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.

‘Bharat Ane Nenu’ Opening Day Collections at Rs.55 cr; Fail to cross Pawan Kalyan record

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Mahesh Babu’s latest film “Bharat Ane Nenu” was able to gross Rs.55 crore worldwide and apparently failed to surpass the record non-Bahubali Telugu film’s opening collections set by Pawan Kalyan’s “Agnyathavasi” at Rs.60 crore on its opening day.

Bharat Ane Nenu, revolving around politics with Mahesh Babu donning the role of chief minister, was sold for theatrical release at a whopping Rs.100 crore and released on Friday in 2,000 screens.

Andhra boxoffice.co has reported that the film has collected Rs 31.9 crore in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Telugu speaking states and this is the highest opening day box office collections for any Mahesh Babu-starrer so far. His last film ‘Spyder’ in Telugu and Tamil  grossed a poor Rs.64 lakh on its opening day though it went on to cross Rs.100 crore.

According to Trade analyst Ramesh Bala tweeted, “#Superstar @urstrulyMahesh’s #BharatAneNenu has grossed an approximate Rs. 55 Crs at the WW Box Office on Day 1.. (Premieres + Day 1) Outstanding Opening.”

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh said the film’s Australia collections are remarkable. “Telugu biggie #BharatAneNenu sets Australia BO on (fire). WHAT.A.START… Mahesh Babu proves his stamina and star pull, while #BharatAneNenu proves its mettle at the ticket window… Fri A$ 168,194 [Rs. 85.45 lakhs] / 35 locations.Well begun is half done… #BAN.”

The individual earnings from the US market are still awaited but Mahesh Babu has massive following there. Adarsh had predicted that a “Tsunami is about to unleash at USA BO tomorrow… Mahesh Babu’s keenly-anticipated Telugu film #BharatAneNenu is expected to fetch a MIND-BOGGLING START from its premiere screenings in USA… Countdown has begun… Will it set new benchmarks?”

However, the film failed to match or surpass the past non-Bahubali record set by Pawan Kalyan’s film “Agnyathavasi” with a record collections at Rs.60,20 crore on its opening day.

Otherwise, “Bharat Ane Nenu” revolves around politics though it moves slightly away from the typical political films. The lead character in the film becomes the chief minister of his state after returning from abroad but fails to curtail corruption and disruptive political maneouvres. He decides to make every citizen follow rules and become accountabile.

The female lead role was played by Kiara Advani, who played in Hindi film “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story” and this is her debut film in South India. Prakash Raj played the role of the antagonist. Produced by DVV Danayya, the film was directed by Siva Koratala. This is second film by Mahesh Babu with Koratala after the success of “Srimanthudu” last year.

 

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Sunil Grover upbeat being part of Salman Khan-starrer ‘Bharat’

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Comedian-actor Sunil Grover is upbeat after he bagged a role in superstar Salman Khan starrer “Bharat”, being directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. Priyanka Chopra will play the female lead.

“Welcome Sunil Grover to ‘Bharat’,” Zafar tweeted. Soon, Sunil replied: “Thank you sir for giving me the visa. I am so proud of being part of this project.”

“Bharat” is scheduled to release on Eid 2019. It is an official adaptation of 2014 South Korean film “Ode to My Father”.

It is produced by Salman’s brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri’s Reel Life Production and Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series.

The story revolves around an ordinary man’s family separated during the war and his efforts to work in mines. He marries a nurse and returns to the imported store where his father said he would come and meet.

Finally at the end of his life, he had to sell the store under pressure when he was convinced that his father may not return ever.

The Korean film was the third highest-grossing film in the history of Korean cinema, with 14.2 million tickets sold.

Nandamuri Kalyan Ram-Tamannah’s ‘Naa Nuvve’ gets ready

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Nandamuri Kalyan Ram and Tamannah are playing the lead roles in the romantic thriller “”Naa Nuvve”, that has been directed by ad film maker Jayendra. The movie’s post production work has been completed and it is gearing up for a release in the last week of May. 

The promo of the first song from the film, titled “Chiniki Chiniki”, was released on Wednesday, 18th April. This song is expected to be a special highlight of the film, according to the makers. 

 “Naa Nuvve is a very fresh, sensible and lovable film. We are very excited about the “Chiniki Chiniki” song in the movie. It has top notch cinematography from P.C.Sreeram, soul touching music from Sharreth and terrific choreography from Brundha master. This song will be a visual delight. The combination of Kalyan Ram and Tamannah promises to be a special highlight “, said Kiran Muppavarapu, who is one of the producers.

“Naa Nuvve” is being produced by Kiran Muppavarapu and Vijay Vattikuti on Cool Breeze Cinemas banner while Mahesh S Koneru is presenting the film on East Coast Productions banner. 

“Kalyan Ram has undergone a complete transformation for this movie. We are going with a top notch technical team and the film will offer a unique experience for movie lovers. “Chiniki Chiniki” is a song which we all love and we are very excited about it “, said Mahesh S Koneru, who is presenting the movie.  

Kalyan Ram, Tamannah, Tanikella Bharani, Posani Krishna Murali, Vennela Kishore, Praveen, Bitthiri Satti, Priya and Surekha Vani are some of the important actors in the film. 

Music : Sharreth

Cinematography : P.C. Sreeram

Editing : T.S. Suresh

Lyrics : Ramajogayya Sastry, Anantha Sriram

Choreography : Brinda

Fights : Real Sateesh

Art : Selva Kumar

Presented by : Mahesh S Koneru 

Producers : Kiran Muvvavarapu and Vijay Vattikuti

Dialogues : Jayendra and Meeraq

Story – Screenplay –   Jayendra and Subha

Direction – Jayendra

Sri Reddy row: MAA heeds Pawan Kalyan, turns ire on TV channels

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The Telugu film industry’s own version of #MeToo movement has taken an ugly political turn when actor-cum-aspiring politician Pawan Kalayan was dragged in to it unwittingly.

The month-old saga of Sri Reddy set the Telugu film industry in a state of shock when she stripped herself on Hyderabad roads on April 7, exactly two weeks ago. Soon, she revealed the top producers, directors and individuals involved in the so-called ‘casting couch’ tirade unleashed on women aspirants in to the film field.

The real drama began when she appealed to Pawan Kalyan, who is at cudgils with the estranged ruling TDP and the AP chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. In his response, he asked her to approach the police.

Intrigued at his response, Sri Reddy called him names and used abusive language and apologized for calling him a brother. She took out her own sandal and slapped her own cheek i disgust, claiming police complaint would be a hogwash in such cases. Another Telugu film director Ram Gopal Verma, who was waiting in the wings, claimed that it was he who played the “Sutradhari” and apologized to Pawan Kalyan.

Even Sri Reddy apologized but Pawan Kalyan has unleashed his anger this time and forced AP CM and his son, AP9 TV channel owner, host of others into the row for bringing him disrepute on TV channels repeatedly telecasting the public rant of Sri Reddy against him.

On Friday, the building of the apex body Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce, in Hyderabad’s Film Nagar, took the centre-stage with the entire Chiranjeevi’s family and fans attending and the meeting where Pawan Kalyan discussed the next course of action. He questioned why the Movie Artists Association (MAA) did not initiate any action against what he called ‘erring’ TV channels.

Notwithstanding, Ram Gopal Verma has given out his version to answer Pawan Kalyan. Today, the chamber is meeting to discuss and release its statement against the TV channels which have been airing the news of Sri Reddy and giving her undue publicity.

Already Telugu TV news channels, including TV9, TV5 and Mahaa News have taken exception to Pawan Kalyan’s tweets alleging aspersion on them. “When Pawan Kalyan is doing Pada Yatra, he needs us to cover but not when we cover victims of ‘casting coach’ in the Telugu film industry. He cannot tell us what to cover and what not to cover,” said Allam Narayana of TV5.

The the Movie Artists Association is meeting on saturday in Hyderabad to issue a statement supporting Pawan Kalyan and initiating legal notices to all the TV channels which have broadcast the rant by Sri Reddy.

As politics entered the Telugu film industry’s #MeToo movement, the desired dilution has happened and the attention is wholly on a bigger name Pawan Kalyan, not Sri Reddy now.

Mahesh Babu-starrer ‘Bharat Ane Nenu’ set for huge Box-office Collections

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Mahesh Babu-starrer ‘Bharat Ane nenu’ is going packed on 2,000 screens hoping to surpass the non-Bahubali record of Rs.60 crore in box office collections, set by Pawan Kalayan’s ‘Agnyathavasi’ on its opening day.

The first take on the film since morning on Friday was that the film will be a big hit like ‘Srimanthudu’ by the same Mahesh-Koratala combination in the past. But for Mahesh Babu, his filmography has been constistently up and down with every film. After the failure of ‘Spyder’, ‘Bharat ane Nenu’ should be a success. But going by the second trait in his career, every second film with the old director was a failure.

Here is a glance at Mahesh Babu’s filmography since the success of ‘Pokiri’ in 2006:

Year—-Film

Unnecessary pill-popping leads to dementia, finds new study

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A new study by University of Sydney has found that excessive use of medication increases dementia, particularly unnecessary or inappropriate medications. Nearly 2,500 people were examined for the study conducted in collaboration with Yale University and University of Kentucky.

The number of people living with dementia around the world is 50 million. In Australia alone, it is currently 425,000, which means dementia costs the country more than $15 billion per year and it is currently the second leading cause of death in Australia.

"Our study found that following a diagnosis of dementia in older people, medication use increased by 11 per cent in a year and the use of potentially inappropriate medications increased by 17 per cent," said lead author Dr Danijela Gnjidic, from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Charles Perkins Centre at University of Sydney.

The researchers listed inappropriate or unnecessary medications such as sleeping tablets, pain drugs, depression drugs and acid reflux drugs (proton pump inhibitors). "These medications are typically recommended for short term use but are commonly used for long term by people with dementia," she said.

Among the reasons for this include inadequate guidelines, lack of time during physician patient encounters, diminished decision-making capacity, difficulties with comprehension and communication, and difficulties in establishing goals of care.

"The key is to communicate closely with general practitioners, pharmacists and other health professionals to make informed decisions and to practice good medicine management techniques to minimise the risk of side effects.Deprescribing unnecessary medications may improve an individual’s quality of life and can reduce unnecessary healthcare cost," said researchers.

The study has been published Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Ye! Awards Egypt given away to young entrepreneurs

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Nine of Egypt’s most promising young entrepreneurs were showcased at the Ye! Awards Egypt at the Marriott Cairo Hotel on April 15, 2018. More than 120 guests from across the country attended the event, organized by the SANAD Fund for MSME’s Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) and Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) in collaboration NilePreneurs, the Central Bank of Egypt, and Nile University.

The Ye! Awards Egypt served to raise awareness of the unique needs of young entrepreneurs in Egypt and recognize the most outstanding new businesses in the country. Awards were presented for three categories:

• Ye! Superstar – For a registered enterprise with annual turnover of more than 50,000 USD. The winner of the Ye! Superstar Award was Amira El Gharib of Orcas. Orcas offers a safe and secure mobile application that connects parents to verified tutors and babysitters and in turn connects Egyptian youth to valuable employment opportunities.
• Ye! Rising Star – For a registered enterprise with annual turnover of less than USD 50,000. The winner of the Ye! Rising Star Award was Abdallah Hanbak of Freeziana. Freeziana is an e-commerce platform connecting rural artisans who specialize in providing handmade products to consumers around the globe.
• Ye! Stars to Watch – For a pre-revenue or unregistered enterprise with a strong business plan. The winner of the Ye! Stars to Watch Award was Tarek Mandour of Mazboot App. Mazboot is an easy-to-use mobile health application that allows diabetic patients and doctors to connect, share data, and monitor exercise and medications to stay on top of the disease.

In addition to the awards, two entrepreneurs received special recognition: Rania Ayman of Entreprenelle was named top female entrepreneur, and Ahmed El Rawy of ASKOVA Wind Energy was recognized for his entrepreneurship in green energy.

Ines Ebrecht, Chair of the SANAD TAF Committee, explained: “Access to finance is not an isolated constraint to the growth of small enterprises and the economy. We are therefore happy to have partnered with CYFI and the NilePreneurs program on making an important contribution to entrepreneurs’ ability to grow their business and network with one another through the Ye! Platform.”

Speaking to an audience of high-level representatives from the governmental, banking and private sectors, as well as entrepreneurship hubs who are active in the local ecosystem, Nermine El Tahri, Assistant Sub Governor, Banking Reform Sector at the Central Bank of Egypt, stressed the importance of supporting young entrepreneurs, stating: “Our participation in this significant event comes within the strategy of our continuous efforts to support and empower youth and entrepreneurs.”

Addresses were also given by Heba Labib from Nile University and Abel Aziz Nossier from the Egyptian Banking Institute.

Prior to the ceremony, the Ye! community had opened applications for the Ye! Awards Egypt through its online platform. The applications were then evaluated based on their levels of innovation, potential for growth, and social impact. All entrepreneurs were under the age of 30.

Prizes include sponsored travel to the Child and Youth Finance Summit in South Africa; incubation and ongoing support through the NilePreneur program; immediate shortlisting to the MINT Incubator competition; and placement with the Global Leasing Company where the winners will receive first-hand training on finance and financial analysis.

In her closing remarks, Ye! Director Lubna Shaban stated that there was still a lot of work to be done in providing additional institutional support to young entrepreneurs. “The Ye! Community aims to act as an awareness builder and convener, bringing together government and the private sector to encourage dialogue to impact change in the Egyptian ecosystem.”

The Ye! awards are part of a global series of international awards given via the Global Inclusion Awards. Last year, these were held in Berlin as an official part of the German G-20 presidency’s agenda.

Slovenia to Resettle 60 Syrian Refugees from Turkey

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Slovenia will implement its first ever refugee resettlement programme with the support of IOM, the UN Migration Agency, by resettling 60 Syrian refugees from Turkey to Slovenia in 2018. The new programme officially came into effect after the signing of a Framework Agreement between IOM and the Slovenian government on Thursday (12/04).

“The resettlement agreement marks a new milestone in the cooperation between Slovenia and IOM,” said Iva Perhavec, IOM Slovenia Head of Office.

“Through the programme, we will support the Slovenian Government in meeting its commitments to providing a safe and legal pathway for vulnerable Syrian refugees in Turkey, and sharing responsibility with Turkey as a host country for refugee protection,” Perhavec continued.

In 2017, Turkey was the top departure country for resettlement globally, with 10,162 vulnerable refugees resettled to European countries alone.

Resettlement from Turkey is implemented through a close partnership between EU Member States, the Turkish Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), UNHCR and IOM.

The resettlement process from Turkey begins with the DGMM and UNHCR, which identify, assess and submit refugee files to countries for resettlement consideration. Following the selection missions undertaken by EU Member States in Turkey, selected refugees are assisted by IOM with case processing, including assistance with obtaining visas and travel documents, pre-departure health assessments, pre-departure orientation sessions and movement management.

When the refugees are travel-ready, IOM facilitates their transfer from Turkey, including by providing operational and/or medical escorts to particularly vulnerable persons with special needs to resettlement states in the EU, where representatives of the local IOM office meet and greet them at arrival.

Following the arrival of refugees in Slovenia, local non-governmental organizations and other service providers will provide them with integration assistance to support their smooth and successful start to integration in their new home.

Resettlement of refugees has continued to be one of the fundamental purposes and priorities of IOM. Founded in 1951 to assist in the resettlement of Europeans displaced in the aftermath of World War II, IOM has been working closely with governments, UNHCR, non-governmental organizations and other partners to provide a durable solution for vulnerable refugees through resettlement for over 65 years.

In 2017, some 93,216 refugees were resettled worldwide by IOM, of which 26,673 beneficiaries were assisted with resettlement to and humanitarian admission in European countries, an increase of 49 per cent compared to the previous year. A total of 23 European countries implemented resettlement or humanitarian admission programmes in 2017, two more than in 2016.

Faster walking patients are hospitalized less: Study

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Faster walking patients with heart disease are hospitalised less, according to research presented today at EuroPrevent 2018, a European Society of Cardiology congress, and published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.1,2

The three-year study was conducted in 1,078 hypertensive patients, of whom 85% also had coronary heart disease and 15% also had valve disease.

Patients were then asked to walk 1 km on a treadmill at what they considered to be a moderate intensity.3 Patients were classified as slow (2.6 km/hour), intermediate (3.9 km/hour) and fast (average 5.1 km/hour). A total of 359 patients were slow walkers, 362 were intermediate and 357 were fast walkers.

The researchers recorded the number of all-cause hospitalisations and length of stay over the next three years. Participants were flagged by the regional Health Service Registry of the Emilia-Romagna Region, which collects data on all-cause hospitalisation.

Study author Dr Carlotta Merlo, a researcher at the University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy, said: "We did not exclude any causes of death because walking speed has significant consequences for public health. Reduced walking speed is a marker of limited mobility, which is a precursor of disability, disease, and loss of autonomy." 4,5

During the three year period, 182 of the slow walkers (51%) had at least one hospitalisation, compared to 160 (44%) of the intermediate walkers, and 110 (31%) of the fast walkers.

The slow, intermediate and fast walking groups spent a total of 4,186, 2,240, and 990 days in hospital over the three years, respectively.

The average length of hospital stay for each patient was 23, 14, and 9 days for the slow, intermediate and fast walkers, respectively (see figure).

Each 1 km/hour increase in walking speed resulted in a 19% reduction in the likelihood of being hospitalised during the three-year period. Compared to the slow walkers, fast walkers had a 37% lower likelihood of hospitalisation in three years.

Dr Merlo said: "The faster the walking speed, the lower the risk of hospitalisation and the shorter the length of hospital stay. Since reduced walking speed is a marker of limited mobility, which has been linked to decreased physical activity,4 we assume that fast walkers in the study are also fast walkers in real life."

She continued: "Walking is the most popular type of exercise in adults. It is free, does not require special training, and can be done almost anywhere. Even short, but regular, walks have substantial health benefits. Our study shows that the benefits are even greater when the pace of walking is increased."

Rohingya Refugees and Locals Work Together to Prepare for Monsoon in Cox’s Bazar Camps

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Rohingya refugees and local people in Teknaf, a southern sub-district of Cox’s Bazar, are racing to prepare for monsoon rains forecast to start as early as this week. IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has been supporting efforts to prepare the camps, which although smaller than the giant Ukhiya sub-district settlements of Kutupalong and Balukali, still house thousands of people, who face similar threats of flooding and landslides.

To date IOM has supported 24 quick impact projects in Teknaf under the umbrella of 20 Para Development Committees (PDCs) – community platforms, each comprised of six refugees and five locals. The projects include building bridges, access roads, steps, drains, and slope protection work that will enable communities to better weather the monsoon.

The projects are mainly located in the densely populated Unchiprang, Leda Makeshift Settlement, Nayapara and Shamlapur camps. Over 21,310 people live in Unchiprang, 9,320 in Leda, 24,790 in Nayapara and 22,700 in Shamlapur. In all, some 250,000 Rohingya refugees live outside the main Ukhiya camps.

“At present, the most critical issue for both the Rohingya refugees and local people is to be safe from the rains,” said Maulavi Shaker, 35, a Rohingya member of a Teknaf PDC. “We’ve been working towards that, building roads and bridges so that our area won’t get cut off if there is flooding,” he added.

“Most refugees in Teknaf are living in shelters built only with plastic sheets and thin bamboos, which are highly vulnerable in the monsoon,” said Mohammad Helal Uddin, 35, another Teknaf member.

IOM and partner agencies recognize the risks posed by the flimsy structures in high winds and rain and have been racing to upgrade the shelters. In Teknaf over 15,000 shelters – covering over 78,000 people – have been identified as in need of upgrades, including plastic sheets, poles and guy ropes. IOM itself is targeting 13,204 shelters housing 66,020 refugees.

“The PDCs are helping our teams to identify workers and organizing cash for work in order to ensure that households living in flood-prone and landslide-prone areas get back-filling to elevate their shelter plots. We’re also constructing drainage to protect the shelters from run-off water, building embankments to prevent tidal surges and doing a number of slope protection works,” said Rafael Abis, IOM’s site management area coordinator. “The PDCs will also help IOM in the event of an evacuation – particularly if it involves those who are unable to evacuate themselves,” he added.

IOM has also helped the PDCs to establish Youth Safety and Security sub-committees within each of PDC to cope with possible emergencies such as flash floods, landslides, fires or conflicts. The sub-committee members have been trained to build the response capacity of their respective communities.

“Despite all the challenges that the Rohingya influx has created in Cox’s Bazar, the refugee and local communities have maintained a harmonious relationship throughout the crisis,” said John McCue, IOM Senior Operations Coordinator in Cox’s Bazar. “Representatives of both communities have come together to identify shared needs and solutions. The roads and bridges that they have constructed to provide access, particularly during the rainy season, is a significant example of communal harmony in this disaster-prone area,” he added.

Fatty fish, camelina oil good for HDL, IDL cholesterol: study

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Eating fatty fish increases the size and lipid composition of HDL particles in people with impaired glucose metabolism, said a new study by the University of Eastern Finland.

The changes in size and lipid composition of HDL (good cholestrol) particles make them beneficial for cardiovascular health, said the study published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. It also found that camelina sativa oil decreases the number of harmful IDL particles.

The researchers studied the effects of camelina oil and fatty fish intake on the size and composition of cholesterol-carrying lipoproteins. Although the health effects of HDL particles actually are dependent on their size and composition, earlier research has shown that large HDL particles are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, whereas a small HDL particle size may increase the risk.

The IDL lipoprotein, on the other hand, is the precursor of LDL, which is also known as “the bad” cholesterol. Previous studies have shown that long-chain omega-3 fatty acids found in fish have a beneficial effect on lipoprotein size and composition. Camelina oil. It’s also rich in alpha-linolenic acid, which is an essential omega-3 fatty acid whose associations with lipoproteins aren’t well understood yet.

The study involved 79 Finnish men and women aged between 40 and 72, and with impaired glucose metabolism. The participants were randomly divided into 4 groups and studied for 12 weeks — the camelina oil group, the fatty fish group, the lean fish group, and the control group.

People in the lean and fatty fish groups were instructed to eat lean or fatty fish four times a week, and people in the camelina oil group were asked to use 30 mm of camelina sativa oil daily. Participants in the control group were allowed to eat fish once a week, and the use of camelina oil and other oils containing alpha-linolenic acid, such as rapeseed oil, was prohibited.

The researchers found that eating fatty fish increased the size and lipid composition of HDL particles, and that the use of camelina oil decreased the number of harmful IDL particles.

Both of these changes can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Eating lean fish, however, was not associated with changes in the number, size or composition of lipoprotein particles, they found.

More power extraction from solar cells found

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Physicists at the University of Warwick found a new way that could literally squeeze more power out of solar cells by physically deforming each of the crystals in the semiconductors used by photovoltaic cells.

The study, led by Professor Marin Alexe and his team Ming-Min Yang, and Dong Jik Kim in the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics, first looked at the physical constraints on the current solar cells with absolute limit on their efficiency. Known as Shockley-Queisser Limit means only a maximum of 33.7% of sunlight can ever be turned into electricity. The anomalous photovoltaic effect has very low power generation efficiency and never used in practical power-generation systems.

The Warwick team worked on semiconductors that are effective in commercial solar cells so as to manipulate or push them in some way so that they too could be forced into a non-centrosymmetric structure and possibly benefit from the bulk photovoltaic effect.

For their experiment, they decided to push such semiconductors into shape using conductive tips from atomic force microscopy devices to a "nano-indenter" which they then used to squeeze and deform individual crystals of Strontium Titanate (SrTiO3), Titanium Dioxide (TiO2), and Silicon (Si).

They found that all three could be deformed to give a non-centrosymmetric structure and then able to give the bulk photovoltaic effect. Professor Marin Alexe from the University of Warwick said:"Extending the range of materials that can benefit from the bulk photovoltaic effect has several advantages: it is not necessary to form any kind of junction; any semiconductor with better light absorption can be selected for solar cells, and finally, the ultimate thermodynamic limit of the power conversion efficiency, so-called Shockley-Queisser Limit, can be overcome."

He described that there are engineering challenges but it should be possible to create solar cells where a field of simple glass based tips (a hundred million per cm2) could be held in tension to sufficiently de-form each semiconductor crystal. If such feat is possible and even a single percentage point of efficiency is added, it would be of immense commercial value to solar cell manufacturers and power suppliers.


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This is an artists impression of squeezing more power out of solar cells by physically deforming each of the crystals in the semiconductors used by photovoltaic cells.(CREDIT: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick)

How mineral-rich Japan can dictate world now?

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China’s minister visited Tokyo for an economic dialogue last week not without a valid reason. Japan no longer needs China’s rare earth materials as it found a treasure of an island in its own backyard and the supply is semi-inifinite. This is what’s called turn-around in destiny.

Some precious “rare-earth” metals such as yttrium is vital to manufacture lasers, magnets, ceramic capacitors, oxidative agents, high-temperature superconductors, stainless steel, and PET scanners. Scientists in their new report on the island Minami-Tori-shima, also known as Marcus Island, said the mud is saturated with rare-earth elements and yttrium, abbreviated REY. Though Yttrium is not always classified as a rare-earth element, it is extremely rare.

The enriched mud has Yttrium and HREE (heavy rare earth elements), which accounted for 44 percent of the total amount of REY available in the region. It means Japan can supply Yttrium for 780 years, Europium (Eu) for 620 years, Terbium (Tb) for 420 years and Dysprosium (Dy) for the next 730 years, without any interruption.

What has puzzled scientists was the huge area with a high concentration of rare-earth elements, which in itself is very rare. The so-called rare-earth elements (REY) are not common on Earth and paleontologists believe that they could have been brought to earth from asteroids.

For instance, cerium is the 25th most abundant element within the Earth’s crust and is more prevalent than copper but widespread and never concentrated at one place, making it rare. In all, 17 different rare-earth elements are currently being mined in China, with Australia as the second-largest worldwide supplier.

It was in 2011 that research reports indicated huge REY-rich mud with mineral concentrations up to 2,230 ppm spread across the Pacific Ocean. In 2013, a report zeroed in on Japan’s isolated Marcus Island or Minamitori island which showed rich deposits of up to 5,000 ppm REY existed around the small coral atoll. The richest samples were up to 0.66 percent rare earth oxides, compared with a typical concentration of 0.05 to 0.5 percent for Chinese mines, said the report.

This latest survey of Minamitori island showed the total amount of rare earth material which can be potentially mined is more than 16 million tons of rare-earth oxides with an average 964 ppm, making it a semi-infinite basis to the world. The study found that the grains of rare earth material could be filtered by size, making it far easier to mine.

With its technological superiority, Japan is expected to mine the resources efficiently and keep it as a long-term resource and dilute china’s superiority in the field of rare earth materials.


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NO CASH in ATMs? What’s Behind Sudden ‘run’ on Banks?

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It is more than 18 months since the whole country’s citizens were paraded on the streets by the Demonetisation 2016 and the days are here again with No Cash board greeting on ATMs, especially in non-BJP ruled states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and West Bengal. Karnataka facing elections next month has been partly spared from the cash crunch.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday questioned whether a "financial emergency" was subtly imposed in the country. "Seeing reports of ATMs running out of cash in several states. Big notes missing. Reminder of #DeMonetisation days. Is there a Financial Emergency going on in the country? #CashCrunch #CashlessATMs," Banerjee tweeted.

Even BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and coalition government in Bihar have reported cash crunch on Monday but Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley categorically denied the reports of any cash crunch. "There is more than adequate currency in circulation," he reiterated, saying RBI figures show that Rs 18.17 lakh crore was in circulation.

Severe cash crunch was faced in India following Nov. 8 ban on high-value currency notes. Almost the entire country was seen in big queues before the banks, and the sordid saga continued at a stretch for 15 days.

However, this time, reports say that the cash crunch was a knee-jerk reaction to the latest Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, being tabled in parliament. Rumours are widespread that it affects deposits if a bank goes bankrupt, though government has clarified that it is not the case.

In some states, this has led to a run on banks from where people are withdrawing deposits and collecting cash, especially, in Rs.2000 notes so as to hoard it easily at home.

Already huge bank defaults in Punjab National Bank, ICICI bank scam, and evasion of thousands of crores by big business magnates are making round every day in the country, leading to loss of people’s faith in the banking system. As of March 2018, bank deposits grew at 6.7 percent compared to 15.3 percent in 2016-17.

Opposition has described it as a "deliberate move” of the government. “News reports say that ATMs around the country are running of out of cash. Is it just gross mismanagement by the Modi Govt or is this a deliberate move? The people of the country forced to suffer even after 1.5 years of demonetisation show the acute failure of BJP government,” tweeted Congress.

Severe weather warning issued for this weekend 13 – 18 April 2018

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India Meteorological Department has issued severe weather warning from Friday, 13th April to 17th April, 2018 as below:

13 April (Day 1):♦ Heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya , Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamilnadu.

  • Thunderstorm accompanied with squall very likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya, Sub­Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Kerala and Tamilnadu.
  • Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds very likely at isolated places over Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Coastal & Interior Karnataka, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh and Lakshadweep.

Squally weather with wind speed occasionally reaching 40-­50 kmph very likely to prevail over

Comorin Maldives area. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

14 April (Day 2): ♦ Heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Kerala.

  • Thunderstorm accompanied with squall very likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura Kerala and Lakshadweep.
  • Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds very likely at isolated places over Sub­ Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Odisha, Coastal & Interior Karnataka, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and Tamilnadu.

Squally weather with wind speed occasionally reaching 40­-50 kmph very likely to prevail over

Maldives­Lakshadweep area. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

15 April (Day 3) : ♦ Thunderstorm accompanied with squall very likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya.

Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds very likely at isolated places over Odisha and North Interior Karnataka.

16 April (Day 4): ♦Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and Hail likely at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

  • Thunderstorm accompanied with squall likely at isolated places over Uttarakhand.
  • Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds likely at isolated places over North Interior Karnataka.

17 April (Day 5): No weather warning.

 

 

Indian Army, Axis Bank sign MoU on accounts, insurance cover

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A Memorandum of Undersanding (MoU) was signed between the Indian Army and Axis Bank on the Defence Salary Package on Friday, 13 Apr 2018, following a similar MoU signed in 2011 and renewed on 24 Mar 2015. The current MoU is tailor-made to suit the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families.

The signing-in ceremony was chaired by the Director General (MP&PS), Lt Gen SK Saini and was attended by the top dignitaries of Axis Bank headed by Mr Sanjay Sailas, President and Head, Retail Banking, Axis Bank.

Recently, Indian Army has also signed a MoU with HDFC bank. MoUs are considered for inception and renewal with banks on analyzing their utility and suitability to the requirements of serving soldiers, pensioners and families. Army is hoping that this MoU will benefit a large number of serving and retired Army personnel who are having their accounts with Axis bank; and also provide them an opportunity to access modern banking facilities.

Under the current MoU, apart from other benefits, the Army personnel will get free personal accident death cover and free permanent total disability cover of Rs 30 lakh and free educational cover of up to Rs 2 Lakh for children between the age of 12 and 20 years.

EC panel finds no wrong with BJP tweet on Karnataka poll

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The panel formed by the Election Commission to probe the alleged leakage of the announcement of Karnataka elections has submitted its report stating that there was no leak but only speculation.

The Officers’ Committee, constituted by the Election Commission of India on 27th March 2018 to probe alleged news leak of Election Schedule of Karnataka Elections ahead of the official announcement, has zeroed in to Times Now as the first source and said others, including BJP and Congress IT heads have tweeted it immediately.

The committe said that the leak in public domain was first displayed on Times Now TV news channel and used by all others it has questioned in the probe. Since the date of schedule put out by Times Now as May 12 and counting date as May 18, the information was not correct and based on speculation.

Times Now in its response said, “Channel assessed the details from informed sources. Given that the information was not entirely accurate it is obvious it was not a leak.”

The acutal date of counting as per the Commission announcement was 15th May and not 18th May. The panel said the stakeholders should have restrained from tweeting immediately or telecasting the speculative news.

“It is the responsibility of all the stakeholders including media and political parties not to attempt any speculation that may create unnecessary doubt in the minds of our stakeholders and citizens at large,” noted the panel.

The Election Commission (EC) has also questioned others who tweeted the “leak” of dates — BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, Karnataka Congress social media in-charge Srivatsa Y.B. and Kannada news channel Suvarna News, who maintained that they got it from Times Now.

Malviya had clarified his source of Tuesday itself while the others responded on Wednesday.

Suvarna News said the news was first broken by Times Now. After few minutes, they took the same news. “We would like to bring to your notice that one more Kannada news channel, BTV, was first to put this news. Then Suvarna News and Public TV aired the news almost simultaneously. Absence of vast network in national capital makes us follow reputed national news (channels). We do not have any source whatsoever inside Election Commission who could leak us the information before the press meet.”

Congress’ Srivatsa also gave similar response. “I hereby clarify that the source of my information was a newsbreak that I saw on Times Now TV channel at 11.06 a.m., which I then used to post my tweet. It’s my submission that my tweet wasn’t intended to infringe upon the constitutional mandate of the EC to conduct free and fair elections,” Srivatsa wrote. He also attached screenshots of Times Now and his tweet.

The EC committee headed by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Umesh Sinha and comprising Deputy Election Commissioners Sandeep Saxena, Sudeep Jain and Chandra Bhushan Kumar, Director General Dhirendra Ojha and Principal Secretary Standhope Yuhlung, probed into the “leak” and found that there was no leak.

Sri Reddy Leaks: Human Rights panel steps in as Govt mulls case against whistle blower

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When #MeToo movement reached the Telugu film industry, it has a different resonance compared to the wave it created in Hollywood. Here, the Telangana government and the central Information and Broadcasting Ministry were preparing to file cases against the whistle blower, forcing the Human Rights Commission to step in defence of the #MeToo actress Sri Reddy.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday served notices on the Information and Broadcasting ministry and the Telangana government, seeking detailed reports on the alleged sexual exploitation of women in the Telugu Film Industry or Tollywood.

The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of the recent protests by Telugu actress Sri Reddy who stripped in public in Hyderabad on Saturday against what is known as casting couch or sexual exploitation of aspiring artistes. Her act has sent shockwaves among the members of the Movie Artistes Association (MAA), an apex body of the Telugu film industry.

Not only did the MAA refused to make Sri Reddy a member of the body, but also threatened to file legal case against her. Sri Reddy followed the fight with her ‘SriReddyLeaks’ page on Facebook and started leaking the information about the people who had exploited her over the period. The former TV anchor has taken the Telugu film industry for a task that six names she had revealed have hit the roof.

The NHRC has sent notice to the MAA for not forming any committee to address sexual harassment complaints from women artistes in the film industry and even asked the state government to act on Sri Reddy’s complaints, instead of mulling cases against her.

Meanwhile, MAA has boycotted her and asked the members not to give her any role or work with her. The commission has taken a serious note of it and said such move by MAA violates the actress’s "right to livelihood and live a life with dignity." Instead of addressing the root-cause of the casting couch in the film industry, the government and the film body are acting against the whisle blower, noted the Human Rights commission in its notice served on MAA and the Telangana government.

“The Commission has also observed that reportedly, legal action against the actress has been taken under section 294 of IPC but it is nowhere mentioned, if action on the serious allegations of casting couch and sexual harassment, levelled by her, has been taken by the authorities. Therefore, it appears to be an attempt to muzzle the voice of whistle blower both from the sides of MAA and the State authorities,” said NHRC in a statement.

Sridevi named Best Actress at National Film Awards posthumously

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Sridevi, who died mysteriously in a Dubai hotel in February, was on Friday named the Best Actress posthumously for her role as a vengeful mother in the Hindi film "Mom", directed by Ravi Udyawar.

The role of Sridevi in the film revolved around a mother who goes out to take revenge against the person who had exploited her step-daughter. The film has made many parents to be cautious in sending their daughters to parties in farmhouses.

National Film Awards 2017 have been anounced and here is the full list of other recipients:

Here’s the complete list of National Film Awards winners:

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Sathamanam Bhavathi
Best stunt choreography – Peter Hein (Pulimurugan)
Best Children’s Film – Dhanak (Hindi)
Best Film on social issue – Pink
Best Direction – Rajesh (Ventilator)
Best Actor – Akhay Kumar (Rustom)
Best Actress – Surabhi Lakshmi (Minnaminungu)
Best Supporting Actress – Zaira Wasim (Dangal)
Best Child Artist – Adhish Praveen (Kunju Daivam), Saj (Noor Islam), Manohara (Railway Children)
Best Male Playback Singer – Sundara Iyer (Joker)
Best Female Playback Singer – Thume jaake
Best Screenplay (original) – Syam Pushkaran (Maheshinte Prathikaram)
Best Screenplay (adapted) – Sanjay Krishnaji patel (Dashakriya)
Best Editing – Rameshwar Ventilator
Sound designer – Jayadevan (Kaadu Pookunna Neram)
Best production design – 24
Best Costume Designer – Sachin (Marathi film)
Best Environmental film including agriculture – The Tiger who crossed the line
Best Make-up Artist – MK Ramakrishna
Best Music Direction – Babu Padmanabha (Kannada Lama)
Special Mention – Kadvi Hawa Mukthi bhava (Hindi)
Special Jury award – Mohanlal (Malayalam) for Pulimurugan, Janatha Garage and Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol