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Those who lost lives in Kashmir, part of us: Modi

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, at a meeting with a delegation led by former J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah, expressed ‘deep concern and pain’ over the prevailing situation in Kashmir. The delegation called on the Prime Minister to apprise him of the situation in the Kashmir valley. The delegation included CPI-M MLA Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami, state Congress president GA Mir, senior leaders of the National Conference and some Independent MLAs. The delegation submitted a memorandum to PM Modi seeking an immediate ban on the use of pellet guns in the state. They further requested the Prime Minister to initiate a dialogue with all stakeholders in the Valley immediately.   “Those who lost their lives during recent disturbances are part of us, our nation. Whether the lives lost are of our youth, security personnel or police, it distresses us,” a government statement quoted Modi as saying at the meeting. The Prime Minister's statement indicates that the government may be considering some political initiative on Kashmir where the over-five weeks long agitation has left some 68 people dead in clashes between pro-freedom protesters and security forces. "We need to find a permanent and lasting solution to the problem within the framework of the Constitution," the Prime Minister said. Modi emphasised on the need for all political parties to work together to find a solution to the problems of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the sources said.

Indian Athlete affected with Zika Virus in Rio?

  The threat of Zika virus was looming over the Olympics taking place at Rio. There have been pleas to shift the location of the games at the last moment because of the virus threat but the games still went on as officials made it clear that it is safe to be held there. But now it comes to light that Indian middle-distance runner Sudha Singh, 30, has been diagnosed with viral infection in Bengaluru after returning from the Rio Olympics 2016 on Saturday, with the possibility of her contracting the Zika virus not being ruled out. Singh, who returned to India on Saturday, complained of fever, joint pain and fatigue. She was first admitted to treatment at Sports Authority of India. However, when her blood pressure fell drastically, the authorities rushed her to a hospital. She had participated in the steeplechase competition.   Ms Singh's blood samples have been sent to a virology institute for Zika testing. Doctors say they want to be extra cautious since she was in Brazil where the virus is a major concern. "It is probably just a viral infection but as protocol, we are investigating to rule out Zika," said Dr SR Sarala, a senior scientific officer at the Sports Authority of India. Her blood samples are likely to be sent to a virology institute in Pune on Monday to check for Zika, the fear of which caused many athletes to withdraw from the Rio Games. Sudha is currently being treated in an isolation room in the Bengaluru hospital. Marathon runners OP Jaisha and Kavita Raut, who were Sudha's roommates in Rio, are also said to be showing milder symptoms of a viral infection. The Sports Authority wanted Jaisha in hospital too but she went home to Kerala.

Cash transactions above 3Lakhs to be banned by Govt

  In order to crack down on the black money trail in the country, the Government is looking at banning cash transactions above 3 Lakhs. A ban on cash transactions above Rs 3 lakh will ensure that credit or debit cards are used to make large payments which will ensure that the transactions are recorded and can be tracked easily. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money had recommended ban on cash transactions of above Rs 3 lakh and restricting cash holding with individuals to not more than Rs 15 lakh to curb illegal wealth in the economy. The SIT headed by Justice (Retd) M B Shah, had earlier submitted its fifth report to the Supreme Court on July 14 on methods to curb black money in the economy.   “Having considered the provisions which exist in this regard in various countries and also having considered various reports and observations of courts regarding cash transactions the SIT felt that there is a need to put an upper limit to cash transactions,” an official statement had said. Also, cash withdrawal of more than Rs 3 lakh from any bank account in a day should consider as a suspicious activity and the concerned bank should report it to Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) & the concerned Income-tax Department, it had said. he government also recently did away with transaction charges on payments made to it by credit or debit cards, to push the use of plastic money.  It wants to make India into a cashless economy too, soon.

Kejriwal: AAP does not have money to fight polls

  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while speaking to a group of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes members in South Goa, Kejriwal said, "It would look odd but it is true that despite a one-and-half year of governance in Delhi, AAP does not have money to fight election. I can show you my bank account, even the party does not have money." "When we contested in Delhi, it is the people who fought the election. AAP is a platform for everyone to fight for their better future," Mr Kejriwal said, explaining that in Goa too, his party would bank on the support of local people. However, contrary to Kejriwal's claims, facts speak otherwise. Going by the Election Commission, the AAP is the fourth largest political party in the country in terms of receiving contributions. In the financial year 2014-15, it received contributions worth Rs 37.45 crore.   Only three parties - and all of them national ones -had received larger contributions than the AAP. The BJP, with 437.35 crore is at the top, followed by the Congress (Rs 141.55 crore) and the NCP (Rs 38.82 crore). This is third visit of Mr. Kejriwal to poll-bound Goa. His first visit was in May last when he addressed a huge rally in the city here wherein he announced that the party would contest the next Assembly elections in the State. During his second visit in June, he held dialogue with fishermen, small hotel owners and youth and claimed that the party would win 35 of the 40 seats in Goa.

Flipkart co-founder's big revelation

It is natural to see the top brass of a company shares their stories of laurels they received for their outstanding work. And very rare to see the same people speak out about the reasons for their demotion or removal from the company, especially when it happens because of their performance at work. But Flipkart's co-founder did just that. To reassure Flipkart employees that everyone is judged by the same standards, co-founder Sachin Bansal revealed to them that he was removed as CEO because of "performance" issues. Bansal's disclosure, made at a town-hall meeting at the company's headquarters in Bengaluru on Friday, comes after India's largest e-commerce company said last month that it was laying off at least 300 people who were non-performers, leading to concerns and questions among employees.   The co-founder admitted the company had missed financial targets in recent months, prompting an overhaul of its top rungs, according to employees who attended the meeting. "The townhall that we conduct regularly is one of the pillars of this culture of openness...Anybody is free to ask any question, challenge existing norms and hold the leadership accountable for business and organisation metrics," said a source from the firm to a news channel. Last month, Flipkart announced that it was buying fashion site Jabong for $70 million.

Indian athlete at Rio left unconscious for 3Hrs

  In a shocking incident of sports officials failing our Olympic medal probables, it has come to light that our athletes were left thirsty and fainted at the finish line. India’s national record holder in marathon O P Jaisha’s Rio timing was 2 hours 47 minutes. Her timing for the same event in Beijing Worlds last year was 2 hours 34 minutes. Why such a difference you would think. The reason is marathon runners who run for 42 kilometres need water to keep hydrating. For this purpose, Olympic officials set up water stations at every 2.5 kilometres. At every 2.5 kms, other countries were giving their runners all these things while our Indian desks were empty with just the flag and the country’s name on it.   While India’s workstations had been erected, the officials manning them were nowhere to be found, meaning that the only way the marathoner had access to water was at the Rio official refueling centers. Those were located every 8km, which meant she would have had only five chances to hydrate and reenergize through the 42.195 km track. This reflected clearly in her performance the runner, who set a time of 2:34.43 at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing last year, finished 13 seconds past that mark in Rio, at 2:47:19. Jaisha collapsed at the finish line, and lay unconscious for 3 hours. Even at the end of the race she was taken off by Rio medical officials, with Indian officials unavailable to know of her condition or attend to her.

Will find better coach than Gopi says Telangana Dy CM

  Olympic Silver medalist PV Sindhu and her coach Pullela Gopichand  have come back home to a roaring welcome. In the middle of the grand welcome, the Telangana Deputy Chief Minister has made a controversial statement while talking about Sindhu and Gopichand. In a shocking statement, Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has said that even though Pullela Gopichand was a very good coach, the government will find a better coach for ace shuttler PV Sindhu. While talking about the champion, Ali praised Gopichand but said that the government will find a better coachto train the 21-year-old, who scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to bag a Silver medal at Rio Olympics 2016. After winning a billion hearts from Brazil, PV Sindhu on Monday arrived to a hero’s welcome at Hyderabad International airport. Amid scenes of jubilation and loud cheers from scores of people, Sindhu, accompanied by coach Pullela Gopichand. “We are very happy to receive Sindhu. The CM has arranged a very good reception for her, we will go to Gachibowli (stadium) from here and then we will disperse from there”, said PV Sindhu’s father.

MP cops carry CM on arms in flood hit area visit

  Various parts of Madhya Pradesh have been hit by floods recently and the Chief Minister of the state has gone on a visit to the flood hit areas. And an image of the Chief Minister being carried in arms by his security men to cross a water-logged stretch during his visit to a flood affected area went viral on Sunday. In another picture, he is seen walking barefoot through mud while his aide is carrying his white sneakers. When asked to explain the incident, an official in the chief minister’s office said may be some overzealous security personnel lifted him.   But according to reports the collector and local police chief decided to carry him as they could not risk him getting hurt or being bitten by snakes. More than 100 villages in Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh have devastated by floods. Chouhan first reached Satna by train on Saturday night and met flood-hit families there. He went to a shelter home and interacted with people and assured of support. Chouhan has toured three flood-affected districts of Panna, Rewa and Satna where incessant rain has claimed 15 lives and left many homeless. Nearly 100 villages in these districts have been devastated by the floods. “I surveyed the flood affected areas in Panna city. The villages of Gadhokhar, Kamtana, Singhori have been affected and I’ve provided support to the villages, the leader tweeted.

PV Sindhu gets a grand welcome at Hyderabad

  The first woman to have won an Olympic Silver medal, PV Sindhu has come back home to a rousing welcome from friends, family and fans at her hometown Hyderabad. Her arrival along with her coach Gopichand this morning at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport was awaited by thousands, who were there with bated breath waiting to catch a glimpse of her. She was greeted by her parents – P V Ramana and P Vijaya alongside top politicians. Many people lined up along the 30 km route from the airport towards Gachibowli stadium, where the Telangana government has organised a gala felicitation in honour of the star shuttler.  Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh sent top ministers to greet Ms Sindhu at the airport in the capital they currently share.   While Sindhu's mother P Vijaya is from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh, her father PV Ramana is from Adilabad in Telangana. “This is an unforgettable day. We take this opportunity to once again thank Gopi and his support staff and the millions of Indians who were praying for her success,” said Sindhu's father, Mr. Ramana. The Telangana government will give her a cash reward of 5 crore, a residential plot in Hyderabad and have offered her a job. The Andhra Pradesh government too has offered Sindhu a job and will give her a cash reward of 3 crore and a residential plot in the new capital city Amaravati.

The amazing story of the Gopichand’s Academy, Hyderabad.

  Gopichand’s Badminton Academy, which is located at Gachibowli, Hyderabad, contributed towards the London Olympics in the year 2012. The academy also helped P.V Sindhu to grab the silver medal. Most of us don’t know the inspiring story behind the formation of the Badmintion Academy.   The story can be explained with the help of the following milestones which helped in the formation of the academy. In the year 2003, Gopichand was awarded with five acres of land by the AP government. The land has been offered at lease for 45 years at a nominal rate. In the same year, Gopichand spoke with Yonex for the sponsorship and he also wanted a foreign coach’s involvement. In the year 2004, after formulating the plans for the badminton academy, Gopichand approached Nimmagadda Prasad to raise money for the formation of the academy. Mr. Prasad immediately offered US$500,000 and gave his assistance so as to raise an additional amount of US$ 2 Million. Nimmagadda Prasad as well as Gopichand found a great difficulty in raising the additional amount and over the time, Mr. Prasad increased his contribution to US$ 1.25 Million. Gopichand could gather US$1.75 Million only including other donations and his wife who is a former Olympian supported Gopichand as well as contributed to the effort of securing the monetary support. The project was completed at the cost of US$2.5 Million in the year 2008 after mortgaging Gopichand’s home to raise the additional amount for the venture. After sending the common wealth sports team to this academy for training, the government increased the daily fee per player from US$5 to US$20. The construction of Gopichand’s badminton Academy had been modeled after Prakash Padukone’s Badminton Academy which is located at Bangalore. The players like Srikanth Kadambi, Gurusai Dutt, Parupalli Kashyap, Arundathi Pantawane, Prannoy Kumar, Saina Nehwal and P.V Sindhu are from Gopichand’s Badminton Academy. Players from India can perform wonders if the government of our country can extend their helping hand, in providing infrastructure facilities as well as better training facilities, to the people like Gopichand.

In 2yrs, 2000 dropoIITs, IIMs

  Getting into an IIT or an IIM is a dream for many. And the number of people attempting to get into the prestigious institute is growing by the day. But not all who join these institutions complete their courses. At least that is what the recent reports suggest. About 2,000 students dropped out of IITs and IIMs in the last two years, data from the institutes show. "Most of those who leave the course are those pursuing PhDs," said IIT-Bombay director Devang Khakhar. PhD dropout numbers are not so much about performance as the punishing tenure of the course. Academic attrition is the highest at IIT-Delhi with 699 students dropping out between 2014 and 2016. It is followed by IIT-Kharagpur (544) and IIT-Bombay (143). The number of dropouts at IIMs seems to have risen over the years. While 37 students dropped out between 2003 and 2005, the number rose to 69 between 2006 and 2008.It touched 104 between 2014 and 2016. "Poor academic performance is one of the reasons," said an IIM-Calcutta faculty member. The six-year-old IIMRaipur saw the highest dropouts (20) in the last two years.

3yrs Jail & 3Lakhs fine for Torrent users

  The Government has banned thousands of torrent websites in India for a while now, but according to reports, you can now get three-year jail sentence as well as a fine of Rs 3 lakh for trying to visit such URLs. This is just for viewing a torrent file, or downloading a file from a host that may have been banned in India, or even for viewing an image on a file host like Imagebam. You don't have to download a torrent file, and then the actual videos or other files, which might have copyright. According to the report, if you visit a blocked torrent site or URLs, you will be shown the following warning: "This URL has been blocked under the instructions of the Competent Government Authority or in compliance with the orders of a Court of competent jurisdiction. Viewing, downloading, exhibiting or duplicating an illicit copy of the contents under this URL is punishable as an offence under the laws of India, including but not limited to under Sections 63, 63-A, 65 and 65-A of the Copyright Act, 1957 which prescribe imprisonment for 3 years and also fine of upto Rs. 3,00,000/-. Any person aggrieved by any such blocking of this URL may contact at urlblock@tatacommunications.com who will, within 48 hours, provide you the details of relevant proceedings under which you can approach the relevant High Court or Authority for redressal of your grievance."

Kerala- India's first open defecation-free’ state

  Come November, Kerala will be decalred India's first 'open defecation-free’ state. Kerala will be among the most populous states in the country with the completion of 1.90 lakh toilets in its 941 village panchayats by this November. Suchitwa Mission, the state nodal agency for sanitation, is implementing the plan which has a total outlay of Rs 308 crore. Executive Director of Suchitwa Mission, K Vasuki said that the target is to construct around 1.90 lakh toilets across the 941 Gram panchayats in the state Kerala. The construction of 35% of toilets has already been completed and work of nearly 70,000 is under construction. "Though it was a challenging task, we are committed and confident that the state would achieve the new milestone by this November," Vasuki.

Indian girl found dead in US;stepmother held

  A 9-nine year old Indian girl was found dead under mysterious circumstances in US. The police have charged her stepmother for the murder. Ashdeep Kaur was found dead in her house's bath tub on Friday, with police describing her death as "suspicious" after the body was found naked and with bruises. She had just three months ago moved to Queens from India to stay with her Mr Sukhjinder Singh and her stepmother Ms Arjun Samdhi Pardas. The Pardas, 55, the step mother,  has been charged with murder for allegedly strangling Ashdeep. The family was staying in an apartment which was shared with another couple. “She always told me she does not like to be with her stepmother. Sometimes she got beatings from her,” Ashdeep’s uncle Manjinder Singh said. The housemate had seen Ashdeep going in the bathroom with Pardas, who later came out alone and left the building. She allegedly said that Ashdeep was taking a bath. When Ashdeep did not come out, the housemate checked and discovered her lifeless body in the bathtub that had no water. Ashdeep's biological mother who stays in India is devastated by the news.

Yogeshwar Dutt will be fighting for Gold today

  India's last medal hope will be out today fighting for Gold at the Rio Olympics. Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt who won the bronze medal for Indiaat the London Olympics, will look to make a better performance today. Dutt won the Asian Games gold in 2014. But 2015 turned out to be a bad year for him, hampered by injuries. Wrestling is a hard sport and realistically, going by the form of those in the fray and the delicate condition in which the 33-year-old Indian’s battle-scarred knee and lower back is, Dutt doesn’t start as one of the favourites."Iwould just like to tell Yogeshwar that the whole country is behind you, give your best and win a Gold for the country" said 2-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar. While India's sports minister Vijay Goel said, "Yogeshwar Dutt is one of our best wrestlers and I wish him the best of luck. The country has high expectations of him and I am confident he will give his best". Before leaving for Rio Olympics, Yogeshwar said, "All I am thinking about is how can I win a Gold for India as this is my last appearance at the Olympics. I know the country has high expectations of me & I want to give my fellow countrymen a reason to cheer".

Hamid Karzai backs Modi’s Balochistan remarks

Former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Balochisthan in his Independence Day address, saying Afghanistan understands the problems being faced by the people of Pakistan's southern province. “Pakistani authorities have spoken freely on Afghanistan and India, but this is the first time that the PM of India has spoken about Balochistan,” Mr. Karzai said during a visit to Delhi. Speaking to an all-party meeting on Kashmir last week, and in his address on independence day,Mr. Modi had vowed to take up the cause of Baloch people facing repression in Pakistan on the international stage, and said he had received many messages from them. In an interactive session on Regional Power Play and Rise of Radicalism in Afghanistan, he identified terrorism as the single biggest challenge facing the region and called for a united fight to defeat it. "I very much hope that India would bolster its support for Afghanistan, and strengthen the Afghan forces to bring peace and stability to that country. We should simultaneously seek peaceful relations with our neighbour, Pakistan." he said to reporters.

Milkha Singh wants this Olympian as Sports Min

  Milkha Singh, 81, one of India’s greatest sportspersons has recommended the name of 2004 Olympics silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore to be India’s new Sports Minister. "I have a suggestion, make Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore the Sports Minister and put him in charge with appropriate funding and resource support. Put different individuals as heads for different sports and give them all support to get medals for India. We have the talent in India and with the right effort, I am confident that we can do it," Milkha said. The 'Flying Sikh' complimented the Olympic star performers PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar for their stellar show of talent at the Olympics. "I had tears in my eyes when I saw PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik drape the national flag around their shoulders after receiving their medals. My wife Nirmal, who was an Inter Varsity badminton player herself, joins me in congratulating PV Sindhu, her parents and her coach Gopichand for the wonderful achievement. I would also like to congratulate Sakshi Malik and Dipa Karmakar, their parents and coaches for their sacrifices and for proving that with hard work and determination, Indians can excel and this should be an inspiration to our boys as well. You ladies have made India proud and we are grateful to you," he said.

Urjit Patel to be the next RBI Governor

  Ending the speculation as to who will be the next Reserve Bank of India Governor when Raghuram Rajan's term ends, the government has announced that Urjit Patel, the current deputy governor, will take over as the as the 24th governor of the Reserve Bank of India. "The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr. Urjit R. Patel as Governor, Reserve Bank of India for a period of three years," said the statement from the government. Patel, 53, who has been the deputy governor since January 2013, has been key in framing the monetary-policy framework that the central bank has adopted. It makes taming inflation the central bank’s primary priority. He is a PhD from Yale University and has worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The Brookings Institution at Washington and the Massachusetts-based Boston Consulting Group. The government is soon expected to announce the composition of a six-member monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates. It will be made up of himself and two other RBI officials, along with three members appointed by the government. "Appointment of Urjit Patel comes as a welcome move,'' says Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairman of State Bank of Indial, who was also in contention for the top position.

Modi's Suit enters Guinness Book of World Records

  In a unique turn of events, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's suit has entered the Guinness Book of World Records. The suit which hogged the lime light for having ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi’ monogrammed as pinstripes on it is once again the talk of the town. This time for the record it has made, and the amount for which it was auctioned. The suit, that was worn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with US President Barack Obama, was sold to the highest bidder, Laljibhai Patel, a diamond baron and private airline owner based in Surat, Gujarat for an astounding Rs 4.31 crore. Laljibhai Tulsibai Patel shelled out exactly Rs 4,31,31,311 for the suit that Modi wore. He later told the reporters that he was determined to buy the suit even if it exceeded Rs 5 crore. ‘The money does not matter,’ he had said. The base price of the suit at the auction was Rs 11 lakh. The suit has entered Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘most expensive suit ever sold’. It was sold in an auction in February 2015, but has recently made its way to Guinness Book of World Records. The money received from the auction will be used for a campaign toclean River Ganga.