Tag: thesamikhsya

After the success of its first season, AltBalaji is all set to present the next chapter in the love story of the beloved couple- Palak and Ritwik, with the second season of ‘Dil He Toh Hai,’ from February 2.

The gripping trailer, which was dropped on the ALTBalaji app, is sure to leave viewers asking for more.

The show features Karan Kundrra in the lead role of Ritwik Noon.

While the first season ended with Palak (Yogita Bihani) and Ritwik’s separation, the second season will bring answers to the burning questions that the viewers were left with.

Rajeshwari Sachdev, Bijay Anand, Paras Kalnavat, Abhinav Kapoor and Asmita Sood are also palying interesting characters.

The show, with high viewership figures, ended on Sony Entertainment Television, late last year. However, the production house decided to keep the show going in a digital format.

Speaking on playing the character of Palak in the show, energetic and gorgeous actress Yogita Bihani said, ‘It is an exciting time for me, where I not only bagged Ekta Kapoor’s show in my first stint with television, but also received a lot of recognition for my character ‘Palak’. I am thankful for the team in believing in me and giving me this opportunity.

‘As excited as I was for starting my career with Ekta’s production, I am equally excited today as well, being in my home city. It all could not have been possible, without the support of the beloved viewers. The upcoming season will be a much more thrilling affair than the first one. We hope the viewers will continue to love and support us throughout the upcoming journey of Dil Hi Toh Hai,’ Yogita said.

National Film Award Winner actress Rajeshwari Sachdev, who has proved her mettle with every hat she has donned, from an actor to singer, said, ‘Working with the TV Czarina Ekta Kapoor and being a part of the show like ‘Dil He Toh Hai’, which is striking the right cords of the audience, is really exciting.

‘It is a family drama which has received a lot of appreciation and love from viewers of all age groups. For me, acting has always been my passion irrespective of the medium. I enjoy doing theatre, TV shows and now trying my hands on the digital platform like AltBalaji is definitely going to be an exciting experience.’

‘Dil He Toh Hai’ is the story of Noons- a family that had retained its values, traditions and legacy. A very real and modern family, the Noon’s were bonded in love together until Ritwik Noon played by Karan Kundrra falls in love with Palak and everything falls apart.

The show will premiere from February 2 on AltBalaji.

Symantec Corp, the world’s leading cyber security company, on Wednesday announced a new Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) service and enhanced EDR 4.0 technology.
These advancements improve attack discovery and incident response using AI-driven analytics and automation to quickly discover and stop sophisticated cyber attacks.
Enterprise IT and Security Ops teams are increasingly challenged to investigate and respond to advanced and emerging threats with available resources and staff.
Symantec’s MEDR service harnesses the power of EDR 4.0 to improve incident response, threat hunting and forensics, fortifying teams with investigation expertise and threat intelligence from a world-class team of Symantec SOC analysts.
Symantec MEDR detects stealthy attacks and expertly examines suspicious activity for faster incident validation and response. A powerful combination of Symantec EDR 4.0, the SOC technology platform, and the Global Intelligence Network, allows Symantec analysts to provide 24×7 expertise. Managed threat hunting, remote investigations, and endpoint containment enable security teams around the world to stay ahead of threats. (UNI)

Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar has assumed charge as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy said on Wednesday.

An alumnus of Sainik School, Amaravathi Nagar and National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, Pune, he was commissioned into the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy on July 1, 1982, it added.

The Admiral has held various challenging Staff and Command assignments during his distinguished naval career spanning more than three decades.

After having completed his specialisation in Navigation and Direction at Kochi in 1989, he served as the Navigating Officer of Indian Naval Ships Beas, Nilgiri, Ranvir and Vikrant.

His other sea tenures include Commanding Officer of INS Kulish and Ranvir, and Executive Officer onboard INS Brahmaputra.

Among his shore tenures, the important ones include Staff officer (Ops/ND) at Indian Naval Work-up team, Head of Training Team (Navy) at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Defence Advisor at the High Commission of India in Singapore and the Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of the Western Naval Command.

On promotion to Flag rank, he has held the important assignments of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST), Chief of Staff (COS) of Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Maharashtra and Gujarat (FOMAG). In the rank of Vice Admiral he has been the Commandant of the National Defence Academy and the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.

He graduated from Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and has attended the Army Higher Command Course at Mhow as well as the Expeditionary Operations Course at Quantico, Virginia, USA.(UNI)

Antibiotic resistant “superbug” genes originated in India were found in the High Arctic, a new study has shown.

The genes associated with resistance to antibiotics were discovered in soil samples from the Kongsfjorden region, a remote place in the High Arctic, said a study published in the academic journal Environment International on Monday.

Some of the detected genes, which are almost certainly not “local” to the Arctic, can confer resistance to multiple drugs.

The discovery confirmed the spread of blaNDM-1 (called New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1) into the High Arctic.

By far, a total of 131 such genes have been discovered by scientists, including the one first detected in urban India in 2008.

Since British scientists found the “superbug” in New Delhi’s public water supply later, the resistant genes have been found in over 100 countries, including new variants.

It is estimated that some 70 perent of bacteria that cause infections are resistant to at least one antibiotic used to treat them, largely fueled by their overuse.

“What humans have done through excess use of antibiotics on global scale is accelerate the rate of evolution, creating a new world of resistant strains that never existed before,” said David Graham, professor of Ecosystems Engineering at Newcastle University in Britain.

“This finding has huge implications for global antibiotic resistant spread,” he warned.

By 2050, 10 million people could die each year if existing antibiotics continue to lose their effectiveness, according to the UK Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.(UNI)

Patnagarh MLA K.V.Singhdeo has resigned from the privilege committee objecting to the step of summoning the OTV MD and Co-founder Jagi Mangat to the house . Singhdeo alleged that that was a step by the ruling party taken out of sheer political vendetta and so he has resigned from the committee. He sent his resignation to the Speaker Pradeep Amat.

Anna Hazare has once again wriggled out of the confines of footnotes and has    launched a fresh hunger strike Monday at his Ralegan-Siddhi village seeking Lokpal and Lokayuktas as promised by the government. Very recently he had urged the Maharastra government issuing an ultimatum for setting up of Lokayukt or he would go on hunger strike. Anna has heaped allegations on the Modi-led government which has gone back on its words to fulfill his demands made during the UPA regime.

Venezuela will prove unlawfulness of the US move to impose sanctions on the country’s state oil company PDVSA and its subsidiary Citgo, and will ultimately emerge victorious in the situation, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told Sputnik in an interview.
On Monday, the United States blocked $7 billion in PDVSA’s assets in its jurisdiction and imposed ban on deals with the entity as part of efforts to facilitate power transfer to “the interim president [Juan Guaido] or a subsequent democratically elected government.” US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that by blocking PDVSA assets, the United States takes care of this company in the interests of the people of Venezuela.
“This US decision absolutely violates the norms of international law, it is an unlawful decision [made] in a bid to expropriate a Venezuelan asset, a Venezuelan company. That’s what we’re going to demonstrate. I am confident that we will emerge victorious [in this situation], protecting company Citgo as the property of the Venezuelan people,” Maduro said.
He described the US move to sanction the company as “one of the most imprudent, most insane decisions made by [US National Security Adviser] John Bolton.”(UNI)

With the Interim Budget coming up on February 1, the premier industry body for the development of a vibrant Indian Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem has suggested that the government abolish the Angel Tax for ESDM start ups and enable R&D through provisioning separate budget to fund projects of national interest in the Electronics & Semiconductor domain.

Start ups in Electronics and Semiconductor space primarily depend on Angel and self funding as very few Venture Capitals in India are investing is ESDM companies. Angel tax and the current policy of getting the start up valuation done by a merchant banker is hitting the ESDM start ups very hard.

Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), is the premier industry body committed to the development of a vibrant Indian Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) ecosystem and evangelising the dream of establishing “Brand India” that is recognised worldwide as a go-to destination for electronic products.

IESA president Rajesh Ram Mishra has appealed that the government should address specific issues that will help promote a thriving ESDM ecosystem across all segments in the country.

‘IESA believes there is a big opportunity of design led manufacturing to make India a global hub in intelligent electronics. We would like to appeal to the government to address specific issues that will help promote a thriving ESDM ecosystem across all segments in the country,’ he said.

The government should address industry concerns on disincentive for domestic manufacturing and products designed in India due to differential duty structure in multiple segments, he said.

Unlike software products, R&D for electronic products and semiconductors require higher investments. As rightly captured in the draft NEP, R&D for electronic products may need roughly USD 10-15 Million and R&D for Semiconductors (chips, ICs) requires USD 40-50 Million per product.(UNI)

Mausam Benazir Noor’s shift to Trinamool Congress is being viewed as a big blow to Congress’ hopes of reviving its position in West Bengal.

Noor, a two-time Congress MP from Malda(North), met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her office on Monday and joined formally.

The parliamentarian was the Congress president of Malda district and is the niece of legendary ABA Ghani Khan Choudhury, who won the Malda Lok Sabha seat eight times at a stretch.

According to political analysts, her move is a breach in the Congress bastion, which the Choudhury family had safeguarded for decades. It is needless to say, Noor holds considerable sway over her constituency by virtue of her family background.

The Budget for 2019-20, which will be presented in the Lok Sabha on February 1, is expected to unveil measures for modernisation of the Railways, besides coming up with steps for boosting infrastructure and additional allocation for safety-related issues.

Though not many expect Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to announce new trains in the Budget, sources say that some new trains could be announced as this will be the last budget of the Modi government before the Lok Sabha polls.

There is an expectation that this budget will announce some steps to make train tickets cheaper and improve infrastructure facilities in key areas like track renewal, electrification and doubling.

Sources indicate that modernisation of more railway stations and better infrastructure facilities could be considered on priority basis in this budget.

The Railway Minister had recently announced to provide four lakh jobs in the next two years, which will for the first time include 10 per cent reservation to Economically Weaker segment among the General category under Railways.

The Minister had announced fresh recruitment of 2,30,000 employees which will be completed in two phases. In addition to it, with the recruitment of 1,51,548 employees which has already been started last year, Railways aims to become biggest sector while providing a total employment of four lakh people.

It is expected that Railways will speed up its work on Bridge Management System which is yet to be commissioned even after a lapse of 11 years as highlighted in a Parliamentary Committee report tabled in Parliament.
The Committee had expressed dissatisfaction over the ‘failure of the Railways’ to expedite the work on Bridge Management System which is yet to be commissioned even after a lapse of 11 years.

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament had observed that 710 bridges remained to be completed as on March 2014, even after expiry of prescribed timelines and had recommended the Ministry to set timelines with effective planning and monitoring.

The Committee was not satisfied with the explanation offered in this regard that depending upon the quantum of work involved, bridge rehabilitation may take from few months up to few years and sometime delay occurs due to complexities of the work involved, which are beyond the control of Railway administration.
“We are planning to increase this momentum so far as improving the infrastructure is concerned. In the last one year, track renewal, electrification and doubling were at their highest,” said sources.
Safety continues to be the foremost priority of Railways and is accorded the greatest consideration.

During 2018, Railways had launched four safety drives on all Zonal Railways with a view to preventing accidents and strengthening safety in trains.

As a result of relentless efforts put in by Railways, consequential train accidents decreased from 104 to 73 during 2017-18 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.
In 2018-19 (from April 1, 2018 to November 30, 2018) consequential train accidents decreased further from 51 to 44 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year.

On April 13, 2018, all zonal railways were advised to launch a one month safety drive particularly focusing on strict observance of shunting practices with compliance of rules/instructions contained in G&SR.

On October 16, 2018, zonal Railways were advised to launch a special safety drive for a period of fifteen days with special emphasis on safety of work sites, stacking and handling of railway material near track and maintenance of points and crossings.

The brand new Train 18, which was recently named as ‘Vande Bharat Express’ by Mr Goyal, is a ‘train with a brain’ built from the scratch by Integral Coach Factory at a cost which is said to be half the price of a similar imported passenger train.

The most modern train set has been built at a cost of Rs 100 crore and the Railways has expressed its desire to present it in the international arena, sources in the Railways said.

It may represent Indian Railways’ modern and affordable technology abroad because of which it could come up with such a milestone at ICF near Chennai.
Railways did a great work by eliminating level crossings as 3,478 unmanned level crossings gates have been eliminated during 2018. In effect, all unmanned level crossings on broad gauge over Indian Railway have been eliminated except one. This will also be eliminated in the current financial year.
Out of 16, total 15 Zonal Railways are now unmanned level crossing free on broad gauge, accidents on unmanned level crossings have reduced from 20 in 2017-18 to 3 in the current year up to December 2018.

The year 2018 saw improved sleepers and fittings. In order to strengthen track structure, a wider and heavier sleeper has been developed in 2014 which is fit for 25 t axle load at 100 kmph. After successful field trial over five Zonal Railways wider and heavier sleeper has been adopted and approved for full use from FY 2019-20.

This is done in a record time of three years from drawing board to insertion in field for trial against normal period of eight-ten years.

British Prime Minister Theresa May won parliament’s backing on Tuesday to renegotiate her Brexit deal – a major policy reversal that sets up a new standoff with the EU after it ruled out any change.
Observers termed this as a sharp reversal of policy, the British Prime Minister agreed to return to Brussels and reopen Brexit talks, even though she previously said the idea was a non-starter and the EU has repeatedly insisted the deal is locked down.
May’s dramatic decision to abandon a pact she herself sealed with the 27 EU leaders at a summit last month came with Britain on course to crash out of the bloc after 46 years in a blaze of political and economic chaos on Mar 29.
The pound plunged on fears of a no-deal scenario as MPs voted through an amendment saying they would only support a divorce deal if the controversial “backstop” clause to keep the Irish border open was removed.
Channel news Asia while quoting a spokesman for EU leader Donald Tusk said the divorce deal was “not open for renegotiation” while French President Emmanuel Macron said it was the “best agreement possible”.
MPs also voted in favour of a non-binding measure that “rejects the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a Withdrawal Agreement”.
But they failed to vote through a more important plan, backed by European supporters, that would have tried to force through a Brexit delay if no new deal with the EU emerged by Feb 26.
May now faces a formidable challenge convincing Brussels to re-open talks that took 18 excruciating months to conclude.
She said parliament’s approval of the backstop amendment gave her the “mandate” to “seek to obtain legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement”.
But she conceded that there was “limited appetite” in the EU for renegotiation.
“It won’t be easy,” said May. “But in contrast to a fortnight ago, this house has made it clear what it need to approve the withdrawal agreement.”
Earlier on Jan 15, Parliament had voted against the draft deal by a crushing margin which significantly raised the risk that Britain’s departure without a plan on March 29 will create trade and economic disruptions on both sides of the Channel.(UNI)

(UNI)President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 71st death anniversary.

Taking to micro-blogging site twitter, the President said, ‘On Martyrs’ Day, we gratefully remember Mahatma Gandhi and the countless freedom fighters who sacrificed their all for our Independence”.

Mr Naidu said, ‘On this Martyrs Day, I join all country men in paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi and all the valiant people, who had sacrificed their lives for the country. #martyrsday.’

“Let us rededicate ourselves to the high ideals and values set by the Father of the Nation and all other martyrs on this solemn occasion. #martyrsday,” Mr Naidu added.

Mr Modi said, “Remembering Bapu on his Punya Tithi. We reiterate our commitment to follow the path shown by him and abide by the values he stood for.”

“We salute all the martyrs who laid down their lives for India. The country remains eternally grateful to them for their service and sacrifice,” Mr Modi added.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) President Girish Chodankar has said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s gesture of visiting the ailing Goa Chief Minister was in keeping with his politics of dealing with all with love, compassion and no ill-will even to the political adversaries.

In a statement, he said,’It is not just a courtesy call but one of care and concern and mirrors our party’s ideology of believing in politics of compassionate behaviour with humanity and society at heart. He extended a hand of care and compassion and called on Parrikar to share his concern and wish speedy recovery.’

‘Congress party has always been in a politics that believes in humane values and has social welfare at the heart. We never believe in politics of vindictiveness and vengeance which is reflected through the visit of our National President,’ he said.

‘Our President had even hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji in the Parliament passing on the message that Congress knows to spread love even to the arch political rivals. That is why despite being on a private visit, our National President managed to take off time to meet him,’ he said.

Mr Gandhi had paid a surprise visit to the Goa Legislative Assembly complex on Tuesday. During his short visit, he met his MLAs and called on Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and inquired about his health.(UNI)

US chipmaker Intel will likely beat Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics in terms of sales in the October-December period, taking back its title as the largest global chip firm.
According to its earnings report released late last week, the US firm posted US$18.7 billion in revenue during the three-month period. Although the quarterly sales fell below market estimates of US$19.01 billion, the company’s revenue for the full fiscal year set a record of US$70.8 billion, up 13 percent on-year.
Intel’s fourth-quarter sales are likely to surpass that of Samsung, which is expected to be lower than US$18 billion. The earnings of the Korean tech behemoth are scheduled to be announced on Jan. 31, The Investor reported.
In the second quarter of 2016, Samsung was able to dethrone Intel for the first time as the world’s top chipmaker by sales, thanks to the booming memory chip market. Since then the Korean firm has outrun the US company in terms of sales.
Memory chips, such as DRAM and NAND flash, are the mainstays of Samsung’s chip business, while Intel has mainly focused on non-memory chips, including central processing unit chips for laptops and PCs.
Samsung’s entire revenue for 2018, which is forecast to come in at some US$77 billion, on the other hand, will likely be higher than Intel’s US$70.8 billion.(UNI)

Fuel prices witnessed a decline on Tuesday as petrol was declined by 8-9 paise and diesel gets cheaper by 11 paise per litre.

In national capital Delhi, petrol is being sold for Rs 71.19 per litre while diesel costs Rs 65.89 a litre.

In Mumbai, people have to shell out Rs 76.82 for a litre of petrol while diesel costs Rs 69 per litre.

According to Indian Oil Corporation website, petrol and diesel cost Rs 73.28 and Rs 67.67 per litre in Kolkata.

Similarly, in Chennai petrol is retailing at Rs 73.90 and diesel Rs 69.61 a litre.

As per the country’s dynamic pricing mechanism, the domestic fuel prices depend upon international fuel prices on a 15-day average and the value of the rupee.

The price of the two fuels retailing at the petrol pumps is calculated after adding central excise duty, dealers commission and value-added tax (VAT) to the base price.

Samsung Electronics will start taking steps this year to replace plastic packaging materials with paper and other environmentally sustainable elements.

From the first half of 2019, the packaging used currently for Samsung’s products and accessories – ranging from mobile phones and tablets to home appliances – will be substituted with environmentally sustainable materials like recycled/bio-based plastics and paper.

To revamp product packaging, Samsung Electronics has formed a task force involving design and development, purchasing, marketing and quality control for innovative packaging ideas, the company said on Monday.

For mobile phone, tablet and wearable products, Samsung will replace the plastic used for holder trays with pulp molds, and bags wrapping accessories with eco-friendly materials. Samsung will also alter the phone charger design, swapping the glossy exterior with a matte finish and eliminating plastic protection films, reducing the use of plastics.

The plastic bags used to protect the surface of home appliances such as TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines as well as other kitchen appliances will also be replaced with bags containing recycled materials and bioplastics, which are respectively made from plastic wastes and non-fossil fuel materials like starch or sugar cane.

Regarding paper, Samsung will only use fiber materials certified by global environmental organizations like the Forest Stewardship Council, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Scheme and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative for packaging and manuals by 2020.

Under the company’s circular economy policy, Samsung Electronics has set a mid-term implementation plan to only use paper packaging materials certified by forestry initiatives by next year. By 2030, Samsung aims to use 500,000 tonnes of recycled plastics and collect 7.5 million tonnes of discarded products (both cumulative from 2009).(UNI)

NCML Finance Pvt Ltd (NFIN), the wholly owned subsidiary of National Collateral Management Services Ltd, on Tuesday announce the launch of its new product, ‘Multipurpose Loans Secured by Property.’

The product envisaged by NFIN would cater to the short term & long-term financial needs of its customer who could need mixed usage of the loan facility. NFIN has been active for some time, with a strong focus on Semi-rural and agri-business finance. The focus of NFIN is to make available Multipurpose Loans in semi urban and peri urban areas.

NFIN MD & CEO Aryendra Kumar said, “We at NCML Finance are pleased to announce launch of “Multipurpose Loans secured by Property”.

It is a secured product, the usage of which could be for bridging their capital need to grow the business, acquiring assets for their business or personal use which may include buying a residential or commercial property or constructing Warehouse.

The facility will be customised as per client’s requirement. The tenure for these loans would be a minimum of one year and a maximum of 10 years, according to a company statement here.

NFIN also looks towards Warehouse Construction Loans, keeping in view the shortage of warehousing infrastructure across India. Warehouse construction loan offers unique proposition for customers who want to build their own warehouses/silos and avail finance at attractive terms from NFIN.(UNI)

Chief Minister of Maharastra  Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday slammed opposition parties for forming ‘Mahagathbandhan’ against the BJP government in view of the oncoming Lok Sabha.

Addressing a huge public rally on Monday night at Mamaji Chowk at Jalna about 60 km from here, Mr Fadnavis criticised opposition’s ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

He said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called all the 34 regional parties leaders in her state and formed an alliance called ‘Mahagathbandhan’.

In the opposition party, all are ready to become the Prime Minister, he quipped.

He said that the BJP has a powerful leader in Mr Narendra Modi who is a mass leader across the country to lead the nation whereas all the opposition leaders are regional leaders. They lack the capability to lead the nation, he added.

On the occasion, party pradesh president and Jalna MP Raosaheb Danve, the party state ministers among party top office-bearers shared the dias.(UNI)

Goa Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijay Sardesai on Tuesday said that Congress President Rahul Gandhi had tweeted about the Rafale audio clip because he wanted to keep the issue alive.

Speaking to reporters at the Assembly complex at Porvorim near the city, he said, “For us, we want the issue to be over. He (Mr Gandhi) wants the issue to be alive. He is doing what he has to do.’

“The tweet was from Goa. So he remembered about it and he has to keep up the pressure. He is doing his job, we have to do our job. He has to ensure that the issue is not forgotten,” Mr Sardesai, who is also President of Goa Forward Party (GFP), a coalition partner of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state, said.

Mr Gandhi on Monday had claimed that the audio tapes related to Rafale deal were authentic and it gave Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar power over Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a tweet, Mr Gandhi also said that 30 days had passed but still no FIR was ordered nor was action taken against the minister.

’30 days since the Goa Audio Tapes on RAFALE were released. No FIR or inquiry ordered. No action against the Minister either! It’s obvious that the tapes are authentic & that Goa CM, Parrikar, is in possession of explosive RAFALE secrets, that give him power over the PM,’ he said.

In the beginning of the month, an audio clip had emerged which allegedly had voice of Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and another person in which Mr Rane claimed that during a cabinet meeting Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had admitted of having files related to Rafale deal in his possession.

Immediately, Mr Rane claimed that the audio clip was ‘doctored’ and demanded thorough inquiry. He had said that he had written to the chief minister demanding an inquiry.

The Chief Minister also had tweeted that no such topic was discussed in the cabinet meeting. However, no police inquiry has been ordered yet in the alleged doctoring of the audio clip and its release.(UNI)