Online CAT failed due to 'virus attacks'

The Chairman of the IIM Directors' Forum, Samir Barua, addressed a press conference over the failure of the CAT (Common Admission Test) examination that went online this year.

Barua said that virus attacks caused the systems to fail. However, he said that the tests would be rescheduled.

"Those who could not take the test will be rescheduled. We empathise with students," said Barua.Meanwhile, the director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is constantly in touch with his counterparts in other IIMs to solve the problems, institute officials said in Ahmedabad on Monday.

"This is for the first time that the computer-based CAT was introduced with a window of ten days. And as we saw, there were some initial hiccups during the delivery of exam," they said.

"This is an entirely a new experience for us where 2.41 lakh student are taking the on-line test," they added.

Barua has been in constant touch with other institutes since Sunday and is trying to find out a solution to the problem, they said.

The computer-based test was marred by technical glitches on the very first day on Saturday, soon after it started.

Students faced problems in logging at the exam centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Bhopal.

Series of Naxal attacks in Jharkhand

A series of Maoists attacks have been reported from Jharkhand on the first day of the bandh called by Naxals in the state.

Maoists have blown up the Maha-guang railway station under the Chakrad-Harpur Division in Jharkhand.

The incident took place hours after they blew up the railway track on the same line.

Located on the Howrah-Mumbai arm of the golden quadrilateral, Chakrad-Harpur Division plays a vital role on the South Eastern Railway.

A school building was also blown up in the Pipra village and another railway track was also blown up on the Dhanbad Howrah line.

One year on, India-Pakistan chill deepens

One year on, after seven dossiers given by India linking Pakistani militants to the Mumbai terror strike, reminders about bringing the attackers to justice and two meetings between leaders of the two countries, the dialogue process remains in deep freeze.
Hours before terrorists struck Mumbai on the night of Nov 26 -- to begin a 60-hour terror siege that killed 166 people -- Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi were posing before photographers in New Delhi and declaring their conviction that the peace process was irreversible.
A little while later, 10 Pakistani terrorists blew away that feel-good picture of bonhomie and subcontinental camaraderie.
The chill set in deep in the weeks that followed with the Pakistani spin machinery accusing India of troops build-up and New Delhi denying the charges.
India launched an unprecedented exercise to mobilise international opinion to pressure Pakistan into acting against the perpetrators of the carnage.
Under global pressure and the US throwing its weight behind India, Pakistan started token crackdowns on terror outfits and banned the Jamaat- ud-Dawa, a front for the Lashker-e-Taiba, the chief suspect behind the Mumbai attacks, and put its founder Hafiz Saeed under house arrest.
On Jan 5, India submitted the first dossier providing to Pakistan extensive evidence and leads establishing the complicity of Pakistani nationals in the Mumbai attacks. In response, Pakistan raised 30 questions. New Delhi also responded, but with little by way of action from the Pakistani side.
Finally, on Feb 12, Islamabad made a dramatic confession, admitting that Pakistani nationals were involved, the first time it has done so in a terror attack in India.

Air Force can use fire against Naxals : Antony

New Delhi, Nov 25 (ANI): The Union Government on Wednesday clarified that there is no permission required to exercise the right to self-defence. The Indian Air Force (IAF) had asked for permission to fire on naxals to avoid any ambiguity.
Replying to a question raised by lawmakers K Malaisamy and N R Govindarajar over IAF asking for permission to open fire during anti Naxal operations, Defence Minister A K Antony said: "While permission is not required to exercise the right to self-defence, based upon past experience and intelligence input the Indian Air Force has sought approval of the Government for 'Rules of Engagement' for self-defence. These have been proposed to avoid any ambiguity and damage/injury to the helicopter and to the occupants."
Earlier, the IAF had approached the Defence Ministry for permission to fire on Maoists if their copters are attacked.
The IAF has deployed copter to assist the state forces in their combat against Maoists in Central India.
Replying to another question raised by Bala Apte over the production of Light Combat Helicopter, Antony said : "The design and development programme for Light Combat Helicopter was approved in October 2006. The first prototype (technology demonstrator) is expected to get the initial operation clearance by around mid 2011."

Google apologises for offensive Michelle Obama image

London, November 25 (ANI): Google has issued an apology for a racially offensive image of Michelle Obama that pops up on its search engine when users hunt for snaps of the US First Lady.
The California-based Internet giant posted a text ad above the rude photo that ended up as the number-one result for Mrs Obama on its site.
The ad reads: "Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree.", reports the Daily Express.
Netizens clicking on the ad are taken to a letter from the company that says its results "can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries", and adds that Google does not endorse content on these websites.

I don't know who to deal with in Pakistan: Manmohan Singh

With power virtually resting with the army in Pakistan even in a democratic regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wonders "who to

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deal with" or negotiate with in Islamabad.

"I think the most important force in Pakistan is the army," he said in a TV interview on Sunday coinciding with his four-day state visit to US when asked who he thought was running Pakistan right now?

"And there is democracy. We would like democracy to succeed and flourish in Pakistan. But we have to recognize that the power today rests virtually with the army."

Asked if he felt he had a partner in Pakistan right now with whom he can negotiate, Manmohan Singh said: "Well, I don't know whether we have a partner right now."

The Prime Minister said when General Pervez Musharraf was the president of Pakistan, "I used to ask him. And he said, 'Well, I am the army. I represent the armed forces. I represent the people.' Now I don't know who to deal with."

Asked if looking at the situation in Pakistan, he was worried about the collapse of the state and the nuclear weapons moving into the hands of either some radical element within the army or terrorists, Manmohan Singh said: "Well, we worry about all these contingencies."

"But we have been assured by the Americans that they are satisfied that's not going to happen."

Asked if he saw any prospects for productive negotiations on Kashmir with Pakistan as he was reportedly close to some kind of a deal with Musharraf, he reiterated that while there can be no redrawing of borders, greater people-to-people contacts would make borders irrelevant.

"Well, I have publicly stated that there can be no redrawing of borders," he said "But our two countries can work together to ensure that these are borders of peace, that people-to-people contacts grow in this manner in which people do not, I think, worry whether they are located on this side of the border or that side.

"If trade is free-trade, people-to-people contacts and our both countries competing with each other to give a life of - to enable the people on both sides to lead a life of dignity and self

Obama says diversity strength of United States

President Barack Obama says one of the United States' strengths is its diversity and a family gathering in his home "looks like the United Nations."A Chinese student on Monday asked Obama what he would do to foster diversity. Obama cited his own story as a son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya. He says his sister is half-Indonesia and is married to a Chinese-Canadian husband.Obama is meeting with young people in Shanghai. He also told the students that education of girls and treatment of women and children is a barometer for a nation's success. He says the United States respects other traditions and cultures, but will speak out on principles it finds important including women's and children's rights.

NASA ready for Atlantis launch, so is Twitter

All systems are go for the launch of US space shuttle Atlantis, for a construction and delivery mission to the International Space Station. The blast off is scheduled for 1 am (IST) on Tuesday; NASA's countdown is going smoothly and even the weather is looking exceptionally good for the launch. Forecasters put the odds of acceptable weather at 90 percent.NASA test director Steve Payne said Sunday morning that even though everything seems to be lining up perfectly, he and his team are "always waiting for the shoe to drop" and always vigilant.Atlantis will carry tons of spare parts for the International Space Station. The crew of six will return to Earth with a seventh astronaut, Nicole Stott, who's been living at the space station for nearly three months.The launch will also see Kennedy Space Center's first 'tweetup' - about 100 space fans who have gathered to report the event on Twitter.

China provided Pakistan with kit to make N-bombs: Report

China provided Pakistan with a "do-it-yourself" kit and weapons grade uranium for making two nuclear bombs in 1982, a leading American daily said on Friday quoting notes made by disgraced Pakistani scientist A Q Khan.The Washington Post said the deliberate act of proliferation was part of a secret nuclear deal struck in 1976 between Chinese leader Mao zedong and Pakistan's prime minister Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto."Upon my personal request, the Chinese Minister... had gifted us 50 kilograms of weapon-grade enriched uranium, enough for two weapons," Khan wrote in a previously undisclosed 11-page narrative of the Pakistani bomb programme.Khan prepared the notes for Pakistan's intelligence after his January 2004 detention for unauthorised nuclear commerce, the daily said.The Post said it obtained Khan's detailed accounts from Simon Henderson, a former journalist at the Financial Times who is now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and who has maintained correspondence with Khan.In a first-person account about his contacts with Khan in the September 20 edition of the Sunday Times, Henderson disclosed several excerpts from one of the documents.According to Khan, the daily said, the uranium cargo came with a blueprint for a simple weapon that China had already tested, supplying a virtual do-it-yourself kit that significantly speeded Pakistan's bomb effort.

Did Kingfisher pilots abandon passengers as plane skidded?

Pilots of the Kingfisher aircraft that skidded off the Mumbai runway ran away from the plane leaving the engine running.Sources have told NDTV it has even been caught on camera.The Kingfisher plane, which was carrying 42 passengers, was rapid and came down vertically almost nose down on the runway.Sources and some eyewitness have told NDTV that the plane landed much ahead of the touchdown point, and even after the aircraft had halted, both its propeller engines were running at full speed.Generally, when an aircraft comes to a halt, its engines gradually slow down before shutting, which did not happen in this case.On landing, left engine scrapped the ground and propeller blades broke. Fire and Ground safety reached the aircraft in a minute after it landed but could not start rescue since engines were on at full blast.The ATC meanwhile was constantly asking if pilots could hear them because they wanted engines to shut down. But ATC got no response from cockpit for five minutes.Meanwhile, since left propeller engine had slowed down since it had scrapped the ground, the right was on. To shut the right engine, the rescue crew sprayed foam on it.The pilots came out from the top hatch of the cockpit even before safety crew had reached the spot and while the engine was till running. A kingfisher van took the pilots away.

Online activists hijack 300 Facebook groups

Activists claimed to have seized control of nearly 300 Facebook community groups in a self-proclaimed effort to expose how vulnerable online reputations are to tampering.A contingent that identified itself as Control Your Info (CYI) claimed credit for commandeering 289 Facebook Groups, saying it was simple to get into poorly protected administrative settings at the website."This is just one example that really shows the vulnerabilities of social media," said a blog post at controlyour.info."If you chose to express yourself on the Internet, make sure the expressions are your own and not a spammers. This isn't some kind of scare tactic, nor is it a hack, it's a feature that can be used, and is being used, in bad ways." CYI claimed its motives were pure and that the move was more of a "take-over" than a computer hack of Facebook groups.Facebook Groups are themed chat venues that users of the social networking service can join to socialise online with people who share interests."Facebook Groups suffer from a major flaw," said a message on the CYI blog."If an administrator of a group leaves, anyone can register as a new admin. So, in order to take control of a Facebook group, all you really have to do is a quick search on Google."

I-T officials grill Koda on money laundering

Income Tax officials are questioning former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda today in connection with the Rs 4000-crore money-laundering scam that spans several countries and could involve some big politicians and top bureaucrats. Koda spent a week in hospital evading the taxmen. Now, the noose is tightening around him, with one of his close associates admitting to the Enforcement Directorate of hawala transactions worth Rs 40 crore rupees.Even as he told income tax interrogators that he was too sick to meet them, Madhu Koda spent hours meeting hundreds of supporters at his house in Ranchi on Monday.Koda has been accused of laundering 4000 crore with the help of a few close friends. After raids began at his house and the offices of his associates around the country, Koda's stomach began hurting. So seriously that he spent a week in hospital. Doctors went on record to deny that they were helping him stay in hospital to avoid being arrested. The entire situation was made more suspicious by the fact that Koda's key accomplices, Binod Sinha and Sanjay Chaudhary, are on the run.Unfortunately for him, Binod's brother Vikas has been caught and now details are emerging on exactly how Koda's 4000 crore were disguised and managed. Vikas Sinha has allegedly confessed on Monday that he laundered 40 crores for Koda by channeling the money into four fake companies. He also bought land for Koda in Jamshedpur and Ranchi. Other details shared by Vikas: that Koda used channels in Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Liberia to launder his money; and that Koda traded in the bullions or commodities market in Mumbai, which is largely unorganized, and therefore hard to track.Also interrogated on Monday, Devendra Mukhiya, a close aide of Koda's who reportedly ran a finance company in Jamshedpur in which he invested Koda's money. "I have met Koda only two or three times. That does not make me an accused," says Mukhiya.

Suicide blast in Peshawar, 4 killed

At least four people have reportedly been killed in a suicide blast in Peshawar. Pakistani media says another seven people have been injured. The blast took place near Latifabad Chowk, Peshawar. Police have cordoned off the area, rescue teams have been rushed to the site. According to reports, a suicide bomber in a rickshaw detonated his explosives near a group of police constables in northwest Pakistan's main city of Peshawar, killing four people Monday, police said.The attack was the latest in a string of strikes that have killed more than 300 people over the past six weeks. The bloodshed appears aimed at distracting the government from its offensive against the Taliban in the South Waziristan tribal region.Seven other people were wounded in the blast at Pathang Intersection on the well-known Ring Road around the city, police official Shaukat Khan said. TV footage showed a crane lifting the rickshaw's carcass to clear the road.The bomber was likely heading to a more crowded area but decided to set off his explosives when police stopped the rickshaw to check it, senior Peshawar police officer Liaquat Ali Khan said.The attacker killed a police constable, the rickshaw driver and a passer-by, police said."Despite all the security arrangements you cannot stop one who is bent upon killing himself and others," said Sahibzada Anis, a local government official. "Our police are rendering their lives to save citizens but these kinds of incidents are hard to stop."Peshawar has been struck several times during the recent surge of strikes. A late October explosion in the city leveled a market, killing around 112 people in the deadliest attack to hit the country since 2007.The government has pledged to press ahead with the offensive in South Waziristan despite the assaults. The U.S. supports the operation because Pakistan's tribal belt is home to many militants involved in attacks on Western troops across the border in Afghanistan.Pakistan's army has pitted some 30,000 troops against up to 8,000 militants, including many Uzbeks and other foreign insurgents who have long taken refuge in the lawless tribal areas.

R R Patil back as Maharashtra home minister

A year after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, R R Patil is back in the saddle as the Home Minister of Maharashtra.The senior NCP leader, who was forced to resign over the 26/11terror attacks, has got back his old portfolio. NCP chief Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar will handle Power portfolio, in addition to the Water Resources Ministry he already handled earlier. NCP leader Jayant Patil, who was Home Minister in the outgoing government, now has the Rural Development Ministry, party sources said.Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal continues to hold his Public Works portfolio While NCP's Sunil Tatkare, who was Power Minister in the earlier government, would be the new Finance Minister.And as per the seat sharing deal struck, Congress's Narayan Rane will take charge of Revenue.The newly formed Maharashtra Government will be holding its first Assembly session on Monday.

34 die due to incessant rain in Tamil Nadu

Thirty-four people have lost their lives in Tamil Nadu over the last one week following incessant rain. Thirteen people died in Tamilandu's Nilgiris district on Monday following house collapse and other rain related incidents.Most of these casualties are due to wall collapses and electrocution in the Niligiris, Virudhnagar, Ramanathapuram and Dindigul districts. Schools will remain closed on Monday in Chennai and many districts. The northeast monsoon set in a week ago and the met office has forecast intermittent showers on Monday.

Google set to challenge Microsoft

To tap the fast growing web and personal computers market, internet giant Google is working on an operating system

, a move that is likely to pose a stiff challenge to Microsoft's dominance.

"We are working on an operating system... we feel, when other operating systems became part of the Web, the world was not connected the way it is today," Google Global Sales Operations and Business Development President Nikesh Arora said.

"Whether our operating system replaces the existing ones, I don't know. Customers will choose that," he said, while speaking at the HT Leadership Summit here.

In July, Google announced plans to launch its own operating system for personal computers. The planned open source 'Google Chrome Operating System' is expected to be available in the second half of 2010.

Microsoft has about 90 per cent share in the global market for operating systems.

"Google Chrome Operating System is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially aim at netbooks... Later this year, we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome Operating System will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010," Google had said in a blog.

The blog, which was written by Vice-President (Product Management) Sundar Pichai and Engineering Director Elinus Upson, said the operating systems that browsers run on were
designed in an era where there was no web.

Kerala's coconut oil gives it diabetes?

At many of Kerala's clinics, a chart warns of different oils and how much saturated fat they contain. At the very top of that list, sits Coconut Oil. And now, doctors are worried that's to blame for Kerala's rate of diabetes, highest in the country, with 21 out of every 100 people testing positive.

A survey conducted by the Kesavadev Trust, famous and trusted for its work in diabetes awareness and research, has shared these startling results. The average age of Kerala's diabetics has fallen dramatically in the last six years, from 65 to 34.

So, why are so many young men and women becoming diabetic? The Trust blames coconut oil used for cooking in most homes; because younger people are eating lots of deep-fried meals, their cholesterol levels are leaping. Cholesterol is to blame for 70 per cent of the state's diabetes.

"The more shocking revelation is the silent prevalence of high cholesterol and very high blood pressure (BP). Even among the younger generation, we see more than 300 level of cholesterol commonly in Kerala population," says Dr Jothydev, a leading diabetologist.

Thirty-six-year-old Bindu was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago. She says she's never been fond of dessert or sweets, and her family has no history of diabetes. "When I was told I have high sugar, I was scared and shocked to say the least. But at that time my weight was much more than normal," she sighs.

Doctors say Kerala's high literacy rate could be why its population is aware of the need to get tested. Just last week, the World Diabetes Congress held in Canada announced that India is the diabetes capital in the world. Kerala seems to have done its bit to help India earn that title.

Pilot found dead in Chennai home

A pilot with Kingfisher Airlines has been found dead in his apartment in Chennai. The police suspect this is a case of suicide. The body was found decomposed on Sunday evening, leading the police to believe that he died several days ago.

The police have recovered sleeping pills from his bedroom.

Police said neighbours of the pilot, Krishna Narayanan, had complained that a foul smell was emanating from the house following which they broke open the door of the house.

"The body was found on the cot of the house. It was suspected that the death occurred some five to six days ago," they said.

The body has been sent for post mortem.

The 28-year-old pilot had been on leave for two weeks. His parents are expected to arrive on Monday from Malaysia.

(With PTI inputs)

Pakistan: Blast in Rawalpindi, 20 killed

A blast has reportedly destroyed the front of a popular hotel on Mall Road in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Pakistani media report at least 20 people have been killed. At least 25 people are reported injured, 12 are in critical condition. Cars parked near the hotel have been blown up.

The blast took place at 10:40 am outside the Shalimar Hotel. Mall Road, where it's located, is one of the busiest roads in the city.

The police has moved into the area and cordoned it off. Rescue teams have been sent in.

More details are awaited.

Fire still blazing at IOC site, Gehlot orders report

Jaipur: The fire at the IOC fuel depot in Jaipur continues to rage for the fourth day even as the flames died down in eight of the 11 storage tanks. Two more bodies were spotted at the burning IOC fuel depot in Jaipur on Sunday, pushing the toll to 10.

“The spate of flames is much reduced in the remaining three tankers and it may die down by Monday,” said Jaipur collector Kuldeep Ranka at the site of the fire on the outskirts of the city on Sunday.

He assured that all measures have been taken to ensure that the fire does not spread further.

The fire spread to the roof of the building of a private electronic and instrument company Genus, 200 metres from the IOC complex wall, at about 0700 hrs IST on Sunday. However, it was extinguished by firemen within two hours, said chief fire officer Ishwar Lal Jat.

Though the premises of Genus Overseas Ltd were badly damaged, there was no casualty as no one was present there, he said.

• Authorities slept as Jaipur oil depot caught fire

• In Pics: The IOC inferno in Jaipur

The Rajasthan High Court on Sunday held a special hearing on a PIL alleging that the state government has failed in disaster management as it has not been able to control the fire.

The two charred bodies spotted on Sunday have been identified as those of Kriparam Meena and Ramniwas who worked as chargemen at the depot, IGP (range) BL Soni told PTI.

There are reports about residents in areas adjacent to the fire site complaining of respiratory infection due to smoke emanating from the storage tanks, Ranka said.

Seven bodies have so far been identified and the rest of them have been kept at the SMS hospital mortuary, said Soni, adding, they were handed over to relatives after completing necessary formalities.

The other 34 injured persons are being treated at a number of hospitals in the state capital, Soni said.

A large number of partially burnt official files and documents were recovered from the fields of seven nearby villages, he said.

Besides papers, scrap of aluminium sheets, iron rods, nuts and bolts were also collected from near the site by the police and rescue team.

All these material have been handed over to the IOC, Soni added.

When asked whether any police case has been registered in connection with the fire and related deaths, the IGP said no IOC official came to lodge a complaint.

Twelve trains passing through Jaipur-Sawaimadhopur rail section were diverted to other routes, a railway spokesman said.

Similarly, 95 buses on the Jaipur-Kota highway have also been diverted to other routes, officials said.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan government has directed state officials to prepare a survey report and adopt a follow-up action plan with regard to the incident.

Chairing a high-level review meeting with his cabinet colleagues and senior officials, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot asked the administration not to leave any stone unturned in extending assistance to the victims and ensure that the fire does not spread further, an official release said.