Obese women who have weight-loss surgery between pregnancies may be less likely to experience complications like high blood pressure and preterm births in their second pregnancy, a recent study suggests.

Researchers examined hospital records from 2002 to 2014 for more than 1.6 million women 15 to 45 years old in New South Wales, Australia. The study focused on 326 women who had bariatric surgery between their first and second pregnancies and 461,917 women who had two pregnancies without a weight-loss operation in between.

The study found that for obese women who had the surgery between pregnancies, the risk of complications dropped markedly from the first pregnancy to the second, although it didn’t reach the level seen in the general population of women.

“The odds of adverse pregnancy outcomes among women who have bariatric surgery do not decrease to the level observed in the general birthing population; however, there was substantial improvement,” lead study author I Ibiebele of Royal North Shore Hospital in New South Wales and colleagues write in BJOG. Read Complete Article

Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings (RIIHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL), has entered into binding agreements with Canada’s Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and its institutional partners for an investment of Rs 25,215 crore in the telecom tower assets of the RIL.

In a notification to the stock exchanges, RIL noted that Brookfield and its partners would invest Rs 25,215 crore in the units to be issued by the Tower Infrastructure Trust. At the closing of the transaction, the Trust will own 100 per cent of the issued and paid up equity share capital of Reliance Jio lnfratel. Brookfield will buy 100 per cent units issued by the Trust, which, in turn, owns 100 per cent equity of Reliance Jio Infratel, the operating company for Jio’s tower assets.

Reliance Jio lnfratel has a portfolio of about 130,000 telecom towers that form the backbone of Reliance Jio Infocomm’s network. There are plans to build additional towers and the total number of towers is expected to reach approximately 175,000 towers. Jio is an anchor tenant of the tower portfolio under a 30-year Master Services Agreement.

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A court in Pakistan on Tuesday sentenced former president Pervez Musharraf to death for high treason, giving its judgment on charges relating to the imposition of extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, reported the Dawn newspaper.

Musharraf, 74, ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008 and lives in Dubai in self-imposed exile. The previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had filed the treason case against the former army chief in 2013 over the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.

The trial in the high-profile treason case has not seen much progress since Musharraf left for Dubai in March 2016 after his name was removed from the no-fly list.

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Smartphone design trends 2019: Once a game of specifications, the smartphone market came a long way this year. Besides offering the best mix of specifications and features, mobile phone makers now are also making efforts on their products’ design language — that might have been one of the key differentiators for smartphones launched in 2019. From a reflective gradient design to 3D curved body and obstruction-free profile, the smartphones launched in 2019 experimented with different designs while also enhancing the overall product build.

Business Standard lists top five best-looking smartphones launched in 2019 with a distinct design language:

Oppo Reno 2

The Reno 2 (review) perfected the smartphone design to become one of the best of the year 2019 in terms of looks. The phone has a dual-colour-tone design that looks absolutely gorgeous, especially in the luminous black colour. Moreover, its design is accentuated by better ergonomics and a light-weight build. The phone’s premium glass-metal sandwich construction complements its design, and the use of Corning Gorilla Glass on the front and back makes it resilient to everyday abuses. Additionally, the phone has an obstruction-free profile with no notch or cut-out on the front, and no camera bump or capacitive fingerprint sensor on the rear. The phone’s design feels natural and it is comfortable to hold and operate. Its overall design is accentuated by a ‘Shark Fin’ mechanical pop-up selfie camera module that houses the front camera and earpiece. Readmore

Best flagship smartphones 2019: Affordable flagship smartphones are value-for-money products that offer top-notch specifications and features for a midrange price. In the past couple of years, this segment has been dominated by Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus. In 2019, however, other smartphone brands also got a toehold in this space with products that boasted specifications and features otherwise found only in premium smartphones.

Here are top five affordable flagship smartphones (priced under Rs 40,000) that were launched in 2019:

Asus ROG Phone II

Asus ROG Phone 2Primarily a gaming-centric smartphone, the ROG Phone II from the stable of Taiwanese electronics maker Asus is an all-round smartphone offering the best of flagships at an affordable price. From an AMOLED screen with a high refresh rate to stereo speakers and high-capacity battery, this smartphone exceeds expectations and gives the best value for money in the midrange flagship segment. If there is any phone that comes close to toppling the OnePlus’ dominance in the midrange flagship segment, it has to be the Asus ROG Phone II. Readmore

Best wearable tech devices 2019: It has been an eventful year for fitness enthusiasts, especially those who wanted an ideal companion to track their workouts and offer insights.

The year 2019 saw smartwatches becoming part of daily life for many. These devices not only help you keep track of your daily steps and heart rate but also measure other fitness metrics crucial for overall insights. What’s more, you get regular notifications on apps ranging from WhatsApp to Instagram, and you can reply to them from your watch itself. They can also store music, so you wouldn’t have to carry your phone during workouts. With some smartwatches, you could even attend calls.

Of the many launches this year, Business Standard lists top 5 smartwatches that stood out in 2019:

Apple Watch Series 5

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch Series 5 does a lot to ease your everyday life — it is not only a phenomenal lifestyle gadget but also a proactive health support. The addition to an always-on display, a compass, and an electrical heart rate sensor, its own App Store makes this fifth-generation update a fiercely independent device.

Its accuracy in tracking fitness metrics is top-notch, and the deep integration of its watchOS 6 with iOS 13 makes it one of the best smartwatches available right now.

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The upcoming Oppo Reno3 Pro 5G would come with a curved edged screen with a punch hole in the top left corner. Besides, the smartphone’s screen would have a refresh rate of 90Hz, according to its promo.

The Reno3 Pro 5G will be joined by a non-5G variant as well as the vanilla Reno3 and its 5G version.

The Chinese handset maker has already revealed the designs of these models, and now the company has confirmed they will come in four colours — Misty White, Moon Night Black, Blue Starry Night, and Sunrise Impression (machine translated from Chinese), GSMArena reported on Saturday.

The handset maker has already confirmed that the Reno3 will pack in a 4,035 mAh battery, which is 10 mAh bigger than the battery on the Pro variant. Read complete Article

Expanding its financial services portfolio, Chinese electronics maker Xiaomi on Tuesday announced the Mi Credit – an app-based credit lending service with a limit of up to Rs 1 lakh on personal loans. Being an online marketplace for lenders, the app debuts with support from five non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and fintech firms — Aditya Birla Finance Limited, Money View, EarlySalary, Zestmoney and CreditVidya. Apart from lending services, the company also partnered with Experian to provide credit score report free of cost on the Mi Credit app.

According to Xiaomi, the Mi Credit service is currently available in more than 10 states, covering around 1,500 pin codes, and the company aims to roll our services across all pin codes by the end of this financial year (March 2020). The Mi Credit app is now available on Google Play Store, Xiaomi app store and GetApps platform for Android smartphones. Besides, it will come preloaded on the company’s MIUI operating system-powered smartphones. Read Complete Article

India’s telecom majors have decided to hike their tariffs by around 40%. While the new tariffs announced by Airtel and Vodafone Idea will take effect from midnight of December 3, 2019, Reliance Jio has decided to raise its tariffs from the midnight of December 6, 2019. State-owned BSNL has also announced plans to increase tariffs, but is yet to announce the date for the same.

The move comes after the recent Supreme Court judgment on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) which has left the telecom majors saddled with government dues of more than Rs 92,000 crore.

Airtel and Vodafone Idea have ended their Rs 169 and 199 plans that offer 1GB and 1.5GB data per day, respectively, for 28 days. Airtel will provide access to its premium content on Airtel Xtream. Jio will be introducing All-in-One plans which will cost 40% higher, but will offer 300% more benefits to customers, the company said.

Vodafone Idea and Airtel customers have time until midnight of December 3, 2019 to recharge at old rates before new tariffs kick in. Read Complete Article

Facebook started testing a tool on Monday that lets users move their images more easily to other online services, as it faces pressure from regulators to loosen its grip on data.

The social network’s new tool will allow people to transfer their photos and videos directly to competing platforms, starting with Google Photos.

The company said it will first be available to people in Ireland and will be refined based on user feedback.

The tool will then be rolled out worldwide in the first half of 2020.

US and European regulators have been examining Facebook’s control of personal data such as images as they look into whether the tech giant’s dominance is stifling competition and limiting choice for consumers.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reacted by calling for new rules to address “data portability” and other issues. Read Complete Article