Innovation

* TEHRAN: An Iranian schoolteacher has innovated an amusing way of encouraging young children to say their daily prayers — robotics. * LOS ANGELES: Disney is launching a digital movies app that allows fans to store movie purchases online and play them back over Apple devices and computers. * TOKYO: A tiny personal computer that is worn on the ear and can be controlled with the blink of an eye or the click of a tongue is being tested in Japan.
The 17-gram (0.59-ounce) wireless device has bluetooth capability and is equipped with a GPS, compass, gyro-sensor, battery, barometer, speaker and microphone.
Wearable computing is thought by many commentators to be the next big thing in technology, with products such as Google Glass at the forefront.
The device, known at the moment as the "Earclip-type Wearable PC" has a microchip and data storage, enabling users to load software, said engineer Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Hiroshima City University.
Its designs are based on traditional "ikebana" flower arrangements.
"We have made this with the basic idea that people will wear it in the same way they wear earrings," Taniguchi told AFP in a recent interview as he showcased a black prototype.
The system, which developers are hoping to have ready for Christmas 2015, can be connected to an iPod or other gadget and would allow the user to navigate through software programmes using facial expressions, such as a raised eyebrow, a stuck-out tongue, a wiggle of the nose or by clenching teeth.
The device uses infrared sensors that monitor tiny movements inside the ear, whichdiffer depending on how the eyes and mouth move.
Because the user does not have to move either hand, its developers say it can serve as "a third hand" for everyone from caregivers to rock-climbers, motorbike riders to astronauts, as well as people with disabilities. "Supposing I climb a mountain, look at the sky at night and see a bright star up there, it could tell me what it is," Taniguchi said.
"As it knows what altitude I'm at, which direction I'm looking and at what angle, it could tell me, 'The bright star you are seeing now is Sirius'."
Using a smartphone to connect to the Internet would mean you could be automatically put in touch with people in faraway places who are doing the same thing as you.
"This could connect you with a person who is looking at the same star at a remote place at the same time," enabling the people to swap impressions, Taniguchi said.
A second version of the device might be pressed into use to help relatives keep an eye on elderly family in greying Japan.
The earpiece, which could also function as a hearing aid, could monitor the wearer's health, including their pulse and body temperature, while logging how often they eat and sneeze, offering early warning of the onset of illness.
An onboard accelerometer could tell when the user falls and instruct the smartphone to pass information to relatives, or call an ambulance based on GPS data.
Tests are being carried out in Hiroshima, with the aim of commercialising the device from April 2016.
US chipmaker Intel has stepped up its investment in wearable technology with the acquisition of Basis Science, a firm known for its health tracking services and devices. Basis Science is known for its health-tracking device, the Basis band, which monitors the user's heart rate and calorie-burning, among other things. * Mr. Chen wants to shift BlackBerry’s focus toward its smaller software and services business. BlackBerry, in Mr. Chen’s plan, will become a crucial supplier of software and services that help companies and government agencies manage employees’ use of smartphones and tablets, including iPhones and iPads and devices that run on Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Google’s Android operating system. Such systems also manage and safeguard the data moving to and from those devices. Troubled smartphone maker Blackberry has reported a net loss of $5.9bn (£3.5bn) for its latest financial year. * utonomous cars, robotic cars, drone cars - call them what you will, but the self-driving car is coming to a showroom near you. * It might take a couple of years - it might take a couple of decades - but few people at the Geneva Motor Show would disagree that one day science fantasy will become fact. * here will come a time when we will be travelling in a container, with no airbags or seatbelts because the chances of an accident will be so small” * Facebook has ambitious plans to connect the two-thirds of the world that has no net access, using drones, satellites and lasers. * amsung Electronics will add two safeguards to its latest smartphone in an effort to deter rampant theft of the mobile devices nationwide, the company said Friday. * The world's largest mobile-phone maker said users will be able to activate for free its "Find My Mobile" and "Reactivation Lock" anti-theft features to protect the soon-to-be-released Galaxy 5 S. *

Economy * Chairman of Senate's National Defence Committee Mushahid Hussain Sayed said on Sunday Pakistan's economic future was linked to the development of Balochistan coast, particularly the port of Gwadar. * The Pakistan Exploration Limited has found a new reserve of oil and gas in district Badin, Geo News reported. According to a statement issued here on Tuesday, with the new exploration 11.3 million cubic feet gas and 115 ... * china has set its economic growth target for the year at 7.5%, as it looks to continue its efforts to stabilise the economy. * The country also set its inflation goal at 3.5%, aimed at keeping prices in check. In 2013, the country grew at a pace of 7.7%, about the same as in 2012. * A new study shows that the top 10 global automakers amassed more than $221 billion (161 billion euros) in cash by the end of 2013 to invest in new products, strategic alliances and other growth strategies. Global consultancy EY said Wednesday that effectively managing that cash was a key concern among 100 top industry executives it ... * Fast food workers across the US have been demanding that the minimum wage in the sector should be raised to $15 per hour. * In December, workers in the fast food industry held strikes in 100 cities across the US. * August 29, 2014 5:43 am * Japanese economy flounders after sales tax rise * Flounders mean walk with great difficutly
India’s economy grows 5.7pc in Q1, highest in 2 years
Friday, 29 August 201
Brazil in technical recession as Q2 GDP slides

* BJP`S Moody 100 days are progressive as 45% said promises are being completed. * The new government's economic policies appear business-friendly and have strengthened investor-confidence in the country, a report in The Times of India says. *
Linked with Rs strengthening *

esco has signed a deal to become the first foreign supermarket to enter India's £330bn ($500bn) retail sector.

Finance * The European Central Bank is poised to take action to loosen lending conditions and drag inflation out of a "danger zone" that threatens to stagnate the euro zone's fragile recovery. Inflation is running at 0.8 percent, far below the ECB's target of just under 2 percent, and banks' early repayment of bumper loans they took from the central bank is draining funds from the financial system effectively tightening policy. Reversing this by ending operations ... * Libor * London Inter Bank Offered Rate. The rate at which banks in London lend money to each other for the short-term in a particular currency. A new Libor rate is calculated every morning by financial data firm Thomson Reuters based on interest rates provided by members of the British Bankers Association. * A US regulator has sued 16 banks for allegedly manipulating the London interbank offered rate (Libor). The sued banks include Barclays, HSBC, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Richest Persons
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has regained the top spot as the world's richest person, according to Forbes magazine's annual ranking of global billionaires. * http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26420414
Mr Gates' total net worth was estimated at $76bn (£45.5bn) this year, up from $67bn in 2013.
His rise in wealth knocked Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim off the top spot into second place.
In total, there were a record 1,645 billionaires, according to Forbes.
The funds needed to make it into the top 20 ranking are now $31bn, up from $23bn last year, Forbes said.
Mr Gates has been top of the list for 15 of the last 20 years, according to Forbes.
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How rich?
A billion: * 1,000,000,000 * One thousand million
A trillion: * 1,000,000,000,000 * One million million
Technology firms featured heavily in the list, with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg becoming the biggest gainer in net worth.
His fortune more than doubled to $28.5bn, boosted by a sharp rise in the price of the social network's shares.
The social network's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, also made the list for the first time.
WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton entered the list at number 202 and 551 respectively, thanks to Facebook's $19bn purchase of the messaging app.
US continues to dominate
The world's largest economy, the US, continues to have the most billionaires, with 492.
By region, Europe boasted the most billionaires outside the US, with 468 in total, closely followed by Asia, which had 444 billionaires.
The list suggested that wealth was spreading, with four new countries featuring for the first time - Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda.
Nigeria's Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, became the first African to be listed in the top 25, with a net worth of $25bn.
Landlord Gerald Grosvenor and family were the richest British family to make the list, with a net worth estimated at $13bn.
Known formally as the 6th Duke of Westminster, he owns 190 acres in Belgravia, an area adjacent to Buckingham Palace and one of London's most expensive neighbourhoods. Forbes list of world's richest people | Name | Wealth | Main business | SOURCE: FORBES MAGAZINE | Bill Gates | $76bn | Microsoft, software | Carlos Slim | $72bn | America Movil, telecoms | Amancio Ortega | $64bn | Zara, fashion | Warren Buffet | $58.2bn | Berkshire Hathaway, investment | Larry Ellison | $48bn | Oracle, software | Charles Koch/David Koch | $40bn/$40bn | Koch Industries, various | Sheldon Adelson | $38bn | Las Vegas Sands, casinos | Christy Walton | $36.7bn | Wal-Mart, retail | Jim Walton | $34.7bn | Wal-Mart, retail | Liliane Bettencourt | $34.5bn | L'Oreal, retail |

Industries Policies

* Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, said Wednesday it is counting on the World Cup football championships in Brazil to boost sales and earnings this year."From an operational perspective, there is no doubt that 2014 will be a successful year for us," said chief executive Herbert Hainer, as the group set a profit target of between 830 million and 930 million euros (1.14 billion and 1.28 billion) for the year."Driven by our . * German premium carmaker BMW will recall 10,234 imported cars in China due to software glitches, the country's quality watchdog said on Wednesday. The carmaker will recall 8,676 7-series sedans produced between March 1, 2004 and July 31, 2008 due to a software glitch that could potentially cause a car to slip downhill when parked on a slope, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China said in a statement on its ... * Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has started producing chips to be used in Apple's next iPhone, reports said Wednesday, as speculation swirls that US firm could be offloading rival Samsung as a supplier.The world's leading contract microchip maker started producing the A8 -- Apple's latest of the line of processors tipped to power the expected iPhone 6 -- last month, the Taipei-based Commercial Times reported, citing supply chain sources..The reports said TSMC had swept mos
Audi recalls 70,000 cars over braking system problem
Friday, 29 August 2014 17:52 *
Marketing
* Pak washing Machine aik he chakkar maen doe family bar k kaprae * China is the world's biggest smartphone market with more than 500 million mobile internet users. * Tencent's hugely popular WeChat app, known as Weixin in China, has 355 million monthly active users.

Rebranding
Chinese airline rebrands first-class in age of austerity

Beijing’s crusade against corruption claimed a linguistic victory on Tuesday when state-owned China Southern Airlines said it would change the name of its first-class cabin to business class, an apparent ploy to win back government officials who are banned from travelling first class in the new Chinese age of austerity.

General Information
کراچی: وزیراعظم نوازشریف نے ملک میں چارٹرڈ جیٹ خدمات فراہم کرنے والی واحد کمپنی پرنسلے جیٹس کوملک میں زرمبادلہ لانے کی بہترین کارکردگی پرایکسپورٹ ٹرافی ایوارڈ سے نوازا ہے۔ * The human nose can detect one trillion different odours, far more than we previously thought, say US scientists.
Seven million people died as a result of air pollution in 2012, the World Health Organization estimates. Its findings suggest a link between air pollution and heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer. Nearly six million of the deaths had been in South East Asia and the WHO's Western Pacific region, it found.
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“Start Quote
The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe”
Dr Maria NeiraWHO
The WHO said about 3.3 million people had died as a result of indoor air pollution and 2.6 million deaths were related to outdoor air pollution, mainly in low- and middle-income countries in those regions. Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves. * The mystery of flight MH370 is unlikely to be solved until the flight recorder - known as a black box - is found. There are actually two boxes - a cockpit voice recorder and a data recorder. But these devices have their limitations.
The voice recorder only captures the final two hours * General Motors is adding 824,000 more cars to an ongoing recall over defective ignition switches that have caused some engines to shut off and to disable airbags. * کراچی: پاکستانی ٹیکسٹائل سیکٹر غیرملکی سرمایہ کاروں کی توجہ کا مرکز بن گیا۔ چینی سرمایہ کار پاکستان کی ایک بڑی ٹیکسٹائل کمپنی کے 52فیصد (اکثریتی) حصص کے لیے سرمایہ کاری کررہے ہیں۔ * اسٹیٹ بینک آف پاکستان کی دوسری سہ ماہی رپورٹ کے مطابق چینی سرمایہ کار پاکستان میں نٹ ویئر اور ریڈی میڈ گارمنٹس بنانے والی بڑی کمپنی میں سرمایہ کاری کے پراسیس میں ہیں۔ یہ کمپنی دنیا کی معروف برانڈز اور کسٹمرز رینج تیار کرتی ہے جن میں Addidas، پوما، لیوائز، ڈوکرز اور ریبوک جیسے معروف بین الاقوامی برانڈز شامل ہیں۔ اسٹیٹ بینک کے مطابق جی ایس پی پلس کی سہولت سے بھرپور استفادہ کرنے کے لیے پاکستانی ٹیکسٹائل کمپنیاں اپنی استعداد میں تیزی سے اضافہ کررہی ہیں جس کے لیے بینکنگ سیکٹر سے فکسڈ انویسٹمنٹ قرضے لینے کے رجحان میں اضافہ ہورہا ہے۔ پاکستان کے ٹیکسٹائل سیکٹر کے لیے جی ایس پی کے حوالے سے بہترین مواقع دیکھتے ہوئے غیرملکی سرمایہ کار بھی پاکستان کے ٹیکسٹائل سیکٹر میں سرمایہ کاری میں دلچسی لے رہے ہیں جن میں چین سرفہرست ہے۔ * رپورٹ کے مطابق پاکستان جی ایس پی پلس سے 0.5 سے ایک ارب ڈالر سالانہ تک کا فائدہ اٹھاسکتا ہے تاہم پاکستان کو اندرونی و بیرونی چیلنجز کا سامنا ہے اندرونی سطح پر بلند پیداواری لاگت، پیداوار میں کمی، امن و امان کے مسائل، خام مال کی قیمتوں میں اتارچڑہائو اور مطلوبہ معیار کے حصول جیسے چیلنجز شامل ہیں بیرونی سطح پر یورپی یونین کی جانب سے اپنی صنعت کو تحفظ دینے کے اقدامات پاکستان کے لیے مشکلات کا سبب بن سکتے ہیں۔ * پاکستان سے رواں مالی سال کی پہلی ششماہی کے دوران ٹیکسٹائل برآمدات میں 8فیصد اضافہ ہوا ہے اور پہلی ششماہی کے دوران ٹیکسٹائل برآمدات 6.9ارب ڈالر رہی ہیں ٹیکسٹائل سیکٹر کی برآمدات میں لو اور ہائی ویلیو ایڈڈ کٹیگریز دونوں کی برآمدات میں اضافہ ہوا ہے۔ پاکستان سے کاٹن یارن کی ایکسپورٹ تیزی سے بڑھ رہی ہے جس کی اہم وجہ چین کی امپورٹ پالیسی میں تبدیلی ہے چین اب خام کپاس کے بجائے کاٹن یارن کی درآمد کو ترجیح دے رہا ہے چھ ماہ کے دوران کاٹن یارن کی برآمدات میں 18.5فیصد * * اضافہ ہوا ہے۔ * پاکستان میں یونیسیف کے نمائندے ڈین روہرمن نے کہا کہ پیدائشی
اندراج بچوں کے حقوق کو یقینی بنانے میں اہم کردار ادا کرتا ہے جس میں صحت، تعلیم اور دیگر خدمات شامل ہیں۔بین الاقوامی تجرنے سے ثابت ہوا ہے کہ جدید ترین ٹیکنالوجی کے استعمال کے ذریعے بنیادی سماجی خدمات اور پیدائشی اندراج کو بہتر بنایا جا سکتا ہے۔انہوں نے امید ظاہر کی کہ مقامی حکومت، ٹیلی نار اور یونیسیف مل جل کر پاکستان میں پیدائشی اندراج کی شرح کو بہتر بنائیں گے۔نادرا اور یونین کونسلز جیسے حکومتی ادارے اس عمل کو موثر بنانے میں اہم کردار ادا کریں گے۔ اس پراجیکٹ میں پیدائشی اندراج کا موبائل رپورٹنگ سسٹم، ویب سائٹ پر مشتمل معلوماتی پورٹل، مرکزی ہیلپ لائن، ایس ایم ایس کے ذریعے درخواستوں کی وصولی، عوامی سہولت کے پیغامات اور ایم ہیلتھ سروسز کی فراہمی بھی شامل ہے۔
Exercise is good for the brain as well as the heart
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Related Stories * Know your 'true' heart age for risk
Aerobic exercise in your 20s may protect the brain in middle age, according to a US study.
Activities that maintain cardio fitness - such as running, swimming and cycling - led to better thinking skills and memory 20 years on.
Scientists say the research, reported in Neurology, adds to evidence the brain benefits from good heart health. *