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Showing posts from June, 2018

Hyderabad: Plastic bottle crushers installed at select railway stations

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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

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

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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 ea

Surgical strike video released, shows ops against terror camps

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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

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

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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

Sebi orders Vishvapradhan Commercial to make an open offer for NDTV

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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 Servi

Bharti Airtel announces senior leadership appointments for its B2B unit

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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 p

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

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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 Mu

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

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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

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

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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 Develo

Amazon's Alexa will now butler at Marriott hotels

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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

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

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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 d

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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 Co

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

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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 reconside

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

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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 N

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

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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 c

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

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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,

Google is betting big on cloud services to woo Indian companies

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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

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

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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 l

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

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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

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

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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 sinc