Pre-paid mobile connections banned in J&K

More than 38 lakh prepaid mobile phone subscribers in J&K would be out of order come this November as the government has decided to prohibit the use of prepaid services in the state.
In the light of militants in Kashmir making use of sim cards and fake identities, no new pre-paid mobile connections would be issued nor would existing ones be renewed from November 1. "The Ministry of Home affairs has decided that no prepaid mobile connections would be issued and existing prepaid SIM cards would not be renewed in Jammu and Kashmir after November 1, 2009," an official said.
The department of telecommunications has been asked by the ministry to take appropriate action in the matter for implementation of the decision. Already many people in the state, in the areas of Doda, Kupwara and Srinagar have been arrested for providing sim cards and new cell phone connections to militants or those providing fake ids. In J&K cell phones have been widely used as triggers for bomb blasts. In the state Airtel has nearly 19 lakh subscribers followed by BSNL having 12 lakh and Aircel having seven lakh.
"The step comes in the wake of the reports that proper verification is not being done while providing such prepaid mobile connections by the service providers and vendors. In some cases, a single person had been issued with multiple number of connections," the home ministry said.
"The fake documents and identity cards are also being used by the vendors particularly, in the case of prepaid connections. This situation has given rise to serious security concerns. Hence, the decision. Intelligence agencies have been maintaining that private service providers were "overlooking security parameters to push their sales," the ministry added.
More than 38 lakh prepaid mobile phone subscribers in J&K would be out of order come this November as the government has decided to prohibit the use of prepaid services in the state.
In the light of militants in Kashmir making use of sim cards and fake identities, no new pre-paid mobile connections would be issued nor would existing ones be renewed from November 1. "The Ministry of Home affairs has decided that no prepaid mobile connections would be issued and existing prepaid SIM cards would not be renewed in Jammu and Kashmir after November 1, 2009," an official said.
The department of telecommunications has been asked by the ministry to take appropriate action in the matter for implementation of the decision. Already many people in the state, in the areas of Doda, Kupwara and Srinagar have been arrested for providing sim cards and new cell phone connections to militants or those providing fake ids. In J&K cell phones have been widely used as triggers for bomb blasts. In the state Airtel has nearly 19 lakh subscribers followed by BSNL having 12 lakh and Aircel having seven lakh.
"The step comes in the wake of the reports that proper verification is not being done while providing such prepaid mobile connections by the service providers and vendors. In some cases, a single person had been issued with multiple number of connections," the home ministry said.
"The fake documents and identity cards are also being used by the vendors particularly, in the case of prepaid connections. This situation has given rise to serious security concerns. Hence, the decision. Intelligence agencies have been maintaining that private service providers were "overlooking security parameters to push their sales," the ministry added.

Happy 40th B'Day, Internet!

(Wireless Greetings :)

I was 12 years old when I had my first encounter with the internet, I remember my dad had called me over to his laboratory, and he showed me his Intel Pentium 1 computer screen -it was a plain white screen, and slowly a photograph of Apollo 13 began forming out of nowhere.
It was beautiful. I asked him what this magic was, and he said it is called the internet, it basically connects computers from all around the world. I showed little interest. Then he told me that with the internet I can see whatever is there on other computers, including the games on his colleague's desktop. And then he showed me the Netscape browser. I have never looked back since, and my jaw continues to drag on the floor.
On October 29th, 1969 the letters 'LO' became the first to travel between two computers, skimming over 650 kilometers between the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute. The network was called the ARPANET, later to be branded as the internet. The original intention of Leonard Kleinrock, the father of ARPANET was to type in the words LOGIN, however the connection was lost after the O. "We had four-node network and tested the heck out of it. We were able to break the network at will. It was very valuable to shake those things out early on," said Kleinrock.
A few months later many computers were added to the network and hundreds of messages were passed amongst them everyday. By 1975 the network went international as Europe became connected with the satellite link to hundreds of computers. And in the 80s ARPANET proposed a domain name system with '.com' and '.gov'. Commercial interests kicked in and the education-only network metamorphosed into "Internet Commercial" and finally the "Internet". But the big change came in 1989 when AOL (formerly named Quantum Computer Services) launched a campaign named America Online service for Macintosh and Apple II computers that would ensure at least 27 million would be connected to the internet by the year 2000.
Along came a British physicist named Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 who pitched in the idea for the 'web' as we know it. Mosaic was developed in 1993 by Marc Andreessen, which was the first web browser that made use of graphics as well as text simultaneously, and a year later the legendary 'Netscape' browser spawned. What followed is the dotcom boom, and the rest is history. In ten years the Netscape browser fell flat as Microsoft's Internet Explorer took over the reigns. It is an absolute browser war today as Mozilla's Firefox and Chrome eat away into Internet Explorer's market share, along with Opera and Safari.
Bigwigs like Email, Blogs, Online Banking, Social Networking, Microblogging, Real Time Search and Torrents have now arrived with the likes of Google, Yahoo (who made a revolution with GeoCities), Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Piratebay etc. Of course there also emerged financial frauds, porn and sex trafficking among others.
What do you think we will witness in another ten years? Will it still be called the 'internet'? "The next step is to move it into the real world. The internet will be present everywhere. I will walk into a room and it will know I am there. It will talk back to me," says Kleinrock, now 75.I was 12 years old when I had my first encounter with the internet, I remember my dad had called me over to his laboratory, and he showed me his Intel Pentium 1 computer screen -it was a plain white screen, and slowly a photograph of Apollo 13 began forming out of nowhere.
It was beautiful. I asked him what this magic was, and he said it is called the internet, it basically connects computers from all around the world. I showed little interest. Then he told me that with the internet I can see whatever is there on other computers, including the games on his colleague's desktop. And then he showed me the Netscape browser. I have never looked back since, and my jaw continues to drag on the floor.
On October 29th, 1969 the letters 'LO' became the first to travel between two computers, skimming over 650 kilometers between the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute. The network was called the ARPANET, later to be branded as the internet. The original intention of Leonard Kleinrock, the father of ARPANET was to type in the words LOGIN, however the connection was lost after the O. "We had four-node network and tested the heck out of it. We were able to break the network at will. It was very valuable to shake those things out early on," said Kleinrock.
A few months later many computers were added to the network and hundreds of messages were passed amongst them everyday. By 1975 the network went international as Europe became connected with the satellite link to hundreds of computers. And in the 80s ARPANET proposed a domain name system with '.com' and '.gov'. Commercial interests kicked in and the education-only network metamorphosed into "Internet Commercial" and finally the "Internet". But the big change came in 1989 when AOL (formerly named Quantum Computer Services) launched a campaign named America Online service for Macintosh and Apple II computers that would ensure at least 27 million would be connected to the internet by the year 2000.
Along came a British physicist named Tim Berners-Lee in 1990 who pitched in the idea for the 'web' as we know it. Mosaic was developed in 1993 by Marc Andreessen, which was the first web browser that made use of graphics as well as text simultaneously, and a year later the legendary 'Netscape' browser spawned. What followed is the dotcom boom, and the rest is history. In ten years the Netscape browser fell flat as Microsoft's Internet Explorer took over the reigns. It is an absolute browser war today as Mozilla's Firefox and Chrome eat away into Internet Explorer's market share, along with Opera and Safari.
Bigwigs like Email, Blogs, Online Banking, Social Networking, Microblogging, Real Time Search and Torrents have now arrived with the likes of Google, Yahoo (who made a revolution with GeoCities), Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Piratebay etc. Of course there also emerged financial frauds, porn and sex trafficking among others.
What do you think we will witness in another ten years? Will it still be called the 'internet'? "The next step is to move it into the real world. The internet will be present everywhere. I will walk into a room and it will know I am there. It will talk back to me," says Kleinrock, now 75.

Don't travel to Pakistan

In light of the numerous militant attacks on military, police and civilian targets in Pakistan, the Indian government today advised people to refrain from traveling to the country.
Some have been suicide bombs by attackers on foot or vehicles while others were a band of gunmen raiders. There seems to be a collapse of governance in the country and the chasm between the government and the people seems to be growing by the day. According to some, Pakistan has started a war that has consumed its economy, national security, and has torn apart its social fabric.
"The government of India is of the view that it is not advisable for the Indian pilgrims to visit Pakistan in the prevailing situation when frequent terrorist attacks are taking place in Punjab province of Pakistan, where all gurudwaras are situated," said a statement issued by the home ministry. "Accordingly, the government advises all Indian citizens to avoid undertaking any visit to Pakistan for this purpose, till the security situation in Pakistan improves."
The attacks started on October 5th when the offices of the UN World Food Programme in Islamabad were bombed. On October 10th 10 terrorists in military uniform laid siege to the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, close to the capital. In the harrowing 22 hour standoff 19 people were killed. The twin blasts at Islamabad's Islamic University on October 20 led to closing down all schools, colleges and other training institutions in the country.As of now more than 200 people have been killed as a result of militant violence. The civil unrest has spilled into many parts, giving rise to fear psychosis among citizens.
In light of the numerous militant attacks on military, police and civilian targets in Pakistan, the Indian government today advised people to refrain from traveling to the country.
Some have been suicide bombs by attackers on foot or vehicles while others were a band of gunmen raiders. There seems to be a collapse of governance in the country and the chasm between the government and the people seems to be growing by the day. According to some, Pakistan has started a war that has consumed its economy, national security, and has torn apart its social fabric.
"The government of India is of the view that it is not advisable for the Indian pilgrims to visit Pakistan in the prevailing situation when frequent terrorist attacks are taking place in Punjab province of Pakistan, where all gurudwaras are situated," said a statement issued by the home ministry. "Accordingly, the government advises all Indian citizens to avoid undertaking any visit to Pakistan for this purpose, till the security situation in Pakistan improves."
The attacks started on October 5th when the offices of the UN World Food Programme in Islamabad were bombed. On October 10th 10 terrorists in military uniform laid siege to the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, close to the capital. In the harrowing 22 hour standoff 19 people were killed. The twin blasts at Islamabad's Islamic University on October 20 led to closing down all schools, colleges and other training institutions in the country.As of now more than 200 people have been killed as a result of militant violence. The civil unrest has spilled into many parts, giving rise to fear psychosis among citizens.

Gitanjali Gems profit up 8% to Rs 53 cr

Gitanjali Gems today said its net profit rose by 8.40 per cent to Rs 52.73 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, over the same period last year. 

Net sales rose to Rs 1,757.73 crore in the July-September quarter, against Rs 1,291.48 crore in the same period last year, Gitanjali Gems said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

In a separate filing on the BSE, the company has informed that is has acquired the additional share in 'Spectrum Jewellery Pvt Ltd, earlier a joint venture company.

The company has now become owner of majority stake in spectrum, the filing added.

The company has not disclosed the financial details of the share purchase.

Spectrum is owner of trademark 'Sangini', which is a leading brand in the country and it is engaged in the business of manufacturing and dealing of diamonds and diamond studded jewelleries, the filing added. 

Study: No Shortage of U.S. Engineers

America is turning out plenty of science and engineering grads, a university study concludes, but many of the best are taking jobs in finance and consulting
U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever, according to a study released on Oct. 28 by a group of academics. But that finding comes with a big caveat: Many of the highest-performing students are choosing careers in other fields. The study by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown suggests that since the late 1990s, many of the top students have been lured to careers in finance and consulting.

"Despite decades of complaints that the United States does not have enough scientists and engineers, the data show our high schools and colleges are providing an ample supply of graduates," said study co-author Hal Salzman, a public policy professor at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. "It is now up to science and technology firms to attract the best and the brightest graduates to come work for them."

The onus for improving the stock of scientists and mathematicians thus falls more on employers than students, the report's authors say. "If a 12th grader asks us for advice about whether to pursue a career in physics, math, or engineering, what would our advice be?" says co-author Lindsay Lowell, a professor at Georgetown University. "It's difficult to say. There is such a surplus of talent."

The study, entitled Steady as She Goes? Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline, was conducted with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit that focuses on science education. The report analyzes longitudinal data to examine the transition of American students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) from high school into the labor force.

Is It Just About Money?
The 1990s marked a turning point in longer-term trends for the best students in high school and college, according to the study. "The top quintile SAT/ACT and GPA performers appear to have been dropping out of the STEM pipeline at a substantial rate, and this decline seems to have come on quite suddenly in the mid-to-late 1990s," reads the report. The result has been a "compositional shift to lower-performing students in the STEM pipeline."

The researchers' conclusions suggest that making careers in STEM fields more attractive—through higher salaries, for example—could help employers solve recruiting problems for top talent. "Highly qualified students may be choosing a non-STEM job because it pays better, offers a more stable professional career, and/or is perceived as less exposed to competition from low-wage economies," reads the report.

Employers such as Microsoft (MSFT), however, argue that the problem of attracting talent would not be solved by raising pay but rather by adding more of the best candidates to the talent pipeline. Last March, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates testified before the House Committee on Science and Technology and said salaries are not the problem when his company tries to recruit top scientists and engineers. "It's not an issue of raising wages. These jobs are very, very, very high-paying jobs," he said.

Amnesty says Israel curbing water to Palestinians

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Human rights group Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday that Israeli restrictions prevented Palestinians from receiving enough water in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The report said Israel's daily water consumption per capita was four times higher than that in the Palestinian territories.
"Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford," said Amnesty's Donatella Rovera.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Amnesty's statement that Israel was depriving the Palestinians of water as "preposterous."
Israel says it has met its obligations under the 1993 Oslo agreement while Palestinians have failed to meet their own requirements to recycle water and were not distributing water efficiently.
"Israel supplied Palestinians 20.8 million cubic liters above and beyond what it is obliged to do under the water agreement," said Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel, itself facing unprecedented water shortages and rising tariffs, controls much of the West Bank's supplies, pumping from an aquifer that bridges Israel and the territory.
Israel sells some water back to the Palestinians under quotas agreed in the Oslo accords that rights groups say have not been increased in line with population growth.
The report said Gaza's coastal aquifer, its sole fresh water resource, had been polluted by infiltration of seawater and raw sewage and degraded by over-extraction.
Israel maintains a blockade of the Gaza Strip, an area taken over by the Islamist Hamas movement which defeated Palestinian forces loyal to Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
Israel's water authority called the report "biased and incorrect, at the very least" and said that while there was a water gap, it was not nearly as big as presented in Amnesty's findings.
Amnesty said water consumption in Israel was 300 liters a day per person and 70 liters a day in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israel's water authority said those numbers were misleading because they took into account internal distribution and did not compare total water consumption. It said the total figures were 408 liters per day for Israelis and 287 liters for Palestinians.
The Amnesty report described how Palestinians in the West Bank relied on water from tankers that were forced to take long detours to avoid Israeli military checkpoints and roads off-limits to Palestinians.
The situation had led to steep increases in water prices, the report said.

India, China foreign ministers meet today

Indian and Chinese foreign ministers will meet in Bangalore later on Tuesday to try and take forward the decision of the prime ministers of the two countries to build better understanding and trust at the political level, a senior official said.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi will "discuss all issues, including differences that persist between the two countries, in an atmosphere of mutual trust and on equal terms," according to external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash.
Chinese ambassador Zhang Yang will accompany yang during the talks to be held after the ninth trilateral meeting between the two Asian neighbours and Russia earlier in the day.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and joint secretary (East Asia, China, Japan affairs) Vinay Gokhale will assist Krishna in the talks.
The Krishna-Yang meeting comes three days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met on the margins of the Indo-ASEAN summit at Hua Hin in Thailand Oct 24, and decided to resolve all differences amicably.
"Over the years, the convergences (between India and China) have grown and divergences have narrowed. The talks are an attempt in that direction," Prakash told reporters ahead of the Tuesday meeting.
"There are no relationships in the world where there are no differences. We have differences. But both sides have the maturity, the mechanism and the framework to address those differences. We are in the process of narrowing them," he said.
The unresolved border dispute, the on-and-off Chinese intrusions into Indian territories, China's objection to Singh's visit to Arunachal Pradesh early this month and the upcoming visit of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to the border state in November are expected to figure prominently in the Krishna-Yang talks.
Prakash said as Singh and Wen agreed to build better understanding and trust at the political level, the foreign ministers' talks would focus on robust relations and would not allow differences to be an impediment.

Diwali in history

The history of Diwali is replete with legends and these legends are moored to the stories of Hindu religious scriptures, mostly the Puranas. Though the central theme of all legends point out to the classic truth of the victory of the good over the evils, the mode of their presentation and the characters differ. Diwali, being the festival of lights, lighting the lamp of knowledge within us means to understand and reflect upon the significant purpose of each of the five days of festivities and to bring those thoughts in to the day to day lives.
The five day of Diwali
The first day of Diwali is called Dhanvantari Triodasi or Dhanwantari Triodasi also called Dhan Theras. The second day of Diwali is called Narak Chaturdasi. It is the fourteenth lunar day (thithi) of the dark forthnight of the month of Kartik and the eve of Diwali. On this day Lord Krishna destroyed the demon Narakasur and made the world free from fear. The third day of Diwali is the actual Diwali. This is the day when worship for Mother Lakshmi is performed. On the fourth day of Diwali, Goverdhan Pooja is performed. The fifth day of the diwali is called Bhratri Dooj. It is a day dedicated to sisters.
Hindu Mythology
The Story of Rama and Sita:
Lord Rama was a great warrior King who was exiled by his father Dashratha, the King of Ayodhya, along with his wife Sita and his younger brother Lakshman, on his wife's insistence. Lord Rama returned to his Kingdom Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, in which he put an end to the demon Ravana of Lanka, who was a great Pundit, highly learned but still evil dominated his mind. After this victory of Good over Evil, Rama returned to Ayodhya. In Ayodhya, the people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. So, it is an occasion in honor of Rama's victory over Ravana; of Truth's victory over Evil.
The Story of King Bali and Vamana Avatar(the Dwarf):
The other story concerns King Bali, who was a generous ruler. But he was also very ambitious. Some of the Gods pleaded Vishnu to check King Bali's power. Vishnu came to earth in the form of a Vamana(dwarf) dressed as priest. The dwarf approached King Bali and said "You are the ruler of the three worlds: the Earth, the world above the skies and the underworld. Would you give me the space that I could cover with three strides?" King Bali laughed. Surely a dwarf could not cover much ground, thought the King, who agreed to dwarf's request. At this point, the dwarf changed into Vishnu and his three strides covered the Earth, the Skies and the whole Universe! King Bali was send to the underworld. As part of Diwali celebrations, some Hindus remember King Bali.
The Defeat of Narkasur by Lord Krishna:
Lord Vishnu in his 8th incarnation as Krishna destroyed the demon Narkasura, who was causing great unhappiness amongst the people of the world. Narkasura was believed to be a demon of filth, covered in dirt. He used to kidnap beautiful young women and force them to live with him. Eventually, their cries for rescue were heard by Vishnu, who came in the form of Krishna. First, Krishna had to fight with a five-headed monster who guarded the demon's home. Narkasura hoped that his death might bring joy to others. Krishna granted his request and the women were freed. For Hindus, this story is a reminder that good can still come out of evil.
Krishna and The Mountain:
In the village of Gokula, many years ago, the people prayed to the God Indra. They believed that Indra sent the rains, which made their crops, grow. But Krishna came along and persuaded the people to worship the mountain Govardhan, because the mountain and the land around it were fertile. This did not please Indra. He sent thunder and torrential rain down on the village. The people cried to Krishna to help. Krishna saved the villagers by lifting the top of the mountain with his finger. The offering of food to God on this day of Diwali is a reminder to Hindus of the importance of food and it is a time for being thankful to God for the bounty of nature.
Sikh Festival Diwali
In Sikh perspective, Diwali is celebrated as the return of the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji from the captivity of the city, Gwalior. To commemorate his undying love for Sikhism, the towns people lit the way to, Harmandhir Sahib (referred to as the Golden Temple), in his honour.
Jain festivals Diwali
it is is one of the most important one. For on this occasion we celebrate the Nirvana of Lord Mahavira who established the dharma as we follow it. Lord Mahavira was born as Vardhamana on Chaitra Shukla 13th in the Nata clan at Khattiya-kundapura, near Vaishali. He obtained Kevala Gyana on Vishakha Shukla 10 at the Jambhraka village on the banks of Rijukula river at the age of 42.

India objects to Chinese activities in PoK

NEW DELHI: A day after India and China sparred over the ownership status of Arunachal Pradesh, India on Wednesday said that China must cease

activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK .Hitting back at China, India took objection to its engagement in projects in Pakistan occupied Kashmir and asked it to cease such activities taking "long-term view" of India-China relations. In a response to a question on Pakistan- China projects in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in a statement, "We have seen the Xinhua report quoting the President of China Hu Jintao as stating that China will continue to engage in projects with Pakistan inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir." "Pakistan has been in illegal occupation of parts of the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir since 1947. The Chinese side is fully aware of India's position and our concerns about Chinese activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir." "We hope that the Chinese side will take a long term view of the India-China relations, and cease such activities in areas illegally occupied by Pakistan." The Chinese president, during a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday, outlined a major project to upgrade the Karakoram highway connecting the two countries overland and Chinese help in the Neelam-Jhelum hydroelectric project in PoK. "Howsoever, the international situation may change. The people of China and Pakistan are always joined in hearts and hands," Hu had said. On Tuesday, The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated that the State of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. The statement was issued by a spokesman of the ministry shortly after China expressed "strong" dissatisfaction over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh for electioneering. "The state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. The people of Arunachal Pradesh are citizens of India. They are proud participants in the mainstream of India''s vibrant democracy. The Chinese side is well aware of this position of the Government of India," said the official spokesperson. "It is well established practice in our democratic system that our leaders visit States where elections to Parliament and to the State Assemblies are taking place. The Government of India is deeply committed to ensuring the welfare of its own citizens across the length and breadth of our country," the official spokesperson added. Expressing disappointment over the statement made by the official spokesman of the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs, the government spokesperson said: "India and China have jointly agreed that the outstanding boundary question will be discussed by the special representatives appointed by the two governments. We, therefore, express our disappointment and concern over the statement made by the official spokesman of the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs, since this does not help the process of ongoing negotiations between the two governments on the boundary question." "India is committed to resolving outstanding differences with China in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner, while ensuring that such differences are not allowed to affect the positive development of bilateral relations. We hope that the Chinese side will similarly abide by this understanding," the official spokesperson added. On the same day, China's Ambassador to India Zhang Yang met officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) shortly after his government expressed "strong" dissatisfaction over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s visit to Arunachal Pradesh earlier this month. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu had said: "We demand the Indian side address China''s serious concerns and not trigger disturbance in the disputed region so as to facilitate the healthy development of China-India relations." "China is strongly dissatisfied with the visit to the disputed region by the Indian leader disregarding China''s serious concerns," Mas added in a statement posted on the ministry''s website. He noted that China and India had "never officially settled" demarcation of their border, and China';s stance on the eastern section of the China-India border was "consistent and clear-cut". The Indian government has all along indicated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and that the people of that state have a democratic right to elect a government of their choice. Singh had toured and addressed an election rally in Arunachal Pradesh on October 3. Recently, China had blocked a part of a loan to India from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for developmental projects in Arunachal Pradesh. China also protested a visit to the state last month by exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama. India says China is illegally occupying 43,180 sq kms of Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand, China accuses India of possessing some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh. Singh had earlier visited Arunachal Pradesh on January 31 and February 1 and had then referred to it as "Our land of the rising sun" at a public rally, which was objected to by china.

Skin cancer gene 'inherited' in families

While ultraviolet exposure and the environmental effect had long been linked to skin cancer, recent studies suggest the condition runs in families.

According to a study published in Journal of Investigative Dermatology, genes account for about half of the risks that an individual faces in developing the skin malignancy.

Individuals with a sibling or parent affected with a type of non-melanoma skin cancer are more vulnerable to developing skin cancers of various types, not just the ones their relatives had.

The familial influence is believed to be stronger among those with tumors located at body parts more exposed to the sun such as the face.

Compared to having a non-identical twin with melanoma, giving birth to an identical twin with the disease also increases an individual's risk of developing the skin disease by nearly 10-fold.

Scientists said family history can be used to assess an individual's possible risks of developing skin cancer.

Infosys revises FY10 revenue estimates, Q2 net up 7.5%

BANGALORE: In a sign of things to come for India’s $60-billion outsourcing sector, the country’s second biggest software services exporter, Infosys
Technologies, revised its full-year revenue guidance upwards and also managed to maintain its profit margins, helped by currency fluctuations and increased demand for offshore outsourcing from banking customers. Infosys said its net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, rose 7.5% year-on-year to Rs 1,540 crore and revenues grew 3% to Rs 5,418 crore. The company reported a sequential growth of 2.1% in revenues and 0.9% in net earnings. “In the second quarter, the business climate has improved,” Infosys chief executive and managing director S Gopalakrishnan said on Friday. “Clients are now looking to invest in a few strategic initiatives and relationships to maximise value from opportunities when the economic downturn ends.” Infosys revised its revenue guidance for the full fiscal, projecting to touch in the range of Rs 21,961-22,055 crore against Rs 21,416-21,747 crore provided at the end of the first quarter.
Also ReadInfosys’ performance met the expectations of many financial analysts tracking the sector, who had projected the company’s revenues to grow 1-3% sequentially during the September quarter. Equity firm Thomas Weisel Partners, for instance, had projected Infosys to report second quarter revenues of $1.15 billion, reflecting a sequential growth of 1-2%, higher than $1.11-1.13 billion guided by the company earlier this year. Some others, though, had expected Infosys to report better sequential earnings. Financial brokerage firm CLSA had forecast Infosys to grow its September revenues by around 3.5% sequentially, helped by cross-currency gains and an uptick in demand for offshore outsourcing. Despite concerns around Infosys’ profit margins, the company was able to sustain its margins at around 34.6%. “Volume growth has been good and increased M&A activity has translated into a higher degree of spend, which was not seen earlier. Our offshore component volume has increased by 3%,” said Infosys chief financial officer V Balakrishnan. Infosys is currently working on five M&A-based projects, with customers such as RBS and ABN Amro integrating their business and IT systems. Over the next two quarters, however, Infosys expects the margins to dip because of the wage hikes and any potential appreciation of the rupee. The company announced wage hikes of 8% for offshore employees and 2% for onsite employees. The company also said that it will hire around 20,000 new professionals this year, up from the 18,000 that Infosys had projected earlier. During the September quarter, Infosys hired 1,548 employees, taking its total staff strength to 1,05,453. Meanwhile, some experts continue to be concerned about whether Infosys can sustain its margins, going forward. According to a recent Edelweiss report, Infosys’ premium pricing (especially during 2006-08), focus on the three verticals of BFSI, manufacturing and telecom, and its ability to defend industry leading margins contributed to the company’s positioning. However, the factors that helped Infosys during past few years in building its leadership position seem to be shifting. “To sum up, our long-term position is that Infosys’ leadership and its ‘must own stock’ status in the sector will be increasingly distributed towards the others (TCS and Wipro)” Edelweiss analysts Viju George, Kunal Sangoi and Pratik Gandhi wrote in their report last month. Mr Gopalakrishnan, though, remains confident about his company’s ability to sustain its margins and profitable growth.

Tajmahal

The Taj Mahal is the epitome of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet there have been few serious studies of it and no full analysis of its architecture and meaning. Ebba Koch is the only scholar who has been permitted to take measurements of the complex. She has been working on the palaces and gardens of Shah Jahan for thirty years and on the Taj Mahal itself—the tomb of the emperor's wife, Mumtaz Mahal—for a decade.
The tomb represents the house of the queen in Paradise, and the author shows how its setting was based on the palace gardens of the great nobles that lined both sides of the river at Agra. She leads the reader through the entire complex of the Taj Mahal, with an explanation of each building and an account of the mausoleum's urban setting, its design and construction, its symbolic meaning, and its history up to the present day.

2 Americans Share Nobel Chemistry Prize

Two Americans and an Israeli won a Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for creating detailed blueprints of the protein-making machinery within cells, research that's being used to develop new antibiotics.

TCS, Infosys set to gain from RBS' technology splurge

BANGALORE: Indian tech vendors are set to gain from around $9.5 billion technology spend planned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) over the

next five years, as up to $2-billion worth of back office and application development, maintenance projects could be outsourced to the Indian offshore suppliers including Infosys and TCS apart from the bank’s own IT captives in India.

RBS, which is owned 70% by the British government, aims to save around $4 billion in operational costs by 2011 by outsourcing non-core IT activities, integrating different technology banking systems and ensuring better focus on marketing initiatives. In a presentation made to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch investors last week, RBS chief executive Stephen Hester said that the bank has actually underspent on technology during past few years.

“Both in absolute ratio terms relative to our competitors, we have underspent on technology and we have also spent more of it of running the bank — dealing with lots of different systems inherited from past acquisitions — than changing the bank,” Mr Hester said.

When compared to other rival banks, RBS has indeed spent less on technology. Between 2005 and 2007, IT spend accounted for 7.2% of RBS’ revenues, when compared with 8.7% of technology spend by its regional peers. According to the European Banking IT Cost Benchmarking study published last year, IT spend accounted for 12.8% of RBS’ total expenses during 2005-07 , lower than the 16.4% allocated by its peers.