCM van mowed down Dental student

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A student of dental college died after his bike was hit by a DCM van at Batasingaram on Tuesday night.

The deceased was identified as Mohammed Shariq Anwar, a student of SVS Dental College in Mahbubnagar.

According to the sources, on Tuesday night, Anwar’s Pulsar bike was hit by a DCM van from the rear at Batasingaram on NH-9 and Anwar died on the spot due to severe head injuries.

The DCM van driver abandoned the vehicle and fled from the spot soon after the incident.

Crime In Hyderabad (2.4.2014)

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Lovers commit suicide
(Siasat News): Two lovers committed suicide in Gandlapochampally. Both girl and boy were against their parents and have been living in the same locality. Laxmi Prasanna Kumari, 17 and Chandrasekhar, 23, were in love.

The girl was the student of class X. However, their parents were against their marriage and this had put the couple in disappointment. When they realized that their marriage in not a possibility, they decided to end their lives and laid on the railway tracks.

Challenging to pull off horror-comedies: Deekay

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Debutant director Deekay, who is awaiting the release of his Tamil horror-comedy “Yaamirukka Bayamey”, says being able to strike a balance between the two genres has been challenging.

“Horror comedies are not easy to pull off because you need to know how to strike a balance between the two genres. You need to know where to shock the audience with a jolt of horror and where to make them laugh. When you overdo it, the audience loses interest in the film,” Deekay told IANS.

Pornography should not be for the sake of it: ‘Mastram’ director

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Akhilesh Jaiswal has embarked on a filmmaking journey with “Mastram”, a fictional biography of the well-known Hindi erotica writer. The director, who has tried to strike the right balance with adult content and aesthetics, hopes the censor clears his directorial debut with A-certificate without any cuts.

“I am hoping that there won’t be any sort of problems with the censor board. And, hopefully, the film will get an A-certificate without any cuts,” Jaiswal told IANS in an email interview.

Raj Babbar planning to approach Salman Khan for campaigning

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Congress candidate from Ghaziabad Raj Babbar is planning to rope in his “good friend” and actor Salman Khan who is said to be famous among young voters to boost his poll prospects.

As said by a senior Congress leader, Babbar had approached Khan with the request; however, the actor has sought some time before taking a call on the matter.

Nagma needs more security, Congress tells EC

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Days after actor-turned-politician Nagma was allegedly harassed during election campaign, the Congress has asked the Election Commission to provide more security to the Bollywood actor, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Meerut.

A commotion broke out at the poll meeting at Jallikoti area organised by Congress for the campaigning of actress Nagma.

Meerut Congress president Salim Bharti admitted to the furore but dismissed reports that a youth manhandled the actress, and she slapped him, which triggered the commotion.

Chopper made Modi wait for Two hours

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On Tuesday, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi accused Congress of incapacitating his campaign by holding up flight clearances for his choppers, derailing his schedule in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

A visibly angry Modi at a rally in Satna much later in the day lashed out, saying, “Congress can stop my flights, but not my ride to Delhi”. BJP has now sought a probe by the Election Commission into the delays.

Besides Bareilly in UP, on Tuesday, Modi was to cover four constituencies in MP.

Self-breast exam can do more harm: Expert

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A self-breast check campaign launched by The Sun newspaper in Britain to make women aware of breast cancer risks may actually harm women, a reputed physician has warned.

“Teaching women to examine their breasts regularly has been shown not to reduce deaths from breast cancer and actually increases the chances of a benign biopsy result,” claimed Margaret McCartney, a Glasgow-based general practitioner.

It is unfair to tell women that regular self examination would save their lives when it may simply incur anxiety and have the potential to harm, she explained.

“Za” Japanese cosmetic brand launched in India

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Shiseido, a 142-year-old international cosmetic brand, launched ‘Za’ in the Indian beauty market under its wholly-owned subsidiary Shiseido India Private Limited.

Shiseido, which has footprints in over 89 countries, will float “Za” in the Indian market this month. The brand will be available in 250 doors by the end of 2014 in Mumbai, the National Capital Region and Bangalore.

Za boasts innovative and advanced skincare and makeup line-up that is designed especially for the 20-35 year old urban women who desire sophisticated and fashionable beauty.

Contestant Khaja Moinuddin forfeits govt. job for public service

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In the backdrop of communalism and government’s failure to solve public problems a new political party has emerged namely All India Azad Congress which aims at providing justice to weaker sections and protecting human rights. People across the county especially in old city are facing basic problems. Loan sharks reign over the old city. A majority of the old city residents want a change and a better alternative to the present opportunist leadership. But courage and moral fiber is needed for the revolutionary change. With this objective the All India Azad Congress party has nominated Mr.