Researchers have developed an online metabolic crystal ball which has the potential to predict a person's risk of developing heart disease and diabetes more accurately than the traditional methods.

The risk for cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and stroke has traditionally been predicted by looking at a person's level of obesity, high blood pressure, high fasting triglycerides, low HDL (good) cholesterol and high fasting blood sugar. 

Patients with abnormalities in at least three of these were diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome and were told that they are at elevated risk for future health problems.

However, the metabolic crystal ball, weighs the traditional risk factors as well as takes race, gender and ethnicity into account to produce an easy-to-understand metabolic severity score, which may prompt patients to make lifestyle changes that would spare them the suffering and expense of avoidable illnesses, the researchers said.

"This boils it down to telling a patient, 'On the risk spectrum, you are here, and you're in a position where we are worried you are going to have a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years'," said Mark DeBoer, from the University of Virginia.

"My hypothesis is that the more specific information you can give to individuals at risk, the more they will understand it and be motivated to make some changes," DeBoer added.

For the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the team looked retroactively at outcomes in more than 13,000 people and found that the new tool was a better risk predictor than the individual risk factors alone.

Such a scoring system could be incorporated in the electronic medical record to calculate someone's risk and that information could be provided both to the physician, who then realises there is an elevated risk, and to the patient, who hopefully can start taking some preventative steps, DeBoer said. 

The hippocampus and entorhinal cortex — brain regions devoted to spatial navigation — could be associated both with making maps of the external environment as well as with forming new memories, research has revealed.

The findings suggest that common circuit mechanisms in the hippocampal-entorhinal system are used to represent diverse behavioural tasks, possibly supporting cognitive processes beyond spatial navigation.

"Almost 40 years of research suggested that a certain region of the brain was devoted to spatial navigation. We found that this same region is also involved when navigating not only spatial environments but also cognitive ones," said David Tank, Professor at the Princeton University in New Jersey, US.

In the study, published in the journal Nature, the team monitored the electrical activity of neurons in the hippocampal and entorhinal regions while the rats manipulated sounds and learned to associate certain sound frequencies with rewards. 

The findings revealed that the hippocampus is active when the brain is exploring a very different kind of environment — here listening to sounds. 

As the rats listened and responded to certain sounds, similar firing patterns to those were seen when rats were exploring their environments.

Perhaps, the hippocampus and the nearby entorhinal cortex — which work together to make mental maps — were not specific to mapping per se but were also involved in more general cognitive tasks, and that mapping was just one aspect of larger cognitive tasks involving learning and memory, the researchers said.

Around 15,000 IDBI Bank employees would strike work on April 12, demanding a wage revision, the All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA) announced on Saturday.

In a circular to its members, the AIBEA said the wage revision settlement in IDBI Bank for employees and officers is due from November 2012.

"The government and the management (of IDBI Bank) are dilly-dallying and delaying the settlement with a view to frustrate the employees and officers and to force them to accept to lesser wage revision," AIBEA added in its circular.

Not putting a timetable on his return, four-time champion Tiger Woods confirmed he will not be fit for next week's Masters.

"Unfortunately, I won't be competing in this year's Masters. I did about everything I could to play, but my back rehabilitation didn't allow me the time to get tournament ready," the former World No.1 said in a statement on his official website.

Winner of 14 majors, the American has not played since withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic on 3 February with ongoing back spasms.

"I'm especially upset because it's a special anniversary for me that's filled with a lot of great memories. I can't believe it's been 20 years since I won my first green jacket.

"I have no timetable for my return, but I will continue my diligent effort to recover, and want to get back out there as soon as possible," Woods added.

Woods returned to action in December after a 17 month hiatus but missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January after rounds of 76 and 72 and was injured again after an opening round of 77 in Dubai the following week.

"I'd like to pass along my regrets to Billy Payne, the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons, that I won't be there. I will be at the Champions Dinner and I look forward to seeing a lot of old friends," he said.

"Augusta National has been a very important place to me and my family for over 20 years, and while I'm disappointed, it will be good to be back there Tuesday."

Not putting a timetable on his return, four-time champion Tiger Woods confirmed he will not be fit for next week's Masters.

"Unfortunately, I won't be competing in this year's Masters. I did about everything I could to play, but my back rehabilitation didn't allow me the time to get tournament ready," the former World No.1 said in a statement on his official website.

Winner of 14 majors, the American has not played since withdrawing from the Dubai Desert Classic on 3 February with ongoing back spasms.

"I'm especially upset because it's a special anniversary for me that's filled with a lot of great memories. I can't believe it's been 20 years since I won my first green jacket.

"I have no timetable for my return, but I will continue my diligent effort to recover, and want to get back out there as soon as possible," Woods added.

Woods returned to action in December after a 17 month hiatus but missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in January after rounds of 76 and 72 and was injured again after an opening round of 77 in Dubai the following week.

"I'd like to pass along my regrets to Billy Payne, the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons, that I won't be there. I will be at the Champions Dinner and I look forward to seeing a lot of old friends," he said.

"Augusta National has been a very important place to me and my family for over 20 years, and while I'm disappointed, it will be good to be back there Tuesday."

A parliamentary panel has pulled up the Health Ministry for "tardy" progress made towards setting up metro blood banks in Chennai and Delhi.

It has also asked the Ministry to "iron out" all hindrances at the earliest so that instances of blockage of funds earmarked for the scheme do not occur.

The parliamentary committee noted that the Ministry had made a provision of Rs 404 crore in Revised Estimate 2015-16 and Rs 404 crore in RE 2016-17 but nothing was spent leading to "idle parking" of the funds and eventual surrender of the entire budgeted scheme for both years.

"The surrendering of the budgeted funds is indicative of the fact that the department has not played its role as a facilitator well in implementing the scheme that has a significant bearing on improving the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) interventions.

"Also, at a time when the government is striving for fiscal consolidation, such ritualistic allocation which remains on paper only is unacceptable to the Committee.

"The committee recommends that all hindrances in establishing metro blood banks be ironed out early so that such instances of blockage of funds earmarked for the scheme do not occur," the committee on demands for grants 2017-18 for department of health and family welfare said.

As per the information given in the annual report (2017-18 of the department), it is proposed to set up four state-of-the-art centres for excellence in transfusion medicine in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

First phase of the project has been approved by the Health Minister for two such centres and the MoU is to be signed with respective state governments while the MoU with Tamil Nadu government has been signed to establish one such centre in Chennai, the report said.

"The committee is constrained to note the tardy progress made towards establishing metro blood banks in Chennai and Delhi," the committee chaired by Ram Gopal Yadav said.
 

A parliamentary panel has pulled up the Health Ministry for "tardy" progress made towards setting up metro blood banks in Chennai and Delhi.

It has also asked the Ministry to "iron out" all hindrances at the earliest so that instances of blockage of funds earmarked for the scheme do not occur.

The parliamentary committee noted that the Ministry had made a provision of Rs 404 crore in Revised Estimate 2015-16 and Rs 404 crore in RE 2016-17 but nothing was spent leading to "idle parking" of the funds and eventual surrender of the entire budgeted scheme for both years.

"The surrendering of the budgeted funds is indicative of the fact that the department has not played its role as a facilitator well in implementing the scheme that has a significant bearing on improving the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) interventions.

"Also, at a time when the government is striving for fiscal consolidation, such ritualistic allocation which remains on paper only is unacceptable to the Committee.

"The committee recommends that all hindrances in establishing metro blood banks be ironed out early so that such instances of blockage of funds earmarked for the scheme do not occur," the committee on demands for grants 2017-18 for department of health and family welfare said.

As per the information given in the annual report (2017-18 of the department), it is proposed to set up four state-of-the-art centres for excellence in transfusion medicine in Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.

First phase of the project has been approved by the Health Minister for two such centres and the MoU is to be signed with respective state governments while the MoU with Tamil Nadu government has been signed to establish one such centre in Chennai, the report said.

"The committee is constrained to note the tardy progress made towards establishing metro blood banks in Chennai and Delhi," the committee chaired by Ram Gopal Yadav said.
 

A delegation of over 400 devotees from Pakistan on Saturday arrived at the shrine of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti here to pay their homage to the Sufi saint.

The devotees, accompanied by the officials of the Pakistani Embassy, reached Ajmer this morning by a special train to attend the 805th 'Urs' (death anniversary) of the saint.

They will offer 'chaadar' (sacred cloth) at the shrine on behalf of the Pakistan government.

The administration has made special security arrangements in the wake of the visit by devotees from the neighbouring country, District Magistrate Gaurav Goyal said.

They will stay put at the Central Girls School here, he said.

The devotees will leave Ajmer for Pakistan on April 8. PTI CORR AQS
 

Soaring temperature in many parts of the country in the first weeks of summer have left experts concerned about the drastic variation in temperature.

Maharashtra’s Chandrapur recorded highest temperature on Saturday with the maximum temperature hovering around 44.2 degree Celsius, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Jamshedpur in Jharkhand and Churu in Rajasthan both recorded 43 degree Celsius, few degrees higher than the normal maximum temperature.

Bangalore in Karnataka, known to have a moderate climate throughout the year, also witnessed a drastic change in the weather condition as it recorded 35 degree Celsius on Saturday.

Delhi recorded maximum temperature of 39 degree Celsius.

While it is raining heavily in Northeast India, severe heat wave is likely to hit isolated places over east Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and interior region of Odisha within the next 24 hours, according to IMD.

The heat wave is also likely to hit west Madhya Pradesh and east Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal and west Uttar Pradesh.

Fast increasing global warming has brought about climate change and early summer in many places. Several places have already recorded much higher than the usual temperature recorded last year. Although experts earlier claimed that this year’s temperature would be higher than the last year, the increase in more than the predicted figures have caused serious concern. 

Old Delhi's favourite shahi tukda, mouth-watering nihari and biryani, plates of dahi bhalla and papdi chaat were up for grabs at a recent food festival here.

With over 15 stalls at the Old Delhi Food Festival, visitors were spoilt for choice as they gorged on lip-smacking dishes from the 'nukkads' of the walled city.

Serving glasses of 'gud ka sharbat', Aqueel and his son were one of the many vendors who inherited the trade from their fathers and grandfathers, who passed on the traditional recipes to the following generations.

"My family has been in this line for 75 years. My father and his father served fresh drinks for the people, and now my son is with me, continuing it," Aqueel said.

Established in 1932, Yunnus Khalifa's paan shop based in Matia Mahal has been an Old Delhi favourite, serving specialities like 'shahi gulab paan'.

"My father opened his shop sometime in 1980, and our shahi tukda has been a crowd favourite everywhere. On the first day of the festival, we got one pot of the sweet, but we had to bring two pots the next day. It is not something that is available easily," said Cool Point's Mohammad Zuhaib.

Organised by Focus India, an NGO that works with children, the festival was put together to raise funds for their educational programs, organisers said.

"We also wanted to bring back the glory of Old Delhi through this festival," they said.
 

The newly-formed Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government in Manipur has ordered an inquiry into a 2010 CCTV scam involving over Rs.8 crore.

The three-member committee constituted on Friday began working on the pre-poll pledge of the BJP to fight corruption beginning from even a single rupee and punishing the guilty ones.

The Committee will submit its report within 15 days.

Then Congress government in 2010 had sanctioned Rs 8.01 crore for the installation of 100 CCTV cameras.

At least 50 and 27 cameras were to be installed at the Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister's office complex, respectively. The rest were for different parts in the city here.

It is alleged that soon after installation, the cameras installed by a Bengaluru firm began to malfunction.

Following the media attention, a three member inquiry committee was constituted but it never filed a report.

The coalition government in Manipur was formed in March after three consecutive terms by the Congress party.

With India embracing applications of technologies at an accelerated pace, digital transactions will be done through mobile wallets and biometric modes and credit and debit cards as also ATMs were set to disappear, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said.

"Technology will be a key driver of India's growth," Kant said while launching the Trade and Investment Facilitation Services (TIFS) of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) here on Friday evening.

"Physical banking in India is almost dead and it is adopting pervasive technologies with such an accelerated pace that in next three to four years, the digital transactions would move through mobile wallet and biometric modes," he said. "Credit cards, debit cards and ATMs will disappear."

Kant said that India was growing 7.6 per cent annually in the midst of a very barren barren economic landscape across the world.

"The population in America and Europe will keep getting older while that of India will keep getting younger," he said.

In terms of ease of doing business, he said that in the last year "we scrapped 1200 laws".

Stating that India was larger than 24 European countries, Kant said that states should appear as champions of growth.

He declared that India would continue to globalise and dismantle rules and regulations that adversely affected inbound investments. It would also create conditions for expansion of its economy.

"Despite (US President Donald) Trump talking of protectionism (of US economy), there is no talk of protectionism here," the Niti Aayaog CEO said.

"India believes in globalisation and it will continue to globalise and shall never talk of protectionism. As a result, it will emerge as an economy that would attract investments and growth and make India a hub of economic engagements par excellence." 

Stating that there is energy and dynamism in the young start-up sector, he said that India has become the centre of innovation in many ways.

"Around 1500 companies have located their innovation centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore… India is the centre of frugal engineering." 

Kant also said India would see a lot of urbanisation in the times to come and technology would play a key role in this..

Speaking on the occasion, Amar Sinha, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said that it was healthy sign that states were competing with each other in terms of growth.

But he advised Indian industries to look outside as there were huge opportunities lying there.

"There are new opportunities in Africa and the Gulf," he said, adding that India's focus would be on energy and food security and manufacturing.

Canadian High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel, who was also present, said that India-Canada bilateral ties were at the highest point. 

He attributed this to Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Justin Trudeau "connecting well" with each other.

But he lamented that two-way trade between India and Canada stood at only $8 billion and said that this has to increase.

US Acting Deputy Chief de Mission George N. Sibley said that India-US cooperation would help the whole world.

"We have held two government-to-government strategic commercial dialogues," Sibley said. "We consider the prosperity of India is in our national interest."

PHDCCI President Gopal Jiwarajka said that the newly launched TIFS would provide a valuable and qualitative aid to international investment in India.

He said that TIFS would provide a secure and personalised single entry point to all trade and investment related information in the Indian economy, which has the potential to become a $100-billion investment destination by 2022.

Modern lifestyle has taken a toll on the health of people working and earning a living in the city. The hectic and high pressure life makes many suffer from insomnia.

Insomnia or sleep trouble, the most common lifestyle problem, affects the well being of the entire body and mind. It often makes you cranky the next day and affects your performance at work. Apart from it, new studies state that suffering from insomnia may put people at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Women with symptoms of insomnia may have a higher risk of cardiovascular problems than men.

According to the author of the study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Qiao He from China Medical University in Shenyang, "Sleep is important for biological recovery and takes around a third of our lifetime…Researchers have found associations between insomnia and poor health outcomes. But the links between insomnia and heart disease or stroke have been inconsistent".

The symptoms of insomnia are difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, early-morning awakening, and non-restorative sleep.

"We found that difficulty initiating sleep, difficulty maintaining sleep, or non-restorative sleep were associated with 27 per cent, 11 per cent, and 18 per cent higher risks of cardiovascular and stroke events, respectively," He said, adding that the underlying mechanisms for these links are not completely understood.

(With inputs from agencies)

There are two kinds of people in the world – one who love reading and those who, even after trying, cannot finish a book. For the latter ones the adaptations happen. Amazing books should reach people by any means and what can be better than audio-visual medium?

From award winning novels to path-breaking books, filmmakers choose the best of the best books and turn them into even more classic with their skills.

Here are the TV series which are based on books and are as amazing as them.

Game of Thrones

The famous HBO TV series Game of Thrones is based on a novel A Game of Thrones. This novel is the first one of the epic fantasy novel series named A Song of Ice and Fire. Written by George R R Martin, the novel won the Locus Award in 1997.

Orange is the New Black

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison is the story of author Piper Kerman who spent her time in Women’s prison. The Netflix TV series Orange is the New Black is based on this novel and puts light on lesser-known issues.

The Vampire Diaries

L J Smith started to write the series of novels with the title The Vampire Diaries in 1991. Later, in the year 2009, The CW launched an eight-season long TV series which concluded in March 2017.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshi

Bengal’s answer to Arthur Conan Doyle, the chronicles of detective Byomkesh Bakshi not only inspired TV series, bu also inspired many filmmakers. This legendary series of Indian television is based on the books written in classical Bengali and are a linguistic treat.

Malgudi days

From the signature tune to the beautiful sketches, Malgudi days was the perfect Sunday treat and made Indian television more entertaining. Based on RK Narayan’s collection of short stories, Malgudi days has been an eternal part of good old childhood days of many Indians.

Enjoy the magic of books on TV with these series and if you have a book in your mind that you think must become a TV series, comment below. 

Combined assets of US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, senior advisor Jared Kushner could exceed $700 million, a White House financial disclosure has revealed.

Ivanka and Kushner, collected about $195 million in income, according to the disclosure issued on Friday which included also about 180 of the men and women serving in the White House.

Other Trump aides with lucrative histories include Trump's top economic adviser Gary Cohn, the former president of banking giant Goldman Sachs, who netted up to around $75 million in the previous year, and White House chief strategist Steve Bannon who made up to $2.5 million, CNN reported.

The financial background of Kushner, Bannon and Cohn are detailed in new forms that disclose the assets that they held when they walked in the doors of the White House — before administration counsel advised them to resign from various postings, divest certain holdings or recuse themselves from future decisions. 

Kushner, like Trump, a prominent real estate titan, held positions in 267 separate entities, ranging from the Trump transition team to dozens of property holdings in New York and New Jersey.

Ivanka Trump, who just this week formally said she would join the West Wing after serving as an informal adviser to her father, is yet to file her own disclosure forms. 

But the White House said earlier on Friday that her documents would look largely similar to her husband's.

Amid poor financial health of Kapol Co-operative Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed withdrawal limit on the bank’s customers.

“Depositors will be allowed to withdraw a sum not exceeding Rs.3,000 (Rupees three thousand only) of the total balance held in every saving bank or current account or any other deposit account,” the RBI said in a statement.

“The Directions have been issued from the close of business on March 30, 2017,” the statement added.

However, the RBI said that “the bank will continue to undertake banking business with restrictions till its financial position improves”.

“The Reserve Bank may consider modifications of these directions depending upon circumstances,” it added.

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Finance Bill 2017 to give effect to provisions like bar on cash transactions above Rs.2 lakh and compulsory quoting of Aadhaar for filing tax returns.

"The President was kind enough to give his assent to the Finance Bill before he left for official visit to Assam on Friday," Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said.

With this, the provisions of the Finance Bill come into effect from Saturday, he said.

This is the first-time ever the annual Budget together with taxation proposals have come into effect from the first day of the financial year.

Scrapping a colonial-era tradition of presenting the Budget at the end of February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had for the first time in the history of independent India presented the annual accounts on February 1.

The legislative process of getting approvals for demands for grants or spending, general Budget as well as taxation proposals contained in the Finance Bill 2017 were all completed by March 30. President's assent was taken the very next day.

This will give the government more time to implement welfare spending programmes and taxation plans.

Previously, when the Budget was presented at the end of February, the three-stage Parliament approval process used to get completed some time in mid-May, weeks ahead of onset of monsoon rains. This meant government departments would start spending only from August-end or September after the monsoon ends.

Besides advancing the presentation date, the Budget scrapped the Plan and non-Plan distinction and merged the Railway budget with it, ending a nearly century-long practice.

Advancement of the Budget will give government departments more leeway to spend as well as allow companies time to adapt to business and taxation plans.

Adhia said all taxation and other proposals in the Finance Bill 2017 have come into effect from today.

Among the most important is limiting cash transaction to Rs.2 lakh, at par with the current requirement of quoting permanent account number (PAN) for cash spending.

Penalty for violating this is a fine equivalent to the amount of transaction, he said. The fine will be payable by the person or the establishment receiving the cash.

Also, Aadhaar number is now a must while applying for PAN as well as filing of tax returns.

The Finance Bill also provides that a person holding PAN as on July 1, 2017, has to intimate his Aadhaar number to the authorities in a manner which will be notified by the government.

It also amends the Companies Act of 2013 to make donations by companies to electoral trusts only through account payee cheque, bank draft or electronic transfer.

The language has also been tweaked to provide for every company disclosing in its profit and loss account the total amount contributed to such trusts.

The move is in sync with Jaitley's Budget proposal of introducing bearer electoral bonds, which could be purchased by a donor using cheques from a scheduled bank and encashed only through a notified bank account of a political party within the limited duration of such instrument.

Adhia said rules for electoral bonds will be notified within this month.

The President's assent to the Finance Bill also means that as many as seven appellate tribunals will now be dissolved and their work taken over by other existing ones.

The tribunals scrapped include the Competition Appellate Tribunal, whose functions will be taken by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal and the Cyber Appellate Tribunal will be replaced and their functions would be taken over by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).

Also, the Copyright Board will be dissolved and its functions will go to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.

The National Highways Tribunal will be replaced and its functions will be taken over by the Airport Appellate Tribunal while the job of the Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal will be handled by the Industrial Tribunal.