Meet the Indian teen who has developed world's smallest satellite for Nasa

KalamSat, developed by Tamil Nadu's Rifath Sharook, will be launched by Nasa rocket on June 21

When the US’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) launches the world’s smallest satellite KalamSat on June 21, it will be the first time ever that it would be piloting an experiment by an Indian student. Developed by Rifath Sharook, an 18-year-old boy, from Tamil Nadu’s Pallapatti town, KalamSat weighs only 64 grammes.

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‘KalamSat’, named after India's nuclear scientist and former President, APJ Abdul Kalam, will be launched from a Nasa facility in Wallops Island. Sharook’s project, the first to be manufactured via 3D printing, got selected through a competition, ‘Cubes in Space', sponsored jointly by NASA and 'I Doodle Learning'. The project aims to take the performance of new technology to space.

Key features of the miniature satellite

Sharook said it would be a sub-orbital flight and after launch the mission span would be 240 minutes. The tiny satellite would operate for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment of space. “The main role of the satellite will be to demonstrate the performance of 3D-printed carbon fibre”, the Times of India quoted Sharook as saying. Read More

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Cyber attack alert! Malware 'Wannacry' is spreading: Know all about it

Nearly hundred countries, including India, have been hit by a massive cyber-attack

 

 

Nearly 100 countries, including India, have been hit by a massive cyber-attack, which, according to experts, was carried out with the help of “cyber weapons” stolen from the US’ National Security Agency. The cyber attack was first reported from Sweden, Britain and France, US media outlets reported. Cyber extortionists tricked victims into opening malicious malware attachments to spam emails that appeared to contain invoices, job offers, security warnings and other legitimate files.It has been reported that a new ransomware, “Wannacry”, is spreading widely. Wannacry encrypts the files on infected Windows systems. This ransomware spreads by using a vulnerability in implementations of Server Message Block (SMB) in Windows systems. This exploit is named

 

According to cyberswachhtakendra, the file extensions that malware ‘Wannacry’ is targeting contain certain clusters of formats like:

 

Commonly used office file extensions (.ppt, .doc, .docx, .xlsx, .sxi).

Less common and nation-specific office formats (.sxw, .odt, .hwp).

Archives, media files (.zip, .rar, .tar, .bz2, .mp4, .mkv)

Emails and email databases (.eml, .msg, .ost, .pst, .edb).

Database files (.sql, .accdb, .mdb, .dbf, .odb, .myd).

Developers’ sourcecode and project files (.php, .java, .cpp, .pas, .asm).

Graphic designers, artists and photographers files (.vsd, .odg, .raw, .nef, .svg, .psd).

Encryption keys and certificates (.key, .pfx, .pem, .p12, .csr, .gpg, .aes).

Virtual machine files (.vmx, .vmdk, .vdi).After infecting, this Wannacry ransomware displays following screen on infected system:

 

Ransomware is writing itself into a random character folder in the ‘ProgramData’ folder with the file name of “tasksche.exe” or in ‘C:\Windows\’ folder with the file-name “mssecsvc.exe” and “tasksche.exe”.

Ransomware is granting full access to all files by using the command:
Icacls . /grant Everyone:F /T /C /Q

Using a batch script for operations:
176641494574290.bat

 

It also drops a file named !Please Read Me!.txt which contains the text explaining what has happened and how to pay the ransom.(READ MORE)

Kapil Mishra vs AAP: Money laundering allegations fly thick and fast

Mishra accused Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of money laundering using hawala channel

Sacked Delhi minister Kapil Mishra’s indefinite fast against the AAP on Saturday saw high drama with a ruling party legislator attempting a counter fast outside the former’s house, but was detained by police.

Sanjeev Jha, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Burari, attempted to hold a counter hunger strike outside Mishra’s Civil Lines house to demand that he present proof of his bribery allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Jha was detained by the police, who said the legislator did not have the requisite permission.

Mishra, who began his hunger strike on Wednesday, accused Kejriwal of using Jha as a pawn to disrupt his agitation. He insisted that he will present proof of his allegations only to investigative agencies.

He is on fast demanding that Kejriwal reveal the source of funding of the foreign trips of five AAP leaders – Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan, Satyendar Jain, Raghav Chadhha and Durgesh Pathak – in the last two years.

“I would like to advise Jha against sitting on a hunger strike as he is being used as a pawn,” said Mishra, and alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will resort to “new drama” to distract attention from the “foreign trips controversy”.

“They must know that I will handover the evidence only to investigative agencies. But Kejriwal wants that I hand them over to the ‘thief’ who then will judge himself and then proclaim himself to be innocent (referring to Kejriwal). That is not going to happen,” he asserted.

AAP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia dubbed Mishra’s hunger strike as “BJP facilitated”.

Mishra declared that Kejriwal’s attempts to foil his “Satyagraha” will not be successful.

Mishra alleged that the Chief Minister has asked “at least 20” MLAs to launch hunger strikes to counter him “but only one (Jha) was willing”.

He said that Jha should be provided security, alleging that there could be an attack on Jha to portray Mishra in bad light. | READMORE…

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More job cuts in India? Cognizant to expand local hiring in US

Firm to prune domestic costs through initiatives such as voluntary separation

Cognizant Technology Solutions plans to sharply increase local hiring in the US this year with increased demand for co-innovation and on-site presence from clients. The Nasdaq-listed technology services major said it would look at talent across local community colleges to big management universities to man different projects in the US.

Last month, when the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services opened the window for applications, Cognizant applied for "less than half" H1B visas compared with last year.

"We are evolving our workforce and delivery in the United States. Cognizant hired 4,000 US citizens in 2016, and in 2017 and beyond, we expect to significantly ramp up our US based workforce by hiring experienced professionals in the open market and by making more use of university programmes. We are shifting our workforce largely in response to clients' increasing need for co-innovation. But we still seek visas for highly-specialised and skilled talent...We expect to further reduce our need for these visas going forward. As part of our shift, we continue to expand our US delivery centres," Rajeev Mehta, President, Cognizant told analysts on Friday.

At the same time, the company has taken up initiatives such as the voluntary separation package, which was announced last week, for senior employees to optimise costs.

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"We are looking for opportunities to further optimise cost structures...We just launched earlier this week a voluntary separation package that programme will go till the end of Q2 and we will see the benefit of that in Q3," said Karen McLoughlin, chief financial officer, Cognizant.

The company is the second software provider after Infosys to announce increase in local hiring in the US. Cognizant, however, has not disclosed any numbers. Beyond the business shift towards digital, Donald Trump-led US administration's moves towards H1B visa restrictions have resulted in companies focusing on local hiring there.

Cognizant saw a 26 per cent growth in net profits to $557 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2017, while revenues grew by 10.7 per cent to $3.55 billion. ReadMore

Emojis might be your next password. Here's why

People commonly use emojis to express moods, emotions and nuances in emails and text messages

Would you rather unlock your smartphone with a plain four-digit PIN or with a smiley-face emoji? Would it be easier and more pleasant to remember emojis for example, or “2476”?

Smartphone users commonly use emojis to express moods, emotions and nuances in emails and text messages – and even communicate entire messages only with emojis. In 2015, a British company tried using emoji passcodes in place of PINs at bank ATMs. But there had been no formal study of how easy they were to use, or how secure they were in comparison to other methods, like PINs.

To learn more, in the lab and in the real world, a team of researchers from the Technical University Berlin, Ulm University and University of Michigan, led by TU Berlin Ph.D. candidate Lydia Kraus, developed EmojiAuth, an emoji-based login system for Android smartphones. How well would users remember their emoji passcodes? Could they be more secure, too? And might they be more fun, adding a bit of enjoyment every time a user unlocked her phone?

Creating emoji passcodes
Most smartphone users keep their screens locked and need to unlock them numerous times a day. Many people use numerical PINs, but research tells us that images are easier to memorize and recall than numbers or letters. PINs can also only be composed from a small number of symbols: the numbers 0 to 9. Passwords can be created from a larger set of characters but are difficult to type on smartphones. Using emojis, on the other hand, allows us to draw from over 2,500 emojis, which promises passcodes that are more resistant to cracking and casual observation.

In our initial experiment, we gave 53 participants an Android phone and divided them into two groups. The first group of 27 people selected a passcode made up of any of 12 emojis on an emoji keyboard individually generated for each user from the library of all possible emoji icons. (Once set, each user’s emoji keyboard stayed the same.) The remaining 26 people picked a numeric PIN. (READMORE…)

Rs 325 cr in 3 days: Baahubali 2 is now the highest opening Indian film

In coming days, the movie is set to break even more records with its business still holding steady

It released to perhaps the most hype seen by an Indian movie in a long time, and it did not disappoint. S S Rajmouli's Baahubali 2: The Conclusion opened with Rs 121 crore collection (previous/early estimates were Rs 125 crore) and continued its good run at the cinemas over the weekend, netting Rs 320-325 crore over the first three days of release.

At Rs 320-325 crore, Baahubali 2 is now the highest opening Indian film, beating Bollywood blockbusters and its predecessor Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) by a huge margin. The highest opening weekend collection by a Bollywood film so far is by Sultan (2016) at Rs 180 crore. However, the movie was released mid-week and hence enjoyed a five-day opening weekend. If one were to consider the Fri-Sun opening weekend period, Baahublali 2 has left Sultan far behind as estimates peg the opening weekend collection for the Hindi dub version only at Rs 128 crore (net after tax).

In the coming days, the movie is set to break even more records. Already the most widely distributed Indian film ever at 6,500 screens, the film's business seemed to be holding steady on Monday, leading trade pundits to estimate a 30 per cent or less drop in collection on the first day of the week. The fact that Monday, May 1 was a holiday for many office and educational institutions on account of Labour Day and/or Maharashtra Day (in that state) will also work in the favour of the magnum opus.

Read More

Babri case: SC restores criminal conspiracy charges against Advani, Joshi

Senior BJP leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others will be tried

BJP leaders L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti will face trial in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the Supreme Court today allowed the CBI plea and restored criminal conspiracy charges against them.

The court also clubbed the trial in the matter pending against the leaders and 'karsevaks' and said the proceedings should be completed in two years.

"We have allowed the CBI appeal against the Allahabad High Court judgement with certain directions," a bench comprising Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman said.

The apex court, however, noted that Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh enjoys Constitutional immunity and can be tried only after he ceases to hold the office. Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of UP in 1992.

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The court also gave significant directions including that separate trials being conducted in trial courts at Raebareli and Lucknow will be clubbed and conducted in the capital of Uttar Pradesh only.

It also said that the trial judge of Lucknow "shall not be transferred" till conclusion and delivery of judgement in the sensational case.

The court further said that no party shall be granted adjournment without the sessions judge being satisfied of the reasons for it and conduct day-to-day trial which should be concluded within two years.

It also directed probe agency CBI to ensure that prosecution witnesses appear on each and every date for recording of evidence in the case and the trial court should start the proceedings within four weeks from today.

It, however, clarified that there would be no de novo (fresh) trial in the matter.(readmore…)

IPL 2017: RCB beats Gujarat by 21 runs; Chris Gayle, Yuzvendra Chahal shine

Chris Gayle also completed his 10,000 runs in twenty20 cricket

Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a blistering half-century before Yuzvendra Chahal returned with a three-wicket haul as Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in their IPL 2017 encounter here today.

Gayle slammed a 38-ball 77-run innings, while skipper Virat Kohli produced a superb 50-ball 64 to guide RCB to a massive 213-2 after Gujarat skipper Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to field.

Opener Brendon McCullum then played a superb 72-run off 44-ball innings, studded with two fours and seven sixes but he didn't get the support from the other end as RCB restricted the Lions to 192-7 to snap their three-game losing streak.

Yuzvendra Chahal (3/31) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB as he picked up three crucial wickets — Dwayne Smith (1), Suresh Raina (23) and McCullum — in his four overs to derail Gujarat's runchase.

Chasing 214 to win, Gujarat lost their opening batsman Smith early when he was caught at the boundary line by Mandeep Singh off Chahal's bowling at deep square-leg.

Skipper Raina then slammed a quick-fire 8-ball 23 which included two fours and two sixes before becoming the second wicket of Chahal.

Coming down the pitch, Raina tried to play a sweep shot which went straight to Shane Watson at short fine leg.

McCullum (72) and Aaron Finch (19) then stitched a 66-run innings off 34 balls for the third wicket to take Gujarat across the 100-mark in 10th over.

McCullum also added 31 off 22 balls with Ravindra Jadeja (23) before becoming the third victim of Chahal in the 15th over as Lions looked down the barrel.

Jadeja then was run-out after a mix-up with new batsman Ishan Kishan in the 18th over. Kishan then hit a 16-ball 39, laced with four sixes and two four but it was too late in the end.(readmore)

Nation wants to know: Arnab Goswami gets a legal notice for the phrase

Goswami says the phrase belonged to the people and not to any media group

Who owns “nation wants to know”? That seems to be the question that will probably be answered by the courts. The catch-phrase popularised by former Times Now anchor, Arnab Goswami has become a bone of contention now.

According to a report in the newspaper Mint, Times Group has sent a legal notice to Arnab Goswami asking him not to use the phrase on his own news channel “Republic TV”. Arnab Goswami’s new channel has been in the news ever since it was announced late last year but its much anticipated launch has been delayed due to unspecified reasons.

Times Now is a channel owned by the Times Group and they contend that “nation wants to know” is their intellectual property. Goswami became synonymous with the use of this phrase.

Arnab has released an audio clip on YouTube informing people that he has received this notice. He has not revealed the name of the group that has sent him the notice. “A media group has sent me a six-page letter threatening me with imprisonment if I ever use the phrase ‘Nation wants to know’. They say that they own the phrase.”

He further explained that the phrase belongs to “you, to me and to all of us, every citizen of this country. Every Indian has a right to use that phrase. And this phrase comes from the heart. Every Indian, through his or her questioning spirit, can use the phrase Nation Wants to Know.”

He says the media group has been trying to delay the launch of Republic TV.

ReadMore

Samsung to launch Galaxy S8 in India on April 19: Key facts to know

Samsung revealed Bixby, a smart voice assistant to rival Apple's Siri at the US event.

Almost three weeks after its initial launch in the US, South Korean giant Samsung will launch its flagship device Samsung Galaxy S8 in India on April 19.

Samsung launched S8 and S8 Plus on March 29 in the US. The devices come in two variants with different screen sizes -- the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 and 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus.

On Monday, the company said in an invitation: "Samsung India cordially invites you to the launch of its next Galaxy series".

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Samsung revealed Bixby, a smart voice assistant to rival Apple's Siri and Google's Assistant at the US event.

The device has a bezel-less curved edge "infinity display" covered with pristine glass and a 12MP rear camera with multi-frame processing and optical image stabilisation. It has an 8MP auto-focus front shooter.

The device is IP68 rated, meaning it is water and dust resistant. The company has also upped the security feature with iris scanner, face recognition and fingerprint scanner - moved to the back of the device - to unlock the device.

The home button has been shifted beneath the "infinity display". (readmore)