Today in History

On this day in 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.



Lt Gen Bipin Rawat is next Army chief, Air Marshal Birender Dhanoa to head Air Force

Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat would be the new Army Chief and Air Marshal B.S. Dhanoa the new chief of Indian Air Force, the Defence Ministry announced on Saturday. Lt Gen. Rawat and Air Marshal Dhanoa, presently the Vice Chiefs of their respective services, will take over on December 31, when incumbents Gen. Dalbir Singh and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha demit office on retirement from service.

18-Dec-1398	Amir Timur captured Delhi.
18-Dec-1756	Guru Ghasidas, freedom fighter and social reformer, was born in Girod a small village in Sona Khan.
18-Dec-06	Gandhiji returns to South Africa
18-Dec-17	Surendranath Dasgupta, great educationist, passed away.
18-Dec-24	Justice Venkatramayya was born.
18-Dec-49	Joni Flynn, famous actress (Octopussy), was born in Assam, India.
18-Dec-60	National Museum inaugurated in New Delhi.
18-Dec-61	Government of India annexes military action in Goa, Daman & Diu. in the early hours. Naval ships had been patrolling off Marmagao when they saw the Portuguese figate Afonso de Albuquerque in harbour. Her guns were firing at the Indian Air Force. Indian naval ships 'Betwa', 'Beas' and 'Cauvery' closed in and engaged the frigate from a range of 8,000 yards.
18-Dec-61	Lalchand Sitaram Rajput, cricketer (Indian Test opening batsman 1985-86), was born in Bombay.
18-Dec-71	Bharat Ratna, India's highest award, was given to Indira Gandhi (1917-1984), Prime Minister of India.
18-Dec-71	Indira Gandhi, PM, receives the Bharat Ratna.
18-Dec-77	Indira Gandhi resigns from the executive committee of the Congress party.
18-Dec-84	Reactor Research Centre of Kalpakkam established on 12th March 1969 was renamed as Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.
18-Dec-88	Rajiv Gandhi visits China. It was the first visit to China in 34 years by an Indian PM.
18-Dec-89	Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee sworn in as Chief Justice of India.
18-Dec-89	Prof. M. G. K. Menon sworn in Minister of State for Science and Technology.
18-Dec-89	Rabi Ray from Orissa elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
18-Dec-92	BJP expresses regret over the demolition of the Masjid in Ayodhya in Parliament.
18-Dec-95	Dr. Julias K. Nyrere, former Tanzanian President, receives the first annual International Gandhi Peace Prize.
18-Dec-98	Sonia Gandhi hints that the Congress(I) is not keen on forming Government at the Centre with the help of other parties and that it would prefer to return to power on its own strength.
18-Dec-99	Indian tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhuapathi were named The Sportstar's sportpersons of the Year-1999. Sunil Kumar, the teenaged national hardcourt tennis champion and Aarthie Ramaswamy, the world under-18 girls chess champion, received the 'Young Achiever award' while hockey wizard Leslie Claudius will be honoured with the 'Legend of Indian Sport' award.
18-Dec-99	Dr. Romila Thapar, noted historian, cautions historians on Somnath temple.
18-Dec-99	The PWG blasts a railway track in Bihar.
18-Dec-00	M.S. Subbulakshmi gets the Bangalore-based Sri Rama Seva Mandali Trust's maiden S.V. Narayanaswamy Rao Memorial National Award for promoting Indian Classical music.
18-Dec-00	The Lok Sabha adopts the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2000 and the Government announces plan to set up a National Commission for Children.
18-Dec-00	The Tatas and the Hindujas are shortlisted for disinvestment in both Air India and Indian Airlines, while Videocon International for the domestic airline.

Legion Hacker Group preparing for cyber-attack @ sansad.nic.in

Legion hackers says they have no political motives, and are planning to dump emails from sansad.nic.in next.

Legion, an unknown group of people who hacked Twitter accounts of prominent personalities like Rahul Gandhi, Vijay Mallya, Ravish Kumar and Barkha Dutt, have claimed they have no political motives behind this exercise. The group said Lalit Modi is their next target and they also claim to have access to sansad.nic.in, which is the email used by nearly all government employees in India.

In a Washington Post report on Monday, a member of the group divulged that he was not interested in any ‘political data’ until a few weeks ago. He said that the group, which he “claims number in the ‘higher single digits'”, was in possession of terabytes of raw data and they had filtered gigabytes worth of data from it. In another interview to a tech website, FactorDaily, the group said they plan to “dump” “sansad-.nic.in emails,” and that this includes “a lot of Big Fish.”

When asked about whether they had a political agenda behind the leaks, the hacker said told Washington Post that people who thought so should “gas themselves with a balloon filled with Zyklon B.” For context, that’s the gas used by the Nazis during the Holocaust against the Jews.

Syrian Army Declares Victory in Aleppo

The Syrian Army has officially liberated Aleppo after ousting rebels from their last bastions in the eastern part of the city.

By Laila Bassam and Lisa Barrington | ALEPPO, SYRIA/BEIRUT

The Syrian army and its allies are in the "last moments before declaring victory" in Aleppo, a Syrian military source said, after rebel defences collapsed on Monday, leaving insurgents in a tiny, heavily bombarded pocket of ground.

A Reuters journalist in the government-held zone said the bombardment of rebel areas of the city continued non-stop on Monday, and a civilian trapped there described the situation as resembling "Doomsday".

"The battle in eastern Aleppo should end quickly. They (rebels) don't have much time. They either have to surrender or die," Lieutenant General Zaid al-Saleh, head of the government's Aleppo security committee, told reporters in the recaptured Sheikh Saeed district of the city.

Jayalalithaa on heart assist device in Apollo Hospital, Chennai after cardiac arrest

Jayalalithaa on heart assist device in Apollo Hospital, Chennai after cardiac arrest

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who is in a very critical condition after a cardiac arrest according to hospital sources, has had a heart surgery this morning, her party the AIADMK said. 

John Key (New Zealand PM) resigns after eight years as prime minister

John Key (New Zealand PM) resigns after eight years as prime minister

Wellington: Popular New Zealand Prime Minister John Key announced his shock resignation on Monday, saying it was the right time to go after eight years in the job.

"This is the hardest decision I've ever made and I don't know what I'll do next," he told a news conference, adding that he had never seen himself as a career politician. "Being leader of both the party and the country has been an incredible experience." Key, a former Merrill Lynch currency trader, had recently marked his eighth anniversary as prime minister and 10th year as leader of the centre-right National Party, which is set to meet next week to elect his successor. 

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English is widely seen as the favourite to take over. "I feel like I'm going out on top," Key said, pointing to spending more time with his wife Bronagh and children Stephanie and Max as a key consideration. "It would be easy to say I have made this decision solely to rediscover the personal and family life I once had, and that is a factor, but it is one among many," he said. "Over the years I have observed many leaders who, in a similar position, fail to take this step. I can understand why. It is a hard job to leave."

"But, for me and the National Party, this is a good time to go. Party membership is high and the party is well-funded."

"The caucus is talented and eager to serve, and one of the achievements of which I am proud is having built with my colleagues a Cabinet team that is capable, committed and cohesive. That is a great legacy for National's next leader." Key came into politics relatively late, entering parliament in 2002 and assuming leadership of the National Party four years later. By 2008, he had ended nine years of Labour Party rule, ousting then-prime minister Helen Clark.

He won plaudits for his leadership during a string of crises in his first term, including a devastating earthquake in Christchurch in February 2011 which claimed 185 lives. He also steadied the economy after the Global Financial Crisis without resorting to hard-line spending cuts, instead taking a steady, pragmatic approach that saw the budget return to surplus for the first time since 2008.

From : http://www.firstpost.com/

WhatsApp will stop running on MILLIONS of older phones at the end of this month

Are you affected? WhatsApp will stop running on MILLIONS of older phones at the end of this month

• The Facebook-owned app will phase out support for older phones.
• It says older platforms can no longer keep up with the app's features.
• Changes will affect Windows, Android and iOS by the end of the year
• By Jan, WhatsApp will also no longer be available for BlackBerry, Nokia S40 and Nokia Symbian S60 

If you are using an old smartphone to send WhatsApp messages, you may need to add an upgrade to your Christmas wish list. 

WhatsApp has announced it will no longer support a range of older operating platforms by the end of the year.

The messaging app said it will be phasing out support for older Windows, Android and Apple models by January, and Blackberry and Nokia by mid-2017.

The older smartphone platforms can no longer keep up with the latest features being rolled out for the app, claims blog post by the Facebook-owned app. WhatsApp made the announcement as it celebrated its seventh anniversary, after first launching the popular messaging platform in 2009. The app, which is now used by more than one billion people worldwide, was launched in the early days of Apple's App Store, when seven out of ten had operating systems offered by Blackberry and Nokia.

However, today's smartphone market is dominated by Google, Apple and Microsoft, with almost all newer models running on these platforms. The firm wrote: 'As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use.' The full list of platforms being left behind at the end of the year includes: Android 2.1 and Android 2.2; Windows Phone 7 and iPhone 3GS/iOS 6. And by June 2017, WhatApp will no longer be available for BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10; Nokia S40; and Nokia Symbian S60.

WHICH PHONES WILL LOSE OUT?

WhatsApp has announced that it will no longer support a range of older operating platforms by the end of the year.

By the end of this year Whatsapp will no longer work on:

• - Android 2.1 and 2.2
• - Windows Phone 7
• - iPhone 3GS/iOS 6

In June 2017, WhatsApp will no longer be supported for:

• - BlackBerry
• - Nokia S40
• 
  
• - Nokia Symbian S60 

Rise of Nokia ...Nokia ExpressMusic NX For 2017 | Android Smartphone Concept NOKIA 2017

Nokia ExpressMusic NX For 2017
Android Smartphone Concept | NOKIA 2017

The Nokia brand, is returning in 2017 to the mobile space to make Android-powered phones and tablets. The news was confirmed in a press release from the company, which is now owned by HMD, a new company set up to enable the proliferation of Nokia-branded phones and tablets. 

Nokia Will Return in 2017 With Two New Android Phones. Specs, Hardware & Release Date Rumours are the talk of the town in the tech world. The mobile phone giant Nokia started its journey with a vision of "Connecting People". It's one of the big giant mobile manufacturing company in the world in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, they had to stop producing new mobile phone soon after they merge with another tech giant, Microsoft. 

Nokia shut down completely in 2015 and Now seriously considering coming back in market with Boom !!! They have recently announced some news about coming back in the market in 2017 with some fresh Android mobile phone as its widely popular right now. 

Nokia Smartphone 2017 release date hasn't been announced yet. However, we have managed to sneak out some of the selected design of the new Nokia Smartphone which are set to release in 2017. This video features one of the Nokia's smartphones which is rumored to release earlier 2017. Nokia's Xpress music Android smartphone will feature a 4k display with 21-megapixel rear cameras. 

Reliance Jio extends free services till March 2017

Reliance Industries announced on Thursday a three-month extension to an offer of free data and voice services by Jio in what could be an escalation in the telecom sector’s price war.

Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani said in a live YouTube feed that Jio’s existing and new customers will get free voice and data till March 31, 2017. Here are five takeaways from Ambani’s speech:

1) Ambani said Reliance Jio is the fastest growing tech company in the world. Six lakh customers are signing up for the service every day. He said Jio is growing faster than Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype. Ambani added that Jio has crossed 50 million customers in the three months since launching on September 1.

2) Jio will offer bouquet of data, calls and apps free of cost to customers from December 4 till March 31, 2017. It will also allow customers to migrate to Jio from other service providers.

3) The RIL chairman did not let this occasion go by without mentioning the lack of support from existing telecom operators as far as inter-connectivity is concerned. Ambani claimed that 900 crore calls from Jio customers to networks of other operators were dropped.

4) Ambani lauded the government’s demonetisation move, launching a digital wallet called the Jio wallet.

5) Keeping with the government’s Digital India Mission, Ambani announced that Jio will build a digital retail ecosystem to help small merchants. It will be called Money Merchant Solutions.

www.hindustantimes.com