Thursday, November 7, 2013
Chess ace Viswanathan Anand a 'national treasure' in cricket-mad India
In a nation where cricket is a religion and retiring superstar Sachin Tendulkarits resident deity, reigning world chess championViswanathan Anand holds his own as one of India's finest sportsmen.
Anand, 43, who opens the defence of his fifth world crown against Norwegian challengerMagnus Carlsen at home in Chennai on Saturday, has dominated the chess scene in India and abroad for almost two decades.
Anand's longevity and perseverance has often been compared with that of Tendulkar, the world's batting record-holder who ends a brilliant 24-year career later this month.
"There's certainly a case to be made for Anand being the greatest sportsperson India has ever produced," a newspaper said. "He is as much a national treasure as Tendulkar."
Anand showed remarkable promise at an early age but, unlike many others who give up after their first major challenge, he persevered and won until there was no one else left to beat.
The soft-spoken family man, who lives in Spain with wife Aruna and three-year-old son Akhil, is far removed from his temperamental predecessors like Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.
While Kasparov has become a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Anand is more at home musing about subjects such as his pride in India's space programme and his love of Barcelona football club.
"There is no feeling better than representing your country," he wrote on his Twitter account last week in the build-up to the match against Carlsen.
"If there is anyone close to perfection in chess, it is him," said Indian grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly. "He is also one of the nicest human beings to know, a humble man despite his enormous achievements."
Anand's game is built on belligerent attack that catches opponents off-guard, but his unflustered approach ensures that he has the right defence in place when the going gets tough.
Born in a small town in the southern tip of India, Anand became an international master at 15, was crowned Indian champion at 16, won the world junior title at 17 and became the country's first grandmaster at 18.
The Indian government, taking note of the young man's rapid rise, conferred on him the country's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, a few months short of his 19th birthday.
It is significant that when India's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- was introduced in 1992, Anand was its first recipient ahead of such cricket luminaries as Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev.
Anand was just 23 then and the honour came almost eight years before he won the first of his five world titles by beating Russian Alexei Shirov in Tehran in 2000.
However, more losses than wins in the past year have seen him slip to number eight, with Carlsen, 22, assuming the top ranking with 2,870 rating points, 95 more than Anand.
Anand, 43, who opens the defence of his fifth world crown against Norwegian challengerMagnus Carlsen at home in Chennai on Saturday, has dominated the chess scene in India and abroad for almost two decades.
Anand's longevity and perseverance has often been compared with that of Tendulkar, the world's batting record-holder who ends a brilliant 24-year career later this month.
"There's certainly a case to be made for Anand being the greatest sportsperson India has ever produced," a newspaper said. "He is as much a national treasure as Tendulkar."
Anand showed remarkable promise at an early age but, unlike many others who give up after their first major challenge, he persevered and won until there was no one else left to beat.
The soft-spoken family man, who lives in Spain with wife Aruna and three-year-old son Akhil, is far removed from his temperamental predecessors like Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov.
While Kasparov has become a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Anand is more at home musing about subjects such as his pride in India's space programme and his love of Barcelona football club.
"There is no feeling better than representing your country," he wrote on his Twitter account last week in the build-up to the match against Carlsen.
"If there is anyone close to perfection in chess, it is him," said Indian grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly. "He is also one of the nicest human beings to know, a humble man despite his enormous achievements."
Anand's game is built on belligerent attack that catches opponents off-guard, but his unflustered approach ensures that he has the right defence in place when the going gets tough.
Born in a small town in the southern tip of India, Anand became an international master at 15, was crowned Indian champion at 16, won the world junior title at 17 and became the country's first grandmaster at 18.
The Indian government, taking note of the young man's rapid rise, conferred on him the country's fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, a few months short of his 19th birthday.
It is significant that when India's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -- was introduced in 1992, Anand was its first recipient ahead of such cricket luminaries as Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev.
Anand was just 23 then and the honour came almost eight years before he won the first of his five world titles by beating Russian Alexei Shirov in Tehran in 2000.
However, more losses than wins in the past year have seen him slip to number eight, with Carlsen, 22, assuming the top ranking with 2,870 rating points, 95 more than Anand.
'Knowing more languages delays dementia'
Knowledge of two or more languages can delay the onset of dementia by four-and-a-half years, according to a study conducted by researchers in the city and published in the latest issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurologyon Wednesday. The study was funded by the Cognitive Science Research Initiative, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.
For the study, the condition of 648 dementia patients (424 men and 224 women) aged 66 years on an average were evaluated over a period of five years. While about 391 patients spoke two or more languages, 14 percent were illiterate. More than half of the patients (60.3%) were bilingual, of whom 26.3% spoke two languages, 25% spoke three languages while 9.1% spoke four or more languages.
"Our study is the first to report the advantage of speaking two languages by those who are illiterate, thereby indicating that formal education per se does not explain the difference," said Dr Suvarna Alladi from the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences ( NIMS), author of the study.
"Speaking more than one language is likely to lead to better development of certain areas of the brain which may delay the onset of dementia," she added. Most people in the city are exposed to Telugu and Dakhni while have formal education in Hindi and English, she said.
Professor Vasanta Duggirala from Osmania University, who is the co-author of the study, said that bilingualism in India is enhanced by socialising and is therefore found even among the illiterate.
"We aimed to study the association between bilingualism and dementia and its subtypes taking into account the potential confounding factors," she said.
Besides bilingualism, experts said several factors such as occupation, intellectually stimulatingactivities, physical exercise and socio-economic status have been found to delay dementia by improving one's cognitive reserve.
Dementia is a progressive brain disease that causes memory loss, severe intellectual decline and behavioural disturbances in people aged over 60 years.
For the study, the condition of 648 dementia patients (424 men and 224 women) aged 66 years on an average were evaluated over a period of five years. While about 391 patients spoke two or more languages, 14 percent were illiterate. More than half of the patients (60.3%) were bilingual, of whom 26.3% spoke two languages, 25% spoke three languages while 9.1% spoke four or more languages.
"Our study is the first to report the advantage of speaking two languages by those who are illiterate, thereby indicating that formal education per se does not explain the difference," said Dr Suvarna Alladi from the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences ( NIMS), author of the study.
"Speaking more than one language is likely to lead to better development of certain areas of the brain which may delay the onset of dementia," she added. Most people in the city are exposed to Telugu and Dakhni while have formal education in Hindi and English, she said.
Professor Vasanta Duggirala from Osmania University, who is the co-author of the study, said that bilingualism in India is enhanced by socialising and is therefore found even among the illiterate.
"We aimed to study the association between bilingualism and dementia and its subtypes taking into account the potential confounding factors," she said.
Besides bilingualism, experts said several factors such as occupation, intellectually stimulatingactivities, physical exercise and socio-economic status have been found to delay dementia by improving one's cognitive reserve.
Dementia is a progressive brain disease that causes memory loss, severe intellectual decline and behavioural disturbances in people aged over 60 years.
Cabinet clears climate negotiation strategy
The Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan and climate negotiators’ team got the approval from the Union Cabinet on Thursday to reassert the importance of historical emissions in the new climate agreement, which is to be discussed at Warsaw beginning November 11.
The Cabinet cleared the non-negotiable lines for the team deciding that India would ensure that in a pledge-based top-down agreement the onus to take emission cuts for meeting the 2 degree Celsius target lies strongly on the developed countries.
At the ongoing U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks, the 195-member countries have all but come around to having what is called a bottoms-up approach under the new global climate compact to be signed in 2015. In this format each country volunteers targets for emission reduction based on its capability instead of a top-down approach where targets are set down through the negotiations for each country. Some countries have suggested that the volunteered targets can then be assessed to see if they add up to meet the requirement of keeping the global temperature rise below 2 degree Celsius. The U.S. has disagreed and demanded that increasing the volunteered targets should be left to the respective country to decide and there should not be a formal mechanism forcing the nations to do so.
In the Cabinet decision taken on Thursday, the government has decided that the global agreement should be along the bottoms-up approach but any gap between volunteered cuts of all countries and the cumulative global agreement should be met by the developed countries which have a historical obligation to fight climate change.
Along the lines of Ms. Natarajan’s statement in the interview to The Hindu, the government has left the door open to make a voluntary commitment under the 2015 agreement to reduce the growth of emissions. But India would not agree to processes outside the UNFCCC set up to fight climate change become mandatory. The Cabinet also decided that sector-specific targets or targets for administrative entities lower than the Union government, such as city and town councils, would not be agreed to.
The 2015 agreement would have to be under the existing U.N. convention and not in breach of any of its elements and principles for India to be part of it, the Cabinet decided.
Ms. Natarajan will lead the Ministerial round of the two-week negotiations and has been empowered to work with the BASIC and the Like-Minded Developing Countries to ensure that the rich countries put a clear timeline to how and when they shall provide the promised U.S. $100 billion by 2020.
India will not permit private investments in green technologies from developed world be sold as a replacement for inter-country transfers.
The Cabinet has also reasserted India’s position on the controversial issue of HFCs — refrigerant gases that harm the climate — which had recently found support from China and select other G20 countries besides other.
The Indian climate team has been tasked to ensure that any phase out of the gases is done under the principles of the UNFCCC which includes the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and equity.
The Cabinet cleared the non-negotiable lines for the team deciding that India would ensure that in a pledge-based top-down agreement the onus to take emission cuts for meeting the 2 degree Celsius target lies strongly on the developed countries.
At the ongoing U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) talks, the 195-member countries have all but come around to having what is called a bottoms-up approach under the new global climate compact to be signed in 2015. In this format each country volunteers targets for emission reduction based on its capability instead of a top-down approach where targets are set down through the negotiations for each country. Some countries have suggested that the volunteered targets can then be assessed to see if they add up to meet the requirement of keeping the global temperature rise below 2 degree Celsius. The U.S. has disagreed and demanded that increasing the volunteered targets should be left to the respective country to decide and there should not be a formal mechanism forcing the nations to do so.
In the Cabinet decision taken on Thursday, the government has decided that the global agreement should be along the bottoms-up approach but any gap between volunteered cuts of all countries and the cumulative global agreement should be met by the developed countries which have a historical obligation to fight climate change.
Along the lines of Ms. Natarajan’s statement in the interview to The Hindu, the government has left the door open to make a voluntary commitment under the 2015 agreement to reduce the growth of emissions. But India would not agree to processes outside the UNFCCC set up to fight climate change become mandatory. The Cabinet also decided that sector-specific targets or targets for administrative entities lower than the Union government, such as city and town councils, would not be agreed to.
The 2015 agreement would have to be under the existing U.N. convention and not in breach of any of its elements and principles for India to be part of it, the Cabinet decided.
Ms. Natarajan will lead the Ministerial round of the two-week negotiations and has been empowered to work with the BASIC and the Like-Minded Developing Countries to ensure that the rich countries put a clear timeline to how and when they shall provide the promised U.S. $100 billion by 2020.
India will not permit private investments in green technologies from developed world be sold as a replacement for inter-country transfers.
The Cabinet has also reasserted India’s position on the controversial issue of HFCs — refrigerant gases that harm the climate — which had recently found support from China and select other G20 countries besides other.
The Indian climate team has been tasked to ensure that any phase out of the gases is done under the principles of the UNFCCC which includes the principle of common but differentiated responsibility and equity.
Brain may play key role in development of diabetes
A new study has shown that the brain plays a key role in glucose regulation and the development of type 2 diabetes.
Lead author Dr. Michael W. Schwartz, director of the Diabetes and Obesity Center of Excellence at the University of Washington in Seattle, and his colleagues from the Universities of Cincinnati, Michigan, and Munich, suggested that normal glucose regulation depends on a partnership between the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, the pancreatic islet cells, and neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus and other brain areas that are intimately involved in maintaining normal glucose levels.
The development of diabetes type 2, the authors argued, requires a failure of both the islet-cell system and this brain-centred system for regulating blood sugar levels.
The researchers review both animal and human studies that indicate the powerful effect this brain-centered regulatory system has on blood glucose levels independent of the action of insulin.
One such mechanism by which the system promotes glucose uptake by tissues is by stimulating what is called “glucose effectiveness.” As this process accounts for almost 50 percent of normal glucose uptake, it rivals the impact of insulin-dependent mechanisms driven by the islet cells in the pancreas.
The findings lead the researchers to propose a two-system model of regulating blood sugar levels composed of the islet-cell system, which responds to a rise in glucose levels by primarily by releasing insulin, and the brain-centered system that enhances insulin-mediated glucose metabolism while also stimulating glucose effectiveness.
The study is published in the journal Nature.
Lead author Dr. Michael W. Schwartz, director of the Diabetes and Obesity Center of Excellence at the University of Washington in Seattle, and his colleagues from the Universities of Cincinnati, Michigan, and Munich, suggested that normal glucose regulation depends on a partnership between the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, the pancreatic islet cells, and neuronal circuits in the hypothalamus and other brain areas that are intimately involved in maintaining normal glucose levels.
The development of diabetes type 2, the authors argued, requires a failure of both the islet-cell system and this brain-centred system for regulating blood sugar levels.
The researchers review both animal and human studies that indicate the powerful effect this brain-centered regulatory system has on blood glucose levels independent of the action of insulin.
One such mechanism by which the system promotes glucose uptake by tissues is by stimulating what is called “glucose effectiveness.” As this process accounts for almost 50 percent of normal glucose uptake, it rivals the impact of insulin-dependent mechanisms driven by the islet cells in the pancreas.
The findings lead the researchers to propose a two-system model of regulating blood sugar levels composed of the islet-cell system, which responds to a rise in glucose levels by primarily by releasing insulin, and the brain-centered system that enhances insulin-mediated glucose metabolism while also stimulating glucose effectiveness.
The study is published in the journal Nature.
1st Mangalyaan orbit-raising a success
The first of the six orbit-raisings to generate velocity to ultimately catapult Mangalyaan from the Earth orbit towards Mars on December 1 was successfully carried out at 1.17 am Thursday.
The 440 Newton liquid engine (NLE) of the spacecraft was fired for 416 seconds by commanding from the spacecraft control centre at the Isro telemetry, tracking and command network at Peenya, Bangalore. This raised the spacecraft to a height or apogee (farthest point to the Earth) of 28,825 km from the 23,550-km apogee it was parked at after launch at 2.38 pm on Tuesday.
"All systems aboard the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit-raising maneuvers using the 440 NLE have been planned in the next few days, following which the spacecraft will be put on Mars transfer trajectory on December 1," Isro said.
"This enables the spacecraft to travel to the vicinity of Mars in September 2014 after a 300-day journey in deep space. At that time, the 440 NLE is fired again to slow down the spacecraft to enable it to be captured by Martian gravity into an orbit around the red planet," the organisation said.
The spacecraft was launched into an elliptical Earth orbit with a perigee (nearest point to the Earth) of 248.4 km and an apogee of 23,550 km, inclined at an angle of 19.27 degrees to the equator, by PSLV-C25. It was the 25th flight of the polar satellite launch vehicle.
The achieved orbit following the launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota was very close to the one intended. Following its separation from the fourth stage of PSLV-C25 about 44 minutes after liftoff, the solar panels and the main dish-shaped antenna were successfully deployed and operations to stabilise the spacecraft carried out.
The 440 Newton liquid engine (NLE) of the spacecraft was fired for 416 seconds by commanding from the spacecraft control centre at the Isro telemetry, tracking and command network at Peenya, Bangalore. This raised the spacecraft to a height or apogee (farthest point to the Earth) of 28,825 km from the 23,550-km apogee it was parked at after launch at 2.38 pm on Tuesday.
"All systems aboard the spacecraft are functioning normally. Further orbit-raising maneuvers using the 440 NLE have been planned in the next few days, following which the spacecraft will be put on Mars transfer trajectory on December 1," Isro said.
"This enables the spacecraft to travel to the vicinity of Mars in September 2014 after a 300-day journey in deep space. At that time, the 440 NLE is fired again to slow down the spacecraft to enable it to be captured by Martian gravity into an orbit around the red planet," the organisation said.
The spacecraft was launched into an elliptical Earth orbit with a perigee (nearest point to the Earth) of 248.4 km and an apogee of 23,550 km, inclined at an angle of 19.27 degrees to the equator, by PSLV-C25. It was the 25th flight of the polar satellite launch vehicle.
The achieved orbit following the launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota was very close to the one intended. Following its separation from the fourth stage of PSLV-C25 about 44 minutes after liftoff, the solar panels and the main dish-shaped antenna were successfully deployed and operations to stabilise the spacecraft carried out.
Carlsen favoured to dethrone chess king Anand
Anand has been the game’s undisputed champion since 2007 — having won his fifth title last year in Moscow — but experts predict the end of the road for the Indian against current world number one Carlsen.
It could take up to 12 games and a tie-breaker over a three-week period before the contest is eventually settled, but the young pretender appears to have a clear edge over the incumbent.
Both players have enjoyed a remarkably similar rise in their careers since they were teenagers.
Anand became an international master at 15, was crowned Indian champion at 16, won the world junior title at 17 and became the country’s first grandmaster at 18.
Carlsen turned grandmaster at 13 and in 2010, aged 19, he became the youngest player in history to be ranked world number one. He won the Candidates Tournament this year to earn the right to challenge Anand.
“Chess is not like football or other sports, but still it works against you if you are much older than your opponent,” said Russian Vladimir Kramnik, who lost the title match to Anand in 2008.
“Carlsen has much more energy, more motivation as he has not been a world champion yet,” Kramnik was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
It could take up to 12 games and a tie-breaker over a three-week period before the contest is eventually settled, but the young pretender appears to have a clear edge over the incumbent.
Both players have enjoyed a remarkably similar rise in their careers since they were teenagers.
Anand became an international master at 15, was crowned Indian champion at 16, won the world junior title at 17 and became the country’s first grandmaster at 18.
Carlsen turned grandmaster at 13 and in 2010, aged 19, he became the youngest player in history to be ranked world number one. He won the Candidates Tournament this year to earn the right to challenge Anand.
“Chess is not like football or other sports, but still it works against you if you are much older than your opponent,” said Russian Vladimir Kramnik, who lost the title match to Anand in 2008.
“Carlsen has much more energy, more motivation as he has not been a world champion yet,” Kramnik was quoted as saying by the Times of India.
ATP Tour Finals: Djokovic reaches semis, Federer stays alive
Defending champion Novak Djokovic booked his place in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday. After Roger Federer defeated Richard Gasquet earlier in the day 6-4, 6-3 to keep his hopes of a last-four spot alive,
Djokovic knew any win against the Argentine fourth seed would guarantee his qualification from Group B with one match still to play.
And the world number two seized his chance, surviving a tough test lasting nearly two hours to extend his current winning run to 19 matches.
Del Potro can still make the last four as well, but he will have to beat Federer on Saturday.
"With his serve it's definitely a big advantage if I can get a break and then close it out," Djokovic said.
"Thankfully I managed to do that. I'm very glad I could win this match and make it to the semi-finals."
Djokovic discovered on Wednesday that his bid to finish the season as world number one had failed after Rafael Nadal wrapped up top spot in the year-ending rankings.
But he showed no signs of letting that disappointment affect him as he continued his bid to retain the title at the prestigious season-ending event at London's O2 Arena.
Four months ago, on a sweltering July afternoon, Djokovic out-lasted del Potro in an epic encounter that took nearly five hours and finished as the longest semi-final ever played at Wimbledon.
This was their first meeting in London since then and Del Potro took the attack to Djokovic in the Serb's opening service game, securing two break points.
But, as was so often the case when they met at Wimbledon, Djokovic was able to get out of trouble with peerless ability to turn defence into attack in one motion.
Djokovic was unable to convert three break points in the fourth game, but simply came back even harder in del Potro's next service game and this time he did break to open up a 4-2 lead.
That was enough to effectively seal the first set and put the two-time Tour Finals champion within one set of a place in the last four.
Del Potro refused to accept his fate however and, hitting a rich vein of form, he pressed Djokovic into conceding two break points in the sixth game of the second set, converting the first thanks to a fortunate net-cord before going on to level the match.
But Djokovic had beaten the former US Open winner in 10 of their previous 13 meetings and it wasn't long before he was back on top.
The Australian Open champion had to stave off two break points early in the final set, but he gradually turned the tide and landed the decisive break for a 4-2 lead before serving out the win.
Federer's 81-minute win over Gasquet meant that he avoided the embarrassment of losing two straight group matches in a row for the first time at the year-end event after the six-time champion was beaten by Djokovic in his opener.
Federer still needed six match points to get the job done in an afternoon of 29 winners and 30 unforced errors as he broke Gasquet in a marathon final game.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner wasted his first five match points with unforced errors before Gasquet put a return wide.
"Today was just a battle for myself, making sure I move the right way, I play the right way, I have the right shot selection," said Federer.
"Richard does a good job of making you feel uncomfortable; he uses heights, spins really well. He likes extended rallies.
"But I guess those are the kind of matches I need right now -- straight sets against a good player. It clearly comes at the right time."
Federer, playing the season finale for the 12th consecutive year, earned his 11th win over the Frenchman from 13 matches.
Djokovic knew any win against the Argentine fourth seed would guarantee his qualification from Group B with one match still to play.
And the world number two seized his chance, surviving a tough test lasting nearly two hours to extend his current winning run to 19 matches.
Del Potro can still make the last four as well, but he will have to beat Federer on Saturday.
"With his serve it's definitely a big advantage if I can get a break and then close it out," Djokovic said.
"Thankfully I managed to do that. I'm very glad I could win this match and make it to the semi-finals."
Djokovic discovered on Wednesday that his bid to finish the season as world number one had failed after Rafael Nadal wrapped up top spot in the year-ending rankings.
But he showed no signs of letting that disappointment affect him as he continued his bid to retain the title at the prestigious season-ending event at London's O2 Arena.
Four months ago, on a sweltering July afternoon, Djokovic out-lasted del Potro in an epic encounter that took nearly five hours and finished as the longest semi-final ever played at Wimbledon.
This was their first meeting in London since then and Del Potro took the attack to Djokovic in the Serb's opening service game, securing two break points.
But, as was so often the case when they met at Wimbledon, Djokovic was able to get out of trouble with peerless ability to turn defence into attack in one motion.
Djokovic was unable to convert three break points in the fourth game, but simply came back even harder in del Potro's next service game and this time he did break to open up a 4-2 lead.
That was enough to effectively seal the first set and put the two-time Tour Finals champion within one set of a place in the last four.
Del Potro refused to accept his fate however and, hitting a rich vein of form, he pressed Djokovic into conceding two break points in the sixth game of the second set, converting the first thanks to a fortunate net-cord before going on to level the match.
But Djokovic had beaten the former US Open winner in 10 of their previous 13 meetings and it wasn't long before he was back on top.
The Australian Open champion had to stave off two break points early in the final set, but he gradually turned the tide and landed the decisive break for a 4-2 lead before serving out the win.
Federer's 81-minute win over Gasquet meant that he avoided the embarrassment of losing two straight group matches in a row for the first time at the year-end event after the six-time champion was beaten by Djokovic in his opener.
Federer still needed six match points to get the job done in an afternoon of 29 winners and 30 unforced errors as he broke Gasquet in a marathon final game.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner wasted his first five match points with unforced errors before Gasquet put a return wide.
"Today was just a battle for myself, making sure I move the right way, I play the right way, I have the right shot selection," said Federer.
"Richard does a good job of making you feel uncomfortable; he uses heights, spins really well. He likes extended rallies.
"But I guess those are the kind of matches I need right now -- straight sets against a good player. It clearly comes at the right time."
Federer, playing the season finale for the 12th consecutive year, earned his 11th win over the Frenchman from 13 matches.
Complaint filed against Ram Leela for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments
The case was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate R K Yadav who posted the matter for November 11.
A plea was filed in a local court today demanding a ban on the release of Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone-starrer 'Ram Leela'for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments.
The case was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate R K Yadav who posted the matter for November 11.
The film by noted Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is set to hit the theatres on November 15. The complainant, Amit Arya of Patna, through his lawyer Kumar Shankaram raised objections to the title of the movie and alleged that the depiction of "obscene mujra song" had put the Hindu gods in poor light.
The petitioner submitted a CD of the film's trailor in support of his complaint.
Ranveer Singh had come to Patna last week to promote the flick.
More: http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-complaint-filed-against-ram-leela-for-allegedly-hurting-hindu-sentiments-1915175
A plea was filed in a local court today demanding a ban on the release of Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone-starrer 'Ram Leela'for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments.The case was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate R K Yadav who posted the matter for November 11.
The film by noted Bollywood director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is set to hit the theatres on November 15. The complainant, Amit Arya of Patna, through his lawyer Kumar Shankaram raised objections to the title of the movie and alleged that the depiction of "obscene mujra song" had put the Hindu gods in poor light.
The petitioner submitted a CD of the film's trailor in support of his complaint.
Ranveer Singh had come to Patna last week to promote the flick.
More: http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-complaint-filed-against-ram-leela-for-allegedly-hurting-hindu-sentiments-1915175
Should’ve taken time to deal with my dad’s loss: Priyanka Chopra
Just four days after her father’s death Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra resumed work and says she did so to escape from dealing with her loss. The actress’ father Ashok Chopra died in June this year after battling cancer. A doctor by profession, he had retired from the Indian Army in 1997 as lieutenant-colonel. “I don’t think it’s strength. I should have taken the time to deal with it.
I wanted to run away from dealing with it and I did,” Priyanka told film critic and journalist Anupama Chopra on her show The Front Row. Courtesy: Facebook “I started work four days later, one, because my dad hated me sitting at home, and second, I would have lost my mind if I did.” “Losing my father was not just losing my dad, it was losing a part of me. My dad was my best friend, my idol and my protector. He was the man of my life, so I went back to work because that was my only solace and I haven’t stopped since,” she added.
The episode will be aired Nov 8 on Star World. With an endeavour to try and become a renowned singer, which her father wanted her to be, the actress is slowly gaining success with her singles In my city and Exotic. “Hopefully, in a few years, I will be the musician that my dad wanted me to be or that I want to be. Whether it’s ‘In my city’ or whether it’s ‘Exotic‘, for them to have done as well as they did, to hear it on the radio in LA, it’s very cool,” she said.
The actress is used to quick feedback for films, but music industry works at a different pace. “The way the music industry works, especially in the West, is that one single comes out, it develops, it bubbles, then another one comes out, it bubbles,” she said and added that the process takes a-year-and-a-half before your entire album comes. “Whereas, I’m so used to movies, where we know on a Monday whether the movie is a hit or a flop,” she said.
For the actress who has proved her mettle in films like “Fashion“, “7 Khoon Maaf” and “Barfi!“, both singing and acting hold an important place. “I don’t know if I have a preference. I didn’t know anything about acting when I joined movies. I didn’t know it was an art, it was a craft.” “It took me around four or five years to find out the actor in myself. But music, I learned my alphabets singing. That’s how much it’s been a part of me,” she said.
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/shouldve-taken-time-to-deal-with-my-dads-loss-priyanka-chopra-1217445.html?utm_source=ref_article
Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/shouldve-taken-time-to-deal-with-my-dads-loss-priyanka-chopra-1217445.html?utm_source=ref_article
Box office collections: Hrithik Roshan powers 'Krrish' 3 to Rs 150 cr, set to beat 'Chennai Express'
With phenomenal box office collections, Hrithik Roshan's 'Krrish 3', a Bollywood superhero franchise, has achieved yet another major milestone and the juggernaut is still on a roll.
'Krrish 3' has collected approximately Rs 150 crore at the box office.
'Krrish 3' film's official Twitter handle said: "Thank you everyone for loving the movie so much. 150 cr benchmark crossed."
On the fifth day of its release, 'Krrish 3' had already entered Bollywood's elite Rs 100 crore club.
Third film in the series, 'Krrish 3' created history by registering the highest collections ever on a single day, Monday Rs. 35.91 cr.
With the box office collections success rate, critics are touting 'Krrish 3' to become the third film to enter Bollywood's Rs 200-crore club.
Noted film critic Taran Adarsh tweeted: "Expecting #Krrish3 to cross Rs 200 cr mark in India by Wknd 2. Will be 3rd Hindi film to join Rs 200 cr Club, after #3I and #ChennaiExpress."
At present, only members of the Rs 200-crore club are Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chennai Express' and Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots'.
Meanwhile, 'Chennai Express' still retains its spot as the fastest film to reach the Rs 100 cr mark, in just 4 days.
Will 'Krrish 3' join the elite Rs 200 crore club, only time will tell.
'Krrish 3' has collected approximately Rs 150 crore at the box office.
'Krrish 3' film's official Twitter handle said: "Thank you everyone for loving the movie so much. 150 cr benchmark crossed."
On the fifth day of its release, 'Krrish 3' had already entered Bollywood's elite Rs 100 crore club.
Third film in the series, 'Krrish 3' created history by registering the highest collections ever on a single day, Monday Rs. 35.91 cr.
With the box office collections success rate, critics are touting 'Krrish 3' to become the third film to enter Bollywood's Rs 200-crore club.
Noted film critic Taran Adarsh tweeted: "Expecting #Krrish3 to cross Rs 200 cr mark in India by Wknd 2. Will be 3rd Hindi film to join Rs 200 cr Club, after #3I and #ChennaiExpress."
At present, only members of the Rs 200-crore club are Shah Rukh Khan's 'Chennai Express' and Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots'.
Meanwhile, 'Chennai Express' still retains its spot as the fastest film to reach the Rs 100 cr mark, in just 4 days.
Will 'Krrish 3' join the elite Rs 200 crore club, only time will tell.
Filmy Friday: Ram Gopal Varma's 'Satya 2' releases today
Director Ram Gopal Varma's upcoming underworld drama film 'Satya 2' is all set to release today (November 8). Earlier, the film was slated to release on October 25 but it was postponed due to some issues..
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has already given a thumbs up to the film. The legendary actor said that Ram Gopal Varma's sequel to the 1998 film 'Satya', was 'most impressive'.
Ram Gopal Varma said: "'Satya 2' has no connection with 'Satya.' This concept comes from where there is no underworld." Talking more about the film, he adds, "Underworld is no longer the same as it was during 1997-2004. And just when you think that underworld has become defunct, it re-emerges."
The trailer of the film begins with the message—Underworld will never die, it just keeps changing form, and history is a witness to the fact that every new form of underworld has always originated from the thinking of a rebellious individual.
Last month near the orignal release date Ram Gopal had been provided with Police security after he received a threat. He tweeted: "On the basis of an intercepted conversation, the Mumbai police gave me security for various reasons. I cannot divulge the content of the threat. For some important reasons, I cannot comment on whether or not this threat to me is related to the content of Satya 2."
'Satya 2' stars Puneet Singh Ratn, Anaika Soti and Aradhna Gupta in pivotal roles. The thriller has been produced by Sumanth Kumar Reddy and co-produced by Sandeep Gangatkar.
Watch this space for Shubhra Gupta's review.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has already given a thumbs up to the film. The legendary actor said that Ram Gopal Varma's sequel to the 1998 film 'Satya', was 'most impressive'.
Ram Gopal Varma said: "'Satya 2' has no connection with 'Satya.' This concept comes from where there is no underworld." Talking more about the film, he adds, "Underworld is no longer the same as it was during 1997-2004. And just when you think that underworld has become defunct, it re-emerges."
The trailer of the film begins with the message—Underworld will never die, it just keeps changing form, and history is a witness to the fact that every new form of underworld has always originated from the thinking of a rebellious individual.
Last month near the orignal release date Ram Gopal had been provided with Police security after he received a threat. He tweeted: "On the basis of an intercepted conversation, the Mumbai police gave me security for various reasons. I cannot divulge the content of the threat. For some important reasons, I cannot comment on whether or not this threat to me is related to the content of Satya 2."
'Satya 2' stars Puneet Singh Ratn, Anaika Soti and Aradhna Gupta in pivotal roles. The thriller has been produced by Sumanth Kumar Reddy and co-produced by Sandeep Gangatkar.
Watch this space for Shubhra Gupta's review.
Charge laptop? Use 'Pedal Power'
US design firm Pedal Power claims to have developed a revolutionary new desk with a built-in cycle, pedalling of which generates electrical power to charge laptops and other devices.
Pedal Power created two such cycling generators that produce electrical power known as Big Rig and Pedal Genny.
The Pedal Genny is a more portable, single function machine. It has an optional seat, but no work surface.
It features a flywheel to smooth pedalling, full-size cranks, and an all-steel, hand-built frame, the company said.
It has been used for generating electricity, milling grain and pumping water, but can be configured to power most any mechanical device requiring less than 1 horsepower.
Big Rig is designed for off-grid applications and features a work surface, ergonomic seat for comfort, quick adjustments for different riders, a flywheel to smooth pedalling, a wide range of gearing, and an all-steel, hand-built frame, the company said on its website.
An average adult can use it to generate 100 watts of electricity, pump 5 gallons of water per minute, grind a variety of grains, as well as operate an air compressor, a hydraulic pump, most any hand-cranked machine, and a variety of small shop tools, the website said.
It has been found to be particularly suitable for small scale agricultural applications such as cracking grains, churning butter, and pumping water.
"With an efficiency of 97 per cent, bicycle technology is nearly perfect. So why do we use it only for transportation?
"Bicycle technology can and should be used for many everyday tasks. Using your own power rather than plugging into the grid is not only fun, but helps you understand your energy use and reduce your ecological footprint," the company said.
Pedal Power created two such cycling generators that produce electrical power known as Big Rig and Pedal Genny.
The Pedal Genny is a more portable, single function machine. It has an optional seat, but no work surface.
It features a flywheel to smooth pedalling, full-size cranks, and an all-steel, hand-built frame, the company said.
It has been used for generating electricity, milling grain and pumping water, but can be configured to power most any mechanical device requiring less than 1 horsepower.
Big Rig is designed for off-grid applications and features a work surface, ergonomic seat for comfort, quick adjustments for different riders, a flywheel to smooth pedalling, a wide range of gearing, and an all-steel, hand-built frame, the company said on its website.
An average adult can use it to generate 100 watts of electricity, pump 5 gallons of water per minute, grind a variety of grains, as well as operate an air compressor, a hydraulic pump, most any hand-cranked machine, and a variety of small shop tools, the website said.
It has been found to be particularly suitable for small scale agricultural applications such as cracking grains, churning butter, and pumping water.
"With an efficiency of 97 per cent, bicycle technology is nearly perfect. So why do we use it only for transportation?
"Bicycle technology can and should be used for many everyday tasks. Using your own power rather than plugging into the grid is not only fun, but helps you understand your energy use and reduce your ecological footprint," the company said.
YouTube overtakes Facebook as most favourite site among teens
YouTube is overtaking Facebook as the most favourite site among teenagers, a survey has found.
The Futures Company, a research consultancy, interviewed 4,014 teens and found that the most popular site among young people was YouTube.
Nearly 50 percent of teens cited YouTube as their favorite site versus 45.2 percent who favoured Facebook, Mashable reports.
Others on the list include Amazon (27.8 percent), Google (25 percent), Twitter (19.5 percent), Yahoo (12.1 percent), eBay (10.7 percent) and Tumblr (12.3 percent).
Facebook is still the most popular website with twenty somethings at 55 percent, followed by Amazon (37.5 percent).
The report shows modest growth for Twitter among the 12 to 29 group with 16.5 percent naming it as their favorite website vs. 14.1 percent last year.
Facebook's overall numbers went from 57.6 percent to 51.7 percent.
The Futures Company, a research consultancy, interviewed 4,014 teens and found that the most popular site among young people was YouTube.
Nearly 50 percent of teens cited YouTube as their favorite site versus 45.2 percent who favoured Facebook, Mashable reports.
Others on the list include Amazon (27.8 percent), Google (25 percent), Twitter (19.5 percent), Yahoo (12.1 percent), eBay (10.7 percent) and Tumblr (12.3 percent).
Facebook is still the most popular website with twenty somethings at 55 percent, followed by Amazon (37.5 percent).
The report shows modest growth for Twitter among the 12 to 29 group with 16.5 percent naming it as their favorite website vs. 14.1 percent last year.
Facebook's overall numbers went from 57.6 percent to 51.7 percent.
India's credit rating hinges on poll outcome: S&P
Maintains negative outlook on sovereign credit rating, warns of downgrade after elections.
International rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, affirmed India’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-’ and maintained the negative outlook on Thursday. However, it warned of a possible rating downgrade in the review after general elections in 2014.
“The negative outlook indicates that we may lower the rating to speculative grade next year if the government that takes office after the general election does not appear capable of reversing India’s low economic growth,” said S&P.
India’s sovereign credit rating stands just a notch away from junk status. In the previous review, undertaken in May, the rating agency had indicated one-in-three likelihood of a downgrade within a year.
S&P said that lack of progress in structural reforms, shortfalls in basic services and burden from its public finance may weigh on the country’s credit rating. Going forward, macroeconomic developments hinged on the results of the general elections.
“Power has alternated between the Congress Party and the BJP Party since 1998. The next government, regardless of its composition, will face several challenges,” said S&P.
It said the current government tried to plug the fiscal deficit but used one-off measures to achieve the target. The level of election spending and evolution of commodity prices will play a major role in how the government manages to stay within its target of 4.8% for current fiscal.
“Using a broader measure of general government deficits, we project a 7.2% of GDP deficit for fiscal 2014,” said S&P.
The ratings agency, that had cut India’s credit rating outlook to negative last year, said it will undertake a review after the general elections when the new government has announced its policy agenda.
“If we believe that the agenda can restore some of India’s lost growth potential, consolidate its fiscal accounts and permit the conduct of an effective monetary policy, we may revise the outlook to stable,” said S&P, adding it could lower the rating within a year if policy drift continued.
On the brighter side, a robust participatory democracy and a free press, low external debt and ample foreign exchange reserves, increasingly credible monetary policy with a largely freely floating exchange rate were identified as India’s key strengths.
“Even though the Negative Outlook is maintained, we think S&P has effectively given the next government a window to usher in economic reforms,” said analysts at Barclays.
International rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, affirmed India’s sovereign credit rating at ‘BBB-’ and maintained the negative outlook on Thursday. However, it warned of a possible rating downgrade in the review after general elections in 2014.
“The negative outlook indicates that we may lower the rating to speculative grade next year if the government that takes office after the general election does not appear capable of reversing India’s low economic growth,” said S&P.
India’s sovereign credit rating stands just a notch away from junk status. In the previous review, undertaken in May, the rating agency had indicated one-in-three likelihood of a downgrade within a year.
S&P said that lack of progress in structural reforms, shortfalls in basic services and burden from its public finance may weigh on the country’s credit rating. Going forward, macroeconomic developments hinged on the results of the general elections.
“Power has alternated between the Congress Party and the BJP Party since 1998. The next government, regardless of its composition, will face several challenges,” said S&P.
It said the current government tried to plug the fiscal deficit but used one-off measures to achieve the target. The level of election spending and evolution of commodity prices will play a major role in how the government manages to stay within its target of 4.8% for current fiscal.
“Using a broader measure of general government deficits, we project a 7.2% of GDP deficit for fiscal 2014,” said S&P.
The ratings agency, that had cut India’s credit rating outlook to negative last year, said it will undertake a review after the general elections when the new government has announced its policy agenda.
“If we believe that the agenda can restore some of India’s lost growth potential, consolidate its fiscal accounts and permit the conduct of an effective monetary policy, we may revise the outlook to stable,” said S&P, adding it could lower the rating within a year if policy drift continued.
On the brighter side, a robust participatory democracy and a free press, low external debt and ample foreign exchange reserves, increasingly credible monetary policy with a largely freely floating exchange rate were identified as India’s key strengths.
“Even though the Negative Outlook is maintained, we think S&P has effectively given the next government a window to usher in economic reforms,” said analysts at Barclays.
Foreign banks in no hurry to adopt WOS model
Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) guidelines on the wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) model for foreign banks in India are not very attractive for foreign banks, experts said a day after the guidelines were released.
According to consultants working closely with these banks, none of the large foreign banks are in a hurry to abandon the branch model of banking in favour of the WOS model. While Citibank and HSBC India declined to comment on RBI’s framework, a Standard Chartered spokesperson said it would be prematured to talk about the guidelines without reviewing them and their implications.
“Except the part that RBI has opened up consolidation through foreign banks, these guidelines may not cause much change in the banking system,” said Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader, Financial Services, EY.
In the guidelines announced late on Wednesday, RBI had said that foreign banks looking at merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions with Indian private sector banks would be permitted, subject to regulatory approvals, to the overall foreign investment limit of 74%.
“I wouldn’t really go through the pains of an M&A. The sort of banks which are thrown as targets are very specialist, very intense in terms of their regionalisation. So I think the market also has to act with some caution here,” Naina Lal Kidwai, group general manager and country head, HSBC India was quoted as saying earlier.
RBI’s guidelines on WOS state that banks which came to India after August 2010 are mandated to convert to the WOS model, if they have complex structures, do not provide adequate disclosure in their home jurisdiction, are not widely held, belong to jurisdictions having legislation giving a preferential claim to depositors of home country in a winding up proceeding.
About 10 banks have come to India after August 2010, according to Diwanji. These include Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, South Korea’s Woori Bank and Sberbank which is Russia’s largest commercial bank. “What constitutes a complex structure is at the RBI’s discretion,” he added.
Banks which came before that date have the option of choosing between the branch and the WOS model for banking in India.
Experts say reciprocity is one of the key criteria that RBI is using to vet applications for WOS. Foreign banks in India will be treated in a similar manner as to which Indian banks are treated in their home countries.
“The flip side that a lot of people are missing is that this is a great opportunity for Indian banks which are looking at growing in other countries. Indian lenders have been looking at expanding in Latin America and Africa where the Indian diaspora is increasing as Indian corporates are expanding their operations there,” said Robin Roy, associate director- financial services at PwC India.
RBI has also stated that foreign banks which convert to the WOS model of banking would have easier conditions for expansion in India, as they would receive near national treatment. WOS would be permitted to open branches in Tier 1 to 6 centres (except at certain sensitive locations) without having the need to take prior permission from RBI in each case.
To prevent domination by foreign banks, restrictions would be placed on further entry of new WOSs of foreign banks or capital infusion, when the capital and reserves of the WOSs and foreign bank branches in India exceed 20% of the capital and reserves of the banking system.
The guidelines specify that WOS of foreign banks may dilute their stake to 74% or less in accordance with the extant foreign direct investment policy on foreign investment in banking sector and list on stock exchanges in India.
“Listing in India would demonstrate long term goal of players aiming at growing here and give them the ability to raise capital domestically for their Indian operations,” said Monish Shah, senior director, Deloitte in India.
According to consultants working closely with these banks, none of the large foreign banks are in a hurry to abandon the branch model of banking in favour of the WOS model. While Citibank and HSBC India declined to comment on RBI’s framework, a Standard Chartered spokesperson said it would be prematured to talk about the guidelines without reviewing them and their implications.
“Except the part that RBI has opened up consolidation through foreign banks, these guidelines may not cause much change in the banking system,” said Abizer Diwanji, partner and national leader, Financial Services, EY.
In the guidelines announced late on Wednesday, RBI had said that foreign banks looking at merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions with Indian private sector banks would be permitted, subject to regulatory approvals, to the overall foreign investment limit of 74%.
“I wouldn’t really go through the pains of an M&A. The sort of banks which are thrown as targets are very specialist, very intense in terms of their regionalisation. So I think the market also has to act with some caution here,” Naina Lal Kidwai, group general manager and country head, HSBC India was quoted as saying earlier.
RBI’s guidelines on WOS state that banks which came to India after August 2010 are mandated to convert to the WOS model, if they have complex structures, do not provide adequate disclosure in their home jurisdiction, are not widely held, belong to jurisdictions having legislation giving a preferential claim to depositors of home country in a winding up proceeding.
About 10 banks have come to India after August 2010, according to Diwanji. These include Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, South Korea’s Woori Bank and Sberbank which is Russia’s largest commercial bank. “What constitutes a complex structure is at the RBI’s discretion,” he added.
Banks which came before that date have the option of choosing between the branch and the WOS model for banking in India.
Experts say reciprocity is one of the key criteria that RBI is using to vet applications for WOS. Foreign banks in India will be treated in a similar manner as to which Indian banks are treated in their home countries.
“The flip side that a lot of people are missing is that this is a great opportunity for Indian banks which are looking at growing in other countries. Indian lenders have been looking at expanding in Latin America and Africa where the Indian diaspora is increasing as Indian corporates are expanding their operations there,” said Robin Roy, associate director- financial services at PwC India.
RBI has also stated that foreign banks which convert to the WOS model of banking would have easier conditions for expansion in India, as they would receive near national treatment. WOS would be permitted to open branches in Tier 1 to 6 centres (except at certain sensitive locations) without having the need to take prior permission from RBI in each case.
To prevent domination by foreign banks, restrictions would be placed on further entry of new WOSs of foreign banks or capital infusion, when the capital and reserves of the WOSs and foreign bank branches in India exceed 20% of the capital and reserves of the banking system.
The guidelines specify that WOS of foreign banks may dilute their stake to 74% or less in accordance with the extant foreign direct investment policy on foreign investment in banking sector and list on stock exchanges in India.
“Listing in India would demonstrate long term goal of players aiming at growing here and give them the ability to raise capital domestically for their Indian operations,” said Monish Shah, senior director, Deloitte in India.
US ready to work with Narendra Modi, visa not an issue: Officials
The US would be willing to work with BJP's prime ministerial candidateNarendra Modi, if the party is voted to power in the next general elections, senior Obama administration officials here have said asserting that the enduring bilateral relationship is to continue irrespective of the poll results.
"We will work with the leader of the world's largest democracy. There is no question about that," a senior US official yesterday said when asked about the prospects of working with an Indian Government led by Bharatiya Janata Party's PM nominee Narendra Modi.
Dismissing visa as a non-issue, the official said it was largely a creation of the Indian media and not at all an issue in the US Government.
"Visa issue is a media creation. He has to apply and we will review. He (Modi) has not applied (for a visa)," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"You said you have very strong relationship with Prime Minister Singh. If Modi become the Prime Minister next year, would that be problematic for the United States?" the official was asked.
"I think that the United States had a very strong relationship with the previous Indian government when it was under BJP leadership," the US official said.
"I think the relationship between the United States and India is an enduring one, it is a bipartisan in the United States, irrespective of who is in office. And we believe that (in a ) multiparty (system) in India that it is supported by all political parties, we expect that relationship to continue," the official said.
According to another US official "there is not a lot of angst about him (Modi)" in the US Government, but it is believed that the Administration has decided to maintain the status quo on this issue for the very reason that it might be seen as an interference in the internal domestic polity of India.
Any change in the status quo, might be used as political parties to politicise the issue ahead of the elections, sources said, adding that the US would be working with any leader who is elected as the Prime Minister of India after the next years general elections.
"We will work with the leader of the world's largest democracy. There is no question about that," a senior US official yesterday said when asked about the prospects of working with an Indian Government led by Bharatiya Janata Party's PM nominee Narendra Modi.
Dismissing visa as a non-issue, the official said it was largely a creation of the Indian media and not at all an issue in the US Government.
"Visa issue is a media creation. He has to apply and we will review. He (Modi) has not applied (for a visa)," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
"You said you have very strong relationship with Prime Minister Singh. If Modi become the Prime Minister next year, would that be problematic for the United States?" the official was asked.
"I think that the United States had a very strong relationship with the previous Indian government when it was under BJP leadership," the US official said.
"I think the relationship between the United States and India is an enduring one, it is a bipartisan in the United States, irrespective of who is in office. And we believe that (in a ) multiparty (system) in India that it is supported by all political parties, we expect that relationship to continue," the official said.
According to another US official "there is not a lot of angst about him (Modi)" in the US Government, but it is believed that the Administration has decided to maintain the status quo on this issue for the very reason that it might be seen as an interference in the internal domestic polity of India.
Any change in the status quo, might be used as political parties to politicise the issue ahead of the elections, sources said, adding that the US would be working with any leader who is elected as the Prime Minister of India after the next years general elections.
Who will get rich from Twitter's IPO?
ust about everyone in Silicon Valley has dreamed of striking it rich with a well-timed investment. Here is a list of the number and value, based on the closing price of USD 44.90, of the shares owned by some of the people and investment firms that have benefited the most from Twitter's initial public offering on Thursday.
At the market close, Twitter's valuation was USD 24.47 billion. Also read: Twitter makes fantastic public debut, shares surge 73% Executive officers and directors: Evan Williams - 56,909,847 shares, or 12 percent, worth USD 2.56 billion. Williams was Twitter's chief executive until 2010, when current CEO Dick Costolo took the helm. He is working on a publishing platform, Medium, which is dedicated to long-form content. Benchmark - 31,568,740 shares, or 6.7 percent, worth USD 1.42 billion. Venture firm Benchmark started investing in Twitter in 2009 when it was valued in the USD 200 million-USD 250 million range. It stake includes shares owned by partner Peter Fenton, who led the firm's investment in consumer-Internet play Yelp, holds a board seat at Twitter.
Jack Dorsey - 23,453,017 shares, or 4.9 percent, worth USD 1.05 billion. Dorsey co-founded Twitter and still serves as its chairman. In 2009, he founded payments service Square and serves as its CEO. Dick Costolo - 7,675,239 shares, or 1.6 percent, worth USD 344.6 million. A onetime improvisational comedian, Costolo took the helm of Twitter in 2010. He joined Twitter as chief operating officer the year before, after he and co-founders sold their Web feed management provider FeedBurner to Google Inc in 2007. Adam Bain - 1,785,818 shares, or less than 1 percent, worth USD 80.2 million. Bain is the president of global revenue at Twitter. He was formerly the president of audience network at News Corp's Fox Interactive Media. David Rosenblatt - 291,666 shares, or less than 1 percent, worth USD 13.1 million. Rosenblatt is CEO of luxury online retailer 1stdibs.com and is a member of Twitter's board of directors. The following groups own at least 5 percent: Rizvi Traverse Management - 85,171,093 shares, or 17.9 percent, worth USD 3.82 billion.
A closely held private-equity fund based in Michigan, Rizvi has made a name for itself by buying stakes in entertainment companies such as Playboy and movie producer Summit Entertainment. Last year, it led a USD 200 million funding round in Jack Dorsey's payments company, Square. This stake includes shares over which JP Morgan has dispositive power. Spark Capital - 32,414,224 shares, or 6.8 percent, worth USD 1.46 billion. Venture firm Spark started investing in Twitter in 2008. For a time, Spark partner Bijan Sabet served on Twitter's board. Union Square Ventures - 27,838,992 shares, or 5.9 percent, worth USD 1.25 billion. Venture firm Union Square started investing in Twitter in 2008.
For a time, USV partner Fred Wilson served on Twitter's board. DST Global - 23,744,745 shares, or 5 percent, worth USD 1.07 billion. The investment firm founded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner led a USD 400 million investment in Twitter in 2011. At the time, Twitter was valued at around USD 8 billion.
Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/who-will-get-richtwitter39s-ipo_985238.html?utm_source=ref_article
Read more at: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/who-will-get-richtwitter39s-ipo_985238.html?utm_source=ref_article
SpiceJet slumps over 6% on record loss in Q2
Shares in SpiceJet slumped as much as 6 per cent on Friday after the company posted a record loss of Rs. 559 crore in the September quarter. SpiceJet had reported a net loss of Rs. 164 crore in the same period last year. Revenue from operations rose 6 per cent, while passenger numbers were up 9 per cent.
As of 09.20 a.m., SpiceJet shares traded at Rs. 18.95, down 4.8 per cent, and underperforming the broader Nifty, which traded 0.3 per cent lower. The stock hit a low of Rs. 18.65 in early trade. SpiceJet was also among the most traded stock on the broader BSE 500 benchmark.
Last month Jet Airways, the only other listed Indian carrier that is operational, also reported a record quarterly loss for the three months ended September 30.
What went wrong?
High fuel prices and weaker rupee hurt SpiceJet's profitability. Jet fuel prices in India are among the world's most expensive because of provincial taxes. SpiceJet also had to contend with a rupee trading near a record low, raising fuel costs which are mostly denominated in dollars.
India's fourth-biggest airline by domestic market share and controlled by billionaire Kalanithi Maran's Sun Group, added two more international routes last quarter, taking the total to 10.
SpiceJet is widely seen as the next likely target for foreign investment after the government last year began allowing foreign airlines to buy as much as 49 percent of a local carrier. SpiceJet has said it has received some interest from potential investors but has not named any.
Aviation sector in a mess
Market leader IndiGo apart, all four of India's other airlines are money-losing. Kingfisher Airlines, once India's second-biggest carrier, has not flown in a year for want of cash and has had little success so far in its bid to revive operations.
SpiceJet's auditor said in the company's annual report as of end-March that the company's ability to remain a "going concern" depended on establishing profitable operations and raising funds.
SpiceJet has been without a chief executive since announcing Neil Mills' resignation in early August but the company recently appointed Sanjiv Kapoor, a former Northwest Airlines and Temasek executive, as its chief operating officer.
As of 09.20 a.m., SpiceJet shares traded at Rs. 18.95, down 4.8 per cent, and underperforming the broader Nifty, which traded 0.3 per cent lower. The stock hit a low of Rs. 18.65 in early trade. SpiceJet was also among the most traded stock on the broader BSE 500 benchmark.
Last month Jet Airways, the only other listed Indian carrier that is operational, also reported a record quarterly loss for the three months ended September 30.
What went wrong?
High fuel prices and weaker rupee hurt SpiceJet's profitability. Jet fuel prices in India are among the world's most expensive because of provincial taxes. SpiceJet also had to contend with a rupee trading near a record low, raising fuel costs which are mostly denominated in dollars.
India's fourth-biggest airline by domestic market share and controlled by billionaire Kalanithi Maran's Sun Group, added two more international routes last quarter, taking the total to 10.
SpiceJet is widely seen as the next likely target for foreign investment after the government last year began allowing foreign airlines to buy as much as 49 percent of a local carrier. SpiceJet has said it has received some interest from potential investors but has not named any.
Aviation sector in a mess
Market leader IndiGo apart, all four of India's other airlines are money-losing. Kingfisher Airlines, once India's second-biggest carrier, has not flown in a year for want of cash and has had little success so far in its bid to revive operations.
SpiceJet's auditor said in the company's annual report as of end-March that the company's ability to remain a "going concern" depended on establishing profitable operations and raising funds.
SpiceJet has been without a chief executive since announcing Neil Mills' resignation in early August but the company recently appointed Sanjiv Kapoor, a former Northwest Airlines and Temasek executive, as its chief operating officer.
C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data
The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials.
The cooperation is conducted under a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the company to participate, according to the officials. The C.I.A. supplies phone numbers of overseas terrorism suspects, and AT&T searches its database and provides records of calls that may help identify foreign associates, the officials said. The company has a huge archive of data on phone calls, both foreign and domestic, that were handled by its network equipment, not just those of its own customers.
The program adds a new dimension to the debate over government spying and the privacy of communications records, which has been focused on National Security Agency programs in recent months. The disclosure sheds further light on the ties between intelligence officials and communications service providers. And it shows how agencies beyond the N.S.A. use metadata — logs of the date, duration and phone numbers involved in a call, but not the content — to analyze links between people through programs regulated by an inconsistent patchwork of legal standards, procedures and oversight.
Because the C.I.A. is prohibited from spying on the domestic activities of Americans, the agency imposes privacy safeguards on the program, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is classified. Most of the call logs provided by AT&T involve foreign-to-foreign calls, but when the company produces records of international calls with one end in the United States, it does not disclose the identity of the Americans and “masks” several digits of their phone numbers, the officials said.
Still, the agency can refer such masked numbers to the F.B.I., which can issue an administrative subpoena requiring AT&T to provide the uncensored data. The bureau handles any domestic investigation, but sometimes shares with the C.I.A. the information about the American participant in those calls, the officials said.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the C.I.A., declined to confirm the program. But he said the agency’s intelligence collection activities were lawful and “subject to extensive oversight.”
“The C.I.A. protects the nation and upholds privacy rights of Americans by ensuring that its intelligence collection activities are focused on acquiring foreign intelligence and counterintelligence in accordance with U.S. laws,” he said. “The C.I.A. is expressly forbidden from undertaking intelligence collection activities inside the United States ‘for the purpose of acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of U.S. persons,’ and the C.I.A. does not do so.”
Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said: “We value our customers’ privacy and work hard to protect it by ensuring compliance with the law in all respects. We do not comment on questions concerning national security.”
The C.I.A. program appears to duplicate work performed by the N.S.A. But a senior American intelligence official, while declining to address whether the AT&T alliance exists, suggested that it would be rational for the C.I.A. to have its own program to check calling patterns linked to overseas terrorism suspects.
With on-the-ground operatives abroad seeking to disrupt terrorist activities in “time-sensitive threat situations,” the official said, the C.I.A. requires “a certain speed, agility and tactical responsiveness that differs” from that of other agencies. “That need to act without delay is often best met when C.I.A. has developed its own capabilities to lawfully acquire necessary foreign intelligence information,” the official said.
Since June, when documents leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden began to surface, an international debate has erupted over the scope of N.S.A. surveillance and the agency’s relationships with American companies that operate networks or provide Internet communications services. Many of the companies have protested that they are legally compelled to cooperate. The AT&T-C.I.A. arrangement illustrates that such activities are not limited to the N.S.A., and that cooperation sometimes is voluntary.
While officials in Washington are discussing whether to rein in the N.S.A. on American soil, governments in Europe are demanding more transparency from the companies and threatening greater restraints. AT&T is exploring a purchase of Vodafone, a European cellphone service provider, and European regulators and politicians have vowed to intensely scrutinize such a deal.
AT&T has a history of working with the government. It helped facilitatethe Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program by allowing the N.S.A. to install secret equipment in its phone and Internet switching facilities, according to an account by a former AT&T technician made public in a lawsuit.
It was also one of three phone companies that embedded employees from 2003 to around 2007 in an F.B.I. facility, where they used company databases to provide quick analysis of call records. The embedding was shut down amid criticism by the Justice Department’s inspector general that officers were obtaining Americans’ call data without issuing subpoenas.
And, for at least the past six years, AT&T has embedded its employees in federally funded drug investigation offices to analyze call records, in response to subpoenas, to track drug dealers who switch phones. A briefing document for that program said AT&T had records of calls handled by its switches — including “a tremendous amount of international numbers that place calls through or roam on the AT&T network” — dating back to 1987, and described efforts to keep its existence “under the radar.”
The history of the C.I.A. program remains murky. It began sometime before 2010, and was stopped at some point but then was resumed, according to the officials. They said the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been briefed about it.
While the N.S.A. is separately vacuuming up call metadata abroad, most scrutiny in the United States has focused on its once-secret program that uses court orders to domestic phone companies under the Patriot Act to assemble a comprehensive database of Americans’ calls.
Some lawmakers have proposed modifying it to have the phone companies, not the N.S.A., control the data, similar to how the C.I.A. has been operating.
Still, there may be limits to comparisons. The N.S.A. is subject to court-imposed rules about the standard that must be met before its analysts may gain access to its database, which contains records from multiple providers. The C.I.A. appears to have a freer hand, and officials said it had submitted significantly more queries to AT&T for data.
In addition, while both programs analyze cross-border calls of Americans, the N.S.A.’s Patriot Act database does not include purely foreign calls, while AT&T does not use purely domestic calls in analyzing links for the C.I.A., officials said.
Absent an emergency, phone companies are usually legally forbidden to provide customers’ calling records to the government except in response to a subpoena or a court order, and the C.I.A. has a mandate to focus overseas. Lawyers who reviewed the program, officials said, concluded that AT&T’s partial masking of American phone numbers satisfied those restrictions, citing a statutory exception to data privacy lawscovering “the acquisition by the United States government of foreign intelligence information from international or foreign communications.”
That same exception has come to public attention before. It was apparently invoked by a still-secret Jan. 8, 2010, memo written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. A 2010 inspector general’s report described the memo as allowing the F.B.I. to obtain call records “on a voluntary basis from providers, without any legal process or a qualifying emergency.”
While the bureau said it would not use that memo, the report warned that the existence of the government’s still-classified legal theory created a “significant gap” in “accountability and oversight” and urged Congress to modify the statute. Lawmakers have not acted on that recommendation.
The cooperation is conducted under a voluntary contract, not under subpoenas or court orders compelling the company to participate, according to the officials. The C.I.A. supplies phone numbers of overseas terrorism suspects, and AT&T searches its database and provides records of calls that may help identify foreign associates, the officials said. The company has a huge archive of data on phone calls, both foreign and domestic, that were handled by its network equipment, not just those of its own customers.
The program adds a new dimension to the debate over government spying and the privacy of communications records, which has been focused on National Security Agency programs in recent months. The disclosure sheds further light on the ties between intelligence officials and communications service providers. And it shows how agencies beyond the N.S.A. use metadata — logs of the date, duration and phone numbers involved in a call, but not the content — to analyze links between people through programs regulated by an inconsistent patchwork of legal standards, procedures and oversight.
Because the C.I.A. is prohibited from spying on the domestic activities of Americans, the agency imposes privacy safeguards on the program, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is classified. Most of the call logs provided by AT&T involve foreign-to-foreign calls, but when the company produces records of international calls with one end in the United States, it does not disclose the identity of the Americans and “masks” several digits of their phone numbers, the officials said.
Still, the agency can refer such masked numbers to the F.B.I., which can issue an administrative subpoena requiring AT&T to provide the uncensored data. The bureau handles any domestic investigation, but sometimes shares with the C.I.A. the information about the American participant in those calls, the officials said.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the C.I.A., declined to confirm the program. But he said the agency’s intelligence collection activities were lawful and “subject to extensive oversight.”
“The C.I.A. protects the nation and upholds privacy rights of Americans by ensuring that its intelligence collection activities are focused on acquiring foreign intelligence and counterintelligence in accordance with U.S. laws,” he said. “The C.I.A. is expressly forbidden from undertaking intelligence collection activities inside the United States ‘for the purpose of acquiring information concerning the domestic activities of U.S. persons,’ and the C.I.A. does not do so.”
Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said: “We value our customers’ privacy and work hard to protect it by ensuring compliance with the law in all respects. We do not comment on questions concerning national security.”
The C.I.A. program appears to duplicate work performed by the N.S.A. But a senior American intelligence official, while declining to address whether the AT&T alliance exists, suggested that it would be rational for the C.I.A. to have its own program to check calling patterns linked to overseas terrorism suspects.
With on-the-ground operatives abroad seeking to disrupt terrorist activities in “time-sensitive threat situations,” the official said, the C.I.A. requires “a certain speed, agility and tactical responsiveness that differs” from that of other agencies. “That need to act without delay is often best met when C.I.A. has developed its own capabilities to lawfully acquire necessary foreign intelligence information,” the official said.
Since June, when documents leaked by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden began to surface, an international debate has erupted over the scope of N.S.A. surveillance and the agency’s relationships with American companies that operate networks or provide Internet communications services. Many of the companies have protested that they are legally compelled to cooperate. The AT&T-C.I.A. arrangement illustrates that such activities are not limited to the N.S.A., and that cooperation sometimes is voluntary.
While officials in Washington are discussing whether to rein in the N.S.A. on American soil, governments in Europe are demanding more transparency from the companies and threatening greater restraints. AT&T is exploring a purchase of Vodafone, a European cellphone service provider, and European regulators and politicians have vowed to intensely scrutinize such a deal.
AT&T has a history of working with the government. It helped facilitatethe Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program by allowing the N.S.A. to install secret equipment in its phone and Internet switching facilities, according to an account by a former AT&T technician made public in a lawsuit.
It was also one of three phone companies that embedded employees from 2003 to around 2007 in an F.B.I. facility, where they used company databases to provide quick analysis of call records. The embedding was shut down amid criticism by the Justice Department’s inspector general that officers were obtaining Americans’ call data without issuing subpoenas.
And, for at least the past six years, AT&T has embedded its employees in federally funded drug investigation offices to analyze call records, in response to subpoenas, to track drug dealers who switch phones. A briefing document for that program said AT&T had records of calls handled by its switches — including “a tremendous amount of international numbers that place calls through or roam on the AT&T network” — dating back to 1987, and described efforts to keep its existence “under the radar.”
The history of the C.I.A. program remains murky. It began sometime before 2010, and was stopped at some point but then was resumed, according to the officials. They said the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been briefed about it.
While the N.S.A. is separately vacuuming up call metadata abroad, most scrutiny in the United States has focused on its once-secret program that uses court orders to domestic phone companies under the Patriot Act to assemble a comprehensive database of Americans’ calls.
Some lawmakers have proposed modifying it to have the phone companies, not the N.S.A., control the data, similar to how the C.I.A. has been operating.
Still, there may be limits to comparisons. The N.S.A. is subject to court-imposed rules about the standard that must be met before its analysts may gain access to its database, which contains records from multiple providers. The C.I.A. appears to have a freer hand, and officials said it had submitted significantly more queries to AT&T for data.
In addition, while both programs analyze cross-border calls of Americans, the N.S.A.’s Patriot Act database does not include purely foreign calls, while AT&T does not use purely domestic calls in analyzing links for the C.I.A., officials said.
Absent an emergency, phone companies are usually legally forbidden to provide customers’ calling records to the government except in response to a subpoena or a court order, and the C.I.A. has a mandate to focus overseas. Lawyers who reviewed the program, officials said, concluded that AT&T’s partial masking of American phone numbers satisfied those restrictions, citing a statutory exception to data privacy lawscovering “the acquisition by the United States government of foreign intelligence information from international or foreign communications.”
That same exception has come to public attention before. It was apparently invoked by a still-secret Jan. 8, 2010, memo written by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel. A 2010 inspector general’s report described the memo as allowing the F.B.I. to obtain call records “on a voluntary basis from providers, without any legal process or a qualifying emergency.”
While the bureau said it would not use that memo, the report warned that the existence of the government’s still-classified legal theory created a “significant gap” in “accountability and oversight” and urged Congress to modify the statute. Lawmakers have not acted on that recommendation.
British Intelligence Chiefs Say Leaks by Snowden Hurt Security
Britain’s intelligence chiefs, in unprecedented public testimony before Parliament, said on Thursday that the published leaks of secret documents stolen by Edward J. Snowden, the former American intelligence analyst, had damaged their ability to keep Britain safe.
“The leaks from Snowden have been very damaging, and they’ve put our operations at risk,” said John Sawers, the head of the foreign intelligence service, MI6. “It’s clear that our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al Qaeda is lapping it up.”
Iain Lobban, the director of the eavesdropping agency, the Government Communications Headquarters, said terrorist groups in Afghanistan, South Asia and the Middle East “and closer to home” have discussed the Snowden revelations. They have assessed “the communications packages they use now and the communication packages they wish to move to,” he said, “to avoid what they now perceive to be vulnerable communications methods.”
Mr. Lobban called that “a direct consequence” of the leaks, adding: “Yes, I can say that explicitly. The cumulative effect of global media coverage will make our job far, far harder for years to come.”
Mr. Sawers, a former British ambassador to Egypt and the United Nations, said he was not sure that “the journalists managing this very sensitive information are particularly well placed, actually, to make those judgments,” an assertion that top editors have rejected, arguing that they are using care in deciding what to publish.
Andrew Parker, the head of the domestic security agency, MI5, was less explicit on Thursday. But in a speech last month, he said the Snowden leaks had caused “enormous damage” to British security, “handing the advantage to the terrorists.”
The officials’ reactions are hardly a surprise, given their responsibilities and the varied nature of the global threats that face Britain and the West. But they were also at pains to try to reassure the British public that all three agencies followed British law, sought authorization from appropriate cabinet ministers, did not condone torture and had learned from their mistakes, both foreign and domestic.
Mr. Lobban insisted that “secret does not mean sinister” or “unaccountable,” and that there was no mass surveillance of ordinary citizens despite the gathering of huge amounts of Internet and telephone data.
Mr. Parker insisted that his agency was committed to protecting “the sort of country we live in against threats to it,” saying Britons “don’t want to live in a surveillance society, or North Korea — they want to live in a country like this, and our job is to keep it that way.”
He added: “The suggestion that somehow what we do is somehow compromising freedom and democracy. Of course, we believe the opposite to be the case.”
The public appearance before the Intelligence and Security Committee was a drastic change from the usual private testimony. It was only in 1992 that the name of the head of MI5 was made public, and it was not until 1994 that the government officially admitted that MI6 even existed.
The timing of this first public hearing was not dictated by the controversies surrounding Mr. Snowden, who has been given temporary asylum in Russia. But the questioning, led by Malcolm Rifkind, the committee chairman and a former foreign secretary, was dominated by the Snowden revelations, which have been made through publications like The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Der Spiegel.
The committee of nine was friendly in its questioning and did little to challenge the assumptions of the three intelligence chiefs. Mr. Rifkind, to whom MI6 once reported, tried to press for more public disclosure and more debate about the proper balance between secrecy and a democracy’s right to know, especially given the 2 billion pounds spent annually on the three agencies. But in general, the committee allowed the chiefs to avoid specifics, although they promised to talk to the legislators more openly in private session.
Nor was there a serious discussion of the damage done to relations among allies by revelations that the United States and Britain have been spying on their friends as well as their enemies.
The parliamentary hearing lasted 90 minutes and touched on the war in Syria, Northern Ireland, Iran, the role of the eavesdropping agency in tracking down child abusers who used the Internet, and industrial espionage.
The three chiefs underlined concerns about the radicalization of those fighting in Syria. Mr. Parker estimated that the number of Britons who had traveled to Syria to fight was in the “low hundreds,” saying a number had already returned to Britain. While most would not engage in jihadist activity at home, Mr. Parker said, he made it clear that they were important targets of surveillance.
Mr. Parker repeated that the agencies had disrupted 34 plots to cause domestic harm since the bomb attacks on London in July 2005, with one or two each year intending to cause mass casualties.
French officials have cited similar numbers of French citizens who have traveled to Syria and northern Africa to join jihadists, often attracted or radicalized by material on the Internet.
Mr. Parker has run MI5 since April. Mr. Sawers has run MI6 since 2009, and in 2010 he gave the first public speech by a head of MI6. Mr. Lobban has run the eavesdropping agency since 2008.
The lore around Britain’s intelligence services originates from the World War II and the Cold War, both because of its traitors, like Kim Philby, and its heroes, whose names are largely unknown. Mr. Parker is still known as “M,” and Mr. Sawers as “C.”
Mr. Sawers, when asked, said his agents did not operate as James Bond might have done, conducting missions on their own. He said his agents were in constant contact with headquarters and were told to seek guidance if they were in doubt about the legality or appropriateness of an action. If necessary, he said, “we will wake the foreign secretary up and ask him for a view one way or the other.” A similar system operates with MI5 and the home secretary.
“The leaks from Snowden have been very damaging, and they’ve put our operations at risk,” said John Sawers, the head of the foreign intelligence service, MI6. “It’s clear that our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al Qaeda is lapping it up.”
Iain Lobban, the director of the eavesdropping agency, the Government Communications Headquarters, said terrorist groups in Afghanistan, South Asia and the Middle East “and closer to home” have discussed the Snowden revelations. They have assessed “the communications packages they use now and the communication packages they wish to move to,” he said, “to avoid what they now perceive to be vulnerable communications methods.”
Mr. Lobban called that “a direct consequence” of the leaks, adding: “Yes, I can say that explicitly. The cumulative effect of global media coverage will make our job far, far harder for years to come.”
Mr. Sawers, a former British ambassador to Egypt and the United Nations, said he was not sure that “the journalists managing this very sensitive information are particularly well placed, actually, to make those judgments,” an assertion that top editors have rejected, arguing that they are using care in deciding what to publish.
Andrew Parker, the head of the domestic security agency, MI5, was less explicit on Thursday. But in a speech last month, he said the Snowden leaks had caused “enormous damage” to British security, “handing the advantage to the terrorists.”
The officials’ reactions are hardly a surprise, given their responsibilities and the varied nature of the global threats that face Britain and the West. But they were also at pains to try to reassure the British public that all three agencies followed British law, sought authorization from appropriate cabinet ministers, did not condone torture and had learned from their mistakes, both foreign and domestic.
Mr. Lobban insisted that “secret does not mean sinister” or “unaccountable,” and that there was no mass surveillance of ordinary citizens despite the gathering of huge amounts of Internet and telephone data.
Mr. Parker insisted that his agency was committed to protecting “the sort of country we live in against threats to it,” saying Britons “don’t want to live in a surveillance society, or North Korea — they want to live in a country like this, and our job is to keep it that way.”
He added: “The suggestion that somehow what we do is somehow compromising freedom and democracy. Of course, we believe the opposite to be the case.”
The public appearance before the Intelligence and Security Committee was a drastic change from the usual private testimony. It was only in 1992 that the name of the head of MI5 was made public, and it was not until 1994 that the government officially admitted that MI6 even existed.
The timing of this first public hearing was not dictated by the controversies surrounding Mr. Snowden, who has been given temporary asylum in Russia. But the questioning, led by Malcolm Rifkind, the committee chairman and a former foreign secretary, was dominated by the Snowden revelations, which have been made through publications like The Guardian, The Washington Post, The New York Times and Der Spiegel.
The committee of nine was friendly in its questioning and did little to challenge the assumptions of the three intelligence chiefs. Mr. Rifkind, to whom MI6 once reported, tried to press for more public disclosure and more debate about the proper balance between secrecy and a democracy’s right to know, especially given the 2 billion pounds spent annually on the three agencies. But in general, the committee allowed the chiefs to avoid specifics, although they promised to talk to the legislators more openly in private session.
Nor was there a serious discussion of the damage done to relations among allies by revelations that the United States and Britain have been spying on their friends as well as their enemies.
The parliamentary hearing lasted 90 minutes and touched on the war in Syria, Northern Ireland, Iran, the role of the eavesdropping agency in tracking down child abusers who used the Internet, and industrial espionage.
The three chiefs underlined concerns about the radicalization of those fighting in Syria. Mr. Parker estimated that the number of Britons who had traveled to Syria to fight was in the “low hundreds,” saying a number had already returned to Britain. While most would not engage in jihadist activity at home, Mr. Parker said, he made it clear that they were important targets of surveillance.
Mr. Parker repeated that the agencies had disrupted 34 plots to cause domestic harm since the bomb attacks on London in July 2005, with one or two each year intending to cause mass casualties.
French officials have cited similar numbers of French citizens who have traveled to Syria and northern Africa to join jihadists, often attracted or radicalized by material on the Internet.
Mr. Parker has run MI5 since April. Mr. Sawers has run MI6 since 2009, and in 2010 he gave the first public speech by a head of MI6. Mr. Lobban has run the eavesdropping agency since 2008.
The lore around Britain’s intelligence services originates from the World War II and the Cold War, both because of its traitors, like Kim Philby, and its heroes, whose names are largely unknown. Mr. Parker is still known as “M,” and Mr. Sawers as “C.”
Mr. Sawers, when asked, said his agents did not operate as James Bond might have done, conducting missions on their own. He said his agents were in constant contact with headquarters and were told to seek guidance if they were in doubt about the legality or appropriateness of an action. If necessary, he said, “we will wake the foreign secretary up and ask him for a view one way or the other.” A similar system operates with MI5 and the home secretary.
What does the Saudi government's nuclear statement mean?
The Saudi embassy in London issued the rare public response to us on Wednesday afternoon after we had given them details of our report and the evidence it contained.
The kingdom, which is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, has long argued that the Middle East should be a nuclear free-area.
But Wednesday's statement highlighted the "on-going failure" of the UN Security Council to achieve this aim and warned that "lack of international action has put the region under the threat of a time bomb that cannot be refused by manoeuvring around it".
Sir William Patey, former UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told BBC2's Newsnight programme he considered the timing of this statement, with nuclear talks ongoing with Iran in Geneva, to be significant.
The refusal of Saudi Arabia to deny our story can be seen as a continuation of signalling that started in 2009.
King Abdullah warned US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross that the kingdom would obtain nuclear weapons, and has continued in recent years with non-attributed briefing of journalists.
What many wonder, particularly in the light of Pakistan's labelling of our piece as "speculative, mischievous and baseless" - although interestingly even it did not use the word "untrue" - is whether the Saudis are simply bluffing, trying to galvanise a tougher American line on the Iranian nuclear question?
Make no mistake, Saudi Arabia, Israel and others such as the United Arab Emirates have long tried to persuade Washington to take a stronger stance on the Iranian issue.
But there are many signs that the kingdom has also thought long term about the situation it faces today, and has taken certain military precautions.
A paper leaked 10 years ago by Saudi officials detailed possible responses to the nuclear challenge as:
acquiring their own nuclear weapons
relying on another country to defend them
working for a nuclear-free Middle East
As Monday's statement shows, the kingdom no longer has any real faith in this last option.
As for relying on a foreign nuclear umbrella, could Pakistan fulfil this role?
Certainly some experts, such as Gary Samore, President Obama's chief counter-proliferation adviser until March 2013, think that the stationing of Pakistani missiles with crews and warheads inside the kingdom is the most likely way that any deal between the two countries might play out.
Yet we know also that Saudi Arabia has possessed its own possible delivery system, the 3,000km (2,000-mile) range Chinese-made CSS-2 missile, for more than 20 years.
This summer, the defence publication Jane's published details of a new base for these weapons, with launch pads aiming at Israel and Iran.
Experts such as Pakistani Maj Gen Feroz Hassan Khan, who worked in his country's nuclear program, while avoiding any confirmation of a deal with Saudi Arabia, have written that financial help from the kingdom was essential to that project.
There is enough information out there to create the impression that the kingdom could have a nuclear option and perhaps that is all it wants, in order to deter Iran from further steps.
As the invasion of Iraq showed, the beliefs of intelligence chiefs and policy makers can create their own reality in the Middle East.
Other interpretations are possible too - that a country that takes its security as seriously as the kingdom does, possesses huge financial resources, and has been anticipating this moment for over a decade would not rely simply on bluff.
And it is this fear, perhaps, that caused a senior figure in Nato to share with me a few months ago that he had read intelligence reports that nuclear warheads made in Pakistan for the kingdom were awaiting delivery.
The kingdom, which is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, has long argued that the Middle East should be a nuclear free-area.
But Wednesday's statement highlighted the "on-going failure" of the UN Security Council to achieve this aim and warned that "lack of international action has put the region under the threat of a time bomb that cannot be refused by manoeuvring around it".
Sir William Patey, former UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told BBC2's Newsnight programme he considered the timing of this statement, with nuclear talks ongoing with Iran in Geneva, to be significant.
The refusal of Saudi Arabia to deny our story can be seen as a continuation of signalling that started in 2009.
King Abdullah warned US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross that the kingdom would obtain nuclear weapons, and has continued in recent years with non-attributed briefing of journalists.
What many wonder, particularly in the light of Pakistan's labelling of our piece as "speculative, mischievous and baseless" - although interestingly even it did not use the word "untrue" - is whether the Saudis are simply bluffing, trying to galvanise a tougher American line on the Iranian nuclear question?
Make no mistake, Saudi Arabia, Israel and others such as the United Arab Emirates have long tried to persuade Washington to take a stronger stance on the Iranian issue.
But there are many signs that the kingdom has also thought long term about the situation it faces today, and has taken certain military precautions.
A paper leaked 10 years ago by Saudi officials detailed possible responses to the nuclear challenge as:
acquiring their own nuclear weapons
relying on another country to defend them
working for a nuclear-free Middle East
As Monday's statement shows, the kingdom no longer has any real faith in this last option.
As for relying on a foreign nuclear umbrella, could Pakistan fulfil this role?
Certainly some experts, such as Gary Samore, President Obama's chief counter-proliferation adviser until March 2013, think that the stationing of Pakistani missiles with crews and warheads inside the kingdom is the most likely way that any deal between the two countries might play out.
Yet we know also that Saudi Arabia has possessed its own possible delivery system, the 3,000km (2,000-mile) range Chinese-made CSS-2 missile, for more than 20 years.
This summer, the defence publication Jane's published details of a new base for these weapons, with launch pads aiming at Israel and Iran.
Experts such as Pakistani Maj Gen Feroz Hassan Khan, who worked in his country's nuclear program, while avoiding any confirmation of a deal with Saudi Arabia, have written that financial help from the kingdom was essential to that project.
There is enough information out there to create the impression that the kingdom could have a nuclear option and perhaps that is all it wants, in order to deter Iran from further steps.
As the invasion of Iraq showed, the beliefs of intelligence chiefs and policy makers can create their own reality in the Middle East.
Other interpretations are possible too - that a country that takes its security as seriously as the kingdom does, possesses huge financial resources, and has been anticipating this moment for over a decade would not rely simply on bluff.
And it is this fear, perhaps, that caused a senior figure in Nato to share with me a few months ago that he had read intelligence reports that nuclear warheads made in Pakistan for the kingdom were awaiting delivery.
The unsatiated militant now to lead TTP
Maulana Fazlullah was unremorseful after his group killed a two-star Pakistan Army general near the Afghanistan border in September. Instead, he said their target was corps commander Peshawar.
That was unsatisfactory, too. He wished to kill the chief of army staff to avenge his defeat in Swat. After deadly and high profile attacks over the years, his vengeance in fact is still unsatiated.
This militant commander was yesterday made the new head of the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), with all vengeful intentions, capability and a hard-line agenda.Maulana Fazlullah, son-in-law of the jailed Maulana Sufi Muhammad, controlled Swat valley from 2007 to 2009 and unleashed a spree of violence. He was driven out of Swat more than four and a half years ago, but he refused to give in. He continued his violent campaign from his unmolested sanctuaries in Afghanistan and created headlines worldwide. All these years, his ferocious attacks raised his militant profile and enabled him to become the chief of the TTP, an umbrella organisation of militant groups.
In 20011, he launched deadly attacks from Kunar, an eastern province of Afghanistan, into Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Chitral districts. These attacks have killed over a hundred security forces personnel and scores of innocent villagers. His fighters slit the throats of 17 soldiers last year in June, underlining the ferocity of the threat he posed to Pakistan’s security.
His attacks precipitated troop deployment on the western border along these districts for the first time in the country’s history. Thousands of army soldiers sent there in September 2011 are still deployed along the border.
Last year in October, Fazlullah ordered the killing of Malala Yousafzai for speaking against the Taliban. She miraculously survived after being hit in the head in the attack. People poured into the streets in all parts of the country in her support and against the attack. The world followed. The international community lauded her for bravery and her struggle for education.
When he held sway over Swat, he ordered bombing and torching of schools, particularly those for girls. He threatened parents to stop sending girls to schools or else they would be killed. His men publicly flogged people for actions he considered un-Islamic, including women. His fighters killed a teacher in Matta as his shalwar was hiding his ankles, a voluntary practice Islam advises the faithful to exercise. Taliban in Swat slaughtered people in streets and hung their bodies in squares, petrifying residents. Suicide blasts were widespread. He had established over 40 self-styled Sharia courts that delivered punishments to people.
Fazlullah is a fiery speaker and it helped him initially impress the people of Swat. He used FM radio for winning support and later spreading his reign of terror. Due to the use of FM radio, local people called him “Mulla Radio.”
The Awami National Party that came into power in 2008 held talks with him in 2008 and 2009. However, on both occasions the talks failed. The Nawaz Sharif government’s desire to hold talks with TTP have met a setback with his appointment as its chief. The first announcement that was made after his selection was that TTP would not hold talks with the government.
That was unsatisfactory, too. He wished to kill the chief of army staff to avenge his defeat in Swat. After deadly and high profile attacks over the years, his vengeance in fact is still unsatiated.
This militant commander was yesterday made the new head of the proscribed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), with all vengeful intentions, capability and a hard-line agenda.Maulana Fazlullah, son-in-law of the jailed Maulana Sufi Muhammad, controlled Swat valley from 2007 to 2009 and unleashed a spree of violence. He was driven out of Swat more than four and a half years ago, but he refused to give in. He continued his violent campaign from his unmolested sanctuaries in Afghanistan and created headlines worldwide. All these years, his ferocious attacks raised his militant profile and enabled him to become the chief of the TTP, an umbrella organisation of militant groups.
In 20011, he launched deadly attacks from Kunar, an eastern province of Afghanistan, into Lower Dir, Upper Dir and Chitral districts. These attacks have killed over a hundred security forces personnel and scores of innocent villagers. His fighters slit the throats of 17 soldiers last year in June, underlining the ferocity of the threat he posed to Pakistan’s security.
His attacks precipitated troop deployment on the western border along these districts for the first time in the country’s history. Thousands of army soldiers sent there in September 2011 are still deployed along the border.
Last year in October, Fazlullah ordered the killing of Malala Yousafzai for speaking against the Taliban. She miraculously survived after being hit in the head in the attack. People poured into the streets in all parts of the country in her support and against the attack. The world followed. The international community lauded her for bravery and her struggle for education.
When he held sway over Swat, he ordered bombing and torching of schools, particularly those for girls. He threatened parents to stop sending girls to schools or else they would be killed. His men publicly flogged people for actions he considered un-Islamic, including women. His fighters killed a teacher in Matta as his shalwar was hiding his ankles, a voluntary practice Islam advises the faithful to exercise. Taliban in Swat slaughtered people in streets and hung their bodies in squares, petrifying residents. Suicide blasts were widespread. He had established over 40 self-styled Sharia courts that delivered punishments to people.
Fazlullah is a fiery speaker and it helped him initially impress the people of Swat. He used FM radio for winning support and later spreading his reign of terror. Due to the use of FM radio, local people called him “Mulla Radio.”
The Awami National Party that came into power in 2008 held talks with him in 2008 and 2009. However, on both occasions the talks failed. The Nawaz Sharif government’s desire to hold talks with TTP have met a setback with his appointment as its chief. The first announcement that was made after his selection was that TTP would not hold talks with the government.
His appointment has not only brought bad news for the government, but also for the people of Malakand division, of which Swat is a district. Now with central command of the TTP in his hands, it is feared he will carry out attacks and threaten the hard-won peace in the area.
Maulana Fazlullah’s hiding in Kunar has strained Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan. Islamabad has repeatedly asked Kabul and Nato forces to stop cross-border attacks and hand over Fazlullah to Pakistan. All such requests have gone unmet.
Pakistan believes Afghan intelligence was providing him support. In recent days, Afghanistan’s intention to use Pakistani Taliban against Pakistan was exposed. The US forces snatched Latif Mehsud, deputy to the slain Hakimullah Mehsud, from Afghan intelligence agents taking him to strike a terror deal against Pakistan. Due to TTP’s alleged nexus with Afghan intelligence, Fazlullah’s appointment as its chief would now be a major concern for Pakistan.
It remains unclear whether he would continue to operate from Afghanistan or shift to North Waziristan. Analysts believe he felt safe in Afghanistan. However, the US has already announced that he has been on its hit-list. He is one of the main sources of tension with Afghanistan as Kabul has been accusing Islamabad of firing shells into Afghan territory.
Analysts believe he would not have firm control on TTP as he lives in Afghanistan and he isn’t from Fata and from the Mehsud tribe, which produced the two previous heads of the organization.
Maulana Fazlullah’s hiding in Kunar has strained Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan. Islamabad has repeatedly asked Kabul and Nato forces to stop cross-border attacks and hand over Fazlullah to Pakistan. All such requests have gone unmet.
Pakistan believes Afghan intelligence was providing him support. In recent days, Afghanistan’s intention to use Pakistani Taliban against Pakistan was exposed. The US forces snatched Latif Mehsud, deputy to the slain Hakimullah Mehsud, from Afghan intelligence agents taking him to strike a terror deal against Pakistan. Due to TTP’s alleged nexus with Afghan intelligence, Fazlullah’s appointment as its chief would now be a major concern for Pakistan.
It remains unclear whether he would continue to operate from Afghanistan or shift to North Waziristan. Analysts believe he felt safe in Afghanistan. However, the US has already announced that he has been on its hit-list. He is one of the main sources of tension with Afghanistan as Kabul has been accusing Islamabad of firing shells into Afghan territory.
Analysts believe he would not have firm control on TTP as he lives in Afghanistan and he isn’t from Fata and from the Mehsud tribe, which produced the two previous heads of the organization.
‘In 1948, Nehru was reluctant to send troops to Kashmir’
Days after he claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru had called Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel a "total communalist" for insisting on police action against the Nizam in 1948, BJP patriarch LK Advani Thursday alleged that Nehru was also reluctant to send the Army to Kashmir when Pakistan invaded the state that year.
Citing an old interview of Sam Manekshaw, who was a Colonel then and had accompanied the then Home Secretary V P Menon to formalise accession of Kashmir, Advani sought to suggest that it was at the insistence of Patel that the Army was sent to safeguard Srinagar from Pakistan-backed invaders.
"The cabinet meeting was presided by Mountbatten. There was Jawaharlal Nehru, there was Sardar Patel, there was Sardar Baldev Singh . As usual Nehru talked about the UN, Russia, Africa, God almighty, everybody, until Patel lost his temper. He said, 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away.' He (Nehru) said, 'Of course, I want Kashmir.' Then he (Patel) said, 'Please give your orders.' And before he could say anything Patel turned to me and said, 'You have got your orders'," Advani wrote on his blog, quoting Manekshaw from the interview by journalist Prem Shankar Jha.
"This report... provides a clinching confirmation of the difference between Nehru and Patel over the Hyderabad action," Advani wrote, rejecting attempts by the Congress to dismiss his earlier allegation that there were differences between the two over the modalities of integration of India.
Citing an old interview of Sam Manekshaw, who was a Colonel then and had accompanied the then Home Secretary V P Menon to formalise accession of Kashmir, Advani sought to suggest that it was at the insistence of Patel that the Army was sent to safeguard Srinagar from Pakistan-backed invaders.
"The cabinet meeting was presided by Mountbatten. There was Jawaharlal Nehru, there was Sardar Patel, there was Sardar Baldev Singh . As usual Nehru talked about the UN, Russia, Africa, God almighty, everybody, until Patel lost his temper. He said, 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away.' He (Nehru) said, 'Of course, I want Kashmir.' Then he (Patel) said, 'Please give your orders.' And before he could say anything Patel turned to me and said, 'You have got your orders'," Advani wrote on his blog, quoting Manekshaw from the interview by journalist Prem Shankar Jha.
"This report... provides a clinching confirmation of the difference between Nehru and Patel over the Hyderabad action," Advani wrote, rejecting attempts by the Congress to dismiss his earlier allegation that there were differences between the two over the modalities of integration of India.
Chhattisgarh: Locals hope for development in Naxal-hit areas
As top political leaders campaign in Chhattisgarh, the question is how easy it is to do so in the red corridor. IBN Network traveled across the volatile districts of Bastar and Dantewada to talk to voters amidst tight security. As the battle for Chhattisgarh heats up, national leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi campaigned in Naxal-affected Bastar.
Two IEDs were found and diffused just hours before Sonia Gandhi spoke in Bastar. Salwa Judum founder and Congress leader Mahendra Karma was killed in a deadly Naxal attack. His wife is now a candidate. "We can't be scared if we have to win elections. We have to leave fear behind," said Devati Karma. Salwa Judum founder and Congress leader Mahendra Karma was killed in a deadly Naxal attack. His wife is now a candidate. Bastar has been turned into a militarised zone. Just this region has almost 1,20,000 security personnel.
Lokesh Rana, CRPF, Assistant Commandent, Bastar, said, "We have provided enough security to ensure people are confident to come out and vote." As 18 Naxal-affected constituencies go to the polls, the locals only hope that development will be the winner.
Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chhattisgarh-locals-hope-for-development-in-naxalhit-areas/432863-80-259.html?utm_source=ref_article
Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chhattisgarh-locals-hope-for-development-in-naxalhit-areas/432863-80-259.html?utm_source=ref_article
Rahul Gandhi to reply to Election Commission’s notice over ISI remark today
The deadline for Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to respond to the Election Commission's notice on his speeches ends on Friday.
On Monday, the EC had given four days to Rahul to respond to its notice, which pertains to the speech in which the Congress VP had alleged that youth affected by the Muzaffarnagar riots were approached by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Rahul Gandhi had sought a week's time to respond to the EC notice of October 31.
He was given the time for reply to the said notice "up to 11 am November 08, 2013 (Friday)".
On October 31, Rahul was issued notice by the poll panel for his speeches in which he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of causing communal flare ups and said that ISI was contacting the Muzaffarnagar riot victims.
The commission, in its notice, said Gandhi's election speeches in Churu in Rajasthan on October 23 and Indore in Madhya Pradesh on October 24 were prima facie "violative" of the model code of conduct.
The notice was issued on the complaints made by the BJP to the commission.
In a release, the EC said it viewed CDs of Gandhi's speeches and had detailed deliberations on the issue.
On Monday, the EC had given four days to Rahul to respond to its notice, which pertains to the speech in which the Congress VP had alleged that youth affected by the Muzaffarnagar riots were approached by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Rahul Gandhi had sought a week's time to respond to the EC notice of October 31.
He was given the time for reply to the said notice "up to 11 am November 08, 2013 (Friday)".
On October 31, Rahul was issued notice by the poll panel for his speeches in which he accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of causing communal flare ups and said that ISI was contacting the Muzaffarnagar riot victims.
The commission, in its notice, said Gandhi's election speeches in Churu in Rajasthan on October 23 and Indore in Madhya Pradesh on October 24 were prima facie "violative" of the model code of conduct.
The notice was issued on the complaints made by the BJP to the commission.
In a release, the EC said it viewed CDs of Gandhi's speeches and had detailed deliberations on the issue.
There can't be love between 'rivals' Salman and Shah Rukh Khan: Salim Khan
Veteran Bollywood scriptwriter Salim Khan says there cannot be love between his son Salman Khan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan as they are "rivals".
"They are two individuals... Grown up people. I think there cannot be love between rivals. There can be courtesy. To have love between Salman and Shah Rukh is not possible. One should not expect that if Shah Rukh's film is a success then Salman will dance and celebrate. Or if Salman's film is a hit so Shah Rukh will throw a party... Its not possible," he said at the trailer launch of 'Sholay' in 3D, here.
Citing an example, Khan says even stars like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were just courteous to each other.
"Today people are intolerant, impatient... small things hurt people, there are other people to create further problem.
There should be courtesy between two rivals," Salim said.
The 77-year-old veteran had earlier said he doesn't see ever-lasting friendship between Salman and Shah Rukh even though the two superstars hugged each other at an 'iftaar' party this year.
It was in 2008 during Salman's then girlfriend Katrina Kaif's birthday party that there was a heated argument and spat between Salman and Shah Rukh.
The prolific duo of Salim-Javed (Akhtar) wrote the screen play of blockbuster film 'Sholay'.
More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/there-cant-be-love-between-salman-khan-shah-rukh-khan-salim-khan/1192385/?ent_top
"They are two individuals... Grown up people. I think there cannot be love between rivals. There can be courtesy. To have love between Salman and Shah Rukh is not possible. One should not expect that if Shah Rukh's film is a success then Salman will dance and celebrate. Or if Salman's film is a hit so Shah Rukh will throw a party... Its not possible," he said at the trailer launch of 'Sholay' in 3D, here.
Citing an example, Khan says even stars like Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were just courteous to each other."Today people are intolerant, impatient... small things hurt people, there are other people to create further problem.
There should be courtesy between two rivals," Salim said.
The 77-year-old veteran had earlier said he doesn't see ever-lasting friendship between Salman and Shah Rukh even though the two superstars hugged each other at an 'iftaar' party this year.
It was in 2008 during Salman's then girlfriend Katrina Kaif's birthday party that there was a heated argument and spat between Salman and Shah Rukh.
The prolific duo of Salim-Javed (Akhtar) wrote the screen play of blockbuster film 'Sholay'.
More: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/there-cant-be-love-between-salman-khan-shah-rukh-khan-salim-khan/1192385/?ent_top
One of most intense typhoons ever recorded hits Philippines
One of the most intense typhoons ever recorded tore into the Philippines on Friday, triggering flash floods and ripping down buildings as millions of people huddled indoors.
Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central island of Samar, about 600 kilometres southeast of Manila, at 4.40am (2040 GMT Thursday) and was travelling quickly northwest, state meteorologist Romeo Cajulis told AFP.
President Benigno Aquino had on Thursday warned his countrymen to make all possible preparations for Haiyan, which was packing monster wind gusts of nearly 380 kilometres (235 miles) an hour as it approached the Philippines.
"To our local officials, your constituents are facing a serious peril. Let us do all we can while (Haiyan) has not yet hit land," Aquino said in a nationally televised address.
"We can minimize the effects of this typhoon if we help each other. Let us remain calm, especially in buying our primary needs, and in moving to safer places."
Haiyan had maximum sustained winds as it approached the Philippines on Friday morning of 315 kilometres an hour, and gusts of 379 kilometres an hour, according to the US navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre.
The Philippine state weather service, which typically gives lower wind readings, said the maximum gusts on Friday morning were 275 kilometres an hour.
But even that reading would easily make Haiyan the world's strongest typhoon this year, according to David Michael Padua, a meteorologist with the Weather Philippines Foundation, a storm monitoring organization that runs the www.weather.com.ph website.
A prominent American meteorologist, Dr Jeff Masters, wrote on www.wunderground.com that Haiyan was one of the most intense typhoons ever recorded.
Aquino warned areas within the expected 600-kilometre typhoon front would be exposed to severe flooding as well as devastating winds, while coastal areas may see waves six metres (20 feet) high.
In the eastern coastal city of Tacloban, one of the first areas to be hit, streets were flooded and some buildings were torn down, according to footage broadcast on ABS CBN television on Friday morning.
More than 125,000 people in the most vulnerable areas had been moved to evacuation centres before Haiyan hit, according to the civil defence office, and millions of others braced for the typhoon in their homes.
Authorities said schools in the storm's path were closed, ferry services suspended and fishermen ordered to secure their vessels.
In the capital of Manila, which was not directly in the typhoon's path but still expected to feel some of its impact, many schools were also closed.
Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and other carriers announced the suspension of hundreds of flights, mostly domestic but also some international.
Cajulis said Haiyan was travelling quickly, at 39 kilometres an hour, and would travel across the country towards the South China Sea throughout Friday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. State weather forecaster Glaize Escullar said on Thursday Haiyan was expected to hit areas still recovering from a devastating storm in 2011 and from a 7.1-magnitude quake last month.
They include the central island of Bohol, the epicentre of the earthquake that killed 222 people, where at least 5,000 survivors are still living in tents while waiting for new homes.
Other vulnerable areas are the port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on the southern island of Mindanao, where flash floods induced by Tropical Storm Washi killed more than 1,000 people in December 2011.
The Philippines is battered by an average of 20 major storms or typhoons each year, many of them deadly, but scientists have said climate change may be increasing their ferocity and frequency.
The Philippines endured the world's strongest storm of 2012, when Typhoon Bopha left about 2,000 people dead or missing on Mindanao island in December.
Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central island of Samar, about 600 kilometres southeast of Manila, at 4.40am (2040 GMT Thursday) and was travelling quickly northwest, state meteorologist Romeo Cajulis told AFP.
President Benigno Aquino had on Thursday warned his countrymen to make all possible preparations for Haiyan, which was packing monster wind gusts of nearly 380 kilometres (235 miles) an hour as it approached the Philippines.
"To our local officials, your constituents are facing a serious peril. Let us do all we can while (Haiyan) has not yet hit land," Aquino said in a nationally televised address.
"We can minimize the effects of this typhoon if we help each other. Let us remain calm, especially in buying our primary needs, and in moving to safer places."
Haiyan had maximum sustained winds as it approached the Philippines on Friday morning of 315 kilometres an hour, and gusts of 379 kilometres an hour, according to the US navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre.
The Philippine state weather service, which typically gives lower wind readings, said the maximum gusts on Friday morning were 275 kilometres an hour.
But even that reading would easily make Haiyan the world's strongest typhoon this year, according to David Michael Padua, a meteorologist with the Weather Philippines Foundation, a storm monitoring organization that runs the www.weather.com.ph website.
A prominent American meteorologist, Dr Jeff Masters, wrote on www.wunderground.com that Haiyan was one of the most intense typhoons ever recorded.
Aquino warned areas within the expected 600-kilometre typhoon front would be exposed to severe flooding as well as devastating winds, while coastal areas may see waves six metres (20 feet) high.
In the eastern coastal city of Tacloban, one of the first areas to be hit, streets were flooded and some buildings were torn down, according to footage broadcast on ABS CBN television on Friday morning.
More than 125,000 people in the most vulnerable areas had been moved to evacuation centres before Haiyan hit, according to the civil defence office, and millions of others braced for the typhoon in their homes.
Authorities said schools in the storm's path were closed, ferry services suspended and fishermen ordered to secure their vessels.
In the capital of Manila, which was not directly in the typhoon's path but still expected to feel some of its impact, many schools were also closed.
Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and other carriers announced the suspension of hundreds of flights, mostly domestic but also some international.
Cajulis said Haiyan was travelling quickly, at 39 kilometres an hour, and would travel across the country towards the South China Sea throughout Friday.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. State weather forecaster Glaize Escullar said on Thursday Haiyan was expected to hit areas still recovering from a devastating storm in 2011 and from a 7.1-magnitude quake last month.
They include the central island of Bohol, the epicentre of the earthquake that killed 222 people, where at least 5,000 survivors are still living in tents while waiting for new homes.
Other vulnerable areas are the port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on the southern island of Mindanao, where flash floods induced by Tropical Storm Washi killed more than 1,000 people in December 2011.
The Philippines is battered by an average of 20 major storms or typhoons each year, many of them deadly, but scientists have said climate change may be increasing their ferocity and frequency.
The Philippines endured the world's strongest storm of 2012, when Typhoon Bopha left about 2,000 people dead or missing on Mindanao island in December.
India vs WI: Rohit Sharma makes 150 in Test debut, Ashwin hits ton
R Ashwin started the third day of the first Test with a brilliant century on Friday morning to take India to 368 runs for the loss of 6 wickets against West Indies at Kolkata on Friday. India have taken a first innings lead of 158 runs against West Indies. This was Ashwin's second Test century. Rohit Sharma bundled up 150 runs in his dream debut.
Giving him company was all rounder R Ashwin, who stitched together a partnership of 198 runs for the seventh wicket to rescue India after the Indian batting line-up collapsed on the second day of the Test.
West Indies bowler Shane Shillingford wreaked havoc with a sensational four-wicket haul that included the ultimate prize of Sachin Tendulkar.
Shillingford (4/130) troubled the Indians with his accurate line and length but Tendulkar was very unlucky to be adjudged leg before by umpire Nigel Llong.
He undoubtedly beat the retiring-legend with a 'doosra' but the ball hit Tendulkar high on the back thigh and the TV replays suggested that the ball would have gone over the stumps.
Tendulkar (10) looked in good touch as he hit two magnificent boundaries before umpire cut short his stay at the crease. As he walked back, Tendulkar got a standing ovation from the crowd at Eden Gardens.
Giving him company was all rounder R Ashwin, who stitched together a partnership of 198 runs for the seventh wicket to rescue India after the Indian batting line-up collapsed on the second day of the Test.
West Indies bowler Shane Shillingford wreaked havoc with a sensational four-wicket haul that included the ultimate prize of Sachin Tendulkar.
Shillingford (4/130) troubled the Indians with his accurate line and length but Tendulkar was very unlucky to be adjudged leg before by umpire Nigel Llong.
He undoubtedly beat the retiring-legend with a 'doosra' but the ball hit Tendulkar high on the back thigh and the TV replays suggested that the ball would have gone over the stumps.
Tendulkar (10) looked in good touch as he hit two magnificent boundaries before umpire cut short his stay at the crease. As he walked back, Tendulkar got a standing ovation from the crowd at Eden Gardens.
BJP puts off anti-UPA agitation citing Naxal attack
The BJP today postponed its country-wide anti-UPA agitation, which was scheduled to start from Monday, in the wake of the killing of several Congress leaders in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh.
"The entire country is deeply distressed and concerned over gruesome killings in Chhattisgarh and we condemn it. As a consequence, the BJP has decided to postponed the jail bharo agitation to be undertaken against the failure of the UPA Government from May 27 to June 2," senior party leader Ravishankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi.
He said the party is holding its national executive meeting in Goa and "future programmes shall be decided there".
Mr Prasad said a meeting under BJP President Rajnath Singh was held today where "the entire challenge to country's republic and democracy due to gruesome violence by Maoists was discussed".
"The attack has left many senior Congress leaders dead or injured and we condemn it in unequivocal terms. It is a great attack on democracy and republic of India," the BJP leader said.
He said the BJP President had gone to meet senior Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla in Gurgaon where he has been admitted after he was critically injured in Maoists firing on Saturday.
Mr Prasad said the situation in Chhattisgarh "is quite uppermost in our minds and in coming few days, other initiatives would be taken in this regard."
Heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on Saturday, killing 27 people including Congress leader Mahendra Karma, ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar, state unit chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son.
32 others, including senior party leader V C Shukla, were injured.
"The entire country is deeply distressed and concerned over gruesome killings in Chhattisgarh and we condemn it. As a consequence, the BJP has decided to postponed the jail bharo agitation to be undertaken against the failure of the UPA Government from May 27 to June 2," senior party leader Ravishankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi.
He said the party is holding its national executive meeting in Goa and "future programmes shall be decided there".
Mr Prasad said a meeting under BJP President Rajnath Singh was held today where "the entire challenge to country's republic and democracy due to gruesome violence by Maoists was discussed".
"The attack has left many senior Congress leaders dead or injured and we condemn it in unequivocal terms. It is a great attack on democracy and republic of India," the BJP leader said.
He said the BJP President had gone to meet senior Congress leader Vidya Charan Shukla in Gurgaon where he has been admitted after he was critically injured in Maoists firing on Saturday.
Mr Prasad said the situation in Chhattisgarh "is quite uppermost in our minds and in coming few days, other initiatives would be taken in this regard."
Heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on Saturday, killing 27 people including Congress leader Mahendra Karma, ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar, state unit chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son.
32 others, including senior party leader V C Shukla, were injured.
Domestic help's murder: 'BSP MP, doctor wife getting VIP treatment in police custody'
BSP parliament member Dhananjay Singh and his doctor wife Jagriti, arrested following the murder of their maid, are getting VIP treatment in police custody, police sources said on Thursday. The sources told IANS that the couple has been lodged in separate rooms at the Chanakyapuri police station and are allowed home cooked food - a practice contrary to norms. The sources said while Dhananjay Singh, who represents Jaunpur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, has been given the rest room of a sub-inspector, his wife is kept in the rest room of an assistant commissioner of police.
Domestic help's murder: 'BSP MP, doctor wife getting VIP treatment in police custody' The usual practice is to keep the arrested people in a lock-up when they are in policy custody. "Home food is never allowed for the accused," said a source. "They are getting lunch from home but breakfast and dinner is served from the police canteen." While Dhananjay Singh has been arrested and booked for destroying evidence and violating provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, his wife has been charged with murder, attempt to murder and violating Juvenile Justice Act. Police say the MP's wife beat and tortured her maid Rakhi, 35, and Rampal, 17, for days. The MP and his wife were arrested on Tuesday.
Jagriti is the second wife of Dhananjay Singh, whose first wife committed suicide in 2007. Jagriti is a senior resident doctor at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in the heart of the city. "During interrogation, she (Jagriti) broke down once. Now she is her normal self and talks with the police station staff. But the MP rarely speaks. When he does, it is mostly to senior officers," the source added. Neither has shown any remorse, the sources said. According to police, Jagriti beat up Rakhi and Rampal on Sunday night over a petty issue with an iron rod and sticks. She also used an iron press and horns of a dead animal while beating them. Both of them received grievous injuries.
Delhi Police received a call from the MP's 175, South Avenue house on Monday night, informing them about Rakhi's death. The information was given by the MP himself but he tried to mislead the investigators, police said.
Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/domestic-helps-murder-bsp-mp-doctor-wife-getting-vip-treatment-in-police-custody/432864-3-242.html?utm_source=ref_article
Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/domestic-helps-murder-bsp-mp-doctor-wife-getting-vip-treatment-in-police-custody/432864-3-242.html?utm_source=ref_article
Gauhati High Court questions validity of CBI, Centre to move Supreme Court
Taken aback by the Gauhati High Court order holding as unconstitutional the setting up of the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI, Centre last night said that it would move the Supreme Court as early as Monday to challenge it.
In a curious judgement, the Gauhati High Court has struck down the resolution through which the Central Bureau of Investigation was set up and held all its actions as "unconstitutional".
"The judgement is patently wrong. It is bound to be set aside. We are certainly going to challenge it and the appeal is likely to be filed in the Supreme Court latest by Monday," Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra told PTI.
The judgement by the division bench, comprising justices I A Ansari and Indira Shah, came on a writ petition filed by one Navendra Kumar challenging an order by a single judge of the High Court in 2007 on the resolution through which CBI was set up.
Mr Malhotra contended that the government resolution on the formation of the CBI has been held valid by the Supreme Court time and again in a number of judgements.
"We are confident that the Gauhati judgement will also be set aside," he said, adding, "Today evening, I received the copy of the judgement. I am examining it and tomorrow morning I will speak to the concerned ministry. Only after reading it properly, I will be in a position to comment on it in detail."
"We hereby...set aside and quash the impugned Resolution, dated 01.04.1963, whereby CBI has been constituted... We do hold that the CBI is neither an organ nor a part of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) and the CBI cannot be treated as a 'police force' constituted under the DSPE Act, 1946," the High Court said.
Mr Malhotra, who appeared for the Centre before the High Court, said the constitutional validity of the Act and the formation of the CBI was also upheld way back in 1970 and the latest was in 2010.
The Additional Solicitor General said the verdict will not affect CBI's functioning. The Supreme Court reopens on Monday after a break for Diwali.
In a curious judgement, the Gauhati High Court has struck down the resolution through which the Central Bureau of Investigation was set up and held all its actions as "unconstitutional".
"The judgement is patently wrong. It is bound to be set aside. We are certainly going to challenge it and the appeal is likely to be filed in the Supreme Court latest by Monday," Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra told PTI.
The judgement by the division bench, comprising justices I A Ansari and Indira Shah, came on a writ petition filed by one Navendra Kumar challenging an order by a single judge of the High Court in 2007 on the resolution through which CBI was set up.
Mr Malhotra contended that the government resolution on the formation of the CBI has been held valid by the Supreme Court time and again in a number of judgements.
"We are confident that the Gauhati judgement will also be set aside," he said, adding, "Today evening, I received the copy of the judgement. I am examining it and tomorrow morning I will speak to the concerned ministry. Only after reading it properly, I will be in a position to comment on it in detail."
"We hereby...set aside and quash the impugned Resolution, dated 01.04.1963, whereby CBI has been constituted... We do hold that the CBI is neither an organ nor a part of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) and the CBI cannot be treated as a 'police force' constituted under the DSPE Act, 1946," the High Court said.
Mr Malhotra, who appeared for the Centre before the High Court, said the constitutional validity of the Act and the formation of the CBI was also upheld way back in 1970 and the latest was in 2010.
The Additional Solicitor General said the verdict will not affect CBI's functioning. The Supreme Court reopens on Monday after a break for Diwali.
Hermann Rorschach's 129th birthday marked by interactive inkblot Google doodle
ann Rorschach's 129th birthday is being celebrated by Google through an interactive doodle.
Born on 8 November 1884 in Zurich, Switzerland, Hermann Rorschach was a Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, best known for inventing a projective test known as the Rorschach inkblot test.
The inkblot test - or the Rorschach test - is a psychological test using which a person's interpretations of inkblots are recorded and assessed through psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. The test is used by psychologists to analyse a person's personality traits and emotional functioning. It's also used for detecting underlying thought disorders, especially when individuals are hesitant to talk about their thinking processes openly.
Friday's interactive Google doodle honouring Hermann Rorschach features different inkblot patterns that can be browsed by clicking on them or on the navigation array keys. The doodle also features a 'Share what you see button' that allows you to share your interpretation of the inkblot on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. The doodle also features a sketch of Hermann Rorschach sitting and making notes.
Hermann Rorschach was fond of klecksography, the art of making inkblots since his school days. He later studied under the guidance of eminent psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. He first started psychoanalysis through inkblots by analysing response of school children to inkblots. Rorschach wrote a book called by the name of Psychodiagnostik in 1921, which is said to be the basis of the inkblot test. He studied and researched 300 mental patients and 100 control subjects for the book.
It is said that after experimenting with several hundred inkblots, Hermann Rorschach shortlisted a set of ten for their diagnostic value.
Rorschach died of peritonitis, which was likely due to a ruptured appendix, on April 1, 1922 at a young age of 37, just an year after writing Psychodiagnostik.
For more Google doodles, visit this page.
Born on 8 November 1884 in Zurich, Switzerland, Hermann Rorschach was a Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, best known for inventing a projective test known as the Rorschach inkblot test.
The inkblot test - or the Rorschach test - is a psychological test using which a person's interpretations of inkblots are recorded and assessed through psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both. The test is used by psychologists to analyse a person's personality traits and emotional functioning. It's also used for detecting underlying thought disorders, especially when individuals are hesitant to talk about their thinking processes openly.
Friday's interactive Google doodle honouring Hermann Rorschach features different inkblot patterns that can be browsed by clicking on them or on the navigation array keys. The doodle also features a 'Share what you see button' that allows you to share your interpretation of the inkblot on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. The doodle also features a sketch of Hermann Rorschach sitting and making notes.
Hermann Rorschach was fond of klecksography, the art of making inkblots since his school days. He later studied under the guidance of eminent psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler. He first started psychoanalysis through inkblots by analysing response of school children to inkblots. Rorschach wrote a book called by the name of Psychodiagnostik in 1921, which is said to be the basis of the inkblot test. He studied and researched 300 mental patients and 100 control subjects for the book.
It is said that after experimenting with several hundred inkblots, Hermann Rorschach shortlisted a set of ten for their diagnostic value.
Rorschach died of peritonitis, which was likely due to a ruptured appendix, on April 1, 1922 at a young age of 37, just an year after writing Psychodiagnostik.
For more Google doodles, visit this page.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)