Subhaditya News Channel Presents Science,Movie, Political,Sports And Book News This Week (120)

Science News This Week:

1) Gut microbes less diverse in humans than in apes:

The microbes living in people's guts are much less diverse than those in humans' closest relatives, the African apes, an apparently long evolutionary trend that appears to be speeding up in more modern societies, with possible implications for human health, according to a new study. Based on an analysis of how humans and three lineages of ape diverged from common ancestors, researchers determined that within the lineage that gave rise to modern humans, microbial diversity changed slowly and steadily for millions of years, but that rate of change has accelerated lately in humans from some parts of the world.

People in nonindustrialized societies have gut microbiomes that are 60 percent different from those of chimpanzees. Meanwhile, those living in the U.S. have gut microbiomes that are 70 percent different from those of chimps."It took millions of years, since humans and chimpanzees split from a common ancestor, to become 60 percent different in these colonies living in our digestive systems," said Howard Ochman, professor of integrative biology at The University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the study. "On the other hand, in apparently only hundreds of years -- and possibly a lot fewer -- people in the United States lost a great deal of diversity in the bacteria living in their gut."That rapid change might translate into negative health effects for Americans. Previous research has shown that compared with several populations, people living in the U.S. have the lowest diversity of gut microbes. Still other research has linked a lack of microbial diversity in human guts to various diseases such as asthma, colon cancer and autoimmune diseases.The results of this latest study, carried out by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin, Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, appear this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The lead author is Andrew Moeller, a visiting scholar at The University of Texas at Austin and a graduate student at Yale University.

One possible explanation for humans evolving to have less diversity in their gut microbiomes is that they shifted to a diet with more meat and fewer plants. Plants require complex communities of microbes to break them down, which is not as true for meat.

As for why Americans have experienced much more rapid changes in microbial diversity compared with people in less industrialized societies, some experts have suggested more time spent indoors, increased use of antibacterial soaps and cleaners, widespread use of antibiotics and high numbers of births by Cesarean section all may play a role. Antibiotics and antimicrobial cleaners can kill good bacteria along with the bad, and C-section deliveries prevent babies from receiving certain bacteria from the mother typically conferred during vaginal births."Declining diversity in the gut has been a trend for a long time," said Ochman. "It's tantalizing to think that the decrease in microbial diversity in humans is due only to modern medical practices and other lifestyle changes, but this research shows other factors over time also must have played a role."The researchers analyzed the genetic makeup of bacteria in fecal samples from humans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas to draw their conclusions.

2) Ancient sea creature took to land and sea:

Primitive ichthyosaur relative had strong bones, big flippers.The hefty fossil skeleton of a big-flippered sea creature may bridge the gap between landlubbing and water-dwelling reptiles of the Triassic period.

The creature, a primitive relative of the dolphinlike reptile Ichthyosaurus, may have paddled flexible flippers over sand and used its heavy-duty bones to stand up to waves crashing on seashores. Paleobiologist Ryosuke Motani of the University of California, Davis and colleagues describe the find November 5 in Nature.

Scientists had guessed that ichthyosaurs’ ancestors were land animals that eventually made their way to the sea, but the fossil record is sketchy. The new skeleton belonged to a reptile that’s the earliest to show signs of living both on land and in water, Motani says. Named Cartorhynchus lenticarpus, the reptilelived about 248 million years ago on what may have been hot and humid tropical islands in today’s China.

3) Gamma rays offer mixed messages on identity of dark matter:

Conflicting results from Fermi telescope puzzle astronomers. A stream of high-energy gamma rays from the heart of the Milky Way is teasing scientists about the identity of the universe’s invisible matter.

The results of one study add to growing evidence that particles of dark matter, which collectively have more than five times as much mass as all the visible matter in the universe, are slamming into each other in the galactic center and emitting gamma rays. But another study of small, supposedly dark matter–rich galaxies finds no such gamma ray signal. The clashing results are the latest wrinkle in the long quest to discover the fundamental units of dark matter.

4) Direct brain-to-brain connection has been established between humans for the second time:

Researchers from the University of Washington in the US have managed to non-invasively link-up two people’s brains and allowed them to communicate without speaking.This is the second time they’ve succeeded in creating this brain-to-brain communication, one year after they first showed it was possible, and it brings the ability closer to real-world applications.

The new study involved six people put into pairs. In the experiment, the researchers successfully transmitted the signals from one person’s brain over the internet and used them to control the hand movements of their partner, who was 800 metres away, within a split second. Their results are published in PLOS ONE."The new study brings our brain-to-brain interfacing paradigm from an initial demonstration to something that is closer to a deliverable technology," said co-author Andrea Stocco, professor of psychology from the University of Washington, in a press release. "Now we have replicated our methods and know that they can work reliably with walk-in participants."In order to set up the real-time mind link, the researchers hooked up one person in each pair (the sender) to an electroencephalography (EEG) machine and read their brain activity. Their brain waves were then converted into electrical pulses and sent via the web to the person on the other end of the link (the receiver), who wore a swim cap with a transcranial magnetic stimulation coil placed near the part of the brain that controls hand movements.

This meant that the thoughts of the first person could be translated into hand movements in the second. The pairs in each experiment were placed into separate buildings around 800 metres apart, and they were unable to interact with each other in any way other than via their thoughts.In the study, the three senders were playing a computer game where they had to fire a cannon in order to intercept rockets and defend a city. But they couldn’t actually perform the task themselves, they just had to think about it and then the signal would hopefully cause the receiver in the other room to hit the fire button at the right time.The receivers couldn’t see the game and simply had their hands hovering over a random touch pad until they were triggered to move by the senders thoughts - something that took less than a second.The accuracy of the canon firing varied among the pairs, ranging from 25 to 83 percent, but most misses were due to a sender failing to accurately execute the “fire” command. The researchers were able to quantify the exact amount of information that was being transferred between the two brains.Using the setup, the messages of the receiver were transferred into hand movements in less than a second.Research by french and spanish scientists earlier this year also showed a direct link between participants in India and France, but this is the first time brain-to-brain connection has been replicated in more than one pair of participants.The group have now received a $1 million grant in order to develop their connection further so that they can convey images and even information from brain to brain.They’re hoping in the future they’ll be able to monitor whether airplane pilots are getting sleepy, and then use this brain-to-brain link to stimulate the copilot’s brain.They’re also hoping it could help people teach others via their thoughts."Imagine someone who's a brilliant scientist but not a brilliant teacher. Complex knowledge is hard to explain - we're limited by language," said Chantel Prat, a psychologist and co-author of the paper, in the release.

5) Researchers hit milestone in accelerating particles with plasma:

Scientists from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of California, Los Angeles have shown that a promising technique for accelerating electrons on waves of plasma is efficient enough to power a new generation of shorter, more economical accelerators. This could greatly expand their use in areas such as medicine, national security, industry and high-energy physics research. This achievement is a milestone in demonstrating the practicality of plasma wakefield acceleration, a technique in which electrons gain energy by essentially surfing on a wave of electrons within an ionized gas.Using SLAC's Facility for Advanced Accelerator Experimental Tests (FACET), a DOE Office of Science User Facility, the researchers boosted bunches of electrons to energies 400 to 500 times higher than they could reach traveling the same distance in a conventional accelerator. Just as important, energy was transferred to the electrons much more efficiently than in previous experiments. This crucial combination of energy and efficiency had never been reached before. The results are described in a paper published today in the journal Nature.

"Many of the practical aspects of an accelerator are determined by how quickly the particles can be accelerated," said SLAC accelerator physicist Mike Litos, lead author of the paper. "To put these results in context, we have now shown that we could use this technique to accelerate an electron beam to the same energies achieved in the 2-mile-long SLAC linear accelerator in less than 20 feet."Plasma wakefields have been of interest to accelerator physicists for 35 years as one of the more promising ways to drive the smaller, cheaper accelerators of the future. The UCLA and SLAC groups have been at the forefront of research on plasma wakefield acceleration for more than a decade. In a 2007 paper, researchers announced they'd accelerated electrons in the tail end of a long electron bunch from 42 billion electronvolts to 85 billion electronvolts, causing a great deal of excitement in the scientific community. However, fewer than 1 billion of the 18 billion electrons in the pulse actually gained energy and they had a wide spread of energies, making them unsuitable for experiments.

In this experiment, researchers sent pairs of electron bunches containing 5 billion to 6 billion electrons each into a laser-generated column of plasma inside an oven of hot lithium gas. The first bunch in each pair was the drive bunch; it blasted all the free electrons away from the lithium atoms, leaving the positively charged lithium nuclei behind -- a configuration known as the "blowout regime." The blasted electrons then fell back in behind the second bunch of electrons, known as the trailing bunch, forming a "plasma wake" that propelled the trailing bunch to higher energy.Previous experiments had demonstrated multi-bunch acceleration, but the team at SLAC was the first to reach the high energies of the blowout regime, where maximum energy gains at maximum efficiencies can be found. Of equal importance, the accelerated electrons wound up with a relatively small energy spread."These results have an additional significance beyond a successful experiment," said Mark Hogan, SLAC accelerator physicist and one of the principal investigators of the experiment. "Reaching the blowout regime with a two-bunch configuration has enabled us to increase the acceleration efficiency to a maximum of 50 percent -- high enough to really show that plasma wakefield acceleration is a viable technology for future accelerators."

The plasma source used in the experiment was developed by a team of scientists led by Chandrashekhar Joshi, director of the Neptune Facility for Advanced Accelerator Research at UCLA. He is the UCLA principal investigator for this research, a faculty member with the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a long-time collaborator with the SLAC group.There are more milestones ahead. Before plasma wakefield acceleration can be put to use, Hogan said, the trailing bunches must be shaped and spaced just right so all the electrons in a bunch receive exactly the same boost in energy, while maintaining the high overall quality of the electron beam.

Movie  Release this Week:

1) Interstellar:

With our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history; traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars.

Directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan ("Inception," "The Dark Knight" Trilogy), the production will travel the globe and utilize a mixture of 35mm anamorphic and IMAX film photography to bring to the screen a script based on the combination of an original idea by Nolan and an existing script by Jonathan Nolan, originally developed for Paramount Pictures and producer Lynda Obst.

2) Big Hero 6:

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes “Big Hero 6,” an action comedy adventure about brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who finds himself in the grips of a criminal plot that threatens to destroy the fast-paced, high-tech city of San Fransokyo. With the help of his closest companion—a robot named Baymax—Hiro joins forces with a reluctant team of first-time crime fighters on a mission to save their city. Inspired by the Marvel comics of the same name, and featuring comic-book style action and all the heart and humor audiences expect from Walt Disney Animation Studios, the CG-animated “Big Hero 6” hits theaters in 3D on November 7, 2014.

3) Open Windows:

Oscar-nominated writer-director Nacho Vigalondo (The ABCs of Death, Timecrimes, V/H/S Viral) creates an action-packed world of voyeurism and suspense in his thriller OPEN WINDOWS. Nick (Elijah Wood, Maniac, The Lord of the Rings) is excited to discover that he's won a dinner date with his favorite actress, Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey, Would You Rather, The Girlfriend Experience). But when Jill refuses to honor the contest, her manager Chord (Neil Maskell, Wild Bill, Pusher) makes an offer he can't refuse: the ability to view Jill secretly via computer. Nick begins watching the unknowing star on her webcam, not realizing that this decision will put both himself and Jill at risk as they enter a terrifying world of cat-and-mouse where nothing-and no one-are as they seem.

4) Jessabelle:

After losing her fiancé in a horrific accident, Jessabelle is forced to recuperate at her father’s ruined Louisiana mansion, where she discovers a strange gift from her long-dead mother, and a terrifying presence determined to destroy her.

5) An Evergreen Christmas:

Leaving her seemingly glamorous Hollywood life on hold, Evie Lee is forced to return to her small hometown of Balsam Falls, Tennessee and her family's once-thriving Christmas tree farm to attend her father's unexpected funeral. As the eldest sibling, she finds herself executor of an estate that owes a massive inheritance tax, much to her younger brother's dismay. Torn between pursuing her music career and saving her family's legacy, she must decide what it really means to find her place in the world. Charleene Closshey stars amidst a colorful cast including Robert Loggia, Tyler Ritter, Booboo Stewart and Naomi Judd in this heart-warming musical holiday tale about facing your past, rediscovering your voice, and fulfilling your dreams.

Hindi Movie Release This Week:

Rang Rasiya:

Rang Rasiya is an Indian drama film based on the life of the 19th-century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma. The film is directed Ketan Mehta, produced by Deepa Sahi and Aanand Mahendroo. It stars Randeep Hooda, Nandana Sen and a newcomer Triptha Parashar in the lead roles. Mehta chose to make a film on the 19th-century painter, Raja Ravi Varma's life. Incidentally both these movies were based on a subject from the 19th century. His new film is an adaptation of a Marathi writer Ranjit Desai's biographical novel Raja Ravi Varma. This bilingual in English and Hindi is titled as Colour of Passion and Rang Rasiya respectively.



 Mehta thought that Varma was the most fascinating artist of that era and his character, persona and paintings fascinated him from his days at Film and Television Institute of India. After reading Desai's novel, he formulated the story of his new film

Political News This Week:

1) Ground Zero report: How Bangladeshis infiltrate into India:

Taki in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district is the last Indian outpost on the border with Bangladesh. It is one of hotspots for Bangladeshi infiltration into India. While most poor Bangladeshis cross over to look for work, terror groups take advantage to ferry their men and material into India.Taki, a town under Hasnabad police station in the northern fringe of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh, is one of the most popular tourist sites for the people of Kolkata.With the river Ichhamati separating the town from the Bangladesh district of Khulna, Taki is known for its non-communal bearing and has been a peaceful home to Hindus and Muslims for years.However, despite the positives, this picturesque township has often been used by Bangladeshi infiltrators as an easy gateway into India.It is alleged that in 2011, more than 100,000 Bangladeshis had sneaked into India on Dashami (the last day of Durga Puja) amid the milieu of bisarjan (immersion) on the India, Bangladesh banks of Icchamati.

Immersion of Durga idols has always been a gala affair at Taki since Independence.On the last day of the festival, idols from the two Bengals used to be ferried in boats to the narrowest stretch of the river with border forces on both sides keeping a watch.But in 2011, security seemed to have gone haywire. Else so many people could not possibly have crossed over.Since then, cross-border immersion at Taki has been stopped and security beefed up.

It has been made even tighter recently subsequent to the Bardhaman blast on October 2.Investigations revealed that cadres of the terror outfit Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, who had illegally migrated to Bengal a few years back, were involved in the explosion.With infiltration issue hitting the headlines thereafter, we wanted to find out how protected is this important border town of Taki at present.How successful are the Border Security Force personnel in tackling the problem? Do the people living here feel safe?

2) Modi named 15th most powerful world leader:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made his debut among the world's most powerful people, ranked 15th on the Forbes list topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin who pipped his US counterpart Barack Obama for a second year in a row. On Modi, Forbes said "India's newest rock star doesn't hail from Bollywood. He is the newly elected Prime Minister who sailed into office in May with a landslide victory, ushering the Bharatiya Janata Party into power after decades of control by the Gandhi dynasty."

"Modi is credited with massive reconstruction projects in his home state of Gujarat. His administration promises to bring economic rejuvenation to other beleaguered parts of India. The world is as impressed as the citizens of India: So far he's toured the US and China and met with his Southeast Asian neighbours," the magazine said. The list of 72 most powerful people in the world has 12 newcomers on the list, including Modi and Egypt President Abdel el-Sisi. Forbes says: 'We took some heat last year when we named the Russian President as the most powerful man in the world, but after a year when Putin annexed Crimea, staged a proxy war in the Ukraine and inked a deal to build a more than $70 billion gas pipeline with China (the planet's largest construction project) our choice simply seems prescient. Russia looks more and more like an energy-rich, nuclear-tipped rogue state with an undisputed, unpredictable and unaccountable head unconstrained by world opinion in pursuit of its goals.'Forbes says: 'Heading into the second half of his second term, Obama seems stymied both by the West African Ebola breakout and a blood-thirsty militia named ISIS, which threaten to undo all the gains of a 9-year war in Iraq that cost the lives of 4,500 Americans. At home, racially charged images of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri mock his 2008 message of "Change." On the plus side, unemployment is at its lowest level since the Great Recession and the markets continue test new highs.'

3) Burdwan blast accused remanded to 10-day NIA custody:

A city court on Wednesday remanded Burdwan blast accused Abdul Hakim to 10 days' National Investigation Agency custody after he was produced before it following his release from hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for injuries suffered during the blast.

Chief judge, city sessions court, M Mumtaz Khan granted Hakim's custody to the NIA until November 14, following a prayer by the agency for 15 days' custody so that it can interrogate him in connection with the blast.

The other three arrested in connection with the case -- Hasem Mollah, Rajia Bibi and Alima Bibi -- were remanded to judicial custody till November 20 on a prayer by the NIA counsel.

Hakim was released from the state-run SSKM Hospital on Wednesday after being treated for splinter injuries.The other three were already in judicial custody. Two persons were killed in the accidental blast in a house at Khagragarh in Burdwan district on October 2 while hand grenades were being manufactured there, leading to the unearthing of an international terror racket.

4) President dissolves Delhi assembly, fresh polls soon:

The Delhi assembly was on Wednesday dissolved, paving the way for fresh elections that will end the political hibernation since the Aam Aadmi Party government fell in February.A notification issued by the home ministry said that President Pranab Mukherjee has dissolved the "legislative assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi with immediate effect" on November 4.

The union cabinet had on Tuesday recommended the dissolution of the Assembly following recommendation of LG Najeeb Jung after talks on Monday with the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the AAP which expressed inability to form government and sought fresh mandate.

While the fresh elections may be held early next year, the process for the November 25 by-elections to three constituencies, for which last date of nominations is on Thursday, was revoked by the Election Commission.

5) US midterm elections: Republicans win control of Senate; Democrats suffer massive setback:

In a debacle for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, Republicans today gained control of the United States Senate and increased its majority in the House of Representatives in a sweeping midterm election win that could complicate the President's final two years in office.As strong Democratic leaders tumbled across the country, political analysts termed it as a Republican wave.Elections were held for the entire 435 House of Representatives seat, 36 of the 100 senate seats and gubernatorial elections in 36 of the 50 American States.The Republican Party has occupied 52 of the 100 senate seats as against the 43 of the Democratic Party. In the current Congress, Democrats have 53 seats, while the Republicans have 45 seats.Republicans were headed to a substantial gain in the House of Representatives and were leading in 235 seats with a net gain of 10 seats, while the Democrats had 157 seats with a net loss of eight seats.In the current House, the Democratic Party has 199 seats and Republicans have 233 seats.

A Republican majority in the US Senate, for the first time in eight years, would make governance and key administrative reforms a tough task for Obama during the remaining two years of his second term.Some political analysts have already started calling him a lame duck, a phrase which was strongly resented by the White House.a general resentment against the current Obama Administration, people in large number voted for the Republican Party, who not only increased their majority in the House of Representatives but also gained control of the powerful Senate.candidates ousted Democratic incumbents in North Carolina, Arkansas and Colorado and sailed into the open seats of retiring Democrats in West Virginia, South Dakota and Montana.Republican candidate Joni Ernst won the highly competitive Iowa Senate Seat. The party also won gubernatorial elections in several strong Democratic States.

Political analysts said that the very fact that Republicans won the gubernatorial elections in the traditional Democratic stronghold of Maryland and Illinois is a clear indication of a Republican wave sweeping the country.House Majority Leader, Harry Reid, congratulated Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell."I'd like to congratulate Senator McConnell, who will be the new Senate Majority Leader. The message from voters is clear: they want us to work together," Reid said in a statement."The American people have put their trust in the Republican Party. I want to congratulate all our candidates tonight," Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement."Our party's principles and message resonated with voters across the country. This was a rejection of President Obama's failed policies and Harry Reid's dysfunctional Senate," he said.

"For too long, this administration has tried to tell the American people what is good for them and then blame somebody else when their policies didn't work out," McConnell said in a victory speech.House Speaker John Boehner said he is "humbled by the responsibility the American people have placed with us.""Americans can expect the new Congress to debate and vote soon on the many common-sense jobs and energy bills that passed the Republican-led House in recent years with bipartisan support but were never even brought to a vote by the outgoing Senate majority, as well as solutions offered by Senate Republicans that were denied consideration," he said."I've also put forth a five-point roadmap for harnessing the emerging energy boom in America, resetting our economy and restoring the American Dream for our children and grandchildren. It calls for fixing our tax code, solving our spending problem, reforming our legal system, reforming our regulatory system, and improving our education system," Boehner said."The change in power means that Obama will spend the last two years of his presidency dealing with an emboldened all-Republican Congress that intends to challenge him on major legislation and, in the words of McConnell, take the country in a 'new direction'," said political analysts.At the national level, Americans sent a clear message that they want to change the direction of the country, said Texas Governor Rick Perry."Instead of higher taxes to fuel ever-expanding government programs, they chose fiscal sanity and voted to allow people to keep more of their own hard-earned money. Now it is time to lead and craft common-sense policies that make America energy independent, bring sanity to our tax code, and secure our border once and for all," he said.

"The landscape means Republicans will have new powers to challenge Obama's agenda in the final two years of his term, able to launch investigations and hold hearings from both chambers; hold up key appointments; and pass GOP-favoured legislation, if only to force the president to employ his veto pen," said political analysts.

6) REVEALED! The US soldier who shot down Osama:

A decorated ex-Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill has been unmasked as the man who pumped three shots to the head of elusive Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden during a top-secret 2011 raid on his hideout in Pakistan.O’Neill, 38, is the SEAL Team Six member who fired the three shots to the head of the Al Qaeda leader during the raid.He grew up in Montana mining town and is now facing possible legal action for giving out the tightly held secret. He is expected to reveal himself during a two-part Fox News TV special next week.

O’Neill was one of 23 SEALS who flew into the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad on the night of May 2, but the last to see bin Laden alive.It had previously been unclear precisely how the terrorist leader was killed and how many servicemen had been involved in his death.O’Neill, who is married with children, was last year interviewed by Esquire magazine, which did not publish his name. He told how he joined the army at the age of 19 as a reaction to his then-girlfriend leaving him.

O’Neill served more than a dozen tours of duty in active combat, including Iraq and Afghanistan, undertaking 400 separate combat missions.For his service he has been decorated 52 times, up to the level of senior chief petty officer before he left. He was awarded two Silver Stars -- the military’s third highest honour -- as well as four Bronze Stars.

Sports News This Week:

1) Messi masterclass papers over Barca cracks:

Lionel Messi enjoyed another landmark European night as he equaled the Champions League scoring record against Ajax but doubts remain over Luis Enrique's Barcelona side after a stuttering start to the season.The coach found himself in the eye of a storm after Barca suffered back-to-back La Liga defeats and although they beat Ajax 2-0 on Wednesday to book a place in the last 16, their football was far from fluid, especially in the first half.Messi came to the rescue with a double that saw him draw level with Raul on 71 goals at the top of the Champions League all-time scoring charts.Cristiano Ronaldo is one adrift having missed out on the chance to add to his tally in Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Liverpool on Tuesday.

"I am happy for Leo, for the work he does for the team and because he is the number one, the best," midfielder Xavi told reporters.Barca have nine points from four games in Group F and are a point off leaders Paris St Germain, who beat them in France."In the first half, they (Ajax) were in control but after that we played better and got three points which will give us confidence."We need to keep going and winning matches. We needed to win this game and we played some good football at times. We also had some difficult moments but we were playing away and in the Champions League."Ajax played pressed high up the pitch and it is normal that it would not be easy but the result is a boost."

2) Indian eves play out 2-2 draw against New Zealand:

The Indian junior women's hockey team put up a brave fight to hold New Zealand 2-2 in their second match of a six-match series being played at the TET Multisports Centre here Thursday.

The hosts started brightly with Kelsey Smith scoring to put them ahead in the first half and held on to the lead at the first break.

India upped the ante in the second half and levelled through forward Anupa Barla.

India's equaliser intensified the contest as both teams went forward in search of goals with the visitors pulling ahead.

Jaspreet Kaur converted a penalty corner, hitting it low to the New Zealand keeper's right to make it 2-1.

India, however, failed to hold onto the lead conceding 12 minutes from time with Rachel McCann scoring a field goal.

In the last quarter of the keenly contested game, both teams managed to create scoring opportunities but could not capitalise on the chances.India play their third match here Nov 8.

3) India's Mittal wins gold at Asian Shotgun Championship:

 India's impressive run at the 4th Asian Shotgun Championship continued as Ankur Mittal clinched the gold medal in men's double trap event, giving the country its fourth yellow metal in the continental event here today.

The 22-year-old shot 141 in the qualification round and 28 each in the semifinal and gold medal contest to bag the top honours.

Teammate Mohd Asab won the bronze after reaching the finals with a score of 139 in the qualification. He shot 27 in the semifinal stage and 28 in the bronze medal match. Elated at the news, NRAI president Raninder Singh said, "Ankur has come up the junior ranks really well and finished a creditable 16th in a top field at the Shooting World Championships in Granada earlier in the year. "This is his best in international competition so far and we expect more improvement and greater things from him going forward. It is heartening to see youngsters perform with such aplomb in top international competitions and bodes really well for the future of the shooting sport in India."

It may be recalled that in the Continental championship that began on November 1, Seema Tomar had won the woman's trap event and team gold alongside Shagun Chaudhary and Shreyasi Singh. Then Manavaditya Rathore, son of Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, won the junior trap event. India could have further bolstered its gold tally, but the team event in the double trap men event was cancelled due to inadequate entries from the Asian countries.

4) Kerala Blasters FC have an opportunity to capitalise on the home advantage as they take on FC Goa in their Indian Super League encounter in Kochi. Kerala Blasters FC 1:0 FC Goa

5) Tendulkar skirts fixing in autobiography:

Sachin Tendulkar has not touched upon the match-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket in the 1990s in his autobiography because he felt it would be "unwise" to comment on subjects that he was not fully aware of.

"I think whatever things I knew 100% I have revealed because I back up those things. But the things I am not aware of fully, it would be unwise to comment on those," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by PTI on the eve of the launch of his book, Playing It My Way. "I should have some evidence, I should know something in detail to talk about it because then it makes sense and it will be appreciated by people. But if I just start talking then it will not have any value."The scandal had eventually led to a life ban for former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin and bans of shorter duration for Ajay Sharma, Ajay Jadeja and Manoj Prabhakar, all of whom were Tendulkar's team-mates in the 1990sWhen asked whether he felt some players had under-performed deliberately during that phase, Tendulkar said: "No, I mean the guys fail, but who doesn't fail in life, everyone fails. It would be unfair to just pinpoint someone and say that he was under-performing, didn't try his best, I can't. I have played the sport for 24 years and failures do happen."Tendulkar was also questioned about the perception that he rarely took a stand on major issues in cricket. "If you see in my book, issues on which people believed I should have taken a stand, the only things which I was 100% sure of I stood for that in my book," he said. "If you have read some of the articles I have expressed myself whole-heartedly but on things which were not first-hand information, it is unwise to do that, it is a loose statement and I didn't want to fire loose statements."

ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

6) Rayudu century puts India 2-0 up

India 275 for 4 (Rayudu 121*, Dhawan 79) beat Sri Lanka 274 for 8 (Mathews 92*, Sangakkara 61, Akshar 2-39) by six wickets

Ambati Rayudu hit a chanceless maiden ODI ton, as India ran down Sri Lanka's 275 for 8 with six wickets in hand and 33 balls to spare. Rayudu and Shikhar Dhawan put on 122 runs for the second wicket to set up the chase, and having come to bat in the seventh over, Rayudu was at the crease to hit the winning runs and finish on 121 off 118 balls.Sri Lanka's bowlers were short on menace, but it had been the batsmen who erred first in the game. Early wickets in their innings made for a measured recovery, and though Angelo Mathews' unbeaten 92 pushed the score towards credibility, he lacked support from the middle order, as the team finished at least 30 runs light on a flat Motera surface, and with dew set to form later in the evening.

Rayudu arrived just as the Sri Lanka seamers appeared to be hitting a rhythm, but like they had done in the previous ODI, the India batsmen sought to lay low until the seam grew soft and the changes were rung in. Dhawan was handed had a life in the eighth over, when he was on 10. Lahiru Gamage seamed a length ball away and collected his outside edge, but the sound and the clear deviation escaped the umpire's notice, to Sri Lanka's disbelief.

Once the new-ball bowlers had finished their opening spells, the batsmen eased out of their vigil and gradually tightened their grip on the chase. The first acceleration came just as the asking rate clicked over six per over. Rayudu strode down the track to launch Suraj Randiv over long on in the 17th over, establishing what would become one of the major themes of his hundred: the effective use of his feet against the spinners.

By the 20th over, the pair had raised the run rate to above four an over, and the boundaries began to flow more easily. Both batsmen trusted the pace and bounce of the pitch, stepping out to crash balls in the arc between cover and midwicket, and using the crease to hit square when the bowlers were rattled off their lengths. Thisara Perera was blasted for 17 in one over - the most expensive in a seven-over stretch between the 19th and 26th that yielded 69 runs for India. Mathews switched his bowlers almost manically, attempting to tamp blaze that had so quickly grown into a wildfire, but as both batsmen completed half-centuries and surged ahead, India's momentum only grew.

Dhawan was eventually dismissed for 79 off 80, top-edging a sweep to give Seekkuge Prasanna the first of his three wickets, but at 140 for 2 in the 27th over, India were well in control. The new batsman Virat Kohli began to find runs into the outfield almost as easily as Rayudu, and the Sri Lanka bowlers seemed like little more than fodder.

Rayudu surged as he neared his milestone, hitting a remarkable six off a Dhammika Prasad short ball before depositing Randiv over the straight boundary soon after. He clipped one through square leg to breach triple figures for the first time, off 101 balls. The scoring rate only increased after that. Kohli had 49 from 44, before driving one straight to Randiv at cover. Suresh Raina slammed 14 from 6, but the game was long won before he had come in.

Earlier, Kusal Perera's inclusion had failed to ease Sri Lanka's opening woes as Umesh Yadav trapped him in front for a duck, in the first over. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara were visibly short of rhythm in the early overs, but managed to set Sri Lanka off to a start, before two quick wickets fell.

Mathews came to the crease at 64 for 3, and forged a 90-run stand with Sangakkara that was steady, but unremarkable in style. Mathews employed the sweep to good effect, even venturing a slog-swept six off Ashwin in the 20th over, but both batsmen were largely content for the recovery to tick along. When Sangakkara reached his fifty off 73 deliveries, he had struck only three fours.

The Powerplay, taken in the 32nd over, brought the next innings stutter. Sangakkara took aim at a thigh-high Yadav full toss and hit it down an outfielder's throat. Prasanna's innings glinted briefly as he attempted to electrify the innings, but was soon undone playing his favoured sweep.

Sri Lanka continued to lose batsmen as they strove to attack, perhaps in the knowledge that Prasad at No. 10 was capable of helping Mathews see the innings out, but the setbacks muted the Sri Lanka captain. He seemed ready to unleash when he slammed Ravindra Jadeja for three consecutive legside fours, in an over that went for 20, but the back end of his innings was marked by restraint, even with a maiden ODI hundred on the cards.

Prasad's unbeaten 30 off 28 in a ninth-wicket stand saw Sri Lanka finish the innings with some semblance of respectability, but with the Indian batsmen in ace form, the visitors' score was thoroughly inadequate.

Book Of This Week:

Playing It My Way : My Autobiography :By Sachin Tendulkar:

"I knew that if I agreed to write my story, I would have to be completely honest, as thats the way I have always played the game and that would mean talking about a number of things I have not addressed in public before. So here I am, at the end of my final innings, having taken that last walk back to the pavilion, ready to recount as many incidents as I can remember since first picking up a cricket bat as a child in Mumbai thirty-five years ago." - Sachin Tendulkar

The greatest run-scorer in the history of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013 after an astonishing 24 years at the top. The most celebrated Indian cricketer of all time, he received the Bharat Ratna - India's highest civilian honour - on the day of his retirement. Now Sachin Tendulkar tells his own remarkable story - from his first Test cap at the age of 16 to his 100th international century and the emotional final farewell that brought his country to a standstill. When a boisterous Mumbai youngster's excess energies were channelled into cricket, the result was record-breaking schoolboy batting exploits that launched the career of a cricketing phenomenon. Before long Sachin Tendulkar was the cornerstone of India's batting line-up, his every move watched by a cricket-mad nation's devoted followers.

Never has a cricketer been burdened with so many expectations never has a cricketer performed at such a high level for so long and with such style - scoring more runs and making more centuries than any other player, in both Tests and one-day games. And perhaps only one cricketer could have brought together a shocked nation by defiantly scoring a Test century shortly after terrorist attacks rocked Mumbai. His many achievements with India include winning the World Cup and topping the world Test rankings. Yet he has also known his fair share of frustration and failure - from injuries and early World Cup exits to stinging criticism from the press, especially during his unhappy tenure as captain.

Despite his celebrity status, Sachin Tendulkar has always remained a very private man, devoted to his family and his country. Now, for the first time, he provides a fascinating insight into his personal life and gives a frank and revealing account of a sporting life like no other.