Air India facing cash deficit of Rs 250 crore every month

Air India is unable to purchase all the spares it needs, resulting in idling aircraft, due to a monthly cash deficit of Rs 200-250 crore that affects availability of funds for maintenance, the civil aviation ministry has candidly admitted.

The ministry has told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee that a restricted cash flow was responsible for inoperational aircraft despite a turnaround plan (TAP) being in force since 2011 while fleet expansion had been hit by viability issues and an ongoing CBI probe into previous acquisitions.

“There is a cash deficit of Rs 200 crore to Rs 250 crore every month which affects availability of funds for procurement of spares,” the ministry told the PAC even as it said that “every attempt” was being made to devote maximum financial resources to availability of spares to improve utilisation of aircraft.

It needed $300 million accessed through external commercial borrowings to liquidate outstanding dues of foreign suppliers in 2015 to improve the situation as maintenance expenditure soaked up Rs 2,500 crore or 12% of the debt-laden airline’s operating expenditure.

An examination of AI’s functioning by the PAC is significant in the light of the government’s decision to disinvest 76% stake in the carrier.

A parliamentary committee on transport, tourism and culture headed by Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien had opposed the plan but the draft report was “rejected” by NDA MPs on the panel.

The ministry told the PAC that aircraft engines earlier sent abroad for overhaul and repair were being maintained domestically. “AI is also in constant dialogue with its suppliers to remove the credit hold in order to maintain a smooth supply of spares for sustained and uninterrupted operations,” it said.

The ministry also stated that aircraft acquired on lease were grounded for around two months at the time of redelivery as a number of conditions had to be satisfied.

With a total debt totalling Rs 48,876 crore (government-guaranteed Rs 25,388 crore and non-GOI guaranteed Rs 23,488 crore) AI’s cash situation remains perilous despite improvements in operating profits.

AI’s debt remains high as akey assumption or objective of the TAP — accumulation of Rs 5,000 crore by way of monetisation of properties — has not happened.


As against Rs 500 crore being monetised every year, AI has managed only Rs 725 crore till date and reason is “defective title deeds” and a bar by the ministry of urban development on sale of property given the airline on “perpetual lease”.

Though AI’s turnover has been increasing, and the TAP and financial reconstruction plan has helped improve on time performance, load factor, aircraft utilisation, hiving off non-core assets and gaining equity support, cash losses remain high despite a declining trend.

Aarti Solanki Eliminated from Big boss Marathi

The debut season of Bigg Boss Marathi had a remarkable first week. The show hosted by Mahesh Manjrekar witnessed its first elimination in its 'Weekend Cha Dav' special episode on Sunday, 22nd April.

Out of the four contestants, who were in danger zone, comedienne Aarti Solanki became the first contestant to get eliminated from Bigg Boss Marathi.


Aarti received the least number of votes as a result she had to leave the house.


After eliminations, Aarti shared her views about the show and all the contestants. She said, "I made some really good friends like Rutuja Dharmadhikar, Usha Nadkarni and Sai Lokur in the Bigg Boss Marathi house. But inspite of having good relations, some old friends did not support me, so I am really upset. Most of them just played the mind game."
She added, "I completed my task successfully, I helped in kitchen and entertained people, still I have to leave the house. This has hurt me a lot."



After Aarti's elimination, she was given a special right where she could save one contestant from the coming week's elimination. Aarti saved veteran actress Usha Nadkarni.



Aarti's elimination came as a shock for most of the contestants which left them teary-eyed. But some of the contestants still believe that Aarti will make a come back in the show as a wild card entry. 

After twin boys, Krushna Abhishek and wife Kashmera Shah to adopt a baby girl

Actor Krushna Abhishek and Kashmera Shah turned parents to twin boys via surrogacy last year. Ever since then, the proud parents have been beaming with joy and enjoying parenthood to the fullest.

Looks like the happy four are all set to add a new member to the family. Krushna and Kashmera are planning to adopt a baby girl.

"We have always wanted a girl," said Kashmera. "Both Krushna and I were really keen on adding a girl member to our family. When our little sons were born, we couldn't control our excitement and I was completely happy taking care of my three boys, my twins and Krushna, " laughs Kashmera.
After twin boys, Krushna Abhishek and wife Kashmera Shah to adopt a baby girl
Actor Krushna Abhishek and Kashmera Shah turned parents to twin boys via surrogacy last year. Ever since then, the proud parents have been beaming with joy and enjoying parenthood to the fullest.

Looks like the happy four are all set to add a new member to the family. Krushna and Kashmera are planning to adopt a baby girl.

"We have always wanted a girl," said Kashmera. "Both Krushna and I were really keen on adding a girl member to our family. When our little sons were born, we couldn't control our excitement and I was completely happy taking care of my three boys, my twins and Krushna, " laughs Kashmera.


Krushna Abhishek and Kashmira Shah welcome twins via surrogacy


"But honestly, you know having a little girl is always a bliss. We always wanted a girl and a boy. So, now with two little boys, we are keen on a baby girl, too. You know it's all together a different feeling while dealing with a baby girl of your own. Though that's definitely on the cards but not so soon, as currently all my time, energy and focus is divided amongst my little boys."

She further said, "Sometime soon, w e shall definitely bring a little girl to our family and you never know, I might just get pregnant. God's ways are always unpredictable. Actually not many know that we were going ahead with adoption, if surrogacy wouldn't have worked out for us. But thankfully, it did and I am the happiest mother today. My boys are the best thing that have happened to me," says the proud mother.

How to turn off read receipts in Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Apple iMessage

send messages each day in the form of texts, images, videos and audio notes. We communicate with others and want them to read out the messages like we do for theirs. But at times, things can be annoying if the read receipts in certain apps are turned on. This means that as soon as you read the sender’s message, he/she comes to know about it and may annoy you to give a feedback or a reply. To prevent those situations, apps have given users the ability to turn the feature off. So here is how you can do it on nearly all the major social networking websites/apps.


Facebook Messenger
This is slightly tricky. The app doesn’t really have a proper method to turn off ‘read receipt’ feature but a nifty trick to read messages without letting the sender know. All you need to do is to switch on the ‘Airplane mode’ on your handset and then open the app to read the text. Once read, close the app by swiping it out from the multi-window section so the apps are turned off completely. Now you can switch off the Airplane mode and the sender won’t get to know as the app won’t sync back till you open it again.

WhatsApp
This one’s pretty easy. You can simply open the app, head to the Settings page, go to accounts, privacy, and tap on Turn of Receipts. That’s it. This will however, will not let you see if the other person has read your message or not.
Apple iMessage
For Apple iMessage users, one can head to the main Settings app and tap on Messages and turn off the read receipts option. You cannot turn on/off this feature for individual Messages chats but for all at once.



Instagram
If you want to turn off the read receipts on Instagram, it is not actually possible. However, like Facebook Messenger you can trick others by switching on the Airplane Mode and looking at the messages, closing it completely from the multi-window section and turning off the Airplane Mode.



Twitter
On Twitter, this feature can be turned off for Direct Messages. You need to open the app, tap on your profile picture to open the account settings, under settings tap on Privacy followed by Direct Messages and Turn off Read Receipts. And voila!

TCS becomes first Indian company to breach $100 billion market capitalisation

Highlights

    TCS created history on Monday by becoming the first Indian company to reach the $100 billion market capitalisation (m-cap) mark
    At 10.30 am, the market value of the company stood at Rs 6,79,332.81 crore ( $102.6 billion)
NEW DELHI: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest IT outsourcing company created history on Monday by becoming the first Indian company to reach the $100 billion market capitalisation (m-cap) mark. The shares of the IT behemoth were trading 4 per cent above previous closing mark at Rs 3,545 on the BSE at 10.30 am, thus hitting an all-time high.

By definition, market capitalisation is the value of a company that is traded on the stock market, calculated by multiplying the total number of shares by the present share price.
At 10.30 am, the market value of the company stood at Rs 6,79,332.81 crore ( $102.6 billion).
Last week, when the markets closed on Friday, the company was at the verge of the milestone as the m-cap stood at slightly above $99 billion. TCS stock had surged more than 6 per cent on Friday.


The rise in the TCS scrip's fortune came after the it posted a rise of 4.5 per cent in its Q4 net profit. In the January-March quarter, the company reported a net profit of Rs 6,925 crore, up 4.57 per cent against Rs 6,622 crore posted in the same quarter last year. On top of that, the company announced a 1:1 bonus for its shareholders. This is the third bonus share offering by the company since its listing in 2004. TCS had allotted 1:1 bonus shares in 2006 and 2009.

Bollywood Movies Releasing in October-November and December 2017

Flipkart Big 10 Sale: Big discounts on Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, Motorola smartphones

Flipkart is celebrating its tenth anniversary with the Big 10 Sale. The company began the sale on May 14 and will continue giving out offers till May 18. Today, the e-commerce giant is giving out offers on smartphones, tablets, electronics and fashion; giving up to 90 per cent discount on select products.
Flipkart will also introduce buyback guarantee during the sale. Under the scheme, Flikart promises to buyback your smartphone at an assured price. This offers you a guaranteed value for your phone when you make your next smartphone purchase on Flipkart.

Here are the best deals according to us:
Apple
iPhone 7: Flipkart had promised that the Big 10 Sale will offer the iPhone 7 at the lowest price yet and it has stood to its promise. The iPhone 7 32 GB is available at a price of Rs 43,999 and the iPhone 7 128GB is available at Rs 50,999. The iPhone 7 256 GB is available at Rs 61,999. Over and above the discount, Flipkart is also giving up to Rs 20,000 off on exchange.
The offers extend even to its elder sibling, the iPhone 7 Plus. The 32 GB variant of the iPhone 7 Plus is available at Rs 54,999 while the 128GB variant is available at Rs 65,999. The iPhone 7 Plus 256GB is available at Rs 73,999, 20 per cent down from its launch price.

Lenovo
Lenovo Vibe K5 Note 64GB: Coming to the lower mid-segment, Lenovo is offering the Vibe K5 Note at Rs 11,999 with a discount of Rs 2,000 on the previous price tag. The device is also available with exhange discount of up to Rs 10,500.
Another offering from Lenovo, the Phab 2 and Phab 2 Plus are also available at a flat discount of Rs 3,000. The Phab 2 32 GB is available at Rs 7,999 and the Phab 2 Plus 32 GB is avialable at Rs 11,999.

Motorola
Moto G5 Plus: Though there is no discount on the selling price, Flipkart is offering a massive exchange offer of up to Rs 15,000.
Moto M: The device is available at a flat discount of Rs 2,000. The price is slashed from 17,999 to Rs 15,999 for 64GB variant.  The 32GB variant is available at Rs 13,999, Rs 2,000 lesser than the original price.

Samsung
Samsung Galaxy On Nxt: The device is available at a flat discount of Rs 3,000; down from Rs 17,999 to Rs 14,999. The offer is available on both Black and Gold variants.
Samsung Galaxy J5- 6 (2016 edition): The 16GB Black variant is available at a discount of Rs 3,300 at a price of Rs 9,990. However, the Gold variant of the same device is available at Rs 10,990. 

Google Pixel
Google Pixel XL smartphone with 4GB RAM and 32 GB ROM is available at Rs 53,999 at a discount of 19 per cent. Over and above the discount users can also get up to Rs 29000 off  with the exchange offer on this phone.

Gadget deals to look out for in Flipkart's Big 10 Sale shopping festival

New Delhi: After Amazon’s 4-day Great Indian Sale last week, it is now Flipkart’s shopping event called Big 10 Sale (it will run from 14-18 May). In addition to flat discounts, exchange offers, there is an instant discount offer of up to Rs1,500 on payments made with HDFC Bank credit cards and cashback of up to Rs300 on purchases made using the PhonePe mobile payment wallet. Most of the deals in electronics have been around smartphones so far. Here are some of the top deals you can consider.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Rs54,999 (earlier Rs72,000)
One of the top deals of the Big 10 Sale is the 23% flat discount on the 32GB storage variant of the iPhone 7 Plus. The deal is only valid on black, gold and silver colour options. There is an exchange offer on old smartphones and one can save up to Rs20,000 more on it. The iPhone 7 Plus still remains one of the best big-screen smartphones around. It has a 5.5-inch (1,920x1,080p) Retina display, is powered by Apple’s powerful A10 chipset, runs iOS 10.3.1 and has dual cameras
.
Google Pixel
Rs43,999 (earlier Rs57,000)
Flipkart is offering a flat discount of 22% on the 32GB storage variant of the Google Pixel smartphone. There is an exchange offer too, which can save buyers up to Rs29,000 more. The Pixel has a 5-inch (1,920x1,080p) display and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chip with 4GB RAM. Its key highlight is that it runs Android 7.1 and is likely to get all Android updates on time. It is available in black and silver colours.

Lenovo Phab 2
Rs7,999 (earlier Rs10,999)
If you are looking for a truly big-screen smartphone, the Phab 2 is the most affordable option right now. After a direct discount of 27%, this smartphone with a 6.4-inch (1,280x720p) display is selling at Rs7,999. You can also get up to Rs7,500 off on exchange. The Phab 2 comes in gunmetal grey and champagne gold colours and has a metal finish. It runs on MediaTek’s entry-level MT8735 chipset with 3GB RAM and a 4,050mAh battery. It has 32GB internal storage and supports microSD cards of up to 128GB.

Apple Watch (42 mm; Series 1)
Rs19,900 (Earlier Rs25,900)
There is a flat discount of 23% on the 42mm grey colour variant of the first-generation Apple Watch. Its case is made of aluminium and has a water-resistant coating over it. The 1.65-inch OLED Retina display supports touch. The watch can also track your activity, steps and heart rate. It runs Apple’s Watch OS and works with all Apple iPhones that came after iPhone 5 and run iOS 10 and above.

Vu (50) Ultra HD (4K) Smart LED TV
Rs48,999 (earlier Rs64,000)
Vu’s 49-inch Ultra HD LED TV has a 23% flat discount on it. Buyers can get up to Rs22,000 off on exchange with older TVs. This makes it one of the most affordable TVs with 4K resolution you can buy right now. It is also a smart TV so you can run 4K content directly through Amazon Prime, Netflix or YouTube. Its display has a brightness level of 450 Nits and refresh rate of 50 Hz.

Dell Inspiron 3467 Notebook
Rs29,990 (earlier Rs33,990)
There is a direct discount of 11% on the Dell Inspiron 3467. It runs Windows 10 and comes pre-loaded with one-year free subscription of MS Office Student 2016 edition and 15-month free subscription of McAfee anti-virus. It is powered by Intel’s 6th Gen Core i3 Processor with 4GB RAM and offers 1TB HDD. The 14-inch LED display has a resolution of 1,366x768p. The notebook has all the connectivity options such as LAN port, HDMI, USB 3.0 and optical drive.

Sony PlayStation 4 Slim
Rs29,990 (earlier Rs32,990)
The recently launched 1TB variant of the Sony PlayStation 4 Slim is selling at a discount of 9%. The gaming console comes with a wireless controller and a set of five games such as Uncharted series and The Last of Us Remastered. The PS4 Slim runs on the same AMD Jaguar octa-core processor and AMD Radeon Graphics used in the original PS4, but has lower power consumption.

Ransomware Virus Also Strikes India, Systems Of Andhra Pradesh Police Hit

New Delhi: The unprecedented global wave of cyberattacks, which have affected over 45,000 computers in at least 74 countries since Friday evening, have also spread to India. Over 100 systems of the Andhra Pradesh police have been affected by the virus, called ransomware.

Confirming the attack, Gulshan Rai, Director General of the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), said "We held an assessment meeting today and have found that 102 systems of Andhra Police have been infected with ransomware, particularly those using the Windows operating system."

Cyber attack crisis 'isn't over'

Mr Rai added that it is not just the Andhra Pradesh Police system that would be affected but "while our experts are trying to debug the hacked systems, we will only know the real magnitude of the damage once offices re-open on Monday and systems are turned on."

The ransomware virus infects computer files and then demands anywhere between $300- $600 bitcoins to unblock them. It has struck targets from Russia's banks to British hospitals and French carmaker Renault's factories.


The incident is being described as the biggest cyber ransom attack ever.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at the Helsinki-based cyber security company F-Secure, told news agency AFP that that Russia and India were hit particularly hard, in large part because the older Windows XP operating software is still widely used in the two countries.

The attacks apparently exploited a flaw exposed in documents leaked from the US National Security Agency (NSA).

Indian-Origin Doctor Warned Against Cyber Attack That Hit Central London Health Body

LONDON: An Indian-origin doctor based in London had warned against the cyber-hack of the UK's state-run National Health Service (NHS) just days before it crippled the country's network.

Dr Krishna Chinthapalli, a neurology registrar at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, had warned that an increasing number of hospitals could be shut down by ransomeware attacks in an article on the vulnerability of the NHS network in the 'British Medical Journal' on Wednesday, two days before the major cyber-hack.

He had highlighted an incident at Papworth Hospital near Cambridge where a nurse clicked on a malicious link and malware infected her computer and started to encrypt sensitive files. "Fortunately, the hospital's daily data backup had just been completed. The IT director admitted that they were very lucky, saying, 'Timing absolutely was everything for us'. We should be prepared: more hospitals will almost certainly be shut down by ransomware this year," Mr Chinthapalli wrote.


The revelation came as experts said they are working round-the-clock to restore the IT systems of NHS after they were hit by a large-scale cyber-hack by an international criminal gang that wreaked havoc around the world including India. Patients of the state-funded country-wide service are facing days of chaos as appointments and surgeries were cancelled after nearly 45 NHS organisations from London to Scotland were hit in the "ransomware" attack on Friday.

Ciaran Martin, who leads the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, said his team was doing everything in their power to get "vital services" back up and running. "We are very aware that attacks on critical services such as the NHS have a massive impact on individuals and their families, and we are doing everything in our power to help them restore these vital services," he said.

"It's important to understand that cyber attacks can be different from other forms of crime in that their sometimes highly technical and anonymous nature means it can take some time to understand how it worked, who was behind it and what the impact is," he told the BBC.

Critically ill patients are being diverted to unaffected hospitals as computer systems failed in Accidents & Emergency (A&E) units and doctors were locked out of test results, X-rays and patient records. NHS England said patients needing emergency treatment should go to Accidents & Emergency (A&E) or access emergency services as they normally would.

However, there have been some reports of ambulances being diverted from affected hospitals and individual NHS trusts have asked registered patients not to attend unless it is urgent. London's Barts Health NHS Trust, the largest trust in the UK, cancelled all outpatient appointments at its five hospitals today.

The NHS has not been affected in Wales and Northern Ireland. The assault is part of an attack that has affected organisations in about 100 countries, including the United States, India, China, Russia and Spain, disrupting power and telephone companies.

26 Pakistanis go missing in Mumbai, police launch manhunt

Police in Mumbai are on high alert, scouring the city for 26 Pakistani nationals, who have gone missing for the past two to three weeks. Among them is a man who stayed in Juhu for nearly 10 years and ran a shop in the area.
Police said none of them provided accurate details about where they were staying or who they had come to meet while filling up the C-forms, a document all Pakistanis entering India have to fill.
This came to light when security agencies tried to trace them, said official sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is leading the manhunt, which was triggered by alerts from intelligence agencies about threats emanating from moles in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence.
The search for the 26 people intensified when security agencies could not trace them based on information provided in the C-forms. The C-form has the address of the person or hotel in India where a Pakistani national is staying, the duration of the stay and a copy of the passport, visa and residential permit.
The Maharashtra ATS has sent teams to all hotels and lodging houses in Mumbai to look for them.
The alert centres around reports that the Indian Mujahideen (IM) cadre, believed to be from Bhatkal in Karnataka, had conducted reconnaissance in the city in the past few months.
Although the IM is no more the force it once was, its founders Riyaz Shahbandri alias Riyaz Bhatkal and his elder brother Iqbal are still in Pakistan and reportedly under the protection of the ISI.
Besides, two other Bhatkal natives, Sultan and Shafi Armar, are suspected to have been the Islamic State’s main recruiters in India. The two are believed to have been killed in Syria a few months ago.