Aamir Khan clarified his family had any intention of leaving the country

Mr Khan won strong support from opposition parties like the Congress, which has been targeting the 

The government called the comments "alarmist", with ministers alleging an attempt to tarnish India's image.

"When I chat with Kiran at home, she says, 'should we move out of India?' That's a disastrous and big statement for Kiran to make. She fears for her child. She fears what the atmosphere around us will be. She feels scared to open the newspapers every day. That does indicate that there is this sense of growing disquiet, there is growing despondency apart from alarm," he had said while speaking at the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards.

perceived "intolerance", actor Aamir Khan today said he stood by what he said and "neither I, nor my wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country."

Anyone implying the opposite has either not seen my interview or is deliberately trying to distort what I have said. India is my country, I love it, I feel fortunate for being born here

Anushka Sharma for 'nosy questions'

During a live Twitter chat session, when one Twitter user asked the actress about "one question you are tired answering in interviews", she said she doesn't like to be snooped around.

Recently, the actress had to release a statement to clarify that there's no truth to news stories surrounding her "impending marriage" as she is in a happy place professionally. It was reported that she was planning to get married to India cricketer Virat Kohli. The actress, who is busy shooting for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, also shared that NH 10 was the toughest movie of her career.

She posted: "But it was equally rewarding too because of the appreciation it received from you guys."

 It has been a mixed year for Anushka, who faced failure with Bombay Velvet and success with Dil Dhadakne Do. And the actress says she doesn't regret doing any of the films in her career.

‘Single’ unhealthy snack can trigger metabolic

 Researcher Suzan Wopereis said that acute effects of diet were mostly small, but might have large consequences in the long run, adding that their novel approach allowed detection of small but relevant effects, thereby contributing to the urgently needed switch from disease-care to health-care,
In the study, Wopereis and colleagues used two groups of male volunteers. The first group included 10 healthy male volunteers. such as unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high blood lipids, and abdominal fat.

After taking their blood samples, they found that biochemical processes related to sugar metabolism, fat metabolism and inflammation were abnormal in subjects with metabolic syndrome.

The 10 healthy male volunteers were also given a snack diet consisting of an additional 1300 kcal per day, in the form of sweets and savory products such as candy bars, tarts, peanuts and crisps for four weeks.

The response of the same 61 biomarkers to the challenge test was evaluated. Signaling molecules such as hormones regulating the control of sugar and fat metabolism and inflammation were changed, resembling the very subtle start of negative health effects similar to that affecting those with metabolic disease.

Researcher Gerald Weissmann said that eating junk food was one of those situations where our brains say ‘yes’ and our bodies say ‘no.’

Men find smarter women less attractive in real life

A man finds a woman of greater intelligence attractive only when she is distant or far away from his mind, not when she is right next to him, a new study says.

"We found that men preferred women who are smarter than them in psychologically distant situations. Men rely on their ideal preferences when a woman is hypothetical or imagined," said the study's principal investigator Lora Park, associate professor at University at Buffalo, New York.

"But in live interaction, men distan 

themselves and were less attracted to a woman who outperformed them in intelligence," Park noted.

The findings suggests that psychological distance whether someone is construed as being near or far in relation to the self -- plays a key role in determining attraction. 

"There is a disconnect between what people appear to like in the abstract when someone is unknown and when that same person is with them in some immediate social context," Park pointed out. 

The researchers conducted six separate studies involving 650 young adult participants. The studies ranged from presenting participants with hypothetical women, to women they expected to meet, to actually engaging in an interpersonal interaction. 

"In each case, how much you like someone or how much you are attracted to them is affected by how intelligent that person is relative to you and how close that person is relative to you," Park said. 

But the area of performance has to be something important to the individual. 

"If you do not care about the domain, you might not be threatened. Yet, if you care a lot about the domain, then you might prefer that quality in somebody who is distant, then feel threatened when that person gets close to you," Park explained. 

 

The study appeared in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Women, don't ignore mini-strokes

Leading neurologists and stroke specialists here on Thursday urged women to seek immediate medical attention in case of "mini-strokes" as delaying treatment could increase risk of a major stroke. 

"Women are care-givers and so they generally do not pay much attention to slight temporary changes that occur during their activities. Mini-strokes or Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) basically means that brain function is disrupted for a short time (less than 24 hours)," said Nabin Sarkar, senior consultant neurologist and stroke specialist at the Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals here. 

"It can last for 30 to 90 minutes and many do not even notice the signs such as sudden numbness in arms or slurred speech etc.," he said. 

Sarkar and colleague Shankar Loharuka sounded the alarm bell on the risks associated with mini-strokes. 

"One in twelve run the risk of getting a major stroke within 48 hours of TIA and within a week, it increases to ten percent. So instead of taking signs of numbness lightly, women should immediately go to a hospital where stroke management services are available," they said. 

In commemoration of World Stroke Day, the experts emphasised the gender-benders when it comes to stroke and its recovery and severity. 

"Chances of recovery is less for women as compared to men and even severity is more for women. They are more likely to die of strokes than a man," the experts said, adding community awareness and educating women as well as their partners is important. 

They suggested the F.A.S.T. system to remember the sudden signs of stroke: face drooping, arm 

weakness, speech difficulty and time to call (the doctor or emergency service). 

Air India would lease 15 Airbus A320s as it seeks to enhance capacity

National carrier Air India would lease 15 Airbus A320s as it seeks to enhance capacity on the rapidly growing domestic market, which has seen over 20 per cent growth in the recent months.

The carrier is expected to invite global tenders for the dry-leasing of these aircraft shortly, airline sources said.

The induction of these aircraft, which is likely to commence from the second quarter of the next calendar year, would be in addition to 14 A320 neos that Air India is leasing to replace the classic A320s, sources told PTI.

"Domestic market is growing exponentially but somehow Air India has not been able to keep pace with this growth. On the contrary, our market share has only shrunk during this period," sources said.

The decline in market pie is more because of the capacity constraints, they said adding, "Therefore, we have decided to induct more planes on the domestic routes not only to stem slide in the market share but also increase it as well."

Domestic air passengers traffic logged a 20.1 per cent growth in the January-September period of this calendar year as 11 Indian carriers together flown 590.21 lakh passenger during the period as against 491.44 lakh a year-ago.

Air India has, however, seen a slump in its market share during this period, which stood at 15.9 per cent in September as against 18.7 per cent in January.

Sources said that the airline has already secured its board's approval for leasing of these 15 narrow-body A320s. The carrier has, however, yet not decided whether it should go for A320 NEOs (new engine option) or A320 CEOs (current engine option).

Air India has already signed a deal for the dry leasing of 14 A320 neos with the Kuwaiti lessor, Aviation Lease and Finance Company.

These jets, which are to be inducted in the fleet between April 20117 and March 2018, would replace the classic A320s, most of them are as old as 18-years.

Besides, the carrier has also inducted five sharklets-equipped A320 ceos, leased from China Aircraft Leasing Company as part of its classic A320 phase out plan.