It is well known that curiosity makes learning easier and a study led by an Indian-origin researcher has now found what happens in our brains when our curiosity is piqued.
Curiosity stimulates the activity in the brain circuit related to reward, and in the hippocampus, a brain region that is important for forming new memories, the findings showed.
Curiosity also increases interactions between the hippocampus and the reward circuit, the researchers found.
The AAP Friday sought the central government’s explanation on reappointment of bureaucrat D.M. Spolia, indicted by the CBI, as Delhi chief secretary and whether the probe agency has recommended “strict action” and “major penalty” against him and other bureaucrats in the CNG fitness scam.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the alleged violation of rules in awarding contract to a private firm for conducting fitness tests of commercial vehicles which cost the state exchequer several crores.
Rescue teams Friday continued their search for 16 people still missing from the Mt. Ontake volcano eruption almost a week ago which killed at least 47 others, the authorities in Nagano prefecture said.
At the request of the families, it had been decided to not publicly disclose the identities of the missing who were believed to be at the top of the volcano, a disaster management official said.
Actress-model Kelly Brook will bare it all in front of a live television audience for her new show “One Big Happy”.
According to a report in The Sun newspaper, the 34-year-old, who plays Prudence in the series, will shoot naked scenes as the “uninhibited sexy Mary Poppins” type character Oct 4, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
“It’s a bonus that she’s confident and comfortable showing off her body as the character Prudence has no inhibitions,” said a source.
“The nude scene will be tastefully shot,” the source added.
Guyanese fast bowler Subrina Munroe was recalled to the West Indies women’s squad for a tour of Australia starting later this month.
The 29-year-old has been included in the 14-member squad which plays four Twenty20 Internationals and One-Day Internationals (ODI) each, the first three of which will count towards the ICC Women’s Championship, reports CMC.
She is the only player in the squad who did not represent West Indies in the just concluded home series against New Zealand.
With a mission to provide the latest style options to consumers, e-commerce site Myntra.com has announced young designer Masaba Gupta as the creative director for their Indian apparel brand Anouk.
Starting this month, Masaba will add her personal twist to Anouk and develop signature designs in Indian wear that will be exclusively available on Myntra.com.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday urged people to help in keeping public areas clean after Ramlila and Durga Puja.
“Fellow citizens. Please don’t kill spirit of Swacch Bharat Andolan (Clean India Campaign). Please help clean up public areas after Ramlila and Durga Puja,” the health minister said in a tweet.
The comment comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his Clean India Campaign.
The nine-day Shardiya Navratri, a major festival in most parts of north and eastern India, culminates in Vijaya Dashami or Dussehra.
Netherlands coach Guus Hiddink Friday welcomed back star player Arjen Robben in the squad for the Euro 2016 qualifiers against Kazakhstan Oct 10 and Iceland Oct 13.
Internationals Memphis Depay, Rafael van der Vaart and Ron Vlaar are all absent with injuries. Without Robben, who suffered several minor injuries, Hiddink lost his first two internationals in his second stint as Netherlands coach against Italy (friendly, 0-2) and Czech Republic (Euro 2016 qualifier, 1-2), reports Xinhua.
The UN has accused the Islamic State (IS) of committing serious human rights abuses in Iraq.
According to the BBC, the UN says that “a staggering array” of human rights abuses has been committed by IS militants and associated armed groups over a nine week period in Iraq.
Iraqi security forces and their associates have also been accused of human rights violations.
The UN report says that abuses committed by the extremist group and its associates have an “apparent systematic and widespread character”.
Foreign cyclists led in the top five positions of the six-day Hero MTB Himalaya that concluded here Friday after covering over 500 km.
Canada’s Cory Wallace, a three-time Mongolia Bike Challenge champion, and Sonia Lopes of Portugal won the race in the men’s and women’s solo categories, respectively, rally organisers Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association (HASTPA) president Mohit Sood told IANS.
Wallace was followed by Manuel Wessenbcher from Austria and Andreas Heartman of Germany.
In the women’s category, Indian rider Monica was second.
Spanish Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso could be on the verge of quitting Ferrari, according to reports that have emerged Spain.
Radio Station Cadena Cope in its late night show ‘El Partido de las 12’ (the 12 o’clock game) announced that the Spaniard would rescind his contract with Ferrari at the end of the current season, reports Xinhua.
The main reason for the decision is that 33-year-old Alonso, who was World Champion in 2005 and 2006, is increasingly frustrated by the failure of Ferrari to provide a car which would allow him to compete on equal terms with Mercedes and Red Bull.
Delhi’s Rashid Khan bagged his sixth title in style at the Rs.40 lakh PGTI Eagleburg Masters, the fourth Super Series event of the season, here Friday as he shot a confident three-under-69 in the final round to end up with a tournament total of 19-under-269.
C. Muniyappa of Bangalore also fired a 69 in Round 4 to garner second place at 17-under-271 at the Eagleton Resort.
A guerrilla belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) outfit was killed Friday in a 17-hour long gunfight between militants holed-up in a house and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir Pulwama district.
“Based on specific information about presence of militants, personnel of army’s Rashtriya Rifles, special operations group (SOG) of the state police and paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force surrounded a house in Charsoo Awantipora village of Pulwama district late Thursday,” a police officer told IANS here.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were seen together with former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi Friday at Dussehra celebrations near the historic Red Fort here.
Vice President M Hamid Ansari and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also attended the high scale event at Subhash Maidan, where an effigy of Ravan, the demon king killed by Ram in epic Ramayana, was burnt in a depiction of the destruction of evil.
Despite being tagged as “mindless”, “loud”, “dumb”, “pointless” and “exhausting”, action thriller “Bang Bang!” has minted Rs.27.54 crore on the first day. “Haider” – a well-appreciated and a comparatively small film – released on the same day and has got its share of audience too. It has raked in Rs.6.14 crore.
“Bang Bang!”, reportedly made at a budget of Rs.180 crore, and Rs.24 crore film “Haider”, which is Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, came Thursday.
Chinese boxer Zhang Jiawei lost the men’s 56 kg final to Ham Sangmyeong of South Korea at the Asian Games here Friday, but had no idea why he was defeated.
Zhang, 25, reached the final as he did four years ago at the Guangzhou Asian Games and believed he had the upper hand during the three-round final, reports Xinhua.
“I don’t know why I lost the match. I fought well and I thought I had won. But boxing is just like that. What I can do is to train harder and make myself better in the future,” said Zhang, after the referee lifted his opponent’s hand after the fight.
What prompted Malala Yousafzai to speak up against the Taliban? How does love sear and consume and how can one heal with homeopathy? How can a few things better your life? It is these intriguing stories that IANS has for its readers this weekend. Take a look.
1. Book: Malala; Author: Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick; Publisher: Hachette; Pages: 240; Price: Rs. 299
From right size, colour to pattern, deciding on lingerie depends on many factors and on the individual’s body type, says an expert.
Entrepreneur Caprice Bourret, who also owns one of the leading lingerie companies in Britain named Caprice, shares her top tips for buying the perfect fitting brassiere for every occasion, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who co-owns Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), is happy that several actors are encouraging different sports in the country, but he feels the only way to make the games popular is through TV.
Appreciating the efforts of actors like Abhishek Bachchan, who has invested in a Kabaddi team as well as in a football franchise, SRK said at a press conference here Thursday: “We should be supporting every kind of sport and I am glad some of the actors have come forward.
Indian filmmakers often go gaga when their movies cross the Rs.100 crore benchmark, but Bollywood’s blockbuster hero Shah Rukh Khan believes that the industry needs bigger dreams.
He says every film must make at least half of the amount that Hollywood film “Avatar” minted.
“Rs.100 crore is too less. To think of it is a limitation by itself. People who don’t understand films and creativity in films, they put our work in these boxes (of Rs.100 crore clubs).
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( DMK) leader T. K. S. Elangovan on Friday voiced his apprehension over the live telecast of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s speech on Doordarshan, saying the government should be careful as this will set an example for others.
Elangovan said that there is nothing wrong in telecasting the speeches of the President of India and the Prime Minister on Doordarshan because they are part of the government and they head the government.
Five women will walk the ramp in this Himachal Pradesh town here for the second edition of Miss Himalaya Pageant 2014, organisers said Friday.
“Five women will compete for the Miss Himalaya Pageant to be held in McLeodganj (a suburb in Dharamsala) from Oct 4-5,” the pageant’s director-producer Lobsang Wangyal told IANS.
The five contestants are Dawa Dema, 22, Jyoti Dogra, 22, Kuenzang Choden, 23, Priyanka Dogra, 24 and Shikha Sharma, 20.
“They are all enthusiastic and ambitious in life, and want to become role models in society,” Wangyal said.
Indian troops today retaliated to a ceasefire violation by Pakistan across the Line of Control (LoC) in Saujian area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch sector.
Defence Public Relation Officer (PRO) Manish Mehta, who confirmed the report, said that Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing in Saujian area of Poonch from 1400 hours to 1530 hours using small arms and mortars, forcing the Indian side to retaliate.
No casualties have, however, been reported so far.
Pakistan has continuously been violating ceasefire across the LoC in Saujian from the past two days
Industrialist and three-time legislator Pollachi N. Mahalingam journeyed on the Gandhian path and also lived as per the principles taught by Tamil saint Vallalar, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam Friday.
The chairman of the Rs. 5,000 crore Sakthi group, 91-year-old Mahalingam died Thursday evening due to cardiac arrest.
In his condolence message Panneerselvam said: “As a member of Tamil Nadu legislature for three terms, Mahalingam worked very well. He journeyed on the Gandhian path and lived his life as per the principles taught by Vallalar.”
Ukrainian football club Dynamo Kiev beat Steaua Bucuresti 3-1 in a Group J match of the UEFA Europa League at the Olympic Stadium here, in front of 28,280 spectators.
The visitors controlled the opening period but things changed as soon as Dynamo switched their strategy from deep defence to counter-attacks. The Ukrainian side broke the deadlock (41st minute) when Andriy Yarmolenko hit the target with a one-touch shot after a free-kick cross by Younes Belhanda Thursday, reports Xinhua.