Mumbai crash: A victim told father she was going to fly in 'sick aircraft'

The 12-seater aircraft crashed in Ghatkopar in Mumbai, killing both pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board, besides a pedestrian.

Plane Crash in Ghatkoper : Hours before the 12-seater aircraft crashed in a crowded Mumbai suburb on Thursday, maintenance engineer Surabhi Gupta - one of the five killed in the incident- told her father in Sonepat that she was going to fly in a "sick aircraft".
Surabhi had spoken to her father over phone on Thursday morning and described the condition of the aircraft as bad.
"It was yesterday morning that we spoke over phone. We had a routine conversation before she told me that the aircraft she was going to fly in later in the day was sick. She said the aircraft was in a bad condition..," Surabhi's father S P Gupta told reporters at his residence in Sonepat on Friday.
The grieving father wondered who gave the permission to fly a "sick aircraft".
"How was permission given to fly a sick aircraft and who gave this permission," he asked.
At the same time, Gupta said that he was confident that a high-level probe would be conducted by authorities concerned into the incident and people responsible will be held accountable.
He said Surabhi got married only last year and her husband too was a pilot.
He recalled that Surabhi was often referred to as astronaut Kalpana Chawla by local residents in their hometown in Uttar Pradesh.
"Recently, she was honoured by the Maharashtra government. She was a brave young woman, who was fond of heights," he said.
The 12-seater aircraft crashed in Ghatkopar in Mumbai, killing both pilots and two aircraft maintenance engineers on board, besides a pedestrian.

The aircraft had taken off from the Juhu airstrip on a test flight. It lost control when it was four nautical miles from Juhu.

Sanju movie review: Critics go gaga, predict 'monstrous' hit; Ranbir shines

Some said that the first half was very good but the second half was a bit of a dampener. Others revelled in Ranbir Kapoor and Rajkumar Hirani's magic from inside the theatres.

Sanju, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, opened on Friday morning in theatres across India. The film directed by Rajkumar Hirani is touted to be one of the biggest Bollywood releases of this year.


Critics seem happy, as of now
Film trade analyst Sumit Kadel tweeted: "Sanju opens with BUMPER occupancy of 50-55% at very early morning shows (7-8) across India, 9-10 am shows will register 60-65% occupancy all over India. HUGE opening considering 4,000 plus screens"
Bollywood news website Koimoi heaped praises on the young Kapoor's portrayal of Dutt saying, "Ranbir Kapoor has done the unimaginable! He's not Ranbir Kapoor, he's not an actor, he's Sanjay Dutt in the film."
Times of India gave the film four out of five stars in its review.
Critic and trade analyst Rohit Jaiswal said that the film is not a one-man show.
Bollywood reactions
Subhash Ghai, director of blockbuster films of yesteryears, such as Hero and Taal, said: Go and watch Sanju to experience real Sanjay Dutt on screen superbly performed by my favourite actor Ranbir Kapoor bringing the real character alive. He congratulated Rajkumar Hirani, Ranbir, Anushka and Sanjay Dutt on Twitter for making a "heart touching" film.
Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted that the film is going to open in over 5300 screens globally. Of these, about 4,000 are in India.
Sanjay Dutt has had an on and off screen career due to upheavals in his life at regular intervals. He made a rocking debut in Bollywood with "Rocky" in 1981, put his personal life in jeopardy through drug addiction. However, his career went on a downward spiral after he was arrested in the aftermath of the Bombay blasts. Police had recovered illegal arms from his house and alleged that he was involved in the tragedy that came to be infamously known as Black Friday.



On Twitter, Audience reactions divided

As usual, Twitter had been waiting for the reactions of those who watched the first-day first show. Some said that the first half was very good but the second half was a bit of a dampener. Others revelled in Ranbir Kapoor and Rajkumar Hirani's magic from inside the theatres, Here are a few interesting ones among them:

Amazon, H&M and other multinationals pressing to soften Maharashtra's plastic ban

The ban includes bags, food containers, spoons, forks, glasses and packaging wraps - which the local plastics industry says could cost it up to Rs 150 billion a year and nearly 300,000 jobs.

Maharashtra Plastic Ban : Multinational companies like Amazon Inc and H&M are lobbying to soften a ban against single-use plastic imposed by an Indian state last week, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
The ban by the state of Maharashtra, home to India's financial capital of Mumbai, could sharply raise costs for companies that rely heavily on plastic for packaging, such as retailers, beverage makers and sellers of bottled water.
Maharashtra's move, the first such broad action against plastic by an Indian state, comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushes a plan to completely end the use of single-use plastic in India by 2022.
Plastic packaging accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste globally, and much of it is thrown away within just a few minutes of its first use, according to the United Nations.
Representatives of companies including Amazon, H&M, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, as well as plastic industry bodies and lobby groups, met with Maharashtra government officials days before the ban came into effect on June 23, urging them to implement the rule in phases and relax some norms, said the four sources who declined to be named.
"Our demand to the government is: give the industry seven years to come up with alternatives," said Neemit Punamiya, general secretary of the Plastic Bags Manufacturers Association of India, who attended the meeting. "It cannot happen overnight - we've got investments, we've got loans to pay and people to manage."
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, whose members include online retailers such as Amazon India and Flipkart, said in a June 7 letter to the state government that such a ban "will not be without its own share of adverse environmental impacts which are largely driven by issues associated with the use of alternatives".
The Internet and Mobile Association of India, which also counts Amazon and Flipkart as members, said it had asked the state to ease the rules but did not specify what relaxation it was seeking.
Beverage makers such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola, meanwhile, want an exemption from the rules as they mandate a buyback of empty bottles at a guaranteed price, which will raise costs, another source familiar with the talks said.
Amazon, Flipkart, Pepsi and Coca-Cola did not respond to requests for comment. H&M said in a statement that it supported reusing and recycling, adding that the company had asked the government to clarify the rules and for help coming up with solutions.
Maharashtra's environment minister said Wednesday that the government would relax rules for neighbourhood grocery stores allowing them to pack commodities such as rice and pulses in plastic. They would, however, have to ensure buyers return the packaging for recycling.

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Hindi added most speakers in 10 yrs: Where do other Indian languages stand?

Marathi with 83 million speakers displaced Telugu (81 million) to become the third most common mother tongue after Hindi and Bengali.

Hindi was the fastest growing language in India at 25.19% adding close to a 100 million speakers between 2001-2011.

Kashmiri (22.97%), Gujarat (20.4%), Manipuri (20.07%), and Bengali (16.63%) are the second, third and fourth fastest growing languages, respectively, according to new census data.

Hindi (520 million speakers) and Bengali (97 million speakers) remain the most spoken and the second most spoken language across the country.

There are now 260,000 people who deem English as their mother tongue; up from 226,000 in 2001, an increase of 14.67%.

The most number of English speakers are from Maharashtra (104,000) followed by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Sanskrit remains the least spoken among the scheduled languages – officially recognised – with 24,821 speakers despite an increase of 76% from 2001.

Two scheduled languages have witnessed a drop in the number of people referring to them as their mother tongues: Urdu declined by 1.58% and Konkani by 9.54%.

Of the 99 unscheduled languages, Bhili/Bhilodi continue to have the most speakers (104 million marked it as their mother tongue), up from 95 million in 2001.

Gondi retained its second position with 29 million speakers, up from 27 million in 2001.

Bhili/Bhilodi is predominantly spoken by the Bhil people who are native to Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Gondi is spoken by the Gonds who primarily inhabit Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka.

Tamil (-5%) and Malayalam (-10%) speaking population are falling across most states in north India even as Tamil Nadu and Kerala saw over 33% increase in the number of Hindi, Bengali, Assamese and Odia speakers, indicating a reverse migration trend from earlier decades when people from the two southern states migrated in large numbers to the north, The Times of India reported on June 28, 2018.

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Instagram adds group video call, new camera effects to app: How they work

The new video chat feature enables app users to chat and make video calls, even group video calls, from the Direct. Here is how the new features work.

Instagram, a photo-sharing social media platform owned by Facebook, on June 26 announced a new update that introduces the video chat feature and new camera effects for stories to the app. The new video chat feature enables app users to chat and make video calls, even group video calls, from the Direct. Here is how the new features work:



Video chat
Now, you can video chat in Instagram Direct, either with just one person or a group. To start a video chat, go to Direct inbox and open any message thread. Tap on the new camera icon, in the right corner, and your friends’ phones will ring. While on the video chat, you can minimise the video and multitask on Instagram to send messages and photos in Direct, browse feed and post a story.



The group video chat feature currently allows four people in a group to take part in the chat. You can video-chat with anyone you have an active Direct thread with. If you block a person, they will no longer be able to video-chat you. You can also mute a person if you do not want to receive notifications from them. To update your video-chat notifications, tap the gear icon on profile and find the new video chat control in Push Notifications.



The Instagram camera has also been updated with new camera effects designed by Ariana Grande, Buzzfeed, Liza Koshy, Baby Ariel and NBA. However, the new effects would be shown to users who follow any of these accounts. If you are not a follower but you see an effect that you love, you can tap to try it on and add it to your camera.

Starting today, the above-mentioned features, along with redesigned explorer feed, are available as an update for Android and iOS devices.

Vivo Nex S, Nex A with pop-up selfie camera to launch on July 19: Know more

Based on the APEX concept that the company showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2018, both Nex S and Nex A boast an all-screen front, dual rear cameras and a motorised pop-up selfie camera.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo is gearing up to launch Vivo Nex S and Nex A in India on July 19. Based on the APEX concept that the company showcased at the Mobile World Congress 2018, both Nex S and Nex A boast an all-screen front, similar to the Xiaomi Mi Mix-series smartphones, dual rear cameras and a motorised pop-up selfie camera. The phones were recently launched in China at CNY 4,498 (around Rs 48,000) and CNY 3,898 (around Rs 40,000), respectively.



While both Vivo Nex S and Nex A are identical in terms of design, they are powered by a different breed of processors and have different RAM and storage configurations. The Vivo Nex S is a flagship phone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 8GB of RAM. It comes in two storage variants -- 128GB or 256GB. The Vivo Nex A, on the other hand, is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC, paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.



Fingerprint sensor is another feature that gets different treatment in Vivo Nex S and Nex A. While the premium flagship gets Vivo’s in-display fingerprint scanner technology, which put the sensor under the screen, Nex A gets a regular fingerprint sensor mounted on the rear side of the smartphone.



Other than this, both the phones are identical in all other aspects. These phones sport 6.59-inch super AMOLED fullHD+ screen in 19.3:9 aspect ratio. There is no notch on top, but there is a small chin at the bottom, which is the only area not covered by display. To achieve the all-screen feat, the company has used vibrating screen speaker, which is claimed to work on-par with traditional earpiece set-up. The 8-megapixel front camera in both the phones is moved from the front to the top, as a mechanical pop-up unit that comes out from the chassis. The back of both the phones sports dual camera set-up, featuring a 12MP primary sensor of f/1.8 aperture paired with 5MP sensor of f/2.4 aperture.




Powering both the phones is a 4,000 mAh battery, and Android Oreo-based Funtouch 4.0 operating system infused with artificial intelligence utilities. Both the phones also feature Vivo’s personal digital assistant Jovi, which is capable of image identification, apps launch and voice commands.

One year of GST: Sowing the seeds for fruits of GDP growth in the future

GST may have had issues at the time of roll out and some creases need to be ironed out but it will help India's GDP grow.

One Year Of GST : A year back when GST was being rolled out, this was a point of time when many state legislatures were in the mode of circumspection. GST was long needed for establishing a robust indirect tax system in the country. It came in at a right time when the 'Digital India' campaign had started to succeed in reaching across the length and breadth of the country.


Let’s check out some of the hits that GST has marked for itself :
GST law functioning under a shelter of a robust technology
Despite GSTN having a tight deadline to prepare a robust system to handle various GST compliances like Migration, Registrations, Return filing and Refund processing, a sound and reliable system was set-up for citizens to operate. At times, system software and hardware failed to take the load and hence crashed. Not only this, despite online filing, a manual submission of form RFD-01A - for GST refunds - continues till today. But a look into the legal structure of GST formulated by the GST council and the lawmakers, a proper technology backing is a must. Nevertheless, GSTN is dedicated towards building a strong GST portal in an ongoing effort to resolve tech issues.


Salute to GST council’s statecraft
Uphill task of decision-making that had a nation-wide impact was managed with strong and principled diplomacy. The statesmanship shown by all the members of the state is appreciable. Timely meetings ( offline and through video conferencing ) to discuss various relevant concerns of trade and industry worked well. Handling of the entire process of simplification in GST return filing to make it taxpayer-friendly in short time is welcome.


The revenue figures for May 2018 of GST collected stands approximately at 940 billion, which is above the monthly average GST collected for any previous month.


Despite GST stabilising with anti-tax evasion measures such as e-way bill mechanism, there are few misses that need further deliberation:

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Indian army surgical strike video released, shows ops against terror camps: TV channels

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces.

Purported visuals of the Indian Army's cross-border operations against terrorists about two years ago were broadcast by television channels on Wednesday night.

News channels said the grainy footage on air showed gunfire and explosions targeting enemy camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, an operation that came in retaliation to a terrorist strike on an Indian Army camp and is widely known as surgical strikes.
The reports also said these videos, provided to TV channels by sources, were shot by drones using thermal imaging cameras.

Business Standard could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos but an official who was directly in charge of the operation confirmed that they were real.

“When the surgical strikes happened, my view was that the videos should have been released as proof. It is good that they have come out now,” Lt General D S Hooda (retd) told The Indian Express.

On September 29, 2016, the Indian Army announced that it attacked terrorists' camps along the Line of Control using ground forces. The act, which officials said inflicted “significant casualties” on terrorists, came after a deadly attack on a military base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 that year.

Pakistan rejected India's claims of having launched a surgical strike on terrorist camps in Pakistani territory.

In a book launched on the first anniversary of surgical strikes, an Army Major, who reportedly led the mission, said the return was the most difficult part and bullets fired by the enemy were so close that these were whistling past the ears.

Is the user real? Twitter to confirm new accounts in fight against bots

The requirement will be rolled out later this year, and Twitter promised to make sure the change does not harm aspiring users.

Twitter has said it will begin asking for email addresses or phone numbers to confirm new accounts as part of a battle against manipulation, particularly by automated bots.
Adding a way to check that a real person is behind new accounts was described by Twitter as being among measures to fight abuse, trolls, and hateful content.
"This is an important change to defend against people who try to take advantage of our openness," Twitter executives Del Harvey and Yoel Roth said in a blog post.
The requirement will be rolled out later this year, and Twitter promised to make sure the change does not harm aspiring users in "high-risk" places.
Twitter recently began taking more steps to clean up spam and automated activity, and "close the loopholes they'd exploited," according to Harvey and Roth.
"We're also now automating some processes where we see suspicious account activity, like exceptionally high-volume tweeting with the same hashtag, or using the same @handle without a reply from the account you're mentioning," they said.
Twitter systems identified and challenged more than 9.9 million "potentially spammy or automated accounts" weekly in May, according to Harvey and Roth.
Twitter last month said that it was stepping up its long-running battle against online trolls, trying to find offenders by looking at "behavioral signals." The new approach looks at behavioral patterns of users in addition to the content of the tweets, allowing Twitter to find and mute online bullies and trolls.
Even if the offending tweets are not a violation of Twitter policy, they may be hidden from users if they are deemed to "distort" a conversation, Twitter said.
Twitter already uses artificial intelligence and machine learning in this effort but the latest initiative aims to do more by focusing on the actions of certain users in addition to the content.

Twitter is among online platforms under pressure to do more to safeguard against being used to spread misinformation or promote division, as proved the case during the US presidential election in 2016, in which US intelligence says Russia meddled to help Donald Trump win.

Incredibles 2' set to be most successful animated Hollywood film in India

Currently, the leader is Kung Fu Panda 3, which raked in Rs 221.2 million, followed by the second movie in the same franchise.

Incredibles 2, the sequel to the 2004 movie The Incredibles, is inching its way to the top of the charts as the most successful animated movie at the Indian box office. Distributed by Disney India in the country, the film released on June 22 and made Rs 178.5 million in the first weekend of its release.
The film's opening ensures it top berth among the most successful animation films from Hollywood. Currently, the leader is Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016), which raked in Rs 221.2 million, followed by the second movie in the same franchise, Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), at Rs 205.5 million. Currently, Incredibles 2 is on the fourth spot on the list, behind Angry Birds (2016), which made Rs 198 million at the Indian box office.
While live action films from Hollywood have adopted localisation as a strategic tool while releasing movies in the country, the earliest adopter of the trend was the 2004 release of The Incredibles. It was the first time a studio got a leading Bollywood actor for the voice-over of Mr Incredible, the male lead in the movie.


Since then, studios have explored new languages to dub and release movies in, associated with different personalities for promotions, released trailers in multiple Indian languages, and collaborated with different brands to reach as many people in the audience as possible.


In the case of Incredibles 2, Disney India got Bollywood actor Kajol to voice Elastigirl/Helen, the leading lady in the franchise, who has a more significant role in the sequel.


Top four animated films in India


1. Kung Fu Panda 3 - Rs 221.2 million


2. Kung Fu Panda 2 - Rs 205.5 million


3. Angry Birds - Rs 198 million


4. Incredibles 2 - Rs 178.5 million (still running in theatres)

Asus to launch Zenfone 5z on Flipkart-exclusive smartphone soon

Unveiled at the MWC 2018, Zenfone 5z was the first Android smartphone to sport an iPhone X-inspired notch and system-wide AI capabilities, along with a dual camera set-up on the rear.

Asus, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, is gearing up to launch the Flipkart-exclusive Zenfone 5z in India on July 4. The e-commerce platform recently listed the teaser page, confirming the launch of premium smartphone in India.


Asus Zenfone 5z was first unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in February, alongside Zenfone 5. Both sport similar glass-metal-glass sandwich design and feature a dual camera set-up on the back. However, the processor, RAM and storage configurations set them apart.


In terms of features, the Zenfone 5z boasts 90 per cent screen-to-body ratio, thanks to its 6.2-inch fullHD+ screen covering almost the entire front. The 19:9 aspect ratio leaves just a small notch on top to accommodate an 8-megapixel camera, earpiece and sensors – just like in Apple iPhone X but smaller.


On the back, the smartphone sports a dual-camera set-up, which features 12MP and 8MP shooters.


The primary 12MP sensor boasts f/1.8 aperture. and the 8MP sensor features 120-degree wide-angle lens. Both front and rear cameras are backed by AI for automatic scene selection and portrait photography, and machine learning to improve the output by learning usage patterns.


Zenfone 5z sports a 2.5D curved glass on the front and back, supported by a metal chassis. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with 6GB RAM and a host of storage options starting from 64GB.

When unveiled, Zenfone 5z and Zenfone 5 were the first smartphones in the Android realm to feature iPhone X-inspired notch-based screen. They were also among the first generation devices to offer system-wide artificial intelligence-based utilities such as automatic scene selection and setting optimisations in camera, auto ringtone adjustments and optimal battery utilisation etc. However, both the notch-based screen and the native support for artificial intelligence have become a common proposition in smartphones.

India vs Ireland: Virat Kohli will look to start English summer with a bang

The Indian cricket team have a full-strength squad to pick from with captain Virat Kohli back in the team after nursing a neck injury.

India Vs Ireland : India will begin their preparation for England tour by playing two T20Is against Ireland. The first of the two T20Is matches will be played at Malahide Cricket Club Ground or The Village in Dublin on Wednesday, June 27, 2018. The Indian cricket team have a full-strength squad to pick from, with captain Virat Kohli back in the team after nursing a neck injury. The men in blue will use the two T20Is against Ireland to get acclimatised to the English conditions as they have struggled to counter the swing and overcast conditions in England in the past and there is no better way to prepare than get a few games under the belt, and there is no place more suitable than Ireland.



However, the Ireland Cricket team are no pushovers and have T20 specialists like Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien in the team. Still, India will be expected to come through unscathed before they begin their England tour starting July 3. The two teams have played just one T20I in the past, during 2009 T20 World Cup which India won by 15 runs.



How Virat Kohli and Co will look at two T20Is against Ireland
For India, the two T20Is against Ireland will mark the onset of a long English summer for Virat Kohli & co, and perhaps it was a marker of this crucial impending assignment that India decided to stay on and practice in London on Monday, reports PTI. Since the tour of South Africa, this is the first time a full-strength Indian team will be seen in action. Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah and MS Dhoni were rested for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka in March. The quadruple also missed the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru recently. After a brilliant performance in IPL 2018, KL Rahul got another chance in limited over cricket and Ajinkya Rahane's omission from the ODI squad means that he is once again a contender for the number four spot when the three-match series against England begins on July 12.



Virat Kohli's concern: The middle order
With Rahul in contention for a starting spot in the middle order, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik will be left jostling for two spots. As part of the full-strength Indian side, the three had featured in the T20 series against South Africa. Raina had been used as a pinch-hitting, aggressive number three option, but the current situation might warrant a re-think.

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Apple's 'Made in India' iPhone 6S may soon be available in stores near you

Apple was undertaking trial production for the 6S models since April.

The second iPhone to get the tag of 'Made in India' after iPhone SE is iPhone 6S. According to the Economic Times report, local production of 6S model started last week at the Bengaluru facility of its Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Wistron.
Wistron, which will assemble iPhones in Bengaluru, is one among the few original design manufacturers Apple employs to build its iPhones. The company has previously won contracts abroad to manufacture lower-cost iPhone 5c, 5s, and SE devices, while larger partners such as Foxconn have handled production of flagship iPhone models.
The Cupertino-based maker of iPhones and Mac computers started manufacturing iPhone SE in India last May and it is now ready to add a second model to the manufacturing line.
Apple was undertaking trial production for the second iPhone model in the 6 series since April and chose iPhone 6s due to its sales potential, executives told ET.
This also indicates that with no import duties imposed on the manufacturing of iPhone 6S models, there would be no frise in the locally manufactured iPhones. However, it remains unclear whether the price of the models will get any cheaper or not. On the other hand, iPhone SE for Rs 27,200 but on Flipkart and Amazon, it is available for as low as Rs 20,999.
Business Standard earlier reported that the iPhone SE, which was launched in March 2016, was seen as Apple’s weapon to win in emerging markets. However, the device saw slow sales in India after being priced close to Rs 40,000, a market where seven out of 10 smartphones sold cost less than Rs 10,000.
The made-in-India iPhone 6s will be only sold in India like iPhone SE since it will take time to scale up capacity. In fact, Apple will continue with the import of iPhone 6s until capacity improves. Hence, there will be no price correction for the locally manufactured units. The made-in-India iPhone 6s model will hit the stores soon,” an executive told ET.




With a dip in iPhone sales in developed markets like the US and China, India is now a major focus for Apple. Apple continues to produce these older models in India to compete with Xiaomi, Motorola, Samsung and others in the mid-level market.

Fifa World Cup 2018: Today's match fixture, live streaming info for Tuesday

Today's football matches involve the host Argentina, Nigeria Iceland Croatia, Denmark, France, Australia, Peru.

Fifa World Cup 2018 is getting more excited with each passing day. The 12th day of the Football World Cup 2018 will see the doubleheaders of Group C and Group D. All teams will start playing their 3rd and last group game, which will eventually decide their Round 16 (knockout) chances. All eyes will be on Lionel Messi as Argentina's last group game against Nigeria will decide their future in Russia 2018.



Here's the today’s match schedule list:
1st two matches: Denmark vs France and Australia vs Peru
When and Where to watch: Denmark vs France and Australia vs Peru
Time: 7:30 PM (IST)
In today's Group C match, Denmark vs France will take place in Moscow meanwhile the second match of Group C, Australia vs Peru, will be played in Sochi on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 7:30 PM (IST).
Denmark vs France and Australia vs Peru matches will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony Six and Sony Six HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.
Denmark vs France and Australia vs Peru matches will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.
The other two matches: Argentina vs Nigeria and Iceland vs Croatia
When and Where to watch: Argentina vs Nigeria and Iceland vs Croatia
Time: 11:30 PM (IST)
In today's Group D match, Argentina vs Nigeria match will take place in Saint Petersburg and the second game of Group D, Iceland vs Croatia, will be played in Rostov on Tuesday, 26, 2018 at 11:30 PM (IST).
Argentina vs Nigeria and Iceland vs Croatia matches will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony Six and Sony Six HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Argentina vs Nigeria and Iceland vs Croatia matches will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv also. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers.

Heavy rains paralyse Mumbai, Kolkata; monsoon may hit UP by Thursday

Monsoon hit Supaul district of Bihar on Monday, triggering light to moderate rainfall in eastern and north-eastern parts of the state.

After a brief hiatus, south-west monsoon has regained steam across India. Various regions in the country, including Mumbai and Kolkata, received heavy rainfall on Monday.
According to reports, at least 11 people were killed in rain-related incidents in Mumbai and southern districts of Bengal alone.
The downpour led to waterlogging in several places of Mumbai and Kolkata, disrupting rail and road traffic for several hours in both the cities.
Traffic moved at snail's pace, office goers and school children were inconv enienced, and taxis fleeced commuters - all familiar scenes in rain-hit Kolkata and Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the monsoon hit Supaul district of Bihar on Monday, triggering light to moderate rainfall in eastern and north-eastern parts of the state.
The rain-bearing winds are likely to advance towards the other parts of Bihar in the next 48 hours, the Met department said on Monday.
According to a weather bulletin released by India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday, conditions are becoming favourable for advancement of monsoon into Uttar Pradesh and south-east Rajasthan in the next 48 hours.
How heavy rains affected Mumbai and Kolkata:
Mumbai: Torrential rains clobbered large areas of Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, claiming at least five lives in rain-related incidents, officials said on Monday.
Heavy rains lashed the city and Thane district throughout Sunday night continued till, causing water-logging at several places and slowing the movement of suburban trains.



Kolkata: Five persons died in lightning strikes and one drowned as heavy monsoon showers left various areas of the metropolis and the southern Bengal districts waterlogged on Monday.
A Met department bulletin on Monday warned of "heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20 cm)" in most places of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts from June 25 June 29, "caused by an upper air cyclonic circulation over West Assam and sub-Himalayan West Bengal".
It said several south Bengal districts would also be affected by incessant rainfall over the next three days and issued an alert for North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts.

Petrol prices cut for sixth straight day: Here's what you pay in top cities

Petrol now costs Rs 75.55 per litre in Delhi, down from Rs 75.69 on Monday.

Fuel prices were lowered for a sixth consecutive day on Tuesday. While petrol prices fell by up to 14-18 paise in the four metro cities, diesel prices were down by 10-14 paise.

According to the prices announced by Indian Oil Corp (IOC), petrol was being sold at Rs 75.55 per litre in Delhi, down from Rs 75.69 on Monday. Diesel prices in the national capital were down 10 paise to Rs 67.38 a litre.

In Mumbai, petrol now costs Rs 83.12 a litre and diesel Rs 71.52 a litre. On Monday, petrol and diesel in Mumbai were priced at Rs 83.30 and Rs 71.66 a litre, respectively.

The price of petrol in other major cities are Rs 78.23 in Kolkata and Rs 78.40 in Chennai. The revised diesel price stands at Rs 69.93 in Kolkata and Rs 71.12 in Chennai.

Here are the prices of non-branded petrol across the country (Rs/litre), applicable from 6:00 am June 26:

Bangalore: Rs 76.77
Bhopal: Rs 81.14
Bhubaneswar: Rs 74.38
Chandigarh: Rs 72.66
Dehradun: Rs 77.07
Gandhinagar: Rs 74.87
Gangtok: Rs 78.65
Guwahati: Rs 77.66
Hyderabad: Rs 80.03
Imphal: Rs 73.69
Jaipur: Rs 78.27
Jalandhar: Rs 80.73
Lucknow: Rs 76.56
Patna: Rs 81.04
Pondicherry: Rs 74.37
Raipur: Rs 75.97
Ranchi: Rs 75.72

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Modi govt can only divide Hindus, Muslims, can't resolve Kashmir: Shourie

He also took a dig at the much publicised surgical strike against Pakistan and termed it as 'farzical' (fake) strike.

Taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government, former Union Minister Arun Shourie on Monday said that it was a "one-trick horse" with no policy either on Kashmir or Pakistan.
"There is no government and no policy regarding Kashmir or Pakistan or even the banks ... What we have is a one-trick horse that only knows how to divide the Hindus and Muslims of this country," he said at the launch of the book "Kashmir: Glimpses of History..." penned by senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz.
Terming the Modi government as "event-oriented and election-oriented", Shourie said that the focus was on organising events and winning elections with little heed to policy or governance.
He also took a dig at the much publicised surgical strike against Pakistan and termed it as "farzical" (fake) strike.
Commenting on the Kashmir unrest, the former Union Minister said the situation has been hurting the whole country and not just the Kashmiris and people should realise that fact.
On the Centre's newly-declared "all out action" stance on Kashmir, Shourie said that what he understood of it was there would be "more aggressive target killings of individuals" but stressed that it would not be wise to use "foolish force" against the people.
He said there was no alternative to the talks and with "everyone" in the Valley including the Hurriyat.
"If you say Hurriyat is being controlled by Pakistan, I think that is precisely the reason we must talk to them. We have to wean away the Hurriyat from Pakistan and talks are the only way to do it. So keep talking and keep talking to everyone," Shourie said.
He said that the security agencies need to identify the emerging leadership in Hurriyat and engage them.
Contending that the real problem with Kashmir and the northeast has been in the way the Centre has dealt with these states, he said: "You engage a sub-contractor and tell them, 'I give you money and keep running the semblance of the government there'. But the money is not reaching the common man on the ground. They are not getting the basic facilities of roads, water, hospitals, schools. Where is the money going? It means the officials and the politicians in these troubled states are cornering it."

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Nokia X6: HMD Global to launch its first notch-based phone in India soon

The Nokia X6 got temporarily listed on Nokia's international portal, and the phone's support page also went live in India, confirming that the phone would soon be launched in India.

Nokia, a Finnish mobile phone brand owned by HMD Global, is gearing up to launch in India its first notch screen-based smartphone – the Nokia X6. Though the smartphone is currently available only in China at CNY 1,299 (around Rs 13,300), the company had temporarily listed the product page on its official international portal. Interestingly, the phone’s support page also went live in India, confirming that the phone would soon be launched in India.



The Nokia X6 is a budget smartphone with midrange specifications and premium features. The phone sports 5.8-inch fullHD+ screen stretched in 19:9 aspect ratio. There screen sports a cut out area on the top (notch) that accommodates the front camera, earpiece and couple of sensors. The phone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 system-on-chip (SoC), paired with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 32 GB or 64GB of internal storage, respectively. The dual-SIM phone comes with microSD card slot for memory expansion up to 256GB.



In terms of imaging, the Nokia X6 sports a dual camera set-up on the back. The rear camera module features a 16-megapixel primary sensor of f/2.0 aperture mated with a 5MP depth-sensing lens of f/2.2 aperture and 1.2-micron pixel size. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera of f/2.0 aperture. Both the rear and front cameras in the Nokia X6 support artificial intelligence-based algorithm selection, camera enhancements and HDR mode.




The Nokia X6 boots Android Oreo out of the box and comes with Android One guarantee, which assures timely Android updates for two years, along with monthly security updates from Google. Powering the phone is a 3,060 mAh battery, which takes the charge from USB type-C port. The phone supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology, which assures 50 per cent charge in 30 minutes.

YouTube's new move for creators will help them earn money: Here's how

The YouTube is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video.

YouTube, often criticized for not compensating creators well enough, will allow them to set up paid channel memberships, the company said on Friday.


Currently, the vast majority of revenue at the Google-owned service comes from advertising and that will remain a focus, said Neal Mohan, YouTube's chief products officer.


"But we also want to think beyond ads. Creators should have as many ways and opportunities to make money as possible," he said.


Viewers will pay $4.99 a month for channel memberships giving them access to exclusive content including livestreams, extra videos or shout-outs on channels with more than 100,000 subscribers.


Creators will also be able to sell merchandise like shirts or phone cases directly on their channels, the company said.


YouTube returns a small part of its advertising revenue to content creators who regularly accuse the platform of giving them only crumbs.


The site is facing increasing competition from other platforms using more and more video.


YouTube says it has more than 1.9 billion users but the figure only counts those who log in via their accounts.

FIFA World Cup 2018 Brazil vs Costa Rica live: When and where to watch

Brazil drew 1-1 with Switzerland in their opener last weekend, and Neymar was much criticised for his underwhelming performance.

Fifa World Cup 2018 : Neymar and Brazil will need to step up their game when they take on Costa Rica in a must win Group E FIFA World Cup clash here on Friday.
Brazil drew 1-1 with Switzerland in their opener last weekend, and Neymar was much criticised for his underwhelming performance.
He was hunted down mercilessly by the Swiss, drawing 10 of Brazil's 19 fouls, as many as some entire teams.
Neymar also lacked the zip which made him the world's most expensive footballer when French heavyweights Paris St Germain signed him from Spanish giants FC Barcelona last August.
There was an injury scare after he limped out of Tuesday's training session with a sore ankle but to his team's relief the forward is expected to be fit for what could be Brazil's fourth World Cup match without a win.
Costa Rica, on their part, are desperate for points after they lost their opener to Serbia.
Quarter-finalists in the 2014 Brazil World Cup, Costa Rica have lost seven of their last nine matches and scored only five goals in the process.
"It is going to be a difficult game as are all games in the World Cup," Brazil attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho was quoted as saying.
"They are a good team. We saw the game against Serbia, and it was only decided through a dead ball situation."
"This is another opportunity for us. We need to do it, we are all focused. We are mentally strong to play a great game."

Where to watch

FIFA World Cup 2018 Brazil vs Costa Rica match will take place on Friday, April 22, 2018 at 05:30 PM

Brazil vs Costa Rica will be broadcast on Sony Ten 2, Sony Ten 2 HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD in English Commentary and Sony Ten 3 and Sony 3 HD in Hindi Commentary.

Brazil vs Costa Rica match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv. And Both Airtel and Jio would broadcast the Fifa World Cup 2018 matches for free to their respective subscribers

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