I just signed “Bhupinder Singh Hooda: Stop the persecution & harassment of Dr Ashok Khemka!!”

Shared with you Hi — I just signed this petition and wanted to ask for your support. The more people who join the campaign, the more likely it is to win. Will you help by adding your name? Thanks, Inder Bhupinder Singh Hooda: Stop the persecution & harassment of Dr Ashok Khemka!! By Sucheta Dalal mumbai Sign Sucheta's petition Make your voice heard!  Tell the Haryana Government that you will not allow an honest IAS officer to be persecuted! Drop the dubious chargesheet and CAG inquiry immediately. Dr Ashok Khemka has remained dedicated to the task of serving the people of India in line with the ethics of the elite service that he joined. But that does not go down well with our politicians.  He was unfazed by 44 transfers in 22 years – and thrice in 2012 alone. Then he did the unthinkable. He dared to question the land deals of Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, with the powerful realty giant DLF, which magically transferred into humungous profits from Mr Vadra. When that happened, the government did not stop at mere transfer. It wants to crush and victimize him. The Haryana government, under Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda has served him a chargesheet for “having caused damage to the reputation of Robert Vadra and that of DLF”, and also for "illegally" cancelling the land deal. It has also started an investigation into Dr Khemka’s role as the MD of Haryana Warehousing Corporation, designed to harass and intimidate him. In an unprecedented move, the state government as ordered an audit by State Auditor General only targeted at him. Do we the people plan to keep quiet, while forever moaning about rampant corruption and trampling of our rights? If you think this is wrong, sign here and send a message to the Haryana CM. Who is Dr Ashok Khemka? This Secretary, Harayana Government is a BTech in Computer Science Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, followed by a PhD in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. He also has an MBA in Finance and MA in Economics. He is unique because his actions have never been targeted at any political party, but only against corruption. For those who tell him to join politics, he has a simple answer. “I love my job. I am part of this system and will stay in it. I am proud of it. I am not a quitter. I will continue to do my duty. Everyone, including the CM, is under the rule of law.” We need more people like him to rebuild India’s steel frame, which is our administrative service. Let us tell Haryana that We, the People will not stand silent while the state persecutes and crushes honest officials. At Moneylife Foundation’s 4th anniversary celebration, Dr Khemka spoke about how people remains mute spectators even when they see someone being bashed in public. Are we going to remain mute, or will we SPEAK UP? Sign here to make your voice heard. Sign Sucheta's petition You're receiving this message because Inder Sethi sent you an email through Change.org's petition sharing tool. Change.org has not stored your email address. If you believe you have received this message in error, respond directly to Inder Sethi at indersethi@gmail.com.

India's Twitter-Sensitive VIPs and their clan

KARTI GETS SENSITIVE

POSTED BY ARUNIMA SHARMA | SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 IN INTERNET INQALAB | 1 COMMENT

One hundred and forty characters. Seemingly harmless. Till you tweet something which is perceived to be unkind to the powers that be. Then you can count the 140 minutes before you end up in the clink. As 46-year-old Ravi Srinivasan, an industrialist from Puducherry found out. What was his crime? He had the temerity to tweet about Karti P Chidambaram, son of Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

What was the offensive tweet, you ask? Well, Ravi Srinivasan on October 19, 2013, tweeted:

Robert Vadra, at that time, was in the news owing to the political row following news reports and an exposé on his allegedly dodgy dealings with DLF.

The tweet was posted on October 19, 2012. After ten days, on October 29, 2012, Karti Chidambaram sent an email to the Inspector General of Puducherry. The complaint stated that Srinivasan had posted “offensive” messages against Karti on three separate occasions on Twitter since the preceding year.

This complaint was forwarded to the Local Crime Branch of Puducherry police. The police acted with unusual alacrity and on October 30, 2012 arrested Srinivasan. When I contacted Srinivasan, he informed me that he was picked up from his home at 5 am and wasn’t even informed why he was being arrested. It was only once the police asked him about his Twitter id at the police station that he realised what his crime could be.

He was informed that he was being charged under Section 66A of Information Technology [IT] Act. The police also demanded 15 days of police custody (probably out of fear that he’d get out and tweet about them next, by which time they could get Twitter profiles and start following Srinivasan – the canny fellows.) Luckily for Srinivasan, Puducherry’s chief judicial magistrate declined the police demand and granted him bail.

Some (politicians, of course) justified Karti’s step, others condemned it. And the tweet was re-tweeted more than 400 times, as reported by the press. The question which arises is why someone with 16 followers (8 of whom were friends and family) – at the time – deserved to be arrested under Section 66A?

Was Srinivasan’s tweet “grossly offensive” or did it have a “menacing character”? Or did it carry “information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will”? Because then, thanks to the ambiguity and subjective nature of Section 66A, Srinivasan could be arrested for up to three years.

Well, Karti Chidambaram obviously felt much wronged by the tweet, and keeping with the nature of the alleged “crime” took to Twitter to explain his viewpoint.

We spoke with Ravi Srinivasan to ask what he made of his arrest. He stated that this was just a move by Karti to silence any opposition for him campaigning from his constituency for the upcoming elections. And Srinivasan was an easy target. Whatever the reason be, Srinivasan has refused to apologise or delete his tweet about Karti, and told us he wants to fight against this injustice.

At present the case is pending and waiting for a direction from the Supreme Court.

And while Srinivasan waits patiently for the wheels of justice to start rolling, he can also thank Karti for making sure his Twitter follower count has gone up from 16 to 2,298 at last count. And for making him a national example of the misuse of the IT act by overtly sensitive politicians. For people who are fighting for the longevity of the IT Act, it’s strange why our politicians make such a concerted effort to highlight how draconian and ludicrous the law is.

Sheriffs use Apple's Find My iPhone to track down missing child

By Shane Cole

Houston sheriffs successfully nabbed a would-be kidnapper and car thief using the Find My iPhone feature found on Apple's iOS devices. 

As a 5-year-old boy waited for his father in the family's SUV outside a Houston, Tex., liquor store on Monday night, a would-be car thief jumped in the driver's seat and took off, ABC 13 reported on Tuesday. After contacting the authorities, the father began tracking the stolen vehicle.

"The father had an iPad that he'd taken in with him and he utilized that iPad with the iPhone that was in the car and was able to track it," Lt. Wayne Schultz of the Harris County Constable's Office said. 

The constables on scene then relayed the information to the Harris County Sheriff's office, who distributed the information to their deputies in near-real time. Deputies eventually caught up with the SUV and returned the child to his family unharmed.

Timelapse of the Imperceptible Effects of Aging..AMAZING !

Timelapse of the Imperceptible Effects of Aging Created from Family Portraits by Anthony Cerniello

In this fascinating video filmmaker Anthony Cerniello has found a new way to document the aging process. Last Thanksgiving Cerniello travelled to his friend Danielle's family reunion and shot still portraits of her youngest cousins through to her oldest relatives. In collaboration with several other artists, he then turned the portraits into this remarkably subtle story of a single woman's life.

Apple may differentiate 'iPhone 5S' fingerprint scanning home button with silver ring

Friday, September 06, 2013, 09:39 am PT (12:39 pm ET)

Apple may differentiate 'iPhone 5S' fingerprint scanning home button with silver ring [u]

By Neil Hughes

Apple's next flagship iPhone may distinguish its anticipated key feature — a built-in fingerprint scanner — from other iPhones with an aesthetic tweak, by placing a subtle silver ring around the home button [updated with new pics].

Rumors of a silver ring around the iPhone home button were first floated last month by Clayton Morris ofFox News. Appearing on the Internet show This Week in Tech, Morris told host Leo Laporte that he was "unequivocally" sure that Apple's next-generation iPhone will feature a fingerprint sensor beneath the home button.

Laporte then asked Morris whether the new home button will be an "innie" concave button as Apple has historically designed them, or an "outie" convex button to accommodate an embedded scanner, as waspreviously claimed.

"From what I've understood it's an 'innie,' and it's going to have a silver ring around it," Morris said.

That rumor gained attention again this week, after Apple sent out invitations for its media event scheduled for next Tuesday, at which Apple is expected to introduce both an "iPhone 5S" flagship device, and a more affordable "iPhone 5C." The image features a number of circles in a variety of colors against a white background, and includes the tagline, "this should brighten everyone's day."

But among the colorful circles are a few silver rings with plain white interiors. Some have suggested this could be a subtle hint by Apple about the look of the so-called "iPhone 5S."

And now, on Friday, a pair of images surfaced claiming to show the final packaging for the "iPhone 5S." While the blurry photos are suspicious for a number of reasons, including the lack of a background wallpaper in the product image, they do show what appears to be a silver ring around the home button.

AppleInsider has no reason to believe these images are in fact legitimate. But since they do support the theory of a silver-ringed iPhone home button, they are included in this story.

Update: iPhone in Canada has sent along higher quality pictures, which are now included below:

As for what might prompt Apple to slightly alter the appearance of its now-iconic home button that's looked the same on every iPhone to date, a slight silver ring around the button may be a way for the company to differentiate devices that feature a fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button. This could be especially important for the "iPhone 5S," which is expected to have largely the same design and appearance as the current iPhone 5.

In this manner, including a silver ring around the home button could enable users to quickly identify whether a device they are holding includes fingerprint sensing capabilities. Presumably that same functionality will come to future iOS devices with home buttons, such as the iPad and potentially even a future iPod touch.

To date, no leaked components have indicated that the home button will see any significant aesthetic changes. Just this week, though, an internal component claimed to be for the home button on Apple's next iPhone appeared to show a potential fingerprint sensor that could be embedded in the button.

A component claimed to be Apple's "iPhone 5S" fingerprint scanner. Picture via Sonny Dickson.

Evidence of the rumored feature was also discovered in a beta of iOS 7. A reference to a "Biometric Kit" and another describing an image of a person placing their thumb over the home button for "recognition" were found hidden within the pre-release software.

The rumored feature is believed to be powered by Apple's $356 million acquisition of AuthenTec last summer. The firm described that its "semiconductor-based sensors are based on both capacitive and radio frequency (RF) technology that detects an image of the fingerprint ridge and valley pattern beneath the surface of the skin, thus capturing sharp and clear fingerprint patterns from the live layer."

All will be revealed next Tuesday, when Apple's keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern.AppleInsider will have full, live coverage of the event.

Vadra off to China !

Corruption is hallmark of Congress: Modi

By Niticentral Staff on September 10, 2013

BJP Central Election Committee Chairman Narendra Modi on Tuesday kick-started party’s campaign in poll-bound Rajasthan at a mammoth rally in Jaipur.

Addressing a mega election rally  at Amroodon Ka Bagh ground in Jaipur, Modi took a jibe at the Congress over a spate of graft cases.

“Corruption is the ornament of Congress. The Congress Government has gifted the nation scams after scam. In Congress’s style of governance, one who does more corruption, gets promotion in the party and Government,” Modi said on the concluding of Suraj Sankalp Yatra launched by Rajasthan BJP president Vasundhara Raje. An estimated five lakh people attended the rally.

“A for Adarsh scam, B for Bofors scam, C for Coalgate scam, D for Damad ka ghotala (corruption)..this is the new ABCD..which the Congress adopted to introduce a new book of alphabets for children,” he said.

The BJP Central Election Committee Chairman said the Congress leadership lacks the ability to lead and take important decisions and has no
accountability.

“The nation is run by a Government which does not have a neta (leader), naitikta (morality), niyat (intentions), niti(policy). The country cannot have such irresponsible Government which cannot take the nation on the path of prosperity,” Modi said.

“In the last nine years of UPA Government, with 11 allies from inside, three parties (BSP, SP and RLD) from outside, and CBI’s hidden support, I have never seen a Government that had no power to take any decision nor any satta (power) to run the nation and take important decisions,” he said.

“Corruption is a disease inflicting the country… hence if India is to be made corruption free, then it should be first Congress free India,” he added.

Stating there is a big difference between Congress of before 1947 and after it, Modi said that after 1947 it is immersed in “Bhakti of one family”.

On the contrary, Modi said, “BJP is immersed in Bharat Bhakti. It is for the well being of the 125 crore people of India.”

Modi said the nation remembers the NDA Government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

“When we remember the Jaipur-Delhi highway we remember Atal ji. But what has happened to it? UPA did not walk on Atal ji’s path but it did not even keep the paths Atal ji created in good shape,” he said.

The BJP Central Election Committee Chairman said for the Congress, youth is a voter but for the BJP youth is power and the strength of the country.

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Modi said, “After returning from G-20 summit, nation does not know what PM has done there what he had said there…what kind of India’s representation he made there…what kind of issues raised at the international level…no new information is made
available to countrymen.”

“On his return from G-20 summit, PM did announce a name of his new boss…he is ready to work under leadership of him (Rahul) after next 2014 general election,” he said in an oblique reface to the Gandhi scion.

Addressing the mega rally BJP president Rajnath Singh said, “I have never seen such a great public response on the soil of Rajasthan. Narendra bhai you are not alone. The entire nation is with you,” he said.