Are 'chatbots' the future of online business? By : ysn An artificial intelligence "chatbot" from Taco Bell now lets you order a meal in a smartphone text exchange that might look something like this: TacoBot: Hello there, I'm your TacoBot, I can help you order a meal for you or your team. You: Can I order one soft taco with beef? TacoBot: Sounds good... do you want to keep adding stuff? Maybe some chicken? Brands like Taco Bell and tech companies large and small are betting that more and more people will start using this "conversational" way of interacting online…

Bharat Mata ki jai is short-cut patriotism By: anonymous "Bharat Mata ki Jai" is the latest weapon in the hands of the right wing forces in the country, a weapon with which they want to turn the tide against their adversaries, brand them as anti-national, and assert their own authority and power in a totalitarian regime they want to build. While there is no doubt that supreme dedication to one's motherland is desirable, there have been objections from some sections of the society to chanting the "Bharat Mata ki Jai" slogan. For some Christians and Muslims, chanting such a...

Centre exploits Article 356 to marginalise opponents By: ysn Article 356 has often been misused by the Centre to destabilise governments in the state, and the latest development in Uttarakhand, where Chief Minister Harish Rawat of the Congress was ousted and president's rule imposed, is a case in hand. The political turmoil in Uttarakhand started on March 18 when the BJP's 27 MLAs marched to Raj Bhawan along with nine rebel MLAs of the Congress, and told Governor K.K. Paul that the ruling party has lost majority in the Assembly. The governor gave a March 28 deadline to...

Nationalism finds way to school syllabus At a time when a debate on patriotism is raging across the country, the HRD Ministry has decided that its comic book series on Army brave hearts, called Veergatha, will be made compulsory in school libraries. The ministry believes that young minds should be exposed to the electrifying stories of supreme sacrifice made by our soldiers, and it also plans to include some chapters on nationalism in school curriculum, under the New Education Policy. NEP, HRD sources told this correspondent, may be renamed as New Revolutionary Education...

Spy arrest is Pakistan's ploy to derail peace process By: ysn The India-Pakistan peace dialogue has again hit the rock bottom following a purported RAW agent's arrest in Pakistan on 24th March. Jadhav's arrest came only a few days before the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan were to interact in Washington during a pull-aside meeting, which could have paved the way for restarting the Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue. The CBD, which gained momentum following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Pakistan on December 25 last year, was earlier derailed due...

Tough task ahead for Mehbooba Mehbooba Mufti of the People's Democratic Party has finally become the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. This follows three months of intense suspense over government formation, following her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's death while serving as CM in a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party. By the time Mufti Sayeed died on 7 Januray, the PDP had lost considerable support in the valley for its decision to join hands with the BJP, which has no base in Kashmir, but which enjoys clout in Jammu. It is said Mehbooba...

Where is Shakespeare's skull? Shakespeare's plays are the monument of a remarkable genius. They are also the reminder of a remarkable era, when under the glorious Queen Elizabeth I, the country's fortunes soared and it entered what is known as the golden age. But, the latest buzz is that the skull of this greatest playwright and poet may be missing from his grave. Shakespeare, who is regarded as the most eminent literary figure in England and beyond, was born on 26 April 1564 at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Shakespeare, who began his career as an actor in London,...

Your iPhone will expire in 3 years! Says who? Says Apple!! By: ysn According to a report on Forbes.com, iPhone's productive life cycle will be up at the three-year mark, as will the Apple Watch while your OS X-a series of operating systems developed and marketed by Apple Inc.-and AppleTV devices will get an extra twelve months to reach the four-year mark. US electronic giant Apple has said the iPhones have a life expectancy of three years and so does the Apple watch while AppleTV devices expire in four years. In a recent update to its environmental policy, Apple...

Ban or no ban By: ysn The beef ban controversy has made for drawing room discussion for quite some time now, and in both rural and urban households in equal measure. But the controversy is more layered in the state of Jammu and Kashmir where people believe it is a classic case of "much ado about nothing". Jammu and Kashmir, which is India's only Muslim majority state, is in a political storm as not only its people but its very political leadership are divided on whether the ban is of any relevance or logic. So much so, that even the…

Bihar is back to caste politics By:ysn In poll-bound Bihar, political leaders seem to be travelling back in time as they have returned to their old electoral tactic of identity politics and shunned away from the talk on development. This comes as a pungent contrast to the Nitish era in which the JDU and the BJP ended regional satrap Lalu Yadav's 15-year regime by shifting focus from caste issues to civic and economic promises. The two parties, before they parted ways, did extremely well by not just ending the caste psyche but transforming voters from caste-driven cheer...