Monsoon in the door !! More Rains To Lash Kolkata As Monsoon Knocks The Door

Kolkata is likely to continue with its rainy affair for the next few days as well. Weather conditions remain conducive for the prolonged spell of rains as Monsoon is just round the corner.

The Southwest Monsoon has already covered some parts of West Bengal and is likely to cover remaining parts of the state including Kolkata in the span of 3-4 days.

After recording rains for past two consecutive days, Kolkata remained dry on Tuesday. However, a cyclonic circulation is now seen over Bihar and adjoining Jharkhand. A trough is also extending from the system up to North Bay of Bengal across Gangetic west Bengal.

The system is likely to trigger light to moderate rain and thundershowers over the capital city during the next 24-48 hours. Few isolated spell may also occur. Not only this, another Monsoon system is brewing in east-central Bay of Bengal that will further enhance the rain activity over Kolkata during the coming days.

So far in June, the city has already recorded 115 mm of rain as compared to its monthly average rainfall of 283.5 mm.

In wake of the rainy spell, day temperatures have taken a significant dip, paving way for pleasant weather conditions. However, humidity may cause little discomfort. On Tuesday, Kolkata recorded day maximum at 30°C that was four degrees below normal.

While, night temperatures are settling near normal on account of high levels of humidity. Minimum temperature recorded on Wednesday morning was just one notch below normal and settled at 26.3°C.

Image credit: en.wikipedia.org

Aloo Jeera (Potatoes with Cumin Seeds)

Aloo Jeera is easy yet a delicious side dish. This can compliment any meal. A whole cumin seeds have a slightly nutty flavor. In this recipe cumin seeds are one of the main spices.

Recipe will serve 4.

Ingredients:

• 5 medium size potatoes boiled peeled and cut into bite size cubes, this will make about 4 cups of cubes potatoes 
  
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1-1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1/8 teaspoon asafetida (hing)
• 1 tablespoon ginger thinly sliced
• 2 green chilies seeded and sliced length wise
• 1-1/2 teaspoon crushed coriander (dhania)
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• 1 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
• 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (hara dhania) to garnish

Method

1.  Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Oil is the right temperature when cumin seeds crack immediately after being put in the pan.
2. Add cumin seeds and asafetida after seeds crack add ginger and green chilies and stir for few seconds.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add all the remaining spices, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, mango powder, and salt. Stir for few seconds.
4. Add potatoes and mix well with Masala. Stir fry for 4-5 minutes. All the potatoes should be coated with spices.
5. Turn off the heat and add cilantro. Mix it well and serve it hot.

Notes

Left over potatoes can be served as sack or chat drizzling with whipped yogurt and tamarind chutney.

WHAT IS INDIA’S FIRST OPEN NETWORK? YES IT'S AIRTEL LEAP

Now any mobile user can check Airtel Network coverage across the country, in fingertips. Just login to www.airtel.in/opennetwork, and Airtel user can check the network status in real time using My Airtel App.

India's First Concept of Open Network -

Open network is a bold new initiative by Airtel to build a better network. Airtel are opening up there network information for you to share your feedback, so that we can improve our coverage and give you an experience like no other. On the portal (www.airtel.in/opennetwork), User can–

• View Airtel current and planned towers
• Check the strength of the tower’s signals in their area
• Report network related issues
• Help Airtel set up new towers by sharing location options

Project leap is Airtel's biggest network transformation program aimed at delivering a world class network that will see an investment of Rs. 60,000 crores in the next 3 years.

Open Network is a new initiative under Project Leap as a part of which Airtel are making their entire network information open to their customers.

Open Network will definitely improve Airtel network. In case of network issues, User will be able to see the network performance in their area. User can also suggest locations to host new towers for network enhancement and better experience.

Even it does not affect current tariff plans. For any tariff information, you may visit www.airtel.in

Open Network will definitely improve Airtel network experience. Open Network has been created exactly for that purpose. User can raise a network issue through www.airtel.in/opennetwork.

If user facing a network issue in their area, they can visit the link www.airtel.in/opennetwork, drop a pin at the exact location and share your details to raise the complaint.

If coverage showing good in user location, but still customer having issue with network on that location, In this case user would request you to visit the link www.airtel.in/opennetwork, drop a pin at the exact location where you are facing the issue and share your details to raise a complaint.

“Towers Upgrading” mean -

Those are the towers which are in the process of being upgraded from 2G data to 4G/3G data network.  

Towers Needed” mean -

“Towers Needed” are the locations where Airtel have identified network issues and they are looking for locations to host new towers.

“Towers forcibly shutdown” mean -

Those are the locations where Airtel had towers but now they have been shut down by property owners or relevant authorities. 

User can submit their request for tower installation - 

To share a lead, please visit airtel.in/opennetwork, drop a pin near user location, share their details and click submit.

In 2015, Project Leap took the first brave step in building a truly transparent network. It is now time to take the next step. With India's first Open Network. An open sharing platform that gives each one of you access to our tower maps, our weak spots, our strong signal zones, high- speed internet and more. In other words, you see what we see. So you can question us, judge us and even partner us in building a truly great network. A journey that has to start with us opening up to you.

Open Network is an honest endeavor to build a better network. We are opening up our network information so that our customers can tell us where the gaps are, so that we can improve our coverage and give an experience like no other. In this Initiative lies a conviction that we want to be and can be better than what we are today. Please visit www.airtel.in/opennetwork

HP Spectre 13 'World's Thinnest Laptop' India Launch Expected on June 21

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Spectre 13 measures just 10.4mm in thickness.

• It's powered by Intel's 6th Generation 'Skylake' CPUs.

• The laptop is built from aluminium and carbon fibre.

HP took the wraps of its Apple MacBook Air-killer a couple of months back and very soon, you'll be able to get your hands on it in India. HP India is having an event on June 21 where we expect it to launch the Spectre 13, which currently holds the title of being the thinnest laptop in the world.

The new device also debuts the new HP logo that will go on all of its premium offerings. Pricing details are still vague at this point so your guess is as good as ours. We feel HP will try to make it as competitive as Apple's offering, however given the base specifications of the laptop, it could go upwards of Rs. 80,000.

The Spectre 13 measures just 10.4mm thick, which is how it earned its title but there's much more going in its favour. The stylish look is brought upon by a mix of aluminium and carbon fibre which lends the laptop a stunning look, while keeping it durable. The Spectre 13 also comes with three USB Type-C ports which are placed on the back of the copper-coated edge. It sports a 13.3-inch full-HD display, which comes with a 0.4mm Corning Gorilla Glass layer protecting it.

HP hasn't compromised on the specifications either as the laptop will come with a choice of Intel's 6th Generation Core processors, SSD storage up to 512GB, and 8GB of RAM as standard. The company also claims that the battery inside the device can keep the laptop running for 9.5 hours on a single charge.

The HP Spectre 13 is an impressive device for sure, as we've are already talked about it in detail during our first encounter . We will be bringing you the full review of the laptop soon, so stay tuned for that.

Apple Watch Gets a Big Price Cut in India

Apple has slashed the retail price of the Apple Watch in India by Rs. 5,000. With the price slash, the cheapest variant - Apple Watch Sport (38mm) - is now available in the country at a price point of Rs. 25,900.

At a media conference in San Francisco earlier this week, Apple announced that it is making the Apple Watch less expensive to purchase. The company announced a $50 cut on the Sports model of the Apple Watch. In line with the announcement, Apple India told Gadgets 360 on Wednesday that it has knocked off Rs. 5,000 from the aforementioned model. The wearable comes in Sport, Watch, and Watch Edition variants. Do note that other variants of the Apple Watch aren't getting a price cut just yet.

Apple India told us that the price cut should be effective across retailers, though Gadgets 360 understands that it will take a few days before different retailers across the country start selling the Sports model at the revised price.

Apple launched the Apple Watch in India in November last year, with the Sport (38mm) variant costing Rs. 30,900, and the Sport (42mm) variant costing Rs. 35,900 At the event, the company also slashed the price of the iPad Air 2 by $100. The price revision, however, isn't currently live in India, Apple India told us.

(Also see: Apple Watch Review)

The price revision makes the Apple Watch, the company's first wearable device even more enticing. For a first generation device, the Apple Watch feels very polished. Apple made its timepiece even more powerful with the watchOS 2 software update, bringing support for native apps, activation lock, and a number of other features and improvements. On Monday, alongside the iPhone SE launch, Apple also released watchOS 2.2, which brought features like the ability to pair multiple Apple Watches to a singleiPhone, the Nearby feature, an improved glance feature, as well as several performance improvements and bug fixes .

If you were on the fence on whether or not you should spring for the Apple Watch, at least the most basic variant, and the price seemed a tad too much, Apple is now giving you a better option.

Vernee Apollo With 6GB of RAM, 5.5-Inch QHD Force Touch Display Revealed

China-based brand Vernee this week unveiled its flagship smartphone, the Apollo. The highlight of the Vernee Apollo smartphone is it packs 6GB of RAM which was seen on the recently unveiled Vivo Xplay5 Elite.

Another notable feature is it packs MediaTek's newest Helio X20 (MT6797) SoC which was revealed at an event in China on Wednesday.

According to Android Authority, the Vernee Apollo smartphone will feature a 5.5-inch QHD display with Force Touch (pressure sensitive touch display) capability and will pack 128GB of inbuilt storage. The handset is said to sport 21-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX230 sensor and also houses an 8-megapixel front camera. It is likely to come with a USB Type-C port. On design, the Apollo smartphone is said to sport all-metal design. Unfortunately, the Chinese company has not detailed all the specifications of the handset or has revealed details about the Force Touch feature on the Apollo smartphone, though it did confirm the Android 6.0 Marshmallow version.

We can expect the company to reveal all the details on innards as well as pricing and availability at the time of launch.

MediaTek at the same event confirmed that the deca-core Helio X20 (MT6797) aimed at high-end market will hit the market next month. To recall, the Helio X20 is built on top of tri-cluster CPU architecture and was first showcased last year. At the time of launch, MediaTek had also claimed that the Helio X20 was world's first mobile processor to have tri-cluster CPU architecture, which houses three processor clusters.

Google Acknowledges Vulnerability in Millions of Android Devices; Promises Fix

Millions of Android smartphones and tablets are vulnerable to security attacks, Google has warned. The vulnerability, if exploited, gives an app unfettered root access, circumventing various Android security layers. The Mountain View-based company has made available a patch to OEMs, and says it is currently working on a fix for the Nexus lineup.

Security researchers spotted an app in the Google Play, Android's marquee app store, which tries to leverage the vulnerability. Android inherited the flaw from Linux years ago. Interestingly, Linux developers fixed the bug in 2014, and it was later on flagged as a vulnerability - identified as CVE-2015-1805 - early last year.

The vulnerability is present in all Android releases that are based on Linux kernel version 3.4, or 3.10, or 3.14. Android versions based on Linux kernel 3.18 or higher aren't affected, Google assures. Most Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based devices run on kinux Kernel v3.18, however, different OEMs often use different Linux kernel versions - thus, it is hard to correlate Android version with kernel version.

Google acknowledged the existence of the vulnerability in an advisory it sent last week. "An elevation of privilege vulnerability in the kernel could enable a local malicious application to execute arbitrary code in the kernel. This issue is rated as a critical severity due to the possibility of a local permanent device compromise and the device would possibly need to be repaired by re-flashing the operating system," the note reads.

Google didn't disclose the name of the app, though it noted that the offending app was available from Google Play as well as third-party sources, and Nexus 6 and Nexus 5 smartphones were affected. It also noted that it has published the patches for the flaw with OEMs, and also published them to the Android Open Source Project. It is up to manufacturers now how long they take before pushing the updates to their respective devices.