LIVE! No alliance against BJP possible without Congress: Prithviraj Chavan

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Sun, 25 March 2018

No alliance against BJP possible without Congress: Prithviraj Chavan

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21:08 No alliance against BJP possible without Congress: Prithviraj Chavan

There cannot be an alliance of opposition parties without the Congress, which would be the fulcrum of any such front to take on the BJP in the 2019 general election, senior party leader Prithviraj Chavan has said.

He said the Congress continues to be a dominant force with its presence in almost all states and if at all anyone could take on the BJP, it would be the Grand Old Party.

"In no way there can be an opposition to the BJP without the Congress. It is just not possible. Congress is a pole of the equation no matter what. If one pole is the BJP, the other pole has to be the Congress," Chavan told PTI in an interview.

"Whether the Congress will be able to carry other political parties is a question. But if you say that (there is an alliance) without the Congress or the BJP, that will clearly be a non-starter," he said.

Amid the rise of regional players and marginalisation of the Congress, he said there are certain states where the Congress is the dominant force such as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

However, in states where it is not a dominant force, it can play a secondary role, Chavan said and cited the examples of Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

The former Maharashtra Chief Minister said if the BSP moves along with the Congress it can be a force to reckon with.

Chavan said, "Nationally, it will be a sum of total, sum of states. Every state alliance has to be stitched state by state and then you add up the total."

If somebody says there will be a national alliance with somebody like Mamata Banerjee in it, without the Congress, then "that is not possible", Chavan noted.

Asked why the Congress was not part of the understanding in Uttar Pradesh where the BSP and SP got together to defeat the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha bypolls, he said the main message of UP was that an alliance of like-minded parties can defeat the BJP in next elections. -- PTI

In a blow to the Janata Dal-Secular headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, seven party rebel former MLAs today joined the ruling Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi.

The rebel MLAs had resigned from Karnataka legislative assembly yesterday, a day after they crossvoted in favour of the Congress candidates in the March 23 Rajya Sabha biennial election in the state.

Zameer Ahmed Khan, Chaluvaraya Swamy, Iqbal Ansari, Balakrishna, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Bheema Nayak and Akhanda Srinivas Murthy were welcomed into the party fold by Gandhi at a public rally in Mysuru in the poll-bound Karnataka.

Along with them, former JDS MLCs M C Nanaiah, Sarovar Srinivas and B Ramakrishna also joined the Congress.

The votes cast by seven JDS rebel MLAs in the Rajya Sabha biennial election and also support of independents had helped the Congress win the third seat as a bonus, though it had the strength only to bag two seats for sure.

Despite the shortfall in its strength with 37 members, including seven rebels, as against the required 44 votes, the JDS had also fielded its candidate, but boycotted the poll midway alleging electoral malpractice by the Congress in "collusion" with the returning officer. -- PTI

Union Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons on Sunday attack the critics of Aadhaar, saying people did not have a problem while "getting naked" before the white man for a visa.

He added that the people only have a problem when their own government asks for data or information.

"I filled up to 10 pages for US visa form. We have absolutely no problem giving our fingerprints and getting body naked before the white man at all," Alphons said.

"When your own government asks for your name and address there is a massive revolution saying it's intrusion in privacy," he added.

Further interacting with media in Trivandrum, Alphons said, "You think the prime minister is going to give your data to a private company. Don't believe such fake stories. Let me assure you that it has not been breached, it's absolutely secure. We have given authorisation to government agencies to access Aadhaar information," the minister said.

Earlier on Saturday, Unique Identification Authority of India refuted a report about an alleged Aadhaar database breach and advised people not to be misled by such reports.

According to database authority's official statement, the report, which appeared on a web portal, purportedly quoted a person claiming to be a security researcher who said that a state-owned utility company containing its customer details such as bank account numbers, consumer number, Aadhaar number (not the biometrics), etc. has some vulnerability which can be used to access a huge amount of Aadhaar data. -- ANI

BJP president Amit Shah has advised the Assam unit of his party to reach out to the people of the state, down to the grassroot level, keeping in view the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha election, a party leader said today.

Shah advised the core committee members of the BJP's Assam unit to visit the districts and strengthen the party's base in the north-eastern state, inform the people about its manifesto for the upcoming panchayat polls and find out whether the benefits of the government schemes had reached the grassroot level.

"Amit Shah suggested that keeping in view the 2019 Parliamentary polls, the party should be strengthened in the state. He also wanted the core committee members to establish links with the people by visiting their homes," state BJP chief Ranjit Kumar Das said, while briefing reporters about the party's core committee meeting here in the presence of Shah last night.

Shah, who is on a two-day visit to Assam since yesterday, visited the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati today.

"The manifesto for the upcoming panchayat polls in the state was also discussed at the meeting and Amit Shah welcomed it," Das added.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said ministers, MPs, MLAs, booth and mandal committee presidents of each district and workers of the party attended the core committee meeting.

"We discussed Assam's development. Taking all the people of the state with us in the coming days, we want to strengthen the panchayati raj system," he told reporters.

"We have full confidence that the people of the state will extend their support to strengthening the panchayati raj system for bringing development in the rural areas," Sonowal said.

On reports about alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad going alone in the panchayat polls to be held later this year, state BJP spokesperson Dilip Saikia said, "The alliance dharma will continue." -- PTI

20:00 Ajmer dargah Deewan declares son successor

The Deewan of the Ajmer Dargah, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, has declared his son Nasiruddin Chisti as his rightful successor, amid objections from some caretakers of the 12 century shrine in Rajasthan.

He made the declaration last night at a traditional ceremony during the Urs of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, which ends tomorrow.

The deewan is the spiritual head of the shrine.

However, some of the khadims or caretakers raised objections to Khan's decision and did not allow the father-son duo to enter together the dargah's sanctum sanctorum to perform a ritual last night.

Khan wanted to perform some ritual and wanted to enter the sanctorum along with his son Chisti, but the duo was stopped, police said.

"There was some issue between Deewan Khan and the khadims. Khan wanted to entre the sanctum sanctorum with his son, but were not allowed by the caretakers. The police had to intervene," police official said today.

Later, early today after discussion, the khadims opened the gates and the father-son duo returned to the sanctum sanctorum, police said.

"Other rituals and functions were not affected normally, Superintendent of Police, Ajmer, Rajendra Singh said. -- PTI

Rajasthan Royals made it clear they will not tolerate any unfair action that brings disrepute to the game and said the franchise would wait for instructions from BCCI before taking a call on Steve Smith, who was today handed a one-match ban by ICC for his role in a ball tempering scandal.

"We have been made aware of the controversy of ball tampering in the ongoing Australia-South Africa series and await further instructions from BCCI, before we make any announcement," said Ranjit Barthakur, Executive Chairman of Rajasthan Royals in a statement.

"We at Rajasthan Royals will not tolerate any actions that are unfair by definition and bring disrepute to the game of cricket. Our Zero tolerance policy applies to everyone in our team. Please bear with us."

Smith was also fined 100 per cent of his match fee and stripped of his captaincy for the remainder of the third Test, following his admission yesterday that he was party to a decision to attempt to change the condition of the ball in order to gain an unfair advantage during the third day's play in the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

Australia's players were jeered after captain Smith, who had initially refused to quit his captaincy, was forced to step down. His deputy David Warner was also made to step down from his position of vice-captaincy for rest of the third Test.

It was opener Cameron Bancroft who was caught on camera, taking a yellow object (sandpiper to scruff up one side of the ball to aid reverse swing) out of his pocket while fielding in the post-lunch session and appearing to rub it on the ball before putting the material into his trousers in an attempt to hide it.

The opening batsman was later charged with an attempt to change the condition of the ball and fined 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points by ICC. -- PTI

BJP MLA form Madhya Pradesh's Guna, Pannalal Shakya has an advice for girls -- do not make boyfriends and all will be well.

"Why do girls make boyfriends? If they stop doing this, the atrocities against them will stop," Shakya yesterday said at an event at the Guna Government College.

"A TV channel recently asked for my comment on atrocities against women in Madhya Pradesh. I told them what I told you just now," he said.

The MLA also wanted boys to refrain from embracing the "western culture of making girlfriends".

Shakya went on to say that observing International Women's Day is a foreign tradition.

"In the Indian philosophy, women are held in high regard and we celebrate Women's Day four times annually. We worship them four times," he said.

Shakya has been in the news in the past for making controversial comments.

The BJP leader had in December last year questioned Team India captain Virat Kohli's "patriotism" after he married actress Anushka Sharma in Italy. -- PTI

Images used along with is for representative purposes only

After a gap of about seven years, flight services between Salem and Chennai resumed today under the Centre's regional connectivity scheme 'UDAN.'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan flagged off the first service, operated by private carrier Trujet, between the two cities, from here.

The flight, with a seating capacity of 72, will leave Salem at 11 AM and reach Chennai at 11.50 AM. From Chennai, it departs at 9.50 AM to reach Salem at 10.40 AM. The tickets are priced at Rs 1,499.

In his address, Palaniswami said today's launch was the first in the state under the UDAN scheme, and said it will benefit the neighbouring Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts and also aid in industrial development.

He recalled the sops offered by the Tamil Nadu government under the UDAN scheme, including a proposal to provide a 20 per cent viability gap funding.

The government had earlier reduced VAT on ATF for flights operating under this regional connectivity scheme, he pointed out.

Vellore and Thanjavur were next in line to be covered under the UDAN scheme in the state and steps were being taken to launch services from the said districts, he said. -- PTI

Australia captain Steve Smith has been handed a one-match suspension and fined 100% of his match fee following his confession yesterday that the ball-tampering had been orchestrated by him and senior players.

This means Smith will not play the fourth Test against South Africa in Johannesburg.

The International Cricket Council has also fined Australia opener Cameron Bancroft, who was the player to actually tamper with the ball, 75 per cent of his match fee and handed three demerit points for breaching Level 2 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the third day's play against South Africa in Cape Town.

"The decision made by the leadership group of the Australian team to act in this way is clearly contrary to the spirit of the game, risks causing significant damage to the integrity of the match, the players and the sport itself and is therefore 'serious' in nature. As captain, Steve Smith must take full responsibility for the actions of his players and it is appropriate that he be suspended," ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said.

"The game needs to have a hard look at itself. In recent weeks we have seen incidents of ugly sledging, send-offs, dissent against umpires' decisions, a walk-off, ball tampering and some ordinary off-field behaviour," he siad.

"The ICC needs to do more to prevent poor behaviour and better police the spirit of the game, defining more clearly what is expected of players and enforcing the regulations in a consistent fashion. In addition and most importantly Member countries need to show more accountability for their teams' conduct. Winning is important but not at the expense of the spirit of the game which is intrinsic and precious to the sport of cricket. We have to raise the bar across all areas," Richardson added.

The Unique Identification Authority of India is all set to make face authentication available alongside iris or fingerprint scan as means of verifying Aadhaar users from July 1, 2018.

The UIDAI, which is in-charge of the 12-digit identifier Aadhaar, in January had announced that it will introduce face authentication feature to help those who run into problems in biometric authentication due to old age, hardwork or worn-out fingerprints.

It had said that face authentication will be allowed only in fusion mode meaning it would be permitted along with either fingerprint or iris or OTP to verify the details of Aadhaar holders.

In a presentation to the Supreme Court last week where he emphasised the robustness of the Aadhaar encryption system saying breaking it may take "more than the age of the universe for the fastest computer on earth", UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey also informed that the proposed face authentication feature will be introduced by July 1.

"Face authentication shall be available in fusion mode along with one more authentication factor like fingerprint/iris/OTP from July 1, 2018," he had said in the power point presentation titled `1 billion +'.

Aadhaar is being used for identity authentication across banks, telecom companies, public distribution system, income tax amongst others and the extent of its usage can well be gauged from the fact that an average of 4 crore authentications are being done on a daily basis.

Even in his presentation, the UIDAI CEO has pointed out that 1,696.38 crore Aadhaar authentications and 464.85 crore eKYC transactions have been performed so far.

Seeking to allay concerns over government's ambitious Aadhaar scheme, Pandey had said that UIDAI does not collect purpose, location or details of transaction.

Pandey began his presentation before the five-judge constitution bench on Thursday and is scheduled to resume it on March 27. The bench is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar. -- PTI

Eight persons of a family, including two toddlers, suffered burn injuries after a fire broke out at their house near Swami Vivekanand school in Mumbai's suburban Chembur today, police said.

They said the fire, which started at around 1 pm, spread through the slum tenement because of the presence of a type of spirit that is used in manufacturing shoes.

"The house belongs to a shoe-maker. Eight persons from the family have been injured of which the condition of one, identified as Jagdish Jatholiya (45), is critical with almost 70 per cent burns," the official said.

He added that the among the injured were three-month-old Tanuja Jatholiya and 15-month-old Chandni.

Two fire engines were rushed to the spot and the blaze was doused in half an hour, he said. -- PTI

Congress President Rahul Gandhi today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over allegations of data sharing from his official App without users' consent, a charge the Bharatiya Janata Party trashed.

Gandhi also accused the media of "burying" the story.

His attack on the prime minister was based on a media report in which a French vigilante hacker has purportedly alleged that data was stolen from his official App -- NaMo App -- without consent of the users.

"Hi! My name is Narendra Modi. I am India's Prime Minister. When you sign up for my official App, I give all your data to my friends in American companies," Gandhi said on Twitter.

In the tweet, he also attached a news story titled, "Data theft allegations reaches PM Modi's doorstep, French vigilante hacker's stunning revelation".

The BJP reacted on Twitter saying, it did not expect "any better" from the Congress chief. It also said the data is used only for analytics using third party service, similar to Google Analytics.

"We also take this opportunity to encourage Rahul Gandhi to download NaMo App to keep himself appraised of the good things happening in India," the BJP said in a tweet. It put out several tweets on the matter.

The BJP said "contrary to Rahul's lies, fact is that data is being used for only analytics using third party service, similar to Google Analytics. Analytics on the user data is done for offering users the most contextual content."

It said the app gives access to users in 'guest mode' without even any permission or data. The permissions required are all contextual and cause-specific, the party said.

"Rahul Gandhi is no match for Narendra Modi. But seeing his fright about the Namo App, is very amusing. When his bots tried to trend #DeleteNamoApp day before yesterday, the popularity and downloads of Namo App only increased," it said.

In his tweet, Gandhi also attacked the media saying on Twitter, "Ps. Thanks mainstream media, you're doing a great job of burying this critical story, as always."

The Congress and the BJP have indulged in a slinging match over data theft and the use of services of Cambridge Analytica, accused of harvesting data from Facebook. -- PTI

Maharashtra government has written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, directing it to probe 2,001 civic staff and officers accused of corruption.

An official from the Urban Development department said investigations were pending against these 2,001 BMC employees, related to 261 different departments.

He said that BMC corporators had written to the state government, complaining that files of around 1,000 officials had been intentionally misplaced, so that the investigation against them could not be completed.

"However, when asked for an explanation, the BMC has conveyed to us that none of the files have been misplaced," he added.

"The corporators demanded that the state government take cognisance of the delay in investigations and ask the BMC to finish them at the earliest," the official said.

On receiving the complaint, the state government had, on March 8, directed the BMC to complete pending inquiries at the earliest.

Unsatisfied with the government's directive, the opposition Congress claimed it was unlikely that the inquiry would bear any result.

"The entire country knows that the BMC is a centre of corruption which thrives on the nexus between the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena and corporation officials. This nexus cannot be broken till these parties are thrown out of power," MPCC spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.

He added it would not be surprising if the BMC, in future, changes its stand and says the files pertaining to the investigation against its officials have been misplaced. -- PTI

The anti-terrorist squad of the Uttar Pradesh police has arrested ten persons, who it claimed were linked with Lashker-e-Tayiba and allegedly involved in terror-funding activities.

"Ten persons were arrested from Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Pratapgarh and Rivan (MP) yesterday by the ATS. These persons were involved in terror-funding on the directives from Pakistan," ATS IG Asim Arun told reporters in Lucknow.

The arrested men were identified as Naseem Ahamad, Naeem Arshad, Sanjay Saroj, Niraj Mishra, Sahil Masih, Uma Pratap Singh, Mukesh Prasad, Nikhil Rai alias Musharraf Ansari, Ankur Rai and Dayanand Yadav, he said.

"A member of Lashker-e-Taiba used to remain in contact with them and ask them to open bank accounts in fake names and direct them as to how much money is to be transferred to which account. Indian agents used to get 10 to 20 per cent commission for this. Till now transactions of over Rs one crore have come to the fore," he said.

He claimed the arrested persons had links with the LeT and some of them even knew what was happening.

"Some them clearly knew what they were doing, while some considered it as a lottery fraud," the officer said, adding a detailed probe was on and more arrests likely.

The role of the bank staff too would be probed, he said.

ATM cards, Rs 42 lakh cash, swap machines, magnetic card readers, three lap-tops, passbooks of different banks, a country made pistol and cartridges were recovered from the possession of the accused, he said. -- PTI

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that India was "ready for any unforeseen situation" in Doklam and will "maintain" its territorial integrity.

"We are alert and ready for any unforeseen situation in Doklam. We are constantly working on the modernisation of our forces. We will maintain our territorial integrity," ANI quoted the minister as saying in Dehradun.

Sitharaman's comments came a day after India's ambassador to China refuted reports that the Chinese military was stepping up infrastructure build-up in the Doklam area.

"No, I can tell you that in Doklam area, which we call close proximity or sometimes the face off site, the area where there was close confrontation or close proximity between Indian and Chinese military troops, there is no change taking place today," said Gautam Bambawale in an interview to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

It was reported a few days ago that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) was trying to circumvent Indian troop positions with a road axis in the Doklam area near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction.

The 73-day standoff ended on August 28 last year after China agreed to halt the road building activities by PLA troops at Doklam in Sikkim sector.

She is one of the top stars in the Hindi film industry and now Katrina Kaif is planning to share her journey, which was full of ups and downs, in the form a book.

The actor, who made her Bollywood debut with 2003 film Boom was initially criticised for her acting abilities and dancing skills, but she has come a long way.

When asked how she handled herself in an industry which was alien to her, Katrina said she is saving the answer for now.

"I educated myself (about the industry) but I might write a book (on it), so I won't waste the answer now. I seriously might write a book," she told PTI.

Though the actor has had some of the biggest blockbusters to her credit, most recently being Tiger Zinda Hai, she has also seen low phases in her career, spanning nearly 15 years.

Katrina, however, considers the setbacks as the stepping stones to her success.

"You need to have a balanced attitude to life, need to accept that failures, hardships and hard times -- for me definitely -- they are the biggest teachers. They (failures) are the biggest steps. Once you get there, then you reach higher. You need them. Hardship and failures taught me to evolve and reach the next step," she said.

"I am constantly trying to educate myself by reading about peoples' journeys, taking care of my mind and making sure I am evolving as a person and not just accepting whatever thoughts come to my mind," she added.

Katrina said she never had a plan B for her career as she always dreamt of being a movie star.

"There was no back-up plan. Having a plan B is like accepting failure. I have never had a plan B for anything. You can say that is not the correct way to go (about something) maybe," she said.

Katrina, who became the face of an NGO supporting girls education, said there is disparity in basic education between the privileged and the underprivileged.

"The more we ignore it, the more we are living in denial," she said. -- PTI

15:41 Fares of 25 Shatabdi trains may become cheaper

Fares in premium Shatabdi trains on sections with low passenger occupancy could be slashed soon as the railways looks to ensure optimum utilisation of resources, a senior government official has said.

The national transporter has identified 25 such Shatabdi trains in which this scheme could be implemented, the official said.

"Indian Railway is actively working on a proposal in this regard," the official told PTI

The move to lower fares is encouraged by the success of a pilot project launched on two routes last year. In one section, where the pilot scheme was implemented, the earnings went up by 17 per cent and passenger bookings by 63 per cent, the official said.

The development comes at a time when the national transporter is facing flak over the flexi-fare scheme and the general contention that it has led to a spike in fares in Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto trains.

The Railways runs around 45 Shatabdi trains and these are among the fastest in the country.

The Railways had last year launched a pilot project in two Shatabdi trains -- one running between New Delhi and Ajmer and the other between Chennai-Mysuru to study the impact of lowering of fares.

Under the scheme, the fares were reduced between Jaipur and Ajmer, and Bengaluru and Mysuru -- the sections of the route which witnessed perpetual low occupancy.

"The move yielded positive results for us. What we did was we offered fares in these premium trains equivalent to bus fares plying on the particular stretch," the official said.

In the case of the Shatabdi to Ajmer, he said, the occupancy was low between Jaipur and Ajmer as people preferred to travel by buses which offered more affordable fares. To attract passengers, the Railways decided to match the bus fare in the premium train and reduced the ticket prices to about Rs 300 in this section.

Similar step was also taken in the Shatabdi train between Chennai and Mysuru. The fares were reduced between Bengaluru and Mysuru, resulting in 63 per cent growth in passenger bookings on this stretch between January and November last year compared to the corresponding period the previous year.

The official said the measures being adopted are part of an exhaustive exercise initiated by the Railways for optimum utilisation of resources. One such exercise is reducing the layover time of a train for introducing more services. -- PTI

15:03 Timeline: Australia ball-tampering against SA

Australia captain Steve Smith said his side deliberately tried to tamper with the condition of the ball on the third day of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town on Saturday in an orchestrated attempt to gain an advantage.

Here is a timeline of Saturday's incident which could cause irreparable damage to Australia's reputation as a cricketing side:

Riding high on bypoll victories in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav today said the win was a "big one" as it has instilled confidence among party workers and sent out a message all over the country that the Bharatiya Janata Party can be defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP lost the bypolls in Gorakhpur, the bastion of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Phulpur, which was earlier held by deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

"I term victories in bypolls as a big one because it is not only our victory but also defeat of the CM and the deputy CM. Yogiji, who was campaigning for the BJP, could not save his own seat. It has given a message all over the country and instilled confidence among people and workers that if the BJP can be defeated in its constituencies it can be replicated all over," Akhilesh Yadav told PTI in an interview.

On the RS poll debacle in which BSP candidate Bhim Rao Ambekdar, who was supported by his party lost, the former chief minister said, "The character of the BJP, which misuse money and power against the poor stands exposed in the RS polls. Due to conspiracy being hatched by the BJP against the election of a Dalit, the SP-BSP unity has strengthened for next polls. I also thank Mayawatiji."

About the party's strategy for 2019 polls, Akhilesh said besides booth management, party workers have been asked to reach all villages and interact with people.

"I myself, our leaders and our cadre will reach everywhere. We will apprise them about works initiated in my regime and ask them to compare them with what is going on in the BJP regime. The BJP had given a number of promises but fulfilled none. The anger of the people is palpable and they have show it in bypolls," he said.

Asked about the BJP's plea that less vote percentage was the reason for its loss, Akhilesh said, "Had more voters come out, our victory margin would have been better. They (BJP) misled people and won elections and now they canot follow what they said."

The SP supremo also said that his wife Dimple Yadav, who is MP from Kannauj, will not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls this time.

"We have decided that she will not be contesting this time as we are charged with practicising pariwarwad'," he said.

"BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh, Kalyan Singh, Raman Singh, Shivraj Chauhan are doing pariwarwad'. Members of their family are there in politics. My wife is not contesting they should also set an example. If they don't do and only make allegations on us...I can also change my mind," he said.

As fallout from the ball tampering scandal continues, Steve Smith and David Warner have stood down as captain and vice-captain for the remainder of the Cape Town Test match, the Cricket Australia announced today.

Tim Paine to act as captain for the remainder of Test match against South Africa.

Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said: "Following discussions with Steve Smith and David Warner they have agreed to stand down as Captain and Vice-Captain respectively for the remainder of this Test match.

"This Test match needs to proceed, and in the interim we will continue to investigate this matter with the urgency that it demands.

"As I said earlier today, Cricket Australia and Australian cricket fans expect certain standards of conduct from cricketers representing our country, and on this occasion these standards have not been met. "

Tech giant Microsoft will host 'AI for All' summit in Bengaluru on March 28 to showcase use cases of artificial intelligence across sectors.

The event will feature discussions around the benefits of artificial intelligence, and how this can be used to amplify human ingenuity, a Microsoft India spokesperson told PTI.

"This is our first summit of its kind in the country. While we had an AI event last year for developers, this one is for a broader audience," the spokesperson added.

Participation is expected from industry representatives spanning across verticals like healthcare, auto and IT and IT-enabled services, among others.

The event will be addressed by global and Indian Microsoft executives, including Peggy Johnson (Executive Vice President, Business Development), Anant Maheshwari (President, Microsoft India) and Anil Bhansali, Managing Director at Microsoft India.

Besides, representatives from Microsoft's partners and customers will also speak at the event, showcasing use cases of AI across various areas.

The event will also showcase how AI can augment people's capability to be more productive and the potential of AI in India for both businesses and society at large.

There will also be a Design Thinking workshop around AI, the spokesperson said. -- PTI

More than 2,000 Tamil Nadu fishermen were chased away by the Sri Lankan Navy for allegedly entering their territorial waters near Katchatheevu islet, a fishermen association leader said today.

The fishermen from Rameswaram had ventured into the sea in 565 boats yesterday and were fishing off Katchatheevu when the Sri Lankan naval personnel came to the spot and snapped the fishing nets of 30 boats before driving them away, Rameswaram Fishermen Association President S Emerit alleged.

Following this all of them returned to the shore last night, he said.

He also urged the Centre to take steps to retrieve Katchatheevu from the island nation and restore the traditional fishing rights of the Indian fishermen.

On March 3, over 2,500 fishermen from Rameswaram were allegedly chased away by the Lankan Navy while they were fishing near Katchatheevu. -- PTI

Hours after the Cricket Australia said that it will not rule on Steven Smith's future as captain until it completes a probe into stunning ball-tampering revelations, the Australian government has asked the board to remove Smith as captain.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has also called the incident a "shocking disappointment".

"We all work up this morning shocked and bitterly disappointed by the news from South Africa," Turnbull said adding, "It seemed completely beyond belief that the Australian cricket team had been involved in cheating."

He further said, "I've spoken with David Peever, the Chairman of Cricket Australia, a few moments ago and I've expressed to him very clearly and unequivocally my disappointment and my concern about the events in South Africa."

"It's their responsibility to deal with it, but I have to say that (to) the whole nation, who holds those who wear the Baggy Green up on a pedestal, about as high as you can get in Australia this is a shocking disappointment. It's wrong, and I look forward to Cricket Australia taking decisive action soon," Turnbull added.

According to espncricinfo.com, the Australian Sports Commission Chair John Wylie, the ASC Board, and CEO Kate Palmer, speaking for the Australian government, called for severe action against the team.

"The ASC condemns cheating of any form in sport. The ASC expects and requires that Australian teams and athletes demonstrate unimpeachable integrity in representing our country. Given the admission by Australian captain Steve Smith, the ASC calls for him to be stood down immediately by Cricket Australia, along with any other members of the team leadership group or coaching staff who had prior awareness of, or involvement in, the plan to tamper with the ball. This can occur while Cricket Australia completes a full investigation," the commission said in a statement.

Smith, who has led the team since 2015 and is the team's best batsman, confessed to reporters on Saturday that the ball-tampering had been orchestrated by himself and senior players during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Opening batsman Cameron Bancroft, the most junior member in the side at 25, was tasked with implementing the plan and was duly caught on camera using the tape.

He has been charged by the International Cricket Council which could lead to a one-match ban and a 100 per cent fine of his match fee.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation in his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat programme.

Here are the highlights:

- To ensure adequate returns to farmers, a major decision was made in this year's budget. It was decided to give at least 1.5 times the input costs as MSP for the scheduled crops. To elaborate, the MSP will include the labour cost, expenditure on machines and animals, seeds, fertilizer, land revenue, rent of leased land,... will be included while calculating the input cost.

- Great personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Chaudhary Devi Lal always gave importance to agriculture and farmers

- Your passion for the country can change the mood of the entire nation.

- The entire world today views India as a hub for investment, innovation and development

- The worlds opinion about India has been transformed. Today, the entire world sees India with great respect

- We must aim at achieving a 'fit India'

-A clean India and a healthy India are complementary to each other.

- Dr Ambedkar envisioned India's industrialisation, says PM Modi

- Less than a hundred days are now left for the International Yoga Day on June 21. Let us spread awareness about Yoga

It's not just social media platforms that could be stealing your data. Security experts have warned users to be cautious about the level of access they provide to third-party apps on smartphones as they run the risk of handing over their sensitive personal information to cyber crooks.

Users across the world this week were rocked by revelations that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm with ties to US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, had accessed personal data of 50 million Facebook users without their knowledge.

A massive uproar across countries and #DeleteFacebook trending on Twitter forced Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to apologise for the 'major breach of trust' and he vowed to take steps to protect user data.

Altaf Halde, Global Business Head of Network Intelligence, told PTI that users should not only be concerned about security on social media platforms but also the kind of access they provide to third-party apps on their smartphones.

Citing an example, he said many games ask users for permission to access their contact list or read text messages.

"The game has no use of accessing my address book. Often users won't think too much of it and provide access. But this can have repercussions," he warned.

He added that apart from strengthening cyber laws in the country, the Indian government also needs to implement a 'public bug bounty programme' and reward researchers who find issues, especially with the focus they have on digitising the country.

"The Facebook incident is a lesson for all of us when it comes to being cyber safe. We don't realise how grave a threat is until we experience its consequences... if a tech giant like Facebook is vulnerable to such data breaches, then how can we ensure that our personal data is not being misused by the cyber criminals? At the time of stepping into digitalisation, we can't afford to be vulnerable," Shrenik Bhayani, General Manager at Kaspersky Lab (South Asia), said.

Industry watchers say that incidents like that at Facebook are not the first and certainly would not be the last.

"This is not the first time that a data breach has happened and certainly not the last time. It is very important that governments and private players give the due importance to the data they have of citizens and take appropriate steps to protect it," another expert said.

Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Digital Transformation (ICT) Practice Rajarshi Dhar said given the large consumer base in India, it becomes an attractive destination for third-party app developers, marketers and data harvesters.

"Users should put in minimum personal information on their account profiles that could be used by these data scraping apps... For the sake of getting more hits, likes or shares, users should not take a chance and reveal a lot of personal data," he added.

A cyber security executive pointed out that while large enterprises may have robust security in place, they need to undertake vendor risk assessment to ensure that there is compliance at the partners' end as well. -- PTI

The Unique Identification Authority of India has refuted reports about a fresh data leak of Aadhaar holders, and asserted that there has been 'absolutely no breach' of its database.

The statement comes after ZDNet, a technology news portal cited a security researcher's claim to state that a system of state-owned utility firm was allegedly leaking information on Aadhaar holders.

In a statement, the UIDAI, the Aadhaar-issuing body, said: 'there is no truth in this story as there has been absolutely no breach of UIDAIs Aadhaar database. Aadhaar remains safe and secure'.

UIDAI said it is also 'contemplating a legal action' against ZDNet, on the issue.

It termed the data breach claims as 'totally baseless, false and irresponsible'.

'The UIDAI today has refuted reports in a certain section of media sourced from the news website ZDNet which has quoted a person purportedly claiming to be a security researcher that a state-owned utility company has vulnerability which can be used to access a huge amount of Aadhaar data including banking details,' it said in its statement.

The UIDAI has argued that even if the report claims were taken to be true, the security related concerns should be around the database of utility company in question.

It has 'nothing to do with security of UIDAIs Aadhaar database', it said.

Going by the logic of the report, since the utility company's database also had bank account numbers of its customers, would bank databases also be considered to have been breached, UIDAI questioned.

"The answer would obviously be in negative," it added.

UIDAI argued that mere availability of Aadhaar number with a third person 'will not be a security threat to the Aadhaar holder' nor will it lead to financial or other fraud.

This is because a transaction is contingent upon a successful authentication through fingerprint, Iris or OTP of the Aadhaar holder, UIDAI said.

The ZDNet report had claimed that 'a data leak on a system run by a state-owned utility company can allow anyone to download private information on all Aadhaar holders, exposing their names, their unique 12-digit identity numbers, and information about services they are connected to, such as their bank details and other private information'.

The report of the alleged security lapse comes at a time when a Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Aadhaar Act and the use of biometric identifier in various government and non-government services.

Earlier this week, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey had made a powerpoint presentation in the Supreme Court to defend the government's ambitious Aadhaar scheme.

He had said that breaking Aadhaar encryption may take 'more than the age of the universe for the fastest computer on earth'. -- PTI

Uttar Pradesh Police in Noida on Sunday gunned down a criminal with a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head.

The criminal, Shravan Chaudhry, was injured in an encounter with the police and later succumbed to his injuries in hospital, informed the Director General of Police headquarter.

An AK-47 and a smooth-bore breech loading gun were also confiscated from the spot.

The criminal was wanted in murder cases in Noida and Delhi. -- ANI

Any change of status quo along the India-China border may lead to another Doklam-like crisis, India's envoy to Beijing has cautioned even as he asserted there was 'no change' at the standoff site even though the People's Liberation Army may be reinforcing its troops 'well behind the sensitive area'.

Gautam Bambawale said though 'no change' has taken place in the standoff site at Doklam after it was resolved last year, he squarely blamed China for the crisis saying it happened because Beijing tried to alter the 'status quo' which it should not have.

The 73-day standoff ended on August 28 last year after China agreed to halt the road building activities by PLA troops at Doklam in Sikkim sector.

"Maybe behind, the Chinese may be putting more military barracks to put in more soldiers, but that is well behind the sensitive area," he said in a wide-ranging interview to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

"Those are the things you're free to do and we are also free to do, because you're doing it inside your territory and we are doing it inside our territory," he said.

Indian troops intervened to stop Chinese soldiers from building a road close to India's narrow 'Chicken's Neck' corridor that connects the northeastern states.

Besides China, the area is also claimed by Bhutan. -- PTI

08:37 1 terrorist killed in encounter in Budgam

An unidentifiable terrorist was killed today in an encounter with security forces in central Kashmir's Budgam district, police said.

A woman was also injured in the incident, they said.

Acting on specific information about the presence of terrorists in Khan Mohalla of Arizal in Beerwah area of the district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation during the night, a police official said.

The militants, trying to flee, came out of the house and began firing indiscriminately, he said.

The forces retaliated, killing one terrorist, he added.

Arms and ammunition have been recovered from the site, the official said, adding that the identity of the slain militant and his group affiliation was being ascertained.

The police promptly took the injured woman to a hospital and her condition is now reported to be stable, the official said.

"The area is under cordon and searches are being conducted," he said. -- PTI

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar said on Saturday that his party would form alliance with 'like-minded' parties in the next Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra assembly elections.

The NCP and Congress, who were alliance partners in the state as well the United Progressive Alliance government, fought the last assembly elections in Maharashtra separately.

"We will go with like-minded parties in the next state and Lok Sabha elections," said Pawar, who was on a tour of neighbouring Palghar district on Saturday.

He also said that contrary to rumours, the issue of who would be the prime minister (if the alliance of opposition parties materialised and defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance) didn't come up in his recent meeting with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

Farmers are losing lands for development projects, Pawar said, adding that while his party was not opposed to development, it should not happen at the cost of agricultural land and local jobs.

The former Maharashtra chief minister also questioned the need the Bullet Train project. -- PTI

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