Month: January 2015

Facebook blocks pages insulting Prophet Mohammed in wake of Turkish court ruling

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Facebook has reportedly blocked several pages that seem to insult the Prophet Mohammed following orders by a Turkish court.

According to the Verge, the court had ordered Facebook to close the offending pages in a ruling handed down Sunday, threatening to block access to the social network if it failed to comply.

The move comes amid this month’s attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo , believed to have been carried out in response to cartoons of Prophet Mohammed published by the magazine on its cover page.

Cinderella to get live action remake

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Cinderella is the latest Disney movie to be given a live action remake. It will be directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Lily James, who is best known for her role as Lady Rose MacClare in British period drama “Downton Abbey”, will take on the title character in the film, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The film also features Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett and Helen Bonham Carter as Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine and the Fairy Godmother respectively. Hayley Atwell, Holliday Graigner, Stellan Skarsgård, Nonso Anozie and Derek Jacobi are also on board for the project.

Soon, new drug to treat lung cancer

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Scientists have identified a potential new drug target for treating lung cancer.

In a new study by University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researchers have suggested that targeting a key enzyme and its associated metabolic programming may lead to novel drug development to treat the disease.

I feel at home in India: Ban Ki-moon

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Fondly recalling his “wonderful” memories of India, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he feels at home in the country and still remembers the phone number of his old house in New Delhi where he started his diplomatic career in 1972.

UN Secretary General Ban, who had visited New Delhi and Gujarat earlier this month, said since India was critical to success across the UN’s ambitious development agenda in 2015, he had begun “this crucial year with a visit to India”.

‘Dominant’ Sharapova brushes aside Bouchard in straight-sets to reach Oz Open semis

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Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova put on a dominant display as she brushed aside Canadian seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets to advance to the Australian Open semifinals in Melbourne.

The 2008 champion, seeded second, won 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 18 minutes, taking her record against Bouchard to 4-0, as the Canadian made 30 errors in the game.

The Russian said that she thought she had a really good start, adding that she kept her focus throughout the whole match, and didn’t feel that she had too many letdowns, which was important.

Now, app that calculates odds of your plane crashing

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A new smartphone app, named ‘Am I going down?’ has recently been developed that can calculate the odds of people’s plane crashing.

According to the CNN, Nic Johns from Vanilla Pixel said that it was inspired by his co-founder and wife, Julie, who was chronically afraid of flying, so the app was actually just meant to reassure the nervous flyers, News24.com reported.

Using real flight statistics to analyse flight safety, the app basically serves as a way of proving that the chances of people being involved in a plane crash are highly unlikely.

Freedom of expression or fear of Islam: Iranian MP questions West

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“Freedom of expression is just an excuse for the West. They are fearful of people’s interest in Islam … and that is why they resort to such insults,” said Vahid Ahmadi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s foreign relations committee.

The senior Iranian lawmaker said while referring to the recent publication of a blasphemous cartoon of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly magazine that the West has been provoking Islamophobia to prevent Western people from getting attracted to Islam.

Obama wraps up three-day India visit; departs for Saudi Arabia

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US President Barack Obama today left for Saudi Arabia, wrapping up his three-day visit here during which both the countries broke a seven-year logjam to operationalise a landmark civil nuclear deal, besides enhancing defence and trade ties.

Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle, folded his hands in a traditional “namaste” and waved before boarding Air Force One at the Palam airport where Union Minister Piyush Goyal and, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, were among those present.

‘In India and America, our diversity is our strength’: President Obama

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US President Barack Obama on Tuesday hailed the diversity of India and America, adding that nations are strongest when their governments show appreciation for all its people.

“The aim of our work must be not to have a few do well, but for everybody to have a chance. Everybody, who is willing to work for it, have the ability to dream big and then reach those dreams. Our nations are strongest when we applaud the quality of all our people, and that includes our women,” President Obama said, while addressing a gathering at the Siri Fort auditorium in the national capital.

Ali-Liston’s infamous 1965 ‘Phantom Punch’ gloves expected to fetch 300k pounds at auction

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Fifty-year-old boxing gloves worn by American boxing legend Mohammad Ali and Sonny Liston during the infamous ‘Phantom Punch’ bout in 1965 are reportedly expected to fetch more than 3,00,000 pounds at an auction.

Auctioneers Heritage Auctions in New York have revealed that the two pairs of gloves are among the most important pieces of memorabilia to ever come on the market and they would have a starting bid of 3,33,454 pounds when they are sold on February 21, but are expected to sell for double that amount.

Gwyneth Paltrow to reveal ‘clean comfort food’ recipes in third cookbook

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Gwyneth Paltrow is set to write her third cookbook that will feature the “clean comfort food” recipes for the whole family, it has been revealed.

The 42-year-old, while appearing on ‘The Rachael Ray show,’ said that she might do appetizers for a party section because that’s always a tough one, People magazine reported.

She would love to share some easy party food and kid-family food recipes this time, she further added.

The American actress also mentioned that she loves writing these books and felt really lucky that people bought the first two books.

IAF ‘Vertical Charlie’ leaves crowd spellbound at R-Day parade

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The fly-past by Indian Air Force aircraft during the Republic Day parade has thrilled people over the years, but many a heart skipped a beat watching the spectacular ‘Vertical Charlie’ manoeuvre of its elite Su-30 MKI aircraft today.

Coming as they did at the fag end of the parade and notwithstanding the cloudy skies which had made the spectators doubt whether the fly-past would be on show this year, loud cheers greeted the IAF’s elite fighter jets as they executed formations like the ‘Chakra’, Poseidon’, ‘Hercules’, and ‘Trishul’.

Lena Dunham calls Woody Allen ‘real pervert’ at Sundance Film Festival

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Lena Dunham recently mocked Woody Allen by cracking jokes about him “making out with 17 year olds” at the Sundance Film Festival .

Talking about being confused with her on-screen character Hannah Horvath in ‘Girls’, Dunham said that Larry David or Woody Allen or anyone else playing some version of themselves is walking around with a million people who think they know and understand them on a deep abiding level, the Independent reported.

Kiran Bedi sends legal notice to AAP chief Kejriwal

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BJP’s chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi on Tuesday sent a legal notice to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for using her photograph in the party’s poster campaign without her permission.

“Yes, she has sent a notice to Kejriwal. He has been asked to ensure that the posters are removed,” Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) media convener Praveen Shankar Kapoor told IANS.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has recently put up posters on numerous auto-rickshaws plying in the national capital, asking the people of Delhi to choose between Kejriwal and Bedi for the post of chief minister.

Jackson Rathbone, Sung Kang, Michelle Chen join mystery-thriller ‘Pali Road’

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A mystery-thriller from Crimson Forest Entertainment ‘Pali Road’ has nabbed actors Jackson Rathbone, Sung Kang and Michelle Chen , it has been revealed.

The film tells the story of a young woman who suffers a terrible car accident the night her boyfriend proposes to her, Deadline.com reported.

It’s the first project in a slate of three films that Crimson is co-producing with Dadi Digital Film, China Film Assist, and Cuixing Media Group.

Additional cast members include Elizabeth Sung, Tzi Ma, Henry Ian Cusick and Lauren Sweetser. (ANI)

Aussie sets Guinness World Record post hopping on crutches for10 kms

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Australian runner Brad Luiten has set a Guinness World Record after hopping on crutches for 10 kilometres.

The Arkles Bay national-class runner said that it is horribly hard and apparently there has been a study done that says moving on crutches you expend twice as much energy as running and he reckons it is more exhausting than that, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Luiten had a time of 34min 58s at the 5km mark, blitzing Guinness World Records’ existing champion times for male and female of 64m 50s and 59m 30s respectively.

Indian eatery in Australia barred from hiring foreign hands

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Australian authorities have cancelled an Indian restaurant’s right to recruit foreign workers after several breaches of migration law, media reported Monday.

The well-known eatery in Melbourne, which immigration authorities have refused to name, was fined A$15,300 (about $12,000) last year for various offences, including underpaying foreign staff and failing to keep records, the Herald Sun reported.

The eatery was barred from bringing workers on skilled 457 visas after further breaches were discovered this month.

‘Obama mentioning my name a moment of pride’: Mary Kom

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Champion pugilist M.C. Mary Kom on Tuesday expressed her delight over U.S President Barack Obama mentioning her name in his speech at the Siri Fort auditorium in the national capital, terming it a ‘moment of pride ‘.

“I would like to thank Obama sir. There are so many sportspeople in India and he took my name in his speech. It is a proud moment for me,” said Kom.

Meanwhile, former Indian athlete Milkha Singh also expressed his delight over the same saying, “Obama taking names of sportspeople is very encouraging for Indian sportspeople.”

Kalyan Singh to take additional charge as HP Guv

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Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh will assume additional charge as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday.

Himachal Pradesh’s Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmed Meer will administer the oath of office to Singh at Shimla Raj Bhawan tomorrow at 11:30 am. Singh will leave for Shimla this afternoon, a Raj Bhavan release said on Tuesday.

Outgoing governor of Himachal Pradesh Urmila Singh was given a warm send-off by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his Cabinet colleagues at a function in the state capital on Tuesday.

Flexible work hours improve overall health

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Giving employees flexible work hours help curb sleep deficiency and improve overall health, researchers report.

“In the absence of sufficient sleep, we are not as attentive or alert, process information more slowly, miss or misinterpret social and emotional cues and decision making is impaired,” said Orfeu M. Buxton, associate professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University.

For example, we may misjudge risks by undervaluing negative consequences and overvaluing potential rewards, he added.

Maruti Suzuki Q3 net profit rises 18% at Rs 802 crore

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The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday reported 17.8 per cent increase in net profit at Rs 802.2 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2014.

The company had posted a net profit of Rs 681.15 crore in the same period last fiscal, Maruti Suzuki India said in a statement.

Fiscal targets likely to be met: FM Arun Jaitley

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Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said fiscal deficit targets for current year are likely to be met and manufacturing sector is showing turnaround signs.

“Even though the revenues have been challenging due to slow manufacturing industry, now, it is turning around and it looks like we will be able to meet our fiscal targets,” Jaitley said here.

The government has pegged fiscal deficit target at 4.1 per cent of the GDP for the current year.

—PTI

Stress during pregnancy can affect baby’s development

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Stress hormones in the mother can affect foetal development, a new study says.

To test whether high stress levels in pregnant mice had an impact on their offspring, pregnant mice received the natural glucocorticoid corticosterone at different times during pregnancy.

Researchers found that increased levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones in pregnant mice caused the mother to eat more but reduced the ability of the placenta to transport glucose to her foetus.

Union Bank third quarter net profit dips 13% at Rs 302 crore

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Union Bank of India today reported a 13.33% decline in net profit at Rs 302.42 crore for the October-December quarter.

The bank had a net profit of Rs 348.94 crore in the third quarter of 2013-14 fiscal.

Total income increased to Rs 8,921 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2014, from Rs 8,230.17 crore in the year ago period, Union Bank said in a filing to the BSE.

Domestic net interest margin (NIM) stood at 2.57% in the December quarter, as against 2.60 per cent in September quarter.