General Affairs
An Army Jawan Gets a Hero's Welcome In Kashmir, And A Tearful Goodbye
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Kashmir has seen massive turnouts in funerals of militants. But on Friday, thousands came out at the funeral of an army soldier killed by militants. Lance Naik Ghulam Mohiuddin Rather, a Kashmiri, was killed when an army convoy was ambushed at Shopian in south Kashmir on Wednesday night.
He had taken six bullets in his leg and lost too much blood. He, like the two other jawans, did not make it.
On Friday, the 35-year-old was carried back home by his colleagues from the army, in a coffin draped in the tricolour.
Minutes earlier, Army chief General Bipin Rawat and top government functionaries had flown into Jammu & Kashmir capital Srinagar to pay rich tributes to the three soldiers at the Badami Bagh cantonment headquarters.
Back home in Marhama locality some 25 km from the ambush site, thousands showed up to give Lance Naik Rather a hero's welcome, and a tearful goodbye. This was the first time such a large number of people were at an army jawan's funeral and surprised the authorities too.
Lance Naik Rather had joined Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and was posted with the Rashtriya Rifles, the counter-insurgency force raised in the mid-1990s that has been at the forefront of the effort to break the cap militancy in the state. It is also the force that often bears the brunt of public anger heaped upon it.
But this soldier was one of their own. "The entire village respected him," said his cousin Khurshid Ahmad.
"We are very disturbed... extremely sad. The entire village is plunged in sorrow, this family has been ruined after his death, he was the only son", added another cousin, Shakeel Ahmad.
Lance Naik Rather had returned to duty just a month earlier after a short break to celebrate his son's first birthday.
He had taken six bullets in his leg and lost too much blood. He, like the two other jawans, did not make it.
On Friday, the 35-year-old was carried back home by his colleagues from the army, in a coffin draped in the tricolour.
Minutes earlier, Army chief General Bipin Rawat and top government functionaries had flown into Jammu & Kashmir capital Srinagar to pay rich tributes to the three soldiers at the Badami Bagh cantonment headquarters.
Back home in Marhama locality some 25 km from the ambush site, thousands showed up to give Lance Naik Rather a hero's welcome, and a tearful goodbye. This was the first time such a large number of people were at an army jawan's funeral and surprised the authorities too.
Lance Naik Rather had joined Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and was posted with the Rashtriya Rifles, the counter-insurgency force raised in the mid-1990s that has been at the forefront of the effort to break the cap militancy in the state. It is also the force that often bears the brunt of public anger heaped upon it.
But this soldier was one of their own. "The entire village respected him," said his cousin Khurshid Ahmad.
"We are very disturbed... extremely sad. The entire village is plunged in sorrow, this family has been ruined after his death, he was the only son", added another cousin, Shakeel Ahmad.
Lance Naik Rather had returned to duty just a month earlier after a short break to celebrate his son's first birthday.
NSCN(IM) Claims Centre Has Recognised Legal Rights On 'Naga Integration'
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In what might create political ripples ahead of assembly elections in Manipur next week, the Naga rebel group NSCN(IM), which has signed a Framework Agreement with the centre for the Naga peace deal, on Friday claimed that the centre has recognised the legal rights of the Nagas and proclaimed “integration the legitimate rights of the Nagas.”
The NSCN(IM), in a press statement, also claimed that there will be a transformation in the history of the Naga very soon.
The framework agreement inked between the centre and the NSCN(IM) is a key election issue in Manipur.
NSCN(IM) has also claimed that there are some individuals trying to sabotage the peace talks between them and the central government by projecting a new means as “Nagas of Nagaland”.
The ruling Congress in Manipur has been claiming that the BJP is hand in gloves with NSCN(IM) and United Naga Council or UNC and they are the architect of the economic blockade, which has been on for nearly four months. To counter this campaign, last week Home Minister Rajnath Singh claimed at a poll rally in Imphal that there is ‘no mention of Manipur’ in the framework agreement since August 2015.
Various student and civil society groups in Imphal valley have been demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi disclose the clauses of the framework agreement signed in August 2015 with the NSCN(IM).
The Congress’s main campaign has been on protecting Manipur's territorial integrity against the concept of greater Nagalim (Integration of Naga areas in Northeast).
The statement by NSCN(IM) came a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first election rally in Imphal. Manipur will go to polls in two phases on March 4 and 8 for its 60 member legislative assembly. While the Congress has been in power for 15 years, the BJP has gained ground and emerged as the main opposition party to the Congress in this election with several Congress leaders switching to the BJP camp. Votes will be counted on March 11.
The NSCN(IM), in a press statement, also claimed that there will be a transformation in the history of the Naga very soon.
The framework agreement inked between the centre and the NSCN(IM) is a key election issue in Manipur.
Various student and civil society groups in Imphal valley have been demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi disclose the clauses of the framework agreement signed in August 2015 with the NSCN(IM).
The Congress’s main campaign has been on protecting Manipur's territorial integrity against the concept of greater Nagalim (Integration of Naga areas in Northeast).
The statement by NSCN(IM) came a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first election rally in Imphal. Manipur will go to polls in two phases on March 4 and 8 for its 60 member legislative assembly. While the Congress has been in power for 15 years, the BJP has gained ground and emerged as the main opposition party to the Congress in this election with several Congress leaders switching to the BJP camp. Votes will be counted on March 11.
No Plans To Launch App-Based Taxi Service, Clarifies Reliance
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Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has no plans to launch an app-based taxi service as the company sees no logic in diversifying into unrelated sectors.
It has been speculated for months that Reliance Jio, the company's telecom venture that has created ripples by signing up 100 million customers in just 170 days of launch, will soon launch a taxi service.
The company had not commented on the speculations so far but took to Twitter to deny the foray after an online publication stated that Jio has ordered some 600 cars to "kickstart" the service.
A Reliance spokesperson tweeted that the report is "WRONG and DENIED".
The company has no plans to get into unrelated diversification, another official explained.
Reliance Jio had earlier this week announced a strategic partnership with Uber to allow users of the app-based taxi aggregator to pay for their rides through Jio's prepaid wallet.
Enabling commuters to pay for their rides through JioMoney is as far as the company intends to go, the official added.
It has been speculated for months that Reliance Jio, the company's telecom venture that has created ripples by signing up 100 million customers in just 170 days of launch, will soon launch a taxi service.
The company had not commented on the speculations so far but took to Twitter to deny the foray after an online publication stated that Jio has ordered some 600 cars to "kickstart" the service.
A Reliance spokesperson tweeted that the report is "WRONG and DENIED".
Reliance Jio had earlier this week announced a strategic partnership with Uber to allow users of the app-based taxi aggregator to pay for their rides through Jio's prepaid wallet.
Enabling commuters to pay for their rides through JioMoney is as far as the company intends to go, the official added.
Over 9,000 Trees Felled For Underpasses, Flyover In Gurgaon
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Gurgaon is paying a heavy price for developing crucial road infrastructure as over 9,000 trees have been felled to build a flyover and three underpasses in the city, raising the ire of environmentalists.
The move has raised eyebrows as environmentalists and Meteorological department officials are apprehensive that atmospheric temperatures could rise up to three degrees Celsius in the affected micro areas.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has chopped more than 9,000 trees to develop a flyover and three underpasses in the city.
Moreover, the agency has not given any blueprint about developing green channels and city forest in particular areas as compensation for the chopped trees.
"Trees were chopped in a massive scale and majority of them were fully grown and more than 25 years old. This would eventually disturb the climate of micro-level areas. If we develop trees from the beginning, it will take 25 years to get the same status," said city-based environmentalist Jagdeep Mann.
NHAI is constructing three underpasses and loops at Iffco Chowk, Signature Tower and Rajeev Chowk and a flyover at Hero Honda Chowk at the cost of thousands of Peepal, Banyan, and Neem trees.
NHAI officials claimed that chopping of trees was done following prior permission from the Haryana forest department. Environmentalists are furious over the loss of green that the city is bearing now and allege that the infrastructure body has chopped trees in an inappropriate and unprofessional manner.
"In many environment-friendly nations in Europe, they used to work on uprooting method so that re-plantation followed by nurturing the trees gets easier in lesser time," Mr Mann said. He also cited example of the Mughals, who constructed mausoleums in gardens full of trees.
"The residents of Gurgaon are worse than dead people," he rued. A senior forest official of Gurgaon, on condition of anonymity said, "There is no doubt that underpass and flyover projects are against the environment. Still, we have given permission following direction from the state government."
"The forest department has asked NHAI to plant 1.5 lakh trees to compensate the losses of fully grown trees. They have given clarification that re-rooting fully grown trees is practically impossible here due to lack of infrastructure and other facilities," the official said. He also added that NHAI has been asked for plantation of trees from Gurgaon to Mahendragarh.
The move has raised eyebrows as environmentalists and Meteorological department officials are apprehensive that atmospheric temperatures could rise up to three degrees Celsius in the affected micro areas.
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has chopped more than 9,000 trees to develop a flyover and three underpasses in the city.
"Trees were chopped in a massive scale and majority of them were fully grown and more than 25 years old. This would eventually disturb the climate of micro-level areas. If we develop trees from the beginning, it will take 25 years to get the same status," said city-based environmentalist Jagdeep Mann.
NHAI officials claimed that chopping of trees was done following prior permission from the Haryana forest department. Environmentalists are furious over the loss of green that the city is bearing now and allege that the infrastructure body has chopped trees in an inappropriate and unprofessional manner.
"In many environment-friendly nations in Europe, they used to work on uprooting method so that re-plantation followed by nurturing the trees gets easier in lesser time," Mr Mann said. He also cited example of the Mughals, who constructed mausoleums in gardens full of trees.
"The residents of Gurgaon are worse than dead people," he rued. A senior forest official of Gurgaon, on condition of anonymity said, "There is no doubt that underpass and flyover projects are against the environment. Still, we have given permission following direction from the state government."
"The forest department has asked NHAI to plant 1.5 lakh trees to compensate the losses of fully grown trees. They have given clarification that re-rooting fully grown trees is practically impossible here due to lack of infrastructure and other facilities," the official said. He also added that NHAI has been asked for plantation of trees from Gurgaon to Mahendragarh.
Closing In On Launch: NASA's Gold-Mirrored, $8 Billion Webb Space Telescope
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The world's most expensive telescope is parked for the moment in Greenbelt, Maryland, shrouded in a protective tent at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In just two years, this long-delayed, $8 billion, cosmos-penetrating instrument is supposed to be nearly a million miles from Earth.
If it works, the James Webb Space Telescope will collect the oldest light in the universe, emitted soon after the big bang, when the first stars lit up and the first galaxies began to form. It will study black holes lurking at the center of galaxies. It will scrutinize the light from planets around distant stars and look for atmospheres you'd expect to see on worlds rioting with life.
But that's only after an epic journey. It's not a straight shot from the Washington suburbs to space.
The telescope first must be sealed in a climate-controlled container. Then, sometime in late March or early April, a truck will haul it very slowly and gently in the dead of night along a partially closed Capital Beltway. A lead car will watch for road obstacles and potholes. Arriving at Joint Base Andrews, the Webb should slide, barely, into the cargo hold of a C-5C military transport plane.
Then comes a flight to Houston, to the NASA Johnson Space Center, where it will be tested in a vacuum chamber that will simulate the environment of deep space. From Houston it will be flown to Los Angeles, to a facility run by the project's primary contractor, Northrop Grumman, where it will be mated with its sunshield and navigational hardware.
Then comes a boat ride, one that will carry the telescope down the southwestern coast of North America and through the Panama Canal to French Guiana. That's where, in October 2018, it will be blasted into space atop a European Ariane rocket - a quarter-century after the Webb was conceived.
What could go wrong?
"It's wonderful and terrifying," says astronomer Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, one of six scientists guaranteed observing time with the instrument. "The terrifying part comes because we know that this is rocket science for real, we are taking our fabulous telescope - it's a beautiful machine - and we're going to put it on a rocket ship and light the fuse."
Astronomers have a complicated and anguished relationship with the Webb. It's amazing. It's also wildly expensive. And it was supposed to be in space years ago. John Mather, a Nobel laureate who is the senior project scientist, began working on it in 1995. He and his team had to achieve a long list of innovations to get the Webb built - things like the gold-covered mirrors, the sunshield and the means of keeping everything very cold.
"This job was just so hard, and when you're at the beginning you don't have the imagination to see how hard it is. No one had appreciated the difficulty of the test program," he said this week.
Cost overruns led to budget reviews, battles in Congress, near-death experiences, recrimination and, finally, to a reconfigured budget and timetable that lawmakers approved. The project devoured NASA money that might have gone to other science endeavors. It became known as the telescope that ate astronomy.
The Webb, which includes major contributions from the Canadian and European space agencies, has long been seen as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The latter is still working fabulously but getting long in the tooth.
There have been rumors that the Trump administration could somehow gin up a Hubble repair mission with astronauts on a new shuttle-like spacecraft, but officials at NASA Goddard say they haven't been asked to plan for anything like that.
The Webb is quite different from the Hubble, starting with the fact that it's much bigger. The Hubble has a 2.4-meter mirror, but the Webb has 18 hexagonal mirrors that collectively are 6.5 meters - more than 21 feet - in diameter. It can collect seven times as much starlight.
The new telescope can observe the universe in infrared wavelengths of light that are inaccessible to the Hubble. In deep space, shaded from the sun, the Webb is designed to operate under extremely cold conditions. That's necessary for infrared astronomy because otherwise the heat from its instruments would block out the faint light from distant objects.
As things turned out, the Webb's problems with schedule may have been fortuitous.
The original goal was to look at very faint objects in deepest space - the very first stars and galaxies, so far away that their light, emitted about 13.7 billion years ago, is only now reaching our solar system. But the Webb may play a key role in the search for habitable worlds that are relatively nearby, orbiting stars in our own galactic neighborhood.
The very first "exoplanet" - a planet orbiting another star - was discovered 22 years ago, right about the time Mather began working on the Webb. Thousands of exoplanets have been found since.
Earlier this week, astronomers announced the remarkable discovery of a system with seven planets around a star named Trappist 1, some 39 light-years from Earth. Six of those planets are Earth-size. Several have orbits that might allow water, if present, to be liquid at the surface.
There's no way for the Webb or any other current telescope to see these planets directly, because they're too close to the parent star. But as they transit the star - passing across the face of the star as seen from the telescope - the starlight will dim slightly. That's how they were discovered.
An atmosphere around a planet will skew the wavelengths of the starlight. Astronomers can then use spectroscopy to discern which kinds of molecules make up the exoplanet atmosphere.
The Hubble has looked at the Trappist system and already has determined that the planets are probably rocky rather than gaseous like Jupiter or Saturn. But the Webb has sophistication the Hubble lacks. The Webb can detect the clear signatures of atmospheres containing water, ozone, oxygen, methane and other molecules. That could provide compelling evidence of a habitable planet.
As astrophysicist Michelle Thaller of NASA points out, while it wouldn't be the same thing as direct detection of life, it would be a major achievement for the still-young scientific field known as astrobiology.
Closer to home, the Webb's prime viewing targets include the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, Saturn's intriguing moon Titan, the dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon, plus the gaggle of "trans-Neptunian objects" way out in the exurbs of the solar system - little-known worlds such as Sedna, Quaoar and Makemake.
But first the telescope, which is supposed to begin observing in April 2019, has to function as planned. It would be hard to repair something parked at L2, the Webb's destination point in space, which is 930,000 miles from Earth on the opposite side of our planet from the sun.
"I can tell you that we're doing what we need to do to make sure that it'll work," Mather said. "You test. And test and test."
If it works, the James Webb Space Telescope will collect the oldest light in the universe, emitted soon after the big bang, when the first stars lit up and the first galaxies began to form. It will study black holes lurking at the center of galaxies. It will scrutinize the light from planets around distant stars and look for atmospheres you'd expect to see on worlds rioting with life.
But that's only after an epic journey. It's not a straight shot from the Washington suburbs to space.
Then comes a flight to Houston, to the NASA Johnson Space Center, where it will be tested in a vacuum chamber that will simulate the environment of deep space. From Houston it will be flown to Los Angeles, to a facility run by the project's primary contractor, Northrop Grumman, where it will be mated with its sunshield and navigational hardware.
Then comes a boat ride, one that will carry the telescope down the southwestern coast of North America and through the Panama Canal to French Guiana. That's where, in October 2018, it will be blasted into space atop a European Ariane rocket - a quarter-century after the Webb was conceived.
What could go wrong?
"It's wonderful and terrifying," says astronomer Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, one of six scientists guaranteed observing time with the instrument. "The terrifying part comes because we know that this is rocket science for real, we are taking our fabulous telescope - it's a beautiful machine - and we're going to put it on a rocket ship and light the fuse."
Astronomers have a complicated and anguished relationship with the Webb. It's amazing. It's also wildly expensive. And it was supposed to be in space years ago. John Mather, a Nobel laureate who is the senior project scientist, began working on it in 1995. He and his team had to achieve a long list of innovations to get the Webb built - things like the gold-covered mirrors, the sunshield and the means of keeping everything very cold.
"This job was just so hard, and when you're at the beginning you don't have the imagination to see how hard it is. No one had appreciated the difficulty of the test program," he said this week.
Cost overruns led to budget reviews, battles in Congress, near-death experiences, recrimination and, finally, to a reconfigured budget and timetable that lawmakers approved. The project devoured NASA money that might have gone to other science endeavors. It became known as the telescope that ate astronomy.
The Webb, which includes major contributions from the Canadian and European space agencies, has long been seen as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The latter is still working fabulously but getting long in the tooth.
There have been rumors that the Trump administration could somehow gin up a Hubble repair mission with astronauts on a new shuttle-like spacecraft, but officials at NASA Goddard say they haven't been asked to plan for anything like that.
The Webb is quite different from the Hubble, starting with the fact that it's much bigger. The Hubble has a 2.4-meter mirror, but the Webb has 18 hexagonal mirrors that collectively are 6.5 meters - more than 21 feet - in diameter. It can collect seven times as much starlight.
The new telescope can observe the universe in infrared wavelengths of light that are inaccessible to the Hubble. In deep space, shaded from the sun, the Webb is designed to operate under extremely cold conditions. That's necessary for infrared astronomy because otherwise the heat from its instruments would block out the faint light from distant objects.
As things turned out, the Webb's problems with schedule may have been fortuitous.
The original goal was to look at very faint objects in deepest space - the very first stars and galaxies, so far away that their light, emitted about 13.7 billion years ago, is only now reaching our solar system. But the Webb may play a key role in the search for habitable worlds that are relatively nearby, orbiting stars in our own galactic neighborhood.
The very first "exoplanet" - a planet orbiting another star - was discovered 22 years ago, right about the time Mather began working on the Webb. Thousands of exoplanets have been found since.
Earlier this week, astronomers announced the remarkable discovery of a system with seven planets around a star named Trappist 1, some 39 light-years from Earth. Six of those planets are Earth-size. Several have orbits that might allow water, if present, to be liquid at the surface.
There's no way for the Webb or any other current telescope to see these planets directly, because they're too close to the parent star. But as they transit the star - passing across the face of the star as seen from the telescope - the starlight will dim slightly. That's how they were discovered.
An atmosphere around a planet will skew the wavelengths of the starlight. Astronomers can then use spectroscopy to discern which kinds of molecules make up the exoplanet atmosphere.
The Hubble has looked at the Trappist system and already has determined that the planets are probably rocky rather than gaseous like Jupiter or Saturn. But the Webb has sophistication the Hubble lacks. The Webb can detect the clear signatures of atmospheres containing water, ozone, oxygen, methane and other molecules. That could provide compelling evidence of a habitable planet.
As astrophysicist Michelle Thaller of NASA points out, while it wouldn't be the same thing as direct detection of life, it would be a major achievement for the still-young scientific field known as astrobiology.
Closer to home, the Webb's prime viewing targets include the Great Red Spot of Jupiter, Saturn's intriguing moon Titan, the dwarf planet Pluto and its moon Charon, plus the gaggle of "trans-Neptunian objects" way out in the exurbs of the solar system - little-known worlds such as Sedna, Quaoar and Makemake.
But first the telescope, which is supposed to begin observing in April 2019, has to function as planned. It would be hard to repair something parked at L2, the Webb's destination point in space, which is 930,000 miles from Earth on the opposite side of our planet from the sun.
"I can tell you that we're doing what we need to do to make sure that it'll work," Mather said. "You test. And test and test."
Business Affairs
FDI inflow zooms 18% to $46 billion in 2016: DIPP
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Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew 18 per cent during 2016 to touch $46 billion, data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) showed. The country attracted FDI of $39.32 billion in 2015. The main sectors which attracted the highest foreign inflows include services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile. Bulk of the FDI came in from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan.
The government has announced several steps to attract foreign inflows. The measures includes liberalisation of FDI policy and improvement in business climate.
The Finance Minister had announced in the Budget 2017-18 to further relax foreign investment norms and also phase out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.
A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country's balance of payments situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew 18 per cent during 2016 to touch $46 billion, data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) showed. The country attracted FDI of $39.32 billion in 2015. The main sectors which attracted the highest foreign inflows include services, telecom, trading, computer hardware and software and automobile. Bulk of the FDI came in from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan.
The government has announced several steps to attract foreign inflows. The measures includes liberalisation of FDI policy and improvement in business climate.
The Finance Minister had announced in the Budget 2017-18 to further relax foreign investment norms and also phase out the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).
Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.
A strong inflow of foreign investments will help improve the country's balance of payments situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.
WhatsApp keen to plug into India's digital commerce play
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Brian Acton, co-founder of popular messaging app WhatsApp, called on IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss ways in which the company can contribute to Indias vision for digital commerce.
Highlighting the countrys importance, Acton said WhatsApp hopes to contribute more to "Indias vision for digital commerce in future".
"India is a very important country to us, and were proud to have 200 million people who use WhatsApp to connect with their friends, family and communities. We build every WhatsApp feature to be simple, reliable, and secure, and this vision is in line with what Digital India promises to achieve," he added.
Acton said the company will continue to invest to help more people across India connect to its platform.
"Brian Acton, the co-founder of @WhatsApp and a fine mind in the field of information technology met me today," the Minister tweeted along with a photograph of the two after his meeting.
"I also appreciated the good role of platforms like @facebook, @WhatsApp are playing in the field of digital empowerment," Prasad added.
Earlier this week, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella was also in town to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prasad to discuss the companys digital inclusion programme that leverages technology for improving rural healthcare and education.
Acton, who is on a one-day trip to India, is slated to address students at IIT-Delhi, along with WhatsApp Head of Business, Neeraj Arora, later this evening.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has almost become the default messaging application for people in countries like India and Brazil. In India, it competes with the likes of Hike, Snapchat and Viber.
India is also the biggest market for WhatsApp. Of its over one billion users, about 200 million are here.
WhatsApp had said it would focus on rolling out commercial messaging this year for businesses as it looks to tap into enterprises for monetising its platform.
Last year, WhatsApp had stopped charging USD 1 per year subscription fee to go completely free for its users across the world.
While WhatsApp does not intend to introduce any third- party ads for monetisation, it has said the company will test tools that allow users to communicate with businesses and organisations like banks and airlines through its platform.
WhatsApp has just rolled out a new update, introducing SnapChat-like features to turn its platform into a sort of social media app.
Similar to Facebook, the app now features Status, which appears as a separate tab within the app. This allows users to share GIF, videos and photos with their friends for 24 hours after which the content vanishes.
Brian Acton, co-founder of popular messaging app WhatsApp, called on IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad to discuss ways in which the company can contribute to Indias vision for digital commerce.
Highlighting the countrys importance, Acton said WhatsApp hopes to contribute more to "Indias vision for digital commerce in future".
"India is a very important country to us, and were proud to have 200 million people who use WhatsApp to connect with their friends, family and communities. We build every WhatsApp feature to be simple, reliable, and secure, and this vision is in line with what Digital India promises to achieve," he added.
Acton said the company will continue to invest to help more people across India connect to its platform.
"Brian Acton, the co-founder of @WhatsApp and a fine mind in the field of information technology met me today," the Minister tweeted along with a photograph of the two after his meeting.
"I also appreciated the good role of platforms like @facebook, @WhatsApp are playing in the field of digital empowerment," Prasad added.
Earlier this week, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella was also in town to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prasad to discuss the companys digital inclusion programme that leverages technology for improving rural healthcare and education.
Acton, who is on a one-day trip to India, is slated to address students at IIT-Delhi, along with WhatsApp Head of Business, Neeraj Arora, later this evening.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has almost become the default messaging application for people in countries like India and Brazil. In India, it competes with the likes of Hike, Snapchat and Viber.
India is also the biggest market for WhatsApp. Of its over one billion users, about 200 million are here.
WhatsApp had said it would focus on rolling out commercial messaging this year for businesses as it looks to tap into enterprises for monetising its platform.
Last year, WhatsApp had stopped charging USD 1 per year subscription fee to go completely free for its users across the world.
While WhatsApp does not intend to introduce any third- party ads for monetisation, it has said the company will test tools that allow users to communicate with businesses and organisations like banks and airlines through its platform.
WhatsApp has just rolled out a new update, introducing SnapChat-like features to turn its platform into a sort of social media app.
Similar to Facebook, the app now features Status, which appears as a separate tab within the app. This allows users to share GIF, videos and photos with their friends for 24 hours after which the content vanishes.
Govt warns banks over non-acceptance of PMGKY tax
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The Government has warned banks of "de-authorisation" of branches if they refuse to accept taxes under the amnesty scheme PMGKY, which ends on March 31.
The Finance Ministry, in a communication to heads of banks which are authorised to accept deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), asked them to issue directions to all branches for making necessary changes in their system/software to accept the tax.
"Non-compliance of this order may be viewed seriously and may lead to de-authorisation of that branch in case of refusal to accept taxes," the ministry said.
Post demonetisation, the government came out with PMGKY under which people holding unaccounted cash can deposit them in bank accounts till March 31 by paying 50 per cent tax plus penalty. A quarter of the total sum will have to be parked in a non-interest bearing deposit for four years.
The scheme opened on December 1.
There have been complaints that many banks were not accepting payments of tax under PMGKY due to lack of awareness of prescribed challan and certain technical reasons.
Accordingly, the matter was referred to Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, who issued an order directing banks to accept taxes under PMGKY or face action.
The Government has warned banks of "de-authorisation" of branches if they refuse to accept taxes under the amnesty scheme PMGKY, which ends on March 31.
The Finance Ministry, in a communication to heads of banks which are authorised to accept deposits under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), asked them to issue directions to all branches for making necessary changes in their system/software to accept the tax.
"Non-compliance of this order may be viewed seriously and may lead to de-authorisation of that branch in case of refusal to accept taxes," the ministry said.
Post demonetisation, the government came out with PMGKY under which people holding unaccounted cash can deposit them in bank accounts till March 31 by paying 50 per cent tax plus penalty. A quarter of the total sum will have to be parked in a non-interest bearing deposit for four years.
The scheme opened on December 1.
There have been complaints that many banks were not accepting payments of tax under PMGKY due to lack of awareness of prescribed challan and certain technical reasons.
Accordingly, the matter was referred to Principal Chief Controller of Accounts, who issued an order directing banks to accept taxes under PMGKY or face action.
AAbnormal share price rise: Bourses go for graded surveillance
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Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE will put in place graded surveillance measures to check any abnormal rise in stock price not commensurate with the company's financial health. The proposed measures, which include restricting trades of the companies' concerned, will be in addition to the existing surveillance steps. Market participants will have to be "extra cautious and diligent" with respect to securities identified under the Graded Surveillance Mechanism (GSM), the exchanges said in similarly-worded circulars.
The additional measures will be in place for "securities which witness an abnormal price rise not commensurate with financial health and fundamentals like earnings, book value, fixed assets, net worth, P/E multiple…". Among the steps being proposed under GSM are placing such securities in trade to trade category, requiring the entities to deposit an additional amount as surveillance deposit which can be retained for an extended period and freezing of price on the upper side of trading in shares. Making such securities available for trading just once in a week or month will also be looked at.
According to the exchanges, these actions will be triggered on the basis of certain criteria and "made effective with a very short notice". In recent times, there have been instances where shares of certain companies have seen a steep surge in prices despite no major trigger. "The members trading in the identified securities either on their own account or on behalf of clients shall be kept under close scrutiny by the exchange, and any misconduct shall be viewed seriously," the bourses said.
These surveillance actions are without prejudice to the right of exchanges and Sebi to take any other surveillance measures on a case to case basis or holistically, depending on the situation and circumstances, they added. The list of securities put under GSM will be periodically reviewed and published by the exchanges in a coordinated manner. Additional Surveillance Deposit (ASD) should be paid only in the form of cash and retained till review of the graded surveillance stages.
"This ASD shall not be refunded or adjusted even if securities purchased are sold off at the later stage within a quarter and also shall not be considered for giving further exposure," the bourses said.
The amount will be over and above the existing margins or deposits levied by the exchanges on transactions in such companies and interest free. In case of default in payment of ASD, penal actions will be initiated.
Leading stock exchanges BSE and NSE will put in place graded surveillance measures to check any abnormal rise in stock price not commensurate with the company's financial health. The proposed measures, which include restricting trades of the companies' concerned, will be in addition to the existing surveillance steps. Market participants will have to be "extra cautious and diligent" with respect to securities identified under the Graded Surveillance Mechanism (GSM), the exchanges said in similarly-worded circulars.
The additional measures will be in place for "securities which witness an abnormal price rise not commensurate with financial health and fundamentals like earnings, book value, fixed assets, net worth, P/E multiple…". Among the steps being proposed under GSM are placing such securities in trade to trade category, requiring the entities to deposit an additional amount as surveillance deposit which can be retained for an extended period and freezing of price on the upper side of trading in shares. Making such securities available for trading just once in a week or month will also be looked at.
According to the exchanges, these actions will be triggered on the basis of certain criteria and "made effective with a very short notice". In recent times, there have been instances where shares of certain companies have seen a steep surge in prices despite no major trigger. "The members trading in the identified securities either on their own account or on behalf of clients shall be kept under close scrutiny by the exchange, and any misconduct shall be viewed seriously," the bourses said.
These surveillance actions are without prejudice to the right of exchanges and Sebi to take any other surveillance measures on a case to case basis or holistically, depending on the situation and circumstances, they added. The list of securities put under GSM will be periodically reviewed and published by the exchanges in a coordinated manner. Additional Surveillance Deposit (ASD) should be paid only in the form of cash and retained till review of the graded surveillance stages.
"This ASD shall not be refunded or adjusted even if securities purchased are sold off at the later stage within a quarter and also shall not be considered for giving further exposure," the bourses said.
The amount will be over and above the existing margins or deposits levied by the exchanges on transactions in such companies and interest free. In case of default in payment of ASD, penal actions will be initiated.
China made the mistake of ignoring India's high-tech talent: Beijing media
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China has made a "mistake" of ignoring science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.
"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.
"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India almost on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.
"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."
"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.
Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."
"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.
China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start-ups and research firms as it witnessed decline of its labour force due to rapid increase in old age population.
China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.
"However, one issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability," the article said.
"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.
"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.
"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.
"Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much betterstandard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore," it said.
China has made a "mistake" of ignoring science and technology experts from India, Chinese official media said, underlining that the Communist giant should attract high-tech Indian talent for maintaining its innovation ability.
"China has made the mistake of ignoring Indian talent, and instead has attached a greater importance to talent coming from the US and Europe," an article in state-run Global Times said.
"China has perhaps not been working hard enough to attract science and technology talent from India to work in the country," the tabloid daily from the group of ruling Communist Party of China which has been carrying articles critical of India almost on daily basis in recent months said in a rare positive write-up.
"Over the past few years, China witnessed an unprecedented boom in tech jobs as the country became an attractive destination for foreign research and development centres."
"However, now some high-tech firms are turning their attention from China to India due to the latter's relatively low labour costs. Attracting high-tech talent from India could be one of China's options for maintaining its innovation ability," it said.
Referring to reports that US-based software firm CA Technologies has disbanded its almost 300-person research and development team in China while setting up a team in India with some 2,000 scientific and technical professionals over the past few years, it said, "with a sufficient young talent pool, India is becoming increasingly attractive."
"China cannot afford to risk a decline in its attractiveness for high-tech investors. The nation is among the third echelon in cutting-edge technology fields and is working to catch up with the US and the result of its efforts will decide whether China will maintain its status as an emerging global economic power," it said.
China in recent year boosted the budget for technological innovation by allocating billions of dollars of incentives for start-ups and research firms as it witnessed decline of its labour force due to rapid increase in old age population.
China has carried out a lot of measures, including increasing research spending and creating a favourable investment environment for high-tech firms, to enhance its innovation capability.
"However, one issue has become increasingly prominent: The talent pool in China is not large and flexible enough to meet demand for the rapid expansion of innovation capability," the article said.
"In Silicon Valley, a considerable number of software developers working there are born outside the US. China should also strive to attract more foreign talent into the country as it aims to build itself into a world-class research hub," it said.
"A total of 1,576 foreigners were granted Chinese permanent residence in 2016, registering an increase of 163 per cent from the previous year. It seems that China is aware of the importance of tapping into international talent," it said.
"Some reports claim that the cost of employing an Indian engineer is just half the cost of hiring a Chinese worker, which means Indians could see their revenue more than double if they came to work in China," it said.
"Some enterprises in Southwest China's Guizhou Province provide convenience for Indian talent in terms of housing, insurance and transportation and could enjoy a much betterstandard of living in Guizhou cities than in Bangalore," it said.
General Awareness
Important Food Festivals Around The World
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Dear Readers & Aspirants, we have collected some Important Food Festivals Around The World. We have seen in IBPS RRB Exam one question is asking from Food Festivals Around The World. We hope, it will help you in upcoming IBPS & RRB PO/Clerk Exam.
Alba White Truffle Festival – Alba, ItalyAbergavenny Food Festival – Wales, UK
Baltic Herring Festival – Helsinki, Finland
Chinchilla Melon Festival(Watermelon) – Australia
Chocolate Festival – London, UK
International Mango Festival – New Delhi, India
Ivrea Orange Festival – Ivrea, Italy
Maine Lobster Festival – Rockland USA
Maslenitsa Festival (Pancake Festival) – Moscow, Russia
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival – Melbourne, Australia
Mistura Food Festival – Lima, Peru
Monkey Buffet Festival – Lopburi Province, Thailand
Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
Onion Eating Festival – Spain
Orange Festival – Poland
Pancake Festival – Moscow, Russia
Potato Festival – Sweden
San Francisco Street Food Festival – San Francisco, USA
Tomato Festival – Spain
Vegetarian Festival – Thailand
Dear Readers & Aspirants, we have collected some Important Food Festivals Around The World. We have seen in IBPS RRB Exam one question is asking from Food Festivals Around The World. We hope, it will help you in upcoming IBPS & RRB PO/Clerk Exam.
Alba White Truffle Festival – Alba, ItalyAbergavenny Food Festival – Wales, UK
Baltic Herring Festival – Helsinki, Finland
Chinchilla Melon Festival(Watermelon) – Australia
Chocolate Festival – London, UK
International Mango Festival – New Delhi, India
Ivrea Orange Festival – Ivrea, Italy
Maine Lobster Festival – Rockland USA
Maslenitsa Festival (Pancake Festival) – Moscow, Russia
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival – Melbourne, Australia
Mistura Food Festival – Lima, Peru
Monkey Buffet Festival – Lopburi Province, Thailand
Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
Onion Eating Festival – Spain
Orange Festival – Poland
Pancake Festival – Moscow, Russia
Potato Festival – Sweden
San Francisco Street Food Festival – San Francisco, USA
Tomato Festival – Spain
Vegetarian Festival – Thailand
Baltic Herring Festival – Helsinki, Finland
Chinchilla Melon Festival(Watermelon) – Australia
Chocolate Festival – London, UK
International Mango Festival – New Delhi, India
Ivrea Orange Festival – Ivrea, Italy
Maine Lobster Festival – Rockland USA
Maslenitsa Festival (Pancake Festival) – Moscow, Russia
Melbourne Food & Wine Festival – Melbourne, Australia
Mistura Food Festival – Lima, Peru
Monkey Buffet Festival – Lopburi Province, Thailand
Oktoberfest – Munich, Germany
Onion Eating Festival – Spain
Orange Festival – Poland
Pancake Festival – Moscow, Russia
Potato Festival – Sweden
San Francisco Street Food Festival – San Francisco, USA
Tomato Festival – Spain
Vegetarian Festival – Thailand
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