Lashkar-e-Taiba Kashmir Chief Abu Dujana Killed by Army in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abu Dujana, a Pakistan national, was the chief of Lashkar's operations in Kashmir. His death is being viewed as the one of the biggest success stories for security forces this year. Dujana had a Rs 10 lakh prize on his head.

Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Kashmir commander Abu Dujana, one of the most wanted men in India, was killed by security forces during an encounter in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday morning.

Dujana, a Pakistan national, was the chief of Lashkar's operations in Kashmir. His death is being viewed as the one of the biggest success stories for security forces this year. Dujana had a Rs 30 lakh prize on his head.

Abu Ismail, a LeT commander who planned and executed the recent attack on Amarnath Yatris, is believed to be a close associate of Dujana. Ismail is subbed to be the successor of Dujana.

Acting on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Hakripora village of Pulwama, forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area, police said.

The militants opened fired prompting retaliation from the forces.

DGP of Jammu and Kashmir, SP Vaid, said the encounter is still in progress and refused to divulge details unless they had seen the bodies.

Hailing from Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), Dujana infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir in 2010.

The LeT Commander made his first dramatic appearance at a funeral of a local Lashkar militant in 2014 in Kakpora area of Pulwama. He also attended the funeral of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani in South Kashmir's Tral area last year in July.

Dujana, who was an A++ category terrorist, was wanted for his role in the Udhampur attack in which two BSF personnel were killed and a dozen injured.

An Indian IT firm is building a million-dollar empire with an army of high school graduates

 Not inclined to pursue his studies beyond high school, 17-year old Abdul Alim dropped out of school in 2013. Unable to find a job in his hometown in northeast India, Alim moved to Chennai in the south with nothing more than Rs200 in his pockets. He spent months job-hunting before fate finally brought him to the gates of Zoho Corporation, a software products maker, as a security guard. Four years down the line, Alim still works at Zoho, but he no longer mans the gates. He is part of the company’s reports team, and spends his days using code to create charts and data visualisations.

Alim isn’t alone. Several high school graduates and dropouts like him are today part of the Chennai-based software firm, catering to global customers.

Zoho was founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The company makes cloud-based products such as Zoho Mail, Zoho Docs (like the one Google offers), accounting software Zoho Books, and some 30 others which are used by companies such as Amazon, Suzuki, and Air Canada. It earned Rs1,557 crore (around $240 million) in revenue in the 2016 financial year, according to company research platform Tofler.

Even as most other firms seek talent from top-ranked tech institutes, this company, through its Zoho University (ZU) initiative, turns software programmers out of high-school graduates and hires them for roles at salaries on par with engineering graduates.
Zoho’s decade-old model is now gaining traction amidst the shortage of quality engineering talent in India, accentuated by the proliferation of automation and advanced technologies.

 Unfinished products

“Zoho University was born 12 years ago because we found that there wasn’t much that these vaunted engineers were bringing to the table,” Rajendran Dandapani, Zoho evangelist (someone who builds support for a given technology) told Quartz in an email. “We couldn’t blame them either. The problem seemed to lie in the system, the context-less education they were getting, on irrelevant subjects based on obsolete curricula,” he said.

The company’s strategy is fairly simple. Zoho visits government-run schools in and around cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Pollachi, and Chennai in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and conducts aptitude tests and interviews. Those who qualify are offered seats for the 18-month programme at ZU, and a job at the end of the period, subject to successful completion of the courses.
“Nowadays people don’t get jobs easily…I would like to enter the industry as soon as possible rather than wait four years,” said Anirudh R, referring to his decision to join ZU after completing high school in Chennai.

At Zoho University, recruits are taught English, mathematics, software engineering skills, and programming languages. Around 500 persons have so far been trained there and around 100 students are enrolled right now. The institute itself is housed within Zoho’s offices in Chennai and in Tenkasi, a small town at the foothills of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu. This proximity to the employees and management teams seeking skilled recruits allows the company to monitor and update the syllabus regularly.
“When we began in 2005, we taught PHP, MySQL, and Java. The latest batch, on the other hand, began learning Python, moved to Java with Postgres, mobile development etc,” Uma Maheswari Radhakrishnan, faculty member at ZU, said. The company is also developing its AI expertise, and recently launched an AI sales assistant for its customer relationship management software.
At the end of a year, students are assigned to teams within Zoho for an internship based on their performance and interviews. Good performers are eventually hired. Today, 15% of Zoho’s 4,500-strong workforce is from Zoho University, with 30 of them in leadership positions.

“ZU students bring practical experience, and other graduates are strong in theory. The training process at work is different but there isn’t a difference otherwise,” Muthuselvi, a Zoho Projects employee and a ZU alumna, said in Tamil. She manages a team of 100.
During the programme, students are paid a stipend of around Rs8,000 a month, which increases periodically. Students who complete the 18-month course, and spend another 2.5 years growing through the company ranks, usually end up getting paid more than what alumni of other colleges get as freshers at Zoho, said Dandapani. The students are hired into two salary brackets—approximately Rs4 lakh ($6,210) a year and Rs6 lakh ($9,315) a year—based on their performance.
Not many top IT firms today hire non-engineers for programming, but the ones that do pay them nearly on par with engineers at the entry level, said Alka Dhingra, assistant general manager at TeamLease Services, a staffing firm.

 Evolving through time

Over the years, the recruitment process at Zoho has become stringent. School exams aren’t a criterion, but the company expects students to show strong aptitude in logic, mathematics, and communication, and not just in one of the three.
However, even a decade after launch, ZU’s most difficult task remains convincing parents.

Most students hail from small towns, they are usually first generation learners in their families, and come from a socio-economic backgrounds where parents believe that conventional college degrees are they only way to success. “People still are confused about not going to college and getting into a software company without a degree,” Radhakrishnan said. Parents feel that their current poor status is due to their lack of education, she added. “They don’t want their children to suffer the same thing.”

For aspirational India, a facility like ZU is a stairway out of a troubled loop. For Zoho, it is gateway to a goldmine of potential talent. No wonder then that other leading tech firms, too, are now taking a similar path. For instance, from April this year, software firm HCL Technologies has begun preparing 200 high-school students for entry-level software engineering jobs.
It could be a win-win deal for the Indian technology sector.

Facebook shuts Artificial Intelligence system after bots create own language

In June, researchers from the Facebook AI Research Lab (FAIR) found that while they were busy trying to improve chatbots, the "dialogue agents" were creating their own language.

 

Days after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that artificial intelligence (AI) was the biggest risk, Facebook has shut down one of its AI systems after chatbots started speaking in their own language defying the codes provided. According to a report in Tech Times on Sunday, the social media giant had to pull the plug on the AI system that its researchers were working on “because things got out of hand”. “The AI did not start shutting down computers worldwide or something of the sort, but it stopped using English and started using a language that it created,” the report noted. Initially the AI agents used English to converse with each other but they later created a new language that only AI systems could understand, thus, defying their purpose. This led Facebook researchers to shut down the AI systems and then force them to speak to each other only in English.

In June, researchers from the Facebook AI Research Lab (FAIR) found that while they were busy trying to improve chatbots, the “dialogue agents” were creating their own language. Soon, the bots began to deviate from the scripted norms and started communicating in an entirely new language which they created without human input, media reports said.

Using machine learning algorithms, the “dialogue agents” were left to converse freely in an attempt to strengthen their conversational skills. The researchers also found these bots to be “incredibly crafty negotiators”. “After learning to negotiate, the bots relied on machine learning and advanced strategies in an attempt to improve the outcome of these negotiations,” the report said. “Over time, the bots became quite skilled at it and even began feigning interest in one item in order to ‘sacrifice’ it at a later stage in the negotiation as a faux compromise,” it added.

Although this appears to be a huge leap for AI, several experts including Professor Stephen Hawking have raised fears that humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, could be superseded by AI. Others like Tesla’s Elon Musk, philanthropist Bill Gates and ex-Apple founder Steve Wozniak have also expressed their concerns about where the AI technology was heading. Interestingly, this incident took place just days after a verbal spat between Facebook CEO and Musk who exchanged harsh words over a debate on the future of AI. “I’ve talked to Mark about this (AI). His understanding of the subject is limited,” Musk tweeted last week.

The tweet came after Zuckerberg, during a Facebook livestream earlier this month, castigated Musk for arguing that care and regulation was needed to safeguard the future if AI becomes mainstream. “I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios — I just, I don’t understand it. It’s really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible,” Zuckerberg said. Musk has been speaking frequently on AI and has called its progress the “biggest risk we face as a civilisation”. “AI is a rare case where we need to be proactive in regulation instead of reactive because if we’re reactive in AI regulation it’s too late,” he said.

Please don't smoke, it will kill you.

See this lady explaining what happen when you smoke

Amazon Warehouse Robots

 Automation in Amazon warehouse

Google has dropped Google Instant Search

Google just killed off one of its biggest features – and you won’t even notice

Google Search just killed off Instant, one of the most unique features of its search engine – and one you probably never really used.

For those not familiar with the nomenclature, Instant was first introduced in 2010 and provided immediate search results as you typed. While Google will continue to provide search suggestions as you type, it won’t actually load any search results until you select one of those suggestions or press enter.

Here’s a video of how Instant worked if you need a refresher:

 

Search Engine Land first reported on the change. Google, meanwhile, provided the following statement:
We launched Google Instant back in 2010 with the goal to provide users with the information they need as quickly as possible, even as they typed their searches on desktop devices. Since then, many more of our searches happen on mobile, with very different input and interaction and screen constraints. With this in mind, we have decided to remove Google Instant, so we can focus on ways to make Search even faster and more fluid on all devices.

Now as you type, you will only see search suggestions and then be able to click on those suggestions to see the results. The search results will not load any result pages without clicking on a search suggestion or clicking enter.

Again, this change is to make search “more fluid on all devices” Google says.

Basically, most people do their searching on mobile nowadays, where Instant never really made much sense. While Google’s search suggestions can be useful.

YouTube Red will merge with Google Play Music soon

Google is finally taking the most logical step towards growing its streaming business: it’s set to merge YouTube Red with Google Play Music, which should make it easier for subscribers to find the tunes they want without all the confusion of the company’s myriad offerings.

That’s from Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s head of music, who confirmed the move at the New Music Seminar conference in New York. What we don’t yet know is whether it’ll lead to the launch of an entirely new product.

For now, it sounds like Google will simply create a new brand under which both services will be offered with a single subscription. But I’m hoping that the merger also sees the company make YouTube’s premium tier available globally.

YouTube Red is currently available in just five countries, and, as an example, India isn’t one of them. As such, I can’t pay to remove ads or enjoy music videos and playlists with my phone screen turned off. Google Play Music, meanwhile, is available in 64 countries. Cohen didn’t state the merger would translate to wider availability immediately, but it seems likely to happen sooner than later with this move.

Subscribing to Red also scores you access to Google Play Music (and vice versa), so it’d be nice to pay a single fee for both, and hopefully use them in more places around the world. Since it launched in India, I’ve fallen in love with Google’s streaming music service because it’s great with recommendations based on my listening habits.

Hopefully, it won’t be long before Google reveals what it has in store for listeners and viewers now that it’s gone public with info about the merger.

Microsoft announces bounty of up to $250,000 to anyone who finds bugs in Windows 10

To ensure Windows 10 is secure and bug-free, Microsoft has announced a fresh round of Windows Bounty Programme that will reward the bug finders up to $250,000 if they are able to discover exploits in Microsoft’s virtualisation software.

Bounty payouts will range from $500 to $250,000.

Microsoft has been running the bounty programme since 2012 but the company is expanding it to cover more ground in Windows 10.

According to a blog post on the company’s website late on Wednesday, any critical or important class remote code execution, elevation of privilege or design flaws that compromises a customer’s privacy and security will receive a bounty.

“Security is always changing and we prioritise different types of vulnerabilities at different points in time. Microsoft strongly believes in the value of the bug bounties, and we trust that it serves to enhance our security capabilities,” the blog post read.

The other focus areas include ‘Mitigation Bypass’ (things that break Microsoft’s security sandboxing), ‘Windows Defender Application Guard’, ‘Microsoft Edge’ and ‘Windows Insider Preview’.

“If a researcher reports a qualifying vulnerability already found internally by Microsoft, a payment will be made to the first finder at a maximum of 10% of the highest amount they could’ve received,” the company announced.

Other tech giants like Google, Facebook and Apple have also employed the same tactics to detect bugs and exploits.

Success is an ICEBERG

VENUS FLYTRAP eating insects,

VENUS FLYTRAP, we studied  about it in 7th standard (Please show your kids)

A superpower with an inferiority complex

China appears to have picked the right moment to remind India of the border dispute between the two countries. India is preoccupied: Its government is busy imposing cultural norms on unwilling people, Kashmir is on the boil, and its major television networks are hounding dissidents at home by calling them “anti-national” and holding the opposition to account for the government’s shortcomings. Meanwhile, in Chumbi valley, Chinese troops are getting closer to the “chicken’s neck”, the narrow corridor that links India’s North-East with the rest of the country.

China has been building a road at Doklam (also known as Doka La), near the point where China, Bhutan and India meet. Bhutan is understandably wary of any Chinese infrastructure investment so close to its border, as such a road would make Chinese troop deployment more efficient. But Bhutan does not have formal ties with China, and it relies on India to represent its views. And the Indian state that’s on the Chinese border happens to be Sikkim, which was independent till 1975. Sikkim’s merger with India was controversial, but it is recognized internationally, with even China coming round to accepting it in 2003.

From a strategic perspective, India is right to be concerned. The current situation contributes to the broader tensions pertaining to the disputed border in other regions where India affirms its sovereignty over parts that China occupies, while China claims land that India considers its own. Little wonder the Chinese media is now issuing warnings to India in characteristically laboured prose. Prior bones of contention include the dispute at Sumdorong Chu in the 1980s, the Dalai Lama’s several visits to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh since 1983, and the presence of Tibetan refugees in India.

China believes its border with India is an imposition by the colonial British over a weak China. India has inherited that border, the Chinese say; those inherited parts aren’t necessarily Indian. India drew a large amount of international sympathy over its 1962 war with China, but critics like Neville Maxwell remained sceptical of Indian claims. His account, India’s China War, was deeply unpopular in India, as it did not rhyme with the nationalistic outpourings celebrating the valour of the Indian Army—think of the emotive appeal of Lata Mangeshkar’s Ay Mere Watan Ke Logon. However, Maxwell was remarkably unchallenging of Chinese claims.

China believes its time has come on the global stage, and plenty of international cheerleaders echo that view. Reviewing relations, renegotiating treaties and redrawing territorial boundaries are all part of that world view. Imperial powers imposed treaties on a “weak” China; it’s time for China to regain its authority.

China has border disputes with virtually every neighbour. It has a quarrel with Japan over the Senkaku Islands (known as Diaoyu in China) and the Ryukyu Islands. It is one of the six claimants over the Spratlys in the South China Sea and has built aggressive installations in the area, rattling its neighbours. It has an old dispute with Vietnam over the Paracel Islands, and in 1979 it invaded Vietnam “to teach a lesson”, even while Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then India’s foreign minister, was on an official visit to China, forcing him to cut short his trip. China bullies the few remaining nations (at last count 21) that recognize Taiwan, which China considers as its renegade province.

In 1999, Macau returned to China from Portuguese control. Through its words and actions, China has indicated quite clearly that it sees little value in the “one country, two systems” model under which Hong Kong returned to China from British rule in 1997. The 1984 Sino-British accord is meant to maintain Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years. But late last month, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the “handover”, as the sovereignty transfer was called, a spokesman of the Chinese foreign ministry termed the accord “a historical document that no longer has any realistic meaning”. In a 2014 white paper, the Chinese state council said parts of the joint declaration were not binding, implying it would reinterpret laws and treaties it did not like.

The effects in Hong Kong are clear: When asked to bend, many in Hong Kong have crawled. The Hong Kong branch of New York’s Asia Society recently cancelled the screening of a film that commemorated the umbrella revolution, when many in Hong Kong demanded greater freedoms. Beijing continues to dictate choices in the severely limited elections Hong Kong holds.

China is justified in objecting to the unequal treaties its feeble emperors signed in the 19th century. But today China is a world power. Indeed, when compared with US President Donald Trump, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sounds internationalist, almost statesman-like, in his defence of the Paris climate accord, or when he speaks up for trade and globalization. But in its dealings with neighbours, China is acting exactly like the imperial powers it once scorned. That is the mark of an immature superpower with an inferiority complex.

India and China are polar opposites—India is a democracy, even if flawed; China is a dictatorship, despite the veneer of modernity. India needs to react calmly and creatively, instead of stoking nationalistic fervour that can rouse passions at home, but whose effects are too devastating to contemplate. It requires qualitatively different thinking from what the Indian political leadership has shown.

Muslim feminist plans to open liberal mosque in Britain

A Muslim feminist who founded a liberal mosque in Berlin, triggering death threats and fatwas, is planning to open an inclusive place of worship in the UK, saying a revolution in Islam is under way.

Seyran Ateş, a Turkish-born lawyer and human rights campaigner, visited London this week to investigate potential sites for a liberal mosque open to men, women and LGBT Muslims on an equal basis, and people from all strands of Islam.

She hopes to establish such a mosque within a year, and says her aim is to create similar places of worship in every European capital.

“I’m not alone with this idea. It is a movement, it’s a revolution,” she told the Guardian. “I may be the face of the liberal mosque, but I alone am not the mosque. We have millions of supporters all over the world.”

However, the opening of the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque, in a space rented from a Lutheran church in Berlin last month prompted a hostile reaction from conservative Muslims in Europe, Egypt and Turkey.

Ateş received death threats via social media and was told “you will die” during a street confrontation. Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta al-Masriyyah, a state-run Islamic body, declared the mosque’s principles incompatible with Islam. The legal department of Cairo’s al-Azhar University issued a fatwa against liberal mosques.

Turkey’s main Muslim authority, Diyanet, said the mosque was an experiment “aimed at nothing more than depraving and ruining religion”.

Ateş, 54, who has had police protection since 2006, was forced to step up her personal security. The itinerary of her two-day trip to London was unpublicised, and she was accompanied by close-protection officers. Asked if she feared for her life, she said: “Yes, a little bit. I could be in danger. People recognise me.”

Although the Berlin mosque was crowded on its opening day, numbers dwindled following the death threats. “It made people afraid to come,” said Ateş. But, she added, 95% of emails she had received since the opening of the Berlin mosque were supportive.

“There are more and more people wanting to break the chains. In many countries you can find people who are practising what we’re doing, but they are doing it under cover, privately,” she said.

“Liberal and secular Muslims are squeezed out by radical Islam, so they decide to be silent. It’s not so easy for liberal Muslims to be ‘out’. It’s like being homosexual. They are tarnished as the ‘enemy of Islam’.”

The Berlin mosque took eight years to establish, “but I think now things will go faster,” said Ateş. She is planning to open a second liberal mosque in Freiburg by the end of the year, and is working closely with other progressive Muslims, including Ani Zonneveld, a female imam based in Los Angeles, Shirin Khankan, a Danish woman and imam who opened a female-led mosque in Copenhagen last year, Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, an Algerian-born gay imam based in Marseille, and Elham Manea, an expert in sharia law based in Zurich.

Ateş said in the UK there was a particular need for liberal Islam because sharia courts were permitted to operate. “Sharia is a war against women’s rights, nothing else,” she said. “The UK has helped Islamists to bring women under Islamic sharia law and its patriarchal structures.”

Ateş also takes a tough line on headscarves. When she opened the Berlin mosque, she said women wearing burqas or niqabs would not be admitted. She has since compromised: women must show their faces to her or other female leaders at the mosque but then will be given the option of replacing their head coverings. However, no woman wearing a niqab or burqa has as yet come to the mosque.

“There is no Islamic requirement [to cover one’s head]. There is no theological argument even in the most conservative interpretation of the Qur’an,” she said.
The hijab, niqab and burqa represented the sexualisation and subjugation of women, she added. “It’s men saying, ‘I cover her because she is my property.’

“In Germany more and more women are veiled. You see children of four or five wearing headscarves. Women in north Africa are fighting not to wear the hijab while western women are fighting to wear it. I’m on the side of women worldwide who don’t want to be veiled.”

The Berlin, Freiburg, London and other liberal mosques will be open to Muslims from all sections of Islam, such as Sunni, Shia, Alawi and Sufi.

Ateş is also gathering support for a European citizens’ initiative on extremism, including Islamophobia and antisemitism. She needs a million signatures from at least seven EU member states to oblige the European commission to consider a request for legislation “to prevent the adverse consequences of extremism”.

“We’re confident of getting the signatures; it’s a snowball,” she said. The proposal was liberal, aimed at protecting all religions, and was pro-women’s rights, she added.

She is hoping to gather 100,000 signatures from the UK. “You are still part of Europe, you still have responsibility. Even when you have your Brexit, you will still be part of Europe.”

Ateş is supported in her efforts to found an inclusive mosque in the UK by several members of the House of Lords. David Pannick, a human rights lawyer and crossbench peer, said: “Seyran Ateş should have the support of all who believe in freedom of religion. It is sad that those who take advantage of freedom of religion for themselves are so reluctant to grant it to others.”

The Labour peer Kamlesh Patel said he also supported Ateş’s “push for inclusivity and the freedom of choice in worship”.

Microsoft going to launch something big that’s made for India.

Microsoft on Twitter: Just a few minutes away from the launch of something big that’s made for India.

India invites new Mongolian President, a known China critic

India has invited Mongolia’s new President, Khaltmaa Battulga, days after he won the election, a development which assumes significance amid the India-China standoff since he is a vocal China critic and has been arguing against Mongolia’s economic dependence on China.

Mongolia’s security and cultural relations with India are witnessing a steady growth, as became evident when the resource-rich landlocked country reached out to India after China imposed an economic blockade on it after it hosted Dalai Lama last year. The Mongolian government at the time, however, buckled under pressure from China and promised not to allow any future visits of the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

The East Asian country wants to reduce its economic dependence on China since this partnership is pushing it into a debt trap. China accounted for 68.5% of Mongolia’s foreign trade between January and May this year, up from 1.5% in 1989. China’s share of Mongolia’s exports during this period was 90.5%. China is believed to be eyeing Mongolia’s coal and copper deposits

India on its part is keen to expand its presence in Mongolia situated in China’s periphery. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Ulaanbaatar in 2015, invited Battulga for a visit soon after the results of the presidential election were announced earlier this month. Then President, Pranab Mukherjee, sent him a message saying that India and Mongolia shared belief in democracy.

T Suresh Babu, Indian envoy to Mongolia, was among the first ambassadors to call on the new President, according to people aware of the matter. Battluga urged Babu to convey to the Indian PM his proposal for opening an Indian Institute of Technology in Ulaanbaatar. An India-Mongolia joint school of information technology will also be set up in that country. The Modi government had extended a line of credit of $1 billion to Mongolia.

ndia and Mongolia have seen a growing defence partnership. A civil nuclear deal was concluded in 2009. The India-Mongolia Joint Working Group for defence cooperation meets annually and India contributes to training of Mongolian military officers.

Congress Attacks President Ram Nath Kovind's Speech, Asks Why Jawaharlal Nehru's Name Was Missing

A day after a change of guard at the Rashtrapati Bhawan , President Ram Nath Kovind's maiden speech has become the latest friction point between the Congress and government.

Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, objected to the omission of any mention of Jawaharlal Nehru in the President's speech at the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

Raising the issue, Sharma said: "Every country and society respects nation builders, so has been the culture in India; like Gandhi is respected and has the highest stature in the nation. Along with him was Jawaharlal Nehru who even went to jail.”

The Congress also objected to Mahatma Gandhi's comparison to Jan Sangh founder and RSS ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay.

It would perhaps be the first instance in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy that speech of the apolitial head of the state has drawn political ire of the Opposition in less than 24 hours of the change of guard.

Leader of the House and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, replying to points raised by Sharma, objected to any references being made to the constitutional authority. Requesting the Chair to expunge Sharma's statement. Jaitley said, "The Chair must be guided by a principle that you can't have a Zero Hour run only for the benefit of TV cameras.... That is something that is happening here.”

Launching a counter attack, Jaitley accused the Congress of diverting the attention of the House as the principle opposition party “didn't want the Bofors issue to be raised in House."

It is for the second day in succession that the Congress has sought to criticise the new President. The issue was raised earlier by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Addressing the gathering at the Central Hall of Parliament, Kovind, who was sworn-in as the 14th President of India, said, "I am aware that I am following in the footsteps of stalwarts such as Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. S Radhakrishnan, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, and my immediate predecessor, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, whom we address out of affection as Pranab da."

In his speech, he further remembered Mahatma Gandhi, Bhim Rao Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as patriotic freedom fighters.

BSP chief Mayawati, in a statement released after the swearing-in ceremony, had said that President Kovind should have gone to pay tribute to Ambedkar's statue.

Kashmir Separatist Leader Shabir Shah Arrested by Enforcement Directorate For Money Laundering

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday arrested Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah in connection with a money laundering case against him for alleged terror financing.
 
Officials said Shah was arrested in Srinagar and is expected to be brought to Delhi on Wednesday. He would be produced in a court here.

The Enforcement Directorate had issued multiple summons to Shah, but he never deposed before the central investigating agency. A Delhi court had earlier this month issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the separatist leader.

"The warrant has been executed," a senior official said. The agency had issued several summons to Shah over the last few years in pursuance of the August 2005 case, wherein the Delhi Police's Special Cell had arrested Mohammed Aslam Wani (35), an alleged hawala dealer, who had claimed that he passed on Rs 2.25 crore to Shah.

Shah in the past had told PTI that the ED case against him was "politically motivated". The ED had registered a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Shah and Wani.

Wani was arrested allegedly with Rs 63 lakh, received through 'hawala' channels from the Middle East, and a large cache of ammunition, on August 26, 2005.

During questioning, he had told the police that Rs 50 lakh was to be delivered to Shah and Rs 10 lakh to Jaish-e-Mohammad area commander in Srinagar, Abu Baqar, and that the rest was his commission.

Wani, who hails from Srinagar, had also claimed that he delivered around Rs 2.25 crore to Shah and his kin in multiple instalments over the past year.

The ED, sources said, wants to probe the "proceeds of crime" of alleged terror financing in this case.

Israel to replace metal detectors in Jerusalem with smart surveillance

Israel decided on Tuesday to remove metal detectors it had placed at the entrance to a holy site in Jerusalem's Old City and replace them with smart, less obtrusive surveillance means, a Cabinet statement said.

Israel installed metal detectors at entry points to Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem after two police officers were fatally shot on July 14, triggering the bloodiest clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in years.

The spike in tensions and the deaths of three Israelis and four Palestinians in violence on Friday and Saturday have triggered international alarm and prompted the United Nations Security Council to convene a meeting to seek ways of calming the situation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet voted to remove the metal detector gates after a meeting lasting several hours convening for a second time on Monday after it had broken off discussions a day earlier.

A statement issued after the forum of senior ministers concluded their meeting said they had decided to act on the recommendation of the security bodies and replace the metal detectors with "smart checking" means.

Reuters witnesses in the Old City saw municipal workers installing metal beams above some of the narrow stone paved streets for closed-circuit TV cameras. Israeli media said there were plans to invest in advanced camera systems.
The Cabinet statement added that it had allocated 100 million shekels (about $28 million) for the equipment and for additional police officers.

Tuesday's decision to remove the metal detector gates was an about-turn after the rightist Netanyahu, wary of being seen to capitulate to Palestinian pressure, said on Sunday the devices would stay put.

But on top of the outbreak of violence mainly in the Jerusalem area, a Palestinian move on Friday by President Mahmoud Abbas to suspend official contacts and international criticism put pressure on Israel.

Netanyahu was further hampered following a fatal shooting incident at the Israeli embassy in Jordan on Sunday when an Israeli security guard was attacked and shot dead two Jordanians.

Jordan is the custodian of Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites, which Jews revere as the vestige of their two ancient temples and which was among East Jerusalem areas Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed as its capital in a move not recognised internationally.

US Navy ship fires warning shots at Iranian vessel

A US Navy ship fired warning shots toward an Iranian vessel near the northern Arabian Gulf on Tuesday after the vessel came within 150 yards (137 meters), a US official told Reuters.
The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the USS Thunderbolt fired the warning shots after the Iranian vessel ignored radio calls and the ship's whistle. The Thunderbolt was being accompanied by several U.S. Coast Guard vessels.

The Iranian vessel appeared to be from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the official added.
Years of mutual animosity had eased when Washington lifted sanctions on Tehran last year as part of a deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. But serious differences remain over Iran's ballistic missile program and conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration recently declared that Iran was complying with its nuclear agreement with world powers, but warned that Tehran was not following the spirit of the accord and that Washington would look for ways to strengthen it.
During the presidential campaign last September, Trump vowed that any Iranian vessels that harasses the U.S. Navy in the Gulf would be "shot out of the water."

Similar incidents happen occasionally, the last in January when a U.S. Navy destroyer fired three warning shots at four Iranian fast-attack vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after they closed in at high speed and disregarded repeated requests to slow down.

Facebook Coming With 'Modular' Smartphone?

In an application filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, Facebook is exploring the development of a 'modular electromechanical device' (read smartphone) which will allow users to add different components onto a device.

The modular device can incorporate a speaker, microphone, touch display, GPS and function as a phone, Business Insider reported late on Friday Facebook's hardware lab 'Building 8' which is focused on developing cutting-edge camera and machine learning technology is working on the project.

The patent noted that millions of devices connected to a server could be loaded with different software based on components that are swapped out.

"Typically, the hardware components included in the consumer electronics that are considered outdated are still usable. However, the hardware components can no longer be re-used since consumer electronics are designed as closed systems. From a consumer prospective, the life cycle of conventional consumer electronics is expensive and wasteful," the patent read.

The device could be made using '3D printing' technology to function as a phone or a music speaker, the report added.

Not just a 'modular' device, Facebook is reportedly foraying into consumer hardware products that may involve next-gen cameras, augmented reality (AR) devices, drones and even a brain scanning technology.

At its 'Building 8' facility, the company is working on at least four unannounced consumer hardware products.

Tech giants like Google and Apple have also been exploring this area.

However, Google suspended its ambitious modular 'Project Ara' last year.

The Ara team developed a concept design that reimagined the smartphone as a series of smaller, LEGO-style bricks that could be attached, rearranged and swapped out in seconds, media reports has said.

RIP, Microsoft Paint

MS Paint, the first app you used for editing images, will probably be killed off in future updates of Windows 10 , replaced by the new app Paint 3D. Microsoft lists the 32-year-old app under "deprecated features" in Windows 10's next autumn update, a little X marking the end of an era.
The app is certainly a relic, from a time when the casual computer user couldn't crack open Photoshop or Skitch or Pixelmator or thousands of web apps. MS Paint can't save image components as layers or vectors; it's for making flat static images only. It doesn't smooth lines or guess at your best intentions. It does what you tell it and nothing more, faithfully representing the herky-jerky motion of drawing freehand with a computer mouse. It's from a time before touch, a time before trackpads.

As more sophisticated options appeared, Paint's janky aesthetic became a conscious choice. "Paint" became the metonym for that aesthetic, even if an image was actually created in another app. TV Tropes lists major limitations that came to define a certain look: the wobbly freehand lines, awkward color handling, and inappropriate export settings that give Paint its distinctive look.

In 2014, Gawker's Sam Biddle noted Paint's influence on conspiracy theory images , calling the form "Chart Brut." In amateur detectives' attempts at identifying the Boston Marathon bombers, the simplicity and jaggedness of Paint evokes the "crazy wall" aesthetic of red string and scribbled notes, apparently without irony.

The same year, internet historian Patrick Davison explored Paint's influence on the last decade of meme culture , particularly Rage Comics . The outsider-art aesthetic feels appropriate to the relatable everyday content, and makes the art form unthreatening.

Of course, Paint offered a few features to smooth things out, like the circle and line tools and the "fill" tool, all used in the stoner comics of the early 10s. Crucially, those circles still had jagged curves. The bright colors of stoner comics are flat, as MS Paint didn't support gradients (without an elaborate hack ).

This slickness is built into Paint's successor, Paint 3D. From the moment you start sketching, Paint 3D smooths out your art. (It also supports automatic selection tools and content-aware fill to rival Photoshop's.)

By automatically improving art, Paint 3D hides the process behind the image. Paint's sloppiness is probably why rage comics got so popular. Looking at a rage comic, you can tell exactly how it was drawn, and how you might draw one yourself. By delivering exactly what the artist draws, MS Paint forms an image that the viewer can mentally reverse-engineer and imitate.

Reddit user Toweringhorizon painstakingly assembled the drawing "To a Little Radio" using MS Paint tools like the oil brush , stretching the medium while maintaining a pixelated look. It's one of the top submissions to MS Paint subreddit , a beautiful collaborative art gallery. Scrolling through this art feels like flipping through the sketchbook of the most artistic kid in high school. There's an accepted roughness, a desired minimalism. For example, the exquisite raindrops in the work above are reflected in a flat, featureless tabletop. Like a transistor radio, Paint might be showing its age, but this tenacious little gadget should not be underestimated.

"To a Little Radio" doesn't even come close to testing Paint's limits. As we say goodbye to the app that shaped an era, let us watch this bizarrely soundtracked time lapse of drawing Santa Claus in MS Paint on Windows 7 over the course of 50 hours. We can only believe this is real because faking it would be even harder.

Rome hit by water rationing as Italy struggles with drought

Almost two-thirds of Italy's farmland has been hit by a prolonged drought, costing Italian agriculture some €2bn ($2.3bn; £1.8bn), farmers say.
Dairy farmers and those growing olives, tomatoes and wine grapes are among the most affected, farmers association Coldiretti warns.
Rome faces eight hours a day without running water after a halt was ordered on pumping water from a nearby lake.
A state of emergency was earlier declared in two northern provinces.
In southern Italy, hundreds of people were evacuated earlier this month, as firefighters battled wildfires.
'Environmental disaster'
Coldiretti warns that 60% of farmland is threatened by the drought caused by low levels of rainfall and made worse by a heatwave.
Wine grapes and olive production are suffering throughout much of Italy, amid concerns that a poor harvest could push prices up.
Reports say that milk production has fallen in several areas as cows suffer in the heat.
At least 10 Italian regions are preparing requests to the agriculture ministry for a state of natural calamity to be declared because of the drought, Italy's Ansa news agency quotes sources as saying.
Italy's drought:
60% of farmland under threat
10 regions prepare natural calamity requests
Estimated cost to agriculture is €2bn
Dairy farmers, wine grapes and olive production among the worst hit
Rome, the capital, faces water rationing
Some of the city's drinking fountains have been shut
In Rome, utility company Acea has warned of drastic water rationing after the local authorities in the Lazio region ordered the halt to pumping water out of Lake Bracciano, about 30km (19 miles) north of the capital.
The governor of Lazio told Tgcom24 TV station over the weekend that "the truth is Lake Bracciano has fallen too much and we risk an environmental disaster".
He added that only 8% of Rome's water was coming from the lake, urging the city authorities to find a solution quickly.
Earlier this month, Acea began shutting some of Rome's famed drinking fountains

ISRO earned 6.1 million euros for 29 foreign nano satellites launched on June 23

Antrix Corporation Limited (ACL), the commercial and marketing arm of ISRO, earned 6.1 million euros (about R. 45.2 crore) from the launch of 29 foreign nano satellites, that were put in orbit along with the Cartosat 2, on June 23.

The information was shared by the Prime Minister’s Office in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The 29 nanosatellites came from 14 foreign countries. Over the years India’s space agency has become a favourite for foreign companies and governments seeking cost-effective launches. Till date, ISRO has launched over 200 foreign satellites, including 101 nanosatellites in its historic launch in February, where 104 satellites were launched into orbit in a single mission.

The agency did not reveal how much it earned from that record-breaking launch, but ISRO did hope to recoup half of the mission’s cost from payments for these foreign launches. Of the 101 nano satellites, the largest number (96) were from the US and 88 from only one company called Planet.

The US has become ISRO’s biggest client in recent years, though its first payload from the country was carried by an ISRO launch vehicle only in 2015. The largest number of nanosatellites in the June 23 launch were also from the US.

In 2016 alone, ISRO launched 22 satellites for other countries, more than double the number of Indian satellites launched that year (10). However, it must be noted that foreign satellites are mostly co-passenger satellites and not the main payload. The launch services are offered because the same launch vehicle can carry more payload, and is a more cost effective option.

Antrix earned R. 230 crore from its commercial launch services in 2015-16, capturing 0.6 % of the global launch services market, which is estimated to be worth R. 37,000 crore.

The agency is aggressively pushing its commercial launch operations even as it ramps up its launch program aiming for 12 launches every year, from the present 7.

Government warns of fine, jail term for selling water, cold drinks above MRP

Those selling bottled water and cold drinks at more than their maximum retail price, including at airports, restaurants and multiplexes, could attract penalty and jail terms, consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday.

Citing the common experience of consumers, the minister said packaged drinking water is often found selling at 10-20% higher rates at such locations and there are also cases where some of these bottles have been found to carry no mention of any MRP. Paswan was speaking on the sidelines of an event commemorating the 47th World Standards Day on Friday.

Section 36 of Legal Metrology Act clearly says anyone caught selling, distributing or delivering any pre-packaged commodity that does not conform to the declarations on the package shall be punished with fine up to Rs 25,000 for the first offence. It can increase to Rs 50,000 for second offence and subsequent offences can attract a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh or imprisonment for one year or both.
Though the law came into effect in 2009, there is little awareness about the provisions of this law to protect consumers from charging more than MRP or difference between the exact content of a packaged commodity and what is mentioned on the wrapper.

Paswan said despite a couple of court orders, water bottles are still sold above MRP in multiplexes and airports. "Consumers need to be more aware and file complaints. If there is no complaint, how can we take action?" he observed.

It can be recalled that the Delhi HC in 2007 had ruled that hotels and restaurants in the capital cannot sell bottled mineral water over and above the MRP to customers, who visit them and enjoy their other services and facilities. After the Legal Metrology Act became applicable in 2009, the hotel and restaurant associations had challenged the High Court order in the Supreme Court. But their plea was dismissed.
Last February, country's apex consumer commission, NCDRC, had imposed Rs 5 lakh penalty on a multiplex for selling water above MRP.

Consumer affairs ministry officials said now with more options available to lodge complaints through online mediums, people should register their grievances.
"We have been pursuing people to demand receipt of whatever they buy so that it can be a proof to file a compliant," said an official.

Consumers affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan said packaged drinking water is often found selling at 10-20% higher rates at airports and multiplexes and there are also cases where bottles have been found with no MRP on them.

England edge India by 9 runs to win Women's World Cup in thrilling finish

The Indian women's cricket team let slip a historic title triumph with nerves getting the better of them in a tense summit clash against England, leaving Mithali Raj's giant-slaying side with the runners-up tag for a second time in the ICC World Cup, at Lord’s on Sunday.

It was an anti-climactic result for India, who were well on course for a memorable triumph, sitting pretty at 191 for three in 42.5 before a batting collapse saw them bowled out for 219 in 48.4 overs.

Needing just 38 runs off 43 balls, the Indian lower middle order committed harakiri losing seven wickets for 28 runs in 6.5 overs.

Opener Punam Raut (86) and Harmanpreet Kaur's (51) steady half centuries had set the platform but once they departed it was far from a smooth ride as England's consistent strikes turned it into a cliff-hanger.

Veda Krishnamurthy (35 off 34 balls), Sushma Verma's (0) and Jhulan Goswami (0) were dismissed in a space of nine balls.

Krishnamurthy had raised hopes with a cameo but her sloppy shot selection off Anya Shrubsole in the 45th over changed the script as it exposed the tailenders to a pressure situation which they could not cope with.

Nevertheless, Indian women team emerged as a force in world cricket with some inspiring performances such as Harmanpreet Kaur's fearless strokeplay.

However, it was one last chance for captain Mithali Raj and veteran Jhulan Goswami to have a World title in their cupboards. India were making their second appearance in a World Cup final. They lost their previous final, against Australia in Centurion, by 98 runs in 2005.

A proven performer for far too long, Jhulan delivered with three wickets in the most widely watched game in the history of women's cricket as India restricted the hosts to 228 for seven.

Smriti Mandhana (0) must have been desperate to break her run-less streak but a four-ball duck ended her campaign in the tournament as Anya Shrubsole crashed through her defence in the second over of the Indian innings.

Mithali Raj (17 off 31) and Punam Raut added 38 runs for the second wicket before the captain trudged back to pavilion following a lazy run out. Surprisingly, Raj gave up half way after Raut called her for a run. India were steady, going little under four an over, but England were fielding well to ensure there were no freebies.

Harmanpreet came to the crease with a bag of burden on her shoulder and batted with maturity.
ith Raut for company, she kept the scoreboard ticking and twice lofted left-arm sppiner Alex Hartley over the ropes, signalling that things were very much under control.

India reached 100 in the 27th over and Raut rasied her half-century with a single off Shrubsole. Harmanpreet too got to the milestone soon when she glanced Brunt to fine leg.

With two batswomen going about their business untroubled, India had firm control over the proceedings. But England got exactly what India did not want to lose at that time -- Harmanpreet's wicket.

The Moga girl swept Hartley straight to Beaumont at deep square leg when even England had not expected a wicket and that too of the most dangerous batter in Indian line-up.

Earlier, the coin landed in the opponents' favour at the toss was hardly a deterrent as India went about the task in a professional manner.

Leading the show was the redoubtable Goswami, who scythed through the English middle-order.

The highlight of the lanky Bengali's outing was the back-to-back dismissals of Sarah Taylor and Fran Wilson, which pegged England back.

Taylor is a legend of the women's game and Sciver entered the marquee match on the back of two centuries, and Jhulan had them caught behind and trapped in front of the wicket.

In what could be her last match, Taylor walked off to an ovation from the almost sell-out Lord's crowd after scoring 45 off 62 balls. The veteran English batswoman, surprisingly, could not hit a boundary in her innings.

The in-from Sciver struck 51 off 68 balls, hitting five boundaries in the process, before her recovery act was cut short by Jhulan in the first ball of the 38th over.

A former ICC Player of the Year, Jhulan finished her spell with impressive figures of 3/23 in the allotted 10 overs, which included three maidens.

The end of Jhulan's spell proved to be a boon for England, who rode on Katherine Brunt's 42-ball 34 and Jenny Gunn's 25 off 38 balls towards the end to sign off with a respectable total.

After Jhulan, leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was the most impressive bowler, finishing with two 2/36 in her quota of 10 overs.

England were off to a decent start with openers Lauren Winfield (24) and Tammy Beaumont (23) putting on 47 runs in a little over 11 overs. Rajeshwari Gayakwad gave the spirited visitors their first breakthrough when she removed Winfield.

Yadav dismissed the other opener and skipper Knight in a span of two overs to leave England in a spot of bother at 63 for three in the 17th over.

Taylor and Sciver steadied the ship with a partnership before spearhead Jhulan returned and removed Sciver.

The hosts then got some useful runs from the willows of Brunt and Gunn.

President Donald Trump asserted he has "complete power to pardon" as he attacked the multiplying investigations into potential links between his campaign and Russia during last year's election

Mr Trump's intervention followed reports that he and his legal team had explored his authority to pardon assistants, family members, and possibly even himself.

The president said there was currently no need to use the power, because nothing wrong had been done. But his comment set up up the potential future prospect of a constitutional crisis as the idea of a president self-pardon has never been tested.

Philipp Lahm voted Germany's top player in his final season

Former Germany and Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has been voted the country's top player for the first time in his final season before retiring.

The 33-year-old Lahm, who ended his playing career in May, topped the poll of sports journalists by Kicker magazine.

Lahm was honored for helping Bayern to a fifth successive Bundesliga success, giving the defender eight titles overall. In an illustrious career, Lahm also won the Champions League once, the German Cup six times and led Germany to World Cup glory in 2014.

Kicker says Lahm received 242 votes, 50 more than Toni Kroos, who helped Real Madrid to the Champions League and Spanish league double.

Julian Nagelsmann, who turned 30 on Sunday, was voted coach of the season for leading Hoffenheim into the Champions League.

Congress Reaches Deal on Russia Sanctions, Setting Up Tough Choice for Trump

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on sweeping sanctions legislation to punish Russia for its election meddling and aggression toward its neighbors, they said Saturday, defying the White House’s argument that President Trump needs flexibility to adjust the sanctions to fit his diplomatic initiatives with Moscow.

The new legislation would sharply limit the president’s ability to suspend or terminate the sanctions — a remarkable handcuffing by a Republican-led Congress six months into Mr. Trump’s tenure. It is also the latest Russia-tinged turn for a presidency consumed by investigations into the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russian officials, including conversations between Trump advisers and Russian officials about prospective sanctions relief.

Now, Mr. Trump could soon face a decision he hoped to avoid: veto the bill — a move that would fuel accusations that he is doing the bidding of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia — or sign legislation imposing sanctions his administration has opposed.

“A nearly united Congress is poised to send President Putin a clear message on behalf of the American people and our allies,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “and we need President Trump to help us deliver that message.”

The bill aims to punish Russia not only for interference in the election but also for its annexation of Crimea, continuing military activity in eastern Ukraine and human rights abuses. Proponents of the measure seek to impose sanctions on people involved in human rights abuses, suppliers of weapons to the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and those undermining cybersecurity, among others.

The agreement highlighted the gap between what Mr. Trump sees as the proper approach to a resurgent Russia and how lawmakers — even Republicans who broadly support Mr. Trump — want to proceed. While Mr. Trump has dangled the possibility of negotiating a deal to lift sanctions, Mr. Putin’s top objective, the congressional response is to expand them.

In Moscow, Dmitri S. Peskov, a Putin spokesman, was asked by the government-run news agency RIA to characterize the Kremlin’s view of the sanctions proposal. “Highly negative,” he said, without elaborating.

The White House did not respond publicly to the legislation. But two senior administration officials said they could not imagine Mr. Trump vetoing the measure in the current political atmosphere, even if he regards it as interfering with his executive authority to conduct foreign policy. Still, as ever, Mr. Trump retains the capacity to surprise, and this would be his first decision about whether to veto a significant bill.

Congress has complicated his choice because the legislation also encompasses new sanctions against Iran and North Korea, two countries the administration has been eager to punish for their activities.

There are still hurdles to clear in a Capitol where the Republican majorities have been reluctant to confront Mr. Trump. Some party leaders were silent about the agreement on Saturday, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Others took care to note the misdeeds of all three countries being targeted for sanctions.

In a statement from two California Republicans — Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, and Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — the lawmakers said, “North Korea, Iran and Russia have in different ways all threatened their neighbors and actively sought to undermine American interests.”

They added, “The bill the House will vote on next week will now exclusively focus on these nations and hold them accountable for their dangerous actions.”

A spokeswoman for Speaker Paul D. Ryan, AshLee Strong, said the bill “would hold three bad actors to account.”

A sanctions package had stalled in the Republican-led House for weeks after winning near-unanimous support in the Senate last month. Democrats accused Republicans of delaying quick action on the bill at the behest of the Trump administration, which had asked for more flexibility in its relationship with Russia and took up the cause of oil and gas companies, defense contractors and other financial players who suggested that certain provisions could undercut profits.

Munna Michael: Nawaz acting good, Tiger acting ......

One started out as an extra and moved his way up to become one of the finest actors in the country, another is a star son whose three films-long showreel mirrors the monotony of the quintessential Bollywood hero.

The two men could not be more different aside from the fact that they have both been judged for their unconventional looks at some point.

You'd imagine director Sabbir Khan would play on their dissimilarity to create moments of genuine frolic and oddball bonhomie. But its staggeringly passé, pedestrian humour and unoriginal script ruin any chance of that happening.

A wasted opportunity at best, Munna Michael sponges off plot points from countless movies about romantic triangles, khiladi-anari chemistry, small-town ambitions, obsessive lover-boys, BFF betrayals and dance competitions till it resembles a recycled mess that's neither dazzling nor droll.

By the end of its close to two-and-a-half hours running time, I was completely sapped by the dull jokes, lacklustre choreography and phony melodrama.

To be fair, there's promise in its premise.

The idea of playing on strengths and weakness by casting a newbie as a mentor and the master as a fledgling is a curious one.

If done with smarts, the subversion can be a trailblazer, but when it's as muddle headed as Munna Michael, the experience is as absurd as the likelihood of Miyagi taking karate lessons from LaRusso.

Quite early on, Munna Michael announces the kind of sensibility it's aiming for after a freshly fired Bollywood background dancer (Ronit Roy) picks up an abandoned baby from the dump in the middle of a rainy night and raises him like his own.

The kid grows up (Tiger Shroff) to inherit his father's love for Michael Jackson's iconic moves and grabs every chance to remind us why imitation is the best form of flattery.

After all the nightclubs in Mumbai show him and his boogie-woogie cronies the door, the ever smirking Shroff shifts to Delhi and takes a Haryanvi hoodlum hotelier (Nawaz) under his wings.

The latter is seeking a crash course in dancing to win over a bar dancer (Niddhi Agerwal) although he's married and she's half his age.

It's the most trivially treated snag in a storyline that goes wild weaving a complexity that its makers are none too adept to handle.

Munna Michael's hollowness is as striking as Tiger's chiselled torso, one that he freely bares in everything from an unzipped hoodie to a doily masquerading as a shirt.

Can't say I am surprised.

What's shocking is the lack of wit.

The only bit of unintended hilarity occurs in the form of filmmaker Farah Khan's hammy 'Oh my God' cries while judging a reality dance show alongside Chitrangda Singh (clearly a fan of Michael Jackson-inspired make-up if not dance) and Shaan.

Given its penchant for dance, there's zero rhythm in the film's humour.

It may be positioned as a comedy -- Nawaz and Pankaj Tripathi, as his overweening younger brother, do try their best to keep things madcap -- but Sabbir Khan's teetering timing, glaring ineptitude for farce and two stiff leads make it a slog to sit through.

As the humourless contrast to an exuberant Nawaz, Tiger struggles to find a balance between straight and amused.

Nawaz embraces the spirit of a character for what it is and has fun with it when necessary. There's a difference between playing serious and acting serious, something Tiger is yet to grasp.

Every single time he's worked under Sabbir (Heropanti, Baaghi), his performance is a replica of the previous collaboration.

When in his comfort zone though -- dance and dishoom -- Tiger's a livewire.

And that's why I wish the makers had put some more imagination in the steps, which are nothing but rehashed bits of MJ and Hrithik Roshan's best known moves.

At some point, Tiger points at a mannequin to describe his co-star Nidhhi Agerwal. I am sticking to that description.

Back in the day, the Mithun Chakraborty and Bappi Lahiri combo pulled off a great deal of bunkum on the strength of their unapologetic love for kitsch and camp.

The Millennial Mithun should be a better dancer, but he is tone deaf and has little individuality.

Fake Chinese-made parts supplied for indigenised Bofors guns

China-made parts camouflaged as 'Made in Germany' found their way to the production line of indigenised Bofors guns used by the army, prompting the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a case against a Delhi-based company.Besides Sidh Sales Syndicate, the China-made parts camouflaged as 'Made in germany' found their way to the production line of indigenised Bofors guns used by the army, prompting the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a case against a Delhi-based company.

Besides Sidh Sales Syndicate, the CBI also registered a case against unidentified officials of the Guns Carriage Factory (GCF), Jabalpur, under criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery for supplying fake and cheap China-made spares passing off as Made in Germany for Dhanush guns, the first information report alleged.

Dhanush is the indigenised version of the Bofors artillery guns which performed exceedingly well during the Kargil conflict in 1999.

The CBI alleged that the supplier entered into criminal conspiracy with the unidentified GCF officials to supply duplicate spare parts (bearings) used in the manufacture of Dhanush guns.

'In furtherance of the said criminal conspiracy, unknown officials of GCF accepted the Chinese manufactured 'Wire Race Roller Bearings' supplied by Sidh Sales Syndicate which were embossed as 'CRB-Made in Germany',' the CBI said in the FIR.

The agency said production and performance of the Dhanush gun is extremely crucial for India's defence preparedness and 'wire race roller bearing' is its vital component.

A tender was floated for the procurement of four such bearings according to the Rothe Erde drawing for 155 mm gun in which four firms had participated. The order was given to Sidh Sales Syndicate at the value of Rs 35.38 lakh in 2013, the FIR stated.

The order was further increased to six bearings at the cost of Rs 53.07 lakh on August 27, 2014.

The company supplied two bearings each on three occasions between April 7, 2014 and August 12, 2014.

The company submitted 'certificates in origin' showing the bearings were procured from CRB Antriebstechnik, Germany.

They were also embossed with the label, CRB-Made in Germany. GCF tests showed that the bearings were unacceptable due to deviations in dimensions.

The company provided clarifications and assured that in case of non performance of the bearing due to manufacturing defects, they would replace the bearing free of cost and take corrective action for future supply.

"Consequently the bearings were accepted as a special case by unknown officials of GCF Jabalpur," the CBI alleged.

Information received by the CBI shows that the German company does not manufacture these parts.

It showed that Sidh Sales Syndicate got the six bearings manufactured by Sino United Industries (Luyang) Ltd Henan, China.

The agency also seized several emails which were exchanged between China and Sidh Sales Syndicate. The letter from Germany shown by the company was also on forged letterhead, CBI alleged.

The certificate of origin from Germany was also forged.
'The said forged letter and certificate were accepted by unidentified officials of GCF with ulterior motive and by abusing their official positions as such without ascertaining the genuineness of the said letter and certiciates and cause undue advantage to Sidh Sales Syndicate and corresponding loss to the Government of India,' the investigating agency said in the FIR

Singer Chris Cornell hanged himself, medical examiner says

Chris Cornell, lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave, hanged himself, the Wayne County (Michigan) Medical Examiner's Office announced Thursday in a statement.

The cause of death has been determined as suicide by hanging, the statement said, adding that a "full autopsy report has not yet been completed."
Cornell, 52,died Wednesday night after performing in Detroit.
A family friend called 911 around midnight Thursday after he went to check on Cornell and found the musician "unresponsive" on the bathroom floor at the MGM Grand hotel, Detroit police spokesman Michael Woody said. Emergency medical personnel arrived, and Cornell was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Cornell was in Detroit performing with Soundgarden on a US tour that kicked off last month. His passing was "sudden and unexpected," his representative, Brian Bumbery, said in a statement to CNN.
"His wife Vicky and family were shocked to learn of his sudden and unexpected passing, and they will be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause," the statement read. "They would like to thank his fans for their continuous love and loyalty and ask that their privacy be respected at this time."

The Grammy-winning rocker had performed Wednesday night at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. He ended his performance with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying."
"Full set with an encore. Nothing odd. Outstanding performance," Bill Lowe of Port Clinton, Ohio, said, describing the show in a text message to CNN.

The grunge era

Cornell began his career in the Seattle rock scene. In 1984, he formed the band Soundgarden, which was influential in the grunge-rock movement of the early 1990s.

Cornell becomes another in a line of lead singers from major grunge bands to die abruptly and in most cases, of unnatural causes. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was founddead in his Seattle home in 1994; his death was ruled a suicide. Alice in Chains' original singer, Layne Staley, died from a drug overdose in 2002. Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots died of an accidental overdose in 2015.

In interviews, Cornell discussed his past struggles with alcohol and the impact of his friends' deaths from substance abuse.
"I've lost a lot of young, brilliant friends, people that I thought were very inspired," he told Rolling Stone in 2015. "They're all young and these guys all had limitless potential in their lives in front of them."

Soundgarden and Audioslave

Soundgarden predated both grunge pioneers Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but it wasn't an overnight success.
The group hit its commercial peak with its breakout album, "Superunknown," in 1994, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for best rock album. A hit song from that album, "Black Hole Sun," won the Grammy that year for best hard rock performance and the song "Spoonman" won for best metal performance.

The group disbanded in 1997 and released a greatest hits compilation the same year.
The breakup wasn't anything unusual, Cornell told CNN in 2012. "It was just time for a break," he said.
In 2001, Cornell joined with three former members of Rage Against the Machine to form Audioslave. Their most successful single, "Like a Stone," released in 2003.
The group's defining moment was a 2005 concert in Cuba, which at the time was billed as the country's first outdoor rock concert by an American band.

As the charismatic frontman, Cornell was known for his raw and soulful voice.
He also sang the theme song to the James Bond movie "Casino Royale" and released five solo albums

Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington dead at 41

Chester Bennington, the lead singer of the rock band Linkin Park, was found dead Thursday according to a spokesman for the LA County Coroner.
He was 41.The coroner's office was called out to a home in Palos Verdes Estates shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. Authorities said they were treating the case as a possible suicide.Bennington's band found success in 2000 with their album "Hybrid Theory" with Bennington's heartfelt vocals leading the way.

That voice, it turned out, was fueled by anguish.Bennington was open about his troubled life, including an introduction to smoking pot after his parents divorced when he was 11, which escalated to cocaine and methamphetamine use.
He also suffered sexual abuse as a child, he said.

"When I was young, getting beaten up and pretty much raped was no fun," he told The Guardian in 2011. "No one wants that to happen to you and honestly, I don't remember when it started."

Spotting a photo of himself as a child at his mother's house from around the time of the abuse brought it all back, Bennington recalled.
"I remember that stuff happening to me at that stage and even thinking about it now makes me want to cry," he said. "My God, no wonder I became a drug addict. No wonder I just went completely insane for a little while."
The group enjoyed cross-over success with the 2004 mash up "Numb/Encore" which combined their song "Numb" with rapper Jay-Z's "Encore."
The single was featured on a collaborative album, "Collision Course," and won an award for best rap/sung collaboration at the 2006 Grammy Awards.

The news caused an outpouring of grief among celebrities, especially coming so soon on the heels of the death of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, a close friend of Bennington's who committed suicide in May.
Bennington had reportedly performed Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" at Cornell's memorial service.

Paytm Aims to Sell Gold Worth $200 Million This Year

 Paytm plans to sell 5 tonnes of gold valued around $200 million this year, the digital payments firm said on Friday, as it strives to develop a viable business from its e-wallet platform.
E-wallets like Paytm, Citrus Pay and MobiKwik, which allow users to transfer money into virtual wallets via smartphone apps, have proliferated thanks to venture capital backing, but many are struggling to find a long-term profitable model.

Paytm, backed by Japan's SoftBank Group and China's Alibaba, is attempting to leverage its e-wallet to let customers buy and sell gold while getting a cut from each transaction.
"This is our way of wealth management," Krishna Hedge, a senior executive at Paytm, told Reuters. India is the world's No. 2 consumer of gold behind China, with many saving their money in gold, using it to hedge against inflation and for gifts at special occasions. The country imports about 800 tonnes of gold a year.

The company launched its gold offering at the end of April and aims to sell 5 tonnes of gold in the fiscal year to March 2018. That amount of gold would be worth about 14 billion rupees ($217 million) at current prices. Clients will be able to buy and sell even minuscule amounts of gold digitally for as little as 1 rupees ($0.0155) via Paytm's platform. Paytm said it will not only allow users to trade in digital gold but it will also ship gold coins across much of India for those who want the metal delivered.

"This is actual physical gold that is stowed away in our vaults when you make a purchase," said Hedge. The 24-carat gold is sourced from a venture between Indian bullion importer MMTC and Swiss gold refiner PAMP. Paytm, which leads the crowded e-wallet space in India, currently has more than 225 million users. The industry enjoyed a huge boost from the federal government's move to demonetize old high-value bank notes last year. The ensuing cash crunch sparked a surge in e-wallet transactions in a country where credit and debit-card usage is still limited. Paytm now has plans to offer limited financial services through its niche bank.

"They are likely to add more such financial services in future and could even offer micro loans through tie-ups with banks," said Neil Shah of technology research firm Counterpoint.