Chitika's Spot

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Reliance moves onto GSM now!!

Reliance GSM coming to Delhi soon!

Reliance Communications has announced that they would soon launch their GSM services in Delhi.

The company is already a major provider of CDMA based telephony services in the country.

They have won the rights to provide GSM services in several circles and they have chosen Delhi as one of the first new markets for this service.

Reliance has for now offered over 1,000 connections to its employees as part of a soft launch

Friday, October 17, 2008

Chandrayaan 1


Is there water on the moon? India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan 1, will try to find out by peeking into the moon's dark corners and sending an American probe to dig there.

When Chandrayaan heads for the moon on October 22, it will carry on board a 6.5-kg mini synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR) developed by the Johns Hopkins University applied physics laboratory and the Naval Air Warfare Centre. It will look for water-ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles by digging a few metres into the surface.

Although lunar samples brought back by previous missions show the moon to be pretty dry, recent discoveries suggest water-ice may exist in its polar regions. The lunar poles contain areas that are permanently dark, creating cold traps or zones that, because the sun never shines on them, may be as cold as 50-70 Kelvin (about minus 223 to minus 203 Celsius).

Sachin's World Record


Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who on Friday surpassed West Indian Brian Lara's record of 11,953 Test runs, said he had converted challenges to success.

"People sometimes throw stones and you convert them into milestones," Tendulkar said after creating the new record.

"It is definitely the biggest achievement in 19 years of my career. It can't happen overnight. The journey has been fantastic with ups and downs. It was a process of success," he said.

"I wanted to shift the focus on cricket and not think of the record. But whoever I meet they keep on reminding me (of the record)."

Asked what he decided to do before coming to bat today, Tendulkar said, "I knew I need 15 runs to get past Lara's record. But I had decided to keep it simple, concentrate on just watching the ball."


Saturday, September 27, 2008

Google is now 10 Years Old....What's New??


Google is now of age "10" after it's logo being started in 1998. Happy Birthday Google!!
Google provided exclusive content on the occasion of its birthday. Check it out and wish it "Happy Birthday". Google being the top most search engine with over a trillion of web pages indexed every minute. It is visited daily by around million people(statistical survey reports) in multiple languages. It is also offering countless services like blogs, mail, books, ads, etc. With the launch of new IPHONE Google started its service in mobile phone field also. With its expanding empire Google is ready now to take over the world's top companies in any field.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Chinese Mobiles in India.


Chinese mobiles are fancy, state-of-the-art and dirt cheap for they are mostly copycats of big brands. However, they are also a suspected terrorist toolkit now, which has prompted the Intelligence Bureau and Home Ministry to recommend last month that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) should ban the sale of most Chinese mobiles in India since they don't come with any proper International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. The IMEI is a unique 17 or 15-digit code used to identify an individual mobile phone. The number of any particular handset gets registered with the service provider as soon as one makes a call.

Mobile handsets are issued in bulk by Chinese mobile phone companies in lots of 100, 1,000 and 5,000 with a common IMEI number, which makes it difficult for security agencies to track actual calls made from any of these phones. And even if you track down one of them, the IMEI number might have been copied from such a legitimate handset. Sources in the Home Ministry have told that the DoT has also been directed to tell services providers to stop giving connections to mobile sets without IMEI numbers and a notification is soon on its way.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

ICC 2008 Awards.....What's New ??



Winners list ICC Awards 2008:

Cricketer of the Year Award: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)

Test Player of the Year: Dale Steyn (South Africa)

ODI Player of the Year: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India)

International T20 Performance of the Year: Yuvraj Singh (India)

Emerging Player of the Year: Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka)

Associate Player of the Year: Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands)

ICC Woman Cricketer of the Year: Charlotte Edwards (England)

Spirit of Cricket Award: Sri Lanka

Umpire of the Year: Simon Taufel

ICC Test Team of the Year: Graeme Smith (South Africa), Virender Sehwag (India), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies), Kevin Pietersen (England), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Brett Lee (Australia), Ryan Sidebottom (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka).

12th man: Stuart Clark (Australia)

ICC ODI Team of the Year: Hershelle Gibbs (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Younis Khan (Pakistan), Andrew Symonds (Australia), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India), Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Brett Lee (Australia), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Nathan Bracken (Australia),

12th man: Salman Butt (Pakistan)

Oil prices hit five-month low

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has cut its production quotas amid the sharp drop in oil prices in recent weeks, Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil told reporters early on Wednesday.

Production quotas will be returned to the levels of September 2007. Excluding OPEC members Angola, Iraq and Indonesia, the new production target will be 28.8 million barrels a day, trimming about 520,000 barrels from the current daily production levels.OPEC ministers met in Vienna to discuss oil production levels.

Earlier, Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari called on the fellow cartel members on Monday to limit oversupply and stick to their allocated output. Khelil, conference president, in his opening address said oil ministers should not only address production levels but the causes of price volatility seen over the last year.One barrel of crude produced by OPEC stood at $101.08 Monday, down from the record $140.73 July 3.High fuel prices and an economic slump have dampened oil consumption in the US, with demand also slowing in other industrialised countries.Earlier Tuesday, both Saudi and Venezuelan oil ministers had indicated that production levels should stay the same.OPEC produces more than 37 per cent of the world's oil supply. The organisation calculates an average basket price based on 13 brands produced by its members.

Pay Scale of IT companies
















Salary In Lakh Per Annum


Salary In Lakh Per Annum
S.L No Company Normal High Low
S.L No Company Normal High Low
1 ABB 6.50 0 0
80 KMG 2.65 0 0
2 Accenture 2.30 3.40 2.30
81 KPIT Cummins 2.70 0 0
3 Adobe 5.00 8.05 0
82 Krawler Networks 3.00 0 0
4 ADP 3.85 0 0
83 Kritikal 4.30 0 0
5 Agilent 4.00 4.50 0
84 L&T Engg 3.00 0 2.40
6 Alstom 3.20 0 0
85 L&T Infotech 2.22 3.47 2.22
7 Amdocs 4.00 0 0
86 Lafarge 3.25 0 0
8 Arada 4.50 5.25 4.00
87 LG Electronics 3.50 0 0
9 Aricent 3.50 0 0
88 Mahindra & Mahindra 3.00 0 0
10 Ashok Leyland 4.20 5.50 3.10
89 Manhattan 4.00 0 0
11 Atrenta 5.50 0 0
90 Mapinfo 5.65 0 0
12 Avaya 4.00 0 0
91 Maruti 3.25 4.20 0
13 Aztecsoft 2.40 0 0
92 MasconGlobal Limited 2.50 3.50 0
14 Bechtel 3.15 3.25 0
93 Mastek 3.25 0 0
15 BEL 3.90 0 0
94 McAfee 4.00 4.50 0
16 BHEL 4.00 0 0
95 Mentor Graphics 7.40 7.90 0
17 Birlasoft 2.50 0 0
96 Microsoft 9.12 9.50 8.50
18 BMC Software 3.15 0 0
97 MindTree 3.20 0 0
19 BPCL 5.65 0 0
98 Morgan Stanley 8.00 0 0
20 Canon India 3.75 0 0
99 Mphasis 2.50 0 0
21 Capgemini 3.50 4.80 3.00
100 Nagarro Infotech 3.50 0 0
22 Captronics 2.00 0 0
101 NBC Bearing 3.00 0 0
23 Cdot 3.90 0 0
102 Nestle 6.30 0 0
24 Cerner Healthcare 3.80 0 0
103 Net-App 7.00 11.60 0
25 Cienna 5.00 0 0
104 Newgen 3.75 0 0
26 Cisco Systems 8.50 10.20 7.10
105 Nihilent Technologies 2.80 0 0
27 Citrix 8.00 0 0
106 NIIT 2.20 0 0
28 Coal India 4.20 0 0
107 Nirvana 5.00 0 0
29 Cognizant Technology Solution 3.05 0 0
108 Nous Infosystems 1.80 2.40 0
30 Compro 4.00 0 0
109 NSE Infotech 2.62 0 0
31 Computer Associates 5.20 0 0
110 NTPC 4.50 0 0
32 Computer Science Corporation 3.60 3.75 2.24
111 NvIndia 7.40 0 0
33 Continuserve 2.45 0 0
112 OnMobile 4.50 0 0
34 Cybage 2.46 0 0
113 Oracle 6.00 8 0
35 DE Shaw 10.00 10.04 9.54
114 Pangea 5.00 0 0
36 Dell 2.75 0 0
115 Patni 3.25 3.60 0
37 Deloitte 4.40 5.50 3.20
116 Perrot Systems 2.80 0 0
38 DRDO 4.00 0 0
117 Persistant Systems 3.00 0 0
39 E Q Technologic 3.50 0 0
118 Phillips 5.00 0 0
40 Eicher Motor 5.60 0 0
119 PWC 4.50 0 0
41 EIL 4.40 0 0
120 Reliance Energy Ltd 4.50 0 0
42 EMC^2 6.00 0 0
121 Reliance Industries 3.75 0 0
43 Ericsson 3.00 0 0
122 Saama Techonologies 2.40 0 0
44 eValue Serve 4.00 0 0
123 Samsung(Software) 4.00 5.58 0
45 EXL Service 4.00 0 0
124 Samsung Engg 3.50 0 0
46 Fidelity 3.80 5.50 0
125 Sapient 4.50 0 3.57
47 Fiserv India 2.78 0 0
126 Sasken 5.00 0 0
48 Fluor Daniel 4.00 0 0
127 SatyamComputers Ltd 3.00 3.50 2.40
49 Freescale 5.50 0 0
128 Schlumberger 9.40 28.00 0
50 FSS 6.50 0 0
129 Schneider 3.10 3.50 0
51 Futures First 6.40 0 0
130 Siemens Power 4.60 0 0
52 GCI Solutions 2.85 3.20 2.85
131 SM Creative 4.20 5.00 0
53 GE 3.60 0 0
132 Smart cube 5.20 0 0
54 Geodesic 4.50 9.00 1.80
133 Solid Core 7.00 0 0
55 Global logic 3.60 0 0
134 Sun Microsystems 3.50 0 0
56 Godrej Infotech 2.80 0 0
135 Sungard 4.00 4.50 0
57 Goldman Sachs 5.50 0 0
136 Syntel India Ltd 3.30 0 2.40
58 Grail Research 6.00 0 0
137 T Systems 2.20 0 0
59 GS Engg 3.50 0 0
138 Tacho 2.80 0 0
60 Habinger 2.70 0 0
139 Tata Elxi 2.25 0 0
61 HCL 3.00 0 0
140 Tavant 3.50 0 0
62 Hexaware 3.00 0 0
141 TCE 3.00 3.50 0
63 Honeywell 4.00 0 0
142 TCS 3.25 3.30 3.12
64 Hughes Systique 4.25 0 0
143 Tech Mahindra 3.10 0 2.60
65 IBM GBS 3.26 3.80 0
144 Teradata 3.40 0 0
66 IBM ISL 5.44 0 0
145 Texas Instruments 5.80 0 0
67 I-Flex 2.40 0 0
146 Thoughtworks 5.60 5.08 0
68 iGate 2.50 0 0
147 TISCO 4.48 0 0
69 Impulsesoft 3.00 0 0
148 Torry Harris 3.00 0 0
70 Indorama 7.00 0 0
149 Toshiba 3.80 0 0
71 Infogain 2.50 0 0
150 Total Envt 3.30 0 0
72 Informatica 5.50 0 0
151 Trident 4.50 6.00 0
73 Infosys Technolgies Ltd 3.00 3.50 2.42
152 US Technologies 2.40 0 0
74 Integra 6.00 0 0
153 Uttam Galva 0.96 0 0
75 IOCL 5.50 6.80 0
154 Verizon Data Services India Pvt Ltd 5.40 7.50 0
76 ITC Infotech 3.00 0 0
155 Vestas RRB 3.00 0 0
77 Ivy Comptech 7.20 0 0
156 Whirlpool 3.06 0 0
78 Jindal Steel 3.20 0 0
157 Wipro 3.10 3.50 2.75
79 Kennametal 4.80 0 0
158 Yahoo 7.50 10.89 6.75






159 Zensar Technologies 2.40 0 0

Hubble Mission....What's New ??



The US shuttle Atlantis faces nearly twice the risk of being struck by debris on a mission next month to the Hubble telescope, due to the high levels of space litter floating at the altitude of Hubble's orbit, NASA said.

"It's a very challenging mission. We have hazards we don't typically have for an ISS (International Space Station) mission," NASA space shuttle programme manager John Shannon told a news conference on Monday.

"We have a one-in-180 chance of getting some type of catastrophic damage from micro-meteorites/orbiting debris (MMOD) compared to an ISS mission, which is typically a one-in-300 chance," he said.

Hubble is orbiting some 600 kilometers above earth, compared with 240 kilometers for the ISS.

When the risk faced by a shuttle mission is greater than one-in-200, the decision to go ahead with the flight has to come from the highest authorities in NASA, said Shannon.

But he expected they would give the green light for the Atlantis mission to lift off on what will be its final mission to conduct maintenance work on Hubble.

"Our risk has increased, but our ability to mitigate the risk has increased. So it makes us feel pretty good about it," said Shannon.

"MMOD is the biggest risk for all shuttle flights" and the risk grows the higher above the earth's surface the shuttle flies, he said.

Space has become more littered and dangerous in the past year due to mishaps, tests and aborted missions involving American, Chinese and Russian satellites and rockets, he said.

Artificial Big-Bang Started......What's New ??

A project to re-enact the "Big Bang" at CERN near Geneva on Wednesday is getting the rap treatment on the Internet from a group of young people working there.

"Twenty seven kilometres, a tunnel underground "Designed with a mind to send protons around "A circle that crosses through Switzerland and France "Sixty nations contribute to scientific advance," it runs.

The nearly five-minute video has been a big hit on YouTube (www.youtube.com) and some other sites (www.vimeo.com and www.teachertube.com), far more than the 23-year-old American would-be science writer who wrote the words ever expected.

Scientists at the world's largest particle collider have fired the first protons into a 17-mile-long tunnel in science's next great step to understand the makeup of the universe.

Project leader Lyn Evans gave the go-ahead to send the protons into the accelerator below the Swiss-French border early Wednesday.

The $3.8 billion Large Hadron Collider was under construction since 2003. Scientists hope it will provide the necessary power to smash the components of atoms so that they can see how they are made.

The startup has been eagerly awaited by 9,000 physicists around the world who will conduct experiments here.

Some skeptics have said they fear the collisions of protons could eventually imperil Earth.

CERN is backed by leading scientists like Britain's Stephen Hawking in dismissing the fears and declaring the experiments to be absolutely safe.

Gillies told that the most dangerous thing that could happen would be if a beam at full power were to go out of control, and that would only damage the accelerator itself and burrow into the rock around the tunnel deep below the Swiss-French border.

And full power is probably a year away.

A good result for Wednesday would be to have one beam going all the way around the tunnel in a counterclockwise direction. If that works, the scientists will then try to send a beam in the other direction.

''A really good result would be to have the other beam going around, too, because once you've got a beam around once in both directions you know that there is no show stopper,'' Gillies said. ''It's going to work.''

However, if there is some blockage in the machine, experts will have to go in and fix the problem, and that could take time.

The LHC, as the collider is known, will take scientists to within a split second of a laboratory recreation of the big bang, which they theorize was the massive explosion that created the universe.

The project organized by the 20 European member nations of CERN has attracted researchers of 80 nationalities. Some 1,200 are from the United States, an observer country which contributed $531 million. Japan, another observer, also is a major contributor.

The collider is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around the tunnel.

Smaller colliders have been used for decades to study the makeup of the atom. Less than 100 years ago scientists thought protons and neutrons were the smallest components of an atom's nucleus, but in stages since then experiments have shown they were made of still smaller quarks and gluons and that there were other forces and particles.

The CERN experiments could reveal more about ''dark matter,'' antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time. It could also find evidence of the hypothetical particle _ the Higgs boson _ believed to give mass to all other particles, and thus to matter that makes up the universe.

Some scientists have been waiting for 20 years to use the LHC. But even their younger colleagues are excited that startup has finally arrived.

''I think it's a very important project,'' said Katie McAlpine, 23, a Michigan State University graduate who made a rap video about the project.

''It's mostly out of scientific curiosity, what is the universe made of? How does it work? What are the rules? That's very exciting and it's important to advance our knowledge,'' she told Associated Press Television News.

She said she was surprised by the success of the video, which has had more than a million views on YouTube and which has received approval from CERN for its scientific accuracy, especially in its success with young people.



Sunday, September 7, 2008

Top Game Sites

The following list contains some of the best websites and online resources for free computer games. Some sites are soley dedicated to freeware games, while others offer either a mix of freeware and free online games or a section dedicated to free computer games. The free computer game sites are listed in alphabetical order, with some sites having a review/profile.

Acid-Play

Overall Rating: 5/5
Acid Play has grown into one of the more reliable free gaming websites around. It offers more than 860 free game downloads. All games listed on AcidPlay.com are reviewed and given a percentage rating. The reviews and ratings are a great guide on determining the quality of the free game.

AllGamesAtoZ.com

AllGamesAtoZ.com is a newer site that offers fewer than 100 freeware games. Most of the games can be found on other freeware game sites as well.

Caiman.us

Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Caiman.us is a purely freeware game website, you won't find any demos or shareware games here. It boasts an impressive 4,630 games (3,395 unique games) and is one of the most frequently updated freeware gaming websites I've seen.

Fullgames.sk

Fullgames.sk lists a decent number of free computer games both downloadable freeware and free online game but they are also listed along with other retail game assets such as demos and trailers.

GameHippo

Overall Rating: 5/5
With more than 1000 rated games Game Hippo is a a great website for finding free computer games. Unlike many other free game sites, Game Hippo contains only freeware games. All games listed on Game Hippo have been installed, played and reviewed by the GameHippo Staff.

Home of the Underdogs

Overall Rating: 5/5
Home of the Underdogs is a freeware/abandonware site that offers a vast number of titles for download. It is a virtual gold mine for many classic out of print games and has grown to a library of over 5,000 games. The list of freeware game titles is fairly impressive but it's been quite some time since this site has been updated.

Mega Games

MegaGames has more info on retail game assets such as cheats, demos, and patches but it does have an excellent free computer game section that is definately worth a look. Most games are hosted on MegaGames and/or provide links/info to the offical game sites.

Noodan

Noodan had loads of freeware games and free online games. Navigation could be better but once you get use to the site it's fairly easy to see what's new and there is a text search available.


Planet Freeplay

Planet Freeplay is a great source for finding quality freeware games by offering easy to use navigation and more than 1500 downloadable freeware and online games. Listed front and center of the Planet Freeplay home page are the latest freeware titles that have been added to the site. These listings provide the game title, a small preview screenshot and a short description.

Reloaded Abandonia

Reloaded provides is a free computer game site dedicated to remakes of classic/retro video games and community made freeware games. Layout and navigation of Reloaded is very nice with screenshots and descriptions of all games listed in it's directory.

India in NSG ..??


After the NSG cleared the Indo-US N-deal on Saturday in Vienna, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "Now the real work had to be done back home in the US Congress. I don't think a lot of people thought we'd be able to get this through the NSG this weekend."

Rice said she had made a lot of calls to help win approval.

The UK also came out in full support of the Indo-US nuclear deal. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said, "The result represents a gain for the non-proliferation regime by bringing India further into the broader non-proliferation framework, a framework the UK firmly supports."

China which was against the waiver reacted by saying that it is China's hope that the NSG would equally address the aspirations of all parties for the peaceful use of nuclear power. Apparently, alluding to Pakistan's repeated attempts to get a similar deal with the US.

Zardari -- Pakistan President ??


Pakistan ruling party, PPP's co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari has won the Presidential elections by a huge margin.The National Assembly voted in Zardari by a winning margin of 281 out of 426 votes. There are a total of 436 members in the National Assembly, all of whom voted on Saturday. Ten votes were declared invalid.

Zardari needed 381 votes to win but won by an overwhelming majority of 460 votes - excluding the Punjab Assembly results.He got the bulk of votes in the Balochistan and Sindh Assemblies. Dawn News reports that Zardari was voted in by 59 votes in the 65-member in the Balochistan Assembly. In the Sindh Assembly too, Zardari got 162 votes from the 163 members.

In Pakistan, President holds vast powers including the power to dissolve Parliament, to sack the Prime Minister and to appoint the Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force. According to Kamran Yousaf of Dawn News PPP co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari - who was the PPP's candidate - had earlier said that he was committed to making the president ceremonial, but refused to go along with Nawaz Sharif in diluting those powers.

Zardari has had a legacy of broken promises and the 53-year-old has also spent 11 years in jail on corruption and other charges. Asif Ali Zardari has become the first head of any political party to occupy the presidency after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

POLLING PROCESS

Here's how the President of Pakistan is elected:

  • He is elected by an electoral college comprising of the four Provincial Assemblies, the National Assembly and the Senate.
  • There are a total of 702 votes at stake.
  • The winning candidate must get 352 votes.

Zardari's position was unbeatable according to analysts as his party had 124 seats in the National Assembly and also a majority in the Sindh Assembly.

PPP is also the second largest party in the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab, Balochistan and North West Frontier.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Nuclear Decision....What's New ??



Most of us are aware of the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan singh was supporting for

the Nuclear Agreement to be made. It was expected that this nuclear agreement would

bring india an immense amount of nuclear material supplies which would be more helpful

for electrical generation purposes in the coming days due to sharp rise in inflation rate (12

approximately). However many parties opposed this agreement among whom were Left

parties also. Even being a part of UPA, Left felt that this could endanger lives of many, by

letting india into the hands of Mr.Bush. Hence left started warning Congress party that it

would not support Congress anymore once the agreement was signed.

However many people believed that the Left's assumption was wrong.

Mr.Manmohan singh assured that the agreement in no way will affect India's freedom for

nuclear testing. It was all written in the agreement. However the american embassy at that

time of talks kept this whole thing a secret. But the new embassy revealed this fact leading

to a great confusion to all the people who believed in Manmohan Singh's words whether

to adopt this deal or not.It included that America will stop supplying nuclear fuel when

India uses it to test their nuclear power. It will not even be lending their scientific research

or technology, nor allowing us to stockpile nuclear fuel, nor are we allowed enrich

uranium to make it into plutonium or on our own.

Now its time to take the a quick decision at the Nuclear Suppliers' Group meet in

Vienna. This decision may uplift the country or may even thrash the country's pride and control.

Let us wait to hear it !!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Google to Launch its Own Browser "CHROME"


Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.

The Mountain View, California-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser's arrival.

The free browser, called ''Chrome,'' is supposed to be available for downloading from Tuesday in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft's Windows operating system. Google said it's still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.'s Mac computer and the Linux operating system.

Google's browser is expected to hit the market a week after Microsoft's unveiling of a test version of its latest browser update, Internet Explorer 8. The tweaks include more tools for Web surfers to cloak their online preferences, creating a shield that could make it more difficult for Google and other marketing networks to figure out which ads are most likely to appeal to which individuals.

Although Google is using a cartoonish approach to promote Chrome, the new browser underscores the gravity of Google's rivalry with Microsoft, whose Internet Explorer is used by about 75 percent of Web surfers.

Google's lead in the lucrative Internet search market is nearly as commanding, with its engine processing nearly two-thirds of the Web's queries.

For the past few years, Google has been trying to take advantage of its search engine's popularity to loosen Microsoft's grip on how most people interact with personal computers.

The assault so far has been focused on a bundle of computer programs, including word processing and spreadsheet applications, that Google offers as an alternative to one of Microsoft's biggest money makers, its Office suite of products.

Google has tried to make its alternatives more appealing and accessible by hosting them for free over Internet connections instead of requiring users to pay a licensing fee to install them on individual computers, as Microsoft typically does.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing billions in the development of its own search engine and making an unsuccessful attempt to buy Yahoo Inc. for $47.5 billion.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Top 10 IT MNCs in India

Indian IT is no longer about just being a global talent base. The country is also emerging fast as a key market for both Indian and global technology companies. Thanks to a growing domestic IT market, even global companies are making rapid inroads in the Indian market.

In fact, IT MNCs outnumbered Desi tech firms in a recent survey done by Dataquest magazine on India's Top 20 IT companies in India.

What's more, it is not just the biggies like Microsoft, HP, IBM and Oracle battling it out with the Indian IT companies for top slots in the rankings. The swelling domestic IT market is attracting many more global tech firms to India and they are giving tough competition to the home companies on their turf.

Another key finding of the survey is that India is no longer just a key R&D location. The country is also fast gaining importance in terms of revenue generation. India revenues are rising and becoming noticeable in the global revenues of these companies.

Here's a peek into the top 10 tech MNCs in India and their business.

* Hewlett-Packard

* IBM

* Ingram Micro

* CISCO

* Oracle

* Intel

* Accenture

* Microsoft

* SAP

* Dell

Source : IndiaTimes

Engineering Job Fairs.....What's New ??

The Naukri.com Job Fair comes to Bangalore for the second time with a plethora of jobs and recruiters, all under one roof. It is a perfect platform for recruiters who are looking for the best talent and jobseekers who are looking for the best job. This year, one can find jobs from multiple industries like IT, ITES/BPO, Finance, Banking/Insurance, Telecom, Engineering, Hospitality and construction.

Last year, the Job Fair in Bangalore received an overwhelming response with a footfall of over 35, 000 people. "This is a great platform for all the job seekers looking for opportunities, with multiple industries under one roof, and I am very grateful to Naukri.com as I got a job offer.” - Mr. Rahul John – 9 th December, 2007

Companies also walked out satisfied with the best talent while job seekers were ecstatic at getting a job on the spot. Commenting on the Job Fair, Mr. P. Venkatesh, Head of HR, Ingersoll Rand said, “The Naukri.com event has given a good return on investment as it meets our requirement for talent hiring as well as branding.”

Participants in the Job Fair included

1. HCL
2. Cable and Wireless
3. Cambridge Solutions
4. Kyocera Wireless ( India) Pvt.Ltd
5. HSBC Global Services
6. Ingersoll Rand
7. Intec
8. Mico Bosch
9. Moog Controls etc..

Walk-in to the fair with your CV at:

Venue : The Palace Grounds, The Palace, Vasanthnagar,
Bangalore - 560052

Date : Sat, Sun - 13th & 14th September, 2008

Time : 10am to 6pm

For More Details

Apply Here

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Tata Nano...What's New??


India's Most prestigious company, Tata Motors has introduced its most hyped 1 Lakh car last year. Nano, India's Cheapest Car, is projected to be a small, affordable, rear-engined, four-passenger car aimed primarily at the Indian market.Many other motor companies really did not agree with Tata motors regarding the 1 Lakh budget project. However Tata was able to launch its Nano in two designs making all other companies bewildered.

Tata initially targeted the vehicle as "the least expensive car in the world"— aiming for a starting price of 100,000 rupees or approximately $2300 despite rapidly rising material prices.

As of August, 2008 material costs have risen from 13% to 23% over the car’s development, and Tata now faces the choice of introducing the car with an artificially low introductory price, raising the price of the car, or foregoing profit on the car — the latter an unlikely proposition., while an increased price on the Nano will likely decrease demand.

As the Nano was conceived and designed around introducing the automobile to a sector of the population who are currently using eco-friendly bicycles and motorcycles, environmentalists are concerned that its extraordinarily low price might lead to mass motorization in countries like India and therefore possibly aggravate pollution and global warming well as increase the demand for oil.

Singur car factory land dispute arose as Tata's planned manufacturing unit for the car in Singur,West Bengal where the state government of West Bengal had allocated 997 acres (4.03 km2) to Tata Motors. The construction of the car factory on that tract of land began in January 2007 on fertile agricultural land and the expropriation and eviction of approximately 15,000 peasants and agricultural workers. The affected farmers have fears that they will receive inadequate or no compensation and therefore lose their livelihoods.

Work at the Nano factory in Singur has come to a grinding halt. Not a single Tata employee or labourer had turned up for work on Friday after a warning issued by protesters.In a state like Bengal where 90 per cent of available land is fertile, it's inevitable that land acquired for industry will include agricultural land. But for Mamata, Nandigram or Singur are no longer about economics but about politics.


Wednesday, August 27, 2008

IPV6 addresses by 2010


The Internet will run out of addresses in another two years as only 700 million separate addresses are remaining for allocation out of the 4.3 billion available on the present network.

When originally developed, Internet planners assumed four billion IP addresses would serve the world when using the Internet, The Australian reported.

Geoff Huston, chief scientist of the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre, which manages address allocation within the region – said he hovered between calling the situation a challenge or a crisis.

A shortfall in addresses would stifle networking of small and simple devices for energy management for lighting, intelligent building systems and remote-control sensors.

In order to address the situation, all Internet users would have to move to an upgraded platform -- called Internet Protocol v6.

This technology would allow access to the 340 trillion-trillion-trillion new addresses needed to connect not only billions of new users, but also the trillions of sensor devices that will require networking as technology takes greater control of people’s lives.

“IPv6 provides more addresses in cyberspace than there are grains of sands on the world’s beaches,” said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Chiranjeevi's "Praja Rajyam"



A demigod took the temple town of Tirupati by storm on Tuesday. Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi launched his political party Prajarajyam (People's Rule) as lakhs of his supporters cheered him on and he outlined his political philosophy to them.

Chiranjeevi promised his party would work for the poor, women and youth but he didn't explain how. It didn't matter-all that mattered to fans was watch the political debut of their star.

"It will be a democratic and secular party. It will be a people's party, born from the hearts of the people. It will be a party for backward classes, farmers, workers, women and youth," he said.

"The party will work for development, modernisation and industrial revolution. Its goal will be 'santosh' and 'ananda' (contentment and happiness) Andhra Pradesh," he told the gathering at the sprawling 120-acre Avilala Tank.

"I know your problems, pains and sufferings and will always stand by you," he said, while taking the oath in the name of Lord Venkateshwara to dedicate his life to serve the people.

However there were mishaps as two people died who were on their journey to reach chiru's mega launch of his political party.

Trinadh Babu, a Chiranjeevi fan died due to heart attack while travelling in a special train from Bheemavaram in West Godavari District to the meeting. Another fan Nagababu, a volunteer in the actor's camp from East Godavari District also died due to heart attack after the completion of his training.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Chiranjeevi -- Political Party


Telugu Megastar Chiranjeevi is all set to unveil his political party's name, its policies at a public meeting on Aug 26, i.e. Tuesday in Tirupati.

Organisers were giving finishing touches to the arrangements for the 'mega show'. The venue is at Avilala Cheruvu, the outskirts of Tirupati. The meeting will be held from $4PM to 7PM. Arrangements have been made to enable the attendees even in the last row to witness Chiranjeevi speak and watch the proceedings on giant digital screens.

Over 126-acre ground has been cleared of bushes at the venue, where an AICC Plenary was held in 1992 during P V Narasimha Rao's regime. The mega star's fans are using all modes of transport — from trains to cabs — to reach the temple town. Ticket aspirants are said to have sponosred a large number of buses and cabs to ferry their supporters. Also, 10 special trains have been booked to take the participants and mediapersons from Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, other parties, like Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Left, would decide their stance on Chiranjeevi's party on the basis of his stand on various issues.

No other political event in the recent past had evoked so much interest as Chiranjeevi's political foray and is reminiscent of legendary hero NTR's feat 25 years ago when he stormed to power within nine months of entering politics. The details of the party's name, flag and agenda are kept secret and the mega show has all the ingredients of a Chiranjeevi blockbuster movie.

Olympics End -- Stars of Olympics

Beijing: Winners and losers at the Beijing Olympics:

Winners

Usain Bolt: Never has a sprint king been so aptly named as the streak of yellow lightning from Jamaica who pulled off an unprecedented double-triple of world records and titles in winning the 100m, 200m and 4x100m sprint relay golds.

Little-known before the start of this year, and regarded as being too tall and lanky for the shorter dash, Bolt exploded onto the world scene with a 100m world record in late May and the manner in which he confirmed that in Beijing will go down in Olympic history.

He reckons he can improve his start which could bring the 9.6secs barrier into prospect. His pre- and post- race antics upset IOC chief Jacques Rogge, but he delighted fans, pundits and sponsors alike with his laid-back approach.

Michael Phelps

The Beijing Games started at 8:08 on 08/08/08 in keeping with Chinese beliefs that the number eight brings good luck and it will be the record eight gold medals won by Michael Phelps that will mark these Games forever.

Some of his golds he won easily, others were agonisingly close, but at the end of the day the legendary seven golds won by Mark Spitz in Munich 35 years ago had finally been surpassed.

The unassuming American now holds the record of Olympic titles at 14 and he fully intends to compete in London in four years time when he will be just 27 years old. That could see him bidding to hike his career golds up to an amazing 20.

Chris Hoy

The Flying Scotsman was originally a steam-engine train that smashed world speed records in the last century, Now it refers to the 32-year-old Edinburgh powerhouse who spearheaded Britain's astonishing track cycling campaign which saw them win seven out of the 10 golds on offer.

Hoy, who was left distraught after the IOC scrapped the one kilometer event he won in Athens, worked furiously to turn his formidable four-lap time trial skills into ones with power and acceleration and it paid off as he won the individual and team sprints as well as the keirin, equalling a 100-year-old British Olympic record in the process.

Yelena Isinbayeva

Diva is a word that is overused in the sporting world, but if there is any athlete who merits the description it is Russia's peerless pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva.

The former gymnast and Red Army lieutenant pocketed her second straight Olympics gold with consumate ease, clearing 25cm higher than her nearest rival, and then produced a one-woman show of the highest quality and drama.

She failed twice in her bid at a new world record height of 5.05m, but on her third attempt she sailed over triggering one of the most gleeful gold medal celebrations of the Games. She insists she will be back in four years time in London to bid for the treble.

Team China

China completed the Long March to world sporting supremacy on home territory and the toppling of the United States never looked in doubt from the moment that weightlifter Chen Xiexia opened her country's account with the second gold medal of the Olympics.

By the end of the Games, China had made off with 51 golds, well ahead of the Americans. The United States remained ahead in total number of medals won though. China's successes came mainly in lower profile sports such as diving, shooting and table-tennis while success in sports like athletics and swimming remained elusive with just Liu Zige's women's 200m butterfly gold to celebrate for the hosts.

How well the Chinese defend their crown in London in four years time will be fascinating to watch.

Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba

The fleet-footed duo from Ethiopia underlined their country's domination of long-distance track running by claiming men's and women's 5000m and 10,000m doubles within a day of each other. Both won with consummate ease. Bekele became the first male athlete to do the double since another Ethiopian Miruts Yifter achieved the same feat in the boycotted 1980 Games in Moscow, while Dibaba's accomplishment was a ground-breaker for the women.

Ethiopia's gold rush was a bitter blow to arch-rivals Kenya but the east African running power bounced back with first ever golds in the men's marathon through Samuel Wanjiru and in the women's 800 and 1500 metres through Pamela Jelimo and Nancy Jebet Langat.

Losers

Tyson Gay

Gay started the year as world champion and the leading force in global sprinting alongside Asafa Powell. He left Beijing empty-handed and confused. Gay's preparations for the Olympics were badly hampered by a hamstring injury, but even then few would have predicted he would fail to make it through to the final.

His fall from grace presaged a miserable time for US sprinters as Usain Bolt and the all-conquering Jamaicans won five out of the six sprint golds on offer with Russia taking the women's 4x100m after the Jamaicans dropped the baton.

Hapless handovers also doomed both US sprint relay teams and the powers that be have ordered a major review of all USA Track and Field programs.

Liu Xiang

Hurdler Liu's dream of providing China with the big win they sought in the Olympic Stadium was shattered under the twin burdens of injuries and massive pressure. The signs were there that all was not well before the Games even got underway as the Shanghai Express holed up in the sidings while Cuba's Dayron Robles snatched away his world record.

It still came as a stunning blow to the nation, however, when he pulled up in pain after a false start to his opening heat and marched disconsolately off the track. Liu later apologised to his compatriots and vowed to regain his crown in London in four years time when at 29 he will still be in his prime as a hurdler.

Laure Manaudou

The French swimmer exploded onto the scene as a 17-year-old in Athens four years ago and she supplanted Grand Slam tennis swimmer Amelie Mauresmo as France's most admired woman athlete. But Beijing was a different story.

Her form slumped in the last few months as her love life and wrangles with coaches became a staple of the French gossip columns. It all came home to roost in China where she could only manage seventh place in the final of the 400m freestyle where she was the defending champion, followed by last place in the 100m backstroke final and finally a dismal eighth and last place in the semi-finals of the 200m backstroke after which she tearfully fled for home.

Brazil's footballers

If failing to end the jinx that has seen the Brazilians never having won the men's Olympic title to go with the five World Cups they have won, it was arch-rivals Argentina that sent them packing with a humiliating 3-0 thumping in the semi-finals.

Dunga's players did save some face by defeating Belgium for the bronze medal but their performances in China left the legendary Pele shaking his head.

The Brazilian women went one better and reached the final but once again they fell to the United States and the tears and anguish that the players displayed at the final whistle showed that there was no silver lining for them in defeat.

Roger Federer

The Swiss maestro said he would salvage his season with wins in the Olympics and at the US Open. His stunning quarter-final loss to Fernando Gonzalez in Beijing leaves him with just Flushing Meadows to go this year.

To make matters worse his Spanish nemesis Rafael Nadal on at a canter as he underlined his newly-acquired position as the number one tennis player in the world. Federer has now played in three Olympics and his best performance remains a fourth-place finish in Sydney in 2000.

Curiously, there was some consolation for him when he teamed up with Stanislas Wawrinka to win the men's doubles title for his country. He had hoped for more.

Cuba's boxers

Cuba's proud record in Olympic boxing was dealt a painful knockout blow as the Caribbean island came away empty-handed in terms of gold medals. They had eight boxers out of 10 competing who reached the semi-finals and four made it through to the finals, but not one managed to strike gold - the first time that has happened since 1968 other than 1984 and 1988 when they didn't compete.

At least the Cubans had a legitimate excuse as they had lost five of their best boxers to defections in the 18 months before the Games began.

Regrouping for London in four years time will be high on the lost of priorities -- if they can keep their top talents at home.

Aamir Khan -- DTH -- Ambassador

After being declared the brand ambassador for Incredible India's 'Atithi Devo Bhava' campaign, the actor will feature in an advertisement for a DTH (Direct To Home) service provider.

Aamir's character in the 70-second-long TV commercial is inspired by a mythological character called Ardhnarishwar, who's half woman and half man.



Saturday, August 23, 2008

Krishnashtami -- Aug 23,24

















































Visit www.krishna.com and www.iskcon.com to delve into krishna's Birthday celebrations...on Krishnashtami.....
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