Aamir to partner Maharashtra govt

Aamir Khan and his wife Kiran Rao have launched the Paani Foundation, which will partner the Maharashtra government in its efforts to communicate and educate people at the grass root level about water conservation and watershed management. The foundation and the government announced the first initiative called the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, a competition to popularise water conservation and watershed management in the rural areas of the state.

26/11 attacks planned one year in advance, reveals Headley

Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist-turned-approver David Coleman Headley revealed in a Special Court that the dastardly 26/11 attacks in Mumbai was planned out over a year in advance by various groups and agencies of Pakistan, here on Tuesday.

Continuing his deposition via videoconferencing before Special Judge G. A. Sanap for the second consecutive day from a US jail, Headley said that in 2006, ISI official Major Pasha and LeT functionary Sajid Mir and others met to discuss plans to set up a business for (him) Headley in Mumbai.

High-speed Spanish train to undertake trial run on Delhi-Mumbai route

Trains manufactured by Spanish firm Talgo may soon undertake trial runs at speeds between 160 and 200 kmph on the existing tracks on the Delhi-Mumbai route.

Depending upon the results of the trial runs, the railways will consider introduction of high-speed trains on other routes too, a senior Railway Ministry official said.

Taking on social issues with brave art

When more than 65,000 people showed up to be a part of the Burning Man Festival in 2014, a week-long free-spirited celebration of art and music, they knew they should expect good things. But no one could have foreseen 20 giant lotuses blooming in the semi-arid land in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.

Every time one touched a stem sprouting from these 10-14-feet high installations, it would pick up one’s pulse via sensors and make the lotuses bloom. At a time, 40 people could touch this piece called Pulse and Bloom and see their heartbeats pulsate through LED-loaded structures.Click here for more details.

With the channel set three years ago to import gold illegally into the country not giving enough returns to cover the risk involved, operators of these channels - theSmugglers, in simple words - are now increasingly switching over to illegal import of cigarettes. This is because of the "much higher RoI (return on investment)", according to intelligence officials.

The cost of a Rs 10 cigarette typically goes up to Rs 220 if imported legally. That is the margin the smugglers can corner, since they don't pay import duty. Even if they pass on some of the benefit from the evaded duty, they still make a good amount of profit.

Strong 6.8 earthquake hits India's northeastern region, 5 dead

At least five persons were killed and over 50 injured as a strong 6.8 magnitude Earthquake with epicentre in Manipur today hit the northeastern region, causing damage to many buildings and spreading panic.

Manipur bore the brunt of the temblor which struck at 4.35 a.m with its epicentre at Tamenglong district at a depth of 17 km below the ground.

"So far, five deaths and 33 injuries have been reported from Imphal. Damage to a few buildings, residential units and Government offices have been reported, including damage to a six storey building in Imphal," according to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Meanwhile, social network giant Facebook has activated its 'Mark As Safe' feature that allows people in the affected area to mark themselves as out of any danger on the social media platform. Read More.

PM delivers a moving speech, but Dalit entreprenurs want action on the ground

Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a stirring speech at a meeting of the Dalit Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DICCI) on Tuesday, but several Dalit entrepreneurs who were present said they would like to see more action on the ground by government to foster the Dalit entrepreneurial spirit.

DICCI was formed as a parallel body to industry and trade pressure groups such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) because Dalit entrepreneurs saw these groups as old boys’ clubs where everyone knew everyone and helped each other, but were unable to appreciate the special handicaps that weighed down the socially disempowered. 

The idea of a venture capital (VC) fund only for Dalits was floated by DICCI and was seized upon enthusiastically by the then deputy chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who took a personal interest in the architecture of the fund. It was announced amid great fanfare by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2012 as a way to financing the expansion and modernisation of Dalit-run businesses and funding prospective Dalit entrepreneurs.