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Showing posts from November 3, 2017

Hardline preacher Zakir Naik finds refuge in Malaysia as politicised Islam grows

Times of India Reuters, Updated: Nov 2, 2017 WHEN ZAKIR NAIK EMERGED FROM A PROMINENT MALAYSIAN MOSQUE LAST MONTH FANS SWARMED ABOUT HIM, SEEKING SELFIES WITH THE INDIAN MUSLIM TELEVANGELIST WHOSE HARDLINE VIEWS HAVE SPARKED A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION BACK IN HIS HOME COUNTRY. ACCOMPANIED BY A BODYGUARD, NAIK WAS MAKING A RARE PUBLIC APPEARANCE AT THE PUTRA MOSQUE IN MALAYSIA'S ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL, WHERE THE PRIME MINISTER AND HIS CABINET MEMBERS OFTEN WORSHIP. ZAKIR NAIK+ , WHO HAS BEEN BANNED IN THE UK, HAS BEEN GIVEN PERMANENT RESIDENCY IN MALAYSIA, AND EMBRACED BY TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. CRITICS SEE NAIK'S PRESENCE IN MALAYSIA AS ANOTHER SIGN OF TOP-LEVEL SUPPORT FOR HARDLINE ISLAM IN A COUNTRY WITH SUBSTANTIAL MINORITIES OF CHRISTIANS, HINDUS AND BUDDHISTS, AND WHICH HAS LONG PROJECTED A MODERATE ISLAMIC IMAGE. SUPPORT FOR A MORE POLITICISED ISLAM HAS GROWN IN RECENT YEARS UNDER PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK, ESPECIALLY AFTER HE LOST THE POPULAR VOTE IN THE

Beware the China-Pakistan nuclear axis

BUSINESS LINE BY G PARTHASARATHY November 1, 2017 Pakistan’s nuclear capability has gone from strength to strength with China’s support. It’s high time Parliament debated this. Led by the US and the Soviet Union, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council tried to ensure some five decades ago that they alone had the right to possess nuclear weapons in perpetuity, with the signing of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Their nuclear arsenals steadily increased and pleas for disarmament were arrogantly disregarded. The scenario today is different from what the five envisaged. Nuclear stockpiles have steadily grown. In the past few decades Israel, Pakistan, India and North Korea have joined the ‘nuclear club’. Others like Japan and Iran are capable of doing so when needed. There are an estimated 14,900 nuclear warheads in nine countries, with 93 per cent of these in the possession of the US and Russia. Little-known facts While China tested and acquir

Small lies, big lies and big data

The Hindu, By HARISH BHAT November 2, 2017 How marketers can uncover the honest truth about people and their behaviour. The most insightful book I have read this year is Everybody Lies, written by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. This is a book every thoughtful marketer should read, because it argues that much of what we have understood about human behaviour may actually be incorrect. As marketers, understanding how consumers think and behave is critical to our profession. Therefore, it is somewhat startling to read in this book that the conventional methods through which we figured out consumer attitudes and behaviours may well be faulty, because everybody lies. Everybody lies The author, a data scientist with a keen nose for human nature, tells us that lying is intrinsic to human nature. In his own words, “People lie about how many drinks they have had on the way home. They lie about how often they go to the gym, how much those new shoes cost, whether they read that

SBI deploys Microsoft’s cloud-powered Office 365 solution

PTI NEW DELHI,   NOVEMBER 02, 2017 Tech giant Microsoft said State Bank of India (SBI) has deployed its cloud-powered productivity solution, Office 365. The move will help the country’s largest public-sector bank to improve communication and collaboration among its workforce. “This is one of the largest deployments of Office 365 in India, spanning SBI’s countrywide network of 23,423 branches, enabling 263,000 employees and servicing more than 500 million customer accounts, Microsoft said in a statement. The solution will empower the employees to collaborate effectively from any device anywhere (Android, iOS, Mac and Windows), providing an integrated experience and reduce complexity, the statement said. Microsoft has also consolidated SBI’s messaging and collaboration server infrastructure in 17 countries, helping it save more than $ 200,000 annually, it added. “As India’s economy continues to grow, the BFSI sector needs to be well—equipped to address dynamic market pr

Techies watch out, these guys are coming to take away your jobs

ET Online, Nov 02, 2017 Employees in the tech sector should watch out for a shifting trend in hiring. Companies will be hiring fewer employees and those who know the latest skills.  Emerging technologies such as automation pose a big threat to jobs. It can force companies to rationalise workforce and finish certain jobs. And India is expected to be hit the hardest.  global survey by ManpowerGroup released early this year asked 18,000 employers in 43 countries across six industry sectors how they expected technology to impact their business in the next two years. For the question—Where will digitisation increase or decrease headcount?—India had the most employers saying digitisation would decrease headcounts. Over a quarter of employers in India expect to reduce headcount due to digitisation.  Emerging technologies are already taking away thousands of entry-level jobs in India. According to a TOI report, companies are improving their employee-utilisation levels and kee

Do you know how to report a cyber crime? Here's a guide for victims

ET CONTRIBUTORS,Nov 02, 2017, Law does provide a remedy against most of the prevalent cyber crimes. 'Cyber crime' is not a defined term but a catch-all phrase attributable to any offence involving an internet device. Most of the cyber crimes are listed under the Information Technology Act (IT Act), 2000,  which was amended in 2008.  However, this clarity vaporises with the realisation that IT Act is not the only enactment covering cyber crime. The Indian Penal Code (IPC) could also be called in to initiate prosecution against cyber crimes or to supplement the provisions of the IT Act. For instance, offences like hacking, data theft, virus attacks, denial of service attacks, illegal tampering with source codes including ransomware attacks could be prosecuted under S.66 r/w S.43 of the IT Act. Cases of forging a credit or debit card or even cloning a mobile SIM with dishonest or fraudulent intent to cause wrongful loss or wrongful gain could be prosecuted under IPC prov

All You Need To Know About Islamist Outfit ‘Popular Front Of India’ That Is Facing A Ban

Scoop-Whoop News By SW Staff, November 03, 2017 If its alleged links with terror activities are proved, Kerala-based radical Muslim outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) could soon face a ban. "We have enough material on PFI's terror links. The time has come to act and carry out a crackdown on it," a senior home ministry official told The Times Of India after the NIA submitted details of four terror cases in which its cadres have been chargesheeted or convicted under UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act). What is PFI? PFI is an Islamist fundamentalist organisation in India that changed its name from National Development Front (NDF) in 2006. The NIA document has revealed how many such Muslim organisations were formed in Kerala after Sangh Parivar outfits' demolition of Babri Masjid (in 1992), one of them being the PFI. The group is alleged to have clandestine meetings to pursue its hidden Islamic agenda including countering of anti-Islamic forces. I

Banks are staying away from bitcoin 'bubble' due to money laundering, Credit Suisse CEO says.

Ryan Browne | @Ryan_Browne_ CNBC Banks are reluctant to get involved with bitcoin due to fears of a bubble and illicit activity associated with it, Tidjane Thiam said Thursday The banking executive's comments came as the digital currency surpassed $7,000 for the first time ING CFO Koos Timmermans also weighed in on  saying that the bank is not recommending clients to invest in digital assets Banks have "little or no appetite" to get involved with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies due to fears of a bubble and illicit activity associated with it, the chief executive of Credit Suisse said Thursday."I think most banks in the current state of regulation have little or no appetite to get involved in a currency which has such anti-money laundering challenges," Tidjane Thiam said at a news conference, according to Reuters.The banking executive's comments came as the digital currency surpassed $7,000 for the first time.Thiam added that investors were o

Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged, All Eyes On Appointment Of New Chief

Business,Thomson Reuters, November 02, 2017  President Donald Trump is set to announce his nomination on Thursday with Fed Governor  Jerome Powell, a soft-spoken centrist who has supported Yellen's gradual approach to raising  rates, seen as having a lock on the job. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and pointed to solid US economic growth and a strengthening labour market while playing down the impact of recent hurricanes, a sign it is on track to lift borrowing costs again in December. Investors had all but ruled out a rate hike at the central bank's policy meeting this week and attention has largely been focused on who will be in charge of monetary policy at the end of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's first term in February 2018. President Donald Trump is set to announce his nomination on Thursday with Fed Governor Jerome Powell, a soft-spoken centrist who has supported Yellen's gradual approach to raising rates, seen as hav

In Six Easy Steps, NRIs Can Send Money To India Via Voice Command

Business | NDTV Profit Team | Updated: November 02, 2017 17:44 IST With a new feature in the ICICI Bank's Money2India app, an NRI customer can instantly initiate a remittance with just a simple voice command to Apple iPhone's virtual voice assistant 'Siri' Mumbai: ICICI Bank announced the launch of India's first voice-based international remittance service to enable non-resident Indians (NRIs) to send money to any bank in India. With this new feature in the ICICI Bank's Money2India app, an NRI customer can instantly initiate a remittance to their existing payees in India with just a simple voice command to Apple's virtual voice assistant, Siri, on an Apple iPhone. A first-of-its kind cross border remittance service replaces a five-step process, which was required to initiate a remittance to India earlier. To be able to send money to India using Siri and Money2India app, NRI customers can follow six easy steps: First, activate Siri, and speak into

Mukesh Ambani Overtakes Chinese Billionaire To Become Richest Man In Asia

Business,NDTV Profit Team, November 02, 2017 Mr Ambani's wealth grew by $466 million owing to 1.22 per cent rise in the shares of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, is the richest person in Asia with a net worth of $42.1 billion as per Forbes' real-time billionaire's list on November 1. Mr. Ambani overtook Hui Ka Yan, the Chairman of China's Evergrande Group in the rankings after his wealth grew by $466 million owing to 1.22 per cent rise in the shares of Reliance Industries. Globally, Mukesh Ambani stood at the 14th spot on Forbes' real-time billionaire's list. His rank is evaluated on the basis of the value of his stock holding and assets on a real-time basis, Forbes said. To put it in context, Mukesh Ambani's wealth is equal to the entire GDP of the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, as per World Bank Data 2016 estimates," Forbes said. Meanwhile Hui Ka Yan's wealth slumped by $1.28 billion to $40

NHRC issues notice to U.P. government on NTPC plant boiler blast

The Hindu Omar Rashid November 02, 2017 Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on the accident, the NHRC has sought a report from the U.P. Chief Secretary within six weeks. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on the boiler explosion at the NTPC plant in Unchahar. Taking suo motu cognisance of media reports on the accident, the NHRC has sought a report from the U.P. Chief Secretary within six weeks. Expressing concern over the incident, the Commission observed that “a high level probe into the matter is immediately required to ascertain the negligence and errors, if any, behind the incident, which involves the Right to Life”. There is need to ensure that such tragedies do not recur in future, it observed. The NHRC has directed the State government to take utmost care to see that the families of the deceased are suitably compensated by way of monetary relief, without any delay. “It has been a

Delhi LG cannot simply sit on files and stultify governance: Justice Chandrachud

The Hindu Krishnadas Rajgopal, NOVEMBER 02, 2017  The Kejriwal government wants the Supreme Court to lay down the law on whether the LG can unilaterally administer the National Capital without being bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government. The Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi cannot stultify proposals or schemes forwarded by the Council of Ministers to him by simply sitting on them, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud orally observed on Thursday. “He [LG] is bound to pass the difference of opinions [between the LG and the Delhi Council of Ministers] to the President for early resolution,” he said. Justice Chandrachud’s observations came on the first day of a five-judge Constitution Bench hearing a batch of nine appeals filed by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government against an August 4, 2016 judgment of the Delhi High Court. The AAP government argued that the High Court declared the LG to have “complete control of all matters regarding National