Top 10 Entries From Varun and Jacqueline's Dhishoom Diaries
This image was posted on Instagram by Jacqueline Fernandez
JACQUELINE'S 'MONKEY BUSINESS' AND MORE. MUCH MORE
Actors Varun Dhawan, John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez have been maintaining a social media record of their shoot for Dhishoom, directed by Varun's brother Rohit. Here are the top 10 Dhishoom moments which were 'Insta' hits with us.
#1: As the very name suggests, muscle-power will play a major role in the movie and it seems the Student Of The Year star has already safe-zoned himself in his alliance with the 'biggest biceps in the industry'. This is the second time that John and Desi Boyz director Rohit have collaborated for a movie, but we bet that it was a first ever 'insanity workout' for Varun.
Shah Rukh, Salman to Akshay, Sidharth: Bollywood's Obsession With Brothers
SRK AND SALMAN WILL REPORTEDLY TEAM UP FOR A FILM AFTER AGES, SIDHARTH AND AKSHAY ARE BONDING OVER BOXING AND IT'S BIKES THAT JOHN AND VARUN REPORTEDLY HAVE IN COMMON ON THE SETS OF DISHOOM
Two heads are always better than one. And when those heads are handsome, that just adds up to manly magic. Having said that, it's tough to share the spotlight, but more and more it seems that our older leading men are realising that maybe it's nice to share the load of superstardom every once in a while.
The grapevine recently suggested that Ajay Devgn would be producing and acting in, of all things, a dance movie with two leading men. Thankfully, the directing would be left to Remo D'Souza.
But while Ajay has not 'danced' around the topic and confirmed his plans for a two-hero dance project, there is still a lot of speculation around Yash Raj Films' next two-hero film. Reports initially suggested that actors Shah Rukh Khan and Ranveer Singh would be sharing screen space but producer Aditya Chopra has apparently clinched a casting coup with SRK and Salman Khan. This may be far- fetched for anyone other than Adi Chopra.
Ranveer may have been passed over but Sidharth Malhotra seems to have formed quite the brotherhood with Akshay Kumar in Dharma Productions' Brothers. Clearly, Sidharth is all about family as he also shares the spotlight with Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan in Kapoor and Sons.
While speaking about the project, Fawad recently told NDTV in an interview, "We play brothers in the film. I'm really looking forward to the release of the film. It's about a dysfunctional set up but it's also very heartwarming."
As Sidharth and Akshay bond over boxing, it is bikes that John Abraham and Varun Dhawab reportedly have in common on the sets of Dishoom. The film reportedly involves a lot of high skill action sequences which involve bikes and John even showed Varun how to manoeuvre them - but that's clearly not all that Varun wants to learn from John.
Earlier, in an interview to NDTV, Varun had said, "John's triple my size. He is huge, he's got a brilliant body. Dishoom is a completely different ball game, a completely different zone of training. I have got a very good trainer. John's pretty cool. I think I will make him train me."
Imran Khan to Unveil Kangana Ranaut's Work as Director in Katti Batti
Imran and Kangana at the launch of the trailer of Katti Batti in Mumbai on June 14
KANGANA HAD DIRECTED A SEVEN-MINUTE SEQUENCE, BUT IT HAS BEEN EDITED AND BROUGHT DOWN TO THREE MINUTES
Actor Imran Khan will unveil his co-star Kangana Ranaut's work as a director for a small portion in their forthcoming film Katti Batti at an event here.
The actor will release the three-minute video at an event to be held in the second week of August. The makers of the film decided to launch the exclusive footage for audiences so that they could get a sneak peek into Kangana's work as a director, a statement read.
Directed by Nikhil Advani, Katti Batti is an urban romantic comedy between two very different people. A sudden turn of events creates a distance between them.
The Fashion actress had directed a seven-minute sequence, but it has been edited and brought down to three minutes. However, the film's spokesperson added that the scene is crucial to the storyline of the film.
"It is an extremely difficult and a pivotal sequence in the film. We have seen a glimpse of the same in the trailer, and makers are keen to launch it as a separate promotional unit," the spokesperson added.
Gurdaspur Martyr's Family Fights for Jobs. He Fought the Same Battle Once
KAPURTHALA, PUNJAB: Relatives and well-wishers throng the residence of Baljit Singh in Punjab's Kapurthala, after the police officer sacrificed his life yesterday, while fighting heavily armed terrorists in Dinanagar area of Gurdaspur district near the border with Pakistan.
Baljit Singh is not the first martyr in the family, his father, Achhar Singh, too was killed by militants during Punjab militancy in 1984, he was a police inspector. Despite the government's promise of a job, Baljit Singh had to wait for two years before he was given a job in the police department. The officer's family is now concerned about their future.
"His (Baljit) dream was that his son should be an IPS officer while daughters would become PCS officers. The son should get the same rank as his father... The body will not be cremated till demands are met because this is no ordinary death, he sacrificed his life for the country," said Kulwant Kaur, wife of Baljit Singh.
Family members want a Superintendent of Police (SP) rank job for Baljit Singh's son, Maninder Pal Singh, 24, and the two daughters, Parminder Kaur, 22, and Ravinder Kaur, 20, should get a tehsildar rank government job.
The officer's daughter, Parminder Kaur said, "We will not move the body from here till we get letters of our appointment."
The Punjab government has announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh each, senior police officers have refused to comment on the family's demands.
Seven persons - three civilians and four policemen, including SP (Detective), Baljit Singh, were killed by terrorists who stormed a police station in the district yesterday morning. After nearly 12 hours of a raging gun-battle, a group of three terrorists were shot dead by the Punjab police.
Rescue Teams Roped in as Heavy Rains Lash Rajasthan
JALORE, RAJASTHAN: Incessant rains over the past two days have led to a flood like situation in parts of south Rajasthan that borders Gujarat. 12 villages of Jalore district have been inundated, and rescue operations by helicopters have saved 53 people till yesterday, according to officials.
The situation has worsened after check dams have been breached in the area, leading to more flooding. Local administration is still rescuing marooned villagers with the help of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) relief teams in boats.
While speaking to NDTV on the phone, senior government official, Jitendra Soni said, "The situation was under control but still tense. The entire administration had been moved to Sanchore town to oversee rescue efforts."
All schools in the area have been asked to remain closed till tomorrow. The worst affected towns in Jalore district are Bhinmal and Sanchore. Till yesterday, Jalore had received approximately 79 milimetres of rainfall. The monsoon department has predicted heavy rainfall in parts of the region over the next few days.
The Director of Indian Meteorological Department, Laxman Singh Rathore said, "R K Jain, member secretary NDMA convened a meeting with the DG IMD, NDRF, Central Water Commission and Resident Commissioners of Gujarat and Rajasthan and directed for pre-positioning of NDRF team at strategic locations as per predicted rainfall and likely flood like situation,"
Normal life has been disrupted in other districts like Dungarpur and Sirohi also due to heavy rainfall. The popular tourist spot of Mount Abu saw a minor landslide, while pilgrims were stranded at the Baneshwar dham in Dungarpur.
Heartbreak for These IIM Students at President Kalam's Last Lecture
SHILLONG: He wore his trademark Kalam suit and there were smiles all around. But he had only begun his lecture at the Indian Institute of Management or IIM, Shillong, when former President APJ Abdul Kalam fainted and fell.
Many students followed as he was rushed in an ambulance to the nearby Bethany Hospital, only to learn that the People's President had died.
On Tuesday morning, there was an eerie silence at the sprawling campus on the outskirts of Meghalaya's capital. The weather reflected the gloom. Not a single student at IIM Shillong had been able to eat since Dr Kalam's collapse, they said. They could hardly sleep last night either.
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"He started his lecture and was in the middle of a sentence, had barely spoken two sentences, and he collapsed," said a woman student, adding, "We did not have the opportunity to hear the full lecture."
Dr Kalam had been to the Shillong IIM campus twice before and there was much excitement on Monday; he was to address second year students of the B-school on "Creating a Liveable Planet."
"For many of us he was a role model in many ways...it was a big moment for all of us, a big opportunity," said another student. Seniors, the students said, had described how wonderful the experience of interacting with Dr Kalam was. "They had told us that we should not miss this opportunity. We were overjoyed to see him. Suddenly this happened," a student said.
Dr Kalam's lecture was to have been part of a three-day series on ways to make India an economically developed nation. The former President wanted the students to submit proposals for projects after his lecture.
Apart from IIM Shillong, Dr Kalam was also a visiting faculty at IIM Ahmedabad. He had lasted visited the Shillong institute on March 6 this year.
'We Induced Yakub Memon to Return to India': Former CBI Official
NEW DELHI: A secret deal with Yakub Memon was not struck to engineer his return to India, but the CBI did use all its contacts in Pakistan to "induce the Memons to believe that their safety lay in India" a top investigator has told NDTV.
The Supreme Court is now hearing a last-minute appeal from Yakub Memon to stop him from being hanged on Thursday in Nagpur for his role in India's deadliest terror attack.
Memon left India one day before a series of blasts hit Mumbai's landmarks including the Stock Exchange in 1993, killing 257 people. He was produced in a Mumbai court in August 1994 amid conflicting versions of whether he surrendered in Nepal, or was arrested in New Delhi.
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Shantanu Sen was the head of the CBI's special task force that investigated the blasts. "We learnt, very confidentially from our sources, that as far as the Memon family was concerned, there was an internal disagreement among them," he said. At the time, Yakub and his brother, "Tiger" Memon, were in Karachi. Tiger reportedly advised Yakub against returning to India. Like Dawood Ibrahim, another mastermind of the attacks, Tiger remains missing.
"We learnt from our sources that there was internal disagreement between the Memon family on staying in Pakistan. They (Yakub and his family) felt unsafe, ghutan (claustrophobic). They also felt that maybe they will not be able to survive this atmosphere and maybe Pakistanis will not trust them," said Mr Sen to NDTV. He said multiple Indian agencies were in touch with the Memon family, including the Intelligence Bureau, and R&AW, India's external spy agency. "We offered them the great justice of India," said Mr Sen.
"We were watching their movements from Day 1; we had our contacts, we knew how they were coming and as and when they landed, whenever they landed, we were able to arrest them," said Mr Sen.
Mr Sen claims that the Memons were not duped with false promises - after Yakub returned, he was instrumental in bringing back other family members from Pakistan including two brothers who have been given the life sentence. "Out of 11, only four have been convicted. The rest of them have not been convicted. His parents got bail and then they died. If they had been prosecuted, charges against them would have been dropped."
B Raman was a top officer of R&AW when Memon returned to India. He said in a column that was published posthumously earlier this week that Memon had cooperated with investigators and does not deserve the death penalty, though his role in the terror attack is clear.
This was echoed by Shyam Keswani, lawyer for Yakub Memon, who claimed that one of the CBI officers in the case, OP Chattwal, had promised that the agency would not oppose bail for Memon, given the extent to which he (Yakub) had cooperated with the CBI. Later, Mr Keswani alleged, the CBI did a u-turn.
But Mr Chattwal told NDTV that is incorrect. "I have never received any instructions from any senior officer (of the CBI) to go slow in the matter or to show any favour to him," he said.
As for the claim of whether Memon cooperated with the investigation, Mr Chattwal said "Whatever evidence was available with him at the time of the arrest, that was taken into custody. And that has been used and produced in court during the trial. It wasn't voluntary handing over of evidence from him. The evidence was recovered from him."
Public Tribute to Former President APJ Abdul Kalam At His Residence in Delhi
Public Tribute to Former President APJ Abdul Kalam At His Residence in DelhiA student offers flowers to a portrait of former President APJ Abdul Kalam at a school in Lucknow on July 28. (Associated Press photo)
NEW DELHI: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's body was brought to Delhi from Guwahati at about 12:15 pm. The three service chiefs were present at the airport to receive the body; Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to arrive at the airport shortly.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam's body will be taken from the airport to his residence at 10 Rajaji Marg, where people can pay homage to the People's President for two hours.
Last rites for Dr Kalam will be performed in his home town Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu. The former President's body will be flown to Rameswaram early this evening.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned today after paying tribute to Dr Kalam. The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till July 30. The Union Cabinet will hold a special meeting in New Delhi today to condole Dr Kalam's death.
Dr Kalam, 83, died on Monday in Shillong, Meghalaya, after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management last evening.
The government has declared a seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for Dr Kalam, a renowned missile scientist, who played a stellar role in advancing India's nuclear programme.
As the nation mourned his death, PM Modi said in his tribute, "My mind is filled with so many memories, so many interactions with him. Always marvelled at his intellect, learnt so much from him."
The casket carrying Dr Kalam's body was wrapped in the Tricolour and hymns played as it was carried to the aircraft in Guwahati.
Known as the Missile Man of India, Dr Kalam played a pivotal role in the Pokhran-II nuclear test in 1998.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and Bharat Ratna for his achievements.
Loved dearly by the young, he was nominated for the MTV Youth Icon of the Year award in 2003 and 2006, when he was in his 70s.
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's Body Brought to Delhi; PM Pays Tributes
NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the body of former President APJ Abdul Kalam at the Palam airport in Delhi a little after noon today.
A guard of honour by the three services was held at the airport. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the three service chiefs were also present at the airport.
Dr Kalam's funeral will be held tomorrow in Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, where he was born.
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The government has declared a seven-day national mourning as a mark of respect for the man known and loved across the country as the "People's President".
The former president died after a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, Meghalaya, last evening. He was 83.
His body was flown this morning to Guwahati in Assam from where it was brought to Delhi.
(Former President APJ Abdul Kalam's body brought to Delhi in a C-130J Super Hercules aircraft)
Both Houses of Parliament adjourned today as a mark of respect for the popular president. The government has said that Dr Kalam's body will be taken to his Delhi residence at 10, Rajaji Marg, where people can pay tributes this afternoon.
Paying tribute to Dr Kalam last night, PM Modi had said,
Messages of condolence also poured in from various leaders.
Known as the Missile Man of India, Dr Kalam played a pivotal role in the Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and Bharat Ratna for his achievements.
While in his 70s, he was nominated for the MTV Youth Icon of the Year award in 2003 and 2006
Monday, 27 July 2015
Terrorists Had AK-47s, Gurdaspur Cops Had Dated Rifles
NEW DELHI: For nearly 11 hours, it required every available pair of hands to counter the group of terrorists who had forced their way into a police station, turning it into their shelter.
Among those who died in Gurdaspur today was senior police officer Baljeet Singh, who headed the detective branch of the local force.
As the gunshots rang out with chilling frequency, it was clear the terrorists were armed to the teeth. At about 5.30 pm, Punjab police officers at the Dinanagar station chanted "Vande Mataram" as the operation was declared over and a success - the terrorists had been killed.
Till then, what had been reported was that the terrorists had fired at a bus packed with passengers, car-jacked a Maruti 800 turning it into their ride to the police station, and that eight people had been killed by then.
With the operation over, the details of what the police had confronted could be revealed.
The attackers had AK-47s; the policemen fought back with dated SLRs - Self-Loading Rifles.
No bulletproof vests for members of the Punjab Police SWAT or Special Weapons and Tactics - they had kneepads but no helmets. The footage shows policemen with clearly no tactical training lobbing grenades at the police station, then turning around and running for cover. One massively overweight policeman tried to rush away, his rifle dangling in his hand. Curious onlookers surround the police post, alarmingly close to the scene of immense danger.
Earlier in the day, members of the Special Forces of the Indian Army - some of the most skilled, hardened and well-equipped soldiers in India were deployed to Dinanangar, but the Punjab Police reportedly made it clear they would lead the operations. So India's best-trained troops were asked to restrict their role to cordoning off the area, a task usually assigned to the police.
The fact that the terrorists were eventually all shot dead meant that the operation could be declared a success; but it exposed, once again, the incredible vulnerability resulted by inadequate training and equipment for those who put their lives at risk.
Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur to replace Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan!!
Exactly two months back, it was reported that Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan will be paired together one more time, in Shaad Ali's next. The film, in question being the Hindi remake of Mani Ratnam's OK Kanmani. And now we hear, the director has decided to replace the lead stars of his film. It will be Aditya Roy Kapur and Sonakshi Sinha who will be paired together for the film now.
Sonakshi and Aditya have never been seen in a film before and this will be a casting coup of sorts. OK Kanmani which released earlier this year won a lot of accolades for its beautiful story and now that Ratnam's film will be remade in Hindi, Shaad Ali has decided to helm the project.
Shaad had also organised a special screening of the film for his initial choices- Alia and Varun. But the two young actors are extremely busy with their upcoming films. While Alia has her plate full with Shaandaar, Udta Punjab, Kapoor & Sons, Shuddhi and Ayan Mukherji's next with Ranbir Kapoor, Varun, on the other hand will be busy finishing Dilwale and Dishoom before moving on to Shuddhi.
Sonakshi who will be next seen in Akira and Force 2 and Dabang 3, has finalised her schedules and given a go ahead to Shaad for the film. Aditya Roy Kapur, on the other hand has Fitoor which releases next year.
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If you don’t behave yourself on social media site, this actress will take strict measures!
It’s always nice to see celebrities interacting with their fans on Twitter. Sometimes it’s fun and on other occasions, they are informative. But there are also those who hide behind pseudo names to troll the celebrities. It is the 60 seconds of fame which they are addicted to. No wonder that often you hear actors threatening to quit the medium due to these useless maniacs. Anushka Sharma is the new addition to this list. Her strong tweet on blocking those who talk crap on Twitter is enough to put those people in their place!
Anushka tweeted, “Trying to keep my Twitter positive ( well as positive as possible ) so will BLOCK people who rant nonsense with no sense of responsibility.” Ouch! The tone makes it clear that someone did cross her badly and she is not going to take it lying down! And why should she? Just because you can create an account for free, you think you have the right to talk any crap? It is important that everyone should take a stand like Anushka!
We completely support Anushka in her stand. What about you people?
#anushkasharma #salmankhan #priyankachopra #bollywood #bollywoodactress #bollywoodnews #bollywoodmovies #abcd2 #udtapunjab #shahidkapoor #shandaar #varundhawan #shraddhakapoor #aliabhatt #dildhadaknedo #deepikapadukone #aamirkhan #tigershroff #jacquelinefernandez #ranveersingh #akshaykumar #bajrangibhaijaan #salmankhan #shahrukhkhan #tigershroff #kareenakapoor #bollywoodmania #arjunkapoor #sidharthmalhotra #sonakshisinha
Microsoft's Arrow Launcher for Android Reminds Us of Yahoo's Aviate by Manish Singh, 27 July 2015
If you don't like your Android smartphone's home screen and launcher, Microsoft has an app it would like you to try out. The company has launched Arrow Launcher with which it aims to improve your experience on the phone, and the launcher is currently available in private beta.
Arrow Launcher reminds us of Aviate, an Android launcher by Yahoo, but there are some noticeable differences. With Arrow Launcher, Microsoft aims to tone down the clutter from your home screen. It is doing so by giving you quick access to your most favourite things and steering away the noise.
First thing you will realise after installing it is just how light and fast it is. Weighing around 4MB, Arrow Launcher consumes minimal resources. Once you've installed the launcher, it divides your home screen into three different segments: People, Apps, and Notes & Reminders.
The People page lists the coordinates of people you frequently talk to. It gives you a quick option to give them a ring or send them a text message. It is definitely intuitive, and can easily save you a few clicks. But if you want to call a person you haven't talked to in days, you'll have no other option but to click on the phone icon.
The Apps page is impressive too. Instead of showcasing all the apps you've installed on your phone, it saves you from a lot of trouble by only displaying the apps you seem to use the most. There's also a Recent tab on the page that showcases the apps you've recently opened.
Titled Notes & Reminders, the third page lets you quickly save reminders and take notes, Which is perhaps the right way to go about it. When you want to jot down something really quickly, sometimes it can make a world of a difference if you didn't have to waste seconds in finding a note-taking app from the menu.
The app drawer gets a paint job too. Once you've installed the app, it curates your menu in accordance with different letters, making it easier to locate an app. Alternatively, there's also a search bar on the top that should help you find a particular app.
In our brief testing, we were rather pleased with its offerings. Although it doesn't support swipe features as Nokia's Z-Launcher which many users like, and also doesn't let you add more pages, its current feature lineup still make it exciting. It is not available on Google Play yet, and users will have to sign up to the Arrow Launcher Beta community on Google to request an invite to the beta. Alternatively, users can download the Microsoft-signed apk file and then sideload it on their phones.
Arrow Launcher once again showcases company's growing interest to capture users on the rival platforms. Microsoft realises that it needs to go to rival mobile platforms if users don't come to Windows Phone.
Gunfight Kills At Least 20 at Afghan Wedding: Officials
KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN: At least 20 people were killed when a gunfight broke out at a wedding party in northern Afghanistan, officials said today, highlighting the fragile security situation in the war-torn country.
The clashes erupted late Sunday in Deh Salah district in Baghlan, a once-tranquil province that has recently been plagued by growing insecurity as the Taliban insurgency spreads north from its southern and eastern strongholds.
"As a result of the clashes, 20 people were killed and 10 others were wounded," provincial police spokesman Jawed Basharat told AFP.
District police chief Gulistan Qusani said the armed men traded verbal barbs before the gunfight broke out.
"A local security official fired in the air after the verbal exchange heated up... and then both sides started trading fire," Qusani told AFP, giving a higher death toll of 21.
He added that the victims were all male guests at the wedding aged between 14 and 60.
Baghlan police spokesman Sultan Mohammad Ebadi said an official delegation had been sent to the area to investigate the matter.
Fatal gun fights and celebratory gun fire are woefully common at Afghan weddings, which have boomed in recent years in a country battered by nearly 40 years of war.
Afghan soldiers mistakenly fired mortars at a wedding party in late December in the southern province of Helmand, killing 17 women and children.
Some witnesses said the army attack was triggered when wedding guests shot celebratory gunfire into the air as the bride was brought to the groom's house.
In July 2012, a suicide bomber killed a prominent Afghan lawmaker and 16 other people at his daughter's wedding party in the north of the country.
And in June 2011, gunmen stormed a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan, killing the groom and eight other people in an attack blamed on Taliban-linked insurgents.
The Afghan government conducted its first face-to-face talks with Taliban cadres on July 7 in a Pakistani hill station, aimed at ending nearly 14 years of war.
Afghan officials said Friday they will meet insurgents this week for a second round of talks, pledging to press for a ceasefire in negotiations likely to be held in China.
But despite the willingness to engage in talks there has been no let-up in militant attacks, which are taking a heavy toll on civilians.
A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed 19 people including women and children in a crowded market in the northern province of Faryab, as insurgents intensify their annual summer offensive launched in late April.
China Eyes New Cruise Link to Disputed South China Sea Islands
BEIJING: Chinese authorities plan to start a second cruise ship link to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, state media reported on Monday, in a move that may irk Vietnam, which also claims the islets.
China began cruises on the Coconut Princess on a trial basis from the southern island province of Hainan in 2013. More than 10,000 tourists have taken the trip so far, the official China Daily reported.
Officials hope a second ship will be in operation before the end of the year, and that more islands can be opened up for visits, the report said.
Those include Woody Island, where the Chinese government seat for administering the Paracels is located.
However, weather and poor facilities could hamper tourism efforts. The Paracels are often hit by typhoons and strong winds, the paper said.
"We need to take into account the capacity of the islets to handle tourists. Cruise ships cannot dock on some of them and the tourists have to be bought ashore by smaller ships," Xie Zanliang, head of a government tourism company promoting trips to the Paracels, told the newspaper.
The deployment of a Chinese oil rig near the Paracels last year sparked a standoff with Vietnam and anti-Chinese riots.
Taiwan also claims the Paracels.
China claims 90 percent of the potentially energy-rich South China Sea. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan lay claim to parts of the sea, through which passes about $5 trillion of trade a year.
Vietnam said last month it would offer its own cruises to the disputed Spratly archipelago, which lies south of the Paracels, a move that sparked anger from China.
USD 1 Million Prize for Crafting Best Message for Aliens
LONDON: Yuri Milner, the Russian billionaire who is funding the USD 100 million search for aliens, is offering USD 1 million prize money to craft the best message to send to an extraterrestrial civilisation.
Frank Drake, an astronomer who has been at the centre of searches for extraterrestrial intelligence since the 1960s, said that the first thing the judges would do was eliminate any entries written in human languages.
"Some people have foolishly composed messages in English. Big mistake," Mr Drake said.
Mr Drake has been involved in previous efforts to devise interplanetary messages, including the plaque on the Pioneer and Voyager space probes, which are now the farthest human objects from Earth, 'The Times' reported.
Given that the message may take thousands of years to reach intelligent life, it should include as much information as possible for the creatures receiving it.
"Don't just send a message like, 'We want to be your friends'. The ETs will just get disappointed and mad at this," Mr Drake said.
Mr Drake said the key was to think about what we have in common with other beings.
"There are many common reference points. Chemistry, for instance. Through the spectral lines of elements, which are the characteristic fingerprints they leave on the light spectrum, we can give scale - hydrogen's spectral line could be a common unit of length," Mr Drake said.
Pulsars would also be a common reference point. The lighthouses of the universe, these neutron stars emit characteristic bursts of radiation. They can be used to describe a time interval, he said.
The USD 100-million Breakthrough Initiatives programme was launched by eminent British physicist Stephen Hawking at the Royal Society in London last week.
Funded by Ms Milner, the programme has been characterised as the "biggest scientific search ever undertaken for signs of intelligent life beyond Earth."
Gurdaspur Terror Attack: Senior Police Officer Among 6 Killed
DINANAGAR (GURDASPUR): A senior police officer, Baljit Singh, was shot dead this morning while fighting terrorists in the Gurdaspur region on Punjab near the border with Pakistan. Six people have been killed in the attack.
Mr Singh was injured in the cross fire between security forces and the terrorists, who remain holed up in a police station in the town of Dinanagar.
Mr Singh, who headed the detective branch of the police in Gurdaspur, died after being moved to hospital, said sources.
The four terrorists, reportedly wearing army uniforms, opened fire on a bus and carjacked a Maruti 800 before storming the police station.
Five live bombs were recovered from nearby railway tracks and Home Minister Rajnath Singh said he had ordered increased security on the border with Pakistan, although it remains unclear who is responsible for the attack.
Punjab Put on Maximum Alert After Gurdaspur Terror Attack
CHANDIGARH: Security forces in Punjab went on "maximum alert" in the wake of suspected terror attack in Gurdaspur district today, about three weeks ahead of the Independence Day.
A senior police official said that in view of the attack, "maximum alert" has been sounded across the state and security has been beefed up along its borders with neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir.
Additional police and other security personnel have been deployed around vital installations and key public places in the state, the official said.
He said the police has set up 'nakas' or check-points and intensified checking of vehicles.
Border Security Force, which guards the Indo-Pak border, has also been put on high alert after the incident, he said.
Meanwhile, alert has also been sounded in neighbouring Haryana and Chandigarh, the common capital of both the states.
At least five people have been killed by a group of terrorists in Gurdaspur in Punjab near the border with Pakistan. The terrorists are currently in an empty police station and are exchanging fire with security forces. This is how the attackers struck, according to latest information from sources:
Around 5.30 am, the four armed terrorists, wearing army uniforms, tried to grab a tempo on a major highway near the bus stand in Dinanagar.
The tempo driver managed to escape, said sources.
A roadside food stall owner was reportedly killed in the firing.
The terrorists then opened fire on a bus heading towards the state capital of Chandigarh; six passengers were injured.
The terrorists shot next at a white Maruti 800; the driver was injured; the attackers left in his car
They stopped at the police station in Dinanagar and opened fire. Two cops were killed.
In the exchange of fire with security forces, three patients at a hospital next door were shot, according to sources.
The terrorists are now holed up in a part of the police station and are continuing to exchange fire with security forces.
'They Fired Every 5 Minutes': Policeman Injured in Punjab Terror Attack
DINANAGAR: One of the policemen injured in the terror attack on a police station in Punjab's Gurdaspur early this morning said gunfire erupted at around 5.45 am. Five including two policemen have been killed in the attack.
"We didn't realise when they came and started shooting...they were wearing army uniforms," the policeman, covered in blood, said as he was being rushed to safety. (Pics)
"A bullet whizzed past my ear. When I turned around, I saw that I had been shot in the shoulder," he said.
The policeman said it felt like there were more than four attackers. "They kept firing every five minutes. It was as if the ground was shaking," he said.
The terrorists are believed to crossed over the border at Hiranagar in Jammu before heading to Gurdaspur.
Before they attacked the Dinanagar police station, the terrorists opened fire at a bus in the town, killing a passenger.
Five live bombs have also been found on railway tracks between Dinanagar and Pathankot.
Dinanagar borders Pathankot, which has many key army establishments.
Sunday, 26 July 2015
Tony Fadell: What will Google's $3.2bn guru do next?
Media captionTony Fadell talks to the BBC's Leo Kelion about Google Glass, driverless cars and other ambitions
Is Tony Fadell destined to eclipse his former Apple workmate Sir Jonathan Ive?
When Google paid $3.2bn (£2.1bn) to buy Tony Fadell's start-up Nest in 2014, it got much more than just an internet-connected thermostat and smoke detector.
It got the man dubbed the "the iPod's father" - the engineer/designer who sold Steve Jobs on his vision of a portable music player, and then worked alongside Jony Ive to build it, update it and then repeat the process with the iPhone.
Now, the two men are set to go head-to-head. First with wearable tech, and then later, perhaps, with competing car designs - more of which later.
Nest's smoke/carbon monoxide detector and thermostat can talk to each other and a smartphone app
Tellingly, Mr Fadell reveals he recently started testing Sir Jonathan's latest product, the Apple Watch, although he was not wearing it at the time of interview.
"I've had mine for about two weeks now," he says.
"I think they did a tremendous job on the hardware components of it.
"They are trying many different things with that platform - some are going to be great, and some are not."
When Mr Fadell agreed to sell Nest to Google, the reason he gave was that joining forces would accelerate his "thoughtful home" master plan - he hates the term "internet of things", which he says does a "disservice" to his products.
But in January, it became clear that Google's chief executive, Larry Page, had wider uses for his hardware expertise, and the troubled Glass computer was added to his duties.
Mr Fadell has taken over control of the Glass project from the Google X skunk works team
"It wasn't handed to me and said, 'Tony clean it up,'" Mr Fadell clarifies, "I offered."
"I remember what it was like when we did the iPod and the iPhone. I think this can be that important, but it's going to take time to get it right."
'Spoil market'
The $1,500 (£965) "explorer edition" of Glass was soon pulled from sale, and Mr Fadell made clear that future test versions would be kept in-house.
That was widely seen as a shift in strategy for Google - a company that took five years to take its Gmail service out of "beta" status, and that still invites users to "play" with preview versions of other products.
Moreover, it caused anger among developers who had sunk time and money into making apps for a product that no longer existed.
But Mr Fadell defends the shift, saying a distinction needed to be drawn between hardware and software.
"If you are only doing services based on electrons, you can iterate quickly, test it, and modify it and get it right," he says.
Google has acknowledged the first version of Glass did not "have the impact" it had hoped for
"But when you are dealing with actual atoms - hardware - and you have to get manufacturing lines and it takes a year or more to develop that product, you better understand what it is and what it's trying to do and specifically what it's not going to do.
"Customers have to spend money to buy those atoms.
"They want something that delivers value or you end up with a real disappointment and you can spoil the market."
Home cam
For now, that leaves Mr Fadell's reputation dependent on his Nest line-up.
Mr Fadell unveiled a slimmer version of his smoke detector, a redesigned and rebranded home camera and new software for his thermostat, in June
It is limited to three products, including the recently launched Nest Cam.
The motion-detecting camera streams live footage and sound from the owner's home to an app and can save memorable moments in the cloud.
If you get over the creepiness factor of effectively spying on your family, it's fair to say the device shares the crisp, stylish look of the Nest's other products, and reviews have been positive.
But the camera is actually an upgrade to an earlier device made by Dropcam - a company Nest acquired.
That means Mr Fadell's division has not created a new product category of its own since joining Google.
Nest Cam can send live video and audio to an app and play back sound sent from the smartphone
Bearing in mind, Mr Page told him to "keep doing what you're doing, and do it as fast as you possibly can", it raises the question: what's taking so long?
"Talk to me about the number of home product companies who have come out with three different product categories in less than five years... are shipping and they are the number ones in their category," says Mr Fadell, slightly bristling.
"I would love to have more, faster.
"But it takes time - it really takes time to make these products to the level of design and near-perfection that we achieve."
Connected fridges
He adds that Nest's biggest goal right now is to expand the range of third-party products its devices talk to - for example its Thermostats can switch LG fridges into energy-saving mode when no-one's in, and its Protect sensors can make Philip's Hue lights flash red if they detect smoke or carbon monoxide.
Larry Page - pictured here with Tony Fadell and Nest's other co-founder, Matt Rogers - spent $3.2bn on Nest, making it Google's second most expensive takeover after Motorola Mobility
But such advances have less impact than a new product.
"Despite his substantial success to date and involvement in key products such as Apple iPod, Mr Fadell has arguably not yet reached the truly iconic status bestowed upon Jonathan Ive," Ben Wood, from the tech consultancy CCS Insight, says.
"Given the huge amount Google invested in the acquisition of Nest to secure his services there must be an expectation that he too can deliver his own portfolio of truly disruptive devices with mass appeal.
"Google still lacks a smash-hit consumer electronics device of its own - it would be sensible to assume it hopes Mr Fadell can deliver that missing element."
Fadell and Ive
Jony Ive and Tony Fadell worked together at Apple on 18 generations of the iPod and the first three generations of the iPhone
The two men worked together on first iPods and iPhones, but are credited with different achievements.
With the iPod, Mr Fadell first convinced Steve Jobs of the wisdom of developing a portable music player and then worked out how to incorporate a hard drive - a fragile component - into a device that could be thrown about, sat on and generally abused.
Jony Ive's breakthrough was his design of its thumb-wheel, which scrolled through songs more rapidly as it was spun more quickly.
With the iPhone, perhaps Mr Fadell's greatest feat was finding a way to shrink the tech necessary to offer a multi-touch user interface on a handheld device.
Jony Ive's skill was best summed up by one writer as making the final product look almost more like "a piece of jewellery than a gadget".
In post-Jobs Apple, Sir Jonathan's influence has grown further - extending to the look of the company's operating system software, the creation of its Watch and even the design of its new headquarters.
By contrast, Mr Fadell has thrived beyond - building and selling a multi-billion dollar company, reinventing mundane household devices as desirable gadgets, and becoming one of Google's key figures.
Driverless cars
This leads to thoughts about whether Mr Fadell could become involved in other Google projects.
A question about working on its growing roster of robots is rebuffed on the grounds that they are still a long way from leaving the lab.
But self-driving cars, he adds, are much closer to launch and a "big curiosity".
"I don't think you've seen anything of what the design of the car could look like when it first materialises," he says.
Google is expected to change the design of its self-driving cars before they exit test status
"How do you make those occupants feel like they are safe and make sure they are safe?
"How does the car exude safety [and be] fashionable as well?
"How does this 'utility' self-driving car also be a reflection of you, right, as well as itself and also be transparent about its safety?
"Those are very interesting questions that still need to be dealt with."
He adds that he has "some thoughts" about the answers and is sharing them with others involved in Google's self-driving car project.
"We are having discussion about them all the time," he says.
Mr Fadell says driverless cars will need to both be fashionable and convey safety at the same time
"I always have ideas - it's whether or not people want to hear them."
So, nothing official yet.
But it would not be a surprise if Google eventually announces Mr Fadell is adding automobile design to his list of duties.
