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Archives for January 2019

ISL: Delhi, Kerala hunt for win and some pride

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New Delhi, Jan 30 (IANS) Two Indian Super League (ISL) clubs, who find themselves on the wrong end of the table, will meet when Delhi Dynamos host Kerala Blasters at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

The Dynamos will be hoping to start 2019 in the same fashion as they ended the last year with a much-needed 3-1 win over Chennaiyin FC.

“I think it’s very important to win the first game after the break. We ended the year after winning our first game against Chennai. We have worked hard in the past couple of games and are excited to start the tournament again,” said head coach Josep Gombau.

Struggling for goals and points, the club has been busy in the transfer window with Andrija Kaludjerovic, Pritam Kotal and Siam Hanghal exiting the club, while Mexican attacking midfielder Ulises Davila has been roped in.

“I think Pritam (Kotal) was an important player for us. He was our captain and a player who used to regularly feature in the playing 11. But the club and player found a deal with ATK. So, we will have to focus on the players we have in our squad now,” he added.

While scoring has been an issue for Gombau’s men, they have also leaked goals at the back and hold the joint second-worst defensive record in the league. The victory over Chennaiyin was the first of the season with the club yet to win at home and that will be something Gombau will be mindful of.

Interestingly, both sides have scored 13 goals each and have also conceded the same number of goals (21). A win for Delhi will take them above Kerala on goal difference.

There was nothing to separate the two sides when they met in Kochi in October last year with Kaludjerovic cancelling out CK Vineeth’s goal for the hosts. Surprisingly, both the goalscorers have now left their respective clubs. Vineeth has joined Chennaiyin on loan for the rest of the season, along with Halicharan Narzary.

Like Delhi, Kerala too have made significant changes during the break. Baoringbao Bodo has been roped in from Gokulam Kerala along with Lalthuammawia Ralte from FC Goa.

Unlike Delhi, Kerala Blasters have already played a game since the resumption of the league. 

“I believe that the results until now are not according to the level of the team. My first game was just after two days of my arrival. I am sure that the players know me better now and I know them better than before,” Vingada said.

Since the win against Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) at the end of September last year, the Blasters have been in freefall and have failed to win a single game in 12 attempts. Now, as they take on another struggling outfit, maybe it’s time for the tide to turn.

SBI Data of customers password unprotected

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A data security scandal has hit India’s largest public sector bank after a media report claimed that State Bank of India left a server with banking data (bank balances, recent transactions) of its customers unprotected for two months. SBI has now secured the server. 

According to a report by Techcrunch, the server which is hosted in a regional Mumbai-based data centre, stored two months of data from SBI Quick meant for users to request basic info about their bank accounts via a text message or on a call. 

The report goes on to point how the bank’s server was not password-protected, allowing anyone with the technical know-how to access the data of millions of customers’ information. According to Google Playstore, there have been 10-million-plus installs of the SBI Quick app.

Techcrunch claimed the passwordless database allowed them “to see all of the text messages going to customers in real time, including their phone numbers, bank balances and recent transactions”.

TechCrunch verified the authenticity of the server by asking an India-based security researcher to use SBI Quick and within seconds, his number, as well as the bank’s response, were available on the compromised server. 

The report says the server revealed that the bank sent over three million text messages to its consumers on a single day – Monday – itself. 

SBI Quick offers an easy way to its consumers to get basic information about like their account balance, mini statement, cheque book, and more with the bank. 

India’s largest public sector bank with a $47.5 billion revenue stood 216th in the last Fortune 500 list of the world’s biggest corporations.

12 killed, 170 injured in Saudi Arabia floods

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Saudi Arabia,flood,rain

Nasheman News : Civil Defence forces say they rescued 271 people over the past four days, most of them in the al-Jawf region that borders Jordan. Several were also rescued in Mecca, Tabuk and the Northern Borders region.(Picture for representation)

Saudi Arabia says 12 people have died and more than 170 have been injured this week due to flooding from heavy rain in the northwest.

The Civil Defence said on Thursday that 10 people died in the area of Tabuk, one in Medina and another in the Northern Borders region. It did not say what caused the deaths.

Civil Defence forces say they rescued 271 people over the past four days, most of them in the al-Jawf region that borders Jordan. Several were also rescued in Mecca, Tabuk and the Northern Borders region.

Heavy rains have flooded desert valleys and forced schools to close. The English-language Arab News in Saudi Arabia posted video of water engulfing a street in the city of Medina, home to one of Islam’s holiest sites.

Hazare’s fast enters second day, locals in his village observe bandh

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Social activist Anna Hazare‘s hunger strike entered the second day on Thursday as he remained defiant on his demand for appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers’ issues.

A bandh was also observed by locals in Hazare’s native Ralegan Siddhi village in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district in support of his demands.

Hazare is sitting on a hunger strike in his village since Wednesday against “non-fulfilment” of assurances by the Centre and the Maharashtra government on the appointment of Lokpal and passage of the Lokayukta Act in the state.

The 81-year-old Army man-turned-activist has also been demanding appointment of Lokayuktas in states where such statutory anti-corruption watchdogs do not exist.

He has also been demanding implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendations on ways to address agrarian distress, besides some electoral reforms.

Locals of Ralegan Siddhi village issued a statement on Thursday to local tehsildar, as an official representative of the state government, to look into Hazare’s demands.

Doctors conducted a check-up of Hazare and asked his caretakers to monitor the activist’s condition closely.

“He is over 80 years’ old. He needs to be looked after,” the doctors told Hazare’s close aides.

Hazare had earlier declined to meet state government envoy and minister Girish Mahajan for talks over his demands.

However, Mahajan said on Wednesday that talks were going on with Hazare and his supporters.

“There will be some solution,” Mahajan, a confidant of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, told reporters in Nashik.

The anti-corruption crusader had earlier told media that he welcomed the Maharashtra Cabinet’s decision to bring the office of state chief minister under the ambit of Lokayukta.

“However, the strike will continue till the government fulfils promises they made before coming to power about passage of Lokayukta Act, appointment of Lokpal (at the Centre) and to tackle farmers’ issues,” he said.

Hazare had written a letter to Fadnavis Monday, saying he would launch the agitation in his village from Wednesday.

“It has been five years since the Lokpal Act was passed.

Yet, the Narendra Modi government has not appointed Lokpal. Lokayukta Act has not been passed in Maharashtra for four years,” Hazare observed in his letter dated January 28.

The activist said Fadnavis had mediated when he had launched the agitation at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi in March last year.

Hazare said he had withdrawn that agitation after the Centre assured in writing it would fulfil his demands.

“Nine months have passed, yet the demands have not been fulfilled,” he had said in the letter.

The Fadnavis Cabinet had on Tuesday decided to bring the office of chief minister under the purview of Lokayukta.

Hazare welcomed the government’s decision to set in motion the process to appoint Lokayukta, but said that does not mean he will not stage hunger strike.

“The agitation will go on until the Act is in place,” he had said.

The Lokayukta is a statutory body that is empowered to probe complaints of abuse of position and corruption against public servants.

Congress wins Ramgarh election, touches 100 tally in Rajasthan

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Nasheman News : The Congress on Thursday won the Ramgarh Assembly seat in Rajasthan, taking its tally in the 200-member house to 100.

Congress candidate Shafia Khan won by a margin of 12,228 votes after polling 83,311 votes. Her nearest rival, BJP’s Sukhwant Singh, got 71,083 votes.

Jagat Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) finished third with 24,856 votes.

An overjoyed Shafia Khan said: “This is a victory of the people. I congratulate the people for this victory.

“The BJP talks too much and does little. They closed the schools which we had started, they were biased in implementing the social welfare schemes and hence people wanted to come out of the polarized environment they had created. 

“So people have voted unitedly for the Congress,” she added.

While Shafia Khan got 44.77 per cent of all votes, the BJP’s vote share was 38.20 per cent.

Overall, 241 votes went to NOTA (None of the Above).

Senior Congress leader Suresh Chaudhary told IANS: “The Congress has built its credibility amongst voters by fulfilling all its promises made in its manifesto. People in the state are fed up with the polarization prank being played by the BJP.

“This broad margin of victory speaks the story,” he said.

Counting of votes was held at the Babu Shobharam Government Arts College in Alwar amid tight security, said Ramgarh Returning Officer Pankaj Sharma.

The election on this seat was scheduled on December 7 along with the rest of Rajasthan Assembly seats but was postponed after BSP candidate Laxman Singh died due to cardiac arrest.

Eventually, polling was held on January 28 with a high voter turnout.

There are 20 candidates in the fray but the main contest involved Shafia Khan, Sukhwant Singh and Jagat Singh.

The Congress aimed to win the seat to hit a century mark in the 200-member House. This win will limit its dependency on anti-BJP parties.

For a simple majority on its own, the party needs 101 seats. 


Devegowda Warns Congress

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The tension between the coalition partners in Karnataka intensified with JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda entering the scene to defend his son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, from the Congress’ onslaught.

Gowda, who for the last seven months had maintained that all was well with the alliance, however on Wednesday categorically warned the grand old party that “things may go out of control”, if its state leaders did not stop denouncing Kumaraswamy.

He also used the JD(S) Plenary Session as a platform to hit out at his former protégé and coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah for creating hurdles for his son to function smoothly as the chief minister. He indirectly blamed Siddaramaiah for injecting a sense of instability in the coalition government for the past seven months.

Gowda was referring to the recent instances where followers of Siddaramaiah, including Congress legislators and Cabinet ministers, were seen publicly hailing the Kuruba leader as their chief minister. Kumaraswamy had not only lashed out at the Congress leaders, but he had also threatened to step down as chief minister.

The former prime minister indicated that Siddaramaiah was nursing a grouse on missed opportunities, which, he was now taking out against him and his son. Gowda said that Siddaramaiah had accused him of scuttling his chances of becoming chief minister twice (In1996-2004)

“What pains me is that he (Siddaramaiah) in an interview to a television channel said twice that I could have gone to Delhi and ensured that he became the chief minister and that I did not. He also said that I did not impress upon Sonia Gandhi

(then Congress chief) to make him the chief minister. He has been nursing this pain and anger for long now. But I have no hate. I am ready to discuss with him why I did not make him the chief minister on both occasions,” he added.

He also claimed that Kumaraswamy had no intentions of becoming the chief minister. “The Congress leaders put pressure on him to become the chief minister, though he was averse to the idea. But today, the Congress MLAs are complaining on a daily basis

that Kumaraswamy is not accessible. The same party, however, turned the Muslim votes against us. How long can you go on?”

Further, he attacked Siddaramaiah and his supporters for pulling down Kumaraswamy, every time he attained a milestone. “Every time Kumaraswamy does some good work the MLAs (Congress) start issuing statements in the media — this happens every day.”

He warned the Congress of consequences. “We have hit the last stage. I appeal to the Congress high command to put an end to this. If they (Congress MLAs) don’t stop talking lightly about Kumaraswamy, it may go out of control. The national leaders should unterstand this.

Unlike Gowda, who only attacked the Congress, Kumaraswamy chose to train his guns on the BJP. Reiterating that the BJP was trying its best to topple his government, he said that he was even prepared to face the no-confidence motion against him by the BJP. “The BJP has been continuously conspiring. I am even aware that the party is preparing to move a no-confidence motion against me. But the BJP will fail,” he added.

India unveils human space flight centre in Bengaluru

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Nasheman News :  The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Thursday that it has launched a Human Space Flight Centre here.

“Human Space Flight Centre is operational now… The facility is next to ISRO headquarters,” the city-based space agency tweeted.

The Centre is dedicated to developing critical technologies for human space missions.

The facility, unveiled by former ISRO chairman K. Kasturirangan and current chairman K. Sivan, will be headed by S. Unnikrishnan Nair as the Director.

The ISRO aims to send humans to space by December 2021 through its Gaganyaan mission.

A full-scale Gaganyaan crew module model was also unveiled at the Centre, the agency said.

R. Hutton, who was the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Director, will be heading the Gaganyaan project.

Infosys arm to revive lake in Karnataka

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Nasheman News :  Global software major Infosys’ philanthropic arm on Thursday said that it will restore the Panchakalyani lake in Karnataka’s Mandya district.

“The Foundation will restore the lake by cleaning the tank, removing silt and waste deposit, ensuring structural and chemical conservation of Panchakalyani and a nearby tank called Ganeshan Honda, reconnecting the existing canals and building a compound wall,” the city-based Infosys Foundation said in a statement here.

Panchakalyani, about 140 km from here, is said to be one of the largest ancient lakes of Melukote town, which has several water bodies situated on a hill top through which rain water has been harvested for consumption and irrigation for decades.

“The restoration project is important to improve the water quality of the lake and bring back the balance in the natural ecosystem of Melukote,” Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty said in the statement.

By preserving the lakes of Melukote, a town patronized by the empires of Hoysala, Vijayanagara and the Wodeyars of erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, the heritage structures and legacy are also protected, Murty said.

Lok Sabha adjourned for the day

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New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The Lok Sabha was on Thursday adjourned for the day soon after President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

The Lower House met for the first day of the Budget session after Kovind’s address in the Central Hall ended. Secretary General Snehlata Shrivastava laid a copy of the President’s address in the House.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai and several other opposition leaders, including Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge, were present in the House.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan then adjourned the House for the day. The House will meet on Friday when the General Budget will be presented.

We will win Lok Sabha, Assembly elections in Haryana: Khattar

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Nasheman News : Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Thursday that people in Haryana will vote for the BJP and the party will win all 10 Lok Sabha seats as well as Assembly elections this year.

Khattar said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was leading by over 9,500 votes in the Jind Assembly seat by-election after seven rounds of counting on Thursday.

“The people have voted for the good governance and transparency of the BJP government in Haryana,” Khattar told the media here.

The Chief Minister said the issue of holding Assembly elections in Haryana along with the Lok Sabha polls had not been discussed by his government yet.

“If any suggestion in this regard is received from the Centre, we can discuss it. As of now, the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls will be held as per schedule,” Khattar said.

Khattar has been leading the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana since October 2014.

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