Infosys gets first non-founder CEO; Sikka era begins today

More than three decades since its inception, India’s second largest software firm Infosys will on Friday get its first non-founder chief executive officer in Vishal Sikka.

He replaces S D Shibulal, last among the co-founders to hold the CEO post. Shibulal served his last day in office yesterday.

An outsider, Sikka will be the first non-founder to take over as CEO since 1981, when the company was founded by seven friends.

Over the last 33 years, Infosys co-founders N R Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, S Gopalakrishnan and S D Shibulal have steered the company’s operations.

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14 Palestinians killed in Gaza

At least 14 Palestinians were killed and 29 injured Friday in Israeli airstrikes, hours before the start of a 72-hour ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

According to medical sources, eight Palestinians were killed early Friday as Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the southern Gaza city of Khanyounis, Xinhua reported.

In the airstrike, 10 people were injured.

Six Palestinian civilians, including a child, were killed and 19 injured during airstrikes in eastern districts of Khanyounis, medics said.

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Five labourers killed in Raipur factory blast

Five labourers were killed in an explosion inside a factory manufacturing electrical fuses at a village near here in the wee hours today.

The explosion occurred at around 3 a.m. in Navbharat Fuse Factory at Urla village in Abhanpur region, around 30 km from here, Raipur Superintendent of Police O P Pal told PTI.

The supervisor of the factory, who was outside the premises at the time of the explosion, escaped unhurt and later informed the police about the incident, he said.

A police team reached the spot and recovered the bodies, he said.

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Dhoni again points out DRS flaw

Indian cricket team captain M.S. Dhoni has once again pointed to the flaws that exist in the present Decision Review System (DRS), saying that India continues to be a victim of it, and therefore, is reluctant to accept it.

When asked at the end of the third Test, which India lost to England by 266 runs, whether he might finally have changed his sceptical view of the Decision Review System after a number of close calls went against India, Dhoni was quoted by The Guardian, as saying no quietly, but emphatically.

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Robert Pattinson over his break-up with Kristen Stewart

Actor Robert Pattinson recently opened up about his split with actress Kristen Stewart, and believes that he is over it.

The “Twilight” star shared that he has moved on and the heart-ache is over, reports mirror.co.uk.

He passed off the couple’s troubles, saying “who gives a s**t?”

Pattinson, 28, told a magazine: “S**t happens, you know? And honestly, who gives a s**t?

“The hardest part was talking about it afterwards. Because when you talk about other people, it affects them in ways you can’t predict,” he added.

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Great honour for me to lead the world’s finest army

New Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag today said that it was a matter of great honour for him to lead the bravest and the finest army in the world.
Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag took over as the new Chief of Army Staff yesterday, succeeding outgoing Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh. General Suhag also received the Guard of Honour at South Block earlier today.

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Ingredients

For the base:

18 butter biscuits, broken into pieces

75 gm butter, softened

For the cheesecake:

1 packet or 226 gm (8oz) cream cheese, softened

5 Tbsp powdered sugar

1 egg

2 drops rose essence or vanilla essence

5 Tbsp chocolate chips

Method

For the base:

In a mixie/blender add the broken pieces of butter biscuits. Give it a whiz. The texture should be grainy.

Add softened butter to it and give it another whiz. Bring the whole mixture together with the help of a flat spoon or spatula.

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Dum Paneer Kali Mirch

Ingredients

1 tsp oil

4 cloves

4 green cardamoms

1 inch piece cinnamon

1 onion fried till brown and blended with little water to make paste

Paste of 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp garlic with 4 green chillies

3 Tbsp dahi / yogurt

1 tsp dhaniya /coriander powder

1 tsp pepper powder

3/4 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp cream

1/4 tsp rang mirch /paprika

1/4 tsp haldi / turmeric

1/4 tsp garam masala

250 gm paneer

Coriander, to garnish

Fresh mint leaves, to garnish

Method

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Two Suffocate to Death in Medical Lab Fire

Two technicians suffocated to death in a fire at a medical laboratory in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The blaze took place around 3 a.m. in the three-storey lab located in Tilak Nagar area of west Delhi.

The bodies of Vipin, 29, and Robin, 32, were found two hours later, when the fire was brought under control by seven fire tenders.

Soon after the fire engulfed the ground floor, 10 people managed to come out of the building, but Vipin and Robin were trapped on the first floor, a police officer said.

IANS

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Rajya Sabha MP Who Met Amit Shah Removed From Congress Working Committee

Cracking the whip against its sulking Haryana MP Chaudhary Birender Singh who appears set to join the BJP, the Congress on Thursday night removed him from the party’s working committee and sought an explanation from the senior leader asking why he was associating with the saffron party.

Mr Singh, who has raised a banner of revolt against Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had recently met BJP President Amit Shah and there were indications that he may join the BJP.

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Galaxy that acts as cosmic magnifying glass discovered

Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have unexpectedly discovered the most distant galaxy that acts as a cosmic magnifying glass.

Seen as it looked 9.6 billion years ago, this monster elliptical galaxy breaks the previous record-holder by 200 million years.

“When you look more than nine billion years ago in the early universe, you do not expect to find this type of galaxy lensing at all,” said lead researcher Kim-Vy Tran of Texas A&M University in College Station.

It is very difficult to see an alignment between two galaxies in the early universe.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announces fee reimbursement to 58 percent students

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday announced that his government was ready to reimburse tuition fees for 58 percent of the students of professional courses, particularly engineering, and Telangana government should pay for the remaining 42 per cent.

“Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana should together bear the burden of students’ fees. All are our children. Let them not be the victims of (state) division,” the AP Chief Minister said, in the backdrop of Telangana government’s flat refusal to bear the tuition fee burden of “Andhra students”.

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Watch your waistline for diabetes risk

A British health report has warned that adults with a large waistline are five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

In its report, the Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of Britain’s Department of Health, said they encourage people to monitor their waistline and assess risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

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Woman kills sons, self after quarrel with husband

A woman in Odisha killed her two minor sons before hanging herself to death after a quarrel with her husband over some trivial matter, police said Friday.

The incident took place Wednesday at Raipanka village in Gajapati district, about 300 km from state capital Bhubaneswar. But it came to light after a family member informed the police a day later.

Jhumuri Patra, 30, was suffering from a mental illness and used to have heated arguments with her husband over domestic matters, police official Onam Lakra told IANS.

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Sensex loses 174 points; banking stocks dip

A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Friday was trading 174.54 points or 0.67 percent down as banking stocks plunged.

All the sectors were trading in red. Big selling pressure was seen in banking, capital goods and auto sectors.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,753.92 points, was trading at 25,720.43 points (at 09.27 a.m.) in the early session, down 174.54 points or 0.67 percent from the previous day’s close at 25,894.97 points.

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Rupee slumps to over three-month low of 60.76

The rupee lost 22 paise to over three-month low of 60.76 against the US dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today on increased capital outflows amid demand for the American currency from importers.

Besides, a weak trend in other currencies against the dollar overseas and a lower opening in the domestic equity market put pressure on the local unit, forex dealers said.

The US dollar index, measured against a basket of currencies, was trading strong at 81.48, up 0.02 per cent.

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4 common body, health myths busted!

From drinking eight glasses of water everyday to eating food before going to bed helps in storing fat are some of the health guidelines that doctors suggest time and again, but experts bust such health and body myths that has been the part of our lifestyle since ages.

Experts at Nature’s Best nutrition, an online bodybuilding supplement provider, reveals the reality behind the myths, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

* Myth: You should drink eight glasses of water a day: 51 percent people think this is true

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Short men need more sex, reveals study!

If you are moderately short or even short, do not worry as you will be a champion when it comes to performing the real act.

According to an interesting finding, those who are about 5 feet 9 inches and under enjoy sex better and in plenty.

“When comparing men’s sexual activity levels based on characteristics such as age, height, weight and health, the younger, fitter men tended to get more play,” researchers said.

However, we were surprised to see that “coital frequency was higher among men with a height of less than 5 ft 9 in”, they noted.

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‘India is fifth largest producer of wind energy’

India is the fifth largest producer of wind energy with the sector alone constituting 68 per cent of the total renewable energy produced in the country, India’s ambassador to the UAE T P Seetharam has said.

Annual growth rate of renewable energy in India in the last decade has been about 22 per cent, said Seetharam, who was was earlier this month appointed India’s permanent representative to International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

India is one of the 21 members of the Abu Dhabi-based IRENA and the current vice-chairman of its council.

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Dhoti clad groom – trending this wedding season

Light weight sarees or lehengas for the bride and traditional dhotis for the groom are seeing a comeback this wedding season according to the fashion stylists.

“We have taken our structured draping to menswear, this has enabled men to wear silhouettes like never before. The last time I wore a dhoti was about 15-18 years back which came off and now I am wearing it again,” says leading fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani.

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Core industries grow 7.3 pc in June, highest in nine months

Led by healthy growth in cement and electricity, the eight core industries grew to a nine-month high of 7.3 per cent in June, indicating signs of economic revival.

Growth in the infrastructure sector, which has a combined weight of about 38 per cent in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was 1.2 per cent in June 2013.

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BASF India Q1 PAT declines 40 per cent to Rs 52 cr

Chemicals company BASF India today registered a 40 per cent decline in profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 52 crore for the quarter ended June 30 this year. BASF India’s profit after tax in the year-ago period stood at Rs 86.9 crore, the company said in a release issued here.

The company registered a 7 per cent growth in sales to Rs 144.58 crore during the period under review compared to Rs 135.68 crore for the corresponding period of the previous year.

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Petrol price cut ; diesel gets costlier

Petrol price was today cut by Rs 1.09 per litre, the second reduction in three-and-half-months, while diesel rates were hiked by 56 paise a litre. The revisions will be effective midnight tonight, Indian Oil Corp, the nation’s largest oil firm, announced today. Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 72.51 per litre from tomorrow as against Rs 73.60 a litre currently. Similarly, diesel will be priced at Rs 58.40 per litre from tomorrow as compared to Rs 57.84 currently.

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Insurance Bill to be taken up by RS on Monday

The Insurance Bill, the NDA government’s first major reform initiative proposing to raise the FDI cap in the sector to 49 per cent, will be brought to the Rajya Sabha on Monday despite no clear commitment of support by Congress and reservations of some other parties.

Amid the government’s hopes of easy passage of the controversial legislation, senior ministers are believed to be in touch with leaders of various opposition parties, including Congress, in view of the fact that BJP and its allies do not have a majority in the Upper House.

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