Shekhar Kapur to direct 'Tiger's Curse'

Los Angeles, Nov 5 (IANS) Internationally known Indian director Shekhar Kapur of “Elizabeth” fame has been roped in to direct an adventure saga titled “Tiger’s Curse”.

The project will be introduced by Lotus Entertainment at the American Film Market, reports variety.com.

Based on the first in a series of novels by Colleen Houck, “Tiger’s Curse” has been adapted by Julie Plec, creator of “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals”.

The project will be produced by Ineffable Pictures’s Raphael Kryszek and Jesse Israel along with Lotus Entertainment’s Bill Johnson and Jim Seibel and Kapur.

The novel centers on a woman who learns that she has a powerful connection with a white tiger named Ren, while working at a circus in Oregon over the summer. When a mysterious stranger arrives to reclaim Ren and return him to his native India, the woman learns that the tiger is a prince who is the victim of a 300-year-old curse.

Shekhar Kapur to direct 'Tiger's Curse'

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Restrictions in Srinagar as separatists call for shutdown

Srinagar, Nov 5 (IANS) Restrictions were imposed in some areas of the Srinagar city Wednesday as separatists called for a protest shutdown against the killing of two youths in army firing in Badgam district, an official said.

“Restrictions have been imposed today (Wednesday) in Khanyar, Nowhatta, M.R. Gunj, Rainawari, Safakadal and Nowgam areas to ensure nobody disturbs peace in the city,” a senior police officer told IANS here Wednesday.

Separatist leaders, including hardline Syed Ali Geelani, moderate Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, have called for a protest shutdown in the Valley Wednesday against the killing of Faisal Yusuf Bhat and Mehrajuddin Dar in army firing Monday in Chattergam village.

While Geelani is in New Delhi, Malik who is in Anantnag district has been placed under preventive detention and Mirwaiz has been put under house arrest here.

Two youths were also injured in Chattergam army firing Monday. All the four belonged to Nowgam area of Srinagar city.

Senior police officers and the district magistrate of Srinagar has confirmed the four had no militant links.

The army has ordered an enquiry into the firing.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the firing was avoidable and the incident has cost innocent lives.

Restrictions in Srinagar as separatists call for shutdown

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Nikki Haley wins second term as South Carolina governor

Washington, Nov 5 (IANS) Scoring the first win for Indian-Americans in the US mid-term elections, South Carolina’s Republican Governor Nikki Haley handily beat Democratic state Senator Vincent Sheheen to win a second term.

Born Nimrata ‘Nikki’ Randhawa, the 42-year-old daughter of Sikh immigrants from India became the first minority and first female governor of the state four years ago.

Haley was declared the winner based on projections from exit poll data that suggests the Republican will win by a wider margin than 2010, when just 4.5 percentage points separated her from Sheheen, according to local WCIV TV.

Sheheen never gained the traction necessary in the rematch to close the gap, despite hammering Haley on her first-term blunders, it said noting Haley won over voters by successfully branding herself as the “jobs governor.”

“Governor Nikki Haley has done an extraordinary job for South Carolina; her leadership is making the difference,” the Republican Governors Association chairman Chris Christie said in a statement following her re-election victory.

“With Haley at the helm for four more years, South Carolina is sure to experience continued growth and success. No one fights harder for South Carolina than Governor Haley, and because of her, it’s going to be another great four years.

“The Republican Governors Association is proud to congratulate Governor Haley on her re-election,” said, Christie, who is the New Jersey governor.

Results of other races involving a record 30 Indian-Americans are still awaited.

Four of them are seeking a two-year term in the House, two are running for governorships, three more for other top state jobs and 20 are eyeing legislative seats in 15 states

Prominent among Desi contestants to the House are Democrat Amerish ‘Ami’ Bera, only the third Indian-American lawmaker in US history, and a former Obama administration official Rohit ‘Ro’ Khanna.

Republican Neel Kashkari faces an uphill task against California’s three term Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, while Kamala Harris, the state’s first female Indian-American and African-American Attorney General is sitting pretty in her re-election bid.

Nikki Haley wins second term as South Carolina governor

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Both BJP, AAP claim they will win Delhi battle (Roundup)

New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) Soon after the cabinet recommended the dissolution of the Delhi assembly, both the BJP and the AAP Tuesday claimed they were confident of winning the fresh elections.

But Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay said his party — unlike in the December 2013 election — would not project a chief ministerial candidate.

“It’s too early to talk about the CM candidate. The party will decide at the right time and will choose a leader through a democratic process,” he said, adding quickly that he was not in the race for the post.

Upadhyay said the BJP would repeat its winning streak in Maharashtra and Haryana in Delhi too.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal meanwhile accused the BJP of spreading communal poison in Delhi and said his party would bring together eminent religious leaders to combat this.

The former chief minister also insisted that the AAP would win a majority in the upcoming election in the capital.

“We will win in Delhi no matter how hard the BJP tries.”

Upadhyay and Kejriwal spoke a day after Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung was told by all three major parties in Delhi — the BJP, AAP and Congress — that said they favoured fresh elections.

Kejriwal said the AAP was confident of winning more than 45 of the 70 seats in Delhi — up from the 28 it bagged in 2013, leading then to a hung house.

After the BJP with 31 seats refused to form a government, the AAP took power with the backing of the Congress. But the government collapsed in 49 days, leading to political uncertainty.

Kejriwal said the AAP would seek votes on three key issues: its achievements during its 49-day rule, a corruption-free Delhi and making the capital one of the world’s best cities.

Asked if he could take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AAP leader said Delhi’s voters would have to choose between him (Kejriwal) and BJP’s Jagdish Mukhi for the chief minister’s post.

“Will Modi resign as prime minister and contest for the chief ministership of Delhi?”

Upadhyay said: “Our MLAs are ready for fresh elections and we will fight under a collective leadership… We will repeat our performance of Haryana and Maharashtra.”

He said the BJP’s main plank would be “good governance”.

Kejriwal and his colleagues attacked the BJP for delaying the elections all these months and accused it of using “unfair means” to install a BJP government in Delhi.

The capital has been under President’s rule since Feb 17.

Earlier Tuesday, the union cabinet recommended the dissolution of the Delhi assembly, paving the way for a fresh electoral contest.

The BJP and the Congress have traditionally held sway in Delhi. This changed last year when the AAP contested the assembly elections and pulled off a stunning performance winning 28 seats.

In comparison to the BJP’s 31 seats, the Congress got just eight seats.

This year, the BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the capital. The AAP finished second in all the places. The Congress either finished third or fourth.

Both BJP, AAP claim they will win Delhi battle (Roundup)

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Long term shift work hampers memory

London, Nov 4 (IANS) Long term shift work can help you earn more but it could adversely affect your brain functions, such as memory and processing speed, says a research.

Disruption of the body clock as a result of shift work could generate physiological stressors, which may in turn affect the functioning of the brain, the researchers suggested.

“The cognitive impairment observed in the present study may have important safety consequences not only for the individuals concerned, but also for society as a whole, given the increasing number of jobs in high hazard situations that are performed at night,” the researchers warned.

However, the study led by Jean-Claude Marquie of the University of Toulouse in France found that once people stop working in shifts, it is possible for them to recover the memory loss. But it could take five long years.

The researchers tracked the cognitive abilities of more than 3,000 people who were either working, in a wide range of sectors, or who had retired, at three time points: 1996; 2001; and 2006.

The data showed that those who currently, or who had previously, worked shifts had lower scores on memory, processing speed, and overall brain power than those who had only worked normal office hours.

The second set of analyses looked at the impact of working a rotating shift pattern and found that compared with those who had never worked this type of shift, those who had, and had done so for 10 or more years, had lower cognitive and memory scores.

The study appeared in the British Medical Journal.

Long term shift work hampers memory

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Tripura CM asks PM to restore MGNREGA funds for state

Agartala, Nov 4 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to restore the funds cut from MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) rural employment scheme in the state.

“The union rural development ministry has increased its allocation of funds under MGNREGA for Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and some other states but reduced central allocation for Tripura,” Sarkar said in a letter to the prime minister.

He said that although Tripura under MGNREGA topped all states, providing 87 days of work per household in the 2013-14 fiscal against the national average of 45 person-days, the state’s allocation had been sharply reduced.

“Tripura received Rs 943.66 crore during the last financial year (2013-14). The union rural development ministry informed that it would provide Rs.652 crore during the current fiscal (2014-15) despite the ministry having approved the labour budget of Rs.1,406.96 crore under the MGNREGA for the ongoing financial year.”

In his letter Sarkar said that under MGNREGA guidelines, the central allocation would have to be released in two instalments, but the Union ministry has so far provided Rs.373 crore in three instalments.

The chief minister said that the unemployed and uneducated rural people from among tribals, minorities, scheduled caste, other backward communities and women would be largely affected due to the reduction of funds under MGNREGA.

The MGNREGA mandates 100 days of employment in a financial year to at least one member of each rural household.

According to Tripura rural development officials, the state has retained the top position for the fifth consecutive year by providing 87 person-days rural jobs per household during the 2013-14 fiscal.

Tripura CM asks PM to restore MGNREGA funds for state

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Hyderabad: Birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

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Hyderabad: Birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev

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