Coming up, a Facebook-like education website

Fed up of your child logging into Facebook at the cost of studies? The Rajasthan government has hit upon a remedy - a social networking site that will also help brush up a youngster's academic knowledge.

"The idea is to utilise the popularity of social networking sites among students. Most of them spend a lot of time on such websites every day," a senior official of the state's information technology department, which is developing the portal, told IANS.

Apple 'crowned' global smart phone leader

Apple now tops smart phone rankings while BlackBerry has slipped to the fourth spot, confirmed the latest data from the US analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

Apple had claimed the global top spot by shipping 20.3 million iPhones in its quarterly results released in the third week of July.

In its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker released Thursday, the Massachusetts-based IDC said, "The smartphone market crowned a new leader in 2Q11, and its name is Apple.''

Facebook could help people recognize strangers

Facebook's photo database could be used in a mobile application designed to recognize people on the streets, the Cnet website reported Friday.

During the Black Hat computer security conference held Aug 3-4 in Las Vegas, one of the speakers, Carnegie Mellon University researcher Alessandro Acquisti, presented the concept of the face-matching technology.

Children learn hacker ways at DefCon

Nine-year-old Anna focused intently as she screwed a circuit board into place in a first-ever "DefCon Kids village" created to tutor children in the ways of hacking.

Her 10-year-old brother, Jake, was working on a similar task and beginning to suspect that the screws he was using were refusing to cooperate.

England likely to be retain Bresnan for 3rd Test

With Chris Tremlett still recovering from a back injury, pacer Tim Bresnan is set to retain his place in the England cricket team for the third Test against India starting August 10 in Edgbaston.

Tremlett has admitted that the back injury is still troubling him. "Every day my injury has felt a bit better. It's niggling a bit. I bowled a couple of times in the week, not at full pace, and it has reacted at times and been a bit sore," Tremlett was quoted as saying by newspapers here.

Graeme Smith marries Morgan Deane

Johannesburg : South African skipper Graeme Smith married Irish singer and model Morgan Deane at a private ceremony in Cape Town, media reported on Sunday.

The Sunday Times weekly newspaper said the couple exchanged vows at an intimate ceremony at St Bernard Catholic Church in Claremont on Saturday and afterwards joined family and friends at a reception overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Taylor ton rescues Zimbabwe against Bangladesh

Harare: A century from Brendan Taylor helped Zimbabwe forge ahead from an overnight 92 for 4 to a solid position on the fourth day in Harare. During his hundred, his first in Tests and in his first match as captain, Taylor shared in a composed and profitable fifth-wicket partnership with Tatenda Taibu and upped the ante with Craig Ervine at the end. Zimbabwe declared at tea, earlier than expected, setting Bangladesh 375 in four sessions.

Dravid retirement shows he is not willing to be kicked around

Northampton: The manner in which Rahul Dravid is given tasks to perform for the beleaguered Indian team, he could well be the recipient of the C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement award at the next BCCI annual awards.

When India were left with no opening partner for Abhinav Mukund, in the last Test at Nottingham, Dravid was asked to open the innings and responded to the challenge by scoring his second century of the series.

In England, Sachin talks about his weakness 'vada-pav'

Pune: An acknowledged gourmet in his friend circle, master batsman Sachin Tendulkar still relishes a spicy 'vada-pav', a Maharashtrian invention modelled on burger.

"I and my son (Arjun) love to eat vada-pav at Shivaji Park Gymkhana (Shivaji Park is where Sachin played and trained as a budding cricketer) and there is nothing that can beat this snack, laced with 'chatni'," he told a Marathi news channel in an interview from England.

Dravid's ODI recall was unanimous call

Northampton: Even 24 hours before the ODI squad was announced on Saturday, Dravid's name was not doing the rounds among the All-India Selection Committee members. There was only one debate among selectors: to find a replacement for the injured Yuvraj Singh.

There were three or four candidates to replace Yuvraj -- Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane had emerged a strong contender, and Yusuf Pathan was another name discussed. However, Dravid was never in
contention.

Ravi Shastri's two caps with ICC and BCCI

Dubai: Former India captain Ravi Shastri's contract with the Indian cricket board has raised questions over a potential conflict of interest as he is a member of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Cricket Committee which recommended the partial use of Decision Review System.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been vehement in opposing the DRS and Shastri made no bones in supporting the Indian board on the issue during the second Test at Trent Bridge.

Second recession in US could be worse than first

If the economy falls back into recession, as many economists are now warning, the bloodletting could be a lot more painful than the last time around. Given the tumult of the Great Recession, this may be hard to believe. But the economy is much weaker than it was at the outset of the last recession in December 2007, with most major measures of economic health — including jobs, incomes, output and industrial production — worse today than they were back then. And growth has been so weak that almost no ground has been recouped, even though a recovery technically started in June 2009.

Market crash on expected lines; see stability soon : Montek

Terming the negative reaction to the US downgrade as on expected lines, Planning Commission  deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said the markets should stabilise in the next couple of days.

"I would have expected the negative reaction in markets... (but) the markets will settle down, maybe in the next  couple of days," he said.

CIL, Sun Pharma register losses in debut trade on BSE

State-run Coal India and drug-maker Sun Pharma, which entered the coveted league of 30 Sensex companies on Monday, tumble  on the bourses amid the overall bearish broader market trend following the US credit ratings downgrade. Shares of Coal India opened the day on a weak note and were trading down by 1.58 per cent at R

s. 386.15 on the BSE.

Infosys statement on US downgrade

The downgrade of US credit ratings by S&P and the possibility of another recession have led to a sell-off of IT stocks. Indian IT firms earn a major chunk of their revenue from the US and the Europe.

Infosys has the second largest weightage on the Sensex after Reliance and a sell-off in this counter had led to a big decline on the BSE benchmark.
 

Indian executive at core of S&P's US ratings downgrade

There is an Indian at the helm of affairs surrounding the historic downgrade of the US'  creditworthiness, as ratings agency S&P's unprecedented move  was taken under the leadership of Deven Sharma.      

Standard & Poor's President Sharma was at the forefront of  S&P's decision to downgrade the US long-term sovereign credit  rating from the top-notch 'AAA' level for the first time ever since a rating was assigned to the world's largest economy.      

Asian markets sink after US credit downgrade

Asian stocks nose-dived Monday as the first-ever downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating jolted the global financial system, reinforcing fears that the world economy is weakening.

Oil prices extended recent sharp losses, trading below $84 a barrel on expectations that weaker global growth will crimp demand for crude. The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro.

Second recession in US could be worse than first

If the economy falls back into recession, as many economists are now warning, the bloodletting could be a lot more painful than the last time around. Given the tumult of the Great Recession, this may be hard to believe. But the economy is much weaker than it was at the outset of the last recession in December 2007, with most major measures of economic health — including jobs, incomes, output and industrial production — worse today than they were back then. And growth has been so weak that almost no ground has been recouped, even though a recovery technically started in June 2009.

Activists say Syrian troops kill at least 52

Beirut:  Syrian forces intensified their crackdown on an eastern city Sunday as they try to keep the anti-government uprising from escalating during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The assault and similar operations in at least two other towns killed at least 52 people, according to human rights groups, and the toll looked likely to rise.

Man dies after being sucked into a plane engine

Wellington:  A New Zealand aircraft engineer died after he was sucked into a plane engine while carrying out maintenance work at a SAFE Air base.

The 51-year-old man was employed by SAFE Air, which is a subsidiary of Air New Zealand. Officials at SAFE Air said the man died during a routine maintenance operation on Monday morning, at its base in the South Island town of Blenheim.

Saudi Arabia condemns violence in Syria; recalls its ambassador

(AFP image)

Beirut:  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has said in a statement carried by an Arab news channel that the kingdom is recalling for consultations, its current ambassador to Syria.

The monarch also said that Riyadh does not accept what is happening in Syria, according to the statement read out on the pan-Arab Al Arabiya network, late on Sunday.

According to King Abdullah, the Syrian government crackdown on protesters is disproportionate.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces intensified their crackdown on an eastern city on Sunday as they try to keep the anti-government uprising from escalating during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The assault and similar operations in at least two other towns killed at least 52 people, according to human rights groups, and the toll looked likely to rise.

Captain, chief engineer of MV Rak released on bail

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Mumbai:  The Captain and the chief engineer of cargo vessel MV Rak have been arrested and charged with negligence. MV Rak sank off the coast of Mumbai on Thursday, with 60,000 metric tonnes of coal on board. Both of them were produced in court and have subsequently been released on bail of Rs. 25,000 each. 

Mass copying racket in private medical college busted, 13 held

Bangalore:  Busting a mass copying racket, Bangalore police have arrested 13 persons on the charges of supplying answer scripts to students appearing for second year nursing examination in a private medical college.

Delhi man's beheaded body found in Haryana

New Delhi:  The beheaded body of a 26-year-old man, missing from his home in New Delhi for more than a week, has been found in Haryana's Rewari district, police said on Sunday.

Srikant Singh, an insurance advisor for a healthcare company, was missing since July 29 after he left his home at Moti Bagh in South Delhi, police said. 

Oil leaking from sunken ship MV Rak, Coast Guard responding to spill

Mumbai:  In what could pose an ecological threat to the Mumbai coast, an oil leak was today reported from the sunken cargo vessel MV Rak.

The leak has occurred due to the ingress of water in the cargo hull, officials said.

"Since last night, oil has been observed leaking from the sunken vessel Rak Carrier at an approximate rate of 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hour. The oil has spread about 7 nautical miles around the vessel", a Defence press release said.

Uttar Pradesh minister claims Samajwadi Party workers behind triple murder

Lucknow:  Avadhpal Singh Yadav, Animal Husbandry Minister in the Mayawati government, has refused to step down. This comes a day after a local court in Etah ordered a registering of an FIR against him, and three of his family members, in connection with three murders.

Full transcript: Narayana Murthy speaks on NDTV's Your Call

New Delhi:  Speaking on the Indian economy on NDTV's Your Call, founder chairman and chief mentor of Infosys, NR Narayana Murthy, says that he feels UPA 2 has failed in taking any major economic decision since it came back to power. The main reason, Mr Murthy says, is the lack of clear leadership and quick decision-making, with two people being in charge - Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Greater Noida farmers oppose settlement deal

Greater Noida:  A day after Greater Noida administration and farmers of Patwari village reached a consensus on the land acquisition issue, farmers from about 20 nearby villages on Sunday termed the settlement a "conspiracy" and demanded that the enhanced compensation agreed upon be doubled.

The farmers organised a meeting in Milak Lachhi village and passed a resolution to protest the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority's (GNIDA) compromise accord with 11 Patwari farmers.

Anna's supporters protest, burn copies of Govt's Lokpal Bill

New Delhi:  Anna Hazare's supporters on Sunday burnt copies of the government proposed Lokpal Bill at Jantar Mantar, saying the Gandhian was determined to go on his indefinite fast from August 16 to press for clearance of the civil society's version of the legislation.