
New Delhi: "Worried" that children can be exploited through social networking sites, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Facebook and Google to submit within four weeks suggestions on safety measures for online usage of such sites by minors in India. A bench of justices BD Ahmed and Vibhu Bakhru voiced concern about Indian children entering into agreement with Facebook and other social networking sites and then being lured knowingly and unknowing into illegality by adults.
"What we are worried about is children who have been part of the social network and some adults misleading them and taking advantage. We are also concern about the use of their data by the adults for their advantage," it said. "The counsel for Facebook Inc and Google Inc will file suggestions regarding the online media sited used by the minors in India and how their rights were protected within four weeks," the bench said.
The court's direction came after counsel for Facebook Inc submitted that the site operated under the US law Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as per which a child below 13 is not allowed to open an account. To this, the bench said in the US the rights of the children are protected by COPPA but what about the children in India.
"What will the Facebook do if a child is exploited online? Like American children, how do you protect the rights of Indian children," the court asked and fixed July 16 as the next date

08:34 PM, May 22, 2013

Washington: The US has pledged to collaborate with India on developing global approach to combat increasing terror threats and asked international community to take effective steps to eliminate sanctuaries and infrastructure that support terrorism. After talks between visiting Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, a joint communique said the two countries also agreed to enhance bilateral co-operation to combat terror financing and currency...

11:15 AM, May 22, 2013

Washington: Twitter is booming as a social media destination for teenagers who complain about too many adults and too much drama on Facebook, according to a new study published Tuesday about online behaviour. It said teens are sharing more personal information about themselves even as they try to protect their online reputations. Teens told researchers there were too many adults on Facebook and too much sharing of teenage angst and...

10:14 AM, May 22, 2013

Washington: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Tuesday met with US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in the United States. Shinde, who is in the US, is likely to press for access to Mumbai terror attacks suspect David Headley, his wife, his girlfriend and Tahawwur Rana. After talks between Shinde and Janet, a joint communique said the two countries also agreed to enhance bilateral co-operation to combat terror financing...

07:59 AM, May 22, 2013

Washington: The United States and India on Tuesday asked the international community to take effective steps towards eliminating sanctuaries and infrastructure that support terrorism. After talks between visiting Indian Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, a joint communique said the two countries also agreed to enhance bilateral co-operation to combat terror financing and currency counterfeiting. The communique, issued after Napolitano and Shinde co-chaired...

12:30 AM, May 22, 2013

DK Shivakumar, one of the most powerful Vokkaliga leaders and a six-time MLA was in the race for the Chief Minister's post till last week. ...

09:50 PM, May 20, 2013

San Francisco: Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its "Glass" wearable computer during this week's developer conference. Missing from the agenda, however, was a session on etiquette when using the recording-capable gadget, which some attendees faithfully wore everywhere - including to the crowded bathrooms. Google Glass, a cross between a mobile computer and eyeglasses that can both record video and surf the Internet, is now available...

11:08 AM, May 19, 2013

New Delhi: Taking a cue from the continued downward surprises in inflation and sluggish growth indicators, the Reserve Bank of India is likely to go for further monetary easing in its June 17 policy meet, global investment banking majors have said. The headline wholesale inflation fell to 41-month low in April (4.89 per cent), dropping within the central bank's comfort zone of less than 5 per cent and fuelling market...

10:40 AM, May 19, 2013

London: The Financial Times' website and Twitter feeds were hacked on Friday, renewing questions about whether the popular social media service has done enough to tighten security as cyber-attacks on the news media intensify. The Syrian Electronic Army, an online group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was behind the incident which followed a phishing attack on the company's email accounts, FT reported on its website. The attack is the...

12:46 PM, May 18, 2013

Bangalore: The four-day old Siddaramaiah ministry in Karnataka will be expanded on Saturday with the induction of 29 ministers, an exercise from which the "tainted" would be kept out. Siddaramaiah, who was sworn in as the Chief Minister on May 13 marking return of Congress to power after a seven-year hiatus, however, ruled out induction of any Deputy Chief Minister. Twenty-nine ministers will be sworn in at Raj Bhavan, the...

06:04 PM, May 17, 2013

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said no person would be arrested under Section 66A of the IT Act for posting objectionable comments on social networking websites without prior approval from an officer not below the rank of inspector general of police. A vacation bench of Justice BS Chauhan and Justice Dipak Misra passed the order after hearing a plea by Shreya Singhal, who had petitioned the court against...

04:20 AM, May 17, 2013

Raipur: Chhattisgarh government has decided to run a monorail in Raipur to reduce traffic congestion and increase share of public transport in the urban transport network. "The state government has planned a comprehensive network of monorail at Raipur which mostly has narrow roads and requires a quick solution for its mounting traffic problems," an official in Raipur said on Thursday. "In this connection, Chief Secretary Sunil Kumar chaired a meeting...

12:50 AM, May 17, 2013

New Delhi: Some 20 to 25 Ministers are likely to be inducted in the Siddharamiah Ministry in Karnataka on Saturday, Congress sources said on Thursday night. The green signal has been given to the Chief Minister to expand his Ministry and all of them are likely to take oath on Saturday, the sources said. The sources, however, expressed doubt whether any defeated leader will be inducted in the Ministry. KPCC...

11:10 PM, May 16, 2013

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod for the issue of an ordinance to pave the way for an elected body of the apex medical regulator. The term of the Medical Council of India's Board of Governors has ended, rendering the apex medical regulator headless. Sources said the Cabinet gave its approval to the note for the draft ordinance in this regard which is likely to be...

09:40 PM, May 16, 2013

San Francisco: Google is digging deeper into its technology toolkit to turn its social networking service into a more formidable threat to Facebook, sprucing up its photo features at a time when sharing snapshots online and on mobile gadgets is growing more popular. Many of the 41 new features being added to Google Plus beginning Wednesday will draw upon the computing power, machine learning, algorithms, semantics analysis and other innovations...

02:10 PM, May 16, 2013

New Delhi: Newly sworn-in Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be in Delhi on Wednesday and he is scheduled to meet UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Siddaramaiah is expected to hold discussions for the expansion of the state Cabinet. Karnataka Congress chief G Parameshwara will also accompany the state Chief Minister. A decision on Cabinet ministers is expected in the next two days. It's no secret that intense lobbying is on in...

09:59 AM, May 15, 2013

New Delhi: The national men hockey team's core probables will start their training camp at the Netaji Subhas Southern Centre (NSSC), Bangalore on Thursday to prepare for the FIH World League Round 3 (semi-final) to be held at Rotterdam, Netherlands from June 13 to 23. The camp will be on till June 4. Indian men's team performed well at the recently-concluded preparatory tour to The Netherlands, where it had defeated...

04:59 PM, May 14, 2013

Islamabad: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has emerged the single largest party in Pakistan's landmark general elections by bagging 122 of the 272 parliamentary seats that went to the polls on May 11, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday. The PML-N's two closest rivals the Pakistan People's Party and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf lagged far behind with 31 and 26 seats, respectively. Earlier, trends emerging from the counting of votes had shown...

12:36 PM, May 14, 2013

New Delhi: Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, who was due to complete his two-year term in June, got one-year extension. Seth, a 1974 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, has assumed the charge of Cabinet Secretary on June 14, 2011. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the extension of tenure of Seth, the country's top bureaucrat, by one year beyond June 13, 2013, a press...

09:12 AM, May 14, 2013

Karachi: An elections observer group in Pakistan has confirmed reports of rigging at some polling stations in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi. The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has provided statistics supporting reports of rigging at several Karachi polling stations where voter turnout was abnormally high. Since the elections were held on Saturday, the media and many political parties, including Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf and Jamaat-e-Islaami, have alleged rigging...

12:49 AM, May 14, 2013