PM steps in to resolve Amarnath row, to meet top leaders today

As violence continues unabated in Jammu as well as in Kashmir valley, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is to chair a meeting of top political leaders across the board in the Capital today to discuss measures to calm the situation in the state and seek a consensus on how to end the impasse. The Centre decided to rope in all the parties to find a consensus to the problem that emerged over the land allocation to Sri Amarnath Shrine Board, a body overlooking the conduct of pilgrimage to the Holy cave shrine. Top leaders of all political parties have been invited to the meeting where the Centre will brief them about the steps being taken by the government and would seek their cooperation in maintaining communal harmony in the state as well as in the country. Apart from national political parties, all regional parties, including National Conference and People's Democratic Party, have been invited to the meeting. The violence in Jammu and Kashmir, which threatens to polarise the state along religious line, is being constantly reviewed by the Union Home Ministry.

Mumbai: The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained 425.83 points to cross the 15,000 level in early trade today on heavy stock market tradings in funds, tracking firm global trend. The BSE-30 share index, which moved up by 383.20 points on Tuesday, added another 425.83 points to 15,386.90 as funds turned net buyers in blue-chip stocks. The Sensex had earlier witnessed the 15,000 level on July 24.

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange's Nifty gained 111.40 points at 4,614.25 as most of the index related stocks quoted higher. Marketmen said buying activity picked up as US and other Asian markets rose smartly. They said the investor regained confidence owing to easing crude oil prices. (PTI)

How secure is your card info?

The question is a simple one but the answer might appear to be a bit harder to pin down.

VeriSign, a firm that secures websites for e-commerce, told the BBC that credit and debit card information is "vulnerable" but they are working with retailers to change that.

"Credit and debit card information is just not incredibly secure," said Perry Tancredi, VeriSign's senior product manager for fraud detection.

"But it is counterbalanced by the amount of fraud losses due to cheque fraud and direct debit fraud which is much greater than credit card fraud."

Mr Tancredi said: "Regardless of how strong the security measures, and how vigilant, the weak part of the chain is there is always a human who is responsible and who has overall control over the information."

He suggested the best bet was for all consumers to "assume that there will be some sort of fraud on your account sooner or later" and put in place a plan to deal with it.

'Getting safer'

Espousing a completely different view is Jerry Tabeling who is the president of IDP, a company that carries out vulnerability assessments of networks and online business applications.

"Our information is a lot more secure after all the publicity we have had about attacks," he said.

"But yes there are still problems that still exist though it is getting safer." These, Mr Tabeling told the BBC, tend to centre around a retailer not doing a good enough job securing its network.

"If the proper encryption is configured on the wireless access point, then an attacker will not be able to get any information. I would have to bet in this case that didn't happen."

At stake for victims of fraud is more than just money

The authorities said the details of the 40 million credit and debit card holders was obtained by the hackers "wardriving" past stores to find wireless networks they could hack into.

This entailed driving around using a hand-held device to detect a wireless signal much in the same way a radio scanner hunts for a signal.

The US justice department said the hackers then loaded "sniffer" software onto the retailers' networks which captured numbers as well as passwords and account information as it moved through the retailers credit and debit processing networks.

That information was then sent to servers that the group controlled in Eastern Europe and the United States.

The justice department said the stolen numbers were "cashed out" by encoding card numbers on the magnetic strips of blank cards and then used to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars from ATMs.

'Identity loss'

The Justice Department is not putting a figure on just how much the fraud has cost, but Mr Tancredi said the money is not the point with most card liability ranging around $50 (£25).

MasterCard says it strives to safeguard account information

"If you are a victim of credit card fraud you might get your identity stolen and then you lose more than just money. You lose time, you lose trust and it could take years to fix your credit."

MasterCard said preventing fraud and safeguarding financial information is a top priority for the company.

Spokesman Chris Monteiro told the BBC: "If a cardholder is concerned at all about the security of their account they should immediately contact their issuing financial institution."

The Payment Card Industry, or PCI, has developed standards for retailers to adopt when handling credit and debit payments.

A spokesperson said while it is trying to get merchants to adopt these standards "it is not our job to go around checking who is compliant with this. That is lead by the credit card brands."

Meanwhile Mr Tabeling, an IT security specialist, suggested that all consumers need to play a more proactive part in policing their own transactions and their credit information.

"We have no choice but to trust the retailers are doing their bit but we can do more.

"We can keep track of our credit report once or twice a year, check our statements and set up a notification so that if there is any suspicious activity on our account we are told about it right away."

'IPL had great marketing team, ICL better cricket matches'

Indian Cricket League Chairman Kapil Dev admitted on Saturday that rival Indian Premier League has overshadowed ICL in market blitz but ruled out joining forces with the IPL.

But he insisted that ICL churned out fantastic, unbelievable matches and was ahead of IPL in on field action. Asked by reporters in Bangalore if ICL has been overshadowed by IPL, the skipper of India's 1983 World Cup campaign said "In marketing, yes; in cricket, no".

"I must say and congratulate IPL for such a great marketing team they have and let's give credit to ICL...what a great cricketing (ICL) matches we had. One should learn something from their (IPL's) marketing thing", he said.

He underscored that ICL has nothing against IPL nor is ICL fighting against IPL. ICL's objective is to promote the game, give opportunities to cricketers and to create jobs. "Nobody said to me what wrong we are doing. Nobody is giving me an answer", Kapil Dev said.

He strongly felt that that a deserving player even though he is playing in ICL should be given a place in team India. "If (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni comes and plays ICL, will he play for India or not? If tomorrow Sachin (Tendulkar) plays in ICL, will he play for the country or not? Will he deserve to play for the country or not", he asked.

Asked if ICL is open to the idea of joining forces with IPL, he said "(We are) open to idea of their (IPL) joining us" On the morale of ICL team members post-IPL season, he said "(It is) much more charged".

My absence not a concern, players are focussed: Kirsten

Forced to leave his wards before the series-deciding third and final cricket Test against Sri Lanka, India coach Gary Kirsten is confident that his absence would not make a difference to the team's performance as Anil Kumble's men are focussed on the task at hand.

"These players are aware what they need to do and they are right on track in terms of preparations. The important thing is the awareness of the situation. They know they have an opportunity (to win the series)," Kirsten, who flew to South Africa last night to attend to his critically ill mother, said before his departure.

"Every guy is aware if he is not fully focussed for the next Test it could affect the team's performance."

Kirsten said he has "complete faith in what (captain) Anil Kumble can do".

"There is a calm focus about the team and there is a humility about how we are going to go about our business.

There is no arrogance in the environment," he said.

Kirsten's belief stems from the team's stupendous display in the Galle Test, which the visitors won inside four days to tie the series 1-1.

The South African said the team's performance in Galle was heartening.

"We were happy with the team's response as they lifted their performance by at least 20 percent (in Galle)," he said.

Dhoni deserves to be Khel Ratna: Milkha Singh

Hailing Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the "backbone of Indian cricket", chairman of the Arjuna Award selection committee Milkha Singh said the ODI and Twenty20 captain is a deserving recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.

Dhoni was on Monday conferred with the award, making him only the second cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to be bestowed the country's highest sporting honour.

"From my side I tried my best and gave the award to whoever deserved. Four or five candidates were in contention for the award but Dhoni was the best among the lot. The whole country wanted Dhoni to get the award," Milkha Singh said last night on the sidelines of a book release function.

The 'Flying Sikh' also said the decision to confer the award to Dhoni was taken unanimously by the selection committee.

"He has done tremendously well after coming to the national team. He is the backbone of Indian cricket. The decision to give Dhoni the award has been taken with full support of all members in the selection committee," he stated.

Milkha Singh also brushed aside reports that Indian ODI skipper's application was received late by the Sports Ministry.

"The Sports Ministry has told me that they have received Dhoni's application before the deadline of July 27, but due to some internal hazards they were not able to trace the application. However, they later extended the deadline by a day or two," he said.

Although he and his colleagues in the selection committee decided to confer the Khel Ratna Award to Dhoni, Milkha Singh was quick to point out that cricket does not appeal him like Olympic sports.

"The whole country is after cricket but I am little bit against the game because I think the popularity of cricket has declined the standard of Olympic sports in the country."

He also revealed that after being appointed as the chairman of the selection committee, he was under constant pressure from all quarters of the sporting fraternity.

"I was under a lot of pressure. I used to get 200 to 300 calls every day saying that please give the Arjuna Award to him or her," Milkha Singh said.

More than 100,000 rare gorillas found in Congo

researchers reported Tuesday, double the number of the endangered primates thought to survive worldwide.

Forest clearings draw large numbers of Western lowland gorillas searching for food.

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"It's pretty astonishing," Hugo Rainey, one of the researchers who conducted the survey for the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society, told CNN Tuesday.

The last census on the species, carried out during the 1980s, estimated that there were only 100,000 of the gorillas left worldwide. Since then, the researchers estimated, the numbers had been cut in half.

WCS survey teams conducted the research in 2006 and 2007, traveling to the remote Lac Tele Community Reserve in northern Republic of Congo, a vast area of swamp forest.

Acting on a tip from hunters who indicated the presence of gorillas, Rainey said that the researchers trekked on foot through mud for three days to the outskirts of Lac Tele, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the nearest road.

"When we went there, we found an astonishing amount of gorillas," said Rainey, speaking from the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Though researchers did spot some gorillas, they based their estimate on the number of gorilla nests found at the site, Rainey said. Each gorilla makes a nest to sleep in at night.

"This is the highest-known density of gorillas that's ever been found," Rainey said. Watch a glimpse of gorilla life in African swamp »

Western lowland gorillas are listed as critically endangered, the highest threat category for a species. Their populations are declining rapidly because of hunting and diseases like Ebola hemorrhagic fever, whose symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding. Take a closer look at the Western lowland gorilla »

While the discovery in northern Congo indicates that the gorilla population remains stable in some areas, it is likely that gorillas will remain critically endangered because the threats facing the species are so great, Rainey said. iReport.com: Share photos and video of gorillas in zoos or the wild

"We know very little about Ebola and how it spreads," he said. "We don't even know the animal that spreads it around."

The goal now, Rainey said, is to work with the Congolese government and donors to protect the areas in which the gorillas are known to be living.

Western lowland gorillas, which are found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria as well as the Republic of Congo, are the most numerous and wide-ranging of the four gorilla subspecies, each of which is threatened by extinction, the WCS says. See where the gorillas live »

Illegal hunting and habitat loss have also threatened the Cross River gorillas, found in the highlands of Cameroon and Nigeria. Only about 250 to 300 are estimated to remain in the world, the WCS says.

War, habitat loss, poaching and disease are the major threats to the mountain gorillas, made famous by researcher Dian Fossey and the film "Gorillas in the Mist." The mountain gorilla population is starting to recover after decades of conservation work. From a population of around 230 in the 1970s, the mountain gorillas now number around 700, the WCS says.

Poaching and war have also threatened populations of Grauer's gorillas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the former Zaire. The WCS estimates their population to be around 16,000.

News of the discovery of the Western lowland gorillas in northern Congo comes the same week as a report that almost 50 percent of the world's primates are in danger of extinction.