The Indian Panorama

Month: May 2022

  • Birthday Horoscope-May16 to May 22, 2022

    Birthday Horoscope-May16 to May 22, 2022

    Shree Ganeshaya Namah!!!

    By Chirag Daruwalla – Son of Astrologer Bejan Daruwalla

     May 16

    Ganesha says your friends and family members would provide good support to you. Professionally things look much better and you would move around with new confidence and energy. A change for the better in your business or career seems likely later in the year. Those involved in art, writing and other creative professions should expect recognition and monetary gains. Health would definitely need more attention. Meditation and yoga should be practiced for physical and spiritual gains.

    May 17

    Ganesha saystoday your confidence will grow. You would benefit from remarkable business entrepreneur skills. New projects and assignments would enhance your prosperity. You may spend some good time with your partner at home. This year will give some exhilarating news from overseas which will boost up the spirits of the entire family. Travelling would be beneficial for building new alliances.

    May 18

    Ganesha says the day would bring you financial gains and happiness. You shall leave no stone unturned to achieve your goals. Businessmen will venture into new and more profitable avenues. Investment in stocks and real estate would be highly beneficial. Property disputes if any would get settled to your satisfaction. Time spent with friends would be worthwhile, as they would be supportive to your concerns. Meditation and Yoga will prove to be highly rewarding especially for spiritual as well as physical gains.

    May 19

    Ganesha saystoday you should expect new assignments and hold positions of important responsibilities. Your financial position stabilizes as past investments start raking profits. Improved finances bring in prosperity and happiness at domestic level. Good year for girls and women as far as love is concerned. Some gains through inheritance or expensive gifts from relatives cannot be ruled out. Frequent travel would be undertaken bringing good monetary rewards.

    May 20

    Ganesha saystoday an increase in responsibility or a change in job for some. New foreign contact or a financial transaction will bring handsome results. A sudden influence of a spiritual person will have a deep impact on your personality. Partner will be understanding and provide you with love and affection. Ancestral gains for some. Friends will be supportive and helpful.

     May 21

    Ganesha saystoday your employer would appreciate your confidence and enthusiasm. You would be able to accomplish many tasks that you earlier thought were impossible. Monetary benefits would accrue from new contacts. Pleasure trips or friendly get-togethers will be exciting and intellectually stimulating. Family members will be supportive and friends will be helpful. Minor domestic tensions and stress will bother you. Health needs extra care therefore be careful of what you consume.

    May 22

    Ganesha saysyour communication skills and charms would impress those around you. Your income would improve, but your expenses would be erratic which would make it extremely difficult for you to save. New romance for those unattached, but your work is likely to suffer if you keep fantasizing about this special person. You should not let anything interfere with your career objectives if you desire to achieve your goals. Elders and children in the family will demand a lot of your attention.

  • New drug that halts recurring brain tumour growth identified.

    New drug that halts recurring brain tumour growth identified.

    An international team of scientists has identified a drug that blocks growth of the most aggressive brain tumour and how to most accurately identify which tumour will respond to the drug.

    When a non-metastatic brain tumour – Meningioma – recurs after surgery and radiation treatment, a patient is out of options. No drugs are approved for these aggressive tumours, which occur in up to 20 per cent of cases and can lead to patient disability or even death.

    But the new drug called abemaciclib, detailed in the journal Nature Genetics, is a cell cycle inhibitor, meaning it blocks the cell division cycle and inhibits tumour growth. The scientists at universities of North-western, California, and Hong Kong demonstrated the effectiveness of the drug in select patients, mouse models, a 3D living tissue brain tumour (organoids) and cell cultures.

    Investigators discovered that Meningiomas can be divided into molecular subgroups with different clinical outcomes and recurrence rates. This new method of classifying tumours allows scientists to predict recurrence more accurately than the current method of classifying the tumour.

    Currently, after surgery, doctors examine a specimen of a tumour under a microscope and grade it one, two or three in its aggressiveness. But the grade is only about 70 per cent accurate, meaning some tumours will behave in a way that doesn’t fit with how it appears under the microscope.

    “Our study identifies which patients we should treat with this drug, because their tumours will likely respond to it,” said Dr Stephen Magill, Assistant Professor of neurological surgery at North-western’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

    “We now have the potential to give them options and hope for a longer, symptom-free life.” The team found that mice with Meningiomas treated with the medication lived longer and their tumours didn’t grow as rapidly.

    Source: IANS

  • Comparing partner could make or break your relationship

    Comparing partner could make or break your relationship

    Your happiness in a relationship and how much energy you devote to maintaining that relationship depend on how your partner compares with other potential mates you may have, suggests new research. The findings suggest that how well our partner fulfils our ideal preference is not very important. “We do not need ideal partners for relationship bliss. Instead, satisfaction appears to come, in part, from getting the best partner available to us,” said one of the researchers Daniel Conroy-Beam from the University of Texas at Austin in the US.

    For the study — published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior — the researchers surveyed 259 adults — 119 men and 140 women — who had been in relationships for an average of seven and a half years. Each participant rated the importance of 27 traits in an ideal mate and the extent to which they felt each trait described both their actual partner and themselves. Participants also reported their relationship satisfaction and happiness.

    The study discovered that satisfaction was not reliably dependent on how a partner compared with a person’s idea of the perfect mate, but rather whether other potential mates better matched a person’s ideal preferences. Those with partners more desirable than themselves were satisfied whether or not their partners matched their ideal preferences. But, participants with partners less desirable than themselves were happy with their relationship only if their partner fulfilled their ideal preferences better than most other potential mates in the group, Conroy-Beam said.

    In a follow-up study, the researchers again tested relationship satisfaction but also surveyed participants’ mate retention efforts — energy devoted to maintaining their relationships.

    They found that people with partners difficult to replace, either because their partner was more desirable than themselves or their partner more closely matched their ideal preferences than others in the group, reported being happier and devoted more effort to mate retention. This included making themselves extra attractive for their partners and “mate guarding” — or shielding their partners from mating rivals to help keep their partners — Conroy-Beam said.

  • Herbal pastes, oil massages to color hair

    Herbal pastes, oil massages to color hair

    Here are a few homemade pastes and mixes that you can use to naturally colour your hair. Natural colouring causes less damage to the hair say experts.Skin care expert Vasundhra Ravi suggests a few oil massages and herbal mixes to darken your hair. “They will not darken your hair like a chemical mix, but they will colour your hair and help keep it healthy ,” she says.

    HOMEMADE OIL

    Take 50ml coconut oil, 50ml gingelly oil and 50ml olive oil. Mix all these and heat on low flame. In kadai, spurt 10gm mustard, 20gm curry leaves, 20gm dry amla and 20 henna leaves. Saute till they are almost dry . Now, add the oil and heat this mixture for another 10 minutes. Store it in an airtight bottle and keep it in direct sunlight for four days. Let the ingredients settle at the base. Now, use this oil and massage your scalp and hair every day . This oil helps darken your greying hair.

    HENNA PASTE

    Make a paste out of henna and apply over the hair for two hours and rinse. After a few hours, mix 100g of indigo (auri) powder with warm water and make a paste. Apply this paste all over the hair. Leave it on for 45 minutes and rinse. You will be surprised to see that your grey hair has turned black to an extent. Apply this paste once a week.

    HAIR PACK

    Make your own hair darkening pack by mixing the following together: henna leaves 50gm, aloe vera gel 20ml, haritaki or kadukkai skin 5gm, fresh seedless amla 20gm. Grind all the above to a smooth paste, add the juice of half a lemon to this mixture and apply on the hair. Apply 10ml olive oil on hair prior to applying this pack. Leave on for 20 minutes and rinse to get a reddish-brown tint to your hair.

    OLIVE OIL MASSAGE

    Olive oil is an excellent hair darkener. Slightly warm 20ml of olive oil and apply it on the scalp and give a gentle massage for eight minutes. Leave it on for one hour. Wash with homemade shikakai. Apply this twice a week to get back your beautiful dark hair.

    HENNA-AMLA-KADUKAI PASTE

    Take henna powder 200gm, amla powder 25gm, kadukai powder 10gm, tulsi powder 10gm, tea decoction 100ml, eucalyptus oil 2ml, curd 100ml, lemon juice 10 drops, and olive oil 2tsp. Mix all the ingredients in an iron vessel and soak overnight. Next morning, apply this mixture on the scalp and hair.Leave it on for two hours, and rinse. Do not apply shampoo while washing the hair. This paste gives a beautiful maroon tint to your hair. It also prevents further greying.

    TO GET NATURAL BURGUNDY TINT

    Henna leaves 100gm, beetroot one (small), aloe vera 100gm and multani mitti 2tsp. Make a hair pack by blending henna leaves, beet root and aloe vera. Mix some multani mitti to the mixture. Apply this on your hair and leave it on for one hour. This paste gives a burgundy tint to hair.

    PREVENT PREMATURE GREYING

    Take a handful of curry leaves, hibiscus leaves, karisalai leaves, coriander leaves and grind them together into a smooth paste. Add five drops of lemon juice to this paste. Apply on the scalp and the hair. Leave it on for an hour and then wash. Apply this paste once a week. Regular application of this pack  can darken existing grey hair and it also prevents premature greying.

  • Stress may contribute to fertility issues in women: Study

    Stress may contribute to fertility issues in women: Study

    Stress may directly impact female fertility and ovarian reserve – the number and quality of eggs they produce, according to a small study conducted in mice. Exposing female rats to scream sounds, researchers noted a decrease in estrogen and anti-mullerian hormone levels, which are vital for fertility. Stress also reduced the number and quality of eggs, resulting in smaller litters, they said.

    The findings, published in the journal Endocrinology, shed light on the role stress may play in female reproduction. “We examined the effect of stress on ovarian reserve using a scream sound model in rats,” said Wenyan Xi, from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an JiaoTong University in Xian, China. “We found that female rats exposed to the scream sound had diminished ovarian reserve and decreased fertility,” Xi said. Ovarian reserve is the reproductive potential left within a female’s ovaries based on the number and quality of eggs. A female is born with a finite number of eggs and her body cannot create any more, the researchers said.

    Diminished ovarian reserve is the loss of normal reproductive potential in the ovaries due to a lower count or quality of the remaining eggs, they said. The researchers used a scream sound model to investigate the effect of stress on ovarian reserve in female rats. They exposed female rats to a scream sound for three weeks and analysed the effect on their sex hormones, the number and quality of their eggs and their ability to get pregnant and have babies after mating.

    They found the scream sound decreased the rats’ estrogen and anti-mullerian hormone levels.

    Estrogen is a group of hormones that play an important role in growth and reproductive development, and anti-mullerian hormone is made by the ovaries and helps form reproductive organs. The scream sound also lowered the number and quality of the women’s eggs and resulted in smaller litters, according to the researchers. “Based on these findings, we suggest stress may be associated with diminished ovarian reserve,” Xi said. “It is important to determine an association between chronic stress and ovarian reserve because doing so may expand our appreciation of the limitations of current clinical interventions and provide valuable insight into the cause of diminished ovarian reserve,” the scientist added.

    Source: PTI

  • India in history this Week-May 13, 2022, to May 19, 2022

    13 MAY

    1905 Birth of former President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

    1952 The first session of Parliament was called in independent India.

    1962 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan became the second President of the country.

    1978 The country’s first flag carrier INS Delhi was relieved

    1998 India conducted two more nuclear tests, regardless of the criticism and pressure around the world.

    2001 The death of RK Narayan, one of the biggest names in Indian literature.

    1648 Construction of the Red Fort in Delhi was completed.

    2000 Lara Dutta of India was elected Miss Universe.

    1956 Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the spiritual leader who founded the Art of Living Foundation, was born.

    1918 The famous Bharatanatyam dancer T. Balasaraswati was born.

    14 MAY

    1992 India banned LTTE, a Sri Lankan rebel organization known as the Tamil Tigers. Apart from India, many other countries also banned the Tamil Tigers.

    1944 British troops captured Kohima in 1944.

    2001 Seven agreements in India and Malaysia.

    2010 Considering 22 between India and Russia in 2010 in defense, nuclear energy, space, science and technology, hydrocarbons, trade and investment etc.

    1923 Mrinal Sen, the famous producer and director of Indian films, was born.

    1981 Indian inventor and computer scientist Pranav Mistry was born.

    1943 Allah Baksh died during the British rule, was a zamindar, government contractor, freedom fighter fighter and politician.

    15 MAY

    1907 Birth of Sukhdev Thapar hanging on the noose hanging with Bhagat Singh and Rajguru.

    1967 Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit was born.

    1817 Birth of social reformer Devendra Nath Tagore.

    1242 Sultan of Delhi Muizuddin Bahram Shah’s army revolted and killed Sultan.

    1933 India’s’ First Army Commander in Chief Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa passed away.

    2005 Indian aircraft landed in Canada after 20 years.

    2008 Manjula Sood of Indian origin became the first Asian woman to become mayor in Britain.

    1923 Indian comedian Johnny Walker was born in 1923.

    1817 Eminent scholar and religious leader Devendranath Thakur was born in 1817.

    16 MAY

    2014 The demise of Indian industrialist Rustomji Homaji Modi.

    1911 Construction of Tallah Water Tank in Calcutta (now Kolkata) completed. It was called the world’s largest overhead water tank at that time.

    1960 Start of international telex service between India and UK.

    1975 Sikkim was incorporated into the Indian Union as the 22nd state.

    1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the tenth Prime Minister of India.

    2008 The Supreme Court rejected the decision of the Kolkata High Court to ban the 27% OBC quota in postgraduate courses of central educational institutions.

    17 MAY

    1769 The East India Company imposed a variety of restrictions on weavers to ruin Bengal’s textile industry.

    1918 Birth of India’s famous industrialist and top member of Tata group, Russian Modi

    1987 Sunil Gavaskar retired from Test cricket.

    2007 The fourth round of the India-Pakistan Composite Dialogue commenced in Rawalpindi.

    2010 Promoting the country’s oldest traditional sports, Kabaddi, the Punjab government announced the hosting of the Kabaddi World Cup next month.

    2014 The death of CP Krishnan Nair, the famous hotel industrialist of India and founder of the ‘Hotel Leela Group’.

    1865 Celebration of World Communication Day started.

    2018 BS Yeddyurappa took the oath of office of Chief Minister of Karnataka for the third time.

    1980 A record of standing for 33 hours on one leg was set by VS Kumar Anand.

    1995 The Restricted Area Permit (RAP) was abolished by the three northeastern states of the country.

    18 MAY

    1912 The first Indian feature length film Sri Pundalik was released.

    1974 India became a nuclear power country with its first underground atomic bomb test in Pokhran, Rajasthan. The trial was named ‘Smiling Buddha’.

    2008 Indian-origin writer Indra Sinha was awarded the Commonwealth Award in 2008 for her book Animal People.

    1914 S. Tenth Governor of Reserve Bank of India. Jagannathan was born.

    1933 HD Deve Gowda, the twelfth Prime Minister of India was born.

    1966 India’s famous botanist Panchanan Maheshwari died.

    19 MAY

    1913 Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was born, who later became the President of the country.

    1954 The National Film Board was formed by the government in the country.

    1969 Andhra Pradesh came under a terrible storm which took 608 lives. Not only this, around 20000 people were rendered homeless in this storm.

     1971         The first naval submarine station was built at Visakhapatnam.

    1980 TN Raina died when he was General of India.

    1992 Tennis player Leander Paes was awarded the Arjuna Award.

    1993 The government had decided to link the power with Indian Airlines.

    1904 One of the first industrialists of India, Jamsetji Nusrawanji Tata was killed.

  • Lamb Kofta

    Lamb Kofta

    Ingredients:

    Minced lamb – 250 gms, Breadcrumbs – 1/2 cup, Onion – 1, small, finely chopped, Egg – 1, beaten

    Mint leaves – handful, finely chopped, Coriander leaves – handful, finely chopped, Cinnamon powder – 1 tsp, Cardamom powder – 1 tsp, Cumin powder – 1 tsp, Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp, Turmeric powder – 1 tsp, Salt as per taste

    Black pepper powder as per taste, Wooden skewers – few, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes, Olive oil – little, Optional ingredients: Ginger garlic aste – 1 tsp, Red chilli flakes – 1/4 tsp

    Method:

    –        Combine the minced lamb and breadcrumbs in a bowl.

    –        Mix well.

    –        Add the onions, mint leaves, coriander leaves, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder.

    –        Sprinkle some salt and pepper powder.

    –        Mix well.

    –        Add the egg and mix again until all ingredients are evenly combined.

    –        Make small balls of the mixture and insert a skewer into the center.

    –        Gently press the mixture around the skewer and keep aside.

    –        Heat a grill pan over medium flame.

    –        Add some olive oil and grill the prepared koftas until golden brown on all sides.

    –        Remove and serve with naan/parathas and lemon wedges.

  • Premier League: Tottenham beat 3-0 Arsenal to tighten race for CL spot

    Premier League: Tottenham beat 3-0 Arsenal to tighten race for CL spot

    Tottenham revived its hopes of beating Arsenal to the final Champions League qualification position by overwhelming its fierce north London rival in a 3-0 win in the Premier League. Harry Kane scored twice — including one from the penalty spot — and Son Heung-min added the other just after halftime on Thursday to move Tottenham one point behind fourth-place Arsenal, which had center back Rob Holding sent off in the 33rd when the score was 1-0.

    There are two games remaining for each team and fifth-place Tottenham’s finish to the season looks easier than Arsenal’s. While Spurs face two of the bottom four in Burnley and already-relegated Norwich, Arsenal must travel to Newcastle before a home game against a resurgent Everton.

    “This type of game is not easy — when it’s a game you must win, it’s not easy,” Tottenham manager Antonio Conte said.

    “We knew tonight, there had to be only one result. We had concentraton, and had the right calm and positive pressure.”

  • IPL: Punjab Kings demolish RCB by 54 runs

    IPL: Punjab Kings demolish RCB by 54 runs

    Mumbai  (TIP)- Punjab Kings buried Royal Challengers Bangalore under a deluge of runs as they kept their playoff hopes alive with 54-run victory, riding on superb half-centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone in an IPL match here on May 13. Bairstow (66 off 29 balls) and Livingstone (70 off 42 balls) propelled Punjab Kings to 209 for 9 in a must-win game and the scoreboard was always going to be telling as RCB were restricted to 155 for 9 in 20 overs.

    While Punjab remain in the mix with 12 points from as many games, the margin of victory considerably improved their net run-rate to +0.210 and RCB despite having 14 points from 13 games are at a -0.323.

    RCB will have to win their final game and move to 16 points but also now need to have some rub of the green with a few favourable results going their way.

    It was another day and another failure for Virat Kohli (20), who got a faint under-edge tickle on his gloves before it hit his thigh pad and bobbed up to short fine leg off a Kagiso Rabada (4-0-21-3) delivery. Rabada was literally unplayable on the day as he worked good pace and hit the ideal fuller length for better part of his spell.

    Rishi Dhawan (4-0-36-2), perhaps the weakest link in Punjab attack, then made up for his lack of pace by hitting immaculate length as Faf du Plessis edged one to Jitesh Sharma behind stumps and Mahipal Lomror’s rasping pull shot was taken by Shikhar Dhawan.

    Rajat Patidar (26) and Glenn Maxwell (35) did add 64 runs but they were never in the game with both departing in quick succession.

    And when Dinesh Karthik (11) was snuffed out by the brilliant Arshdeep Singh (4-0-27-1) with a wide yorker and a catch by short third-man on the circle, RCB fizzled out in a jiffy.

    Earlier, Bairstow’s opening blitzkrieg found its ideal match in Livingstone’s finishing carnage.

    While Bairstow laid the foundation with a 29-ball-66, Livingstone was equally good in his 42-ball-70 as the RCB bowlers had a day which they would like to forget in a hurry.

    Bairstow, who was rusty during the earlier phase of the tournament, was back in his element with as many as seven sixes and four boundaries during a knock where he literally went hell for leather.

    Such was his dominance that by the time six overs of Powerplay ended, Bairstow had hit seven towering sixes and Shikhar Dhawan (21 off 15 balls) rubbed salt to the wound with another one which made it eight in all.

    Punjab Kings, which had set the template of blazing Powerplay starts, got 83 in six overs with Glenn Maxwell (1/17 in 2 overs), Josh Hazlewood (0/64 in 4 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (0/36 in 2 overs) being treated with utter disdain.

    While Maxwell did manage to get Dhawan, both Hazlewood and Siraj were guilty of bowling short on a pitch offering true bounce. Bairstow effortlessly pulled and flicked them into the stands and by the time, deliveries pitched up, they landed in the stands as well. It only helped that the boundary on one side was 66 metres only, which is a dream for any power-hitter.

    Siraj had a forgettable first spell where he was hit for four sixes, while Hazlewood in his first over had gone for 22. The Australian had his worst IPL figures ever.    Source: PTI

  • Rafael Nadal says foot injury a concern ahead of French Open

    Rafael Nadal said that everyday training was a challenge and he would take a doctor with him to Roland Garros after the 21-times major winner was once again hampered by a chronic foot injury in his defeat by Denis Shapovalov at the Italian Open on Thursday, May 12. Nadal, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in the ribs, struggled badly at the back end of his match against the Canadian as he went down 1-6 7-5 6-2 in the last-16.

    “I had my foot again with a lot of pain. I am a player living with an injury – it is nothing new. It’s something that is there,” Nadal, a 10-times champion in Rome, told reporters.

    “Unfortunately, my day-by-day is difficult, honestly. Even like this, I am trying hard… it can be frustrating that a lot of days I can’t practice the proper way.”

    The 35-year-old missed the bulk of last season due to the foot problem before mounting a remarkable comeback to win the Australian Open in January and also prevailing in Acapulco.

    “Since I came back, the foot has been tough,” added the Spaniard. “Negative thing and toughest thing for me today is honestly I started to feel myself play much better. I started the match playing much better.” Nadal’s preparation heading into the French Open, where he will be bidding for a record-extending 14th title, has been far from ideal after he was also knocked out of last week’s Madrid Open by Carlos Alcaraz at the quarter-finals stage.

              Source: Reuters

  • Indian men make badminton history, beat Denmark to enter Thomas Cup final

    Indian men make badminton history, beat Denmark to enter Thomas Cup final

    Bangkok  (TIP)- HS Prannoy produced a lion-hearted effort in the decisive fifth match as the Indian men’s badminton team scripted history by reaching the title clash of the Thomas Cup with a 3-2 victory over Denmark in an edge-of-the-seat semifinal here. India, who had last reached the semifinals in 1979, showed tremendous fighting spirit to outwit the 2016 champions. While World Championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth and world No. 8 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty kept India in the hunt, it was once again left to HS Prannoy to take the team home when the tie was locked at 2-2.

    Up against world No. 13 Rasmus Gemke, Prannoy suffered an ankle injury after slipping but he continued after taking a medical timeout. He looked in pain and his on-court movement also looked restricted. Despite the odds, he produced a sensational performance to come up trumps 13-21 21-9 21-12 to etch India’s name in the history books.

    India will now take on 14-time champions Indonesia, the most successful team in the history. Indonesia edged out Japan 3-2 in their semifinal.         Source: PTI

  • Tesla puts India entry plan on hold after deadlock on tariffs

    Tesla puts India entry plan on hold after deadlock on tariffs

    Tesla Inc has put on hold plans to sell electric cars in India, abandoned a search for showroom space and reassigned some of its domestic team after failing to secure lower import taxes, three people familiar with the matter said.

    The decision caps more than a year of deadlocked talks with government representatives as Tesla sought to first test demand by selling electric vehicles (EVs) imported from production hubs in the US and China, at lower tariffs.

    But the Indian government is pushing Tesla to commit to manufacturing locally before it will lower tariffs, which can run as high as 100% on imported vehicles. Tesla had set itself a deadline of February 1 to see if its lobbying brought a result, the sources with knowledge of the company’s plan said. When Narendra Modi’s government did not offer a concession, Tesla put on hold the plans to import cars into India, added the sources, who sought anonymity because the deliberations were private. Source: Reuters

  • India’s consumer inflation at 8-yr high of 7.79% may ‘trigger’ quicker rate hikes

    India’s consumer inflation at 8-yr high of 7.79% may ‘trigger’ quicker rate hikes

    New Delhi (TIP)- Sounding a red alert on India’s CPI inflation at an 8-year high print of 7.79% YoY in April, Acuite Ratings has said it may trigger quicker rate hikes. “If inflation pressures continue to mount there is a likelihood of additional hikes thereby taking the rate to its pre- pandemic level of 5.15 per cent or even higher in FY23. Additionally, we also expect CRR to be hiked by another 50 bps by H1FY23,” Acuite Ratings said. Given the tone of urgency in RBI’s statement to support the altered inflation-growth dynamics, “we now revise our call and expect the RBI to hike repo rate by an additional 60 bps in the rest of FY23”. The increasing price pressures was in motion even before the onslaught of the geopolitical conflicts. However, lingering war between Russia and Ukraine, unprecedented level of sanctions, elevated oil and commodity prices along with prolonged supply chain disruptions have escalated the inflationary concerns both in the global as well as domestic economies, it said.

    Globally most economies have shifted from an extended disinflationary phase to tackling strong inflationary concerns, causing key central banks monetary policy rhetoric to switch to extreme hawkishness and policy tightening in 2022 from pandemic-era accommodative policies.

    “From domestic standpoint, for FY23, inflation drivers are likely to face considerable pressure from persistent hardening of input prices. The heightened pressure from commodity prices is also coinciding with unlocking of the economy post Omicron wave while vaccination coverage continues to gain traction. While we stick to our estimate of 5.9 per cent for FY23 CPI inflation, we now believe that there is a buildup of upside risks,” Acuite Ratings said.

    “Going forward, we expect the core inflation to remain sticky at elevated levels given upward revision of petrol and diesel prices by the OMCs in order to reduce the under-recoveries being accumulated by them at the current crude prices of USD 100 plus per barrel.”

    Acuite Ratings said the government, however, may also consider a partial absorption of the increased prices through a further excise duty cut on petrol and diesel which could provide marginal comfort from inflation perspective. While the direct pass-through of elevated commodity prices can be seen through increasing prices of petrol and diesel and non-subsidized LPG, indirect pass through of unprecedented input cost pressures by manufacturers is visible through rising prices of certain personal care products within FMCG sector which will get reflected in the core CPI print in the coming months. After moderating close to RBI’s inflation target rate in September-21, headline CPI inflation has been rising incessantly with the print breaching the upper tolerance threshold in Q4 FY22, averaging at 6.34 per cent. It has started to gather steam in April-22 gaining strength from the geo-political crisis and rising to an eight year high of 7.79 per cent YoY from 6.95 per cent YoY in March-22. Source: IANS

  • Mukesh Ambani, Britain’s Issa brothers face off in final battle for Boots

    Britain’s billionaire Issa brothers and Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani are preparing to face off in the final battle for the Boots drugstore chain, one of the UK high street’s most recognizable names. The Issas are seen as the party to beat ahead of next week’s deadline for proposals, after they submitted the highest offer in the first round, people with knowledge of the matter said. The duo are going up against Ambani, who’s been working on a bid together with buyout firm Apollo Global Management Inc. Bidders are now sizing up Boots’ billions in pension guarantees — which they’ll have to take on — as they figure out how much they can pay for the business, the people said. They’re also working around the clock to arrange financing in a difficult market, which has gotten that much tougher due to the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation and rising interest rates, according to the people. That’s a lot to sort through, and suitors are getting a few extra days to firm their bids up after the chain’s owner Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. pushed back the May 16 deadline to later in the week, the people said.

  • Elon Musk puts plan to purchase Twitter on hold

    Elon Musk tweeted on Friday, May 13,  that his $44-billion cash deal for Twitter Inc was “temporarily on hold” while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the proportion of its fake accounts. Twitter shares initially fell more than 20% in premarket trading, but after Musk, the chief executive of electric car market Tesla Inc, sent a second tweet saying he remained committed to the deal, they regained some ground.

    The shares were down 9.6% to $40.71 in trading on Friday, a steep discount to the $54.20 per share acquisition price.

    Musk, the world’s richest person, decided to waive due diligence when he agreed to buy Twitter on April 25, in an effort to get the San Francisco-based company to accept his “best and final offer.” This could make it harder for him to argue that Twitter somehow misled him.

    Since Musk inked his deal to acquire Twitter, technology stocks have plunged amid investor concerns over inflation and a potential economic slowdown.

    The spread between the offer price and the value of Twitter shares had widened in recent days, implying less than a 50% chance of completion, as investors speculated that the downturn would prompt Musk to walk away or seek a lower price.

    “Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk told his more than 92 million Twitter followers.          Source: Reuters

  • US inflation hit 8.3% last month but slows from 40-year high

    Washington (TIP)- Inflation slowed in April after seven months of relentless gains, a tentative sign that price increases may be peaking while still imposing a financial strain on American households. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from 12 months earlier, according to government data released Wednesday. That was below the 8.5% year-over-year surge in March, which was the highest rate since 1981.

    But the consumer price index (CPI) for gasoline fell 6.1% in April compared to March, the Labor Department said. Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine is the main catalyst for the surge in gasoline prices. The war has also driven up global good prices. On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 0.3% from March to April, a still-elevated rate but the smallest increase in eight months. Consumer prices had spiked 1.2% from February to March, mostly because of a sudden jump in gas prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Nationally, the price of a gallon of regular gas has reached a record $4.40, according to AAA, though that figure isn’t adjusted for inflation. The high price of oil is the main factor. A barrel of US benchmark crude sold for around $100 a barrel Tuesday. Gas had fallen to about $4.10 a gallon in April, after reaching $4.32 in March.

  • Wonder teas that make you slim

    Wonder teas that make you slim

    If you are unhealthily starving yourself and still not losing weight, you are certainly doing it all wrong! While it’s a known fact that gaining pounds is much easier than losing them, your approach towards weight loss is what matters. People try gymming, dieting and end up falling sick thanks to their desperate attempts and though we believe in exercising moderation when it comes to working out and following a particular diet, there’s a secret mantra of losing weight that many of you don’t know about. Slimming teas! Well, you read that right, sipping onto that comforting cup of tea can actually make you slim, but we are not talking about the regular tea, but some specific teas which have the ability to aid weight loss. Here’s a look at 5 of those wondrous teas which can give out unbelievable results if you are serious about losing that flab.

    Peppermint tea

    Since it helps in speeding up the process of digestion, it’s best to have a cuppa of this concoction daily in order to burn more calories than usual. What’s more, it will also curb your food cravings, thereby making you eat just as much as you should eat.

    Prepare mint tea by taking a spoonful of fresh/dried mint leaves and adding them to boiling water. Let the leaves boil for 5 minutes and then strain the water. Add honey, if you like you tea a little sweet.

    Rose tea

    The easiest to make and the most flavourful of the lot, rose tea is a blessing in disguise as it clears all the toxins inside the body. Also, since it prevents constipation, the intake of rose tea ensures your metabolism is in place.

    You can prepare rose tea by mixing fresh rose petals with a spoonful of tea leaves and boiling the same for 4-5 minutes.

    Green tea

    Though it might be a part of your daily diet already, green tea needs to be prepared in the right form (don’t remove the tea bag/tea leaves before 3 minutes) for best weight loss results. A gift to mankind, the antioxidant catechins found in green tea not only boost metabolism, but also help in burning fat.

    Oolong tea

    Extremely popular in China and now widely available in India, courtesy the online shopping portals,oolong tea is nature’s guard against obesity and can reduce cholesterol to a great extent.

    Prepare oolong tea by putting a spoonful of tea leaves in boiling water and steeping the same for 4-5 minutes.

    Black Tea

    All of us have tasted black tea at least once in our lives, either when there’s no milk in the fridge or when we are feeling too full. And well, despite having it quite regularly, most of us are not aware about its weight loss aiding abilities. Black tea helps controlling blood sugar levels and curbs the appetite to a great extent. Can be simply prepared by boiling the tea leaves in water.

  • Google’s new 10-shade skin tone scale to boost inclusivity, cut AI bias

    Google’s new 10-shade skin tone scale to boost inclusivity, cut AI bias

    Tech giant Google has launched a novel 10-shade skin tone that will be incorporated into its products over the coming months to boost inclusivity and to reduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) bias. In a blogpost on Wednesday, Google said it designed the Monk Skin Tone (MST) scale, in partnership with Harvard professor and sociologist Dr. Ellis Monk, to make it easy-to-use for development and evaluation of technology while representing a broader range of skin tones. Skin tone plays a key role in how people experience and are treated in the world, and even factors into how they interact with technologies. Studies have shown that products built using AI and Machine Learning (ML) technologies can perpetuate unfair biases and not work well for people with darker skin tones.

    “We’re openly releasing the scale so anyone can use it for research and product development. Our goal is for the scale to support inclusive products and research across the industry – we see this as a chance to share, learn and evolve our work with the help of others,” Tulsee Doshi, Head of Product for Responsible AI and Product Inclusion in Search, in a blogpost on Wednesday.

    “Updating our approach to skin tone can help us better understand representation in imagery, as well as evaluate whether a product or feature works well across a range of skin tones,” Doshi said.

    The feature could especially be important for computer vision, a type of AI that allows computers to see and understand images. When not built and tested intentionally to include a broad range of skin-tones, computer vision systems have been found to not perform as well for people with darker skin.

    “The MST Scale will help us and the tech industry at large build more representative datasets so we can train and evaluate AI models for fairness, resulting in features and products that work better for everyone – of all skin tones,” Doshi said.

    Every day, millions of people search the web expecting to find images that reflect their specific needs. For example, when people search for makeup related queries in Google Images, one can see an option to further refine results by skin tone.

    “In our research, we found that a lot of the time people feel they’re lumped into racial categories, but there’s all this heterogeneity with ethnic and racial categories,” Dr Monk said.

    “And many methods of categorisation, including past skin tone scales, don’t pay attention to this diversity. That’s where a lack of representation can happenawe need to fine-tune the way we measure things, so people feel represented,” he added.           Source: IANS

  • Astronomers capture 1st image of Milky Way’s huge black hole

    Astronomers capture 1st image of Milky Way’s huge black hole

    The University of Arizona’s Feryal Ozel called the black hole “the gentle giant in the center of our galaxy” while announcing the new image. (Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration via AP) The world got a look on Thursday, May 12,  at the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy.

    Astronomers believe nearly all galaxies, including our own, have these giant black holes at their centre, where light and matter cannot escape, making it extremely hard to get images of them. Light gets chaotically bent and twisted around by gravity as it gets sucked into the abyss along with superheated gas and dust.

    The colorised image unveiled Thursday is from the international consortium behind the Event Horizon Telescope, a collection of eight synchronised radio telescopes around the world. Previous efforts had found the black hole in the centre of our galaxy too jumpy to get a good picture.

    The University of Arizona’s Feryal Ozel called the black hole “the gentle giant in the centre of our galaxy” while announcing the new image.

    The Milky Way black hole is called Sagittarius A (asterisk), near the border of Sagittarius and Scorpius constellations. It is 4 million times more massive than our sun. This is not the first black hole image. The same group released the first one in 2019 and it was from a galaxy 53 million light-years away. The Milky Way black hole is much closer, about 27,000 light-years away. A light year is 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometres). The project cost nearly $60 million with $28 million coming from the US National Science Foundation.

    Source: AP

  • Scientists grow plant in lunar soil, raise hopes of growing plants on Moon

    That’s one small pot of soil, one giant leap for man’s knowledge of space agriculture: scientists have for the first time grown plants in lunar soil brought back by astronauts in the Apollo program. The ground-breaking experiment, detailed in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday, has given researchers hope that it may be possible to one day grow plants directly on the Moon. That would save future space missions much hassle and expense, facilitating longer and farther trips. However, according to the study’s University of Florida authors, much remains to be studied on the topic, and they intend to leave no stone unturned.

    “This research is critical to NASA’s long-term human exploration goals,” said Bill Nelson, the head of the US space agency. “We’ll need to use resources found on the Moon and Mars to develop food sources for future astronauts living and operating in deep space.”

    For their experiment, the researchers used just 12 grams (a few teaspoons) of lunar soil collected from various spots on the Moon during the Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions.

    In tiny thimble-sized pots, they placed about a gram of soil (called “regolith”) and added water, then the seeds. They also fed the plants a nutrient solution every day. The researchers chose to plant arabidopsis thaliana, a relative of mustard greens, because it grows easily and, most importantly, has been studied extensively. Its genetic code and responses to hostile environments — even in space — are well known. As a control group, seeds were also planted in soil from Earth as well as samples imitating lunar and Martian soil. The result: after two days, everything sprouted, including the lunar samples. “Every plant — whether in a lunar sample or in a control — looked the same up until about day six,” Anna-Lisa Paul, lead author of the paper, said in a statement.           Source: AFP

  • Google is mocking Apple by dropping headphone jack in Pixel 6a

    Google which took a dig at Apple for removing the 3.5 mm headphone jack has now announced to ditch the jack in its new device — Pixel 6a. Google even created a two-minute ad celebrating the headphone jack in the Pixel 5A that parodied Apple’s elaborate design videos. That video was titled, in part, “The Circle Comes Full Circle”. Google announced the new Pixel 6a during its I/O 2022 developer conference.

    Nearly all smartphone manufacturers have moved on from the headphone jack which is a trend largely kicked off by Apple with the iPhone 7 in 2016.

    Google is the latest tech company to abandon the headphone port in its next smartphone. The company may wish to make a more convincing case to sell users wireless headphones, as it revealed the new Pixel Buds Pro at its event that can be pre-ordered for $199 in select countries from July 21. The wireless earbuds come with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) with a custom 6-core audio chip that runs Google-developed algorithms and custom speakers. “Built-in sensors will measure the pressure in your ear canal to make sure you’re comfortable even during long listening sessions,” said the company. Later this year, Pixel Buds Pro will also support spatial audio.

  • Manoj Bajpayee slams Rs 1,000 crore films after success of RRR and KGF 2

    Manoj Bajpayee slams Rs 1,000 crore films after success of RRR and KGF 2

    The Family Man actor Manoj Bajpayee is one person who is known to speak his mind. He’s a phenomenal actor who is rocking the OTT space after the popularity of The Family Man and The Family Man 2. Now in an interview with Puja Talwar, he took a dig at Rs 1000 crore films. He said that no one really concerned about how a film and everyone is talking about just numbers.

    Said the actor, “Koi baat hi nahi kar raha hai ki film kaisi hai? Koi baat karne ko raazi nahi hai performances kaesi hai. Baki departments ki kya contribution hai? Kya hai na hum sab Rs 1000 crore aur Rs 300 crore aur Rs 400 crore mein phasein huye hai. Yeh jhagda kaayi saalon se chal raha hai aur mujhe lagta hai ki yeh khatam hone wala hai nahi (No one wants to talk about the film or the performances or contribution of the other departments. We are all stuck in collections of Rs 1000 crore, Rs 400 crore and Rs 300 crore. This debate has been going on for a long time and I don’t think it will end).” Also Read – Alia Bhatt, Akshay Kumar and 7 more Bollywood celebs who were trolled for controversial advertisements

    He went on to say, “Now critics are saying ‘Why don’t you make films like them? Why is your film not working?’ It’s been asked to those in the mainstream. Those in the mainstream are being put in the witness box by their own mainstream critics.” The actor added that he was never a part of that world. He said that he used to go sometimes to that world for some reason but would come back again.

    The actor stated, “For us getting our film released in theatres was tough before. Now it gets tougher due to the Rs 1000 crore films. OTT has been a boon.” He also said that OTT was a boon for actors like him and for so many other talents, so many other faculties. “It’s heart-warming to see all of them busy and consumed by OTT and such amazing work that they are doing,” stated the actor.

  • Hayden Panettiere to reprise role as Kirby Reed in 6th ‘Scream’ movie

    Hayden Panettiere to reprise role as Kirby Reed in 6th ‘Scream’ movie

    Hayden Panettiere is set to return for the sixth installment in the Scream franchise. Spyglass Media and Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday, May 11,  that Panettiere will reprise her role from 2011’s Scream 4, where she played Kirby Reed, a student and horror fanatic at Woodsboro High School who ultimately survived in that film.

    The fan-favorite character’s return comes after Spyglass and Paramount confirmed that four survivors from last year’s Scream also will return for the new movie. Panettiere will star alongside Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding and Jenna Ortega. The next Scream film will pick up with Sam Carpenter (Barrera), Mindy Meeks-Martin (Brown), Chad Meeks-Martin (Gooding) and Tara Carpenter (Ortega) — the four survivors from the most recent Ghostface killings — as they depart Woodsboro and begin a fresh chapter.

    Principal photography on the film is scheduled to begin this summer, with the untitled movie set for a March 31, 2023, theatrical release. The sixth Scream movie will be helmed by the filmmaking team behind the fifth installment. Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will direct, while James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick will co-write the screenplay. Paul Neinstein, William Sherak and Vanderbilt will serve as producers on the new project, with original Scream screenwriter Kevin Williamson and Chad Villella executive producing alongside Spyglass’ Gary Barber and Peter Oillataguerre, Ron Lynch, Cathy Konrad and Marianna Maddalena.

    Panettiere is best known for starring in the NBC series Heroes and films like Remember The Titans and Custody.

  • Vidya Balan begins shooting for ‘Neeyat’ in UK

    Vidya Balan begins shooting for ‘Neeyat’ in UK

    Vidya Balan, who was recently seen in Amazon Prime Video’s Jalsa, has begun shooting for her next film. Titled Neeyat, the murder mystery will be directed by Anu Menon. Today, May 10, Vidya shared a picture from the sets of Neeyat with Anu and Vikram Malhotra. Vidya Balan, who has earlier worked with Anu Menon in Shakuntala Devi, will be seen in her next film, Neeyat. Sharing a picture with Anu and Vikra Malhotra on Instagram, Vidya wrote, “Excited to begin shooting one of the most engaging scripts I have read in the recent times, with some of my favourite people – @directormenon & @ivikramix All I can say is expect the unexpected #Neeyat, Filming Begins (sic).” Anu Menon announced Neeyat on April 29 and also revealed the names of the cast members.

  • Sonali Bendre to make OTT debut with ZEE5 series ‘The Broken News’

    Sonali Bendre to make OTT debut with ZEE5 series ‘The Broken News’

    Actor Sonali Bendre is set to enter the streaming space with “The Broken News”, an upcoming original drama series from the streamer ZEE5. The show, an adaptation of the popular 2018 British series “Press”, will also feature “Paatal Lok” star Jaideep Ahlawat and Shriya Pilgaonkar, who recently starred in the Prime Video show “Guilty Minds”. “The Broken News” will be directed by Vinay Waikul, who had recently helmed the crime-thriller Netflix series “Aranyak”. According to the makers, the show follows the story of two rival Mumbai-based news channels – Awaaz Bharati, an independent, ethical news channel, and Josh 24/7 News, which offers sensationalist and invasive journalism and “what transpires between the main characters in their quest for news”. Bendre, known for hit 1990s films such as “Sarfarosh”, “Diljale”, and “Major Saab”, was last seen in the 2013 gangster drama “Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara!” in which she had a cameo. A cancer survivor, the actor made her small screen debut in 2014 with “Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye” and has also served as a judge on reality TV shows such as “Indian Idol” and “India’s Got Talent”.