Live India News

FB warns employers: Don't ask for passwords

2012-03-25T06:33:00.003+05:30

Facebook and lawmakers have warned their employers against requesting Facebook passwords while screening job applicants, a controversial practice that underscores the blurring distinction between personal and professional lives the era of social media. The practice has reportedly grown more commonplace as companies increasingly regard profiles - or embarrassing photos from wild nights out - as windows into a prospective employee's character. On Friday, Facebook Inc's Chief Privacy Officer, Erin Egan, posted a note warning that the social networking company could "initiate legal action" against employers that demand Facebook passwords. Also, lawmakers in several states and in Washington said they would introduce bills to prohibit companies from vetting employees by demanding access to private accounts. Leland Yee, a California state senator, told Reuters on Friday he introduced legislation that would prohibit companies in the state from soliciting Facebook passwords from job applicants. The Associated Press reported that lawmakers in Illinois and Maryland were also considering similar moves. "Employers can't ask in the course of an interview your sexual orientation, your age, and yet social media accounts may have that information," Yee said. "Employers have legitimate questions about a person's job performance, but they can get that information the regular way, without cutting corners and violating people's privacy." Egan said in a post on Facebook's website published on Friday that the social networking company has seen in recent months "a distressing increase in reports of employers or others seeking to gain inappropriate access to people's Facebook profiles. "We don't think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide their passwords because we don't think it's the right thing to do. "But it also may cause problems for the employers that they are not anticipating. For example, if an employer sees on Facebook that someone is a member of a protected group (e.g. over a certain age, etc.) that employer may open themselves up to claims of discrimination if they don't hire that person."

OPEN UP YOUR MAIL The issue bubbled up this week after the Associated Press reported that employers are increasingly asking to look at content job applicants have uploaded to their digital accounts, regardless of whether that content is shared or not. In the case of the Maryland Department of Corrections, job applicants were asked to browse through their own Facebook accounts with an interviewer present, the AP reported. The ACLU, which previously criticized the Maryland state government's online vetting, called the practice "an invasion of privacy" in a statement this week. "You'd be appalled if your employer insisted on opening up your postal mail to see if there was anything of interest inside," said ACLU attorney Catherine Crump. "It's equally out of bounds for an employer to go on a fishing expedition through a person's private social media account." Facebook's outspoken stance on the issue cast it in an unfamiliar but welcome role. Hundreds of users cheered Egan, applauding a company that has been repeatedly criticized for bungling privacy issues over the years, especially when changing privacy settings without duly notifying users. By Friday afternoon, close to a thousand users had "Liked" Egan's post and many users left positive comments. Yet there were still a few cynics. "FB you're talking out of both sides of your mouth," wrote Facebook user Ron Carrubba. "Now how about fixing your other privacy issues in the application itself?"

CB Series: India won the match against SriLanka with a bonus point

2012-02-28T16:50:00.000+05:30

India have won the match against SriLanka with the bonus point that is required for this crucial match. India retain all its pride on the tour. They have made a fastest chase ever of 321 runs in just 36.4 overs. Virat Kohli is the man of the match with 133 in 86 balls with a strike rate of 154.65

Virat Kohli was the Indian hero, slamming an unbeaten 133 off 86 balls.

Earlier, Tillakaratne Dilshan equalled his best one-day score of 160 and Kumar Sangakkara also made a ton in Hobart as Sri Lanka's batsmen dined out on India's bowling attack.

Dilshan took just 165 balls to reach his total, smashing 11 fours and three sixes, while Sangakkara's 105 off 87 balls - with eight fours and two sixes - lifted Sri Lanka to 4-320 off its 50 overs at the Bellerive Oval.

Dilshan equalled his highest ODI score, also set against India in 2009, with his 11th on-day ton and shared a 200-run second-wicket stand with Sangakkara to leave India the daunting target.

He was out bowled in the 44th over after taking a swipe at Praveen Kumar.Sangakkara flayed the Indian attack with his 13th one-day international century and has now scored 10,152 runs in the limited overs game at 37.88.

Zaheer Khan (1-61), Kumar (1-64) and Ravindra Jadeja (1-43) shared the wickets among India's bowlers.

Scorecard:

India innings (target: 321 runs from 50 overs)		R	B	4s	6s	SR
	V Sehwag	c Dilshan b Maharoof	30	16	5	1	187.50
	SR Tendulkar	lbw b Malinga	39	30	5	0	130.00
	G Gambhir	run out (Chandimal/Mathews)	63	64	4	0	98.43
	V Kohli	not out	133	86	16	2	154.65
	SK Raina	not out	40	24	3	1	166.66
	Extras	(b 4, lb 6, w 6)	16

	Total	(3 wickets; 36.4 overs)	321	(8.75 runs per over)

Did not bat MS Dhoni*†, RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, P Kumar, Z Khan, UT Yadav

Fall of wickets 1-54 (Sehwag, 6.2 ov), 2-86 (Tendulkar, 9.2 ov), 3-201 (Gambhir, 27.3 ov)


Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
SL Malinga	7.4	0	96	1	12.52	(2w)
KMDN Kulasekara	8	0	71	0	8.87	(1w)
MF Maharoof	3	0	21	1	7.00
NLTC Perera	7	0	59	0	8.42	(1w)
AD Mathews	7	0	44	0	6.28
HMRKB Herath	4	0	20	0	5.00	(1w)

CB Series: India to make 321 in just 40 overs for bonus points

2012-02-28T13:02:00.000+05:30

In the crucial match of Commonwealth Bank Series, SriLanka set 321 run chase for the Indians. And if India want to get to the finals they have to scrore this chase in just 40 overs to get the bonus points. And this is not the end for them, they have pray that Australia must beat SriLanka in the next game.

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara took advantage of some wayward Indian bowling to leave MS Dhoni's side on the verge of exiting the Commonwealth Bank series.

Dilshan hammered 160 not out, equalling his highest one-day score, while Sangakkara stroked 105 as Sri Lanka posted 320 for four after they were asked to bat in Hobart.

That left India needing 321 runs from just 40 overs to stay in the tournament, because nothing less than a win with a bonus point would keep their slim hopes alive.

Knowing that it would be easier to chase a known target in a known allocation of overs than try and bowl Sri Lanka out for 80 per cent of India's total, Dhoni was forced to bowl first on a fine batting track.

While his seamers started well, conceding just 41 in the opening 10 overs, they fell apart in the second half of the innings as Sri Lanka made full use of the platform set by the top order.

Mahela Jayawardene was the only wicket to fall in the first 43 overs, caught at slip off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja for 22, as Dilshan and Sangakkara constructed a 200-run partnership that slowly but surely eroded India's fight.

The pair then cashed in on flagging bowlers and fielders as India increasingly looked a beaten side, taking 41 in the batting powerplay before opening up further.

Dilshan's century took 132 balls, but by the end of his innings he had taken his strike rate to almost a run a ball.

Sangakkara had been fluent throughout the tournament but failed to build on some promising starts, yet this time he was fluent throughout his 87-ball knock.

India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath

BSNL to launch tablet to beat Aakash with Pantel

2012-02-27T12:13:00.004+05:30

BSNL is going to launch its three tablet series in a row with a Noida based company, Pantel. Of the three, the cheapest tablet will be sold for Rs 3,250, a few hundred rupees more than the commercial version of Aakash tablet.

The 7-inch tablet - BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R - is powered by 1ghz processor and comes with 256MB RAM. It has a resistive screen and runs on Android operating software. The tablet will be sold along with special data plans and 3G services from BSNL.

The two other tablets are priced at Rs 10,999 and Rs 13,500. Both have capacitive screen, which has better touch sensitivity. These two tablets are also made by Pantel . Pantel website shows that the company has started a prebooking for all three.

Select & Book Your tablet now. Click Here to book your tablet.

IRCTC chief talks about bandwidth clogging and steps to improve services

2012-02-26T20:58:00.000+05:30

1.Why is the bandwidth congestion acute during the morning window?

The problem is that as the counters open at 8am sharp, the number of concurrent connections peaks. We have seen a maximum peak of up to 8 lakh concurrent connections -- it means there are 8 lakh people knocking on our firewalls during the first 10-15 minutes from 8 o’clock. This number goes up ahead of festivals and summer vacations. We have a capacity for 1,500-2000 successful transactions a minute. So, naturally there’s congestion.

2.What steps are you taking to ease this congestion?

Demand will always be there, in fact it will grow. We have added 52 servers which cater to peak traffic today and have plans to add 18 more servers. Scaling up is not the only solution. We have to add more trains and routes. If we were to increase our bandwidth to unlimited capacity, people in rural areas, who don’t have net access will always be deprived of Tatkal (reservations made a day ahead) tickets since all will be booked within the first 15 minutes of counters opening at 8am.

3.So, is it a deliberate strategy by IRCTC to not increase website capacity to allow more transactions per minute?

No. We have increased our bandwidth 10 times, to allow more people to come and log in. But traffic keeps on peaking, especially during a particular time in the morning. Suppose, we were to increase capacity to unlimited ticket bookings a minute, then most tickets will be booked in the first hour. Of the 8 lakh people who log on simultaneously between 8 am 8.10am, only 50,000 manage to get tickets. There are about 7.5 lakh people who go dissatisfied each day. If we increase our capacity to handle 15 lakh concurrent connections, then about 14.5 lakh customers will go dissatisfied. The solution is to increase the capacity and number of trains. My aim is to double the 50,000 bookings to over-a-lakh successful bookings in the first hour, which will reduce the number of dissatisfied customers.

3.What is the reason that almost one-in-four is a failed transaction on IRCTC website?

Failure of transactions may be for several reasons. Slow speed of online services of various banks – we have tie-ups with 18 of them -- is a major cause. The payment gateway transaction takes about 1.5-2 minutes. But for some banks, take longer, resulting often in failure. There can be customer-centric reasons like no money in account. Sometimes, customer gives a berth preference and it takes time for the system to find a particular berth. By that time a ticket may already be booked. We have already identified 7 to 8 issues. The aim is to reduce the time taken for each transaction.

4.What are the steps IRCTC is taking to reduce this transaction time?

We are looking at a rolling deposit system in which customers can deposit advance money into an account. They won’t have to go to a payment gateway then. They would not have to wait for two minutes for using the netbanking operations. I have put forward this challenge to our technologists and the systems architecture for it is being worked out. Also, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation works with the Ministry of Railways on a system of advance money. Every day I deposit about Rs 50 lakh in the bank account of Indian Railways -- advance money for the tickets I will buy from them that day. We are extending the same system for other websites such as MakeMytrip.com and Yatra.com to book rail tickets, which will ease the load on our site.

5.Why customer’s money is not instantly credited back after a failed transaction?

After a failed transaction, a report goes back to the bank that a transaction has failed but money has been deducted. The banks make a report and send it to us. It takes 2 to 3 days. We release the money as we get the report.

6.How do you look at your tenure with IRCTC?

When I took charge of IRCTC in 2009, we used to book about 40,000 e-tickets every day. Now it has shot up to 4-4.5 lakh bookings a day. It is a quantum leap. Of course, we have become India’s largest e-commerce website -- IRCTC booked about 10 crore tickets worth Rs 8,000 crore in 2010-11. Today, we are able to manage 8 lakh concurrent transactions. In 2009, we used to do about 10,000 successful transactions in the first hour. Now it has gone up to 50,000 bookings per hour. My goal is to increase it to 1 lakh bookings.

7.Is IRCTC targeting the hospitality and tourism on a big scale?

We have a tie-up with about 8,000 hotels across India. These are 3 star hotels. We have not gone for 4-star and above because majority of the railway customers are not the airline customers. Over the last 3 years, our revenue through tourism has grown from Rs 10 crore to Rs 70 crore. By the end of this fiscal, we hope to touch Rs 100 crore. Our corporate booking segment is also growing. We are looking to tie-up with PSUs for their total travel arrangements. The company also has ambitious plans for air ticketing.

8.Has the new Tatkal scheme benefited users?

It has benefitted the consumers who are net savvy. However, the rural Indian is still going to the reservation counters. With this scheme agents are also blocked from transacting on the net or counters in the morning.

Thus, demand will always be there, in fact it will grow. We have added 52 servers which cater to peak traffic today and have plans to add 18 more servers. Scaling up is not the only solution. We have to add more trains and routes.

RAKESH TANDON
CMD, IRCTC

SBI to cut interest on education loan

2012-02-26T12:31:00.009+05:30

State Bank of India (SBI) has taken in-principle decision to slash interest on education loans by up to 1 percentage point. “The bank has taken in-principle decision to cut (interest on) education loan,” SBI Managing Director and Chief Finance Officer Diwakar Gupta told PTI.

“Announcement would be made soon. The bank will issue the notification shortly,” he added.

Without giving details of quantum of rate cut, he said, it may be up to 100 basis points.

Interest rates on education loans range from 12.25 per cent to 14.50 per cent, depending on their quantum and the duration.

The education loan book of SBI constitutes under 7 per cent of its Rs 1.75 lakh crore retail loan portfolio. In the quarter ended December, the bank saw its education loan books swell by 14.17 per cent.

SBI is also offering a concession of 50 basis points on interest rates for loans given to female students.

Earlier this month, SBI Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri had said the possibility of a reduction in base rate at this point of time looks bleak as the bank has absorbed last three RBI policy rate hikes without raising its base rate.

The lender’s base rate stands at 10 per cent as of now, which is the lowest in the country.

About the possible slashing of home loan rates, he had said the possibility was “less.”

“The possibility of (reduction) in home loans is less as the rate is 10.50 per cent and the base rate is 10 per cent. Hence, the possibility is less. Moreover, the tenor of a home loan is 25—30 years, (so) we have to think about it a lot,” Mr. Chaudhuri had said.

He, however, had said in case of further CRR cut by the central bank, the entire rate structure will come down.

On January 24, the Reserve Bank had reduced the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 0.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent to infuse liquidity into the system, and indicated a reversal of tight money policy stance.

Kingfisher submit fresh flight schedule before DGCA

2012-02-22T15:56:00.005+05:30

Ailing Kingfisher Airlines, whose services remained affected for the sixth day, on Wednesday submitted a fresh flight schedule with DGCA, scaling down its operations to about 170 daily flights with 28 functional aircraft. Faced with the regulators deadline, the airline submitted a revised winter schedule of flights it would operate till March. This schedule is being examined, DGCA sources said.

On a day when over 30 flights were cancelled by Kingfisher, DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan briefed Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on the tough financial situation faced by the carrier.

With reports that banks were offering to help out the airline, the Minister again made it clear that government would not give any dole to a private carrier.

“We have made it clear and I am sure Mr (Vijay) Mallya knows that Air India is a government concern. Whatever help we give them (Air India), we cannot do it to any private industry.

“We have said it before that banks will decide that (pumping in money). Government is not going to interfere in it. Banks have to follow RBI guidelines. They have to worry about their NPAs (non—performing assets). They have to decide on the basis of the business plan of the company. If they are satisfied with the business plan, they can lend money,” he said.

Sources said that as per the revised schedule, the airline would operate about 170 flights daily, instead of over 400 it had sought permission for last October when the winter schedule for the airlines came into operation.

At that time, Kingfisher had informed the regulator that it would fly 64 aircraft, a number which has now come down to 28 as many of its planes have either been taken away by the lessors or were awaiting repairs and spare parts or been cannibalised.

The DGCA, which summoned the Kingfisher’s CEO Sanjay Agarwal yesterday, had asked the airline to come up with a “realistic” schedule which can be operated by 28 planes.

Bhushan is understood to have apprised the Civil Aviation Minister on the discussions he had with the Kingfisher top brass and the airline’s plan to restore its flight schedule over the next few days.

Issues relating to whether any action could be taken against the struggling carrier for flouting the provisions of Aircraft Rules of 1937 are also understood to have come up for discussion, though the Minister has made it clear that closure of any airline would not be good for the health of the Indian aviation industry.

Kingfisher also partially resumed flights from Kolkata, operating four to the Northeast, though it cancelled 14 from Mumbai, eight from Bangalore and two from Delhi. The entire Kolkata operations were shut down from Friday night.

The cash—strapped carrier had faced the wrath of the Income Tax authorities which froze its bank accounts, which, the airline said had been primarily responsible for large— scale disruption of its flights.

Kingfisher, which suffered a loss of Rs 1,027 crore in 2010—11 and has a debt of Rs 7,057.08 crore, posted a Rs 444 crore loss in third quarter this fiscal.

Redesigned iPad 3 picture tips sleeker edges & 8MP camera

2012-02-20T06:20:00.007+05:30

Purported images of Apple’s next-generation iPad have been published by Chinese language Apple Daily ahead. The design tips a very sleek design of iPad 3 with powerful 8MP camera. The slate had leaked only in bits and pieces until now, however alleged photos of an assembled iPad 3 show a device that is very much in line with earlier reports.

The case is similar to the one found on the iPad 2, though it has apparently been redesigned with a more gradual taper leading from the back to the edges. Apple Daily also states that the iPad 3 features a 9.7-inch Retina Display, which was confirmed last week, and an 8-megapixel camera as had been rumored previously. Apple is reportedly planning to unveil the iPad 3 at a press conference in early March, and the tablet is also expected to feature a quad-core Apple A6 processor and embedded 4G LTE connectivity.

Google: Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) coming soon

2012-02-18T08:34:00.018+05:30

After Google's Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system which is yet to fully take off, the news of its successor is already doing rounds. Yes, Google is going to launch its Android 5.0 dubbed Jelly Bean in the second quarter of this year, according to report in Taiwan's Digitimes.

The report, quoting Taiwan-based supply chain makers, reveals that Google is reportedly asking users to adopt Android 5.0 and Windows 8 in the same tablet PC. Software giant Microsoft is scheduled to unveil a test version of its Windows 8 operating software later this month.

While Android 4.0 brings a bunch of new features for tablets as well as smartphones, Android 5.0 is likely to be further optimized for tablet PCs. The report states that Google plans to integrate its Chrome system functions to push dual-operating system designs.

The report further claims that Google will let vendors add Android 5.0 to a Windows 8-based tablet or notebook, giving them the option to switch between the operating systems without a reboot.

While most of the Android phone manufacturers have updated their Ice Cream Sandwich release schedules, it is yet to see how the OS climbs in popularity in comparison to its closest rival Apple's iOS 5.

Among other things, Android 4.0 offers a brand new font system called Roboto; lets users take screenshots without rooting the smartphone or installing any third-party apps and transcribes words instantly into text.

The current OS also features Android Beam, based on NFC (Near Field Communication) which allows two Android smartphones to securely exchange Web pages, contacts, media or even applications.

Kerala fishermen killing: Antony says, Guilty will be punished

2012-02-17T14:12:00.009+05:30

India on Friday said the firing by armed guards on-board an Italian merchant ship killing two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala, was “against the laws and norms” and the guilty will be punished.

“We are taking this issue very seriously. What happened was against the laws and the norms. The guilty will have to be punished,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters here.

Underlining that India wanted to send “strong signals” on the issue, the minister said, “This is not only for India but for all others. Everybody should follow the norms and the laws.”

He was asked about the steps being taken by the government to book the guilty in the incident.

Mr. Antony said the Kerala police and the Indian Coast Guard were questioning all the people involved in the case and it would be “inappropriate” for him to comment further on the incident.

The two fishermen, native of Alappuzha, were killed on Wednesday night when armed guards on-board the Italian merchant vessel Enrica Lexie opened fire on their fishing boat.

The vessel was brought to Kochi on Friday and police and Coast Guard personnel were questioning the crew. The ship has been berthed at Kochi oil terminal, where security has been tightened.

The preliminary assessment of the marine authorities is that the armed guards aboard the ship might have fired at the fishing boat mistaking it for a vessel belonging to pirates.

Italian Consul General in India, GiamPaolo Cutillo, was in Kochi on Thursday in connection with the incident and had met the city Police Commissioner there.

Rain disrupts today's game at Melbourne

2012-02-05T10:48:00.020+05:30

India seems to be good in their 1st ODI against Australia but rain disrupts the entire game & break their consistency. Australia were 35/2 in 11 overs when the play has been stopped due to heavy rain in the first ODI of the tri-series against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Scorecard

Skipper Michael Clarke (5*) and Matthew Wade (21*) when rain played spoilsport.

India gave Australia early blows when Vinay Kumar dismissed David Warner and Ricky Ponting in the first ODI of the tri-series at the MCG.

Vinay struck in his successive overs to remove Warner and Ponting cheaply and reduced Australia to 19/2 in 7.5 overs.

Ponting, who made a strong comeback in the Test series after long rough patch, went on the back foot to slap it through covers but failed to control his shot that went straight to Suresh Raina.

Warner attempted a big heave across the line on a full length delivery. The ball curled in, travelled through the gap between bat and pad and rattled the stumps. Warner contributed only six runs in his 14 balls stay at the crease.

Earlier, Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and again decided to field against the hosts.

Indian opener Virender Sehwag has been rested from the match, while veteran Sachin Tendulkar has been included in the playing XI.

For Australia, wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade and all-rounder Dan Christian will make their ODI debuts.

Their pace spearhead Brett Lee is out of the match and the tri-series, also featuring Sri Lanka, due to a broken foot.

Lee picked up the injury during the second Twenty20 international against India on Friday.

Finally a win under their belt in what has been a highly disappointing tour, India would aim to carry the Twenty20 momentum into the ODI series.

After a 0-4 thrashing in the Tests and a loss in the first T20 against Australia, India tasted victory in the second T20, winning by eight wickets on Friday.

Teams:

India: Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rahul Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar.

Australia: David Warner, Matthew Wade, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (captain), Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Dan Christian, Ryan Harris, Mitch Starc, Xavier Doherty and Clint McKay.

New initiative to tackle cyber threats

2012-01-29T13:11:00.019+05:30

A new initiative has been launched at the World Economic Forum to strengthen cyber security & efforts to contend rising cyber risks. The initiative 'Partnering for Cyber Resilience' is a set of shared principles, promoted by chief executives of firms that recognise interdependence of organisations in tackling cyber risks.

Citing the importance of the initiative, India's largest software exporter TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran underlined the need for consistent processes and uniform policy framework (in the digital world) that can be implemented internationally.

The new programme would engage the corporate firms into working towards a safer digital environment.

"We need to recognize that making the world more resilient to cyber-risks is a challenge that can only be addressed collectively by policy-makers, business and civil society," Alan Marcus, senior director and head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries at WEF USA, said.

"Everything attached to a network can be hacked and everything is being attached to a network," Rod A Beckstrom, president and chief executive officer of the Internet Corp of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), said.

US consultancy major Deloitte LLP was project advisor to the programme, developed through multi-stakeholder dialogue across the globe.

Facebook makes its Timeline feature compulsory

2012-01-29T12:44:00.011+05:30

Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO of Social network Facebook has made compulsory its Timeline feature through which all of a user's photographs and wall posts would be seen by friends on their homepage. The feature had been voluntary till now and Facebook has given all of its 800 million users a seven-day period to delete content before Timeline goes online, The Sun reported.

Timeline makes everything a person has ever done on Facebook appear on a single screen that scrolls down year by year right back to when the person was born.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently said he was convinced people wanted to be able to share their entire lives with one another.

Zuckerberg said Timeline was the "story of your life and completely new way to express yourself".

"Millions of people curate stories of their lives on Facebook every day and have no way to share them once they fall off your profile page," he said.

Dravid Likely To Announce Retirement Shortly

2012-01-28T15:00:00.000+05:30

Image via Wikipedia

India were whitewashed 0-4 in the Test series that concluded on Saturday and the senior batting trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were heavily criticised for their poor show.

Their flopshow, in fact, led to speculation that the three could bow out after the series. But the team management rubbished the rumours.

“The team management categorically denies this. Reports about senior players retiring are baseless,” said team manager G S Walia in the post-match press conference on Saturday.

Walia refused to answer questions on the matter, saying that there was simply no truth in the reports.

India’s stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag, who addressed the media after the match, also rejected reports of senior players’ retirement.

“Some reports have said that senior players will retire after this series. No such thing has happened and this is a decision that they will take,” said the dashing opener, who is himself under immense pressure after an unimpressive show in the series.

“These are rumours created by the media,” he added.

Earlier there were reports that the 39-year-old Dravid, one of the game’s greatest batsmen, had told some of his teammates that he had decided to hang his boots.

Dravid, like most other Indian batsmen, had a poor run in the four-Test series. He made 194 runs at an average of 24.25 in this series.

Dravid has already announced his retirement from one-day cricket and Twenty20.

The elegant right hander, nicknamed ‘The Wall’ for his dour defence, is the second highest run getter in Test history with 13,288 runs, behind only Tendulkar who has 15,470 runs. He has 36 Test centuries with a highest score of 270 and an average of 52.31.

Dravid has also taken more catches (210) than anyone else in Test history during his 164 Test matches since he made his debut against England at Lord’s in 1996. He captained India from December 2005 to August 2007.

There is also a question mark over Laxman who too had a miserable run against Australia in the current series but there was no word yet about his future plans.

The iconic Tendulkar is another player under tremendous pressure.

The right-hander, whose career has spanned over two decades so far, has 99 international hundreds to his credit but the wait for the 100th one has been rather prolonged with his last century coming almost a year back.

India slips to 3rd in ICC Test rankings after 0-4 whitewash by Australia

2012-01-28T11:46:00.010+05:30

The mortifying 0-4 whitewash at the hands of Australia on Saturday resulted a big drop in ICC Test ranking that rungs to third spot to India with Michael Clarke’s team breathing down their neck just a fraction of a point behind in the table.

India, who entered the series in second place on 118 ratings points, have fallen to 111 ratings points while fourth-ranked Australia have boosted their standing in the championship table after gaining eight ratings points, which put them alongside their rivals, the ICC said in a statement.

However, Dhoni’s men are still ranked above Clarke’s men by a fraction of a point. When the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point, India has 111.10 ratings points while Australia is on 110.80 ratings points.

Nevertheless, Australia will have a chance to move ahead of India when they travel to the West Indies in March to play in a three-Test series, which will start in Barbados on April 7.

There, Australia will need to win the series by 1-0 or better to achieve the number three position on the table.

Voting Day in Manipur

2012-01-28T10:11:00.007+05:30

Voters lined up before 2,357 polling stations across nine districts of Manipur as elections began in 60 Assembly constituencies in between tight security. An electorate of 17,40,576, including 8,82,236 woman voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from among 279 candidates in the 10th Assembly polls.

A total of 12,967 polling personnel have been deployed to conduct the elections which began at 7 am and would continue till 4 pm. Chief Minister Ibobi Singh cast his vote at a polling station in Khangabok of Thoubal district, officials said.

Around 350 companies of security personnel including 270 central paramilitary forces were deployed besides the State armed police.

Prominent candidates in the fray include the Chief Minister, who is contesting from Thoubal constituency, former vice-chancellor of Manipur University Ng Bijoy (Khurai) and Forest Minister Th Debendra (Jiribam).

Manipur has nine districts — Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnnupur and Thoubal (all in valley) and Churachandpur, Ukhrul, Senapati, Tamenglong and Chandel in the hills.

Security forces are keeping a tab on the situation in the State, where blasts have taken place in the past few days, amid reports that insurgent groups might target some candidates.

Twitter's censorship plan rouses global furor‎

2012-01-27T14:44:00.001+05:30

Twitter has refined its technology so it can censor messages on a country-by-country basis.The additional flexibility announced on Thursday is likely to raise fears that Twitter’s commitment to free speech may be weakening as the short-messaging company expands into new countries in an attempt to broaden its audience and make more money.

But Twitter sees the censorship tool as a way to ensure individual messages, or “tweets,” remain available to as many people as possible while it navigates a gauntlet of different laws around the world.

Before, when Twitter erased a tweet it disappeared throughout the world. Now, a tweet containing content breaking a law in one country can be taken down there and still be seen elsewhere.

Twitter will post a censorship notice whenever a tweet is removed. That’s similar to what Google has been doing for years when a law in a country where its service operates requires a search result to be removed.

Like Google, Twitter also plans to the share the removal requests it receives from governments, companies and individuals at the chillingeffects.org website.

The similarity to Google’s policy isn’t coincidental. Twitter’s general counsel is Alexander Macgillivray, who helped Google draw up its censorship policies while he was working at that company.

“One of our core values as a company is to defend and respect each user’s voice,” Twitter wrote in a blog post. “We try to keep content up wherever and whenever we can, and we will be transparent with users when we can’t. The tweets must continue to flow.”

Among other things, Twitter wants to expand its audience from about 100 million active uses now, to more than 1 billion. Reaching that goal will require expanding into more countries, which will mean Twitter will be more likely to have to submit to laws that run counter to the free expression protections guaranteed under the First Amendment in the U.S.

If Twitter defies a law in a country where it has employees, those people could be arrested. Twitter said it hadn’t yet used its ability to wipe out tweets in an individual country. All the tweets it has previously censored were wiped out throughout the world. Most of those included links to child pornography.

Delhi on high Security on Republic Day

2012-01-26T10:15:00.012+05:30

Delhi was under a very high and tight security on Republic Day as thousands of armed personnel kept a tight surveillance to prevent any terror strike or any untoward incident during the celebrations.Snipers with sophisticated arms and binoculars were on rooftops while hundreds of police personnel kept the eight km parade route from Rajpath to Red Fort under their watch to ensure that nothing untoward happened.

Around 25,000 police personnel, including those from paramilitary forces and sharpshooters from the elite National Security Guards (NSG) were deployed across the city in the run-up to the national celebrations.

Policemen kept a tab on the visuals from over 160 CCTVs between Rajpath and Red Fort, the route of the parade.

Mobile hit teams, anti-aircraft guns and sharpshooters of the NSG were also on the job at various places while paramilitary and Delhi Police commandos kept a close watch along the route.

“There was special emphasis on anti-sabotage checks, access control measures and intelligence coordination. The entire route of the parade was covered by special security and anti-terror arrangements.

“Elaborate air defence measures, including deployment of anti-aircraft guns, were also taken to check intrusion of air space,” a senior police official said. Besides the air defence measures, helicopters of the Indian Air Force hovered around Rajpath and all along the route of the parade.

Vehicles entering the city were randomly checked.

As the city witnessed a terror strike only four months ago, the security establishment left no stones unturned to ensure an incident-free celebration.

No vehicles were allowed to ply on the Rajpath from 6 p.m. on Wednesday while vehicular movement was restricted on Tilak Marg, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, Netaji Subhash Marg upto Red Fort from 4 a.m.

Salman Rushdie:Rajasthan Police invented plot to keep me away

2012-01-22T11:08:00.003+05:30

Controversial author Salman Rushdie said that the Rajasthan Police “invented” a plot to keep him away from the Jaipur Literature Festival by claiming that they received a call from Mumbai underworld about him being killed if he visits the event.

“Rajasthan police invented plot to keep away Rushdie’ I’ve investigated, & believe that I was indeed lied to. I am outraged and very angry,” the writer of the banned ” The Satanic Verses” posted on Twitter.

The Rajasthan Police refused to comment on Rushdie’s charge that it had concocted the story about assassins from the Mumbai underworld hired to kill him in Jaipur.

Sources in the police said they had intelligence about threat to the author.

Rushdie Friday announced that he had called off his visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival after intelligence sources told him that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld were out to kill him.

“For the last several days I have made no public comment about my proposed trip to Jaipur at the request of the authorities in Rajasthan, hoping that they would put in place such precautions as might be necessary to allow me to come and address the Festival audience in circumstances that were comfortable and safe for all,” Rushdie then said in a statement read out by the organisers of the festival.

“I have now been informed by intelligence sources in Maharashtra and Rajasthan that paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld may be on their way to Jaipur to ‘eliminate’ me,” he had said.

Seventh Successive loss for India in abroad

2012-01-15T11:31:00.011+05:30

A invertebrate India suffered their second overseas series defeat in the most humiliating manner as a ruthless Australia demolish them by an innings and 37 runs in just two and half days in the third Test in Perth on Sunday. It was the seventh successive loss abroad for India after the 4-0 whitewash by England last year.

The highly-rated Indian batting line-up failed once again with the sole exception of Virat Kohli, who slammed an impressive 75, as the visitors were shot out for 171, around 15 minutes after the lunch break on the bouncy WACA pitch.

The Indian second innings total was just 10 runs more than the 161 in their first essay, in reply to Australia's first innings tally of 369.

The two sides now move to Adelaide for the fourth and final Test which starts on January 24.

India took lunch at 165 for six and they lost their final four wickets off only seven balls without any addition to the total to surrender the series and Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

In the first innings, India had lost their final six wickets for 30 runs.

The first two overs on resumption did not show any signs of such quick subjugation but it all unfolded quickly in Ben Hilfenhaus' 18th over, the 63rd of the Indian second innings.

Sensing his opportunity of a short ball, Vinay Kumar went for a slash but the ball from Hilfenhaus was too quick for it and the resultant healthy edge was smartly snapped by Michael Clarke at first slip.

Zaheer Khan was out for first ball duck as Hilfenhaus directed a short ball at the Indian left-arm paceman who could only hang his bat. The edge flew and eluded a leaping wicketkeeper Brad Haddin but Michael Clarke was alert behind him at first slip and picked up his second straight catch.

Ishant Sharma played out the hat-trick ball but two deliveries later, popped a catch at forward short leg where Ed Cowan made no mistake.

Last man Umesh Yadav pushed a delivery at mid-on but Kohli refused to exchange strikes, hoping to gather some quick runs at the other end. It was not to be as the second ball from Peter Siddle was edged behind and Brad Haddin did not let the chance go out of his gloves to trigger Australian celebrations.

Kohli batted for 191 minutes and faced 136 balls for his 75 runs, slamming nine fours. Kohli was impressive in his knock, his third Test fifty, as he showed the determination to stay put at the crease under difficult circumstances.

Overnight 88 for four, India lost two wickets in the morning session with Rahul Dravid (47) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2) being the batsmen out.

Dravid fell by now all-familiar mode of dismissal in the series, bowled for 47. Ryan Harris brought the ball in from a length and Dravid, who has shown a tendency to neither go forward nor backwards at times, lost his leg stump as he made a last attempt to flick it.

Dravid batted for 177 minutes and hit eight fours from 114 balls. There was a stage when he took 30 balls to move from 41.

This was the fifth time Dravid has been bowled in this series and 8 times in his last ten innings. He now has 54 such dismissals and has overtaken Allan Border as the batsman who has been dismissed most times clean bowled.

Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris began the day's proceedings and both Dravid and Kohli were circumspect to start with as only three runs came from the first three overs.

Dravid then slashed Hilfenhaus past the point region to raise the hundred of the Indian second innings.

Kohli played solidly but for a rapid bouncer from Harris which took his bat while still rising and went over keeper Brad Haddin's head for a four.

The youngster from Delhi then drove Mitchell Starc elegantly through the onside to raise an impressive half century, made in 115 minutes off 92 balls with six fours.

Dravid and Kohli were unseparated till the first drinks break with India on 129 for four, having raised 41 runs from the first hour off 16 overs.

The two stretched their stand to 86 runs from 30-odd overs before Dravid was out in a familiar fashion.

Skipper Dhoni (2), continuing with his wretched form in the series, played forward to a Peter Siddle delivery and edged a low catch to Ricky Ponting in the second slip.

Anna’s Team Called Committee Meet

2012-01-09T12:15:00.004+05:30

Team Anna’s Core Committee met on Monday sans ailing Anna Hazare to decide on their future strategy.This is the first meeting of the Team after Anna called off his agitation programmes for a strong Lokpal last month.

Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and other members attended the deliberations during which they discussed the future course of action, including the mode of campaign during the elections to the five States.

Mr. Hazare did not attend the meeting as he was not keeping well. Doctors had advised him not to undertake any tour for at least a month due to his health conditions.

The poor public response to Mr. Hazare’s agitation in Mumbai and Delhi in the last week of December and taunts from Congress on its anti-Congress plank appears to be weighing heavily on the minds of Team Anna.

Team Anna members said the meeting was meant to discuss the mode of campaigning in other five states as well suggestions received from public on how to take forward the movement.

The meeting also comes against the backdrop of an article written by Mr. Kejriwal which suggested that Team Anna appeared to be confused on how to take forward the fight for a strong Lokpal, saying the movement is at “crossroads” and a wrong decision at this stage can prove disastrous for it.

He had then sought suggestions from public to take forward the campaign.

Team Anna members said they will also deliberate on its anti-Congress line vociferously taken during its campaigns earlier as it was been accused of being pro-BJP.

However, the induction of former BSP leader Babu Singh Kushwaha, who is accused of corruption, in the BJP has put Team Anna on the wrong foot as Congress stepped up attack against them.

MMRDA Ground - Venue for Anna's fast

2011-12-23T13:15:00.003+05:30

Anna Hazare Friday threatened to oppose in jail if he was not bestowed a locale for his hastening from Dec 27 for a muscular Lokpal pecker.There are more problems for Team Anna over its dissent venue in Metropolis after the suggest sports division denied permit for a section of Azad Maidan which it controls.

Mumbai Personnel, which expects a rattling great displace, had asked Team Anna to get primary authorisation for this portion of Azad Maidan as healed to fit so umpteen fill.

The force had said that only then would it supply the clearances needed for the three-day dissent inhabit which begins on December 27.

Early, after Maharashtra honcho diplomat Prithviraj Chavan failed to respond to Unit Anna's appeal to abandon or concentrate the fees for using the MMRDA make at the Bandra-Kurla Compound (BKC), India Against Immorality members on Thursday moved retinue as its ending help to get a large space for its unrest. The Bombay Great Romance also denied to intervene in the matter.

At the duplicate clip , they inalized on Azad Maidan as the centrestage for the anti-corruption advertise. The religionist is that people of Metropolis are existence denied of the citizens tract to traveling a objection at a locale , which is unimprisoned of outgo and has adequate store. The appeal will be heard at 11am in the HC by Doj Majmudar and Administration Bhatkar , said Praful Vora , co-ordinator , IAC Bombay.

Address to reporters in his human village, Hazare blamed the polity for creating obstacles in his allegro.

"I was to sit in Delhi from Aug 16, they did the synoptic, they were not giving a situation to sit. At finish, we said we give go to clink and after that they gave expanse to sit on meteoric. The assonant testament chance here if they don't employ judge, we faculty sit in jailhouse," he said.

Hazare was to fleet in Metropolis, but the locus was shifted to City in the backwash of the scary winter in the person city. The venue in City has not yet been finalised.

Time permit was denied for Azad Maidan, a tear of Rs.3.5 lakh per day has been quoted for the MMRDA scene, added proposed venue.

Offensive the government's writing of Lokpal programme which was introduced in the Lok Sabha Weekday, Hazare said the invoice was "wrong". "The Lokpal program, the government deglutition is dishonorable. Why should the regime solo accomplish the enter?"

"…they (people) are the masters…they (politicians) should consult people before making any law."

Flatbottom as the activist attacked the Congress, he was all commendation for quondam paint rector Rajiv Statesman.

"Rajiv Statesman wrote a laurels to 5.5 lakh community sarpanchs for 73rd and 74th amendment," he said.

The 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Soldier Commencement, passed in 1993, devolved monumental turn of country to localized governments or panchayats.

Hazare also attacked Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) important Lalu Prasad Yadav and said he should think the fodder rig. "Fill will request him who has sown which seeds. Has he forgotten the 'grass' outrage."

Meantime Metropolis Law has also supposition authorisation to Bharat Against Degradation to drink protest in Ramlila Maidan from Dec 27th to Jan 1.

Raja accuses CBI of creating ‘false witness’

2011-12-23T13:02:00.001+05:30

Former Telecom Diplomat and the key accused in the 2G scam A. Raja on Fri accused the Central Bureau of Investigation in a City retinue of making his ex-aide Aseervatham Achary a "specious witness" to declare against him.

"He is a created incorrect attestor and this is my supreme showcase," senior advocate Sushil Kumar, who is defending Mr. Aristocrat, contended before Primary CBI Judge O.P. Saini.

Mr. Achary, Mr. Raja's quondam additional clubby helper and a key CBI undergo in the cover, in his buildup gave details of how Mr. Patrician was in regularised deed with additional accused corporate honchos and their companies which were acknowledged spectrum in infringement of law.

Mr. Kumar, breed examining the signer, further contended that Mr. Achary's evidence on Weekday of state threatened by a individual movement in the grounds gathering was a "drama" which was motivated to impact the pending bond orison of Mr. Raja's late backstage desk and co-accused R.K. Chandolia which would be heard by the Dominant Deference on Jan 2.

"This complete episode was meant for Jan 2 when Chandolia's recognizance is coming in the Dominant Solicit as he (Mr. Achary) told the authorities that the organism threatening him was motion with Chandolia," Mr. Kumar far said.

At this present, the adjudicate desired to bang whether Mr. Achary had earlier complained near any threat to his story.

"He (Mr. Achary) did not say anything originally and had he said it then it would love been on list and some of them (accused) would not get got bail," the jurist said.

Mr. Patrician, who had refused for over a period to cover investigate witnesses expression he would not do so deedbox the CBI files its bag train paper and completes its penetrate in the containerful, started his vindication on Weekday by skeptical Mr. Achary.

The CBI had filed the base criminate wrapper on Dec 12 after which Mr. Raja had said that he module span investigate witnesses only when unexclusive servants oust on the emerge of governing insurance.

Mr. Aristocrat had posed several questions to Mr. Achary ranging from his conversation with past corporate lobbyist Niira Radia to oftentimes dynamical his abode and transferable numbers.

Mr. Achary had on Thursday complained to the justice that he was receiving threats from a individual nowadays in the courtroom who was motility with Mr. Chandolia in the greeting.

The man, who had proven to run off, was caught but was free in the evening after the Delhi personnel saved no prospect to capture him after interrogating him.

New Lokpal Bill introduced in Lok-Shabha

2011-12-21T15:13:00.001+05:30

The government on Thursday tabled the anti-graft Lokpal bill in the Lok Sabha. The long discussed bill images on the setting up of an ombudsman to check corruption in the country and bringing the prime minister under its sphere.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee held a meeting on Wednesday with the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and senior party leader L.K. Advani to discuss the issue.

Mr. Mukherjee conveyed to the BJP that the Lokpal Bill passed by the Cabinet on Tuesday night can be circulated to MPs only on Wednesday evening, according to sources. He also said that the existing Lokpal Bill — introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament — will be withdrawn in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and the new Bill introduced.

Mr. Mukherjee said that in this scenario, there was little option but to extend the Winter Session by three more days and discuss the Lokpal Bill from December 27 to 29.

The BJP agreed to the proposal after initial reluctance. Party sources said its opposition is to the content of the Bill rather than extension of this session.

The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) will meet on Wednesday evening to decide on the extension.

The government is keen to ensure passage of the Lokpal Bill along with two crucial legislations — Judicial Accountability Bill and Whistleblower Protection Bill — during the current session.But since only two days are left, it wants additional sittings after the Christmas break.

2G: Behura’s bail plea dismissed

2011-12-16T16:00:00.003+05:30

The Delhi Squeaking Authorities Weekday dismissed the recognisance exertion of former medium intimate Siddhartha Behura, one of the 14 accused in the 2G spectrum percentage swindle.

Righteousness V.K. Shali, pronouncing the prescribe, said: The recognizance utilisation is fired.Behura was inactive along with previous discipline diplomat A. Patrician and his sometime clannish assistant R.K. Chandolia Feb 2 in the 2G cheat housing. He has been hot with illegal confederacy, dissembling and forgery.

The late telecom supporter, piece seeking bail, told the move that he should be released on the make of maternity with the 12 co-accused who human already been granted bond.
Behura and Patrician are the exclusive two accused near behindhand bars out of the 14 arrested by the Centrical Office of Research (CBI) in the 2G scam somebody.
Aman Lekhi, content for Behura, earlier told Righteousness Shali that the questionable beneficiaries of the rig are out on recognizance. The payoff givers and takers are also out on recognizance.
I also deserve to be released on the reach of generalisation of gestation and conservation unique, said Behura.Lekhi also alleged before the curtilage that the CBI was illicitly treating the accused differently on the undercoat of their existence secluded facet employees or open servants.
He said level the asking of illegal rift of expect was applicable to all accused and it was not limited to open7 servants.
Lekhi also contended that dissimilar otherwise politically contiguous accused, the retired unexclusive servant lacked governmental muscle and business biff to manipulate with evidence.