Cereals, toasts and sweet delights may seem unavoidable during breakfast time, but it is advisable to consume healthier food to begin your day with, says an expert. Here are a few tasty ideas which will satiate your tummy as well as taste buds:

Bircher muesli


Take rolled oats with sliced apple and pear (or whatever fruit, nuts and raisins take your fancy). Then soak it all in some agave syrup or apple juice overnight in a bowl. Eat with soya yoghurt the next morning. Delicious as a snack any time of day, and full of good fibre and protein.

Eggs

You can choose to get some proper protein with a boiled egg and toasted rye bread soldiers; scrambled eggs with a bit of spinach and cayenne pepper; or a poached egg on smoked salmon. It makes for great brain food for the day ahead, and it is easy to make.

Yoghurt


Just get your hands on a simple probiotic yogurt with nuts and berries. Try it with goji berries and flaxseed. Soak the flaxseeds in water overnight – the combination with probiotic yogurt is great for soothing tummy troubles. This can also make a healthy pudding that you can have after lunch.

Green juice

Grab a cold pressed green juice before heading out of home. Oxygenating and full of chlorophyll, pressed juices retain the goodness of their ingredients by savouring the nectar straight from the pulp. Pressing – rather than chopping or blending – doesn’t degrade the fruit or vegetable and avoids over heating it and zapping away minerals. Try courgette, broccoli, lemon, apple and fennel for a zesty morning kick.

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Nothwithstanding her party’s stringent opposition to the land boundary agreement and Teesta water sharing pact with Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday stressed that the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress adheres to the central government’s external affairs policy.

“When we go abroad then the country is my priority…when I go abroad I can’t say only my party views. I have to express my views in favour of my country…this is the protocol… many people ask me what is our external (affairs) policy? Government policy is party policy,” she said.

“Country’s interest is more than party policy in certain areas,” Banerjee said speaking on day one of the three-day closing session of the 75th anniversary of the state assembly.

Banerjee’s claim, however, runs contrary to her party’s stand on the two crucial issues affecting Indo-Bangladesh relations.

Banerjee had earlier virtually ruled out accepting the proposed land boundary agreement with Bangladesh in the present form under which 162 adversely held enclaves are to be exchanged between the two countries.

The Teesta water sharing pact has been put on hold after the Trinamool’s strong opposition, over fears that the treaty could spell disaster for northern West Bengal.

In September last year, Banerjee had embarrassed Manmohan Singh by pulling out of the PM-led delegation to Bangladesh over the water sharing agreement, forcing India to drop it from the agenda.

-IANS

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Two Russian cosmonauts took an Olympic torch on a spacewalk on Saturday for the first time in the history as a part of the Sochi 2014 torch relay.

The torch, unlit for safety reasons, was taken out from the capsule of the International Space Station (ISS) at around 1450 GMT Saturday by Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy, reported Xinhua in a live coverage of the event by Russian state television.

Ryazanskiy, who was first to step out of the ISS, adjusted two video cameras on a hatch and took photos of his colleague Kotov, when he went out of the Pirs docking module with the Olympic torch in hand.

Later, Kotov handed the torch to Ryazanskiy and they took turns posing with it for dramatic shots with the station, the blackness of outer space and the blue-and-white orb of Earth as backdrops.

“All is done according to schedule,” the Mission Control Center reported later after they connected with the cosmonauts.

The torch will stay at the orbital station for another two days. It is due to be brought back to Earth by Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, US astronaut Karen Nyberg and Italian Luca Parmitano, of the European Space Agency, who will depart the ISS on board the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft Monday.

According to Russian officials, the “space” torch will be used to lit the main Olympic flame during the opening of the Sochi Winter Olympics on Feb. 7.

Although Olympic torches have been taken into space twice previously, in 1996 and 2000, the Sochi torch is now the first to be taken out for a spacewalk.

The 22nd Winter Olympic Games, the first time to be held in Russia, are slated for Feb 7-23 in the North Caucasus city of Sochi.

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Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have smaller brains and are likely to be more prone to stress and anxiety, according to a study.

A study done on more than 200 children found that those whose mothers were regular smokers during pregnancy are more likely to become moody and depressed than other boys and girls, the Daily Mail reported citing Neuropsychopharmacology journal report published Tuesday.

Scientists suspect tobacco could affect development of foetus by destroying neurons and reducing oxygen supply to the womb because of the narrowing of blood vessels.

After comparing the result of the study with 113 children not exposed to smoking in the womb, researchers found that those whose mothers continued smoking had smaller brains with less grey and white matter.

IANS

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A benchmark index of Indian equities markets gained 125.22 points or 0.63 percent in the pre-noon trade on Tuesday.

Good buying was seen in capital goods, banking index (bankex) and auto sectors while selling pressure was seen in the metals sector.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 20,094.21 points, was trading at 20,020.32 points in the pre-noon session, up 125.22 points or 0.63 percent from previous day’s close at 19,895.10 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 20,150.27 points and a low of 19,983.90 points during the trade so far.

The S&P BSE capital goods index gained 134.63 points, bankex increased by 162.30 and auto index by 86.83 points. However, the metals index dropped by 31.38 points. 

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also gained 33.80 points or 0.57 percent and was trading at 5,939.95 points.

-IANS

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After triumphing on home turf, Anurag Basu’s “Barfi!” made it big in foreign shores by winning the best film award at the first edition of the South Africa India Film and Television Awards (SAIFTA), while Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra won the best actors awards for their performance in the same movie.

Ranbir was lauded for his dumb and mute act, while Priyanka won the award for her outstanding work as an autistic girl.

The award show kicked off with a special Madiba Award for ailing former South African president Nelson Mandela, which was received by his granddaughter Ndileka Mandela at the gala event, which took place here Friday.

Another special honour was given to John Abraham – the Bollywood actor-producer, currently basking in the success of “Madras Cafe”. He won the Best Youth Icon: South Africa honour.

Organised at the International Convention Centre, counted among one of the world’s best convention centres, the extravaganza saw Abhishek Kapoor walk away with the best director award for “Kai Po Che”.

In the debut category, Huma Qureshi and Siddharth Malhotra picked the best actress and actor trophies for their first films “Gangs of Wasseypur” and “Student of the Year”, respectively.

The supporting actor of the year – female category saw Divya Dutta and Rani Mukerji in a tie for their work in “Special 26” and “Talaash”, respectively. Among the males, Nawazuddin Siddiqui was honoured for his performance in “Gangs of Wasseypur” under the same category.

The melodious chartbuster “Tum hi ho” from “Aashiqui 2” was given the popular song of the year title.

The sold-out show featured scintillating acts by Bollywood star Siddharth Malhotra, who performed to songs from his film “Student Of The Year”, while Ranveer Singh rocked the dance floor with his energetic dance act on a medley of songs.

Priyanka danced on the song “Deva Shree Ganesha” and Madhuri Dixit rocked the stage with her performance on hit songs, including her latest chartbuster “Ghaghra”. They were cheered by a 7,000-strong live audience. 

As many as 150 film and TV personalities from India and 30 South African film and TV personalities were present here.

Designer duo Alpa and Reena’s couture was featured at a special fashion show.

Indian TV actor and host Manish Paul, who is ready to make his film debut with “Mickey Virus”, and his co-star Elli Avram, shared the promotional trailer of the film, and also hosted a segment of the show.

Other TV personalities Mona Singh, Apurva and Shilpa Agnihotri, Ravi Dubey, Sargun Mehta and more were joined by their contemporaries from the Rainbow nation.

Not to forget, holding the evening together with his inimitable wit was filmmaker Karan Johar, accompanied by the beautiful Dia Mirza, former Miss South Africa Tatum Keshwar and the charming Simba.

On the Indian television front, popular soap “Pavitra Rishta” of Zee TV picked up the show of the year award, Gurmeet Choudhary was adjudged lead actor of the year, while Kratika Sengar of “Punar Vivaah” fame won the lead actress award.

The Indian-origin community in South Africa numbers around 1.5 million. About 80 percent of the Indian community lives in the province of KwaZulu Natal, about 15 percent in the Gauteng (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5 percent in Cape Town.

Those from South African film and TV industry were also honoured at the gala.

“7De Laan” won the TV show of the year, and the TV actors of the year award went to Robert Whitehead for “Isidingo” and Baby Cele for “Zabalaza”.

SAIFTA was organised by Mumbai-based event management company Celebrity Locker in collaboration with the Kwa Zulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism of Durban. It’s focus was to enhance the exchange of cultural elements of the Indian and South African entertainment industry.

IANS

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Actress Angelina Jolie will be honoured for her humanitarian efforts with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 5th Annual Governors Awards, reports eonline.com.

Actors Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin and designer Piero Tosi will also be presented with Honorary Awards by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the ceremony.

“The Governors Awards pay tribute to individuals who’ve made indelible contributions in their respective fields,” Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, said in a statement.

“We couldn’t be more excited for this year’s honourees and look forward to bringing their peers and colleagues together to celebrate their extraordinary achievements,” he added.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is given “to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry”. While the Honorary Awards are given “to honour extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy”.

– IANS

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TV actress Gauri Tonk, who has been part of shows like “Kaahin Kissii Roz”, will now be seen in a new show titled “Ek Boond Ishq”.

Gauri, who has also been a part of reality shows like “Maa Exchange” and “Nach Baliye 2”, will essay the mother of the male lead Viraf Pheroz Patel who will be seen as Mrityunjay. Newcomer Chavvi Pandey will play the female lead, Tara.

In the show, Tara agrees to marry a wealthy boy, Mrityunjay, to save her family from an impending financial crisis unaware that Mrityunjay is in prison and awaiting the verdict on a rape and murder accusation.

In her in-laws’ home, Tara stumbles upon a secret that will change the course of her life. Tauji, a staunch aristocrat who demands respect from the family by day, lives the life of an eunuch named Kalavati by night.

Essayed by Vishwajeet Pradhan, both his characters are treated with respect and dignity. It is the first time that a fictional TV show will showcase an eununch’s character as one of its pillars.

“Ek Boond Ishq” will begin from Sep 9 and will air on Life OK.

– IANS

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Nigaar Z. Khan, who will be seen in a negative role in the forthcoming mythological show “Buddha – The King of Kings”, says she was able to portray the character better because of the nuances that she learnt while playing Rajbala in one of her earlier shows, “Mitwa Phool Kamal Ke”.

“Buddha…”, produced by B.K. Modi, will narrate the story of Gautam Buddha – his life’s journey and various teachings. Nigaar plays the role of Gautam Buddha’s aunt Mangala in the new show which goes on air on Zee TV Sunday.

“I played a character called Rajbala in the show ‘Mitwa…’ that came on Star Plus. That character taught me a lot. As a daily soap, we are not able to live a specific character but that character taught me a lot,” Nigaar told reporters here Monday at the press conference of “Buddha…”.

“I was living that character. Even after the closing of the show, for almost fifteen days I had a feeling that I am Rajbala,” she added.

In “Mitwa…”, which showcased the story of a couple who face problems due to caste differences, Nigaar played the aunt to protagonist Bela. She hatches a plan to catch Bela with her lover, and is successful.

In “Buddha…”, Nigaar’s character Mangala wants her son to become the king rather than Buddha and this brings her evil side alive.

“Just like it took me fifteen days to come out of Rajbala, I feel when these 52 episodes (of ‘Buddha…’) will get over, it may take me a few months to forget Mangala,” she added.

Nigaar is happy to be associated with this new show. For her, it’s one more feather in her cap.

“I have not watched the first episode but I am very proud to be associated with the show. It’s like one of the feathers in my cap,” Nigaar, who has also featured in shows like “Lipstick”, “The Khan Sisters” and “Hongey Judaa Na Hum”, said.

“There is a kind of newness in the show,” she said of “Buddha…” which also features Kabir Bedi and Samir Dharmadhikari.

– IANS

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If your partner is keeping distance from you or avoiding family and friends, there are chances that he or she is cheating on you.

Here are more ways to find out whether your partner is seeing someone else while still being in a relationship with you, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Distance: If he or she is not making an effort to be affectionate with you anymore and tries to avoid your advances, then it is possible that he/she is getting emotional satisfaction elsewhere.

Avoiding family and friends: Observe their relationship with your closed ones. If they have changed, it’s a signal that he or she is cheating on you. Has your partner stopped doing what he or she used to earlier like taking your mother out to catch a film each week? Did they use to like catching up with you and mutual friends, but now hate the idea?

Mobile phone junkie: Often see them phone texting? They might be sending messages to their other lover. 

Private phone calls: Another hint of infidelity is when they leave the room to take a call. 

Enough of the nagging: Constantly looking for fault in you justifies why they are having an affair. The fact that the two can hardly stand each other gives them an excuse to look for someone else.

IANS

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Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said his government would try to bring a legislation to stop the practice of “witch hunting”, which is going on unabated across the state.

Gogoi’s statement came days after three people were killed by some villagers in Kokrajhar district of lower Assam after being branded “witches”.

“We are aware that the cases of witch hunting are going on and there is a need to stop the menace. We are going to bring a legislation to stop the evil practice,” said Gogoi while interacting with media.

Incidents of “witch hunting” have increased in Assam in 2011 and Kokrajhar has recorded the highest number of such deaths. At least five people were killed in the name of witch hunting this year in various districts of the state.

The issue has become so serious that it was raised at the floor of state assembly last year by the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF) legislator Pramila Rani Brahma. 

Brahma, who represents Kokrajhar, demanded a strong legislation to stop the social evil.

Last year, Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain informed the state assembly that a total of 80 people have been killed in Assam in last five years – from January 2006 to February 2011 – for being “witches” while 17 were tortured for the same reason.

According to the official statistics, a total of 29 women have been killed by declaring them witches in 2011. 10 of them hailed from Kokrajhar district.

Witch hunting had claimed four lives in 2012, according to official sources.

The evil practice of witch hunting is common among some tribal communities in various parts of Assam. Although various steps have been taken both from government agencies and NGOs to stop the evil practice, yet very little success has been achieved in this endeavour.

The Assam Police had also launched ‘Project Prahari’ for participatory development and people friendly policing to fight social maladies and deprivation. Under the project, it launched an awareness drive against “witch hunting” in state’s remote areas.

-IANS

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Kerala’s economy, propped up by diaspora remittances from about two million Malayalees abroad, can expect windfall remittances to touch Rs.75,000 crore ($12.5 billion) this financial year which could form an all-time high of nearly 35 percent of its net state domestic product, migration expert S. Irudayarajan says.

Irudayarajan, head of the Migration Unit of the Centre for Development Studies in the state capital, said if the rupee continues to hover at its present rates against the dollar for another two months, the magic figure of Rs.75,000 crore in remittances would be achieved, when preliminary findings of the forthcoming edition of the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) are out, in April 2014.

The Kerala economy, in the past three decades, has received generous remittances from people from the state who work overseas.

“We did the first KMS in 1998, and it was planned to be done every five years. But we undertook two additional surveys in 2007 on account of the global crisis and another one in 2011. The present survey is all set to start, latest by next month, and the preliminary findings are expected by April 2014,” Irudayarajan told IANS in an interview.

In the 2011 survey, the total number of migrants from Kerala was in the range of over two million, and the total remittance was pegged at Rs.50,000 crore in the following year. The remittances in fact touched Rs.60,000 crore, Irudayarajan said.

“In 2008, one dollar fetched Rs.49. Today it stands at Rs.63.35. From our estimates, if the rupee hovers between Rs.55 and Rs.60 for another two months, then when our preliminary report comes out in April 2014, it (remittances) would touch Rs.75,000 crore,” said Irudayarajan.

He added that Kerala is set for two festival seasons – Onam (the harvest festival) in September and Christmas.

“We have observed that it is during these two festival periods that the remittances peak in the state. Hence Rs.75,000 crore is going to be easily achieved,” Irudayarajan said.

Asked to comment on the impact the remittances will have, Irudayarajan said that on account of the massive inflow, Kerala can easily breathe easy. Remittances today account for 1.6 times the revenue receipt of the Kerala government, 6.2 times what the state gets from the centre as revenue transfer, and is more than twice the government’s annual expenditure. In other words, it can meet 60 percent of the state’s public debt.

“As of now, diaspora remittances are 31.23 percent of Kerala’s net state domestic product, and if the remittances touch Rs.75,000 crore, then it would reach 35 percent, which would be an all-time high,” Irudayarajan said.

The survey would be conducted in 15,000 households. For the first time, they would rely on the 2011 census. Irudayarajan’s previous study found out that nearly 40 percent of Kerala’s emigrants live in the UAE and 25 percent in Saudi Arabia.

“Once the preliminary findings are ready, we will be able to find out what the real situation is in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as new labour laws have come in. We will know if that has affected migration from here to these two countries,” Irudayarajan said.

-IANS

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A very famous joke doing rounds these days is that Rupee has grown from our very own Rahul Gandhi’s age to our Finance Minister’s age and if all goes this way it may reach Prime Minister’s age. But actually if this happens, it should not be appalling for us, considering the approach with which our country is moving ahead.  We would find many economic theories which would tell us that rupee is highly undervalued now. Our very own Mr. Chidambaram said that rupee has tumbled below 65 (It may have very well fallen below this by the time this article reaches you), it is undervalued and hence there is no need to be pessisimistic. Rupee has depreciated by 13% since April and around $12 billion FIIs have moved out of India. Theoretically, he may be absolutely right, but there is a doubt on how well this holds true if it is thought of practically.

First, what is meant by undervaluation of a rupee? It means if the economic theories tell us that 1 $ should be equal to 40 Rupees. But we have 1$ equal to 50 Rupees as exchange rate in the economy, this implies that rupee is undervalued. This means that fundamentally the rupee should have been higher, but it is temporarily lower.

The question to ponder over is that if it is currently undervalued, then what is making our currency go down even further? Why is it that irrespective of an undervalued currency, we are not having our export sector booming?? What has happened that a country that was having a robust growth story even during the world crisis is continuously facing depreciation of its currency? Or is it is that we are moving to our true currency value and 65 is going to become the new 45?

Now the questions are many but the answer is only ONE. There is no doubt that we have had long and strong growth story, but is also true that the fundamentals of the economy have been shaken entirely. There has been no front on which India is not facing any crisis. We have very high trade deficit( i.e. excess of import value of goods and services over export value), high current account deficit( means dollar that flow  in the country is that less than what is required to even pay for our demands, making it obvious that this would increase the value of dollar) on external front. If we talk internally, we have extremely low GDP, very high fiscal deficit (excess of government expenditure over government revenues), chronic inflation, and very low investment. To make the matter worse, there is lack of clarity on foreign investment policies and tax policies.

Now realizing this vicious circle, means all these factors are leading to depreciation of rupee which again back feeds and leads to widening of current a/c deficit, trade deficit, and high inflation and so on and making the matter worse. The government is trying is trying to do its bit, but it is too less to prevent the freefall of trust that is being put on our currency. What is making the effort of government almost futile is their wrong approach. It clearly is a case of politics over economics.

Government has come up with liberalization of FDI rules but the final decision of whether to allow a company to set up in a particular state is left on state government, hence keeping everyone happy. Second, rather than addressing the fundamental problem of lack of proper investment climate in the economy, the government is just trying to get in whatever funds available ( like FIIs which are very volatile) in the short run so as to cover this problem currently. Third, they want to contain fiscal deficit, but still want the populist food bill to be passed (more focus on 2014 elections).

Fourth, to manage current account deficit, they are trying to put controls on import of gold and some other items rather than trying to find alternative means of investment for people and not artificially forcing them not to buy some commodities. Fifth, time and again RBI has been blamed for keeping the interest rates high leading to less investment, less growth. In this the government has ignored that RBI was trying to curb inflation that was spreading like a plague. Also, RBI has always warned government about the mounting fiscal deficit problem which was stopping them from lowering the rate of interest. It may actual taper off investment by bringing in more uncertainty in minds of foreign investors. All these measures by the government have a problem of short sightedness!

It seems we were too happy about our growth story going strong. Growing at one of the highest rate even in the world crisis era, added to the overconfident attitude and we stopped looking at fundamentals in the economy. But we can’t forget that a building cannot be strong if the fundamentals start shaking! It is to be wondered till when can we just casually pass on the blame and being happy by the fact that fundamentally rupee is strong, it is just that currently it is undervalued. Because if keeping heading the way we currently are, we surely would find this new value of currency to be the true value!! And if this happens, we are in for big trouble. It was very rightly said by John Connally, the treasury secretary for President Nixon, “It’s our currency, but your problem.”

So here we go; falling in a trap and moving to new lows!!

-Aakanksha Arora

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