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NASA is looking a little long in the tooth compared to the European Space Agency. Monday, NASA will launch a long-awaited repair mission to install improved instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope, originally launched in 1990.

Thursday, the Europeans will launch two much more advanced telescopes (right) that can see photons, even those reaching back to the Big Bang. Hubble sees visual light. The Europeans' one-up-manship comes as the White House announced a major review of NASA operations, to be completed by August, that threatens serious changes in the way NASA does business.

The big story with NASA, Harwood reported, is that the White House projected budget for 2010 released last week shows a $3.1 billion cut in NASA's exploration activities. "If the three-plus billion dollars in the out years, if that cut stands, then there's no moon by 2020 and maybe none at all," an senior space manager at NASA told Harwood.

Meanwhile, the Europeans are launching on Thursday Herschel, an infrared telescope with the largest mirror ever launched into space (11.5 feet across), and Planck, which will study the cosmic background radiation of the universe, the Miami Herald reports.

Infrared is important because light from the oldest objects are stretched out to the red end of the spectrum. The U.S.'s best effort at infrared is the Spitzer Space Telescope, launched five years ago with a measly 2.8 feet mirror.

courtesy : ZD Net

NEW DELHI: South Korean mobile phone manufacturer, LG Mobile's assessment is that India can overtake China and become its largest market in terms of size and demand for handsets in the near future. In the background of a sharp economic slowdown in the US and Europe, the company has identified India as a strategic market for investment for its GSM and IT verticals, its managing director Moon B Shin said during an interaction with ET.

How important is India for LG, especially with demand in developed countries such as the US slowing down? What are your plans for India in the current fiscal?

India is an important market for us due to the opportunities it presents. We have plans to launch more than 32 new models here, of which six will be touch phones, while many other models will be 3G-enabled and some of these will also be entry level phones.

At present, we have about three touch phones and six 3G-enabled handsets already in the market and we plan to have about 10 models each in both these segments by the year-end. We are betting big on the touch screen segment and we are targeting sales of up to six lakh units and a 10% market share in this space alone within the next six months.

What will be your investments in India this fiscal?

We will double our investment this year and the company as a whole will spend about Rs 400 crore on advertising this year. Additionally, we will invest Rs 200 crore in R&D to study market dynamics and consumer behaviour here. We are looking at increasing our headcount in our sales vertical to enhance our presence.

How many of the products you sell here are made here? How have your sales been so far?

Currently, we manufacture mobile phones at two units located in Pune and Greater Noida and these plants have a production capacity of three million units per year. About 70% of the production is exported while the rest is for domestic consumption. We sold about 2.4 million GSM handsets in India last year and we expect a 50% increase in sales this year. Our institutional sales account for just 10% our total mobile sales.

Currently the Indian mobile handset market is dominated by some of your competitors. How are you looking at improving your brand visibility here?

LG is rapidly gaining market share in the GSM market, despite being a late entrant. We are already the fifth-largest player in the segment. I believe our distribution line was poor earlier, but now we are reworking our strategy here.

Based on the analysis of our marketing team, we are deploying 1,000 additional shop sales executives and we will be launching about 1,000 additional shop-in-shop formats in rural and tier II cities. On the organised retail front, the overall channel coverage is at 42%.

courtesy : The Economic Times.

CHENNAI: When Netscape launched its Internet browser, nobody anticipated the kind of changes Internet would bring about in human behaviour and the interface with the external world. The much talked about "cloud computing" promises to change the way Information Technology people look at delivering IT and the way business people look at IT.

Consumers using the Internet are not aware of the location of the server or the delivery of information/service to them or the route taken by the data to travel. As technologies developed, vendors have started offering the entire range of services required by an organisation over the Internet safely and securely. This in a way refers to cloud computing.

In cloud computing, the user need not own the technology platform, technology infrastructure or required software. They become available like power at the press of a switch. In a way, much of capital expenses (hardware, infrastructure cost, etc) is converted into revenue expenses with cloud computing.

Today, IT vendors such as Sun, IBM, HP, Microsoft and Google swear by the cloud computing architecture. They say it will bring a new level of efficiency and economy to deliver IT resources on demand. In the process, it opens up new business models and market opportunities.

"If you want to slash your IT spending, maximise the flexibility of your systems, and be able to run your business from almost anywhere, then it's time to jump on the hot new IT trends: cloud computing, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). You are probably already using some SaaS tools such as Gmail, Hotmail and YouTube, which are all free examples of SaaS delivered via the cloud," says an IT analyst.

"The pay-per-use" model of cloud computing allows maximum IT efficiency with minimum cost. However, the real benefit comes from business agility to exploit opportunities leading to maximum returns. The recent emergence of massive network bandwidth and virtualisation technologies has enabled this transformation.

Cloud computing does not imply that one discards the entire existing infrastructure and embraces the cloud. One can complement the existing infrastructure with required parts from the cloud. "Actually, an IT organisation can increase hardware utilisation rates dramatically and to scale up to massive capacities in an instant — without constantly having to invest in new infrastructure, train new personnel or license new software. It also creates new opportunities to build a better breed of network services, in less time, at a lower cost," says S. Madhavan, founder of GQuotient.

Services for all
The common perception of state-of-the-art IT infrastructure is the cost and that only big players can afford it. But cloud computing makes services available to all irrespective of size. "While big businesses are leading the way in the use of cloud and SaaS tools, experts argue, the benefits are probably the biggest for small and medium-sized companies which often cannot afford to hire IT staff to build, manage and maintain their systems. Under the cloud computing model, these functions are effectively outsourced."

The pay-as-you-go model behind cloud computing and SaaS allows smaller companies to increase (or decrease) their IT investment in systems as their firms grow. In the current economic development, SMEs will be attracted towards cloud computing, SaaS and virtualisation. These models can help smaller businesses deliver new products and services quicker and at a lower cost, says a recent report by consulting group BroadGroup.

The SaaS model is gaining a lot of traction in the business world, with most large software vendors and application service providers, including HP, IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce.com, now offering business applications such as customer relationship management (CRM), databases, knowledge management and web development software as web-based utilities.

Analyst Gartner estimates that typically organisations have a project savings of 25-40 per cent by deploying SaaS-based CRM applications. SaaS is particularly attractive to the SME sector because it removes the high entry costs associated with some business applications.

But who owns the "cloud"? What is the security? What is the percentage of external and internal cloud one should own? These are the some of the commonly asked questions. In the current trend, SUN, IBM, HP, SAS and others have started outsourcing cloud computing. They have started setting up cloud computing facilities to provide on-demand services.

With IT budgets under pressure, the corporates could use cloud computing selectively, and some of the challenges like security will be resolved as this industry matures.

courtesy : The Hindu

Samsung expands its "A touch for every lifestyle" strategy with the new Samsung Star S5230 and the Samsung Preston S5600 which have been launched recently. These phones join the popular line of touchscreen cellphones. These phones are 2.5G and 3G respectively and both of them utilize Samsung's TouchWiz GUI. The S5230 sports a 3-inch WQVGA display whereas the S5600 sports a 2.8-inch QVGA panel. They both brag of compact design and intuitive usability.

The Samsung Star S5230 measures a mere 11.9mm in thickness. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera for crystal clear pictures. It is capable of recording QVGA resolution videos at up to 15 fps. It has an internal storage of 50Mb which can be further expanded to 8GB via a memory card slot. There exists an accelerometer to flip between portrait and landscape orientations. The presence of an on-screen QWERTY keyboard aids texting and emailing. Additionally, there is handwriting recognition for ease-of-use. The "Photo Contact" option allows users to call a contact by simply touching an appointed image.

It also supports multi-format and DNSe to make it user-friendly and for better audio quality. Through Shazam's "Find Music" service the phone features music recognition. Browsing the Internet is easy with the accelerometer sensor for auto-rotation. In addition, the product arrives in several colors including Soft pink and Snow white.

There isn't any information available about the pricing when it launches in Europe, Middle East Africa, South East Asia, South West Asia and Latin America from April 2009. However it is expected that the pricing will be reasonable considering the fact that high-speed data connection is not available. To add on to their pride, two million handsets have already been pre-ordered according to Samsung.

The Samsung Preston S5600 shares many similar features with the Samsung Star S5230 such as camera, accelerometer and PMP functionality. However it has added benefits like 7.2Mbps HSDPA connectivity and 80MB of standard memory (again with an 8GB-capable card slot). Favorite applications can be accessed with ease, thanks to the mobile widgets that can be placed on the screen for one-click access. It features music recognition using Shazam's "Find Music" service and Multi-codec support including H.263, MPEG4, and WMV. Samsung Preston will be available in an assortment of colors including Sweet pink, Snow white, and Charcoal grey colors.

It will be available in Europe and Asia from May. Again, there has been no mention about the pricing.

"Samsung Star and Samsung Preston are significant additions to our full-touch screen mobile portfolio, featuring all the essential functions in one single device," commented JK Shin, executive vice president and head of Mobile Communications division at Samsung Electronics. "I am pretty confident that the products will be one of our historical best selling mobiles. Focusing on our consumer-oriented strategy, Samsung will deliver various full touch products for every lifestyle," he added.

In keeping with the product launching, Samsung will conduct a range of marketing activities. The 'Samsung Mobile Live' venture, the company's "experiential marketing" program will be held at popular areas in countries witnessing major launches from June. Consumers will get the opportunity to touch and learn about the newest features of Samsung's full touch products at this event; minus the pressure of a sales pitch. The core message of 'Get in Touch' will be put across in a compelling way throughout the duration of the program to strengthen its dominance in full touch products.

People from Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East Africa, South East Asia and South West Asia will get to view a new television commercial for Samsung Star from end of May.

courtesy : Mobiletor.com

BANGALORE: Diversified U.S. engineering company Honeywell International said it remained committed to India as a manufacturing, engineering and R&D location even as President Obama proposed reductions in tax benefits to U.S. companies investing in subsidiaries outside the country.

Speaking at the inauguration of Honeywell's new $50 million R&D and engineering facility in Bangalore, Chairman and CEO Dave Cote said India was an integral part of the company's global growth strategy. The company would continue to grow and build capabilities in India.

"I get worried when I hear about protectionism. It is certainly worrisome and harmful," said Mr. Cote. "It would cause people to believe in things that would be harmful in the long run. I am a big fan of creating jobs everywhere," he added.

Mr. Cote said anything that prevented globalisation would be harmful to standards of living around the world, even in the country that initiated it.

Honeywell expects sales of about $600 million in 2009 from India, which is slightly higher than what it earned in 2008. China and India would grow at double the pace than in the developed economies, he said, terming the two economies as bright spots in the world.

For the first quarter of 2009, the company reported a drop in profit and cut full year earnings forecast on the back of slower sales in its key business divisions comprising aerospace, automation and control solutions, transportation systems and speciality materials.

In India, Honeywell expects business to grow in all the four divisions. The company is collaborating with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to produce TPE331 aircraft engines in India, as well as pursuing a programme to re-engine the Indian Air Force's strike aircraft with its F125IN turbofan engines. At present, Honeywell has 10,000 employees in India, compared with 1,000 in 2002. It has five manufacturing facilities in the country.

The new 6.90 lakh sq. ft. facility, the largest in the company, can accommodate 3,000 people, and it would move in people from its temporary locations in Bangalore, it said.

Mr. Cote said a majority of U.S. companies was saying that the recently proposed measures were bad not only for the U.S. economy but also for the global economy.

courtesy : The Hindu.

HYDERABAD: The State government cracked the whip on Saturday suspending two high ranking officials of the water board and transferring the Chief General Manager even as it sounded an alert over the outbreak of cholera in the State capital asking the health machinery to initiate precautionary steps to contain the spread of disease.

An alarmed district machinery swung into action and rushed several teams to Bholakpur, the epicentre of the cholera outbreak, to raid eateries and the bone factories in the locality and sealed them on charges of being run in totally unhygienic conditions.

Meanwhile, the inflow of patients into hospitals ebbed with Gandhi Hospital admitting 20 patients and the Fever Hospital seven patients only. Some of those already admitted were discharged as their condition improved. No deaths were reported on Saturday.

Health Secretary L.V. Subramaniam who rushed to Fever Hospital and Gandhi Hospital sought to assure that the situation was well under control.

Meanwhile, Ms. Neetu Prasad, Additional Commissioner of GHMC, who inquired into the Bholakpur water contamination episode, submitted her report to the government, based on which water board General Manager Praveen Kumar and Deputy General Manager Rajasekhara Reddy were suspended. The board's CGM P. Manohar Babu was transferred.

Ms. Prasad squarely blamed the water board officials for their 'negligence and indifference' and observed that there was no sincere effort to find a solution to the choking of drains and contaminated water being supplied despite several complaints lodged by residents of Bholakpur.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy who is away in Kadapa reviewed the situation and ordered the suspensions based on the GHMC official's report.

Finance Minister K. Rosaiah told reporters that12 samples out of 40 collected at Fever Hospital tested positive for cholera.

courtesy : The Hindu.

Dell's new Inspiron 535 and Inspiron 545 slim and mini-towers expand the design and personalization possibilities for consumers, transforming from the "built- for-me" model, into "made-for-me", as claimed by the press release. Available in eight vibrant colors, these desktops debut today in India and are available for purchase through Dell's website, www.dell.co.in.

Configuration options are wide, with CPUs ranging from the new Pentium to quad cores being offered. Upto 8 GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, ATI video cards on select configurations are other options.

The color options are Piano Black, Pure White, True Blue, Formula Red, Tangerine Orange, Spring Green, Plum Purple and Flamingo Pink. The press release further claimed Dell is the only major consumer desktop manufacturer to offer color options for the entire front of the machine. The pricing starts from Rs. 25,400.

courtesy : PC World

இந்தியா உள்ளிட்ட வெளிநாடுகளில் தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப மென்பொருள் தொடர்பான பணிகள் மற்றும் பி.பி.ஓ பணிகளை அளிக்கும் அமெரிக்க நிறுவனங்களுக்கான வரிச்சலுகை ரத்து செய்யப்படும் என்ற ஒபாமாவின் அறிவிப்பால் இந்திய ஐ.டி. துறைக்கு பாதிப்பில்லை என்று இன்ஃபோசிஸ் நாராயணமூர்த்தி தெரிவித்துள்ளார்.

இந்தியா உள்ளிட்ட வெளிநாடுகளில் தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப மென்பொருள் தொடர்பான பணிகள் மற்றும் பி.பி.ஓ பணிகளை அளிக்கும் அமெரிக்க நிறுவனங்களுக்கான வரிச்சலுகை ரத்து செய்யப்படும் என்ற ஒபாமாவின் புதிய முடிவால் இந்தியாவில் குறிப்பாக பெங்களூருவில் ஐ.டி நிறுவனங்கள் பெரிதும் பாதிக்கப்படலாம் எனறு கூறப்பட்டது.

இந்நிலையில், பெங்களூருவில் இன்று ஜனாதிபை பிரதிபா பாட்டீல், இன்ஃபோசிஸ் நாராயணமூர்த்தியுடன் இணைந்து கலந்துரையாடல் நிகழ்ச்சி ஒன்றில் பங்கேற்றார்.

அப்போது, ஒபாமாவின் முடிவால் இந்தியாவில் எத்தகைய பாதிப்புகள் உருவாகும் என்பது குறித்து அறிந்து கொள்வதில் பிரதிபா பாட்டீல் தீவிர ஆர்வம் காட்டினார்.

மேலும் ஒபாமாவின் புதிய அறிவிப்பால், இந்தியாவில் தகவல் தொழில்நுட்பத் துறை பாதிக்கப்படும் என்ற தமது கவலையையும் அவர் வெளியிட்டார்.

ஆனால், இதற்குப் பதிலளிக்கும் வகையில் பேசிய இன்ஃபோசிஸ் நாராயணமூர்த்தி, ஒபாமாவின் முடிவால் இந்தியாவில் ஐ.டி. துறை பெரிய அளவில் பாதிக்கப்படாது என்று கூறினார்.

வெளிநாடுகளில் ஐ.டி தொடர்பான பணிகளை வழங்குவதால் கிடைக்கும் லாபத்தை அமெரிக்காவில் முதலீடு செய்யாத நிறுவனங்களுக்கு வரிச்சலுகையை திரும்பப் பெறுவது என்ற கருத்தை வரி சீர்திருத்தம் தொடர்பான கூட்டத்தில் பேசுகையில் ஒபாமா கூறியிருந்தார்.

அதுபற்றி குறிப்பிட்ட நாராயணமூர்த்தி, அது வெறும் யோசனைதானே தவிர சட்டம் அல்ல என்றும், ஒபாமாவின் முடிவை நடைமுறைப்படுத்த இன்னும் காலம் உள்ளது என்றும் கூறினார்.

அப்படியே நடைமுறைப்படுத்தினாலும், இந்திய தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப வர்த்தகத்தில் ஒபாமாவின் நடவடிக்கை பெரிய தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்தாது என்றும் அவர் குறிப்பிட்டார்.

courtesy : Yahoo News

பச்சைப் பட்டு உடுத்தி ஆயிரம் பொன் சப்பரத்தில், குதிரை வாகனத்தில் வைகை ஆற்றில் இறங்கி க‌ள்ளழக‌ர் அருள் பாலித்தார். அ‌ப்போது ப‌க்த‌ர்க‌ள் த‌ண்‌ணீ‌ர் ‌பீ‌ய்‌ச்‌சியடி‌த்து த‌ரிசன‌ம் செ‌ய்தன‌ர்.

மதுரை ‌மீனா‌ட்‌சி அ‌ம்ம‌ன் கோ‌‌யி‌‌ல் ‌சி‌த்‌திரை‌ ‌திரு‌விழா கட‌ந்த மா‌த‌ம் 26 ம் தே‌தி கொடியே‌ற்ற‌த்துட‌ன் தொட‌ங்‌கியது. ப‌ட்டா‌பிஷேக‌ம், ‌மீனா‌ட்‌சி சு‌ந்தரே‌ஷ்வர‌ர் ‌திரு‌க்க‌ல்யாண‌த்து‌க்கு ‌பிறகு மே 7‌ஆ‌ம் த‌ே‌தி அழக‌ர் கோ‌‌‌யி‌லி‌ல் இரு‌ந்து க‌ள்ளழக‌ர் மதுரை நோ‌க்‌கி புற‌ப்ப‌ட்டா‌ர்.

‌பி‌ன்ன‌ர் த‌ங்க கு‌திரை‌யி‌ல் ஒ‌வ்வொரு ம‌ண்டக படிவ‌ங்க‌ளிலு‌ம் செ‌ன்று வ‌ந்தா‌ர்.இத‌ற்‌கிடையே அழகரை வரவே‌ற்க வெ‌ள்‌ளி கு‌திரை‌‌யி‌ல் ‌வீரராகவ பெருமா‌ள் இ‌ன்று காலை 6.50 ம‌‌ணி‌க்கு ஆ‌ற்று‌க்கு வ‌ந்தா‌ர்.

கோவிந்தா, கோ‌வி‌ந்தா எ‌ன்ற முழக்கம் விண்ணைத் தொட மக்களின் ஆரவார கோஷங்களுக்கு மத்தியில், காலை 7.10 மணிக்கு ப‌ச்சை‌ப் ப‌ட்டு உடு‌த்‌தி கள்ளழகர் வைகை ஆற்றில் இறங்கினார். ஆற்றில் இறங்கியதும் அழகர் மீது தண்ணீரைப் பீய்ச்சியடித்து அவரை ப‌க்த‌ர்க‌ள் வணங்கினர்.

பின்னர் அங்கிருந்து புறப்பட்டு மதியம் 11 மணிக்கு ராமராயர் மண்டபத்தில் நடக்கும் அங்கப்பிரதட்சணம் நிகழ்ச்சியில் பங்கேற்கிறார். தொடர்ந்து வண்டியூர் செல்லும் கள்ளழகர் அங்குள்ள வீரராகவ பெருமாள் கோவிலில் இரவு 11 மணிக்கு எழுந்தருளி பக்தர்களுக்கு காட்சி அளிக்கிறார்.

நாளை மண்டூக முனிவருக்கு சாப விமோசனம் அளிக்கிறார். 11 ம் தேதி இரவு பூப்பல்லக்கு நிகழ்ச்சி நடைபெறுகிறது. 12 ம் தேதி கள்ளழகர் மீண்டும் அழகர் கோ‌யிலுக்கு புறப்படுகிறார்.

courtesy : Yahoo News.

மும்பையில் கடந்த ஆண்டு நடத்தப்பட்டது போன்று மேலும் ஒரு தாக்குதலை ஜிஹாதிகள் நடத்தும் ஆபத்து உள்ளது என்று அமெரிக்க உளவு அமைப்புகளின் கொள்கை வகுப்பு ஆலோசகர் புரூஸ் ஓ ரீடல் கூறியுள்ளார்.

ஜிஹாதிகள் பாகிஸ்தான் நாட்டை தங்களின் கைக்குள் கொண்டு வர தீவிரமாக முயன்று வருகின்றனர்.அதற்காக அவர்கள் இந்தியாவிற்கும் பாகிஸ்தானிற்கும் இடையே மோதல் ரீதியிலான தொடர்ந்த ஒரு பதற்றமான நிலையை உருவாக்க திட்டமிடுகின்றனர்.

அவ்வாறு ஒரு மோதல் ரீதியான பதற்றம் நிலவினால் மட்டுமே பாகிஸ்தான் படைபலத்தில் 80 விழுக்காட்டினர் இந்திய-பாகிஸ்தான் எல்லைப் பகுதியிலேயே இருக்கும் நிலை நீடிக்கும், அப்படியான ஒரு சூழலில் மட்டுமே தங்களின் ஆதிக்கத்தை நாட்டிற்குள் நிலைப்படுத்திக் கொள்ள முடியும் என்று ஜிஹாதிகள் நினைக்கின்றனர் என்று கூறியுள்ளார் புரூஸ் ஓ ரீடல்.

அமெரிக்க அயலுறவு பேரவை இதழின் ஆசிரியர் பெர்னார்ட் குவர்ட்ஸ்மேனிற்கு அளித்த நேர்காணில் இவ்வாறு கூறியுள்ள புரூஸ் ஓ ரீடல், அமெரிக்க உளவு அமைப்பின் (சிஐஏ) தெற்காசிய மண்டலத்திற்கான அலுவலராக இருந்து ஓய்வு பெற்றவர். தற்பொழுது அமெரிக்க உள், அயல் உளவு அமைப்புகளின் ஒங்கிணைப்பு சிறப்புக் குழுவின் கொள்கை வகுப்பு ஆலோசகராக உள்ளார்.

பாகிஸ்தானிலிருந்து சதி திட்டம் தீட்டப்பட்டு இந்தியாவின் மீது பல தாக்குதல்கள் நடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. 1999 ம் ஆண்டு இந்தியன் ஏர்லைன்ஸ் விமானம் கடத்தல், 2001 ம் ஆண்டு இந்தியாவின் நாடாளுமன்றத்தின் மீது நடந்த தாக்குதல், தற்பொழுது மும்பையின் மீது நடத்தப்பட்ட தாக்குதல் ஆகிய அனைத்தும் இதற்கு உதாரணங்களாகும்.

இத்தனைத் தாக்குதல்கள் நடந்த பிறகும் இந்தியா தொடர்ந்து பாகிஸ்தானுக்கு சமாதான கரம் நீட்டி வருகிறது.ஏனென்றால் லேசான ராணுவ நடவடிக்கை கூட ஒரு முழு அளவிலான போருக்கு வித்திட்டுவிடும் என்பதால் அது கட்டுப்பாடு காத்து வருகிறது என்று புரூஸ் கூறியுள்ளார்.

இந்தியா கடைபிடித்துவரும் பொறுமையும், கட்டுபாடும் எவ்வளவு காலத்திற்கு நீடிக்கும் என்று கேட்டதற்கு, அதுதான் ஜிஹாதிகள் (புனிதப் போராளிகள்) விரும்புவது, இரு நாடுகளுக்கும் இடையில் பதற்றமான சூழல் தொடர்ந்து நிலவினால்தான், தங்களை வளர்த்துக் கொள்ள அது உதவும் என்று அவர்கள் கருதுகின்றனர் என்று பதிலளித்துள்ளார்.

ஜிஹாதி நாடாக மாறும் அபாயம்

இன்றைய நிலையில் இஸ்லாமிய அடிப்படைவாத தீவிரவாத குழுக்களின் சங்கமமாக பாகிஸ்தான் மாறிவருகிறது. பாகிஸ்தானின் பழங்குடியினர் பகுதியில் மட்டுமின்றி, பஞ்சாப், கராச்சி போன்ற பகுதிகளில் அவர்களின் ஆதிக்கம் அதிகரித்து வருகிறது. இந்த வளர்ச்சி பாகிஸ்தான் எனும் நாட்டின் அடிப்படையையே பாதித்துவிடும் அபாயம் உருவாகிவருகிறது. அப்படி ஒரு நிலை ஏற்பட்டால் அது அமெரிக்க உள்ளிட்ட அனைத்து நாடுகளுக்கும் மிகப் பெரிய அச்சுறுத்தலாக ஆகிவிடும் என்று புரூஸ் ஓ ரீடல் கூறியுள்ளார்.

இது உடனடியாக நடந்துவிடும் என்று கூறமுடியாது, ஆனால் அப்படிப்பட்ட சாத்தியம் குறுகிய எதிர்காலத்தில் நிகழலாம் என்று கூறியுள்ள புரூஸ், பாகிஸ்தானிலும் ஆஃப்கானிஸ்தானிலும் நிலவும் சூழல் ஆபத்தானதாக உள்ளது என்று கூறியுள்ளார்.

courtesy : Yahoo News.

NEW DELHI: Come September, cellphone users in some parts of the country, including the four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, will have the facility to switch operators even while retaining their existing number.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a notification in this regard saying, "Mobile Number Portability is to be implemented in Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra and Gujarat Service areas of Zone I and Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Andhra and Karnataka of Zone 2 within six months of award of licence by September 20, 2009, and in the rest of the country by March 20, 2010".

Syniverse Technologies (Zone 1) and MNP Interconnection (Zoin 2) are the two companies who have been licenced by the DoT to carry out the MNP exercise.

The DoT further said TRAI will decide on all kinds of tariffs related to MNP like the transaction fee to be charged from the customer for seeking change of number.

But sources said number portability charges are likely to be below Rs 300 and it will take maximum two days to change the service provider.

TRAI is learnt to be keen to keep the cost at a reasonable level so as not to discourage subscribers willing to change their service provider and at the same time make it a viable business model for the service providers.

courtesy : Times of India.

Manchester (PTI): Riding on success of its music- related value-added mobile services, Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel has now become the country's biggest music company, overtaking the industry leader Saregama, a top executive said on Sunday.

"Music Bharti has become the largest music company in India, overtaking Saregama India Ltd in terms of revenue," Bharti Airtel's Deputy CEO Sanjay Kapoor said.

While Mr. Kapoor did not disclose the exact revenue earned by Music Bharti, which provides music services like hello tunes, call-back tunes and music on demand, Saregama had a annual revenue of about Rs 150 crore in the fiscal ended March 31, 2008.

Bharti Airtel, flagship company of Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Group, recently entered into an exclusive multi-million dollar deal with Machester United here, under which it would offer its mobile subscribers access to the mobile content related to the British soccer club.

"We are growing fast in the music segment," Mr. Kapoor said, adding there was huge growth potential for the company in other value-added service segments like mobile commerce also.

courtesy : The Hindu.

Dubai (PTI): Indian batting stars Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman rose a rung each to be placed at 13th and 15th positions respectively in the latest ICC Test batsman rankings.

Gautam Gambhir continues to be India's highest ranked player being steady at fourth spot in the list, which also has explosive opener Virender Sehwag at number 20.

Pakistan skipper Younus Khan replaced West Indies' prolific batsman Shivnarain Chanderpaul at the top of the table.

The Guyanese left-hander scored just four runs in the first Test against England and, as a result, has fallen back to tied second position with Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara.

In the bowlers list, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has retained his sixth place while paceman Zaheer Khan gained one place to be at 11th.

Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka reigns supreme in the bowling chart followed by Dale Steyn of South Africa and Australia's Mitchell Johnson.

Jacques Kallis continues to lead the all-rounders' list.

courtesy : The Hindu.

BANGALORE: With the moon mission Chandrayaan 1 accomplished, the next venture will be sending a space vehicle to Mars, ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here on Saturday. The plan is to make this possible by 2013 or a few years later.

Speaking after being felicitated at the eighth anniversary of the CII Institute of Quality, he said the cost factor had to be considered in planning space missions. "Right now, per kg of payload costs $15,000 to $20,000, and we are trying to bring it down to $1,000. Much of it can come from more indigenisation and through being able to reuse the different stages of the rocket taking a vehicle to space," Mr. Nair said.

While ISRO would get Rs. 30,000 crore from the Government during the 11th Plan, resources had to be used with care.

More research and development for localisation was necessary, he said, adding that "90 per cent of our technology now is home-grown".

Also felicitated was S. Viji, Managing Director, Brakes India Ltd. and trustee of the Kuruvila Jacob Memorial Educational Trust. Named after the former headmaster of Madras Christian College School, the trust selects schools to help them implement quality control measures for "excellence in education".

Tata Steel Managing Director B. Muthuraman, who was felicitated, explained how quality control in steel plants had helped lower the cost of production and made the final product more competitive.

Delivering the annual day lecture, Rajiv Gandhi, Chief General Manager (Production), Maruti Suzuki Ltd., said the automotive sector accounted for 3.5 per cent of the GDP and contributed 17 per cent of total taxes collected by the Government.

"Despite the economic slowdown and an uncertain market and volatility in input prices, Maruti could do better than most others in the sector because of consistent quality in our products," he said.

Institute of Quality Chairman K.N. Shenoy said there were several examples of global excellence achieved by Indian corporates.

courtesy : The Hindu.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) will launch the State-wide observance of National Technology Day-2009 on May 11. Information and Technology Department Principal Secretary Ajay Kumar will inaugurate the events at Shasthra Bhavan here.

Mr. Ajay Kumar and KSCSTE executive vice-president E.P. Yesodharan will preside. Eminent scientists, including Centre for Bioinformatics honorary director Achuthsankar S. Nair, Head of the Department of Optoelectronics (University of Kerala) V.P. Mahadevan Pillai and IT@School Project executive director K. Anvar Sadath, will hold technical sessions.

courtesy : The Hindu.

CHENNAI: The new digital display time boards put up at several bus stands in the city by Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) have not yet become popular with passengers.

The boards which show the arrival time, fleet number and destination of the buses have been placed at around 51 bus stands, mostly on Anna Salai and Kamarajar Salai. More such display boards will be put up at other bus stands, say MTC sources.

The time of arrival of the 600 MTC buses installed with the Global Positioning System (GPS) can be known through display boards. Services on routes PP19, 21H, 21G, 19G are among the 39 routes where this technology is used.

At the Broadway bus stand, the digital display time board, fitted near the time-keeper's office, is too small to be noticed from a distance. Many passengers at the stand appear to be unaware of its presence. D.Balaji, employed in a private firm in Esplanade, said he usually enquired with the conductor about the departure time of the next bus instead of looking up the board.

Senior MTC officials said if a bus was crowded, the passenger had the advantage of checking the time board to see when the next service was due, so that they could get a seat in it. They say the GPS facility has helped them discipline drivers by monitoring their starting time and time of journey.

"Complaints of buses starting late have come down in vehicles having the GPS facility," said a senior MTC official.

However, several passengers feel the GPS facility would be useful only if they were extended to all the 3,000 buses of MTC.

"There is no point in having the facility in a select few bus stands and for a select few buses," said R.Devika, a college student who takes the bus on 21G route from Queen Mary's College stop.

Senior MTC officials said they did not have sufficient funds to extend the display board facility to all the bus stands and provide GPS facility in all buses.

Also, at bus stands where different buses halt at different points, passengers feel confused about when and where to board the particular bus. At the Ambattur industrial estate bus stand, for instance, passengers have to rush from one end of the bus stand to the other looking for a particular bus they want to travel in.

All India Rail and Bus Passengers Association president T.Ravikumar said the MTC must ensure that basic information such as bus numbers and their point of stopping are clearly displayed at bus stands as part of its modernisation process.

courtesy : The Hindu.

CHENNAI: BSNL Chennai Telephones has announced the launch of BlackBerry services for its GSM post-paid mobile users.

A Chennai Telephones press release said the service would be available as BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) for individuals and BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES) for corporate clients.

BIS offers push mail technology to send or receive mails, access to WAP, WML and HTML sites, chat facility through Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk, access to social utility sites and high speed transfer rates of data/audio/video.

The package falls under three plans with a monthly rent of Rs. 299, Rs. 499 and Rs. 999. BES has access to enterprise and corporate mail, calendar, contacts, tasks and notes and instant messaging web based and enterprise applications.

The monthly rentals are Rs. 425, Rs. 625 and Rs. 875. Customers can contact the toll free line 1503 to register a request. Customer service executive will visit the user at a convenient place and time and book the connection. At present the BSNL is offering BlackBerry 8700g and the Curve versions that are 2G enabled and the 3G enabled BlackBerry Bold 9000 Smartphone.

The handsets will be available at the CSC at RK Nagar from May 11.

courtesy : The Hindu.

Mumbai, May 10: The country's top private sector financial institution ICICI Bank has said it is no hurry to bring out IPOs of its subsidiaries, as such issues are aimed at establishing a price benchmark for them and not raising immediate capital.

"Over a period of time, we should monetise some amount of investment that we have made (in our subsidiaries). So, some time we should look at some IPO or something like that so that we establish a price benchmark for our subsidiaries," ICICI Bank's CEO and MD Chanda Kochhar told media in an interview.

Asked if she expects the economy and market conditions to have recovered sufficiently to conceive of any IPO this year, Kochhar, however, said, "Not currently, because we would not want to do anything when the value is not correct."

"We make that only when we get the right value otherwise we don't have to hurry at all," she said.

"We are not in requirement of raising capital. We have sufficient, not only to fund the growth of the bank but to fund the growth of the all the subsidiaries as well.

"So any step that we take will only be more to establish price discovery and to monetise some amount of investment," she added.

Previously, ICICI Bank group was looking to list as separate entities its subsidiaries like ICICI Securities, ICICI Home Finance, private equity arm ICICI Venture and the life as well as general insurance ventures.

"At current levels we are undervalued... value is visible in insurance and asset management company, while there is value embedded in securities and home loan subsidiaries," then CEO and MD K V Kamath had said in an interview in January 2008.

In January 2008, the board of brokerage and investment banking arm ICICI Securities had approved an IPO and private placement of shares to one or more institutional investors.

However, IPO plans were postponed later due to adverse market conditions.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

CHENNAI: Expressing anguish over the plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said here Sunday that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) would work to secure equal status and equal rights for them.

Our ultimate goal is to secure for Tamil people (in Sri Lanka) equal status and equal rights, Gandhi said at an election rally where Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi was also present.                   

She told the gathering she was "deeply pained and anguished" for "thousands and thousands of civilians" who were forced to flee the war zone as the Sri Lankan forces took on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north of the island nation.                   

Gandhi, who is also UPA chairperson, said India was firm that the Sri Lankan government moved the Tamils to safety zones and carried  out humanitarian works.     

   Appealing to people in Tamil Nadu to vote for the Congress-led alliance in the on-going Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said: You gave us 40 of 40 (in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections) and I urge you repeat.     
         
Gandhi also detailed the development works carried out by the UPA government in the county, and especially in Tamil Nadu. 
                   
Polling in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will be held in the last phase on May 13. The ruling DMK is a key partner of the Congress.

courtesy : Express Buzz.

Jeffrey Archer might not know Tamil but fans of the popular writer will soon get to read two of his books in the Dravidian language. Thanks to Pavithra Srinivasan and Badri Seshadri, who have translated A Twist in the Tale, a book of short stories, and Jeffrey's first novel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1976) to Tamil.

The books will be launched by Jeffrey Archer himself on Monday.

Both Pavithra and Badri have their own stories on how it all began. "A friend of my friend was searching for a translator and that's how I got to pen the Tamil version of the book," begins Pavithra, who has translated the short tory collection as Mudivil Oru Thiruppam. Badri says, "I was originally asked to edit the two books.

But the publishers were not satisfied with the Tamil version of the book Not a Penny more... done by another translator. So, I was asked to translate the book as Oru Paisa Koodaamal, Oru Paisa Kuraiyaamal."

Badri, however, will not be taking credit for the translation. "I think the name Jeffrey Archer itself is a big name," he quickly says. "And he comes with a commercial tag," adds Pavithra.
Translated versions of books are not generally as well received as the original. 

"Many translated versions flop as the translators fail to understand the various factors in translation. I primarily focus on conveying the same meaning and impact as the original," explains Badri, who has edited over a 100 titles including many translated versions and also owns a publishing company.

"People have a stigma that translated books don't create the same impact like the original. I think the translator should feel for the original author," Pavithra quickly adds.

On writing the book

Penning the Tamil version, Pavithra and Badri have their memorable experiences.

Translating a book that deals with subjects like short selling and stock market, Oru Paisa Koodaamal, Oru Paisa Kuraiyaamal required Badri to research the stock market and impressionist paintings, apart from gettings the words right. "You can't write words like shortselling as kullam," he says.

Pavithra's experiences were not of the same kind.  She experimented with Tamil bringing out what any ardent Tamil reader would love to read.

One of the short stories based on a letter written by a son to his father demanded a lot from the translator and Pavithra simply switched the whole story in colloquial Tamil making it readable. 

A story on Nigerian minister was written in the same way.

Badri Seshadri

Badri Seshadri, an alumnus from IITM and a PhD from Cornell University, cofounded Cricinfo. He now owns Kizhakku Pathipagam and is the managing director of New Horizon Media.

He has edited over a 100 titles, and is now translating the Sherlock Holmes series that includes four long stories and 56 short stories. "I've just completed Study in Scarlet," he informs.
Pavithra Srinivasan

Having found an interest in translations since college days, Pavithra started translating Sivagamiyin Sabatham, chapter wise to English through her blogs. "I have so far completed two volumes of it out of the four," she says.  Westland Publishing has now shown interest in publishing the same English version in print form. She is also freelancing for many media organisations.

courtesy : Express Buzz.

KIMBERLEY: Subramaniam Badrinath and Matthew Hayden Saturday took Chennai Super Kings to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table with a seven-wicket victory over title-holders Rajasthan Royals at the De Beers Diamond Oval here.

Super Kings, with 13 points, have now toppled Delhi Daredevils to emerge as the new leaders while Rajasthan Royals are in the third place with 11 points.

Electing to bat, Rajasthan Royals were restricted to 140 for seven by a disciplined Super Kings side. Man of the Match Badrinath (59 not out) and Hayden (48) then stitched a 89-run partnership to steer Super Kings home with 10 balls to spare.

Hayden, who has been in envious form this IPL, produced another impressive 44-ball innings but it was Badrinath who emerged the star of Chennai innings. Badrinath played a whirlpool innings off 41 balls that was studded with nine fours and a six.

Hayden and Badrinath steadied the Super Kings innings after Murli Vijay (10) and Suresh Raina (13) departed with only 37 runs on the board.

Hayden and Badrinath joined forces to rip apart the Rajasthan Royals bowling. Badrinath hit Shane Harwood for 20 runs in one over to put his side on the threshold of their sixth win.

Earlier, Super Kings bowled a tight length backed by a sharp fielding to tie down Rajasthan Royals to a modest total.

Albie Morkel gave Super Kings the breakthrough in the third ball of the match, clipping the bails of in-form batsman Naman Ojha. Graeme Smith (30) and Swapnil Asnodkar (26) then tried to repair the damage, adding 53 runs for the second wicket.

Asnodkar, who so far has been a pale shadow of his performance last year, showed signs of form in his 25-ball knock, which included in three fours and a six, but couldn't carry on for long, being trapped leg before by Muttiah Murlitharan in the ninth over.

Smith became Murlitharan's second victim when he was stumped by a composed Mahendra Singh Dhoni to leave Royals tottering at 75 for three.

Ravindra Jadeja (27) looked to bring things back on track but Dhoni brought back Laksmipathi Balaji to pack off Jadeja in the 15th over. Skipper Shane Warne produced some fireworks towards the end with an unbeaten 21 off 11 balls but that was not enough to produce a winning total.

SCORECARD

Rajasthan Royals
Graeme Smith st Dhoni b Muralitharan 30 (33 balls)
Naman Ojha b Morkel 0 (2)
Swapnil Asnodkar lbw b Muralitharan 26 (25)
Ravindra Jadeja c Raina b Balaji 27 (19)
Yusuf Pathan c Oram b Jakati 7 (11)
Lee Carseldine run out (Balaji) 9 (
Abhishek Raut st Dhoni b Jakati 7 (5)
Shane Warne not out 21 (11)
Shane Harwood not out 6 (7)
Extras (lb 5, w 1, nb 1) 7
Total (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 140
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Ojha, 0.3 overs), 2-54 (Asnodkar, 8.5), 3-75 (Smith, 12.2), 4-92 (Jadeja, 14.1), 5-100 (Pathan, 15.5), 6-104 (Carseldine, 16.4), 7-111 (Raut, 17.2)
Bowling:
Albie Morkel 3-0-24-1
Sudip Tyagi 2-0-12-0
Lakshmipathy Balaji 3-0-13-1
Jacob Oram 1-0-8-0
Muttiah Muralitharan 4-0-22-2
Shadab Jakati 4-0-35-2
Suresh Raina 3-0-21-0
Chennai Super Kings (target: 141 in 20 overs)
Murali Vijay lbw b Trivedi 10 (12)
Matthew Hayden st Ojha b Warne 48 (44)
Suresh Raina c Carseldine b Singh 13 (11)
Subramaniam Badrinath not out 59 (41)
Jacob Oram not out 1 (2)
Extras (lb 2, w 10
Total (for three wickets in 18.2 overs) 141
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Vijay, 2.6), 2-37 (Raina, 5.6), 3-126 (Hayden, 16.5)
Bowling:
Yusuf Pathan 4-0-28-0
Amit Singh 3-0-25-1
Siddharth Trivedi 3-0-23-1
Shane Harwood 2-0-22-0
Shane Warne 4-0-27-1
Ravindra Jadeja 2.2-0-14-0
Toss: Rajasthan Royals, chose to bat
Points: Chennai Super Kings 2, Rajasthan Royals 0
Man of the Match: Subramaniam Badrinath (Chennai Super Kings)
Umpires: G.A.V. Baxter (New Zealand) and Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka)

courtesy : Express Buzz.

WASHINGTON: U.S. employers cut 539,000 jobs last month, the fewest since October, according to government data on Friday that signaled the economy's steep decline might be easing and gave the stock market a boost.

The unemployment rate, however, soared to 8.9 percent, the highest since September 1983, from 8.5 percent in March, and job losses in March and February were a combined 66,000 steeper than previously estimated, the Labor Department said.

A 72,000 jump in government payrolls tempered the overall job-loss figure.

Government employment was bolstered by the hiring of about 60,000 temporary workers in preparation for the 2010 census and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said this figure would fluctuate in the months ahead.

Private sector employment fell by 611,000 in April after a 693,000 decline in March, the department said, which curbed some of the optimism over the report.

Still, the data was not as bleak as financial markets had expected and offered the freshest sign that the intensity of the recession, now in its 17th month, was starting to fade.

"The labor report added to the growing list of data points that imply that the steepest part of the economic contraction is now past," said Brian Fabbri, chief North America economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
The payrolls reading, which beat market forecasts for a 590,000 drop, and results of the government's tests on the health of the 19 biggest domestic banks buoyed U.S. stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 1.96 percent at 8,574.65. Government bond prices ended higher as unemployment was seen still rising well into 2010.

President Barack Obama, whose government has rolled out a record $787 billion rescue package of spending and tax cuts, said April's payrolls number was somewhat encouraging, but that the job losses were still a sobering toll.

"It underscores the point we're still in the midst of a recession that was years in the making and that is going to be months or even years in the unmaking.

We should expect further job losses in the months to come," Obama said.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the U.S. economy has lost 5.7 million jobs, the Labor Department said.

In neighboring Canada, a surprise 35,900 jobs were added to payrolls in April, confounding analysts who had expected the economy to extend its pattern of heavy job losses.

GLIMMERS OF HOPE

In a hopeful glimmer for the U.S. economy, the rise in the unemployment rate reflected a surge in people joining the labor force, as opposed to a collapse in employment.

The report showed job losses across almost all sectors, although at a less steep pace than in previous months.

Manufacturing lost 149,000 jobs in April after shedding 167,000 in March.

Economists were heartened by a slight increase in hours worked in manufacturing, where the average work week inched up to 39.6 hours from 39.4 in March.

"The very good news is that the hours in the manufacturing sector were up, which implies that we are going to have some production increases soon, if not in April for industrial production, perhaps in June at the latest," said Kurt Karl, chief U.S. economist at Swiss Re in New York.

Government data last week showed a record $103.7 billion drawdown in inventories in the first quarter. Analysts reckon this created a platform for a recovery in manufacturing.

Construction, among sectors hit hardest by the housing-led recession, shed 110,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said, after losing 135,000 the previous month.

The service-providing industry slashed 269,000 positions after cutting 381,000 in March, while in education and health services they rose 15,000 after increasing 10,000 in March.

Despite the slowdown in the pace of job losses, the unemployment rate will continue to rise until at least the first quarter of 2010, peaking anywhere between 9.5 and 10.5 percent, according to economists.

"It does look as if we are falling more slowly and we are likely to hit bottom reasonably soon, at least when it comes to economic growth," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania, but added:

"We are looking at rising unemployment rates for quite some time even as job losses moderate."
The length of the average work week was unchanged at 33.2 hours in April. Average hourly earnings edged up to $18.51 from $18.50 in March, which analysts said was a reminder that incomes remained under pressure.

"The figures gave a cautionary warning about consumer incomes," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts.

"(The modest rise in) hourly earnings, which combined with the heavy loss of jobs signals a continuing decline in overall wage and salary incomes, is bad news for purchasing power."

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed wholesale inventories dropped 1.6 percent to $411.7 billion, the lowest since November 2007, after falling a record 1.7 percent in February.

courtesy : Express Buzz.

San Jose, May 10: The death toll from swine flu has topped 50 as Costa Rica reported its first fatality from the virus and Japan and Norway joined a growing list of nations with confirmed cases.

In Costa Rica, Health Minister Maria Luisa Avila said the victim was a 53-year-old man who died on Saturday after more than a week in a hospital in the capital San Jose.

The man had been suffering from other health problems, including diabetes and a chronic pulmonary condition. Eight other Costa Ricans had contracted A(H1N1) influenza, as the virus is officially known, Avila said.

In Tokyo, a teacher and two students returning from North America tested positive for swine flu in the first confirmed cases of the virus in Japan, the government said.

Japanese authorities quarantined the 46-year-old man and 16-year-old boys, who had been on a high school trip to Canada, and 49 others who were aboard their flight as it arrived in Tokyo on Friday from the US city of Detroit.

Seven of the 49 were later taken to hospital as they had flu symptoms, a health ministry official said.

In Norway, health officials announced the first two confirmed swine flu cases, both young adults who had recently returned from Mexico.

There have now been 48 deaths recorded in Mexico along with two US deaths and one each in Canada and Costa Rica. The WHO has still to confirm three of the Mexican fatalities and the latest one from Costa Rica.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Toulouse (France), May 10: A French textile firm has caused outrage by telling nine of its workers that they have the choice between the sack and redeploying to an Indian factory and taking a gigantic pay-cut.

Carreman told its workers at a plant in the southwestern town of Castres that it would offer them pay of 69 euros (92 dollars) a month if they moved to Bangalore, union officials said at the weekend.

The minimum legal monthly salary in France is 1,321 euros.

Francois Morel, the boss of the factory, told a local paper that before being allowed to lay off the workers he was obliged to offer them work elsewhere in the group under legal requirements which he described as "stupid."

CGT union official Edmond Andreu told AFP that the offer had provoked "anger mixed with stupefaction" among workers at the factory, who say it is obvious no-one will take up the proposition.

Workers at the Bangalore factory are paid the equivalent of 69 euros a month for working a six-day week, and get an annual bonus of a month's pay as well as medical insurance.

The nine Castres workers were also offered free plane tickets and a 1,000-euro bonus for moving.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

New York, May 10: Expressing concerns over the possible measures by foreign countries, especially the US, to restrict off-shoring and movement of work visa-holders, Indian IT bellwether Infosys has said that such steps could adversely impact the company's business.

The Obama administration has restricted the hiring of H-1B visa-holders by companies bailed out by the Federal government and recently announced a plan to end tax incentives for American entities generating jobs overseas.

Both moves are expected to impact the Indian IT sector, whose major chunk of revenues come from the US.

Infosys has said that in the prevailing economic environment, there could be a change in the existing laws or the enactment of new legislation, restricting "offshore outsourcing" or imposing restrictions on the deployment of work visa holders at client locations.

Such actions "may adversely impact our ability to do business in the jurisdictions in which we operate, especially with governmental entities," the IT firm said in its annual filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nearly 60 per cent of Indian IT-Business Process Outsourcing industry caters to the US companies, according to latest figures. India's BPO industry employs over 17 lakh professionals.

Every year, a major chunk of the Indian professionals receive H-1B visas, which is basically a working visa for highly skilled people. In the previous fiscal year, nearly 8,200 Infosys employees held H-1B visas.

Moreover, Infosys has pointed out the possibility of private sector companies working with these governmental entities, being restricted from outsourcing projects which are related to government contracts.

These firms could even face "disincentives if they outsource certain operations", the filing noted.

Many foreign governments mainly in the US and the UK have pumped in billions of dollars into companies battered by the financial turmoil.

In return, these administrations have snapped up significant stakes in those bailed out firms.

"Equity investments by governmental entities in, or governmental financial aid to, our clients may involve restrictions on the ability of such clients to outsource offshore or otherwise restrict offshore IT vendors from utilizing the services of work visa-holders at client locations," Infosys said.

Infosys has expressed concern that restriction on deployment of trained people at client locations could require the company to seek local talent. In such a case, the "local resources may only be available at higher wages," it said.

"Any resulting increase in our compensation, hiring and training expenses could adversely impact our revenues and operating profitability," the firm said.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Washington, May 09: The Federal Reserve could become the supercop for "too big to fail" companies capable of causing another financial meltdown under a proposal being seriously considered by the White House.

The Obama administration told industry officials on Friday that it was leaning toward making such a recommendation, according to officials who attended a private one-hour meeting between President Barack Obama's economic advisers and representatives from about a dozen banks, hedge funds and other financial groups.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other officials made it clear they were not inclined to divide the job among various regulators as has been suggested by industry and some federal regulators. Geithner told the group that one organization needs to be held responsible for monitoring systemwide risk.

"Committees don't make decisions," said Geithner, according to one participant.

Officials from the Treasury Department and National Economic Council, which hosted the meeting, told participants that the Fed was considered the most likely candidate for the job, according to several officials who attended or were briefed on the discussions.

The administration officials said a legislative proposal would likely be sent to Capitol Hill in June with the expectation the House Financial Services Committee, led by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would consider the measure before the Independence Day recess.

The officials requested anonymity because the meeting had not been publicly announced and they were not authorized to discuss it.

A Treasury Department statement provided to The Associated Press on Friday confirmed Geithner's position that he wants a "single independent regulator with responsibility for systemically important firms and critical payment and settlement systems."

A spokesman said Geithner also is open to creating a council to "coordinate among the various regulators, including the systemic risk regulator."

The Fed itself hasn't taken a position on whether it should have the job, although Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the Fed would have to be involved in any effort to identify and resolve systemwide risk.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

London, May 10: A group of companies are developing a new kind of tools capable of understanding emotional content of blogs and online comments.

These "sentiment analysis" tools form a wider part of computer science attempting to train computers to understand the feelings expressed in written content just like humans.

And the commercial applications of such technology can already be seen in some companies whose businesses are affected by customer blogs as much as advertising campaigns, reports New Scientist.

Firms such as Seattle-based Sentimine are using the "sentiment-aware software" that can gauge emotional responses in text.

The application is also expected to help in controlling human communications as well as digesting their output, for example, Adaptive Semantics'' JuLiA is a software agent that can recognise abusive comments based on a learning algorithm.

"She" can take down or quarantine comments bending over the predetermined abuse threshold.

And presently, further options are being examined to enhance JuLiA's comprehension abilities – for example, to determine if the content is intelligent, sarcastic, or political in tone.

Similarly, another firm, Lexalytics, uses sentiment analysis to sway what people say before they realise it is too late.

The sentiment-analysis tools, presently pocketed by big brand corporations, are expected to become cheaper, and perhaps even free.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Kuantan, May 10: Defending champions India started their Asia Cup campaign on a disastrous note, going down 2-3 to arch-rivals Pakistan in a nerve-wrecking rain-marred Pool B match at the Wisma Belia Kuantan Hockey Stadium here today.

With today's win and the draw against China yesterday, the three-time former champions Pakistan, who lost to India 1-2 in the Azlan Shah Cup here last month, are assured of a place in Thursday's semi-final, while India will have to win their last pool match against the Chinese on Tuesday to qualify for the last four stage.

India-Pakistan encounters have always been nail-biting and today's match was no exception with the traditional rivals starting the game on a high pace note and seemed in no mood to give an inch to each other.

Both the teams displayed very high speed and attractive hockey in the pulsating opening half with the ball continuously moving from one end to the other.

Pakistan was the more aggressive of the two sides and found the net as early as in the fourth minute through Tariq Aziz from the top of the semi circle but umpire John Right ruled out the goal due to an infringement and in turn gave a 16 yard hit to the Indians.

Stung by Pakistan's early attacks, the Indians stepped up their offensive and very nearly came to scoring in the 13th minute only to be denied by experienced Pakistan custodian Salman Akbar.

India opened the scoring against the run of play after Prabhjot Singh converted a rebound from skipper Sandeep Singh's penalty corner in the 15th minute.

But with just two minutes remaining for the breather, Pakistan struck back with Hasneem Khan scoring with a reverse stick from a well build up counter attack.

Pakistan could have scored many had they not wasted several penalty corner attempts with the Indian defence standing tall.

Experienced centre forward Rehan Butt, who made a comeback to the national team in this tournament, made it 2-1 for Pakistan in the very first minute of the second half from a goalmouth melee.

India soon drew parity in the 10th minute through Rajpal Singh's field goal before heavy rains suspended play for nearly 40 minutes.

However, another comeback man, veteran Sohail Abbas, ensured a happy outing for Pakistan when he scored the winning goal off their fifth short corner in the 55th minute through a powerful drag flick which beat Indian custodian Baljit Singh hands down.

Thereafter, India got two penalty corners and a couple of chances to equalise, but they miffed it all with goalkeeper Akbar coming to Pakistan's rescue on many occasions.

SV Sunil was the star performer for India today but was unlucky not to have registered his name in the scoreboard, while skipper Sandeep was off-colour as he wasted three penalty corners in the last 10 minutes of the match.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

London, May 10: Criticising the British government for ignoring the manufacturing sector, Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has said he was not asking for a bailout but only a "facilitation of access to credit on commercial terms" for his businesses in the UK.

In an interview published in British newspaper Sunday Times, Tata said: "We're responsible for the fortunes of the company but this is a bone-dry situation in terms of access to credit. Nobody can operate on that basis unless you have large cash balances, which we don't. My concern is that the government doesn't appear to care about manufacturing."

The comments follows reports about the UK government denying financial aid to Jaguar and Land Rover, the iconic car brands acquired by Tatas last year.

"I would like to see the British government playing only one role. It controls the banks, and all I seek is the facilitation to provide access to credit on commercial terms. It's not a bailout," Tata said.

Tata is one of the largest inward investors in Britain. Besides JLR and Corus, which together employ about 40,000 people, the Indian conglomerate also owns Tetley Tea and is also present in the UK through other businesses such as chemicals and IT.

Tata Motors bought Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in April 2008, paying 1.15 billion pound. Tata, – having failed to raise bank loans to ease JLR through a disastrous slump in sales, has asked the government for financial assistance.

Sales at JLR, has slumped due to recession and a dearth of automotive finance. "In April Jaguar's Removeds were down 21 per cent on the same month last year, an improvement on recent months. Land Rover's were down 47 per cent," the Sunday Times added.

Going forward, Tata said, "... I would like to see us coming out of the recession with these new products (E-type and fuel efficient hybrids) in place. What would be sad – remorseful – is if the meltdown continues and we can't get access to funds. The first thing that will happen will be that these projects will go on hold, and we will come out of the recession just as we went in."

"I had hoped we would come out of it a new company," he added.

Tata, however, said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was "a very sincere person. I have to believe he is genuine in his desire to see British industry supported. There hasn't been implementation of that desire."

There is however, an upside to the government's ignorance towards the manufacturing sector. Tata said he was amazed at how his company had been able to buy two sizable British groups without interference. "I expected all kinds of road blocks," he said.

Corus, JLR acquisitions at inopportune time

Ratan Tata has said his two acquisitions -- Anglo Dutch steelmaker Corus and British Marquee Jaguar Land Rover — were done at an "inopportune time" and his company might have gone "too far too fast".

Tata admitted with hindsight that he might have gone too far too fast, but that nobody saw the economic recession coming.

"If one had known there was going to be a meltdown, then yes (Tata went too far), but nobody knew. Both the acquisitions were made, I would say, at an inopportune time in the sense that they were near the top of the market in terms of price," Tata told the Sunday Times.

Recession is making Tata's recent international spending spree look ill-timed as he bought Corus and JLR just as the boom reached its peak.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

New York, May 10: Scam-hit Satyam Computer may have embarked upon a revival path under the new owner Tech Mahindra, but it seems to have lost its place among the noteworthy competitors of its rival Indian IT service provider Infosys.

Before it was hit by the country's largest ever corporate fraud, admitted to by its founder and the then chairman B Ramalinga Raju in January, Satyam had been a regular on the list of competitors mentioned by Infosys in its annual report filings with the US market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, Satyam's name is conspicuously absent on Infosys' latest annual report filing for the financial year ended March 31, 2009.

Both Infosys and Satyam are listed in the US -- Infosys on the Nasdaq and Satyam on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

In its annual report filings, Infosys had been saying that it operates in "a highly competitive and rapidly changing market", while listing out among its rivals the names of Indian IT service providers such as TCS, Wipro, Satyam, HCL Technologies; ...

... business process outsourcing (BPO) firms like Genpact and WNS; and global players like IBM, HP, Cap Gemini, Oracle and SAP.

However, in its latest annual filing, Infosys has dropped the names Satyam as well as HCL.

The other names and factors about competition in Infosys' latest annual filing have remained broadly unchanged from the previous year.

Infosys has said that it competes with "consulting firms such as Accenture Limited, Atos Origin, BearingPoint Inc, Cap Gemini SA, and Deloitte Consulting LLP".

Besides, it also competes with divisions of large global technology firms such as HP and IBM; IT outsourcing firms such as Computer Sciences Corp, Keane, Logica and Perot Systems; and offshore technology services firms such as Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies Ltd.

Other companies named as its competitors include "software firms such as Oracle Corporation and SAP AG; business process outsourcing firms such as Genpact Limited and WNS Global Services; and in-house IT departments of large corporations".

Infosys has further said that "in the future we expect competition from firms establishing and building their offshore presence and firms in countries with lower personnel costs than those prevailing in India".

Infosys has not clarified the grounds for Satyam's omission from the list of its competitors.

After Raju admitted in January this year to financial wrongdoings at Satyam for several years, the government superseded the company's board, and the new board later reached a deal to sell a majority stake to the Mahindra group's IT arm.

Tech Mahindra has acquired a 31 percent stake in Satyam through a preferential allotment of shares and has also made an open offer to acquire a further 20 percent.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Kimberley, May 09: Despite having an upper hand during most part of the match, Deccan Chargers had to suffer a 3-wicket defeat against Kings XI Punjab who excelled as a team here on Saturday.

When Shoaib Ahmed removed Kumar Sangakkara (25) and Yuvraj Singh (18) in the 10th over of the Punjab innings to break the back of Kings XI Punjab middle-order many people have doubted that Punjab could win the match.

Both the batsmen were playing well before throwing their wickets away at a time when they were going great guns with 85/2. They were playing with such an ease that the target of 169 was looking like a gettable score. But sudden rush of blood did them in.

But former Sri Lankan captain, Mahela Jayawardene played an important knock of 43 off just 28 balls with three huge sixes. It's Jayawardene who kept the hopes alive for the Punjab outfit taking the close to victory.

But he departed at 149, still needing 20 off 13 balls. Punjab needed an experienced customer at that time and they found the perfect man in Brett Lee who played a 10-ball 14 run knock under pressure to see his team through in the penultimate ball of the match.

Chasing 169, Punjab started off reasonable well putting on 42 runs for the opening stand. Sunny Sohal started attacking R P Singh and Ryan Harris from the word go. But the hat-trick hero of the last match, Rohit Sharma removed him for a 17-ball 30 followed by his opening partner Simon Katich (9).

Andrew Symonds played a gem of an innings of unbeaten 60 in his first match of IPL-II to help Deccan Chargers post a competitive 168/5, despite struggling in the early part of the innings, losing four wickets for 73.

Symonds, during his 36-ball stay in the middle, took all the bowlers to the cleaners, muscling them for boundaries and over boundaries at will. He spared no Punjab bowler during his entertaining knock consisting of four huge sixes. He was particularly severe on erratic Indian pacer S Sreesanth (0/42), clobbered him for 20 runs in an over.

Coming fresh from his ODI heroics against Pakistan after a long lay-off, Symonds immediately made an impact in the IPL, helping his team overcoming too much dependency on their famed opening pair of Gilchrist and Gibbs.

He stitched a 95-run partnership with Venugopal Rao in no time. Rao also played a good supporting innings of 32 off 25 balls, getting ran-out off the last ball of the innings.

For the Punjab, Brett Lee (1/24), also playing his first match IPL match of the year and Piyush Chawla (1/26) bowled well.

Though Gilchrist and Gibbs started off well, putting on 31 runs in 3.4 overs, they lost Gilchrist for 20. Sreesanth sent the retired Oz stumper packing. Then after some time Gibbs perished giving Chawla his only wicket of the match.

T Suman, who has been playing well in the tournament, played another innings of 17-ball 27 with two sixes. Brett Lee, playing his first IPL match of this year, then got his first wicket in Rohit Sharma who could make only 9.

Teams:

Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (C), Herchelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, Y Venugopal Rao, Andrew Symonds, Ravi Teja, Tirumalsetti Suman, Pragyan Ojha, Shoaib Ahmed, R P Singh, Ryan Harris.

Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (C), Sunny Sohal, Simon Katich, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Irfan Pathan, Brett Lee, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Wilkin Mota, S Sreesanth.

courtesy : Zeenews. com

LOS ANGELES: A U.S. appeals court on Friday reinstated a breach of contract claim against Yahoo Inc by an Oregon woman who said the company failed to remove nude photos and fake profiles posted by her estranged boyfriend after promising to do so.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that Cynthia Barnes could sue Yahoo for agreeing, then failing to stop the "dangerous, cruel, and highly indecent" use of its site by the ex-boyfriend.

"Contract liability here would come not from Yahoo's publishing conduct, but from Yahoo's manifest intention to be legally obligated to do something, which happens to be removal of material from publication," the opinion said.

The appeals court remanded the case to the district court for further action on the state law claim for breach of contract but did not rule on whether the claim was viable.

The appellate decision also affirmed the lower court's dismissal of a claim for negligent undertaking.
Yahoo said in a statement that it was pleased that part of the dismissal stood, and "evaluating the opinion on the remaining claim and looking forward to swift resolution in the district court."

Barnes' attorney Thomas Rask of Kell, Alterman & Runstein LLP in Portland, Oregon, said his client sued only after repeatedly asking Yahoo to remove the profiles, then relying on a promise by a Yahoo employee that they would be taken down.

"What an (Internet service provider) has to understand is this is not the wild wild West," Rask said. "There has to be some rational logic to it. Don't promise to do something and then not do it."
'BIG IMPLICATIONS'

The ruling could have a "big implications" for Internet companies that enjoy immunity from lawsuits involving user-posted content under the Communications Decency Act (CDA), said attorney Jeff Neuburger, co-chair of the Technology, Media and Communications practice group at Proskauer Rose LLP.

Neuburger, who is not involved in the case, said the opinion would prompt him to counsel media clients with Web operations, including social networking and blogging features, to consider some safeguards.

"There are a number of practical implications that flow from this decision, including educating customer service representatives, modifying terms of use and generally making sure that anything that comes from the publisher of the site cannot be viewed as a promise," Neuberger said.

The Yahoo profiles included nude photos of Barnes and her boyfriend taken without her knowledge, her office phone number, email and address and "open solicitations" for sex, the opinion said.

"Before long, men whom Barnes did not know were peppering her office with emails, phone calls, and personal visits, all in the expectation of sex," the opinion said.

Yahoo did not respond to Barnes' requests to remove the profiles until a TV news crew did a story on her situation and called the company for comment, the ruling said.

An employee then told Barnes she would "personally walk the statements over to the division responsible for stopping unauthorized profiles and they would take care of it" -- a pledge that could be construed as a contract, the opinion said.

The profiles were not removed until more than two months later, after Barnes filed the lawsuit, the opinion said.

Yahoo said it would "hotly contest" Barnes allegations at trial, the opinion said.

The case is Barnes v. Yahoo! Inc, CV-05-00926, U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

courtesy : ExpressBuzz.

Bangalore, May 04: India remains a soft target for Internet threats, as evident from the steep rise in malicious attacks from web-based sources originating mostly from the US and China, a study by global security solutions provider Symantec has revealed.

"Computers in India are set to witness increased malicious activities due to rapid growth of Internet infrastructure, a burgeoning broadband population and rampant software piracy," Symantec India managing director Vishal Dhupar said.

According to the Symentac Internet Security Threat report, which is based on data pooled by Internet sensors, first-hand research and monitoring of hacking communications during January-December 2008, computers from the US and China were the leading source of web-based attacks targeting India.

Web surfing remained the primary source of new infections in 2008. Attackers rely on customised malicious code toolkits to develop and distribute their threats, targeting confidential information of computer users.

"Unless enterprises improve security protocols and measures to counter malicious activities, India will continue to be a soft target of Internet threats," Dhupar said.

The report noted that India ranked among the top three countries in the Asia-Pacific-Japan (APJ) region that was subjected to malicious code activity by volume as the country had the fifth highest number of broadband subscribers (eight million) in the region.

Malicious code is a new breed of Internet threat that cannot be efficiently controlled by conventional anti-virus software. The code can enter network drives and spread. It can cause network and mail server overload by sending e-mail messages, stealing data and passwords, deleting document files, e-mail files or passwords and even re-formatting hard drives.

Internet users in India also faced a serious threat from worms and viruses attacks. In the APJ region, India ranked first with nine of the top 10 malicious codes found consisting 55 percent worms and 15 percent viruses. These infesting codes disabled security related processes and stole confidential information.

In the global context, the study found India ranked high on these vectors of infection, as evident from the damage the Downadup/Conficker worm caused to thousands of computers across the country during the initial stages of attack.

"Enterprises without protective strategies are likely to see worms and viruses infiltrate their environments and access their information and infrastructure. Indian enterprises have to adopt ingress and egress filtering on perimeter devices to prevent unwanted activity," said Dhupar.

Around 65 percent of worms and viruses in Indian enterprises are propagated through the file sharing/executables mechanism.

"This indicates that endpoint security and policy are still missing in many organisations as this level of security protection would have allowed IT administrators to scan removable drives for threats. A large number of infections in India have also occurred due to file-sharing programmes, free downloads and freeware and shareware versions of software," Dhupar noted.

Similarly, with an average of 836 bot attacks per day, the study found 103,812 computers were infected in the country during 2008.

Bot (short form for robot) is a malicious code (computer programme) that comes with an e-mail attachment sent to intended users by hackers for infecting and damaging their personal computers or servers in enterprises.

When a spam mail is opened, the user is enticed to click the attachment with tempting words for viewing the link. Unknowingly, the bot in the link attacks the computer when opened.

According to the report, India had an average of 836 bots per day during 2008 and there were 103,812 distinct bot-infected computers observed in the country during the period.

India also saw a huge surge in bot command and control servers to 70 in 2008 from 40 in 2007.

Bot command-and-control servers are computers that botnet owners use to relay commands to bot-infected computers on their networks.

The sharp increase in bot-infected computers in India pointed towards low adoption of security measure that includes anti-malware, intrusion prevention and intrusion detection.

Among cities with the highest number of bot-infected computers, Mumbai topped with 37 percent followed by Chennai at 24 percent and Delhi seven percent.

The report is compiled by the Symantec security technology and response organisation, which includes security response, a worldwide team of security engineers, threat analysts, and researchers.

With global response centres located the world over, the organisation monitors malicious code reports from 130 million systems across the Internet, receives data from 240,000 network sensors in 200 countries and tracks 32,000 vulnerabilities.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

San Francisco, May 06: A nearly-final version of Windows 7 made its world debut on Tuesday, giving people a chance to tell Microsoft what they love or hate about the new-generation operating system.

Microsoft is making a Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) available as the global software giant puts finishing touches on an operating system that it hopes will escape criticism heaped on its predecessor Vista.

"It appears that they are on target," said analyst Michael Cherry of private firm Directions on Microsoft, which specializes in tracking the US software giant.

"I think we need to be cautious though. Windows 7 is still in development. While Microsoft is certainly moving on to the next logical milestone, this is still a test version of the operating system."

People are invited to download the software from Microsoft's official website and install it on computers in a public test of the operating system's capabilities.

"You put it on your PC, and then do what you'd normally do," Microsoft said in a message on the download page.

"Your PC will automatically and anonymously send our engineers the information they need to verify the fixes and changes they made based on the Windows 7 Beta tests."

Microsoft's website gives Windows 7 installation instructions and tells visitors that the RC "expires" on June 1, 2010. The RC will begin warning users in March of next year by shutting down their machines every two hours.

"Based on feedback we've received from beta testers and early adopters, we think Windows 7 is on track to be the most well-planned, highest quality Windows release ever," Microsoft said Tuesday.

"The Release Candidate of Windows 7 reflects extensive beta tester feedback, and is ready for IT professionals and tech enthusiasts to evaluate."

Copies of the RC were made available to developers last week and early reviews have praised the operating system for its stability and for avoiding problems that marred Vista's image.

Complaints about Vista included that it was not compatible with some software designed for the previous-generation Windows XP operating system and that it was too much for netbooks or older computers to handle.

"Windows 7 is everything that Vista should have been," said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

"It's less annoying and it's a fraction of the size. The only thing working against them is the economy; people without money aren't going to buy no matter how good the product."

Enthusiastic early reviews of Windows 7 are stoking speculation that Microsoft will release a final version of the new operating system in time for the year-end holiday shopping season.

"It makes sense that Microsoft should have it pre-Christmas," Cherry said of Windows 7.

"I think you need to keep in mind that if something comes up in testing they are going to take the delay and get it right. Microsoft doesn't need a problem on their hands."

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Bangalore, May 05: How to browse the net, search, e-mail, social networking, browse maps or track stock market trends - this is what global web-based search engine Google is going to teach people as its custom-built Internet bus drives through 15 towns of Karnataka to expose the people to the digital world.

The bus, which began its journey Monday, will course through the state for the next 50 days.

After a successful two-month tour of 17 towns across Tamil Nadu from December to February, the Google bus began its Karnataka leg Monday from Kolar, a backward district, about 100 km from India's tech hub.

"The Internet bus project is an attempt to educate the people, especially the younger generation about the worldwide web and how Internet serves as a platform to step into the digital world for information, communication, entertainment and education," Google India research and development (R&D) head Prasad Ram told reporters.

The Interent-enabled bus has a video-driven content to showcase how people can make their everyday life simpler by accessing information in multiple formats - data, audio and video through English or local language (Kannada).

The content is tailored to familiarise the common folk with the basics of Internet. The online tool facilitates access to multiple services such as search, e-mail, social networking and browsing maps.

Among the Karnataka towns the Google bus will travel through over the weeks are Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Shimoga, Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum, Hospet and Tumkur.

"Tamil Nadu was a big learning for us. It was inspiring to see the people wanted to know about the Internet and share their needs with us. The experience has reinforced our belief that awareness is the key challenge in the growth of the Internet in India," Ram recalled.

In this phase, Google will focus on how mobile phones can be used to access even local information without data plans. Access to the Internet in local language will be its thrust area.

The benefit of the bus project is evident from a couple of instances during its sojourn in Tamil Nadu. A short tour of the Google bus made elderly parents at Krishnagiri to buy a computer for chatting and emailing with their son working overseas.

Similarly, a young businessman at Cuddalore, once a school dropout, learnt to track the stock market movements by browsing the relevant information or data links through the Internet.

"In Coimbatore, a boy who sold flowers for a living and had no exposure to the Internet learnt about Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Search in his native language (Tamil) by stepping into the bus," Ram noted.

The project is in line with Google's global strategy to make access to information, education and entertainment universal and relevant to end-user in English or multiple languages.

"Search has become more local with useful information on business listings, railways and flight status, cricket scores, movie review and et al. Our applications like SMS search, SMS channels and map maker have made Google the most sought after vehicle (engine) for millions in India and the world over," Ram claimed.

Access to information over mobile devices has become easier with mobile maps, mobile search, and mobile Orkut.

Google has also created platforms like the 'Be NetSmart' campaign to educate students, parents and teachers on Internet safety.

After travelling through Karnataka towns, the Internet bus will drive into other states across the country for similar exposure over the ensuing months.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

San Francisco, May 09: The inventor of one of the most widely used science programmes has given the most detailed demonstration yet of a new search engine that many experts predict could revolutionise the way information is used on the Internet.

Stephen Wolfram, whose Mathematical programme is widely used throughout the science world, gave the details of his new computational search engine, named Wolfram Alpha in an online presentation. The company says the technology will go public on May 18.

Unlike Google, which automatically indexes billions of web pages to answer users' search queries, Wolfram Alpha uses sophisticated algorithms to attempt to understand user questions, and then uses the resources stored in its expert-curated database to offer up answers and relevant information.

'The idea is to try and bring expert-level knowledge to everyone,' said Wolfram.

The result is very different from Google, which primarily points users in the direction of web pages. Wolfram Alpha, in contrast, displays information that it calculates by itself and shows in useful formats, offering numerous options for users to dig deeper into the subject.

It can answer questions like how high is Mt Everest, what is the fish production in Italy, and what was the weather in London on the day John F Kennedy was killed. But because it relies on verified data in its system rather than an ad hoc search of the internet, there are big gaps in its knowledge, especially in pop culture and information that frequently changes, such as film showings.

'We are just at the beginning,' said Wolfram, 49. 'I think we've got a reasonable start on 90 percent of the shelves in a typical reference library.'

Experts like Tom Simpson, on the blog Convergenceofeverything.com, said that rather than displacing Google, the new tool reflected the growing reach of emerging artificial intelligence and 'a step towards a self-organising internet' that intuitively understands what users need from it.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

New Delhi, May 09: Sports Minister MS Gill today lashed out at the BCCI saying that the board is using the cash-rich Indian Premier League to mint more money rather than promote the game of cricket in the country.

Concerned about the "commercial use of cricket for business gains", Gill criticised the BCCI for introducing an SMS game which requires fans to make ball by ball predictions for cash prizes in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

"I see the commercial use of cricket for business gains that is going on. I am concerned, at knowledgeable comments, from serious followers of cricket about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball by ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes," Gill said in a statement.

"This is viewed as 'openly encouraging gambling and betting', which official bodies do not resort to, even in countries where betting is legal; all this 'to make money and enlarge their TV viewership base'," the minister added.

The game has been widely criticised by cricket experts and the BCCI has been accused of promoting betting through it. Gill said the BCCI should have thought of the damage done to the game by the 2000 match-fixing scandal before introducing such a game.

"Cricket is part of the family of sports in our country. Its current riches, do not set it apart from other games. The actions of the BCCI, are bound to impact the thinking in other sports, sometime or the other. We have already had, sometime back, a match-fixing scandal, in the game. It seems the ICC, had expressed concerns about such possibilities, in the IPL league," he said.

The second edition of the IPL involves more money than its inaugural season. And with the event being played away from India, in South Africa, there is a further more possibility of betting and gambling being involved in the tournament.

He also added that the IPL could promote gambling in a 'new format', and proper measures should be taken to avoid any happening that taints the gentleman's game.

Reports suggest that millions of dollars have already been put at stake in the matches held so far.

The sports minister said that IPL has become more of a business for the BCCI than a venture to enhance the status and reputation game in the country, which shouldn't be the case.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Dhaka, May 09: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's husband, a nuclear scientist and former chairman of the country's Atomic Energy Commission, died here on Saturday after prolonged illness.

Wajed Mia, 67, who was being treated for months for diabetic, blood pressure, kidney and cardiac ailments, had suffered a heart attack on Thursday.

He was under constant medical surveillance at the private Square Hospital, where he breathed his last this afternoon, doctors said.

Hasina was present at the hospital at the time, they said.

His deteriorating health condition earlier forced Hasina to scrap her planned visit to the US, Britain and Canada.

Hasina married Mia in 1968 and they have two children, both of whom live in the US.

Doctors could not allow Mia to go abroad for better treatment in view of his complicated health condition.

A large number of politicians across the political lines including former president HM Ershad and Mayor of Dhaka Sadek Hossain, who belongs to main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Khaleda Zia, had visited the facility to visit the ailing Mia.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Mumbai, May 09: Foreign fund house Fidelity has reduced its stake in beleaguered IT company Satyam Computer to 4.02 per cent after offloading shares worth Rs 55.80 crore, through an open market transaction.

Fidelity, through its various investment arms, offloaded 1.18 crore shares representing 1.76 per cent stake of Satyam Computer, the IT firm said in a disclosure on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Prior to the transaction, the fund house held a 5.77 per cent stake, while now it holds 4.02 per cent stake, or 2.70 crore shares, in Satyam Computer.

Earlier this month, Tech Mahindra completed the process for acquiring 31 per cent in Satyam Computer. Tech Mahindra, through its subsidiary Venturbay Consultants, had been alloted 30.27 crore shares, or 31 per cent stake, in the firm.

Last month, Tech Mahindra had outbid others in the race to acquire a majority stake in the scam-tainted IT firm, following which Venturbay had deposited Rs 1,756 crore in the escrow account as the subscription amount for the initial shares.

At the end of the March quarter, Fidelity through its arms -- the Fidelity Diversified International Fund and the Fid Funds (Mauritius) Ltd -- held 8.71 per cent stake in the company.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Cape Town, May 09: Living life out of a suitcase could prove detrimental to Indian players in the ICC World Twenty20 Championship in England, warns coach Gary Kirsten who feels fatigue could play a major role in the defending champions` campaign in the biennial event.

India have been playing non-stop cricket for a long time, travelling from one corner of the world to another.

They play their first warm-up game ahead of the T20 World Cup against New Zealand on June 1, just seven days after the Indian Premier League gets over.

The defending champions` first match in the tournament, commencing on June 5, will be against Bangladesh a day later.   

"The Indian players have been on the road for a long time and the biggest challenge will be mental fatigue," said Kirsten.

However, the former South Africa opener said the current bunch of players have the ability to get over such situations.

"They have enormous pride when representing India and have become a tight unit over the past few months. I`m sure they will look forward to reuniting and playing for their country," he said.

Kirsten believes as defending champions, India would be under a lot of pressure, but is also confident that his wards have the wherewithal to come good in the tournament.

"When you are defending champions there will always be added pressure. That goes with the territory of high-performing teams. This team has played in many pressure situations since the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and has shown what they are capable of," he said.

The former South African opener is not too concerned about the conditions in England since it will be the same for every team.

"Every country has its own unique conditions which each team and individual needs to comes to terms with. The players are aware of those conditions and what is required to give themselves the best chance of performing. Most of the Indian players have played in England and know what to expect."

India may have been on a roll, winning matches at home and away, but Kirsten ruled out any hints of complacency gripping the squad.

"Experienced players understand the demands and pressures of World Cup tournaments. Throw in a few talented and fearless young players and you have a great mix in the team. There is certainly no danger of complacency within the Indian team. We pride ourselves in taking each game as it comes and giving 100 per cent on a daily basis while representing Team India," he said.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Cape Town, May 09: India coach Gary Kirsten believes rubbing shoulders with some of the world`s best cricketers in the Indian Premier League has been of immense help to young Indian players.

"The IPL provides a great opportunity for young Indian cricketers to show what they are capable of in a high-profile environment," Kirsten said.

"They also get to mix with, and learn from, successful international cricketers. This can only be of benefit to Indian cricket. Performances during the IPL can definitely be a stepping stone to achieving higher honours. Yusuf Pathan was one example of that last year," said the former South African player.

According to Kirsten, the IPL has shown that the best team on paper need not be successful on the pitch.

"There will always be new ideas and new thinking in every IPL. What is of interest to me are those teams that are able to win consistently and why they are able to do it. It isn`t always the best team on paper," the 41-year-old said.

Kirsten had a sympathetic view of John Buchanan`s multiple-captaincy theory but said as far as the Indian team is concerned, Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains the skipper.

"In the dynamic world we live in, innovative thinking is important to try and stay ahead and push the boundaries of performance. I think it is important to balance out what is already working and what can improve performance," Kirsten said about Buchanan`s plan for his Kolkata Knight Riders team.

"MS Dhoni has proved a highly effective and capable leader for India and I`m sure that will not change for some time to come," he said.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Kimberley, May 09: Kings XI Punjab skipper Yuvraj Singh heaped praise on Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene whose quickfire innings of 28-ball 43 under pressure ensured their side`s three-wicket victory over Deccan Chargers here on Saturday.

Chasing 169, Kings XI were in trouble at 86 for four at the strategy break after Yuvraj himself and Kumar Sangakkara were out in the space of two balls and one run but Jayawardene took the side to the threshold of victory with a blistering innings before the lower order finished off the match.

"After I was out in the 10th over I told the batsmen to stitch a partnership. Mahela and Irfan (Pathan) did that and the lower order had a few hits at the boundary," he said.

"Mahela played an outstanding innings and he has been consistent all along and doing well for us under pressure," Yuvraj said after the match.

The return of Australian pacer Brett Lee has added the sting to the Kings XI Punjab attack and Yuvraj understandably was happy with that.

"It a good thing (Lee`s return). We are getting better (in bowling), getting better at the death overs. If bowling at the death is sorted out, batting can take control of the match later," said Yuvraj.

Man-of-the-match Jayawardene said he had wanted to stay till the end but could not though the lower order did well to finish off the match.

"I had to be there till the end after Yuvraj and Sangakkara were out but I could not. Fortunately, the lower order were able to finish off the match," he said.

"Run chase is all about planning. After the 10th over I and Irfan spoke to each other to score at six to seven an over for another five overs. We were always ahead of that target but unfortunately I could not last till the end," said the former Sri Lanka captain.

Deccan Chargers captain Adam Gilchrist said despite the loss, his side was still in the hunt for a semifinal spot as the tournament was still wide open.

"It was an exciting game of cricket though we lost. It (tournament) is still wide open. Everybody is in the mix and every team is in the tournament," he said.

Asked about the wicket, he said, "It was a funny wicket. I won`t say that the ball came to the bat. But, as Mahela (Jayawardene) showed batsmen can clear the ropes."

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Manchester, May 09: Star England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has joined the growing list of Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni`s admirers, saying the wicketkeeper batsman is a very impressive leader both on and off the field.

Flintoff played under Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League before a knee injury forced him out of action.

But the Englishman, the costliest player on the Twenty20 event`s roster along with team-mate Kevin Pietersen, said he was mighty impressed with what he saw of Dhoni`s captaincy during his short stint with Chennai.

"Dhoni is very impressive both on and off the field. He is a very cool-headed guy," Flintoff said.

The talismanic all-rounder said injury might have cut short his IPL sojourn this time around but he was looking forward to be back next year.

"It is great to play in the presence of great players like (Australian) Matthew Hayden. I am looking forward to coming back next year," he said.

Earlier, Hayden had also praised Dhoni`s captaincy.

"MS is a fantastic captain and player. MS gets some great power from unorthodox shots. He is a danger in this form, danger in any format really. When he is going he just strikes the ball as hard as anyone on the planet. And these small boundaries ... he is just unstoppable," Hayden had said.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Washington, May 09: The Tata Group, State Bank of India (SBI) and Infosys Technologies are among 17 Indian firms that figure among the top 50 in a list of the world's 200 most reputable companies.

With a pulse score of 80.89 on a scale of 0-100, the US-based Reputation Institute ranked the Tata Group 11th above global giants like Google, Microsoft, General electric, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Intel and Unilever.

Italy-based chocolate producer Ferrero was ranked as the most reputable company on the planet right now. With its pulse score moving from 83.52 last year up to 85.17, Ferrero came up from fourth place last year to first, more than a full point ahead of second ranked IKEA.

"However it is the people of India who love their companies the best," noted US business magazine Forbes. "Of India's 27 corporations ranked by the institute, 24 (89 percent) placed above the average. Seventeen of them landed in the top third of the list."

The Reputation Institute's global pulse of 600 companies is a measure of corporate reputation calculated by averaging perceptions of four indicators - trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling - obtained from a representative sample of at least 100 respondents in the companies' home countries.

SBI, India's largest bank, is ranked 29th with a score of 78.11. India's second largest software exporter Infosys is at 39th, with a pulse score of 77.45.

Larsen & Toubro comes next at 47th position with a pulse score of 76.58, while India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzki has been ranked 49th with a pulse score of of 76.26.

Other Indian firms in the top 200 are: Hindustan Unilever (69 - 74.99); ITC Ltd (95 - 73.50); Canara Bank (102- 73.34); Hindustan Petroleum (111 - 73.08); Indian Oil (112 - 73.01); Wipro (116 - 72.77); Mahindra & Mahindra (137 - 71.61); Bharti Airtel (163 - 70.32); Bank of Baroda(174 -- 69.81); Bharat Petroleum(175 - 69.79) and Punjab National Bank (177- 69.67.)

Johnson & Johnson, which placed first in the US for reputation, lands third globally. Kraft Foods places eighth, making the US one of only two countries with two businesses in the global top 10. Brazil is the other. Its Petrobras and Sadia landed fourth and fifth respectively.

Brazil had the second highest percentage of its participating companies ranked above the global average at 76 percent, while 62 percent of American companies received pulse scores above the average.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

New Delhi, May 09: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office in its report on the Satyam fraud has suggested that the RBI should come out with definite guidelines for banks to issue balance confirmation certificates (BCC), to help auditors verify company accounts.

"(The) RBI may examine this (the procedure for issuing BCC) and issue necessary guidelines to ensure that forged balance confirmation certificates are not used for perpetration of fraud," the investigation arm of the Corporate Affairs Ministry said.

In case of Satyam, the statutory auditor Price Waterhouse relied on forged balance confirmation certificates produced by the Satyam management to certify accounts of the IT company.

The SFIO report further added that the auditors did not make any enquiry to ascertain the factual position on outstanding balance in current accounts and fixed deposits as required under ICAI directives.

"The... Lapse on the part of statutory auditors has enabled the Satyam executives to perpetrate a massive fraud, as it was noticed that... Many of the balance confirmation certificates were fake and forged," the report said.

Satyam, under disgraced founder B Ramalinga Raju, relied on forged fixed deposit receipts and bank accounts to present a rosy picture of the company. The company even paid taxes on interest on non-existing fixed deposits.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

Hyderabad, May 09: Newly-constituted board of Maytas Infra, a company promoted by the kins of the scam-tainted Satyam Computer, on Saturday approved the draft Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) proposal prepared by the SBI Capital Markets.

The CDR proposal, aimed at restructuring the debt of the infrastructure company, will be taken up for final approval by the CDR cell, headed by IDBI Bank.

"The clearance (by the board) came after SBI Capital Markets, consultants to the CDR scheme, made a presentation to the board," the company release said.

Apart from board members, the major lenders of Maytas Infra were also present at the meeting to review the CDR, it added.

Although the company officials did not disclose the amount of CDR, the Hyderabad-based construction firm is believed to have debt of Rs 1,700 crore and an order book of Rs 8,500 crore.

Maytas board, the release said, also reviewed the status of various projects, including the Hyderabad metro rail project, being undertaken by the company on BOT basis.

"As the CDR scheme is likely to be approved soon, the Board is optimistic on the execution of various projects taken up by the company," the release said.

Following an order by the Company Law Board, the government had appointed four directors, including a Chairman, on the board of Maytas Infra.


courtesy : Zeenews.com

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