Uttrakhand: While frequent cloudbursts in Uttarakhand in the season of Monsoon, the occurrence in summer season shortly after the severe forest fire has caught government attention.
A huge cloudburst reported in Rudraprayag at Uttrakhand that left several pilgrims and tourists stranded. Meanwhile, the authorities have halted the traffic of Badrinath highway. The cloudburst caused a mudslide which washed into the farms of the local farmers. With overflowing of rivers causing water to enter into the towns and several other places, reminds the flash floods of 2013.
PM Modi embarks on two-day visit to Iran; talks on security, connectivity and partnership on agenda
Sunday, May 22, 2016New Delhi, May 22: To bolster ties between India and Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left for his two day visit to Tehran where issues related to peace and security, connectivity, infrastructure, energy partnership with Tehran and enhancing bilateral trade will be high on agenda of the visit. Prime Minister's tour is expected to feature discussion on terrorism in the region as well as extended neighbourhood.During his visit there, PM Modi will also emphasize on New Delhi's desire to secure energy assets for a fast growing economy. According to media sources, after reaching Tehran, PM Modi will visit Gurudwara and will call on Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tomorrow.
New Delhi : The Omung Kumar directed 'Sarbjit' has evoked the admiration of Superstar Amitabh Bachchan.
After praising the film as 'intense', Mr Bachchan has heaped praise on the film's lead actor Randeep Hooda, who is playing the title role of 'Sarbjit. In a personalised note to Randeep, the superstar said he was moved by his performance in the film. In the letter , Mr Bachchan stated that though he had always admired Randeep's talent, after watching Sarbjit, he was compelled to write to the actor expressing his immense admiration. I had always admired your talent. but after watching you in sarbjit last night I could not resist writing to you and expressing my immense admiration for your work in the film. May you continue to prosper and may you give us many more reasons to applaud you and your tremendous talent,"Mr Bachchan wrote in his message to Randeep. Randeep later took to twitter, posting an image of the hand written letter by Mr Bachchan. "Feels like a validation sir,u r my idol,a legend I've always admired,feel humbled & honoured @SrBachchan #Sarbjit","Randeep tweeted.
Facebook has denied the allegations, reportedly made by a former employee.
Washington: Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg meets Wednesday with leading US conservatives to try to head off a storm over allegations that the social network suppressed right-leaning political viewpoints.
Zuckerberg proposed the meeting after technology news outlet Gizmodo last week reported allegations that Facebook was deliberately omitting articles with conservative viewpoints from a sidebar that lists popular stories. Facebook has denied the allegations, reportedly made by a former employee.
In a Facebook post last week, Zuckerberg said he had launched a "full investigation" but no evidence had been found to back up the allegations.
"We have rigorous guidelines that do not permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or the suppression of political perspectives," he wrote.
Zuckerberg is to meet with about a dozen conservatives including political commentator Glenn Beck and Fox News talk show host Dana Perino, a Facebook spokeswoman told AFP in the runup to the meeting.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Perino said she believed Facebook was taking the allegations seriously.
"I also think it is probably fairly solvable. So I am looking forward to going tomorrow to hear more about what they found," she said.
Others invited included Zac Moffatt, a political consultant who worked for former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney; Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute; and Barry Bennett, an advisor to presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
"I'll listen with an open mind and will help suggest solutions. And I'm especially eager to help explain why the controversy has upset so many conservative Americans," Brooks wrote on Facebook this week.
Not all conservatives accepted the invitation, however. American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp said Facebook had a history of agitating against conservatives, alleging that his group's content "egregiously underperforms" on Facebook when compared to Twitter and other platforms.
"We will not be attending this meeting. We know one meeting cannot possibly resolve all of the above mentioned issues," Schlapp said in a statement Tuesday.
The debate comes with Facebook and other social networks playing a growing role in how people get their news, prompting concern over whether this information is promoted or filtered by online services and applications.
Copenhagen (Denmark) : The overall risk of a Zika virus outbreak across the WHO European Region is low to moderate during late spring and summer, according to a new risk assessment published today by the WHO Regional Office for Europe.
While this risk varies across the Region, it is higher in countries where Aedes mosquitoes are present.
"The new evidence published today tells us that there is a risk of spread of Zika virus disease in the European Region and that this risk varies from country to country," says Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Regional Director for Europe.
"With this risk assessment, we at WHO want to inform and target preparedness work in each European country based on its level of risk. We call particularly on countries at higher risk to strengthen their national capacities and prioritize the activities that will prevent a large Zika outbreak."
WHO assessed the risk of an outbreak in Member States in the Region and Lichtenstein, based on the combination of two factors: the likelihood of Zika virus spread and existing national capacity to prevent or rapidly contain local transmission.
The likelihood of local Zika virus transmission, if no measures are taken to mitigate the threat, is moderate in 18 countries in the European Region and high in limited geographical areas: the island of Madeira and the north-eastern coast of the Black Sea. In detail, this means that:
. The areas in the Region with the presence of Aedes aegypti, the primary Zika vector, have a high likelihood of local Zika virus transmission;
. 18 countries (33%) have a moderate likelihood, owing to the presence of Aedes albopictus, a secondary Zika vector; and
. 36 countries (66%) have a low, very low or no likelihood, owing to the absence of Aedes mosquitoes and/or suitable climatic conditions for their establishment.
The results of a questionnaire on capacity - how fast and well a country would respond to Zika virus spread - from 51 Member States in the Region and Liechtenstein indicate that 41 countries (79%) have good and very good capacity, although specific capacities varied substantially.
Combining the likelihood and capacity results provided the estimated level of risk of a Zika virus outbreak. The results show that across the WHO European Region the risk is low to moderate during late spring and summer.
For the purpose of recommendations, WHO focused on the likelihood, not the risk, of Zika virus spread. For countries with high and moderate likelihood of local Zika virus transmission, WHO recommends:
. Strengthening vector-control activities to prevent the introduction and spread of mosquitoes, and reduce their density (particularly for areas with Aedes aegypti);
. Equipping health professionals to detect local transmission of Zika virus early and to report the first case of local transmission, as well as complications from infections, within 24 hours of diagnosis;
. Ensuring that the skills and capacity to test for Zika virus or protocols to ship blood samples abroad are in place;
. Encouraging communities to reduce mosquito breeding sites;
. Enabling people at risk, especially pregnant women, to protect themselves from infection, including through sexual transmission; and
. Mitigating the effects of Zika virus and its complications.
. All other countries should focus on adopting vector-control strategies according to their likelihood of local Zika virus transmission, detecting imported cases of Zika virus early and providing public health advice to travellers to and from affected countries, including on sexual transmission.
"We stand ready to support European countries on the ground in case of Zika virus outbreaks," says Dr. Nedret Emiroglu, Director of the Communicable Diseases and Health Security Division, WHO Regional Office for Europe. "Our support to countries in the Region to prepare for and respond to health risks such as Zika is a key aspect of the reform of WHO's work in emergencies."
To address the risk of Zika v
Putting an end to all rumours and leaks, Huawei has now officially unveiled the much awaited Huawei Honor V8.
Huawei has announced the launch of the Honor V8, which is the latest flagship in the Honor series with a full metal body, fingerprint scanner on the back and a dedicated smart key on the right. The device has a 5.7 inch 2.5D curved glass display and is available in two variants – one with Quad HD resolution and the other with full HD. The smartphone is powered by the powerful octa core Kirin 950 processor with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage.
The Honor V8 has a dual rear camera setup with 12 MP sensors with Laser AF, f/2.2 aperture, 6P lens and dual tone LED flash. There is also a front facing 8 MP camera. The device runs on the Android Marshmallow version with a 3500 mAh battery. The phone has hybrid dual SIM support with 4G LTE connectivity. The handset is available in Ceramic White, Platinum Silver, Rose Gold, Champagne Gold, Ice Silver and Gray colour options.
Huawei Honor V8 specs:
5.7 inch display
2560 x 1440 pixels resolution
2.3 GHz octa core Kirin 950 processor
4 GB RAM
32 GB internal memory
12 MP dual primary camera
8 MP front facing camera
Android v6.0 Marshmallow
3500 mAh battery
NEW DELHI: Corporate workplaces may ban the use of social networking sites like Facebook in their offices, but the internet giant has found a way to enter this space. Startups and older businesses in India such as Zomato, PayTM, BookMyShow, Delhivery, Yes Bank, L&T Infotech, Godrej, and others have begun using Facebook At Work -- a twin of the network as we know it but strictly for on-the-job use. Think spreadsheets instead of wedding pictures on the news feed.
"Here (in India), there was a need for people without email or (official) mobile numbers to get on to the platform," Julien Codorniou, director of Facebook at Work told TOI on Tuesday while talking about how the Indian market compares with the others. "The scale and momentum here is much bigger than other countries," says Codorniou, who also serves on the board of French media group Le Monde.
Still in the beta stage, Facebook At Work, falls into the category of what are called "enterprise networks". These are for use within offices for collaborative projects and sharing messages among other things.
Facebook first launched a beta platform for the work variant in 2015, piloting the project with Royal Bank of Scotland. In India, L&T Infotech was the first company to come on board in April this year.
Visually, Facebook has retained most of its features from the regular website for its "At Work" variant. Otherwise, it comes with its own network and messaging app, is stripped off of Candy Crush, Farmville, and other such apps; comes in a slate grey colour that is distinct from the regular Facebook's deep blue; and requires a different login (so no toggling between Facebook for personal use and Facebook for work within the same account). More importantly, it does not have anyads. Revenue comes from a subscription model. Facebook declined to reveal the fee and the available subscription plans.
Facebook claims that over 60,000 companies had signed up for a trial in the beta version when they first piloted this project in the US and the UK in July last year. Even so, it is in for heavy competition.
Slack, a popular enterprise messaging app, hit two million daily active users at the end of 2015. It was recently valued at $3.8 billion. Microsoft's Yammer claimed to have acquired eight million users back in 2013. earlier this year, Microsoft made Yammer part of the bundle of services with Office365. Slack is available as both a paid version and a free one. It charges between $6.67 and $12.50 per user depending on the subscription plan. Its Indian counterpart Flock, charges $3 per user per month for added features.
Could this move into the enterprise market have been better-timed to tackle competition? Codorniou claims that Facebook At Work is not running the same race. "We think of ourselves as a productivity app. Our competition is internal emails, VOIPs, and company intranets," he says.
The registrar's statement comes amidst AAP's allegations that the degree made public by BJP was forged.
New Delhi: Downplaying allegations of glaring discrepancies, Delhi University on Tuesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BA degree as circulated by BJP is "authentic" and it has all the relevant records relating to his graduation while terming as "minor error" mention of 1979 in his degree when he passed out a year earlier.
The clarification by Delhi University's registrar Tarun Das came amid the raging controversy over Modi's educational qualifications with AAP continuing to questioning the authenticity of the BA degree.
"We have checked our records and it has been authenticated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree is authentic. He cleared the examination in 1978 and was awarded the degree in 1979," he said hours after an AAP delegation went to the university seeking details of the degree.
Prime Minister's Master's degree from University of Delhi (Photo: Facebook)
Asked about certain discrepencies being alleged by AAP in his marksheets and degree certificate, he said, "the discrepancies in names in two marksheets exist in university records as well."
"The university seeks to maintain privacy of any student who is getting enrolled with it. In view of the queries and reports in media, we would like to state that Narendra Damodardas Modi had qualified for degree of Bachelors in Arts.
His enrollment number was CC 594/74 and his examination roll number number was 16594," Das said.
Asked about variations in Modi's names in marksheets, Das said it is a common error as far as middle names are concerned. "Similar errors are often pointed out by other students as well which are rectified when requested."
On being asked about AAP's allegation that why he was awarded the degree in 1979 when he graduated in 1978, Das said "It is difficult to comment on minor errors."
Yesterday, BJP president Amit Shah and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had released copies of Modi's BA and MA degrees in response to AAP's allegations.
The AAP had said the documents were "forged" and had "glaring discrepancies" in them.
NEW DELHI: The Akash missile has the "potential" to become the "mainstay" of India defence in its category and Israeli missiles were not chosen over it, parliament was told on Tuesday.
To whether the army has decided to go for Israeli quick-reaction surface-to-air missile (QR-SAM) after rejecting further induction of the Akash missile, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Rajya Sabha, in a written reply, that the Akash missile system falls in the Short Range Surface to Air Missile (SRSAM) category, which is separate from the OR-SAM.
He lso said that procurement of QRSAM is a separate multi-vendor case under the 'Buy Global' category and vendors from Israel are among the competing firms, but did not give any further details.
Media reports had said that the Army decided to go for Israeli QR-SAM to take on enemy fighters, helicopters and drones after it found that the Akash missile was not fast enough.
The minister also said that the Akash system was not considered by the Indian Navy as it is not suitable for shipborne use yet.
"The Akash System was not considered for induction by Indian Navy as its current version is not a stabilised system suitable for shipborne usage," Parrikar said.
"As the Akash system evolves through the process of continuous development, its current short-comings are bound to be addressed and the missile has the potential to become India's mainstay in the category of Short Range Surface to Air Missiles," he said.
The minister also said that the production of the missile needs to be ramped up to meet the demands of the air force and army.
"It is relevant to mention here that as soon as the Akash missile was successfully tested, the air force had dropped its plan to co-develop the missile through import of technology from France," he said.
The army signed a contract for procurement of two regiments of Akash in March, 2011.
