Children between age 3 and 7 who do not get enough sleep are more likely to have problems with attention, emotional control and peer relationships, says a study.

"We found that children who get an insufficient amount of sleep in their pre-school and early school-age years have a higher risk of poor neuro-behavioral function at around age 7," said lead researcher Elsie Taveras from the MassGeneral Hospital for Children in the US.

"The associations between insufficient sleep and poorer functioning persisted even after adjusting for several factors that could influence the relationship," Taveras said.

As in previous studies from this group examining the role of sleep in several areas of child health, the current study analysed data from Project Viva, a long-term investigation of the health impacts of several factors during pregnancy and after birth.

Information used in this study was gathered from mothers at in-person interviews when their children were around 6 months, 3 years and 7 years old, and from questionnaires completed when the children were aged 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 years.

In addition, mothers and teachers were sent survey instruments evaluating each child's executive function – which includes attention, working memory, reasoning and problem solving — and behavioural issues — including emotional symptoms and problems with conduct or peer relationships, when children were around 7.

Among 1,046 children enrolled in Project Viva, the study team determined which children were not receiving the recommended amount of sleep at specific age categories — 12 hours or longer at ages 6 months to 2 years, 11 hours or longer at ages 3 to 4 years, and 10 hours or longer at 5 to 7 years.

The study, published online in the journal Academic Pediatrics, found significant differences in the responses of parents and teachers to surveys regarding executive function and behavioural problems in 7-year-old children depending on how much sleep they regularly got at younger ages.

IT security firm McAfee is looking at adding more jobs at its centre in Bengaluru and will continue to invest in growing local business in India, a top official said on Sunday.

Global chipmaker Intel had last September spun out McAfee as a separate company with private equity player TPG owning 51 per cent share in the new entity. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017.

"One of our largest sites around the world is in Bangalore. We continue to invest in that. We are actually adding new functions into the site there," said Intel Security General Manager and SVP Christopher Young.

"Under Intel, it was primarily development centre, but now we are adding finance, IT, HR to that site as well to support the new (unit)," he added.

While Young declined to comment on investment or specific number of jobs to be created, he said the new roles will be created "over the course of the year".

"India is one of our fastest growing markets. We have been growing in the double digits over the last several years and we expect to continue that trajectory and that is across public and private sector," he said.

India is "a really unique place" as apart from contributing to global development, there is a "healthy growing local market here", he added.

"We will continue to invest heavily into that duality," Young said.

McAfee, which has been a part of Intel as Intel Security Group, had witnessed 20 per cent year-on-year growth in 2016.

It has close to 2,000 people in India with over 1,700 engineers.

"Revenues are growing double digits in India, so I expect that India over the next couple years could easily be one of our top markets," said Young, who will be the CEO of the new company.

Chipmaker Intel had acquired McAfee in 2011 for USD 7.7 billion to build security features directly into its silicon products.

The business had USD 1.1 billion in revenue in the first half of 2016, up 11 per cent increase from the same period last year.

The ruling BJD today suspended the party's Koraput district president and former MP Jayram Pangi on charge of anti-party activities.

Party president Naveen Patnaik took this step following a clash between two groups of BJD workers over selection of candidate for the chairperson's post in Koraput.

"Pangi has been suspended from the party on charge of anti-party activities," BJD secretary Priyadarshi Mishra said in a statement.

Earlier, Pangi had suspended BJD's elected Zilla Parishad member Dumuri Khila from the party, for abstaining from voting for the ZP chairman post held today.

Khila, who was aspiring to become chairman of the Zilla Parishad from Koraput district, and his supporters allegedly burnt BJD's flag after Prabhu Jali was chosen as the party's ZP chairman candidate in Koraput.

Khila alleged that the party's district president (Pangi) made Jali as the candidate for the Zilla Parishad chairman though Jali had joined the party only some days ago.

On this, Pangi said that the BJD district leadership has been kept in the dark on the party's ZP chairman candidate decision.

A day after Levant Swords rebel group said it was involved in the double bombing that killed 74 people, al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attack on Shia pilgrims, a media report said on Sunday.

Nusra front also claimed that the Shia Iraqis were not pilgrims to shrines in Damascus but fighters supporting the Syrian government forces against the six-year-old rebellion, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 54 victims of Saturday's attack were Syrian civilians and Iraqi pilgrims, in addition to 20 Syrian government troops. 

One bomb exploded near the entrance to the Bab al-Saghir cemetery on the parking lot side where nine buses were parked.

Shortly thereafter, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt he was wearing on the grounds of the cemetery.

Delhi-based Farhan Sabir on Saturday was announced as the winner of popular singing reality show "The Voice India Season 2".

The grand finale of the second edition saw Niyam Kanungo (Team Neeti Mohan), Parakhjeet Singh (Team Shaan), Farhan (Team Shaan) and Rasika Borkar (Team Benny Dayal) battle it out.

Along with the title, Farhan, 19, took home a cheque of Rs 2.5 million and a Maruti Suzuki Alto K10. The top four finalists also received gift hampers, read a statement.

"I am honestly speechless right now and the feeling of winning the show is still sinking in. I will most certainly cherish this moment and work harder to find myself a place in the music industry," said Farhan, who left studies at 19 to fend for his family and started singing at a local cafe in Delhi.

He added: "I would like to thank Shaan sir who has been more than a mentor to me in this journey. Also, I would very humbly like to thank the audience for believing in me and my talent. Without their support I don't think I would have come this far and celebrating this victory."

The finale of the &TV show was a star-studded affair with actress Anushka Sharma gracing the stage along with performances by Mika Singh and coach Salim Merchant. Legendary singer Asha Bhosle also made the finale memorable.

Shaan was also happy with Farhan's victory.

"'The Voice India' has been a learning ground for me as well and I am going back with a lot of memories which will be treasured. Having said that, my role as a coach is not over yet. I am more than happy to welcome each and every participant who wants to learn and jam with like-minded musicians," Shaan said.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah will take the final call on the names of new chief ministers for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur after central observers, being sent to the states, hold meetings with local MLAs, it was announced on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the party's Parliamentary Board here, Union Minister J.P. Nadda said BJP leaders M. Venkaiah Naidu and Bhupendra Yadav will go to Uttar Pradesh as observers. 

Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and party leader Saroj Pandey have been named observers for Uttarakhand.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal and National Vice President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe have been sent as observers to Manipur. 

"We will hold the meetings soon after Holi," Nadda said. 

"Party President Amit Shah has been tasked to decide the Chief Ministers from the party in all the states after seeing the reports that the observers send," he said. 

The BJP Parliamentary Board also passed a resolution condemning Saturday's attack on CRPF personnel that left 12 troopers dead in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha on Sunday appointed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar as the new Chief Minister of Goa.

Parrikar has been asked to prove majority on the floor of the Goa Legislative Assembly "15 days after administration of oath of office and secrecy", a letter issued by Secretary to the Governor Rupesh Kumar Thakur said.

The letter said that Parrikar had submitted evidence of support of 21 MLAs before the Governor.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has 13 MLAs, is supported by three legislators each of the Goa Forward Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and two Independent legislators.

According to Union Minister for Roads, Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari, Parrikar will resign as Defence Minister before he takes oath of office as Goa Chief Minister.

Jose Mourinho returns to his old stomping ground on Monday night when his Manchester United side travel to Stamford Bridge for an epic FA Cup quarterfinal clash with an Antonio Conte led-Chelsea that seem to have no equals at the moment.

Running away with the league are the Blues and will be confident of making the last four as they bid to keep hopes of a domestic double alive.

Striving to upset their applecart will be their ex-boss Jose Mourinho, who has the odds firmly stacked against him after star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s suspension rules him out of this quarterfinal fixture.

Chelsea
An effective champions-elect in the English Premier League (10 points clear), Chelsea can afford to focus all their energies on the FA Cup.
After a fairly early exit from the League Cup, the Blues will be keen to avoid an exit, especially when a Double is almost within their grasp.

As a result, expect Conte to field his strongest-possible side. They will be making a superb last four in a competition the Blues have enjoyed outstanding success over the years.

Three players have been absolutely crucial to Chelsea’s outstanding success in the league. The indefatigable N’Golo Kante, the mercurial Eden Hazard and the prolific Diego Costa. While all three may not be at Stamford Bridge next season, on Monday you can bet that they will be at the heart of every home attack. Keep these three quiet and perhaps United may get a result but that is a tall order indeed and hasn't happened often this season.

With no injury or suspension issues, Chelsea will be relishing United’s visit on Monday and while a repeat of the 4-0 hiding may be a little realistic, should they get a good start to the game, anything is possible.

Manchester United
Some pressing concerns seem to have ‘defeated’ United before the game having started, with the biggest one being the absence of their top-scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede has been ripping it up in his maiden Premier League season and without him, United look toothless in attack.

The second issue being the fact that while Chelsea have had a full week’s rest, United made a trip to Russia for their Europa League encounter on Thursday night and Monday’s trip may be a bridge too far.

Mourinho is expected to field a side which will look to hit Chelsea on the counter, with the young duo of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial’s searing pace key in an encounter in which the away side aren't expected to see most of the ball.

Speaking of the ball, the pressure will be on record-signing Paul Pogba to stand up and deliver in a season which has seen fellow summer-signing Ibrahimovic outshine him by a country mile. The French midfielder will have to be patient and be confident enough to tuck away the few chances he gets if United are to script an upset. 

Apart from Ibrahimovic, United are surprisingly clear of any injuries/suspensions with full-back Luke Shaw and captain Wayne Rooney to make the bench at least.

Super Stat: Chelsea are unbeaten against the Red Devils in 11 previous meetings, with their last loss coming in a controversial 2-3 result in the 2012/13 season!

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Sunday said the BJP's landslide electoral wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand showed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is the most dominant political leader".

"The victories in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand have re-confirmed that Mr Narendra Modi is the most dominant political leader," said Chidambaram on his official Twitter account.

Chidambaram praised Modi in his column in The Indian Express newspaper also in which he said Modi has regained his prime position as a "master of communication" and is the "man of the moment".

"The man of the moment is Mr Narendra Modi. He has convincingly demonstrated that his appeal is pan-Indian. It extends from Gujarat and Goa to Assam and Manipur. After slipping badly in Bihar, he has regained his prime position as a master of communication," Chidambaram wrote in his column.

Chidambaram wrote: "I must also acknowledge that Mr Narendra Modi, after nearly three years as Prime Minister, remains an indefatigable campaigner."

"He (Modi) is, at his core, a 'pracharak' and he loves 'prachar'. He set aside convention and conventional wisdom to campaign for three full days in his constituency, Varanasi. Since he has delivered an unparalleled result, I suppose no one is complaining," he added.

The BJP, powered by an aggressive campaign spearheaded by Modi, won a whopping 312 seats in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly — an unprecedented showing by any party in the country's most populous state — and 57 seats in the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly.

At least 1,295 motorcyclists were arrested for violating traffic rules in the Nepali capital during the Hindu festival of Holi here on Sunday, Kathmandu Valley traffic police office said.

While 694 people were freed after facing action, 596 people remained in police custody.

The offences included riding without helmet, exceeding the pillion limit, overspeeding and reckless driving, among others.

Police also arrested 220 others for drinking at public places, smearing vermillion without consent and misbehaviour. 

Police said 173 boys and nine girls from Kathmandu, 21 boys from Lalitpur and 17 boys from Bhaktapur were arrested for misbehaving and other offences during the festival.

Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur are three districts inside the Valley.

The traffic police office said they set up 60 checkpoints to stop revellers from violating traffic rules.

Nepal celebrates Holi for two days. People from hill areas celebrate Holi one day before the people in the Terai region bordering India.

With the BJP naming Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar as the new Goa Chief Minister and some other Union ministers being hinted as front-runners for the top job in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi might soon be needing new members in his ministerial council.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday announced that Parrikar will be Chief Minister in a BJP-led government in Goa.

"The Defence Minister will resign before he takes oath as the new Goa Chief Minister," Gadkari told reporters in Panaji after Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, led by Parrikar, met Goa Governor Mridula Sinha to stake claim to forming the new government in the coastal state.

There are also speculations that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Communications Minister Manoj Sinha and Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma were being considered for the chief ministerial post in Uttar Pradesh.

If one of them is chosen to head the new government in Uttar Pradesh, then it will cause another vacancy in the Union Council of Ministers. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) headquarters at Ashoka Road here resounded with festivity on Sunday evening as party supporters gathered in huge numbers to celebrate the party's historic wins in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

A large number of the supporters came from the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to get a glimpse of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Although not more than 2,500-3,000 people were allowed inside the office premises for security reasons, the inside view was fully saffron with BJP flags, Modi posters and masks dominating the space.

Patriotic songs were played as ecstatic crowd shouted "Modi, Modi" and these chants reached their crescendo when the Prime Minister reached the venue to a floral shower welcome.

Veerbhadra Tripathi, a student from Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, had come in the morning to ensure that he gets entry and sees Modi speaking.

"I knew that there would be a huge rush and many will not get entry inside. So I came here at 11 a.m. I am happy that I am listening to a person who is messiah for the people, especially the youth," the Modi-struck youth said.

The situation outside the party office, on Ashoka Road in Lutyens' Delhi, was equally charged up.

Girish, a banking professional, said: "We can relate Modi's welcome today to that of God Rama."

The crowd was of all age groups as well as women but the majority were youth, who kept chanting slogans in favour of Modi throughout the event. 

During his speech, Modi stressed on the welfare of the poor and his dreams of a 'New India', which led to huge applause from the public.

An elderly couple, Shamlal and Nirmala Devi, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki, said they had come to see Modi, who led the BJP to a historic win in the state.

"What Modiji has done is a miracle. We have come here just to see him. We are very happy today," Nirmala Devi said.

There were cheers when Modi thanked everyone for their support and congratulated BJP President Amit Shah for the success in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

However, a grand applause erupted when Modi said he did not differentiate between those who voted for the BJP and those who did not.

"It is grandness of Modiji as he talks about inclusiveness," said Jagdish, an insurance professional.

Jubilant BJP workers said they were confident of winning municipal elections in Delhi after the assembly election results.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday that Israel is putting obstacles on the ground, ahead of the upcoming visit to Israel by US Presidential Advisor Jason Greenblatt.

The ministry said in an emailed press statement that "the Israeli government continues to implement its settlement schemes aiming at more Palestinian land grab, unravelling preliminary measures and bulldozing operations to bailiff thousands of new settlement units in occupied Jerusalem".

The ministry denounced the settlement activity "that is aimed at destroying the two state solution", reported Xinhua news agency. 

Palestinian sources said that Israeli authorities have approved construction of settlement units in Palestinian towns of East Jerusalem and open new roads connecting settlements to one another, cutting off geographical contiguity of Palestinian territories.

On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeinah said that the resumed communique between the Palestinian leadership and the US administration "represents a clear message that the resolution (of the conflict) lies in the international, Arab and Palestinian legitimacy that are not illusions or projects irrelevant to the unravelling course of events".

World powers, including the US, have condemned the Israeli settlement activity, which is considered one of the main disputes between Palestinians and Israel. 

Delhi Police has made elaborate arrangements to prevent any incident of hooliganism during Holi celebrations in the national capital on Monday.

About 25,000 police personnel will be on duty across the city on Monday, a senior police officer said.

Policemen posted in the control room have been told to handle calls related to communal tension, eve-teasing and hooliganism on priority, he said.

Quick Response Teams (QRTs) and reserve police teams have also been deployed at strategic points to deal with any untoward incident.

Almost 1,000 PCR vans will be on duty and will be regularly patrolling various areas.

The district police has been asked to patrol their respective district during the celebrations.

Policemen posted for Holi duty will be divided into groups of anything between 4 and 10 and deployed at barricades across the city. Each group will have a mix of local police and traffic officials.

Delhi Police has ramped up security at railway stations, bus terminus, the airport, popular markets and places around vital installations here.

Delhi Police's counter-terrorism unit and Crime Branch have been instructed to heighten their vigil during Holi.

Certain words used on social media platforms like Flickr can warn us about extreme weather events before they happen — such as hurricanes, storms and floods, suggests new research.

Photographs and key words posted online can signal weather risks developing in specific locations and times — for example, posts about water levels rising can alert the authorities to a potential flood, said the study published in the journal PLOS One.

"Our analysis demonstrates that metadata in social media image postings enables them to be used as 'social sensors', which can serve as a valuable supplement to instrument-based systems for predicting and monitoring floods, and other kinds of natural hazards," said one of the researchers, Nataliya Tkachenko, from Warwick Institute for the Science of Cities, University of Warwick in Britain.

The researchers found that tracking certain words used in social media posts around the time of an extreme weather event — such as water and river when there is a flood risk — allows information to be collated to accurately predict which areas will be affected, and how big the impact will be to the infrastructure and human life.

"The opportunities represented by these new data sources are truly exciting as they can help to protect homes, save lives and design more resilient cities," Tkachenko said.

The researchers tracked photos and videos with tags such as river, water and landscape on the social media platform Flickr between 2004 and 2014.

Whilst these words can be used to generally describe natural scenery, the researchers found that in certain time periods before the peak of extreme weather events — and in the locations where they occurred — these words took on a distinct meaning of forecast and warning, showing the weather worsening.

These risk-signalling words can act as 'social sensors', which when used alongside physical meteorological sensors can help to improve the prediction and monitoring of the behaviour and severity of an evolving weather event in multiple areas.

Pakistan has inducted an advanced Chinese-made LY-80 (Lomads) surface-to-air missile defence system to secure its airspace from any sort of misadventure, an army statement said on Sunday.

Army chief General Qamar Bajwa said the defence system would enhance our capabilities to defend Pakistan, The News International reported, citing an Inter Service Public Relations release.

The mobile air defence system is capable of tracking and destroying a variety of aerial targets at longer ranges flying at low and medium altitude.

The army chief said the LY-80 LOMADS increases Pakistan's response capability to current and emerging air defence threats.

Mobile major Idea Cellular on Sunday announced that it will start providing free roaming facility on incoming calls to customers in the country from April 1.

The company has also unveiled, with immediate effect, a range of international roaming value packs with unlimited incoming calls and bundled outgoing voice calls, SMS and data to international travellers visiting popular destinations overseas.

"Starting 1st April 2017, Idea will offer free incoming calls to all its customers roaming anywhere in India," an Idea press release said on Sunday.

"The company is announcing, effective now, a range of International Roaming value packs with unlimited incoming calls and large amount of bundled outgoing voice calls, SMS and data to international travellers visiting popular destinations overseas," it added. 

Mobile data tariffs and data pack benefits of the home circle would be available while roaming in India, while outgoing calls and SMSes would be at "affordable rates" while on domestic roaming, the company said. 

For international travellers, Idea has introduced roaming value packs with free bundled usage of up to 400 outgoing minutes, 100 SMSes per day, large data volume and unlimited incoming calls.

"Idea is now set to enable over 200 million customers to use their mobile phones freely, without having to worry about roaming charges, while they travel anywhere in the country," Chief Marketing Officer Sashi Shankar said.

"While incoming calls will be free, customers will also be able to enjoy outgoing calls, SMS and data services at affordable rates, starting April 1," he added.

The roaming value packs start at Rs 1,199 for 10 days validity and go up to Rs 5,999 for 30 days validity.

Users can also chose a 10-day pack for short leisure travel or 30 day packs for continuous business trips or long stay.

The company said it has made an extensive study of customers' travel destinations, usage patterns and bill shock complaints to design a new range of value packs for handpicked destinations across Europe (15 countries), Asia (9 countries), America (USA and Canada), UK (UK and Ireland) and the Middle East (UAE).