Apple, Google employee shuttles under attack in California

Apple and Google have been forced to reroute their shuttles ferrying employee after the vehicles were attacked with either pellet guns or rocks several times on the way to office.

According to a report in Slate Magazine on Friday, six buses operated by these tech companies to shuttle employees to their offices have been attacked on the highway over the past week.

"The California Highway Patrol reports that four Apple and one Google bus had their windows shattered by unidentified projectiles; the patrol suggests that they could have been rocks or bullets from a pellet gun," the report added.

Another Apple bus had its window damaged. Apple has filed a police report with a description of a suspect.

The rerouting has prolonged the commute timings for employees by 30 to 45 minutes.

Facebook, however, told TechCrunch that its employee buses have not faced such problems.

The shuttles are not marked with the logos of the companies that chartered them.

However, the vehicles have identifiable colours -- white for Google, silver for Apple and blue for Facebook.

According to Fortune, people started attacking Google buses some four years ago, as a way of protesting the tech-company-driven gentrification taking place around San Francisco.

"The protests that took place in 2013 and 2014 were prompted by gentrification in the Bay Area, due to the high salaries of tech company employees, and also by anger over surveillance and automation," it added.

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Banks stocks shoot up on 100% FDI in private banks reports

Banking stocks on Thursday zoomed following reports that the government may allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in private sector banks.

The S&P BSE banking index surged by 1.64 per cent -- almost 500 points higher -- with stocks of major private banks in the lead.

Around 1.30 p.m., stocks of Yes Bank traded higher by 2.99 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank (up 2.79 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 2.01 per cent), ICICI Bank (up 1.84 per cent), Kotak Bank (up 1.28 per cent) and Axis Bank (up 0.47 per cent).

State-run State Bank of India's shares traded higher by 0.88 per cent while those of Bank of Baroda fell by 0.12 per cent and Punjab National Bank dipped by 0.37 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange, the Nifty Bank index traded higher by 1.83 per cent.

The Nifty Private Bank index edged higher by 1.85 per cent and the Nifty Public Sector Bank index by 0.21 per cent.

Reports on Wednesday said the government may allow 100 percent foreign direct investment in private banks and also consider increasing the permissible limit for FDI in public sector banks to 49 per cent from the current 20 per cent.

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Kohli clinches top ICC awards (Second Lead)

After a prolific run with the willow last year, India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday swept the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual awards as the 29-year won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for being the World Cricketer of the Year 2017.

Kohli was also named as ICC ODI cricketer of the year 2017 and the captain of both ICC Test and ODI teams. It is the second time Kohli has been named as the ODI cricketer of the year as he won the same honour in 2012 when he was 24 years old.

Kohli's Australian counterpart Steve Smith bagged the honour of being the Test Cricketer of the Year. The 28-year-old Smith posted six centuries in just 11 Tests in 2017; three on Australia's tour of India and three in the recently-completed 4-0 Ashes triumph over England.

The award, which was decided for performance based on the period between September 21, 2016 to December 31, 2017, the Indian skipper scored 2,203 Test runs at an average of 77.80. 

The right-handed batsman also scored eight centuries in the time period in the longest format, including five double hundreds. 

In ODIs, Kohli hammered 1,818 ODI runs at an average of 82.63 including seven centuries, and 299 T20I runs at a strike rate of 153. With Kohli as skipper, India went on to register 9 consecutive series win in the longest format.

Apart from Kohli, who was named as the captain for the ODI Team of the year, Rohit Sharma, who smashed a double ton against Sri Lanka in December, becoming the only batsman in the world to have three double centuries in the format, was also included in the squad. 

The only other Indian apart from the two, who made it to the team was seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who took 56 wickets in 31 matches at an average of 22.73 in the year 2017.

Three Indians made it to the 2017 Test team of the year -- Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, who was also named as the captain for the side.

Rising leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was also recognised for his tremendous perfomance in T20 cricket and his 6-wicket haul against England in Bengaluru was recognised as the ICC T20I Performance of the Year.

Among others, Pakistan quick Hasan Ali was named the Emerging Cricketer of the Year after he helped Pakistan win the ICC Champions Trophy in June, while Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan was named Associate Cricketer of the Year.

English women cricketer Anya Shrubsole bagged the ICC Spirit of Cricket award while South African umpire Marais Erasmus was awarded the David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year.

Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy 2017 win over arch-rivals India in June was adjudged the ICC Fans Moment of the Year. The Sarfraz Ahmed-led Men-in-Green thrashed India by 180 runs to bag the title at The Oval in London.

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Ex-CIA officer suspected of helping China arrested

A former CIA officer suspected by investigators of helping China dismantle Washington's spying operations and identify informants has been arrested, the Justice Department said.

Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a naturalised US citizen, was held after arriving at New York's JFK airport on Monday. Lee worked for the CIA between 1994 and 2007. He later left for Hong Kong.

When Lee returned to the US in 2012, FBI agents searched his hotel rooms in Hawaii and Virginia and found finding two small books with secret records, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Lee, 53, was charged in a federal court in northern Virginia with the "unlawful retention of national defence information and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted", the Justice Department said.

He appeared in Brooklyn court on Tuesday and was being held there. He does not have a lawyer, an official said. 

It was unclear why Lee decided to risk arrest by coming to the US this month, according to the report.

In the books the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents found, Lee had written down details about meetings between Central Intelligence Agency informants and undercover agents, as well as their real names and phone numbers, the court papers stated. 

Prosecutors said that material in the books reflected the same information contained in classified cables that Lee had written while at the agency.

Lee, also known as Zhen Cheng Li, began his CIA career as a case officer, maintained a top secret clearance and signed non-disclosure agreements. He has made no public comments on the issue.

Officials expressed concern that Lee's case and at least one other represent a troubling pattern of Chinese intelligence targeting former agency officials, an easier task than trying to recruit current CIA operatives.

In June, a former CIA officer was charged with providing classified information to China and making false statements. Prosecutors said that the former officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory, 60, of Leesburg, Virginia, had top-secret documents and incriminating messages on a communications device he brought back from Shanghai.

In March, prosecutors announced the arrest of a longtime State Department employee, Candace Marie Claiborne, accused of lying to investigators about her contacts with Chinese officials. 

According to the criminal complaint against Claiborne, who pleaded not guilty, Chinese agents wired cash into her bank account and lavished her with thousands of dollars in gifts.

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Hyderabad University student killed in car crash

A female student of Hyderabad Central University was killed and two techies were injured in a car crash on Outer Ring Road on the city outskirts early on Tuesday, police said.

Ananya Goel, 22, hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli, was on long drive with her two friends after celebrating birthday of one of them when the accident occurred.


According to police, the car overturned near Burjugadda under Shamshabad Rural police station limits while they were on their way to Gachibowli from Pedda Amberpet.

Ananya, Nikhita and Nitin, whose birthday it was, sustained grievous injuries and were shifted to a corporate hospital where Ananya succumbed. Nikhita and Nitin were undergoing treatment.

Police said the car was being driven at a high speed and this led to the accident. They registered a case and were investigating.

Details will be known after recording the statement of the injured, a police official said.

Police shifted the body to government-run Osmania Hospital and informed Ananya's family about the accident.

She was pursuing MA at the HCU.

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Direct tax collections up 18% in April-December

India's direct tax collection between April and December in the current fiscal at Rs 6.56 lakh crore was 18.2 per cent higher than for the corresponding period last year, according to an official announcement on Tuesday.

A Finance Ministry statement said the collections till December represent 67 per cent of the total budget estimates for direct taxes for fiscal 2017-18.

"Provisional figures of direct tax collections up to December 2017 show that net collections are at Rs 6.56 lakh crore, which is 18.2 per cent higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year," the Ministry tweeted.

"Net direct tax collections represent 67 per cent of total budget estimates of direct taxes for FY 2017-18 (Rs 9.8 lakh crore)," the release said here.

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), gross collections before adjusting for refunds have increased by 12.6 per cent to Rs 7.68 lakh crore during April-December 2017. Refunds amounting to Rs 1.12 lakh crore have been issued during this period.

A total of Rs 3.18 lakh crore has been received as advance tax till December, reflecting a growth of 12.7 per cent on this count over the corresponding period of last year, the statement said.

"The growth in corporate income tax advance tax is 10.9 per cent and that in personal income tax advance tax is 21.6 per cent," it added.

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Governor's 'indictment' proof of J&K government's failure: Omar

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday accused the Mehbooba Mufti-led collation government of "failure on all fronts".

Abdullah said the "open criticism of the coalition government by the Governor was proof of its failure on all fronts".

The National Conference leader was referring to Governor N.N. Vohra's statement during a commemoration function here on Monday in honour of late Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.

Vohra had said the "state faces many problems, some of our own doing and some of others' contributions". He urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to perk up its performance.

Abdullah said the Governor's statement was an "indictment" against the PDP-BJP collation government, proving its failure on all fronts.

He said the situation in the state had drastically deteriorated since the PDP-BJP government assumed power. He said the government's promise of development was nowhere to be seen.

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