Google Maps May Need a License, IRCTC Data Leak, and More News This Week

It's been an interesting week in tech news, with both scientific development and consumer tech ticking along nicely.

There have been some major developments from India, but one of the most important bits of news that we came across was that the government might be working on a law that could would make it mandatory for Google Maps to get a license in India. According to a draft bill, the Ministry of Home Affairs is planning a law where you need a government license to acquire and to disseminate map data; and there are huge fines if this is not the case. There are also huge fines for "incorrect" depictions of India's borders. While the idea of a law around geospatial information makes sense, the specifics of the draft could be worrying.

The next piece of news from India is also really big - the Mumbai police warned that data had been hacked from the rail ticket booking site IRCTC, which is the biggest e-commerce destination in the country. It later turned out that this was not the case, but there was still serious cause for concern as officials admitted customer data might have been sold, and an enquiry is being conducted. IRCTC has three crore active and registered users, so the information of these users and their cards could be at risk, though officials assured all sensitive information is encrypted before it's stored.

Another huge piece of news for Indian tech enthusiasts was the announcement of carrier billing for Google Play, launched on Idea. This allows people to pay for apps without a credit or debit card - instead, the money is deducted from your prepaid balance, or added to your postpaid bill. Gadgets 360 first reported this on Tuesday, but one development we learned on Thursday was that Idea is charging a convenience fee for all transactions. This could be a spanner in the works - if it's cheaper to use a debit card, and people are anyway not used to paying for apps, then this mode of payment might not catch on. Idea did not respond to a request for comment on the issue.

Continuing the theme of big stories, Reliance Jio has started to roll out its 4G services to the public. It's not the open market yet, but the company has launched an employee referral program through which Jio employees can invite up to 10 people to join the network. These users will get 10GB free voice and data for three months, and also get access to "premium applications" for live TV, video on demand, news, and cloud storage.

Possibly the most exciting tech news right now is that SpaceX successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform early on Friday. The rocket went into space, came down from a height of around 25,000 miles, and then landed on a floating platform. It's an incredible achievement with far reaching possibilities, though of course, that's all going to be off in the future.

In Brazil, there were some developments around the use of WhatsApp. On Tuesday, a judge ordered carriers to block WhatsApp for 72 hours, a move that affected 100 million users. This was struck down the next day by another judge, but it shows how vulnerable the services that we all rely on actually are.

Meanwhile, one of the more humorous developments took place recently, when the Los Angeles Police Department revealed that it cracked an iPhone 5s, at the same time the FBI was struggling with an iPhone 5c. Apple can't be happy about this news, but it's probably even more upset by the fact that a Chinese court rejected its trademark over the iPhone name. The court declared that a leathermaker can use the iPhone name for its handbags and phone cases. Meanwhile, long-time HTC fans might be saddened (if unsurprised) as the company continues to struggle. The company has seen dismal sales of its new flagship in China, and it's very promising VR division just become a new company.

Source: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/

Canada wildfire: Images show Fort McMurray devastation

Pictures obtained by the BBC show large parts of the Canadian city of Fort McMurray in ruins following a devastating wildfire.

The exact scale of the damage is difficult to assess, as access to the city is restricted.

Officials have given few details other than to report that 1,600 homes and other buildings have been destroyed.

However, people who have seen the damage say whole neighbourhoods have been wiped out.

One picture shows the ruins of many houses, with a car untouched by fire. In another, a destroyed church is surrounded by rubble.

Some parts of the city, in the province of Alberta, have been defended resolutely and are still standing.

The city's airport suffered only minor damage despite being licked by flame and engulfed by smoke.

Only the "Herculean" efforts of fire fighters saved the facility, says Scott Long of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

• 'It doesn't seem real': The residents who fled their homes
• How 'perfect storm' boosted Alberta fire
• The images of whole neighbourhoods in ruins are shocking but they will not surprise the people of Fort McMurray who fled knowing that their city was in danger of being consumed by fire.
  The fire in the province of Alberta covers 850 sq km (328.2 sq miles), and the entire city of almost 90,000 people was evacuated three days ago.
  Most fled south but some of those who headed north have been airlifted to safety.
  A police-escorted convoy of 1,500 vehicles was passing through the city along the only safe route to Edmonton and Calgary to the south, but police have told the BBC it has has been suspended because of flames up to 200 feet high on both sides of the road.
  It will take approximately four days for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to escort all evacuees from sites north of Fort McMurray, authorities said.
  For nearby communities though the danger has not receded.
  Officials are predicting that it will be "weeks and weeks" before the fire is completely out. The region has not had significant rain in two months.

The skies above the empty and smouldering city are full of strange shapes.

There are clouds that billow like bright white cauliflowers, boiling rapidly as they change by the second.

There are clouds illuminated by vertical streaks of a dull red from the fires on the ground.

And there are giant clouds stretching as far as the eye can take in with a single glance, great walls of smoke blown sideways by the strong winds.

The helicopters - almost 150 of them, we are told - look puny in the face of such a dramatic display of nature's power, but occasionally they do seem to be making progress in slowing the fire's march across the plains.

Ultimately though, says Bill Stewart, co-director of the University of California's Center for Fire Research and Outreach, only nature can stop it entirely. Source: BBC News

Elections: Labour's Sadiq Khan promises a 'better' London

Labour's Sadiq Khan has vowed to do all in his power to make London "better", as he was sworn in as the new mayor.

Referring to his council estate roots, Mr Khan, the city's first Muslim mayor, said he wanted all Londoners to have the same opportunities he has had.

It comes as Defence Secretary Michael Fallon defended Conservative Zac Goldsmith's campaign, describing it as the "rough and tumble" of politics.

The much-criticised campaign questioned Mr Khan's alleged links to extremists.

Mr Khan beat Mr Goldsmith, by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614, giving him a larger personal mandate than either of his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone.

He has announced he will step down as MP for Tooting, meaning a by-election will be held to elect a new representative in Parliament.

• Election results: Latest updates
• Key points: At-a-glance summary
• Live: Bristol mayor election result
• Hamilton bid to lead UKIP in assembly
• PCC to investigate Hillsborough 'spin'

The former Labour minister's victory in London ends eight years of Conservative control of City Hall.

It has also given a boost to Labour after its poor performance in Scotland's election which saw it slump to third place behind the Conservatives.

Following on from its London success, Labour has also won Bristol's mayoral contest, with candidate Marvin Rees beating the incumbent, independent George Ferguson, by a comfortable margin.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed Mr Rees' victory, saying in a tweet: "Another Labour mayor who will stand up for their city!"

But Mr Corbyn was absent from Mr Khan's swearing-in ceremony earlier on Saturday.

Mr Khan - who nominated but did not vote for Mr Corbyn in the Labour leadership contest - said he was "not sure" why, adding: "We'll have to find out what he was doing."

Donald Trump the `presumptive` White House nominee as Cruz crashes out

Donald Trump looked all-but-certain of carrying the Republican Party colors in the 2016 presidential election after the billionaire political novice sent his only serious challenger Ted Cruz crashing out of the race.

Addressing jubilant supporters at Trump Tower in New York after romping to his seventh straight state-wide victory in the Indiana primary, the real estate mogul promised them: "We`re going to win in November, and we`re going to win big, and it`s going to be America first."

Tuesday`s contest in the midwestern state was seen as a final firewall by the "stop Trump" movement seeking to prevent him from locking in the party nomination.

But as the race was called overwhelmingly in Trump`s favor, Cruz conceded to supporters in Indianapolis that he no longer had a viable path forwards.

"We left it all on the field in Indiana," Cruz said. "We gave it everything we`ve got, but the voters chose another path."

"And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign."

It was a stunning denouement for the arch-conservative Texas senator who had insisted he would press on to the final day of the Republican race.

His departure leaves the low-polling Ohio Governor John Kasich as Trump`s only challenger for the nomination -- making it a virtual certainty that he will go head to head in a general election matchup with the likely Democratic flagbearer Hillary Clinton.

The top echelon of the Republican establishment said as much minutes after Cruz capitulated, with Republican Party chief Reince Priebus declaring Trump the "presumptive" nominee.

"Donald Trump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton," Priebus said, in an extraordinary move to embrace a candidate the party establishment fought tooth and nail to stop.

Clinton meanwhile suffered an upset in Indiana as her Democratic rival Bernie Sanders mounted a come-from-behind victory, denying the former secretary of state a feather in her cap as she seeks their party`s presidential nomination.

Sanders, a self-declared democratic socialist, beat Clinton by 53.2 percent to 46.8 percent with about three quarters of precincts reporting -- although Clinton remained well ahead in the overall delegate battle for the nomination.Cruz had been hoping to use the midwestern state to block Trump from receiving the 1,237 delegates needed to secure the nomination ahead of the Republican convention in Cleveland in July.

But the bombastic real estate mogul -- who has thus far defied all political logic to lead the Republican race -- swept the arch-conservative senator aside.

Trump was leading Cruz by about 53 percent to 37 percent, with Kasich languished at less than eight percent.

"Lyin` Ted Cruz consistently said that he will, and must, win Indiana. If he doesn`t he should drop out of the race-stop wasting time & money," Trump taunted in a tweet.

With 1,002 delegates to his name, Trump was already in favorable position to reach the magic number needed to avoid a contested party convention. With Cruz out of the race, crossing the threshold is a foregone conclusion for Trump.

Even before the Indiana results, Trump and Clinton had pivoted toward one another.

"I`m really focused on moving into the general election," Clinton said confidently Tuesday in West Virginia.

"That`s where we have to be because we are going to have a tough campaign against a candidate who`ll literally say or do anything," she said of Trump. "We`re going to take him on at every turn."

Cruz`s exit comes after the primary battle took a nasty turn Tuesday when Trump cited a tabloid report linking Cruz`s father Rafael to John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

Trump raised the recent National Enquirer story in his interview with Fox News.

"This is just kooky," an irate Cruz shot back while stumping in Evansville, Indiana, branding Trump a "pathological liar."

"The man is utterly amoral," said Cruz, adding that "we are staring at the abyss" if Trump wins the White House. Source: http://zeenews.india.com

Will shoot policemen if they continue to harass BJP workers, warns BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj

BJP's loudmouth MP from Unnao Sakshi Maharaj, who has courted several controversies in past, has now threatened to shoot cops if they continue to harass his supporters and party workers.

According to Aaj Tak, Sakshi Maharaj has said that if UP policemen continued to threaten his party workers in Mainpuri they will be gunned down.

The controversial BJP MP issued the statement a day after visiting the house of Maidan Singh, BJP vice president of the Mainpuri district, who is being allegedly harassed by the local policemen.

Addressing his supporters, Sakshi Maharaj accused the Samajawadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav of failing to control the rising lawlessness in Uttar Pradesh and encouraging anti-social elements.

The Unnao MP said the local policemen have misbehaved with Maidan Singh's two daughters and entered his house without lady constables. Sorce:http://zeenews.india.com

Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justic KM Joseph, who quashed President's rule, transferred

The Uttarakhand High Court 's Chief Justice KM Joseph , who presided over the bench which quashed President's rule in the state, has been transferred to the Anhdra Pradesh High Court.

Dilip B Bhosale, the acting Chief Justice of the Hyderabad High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

The 57-year-old Joseph took charge of the Uttarakhand High Court in 2014. He passed out of the Government Law College in Ernakulam and enrolled himself as an advocate in Delhi in 1982. He practised in Kerala as well.

Last month, a bench of Uttarakhand High Court, presided over by Joseph, had quashed the Centre's decision to impose President's rule in the state.

Uttarakhand crisis: SC grants Centre time till May 6 to clear stand on holding floor test


Uttarakhand crisis: SC grants Centre time till May 6 to clear stand on holding floor test

In his judgement, which admonished the NDA government, Justice Joseph has said that the Centre should act 'impartial'.

However, the ruling was stayed by the Supreme Court. Source: http://zeenews.india.com

Halliburton, Baker Hughes to scrap controversial merger

Halliburton Co. HAL, +0.66%   and Baker Hughes Inc. BHI, +1.04%   called off their merger, once valued at nearly $35 billion, which encountered opposition on several continents from regulators who claimed that it would hurt competition in the oil-field services business.

The deal to combine the world’s second- and third-largest oil-field services firms after Schlumberger Ltd. SLB, +0.70%   appeared troubled since April 6, when the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block it. The merger also had encountered opposition from regulators in Europe.