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.

Video of vendor in train toilet with tea, coffee cans goes viral; Contractor fined

Posted on by
Reply

A video was doing rounds in social media in the past one week showing a vendor coming out of train toilet with tea and coffee cans, which raised apprehension that he is mixing water in the cans inside the toilet. The Railway ministry said it has identified the vendor and action has been taken.

See video

“The incident has occurred in Train No. 12759 Chennai Central – Hyderabad Charminar Express at Secunderabad Railway Station in the month of December 2017. An Inquiry has been held to identify the wrong doers and initiate appropriate action," it said.

The Train Side Vending contractor for the section between Secunderabad and Kazipet has been identified as P. Siva Prasad, with whom the identified vendor in the video was employed, said the statement. A penalty of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh) has been levied on the licensee, through IRCTC, the contracting agency, it added.

A show cause note has also been issued to M/s P Siva Prasad, Licensee, Train Side Vending as to why his contract for train vending, Section-4, SC-KZJ, SC-NDKD-GNT section, should not be terminated, seeking an explanation within 15 days from the issue of Show Cause Notice that was sent on May 2, 2018.

Two other persons seen in the video are unauthorized hawkers, said the ministry in its clarification and added that the Commercial Department of South Central Railway has been carrying on extensive drives against unauthorized hawking at Secunderabad Railway Station. It said two such unauthorized hawkers involved in the video have been removed.

"A strict vigil is continuously being kept at various level to ensure that no such incidents recur,” said the ministry.

Xiaomi Mi 7 photo leaked on Weibo, Sports 8GB RAM, finger scanner, snapdragon 845

Posted on by
Reply

Xiaomi Mi 7 is all set for a grand release with in-display fingerprint scanner, Snapdragon 845 chipset among other features and a Chinese website has leaked the picture with the possible date of its release.

The Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, who is going to IPO in Hong Kong exchange currently, was supposed to have announced its flagship Mi 7 at the Mobile World Congress 2018 held from February 26 to March 1 but it has disappointed fans with no announcement on Mi 7.

Now the reports have surfaced in China and elsewhere that Xiaomi might announce the Mi 6 successor this month itself, perhaps once the IPO funding is done with the exchange.

But a Weibo post on the Chinese technology giant has revealed the release date of the Mi 7 will be May 23, 2018. The website has also published a photo of the device with the Mi logo on it.

Since, it is more than year since its predecessor Mi6 was released, the news cannot be brushed aside as another fake news. Xiaomi never shied away from releasing at least one new version of all the brands it sells in the market.

According to Weibo post, the Xiaomi Mi 7 will feature an in-display fingerprint scanner and notch up top. It could be sporting either a 5.65-inch or a 5.8-inch bezel-less AMOLED display with 2,560×1,440 pixels screen resolution against 5.15-inch (1080 x 1920 pixels) display seen in the Mi 6.

Under the hood, the flagship is likely to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, a 6GB/8GB RAM, a 128GB/256GB internal storage, a dual 19MP+19MP main camera, and a 4,480mAh battery.


​

Frequent sauna bathing brings down stroke risk, says study

Posted on by
Reply

Frequent sauna bathing can bring down the risk of stroke, said a new international study, based on a 15-year follow-up on people taking a sauna 4-7 times a week.

the study found that they were 61% less likely to suffer a stroke than those taking a sauna once a week. This is the first such large-scale study and the findings have been published in the journal Neurology.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, with a cascading effect on the economy with huge medical bills and payouts. The reduced risk associated with sauna bathing was found by a team of scientists from the Universities of Eastern Finland, Bristol, Leicester, Atlanta, Cambridge and Innsbruck.

The findings are based on the population-based Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor (KIHD) study. The study involved 1,628 men and women aged 53 to 74 years living in the eastern part of Finland, whose frequency to traditional Finnish sauna baths with a relative humidity of 10-20%.

The participants were divided into three groups: those taking a sauna once a week, those taking a sauna 2-3 times a week, and those taking a sauna 4-7 times a week.

The more frequently saunas were taken, the lower was the risk of stroke, the results showed. Compared to people taking it once a week, the risk considerably decreased by 14% among those with 2-3 sessions and 61% among those with 4-7 sessions.

The association persisted even when taking into account conventional stroke risk factors, such as age, sex, diabetes, body mass index, blood lipids, alcohol consumption, physical activity and socio-economic status, with no gender bias.

Previous results from the KIHD study at the University of Eastern Finland have shown that frequent sauna bathing reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality. The association of sauna bathing with reduced stroke may include a reduction in blood pressure, stimulation of immune system, a positive impact on the autonomic nervous system, and an improved cardiovascular function.

In another recent experiment, the same team had shown that sauna bathing has acute effects on the stiffness of the arterial wall, hence influencing blood pressure and cardiac function parameters.

Sri Reddy row: Telugu Film Industry promises CASH committees, Helplines, Toilets and more

Posted on by
Reply

Amid an ugly #MeToo movement when actress Sri Reddy bared her body in the public, the shocked Telugu film industry (TFI) has come up with a series of steps to ensure women’s safety.

In a statement, the Telugu Film industry said that it has decided collectively to deal with the matter with utmost urgency and in a wholistic manner. Despite several means to air one’s grievances, the statement said a few people have chosen “alternative platforms” to air their grievances that has caused concern.

Hence, the TFI said it has collectively decided to take a few short term and long term measures.

To begin with the Telugu film industry has decided to set up a Panel against sexual harassment. It comprises 50 percent non-industry members to give it a greater transparency and integrity. These members include doctors, members from NGOs, psychologists, educationists, ex-government officials among others. Currently, a legal framework of the the guidelines for this panel are being prepared by a team of legal experts, said the statement.

The industry bodies have given guidelines to producers council, MAA, and TFDA about the measures to be taken to enhance women safety, including setting up of CASH committees as per Vishakha guidelines, providing minimum toilet facilities and decent changing rooms to junior artists, character artists doing auditions only in in-camera facilities and in the presence of at least one other woman present, avoid using profane language in any form of communication.

The defensive Telugu Film Industry said it is in the process of conducting various meetings with women groups within the industry to be able to understand in greater depth their specific issues following which more concrete policies can be framed.

Interestingly, the panel against sexual harassment will have a direct hotline with women teams to take up swift measures. Besides, the helplines via email, phone, SMS have been set up so women can easily approach the panel with complaints, said the statement without giving further details about any hotline.

It said licenses will be issued soon to model coordinators so that the candidates are properly vetted and made accountable. It assured counselling for new actors who are wishing to enter the Telugu Film Industry.

UFOs floating in shape over Shrewsbury, claims ex-army officer

Posted on by
2

An ex-army officer has claimed that he has captured a streak of UFOs floating over Shrewsbury, in Pontesbury Hill and the witness assured the viewers that it was not a military aircraft.

"Having served in the forces for over 30 years, I can bet my pension they are not known to the military. They moved slowly around the back of Pontesbury Hill and out towards Eastridge Woods," he said, reports Shropshire Star.

He said the unidentified flying objects did not make any sound and they moved in a controlled manner in the skies of Shrewsbury moving towards Stiperstones. They are certainly not the Chinese lanterns released during the festive season to float around in the sky along with the wind, he said.

“Did anyone else see these as I’m told that Shropshire is a hotspot for UFO sightings?" asked the witness, whose name has not been revealed.

The UFO sightings has increasingly been making it to the newsrooms and many former space scientists and astronauts have joined the row either claiming to have seen UFOs or denying the phenomenon as a hoax.

In addition, the time travellers have been hitting the Youtube or social media claiming that they had visited a particular year in the future and recollecting their experience. But none of them reveal their name or face or even their voice.

Since readership for anything UFO or time-travel is high, even major news outlets have repeatedly published such news. NASA, however, remains stuck to it stand that they are Internet Hoax.

But UFO buffs around the world claim that the governments are aware of alien existence and they even collaborate with them.

Tobacco firm Philip Morris admits nicotine addiction exists

Posted on by
Reply

After decades denying the role of nicotine dependence in smoking addiction, tobacco company Philip Morris has finally admitted that nicotine is the main driver of smoking behavior in 2000, though it said their internal understanding of smoking addiction was more complex.

The company defended saying they simultaneously promoted nicotine reduction products alongside advertising and policy campaigns to promote smoking behavior, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine.

The research, by Jesse Elias, Yogi Hendlin, and Pamela Ling of the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed previously secret documents made available as a result of litigation against the tobacco industry to explore the company’s understanding of addiction before and after publicly admitting nicotine’s addictiveness.

The researchers found that Philip Morris continued studying addiction through the 2000s to develop successful and potentially safer nicotine products, and that from the mid-1990s to at least 2006, its internal models of addiction branded them on psychological, social, and environmental factors than nicotine in driving cigarette use.

Elias and his colleagues argue that Philip Morris’s outward support for nicotine’s role in driving smoking allowed the company to divert from social and environmental interventions to promotion of potentially reduced but harmful products.

The researchers note that the industry documents archive may have been missed some key studies though they emphasize that reducing smoking prevalence requires policies that address all factors driving smoking addiction such as advertising restrictions, plain packaging, tobacco taxes, and widespread smoke-free ban.

The authors say: “As PM’s internal research indicates, positive health outcomes are more likely to be achieved by complementing NRT and behavioral counseling with ever-stronger society-level interventions addressing the psychological, social, and environmental components of addiction.”

Stephen Hawking’s final theory on Big Bang published, What it says?

Posted on by
Reply

Professor Stephen Hawking’s final theory on the origin of the universe, predicting the universe is finite and far simpler than many current theories on it, has been published on Wednesday, April 2, 2018 in the Journal of High Energy Physics.

The theory, worked in collaboration with Professor Thomas Hertog from KU Leuven, was submitted for publication before Hawking’s death earlier this year.

Modern theories of the big bang predict that our local universe came into existence due to inflation within a tiny fraction of a second after the big bang itself, and the universe expanded at an exponential rate. “The usual theory of eternal inflation predicts that globally our universe is like an infinite fractal, with a mosaic of different pocket universes, separated by an inflating ocean,” said Hawking in an interview last year.

In their new paper, Hawking and Hertog say this account of eternal inflation is wrong. “It assumes an existing background universe that evolves according to Einstein’s theory of general relativity and treats the quantum effects as small fluctuations around this,” said Hertog. “However, the dynamics of eternal inflation wipes out the separation between classical and quantum physics. As a consequence, Einstein’s theory breaks down in eternal inflation.”

On his part, Hawking said, “We predict that our universe, on the largest scales, is reasonably smooth and globally finite. So it is not a fractal structure.”

The theory of eternal inflation that Hawking and Hertog put forward is based on string theory concept of holography, which postulates that the universe is a large and complex hologram: physical reality in certain 3D spaces can be mathematically reduced to 2D projections on a surface.

Hawking’s earlier ‘no boundary theory’ predicted that if you go back in time to the beginning of the universe, the universe shrinks and closes off like a sphere, but this new theory represents a different interpretation. “Now we’re saying that there is a boundary in our past,” said Hertog.

 

Hertog now plans to study the implications of the new theory on smaller scales within the reach of our space telescopes. He believes that primordial gravitational waves – ripples in space time – generated at the exit from eternal inflation constitute the most promising “smoking gun” to test the model.

The expansion of our universe since the beginning means such gravitational waves would have very long wavelengths, outside the range of the current LIGO detectors, which can be heard by the planned European space-based gravitational wave observatory, LISA.

Cyclone Fakir to hit AP, Odisha coast today, Heavy rains to wreak Havoc

Posted on by
Reply

On April 24, NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Fakir, southeast of La Reunion Island. The image showed vertical wind shear was pushing the bulk of clouds southeast of the center of circulation.Credits: NASA/NRL

Tropical Cyclone Fakir tracked by NASA’s Aqua satellite, Heavy rains, tsunami-like waves likely on Indian coast of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on Wednesday.

NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Fakir, southeast of La Reunion Island, that showed vertical wind shear affecting it in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center or JTWC noted on Tuesday, April 24 at 11 a.m. EDT that Fakir’s center was located near 23.3 degrees south latitude and 57.5 degrees east longitude.

From the image taken at the location is approximately 162 nautical miles south of Port Louis, Mauritius, cyclone Fakir was seen moving to the south-southeast at 18 knots (20.7 mph/33.3 kph). Maximum sustained surface winds were estimated at 60 knots (69 mph /111 kph).

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite has captured a visible image of Fakir that showed a rapidly disintegrated system.

The image showed the cyclone elongated as the bulk of clouds and thunderstorms were being pushed to the southeast of the center, in an area of high vertical wind shear between 40 and 50 knots (46 to 57 mph/74 to 92 kph).

JTWC warned that “[Fakir] is forecast to continue deteriorating due to the severe vertical wind shear associated with the trough (elongated area of low pressure) approaching from the west and cooling sea surface temperatures along its forecast track to the southeast. The unfavorable environment will lead to dissipation by Thursday, April 26.”

The southwest Indian Ocean cyclone season that started on November 15, 2017 will last until April 30, 2018 and the major cyclone Fakir formed on Monday, April 23 near northeastern Madagascar as captured by the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite looked at the storm’s rainfall rates.

On April 22, GPM showed that bands of extremely heavy rainfall were spiraling into the tropical low’s southeastern side. GPM’s radar (DPR Ku Band) showed that precipitation was falling at a rate of over 219 mm (8.6 inches) per hour in some of the strong convective storms that were moving toward Madagascar. GPM’s radar indicated that a few of the tallest intense convective storms were reaching heights of almost 16 km (9.9 miles).
Credits: NASA/JAXA, Hal Pierce

Fakir is expected to intensify as it moves toward the southeast and could be a significant tropical cyclone on Wednesday. Fakir will add woes to an already battered Madagascar by tropical cyclones Ava, Dumazile, and Eliakim.

The GPM core observatory satellite flew above the forming cyclone near northeastern Madagascar on April 22, 2018 and its Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) instruments revealed the locations of heavy rainfall linked with the forming Fakir cyclone.

GPM showed that bands of extremely heavy rainfall were spiraling into the southeastern side, precipitation was falling at a rate of over 219 mm (8.6 inches) per hour in some of the strong convective storms, seen moving toward Madagascar.

A 3-D view of precipitation in forming tropical cyclone Fakirwas simulated 3-D cross section generated at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland to show the heights of cloud tops and radar reflectivity values within the forming tropical cyclone.

GPM’s radar indicated some convective storms were reaching heights of almost 16 km (9.9 miles). On April 23, 2018 at 11 a.m. EDT, Fakir had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots (46 mph/74 kph). Fakir was centered near 6.5 degrees south latitude and 53.2 east longitude, about 313 nautical miles north-northwest of St Denis, la Reunion and seen moving southeastward to hit the Indian coast. The system is expected to peak in strength in one day, April 24.

 

 

 

NASA gears up for May 5 Launch of InSight to touch down Mars

Posted on by
2

In the early morning hours of May 5, the historic first interplanetary launch of NASA’s 189-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will liftoff from California, destined for the Elysium Planitia region located in Mars’ northern hemisphere.

The May 5 launch window for the InSight mission opens at 4:05 am PDT (7:05 EDT, 11:05 UTC) and remains open for two hours.

“If you live in Southern California and the weather is right, you’ll probably have a better view of the launch than I will,” said Tom Hoffman, project manager for NASA’s InSight mission from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “I’ll be stuck inside a control room looking at monitors — which is not the best way to enjoy an Atlas 5 on its way to Mars.”

NASA’s InSight to Mars will be the first interplanetary launch from America’s West Coast and residents in some of California’s coastal communities could get a front row seat when the mission launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Here’s when and where to see for launch:

Live televised coverage of the launch will be available at:https://www.nasa.gov/live.

In clear skies, the InSight launch should be viewable up and down a wide swath of the California coast. Residents from as far north as Bakersfield to perhaps as far south as Rosarito, Mexico, may see the Atlas rocket rising in the predawn sky and then heading south, parallel to the coastline.

The United Launch Alliance two-stage Atlas V 401 launch vehicle will produce 860,200 pounds (3.8 million newtons) of thrust as it climbs away from its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Lompoc, California. During the first 17 seconds of powered flight, the Atlas V will climb vertically above its launch pad. Then it will begin a pitch and yaw maneuver that will place it on a trajectory towards Earth’s south pole.

“After lift-off from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 3, the Atlas V begins a southerly trajectory and climbs out over the Channel Islands off Oxnard,” said Tim Dunn, launch director for the Launch Services Program at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “If you live on the California Central Coast or south to L.A. and San Diego, be sure to get up early on May 5th, because Atlas V is the gold standard in launch vehicles and it can put on a great show.”

Mach One occurs 1 minute and 18 seconds into the Atlas V’s powered flight. At that time the vehicle will be about 30,000 feet (9 kilometers) in altitude and 1 mile (1.75 kilometers) down range.

Two minutes and 36 seconds later, the Atlas first stage will shut down at an altitude of about 66 miles (106 kilometers) and 184 miles (296 kilometers) down range.

The Centaur second stage (carrying InSight inside a 40-foot-long payload fairing) separates from the now-dead first stage six seconds later. Ten seconds later, the Centaur’s engine kicks in with its 22,890 pounds (101,820 newtons) of thrust, which will carry it and InSight into its 115-mile-high (185-kilometer) parking orbit 13 minutes and 16 seconds after launch.

This parking orbit will last 59 to 66 minutes, depending on the date and time of the launch. The Centaur will then re-ignite for one last burn at one hour and 19 minutes after launch, placing InSight into a Mars-bound interplanetary trajectory.

Spacecraft separation from the Centaur will occur about 93 minutes after liftoff for the first May 5 launch opportunity as the spacecraft is approximately over the Alaska-Yukon region.

InSight’s launch period is May 5 through June 8, 2018, with multiple launch opportunities over windows of approximately two hours each date. Launch opportunities are set five minutes apart during each date’s window.

Whichever date the launch occurs, InSight’s landing on Mars is planned for Nov. 26, 2018, around noon PST (3 p.m. EST / 20:00 UTC).

NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander will study the deep interior of Mars to learn how all rocky planets formed, including Earth and its moon. The lander’s instruments include a seismometer to detect marsquakes and a probe that will monitor the flow of heat in the planet’s subsurface.

NASA’ s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages InSight for NASA.

Mars cracks show water dried up 3.5 billion years ago on Red Planet

Posted on by
3

The recent discovery of cracks on the surface of Mars by NASA’s Curiosity rover last year have been analyzed by scientists to realize that these lakes could have dried up 3.5 billion years ago.

In early 2017, the desiccation cracks were found in Gale Crater, which was believed to have been filled by lakes 3.5 billion years ago. “We are now confident that these are mudcracks,” declared lead author Nathaniel Stein, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, US.

These cracks form when wet sediment is exposed to air, their position closer to the centre of the lake bed rather than the edge suggests that lake levels went up and down over time.

“The mudcracks show that the lakes in Gale Crater had gone through the same type of cycles that we see on Earth,” Stein said. Traces of water once on Mars was not a new finding but the fact that the mudcracks are found, it may further lead to “to our understanding of this ancient lacustrine system”, said Stein, whose paper was published in the journal Geology.

“This research is just a chapter in a story that Curiosity has been building since the beginning of its mission,” he said.

For the study, the team examined a table-sized slab of rock nicknamed “Old Soaker”, which is a crisscrossing with polygons similar to desiccation features found on Earth.

The scientists found that the polygons are confined to a single layer of rock and with sediment filling the cracks between them, which is usually formed from exposure to air, and not due to hydraulic fracturing.

Breastfeeding saved infants in Ice Age, led to bigger breast size in humans: Study

Posted on by
1

Breast feeding might have played a criticial role in infant survival during the last ice age, and it might have led to a common genetic mutation in East Asians and Native Americans, which could have affected the shape of their teeth, says a new study.

The genetic mutation, which probably occurred 20,000 years ago, in turn led to more density of mammary ducts in the breasts, potentially providing more fat and vitamin D to infants living in the far north where the scarcity of ultraviolet radiation makes it difficult to produce vitamin D in the skin, said researchers.

If this genetic mutation is due to selection for increased mammary ductal branching, then this would be the first evidence of natural selection among the humans. "This highlights the importance of the mother-infant relationship and how essential it has been for human survival," said Leslea Hlusko, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

The gene controlling mammary duct growth also affected the shape of human incisors. The genetic mutation affected the ancestral population living in the far north during the last Ice Age, hence resulting in shovel-shaped incisors among Native Americans and northeastern Asian populations. This trait is rare in others.

The finding helps in understanding the origins of dense breasts among humans, which is a major factor behind the breast cancer.

For the study, Hlusko and her team examined the occurrence of shovel-shaped incisors in archeological populations to estimate the time and place of evolutionary selection for the trait. They found that nearly 100 percent of Native Americans prior to European colonization had shoveled incisors, and about 40 percent of East Asians today have this trait.

"When you have shared genetic effects across the body, selection for one trait will result in everything else going along for the ride," Hlusko said.

The vitamin D connection

Getting enough vitamin D is a big problem in northern latitudes because the sun is low on the horizon all year long. Sun doesn’t shine above the Arctic Circle at all for part of the year. Lack of vitamin D forced Siberians and Inuit to hunt for animal fat but babies were at a loss, thus causing the natural selection in the increased mammary duct.

Previous genetic analysis of living humans concluded that the mutation arose in northern China due to selection for more sweat glands or sebaceous glands during the last ice age but Hlusko said that it is not a satisfying explanation.

The Beringian standstill

The so-called Beringian standstill coincided with the height of the Last Glacial Maximum between 18,000 and 28,000 years ago as the climate became drier and cooler. People who had been living in Siberia moved into Beringia, where they were isolated and the species with locally adaptive traits arose.

Hlusko and her colleagues outlined many threads of evidence in their paper published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


​

Photograph of human upper incisors with significant "shoveling," anatomical variation influenced by the EDAR V370A allele alongside an increase in mammary duct branching.(Christy G. Turner, II, courtesy G. Richard Scott)

‘102 Not Out’ to release on May 4 in Russia, Why?

Posted on by
Reply

Bringing back the old ties with Russia when Rishi Kapoor’s father Raj Kapoor had many fans there, the latest Kapoor film ‘102 Not Out’ starring Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role will hit the theatres in Russia, at a time when all Bollywood films get queued first in American theatres.

Director Umesh Shukla’s forthcoming film "102 Not Out" will also release in Russia on the same day as it will hit the screens in India on May 4.

Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan will be seen together after two decades, and the film is expected to bring many erstwhile fans of the two big heroes to theatres once again. Rishi Kapoor, who was on a self-imposed Twitter break for over few monthsm, has returned to the social media platform on Tuesday to announce the film’s international release.

"Our film releases in Russia on May 4, 2018 also. Enjoy!" Rishi tweeted. Earlier on Sunday, he tweeted his return to Twitter after his last one on March 29, saying, "Hello all. Just to let you know I am back on Twitter after 23 days. Missed you, the fun and fights."

The actor was criticised for posting a lewd tweet on politician Hillary Clinton, faced flak for posting an indecent video involving a child, and for his tweet on Sourav Ganguly’s shirtless act while cheering for the Indian women’s cricket team.

"We worked in this film after 27 years but from the time we went on the set, we started rehearsing. We did not feel the gap between these years. I feel proud to say that I have been working with him for the last 44 years. Our first film was ‘Kabhi Kabhie’ (1976) and the last time we worked together was in ‘Ajooba’ (1991)."

Their hit films together include "Naseeb", "Kabhi Kabhie", "Amar Akbar Anthony" and "Coolie".

Amitabh Bachchan said, "I believe if you are appreciating my performance, it is due to my co-artistes. If they don’t perform well enough for your reaction, then your reaction would go wrong."

Since the focus is on senior citizens, Amitabh, 75, said, "Senior citizens are very respectable people of our society. If they are not there, we are not there. Whenever we try to make a film on them, we treat them with dignity. I hope that through this film, we will be able to convey the message to our audience."

Quickly, Rishi added, "He did films like ‘Piku’ and ‘Pink’. Yes, there are not many films made on senior citizens but there are not many Bachchans around, right?"

Umesh Shukla’s "102 Not Out" revolves around an unusual father-and-son love story, based on a Gujarati stage production by playwright Saumya Joshi. Produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment Films India, Treetop Entertainment and Shukla’s Benchmark Pictures, the film is slated to release worldwide on May 4.

The storyline is about a centenarian who wants to break the world record of being the oldest man alive, which is held by a 118-year-old Chinese man. How he plans to ditch his own son for this feat is the interesting angle in the film.

Karnataka Elections 2018: EC extends polling time till 6 PM on May 12

Posted on by
Reply

The Election Commission has extended the hours of poll in the Karnataka elections citing the sub-section (2) of section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The polling time earlier mentioned under Section 56 of the said Act notified hours of poll to begin from 7.00 am and to complete by 5.00 pm as the hours of poll during which the poll shall be taken in all the assembly constituencies of the state.

Keeping in view the changed prospects for BJP and Congress owing to the emergence of a third player JD(S), the political parties with cadre strength will benefit from the extension of one hour in the evening.

Under the new notification, elections to Karnataka Legislative assembly will be held on May 12 from 7.00 A.M. in the morning to 6.00 P.M. in the evening.

"The Commission considers that in view of the extreme heat in the State of Karnataka at present and also due to the introduction of VVPAT, it is necessary to extend the hours of poll to facilitate all the voters to cast their votes even in the late hours," said a statement issued by EC.

Going beyond administrative reasons, the extension of one hour of polling time usually benefits the major parties which have huge number of cadre members who engage in electioneering and facilitating the polling for their party till 5 PM. After the poll, most of them have either no time or forget to vote.

Since the poll is on Saturday, usually a weekend holiday, it should not make much difference for the ordinary voter. It remains to be seen whether this step helps BJP or Congress.

Former foreign Secretary Jaishankar joins Tata Group as PM relaxes ‘Cooling Off Period’

Posted on by
Reply

Former Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar, the former ambassador known for his coveted roles in Japan, singapore and China, besides the US, has been allowed to take over a new post as President of Global Corporate Affairs of Tata group and he will report to N Chandrasekaran, executive chairman of Tata Sons.

Since senior bureaucrats are bound by one-year cooling off period before accepting any private sector positions, Jaishankar had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a waiver of the "cooling-off period" and reportedly got a positive reply.

In his new role, Dr. Jaishankar will oversee the Tata group’s global corporate affairs and international strategy, which includes all Tata Sons’ international offices, said a statement. "I am delighted to welcome Dr Jaishankar to the Tata Group. His extensive experience and knowledge on international affairs will be very valuable to the group as we work to reinforce our brand and leadership globally," said Chandrasekaran, Tata Sons executive chairman.

"The Tata Group is an iconic institution known for its value-based leadership as well as India’s most respected brand globally. I look forward to being part of the Tata group and working with key stakeholders to make an impact," said Jaishankar.

Jaishankar, who served as the Indian foreign secretary from January 2015 to January 2018, was an Indian Foreign Service officer of 1977 batch who played a key role in India’s relations with Japan, China, Singapore and the United states, especially in negotiating the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.

He had served both Manmohan singh and Narendra Modi, who had trusted his skills as an ambassador with utmost negotiating skills. He was also credited with a peaceful end to the stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam last year. He retired on Jan. 28, 2018 from the government service.

A graduate of St Stephen’s College at the University of Delhi, he has an MA in Political Science, MPhil and Ph.D. in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University.


​

Trichomonosis disease discovered among myna birds in Pakistan: Report

Posted on by
Reply

A strain of the disease responsible for killing off nearly two thirds of the UK’s greenfinches has been discovered in myna bird populations in Pakistan.

Mynas are native to the Indian subcontinent and are one of the world’s most invasive species. Although the disease is not generally fatal to them, experts from the University of East Anglia studying the birds say there is a risk they might pass it on to other species.

Avian trichomonosis, more commonly called canker or frounce, is carried by a parasite that primarily infects pigeons in the UK and the larger birds of prey which feed on them.

But in 2005 scientists found the disease had jumped into Britain’s garden songbird populations, predominantly affecting greenfinches and chaffinches.

Since then, the greenfinch population in the UK has fallen from around 4.3 million breeding pairs to fewer than 1.5 million in 2016.

In 2011, the disease was discovered to have reached European finch populations. Now researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have found it in an entirely separate songbird species – the common myna.

Working in partnership with the University of Agriculture in Pakistan, researchers captured and screened 167 myna birds from eight different sites around the Faisalabad region of Pakistan. They discovered that around 20 per cent of the birds were infected with the disease and that there were infected birds at all of the sites surveyed.

The study, published in the journal Parasitology, also identified that the disease affecting the mynas was a different strain from the one found in the UK songbirds. Few of the infected birds had signs of poor health, suggesting that they can carry the disease without it being fatal.

Because myna birds are so invasive, however, there is a significant risk that they can spread the disease to other species that might not otherwise come into contact with it.

Dr Kevin Tyler, from UEA and a senior author of the study, said: “Mynas are able to roost almost anywhere in warm climates, which is one reason they are so successful, but it could also mean they are likely to spread the disease further.

“Mynas have already been implicated in the spread of bird flu through contact with poultry, so this could be of concern to poultry farmers. However, further research and testing is needed to see whether the disease has yet spread from mynas to other species.”

He added: “In the UK, pigeons carry this disease without serious symptoms and it looks like myna birds are able to do the same. This could be due to a natural resilience to the disease, or it could be that this is a less virulent strain – again, we need to carry out further research to investigate.”

Although mynas are thought to be native to the Indian subcontinent, populations of the birds have spread around the world, so the team is also keen to test for the disease in other countries.

#MeToo knocks the door of Indore as 2 men try to pull skirt of model on scooter

Posted on by
Reply

Last week the #MeToo movement reached its peak in Hyderabad when an actress bared her top in protest against ‘Casting Couch’ in the Telugu Film Industry. Almost everybody familiar with the Telugu films were shocked to know the dark side of the film industry.

While many parents are swearing not ever send their children to act as models or actors in the film industry, an Indore incident has further gripped the pulse of the nation. The model was wearing a skirt and riding a scooter when two men on a two-wheeler tried to pull her skirt.

She fell down trying to stop them from doing that. "It happened on one of the busiest roads of Indore, and nobody tried to stop them," she wrote in her blog soon after the incident.

Now, an Indore-based model has come out with a narrated an incident of sexual harassment, wherein two men allegedly tried to pull her skirt while she was driving a two-wheeler.

She took to social media Monday to delineate the incident that took place on a busy road in Indore.

"This happened today. Two guys tried to pull my skirt while I was on my activa and said, ‘dikhao Iske niche Kya hai?’ I tried to stop them and lost control and met with an accident. It happened on one of the busiest roads of indore, and nobody tried to stop them."

She could not see the number of the duo’s vehicle. A passer-by helped her to get up but not without saying, "It’s because you’re wearing a skirt!", which left her more offended. "What I want to wear is my f**king choice. Those guys don’t have any right to harass me because WEARING A SKIRT DOESN’T GIVE YOU A RIGHT TO BEHAVE LIKE THAT," she wrote in a blog on Instagram.

She returned to the place of incident but found no CCTV cameras to cover the spot. "I’m registering a police complaint tomorrow. I don’t know if they will be able to find those guys, but if I don’t do it right now, it defeats my purpose," she concluded.

If this is in India, in Hollywood the #MeToo movement is gaining supporters and hecklers alike. Last week, Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director behind great brands such as Chanel and Fendi, disparaged the #MeToo movement asking models not to get in the profession if they "don’t want" their "pants pulled about".

He is no different from the uncle in Indore who said that the incident happened because the model was wearing a skirt. Perhaps, the mindset of the whole world, especially of the elderly men, should change.

Why Kate’s 3rd child is special to Queen Elizabeth?

Posted on by
Reply

As Prince William’s wife Kate was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in west London on Monday morning to give birth to the royal couple’s third child, Queen Elizabeth may receive a happy news on her 92nd Birthday.

If Kate gives birth to the child on Monday, then there will be a double whammy in the UK royalty on every April 23rd to celebrate two royal birthdays. If it is a baby girl, the joy will more for the Queen.

Kate or the Duchess of Cambridge showed the early signs of labour on Monday morning and was driven in a car to the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s where their two children, George and Charlotte, were born.

"The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge," Prince William’s office said.

Interestingly, Kate’s sister Pippa Middleton is also reportedly expecting her first child with husband James Matthews, this year, said the Sun. The Middleton family has more celebrations scheduled ahead this year.


​

Kate Middleton rushed to St Mary’s; People throng hospital to welcome third royal child

Posted on by
Reply

Prince William’s wife Kate was admitted to a hospital in London on Monday morning to give birth to the couple’s third child.

Kate, officially known as the Duchess of Cambridge, started the early signs of labour in the morning and she was rushed to the private Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital in west London where their two children, George and Charlotte, were born.

"The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge," Prince William’s office said in a statement.

Soon after the news was announced, several people have started assembling in front of the st. Mary’s Hospital in London as it happened in the last two births in the British royal family.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge last appeared on March 22 at a public function in London that was a run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled this month. The royals attended the SportsAid event and met young British sportsmen and women ahead of the Commonwealth games.

Interestingly, Kate’s sister Pippa is also reportedly expecting her first child with husband James Matthews, said the Sun. The Middleton family has a long list of events galore spanning throughout the year 2018.

Fakenews finder NewsGuard opens hotline, encrypted service now

Posted on by
Reply

NewsGuard, which has been scanning thousands of news websites to identify fake and irresponsible news, has started a new hotline service.

Planning to employ trained journalists to check and rate thousands of news conetent daily, the hotline service will be supported by a secure and encrypted digital infrastructure, said the company in a statement.

The telephone hotline will be useful for the political candidates and members of the public to report suspected fake news sites.

Steven Brill, co-CEO of NewsGuard said, “We’ve already seen one case of a candidate citing an endorsement from a bogus site that was created by supporters of that candidate. This is a particularly insidious variety of fake news, because it is aimed directly at unsuspecting voters.”

He said a SWAT team of NewsGuard analysts will work 24/7 to monitor fake news and identify suddenly trending news sites that NewsGuard has not yet rated. It will now check those website and warn the users about them in real time.

The company has also sought Internet users to contact Newsguard and send information in a secure, fully encrypted messages on WhatsApp number +1-740-480-1850 or SMS to: +1-740-480-1850 in the US. Those who wish to send an email can get in touch with Newsguard at tips. or they can call and leave a digital voice message at: +1-740-480-1850, said the company in its statement.

Bharat Ane Nenu enters second day $2 million club in US market, after Bahubali 2

Posted on by
Reply

Mahesh Babu-starrer ‘Bharat Ane Nenu’ has become the fastest Telugu movie to enter the $2 million club in just two days, close on the heels of similar feat by Prabhas’s ‘Bahubali 2’.

Mahesh Babu’s film has entered USA All-time Telugu Top 10 on Day 1 and has crossed the $2million mark on the second day of its release, while Ram Charan’s ‘Rangasthalam’ had managed to earn $1,828,755 in two days.

 

Mahesh Babu’s last blockbuster ‘Srimanthudu’ in 2015 directed by Koratala Siva also made it to $2 million club in the US market. With this, Prabhas, Mahesh Babu will be the two Telugu heroes to have two fillms each in the top 10 $2 million club in the USA box office.

Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, NTR, Ram Charan and Varun Tej have so far made one fillm each to enter the $2 million club in this huge Telugu movie-goers market. The actual earnings of “Bharat Ane Nenu” will be known after the weekend collections pour in.

According to Taran Adarsh, “Bharat Ane Nenu” has taken a roaring start in USA and debuts at No.8 at the USA Box Office, with $1.397,657 (Rs.9.26 crore) as of Thursday previews and Friday collections.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh has also tweeted saying the film has entered the TPO 5 charts in Australia too with A$ 284,211 (Rs.1.44 crore).