Author Archives: Arun Kumar N

About Arun Kumar N

Arun has been associated with India International Times since 2018 and he has been a key reporter in covering science and space related stories. He can be reached at arunKnn@indiainternationaltimes.com.

Recalled Galaxy Note 7 to Sell at 30% Less in South Korea, Not in India, US: Samsung

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Samsung Electronics, which has recalled millions of units of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, will refurbish them and sell them 30 percent discounted price in South Korea beginning Friday, July 7, 2017.

The Galaxy Note 7 faced several instances of battery fires and was banned in aircraft last year when it was launched, forcing the mobile giant to recall them. Now Samsung wants to resell them with replaced batteries manufactured by different makers.

Samsung said in a statement that 400,000 phones, dubbed the Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition, will be put on sale in its home country priced at 699,600 won ($611), which is 30 percent lower than the Note 7’s original launch price.

The new units meant for sale are from recalled, unsealed Galaxy Note 7 handsets and making use of some unused Note 7 components, said the company. Since the battery was the main problem, the replaced battery will have a lower capacity than those of the original Note 7s, but have passed new safety measures, it said.

To recall, Samsung faced unprecedented criticism over a higher capacity battery that was used in its highly advertised Galaxy Note 7 when it was launched in October last year.

Within two months, amid several instances of the smartphone catching fire from its batteries, Samsung had to recall all the units that had cost the world’s biggest smartphone maker by volume a staggering amount of $5 billion and damaged its reputation, though its next launch Galaxy S8 was smooth and successful.

Samsung will decide soon whether to sell the refurbished Note 7s in other markets, but not in India and the United States, where it faced legal ban.

Here are the features or specs of Samsung Galaxy Note 7:

NETWORK Technology GSM / HSPA / LTE
LAUNCH Announced 2016, August. Released 2016, September
Status Discontinued
BODY Dimensions 153.5 x 73.9 x 7.9 mm (6.04 x 2.91 x 0.31 in)
Weight 169 g (5.96 oz)
Build Corning Gorilla Glass 5 back panel
SIM Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
– IP68 certified – dust/water proof over 1.5 meter and 30 minutes
– Stylus
– Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified)
DISPLAY Type Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 5.7 inches (~78.0% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1440 x 2560 pixels (~518 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch Yes
Protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5
– HDR10 compliant
– Always-on display
– TouchWiz UI
PLATFORM OS Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
Chipset Exynos 8890 Octa
CPU Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Mongoose & 4×1.6 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU Mali-T880 MP12
MEMORY Card slot microSD, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot) – single-SIM model
microSD, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot) – dual-SIM model
Internal 64 GB, 4 GB RAM
CAMERA Primary 12 MP, f/1.7, 26mm, phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash, check quality
Features 1/2.5″ sensor size, 1.4 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, simultaneous 4K video and 9MP image recording, touch focus, face/smile detection, Auto HDR, panorama
Video 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@240fps, HDR, dual-video rec., check quality
Secondary 5 MP, f/1.7, 22mm, dual video call, Auto HDR
SOUND Alert types Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker Yes
3.5mm jack Yes
– 24-bit/192kHz audio
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
COMMS WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth 4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE
GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO
NFC Yes
Radio No
USB 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector
FEATURES Sensors Iris scanner, fingerprint (front-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, heart rate, SpO2
Messaging SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Mail, IM
Browser HTML5
Java No
– Fast battery charging
– Qi wireless charging (market dependent)
– ANT+ support
– S-Voice natural language commands and dictation
– MP4/DivX/XviD/WMV/H.265 player
– MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+/FLAC player
– Photo/video editor
– Document editor

 

TESTS Performance Basemark OS II 2.0: 2676 / Basemark X: 32648
Display Contrast ratio: Infinite (nominal), 4.247 (sunlight)
Camera Photo / Video
Loudspeaker Voice 69dB / Noise 69dB / Ring 72dB
Audio quality Noise -92.8dB / Crosstalk -92.9dB
MISC Colors Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium, Black Onyx
SAR EU 0.25 W/kg (head)     1.28 W/kg (body)
Price About 850 EUR

Textbook Shows Mosque as Source of Noise Pollution Alongwith Car, Plane

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In a glaring oversight, an ICSE Class 6 science textbook shows a “mosque” as a source of noise pollution depicting a man below closing his ears to the sound from loudspeakers from mosques.

Other noise-producing symbols like train, car and plane were seen in the picture but the osque has triggered uproar. While the textbook is not published directly or prescribed by the ICSE, it has denied any role in dipicting a religious symbol in the textbook in a negative tone.

Gerry Arathoon, Secretary of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, told news agency PTI, “If any book with objectionable content is being taught at certain schools, it is for schools and publisher to ensure such a thing does not happen.”

However, social media is abuzz with an online petition launched to demand ban on the book and the private publisher has apologised for the mistake and assured to remove the offensive picture.

Hemant Gupta of Selina Publishers, said, “We do apologise if it has hurt the sentiments of anyone,” as the picture consisted of “a structure resembling a portion of a fort and other noise producing objects in a noisy city”.

The textbook row follows similar controversy when Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam said he was woken up by the sound of “azaan” or early morning prayers from mosques over loudspeakers. Before the controversy subsided, the ICSE textbook row had hit the social media.

Religious portions in textbooks have often triggered major controversies and recently a Class 9 Hindi textbook has referred to Jesus Christ as a demon. Another tongue-in cheek description in Class 12 textbook on physical education suggested ideal feminine body size as 36-24-36.

Flax Seeds Help Women Most: Study

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Flaxseed is the new sought-after supplement in faily diet owing to its component lignans which help women to get regular menstrual cycle and also reduce the risk of breast cancer, show recent research findings.

According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, flax seed contains lignans, also called phytoestrogens, bearing a chemical structure similar to estrogen but unlike estrogen that increases the risk of breast cancer, these brown seeds do not increase cancer risk but be more protective.

In studies conducted on animals, it was shown that lignans isolated from flaxseed help women during the menstrual period and post-menopausal period by lowering the risk of breast cancer. It was also observed that flaxseed did not interfere with the effectiveness of the anti-estrogen medication tamoxifen, said the AICR study. The higher blood levels of lignans show prominent cancer-protective features, said the study.

“For people who wish to consume flaxseed as a source of omega-3 fat or dietary fiber, studies do not support fears that flaxseed could increase incidence or recurrence of breast cancer,” says Karen Collins. However, more research is to be done before recommending it as a medication for breast cancer, said Collins in the paper.

In a previous study conducted from 2002 to 2005, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) researchers used the MARIE study to take blood samples of 1,140 women who had been diagnosed with postmenopausal breast cancer. After a mean observation time of six years, they related enterolactone levels to clinical disease progression.

Compared to the study subjects with the lowest enterolactone levels, the women with the highest blood levels of this biomarker had an approximately 40 percent lower mortality risk. When the scientists additionally took account of the incidence of metastasis and secondary tumors, they obtained a similar result: Women with the highest enterolactone levels also had a lower risk for such an unfavorable disease progression.

“We now have first clear evidence showing that lignans lower not only the risk of developing postmenopausal breast cancer, but also the mortality risk,” said Jenny Chang-Claude.

There had been prior studies to determine the lignan intake by means of dietary surveys. But the results of such surveys are often unreliable and, in addition, there are big differences in the way individuals actually process the plant substances into effective metabolic products. Therefore, the Heidelberg team chose the more reliable measurement of biomarkers.

Otherwise, flax seeds have other potential medicinal properties, besides preventing growth of harmful cancer cells, even for prostate cancer. Since these seeds are found to catalyze insulin secretion in the body to regulate blood-sugar levels, diabetics are often advised to make it part of their daily diet.

In menopausal women, flaxseeds help them fight complications by maintaining balance in body hormones and reducing the risk of osteoporosis. It is also helpful in lowering bad cholesterol due to its rich nutrients.

The flipside of flaxseeds is that they are rich in calorie levels, 150 grams in four tablespoons.

NASA’s Juno to Fly Directly Over Jupiter’s Mysterious Red Spot Now

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NASA’s Juno spacecraft is all set for another manoeuvre on July 10, flying directly over Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, the gas giant’s iconic, 10,000-mile-wide (16,000-kilometer-wide) storm.

This meanoeuvre will be humanity’s first close-up view of the gigantic storm being monitored since 1830 and possibly existing for more than 350 years on Jupiter, making it mysterious and puzzling.

“Jupiter’s mysterious Great Red Spot is probably the best-known feature of Jupiter,” said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “This monumental storm has raged on the solar system’s biggest planet for centuries. Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special,” said a NASA report.

The July 10 flyby will Juno’s sixth on to the gas giant’s mysterious cloud tops. Since Juno’s perijove is on Monday, July 10, at 6:55 pm PDT (9:55 pm EDT), Juno will be about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) above the planet’s cloud tops.

In its closest reach lasting for 11 minutes and 33 seconds, Juno will cover another 24,713 miles (39,771 kilometers) and will be directly above the coiling crimson cloud tops of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, said NASA. The spacecraft will bee about 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) above the Giant Red Spot clouds and all its 8 instruments and its camera JunoCam, will be directly on the storm during the flyby.

“The success of science collection at Jupiter is a testament to the dedication, creativity and technical abilities of the NASA-Juno team,” said Rick Nybakken, project manager for Juno from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “Each new orbit brings us closer to the heart of Jupiter’s radiation belt, but so far the spacecraft has weathered the storm of electrons surrounding Jupiter better than we could have ever imagined.”

As US is celebrating its Independence Day on July 4, Juno will have logged exactly one year in Jupiter orbit.

 

NASA Data Detects Huge Drop in Global Fires, Good or Bad?

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NASA satellites have detected from space that the number of fires across tropical forests in South America, the Eurasian Steppe, and the savannas of Africa are increasingly declining due to settled lifestyle than previous nomadic lifestyle in the regions.

The transition is leading intensified agriculture and steep drop in the use of fire leading to decline of forest fires, said researchers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

The total acreage burned by fires declined annually by 24% from 1998 to 2015, said a research paper based on NASA satellite data and ground-based socioeconomic information. The beneficiaries are mainly the savannas and grasslands, which witnessed fires burning out half the size of the US every year, said Niels Andela, a research scientist at Goddard and lead author.

In traditional savanna cultures, people often set fires to keep grazing lands productive and free of shrubs. Since many of these communities have shifted to cultivate more permanent fields and to build more houses, roads and villages, the use of fire declines.eading organisaed governance that controls fires. By 2015, savanna fires in Africa had declined by 270,000 square miles (700,000 square km), almost equivalent to an area the size of Texas.

“When land use intensifies on savannas, fire is used less and less as a tool. As soon as people invest in houses, crops and livestock, they don’t want these fires close by anymore. The way of doing agriculture changes, the practices change, and fire slowly disappears from the grassland landscape,” said Andela.

Fires in the savanna, like this one in South Africa, burn quickly through grasses, and help prevent trees and larger shrubs from taking root. CREDIT: Guido van der Werf / Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands

For their study, researchers used data derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, as well as other sources and compared it with trends in population, agriculture, livestock density and gross domestic product.

The scientists found a different pattern emerging in the rainforests close to the equator. Natural fires are rare in tropical forests, but as people settle an area they often burn to clear land for cropland and pastures. Once settled, they set fewer fires and the burned area declines.

The impact of a warming and drying climate is seen at higher latitudes in Canada and the American west, where fire has increased. Even in parts of China, India, Brazil and southern Africa, an increase in burned area is coming to light, said Doug Morton, a research scientist at Goddard and a co-author of the study.

“Climate change has increased fire risk in many regions, but satellite burned area data show that human activity has effectively counterbalanced that climate risk, especially across the global tropics,” Morton said.

The 24% decline in burned area may have contributed about 7% to the ability of global vegetation to absorb the increase in carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels and land use change.

Shatamanam Bhavati? Human Lifespan Increasing, No Cap on Age Possible, Canadian Study

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Shatamanam Bhavati, says Sanskrit Hindu blessing hymn. It may come true going by the trend, say Canadian scientists. Humans, who live longer than any other species, barring trees and elephants, have many super centenarians who are crossing the 100-year-old threshold, pushing the lifespan further up.

Jeanne Calment of France who lived till she was 122 years old seeing both World Wars, Mussolini and democratic reforms later, buyoant economic growth of Italy and its underworld remains a mystery to scientists and medical community. Many Japanese women have reached nearly the same age and the clock kept on chaning faces in the last one decade.

When Canadaian Emma Morano lived up to 117 years, the researchers began to ponder if there is any end to it. Researchers from the McGill University in Canada have taken up a study of the increasing lifespan of the longest-living individuals from Japan, Italy, US, UK and France since 1968 and realised that there is no cap on how long one can live literally. Nor can there be a cap on maximum age one can live with modern medical amenities within the reach and the way Japan’s robust care for the elderly works.

“We just don’t know what the age limit might be. In fact, by extending trend lines, we can show that maximum and average lifespans, could continue to increase far into the foreseeable future,” said Siegfried Hekimi, from McGill University of Canada and the team lead.

A century ago, the average lifespan was around 60 years in developed countries while it was far below at 50 years in countries like India, bar those who practised yoga and lied on good  food.

Moving forward, as of 1980, the average lifespan increased to 76 years while it is hovering around 70 years elsewhere, especially in developing countries like India. Now that the world has been shrunk to a global village, thanks to Internet, awareness is increasing, hospital care is at throwaway distance and many people have grown to be rich and educated. The lifespan average is now 82 years in Canada and around 76 years in India or other emerging economies.

However, Hekmi and his team found out that it is impossible to predict future lifespan of humans, which can move further up to a few hundred years, bringing the ancient Sanskrit blessing – Shatamanam Bhavati (Live for 1000 years) – come true. While nobody knows why the Hindu blessing of Shatamanam Bhavati was spelt out at every auspicious occasion when it was evrybody’s knowledge that one cannot live beyond 60 to 100 in ancient times too. But certainly there is an inherent meaning to its scope.

“Three hundred years ago, many people lived only short lives. If we would have told them that one day most humans might live up to 100, they would have said we were crazy,” said Hekimi. Now it is possible with the modern medical care, old age pension and other technology is there to help push the maximum lifespan of people beyond the 100 years to reach one day even 1000 years to make the Sanskrit wording “Shatamanam Bhavati” come true.

The research of Hekmi was published in the journal Nature.

GST Highest in World, Arbitrary and Bizarre, Says Cong Leader Surjewala

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Unlike what Congress proposed as a simple three-tier GST capping at 18%, the BJP-led NDA government has made it 4-slab and added 28% slab imposing one of the worst taxation system in the world, said Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Besides the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the cess included, some products will be as costlier as 43% more than the existing prices, he said. The cascading effect will be another standstill in economic growth as it would affect the common man and daily purchasing power of many people, he said.

While the livelihood of shopkeepers, traders, micro and small businesses is at stake, the new tax regime defeats the very purpose of simplifying the tax structure.  Addressing a Traders Sammelan of ‘Vyapar Bachao-Dukandar Bachao’ protest in Haryana, he said, “The GST in its current form will be a blow to the farmers, textile sector, small and medium businesses. It will lead to run away inflation for all goods of mass consumption.”

He revealed that the original proposal made by the UPA government was simple, transparent and not at all complicated. But the new BJP framed GST requires 37 returns to be filed by every taxpayer per year. “In case, a taxpayer is doing business in all 36 states/UTs, it will be 1,332 returns, which is shocking,” he revealed.

The GST is against the basic needs of common man — roti, kapda aur makaan — as all these sectors are set for shocking rise in costs, he said. Giving examples, he said, “daily use items” like shampoos, deodrant attract 28 per cent, ACs/TVs/washing machines too attract 28%, furniture 28 %, computers/printers 28% and even small cars attract 28% and questioned the rationale in attacking the middle class which consumes most of these items.

He pointed out that even sanitary napkins, which are usually kept outside the tax regimes in many advanced and even poorer countries have been put under 12% tax regime on par with shoes and footwear. Even dialysis/blood test/X-ray/ultrasound etc. come under the same category, smacking the irrational treatment of medical services in the country, which may increase the medical bills for the common man.

Daily food items like tea/coffee/butter/biscuit/ curd/sweets/juices attract 12 pc to 28 pc, revealing the mindless aggressive attitude of the policy makers and tax administrators.

“Does it make sense to tax mineral water at 18 per cent even when caviar and prawns are taxed at 12 per cent or even when exotic imported fruits and vegetables are taxed at 0 per cent,” he asked.

Giving an example of taxing almonds and dry fruits at 12 per cent and cashew nuts at 5 per cent, he questioned the rationale behind such decision-making. It is everybody’s knowledge that almonds and dry fruits are good for health while cashew is fatty food and not advised for good health.

He questioned tax on man-made fiber and yarn, dyeing and printing and embroidery at 18% while the end product fabric is only 5 per cent, which means the service sector in textile would be hit badly and many may loose jobs.

While Indian farmer can’t compete with global farmer as there is a massive shortage of cold storage units in the country coupled with high indebtedness and suicides among the farmers, the government has imposed 18% tax on construction of cold storage units, which is more harmful to India and may increase imports.

This is what “Modi government’s method of governance: long on talks and short on delivery,” he told the protesters.

Salman Khan-Starrer ‘Tubelight’ Barely Crosses Rs.100-Crore Mark, Unlike his Previous Hits

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Salman Khan starrer ‘Tubelight’ for 2017 Eid release could not take off despite high expectations in Bollywood about the film that has a story line similar to many of his films earlier like “Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ or ‘Sultan’.

In seven days of its collection, the film grossed Rs.103 crore, with an estimated Rs 4.25 crore on Wednesday, according to Boxofficeindia.com figures. On its opening day Friday, the film collected Rs 20.75 crore followed by Rs 19.75 crore on Saturday and Rs 22.25 crore on Sunday, Rs.18.50 crore on Monday and Rs.11.75 crore on Tuesday, followed by a massive slide to single number at Rs.4.25 crore on Wednesday.

Despite good and bad reviews, never did Salman Khan’s film faced such low collections, hinting at revamp required for the actor’s past collection records. Based on Hollywoood flick, ‘Little Boy’ with a slight change in storyline to suit local conditions when the 1962 Sino-Indian War took place.

The film was also the last one by late Bollywood legend, Om Puri, while Chinese actress Zhu Zhu and child artist Martin Rey Tangu were roped in key roles. With director Kabir Khan, this is the second film by the duo after the massive success of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’.

Here is a short list of his popular hit films:

  • Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
  • Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994)
  • Karan Arjun (1995)
  • Dabangg (2010)
  • Ek Tha Tiger (2012)
  • Dabangg 2 (2012)
  • Kick (2014)
  • Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)
  • Sultan (2016)
  • Tubelight (2017)

Salman Khan’s record has always been good in box office collections and he was marveled as the unique actor who could bring in moolah for the producers. His first film in 1988 ‘Biwi Ho To Aisi’ was just a passable one while his next film turned the table around as box office starrer with Sooraj R. Barjatya’s romantic family drama Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989, one of India’s highest-grossing films, besides winning several awards.

However success delued him again untill 1994 when “Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!!” with madhuri Dixit virtually thnundered the box office collections and awards for Salman Khan changing the course of his film career. Earning over Rs.135 crore, it was the biggest hit of 1994, breaking all previous records.

In 1995 his film with Shah Rukh Khan in Rakesh Roshan’s ‘Karan Arjun’ based on reincarnation theme went on to become the second biggest hit of the year. But again a spell of below average fillms followed until ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’ and ‘Biwi No.1’, both of which were the highest-grossing films of 1999.

It was almost a decade of ups and downs for his film career until ‘Dabangg’, which was released on Eid, 10 September 2010 that went on to earn Rs.215 crore becoming the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2010.

His next film two years later with Katrina Kaif ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ went on to become the second Bollywood film to gross over Rs.300 crore behind only ‘3 Idiots’ of Aamir Khan. In the same year 2012, ‘Dabangg 2’, a sequel of Dabangg, grossed Rs.250 crore.

His next film in 2014 was ‘Jai Ho’ that was just above average but followed by ‘Kick’ in the same year that entered the Rs.200 crore club.

In 2015, ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, released on Eid became the second Bollywood film after ‘PK’ to enter Rs.300 crore club. Last year’s film on Eid, “Sultan” became the second film of Salman Khan to nett over 300 crores with a gross collection amount of Rs.583.26 crore worldwide. Compared to these box office collections, “Tubelight” is not only slow but never bright either like a typical tubelight after it glows.

Meet Arnav Sharma, Indian Boy Who Scored Higher Than Einstein, Hawking in IQ Test

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An Indian-origin boy aged 11 took the famous Mensa Test for IQ measurement, totally unprepared and unaware of it and the results showed that the child prodigy has scored more than what Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking could have scored.

The maximum score in the test was around 140 and the boy, Arnav Sharma scored 162 in the Mensa Test.

The Mensa club, founded in 1946 in Oxford, has been on a unique mission to “identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity.” It conducts the Mensa test to enrol those who are highly intelligent and far above the average.

Just the top 2% of the United Kingdom are able to join the club and the India child prodigy has had a cake walk when he took the test and proved that he is far above than even the renowned scientists of the world — Einstein and Hawking.

The Mensa Club spokesperson said, “It is a high mark which only a small percentage of people in the country will achieve”.

The Mensa test consists of verbal reasoning ability and Arnav was apparently not sure that he could have done it so well. Arnav has a little brother and it is not known whether he is also a child prodigy.

Arnav, a student of Crossfields School, told The Independent, “I had no preparation at all for the exam but I was not nervous. My family were surprised but they were also very happy when I told them about the result.”

Arnav’s mother was equally upbeat. “He was counting up to more than 100 (when aged two and a half year old). That was when I stopped teaching him because I came to know that there is no end to his numbers,” she said.

When Independent reporter queried whether there was any other wizard in the family, the boy’s mother said her husband was not as clever though he is clever saying: “His dad is quite clever as well but not as clever.”

Last Date of Nomination for AYUSH Medical Seats Extended to July 31, 2017

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The Ministry of AYUSH has extended the last date for application to several seats for MD/PG in Ayurveda/Unani/Siddha and Homoeopathy Courses under Central Government Nomination (CGN) as per guidelines for the academic session 2017-18 from the eligible Government Teachers/Medical Officers (Doctors)/Research Officers.

These applications were invited through the concerned State /UT Governments up to 15.06.2017 and 30.06.2017 (NER). In view of administrative reasons, the ministry said it has decided to extend the last date for receiving through the concerned State Governments/UTs up to 31st July, 2017.

There are total 626 AYUSH Colleges in the country and two National Institutes to impart education in Ayurveda namely (i) National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur for Under-graduate and Post-graduate education and (ii) Institute of Post-Graduate Training and Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar for Post-graduate education.

In addition the Government has established two new Ayurveda institutes during the academic session 2016-17 namely (i) All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi for Post-graduate education and (ii) North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy, Shillong for Under-graduate education in Ayurveda.

Currently, India has five Central Councils for Research in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy and Homoeopathy for undertaking, coordinating, formulating, developing and promoting research on scientific lines, through 82 peripheral institute/Centres/Units located all over India and also through collaborative studies with various universities, hospitals and institutes.

The research activities of the councils include medicinal plant research (Medico-ethno botanical survey, pharmacognosy and tissue culture), Drug Standardization Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research, Literary Research & Documentation, and other outreach activities. Further, Ministry of AYUSH runs Extra Mural Research (EMR) scheme to conduct the research on various aspects of AYUSH systems.

The Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National AYUSH Mission (NAM) was announced on 29th September 2014 for better access to AYUSH services such as strengthening of AYUSH educational institutions, facilitate the enforcement of quality control of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homoeopathy drugs and sustainable availability of raw materials by promotion of medicinal plants in the States/UTs.

 

Why Tabu Never Married? Blame it on Ajay Devgn Bullying Suitors?

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It is not because of romance with Ajay Devgn in her first film “Vijaypath” that Tabu is single even after 25 years but because both her cousin Sameer Arya and Ajay were bullies who would warn anybody who tried to speak to her on the street when she was young, revealed the actress.

Though acted in a couple of films before, Tabu entered Bollywood successfully with “Vajaypath”, which had set the career rolling both for her and for Ajay Devgn. “We did Vijaypath in ’94. It’s nice to be able to romance the same hero on screen even after 23 years,” said Tabu in a media interaction.

Tabu, who is returning to act with Ajay Devgn in “Golmaal Again” with Rohit Shetty, shared her younger days and her friendship with neighbourhood boy Ajay. She said she had given the responsibility of finding a groom to Ajay Devgn but in vain and hence, she remained single even to this day. However, she did not speak about Telugu actor Nagarjuna with whom she had acted in several hit films.

In her exclusive interview to Mumbai Mirror, Tabu is quoted to have said, “Yes, Ajay and I have known each other for 25 years. He was my cousin Sameer Arya’s neighbour and close buddy, a part of my growing up years and that has laid the foundation of our relationship. When I was young, Sameer and Ajay would spy on me, follow me around and threaten to beat up any boys who are caught talking to me. They were the big bullies and if I am single today, it is because of Ajay. I hope he repents and regrets what he did.”

Though said in a lighter way, Tabu is reportedly preparing for a lighter role in the upcoming film “Golmaal Again” with Ajay Devgn. She further told Mumbai Mirror that she had told him to find a boy to marry, which never happened and the erstwhile heart-throb of many leading actors in Bollywood and down the south remained single.

However, she quickly added that Ajay Devgn is one whom she can count on for any help. “If there is anyone I can count on, it’s Ajay,” she said conclusively.

 

Trijunction Row: China Reminds India of 1962 War and Defeat

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When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin early this month during his visit to St.Petersburg that India and China never had any border skirmishes in recent decades, it had sent positive vibes which were finally stalled at the trijunction of India, Bhutan and China borders in Sikkim.

In its bid to construct a road along Bhutan and India at Sikkim border, China first asked India to respect Bhutan which has shared the border but never raised any issue over the road. When Bhutan joined India in support over the trijunction violation, Beijing reminded India of history.

India can never afford to forget history. In 1962, India and China had fought a war over the border in Ladakh region that took the toll in defeated India and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s health which deteriorated over what he described as a let down by China despite his support to them at international fora.

China is upset that India is egging Tibet and together raising objection to construct a road on a trijunction that is called Chicken’s Neck and strategically crucial or vulnerable for India.

“Donglang is part of China’s territory. This is indisputable. The Donglang area belonged to China since ancient times and it doesn’t belong to Bhutan,” asserted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang in Beijing, refuting India’s objection.

Besides lodging protest with New Delhi, China wanted to go aggressive by shutting the Nathu La pass in Sikkim for Indian pilgrims to Manasarovar. Defending the move, the Chinese spokesman said:

“For a long time in the interest of India-China relations, China provided great conveniences to the Indian pilgrims. Based on the consensus between the two countries’ leaders, and on the fact that the Sikkim sector boundary is delineated and recognised by two countries, the Chinese side in 2015 opened the Nathu La pass for Indian pilgrims,” he said.

“Now the suspension of the same is an emergency response to the situation there. I want to stress that the resumption of pilgrims pass requires necessary atmosphere and conditions. So the liability of the same totally lies with the Indian side and when it will be reopened depends on when or whether the Indian side will correct its errors,” he said.

Though China doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Bhutan, Lu said Bhutan is a universally recognised sovereign country and a third party should not interfere on behalf of Bhutan. Strange but Chinese over-reaction smacks of something more.

Of late, India and China relations have been smooth with bilateral trade and investment ballooning beyond the border constraints. Major mobile brands of Chinese mobile companies like Xiaomi, OnePlus and Oppo have become the top brands next only to Samsung, and machinery is mostly imported by India from China. But where will it lead to?

After 20 Years, McDonald Shuts 43 Outlets in Delhi

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The global food giant McDonald which had made headlines in 1997 when it opened first outlets in India at Delhi with veg burgers replacing its iconic beef burgers elsewhere, hit an unexpected controversy almost 20 years later over ownership issue.

The franchisee given to Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt Ltd (CPRL) in North and Eastern India has run into trouble over the ownership of CPRL, which had been jointly owned by Vikram Bakshi and McDonald’s.

Refusing to renew the licence, McDonald’s told media that the restaurant licenses of these McDonald’s restaurants in Delhi “expired”, bringing curtains down on two-year-old controversy and ending 20-year-old partnership with Vikram Bakshi.

McDonald franchisee Vikram Bakshi at loggerheads with parent firm

McDonald’s India has been fighting over the control of CPRL and arbitration proceedings to settle the issue with Bakshi failed at the London Court of International Arbitration. With the expired licences, McDonald’s has decided to shut all the 43 restaurants owned by the joint venture.

McDonald’s India Pvt Ltd (MIPL) spokesperson Barry Sum said, “The Board of CPRL is working to obtain the required licenses. Pending this, CPRL is temporarily suspending the operations of the affected restaurants,” and all the 43 restaurants will face closure. MIPL said all the 1700 employees who will be affected will be paid salaries as usual until the suspension is revoked.

The McDonald’s franchisee for south and west is managed by Amit Jatia. Currently, McDonald’s has more than 320 million customers a year.

However, last year, its reputation faced critical test when news over its use of beef oil for french fries was assailed all over the country where Hindus shun beef and any beef-related products.

McDonald’s was followed by the entry of other US eateries such as Domino’s Pizza which has more than 500 restaurants across India, while KFC has more than 300 restaurants.

Dunkin Donuts has more than 30 outlets in India and Burger King has presence in major cities like Delhi and and Bangalore with more than 10 restaurants.

Cabinet Approves MoU with US Homeland Security

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The Union Cabinet on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, approved signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between India and the United States of America on Homeland Security.

The Memorandum of Cooperation will further strengthen bilateral security relations between India and the USA and will also help in coordination and interactions among the six Sub-Groups that are proposed to be formed under Homeland Security Dialogue between the two countries.

The Cabinet approval follows Prime Minister’s recent visit to the United States where he had talks with President Donald Trump and senior US officials on boosting bilateral cooperation, including upgrading security matters such as MALABAR joint exercise with US and Japan in the Indian Ocean.

The Cabinet also approved another MoU between India and Israel on National Campaign for Water Conservation in India, that will ensure conserving water for future generations.

The two countries will work together at the national, regional and international level to design, implement and monitor a professionally-designed National Water Conservation campaign in India. The Ministries agree to jointly work on the water conservation campaign to achieve the following objectives:

a.Put water conservation on the national agenda in India

b.Encouraging every citizen to save water in everyday life

c.Generating awareness about water

d.Promoting Re-use, Recharge and Recycling of water

e.Develop digital tools such as websites, mobile apps on water conservation

Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Platform Unveiled at Shanghai MWC 2017

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Soon future mobiles will sport Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Mobile platform with a 14nm FinFET process for finger print scanningthat can penetrate glass and even metal, said the tech firm in a statement made at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2017.

Qualcomm Technologies said its Snapdragon 400 Mobile Platform tier designed for mid-range smartphones and tablets, delivers significant improvements in battery life, graphics and computing performance, imaging and LTE connectivity over its predecessor, the Snapdragon 435 Mobile Platform.

Listing the four key features in its Snapdragon 450 platform, the company said it has higher performing octa-core ARM Cortex A53 CPU achieving 25 percent increase in compute performance compared to its predecessor. Additionally, the integrated Qualcomm Adreno 506 GPU delivers a 25 percent increase in graphics performance over the Snapdragon 435, it added.

Battery life will increase by up to four additional hours compared to the Snapdragon 435, as a 30 percent reduction in power is required when gaming, helping consumers stay connected and productive for much longer, said Snapdragon Technologies. The Snapdragon 450 sports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support, which can charge a typical smartphone from zero to 80 percent in about 35 minutes.

The Snapdragon 450 is a pioneer in the 400-tier to support real-time Bokeh (Live Bokeh) effects. It is also designed to improve on previous generations by including support for enhanced dual camera at 13+13MP, or single camera support up to 21MP; hybrid autofocus; and 1080p video capture and playback at up to 60fps, enabling slow motion capture. The Snapdragon 450 also includes support for 1920×1200 full HD displays, as well as the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, which enables multimedia, camera and sensor processing at greater performance and lower power than the previous generation, claimed the company.

Connectivity and USB enable fast LTE connectivity with the Snapdragon X9 LTE modem, which utilizes 2x20MHz carrier aggregation in both downlink and uplink for peak speeds of 300 Mbps and 150 Mbps respectively, support for a large number of mobile networks with Snapdragon All Mode, and 802.11ac with MU-MIMO support. The Snapdragon 450 also supports USB 3.0 which is first in its tier to support fast USB data transfer, said the company.

“We’ve made many recent changes to the Snapdragon Mobile Platforms as part of our vision to deliver the most advanced mobile functionality at the best possible value, and the Snapdragon 450 Mobile Platform is another realization of that vision,” said Kedar Kondap, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies. “With the Snapdragon 450, users are going to see a dramatically improved level of performance, connectivity, battery life and imaging performance.”

So far, more than 1900 designs have been either launched or are in the pipeline across the Snapdragon 400 tier mobile platforms, which is expected to begin commercial sampling to customers in Q3 2017, and is expected to be available in consumer devices by the end of 2017, said the company.

Google Changed Look of its Google News Page An Hour Ago!

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For those who had just visited Google News an hour ago would be surprised to see a new look of Google News page now, 11:20 pm on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. Beginning today, Google will have a new sleek look of its News Page, departing from the old Google News page that was changed slightly six years ago.

Here’s the Old Google News Page grab of India edition of Google News Page for those who may miss it or feel nostalgic about it. (No copyrights):

A photo grab of old Google News page taken just before Google shut it for a new look Google News Page. (Photo: India International Times)

The new Google News page that adorns viewers now with its sleek and spacious look is dominated by the pleasant blue colour and the font changed for better to make it more appealing. On the right top corner, a welcoming note on the changes leads the visitor to the official blog post by Anand Paka, Product Manager of Google News.

 

The new design is for readability, says the post citing some of the features such as — thenew UI has a clean and uncluttered look, designed for comfortable reading and browsing. “We’ve adopted a card format that makes it easier to browse, scan and identify related articles about a story,” reads the post. 

The new layout focuses on better display of publisher names, which had earlier been so light and negligible. The article labels now maintain visitors’ view and place on the page as they click in and out of stories and explore topics, he said.

“We dedicated the navigation column on the left to sections that you customize. You can jump quickly to news you enjoy, whether it’s standard sections like Sports or Entertainment, or those created by you and powered by your queries, such as “FIFA World Cup” or “Bollywood,” said the post.

At the top of the page, a new navigation bar for “Headlines,” “Local” and “For You” attract the reader’s attention, which come to life once the reader signs in and personalizes the “Local” and “For You” tabs. In “Local,” one can track stories from any part of the world that he or she cares about—from their hometown to where they do business to where they went to school. “In “For You,” you can pinpoint niche interests and create your own mini news feed, whether it’s following your favorite team, or satisfying your inner geek with news on cool gadgets and gizmos,” wrote Anand. 
Story Cards with different perspective on an issue. “The first view offers a quick glance into a story. From there you can go deeper and read articles with different points of view which are frequently labeled with helpful tags (e.g., Local Source, Most Referenced, Opinion, or Fact Check).”

“People have told us these labels identify important facets of a story and provide more context. As a result, whenever possible, we now show a second labeled article in addition to the top headline for each story. This way you can see additional context on stories immediately even as you are scanning.” 

Next comes the “Full Coverage” page, as the name suggests, lets the reader immerse himself or herself in coverage about a story or issue that they want to deep dive into, writes Anand, revealing the changes made to the Google News page. 

FaceBook Reaches 2 Billion Active Users, Doubles in 5 Years

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Facebook has reached 2 billion regular users, a registered Facebook user who logged in and visited Facebook through its website or a mobile device, or used its Messenger app, in the past 30 days.

Describing it as another milestone in its growth from a college curiosity to the world’s largest social media network, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed the number on a Facebook post. “It’s an honor to be on this journey with you,” he wrote.

The member base is bigger than the population of any single country and of six of the seven continents and it constitutes more than a quarter of the world’s 7.5 billion people, said the company.

The figures for May have also taken into consideration the duplicate accounts, according to an estimate from last year, representing about 6 percent of its worldwide user base. Its nearest rival Twitter has about 328 million as of April and Snapchat has 166 million daily users at the end of the first quarter of 2017. WeChat, a widely used service in China, had 938 million monthly active users in the first quarter of this year.

Facebook had 1.94 billion people as of March 31, an increase of 17 percent from a year earlier. Facebook reached its first 1 billion mark in October 2012 and by now it could have doubled the number, compared to its first half.

Zuckerberg started Facebook in 2004 in his college dorm room, used its huge reach to get advertisers, offering them highly targeted marketing capabilities based on its data about users, sometimes ignoring privacy complaints in the US and elsewhere. It has about 5 million advertisers now.

Facebook’s growth has increasingly come from outside the United States, such as India, which is one of its major users. Three years ago, US, Canada and Europe accounted for 38 percent of users, compared with about 30 percent in the first quarter of this year, said a report.

Mike Nowak, Product Director and Guillermo Spiller, Product Manager of Facebook have on the occasion launched a personalized video to celebrate bringing the world closer together.

“This wouldn’t have happened without the millions of smaller communities and individuals who are sharing and making meaningful contributions every day. Each day, more than 175 million people share a Love reaction, and on average, over 800 million people like something on Facebook. More than 1 billion people use Groups every month.To show our appreciation for the many ways people support one another on Facebook, we will share several personalized experiences over the coming days,” they said in blog post.

COMEDK Declares Cutoff Ranks for First Round Engineering Admissions 2017

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The COMEDK’s online counselling that started on June 12 for registration has completed the First Round of admission counselling with the cutoffs declared for each of the colleges for engineering seats and the last date for admission will be June 29, 2017.

Students are advised to check the First Round cutoff declared on the website and here is the cutoff for top 10 colleges in Bangalore and Mysore, according to the COMEDK notification released today. Architecture notifications will be published shortly, it said.

At a glance, the sets available for RV College of Engineering in computer science are 49 for general merit and 5 for North Karnataka region and the total fee is Rs.170,000. Same is the case for CEC stream.

To check the seat allocation by cutoff rank, please check the link given below on COMEDK official website:

https://www.comedk.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CUT-OF-RANK-ROUND-1-ALLOTMENT-R1.pdf

(Notified on 28/06/2017)

The students will be given choice until 29th June 2017,11:30 AM to confirm their choice on allotment and to pay fee online from 28th June 2017, 11:00 AM to 30th June 2017,11:30 AM.

The document verification and Allotment letter printing (First come first serve basis) will be done from 6th July 2017 to 10th July 2017. For more details, download the Comedk 2017 Counselling Brochure HERE.

As per the current seat matrix, 45% of seats in private colleges are given under the government quota on the payment of about Rs.50,000 as fee, 30% seats are part of COMEDK quota given under Rs.180,000 per annum fee and the remaining 25%, including the NRI quota, are given by the respective managements on payment of Rs.10 to Rs.30 lakhs depending on their reputation and demand.

When the real allotment is made, students should visit the centre in Bangalore with their original documents and fee payment DDs as specified and get the original allotment letter issued and complete the total fee payment and other formalities.

Here are codes:

COURSE CODE COURSE NAME
ECE Electronics & Communication Engineering
CSE Computer Science & Engineering
ME Mechanical Engineering
EEE Electrical & Electronics Engineering
ISE Information Science & Engineering
CE Civil Engineering
AERSE Aerospace Engineering
BT Biotechnology
TE Telecommunication Engineering
CHE Chemical Engineering
EIE Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering

 

Wildlife Report Calls for Better Human-Wildlife Management to End Conflicts

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Stressing the need to strengthen human-wildlife conflict management across India in view of up to 32 wildlife species damaging life and property in this nation of 1.2 billion people, a recent study published in the July 2017 edition of Human Dimensions of Wildlife sought a better management approach to end the conflict.

The researchers have called for the identification of effective prevention techniques, strengthening existing compensation schemes, and an open inclusive dialogue between local communities, governments, and conservationists.

The authors of the study, “History, Location, and Species Matter: Insights for Human–Wildlife Conflict Mitigation,” are Dr. Krithi Karanth, conservation scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society and Sahila Kudalkar, research associate with the Centre for Wildlife Studies.

The study examined the patterns of human-wildlife conflict and mitigation use by 5,196 families from 2011 to 2014 from 2855 villages neighboring 11 wildlife reserves across western, central, and southern India. The study was designed to help inform better policies to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

Some of the results of the research are here:

Of the more than 5,000 households surveyed around 11 reserves in India, crops were lost by 71% of households, livestock by 17%, and human injury and death were reported by 3% of households.

Rural families use up to 12 different mitigation techniques to protect their crops, livestock and property. Night-time watch, scare devices, and fencing are the most common mitigation techniques used by rural families in the periphery of reserves.

Families near reserves in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh were most likely to use mitigation. In recent years, these states have recorded high levels of damage by wildlife, and are among states that provide the highest compensation payments across India. In contrast, families in Rajasthan were least likely to protect crops and property.

Across wildlife reserves, people reported average crop losses amounting to Rs. 12,559 (US$194) , and Rs.2,883 (US$44)of livestock losses annually. Such losses constitute a significant chunk of India’s rural economy, where the majority of the population earns less than Rs. 5,000 (US$77) per month.

Said Dr. Karanth: “Resolving human-wildlife conflict requires revisiting the goals of conservation policies and investments by people and organizations. This is especially true with respect to effort and money deployed associated with mitigation and protection. People may be better served by deploying early warning, compensation and insurance programs rather than by focusing heavily on mitigation.”

Said Sahila Kudalkar, “Combined with high poverty, and low awareness regarding government compensation, such families may be most vulnerable to impacts of wildlife damage upon their livelihoods.”

The study was supported by DST Ramanujan Fellowship, National Geographic Society, National Science Foundation, and Rufford Foundation.

‘Shocked and Hurt,’ Retorts Sridevi to Rajamouli’s Remarks on Bahubali Role

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The ongoing issue over Sridevi rejecting the role in Bahubali has reached its peak with director Rajamouli baring the facts in an interview to a daily that the veteran actress had asked for more fees among other demands.

“After hearing series of wishes from her, our team got fed up. We also thought that it would be above our budget to meet her demands. Then we approached Ramya Krishna and she proved herself fantastic and we now feel, we were lucky that we dropped the idea of having Sridevi in our film.”

The second part of the view that they were lucky to drop Sridevi must have irked any actor and the retort was equally strong. “I was shocked and hurt by his interview. Rajamouli is a calm and dignified person. I was very happy to work with him. But, the way he spoke about the issue made me feel very sad,” said the veteran actress who grew up in films from the age of 5 to 54, her current age.

Despite busy with the promotions of her upcoming film ‘Mom’, the actress confirmed that she did turn down the offer in Bahubali for her own reasons and not because of the remuneration.

“I would like to talk about this. It has become such a big issue and people are imagining things [as to why I have said no the film]. I have my own reasons. First of all two parts of Baahubali have come out, and now they are asking me. There are many films, I refused. Why are they not talking about it? Why only this film? I will go there and talk about it,” she told the Telugu news channel NTV.

On Rajamouli remarks, she said, “I don’t know if the producer wrongly told Rajamouli that I made all these demands but it is not in good taste to speak like this.”