Month: September 2014

A new study has suggested that consumers are likely to eat more nutritious and tailored to meet food in 2050 with the help of technological developments that could reduce waste and decrease the amount of water needed for agriculture.

The study conducted focused on the innovative solutions for feeding the world’s projected 9 billion-plus people in 2050.

PepsiCo’s executive vice president and chief scientific officer Mehmood Khan, said that seven billion people on the planet today, 9 billion by 2050 was a massive increase in consumer base. (ANI)

Congress yesterday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved himself a “very good event manager” but got “carried away” on his visit to the USA even as it charged that he was “diluting” the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi.

The party, however, at the same time praised Modi for his speech at United Nations in which he had given a strong response to Pakistan’s criticism of India on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

Actor Brad Pitt, who exchanged vows with his long-term partner and actress Angelina Jolie in August, says marriage is more than just a title.

The 50-year-old actor shared his views on marriage in an interview with British GQ magazine, reports dailymail.co.uk.

“I wouldn’t say (marriage is) just a title. There’s more to it than that,” said the “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” star.

He also addressed the subject of his good friend and actor George Clooney, who called him “unreachable” recently.

Tamil exhibitors decision to shut down theatres Tuesday in solidarity with former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalitha, who was jailed Saturday for corruption, will affect the box-office prospects of “Jeeva” and “Madras”, say trade experts.

Tamil Film Exhibitors Association have decided to keep a fast Tuesday and cancel shows in all theatres across the state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein here on Monday.

Besides Blankfein, Prime Minister also held one on one with a host of business leaders including Boeing CEO James McNerney, American private equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co CEO, Henry Kravis, Laurence D. Fink, CEO of the American multinational investment management firm Blackrock, CEO of IBM, Virginia Romnetty and CEO of General Electric Jeffrey R. Immelt.

Music maestro A.R. Rahman Monday launched his new album “Raunaq” and said that he dedicates it to Vogue Empower, a social awareness initiative that draws attention to women’s empowerment.

“I pledge to spread the message of Vogue Empower by dedicating my latest album, ‘Raunaq’, to the campaign,” Rahman said in a statement.

“The album echoes the significance of the cause, women’s empowerment, with the song and video, “Laadli”, created in collaboration with Kapil Sibal and Lata Mangeshkar,” he added.

Newly-wed couple actor George Clooney and British human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Monday made their vows official with a formal civil wedding ceremony in Venice.

Alamuddin looked incredibly chic in a pair of cream wide leg trousers and matching top with navy waist band. She teamed it with a wide brim cream hat which also had a navy band, reports mirror.co.uk.

Clooney looked suave in a charcoal grey suit.

The couple was seen grinning at the venue with Clooney waving at fans who were out in their droves to see the happy duo.

A new study has revealed that kids engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for at least 60 minutes a day after school saw substantial improvements in their ability to pay attention, avoid distraction and switch between cognitive tasks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied with the words ‘Thank you very much Mr. President’ when U.S President Barack Obama greeted him with the Gujarati salutation ‘Kem Chho’, at the start of the 90-minute dinner meeting at the White House here.

Briefing media persons after the meeting, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, “President Obama greeted Prime Minister Modi with the traditional Gujarati salutation ‘Khem Chho’. He (Prime Minister Modi) responded, Thank you very much Mr. President.”

Following the 90-minute dinner meet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with U.S President Barack Obama at the White House here, India and the U.S today issued a vision statement titled, “Chalein Saath Saath: Forward Together We Go.”

“As leaders of two great democratic nations with diverse traditions and faiths, we share a vision for a partnership in which the United States and India work together, not just for the benefit of both our nations, but for the benefit of the world,” the statement said.

A San Francisco real estate developer has created unique one-piece business suit called the ‘Suitsy.’

The inventor, Jesse Herzog, who has created a buzz, has been making waves he told CBS News that he wanted to create something that was comfortable like pajamas but was professional as well, and hence came up with the idea of a pull-on business suit.

The clothing is essentially overalls disguised as dress pants, a dress shirt and a matching jacket and whoever wears it just have to step into in and pull up the veiled zipper.

Stoke City striker Peter Crouch’s early header helped his side secure a first Premier League home win of the season and increased the pressure on Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew.

Crouch rose to meet a cross from winger Victor Moses from the left in the 15th minute. Newcastle were fortunate not to concede a penalty when Moses was bundled over in the area by Yoan Gouffran.

Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic was denied by a post before Newcastle’s Jack Colback thumped against the bar late on to leave the visitors second bottom of the table, The BBC reported.

Scientists have discovered the early signs of pancreatic cancer that show the symptoms for the disease.

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US, identified that an upsurge in certain amino acids that occurs before the disease is diagnosed, is a sign of the early development of the disease.

Over 200 people have been arrested in Vadodara town in Gujarat after days of communal violence though no fresh incident was reported today, police said.

However, the situation in the city, 116 km from Ahmedabad, remained tense amid huge deployment of police personnel.

Communal violence had erupted in Yakutpura, Panjrapole, Fatehpura and Kumbharvada in the city on Thursday after some posts about a religion, purportedly derogatory in nature, were put up on a social networking site.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that India and the US are connected in many ways, and the openness of their philosophies and their love for democracy are two traits that both nations share.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Prime Minister Modi said, “There are some things that connect India and America. Their openness and democracy are some of those. We need to focus on what India and America can do together for the world: that should be a principle for our foundation.”

Indian traditions tell women to take their husband’s last name after marriage. But a survey has revealed that the majority of Indian women think it as an unnecessary practice.

The survey was conducted to understand what Indian men and women think about equality in marriage by online matrimony website Shaadi.com.

Out of all, 65.7 per cent women said it’s unnecessary and 34.3 per cent said changing the surname doesn’t matter as it is a tradition.

An evolutionary race between rival elements within the genomes of primates drove the evolution of complex regulatory networks that orchestrate the activity of genes in every cell of our bodies, reveal new research.

The race was between mobile DNA sequences known as ‘retrotransposons’ (jumping genes) and the genes that have evolved to control them.

Scientists at the University of California (UC), Santa Cruz, identified genes in humans that make repressor proteins to shut down specific jumping genes.

A bench of the Karnataka High Court will hear the bail petition of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday.

Jayalalithaa, who was sentenced four-year imprisonment by a special court here, had yesterday filed a criminal revision petition.

“The criminal revision petition (CRP) has been listed for admission Tuesday before the vacation bench of Justice Rathnakala,” a counsel for Jayalalithaa told IANS here.

Japanese electronics firm Casio has roped in singer and music director A R Rahman as brand ambassador for its electronic musical instruments division.

Association with Rahman will help it develop market and change its image as a high quality keyboard maker, Casio India, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the JPY 6 billion consumer electronics giant Casio Computer said in a statement.

It will take a “few years” for Sun Pharma to realise the benefits of its USD 4 billion takeover of Ranbaxy, said the company’s Chairman Israel Makov, terming the deal as a “complex and large acquisition”.

Sun will leverage on complementary functional strengths to achieve topline growth and gains through both revenue enhancement and operational synergies, translating into higher margins, greater market share and more profits through the takeover of Ranbaxy, he said.

Parsvnath Developers has leased about 1.7 lakh sq ft in its office building near Connaught Place to big companies like SBI, Aditya Birla Group and Axis Bank, and expects an annual rental income of around Rs 100 crore from this project.

Parsvnath, which recently sold 140 acres at Sohna in Gurgaon to Supertech for Rs 665 crore, has completed construction of an official building covering 2.8 lakh sq ft of leasable area on Bhai Veer Singh Marg, Gole Market.

In a fresh bid to grab a pie of the premium smart phone market, BlackBerry today unveiled its most expensive handset Blackberry Passport, priced at Rs 49,990, which will be available across Indian market from October 10.

“Pre-booking has started for Passport at Amazon and BlackBerry exclusive stores from today. Customers pre-booking at Amazon.In would receive a gift card worth Rs 5,000. It will be be available across stores from October 10 for Rs 49,990,” BlackBerry India Managing Director Sunil Lalvani said at the launch event.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which is yet to make a mark in the two-wheeler space, on Monday launched a new 110-cc scooter ‘Gusto’ as the homegrown auto major seeks to challenge the supremacy of Japan’s Honda in the domestic market.

Gusto, priced Rs 43,000 onwards (ex-showroom Delhi), is pitted against Honda Activa, HeroMoto’s Maestro and TVS’ Jupiter.

Gusto was first launched in the Northern and Western region to begin with, while in the other parts of the country it will be rolled out in phased manner over the next few months.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan is widely expected to hold the key rates citing high inflation at the fourth bi-monthly monetary policy announcement on Tuesday, even though the pro-growth lobby has been wishing for a rate cut.

This is despite some downward movement in consumer price inflation of late, which eased to 7.8 percent for August. But it is the medium-term targets that worry the central bank, say RBI watchers.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 90- minute dinner meeting with U.S President Barack Obama in the White House, both sides felt that the Indo-US relation is among the most important in the world and it was incumbent for both sides to strengthen it.

“Both sides felt that the Indo-US relation is among the most important in the world and it was incumbent for both to strengthen it. They only felt that there were possibilities of deepening and strengthening Indo-US relations,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin announced here.