Classmates of an Army officer from Maharashtra who laid down his life battling militants near the Line of Control LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district last year have sent 400 packets of sweets to soldiers in his unit.

Col Santosh Mahadik the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles was critically injured during the operation in the Haji Naka forest area of Kupwara near the LoC in Kashmir in November nbsp;and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later.

quot;The mithai boxes weighing just over 300 kg landed at Srinagar airport and are being sent to the 41 Rashtriya Rifles for distribution among the soldiers the martyr once commandedquot; a classmate of Mahadik involved in this initiative told PTI.

Col Mahadik was a student of Sainik School Satara.

quot;This Diwali we thought of his comrades in arms who suffer harsh climes and the enemy from across the border as well as some within. We thought this would be a nice gesture for soldiers who spend Diwali away from their familiesquot; he said.

An officer from the elite 21 Para-Special Forces unit Col Mahadik was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the North-East in 2003.

Mahadik’s wife Swati last month joined the Officers Training Academy OTA in Chennai as part of the SSCW Non-tech course for 11 months’ training before she joins the Army as a lieutenant.

An ace football goalkeeper a skilled horse-rider and a passionate boxer Mahadik was an all-rounder his friends recall.

Despite the inhospitable terrain that made the Kupwara operation immensely challenging the colonel particularly chose to lead his battalion.

Classmates of an Army officer from Maharashtra who laid down his life battling militants near the Line of Control LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district last year have sent 400 packets of sweets to soldiers in his unit.

Col Santosh Mahadik the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles was critically injured during the operation in the Haji Naka forest area of Kupwara near the LoC in Kashmir in November nbsp;and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later.

quot;The mithai boxes weighing just over 300 kg landed at Srinagar airport and are being sent to the 41 Rashtriya Rifles for distribution among the soldiers the martyr once commandedquot; a classmate of Mahadik involved in this initiative told PTI.

Col Mahadik was a student of Sainik School Satara.

quot;This Diwali we thought of his comrades in arms who suffer harsh climes and the enemy from across the border as well as some within. We thought this would be a nice gesture for soldiers who spend Diwali away from their familiesquot; he said.

An officer from the elite 21 Para-Special Forces unit Col Mahadik was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the North-East in 2003.

Mahadik’s wife Swati last month joined the Officers Training Academy OTA in Chennai as part of the SSCW Non-tech course for 11 months’ training before she joins the Army as a lieutenant.

An ace football goalkeeper a skilled horse-rider and a passionate boxer Mahadik was an all-rounder his friends recall.

Despite the inhospitable terrain that made the Kupwara operation immensely challenging the colonel particularly chose to lead his battalion.

Similipal National Park of Odisha which was closed since mid-June due to the monsoon will be opened for tourists fromnbsp;November 1 official sources said.

The park and the tiger reserve remained out of bounds for tourists sincenbsp;June 16nbsp;last as the hilly roads get washed due to heavy rains during the monsoon.

quot;The tourists can now enter the national park through Pithabata or Kaliami pointsquot; Harish Kumar Bist the Field Director of the Similipal Tiger Reserve said.

A maximum of 35 four-wheeled vehicles would be allowed to enter the national park area from Kaliami check gate and another 25 vehicles from Pithabata entry point betweennbsp;6 AM and 9 AMnbsp;every day.

The tourists can book their entry tickets from Jashipur counter Bist said.

quot;As per rules the tourists will have to leave Badheipani and Jaranda bynbsp;3 PM Chahala water fall bynbsp;4 PMquot; the forest official said adding that the day-tourists will be allowed to stay inside the park tillnbsp;5 PM.

The tourist groups are not allowed to cook in the national park area though they can take dry or cooked food with them in containers but no plastic bags will be allowed.

Bist said arrangements have also been made by the Forest department at Jamuani and Kumari for night stay of tourists.

People interested to spend the night inside the park have to book the rooms online at the Forest office at Similipal or they can book online throughnbsp;www.ecotourodisha.com.

Similipal National Park of Odisha which was closed since mid-June due to the monsoon will be opened for tourists fromnbsp;November 1 official sources said.

The park and the tiger reserve remained out of bounds for tourists sincenbsp;June 16nbsp;last as the hilly roads get washed due to heavy rains during the monsoon.

quot;The tourists can now enter the national park through Pithabata or Kaliami pointsquot; Harish Kumar Bist the Field Director of the Similipal Tiger Reserve said.

A maximum of 35 four-wheeled vehicles would be allowed to enter the national park area from Kaliami check gate and another 25 vehicles from Pithabata entry point betweennbsp;6 AM and 9 AMnbsp;every day.

The tourists can book their entry tickets from Jashipur counter Bist said.

quot;As per rules the tourists will have to leave Badheipani and Jaranda bynbsp;3 PM Chahala water fall bynbsp;4 PMquot; the forest official said adding that the day-tourists will be allowed to stay inside the park tillnbsp;5 PM.

The tourist groups are not allowed to cook in the national park area though they can take dry or cooked food with them in containers but no plastic bags will be allowed.

Bist said arrangements have also been made by the Forest department at Jamuani and Kumari for night stay of tourists.

People interested to spend the night inside the park have to book the rooms online at the Forest office at Similipal or they can book online throughnbsp;www.ecotourodisha.com.

Similipal National Park of Odisha which was closed since mid-June due to the monsoon will be opened for tourists fromnbsp;November 1 official sources said.

The park and the tiger reserve remained out of bounds for tourists sincenbsp;June 16nbsp;last as the hilly roads get washed due to heavy rains during the monsoon.

quot;The tourists can now enter the national park through Pithabata or Kaliami pointsquot; Harish Kumar Bist the Field Director of the Similipal Tiger Reserve said.

A maximum of 35 four-wheeled vehicles would be allowed to enter the national park area from Kaliami check gate and another 25 vehicles from Pithabata entry point betweennbsp;6 AM and 9 AMnbsp;every day.

The tourists can book their entry tickets from Jashipur counter Bist said.

quot;As per rules the tourists will have to leave Badheipani and Jaranda bynbsp;3 PM Chahala water fall bynbsp;4 PMquot; the forest official said adding that the day-tourists will be allowed to stay inside the park tillnbsp;5 PM.

The tourist groups are not allowed to cook in the national park area though they can take dry or cooked food with them in containers but no plastic bags will be allowed.

Bist said arrangements have also been made by the Forest department at Jamuani and Kumari for night stay of tourists.

People interested to spend the night inside the park have to book the rooms online at the Forest office at Similipal or they can book online throughnbsp;www.ecotourodisha.com.

Days after Cyrus Mistry was ousted Tata group’s human resources chief N S Rajan has put in his papers.

Rajan who held the position of Tata Group’s chief of human resources CHRO was one of the members of the now disbanded Group Executive Council GEC set up by Mistry.

He put in his papers on Friday sources said.

Rajan came on board of the GEC in May 2013 after it was set up a month earlier headed by Mistry with the objective providing strategic and operational support to him.

On Monday when the ouster of Mistry by the Tata Sons board was announced the GEC was also disbanded. Soon after Tata Group’s website removed all the details related to the GEC including profile of the members.

It was speculated that Mukund Rajan and Harish Bhat members of the GEC would be offered new roles within the group but the fates of other members including ex-BSE chief Madhu Kannan strategist Nirmalya Kumar and Tata veteran Harish Bhat were unclear.

Before joining the Tata group N S Rajan was partner and global leader people and organisation EY.

He had also worked in various ogranisations including erstwhile Ranbaxy Asian Paints BlowPlast ABC Consultants and Asia Online.

Days after Cyrus Mistry was ousted Tata group’s human resources chief N S Rajan has put in his papers.

Rajan who held the position of Tata Group’s chief of human resources CHRO was one of the members of the now disbanded Group Executive Council GEC set up by Mistry.

He put in his papers on Friday sources said.

Rajan came on board of the GEC in May 2013 after it was set up a month earlier headed by Mistry with the objective providing strategic and operational support to him.

On Monday when the ouster of Mistry by the Tata Sons board was announced the GEC was also disbanded. Soon after Tata Group’s website removed all the details related to the GEC including profile of the members.

It was speculated that Mukund Rajan and Harish Bhat members of the GEC would be offered new roles within the group but the fates of other members including ex-BSE chief Madhu Kannan strategist Nirmalya Kumar and Tata veteran Harish Bhat were unclear.

Before joining the Tata group N S Rajan was partner and global leader people and organisation EY.

He had also worked in various ogranisations including erstwhile Ranbaxy Asian Paints BlowPlast ABC Consultants and Asia Online.

Superstar Aamir Khan says he has a special line to signal his guests that it is time for them to leave which he learnt from his filmmaker uncle Nasir Hussain.

Aamir says he simply stands up and tells his guests quot;It was great meeting you all.quot; which should be interpreted as quot;Bye. Please go home now!quot;nbsp;

quot;One thing I have learnt from him and imbibed. We all the kids used to sit and eat in his room. He was very fond of us. But when it would be his time to sleep he would signal at us by saying ‘It was great meeting you all’. Every time he would want to show that he had enough of the guests he would say thatquot; Aamir said at the launch of Nasir’s biography quot;Music Masti Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Husainquot;.

quot;This is one dialogue I use it in my life. Whenever Kiran and I have guests over at our place and I feel like it’s enough… I just say ‘It was great meeting you all’! That’s a way of saying ‘Bye! Please go home!’quot; the actor said as the audience erupted into laughter.

Aamir 51 threw this line again at the audience in the end as he was getting late for his flight.

Talking about Nasir’s family-friendly nature Aamir said no matter how busy he was with his professional commitments the filmmaker always took out time for friends and relatives.

quot;Nasir saab’s house was always filled with relatives friends and kids. But never once did he or chachi jaan make us feel that they had enough of us. We used to be at their place every day… He was a family man. He would be home by 6 pm without fail. I wonder how he managed to keep his professional and personal life separatequot; Aamir said.

Superstar Aamir Khan says he has a special line to signal his guests that it is time for them to leave which he learnt from his filmmaker uncle Nasir Hussain.

Aamir says he simply stands up and tells his guests quot;It was great meeting you all.quot; which should be interpreted as quot;Bye. Please go home now!quot;nbsp;

quot;One thing I have learnt from him and imbibed. We all the kids used to sit and eat in his room. He was very fond of us. But when it would be his time to sleep he would signal at us by saying ‘It was great meeting you all’. Every time he would want to show that he had enough of the guests he would say thatquot; Aamir said at the launch of Nasir’s biography quot;Music Masti Modernity: The Cinema of Nasir Husainquot;.

quot;This is one dialogue I use it in my life. Whenever Kiran and I have guests over at our place and I feel like it’s enough… I just say ‘It was great meeting you all’! That’s a way of saying ‘Bye! Please go home!’quot; the actor said as the audience erupted into laughter.

Aamir 51 threw this line again at the audience in the end as he was getting late for his flight.

Talking about Nasir’s family-friendly nature Aamir said no matter how busy he was with his professional commitments the filmmaker always took out time for friends and relatives.

quot;Nasir saab’s house was always filled with relatives friends and kids. But never once did he or chachi jaan make us feel that they had enough of us. We used to be at their place every day… He was a family man. He would be home by 6 pm without fail. I wonder how he managed to keep his professional and personal life separatequot; Aamir said.

Popular Bengali singer Srikanto Acharya on Saturday blamed FM channels for ignoring Bengali album songs at the cost of film based tracks.

quot;The FMs mostly are not giving space to basic album songs apparently to promote film-based Bangla tracks. This cannot go on for everquot; Srikanto who had also enacted the role of Satyendranath Tagore in ‘Kadambari’ said at the album launch of upcoming Bengali singer Timir’s ‘Ondho Premik.’nbsp;

quot;There have been good soulful works by young singers in recent times. They represent fresh thinkings and concepts while retaining the essential Bengali characteristics of our tracks dating back to 40 years. They retain the elements of yesteryear music of Bengal but have new orchestration lyrics sound engineering effect. Unfortunately these works are not communicated to the present day audience who are only initiated to film-based new Bengali numbersquot; Srikanto said.

Pointing out to the large number of Bengali basic albums launched this year Srikanto said quot;I am told there are 130 such basic albums.nbsp;This is a significant figure.nbsp;These albums represent the new works in Bengali music. Many of these albums were sung by competent artistes But there is no way today’s audience can come to know about these songs.quot;nbsp;

On being asked if remakes can help stem the awareness slide about new Bengali talents and their works Srikanto said quot;Remakes can’t take us forward.quot;nbsp;

Srikanto the singer of popular album ‘Bristi Tomake Dilam’ among others also came down heavily on the extent of piracy of music on internet.

quot;If you get something for free will you value that? One attaches more importance to a song for which he has to shell a certain amount. The music industry is bleeding due to this piracy through digital mediaquot; he said.

Timir lead singer of Fakira band who has given popular film tacks like ‘Onyo kothao chol’ 033 and others would like to call ‘Ondho Premik’ a collaboration among lyricist Rajiv instrumentalists Ashu-Abhishek and himself.

The album consisted of six tracks including ‘Bandhabi Mon’ ‘Bhalobasar Jwar’ and title song ‘Ondho Premik’.

quot;Going by the response on social media for albums like Ondho Premik we wish to strike the right chord with bigger audiencequot; Timir said.

Popular Bengali singer Srikanto Acharya on Saturday blamed FM channels for ignoring Bengali album songs at the cost of film based tracks.

quot;The FMs mostly are not giving space to basic album songs apparently to promote film-based Bangla tracks. This cannot go on for everquot; Srikanto who had also enacted the role of Satyendranath Tagore in ‘Kadambari’ said at the album launch of upcoming Bengali singer Timir’s ‘Ondho Premik.’nbsp;

quot;There have been good soulful works by young singers in recent times. They represent fresh thinkings and concepts while retaining the essential Bengali characteristics of our tracks dating back to 40 years. They retain the elements of yesteryear music of Bengal but have new orchestration lyrics sound engineering effect. Unfortunately these works are not communicated to the present day audience who are only initiated to film-based new Bengali numbersquot; Srikanto said.

Pointing out to the large number of Bengali basic albums launched this year Srikanto said quot;I am told there are 130 such basic albums.nbsp;This is a significant figure.nbsp;These albums represent the new works in Bengali music. Many of these albums were sung by competent artistes But there is no way today’s audience can come to know about these songs.quot;nbsp;

On being asked if remakes can help stem the awareness slide about new Bengali talents and their works Srikanto said quot;Remakes can’t take us forward.quot;nbsp;

Srikanto the singer of popular album ‘Bristi Tomake Dilam’ among others also came down heavily on the extent of piracy of music on internet.

quot;If you get something for free will you value that? One attaches more importance to a song for which he has to shell a certain amount. The music industry is bleeding due to this piracy through digital mediaquot; he said.

Timir lead singer of Fakira band who has given popular film tacks like ‘Onyo kothao chol’ 033 and others would like to call ‘Ondho Premik’ a collaboration among lyricist Rajiv instrumentalists Ashu-Abhishek and himself.

The album consisted of six tracks including ‘Bandhabi Mon’ ‘Bhalobasar Jwar’ and title song ‘Ondho Premik’.

quot;Going by the response on social media for albums like Ondho Premik we wish to strike the right chord with bigger audiencequot; Timir said.

Children with autism spectrum disorder ASD may mistakenly be diagnosed with ADHD as they have autism-related social impairments rather than problems with attention a new study has found.

A screening tool used to assess children for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD may be less accurate when a child has autism disorder researchers said.

They said that the tool needs to be refined to better identify the correct disorder and that clinicians should supplement the screening tool with careful clinical interviews.

quot;One of our best current screening measures for ADHD may be over-diagnosing ADHD in children with autismquot; said study leader Benjamin E Yerys researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CHOPin the US.

quot;This is important because medications that work for ADHD may be less effective for a child on the autism spectrumquot; said Yerys.

One complicating factor is comorbidity – an estimated 30 per cent or more of children with ASD also have ADHD.

The researchers suggest that the tool they analysed the ADHD Rating Scale Fourth Edition ADHD-RS-IV while well-validated in assessing ADHD in a general population of children may overestimate ADHD in children with ASD.

The scale asks parents and teachers to provide numerical ratings to 18 items about a child’s behaviour: nine items on inattention and nine on hyperactivity and impulsivity.

quot;Our research raises questions not only about this rating tool but all such measures that rely on parent and teacher ratings to assess ADHD in children with ASDquot; said Thomas J Power from CHOP.

The current study analysed ratings of 386 children aged seven to 17 who had ASD without intellectual disability.

To test whether the ADHD rating scale was valid in children on the autism spectrum the researchers used a procedure called factor analysis.

They found that some questions on the ADHD rating scale were high for children with ASD instead of being high just for the subset of children who had significant ADHD symptoms.

quot;One underlying problem may be in how we ask these questionsquot; said Yerys.

For example he explained parents and teachers are asked quot;Does the child respond when spoken to directly?quot;

However supplying a yes or no answer to this question does not distinguish between actual inattention a symptom of ADHD and a child’s lack of understanding about how to behave in a social situation in responding to another person – a social impairment often found in ASD.

Similarly other questions focus on how well a child stays on task with play activity. ADHD may cause a child to be easily distracted from an activity but another child may instead stop playing because of ASD-related difficulties with social play.

The study was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Children with autism spectrum disorder ASD may mistakenly be diagnosed with ADHD as they have autism-related social impairments rather than problems with attention a new study has found.

A screening tool used to assess children for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD may be less accurate when a child has autism disorder researchers said.

They said that the tool needs to be refined to better identify the correct disorder and that clinicians should supplement the screening tool with careful clinical interviews.

quot;One of our best current screening measures for ADHD may be over-diagnosing ADHD in children with autismquot; said study leader Benjamin E Yerys researcher at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CHOPin the US.

quot;This is important because medications that work for ADHD may be less effective for a child on the autism spectrumquot; said Yerys.

One complicating factor is comorbidity – an estimated 30 per cent or more of children with ASD also have ADHD.

The researchers suggest that the tool they analysed the ADHD Rating Scale Fourth Edition ADHD-RS-IV while well-validated in assessing ADHD in a general population of children may overestimate ADHD in children with ASD.

The scale asks parents and teachers to provide numerical ratings to 18 items about a child’s behaviour: nine items on inattention and nine on hyperactivity and impulsivity.

quot;Our research raises questions not only about this rating tool but all such measures that rely on parent and teacher ratings to assess ADHD in children with ASDquot; said Thomas J Power from CHOP.

The current study analysed ratings of 386 children aged seven to 17 who had ASD without intellectual disability.

To test whether the ADHD rating scale was valid in children on the autism spectrum the researchers used a procedure called factor analysis.

They found that some questions on the ADHD rating scale were high for children with ASD instead of being high just for the subset of children who had significant ADHD symptoms.

quot;One underlying problem may be in how we ask these questionsquot; said Yerys.

For example he explained parents and teachers are asked quot;Does the child respond when spoken to directly?quot;

However supplying a yes or no answer to this question does not distinguish between actual inattention a symptom of ADHD and a child’s lack of understanding about how to behave in a social situation in responding to another person – a social impairment often found in ASD.

Similarly other questions focus on how well a child stays on task with play activity. ADHD may cause a child to be easily distracted from an activity but another child may instead stop playing because of ASD-related difficulties with social play.

The study was published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Actress Kangana Ranuat will take up a course in horse riding in Germany for her next film on warrior queen Rani Laxmi Bai.

Kangana who is currently shooting for Hansal Mehta’s quot;Simranquot; in the United States is gearing up for the period drama Rani Lakshmi Bai to be helmed by Ketan Mehta.