Daily News (In Short)-29-July-2015

#* 3-judge SC bench hearing Yakub's plea for stay on hanging

Supreme Court on Wednesday was hearing the plea of Yakub Memon, the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case convict, seeking stay of his execution scheduled for July 30.
The apex court had set up a three-judge bench on Tuesday after a two-judge bench had delivered a split verdict on Memon's petition.

Following the disagreement between justice A R Dave and justice Kurian Joseph on the issue, the matter was referred to Chief Justice of India HL Dattu who constituted a larger bench of justice Dipak Misra, justice Prafulla C Pant and justice Amitava Roy to decide the destiny of Memon, the lone death row convict in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, who will turn 53 on Thursday.

The new bench will also go into the merits of Memon's petition which has claimed that the warrant was issued even before he exhausted all legal remedies before the court.

Justice AR Dave dismissed his petition but justice Kurien Joseph disagreed, saying Yakub’s curative petition needed to be heard afresh as it was dismissed without following correct procedure and rules laid down by the top court.

“A defect in deciding curative petition needs to be cured otherwise there will be clear violation of right to life of the convict under Article 21 of the Constitution,” justice Joseph said.

#* Abdul Kalam’s final journey: Rameswaram set to receive its gem

Rameswaram in southern Tamil Nadu is preparing to bid adieu to its greatest son, former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who grew up in the fishing town as the son of a boatman.
In accordance with the wishes of Kalam’s family, especially his 99-year-old elder brother Muthulabha Meera Marickkar, the government has decided to conduct his last rites in his hometown located 650 km south of Chennai.

Kalam, 83, died after suffering a massive cardiac arrest while delivering a lecture at IIM-Shillong on Monday evening. His body was flown from New Delhi to Tamil Nadu on Wednesday morning. It will be kept in Rameswaram for people to pay their respects before the state funeral on Thursday morning.

Since the news of Kalam’s death reached the town of nearly 45,000 people, Rameswaram has been wearing a mournful look. Large hoardings with his images have been put up in almost all corners of the town.

Many residents lit lamps, candles and incense sticks to pay homage to the “people’s President” who rose from a humble background. Shops and business establishments have been closed as a mark of respect to Kalam, who fondly reminisced about his childhood in Rameswaram in his 2013 autobiography “My Journey”.

“Living on the island of Rameswaram while I was growing up, the sea was an important part of our lives. Its tides, the lapping of the waves, the sound of trains passing on the Pamban bridge, the birds that always circled the town and the salt in the air are sights and sounds that will always remain linked with my memories of childhood,” he wrote.

His ancestral home, House of Kalam, was literally besieged by milling crowds. The doors of the home were partially shut to prevent the entry of too many people.

Kalam’s great-grandson APJ Shiekh Salim pleaded with television cameramen who swarmed the modest home since Tuesday night to respect the family’s privacy. “My shocked great-grandfather (Muthulabha) is not in good health. So we decided not to give him much trouble,” he said. Dr Abdul Karim, a lookalike of Kalam, who was four years senior to the scientist-President in St Joseph’s College in Tiruchi, said: “He lived his life for the country and he did it till the last minute. A great son, he’s left a huge void.”

A 12-year-old schoolgirl, who came to Kalam’s home to pay tribute, broke down and bystanders found it difficult to console her. “For us he’s a Mahatma,” said another youngster, wiping his tears.

#* Responsibility of guarding border with BSF: Badal

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said that he did not want to indulge in a blame game over the Gurdaspur terror attack but there was no denying the fact that the responsibility of guarding the Indo-Pak border was with the Border Security Force (BSF).
Interacting with the media in Kapurthala after meeting the family of superintendent of police (SP) Baljit Singh, who was killed in the terror attack on the Dinanagar police station on Monday, Badal backed Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini’s statement that there was no intelligence input or specific alert from any corner regarding the terror strike in the state.

When asked, the chief minister said that there was no demand put forward by SP Baljit Singh’s family regarding a job for the next of kin. “They are now a part of my family,” Badal said after a closed-door meeting with them. He assured them of suitable compensation.

#* Building collapses in Thane district, several trapped

A four-storey building at Thakurli in Thane district collapsed on Tuesday night, in which several persons are feared to have been trapped, an official said. "The building 'Matru Chhaya' crashed at about 10.40 pm following heavy downpour. A massive relief and rescue operation has begun and so far three injured persons have been rescued and rushed to the hospital," Regional Disaster Management Committee (RDMC) chief Santosh Kadam said. He, however, said that the exact number of persons trapped under the debris is yet to be ascertained. Fire brigade teams from Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, and Ambernath have been rushed to the site, he said.

    
#* Earnings take off: Jet Airways, SpiceJet shares fly high in sluggish market

Shares of domestic aviation companies sky-rocketed in early Wednesday trade despite the sluggish broad market sentiment, as strong earnings performance from SpiceJet and hopes of a similar performance from Jet Airways perked up investors sentiment.
At 11.15 am, shares of Jet Airways shot up 10.5 percent to Rs 363.10 after gaining nearly 12 percent to touch a high of Rs 367. Nearly 6 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE so far against two-week average volume of 2.7 lakh shares.
ReutersReuters
According to an Edelweiss Securities report, Jet Airways is likely to post profit after tax of Rs 34 crore in the first quarter ended June 2015, against a loss of Rs 218 crore in the year ago period.
Shares of low-cost carrier SpiceJet surged nearly 6 percent to a high of Rs 28.10 before trimming some gains to trade 5.3 percent higher at Rs 28. The counter also witnessed hectic trading activity, clocking volumes of over 1 crore shares against two-week average of 65.29 lakh shares traded.
Today's gains were in addition to yesterday's upsurge that saw the stock end nearly 6 percent higher after the company reported second straight quarter of earnings.
On Tuesday, the Gurgaon-based SpiceJet reported profit for the second straight quarter and clocked earnings of Rs 71.80 crore during the first quarter of the current fiscal over a net loss of Rs 124.1 crore during the same quarter last year.
The company also reported industry-beating load factor of 89.8 percent for the quarter, while costs were down 42 percent due to reduction in capacity.
Also, there are reports that oil marketing companies are likely to cut jet fuel prices amid weakness in crude prices, benefiting the airline companies as fuel contributes one-third of operational costs.

#* Indian Railways scheme: Book unreserved tickets via mobile app on Delhi-Palwal route

Indian Railways commuters travelling between New Delhi and Palwal in Haryana can now buy unreserved tickets using their mobile phones by just downloading an App.
This initiative, which will become operational from next month, is a part of efforts to make unreserved tickets paperless and save the commuters from the trouble of standing in queues to buy an unreserved tickets.
Under the initiative, a commuter using Android or Windows smartphone can access the Unreserved Ticketing system (UTS) application.
With the ticket booked through the UTS application, a commuter can travel ticketless to any desired destination on the 52-km Delhi-Palwal section. The commuter just has to show the booking details on the mobile, a railway official said.
The ticket can be purchased using debit or credit card.
There are about 15 stations between Delhi and Palwal including Nizamuddin, Tughalakabad, Faridabad and Ballabgarh which will be all covered under the paperless ticketing system for local travellors, the official added.
Developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) on mobile the paperless unreserved ticketing feature in mobile application aims to eliminate the need for printing of unreserved tickets.
The App, which is for both Android and Windows platforms, can be downloaded from Google Play Store or Windows Store and used by the user.
The application provides necessary on-screen alerts to guide the passenger during the booking process.
However, ticket windows will also be made available for passengers despite the operation of paperless mobile ticket system in the suburban section.
Such an initiative is already being tried on Egmore-Tambram suburban section in Chennai and Churchgate-Dahanu section in Mumbai and Delhi-Palwal will be the first in the north zone.
It was a budget proposal to provide paperless tickets in unreserved segment and we have to implement it in all suburban sections across the country, the official said.

#* Google joins chorus of companies backing LGBT bill

The Equality Act, introduced in the House last week, has a growing list of corporate supporters.

Add Google to the list of major companies voicing their support for proposed legislation that would ban discrimination against members of the LGBT community.

The online search giant on Tuesday joined the likes of Facebook  FB 2.31% , General Mills  GIS 1.04% , and Nike  NKE 1.56%  in publicly backing the Equality Act, a landmark anti-discrimination bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The Equality Act seeks to expand existing civil rights protections against racial and gender-based discrimination in the workplace and other public spheres to include safeguards against sexual orientation and gender identity.

“Diverse perspectives, ideas, and cultures lead to the creation of better products and services and ideas,” a Google  GOOG 0.12%  spokeswoman told Fortune in an e-mail Tuesday. “And it’s the right thing to do. That’s why we support protections for LGBT Americans as outlined in the Equality Act.”

Other companies to announce support for the bill include Apple  AAPL 0.50% , American Airlines  AAL 2.57% , the Dow Chemical Company  DOW 2.24% , and Levi Strauss.

Fortune reached out to a handful of other large U.S. companies on Tuesday to ask about their respective stances on the Equality Act. An IBM  IBM 0.62%  spokesman said the company is still reviewing the proposed legislation. “IBM has a long standing commitment to equal opportunity, including LGBT employees,” the spokesman added. Fortune will add other firms’ responses as we hear back.

An increasing number of large corporations have embraced LGBT rights over the past few months. Earlier this year, tech companies Salesforce and Apple — whose CEO, Tim Cook, is openly gay — along with GE were among the most vocal critics of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which opponents argued allows for discrimination against gay and lesbian employees. Walmart  WMT 1.01%  has also become an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, particularly in its home state of Arkansas, where the nation’s largest private employer was joined by rival Target  TGT 1.31%  in speaking out against that state’s religious freedom bill. Walmart and Target did not immediately respond to Fortune‘s request for comment on the Equality Act.

#* Microsoft Windows 10 First Impression: Start button get its due, India must wait for Cortana 

Windows 10 is upon us. Across the world, PC users are mulling over whether they should move on to the new version of the operating system they end up staring into for most of the day. It is also a question of disrupting lives, after all who wants to move out of their comfort zone, even if it is a virtual one. Not all OS upgrades have been smooth affairs and a lot of people have regretted the effort, only to realise that features that made their life simpler have been removed or restructured in someone else’s infinite wisdom. But the Windows 10 upgrade promises to be simpler and easier to manage. It will also be the last OS upgrade you will do, if Microsoft is to be believed. The Windows 10 operating system will now strive to keep itself updated on a daily basis, thus negating the need for a large upgrade. - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/microsoft-windows-10-first-impression-start-button-get-its-due-india-must-wait-for-cortana/#sthash.czK6X3zR.dpuf
Before I tell you what my first impressions of Microsoft Windows 10 are, I have a confession to make. I was lucky enough to have go a sneak peek into Windows 8 months before it was launched in 2012. I was impressed with what I saw, especially the design and lively Metro tiles. Now, having to use an Windows 8.1 for over 10 hours in office everyday, I have different thoughts about everything that this version gave me as new. In fact, my usage of a Windows 8.1 device is a tactful skirting of all those features, including the Live tiles, and an attempt to stay well within familiar territory. So my hope with Windows 10 is that it makes me use the operating system to the best of its abilities, without scaring me away.
What I like? The start button is back: Bowing before the pressures of the collective muscle memory of millions of user, Microsoft bought back the Start button on Windows 8.1. Now, Redmond seems to have realised the power and positive energy vested in that left hand corner of the PC screen, which they tried to negate with Windows 8. On Windows 10, the Start button is like the command and control centre. You will go here more often than you did with the earlier Start buttons and it helps that this version is far more intuitive and well designed. Edge browser: Like most of us, I too discovered the Internet on Internet Explorer. But of late, I go there only if there is no other option, as is the case with some government and bank websites. For me, IE had refused to move with time. But Edge is something else. It is minimalist, it is fast and it is light. But even as I hope Microsoft opens up to the possibility of adding apps on their new browser, I am more than happy to get the annotate feature on this browser. Everything this feature offers —
    
Search bar: The search bar is now pinned to the bottom band on your screen. And while it is a search that can take you to Bing, it is also the Run search that we used to bank to find something from within the PC. The search natively understands when it needs to take you to the web and when it can give you results from within. Flexibility: It is not rocket science, as many OEMs have had this feature ever since convertibles started becoming popular, but Windows 10 recognises the fact that it is running on unconventional devices. So when you tear away the keyboard of a 2-in-1, the OS asks you if you want to go into tablet mode. If you yoke the keyboard back, it will ask you whether you want to use it in PC mode. The tablet mode here means the Live tile UI that you are by now familiar with. But I guess we can live with that on a touch only interface. What I don’t like? 
Where is Cortana? Well, having an Indian CEO does not seem to have made much of a difference to Microsoft, for the one feature any Windows users in India would have wanted to try out first is not there for now. Yes, Windows Insiders will get to speak to Cortana and pick her brains, but lesser mortals will have to wait at least a month to put this intelligent digital assistant to work. And given Microsoft’s reluctance, or inability, to adapt her to Indian conditions, I will not stick my neck out and say Cortana will be here in September. But it beats me why you would want to hold back your best feature from anyone. For now, Windows 10 looks like a cleaner, easier-to-use iteration of what is still the world’s most popular computing platform. A lot of what is new are actually fixes for things that didn’t go right with the last version. But there is some innovative stuff too like the Edge browser and Hello, which is hardware driven. But even for Windows 10, the ultimate call will be that of the user, who will decide whether the update is actually one that doesn’t need fixes from Day 1.

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