Monday 28 July 2014

Audi fans enjoy Q-series off-roading experience in Noida - News Spear

Audi fans enjoy Q-series off-roading experience in Noida - News Spear



New Delhi (ANI): Fans of German automobile manufacturer Audi experienced the superlative style, performance and Quattro technology of the Audi SUVs, namely Q3, Q5 and Q7, recently in Noida.
Speaking at the occasion, Mr. Sarvajit Verma, CEO Audi Delhi West and Audi Noida said, “The Q drive is to further give our discerning customers the opportunity to experience the legendary Audi Quattro technology on a specially created terrain for an unforgettable not be missed experience. The Q drive experience is aimed at providing a hands-on experience of what Quattro has to offer”.
The Q-series , which shares propulsive power continuously between all four wheels, has influenced almost 40% of the total sales, a jump from 18-20 percent and its still on the rise.
The event allowed the fans to experience the Quattro prowess in scenic environment and off-road conditions.
audi

Curfew relaxed in Saharanpur for 4 hours - News Spear

Curfew relaxed in Saharanpur for 4 hours - News Spear



Curfew relaxed in Saharanpur for 4 hours

Saharanpur (ANI): The two day long curfew in Saharanpur has been lifted for a few hours in selected areas of city to let the people stock up on essential items. The curfew had been in place since Saturday after clashes took place between two groups over a disputed land.
District Magistrate (DM) of Saharanpur, Sandhya Tiwari toldANI, “The curfew has been relaxed for a few hours in the city. People have started to come out to purchase daily need items. There is nothing to be afraid of as of now.”
Pushpender Singh, a mechanical worker said, “Common people are the worst targets of curfew. We could not buy necessary items and medicines. Even now only few parts have been opened which are of no big help. The area where we have major shops is closed.”
The four hour window has also resulted in long queues outside the petrol pumps. On Saturday morning violent clashes had erupted in Saharanpur amongst two groups who reportedly clashed over a patch of disputed land close to the city’s railway station.
DM had yesterday indicated that the situation in the area was returning towards normalcy and claimed that no new instance of violence had occurred since it all started yesterday.
Till now nine FIRs have been filed and 38 people have been arrested post the clashes which led to three deaths.

Friday 25 July 2014

India pulls chain to derail Global Trade deal, refuses to ratify customs deal - News Spear

India pulls chain to derail Global Trade deal, refuses to ratify customs deal - News Spear





Geneva, Switzerland: At the World Trade Organisation meeting in Geneva, the agenda was pretty clear – its 160 members were to meet over two days to conclude a long running deal on global trade that was agreed at talks in Bali last December. This is a protocol that the WTO calls the “Trade Facilitation Agreement” and aims to overhaul customs regulations.
But the worst fears of the delegates came true. As the clock ticked, talks were suspended on Day 1 (Thursday) as India seemed determined to block this protocol. Why? Because of concerns over another part of the Bali agreement that directly impacts India’s massive food subsidy programmes — and India believes that these concerns have still not been addressed.
India said it would veto the agreement until it gets what it wants on food subsidies and stockpiling. “India is of the view that the Trade Facilitation Agreement must be implemented only as part of a single undertaking including the permanent solution on food security,” Indian Ambassador Anjali Prasad told the WTO meeting.
India’s food subsidy programmes help over 500 million poor by providing cheap food to them. It maintains a stock pile of food to ensure that it always has a reliable supply of food. WTO rules allow countries to keep food reserves as long as they don’t, “have the effect of providing price support to producers.”
But what is market distorting and what isn’t is also complicated. 
“This is important so that the millions of farmers and the poor families who depend on domestic food stocks do not have to live in constant fear. To jeopardize the food security of millions at the altar of a mere anomaly in the rules is unacceptable,” Ms Prasad said. 
In any case, by linking the food security issue with this trade protocol, India plunged the entire deal into the abyss of hopelessness. “The credibility of the WTO is at stake here. Why should member countries come back and offer sacrifices if some others just don’t want to keep their promises,” said a delegate on condition of anonymity.  
Many small and developing countries have supported India. A member of the South African delegation told this reporter that she thought that India was doing a great job. Cuba too was sympathetic to India’s stand it is known. But the US has reacted very critically to India’s stand. 
“Today we are extremely discouraged that a small handful of members in this organisation are ready to walk away from their commitments at Bali, to kill the Bali agreement, to kill the power of that good faith and goodwill we all shared, to flip the lights in this building back to dark,”  US ambassador to the WTO, Michael Punke, said in a statement.
The WTO has seen this happen before. Many countries are accusing India of using brinkmanship to push its agenda. On the one hand India has managed to get its way resisting global pressure and bringing its concerns on food to the top of the agenda. On the other hand, many countries are accusing India of blocking a deal with large potential benefits to the world economy. 
There are still a few more days to go before the July 31 deadline.

Audi India set to launch the much-awaited Audi A3 Sedan on 7th August, 2014 - News Spear

Audi India set to launch the much-awaited Audi A3 Sedan on 7th August, 2014 - News Spear



Spear Auto Desk: Come 7th August, 2014, Audi will debut the next big Audi Audi A3 Sedan in India. With this launch, Audi is poised to create a new compact luxury sedan segment here. This car was showcased in the Auto Expo 2014 and has generated a lot of interest. Taking a cue from that, the company has strategically decided to produce the car in India even before its launch. Other models, such as sedans A6 and A4; SUVs Q5, Q7 and Q3 which are locally produced now were imported as completely built units (CBUs) at the time of launch.
India is a very promising market for Audi. With the upcoming launch of the next big Audi – the Audi A3 Sedan, we will be creating a new segment, that of the compact luxury sedan, in India. The Audi A3 sedan will attract an entirely new customer segment into the Audi family. We have decided to start the local production of the A3 Sedan right from the launch phase as we are convinced that this model is the right product for the Indian market at the right time. We are confident that the A3 Sedan will set new benchmarks and will further consolidate our leading position in the luxury automobile market in India,” said Mr. Joe King, Head of Audi India.
“The local production of the Audi A3 Sedan in India is in continuation of our growth strategy and consistent focus on the Indian market.” Audi Board Member for Production, Hubert Waltl said.
Audi A3
According to Mr. King, the Audi A3 Sedan would fit between the compact luxury hatchback and the entry luxury sedan segment and cater to the young and affluent section of the society. The increasing affluence of Indian customers at a younger age bodes well for the Audi A3 in India.
The luxury afficiandos already seem attracted to the technology and advanced features of this car. The Audi A3 Sedan will be available in both petrol and diesel variants. Word is out that the car is bundled with Audi’s top-end sedan features like the MMI with touch sensitive control panel and a sleek and retractable 7” high resolution pop up display, a 2- zone deluxe auto Air conditioning with wide diffuse and spot diffuse options, panoramic sunroof and 180 watt output, 10 speakers with 6 channel amplifiers. The Audi A3 Sedan is also the first car in the luxury compact segment to offer 425 litres (15.01 cubic feet) boot space.
Globally, Audi A3 has been a huge success and was voted ‘World Car of the Year’ in 2014 overcoming 23 other rivals. The Indian customers are expected to lap up this car and are waiting for the announcement of price on August 7th. Earlier this year, Audi became the first luxury car maker in India to cross sales of 10,000 units in a calendar year and financial year.

Kick review: Tailor-made for Salman Khan fans - News Spear

Kick review: Tailor-made for Salman Khan fans - News Spear



Mumbai:If you are not a Salman Khan fan then you might not like his latest release Kick. Anyways the story goes somewhat like this… Shaina (Jacqueline Fernandez), a psychiatrist, is pining for her ex-boyfriend, Devi Lal (Salman Khan). Supercop Himanshu Tyagi (Randeep Hooda) is looking for the mysterious, masked thief Devil who goes around pulling of spectacular stunts.
Within the first half hour, the only ones who don’t know that Devi Lal is Devil are Shaina and Himanshu. What follows for the next few hours is a procession of shots showing Khan walking, Khan driving, Khan dancing, Khan in a hoodie, Khan in a colourful kurta, Khan in black, Khan with a beard, Khan without a beard, Khan with tears in his eyes, Khan striding, and Khan’s ass being kicked.
That’s Rs 100 crore in Sajid Nadiadwala’s kitty, apparently.
A Nadiadwala film starring Khan isn’t expected to throw up surprise twists, which makes it easy to write a spoiler-free review of Kick because everyone knows who’s going to win the cop versus robber game, when the robber is played by Khan. If Robin Hood and Mother Teresa had a lovechild and that child was raised by Mithun Chakraborty, his name would be Devi Lal Singh.
Kick
Salman Khan as Devi Lal
Devi Lal, is a genius and a daredevil, so much so that his back story has to be shown as an animated sequence. Real people can’t do justice to his awesomeness (and no one is going to let any child do the frightfully dangerous and idiotic stunts that little Devi Lal pulls as a kid). There are even a couple of scenes in which we see Devi Lal grow up so that we are treated to an animated version of Salman Khan doing a few tricks. It looks more credibly real and has more expression than Khan himself manages, but maybe the cartoon was just being human. (There’s something almost poetic about the animated Khan possessing expression and the human Khan looking like a statue stolen from Madame Tussaud’s.)
Kick is supposed to be the story of an adrenaline junkie who’s constantly looking for a new and better high. Instead, all we see Khan do is beat people up and dance badly, which may well be how he gets an adrenaline rush. In actuality, Kick is an attempt by Khan to show himself as a heroic good samaritan. Devi Lal in Kick doesn’t enter the world of crime because of greed, but because he has a cause that is expected to make cherubs clap and angels weep with gratitude. In reality, it’s a little creepy but we’ll get to that later.
There isn’t much by way of suspense in this film, but it does raise a few questions. Like, for instance, how much were the real actors in the cast paid for being in Kick? If they’ve negotiated well, then this is what we hope acting in Kick has earned the following:
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: a house
Randeep Hooda: a house and a car
Sanjay Mishra: a luxurious vacation
Rajit Kapoor: the right to demand a better wig.
Predictably, the only ace up the film’s sleeve is Siddiqui, who manages to have some fun as Devil’s arch nemesis. The one scene in Kick that has some crackle is Siddiqui’s final encounter with Khan.
Ironically for a film about a guy who is bored and whose only ambition in life is to feel a heady rush of pleasure — yes, boys and girls, that’s what Devi Lal means when he says he’s looking for a ‘kick’ — Kick is a spectacularly dull film. Nadiadwala is clearly aware of this because why else would Salman Khan as Devi Lal make his grand entry and then, within seconds, remind us he’s also Dabangg’s Chulbul Pandey?
Devi Lal enters the film, driving a curious vehicle that is part bike, part car and completely ridiculous. He whisks a bride, groom and bride’s friend out of a wedding, and as he is making his exit, one random member of the wedding band lands on the bike’s bumper. Instead of howling in agony at the pain that one imagines follows a man’s crotch hitting unyielding metal, the man sees Devi morph into Chulbul Pandey. HIs eyes glaze over and he plays the Dabangg tune.
That’s basically what Nadiadwala expects audiences across the country to do: see their beloved Bhai (who is, helpfully, also called Bhai in the film) and not notice anything else, least of all how painfully idiotic the script, acting, stunts and twists in Kick are. No one expects the writing to be good in a Nadiadwala film, but Kick is just terminally lazy.
For instance, Himanshu grimly informs his team that Devil’s three crimes show a pattern: Devil targets people who have made headlines and the robbery is done on holidays. Who’s victim number four? A peon who hasn’t made headlines. So much for pattern. More absurdly, Devil sends a handwritten note to the police along with a mug shot of the man he says he’s going to rob. What do Himanshu and the rest of the police force do? They erupt in a frenzy of investigation to find Mr Mugshot. Why use the handwriting to catch the criminal when you can go hunting through the haystack of Delhi’s population to find the man in the mugshot?
The worst part of Kick isn’t that Nadiadwala and Khan take themselves seriously, but that they think their audiences are fools. The audience won’t notice that the characters and plot twists make no sense. Devi Lal, who is supposedly a gold medallist engineer and has made headlines with inventions like hyper-real holograms, becomes a thief because he needs Rs 11 lakh for a medical emergency. Really? He couldn’t get a loan? Sell his hologram technology? Or here’s a radical thought: get a job.
The audience won’t care that Shaina essentially kidnaps a patient from a hospital because he’s her ex-boyfriend and she wants revenge on him because he’s forgotten her. As far as she knows, he’s got “retrograde amnesia”, but why should she, a doctor, care about those details? He didn’t recognise her. He must be punished. How? By “healing” him so that he remembers her, and then dumping him. She doesn’t realise that all Devi Lal wants is to get into her home. Once she figures out she’s been a pawn in his plan, you’d think she’d be doubly mad, but no. Shaina and her need for vengeance are conveniently forgotten. And of course the audience won’t care about details like if a man jumps out of a building in Poland, it’s highly unlikely he will land in London, the only city that has red double decker buses and a place called King’s Cross.
Will the audience find anything creepy about the fact that Devi Lal feels a “kick” because a little girl, lying in bed, smiles at him? Only if they’ve read about Woody Allen. How does this girl end up in Devi Lal’s care? She has a “chest tumour” and because her parents can’t find the money for her treatment, they leave her in a children’s home and jump off a building. How is getting orphaned supposed to help a sick little girl? Because their suicide note will waft to Devi Lal, naturally. So now this girl has the guilt of her parents’ suicides and a guardian who gets a “kick” when she smiles at him. If that doesn’t turn her into a violent psychopath, maybe she’ll grow up to star in the Indian remake of Kick Ass.
But there are two wonderful, heartening and life-affirming things that one can take away from Kick. Early on in the film, you can see Khan being kicked on his bottom by Mithun Chakraborty. Unfortunately, we aren’t shown Chakraborty’s foot making contact, but the suggestion is plain and this is one illusion that we’ll gladly buy. More importantly, this is the last time we’ll see Salman Khan in a film in 2014.
That gave us a kick.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Kiran Bedi, Brinda Karat come out in support of Sania Mirza - News Spear

Kiran Bedi, Brinda Karat come out in support of Sania Mirza - News Spear





New Delhi (ANI): Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi today said that the elected representatives who are opposing Sania Mirza’s appointment as the brand ambassador of Telangana are involved in small talk and wasting everyone’s time.
Bedi told ANI, “These elected representatives are involved in very small talk. This is small talk and wasting big time of everyone. A daughter remains a daughter, she doesn’t lose the roots in her country, and some of our elected people refuse to grow up. If a man marries outside the country he is not called an outsider then why should a woman be called that?”
Bedi also added, “Sania is not only the pride of India but she is also now the pride of Pakistan. Is that not great?” The tennis player also found support from CPI leader Brinda Karat who said that only a perverted and twisted mind can give such statements adding that the comments must be dismissed outright.
Sania Mirza , too, has expressed her hurt and anguish over her being branded an outsider by some elements in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) post her appointment as a brand ambassador for the state of Telangana. In a statement issued here, Sania said, “I strongly condemn attempts to brand me as an outsider. I am an Indian and will always remain an Indian till the end of my life. It hurts me that so much time of politicians is being wasted on a petty issue.”

Facebook's Q2 profits double on back of strong mobile ad sales

Facebook's Q2 profits double on back of strong mobile ad sales





Washington (ANI): Social networking company Facebook’s profit has doubled reaching 791 million dollars while its total revenue rose from 1.8 billion dollars to 2.9 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2014.
Facebook’s more than a billion users reportedly use mobile devices to go online that amounts to 62 percent of the company’s overall advertising tallies in the second quarter.
Facebook’s sales from mobile devices are increasing at a rapid pace. Almost 1.1 billion users accessed the site at least once using a mobile device. Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he was delighted to see the company’s performance on mobile devices but there was a lot more to do.
Google, the fastest growing network is expected to have a decrease in profits while Twitter is likely to reach three percent this year, reports CNET. Zuckerberg further said that he intended to go slow and make greater profits in the long run. The company gave extensive details on advertising and other items.

CII welcomes Cabinet approval to 49 percent FDI in insurance - News Spear

CII welcomes Cabinet approval to 49 percent FDI in insurance - News Spear





New Delhi (ANI): Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday welcomed the Union Cabinet’s approval to the proposal to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from the existing 26 percent.
“CII welcomes the Cabinet’s approval to increase FDI limit in Insurance from 26 to 49 per cent with full Indian management and control, as it will help attracting the much needed long term capital for the sector which can have multiplier effect on the state of economy especially in meeting the huge infrastructure financing requirements”, said CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee.
“This has been a long standing demand of CII and therefore, CII recommends that the InsuranceLaws (Amendment) Bill be taken on priority in the current session of parliament for passage”, Banerjee added.
He further emphasized that capital infusion in the insurance sector, through greater FDI, would ensure innovations on product design and distribution, better risk management, introducing superior technology and greater investments.
” CII believes the end result will be sizeable improvement in the insurance penetration and density for the Indian economy which is considerably lower when compared with other emerging economies,” said Banerjee.

India’s Modi was an over-sharing politician. Now he’s a silent prime minister - News Spear

India’s Modi was an over-sharing politician. Now he’s a silent prime minister - News Spear





Washington Post: “You campaign in poetry, but govern in prose” goes a well-known saying by Mario Cumo, the New York politician. In India, leaders campaign in talk mode, but they prefer to govern in silent mode. For years, former prime minister Manmohan Singh was bitterly attacked for being too silent, a trait that eventually became a metaphor for his ineffective leadership. Many called his 10-year rule “a decade of official silence.” But it was going to be vastly different with the new prime minister, Narendra Modi.
During his four-month-long campaign this year, Modi spoke breathlessly on almost every national and local issue. He gave stump speeches, blogged, tweeted, Facebooked. India’s youths had finally found in the 63-year old Modi a leader fit for a generation of over-sharers and hyper-communicators. Now journalists, political pundits and opposition politicians have begun asking why Modi has gone silent. What happened to the promise of a leader who weighed in on every issue that consumed the nation?
“Narendra Modi brought with him the promise of a leader who will not be a mute spectator,” the Headlines Today channel said last month. “Is silence going to be the norm when it comes to complex issues like crimes against women?” “Why has our current prime minister, who is a 24×7 communicator, suddenly fallen silent on matters that are making front-page news, have been headlined in the international press, and have worked the Twitterati up into a tizzy?” wrote Caravan magazine.
The Business Standard newspaper called it “Narendra Modi: Silent PM 2.0?”
Instead, he gives long speeches on his vision for the nation — when he inaugurates a train line or attends the launch of a space rocket. Even as he encourages his colleagues in the government to open Twitter accounts to disseminate official news, he has put a gag on them. He has instructed them not to speak to reporters out of turn, to be wary of sting operations and not allow anyone into their offices with cellphones or cameras, or even pens.
He has also ended a political culture in which prime ministers took large contingents of journalists with them on foreign trips. The result is “a virtual news drought for 24×7 media,” complain local journalists.
“All the officers are under strict orders … not to have any connection with media,” Kumar Ketkar, a political commentator, blogged Tuesday on NDTV.com, a 24×7 news Web site. Calling it a “Gestapo-style” vigil, he said, there is “constant surveillance of the offices to keep tab on who meets whom and to check on whether ministers are spending evenings at social parties.”

Wednesday 23 July 2014

Salman Khan’s Kick ready to hit more than 5,000 screens, widest release ever - News Spear

Salman Khan’s Kick ready to hit more than 5,000 screens, widest release ever - News Spear





Mumbai: The high point of this film might be Salman Khan, but there is another highlight – ‘Kick’ marks the directorial debut of Sajid Nadiadwala, known for producing the biggest potboilers like ‘Housefull’ and ‘Heropanti’ as well as ’2 States’ and ‘Highway.’ Superstar Salman Khan’s ‘Kick‘ is set to kick up a storm. The action thriller will hit over 5,000 screens in India on Friday (July 25) as well as 42 other countries including non-traditional markets like France, Germany, Morocco and Maldives.
“Yes, Kick is one of the films which will get the widest release. In India, the film has got around 4,400 screens and close to 700 screens abroad, which is outstanding,” distributor Rajesh Thadani of Multimedia Combines stated. If the film’s high point is Salman Khan, there is another highlight – ‘Kick‘ marks the directorial debut of Sajid Nadiadwala, known for producing the biggest potboilers like ‘Housefull’ and ‘Heropanti’ as well as ’2 States’ and ‘Highway.’
The makers are hoping to cash in on the Eid celebrations by releasing it during the festive season. “This time Salman Khan is back on Eid with Sajid Nadiadwala’s ‘Kick‘ and we are hoping to recreate the magic and success of his earlier movies during this period,” said Amrita Pandey, VP and Head, Marketing & Distribution, Studios, Disney India.
“It will release in over 42 countries, which includes non-traditional markets like France, Germany, Morocco and Maldives. We are also exploring delayed releases in Egypt, Taiwan and China. Eid is a family occasion and we want to give people a reason to celebrate it with ‘Kick’,” added Pandey. The advance bookings for “Kick” started Wednesday and Thadani says that the data promises a bumper opening for the movie which stars Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandez as the female lead.
“As far as the advance booking is concerned, the film is going on full swing be it single screens or multiplex. I am confident the film will have a bumper opening,” he said. Sanjay Ghai from Mukta Arts Delhi said: “The Friday shows have already been booked and we hope the film will be beyond a blockbuster.”
According to reports, “Kick” is sold out in Dubai too. Why not?  In the past, Salman’s Eid releases “Wanted” and “Ek Tha Tiger” turned out to be gold spinners.
kick

Shiv Sena MPs forcibly make fasting Muslim staffer to eat - News Spear

Shiv Sena MPs forcibly make fasting Muslim staffer to eat - News Spear





Mumbai: In a highly disgusting and insensitive act, 11 Shiv Sena MPs allegedly forced a Muslim catering supervisor to break his Ramzan fast at Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi last week.  The MPs were apparently angry over not being served Maharashtrian food, a daily reported. Snubbing religious sentiments, the Shiv Sainiks forced Arshad Zubair S, who was fasting for Ramzan, to eat a chapati. 
The incident took place when a group of around 15 MPs were discussing complaints about the lack of services at the sadan.  Indian Railways’ IRCTC immediately suspended the catering service in protest.  IRCTC complained in writing to the Maharashtra Resident Commissioner, saying the employee had been “deeply pained and hurt… as religious sentiments are attached”. 
According to the daily, the Resident Commissioner apologised to IRCTC and Arshad, and asked to “meet him personally (to) convey the sentiments of our government”. The Maharashtra government has vowed to take an “appropriate action”. 
The 11 Shiv Sena MPs named in the letter are – Sanjay Raut (Rajya Sabha), Anandrao Adsul (Amravati), Rajan Vichare (Thane), Arvind Sawant (Mumbai-South), Hemant Godse (Nashik), Krupal Tumane (Ramtek), Ravindra Gaikwad (Osmanabad), Vinayak Raut (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg), Shivaji Adhalrao Patil (Shirur), Rahul Shewale (Mumbai-South Central) and Shrikant Shinde (Kalyan)..
After the report came to light, Raut called the allegations ‘baseless’. Sawant refused forcing catering supervisor to eat. Adsul defended the act, saying since food was of poor quality, the MPs asked the attendant to taste and check the quality and they did not know his religion. Condemning the facilities at Maharashtra Sadan, Vichare said the incident should not be given a communal colour.  
In reaction to the incident, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majid Memon said an investigation must take place in the case and strict action should be taken against people involved. NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar said Shiv Sena isn’t a responsible party and it has always been a group of anti-social people. Another NCP leader Nawab Malik said the Residence Commissioner should take up this matter with Delhi Police and all involved in the case should be arrested. 
Congress leader said the MPs should tender a public apology since there is no place for this kind of majoritarianism. It is absolutely reprehensible and should be condemned in the strongest possible manner, added Tewari. Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal, meanwhile, described the incident as “highly condemnable”, adding he knows the government would not take any action against this, “but it must”. 
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury demanded that Parliament should clearly state that such acts won’t be tolerated. In an e-mail sent to Resident Commissioner Bipin Mallick on July 17, IRCTC deputy GM Shankar Malhotra wrote: “Today there was a meeting of 12-15 MPs at New Maharashtra Sadan in the Press Conference Hall in which they were complaining about the services of Electrical, civil, housekeeping, catering, etc which they are facing from the last several months in the premises of Maharashtra Sadan.” 
“The entire delegation along with the electronic media and Manager, Maharashtra Sadan, walked inside the public dining hall and started throwing chafing dish covers in the buffet area. They also issued physical threats to the kitchen and service staff while using highly objectionable language. The specific incident happened with the Resident Manager/IRCTC, Sh. Arshad who was forced to consume full chapati whilst he was having fast on the eve of Ramzan. The concerned has been deeply pained and hurt on this account as religious sentiments are attached.” 
Malhotra said that the MPs “demanded [a] Maharashtrian caterer in the NMS [New Maharashtra Sadan]. It may be noted that this is not the first time that such an incident has happened. We have received no support from the NMS management in this regard.” 
In his complaint, which was forwarded to Mallick, Arshad said, “All the guests along with media reporters and staffs of Maharashtra Sadan got into kitchen where I was getting the orders prepared. They caught me and put the chapati into my mouth. I was wearing a formal uniform set as prescribed by IRCTC and everybody in the panel also knew my name as ‘Arshad’ as I was wearing the name tag. Even then they inserted chapati in my mouth which caused my fast to break on the eve of Ramzan. I was hurt with the thing they have done as religious sentiments are concerned.”

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Now, Indexeus search engine will expose hackers' credentials - News Spear

Now, Indexeus search engine will expose hackers' credentials - News Spear





Washington (ANI): Indexeus, a new search engine, enables users to look up login credentials from over a hundred hacks, including the recent high-profile Adobe and Yahoo dumps.
However, the search engine exposes the credentials from only those websites and forums that are quite popular with the hacker community, The Verge reported. It means that the search engine is trying to market itself to the same hackers who it is trying to expose.
Hackers can also pay a fee of one dollar per record to get their credentials removed from the search engine. A disclaimer on the website reads that the search engine does not aim to reveal somebody’s private information but wants to spread awareness.
However, the European Union’s “Right to be Forgotten” ruling has forced its founder, identified as 23-year-old Jason Relinquo of Portugal, to change the website’s policies and offer a free blacklisting option to all the users.

Saturday 19 July 2014

Samsung finally brings 4G Galaxy S5 to India at Rs 53,500 - News Spear

Samsung finally brings 4G Galaxy S5 to India at Rs 53,500 - News Spear





Agencies: Following the lead of LG, South Korean electronics giant Samsung has launched its first 4G-compatible flagship in India. LG if you recall, launched the 4G version of G2 in India and now the Galaxy S5 with LTE support for the India bands has been brought to market.
It has been priced at a hefty Rs 53,500, which puts in the same league as the iPhone 5s, which also is a 4G phone in India.  The 4G version of the S5 will go on sale in India from tomorrow, July 20. “We expect the 4G version to catch the imagination of technology enthusiasts and professionals, who demand superior smartphones for their heavy multimedia content consumption,” said Asim Warsi, vice president (marketing, mobile & IT), Samsung India, in a press statement.
Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5 3G was launched in India in April, and remains one of the best phones you could buy right now,  despite the presence of the HTC One M8 (which is also getting 4G support) and the Sony Xperia Z2. The timing of the launch is curious though, as it comes just a day before LG launches the G3 in India. Clearly, Samsung wants the Galaxy S5 to remain in the limelight, which explains the launch of the 4G version.
Samsung has tied up with Airtel for data plans for buyers of the new model. Existing and new Airtel 4G subscribers will get 5GB 4G data per month free for two months, however, you will not be able to use the 4G in all circles, as the telecom provider has only now started bringing it to more circles.
The Galaxy S5 4G is powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC seen in the 3G model. It’s clocked at 2.5 Ghz processor and the device  supports eight 4G LTE bands. In addition to these, the 4G variant also has the same software features such as Download Booster for combining 4G and Wi-Fi speeds for large downloads.
Galaxy S5

Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels say yes to 'security zone' around MH17 crash site - News Spear

Ukraine, pro-Russian rebels say yes to 'security zone' around MH17 crash site - News Spear



Agencies: Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels have agreed to set up a security zone around the crash site of the Malaysian jet MH17 that was apparently shot down, Ukraine’s security service chief said on Saturday.
Internationally mediated talks “concluded with an agreement to set up a 20-kilometre security zone so that Ukraine could fulfil the most important thing — identify the bodies (and) hand them over to relatives,” Ukrainian Security Service head Valentyn Nalyvaychenko said in televised remarks.
Earlier, investigators faced massive hurdles as they sought access to the grisly crash site of a Malaysian plane in eastern Ukraine, with the area controlled by armed rebels blamed for downing the jet with a missile.
Despite a hail of calls from around the globe for a swift probe into the crash, initial efforts by international monitors to gain full access to the site were at first impeded by pro-Russian separatists locked in fighting with Ukraine forces.
The fate of the vital black boxes — at least one of which was reported to have been recovered — was unknown. AFP journalists at the site say dozens of mutilated corpses remained scattered around the vast area, the scale of which appears to have overwhelmed local rescue workers.
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Pro-Russian separatist stands at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region. REUTERS
While the rebels, who Kiev and the US believe fired a sophisticated surface-to-air missile at the jet, had vowed to protect the scene, they had ruled out a ceasefire and rocket-fire still rings out in the distance.
Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, whose nation was stunned by the loss of nearly 200 citizens in the crash, arrived in Kiev Friday with a team of 15 forensic experts.
A 62-strong Malaysian disaster response team was due to arrive on Saturday, and Prime Minister Najib Razak urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phonecall to help them gain access to the site.
Concerns over the site’s vulnerability are high after international observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were initially blocked from fully accessing the sites by armed rebels “for their own” safety.
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Pro-Russian separatists look at passengers’ belongings. REUTERS
Blame trading
US President Barack Obama blamed Russia for creating the conditions which led to the doomed flight MH17 being shot down, as the disaster further fanned the flames of the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.
Malaysia Airlines said 283 passengers and 15 crew were aboard the plane — including, at last count, 192 Dutch nationals, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians and 12 Indonesians. Australia said 28 of its citizens were on board.
Obama cranked up political pressure on Putin as he presented the conclusions of US intelligence analysts about the “unspeakable” carnage.
“Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine,” Obama said. He said previous attacks by separatists on government aircraft in Ukraine suggested rebels benefited from Russian technical expertise.
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A pro-Russian separatist holds up a stuffed toy found at the crash site. REUTERS
“A group of separatists can’t shoot down military transport planes, or, they claim, shoot down fighter jets without sophisticated equipment and sophisticated training, and that is coming from Russia,” Obama said.
Kiev and Moscow have traded blame for the tragedy, with Putin saying Ukraine bore responsibility for the crash for pressing on with its offensive against the rebels.
Ukraine has released recordings of what it said was an intercepted call between an insurgent commander and a Russian intelligence officer as they realized they had shot down a passenger jet.
Comments attributed to a pro-Russian rebel chief suggested his men may have downed the plane by mistake, believing it to be a Ukrainian army transport aircraft.
Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said: “It strains credulity that (the missile) can be used by separatists without some measure of Russian support and assistance.”
‘Wake-up call for Europe’
In calls to the leaders of Germany, Britain and Australia, Obama pressed for “a prompt, full, unimpeded and transparent international investigation”, and stressed the need for immediate access to the crash site.
The US leader, who stiffened sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, also prodded Europe to do more to restrain Putin, who he said had the power to rein in separatists but refused to use it.
“I think that this certainly will be a wake-up call for Europe and the world that there are consequences to an escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine,” Obama said.
Russian-backed separatists have shot down aircraft over Ukraine earlier too: Obama
The UN Security Council unanimously demanded a “full, thorough and independent investigation” at the start of a meeting on the Ukraine crisis that saw fraught exchanges between Western countries and Russia.
US Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for the second day running.
Tusk and Biden noted that Russia was “supplying weapons and training — including anti-aircraft weapons — to the separatists, with profoundly de-stabilizing consequences,” a White House statement said. In Buenos Aires, China’s President Xi Jinping said Beijing favored a “fair and objective” probe.
Grief and fury
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Liu Ling, whose husband was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, cries during an interview with Reuters. Liu said she “felt more terrible after hearing about Thursday’s incident and is now more certain that MH370 did not crash because the downed MH17 showed how a crash should look like”.
Grief over the tragedy melded with fury as heart-rending stories emerged of the men, women and children aboard the doomed Boeing 777. Dutch families jetting off to exotic destinations, more than 100 AIDS experts and an Australian family who also lost relatives on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing in March, were all among the victims.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte bristled with anger, pledging to “personally see to it” that those responsible for attacking the plane be brought to justice. At the other end of the plane’s uncompleted flight path, Najib — embroiled in a Malaysia Airlines disaster for the second time in four months — had a similar warning.
The prime minister — whose step-grandmother was on the ill-fated flight — highlighted the need for an objective, unfettered probe into the crash in a phonecall with Putin. “I also told Putin that the site should not be tampered (with) before the team begins its investigation,” he was quoted saying by Malaysian national news agency Bernama.
Separatist leaders ruled out a truce to allow the plane probe to go ahead and fierce clashes continued Friday, with local authorities saying 20 civilians were killed in the rebel-held city of Lugansk, some 100 kilometres to the north-east of the crash site.

21 crore people in UP, still lowest number of rapes: Mulayam Singh Yadav - News Spear

21 crore people in UP, still lowest number of rapes: Mulayam Singh Yadav - News Spear





New Delhi: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has stirred yet another controversy with his comments on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh where his son Akhilesh is the chief minister.
“There are 21 crore people in Uttar Pradesh, yet lowest number of rapes,” he told reporters who were questioning him about the outrage over the alleged rape and murder of a 32-year-old and the increase in number of crime against women in the state.
In April this year, the Samajwadi Party chief had sparked outrage with his comments like “boys are boys, they make mistakes.” Slamming Mr Yadav for his remarks, Congress leader Rashid Alvi said today that “for any state government, even one such case should be shameful. “
His party colleague Shobha Oza added that such “insensitive statements” encourage criminals. National Commission for Women member Shamina Shafiq had a word of advice for Mr Yadav, “I think leaders of Uttar Pradesh don’t have to do much. They just have to read newspapers and they will know that every day at least two to three cases are reported in the state.”