Google to provide Wi-Fi hotspots at 500 railway stations

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a proposal for introduction of broadband connectivity, through Wi-Fi hotspots, at 100 railway stations. He said it will be expanded to 400 next year.

The search engine giant also announced the the rollout of ten-language vernacular typing for Android users.

Prior to the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a tour of the Google headquarters with CEO Pichai.

Modi, Zuckerberg on the same page

If the reactions to Narendra Modi's answers to a set of pre-determined questions asked by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a Q&A held at the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park were anything to go by, the Prime Minister achieved an instant “connection”.

Speaking in Hindi to an audience largely drawn from Facebook employees, many of whom were of Indian origin, the Prime Minister spoke on a number of issues related to the impact and power of social media.

Welcoming the role of social media in connecting people and government in a large democracy such as India's and also as a tool for diplomacy, Mr. Modi asked other world leaders not to avoid social media. “I used Chinese social media to wish their PM on his birthday. The huge reaction by the Chinese people surprised me. I wished the Israeli PM in Hebrew and he replied in Hindi,” he said. Mr. Zuckerberg appreciated the Prime Minister's emphasis on using social media as a means of governance.

At FB, emphasis on deregulation

At a Q&A held at the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park here on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that his government was keen on furthering India's advantages in its demographic dividend, its democracy and overall “demand” by focusing on deregulation and in easing business activity.

Centre dilutes Gujarat anti-terror Bill

Says Union govt. is final authority on phone-tapping requests

The Centre has prevailed over the Gujarat government's suggestion to let the State Home Secretary be the final authority on phone-tapping requests, by making it clear that the State cannot have 'absolute powers' and such decisions and clearances will only be processed by the Union Home Secretary.

Presently, a State Home Secretary is permitted to authorise interception of phone calls as its office has been delegated to do so by the Union Home Secretary. This delegation of power from the Centre to the State is reviewed from time to time and can be revoked too, explained a senior Home Ministry official. The Home Ministry, which recently gave the green signal to the contentious Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill, 2015, watered down this clause of the State government, in the final version of the Bill sent to the President of India for his assent. Once the President has signed the Bill, it becomes a law.

ASTROSAT, India's unique space observatory

Till date, Indian astronomers had to rely on international resources for X-ray and ultraviolet data. But that is all set to change.

The launch of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) ASTROSAT telescope today (September 28) will be a shot in the arm for astronomers, particularly those in India. This is the first time India is launching a space observatory.

But that is not the only reason why the ASTROSAT telescope is so special. Unlike most other telescopes, the five instruments (payloads) of ASTROSAT can observe a wider variety of wavelengths � from visible light to the ultraviolet and X-ray bands. Even in the X-ray band, it can study both low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most other satellites are capable of observing only a narrow range of wavelength band.

AI flight to connect IT hubs in India

Air India’s New Delhi-San Francisco flight will offer a three-class cabin configuration, with eight seats in first class, 35 in business class and 195 seats in economy. San Francisco will become Air India’s fourth destination in the U.S. Air India operates daily non-stop flights to New York, Newark and Chicago, the national carrier said in a statement.

Passengers from Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Pune, all IT hubs, will have seamless connections to the flight from New Delhi.

Ministry plans independent panel to decide MPs’ salary

Only in Tunisia, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Haiti and Panama do MPs draw less salary than their Indian counterparts.

The Parliamentary Affairs Ministry is all set to create an independent Emoluments Commission that will be empowered to recommend salaries and allowances for MPs. The Ministry hopes this will help to check the growing criticism &ndash including in the media � of MPs deciding their own emoluments.

The proposal for an independent three-member commission is on the Ministry’s agenda for the two-day All India Whips Conference scheduled to be held in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh from September 29-30.

The conference will be chaired by Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu.

The Chief Whips and Whips of various parties in Parliament/Assemblies will discuss a plan to establish inter-party forums in the legislatures for better coordination to facilitate effective functioning of legislative bodies. The utility and shortcomings of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) in operation over the last 32 years will also be discussed, it is learnt.

Contemporary art museum in Goa soon

MOG will be a laboratory of ideas, where art forms are in a dialogue with one another

Subodh Kerkar, an artist here, has said that a contemporary cultural space, the Museum of Goa (MOG), will be opened here on November 6.

Catalonia votes on independence push

Voters in Spain’s Catalonia region cast ballots on Sunday to decide if pro-secession parties will get a majority in the regional parliament and a mandate to push for independence or whether they will fall short in an outcome that would probably quell secessionist fervour for years.

Secessionists have long pushed for an independence referendum, but Spain’s central government refused to allow it saying such a vote would be unconstitutional. So the pro-independence parties pitched the vote for regional parliamentary seats as a de facto plebiscite.

Bindra shoots down gold in Asian Air Gun Championships

Beijing Olympics champion Abhinav Bindra clinched the gold, while London Games bronze medallist Gagan Narang failed to finish on the podium, in the men’s 10m Air Rifle event of the Asian Air Gun Championships here today.

The 32-year-old Bindra, who won gold in 2008 Olympics in 10m Air Rifle event, shot 208.3 to bag the top prize ahead of Kazakhstan’s world number eight Yurkov Yuriy (206.6) and Korea’s Yu Jaechul (185.3) on the first day of competition, at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Narang, who won a bronze in the same event in 2012 London Olympics, finished fourth with a score of 164.5 while another Indian, Chain Singh was two places below at seventh after notching up 122.7.

Narang started on a good note, shooting 10.6 and 10.6, but fell behind in the following attempts while Chain Singh was out after a shoot-off with Korea’s Kim Dajin.

Bindra, however, maintained his consistency and was way ahead of the rest of the pack when the finals ended.

Advani wins IBSF World Billiards Championship, pockets 14th World title

India’s most successful cueist Pankaj Advani added another feather to his cap by winning the IBSF World Billiards Championship, by outplaying his opponent in the final to take his world title count to 14.

Advani, 30, left the spectators spellbound with his prolific play and indisputable mastery over the 3-ball game, demolishing Singapore’s Peter Gilchrist by 1168 points.

On lifting his 14th world crown in style, the Indian ace said, “I was determined to get even with Peter (Gilchrist), after losing the point format final to him. A productive chat with my sports psychologist brother Shree and a good night’s sleep did the trick. We discussed my strategies and mental approach the night before the big final and it all panned out perfectly.”

Bengaluru’s ‘Golden Boy’ was in roaring form and appeared keen to not only defend his Time format world title, but also avenge his loss of the Point format championship to Gilchrist, which happened a week ago.

Yuki ends runner-up at Taiwan Challenger

Yuki Bhambri emerged as a runner-up at the ATP Challenger event, as he lost the closely-fought final against world number 75, Hyeon Chung, today.

The fourth seed Indian wild card lost the summit clash 5-7 4-6, against the second seed Korean in one hour and 40 minutes.

Yuki’s effort got him 75 points which will get him close to top-100 bracket.

The 23-year-old Delhi player will take a break for a week and then play at the Tashkent Challenger event.

Sania wins her 7th title of season, 6th with Hingis

The world number one Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis team, continued its dominating run by winning their sixth title of the year at the Guangzhou Open.

The top seeds hammered Xu Shilin and You Xiaodi 6-3, 6-1 in the final to win their second WTA title in a row. Such has been their domination that they have not dropped a set en route to the title.

It was Sania’s seventh title of the 2015 season and sixth with Hingis. She won one trophy with Bethanie-Mattek Sands in Sydney.

Sania and Hingis have now won six of 13 events they have played, since joining forces in March - Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, Wimbledon, the US Open and now Guangzhou. They have an incredible 42-7 win-loss record together.

After a first round bye, they beat Anna-Lena Friedsam and Monica Niculescu in the quarters, 6-2 6-3, and then Julia Glushko and Rebecca Peterson in the semis 6-3 6-4.