The gloves are off. A surprise salvo from Rahul Gandhi accusing Narendra Modi of "personal corruption" signals the start of a no-holds-barred battle that can only get uglier.

"Read my lips. The PM is personally terrified of the information I have, we have. It is personal corruption of the PM that we have detailed information on," Rahul announced.

The Congress vice president did not follow up his bombshell with full disclosure. He insisted that he would only speak in Parliament if he was allowed to do so.

His reluctance to say more raises questions about the credibility of his allegation, leading the BJP to mock him. "He is making a joke of himself," said a party spokesperson.

We may never find out what information Rahul actually has. There are just two days left for the winter session of Parliament to end and neither the opposition nor the government appears to have any interest in allowing either of the Houses to function.

"Call it Dutch courage or belated realisation."

What is evident, however, is that the Congress has decided to join the rest of the opposition and take Modi head on over the unfolding demonetisation crisis. It's been a late starter in the battle with Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal taking the lead so far. Rahul's intervention is significant because for the first time, he shed his trademark aloofness and addressed a press conference flanked by leaders of 15 opposition parties.

Call it Dutch courage or belated realisation. The Congress senses, like the rest of the Opposition, that Modi and his government are on the defensive as demonetisation unravels into what former PM Manmohan Singh so cuttingly described as a "monumental blunder".

While economists are divided on the long-term impact of demonetisation on the economy, no one can ignore the daily serpentine queues outside banks, growing public frustration over the inability to access their money, mounting rural distress, reports of job losses across sectors and the slowing down of consumer demand.

Public mood is turning, from support to anger, and opposition leaders are hoping that it will ultimately coalesce into an anti-Modi sentiment. Rahul's personal attack on Modi is an attempt to dent the aura of invincibility that surrounds the PM and erase some of his sheen.

The new normal in politics is to play a game of innuendoes and insinuations. Arvind Kejriwal's mastery over what his critics call 'shoot and scoot' tactics reaped him an unexpected bounty in Delhi. Rahul seems to have decided to take a leaf out of the AAP chief's political book in the hope that he too can achieve a similar measure of success.

All this only means an ugly battle ahead. Modi has brandished his integrity and clean image like a badge of honour. And he is certainly not going to take Rahul's allegation of personal corruption lightly.

The unpredictability of Modi's politics means that no-one is ready to hazard a guess how he will react. But he is bound to hit back.

Unlike in 2014, however, Modi may find that the shoe is on the other foot. The opposition attack is happening against the backdrop of a government decision that seems to have gone horribly wrong. Consequently, he is on the backfoot at present.

"Rahul seems to have decided to take a leaf out of Arvind Kejriwal's political book."

Opposition parties, on the other hand, are chuffed by the fact that they have managed to sink their egos and differences to come together on an anti-demonetisation platform. It is certainly amazing that rivals like the BSP and SP, the Left and Trinamool Congress and DMK and AIADMK have made common cause on this issue.

The challenge now, as one opposition leader, said, is to take this unity forward from the corridors of Parliament on to the streets and try and build a movement. Opposition parties are talking about creating a coordination committee or some such forum to craft a common strategy.

Privately, opposition leaders agree that it's a tall order. And there's always the big question of who is going to take leadership of the movement. Much depends on whether Modi is able to diffuse the the demonetisation crisis and restore order in the economy.

Or whether the crisis escalates and the opposition finds itself propelled by public anger into achieving that elusive dream of building a popular movement against the government.

Also On HuffPost:

Banks and ATMs on Wednesday continued to be crowded with long queues even after 35 days of the ban on high denomination notes.

The queues appeared just as long and crowded, and constituted disaffected and despairing people, made cash-poor by the central government's demonetisation move.

The Punjab National Bank (PNB) branch near the Nangloi Metro Station here was seen to be crowded with at least 150 people, waiting at 8 am--two hours before the its opening time.

The disaffection seemed to have led people to believe already that the ban is anti-poor, as an individual privy to the scene at the bank day in and day out, suspected the rationale behind it.

"So far, I have seen only the poor, labour class people in queues. Yet to see an advocate, a top police officer, a judge, or any local politician coming and waiting," Asghar, a pan vendor in front of the bank told IANS.

"The rich people don't have to wait in line, all the money is funneled to them from back channels, without them having to wait in the queues," he said.

"The people start gathering outside the bank as early as 10 pm and sleep or chat through the night, so that they could get their cash as soon as possible in the morning, and so that they could avoid being absent from their workplaces," he added.

Another young man, who manned a fruit stall outside the bank, told IANS of an ingenious way of mitigating the anguish of standing in queue for long hours--a method which corresponded to the form of a relay race.

"My friend is already in the queue, and I'll replace him once he's tired. There's another friend and once he comes, I'll come back to my rehri (cart). This way I won't lose any business as either me or someone else is always at the stall," he said.

The queues at the working ATMs in Connaught Place were same as they were the very next day after demonetisation.

"I finally withdrew money today after waiting in line for two hours. I survived cashless for days when I would return back home at the very sight of winding queues, but I couldn't do without cash now," Apoorva Agnihotri, a logistics company executive, who withdrew money in CP, told IANS.

Also On HuffPost:

CHHINDWARA, Madhya Pradesh -- President Pranab Mukherjee today said that government and industry should work together to provide jobs to youth to avoid unrest and disturbances.

"India's population is 130 crore. Half of this population is below 25 years of age, and in working age group of 15-59 years, this population is 62%. If you keep these numbers in mind and think for a while what would happen if such magnitude of people do not have their vocation and opportunity of maintaining their livelihood in a decent way," Mukherjee said.

The President was speaking at annual day celebration of CII's skill training centre here.

He said that the agriculture sector is over saturated now and it can support very low number of people.

"These workforce is going to be an asset to us ... but if we cannot provide job to them what will happen. There will be unrest, there will be frustration. There will be difficulties, disturbances," Mukherjee said.

He said that there are 36,000 colleges producing graduates but a large number of passouts are unemployable.

It is estimated by the World Economic Forum that two-thirds of children who now enter a school will work in jobs that cannot be imagined right now.

Mukherjee said India will have the scope for employment generation but lacks skilled workforce.

The President said that a Skills Development Council was created in 2010 and target was fixed by 2020 to create large number of skilled workforce.

"Unfortunately not much progress was made in that direction. As a result in 2014 with change of government, when new Prime Minister came he established to focus on this issue with Department of Skill Development," he said.

"A minister was entrusted with the job to focus and a programme was created over a larger period of time that by 2030 at least 500 million people are provided appropriate skill so that they get job anywhere in the world."

The President said more than 60 lakh people are working in West Asia and Gulf countries alone which are sending large number of remittances back home which is helping India build foreign exchange reserves.

He said that the average age in Europe and North America is increasing and India has the opportunity with its young population.

"That (skill development) is the reason I have come to Chhindwara for fifth time and why I am participating in the programme of CII to celebrate their annual day of skill development. This is the programme that country needs the most," Mukherjee said.

He lauded efforts of local MP Kamalnath for setting up skill development centres in his constituency.

CII President Naushad Forbes said that the industry body has not been able to set up skill development centres in any part of the country like the ones set up here. He said that CII in coming days will make effort to set up such centres in all districts of the country.

Also On HuffPost:

The share of Indians taking loans for productive purposes is declining, and short-term loans at crushing rates of interest dominate rural India.

New data on 'Household Indebtedness' from the National Sample Survey Office's 70th round, released late last week, shows that nearly one in three rural households and over one in five urban households is in debt. The incidence of indebtedness has grown much faster in rural India than in urban India. The southern states are significantly more indebted than the rest of the country; more than half of all households in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are in debt, while nearly half of all households in Kerala and Karnataka have outstanding loans.

The average indebted rural household's debt is Rs 1.03 lakh, while urban households in debt have loans of over Rs 3.78 lakh outstanding. As people get richer, they are are more likely to be in debt, and the size of their loans grows too - among the richest 10% of rural Indians, the average outstanding loan of an indebted household is over Rs 12.5 lakh. On average, debt-to-asset ratios in India are still low (8.5% in rural areas and 14.8% in urban areas) compared to global averages.

Data on who gives these loans and on what terms indicates the crushing burden that indebted families are under. Institutional lending--loans by banks, for example--has plateaued over time in rural India and over a quarter of all debt in rural areas is still owned to money-lenders. Kerala is the only state in the country where institutional credit dominates.

Most loans in rural areas are for short and medium-terms and over 40% are on compound interest terms. But simple interest, too, the report notes, is not the same as 'low interest'; over half of all rural households with outstanding loans taken on simple interest terms are paying over 20% interest.

While debt is growing, the proportion of people who take loans for productive purposes is crashing, while the share of those who are having to take loans for household expenditure is skyrocketing.

The most common purpose of a loan is not for a productive purpose - like for business - but for "other household expenditure", an omnibus category that includes weddings and the purchase of household assets. Medical treatment is the next most common purpose of a loan in urban India, especially among the poorest, while loans for housing are most common among the richest. In rural India, loans for farming are the next most common, but for the poorest in rural areas as well, it is medical treatment that is pushing people into debt.

The data is from the NSSO's 2012-13 household survey and was conducted on a nationally representative sample of over 1 lakh households.

Yahoo warned on Wednesday that it had uncovered yet another massive cyber attack, saying data from more than 1 billion user accounts was compromised in August 2013, making it the largest breach in history.

The number of affected accounts was double the number implicated in a 2014 breach that the internet company disclosed in September and blamed on hackers working on behalf of a government. News of that attack, which affected at least 500 million accounts, prompted Verizon Communication to say in October that it might withdraw from an agreement to buy Yahoo's core internet business for $4.83 billion.

Following the latest disclosure, Verizon said, "we will review the impact of this new development before reaching any final conclusions."

A Yahoo spokesman told Reuters that the company has been in communication with Verizon during its investigation into the breach and that it is confident the incident will not affect the pending acquisition.

Yahoo required all of its customers to reset their passwords - a stronger measure than it took after the previous breach was discovered, when it only recommended a password reset.

Yahoo also said Wednesday that it believes hackers responsible for the previous breach had also accessed the company's proprietary code to learn how to forge "cookies" that would allow hackers to access an account without a password.

"Yahoo badly screwed up," said Bruce Schneier, a cryptologist and one of the world's most respected security experts. "They weren't taking security seriously and that's now very clear. I would have trouble trusting Yahoo going forward."

Yahoo was tentative in its description of new problems, saying the incident was "likely" distinct from the one it reported in September and that stolen information "may have included" names, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.

It said it had not yet identified the intrusion that led to the massive data theft and noted that payment-card data and bank account information were not stored in the system the company believes was affected.

Yahoo said it discovered the breach while reviewing data provided to the company by law enforcement. FireEye Inc's Mandiant unit and Aon Plc's Stroz Friedberg are assisting in the investigation, the Yahoo spokesman told Reuters.

The breach is the latest setback for Yahoo, an internet pioneer that has fallen on hard times in recent years after being eclipsed by younger, fast-growing rivals including Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook.

Hours before it announced the breach on Wednesday, executives with Google, Facebook and other large U.S. technology companies met with President-elect Donald Trump in New York. Reflecting its diminished stature, Yahoo was not invited to the summit, according to people familiar with the meeting.

The Yahoo spokesman said Chief Executive Marissa Mayer was at the company's Sunnyvale, California headquarters to assist in addressing the new breach.

Yahoo shares were down 2.4 percent to $39.91 in extended trading. Verizon shares were little changed from their close at $51.63.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington and Jessica Toonkel in New York; Editing by Savio D'Souza, Bernard Orr)

If true, allegations in a pair of breaking reports Wednesday evening would mean a hostile foreign power may have successfully interfered with the presidential election of the world's leading democratic superpower, and the president-elect knew about it.

According to top U.S. intelligence officials, a covert campaign to interfere with the 2016 presidential election and to assist Donald Trump in a victory over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was directed by the highest echelons of the Kremlin, including by Russian president Vladimir Putin himself. The report goes on to describe Putin's involvement as a personal vendetta against Clinton.

The NBC News story broke early Wednesday evening by reporters William Arkin, Ken Dilanian, and Cynthia McFadden. The report is a troubling development to a national news story that has gained traction since The Washington Post reported last Friday that Russian involvement was meant specifically to help Trump. Now sources believe the Russian president himself was involved, the sociopolitical implications of which are disastrous. If the reports are true, a hostile foreign power may have successfully interfered with the presidential election of the world's leading democratic superpower to suit his preference.

According to the report, "Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said."

More from the NBC News report:

Putin's objectives were multifaceted, a high-level intelligence source told NBC News. What began as a "vendetta" against Hillary Clinton morphed into an effort to show corruption in American politics and to "split off key American allies by creating the image that [other countries] couldn't depend on the U.S. to be a credible global leader anymore," the official said.

Another report from The Hill published Wednesday evening detailed comments made by White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who alleged in no uncertain terms that Donald Trump was aware that Russia had perpetrated cyber attacks against the United States PRIOR to the election. Said Earnest:

"There's ample evidence that was known long before the election and in most cases long before October about the Trump campaign and Russia — everything from the Republican nominee himself calling on Russia to hack his opponent," Earnest said. "It might be an indication that he was obviously aware and concluded, based on whatever facts or sources he had available to him, that Russia was involved and their involvement was having a negative impact on his opponent's campaign."

Two days ago, in response to the controversial Washington Post report last Friday, Trump asked followers on Twitter why no one had mentioned Russian hacking before the election.

Many view the tweet as troubling. His reticence to acknowledge that he was even aware of Russian interference, despite his own potentially treasonous call to Russian forces to hack his opponent in July of this year, directly conflicts with the fact that tens of millions of Americans heard the issue come up with Clinton on the presidential debate stage in all. three. debates.

Furthermore, Trump has repeatedly praised Putin in the past, the totality of such developments leading Senator Harry Reid to opine that, in his view, Trump and/or his campaign was aware of or even complicit in the hacking efforts. The Clinton campaign has been trying to draw attention to reports of Russian interventionism for months. On Monday, they announced publicly their support for providing Electors with intelligence briefings in advance of the Electoral College casting their vote for president on December 19th.

A national grassroots movement has gained traction online asking members of the Electoral College to vote for Hillary Clinton in light of these developments, among others. The Electors cast their vote on December 19, 2016. A petition asking the Electoral College Make Hillary Clinton President has gained nearly 5 million signatures, and concerned citizens may join efforts at www.asktheelectors.org.

Either driverless cars replicate humans a bit too well or they need more tweaking before they're ready for prime time.

Just hours after Uber proudly rolled out a fleet of sleek self-driving Volvos in San Francisco on Wednesday morning, one of them barreled through a red light. Now California officials have called a halt to the pilot.

All of Uber's self-driving cars in both San Francisco and Pittsburgh, the first city to see Uber's autonomous tech, do have an engineer at the wheel, so this could technically be classified as human error.

Notably, the car's brake lights were on as it entered the intersection, indicating perhaps someone aboard the vehicle attempted to stop but did so too late.

Somewhat ironically, the incident was captured by a dash cam mounted aboard a taxi in the next lane, aka the thing Uber's technology aims to one day replace.

An operations manager at Luxor Cab, which operates the taxi in the video, confirmed its authenticity to the San Francisco Examiner, which first obtained the video.

Demanding that it first obtain a permit for operating the autonomous vehicle, California's Department of Motor Vehicles ordered Uber to halt testing its self-driving cars on public streets in a letter sent to the company Wednesday.

"It is illegal for the company to operate its self-driving vehicles on public roads until it receives on autonomous vehicle testing permit," the letter from state officials said. "If Uber does not confirm immediately that it will stop its launch and seek a testing permit, DMV will initiate legal action."

Uber had hailed the novelty for its customers Wednesday: "Starting today, riders who request an uberX in San Francisco will be matched with a Self-Driving Uber if one is available. Expanding our self-driving pilot allows us to continue to improve our technology through real-world operations."

In a statement to The Huffington Post, Uber said the incident was a human mistake, not a technical one.

"This incident was due to human error," the spokesperson said. "This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was ... not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate."

NEW DELHI -- Lenovo India on Wednesday launched its Note series "Lenovo K6 Note" in two variants for the Indian consumers.

The first variant (32GB with 3GB RAM) is priced at Rs 13,999 while 64GB with 4GB RAM model is priced at Rs 15,499, along with expandable capacity up to 128GB with microSD card support.

The 5.5-inches full HD display device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Octa-core processor with 4G LTE connectivity. It also sports 16 MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera.

"We are also introducing the K-Series for the first time in the offline retail channel to ensure that a larger set of our consumers can enjoy the best multimedia immersive smartphone experience," said Sudhin Mathur, Executive Director, Lenovo Mobile Business Group, India, in a statement.

The Lenovo K6 Note will be available in dark grey, gold and silver colours at retail stores from December 17.

By Gina Cherelus and Dustin Volz

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump and some of Silicon Valley's most powerful executives met at his Manhattan tower on Wednesday, a summit convened to smooth over frictions after both sides made no secret of their disdain for each other during the election campaign.

The meeting was expected to focus on economic issues and skirt the numerous disagreements the tech industry has with Trump - including on immigration, the trade relationship with China and digital privacy - in favor of a focus on shared priorities, sources said.

"There's nobody like the people in this room, and anything we can do to help this go along we're going to do that for you," Trump told the executives gathered in a conference room on the 25th floor of Trump Tower. "You call my people, you call me, it doesn't make any difference. We have no formal chain of command," he said.

Trump added: "We're going to make fair trade deals. We're going to make it a lot easier for you to trade across borders."

Three of Trump's adult children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, sat at the head of a large rectangular table as the meeting began. Their attendance may fuel further concern about potential conflicts of interests for Trump, who has said he would hand over control of his business empire to his children while he occupies the White House.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence was also in attendance. Guests sat in front of paper name plates and bottles of water sporting the Trump brand logo.

The meeting between tech luminaries, including Apple Inc's Tim Cook, Facebook Inc's Sheryl Sandberg and Tesla Motors Inc's Elon Musk, took place as Trump has alarmed some U.S. corporations with his rhetoric challenging long-established policy toward China, a main market for Silicon Valley.

A senior Chinese state planning official told the China Daily newspaper Wednesday that Beijing could slap a penalty on a U.S. automaker for monopolistic behavior, a warning delivered days after Trump questioned acknowledging Taiwan as part of "one China."

The official did not identify the automaker.

The tech summit is being billed as an introductory session, said sources briefed on the talks.

Several company executives thanked Trump for hosting the meeting during introductions attended by reporters. Sandberg said she was most interested in discussing job creation.

Other expected participants include Alphabet Inc's Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, Microsoft Corp's Satya Nadella, and Ginni Rometty from IBM, sources said.

Twitter was not invited to the meeting because it was too small, a transition spokesman told Reuters.

Cook and Musk will join Trump for a separate meeting after the other technology executives leave, a spokesman for Trump's transition team said.

The CEOs of Airbnb and Uber were invited but are not attending. Uber's Travis Kalanick will instead be traveling in India all week, according to a person familiar with his plans.

Bezos said in a statement the meeting was "very productive" and that he "shared the view that the administration should make innovation one of its key pillars, which would create a huge number of jobs across the whole country, in all sectors, not just tech - agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing -everywhere."

'SOME HESITATION'

Trump clashed with Silicon Valley on several issues during the election campaign, including immigration, government surveillance and encryption, and his surprise victory last month alarmed many companies that feared he might follow through on his pledges. He has said that many tech companies are overvalued by investors.

"You look at some of these tech stocks that are so, so weak as a concept and a company and they're selling for so much money," he told Reuters in an interview in May.

Those concerns have not been assuaged in recent weeks as Trump has threatened to upset trade relationships with China and appoint officials who favor expanded surveillance programs.

"For some of the companies, there was some hesitation about whether to attend" because of sharp political and personal differences with Trump, one tech industry source said.

More than 600 employees of technology companies pledged in an open letter on Tuesday to refuse to help Trump's administration build a data registry to track people based on their religion or assist in mass deportations.

Silicon Valley enjoyed a warm rapport with President Barack Obama and heavily supported Democrat Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign.

Schmidt was photographed on election night at Clinton headquarters wearing a staff badge, and Musk said in interviews before the election that Trump's character reflected poorly on the United States.

Despite those tensions, Trump named Musk to a business advisory council that will give private-sector input to Trump after he takes office on Jan. 20. Uber's Kalanick was also appointed to the council.

From the employees of the 10 largest Fortune 500 tech companies, Trump raised just $179,400 from 982 campaign donors who contributed more than $200. Clinton raised $4.4 million from the employees of the same companies, with more than 20,400 donations, a Reuters review of contribution data found.

Trump publicly bashed the industry during the campaign. He urged his supporters to boycott Apple products over the company's refusal to help the FBI unlock an iPhone associated with last year's San Bernardino, California, shootings, threatened antitrust action against Amazon and demanded that tech companies build their products in the United States.

Trump has also been an opponent of the Obama administration's "net neutrality" rules barring internet service providers from obstructing or slowing consumer access to web content. Two advisers to his Federal Communications Commission transition team are opponents of the rules, as are the two Republicans on the FCC.

Last week, the two Republicans on the panel urged a quick reversal of many Obama policies and one, Commissioner Ajit Pai, said he believed that net neutrality's "days are numbered."

(Additional reporting by David Shepardson, Andy Sullivan, Grant Smith, Heather Somerville, Steve Holland, Jim Finkle and Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Alistair Bell and Grant McCool)

The best emojis are universal – regardless of which language you're using, they still mean the same thing.

So the notion of an "emoji translator" might sound a little counterintuitive.

Well, not according to Today Translations, a top translation firm based in the City of London.

The firm is currently looking to hire an "emoji translator / specialist" to "provide the human touch needed where translation software is inadequate".

Candidates should be able to demonstrate a passion for emojis, combined with knowledge of "areas of confusion and cultural/international differences".

A spokesperson told HuffPost UK that some emojis have different meanings in different cultures.

"A smiling face with tears running down it is interpreted in some cultures positively, to mean tears of joy, but in others negatively, to represent tears of sadness. Yet, research shows that it's the single most popular emoji across the world," the spokesperson said.

The firm foresees the service being used by marketers. "The 'thumbs up' emoji, fairly innocuous to you and I, can be considered quite offensive in some middle eastern cultures for example," the spokesperson said.

"A global marketing campaign could quickly fall afoul of using the wrong emoji, just as we have seen it happen in the past with poor word choices."

But it could also be valuable to lawyers interpreting online conversations.

"There are have recently been cases where criminals have tried to hide their communications by use of emojis, or questions raised about the seriousness of the gun emoji being used as a threat," the spokesperson added.

"I think there's certainly going to be a need for emojis to be interpreted as evidence in criminal proceedings."

NEW DELHI -- Concerned over the disappearance of a JNU student for nearly two months, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the police to "scan" the entire campus, including hostels, classrooms and rooftops, of the varsity by using sniffer dogs.

A bench of justices G S Sistani and Vinod Goel also asked Delhi Police to take all necessary steps without further loss of time to trace out the student - Najeeb Ahmed, saying there has been delay in recording statements of some students suspected of thrashing him a day before his disappearance.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and its student union, JNUSU, were asked by the bench to file affidavits in two days stating they have no objection to the "thorough search" and that all assistance would be provided to the police.

The court also said the police was free to search Jamia Millia University also, if required. In case of any resistance or objection to it from the varsity or its students, the agency could approach the court for permission.

The bench said it was not concerned about which students union did what and it was not on a fact-finding mission regarding what JNU did wrong or right. "We are only concerned with where he has vanished," it said.

The directions came on the habeus corpus plea by Najeeb's mother, Fatima Nafees, who has moved court to trace out her son who has been missing since the intervening night of October 14-15. The matter was listed for further hearing on December 22.

The lawyer for Najeeb's mother contended that the police was "bypassing" the abduction angle and it appeared that the agency was moving on the theory that something was mentally wrong with the student as he just walked out of the campus.

Delhi Police, represented by senior standing counsel for Delhi government Rahul Mehra, refuted the allegations and told the court that it was exploring all angles, including abduction, and was not hiding any details of the probe from the student's mother.

Mehra also said four students, who are suspected of beating up Najeeb, would be put to lie-detector tests to get leads or clues about his disappearance and whereabouts. The police expected to get results in the next 10 days, he said.

I want to say firstly that the democracy that exists today is not a complete democracy. And secondly, democracy cannot be complete until we create a system for economic equality. Political equality alone cannot make democracy complete: those who are economically unequal may be called politically equal, but in reality they are not equal.

Until there is economic equality, political equality is just talk; equality will be just a plaything in the hands of a few people. So, here in India there is democracy and in other countries such as America there is also democracy—but even in America that democracy is partial. Democracy cannot be complete until an atmosphere of economic equality also emerges.

Until we plan thoroughly for economic equality, there will be democracy only in word. From behind, "money-cracy" will continue.

And I want to say this: whatever alternatives are going on in the world, none of them is democracy in the real sense of the word. One alternative has been in Soviet Russia, but it too was not a democracy because economic equality was given, but political equality taken away. That too is a partial democracy. It may be called a dictatorship or whatever else, but the name makes no difference.

And in countries where there is political freedom but no economic equality, there too democracy is half. The democracy that I call democracy has not yet been born in this world. By this I do not mean that the only alternative to this democracy is dictatorship. No, the only alternative to this democracy is complete democracy.

Until we plan thoroughly for economic equality, there will be democracy only in word. From behind, "money-cracy" will continue. So, on the face of it we think there is democracy, but the rich are dominant and run the system. And they will continue to do so: it is natural that they do so because whoever controls the money will never let go of the power. The rich will keep the power in their hands. Democracy exists nowhere in the world, not in Russia, not in America, not in India, and not in Pakistan.

Q. What is your idea of economic equality?

It is simple: there can be no reason for anyone to have a special right to the wealth that exists in any nation or society on the earth. Firstly, whether it is ownership of land or any other type of wealth, all rights to it were acquired by some form of violence. No one should have any special right to wealth: wealth belongs to everyone. It is fundamental that wealth should belong to everyone. It is collectively earned; it comes about through the collective competence of all. To this wealth, everyone has a right. And through this wealth, everyone should have an equal opportunity and privilege to progress in life.

Q. What will happen, in detail?

That is something else. What I am talking about is the principle: any accumulation of a nation's wealth through exploitation is not democracy. And as long as wealth can be accumulated by any means, that system is not a democracy. A democracy cannot give the rights to land and the opportunity to accumulate wealth. Because the moment someone accumulates wealth, the value of that person's vote does not remain at "one"—their vote is now equal to "many." And someone who does not have wealth, the value of his vote also does not remain "one"—his vote is worth just a few rupees.

The moment someone accumulates wealth, the value of that person's vote does not remain at "one"—their vote is now equal to "many."

As long as wealth is divided unequally—and just now the systems of all societies are such that it goes on being divided unequally—democracy will be only in word. And this democracy will continue to oppose dictatorship, but will itself remain a kind of dictatorship.

So, whatever systems there are in the world are more or less just a form of dictatorship. None of them is a democracy. The alternative that I am talking about is not a choice between the system of India or the system of Pakistan, the system of Russia or the system of America. What I am proposing is a concept of democracy such that we can slowly make the financial status of every person equal, to the point that their political status can also become equal. And when all are equal in political status, democracy can be there... otherwise it cannot be.

In a democracy which tells people that they are independent politically and that everyone has equal value... that equal value can only be in theory, not in practical life. This is because your worth is not assigned to you; it is assigned to the wealth you own.

—Osho (extract from an unpublished talk)

Bundled up in wool hats, scarves, mittens, and about two kilos of extra weight in clothes (and admittedly a "few" added grams from the cheese we've been consuming) we wind our way through the woods behind the 12^th-century Strahov monastery. I think of Robert Frost's famous lines, "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." Like Frost surmised, we probably do have miles to go—and tons to see—before the husband and I settle in for the night at our 1620-built hotel, now part of a UNESCO-world-heritage site.

It's about 3pm and, already, dusk has set in with surprising decisiveness. In the clearing, we spot an unassuming Hansel-and-Gretel-like cottage. The sign outside quietly proclaims that they serve Czech beer—specifically, beer brewed by the monks who still live in the monastery we just passed. Beer-brewing monks? There's absolutely no stopping us now.

Christmas is in the air and store-fronts twinkle with fairy lights, angels and elves. Restaurants with outdoor dining offer fluffy fur seat covers and warm woollen blankets.

Cranking open the door, we walk down a steep stairway into a candle-lit cave hewn entirely out of rock. We're in Peklo restaurant, a 14^th-century wine cellar where King Charles IV stored wine made by the nearby monasteries. That experience with fine beverages must have paid off—even today, those monks know how to knock out a good, caramel-y dark beer.

Like the restaurant, Prague in the winter time tells an intriguing story. Our off-season vacation promises to be teeth-clatteringly cold—but also quietly fascinating. We head out of the restaurant to do what every tourist in Prague absolutely has to do— walk down the Charles Bridge.

Usually overrun by tourists, Charles Bridge is mysteriously intimate in the cold night air. Lit by streetlamps, its imposing Gothic statues take turns staring down at us. Ahead of us, the yellow-gold of the spires and domes of the Old Town reflect in gleaming black water of the Vlatva River.

Along the cobblestone streets of the Old Town, centuries-old churches seem perfectly content to sidle up to upmarket restaurants and snazzy boutiques. Christmas is in the air and store-fronts twinkle with fairy lights, angels and elves. Restaurants with outdoor dining offer fluffy fur seat covers and warm woollen blankets.

The streets open up into the Old Town Square where Prague's Christmas market comes breathtakingly alive. With groups of shoppers huddled around small tables, cold hands clutching mugs of steaming mulled wine and rum-spiked hot chocolate, the Christmas market is all about community. And food. Lots of it. There's hunkering hams roasting over charcoal spits and gingerbread cookies shaped like Santas and snowflakes; there's grilled barbequed sausages and towering mountains of unpronounceable cheese written in Czech, the script of which is like English with a healthy dose of Wingdings font thrown into it.

We sample some cheese (by now, you're seeing a pattern here, aren't you?). This time, it's grilled sheep's cheese, served on warm bread and then doused with garlic butter—a perfectly satisfying, creamy yet pungent bite on a cold night. Next on the list is the traditional Czech dessert, trdelník. Ribbons of dough are wrapped around a rolling pin, roasted over charcoal and then made to do a little waltz in cinnamon sugar. The inside of the cone is slathered in Nutella and you've got yourself a snack that's crunchy, warm and chocolate-y with a mild hint of charcoal sneaking up on you at the last minute.

Prague tells stories at every corner. Stories more enchanting on a quiet, dark winter's day.

Quaint little stalls sell every type of Christmas ornament you can dream up. Angels made of corn husks and lace ornaments from East Europe fill up stalls next to classic Czech marionettes of Pinocchio and Charlie Chaplin.

The beautifully lit Christmas tree next to us goes dim for a moment. Then with a sudden burst of classical music, the tree beams up again, the lights dancing in perfect synchronisation to the swells of the music.

With that little sampling of music, we head off to hear the real thing—a concert at the Rudolfinum, a 19^th century art gallery turned concert hall. For an hour, notes from Mozart and Bach, Brahms and Vivaldi fill the sumptuous gilded hall. Yes, it's touristy but it's also soul-satisfying music. Long after we leave the concert hall, the music continues to play. It stays with us, much like Prague. A destination that tells stories at every corner. Stories more enchanting on a quiet, dark winter's day.

A Saudi Arabian minister apparently said in a meeting that the Stone Age did not come to an end because they ran out of stones. He was referring to the need to curtail the use of fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions—his implication was that fossil fuels will automatically be replaced when other sources are invented. We can extend the same paradigm to the entire business of climate change—that climate change will not stop because humans will change their ways but because they will adopt the solutions we develop for carbon-neutral energy and food production.

Climate scientists are better off worrying less about climate deniers and public scepticism about science, and should simply focus on developing solutions before we run out of fossil fuels.

Climate scientists are in a tizzy over many issues relating to human activities and global warming. The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency and the potential retraction of the US from international agreements is certainly a matter of consternation. A number of petitions are already being circulated and they are bound to garner an impressive number of signatures. But as the President of the richest country in the world, Trump will continue to make choices just as his predecessors did. This headline shows that even the most passionate and climate-friendly President has limitations on what choices he can really make to lead climate action. Despite his personal interest and passion in climate action, President Obama made a number of choices that are not climate friendly.

Then there is the general tendency of climate scientists to reach for the standard placebos on how the dark forces are seeding doubts about climate change and creating impediments to climate action or how science communication is not being effective in reducing laypeople's doubts about science and scientists. This constant complaining is especially unhealthy since science itself is founded on scepticism!

In all honesty, climate deniers and the science-ignorance of the general public may not be the biggest impediments to climate action. The bigger hurdle may be that climate scientists and climate aficionados are not really leading by example, in terms of changing their lifestyles in all ways needed to reduce their own carbon footprints. In fact, it is not even possible for us mere mortals to change our consumption patterns sufficiently to be a major part of climate action. Local, regional and global solutions are needed to meet the resource needs of all humans without increasing greenhouse gases or affecting the environment negatively in any other way. This is especially important considering that real life will always force us to prioritise a billion things over climate action.

For example, developing countries like China and India cannot afford to leave their coal languishing in the ground considering their energy needs to not only continue their economic growth but to provide for the basic needs of their citizens. This forces these countries to make some choices that are in fact unhealthy in a real sense of deadly air pollution . The blanket of smog in north India following Diwali celebrations last month, for one, is still fresh in our memory.

Coal use will not end because we will run out of coal. There is just too much coal on earth. We must find alternative energy sources to make coal obsolete. Climate action will never be immune to the vagaries of politics. Or be resilient to natural disasters like the tsunami that hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant and forced Japan to reconsider its commitment to climate action. Unless, of course, climate-friendly food, energy, water and carbon-capture-and-sequestration solutions make climate action completely independent of politics.

Climate scientists are better off worrying less about climate deniers and public scepticism about science, and should simply focus on developing solutions before we run out of fossil fuels. Even if 99% of all humanity miraculously agreed that humans are causing global warming, we will not be able to have much additional impact on mitigating the warming since large-scale solutions are not yet in place. For example, if a reasonable number of people wanted to give up their cars and rely on public transportation and the politicians agreed to offer reliable public transportation to all, then, implementing efficient public transportation will take many more years even for the richest of countries.

Local actions allow people to steer their own destinies instead of resenting environmental regulations as top-down impositions.

In other words, if the strategy to respond even in the face of a miraculous epiphany among humans to tackle climate change is to just create more regulations curtailing energy-hungry lifestyles, then that may also backfire if climate change impacts don't become obvious for many years in many places. Especially since remote effects such as starving polar bears have become too routine—just like the bad news from the war in Syria. On the other hand, if the focus for action is developed based upon local environmental issues people care about—like the quality of air and water they depend upon—then measurable metrics can be set up. People can then see the benefits of their environmental stewardship pay dividends over time by dealing with the issues in their own backyards. Sustainable strategies can emerge from such local approaches for long-term engagement in climate action. All global warming is local but all local actions will have global impacts. Local actions also allow people to steer their own destinies instead of resenting environmental regulations as top-down impositions.

To repeat my favourite mantra: we want the children of the future to dream about reaching the far ends of the universe(s) instead of living in fear of the world coming to an end because we want to eat well and travel to see all the beautiful places on earth. We must hope that the ingenious human mind is capable of saving the planet from itself without having to starve or stay at home for the fear of polluting the environment.

On 8 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stunned the nation by announcing the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes. These denominations which comprised about 85% of the currency in circulation would no longer be valid from the midnight of that night, he said. The stated objectives of the move were to unearth hoarded black money, counter terrorism and address the issue of counterfeit currency. While how much demonetisation will impact any of these areas remains to be seen, a month down the line, the vast majority of India is struggling hard with the cash crunch. Fact is, the time being taken to "remonetise" the economy is taking a serious toll—as of 7 December less than 30% of the withdrawn value of cash was replaced—and prima facie is outweighing the possible benefits of demonetisation. The need of the hour is to beef up the circulation of currency in the shortest time possible.

A mere 25% contraction in money supply wiped half of America's GDP during the Great Depression. What can we do to avoid similar effects?

The major challenge of beefing up circulation of cash is the time taken in printing new currency notes. In retrospect, it seems utterly bizarre and even juvenile that those at the helm in the Finance Ministry and RBI didn't think this through in detail or weighed in on the impact that this would have on the citizens of India and the economy. In hindsight, it is clear that multiple options could have been exercised, even if the announcement and subsequent process were kept secret (although even the level of actual secrecy is in question).

Now, the past cannot be undone, but what can we do now? The economy is already suffering because of the cash shortage and there may be worse to come—former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has estimated a 2% reduction in the GDP growth, while some brokerage houses have predicted halving of GDP growth. Some analysts have even predicted recession after few quarters. One can argue about the extent of damage due to the absence of adequate currency, but no one can deny that contraction in the economy is evitable. The government is pinning its hopes on the currency deposits in bank, which can increase the liquidity in the economy, leading to recovery. I believe such a complacent mindset, and putting all eggs in one basket, can only be disastrous. The only way to salvage the situation is the printing and distribution of replaced currency notes in the shortest possible time.

Now, let us look at the biggest bottleneck in remonitisation—printing.

First, what's the production capacity of institutions of state entrusted with printing new currency notes of ₹2000 and ₹500? According to reports, the ₹2000 note is being produced by the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt Ltd (BRBNMPL), which has the capacity to produce around 60-70 crore pieces per shift and is working two shifts. Fact is, even if it works three shifts , it can at most produce 190-200 crore pieces, so the lead time to replace the demonetised ₹1000 notes—which stood at around 600 crore pieces at the time of demonetisation—with ₹2000 notes will be around the end of December or even later. (

Printing currency expeditiously seems to be the only plausible solution to the cash crunch. Given that we have severe constraints in domestic printing, why can we not look overseas?

The key will be lead time to replace the demonetised ₹500 notes; replacement of these in a short span of time, in my understanding, is difficult. The ₹500 note is being printed by the Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India Ltd, and its estimated capacity is 100 crore pieces a month, so in standalone function it will take at least 16 months to replace 1600 (approx) crore pieces of demonetised ₹500 notes. After the printing of ₹2000 notes is over by December, my sense is BRBNMPL will be utilised for printing 500 notes; still it is unlikely the ₹500 notes will be replaced before May 2017, and I'm being optimistic here.

This is too long a time for an economy to be bereft of notes that form a major portion of currency stock, and the effects could be deleterious both in the long and short terms. I am appalled that the Prime Minister and his "acolytes" didn't think of this side-effect of demonetisation. Mere 25% contraction in money supply wiped half of America's GDP during the Great Depression. What can we do to avoid similar effects, now that a rollback is not possible (it will at best add to the chaos)?

Given this government's penchant for marketing and optics, such a move can also be showcased/sold as an innovative and bold step.

Given this government's penchant for marketing and optics, such a move can also be showcased/sold as an innovative and bold step.

Printing currency expeditiously seems to be the only plausible solution. Given that we have severe constraints in domestic printing as I mentioned earlier, why can we not consider printing money overseas? I am quite sure there must be lot of currency printing units idle, given the nature of their periodic utilisation. I know it entails lot of design, security, machine adjustments issues to address but my strong belief is that this option is still worth exploring, rather than waiting for a long period for our printing setup to crank out what we need. The regular bureaucratic structures of the RBI and Finance Ministry cannot be entrusted to scout for such printing presses. In my opinion, a private agency such as a cash management service or consulting entity can be roped in with a mandate to search out and forge an alliance with a printing press in the shortest possible time. Once the printing press is identified and a potential alliance is put in place, the RBI can take the reins and expedite the process of printing and transportation of currency.

Stifling money circulation for long will be a monumental blunder, not only for the economy but for the political fortunes of the current ruling dispensation. To counter the damage the option of overseas printing offers potential recourse. Given this government's penchant for marketing and optics, such a move can also be showcased/sold as an innovative and bold step.

Everyone was always telling me that there were cities in the world that would make me fall in love with them, that would make returning home tough. Cities that I'd always yearn to visit again. Now, I love travelling and I visited many cities in India and abroad. I enjoyed every new city I set foot in. But after a few days, or weeks or even months of staying and exploring, I would always want to come back home.

Then, Hong Kong happened.

Everyone was right. My city of love was Hong Kong, and at the end of my trip I literally looked up at the sky and took a deep breath—taking in the air, the vibe of the city I had come to love so much. Now, I know I said this for Singapore. And for my recent trip to Israel. And for Phuket as well. But there is all kinds of love for destinations, right? I think we have different kind of emotions attached to and different relationships with the places we visit. Anyway, not to label my travels or anything but Hong Kong is definitely the one—my city-soulmate. Here are 9 reasons why I fell head over heels for it.

1. The vibe of the city. The energy

Hong Kong is crowded. I'm an Indian who spent half her life in New Delhi, so when I say some place is crowded, trust me, it really is. There are people walking everywhere, on every street and corner. But the energy of this city is resplendent and exciting at the same time. The vibe is fun and festive, all day long, everyday.

A photo posted by Aditi Mathur Kumar (@adicrazy) on Oct 25, 2015 at 10:44pm PDT

2. The walking

I'm no fitness fanatic, but I love walking and Hong Kong is all about walking. The walking is the essence of Hong Kong, if you ask me. And it comes in handy after you've gone overboard with the food because you will, which brings me to my next point.

3. The food.

The food in Hong Kong, oh the food! While Cantonese/Chinese food is dominant here, you get international cuisine extremely easily. And there is no dearth of lip-smacking street food either. From quick pack-and-carry joints or Michelin Star fine dine restaurants, there is everything for every need. And I've tried both options. Yum.

4. The skyline + Symphony of Lights

The Hong Kong skyline is very pretty, everyone knows it. But I had to see it to believe how staggeringly wicked it is! Tall buildings, beautiful lighting that reflects on the sea and the Hong Kong eye—they make a beautiful scene. And then there's the Symphony of Lights that is conducted every day (I think) with light effects and music all over the skyline, and it adds to the effect and makes it outstanding.

A photo posted by Aditi Mathur Kumar (@adicrazy) on Apr 23, 2016 at 12:26pm PDT

5. Efficient systems, easy life

This one is a very important point, I think. The metro is the most used mode of transportation in Hong Kong. Despite the huge population, the number of personal cars on the streets is very low—which I love. There is a local bus system and taxis are available aplenty. Their escalator system is very cool, and it changes the direction (goes down) during the office hours which, I think, is clever. So, the system is very efficient. And because the public transport is sorted, productivity automatically goes up. I love this about Hong Kong.

6. Wine & Dine Festival

This might be a little biased because I went to this with the most fun people ever, my sister and brother-in-law, and we had a great time. This was my first visit to Hong Kong and the Wine & Dine Festival was the main reason I was there. We enjoyed ourselves a lot, the venue was breathtaking and there was wine—what's not to love?

7. It's socially acceptable to bar-hop all day

Now, I don't know for sure if it really is socially acceptable, I don't live in Hong Kong, but it sure looks that way. While going up and down the above mentioned escalators, I've seen well-dressed people flood the bars and pubs lining the streets in SoHo at 5pm, with beer mugs in front of them. And they have a street dedicated to bars and music. Totally up my alley, I say.

8. Shopping

Hong Kong is one of the world's most expensive cities, but some amount of shopping is something one likes indulge in everywhere regardless of the currency status, right? Street shopping is so much fun here, especially in Ladies' Market. The malls here are glitzy and glossy beyond belief. Every high end brand is present in Hong Kong. From creative sex toys to every gadget ever invented—just go crazy and shop.

9. The daily fashion parade

Everywhere you look, you'll be stunned, really. I have been repeatedly told that Manhattan is the Mecca of well dressed people out on the streets, but I haven't been there (yet) and Hong Kong is amazing in that sense. The people are all well dressed and the fashion game is on point. Girl walk from metro stations to offices in stilettos that I wouldn't even brave inside my house. The men have tasteful tattoos and great skin. Overall, being in Hong Kong makes you feel under-dressed. By you I mean me, obviously. I've got nothing to wear but that's a topic or another time.

Now, go see Hong Kong and let me know if you agree with me here!

A version of this article first appeared on Aditi's Monologue

NEW DELHI -- Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, who has been vehemently opposing the Centre's demonetisation move, on Thursday decided to hit the streets over the issue and share the 'pain and anguish' of people affected by it.

Gandhi, while chairing a meeting of all-party MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha besides senior Congress leaders, said that he would travel to every nook and corner of the country after the Winter session of Parliament, and highlight the pain suffered by public due to demonetisation.

The announcement comes on a day when the Congress leader sensationally alleged that he had information about 'personal corruption' involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to sources, Gandhi discussed about the demonetisation issue and the 'consequent pain' of the people, at the meeting.

"Demonetisation has actually demonetised the real India. For attacking half percent of 'wrong' people, Mr Modi has conducted a strike on the entire economy," he is reported to have said at the meeting.

Sources claimed that Congress MPs also agreed to travel to their respective constituencies to highlight the problems faced by people in the wake of demonetisation.

The Congress vice president also alleged that the Centre's move of demonetising ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes has given way to a parallel system of illegally changing old currency into new and selling of new currency, which remain unchecked.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Gandhi met with MPs and party leaders, and resolved to reflect, take up and fight for the pain caused by demonetisation, which he (Gandhi) said had utterly failed and was an attack on India's poor and farmers.

Also on HuffPost India.

DEHRADUN-- Baba Ramdev promoted Patanjali Ayurveda's five production units will have to cough up a fine worth Rs. 11 lakh for "misbranding and putting up misleading advertisements" of their products, a court in Uttarakhand's Haridwar has ruled. Patanjali has been asked to pay the fine within a month.

A case had been filed in the court against the company in 2012 by the District Food Safety Department after samples of mustard oil, salt, pineapple jam, besan and honey produced by Patanjali Ayurveda had failed quality tests at Rudrapur laboratory.

The products were found to be in violation of sections 52-53 of Food Security norms and section 23.1 (5) of Food safety and Standard (packaging and labelling) regulation.

Earlier this year in July, advertising watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India or ASCI had once again pulled up Patanjali for running "misleading" ad campaigns which disparage competitors' products.

The Consumer Complaints Council or CCC had found that Patanjali's claim for its 'Kachi Ghani Mustard Oil' that rival makers are selling mustard oil "adulterated with oil made by solvent extraction process with neurotoxin containing Hexane", was not substantiated.

Patanjali had also failed to substantiate its claims for Patanjali Fruit Juice, where it had claimed rival brands as "expensive juices containing less pulp".

Similarly, it also failed to substantiate its claims in the ad for cattle feed 'Patanjali Dugdhamrut' as "other companies mix 3 to 4 per cent urea and other non-edible things in their cattle feed."

In May this year, ASCI had rapped Patanjali Ayurveda for "false and misleading" claims in its various advertisements, including its hair oil and washing powder brands, while issuing list for month of March.

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