It was caged and only hovered for about a minute, but it flew: a new flying car.

Made by NEC Corp, the vehicle is essentially a large drone with four propellers that’s capable of carrying people. The Japanese electronics maker demonstrated the machine, flying without a passenger, at a Tokyo suburb on Monday. Powered by a battery, it rose briefly to about 3 meters (10 ft) above the ground before settling down again.

Behind the somewhat underwhelming, drama-free demonstration lies a bigger ambition: Japan’s government wants the country to become a leader in flying cars after missing out on advancements in technology such as electric cars and ride-hailing services. The country’s technological roadmap calls for shipping goods by flying cars by around 2023 and letting people ride in flying cars in cities by the 2030s.

“Japan is a densely populated country and that means flying cars could greatly alleviate the burden on road traffic,” said Kouji Okada, a leader of the project at NEC. “We are positioning ourselves as an enabler for air mobility, providing location data and building communications infrastructure for flying cars.” Read Complete Article

Italian motorcycle maker Benelli had earlier introduced the Benelli TRK 502 and 502X bikes in February 2019. The company revamped its Indian operations in partnership with the Mahavir Group. The Benelli TRK 502 range of motorcycles was the first to come from their stable.

The Leoncino 500 is powered by the same engine as thoat in the TRK 502 and 502X bikes. The Benelli Leoncino 500 is powered by a 499.6cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, twin-cylinder motor that develops 47.6hp at 8,500rpm and 45Nm of torque at 5,000rpm.

While the Leoncino has been shown in three variants – the standard, Trail and Sport – India is initially only expected to get the standard variant. However, Benelli India has said that it will consider bringing the Trail variant to the country based on the feedback from the market. Read Complete Article

With speculation rife that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -led central government could abolish or try to amend Article 35A and article 370, which give a special status to Jammu & Kashmir, there is a lot of confusion as to what these two statutes entail. Political parties on either side of the debate have voiced their opinion, with some calling tinkering with Article 35A “like setting powder keg on fire”, while others have supported the idea calling it a move to unify of the country.

What is Article 35A?

This provision of the Constitution allows the Jammu & Kashmir state Assembly to define who is and is not a “permanent resident” of the state. To further break it down, this provision of the Constitution gives the legislators from Jammu & Kashmir the exclusive power to determine as to which people in or outside the state will have special rights and privileges granted by the state.

The provision, inserted through a special Presidential order in 1954, also gives the state Assembly powers to determine the recipients of state grants, the right to purchase land and property in the state, as well as settling permanently in the region. Other than this, the legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir can use the provision to restrict rights of any person not classified under “permanent resident” of the state. Read Complete Article

Actor Anushka Sharma on Thursday took to Twitter to condemn the barbaric gang-rape and beheading of a 3-year-old girl in Jamshedpur.

The ‘PK’ actor who is known for championing women’s causes, said that exemplary punishment should be meted out to the perpetrators to stop others from committing similar crimes.

“A 3 year old girl who was sleeping besides her mother at a railway station was kidnapped, gangraped and beheaded in Jamshedpur. This is so inhuman and vile, it is literally making me shake in anger. Absolutely horrifying,” the actor wrote in a series of tweets posted on the micro-blogging site.

In another tweet she expressed that the rapist should be punished so severely that no other person ever dares to commit such a crime.

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Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) successfully conducted the second Earth-bound orbit raising maneuver for the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft.

Isro officials said that second maneuver has been performed successfully on Friday at 0108 hours (IST) as planned, using the onboard propulsion system for a firing duration of 883 seconds. The orbit achieved was 251 x 54829 km. All spacecraft parameters were normal.

The third orbit raising maneuver is scheduled on July 29, 2019, between 1430–1530 hours (IST).

India’s second mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-2, is expected to reach the Moon on August 20, 2019.

The first earth-bound orbit raising maneuver for Chandrayaan-2 was performed successfully on July 24, 2019, at 1452 hours (IST) as planned. Read Complete Article

After Netflix‘s hit anthology film ‘Lust Stories’, ace filmmakers Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Anurag Kashyap are teaming up for the upcoming project ‘Ghost Stories’.

Netflix India made the announcement on Instagram by sharing a series of pictures featuring all the four directors.

“They made you scream with Lust Stories. Now they’re really going to make you scream with Ghost Stories, coming soon, only on Netflix,” the caption read.

KJo also took to his Twitter to share the news and wrote, “The squad’s back together and ready to make you scream for your life! #GhostStories coming soon, only on Netflix.”

Reportedly, the production of ‘Ghost Stories’ will begin in August. The stories, helmed by the directors, will be connected to each other and culminate in the end. Read Complete Article

Vicky Kaushal, who left fans stunned with his stellar performance in ‘Uri

The ‘Masaan’ star, who is set to don the military uniform for the second time, shared a picture with the Indian Army personnel on his Instagram.

“Elated to be getting an opportunity to spend a few days with our Indian Army posted at 14,000ft altitude at the Indo-China border of Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh,” he captioned the picture.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Vicky will be seen next in films like period drama ‘Takht,’ ‘Bhoot Part One – The Haunted Ship,’ and untitled film where he will be seen as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, helmed by Meghna Gulzar.

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India’s ouster from 2019 World Cup triggered many controversies and murmuring about the mistakes the team committed during the tournament and also a possible way ahead by making right decisions. And one of the many was – Is it the time for split captaincy?

Well, in cricket, the characteristic of a team is, more or less, defined by its leader. Be it New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who showed calm on and off the field despite umpiring blunders, or Virat Kohli, whose ‘exaggerated’ emotions on the field give camerapersons and viewers a reason to smile. Williamson’s measured approach always looks good but Kohli’s aggression, sometimes, sends cricket fans into tizzy.

However, Kohli’s animated aggression, to an extent, has borne fruit for Team India in Test matches. But his defensive tactics in limited over cricket has been widely criticised.

India will have to start preparing for mainly three major tournaments – T20 World Cup in Australia next year, 50-over world cup in 2023 and World Test Championship. Experts opine that the time is apt for split captaincy, meaning separate captains for limited overs and Test cricket. Readmore

Indian Air Force on July 31 launched the ‘Indian Air Force: A Cut Above’ mobile game commemorating platinum jubilee of its dedicated service to the nation. Available for both iOS and Android mobile phone platforms, the game allows the user to experience roles of an IAF warrior through a game play that looks realistic. Let’s take a look at the game’s first impressions:

The Indian Air Force: A Cut Above is not graphic intensive. It has a moderate size of around 300MB (Android), which makes it compatible with most smartphones, entry-level or flagships. Currently, the game supports single player missions, and its full version with multiplayer support is expected to be released sometime in October.

Abhinandan written on it. Therefore, it seems the game is a tribute to Abhinandan Varthaman, a wing commander with Indian Air Force, who had shot to fame when footage of his captivity in Pakistan had emerged, showing him displaying a brave front, after his MiG-21 was shot down in a dogfight post the Balakot airstrike by the IAF. Read Complete Article

The sudden disappearance of Café Coffee Day (CCD) founder V G Siddhartha has left everyone — business peers to employees to family — in a state of shock. It is now being speculated that he might have committed suicide because of financial stress.

The businessman, who lived in Bengaluru, went to Kotekar in Mangaluru, a distance of about 350 km on Monday evening. Around 7 pm, he stopped his car at a bridge over the Netravati river on the outskirts of the town, and asked his driver to come back after a while. When the driver returned, he could not find Siddhartha. He alerted Siddhartha’s family and the police, who launched the massive search operation. As the news broke in the early hours of Tuesday, high-profile dignitaries made rounds of the Sadashiva Nagar residence of S M Krishna, former Karnataka chief minister and a former Union minister. Krishna is Siddhartha’s father-in-law.

Politicians cutting across party lines, including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Congress leader Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar and B L Shankar, and Janata Dal (Secular) leaders Deve Gowda and H D Kumarswamy came to offer moral support. Read Complete Article