India Ink: Newswallah: Long Reads Edition

As pilgrims flock to the Maha Kumbh, a mass gathering in which Hindus travel to bathe in the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, Soma Basu and Bharat Lal Seth examine the impact on the rivers and the surrounding areas. In their article in Down To Earth magazine, Ms. Basu points out that the large number of people drawn to the event help cause water pollution and demand a large number of resources...

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Meet the Man Who Designed BlackBerry’s New Phones

When BlackBerry set out to design the phones that would take the company into the next decade, it faced a big challenge. The flagship device of the new BlackBerry 10 platform needed to simultaneously satisfy what today’s customers want in a smartphone while at the same time stay true to the essence of BlackBerry — which, if the company’s market over the last few years is any indication, customers...

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Busy Philipps Feels No Pressure to Bounce Back After Baby

David Livingston/GettyBusy Philipps may be willing to dish out style advice to fellow expectant mamas — but she’s not about to start breaking out the postpartum weight loss lectures.Currently pregnant with her second child, the Cougar Town star admits that while her celebrity status opens her up for public scrutiny, she’s not planning a big bounceback after baby.“Like most things in this business,...

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New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out...

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Performing well at this decathlon is the smart thing to do

A triumphal march blared and the crowd roared Saturday afternoon as hundreds of competitors filed into the massive gymnasium...

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India Ink: Selling ‘Midnight’s Children’ in India

“Am I allowed to mention the Rushdie word?” quipped the historian and author Tom Holland at the recently concluded Jaipur Literature Festival. Mr. Holland was speaking of Salman Rushdie’s 1981 novel, “Midnight’s Children,” a book he called a contemporary classic.His comment alluded to the political baggage attached to Mr. Rushdie in India, the country of his birth, because of his novel “The Satanic...

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BlackBerry 10 installed base to reach 20 million in 2013, Windows Phone to reach 45 million

Despite showing clear promise and being a tremendous upgrade compared to earlier BlackBerry software, BlackBerry 10 didn’t receive the warmest welcome when it was unveiled earlier this week. At least one leading market research firm thinks BlackBerry (RIMM) has done enough to gain some good traction in 2013, however. ABI Research released new estimates this week projecting that the BlackBerry 10 installed...

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Jenna Miscavige Hill Pens Revealing Scientology Book

02/01/2013 at 08:00 PM EST Jenna Miscavige and her uncle David inset Michael Murphree; Inset: Polaris What was it like to grow up inside Sea Org, the Church of Scientology's most elite body? In her memoir Beyond Belief, excerpted exclusively below, Jenna Miscavige...

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Healthier schools: Goodbye candy and greasy snacks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Goodbye candy bars and sugary cookies. Hello baked chips and diet sodas.The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful, a change that would ban the sale of almost all candy, high-calorie sports drinks and greasy foods on campus.Under new rules the Department of Agriculture proposed Friday, school vending...

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AME church denies minister's plea

The judicial body of the African Methodist Episcopal church has denied the petition of the Rev. John J. Hunter, former leader...

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Fireworks Cause Deadly Highway Collapse in China

BEIJING (AP) — Fireworks for Lunar New Year celebrations exploded on a truck in central China, destroying part of an elevated highway Friday and sending vehicles plummeting 30 meters (about 100 feet) to the ground. State media had conflicting reports on casualties. The huge blast collapsed an 80-meter (80-yard) stretch of a major east-west highway in Mianchi county in Henan Province. It scattered...

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Sony ignites talk of PS4 unveil with Playstation meeting

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sony Corp will this month host its first major Playstation meeting in two years, sparking a flare-up in online speculation the Japanese consumer electronics giant is preparing to unveil the successor to its 70 million-selling PS3 games console.Sony declined to say whether it would release a new product at the meeting in New York on February 20. “We will be talking about the Playstation...

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Steven Tyler Auditions in Drag for American Idol

TV Watch American Idol By Steve Helling 01/31/2013 at 10:35 PM EST Steven Tyler sings before the AFC Championship NFL football game, Jan, 22, 2012 Elise Amendola/AP Former judge Steven Tyler made a surprise cameo on American Idol Thursday night – dressed as a woman....

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Oil company begins clearing Whittier nature preserve

The city of Whittier and a Santa Barbara oil company prompted outrage Thursday as they began clearing trees and brush from a...

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Israeli Airstrike in Syria Targets Arms Convoy, U.S. Says

Jim Hollander/European Pressphoto AgencyIn East Jerusalem, Israelis distributed gas masks on Wednesday as worries about security spread. More Photos »JERUSALEM — Israeli warplanes carried out a strike deep inside Syrian territory on Wednesday, American officials reported, saying they believed the target was a convoy carrying sophisticated antiaircraft weaponry on the outskirts of Damascus that was...

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Timeline: From RIM to BlackBerry, a company in transition

(Reuters) – Research In Motion Ltd has launched its new line of re-engineered BlackBerry smartphones, taking the wraps off the long-delayed devices at a series of events around the world on Wednesday.The company used the occasion to announce that it was changing its name to BlackBerry, hoping a new brand identity will polish its tarnished image and help give it a fresh start.The company, which has...

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American Idol Discovers Big Talent in Texas and California

TV Watch American Idol By Jamie Bufalino 01/30/2013 at 11:00 PM EST From left: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Ryan Seacrest, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban Michael Becker/FOX. It's the final week of American Idol's cross-country talent search. And as the judges head...

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Sex to burn calories? Authors expose obesity myths

Fact or fiction? Sex burns a lot of calories. Snacking or skipping breakfast is bad. School gym classes make a big difference in kids' weight.All are myths or at least presumptions that may not be true, say researchers who reviewed the science behind some widely held obesity beliefs and found it lacking.Their report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine says dogma and fallacies are detracting...

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Trial begins for Moreno Valley school board member Mike Rios

The young woman on the witness stand said Mike Rios approached her on the street with a school district business card and a...

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India Ink: India Ink Is Taking Your Questions for Thomas Friedman

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Thomas L. Friedman has been a regular visitor to India for a decade.During his travels here and in China, he developed his widely followed theory of the inevitability of globalization, and the need for businesses and individuals to adapt to the accompanying changes. In India, he met former Infosys chief executive Nandan Nilekani, who coined the phrase “The world is flat,”...

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Critical, long-overdue BlackBerry makeover arrives

TORONTO (AP) — BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. will kick off a critical, long-overdue makeover when chief executive Thorsten Heins shows off the first phone with the new BlackBerry 10 system in New York on Wednesday.Repeated delays have left the once-pioneering BlackBerry an afterthought in the shadow of Apple’s trend-setting iPhone and Google’s Android-driven devices. There has even been...

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Ashley Judd Splits from Husband Dario Franchitti

01/29/2013 at 08:05 PM EST Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti Robin Marchant/Wireimage Ashley Judd and Dario Franchitti are splitting after more than a decade of marriage."We have mutually decided to end our marriage. We'll always be family and continue to cherish...

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