The Billboard 200 for the 7/31/2010 issue

July 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Now Last Weeks Peak

1 1 4 1 Recovery – Eminem (/IGA)

2 1 2 Korn III: Remember Who You Are – Korn ()

3 2 5 1 Thank Me Later – Drake (/UMRG)

4 1 4 Born Again – newsboys ()

5 5 17 1 My World 2.0 – Justin Bieber (/IDJMG)

6 1 6 Symphonicities – Sting (/Universal Classics Group)

7 1 7 Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury – Jerrod Niemann (/SMN)

8 1 8 Stampede – HellYeah (/Sony Music)

9 1 9 MAYA – M.I.A. (/IGA)

10 4 6 2 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse – Soundtrack (/AG)

11 9 25 1 Need You Now – Lady Antebellum ()

12 6 5 4 NOW 34 – Various Artists (/Capitol)

13 8 90 2 The Fame – Lady Gaga (/IGA)

14 3 2 3 Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty – Big Boi (/IDJMG)

15 7 7 1 To The Sea – Jack Johnson (/UMRG)

16 1 16 Black & White – The Maine (/Warner Bros.)

17 15 87 9 The Foundation – Zac Brown Band (/AG)

18 10 2 10 Euphoria – Enrique Iglesias (/UMRG/UMLE)

19 20 5 2 Mojo – Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers (/Warner Bros.)

20 17 16 1 Raymond V Raymond – Usher (/JLG)

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Nikkei claws up as support holds; Softbank gains

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average reversed course to claw higher on Thursday after a key support level held, with short-covering emerging in the wake of 3 percent falls over the past two days as euphoria over China’s decision to make the yuan more flexible faded.

The benchmark started the day lower after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economic recovery is faltering, but then gained, with one market player saying European investors were likely buying domestic demand stocks to rebalance their portfolios.

The Fed scaled back its assessment of the pace of recovery and also issued a cautionary note about volatile financial markets in light of Europe’s debt woes, while sales of new U.S. homes fell to their lowest ever in May. [ID:nN22150078] [ID:nN23230291]

“The market is getting a bit of a lift from gains in the rest of Asia, and the overall mood isn’t bad even though the dollar is below 90 yen,” said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.

“But for the Nikkei to really move higher we need both the euro and the dollar to gain.”

In choppy trade, the benchmark Nikkei .N225 inched up 0.5 percent to 9,974.68, while the broader Topix rose 0.4 percent to 883.94.

Market players say support looks likely to remain firm around 9,800, the level of the Nikkei’s 25-day moving average, even though it failed to hold above a chart retracement on Tuesday, with further support near a six-month low hit earlier this month around the 9,400 level.

Osakabe noted that a gap opened from just under 10,000 to 10,100 on Tuesday and that the Nikkei is likely to rise to fill this, but that further gains will be difficult and the benchmark is likely to move in a broad range over the long term.

On Thursday, orders for Japanese stocks placed through 10 foreign securities houses before the start of trade showed net selling for a third straight day.

But Ministry of Finance data showed overseas investors bought a net 2 billion yen ($22.2 million) of Japanese stocks in the June 13-19 week, in a sign that foreigners may be tiptoeing back into the market.

Prior to last week, foreign investors were net sellers for six straight weeks, dumping a net 1.92 trillion yen of Japanese stocks. But so far this year, they are still net buyers, picking up 832.5 billion yen worth.

Shares of Softbank (9984.T) rose 2.3 percent to 2,490 yen as Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) iPhone 4 made its global debut, with fans pouring into Softbank outlets and Apple’s flagship Japan store. Softbank is the exclusive iPhone operator in Japan. [ID:nTOE65M07U] (Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

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European shares snap 9-day rally; yuan boost fades

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 22 (Reuters) – European shares slipped in early trade on Tuesday after strong gains over the past nine sessions, with euphoria over China’s currency move dissipated and prompted equity investors to take profits from seven-week highs.

Stocks | Global Markets

At 0705 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 1,049.05 points after hitting its highest closing since early May on Monday following an announcement by China’s central bank over the weekend that it would allow more flexibility for the currency.

“It was good for one day, but now we are back to business. The market is going to focus again on macro-economic numbers,” said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities.

“People gave much more weight to the currency move than it deserved. Of course trade fictions have been avoided for the moment, but there are still some people in the U.S. who are not very pleased with China.”

Financial stocks were among the top losers, with STOXX Europe 600 banking index .SX7P falling 1.2 percent. Barclays (BARC.L), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) fell 1.6 to 2.8 percent. (Reporting by Atul Prakash)

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Nikkei slips off 1-month highs on profit-taking

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average slipped 1.2 percent on Tuesday as profit-taking emerged after a bounce to a one-month high the day before and foreign investors turned sellers.

Japan

Analysts said the market took a breather after recent rises, including last week’s gain of 3 percent, the best weekly performance in three months, as well as Monday’s surge, but that its essential upward trend looked unchanged.

The benchmark fell below a chart retracement level with euphoria over the yuan’s rise ebbing, but many saw support intact at around 9,800, the Nikkei’s 25-day moving average.

“Sentiment overall appears to have turned rather positive, now that it appears the euro may have bottomed out, and this can lead the market suddenly and sharply higher, the way we saw yesterday on the yuan news,” said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Okasan Securities.

In light trade, the benchmark Nikkei .N225 fell 125.12 points to 10,112.89, below a 38.2 percent retracement at 10,155 of the fall from its April high of 11,408.17 to its June low of 9,378.23.

The broader Topix shed 0.9 percent to 894.56.

Some analysts said that the Nikkei needed to consolidate above 10,200, which falls a bit below the level of its 50-week moving average, to resume rising again.

“Breaking above this is extremely important, but we need a bit more market energy and volume to do so,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.

“But today we’re seeing a lot of foreign selling. There’s no follow-through from yesterday.”

European investors were short-covering Nikkei futures on Monday, lifting the cash market as well, analysts said.

The yuan spot exchange rate on Monday rose to its highest since July 2005, sending Asian stocks to a five-week high on hopes for greater Chinese buying power.

But the euphoria faded later in the day, with Wall Street dipping, leaving the Nikkei — which market players said had risen mainly on short-covering in thin volume — vulnerable.

On Tuesday, China’s central bank set the yuan’s daily mid-point at the highest level since its revaluation in July 2005. But the Nikkei shrugged it off.

The Nikkei’s relative strength index (RSI) slipped to 54 after rising close to 60 on Monday, but its MACD continued to climb and few in the market thought any serious falls were in the offing.

“The market was boosted mostly by short-squeezing yesterday, with only some investors who grew optimistic about China’s economic outlook taking long positions,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

“More gains now look fairly limited, also due to worries about the euro zone after news about BNP Paribas and Spanish banks.”

Ratings agency Fitch on Monday cut French bank BNP Paribas’ long-term international rating to AA- from AA, citing reliance on capital markets for a large part of its profits and a deterioration of asset quality in 2009.

Standard and Poor’s Rating Services also said on Monday it had raised its estimates for loan losses for Spain’s banking sector between 2009 and 2011 due to the faster depreciation of real estate assets on banks’ books.

EXPORTERS WEIGH

Shares of exporters ran out of steam and slid after helping lift the Nikkei on Monday.

Canon Inc (7751.T) fell 2.7 percent to 3,780 yen and Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T) dropped 3.6 percent to 5,620 yen. TDK Corp (6762.T) lost 2.3 percent to 5,430 yen.

Denso Corp (6902.T), a car parts maker affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), declined 1.8 percent to 2,622 yen after saying its joint venture plant in Guangzhou, China has halted production since Monday morning due to a labor strike.

The plant, Denso (Guangzhou Nansha) Co Ltd, has also halted supply of its fuel injection equipment and other products to Toyota, Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and other carmaker clients since Monday, Denso spokeswoman Yoko Suga said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), Asia’s biggest electric power company, edged up 0.1 percent to 2,431 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that it is considering investing “tens of billions of yen” in a coal-fired power plant planned by Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp (Petro Vietnam). The plant is expected to start operations in the mid-2010s.

Trade was thin on the Tokyo exchange’s first section, with 1.7 billion shares changing hands, though that was up from last week’s four-month low just below 1.5 billion.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones, 987 to 529. (Editing by Joseph Radford)

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Nikkei slips off 1-mth highs on profit-taking

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TOKYO, June 22 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei average slipped 1.2 percent on Tuesday as profit-taking emerged after a bounce to a one-month high the day before and foreign investors turned sellers.

Analysts said the market took a breather after recent rises, including last week’s gain of 3 percent, the best weekly performance in three months, as well as Monday’s surge, but that its essential upward trend looked unchanged.

The benchmark fell below a chart retracement level with euphoria over the yuan’s rise ebbing, but many saw support intact at around 9,800, the Nikkei’s 25-day moving average.

“Sentiment overall appears to have turned rather positive, now that it appears the euro may have bottomed out, and this can lead the market suddenly and sharply higher, the way we saw yesterday on the yuan news,” said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a strategist at Okasan Securities.

In light trade, the benchmark Nikkei .N225 fell 125.12 points to 10,112.89, below a 38.2 percent retracement at 10,155 of the fall from its April high of 11,408.17 to its June low of 9,378.23.

The broader Topix shed 0.9 percent to 894.56.

Some analysts said that the Nikkei needed to consolidate above 10,200, which falls a bit below the level of its 50-week moving average, to resume rising again.

“Breaking above this is extremely important, but we need a bit more market energy and volume to do so,” said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.

“But today we’re seeing a lot of foreign selling. There’s no follow-through from yesterday.”

European investors were short-covering Nikkei futures on Monday, lifting the cash market as well, analysts said.

The yuan spot exchange rate on Monday rose to its highest since July 2005, sending Asian stocks to a five-week high on hopes for greater Chinese buying power.

But the euphoria faded later in the day, with Wall Street dipping, leaving the Nikkei — which market players said had risen mainly on short-covering in thin volume — vulnerable.

On Tuesday, China’s central bank set the yuan’s daily mid-point CNY=SAEC at the highest level since its revaluation in July 2005 [ID:nECB000553]. But the Nikkei shrugged it off.

The Nikkei’s relative strength index (RSI) slipped to 54 after rising close to 60 on Monday, but its MACD continued to climb and few in the market thought any serious falls were in the offing.

“The market was boosted mostly by short-squeezing yesterday, with only some investors who grew optimistic about China’s economic outlook taking long positions,” said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

“More gains now look fairly limited, also due to worries about the the euro zone after news about BNP Paribas and Spanish banks.”

Ratings agency Fitch on Monday cut French bank BNP Paribas’ long-term international rating to AA- from AA, citing reliance on capital markets for a large part of its profits and a deterioration of asset quality in 2009. [ID:nN21250262]

Standard and Poor’s Rating Services also said on Monday it had raised its estimates for loan losses for Spain’s banking sector between 2009 and 2011 due to the faster depreciation of real estate assets on banks’ books. [ID:nLDE65K1TE]

EXPORTERS WEIGH

Shares of exporters ran out of steam and slid after helping lift the Nikkei on Monday.

Canon Inc (7751.T) fell 2.7 percent to 3,780 yen and Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T) dropped 3.6 percent to 5,620 yen. TDK Corp (6762.T) lost 2.3 percent to 5,430 yen.

Denso Corp (6902.T), a car parts maker affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), declined 1.8 percent to 2,622 yen after saying its joint venture plant in Guangzhou, China has halted production since Monday morning due to a labour strike.

The plant, Denso (Guangzhou Nansha) Co Ltd, has also halted supply of its fuel injection equipment and other products to Toyota, Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and other carmaker clients since Monday, Denso spokeswoman Yoko Suga said. [ID:nTFA006678]

Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), Asia’s biggest electric power company, edged up 0.1 percent to 2,431 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that it is considering investing “tens of billions of yen” in a coal-fired power plant planned by Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp (Petro Vietnam). The plant is expected to start operations in the mid-2010s. [ID:nSGE65K0JA]

Trade was thin on the Tokyo exchange’s first section, with 1.7 billion shares changing hands, though that was up from last week’s four-month low just below 1.5 billion.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones, 987 to 529. (Editing by Joseph Radford)

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Bharatiya Janata Party criticises austerity drive

September 17, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi/Patna, Sept 16 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised the austerity measures mooted by the Central Government in view of the economic downturn and drought-like situation prevailing in the country.

Addressing the media persons here on Tuesday, spokesperson of the BJP, Rajeev Pratap Rudy, said the austerity drive would not impress the masses.

He said that the government has not cared to check the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.

“The euphoria of austerity is a suspect. The futile chest beating will not impress a common man who is faced with high prices for food and other essential commodities,” said Rudy.

The BJP was also critical of journeys undertaken by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s travel by train to Punjab on Tuesday.

“We want the Congress family would undertake a journey on Shatabdi in future also. We welcome it. Sonia Gandhi undertook a journey in economy class and we welcome it. But somewhere this has to be studied as to what is the cost that the country is paying for her austerity,” added Rudy.

Meanwhile in Patna, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the Central Ministers ought to travel by the three-tier sleeper class.

“Journeys should be undertaken in a three-tier bogie of a train, which would lay an impact on the masses that our leaders are following the path of Mahatma Gandhi. They would see that the Congress is taking the austerity drive to meet the financial crisis. This is my advice,” said Lalu. (ANI)

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Gujarat bypolls: BJP wins five, Congress bags two

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Gandhinagar, Sep 14 (ANI): Coming out of its poor show in the recent Lok Sabha and local body elections in Gujarat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won five assembly seats out of seven constituencies.

The by election to the seven assembly seats was held on September 10nd the counting was held on Monday.

The BJP won Dehgam, Sami, Jasdan, Chotila and Danta, while congress won Dhoraji and Kodinar.

The Congress clinched Kodinar from the BJP, while the later snatched the Jasdan seat form Congress, in which it never lost since independence.

With this win, the ruling BJP’s strength in the 182-member Assembly goes up to 122 while the Congress reached 54, others and independents account for six.

The poll results have sent the Gujarat unit of the BJP into a state of euphoria. (ANI)

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Kelly Osbourne blames her DNA for drug addiction

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): ‘Dancing with the Stars’ contestant Kelly Osbourne has blamed her genes for her drug addiction.

Kelly’s father, rockstar Ozzy Osbourne, has had a long struggle with drugs, which makes her believe her DNA was pre-programmed to make her an addict.

Contactmusic quoted Kelly as telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “I don’t have any shadow of a doubt that addiction is a disease. It is in your genes.

“The only people in my family who don’t have that gene are my mother and my sister Amy.

“I consider myself lucky that I saw both sides of it. Drugs stop you from screaming on the outside, but you are still screaming on the inside.

“I was addicted by 16. Drugs stopped me from feeling a certain way. Some people experience euphoria but I never felt that. They numbed me and gave me confidence.

It was like a magic medicine.”

The 24-year-old Kelly has been in rehab four times and is presently drug free. (ANI)

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Brain circuit that controls binge eating uncovered

September 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, September 9 (ANI): Conducting an animal study, researchers at the University of Missouri have gained significant insights into the brain circuit that controls binge eating.

The researchers found that deactivating the basolateral amygdala, a brain region involved in regulating emotion, specifically blocked consumption of a fatty diet in a rat.

However, they were surprised to see that deactivating the same brain region did not stop the rat from wanting to look for the food repeatedly.

“It appears that two different brain circuits control the motivation to seek and consume,” said Matthew Will, assistant professor of psychological sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science and investigator in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.

“Understanding how this circuit in the brain works may provide insight into the exact networks and chemicals in our brain that determine the factors influencing our feeding habits,” he added.

Will and his colleagues point out that the release of opioids, pleasure chemicals that can lead to euphoria, into the brain produces binge eating in non-hungry rats.

Their study has shown that deactivating the basolateral amygdala blocks this type of binge eating.

“A key to curbing the obesity epidemic in America is controlling the desire to binge eat. Humans have more programming to start and continue eating than to stop eating, especially when they have a bowl of ice cream in front of them. Most of us would finish it even if we weren’t hungry,” Will said.

He said that the fact that deactivating basolateral amygdala had no effect on feeding in rats that were simply deprived of food for 24 hours suggested that this brain region is specifically involved in the overconsumption of food based on its palatability or pleasure driven by opioids, rather than the level of hunger.

“The finding that the basolateral amygdala only appears involved in the opioid produced consumption was the most surprising part of the study. Normally, if a rat stops eating, they will go lay down and take it easy. In this case, they showed all signs of still wanting to eat, but didn’t,” Will said.

A research article describing the study was published in August in Behavioral Neuroscience. (ANI)

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ISRO formally calls off India’s first moon mission

September 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Panaji. Aug 31 (ANI): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has formally called off Chandrayaan-1, India’s first moon mission, after it lost contact with the craft. ink with the Chandrayaan-1 craft broke down early on Saturday.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said, “The net result is that the lunar has lost radio contact with the craft and we are not receiving any signal. So we had to terminate the mission with this sequence…we made all attempts but our attempts were not succeed.”

Nair claimed that though the moon mission terminated much before its two-year lifetime it was a great success.

“About 95 percent of the objectives of the scientific experiments have been completed and we have more than 70,000 images of the moon, especially the most critical regions are in our custody,” he added.

The 79-million dollar mission was launched amid national euphoria last October, putting India in the Asian space race alongside China.

A probe vehicle landed on the moon a month later and sent back images of the lunar surface.

But a critical sensor in the main craft, orbiting the moon, malfunctioned in July, raising fears that the two-year mission might have to be curtailed.

One of the mission’s main aims was to look for Helium 3, an isotope which is very rare on earth but could be an energy source in the future in nuclear fusion.

ISRO has plans to send a manned mission to space in four years’ time and eventually on to Mars. (ANI)

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Sober Flintoff savoured Ashes glory with a tear and Red Bull cans

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug 25 (ANI): Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff stunned England fans when he emerged from boozy celebrations sober, and said how the emotion of the day moved him to tears.

Flintoff clutched cans of Red Bull as he modestly denied he was one of the all-time greats.

Flintoff, who quit Test cricket because of a knee injury, said: “Look at the greats of our game. Garry Sobers, Ian Botham, Ricky Ponting have achieved greatness over a long period of time. I’ve done it occasionally. I’m happy and proud but as for greatness? Nah.”

Flintoff recalled the atmosphere in the dressing room after England wrapped up a 2-1 series win at the Oval.

“There was the euphoria of an Ashes win and the realisation that I will never wear the whites for England again. I sat in my corner, the place I always sit at the Oval, while the lads were celebrating and jumping around,” The Sun quoted him, as saying.

“There was a tear in my eye. Then I saw a TV camera and I thought, ‘Nobody is going to see me crying’. So I nipped into the toilet and gave myself a minute to pull myself together – then got on with celebrating,” he said.

Flintoff, 31, said: “I remember 2005 – contrary to popular belief! I lived for the moment then and celebrated hard. But this time it was something I savoured.”

According to the paper, first the families joined players, including skipper Andrew Strauss, in the dressing room.

There were drinks with the defeated Australians before England’s stars moved on to a 10,000 pounds champagne party in a plush hotel at London’s Tower Hill – still in their grass-stained kits.

Flintoff’s parents, wife Rachael and kids Holly, five, Corey, three, and Rocky, one, joined him. He said: “It was very different but in a lot of ways far more enjoyable.”

Two hours later, at 1am, Flintoff went to his room saying: “I’m too old and too p****d to party.” (ANI)

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Flintoff warns team-mates to avoid milking 2005 Ashes victory

June 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, June 30 (ANI): All rounder Andrew Flintoff has warned his England team-mates to avoid basking in the memory of their 2005 Ashes triumph.

Flintoff, fit again after a knee operation, insists England must look forward as they bid to beat the Australians this summer.

Freddie famously led the alcohol-fuelled celebrations on the open-topped bus parade around London four years ago, but a hangover from the 2005 Ashes victory has been blamed partly for England’s indifferent form in Test cricket.

England has won just five of their 14 series since the 2005 Ashes. Flintoff, 31, was captain when England were thumped 5-0 in Australia in 2006-07.

As he prepared for England’s three-day warm-up against Warwickshire tomorrow, he said: “That series was the low point for me. I experienced the euphoria of 2005 and the disappointment of 2006-07 and that was the stronger emotion of the two.”

“But it is behind us, we have a new team. Rather than dining out on 2005 or dwelling on 2006-07, it is all about what happens in the next six weeks. I’ve put a lot of work into getting this far. I’m just hoping I can perform,” The Sun quoted him, as saying.

Commenting on Michael Vaughan’s, Flintoff said: “He was unflappable. He was poker-faced whether we were 500-0 or 90-9. He gave us confidence.” (ANI)

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Euphoria over MTN-Bharti transaction wanes in South Africa

May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Johannesburg, May 27 (IANS) Analysts here, who were initially enthusiastic over the transaction between mobile phone giants Bharti Airtel of India and South Africa’s MTN, have turned cautious after share prices of both companies dropped Wednesday.

MTN fell 4.46 percent and Bharti went down for the second consecutive day May 26, following an announcement Monday by the two that they were in discussions for a cross-ownership deal that could see the biggest mobile giant straddling Africa, India and the Middle East.

Analysts Tuesday were trying to figure out whether the transaction presented any value for MTN shareholders, the Afrikaans daily Beeld reported.

According to Richard Hurst, head of Africa Communications at the Industrial Development Corp, the transaction could lead to long-term higher earnings for MTN shareholders.

“But in the short term, it probably does not look as good as it should be,” Hurst told Beeld.

Another unnamed analyst expressly called for MTN and Bharti to review the conditions of the transaction to obviate concerns over the insecurity stemming from the cross-shareholding agreement that has been proposed.

MTN will get a 25 percent stake in Bharti for $2.9 billion and through issuing new shares equal to 25 percent of its share capital.

Bharti proposes to buy 36 percent of the South African company by offering shareholders half a Bharti share and 86 rands (Rs.497) for each MTN share, a premium of about 35 percent on MTN’s closing price May 22 of 119 rands (Rs.687).

But analysts said the value of MTN shares could be diluted through issuing new shares.

They also expressed concern that if the Bharti scrip continues falling, the offer to MTN shareholders will also decrease.

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Secrets of unconditional love unraveled

April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 12 (ANI): The reason why you immeasurably care for a person without any thought of reward is one of science’s biggest mystery. Now, researchers at Montreal University claim that they have unravelled the secret behind unconditional love.

The research team, led by Professor Mario Beauregard, of Montreal University’s centre for research into neurophysiology and cognition, found that the emotion emerges from a complex interplay between seven separate areas of the brain.

Such brain activity has only limited overlap with the cerebral impulses seen in romantic or sexual love, suggesting it should be seen as an entirely separate emotion.

“Unconditional love, extended to others without exception, is considered to be one of the highest expressions of spirituality. However, nothing has been known regarding its neural underpinnings until now,” The Times quoted Mario, as saying.
To reach the conclusion, the volunteers were recruited on the basis that they had a proven ability to feel strong unconditional love: low-paid assistants looking after people with learning difficulties.

In the study, Mario asked them to evoke feelings of unconditional love and hold them in their minds while they had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.

Of the seven brain areas that became active, three were similar to those of romantic love. The others were different, suggesting a separate kind of love.

The findings showed that some of the areas activated when experiencing unconditional love were also involved in releasing dopamine – a chemical deeply involved in sensing pleasure, with rising levels strongly linked to feelings of reward and even euphoria.

In a research paper in an academic journal, Mario said: “The rewarding nature of unconditional love facilitates the creation of strong emotional links. Such robust bonds may critically contribute to the survival of the human species.” (ANI)

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Brit woman claims she had four orgasms giving birth!

April 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 10 (ANI): Childbirth is mostly accompanied by pain and screaming, but for mum-of-nine Linda Hinchcliffe its hotter than sex, who reckons that she experienced an orgasm during four deliveries.

The 42-year-old IT tutor endured two difficult caesarian deliveries before discovering that childbirth could even be a turn-on.

“They were slow rolling climaxes that lasted about five minutes each. The orgasms I had through birth were about ten times better than those I’ve had through intercourse,” The Sun quoted her as saying.

She added: “They’re longer and deeper and flood your whole body with warmth. I can honestly say that I loved all six of my natural births.”

When Linda became pregnant after her second marriage, she wanted to experience a natural birth.

Then, she went to hunt for a specialist who would help her have the kind of birth she wanted and was eventually referred to childbirth expert and women’s rights campaigner Professor Wendy Savage who was based at the Royal London Hospital.

Although Linda was prepared to feel the usual difficult labour pains during her first natural birth at the hospital, but was surprised when she actually started to enjoy the experience.

She says: “It felt incredible. I was completely relaxed, my husband was there and during the second stage of birth I felt this rush of euphoria and a massive, amazing orgasm for several minutes.

“That was followed by a gentle, drifting sensation as I came back down to earth.

“I’d never had a natural birth before but I thought: ‘This isn’t what other women talk about.’”

After two more caesarians, and another marriage, Linda delivered three babies naturally and claims that their births were the most pleasurable of all.

Later, she delivered another son, who is now 13 weeks old.

Linda said: “If it wasn’t for my age I would keep on having children. I absolutely love it, I would have one a year if I could.” (ANI)

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Astrologers banking on election euphoria

April 5, 2009 By Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI: When and where was it born? And who were the ‘parents’? If these details are available, well the astrologer is all ready to make a
prediction on the prospects of the political party.

Come elections and its boon time for astrologers with politicians of all lining up for guidance from the stars, to wash off evil influences etc, say astrologers.

“Elections give us good business as political parties come for consultations on party’s growth and winning chances. Usually party men ask about how to go for elections, what will be the future of their respective party, which candidate should be nominated from a particular constituency etc.” says M K Pandey, Manager in Hermit’s Hut of Vedic Astrology.

Political parties also consult on various areas like when to address political speech and an appropriate time to speak to the media, he says.

On what basis do they give recommendations to political parties? Pandey says, “We analyse the “Party Kundli” (date of party’s formation) and give recommendations accordingly.

“We read and analyse the “Party Kundli” and suggest recommendation, and even at times ask them to wear gemstones but only after its careful study,” adds Pandey.

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Olga Kurylenko reveals what it takes to be a Bond girl

March 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar 20 (ANI): Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko has revealed what it takes to become a Bond girl.

Kurylenko, 29, was one of the Bond girls in the 22nd James Bond movie ‘Quantum Of Solace’.

She has revealed that preparing for her role was not an easy task, as it involved a lot of courage and stamina.

“To be a Bond girl you need courage, charm, determination and feistiness,” the Mirror quoted her as saying.

“Outside of work, I’ve done nothing daring, though. I don’t even go on rollercoasters. In character, you have to work through the fear and the nausea,” she said.

The actress went on to talk about the simulated skydive training she went through, where she and co-star Daniel Craig had to freefall out of a disintegrating plane.

“It made me hurt in places I didn’t even know I had muscles,” she recalled of the tunnel training.

“But then I was doing it three times a week. By the end I was flying on my back and could do flips,” she said.

On sleeping with 007, Kurylenko said that it was good she did not have to sleep with him, or that she had to die either.

“I’m a different Bond girl for two reasons. I don’t die, and I don’t sleep with James. It is cool,” she stated.

As to sitting behind the wheel of an Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the actress said that it was all a matter of taking a deep breath.

“It’s about taking a deep breath and just getting going,” she said.

She also remembers performing big stunts, and her euphoria at doing them.

“I’d never do it in my own life, so I just think, ‘Hey, this is your chance, do it now’,” she said.

“Every night Daniel Craig was in the gym and I was amazed by his hard work. So I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to do more. I’m just going kill myself in the gym’. By the end of the film I was ripped,” she recalled.

Even though she has had to work hard for her role, Kurylenko is looking forward to doing the 23rd Bond film.

“It won’t be for me to decide, but I’d go for it because last year was so much fun. Why would I refuse the fun again?” she added. (ANI)

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Kiwis hope to avoid a clean sweep in ODIs

March 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Auckland (New Zealand), Mar.13 (ANI): The New Zealand cricket team will focus on avoiding a clean sweep against their Indian counterparts on Saturday, when they meet up for the fifth and final one-day international here.

New Zealand’s euphoria after their two Twenty20 victories against India has been punctured. The visitors have blasted the Kiwis into submission in the four ODIs played so far.

New Zealand’s bowlers have struggled to find the right lengths to contain India’s intimidating top order, let alone pick wickets. The quality of the pitches and sizes of the grounds have also played into India’s hands and that has deprived the series of any kind of competition.

India will have a few selection headaches, but not much to worry about. They may want to shuffle the batting order a bit to give an opportunity to batsmen who haven’t had much to do so far.

For New Zealand, their sole focus will be to win and for that to happen, the middle order will have to live up to its potential.

New Zealand will need to summon their pride collectively to give India a message i.e. that the upcoming Test series is not going to be a walkover like the one-day internationals. (ANI)

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Bollywood’s latest flick ‘Delhi 6′ gets star studded premiere in Delhi

February 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Feb 20 (ANI): Loud cheering and whistling echoed in the air as over a hundred eager fans stood outside a movie theatre last evening to catch a glimpse of Bollywood glitterati that descended upon New Delhi for the premiere of ‘Delhi 6′.

The actors, including the cast and crew of the film, caused much euphoria and frenzy amongst the star stuck Delhiites.

Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who shot to fame with his phenomenal ‘Rang De Basanti’, ‘Delhi 6′ captures life in the narrow by-lanes of New Delhi.

The film, starring Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor, is Mehra’s third directorial venture after ‘Aks’ and ‘Rang De Basanti’.iding high on the success of ‘Rang De Basanti’, Mehra said expectations were equally high for ‘Delhi 6′.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed. Expectations are high,” he said.

The title of the film ‘Delhi 6′, is inspired by the postal code of an area in Delhi where the story is based. This area houses the famous Chandni Chowk and the Mughal era monuments of Jama Masjid and Red Fort.

Betraying nerves on the first public screening of the film, Sonam Kapoor, one of the lead actors, said, “I’m nervous with anticipation.”

The story revolves around Roshan who comes back from New York to India with his ailing grandmother. He doesn’t know that this quick trip will turn into the longest journey of his life.

Citing similarities between his screen role and his real life persona, Abhishek said, “I’m so excited. I hope audience love the film. I found a lot of similarities and that’s why I was really keen to do the film.”

The story of ‘Delhi-6′ is placed against the backdrop of the ancient walled city of Delhi. The movie released today across the country. (ANI)

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Falling in love triggers chemical activity in the body

February 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Feb 14 (ANI): When struck by cupid’s arrow our cheeks flush, palms sweat and hearts start racing, and scientists have now found the reason behind all these signs of love-chemical reactions in the body.

Loyola University Health System love guru Domeena Renshaw says that falling in love causes the body to release some chemicals that trigger specific physical reactions.

“Falling in love causes our body to release a flood of feel-good chemicals that trigger specific physical reactions. This internal elixir of love is responsible for making our cheeks flush, our palms sweat and our hearts race,” said Dr. Domeena Renshaw, author of Seven Weeks to Better Sex.

When two people fall in love, levels of substances, which include dopamine, adrenaline and norepinephrine, increase.

Dopamine creates feelings of euphoria while adrenaline and norepinephrine are responsible for the pitter patter of the heart, restlessness and overall preoccupation that go along with experiencing love.

MRI scans revealed that love lights up the pleasure centre of the brain.

When one falls in love, blood flow increases in this area, which is the same part of the brain responsible for drug addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

“Love lowers serotonin levels, which is common in people with obsessive compulsive disorders. This may explain why we concentrate on little other than our partner during the early stages of a relationship,” said Renshaw.

Renshaw has warned that the physical responses to love may work to our disadvantage.

“The phrase ‘love is blind’ is a valid notion, because we tend to idealize our partner and see only things that we want to see in the early stages of the relationship. Outsiders have a much more objective and rational perspective on the partnership than the two people involved do,” said Renshaw.

There are three phases of love, which include lust, attraction and attachment.

Lust is a hormone-driven phase where we experience desire.

During the attraction phase, blood flow to the pleasure centre of the brain happens, when we feel an overwhelming fixation with our partner.

This behaviour fades during the attachment phase, when the body develops a tolerance to the pleasure stimulants.

Endorphins and hormones vasopressin and oxytocin also flood the body at this point creating an overall sense of well-being and security that is conducive to a lasting relationship. (ANI)

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