Why Pregnant Women Should Consume Less Milk

We've known about the nutrient-richness of milk for long, especially as a primary source of nutrition for infants. It is a valuable source of calcium, vitamin D and protein.  In fact, USDA recommends pregnant women to consume at least three cups of milk or other dairy products every day. Previous studies have linked consumption of milk during pregnancy to taller, healthier children with better IQ. But, this latest study conducted at the University of Auckland reveals something rather surprising.
 
According to researchers in New Zealand, pregnant women who drink a lot of milk put their babies at risk of having an iron deficiency during an important phase of development. The study was published in the issue of Medical Journal.

Iron is essential for healthy brain development. A deficiency of iron in infants, especially when the brain is developing rapidly may affect its functions, behaviour and learning capabilities. "While milk is an important source of calcium, it is a poor source of iron. Milk is also quite filling and so can reduce the appetite for other foods that are better sources of iron," says paediatrician Cameron Grant at Starship Children's Hospital. 

For the study, researchers examined the umbilical cord blood samples taken from 131 children. It was found that 7 percent of New Zealand newborns were iron deficient and which shows that iron stores were lower in babies whose mothers consumed higher quantities of milk during pregnancy.

"Pregnant women with iron deficiency are more likely to go into premature labour or deliver a baby with low birth weight. They are also more likely to be iron deficient while they are breastfeeding. " Grant added.

Iron deficiency has become a common micronutrient deficiency worldwide, with pregnant women and children under five years of age being the most vulnerable. Researchers do not suggest that women should stop consuming milk but limit its intake and cosume more iron-rich foods along with Vitamin C that helps in the absorption of iron. Grant recommends that pregnant women who drink a lot of milk should also take iron supplements to prevent any deficiency that could affect the child's early development.

"An alternative would be to increase the nutrient content of milk consumed by mothers-to-be to keep both the mother and child healthy," he said. 

Inputs from IANS

Fasten Your Seatbelts. The Windowless Plane of the Future Will be a Mile-High Thrill

The future is here, and it is apparently a windowless plane which will give you what the Genie's magic carpet gave Aladdin. Alright, almost. UK-based company Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) is looking to design an airplane that will have no windows. Or walls. That's right. It will basically be you on your seat with your seat belt on, staring out into the vast blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. 

According to CPI, this futuristic-sounding aircraft in which you will have your co-passengers, the cabin crew, the stratosphere, and some very advanced technology at your fingertips for company, will be ready in about 10 years or so.   



The plane will have no cabin walls. Instead, there will be transparent hi-definition screens that'll display the outside view AND will be your guide for in-flight services. It will basically be your very own sci-fi movie moment. With a seat belt, of course. 



The company promises a panoramic view of the flitting clouds and the setting sun; you won't even be able to see the aircraft's wings or the pilot's cockpit. They also promise wider seats and personal OLED screens. 

Best of all, it will apparently be cheaper for the customers and manufacturers, more fuel efficient, and emit substantially less CO2. Cheap, slim, windowless and environment-friendly: it almost sounds too good to be true. Doesn't it? 

Would you sit in a windowless airplane?

isn't it 10 times more awesome
 

Motorola Droid Turbo Could be Announced on Tuesday; Price Leaked

Motorola Droid Turbo could be announced on Tuesday with Verizon's dedicated Droid Does website sporting a countdown with a tagline that says, "Droid launch set. All will be revealed." The timer is counting down to 12 noon IST on Tuesday with text "Droid launch date set. All will be revealed. Sign up for activation notification." on the page.

Further, a new leak tips the yet-to-be-announced Droid Turbo smartphone will go on sale starting Thursday. Additionally, a bunch of leaked images purportedly showing the retail packaging of the Droid Turbo has surfaced online alongside expected pricing of the handset.

According to Moto Firmware, the unannounced Motorola Droid Turbo handset is in stock with retail stores and will go on sale starting Thursday. @MotoFirmwaretweeted "The Droid Turbo will launch on October 30th per our source. Also retail stores already have them in stock. Thank you for the catch."

Motorola Droid Turbo smartphone is said to be priced at $599 (Rs. 36,650 approximately) for the unlocked model or $199 with a 2-year contract, as per Droid Life.

The tipster named Moto Firmware also posted a bunch of leaked images that showed the Droid Turbo will include Motorola's Turbo charger in the box. The leaked images also show that the handset will come with 4G LTE support and will sport dual-LED flash, as rumoured previously.

Rumoured specifications of the Motorola Droid Turbo handset include a 5.2-inch QHD (1440x2560 pixels) resolution display, a Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB inbuilt storage, 21-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash, 3900mAh battery, and Qi wireless charging compatibility with support for Motorola's Turbo Charger.

The Motorola Droid Turbo is also said to sport a body that can resist everyday spills and survive up to 20 minutes in a downpour. Other features like Moto Actions, Moto Display and Moto Connect are also tipped to be included in the new Droid smartphone. Besides 4G LTE, the Droid Turbo was previously also tipped to feature Bluetooth, NFC, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity options.

Don't Tell Your Son That "Boys Don't Cry," Tell Him This Instead

"Ladke nahi rote hain!" All too often, parents trot this hoary old chestnut, throwing the words "Are you a girl?" or "Don't behave like a girl" and "Boys don't cry!" at every sobbing male baby, child or young adult. Only the 'weaker sex' can cry, not boys and definitely not men, implies this desi admonition used by parents, grandparents, siblings and teachers to tell boys they are meant to be 'tough'. 

In this short film directed by Vinil Mathew for the #VogueEmpower #StartWithTheBoys campaign and featuring actress Madhuri Dixit, we're shown a peek at the various situations we force our future men into. However, the message the film carries isn't what you quite expect it to be. The lesson is not "don't tell boys not to cry" but "tell them, instead, not to make girls/others cry" - a commentary on the ugly truth of domestic violence that lurks, all too often, beneath the skin-deep facades of many relationships. 

Critics might accuse this short film of being one-sided - they could argue that women are sometimes violent as well. However, there's no ignoring the call for action that it puts forward - it is time to stop domestic violence

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Samsung Reports Lowest Quarterly Profit in 3 Years on Smartphone Woes

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd saw its July-September quarterly profit fall to the lowest level in more than three years, as a decline in earnings from its smartphone business set the South Korean giant on track for its worst year since 2011.

The global smartphone leader has lost market share in annual terms for the past two quarters, lagging behind Apple Inc in the premium market and overtaken by rivals likeLenovo Group Ltd and Xiaomi Inc at the bottom end.

Samsung on Thursday said its third-quarter operating profit fell by an annual 60.1 percent to 4.1 trillion won ($3.90 billion), matching its guidance issued earlier this month and marking the weakest result since the second quarter of 2011.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Samsung said it "cautiously expects an earnings increase, driven by strong seasonal demand for TVs and continued growth momentum for the memory business".

However it said the mobile division's outlook remained uncertain.

Analysts expect Samsung to record its weakest annual operating profit in three years despite the launch of new gadgets like the Galaxy Note 4 phablet.

(Also see: Samsung Vows Changes After Mobile Profit Plunges)

A mean forecast from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 41 analysts tips 2014 profit at 26.4 trillion won, down from last year's record 36.8 trillion won.

Profit for the mobile division fell to 1.75 trillion won in the third quarter from 6.70 trillion won a year ago, its worst performance since the second quarter of 2011.

Samsung spent most of the quarter without launching a new flagship device and continued to struggle in the mid-to-low tier markets.

While the Galaxy Note 4 launch in September and the expected release of new products in the low end of the market during the October-December quarter are seen lifting smartphone sales slightly, analysts say the days of record mobile profits for Samsung are over.

The firm will likely have to sacrifice margins to ensure it does not lose more market share. Cheaper phones are also expected to drive global smartphone market growth in coming years, meaning a general trend of lower average selling prices.

Samsung's chips division offered support, recording a 2.26 trillion operating profit for the July-September quarter to mark the highest earnings since the third quarter of 2010.

The flat-screen panels business ran a 60 billion won profit during the July-September period, compared with a 980 billion won profit a year earlier.

Comparison: Renault Duster AWD vs 2015 Mahindra Scorpio

SUVs have generated a lot of interest amongst buyers in India recently. The segment has been growing at a rapid pace and this has triggered the interest of the car manufacturers. No wonder we see a whole bunch of cars in this segment - the Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano, Tata Safari Storme and the Mahindra XUV and Scorpio.

Car makers though want to take the experience of driving an SUV to a whole different level and that's when the 4x4 variants come into to the picture and so we look at the two latest cars which have made things exciting. We do a specification comparo between the new Renault Duster AWD and the new Mahindra Scorpio.

Let's be frank here, Renault owes its success in India to the Duster. It is an ideal urban SUV - compact, good ride quality and can be driven with ease. The Renault Duster is on offer with both petrol and diesel engines. But let's talk about the AWD in specific here.

To begin with, it gets a unique set of alterations that sets it apart from the regular car. It gets what Renault calls 'Anthracite' alloy wheels, darkened head-lamp clusters and matte black B-pillars on the RxZ trim. Of course, the company was careful enough to give it some AWD badges at the rear, so there's no scope of confusion. The dimensions of the car too remain the same and the ground clearance of 210mm helps it sit up high enough, so scraping the belly is out of the question (unless you really want to).

Now, to talk about what the car is all about - the AWD system. There's the new electronically controlled 4x4 system, which Renault calls the i-Drive Technology. I am guessing your first thought was 'BMW?', but no, there is no relation. That said, the Duster AWD also receives independent suspension at all four corners.

When I first drove the standard Duster, I felt the clutch was slightly heavy, but the one in the AWD feels different. It is comparatively lighter and hence comfortable to drive. Renault has shortened the gear ratios on the 4x4; especially the first gear, which gives it a significant advantage. You realise how important this is, when you take the car off-road since it is now easier to crawl down steep slopes. Then there is the ESP and Anti-Skid Resistance that help you get out of slippery conditions.

The AWD selector knob: 2WD, Auto and Lock. While '2WD' keeps it permanently front-wheel driven, 'Auto' sends a part of the power to the rear wheels when the system detects that the front wheels are losing traction. 'Lock', on the other hand, keeps the hardware in 4x4 mode up to around 60Km/h, after which, it shifts back to 'Auto' mode.

So, yes, it does a fair bit of off-roading and the 1.5-litre diesel with 109bhp helps it wade through tough terrains but then again, it is up against a formidable off-roader, which for years is at the helm of affairs. Yes, I am talking about the Mahindra Scorpio.

There are already 2 lakh cars on the road and Mahindra has come up with a newer, beefier version. In terms of looks, the Scorpio maintains the meanness that it had. Most people have loved the new look of the Scorpio, however, opinions may differ. The new Scorpio is marginally smaller in size than the Safari Storme but considerably larger in proportions than the Duster, Terrano and the EcoSport. The new Scorpio comes in two diesel engine options - the 2.5-litre four-cylinder m2DiCr which is part of the base variant while the more powerful, tried and tested 2.2-litre mHawk engine powers the rest of the range which churns out 120bhp.

The Scorpio is an off-road machine and making it that is the independent suspension up front and the multi-link coil spring setup at the rear. Don't forget, that Mahindra had developed an all-new chassis for this next-gen model which is lighter and stiffer and then there are the anti-roll bars both front and back.

While the rest of the stats below clearly show that the Scorpio is a bigger car, in the scheme of things it is also a formidable off-roader. The choice is hence a clear one. If you already owned a Scorpio, you would love this one, because there is nothing understated about its looks. It seats 7 while the Duster seats just 5. The Scorpio also comes packed with technology and Mahindra uses that too as its USP. The Duster is new to this game while the Scorpio has a 12-year long fan following and experience.

These figures however, may or may not translate into the way both the cars perform in real world conditions. That review will be up as soon as we get our hands on both the cars but till then the figures are here to compare.

iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus May Be Available on Zero Downpayment

Reliance Communications seems to be gearing up to introduce Zero Plan offers for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in India.

The telecom operator's listing for Zero Plan offers for the new iPhones have been spotted ahead of any official announcement, detailing zero downpayment plans.

According to the official listings on the Reliance's eShop (first spotted by Telecom Talk and now removed), the iPhone 6 will be available at Rs. 3,099 per month for 24 months, while the iPhone 6 Plus will come at Rs. 3,599 per month for 24 months. There are no details about which storage variant available under Rcom's Zero Plan, but the per month pricing translates to a total of Rs. 74,376 over two years for the iPhone 6, and Rs. 86,376 over two years for the iPhone 6 Plus.

To put that in perspective, Apple earlier this month launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones - launching the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 at Rs. 53,500 for the 16GB variant, Rs. 62,500 for the 64GB variant, and Rs. 71,500 for the 128GB variant; and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus at Rs. 62,500 for the 16GB variant, Rs. 71,500 for the 64GB variant, and Rs. 80,500 for the 128GB variant.

(Also see: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus: Everything You Need to Know)

While the Reliance Communications listings were still live, the 'Buy Now' buttons at the Rcom's eShop listing for both the new iPhones were not activated; hinting that the telecom operator might be still busy finalising the terms. Further, one of the options below Zero Plan of the iPhone 6 listing still refers iPhone 5s.

Some of the benefits listed by Reliance Communications for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Zero Plans include zero downpayment on the iPhone; zero bills for next 24 months; zero limits on data, voice, SMS, and roaming, and zero hidden charges.

(Also see: iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus Pre-Orders Reportedly Top 20 Million in China)

Under Reliance's Zero Plan, a consumer can buy the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus under a 24 months contract, and it won't require consumers to make any downpayment. However, we have to still wait for the official announcement.

It's worth noting that Reliance Communications had last year as well introduced a similar offer where consumers could buy the 16GB iPhone 5s at a monthly fee of Rs. 2,999 and 16GB iPhone 5c at a fee of Rs. 2,599 at zero upfront cost.

The iPhone 6 has a new 4.7-inch 750x1334-pixel screen, while the iPhone 6 Plus's screen measures 5.5 inches and has a resolution of 1080x1920 pixels. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are 6.9 and 7.1mm thick respectively. Both phones have been upgraded with high-speed Wi-Fi 802.11ac support and support the TD 2300 LTE band used in India. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.2-megapixel front camera, with improved sensors when compared with the iPhone 5s. The phones feature the new Apple A8 processor and a motion co-processor labelled M8. Apple promises that both devices will provide better battery life than the iPhone 5s.