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Mint,  August 22, 2018 Has your smartphone suddenly slowed down, warmed up and the battery drained down for no apparent reason? If so, it may have been hijacked to mine cryptocurrencies. This new type of cyberattack is called “cryptojacking” by security experts. It “consists of entrapping an internet server, a personal computer or a smartphone to install malware to mine cryptocurrencies,” said Gerome Billois, an expert at the IT service management company Wavestone. Mining is basically the process of helping verify and process transactions in a given virtual currency. In exchange miners are now and then rewarded with some of the currency themselves. Legitimate mining operations link thousands of processors together to increase the computing power available to earn cryptocurrencies. Mining bitcoin, ethereum, monero and other cryptocurrencies may be very profitable, but it does require considerable investments and generates huge electricity bills. But hackers have

The Hindu,  August 22, 2018 BJP activist shot dead; three policemen killed; Farooq faces hostile crowd at prayers in Srinagar Violent incidents marred Id festivity in Kashmir as suspected militants shot dead three policemen and a BJP activist on Wednesday, the police said. Meanwhile, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah faced a hostile crowd during an Id congregation in Srinagar. An official said a policeman, Fayaz Ahmed Shah, 34, was fired upon by the militants when he went to offer Id prayers in Kulgam’s Zazripora area. Another policeman, Mohd. Yaqoob, died after gunmen fired upon him outside his house at Pulwama’s Louswani area. In the third attack on the police, a sub-inspector, Muhammad Ashraf Dar, was shot dead at his house at Larve village. Mr. Dar, posted at District Police Lines, Budgam, was on leave to celebrate Id at home. In another incident, a BJP activist was shot dead in Pulwama. The body of Shabir Ahmad Bhat was found at Litter Rakh. T

The Economic Times,  August 21, 2018 Hackers linked to Russia's government tried to target the websites of two right-wing U.S. think-tanks, suggesting they were broadening their attacks in the build-up to November elections, Microsoft said on Monday.  The software giant said it had thwarted the attempts last week by taking control of sites that hackers had designed to mimic the pages of The International Republican Institute and The Hudson Institute. Users were redirected to fake pages where they were asked to enter usernames and passwords.  There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities, but the Kremlin was expected to address the report later on Tuesday. It has regularly dismissed accusations that it has used hackers to influence U.S. elections and political opinion.  Casting such allegations as part of an anti-Russian campaign designed to justify new sanctions on Russia, it says it wants to improve not worsen ties with Washington.  "We?re co

The Economic Times,  August 22, 2018 BENGALURU: Infosys chief executive Salil Parekh has roped in global consulting firm McKinsey to help the company refine its sales strategy and help win large deals, two people with knowledge of the matter told ET.  McKinsey consultants are already participating in sales review meetings at Infosys, one of them said.  “The consultants are sitting in the meetings. They have to find ways to boost growth,” this person said, asking not to be identified. The development comesat a time when Parekh has said the IT services company is sacrificing margins for growth. McKinsey has worked with Infosys before and had expanded some of the work it does with the Bengaluru headquartered IT company.  “While McKinsey was given the responsibility of improving EBITDA(operating) margin in the past, the agency has been told to also improve a few other business lines of Infosys,” said another person familiar with the consultancy firm’s role at Infosys. M

Dawn,  August 21, 2018 The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has arrested nine Pakistani fishermen for having crossed over to Indian waters along with confiscating their fishing boat. All the fishermen hail from Ali Akbar Shah Goth of Karachi’s Ibrahim Hyderi. The incident took place late on Saturday night. According to information reaching here from Gujarat, all the nine crew members of the boat, Al Ayesha, were escorted to Okha port before being handed over to the local marine police for investigation. The Hindu reported on its website on Sunday night that the ICG ship Meera Behn, had noticed a Pakistani fishing boat in Indian waters while patrolling close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL). Al Ayesha was then chased and boarded by Meera Behn’s crew following which the fisherman were arrested for fishing illegally in Indian waters. The Indian Express also reported on its website on Sunday that the incident occurred on Saturday at about 6.55pm Indian Standard

Financial Express,  August 22, 2018 In order to expand the reach of National Pension System (NPS) and encourage independent and effective distribution channels, the pension fund regulator has notified new norms for Point of Presence (PoP). The new norms replaces the 2015 regulations. The PoPs are the the principal distributive points for NPS and they will be responsible for receiving and processing all subscriber requests. They will receive filled application form along with Know Your Customer (KYC) documentation and conduct customer due diligence procedures as required under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. They will also help subscribers if they put in a request for shift from one PoP to another PoP. As on July 31, 2018 there are 11,758469 NPS subscribers with assets under management of Rs 2,50,758 crore. While the bulk of the subscribers are central and state government employees, the number of corporate and unorganised sector subscribers is growing fast becau

Financial Express, August 22, 2018 Cracking its whip on Unitech, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Dhingra committee to sell all the unencumbered personal assets of the directors of the company to raise funds for completion of unfinished projects and refund dues to its homebuyers. Even though the apex court took the harsh step, Unitech said that all the assets of its directors are already encumbered. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also gave approval for leasing out two parcels of land in Kolkata after senior counsel Ranjit Kumar Sinha, on behalf of Unitech, informed the court that the US-based Candor Investment is willing to pay Rs 116 crore for leases for the two land parcels. Candor Investment, which managed property for the London-based Unitech Corporate Parks, was bought by Brookfield Asset Management in 2014. The committee headed by former Delhi High Court judge SN Dhingra was formed in May to identify and auction the unencumbered properties of

Market Screener, August 21, 2018 German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG earlier this month satisfied the requirements of regulators in its pursuit to close its $63 billion acquisition of St. Louis County-based Monsanto Co. On Tuesday, Bayer said it began integrating the company into its corporate structure. "Today's milestone means that the two leading innovators in agriculture will now come together as one to shape agriculture through breakthrough innovation for the benefit of farmers, consumers and our planet," said Liam Condon, president of Bayer's Crop Science division, which now includes Monsanto. The crop science division portfolio includes seeds and traits, crop protection and digital tools. Bayer became Monsanto's sole owner in June but had to hold off on integrating Monsanto while it completed divestments demanded by regulators. A Bayer spokesman told the Post-Dispatch that Monsanto's signage change to Bayer will "chan

The Hindu, August 22, 2018 O n our 72nd Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that by 2022 we may expect the Tricolour to be unfurled in space. Even as he was announcing this from the ramparts of Red Fort in New Delhi, parts of the country were faced with flooding, due partly to water released from dams following exceptional rain. Previously we had witnessed lynchings, mostly over a wide swathe of north India from Uttar Pradesh to Jharkhand but not entirely absent in the south. Mobs had attacked persons either on their own or in small groups, with the victims in every case having been unarmed and acting without any provocation. The victims have been Dalits and Muslims engaged in the cattle trade, middle-aged single women accused of witchcraft, and migrant labourers allegedly trafficking in children. It is not difficult to see a majoritarianism in this as the victims are from the most marginalised sections of the country, left without protection by the state.

Economic Times August 22, 2018 Talks between India and Iran over the rights to develop a gas field in the Islamic Republic have stalled in the wake of fresh US sanctions, people familiar with the matter said.  A consortium of Indian state-owned oil companies, led by Oil & Natural Gas Corp, has been negotiating with Iran for two years for the development rights of Farzad B gas field it discovered in Iran a decade ago. The resurrection of sanctions prompted Indian companies to freeze the matter.  Sanctions are a huge project execution risk because it would be hard to obtain finance and rope in oilfield services companies, which are mostly US-controlled, people familiar with the matter said.  This follows the cancellation of a $5 billion contract to develop the massive South Pars offshore gas field by French giant Total, signalling the wariness of foreign companies in participating in Iran’s exploration sector under sanctions.  India imports almost 10%

Outlook August 23, 2018 About $16 billion Chinese goods to face sharp rise in import tariffs as the United States on Thursday imposed new duty after claiming Chinese products as rampant theft of American technology. Even as, the trade negotiators were in talks to prevent further trade conflict between the two countries, US decided to hit out again. The latest action completes the first round of $50 billion in products that President Donald Trump targeted, after $34 billion in goods were hit with punitive duties on July 6. China has said it will react immediately with tariffs on the same amount of US goods, targeting iconic products like Harley motorcycles, bourbon and orange juice, among hundreds of others. It came as the world's two largest economies were holding their first formal discussion since June on the spiraling and multifaceted trade war. Trump has pushed aggressive trade actions to lower the US trade deficit, which he equates with theft from Ameri

The Economic Times August 19, 2018 An illegal internet pharmacy, allegedly shipping drugs to overseas locations like the US and Canada, based in Delhi has been busted by the NCB with the apprehension of four people and seizure of over 41,000 psychotropic tablet strips, a senior official today said. He said the pharmacy was based in west Patel Nagar area of the national capital and was allegedly sending these drugs under the garb of auto parts and religious items.  The courier consignment bound for the US and Canada, containing 41,005 psychotropic tablet strips and over 2.4 kgs of loose tablets, has been seized as part of the operation, he said.  Four people have been apprehended till now, the official added.  "This international network had established their contacts for supply of illegal medicines in cities like Lucknow, Gurgaon, Patna, Varanasi, Mumbai and few other cities.  "All the medicines are narcotic and psychotropic substances and the operator

The Economic Times August 20, 2018 The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Monday called for an all India traders strike against the Walmart-Flipkart deal on September 28.  "We are organising a 'Bharat Trade Bandh' (All India Traders Strike) on September 28 against the Walmart-Flipkart deal. We want the government to nullify the deal as it is against the sector," CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told IANS.  "We have also planned a host of other activities like a mega traders protest march to gain public support against the deal."  Accordingly, the confederation has called for a 'Bharat Trade Bandh' on September 28 and a massive nationwide 'Rath Yatra' to begin on September 15 and a mega traders rally on December 16 at New Delhi.  On Saturday, Walmart Inc. acquired approximately 77 per cent stake in e-commerce major Flipkart.  Accordingly, Walmart now holds approximately 77 per cent of Flipkart

The Hindu August 20, 2018 MIT study found that fluoxetine could restore some of the lost plasticity to the cells A commonly used antidepressant medication Prozac can counter some of the effects of brain ageing, such as sensory and cognitive decline, an MIT study suggests. The research published in the Journal of Neuroscience provides fresh evidence that the decline in the capacity of brain cells to change — called ‘plasticity’ — rather than a decline in total cell number, may underlie some of the sensory and cognitive declines associated with normal brain ageing. Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology showed that they could restore a significant degree of lost plasticity to the cells by treating mice with the commonly used antidepressant medication fluoxetine, also known as Prozac. “Despite common belief, loss of neurons due to cell death is quite limited during normal ageing and unlikely to account for age-related functional impairments,” researchers

The Hindu  August 20, 2018 A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson directed the committee to assume charge in two weeks and submit a report within six weeks. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday constituted an “independent body” to decide Vedanta Limited’s plea challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s order to close the Sterlite copper plant at Thoothukudi.. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the committee to assume charge in two weeks and submit a report within six weeks. “We are of the view that in substitution of the impugned orders, we have to hear before an independent body and remit the matter for fresh consideration before the committee” the Bench said. Further, the Bench said that the committee can visit the site to consider the “technical data” required. Following a report submitted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the green panel said that the recommendations suggested in the report may be carried out under t