Deepika Says 'Priyanka was my first friend in Bollywood'

Priyanka Chopra-Deepika Padukone bonding dates back to the time when Deepika Padukone entered the industry.

“Priyanka was the first film person I met when I came here,” revealed Deepika and added, “She was a huge star. I had just joined. She was the first friend I made. We were so comfortable shooting for Pinga song that it troubled a few people because it went against what a lot of people thought it would be. People expected it there would be a lot of tension regarding what she wearing and what I am wearing. It was completely different. Sanjay Leela Bhansali would jokingly say why can’t you fight.”

Like soul sisters, Priyanka and Deepika would be there for each other always on sets.

Shared Deepika, “It was great fun. While shooting we watched each other’s back. If there was a step which I would find difficult, she would encourage me and if she would something difficult I would encourage her. There were days when we both wanted to give up and there were days when we both came in with the same kind of energy. It’s been a lot of fun and I couldn’t have asked for a better co-star.”

Priyanka plays the role of Kashibai and Deepika plays Mastani in Bajirao Mastani, according to a media reports. -amh

More news thefinancialexpress-bd

Read More

Bright light therapy can ease depression

For people with depression, using "bright light therapy" either alone or combined with an antidepressant might help treat their condition, a new study suggests.

In the eight-week study of 122 people with major depression, the researchers found that people who were treated with either a bright light box or a combination of light box therapy with an antidepressant drug experienced more improvement in their symptoms than people treated with a placebo.

In comparison, those treated with an antidepressant drug (without light therapy) did not show improvements over those taking only a placebo pill.

"It is not unusual that an antidepressant — or any treatment [for depression] actually — is not statistically better than placebo," said study author Dr. Raymond W. Lam, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

It is commonly known that people with depression who participate in clinical trials get better even with only a placebo, he said. It's possible that the contact with the treatment team and regular appointments that come with being part of a trial help people with the condition, he said.

"So the fact that, in our study, the light treatments did better than placebo even when the Prozac did not really indicates than the effect was large," Lam said, according to media reports. -amh

More News thefinancialexpress-bd

Read More

Samsung's first consumer VR headset

There's a new option for people who need some me time after Thanksgiving dinner this year -- virtual reality.Samsung's first consumer VR headset, the Gear VR, officially went on sale Friday for $100. Online pre-orders at Best Buy, Amazon and Samsung began November 10.

Samsung launched its first commercially available VR headset, the "Innovator Edition," in 2014 for $200.

"[This year] we're ready to start calling Samsung Gear VR a consumer product," Samsung VP Nick Dicarlo told a group of reporters in New York this week.Virtual reality is the hot new thing in media. The technology lets people believe they're somewhere else.

Users put on a pair of oversized goggles to watch 3D videos. At the same time, matching audio plays through headphones based on the user's interactions and spatial relationships with different objects in view.The new Gear VR costs and weighs less than Samsung's earlier headset, and it's easier and more comfortable to use.

The gadget operates with Samsung's newest phones: the Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.

Users connect the Gear VR to their phone, put on headphones, then watch and interact with 3D videos and games by moving their heads.

Virtual reality has been getting a lot of attention. Media companies including CNN, The New York Times and Vice are experimenting with news broadcasts in VR. Linden Lab, the company behind Second Life, is building a virtual universe. A Sony PlayStation VR is expected to go on sale in 2016.

Facebook, which owns Oculus, a virtual reality pioneer, expects to sell the Oculus Rift early next year for about $1,500 for a complete setup tethered to a computer.

A virtual reality app store has more than 100 free and paid apps, and 40 more will be added in the next few weeks.

Most of the apps play 3D entertainment, such as Land's End, a puzzle and maze game from the same team behind the award-winning mobile game Monument Valley.

But some apps, including Netflix and live-stream platform Twitch, create a fake 3D theater that plays regular videos, according to media reports. -amh

More News http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd

Read More

Pakistan not considering MFN status to India

Despite being a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pakistan yet to provide Most Favoured Nation (MFN) to India, which is also a member of the organisation.

MFN is a basic principle of WTO which asks its members not to discriminate one member with others.

Pakistan Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan on Friday categorically informed the country’s National Assembly that no proposal was under consideration to give the MFN status to India, reports DAWN.

He also said that the existence of a negative list was a clear indication that the MFN status had not been given to India. He said that since the Modi government took over last year, no bilateral trade talks had taken place. About non-tariff barriers, he said that these were dealt with on a case-to-case basis with India.

The positive list had been transformed into the negative list few years ago when there was a discussion to provide MFN status to India.

Mr Dastgir, however, said China and Taiwan were in conflict, but their annual bilateral trade was $200 billion. China and India also have hostile relations, but their trade volume stands at $75bn per annum. He also said that being a member of the WTO, Pakis¬tan could not discriminate between its members in trade.

More News thefinancialexpress-bd

Read More

Goldman Sachs bets on Russian currency

Goldman Sachs, the US investment bank, predicts that the Russian currency Ruble will be on the list of good performing currencies next year along with the US dollar and the Mexican peso.

The Russian Times (RT) report also mentioned that Glodman Sachs suggest buying Russian and Mexican currencies over South Africa’s Rand and Chile’s Peso.

This week, the Ruble has grown three per cent, but seems not strong enough to continue the trend in 2015.

Ruble assets have found useful support over the last week on a perceived rapprochement between Russia and the West. “This relationship may, however, will be tested over the coming days and weeks as fundamentals continue to be weak, oil prices remain under pressure and a December Fed liftoff seems increasingly likely,” told Ivan Tchakarov, economist at Citigroup.

More news thefinancialexpress-bd

Read More