Hyderabad: Plastic bottle crushers installed at select railway stations

In a bid to protect the environment, South Central Railways has installed machines for crushing and recycling plastic bottles at select stations in Hyderabad.

The installations have been made at Kachiguda, Secunderabad and Nizamabad stations along with Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.

These crusher machines are of the size of a refrigerator and have the capacity to crush around 5000 bottles per day.

The crushed bottles come out as fine plastic pieces, ready to be sold as scrap in the market or to be reused to make bags and T-shirts.

"The aim to install these machines is to protect the environment. If any passenger wants to throw the plastic water bottle they can put into this machine, which will crush the water bottle," Chief Public Relations Officer of South Central Railways, Uma Shankar told ANI.

Not only are initiatives being taken to prevent littering, but measures are being implemented to discourage the use of plastic itself.

Earlier this month, the Telangana government instructed municipal bodies across the state to stop the usage of plastic.

Read More On → Plastic Ban

'Incredibles 2' set to be most successful animated Hollywood film in India

Currently, the leader is Kung Fu Panda 3, which raked in Rs 221.2 million, followed by the second movie in the same franchise

Incredibles 2, the sequel to the 2004 movie The Incredibles, is inching its way to the top of the charts as the most successful animated movie at the Indian box office. Distributed by Disney India in the country, the film released on June 22 and made Rs 178.5 million in the first weekend of its release.

The film's opening ensures it top berth among the most successful animation films from Hollywood. Currently, the leader is Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), which raked in Rs 221.2 million, followed by the second movie in the same franchise, Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), at Rs 205.5 million. Currently, Incredibles 2 is on the fourth spot on the list, behind Angry Birds (2016), which made Rs 198 million at the Indian box office.

While live action films from Hollywood have adopted localisation as a strategic tool while releasing movies in the country, the earliest adopter of the trend was the 2004 release of The Incredibles. It was the first time a studio got a leading Bollywood actor for the voice-over of Mr Incredible, the male lead in the movie.

Since then, studios have explored new languages to dub and release movies in, associated with different personalities for promotions, released trailers in multiple Indian languages, and collaborated with different brands to reach as many people in the audience as possible.

In the case of Incredibles 2, Disney India got Bollywood actor Kajol to voice Elastigirl/Helen, the leading lady in the franchise, who has a more significant role in the sequel.

Top four animated films in India

1. Kung Fu Panda 3 - Rs 221.2 million

2. Kung Fu Panda 2 - Rs 205.5 million

3. Angry Birds - Rs 198 million

4. Incredibles 2 - Rs 178.5 million (still running in theatres)

 

Surgical strike video released, shows ops against terror camps

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces

Purported visuals of the Indian Army's cross-border operations against terrorists about two years ago were broadcast by television channels on Wednesday night.

News channels said the grainy footage on air showed gunfire and explosions targeting enemy camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, an operation that came in retaliation to a terrorist strike on an Indian Army camp and is widely known as surgical strikes.

The reports also said these videos, provided to TV channels by sources, were shot by drones using thermal imaging cameras.

Business Standard could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos but an official who was directly in charge of the operation confirmed that they were real.

“When the surgical strikes happened, my view was that the videos should have been released as proof. It is good that they have come out now,” Lt General D S Hooda (retd) told The Indian Express.

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces. The act, which officials said inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists, came after a deadly attack on a military base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year.

Pakistan rejected India's claims of having launched a surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistani territory.

Click Here To Read More : Surgical Strike Video

 

Asus to launch Zenfone 5z with notch display, Qualcomm 845 SoC on July 4

Unveiled at the MWC 2018, Zenfone 5z was the first Android smartphone to sport an iPhone X-inspired notch and system-wide AI capabilities, along with a dual camera set-up on the rear

Asus, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, is gearing up to launch the Flipkart-exclusive Zenfone 5z in India on July 4. The e-commerce platform recently listed the teaser page, confirming the launch of premium smartphone in India.

Asus Zenfone 5z was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in February, alongside Zenfone 5. Both sport similar glass-metal-glass sandwich design and feature a dual camera set-up on the back. However, the processor, RAM and storage configurations set them apart.

In terms of features, the Zenfone 5z boasts 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its 6.2-inch fullHD+ screen covering almost the entire front. The 19:9 aspect ratio leaves just a small notch on top to accommodate an 8-megapixel camera, earpiece and sensors – just like in Apple iPhone X but smaller.

On the back, the smartphone sports a dual-camera set-up, which features 12MP and 8MP shooters.

The primary 12MP sensor boasts f/1.8 aperture. and the 8MP sensor features 120-degree wide-angle lens. Both front and rear cameras are backed by AI for automatic scene selection and portrait photography, and machine learning to improve the output by learning usage patterns.

Read More On → Asus Zenfone 5Z

 

Sebi orders Vishvapradhan Commercial to make an open offer for NDTV

NDTV's promoter group made an open offer in 2008, for which they borrowed Rs 5.40 billion from Indiabulls Financial Services to finance this open offer

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday passed an order asking Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) to make an open offer in New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV).

The order noted that VCPL had acquired indirect control through a loan agreement in 2009, which would have necessitated an open offer at the time. The regulator has now asked for this open offer to be made with interest. “The noticee shall, along with the offer price, pay interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum from the date when they incurred the liability to make the public announcement till the date of payment of consideration,” said the order.

The loan in question also originated from a separate open offer. NDTV’s promoter group made an open offer in 2008, for which they borrowed Rs 5.40 billion from Indiabulls Financial Services to finance this open offer. The promoters then took another loan of Rs 3.75 billion from ICICI Bank to repay Indiabulls and the ICICI Bank loan was repaid in 2009 with a Rs 3.50 billion loan from VCPL.

Read Full Story <<< NDTV Stock Price

Bharti Airtel announces senior leadership appointments for its B2B unit

Ajay Chitkara has been appointed as Director and CEO, Airtel Business to spearhead the domestic and global enterprise business as one unit

Country's top telecom operator Bharti Airtel has announced senior leadership appointments for its B2B unit.

Ajay Chitkara has been appointed as Director and CEO, Airtel Business to spearhead the domestic and global enterprise business as one unit.

Chitkara will continue reporting to Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel.

Airtel also announced the appointment of Pankaj Miglani as CEO - Global Business. Miglani will report to Ajay Chitkara. In his previous role, Miglani was CFO, Bharti Infratel and played a key role in the company's IPO in 2012.

Chitkara has been with Airtel since 2001 and is credited with building brand Airtel in the global wholesale segment. In his previous role as Director & CEO, Global Business and Nxtra, he was responsible for creating business strategies for Carriers, Global Enterprise and OTT segments, and implementing them globally through the regional teams. Under Chitkara's leadership, Global Business grew in topline to become a billion-dollar business, while EBIT margins jumped five-fold since 2013.

Pankaj Miglani, who is a Chartered Accountant, Cost Accountant and Company Secretary with over 25 years of experience, has earlier worked in Airtel for 10 years in various roles.

Click Here To Read Full Story → Bharti Airtel Share Price

 

Bihar board 10th result 2018 to be out on biharboard.ac.in; know details

BSEB Class 10 result 2018 to be declared today on http://biharboard.ac.in. For updates, track Business Standard

BSEB Class 10 result 2018: Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is likely to announce the Bihar Class 10 Matric Result 2018 today on its official website http://biharboard.ac.in or http://biharboardonline.bihar.go.... Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) will announce the Bihar matric results at 4:30 pm on Tuesday (26 June 2018), reports Hindustan live.

Bihar board class 10th students will also be able to check their Matric results on third-party websites such as Bihar board results 2018 & Bihar University result 2018 and All India 10th, 12th Board, University, Entrance Exam Results 2018. There has been speculation about the Bihar 10th result date since May, and the Bihar board has since released results for its 12th class exams, with only the Matric results remaining. Earlier, the Bihar Board Class 10th results was postponed from 20th June to 26th June, after a news surfaced that Class 10th answer sheets were missing in Gopalganj.

Today, the fate of nearly 1.77 million (17.7 lakh) students will be decided when BSEB will announce the Bihar Matric Result 2018 or Bihar board class 10th results. According to the tradition followed by the BSEB, the result will be announced by the State Education Minister and Board Chairman and then it will be uploaded online. This year, during intermediate (Class 12) result declaration, the result was published on the website three hours after it was declared by the State Education Minister. In such scenario, students must keep their patience and monitor the website at frequent intervals.

The Bihar board or BSEB conducted the class 10 matric examination from February 21 to 28 and around 1.77 million students appeared for the Bihar board class 10 matric exam in around 1,400 centres. Last year, Bihar matric results were declared on June 22 and the pass percentage was 50.12%.

Here how to check the Bihar 10th results 2018

Mumbai rains, water-logging slow down traffic; monsoon may hit Bihar today

Monsoon will hit the national capital anytime between June 29 and July 1, with pre-monsoon activities expected to begin this week, according to IMD

Heavy rains, which lashed Mumbai on Sunday night and continue in several parts of the city, have led to waterlogging in several low-lying areas. The rains also adversely affected road and rail traffic in Mumbai, with local trains running late by up 15-20 minutes on Monday morning.

Neighbouring Gujarat also witnessed heavy rainfall on Sunday. Visuals posted by ANI on Twitter showed heavy water-logging in the state's Valsad district.

#Gujarat: Heavy water-logging in parts of Valsad district's Umbergaon due to continuous rainfall in the region. ANI on Twitter

— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2018

Two people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Mumbai on Sunday.

#Maharashtra: Two people died, five were injured after a tree fell on them at MG road, near Metro Cinema in Mumbai, yesterday. #MumbaiRain

— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2018

Monsoon has already covered major parts of the country and is expected to reach much of the remaining regions in the next few days. The rains, which had stopped advancing last week, have revived and started moving towards the north, weather analysts said.

Monsoon will hit the national capital anytime between June 29 and July 1, with pre-monsoon activities expected to begin this week, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD). "The onset of north-west monsoon is expected to be between June 29 and July 1 for Delhi.

Read More on → Mumbai Rains

YouTube's new move for creators will help them earn money: Here's how

The YouTube is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video

YouTube, often criticized for not compensating creators well enough, will allow them to set up paid channel memberships, the company said on Friday.

Currently, the vast majority of revenue at the Google-owned service comes from advertising and that will remain a focus, said Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief products officer.

"But we also want to think beyond ads. Creators should have as many ways and opportunities to make money as possible," he said.

Viewers will pay $4.99 a month for channel memberships giving them access to exclusive content including livestreams, extra videos or shout-outs on channels with more than 100,000 subscribers.

Creators will also be able to sell merchandise like shirts or phone cases directly on their channels, the company said.

YouTube returns a small part of its advertising revenue to content creators who regularly accuse the platform of giving them only crumbs.

The site is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video.

Read More On → YouTube video creators

On World Music Day, singing legend Lata Mangeshkar's tips to singers

Singing Legend Lata Mangeshkar doesn't listen to much of today's music. Not that she listens to her own songs either.

"I never could bear to hear myself. Whenever a song of mine would play on the radio or television, I'd quickly leave the room. If I ever hear myself singing, I find a dozen faults," says the eternal songstress with a laugh.

Strange, coming from a singer who is known to be ceaselessly faultless. In fact once the great Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan had affectionately cribbed: "Kambhakt, kabhi besura nahin gaati(the devil, she never goes off-key)."

Lataji laughs at this. "Woh unka badappan tha (that was his greatness). But any artiste, singer or otherwise, must keep striving for excellence, no matter how much they achieve. Nowadays I don't see that 'lagan' (discipline), that 'junoon' (passion) in singers.

Also Read : Once a singer, always a singer: Shaan on World Music Day

"I get the feeling they are happy achieving what they get to achieve in no time at all. No artiste should be satisfied with what he or she has achieved. There is always another sky to conquer beyond the one that you think you've just reached."

The one thing that Lataji sees lacking in singers today is practice. "Riyaaz. That is what makes singing worthwhile. I never felt I had enough time to do riyaaz because I was in and out of recordings constantly. But I still made time to do riyaaz. Alas, not enough time. I wish I had devoted more time to practicing my classical singing. Singers today are losing touch completely with their classical heritage. An A.R. Rahman or a Shankar Mahadevan are so successful and long-lasting because they know their classical heritage."

Read More : World Music Day 2018

Why PM Modi picked Dehradun as the venue for the fourth edition of yoga day

The PM will deliver a speech and perform yoga, along with an estimated 50,000 participants

The choice of Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, as the venue of the fourth edition of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s yoga day celebrations on Thursday, has been picked with much thought for its religious and spiritual symbolism, but also has electoral significance for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with it being the last yoga day celebrations before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

On Thursday morning, the PM will deliver a speech and perform yoga, along with an estimated 50,000 participants, at the sprawling and salubrious campus of the 112-year-old Forest Research Institute here. The first international day of yoga, after it was recognized by the UN in end-2014, was held in New Delhi in 2015.

Also Read : Yoga Day 2018: How India's answer to western fitness regimes originated

Also Read : Peru, Japan also celebrate fourth edition of International Yoga Day

Chandigarh and Lucknow hosted the subsequent two editions in 2016 and 2017, respectively. But Uttarakhand, considered 'dev bhumi', or 'the land of the gods', as the venue has unique religious significance for Hindus. It is home to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and Gangotri pilgrimage centres.

“Dehradun, along with Haridwar and Rishikesh, is the yoga capital of the world. Uttarakhand is where yoga took birth and there couldn’t have been a better place for the PM to speak of his message of the importance of yoga to the world,” Rajesh Kotecha, secretary in the AYUSH ministry, said.

Read Full Story → International yoga day 2018

Bank of Maharashtra CMD Ravindra Marathe arrested in Rs 30bn DSK Group scam

The 83-year-old Pune-headquartered Bank of Maharashtra is ranked among the major public sector banks in India

In a sudden development, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) here arrested Ravindra P. Marathe, the Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Maharashtra, in a case of Rs 30 billion fraudulent loans extended to Pune's DSK Group, an official said here on Wednesday.

The EOW has also arrested the bank's Executive Director Rajendra K. Gupta, Zonal Manager Nityanand Deshpande from Ahmedabad and former CMD Sushil Muhnot from Jaipur.

The 83-year-old Pune-headquartered Bank of Maharashtra is ranked among the major public sector banks in India.

The bank's present Chairman and Managing Director Ravindra Marathe, Executive Director Rajendra Gupta, Zonal Manager Nityanand Deshpande, bank's former CMD Sushil Muhnot, Kulkarni's CA Sunil Ghatpande, and vice president Rajiv Newaskar of the engineering department of Kulkarni's firm, D S Kulkarni Developers Ltd (DSKDL), were arrested, the official added.

While Deshpande was arrested from Ahmedabad, Muhnot was picked up from Jaipur. All others were arrested from Pune, the police said.

They were booked under various sections of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In May, the city police had filed a 37,000-page charge-sheet against Kulkarni and his wife in the case.

Read More On → Bank of Maharashtra

Amazon's Alexa will now butler at Marriott hotels

The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott's select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains

Amazon.com said on Tuesday that it has partnered with Marriott International to help increase guest access to amenities with Alexa, through its voice-controlled device Echo, in an attempt to expand its presence in the hospitality industry.

Alexa for hospitality would assist in providing services ranging from ordering room service to requesting housekeeping or calling the concierge for dinner recommendations without picking up the phone.

The company said the partnership will start this summer at Marriott’s select properties and the service will be available by invitation to other hotel chains.

Several media reports had said that Marriott had tested both Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa to select what was best suited for its hotels.

Marriott did not comment specifically on Apple, but said it has “great relationships with a number of technology companies and is always open to exploring opportunities to innovate and better the guest experience.”

Amazon has never disclosed the exact sales figure for its Echo devices. However, the company in January said it sold “millions” of Amazon devices and that the Echo Dot device was the best-selling product among Prime members.

Read More On → Amazon Alexa

 

Noise Play 2 review: Budget action camera with flagship features, tools

From 4K videos, EIS, wide-angle lens, water resistant casing to an affordable price tag of Rs 9,999, the Noise Play 2 is a great value-for-money proposition in the action camera segment

Having visited many exciting places across India, I wondered why I never kept a pictorial record of my visits from the first time I started exploring the unexplored. For action cameras, the GoPro did cross my mind. However, considering the price involved, among other factors, I chose not to go for it. Instead, I started looking for a no-frills and more affordable action camera for amateurs. It was then that I came across Noise Play 2 action camera.

An affordable price tag of Rs 9,999, optional accessory pack with waterproof casing at Rs 3,999, and the strength to record videos in ultraHD (4K) resolution are some of the reasons that went in the Noise Play 2’s favour. I would have loved to take it out on a ride to the mountains, but that will be for later. For now, here is my review of the device while running it in city conditions.

In the beginning, the Noise Play 2’s small frame and cuboidal design made me question its capability. However, soon after setting it up and pairing it with my smartphone using the Noise Play 2 app, I realised how innovative and technologically sound even such little devices could be.

The Noise Play 2 sports a 2-inch LCD touchscreen, which also doubles up as a viewfinder. The screen is good enough for changing settings and viewing saved images and videos.

Read Full Story → Noise Play 2 Review

In pics: Tamil Nadu's Anukreethy Vas wins Femina Miss India crown for 2018

Nineteen-year-old Anukreethy Vas is a student of Chennai's Loyola College, pursuing BA in French to become an interpreter

The 55th Femina Miss India World 2018 winner is Anukreethy Vas from Tamil Nadu, while first runner-up is Meenakshi Chaudhary from Haryana and second Shreya Rao from Andhra Pradesh.

Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar crowned her successor Anukreethy at the star-studded grand finale on Tuesday night in Mumbai at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium.

Nineteen-year-old Anukreethy is a student of Chennai's Loyola College, pursuing BA in French to become an interpreter. Raised by a single mother, the just-crowned Miss India World 2018 wishes to become a supermodel as she loves facing the camera.

Anukreety Vas winner of Femina Miss India 2018 Anukreety Vas. Photo: Instagram

Participants proved their aptitude by facing some of the tricky questions from the judges' panel which was studded with some of the iconic personalities like actor Bobby Deol, Kunal Kapoor, Malaika Arora, fashion designer Gaurav Gupta and cricketer Irfan Pathan, along with Manushi.

Manushi holds the crown of Miss World 2017 that she won last year after Priyanka Chopra won in 2000.

The event was hosted by Bollywood filmmaker Karan

See More Pics → Femina Miss India 2018

England vs Tunisia: Harry Kane's brace stage dramatic win for Three Lions

England and Belgium are off the mark in Group G with a win and both sides can qualify for the knock-out stage in their next matches, while Tunisia face a vital contest against Belgium on Sunday.

England manage a hard-earned victory against a stubborn Tunisia as thanks to a dramatic late winner by Harry Kane. The Tottenham man's brace blow away the North African country in the second match of group G. The closely fought encounter was plagued with miss-passes and ball possession swayed between the two teams frequently. The creativity in midfield and outstanding work rate helped the Three Lions to battle back from an imminent draw.

A brace from captain Kane showed that how important the Tottenham man is for England's success in the tournament. He had shared his desire to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo with a hat-trick of goals. He managed to score a brace but this, undoubtedly, was the biggest moment yet of his international career that gave England’s opening game the happy ending it deserved.

Kane was lurking unmarked, to head in Harry Maguire’s flick-on and, ultimately, nobody could say the result was unjust. The goal made a huge difference as an imminent draw threatened serious ramifications for the rest of Group G.

England were quick on the ball, slick with their passing and attacked with vigour. The pressure on Tunisia was huge but the failure to finish in the attacking third helped Tunisia to hold the scores level till the dying moments of the match.

Kane opened the scoresheet from a corner but Tunisia’s equaliser came from a penalty termed 'controversial' from England’s perspective. Kyle Walker's jutting arm hit Fakhredinne Ben Youssef in the 34th minute that resulted into the penalty.

Southgate's men argued that it was intentional but Walker has a habit of disrupting players this way and on this occasion it backfired. Ferjani Sassi took the penalty, beating Jordan Pickford to the goalkeeper’s right. And, suddenly, England were level again in a game they had been dominating.

John Stones wasted a gilt-edged chance shortly after Tunisia’s penalty, with Dele Alli’s looping back-header being turned against the crossbar moments earlier, and there was also some splendid goalkeeping from Mouez Hassen before he was forced off with a shoulder injury.

Hassen’s reflexes had denied Lingard after only two minutes and Tunisia’s goalkeeper was highly unfortunate for England’s goal.

Read More On → England vs Tunisia

Health care is India's lucky 13 at Cannes Lions Festival

With 13 on health care shortlist, Indian agencies could convert at least half of them into winning campaigns on day one of the festival, say experts

During the last few years, Indian advertisement agencies at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, billed as the Oscars of advertising, have turned to the health care and glass lion categories in their quest for metals, industry parlance for awards.

And this year has been no exception, with health care (including health & wellness and pharmaceutical) giving Indian agencies 13 shortlisted entries, an impressive start to its campaign at the French resort town. Shortlists, for the uninitiated, ensure ad agencies are in the reckoning for metals. The higher the shortlists the more is the likelihood of conversion into metals.

Also Read :Cannes Lions 2018: Seamless world of advertising

In the glass lion category, Indian ad agencies have four shortlists this year, including hot favourites such as ‘Sindoor Khela — No Conditions Apply’ for The Times of India (by FCB India) and ‘#StandbyToughMoms’ for All Out mosquito repellents (by BBDO India), both tipped as potential winners this year.

While the results in the glass lion category will be declared later in the week, day one of the festival will be devoted to the health care segment. Among the trophies that will be given on Monday will be the Lions Health Grand Prix for Good, Young Lions Health Award, Healthcare Agency of the Year and Healthcare Network of the Year.

Ad industry veteran K V Sridhar, founder and chief creative officer, HyperCollective, says Indian agencies may land up converting at least half the shortlists into winning campaigns in health care.

Read More → Cannes Lions Festival 2018

Ramzan ceasefire ends: what it means for talks with separatists in Kashmir

The Centre's decision to call off unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir may have also brought down curtains on dialogue offer to the separatists

The Centre’s decision to call off unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir may have also brought down curtains on dialogue offer to the separatists who had sought clarity over the proposal before committing to any kind of engagement with New Delhi.

During his visit to the summer capital of Srinagar on June 7, Union home minister Rajnath Singh had dropped enough hints about extending the halt in anti-militancy operations beyond Ramzan, raising hopes within the state government of a possible breakthrough for talks with separatists.

In fact, the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had twice made a passionate appeal to Hurriyat to take the talks offer saying “such opportunity doesn’t come time and again”.

But a sudden surge in militancy-related incidents during the last two weeks of Ramzan seems to have forced government of India to reconsider continuation of the ceasefire, thus putting a “premature end to any chances of dialogue at least in immediate future”.

‘Can’t speak to walls’

The J&K government spokesperson Naeem Akhtar didn’t mince words to state that the dialogue initiative was as good as over. “When there are no takers you don’t speak to the walls. They (separatists) are not ready to talk. What can one say? Either they are not masters of their politics or they are not interested in contributing towards peace in the region,” he said.

The chief spokesperson of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Muhammad Rafi Mir explained further. He said the purpose behind the ceasefire was to break the cycle of violence and create an atmosphere for taking the peace initiative forward.

That never happened as militants continued with attacks on security forces, Mir said. “On the other side, the separatists remained adamant.

Read More : Ramzan Ceasefire

 

Videocon case: ICICI Bank weighs leave for Chanda Kochhar till probe report

The ICICI board, which consists of 12 members, is divided on whether Kochhar should be on leave during the internal enquiry

ICICI Bank Chairman M K Sharma has written an email to board members seeking their opinion on whether Managing Director (MD) & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar should be asked to go on indefinite leave until the internal enquiry is concluded, said people in the know.

“In an email sent to board members last week, Sharma asked board members whether they agreed that Kochhar should go on indefinite leave until the ICICI Bank-constituted enquiry is completed to have a fair outcome,” said one of the persons cited above.

Kochhar is on her planned annual leave, the bank had said on June 1.

The ICICI Bank board had come out in support of Chanda Kochhar on March 28, quashing allegations of a quid pro quo and favouritism in giving a loan to the Videocon group, which, in turn, had invested in Chanda’s husband Deepak Kochhar’s company NuPower Renewables.

The initiation of probes by multiple agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, income-tax department, and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), and a subsequent complaint from an anonymous whistle-blower led to the board’s decision to conduct an independent probe.

“This may have prompted Sharma to ask the board on whether Kochhar should go on extended leave,” said one of the sources.

Some of the board members are of the view that Kochhar should resume office after her leave so as to not cause any uncertainty among shareholders.

“Since the events are already recorded and possibly cannot be altered, requesting Kochhar to proceed on leave at this point in time may send the wrong signal to stakeholders, especially after the board had showed full confidence and faith in her when the issue first broke out,” one of the board members told Business Standard.

An email sent to ICICI Bank did not elicit response. Sharma, too, did not respond to text messages and phone calls.

Read More On → Videocon Case

Xiaomi launches digital lending, with instant loan offers on user phones

Xiaomi is looking at launching more of value added services, after Mi Music and Mi Video

Leading smartphone entity Xiaomi has entered the digital lending space in India, with the launch of a ‘Mi Credit’ product. The company is offering instant personal loans to its users, through offers that appear on their lock screen while they are using the phone.

The company launched this in partnership with KreditBee, a lending platform aimed at students and young professionals. Xiaomi’s loans are also aimed at young professionals -they cater to short-term needs for cash. The company says the loans can be initiated in 10 minutes through a simple KYC (Know Your Customer) verification. Xiaomi’s partner is responsible for disbursing the loan; its platform functions as a loan aggregator.

More partners are to be added but KreditBee is offering loans from Rs 1,000 to Rs 100,000 on Mi Credit to Xiaomi users at an interest rate of three per cent a month, translating to 36 per cent annually — in line with credit card interest rates in the country.

The differentiating factor in Xiaomi’s partnership is that it is exclusively for own phone users — other Android users cannot use the service. This could be aimed at boosting phone sales further.

The company is the leading smartphone vendor in India, with a market share of 31.1 per cent, followed by Samsung’s 25 per cent, shows IDC’s latest data.

In this regard, Xiaomi is looking at launching more of value added services, after Mi Music and Mi Video. Manu Jain, managing director at Xiaomi India, says they are looking to further expand its MIUI platform, to provide services such as content, entertainment, financial services and productivity tools.

Read More : Xiaomi Loan Offers

 

FIFA World Cup 2018: Why prosperous nations are more likely to play and win

The more a country and its society give liberty to its people to make choices for their lives, the more likely it is to be a World Cup winner

More than a seventh of humanity watched the 2014 final, where Germany became the champions with a lone goal in the extra time. Unarguably, this makes the 2018 World Cup the most to-be-watched sport tournament, and a question that becomes central to discussion in the office, over tea or lunch, and at parties, is this: Who will win this time?

ALSO READ: Here's how to watch Fifa World Cup 2018 for free in mobile devices

Juxtaposing the general development and economic progress of a country with its perceived chances of winning reveals that the probable semi-finalist teams would be the countries with better social and economic indicators. The world’s top betting players such as Ladbrokes, WilliamHill and 888sport have almost unanimously put Germany, Brazil, France, Spain and Argentina as top five, while Tunisia, Iran, Panama, South Korea and Saudi Arabia as the bottom five.

ALSO READ: An exhaustive guide to FIFA World Cup 2018: Everything you need to know

Income, represented by gross national income per capita; health, represented by life expectancy at birth; and freedom to make one’s choices, represented by an index published in the World Happiness Report are the development indicators used. Though the oil-rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia has the highest per capita income among the 10, the top-five probables have better incomes (see Chart 1) than the least popular teams. It also turns out that the healthier the country, the better is its chance of winning (see Chart 2).

ALSO READ: FIFA World Cup 2018: Snappy facts about every team in the tournament

The more a country and its society give liberty to its people to make choices for their lives, the more likely it is to be a World Cup winner. It must be noted that all these are correlations and not causal relations.

ALSO READ: World Cup 2018: Watch out for these in-form teams eyeing glory in Russia

Interestingly, only two of the 32 teams that are playing the finals are low human development countries, while a majority, 18, are highly developed (see Chart 4). The top-five probable winners are richer and developed than the average of the tournament’s 32 nations, which, in turn, are more prosperous than the global average.

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Google is betting big on cloud services to woo Indian companies

The US-based company has over 1,000 security engineers working on Google Cloud

In the face of rising competition from Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, global tech giant Google is betting big on its cloud services to woo 44 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs), more than 20,000 start-ups and hundreds of major companies.

Google’s cloud customers in India include Ashok Leyland, Online flight booking, Hotels, Bus & Holiday Packages at Goibibo, Hero MotoCorp, Life, Car, Health, Travel, Quikr, Yaatra, SBI Cards, Hike Messenger, Vistara and ShareChat.

The company, which currently has three data centres in Mumbai, is on an expansion spree.

Knowing that the demand is set to increase from the fintech sector in over the next couple of months as banks and non-banking financial institutions hurry to meet Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) directive to bring financial data back to India, the company is hoping for a rise in demand.

The tech giant is pitching its artificial intelligence and machine learning laden cloud service as an easy to use and secure option, which it claims is better than competition.

The company has conducted several roadshows across the country in the past few weeks to woo current as well as prospective customers.

ALSO READ: Why this 77-year-old ex-SC judge is making Google, Amazon, Facebook jittery

The company on Thursday said security was the “bedrock” of its cloud services for enterprises, which saw significant adoption in India over the last few months.

Google’s cloud region in India went live in November last year and offers services, including Big Data, storage and networking. Google competes with the likes of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft in this space.

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Here's how to watch Fifa World Cup 2018 for free in mobile devices

Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers

Fifa World Cup 2018 is about to begin in a few hours from now in Russia, where 32 teams from across the globe would play around 50 matches in a span of one month. The much-awaited football event would attract fans from across countries to watch the action live, either from the stadium or from home. However, it would be a dream come true if the matches could be watched live even on the go.

For Indian fans, that dream has just come true, as telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have announced free broadcast of 2018 Fifa World Cup matches on their respective mobile television apps.

Here is how to catch the live action on mobile devices

Airtel TV

Bharti Airtel has rolled out an updated Airtel TV app, which would enable users to watch live broadcasts of the upcoming football tournament. Interestingly, the matches will be broadcast in various regional languages in addition to Hindi and English.

Airtel TV users will also have access to match schedules and other updates related to the game, such as exclusive behind-the-scenes match snippets along with match previews or reviews.

The updated app will be available on both the Android and iOS platforms over coming days.

“At Airtel TV, we are driven by the constant desire to offer best content experience to our customers with high relevance value. While T20 cricket tournament received great feedback from our users, we are confident of recreating the same magic with the upcoming football extravaganza as well. We are delighted that the Airtel TV app is fast becoming the go to destination for sports lovers in India,” said Sameer Batra, CEO-Content and Apps, Bharti Airtel.

Reliance JioTV

Reliance Jio also announced that the company would broadcast live Fifa 2018 matches on its mobile television app, JioTV.

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Tehrik-i-Taliban Pak chief Mullah Fazal Ullah killed in US drone strike

US military official has confirmed that an American drone strike targeted Mullah Fazal Ullah

 

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazal Ullah has been reportedly killed in targeted drone strikes conducted by the United States, a US military official informed the Voice of America (VOA).

Army lieutenant colonel Martin O'Donnell told VOA that counterterrorism strikes were carried out on June 13 in Kunar province which lies close to Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Further, Pentagon officials refused to comment on whether the strike was successful.

The officials further said that Mullah Fazal Ullah had directed numerous high-profile attacks against the US and Pakistan.

He had also conducted many other deadly attacks including December 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar that claimed lives of 151 people, out of which 130 were children.

The US further underscored that it was Mullah Fazal Ullah who had ordered the 2012 attempted assassination of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

The US Department for State offered a $5 million reward for Fazlullah in March soon after his son was killed in a US drone strike on TTP training facility.

The official said the status of Fazlullah was unclear.

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Asus Zenfone 5Z launch set for June 15: Still a modern flagship smartphone?

The Zenfone 5Z has 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its 6.2-inch notch-based fullHD+ screen covering almost the entire front

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Asus was the first smartphone maker to announce Google Android-based devices – the Zenfone 5Z and Zenfone 5 -- with iPhone X-inspired notch-based screens at the Mobile World Congress held in February. Now, after almost four months, the company is gearing up to launch the Zenfone 5Z on June 15, according to a tweet shared by company through its official Japan handle.

Earlier this year, when Asus showcased the Zenfone 5-series, the adoption of artificial intelligence technology in smartphones was in early stages and Asus showcased its different use cases, such as automatic scene selection and setting optimisations in camera, auto ringtone adjustments and optimal battery utilisation, etc. Though the Zenfone 5-series smartphones were claimed to bring system-wide AI-based optimisations, a lot has changed since MWC and most mobile phone manufacturers now integrate an iteration of AI, which Asus then called advanced. This is what happens when you showcase innovative products and take months to roll those out to markets.

ALSO READ: Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 review: Better than Redmi Note 5 Pro?

Speaking of the Zenfone 5Z features and specifications, the phone has 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its 6.2-inch fullHD+ screen covering almost the entire front.

The 19:9 aspect ratio leaves just a small notch on top to accommodate an 8-megapixel camera, earpiece and sensors. In terms of imaging, the smartphone sports a dual-camera set-up, which features 12MP and 8MP shooters. The primary 12MP sensor boasts f/1.8 aperture and the 8MP sensor features a 120-degree wide-angle lens. Both front and rear cameras are backed by AI for automatic scene selection and portrait photography, and machine learning to improve the output by learning usage patterns.

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