Rahul Gandhi has unique work style which cannot be compared with others: Gurudas Kamat

Photo By India Times

AHMEDABAD: A day after Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh caused a flutter with his statement that the party vice-president Rahul Gandhi lacked the temperament of a ruler, his colleague Gurudas Kamat today said that Rahul's style of working cannot be compared with others in order to judge his ability as a leader.

"Every person has a different style of working. People should know Rahul Gandhi as a new young leader who has emerged before this country. You cannot compare his working style with others to declare that he does not have leadership quality or he cannot shoulder any responsibility," Kamat said.

Kamat, in-charge of Congress in Gujarat, was speaking at the 'Chintan Shivir' (brainstorming session) organised by the party here in the wake of the party's rout in recent Lok Sabha polls.

Kamat said that media distorted Digvijay Singh's statement on Rahul.

"Nobody has given any statement on his (Rahul Gandhi's) image. Digvijay Singh's statement was distorted and he has already made it clear last evening that he did not mean what came out in the media," he said.

Singh kicked off a controversy yesterday when he said that Rahul Gandhi "does not have the temperament of a ruler".

"By temperament, woh sattadhaari vyakti nahin hain. By temperament, woh aisa vyakti hai jo anyay ke khilaph ladna chaahta hai (He is not a ruler by temperament. By temperament, he is a person who wants to fight injustice)," Singh said in an interview to a local news channel of Goa.

He had also said that Rahul should have taken up the responsibility of Leader of the Party in Lok Sabha.

When asked whether Congress will make any changes in the leadership in Gujarat, Kamat said that it was up to the high command.

"The Delhi high command will take the decision," Kamat said, adding that the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Arjun Modhvadia has offered his resignation which has not been accepted.

By India Times

Sperm Donor Age and Infertility Treatment Success

MONDAY, June 30, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A sperm donor's age doesn't affect the chances of a live birth resulting from fertility treatments using donor sperm, a new study says.

There is emerging evidence that sperm quality declines as men age. However, the new study's findings support previous research showing that a couple's chances of having children are much more dependent on the age of the female than of the male, researchers said.

The results also show that the quality of donor sperm -- rather than the donor's age -- is the important factor in the success of fertility treatments, the study authors said.

"It's sperm quality rather than male age that matters," said principal investigator Dr. Meenakshi Choudhary, from the Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom.

The researchers analyzed more than 39,000 first fertility treatment cycles with donated sperm that were performed in the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2012. The treatment included either in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or donor insemination.

The live birth rate from IVF was about 29 percent among women ages 18 to 34 and about 14 percent among women over age 37. However, there was no link between the live birth rates in these two age groups and the age of the sperm donors.

Similar findings were made for donor insemination, according to the study that's to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, in Munich, Germany. Research presented at meetings are generally considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"Our results suggest that, up to the age of 45, there is little effect of male age on treatment outcome, but sperm donors are a selected population based on good sperm quality," Choudhary said in a society news release.

"Our study shows that we are good at selecting the right sperm donors with the right sperm quality -- and that's why we found no difference in live birth rate despite the increasing age of sperm donors. This confirms the view that a man's age doesn't matter in achieving a live birth provided his sperm quality is good," she said.

By Web Md

Pankaj Advani creates history after rare double

Photo By Indian Express

Indian cueist Pankaj Advani on Sunday created history by becoming the first player in the world to win world titles in the long and shorter formats of both billiards and snooker by pocketing the IBSF World 6-Red snooker Championship, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Eygpt.

Advani, India’s poster boy of cue sports, defeated Kacper Flilpiak of Poland in the final that lasted barely an hour to win his maiden 6-Red world title and ninth overall.

Advani, who has won 7 world titles in billiards and 1 in snooker, added a new kind of world title to his overflowing cabinet of trophies.

He won both World snooker titles on debut – the IBSF World Snooker Championship, China and this one, the IBSF 6-Red World Snooker Championship in Egypt.

This win takes Pankaj to highest tally of world titles by any Indian cueist in the Open (Men’s) category.

After a strong start with the aid of two 30 breaks, Pankaj went 2-0 up before the Pole clawed one back. The Indian then found himself in a spot of bother as his worthy opponent raced to a lead of 32 points with only the colours, 27 points, left on the table.

Using his billiards prowess and knowledge, the 28-year old Bangalorean placed two snookers to gain 9 points from his opponent in fouls before completing the frame with a brilliant clearance and snatching the Pole’s opportunity to level the match.

From 3-1 up, it was the Pankaj show all the way. The last 3 frames were one-visit affairs, leaving the Polish finalist helpless and the audience mesmerised, claiming the coveted title 6-1.

“This is a dream. I actually wasn’t expecting anything from this championship. For the last two months, I’ve been playing quite a bit of billiards, so to come into a world snooker championship and win it is simply unreal,” an elated Advani said after his win.

“The IBSF as well as the organisers here in Egypt have done a splendid job in conducting such a massive event. A big thank you to the Indian governing body, BSFI and my employer ONGC for their unstinting support.”

Asked how it felt to be the most successful cueist India has ever produced, a humble Advani said, “I’m only 28 and I have a lot more billiards and snooker in me before I start paying attention to such heavy labels.”

“At this point, I’m just thrilled to be able to play quality snooker. And without the love from my mom and the never-ending wisdom of my mind coach – my brother Shree, this would not have been possible. My coach Arvind Savur has always been there for me and till date helps me with my game. I’m blessed to have this magical team by my side.”

By Indian Express

Saina in semi-final, Sindhu exits

Photo by DDN

Sixth-seeded Saina Nehwal registered an easy 21-18, 21-9 over Eriko Hirose of Japan in 47 minutes to enter the women's singles semifinals of the $750,000 Star Australian Super Series on Friday.

However, eighth-seeded P.V. Sindhu faced 21-17, 21-17 defeat against Carolina Marin of Spain to crash out of the tournament. 

In the semi-final, Saina will take on World No. 2 Shixian Wang of China. The Indian top seed enjoys a 4-3 record against Wang, the two-time All England champion.

"Won a tough quarter final against Hirose. I play Wang Shixian in the semi final on Saturday. Keep supporting me friends," Saina wrote on her twitter handle after winning the quarterfinal match.

The London Olympics bronze-medallist started the match on a high as she opened up a 4-0 lead in the beginning and then took no time in widening the lead to 8-2. 

From there on, Saina maintained her dominance and won the match quite easily.

By DDN

World Cup round 2: We're coming for you, fearless Chile tells Brazil

Photo by firstpost

Eliminated three times by Brazil in past World Cups, Chile vowed a fearless and fighting approach on the eve of Saturday's second round knockout game against the hosts and favourites.

Despite the combative talk, 'La Roja' are sweating on the fitness of two key players - defender Gary Medel known as "The Pitbull" and midfielder Arturo Vidal nicknamed "King Arthur" - for the showdown at Belo Horizonte's Mineirao stadium.

Brazil, who will again be screamed on by legions of fans expecting nothing less than a sixth World Cup, knocked out Chile with relative ease at the same stage in their last two appearances in 2010 and 1998.

They also broke Chilean hearts in 1962, beating them in the semi-finals when 'La Roja' were hosting the tournament.

"It's not by chance that Brazil won those matches. They've won the World Cup five times. Statistically, they're the best team in the world," Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli told reporters.

"But we have a chance to change history. We will play with courage as we did in the qualifiers and the group. If we don't fight against a team that has the whole stadium, the whole nation behind them, then the result will be quite clear."

Chile's 2-0 defeat of reigning champions Spain sent shockwaves round the world and confirmed the strength of the South Americans' aggressive and pacy team.

"Chile have improved a lot, we have developed a lot, nowadays we can play without fear. Chile will play to win. We don't want to be forgotten. Brazil already have a beautiful history, we want to make a history of our own," he said.

The Argentine coach admitted Medel would not have played if the match had been on Friday due to a muscle injury in his left leg, but held out hope the defender might recover in time for Saturday's lunchtime kickoff.

"Today he wouldn't play, tomorrow maybe. Let's see if the next 24 hours allow him to play. Like Arturo, he's not 100 percent," Sampaoli said.

Vidal is still suffering the effects of recent knee surgery.

One of the few advantages Chile have is that their training base is just a few miles from the Mineirao stadium, so although the atmosphere will be hostile on Saturday, the city at least has felt like home over the last two weeks.

Chile do not plan to man-mark Neymar, but will seek to suffocate Brazil's leading man at every turn, the coach said.

At the other end, they are relying on Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez to do the damage. Sampaoli said it was no wonder he played better for Chile than he did for the Spanish club.

"Alexis feels v comfortable with the national team. He knows that he's highly appreciated by his colleagues. So that's why he's playing so well. In his club, maybe his team mates don't appreciate him so much," he said.

"I think he's got enough assets to be one of the best players in the world."

Defender Eugenio Mena echoed his boss's confidence, saying Chile's performances in beating both Chile and Australia at the group stage had won them respect around the world.

"It's the most important match in my career. It's a beautiful opportunity for us to change history for our national team. Our team is very motivated. We're convinced we can win."

By first post

Researchers find way to diagnose aggressiveness of oral cancer

Studying mouth cancer in mice, researchers have found a way to predict the aggressiveness of similar tumors in people, an early step toward a diagnostic test that could guide treatment, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"All patients with advanced head and neck cancer get similar treatments," said Ravindra Uppaluri, MD, PhD, associate professor of otolaryngology. "We have patients who do well on standard combinations of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and patients who don't do so well. We're interested in finding out why."

Reporting in Clinical Cancer Research, the investigators found a consistent pattern of gene expression associated with tumor spreading in mice. Analyzing genetic data from human oral cancer samples, they also found this gene signature in people with aggressive metastatic tumors.

"We didn't automatically assume this mouse model would be relevant to human oral cancer," said Uppaluri, who performs head and neck surgeries at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "But it turns out to be highly reflective of the disease in people."

Rather than use genetic methods to induce tumors in the mice, the research team repeatedly applied a known carcinogen, in much the same way humans develop cancer of the mouth.

"Patients often have a history of tobacco and alcohol use, which drive the development of these tumors," Uppaluri said. "We felt that exposing the mice to a carcinogen would be more likely to produce similar kinds of tumors."

The researchers, including first author Michael D. Onken, PhD, research assistant professor of cell biology and physiology, showed that this exposure sometimes produced tumors in the mice that did not spread, but other times resulted in aggressive metastatic tumors, similar to the variety of tumors seen in people. Uppaluri's team then collaborated with Elaine Mardis, PhD, co-director of The Genome Institute at Washington University, to find out whether the mouse and human tumors also were genetically similar. They compared their mouse sequences to human data sets from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).

"When we sequenced these tumors, we found that a lot of the genetic mutations present in the mouse tumors also were found in human head and neck cancers," Uppaluri said.

Further analysis identified a common signature in the expression of about 120 genes that was associated with the more aggressive tumors, whether in mice or people. The researchers confirmed this signature using data collected from 324 human patients. Subsequently, using oral cancer samples from patients treated at Washington University, they developed a proof of concept test from their signature that identified the aggressive tumors with about 93 percent accuracy.

Working with the Washington University Office of Technology Management, Uppaluri has a patent pending on this technology and recently received funding from the Siteman Cancer Frontier Fund to develop a laboratory test that predicts aggressive disease and would be easily available for any patient diagnosed with head and neck cancer.

"These kinds of tests are available for other types of cancer, most notably breast cancer," he said. "They are transformative genetic tests that can alter the clinical management of patients, tailoring therapies especially for them. It's our goal to develop something like that for head and neck cancer."

Five H1N1 deaths in Kerala, surge in Gujarat and Rajasthan push fatality rate to over 20%

A 25-year-old woman in Kasaragod district of Kerala died of H1N1 on Thursday, taking this year’s toll in Kerala to five. Health officials expressed concern over the spurt in deaths caused by the influenza in Gujarat and Rajasthan over the past few months.

Officials in the Health Ministry fear this may be a year in the H1N1 cycle of greater fatalities. There has been a 21 per cent fatality rate from the disease this year — or one in every five people who contracted the disease have died.

Until June 8, officials said, 89 deaths had been registered while the total number of H1N1 cases was only 414. Gujarat with 31 deaths and Rajasthan with 22 deaths contributed more than 50 per cent of the deaths reported in the country so far. In Rajasthan, one in every two people who got the disease died, while in Gujarat about one in three succumbed.

Karnataka reported 11 deaths, followed by Maharashtra (8), Andhra Pradesh (6), Punjab (6), and Tamil Nadu (2).

Kerala, which saw three deaths until June 8 and two more after that, has reported 31 cases of H1N1 this year and the number is rising, according to the Disease Surveillance Cell of the state health department. Officials said 18 of the cases were reported in the past three weeks — after the monsoon hit the state.

Photo By Indian Express

Kasaragod DMO P Gopinathan identified the latest victim as Nirupama, a housewife from Paivaligae, a village close to Mangalore. She used to travel frequently to Mangalore, where a few cases had been reported. She was admitted to a hospital in Mangalore with fever and cough last week, he said.

Health officials in Delhi said the high fatality rate this year is a cause for concern as compared to last year. In 2013, there were many more cases. Between January and December last year, 5,253 cases were reported. But the fatality rate was far less at 13 per cent. A total of 699 deaths were reported.

While cases are expected to go up — rain always lead to a spike — there are apprehensions in the Health Ministry about the fatality rate shooting even further when cases go up. Officials, however, concede that the actual load of the influenza in both years could be several times more than what the data shows as India since the time of the pandemic in 2009-10 has a policy of testing only those patients who are admitted to the hospital with respiratory distress.

Director General, Health Services, Dr Jagdish Prasad said the higher death rate is because of lack of awareness, which means people are reporting late. “We have written to all state secretaries to step up awareness intiatives, specially states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra were

By Indian Express

Asus Zenfone 5 first impressions: Revamped Zen UI is its biggest selling point

Photo by firstpost

Asus is about to enter a very crowded mainstream market with their new Zenfone series that’s all set to debut sometime in July. We’ve had a chance to play around with the Zenfone 5, which is the company’s 5-inch model in the series. Based on the specifications, we expect it to be priced around Rs 15,000. Let’s take a look at what we liked and didn’t like about the Zenfone 5.

This mid-ranger in the Asus family inherits the same design philosophy from the Zenbook series of notebooks. A hint of that is present in the form of a brushed metal trim towards the bottom of the phone. Other than that though, the Zenfone 5 looks pretty ordinary. We liked the dual-tone finish and come launch day, we’ll have some more colours to choose from.

The 5-inch HD display is of the IPS variety and also rocks Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The default brightness level makes the screen seen quite dull, which is not the case. It’s not the most vibrant display around but a quick fix to the firmware should right this.

The Zenfone is not particularly slim either. It’s a sizeable phone with a depth of 10.3mm and weighs about 145g. It feels sturdy to hold and Asus has used high quality plastics for the chassis. The matte-back tends to get dirty pretty quickly though, and some stains are tough to get out.

Buttons have a very good tactile feedback and the screen sensitivity and sunlight legibility is pretty good as well. Overall, the Zenfone 5 is not the most striking smartphone but it does have a pleasing design. The build is sturdy and it feels relatively premium.

What’s really going to set the Zenfone apart are not the specifications, but the new Zen UI. Asus has overhauled the skin completely and to no surprise, has chosen to go with a flatter design for the theme. This seems to be the trend this year as everyone from Apple to Samsung, to LG seems to be treading the same path.

The biggest change is in the notification panel, where we have a lot more toggle switches. These can be edited of course. All of Asus’s apps and some of the stock apps have also received a similar overhaul and we’re really digging the new look. The interface is super snappy, clean and very easy to navigate. The redesigned icons for apps like Music, Video, etc have also changed so recognising them at first will take some getting used to.

We get a bunch of useful apps pre-installed by Asus and one of the cool ones we found was PC Link. This lets you instantly mirror your phone on your desktop once connected via USB. You need the PC app installed as well. The cool thing is you can continue using your phone through the PC without actually having to hold it. This includes surfing the web, sending text messages and so on.

Asus has also made some major changes to the lock screen which now gives you shortcuts to launch apps like the camera, dialler and messaging . There are a ton of more additions as well which we’ll look at in the full review.

Asus will be launching the A501CG model in India which has an Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core (with HyperThreading) chipset in lei of a Z2580. This chip runs at 1.6GHz instead of 2GHz but in order to make up for this, the Zenfone 5 will have 2GB RAM rather than the 1GB which debuted earlier this year.

You also get 8GB of onboard storage which is expandable and the rest of the usual suspects like 3G, Dual-SIM, Wi-Fi ‘n’, GPS, GLONASS. The Zenfone 5 will run on Jelly Bean 4.3 at launch with an eventual upgrade to KitKat and hopefully, Android L sometime later.

Finally, the 8MP camera is heavily customised as well but we like what Asus has done with the UI. The sensor isn’t too bad either which can be seen from the sample shot.

Asus Zenfone series phones are reportedly priced under Rs 25,000. As for the Zenfone, a price of around Rs 15,000 would be ideal and while it might not have the best specifications around, we feel the new user interface and bundled apps should be incentive enough to have a second look.

By First post

More Indians held captive in Iraq, report says

Photo By 'Times of India'

AMRITSAR: More reports are emerging of Indians in Iraq being held at their workplace against their will. The latest instance coming to light is in Karbala where, according to UK-based NGO Justice Upheld, 231 young Indian men are being held captive at their workplaces by Iraqi nationals whose identity is not yet clear.


On being tipped off and given a number in Iraq, TOI called up one Manpreet Singh, a youth stuck in Karbala, who said, "We are given dates and some rice to eat once or twice a day but not allowed to step out of the company premises. A few days ago an armed man came at night and asked us to hand over our passports to him but we refused."

"We don't know the men who have taken control of the company. The original management has disappeared," Manpreet added. His co-worker Sunil, who is from Hoshiarpur, said, "I don't think they are terrorists but they are keeping an eye on us."

By Times of India

Institutes soon to get official ranking: Smriti Irani

File Photo (news 28 june)

BHOPAL: Indian educational institutes will be accorded official ranking soon and a national framework is getting prepared for the purpose, Union HRD minister Smriti Irani made the announcement in Bhopal on Friday. However, the minister did not elaborate if the framework will cover both government and private educational institutes.


She was addressing a gathering of students and teaching faculty at National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) at Shyamla Hills, where she launched a teachers' training hub and laid foundation stone of golden jubilee convention centre.

The idea of a national ranking framework is in line after recommendations by a committee of IIT directors on the issue of rankings. The panel had suggested while it was important for Indian institutes to participate in global rankings, there is a greater need for India to devise its own domestic ranking that factors in India-specific criteria.

In her keynote address, she said, "Accreditation of colleges and institutes in the country should be strengthened. For this purpose, accreditation board will be formed covering all aspects on the campus."

Admitting decline in quality of technical education over a period of time, she said, "Growth seems to have bypassed the quality in technical education. Our endeavour is to create an environment wherein skill development should be priority."

TV actor-turned politician also talked about Rashtriya Aavishkar Abhiyaan.

"It will be aimed at encouraging research and innovation from school to university levels," she said. One part of the mission will look at incentivizing with more funding for new inventions and innovations right from the district level. The other aspect will be to sensitize institutes and students on need for patenting research and publishing research papers.

By timesofindia

Ek Villain review: 4 reasons to date a villain like Siddharth Malhotra

Look, before we get into Ek Villain, let's be clear about this: no one expects Bollywood to be a not-so-weird place. If you're a watcher of Bollywood, then you have at some point found yourself trying to not inflict violence upon yourself because the logic of the film has taken painfully surreal turns. Like when background dancers pop out like they're mosquitoes, ready to swarm around the dancing hero or heroine. Or when Shah Rukh Khan airs his armpits in the Swiss Alps and that, for some reason, turns a perfectly sane woman to jelly.

Within this landscape is Ek Villain. It defies every nugget of common sense and logic, but the film is watchable. Unlike Humshakals, its major competitor, Ek Villain is truly funny.

There is barely a plot, so I'll try my best to be discreet and succinct about the story. Ek Villain starts with one man bumping off a second man’s girl. Second man spends the entire film trying to take revenge from the first man. You knew this from the trailer, you say? Well, watch it in the theatre and you'll also get the chance to hear Arijit Singh on Dolby. Think about it.

Now for the important details. Nestled in Ek Villain is a guide to life in general and dating a gangster in particular. Here's what we gleaned from it:

1. Why should you date a gangster?

Because he looks like Siddharth Malhotra.

Not convinced? Just glance over the men in your Facebook friend-list and then imagine them doing what Malhotra does in the film, which is the following.
Staring. And staring.
Screaming. Kicking.
Back to staring.

In low light. With the sun on his face. With a black eye. Or a powdered forehead. From behind walls. Or car windshields.

At butterflies. Grass. Girl. Murderer. Police. Corpse. Air.

He doesn’t flinch. Even when he is looking at uncle Remo trying to tell the world he is really, truly a gangster and not wearing a Halloween outfit in June.

Such uninterrupted gorgeousness. The deep panic of spotting KRK without a gag onscreen too can't distract you enough.

This is why you should date a gangster.

2. Gangsters have a high irritation threshold.

You may be more irritating that the entire Kardashian family and Bigg Boss put together, but your gangster boyfriend won't run away.

Shraddha Kapoor plays a girl called Aisha and she's the kind to put one Paulo Coelho quote as her cover picture on Facebook every day. Or mass tag people on pictures of the rising sun, marigolds, kittens and drooling babies.

Aisha spots a man (Malhotra) hung upside down in the police lock-up and being beaten up. Does she run out of fear or disgust? No. She smiles like she is in an energy drink commercial and decides to go after said man. We should blame the man in question’s spectacular shoulders for this decision, but according to Suri, that isn't the motivation. Aisha is a nice person.

Aside from the fact that she falls in love with a gangster, how do we know she's nice? Because she wants to match-make old terminally-ill people, and she talks to to Ganesha idols. She also wants to "fly like a wind". Don't be a snob. Nice people don’t fret over evil details like English grammar.

3. When you have a gangster boyfriend, the world becomes magical.

Forget the tourist brochures and the travel guides. The Goa in Ek Villain is a place where butterflies flit around waterfalls. Here there are dancing peacocks, fluorescent algae that lights up a beach, and — wait for it — heat resistant artificial snow. Chances are, if you prayed hard enough, you could possibly catch a game of Quidditch and find Hogwarts tucked somewhere in this Goa.

The magic extends to Mumbai, which apparently has skywalks that are absolutely dust, grime and paan-stain free as well as suburban brothels that look like they're part of the Moulin Rouge set.

4. With villains, seasons are a state of mind

In real life, wearing a blazer in Goa in summer is likely to cause prickly heat, heat-induced lethargy and a general inability to move your limbs beyond picking up a beer mug. However, in Ek Villain, Malhotra virtually lives in a black blazer. It looks wonderful on him so the women of the world shouldn't complain. However, Malhotra also kicks, fights, shoots, sleeps, weeps and does every gangster-like thing in that blazer, in a Mumbai summer. It's enough to make you feel itchy and dehydrated on his behalf.

Incidentally, want to know the really scary thing about villainous psychopaths? They're really well prepared, for inclement weather. You can spot the psychopath in Ek Villainbecause he always carries a raincoat around. Because, you know how it is, being in the killing business in Mumbai and its fickle monsoons. Which psychopath wants to catch a cold after all?
Here's the good news, while it may not make much sense, Mohit Suri's Ek Villain did convince me that there's a lot to be said for dating a gangster. You may argue at this point that you don't want advice from Suri, especially since he thought it was a smart idea to copy the Korean film I Saw The Devil almost scene for scene, but don't be hasty. After all, the gangster in question is Sidharth Malhotra, one of the few truly good-looking men in Bollywood today, and Ek Villain is potentially one of the funniest films of the year.

by firstpost

Today's Big Releases: Ek Villain, Transformers 4: Age of Extinction

In a blockbuster weekend for movie-buffs, Ek Villain from Bollywood takes on the fourth installment of the Transformers series. 

Directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Ekta Kapoor, romantic thriller Ek Villain will feature actors Sidharth Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh playing characters with grey shades for the first time. The lead actress, Shraddha Kapoor, will also make her singing debut in the movie.

The movie is reportedly based on the Korean film I Saw The Devil. The plot involves Guru (Sidharth Malhotra), a callous gangster in Goa working for a politician, who quits his job after falling in love with Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor). But Aisha gets murdered and the movie is expected to be an intriguing tale packed with emotions.

Directed by Michael Bay, Transformers 4: Age of Extinction shows life four years after the battle between the Autobots and Decepticons, which left Chicago in ruins. Film number four introduces Dinobots (giant dinosaur robots) and 3D effects. The plot revolves around scientists who lose control of their own technological creations.The first three Transformers movies took in a combined $2.7 billion at the worldwide box office.

Optimus Prime, voiced by Peter Cullen, will return in this sequel but the human cast consists entirely of new faces, including Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer and Nicola Peltz. 

By ndtv

Black Hole Trio might explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity

Astronomers in their search for gravitational waves as predicted by Einstein have been able to discover 3 closely orbiting supermassive black holes in a galaxy more than 4 billion light years away.

Analyzing 6 systems supposed to contain 2 supermassive black holes, the researchers discovered that one of them contained 3 supermassive black holes - the tightest black hole trio observed at such a large distance.

According to Roger Deane from University of Cape Town in South Africa, "These black holes, which are at the very extreme of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, are orbiting one another at 300 times the speed of sound on earth."

Deanne added that by utilizing the combined signals from radio telescopes on 4 continents, we are able to detect this exotic system one third of the way across the Universe. 

Nothing much is known about these black hole systems that are so close to one another and expel noticeable gravitational waves.

The team utilized a technique Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to find out the inner two black holes of the triple system.

VLBI combines the signals from big radio antennae separated by up to 10,000 km to see details 50 times finer than the Hubble Space Telescope.

By delhidailynews

Sonia, Rahul summoned in National Herald newspaper case

New Delhi: A court has issued summons to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi on charges of misappropriating funds of a company that used to publish the now-defunct National Herald newspaper.

In response to a private complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy, Metropolitan Magistrate Gomati Manocha said: "I have found prima facie evidence against all the accused."

The court directed them to appear before it 7 August.

The Congress called it "a motivated complaint". "The allegations are baseless," said party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

A party statement added: "All the people named in the National Herald matter will seek legal advice and do the needful."

Apart from the Gandhis, the court also summoned Congress leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, Sam Pitroda, who was an advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and former journalist Suman Dubey, who is close to the Gandhi family.

The complaint alleged that the Gandhis formed a company, Young India, in 2010 with 38 percent share each to take control of Rs.2,000 crore worth of assets of Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), which published the National Herald.

The National Herald was started in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru. Over the decades, it lost circulation and ran into major financial losses, leading to its closure in 2008.

"Since all the accused persons have allegedly acted in consortium with each other to achieve the said nefarious purpose/design, there are sufficient grounds for proceedings against all of them," the court said.

However, the judge added in a 20-page order that "it goes without saying that guilt of an accused is determined after trial when the burden of proof is discharged beyond reasonable doubt.

"This is only the stage of summoning of the accused. When the accused appear before the court they shall be at liberty to refute the allegations of (Swamy), cross examine the witnesses."

The judge, however, added that the complainant had established a prime facie case of dishonest misappropriation of property, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The summons were also served on Young India.

"The chain of circumstance appears to give rise to a conclusive or irresistible inference of an agreement between the accused to commit the offences as alleged in a pre-planned manner," the court observed.

It noted that "though the language in the documents is shrouded in ambiguity, it is not difficult to understand that the control over public money/assets appear to have been cleverly transferred to the hands of the few by creating a company (Young India) for this purpose".

Speaking to reporters, Swamy said: "This is a fraud, criminal breach of trust as they have managed to misappropriate the fund of Rs.2,000 crore.

"It is important for the court to take away the passports of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi so that they do not run away from the country."

Rebutting the charges, Singhvi accused Swamy of running a "motivated campaign" against the Congress.

"This is a stale complaint made some time in 2013. About a year later, we heard in the press that a summons is being issued. We have not even received it yet. You can rest assured that a fitting response will be given after we receive the papers," Singhvi said.

"Dr. Swamy is known for his motivated campaign against the Congress," he added.

"Allegations made over a year ago lead to only a process. Issuance of process on a stale complain over a year ago is not something we are excited about. Let us receive the paper which we have not received and seek comprehensive legal advice and you will see how all allegations in this respect are going to be legally demolished."

He said the offence was made possible because of the Gandhis' "crony control over the Congress party and AJL".

He alleged that they closed AJL in 2008 due to financial crisis and stopped printing the National Herald and sister publications Navjivan (Hindi) and Qaumi Awaz (Urdu), which were saddled with huge debts.

To resolve the financial crisis, AJL transferred the share equity to Young India by payment of a mere Rs.50 lakh without taking any reference from the shareholders.

Young India thus acquired the complete ownership of AJL real estate assets of at least Rs.2,000 crore, including a multi-storeyed building in a prime location in Delhi.

The court observed that the office bearers of Congress by advancing interest-free loan to the AJL, a public limited company involved in commercial activities, appeared to have defrauded a large number of persons who contributed to the political party by way of donation.

The court observed that the revenue generated by the properties belonging to AJL is being dishonestly misappropriated by the directors of Young India.

By firstpost

Sushma Swaraj holds talks with Bangladesh Foreign Minister

Dhaka: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday held talks with her Bangladeshi counterpart Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on key bilateral issues, including Land Boundary Agreement and proposed Teesta river water sharing deal. 


The External Affairs Minister who was assisted by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh also raised the matter of illegal immigration with Ali.
Sushma will be meeting Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina later today. 

Sushma, who on Wednesday evening arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit to Bangladesh, will also be visiting Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party leader Rowshan Ershad on Friday.
Though there are no pacts to be signed and no big outcome expectations, the trip, which is termed as a "goodwill" visit, is aimed at taking forward the bilateral ties which are on a "positive trajectory" for past few years. 

The visit is expected to see two key outstanding issues taken up - the Teesta water sharing deal and the Land Boundary Agreement -- both of which have been hanging fire. 

Today evening, the Indian External Affairs Minister will have an engagement with think tanks, chambers of commerce and industry and cultural organisations. She is to deliver a lecture on Bangladesh-India relations at an event to be organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS). 

This is Sushma's first stand-alone foreign visit after becoming the minister. She had accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his first official visit to Bhutan earlier this month. 

Aditi learning the Bollywood “game”

Aditi Rao Hydari has finally carved a niche for herself in the industry but in a recent interview the beauty said that when she stepped into Bollywood, she was clueless about playing the “game”! And now her aim is to become an “irreplaceable” actress.

“It’s all falling in place. I am happy that I have own place now. I want to be known as an actress who is irreplaceable. What is mine must only be mine,” the actress said.

Aditi came here in 2006 and since then has starred in films like ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’ and ‘Delhi 6’. On being asked about her struggle in the industry so far as she doesn’t really have a celeb-connect, Aditi says that it’s a disadvantage to be an outsider in Bollywood.

Aditi said, “Not that anyone takes advantage of you. I firmly believe the way one is treated depends on one’s conduct and intentions. Of course, men will look at you in a certain way if you are single and attractive. I believe most men behave strangely with women when their wives and girlfriends are not watching.”

She further added, “So far I’ve had no bad experiences. But yes, it hasn’t been an easy journey for me. I didn’t know how to play the game. I wish I had people to tell me what to do, how to look for the right roles. In the absence of a support system I just did whatever I thought right… I do feel there are two distinct types of career opportunities in our industry -one for girls from film families and another for girls who come to the industry with no connections.”

When she was asked to elaborate a little more, the actress was quick to reply, “I am not saying, ‘Don’t favour actors and actresses from within the industry’. Why not? Lineage advantage is a given rule in every sector. Children of potters and entrepreneurs go into the family profession. Likewise, star kids. But at the same time, I think non-industry strugglers also deserve a chance. So there should be equal opportunities…Let us outsiders prove ourselves. For that, we need the roles.”

Looking back on her period of struggle, the actress says that she lacked experience, the required lineage and the diplomatic skills to make her way through the film industry earlier. As she said, “I may come from a very distinguished background. But that meant zilch to my career in Mumbai. No producer would give me a role just because my great grand-uncle was the governor of Assam or my great grandfather was royalty. I mean, who the hell cares where I came from?

“I was a raw newcomer with no one to tell me what to do. On top of that, I had no connections within the film industry. Nor could a hold a drink in my hand and mouth pleasantries at parties,” said Aditi who would be seen in distinctive roles in ‘Guddu Rangeela’ and ‘The Legend Of Michael Mishra’.

by freepressjournal