Eating a typical Western high-fat diet such as cheeseburgers and fries could make prostate cancer moreaggressive and cause them to spread, finds a study.

The result opens the door to new treatment for the condition that is generally an “indolent” or slow-growing and low-risk disease.

“The progression of cancer to the metastatic stage represents a pivotal event that influences patient outcomes and the therapeutic options available to patients,” said Pier Paolo Pandolfi, Director at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston.

“Our data provide a strong genetic foundation for the mechanisms underlying metastatic progression, and we also demonstrated how environmental factors can boost these mechanisms to promote progression from primary to advanced metastatic cancer,” Pandolfi added.

For the studies, published in the journals Nature Genetics and Nature Communications, when the team increased the levels of saturated fats — the kind found in fast food cheeseburgers and fries — in the animals’ diet, the mice developed aggressive, metastatic tumours.

The findings showed that about 20 per cent of metastatic prostate cancers lack two tumour suppressing genes PML and PTEN — known to play a major role in prostate cancer. In these cases, the cells’ fat-production machinery was found running amok.

“It was as though we’d found the tumors’ lipogenic, or fat production, switch,” Pandolfi said.

“Thus, if there’s a switch, we can block this switch and prevent metastasis or even cure metastatic prostate cancer,” he added.

Moreover, the researchers are also in the process of testing an obesity drug named “fatostatin” that was discovered in 2009.

“The obesity drug blocked the lipogenesis fantastically and the tumours regressed and didn’t metastasise,” Pandolfi said.

State-run NTPC Ltd said on Wednesday that it has fulfilled all its commitments for the acquisition of land for its 1,600 MW Gadarwara power project.

The public sector power utility said it will continue to work towards the local area development and betterment of the affected people even after the project goes on stream.

“We have fulfilled all our commitments, in line with the order of the Madhya Pradesh government’s rehabilitation department and the tripartite agreement signed with the landowners and administration,” a spokesperson of the NTPC said.

“We appeal to the local people to support the project of national importance from which half of the electricity generated will be for the state of Madhya Pradesh,” he said.

The project-affected farmers have been agitating at Gadarwara in Narsinghpur district, demanding jobs in the central PSU.

Former Union minister and senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha also took part in the agitation in support of the demands of the project-affected people last week.

The spokesperson clarified that the payment for the land is as per the rate decided by the government.

As per the agreement, NTPC paid Rs 14.5 lakh per acre for the irrigated land and Rs 10.5 lakh for the non-irrigated land as a package, he said.

The corporation also paid Rs 3.5 lakh per acre (minimum Rs 3 lakh) as a one-time payment in lieu of employment as rehabilitation grant and the agreement made it clear that any additional money or employment will neither be demanded nor accepted, he further said.

However, the agitation by the local villagers affected the project work as about 3,000 specialised workers left the site and the work came to a standstill from December 22.

“This is likely to adversely impact the project commissioning schedule which is targeted by the end of the current financial year,” the spokesperson said.

The project management has approached the district and the state administration for the safety of the project site and workers for resuming the work as heavy machines and equipment at the site are lying idle.

Aiming to disrupt the selfie-focused market in India, Chinese major Huawei on Wednesday launched Honor 9 Lite smartphone with quad-camera setup and a glass body.

The Honor 9 Lite has a 5.65-inch IPS display with 18:9 aspect ratio and runs Android 8.0 Oreo based latest Emotion UI (EMUI) 8.0. It sports a quad-camera setup which is a rear and front 13MP + 2MP dual-lens camera setup with Phase-Detection AutoFocus (PDAF) and advanced wide aperture mode.

The device has a double-sided 2.5D glass unibody constructed with layered nano-etched design on its back. The Honor 9 Lite is equipped with the Kirin 659 Octa-core processor, fabricated in a cutting-edge 16-nanometer process. It also houses a microSD card of up to 256 GB can be used to increase data storage.

The Honor 9 Lite has 3,000mAh battery which claims to deliver 86 hours offline music listening or 13 hours offline video watching. It has a rear fingerprint scanner on the rear which unlocks the device in 0.25 seconds.

“Honor 9 Lite will prove to be an all-around package. We are delighted to bring this phone to the consumers with our latest EMUI 8.0 designed in the India R&D centre,” said P. Sanjeev, Vice President, Sales, Consumer Business Group, Honor India.

Honor 9 Lite full specifications

• 4G VoLTE dual-SIM, Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI 8.0, Fingerprint sensor
• 5.65-inch full-HD+ (1080 x 2160 pixels) 18:9 2.5D curved glass display
• Octa-core Huawei’s own Hi-Silicon Kirin 659 processor processor
• 3GB/ 4GB RAM with 32GB/ 64GB storage, expandable up to 256GB with microSD
• 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, LED flash, secondary 2MP camera, PDAF
• 13MP + 2MP front-facing camera
• 3000mAh battery

The Honor 9 Lite 3GB+32GB is priced at Rs. 10,999, whereas the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version will cost Rs. 14,999. It comes in Blue, Grey and Black colour options. It will be available exclusively from Flipkart and Honor Store starting from January 21.

As a part of the launch offer, Honor is also offering 10 percent instant cashback on Citi Bank Debit and Credit Cards.

(Written with inputs from IANS)

The Haryana Police has been left baffled after recovering the body of a 19-year-old youth who was until now the prime suspect in the rape and murder of a 15-year-old Dalit girl in Kurukshetra district.

Police said on Wednesday that the body of Gulshan, who was considered the prime suspect in the killing of the Class 10 student, was found on Tuesday night from the Bhakra irrigation canal near Jyotisar in Kurukshetra district, about 110 km from here.

The body was in a decomposed state.

Gulshan’s name was mentioned in the FIR as an accused.

Family members of the deceased youth on Wednesday started a protest outside the office of the Kurukshetra Superintendent of Police Abhishek Garg demanding justice.

Garg confirmed the recovery of Gulshan’s body. “We are investigating the murders,” he said.

Police sources said they could not rule out “honour killing” as a reason behind the twin murders.

The Haryana Police, based on the complaint of the victim girl’s family, had listed Gulshan, a Class 12 student, as the prime suspect in the kidnapping, rape and murder of the girl.

Some people were even detained for questioning and raids were conducted to nab Gulshan.

The girl had gone for her tuition class on January 9 and went missing. Her half-naked body was found near a canal in Jind district on Saturday.

Police and forensic officials said the girl was brutally raped and inflicted wounds on her private parts and internal organs. She was murdered by her tormentors.

Haryana has been rocked with five incidents of rape and gang-rape in the past four days. These were reported from Kurukshetra/Jind, Panipat, Pinjore and Faridabad (two). In three of these, the victims were brutally murdered.

Over eight lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir Himalayas in the last three years, the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was informed on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question raised by National Conference MLA Mian Altaf Ahmad, Health Minister Bali Bhagat said while the highest number of 3,52,771 pilgrims visited the cave shrine in 2015, the number fell to 2,20,490 in 2016, the year which witnessed unrest in the valley following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

However, he said the number rose to 2,60,003 last year.

Last year in July, a terror attack on a bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims in Anantnag district of south Kashmir left seven pilgrims dead and 15 others injured.

The nearly two month annual pilgrimage usually starts in the last week of June from the twin routes of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal district.

While Pahalgam is the traditional 45-km route to the cave shrine, majority of the pilgrims prefer the shortest 16- km route from Baltal to pay their obeisance at the shrine, which houses the naturally formed ice-lingam.

The minister said the pilgrims are being provided adequate medical facilities at various places en route the shrine.

Large number of pilgrims availed medical facilities, he said adding while 1,97,000 were treated in OPD s in Kashmir last year, the number stood at 1,24,000 in 2016 and 1,74,000 in 2015.

In Jammu, 89,823 pilgrims were treated in various district health facilities last year against 89,311 in the previous year, he said.

He said 16,984 availed the facility of in-patient department in Kashmir valley last year, while the number of such patients was 8,651 in 2016 and 14,686 in 2015.

A total of 8,125 pilgrims had suffered injuries during the pilgrimage last year against 6,348 in 2016 and 12,528 in 2015, the minister said.

A huge number of pilgrims also availed the AYUSH facility made available by the government at various camps en route the shrine, the minister said.

He said while 23,161 pilgrims attended AYUSH camps last year, the number was 49,640 in 2016.

The minister said the department has over the years vigorously propagated the need for pilgrims to visit medical facilities while travelling in this high altitude area.

In a major blow to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday set aside the appointment of his Chief Principal Secretary Suresh Kumar, holding it ultra vires of the Constitution.

Justice Rajan Gupta ruled that Kumar, a retired Indian Administrative Service officer, was holding the post “in violation of Article 166 (3) of the Constitution” and thus the appointment was “null and void”.

Suresh Kumar is considered close to Amarinder Singh and is seen as the most powerful man in the state after him.

He was earlier the Principal Secretary to Amarinder Singh during the latter’s earlier tenure as Chief Minister from 2002-2007.

A lawyer had moved the High Court last year to challenge Kumar’s appointment.

The High Court order is seen as a major blow to the Chief Minister, who is already grappling with controversies surrounding Irrigation and Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh, who has since submitted his resignation.

Rana Gurjit Singh, a billionaire industrialist, is also considered close to Amarinder Singh. His name cropped up in the multi-crore rupee auction of sand mines to certain persons who he claimed were no more his employees.

Also, the Enforcement Directorate had summoned Rana Gurjit Singh’s son Inder Pratap Singh for allegedly raising Rs 100 crore abroad without seeking permission.

The Minister’s son appeared before the ED on Wednesday following the summons.

Director Vishwa Paandya’s upcoming film titled Baa Baaa Black Sheep, starring Anupam Kher, Maniesh Paul, Annu Kapoor, Manjari Fadnis and Kay Kay Menon is all set to release on March 9.

Baa Baaa Black Sheep is an action-comedy film with ensemble cast.

The film wrapped its final schedule of shooting in late 2017 and is now in the post-production stage. The makers of the film will kick start the promotions somewhere in the month of February.

The first poster of the film was released on January 17 when Taran Adarsh shared an image of the poster on his Instagram and also revealed the release date of the film.

Vishwas Paandya’s #BaaBaaaBlackSheep to release on 9 March 2018… Stars Anupam Kher, Maniesh Paul, Annu Kapoor, Manjari Fadnnis and Kay Kay Menon… Produced by Anand Swarup Agarwal and Krishna Datla… Distributed by Soham Rockstar Entertainment… First look poster:

A post shared by Taran Adarsh (@taranadarsh) on Jan 16, 2018 at 10:24pm PST

The film’s intriguing poster has got quite the attention from people as the makers promise their next film to be a hilarious roller coaster ride.

Baa Baaa Black Sheep is produced by Swarup Agarwal and Krishna Datla and will feature Anupam Kher and Maniesh Paul in the lead roles, alongside Annu Kapoor, Manjari Fadnis and Kay Kay Menon in pivotal roles.

Furious Chinese football fans branded Carlos Tevez shameless and “a rat” on Wednesday after the Argentine striker described his ill-fated spell at Shanghai Shenhua as a “holiday for seven months”.

The 33-year-old struggled for form and fitness during a disastrous stint in China, where he was among the best-paid players in the world on a reported weekly salary of €730,000.

He brought his Chinese nightmare to a premature end when he returned to Boca Juniors earlier in January and on Monday joked with Argentine television channel TyC Sports: “It’s fine because I was on holiday for seven months.”

That prompted an outpouring of anger on Chinese social media, with fans of a number of Chinese Super League (CSL) clubs rounding on the man often disparagingly labelled “very homesick boy” in the Asian country.

“Football hooligan, please get your arse out and never return to China again. Scum,” wrote one on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

“I wonder if there is anyone more shameless than him,” added another.

Tevez missed half of Shenhua’s CSL games injured, out of form or out of shape, and when he did play he failed to justify his hefty pay cheque, scoring just four league goals.

As well as hitting out at Tevez, whose previous clubs include Manchester United, Manchester City and Juventus, Chinese fans also said Shenhua should take same of the blame.

“After looking at Tevez’s interview my heart as a Chinese football fan is again deeply hurt,” wrote another on Weibo.

“While we are chasing Tevez like a rat crossing the street, China’s (football) managers should also do some good self-reflection.”

In contrast, Tevez has been warmly welcomed back for his third stint at Boca and has a supporter in Argentine great Diego Maradona.

“He filled Santa’s sack with dollars and came back to Boca,” Maradona was quoted as saying by Argentine TV earlier this month.

Shenhua, who are keen to draw a line under the Tevez fiasco, declined to comment.

The police has arrested a man resembling the prime suspect in the kidnapping, rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Pakistan.

The man was held from Lahore’s Bhatta Chowk earlier this week and was handed over to the Kasur authorities for his DNA test, Geo News reported on Wednesday.

Zainab was kidnapped on January 4 from near her aunt’s house in Kasur city. Her body was discovered five days later from a garbage pile. The post-mortem report revealed that the minor had been raped and murdered.

The authorities said that the suspect’s mobile phone location showed that he was in Kasur.

The brutal murder of Zainab has incited anger among residents as it is the 12th such case to occur within a two kilometre radius in the city in the last year. Kasur made international headlines in 2015 when a gang of paedophiles running a child sex ring was busted.

The gang allegedly abducted and sexually assaulted at least 280 children in the area, had blackmailed the families of the victims since 2009 and even sold video clips and images of the assault.

A Supreme Court bench on Tuesday expressed its displeasure over the lack of progress by the Punjab government and police on the Zainab case.

According to the authorities, around 1,100 suspects have been questioned in the case.

“If the issue isn’t solved then it’ll be a failure of the government and police,” the Chief Justice observed during the proceedings, adding that the same mistakes are made in every case after which suspects are exonerated due to shoddy investigations.

The Chief Justice also said that the accused in the Zainab case was a serial killer.

Chunky Panday’s daughter Ananya Panday has been in the spotlight for quite awhile now and for all the right reasons. And the latest buzz from the B-town is that the young star kid made her debut as model for the latest issue of Vanity Fair.

As per reports Ananya, who is yet to make her Bollywood debut, posed for the cover of the magazine’s latest spread after leaving a mark at the Bal des Debutantes aka Le Bal.

Philip & the Bollywood actress #lebal #lebaldesdebutantes #debs #debutantes #couture #hautecouture #fashion #paris #gaultier #thepeninsulaparis #payalnewyork #jewelry #renault #charity #seleniinstitute #enfantsdasie #maccosmetics #alexandredeparis_coiffure #christianlouboutin

A post shared by lebal.paris (@lebal.paris) on Dec 19, 2017 at 12:37pm PST

The fashion event was hosted last year in the month of November and saw some of the most popular star kids from across the globe including the likes of Ava Elizabeth Phillippe (Reese Witherspoon’s daughter), Princess Gauravi Kumari and Ahaan Pandey.

The ball was a private affair and can only be attended by invites for the event. But being a star kid of a popular actor has its own perks as Ananya was among the selected few, who attended the event with her family. Ananya also had an adorable moment with her daddy dearest, Chunky, as the duo was spotted on the floor together while dancing.

Dance with daddy ❤️ . . @ananyapandey_official @ananyapandey_official . @GlobalCinemaHub @GlobalCinemaHub @GlobalCinemaHub . #suhanakhan #jhanvikapoor #sridevibkapoor #ananyapandey #ananyapandeypics #ananya #suhana #shanayakapoor #shanaya #suhanakhan2017 #suhanakhan2 #ananyapandeyofficial #ananyapandayfp #jhanvikapoors #sara #saraalikhanpataudi #saraalikhan #ananyapandeypic #ananyapanday0 #ananyaphtgrph #ananyapictures

A post shared by Ananya Panday © (@ananyapanday_official) on Dec 20, 2017 at 11:58pm PST

The event is symbolic of Paris couture and apparently the event also raises money for several charities all the while celebrating the French lifestyle.

According to sources, Ananya donned a black and blue Jean Paul Gaultier creation at the event.

#sistalove❤️ Paris #ananyaparispic #ananyanewpic #ananyainparis @ananyapandey_official @ananyapandey_official @ananyapandey_official . . . . .#suhanakhan #upcomingactress #hotandsexy #bollywoodgirl #bollywood #actresses #ananyapandey #ananyapandey #saraalikhan #jhanvikapoor #sridevibkapoor #sridevikapoordaughter #ananyapandey #chankypandey #suhanakhan #khangirls #ananyapandeypics #bollywoodstar #hotbollywoodactress #ananyapandey_official

A post shared by Ananya Panday © (@ananyapanday_official) on Nov 29, 2017 at 2:53am PST

Well Ananya is not the only one that has graced the cover of Vanity Fair magazine, as actresses like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have featured on the cover page of the magazine in the past.

With that being said Ananya is just 19 years old and is already stealing the spotlight from other actresses and her fans are now eagerly waiting for Ananya to make her Bollywood debut.

The police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seized Rs 100 crore in banned Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes from a house in Kanpur.

The notes, which were banned in November 2016, were neatly stacked up like a ‘bed’. The police were tipped-off by the NIA. The elite investigation agency shared the details with the police because they didn’t suspect any terror angle.

According to the NIA, the money might belong to four-five individuals or groups.

Following the tip-off, cops in civil dresses were deployed in the areas where the hotels were located.

As many as 16 people, including a noted builder and a professor, have been arrested in connection with the haul. Authorities say that the money was stored in gunny bags and hidden in the builder’s house with the intent of converting it into legal currency through illegal means.

According to reports, the gang is from the east Uttar Pradesh. The members of the gang were putting up at different hotels in city.

The authorities informed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Income Tax officials.

Currency notes of the two denominations were banned as the nation aggressively went through with the Centre’s demonetisation drive. People returned Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in their possession to the banks in the following months.

The RBI has said that 99 per cent of the demonetised notes have returned to the banks. In November 2017, the NIA had recovered Rs 36.34 crore in demonetised currency in Delhi.

This Kanpur seizure is the biggest since demonetisation.

The price of Bitcoin fell by more than 20 per cent over the last 24 hours in major markets in Asia over fears of fresh restrictions in South Korea and China.

Bitcoin was valued at an average price of 1,394 million yen ($12,562) in Japanese exchange houses at 3.20 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday, and 13,513 million won ($12,628) in South Korea, according to the CryptoCompare website.

The prices of the cryptocurrency — that has been on a downward trend since the beginning of January — indicated a fall of 22.7 per cent in Japan and 24.14 per cent in South Korea over the last 24 hours, Efe news reported.

Ethereum, another cryptocurrency, also fell more than 20 per cent, whereas Ripple and Bitcoin Cash lost between 10 and 15 per cent of its value.

Analysts attributed the drop to concerns over possible new regulations, including perhaps a ban on its sale in South Korea, where some of the major cryptocurrency markets are located.

On Tuesday, South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said the government will take measures to check any irrational speculation in the local cryptocurrency markets.

Moreover, China had also been planning to ban the use of foreign websites and mobile applications that provide access to virtual currencies and restrict Bitcoin mining — computer systems to generate the cryptocurrency — in the country.

Last year, Beijing had ordered the closure of domestic cryptocurrency exchanges.

The current price of Bitcoin is around 40 per cent lower than the record high it touched in the middle of December, when its value had crossed $19,000.

ALSO READ: Deconstructing bitcoins: Future of money or a fraud?

Brazilian superstar Neymar looks set to return for Paris Saint-Germain against Dijon on Wednesday after coach Unai Emery included him in the Ligue 1 leaders’ squad.

Neymar missed Sunday’s 1-0 win at Nantes due to a rib injury but Spaniard Emery believes he should be recovered in time.

“Neymar trained well (on Monday). He’ll still feel pain for a few days but he took part in training and finished it well,” said the former Sevilla coach.

“He’ll need a week or two for the pain to pass. He’s fine in non-contact (training) but if he takes a knock in the same area, the pain will persist.

“We’ll see but he should be ready (to face Dijon).”

Brazilian-born Italy international midfielder Thiago Motta is not fit to return from a calf injury, though.

Former winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga fought to the bitter end to overhaul rising Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov in a five-set thriller at the Australian Open on Wednesday.

The 15th seeded Tsonga looked dead and buried down 2-5 in the final set before 18-year-old Shapovalov faltered in only his second five-setter and the experienced Frenchman seized the initiative.

Tsonga, 32, stormed into the third round after a 3-6, 6- 3, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 win in 3hr 37min on Margaret Court Arena and will now face either Australian 17th seed Nick Kyrgios or Serbia’s Viktor Troicki.

It ended his three-match losing run in five-setters, but lifted his career record to 16-10 and reversed his loss to Shapovalov in straight sets in the second round at last year’s US Open.

“Since the start I was behind him. I had to fight a lot and make him finish the match. He never did, so it’s good for me,” Tsonga said.

“But the most important (thing) for me, it’s to fight, give my best on court until the last point. That’s what I did today.

“I think he deserved to win also today, but I was also courageous and I did my job at the end. I played well. I think I deserve it, too.”

It extended Tsonga’s record at his best-performed Australian Open Grand Slam to 36-10 after he was runner-up to Novak Djokovic in the 2008 final.
Shapovalov said he would learn from the experience of losing after holding a winning position.

“There’s always nerves in a tennis match. I wasn’t thinking about it much,” he said.

“I just didn’t play a good game on my serve (for the match). Then he picked up his level.

“This was my longest match in the heat. Physically, I feel good. My body is getting a little bit tight on me now.

“Yeah, nothing too bad there. I mean, I’m just going to learn from it and keep going.”

Shapovalov quickly jumped out of the blocks, breaking misfiring Tsonga in the fourth game on the way to taking the opening set in 34 minutes.

Tsonga picked up his game and levelled one-set all with a service break in the sixth game.

But the Canadian left-hander hit back, taking the third set with some sensational shot-making, including a running backhand winner on break point and then breaking again in the sixth game.

Tsonga stayed alive and took the match into a fifth set decider with a resolute tiebreaker.

Shapovalov began the final set strongly, breaking Tsonga in the second game and then holding off break points in the following game to lead 3-0.

But Tsonga would not yield and broke Shapovalov as he attempted to serve out the match with a cross court backhand.

Shapovalov began to falter and made mistakes as Tsonga stepped up the pressure and broke the young Canadian again in the 11th game to hit the front 6-5. He didn’t need a second chance as he served out strongly for the match.

In order to get timely and accurate data of crop loss for early payment of insurance claims to the farmers, the Union Government is planning to use smart technologies to settle crop loss claims under the crop insurance programme and maintain a satellite date through remote sensing technology for dispute discrepancy resolution.

Presently, general claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) are settled on the basis of yield data arrived from the crop cutting experiments (CCEs). For localized loss of hailstorm, landslide inundation and other post harvest, crop losses are being calculated on individual surveys.

However, the total number of manual CCEs is still insufficient as a result of which, there is an inordinate delay in claim processing and settlement. As a result, government has planned real-time collection and transmission of yield date through smartphone, CCE Agri APP for the Kharif 2017 season, to speed up settlement of crop insurance cases.

Besides, the Union Government would also start using Remote Sensing Technology (RST) including satellite data, and drones based images especially for CCE planning and risk mapping of districts for dispute and area discrepancy resolution.

“It would further ensure rationalization of actuarial premium rates, auto calculation of claims on the basis of real-time yield data and timely settlement of claims of farmers,” said a senior officer of the Agriculture Ministry.

The government has already reduced the insurance unit area to village and panchayat level for major crops and asked state government to conduct at least 4 CCEs per crop at village panchayat level, 10 CCEs at revenue circle level, 16 at Block level and 24 at District level.

“But still it is a time consuming process as there was only a small window available for CCEs, which was leading to delay in settlement of cases,” the officer said. The smart technologies would resolve and expedite these issues to a great extent, he added.