Month: April 2015

APSRTC to work with AP and TS as two separate entities

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Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation will function as two separate entities as AP and TS.

With the provisional allocation of executive directors to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh beginning on April 9, allocation of employees between the two entities has concluded with A Block at Bus Bhavan, Chikkadpally allotted to Andhra Pradesh and B-Block to Telangana.

Vice-chairman and managing director of the corporation, N Sambasiva Rao signed a note stating the decision taken at a meeting of executive directors (ED) of the corporate office that will be in effect from May 14.

Youtube to start making feature films starring website’s biggest stars

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Youtube will start making feature films which will be “driven by Youtube stars” in partnership with AwesomenessTV.

According to the Verge, Youtube and AwesomeTV will release various feature-length movies during the next two years.

Youtube is most likely to go for personality-based films around established video stars.

Youtube intends to premier the movies worldwide after which the films may be available on other platforms as well. (ANI)

Early humans’ innovative hunting weapons didn’t bully Neanderthals into extinction

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A new study has revealed that early humans’ innovative hunting weapons may not have caused the demise of the Neanderthals.

The researchers, from Nagoya University and The University of Tokyo, Japan, looked at innovative stone weapons used by humans about 42,000-34,000 years ago. Traditionally, anthropologists believed that innovation in weapons enabled humans to spread out of Africa to Europe.

However, the new study suggests that the innovation was not a driving force for humans to migrate into Europe as previously thought; they were no better equipped than the Neanderthals.

Weight management therapies as beneficial as gastric band surgery for diabetics

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A new research has found that gastric band surgery and weight management therapies offer similar benefits.

A small clinical trial among such patients led by Joslin Diabetes Center and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers now has shown that two approaches, adjustable gastric band surgery and an intensive group-based medical diabetes and weight management program, achieved similar improvements in controlling blood sugar levels after one year.

Breastfeeding linked to lower risk of breast cancer recurrence

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Women who have breastfed in the past face 30 percent reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence, claims a new study.

According to a new Kaiser Permanente study, there was also protective effect of breastfeeding was more pronounced for tumors of particular genetic subtypes, including the most commonly diagnosed of all breast cancers.

Lead author Marilyn L. Kwan, PhD, said that the study, which involved 1,636 women with breast cancer, was the first one where they were aware of that examined the role of breastfeeding history in cancer recurrence, and by tumor subtype.

My style is a lot like Piku: Deepika Padukone

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Actress Deepika Padukone, who is gearing up for her upcoming film “Piku” with Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan, says her personal style is a lot like her titular character Piku’s.

“I’m happy to leave the professionals to do my hair, makeup and styling — this is required of me in my profession and they do a great job of it. However, personally, my style is a lot like Piku — very flowy, breezy, functional and comfortable,” the 29-year-old actress told IANS.

Wimbledon raises prize money to 1.88 mln pounds for singles winners

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In a bid to maintain the competition’s status as the highest-paying in tennis, Wimbledon has raised the cash prize for the 2015 singles winners to 1.88 million pounds-an increase of 120, 000 pounds over last year.

The All England Club also increased the prestigious tournament’s overall prize money to 26.75 million pounds, which is a seven percent increase over the prior year.

‘Underdog’ Pacquiao ‘100 percent confident’ of beating Mayweather in mega-bout

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Filipino politician-turned-boxer Manny Pacquiao has said that he is fully confident of beating unbeaten US boxing champion Floyd Mayweather despite being tipped as the ‘underdog’ for the much-anticipated ‘fight of the century’ bout on May 2 in Las Vegas.

Mayweather would go head-to-head against Pacquiao in the richest fight in history at the MGM Grand Arena in a bid to prove that he is the greatest fighter of his generation.

Steve Smith says England won’t ‘come close’ to beat ‘in-form’ Australia in Ashes

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Australia’s Test captain-in-waiting, Steve Smith, has warned England to be wary of his side’s spectacular current form, saying that the Alastair Cook-led side won’t even ‘come close’ to win the Ashes this year.

England won the second Test against West Indies last weekend, taking their unbeaten streak to five Tests after drawing the first match of the series and beating India 3-1 last year.

Smith said that he couldn’t wait to get over there and play another Ashes against England in their conditions after beating them so convincingly in Australia.

‘Commoner’ KP ditches Ferrari for metro in bid to make England comeback

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England out-of-favour batsman Kevin Pietersen appears to have come out of his celebrity status as he is apparently travelling by metro services instead of his Ferrari machine to beat London’s notorious traffic, and catch up county games in his bid to earn a comeback into the national squad.

Pietersen has been out of the national squad since his central contract was cancelled 13 months ago by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following the team’s Ashes washout by Australia.

Irani defends appointment of VCs by UPA govt

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Government today steered clear of getting into any controversy over the appointment of some Vice Chancellors by the UPA government, saying they were selected by Search and Selection Committees and any comment on them would go against the autonomy of the universities.

During Question Hour in Lok Sabha, HRD Minister Smriti Irani defended the appointments after a BJP member questioned the selection of army and IAS officers as Vice Chancellors.

Swedish court grants Julian Assange right to appeal in alleged rape case

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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been granted the right to appeal by Sweden’s supreme court against an arrest warrant for an alleged rape.

According to the BBC, Assange has been living in Ecuador’s embassy in London since 2012 to escape extradition.

The allegations of rape on Assange were made by two women during his trip to Sweden in August 2010 which the Wikileaks founder claims is a plot to extradite him to the US due to Wikileaks’ publication of thousands of classified US documents.

Nigerian military rescues 300 women, girls from Boko Haram camps in Sambisa Forest

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The Nigerian military has said that it has freed 200 girls and 93 women in an area where Islamist militant group Boko Haram is active but added that the girls abducted from a Chibok school in April 2014 were not among them.

The military said that the girls and women were released as part of a major operation that ended in the seizure of four Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa Forest , reported the BBC.

Weapons were also seized from these camps, the military said.

Nigerian security forces have seized most of the territory that was previously being held by the terror group.

Kingmaker calls Bobby Jindal ‘dark horse’ for 2016 GOP presidential bid

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A former GOP operative who now runs the “Iowa Republican” website has said that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is the ” dark horse” for 2016 GOP presidential bid.

According to Washington Times, Craig Robinson said that Jindal has everything he needs to be the candidate.

Kingmakers said that if Jindal can continue making successful on-the-ground stops such as one last weekend in Iowa then he can earn the support.

China warns Japan-US alliance should not undermine Beijing’s interests, disturb Asia-Pacific region

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Day after United States President Barack Obama rolled out the red carpet to welcome Japanese Prime Minister Shizno Abe at the White House, Beijing has warned that Tokyo’s alliance with Washington should not undermine China’s interests or disturb the Asia-Pacific region.

The warning came as Tokyo and Washington unveiled new rules on defence cooperation that would give Japan a more robust military role amid mounting concerns over China’s land reclamation activities in South China Sea, reported China Daily.

India will always stand firmly beside Afghanistan: Prez

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Asserting that the cooperation between New Delhi and Kabul has neither an expiry date nor a timeline, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that India will always stand firmly beside Afghanistan as a friend and neighbour.

President Mukherjee, who yesterday welcomed Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on his first state visit to India, said India supports an Afghan led and Afghan owned national reconciliation process within the framework of the Afghan Constitution.

India emerges as a lead nation in disaster-response: Govt

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The government today said that India has emerged as a leading nation in disaster response, after having very swiftly directed its rescue and relief efforts in quake-struck Nepal.

Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said that Indian planes were already on their way to Nepal in less than an hour after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting last Saturday to assess the situation.

TVS Motor logs 32 percent growth in net profit

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Two- and three-wheeler maker TVS Motor Company Ltd. closed last fiscal with 26.8 percent growth in total revenue and 32.9 percent growth in net profit, the company said on Wednesday.

In its statement issued here, the company said it closed 2014-15 with a total revenue of Rs.10,098.22 crore, up from Rs.7,965.94 crore posted during 2013-14.

Last fiscal the company posted a net profit of Rs.347.83 crore, up from Rs.261.63 crore logged during 2013-14.

The directors have declared a second interim dividend of Rs.1.15 per share for last fiscal.

NASA successfully completes test of shape-changing wings for Next Gen aviation

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NASA has announced the successful completion of the initial flight tests of new shape-changing wings for the Next Generation aviation.

NASA researchers, working in concert with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and FlexSys Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan, successfully completed initial flight tests of a new morphing wing technology that has the potential to save millions of dollars annually in fuel costs, reduce airframe weight and decrease aircraft noise during takeoffs and landings.

New vaccine may boost HIV treatment: study

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A vaccine containing a protein necessary for virus replication can boost an HIV-infected patient’s immune system and increase effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs, a new study has found.

When people are first diagnosed with HIV they are put on antiretroviral drugs, also known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

These drugs can stop the virus reproducing almost completely. When taking HAART, however, it is known that the virus can still replicate at low levels and accumulate in a latent form in what are called “reservoirs”.

I just wish I’d left sooner, says Robert Downey Jr. on interview walk out

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Robert Downey Jr. has broken his silence over his most recent interview walk out he just wish he would have left sooner.

The ‘Iron Man’ star said that just because he was speaking about a film meant that he had to be grilled about his own past, Contactmusic.com reported.

The 50-year-old actor said that what he has to do in the future is to give himself permission to say, “That is more than likely a syphilitic parasite, and I need to distance myself from this clown. Otherwise, I’m probably going to put hands on somebody, and then there’s a real story”.

Twitter’s Periscope gets over one million sign-ins in first ten days

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Twitter has announced that its live streaming video app Periscope has more 1 million users signed in to the app in the first 10 days after its official launch.

Periscope is a live video streaming app available on iOS. Periscope was purchased by Twitter for a reported USD100 million in early 2015.

According to the Verge, Periscope was launched late in March and since then it has more 1 million people on iOS. The one million users of Periscope is only a small part of the 300 million active users of Twitter.

Periscope is yet to launch on Android. (ANI)

How Facebook can get you fired

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There should be certain things that you shouldn’t be doing on Facebook, unless you want get fired from your new job.

Learn from the mistake of a 27-year-old year-old mom, Kaitlyn Walls, who took to the social media site to crib about her new workplace, even though she hadn’t started working there yet, the Daily Star reported.

The young mother from Texas, who was not happy about working in a day care centre but had taken the job because she was “desperate,” told her Facebook friends that she “absolutely hate working at day care.”