PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Pullela Gopichand presented BMW cars

PV Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Pullela Gopichand presented BMW cars

Rio Olympics silver medallist shuttler P V Sindhu and bronze winner grappler Sakshi Malikalong with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and badminton coach Pullela Gopichandwere on Sunday presented BMW cars by cricket legendSachin Tendulkar here.

Hyderabad District Badminton Association president Chamundeshwarnath gifted the luxury cars to the four sportspersons for their outstanding achievement in the recently-concluded Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

Tendulkar, who was the goodwill ambassador of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics, handed over the keys at a function at the Gopichand Badminton Academy here.

Under the guidance of chief coach Gopichand, Sindhu clinched the silver medal in women's singles, making her the first Indian woman sportsperson to win a silver in the Olympics. Wrestler Sakshi had bagged a bronze in women's freestyle 58kg class.

Dipa, who missed a medal by a whisker, had finished fourth in the vault event and stunned the world with her risky Produnova vault.

Read more news about Rio Olympics.

After Twitter, PM set to conquer app space

After Twitter, PM set to conquer app space

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who recently became the most followed Indian on Twitter beating film star Amitabh Bachchan, is now setting new records on his own ‘Narendra Modi mobile app’. The app, often referred to as ‘NM on the go’, has already been downloaded 2.5 million times. While the PM’s official app was launched in June 2015, it was Apple CEO Tim Cook who brought it alive two months ago. Cook launched the upgraded version of the app in June 2016 during his India visit.

The PM wants his app to connect with people in the remotest places of the country. It is being seen as a powerful tool of direct communication, ahead of several state elections next year and then the Lok Sabha polls in 2019, an official pointed out. Modi is looking at a growth of at least 20 times in the use of his app, translating to a user base of at least 50 million in the months to come, sources have indicated. The number might still be far from blockbuster games such as Pokémon GO, Angry Birds, Talking Tom and Candy Crush, but the PM’s app could catch up with many others.

A look at Google’s Play Store shows the number of downloads for some of the popular apps. Among the free apps, the Indian Railways train status app has seen an estimated five million downloads and the number is the same for IRCTC as well as SBI Anywhere.(more)

Google rolls out Android 7.0 Nougat for Nexus devices

Google rolls out Android 7.0 Nougat for Nexus devices

Google on Tuesday announced the launch of Android 7.0Nougat for Nexus devices.

The company said over the next several weeks, the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G (Android One) will get an over-the-air software update to Android 7.0 Nougat.

Any devices enrolled in the Android Beta Programme will also receive this final version.

This means the update will miss the Nexus 5 and 7 tablets. The official Google blog also said, “There are many tasty devices coming from our partners running Android Nougat, including the upcoming LG V20, which will be the first new smartphone that ships with Android Nougat, right out of the box.”

According to news reports, the upgrade will be rolled out for devices such as HTC10, HTC One 9A, HTC One M9 and Sony Xperia Z3.(more)

ALSO READ: Five things you should look forward to in Android N

WhatsApp to share users' phone numbers with parent firm Facebook

WhatsApp to share users' phone numbers with parent firm Facebook

Messaging service WhatsApp has updated its global privacy policy, and it will now share phone numbers of users with its parent company, Facebook.

While the move will help Facebook offer more targeted advertisements on its own platform, WhatsApp will continue to be ad-free, a WhatsApp spokesperson told PTI. He added that this is the first time that WhatsApp has updated the user privacy policy after being acquired by Facebook in 2014 in a $19-billion deal.

Privacy advocates had raised concerns that Facebook would start mining WhatsApp accounts for data. However, both the companies have maintained that WhatsApp would operate separately from the parent company and that its user data would not be shared without their consent.

WhatsApp has over one billion users globally, with a significant chunk coming from India. Facebook also runs photo-sharing platform, Instagram.(more)

Indian Navy probes leaked data of Scorpene subs

Indian Navy probes leaked data of Scorpene subs

At midnight on Tuesday, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was woken up by a phone call to tell him that an Australian newspaper had just reported the leakage of key operational details of India’s newest submarines, the Scorpene.

A short while earlier, The Australian, a reputed Melbourne based daily, had broken the news that 22,400 pages of detailed documents relating to India’s Scorpene submarines has been leaked, apparently from the French shipbuilder, DCNS, which is the vendor for India’s six Scorpenes.

The report in The Australian says: “the DCNS documents detail the most sensitive combat capabilities of India’s new $US3 bn ($3.9bn) submarine fleet and would provide an intelligence bonanza if obtained by India’s strategic rivals, such as Pakistan or China.”

ALSO READ: Indian Navy analysing Scorpene data leak

Each page of the leaked documents, which are available on The Australian’s website, is annotated in red with the stamp: “Restricted Scorpene India”.

Parrikar says, upon learning of the leak at midnight, he ordered the navy chief personally to inquire into what this meant for the security of the Scorpene fleet.(more)

Rajnath Singh's visit to Jammu valley: Do not expect much

Rajnath Singh's visit to Jammu valley: Do not expect much

Rajnath Singh has begun his 2-day visit to the Jammu valley where he is likely to meet a cross section of people and review the prevailing situation that is yet to come back to normalcy. So should one expect a lot of change in the ground situation post this visit. It all depends on what kind of message he is ready to send.

He is after all, the Home Minister of the country. All paramilitary forces report to him. These are the very forces that are the target of hatred and rage in the state. So won’t Singh be a bit conflicted? Isn’t what Kashmir needs right now the healing touch? A soothing, gentle presence that offers to be a bridge between the Chief Minister and the mobs?

ALSO READ: Combined effort needed to fight out terrorism: Rajnath Singh

ALSO READ: Modi meets J&K politicians, reaches out to Kashmiris

Samsung launches Z2 at Rs 4,590 to woo feature phone users to switch to smartphone

Samsung launches Z2 at Rs 4,590 to woo feature phone users to switch to smartphone

Samsung has launched a new 4G handset 'Z2', priced at Rs 4,590, to woo feature phone users to switch to smartphones.

The device, which is also aimed at first time smartphone buyers, is powered by Samsung's own Tizen operating system.

"About 55 crore people in the country are still using feature phones and about 10 million feature phones get sold each month. With Z2, we want to help people transition to smartphones," Samsung India Vice President Mobile Business Manu Sharma told PTI.

He added that the Z2 is the most affordable 4G-VoLTE device in Samsung's current portfolio.

The handset, which will go on sale offline and through Paytm (online) from August 29, will come bundled with Reliance Jio's free voice and data service for 90 days.

This is the third handset powered by Tizen OS. The first smartphone, Z1 in January last year, followed by Z3 in October.(more)

Facing sedition charge, Cong leader Ramya refuses to apologise for Pak comment

Facing sedition charge, Cong leader Ramya refuses to apologise for Pak comment

The Kannada actor and Congress member Ramya, who is accused of sedition over her remarks of praising the people of Pakistan after a recent visit, said on Tuesday that there is “no question of apologising.”

She said, "BJP will not do anything to repeal the law, because they are using it to their advantage", Congress leader Ramya on Tuesday refused to apologise for her statement that "Pakistan is a good country, not hell."

The 33-year-old Divya Spandana visited Islamabad to attend Saarc Young Parliamentarians Conference, responded to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar’s statement, “Going to Pakistan is like going to hell,” with “Pakistan is not hell, people there are just like us. They treated us very well.”

She made the remarks during a rally in her former constituency Mandya, saying how the people of Pakistan went out of their way on making her stay and comfortable after they got to know that she is from India.

Her comments outraged K Vittal Gowda, an advocate from Karnataka, who lodged a “sedition case” in Kodagu in southern Karnataka, around 250 km from state capital Bengaluru.(more)

Indian officials' absence force O P Jaisha to run Rio marathon without water

Indian officials' absence force O P Jaisha to run Rio marathon without water

To say that Indian athletes are not new to indifference from sports authorities would not be an understatement. O P Jaisha’s divulgence of her collapse at the end of taxing 42 km women's marathon at Rio Olympics 2016 brings to light the suffering of the athletes.

In an interview to Times of India, Jaisha said she collapsed after the run as she was deprived of the basic need- water. Talking about the irresponsible behavior of the Indian officials, Jaisha said there was nobody present from the India to provide the national record holder with refreshments.

"Though there were officials from all other countries to provide refreshments to their runners at designated points - after every 2.5 km - there was no one from India and our desks were empty next to the country's name and flag," said Jaisha.(more)

PM Modi says those killed in Kashmir violence 'part of us', emphasises dialogue

PM Modi says those killed in Kashmir violence 'part of us', emphasises dialogue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed "deep pain" and concern over the prevailing situation in Kashmir Valley and emphasised on the need for dialogue to find a lasting solution within the framework of the Constitution.

He told a delegation of opposition leaders of Jammu and Kashmir that those who lost their lives during the recent disturbances are a "part of us" and it is a matter of "distress" whether the lives lost are of "our youth, security personnel or police," official sources said.

The Prime Minister said his government stands with the state of Jammu and Kashmir and suggested that all political parties should reach out to the people and convey the same.

During the meeting with the delegation led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Prime Minister expressed "deep concern and pain" at the prevailing situation in the state and appealed for restoration of normalcy in the Valley which has been witnessing unrest for the last 44 days.(more)

Here's how coach Gopichand made India proud

Here's how coach Gopichand made India proud

“It is the coaching which is vital. We must have a better system, somehow. We lack scientific training or proper coaching programmes at all levels, particularly grass root level,” said Pullela Gopichand in an interview with Rediff.com in January 2001. Gopichand won the prestigous All-England Championships in the same year and attained a career-best ranking of five.

What Gopichand really craved for was an Olympic medal but unfortunately couldn’t win in his playing career. As a coach though he has been instrumental in winning two medals for India at the Olympics. In 2012, Gopichand was the national team coach when Saina Nehwalscooped the bronze medal. PV Sindhu’s silver medal in Rio Olympics cements Gopichand’s legacy in the history of Indian sport.

It all started eight years back when his academy started fucntioning in 2008. Gachibowli in Hyderabad is an area where a lot of IT companies have built their offices. The Indian School of Business’ campus is also around. Amidst this corporate high-rises, a nondescript looking building is where Gopichand’s academy is situated. In the last eight years, India has seen the rise of many talented players like Parupalli Kashyap, Kidambi Srikanth, and they all have been coached by Gopichand. Both Srikanth and Kashyap broke into the world top 10 as have Nehwal and Sindhu. (more)