Himachal school bus accident: 27 kids, 3 others killed in Nurpur; updates

The Himachal Pradesh school bus rolled into a 200ft-deep gorge, killing 27 schoolchildren, two teachers and the driver

At least 30 people, including 27 school children, were killed after a private bus skidded off the road and rolled down deep into a gorge in Nurpur area of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh on Monday. Twelve injured passengers were rushed to the hospital and are in critical condition.

"The bus rolled into a 200ft-deep gorge, killing 27 schoolchildren, two teachers and the driver," said Santosh Patyal, a senior local police official.

"My first priority was to save lives. We will now investigate the reasons for the accident," he said.

Most of the students were in the age of 10 to 12 years. Local villagers had begun rescue operation even before officials could reach the spot, eyewitnesses said. Around 45 students of Wazir Ram Singh Pathania Memorial Public School were returning home when the bus skidded off road and fell into the 100-feet deep gorge. Teams of local administration and the National Disaster Response Force were involved in the rescue and faced a tough time in pulling out the victims from the mangled bus.

"Prima facie, negligent driving and over-speeding are the main reasons for the accident," an official said. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Governor Acharya Devvrat and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda condoled the deaths. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered.

Death toll may rise

Top 10 developments on the tragic Himachal Pradesh School Bus Accidentthat claimed 30 lives:

1. Modi condoles deaths in Himachal bus accident: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday condoled the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Himachal Pradesh, in which 30 people, including 27 students, were killed.

"I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to a bus accident in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. My prayers and solidarity with those who lost their near and dear ones in the accident," tweeted PMO India. Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also said, "I am deeply shocked to learn about the tragic bus accident...my heart goes out to the family members of the deceased."

2. Deeply disturbed by the bus accident, says Rahul: "I am deeply disturbed and saddened by the bus accident in Himachal, that has claimed many lives, including those of 26 children," Gandhi tweeted. "I urge our Congress party workers in Himachal to provide all the assistance they can, to the families of the victims and to those who are injured," he added. (more)

Father of girl allegedly raped by BJP MLA beaten by UP cops, dead; updates

The father of the girl who had been taken into police custody for protesting outside Yogi Adityanath's residence died early this morning

An 18-year-old woman on Sunday tried to immolate herself near Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's residence, after alleging that she had been raped by a legislator of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The immolation bid took place outside the Golf Club gate of the chief minister's residence. The woman alleged that she was raped in June last year by Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the MLA of Unnao district's Bangermau constituency, around 90 km from Lucknow. She also accused the Unnao police of not taking any action and registering a case on her complaint, Vijay Sen Singh, in-charge of the Gautampalli police station, said.

In the latest development, the girl's father, who had been taken into police custody for protesting outside Adityanath's residence, died early this morning.

1. Father of alleged rape victim dies in police custody: Father of the woman who said that she was raped by a BJP MLA and his accomplices, passed away, allegedly in police custody, after he was arrested on Sunday.

He was admitted to hospital last night by Police after he complained of abdominal pain & vomiting. He passed away in early morning hours: Dr Atul, District hospital, Unnao on father of rape victim. The victim along with her family had attempted suicide outside CM residence, y'day pic.twitter.com/UqBoSI6EfI

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) April 9, 2018

2. 'Man died of vomiting and abdominal pain': "The man was admitted to the hospital last night after he complained of abdominal pain and vomiting. He passed away in the early morning hours," Dr Atul, District hospital of Unnao said about the father of the alleged rape victim.

3. "Arrest the rapist or I'll kill myself": The girl told mediapersons, "that the BJP MLA should be arrested, and until he is not, I am not going back home… I will take my life otherwise… I was threatened that if I tell anyone my family members will be killed and thrown away.

4. Girl's father was beaten by BJP MLA's brother: The 18-year-old girl claimed that her father sustained multiple injuries after he was beaten up by the BJP MLA's brother and some of his accomplices a few days ago.

5. Magisterial inquiry to be conducted: If lapse found on the side of police, action will be taken.The incident happened while the man was in judicial custody, said DIG.

6. UP police had beaten the girl's father: Two police officers and four constables suspended and 4 accused of beating the rape victim's father arrested: Pushpanjali Devi, SP of Unnao. (more)

BCCI media rights: STAR India wins the toss in cricket sweepstakes

Winning the rights would have given the Ambanis a big boost, say analysts, in increasing data usage for the 160 million Jio customers

Will acquiring the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) rights for bilateral international cricket matches in India be the winner’s curse for STAR India?

Or will the acquisition reinforce STAR India’s top position in cricket telecasting by increasing the gap with its traditional rival Sony and keeping Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio away for a second time from winning coveted cricket rights (the first time was the Indian Premier League, or IPL), which not only drive customers but also bring in huge advertising revenue as well as subscriptions.

The Ambanis, who have built a media empire, recently took a majority stake in Viacom 18, the company that runs a bouquet of channels led by Colors, and is fighting a headlong battle for viewership in the general entertainment space with STAR India.

What Viacom does not have is a sport channel, which it has avoided because of the high cost of acquiring sport properties.

Winning the rights would have given the Ambanis a big boost, say analysts, in increasing data usage for the 160 million Jio customers, who are looking for compelling content, and cricket is a no brainer. It could have also given Viacom 18 an opportunity to fill a gap for a cricket property. Jio is launching fibre-to-home service, which will be driven by content and TV services, taking on Rupert Murdoch’s DTH business in Tata-Sky.

But STAR India has to pay a stiff bill not only for the BCCI rights but also grabbing the rights of the IPL, also for five years, and that is Rs 44.956 billion (BCCI and IPL) every year, more than double the advertising revenue that flows to cricket currently.

And while it has bid very high to win against all odds, its challenge now is to make money. The enormity of the task can be seen in the fact that currently advertising revenue for cricket on TV is around Rs 20 billion, of which the IPL generates more than Rs 13 billion. Digital advertising last year generated only Rs 2 billion, primarily from the IPL to STAR’s Hotstar, and, despite all the promise, has a long way to go.

So the money-making equation has to change dramatically. STAR sources say they will not be able to break even on day one, but the properties are attractive. Some say it has overbid for both the properties and it might not be able to break even at all and has overestimated the revenue-generating potential for digital. They say that unlike in other countries where sport properties are sold high, India does not have the potential for subscription revenue to go up for a long time, so that one can reduce dependence on only advertising. (more)

Strategic plan helps IIT-M to win hatrick as best engineering college

The institute also retained its second position in the overall category as the second best institution in the country

The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) may have to thank its own visionary Governing Board and the practice of religiously following its goals towards Strategic Plan 2020, patiently ticking every columns it needs to, as it has been ranked as the best engineering college in the country for the third consecutive year by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The institute also retained its second position in the overall category as the second best institution in the country, next only to Indian Institute of Science-Bangalore.

The ranking, out of the total 906 entries in the engineering category, is with a score of 88.95, while the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay is in the second rank with a score of 84.82 and Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi in the third position with a score of 82.18.

"They (NIRF) are measuring the same parameters which we follow in our strategic plan, regarding teaching, learning, in terms of our faculty strength, graduation outcomes, placement, research publication citations, funded projects, consultancy projects etc. We are having our own Strategic Plan for 2020, every year our board monitors it. With the growth rate, we are maintaining our position. There is no magic to it, and in fact everybody is growing," said Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.

Every year there is a target in hiring faculty, graduate outcomes, funded projects, placement performance among others, which are monitored. The institute makes sure that it is improving in these parameters and this makes its chances of maintaining the position in the ranking higher.

"Still, if somebody improves more than us, they will beat us," he said.

The current Strategic Plan of IIT-M, for the year 2014-20, was implemented from the year Dr Pawan Goenka, managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra, took over as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the institution.

"The vision for IIT Madras laid out by Strategic Plan 2014–2020 is to be in the top 50 in all disciplines, by being a global leader in research and education, which will benefit society around us and the environment. The key pillars that will help IIT Madras achieve this vision are course programmes, research, engagement with industry, internationalisation and entrepreneurial activity," said Goenka during the time. (more)

Nokia 8 Sirocco is as elegant as original Nokia 8800: First impressions

The Nokia 8 has top-tier innards, sturdy stainless steel body, curved plastic-OLED screen and Android Oreo operating system, which comes with Android One promise of guaranteed timely updates

HMD Global, a Finnish company behind Nokia-branded phones, finally has a flagship – the Nokia 8 Sirocco – that can take on the competition. The device has top-tier specs, sturdy stainless steel body, curved plastic-OLED screen and Android Oreo operating system, which comes with Android One promise of guaranteed timely updates.

In terms of design and features, the Sirocco edition is a completely new device with major improvements and, therefore, is nowhere close to the original Nokia 8, which was launched last year. The phone’s curved sides grabs the attention and looks plush. The compact form factor improves usability, but the glossy stainless steel back and curved side profile make it prone to accidental drops.

Things get interesting once the device is powered on. The front is dominated by a curved pOLED screen that results in zero side bezels and limited top and bottom bezels. The screen looks vivid and touch response is top-notch. However, due to curved profile, the sides of the screen registers accidental touch, which results in unstable phone’s behaviour.

The ultraHD (2K) pOLED screen is a delight to watch video content. It renders deep blacks and is bright enough to stay visible under direct sunlight. However, the mono speaker output is on a muted side and, therefore, hinders the performance. The lack of 3.5mm audio port is another miss -- the phone comes bundled with USB type-C to 3.5mm port jack.

our brief use, the Nokia 8 Sirocco imaging showed promising results in good day-light conditions. However, it was not up to the mark to capture low-light scenes. The dual-camera module is tuned for warm colour reproduction and the output shows saturated colours, instead of natural colours. The selfie camera also showed similar results but with prominent noise levels across light conditions.

The vanilla Android Oreo experience is smooth and the phone easily sails through tasks without breaking sweat. The software shows no sign of lag or unresponsive behaviour, at least in our first impression. The battery life seems good and the charging time is quick.

The Nokia 8 Sirocco has impressed us with its blueblood traits in first impressions. However, we are reserving our verdict until detailed review, where we’d test the device on several parameters to test its overall capabilities.

YouTube HQ shooter Nasim Aghdam's father warned police beforehand: Updates

The person who allegedly shot at least three people at YouTube's campus on Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Nasim Najafi Aghdam

A woman opened fire at the suburban Northern California campus of Google’s YouTube, wounding three and sending panicked employees fleeing from their offices before taking her own life. The suspected shooter's father had reportedly informed the police that his daughter had been missing for a few days and that she was angry with YouTube.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said three gunshot victims, and a fourth person hurt running from the attack, were transported Tuesday afternoon to local hospitals. The woman found at the scene appeared to be dead of “a self-inflicted” gunshot wound, he said. While no motive was given for the shooting, two law enforcement sources told the Associated Press that the incident was being investigated as a domestic dispute. Media including NBC’s local affiliate and Kron4, citing anonymous sources, identified the shooter as southern California resident Nasim Aghdam.

Violence on this scale is rare on the modern, sprawling grounds of Silicon Valley’s technology companies, and it may result in a re-evaluation of the security at the open campus atmospheres they tend to favor. Rates of workplace violence have declined since 1994, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Just 4 percent of homicides at work in 2010 occurred in the professional and business-services sector, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The shooting shattered what had been a quiet, sunny day with many people outside for lunch. Workers at the headquarters of the video-sharing website said they heard gunshots and what sounded like banging and people running outside. Immediately, the Twitter feeds of employees began mentioning an active shooting on campus. Police said they first received emergency phone calls at 12:46 p.m. local time and the incident appeared to have started at a patio on the campus.

Here are the top 10 developments around the YouTube headquarters shooting where the assailant committed suicide after injuring several people:

1) Shooter's father had warned police she was angry with YouTube: Nasim Najafi Aghdam's father told a reporter for a CBS affiliate that his daughter had been missing for several days. He added that he had warned the police that his daughter was angry with YouTube.

2) Woman who allegedly carried out YouTube shooting identified by police: The person who allegedly shot at least three people at YouTube's campus on Tuesday afternoon has been identified as Nasim Najafi Aghdam, according to senior law enforcement officials. The woman, who was 39 years old, is believed to have carried out the attack because of a domestic dispute, officials said. The authorities said terrorism did not appear to be a motive at this time. (more)

Depression killed Telugu TV anchor V Radhika Reddy, suicide note reveals

A suicide note written in Telugu was found from her handbag. She wrote that her brain was her enemy and that nobody was responsible for her death

She was associated with the V6 news channel and lived in Srivila Apartment in Moosapet.

A suicide note written in Telugu was found from her handbag.

She wrote that her brain was her enemy and that nobody was responsible for her death, according to news agency IANS.

Radhika was a divorcee with a 14-year-old son, who is mentally disabled.

The incident occurred late last night and the deceased has been identified as V Radhika Reddy, who was under "depression due to some family dispute" with her husband and was now staying at her parents house, they said.

her husband and was now staying at her parents house, they said.

"After her duty she came to the house and at around 10.40 pm yesterday she went to the top floor of the building and jumped. She suffered multiple injuries and died on the spot," Kukatapally Police Station Inspector V Prasanna Kumar told PTI.

A suicide note purportedly written by her was found in her bag, which stated that she was under "depression" and that no one was responsible for her death and that the brain was her enemy, he said.

She was married around 12 years ago and had two children, but apparently due to some family dispute with her husband she was not staying with him, the police said adding based on preliminary investigation it was found that due to some family issues she was under depression and it was one of the reasons for her to resort to the extreme step.

Police ruled out any foul play behind the incident.

A case was registered and the woman's body was shifted to a state-run hospital and a post-mortem will be conducted today, they said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)