IRCTC tops 2014 Google search in India

The Indian Railways’ official website, IRCTC, was most searched in Google by people in India in 2014. The search engine company has released the list of most searched and trending words on Tuesday.

E-commerce website Flipkart, PSU lender SBI Online, e-tailer Snapdeal and PNR status were other most searched words.

The most trending topic of 2014 in India was Election 2014, followed by FIFA 2014, iPhone 6, GATE 2015 and Narendra Modi.

Pornstar-turned-Bollywood actress Sunny Leone was the most searched person in 2014 pushing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the second spot. Leone starrer Ragini MMS 2 was the most trending movie in Google India.

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif were the most searched Bollywood actors in 2014.

Low-cost mid-end smartphone MotoG tops the most searched Tech devices, followed by Apple iPhone 6.

Here’s the full list:

Most Searched

IRCTC

Flipkart

SBI Online

Snapdeal

PNR Status

HDFC Netbanking

Cricbuzz

Google Translate

Times of India

Amazon

Most Trending

Elections 2014

FIFA 2014

iPhone 6

GATE 2015

Narendra Modi

IPL 2014

Ragini MMS 2

Kick

Jai Ho

Happy New Year

Most Searched People

Sunny Leone

Narendra Modi

Salman Khan

Katrina Kaif

Deepika Padukone

Alia Bhatt

Priyanka Chopra

Shah Rukh Khan

Poonam Pandey

Virat Kohli

Trending Movies

Ragini MMS 2

Kick

Jai Ho

Happy New Year

Bang Bang

Heropanti

Main Tera Hero

2 States

Ek Villain

Singham Returns

Most searched Bollywood actors (Male)

Salman Khan

Shah Rukh Khan

Akshay Kumar

Ranbir Kapoor

Shahid Kapoor

Amitabh Bachchan

Varun Dhawan

Ranveer Singh

Fawad Khan

Emraan Hashmi

Most searched Bollywood actor (female)

Katrina Kaif

Deepika Padukone

Alia Bhatt

Priyanka Chopra

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Kareena Kapoor Khan

Anushka Sharma

Shradha Kapoor

Sonakshi Sinha

Sonam Kapoor

Most searched Tech devices

Moto G

iPhone 6

Samsung Galaxy S5

Moto E

Nokia X

Nokia XL

Xiaomi Mi3

Samsung Galaxy Grand

Moto X

iPhone 5S

Rupee Slumps to 13-Month Low of 63.53/Dollar

The Indian rupee slumped nearly 1 per cent on Tuesday to register a 13-month low of 63.53 per dollar. This is the weakest level for the rupee since November 13, 2013 when it hit a low of 63.90 per dollar.

Here are the reasons for the sharp weakness in the rupee,

1) Risk assets including equites are under pressure amid rising concerns about the global economy. Sliding oil prices and a downbeat China factory survey weighed on Asian shares on Tuesday, while the rouble jumped after Russia sharply increased its benchmark interest rate in a bid to halt a collapse in its currency.

2) The rupee has come under selling pressure tracking steep losses in emerging market currencies. On Monday, the Indonesian rupiah hit a 16-year low amidst a slump in crude prices and worries about US rate hikes expected next year.

3) A slew of negative data points have hit domestic sentiments, analysts say. Trade deficit widened to $16.9 billion in November - an 18 month high. A year ago, trade deficit was under $10 billion. The unexpected contraction in industrial output in October has sparked concerns about economic growth.

4) Foreign funds have sold shares in each of the last five trading sessions until Monday, putting pressure on the rupee, analysts say.

5) Expectations of a rate cut have led to softening of bond yields and put pressure on the currency, analysts say. (Also read: Rate cut in doubt amid global turmoil)

By 11:33 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 63.44 per dollar versus its Monday's close of 62.94/95.

Sydney cafe siege: 5 people escape from building, negotiations on with gunman

Two more people ran out of the Sydney building where a hostage situation has been unfolding taking the total number of those who have escaped to five, even as police said  negotiators have made contact with the gunman.

It is not clear whether they were hostages or whether they were escaping from another area of the building where the hostage situation has been ongoing since Monday morning.
Two people were seen on live video footage bolting out of the door past heavily armed police and then disappearing around a corner

"Three people have now emerged from the location in Martin Place," New South Wales police deputy commissioner Catherine Burn said, referring to the central business district location.
"The first thing we will do is make sure they are okay."We will work with these people to figure out more information. We do not have information to suggest that anyone is harmed at this stage, " Burn said.
The  police commissioner said negotiators had been in contact with the gunman holding hostages in a Sydney cafe siege but refused to speculate on his possible motivation.
An armed assailant has been holding an unknown number of hostages inside the cafe, police said, with local television showing some being forced to hold up a black flag with white Arabic writing in the window.
Police declined to say how many were still being held in the cafe but said it "is not as high as 30".
Martin Place in the central business district was evacuated as scores of armed police surrounded the Lindt chocolate cafe, with TV pictures showing a flag -- black with white Arabic writing -- held to a window by customers.
It appears to be the shahada, or profession of faith in Islam, and says: "There is no god but Allah; Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah."

This screengrab taken from Australian Channel Seven shows the suspected gunman inside a cafe in the central business district of Sydney. (AFP Photo)
"We are dealing with a hostage situation with an armed offender and dealing with it accordingly. We are ready to escalate should we need to," New South Wales  police commissioner Andrew Scipione said a short while earlier.
"We want the matter resolved peacefully and we will do all we need to do to ensure that," he added.

Adding to the unfolding drama, the nearby Sydney Opera House was also cleared by police, apparently over a suspicious package. It was not clear if the two incidents were related.
Scipione said the siege was contained to a single event in Sydney's central business district and that the city remained  open for business.

Australia has been on high alert after the government raised concerns that citizens who have fought alongside jihadists in Iraq and Syria could return home radicalised and capable of carrying out attacks.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott convened a national security meeting to deal with the "disturbing" developments, suggesting only one person was responsible for the Lindt cafe incident.
"We don't yet know the motivation of the perpetrator, we don't know whether this is politically motivated although obviously there are some indications that it could be," he said.
"The whole point of politically motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves.
"Australia is a peaceful, open, and generous society. Nothing should ever change that and that's why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual," he added.
Reports said anywhere between a dozen and 50 people were in the Lindt cafe. Several were seen with their arms in the air.
"Police are dealing with an armed incident and specialist officers are attempting to make contact with those inside a cafe," New South Wales state police said in a statement.
Patrick Byrne, a producer at Channel Seven whose newsroom is opposite the cafe, said staff at the television station watched the situation unfold.
"We raced to the window and saw the shocking and chilling sight of people putting their hands up against the panes of glass at the cafe," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"This was just extraordinary."

National security response
Martin Place is Sydney's financial centre and houses several prominent buildings, including the New South Wales Parliament, the US consulate, the country's central bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
US President Barack Obama has been briefed about the crisis in Sydney, a White House official said.
The incident came just minutes before police announced a man had been arrested in Sydney on alleged terrorism offences.
They said the 25-year-old was seized as part of "continuing investigations into the planning of a terrorist attack on Australian soil and the facilitation of travel of Australian citizens to Syria to engage in armed combat".
It was not clear if the matters were related.
The arrest comes after the government in September raised its terror threat level and police conducted large-scale counter-terror raids across the country.
Only two people were charged despite 800 officers being involved in the operation.
More than 70 Australians are estimated to be fighting for Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. At least 20 have died and there are mounting concerns that increasing numbers of youths are being radicalised and could mount attacks at home.
Journalist Chris Kenny, who was in the Lindt cafe just before the siege began, said he understood the automatic glass sliding doors had been disabled.
"One woman said she tried to go into the shop just after I came out with my takeaway coffee but the doors wouldn't open," he told the newspaper he works for, The Australian.
"So obviously whoever is doing this has disabled the automatic glass sliding doors to stop anyone else going in and she said immediately she could see there was a weapon.
"She mentioned it being taken out of a blue bag and people were straight away asked to put up their hands."