Grief and Anger As Pakistan Buries Students Massacred at Peshawar School

PESHAWAR: on Wednesday, A shocked Pakistan  began burying 132 students killed in a grisly attack on their school by Taliban militants that has heaped pressure on the government to do more to tackle the insurgency. 

People across the pakistan lit candles and staged vigils as parents bade final farewells to their children during mass funerals in and around Peshawar, the volatile city on the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal belt where the school was located.

Grief mixed with anger as people looked to the authorities - long accused of not being tough enough on extremists - to stem intense violence in a nation which has become a safe haven for al Qaeda-linked groups. 

BSE Sensex Slumps Below 27,000: Should You Worry?

On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex extended its losses for a fourth session , dropping as much as 583 points to an intraday low of 26,736. It ended down 538 points to close below the key 27,000 level for the first since October 28. The 30-share Sensex has shed over 1,950 points in December, a drop of nearly 7 per cent in just 12 sessions. The 50-share Nifty has given up over 500 points in this month. Here are the reasons why Indian markets have lost some lustre in December:

1) Worldwide, equity markets have come under pressure because of rising concerns about global growth. The economies of China, Japan and Europe appear to be weakening. This has partly led to a crash in crude oil prices. Markets with big energy companies have faced a rout over the last few days.

2) Equity markets tend to come under pressure when the currency starts to weaken. On Tuesday, the rupee hit a 13-month low of 63.59 against the US dollar. The sharp fall came after the Russian central bank hiked interest rate to 17 per cent from 10.5 per cent earlier on Tuesday. Russia's move is aimed at attracting foreign funds and may pressure emerging market currencies like India. 

3) India has been the best performing emerging market in 2014 on the back of foreign flows, which have totaled nearly $40 billion year-to-date. However, foreign institutional investors have sold shares in the cash market for the last five sessions. The recent selloff is not unusual because foreign players usually book profits in December.

4) Indian markets tend to fall every time the US Federal Reservemeets to discuss its policy. The Fed will decide tomorrow when it intends to raise interest rates. A hawkish announcement will be detrimental for global stock markets, including India.

5) Sentiments in the domestic markets have been hit because of weak data points. Industrial output contracted in October, its worst performance in three years. This has raised fresh concerns about recovery in domestic growth. 

6) Tuesday's selloff came on account of a sharp fall in rate sensitive stocks, which have come under pressure on fears that the Reserve Bank may not be able to cut rates quickly given the slump in the rupee. A reduction in rates could trigger foreign outflows, piling up pressure on the rupee, analysts say. 

7) Much of the selloff in December has resulted from a correction in IT stocks. Frontline tech stocks such as Infosys and TCS, which have large weightage in the Nifty, have fallen over 10 per cent this month on fears that rising dollar will hurt revenues in other currencies. 

8) A selloff in energy stocks, especially those with large index weightage such as Reliance Industries, also weighed on broader markets. Energy stocks have fallen on fears of eroding profitability because of the slump in crude oil prices.

Are there reasons to worry? Despite recent correction, the BSE Sensex is up 27 per cent year-to-date. Analysts say some correction or consolidation is always good for markets as it helps create a base for the next up move. Foreign investors, who play a big role in deciding the fate of Indian equities, continue to be bullish about India, analysts say.

More Than 100 Children Killed by Taliban in Pakistan's School Attack

PESHAWAR:More than 100 students has been killed by the Taliban on an army-run school in Peshawar in North West Pakistan. 

"The combat operation is over, the security personnel are carrying out clearance operation and hopefully they will clear the building in a while," police official Abdullah Khan told news agency AFP at 7 pm Indian Standard Time. "Dead bodies of six terrorists have been found in the building." 

Senior police official Shafqat Malik confirmed the combat phase of the response was over, while chief army spokesman General Asim Bajwa said on Twitter that the operation was "closing up".

Taliban gunmen stormed the school in the morning in the worst attack to hit the country in years. Nearly 130 people are dead, said officials. 

The overwhelming majority of the victims were students at the army public school, which has children and teenagers in grades 1-10. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the assault and rushed to Peshawar to show his support for the victims.

The attack began in the morning hours, with about half a dozen gunmen entering the school - and shooting at random, said police officer Javed Khan. Army commandos quickly arrived at the scene and started exchanging fire with the gunmen, he said. Students wearing their green school uniforms could be seen on Pakistani television, fleeing the area.

One of the wounded students, Abdullah Jamal, who was shot in the leg, said nobody knew what was going on in the first few seconds.

"Then I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet," he said, speaking from his hospital bed.

Taliban spokesman Mohammed Khurasani claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to media, saying that six suicide bombers had carried out the attack in revenge for the killings of Taliban members at the hands of Pakistani authorities. 

The Pakistani military launched the military operation in the nearby North Waziristan tribal area in June, vowing that it would go after all militant groups that had been operating in the region. 

Tuesday's attack calls into question whether the militants have been crippled by the military or will be able to regroup.

Nobody Can Dance Like Govinda:Parineeti Chopra

 Bollywood Actress Parineeti Chopra got an opportunity to shake a leg with none other than Govinda in Kill Dil and she says matching his dance moves is a tough job.

When it comes to Dancing, it comes naturally to Govinda, who made it big with his comedy and dance in the 1990s and even today it's not easy to beat him on the dance floor.

Praising his skills, Parineeti said: "It was a challenge to dance with him. I can't be as good as him, but at least I have to match him. Govinda is the God of dance and nobody can dance like him. He is a legend."
 Kill Dil also features Ranveer Singh and Ali Zafar,Directed by Shaad Ali.

This would be her second film with Ranveer post Ladies vs Ricky Bahl and she says, "This is my second film with Ranveer and my bonding with him has gone to the next level. If there is good bonding between the actors, the chemistry looks good."

Usually seen as the-girl-next-door, Parineeti has experimented with her looks in this film.

"I wanted to try a new look and a new body language, so far I have liked my new look. Now the audience will tell me how they liked it. It's a western look in the film," she said.

Review of iPhone 6: The Most Appealing iPhone Ever

 Finally Apple gave the iPhone a much-needed rethink, and the result is a product that is more like its competition than ever before, but also stands out just as well, if not better, in a seriously overcrowded market. The big talking point is its screen size - months of leaks told us nearly everything we needed to know long before the actual launch happened - but there's also plenty more to explore. As always, Apple has managed to deliver more power, better aesthetics, improved cameras, and all-new software.
The iPhone 6 shares a lot with its larger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus , which we reviewed a little while ago. They are obviously designed to look similar, but Apple has also made sure  that they are very similar to use. The iPhone 6 is still just as much of a premium device as ever; not a lower-end version of a new flagship. A lot of what we have said in that exhaustive review of the 6 Plus will apply to the iPhone 6 as well.

Best Smartphones Under Rs. 8,000 launched in November 2014

Various new phone launches in the last three months mean that the sub-Rs. 8,000 category has a lot more good options to choose from. We have put together a list of our favourite phones that cost up to Rs. 8,000, and in our list you'll find phones that have great performance, good cameras or battery life, along with some choices that promise to get you the latest software updates quickly.
The Xiaomi Redmi 1S  possibly has the best performance in its category, along with a good display and great battery life. The camera on the phone is not too great, and the design of the handset leaves something to be desired , but aside from these minor weaknesses, the phone is a great buy - when it's available anyway.

WhatsApp Blue Ticks Leaving You Confused? What they are here's the answer

 The Popular messaging app WhatsApp is rolling out a read receipt feature that will let users know that when their messages have been read. With the new WhatsApp feature users will notice two blue tick marks next to a message they have sent, which is actually an indication that the recipient has seen the message.
Thanks to the recent app update, Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone users will now see two blue tick marks that will function as a 'read receipt' . Earlier versions of the app showed only a grey double tick mark which indicated the message has been delivered.