New Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Withdrawal Rule Explained

New Employee Provident Fund (EPF) Withdrawal Rule Explained

EPF or employee provident fund withdrawal claims above Rs. 10 lakh have to be filed online. Retirement fund body EPFO or Employees Provident Fund Organisation has made it mandatory to file online claims for claim settlements above Rs. 10 lakh. This was said in a notification by EPFO on 27 February. For EPS (Employees Pension Scheme), the limit is Rs. 5 lakh, which means that pension scheme withdrawals beyond Rs. 5 lakh have to be made online only. Currently, EPFO subscribers have the option of filing online as well as manual claims for provident fund withdrawals.

“In case the amount of claim settlement is above Rs. 10 lacs for PF claims and Rs. 5 lacs in respect of EPS withdrawal claims, the claim form must be accepted through online mode only,” the retirement fund body said in a circular. An employee’s 12 per cent contribution goes towards the EPF kitty, while 8.33 per cent out of the total 12 per cent of the employer’s contribution is invested in EPS or pension scheme. The balance 3.67 per cent is invested in EPF.

EFPO members with authenticated Aadhaar and bank details seeded against their UAN (Universal Account Number) can submit their provident fund withdrawal/settlement/transfer claims online, according to EPFO’s website – epfindia.gov.in. A UAN acts as an umbrella for the multiple member IDs allotted to an individual by different establishments. The idea is to link multiple Member Identification Numbers (Member IDs) allotted to a single member, under a single Universal Account Number.

EPFO has nearly six crore subscribers and manages a corpus of Rs. 10 lakh crore. It receives about one crore claims each year.

EPF Withdrawal: How To Submit Claim Online

1) For submitting a withdrawal claim online, subscribers have to log into EPFO’s member interface using UAN credentials.

2) After this, the subscriber is required to select the relevant claim by clicking on the ‘Online Services’ tab.

3) For final settlement of a provident fund deposit, the subscriber is required to select Form 19. He or she can select Form 31 for part withdrawal and Form10-C for pension withdrawal benefits.

4) EPFO subscribers can track their claim requests online as well. For this, they can click on the Online Services tab and then ‘Track Claim Status’.

As part of the government’s Digital India initiative, EPFO plans to go paperless this year. With that, the provident fund body aims to improve delivery of services for its six crore subscribers.



                                                                                                                           Source by ndtv..

Narendra Modi, in scathing attack, says India paying for Congress’s sins

Narendra Modi accuses Congress of dividing India for electoral gains; Rahul Gandhi hits back, calling it a campaign speech



A file photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha. Photo: PTI


New Delhi:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched a scathing attack against the Congress, saying India was paying for the “sins” of the party and revived the corruption debate. He also accused the Congress of dividing the nation for its own electoral gains.

Modi gave two speeches in response to the motion of thanks on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. In both speeches, Modi sought to corner the Congress on issues of corruption, policymaking and dynastic politics.

In his speech in the Lok Sabha, Modi said that while Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda and former president Pranab Mukherjee had spoken about a “New India”, the Congress had used democracy to lie to the people. He added that it was for the people to decide the fate of the party.

“It is in your character that the division of India happened. The country was broken into pieces and you sowed the poison. After 70 years of independence, not a day passes when the 125 crore Indians do not get punished for your sins. You broke India into pieces and you did it keeping elections in mind, in haste and closing doors of Parliament,” he said.

“You wasted all your time singing paeans to one family. You forgot India’s history and you put all your energy to ensure that the country remembered only one family… if you had worked with some responsibility, the people of this country were capable enough of taking India to new heights,” Modi said, adding that if the right direction had been kept and right policies followed, the country would have gone way ahead of where it is now.



His speech was interspersed with sloganeering and disruptions by opposition members.

Responding to Modi’s comments in the Lok Sabha, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that it was a “political and campaign speech” that had focused on the opposition.

“The prime minister spoke nothing about employment for youth; he had promised 2 crore jobs. The talk of farmers, giving them right prices and loan waivers —the PM instead spoke about bees and bamboo. This is not about that, this is about giving them the right price, their future and their protection,” Gandhi told reporters.

“Each time, speeches happen about Congress, its leaders, about Narendra Modi. There are three-four issues in front of the country. What future farmers have, how the youth will get jobs, whether theft happened in Rafale (fighter aircraft) deal or not,” he added.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi also responded to Modi’s Lok Sabha speech and told reporters: “PM said nothing new. He is repeating old things. People are interested about their jobs, they want to know about their future.”

The tussle between the top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress had started during the bitter political campaign for the Gujarat elections and is likely to continue as both parties lock horns in a direct contest in several state elections later this year.

In his Lok Sabha speech, that lasted more than 90 minutes, Modi blamed the policies initiated by Congress for the present economic situation in the country. He said the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh for the creation of Telangana was taken up by the Congress for electoral gains.

“It (bifurcation) happened even when Parliament was not in order and without respecting feelings of people from Andhra Pradesh. We were also in favour of creation of Telangana and are still in favour of its progress,” said Modi.

“I see each time the opposition criticizes us, they are low on facts and instead harp about how things were in their time. They play the same cassette again and again. Countries which got independent after us, they have progressed very fast. We should accept that we did not progress and you broke India into pieces and despite that the country stood with you,” he added.

In the Rajya Sabha, the PM attacked the Congress and accused it of not wanting a “New India”, preferring instead an “India of Emergency, Bofors and chopper scam”. He also spoke on the issues of achieving consensus on triple talaq, and simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections, adding that there was need to have wider discussions on these issues.

How to prevent WhatsApp from using more internet data

How to prevent WhatsApp from using more internet data

Although telecom companies in India have started giving away more data to its users to keep them stick with their network, some still try to control their data consumption for each app. Facebook’s main app is usually a massive data gobbler but its subsidiary, WhatsApp is also not behind. The instant messaging firm, which recently made in to the headlines for its WhatsApp for Business app, also takes up a generous level of Internet data.

While text chats take only a fraction of the internet data, most of them are taken by images and videos shared on the platform. Thankfully, WhatsApp has included a feature in its app using which people can have a better control on how much data it consumes and in what conditions. The app lets you switch off a feature that automatically downloads the media content when on cellular data or on Wi-Fi.

So here’s how you can save more data by turning off the particular feature:

Step 1: Open the app and tap on the three dot or gear icon to access the Settings page.

Step 2: In the Settings page, tap on ‘Data and storage usage’.

Step 3: Under the ‘Media auto-download’ tap on ‘When using mobile data’ option.

Step 4: In the dialogue box tap on the media type you want WhatsApp to auto download when using cellular data.

Step 5: Repeat the same step with ‘When connected on Wi-Fi’ and ‘When roaming’ options.

Step 6: Under the ‘Call Settings’ segment you can turn on ‘Low data usage’ option. This will lower the amount of data used during a WhatsApp call.

It is worth adding that except for the Voice messages, you can control auto-downloads of all the other type of media that is shared on WhatsApp. The instant messenger specifically mentions that, “Voice messages are always automatically downloaded for the best communication experience.”

                                                                                                                            Source by gadgetsnow..

Wanderers pitch rated poor, receives three demerit points

The Wanderers pitch came under scrutiny after significant variable bounce put the players' safety under question © BCCI

The pitch at the Wanderers, that played host to the third and final Test between South Africa and India last week, has received a 'poor' rating, and the stadium received three demerit points for the same, the ICC announced on Tuesday (January 30).

The demerit points will remain active for a rolling five-year period, during which if the Wanderers reaches the threshold of five demerit points, it will be suspended from staging any international cricket for a period of 12 months.

"The pitch prepared for the final Test was a poor one. It had excessively steep and unpredictable bounce, and excessive seam movement," referee Pycroft said. "It deteriorated quickly as the match progressed, which made batting extremely difficult and hazardous, resulting in the medical staff from both the sides having to come onto the field of play multiple times to treat their batsmen.

Several players from both teams were at the receiving end of the variable bounce on the pitch. It started misbehaving on the second day of the play, when Hashim Amla got hit a couple of times. The situation worsened the following day when Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Amla as well as Dean Elgar received blows and had to be treated mid-pitch. The play was halted multiple times, on Day 3, as the umpires and the two captains held discussions with the match referee.

However, players were taken off the field once Elgar copped a blow on the helmet off a short ball. The play was called off earlier than usual but Pycroft, after discussing with the captains, decided that the pitch was not dangerous enough for the match to be abandoned.

"As the on-field umpires are also responsible for the players' safety, they expressed concerns about the behaviour of the pitch, and debated after day three if it was appropriate to continue the match. In the end, the umpires made the decision to continue and the Test reached its natural conclusion on day four. However, there was still excessive variable bounce and seam movement when the Test match ended," he added.

Former South African batsman and match referee Mike Procter, spoke to Cricbuzzduring the course of the game and admitted that he would have rated the Jo'burg pitch 'poor'.

Michael Holding, while commentating on air, too severely criticised the pitch, rating it '2 out of 100'. He was more vociferous when speaking to journalists. "It's a s**t pitch," he said. "You can interpret that. They should have called it off when (Murali) Vijay got hit. This is not a cricket pitch, this is dangerous. Call it off, forget it. You can't play cricket on that. I have no idea what has gone wrong but I know it's not a good cricket pitch."

Elgar, who top-scored in the game across the four innings, also noted that the game should have been called off keeping in the mind the safety of the players.

India won the match by 63 runs in under four days but lost the series 1-2 to the hosts.


© Cricbuzz

IPL 2018 Player Retention: From MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli, complete list of retained players
In the first step towards reforming their squads for the 2018 IPL, the franchise retained key players before the mega auction in the IPL Retention ceremony held in Mumbai on Thursday. Below is the list of players retained by the eight franchises.

Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja

Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will once again be seen in his favourite yellow jersey in the Indian Premier League's (IPL) 2018 season as the Chennai Super Kings retained the Ranchi stumper along with Suresh Raina and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.



File picture of MS Dhoni. BCCI

Dhoni has been retained for Rs 15 crore while Raina and Jadeja were kept for Rs 11 crore and Rs 7 crore, respectively.

The CSK franchise, back into the IPL fold after serving a two-year ban, has two Right-to-Match options left, which they can use during the IPL auction on 27 and 28 January.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 33 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 47 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 2

Rajasthan Royals: Steven Smith

Rajasthan Royals, the other franchise to return after a two-year ban, retained Australia skipper Steve Smith and surprisingly pushed the likes of star batsman Ajinkya Rahane back into the auction pool.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 12.5 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 67.5 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 3


Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell

The other surprise came in the form of Gautam Gambhir, who was sent into the auction pool despite guiding the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to lifting the silverware twice (2012 and 2014).

The Shah Rukh Khan-co-owned franchise retained the West Indian duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 21 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 59 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 3

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) retained India skipper Virat Kohli, South African AB de Villiers and young Sarfraz Khan.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 31 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 49 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 2


Delhi Daredevils: Rishabh Pant, Chris Morris, Shreyas Iyer

Delhi Daredevils retained the young Indian duo of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer along with South African all-rounder Chris Morris.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 33 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 47 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 2

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah

Mumbai Indians also went along expected lines and retained their three-time IPL winning skipper Rohit Sharma along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya and death-overs bowling specialist Jasprit Bumrah.

Rohit guided the Mumbai franchise to IPL titles in 2013, 2015 and 2017.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 33 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 47 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 2


Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Sunrisers Hyderabad sprang a surprise by not retaining India opener Shikhar Dhawan and Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan. They however retained Australian David Warner along with pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 21 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 59 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 3


Kings XI Punjab: Axar Patel

After another dismal outing in 2017, Kings XI Punjab retained just left-arm spinner Axar Patel for the next season.

Deduction because of player retention: Rs 12.5 Crore

Salary cap remaining: Rs 67.5 Crore

Right-to-Match cards remaining: 3

Below is the table of the players retained by each franchise using the Player Retention option

Bose, Not Gandhi, Ended British Rule In India: Ambedkar

Subhas Chandra Bose

In an interview to BBC in February 1955, Babasaheb elucidated the reason why the British left India in 1947. Subsequently, Attlee agreed Netaji was the toughest challenge the Empire faced. Several defence and intelligence experts agreed, too.

Why even after 70 years of his disappearance the people of India are so keen on finding out the truth about Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose? A part of the answer has to do with what Netaji did for us.

Declassified records, testimonies of those who had a ringside view of events coupled with sheer commonsense make it quite evident that Netaji dealt a body blow to the British Raj. As such, for us to brush under the carpet the poignant issue of his fate — how and where he actually died — would constitute a gross affront to his memory and all those associated with him.

For reasons political, the authorities in India will never acknowledge the paramount role of Netaji in forcing the colonial British to transfer the power in 1947. Perhaps one has heard about it from someone in the family already. In a nutshell, there was not much freedom “fight” going on in India in when the Second World War started in 1939. While Bose saw in it the opportunity of a lifetime and he wanted the Congress to serve a six-month ultimatum on the British to leave India, the party under Mahatma Gandhi’s lead would not do anything to increase pressure on the colonial authorities.







Ousted from the Congress, Bose left India and became the head of the Indian National Army. Many in India still scoff at the INA, contrasting it with the professional well-trained, much bigger Indian Army, ignoring the odds Bose had overcome to organise it in such a short time.

As the INA geared up to take on the British Indian Army in battlefields, the Mahatma launched the Quit India movement in 1942, which was similar to what Bose had demanded in 1939. The movement was launched in right earnest. But, unfortunately, it was crushed within three weeks and, in a few months, it was all over.

That Gandhi did wonders for India is true. But to say that the Quit India movement led to Independence would be stretching it too far. So what really clicked? A most logical explanation was given by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, whose birth anniversary we are observing today.

In a no-holds-barred interview with BBC’s Francis Watson in February 1955, Babasaheb elucidated the reason why the British left India in 1947.

“I don’t know how Mr Attlee suddenly agreed to give India independence,” wondered Ambedkar, recalling then British Prime Minister’s decision to agree to the transfer of power in 1947. “That is a secret that he will disclose in his autobiography. None expected that he would do that,” he added.

In October 1956, two months before Ambedkar passed away, Clement Attlee disclosed in a confidential private talk that very secret. It would take two decades before the secret would trickle into the public domain.

Babasaheb would not have been surprised with Sir Attlee’s admission, for he had foreseen it. He told the BBC in 1955 that from his “own analysis” he had concluded that “two things led the Labour party to take this decision” [to free India].

Ambedkar continued: “The national army that was raised by Subhas Chandra Bose. The British had been ruling the country in the firm belief that whatever may happen in the country or whatever the politicians do, they will never be able to change the loyalty of soldiers. That was one prop on which they were carrying on the administration. And that was completely dashed to pieces. They found that soldiers could be seduced to form a party — a battalion to blow off the British.”

Today, as we assess the other data on record and factor in the views of experts ranging from National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Major General GD Bakshi, Babasaheb’s words ring nothing but true.

Sir Norman Smith, Director, Intelligence Bureau, noted in a secret report of November 1945: “The situation in respect of the Indian National Army is one which warrants disquiet. There has seldom been a matter which has attracted so much Indian public interest and, it is safe to say, sympathy… the threat to the security of the Indian Army is one which it would be unwise to ignore.”

Lt General SK Sinha, former Governor of Jammu & Kashmir and Assam, one of the only three Indian officers posted in the Directorate of Military Operations in New Delhi in 1946, made this observation in 1976. “There was considerable sympathy for the INA within the Army… It is true that fears of another 1857 had begun to haunt the British in 1946.”

Agreeing with this contention were a number of British MPs who met British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in February 1946. “There are two alternative ways of meeting this common desire (a) that we should arrange to get out, (b) that we should wait to be driven out. In regard to (b), the loyalty of the Indian Army is open to question; the INA have become national heroes…”

Even in his ‘defeat’, Netaji delivered a massive blow to the British rule in India. And then when India needed him most, he ‘disappeared’.

Don’t we owe it to Subhas Bose to know what became of him, now that we know so much that the previous generations did not?

49 Items Get Cheaper as GST Council Cuts Rates, Filing Process to Become Simpler

Finance Minister informed that the GST council will be meeting again via video conferencing before the Budget to finalise on the new return filing model presented by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder Infosys.

New Delhi: The 25th GST Council meet on Thursday, recommended rate cuts on 49 items, including zero percent on 29 handicraft products with its main focus on easing return filing processes.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed that the GST council will be meeting again via video conferencing before the Budget to finalise on the new return filing model presented by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder Infosys.

The Council did not reach a consensus regarding the new model and is likely to discuss the issues within states.

The E-way bill, which is scheduled to be rolled from February 1 in the budget session of the Parliament, was also discussed.

IGST credit worth Rs 35,000 crore will be passed on to states to improve liquidity. The Council also decided to keep GSTR 3B.

The meeting comes at a time when GST collections have come down. GST collections slipped for the second consecutive month to Rs 80,808 crore in November, down from over Rs 83,000 crore in the preceding month. The collections fell after the Council cut rates on as many as 178 items.

The GST Council on December 16 approved mandatory compliance of the E-Way Bill for the inter-state movement from February 1 to curb tax evasion, the trial run for which started on Monday.

In the 23rd GST Council meeting in November tax rates on over 200 items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates, to beauty products, wigs and wrist watches, were cut to provide relief to consumers and businesses amid the economic slowdown.

178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28% to 18%, while a uniform 5% tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air-conditioned and non-AC.

Here is the list of the finalised goods:

List of goods on which GST council recommended for reduction from 28% to 18%:

- Old and used motor vehicles (medium and large cars and SUVs) on the margin of the supplier, subject to the condition that no input tax credit of central excise duty/value-added tax or GST paid on such vehicles has been availed by him.

- Buses, for use in public transport, which exclusively run on biofuels.

List of goods on which GST rate recommended for reduction from 28% to 12%:

- All types of old and used motors vehicles (other than medium and large cars and SUVs) on the margin of the supplier of subject to the conditions that no input tax credit of central excise duty /value-added tax or GST paid on such vehicles has been availed by him.


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for reduction from 18% to 12%:

- Sugar boiled confectionary

- Drinking water packed in 20 litters bottles

- Fertilizer grade Phosphoric acid

- Bio-diesel

- The following Bio-pesticides, -

Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis

Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki

Bacillus thuringiensis var. galleriae

Bacillus sphaericus

Trichoderma viride

Trichoderma harzianum

Pseudomonas fluoresens

Beauveriabassiana

NPV of Helicoverpaarmigera

NPV of Spodopteralitura

Neem based pesticides

Cymbopogan

- Bamboo wood building joinery

- Drip irrigation system including laterals, sprinklers

- Mechanical Sprayer


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for reduction from 18% to 5%:

- Tamarind Kernel Powder

- Mehendi paste in cones

- LPG supplied for supply to household domestic consumers by private LPG distributors

- Scientific and technical instruments, apparatus, equipment, accessories, parts, components, spares, tools, mockups and modules, raw material and consumables required for launch vehicles and satellites and payloads


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for reduction from 12% to 5%:

- Articles of straw, of esparto or of other plaiting materials; basket-ware and wickerwork


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for an increase from 12% to 18%:

- Cigarette filter rods


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for reduction from 12% to 5% with no refund of unutilised input tax credit:

- Velvet fabric


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for reduction from 3% to 0.25%:

- Diamonds and precious stones


Nil GST rate:

- Vibhuti

- Parts and accessories for the manufacture of hearing aids.

- De-oiled rice bran


List of goods on which GST rate recommended for an increase from nil to 5%:

- Rice bran (other than de-oiled rice bran)

Karnataka elections: BJP 76, Cong 81, JD 66, this mystery poll has everyone fuming

The Congress and BJP are clearly fuming after a poll for the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 was leaked to the media by some unknown persons.

The poll predicts a hung assembly in Karnataka with the BJP bagging 73-76 seats and the Congress 77-81. While both the BJP and Congress are fuming, the JD(S) is all smiles as the poll gives the party 64-66 seats. Others will get 4 to 5 seats in the 224 members Karnataka legislative assembly, the poll says.

The survey was conducted by an agency called CHS. While it predicted a hung assembly, it said that both Congress and BJP should change their current strategy and work hard in the coming months.

The poll results which were shared on various WhatsApp groups say that it conducted a mammoth exercise by surveying 2,000 people in each constituency.


The poll says that the image of the Congress had taken a beating in the last five years. It also said that Siddaramaiah's Ahinda policy had not worked. Further, it says that the lower castes are still with the Congress, but the upper castes had moved away from it.

The poll said that if the Congress were to announce a Dalit Chief Minister ahead of the polls, it would help the party a great deal. Further, it said that the Hindutva card being played by the BJP was not acceptable to a majority of the people.

The poll has created some fissures in the Congress with a section suspecting that Dr G Parameshwar, a Dalit leader could be behind the polls. He later clarified the matter with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and said that there was foul play behind this. The BJP too accused Parameshwar, the KPCC president of being behind this exercise.

OneIndia News

source: oneindia.com

ISRO releases image from India's 100th satellite

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has released the first ever image captured by the recently launched Cartosat-2 satellite.

India's 100th satellite, Cartosat-2 was successfully launched on January 12 from the Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh on a PSLV-C40 rocket.

The image features a small part of the city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh with its Holkar Cricket Stadium standing out at the centre.

The image is from the satellite's first day after launch

As promised by ISRO, this first-day picture comes as a high-resolution scene-specific spot imagery captured by the weather observation satellite's panchromatic (black and white) and multi-spectral (color) cameras.

All the images sent by the satellite will be used for cartographic purposes, coastal land use and regulation, and urban and rural applications, besides Geographical Information System (GIS) applications.



Background

Cartosat-2 went to space with 28 international satellites

The Cartosat-2 is an advanced remote sensing satellite just like the first six spacecraft in the series.

With it, scientists aim to augment data services to its users.

Notably, the earth observation satellite was sent to space along with 30 others, including 28 satellites from six foreign countries such as the US, France, Finland, and Canada.

India-Afghanistan Test to be played in Bengaluru

Afghanistan were awarded Test status in June last year © Getty 

Afghanistan's historic Test debut will happen at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, to be played between June 14 and 18 this year.
In a June 2017 AGM, the ICC had approved Test status for Afghanistan and ireland - making them them the 11th and 12th Full Members of the board. While Afghanistan will play India, Ireland will host Pakistan for their first-ever Test in May.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) welcomed two new entrants to the Test arena after the Full Council members unanimously granted Ireland and Afghanistan Full Member status in the board meeting in London on Thursday (June 22).Afghanistan, on the other hand, have grown tremendously since they received their One-Day status in 2011. Having failed to reach the World Cup the same year, the Asian side has made giant steps in ODIs and Twenty20 cricket. They qualified for the 2015 World Cup and won their first game in the mega event by beating Scotland.

The Asian side has been in the ascendancy for quite a while now. Their journey graph is on an upward curve and they are more formidable than any other associate nation, including Ireland, whom they beat in a recently held ODI and T20I series. Afghanistan recently drew the ODI series 1-1 in West Indies.

It comes as a no surprise that a team consisting of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, who are making waves for participating in different leagues around the globe, will now be able to test their skills in the longest form of the game.

"I'd like to congratulate Afghanistan and Ireland on their Full Membership status which is the result of their dedication to improving performance both off and on the field resulting in the significant development and growth of cricket in their respective countries," David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, said. "Both have clearly demonstrated they meet the new criteria and as such have made the progression to Full Membership."

Shafiq Stanikzai, the Afghanistan CEO, was understandably elated after the decision. "For a nation like Afghanistan it is a huge and remarkable achievement, the entire nation will be celebrating across all five regions and different provinces, it is the perfect Eid gift," he gushed. " Everyone has waited for this news and has been so keen to hear this news. Afghanistan Cricket has gone from strength to strength and we dared to dream that this would happen and today it has become a reality.

"I would like to thank the ICC and the Board who have demonstrated today that they are committed to growing the global game and rewarding nations who are performing on and off the field. As an administrator every achievement is huge and it opens the doors to new challenges and we need to work hard to maintain and sustain our development at the top of the cricket world."

Reliance Jio’s New Offer: Rs. 149, Rs. 349, Rs. 399, Rs. 449 Prepaid Plans Now Offer 1GB Data

Reliance Jio’s New Offer: Rs. 149, Rs. 349, Rs. 399, Rs. 449 Prepaid Plans Now Offer 1GB Data


Jio is offering 1GB of 4G high-speed data per day in its new prepaid recharge plans priced at Rs. 149, Rs. 349, Rs.399 and Rs. 449. Jio rolled out these plans today. These prepaid recharge plans come with different validity. These Jio’s new prepaid recharge plans are part of its ‘Happy New Year 2018’ offer. These prepaid recharge plans also come with unlimited local, STD and roaming voice call benefits. Free 100 SMSes per day offer is also available with these prepaid recharge plans. Jio has launched a slew of new prepaid recharge plans to give more benefits at a lower price.
Here’s a list of Jio’s prepaid recharge plan that offers 1GB daily data:


Jio prepaid recharge plan priced at Rs. 149


Jio’s Rs. 149 prepaid recharge plan offers 1 GB high speed 4G data daily for a period of 28 days. The total data available under this prepaid recharge plan is 28GB. After exhaustion of the daily data limit, the speed of Jio’s data gets reduced to 64 Kbps. Unlimited local, STD, roaming voice call benefits are also available with this prepaid recharge plan. Also, subscribers get access to host of Jio apps. Jio’s Rs. 149 prepaid recharge plan also offer benefits of 100 SMSes per day. The validity of the plan is 28 days.





Jio prepaid recharge plan priced at Rs. 349


Jio’s Rs. 349 prepaid recharge plan offers 1 GB high speed 4G daily data for a period of 70 days. The total data available under this prepaid recharge plan is 70 GB. After exhaustion of the daily data limit, the speed of Jio’s data is reduced to 64 Kbps. Unlimited local, STD, roaming voice call benefits are also available with this prepaid recharge plan. Also, subscribers get access to host of Jio apps. Jio’s Rs. 349 prepaid recharge plan also offer benefits of 100 SMSes per day. The validity of the plan is 70 days.


Jio prepaid recharge plan priced at Rs. 399


Jio’s Rs. 399 prepaid recharge plan offers 1 GB high speed 4G data daily for a period of 84 days. The total data available under this prepaid recharge plan is 84 GB. After exhaustion of the daily data limit, the speed of Jio’s data is reduced to 64 Kbps. Unlimited local, STD, roaming voice call benefits are also available with this prepaid recharge plan. Also, subscribers get access to host of Jio apps. Jio’s Rs. 399 prepaid recharge plan also offer benefits of 100 SMSes per day. The validity of the plan is 84 days.


Jio prepaid recharge plan priced at Rs. 449


Jio’s Rs. 449 prepaid recharge plan offers 91 GBs of high speed 4G data with a daily limit of 1 GB. After exhaustion of the daily data limit, the speed of Jio’s data is reduced to 64 Kbps. Unlimited local, STD, roaming voice call benefits are also available with this prepaid recharge plan. Also, subscribers get access to host of Jio apps. Jio’s Rs. 449 prepaid recharge plan also offer benefits of 100 SMSes per day. The validity of the plan is 91 days.






Source by ndtv..

WhatsApp Enables Quick Switch Between Voice and Video Call in the Latest Beta Update

                       

The popular instant messaging platform, WhatsApp has silently introduced its first major feature of 2018. In the latest WhatsApp Beta app for Android, the Facebook-owned company introduced the much-asked quick switch functionality between voice and video call, meaning a user can now switch to a video call or voice call while on the call itself. This new feature is added to the WhatsApp Beta 2.18.4 version, which is currently rolling out to users enrolled in WhatsApp Beta program. As every time, this feature is spotted by WhatsApp watcher- WABetaInfo.

Basically, WhatsApp is making it easier for the users with the Quick Switch functionality. This quick switch button is present on the call screen and pressing it will switch between a voice and video call or vice-versa. Here’s how it works in real life.

Assume that you’re on a WhatsApp voice call and you want to switch from voice call to video call. If you’re on the latest WhatsApp beta version, you can find a quick switch button on the calling screen. Pressing that button will send a pop-up to the person on the other side saying that you’re requesting a video call. If the person accepts your request, then the call will automatically convert to a video call. The same procedure applies in switching between a video call to voice call.




                                     




Currently, if users want to shift from a voice call to video call, they are supposed to disconnect the call and make a separate call. This feature may not be a huge one but one of the most useful one that is requested by several WhatsApp users across the world. At the moment, it’ still unknown on when WhatsApp is going to introduce this feature in the stable version.


The company will now carry out testing in the beta version before implementing it in the final version of the app. Also, to use this feature, both the caller and the receiver must be using the latest WhatsApp Beta 2.18.4 version. WhatsApp may roll out the feature to Windows Phone and iOS users in the coming days. We will keep you posted once the feature goes official to iOS users. Till then stay tuned.


Source by telecomtalk..

Virat Kohli Explains Why India Played Rohit Ahead of Rahane

India captain Virat Kohli defended the selection of Rohit Sharma in the opening Test against South Africa in Cape Town, saying Rohit was picked ahead of Ajinkya Rahane on current form.

"Well, we decided to go on current form. Rohit has scored runs in the last three Test matches that he has played, and he was batting well, even in the series against Sri Lanka," said Kohli in the post-match media conference.

Also Read: Losing ‘Hurts’ Virat, Says India Will Buck up for next Match

The Quint

✔@TheQuint

Virat Kohli explains the decision to play Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane in Cape Town Test. #INDvSA

12:47 PM - Jan 9, 2018

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"These things can always be looked at in hindsight – thinking what if or what if not. But we decided to go with this combination and current form was definitely the criterion," added Kohli.

Rahane, who has not been amongst the runs of late, had a successful tour of South Africa four years ago. With 209 runs, he was third highest run-getter in the series behind Kohli (272 runs) and Cheteshwar Pujara (280). Rohit Sharma on the other hand got out for scores of 11 and 10 in Cape Town.

India lost the match by 72 runs with the batting letting them down in both innings.

Home team’s skipper Faf du Plessis too expressed his surprised that India chose to go with Rahane ahead of Rohit.

"We were surprised yes. We didn't think that Jasprit Bumrah would have played. We know that he's done really well in one-day cricket but we were preparing more for the other seamers because they've played a lot of Tests," said du Plessis in the post-match media interaction here.

"I think the other guy was Rohit Sharma ahead of Ajinkya Rahane. He's been in a bit of form one-day cricket wise so they're probably just running with that," he said.

Source: The Quint

Donald Trump drops H-1B visa plan that could get 750,000 Indians deported

WASHINGTON: In a relief for Indian techies, US authorities today said that the Trump administration is not considering any proposal that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the country.

The announcement by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) came days after reports emerged that the Trump administration was considering tightening H-1B visa rules that could lead to deportation of 7,50,000 Indians.

The reports had said it was mulling ending extensions for H-1B holders.

Some US lawmakers had criticised the Trump administration's reported plan to curb H-1B visa extensions that could result in self- deportation of an estimated 500,000-750,000 Indian Americans

The USCIS "is not considering a regulatory change that would force H-1B visa holders to leave the United States by changing interpretation of Section 104 C of the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21) statute that states that USCIS may grant the extensions," an official said.

This provides for H-1B extensions beyond the 6 year limit. 

"Even if it were, such a change would not likely result in these H-1B visa holders having to leave the United States because employers could request extensions in one-year increments under section 106(a)-(b) of AC21 instead," Jonathan Withington, Chief of Media Relations at the USCIS, said in a statement.

 

"The agency is considering a number of policy and regulatory changes to carry out the President's Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, including a thorough review of employment based visa programmes," Withington said. 

The statement comes after last week's news report by US- based news agency McClatchy DC Bureau according to which the US was considering new regulations to prevent the extension of H-1B visas, the most sought after by Indian IT professionals. 

The USCIS was never considering such a policy change, he said adding that "any suggestion that USCIS changed its position because of pressure is absolutely false." 

The reported move had been opposed by both the industry and several lawmakers. 

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), a trade association of Indian information technology, had warned that any disruptive move on the visa front would be detrimental for both India and the US. 

The USCIS has a Congressional mandate to issue 65,000 H- 1B visas in general category and another 20,000 for those applicants having higher education -- masters and above -- from US universities in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The H-1B programme offers temporary US visas that allow companies to hire highly skilled foreign professionals working in areas with shortages of qualified American workers. 

Since taking office last January, the Trump administration has been talking about cracking down on the H- 1B visa scheme. 

During his election campaign, President Trump promised to increase oversight of our H-1B and L-1 visa programmes to prevent its abuse. 

Playing national anthem in movie theatres not mandatory, says Supreme Court

Representational image. People standing for national anthem after a SC ruling. | (File Photo)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today made the playing of the national anthem in cinema halls before a screening of movies optional, modifying its earlier order. The apex court modified its November 30, 2016, order by which it had made the playing of the anthem mandatory in cinema halls before the screening of a film. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said a 12-member inter-ministerial committee, set up by the Centre, would take a final call on the playing of the national anthem in the cinemas.

The Centre's decision had come after the top court had in October last year observed that the people "cannot be forced to carry patriotism on their sleeves" and it cannot be assumed that if a person does not stand up for the national anthem, he or she is "less patriotic".

Observing that the society did not need "moral policing", the court had then said that next time, "the government will want people to stop wearing T-shirts and shorts to cinemas saying this would disrespect the national anthem."

The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said the committee should comprehensively look into all the aspects relating to the playing of national anthem and allowed the petitioners to make representations before the panel.


The bench, while disposing of the petitions pending before it, made it clear that the exemption granted earlier to disabled persons from standing in the cinema halls when the national anthem is being played, shall remain in force till the committee takes a decision.


The top court accepted the government's affidavit which said the 12-member panel has been set up to suggest changes in the 1971 Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.


Attorney General K K Venugopal told the bench that the committee will submit its report within six months.


The Centre had yesterday told the apex court that an inter-ministerial committee has been set up as extensive consultations were needed for framing of guidelines describing the circumstances and occasions on which the national anthem is to be played or sung and observance of proper decorum on such occasions.


The government had said that the top court may "consider the restoration of status quo ante until then, that is the restoration of the position as it stood before the order passed by this court on November 30, 2016" as it mandated the playing of the anthem in cinemas before a feature film starts.


The inter-ministerial committee headed by Additional Secretary (Border Management), Ministry of Home Affairs, with representatives from various other ministries, including the Ministries of Defence, External Affairs, Culture, Woman and Child Development and Parliamentary Affairs.


It would also have representatives of the Ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Minority Affairs, Department of Legal Affairs, Department of School Education and Literacy and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability, the affidavit filed by Centre said.


The apex court had on October 24 last year observed that people do not need to stand up in the cinema halls to prove their patriotism and had asked the Centre to consider amending the rules for regulating playing of the national anthem in the theatres.


"People go to cinema halls for undiluted entertainment.


Society needs entertainment. We cannot allow you (Centre) to shoot from our shoulders. People do not need to stand up in cinema halls to prove their patriotism," the bench had said.


"Desirability is one thing but making it mandatory is another. Citizens cannot be forced to carry patriotism on their sleeves and courts cannot inculcate patriotism among people through its order," it had said.


The court's strong remarks had come during the hearing on a PIL filed last year by Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking a direction that the national anthem be played in all cinema halls before the start of the screening of a film.


The apex court had in its November 30, 2016, order said that "love and respect for the motherland is reflected when one shows respect to the national anthem as well as to the national flag".


It had also barred printing of the anthem or a part of it on any object and displaying it in such a manner at places which may be "disgraceful to its status and tantamount to disrespect".


Passing a slew of directions, the court had said that fundamental duties in the Constitution "do not allow any different notion or the perception of individual rights that have individual thought, have no space. The idea is constitutionally impermissible".


It had also said proper norms and protocol should be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and programmes where those holding constitutional office are present.

How to disable auto-download of images, videos on WhatsApp

Indians love WhatsApp. From instant messaging to making video calls, WhatsApp is the go-to platform for one-on-one or group messaging. While WhatsApp is simple and easy-to-use, it sometime gets really frustrating, for instance, flurry of images and videos that hog all your smartphone storage.

Sometimes you might really want an image, video or any file to be exchanged, but on some occasions random WhatsApp forwards really frustrate us. Apart from choking your mobile storage, these random WhatsApp forwarded multimedia files drain your mobile data and even battery. And if you’re part of several WhatsApp groups where multimedia is extensively exchanged, you will completely relate to this problem.

Well, if you’re experiencing this issue for some time or own a low-storage Android smartphone, here’s what you need to do.

Launch WhatsApp and then tap on the three dots on the right top corner. Go to Settings > Data and storage usage.

Now, you will see a bunch of options that will help you gain more control on data used by WhatsApp. For instance, under “network usage”, you will find an insight about the number of messages sent and received, messages bytes sent and received and so on.

To disable auto downloading of images, tap “when using mobile data” under “media auto-download.” Check the kind of content you want to auto-download. If you have already selected “photos”, just uncheck it. You can do the same for videos and audio files as well.

If you don’t want auto-download of images, even on Wi-Fi, tap on the “when connected on Wi-Fi” option, and repeat the same process as above.

Bonus tip: If you’re an iPhone user and facing the same issue, launch WhatsApp > Chats > Data and Storage usage > Save to Camera Roll > enable/ disable content formats you want to stop/allow auto-download.

Source by hindustantimes..

Game of Thrones returns in 2019, HBO confirms for first time

Marc Hom for EW

At last, HBO has confirmed the long-speculated news that its flagship hit series Game of Thrones is taking a year off. The Emmy-winning sensation won’t be back for its final season until 2019.

The revelation means fans will have a longer-than-ever wait for the fantasy drama which has grown its ratings year after year into one of the most popular shows in the world and HBO’s biggest hit of all time.

GoT might skip 2018 last summer after the show’s showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss explained they planned to spend a year and a half crafting the show’s final episodes in an effort to make the final hours as spectacular and satisfying as possible (the eighth season, currently in production, is expected to film until this summer).  Then HBO programming chief Casey Bloys confirmed to us that a 2019 date was indeed possible. Since then, star Sophie Turner let slip in a recent interview that she didn’t expect show to come back until next year either.

The delay makes sense for non-creative reasons, as well. As the biggest hit in HBO’s history, one that the subscription service hoped to continue for additional seasons, keeping the show around awhile long isn’t a bad thing. Also, with season 7 contending for Emmy awards in 2018 due to its summer launch last year, HBO can focus its GoT promotional efforts on its Emmy campaign rather than launching a new season. The move also clears a path for the network’s other lavishly produced and acclaimed genre hit, Westworld, which returns for its second season this year after taking its own two-year break.

So now that we know what year GoT will return, the question becomes: Which month in 2019 will Game of Thrones air? After all, it makes a rather huge difference for fans if the show premieres on Jan. 1 vs. Dec. 31.

The next question is when, exactly, GoT will return — after all, a final season airing Jan. 1, 2019 is a rather different for fans than one airing Dec. 31, 2019. HBO is silent on that front. But given that the network opted to air GoT in the spring every year until a longer-than-usual production schedule pushed season 7 to last summer, a return to a spring launch seems logical.

The final season will also defintiely be only six episodes as previously reported. While some episodes may be longer than usual, once again we’re hearing not to expect feature-length episodes throughout the season.

The GoT pushback also gives author George R.R. Martin more runway to potentially release the next book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter, which he teased last summer might be ready in 2018. Given that Martin plans one final book in the series, A Dream of Spring, the HBO series is still expected to reveal its ending of the series before Martin’s version hits bookstores.

As for the final season’s content, so far the GoT team has managed to keep a lid on spoilers with unprecedented behind-the-scenes security. Yet former Thrones actor Jason Momoa was recently visiting the set and said  “It’s going to be the greatest thing that’s ever aired on TV. It’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to f— up a lot of people.”