Attack on Indian consulate Afghanistan

The Indian consulates in Afghanistan was once more targeted by the terrorists. Today four suicide bombers tried to enter the Indian consulate in Jalalabad city of Afghanistan to create havoc. The Afghan security forces has acted swiftly, and has shot dead all the bombers. Six people were injured and the property of the consulate was damaged to certain extent. But the loss is though to be minimal when you are facing four suicide bombers with a mission to devastate the consulate! Earlier, a similar assault was carried out by terrorists on the Indian consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif in January. Though no terrorist group has claimed the responsibility for the attack, police suspect that the Taliban could be the culprit for the blast. It’s a known fact that India is a key nation in the diplomatic relations with Afghanistan, which is of course an unpleasant matter for the Taliban, which is trying to gain control over the nation.

China to lay off millions of workers

China may not say it openly, but the whole world is aware that the big nation is in financial crisis. In a bid to dump the world with the products at the cheapest impossible way, China has stuck in its own web of over productivity. The time has come to make some drastic measures, to stop things from getting worse. The reliable sources in China have revealed that the Communist government is going to lay off millions of workers to deal with over capacity.   China is expected to lay off 1.8 million workers in the coal and steel industry alone. The coal and steel industry has proved to be a major pollutant for china and the returns too were on the diminishing mode. It would be a major retrenchment drive since 1998-2003 at the time which, china has laid down 28 million workers. The retrenchment would certainly hit the economy as the government has to provide huge package for the workers who were being laid off!  So, we can be almost sure of another major jerk in the world markets in the coming months!

Leonardo forgets Oscar at a bar

  People often say that `Once you achieve something, it’s value would be lost!’. Well! We might certainly give a serious thought about that statement, after looking at what Leonardo DiCaprio did after winning the Oscar. Leonardo, as every one is now aware of, has won the best actor award for his fabulous performance in The Revenant. It took almost six nominations and 23 years of awaiting, for the actor to grab the award. The long awaited achievement might have made Leonardo jubilant, as he drove to the best bar in Los Angeles to celebrate his victory. The party as can be expected went on and on until Leonardo was almost off! He zigzagged his way into his car even without bothering about the Oscar statue that’s left behind. Someone had to run after to deliver him the piece. Some bystander should have shouted.... `And the Oscar goes to’ to cherish the moment!

Protests over BJP MP’s words on Islam

  - Anant Kumar Hegde, the BJP MP from Kanara constituency of North Karnataka has sparked a fresh controversy. - While speaking at a meeting in Bhaktal which falls under his constituency, Anant has stated that "Terrorism cannot be wiped out as long as Islam continues to remain in the world." - The statement of Bhaktl has sent a wave of shock across the state including his own party members. - state Health Minister U T Khader requested Home Minister to take suo motu action against Hegde for his "shocking and irresponsible" statement against Islam. - The Dakshina Kannada district unit of youth Congress too has filed a police complaint against the MP. But Ananta Kumar Hegde, being an MP might give a hard chance for the police to take any legal action. - Meanwhile, several Muslim organisations in Bhaktal has yesterday staged protests to condemn the statement of MP. The town has become tense after the statement and the protests that followed it. - Despite severe warnings from the BJP President Amit Shah, several honourable members like Anant Kumar Hegde went on with their course of making irresponsible statements.

`She autos’ in Kochi

  An auto rickshaw service that’s dedicated for women passengers is going to kick off in Kochi today. The She auto will be driven by the drivers who were trained with soft skills to deal with the female passengers and children. So far, a group of 100 drivers were trained to drive these She autos. Some of these drivers include women. These drivers will be given special badges to be easily recognised. These services would be available 24 hours in the selected areas of the city. The theme of She autos was not new for the people of Andhra Pradesh. Last year, AP chief minister Chandrababu naidu has distributed 49 autos to the women who got training in driving them.

Post Budget Press Conference by Shri Arun Jaitley

Highlights of Budget 2016-17

  Finance minister Arun Jaitley has today presented the Budget for the financial year 2016-17. The budget was thought to be practical and has aroused mixed reactions among the critics. It is for the readers to decide it’s credibility... here are the main features of this year’s budget. - Agriculture and farmers' welfare, rural sector, social sector including healthcare, education, skills and job creation, infrastructure, financial sector reforms, ease of doing business, fiscal discipline, tax reforms to reduce compliance burden were declared as nine pillars of this year’s budget for the purpose of priority. - Minister has laid a target of 9 lakh crore to be granted as credit for the agricultural sector. He has even set aside 5,500 crores for the purpose of crop insurance scheme. - Rs. 2.87 lakh crore for gram panchayats as per recommendation of 14th finance commission. And 38,500 crore Rs were set aside for rural employment scheme. - Rs. 9,000 crores were allocated for the Prime minister’s ambition of achieving Swatcha Bharat. - "For the better availability of generic medicines in the country, especially in the rural areas, the government has decided to open 3,000 new generic medicines stores... The government will also provide health insurance of up to Rs 1 lakh per family," said Jaitley, in his budget speech. He also announced the launch of a National Dialysis Programme to address the high costs involved in the renal dialysis which is supposed to be a financial curse on the poor. - A total of 2.8 lakh crores would be spend to develop road and railways. - 25,000 crore was set aside  recapitalisation of public sector banks and Asset Reconstruction Companies were said to be encouraged to deal with the non performing assets of the banks. - Necessary Amendments would be made to the companies act to quicken the process of registration. - A Tax holiday was also granted for new companies for three out of five years of setting up the company. Corporate tax was also  reduced from the present 30% to 25%, for those companies whose turnover is less than 5 crores. - Not much relief is granted for the individual tax payers. The increase of HRA deduction from 24,000 to 60,000 seems to be the only major relief. Besides, 40% of PF withdrawal at the time of retirement under National Pension Scheme is to be tax exempt. Further a further exemption of Rs. 50,000 for first time housing loans is granted. --- And as usual, the cost of Cigarettes and luxury goods are going to raise as the minister proposes an increase in the excise duty on tobacco products. He has also charged 1% service tax on luxury cars over 10 lakh rupees, and cash purchase of goods and services over Rs. 2 lakh.    

Indian Penal Code should be revised Pranab

  As a president, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee may not have enough freedom to express his opinion. Particularly, when such opinions hurt the ruling party! So he was always seen participating in the current debates in a suggestive manner. This time too, he has stepped forward to say something regarding the JNU row. As everyone is aware that the sedition laws imposed upon the JNU students were getting controversial, Pranabji thinks that our Penal Code should be thoroughly revised. It’s a facts that IPC which has come into effect from 1862 was almost used as it is! “The IPC has undergone very few changes in the last 155 years. Very few crimes have been added to the initial list of crimes and declared punishable,” he said at an event in Kochi. Pranab was almost sure that those laws were biased and obsolete- “Even now, there are offences in the code which were enacted by the British to meet their colonial needs. Yet, there are many new offences which have to be properly defined and incorporated in the code,” he said. The President is of the view that IPC needs thorough revision to meet the changing needs of the society. He wish to see the economic crimes being included in IPC which were otherwise ignored. Pranabji even wants a drastic change in the attitude of police-  “Our police officers must ensure quick redress of the grievances of the common man. They must partner other stake holders in creating a peaceful and secure atmosphere conducive to progress and development,” were his exact words. That’s certainly a long way ahead!

Digvijay Singh before the court

  The congress senior leader Digvijay Singh has today appeared before the Bhopal court.   - Mr. Singh was being wanted in the recruitment scam at the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Secretariat between 1993 and 2003   - Digvijay Singh was the chief minister of the state during that time.   - Police has accused Digvijay for fraudulently recruiting the people he wanted with the help of then speaker Srinivas Tiwari.   -Digvijay Singh brushes off these allegations as false. He blames the present government for politically harassing him through such cases. He claims that the decisions regarding recruitment has the acceptance of then Cabinet.   - But police are pretty sure that something fishy has happened during that time. So, it would take some time to be sure about the innocence of Digvijay Singh.

Conductor locks a girl in the bus

  In a bizarre incident that took place in Bengaluru, a conductor has allegedly locked up a girl in the metropolitan bus. The incident has gone viral after the girl posted the matter on her Facebook. According to the victim, she was travelling along with her boy friend on the bus. An altercation has developed between the conductor and her friend for standing in the middle of the bus. The argument took violent turn as the conductor stopped the bus and started abusing her friend.   Fearing at the ugly turn of events, her friend has fled the scene. But that did not pacify the anger of the conductor. He along with the driver has asked the passengers to leave the bus and led the vehicle to the nearby police station. There, they locked the bus for an hour and went inside the station. According to the victim, no one has responded to her pleas to let her get down the bus, and even the police has left her in a panicked state. Now that the matter has reached the media, the police has booked a case against the conductor. Such a ride!

Indian firms helping ISIS to build arms

  According to a study by the European Union, the components manufactured by seven Indian firms were found in the bombs used by the terrorist group ISIS. The study, conducted by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) of EU has prepared a list of 51 commercial entities from 20 countries that supply the necessary components for ISIS for building ammunition. Among the components, products such as detonators, detonating cords, safety fuses... were supplied by some Indian firms.   Though these products are not of explosive kind, they can certainly used to ignite the bombs. But the Indian firms have declined of supplying directly to the ISIS. They blame it on their customers who purchase the products legally and then transfer them to the unlawful sources. With the latest revelation, it has become clear about the smooth way through which the terrorist groups were gaining access and control to every weapon that’s needed for them to make a blast.

Modi remains to be No.1

  - Even after a hard year of turmoil and fresh controversies, Modi was placed at no.1 position in the list of `100 Powerful Indians’ released by Indian express.   - Though Modi’s popularity was threatened by the Rohit Vemula suicide along with the JNU controversy, he continues to be on the top of the list.   - Interestingly RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat claims the second position, probably of his influence over the ruling BJP.   - BJP chief Amit Shah, Finance minister Arun Jaitley and congress president Sonia Gandhi stays in line for 3rd, 4th and 5th positions.   - Rahul Gandhi seems to have gained some popularity after his surprising visits to the universities. He has climbed two points further to reach no.9 in the list.   - Celebraties like Aamir, Salman, Sharukh and Priyanka too find a place on the list though in the least positions.   - Some other mentions might be the HRD minister Smriti Irani (13), Lalu (26), Ramdev baba (27), Suresh Prabhu (40), Virat Kohli (42), Chandrababu (44), Arnab Goswami (57), Asaduddin (59) and KCR (61).   Well! That seems to be who’s who of the nation.

Venkaiah Naidu hits hard at US

  Taking an exception at the US ambassador Richard Verma’s remarks on `free speech’, Union minister Venkaiah Naidu reacted strongly on the floor of parliament. Earlier the US ambassador has commented on the ongoing tension in JN University, that people should be allowed to express their opinion. Taking objection to the remarks, Naidu has hit back by saying that freedom of expression should have a Lakshman Rekha. Venkaiah went on questioning whether US would tolerate if  `Someone holds Osama bin Laden martyrdom anniversary in any university in America?’. His anger didn’t stop there... `They may be a great nation with all the resources at their command. But at the same time, we Indians also have our self-pride. We are also concerned about the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of our country,’ he said. He even cited an incident where his secretary was detained in US airport on the suspicion of being a terrorist, because he has a beard! Naidu saab even recalled the latest incident in Pakistan where a fan of Virat Kohli was immediately sent to jail for hoisting the Indian flag. Was Richard Verma hearing this?

Facebook to introduce REACTIONS

  - It’s been seven years since Facebook has introduced the like button.   - There has been a long awaited demand to introduce more buttons to express the reactions of the users other than the like button.   - Now! Facebook has finally introduced some more choices for the users to express their reactions and is indeed called as REACTIONS.   - These Reactions would be in the form of Emoji buttons.   - Love, HAHA, Wow, Sad and Angry would be the Reactions available.   - Just like the number of likes, the user can also know the number of clicks made for each reaction   - Though Facebook has said of introducing these reactions today, it might take a few days for the process to be updated.   - Though these reactions would be available easily on the computers, an updation of App might be needed to include them on mobiles.

టాస్ ఓడి బ్యాటింగ్ కు దిగిన టీం ఇండియా

  ఈ రోజు మొదలవనున్న ఆసియా టి20 కప్ లో భాగంగా మొదటిమ్యాచ్ లో ఇండియా బంగ్లాదేశ్ తలపడబోతున్నాయి. టాస్ గెలిచిన బంగ్లాదేశ్, ఇండియాను బ్యాటింగ్ కు ఆహ్వానించింది. పిచ్ పచ్చికతో ఉన్న కారణంగా, బౌలింగ్ కు అనుకూలించే అవకాశం ఉంది. అందుకే టాస్ గెలవగానే, బంగ్లా మరో మాట లేకుండా ఫీల్డింగ్ ఎంచుకుంది. పుణేలో గ్రీన్ పిచ్ మీద టీం ఇండియా తడబాటు చూసి బంగ్లాదేశ్ ఈ ప్లాన్ వేసింది. బంగ్లాదేశ్ లోని మీరపూర్ లో ఈ మ్యాచ్ జరుగుతోంది. గ్రీన్ పిచ్ కావడంతో 140 డిఫెండబుల్ స్కోర్ గా కనిపిస్తోంది. ప్రాక్టీస్ లో గాయపడ్డ ధోనీ, ఈ మ్యాచ్ లో బరిలో దిగుతున్నాడు.

Johnson & Johnson to pay $72 million for causing cancer

  - Finally a case was won against Johnson & Johnson, linking the usage of its baby products with cancer   -There has been a huge outrage against the products of this company for containing carcinogens.   - Carcinogens are the substances capable of causing cancer in living tissue.   - Earlier, the company has admitted that its baby shampoo contains a small amount of Formaldehyde, which can turn out to be a carcinogen.   - Now a jury in Missouri of US has found the usage of Johnson & Johnson baby powder as a possible cause for ovarian cancer.   - Jackie Fox (62) of Alabama died from ovarian cancer last year, having used the talc for decades together.   - The jury has found Johnson & Johnson to be guilty for not informing the consumers that its talc-based products could cause cancer.   - Johnson & Johnson argues that there is no direct evidence to prove that the usage of its baby powder could lead to cancer.   - Thousands of cases were pending in US with similar allegations against the baby products sold by the company.

BJP MP against reservation for JATs

  Raj Kumar Saini, a BJP MP from Kurukshetra is now raising his voice loud enough against his party’s decision, on reservation for Jats. Raj Kumar was already facing a show cause notice for his derogatory remarks against the Jat community. Raj Kumar now alleges that the ongoing protests for reservation for Jat is staged by the political leaders irrespective of their parties.   He fears that if Jat’s were provided reservation based on their violence, every caste would follow the cue to gain reservations. `How can a community that is aggressive enough to burn police stations be called socially backward?’ was the plain question by him. BJP is certainly irked by the questions of Rajkumar. It therefore has decided to include him in tomorrows meeting to be presided by Union minister Venkaiah Naidu to discuss the crisis in Haryana. We can expect what he is going to say there!

Too many bills to pass in parliament

  - A total of 20 bills were expected to be laid before the parliament in this Budget session.   - Out of 20 bills some were to being introduced for the first time, some were being laid for consideration and approval and some to be withdrawn.   - Some of the bills include the curious ones such as `Anti-hijacking bill’ whereby it imposes the possibility of death penalty, for those who hijack an aircraft that results in the death of passengers or personnel   - The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill is another bill that needs some explanation. It is intended to protect the people who raise their voice against a scam by providing concrete evidence. Often such people get killed off in suspicious circumstances   - A lot of other bills such as the one seeking uniformity in pensions and other conditions of service of Supreme and High Court judges, would be considered by the parliamentarians.   - These bills have to pass both the houses of the parliament through a simple majority to become a law!

Jesus Christ is a Tamil Hindu!

  - RSS is going to reissue a book that states Jesus Christ as Vishwakarma Brahmin born in Tamil Nadu. - The book named as `Christ Parichay’ is written in 1946 by Ganesh Damodar Savarkar. - Ganesh Savarkar is the brother of Veer Savarkar and one of the five people who founded RSS. - According to the author, Christianity is a sect of Hinduism. - Author claims that the real name of Jesus Christ is Keshao Krishna! - Ganesh writes that Christ indeed spoke in Tamil and wore the dress of Hindus. - After crucifixion, Christ was healed by yogis and he was taken to Kashmir- says Ganesh. - Christ has spent his last days by meditating on Lord Shiva in Himalayas- according to the book. - Well! Ganesh was not the first one to claim that Chirst has a connection with either India or Kashmir, but none of them were found to be valid!