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Google celebrates Ustad Bismillah Khan’s 102nd birthday

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Search engine Google on Wednesday paid tribute to Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan, one of India’s most beloved musicians, on his 102nd birth anniversary with a special doodle.

The doodle, designed by Chennai-based illustrator Vijay Krish, celebrates Khan against the backdrop of a geometric style pattern with his instrument aloft, sending a festive tune out into the world.

Born in 1916, in a family of court musicians in Bihar, Khan was so much in love with his music that he often referred to his shehnai as his wife.

Famous for his common man behaviour and simplicity, he was a recipient of all four highest civilian award, including the Bharat Ratna, awarded to only a few musicians.

He not only performed during the first Independence Day celebration in 1947, but his music was also part of the first Republic Day celebration in 1950, which continues to this day.

“Though he started playing in public at the age of 14, Khan’s performance at the All India Music Conference in Kolkata in 1937 became a defining moment in his career.

“Three decades later, when he performed at the Edinburgh Music Festival, the shehnai acquired a global audience, and in the minds of millions, became synonymous with its player,” the doodle page said.

With a dream to unify the world with music, Khan passed away in 2006 in Varanasi where he spent his life.

(IANS)

Google commits $300mn to empower media houses

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In a bid to help news organisations thrive in the digital age, Google has committed $300 million over the next three years as part of the Google News Initiative (GNI).

The GNI will help media outlets evolve new business models while adopting innovative technologies.

According to Google, business models for journalism continue to change drastically and the rapid evolution of technology is challenging all institutions, including the news industry, to keep pace.

“Over the next three years, we’re committing $300 million toward meeting these goals. We’re also deepening our commitment to building products that address the news industry’s most urgent needs,” Philipp Schindler, Chief Business Officer at Google, said in a blog post late on Tuesday.

The GNI is focused on three objectives: Elevate and strengthen quality journalism, evolve business models to drive sustainable growth and empower news organisations through technological innovation.

Google has earlier worked closely with the news industry to address key challenges.

“We worked with the industry to launch the open-source ‘Accelerated Mobile Pages Project’ to improve the mobile web and ‘YouTube Player’ for Publishers to simplify video distribution and reduce costs,” Schindler said.

“We also introduced ‘Flexible Sampling’ to help with discovery of news content on Google; ‘Google News Lab’ to provide newsrooms with trainings and editorial partnerships, and the ‘Digital News Initiative’ to drive innovation in the European news industry,” he added.

Over the past few years, Google has worked with publishers to elevate accurate, quality content and stem the flow of misinformation and disinformation.

“We’re launching the ‘Disinfo Lab’ alongside the ‘First Draft’ to combat mis- and disinformation during elections and breaking news moments,” Google said.

Google is also teaming up with the Poynter Institute, Stanford University, and the Local Media Association to launch “MediaWise”, a project designed to improve digital information literacy for young consumers.

Google is currently working with news organisations around the world to develop and deploy technology that improves newsroom efficiency, creates enriching storytelling experiences, and protects journalists from cyber attacks around the world.

“For example, we are using our natural language processing API to help ‘Hearst Newspapers’ sort, label and categorise more than 3,000 articles every day,” Google said.

Google has also worked with the South China Morning Post to use “Google Earth Studio” to create immersive VR experiences that show the evolution of Hong Kong throughout history.

“Finally, we’re also launching ‘Outline’, an open-source tool from Jigsaw that lets news organisations provide journalists more secure access to the internet,” Google announced.

“Outline” makes it easy for news organisations to set up their own VPN on a private server.

In 2017, Google paid $12.6 billion to partners and drove 10 billion clicks a month to publishers’ websites for free.

(IANS)

IT RAIDS On Six Government officials IN BANGALORE

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Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted raid on six government officials- Gopalakrishna, joint director, Davangere-Harihara Development Authority; Thippeswamy, assistant commissioner, Tumakuru sub-division; Sripathi Doddalingannavar, vigilance officer, NEKRTC, Kalaburagi and Srikeerti Jain, revenue inspector, Kalasa hobli, Chikkamagaluru, Vijaya Kumar M Shetty, assistant executive Engineer, Karanja Canal Project, Humnabad, Bidar; Kiran Subbarao Bhat, assistant executive engineer, Belgaum City Corporation.

The IT raid was conducted on 24 premises in Davangere, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Belagavi, Bengaluru, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad and Chikkamagaluru areas. A senior police official said that the search is still on. The details on the confiscated assets will be known in a day or two.

National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) Bags ‘IWFCI-INDIA AWARD’ Wadhwani Foundation

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National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), the flagship initiative of Wadhwani Foundation was conferred the ‘IWFCI – India Award’ during a gilttering valedictory ceremony at “Global Women Investors, Entrepreneurs & Policy Influencers – Summit 2015” in the presence of business leaders, international delegates and media at The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore. Sashi Chimala, Executive Vice President –National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) and Sunita Singh, Co-founder-NEN and Executive Vice President – Wadhwani foundation received the award on behalf of the NEN team.
The aim of the summit was to understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs to scale¬up and globalize and provide a white paper to the government for enabling policy makers to take the right decisions in terms of support, subsidies and schemes and encouraging women entrepreneurs to graduate from Micro Enterprises to Small and Medium Enterprises. Encouraging the attendees by their presence were the dynamic Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, N.A Haris and Sudhakar Rao, former Chief Secretary of Karnataka.

On receiving the award, an elated Sashi Chimala, Executive Vice President –National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) said, “It is gratifying to see the decade old hard work of NEN team being recognized. The NEN team has over the years worked tirlelessly and has shown immense passion in creating a vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem in India. NEN has successfully connected beneficiaries [students, aspiring entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs] to its support services and programs that are learning based, network oriented and transactional in nature. Our vision is to create many silicon valleys in India and we will continue to work towards fructification of this paradigm shift. ”
National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) was co-founded in 2003 with IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, BITS Pilani, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology. The award recognized NEN’s outstanding contribution in creating and supporting high growth entrepreneurs, and driving entrepreneurship as a catalyst for high value job-creation and economic growth in India.
Over the last decade, NEN has championed the cause of entrepreneurship by establishing advanced curriculum at over 500 colleges and by setting up a national network of mentors that continue to inspire, educate and support emerging, high-growth entrepreneurs. Since inception, NEN has resulted in the creation of hundreds of sustained startups, and thousands of direct and indirect jobs. NEN has also built national platforms that showcase, reward and celebrate entrepreneurship.
About Wadhwani Foundation:
Wadhwani Foundation’s primary mission is accelerating economic development in emerging economies through large-scale job creation. Five Initiatives driving innovation, entrepreneurship and skill development cater to this mission. The Foundation is present in India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Malaysia, and has plans to expand to other countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America.
National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) inspires, educates and supports student entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs for creating high-value jobs.
Skills Development Network (SDN) provides vocational training support to educational and training institutes, and employers for entry-level mid-skill jobs through a video based online platform.
Opportunity Network for Disabled (OND) mainstreams the educated disabled into sustainable high quality corporate jobs through a business value proposition.
Research and Innovation Network (RIN) aims to create a world-class innovation ecosystem in India with the goal of propelling India towardsthe top ten innovative nations in the world.
Policy Research Centre provides data driven research inputs for informed policy action towards accelerating economic growth. The initiative has also established a chair in U.S-India policy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, D.C.

(IANS)

Congress challenges Yeddyurappa, Shah to clarify stand on Lingayat row

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The Congress today asked the BJP to make its stand clear on the Karnataka Cabinet’s decision to recommend religious minority status to Lingayat and Veerashaiva Lingayat communities, after the saffron party accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of “playing with fire” for vote bank politics. Congress’s communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said the issue should not be linked with elections or the political process. “It is inappropriate to link the decision of Karnataka government viz-a-viz declaration of Lingayat Samaj as a minority community to the political processes,” he told reporters.

Surjewala asked BJP chief Amit Shah and the party’s state unit president B S Yeddyurappa to clarify whether they are in favour of the decision or against it. “You need to clarify and come out clearly. Do not hunt with the hare. That is why we have clearly said the sinister propaganda of BJP on this issue is condemnable. “For, they do not want to speak for the fear of annoying vote bank, yet they are opposing the demand of Lingayat samaj. It is condemnable and we dare Shri B S Yeddyuruppa and Shri Amit Shah to clarify their position in the open,” he said.

Surjewala said the Karnataka government had followed the due process before taking the decision. Referring to the Jain community, which was recognized as a religious minority a few years ago, he said Lingayats should also be accorded such status. He said the previous UPA Congress government had got the demand of the community examined and due process was followed by the Siddaramaiah dispensation. After examining historical and other evidences, the UPA government had come to a conclusion that the Jain community was a religious minority despite objections by the Agrawal community, which said they were part of them.

Lingayats and Veerashaivas constitute an estimated 17 per cent of the state’s population, and are considered the BJP’s traditional vote base in Congress-ruled Karnataka, which is likely to go to polls in April-May. The Cabinet decision was slammed by the BJP, which accused Siddaramaiah of “playing with fire” for vote bank politics and carrying on with the “divide and rule” policy.

(PTI)

CBI moves Delhi HC against acquittal of Raja, Kanimozhi in 2G case

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New Delhi: The CBI today moved the Delhi High Court challenging a special court order acquitting former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. The matter was mentioned before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta.

The court allowed it to be listed for hearing tomorrow. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had yesterday moved the high court against the acquittal of Raja, Kanimozhi and others in a money laundering case arising out of the 2G scam. The special court had on December 21 last year acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and others in the cases registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED.

Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, the special court had acquitted 17 others, including DMK supremo M Karunanidhi’s wife Dayalu Ammal, Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka of STPL, Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt. Ltd., film producer Karim Morani, P Amirtham and Director of Kalaignar TV Sharad Kumar in the ED case. The ED, in its charge sheet, had alleged that Rs 200 crore was paid by Swan Telecom (P) Ltd (STPL) promoters to DMK-run Kalaignar TV.

On the same day, the trial court had acquitted Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others, including former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd. MD Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) — Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair, in the CBI’s 2G case.

The CBI had alleged that there was a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the exchequer in allocation of licences for 2G spectrum which were scrapped by the top court on February 2, 2012. Special Judge O P Saini had held that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to prove the charges.

The special court, which was set up on March 14, 2011, for hearing 2G cases exclusively, had also acquitted Essar Group promoters Ravi Kant Ruia and Anshuman Ruia and six others in a separate case arising out of the 2G scam probe. The first case, prosecuted by the CBI, had 17 accused, while the second matter, pursued by the ED, had 19 accused. The third one had eight accused including Essar promoters.

In the CBI case, Raja, Kanimozhi and 15 others were tried under provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, using as genuine fake documents, abusing official position, criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribes.

(PTI)

I had been saying all 39 others were dead: Lone survivor Harjit Masih

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Chandigarh: Harjit Masih, the lone survivor who had managed to flee from ISIS captivity in Iraq in June 2014 following his abduction along with 39 other Indians there, today said he had been maintaining for the last three years that all others had been killed.

“I had been saying for the last three years that all 39 Indians had been killed (by ISIS militants),” Masih today said. “I had spoken the truth,” asserted Masih, resident of village Kala Afghana in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.

Masih was one of the 40 Indian workers abducted by ISIS militant outfit. His statement came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today informed the Parliament that all the 39 Indian workers, abducted by ISIS in Iraq nearly three years ago, were killed and their bodies have been recovered.

Masih said they were killed in front of my eyes and I had been saying all these years, wondering why the government was not accepting what he had said earlier. Giving details of the incident, Masih said that Indians were working at a factory in Iraq in 2014.

“But we were kidnapped by militants and kept hostage for some days,” he said. On the fateful day, they were made to sit on their knees and the militants then opened fire upon them. “I was fortunate to have survived though a bullet hit my thigh and I fell unconscious,” he said.

He, however, managed to return to India after giving a slip to the ISIS militants suffering gun wound. As many as 39 Indians, who had gone to Iraq to earn their livelihood, had been missing since 2014. Among them, several were from Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar in Punjab.

(PTI)

Rahul Gandhi expresses shock at death of 39 Indians in Iraq

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New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi today expressed shock and his deepest condolences at the death of 39 Indians in captivity in Iraq. His party colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, added that it was not just a tragedy for the families but for the entire country.

“I’m shocked to hear that 39 Indians who were in captivity since 2014, in Iraq, are now confirmed dead. “My deepest condolences to the families of those who have lived in hope, that their loved ones will return unharmed. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you today,” Gandhi said on Twitter.

Adding that the entire country was sad, Azad said the Ministry of External Affairs had forcefully asserted in Parliament last year that they are alive but was now saying they are dead. A group of 40 Indian workers, mostly from Punjab, were taken hostage by ISIS when it overran Iraq’s second largest city Mosul in 2014.

One of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in a statement in the Rajya Sabha. The other 39 are dead and their bodies have been recovered, she said.

While it was not immediately known when the Indians were killed, their bodies were recovered from Badosh, a village northwest of Mosul, and their identities established through DNA testing, she said. The mortal remains, which were exhumed from a mass grave in Badosh, will be brought back to India on a special plane and handed over to their relatives, she said.

“I had said that I will not declare anyone dead without substantive proof… today I have come to fulfil that commitment,” she said.

(PTI)

UNSC: 13 million people need humanitarian aid in DR Congo

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Citing ongoing political turmoil, malnutrition, and a cholera outbreak, UN says millions need aid in the DRC.

A Congolese soldier carries a box of ammunition near the town of Kimbau, North Kivu province [File: Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Humanitarian needs caused by conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have doubled over the last year, the UN Security Council said.

Speaking on Monday, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General Mark Lowcock said 13 million people are affected by internal conflict gripping the country and require humanitarian assistance.

“More than 4.6 million children are acutely malnourished, including 2.2 million suffering from severe acute malnutrition,” Lowcock said.

“We’re seeing mushrooming epidemics including the worst outbreak of cholera in 15 years. There’s also an epidemic of sexual violence – most of it unreported and unaddressed – and much of it against children.”

Fighting in the central African country has much to do with the long-delayed vote to replace President Joseph Kabila.

While elections were initially set for November 2016, they were pushed to December 2018. But the electoral commission has since said voting may not be possible until April 2019.

In the meantime, political opposition has been building up and a report released by the UN on Monday said at least 47 people were killed in the past year in demonstration-related violence.

Various warlords
Speaking from the UN headquarters in New York City, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna said the UN Security Council is drawing attention to the crisis in DRC – one that involves many layers.

“There’s the ongoing political uncertainty with a president who has overstayed his constitutional term in office,” Hanna said.

“There’s been ongoing conflict particularly in the north of the country where there are rebel groups still operating. There are also military groups associated with various warlords in the particular region.”

This has resulted in a massive amount of internally displaced people, Hanna said.

The UN has scheduled a donor’s conference on April 13, where Lowcock said $1.7bn in aid is needed for this year. To date, only four percent of the funds needed for 2018 has been received by the UN.

“Underfunding is the largest single impediment to the humanitarian response in the DRC,” Lowcock said, adding the crisis will continue to escalate if there is no successful political transition and a halt to the violence.

New Davis Cup Format Difficult For India: Amritraj

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the national tennis squad scheduled to face China next month, former star Vijay Amritraj on Tuesday said the new Davis Cup format is not ideal for emerging countries like India.

According to Amritraj, the new two-day format may be difficult for India as it will be difficult for players to compete in both singles and doubles.

“We have a good chance to win against China… I am not crazy about the two-day format in the Davis Cup.

“I don’t think the two-day format is a good thing because a country like us needs to have a good weekend of matches,” Amritraj told IANS.

“The three-day format is important for us because we may have a singles player who will also be required to play the doubles. The three-day format was a good one. It was a tried and tested format which worked very well,” he added.

The former World No.16 felt that it will be difficult for India to compete or even reach the World Group unless the country starts producing high quality singles players on a regular basis.

“We need to play four singles matches. They are most important as they give us four points. We have to try to get better singles players. Till we have guys who are good enough to be in the top 100 or 50, everything else is immaterial,” he said.

“To reach the World group we need players in top 50 and we can only achieve that by doing hard work.

“Our players are not good enough because results have shown we are not good enough. We are getting better,” he added.

Amritraj also asserted that current Indian stars Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri have done well recently but will need more time to reach their full potential.

“Yuki and Ramkumar have been a bit better over the last six-to-seven month. I always said that their best years will be between 25 and 33 and not before that.

“Yuki had a terrific performance at Indian Wells. Ramkumar and Yuki are consistent these days and have qualified for a couple of ATP events,” the former star said.

“We start comparing them with western kids but it is a bit early. Indian kids mature physically later than western kids. I am still hoping our boys and girls can still do it between 25 and 33,” he added.

He also felt that Indian players needs better coaching and training facilities at the grassroots level.

“A lot of kids are playing at different levels but we don’t have kids excelling. The transformation is lacking completely. If you look at a particular level, they need better help,” Amritraj said.

“I think things have changed a lot now because you do get sponsorships and you do get coverage from media. You can get sponsorship to train abroad as well… like lots of kids have gone to Spain,” he added.

“There are lots of opportunities now. We have strong commitment from the children. We are in a little bit of dilemma. Our boys and girls are working hard but we need more results.”

Amritraj also opined that the high level of expenses and financial resources required for tennis put Indian kids at a disadvantage.

“It’s not easy… It costs… You need money. It is very very difficult to put together. You need lots of support to put those things together and we tried and keep trying,” he said.

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