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.

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

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.

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.

Krishnashtami -- Aug 23,24

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

Olympics Medals Update

Medals Tally - Aug - 22

							G S B Total CHN 45 15 21 81 USA 27 29 28 84 GBR 17 11 11 39 RUS 15 15 19 49 AUS 11 13 14 38 GER 11 8 10 29 KOR 8 10 6 24 JPN 8 6 9 23 ITA 6 7 8 21 UKR 5 5 9 19

iPhone Launch in India

The new iPHONE has created a lot of excitement amongst buyers in the Indian market. The gizmo has been in India unofficially for almost a year now. However, the worth of the phone is yet to be gauged.The phone works on only cell phone signals from AT&T in the US. Therefore its usage value in India seems low. The new iPhone is 3G enabled but India does not support that. Therefore one has to wait for upgraded software and an official warranty, which Grey market phones will never provide.

An iPHONE in India’s grey market costs twenty three thousand bucks. A relative flying in from abroad could cost sixteen grand. And now, the official iPhone will sell for close to thirty one thousand rupees. With advantages weighing too low for this new gizmo, owning an Iphone may not be worthy. Both Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar will launch the device on Aug 21.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company by revenue, has been competing with operators and retailers to secure the right to sell the iPhone -- the touch-screen device which combines Apple's popular iPod music player, a video player and Web browser.
Vodafone will sell the iPhone in 10 countries.O2 has described the device as a star performer which draws increased numbers of customers into its stores.

Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network,

Govt. Offers Laptops at Low Cost

11th Five Year Plan allocated Rs 5,000 crore for education mission through ICT, so that students of all professional-science programmes could own their own laptops.Laptop would cost just Rs 1,000 if the Government orders its developing partner to assemble 10 lakh systems.

The notepad will have a basic 256 MB memory with a provision to upgrade it according to the needs of the student. Audio and video can be played on this system.The Government will subsidize this product only at its developing and manufacturing stage.

Indian Olympics Tale

Abhinav Bhindra -- Rifle Shooting

Abhinav Won the First Gold Medal for India in this olympics in the very starting days of olympics. He won it in the 10m Air Rifle Event. He is India's first gold medallist in an individual event. India's World Cup winning captain and cricketing legend Kapil Dev termed Abhinav Bindra's gold winning feat as the biggest sporting achievement of the country.













Sushil Kumar -- Wrestler

Sushil took on Ukraine's Andriy Stadnik in the first round of 66kg freestyle wrestling event.n the third round, he defeated semifinalist Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan. It was a closely fought encounter that lasted 17:22 minutes.Sushil is only the second Indian wrestler to win the wrestling bronze after Kashabha Jadhav had returned with the medal in 1952 Helsinki Games. This will be after 56 years that an Indian contingent will return with more than one Olympic medal as shooter Abhinav Bindra has won first-ever Games gold medal for the country earlier at the Beijing Games.This is also for the first time that India have won two individual Olympic medals with Bindra winning a Gold in the 10m Air Rifle event.










Jitender -- Boxing

Jitender Kumar went down fighting against Russia's Georgy Balakshin in the quarterfinals of the men's 51 kg category, dashing India's medal hopes in the Olympic Games.Jitender missed a bronze after he lost 11-15 against the Russian opponent.












Vijender -- Boxer

The strapping 23-year-old Vijender is part of Bhiwani's boxing brigade, three of whom have done the country proud by making it to the quarterfinals of the Olympics. Vijender, though, made sure of at least a bronze medal after the disappointing loss of his stable-mates Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar.At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Vijender contested in the welterweight division, but lost to Mustafa Karagollu of Turkey.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he defeated England's Neil Perkins in the semis but lost to South Africa's Bongani Mwelase, who went on to win the gold.
He then won silver at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006.
He went up a division and competed in the Middleweight (75 kg) division at the 2006 Asian Games winning the bronze medal in a lost semifinal bout against Kazakhstan's Bakhtiyar Artayev 24-29.
Vijender then qualified for Beijing with a bang, winning gold at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Kazakhstan.



Rajiv Tomar -- Wrestler


Rajiv Tomar crashed out of the 120kg freestyle event of the Beijing Olympics with a comprehensive defeat.He fought a slipshod qualifying round bout against Steve Mocco and the American hardly broke a sweat as he blanked Rajiv 4-0 to show him the exit door.

Chiranjeevi's Decision of New Party

Invoking former President A P J Abdul Kalam's advice, Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi today made a grand entry into politics, a move that is expected to alter political equations in Andhra Pradesh ahead of next year's assembly elections.

Amid scenes of celebrations by his fans, the 53-year-old matinee idol made the announcement at his new party office in Jubilee Hills here, ending a year-long speculation over his political plans.

"It was Kalam's counsel that inspired me to take the final decision. I would have committed a historic blunder had I not entered politics," the mega star said at a crowded press conference.

Chiranjeevi, a Padma Bhushan awardee who has acted in 148 films, declared that he has no rivals in politics but said people were yearning for a change.

Like US democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, change appeared to be the political mantra for Chiranjeevi to bring success at the hustings.

Asserting that there was a political vacuum in the state, he said his party would be different in its approach to the people's problems.

"I have no rivals in politics. My enemies are poverty and backwardness. I will pursue positive politics focused on the poor," the popular hero said.

While dodging ticklish issues like the separate Telangana statehood demand and naxalism, Chiranjeevi said his party will take a collective decisions on such "sensitive issues."

The party's name and agenda would be unveiled at the party's maiden public meeting in the temple town of Tirupati on August 26, coinciding with Mother Teresa's birth anniversary.

Abhinav...An Indian Gold Medal

Abhinav Bindra created history on Aug11 morning by becoming the first Indian to win an individual gold medal in 10m air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics. This is the first time that an Indian has won a gold in the event. Congratulate Abhinav Bindra on his feat.
He remained as our only victory for India with Paes- Bhupathi moving out of olympics and many shooters in india getting disqualified from the qualifying round itself....
Todays chart of medals

Have You Ever Thought of cars fuelled by water.No not at any chance. But here are people who proved that it is possible to dream and run a car with water as its fuel. By spiltting water by electrolysis and creating hydrogen/oxygen gas, you can replace gasoline. We have been taught this is impossible! Engineers, scientists and professors may in fact tell tell you you're crazy to believe such non sense. They will also set out to prove you wrong.They base their laws of physics form 1825 thinking. Faraday's laws. Did you know that the first ICE engine ran on hydrogen from water? BMW has them! Hyunda will be making them.

If all ICE motors (Internal Combustion Engines) were converted to burn hydrogen and oxygen in the water, as fuel to propel our cars, trucks, semi's etc., we would no longer need gas stations, oil tankers, refineries, SMOG and war. The only problem would be that the large Oil Corporations would go under and SMOG would leave the planet for good. The Ozone would get healed and we would survive. God will then once again smile down on the Earth, instead of letting the powers to be, destroy it. If we stopped producing SMOG, the ozone and global warming and greenhouse effects would go away.

So I think that this could be a more optimal remedy to fight against many factors like Pollution, Global Warming, Inflation (In many Countries, mainly in India powered by Oil prices). But there exists trade offs as well. Not every one can afford for transformation from an oil full world to a water world. However it might pose a better solution to this problem once you adopt it...

You better can take a look at the design and related information of the water powered car HERE !!

A Focus Over FreshersWorld

Freshersworld.com is the name that is known to all the graduates across the country. It has become so famous that many companies are hiring freshers directly from the registered users. Though it does not serve as a job portal like monsterjobs.com or timesjobs.com it has been consistently updating its news regarding the placements in various institutions across the country.

It has not only provided job opportunities to the fresher as well as experienced graduated but is also serving the pursuing graduates by helping them by providing the information regarding campuses and the various technical meets they host.

It also provides the freshers with latest placement papers of almost all companies and the placement experiences shared by the students. This kind of forum thing has really benefited many to modify themselves in their attitude as well as aptitude. We hope such useful sites may grow in future so that every talented person may find his right path even when he is out of path...

Amarnath Land Controversy

The land allotment row has certainly taking a toll in lives. More than 20 people have died and hundreds have been injured in riots. Ghulam Nabi Azad’s government has also collapsed but the fire is yet to be put out.A small agitation spearheaded by the Amarnath Yatra Sangrash Samiti soon gathered momentum. Hundreds came on the streets defying curfew and demanded that the land should be given back to the board.

The land row is not a new issue. It has been the main ingredient in a political stew that has been simmering in the valley for a while.

The events that led to this protest:

* March 29, 2005: The Forest Department issues a government order granting permission to Shri Amarnath Shrine Baord (SASB) for using the forest land.

* June 12, 2008: The House Committee on environment asks the SASB to shorten the duration of the yatra to 15 days to prevent environmental degradation.

* June 17, 2008: The SASB CEO triggers controversy by asking why Muslim pollution is tolerable and not Hindu pollution.

* June 19, 2008: Hardline and moderate Hurriyat leaders meet after five years to launch a joint front against the forest land transfer.

* June 28, 2008: The PDP withdraws support to government over land allotment to Amarnath board.

* June 29, 2008: Governor, also the chairman of the Amarnath board gives up claim to land.

Governor N N Vohra's promises to reconstitute the board including aggrieved people of Jammu and Kashmiri pandits has not placated the rioters. Protesters in Jammu have decided to block supplies to Kashmir and their counterparts in the valley will return the favour in kind. With no immediate solution in sight all eyes are now on the Prime Minster's all-party meeting.

Intel Needs Freshers

Qualifications:

Bachelor degree of ECE or CSE
Additional qualifications include:
- Digital design skills
- Understanding of processor architecture (preferably X86) and X86 assembly language programming skills
- Skills in C or C++ or Perl scripting
- Good communication skills

Summary

Job Category Engineering
Location Bangalore
Full/Part Time Full Time
Job Type Student/Intern
Regular/Temporary Regular

Apply here

Intel Moves onto Graphics Chip Line

Intel the Ultimate master of PC processors is now getting ready to take on a new plan for manufacturing graphic chips. It will be a real tough competition for the present companies working on graphics line such as NVIDIA and ATI division of AMD. It has revealed blueprints for the "Larrabee" chip that is scheduled to first appear in finished products in late 2009 or early 2010.Larrabee will be a stand-alone graphics processor unlike the onboard chips it produces for many PC makers.

Intel will be releasing more details about Larrabee at the upcoming Siggraph computer graphics conference due to be held in Los Angeles from 12-15 August.

Sarkar Raj gets an Oscar entry

After 'Lagaan', 'Devdas' and 'Kal Ho Na Ho' its ‘Sarkar Raj’ that got its entry into Oscar Library for Academy Awards. Ram Gopal Varma was asked to produce the script by the oscar team.

The movie focused on political issues, and the power games played by the politicians against each other. It had the three Bachchans- Aishwarya, Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan come together for a movie for the first time.

The library has a collection of more than 30,000 books, 18,00 periodical titles, 60,000 screenplays, over 8 million photographs, over 300 manuscripts and other special collections relating to prominent industry individuals, studios and organizations.

Tricolor Mouse -- Celebrating India's 61st Independence Day

To commemorate the 61st Indian Independence Day, Logitech has launched a Tri Color mouse. As the name suggests, this new mini-optical mouse adopts the colors of the Indian flag.

This plug-and-play mouse comes with an all-terrain optical sensor smooth tracking and maximum surface coverage in virtually any environment. Users need not worry about dangling wires, as this mouse features integrated cord-wrap. When ready to move, the integrated cord-wrap allows users to wind the cord neatly into the mouse.

Logitech Tri Color mouse is priced at Rs 640 with a 3-year replacement warranty and is available at all leading electronic stores.

Nokia 6210

Nokia has launched the new 6210 Navigator in India, the company's first GPS-enabled handset with an integrated in-map compass. The 6210 Navigator was introduced in the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona in February 2008

The phone features a 2.4 inch screen and value additions include a real-time voice and visual turn by turn guidance using in-built GPS support, optimised one-box map search, 2D/3D and night mode map views, flash and video recording.

The 6210 Navigator uses the Nokia Maps 2.0 application and comes pre-loaded with maps of 8 cities in India including Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi. The handset is priced at Rs18,000, and comes with the maps, free for six months, the company said.

The device also features a 3.2 megapixel camera, MP3 player and stereo FM radio. The Nokia 6210 Navigator is based on S60 software, enabling users to download and use thousands of new applications in addition to the ones already found on the device. The phone has 128MB of internal memory and additional space can be add on a card to its microSD slot.

Free Ebooks Download Sites

Most of the people searching on the internet for ebooks find websites with a download link. So they eventually turn on to that site. But they get disappointed by looking at the BUY button. There are sites that offer downloads with excellent quality of books for free. I suggest these sites. Though they may look familiar they possess large volumes of ebooks that can be downloaded for free!!

1. www.megadownload.net
2. www.fileshunt.com
3. www.ebooks-library.blogspot.com
4. www.free-ebooks-download.org

megadownload.net provides database of both rapidshare.com and megaupload.com.
so one can upload files also into it. This is really a large database containing almost all important information regarding the topic. Fileshunt.com gives you an elegant look and search to the file you are requesting. The blog has been really designed very well. It emphasizes over all the important areas of a topic. It redirects you to another large database like rapidshare. Last one also is really cool. All these sites features you good quality of ebooks with all the related books of the topic. So go on and download ebooks at you will on all your interested topics. No more Buying!! Piracy Zindabad !!

Beijing Olympics -- Muslims Attack ??

With four days to go before the Olympics open, Beijing is all smiles to athletes, coaches, journalists and visitors.Even stone-faced officers manage to keep smiling under the huge signboards saying "Smiling Beijing Traffic Police". The signs have popped up in hundreds on the capital's roads.Smiles and greetings surround Olympic journalists at the North Star media village and Huiyuan media village, about 15 minutes and nine minutes respectively from the Main Press Centre by bus.

More than 8,900 people are serving accredited Olympic journalists in the 10.2-hectare media village with 6,000 rooms, the largest in Olympic history.
Some 100,000 taxi drivers changed into smart new yellow shirts and striped ties Saturday, in one of Beijing's latest efforts to spruce up the city's look for the Olympics.The uniforms, which cost about 500 yuan ($75), are believed to be partly subsidised by the government.In the run-up to the Games, Beijing's taxi drivers have also learnt English, have been banned from smoking in the cars and asked to keep the car seats untainted to make visitors feel at home.
An additional 7,000 automobiles are serving the Games, including about 900 media buses shuttling through the city connecting the two media villages, 42 media hotels, more than 30 competition venues in Beijing and the press centres.

16 cops killed in China 4 days before Olympics

Attackers rammed a dump truck into a patrol station in China's restive Central Asian border province on Monday morning, tossing grenades in a raid that killed 16 officers and wounded others, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

The attack in Xinjiang province was in an area where local Muslims have waged a sporadic rebellion against Chinese rule.

It came just four days before the start of the Beijing Olympics - an event that at least one radical Muslim group has vowed to attack.

The brief Xinhua account said the attackers drove the dump truck to get inside the paramilitary police compound in the Kashgar area and then exploded two grenades.

A state television report gave a different version, saying the police were attacked while marching in front of a hotel while conducting morning drills.

Besides the 16 dead, another 16 armed policemen were wounded, the reports said.

Two of the attackers were arrested, Xinhua reported. It called the attackers "rioters" but did not further identify them.

Local government officials declined comment on Monday. An officer in the district police department said an investigation was launched.

The exact location of the attack could not immediately be determined. Kashgar, or Kashi in Chinese, is the name of an oasis town that was once a stop on the Silk Road caravan routes and is also the name of the surrounding region that abuts Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

A local Turkic Muslim people, the Uighurs, have chafed under Chinese rule, fully imposed after the communists took power nearly 60 years ago.

Occasionally violent attacks in the 1990s brought an intense response from Beijing, which has stationed crack paramilitary units in the area and clamped down on unregistered mosques and religious schools that officials said were inciting militant action.

Chinese defence and police commanders have warned that radical Uighurs fighting for what they call an independent East Turkistan in western China pose the single greatest threat to the Olympics.

In recent months police claimed to have foiled a plot to explode a Chinese passenger plane and plans by terrorist cells to kidnap athletes, journalists and others involved in the Olympics.

One militant group, the Turkistan Islamic Party, pledged in a video that surfaced on the Internet last month to "target the most critical points related to the Olympics."

The group is believed to be based across the border in Pakistan, with some of its core members having received training from al-Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban, according to terrorism experts.

Terrorism experts and Chinese authorities, however, have said that with more than 100,000 soldiers and police guarding Beijing and other Olympic co-host cities, terrorists were more likely to attack less-protected areas.

Shah Rukh -- No Smoking !!

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has denied having told a Malayalam daily that he would quit smoking within two months.But on being asked that whether he would give up cigarettes, King Khan replied with a terse "No".He even declined to respond to a query whether the decision to quit cigarettes would come after a couple of months as stated in his interview.

Shah Rukh had reportedly told the leading Kerala daily Malayala Manorama that he thought of quitting smoking while he travelled 17 hours on a flight without lighting a cigarette. "The idea of quitting cropped up during a 17-hour flight," Shah Rukh was quoted as saying. "So if I can do without smoking in flight, I am sure I can do without it on land too." The Bollywood icon had also said that he planned to kick the habit for his children's sake.

The interview was conducted at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu where the actor is shooting for Priyadarshan's Billo Barber.The star has often been ticked off by Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss for smoking in public as it would set a bad example for youngsters.

Lenovo's ALL New S10

Lenovo introduced a low-cost mini-notebook called the IdeaPad S10.







This mini-notebook by Lenovo has a 10 inch screen and a keyboard which is 85% the size of a full keyboard. IdeaPad S10 is powered by Atom processor which was recently released by Intel for mobile internet devices.

These notebooks, which cost less than $500, also are aimed at parents with school age children

There are many attractive features in the S10 which includes LED backlight display, which consumes less battery power than a more common LCD screen. It weighs a little more than two pounds, with a thickness of about an inch. It runs on Windows XP and also has an in built Wi-Fi support, and two USB ports for connecting to other devices and transferring photos, music, and video.

Presently, Lenovo is offering two configurations, in which the base model is included that comes with 512 MB memory and an 80 GB hard drive. The second model has 1 GB of memory and a 160 GB hard drive. The price for these models would start at $ 399.

The biggest advantage of this net-book would be that it will exempt to from carrying more heavier and bulkier regular laptops.

Ur Coversation style matters in an Interview !!

If you're not sure about the interests of the people you're about to meet, it's not a bad idea to take a quick look at the nightly news before you head off to the party. General knowledge and a working understanding of breaking news issues provide great conversation starters when all else fails. If you haven't had time to stay up to date on current affairs, some knowledge of the latest celebrity gossip can also stand you in good stead. A piece of silly or sensationalist scandal can break the ice with a like-minded person who is also bored to death by the heavy political discussion going on all around you.


If you're going to a professional function which represents a networking opportunity handed to you on a plate, it's worth your while doing a little research into the industry as a whole. Learn just a handful of buzzwords so that you can communicate with the other guests in the same language. In a situation like this, it's easy to prepare five or six conversation starters which are industry-specific, and convey the impression that you are an insider.


These techniques of striking up a conversation with a stranger are solid proof that there is no need to dread this social task. By throwing out plenty of conversational lines and asking open-ended and appropriate questions, you will find that the art of conversation is easier than it sometimes seems.

A Short look over Microsoft select ion Guidelines

Microsoft Selection Procedure

There were four sections. All were separate. The time alloted as well as the question papers also were separate for each section.

Section I : English language test - 25 Qstns.- 20Mints.

It contained usual & easy english language qustns. like prepositions, articles, antonyms-synonyms etc.
There were two paragraphs. One was about types of networks & another was about CGI scripting. There were
some easy qstns. asking info. from the para.

Section II : Mental ability - 25 Qstns.- 30 Mints.

It contained qstns. related to union & intersection like there r N no. of students in a class, S no. of them passed in 3 subjects, T no. of them passed in 2 subjects & U no. of them passes in all subjects, what no. of students failed in all subjects. Another type of qstns. were related to cubes, like there is a cube, one side of it is painted with blue color, the opposite side is painted with yellow color, now it is cut into 16 cubes of equal size, now how many cubes r having blue color at one side & no color at its adjucent side, how many cubes r having no color at any side etc.

Then there were qstns. like if + means -, * means /, - means *, / means +, then which of the following is true ; there were four options. Each having some calculation like 12+8-3*5/32=13. We have to select the option having the correct calculation.

Most of the questions were similar to the above mentioned patterns.

Section III : Aptitude test - 20 Qstns.- 20 Mins.

This section contained qstns. exactly like those asked in the Bank PO, Railways & UPSC exams. Its different from usual apti. qstns.

E.g. which two of the following are same : 11225689 : 11225986 : 11225689.
Then Data sufficiency qstns. like statement 1 is sufficient to get the answer, both 1 & 2 needed,
neither 1 nor 2 can give the answer etc.

Then Condition checking qstns. like there is a recruitment of clerk. Some conditions r given like the candidate should be graduate with 60%, his age should be less then 30 years, typing speed should be atleast 45 wpm. etc.

Based on this we have to answer a perticular candidate will be selected or not given his details. Then Some simple & usual riddles like Ram goes to 5 km east, then 5 km south, then west, now in which direction he is. Then a man inting to a photo says he is the son of my grandmothers' son like that.

Section IV : Programming - C & DFS OR VB - 40 Qstns.-
30 Mins.

U can choose either C & DFS paper or VB paper. I chose C & DFS.
This was the toughest part bcoz qstns. were lengthy & time was very short. Both C & DFS qstns. were almost
equal. Most of the C qstns. were asking about the output of the given code. The DFS qstns. were about link list, array, queue & also the graph theory. This section demands a thorough preparation of C & DFS & Graph theory.

SOLAR ECLIPSE...People of Africa believe this way !!!

In some parts of southern Africa, the locals believe a solar eclipse occurs when a crocodile eats the sun. It is said this celestial crocodile briefly devours our life giving star to show its displeasure at the actions of man. It is considered to be the very worst of omens.

Today, 1 Aug 2008, the world will experience a solar eclipse. The path will start in northern Canada and then continue through Greenland, central Russia, eastern Kazakhstan, western Mongolia, China and India. A partial eclipse will also be visible in eastern North America, most of Europe and Asia. London will experience a 12% eclipse. The next solar eclipse will be 22 Jul 2009.

Living in the west, its very easy to dismiss such superstitions and beliefs of African tribes who believe in this such as “When A Crocodile Eats The Sun” but consider this. During the Battle of Isandlwana, the first battle of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, a 73% eclipse covered the battlefield. The terrible omen hovered over the battle that triggered the defeat of the Zulu army and it was not only the Zulus who suffered. The Anglo-Zulu war had been started against the wishes of Queen Victoria and it is said that it was a contributing factor to the defeat of Benjamin Disraeli’s government in the 1880 election.

The planet experiences a solar eclipse about once a year but it is usually decades before the same place experiences another eclipse so when you consider the Zulu superstition and combine it with the fact that the Isandlwana battlefield was darkened by a solar eclipse on 22 Jan 1879. From there, consider the consequences of the battle, it does make you start to wonder that maybe there is a bit more to these superstitions than we in the west are prepared to acknowledge.

For more information about visiting Isandlwana,CLICK HERE

TOP 10 UNIVERSITIES in the World.....Where is IIT !!!!

2006 2005 University

1 1 Harvard University United States
2 3 University of Cambridge United Kingdom
3 4 University of Oxford United Kingdom
4 2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
4 7 Yale University United States
6 5 Stanford University United States
7 8 California Institute of Technology United States
8 6 University of California, Berkeley United States
9 13 Imperial College London United Kingdom
10 9 Princeton University United States
-------------------------------------------------------------
57 50 Indian Institute of Technology India
68 84 Indian Institute of Management India
183 192 Jawaharlal Nehru University India

This is the position of Indian Universities all over the world !!

What sites do we refer the most wen v r free..??

01 Wikipedia

Practically the source of all knowledge on the web, this encyclopaedia site is unbeatable for its breadth of coverage.

02 PostSecret

One of the most poignant and moving websites around, its premise is simple. Complete strangers from all over the globe write their deepest secret on a postcard.

03 YouTube

Countless videos of every shape and form make up the bulk of youtube, which has grown from an interesting idea into a veritable behemoth of user-created.

04 Snap

'The other way to Search' is the tagline for this challenger to the established might of the all powerful Google. While its slightly more complicated interface.

05 One Red Paperclip

The story of one mans battle to turn a single red paper clip into a house. Impossible? Not if you do it Kyle MacDonald's way, trading up from one item to another.

06 Ebay

The World's Online Marketplace - A site that has become so famous it needs no description. Instead here's a list of some amusing items that have been listed.

07 Amazon

Quite simply the biggest selection of music, film, literature, software etc. you will find on the web. Definitely not always the cheapest direct from Amazon.

08 MySpace

Not the best looking or most advanced social networking site on the web, but by far the biggest and most diverse.

09 Are You My Wife?

Described in its simplest terms, this site is a description of all the dates, with complete strangers who write to him from all over the world.

10 IMDB

Visited by over 42 million people each month, IMDB has become the bible for information about films, television programs and videogames.

Top Education sites

Gateway Educational Materials
http://thegateway.org

Ed Helper
http://www.edhelper.com

Learning Page
http://www.learningpage.com

Britannica
http://www.britannica.com

Discovery School
http://school.discovery.com

Educator's Reference Desk
http://www.eduref.org

Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org

Merit Badge Research Center
http://www.meritbadge.com

New York Times Learning Network
http://www.nytimes.com/learning

ThinkQuest
http://www.thinkquest.org

Miscellaneous

Autism Today
http://www.autismtoday.com

BBC Online Learning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/subjects/basic_skills.shtml

Ideal Lives
http://www.ideallives.com

Tutor.com
http://www.tutor.com

Math

Ask Dr. Math
http://mathforum.org/dr.math

The Math Worksheet Site
http://www.TheMathWorksheetSite.com

Math Goodies.com
http://www.mathgoodies.com

Math Playground
http://www.mathplayground.com

Mega-Mathematics
http://www.c3.lanl.gov/mega-math

Purple Math
http://www.purplemath.com

Web Math
http://www.webmath.com

Science

BrainPOP
http://www.brainpop.com

Chem4Kids
http://www.chem4kids.com

Exploratorium
http://www.exploratorium.edu

HowStuffWorks
http://www.howstuffworks.com

Imagine the Universe!
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov

InnerBody
http://www.InnerBody.com

Kids Dig Reed
http://www.kidsdigreed.com

Life Beyond Earth
http://www.pbs.org/lifebeyondearth

Science Friday
http://www.sciencefriday.com/kids

NASA Kids
http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov

Neuroscience for Kids
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html

Nine Planets
http://www.nineplanets.org

Ocean Planet Home Page
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ocean_planet.html

Sci4Kids
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids

StarChild
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov

The Electronic Zoo
http://netvet.wustl.edu/e-zoo.htm

The Franklin Institute: Learning Resources
http://sln.fi.edu

The MAD Scientist Network
http://www.madsci.org

The Yuckiest Site on the Internet
http://yucky.kids.discovery.com

Try Science
http://www.tryscience.org

Arts & Crafts

Arts Workshop
http://www.childrensmuseum.org/artsworkshop/index.html

ArtsEDGE
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org

Art Lessons for All Grades
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/lessons.html

Inside Art
http://www.eduweb.com/insideart

Kinder Art
http://www.kinderart.com

Crayola
http://www.crayola.com

Kids Space
http://www.kids-space.org

Reading

Starfall
http://www.starfall.com

How To Learn
http://www.howtolearn.com

Bartleby.com
http://www.bartleby.com

Children's Literature Web Guide
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown

Pink Monkey
http://www.pinkmonkey.com

Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.net
Wowio.com
http://www.wowio.com

Writing

ABC Teach
http://www.abcteach.com

CRAYON - Create Your Own Newspaper
http://crayon.net

Free Rice
http://www.freerice.com/index.php

Maggies Earth Adventures
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/adventure/grammar1.htm

Online Writing Guide
http://oswego.org/staff/tcaswell/wg/para.htm

Take Our Word.com
http://www.takeourword.com

The Write Site
http://www.writesite.org

What Makes a Good Story?
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature

Word Central
http://www.wordcentral.com

Geography and Virtual Travel

Amazon Interactive
http://www.eduweb.com/amazon.html

Colonial Williamsburg: Electronic Field Trips
http://www.history.org/trips

CyberBee
http://www.cyberbee.com

Global Online Adventure Learning Site
http://www.goals.com/Index.htm

The Jason Project
http://www.jasonproject.org

Virtual Field Trips
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/tours

Xpeditions @ National Geographic
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions

HyperHistory Online
http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html

K-12 Africa Guide
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Home_Page/AFR_GIDE.html

Lewis and Clark
http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark

Life in the Middle Ages
http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/ma/mahome.htm

New Perspectives on the West
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest

States and Capitals
http://www.50states.com

The American Civil War Homepage
http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war

The Canada War Museum
http://www.civilization.ca/cwm/kidsection/cwmindexeng.html

The Civil War Homepage
http://www.civil-war.net

The Oregon Trail
http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Oregontrail.html

Geography Worksheets
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/freeprintables/qt/geogprintables.htm

White House for Kids
http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids

Homeschooling

About Homeschooling
http://www.homeschooling.about.com

Homeschool Learning Network
http://www.homeschoollearning.com/approaches/

A to Z Home's Cool
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

Homeschool Blogger
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/home.php

Homeschool Buyers Co-Op
http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/

Homeschooling Forms
http://www.donnayoung.org

Homeschool Oasis
http://www.homeschooloasis.com/

The Well Trained Mind
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/

Educational Games

I know that
http://www.iknowthat.com

Study Stack
http://www.studystack.com

Family Fun
http://www.familyfun.com

Teach With Movies
http://www.teachwithmovies.org

The Smart Guide to Financial Aid
http://www.finaid.com

Fun Brain
http://www.funbrain.com

Study Spanish
http://www.studyspanish.com

By Kids For Kids
http://www.bkfk.com/

Family Travel
http://www.familytravel.com

Top 100 Engineering Colleges In India

Top 100 Engineering Colleges in India

1 Indian Institute of Technology IIT Kanpur Kanpur
2 Indian Institute of Technology IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur
3 Indian Institute of Technology IIT Bombay Mumbai
4 Indian Institute of Technology IIT Madras Chennai
5 Indian Institute of Technology IIT Delhi Delhi
6 BITS Pilani Pilani
7 IIT Roorkee Roorkee
8 IT-BHU Varanasi
9 IIT-Guwahati Guwahati
10 College of Engg , Anna University Guindy
11 Jadavpur University , Faculty of Engg & Tech Calcutta
12 Indian School of Mines Dhanbad
13 NIT- National Institute of Technology Warangal
14 BIT, Mesra Ranchi
15 NIT- National Institute of Technology Trichy
16 Delhi College of Engineering New Delhi
17 Punjab Engineering College Chandigarh
18 NIT- National Institute of Technology Suratkal
19 Motilal Nehru National Inst. of Technology Allahabad
20 Thapar Inst of Engineering & Technology Patiala
21 Bengal Eng and Science University , Shibpur Howrah
22 MANIT Bhopal
23 PSG College of Technology Coimbatore
24 IIIT Hyderabad
25 Harcourt Butler Technological Institute Kanpur
26 Malviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
27 VNIT Nagpur
28 NIT- National Institute of Technology Kozhikode
29 Dhirubhai Ambani IICT Gandhinagar
30 Osmania Univ. College of Engineering Hyderabad
31 College of Engineering , Andhra University Vishakhapatnam
32 Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology New Delhi
33 NIT- National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra
34 NIT- National Institute of Technology Rourkela
35 SVNIT Surat
36 Govt. College of Engineering Pune
37 Manipal Institute of Technology Manipal
38 JNTU Hyderabad
39 R.V. College of Engineering Bangalore
40 NIT- National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur
41 University Visvesvaraya College of Engg. Bangalore
42 VJTI Mumbai
43 Vellore Institute of Technology Vellore
44 Coimbatore Institute of Technology Coimbatore
45 SSN College of Engineering Chennai
46 IIIT Allahabad
47 College of Engineering Trivandrum
48 NIT Durgapur Durgapur
49 SIT Calcutta
50 Mumbai University Inst of Chemical Tech Mumbai
51 Sardar Patel College of Engineering Mumbai
52 P.E.S. Institute of Technology Bangalore
53 Maharashtra Institute of Technology Pune
54 Amrita Institute of Technology & Science Coimbatore
55 National Institute of Engineering Mysore
56 B.M.S. College of Engineering Bangalore
57 Laxminarayan Institute Of Tech. Nagpur
58 Nirma Institute of Technology Ahmedabad
59 IIIT Pune
60 Amity School of Engineering Noida
61 JNTU Kakinada
62 S.J. College of Engineering Mysore
63 Chaitanya Bharathi Inst. of Technology Hyderabad
64 IIIT Bangalore
65 SRM Institute of Science and Technology Chennai
66 SASTRA Thanjavur
67 Bangalore Institute of Technology Bangalore
68 The Technological Inst. of Textile & Sciences Bhiwani
69 III Gwalior
70 JNTU Anantpur
71 M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology Bangalore
72 Gitam Vishakhapatnam
73 NIT- National Institute of Technology Hamirpur
74 NIT- National Institute of Technology Jalandhar
75 SV University Engineering College Tirupati
76 NIT- National Institute of Technology Raipur
77 Vasavi College of Engineering Hyderabad
78 The ICFAI Inst of Science and Technology Hyderabad
79 NIT- National Institute of Technology Patna
80 Cummins Colleges of Engg of Women Pune
81 VIT Pune
82 Shri Ramdeo Baba K.N. Engineering College Nagpur
83 Muffakham Jah Engineering College Hyderabad
84 Karunya Institute of Technology Coimbatore
85 D.J. Sanghvi Mumbai
86 Sathyabhama Engineering College Chennai
87 Kongu Engineering College Erode
88 Mepco Schlek Engineering College Sivakasi
89 Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College Ludhiana
90 Hindustan Inst of Engineering Technology Chennai
91 SDM College of Engineering Dharwad
92 R.V.R. & J.C. College Of Engg Guntur
93 Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi New Delhi
94 K.L. College of Engineering Veddeswaram
95 Dharmsinh Desai Institute of Technology Nadiad
96 S.G.S. Institute of Technology & Science Indore
97 Jabalpur Engineering College Jabalpur
98 Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering Trivandrum
99 G.H. Patel College of Engg & Technology Vallabh Vidyanagar
100 Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Bhubaneshwar

BSNL and MTNL in the Verge of rolling out 3G in few months

Following the announcement of the much awaited 3G policy, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd will be rolling out 3G services in the important metros in country in another six months.

Speaking to CIOL, chairman-cum-managing director (CMD), BSNL, Kuldeep Goyal said decks for 3G roll out have been cleared and BSNL will be offering services in the another six months. "We will be inviting tenders for our 8-9 million lines soon and final roll out will be in another six months," said the CMD.

BSNL and MTNL have got a head start over its rivals as they need not participate in the 3G spectrum bid and can roll out its services any time they are ready to roll out.

Goyal's statement follows the guidelines from the telecom ministry, which opened the 3G spectrum for bid to five operators for now, and another five more operators in future, provided there is additional spectrum. However, in Delhi and Mumbai, only three players can bid for auction of spectrum due to the scarcity of spectrum in these metros.

However, both the state PSUs have to pay the highest bidding price following the auction of the 3G spectrum that will be completed in another four months.

RSP Sinha, CMD of MTNL or Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd , while welcoming the 3G policy told CIOL that the company will take close to four months to roll out the services in Delhi, and a little later in Mumbai.

Undue advantage?
On whether the head start over the other rivals gave BSNL and MTNL undue advantage over its rivals, the Department of Telecom (DoT) said that the PSUs need to have to some concession from the government for they are incumbents and need some support to take on the big players.

However, the DOT chairman added that rolling out the 3G policy is very tough process and will take considerable time, and a little head start won't be undue advantage for these players.

The Minister of State for Communication & IT also didn't agree that the state PSUs were getting a head start. "BSNL has to pay the same amount as the other bidders, and hence, doesn't entail undue advantage," he added.

RBI's latest hike

Consumer finance will get more expensive and companies will pass on the burden of high input costs to 'you', the customer.

A marketing director, V Ramachandran says, "We have passed on the high input costs to the consumer. In the last one month, we have already increased the prices of our products by 4 per cent to 6 per cent but this is still not fully compensating us. Increase in overheads are yet to be compensated."

Consumer durables getting dearer is one side of the coin. The other side is getting these products financed. Approximately 15-17 per cent people use consumer loans to buy home appliances like TVs, refrigerators and air conditioners.

COO Haier Appliances India, Pranay Dhabai says, "Another hike in interst rates now will play spoilsport as input costs have gone up by 18-20 per cent over the last few months. We will have to increase the prices. In addition to this loans getting expensive will make the situation worse."

LG gets 20-25 per cent of its sales through retail finance, Samsung and Haier around 20 per cent and Whirlpool also sees around 10-12 per cent of the appliances sold through finance companies.

Any increase in interest rates will surely hit the consumers who opt for loan schemes to buy consumer durable products and with banks like ICICI, Citi Financial and GE Money closing their shutters for retail sales finance, the situation is even more glum.

V Ramachandran says, "A part of durable purchase is done through loans. We get around 20 per cent of our business from consumer finance. But now, banks are under pressure and they will pass on the interest rate hike burden to the consumers. This will hit the buying capacity of the people who have fixed income."

The only hope left now is the festive season starting October which may come with some offers to attract the customers.

Solar eclipse...??

The moon will block the sun across a swathe of Russia, Mongolia and northwestern China just before sunset on August 1, launching a momentous month for China as it hosts the Olympic Games in Beijing.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the earth, blocking out the sun from the areas in the moon's shadow. Without the sun's light, the sky darkens enough for stars to be seen and the corona makes a spectacular halo around the moon.

The first datable records of a solar eclipse was in 753 BC, in Assyria, but earlier notations, among them Chinese diviners' queries on oracle bones from 1,300-1,100 BC, clearly refer to eclipses.

From 720-480 BC, astronomers in the state of Lu (now China's Shandong Province) recorded eclipses that can be reliably dated. By the first millennium AD, Chinese imperial astronomers could predict eclipses with an accuracy of within 15 minutes.

Ancient Chinese eclipse records can be used to calculate the slowing of the earth's rotation, due to the braking action of the moon.

A solar eclipse in 1919 helped confirm Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Eclipses are also scientifically interesting because they allow a rare glimpse of the cooler corona, glowing gases near the sun's surface and solar flares, which are normally not visible due to the brightness of the sun.

The surface of the sun is relatively quiet at the moment, with fewer sunspots than expected.

The next solar eclipse will occur on July 22, 2009, and could be viewed by hundreds of millions of people as it crosses straight through India and northern Bangladesh, then runs along the Yangtze River from Chongqing to Shanghai.

The Great "KHALI"

WWE's Indian import 'The Great Khali' has been challenged for fight by Pakistani wrestler Bashir Bhola, which the US-based superstar has promptly accepted.

Khali, the over seven-feet tall grand slam attraction, said from the United States that he would like to see Pakistan and India wrestling matches.

Bashir, a scion of the famous Gama family of wrestlers in Punjab, put out the challenge to Khali after winning the Sher-e-Punjab title last month in which the best wrestlers from the country participated.

"I want to fight Khali anywhere he wants. I am ready to go to America or England and even India if he is ready to fight me. This is my challenge to him," Bashir said after the title win in Lahore.

Talking to a private channel, Khali said he had no problem accepting a challenge from anyone if he was worth his salt.

"I would first advise the Pakistani wrestler to go and first fight my brothers in India and then think about me But if he is so keen he can come anytime and fight me in the states or anywhere in the world," Khali said.

He said if Bashir wanted to fight free style he can come to the WWE and if he wanted a desi style wrestling he should look at India.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

MUMMYFYING ACTION: It's an entirely pointless film that can't exactly be recommended.

Brendan Fraser reprises his role as Rick O'Connell and Maria Bello steps into the shoes of the lovely Rachel Weisz to play Rick's wife Evelyn.

Set in 1946, the couple has retired from adventuring and seems bored out of their skulls, which is why they couldn't be more excited when the government comes calling to ask them to deliver the Eye of the Shangri-La, a legendary diamond, to the Chinese government in Shanghai.

Little does the couple know that their now-grown up son Alex (played by Luke Ford) has just made a discovery of his own — he's unearthed the tomb of the evil emperor Han.

In an earlier voice-over we learn that thousands of years ago sorceress Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh, that is) placed a curse on the evil emperor Han (Jet-Li, by the way) and his entire army, mummifying them all in clay.

When the youngest O'Connell discovers the tomb, he breaks the spell inadvertently and Han is back. It's a good thing Mum and Dad are on the way.

What you get here are lots of action scenes peppered with the kind of routine special effects that have become almost boring now. If there was one glimmer of hope it was that sword-fighting sequence between Michelle Yeoh and Jet-Li, but it was so short it barely registered.

If you like those big dumb action extravaganzas, chances are you won't have a problem with this third Mummy saga. It is, after all, all fights no sense. And truth be told, I've seen worse.

So then I'm going to go with two out of five for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

It's an entirely pointless film that I can't exactly recommend. But if you do decide to see it, you won't chew off your nails in boredom. So make up your own mind.

Courtesy: www.ibnlive.com