What's New ??

Facebook Home page Design

2011-01-09T11:58:00.003+05:30

Atlast, I've got the facebook's home page ready. I've created the design of Facebook's home page in html/css. I've not incorporated any javascript content in the page. But, I've added the images for the home page.

It was a good learning experience for me. I've come to know about the importance of usage different colors and how it affects the appearance of a page. Even minor changes in color will totally change the perception of the site. It's no magic there, but just the appropriate combination of colors. I've posted the zipped file containing the html and the css page. You can download it here.

Facebook Home page Design Link

Let me know your comments on this work. I'll try to upload the facebook's profile page design in a day or two...

New year - What's New ??

2011-01-03T21:59:00.006+05:30

New year - Jan'01. This is a world wide celebration of a new year, indeed. To my knowledge most of the countries in the world change their calendar this very day.

Many celebrate in many ways - partying, 'movie'ing, sleeping, etc. Every body wish 'Happy New Year' even to strangers. We feel that it's a great day and there is a great year lying in front of us ahead. Some Cynics shout out loud that it is not a new year until you are 'new'. Lots of comments from elders too.

Despite all these drama happening around us, there is some part within us which is enjoying, noting down atleast some of those points, thinking about the future. There is atleast some part within us that tells us 'I'm gonna take up new resolutions!'. Come on, Whom are we kidding ? We ... Change ... Not so us!!

We see the same New year ever year. So, What the heck is new with a New Year then ??

This question has been haunting from a week before this new year. I've been thinking about it sub-consciously, but never directly. Like every year, some of my friends were partying while some were sleeping some other were doing some other kind of stuff, I was watching a movie. It was almost 11.30 on December 31st. I had never thought of resolutions until this year. So, I thought of taking some this year. So, I started with ...

-> Re-Opening my blog which I had abandoned for more than a year

-> Post atleast once in two days

-> This time, I'll be a real techexplorer

-> Prepare widgets in java and upload them at my site - atleast one per week

-> Reflect my own work in my blog more than copying content

(FYI, most of the bloggers do it. In fact, how can some one create news ? It has to have a source right ? That is my side of justification)

-> Improve my quality of writing

-> Attract even more visitors (FYI, current statistics shows that I have 15 visitors/day, I would like to improve it to 100/day)

-> I should buy a domain this year atleast and host a completely technical site

With all these resolutions in my mind, I should seem a technical geek..

In the words of my favorite, the "Chandler" -> Could I BE any more 'geek'ier ??

Anyways, there's one more resolution which is like a composition to all these resolutions.BTW, Composition as in object oriented approach.

-> I will strive my level best to meet the humor of "Chandler", the great, in all of my posts.

And that ends my list of new year resolutions !

And by that, I start off posting in my blog this year.

Happy New Year 2011 folks !!

Y.S.RajaSekhar Reddy Dead

2009-09-03T11:01:00.002+05:30

Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy (1949-2009) - Andhra Pradesh - Chief Minister

5 Dead bodies found near chopper crash site.

No More YSR

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy's helicopter has been located on top of a hill about 40 nautical miles (74 km) east of Kurnool at a place called Rollapenta by Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopters.

Indian Air Force officer Air Commodore Sagar Bharati of the Bangalore Air Command, who is monitoring the search and rescue operation, confirmed that IAF helicopters have located the helicopter at the crash site

"Chief Minister's helicopter has been located. It is on top of a hill 40 nautical miles (74 km) east of Kurnool. We are trying to find out if there are survivors. Air Force helicopters are over the location. We are not sure if it has crashed," said Air Commodore Sagar Bharati.

>

"Two helicopters are orbiting at the site. Air Force helicopters are trying to land… because the helicopter is on the top of the hill, it's a jungle so it is difficult to land," the Air Commodore said.

The Air Force has already given search parties on the ground coordinates of the place where Andhra CM’s helicopter has been located. The signal code of the YSR Reddy’s helicopter is 15471479.

Government sources have claimed that the helicopter had crash landed and was completely burnt.

“There is almost no chance of any survivors,”.

Union Home Ministry sources confirmed that Andhra Chief Minister's helicopter has been located 40 nautical miles east of Kurnool.

The sources said that as a rescue helicopter had problem in landing on a hilltop, so another helicopter has been sent with commandos who will slither down and see whether there are any survivors.

Army has also sent out a team of 70-80 para commandos to the area to find any possible survivors.

YSR Reddy has been untraceable since Wednesday morning after the helicopter carrying him went off the radar and lost all contacts with the ATC.

The Andhra Chief Minister was accompanied by his Principal Secretary S Subramanyam and Chief Security Officer ASC Wesley.

There were two pilots - Group Captain SK Bhatia and Captain M S Reddy - on board the twin-engine Bell 430 helicopter which disappeared over the Naxal-infested Nallamalla forests.

The 60-year-old Congress leader, who led the party to a remarkable victory in the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, left Hyderabad for Chittoor at 08:35 hrs IST in the helicopter and lost contact with the Air Traffic Control at Begumpet Airport after an hour.

It is really a Sad day for Andhra Pradesh People for losing a great man or precisely a great HISTORY in the politics of Andhra pradesh.

We are really sorry for his sad demise... :(

Ganesh Chaturthi - Vinayaka Chavithi Special

2009-08-22T13:20:00.008+05:30

Vinayaka Vandanam

VAKRA THUNDA MAHA KAYA
SOORYA KOTI SAMA PRABHA
NIRVIGNAM KURU ME DEVA
SARVA KAARYESHU SARVADAA

Ganesa - vinayaka - Ganaadhipa - Lambodara - Ekadantha - Vakrathunda - vighneswara - Gajaanana - Ganapathi - ParvathiNandana - Pillayar - Dhoomravarna - Chaturbhuja

Before you start any kind of work, you pray Lord VINAYAKA to remove obstacles.
He is the lord who gets respects first at the start of any ceremony.

Ganesa - Leader of the devotees of his father - Lord Siva

Vighneswara - Lord (Controller) of Obstacles

Gajaanana - Elephant Faced Lord

Vakra Thunda - Lord with the Bent Trunk

Eka Dantha - Lord with a single Tusk

Lambodara - Lord with a huge stomach

Dhoomravarna - Lord with ash colored appeal

Chaturbhuja - Lord with Four hands

Pillayar - Young Elephant Lord

Vinayaka - Lord of humbleness

Visit THIS Link to get a Detailed History

The 108 Sacred Names of the Lord Vinayaka

1 Akhurath One who has Mouse as His Charioteer
2 Alampata Ever Eternal Lord
3 Amit Incomparable Lord
4 Anantachidrupamayam Infinite and Consciousness Personified
5 Avaneesh Lord of the whole World
6 Avighna Remover of Obstacles
7 Balaganapati Beloved and Lovable Child
8 Bhalchandra Moon-Crested Lord
9 Bheema Huge and Gigantic
10 Bhupati Lord of the Gods
11 Bhuvanpati God of the Gods
12 Buddhinath God of Wisdom
13 Buddhipriya Knowledge Bestower
14 Buddhividhata God of Knowledge
15 Chaturbhuj One who has Four Arms
16 Devadeva Lord of All Lords
17 Devantakanashakarin Destroyer of Evils and Asuras
18 Devavrata One who accepts all Penances

19 Devendrashika Protector of All Gods
20 Dharmik One who gives Charity
21 Dhoomravarna Smoke-Hued Lord
22 Durja Invincible Lord
23 Dvaimatura One who has two Mothers
24 Ekaakshara He of the Single Syllable
25 Ekadanta Single-Tusked Lord
26 Ekadrishta Single-Tusked Lord
27 Eshanputra Lord Shiva's Son
28 Gadadhara One who has The Mace as His Weapon
29 Gajakarna One who has Eyes like an Elephant
30 Gajanana Elephant-Faced Lord
31 Gajananeti Elephant-Faced Lord
32 Gajavakra Trunk of The Elephant
33 Gajavaktra One who has Mouth like an Elephant
34 Ganadhakshya Lord of All Ganas (Gods)
35 Ganadhyakshina Leader of All The Celestial Bodies
36 Ganapati Lord of All Ganas (Gods)

37 Gaurisuta The Son of Gauri (Parvati)
38 Gunina One who is The Master of All Virtues
39 Haridra One who is Golden Coloured
40 Heramba Mother's Beloved Son
41 Kapila Yellowish-Brown Coloured
42 Kaveesha Master of Poets
43 Krti Lord of Music
44 Kripalu Merciful Lord
45 Krishapingaksha Yellowish-Brown Eyed
46 Kshamakaram The Place of Forgiveness
47 Kshipra One who is easy to Appease
48 Lambakarna Large-Eared Lord

49 Lambodara The Huge Bellied Lord
50 Mahabala Enormously Strong Lord
51 Mahaganapati Omnipotent and Supreme Lord
52 Maheshwaram Lord of The Universe
53 Mangalamurti All Auspicious Lord
54 Manomay Winner of Hearts
55 Mrityuanjaya Conqueror of Death
56 Mundakarama Abode of Happiness
57 Muktidaya Bestower of Eternal Bliss
58 Musikvahana One who has mouse as charioteer
59 Nadapratithishta One who Appreciates and Loves Music
60 Namasthetu Vanquisher of All Evils & Vices & Sins

61 Nandana Lord Shiva's Son
62 Nideeshwaram Giver of Wealth and Treasures
63 Omkara One who has the Form Of OM
64 Pitambara One who has Yellow-Coloured Body
65 Pramoda Lord of All Abodes
66 Prathameshwara First Among All
67 Purush The Omnipotent Personality
68 Rakta One who has Red-Coloured Body
69 Rudrapriya Beloved Of Lord Shiva
70 Sarvadevatman Acceptor of All Celestial Offerings
71 Sarvasiddhanta Bestower of Skills and Wisdom
72 Sarvatman Protector of The Universe

73 Shambhavi The Son of Parvati
74 Shashivarnam One who has a Moon like Complexion
75 Shoorpakarna Large-Eared Lord
76 Shuban All Auspicious Lord
77 Shubhagunakanan One who is The Master of All Virtues
78 Shweta One who is as Pure as the White Colour
79 Siddhidhata Bestower of Success & Accomplishments
80 Siddhipriya Bestower of Wishes and Boons
81 Siddhivinayaka Bestower of Success
82 Skandapurvaja Elder Brother of Skand (Lord Kartik)
83 Sumukha Auspicious Face
84 Sureshwaram Lord of All Lords

85 Swaroop Lover of Beauty
86 Tarun Ageless
87 Uddanda Nemesis of Evils and Vices
88 Umaputra The Son of Goddess Uma (Parvati)
89 Vakratunda Curved Trunk Lord
90 Varaganapati Bestower of Boons
91 Varaprada Granter of Wishes and Boons
92 Varadavinayaka Bestower of Success
93 Veeraganapati Heroic Lord
94 Vidyavaridhi God of Wisdom
95 Vighnahara Remover of Obstacles
96 Vignaharta Demolisher of Obstacles

97 Vighnaraja Lord of All Hindrances
98 Vighnarajendra Lord of All Obstacles
99 Vighnavinashanaya Destroyer of All Obstacles & Impediments
100 Vigneshwara Lord of All Obstacles
101 Vikat Huge and Gigantic
102 Vinayaka Lord of All
103 Vishwamukha Master of The Universe
104 Vishwaraja King of The World
105 Yagnakaya Acceptor of All Sacred & Sacrficial Offerings
106 Yashaskaram Bestower of Fame and Fortune
107 Yashvasin Beloved and Ever Popular Lord
108 Yogadhipa The Lord of Meditation

Referred Here

Friends - for Life

2009-08-10T02:38:00.004+05:30

One day,I came across a torrent named Friends on Torrentz.com. It had the maximum seeds and leechers. I was wondered to see that it was a TV show Torrent which was of 1994. Adding to this was the number of users completed downloading the torrent. So, i checked with IMDB to see the rating of this show. It was 8.9/10 with 55,051 votes. As of now, i've never seen any movie and tv show with that many user votes in IMDB. It was then, i started to see this show.....

This show was cast in 1994 first with 6 leading characters in a situational comedy. This is centered around a coffee house, the most famous "Central Perk" in Manhattan, US. A simple but funny tale of lives of 6 friends which start in an Apartment and ends at the same apartment is portrayed excellently by its directors. I have never seen such an amazing TV show which relates friends and their life situations in such a hilarious way. The main characters of the Show are:

The Gent's Cast was

1. Chandler Bing by Matthew Perry
2. Joey Tribbiyani by Matt Le Blanc
3. Ross Geller by David Schwimmer

And the ladies cast was

1. Rachel Green by Jennifer Aniston
2. Monica Geller by Courtney Cox
3. Phoebe Buffay by Lisa Kudrow.

There aren't any few words to describe each of them in the show. Every one played an important role. Friends show starts out with a union of 6 idiotic friends who don't know how to lead their life. This goes on by cultivating relationships among them and turns out to be a web of 6 friends and later an apt conclusion for a 10-year long tale of relationships.

Click Here to access the downloads.

Among all these Friends' characters, i personally admire Chandler Bing. He is the most lively character in the show. He keeps most of the moments alive in the Show. He isn't the handsome one but surely is the cuter one. He was handsome in the first seasons, but he got addicted to drugs in his life and made himself a mess. After the seventh season, he started getting off the drugs and was good at the closing seasons of Friends.

Railway Budget 2009

2009-07-03T19:32:00.000+05:30

Twelve non-stop, point-to-point trains between select cities to be introduced. The sections include: Howrah-Mumbai, Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Chennai, Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Allahabad, Howrah-Delhi, Sealdah-Delhi and Ernakulum-Delhi.

50 railway stations, including CST Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Howrah, Sealdah, will be developed to have world-class facilties

Rs.1,102 crore allocated towards improving passenger amenities

Rs 500-crore increase in budgetary support in 2009-10

New "Yuva" fully air-conditioned train for youth

Yuva fares Rs.299 up to a distance of 1,500 km and Rs.399 up to 2,500 km

309 out of 375 stations will be developed with modern facilities

50 stations at tourist, religious places to have integrated facilities

Tatkal scheme for booking tickets to be reduced from five days to two days

200 automatic vending machines at key stations for selling tickets

50 mobile rail ticket vans to be introduced

ATMs on 200 mid and small sized stations

Passengers can now buy tickets at 5,000 post offices

Ladies' specials to be introduced in suburban trains during peak hours

Railways will not be guided by economic viability, but by social commitment

New factory in West Bengal for making 500 state-of-the-art coaches annually

Committee under Sam Pitroda to commercialise railways' optic fibre network

Railways to develop cold storages for farmers to store vegetables and fruits.

Scheme named Izzjat for low income monthly travel till 100 kilometres.

Superfast parcel express trains to be started on a pilot

basis between Delhi and Chennai and Delhi and Mumbai.

Priority areas to be railway catering, punctuality, food, sanity of rail bogeys.

Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.

Railways to extend helping hand to physically challenged and elderly people by providing ramps, specially designed bogeys

Committed for the downtrodden & development of the country

Infotainment facilities on Rajdhani Express trains for long-distance passengers

One doctor to be posted on long distance trains, says Banerjee.

Railways to extend helping hand to physically challenged and elderly people by providing ramps, specially designed bogeys

Expert committee to be established to look into economic viability of socially important projects

Railways to develop multi-functional complexes with shopping malls, food stalls, medicines and variety stores in different parts of the country

Infotainment services to be provided in major long-distance trains

SMS updates on wait-listed tickets to be introduced

High-capacity, AC double-decker trains to be introduced on select inter-city routes

Integrated security scheme rolled out for 140 vulnerable stations

ICC World T20 Best Cricket Team

2009-06-22T19:39:00.000+05:30

From being defending champions to not having a single player in the ICC's team of the World T20, it's been quite a sharp decline for MS Dhoni's Indian team.

The ICC named its eleven and not surprisingly, after losing three consecutive matches in the Super Eights, no Indian player made the cut.

Four Pakistanis feature, including captain Younis Khan who has been named skipper of this team, other than Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal.

However, there was one Indian face figuring in the Women's XI announced by cricket's governing body and it was that of bowler Rumeli Dhar.

The men's team, including 12th man Lasith Maligna, contained four players from Pakistan, three each from South Africa and Sri Lanka and two from the West Indies.

The women's team, led by England skipper Charlotte Edwards, included five players from the winner, England, four from beaten finalist New Zealand and one each from Australia, India and Sri Lanka.

The men's team was chosen by a select group of experts, including former England pacer Jonathan Agnew, cricketer-turned-commentator Ian Bishop, Twenty20 World Cup Tournament Director Steve Elworthy, ICC Match Referee Alan Hurst and Indian journalist Sharda Ugra.

The women's team was selected by ICC Match Referee Chris Broad, former England captain Clare Connor, Steve Elworthy, commentator Alison Mitchell and journalist Jenny Roesler.

ICC World XI (Men): Chris Gayle (West Indies), Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Younis Khan (Pakistan, captain), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, wicketkeeper), Wayne Parnell (South Africa), Umar Gul (Pakistan), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka). 12th man: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

ICC World XI (Women): Shelley Nitschke (Australia), Charlotte Edwards (England, captain), Claire Taylor (England), Aimee Watkins (New Zealand), Sarah Taylor (England, wicketkeeper), Suzi Bates (New Zealand), Lucy Doolan (New Zealand), Rumeli Dhar (India), Laura Marsh (England), Holly Colvin (England), Sian Ruck (New Zealand). 12th player: Eshani Kaushalya (Sri Lanka)

India - T20 - What a Disaster ?

2009-06-17T19:12:00.000+05:30

India, T20 World Cup Champion of 2007, popular cricket team these days with series of wins, with a perfect team combination, each player capable of scoring the total with single hand, has lost in the T20 battle in the intermediary stage. How sad it is to say that Indian cricket team couldn't represent 100 crore people effectively!!

Is it the fault of Team or Management or people for having such hopes ??

Assessing the failure, we come across many flaws in every match India has played right from the start of the Tournament.

The team comprised of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and Irfan Pathan.

All of a sudden, Sehwag was sent back to India and Dinesh karthik was let in to occupy his place. The details of why this happened are not mentioned clearly yet. The message was sehwag's injury called for a replacement in the squad. But there are rumours that it wasn't just injury, but a clash with Dhoni led to the replacement.

This was a major set back to Indian criket at the tournament. Without Sehwag is like having a meal without spice. He isn't just spice to the meal but the meal himself. They were tasteless victories which India managed to get at the initial levels of the tournament. With sehwag's presence, it would have been a toast for Indian fans to watch him bat in the innings.

It wasn't just sehwag's absence that led to the loss of the tournament. The ingredients weren't just mixed well in the tournament. Every one is a powerful player in the team starting with gambhir till harbhajan singh. They werent playing the way they used to play. Coming to the IPL version of Indian cricket, Rohit and Raina were like two Bazookas getting ready to be fired. But in the T20 Cup, it was like they aren't playing their natural game. That's why skippers say "IT'S ALL IN THE GAME".

Starting off with Gambhir, he lacked the momentum which he had in the presence of sehwag. They were named most successful opening pair of partners in the world. Gambhir was mostly affected by sehwag's absence. Next comes Rohit who was good at IPL and just couldn't adjust himself to the opening position. Raina was the most unsuccessful batsman in the entire T20 world cup series. You couldn't just point out another. India's primary weak point at the tournament was his batting which was unexpected after the bashing performance at IPL.

Yuvraj as usual was at his best except for minor mistakes, however he proved Indian way of batting at the tournament, the sole representer of India this world cup. Dhoni, a great captain before this tournament is now an utter disaster. He couldnt cope up with other teams and failed India at the prestigious World Tournament. The reason for his behavioural change after captaincy is not yet clear. However there are issues a captain may have to deal with, but he could atleast have proved himself as a better batsman at times necessary. Yousuf pathan was good at times and wasn't enough at times. The entire face of his batting wasn't displayed at this tournament. It might be due to pressure of falling wickets too quickly or the little score struggling at the score board. The main aim why he was brought into the tournament was his capability to hit any kind of ball to the boundary. He was a star in Rajasthan Royals at IPL. He managed to get away safe without the worse talk. However he needs to improve and adapt himself the ODI strategy without which it is difficult for him to survive in the team.

Next are bowlers. Indian bowling failed only because of Ishant Sharma. He might be a good bowler, but at times when he is not able to take control of the situation he should have been rested. But it wasnt done so, and on the contrary he was used in all the matches. RP singh was good at the matches he played. He should have replaced Ishant but Irfan was made the goat. Irfan is an excellent batsman at the lower order and he is a fluctuating bowler.

For India Irfan was a necessary player. It was Dhoni's fault of replacing him. He Should have been used and Ishant should have been replaced with Ravindra jadeja. Jadeja was good at bowling. Although he was slow in batting, he bowled good. Harbhajan played a good role in the team. Zaheer wasn't adequate to fulfill the needs of the team but was good at times.

So to blame the loss of the cup, it could be tossed over to the selection team. Ishant, Raina and dhoni were the disasters in the team. Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Jadeja, RP Singh were the rockers in the team. Gambhir, Rohit, Yousuf were neutral. Irfan, Praveen and Dinesh were the sufferers for the mistakes. Sehwag was the ultimate loss of India and the gain of other countries.

It should have been a win, instead it resulted in a ruin. Win comes only through hard work and team effort and a strong will. This year Indian players lacked atleast one of them. So it was a RUIN this year. Hope Dhoni realizes and comes back to form and puts India in its former path of success. West Indies Series is ahead. So boys get ready to rock on...

Earn Money Online through AW Surveys

2009-06-02T18:19:00.000+05:30

Click Here to get Registered to AW Surveys and Start Earning Money Online.

If u r trying to find an online source of income, i suggest awsurveys since it makes all of its online transaction through paypal. All that you need is just to sit tight at home, wait for a survey, write few comments about the site as a result of survey. That's all u earn ur money and get paid for ur duty. U can also get paid for referral links who get entertained into this business through you. You also earn through their surveys. The site primarily earns through its ads. You get earned by visiting and surveying them. So Start earning now, Register Now!!

Satyam Scam

2009-04-27T23:01:00.000+05:30

The financial fraud perpetrated by the founders of Satyam Computer Services was executed through a well-planned accounting system that used as many as 7,561 fraudulent invoices worth Rs 5,117 crore to inflate the company's sales, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleged on Monday.

To perpetrate the fraud, the accused also created an identity and code that not only bypassed all other accounting systems, but also managed to hide the fraudulent invoices from other departments, the premier investigating agency said.

"Investigations revealed that the accused have already entered 6,603 out of these false and fabricated invoices amounting to Rs.4,746 crore into their books of accounts thereby inflating the revenues of the company to this tune," said the CBI in a statement.

The CBI came to the conclusion using cyber forensic techniques to unearth the alleged Rs 7,000 crore scam that is alleged to have been perpetrated by group's founder B Ramalinga Raju and his associates.

The accused had used an emergency option of feeding invoices directly to the company's inventory management software, which in normal circumstances would be routed and validated through several software systems.

Simultaneously, the scamsters generated a new identification code called "Super User", that enabled them to hide or "unhide" invoices created in the company's Invoice Management System, thereby making the fraudulent invoices invisible to other departments.

"The amounts pertaining to these false and fabricated invoices were shown as receivables in the books of accounts of Satyam, thereby inflating the revenues of the company," the statement said.

The agency also identified the computer server used for storing the "incriminating data" resulting in the identification of the perpetrators of the fraud, unearthing the quantum of the fraud, and the modus operandi used by the accused.

Meanwhile, the trial court rejected the bail application of the Raju brothers and former chief financial officer V Srinivas on April 25 and gave CBI the permission to conduct further investigation into acquisition of assets by the accused and diversion of funds.

Chennai Passport Fraud

2009-04-26T14:21:00.000+05:30

The CBI arrested Chennai's Regional Passport officer Sumathi Ravichandran on corruption charges. She has been accused for delivering tatkal passports for Rs,13,000, which is nine times more than the actual cost.

Sumathi has been arrested under the charges of Criminal conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI also recovered Rs five lakh from Sumathi's car. Sumati allegedly had a deal with Fathima, a travel agent and daughter of former MLA Abdul Samad to share the money.

Sumathi’s husband Ravichandran too has been arrested by the CBI. He stands accused of running a 'parallel passport office'.

The investigations began after a FACT India employee, Lakshmanan complained to the CBI about the travel agent.

Subsequently a CBI judge remanded both women to judicial custody until May 8.

Akkriti - Another Schood Mishap

2009-04-24T20:05:00.000+05:30

Modern School Vasant Vihar in the Capital will remain closed for two days following outrage over its student Akkriti's death. The student had allegedly suffered an asthma attack in school.

The National Commission for Child Rights has ordered an inquiry following allegations of negligence by school authorities.

The decision to close the school was taken after students and parents protested against the school authorities on Thursday. The protests turned ugly when they surrounded the school Principal, Goldy Malhotra, and accused her of negligence and callous attitude.

Akkriti's parents had alleged that she was not provided adequate medical aid by the school.

Anguished parents and screaming students took on the school authorities alleging that Akkriti would have survived if they had rushed her to the hospital.

Parents and students outraged, blame school. Akkriti's parents, who are still in a state of shock, squarely blamed the Principal for their daughter’s death.

“Goldy Malhotra killed my daughter. She should be charged for murder,” Akkriti's father Vipin Bhatia said.

While Akkriti's mother Vani Bhatia said the school had a moral duty to give her daughter oxygen and call an ambulance.

The Delhi government has also ordered a probe into the death.

School’s version

According to the school, the Commerce student complained of breathing trouble at 1020 hrs IST on Tuesday morning; she was attending class at the time.

She was reportedly given first-aid in school and taken to Holy Angels Hospital, Basant Lok, where doctors declared her dead on arrival. Akkriti reportedly suffered from asthma.

While school authorities said the school nurse gave Bhatia oxygen and then took her to hospital, her father Vipin Bhatia alleged, "They waited till we sent a car to take her to the hospital; that's why she died. They had asked her to go to the second floor for permission to go home, and then asked her to go to the sports teachers' room. All this running around aggravated her problem."

However, Goldy Malhotra denied there was any delay on their part. She blamed the family for the delay in taking her to hospital.

"She was given oxygen and then she said she felt much better. The teacher told her she won't be taken to her home because she needed medical help. Then she was taken into the car and she was made to speak to her mother through the driver's phone. Mrs Kutty (the teacher who accompanied her to the hospital) also told her mother to come along because it's an emergency situation. Sometime between then and before she was taken into the hospital, she collapsed," the Principal stated.

The Managing trustee of Modern School, Ashok Pratap Singh said, "This was a very unfortunate incident. I am going to make sure an investigation is conducted."

RISAT

2009-04-20T12:15:00.001+05:30

The Indian Space Research Organization successfully launched a revolutionary spy satellite that will help security agencies monitor the hundreds of mountain valleys that connect India with Pakistan and terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan further north.

The PSLV-C12, carrying the 300-kg spy satellite Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-2) and the 40-kg Micro Satellite ANUSAT lifted off from ISRO's Satish Dhawan space Centre.

At the end of a 48-hour countdown, the 44-meter tall four-stage PSLV-C12 blasted off from the second launch pad with the ignition of the core first stage.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, weighing 230 tonnes at the time of launch, soared into a clear sky at 0645 hrs IST from the spaceport, about 90 km north of Chennai.

This is the 15th flight of ISRO's workhorse PSLV, which had launched 30 satellites (14 for India and 16 for foreign countries) into a variety of orbits since 1993.

While the RISAT-2 has an all weather capability to take images of Earth, ANUSAT is the first student-made satellite built by an Indian University to demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations.

What’s RISAT?

Designed by the Israeli Aerospace Industries, RISAT can take images through the thickest cloud cover, rain, snow or fog conditions during night and day.

While the RISAT will be used extensively for purposes like mapping, managing natural disasters and surveying the seas, it can also see through camouflage like cloth or foliage used to conceal camps or vehicles.

RISAT will enable India to keep a watch on terror camps, military installations across boundaries, missile sites and suchlike.

However, RISAT is not India's first spy satellite. The Technology Experiment Satellite has been used for photo-reconnaissance since 2001.

But unlike previous remote sensing satellites, RISAT is the first with a synthetic aperture radar, which gives it a day-night, all-weather snooping capability

It should also help keep track of ships at sea that could pose a threat.

The RISAT will reduce India's dependence on foreign suppliers like Ikonos for satellite imagery. But many more gaps need to be plugged. Despite the desperate need, India is still awaiting a dedicated military satellite.

Reason of Satyam Decline....

2009-04-19T14:57:00.000+05:30

Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd may have up to 10 percent excess staff, a local newspaper reported on Saturday, quoting the head of the company's government-appointed board.

Kiran Karnik told the Economic Times that 3,000 to 5,000 staff were in excess, over and above the normal 'bench' maintained at outsourcing firms.

The 'bench' refers to staff not working on any projects and is normally 10 percent of the total workforce that is usually maintained for readiness to take on new projects.

Satyam Computer was taken over by mid-sized outsourcer Tech Mahindra Ltd this week after it bid the highest for a controlling stake in the company.

Three months ago, Satyam's founder and chairman shocked investors by saying profits had been overstated for years, putting in doubt the survival of a company once ranked as India's fourth-largest software services exporter.

Economic Times said Karnik ruled out any government intervention to protect employees.

"It is for the board to decide and that will be Tech Mahindra," Karnik was quoted as having said. "... we (the government-appointed board) are in transition mode and we should be out soon."

MNC Salaries

2009-04-14T19:29:00.000+05:30

Sachin's Wax Statue

2009-04-14T09:48:00.000+05:30

Ten Rupee Coins...

2009-04-14T00:09:00.000+05:30

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a new coin for the denomination of Rupees ten. The new coin has been based on the theme of 'Unity in Diversity'.

It has an outer ring metal composition. It’s bi-metallic or simply put, made up two metals.

The face of the coin is divided into three portions. The central portion bears the "Lion Capitol" of Ashoka Pillar.

RBI says the new coin is a stylised representation of "Unity in Diversity", a defining characteristic of India.

Mahindra Wins Satyam's Bid

2009-04-13T23:53:00.000+05:30

Tech Mahindra, the IT arm of auto major Mahindra and Mahindra, Monday won the bid for India's fourth largest software exporter Satyam Computer.

Satyam's new board of directors, which met to select the highest bidder, chose Tech Mahindra following its bid of Rs 1,757 crore for 31 per cent stake in the scam-tainted IT giant.

Tech Mahindra offered Rs 58 for each Satyam share.

The board will now have to inform the Company Law Board (CLB) of its selection. The CLB will will announce its approval, within a week. The new owner will take over the management only after CLB's nod.

Engineering major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and private-equity firm WL Ross were among the other major contenders for the Hyderabad-headquartered Satyam.

Winning bid lifts Tech Mahindra, Satyam shares
Is Tech Mahindra best Satyam suitor? Experts react
L&T already holds 12.04 per cent stake in Satyam.

The six-member Satyam board is headed by Kiran Karnik, former president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) that represents the software industry.

Besides Karnik, the board comprises HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, former Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) member C Achuthan and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) mentor Tarun Das.

Karnik said, "This is the culmination of what we have been through. The final steps are now just about to be taken and I have very happy that at this stage Satyam is with a new investor. It has been a great company which was driven off-course. We as a board tried to put the fire and get it on course and I am please to say it has got it there now. There is new captain on board and he can take it forward as it deserves to be taken forward."

Welcoming the sale of 51 per cent stake in Satyam to Tech Mahindra, Director General CII, Chandrajit Banerjee said, “Tech Mahindra, a Rs 3,800 crores company is a competent IT services provider. This would help Satyam come back to its zenith. The takeover by Tech Mahindra would also immensely help Satyam regain its shareholder value and would also benefit its employees and customers.”

Tech Mahindra, which agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Satyam Computer Services, admitted the crisis-ridden IT firm's liabilities would add to the challenges usually associated with an acquisition.

"We have taken on a challenge and we will make it work," Mahindra and Mahindra Group Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anand Mahindra told reporters after being selected as the highest bidder for the Hyderabad-based IT firm.

Mahindra said merger and acquisition decisions were taken in the best interest of shareholders. "We will try to make it as less painful as possible," he added.

Tech Mahindra Vice-Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Vineet Nayyar also admitted that the ride is not going to be smooth.

"Satyam's revenues have dipped from $1.8 billion to $1.5 billion and may come down to $1.3 billion in the next quarter," Nayyar said.

"Liabilities are there in terms of Upaid and the class action suits," he said, referring to the UK-based mobile payment operator that filed a case accusing Satyam of forgery.

"We had, however, made a fair assessment of what these liabilities would translate into. Let's hope we were right," Nayyar added.

Satyam faces the threat of paying up to $1 billion as damages to Upaid. Apart from this, a dozen-odd class action suits have been filed against it in the US.

But Chairman of Satyam's reconstituted board Kiran Karnik is optimistic.

"Satyam is a fundamentally sound company with an impressive client roster and committed employees," Karnik said at a separate media briefing.

Satyam's reconstituted board has gone all out to get some clarity on its books of accounts, which were cooked by co-founder B Ramalinga Raju over several years.

According to a company statement, Satyam's revenue stands at Rs 650 crore per month, while its operating profit is between Rs 15-20 crore per month.

The Hyderabad-based major also has immovable assets in terms of 450 acres of land, of which 125 acres are in Hyderabad alone that is house to its campuses.

The total valuation of the 125 acres is around Rs 1,700 crore.

"We are trying to get the accounts restated for the past five years starting from last quarter of 2008-09. It will take a few more months," added HDFC Chairman and a Satyam board member Deepak Parekh.

Funny Image of the Month

2009-04-11T01:40:00.000+05:30

Advani Manmohan India...What is this ??

2009-04-11T01:36:00.000+05:30

Attacking Advani for repeatedly calling him a weak prime minister, Manmohan Singh retorted: "I am not used to abusive language. That is the culture inherited from parents, from teachers and the concept of what Indianness is."

"Using harsh language does not solve any problem and accentuates conflict," he said in his interaction with members of the Indian Women's Press Corps.

"Kamzor ya strong judge karne ke liye zor zor se baatein karne se nahin hota (By merely talking loudly one does not become strong or weak) ," he said.

Alluding to Advani's challenge to him for a American-style nationally televised debate, Manmohan Singh said that I can't match "Advaniji in public speaking or asserting things.

"I am not a good speaker, but I take decisions.

"I believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. What is the record of Advani?," he asked.

"The BJP has not allowed Parliament to function. The BJP shied away from all these discussions and now Advani wants to come and debate with me. And I don't want to give him the privilege that he is an alternative prime minister," he said.

Singh also took on Advani for taunting him for not contesting Lok Sabha polls. "There have been PMs from Rajya Sabha. Advani has to amend the constitution to ensure that his wishes prevail. Indira Gandhi had been one for one and half years, H D Deve Gowda, I K Gujral too," he replied when asked whether he was planning to contest Lok Sabha polls.

Book Tata Nano Online !!

2009-04-11T01:35:00.001+05:30

Tata Motors is offering what insiders say is another first in the Indian automobile industry - online booking.

Along with retailing co-branded Nano merchandise such as watches, T-shirts and phones on the Internet, the dedicated website for the 'people's car' set up by the $62.5-billion group has a detailed section for applying for the car online, with a secure payments gateway.

Applications will be accepted during April 9-25.

"The Tatas have certainly devised a futuristic way of doing business," said auto expert and commentator Tutu Dhawan, who anticipates a good response for online booking, going by the initial response for the car.

"When almost everything today is available online, why not a car?" Dhawan told IANS, adding, "It is also time buyers are offered the ease and convenience of booking vehicles online."

Agrees Avinash Kalla, a Jaipur-based journalist, who is happy that the ease of booking the car through a few mouse clicks will save him time - and, of course, the trouble of queuing up for an application form.

For online booking, Tata Motors has a discount - Rs.200 per form, instead of Rs.300 for their printed counterparts, available at State Bank of India, as also Westwide apparel stores, Croma appliances chain and Titan watch showrooms, all promoted by the group.

"With a virtual showroom available online, packed with specs and an innovative feature that allows you to see your car online after choosing from a range of accessories, online booking was only logical," said Kalla.

"It will save me a lot of time," said the 30-year-old journalist, who hopes to graduate to a car soon, preferably the affordable Nano, from a motorcycle.

Tata Motors has also arranged for online financing for Nano with 15 non-banking finance companies and banks. This option requires customers to pay just Rs.2,999 as the booking fee, as opposed to nearly 75 percent of the price for the self-financed option.

"The availability of online booking will boost the numbers for Tata Motors significantly with quite a lot people having access to the Internet in both the urban and rural areas," said Arun Krishnan, an automotive industry expert with consultancy KPMG.

"It is a good innovation on the part of Tata Motors. This will ensure that the number of bookings easily surpasses the designated allotments in the first phase."

Tata Motors is expected to gross in excess of Rs.950 crore ($180 million) if a conservative estimate of 300,000 potential customers is taken into account, as opposed to 100,000 cars earmarked for sale in the first phase.

"A surge in interest is seen when there is a breakthrough product like the Nano. Usually, the bookings for a particular car are five-six times the supply," said Krishnan.

Those who have visited the Nano website say that it opens pretty fast, though it crashed a few times soon after the commercial launch. So worries remain on how well it will handle the web traffic once the booking starts.

Nehru Image Damaged in London !!

2009-04-11T01:33:00.000+05:30

A statue of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru outside India House in London was allegedly disfigured by vandals.

The damage was discovered by authorities on Friday morning.

The remains of the statue were found wrapped in a white sheet, according to the authorities.

However, it is still not known who was behind this attack despite CCTV cameras installed at the site.

The CCTV cameras, which were trained on the statue, were apparently turned skywards by the culprits.

India's High Commissioner to United Kingdom, Shiv Shankar Mukherjee has said the police are investigating the matter.

CNN-IBN Correspondent Akanksha Banerji reports: "The High Commission was besieged on Thursday by Tamil protesters as they were upset with India's support to the Sri Lankan government in the ongoing war against the LTTE. Scotland Yard is investigating the incident. The Indian High Commission has not commented on who it thinks might have been responsible. CCTV cameras installed at the site were turned away from the statue."

Restrictions imposed by Taliban on women in Afghanistan

2009-04-11T01:29:00.000+05:30

Taliban restrictions and mistreatment of women include the:

1- Complete ban on women's work outside the home, which also applies to female teachers, engineers and most professionals. Only a few female doctors and nurses are allowed to work in some hospitals in Kabul.

2- Complete ban on women's activity outside the home unless accompanied by a mahram (close male relative such as a father, brother or husband).

3- Ban on women dealing with male shopkeepers.

4- Ban on women being treated by male doctors.

5- Ban on women studying at schools, universities or any other educational institution. (Taliban have converted girls' schools into religious seminaries.)

6- Requirement that women wear a long veil (Burqa), which covers them from head to toe.

7- Whipping, beating and verbal abuse of women not clothed in accordance with Taliban rules, or of women unaccompanied by a mahram.

8- Whipping of women in public for having non-covered ankles.

9- Public stoning of women accused of having sex outside marriage. (A number of lovers are stoned to death under this rule).

10- Ban on the use of cosmetics. (Many women with painted nails have had fingers cut off).

11- Ban on women talking or shaking hands with non-mahram males.

12- Ban on women laughing loudly. (No stranger should hear a woman's voice).

13- Ban on women wearing high heel shoes, which would produce sound while walking. (A man must not hear a woman's footsteps.)

14- Ban on women riding in a taxi without a mahram.

15- Ban on women's presence in radio, television or public gatherings of any kind.

16- Ban on women playing sports or entering a sport center or club.

17- Ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles, even with their mahrams.

18- Ban on women's wearing brightly colored clothes. In Taliban terms, these are "sexually attracting colors."

19- Ban on women gathering for festive occasions such as the Eids, or for any recreational purpose.

20- Ban on women washing clothes next to rivers or in a public place.

21- Modification of all place names including the word "women." For example, "women's garden" has been renamed "spring garden".

22- Ban on women appearing on the balconies of their apartments or houses.

23- Compulsory painting of all windows, so women can not be seen from outside their homes.

24- Ban on male tailors taking women's measurements or sewing women's clothes.

25- Ban on female public baths.

26- Ban on males and females traveling on the same bus. Public buses have now been designated "males only" (or "females only").

27- Ban on flared (wide) pant-legs, even under a burqa.

28- Ban on the photographing or filming of women.

29- Ban on women's pictures printed in newspapers and books, or hung on the walls of houses and shops.

Apart from the above restrictions on women, the Taliban has:

- Banned listening to music, not only for women but men as well.

- Banned the watching of movies, television and videos, for everyone.

- Banned celebrating the traditional new year (Nowroz) on March 21. The Taliban has proclaimed the holiday un-Islamic.

- Disavowed Labor Day (May 1st), because it is deemed a "communist" holiday.

- Ordered that all people with non-Islamic names change them to Islamic ones.

- Forced haircuts upon Afghan youth.

- Ordered that men wear Islamic clothes and a cap.

- Ordered that men not shave or trim their beards, which should grow long enough to protrude from a fist clasped at the point of the chin.

- Ordered that all people attend prayers in mosques five times daily.

- Banned the keeping of pigeons and playing with the birds, describing it as un-Islamic. The violators will be imprisoned and the birds shall be killed. The kite flying has also been stopped.

- Ordered all onlookers, while encouraging the sportsmen, to chant Allah-o-Akbar (God is great) and refrain from clapping.

- Ban on certain games including kite flying which is "un-Islamic" according to Taliban.

- Anyone who carries objectionable literature will be executed.

- Anyone who converts from Islam to any other religion will be executed.

- All boy students must wear turbans. They say "No turban, no education".

- Non-Muslim minorities must distinct badge or stitch a yellow cloth onto their dress to be differentiated from the majority Muslim population. Just like what did Nazis with Jews.

- Banned the use of the internet by both ordinary Afghans and foreigners.

And so on...

Many of the anti-women rules that Taliban practiced were first of all the rules formulated and practiced by Rabbani-Massoud government after they came to power in 1992, but no one talk about them and it is painful that today even they are called the champaions of women's rights!!

ON November 8, 1994 the UN Secretary-General presented the interim report on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan prepared by Mr. Felix Ermacora, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1994/84 of 9 March 1994, and Economic and Social Council decision 1994/268 of 25 July 1994.

Parts of the report about women's rights sitaution says:

The Special Rapporteur's attention has been drawn to the Ordinance on the Women's Veil, which is reported to have been issued by a nine-member professional committee of the High Court of the Islamic State of Afghanistan and which reads as follows:

"A denier of veil is an infidel and an unveiled woman is lewd".

"Conditions of wearing veil:

1. The veil must cover the whole body.
2. Women's clothes must not be thin.
3. Women's clothes must not be decorated and colourful.
4. Women's clothes must not be narrow and tight to prevent the seditious limbs from being noticed. The veil must not be thin.
5. Women must not perfume themselves. If a perfumed woman passes by a crowd of men, she is considered to be an adulteress.
6. Women's clothes must not resemble men's clothes.

"In addition,

1. They must not perfume themselves.
2. They must not wear adorning clothes.
3. They must not wear thin clothes.
4. They must not wear narrow and tight clothes.
5. They must cover their entire bodies.
6. Their clothes must not resemble men's clothes.
7. Muslim women's clothes must not resemble non-Muslim women's clothes.
8. Their foot ornaments must not produce sound.
9. They must not wear sound-producing garments.
10. They must not walk in the middle of streets.
11. They must not go out of their houses without their husband's permission.
12. They must not talk to strange men.
13. If it is necessary to talk, they must talk in a low voice and without laughter.
14. They must not look at strangers.
15. They must not mix with strangers."

SRK tells Gavaskar: T20 is not your game

2009-04-06T09:32:00.000+05:30

Reacting to Sunil Gavaskar's harsh criticism of Kolkata Knight Riders' head coach John Buchanan's idea of having multiple captains during a match, team owner Shah Rukh Khan jumped to his rescue, asking the former Indian captain to stay away from his team's affairs.

"I respect Mr Gavaskar--his knowledge about cricket is a billion times better than me," Shah Rukh told CNN-IBN. "But this is an era where Mr Gavaskar has not indulged in, nevertheless his knowledge about the game does allow him to make comments."

The Bollywood superstar added, "This is a new format that's being tried out. Please give it some breathing space. I am the owner of the team, I bought it. If he wants to implement something then let him buy a team."

In his column in Sunday's Hindustan Times, Gavaskar said that the Indian media gave undue importance to Buchanan, who he said is a failed first-class cricketer making a living telling international players to do what he couldn't do.

"To comment on his multiple skipper theory is to give it the importance it doesn't deserve but what does require comment is how he has got his Queensland pals lucrative jobs with KKR," he wrote.

"They have a very big support staff which includes his son and most of them are from Queensland. The owners - poor souls - have little idea that they are being milked."

Buchanan's multi-captain theory - of having three or four captains in a single Twenty20 game, drew criticism from a majority of cricket pundits, as well as Kolkata's regular captain Sourav Ganguly, although Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting thought the idea was worth experimenting.

TCS, RIL Paid Lawrence Summers

2009-04-06T09:25:00.000+05:30

Two Indian companies were among global organisations that paid thousands of dollars as speaking fee or for advice to a top aide of US President Barack Obama, with possible conflicts of interest now with government programmes, a media report said.

Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and top IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are among the firms that gave the money to Obama's chief economic advisor Larry Summers, says Huffington Post.

Quoting from the personal disclosures of high-ranking administration officials, the paper says Reliance paid $187,500 toward advisory board compensation to him, while TCS paid $67,500 as speaking fee as on September 21, last year.

The documents were released by White House late on Friday and show that these firms, which paid hundreds of dollars to Summers, "have direct financial interests before the government or are intimately involved in the White House's bank relief programs."

"The document provided for Summers, who serves as one of the president's closest confidants, underscores just how close some of these officials are to the industry over which they now have oversight," it says.

"The speech payments will undoubtedly raise questions as to the impartiality of the economic advice Summers is providing to the president," the paper says.

"Already viewed as too favourably disposed to Wall Street interests, the lavish payments for speeches will provide further fodder for those who think the administration has been forgiving in their approach to the banking industry."

The website of Reliance Industries lists Summers as a member of its innovation council that has the stated objective of providing vision to the group. When contacted, a company spokesperson said Summers had joined the Reliance advisory board during "his Harvard days" but quit when he joined the government.

"There is no conflict of interest," he said. "When he (Summers) joined the government, he quit all his other posts, he quit this (the Reliance assignment) also. What he does now cannot have a bearing on the past."

A TCS spokesperson said he was not aware of the issue, adding: "Larry Summers participated in TCS North America customer summit in September 2008. He delivered a keynote address along with management guru C K Prahalad. They were the two keynote speakers at the summit."

"The company has no other relationship with Larry otherwise. The reference to payment could be in that context."

Top TCS officials were not reachable for comment.

Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, hedge fund DE Shaw, Lehman Brothers and PricewaterhouseCoopers are among the companies that made payments to Summers running into millions of dollars.

Even though the issue has raised a major controversy in the US, White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt defended Summers.

"Given that Dr. Summers is widely recognized as one of the country's most distinguished economists and formerly served as treasury secretary, there was considerable interest in hearing his economic insights from companies across various industries," he said.

IPL Story in South Africa -- hit or flop show ??

2009-04-05T00:40:00.000+05:30

The cheerleaders will be there as will the best players in the world and all the entertainment of a glitzy T20 carnival.

"We will be playing flavour of India and carnival of India all across the tournament," says IPL Chief Lalit Modi.

The tournament may have moved out of India but there will be no shortage of crowds flocking to see the games the double header to kick off the IPL in Cape Town has already been sold out.

IPL bosses have smartly priced tickets at very affordable rates. The lowest ticket is available at just about 70 Indian rupees and the most expensive ticket will set you back by just a shade over 1000 rupees.

"We have taken IPL sto South Africa to ensure that we deliver once in a lifetime experience to the South African fans. Not only the game of cricket will be interesting, but also the bollywood, the entertainment and the local performances that go along with it," says Sundar Raman

And in a bid to maximize commercial time on television, it has been agreed that there will be a 5 minute break after every ten overs allowing the broadcaster to fit in more advertising.

The break may upset the momentum of a game but teams concede that this format needs to consider the demands of Indian television audiences.

"Obviously this is a great event for the Indian crowd. Not only Indians in South Africa but also across the globe," says TV co-ordinator, John Buchanan

So whether you are watching at home or at the stadium it promises to be quite an African safari.

Break For Cheap Chinese Mobile Phones in India

2009-04-05T00:36:00.000+05:30

Cheap Chinese cellphones that do not have an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)--a unique 15-digit identity code--will be phased out from the Indian market by April 13.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has directed telephone operators to disconnect services to handsets that do not have the IMEI code as such phones pose security threat.

IMEI helps the authorities identify the handset used to make a call on the GSM network, while the electronic serial number (ESN) is used for the CDMA network.

Following the DoT directive, telecom operators have already started alerting their customers to stop using illegal handsets.

"Airtel has always been compliant. We will comply with the authorities and bar the services as required," Bharti Airtel deputy chief executive Sanjay Kapoor told IANS.

Added Gurdeep Singh, chief executive of another telecom operator Aircel: "We will follow the timeline and have already intimidated our customers regarding the same. Though our customers are important, compliance is the topmost priority."

Earlier, the DoT had extended the deadline for telecom operators to disconnect services to Chinese handsets from March 1 to March 31.

Now it has further been extended to April 13.

Telecom officials said this time they would stick to the deadline.

The government's move came after investigating agencies found that terrorists have been using non-IMEI mobile phones for their communications.

The decision would affect nearly 2.5 crore handsets, with most of them being Chinese-made.

Sanjay Dutt Cant Contest in Elections

2009-03-31T19:45:00.000+05:30

The Supreme Court on Tuesday disallowed actor Sanjay Dutt to contest elections from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat and refused to suspend his conviction in a criminal case.

"We are not inclined to suspend his conviction," said a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan. "It is not a fit case to grant stay of conviction," said the Bench, which also comprised Justices P Sathasivam and R M Lodha.

The court said that the power of the court to suspend the conviction of a person to enable him to contest the elections has to be exercised rarely.

The court refused to stay Dutt's conviction, saying his case does not have parity with that of cricketer-turned-parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu, who had resigned his seat after his conviction in a case of unintentional killing.

Dutt has been sentenced to six years in jail by a Mumbai anti-terror court hearing the 1993 serial bomb blasts in the city.

As per electoral laws, a person convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to jail for more than two years is barred from running for elections.

The court said that Dutt had been convicted of "serious offence" under the Arms Act and was disqualified from contesting the elections under the Section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act, which debars a person sentenced to two or more years of imprisonment, from standing for polls.

The Samajwadi Party wants to field Dutt, who was convicted for illegal possession of arms, from the Lucknow constituency, and he had already started campaigning there.

Farhana Shah, the lawyer who represented Dutt in the Mumbai blasts case, said her client won’t be disappointed with the court order. “It is not so disappointing for Sanjay, as he will have better luck next time. He never loses courage," said Shah.

Shah claimed the court order on Monday would not affect the actor’s plea to overturn his conviction. "The Supreme Court order will not affect the final verdict," she told CNN-IBN.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, the lawyer who successfully prosecuted Sanjay, said that the court order had sent a larger message against the criminalisation of politics.

Kolkata Knight Riders - Controversy

2009-03-31T19:42:00.000+05:30

The first game of the Indian Premier League is less than three weeks away but the Kolkata Knight Riders camp is buzzing with controversy and confusion more than cricket. The IPL team is still unsure about who will be their captain for the tournament.

Sourav Ganguly was in Mumbai on Tuesday for a meeting with team owner Shah Rukh Khan and coach John Buchanan. The meeting was held at Shah Rukh Khan's home.

Last week, Buchanan threw the cat among the pigeons when he announced an ambitious plan to experiment with multiple captains during the course of a game.

There was further confusion brewing in the Kolkata camp after Shah Rukh Khan tried to play down the controversy over the captaincy issue.

Shah Rukh walked the ramp in the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai and told the media that it was a matter of miscommunication that had caused the captaincy issue to spiral up into a matter of greater proportions.

"I think there is a lot of over-reaction and rumors about he's been removed from captaincy.But that is completely untrue," said Khan.

Clearly a lot can happen when you get India's biggest movie star, India's most celebrated captain and a maverick coach together!

Varun Gandhi - A Hot Politician Now

2009-03-31T19:35:00.000+05:30

It is one speech that has made Varun Gandhi India's hottest politician - at least on the web.

A Google graph tracks his soaring popularity - after a peak on the eighteenth of March, searches in his name are climbing back up again. Interestingly, people from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi and Tamil Nadu searched for him the most.

A graph plots Varun against Lal Krishna Advani - searches for Advani, have trailed far behind Varun all of this month.

A quick search on the web gives faces and words to dry statistics. Facebook has adulatory groups dedicated to the man. Orkut has fifty nine communities, some with more than eight hundred members each. Varun's speech posted on Youtube has been watched more than 16,000 views. But TV news reports posted on the same site have clocked eighty three thousand hits.

Meanwhile, bloggers brawl online over Varun's speech. While some poke fun at what he said, other's say arresting him makes him a political martyr, stoking tensions further.

There's even an online poll on Varun's chances of victory at the polls. The best take is from Shoba De. Varun is the Pamela Anderson of Indian politics, she says. What the babe's got in her boobs, Varun's got in his head.

ATM Free of Cost

2009-03-31T00:08:00.000+05:30

Now, Due to the regulations imposed by Reserver Bank of India RBI, any ATM or Debit card can have a free transaction with any Bank ATM center free of cost. This new regulation will be implied from April 1 of 2009 onwards.So every one can enjoy seam less ATM access across the country.

IPL Final Schedule

2009-03-30T17:35:00.000+05:30

Defending champions Rajasthan Royals will take on Royal Challengers in the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Newlands, Cape Town April 18.

A glittering opening ceremony will be held at Newlands before the match.

The first semifinal of the 37-day tournament will be played in Centurion, Pretoria May 22.

Wanderers, Johannesburg will host the second semifinal May 23 and also the final and the closing ceremony May 24.

Following is this year's IPL schedule:

April 18: Opening ceremony followed by Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings (Newlands, Cape Town)

April 19: Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers (Newlands, Cape Town); Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab (Newlands, Cape Town)

April 20: Royal Challengers v Chennai Super Kings (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

April 21: Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians (Kingsmead, Durban); Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab (Kingsmead, Durban)

April 22: Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings (Kingsmead, Durban); Royal Challengers v Deccan Chargers (Newlands, Cape Town)

April 23: Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

April 24: Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers (Wanderers, Johannesburg)

April 25: Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings (Newlands, Cape Town); Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians (Kingsmead, Durban)

April 26: Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab (Newlands, Cape Town); Royal Challengers v Delhi Daredevils (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

April 27: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians (Newlands, Cape Town); Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers (Kingsmead, Durban)

April 28: Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

April 29: Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab (Kingsmead, Durban); Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers (Kingsmead, Durban)

April 30: Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria); Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

May 1: Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab (Buffalo Park, East London); Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders (Kingsmead, Durban)

May 2: Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers (Wanderers, Johannesburg); Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

May 3: Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers (Kingsmead, Durban); Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders (Buffalo Park, East London)

May 4: Deccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

May 5: Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders (Kingsmead, Durban); Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals (Kingsmead, Durban)

May 6: Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

May 7: Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria); Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

May 8: Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians (Buffalo Park, East London)

May 9: Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab (Outsurance Park, Bloemfontein); Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

May 10: Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils (Buffalo Park, East London); Royal Challengers v Mumbai Indians (Wanderers, Johannesburg)

May 11: Deccan Chargers vs Rajasthan Royals (Outsurance Park, Bloemfontein)

May 12: Royal Challengers vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria); Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

May 13: Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils (Kingsmead, Durban)

May 14: Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals (Kingsmead, Durban); Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers (Kingsmead, Durban)

May 15: Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils (De Beers Diamond, Oval, Kimberley)

May 16: Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians (Wanderers, Johannesburg); Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders (St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth)

May 17: Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils (De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley); Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers (Wanderers, Johannesburg)

May 18: Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

May 19: Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers (Wanderers, Johannesburg)

May 20: Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab (Kingsmead, Durban); Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders (Kingsmead, Durban)

May 21: Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria); Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils (Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria)

May 22: Semifinal 1 at Supersport Park, Centurion, Pretoria

May 23: Semifinal 2 at Wanderers, Johannesburg

May 24: Closing ceremony followed by final (Wanderers, Johannesburg).

Memory at his Fingers...

2009-03-30T17:32:00.000+05:30

A Finnish computer engineer who lost one of his fingers in a motorcycle accident has come up with a novel use for his prosthetic finger--as a USB memory stick.

Jerry Jalava, 24, lost most of his finger after his motorbike collided with a deer on his way home from work last May. Half of his left ring finger had to be amputated.

Doctors thought he might have problems working with half his finger removed but while waiting for his new prosthetic, Jalava found it was easier to use the keyboard without the prosthetic so started joking with his friends about uses for half a finger.

"We started planning a lot of things with it. Then I found a tiny USB and after that I knew exactly that is the thing I want on my finger," Jalava told Reuters Television.

"First when people saw it they got really horrified, they just couldn't take it as a joke, so usually they needed a little time before laughing and understanding that this is a really funny solution."

Jalava accesses the memory stick by peeling back the nail on the prosthetic finger and uses it to store photos and various computer programmes.

The finger is not permanently attached to his hand, which means that it can be left plugged into the USB slot on his computer--and that has happened to him. "The concept of leaving your finger at work is just not everyday," he laughed.

Nano Hits the Road

2009-03-23T18:39:00.000+05:30

Tata Motors has commercially launched its people's car, Nano, promising to stick to the Rs 1,00,000 price tag for the base model.

Nano hits the road. For more pics log on to www.zigwheels.com
More Pictures

"From today onwards, the product will be available in the showrooms... There will be three versions - the base version, which is the one we promised to the people of India and two upper tier versions...," Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told a news conference.

The higher-end versions will have air-conditioning, power brakes and power windows, among others.

"We hope this day we will usher in a new form of transport," Tata said, adding that the endeavour was never to build the cheapest car but to provide an affordable form of transportation. He, however, hastened to add that "we made a promise and that we've kept the promise."

The booking of the Nano will begin on April 9 and remain open till April 25.

The delivery of the first lot of Nano cars will begin in early July, he said, adding that applications for booking of the car will be available in 30,000 locations in 1,000 cities across India.

State Bank of India will be the qualified banker for collection of bookings in 850 cities, he said.

The car can be booked by just paying Rs 2,999 upfront while the rest can be secured by way of loan, he said.

There will be 15 preferred financiers for the booking whose names will be disclosed in three days.

As the Nano made its commercial debut, automotive industry experts opined that the Rs 1-lakh wonder from the Tata stable can give an additional 14 million Indian families access to an affordable car, thus creating a niche segment.

"It definitely is a major milestone in the mobility paradigm for India and perhaps the world," Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) director general Dilip Chenoy said, adding it has the potential to create a new segment of customers in the existing market.

According to market research firm Crisil, Nano's price reduces the cost of ownership of an entry-level car by 30 per cent and to below three times the cost of owning a motorcycle.

"This will make the car affordable to an additional 14 million families, including a section of 58 million two- wheeler owners," Crisil said.

IIT Kharagpur Mishap..Shame on Institue Administration

2009-03-23T18:32:00.000+05:30

KOLKATA: Angry students at IIT-Kharagpur on Sunday forced the institute’s director to resign after a third-year student of electrical engineering
died of medical neglect.

Rohit Kumar was left unattended for three hours at the premier institute’s BC Roy Hospital after he sustained head injuries from a fall during a basketball game, the students claimed. A profusely bleeding Rohit was finally referred to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata - a three-hour drive away - but he died on the way.

The institute director, Damodar Acharya, resigned after angry students ransacked his house and refused to lift the siege till he took responsibility for the death.

“We tried to make them understand that there would be a proper inquiry to ascertain the cause of death and if there is any negligence on anyone’s part, action would be taken. I also told them that I would try to improve the infrastructure at BC Roy Hospital. But they insisted on my resignation. So, I resigned,” Acharya . He has reportedly sent his resignation to the board of governors.

Rohit suddenly fell unconscious while playing basketball with his friends in the morning. His head hit the ground as he fell. Friends rushed him to the hospital on campus but the doctor on emergency duty was absent. “When the doctor was finally located, he recommended a CT scan and special attention by a neurosurgeon. Unfortunately, such facilities are not available here,” said a student.

The hospital advised Rohit’s friends to take him to Kolkata and an ambulance was arranged though no doctor or nurse was available to accompany him. Two friends volunteered, but on the way, when Rohit started vomiting blood, they took him to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead.

As the news of Rohit’s death spread, at least 2,000 students gheraoed the director’s residence and ransacked it. They refused to lift the siege till the director accepted responsibility.

“Despite our repeated pleas, no measures have been taken to ensure that doctors and equipment are made available at the hospital. On weekends the situation is worse as doctors do not report for duty. Even the one on emergency duty has to be called in if a patient is brought to the hospital,” the students complained.
They also alleged that the hospital lacked even basic medical facilities. “If you check the stocks of medicine, you’ll find that most are past their expiry dates!” they added.

Rohit’s classmates and friends at the Lala Lajpat Rai hostel claimed he had never had such fits in the past.
When contacted, Rohit’s father, R P Sahni, was on his way to Kharagpur from Darbhanga, where the family lives. He said he had received news of his son’s death at 2 pm, but didn’t know the details. Rohit was the younger of his two sons.

An extremely jovial person with a large number of friends, Rohit was also one of the brightest in his class.

IPL Tested !! Get Set Go...

2009-03-21T10:00:00.000+05:30

Looks like the Indian Premier League is all set to unfold. The letters of clearance that were required for the Season 2 of the popular Twenty20 cricket series to kick off are out.

The letters that show most states giving their go ahead to the series, even offering state security for the matches – an issue of contention between IPL and Government given the General Elections schedule.

The only exception is Maharashtra which has given the series a conditional go-ahead.

Mumbai police commissioner Hasan Gafoor says the city police are ready to provide security as long as matches do not coincide with polling days.

He has also requested the cricketers stay at the Cricket Club of India instead of five-star hotels .

However, the state seems divided on the issue with Director-General of Police (Elections) Suprakash Chakravarty saying that the IPL should be held only after elections are over.

Chakravarty said the security forces would be severely constrained in view of the Lok Sabha elections during the period the IPL is proposed to be held.

The DGP has sought postponement of the IPL to sometime in May, or after the three-phased elections in the state are completed.

Justifying the proposal to postpone the league, Chakravarty said even if there were no elections in cities of Maharashtra where IPL matches are scheduled, the security forces would be on protection duties, which is very strenuous.

Inflation to 0.44... Not a good sign either!!

2009-03-19T17:34:00.000+05:30

"The newspapers say inflation is falling, but I don’t see prices coming down anywhere," says a concerned voice in the suburban train in Mumbai. It’s a common misconception that falling inflation means falling prices. That's not however how things work.

DK Joshi, Principal economist at CRISIL explains, "Falling inflation rates doesn’t mean falling of prices, it only implies the rate at which the prices of goods are growing is low."

Inflation rate has fallen to 0.44 per cent this week, a historic low, after breaching the 12 per cent mark in August ‘08. That means, at present, the prices of goods are higher by 0.44 per cent than last year.

An example will make it clearer. Let’s say, the price of an item is Rs 100. It increases to Rs 106 when inflation is 6 per cent. Now, if inflation has slipped to 0.44 per cent, the price of the same good will move to Rs 106.47 from Rs 106, that is, 0.44 per cent higher than Rs 106.

So simply put, inflation is a general rise in the prices of goods and services. When inflation rises, the prices of the goods rises. When inflation reaches zero, the prices on goods will become stagnant. And when inflation turns negative, you will see the actual fall in prices.

By when is it likely to happen?

"We can expect to see inflation close to zero by March-end and it could turn negative by May-June this year. It is when we will see actual fall in prices of goods,"

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 Releasing Finally!!

2009-03-19T17:30:00.000+05:30

After two beta tests and a soft release, Microsoft Corp. is all set to officially launch its latest Internet browser on Thursday night.

The company will launch Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) at 2130 hrs IST, an official statement said.

Microsoft, whose share in the browser market took a beating with the emergence of rivals like Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari, is aiming to regain its lost ground with the new browser.

Microsoft's market share dropped to about 67 percent last month as compared to over 90 percent three years ago.

IE8 can be freely downloaded in 25 languages from Microsoft's website, the company said.

The browser will include features like "accelerators," which allow users to highlight text on a website and choose from a variety of functions, including search engines, language translation or map displays and ‘InPrivate View’ wherein users will be able to browse without leaving any traces like history or cookies behind.

IE, being bundled as the default browser of the Windows Operating system, has helped the company achieve the strong market share it now enjoys. However, Microsoft has been in the dock for the same.

European regulators said in January that Microsoft was in breach of anti-trust rules by bundling IE with its Windows operating system.

Meanwhile, rumours have also surfaced in the blogs that this might be the last version of IE Microsoft will release before pulling the plug on its browser business.

Microsoft has not made any plans public about its browser development beyond IE8, but maintains that it is committed to the browser business.

Posani Krishna Murali -- Praja Rajyam

2009-03-13T15:09:00.000+05:30

Posani is a man of Guts and Wits. Look what damage he is causing to other parties in front of public. He is the most aggressive supporter ever for Praja Rajyam and Chiranjeevi. Let us see if Praja Rajyam can make a good use of this man to steal enough votes to flag their party in the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh.

Forbes World's Richest list

2009-03-11T22:12:00.000+05:30

Two dozen Indians made it to the Forbes list of "World's Richest" with four of them among the top 10, as Warren Buffett dethroned Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who held the top slot for 13 straight years.

Steel czar Lakshmi Mittal, heading the world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal, is in the fourth place with a personal fortune of $45 billion. A long-time resident of London, he is also Europe's richest resident, notes the US business magazine.

Next comes Mukesh Ambani, "Asia's richest resident, who heads petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company by market cap" with $43 billion.

The year's biggest gainer, Anil Ambani, is in the sixth place with a fortune of $42 billion. He is up $23.8 billion in the past year, and is closing the gap with his estranged brother Mukesh.

KP Singh, now the world's richest real estate baron after listing his real estate development company DLF in 2007, takes the eighth place in the list with $30 billion.

Declaring Buffett as the richest man on the planet, Forbes said - "Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway stock, America's most beloved investor has seen his fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago."

That massive pile of scratch puts him ahead of Gates, who is now worth $58 billion and is ranked third in the world after Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Hel with an estimated net worth of $60 billion.

The other 20 Indians in the billionaires list are Shashi and Ravi Ruia (43), Azim Premji (60), Sunil Mittal and family (64), Kumar Birla (76), Ramesh Chandra (86), Gautam Adani (91), Savitri Jindal and family (110), Anil Agarwal (164), Adi Godrej and family (178), G.M. Rao (198), Indu Jain (236), Dilip Shanghvi (260), Jaiprakash Gaur (277), Shiv Nadar (277), Uday Kotak (288), Cyrus Poonawalla (307), Anand Jain (327), Chandru Raheja (368), Tulsi Tanti (368) and Rakesh Wadhawan and family (428).

The Forbes list also mentions two Indians, Gautam Adani ($9.3 billion) and Sameer Gehlaut ($1.2 billion), as "notable billionaires".

"Adani is a college dropout who spurned his father's textile trading business to seek his own fortune... Today he is Asia's richest newcomer thanks to two big public holdings, Adani Enterprises, and Mundra Port, one of India's first private-sector ports," it says.

"India's youngest self-made billionaire, Gehlaut" is an engineer from the elite Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He started online brokerage Indiabulls with two college friends in 1999. He still heads the company and is its largest shareholder.

A few young tycoons were able to make money this past year in the face of financial turmoil, Forbes said. Among them Indian pharmaceutical kings Malvinder and Shivinder Singh added $100 million to their combined net worth.

Praja Rajyam In NewZealand

2009-03-11T22:09:00.000+05:30

IPL 2009 Schedule

2009-03-06T16:57:00.000+05:30

Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi cleared any doubts about the holding of the tournament, saying the governing body of IPL was working on a revised schedule.

"We want to assure all our fans and sponsors that the IPL is on. There are lot of speculations. There is no question of IPL moving to any other country," IPL Chairman and Commissioner Modi told reporters at the Wankhede Stadium.

Modi, who is also the Vice-President of the Indian Cricket Board, said that the IPL is working on a revised fixture and it will be decided soon. He also said that the IPL will also come up with a security plan next week.

"We are rescheduling the fixture and we are touch with all the state associations. It is a cumbersome process and can't be done overnight. We will shortly have a new schedule out," he said.

Modi, however, made it clear that there won't be any matches on the day of the counting - May 16.

"There won't be a match in a city also on election day. We are working on it and we have also 14 cities available and we have to shortlist eight from them," he said.

After the meeting of the IPL Governing Council Modi said, "We are extremely grateful and thankful to the Home Minister (P Chidambaram) who has assured us that security will be provided for IPL matches. We will shortly have a new schedule out. The IPL is on."

Chidambaram had told reporters in Hyderabad that India was safe enough to host cricket tournaments and that the Government will provide security provided the tournament's schedule is re-worked to ensure that they do not overlap with the election dates.

State governments have expressed their inability in providing security for the IPL, which coincides with the Lok Sabha elections.

However, Chidambaram clarified his stand saying, "I did not say IPL should be postponed. IPL and election schedules are overlapping. I don't blame the IPL management at all. They finalised their dates earlier. But once the Election Commission announced the election dates on Monday, I saw that the election and IPL schedules were completely overlapping."

Last Years Schedule : IPL 2008

PROBABLE IPL VENUES:

Mumbai

Delhi

Jaipur

Kolkatta

Bangalore

Hyderabad

Chennai

Mohali

Ahmedabad

Indore

Rajkot

Baroda

Vizag

Cuttack

India buys Gandhi items

2009-03-06T07:08:00.000+05:30

Vijay Mallya buys Gandhi items for $1.8 million

Mahatma Gandhi’s memorabilia went under the hammer in New York early on Friday morning (India time) after hours of high drama.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya bought Gandhi’s items for $1.8 million. The collection had a reserve price of between $20,000 and $30,000. Bidding began at $20,000 and rose to the final price within seven minutes.

However, the US justice department has asked the Antiquorum Auctioneers to hold the lot for two weeks pending a resolution between the new owner, the US and Indian Government.

Mallya is then expected to return the items to the Government of India.

Bapu's round wire-rim eyeglasses, a 1910 Zenith sterling silver pocket watch, a bowl and plate and a pair of leather sandals were auctioned.

The last time a piece of Indian heritage went under the hammer, Mallya coughed up Rs 4 crore for the Sword of Tipu Sultan and got it back to India.

The auction went off despite the owner of Gandhi's prized memorabilia, James Otis, saying he had decided not to sell the items in the light of the controversy.

Speaking to reporters, Otis had said, "In the last few hours, I have decided, in the light of the controversy, not to sell Gandhi's personal items."

Otis' move came after intense negotiations between him and Indian diplomats at the Indian Consulate in New York.

Otis earlier in the day set new conditions including that India shift priorities from military spending to health care especially for the poor if he has to call off the auction.

A spokesperson of the Indian consulate in New York said the Indian Government itself did not participate in the auction as that would have been a violation of the Delhi High Court order.

BSNL Launches 3G Services in 11 Cities

2009-03-03T12:59:00.000+05:30

India's No. 4 mobile operator, state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), said on Friday it had launched third-generation (3G) services in 11 cities and planned to expand services to other areas in the country.

BSNL said in a statement it had invested 27 billion rupees ($530 million) on rolling out 3G infrastructure and would cover all district headquarters and important commercial towns.

India will hold an auction of 3G spectrum later this year, but state-run firms have already been given one slot in each service area, and will have to match the highest bid from private operators. Third-generation services give users a chance to enjoy fast Internet access, games and a host of multimedia content from maps to music on their cellphones. BSNL provides telecoms services across the country except in the major cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, which are covered by another state-run firm, MTNL.

Microsoft's KUMO

2009-03-03T12:57:00.000+05:30

Microsoft Corp is internally testing a new version of its online search service under the name of Kumo.com, a spokesman for the software company said on Monday.

The service is not yet available outside the company, but may eventually form part of Microsoft's attempt to catch up with Internet search leaders Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.

The new search service was unveiled in an internal memo sent by the head of research at the company's online services division on Monday, but it did not go into details about features on the new service.

Plot of Attack on Sri Lanka

2009-03-03T12:35:00.000+05:30

Unidentified gunmen, believed to be 12 in number and armed with Kalashkinov rifles and rocket launchers, opened fire on the bus carrying the cricketers to Gaddafi stadium in the city, Dawn news channel reported.

Initial reports said the attackers came in a white car and reportedly surrounded the bus at Liberty Chowk in the heart of the city and first fired rockets at the bus. They then resorted to indiscriminate firing with automatic firearms.

The attackers then started firing at a police van which was providing security to the Lankan team.

City police chief Haji Habibur Rehman said five policemen died in the attack.

A Pakistani Cricket Board official said six players were injured and admitted to a hospital.

The players reported injured are Thilan Samaraweera, Kumar Sangakkara, Ajantha Mendis, Mahela Jayawardene, Tharanga Paranavithana and Chaminda Vaas. Vaas was reportedly carried off on a stretcher while Samaraweera was reportedly shot at.

Six policemen are reported dead. The van carrying the umpires was also attacked. Assistant coach Paul Farbrace has also been reportedly injured.

The Sri Lankan tour has been officially called off.

The preceding events which were postponed from the scheduled date were:

1. Indian cricket team was scheduled to play three Tests, five One-Dayers and a Twenty20 match from January 4 to February 28 in Pakistan.

2. Australia pulled out of their scheduled visit, while the International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed the Champions Trophy one-day tournament in September.

In the Wake of terrorist attacks in the Indian Subcontinent and Pakistan, it is rather doubtful that the coming ICC World cup 2009 will be held in the sub-continent.
The hosting teams were really desperate that there would be no change in the schedule and host of World Cup 2009 after the MUMBAI Blasts and it lasted as they hoped. But after this attack, it is indeed made sure that it is very difficult to host the game in Asia for security concerns. Even visitors and Cricket fans have to be looked after for security.

So it will be very difficult and a very huge process to setup even if ICC doesn't change its opinion on changing the host. Lots of money will be needed to be spent on this issue which could be spent in other ways to help the nation grow.

Sri Lankan Cricketers Attacked by Terrorists

2009-03-03T12:31:00.000+05:30

At least six Sri Lankan cricketers were wounded in Pakistan's Lahore city on Tuesday when gunmen attacked the team travelling to the Gaddafi stadium for the ongoing Test, Sports Minister Lokuge Gamini said. Sri Lanka has cancelled the Test series.

"Six of our players were wounded during the shooting incident targeting the Test team travelling to the match venue at Lahore. We are very concerned about the incident," Lokuge said.

The minister said the players, other than Thilan Samaraweera and the team's assistant coach, had been discharged from the hospital after being treated for their injuries.

Father of the outgoing team skipper Mahela Jayawardene said his son had just called his wife from Lahore to say that he too had suffered minor injuries in his leg during the attack that had shocked the nation.

Five policemen escorting the team bus were killed in the attack that took place as the team was travelling to the Lahore venue to resume the third day's play of the second and last Test match.

CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Duleep Mendis told IANS that double-centurion Samaraweera and Tharanga Paranawitharana were among the wounded in the Lahore shootout on Tuesday morning when they were entering the match venue.

"The latest reports say that three other players have also sustained injuries," Mendis said, adding that the second Test with Pakistan had been abandoned.

AR RAHMAN Wins Oscar 2009

2009-02-25T19:37:00.000+05:30

GMAIL -- "GFAIL"

2009-02-25T18:59:00.000+05:30

Google caused a lot of trouble to its Gmail users.. The Story goes this way..

"The Gmail outage that affected many consumers and Google Apps users worldwide is now over. Users should find that they're able to access their email now without any further problems," said Acacio Cruz, Gmail site reliability manager, in a blog posting.

"The outage itself lasted approximately two and a half hours from 0930 GMT. We know that for many of you this disrupted your working day. We're really sorry about this. Our engineers are still investigating the root cause of the problem," Cruz said.

Google did not say how many clients were affected by the incident, but reports of trouble flooded the internet from all over the world.

Google stressed that problems with Gmail were very rare, but the incident was seen as a major embarrassment for the company, which is trying to persuade computer users to store more of their data online.

Oscar Winners of 81st Annual Academy Awards 2009

2009-02-25T18:53:00.000+05:30

The winners for the Oscar 2009 have been announced, and, not too much to my surprise, I have seen hardly any of these films so far. I have been dying to see Slumdog Millionaire, and surprisingly, it is actually in my town now! I’m going to try to sneak out of work and see it as soon as possible.

That being said, there weren’t too many surprises with this year’sawards. Slumdog Millionaire winning just about everything was expected, but I find it fascinating for all of the awards it won, it received no acting nominations. Did the script just magically appear on screen without anyone acting it?

- Congratulation to Kate Winslet for finally winning on her sixth outing. She is a great actress and has been deserving for some time of winning.

- Heath Ledger put in an amazing performance in The Dark Knight, but I wonder how much of his win was his passing away and how much was truly the role. I felt he was deserving, but you will alway shave to wonder.

- Hugh Jackman did a good job hosting, although the format was way different than it has been in the past. And yay for him getting to sing.

Here’s a list of the Oscar Winners 2009

Oscar Winners List Leaked --- Fraud

2009-02-20T18:58:00.000+05:30

This was the list of oscar winners supposedly leaked which was put up on many sites.

Actor in a leading role: Mickey Rourke
Actor in a supporting role: Heath Ledger
Actress in a leading role: Kate Winslet
Actress in a supporting role: Amy Adams
Animated Feature Film: Wall-E
Art Direction: The Dark Knight
Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Directing: Slumdog Millionaire
Documentary feature: Man on Wire
Documentary short: The Conscience of Nhem En
Film editing: Milk
Foreign language film: Departures
Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Music (Score): Defiance
Music (Song): Down to Earth (Wall-E)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Short film (animated): Presto
Short film (live action): Auf Der Strecke (On The Line)
Sound editing: Wall-E
Sound mixing: The Dark Knight
Visual effects: Iron Man
Writing (Adapted screenplay): The Reader
Writing (Original screenplay): In Bruges

A document listing the Oscar winners in each category leaked on the Internet is a fraud, says an Oscar spokesperson.

"The document is a complete fraud," said Oscar spokeswoman Leslie Unger.

The list first appeared on the international blog site 'Cinematical' and it was believed to be authentic as it had the signature of Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences', reports contactmusic.com.

Reliance moves onto GSM now!!

2008-12-31T15:48:00.000+05:30

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

Chandrayaan 1

2008-10-17T22:14:00.001+05:30

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

2008-10-17T22:14:00.000+05:30

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."

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

2008-09-27T18:46:00.000+05:30

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.

Chinese Mobiles in India.

2008-09-13T14:04:00.000+05:30

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.

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

2008-09-10T21:45:00.017+05:30

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

2008-09-10T21:45:00.016+05:30

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

2008-09-10T21:45:00.015+05:30



		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 ??

2008-09-10T21:45:00.001+05:30

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 ??

2008-09-10T21:45:00.000+05:30

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.

Top Game Sites

2008-09-07T10:11:00.000+05:30

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.

Read Review

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 ..??

2008-09-07T10:01:00.001+05:30

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 ??

2008-09-07T10:01:00.000+05:30

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.

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

2008-09-05T13:20:00.000+05:30

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 !!

Google to Launch its Own Browser "CHROME"

2008-09-02T15:40:00.001+05:30

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.

Top 10 IT MNCs in India

2008-09-01T13:43:00.001+05:30

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 ??

2008-09-01T13:41:00.000+05:30

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

Tata Nano...What's New??

2008-08-30T01:16:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-27T23:51:00.000+05:30

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"

2008-08-26T21:54:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-25T16:12:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-25T16:08:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-25T16:02:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-23T21:34:00.000+05:30

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

Olympics Medals Update

2008-08-21T17:34:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-21T17:26:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-21T14:36:00.001+05:30

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

2008-08-21T14:10:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-17T21:30:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-17T21:25:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-07T22:22:00.000+05:30

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

2008-08-07T00:01:00.000+05:30

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...