Air India flight turns back after rat spotted on board

 A plane travelling from Mumbai to London was forced to turn back mid-flight after a rat was spotted on board, local media report. Flight AI 131 travelling to London on Wednesday was flying over Iran when someone on board said they spotted the rodent, reports said. Passengers continued their journey on a replacement aircraft some time later. Air India has said that the plane will be fumigated and the presence of a rodent was being investigated. It said engineers were looking into the claims, "though the presence of the rodent was not confirmed". It stressed the decision to abort the flight was precautionary and in the interests of passenger safety. Advertisement Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A happier landing: in 2013 an Air India plane was Australia's first Dreamliner passenger flight, where it was given a water cannon salute Rats occasionally get on board aircraft along with catering and other supplies but can pose a serious technical as well as a health hazard if they chew through wires. It is the latest setback to hit the state-owned airline, which has had to cut costs to improve its financial health. Earlier in December, an Air India technician was sucked into an aircraft engine and killed at Mumbai airport.

Hundreds of firefighters set to battle huge Australia blaze

 More than 500 firefighters are set to battle a blaze in the Australian state of Victoria, one of the world's most fire-prone regions on New Year's Eve. Evacuation advice has been issued to Kennett River, Grey River and Wongarra. Most residents have left their homes. But a wind change on Thursday afternoon eased the threat to these communities, fire authorities said. Firefighters and aircraft from NSW and New Zealand are on standby in case the fire breaks containment lines. The fire is the same one that destroyed more than 100 homes at Wye River and Separation Creek over Christmas Day. Advertisement It now covers around 2,800 hectares (7,000 acres) and is likely to pose a threat to communities along the famous Great Ocean Road for months. In South Australia a fire is threatening homes at Mosquito Hill south of Adelaide. Aircraft have been sent to the area but the fire is burning very fiercely, South Australia Country Fire Service spokesman Brenton Eden told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Mr Eden said residents in the area should execute their emergency plans.

Microsoft to warn email users of suspected hacking by governments

  Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it will begin warning users of its Outlook.com email service when the company suspects that a government has been trying to hack into their accounts. Microsoft told Reuters about the plan in a statement. It comes nine days after Reuters asked the company why it had decided not tell victims of a hacking campaign, discovered in 2011, that had targeted international leaders of China's Tibetan and Uighur minorities in particular. According to two former employees of Microsoft, the company's own experts had concluded several years ago that Chinese authorities had been behind the campaign but the company did not pass on that information to users of its Hotmail service, which is now called Outlook.com. In its statement, Microsoft said neither it nor the US government could pinpoint the sources of the hacking attacks and that they didn't come from a single country. The policy change at the world's largest software company follows similar moves since October by Internet giants Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and most recently Yahoo Inc. Google Inc pioneered the practice in 2012 and said it now alerts tens of thousands of users every few months. For two years, Microsoft has offered alerts about potential security breaches without specifying the likely suspect. In the statement, Microsoft said: "As the threat landscape has evolved our approach has too, and we'll now go beyond notification and guidance to specify if we reasonably believe the attacker is 'state-sponsored'." Microsoft declined to say what role, if any, the Hotmail hacking campaign played in its policy change. The Hotmail attacks had also targeted diplomats, media workers, human rights lawyers, and others in sensitive positions inside China, according to the former employees. Microsoft had told the targets to reset their passwords but did not tell them that they had been hacked. Five victims interviewed by Reuters said they had not taken the password request as an indication of hacking. Online free-speech activists and security experts have long called for more direct warnings, saying that they prompt behavioral changes from email users.

Google doodle marks New Year's eve

The New Year is around the corner and Google has come up with an interactive doodle to usher in the New Year. The doodle consists of a five colourful birds sitting on a branch depicting the word Google. The birds are waiting for an egg wearing a 2016 sash to hatch and mark the beginning of the year 2016. All the birds are wearing party hats, one is blowing the trumpet and another keeps out taking a pocket watch from his pocket impatiently waiting for the egg to hatch. Along with this, just below the doodle you will also find a link, "Watch and remember the moments of 2015". Clicking on the link takes you to some of the biggest events of the year 2015. These important happenings include Chennai floods, Paris attacks and many others. Google is also teasing New Year's doodle with the line, "Check back tomorrow to see what will hatch in the new year."

Dame Barbara Windsor leads arts and entertainment honours

 Barbara Windsor is among the leading entertainment and arts figures to be recognised in the New Year Honours. The veteran star of EastEnders and the Carry On films said she was "thrilled" to be made a dame for services to charity and entertainment. Actress Sian Phillips also receives a damehood for services to drama, while choreographer Matthew Bourne is to be knighted for services to dance. Luther star Idris Elba receives an OBE, as does Blur singer Damon Albarn. Actress Imelda Staunton, whose recent successes include her award-winning turn in the West End musical Gypsy, receives a CBE for services to drama. Advertisement The same honour is awarded to Tamara Rojo, the Montreal-born Spanish dancer who became the artistic director of English National Ballet (ENB) in 2013. Spooks and Selma star David Oyelowo gets an OBE, as does tennis player turned BBC sports commentator Sue Barker. Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt also gets an OBE, for services to drama and "the community of Northern Ireland". Drum and bass star Goldie - real name Clifford Joseph Price - receives an MBE for services to music and young people. There is also an MBE for Jacqui Oatley, the sports broadcaster who became the first female commentator  One's football highlights show Match of the Day.

Service with a smile

As part of efforts to improve quality of service, employees of state-run BSNL have taken a pledge to serve all customers with a smile and resolve any service related issues as soon as possible. BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava administered the oath to the employees at the company's office in New Delhi whereas similar pledge ceremonies took place at all BSNL telecom circles across the country. Top Comment BSNL must improve it's services....There is some indication in improvement but not sufficient.Truth Sach "All employees... pledge today to serve the customer with new motto ie 'Service with a Smile' (SWAS)," the company said in a statement. "The theme SWAS was missing till now in BSNL. Often people talk about network, equipment, OFC cable and other infrastructure but the quality of service we offer is what that matters a lot. When government is celebrating the 'Good Governance Week', there cannot better theme for BSNL than to provide service with a smile to our all customers," Shrivastava said. He added this theme will be effective from January 1, 2016 and there will be no expiry date for it.

IIT, IISc faculty slam Facebook's Free Basics

Academicians from India's premier institutes IITs and IISc have slammed Facebook's Free Basics initiative, terming it "flawed" and "misleading". In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, around 50 faculty members from IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Kharagpur, Madras, Patna) and IISc Bengaluru have denounced the proposal dubbing it a "lethal combination that will lead to total lack of freedom on how Indians can use the internet". Listing three major flaws in the programme, the scientists urged the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to "thoroughly reject" Facebook's "free basics" proposal. "The first obvious flaw in the proposal is that Facebook assumes control of defining what a 'basic' service is. "Facebook will have access to all your apps' contents. "This flaw is not visible to the lay person as it's a technical detail, but it has deep and disturbing implications. Since Facebook can access un-encrypted contents of users' 'basic' services, either we get to consider health apps to be not basic, or risk revealing health records of all Indians to Facebook. "The third flaw is that the term 'free' in 'free basics' is a marketing gimmick." Top Comment Yes i support Net Neutrality and Free Basic will create problem in Digital IndiaMilind Mahindrakar The academicians said that the 'Free Basics' proposal "is flawed as above is alarming but not surprising, for it violates one of the core architectural principles of internet design: net neutrality. "Compromising net neutrality, an important design principle of the internet, would invariably lead to deep consequences on people's freedom to access and use information. "We, therefore, urge that the TRAI should support net neutrality in its strongest form, and thoroughly reject Facebook's 'free basics' proposal."