Pregnant Rani Mukerji Extends Stay in Hospital by Few More Days

Rani is 'fine and resting,' as per sources

"She is in the hospital and will be there for few days as work is going on at her house, so her stay in the hospital has been extended," sources said. "She is fine. She is still in hospital and resting," they added. The 37-year-old actress, who was admitted to a suburban hospital after Diwali for a minor complication

Actress Rani Mukherji, who is expecting her first child with husband filmmaker Aditya Chopra, is feeling well but is likely to remain hospitalised for few more days.

The 37-year-old actress, who was admitted to a suburban hospital after Diwali for a minor complication, has apparently chosen to remain there for some more time.

"She is in the hospital and will be there for few days as work is going on at her house, so her stay in the hospital has been extended," sources said.

"She is fine. She is still in hospital and resting," they added.

Rani married Yash Raj Films' Aditya Chopra in a quiet ceremony in Italy. The couple will welcome their child in January 2016.

Cop Suspended After Seen in Pictures Sitting on Woman Officer's Lap

Jammu:  Pictures of a white-bearded policeman purportedly sitting on the lap of a woman Special Police Officer (SPO) in a police station in Rajouri district has gone viral on social media, prompting authorities to suspend him.

Two pictures were posted in Facebook and WhatsApp in which Head Constable Zakir Hussain was seen sitting on the lap of a woman SPO who was seated on a chair in Budhal in Police Station.

"The incident took place in August this year. Soon after the pictures came to our notice, we have suspended the Head Constable namely Zakir Hussain posted at Police Station Budhal and attached him to the District Police Lines for this shameful act," said AK Atri, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of the Rajouri-Poonch Range.

A probe has been ordered and action has been initiated against the woman SPO and others of the department involved in the act, he said.

There is zero-tolerance to such shameful acts in police, the DIG said. 

 

Story First Published: November 20, 2015 18:20 IST

At Least 27 Killed by Gunmen in Mali Hotel Siege; 20 Indians Evacuated Safely

Bamako:  Gunmen who stormed a luxury hotel in Mali's capital and seized more than 100 guests and staff today no longer have any hostages after a rescue operation by special forces, the Mali government has said.

"They currently have no more hostages in their hands and forces are in the process of tracking them down," security minister Salif Traore told a news conference following a stand-off of several hours at Bamako's Radisson Blu.

United Nations peacekeepers saw some 27 bodies on two separate floors of a luxury hotel in Mali's capital Bamako that was attacked on Friday, a UN official told Reuters, citing preliminary information.

The peacekeepers saw 12 corpses in the basement of the hotel and another 15 on the second floor, the official said on condition of anonymity. He added that the UN troops were still helping Malian authorities search the hotel.

Earlier, all 20 Indians who were staying at the hotel were evacuated, the External Affairs Ministry said. The Indians who were rescued, work for an Indian business group based in Dubai and have a permanent room in the hotel.
 

The gunmen are believed to have entered the 190-room hotel around 0700 GMT in a car with diplomatic plates before seizing 170 guests and staff in a suspected Islamist hostage-taking.

Witnesses described "around a dozen" armed assailants, while security sources spoke of two or three "jihadist" attackers.

An African Jihadist group affiliated with al Qaeda has claimed responsibility. Al-Mourabitoun, a group based in northern Mali and made up mostly of Tuaregs and Arabs, posted a message on Twitter saying it was behind the attack on the Radisson Blu hotel. The claim could not immediately be verified.

Malian soldiers, police and special forces were on the scene as a security perimeter was set up, along with members of the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force in Mali and the French troops fighting jihadists in west Africa under Operation Barkhane.

Attacks despite peace deal

The shooting at the Radisson follows a nearly 24-hour siege and hostage-taking at another hotel in August in the central Malian town of Sevare in which five UN workers were killed, along with four soldiers and four attackers.

Five people, including a French citizen and a Belgian, were also killed in an attack at a restaurant in Bamako in March in the first such incident in the capital.

Islamist groups have continued to wage attacks in Mali despite a June peace deal between former Tuareg rebels in the north of the country and rival pro-government armed groups.
 

Northern Mali fell in March-April 2012 to Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups long concentrated in the area before being ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013.

Despite the peace deal, large swathes of Mali remain beyond the control of government and foreign forces.

The website of the Radisson Blu in Bamako says it offers "upscale lodging close to many government offices and business sites", serving as "one of the city's most popular conference venues" with "a stunning 508-square-metre ballroom and meeting rooms".

Radisson Blu, an upscale brand of the Radisson hotel chain, has more than 230 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide.

Story First Published: November 20, 2015 21:26 IST

Russia Pounds Islamic State Jihadists With 'For Paris' Bombs

Moscow:  Russia is pounding the Islamic State jihadists in Syria with bombs emblazoned with the words "For our people" and "For Paris" after Moscow vowed vengeance following the bombing of a plane over Sinai.

Russian television broadcast a video in which a man is seen scrawling "For our people!" and "For Paris!" in black pen on aerial bombs minutes before a warplane is set to take off from the country's airbase in Syria.

"For our people! For Paris! Pilots and technicians of #Hmeymim airbase sent a message to terrorists by airmail," the Russian defence ministry said on its official Twitter account.

"The armed forces are conducting an aerial campaign of retribution," the defence ministry said in a separate statement, adding the military had begun coordinating their operations with the French.

Earlier this week Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to hunt down and "punish" those behind a bomb attack that brought down a passenger jet over Sinai last month, killing all 224 people, mostly Russian holidaymakers, on board.

After the carnage in Paris which claimed the lives of 130 people Putin and French President Francois Hollande agreed to "ensure closer contact and coordination" in their countries' operations in Syria.

The two leaders will meet at the Kremlin next week.

Unverified images have been circulating on the internet of Syria-bound US missiles bearing the handwritten inscription "From Paris with love".

Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign in Syria since September 30, the country's largest foreign intervention outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.

The Islamic State group said it had bombed the Russian jet in Egypt in retaliation for the bombing raids.

Story First Published: November 21, 2015 03:46 IST

Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani faces a revolt by members

NEW DELHI: Dissent against Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani appears to be gathering strength with some members planning to make a formal representation to PM Narendra Modi and I&B minister Arun Jaitley. Members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have expressed concern at Nihalani's unilateral decision making style and cavalier attitude.

Board members said that cuss words were still being arbitrarily snipped from films (despite the Board's opposition) and decisions being made on films without taking the Board in to confidence."There are a few of us who feel that the chairperson has been working on his own accord without listening to anyone on the Board. This is unfair. We are planning to approach the PM and the I&B minister on the issue,'' the member said.

Nihalani however denied that the cuss list had been re-circulated. "I am doing my job according to the rules and the allegations made are completely baseless and false. The members who are complaining actually don't want to work,'' he said.

Nihalani has faced social media derision after the Board ruled kissing scenes of Daniel Craig with Monica Bellucci and Lea Seydoux in the new James Bond release Spectre as too extensive and had them trimmed by half.

Former I&B secretary and Board member Raghu Menon in a recent letter to fellow members said that he was 'disturbed' at being treated in a 'cavalier and offhand fashion' by CBFC chairman and CEO and the utter insensitivity and disregard of the I&B ministry. Announcing that he would not attend any more Board meetings Menon said, "I have closely observed and have been involved in the working of the CBFC for the last 20 years in various capacities when it was headed by luminaries like Shakti Samanta, Vijay Anand, Asha Parekh, Sharmila Tagore, Leela Samson etc, but never have I seen it sink to such levels of total disregard for the Board Members. It would be better to disband the Board if it is found to be so irrelevant.''

Nihalini however said that Menon's term was over earlier this month so there was no question of him attending any meetings.

Producer Ashoke Pandit had on Wednesday tweeted that Nihalini should not act as an official spokesperson for the party and questioned if the censor chief had used his influence to screen a video praising PM Modi appending it to a recent Salman Khan starrer in theatres.

According to sources another member—actor and former BJP contestant from Assam--George Baker felt that Menon's email was disturbing. "The entire board should be taken into confidence and a meeting should be held to either approve or ratify what should be done. Arbitrarily taking decisions without taking the board into confidence should not reflect on the board and any adverse repercussions should not be placed on the shoulders of the board.''

Former St Xavier's college professor and Board member Nandini Sardesai said that she had been informed that Nihalani had circulated the cuss list with instructions to regional officers asking them to implement it while film writer Mihir Bhuta suggested that representations should be made to the PM and I&B minister, sources said.

From Times of India

Benefits of Walking: 9 Reasons why it's Great for Your Health

Long walks help you clear your head, pace your thoughts and calm you down, figuratively speaking. The benefits of walking seem so obvious that they're rarely discussed. We forget how it's great exercise that also helps you tone your legs, shed the extra weight and doesn't need you to have an exclusive gym membership. It quickens your heart beat, circulating more blood and oxygen to your muscles and your organs, including the brain. Experts suggest that brisk walking for 30 minutes at a moderate speed can help you burn 150 to 200 calories.

And walking isn't all sports shoes and parks. During the day, you can also get up from your desk every hour or so and walk around your office or block for two whole minutes. The benefits of intense exercise are undeniable, of course, but even a few steps daily can take you a long way. It's obvious that regular walking helps you lose weight but you must also know that the speed at which you walk could make all the difference. Researchers from the University of Virginia found that women who did three shorter but fast-paced walks in a week lost five times more belly fat than those who strolled five times a week. And that's not all, high intensity exercise also helps you lose three times more visceral fat which is the one wrapped around your organs like liver and kidneys and has often been linked to heart disease and diabetes.

Over the last few years, researchers have spent a lot of time and resources to figure out how walking helps, how swift or slow you should walk and it helps bring a certain kind of rhythm to your life that no other form of exercise can.

1. Less likely to suffer a stroke and other cardiovascular problems - According to a study by the Harvard Medical School, walking for just 2.5 hours a week, which is 21 minutes a day can cut the risk of heart disease by 30%. In fact, it even goes on to say that walking regularly could save Americans over 100 billion dollars a year in health care costs. A 2009 issue of Harvard Men's Health Watch reported that walking is seriously underrated. Two scientists sifted through 4295 articles published on walking between 1997 and 2007. 18 of these met their high standards for quality. Each of these studies collected information about the participants walking habits and cardiovascular risk factors such as age, smoking and alcohol use. The participants were followed for 11.3 years and during this time their cardiovascular events and deaths were recorded. When scientists compiled this data, they found that walking reduced the risk of cardiovascular events by 31% and cuts the risk of an early death by 32%.

2. Battle obesity - Some might say that walking is the easiest form of exercise. That is untrue because you should not really be strolling but walking at a fairly fast speed and secondly, it can actually help you lose weight. A University of Utah study in 2014 found that in women, every minute of brisk walking throughout the day could lower the risk of obesity by 5%. Harvard School of Public Health found that walking could cut the effects of obesity-promoting genes by half.

 

 

3. Drop the pressure - Walking most certainly helps lower your blood pressure but let's get a sense of how often and for how long you need to walk for it to really be helpful. Researchers from Arizona State University found that taking 10-minute walks every day is an effective way to lower your blood pressure.

4. Curb diabetes - According to the American Diabetes Association walking is a great way to curb diabetes. You should start out with a 3 to 5 minute slow-paced walk and then stretch for 5 to 10 minutes followed by a walk at moderate speed. Make sure you keep your spine straight and your chin up. On some days you can choose to indulge in shorter walks and on others push yourself to brisk walk. James O. Hill, PHD from the University of Colorado at Denver writes that a modest change in one's schedule like making time for walking can make a significant change in the life of a type 2 Diabetes patient, reducing overall healthcare costs. To see good results, you can start out with 30 minutes or 2400 steps a day and take it up to 77 minutes or 6400 steps a day.

5. Prevent cancer - According to a 2012 Harvard University Women's Health Study walking for one to three hours a week reduces the risk of death from breast and uterine cancer by almost 19%. And if these women push themselves a bit further, and walk for about three to five hours a week, they could reduce the risk of breast and uterine cancer to almost 54%.

A study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, and conducted by the American Cancer Society found that walking up to 7 hours a week reduces the risk of breast cancer itself by 14%. The sample size of this group was a large 73,600 and was done over two decades, making the results of this study even more credible.

6. Exercise can boost your memory - Exercise is good for the brain but walking in specific is good for boosting your memory. A 2011 study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showed how walking for 40 minutes at a stretch three times a week could increase the volume of the hippocampus by 2%, which is fairly significant. Another study that was presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, regular brisk walks can slow down the shrinking of the brain and the faltering mental skills that old age often bring. The study was done with men and women between the ages of 60 and 80 and it concluded that taking a short walk three times a week increased the size of that part of the brain linked to planning and memory.

7. Boost your immunity - According to a study done at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, a moderately-paced walk for about 30 to 45 minutes daily can increase the number of immune system cells in your body and over a period of time, it can have really remarkable effect on your body's ability to fight disease. To be more specific, walking at least 20 minutes a day could reduce the risk of getting sicker by almost 43%.

 

 

8. Good for old age - A 2014 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed how walking from an early age can help you stay mobile and independent during old age. The sample size included people between the ages of 70 and 89. After 2.5 years, researchers found that the group of adults which exercised regularly were 28% less likely to become disabled and also 18% less likely to have any episode of physical disability.

9. Curb stress eating - Walking is one of the best ways to kick your stress eating habits to the curb. It doesn't work in isolation though. The ideal way to beat a stress eating disorder it to meditate, get good sleep and walk around 10,000 steps a day. Experts believe that stress eating is more often a symptom of an emotional or psychological problem. Walking releases endorphin into your system and reverses the cortisol levels in your body, helping you curb stress eating.

Tej Pratap Yadav, Lalu Yadav's Debutant Son, Repeats Oath After Flub

Patna:  Tej Pratap Yadav, the politically inexperienced older son of Lalu Yadav, was third in line to be sworn in today as a minister in Bihar's Nitish Kumar government.

He was asked by Governor Ramnath Kovind to repeat his oath after a flub; he had said "Upekshit (neglected)" instead of "Apekshit (expectations)". Even in his second attempt, he fumbled on another word.

Tej Pratap, who turns 28 tomorrow, has settled for a junior role compared to his younger brother Tejaswi, who is set to take charge as Deputy Chief Minister at 26.

Though both sons of Lalu Yadav are debutants and won their first election this time, Tejaswi is widely seen as his father's political heir since he campaigned with him for last year's national election.

Lalu's oldest Misa contested the Lok Sabha election but lost. She was present at the swearing in ceremony along with two more sisters.

Misa, Tej Pratap and Tejaswi are the only ones among Lalu's nine children to join politics.

Story First Published: November 20, 2015 14:31 IST