Month: August 2014

Ahead of a rally where he will share the dais with SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh today said it would be “extremely wrong” to add “political connotation” to his attending the programme. “I and Mulayam Singh Yadav are doing social work for a senior political leader who is not with us. To be not present at such an occasion is not good,” he said before the start of the function for inauguration of Janeshwar Mishra Park here.

Over 11,500 people have joined the class action lawsuit filed by an Austrian law student against Facebook over the company’s privacy policies.

It raises the claim against the social networking site to $7.7 million (Rs.4.6 crore), media reports said.

Max Schrems wants to receive damages of 500 euros (Rs.41,000) per user for the violations by the social network, urging the 1.32 billion Facebook users to join him in his legal battle.

“It is much more than we expected,” Schrems, who formed Europe-v-Facebook campaign group, was quoted as saying.

Japan’s Ambassador to India Takeshi Yagi called for greater people-to-people contact between the two countries saying it can be expanded through education and hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit his country soon.

“We have seen a spurt in the activities between two countries. However, there is a need for expansion of people-to-people contact,” the Ambassador said at the Japan Education Fair in the national capital.

“We are hoping the prime minister would visit Japan sometime soon,” Yagi added.

India’s services sector registered the third consecutive month of expansion in July, but the pace of growth was significantly down from the previous month due to moderation in order flows, an HSBC survey said.

The headline HSBC Services Business Activity Index stood at 52.2 in July, down from June’s 17-month peak of 54.4, as there was moderation in business flows and market sentiment as against the previous month.

A reading above 50 shows that the sector is expanding, while that below 50 shows that the output in the sector is contracting.

A new study has revealed that hypertension during the age of 48 to 67 years may pose as a greater threat of cognitive decline and dementia as compared with individuals who had normal blood pressure.

There has been a rise in the number of young Indians diagnosed with knee arthritis and other problems of joints and ligaments, a health expert said Monday.

“Arthritis or the damage that sets up in our body joints is considered a problem associated with ageing. Loss of cartilage, depleting calcium, wear and tear of the ligaments, or excessive weight have contributed to the onset of arthritis.

With Baitarani River in Odisha’s Keonjhar district flowing above the danger mark, the Ministry of Water Resources today issued a “high flood situation” warning.

“River Baitarani at Anandapur in Keonjhar district of Odisha is now flowing in High Flood Situation. At 6 AM today, it was flowing at a level of 41.04 meters with a rising trend.

“This is 2.68 mtrs above its danger level of 38.36 meters and 0.31 meters below its previous HFL of 41.35 meters recorded on September 23,2011,” a statement from Ministry of Water Resources said.

The Hyderabad High Court today issued notices to Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat and the Centre on a PIL against a poster of her upcoming film ‘Dirty Politics’ that shows the Bollywood actress draped in the three colours of the national flag.

Admitting the PIL, the high court also issued a notice to K C Bokadia, producer of the film.

In his petition filed last week, a city-based rights activist T Dhangopal Rao alleged the actress and the film
producer have intentionally insulted the national flag in the poster of ‘Dirty Politics’.

Model Lara Stone says her pregnancy scared her because of the changes it caused in her body.

Stone, 30, who has 14-month-old son with actor-husband David Walliams, said her work got affected by her pregnancy,
reported the Femalefirst.

Being pregnant affected my work quite early on, it’s not like you can work until you’re eight months pregnant. It was
quite frightening seeing my body change so much. Yes, I did worry about the impact, because my body is my job and my
livelihood,” she said.

Cheryl Fernandez-Versini has dropped her new surname.

The 31-year-old singer will now be referred to as Cheryl, because she claims people are having difficulties pronouncing her married name, reported Digital Spy.

It’s just Cheryl because everyone seems to be having a hard time saying it,” she said.

Cole married boyfriend Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini last month in a private ceremony on the island of Mustique after three months of dating.

Cole will return as a judge on ‘The X Factor’ next month, alongside Simon Cowell, Mel B and Louis Walsh.

———————–PTI

Singer Rita Ora has been working with will.i.am on her one of the upcoming albums.

The 23-year-old singer posted a picture from the recording studio on Instagram along with the caption, “Last night. What we cooking up in here!! So excited @iamwill.”

will.i.am helped to produce Ora’s debut record Ora back in 2012 as well as featuring on album track ‘Fall In Love’.

The rapper-producer joins the list of stars Ora has previously mentioned working with ahead of the new release,
including Jay Z, Calvin Harris and Prince.

Her second studio album is due for release later this year.

Reality TV star Kerry Katona wants to have another baby with George Kay once they are married.

The ‘Atomic Kitten’ star, who has four children from her previous marriages and three-month-old daughter Dylan-Jorge with the former rugby player, said she plans to have more kids, reported Contactmusic.

“George wants to have another baby soon because he doesn’t want to be an older dad and we’d like the children to be close in age,” she said.

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher kicked off their weekend with retail therapy.

The duo stepped out in West Hollywood, California to shop for art, with the mother-to-be keeping it casual in a black tank top, sweatpants and flip flops, while her fiance wore an NFL t-shirt, shorts and a baseball cap, reported E!Online.

Kunis and Kutcher held hands during their outing and looked happy together. The ‘Two and a Half Men’ star later
stepped in front of his ladylove as they made their way to their car to make sure the paparazzi did not get too close to her.

Four brothers drowned Tuesday in flash flood in Jammu region’s Rajouri district, a police official said.

“Four brothers were washed away in a flash flood in Manjakote village of Rajouri district today (Tuesday) morning,” a senior police official told IANS.

“They had gone for a bath in the river when sudden flash flood washed them away.

“Two dead bodies have so far been recovered while efforts are on to recover the remaining two,” the official said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to India is the beginning of an important relationship with the new Indian government that has great “strategic value” to America, the Obama administration has said.

Kerry, visited New Delhi last week to co-chair the fifth annual India-US Strategic Dialogue with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. He was the first cabinet minister from the Obama administration to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzeker, also travelled to India along with the Secretary of State.

The US has said that Israel continues to be one of its “strongest allies” and denied any rift in their bilateral ties in the wake of the Jewish state’s deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip.

“Israel continues to be one of this country’s strongest allies,” White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, told reporters when asked about reported differences between the US and Israel.

“The nature of our relationship is strong and unchanged,” he said yesterday.

Pakistan’s senior batsman, Muhammad Yousuf has once again lashed out at the national team’s Test and ODI captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, advising him to change his batting position in one-day internationals.

“If Pakistan is to do well in the next World Cup and in the one-day internationals before that Misbah has to change his batting position and lead the team by example,” he said.

“I would advise Misbah to bat at number three in one-day internationals. Because his batting style is not helping the team in this format when he comes lower down the order.”

A new discovery has been made with help of large DNA analysis of humans, which says that there are several genetic markers to identify pancreatic cancer.

According to the scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the markers were variations in the inherited DNA code at particular locations along chromosomes, and many of them signaled the increased risk of developing the highly lethal disease.

A new study has revealed that eating baked or broiled fish weekly is good for the brain, as it boosts memory and cognition.

A new study has revealed that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help people avoid stress-related ageing.

According to the study by UC San Francisco, it was found that stress ages the body on a cellular level; however healthy diet, getting enough sleep and exercising acts as a “buffer” against the negative impact on the body, the Daily Express reported.

The Israeli military and Hamas militants have reportedly agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, starting from Tuesday.

According to the BBC, on Monday Israel held its own seven-hour “humanitarian window” in Gaza but then resumed its military operations.

While the two parties have agreed to several ceasefires before, a few have lasted with both sides blaming each other for repeated violations.

The benchmark BSE Sensex gained over 61 points in early trade today on sustained and selective buying by funds and retail investors ahead of RBI’s policy meet.

Continuing yesterday’s winning streak, the 30-share index rose further by 61.03 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 25,784.19, with all the sectoral indices, led by auto and banking, trading in positive zone with gains up to 0.62 per cent.

The Sensex had gained over 242.32 points in the previous session.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose 13.95 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 7,697.60 in early trade.

Former White House press secretary, James S Brady, who was gravely wounded in President Ronald Reagan assassination attempt, was a legend at the White House for his warmth and professionalism, President Barack Obama has said.

The White House press briefing room is named after Brady, who was one of four people hurt when Reagan was shot at outside a Washington hotel. He died 73.

After Marvel’s introduced a female Thor, Sony is reportedly planning to create a woman superhero movie to add to its ‘Spider-Man’ universe.

The studio pushed back the release of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 3’ by two years. The gap will now be filled by ‘The Sinister Six’ in 2016.

Lisa Joy has been hired to work on the script for the female-centered story, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Sony stable has Black Cat, Silver Sable and Spider-Woman but it is not clear who among these three will get a more prominent role to play.

Habitual cyber offenders will be booked under the amended Goonda Act, which was passed by the state legislature last week, Home Minister KJ George said on Monday.

In a recent case, police have said they were considering invoking the amended Goonda Act against a right-wing activist who had launched verbal attacks on women and posted alleged inflammatory remarks against a minority community on Facebook.

VR Bhat, the accused, was arrested on August 2.