Two persons were on Wednesday killed and one was injured when their car crashed into a tree on the Hisar- Chandigarh road, police said.

The incident took place near Litani Mor, about 40 km from here. The driver of the car lost control over the vehicle and it crashed into a roadside tree, killing Surender (26) and Sumit (22), residents of Litani village in Hisar district, they said.

Neshi (23) was injured and admitted to a hospital.

Reality TV personality Kris Jenner was “ecstatically surprised” when her daughter and reality TV star Khloe Kardashian told her she was pregnant because she didn’t think she would ever have kids.

Khloe announced the news on the latest Keeping Up With the Kardashians episode, reports femalefirst.co.uk

After that, Kris said: “Hearing this news is the most special thing I think anyone can ever tell me. I’m ecstatically surprised.

“I always thought that maybe Khloe would be one of those women who didn’t have kids and I struggled with that. It made me really sad because there was no one that was born to do this more than Khloe.”

Khloe’s sister Kourtney told her she thought her sibling had put on “a few pounds”, and after Khloe and her beau Tristan Thompson had told the family, Kourtney joked: “No wonder you gained a few pounds.”

Venus Williams’ Australian Open conqueror Belinda Bencic ran out of steam on Wednesday, failing to keep the momentum going against qualifier Luksika Kumkhum.

The Roger Federer-inspired Swiss stunned Williams in round one, but was no match for the Thai star who moved into a Grand Slam third round for the first time.

Bencic, 20, was never in contention on a searing day on Hisense Arena, slumping 6-1 in the first set before putting up more fight in the second only to succumb 6-3.

Bencic, who made her WTA Tour debut as a 14-year-old, has often been touted as a future potential champion, but she again failed to live up to the hype.

Only on Tuesday, fellow Swiss Federer, who won the Hopman Cup in January alongside Bencic, had heaped praise on her.

“She’s still so young, she has a great career ahead of herself. I try to help her where I can,” he said.

But he also added: “Still so much to improve.”

For Kumkhum, it was a major achievement in her seventh Grand Slam main draw appearance.

She lists her best tennis memory as reaching the second round at Melbourne Park in 2013, which she must now surely revise.

“This is the best win of my career,” she said afterwards.

“I kept telling my coach and family that I want to pass the second round, so I’m really happy.”

Denying media reports, technology giant Google on Tuesday said it is not making a comeback in China – where many of its services remain blocked since 2010 – with its Maps.

“The company has not made any announcements or changes to Maps for China. A web version has been available in the country ‘for years’,” 9to5Google quoted a Google spokesperson as saying.

Nikkei Asian Review had earlier reported that Google had launched a version of Maps optimised for China, including a website, as well as an iOS app for the iPhone and other Apple devices.

“While Google’s flagship search function is still inaccessible in the country, the renewed availability of its map service could signal a shift in the Chinese government’s stance toward the U.S. tech behemoth,” Nikkei Asian Review reported late on Monday.

Google is offering a translation app for Chinese smartphones since March 2017.

Last month, the tech giant announced the opening of a research lab focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Beijing. The lab will consist of a team of AI researchers in Beijing, supported by the company’s engineering teams.

Google’s search engine and many of its services – including YouTube – remain blocked in mainland China. China extensively censors Internet content in the country and the search engine giant has not been willing to abide by its laws.

Released on April 28, 2017, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion turned out to be one of the biggest success stories in terms of Box-Office collection. The film was widely spoken of throughout the world and first weeks collection was as high as Rs. 246.47 crore.

Directed by SS Rajamouli and story written by his father KV Vijayendra Prasad, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion starred Prabhas, Rana Daggubati and Anushka Shetty in lead roles, while Ramya Krishnan and Sathyaraj appeared in prominent roles.

Now the film is going to be introduced as a case study in one of the electives in the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. The ‘Contemporary Film Industry’ elective will be offering the case study on how a sequel can de-risk the movie as a marketing concept.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion will be the first film that is being taken as a proper case study at IIM.

Hollywood star Penelope Cruz says she felt a “responsibility” playing Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace in the series The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

The Academy Awards winner’s comment comes just days after the designer expressed her distaste for the new Ryan Murphy series in an interview with Italian press last week, reports dailymail.co.uk.

During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Cruz said: “You feel much more responsibility (playing a real person). When Ryan called me… I said ‘I need to make (a) phone call and talk to Donatella about this before taking the job’.”

Cruz, 43, only felt comfortable with the role after speaking to Donatella herself.

“She told me if somebody was going to do it, she was really happy that it was me, because she I think she knows what I feel for her and Gianni.

“They’re the most kind people. It’s important to me that when she sees what I’ve done she can feel the love and respect that I have put there (and) how I feel for her.”

Cruz explained how Donatella returned the love by sending her a bouquet of flowers ahead of the Golden Globe Awards ceremony.

Bitcoin’s popularity in Asia has had a positive influence on other alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Litecoin. Clearly there is a great demand for such digital money, even though its volatility hurts.

Asia has reacted both warmly and violently to the rising interest and craze in cryptocurrencies.

Asian regulators have either outrightly banned the use of the most popular cryptocurrency – mostly bitcoins – in their respective countries, or issued warnings to people against its pitfalls. Japan is the only exception in Asia – having legalised its use last year.

Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan made his millions (US$100 million) in record time and lost them too within a week, the Statesman reported. His example has come in handy to warn those reposing blind faith in the future of cryptocurrency.

On the other hand, Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, who is arguably Asia’s richest too, and who transformed India’s telecom sector with his Reliance Jio Network is reportedly contemplating floating another version of the cryptocurrency – JioCoin.

India

In India, there are at least 15 bitcoin exchange forums, with the majority being set up over the past two years. According to investigation agencies, with the demand and price of cryptocurrencies on the rise, cyber criminals have found innovative ways to dupe those looking to invest.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has formed a committee to fast track the process of making a law to regulate trade of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins in the country. India’s main concern is to ensure clean money is being used to trade, and to prevent the misuse of cryptocurrencies by terror groups and other anti-national elements.

Amidst this, cryptocurrency dealer Pluto Exchange has announced the launch of India’s first mobile application for transacting in virtual currencies.

Other Asian countries have been harsher.

Indonesia

Bank Indonesia (BI) teamed up with the National Police to prevent transactions using cryptocurrency Bitcoin in Bali after the central bank declared it an illegal form of payment in Indonesia, the Jakarta Post reported.

The country has warned against owning, selling and trading in cryptocurrency.

“Owning virtual currencies is very risky and inherently speculative,” the central bank said in a statement. The digital tokens “are prone to forming asset bubbles and tend to be used as method for money laundering and terrorism funding, so it has the potential to affect financial-system stability and harm the public.”

The move highlights the challenge faced by regulators as they seek to manage potential risks from the global cryptocurrency mania while lacking the authority to prohibit its use, Bloomberg reported.

Pakistan

The Pakistan government has outlawed cryptocurrency and the State Bank of Pakistan’s official stance is that it does not intend to legalise bitcoins or cryptocurrencies in the future, the Dawn reported.

However, this hasn’t stopped an underground exchange of cryptocurrencies from mushrooming in Pakistan. One can trade in bitcoins on websites, Facebook and WhatsApp among other mediums.

The other hurdle for Bitcoin is its volatility. Although initially put forward as an eventual global substitute for sovereign currency, speculation saw its value jump more than 1900 percent in 2017 – at the beginning of the year its value was a mere US$1,000 – only to fall to below US$12,000 and then recover to around US$15,000 in a matter of days in December.

Bitcoin’s popularity has had a positive influence on other alternative cryptocurrencies such as ethereum and litecoin and given birth to a whole host of new cryptocurrencies. Clearly there is a great demand for such digital money. Each one has tried to differentiate itself with new features: ZCASH, DASH and Monero lend an extra layer of anonymity, even more than other ‘cryptos’.

Then there are cryptocurrencies that are geared towards specific uses. Ripple, for example, has been tailor-made to facilitate banking transactions. Filecoin and Siacoin are meant to focus on monetary exchanges on distributive storage while even the fast-food chain Burger King is coming up with its own cryptocurrency. There even are a few rappers who have issued their own cryptocurrency.

Blockchains, the underlying technology that powers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, shows more promise on the acceptability and legalisation side.

Malaysia

While some merchants are still hesitant to accept cryptocurrency, one businessman in Sabah has signed and sealed the sale of a piece of land in Sabah’s east coast Libaran Island using Bitcoin, the Star has reported.

The deal, worth half a Bitcoin (about RM38,000), was transacted between one of Sabah’s top tourism entrepreneurs Alexander Yee and his friend Polycarp Chin.

Malaysia’s Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said recently that there would be no blanket ban on cryptocurrencies as such action would only curb innovation and creativity in the financial sector.

South Korea

The Korea Herald quoted a Yonhap report saying nearly 2 million South Koreans are estimated to have used cryptocurrency apps in the past week (7-15 January).

A total of 1.96 million people may have used apps that allow them to handle digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, last week, up from 140,000 tallied between 30 October and 5 November, according to data from WiseApp, an application analytics company.

Cryptocurrencies have rapidly gained popularity in recent weeks among South Korean investors hoping to make quick money, prompting the government to announce a plan to rein in the frenzy over virtual currency in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Last week, the Ministry of Justice announced that the government is preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency exchanges at home.

Nepal

In an opinion piece the Kathmandu Post suggested that instead of banning bitcoins, Nepal could study its underlying technology and could create a blockchain to form a regulated digital currency of its own.

“Digital currencies are the future of transactions. Humankind cannot remain reliant upon paper money and metal coins. In an era of science where there are possibilities of colonising and terraforming distant planets, paper money and metal coins could be huge hurdles for humans if they are to be used as modes of transaction for any exchanges. The digital world is in need of digital money,” wrote a contributor for the Kathmandu Post.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Bank has banned the use of Bitcoin by issuing a circular on its website. The circular reads that Bitcoin is not an authorised and legal currency in any other country in the world.

“Transaction with this currency may cause a violation of the existing money laundering and terrorist financing regulations,” the circular reads.

Besides, these currencies do not conform to Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947, Anti Terrorism Act 2009 and Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, the notice adds.

Bangladeshis have been asked to refrain from performing, assisting and advertising all kind of transactions through the virtual currencies like Bitcoin to avoid financial and legal damages.

China

The nation’s top financial regulator has suggested that local governments encourage bitcoin miners to gradually reduce production of the cryptocurrency until finally quitting the business, a signal of an upgraded campaign to crack down on financial risks arising in the fast-developing fintech sector, China Daily reported.

A senior official with the People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank, said a notice had been sent recently to local governments, asking bitcoin mining companies to “orderly exit” the business.

The notice is issued by the Office of the Special Rectification Work Leadership Team for Internet Financial Risks, which was set up by the State Council in April 2016 with a leader from the central bank. The special team also regulates the country’s cryptocurrency business.

Some bitcoin miners told China Daily that they had received notices from local governments to limit electricity consumption, and some of them had already moved part of the mining business overseas, to some locations with relatively cheaper costs for land rental and electricity, such as Mongolia.

The move is an indication that the monetary authority will further tighten regulation on bitcoin, after it closed all bitcoin trading platforms in the country last year, amid concerns that the cryptocurrency may boost harmful speculation.

Japan

Unlike China and South Korea, whose regulators have clamped down hard on the cryptocurrency, Japan has welcomed it with open arms.

Bitcoin is recognised as legal tender in the world’s third-biggest economy and nearly one third of global bitcoin transactions in December were denominated in yen.

According to various media reports, in April, Japan passed a law recognising Bitcoin and other virtual currencies as legal tender while also stressing the need for transparency and financial stability.

The virtual currency Bitcoin has recently seen its price skyrocket. A growing number of experts are saying the price increases are a bubble with little real economic foundation that will eventually burst and bring the price crashing down. Individual Japanese bitcoin investors – of whom there seem to be many – should take extra caution in handling the digital currency, the Japan News reported.

The price for 1 bitcoin in January 2017 was about US$1,000, but it rose dramatically during the year, briefly touching a high above US$19,000 in December.

It is difficult to predict how the bitcoin market will fluctuate from now on, but there is no mistaking the fact that it is becoming considerably capricious and unstable.

Prof. Naoyuki Iwashita of Kyoto University told the Japan News: “Whether [the price] goes up more or comes crashing down tomorrow, it won’t be surprising. Only God knows.”

Investors need to bear this in mind.

Singapore

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has issued two warnings about investing in these currencies in the past five months, the Straits Times reported.

It is also concerned about what are known as initial coin offerings, when digital tokens are offered to investors in much the same way that shares are in a new listing.

The MAS noted last August that if a digital token constitutes a product regulated under Singapore securities laws, then any offer of digital currency must comply with the Securities and Futures Act and the Financial Advisers Act.

Exemptions may be granted if it is a small offer of securities, or if the offer is made only to institutional or accredited investors.

Thailand

According to a report in the Nation, in Thailand, the bitcoin frenzy is still in the early stage, with a few cases of potential frauds being pursued by the Department of Special Investigation.

In these cases, innocent investors have been lured into investing in Bitcoin and other digital units with a promise of lucrative returns. These cases, which are essentially Ponzi money schemes, are illegal under Thai law, even though Bitcoin and the like are not outlawed at this stage.

In addition, some Thai establishments, such as coffee-shops and bistros, have offered to accept bitcoins at their own risk due to their perceived trendiness and the entrepreneurs’ personal obsessions with the new currencies.

What is Bitcoin?

A cryptocurrency is a virtual currency which is encrypted and anonymous, making it secure and hard to track. It has no physical manifestation and exists only as a unique string of numbers and characters in the memory of computers. These currencies are traded on online exchanges only geared towards cryptocurrencies, reports Dawn.

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency which was started in 2009 by an anonymous group or person who go/goes by the name of Satoshi Nakomoto, who vanished from the online community in 2010.

What makes Bitcoin unique is that unlike conventional currencies, no central bank or government issues cryptocurrencies and it is not legal tender – you cannot use it to pay your taxes for example. Instead the value and volume of transactions all depend on the community that trades in them. Like physical currencies, however, digital currencies are backed by trust. Whereas paper currencies require their users to trust that national state banks will stand by the value invested in them, cryptocurrencies require a more dispersed form of trust – that their algorithm will prevent fraud and in the demand and supply from other users.

Bitcoin can also be used anonymously since unlike credit cards or a bank account, there is no associated address or ID registered with your Bitcoin account — and this is all part of the appeal of cryptocurrencies. However, Bitcoin isn’t as anonymous as its fans and suspicious authorities state — it can be possibly traced to you through your IP address, service provider or spending patterns for instance.

There are currently 16.78 million Bitcoins in circulation with a limited number of new Bitcoins added every day. And anyone with a high-powered computer and some know-how can obtain these. Bitcoins are ‘mined’ by powerful algorithm-crunching computers which ‘discover’ new bitcoins – essentially the solving of complex mathematical puzzles through computing power. These are, in turn, validated by the ‘blockchain’ – a virtual grid containing nodes representing users that act as the collective validation system.

Unfortunately, mining Bitcoins requires a lot of electric power. According to the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, 10 households in the US can be powered for a day by the energy consumed by a single Bitcoin transaction.

What are the risks?

Most financial experts consider cryptocurrencies as highly speculative instruments. This is because they are not backed by any asset or issuer. The valuation of cryptocurrencies is not transparent and there is little information to help consumers gauge the fair value, the Straits Times reported.

At the same time, the prices of cryptocurrencies are highly speculative and can fluctuate greatly within a short period of time.

There is a high risk of a sharp reduction in prices. In the worst-case scenario, the cryptocurrency could be rendered worthless, and investors run the risk of losing all their capital.

Only time will tell if cyrptocurrency is a fraud or our collective future.

Folk dancers in colourful attires, cultural tableaux and thousands of cheering locals lined the 8-km-long stretch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu’s grand roadshow from Ahmedabad airport to Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat on Wednesday.

Modi, along with Netanyahu and his wife Sarah arrived at the Ahmedabad airport at around 11 am and were received by Modi as folk dancers welcomed the dignitaries.

The trio then climbed aboard a black Land Cruiser SUV and began the roadshow as thousands of locals cheered and waived at the dignitaries while holding flags of India and Israel and placards endorsing the strong bond between the two nations.

Contrary to earlier reports, the leaders travelled in the bullet proof SUV instead of an open jeep. In September 2017, Abe and Modi had travelled the same 8-km distance in an open jeep.

The roadshow that began at around 11.20 am culminated at around 11.55 am at the Sabarmati Ashram where apostle of peace Mahatma Gandhi spent considerable time of his life.

Over 50 stages had been set up along the route jointly by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Gujarat government. Almost 50,000 people were present along the stretch, as per estimates.

This was Modi’s first to his home state after the assembly elections.

Meanwhile, tight security cover was in place with a km-long periphery turned into a fortress with 12 teams from ‘Chetak commandos’, the Quick Response Teams, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and police guarding the venues.

Special squads were be deployed at high-rise buildings along the route and also on the Sabarmati river in speedboats when both the dignitaries were in the Ashram. The dignitaries spent around 20 minutes at the Ashram.

Both the Prime Ministers will now head to the ‘I-create’ centre at Bawla, where they will address the youth. They will also have lunch at the centre along with various industrialists.

They will then fly off to the horticulture centre near Prantij around 2 pm where they will address a congregation of agricultural experts and farmers.

Film director Adam Shankman is “super happy” with the Enchanted 2 script, which he says will be more songs than its original.

“We are handing in a script in a couple weeks that I’m super happy with. Then gotta get the music written,” ew.com quoted Shankman as saying.

According to Shankman, the film titled Disenchanted, will have about the same amount of animation as the first film, but there will be more songs.

Shankman said: “The fundamental story has changed a little bit, but not from the base story of it. It’s about Giselle 10 years later going, ‘What is happily ever after?'”

A release date for Disenchanted has not been announced yet.

Elina Svitolina had to come from behind on Wednesday against Katerina Siniakova to set up an all- Ukrainian third-round clash with teenage sensation Marta Kostyuk.

The World No.4 was largely in control but somehow dropped the first set on the way to a 4-6 6-2 6-1 win against her 59th-ranked Czech opponent in two hours and 14 minutes.

“I think she played well in the first set but I gave her one break, so I think it was kind of my mistake,” said the fourth seed.

But Svitolina cranked up the heat as temperatures rose on Rod Laver Arena, relentlessly overpowering her opponent from the back of the court to take the final two sets in dominant fashion.

“I thought I was going to melt today, was struggling a bit” Svitolina admitted. “Today I had enough sun, I just want to have an ice bath and recover.”

Svitolina came into the first Grand Slam of the year in top form after winning the Brisbane International warm-up event after picking up five WTA Tour titles last year, more than any other woman.

And she is eyeing a first career Grand Slam title after her half of the draw — already shorn of US Open semi- finalists Venus Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe and Sloane Stephens — saw Russian 15th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bundled out 6-2 6-3 today.

“Of course, after winning in Brisbane and having a great year in 2017,” she said when asked if she could win in Melbourne. “But it’s a Grand Slam and every opponent is determined to win.”

She now faces 15-year-old Kostyuk whose fairytale continued Wednesday as she became the youngest player to reach the third round since Martina Hingis in 1996 in beating local wildcard Olivia Rogowska in straight sets.

After registering double-digit growth in 2017, Canon India on Tuesday said the company, while expanding its “PIXMA G” ink tank series with six new printers, will double down on the last year’s performance this year.

The new PIXMA G series, in the price range of Rs. 8,195 – Rs. 17,425, have printers titled G 1010, G 2010, G 2012, G 3010, G 3012 and G 4010.

“The new ‘PIXMA G’ series printers are another endeavour to provide superior-quality printing experience, complimented with low cost, high-performance printing with improved durability in India,” Kazutada Kobayashi, President and CEO, Canon India, told reporters here.

PIXMA G-series printers feature a front-facing, built-in refillable ink tank system, making it convenient to monitor ink levels and refill when required.

Paired with the ink bottle’s spill-resistant tops, the system is designed to provide seamless and clean usability at home and office. Printer durability is also improved, allowing high-volume printing businesses to enjoy reduced downtime.

With Canon’s “Hybrid” ink system, new printers are engineered to achieve high-resolution images with incredible photo-quality resulting in vibrant photographs and sharp text documents.

“We are optimistic that this new line up of products will become an eminent contributor in supporting our vision of doubling our growth this year,” Kobayashi added.

The G series will be accompanied with new range of Canon photo papers available in several variants. The new PIXMA G series is enabled to deliver up to 6,000 black-and-white document pages and 7,000 colour document pages on the bundled set of four ink bottles.

“With improved colour image quality and high yield and low cost of printing, we are optimistic that the new G series would be significant contributor to our existing growth, in the CISS (Continuous Ink Supply Systems category,” said C Sukumaran, Director, Consumer System Products, Canon India.

Filmmakers, who are producing a film with actor Prabhas, are in a search for lead actress. Reportedly, Deepika Padukone is their first choice.

Baahubali fame Prabhas signed this film three years ago but the actress to feature besides him wasn’t final yet. The Padmaavat actress can be seen with Prabhas in the upcoming Bollywood film. According to The Free Press journal, Deepika Padukone can be cast with the Baahubali actor. However, if she turns down the project, other leading ladies of Bollywood would be happy to grab the offer.

Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt maybe the other choices but as we know Prabhas totally admires Deepika, she might be the one. During the promotions of Baahubali, the actor revealed how much he admires the beautiful actress. He will surely not miss an opportunity to act beside her in a film.

Meanwhile, Prabhas is recently shooting for ‘Saaho’ with Shraddha Kapoor. It will be a multilingual film and also be dubbed in Hindi.

Australia’s volatile Nick Kyrgios has been fined for a colourful directive to the rowdy crowd during his opening round win at the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old was slapped with a $3,000 penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct early in his 6-1 6-2 6-4 win over Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva in a night match on Hisense Arena on Monday.

The Australian was among six players fined a total $15,000 for indiscretions in qualifying and the main draw’s first phase at the year’s opening Grand Slam.

Croatia’s Borna Coric was hit with a $ 5,000 penalty for racquet abuse during his defeat to Australia’s John Millman.

Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman and Romanian Marius Copil were fined  $2,000 each for the same offence.

Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik was handed two USD 1,000 fines and American Stefan Kozlov was penalised USD 1,000, both for audible obscenities during qualifying.

Transform your body into a fat-burning machine with exercise and nutrition. It is not about to ‘diet’. You can eat more nutrition-dense food to crowd out the empty calories and keep you full all day. Dieting can kill your metabolism.

Speed up your body’s fat-burning furnace with metabolism-boosting foods and drinks to ditch that stubborn flab around your belly.

Water: Start raising your metabolism by 30 percent drinking at least eight glasses of water every day. Ideally, a person should drink water equal to half of his body weight in ounces.

Leafy Greens: Leafy greens are a great metabolism-booster due to the presence of high fiber content. They can increase the rate of fat burn by 30 percent if consumed thrice a day. Organic dark leafy greens like spinach and kale provide iron to support healthy blood which is key to optimum cellular metabolism energy.

Green Tea: Three to five cups of green tea a day can help you burn an extra 70 calories. Green tea extract is a proven metabolism-booster to enhance the fat-burning process.

Coffee: Coffee is a fairly healthier metabolism booster than sugar. Drink it to give a jump to your metabolism making a difference over a long period of time. You can train harder after having a cup of coffee.

Apple Cider Vinegar: It helps to curb cravings by leveling blood sugar levels. ACV assists in easy digestion and better absorption of nutrients. Having it empty stomach daily is a great way to boost your metabolism.

Almonds: Packed with antioxidants, a handful of almonds daily should be incorporated into your diet to raise your metabolism.

Chia Seeds: These seeds are a bountiful source of healthy omega-3 fats, fiber, and protein. The combo of these three is one of the best natural supplement that can help boost metabolism rate.

Watermelon: Watermelon is full of amino acid arginine helping you shed your extra pounds. Adding a small bowl of this fruit daily to your meal can actually work towards nurturing metabolism. Don’t eat it in abundance due to its high sugar content. Yet, eating in moderation can speed fat-loss.

Grapefruit: This fruit can closely be associated with weight-loss. The high amount of fiber and its power to lower insulin levels help in boosting metabolism.

Fish: Fish is rich in omega-3, fatty acids, and protein. It lowers inflammation and blood sugar that in turn help in raising the rate of metabolism.

Metabolism is a simple series of chemical processes by which your body cells produce the energy needed to sustain life. Few people are privileged having a high metabolism by birth, but if you are not among those lucky ones, don’t disappoint. You can raise yours and reap the benefits of these foods and drinks. They will help you develop and maintain a better body composition.

The decision of the union government to scrap Haj subsidy and divert it to welfare of Muslim women and education of girls has evoked a mixed response from Muslim leaders and clerics in Uttar Pradesh.

While most of them have welcomed the move as “long awaited”, some say that the Narendra Modi government should not take decisions that seem to single out one community. They have also demanded that in comparison to subsidy a global tender for air tickets was a better option.

Maulana Sayyed Abbas Naqvi of the Shia Chand Committee is not too happy with the decision of the Modi government to scrap the subsidy and opined that Haj subsidy was something that sent a good message internationally but now it will paint Indian government as being hostile to the Muslim community.

Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali of the Aishbagh Eidgah told IANS on Wednesday that the Muslim community was earning a bad name for the Haj subsidy it was getting and hence many of the Muslim organisations had for long been demanding that it be done away with.

“There should be an open process of tenders for air tickets, I am sure most airlines will agree to scaling down their fares.”

Fazle Mannan Rahmani of the Teele Waali mosque, however, said that Haj was a matter related to religion and the government was better advised not to have revoked the subsidy.

“It is sad and strange both that a government which was talking of sabka saath-sabka vikas, was targeting one community one way or the other to please the majority community” he said.

President of the All-India Sunni Board Maulana Mohammad Mushtaq Naqvi says the move will not effect the Haj pilgrims as the subsidy was basically to benefit Air India, the national carrier.

Now that the government has cancelled the subsidy, he said, it should honestly float a global tender for air tickets.

Shia cleric Maulana Habeeb Haider said that they will wait and watch closely on how the Rs 700 crore funds spent as Haj subsidy would be diverted to welfare of Muslim girls and women. Shia Waqf Board chairman Syed Waseem Rizvi, however, welcomed the move.

UP Health Minister state government spokesman Siddhartha Nath Singh told IANS that the government has welcomed the move and believes this would “really empower the women and girls of the minority community”.

The All Party Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC), an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to take steps to facilitate the travel of Hindu pilgrims to Sharda temple in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Sharda Peeth, once regarded as a major centre of learning, is an abandoned Hindu temple located in Sharda village along the Neelam river near the Line of Control (LoC) in Muzafarrabad of PoK.

The Peeth is one of the most revered shrines of Hindus. The matter of cross-Line of Control (LoC) travel for the pilgrimage should be taken up with the Pakistan government, APMCC chairman Vinod Pandit told reporters yesterday.

APMCC spokesperson King Bharati said Modi, Mufti, MoS PMO Jitendra Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and others had been apprised of the demand.

“BJP MLC Romesh Arora and 10 MLAs and MLCs recently met the J&K chief minister in this regard,” he said.

He claimed that the prime minister had assured of taking up the matter with the Pakistan government after elections.

The government on Tuesday said it will invest Rs 10,743 crore for improving the telecommunication network in the northeastern states and along the National Highways in the region.

Union Minister of State for Telecommunications Manoj Sinha announced this while he was in Guwahati to review the implementation of BharatNet and other major telecom projects in the northeastern region.

“An amount of Rs 10,743 crore will be spent in different projects in the northeastern states to spread mobile network connectivity to different uncovered villages in the region. I hope that most of these projects will be completed by December 2018,” said Sinha.

“The Telecom Commission in its recent meeting has approved a comprehensive strategy to implement BharatNet in northeast region. Under strategy 4,240 gram panchayats in the northeast are to be connected by broadband by satellite connectivity by December 2018. The estimated cost of the satellite connectivity is Rs 733 crore,” he said.

He further said that under comprehensive telecom development project for NER, 6,673 towers are to be set up to provide connectivity to 8,621 villages and along the National Highways at a cost of Rs. 5,336 crore.

“An MoU was signed between the BSNL and USO fund to set up 2,817 mobile towers by BSNL in Arunachal Pradesh and two districts of Assam – Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao – while the work of setting up of 2,004 towers in six other states has been initiated by Bharti Airtel in December 2017, which is to be completed in 18 months time,” he said.

Sinha further said that the department of telecommunications also plans to establish a robust telecom network in bordering areas of the state.

“However, first there has to be mobile network and we are working on to make the mobile network available. I hope completion of these projects would lead to improved connectivity in the region,” he said.

The minister also dedicated the Asthamangal project implemented by the BSNL to the nation and especially to the citizens of the northeast region.

Under the project, alternate bandwidth of 810 Gbps at a cost of about Rs. 35 crore has been provided by the BSNL using reliable connectivity through optical power ground fibre (OPGW) of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) for all state headquarters and important locations in the northeast region.