Rail Budget 2016: 8 things every traveller must take note of.

Indian Railways is known globally for having one of the strongest railway networks in the world. Quite naturally, a large chunk of those travelling across the country consider trains as one of the key modes of transport.
The much-awaited railway budget was presented by Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday. Let's take a quick look at a few highlights from this budget that every traveller should know.

1. WiFi services will be available in 100 stations this year, and the service will be expanded to 400 more over the next two years. This will keep travellers well-connected at all times, and help them beat boredom.
2. The walls of many station across the country are being painted with murals. This will make the railway stations tourist attractions in themselves. Besides, it will give travellers a glimpse into the local attractions and a peek into the cultural richness of the particular region.
3. Railway stations of pilgrimage destinations will be beautified. While Puri will be the first, other places included in this project are Ajmer, Dwarka, Gaya, Varanasi, Haridwar and Parasnath, among others.
4. IRCTC will soon offer a wide variety of food choices that will include local cuisines as well. E-catering will be expanded from 40 stations to 408 stations. In order to make train journeys hassle-free for mothers, a children's menu and baby food will be on offer.
5. FM stations are expected to provide in-train entertainment via PA systems.
6. Tejas, the new train with an operating speed of 130kmph and world-class on board services, will make train journeys more interesting.
7. Booking tickets will become quicker and more hassle-free, as the capacity of the e-ticketing system has been enhanced from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 per minute.
8. Travellers will be able to explore a lot of new destinations as the north-eastern states of Mizoram and Tripura will soon be connected via a broad-gauge railway network.

Call centre accuses Ringing Bells of forgery and non payment of dues

In another controversial turn of events in the Freedom 251 saga, Ringing Bells has been accused of "fraud" and non-payment of dues by its customer service provider -- a charge refuted by the smartphone company. Ringing Bell has on the other hand accused the BPO company, Cyfuture, of having failed in handling the huge traffic of customer calls.
Cyfuture Founder and CEO Anuj Bairathi said, "We were always sceptical of Ringing Bells and their business model. After several rounds of discussions with their management team and when they showed us names of senior politicians visiting their launch event, we decided to take up their project." The first few days after the phone was unveiled, the call-centre number received lakhs of calls which were attended and promptly responded to and even Ringing Bells was happy with our services, he said.
"However, when we started asking for our payments, which were to be made to us on a weekly basis, they started making false allegations and abruptly decided to terminate our services citing unsatisfactory services.This is a clear case of cheating, fraud and breach of contract. As per the contract, Ringing Bells had specifically assured us of a minimum lock-in period of one year and no termination before a year," Bairathi told PTI.
Refuting the charges, Ringing Bells said people approaching helpdesk were unable to connect and the company directly received thousands of complaints from customers in this regard. "We had outsourced this job to Cyfuture BPO. Telecom companies confirmed that the helpline was receiving a volume of approximately 12 lakh calls per hour. It came to our knowledge that the BPO company was not able to handle the traffic. We are looking into the situation to serve our customers better," Ringing Bells President Ashok Chaddha said.
Bairathi said as per their agreement, in the event of termination due to unsatisfactory services, Ringing Bells was to provide a 30 day notice-period and make all pending payments.
"They are also not taking our calls. We plan to take all necessary legal recourse including filing a police complaint to fight our case. We have started talking with police and file case by tomorrow. There will be ruckus at our company if we lay off 100 employees hired for Ringing Bells project," Bairathi said.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/call-centre-accuses-ringing-bell-of-forgery-and-non-payment-of-dues/1/605884.html

Water scarcity: This woman is going to run 40 marathons in 7 deserts over 7 weeks for the cause..

40 marathons in 7 deserts over 7 weeks. Now, that is a great commitment specially because it is for a cause.
The Australian CEO of a water conservation charity called Thirst will be taking up this challenging task only to raise awareness about water scarcity.
45-year-old Mina Guli, will visit 7 continents to run the marathon and is all concerned about meeting a deadline we all seem indifferent about. By 2030, there will be a 40 per cent greater demand for water than the supply of water available. According to her, the work needs to be done in these 15 years.

Source: Thirst

Delhiites might have understood the gravity of water scarcity few days back, well thanks to the Jat agitation. But that was temporary, however, by 2030 nearly half the world's population will be living "in areas of high water stress" according to the United Nations.Guli decided to run this ultra marathon because she wanted to do something 'crazy' to bring the world's attention to the issue.
If she completes the marathon she would have ran 1,688 kilometers. All the Best Guli!

Honda Activa tops industry volume chart for 5th time in January

The share of the scooters in its overall volume has gone up by 7 percentage points to 65 per cent in the month.

 

Even as bike sales continue to head south, scooterisation of the market is on the rise with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India clocking record sales in January at over 2.10 lakh units, making its Activa top the volume share for fifth time this fiscal.
With this, the company's market share in the scooter space has increased by 1 percentage point to 56 per cent, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, senior VP for sales & marketing at Honda Motorcycle & Scooter said citing the Siam data for the month.


At the same time, the share of the scooters in its overall volume has gone up by 7 percentage points to 65 per cent in the month.
While Honda sold 2,10,123 lakh Activas last month, up from 1.98 lakh units a year ago, the immediate rival Maestro from Hero MotorCorp recorded a sales of 48,000 units in January.
Moreover, he said, all the Honda scooter models are in the top 10 selling scooter models in the month.
Activa topped the volume share for the fifth time this fiscal, having done so in June, July, August and October, Guleria told PTI.


Within the 2-wheeler space, the number two brand is Hero's Splendor grossing 1.99 lakh units, massively down from 2.23 lakh a year ago. While the total bike sales witnessed a negative growth of 2 per cent Year To Date (YTD), the scooter sales grew 11 per cent and for Honda it was 13 per cent in the month.
However, the flip side is that Honda's bike sales declined 15 per cent, as it could not meet the rising demand following a week-long plant shutdown for annual maintenance.
Guleria said led by the Activa success, the contribution of the scooter segment to overall industry has also grown by 2 percentage point to 30 per cent in the April-January period over the same period last fiscal.
The demand for the Activas has been such that it had a month's waiting period all this while, especially for its automatic version. However, Guleria exuded confidence that they could bring down the waiting period drastically with the new 1.2 million scooters' only plant going on-stream last week in Gujarat.

On February 17, the company advanced the commissioning of its fourth plant in Gujarat, which also is the world's largest scooters-only plant.
The first line of the plant with an installed capacity of 6 lakh is already on-stream and is expected to reach its full potential over the next 45 days when it can roll out 22,000 units a day, Guleria said.
"The second line of similar capacity (6 lakh) will be on-stream over the next three months, which will help company end the waiting period by September," Guleria said.    
When asked where does he see Honda with the new plant running, he said with more production of bikes and scooters, the overall market share should cross 35 per cent (for bikes).
On whether the company will recoup its market share in the bike space with the new launches, Guleria said two of their bikes are in the top league.


While the CB Shine tops the 125-cc segment, its 110-cc bike Livo launched in July has crossed the 1 lakh-mark in just five months at a time when the segment has de-grown by 6 per cent.
On the new low-end bike Navi, priced at Rs 39,500, he said the response has been very good as they could get 8,000 bookings through the app alone, even though the commercial launch is due next month.
Student population in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, etc has evinced great interest in the Navi, which was launched at the recent auto expo, he said.

Pakistan star Shoaib Malik not scared of Indian batsmen..

Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik is pumped up about the upcoming clash against arch-rivals India in the ongoing Asia Cup T20. The two countries have not played each other since the 2015 Word Cup, which India won convincingly thanks to Virat Kohli's hundred and heroics from the bowlers.
Pakistan were scheduled to 'host' India in a bilateral limited-overs series late last year but the BCCI was not keen on traveling to the Middle East. Pakistan had subsequently turned down an offer to play in India.
After much speculation, the Pakistan government today gave its cricket team the nod to go ahead and play the ICC World Twenty20 in India. The two sides will face off in Dharamshala on March 19.
However, before that, they will play in Mirpur this Saturday and Malik feels it would be a cracker of a game despite India's dominant performances this year.
Out of the seven T20 Internationals they have played this year, India have won six while Pakistan lost bilateral series against England (3-0) and New Zealand (2-1).
"Indian batsmen are very consistent but we have a good bowling attack. This is going to be a great game. This is going to be a big opportunity for players of both the teams, India-Pakistan matches always are," Malik told Aaj Tak in an exclusive interview.
Malik said Pakistan's players are geared up after the Pakistan Super League and even though India have dominated Australia, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh in the tournament opener, it would be a battle to watch out for in the weekend.
"Coming after playing the PSL straightaway, our preparation has been very good. There's no doubt India have performed very well in Australia and even vs Bangladesh yesterday, (but) I think it will be a great battle between two good teams," Malik said.
The 34-year-old, who has so far played 70 T20 matches for Pakistan, said it would be great to meet India in the final of the Asia Cup before the World T20 match next month as the two sides don't get to play each other very often.
"We wish it happens (playing India again in the Asia Cup in final and then in Dharamshala on March 19). We always want to play more and more against each other. Let's hope it happens."
More importantly, Malik had to answer a question about wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza's support. Who would she be cheering for when the two countries battle it out in front of the Mirpur crowd?
"We maintain the same status; she supports Team India and wants her husband to do well, perform well in the middle if he is playing," said the former Pakistan captain.
Malik also had kind words to say for Mohammad Amir, who has made a successful international comeback after serving a five-year ban over his role in the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. The 23-year-old's return had created a major controversy in Pakistan cricket, with a few senior players protesting during a national camp.
"Amir is returning after a gap of five years but you can see that his performance is consistent now. Cricketers of the world admit that he is still a world-class bowler but he needs a bit more time to settle down."

After 23 harrowing years, a free Dutt walks back as a potential mega force..

Why would there be such media frenzy over a 55-plus filmstar whose last outing as solo hero was a humongous flop and who spent the last 42 months behind bars making paper bags? Because the actor is Sanjay Dutt.
He walked out a free man to the kind of adulation many younger actors would kill for from Pune's Yerwada Central prison on Wednesday into the loving arms of wife Maanyata and one of the most successful directors of our times- Rajkumar Hirani.
For those who argue meaty roles dry up for ageing actors in Bollywood unless their surname is Khan, Dutt had Hirani escorting him back to tinsel town as Bollywood furiously tweeted its approval for the Baba of all seasons.
Hirani, who is working on a yet-untitled biopic on Dutt with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead, said: "We are happy Sanju is back. He has served his term and he is going to come back and play his second innings. Indians are famous for scoring well in the second innings. I'm sure he will rock it. I look forward to his biopic and also to starting Munna Bhai 3 with him very soon."
Brand-ed
Dutt went to jail on 16 May, 2013 after the Supreme Court rejected his review petition for reconsideration of his conviction. And his last film as solo hero was Policegiri, released on July 5, 2013, which the actor had hoped would gross `100 crore.
The film tanked and all that was heard about Dutt was news of his frequent furloughs and how the system bends to favour the rich and powerful.
But if the adulation he walked out to on Thursday is any indication, Dutt is starting life with a clean slate and as a rust-proof restarter -Baba 2.0, if you please. "Brands are evaluated on many parameters.
Sanju's not a bad guy. He did something wrong and he has done time for that. He's clean now. He's a popular actor and has attracted a lot of sympathy. Brands will need to make their own assessments, but if they want to be bold he's the man," says ad guru Piyush Pandey.
Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha agrees. "He's very strong. And he always manages to bounce back. He's great at comebacks, he has always done it and he will do it again. He'll be back up in 10 days."

Role play
Which may be an exaggeration, but the image makeover has already started for the troubled actor who first got into drugs and then got mixed up with the underworld and was subsequently booked for illegal possession of arms in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
After walking out of jail, Dutt bent down in front of the flashbulbs and frenzied reporters, touched the soil outside prison, turned and saluted the national flag flying at the prison gate. Minutes after, he said: "There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends. I am here because of the support of my family and friends."
This could not have been scripted better. Before he went to jail, Dutt had successfully transformed his onscreen image of the misguided young man with a history of drugs and violence in Yodha and then the menacing gangster of Khalnayak, and later Vaastav, to the more acceptable Munna Bhai MBBS. From the macho anti-hero to the dreaded villain, from the bhai with a golden heart to a goofball, Dutt has done it all.
The question is- will the big roles still come his way? "He was a very nervous person in the last 8-10 years. It was showing in his work. Not anymore.
He will be relaxed, ready to give his best to the industry," says director Sajid Khan. Would he cast Dutt in his movies? "Of course I would. Who wouldn't!"
"He will definitely get the kind of roles that an Anil Kapoor or a Rishi Kapoor is doing now. Also, his name still carries some weight, and will enhance the star value of a film, so producers will be keen to sign him on," trade analyst Amod Mehra told Reuters.
The third part of the hit Munnabhai franchise apart, there is buzz that Subhash Ghai might cast Dutt in the remake of the 90s hit Khalnayak. Wife Maanyata has reportedly signed Prabhu Deva as director for a home production with Dutt in the lead. And there is Siddharth Anand's tentatively-titled Bang Bang 2 for which he is expected to start shooting in summer.
The future indeed looks bright for Bollywood's favourite Baba who's had more than his share of downs. As producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra says: "It's very rare not to lose hope in a dark cell. I am certain nothing can stop him now."

Gunman kills up to four, and injures 20 in Kansas shooting spree..

An employee killed up to four people and wounded as many as 20 others in a shooting spree that ended at his work site in Hesston, Kansas, on Thursday where he was shot and killed by authorities, the local sheriff told reporters.
The gunman appears to have opened fire at three locations before entering the building of a lawnmower manufacturer where he worked, Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said at a news conference.
The shooter, identified by a dispatcher with the Sheriff's Office as 38-year-old Cedric Ford, began his attacks at about 5 p.m. local time in the town of Newton, where a man driving a truck was shot in the shoulder, Walton said.
Soon after, the suspect shot a person in the leg on another street on the way to his worksite at Excel Industries in Hesston, less than 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Newton, where he opened fire again in the parking lot, Walton said.
The gunman entered Excel Industries and continued his shooting spree, the sheriff said.
"This is just a horrible incident that's happened here," Walton said. "There are going to be a lot of sad people before this is all over."
The shooter killed three or four people, and wounded as many as 20 others before he was killed by authorities, the sheriff said.
The series of shootings about 35 miles (60 km) north of Wichita come less than a week after a Michigan man who worked as a driver for car-hailing service Uber [UBER.UL] was charged with killing six people during a shooting rampage.
A number of mass shootings in the United States have elevated gun control as a campaign issue in the November U.S. presidential election.
A spokesman for the local Via Christi Hospital St. Francis said they have taken in six patients from the shooting, with five in serious condition and one in fair condition.
Wesley Medical Center is treating three patients, said the facility's spokeswoman Susan Burchill. She had no further details.
"Please send your thoughts and prayers to the people of Hesston tonight," Kansas Governor Sam Brownback said in a statement.
An employee at the business told local television station KSN that she was just steps away from the shooter before she made her escape.
"I've been through quite a bit but nothing like that; that's terrifying," the woman, who did not give her full name, told the station.

Did Smriti Irani make factual errors in her Lok Sabha speech?

Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani's 'rousing' speech in the Lok Sabha was high on rhetoric, and has gone viral. Her name has been trending on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter since yesterday's speech.
Her 48-minute speech, intense, full of dramatic expressions, is being lauded by millions, but did she get carried away and make a factual error?
Or was it a truth she conveniently twisted and tried to hide under her fiery speech?
Speaking about Hyderabad Central University PhD scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide, Irani said no doctor was allowed near Rohith's body to try and revive him, and instead, his body was used as a political tool. To quote her, "This is what the police said. No one allowed a doctor near this child, to revive this child. Instead, his body was used as a political tool." She based her argument on a report submitted by the Telangana Police.
However, the on-duty medical examiner of the Hyderabad University refuted the claim made by Smriti Irani that no doctor was allowed to examine the body of PhD scholar Rohith Vemula after he was found hanging in his room.
"His body was cold, stiff and rigid. I knew he was dead, but I did my duty. There was no pulse," Chief Medical Officer Dr Rajashree said.
Smriti Irani's statement has created an uproar on social media among people who are fighting for Rohith Vemula and against the caste discrimination he faced. A Facebook post made by Zikrullah Nisha, calling Smriti Irani a liar, tells a different story from what Irani said. And here's why we should consider it true.
This statement has created an uproar on social media among people who are fighting for Rohith Vemula and against the caste discrimination he faced. A Facebook post made by Zikrullah Nisha, calling Smriti Irani a liar, tells a different story from what Irani said. And here's why we should consider it true.

Zikrullah was the person who called the health center right when he got to know about Vemula's suicide on January 17. Rohith was found dead between 6.30 and 7 pm in room number 207 of the New Research Scholars Hostel in the Hyderabad University campus.

Here's what his post said:
"Liar..Liar..
I was the person who called health center immediately after learning that Rohith Hanged in NRS hostel.
Within 5 minutes CMO Health center Dr. Rajashree P has reached the spot and she checked the pulses and declared him dead. There were Telangana police also present there.
Today MHRD minister lied to entire nation that no doctor and police were allowed to check the dead body till 6:30 AM of next day.(sic)"

Photo: Screengrab from Facebook

This post by Zikrullah has got over 2,000 shares. The News Minute has reported about this discrepancy and even produced an image of the health book of Hyderabad university in which Dr Rajshree has made an entry after inspecting Rohith's body. The entry says, "Body...cold, bloody abdomen, protruding tongue, froth coming out of the mouth." The entry also says that the pupils were dilated, that there was "no heart sound" and no sounds of breathing."

Photo: Twitter@NirmalS94654991

Smriti Irani went on to say "No police was allowed till 6:30 am the following morning. Who tried to help this child? The ones who passed judgement are not the ones appointed by the BJP-led NDA but by the Congress party."
Major boo-boo ma'am?

A Facebook page by the name Rants of India has shared a video showing Police examining Rohith's body and quotes Zikrullah's post talking about the same.

Girls urinate in empty classrooms in this Hyderabad college, thanks to lack of loos..

Picture for representation
We have students making headlines lately for their slogans, dissent and all that they have to say about the nation going down the drains.
Meanwhile, for 476 female students in a college in Hyderabad, their biggest worry is finding a place to pee.
That is the sad state of Smt Durgabai Deshmukh Women's Technical Training Institute in Ameerpet, where there are no 'functional' toilets on campus.
What do these young girls studying in this 40-year-old state-run institute do when they have to relieve themselves?
They are forced to use the college grounds, the terrace or an 'abandoned' classroom, while friends hold a makeshift cover with a 'dupatta'.
Tired of filing complaints umpteen number of times to the principal about the 'unhygienic toilets' in the campus, which neither have proper facilities nor are cleaned regularly, the students seem to have given in to what the college has to offer.
"We are adjusting by peeing wherever we can," confessed one of the student to The Times of India .
When TOI contacted the college principal, Mr Suresh Janga, he said the toilets of the institute cannot be repaired because a 'new building for the college is under construction'.
"We are forced to live here. The present building is just a temporary arrangement. The toilets that we have are abandoned. Since the building will be dismantled, we cannot repair it," he said.
As for the new building, its completion is uncertain due to "lack of government funds".
The institute's former head of the department of Architecture, Professor M Nagaraj, wrote a letter to Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and the state Women and Child Welfare department regarding the condition of the toilets last year in November.
He is yet to hear back from either of the offices.
The miseries of the students at Smt Durgabai Deshmukh Women's Technical Training Institute do not end with the forsaken state of the campus toilets.
The college is said to be standing amid 'heaps of garbage lying unattended at multiple corners'. And that, of course, comes along with the stench of urine filling the air.
For an institute that offers diploma courses in architecture assistantship, civil engineering, computer engineering and electronics and communications engineering, it also is said to be suffering with the lack of labs and equipment.
"All the lab equipment purchased are misused because there are no proper entries made in the stock register," Professor Nagaraj stated in his letter to the chief minister.
"The computers in the institution are not fully equipped. Some of the parts are damaged. They are neither repaired nor replaced," he wrote.
Now, we hope all the issues of this ailing college are attended to ASAP.
However, not to sound judgmental, but we do think a batch of aspiring engineers can come up with a better way than to urinate/defecate in the open.

TVS Victor brings in flamboyant styling..

TVS Victor was a brand name that worked wonders for TVS when it was launched back in 2002.

 

 

More than 80 per cent of the Indian motorcycle market is dominated by commuter motorcycles in the 100-110cc segment. So don't balk at the fact that yet another 110cc motorcycle hits the already teeming market. It is after all, the bread and butter segment where TVS, until now, has had only two entrants.

Consumers of this segment are looking for a dash of premium but what theyy're really after is where TVS excels- Engines.

Both the Star City + and Sport have raked in a lot for TVS, both in terms of sales and visibility in the segment. Moreover, TVS motorcycles have been known for their reliability and most importantly, fuel efficiency.

Analogue-digital instrumentation highlights a big tachometer with readouts displayed on the LCD screen.

But without a constantly updated product portfolio, there's always the possibility of fading amongst the plethora of options available out there for the consumers.Enter the all-new TVS Victor. This was a brand name that worked wonders for TVS when it was launched back in 2002. Contemporary styling, Power and Eco 'modes' among other features saw it sell about 40,000 units a month at the time. It was eventually phased out in 2007 only to be reincarnated nearly a decade later.

Series springs for the rear suspension offer versatility for ride and load bearing.

Now, the new bike brings in flamboyant styling albeit picking up cues from its stable mates. For instance, the headlamp follows the design elements of the Sport's unit. The fuel tank and rear sections closely resemble the ones on the Star City +.
I've always found TVS to follow a conservative approach to sporty design and it works for them. Consumers of this segment are looking for a dash of premium but what they're really after is also where TVS excels - the engine.

Spacious seat offers comfortable room for both rider and pillion.

A 3-valve Ecothrust engine resides within the single downtube frame. Apart from the healthy power and torque figures, it is the engineering that has gone into the motor that's interesting. The focus here was to increase refinement levels which in turn would result in better riding comfort and reduced NVH. In went a silent cam-chain and spring loaded rocker arms to reduce tappet noise. Further, a cooling jacket has been incorporated in the combustion chamber which dissipates heat better, by channelling heat away from the intake valves. While the front suspension is telescopic, the rear suspension is a trick little unit. A stiffer spring has been integrated with a lower rate spring mounted above the former, to counter heavier pillion loads without compromising the ride quality.

Hazard light switch can be mistaken for an engine kill switch.

On the move, this setup comes across as slightly stiff and higher speeds amplified the stiffness, transferring jolts onto the arms and back. TVS claims to have built the Victor for family use and that's evident from the roomy seats and the fact that the suspension was more pliant while riding two up. Furthermore, the engine packs enough grunt to even feel sporty. There's ample power in the mid-range, running through gears on the well spaced 4-ratio gearbox.

The new engine claims 76kmpl while still being sporty in nature.

The reach to the handlebar is comfortable and so is the seating and peg positioning. Slow rush hour commutes aren't going to leave you tired. The Victor is also agile and much of it is credited to the TVS Remora tyres that offer enough grip and confidence to carry speeds into flowing corners.
We rode the disc brake equipped variant and it displayed excellent braking duties although devoid of brake feel at the lever.

Disc brake offers good stopping power.

VERDICT

Rider and pillion comfort, refinement and smoothness, engine and gearbox performance.

TVS has put in a lot of effort in the new Victor and all of it comes across when astride it. The outstanding refinement levels of the engine, the enthusiastic performance and brilliant comfort levels for both the rider and pillion are all aiming at factors that really matter in this segment.

Stiff ride quality when riding solo, conservative styling may age faster, may not stand out in a crowd.

Better still, value-add features like alloy wheels are standard on the bike. Disc brakes, while optional, still result in a price tag that reflects better value than its closest rivals.

FBI vs I-phone: Court asks for technical details,Apple to file first legal arguments on Friday..

The judge overseeing a U.S. government attempt to force Apple Inc to unlock an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters made it clear she expected a full briefing on the technological details involved in prosecutors' request.
During a telephone conference with attorneys in the case last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym said Apple should have enough time to present "what technically is involved here," along with its legal arguments.
Reuters obtained an audio recording of the conference, which lasted just under 30 minutes, from the court on Wednesday. The judge and the attorneys focused on procedural details and timing.
The FBI is seeking the tech company's help to access shooter Syed Rizwan Farook's iPhone by disabling some of its passcode protections. Apple has pushed back, arguing that such a move would set a dangerous precedent and threaten customer security.
The Justice Department won an order from Pym last week against Apple. The company was not present in court, but Pym gave Apple time to contest the order.
During the phone conference, which was held two days after Pym issued the order, prosecutors informed the judge and Apple attorneys that the government intended to file an additional motion to compel, in which it would ask the judge to again order Apple's compliance.
Pym questioned the necessity of the government's filing.
"I am a little confused about the motion to compel, just because the order in place is actually an order compelling," Pym said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Wilkison said it was necessary because Apple's chief executive, Tim Cook, said he would fight the order. Apple attorney Theodore Boutrous called the government's request "highly unusual" and "inappropriate," and asked Pym to forbid it.
The judge said she would not prohibit the filing. Prosecutors submitted the motion to compel on Friday, which generated a raft of media reports.
Both a Justice Department and an Apple spokesman declined to comment.
Apple is scheduled to file its first legal arguments on Friday. Pym has set a hearing on the issue for next month.

Haryana goons dragged stranded women to fields, gangraped them near Murthal..

Murthal is one destination Delhiites make impromptu travel plans to - be it for the long drive or for Sukhdev Dhaba's delicious food.
Women commuters are being harassed and even raped near Murthal in Haryana. Vehicles with women passengers were stopped on the National Highway 1 during the early hours of Monday, and women were dragged to nearby fields where they were raped, reports The Tribune.
The Haryana Police, however, dismissed the report as rumour, but eyewitnesses say at least 10 women were sexually assaulted. To make things worse, victims and their family members were advised by the district officials not to report the incident so as to safeguard their 'honour'.   
The report throws more light on what exactly happened - 30-odd goons attacked commuters travelling towards Delhi-NCR, set their vehicles ablaze, pulled out women who couldn't flee the car, stripped them and raped. They laid nude in the fields till the time men who accompanied them could find them. The residents of Hassanpur and Kurad rushed to bring clothes and blankets for the victims.
A witness who wanted to keep his identity confidential told The Tribune, "Three women were taken to Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba and united with their families in the presence of senior police officers. They appeared lifeless. District officials who arrived there, instead of investigating the matter, persuaded the families to take the women home. Many were provided transport."
Sukhdev Dhaba was targeted by the goons and tried to set the eatery on fire, but were resisted by the villagers from Hassanpur and Kurad. These people have been camping at the dhaba since Sunday.
Elders from these villages, Hari Krishan of Kurad and Zile Singh of Hassanpur, said there is no point talking about the incident "as the police are sure to shield the criminals and nobody, not even the locals, are safe."
Another dhaba owner, Jai Bhagwan, said four women took refuge inside a water tank near his dhaba. Many victims say senior officers dissuaded them from complaining as "what happened can not be undone". A senior IPS officer rubbishes all this as rumours and requested media houses to refrain writing about these incidents.
Anuradha Beniwal, national chess champion, expressed her opinion about the ongoing Jat protests through a video, which has now gone viral. She introduces herself and says "My first coach was a Thakur and another a Saini. The coach who taught me the finer nuances of the game was from a family of goldsmiths. They did not ask me if I was a Jat or a Thakur, a Baniya or a Dalit. They only knew that I belonged to their own Haryana."
She speaks in fluent Haryanvi and appeals to all Haryanvis to end this "madness" and give up violence.

When Mayawati Express ran into Smriti Central..

The Budget Session of the Parliament today witnessed something very similar to TV operas. In Rajya Sabha, BJP leader and Union HRD minister Smriti Irani and BSP supremo Mayawati got into an ugly spat over Dalit student Rohith Vemula's suicide case.

As soon as the Rajya House convened for Zero Hour, BSP chief Mayawati raised the suicide last month of research scholar Rohith Vemula, questioning the inclusion of Dalits in the probe committee investigating his death.
Mayawati, in her long tirade which continued despite the Speaker's intervention, accused the Modi government of not doing enough to punish those she alleged were responsible for pushing the student to take his life and demanded the resignation of two central ministers - Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani.

To this, a visibly furious education minister Smriti Irani replied, "Mayawatiji, you and your BSP leaders and workers, hear this out for once and all. I will cut off my head and present it at your feet if you are not satisfied with my reply."
Mayawati who was not convinced with Irani's explanation said, "You are not letting anyone speak. And you are an anti-Dalit. I am just asking, what was the problem with including a Dalit in the probe committee? If the person appointed was a Dalit, why aren't you replying to our questions?"
Irani in response said, "There were Dalits in the probe committee. You didn't accept their judgement. The probe committee included a Dalit professor, the warden is a Dalit. Do you want to say that a citizen becomes a Dalit only when Mayawati certifies him to be so?"

Railway Budget 2016: Suresh Prabhu faces dilemma on hiking fares ..

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is not likely to bite the bullet on hiking fares significantly for running the cash-strapped Railways. The Rail Budget, which will be presented on Thursday, is expected to lean more heavily on support from the finance ministry and borrowings to bridge the resource gap.
According to sources, it would not be politically expedient to go in for a significant hike in fares at this juncture as four states are headed for the elections.
Prabhu admitted in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that resources of the Railways are constantly dwindling as freight and passenger fares are not being decided in an optimum manner. He said that the share of Railways in freight as compared to other modes of transportation is declining.
There has been a steady increase in freight rates over the years to cross-subsidise losses incurred in running passenger trains, which has driven freight to the road sector. The cross-subsidy from freight to passenger operation has crossed Rs 30,000 crore this year while the Seventh Pay Commission burden is about Rs 32,000 crore. The Railways earned Rs 136,079.26 crore as against the target of Rs 141,416.05 crore during April-January period, a decline of 3.77 per cent. There has been a slump in passenger and freight revenues this year, which is straining the finances of the Railways.
According to senior officials, stiff competition from airlines for wealthier travellers, whose higher fares are a major source of revenue, had hurt the Railways' earnings along with a fall in demand for major goods like coal and cement.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley cut the Rs 40,000 crore of cash promised to the Railways in his last Budget by a fifth after they failed to spend money on time. The Railways still expects about Rs 50,000 crore in support for projects in 2016-17.
Aiming at shifting goods from road to rail, the Budget is expected to offer various schemes to attract loadings. A scheme for premium high-speed parcel trains is slated to be unveiled in the Budget. In suburban section, the Rail Budget will announce introduction of AC suburban trains in Mumbai, which will be replicated in other areas as well. The fare of AC suburban service will be higher than regular local train. Introduction of dual mode engine to enable the train to run both on diesel and electricity is likely to be announced in the budget.
The Railways has already decided to run as many special trains on higher fares on popular routes catering to the growing demand during festive season, an indirect way of hiking fares. Prabhu will give details about concerted efforts being undertaken by the Railways to keep stations and trains clean and environment-friendly in his second Budget speech. The 400 stations being planned to be developed with private participation are likely to be announced as green stations with several environmentfriendly measures like generation of solar energy, recycling of water, conversion of waste to energy and use of LED lights to be incorporated in the plan

Rohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra star as India crush Bangladesh in Asia Cup opener..

Opener Rohit Sharma smashed 83 runs from 55 balls as India made a winning start to the Asia Cup with a comprehensive 45-run victory over Bangladesh on Wednesday.
Sharma helped India recover from a shaky start to rack up a challenging 166-6 after his side was sent in to bat first on a green track. 
India's rejuvenated bowling attack then restricted Bangladesh to 121-7 in reply, with Ashish Nehra returning figures of 3-23.
Sharma's knock was complemented by Hardik Pandya's 31 as the duo plundered 69 runs in the last five overs to leave Bangladesh with a daunting task.
Sabbir Rahman top-scored for Bangladesh with 44 runs, while Mushfiqur Rahim chipped in with an unbeaten 16.
Sharma made the most use of his extra overs after surviving a close call when on 21. Shakib Al Hasan put down the catch when he cut straight at point off fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and went on score another 62 off just 30 balls.
In overcast conditions, the four-man Bangladesh pace attack left India in a precarious 42-3 before Sharma restored the dominance with a 55-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh, who made 15.
Pandya and Sharma then combined to hammer 61 runs in a 27-ball partnership.
Sharma hit a total of seven fours and three sixes, and was particularly harsh on Mustafizur Rahman, a bowler who had scythed down India's batting order single-handedly on its visit to Bangladesh last year.
Pandya sent the ball across the rope four times and hit one six, causing havoc with the Bangladeshi bowling in the last powerplay.
Fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain returned figures 3-37.
Bangladesh openers failed to give the side an aggressive start what was required in the chase of huge score.
Fast bowlers Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah struck in their opening spell to leave Bangladesh on 15-2 in the fourth over.
Sabbir Rahman retaliated, but India's bowlers proved relentless.
While off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (1-23) strangled Bangladesh halfway through the innings, Nehra ensured the side's comfortable victory by dismissing Mahmudullah and Mashrafe Mortaza in consecutive deliveries.

Sanjay Dutt walks out of Yerwada Jail after 42 months..

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, convicted in 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case is now a free man. He walked out of Pune's Yerwada Jail after 42 months.
Present to receive him outside the jail amidst tight security were his wife Manyata and their children, sister and former MP Priya Dutt and her family, film director Rajkumar Hirani, thousands of fans, a huge media contingent from across India and abroad.
Shortly after he walked out, the actor drove to Pune airport to board a chartered plane to Mumbai. Once in Mumbai, he will proceed straight to the famed Siddhi Vinayak temple to offer prayers.
Then he will visit the Bada Kabrastan in Marine Lines and pray at the grave of his mother the late actress Nargis Dutt.
On the eve of his release after serving 42 months behind bars, a public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay High Court on Wednesday challenging his early release on remission, alleging that the 56-year-old actor was getting preferential treatment.
Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde on Tuesday said the actor will be completing his jail term on February 25, after counting in the eight months and 16 days he earned as exemption or remission on account of good behaviour in prison.

Uber driver suspected in Michigan shootings that left six dead..

A Michigan man who worked as an Uber driver was under arrest on Sunday in the fatal shooting of six people in Kalamazoo, as police investigated reports he may have driven customers of the car-hailing service the night of the rampage.
Prosecutors alleged that Jason Dalton, 45, opened fire, apparently at random, in parking lots outside an apartment building, a car dealership and at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Kalamazoo, about 150 miles (240 km) west of Detroit.
Two other people were wounded, including a teenage girl who was initially thought to have died.
Authorities could not confirm Dalton was working for Uber during the nearly five-hour shooting spree on Saturday evening. He was arrested without incident on Sunday while driving away from the parking lot of an area bar.
An Uber representative confirmed that Dalton was a company driver and had passed background checks. The representative referred questions about whether Dalton was working at the time of the shootings to police.
The victims "appear to be chosen at random, because they were available," Kalamazoo County Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting said. "They were shot multiple times, multiple - nine, 10, 11 shell casings at each of these scenes."
The carnage in Kalamazoo, a city of about 75,000 people, was the latest in a series of mass shootings that have elevated gun control as a campaign issue in the November U.S. presidential election.
The attack also prompted renewed interest in how Uber vets drivers, who use their personal vehicles to ferry customers at prices that are generally below those of established taxi companies. Critics say the company's vetting process is flawed because it never meets with potential drivers in person.
Uber says on its website that it has an "extensive" driver screening process that includes collecting detailed information from potential drivers and using the investigation service Checkr to vet them. Other websites and databases such at the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website are used as well.
WOOD-TV, a Grand Rapids station, quoted police as saying they were investigating reports Dalton dropped off Uber fares at a hotel and then killed four women and wounded a 14-year-old girl at the nearby Cracker Barrel. The teenager was in critical condition, Michigan State Police said.
In an emailed statement, Uber's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, said the company was in contact with police to help with the investigation.
An Uber passenger, Matt Mellen, told CBS TV affiliate WWMT that he had tried to alert the company after a wild ride with Dalton about an hour before the first shooting was reported.
He said Dalton introduced himself using a different name from the one listed as a driver. He then sped through medians and across a lawn, and Mellen jumped out at a stop at about 4:30 p.m. (2130 GMT)
"He just kind of kept looking at me like, 'Don't you want to get to your friend's house?' and I'm like, 'I want to get there alive,'" said Mellen, a brewery worker.
His fiancée posted a Facebook account of the ride that said Dalton had sideswiped a car and run a stop sign. Mellen said he unsuccessfully tried to contact Uber about Dalton after talking to police.
Kalamazoo Police Chief Jeff Hadley told Reuters that investigators were still looking into reports of Dalton picking up Uber fares around the time of the shootings. He confirmed that a man did call police with a report of an erratic Uber driver and the report was relayed to patrol officers.
Hadley said it was not unusual for police to receive such reports and that he was not sure whether investigators had contacted the passenger who made the report.
An Uber spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment on Mellen's account.
Michigan State Police said the carnage began at about 5:30 p.m. ET (2230 GMT) with the report of a woman wounded outside an apartment building. At about 10 p.m., a father and son were killed at the car dealership.
Dalton allegedly opened fire outside the restaurant about 15 minutes later. The four slain women were identified as Mary Lou Nye, 62, of Baroda, Michigan; and Dorothy Brown, 74; Barbara Hawthorne, 68; and Mary Jo Nye, 60, all of Battle Creek, Michigan, state police said.
Earlier, authorities reported seven deaths. Hadley said he understood that the wounded teenage girl was initially believed to have died and was being prepped for organ harvesting when she grasped the hand of one of her parents.
Getting said Dalton was thought to have been in contact with more than one person via cellphone during the shooting spree. Hadley said authorities have contacted Dalton's wife, who is safe and cooperating with investigators.
Dalton is expected to be arraigned on Monday on charges of murder, assault and firearms violations, the prosecutor said. Getting said a semiautomatic pistol was found in Dalton's car. Police said he had no known criminal record.
The Detroit Free Press newspaper said neighbors described Dalton as a father of two who "loved guns" and who worked on cars and had a day job as an insurance salesman.
The Kalamazoo shootings come as Uber is facing a range of regulatory and safety issues. The company agreed last month to pay $28.5 million to settle federal litigation brought by customers who alleged the service misrepresented the quality of its safety practices and fees.

Fiji super cyclone kills 17 and raises fears of health crisis..

Fiji began a massive cleanup on Monday after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tore through the Pacific island nation, killing 17 people, flattening remote villages and cutting off communications.
Aid agencies warned of a widespread health crisis, particularly in low-lying areas where thousands of Fiji's 900,000 people live in tin shacks, after crops were wiped out and fresh water supplies blocked.
Almost 8,000 people remained hunkered down in hundreds of evacuation centres across Fiji where they had headed before tropical cyclone Winston hit late on Saturday with winds of up to 325 kph (200 mph).
"The death toll from Cyclone Winston continues to rise and reports of widespread damage are coming in from across Fiji," said New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully. "It is clear that Fiji faces a major cleanup and recovery operation."
McCully said a New Zealand Defence Force C-130 would leave for the Fijian capital, Suva, later on Monday with relief supplies and an emergency response team.
The majority of the fatalities were along the western coast and were caused mainly by flying debris and drowning in storm surges, authorities said. There were also fears for seven fishermen believed to be missing at sea.
A 36-hour curfew was lifted early on Monday, allowing the Fijian military to ramp up efforts to reach the more remote parts of the archipelago of about 300 islands.
"The Fijians are desperately trying to repair severed lines of communication, but they hold grave fears that the news waiting for them will be dire," said Raijeli Nicole, Pacific regional director of aid group Oxfam.
"Given the intensity of the storm and the images we have seen so far, there are strong concerns that the death toll won't stop climbing today and that hundreds of people will have seen their homes and livelihoods completely destroyed."
Aerial footage of outlying islands taken by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and posted on the Fiji government's official website, showed whole villages flattened and flooded.
Aid agencies were told at a meeting of Fiji's National Emergency Operations Centre on Monday of potential "catastrophic" damage to Koro Island, Fiji's seventh-largest island.
"The aerial survey suggested the runway looks OK so they are going to land on this later this afternoon with emergency personal and some supplies," said Anna Cowley of CARE Australia.
Fiji also reopened its main airport at Nadi.
Food and water supplies are a growing concern, even for areas such as Suva that did not suffer as much damage as the more remote regions.
The Consumer Council of Fiji has urged traders not to sell food and other perishable items that have gone bad due to the effects of the cyclone. The Council's chief executive Premila Kumar said supermarkets and other food stores should destroy such items.
Survivors spoke of the horror of the cyclone, while aid workers scrambled to help victims.
"The noise was deafening. At one point, I turned to my partner and questioned whether we would actually survive," Sarah Bingham, an Australian on holiday on Tokoriki Island, told Reuters by telephone.

Gionee launches Elife S8, a phone that supports 2 WhatsApp accounts...

For phone companies it is getting tough to compete with each other with every phone looking same and working similarly. So, in a bid to shake it up, Gionee on Monday launched the Elife S8, a smartphone with unique software features, including support for dual WhatsApp on single phone. What this means is that consumers will be able to run two different WhatsApp accounts on one phone.

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While the unique WhatsApp support is the headlining feature of the S8, it also comes with a number of other software enhancements. The phone supports features like floating windows and has an inbuilt video editor. It uses the Amigo 3.2 user interface on top of Android Marshmallow. It also features a 3D Touch screen, which will help users access quick settings with long press on an app icon.
The Elife S8 has been globally priced at 449 Euros. It will be available in India "within a month," a Gionee spokesperson told IndiaToday Online.


The Elife S8 is what we can call mainstream phone. It uses Helio P10 processor made by MediaTek and has 4GB RAM. There is 64GB internal storage inside the phone along with support for a microSD card.
At the launch event, Gionee's president William Lu highlighted that the S8 has a unique design. It uses an all-metal body and has no rubber inserts for antennas and sensors. Lu said that the the phone doesn't need it because it uses some special Gionee created technology to hide sensors inside the aluminium without any interference from metal. The S8 is a large phone with a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with resolution of 1080p.


It also has a 16-megapixel camera with laser auto focus. On the front, the phone sports an 8-megapixel phone.
For Gionee the focus with the S8 is on design and photography. "The S8 is equipped with an enhanced camera system for brighter and clearer photos and videos. It is the first smartphone to useRWB technology, as well as a F1.8 aperture and 6P lens that enables users to take optimum images in low-light scenarios," the company said in a statement.


In India, Gionee competes with firms like Xiaomi, Lenovo and Huawei. While in China, the company had done better against its rivals, in India it has struggled somewhat. The company believes that it has good products but it needs to bolster its message to consumers and marketing. That, according to the firm, is going to happen this year in India as the company has already prepared the plans for 2016 and is in the middle of rolling out new marketing initiatives.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/gionee-launches-elife-s8-a-phone-that-supports-2-whatsapp-accounts/1/602552.html

Why the Samsung Galaxy S7 fails to impress ..

Modern smartphones are predictable. That's the biggest problem with them. Yes, they are plenty powerful, but their predictability makes them boring. Apple has faced the problem for years. Every new iPhone model is followed up by a 'S' model, which looks identical, but brings a new innovation to the table. After last year's impressive redesign of the Galaxy S6, Samsung has basically refined the design of its flagship smartphone. But that also means the phone isn't exciting. The Galaxy S7 feels more of an 'S' update, that too a muted one. It certainly fails to impress. Here's why:

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Same old design
While the Galaxy S7 is an utterly handsome phone, it looks and feels like its predecessor. It is not a big break from what Galaxy S6 users already have. That's the big problem.
Undoubtedly, Samsung has refined the design which has enabled it to add IP68 levels of water resistance and also a microSD card. It has also managed to reduce the size of the rear camera bulge and also has recessed the home-button fingerprint scanner.
However, in the scheme of things from a visual perspective these are minor changes.
No pressure sensitive display
The Galaxy S7 was widely rumoured to come with a pressure sensitive display. By as is the case with rumours, there often is a lot of smoke. The truth was revealed at the launch as there is no iPhone like pressure sensitive display in the new S7. Even the S7 Edge doesn't have it.
Perhaps, Samsung couldn't make an AMOLED display with such a high resolution, but whatever be the case, many will be left disappointed.
No reversible port
With the iPhone having the reversible 'lighting' connector for the last 4 years and now most high-end Android phones having the new USB-Type C port, it is perplexing that Samsung didn't opt to add the new USB standard to the Galaxy S7.
The Galaxy S7 was even rumoured to have the port, but Samsung seemingly felt that the port hadn't reached mass usage and it also needed to retain compatibility with the Gear VR, which is being given away as a gift with Galaxy S7 pre-orders.
When you buy a flagship smartphone, it is always good to get future proof technology. MicroUSB isn't going to be cutting edge in a year or two, it's going to be USB Type C.
No key innovation
The main problem is that in front of the Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S7 feels like a tepid update. The S6 was lauded for its design and boasted of a camera that beat the iPhone. The S7 improves things further by adding old favourites like water resistance and a microSD card slot, but it offers nothing new. It has nothing ground breaking. The S6 was the first phone to have a dual-edged display and with its camera for the first time an Android phone had a lead over Apple's iPhone. Now that the bar has been raised, one expected Samsung to raise it further, which clearly hasn't happened.
Not even a 'S' update
Every iPhone 'S' model has introduced a new technology which has become standard issue for smartphones. Apart from the 3GS which was purely geared at speed, the iPhone 4S added a digital assistant, the iPhone 5S added a fingerprint scanner and the iPhone 6S has added a pressure sensitive display. All these are things that we get on modern smartphones.
The Galaxy S7 adds no such new feature. If anything it is bringing back old features. The Galaxy S7 feels like the Galaxy S4 because both the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy S6 brought major redesigns and their successors were measly refinements.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/why-the-samsung-galaxy-s7-fails-to-impress/1/601188.html

Pampore encounter: Militants may have done recce of the area..

Captain Tushar Mahajan's mother breaks down on her son's coffin in Udhampur on Monday


The 48-hour long fierce gunfight between the Army and three foreigners hiding in a government building in Pampore ended with the death of the foreigners.
The Army said all the three militants, in the multi-storeyed Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) at Pampore in Pulwama district, about 15 km south of Srinagar city, belonged to a Fidayeen squad. They also suspect that the militants carried out a recce of the area before carrying out the attack.
"A large cache of arms and ammunition have been recovered. Building has to be secured and sanitised and this process is going on," the General Officer Commanding Victor Force (GOC), Arvind Dutta, told reporters after the encounter.
The Victor Force is the army's counter insurgency in south Kashmir.
The GOC dismissed any criticism that the operation took longer than expected stating that it is a matter of perception. He said the army moved cautiously to eliminate the militants as the building they were hiding in had plenty of rooms.
"There was large space for hiding. We had no time limits. We wanted to move cautiously to eliminate them," Dutta said adding that, "If army had not exercised restraint, there would have been collateral damage."
Speaking about the militants he said that, "Their identities are not known yet and they are being checked," but went on to add that they were all foreigners.
"The foreign militants don't usually do a recce of the area before striking. However, this possibility cannot be ruled out in this case," Dutta added.
The GOC said that they had not received any specific intelligence inputs about the strike.
In the operation the army lost three men including two officers, while two CRPF personnel were killed.
Early on Sunday morning 23-year-old Captain Pawan Kumar, who was the head of the Para Special Force team that carried out the operation, sustained injuries while entering the building. He was moved to the Army's 92 base hospital Badamibagh, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The army also lost 21-year-old Captain Tushar Mahajan and 32-year-old Lance Naik Om Prakash who were both instrumental in clearing a major portion of the EDI building.
The army said Captain Tushar Mahajan and Lance Naik Om Prakash were members of the team that had launched the operation against the militants on Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon at about 3:30 pm the militants attacked a CRPF convoy in which 11 personnel were wounded. Of the 11, two died from their injuries.
A civilian, an employee at EDI, was caught in the crossfire between militants and the paramilitary troopers during the initial attack. Police and security forces also evacuated more than 100 people, including students and EDI employees, from the building before engaging the militants.

Google is shuttering Google Compare: Report..

Google is shuttering Google Compare, its U.S. comparison-shopping site for auto insurance, credit cards and mortgages after one year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The quick reversal is a setback to the Alphabet unit's efforts to use its enormous reach to provide consumers with niche shopping services and financial-services tools, the Journal said.
The company said in an email to its partners on Monday that Google Compare's U.S. and U.K. services would start winding down this month and terminate on March 23, according to the Journal.
Google said the service didn't meet its expectations and that the company will now focus on AdWords and future innovations, the paper reported citing the email.
Google could not immediately be reached for comment outside U.S. business hours.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/google-is-shuttering-google-compare-report/1/602819.html

Pathankot attack: Raids across Pakistan, several terror suspects arrested..

File photo of Pathankot terror attack

 

Pakistani agencies have conducted country-wide raids and arrested several terror suspects in connection with the Pathankot attack.
According to reports in Pakistani media, raids were conducted in Sialkot, Gujranwala, Jhelum and Dina. Those picked up by Pakistani authorities have been shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation, The News reported.
The report claimed that Pakistani agencies are looking for those allegedly involved directly in the Pathankot attack or the facilitators of the attackers.
Earlier, in an exclusive interview with India Today's Karan Thapar, Sartaj Aziz, Advisor to Pakistan PM had rejected India's charge of no action over Pathankot and claimed that Masood Azhar has been under detention since January 14.
Last week, Pakistan registered an FIR in connection with the Pathankot terror attack. The FIR, however, had no mention of Jaish-e-Mohammad boss Masood Azhar, who masterminded the January 2 strike.
"The FIR is only a first stage report and subsequent FIRs will definitely carry names," Aziz said.

Asia Cup: Don't take Bangladesh lightly, Ravi Shastri warns India..

Indian cricket team Director Ravi Shastri wants a positive start from his wards in the Asia Cup, and said "winning is habit" which they want to keep rolling in the Asia Cup, which kick starts on Wednesday.
India will face hosts Bangladesh in the tournament opener and Shastri feels every game from here on is "important" for his side in the run up to the ICC World Twenty20, starting next month.

"Winning is a habit so when you are playing good cricket it is important to keep that habit going. Focus on your strengths, focus on your work ethics and make sure that you are not complacent, neither are you overconfident," Shastri said.
India are currently on a roll in Twenty20 cricket having routed Australia 3-0 and then registering a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Sri Lanka at home.
"We don't want to always come from behind, sometimes we want to start well also. So, hopefully we will be looking to do that in this tournament. Like I said every game now is important before the World Cup. The momentum is good so it is important that we keep that momentum going," he said.
There are reports that Bangladesh is preparing a green top here to outwit the opposition batsmen but Shastri said the Indian team is not at all bothered about pitches and just want to concentrate on its own game.

"It doesn't matter what wicket they have prepared. We want to play cricket and keep the good form going. It is as simple as that. It may be Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan or any other opposition. Our job is to play and do our duties. Opposition will keep on changing. We just need to do our job," he said.
However, Shastri warned his team not to take Bangladesh lightly.
"I have seen cricket in Bangladesh grow. I have come here right from the 1990's as a broadcaster and I am happy to see the way cricket has developed and happy to see the way Bangladesh has evolved as a team. No team can take them lightly as they showed last year in the way they played one- day cricket. Tribute to them and they have the respect of every opposition," he said.
The last time India visited Bangladesh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men had a forgettable outing as slumped to their first-ever ODI series loss (1-2) against the hosts.
Asked Shastri about the last tour, he said: "It happened 8 months back and I have already forgotten that. Thereafter we played a lot of cricket. Ask me whatever has happened in the last 2 weeks. My memory is not that good.

Jat quota stir: Haryana CM ML Khattar, 2 other ministers summoned to Delhi...

Manohar Lal Khattar


Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar alongwith state agriculture minister OP Dhankar and state finance minister Captain Abhimanyu have been summoned to Delhi to meet Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.  Venkaiah Naidu to deliberate on the issue of reservation for Jats in education and jobs.
Here are the latest updates:

• Khattar along with OP Dhankar and Captain Abhimanyu have left for Rohtak  to take stock of the situation in the town.
• Venkaiah Naidu has called Khattar for deliberations to ascertain the state's views on the subject.
• Delhi-Chandigarh Highway which was blocked by protesters, has been cleared now.
• Sonipat Deputy Commissioner has directed the government & private schools, colleges in the area to remain closed till February 24.
• Munak canal has been partially repaired and water supply to delhi is expected to be fully restored today.

The Chief Minister has been appealing to the people of the state to maintain law and order and call off the agitation, as the state government was ready to hear their demands."No one will be benefited by damaging public property. I urge everyone not to be swayed by unfounded rumours and maintain peace in the state," he said in his appeal earlier.

Soni Sori stable, Chhattisgarh police deny role in attack...

Soni Sori was attacked with a dark coloured liquid which was presumed to be acid.


The condition of tribal activist Soni Sori, who on Saturday was attacked by three unidentified men in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-hit Dantewada district, is stable said doctors at a hospital in Delhi.
The men, who were on a motorcycle, had thrown an acid-like chemical on her face, following which she was flown to Delhi for treatment.
The Chhattisgarh Police has denied it had any role in the attack on her, and said that they are actively searching for the culprits.
"This is not an acid attack. Someone threw black ink or grease on Soni Sori's face in Dantewada. She is suffering pain because the black material rubbed on her face made scratches," Special Director General of Police (Anti-Naxal operations) DM Awasthi told PTI.
"An FIR has been lodged and we trying to locate the mischief-mongers. Police are actively searching for them," he said.
Rejecting allegations of police's involvement in the incident, Awasthi said, "Police has no role in the incident which is a bodily offence. The incident is deplorable and we condemn such an incident taking place with any individual, whatever be their leanings or affiliations. Sori is entitled to all rights and protection like any other citizen."
Sori, who is an Aam Aadmi Party leader, was admitted at the Indraprashta Apollo Hospital in Delhi as local doctors could not identify the substance smeared on her face.

Budget Session begins today; JNU row, Rohith Vemula case to dominate proceedings..

 

PM Modi has already held an all-party meet to build consensus. (PTI photo)
The Budget session of Parliament which starts today will be quite a stormy one. Recent issues like the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the JNU crackdown will dominate proceedings of the house, after both the government and the opposition have agreed to debate the JNU row. Congress President Sonia Gandhi has accused the government of launching a planned attack on freedom of expression and right to differ. Also, the Pathankot terror attack and the relationship with Pakistan will be discussed.
Indications of a tumultuous beginning of the session emerged at the all-party meetings convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu with the Opposition accusing the government of "setting the agenda for disruption".
Also at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Gandhi put the onus on the government for the smooth functioning of Parliament.
She declared her intent to rope in "like-minded parties" to target the ruling dispensation on issues like the JNU row, dalit scholar Rohit Vemulas suicide in Hyderabad University and Pathankot terror attack.
On its part, the government assured opposition leaders that they will not find it wanting in ensuring discussion on any issue of concern.
"The government is as much concerned about these issues as any other party and we are more than keen for a detailed discussion on all of them," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.
After her meeting with leaders, which was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mahajan hoped that the House will run smoothly and all issues to be discussed will be decided at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee.
The first showdown between the ruling and the opposition benches is expected in Rajya Sabha on February 24, the first working day of the session when the JNU issue could come up for discussion.
While the opposition has closed ranks to corner the government on it, BJP feels it stands to gain by turning the debate into one between "patriots and anti-nationals," as a party leader said.
Making it clear that Opposition will not allow passage of any key bill in the first half of the session, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said opposition will "on merit" allow the passage of only those bills on which there is general consensus.
"Contentious bills should not be brought. Bring only those bills on which there is a general agreement. Bills like GST will not come in the first half of the session," Kharge said.
When asked whether GST Bill can be passed in the second half of the session, he evaded a direct reply, saying a view will be taken then.
The meeting saw a number of opposition as also BJP leaders demanding an early debate on the JNU row with CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury speaking of a "chilling parallel" to the current situation in the country with the one that led to rise of Fascism in Germany.
"The Government is setting the agenda for Parliament's disruption even before its session has begun. We have seen this agenda of BJP for last three-four sessions. The Government creates a situation in the country that is responsible for disruption," he said.
Naidu said the meeting was very positive and parties were in favour of running Parliament.
At a time when the Government is reaching out separately to non-Congress and non-Left parties, Naidu said a number of regional parties feel that they were not getting adequate time to raise their issues due to disruptions in Parliament.
"Smaller parties had a complaint that they are not being able to raise their issues due to disruption. Government is ready to discuss all issues including the JNU and the dalit scholar suicide in Hyderabad University."
Dismissing the meeting as a mere formality, Yechury, however, said the Government should earmark time to discuss all the issues. "If the Government does not earmark time for these, there will be disruptions."
Assuring opposition leaders that they will not find the Government wanting in enabling discussion on any issue of concern to them, Naidu said the Government was aware of the issues and events that the parties are concerned about and would like those to be discussed in the Parliament.
"These include demand for reservation of Jats, incidents in the JNU and related developments in a Delhi Court, suicide of Rohit Vemula, political events in Arunachal Pradesh. The Government is as much concerned about these issues as any other party and we are more than keen for a detailed discussion on all of them," he said.
Naidu also said the Government was firmly committed to upholding the principles of Constitution in letter and spirit.
While it was clear that the opposition was not keen on taking up any major legislative business, Naidu chose to flag the government's keenness to pass bills like GST.
"GST Bill passed by Lok Sabha and as reported by the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha and the Real Estate (Development & Regulation) as reported by the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha are pending in the Upper House. There is widespread interest and enthusiasm over the passage of these two important Bills. The Government believes that it is time now to take forward these two legislations," he said.
Holding the Government squarely responsible for non-functioning of Parliament in the last two sessions, Azad said the Government and the ruling party have failed to take any action on the issues raised by the opposition over controversial statements made by BJP leaders.
"If the Government feels helpless to take action, it should authorise a committee of opposition parties to take action against them," he said, adding that the fact is Parliament is "vertically divided". No opposition party is responsible for that and the "blame squarely lies with the ruling party, which has failed to rein in its people", Azad said.
Rejecting the Government's charge against the opposition, he wondered how can the latter be held responsible for incidents like Pathankot terror strike, imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal, raids on non-BJP Chief Ministers, the JNU row and bashing up of journalists in court.
Upping the ante on the JNU row, Yechury said, "There was manufactured evidence (in Germany, which led to) burning of Reichstag building, which all ended with the end of World War II. Similarly, there is manufactured row in JNU. Manufactured evidences were given.
"Those, who are responsible for this are moving free. There is lot of talk about nationalism over the JNU row. It is very similar to the nationalism that Hitler used to come to power," Yechury said.
Besides, the CPI(M) leader accused the Government of "complete lack of governance" and said as an instance some leaders had to attend today's all-party meeting without taking bath as there was no water in Lutyens Delhi. He was referring to the Governments' handling of the Jat agitation in Haryana which led to disruption of water supply to Delhi.
Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyaye said the ruling party has an important role in running Parliament.
The upcoming railway budget is expected to propose putting an additional general compartment in every train. Passengers will be allowed to travel in the extra coach on a general ticket, without any reservation, sources said.

Indian Cellular Association estimates the cost of Freedom 251 to be Rs 4,100..

The Telecom Ministry is also looking into the controversy sparked by Ringing Bells' sensational offer of a 3G smartphone priced at a mere Rs251.
A senior official confirmed that the Telecom Ministry has worked out the manufacturing cost of a smartphone with specifications being offered by Ringing Bells to be around Rs2,300.
The Indian Cellular Association (ICA), which represents the handset makers industry in India and includes Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Lava and Micromax as members, had also written to Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on the issue.
The ICA has stated that the bill of material value for a product like this when sourced from the cheapest supply chain cost approximately $40 (Rs2,700). The retail price of such a smartphone after the inclusion of applicable duties, taxes and distribution and retail margins would be at least Rs4,100, the cellular body said.
The ICA has requested the minister to get into the depth of the issue, saying the price could not be below Rs3,500 even after a subsidised sale.
Ringing Bells, on its part, said the manufacturing cost of the phone is about Rs2,500, which will be recovered through a series of measures like economies of scale, innovative marketing, reduction in duties and creating an e-commerce marketplace.
Analysts allege that the design of Ringing Bells' Freedom 251 handset resembles that of Adcom's Ikon 4, which is already available in the Indian market at Rs3,999.

Pathankot terror attack: Pakistani investigation team likely to visit India next month..

A team of Pakistani investigators is likely to visit India next month for collecting evidence relating to alleged involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in the Pathankot airbase attack, the media reported on Saturday.
"The investigation team's visit is expected," a senior diplomat told Dawn on Friday, adding that dates for the visit were yet to be finalised.
The registration of an FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police on Friday has, however, paved the way for the visit of the six-member investigation team constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif weeks after the attack on the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force on January 2 that resulted in the death of 14 people - six attackers, seven security personnel and one civilian.
The investigation team will visit the site of the attack and collect evidence related to Indian claim that the terrorist strike was planned in Pakistan and executed by a group of four who had crossed the border into Pathankot.
The investigators will also meet officials of India's National Investigating Agency investigating the attack.
India, a diplomatic source said, was ready to receive the Pakistani team and facilitate it in investigations.
The decision regarding cooperation with Pakistan was taken at a meeting in Delhi presided over by Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in which issues relating to the visit of the Pakistani team were discussed.