It's true railway ares have remained static over several years because of the muddled thinking of the previous regimes controlling the railway ministry. There has been an urgent need to hike revenue to take care of increasing costs and fund new projects. It's also unreasonable not to expect fares for other forms of commute (like the auto-rickshaw ) to rise over time, again to take care of rising input costs (like fuel). But there must be something in this for commuters as well. And it's not only railways we are talking about. Hiked auto-rickshaw and taxi fares, for instance, have not translated into fewer refusals. This is where it hurts. For the hike to be acceptable, hiked fare

   NEW DELHI: Even through the trauma of a brutal gang-rape and murderous assault,Nirbhaya remembered the names of her rapists. As she lay in great agony in hospital, unable to speak, the 23-year-old braveheart correctly wrote down the names of four of the assaulters — Ram Singh, Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay.

NEW DELHI: At a time when Apple is ramping up its India operations, the company's main competitor in smartphone and tablet industry, Google, is missing in action. In the last two years, Google has launched six Nexus smartphones and tablets with its hardware partners but only one such device has made its way to India.

Nexus devices, which run unmodified version of Google's mobile operating software, are considered best in their class and are primary competitors for iPhones and iPads. "If I have to buy an Android smartphone now, I will go for Nexus 4. At its price ($299 for basic model) it is an incredible value for money. But even 50 days after it was made availabl

NEW DELHI: Brace for higher fuel bills as the government frontloads fiscal reforms and trying to build consensus for raising diesel, cooking gas and kerosene prices—fuels it controls—to reduce subsidy bill and manage deficit.

As first reported by TOI on January 5, the oil ministry has proposed several options for all the three fuels. These have been drawn up in response to a report by a panel under former bureaucrat Vijay Kelkar, tasked by the finance ministry to suggest ways for fiscal consolidation. The options essentially are about raising prices to bring them on a par with current market rate.

For diesel, the options are to raise the price by Rs

BHOPAL: Like lambs sent to the wolves, an NGO entrusted with the welfare of minor girls — many of them disabled and mentally weak — had been sending them for months to the boys' hostel next door in the name of "punishment".

The shocking fact, which has just come to light, has startled and enraged people across Madhya Pradesh where the Sehore-based NGO, Bright Star Social Society, had been running the two hostels for boys and girls.

Girls terrorized

In raids carried out on Tuesday at the Mandi area of Sehore, which neighbours Bhopal, a team from the state commission for protection of child rights (SCPCR) found that the gir

Microsoft previously confirmed its plans to retire its Windows Live Messenger service in favor of Skype, but the company now says this will take place on March 15th. In an email to Messenger users this week, Microsoft says the service will retire globally except for mainland China where it will continue to be made available. Microsoft urges existing users to move to Skype for instant messages and video chats where the company has been improving its Windows support recently. The Windows Live Messenger retirement means over 100 million Messenger users will move to Skype as part of the discontinuation. Microsoft has released and updated its Skype for Windows 8 client and also made a Windows P

Union Railways minister on Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday announced the fare hike and said there will not be any hike at the time of Union Budget. The minister also said Railways department has increased the fare to maintain safety and cleanliness. "Railways will hike passenger fares from January 21," says Bansal
 
Highlights of fare hike:

- Second class ordinary suburban fares up by 2 paise per km

- Second class ordinary non-suburban fares up by 2 paise per km

- Second class mail express - 4paise/km

- Sleeper class - 6 paise

- AC chair car - 10 paise per km

- AC 3 tier - 1

India on Wednesday summoned the Pakistan high commissioner to convey a "strong protest" over the Pakistani Army action in which two Indian soldiers were killed and their bodies subjected to "barbaric and inhuman mutilation" in Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan high commissioner Salman Bashir was summoned by foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai, who made it clear that these incidents were "unacceptable" and that Pakistan has to uphold the sanctity of the Line of Control, according to official sources.
During the 30-minute meeting, Bashir was told by Mathai that regular Pakistani soldiers had crossed the LoC at Mendhar sector and engaged with Indian troops who

The eighth tropical cyclone to form during the Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season formed from low pressure System 98S and became Tropical Cyclone Narelle. NASA's TRMM satellite passed over System 98S and saw the hallmark "hot towers" that indicated the storm would soon likely intensify into Tropical Storm Narelle.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite passed over System 98S on Jan. 7 at 0901 UTC (4:01 a.m. EST/U.S.) hours before it intensified into Tropical Storm Narelle.

TRMM's Precipitation Radar instrument captured estimates of rainfall occurring in the storm. TRMM noticed two bands of strong thunderstorms west an

The government is planning to hike the price of subsidised LPG cylinders — capped at six a year — by Rs. 130 during January-March 2013. It also plans to hike diesel prices by Rs. 1.5 a litre every month, which will take the hike to Rs. 4.5 a litre during the period. On kerosene, the proposal is that the prices be either increased by 35 paise a litre per month or Rs. 1 a litre per quarter till March 2015. The proposal, a copy of which is available with HT, is being considered by the government and may be taken to the cabinet for a final decision by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior UPA ministers. For subsidised LPG, it is proposed that the thre

NEW DELHI: While the cost of private education has always been prohibitive, education in government-run institutions has also increased sharply in the last one month with the HRD ministry taking the decision to hike under-graduate fees in IITs by 80%.

Earlier, the fees for Kendriya Vidyalaya students increased three-fold from Rs 4,500 to Rs 12,000 annually. The KV fee hike impacts 11 lakh students in 1,090 schools. The last fee hike in both cases took place in 2008-09, and has been long overdue.

The decision to hike fees for undergraduate courses from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000 annually was taken on Monday at the meeting of the IIT Council. In the case of IIT, the s

NEW DELHI: An Indian soldier was beheaded and another killed by Pakistani troops after they crossed over into Indian territory in the Mendhar sector of Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday, in a grim reminder of the brutality perpetrated during the 1999 Kargil conflict which can make peace making even more difficult.

The "border action team" of the Pakistani Army took advantage of the thick fog in the thickly-forested mountainous region to sneak 500 to 600 metres across the Line of Control (loC) before they were driven back after a fierce gun-battle and even close-quarter combat with Indian troops that went on for over 30 minutes shortly before noon on Tuesday.

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes have probed the stormy atmosphere of a brown dwarf, creating the most detailed "weather map" yet for this class of cool, star-like orbs. The forecast shows wind-driven, planet-sized clouds enshrouding these strange worlds.

Brown dwarfs form out of condensing gas, as stars do, but lack the mass to fuse hydrogen atoms and produce energy. Instead, these objects, which some call failed stars, are more similar to gas planets with their complex, varied atmospheres. The new research is a stepping stone toward a better understanding not only of brown dwarfs, but also of the atmospheres of planets beyond our sol

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Monday announced that more than 40 billion "apps" have been downloaded for its beloved gadgets, with the California company paying out billions of dollars to developers.

Nearly half of those downloads for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices were done last year, with the App Store seeing a record-setting December in which two billion copies of mini-programmes were snatched up.

"It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community," said Apple senior vice president of internet software and services Eddy Cue.

There are more than 500 million active accounts at the App Store, which is stocked wit

LONDON: Researchers have developed a revolutionary tablet screen as thin as a sheet of paper that can be twisted and dropped without damage - and it could replace your laptop within five years.

Developed by Queen's University in Canada in collaboration with Plastic Logic and Intel Labs, it could lead to revolutionary new gadgets that are virtually unbreakable - and as thin as a piece of paper.

The PaperTab is fully interactive with a flexible, high-resolution 10.7-inch plastic display developed by Plastic Logic, a flexible touchscreen, and powered by the second generation Intel CoreTM i5 Processor, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

"Plas

MUMBAI: Where does one get job-ready entry-level talent? That's a question that has been bothering companies across industries now. The issue assumes significance as companies are spending more time on training entry-level talent to make them job ready. At times, even after three-six months of training, skill gaps have been noted. In a country where graduates are passing out in greater numbers each year, companies say this has nothing to do with the numbers , but skill-sets .

While this has been more pronounced in sectors like IT, specialized sectors such as pharmaceuticals have also started facing a dearth of talent even as they chalk out their expansion plans. The situat

Jharkhand Cabinet on Tuesday decided to recommend dissolution of the state assembly to prevent any "horse trading-like situation", a day after the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha withdrew its support to the BJP-led government. "Seven ministers (of the coalition government) were present during the Cabinet meeting, and it has decided to recommend dissolution of the state assembly," chief minister Arjun Munda said in Ranchi. He said the decision was taken as no national party had openly come forward to provide an alternative government in the wake of the JMM’s announcement to pull out of the government. "We have sought time from Governor Syed Ahmed at 11.30 am t

LONDON: Private space entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal, Elon Musk is planning to build a small city on Mars for 80,000 space explorers - but only vegetarians are invited!

Musk, whose Falcon 9 rocket delivers Nasa cargo to the International Space Station, wants to construct a futuristic settlement on the red planet. The new civilization would run off sustainable technology and cater only to vegetarians, The Sun reported.

Speaking to the Royal Aeronautical Society, Musk, 41, revealed he had been waiting for 10 years to share his vision.

"Then it seemed ridiculous because there were no rockets, no infrastructure and Nasa was the

Teenage Engineering has built a reputation for uncompromising hardware design, unconventional products, and a sense of simplicity and fun in everything they do — and its new OD-11 Cloud Speaker looks like it will do all of this in spades when it debuts this coming summer. Anders Halvarsson and David Möllerstedt from Teenage Engineering just gave us an exclusive early look at the hardware they'll be showing off at CES this week, and told us all about how the company's thoughts on the home audio experience shaped this unique entry into the high-end home audio market. The OD-11 has a host of highlight features — up to four speakers can be connected wirelessly, music c

MUMBAI: Where does one get job-ready entry-level talent? That's a question that has been bothering companies across industries now. The issue assumes significance as companies are spending more time on training entry-level talent to make them job ready. At times, even after three-six months of training, skill gaps have been noted. In a country where graduates are passing out in greater numbers each year, companies say this has nothing to do with the numbers, but skill-sets.
While this has been more pronounced in sectors like IT, specialized sectors such as pharmaceuticals have also started facing a dearth of talent even as they chalk out their expansion plans. The situation has sp