Google acquires Kaggle, a San Francisco-based startup that hosts data science, machine learning competitions

What likely tempted Google to buy Kaggle is its rich and active community, including more than 800,000 data experts.

Google, on Thursday, announced the acquisition of Kaggle, a San Francisco-based startup that offers a platform for data science professionals to come together. The company also hosts data science and machine learning competitions, and runs a job board with listings for analysts, programmers and more.
What likely tempted Google to buy Kaggle is its rich and active community, including more than 800,000 data experts who use the company's platform to analyse and understand the latest updates in machine learning and data analytics. Kaggle, which was founded in 2010, is said to be the world's largest community of data scientists who compete with each other to solve complex data science problems, using the latest machine learning applications.
"Kaggle is the best place to search and analyze public datasets, build machine learning models and grow your data science expertise," Fei-Fei Li, chief scientist, Google Cloud AI and Machine Learning, said in a statement. "We must lower the barriers of entry to AI and make it available to the largest community of developers, users and enterprises, so they can apply it to their own unique needs. With Kaggle joining the Google Cloud team, we can accelerate this mission."

Although it is unclear how Google will utilise Kaggle's expertise, Li said there would be combined efforts to support "machine learning training and deployment services, while offering the community the ability to store and query large datasets." Li also didn't disclose the terms of the deal.
Kaggle's CEO Anthony Goldbloom suggested in a blog post that Google would keep the service running under its current name.
"The Kaggle team will remain together and will continue Kaggle as a distinct brand within Google Cloud," Goldbloom wrote. "We will continue to grow our competitions and open data platforms, and we will remain open to all data scientists, companies, techniques and technologies. Kaggle Kernels will continue to support a diverse ecosystem of machine learning libraries and packages supported by Google as well as those outside of Google's toolkit."
According to Crunchbase, Kaggle raised a total of $12.75 million in two Series A funding rounds. Its investors include Data Collective, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Max Levchin and Google's chief economist Hal R. Varian.

[Representational Image]Google’s Gmail for Android gets money transfer option; here’s how to get started. In Picture: Google logoReuters

Google's Gmail for Android gets money transfer option; here's how to get started

Google's new money transfer option is as simple as attaching file on Gmail and the feature is currently available only in the US.

Here's how to get started with Gmail money transfer feature:

Nokia C1 Android phone Specifications OverView Nokia C1 Android phone :-

Smartphone running is android Operating System virsion of 5.0 LollyPop. This device has powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset based on Cortex A7 Quad core processor. It provides the great experience with Adreno 305 graphic processor unit. 

Nokia phones 2017 specs, price, release date: Nokia Edge, C1, D1C, E1 high

The iconic logo and tagline of Nokia is displayed along with the potential look of the upcoming Nokia Edge Android smartphone. (Photo : YouTube/GONE IN 180) Nokia phones specs, price list, and release date have been highly searched online. Smartphone enthusiasts have been anticipating the arrival of potential Nokia mobiles which may include the Nokia C1, Nokia Edge, Nokia D1C, and Nokia E1

Cheering the BJP's landslide win in Uttar Pradesh, the Nifty soared to new all-time highs on Tuesday. The Sensex rose as much as 600 points to 29,561 while Nifty surged 188 points to record high of 9,122. The rupee also strengthened to nearly 1-year high of 66.17 against the US dollar, rising 43 paise from Friday's close of 66.60. Analysts say that the decisive mandate in Uttar Pradesh in favour of the BJP removes political uncertainty from the market, which had kept investors cautious in the run-up to the announcement of the election results. Markets will price in a stable government for long

Analysts said that the Uttar Pradesh state election results will give a boost to the government's reform agenda. "BJP's emphatic victory in the politically crucial state of UP would embolden the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in aggressively expediting key structural economic reforms," said Ajay Bodke, head of portfolio management services at financial firm Prabhudas Lilladher in Mumbai.



2) Analysts see further upside in the market. TS Harihar, chief executive of HRBV Client Solutions Private Ltd, says the election verdict will move Nifty into a new range of 9100-9500.

3) Another global brokerage CLSA sees Nifty rising to 10,350-12,000 levels over the medium term if it breaks the major technical resistance of 9.191.

4) Bank of America Merrill Lynch expects the government to increase infrastructure spending in Uttar Pradesh and sees banks, cement, and consumption stocks to be a major beneficiary of higher government spending.

5) Beyond the election results, the market will be eying the current Budget session of Parliament and the progress of key GST Bills, says market expert Ajay Bagga. The government is planning to roll out the new tax regime from July.

6) On the global front, the US Federal Reserve's stance on interest rate, Trump administration's policies and French election results would be keenly eyed, Mr Bagga added. 

7) The US Fed rate-setting panel meets on March 14-15 to decide on interest rate. The US central bank is widely expected to increase interest rate in wake of strong economic recovery in the world's biggest economy. Though a Fed rate hike is factored in, a hawkish commentary from the US Federal Reserve could trigger volatility, especially in emerging markets, say analysts.

8) The Sensex and Nifty have gained over 10 per cent so far this year. Better-than-expected third-quarter GDP numbers and earnings from India corporates, a supportive Budget and strong global markets have also lifted the sentiment on Dalal Street.

9) Strong inflows from domestic and foreign investors have also supported the market while a steady rupee has further lifted the sentiment. 

10) Domestic institutional investors have bought shares worth over Rs. 40,000 crore in the past six months. Foreign institutional buyers
have also started nibbling at Indian equities, buying shares worth Rs. 10,485 crore in February.

 On Saturday afternoon, White House press secretary Sean Spicer had an encounter with a woman with an iPhone. She didn't want a selfie. When Shree Chauhan, a former elementary school teacher who is avowedly not a supporter of President Donald Trump, spotted Spicer at an Apple store in the D.C. area, she decided to ask the press secretary some questions "since he doesn't like the press," she wrote on Twitter.

"I wanted to speak truth to power," Chauhan said in a Medium post about the incident that was extremely political and far from polite.

In the video Chauhan posted on Twitter, she can be heard asking Spicer, "How does it feel to work for a fascist?" He answers, "We have a great country." Chauhan persists. "Have you helped with the Russia stuff? Are you a criminal as well? Have you committed treason, too, just like the president?"

Throughout the 50-second back and forth, Spicer, wearing a dark blazer, a button-down shirt sans tie and a concrete smile, attempts to gently rebuff Chauhan while also shopping for his gadgets, thanking the Apple store employees and shaking the hand of another customer. But there was one comeback that stood out.

As Chauhan continues to ask about Russia, Spicer interjects, "Such a great country that allows you to be here."

In her Medium post, Chauhan, who is of Indian heritage, characterized that response as threatening and racist.

"Think about the sheer audacity of Mr. Spicer to say that to my face with a smile, knowing that he is being recorded on video and the position of power he holds in our government. I am still stunned by the boldness of having my citizenship threatened on camera," wrote Chauhan, who added that she has been on the receiving end of online harassment since posting about the Spicer encounter on Saturday.

The go-to insult? "They tell me to leave the country. They have told me to go back to where I came from," she wrote. "To which my snarky reply is often, 'Go back where? New York?'"

The White House did not respond to a request for comment, but Trump seemed to allude to the incident in a Monday morning tweet:

"It is amazing how rude much of the media is to my very hard working representatives. Be nice, you will do much better!"

(Chauhan, who works in education policy, is not a member of the media.)

This is the second time a White House staffer has been confronted in public by a citizen critic. Last month, Omarosa Manigault felt so harassed by two women inside a Nordstrom store in Virginia that the White House communications director was escorted to her car by security.

Revised Donald Trump Travel Ban Gets First Legal Blow

President Donald Trump's revamped travel ban is facing its first major legal setback, after a federal judge halted enforcement of the directive.


President Donald Trump's revamped travel ban is facing its first major legal setback, after a federal judge halted enforcement of the directive that would deny US entry to the wife and child of a Syrian refugee already granted asylum.

In a preliminary restraining order issued Friday that applies only to the Syrian man and his family, US District Judge William Conley in Wisconsin said the plaintiff "is at great risk of suffering irreparable harm" if the directive is carried out.

The man chose to remain anonymous because his wife and child are still living in war-wracked Aleppo.


The order marked the first ruling against the revised directive, which temporarily closes US borders to all refugees and citizens from six mainly-Muslim countries.

It denies US entry to all refugees for 120 days and halts for 90 days the granting of visas to nationals from Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan.

The new order, unveiled Monday, is due to go into effect March 16. Lifting an indefinite Syrian refugee travel ban and reducing the number of blacklisted countries by removing Iraq, it replaces a previous iteration issued in January that was blocked in federal court.

"The court appreciates that there may be important differences between the original executive order and the revised executive order issued on March 6, 2017," Conley wrote.

"As the order applies to the plaintiff here, however, the court finds his claims have at least some chance of prevailing for the reasons articulated by other courts."

He set a hearing for March 21.

'New coat of paint'

In another legal challenge, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint on behalf of several refugee assistance groups over the controversial executive order.

"Putting a new coat of paint on the Muslim ban doesn't solve its fundamental problem, which is that the Constitution and our laws prohibit religious discrimination," said Omar Jadwat, director of the ACLU's immigrant rights project.

"The further President Trump goes down this path, the clearer it is that he is violating that basic rule."

The ACLU, the preeminent US civil liberties group, and the National Immigration Law Center brought the suit on behalf of the International Refugee Assistance Project and the refugee resettlement group HIAS, as well as several individuals.

The suit alleges that the new executive order violates the constitutional protection of freedom of religion in that it is "intended and designed to target and discriminate against Muslims, and it does just that in operation."

"Rarely in American history has governmental intent to discriminate against a particular faith and its adherents been so plain," the complaint says, alleging the new order will cause "irreparable harm" and asking for an injunction.

A federal judge in Maryland, Theodore Chuang, has scheduled a hearing in the case for March 15 -- the day before the measure is due to take effect.

'Still a Muslim ban'

Separately, a federal judge in Seattle who issued a nationwide halt to Trump's original travel restrictions denied a motion to have the same ruling apply to the modified measures, saying at least one of the parties must first file additional court papers.

The state of Maryland said it would join Monday the suit filed by the attorney general from Washington state, which also has the support of Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Oregon.

"President Trump's second executive order is still a Muslim ban," Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement.

"The administration persists in an effort to implement a policy that is inhumane and unconstitutional, but also makes us less safe, not more safe."

The state of Hawaii has filed a separate complaint, and a hearing in that case on whether to impose a national restraining order is set for March 15 as well.

The White House cites national security in justifying the ban, arguing that it needs time to implement "extreme vetting" procedures to keep Islamic militants from entering the country.

Polls show American public opinion is deeply divided on the issue. Most indicate a slight majority of voters opposed, with strong support among Trump's political base.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Preet Bharara Among 46 US Attorneys Asked To Quit By Trump Administration

Mr Bharara, who has earned the reputation of a "crusader" prosecutor, had met President Trump in November after his electoral victory.

Washington: The Trump administration has asked for the resignation of the Indian-American "crusader" prosecutor Preet Bharara and 45 other US attorneys, who were appointed by former President Barack Obama, to ensure a "uniform transition".

In all there are 93 US attorneys. Many of them have already left their positions, but 46 attorneys who stayed on in the first weeks of the Trump administration have been asked by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign "in order to ensure a uniform transition," Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said on Friday.

Defending the move, Flores in a statement said that both the George W Bush and Bill Clinton administrations made similar requests at the beginning of their term.

Among those asked to resign included Mr Bharara, the US Attorney General for Southern District of New York, who was appointed by Obama in 2009.

Mr Bharara, who has earned the reputation of a "crusader" prosecutor, had met President Trump in November after his electoral victory.

Following the meeting, media reports said that President Trump had asked Mr Bharara to stay.

Neither the White House, nor the Department of Justice responded to the questions on Mr Bharara.

48-year-old Mr Bharara has made a national and international mark for himself with many high-profile cases and investigations including foreign countries, insider trading and those involving US politicians. It was under his prosecution that India-born former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta was convicted for insider trading in 2012.

New York Senator Charles Schumer said he is "troubled" to learn the reports of requests for resignations from the remaining US Attorneys, particularly that of Mr Bharara.

"The President initiated a call to me in November and assured me he wanted Mr Bharara to continue to serve as US Attorney for the Southern District," he said.

"By asking for the immediate resignation of every remaining US Attorney before their replacements have been confirmed or even nominated, the President is interrupting ongoing cases and investigations and hindering the administration of justice," Mr Schumer said.

"Until the new US Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our US Attorney's Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting and deterring the most violent offenders," the Justice Department said.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dianne Feinstein, said she is surprised to hear that Trump and Sessions have abruptly fired all 46 remaining US attorneys.

"At a time when Attorney General Sessions has recused himself from major investigations into the Trump campaign, the independence of federal prosecutors could not be more important. That's why many of us have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor," she said.


"Under previous administrations, orderly transitions allowed US attorneys to leave gradually as their replacements were chosen. This was done to protect the independence of our prosecutors and avoid disrupting ongoing federal cases," Feinstein said.

ISRO's 'Lost' Chandrayaan-1 Found Orbiting Moon: NASA

ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 was launched in 2008. It was considered lost till NASA scientists found it.

India's first unmanned mission to the moon- Chandrayaan 1- which was believed lost, is still orbiting the moon, say NASA scientists.

The Chandrayaan-1, which cost $79 million, was launched in 2008 to map the moon's surface and look for precious resources. It was assigned a two-year mission. Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost contact with Chandrayaan-1.

Now, scientists at NASA have successfully located the spacecraft still circling some 200 kilometres above the lunar surface.

Finding the spacecraft required some "detective work because the last contact with the spacecraft was on August 29, 2009," said Marina Brozovic, a radar scientist in Californiai.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft is very small, a cube about 1.5 meters on each side - about the size of a Maruti 800.

It was found using inter-planetary radar which helps observe small asteroids several million miles from Earth.

Finding a derelict spacecraft that has not been tracked for years and is as far as the moon is tricky because the moon is riddled with mascons (regions with higher-than-average gravitational pull) that can dramatically affect a spacecraft's orbit over time, and even cause it to have crashed into the Moon.

Chandrayan-1 reported first evidence of the presence of water molecules on the moon's surface in 2009. ISRO had suggested that the spacecraft's orbit would slowly decay and it would ultimately crash onto the lunar surface. A scientist there told NDTV, "It is very heartening that India's first inter-planetary probe has survived the vagaries of space for nine long years."

Experts suggest the Chandrayaan-1 is now a derelict souvenir, which, though in orbit, cannot receive or send data to earth, which means it's space junk.

In 2014, India triumphed with its unmanned spacecraft reaching Mars at a cost of $74 million, a fraction of the $671 million spent by NASA on similar missions - and far cheaper than the budget of the Hollywood space blockbuster "Gravity".


India plans to send its second mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-2, early next year. 

2012 Maruti Factory Violence Case: Manager Killed, Factory Burnt, 31 Convicted - 10 Facts:

Votes for elections in UP, Punjab, Uttarkhand, Goa and Manipur will be counted on March 11

In last-minute instructions on preparations for the counting day on March 11, the Election Commission on Thursday instructed the electoral officers to set up additional close-circuit TV cameras to monitor carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall.

"On the date of counting, additional CCTV camera may be installed at such locations from where the carrying of EVMs from strong rooms to the counting hall can be recorded for effective monitoring," the EC said in the letter.

Votes for the general assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarkhand, Goa and Manipur will be counted on March 11.

The EC further said: "For counting day, CCTV cameras must be strategically placed so that all movements of personnel carrying control units is covered and displayed on TV, placed at the Returning Officer's table and at some place where candidates, counting agents can also view the movement of CUs from strong room to the counting hall."

It further said that in case the counting hall is located at a distance or in a separate building away from the strong room, barricading from the strong room door up to the counting hall door should be done in such a way that "EVMs of each constituency should not be criss-crossing each other".

Poll Of Exit Polls 2017 For Punjab: Akali-BJP To Be Decimated

NEW DELHI:
The polls of exit polls for Punjab on NDTV predicts that the ruling Akali-BJP combine, which has been in power for 10 years, will be decimated.

An average of five exit polls shows the Congress and AAP placed almost neck-and-neck. The Congress is tipped to win 54 of 117 seats, two more than AAP, in the aggregate. The Akali-BJP is at 10 seats.

One poll shows the Congress winning, the other shows AAP ahead. A party needs 59 seats to gain a simple majority in the state assembly.
Around 1.4 crore people in Punjab voted for some 1,100 candidates in a three-way contest between the ruling alliance, Congress and AAP, which debuted in the state polls this time.

There are several interesting contests in Punjab. Parkash Singh Badal, 89, the oldest serving Chief Minister in the country, is contesting against Congress state president Amarinder Singh in his constituency of Lambi. AAP lawmaker Bhagwant Mann is challenging Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in Jalalabad. Former BJP lawmaker Navjot Singh Sidhu contested in Amritsar East as the Congress candidate.

Votes will be counted in Punjab and four other states on Saturday.
Reacting to the exit polls, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh said: "I am optimistic that our party will attain a clear majority with 62-65 seats. The exit polls are merely indicative of the positive trend in favour of the Congress but the actual results will be completely in favour of the party."

The Akali-BJP alliance won the 2007 and 2012 assembly elections in straight contests with the Congress. This year, AAP emerged as a third force on most seats.