Lamborghini Aventador

Introducing Lamborghini‘s new super sports car Aventador with its 700 HP bull power – powerful and classy just like his namesake, Spanish bull legend Aventador – relentlessly fighting the forces of nature in a 3-minute special effect thunderstorm, shot in the Californian desert Coyote Dry Lakebed and directed by Ole Peters.

2014 Corvette Stingray

Chevy has unveiled the 2014 Corvette Stingray. The 2014 Corvette Stingray is the most powerful standard model ever, with an estimated 450 horsepower (335 kW) and 450 lb.-ft. of torque (610 Nm).

Powered by a 6.2L LT1 V-8 engine, from 0-60 in less than four seconds and achieve more than 1g in cornering grip.

It also included a carbon fiber hood and removable roof panel and a new aluminum frame help shift weight rearward for an optimal 50/50 weight balance.

How Dieting Affects Fat Storage

Unfortunately, severe and prolonged dieting shuts down the
metabolism, sending the body into starvation mode. The fat
cells begin sending out even more fat-storing enzymes and a
significantly smaller amount of fat-releasing enzymes. Because
the fat cells are afraid of being starved to death and depleted of
their stores, they will hold on to the fat they have to the best of
their ability, causing the body to start burning lean muscle mass
to get the amount of fuel it needs.
Lean muscle mass, located in the skeletal muscles and the organ
systems, is the metabolically active part of the body. This means
that after the diet is over and your body is out of starvation
mode, your metabolism will still not function as well as before
the diet, because you have lost some of your muscle mass, which
was the engine driving your metabolism.
In addition, the effects of restrictive dieting on your fat-storing
and -releasing enzymes can be permanent. Though the levels
will return closer to a normal level after the diet, the fatreleasing
enzymes will almost always be at a slightly lower level
than before the diet, and the fat-storing enzymes will almost
always be at a slightly higher level. Even worse: the effects are
cumulative. This means that after each successive bout of
dieting, it will be harder and harder for you to lose fat and
control your weight for the long term.

Is world in for water wars next?

 Coming upon one of those billboards that blight the skyline of the major cities of this blessed land, one learnt to one’s horror that a certain bottled brand had the distinction of being “Pakistan’s favorite water”. This was news indeed, since local lore one had grown up with always had it that any locality’s favorite water was the one that came out of the deep well next to the mosque. At least this was the case, a few decades ago, which was presumably the last time ‘elders’ gathered round to consider the issue. Maybe, unbeknown to one, the situation had radically changed after nine/eleven, just as everything else has. But, then, why announce it on billboards?

The one reason that one can think of for this haste to announce it from the housetops (read, billboards) is that our economy whiz kids have all of a sudden realized that there is big money to be made from water. This commodity, that was once not only freely available but was also considered nature’s gift to humankind, has now - thanks to the mixed priorities of our merry band of planners – become a saleable commodity and one out of which millions could be earned without much effort. The only hurdle in the way of the cut-throat brigade aforementioned was the way this precious commodity was available in plenty in this Land of the Pure (read Poor). So, what better way to vault this hurdle than to contaminate our natural sources of water so as to oblige an already impoverished multitude to get addicted to bottled water they could ill afford? What will they think of next? Bottled fresh air, perhaps!

One would crave the indulgence of the gentle reader to digress a bit from the matter at hand. One may be old fashioned, but one can distinctly remember the time when the ultimate thirst quencher was, well, plain water! When one felt thirsty one instinctively went for a refreshing glass of fresh water. And if one felt like living it up a bit when the weather was warm, one opted for the luxury of iced water. That appears now to be history. This is not the done thing any more if you happen to belong to the benighted but bejeweled brigade.

It is considered to be infra-dig to imbibe water if you happen to be thirsty; you are supposed to go for what is euphemistically called ‘a beverage’. For those who still thirst for plain old water, the powers that be happen to have another trick up their sleeve. They have thought up what is now known as ‘designer water’. Public Relations agents have thereby managed to give a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘liquid assets’.

The resultant ‘war of beverages’ has been on for a while. Aerated waters and colas have enjoyed a monopoly of sorts over the beverage market for quite some time now. The investors, it would appear, are further looking at the emerging market of some twenty billion dollars for what are known as ‘alternative beverages’. The mind boggles! If this were the story confined merely to the so-called developed world one would not get overly excited about the affair. But there is more to it than meets the eye.

The irony is that while this game is being played in the prosperous societies - and by association in the prosperous segments of the poorer societies - the overwhelming majority of the world’s population does not have access to clean drinking water. Those (among them the inhabitants of our blessed land) whom nature has endowed with abundant water resources are being deliberately denied access to this natural resource by their ‘planners’ in order to swell the local market for the beverage multinational giants. Meanwhile, children of numerous societies around the world continue to die by the hundreds of thousand every day because they are condemned to drinking contaminated water.

Money does not buy happiness in China

China's super-rich suffer because of the pressures brought about by their fortunes and are less happy than ordinary millionaires, according to a survey by a leading wealth magazine.

"The richer you are, the less happy you are," concluded the poll of more than 500 Chinese millionaires by the Hurun Report, which compiles an annual list of China's richest people.

The survey defined "millionaires" as those with personal wealth of 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) or more, and the super-rich as those with 10 times as much, 69 of whom were included.

"Money also brings you problems," said Hurun Report founder Rupert Hoogewerf. "These problems could be pressure to perform, pressure to satisfy your customers, pressure from all these different aspects that come about when you have a big business," he told AFP on Wednesday.

Nearly 30 percent of all those surveyed said they could not balance work and life, the survey showed. More than half were unhappy about spending so little time with their families.

On well-being, more than a quarter were unhappy with their health while more than a third believed they did not exercise enough.

Chinese millionaires only sleep an average of 6.6 hours a night during the working week, the report found, with some 27 percent sleeping for less than six hours.

Male and female millionaires were split on some issues.

Men considered setting up their own companies as the happiest moment of their lives, while women put falling in love as number one, the survey said.

LoC tensions: Pakistani performers shown the door

Pakistani artist and rising Bollywood star Ali Zafar was tight-lipped on Tuesday after being told he won’t be performing at a musical festival in the Indian city of Pune – this cancellation is the latest cultural casualty of tensions between Pakistan and India along the Line of Control (LoC).

Right-wing Indian party Shiv Sena forced organisers to cancel the event which was due to take place on Saturday. The move was followed by the scrapping of a series of events featuring Pakistanis.
Another casualty was Pakistani classical singer Javed Bashir, who had performed in Delhi on Sunday along with the Mekaal Hasan band. After his Monday performance was cancelled, Bashir was quoted by The Times of India as saying, “It’s sad to note that shows are being cancelled due to security issues.”
The news from Mumbai is just as bad. The Mumbai Magicians hockey team, which has four Pakistani

Malaysia rated top Muslim-friendly holiday destination

 Malaysia has been rated the world’s top Muslim-friendly holiday destination in a survey released Wednesday that listed Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Singapore as runners-up.
The study by Singapore-based Muslim travel consultancy Crescentrating ranked countries on how well they cater to the growing number of Muslim holidaymakers seeking halal ­– or Islam-compliant – food and services.
It used criteria including the level of safety in a country, the ease of access to halal food and prayer facilities, and whether hotels cater to the needs of Muslim guests.
On a scale of one to 10 in which 10 is the best score, Malaysia came out number one with a grade of 8.3 among 50 nations surveyed.
Egypt was in second place with 6.7, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Turkey both with 6.6. Saudi Arabia was in fourth place with a score of 6.4 and Singapore was fifth with 6.3.
Indonesia, Morocco and Jordan scored 6.1 to tie in sixth place, trailed by seventh-place Brunei, Qatar, Tunisia and Oman, all with a score of 6.0.
Crescentrating chief executive Fazal Bahardeen said the survey was taken from the point of view of the traveller, meaning that it measured the ease of access by Muslim tourists – not locals – to halal food and facilities.
“Malaysia is one of the few countries where you can find a prayer place in almost every location – be it a shopping mall or the airport,” Fazal told AFP.
He said that while Malaysian authorities have been focusing on the market for several years, Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim nation – has not done as well.
“The main problem for Indonesia is that it’s not straightforward for a Muslim visitor to find halal food availability. For locals it’s probably not an issue.”

Toyota reclaims position as world's biggest carmaker

Japanese company sold 9.7m cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, as production bounced back from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

Toyota has once again dethroned General Motors as the world's top-selling carmaker.
The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it's still counting. GM sold 9.29 million.
Both companies saw higher sales, but Toyota's growth was far larger as it rolled out new versions of popular models such as the Camry. GM executives promised sales growth this year, especially in the US. Both companies say publicly that they don't care about who wins, but concede that the crown is an important morale booster for employees.
GM was the top-selling carmaker for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. But GM retook the sales crown in 2011 when Toyota's factories were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster left Toyota dealers with few cars to sell. The company has since recovered.
Toyota's comeback from the earthquake, and flooding in Thailand, is only part of the story, says Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, a Detroit-area industry forecasting firm. The company also has freshened up its stale midsize sedan, the Camry, the top-selling car in the United States.
GM's global sales rose 2.9% last year, it announced on Monday at the Detroit motor show. Toyota sales rose 22 %.

Potential Mehran’s replacement is here – Tata Nano’s distant cousin, the Air Car to be launched soon, CM Sindh

The fast depleting reserves of natural gas has provoked alot of decision by the government however very few of them have actually been materialized if I may not be wrong. The Air Car Project is another such step taken by the government apart from increasing CNG prices exorbitantly.The Air Car is, well as the name says, it runs on air and is quite successful in Holland and France. MDI (Motor Development International) is one company which makes commercial Air cars in exclusive collaboration with Tata.
MDI will be launching its vehicles in Pakistan, whose 80% parts can be built in Pakistan while the rest of the can be imported as the CEO of Iman Investments Limited presented while highlighting the production concept and MDI business model. Mr. Raschid A. Jaffery further informed that in the first phase 7500 Air Cars will be prepared in 50 steps.
One of the models as shown in MDI’s website, Mini Flow Air, which by the way looks like the Tata Nano, has 180 KMs urban range on and a top speed of 110 KM/H on something called mono energy. But it does beats the stupid Mehran by all standards. It deliver more range on one full tank and also, top speed is more as well.But it is sad to see that the one single man is being taken into confidence rather the company doing some actual marketing research and learn what the people want but I think everyone’s here to make money.

BMW to build public train cars

If you’ve watched the episode of last Sunday’s Top Gear than you might understand where did the inspiration for this idea came to BMW. Ultimately, BMW Group DesignworksUSA has been chosen by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to build and design a whole new fleet of train cars expected to enter service by 2017.
DesignworksUSA’s scope of work for BART’s Fleet of the Future includes the train cars’ exterior, which will convey a style and shape with unique signature expression to the exterior passenger information system. Inside the new train cars, DesignworksUSA will create the main interior design features of the new train cars, and incorporate the controls in the design of the train operator’s cab.DesignworksUSA is invigorated to join BART in their continuing commitment to delivering a premium ridership experience,” says Laurenz Schaffer, President, BMW Group DesignworksUSA. “We are passionate about creating innovative solutions for mobility in increasingly dense urban centers such as the Bay Area, and we are excited as our collaborative partnership with BART gets underway,” Schaffer continues.