Say hello to Android 4.4 KitKat, coming next in line
Google recently announced its latest version of Android - 4.3 Jelly Bean, which turned out to be nothing to write home about. Ever since then, the next iteration of Android OS has taken the spotlight and has been the talk of the town. Just when all of us thought that Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie would be the next upcoming version of the Android OS, Google has announced that the successor of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean would be named KitKat (yeah, the brand) and it is Android 4.4, not 5.0 as...

BJP hits back at Nitish Kumar, says he is 'drunk on power'
Sushil Kumar Modi said that by scoffing opposition leaders, the CM cannot escape answering pertinent questions like why the Bihar government dithered to claim arrest of Bhatkal for "political reasons." Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar. Bihar BJP on Tuesday hit back at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for scoffing opposition leaders and accused the state government for not claiming arrest of Indian Mujahidden operative Yasin Bhatkal for "political...

Raghuram Rajan to take over as RBI Governor today
Raghuram G. Rajan will take over as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India today.  An alumnus of IIT Delhi (1985) and IIM Ahmedabad (1987), Rajan takes over from D. Subbarao whose five-year term ends today. The 50-year old economist was earlier Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, a post that he held for about a year. Earlier, he has also been Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund and Professor of Finance at the Booth School of Business at the...

Monsoon session may be further extended: Kamal Nath
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath today indicated that the monsoon session of Parliament may be further extended as crucial Bills are pending. “If need be we can extend the monsoon session of Parliament. Key legislations are pending and must be passed. I am hopeful that all political parties will recognise this and cooperate,” Nath told presspersons outside Parliament House. Sources said the Government is in touch with the BJP and other parties for extension of...

Government will take emergency steps to ensure justice for Madan-Chief Minister
 The government will take emergency steps to ensure justice for Madani, who had been arrested in connection with the Bangalore bomb blast case, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said.. Chandy said that he could not agree to the court procedure of putting Madani behind bars without trial. He said that the government would approach Karnataka to secure Madani's release. Madani should get all human rights as any other Indian citizens, the CM said while assuring his efforts in this...

Decision to include CM in the judicial probe should be taken by the CM himself - Chennithala
KPCC President Ramesh Chennithala said on Tuesday that the decision to include Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the judicial probe for solar scam should be taken by the Chief Minister himself. He also said that the Chief Minister's office should also be included in the judicial probe and that coalition parties are not united in taking a decision regarding the matter if the chief minister should be involved in the probe or not. The decision on terms of reference will only be...

Motor vehicle workers have started their strike
Trade unions of motor vehicle workers have started their strike to protest the recent hike in the cost of petroleum products. The strike would cover private buses, taxis. autorickshaws and transport trucks. The KSRTC would continue with its services in the state. CITU State General Secretary Elamaram Karim and INTUC State President, R Chandrasekharan, said that private vehicles would not be prevented from plying. The KSRTC is expected to increase its services in order to help...

Oommen Chandy is ready to face probe
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, under attack from the Opposition over the solar panel scam, has expressed readiness to include himself and his office under the ambit of the judicial probe announced by the government into the issue. Chandy conveyed this to leaders of the ruling United Democratic Front constituents, Front sources said Tuesday. The Chief Minister, however, made it clear to the Front partners that he was not going to resign holding that the campaign against him by...

Israel Fires Test Missile in Mediterranean Sea
Israel says it has carried out a joint missile test with the U.S. in the Mediterranean Sea amid heightened tensions as Washington weighs sea-launched strikes against Syria. The Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it, together with the U.S. Defense Department, had carried out a "successful test" in the Mediterranean and on an air force base in central Israel. Russian state-owned news agencies earlier said Russian radar systems had detected two "ballistic objects"...

Sensex down over 651 pts as Re falls past 68
Indian stocks today dropped for the first time in five days with S&P BSE benchmark Sensex plunging over 651 points, its biggest fall in over a fortnight, on massive selling as the rupee breached 68-mark versus the US dollar on fresh signs of trouble in Syria. Brokers said the across-the-board selling was also triggered by reports that Standard & Poor's sees chances of a credit rating downgrade for India higher than for Indonesia. The bloodbath in stock markets saw...

Motor vehicle strike tomorrow
Motor transport workers will go on a dawn-to-dusk strike on Wednesday in protest against the increase in the prices of petroleum products. The Joint Action Committee of the Trade Unions of Motor Transport Workers, which met in Kochi on Monday, called the strike. The strike, which will begin at 6 a.m., is in response to an appeal given by the All India Road Transport Workers Federation to organise nation-wide protests against the increase in prices. The motor workers affiliated to...

Supreme Court rejects petitions of corporate honchos in 2G case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday junked a batch of petitions by corporate honchos seeking the recall of its April 11, 2011, order that barred Delhi High Court from entertaining any plea against the orders of Special CBI court hearing 2G cases. While rejecting the pleas by five corporate honchos -- Shahid Balwa, Vinod Goenka, Rajiv Agarwal, Asif Balwa and Ravinder Kumar Chandolia, a former aide of ex-telecom minister A. Raja -- the apex court bench of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice K.S....

Manmohan Singh says government has nothing to hide in coal scam
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told Parliament on Tuesday that his government had nothing to hide on the coal scam, but this only triggered more opposition protests. Manmohan Singh said it would be wrong to conclude that official papers sought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks were indeed missing. "Let me assure this august house that the government has nothing to hide," the prime...

Congress demands Narendra Modi's resignation
The Congress Tuesday demanded the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi till the investigation is over in the 2006 killing of a witness in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case. Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in an alleged staged shootout Dec 28, 2006, in which then minister of state for home Amit Shah is the main accused. Prajapati was the only witness to the December 2005 police shootout in which Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauserbi were killed. "How can...

Wipro to impart soft skills to under-graduates
Indian IT bellwether Wipro Ltd Monday unveiled a novel initiative to impart soft skills to undergraduate students across the country to improve their employability in back-office operations and other services sectors. "The Wipro integrated skill enhanced (WISE) programme is currently offered to undergraduates at Techno India group in Kolkata on a pilot basis and will be extended nationwide to train about 5,000 students by this fiscal-end (2013-14) in cities and towns," the...

Food Security Bill a 'half-hearted' attempt : BJP
After the Rajya Sabha gave its nod to the Food Security Bill, the BJP attacked the government, saying it has made a "half-hearted" attempt and the shortcomings will be rectified if it comes to power. "It is a half-hearted move by the government...They had made the promise in 2009 and it took them four and a half years to fulfil it. This is a clear example of their intention. Elections are around that is why they have brought this Bill at this time," said BJP leader...

Renjith Maheswary may get reprieve
Going by circumstantial evidence, triple jumper Renjith Maheshwari, who reportedly failed a dope test in 2008, may get a reprieve paving the way for his getting the Arjuna Award. The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in its report to the sports ministry Monday said they have no knowledge of any action taken against Maheshwary failing a dope test for banned substance during the 48th Open National Athletics in Kochi in 2008. It has put the ball in ministry's...

Afghan security death toll 'unsustainable'
US General Joseph Dunford has told the Guardian paper that Afghan security forces may need five more years of western support before being able to take over full responsibility. "I view it as serious, and so do all the commanders," Dunford said of the toll, which has often hit 100 per week. "I'm not assuming that those casualties are sustainable." The general said "time is going to tell" whether NATO had been right to switch in June from playing...

KSRTC is facing the greatest crisis ever in its history
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is facing the greatest crisis ever in its history with the debt to the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation Ltd (KTDFC) crossing Rs 1,200 crore. The collection from three more depots will now be acquired by the KTDFC. This means the KSRTC will not be able to pay festival allowance to its employees. In the present scenario, the employees will not get the proposed hiked allowances from November. The KSRTC need to repay...

Sonia Gandhi flies to US for medical check-up
Congress President Sonia Gandhi today left for the US for medical check-up. Accompanied by her daughter Priyanka, she left this afternoon, official sources said. 66-year-old Gandhi, who had undergone a surgery in the US for an undisclosed ailment on August 5, 2011, had flown there for a check-up in February and again on September two last year. The Congress President was admitted to AIIMS last Monday after she complained of chest pain and exhaustion in the Lok Sabha during a...

Police to quiz Asaram
Indore/Jaipur/New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS) Even as police were on the lookout for the elusive Asaram Bapu, accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, his son said the spiritual guru, who has a huge following, was not in hiding and police could question him any time. As as his arrest looked imminent, dozens of supporters of the man who has millions of disciples in India and around the world, gathered in Rajasthan's Jodhpur city and assaulted media persons, leaving two seriously...

Joint trade union has called for a motor vehicle strike
In protest against the hike in fuel prices, the joint trade union has called for a motor vehicle strike in Kerala on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Union government on  Monday came under sharp attack from Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha over fuel price hike with CPM, CPI and Trinamool members staging walk-out from the House which saw a brief adjournment due to uproar. Members including those from BJP attacked the government over the issue saying making the announcement...

Government mulling proposal to shut petrol pumps at night
The government is considering various proposals including shutting petrol pumps in the night to taper fuel demand as it looks at ways to cut the massive oil import bill, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said today, drawing a sharp reaction from BJP. "There are various options and ideas that have been floated. Shutting petrol pumps during night is one of them. But we have not decided. It is just a proposal," Moily told PTI from Bangalore. His ministry plans to launch a...

Police clueless about Asaram's whereabouts
Police were on Saturday clueless about the whereabouts of Asaram Bapu, who is believed to have fled his Bhopal ashram, as Jodhpur Police was on his trail for arresting him in connection with the charge of sexual assault of a minor girl. A large number of his supporters gathered outside his ashram at Khandwa Road in Indore while his whereabouts are not known after he left Bhopal in a vehicle last evening.

Need to end all acts of violence against women: Sonia
Against the backdrop of rising crimes against women, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said making laws for their empowerment is not enough as they will have to be implemented properly on ground. “We realise that by just making laws and announcing policies would not be enough to empower women. Along with it, policies and laws will have to be implemented properly on ground,” she said while addressing a gathering at the launch of the Ahimsa Messenger scheme, under...

Price rise is not a 'new phenomenon' - Vayalar Ravi
Price rise is not a 'new phenomenon' and the central and and state governments were making earnest efforts to check inflation, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said today. In an apparent reaction to KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala's criticism against the Congress-led UDF government for not effectively intervening in the market to arrest price rise, Ravi said the policies of the government were not the reason behind increase in...

Syria UN inspectors say analysis may take up to three weeks
The analysis of samples taken by UN inspectors in Syria probing alleged use of chemical weapons could take "up to three weeks," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons ( OPCW) said. "The evidence collected by the team will now undergo laboratory analysis and technical evaluation," said the group based in The Hague where the team arrived yesterday. "These procedures may take up to three weeks for completion in a systematic, orderly and objective...

'Arab wedding' brings to focus vulnerability of poor women
The latest incident of forced marriage of a minor Muslim girl to an Arab national has once again brought to focus vulnerability of women from poorer sections who continue to be victims of sexual exploitation. The infamous "Arabbi Kalyanam" (Arab wedding), a social malady prevalent in parts of Kerala, has stirred a raging debate over the evil practice, which has devastated the lives of young girls in the wake of recent episode in which a 17-year-old girl from Kozhikode, living...

Asaram Bapu was arrested by the Jodhpur police
Controversial godman Asaram Bapu was arrested by the Jodhpur police, 20 minutes past midnight. According to Times Now, the godman is now being taken to Rajasthan via Delhi. The midnight swoop came hours after the Rajasthan police stopped his sermons late in the evening and whisked him away for interrogation. SP Indore (East) OP Tripathi confirmed to TOI that Asaram, who is accused of sexually abusing a minor in Jodhpur, was taken out of the ashram in a white Tavera. The car...

G20 summit ; Putin is currently not planning to have bilateral talks with Obama
Russian President Vladimir Putin is currently not planning to have bilateral talks with US President Barack Obama at the G20 summit although there is a chance of an informal encounter, the Kremlin said today. "A meeting with Obama is not planned," the Kremlin's foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said at a briefing today. Putin plans to "shake his hand" along with other leaders' when he greets them at the summit in Saint Petersburg, Ushakov said. The...