NEW DELHI, June 17: In memory of India-born Ghazal legend Mehdi Hassan who passed away this week, a 2000 square yards mausoleum is being constructed in north of Karachi.
The 84-year-old died following multiple organ failure in Agha Khan Hospital in Pakistan on June 13.
“Governor of Sindh, Dr Ishrat Ul Ibad, has alloted 2000 square yards of land for my father’s mausoleum. It will be constructed in the Shah Mohammed cemetery which is situated in the northern part of Karachi.
“The land has been named after the Mehdi Hassan family and other family members’ graves can also be laid here. What more could we want than getting to lie beside our father after we die? We all are very happy,” Hassan’s son Arif told PTI Bhasha from Karachi.
Arif also said that there are talks to expand the Mehdi Hassan foundation, which was established in 2008 and aims at the betterment of Pakistani artists.
Though the head office of the foundation is situated in Karachi, it also has its branches in Lahore, Delhi and the US.
The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has also announced the establishment of a museum and music library in memory of the legendary singer.
The museum will display his personal belongings alongwith a collection of memorable songs and ghazals sung by the maestro.
Arif said that his brother Kamran Mehdi Hasan will carry forward the legacy of their father.
“Kamran is a very good singer and he has launched a few albums. He is also in talks to sing in Bollywood films. He is getting ready to handle our father’s legacy,” he said. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 17: With their numbers increasing rapidly, smartphones are becoming more vulnerable to attacks by cybercriminals looking for prey beyond the PC and targetting mobiles, especially those using Android operating system, say experts.
“The major mobile platforms have finally become ubiquitous enough to garner the attention of attackers, and as such, Symantec expects attacks on these platforms to increase,” Symantec Managing Director, Sales, India and SAARC, Anand Naik said.
Expressing similar views, McAfee Labs Product Manger Vinoo Thomas said, “With smartphones becoming more powerful and popular, we have seen a lot threat moving to them from PCs.”
Although the risks to computers have not totally subsided, malicious software authors are now creating mobile- specific malware.
“The number of vulnerabilities in the mobile space are rising and malware authors not only reinventing existing malware for mobile devices, but creating mobile-specific malware geared to the unique mobile opportunities,” Naik said.
Threats that mobile malware pose include, sending premium-rate SMSes, collecting device data, spying on the users, tracking location of the device, modifying the settings, sending spam, monitoring the device for banking transactions and so on.
As tablets and smartphones continue to outsell PCs, and workers bringing in their own devices into the corporate environment, attacks on these platforms will keep increasing at a very fast pace.
According to Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report XVII, attackers are exploring a shift in focus toward mobile devices and mobile vulnerabilities increased by 93 per cent last year.
Majority for these threats are targetted at Google’s Android operating system.
“In our Global Threats Report for the first quarter of 2012, we saw a large increase in mobile malware. The jump was targeted almost solely at the Android platform.
“Hundreds of Android threats in the middle of 2011 have moved into the thousands this year. Android threats now reach almost 7,000, with more than 8,000 total mobile malware samples in our database,” Thomas said.
Other major mobile operating platforms are Symbian, BlackBerry and iOS.
Symantec and McAfee are leading security software providers.
Although all OS is prone to viruses, Android being an open operating system is more susceptible to attack, say industry experts.
While the open development model of operating systems encourages creation of millions of applications for business, utility and entertainment, it also provides attackers with a window into injecting these app stores with malicious, or ‘Trojan-ised’ versions of legitimate apps,” Naik said.
“Open operating systems fulfil the first factor required for proliferation of mobile malware – an open platform, a ubiquitous platform to provide scale and attacker motivation i.e. The potential to make money,” he said.
As mobile devices are being increasingly used for business as well along with personal use, attackers are leveraging this medium to target organisations.
India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world with over 900 million mobile subscribers, and smartphones are available for as little as Rs 5,000. This combined with low awareness around the mobile threat landscape in the country presents a huge opportunity for attackers.
The Symantec State of Mobility Survey 2012 estimates average annual cost of mobile incidents for Indian companies, including data loss, damage to the brand, productivity loss, and loss of customer trust at Rs 42.32 lakh per organisation.
According to a study by Research and Markets, smartphones are expected to account for about 25 per cent (with 73.4 million units) of the total Indian mobile phone market by 2015. It estimated that about 11.2 million smartphones were shipped to India in 2011. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 17: The new Companies Bill that rewrites the 56-year old law incorporating social responsibility obligations on corporates and recasts the SFIO with powers of prosecution and arrest may see the light of the day in the coming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
However, the government is not in favour of making the CSR obligations mandatory against the backdrop of stiff resistance from the corporates.
The Companies Bill that seeks to keep pace with the changing modern industrial climate is in the last stages of considerations before the Parliamentary Standing Committee and government hopes that its recommendations will be placed in parliament shortly.
“I was told that the Parliamentary Commitee had its last meeting on June 5. They will formulate recommendations and send it to us. If they send it to us in time, we can move it.
“If there are substantial changes, then we will send it to the Cabinet before taking it for passing in Parliament,” Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerapa Moily told PTI in an interview.
Under the provisions of the bill, the recast Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) will have powers to arrest and prosecute cases of corporate crime. A completely new provision will be that SFIO will have powers to issue Letters Rogatory to foreign jurisdictions in cases where people involved are located outside the country.
Also, for the first time in the world, there will be a law which incorporates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations provisions.
“First time CSR is included in any enactment, company law anywhere in the world. We have made reporting mandatory and they will have to explain if they cannot perform. That is the provided in the bill,” he said.
Moily said this would give social sanction and create some kind of pressure on corporates.
“For the present, this is enough. Making it mandatory will create a lot of problem for the corporates,” he said indicating that there would be a step-by-step progress on the issue.
The obligations involving spending of 2 per cent of net profit on CSR activities has already created quite a storm with India Inc bitterly opposed to it. The corporates say they already perform a lot of social responsibility and would not like a police raj if such obligations are made mandatory.
As per the Bill, every company with a networth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or net profit of Rs 5 crore and above in a fiscal will have to form a CSR Committee, consisting of three or more directors, of which at least one director should be an independent director.
Introduced in the wake of the Rs 14,000-crore Satyam fraud, the fresh bill proposes to enhance the accountability of companies, seeking greater disclosure and protection of investors and minority shareholders.
The new Bill is a shorter version of the existing half- a-century old Act and tries to harmonise the company law framework with sectoral regulations.
Among other things, it makes it mandatory for listed companies to have 33 per cent independent directors and provides for formation of One Person Company, while empowering the government to provide a simpler compliance regime for small companies.
Moily said the Bill also proposes to make stringent provisions for companies seeking to raise money from the public.
Besides, there will be a single forum for approval of mergers and acquisitions, whether domestic or with foreign entities. Also the procedure for merger of holding and wholly-owned subsidiaries would be shortened.
The bill will make it mandatory for firms to maintain their documents in electronic format. It also introduces the concept of e-governance, makes provision for encouraging ethical corporate behaviour and rewards employees for their integrity.
The Bill was first introduced in August 2008, but had to be withdrawn because of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. It was again introduced in Parliament in 2009 and sent to the Standing Committee, which presented its report in August 2010.
Moily said his ministry was working on a number of initiative to Foster corporate growth and promote healthy competition in the market.
“We have come out with a National Corporate Policy. We have formed a Committee headed by Adi Godrej. The Committe will work on how corporate responsibility can be promoted and how they will build standards for ethics and reputation…Sets of does and dont’s,” he said.
He added that the ministry was also working on a National Competition Policy which would cover all sectors. The draft policy has been submitted to the Cabinet, he said.
“If that policy comes into effect, that will be the real instrument to combat inflation, also remove market barriers. It will create a level playing ground. As petroleum products are concerned, in the US with competition policy in place, 50 per cent of the petro products have come down. Price escalation is only about that,” he said.
An amendment to the Competition Act 2002, which seeks among other things revising the threshold for companies that would require mandatory approval of the Competition Commission of India, is also awaiting response of a group of ministers.
Also, he said, the Ministry plans to bring out a Business Confidence Index “that would indicate a sense of well being among the role players in the corporate sector vis-a-vis their own organisation and its linkages with the larger world”.
He said he is also promoting a lot of initiative towards creating awareness among investors and promoting good governance in capital market. (PTI)_

NEW DELHI, June 17: Indian Navy is all set to boost its under water survey capabilities with state-of-the-art indigenous vessels capable of exploring the depths of the maritime economic zone and the extended continental shelf of the country.
The Navy has initiated the process of procuring four survey vessels from indigenous shipyards and has sought detailed information from them. These vessels will replace the oldest of the survey vessels with the maritime force.
“We have started the process and as per the plans, the first ship will be commissioned into service by 2017-18. We want these ships to be 100 per cent indigenous,” a Navy official told here.
Besides carrying out hydrographic and oceanographic surveys as its primary task, the Navy in its requirements has stated that the vessels should be able to perform the role of a hospital ship and limited defence role during emergencies.
For defending itself, the Navy wants the ships to be armed with CRN-91 guns.
With an expected life of 25 years, the Navy wants the machinery, sensors and equipment to be able to withstand a mission time of about eight weeks at a stretch.
To support specific requirements for deep water surveys, the force wants the ships to be able to cruise at very low speed from zero to six knots for prolonged hours.
With 2000-3000 tons of displacement, the ship should have a maximum speed limit of 18 knots.
As per the operational requirements, the ship should also be capable of operating one single-engine rotary wing aircraft of six tons and a retractable hangar for parking it.
The Navy has stated that the vessels should have the capacity to house a crew of over 200 officials, including the sailors and officers. (PTI)

SASARAM, June 17: Police conducted raids to arrest former state BJP president Gopal Narayan Singh at his residence in Jamuar and also Narayan Medical College in the past 24 hours in connection with a case of illegal stone-mining and use of explosives for the purpose without obtaining permission from the authorities concerned in Rohtas district.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Aashis Anand said here that the raids were conducted to arrest Mr Singh at his residence in Jamuar and also Narayan Medical College owned by him.
The BJP leader was wanted in connection with a case of illegal stone-mining and use of illegal explosives for the purpose at Basa under Mufassil police station on February 26 this year.
“A huge quantity of explosives and vehicles were seized during the raids at Basa when henchmen of Mr Singh were engaged in illegal stone-mining on February 26,” Mr Anand said, adding a case in this connection was lodged against Mr Singh at Mufassil police station.
Later, the Chief Judicial Magistrate had issued arrest warrant against Mr Singh and raids were conducted to execute the order.
Mr Singh, however, could not be arrested during the raids, he said, adding more raids would be carried out at different places to arrest him.
(UNI)

NEW DELHI, June 17: Priyanka Chopra, who will be seen essaying three roles from different eras in “Teri Meri Kahaani”, says portraying the character of Aradhana from 1910 was a challenge.
The 29-year-old actress said there was no reference point for the character in the Kunal Kohli-directed film except some books and sketches.
“It was tough for me to play Aradhana because there was no reference point for it except some books. Kunal managed to get some sketches of the women from that time and Manish Malhotra designed my costumes by looking at those pictures.
“I play a Punjabi girl from Pakistan and I had to develop a typical accent by reading those books,” said Priyanka during the promotion of the film here.
The actress has teamed up with “Kaminey” co-star Shahid Kapoor after a gap of three years and the chemistry between the two has again become the talk of the town.
Priyanka admitted Shahid is her best co-star.
“I feel, Shahid is the best co-star to work with. It’s the second time we are working together and it feels great to work with him again,” she said.
The film, to be released on June 22, is a love story set in three different eras. The first saga unfolds in Lahore in 1910 where Priyanka plays a Aradhana in love with a Muslim boy Javed, played by Shahid.
In the 1960 story, Shahid plays a struggling music director in Mumbai who falls in love with a successful actress. In 2012, they again fall in love as Radha and Krish, this time in England.
Priyanka has worked with “Hum Tum” helmer Kunal for the first time and she says she always wanted to work with him after watching his love stories.
“Kunal and I always wanted to work with each other. He had come to me with scripts earlier but I could not do them as I had other commitments. The best thing about him is that he believes in his characters and knows how to extract the best out of actors. There is always a pleasant atmosphere on the sets whenever he is around,” she added. (PTI)

MUMBAI, June 17: Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif starrer “Ek Tha Tiger’s” theatrical trailer will be released on June 29.
The film, which brings the alleged ex-couple together on the big screen after a long time, is directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Aditya Chopra.
“Phew… Finally finished editing the theatrical trailer of EkThaTiger. If you liked the teaser wait till you see this one. Will hit the theatres on the 29th of June (sic),” Kabir posted on his Twitter page.
The film’s teaser created a lot of buzz amongst the audience and was widely appreciated.
“Just showed the trailer to @BeingSalmanKhan… With a big smile on his face he said “Super!,” Kabir added. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 17: Indians’ money in Swiss banks may have risen for the first time in five years, but they account for a meagre 0.14 per cent of total foreign wealth deposited there—putting India at 55th place globally for such funds.
The total overseas funds in Switzerland’s banking system stood at 1.53 trillion Swiss francs (about Rs 90 trillion) at the end of 2011, which included 2.18 billion Swiss francs (Rs 12,700 crore) belonging to Indian individuals and entities.
While India accounted for only 0.14 per cent of total foreign money in Swiss banks, the UK accounted for the largest share of little over 20 per cent, followed closely by the US with about 18 per cent.
As per the latest data disclosed by Swiss National Bank (SNB), Switzerland’s central bank, India is now ranked 55th in terms of funds belonging to overseas clients in Swiss banks.
Among the top-ranked jurisdictions, the UK and the US were followed by West Indies, Jersey, Germany, Bahamas, Guernsey, Luxembourg, Panama and France, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia and United Arab of Emirates.
The SNB data shows that the quantum of money held by Indians in the Swiss banking system rose for the first time in five years during 2011.
These official figures, described by SNB as ‘liabilities’ of Swiss banks towards their clients from various countries, do not indicate towards the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians or other nationals in the safe havens of Switzerland.
Also, SNB’s figures do not include the money that Indians or other nationals might have in Swiss banks in others’ names.
The total funds held by Indian individuals and entities include 2.025 billion Swiss francs held directly by them and 158 million held through ‘fiduciaries’ or wealth managers.
Fiduciaries are essentially wealth fund managers who hold the money of Indian private holders and families in the so-called numbered accounts.
The Swiss banks’ direct liabilities towards clients from India include funds held in savings and deposit accounts by Indian individuals, financial institutions and corporates.
India is ranked 55th in terms of only direct deposits as well, while it is placed much lower at 76th rank for fiduciary funds, where the top-ranked jurisdictions include West Indies, Panama, UK, Saudi Arabia, Bahamas, Liberia, Cayman Islands, UAE, Turkey, Russia, Germany and the US.
Pakistan is ranked higher than India at 52nd place in terms of fiduciary funds (355 million (rpt) million Swiss francs), but lower at 60th for total money (2.12 billion Swiss francs).
While the funds belonging to Indians rose by about Rs 3,500 crore last year, the total foreign money there rose by about Rs two lakh crore (more than 36 billion Swiss francs).
The quantum of funds held by Indians in Swiss banks had last increased in 2006 by about one billion Swiss francs to 6.5 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 40,000 crore), but fell to less than one-third by the end of 2010.
In a White Paper on black money tabled in Parliament last month, the government had also said that Swiss banks’ total liabilities towards Indians have been coming down and fell by more than Rs 14,000 crore between 2006 and 2010.
Amid allegations of Indians stashing huge amounts of illicit wealth abroad, including in Swiss banks, the government says it is making various efforts to bring back the unaccounted money.
As per SNB data, funds held by Indians directly in the Swiss banks increased by about 370 million Swiss francs to 2.025 billion Swiss francs (Rs 11,800 crore) in 2011.
On the other hand, the funds held through ‘fiduciaries’ nearly halved to 158 million Swiss francs (about Rs 900 crore) in 2011 — marking the fifth straight year of decline.
The experts have been saying that there has been a “perceptible flight of funds” of Indian holders from Swiss banks to other places in the recent years.
The foreign capital-friendly regulations in places like Mauritius and Dubai were possibly being exploited by those seeking to move their funds away from Swiss banks, which have come under strict scrutiny of late.
At the same time, the global pressure has been rising on Switzerland to ask its banks to share information about their clients with foreign governments.
It is suspected that Indians having illicit wealth in Swiss banks may be moving their funds in fear of being exposed due to growing scrutiny. At the same time, even those having legitimate funds in Swiss banks may be moving away, due to a growing level of negativity attached to them.
The countries placed above India in terms of total funds in Swiss banks also include Ireland, Spain, Israel, Canada, Brazil, Greece, China, Egypt, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea and New Zealand. Those ranked below India include Qatar, South Africa, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kenya, Nigeria and Iran. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 17: The Supreme Court has agreed to examine a girl student’s petition alleging large-scale manipulation, hacking and tampering of the ongoing online counselling for All India Post Graduate Medical Entrance examination courses across the country.
A bench of justices H L Gokhale and Ranjana Prakash Desai said it would take up the petition on Tuesday after counsel Naushad Ahmad Khan appearing for the petitioner Pankila Mittal mentioned the matter before it on Friday.
According to Pankila, besides her, a large number of top rankers who had opted for MD/MS courses, were shocked to find that they have been alloted seats in diploma courses, which is far inferior choices for their ranks, due to alleged hacking and manipulation.
The duration course of MD/MS course is three years, whereas the diploma is of two years duration. There are about 5500 PG seats for the present academic year of 2012-13, under all India quota from states.
Pankila, who had secured 692 marks at the national competitive exams claimed that she had appeared for the online counselling held on January 8 conducted by AIIMS, which is the nodal agency, in the unreserved quota and opted for as many as 24 choices.
In the first round of counselling, she was alloted a seat in Seth G S Medical College, Mumbai and on May 16, she completed all formalities of admission on the basis of her rank.
The petitioner claimed she had specifically preferred MD courses with preferential choice of MD (Obstetrics and gynaecology, Dermatology, and Veneral and Leprosy.
But to her shock, she was alloted “Diploma in Veneralogy & Dermatology” which she had never wanted.
The petition stated that the official date for publication of results was June 12, but, many of them had come to know about it on June 11 itself, unofficially vide social networking sites through uploaded PDF files.
“Since the result was availed by social networking sites unofficially, irresistibly we can reach the conclusion that the software prepared by the NIC is not foolproof/tamper-free software, prone to hacking/tampering/manipulation/addition/ alteration/deletion/modification.
“Many meritorious students who were allotted with provisional allotment letters in institutions at the first round in MD speciality courses, when opted their choice for upgrade in the round 2 and 3 were allotted to diploma courses which are staring at the ex-facie records” it said.
The petition cited the instances of Sudhansu Shekhar Das, Uttam Kumar Lenka and Vinya Kumar Muttagi, who were allotted courses they never opted for.
Pankila urged the apex court to ensure that she was not deprived of her originally alloted seat and also wanted the court “to pass any such further order/s as this hon’ble court may deem fit and proper”. (PTI)

AGRA, June 17: Yakub Habeebuddin Tucy, who claims to be the last descendent of the Mughal family, today threatened to sue private power company Torrent for power disruption during the three days Urs at the World famous Taj Mahal.
Prince Tucy said “the condition of power supply at Taj Mahal was bad and claimed that it was a contempt of the Supreme court ruling who had directed for uninterrupted power supply in the Taj city.”
“ I am contemplating to give a legal notice to Torrent after power supply was disrupted at Taj Mahal during Urs yesterday,” he said here.
Yesterday, when Tucy along with his friend from Bagdad was at the original tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Begum,there was power disruption for some time leading to problem for the visitors.
He also alleged that due to the unscheduled power cut, the close circuit cameras and other security system also fails from time to time at the Taj Mahal.
The Prince also reiterated his demand for country’s highest civilian award – the Bharat Ratna – for the last mughal empeior Bahadur Shah Zafar.
(UNI)