Actress Taapsee Pannu, who has worked in the Hindi and the southern film industry, has been roped in as the first female brand ambassador for Japanese motorcycle and scooter manufacturing brand Honda.
"It is a brand that I was associated with even before I thought of becoming an actor. The first ever vehicle I ever drove was a Honda. Presently I own an Activa and Honda car as well. It's a landmark in not only my career, but my lifetime to be an ambassador of a brand of such supreme calibre," Taapsee told IANS.

On Wednesday, Honda launched two new editions of Aviator and Activa automatic scooters here.

 Maria Sharapova isn't afraid to star onto magazine photo shoots looking fierce and beautiful. The Russian has developed great confidence in front of the camera over the years, so much that in the past she also posed multiple times just wearing swim suits.
Recently the Russian starred in a new photo shoot, for magazine Harper's Bazaar. Looking sexy and stunning wearing gold, Maria is already getting into the fashionable London mood. Maria will also be opening her Sugarpova Exclusive Candy Lounge in London, right during the Championships of Wimbledon.

It seems a busy period for the Russian, who at Wimbledon will try to do better than last year's fourth round.  Sharapova hasn't reached the second week in London since 2011, which marks her last appearance into a Wimbledon final, losing to Petra Kvitova.

 Congress on Wednesday demanded that Smriti Irani resign as HRD minister after a trial court took cognizance of a complaint about her educational qualifications, the party taking pleasure in the fact that PM Narendra Modi's weapon to take on Rahul Gandhi was on the back foot.

AICC spokesman Ajay Maken said Irani could not be the minister in-charge of education when an inquiry seeking details from Delhi University about her degrees was on. "Is it not a conflict of interest? She should resign or the PM should remove her," he said.

Maken reminded that Congress had raised the issue immediately after the PM constituted his Cabinet as Irani's election affidavits had serious discrepancies with different claims about her degrees.

NSUI, the Congress's students' outfit, held a demonstration in front of Shastri Bhavan which houses the HRD ministry to seek Irani's resignation. Shouting slogans, NSUI members burnt her effigy. NSUI chief Roji John said, "It is an insult to the academic and student community that a person who is not clear about her own educational qualifications is the country's HRD minister. She must resign."
Congress is set to pile more pressure with the party's Delhi unit deciding to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar seeking Irani's resignation on Thursday.

For the party aggressively pursuing 'Modigate', the court observation on Irani has brought special relish that goes beyond the satisfaction of punching holes in BJP's claim of "scam-free" governance.

BJP had lately deployed Irani to take on Rahul after the latter's post-sabbatical aggression against Modi government, especially the PM, in Parliament.

Irani's forays into Rahul's constituency Amethi reflected a strategy to tie down Rahul to his seat and cut down on his national campaign. The HRD minister contested unsuccessfully against Rahul in the 2014 polls. After Rahul accused the Centre of "politics of revenge" for cancelling the food park in Amethi, Irani held a rally in the UP town attacking the Congress leader. She then challenged that "the Gandhis would be seeing more of me in Amethi".

Major announcement from Beyonce! That’s what she teased a few days ago. Turns out it was another opportunity to free her fans from some hard-earned money. Also, a reason to post some online pics of her in a swimsuit.

That special announcement? She started a vegan delivery service with personal trainer Marco Borges and a new diet plan, “22 Days Nutrition”. This Borges quack started a ‘revolutionary’ 22-day diet that’s “based around a whole-food plant-based diet, and bans meat, eggs, dairy, alcohol and processed foods for 22 days – the length of time it is thought to take to build new food habits.” Bsically, they say 21 days to break bad habits and the 22nd day to start a new, hoepfully healthier, habit.
Wannnnk. Here’s a tip, eat in moderation and don’t stuff your face with bad shit. If it comes in a package, it’s not good for you. And alcohol has a ton of calories. Do people really need Beyonce to teach them this? Sadly, yes.

These people will line up to shove their money into Beyonce’s face as if she was a deity. Are they gonna rub her belly for good luck also? If there’s any justice in this world, this new delivery service will fail, just like Jay-Z’s arrogant streaming service, Tidal.

At least six persons were killed and around 100 others complained of breathing problems when an ammonia gas tanker leaked early on Saturday near Ludhiana, police said.

The leak occurred when the tanker got stuck under a flyover on the Doraha bypass along a canal, about 25 kms from Ludhiana, according to the police.

Six persons died after inhaling the leaked gas. Doraha Police Station's SHO Rajnish Kumar Sood said the bodies have been shifted to a hospital in Ludhiana. Around 100 others complained of breathing problems, he added.
The affected people have been admitted to different hospitals in Doraha, Khanna and Ludhiana, the SHO said.

Residents in the area were forced to vacate their homes when the gas from the tanker spread in and around Doraha, police said.

The tanker had Gujarat registration number, according to the police. Police officers have rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

More details are awaited. Identities of the victims are yet to be ascertained, the police said. 

 People in Pakistan are living longer, but not happily.

It is not a political statement but the finding of a worldwide study that the longer living Pakistanis are spending more time in ill health.

International researchers working for the Global Burden of Disease project reported that in 2013 migraines, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes were among the 10 leading causes of ‘years lived with disability’ (YLDs) in Pakistan.

Other leading causes included hearing loss, anxiety disorders and neck pain.

Titled “1990-2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013” the study was led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, and is based on data of 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries.
Death rates are falling faster than those of nonfatal diseases and injuries

People are living longer in Pakistan despite spending more time in ill health because rates of non-fatal diseases and injuries decline more slowly than death rates, the study explained.

For both sexes combined, the leading causes of YLDs remained largely the same during the period 1990-2013. But they take an increased toll on health due to population growth and aging, it said.
It also shows that musculoskeletal disorders – which include shoulder injuries and fractures from osteoporosis – have replaced diarrheal diseases as a leading cause of YLDs for Pakistani women. In the 23 years the study covers, iron-deficiency anemia at 11 per cent was the smallest percentage increase among the top causes of YLDs while musculoskeletal disorders as the cause increased by 163 per cent, and diabetes by 170 per cent.

Diabetes YLDs for men in Pakistan increased by 100 per cent and depression by 94 per cent during those years, while that from iron-deficiency anemia declined by 9 per cent.

“The health of Pakistanis is increasingly threatened by non-communicable diseases such as depression, chronic back pain, and migraines,” said Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta, co-author of the study and founding director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi.

“At the same time, diseases like iron-deficiency anemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes are also costing people in Pakistan many years of healthy life. It is critical that we understand which diseases and injuries are causing disability so that we can effectively allocate resources for national planning,” Professor Bhutta added.

The iPhone 6 has been more successful than previous versions of the smartphone at drawing Android users away from Google’s mobile platform, and Apple wants to capitalize on that with a new app that makes it easier for them to make the switch.

Later this year, a new “Move to iOS” app will wirelessly transfer a user’s “contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, web bookmarks, mail accounts, calendars, wallpaper, and DRM-free songs and books” from an Android phone to their new iPhone.

The switching process will also suggest that they install free apps from their Android device that are also available on Apple’s App Store, so switchers can quickly get back on their feet with their favorite apps like Facebook and Twitter. Paid apps that they have on Android with iOS versions available will be added to a user’s wish list in the iOS App Store.
According to Apple, the whole process will be handled “securely” so that a user’s personal information doesn’t get exposed. It’s not clear exactly how the process works yet, and how aggressive Apple will be when it comes to migrating users away from Google’s services. For example, it’s possible that the process will move all of the contacts a user has stored with Google over to iCloud—Apple hasn’t said one way or another.

Once the process is done, the Android app will helpfully prompt users to recycle their Android phone, just to keep them from going back to Google’s mobile platform unless they buy a new phone.

The app wasn’t announced on stage Monday morning during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, but it appeared on the promotional page the company created to show off its new mobile operating system ahead of its launch later this year.