professional

Does Telangana deserve to be a Separate State?

2009-12-18T11:59:00.002+05:30

Is KCR truly the new Mahatma?

It all started when none of us were born. Telangana was a separate entity and it was ruled by Muslim dynasties, whereas Andhra and Seema were governed by Hindu rulers. The Muslim Asafjahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. When the British began their rule in India, Andhra and Seema became a part of the Madras Presidency. However, Telangana was never under the British rule - they had a treaty of subsidiary alliance. This gave Telangana a lot of freedom and liberty in its actions. This freedom went upto the extent where the last Nizam, Mir Osman Ali had his own bank and own currency.
The Hyderabad state was very rich in terms of the wealth the Nizams had and also the wealth which the state generated through taxes. Alcohol, for example, was not banned here (like in Andhra or Seema) but it was taxed, thus generating copious amounts of revenue. The Andhra and Seema regions too were very well developed, but the people led a simple plain life, quite happy with music, art, culture etc. The Nizam supported the same but Hyderabad lived in richness and pomp. The other two regions were less glamorous.
The problem started after India’s independence. Hyderabad was never a part of the British Colonial Rule so it saw no reason why it should be a part of the Indian sub-continent. It declined the offer to be a part of India. But Hyderabad was forcibly amalgamated on September 17th, 1948 after the execution of what is famously known as the Operation Polo. PM Jawaharlal Nehru had a task to reorganize the entire country. He had setup the State Reorganization Committee and had decided to do the same on linguistic lines. But there was another problem - the Hyderabad state didn’t want to merge with the Andhra state. The reasons were many but predominantly the problem was that Andhra was miles ahead in terms of Economic Development. Though Hyderabad had more money, Andhra had more literacy and education. This was because they were under the British rule and they concentrated a lot on irrigation, education and agriculture. This was what even the SRC report had mentioned. Para 386 of States Reorganization Commission Report (SRC) said "After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification." But the government overruled this, merged the two and brought in an agreement between the two parties. This agreement was called the Gentleman’s Agreement which provided reassurances to the Telangana people as well to Andhra people in terms of power sharing as well as administrative domicile rules and distribution of expenses of various regions. But the agreement was violated. None of the terms mentioned in the agreement were met. Telangana continued to suffer from lack of jobs, poor irrigation facilities, poverty and illiteracy. To overcome the suppression, the separate Telangana movement was launched in the year 1960. But that was when the Congress was at its might. With no strong opposition, the Congress had everything going its way. But the party began lose its sheen when Indira Gandhi imposed emergency and Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Congress had no strong leader to piggyback upon, and the other parties began to take advantage of this.
In Andhra Pradesh the Congress met its match in the form of the legendary hero N.T.Rama Rao. Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which was started by him was ruling the roost. He had a completely different ideology. He worked on the popular slogan “Telugu vari aatma gauravam” (Self-respect of the Telugu people). The entire state worshipped him and he had an agenda to uplift all the underprivileged, irrespective of which part of the state they belonged to. Even Chandrababu Naidu who succeeded him was against separation of Telangana and the division of the state. This was one of the reasons why the BJP, which was at power in the centre couldn’t split Andhra like Jharkhand, Uttarkhand and Chhattisgarh.
Coming to our present day hero Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao. He joined the TDP and immediately rose to the ranks of Deputy Speaker. Or course, he was not content with that post. He wanted to be a minister, but when Naidu didn’t agree, KCR floated his own party - the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), with the sole agenda of SEPARATING TELANGANA. There were allegations against him that he was playing the Telangana card only to gain political power that he lacked while he was at TDP. But TRS was received well. The party won the Mandal and Zilla Parishad elections within 60 days of its formation. In the year 2004 during the general elections the TRS allied with the Congress. Y.S.Rajashekhara Reddy had attained immense popularity, mainly thanks to the pada yatra he had performed before the elections. Naidu was the Andhra CM for 9 years straight and he thought he’d win the elections on the sympathy wave (remember the car bomb blast in Tirupathi?) but it wasn’t to be. Throughout his campaigning, YSR pointed out that Naidu acted as a CEO of Hyderabad and did nothing for the state. But YSR knew the attack wouldn’t be sufficient to destabilize the TDP rule and dethrone Naidu. So YSR agreed to ally with the TRS, even though their ideologies over the Telangana issue were very different As a result, the grand alliance of Congress and TRS won the elections. The Congress came to power in the state and formed a coalition government at the centre. TRS joined the coalition government in 2004 and was successful in “making a separate Telangana state” a part of the common minimum program (CMP) of the coalition government. However, TRS withdrew support in September 2006 from the Congress led coalition government, citing indecision by the government over the delivery of its electoral promise to create Telangana. Well this was kind of obvious. Congress has never supported the separation of Telangana, its alliance with TRS was just a political strategy by YSR to make sure Congress gains power. TRS won the by-elections though, that too with a record margin, but it could do nothing regarding the Telangana issue.
Cut to 2009. General elections again! This time around, TRS allied with TDP (yet another party which was never pro-separation). But TRS backed out of the alliance in the last minute, thereby creating a huge dent in the prospects of TDP reclaiming power. YSR won the elections again. KCR was fighting a losing battle. He made a bit of a noise time and again to remind people that he was still around. But things weren’t looking up, and he was almost on the verge of political decline. Majority of his TRS members contemplated on switching to Congress. And then the big twist, the big break - YSR died in a chopper crash. The Congress were left in doldrums over who should be the next CM.
Lo and behold - KCR takes advantage of this situation and rises again. He starts the fast-unto-die movement. He was smart, he knew he had to make news, he knew he had to return to power by any means necessary. He triggered an agitation amongst the students, making allegations that their jobs are being snatched away by the people from Andhra n Seema. It was just a big political game.
Now that we know the history of the entire movement, the question that we have in front of us is, ‘is separation the right solution?’ YES and NO.
YES because, Telangana has indeed been neglected and is backward. All its irrigation projects, agriculture, education and employment is courtesy of Andhra. Hyderabad did shine but it’s just a dot in the entire region of Telangana. And the people living in Hyderabad are not just the people from Telangana but also from Andhra and Seema. The people of Telangana have every right to ask for a separate state, considering nothing has been done under the united state. And with a separate state it will be easier to govern and administer the issues at hand.
NO because, separation isn’t the only solution. The state is divided into various constituencies and each constituency has its own representative who sits in the assembly and the parliament. Everyone is given funds equally and according to the Gentleman’s agreement the Telangana region gets more. What matters is the leadership. Also even if a separate state is carved out, there will still be the same leaders for these regions. It is not like there’ll be a separate set of new leaders. It is the fault of the leaders in the Telangana region that it hasn’t developed. But the big issue is this - KCR wants power more than the itch to fix the Telangana region. If he really was so concerned about Telangana, how is it that he did nothing when he was an MP, apart from screaming his guts out for a separate state? Shouldn’t he have done a few development projects for the region?
If Telangana is to be separated, it is because it deserves to be (if there is no solution but separation) and not because Mr. KCR threatened to end his life. Another issue that baffles me is how KCR managed to walk a day after Chidambaram’s notice, looking absolutely fit and merry, cheering his supporters and ‘fans’. Just a day before the doctors had stated that he was on the verge of coma.

Shocker: Pak Army Officers train Jihad Terrorists

2009-12-14T14:41:00.001+05:30

The FBI interrogation of David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani has, for the first time, confirmed what India has always known: "A section of serving Pakistan army officers" are working in collaboration with India-specific jihadi groups like LeT and JeM.
Sources said this was revealed by Headley to his FBI interrogators in what is the first confirmation by an independent probe agency of the involvement of Pakistani army officers in planning and executing terrorist operations against India.
This, sources said, had been conveyed to the Indian side by the FBI team which visited India to share information on Headley’s questioning. While Pakistan has explained away the instances of the involvement of army officials calling them “aberrations”, this has exposed the jihadi infiltration of the Pakistani army and their collaboration with terrorist outfits in anti-India operations.
Sources said the officials identified by Headley were working with Lashkar on ‘Karachi project’ as part of a larger campaign against India. This project involves using jihadi fugitives from India sheltered in Pakistan to draw in vulnerable Indian Muslim youth.
The FBI interrogation of David Coleman Headley has revealed a Lashkar training project involving jihadi fugitives from India. The youth, after they are trained by Pakistani army officials, are sent back to India as part of the gameplan to conceal the Pakistani involvement and pass off the terror in India as a home-grown phenomenon.
During their discussions with FBI, the Indian side told them about their strong suspicion that Headley was present in the Karachi control room from which the Lashkar leadership choreographed the 26/11 terror attacks. The FBI team said this was not borne out by the evidence in their possession but the Indian side has asked the US agency to check a few facts which they have promised to do.
The details of the Karachi project, revealed by FBI, corroborates India’s own findings. Agencies here have established that a number of absconding terrorists — Aamir Raza Khan, Mufti Sufi Patangiya and Rasool Parti and the remnants of Shahid Bilal gang from Hyderabad — have been luring Muslim youth to be trained as jihadis before being sent to India.
The launch of Indian Mujahideen, which tormented India with a wave of bombings, was part of the plan to erase Pakistan’s fingerprints and pass off the attacks as resulting from the disaffection of a section of its own population.
Even 26/11 attackers, armed with fake IDs of a Bangalore engineering college, had planned to mask their nationality. One of them had called up a TV channel introducing the gang as Deccan Mujahideen.

India and Russia to sign Nuclear Pact

2009-12-07T10:30:00.000+05:30

A new civil nuclear pact will be signed between India and Russia today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has arrived in Russia to hold talks with the country's President Dmitry Medvedev.
The Indo-Russian pact goes deeper than the 123 agreement between India and the US. As per the deal, it will be ensured that there are uninterrupted uranium fuel supplies from Moscow in case of termination of bilateral ties in this field. There will be a total of three defence agreements after summit talks in Kremlin today. Also, the pact with Russia is reportedly a major improvement over the 123 pact with the US.
While the 123 contract stipulates that India have to return already supplied components if the nuclear agreement is terminated, the India-Russia pact relates to reprocessing, nuclear equipments and transfer of technology. Moreover, fuel supply between India and Russia will not be seized in case the agreement is terminated for any reason.
Manmohan Singh will also meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after his talks with Medvedev at the Kremlin regarding taking the strategic ties to new heights. According to Singh, 'the Indo-Russia atomic cooperation is a key pillar in bilateral relations.' Even thought the pact is between India and Russia, the bulk of the work consist of construction of nuclear sites in India. The other highlight is the allowance of transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology and also built-in reprocessing consent rights for all future Russian reactors supplied to India.
India and Russia signed an agreement last year that provides construction of four Russian nuclear plants in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu, apart from five others at yet undecided places. Haripur in West Bengal would in all probability be the other site. At present Russia is building two reactors in Kudankulam.

Pak's border rife with Cancerous Terrorist Cells

2009-12-03T10:50:00.000+05:30

US President Barack Obama today stated that there is urgent need for the US and its allies to eliminate the threat of the cancer that is terrorism and violent extremism that has taken roots in the border region of Pakistan.

"We are in Afghanistan to prevent a cancer from once again spreading through that country. But this same cancer has also taken root in the border region of Pakistan. That is why we need a strategy that works on both sides of the border," Obama said at the West Point Military Academy in New York. "In the past, there have been those in Pakistan who have argued that the struggle against extremism is not their fight, and that Pakistan is better off doing little or seeking accommodation with those who use violence," he said.

Of late thousands of innocents have died in Pakistan as a result of the escalating terrorist activities in and around the country. "Public opinion has turned. The Pakistani Army has waged an offensive in Swat and South Waziristan. And there is no doubt that the United States and Pakistan share a common enemy," Obama argued. "We will strengthen Pakistan's capacity to target those groups that threaten our countries, and have made it clear that we cannot tolerate a safe-haven for terrorists whose location is known, and whose intentions are clear," Obama said.

According to Obama, it is imperative that there is a a civilian surge that reinforces positive action, and an effective partnership with Pakistan is a major strategy of his administration. "America is also providing substantial resources to support Pakistan’s democracy and development. We are the largest international supporter for those Pakistanis displaced by the fighting. And going forward, the Pakistani people must know: America will remain a strong supporter of Pakistan's security and prosperity long after the guns have fallen silent, so that the great potential of its people can be unleashed," he added.

Obama clearly stated that Pakistan is a safe haven for al Qaeda leaders and other terrorist groups. "After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, al Qaeda's leadership established a safe-haven there," Obama said. "Over the last several years, Taliban has maintained common cause with al Qaeda, as they both seek an overthrow of the Afghan government. Gradually, the Taliban has begun to take control over swaths of Afghanistan, while engaging in increasingly brazen and devastating acts of terrorism against the Pakistani people," the US President said.

Obama said he approved a long-standing request for more troops. "After consultations with our allies, I then announced a strategy recognising the fundamental connection between our war effort in Afghanistan, and the extremist safe-havens in Pakistan. I set a goal that was narrowly defined as disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and its extremist allies, and pledged to better coordinate our military and civilian effort," Obama said, adding since then, the US has made progress on some important objectives.

"High-ranking al Qaeda and Taliban leaders have been killed, and we have stepped up the pressure on al Qaeda world-wide," he said. In Pakistan, that nation's Army has gone on its largest offensive in years. In Afghanistan, we and our allies prevented the Taliban from stopping a presidential election, and – although it was marred by fraud – that election produced a government that is consistent with Afghanistan's laws and Constitution," he said

Now the Delhi-bound Mandor Express derails

2009-12-02T10:31:00.000+05:30

In a shocking incident, 15 coaches of the Delhi-bound Mandor Express rolled off the track near the Bans ka Phatak area of Jaipur on Saturday.

As a result 5 people were killed and 20 were seriously injured; according to railway officials the incident took place at about 0130 hours on Saturday and five AC, seven sleeper and three general coaches of the train were driven off the track.

As per the report by CPRO North Western Railway K L Enkhia , the train was traveling between Jodhpur and Delhi got derailed 40 kilometers away from Jaipur. According to Enkhia, one of the five AC coaches was completely overturned. all of the 25 injured have been taken out by GRP personnel shifted to hospitals near Jaipur.

Ashwini Atre, who is the GRP incharge of Jaipur stated that relief and rescue operations are on as GRP personnel are utilizing hydraulic cutters to cut through all of the overturned coaches.

This is the third such incident of a train derailing in November. On Wednesday as many as eight coaches of the Mysore-Ajmer Express derailed near Pune, as a result five passengers were seriously injured. And last week the Gandhidham Bangalore Express derailed at Dombivli near Mumbai. Four of the total 11 coaches which derailed were heavily damaged. 12 passengers were reportedly injured in the incident, however no deaths were reported. Seven of the 12 were seriously injured and were rushed to a hospital.

India, Canada reach civil nuclear agreement

2009-11-30T09:12:00.000+05:30

India and Canada today concluded negotiations on a civil nuclear cooperation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper describing the development as a "milestone" opening up "tremendous opportunity" for the two countries.

The negotiations were firmed up at a meeting between Singh and Harper here on the sidelines of Commonwealth Summit.

Canada, which is the world's largest producer of uranium, has become the eighth country with which India has reached civil nuclear agreement since the NSG lifted a 34-year-old ban on India to join global nuclear trade in September last year.

The other countries with which India has already signed the civil nuclear deal are the US, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia.

The Canadian Prime Minister was in New Delhi on November 17 when the two countries had announced that they are working to complete the civil nuclear deal.

Singh said "the civil nuclear agreement is a very important step forward, a milestone for the development of our relationship."

Pointing out that the civil nuclear agreement with Canada was hanging fire for sometime, he said Harper "proved to be absolutely true to his words" as he had said the negotiations should be complete in a short period of eight to ten days.

"I thank the Prime Minister (Harper) from the core of my heart for having expedited this process beyond my expectations. It augurs extremely well for the development of our relation," Singh said.

Harper pointed out he had discussed the civil nuclear agreement issue with Singh when he was in Delhi earlier this month.

"Prime minister and I agreed that it should be brought to a conclusion very rapidly," he said.

Singh said "we have discussed ways and means of expanding the content of our relationship, to widen it and to deepen it in every possible way."

He said "India's needs for nuclear energy are enormous and we need a lot more energy to make our development process a success."

Harper said "increased collaboration with India's civil nuclear energy market will allow Canadian companies to benefit from greater access to one of the world's largest and fastest expanding economies".

"We have now got an agreement which means this is a tremendous opportunity for both countries," he said.

The agreement will allow Canadian firms to export and import controlled nuclear materials, equipments and technology to and from India, a statement issued by Harper's office said.

"We will be seeking a little bit of time to complete the normal legal text and the ratification process. But this is a tremendous economies step forward and tremendous step forward in our relationship," Harper said.

Next Tata group head could be an expat

2009-11-27T12:07:00.000+05:30

According to Ratan Tata

Could India's most respected corporate group, a brand name synonymous with economic nationalism, come to be headed by an expatriate? It's possible, acording to Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata.

In an interview to US daily Wall Street Journal, the 71-year-old Tata said he didn't rule out a foreigner as his successor. "It would certainly be easier if that candidate were an Indian national. But now that 65% of our revenues come from overseas, it could also be an expatriate sitting in that position -- with justification, now that we are a company that has global reach and global presence," he said. Tata is due to retire in 2012.

"We are in the process of formalising a successor to me. We have some outside consultants and a formal search process is on. There are no constraints. We are looking both within the organization and outside. The successor, I would hope, would have integrity and our value systems in the forefront and... carry on the path that we have tried to set for the company's growth," he added.

Tata expressed the hope that "there would not be a major disagreement in the way that we have operated... In terms of who that successor might be, it could be he or she, it could be an internal or an external candidate."

The question of a possible successor for Ratan Tata has often cropped up. He has consistently said that he would like a younger person, ideally in his 40s, who should get at least 18 months to two years as the designated successor before taking over.

At one stage, there was talk that Ratan Tata might be succeeded by Keki Dadiseth, then chairman of Hindustan Lever, which was belied after Dadiseth went on to become a director at Unilever. Since then, there has been speculation about the prospects of Noel Tata, Ratan Tata's half-brother, with Cyrus Mistry -- the son of construction magnate Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry -- also being mentioned as a possible contender. However, Ratan Tata's interview would seem to have introduced a whole new dimension to the succession race.

The Tata group has 98 companies with combined annual revenues of $71 billion (about Rs 350,000 crore) and 357,000 employees. Set up in 1868, it has only once been headed by a non-Tata -- Sir Nowroji Saklatvala, who joined the group as a clerk in 1899 and rose through the ranks to eventually head it.

The single largest shareholder in Tata Sons, the group's holding company, is Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, who has an over 18% stake. The reclusive billionaire gave up his Indian citizenship in 2007 to become an Irish citizen. His son, Cyrus Mistry, 41, serves on the board of Tata Sons, while his son-in-law, Noel Tata, is CEO of Tata Group company Trent.

Reeling in top netbooks

2009-11-25T10:25:00.002+05:30

It’s the hottest tech sector around, but which of these five extra-portable laptops should you not throw back? From the Godfathers of the netbook market to the latest entrant, five of them have shown up for in our nets

Aspire One 531

A big leap forward from the original Aspire One and still decent value
The original Acer Aspire One was one of the best value netbooks around, with a few shortcomings that you overlooked because it cost about the same as a packet of Pop
Tarts. With the new Aspire One 531, Acer has planed off the rough edges and trimmed the device down to a svelte and streamlined finish, without having to raise the cost to
any outrageous degree. Boasting Intel’s newer Atom N280 CPU and a larger, brighter 10.1-inch screen than its predecessor, the 531 pulls away from the netbook throng, but
there’s still evidence of Acer’s budget thinking. The keyboard, one of the original Aspire One’s strongest features, is now a sore point. The keys are generally cramped, with
some squashed to microscopic proportions. It doesn’t leave it unusable, but it does leave it short of its test rivals here. As a minor consolation, the trackpad has received a much needed overhaul and now offers exactly the kind of precision and speed that you need from such a diminutive laptop. Acer has also loaded the 531 with plenty of connectivity. As well as three USB ports, G-class Wi-Fi, ethernet and Bluetooth, you get integrated GPRS and 3G, allowing for on-the-go browsing. Like several other netbooks here, the 531’s Achilles’ heel is its feeble, three-cell battery, which serves up three hours of use per charge. Using the 3G modem a lot runs it down even quicker, which is poor. What’s the point of being able to surf on a mobile data connection if you’re tethered to the mains? That aside, though, a fine effort.
LOVE Sleek, streamlined look. Quality trackpad. 3G connection built in. Still reasonably priced despite upgrades
HATE Cramped keyboard. Weak battery life reduces its portability greatly
WE SAY This skinny netbook is a perfect upgrade to the original Aspire One, with
improvements on almost every front
Samsung N310
Superb design and keyboard outweigh a slightly older processor Samsung’s latest is by far the most distinctivelooking netbook to date. With Japanese artist Naoto Fukasawa lending his hand to the aesthetics, this bubbly little device will certainly get noticed.
There’s a practical side to the design too, with the rubbery outer shell able to laugh off a few knocks and scrapes, saving you the cost and faff of a fiddly protective case.
Beneath that iconic exterior there’s a rather more bog-standard mix of tech, with an Intel Atom processor – an N270 rather than the more modern N280 – 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. The mediocre, 10.1-inch, 1,024×600-pixel screen lacks much of the vibrancy and gloss of rival netbooks, with colours looking a little bleached. On the other hand, blacks are deep and dark, making this a good one for reading text. Reinforcing the feeling that this is one for the networkers and bloggers, the “pebble” keyboard on the N310 is second to none. Spanning the full width of the case and offering few concessions
to its reduced size, the keys have an excellent travel and feel. The Samsung N310 is also fully loaded with three USB ports. You’d better be reasonably practiced at typing without seeing what’s coming up on screen, though. The clam-like casing prevents the screen from tilting back as far as we’d like, making viewing tricky in more cramped
confines such as public transport. Despite that, if you’ve fallen in love with the N310’s look, you needn’t let the old school processor and poor battery put you off. For cool kids of all ages, this is an eye-catching option in more ways than one.
LOVE Brilliant keyboard. Head-turning design. Good contrast on screen, although colour reproduction is poor
HATE The price seems a trifle high, given the below-par spec
WE SAY This netbook looks and feels great, but it’s not one for those addicted to high specifications
Sony Vaio W Series
A Vaio that can actually be described as good value, with a superb screen. Sony sat out the first year of the low-cost laptop explosion, and then launched the P-Series, an “ultraportable” PC that cost a bomb. The plan didn’t work out, as it’s now launched the W Series, the first Vaio to admit to being a netbook. The awesome, X-Black LCD screen is what sets the W Series apart. This 10.1-incher is by far the
best on test, offering deeper blacks and richer colours than you’ll fi nd on any other netbook. The 1,366×768 resolution adds enough detail to make browsing websites
and documents easy, slashing the amount of scrolling you have to do. Under the bonnet, an Atom N280 processor and N, high-speed Wi-Fi inch it toward the upper
end of the netbook scale, before the paltry three-cell battery drags it back to the middle of the road. You’ll struggle to get three hours of battery life out of the W. The absence of the P-Series’ Xross Media Bar, instant-on boot mode is a confusing missed
opportunity too. Being able to get right at your media files without having to wait for Vista to open was great. Perhaps Sony just forgot the P-Series’ best feature?
Thankfully, it remembered to bring the excellent keyboard from the P Series, this time with a proper trackpad rather than a rubber nipple. Mac-style, isolated keys are an
increasingly common feature on new netbooks and laptops, and it’s easy to see why. Even though this one’s slightly short of full size, typing seldom feels cramped. With
a few minutes of practise you’ll be firing emails off in an eye-watering display of textual acrobatics.
LOVE Stunning X-Black screen. Well designed, practical keyboard. Slick, minimalist design. 802.11n Wi-Fi
HATE Middle of the road spec, the screen aside. Poor battery life. The P-Series’ quick-boot mode is missed
WE SAY Sony’s first proper netbook is a solid all-rounder, set apart from the
pack by an excellent, high-res screen
TOSHIBA MINI NB200
Solid build, sensible design, low price: the quintessential netbook.
From its 160GB hard drive to its 1GB of RAM and 10.1-inch, moderately hi-res screen, this is every inch your standard-issue netbook. Only the textured outer edge and metallic effect keys give any clue that it might have been designed by humans rather than by ticking a series of boxes. And frankly even with those little flourishes, the NB200 is nobody’s idea of exciting looking. What sets this apart is that for less than £350 online, you get a six-cell battery as standard. This means that the battery life goes up to a whopping nine hours – although it’s more like about six hours if you cane your applications the way we do. It does make this so-called “Mini” decidedly lumpy, though. You’re also furnished with a cutting-edge N280 processor. It runs Windows XP, which is less cutting-edge but a better netbook option than sluggish Vista. The 10.1-inch screen has a snazzy gloss finish. This looks the business when you’re under artificial lighting or in dull daylight. As ever with these gloss jobs, though, put it under the sun’s steely glare and you’ll struggle to see much of anything, apart from your own face gawping back at you. The keyboard is a slightly ropey, faux-metal affair on closer inspection, but the keys are as close to full size as you could hope for in something that’s just 263mm across. They span the full width of the device, are well segregated and offer luxuries such as full-sized shift keys and separate cursors. The trackpad is something of a travesty. Ultimately, while the NB200 won’t set your eyeballs tingling, it is a solid, practical netbook at a price that’s very reasonable indeed.
LOVE Large keyboard. Very long battery life, making this ideal for life on the
road. Price is as sensible as the spec
HATE Overly glossy screen. Hopeless trackpad. Boring, slightly shonky look
WE SAY Value and practicality won out flair here, but as a result this is a
sensible choice with great battery life
ASUS EEE PC 1008HA SEASHELL
In the kingdom of the netbook, the Asus-owning man is still king
Asus started the craze for tiny, cheap laptops, and ever since the world and his dog have been fighting for a piece of the pie. Despite this, the Taiwanese tech giant has stayed ahead of the imitators, with tweaks such as smarter looks, better keyboards,
bigger hard drives, and what can only be described as “not actually being all that cheap”. The Eee PC 1008HA, aka the Seashell, continues that trend. Looking swish enough to turn any head, this is also packing full N-standard, high-speed wireless and a Li-Polymer battery that pushes useful life up to an impressive six hours. Like Apple’s new MacBook batteries, it’s a permanent fi xture, hidden away inside the Seashell’s guts, which rules out any chance of upgrading or hot-swapping between spares, but how many of us actually bother with that? There’s also a similarly Apple-styled multi-touch trackpad to raise the bar still further. This lets you zoom in and out of text and images by pinching and drawing apart your fi ngers. The keyboard is good but not great. A bank of wide, flat keys makes typing easy and reasonably fluid, but it lacks both the aesthetic pleasures and the functionality of Vaio or MacBook-style isolated keys. Our conclusion? Asus is still leading the charge. This Eee PC’s looks ace the stylish Samsung; its battery wallops the similarly priced Vaio; it’s slimmer and lighter than the notably svelte Acer One 531. The only notable shortfall is its screen, where the Vaio steals a march, but even bearing that in mind, as an allrounder the Seashell is exceedingly hard to beat.
LOVE Skinny, sexy and light. Very impressive battery life. Multi-touch trackpad. Proper, 802.11n Wi-Fi
HATE Non-removable battery. Only two USBs. A little pricier than the norm
WE SAY Despite fearsome competition, Asus remains ahead of the game, and
the Seashell is the best Eee PC so far

Bihar Government tackles infant mortality rate

2009-11-20T12:18:00.001+05:30

Reduce the infant mortality rate in Bihar, the State Government has started an initiative of sending greeting cards to the families of newborns with a message stating the significance of breast-feeding for mother and child.
Health Minister of Bihar Government Nand Kishor Yadav said that the infant mortality rate would drop by 22 percent, if the mothers breastfed their babies.
“The mortality rate of the mother and the child is very high in India. So, in order to promote breast-feeding, we can drop the infant mortality rate by 22 percent and for this effort we have been praised by United Nations Children''s Fund (UNICEF),” Yadav said.
“We want to spread the message of breast-feeding even in the remote villages through these cards which had the name of children written on them. Generally it is observed had we printed the brochures the parents would have thrown them away, but the cards they will preserve and through the card the message of breast feeding is being spread,” he added.
The greeting card advises the mothers to breastfeed their newly born babies during the first six months.
Families have appreciated the initiative saying that it was a good method to educate them about the advantages of breast-feeding.
“We are very happy on being given this card on the baby''s delivery. The message on the card informs how to keep the baby healthy and the mothers are advised to breast feed the children for six months,” said Rinku Devi, mother of a newborn baby.
India has the highest infant mortality rate in the world, a nationwide survey reveals. According to a United Nations Human Development report, India has slipped from 128th to 134th rank in 2009.

Shocker: Terrorists may attack five Indian cities

2009-11-19T09:41:00.001+05:30

The government of India has issued advisories to the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Agra and Ahmedabad for an impending terror strike on 26th of this month, the first anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks.
The alert came following the interrogation of American terrorist David Headley who was nabbed by the FBI earlier this month. Headley was boarding a flight from Philadelphia to Pakistan when he was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. FBI also arrested his accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, who is a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin.
Headley, who was involved in a conspiracy with the LeT to carry out terror strikes on India and the US, had allegedly the NDC in Delhi on his radar. Haldey was also recruiting fresh blood for Pakistan-based terror group Lashker-e-Taiba, for sending them to a Gulf country using the services of his immigration business set up in Mumbai. It is suspected that Healdey has established sleeper cells in the above states, and it was revealed that 50 terrorists could be targeting various Indian cities to launch multiple attacks from the Western coast of India.
Headley had visited Mumbai several times before, and according to Home Minister P Chidambaram, it is still being investigated if he had any links with the 26/11 attacks in the city last year. According to an official 'A similar warning was issued last week but it was not specific. This time, sources say, the intelligence is very specific and the Government has asked all the above cities to remain on alert against any mysterious activities.'
The other reveal is that that Pakistani nationals in the guise of local fishermen are trying to infiltrate into India. Reports have also revealed that during the past one month, they have tried four times to penetrate the borders albeit in vain.

India to attract $50 billion FDI per year

2009-11-18T11:00:00.000+05:30

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday said that the country would be able to attract 50 billion dollars Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) annually from 2012.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the state industries ministers meeting in the national capital, Sharma said that the Government is creating an investor friendly environment to attract more FDI.
“We are creating the investor friendly environment bringing about a greater degree of uniformity, predictability and rationalization across the country. We hope that we will be able to attract 50 billion dollars annually,” Sharma said.
“India is a big country, it can absorb that and let us not forget that the projections of the next one decade for Indian infrastructure alone, is absorbing investments of one and a half trillion dollars. So, what I have said are very conservative numbers,” he added.
Sharma further said that in order to take the growth to double digits, more FDI is required.
“I am talking of 2012, if we have to take a growth to double digit, if we have to meet our objectives, we need to attract more FDI,” he added.
Between April and September, the first half of the 2009/10 fiscal year, FDI was in excess of 15 billion dollars and portfolio investments were almost the same.
The influx of foreign funds is also pushing up the rupee. The Reserve Bank of India has said if it raised interest rates ahead of other central banks, that there was a risk that it could attract more inflows and complicate policymaking.
India''s economy expanded by 6.7 percent in 2008-09, after growing at 9 percent or more in the previous three years. And, it also remains an attractive destination for foreign investments.
As per the World Bank''s reports, the returns on investment made in India are the highest in the world. (ANI)
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Tuesday said that the country would be able to attract 50 billion dollars Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) annually from 2012.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the state industries ministers meeting in the national capital, Sharma said that the Government is creating an investor friendly environment to attract more FDI.
“We are creating the investor friendly environment bringing about a greater degree of uniformity, predictability and rationalization across the country. We hope that we will be able to attract 50 billion dollars annually,” Sharma said.
“India is a big country, it can absorb that and let us not forget that the projections of the next one decade for Indian infrastructure alone, is absorbing investments of one and a half trillion dollars. So, what I have said are very conservative numbers,” he added.
Sharma further said that in order to take the growth to double digits, more FDI is required.
“I am talking of 2012, if we have to take a growth to double digit, if we have to meet our objectives, we need to attract more FDI,” he added.
Between April and September, the first half of the 2009/10 fiscal year, FDI was in excess of 15 billion dollars and portfolio investments were almost the same.
The influx of foreign funds is also pushing up the rupee. The Reserve Bank of India has said if it raised interest rates ahead of other central banks, that there was a risk that it could attract more inflows and complicate policymaking.
India''s economy expanded by 6.7 percent in 2008-09, after growing at 9 percent or more in the previous three years. And, it also remains an attractive destination for foreign investments.
As per the World Bank''s reports, the returns on investment made in India are the highest in the world.

Say what? Bill Gates praises Steve Jobs!

2009-11-17T13:56:00.001+05:30

There are a few things that happen once in a lifetime, like the blessed 09-09-09 date, and the day when Microsoft founder Bill Gates pays a compliment to Apple co founder Steve Jobs.

The latter actually happened on Saturday on a CNBC television program entitled "Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great". The program had both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates pitched up against a Q&A session, answering questions coughed up by members in the audience. During the session one man asked Bill Gates what he thought about Steve Jobs and his accomplishments as the CEO of Apple.

Much to the shock of the audience, and the entire world, Gates more than politely gave a big compliment to his rival. "Well, he's done a fantastic job," Gates said. "Apple is in a bit of a different business where they make hardware and software together. But when Steve was coming back to Apple, which was actually through an acquisition of NeXT that he ran, Apple was in very tough shape. In fact, most likely it wasn't going to survive."

What's more, the affection didn't stop here, Gates continued to add, "And he brought in a team, he brought in inspiration about great products and design that's made Apple back into being an incredible force in doing good things," Gates added. "And it's great to have competitors like that. We write software for Apple, Microsoft does. They compete with Apple. But he, of all the leaders in the industry that I've worked with, he showed more inspiration and he saved the company."

And here is the bonus - it was announced that next year Microsoft will release Office 2010 for Mac, with a new version of Outlook based on Cocoa, the development layer of Mac OS X.

What next? The AMD CEO saying sweet nothings to the Intel CEO? After all Intel did give AMD a big gift of $1.25 billion just three days ago, AMD should be tickled pink.

Pak 'to submit proof' on India's involvement in Balochistan

2009-11-16T14:04:00.000+05:30

According to Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, proof will soon be presented regarding 'India's involvement in Balochistan'.
Reportedly, the issue had been brought up for the first time during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh and was made part of the joint statement. Gilani stated that Pakistan wants good relations with its neighbours and that composite talks are a must to cement relations with India. Gilani added that the ongoing operation in Southern Waziristhan will soon end, and that there is no military operation under way in Balochistan.
Pak Interior Minister Rehman Malik had earlier claimed that India is funding Taliban fighters that are based along the border of Afghanistan, a situation which is leading to unrest within Pakistan. Malik went on to add that he is 'absolutely convinced' that India is a certified hostile agency that is shelling out millions to Taliban in order to buy weapons and cause unrest in Pakistan.
Asked during an interview to a TV news channel as to who was backing the Taliban, he said: "There are certain hostile elements against Pakistan and there are certain hostile agencies which do not want Pakistan to be (stabilised)." When asked if India is indeed a hostile agency, Malik said, "Yes, of course, I am convinced. I have no doubt about it. I was very open. I have given the full details. If the interior minister of India or anyone else wants to confront me, I will be very happy to confront them because I know what I am saying," he added.
Malik said that India has performed all kinds of clandestine operations in Balochistan and threatened to put all the damning evidence on display much to the shock of the entire world. "I invite their interior minister or anyone else (to come to Pakistan) and I will put on record all the material about India's interference in Balochistan. I'll prove it to the world," he added.

BREAKING: Google Wave gets 'Follow' Feature

2009-11-13T13:45:00.000+05:30

What would social networking be without a good dose of Twitter? Facebook got status updates, Youtube got trending topics, now Google Wave, inspired by the micro blogging site has incorporated the 'Follow' feature in Google Wave.

Google Wave will have the trusty 'Following' and 'Unfollowing' feature for public Waves. Public Waves are the ones that are visible to everyone included in the Wave. And its always frustrating to see an unwanted public Wave that keeps updating in your inbox. Earlier you could knock the Wave off by clicking on the 'archive' button, and then wait for hundreds of seconds while Google Wave hangs, refreshes, fails to display anything and then finally obliges.

All that can be avoided now as you can simply click on the 'unfollow' button to stop that Wave annoying you further. Here's the official statement from Google, 'When you see a public wave that you would like to get updates on, you can chose to follow it by hitting the follow button in the wave panel toolbar. You can remove these waves from your inbox by hitting the “archive” button, but when there is an update they will pop back in. You can switch between following and unfollowing a wave as much and as often as you like.'

As mind blowng as Google Wave is, there is always the trouble of information overload. The new 'follow' feature is a welcome change as the product continues to come out of its Beta preview stage. In fact the 'follow' feature is quite like the 'Lists' feature in Twitter, all you have to do is find the Wave containing info that you're interested in, and follow it to get real time updates. According to Google the 'follow' concept is just one of the many things Wave will feature in the coming months. 'Following is the first step towards a set of new tools for managing waves in your inbox … We’re also thinking of expanding the following concept to let you follow people, groups, and searches.'

Steam miffs Modern Warfare 2 buyers

2009-11-12T15:09:00.001+05:30

November 10th was the official release day of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the 'biggest entertainment launch of all time', but those who had pre ordered the game on Steam were left disappointed.
Anyone who purchased Modern Warfare 2 for the PS3 or Xbox 360 were overjoyed with their copy of the game, and went on to play the game late into the night but all the PC users could do was mope about in frustration. Why? Steam users have to wait even longer to play as the game is locked until Thursday.
Valve today confirmed that those who purchase the game on Steam will have to wait two days before being allowed to play. The worst part? Even if you had purchased Modern Warfare 2 on Saturday or Sunday, you still couldn't play because of Steam's U-turn. Hundreds of forums on the web are swarmed with people steamed about the dumbing down of the PC version. Why, infinity Ward, is there disinterest in releasing the PC version? First, they don't give us the cool versions with NVG like the Xbox 360, then they take away dedicated servers, and now they keep it locked for some unfortunate people.
Some users claimed that they are being punished for pre-purchasing and pre-downloading the game. The message boards of Steam's Modern Warfare is full of cheesed off gamers swearing they will never pre-order through Steam again. According to some rumours, Valve has some some sort of a deal with retailers. And since the company distributes games that people can die for, it can pretty much do what it wants.

According to former Jharkhand Chief Minister, he is still innocent and that he is being framed, completely denying any involvement in the Rs 540 crore

2009-11-11T10:24:00.002+05:30

Trinamool Congress and BSP emerged victorious in the West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh Assembly by-elections, with the Congress claiming the all important Firozabad Lok Sabha seat from Samajwadi Party.

As a result the Left and Smajwadi Party took quite a beating; Congress took eight of the ten seats in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Chhattisgarh while the BJP took the remaining two. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) clearly had the advantage as it took eight of eleven Assembly seats in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Incidentally the BSP in Uttar Pradesh had faired badly in Lok Sabha elections in May.

Congress retained all three seats up for grabs in Kerala, and the party could very well topple the CPM in mid 2011 during the state polls. In Kannur, AP Abdulla Kutty, who is the former CPI-M Lok Sabha member beat MV Jayarajan of the CPI-M by over 12,000 votes. In Ernakulam, Dominic Presentation defeated CPI-M's PN Seenulal by more than 8,000 votes. In Alappuzha, AA Shukur defeated G Krishnaprasad of the Communist Party of India (CPI) by over 5,000 votes.

Mayawati emerged as a big winner in the UP as she bagged eight of 11 assembly seats. Mulayam Singh was the biggest loser as SP rebel and former actor Raj Babbar won by a thumping 85,000-odd votes, beating Dimple Yadav, the daughter-in-law of the SP leader. Raj Babbar had quit the Samajwadi Party to join the Congress.

In West Bengal, Trinamool won seven seats and Congress one. In Rajasthan the Congress and BJP each won one seat. But in Assam the Congress won both the seats, and the party is also leading Jawali, even though Rohru seems to be going BJP’s way.

Babies as young as seven months can read

2009-11-10T14:31:00.001+05:30

Aussie parents believe that babies as young as seven months can learn to read with a help of a novel program involving DVDs and word cards.
US founder of ‘Your Baby Can Read’, Dr Bob Titzer, claims that the program, which costs 219.95 dollars, is fun and infants who use it do better at school.
However, some experts have condemned the concept calling it "absurd" and potentially damaging, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Titzer said virtually all babies could learn to read.
Viktoria Andreeva started teaching her son Artem to read at 2 1/2 months, showing him Your Baby Can Read videos for five minutes at a time and now at seven months, he can identify words like bellybutton, lion and blanket.

Microsoft's Project Natal beats the Wii

2009-11-09T00:46:00.001+05:30

Nick Summers of Newsweek got jiggy with his keyboard and wrote an interesting piece on Microsoft's Project Natal, and how it would outdo Nintendo's Wii console.
As you already know, Natal eliminates the controller entirely, and instead of a player holding a gadget, a special device mounted beneath the TV uses a video camera, an infrared sensor, and software to identify a player's motions. The gamer's actual silhouette, not a generic avatar, can then be inserted directly into games. Below is an extract of Summers' post.
'I played an early prototype of Natal in May, and it makes the Wii controller's capabilities, once a breakthrough, seem crude. To win at Wii tennis, you basically just need to swing your wrist back and forth. In contrast, the Natal camera detects the subtle movement of your limbs. I tried a game called Ricochet, where you punch, kick, and head-butt a ball down a corridor to break apart bricks at the far end. It sounds simple, but because the Natal camera tracks the exact movement of each limb going after the careening ball, I really needed to reach for each shot. Microsoft isn't exactly known for simple products that work seamlessly--but the Xbox has been an exception, and if the final product delivers on what the prototype promises, Natal may be Microsoft's most graceful step forward in gaming yet.
Sony has a motion controller in the works, too: a handheld, wandlike device that pairs with a camera, splitting the difference between Wii and Natal. It doesn't have a name yet--but it does have an expected release date of spring 2010, earlier than Natal. Beating Microsoft to market is Sony's best chance at bringing the PlayStation 3 out of third place in the console wars.Advertisement
Sony and Microsoft desperately need big hits. Both companies cut prices on their consoles by $100 this summer to pump up sales--an acknowledgment that the videogame industry is not, after all, recession-proof. Emphasizing platforms with intuitive, motion-based controls over those with complicated controllers is crucial to helping the videogame market expand beyond its base of young men. Nintendo is already there with games like Wii Fit, which appeals to families and adults.
At $50 billion and climbing, the global gaming market can accommodate all three big console makers. Until the new products--and the games that best exploit them--are out, it's impossible to say which will be the biggest winner. The smart bet, though, is on Microsoft and Sony to take a greater share of the videogame market. That's a perilous prospect for Nintendo, which doesn't have the same diversity of products and revenue streams to fall back on. Microsoft has Windows, Sony has its movie studio (and much more), while Nintendo is just a videogame company. And if it wants to remain the biggest, it had better get moving.'

Rediscover the magic of 'tulsi'Vishwa has been finding it difficult to breath for the past two days. He had got drenched in the rain and since then, h

2009-11-07T11:31:00.000+05:30

Vishwa has been finding it difficult to breath for the past two days. He had got drenched in the rain and since then, has been incessantly sneezing Magic of tulsi (Getty Images)
and coughing.

Antibiotics didn’t work and Vishwa started looking for alternate solutions. That’s when his neighbour suggested the ‘wonder drug’. Two days of this medicinal herb in his tea and steam inhalation not only cleared the congestion in his lungs, but also refreshed and rejuvenated him. And what was the magical herb? None other than the humble Tulsi or Basil.

The holy plant has always played a vital role in the traditional system of holistic health. “Tulsi is a one-stop shop. It is believed to cure respiratory disorders and heart diseases. The antioxidants in Tulsi soothe the nerves and reduce pressure. It also facilitates dissolution of kidney stones. Tulsi leaves play a vital role in arresting bad breath and in treating teeth disorders — be it inflammation of gums or pyorrhoea.

It is also an effective remedy for aching eyes. In a nutshell, Tulsi boosts the immune system,” explains Ayurvedic doctor, Ammu Ravindran.

Agreeing with Ammu is actor-director Suhasini Mani Ratnam who recalls, “My son was born during the Iran-Iraq war. Children born during those times suffered from wheezing problems. My son Nandan was no exception. I was quite upset. That’s when my grandmother recommended that I start giving my son Tulsi on a regular basis. He recovered soon enough.” And that’s not all, Tulsi also helps people quit smoking. So, those of you who have been smoking like chimneys and want to quit, you know what to do.

Talking about Tulsi, how can beauty be left out? If your beauty regimen comprises Henna and Aloe Vera, why not include Tulsi too? “It does wonders for the skin. It will keep your skin blemish-free and free of all infections,” says Prema Srinivasan, founder of an environmental society. Agreeing with her is Nirmala S, who uses Tulsi on a regular basis in her beauty regime. “A daily bath with Tulsi in water or applying Tulsi paste on the infected areas of skin can do wonders. It is a natural antibiotic and disinfectant, and has a soothing effect on the skin. In ancient times, it was also used as a tonic to retain youthfulness and to delay aging.”

With so many merits, Tulsi definitely deserves a top spot! “The best things in life come free. Be it air, water or Tulsi. So, make the best use of them and also protect them,” sums up Lalitha Ramakrishna, author and scholar of traditional Indian wisdom.

Babies as young as seven months can read

2009-11-07T11:24:00.000+05:30

Aussie parents believe that babies as young as seven months can learn to read with a help of a novel program involving DVDs and word cards.

US founder of ‘Your Baby Can Read’, Dr Bob Titzer, claims that the program, which costs 219.95 dollars, is fun and infants who use it do better at school.

However, some experts have condemned the concept calling it "absurd" and potentially damaging, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Titzer said virtually all babies could learn to read.

Viktoria Andreeva started teaching her son Artem to read at 2 1/2 months, showing him Your Baby Can Read videos for five minutes at a time and now at seven months, he can identify words like bellybutton, lion and blanket. (ANI)

No More Terrorism in India!

2009-11-06T00:50:00.001+05:30

Why is India being knocked down by terrorists over and over and over again? Why is the government allowing such terrorists to cross over and bomb cities? And why hasn't there been any retaliation by the ruling Congress?
Heck, Pakistani terrorist Kasab, who took headshots at hundreds of Indians on 26/11 is cooling his heels in prison even at this moment; and India cannot use him as proof that Pakistani soil was used to train him, because Pakistan simply denies it!
Let me give you a brief outline of these terrorists' recent vacations to India: On March 7, 2006 triple bombings in Varanasi killed 23 people and injured 68 others at an ancient temple and crowded railway station. On May 21, 2006 seven people including two guerrillas were killed in Srinagar as militants attacked a Congress party rally, three days ahead of the prime minister's visit for the second Kashmir roundtable. On July 11, 2006 eight people, including tourists and pilgrims, were killed in five hand grenade attacks in Srinagar. The same day 135 were killed in Mumbai in serial blasts in suburban trains at during rush hour in the evening.
On February 19, 2007 68 people were killed in Panipat after two bombs went off on the Samjhauta Express. On May 18, 2007, 12 people were killed in historic Mecca Mosque in the Charminar area of Hyderabad. On Aug 25, 2007 42 were killed in two blasts at Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park at Hyderabad. On May 13, 2008 : 80 people killed in serial bomb blasts in Jaipur. On July 25, July 26, 2008 57 people killed after 18-odd synchronised bombs went off within less than two hours in Ahmedabad.
On September 13, 2008, 26 people killed in six serial bomb blasts at Karol Bagh, GK-II and Connaught Place in New Delhi. On September 27, 2008 three people were killed after a crude bomb exploded in Mehrauli. On September 29, 2008 five people died after a bomb went off in a crowded market at malegaon. On October 01, 2008 two people killed and 100 injured in serial bomb blasts in crowded market places in Agartala. On Oct 14, 2008 eight people injured after bomb planted on a rented bicycle went off in the Colonelganj market in Kanpur. On Oct 30, 2008 at least 50 killed in serial bomb blasts across Assam.
And the biggie - on Nov 26, 2008 183 killed and over 300 injured in a daring terror attack at Hotel Taj, Nariman House, Hotel Trident Oberoi and other places in the city. It was the worst-ever terror attack in India which lasted for 59 hours. Nine terrorists were gunned down, while one (Dear Kasab) was caught alive. 20 policemen and 2 NSG Commandos were killed, while 23 foreign nationals were among the dead.
Was that a tedious list to read? Get a load of this - the terrorists at the Taj on 26/11 were constantly in touch with their handlers back in Pakistan, and everytime they got tired of shooting Indians in their heads, they got boosts and pep talks from their handlers over the phone. A few CDs were produced in a Mumbai court on Wednesday which contained recorded conversations between the attackers and their handlers. Here is an example of the morale boosting lines given to the attackers: "Fight like a lion! If you see movements (of armed forces) then you fire!" Yes, India did allow perpetrators of terror attacks to go scot-free.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, and even Pakistan's ISI was involved with the terrorist attacks. Yet India has absolutely no power or will to do anything about it. To add the bitter salt, the Pak Interior Minister Rehman Malik claimed that India is funding Taliban fighters to cause unrest in Pakistan. And to add in the guffaws Pakistan set free Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. What can we do? The least India could have is a conceived and conceptualised security architecture. Thankfully the Indian armed forces have embarked on their 'modernisation drive' and will benefit from the emerging technologies like the IT sector.
A top brass military man stated today: "US has not allowed a second 9/11 to happen, Indonesia has not allowed a second Bali-bombing to happen. India has allowed people to get away after the Parliament attack, Delhi blasts and finally the 26/11 incident. The time for all of us has come to say no more." I wholeheartedly agree with Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor. Enough is Enough.

Save the Economy by buying Windows 7!

2009-11-05T10:08:00.002+05:30

In a bizarre new marketing strategy, software giant Microsoft has claimed that if everyone buys their new Windows 7 operating system, the global economic slowdown nwill finally end.
The news first appeared in the tabloid 'Boston Globe'which paid money to beancounters at IDC to conduct a study of the ripple effect of the Windows 7 launch. According to the study, American companies could hire an estimated 25,000 additional workers to cope with the Windows 7 launch, including about 2,500 new jobs in Greater Boston, through the end of 2010. "There is a bounce effect based on the introduction of Windows 7," said Amie White, vice president for global research at IDC.
Moreover, Microsoft stated that both software and hardware firms will make an extra $110 billion if they sell Windows 7 related products and services in the remainder of 2009 and the whole of 2010. The companies will invest close to $41 billion to develop, sell, and support new products for Windows 7 users, a move which will effectively boost the economy. Will Windows 7 be the savior of Microsoft and the world? Vista was after all a bomb. Vista "just disappointed everybody," said IDC’s chief research officer, Frank Gantz. "There were a lot that were turned off." However, Gantz believes IDC’s estimates for Windows 7 are on firmer ground, because early reviews of the new software have been overwhelmingly favorable. “That gives us faith that we haven’t been sabotaged by a product that didn’t live up to expectations,’’ Gantz said.
It was also announced today that Microsoft will release Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 shortly. If all goes as scheduled, we could see the first public beta of Windows 7 SP1 during CES 2010.Windows 7 Service Pack 1 RTM is scheduled to be released in mid 2010, likely around the end of Q2 or early Q3. Interesting news indeed, considering Windows 7 is just 14 days old.

Goodbye, Nokia N-Gage

2009-11-04T09:30:00.001+05:30

Nokia has announced that it will kill off its popular N-Gage games service in 2010, no new N-Gage games will be released and existing games will be available for sale till September 2010.
The N-Gage community website will also expire at the end of 2009. However, that doesn't actually mean that Nokia will pull out of the mobile gaming space altogether, as the Finnish mobile giant plans to release games via Ovi Store. Only trouble is, Nokia's Ovi Store isn't doing too well either, at least not when you compare it to Apple's app store. N-Gage also had trouble finding market share when it launched back in 2003.
"It's much more convenient to have one place to get all your mobile games, and this it what Ovi Store provides," said Nokia on the N-Gage blog. "Mobile gaming is one of the most popular activities in the Ovi Store, with games being the second most downloaded category for premium content." Did Nokia pull the plug on N-Gage because of its less than spectacular 2009? The company reported a loss of 1,377,023,154 USD ($1.3 billion) between July and September 2009. To add fuel to the fire, Nokia had made a profit of the same amount last year during the same period.
There are fifty-eight full game titles available for N-Gage. On the bright side the hideous N-Gage phones will disappear. The taco-shaped design of the handset was clumsy, to insert a game, users had to remove the phone's plastic cover and remove the battery compartment as the game slot was next to it. Another clumsy feature was the speaker and microphone being located on the side edge of the phone. This often resulted in many to describe it as if one was talking into a "taco phone" or "Sidetalking", or simply that they had one very large ear, because the user held the edge of the phone against the cheek in order to talk into it.
Despite the criticism, it is thought that the speakers were there for a practical reason: if placed elsewhere, the screen would get in contact with the cheek and become smudged. However, almost all other cell phones have the screen against the cheek when the user is talking. Despite the questionable practicality, gamers were still unwilling to talk in such an awkward manner.

World''s first person undergoes heart op using radiation

2009-11-03T15:54:00.002+05:30

A 67-year-old British man has undergone a successful heart surgery using the revolutionary Cyberknife technology for the first time ever.
Michael Kilby, who comes from Moreton in Marsh, Glouchestershire, was told by doctors that he wouldn''t live beyond Christmas this year, until he agreed to give radiation surgery a chance.
The businessman''s death was a surety because of the tumor, larger than a golf ball, found inside the right chamber of his heart.
However, radiation scalpel, called the Cyberknife, became Kilby''s lifesaver.
The highly focused radiation, like a ''scalpel,'' was used to cut away the tumour inside his beating heart. The radiation beams were controlled by a robotic with an accuracy of one millimetre arm attack the tumour.
Also pieces of gold were aligned to Kilby''s heart for protection.
The operation has been called successful as the tumour has already shrunk by 40 per cent and is expected to shrink further over the next three to four weeks.
"My options were to give the Cyberknife a go or I was going to die by Christmas. I talked to my wife and the children who said they did not want any inheritance so we went for it," the Telegraph quoted Kilby as saying.
He added: "I was treated for five days with each session lasting for about an hour and a half. You cannot feel anything at all, its just like radiotherapy.
"Before the Cyberknife I couldn''t speak in long sentences because I would get out breath, but now I can walk a few holes of the golf course."
Dr John Coltart, consultant cardiologist at the Harley Street Clinic, in London, said: "Three months ago his prognosis was terrible, now he may live for a good while yet.
"No one had ever done this before, it was a bit of innovative thinking to give this gentleman a chance. All our expectations have been realised."
Kilby had previously undergone conventional surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which were all unfruitful. (ANI)

New IIT commitee for incentive scheme for Faculty

2009-11-03T15:46:00.002+05:30

The IITs have set up a committee to evolve a performance-related incentive scheme (PRIS) to encourage well-performing teachers by giving them special incentives as available to ISRO scientists.
The committee, headed by IIT Madras Director Prof M S Ananth, comprises six members, including two from the IIT Faculty Federation. It is expected to submit its report by December 15, an IIT Director said.
The committee will study the existing PRIS in Indian Space Research Organisation where the scientists are rewarded with 20 to 50 per cent of their basic salaryper month as incentive for their performance at organisation, department and individual levels.
"We hope the committee to submit its report before December 15. It will take into account the performance of teachers in terms of research work and publications and suggest a suitable incentive scheme," the director said.
The IITs have also set up a separate committee to suggest criteria for promotion of professor to senior grade. This committee comprises of deputy directors of four IITs besides representatives from the faculty.
The recommendation of this committee will form the basis on which a professor will move from Rs 10,500 academic grade pay to Rs 12,000 academic grade pay.
The IIT Faculty Federation, which accepted the new pay structure from this month, has expressed displeasure over certain provisions in the package. It has opposed the 40 per cent cap on promotion of professors to the senior grade.
The federation met Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal last month who had assured them that the norms could be relaxed for exceptional cases and that the government would start the PRIS to encourage teachers who are performing well.
Sibal had asked the IIT directors to prepare the details of PRIS.
The IIT faculty has been saying that the provision for contractual appointment at entry level will not attract young people to join the faculty.
The PRIS scheme is expected to attract young talents to the IITs. (ANI)

Pre-paid mobile connections banned in J&K

2009-10-31T08:19:00.001+05:30

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!

2009-10-30T16:10:00.002+05:30

(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

2009-10-30T16:07:00.001+05:30

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

2009-10-30T13:11:00.000+05:30

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

2009-10-28T11:49:00.000+05:30

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

2009-10-27T10:25:00.001+05:30

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

2009-10-27T10:06:00.000+05:30

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

2009-10-14T14:55:00.002+05:30

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

2009-10-14T14:48:00.000+05:30

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

2009-10-12T10:42:00.000+05:30

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%

2009-10-10T16:13:00.000+05:30

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

2009-10-08T10:04:00.001+05:30

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

2009-10-08T09:56:00.001+05:30

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

2009-10-07T11:35:00.001+05:30

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.

Nissan's Infiniti brand may debut in India

2009-09-29T14:56:00.000+05:30

Mumbai: Affluent Indian automobile buyers may get another brand to choose from. Nissan, Japan’s third largest car maker, is looking at the possibility of launching Infiniti, a luxury brand owned by it, in India.Known for its luxurious features and power-packed driving characteristics, Infiniti is a premium brand which competes with benchmark ones globally such as Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi and Accura.
Kiminobu Tokuyama, managing director and CEO, Nissan Motor India, told Business Standard, "We have got a global Infiniti business unit, which is a separate unit from Nissan Motor Company. They have been studying all the opportunities and I am sure they will start studying the Indian market, as it is the best potential market in the world."
Nissan has been pushing for expansion of the Infiniti brand into newer markets across the globe -- Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine, China and Western Europe over the years. The brand is popular in the very developed automotive markets of the US and Canada.

10 fight commandments for a healthy heart

2009-09-27T11:31:00.002+05:30

"Lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart ailments are the most obvious by-products of busy schedules and sedentary lifestyles, akin to most of us today."

In such a scenario, even the tiniest positive change in lifestyle can give you a healthy and disease-free life.
Dr Tapan Ghosh, consultant cardiology, Fortis Hospital says, "Rather than treating the heart ailment once you have had an attack, our aim should be ‘prevention’. And preventing heart diseases is possible only when we target the ‘pre-hypertension’ and ‘pre-diabetes’ state.” So, this World heart Day, we bring you the 10 commandments to fight heart ailments: Monitor your blood pressure: Keep your BP close to 100.
Normal range: Systolic - <120,> 140, Diastolic > 90 (Need immediate treatment) By controlling your blood pressure in the ‘pre-hypertension stage’ one can prevent the coronary diseases.
Monitor your body weight: Obesity is directly linked with hypertension, diabetes and heart ailments. So, by keeping a tab on your weight, one can ward of the risk of all the three ailments. So to calculate your ideal body weight find your BMI, which should be less than 25.
The formula for calculating BMI: Weight in Kgs/Height in sq mts. Don’t smoke: Both active and passive smoking puts you at equal risk of a heart disease. So, quit smoking as it is the first step towards good health.
Exercise: Apple body configuration, where middle of the body is more heavy is common among Indians. To get rid of that fat together with keeping your heart in good shape, you need at least 45-60 minutes of exercise on a daily basis. Make sure most of your exercises are ‘isotonic', which include aerobics, swimming, jogging, etc., rather than focused on lifting weights. Check cholesterol: Get a regular check-up done. Good cholesterol level should be > 40, while bad cholesterol should be <100. Make sure that your diet contains just 1% of Trans fatty acids. An easy way to cut the Trans fatty acids is not using the ‘fried-oil’ (oil in which you have already fried something) repeatedly. Only Olive oil can be refried.
Check your diabetes: As said diabetes has a direct impact of your heart’s health. So, to keep your heart healthy, keep a check on your blood sugar.
Normal level of sugar in blood before your meal is between 70 and 110 mg/dl. After food, level will rise in between 100 to 125 mg/dl. Anything more than 100 and 125 before meals and post meals respectively is not diabetes, but ‘Impaired diabetes’, which shows that you are at an increased risk of diabetes. So, this is the time one should start taking precautions to avoid further effects. Veggie delight: Include green leafy vegetables and fruits in you diet. At least 450 gms-600 gms of fruits are a must in your everyday diet. Also, coloured fruits and vegetables are very good for the heart as they contain antioxidants, which prevent oxidation damage to the heart. So, the more coloured is a fruit/veggie, better it is for the heart.
No extra salt: make sure you avoid taking table salt or extra salt in the prepared food as it adds to the risk of BP.
Avoid stress : Stress of any kind is bad. It affects your cardiovascular system in several ways beginning from increasing your heart rate, followed by a speeding up of blood pressure. Also, the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream for energy increases cholesterol and triglyceride levels. So, try and keep the stress monitor at bay. It’s tough, but not impossible!
Be happy! This is the least that you can do to keep your heart healthy. Researches have confirmed that laughter is the best medicine for your heart. So, we may try to incorporate laughter into our daily activities, just as we do with other heart-healthy activities, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator. How about reading something humorous or watch a funny video and try to find ways to take ourselves less seriously?

RIL, NTPC sign gas supply deals for three units

2009-09-26T09:49:00.000+05:30

The deal is for supply of 0.61 mmscmd of gas

RIL today said it had signed a natural gas sales pact with the country's largest power producer, NTPC Ltd. to supply 0.61 million cubic meters a day of gas.
RIL executed gas sale and purchase agreements (GSPAs) with NTPCfor supply of gas from the KG-D6 block to the power plants of NTPC in Anta, Dadri and faridabad , a company spokerperson said. supply of gas to NTPC is expected to commence within a week, he added.
The volume of gas under these GSPAs is 0.61 mmscmd, which will be initially supplied only to the power plant in Anta in UP, due to capacity constraint in GAIL's pipeline, he said.The quantities and price of $4.2 per milion British thermal units under the GSPAs signed for five years are as approved by the govt.
In april the govt had allocated 2.67mmscmd of D6 gas at $4.2 per mBtu for NTPC's plants in faridabad, dadri anta, kawas and gandhar.however, NTPC had convyed to RIL that it will not discuss the ,GSPA's for kawas and gandhar plants in gujarat, as it is involved in litigation with RIL for gas supplies to the proposed expansion projects of two stations.

Q&A: 'India needs to develop offshore wind farms'

2009-09-25T09:12:00.000+05:30

Steve Sawyer , secretary general, Global Wind Energy Council, was in Delhi recently to release a report on the Indian Wind Energy Outlook

for 2009. He tells Narayani Ganesh that at least one quarter of India's energy requirements could be met with wind power by 2030: Is it realistic to say that by 2030, 25 per cent of India's energy requirements would be met by wind power? That's the projection the Indian Wind Energy Outlook 2009 report makes in its presentation of an advanced scenario, on the premise that by then, there would be opportunities to tap the country's full potential for wind generated electricity. This does not include future potential of similar power generated from offshore wind farms, something that holds great promise considering that India has a 7,000 km coastline. India has the technology; in fact it is among the leaders and the technology is still evolving. All of the major manufacturers of wind equipment have operations in India. In order to reach full potential it would be necessary to develop offshore technology since along the coast winds are steady and in some places concentration of resources is close to load centres in metros. India ranks fifth in total installed capacity with 9,645 MW of wind power installed at the end of 2008. Won't high capital costs hike per unit cost to consumer? With wind, it's a one-time capital cost and almost all costs are capital costs whereas with conventional power plants, it is ongoing. Once a wind farm is set up, there are no further capital costs like buying fuel as in other power plants that have to source coal, gas etc whose costs too vary from one time to the next. In due course it is hoped that wind farm capital costs too will get reduced but first, private financiers have to get convinced. Around five billion tonnes of CO2 emissions would be reduced cumulatively from now to 2030 that is, amounting to 500-plus million tonnes per year. This is not to do with current emissions; only the projected ones. In climate change negotiations it is important to show that there is huge mitigation potential in India and China but the question is, who will pay for that? What more policy initiatives are required? Right now solar energy is four times costlier than wind energy. But certainly it is a good investment, since it generates power as well as employment opportunities. Earlier, Germany's wind energy industry was driven by environmental concerns; now it is driven by the business of creating a large number of jobs. In India, presently 15,000 people are employed directly in the wind industry and 75,000 indirectly. The key is not to look at technology in isolation but to see it in the light of energy security, and its potential for employment, export, emissions reduction potential and saving water. Thermal power stations consume hundreds of millions of gallons of water per day. Wind energy consumes no water.

Why Maharashtra is going back into the 18th century

2009-09-24T15:25:00.002+05:30

No state, barring Uttar Pradesh elects more MPs to the Lok Sabha than does Maharashtra. It is part of the industrial heartland of India, and Mumbai is undoubtedly the country's financial and commercial headquarters. Yet there is little or no excitement in the air though the last date for filing nominations to the Vidhan Sabha is Friday, September 25.This is more than a little weird. Despite its size, population, and resources, Maharashtra is not particularly well governed. The state has the unhappy distinction of having the largest number of farmer suicides, leaving Andhra Pradesh in its dust. Food production has been falling steadily for two years -- and we don't yet have the figures for the current drought year.So much for rural Maharashtra, what of the cities? The grim fact is that in the past two years twenty lakh (two million) workers have lost their jobs -- and those are just the statistics that the state government itself has disclosed. Yet desperate Indians from elsewhere in the country continue to pour into the state. How is Maharashtra going to cope with all those hungry mouths?Yet nobody -- in any party -- seems interested in debating such questions. But why should they? Apathy reigns supreme in a majority that lives from day to day, and educated professionals appear happier to withdraw just a bit farther from politics each day. The middle class came out in numbers to wave candles and play guitars at the Gateway of India immediately after the November 26 attacks, yet fewer than half of them came to vote in the general election six months later.The controversy over the proposed statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the sea off Mumbai is a classic instance of how the middle class proposes to handle things. It wants to sign petitions, perhaps even appeal to the courts, but nobody wants to take on the politicians in the political arena.With the poor apathetic and the middle class unconcerned, the political class is free to do pretty much what it wants. And what it desires, judging by the evidence, is to take Maharashtra back into the eighteenth century. That, as you may remember, was when feuding chieftains rated their petty dynastic concerns higher than those of the state, leave alone the nation.The Bharatiya Janata Party is quick enough to mock the ruling coalition for 'dynastic' politics. That is true enough of course. The sitting chief minister, Ashok Chavan , is the son of a former Congress chief minister. And the current Congress candidate for the Amravati assembly seat, Rajendra Shekhawat, is the son of the President of India.As for its coalition partner, the Nationalist Congress Party, Maharashtra's Water Resources Minister, Ajit Pawar, is the nephew of NCP boss Sharad Pawar . The family patriarch's daughter, Supriya Sule, already sits in the Lok Sabha. This list could go on, but you get the general picture.But is the BJP any better? One joke doing the rounds in Maharashtra has it that the 'BJP' stands for 'Bachha Janata Party'. That is thanks to the manner in which Gopinath Munde has been distributing tickets to the children in the family.The BJP is contesting 119 seats. (The Shiv Sena -- which has its own dynastic problems -- is fighting the other 169.) Three -- possibly four -- of the BJP candidates are related to the senior BJP leader.Pankaja Munde Palave, Gopinath Munde's daughter, is the party candidate from Parli.Pankaja's cousin, Poonam Mahajan Rao, has the party ticket for Ghatkopar (West). Poonam's father was the late BJP leader, Pramod Mahajan ; Gopinath Munde's wife, Pradnya, was Pramod Mahajan's younger sister.Madhusudan Kendre, son-in-law of Gopinath Munde's older brother, Pandit Anna Munde, is the BJP candidate from Gangakhed.That adds up to three tickets for a single, closely-knit family -- possibly four if the rumours are true that the ticket for Renapur shall fall to Gopinath Munde's nephew, Dhananjay.This by the way is not the first time that the last named man has made the news. In 2002 media reports revealed that petrol pump allotments had been made thanks to political wire-pulling; Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ordered these cancelled. One of the beneficiaries was Dhananjay Munde, who was given a petrol pump in Shirur, in Beed district.The BJP can talk as much as it likes about the 'dynastic politics' practised by the Congress; in Maharashtra at any rate it has lost the moral high ground. (Actually, it might be more accurate to say that it has jumped off the high ground!)What happens if a voter doesn't want to cast a ballot for either the Congress-NCP or the BJP-Shiv Sena? Technically, there is something called the 'Republican Left Democratic Front' but it seems to be a non-starter. It consists of the CPI-M , the CPI, the Peasants & Workers Party, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas Paswan ), the Samajwadi Party, and no fewer than fifteen factions of the Republican Party.(Keralites who think the Kerala Congress is riven by factionalism should just take a look at the Republican Party of India! The only faction that has refused to join the grand reunion of the Republican Party is the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangha -- led by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of the late great Dr B R Ambedkar.)I am not quite sure how many parties there are in this coalition given all the factions and sub-factions. But does it matter? The parties announced their decision to form a coalition in the last days of August; they started squabbling in the second week of September, just one day after releasing their joint manifesto.Family and faction proved the bane of the great Maratha confederacy in the eighteenth century. Given its size and wealth in human resources, the state should be setting the pace for twenty-first century India; instead it is falling behind every day -- and its leaders apparently could not care less.I have no idea which coalition -- if any -- shall form the next ministry in Mumbai come October. But does it make a difference? They all seem equally unconcerned with governance.

our gas price is fair, our costs are competitive

2009-09-23T23:32:00.002+05:30

"I am sure minister of petroleum and natural gas murli deora is known to both the brothers equally. A friendly minister does not mean that he is going to favour us. If that is the perception,I would wish that there was a different minister, because..... things would have moved faster"

PMS PRASAD
RIL Director

Recession: Signs of recovery

2009-09-21T21:06:00.000+05:30

Around the world, signs of bust turning to boomA year after Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in US corporate history, Richard Pattinson visits key business centres to find how they’re coping with the fallout.
Signs of recovery: US data gives world markets hopeStock markets across the globe moved up on Wednesday, in most cases to their highest levels in 2009, a sure sign that people are willing to bet real money on the green shoots of economic recovery.
Mid-size IT companies to ring in pay hikesAfter Wipro lifted freeze on promotions and hikes, mid-sized technology firms like MphasiS-EDS, Sonata Software and Symphony Services are also planning to increase salaries and give bonus.
US recession 'very likely over': Federal Reserve chairmanBen Bernanke said on Tuesday the worst recession since the 1930s is probably over, although he cautioned that pain - especially for the nearly 15 million unemployed Americans - will persist.
World wealth down 11.7%, fewer millionaires: ReportThe 2008 global recession caused the first worldwide contraction in assets under management in nearly a decade, according to a study that found wealth dropped 11.7% to $92.4 trillion.

aspire to retire

2009-09-20T14:04:00.002+05:30

sujit ganguli, senior vice president and head (marketing), ICICI Prudential life, says;"Instead of continuing to talk only about how people should plan for retirement, we wanted to make them feel excited about the planning process."

Amer jaleel, executive director of Lowe India, the agency which came up with the ad, thinks the campaign will bust the cliche of reminding people to plan for retirement."The idea of relaxation has changed.They would rather see themselves in some occupation or the other.Retirement is being regarded as a second carrer,"he says.
The insurer and the agency tested their idea among focus groups and claim it resonated overwhelmingly across all sections of the audience.

proposed education body gets PM's support

2009-09-19T19:50:00.000+05:30

The commission would create an envionment in academic institutions that would encourage young people to take up academia as a career.

‘Rekha was ego trip for Amitabh’

2009-09-16T09:50:00.000+05:30

Susmita Dasgupta finds Amitabh Bachchan an interesting subject to study. Here, she decodes the superstar, the subject of her PhD and a book

Amitabh Bachchan More Pics
Is there an Amitabh ‘before’ and ‘after’ ABCL? There is definitely a before and after ABCL Amitabh. The ABCL tragedy, like all stupendous failures have split Amitabh into a before and after image. The trauma of having failed appears to have drastically changed the person whose image was that of the invincible. What is Amitabh, the husband, like? As I could observe, and at that point of time I was nearly 20 years younger, that Amitabh and Jaya were ideologically apart. For Jaya, there was a distress about why Amitabh did the films that he did. Jaya would have loved it were Amitabh to remain in the Hrishikesh Mukherjee camp and graduated later to Satyajit Ray (Manik Kaku for her; Jaya is exceptionally well-connected). But Amitabh went into rather "cheap stuff" with which she was not comfortable. To the best of my mind, this was the basic reason for a kind of stand-off. Jaya and Amitabh were dutifully husband and wife but I felt that the romance in the marriage was lacking. Also Jaya is a ‘Bong’ woman, the oldest among three sisters, and most probably the brightest, daughter to a doting father and that too an important one. She is Bhaduri, an upper caste Barendri Brahmin, who are very proud people. But slowly as Amitabh got involved in his career, he himself became the centre of all attention which was very difficult for Jaya to swallow. After all, at the time of their marriage she was the star and he the also-ran. The change in the power position within the marriage as Amitabh became successful also changed the soft, intense and emotional romance which Jaya and Amitabh had. How is the superstar with his kids? Is his rapport different with Abhishek and Shweta? With his children, Amitabh is doting, pampering, blind with affection and only pretending to be firm, but very interested to be a part of their lives and eager to go to any lengths for their well-being. The daughter is interesting, I am not so sure that she feels the same way towards her parents as they feel towards her. I get this strange feeling that Shweta is seeking to move out of her parents’ very doting shadow and that marriage helped her have some independence that her extra protective parents robbed her of. Abhishek loves and would love to continue to be under the parents’ protection. What about the Rekha episode? Is there reason to believe the affair happened, despite Amitabh’s denials? Yes, it is a matter of great speculation for me as well. I always sided with Amitabh when he denied all on Rekha. But, only recently, I saw this television footage in which Amitabh suddenly got up and moved away as Rekha came near where he was seated. This makes me believe that yes, they did have an affair. The sudden getting up and moving away was a giveaway. It was almost a pose of fleeing from Rekha... why would a man want to do that if he is not guilty of something? I believe Amitabh knew from day one that he wasn’t serious about Rekha. Also, he’s very, very class conscious... Rekha was perhaps an ego trip. How do you think Abhishek fares, being Amitabh and Jaya's son, and now Aishwarya’s husband? Abhishek reminds me of Prince Salim and he has the Prince Salim syndrome. In today’s world, Abhishek’s appeal lies in a certain sense of being chaperoned, someone who seeks and has security and, on the basis of an assured lifestyle, can afford to be nice to one and all. Just as Amitabh’s image crashed with failure, Abhishek's image can crash if the shadows of persons chaperoning him are taken away. The image contains the shadows of the biggies that he nests among. Was he behind Abhishek joining films? Yes, he was totally behind Abhishek's joining films and if I were to have my opinion, then to push him to cinema. That’s why I say that Abhishek is prince Salim, the reluctant heir of Akbar when his heart was away in Venice, Rome and even Spain. Amitabh is projected today as the loyal friend... what drives his friendships with the Anil Ambani and Amar Singh? I feel that Amitabh has never been a loyal friend. Loyalty has never been his characteristic trait. Anwar Ali and Amjad Khan are at least two who Amitabh never even acknowledged. I have seen him rather stand-offish with Javed, Salim, Prakash Mehra, the persons who made him. Amitabh never attended Hrishida’s funeral. He refuses to acknowledge Desh Mukherjee or Tinnu Anand. So, he looks for friends as far as he has something to gain from them. The Amar Singh episode is strange. He must be really gaining something out of Anil Ambani and Amar Singh and that “gain” has some connection with the “loss” in terms of money. Why do you think he is still working? Is it insecurity, to consolidate a space for Abhishek or love of acting? Amitabh is still working, yes, what you suggest to consolidate Abhishek’s career, but to the best of my understanding, Amitabh is Bhishma, he wishes to prove that he is immortal as a star. I think that Amitabh is seeking immortality by constantly reinventing his image to suit each new age that he lives in.

Excise duty mop-up soars 22.5% in August

2009-09-16T09:45:00.001+05:30

NEW DELHI: In the clearest indication so far that the much-talked-about green shoots aren’t an optical illusion, excise tax collections in August

were up 22.5% over the previous month, though still a touch lower than the figure for August 2008. Given the fact that excise duties reflect what’s happening to all kinds of manufactured goods, this is arguably a more broad-based indicator of industry recovering than the index of industrial production (IIP). Sources told TOI that central excise duty collections in August were Rs 8,979 crore, about 8.8% below the Rs 9,846 crore collected in the same month last year. What makes that good news is the fact that July collections of Rs 7,332 crore this year were 28.5% lower than last July’s mop up of Rs 10,255 crore. With the much improved showing in August, the government is now hopeful of meeting the target of Rs 2.7 lakh crore set for indirect taxes in the Budget for 2009-10. There is some bad news for industry though. A senior official from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said if the upward trend continues for another couple of months, the government may reconsider the tax concessions it had extended in the second half of the last fiscal. The government has been keen on reverting to the path of fiscal consolidation at the earliest, but has so far been cautious of the fact that this should not hamper industrial recovery. Last week, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said on the sidelines of a meeting of the chief commissioners and director generals of CBEC that the huge shortfall in July as compared to the previous year had been due to the overall slowdown of the economy and the effect of stimulus measures through reduction of excise duty rates. The finance minister had nevertheless expressed optimism that the indirect tax target was very much within reach as the trends were indicative of a rebound by the third quarter. The tax base of indirect taxes has grown steadily and as a share of GDP has gone up from 9.2% in 2003-04 to 12.6% in 2007-08.

She’s 107, wants to marry 23rd time

2009-09-15T09:22:00.000+05:30

KUALA LUMPUR: Mek Wok Kundor, a 107-year- old Malaysian is in search for her 23rd husband after feeling insecure with her current one , a local daily reported here on Monday. The Star said Mek, better known as Tok Wook, was afraid that her husband might leave her to marry a younger woman.
She married Mohd Noor Che Musa, 37, in 2005. The marriage drew massive public attention owing to the large age gap. Mohd Noor, a drug addict, is currently undergoing a drug rehabilitation programme here, leaving her alone at Kuala Berang in the state of Terengganu.
She Tok Wook was quoted as saying that she would visit him if her neighbours were willing to drive her over .
She said although she was feeling insecure, she said she would wait for him without thinking of another marriage if he reciprocated. She also said she was not searching for a handsome man but for someone who could be her companion in her remaining years. — Xinhua

Annadurai’s historic rise to fame

2009-09-15T09:18:00.000+05:30

The fourth general elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies in 1967 caused a political earthquake in the country. The Congress, the ruling party at the Centre and in States, came in for a rude shock. Though it managed to retain control of the Lok Sabha, its majority was very thin. In eight States including Tamil Nadu, the Congress’ monopoly of power was broken. In Tamil Nadu, since that election, the Congress has not been able to capture power again. The man who was chiefly responsible for this historic event was C.N. Annadurai (1909-1969), founder of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and one of the beloved leaders of the State.
One can attribute a number of factors — rice shortage caused by the back-to-back drought spells of 1965 and 1966, arithmetic factor of political alliance, attempt on one of DMK’s popular icons M.G. Ramachandran and the anti-Hindi agitation — to the dramatic victory of the DMK. But Anna, as Annadurai was and is still called by his political followers, was the central figure in this triumph. He had remained focussed in achieving his political goal ever since he launched the DMK in 1949. And, his emergence as a principal leader in the State laid the foundation for the growth of regional parties in the State.
Born in a simple weaver family, CNA, as Annadurai is also known, had endured several deprivations in his early years. Much later, when he became a playwright, a writer and a political and social commentator, his speeches and writings had one common thread – problems of the underprivileged. It was perhaps this factor that forced him to make an electoral promise in 1967 – three measures (approximately 4.5 kg) of rice at Re. 1. Though dubbed by his political opponents as unrealistic even then, the idea caught the imagination of the people. It is no wonder that the DMK, led by M. Karunanidhi, CNA’s prominent follower, returned to power in 2006, making rice at Re. 2 a kg as one of its important electoral commitments. The DMK regime not only fulfilled its promise but also went one step further – providing rice at Re.1 a kg from September 2008 in connection with the inauguration of CNA’s centenary celebration.
After completing his studies in 1934, Annadurai was drawn to E.V. Ramasamy (EVR) or Periyar (1879-1973), who was, by then, an important leader of the Justice Party and also carrying on the anti-caste, anti-religion Self Respect Movement. In no time, he had become Periyar’s chief lieutenant. He came to be noticed during the anti-Hindi agitation held in 1938. Six years later, CNA was instrumental in the creation of the Dravidar Kazhagam, breaking ranks from the Justice Party. Soon, the differences between CNA and his “political guru” EVR came to the fore on a host of issues. In 1947, when the country attained Independence, EVR called it a black day but Annadurai described the Independence Day as a day of deliverance from the British Raj. The democratisation of leadership within the DK was another issue. When the 70-year-old EVR married Maniyammai, who was about 40 years younger to him, in July 1949, CNA left the DK and formed the DMK two months later.
In political ideology, the DMK did not differ much from the DK. The establishment of independent Dravida Nadu, which implied secession of four southern States from the rest of the country, was at the core of the DMK’s objectives, even as the party declared its commitment to democracy and socialism. But, after the India-China conflict in 1962 and the anti-secession legislation was mooted, the party gave up its demand for separation as, CNA said, the supreme task of all was to mobilise the country’s efforts “for the successful prosecution of the war against the Chinese aggression.” From then onwards, the party has been demanding for a federal set-up in the country, greater autonomy for States and less powers for the Central government. The social reform for the elimination of caste has been its ideal.

India, Hong Kong ink crime probe pact

2009-09-15T09:16:00.000+05:30

NEW DELHI: India signed the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement on criminal matters with Hong Kong on Monday to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies of both sides in investigation and prosecution of crimes. It was signed here by Minister of State for Home Mullappally Ramachandran and Ambrose Lee, secretary for security, on behalf of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the People’s Republic of China. The agreement will come into force a month after both sides notify each other that their requirements have been complied with. — PTI

Pakistan asks India to share “actionable” intelligence

2009-09-15T09:07:00.000+05:30

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, once again, reminded India on Monday of the agreement at Sharm-el-Sheikh to share “actionable” intelligence to prevent future terrorist attacks, and urged re-activation of the joint anti-terror mechanism and composite dialogue for “pragmatic co-operation” in dealing with terrorism.
The reminder came after remarks by Home Minister P. Chidambaram about the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed planning possible terror strikes against India.
“We have repeatedly requested the Indian government to share with us, whatever information it has in this regard,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
“Sharing of real time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threats was deemed essential by the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India at the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit.”
Pakistan also flagged that, at the summit, the Prime Ministers had agreed that terrorism threatened both countries.., and “affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and cooperate with each other to this end.”

Analysts' corner

2009-09-14T10:41:00.000+05:30

State Bank of IndiaReco Price: Rs 1,813Current market price: Rs 1,918Target price: Rs 2,109Upside: 10%Brokerage: Daiwa SecuritiesThe broking house believes that one of State Bank of India’s (SBI) biggest advantages is the high interest spread on its bond portfolio. The incremental cost of funds for SBI has fallen by almost 210 bps over the past nine months, whereas the incremental yield on its government-bond portfolio has remained more or less the same. Currently, if SBI buys a 10-year government bond, then it is making an incremental interest spread of 200-250 bps, compared with a negative interest spread six months ago and a positive spread of around 10 bps nine months back.

SBI moved almost Rs 35,000 crore of short-term cash to statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) securities in 1Q FY10, and this is likely to have a positive impact and reflect in the NIM in the latter half of FY10. The re-pricing of high-cost deposits in November-December 2009 would also give the NIM a further boost. SBI has underperformed both the broader and Nifty banking indices over the past six months, but this trend will reverse over the next six months. The six-month target price is revised to Rs 2,109 from Rs 1,043, based on a target PBR of 1.5x on FY10 consolidated BVPS forecast and adding Rs160 per share for the life-insurance venture.

Amtek AutoReco Price: Rs 183Current market price: Rs 183.85Target price: Rs 254Upside: 38%Brokerage: Anand Rathi

The research house expects Amtek Auto to benefit from the relatively strong growth in automobile demand at home and the nascent recovery globally. Its amalgamation with five group companies would lead to integrated operations and greater efficiencies. Domestic auto demand has rebounded, and overseas markets, too, are showing signs of improvement. Amtek has a significant presence in the overseas markets through subsidiaries, which would boost revenue from its subsidiaries as well its joint ventures with leading global suppliers such as Magna and ARI. Given the secular growth in demand ahead, Amtek (ex-merger impact) to register a robust 50 per cent CAGR in earnings over FY09-12.

Amtek is amalgamating five group companies with itself, bringing all the forgings and castings units under the ‘Amtek Auto’ umbrella. This is expected to lead to better integration of operations, clearer efficiencies in sourcing and negotiations, and greater transparency in operations. Amtek Auto is valued at 15x FY11e earnings, which is a 25 per cent discount to the target PE multiple for Bharat Forge. The target price is Rs 254 (without considering the impact of its amalgamation with four other group entities).

Hindustan UnileverReco Price: Rs 273Current market price: Rs 255.95Target price: Rs 304Upside: 18.7%Brokerage: IIFL

Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) top management is pursuing volume growth and this is now visible in every brand in its portfolio. HUL is re-launching earlier de-focussed soap brands Liril, Hamam, Rexona and Breeze to regain share from regional players in specific geographies. The company has reintroduced key price points of Rs 10 and Rs 5 toothpastes and soap brand Lifebuoy.

With competition (GPCL, Wipro and Ghari) not reacting to price cuts in HUL’s discount brands, prospects of a recovery have improved. Channel checks suggest that the new re-launches/price points/price cuts have been well received in trade, though it is too early to judge consumer offtake at this stage. HUL has lost the maximum ground over the past 15 months in soaps, with its market share dropping by over 650 bps from 53 per cent to just over 46 per cent. Its old brands are being re-focussed after 2-3 years to take on competitors such as Godrej No 1 and Santoor, which have specific regions of strength.

Lanco InfratechReco Price: Rs 420Current market price: Rs 422Target price: NABrokerage: Edelweiss Securities

Lanco Infratech (LITL) currently has over 7,195 MW of new generation capacity under various stages of execution. Over half of this is already under construction and the balance has secured offtake agreements and fuel linkages and is likely to attain financial closure over the next 12 months. Post-commercialisation of RIL’s KG gas basin, Lanco has been receiving 1.6-1.65 mmscmd of gas, enabling its 368 MW Kondapalli power plant stage 1 to operate at 94 per cent PLF. The 366 MW second stage of the plant is expected to be operational in September/October.

The company has indicated that it will finalise plans to expand the capacity by about 750 MW (phase III & IV) at the same location. It also said that the proximity to Krishna river and anticipated higher KG basin output will alleviate water and gas issues. The research house has assumed earnings of Rs 71.7 crore from this plant in its FY10 estimates assuming merchant tariff and sale of about 610 million units. If LITL is able to operationalise the plant, sourcefuel, and execute merchant sales for the entire capacity, then there could be upside risks to earnings forecasts. At recommended price of Rs 420, the stock is trading at 2.8x FY10E and 2.2x FY11E book value.

Tata SteelReco Price: Rs 441Current market price: Rs 469Target price: Rs 540Upside: 15%Brokerage: Deutsche Bank

The stock has been upgraded to buy based on three factors. The first is the view that the worst is over for Corus and that each quarter at Corus should be incrementally better, following the record negative EBITDA of $387 million in June quarter FY10. The second is a 132 per cent CAGR in consolidated EPS over FY10-12E, and finally an attractive valuation – the stock currently trades at a FY11E EV/EBITDA of 4.9x, an 18 per cent discount to the average valuation of its global peers. Worries over long-drawn earnings uncertainty at Corus have been a key stock overhang since late last year.

Nascent recovery in steel consumption in Europe, a rising capacity utilisation rate and a decline in coking coal prices should drive an EBITDA turnaround at Corus. We forecast Corus EBITDA to rise at a CAGR of 260 per cent over FY10-12. Tata Steel’s India operations (among the most competitive in the world) look set to benefit impressively from aggressive organic growth. EBITDA at Indian operations is likely to rise at 21 per cent CAGR over our forecast period. Increasing production in India should result in Indian operations constituting an overwhelming 67 per cent of consolidated EBITDA by FY12 from 46 per cent in FY08 when Corus was acquired.

news

2009-09-14T10:24:00.001+05:30

Jet Airways to sell shares to institutions

Indian carrier Jet Airways said on Sunday it plans to raise capital through the sale of shares to institutions within the next 2-3 months.

Jet offers 50% discount for 3 days

et Airways, just out of a pilots’ strike, today sprung a surprise by announcing a 50 per cent discount this week on its Economy Class fares on all domestic flights. The announcement,made just a few hours after the airline resumed its services, will be applicable for its all-economy, no-frills service, Jet Airways Konnect, too.

news

2009-09-14T10:07:00.001+05:30

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Natural Resources (RNRL) today said Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries (RIL) is charging an illegal and unauthorised marketing margin of 13.5 cents (Rs 6.6) per mBtu on the sale of gas from its KG basin D-6 fields.
RIL declined to comment on this or related allegations, saying the entire issue was in court. Seeking government’s intervention in the matter, J P Chalasani, Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Power, said, “RIL’s charge of unauthorized marketing margin accounts for over 3 per cent of the price at which the KG gas is being sold and the marketing margin levied till date should either be refunded immediately or adjusted against future sale of gas.”

“RIL’s decision to levy the marketing margin does not have approval of the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) and has not been subjected to any official scrutiny. On the contrary, the petroleum ministry has categorically denied giving permission to RIL to charge any such marketing margin. This strengthens the apprehensions about the biased and partisan approach of the petroleum ministry,” Chalasani added.

In Delhi, senior ministry officials sharply denied the charges, stating that government approval is only for landfall price of the gas and its utilisation. “It is between the two contracting parties to decide on the marketing margins. In case of a dispute, a buyer can always go to the Competition Commission, (the sector) regulator or the administrative machinery with its complaint,” said an official, reacting to the charges.

The power and fertiliser sectors, RNRL said, will have to bear an additional burden of over Rs 10,000 crore towards this illegitimate and unjustified charge claimed by RIL. The major burden will be borne by Government of India in the form of fertiliser subsidies and by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat in the form of power subsidies.

“RIL is selling the gas produced by itself, and there is no intermediate marketing agency involved. Above all, the gas is being supplied to customers identified by the government, and there is no element of marketing involved – there can be no question of the levy of a marketing margin,” Chalasani said.

Drawing comparisons with state-run GAIL, Chalasani said the latter is not permitted to charge any marketing margin on the supply to government’s identified customers under the administered price mechanism (APM), whereas RIL is doing so. Officials, however, said the comparison with APM gas was not fair. Besides, GAIL charges a Rs 8.40 marketing margin on all non-APM gas. This includes gas produced from privately-operated Panna-Mukta-Tapti and also D6 gas, whenever the government-owwned company gets to market the gas.

GAIL said it charges around 12 cents for its gas from the Panna-Mukta-Tapti fields, which is sells at around $5.7 per mBtu. It charges 17 cents for its gas from the Dahej terminal. The price of the gas in August stood at around $6.3 per mBtu, approximately.

entry load ban to benefit MFs in long run, say fund managers

2009-09-12T14:45:00.000+05:30

"new norms will hit the mutual fund industry initially. but it will be a short-term phenomenon. once the reality dawns on all the participants that this is the way business is to be done, the industry will pick up"

AP Kurian
chairman, Amfi

Jet Airways Pilots Continue Their Strike

2009-09-12T11:10:00.000+05:30

The deadlock between the agitating pilots and the management of the Jet airways continues for the fifth day, after the talks held on Friday in Delhi to resolve the issue remained indecisive.
According to the reports available from the television channels, another set of discussion will be held in Mumbai today.
The pilots and the management of the Jet Airways had met in New Delhi before the Chief Labour Commissioner for resolving the issue, which had posed severe inconveniences to more than 30,000 passengers in the past four days.
Besides Chief Labour Commissioner S K Upadhyay, the other persons who were part of the discussion, which happened on Friday in New Delhi included Jet’s executive director Saroj Dutta, CEO Hafiz Ali and head of operation Captain Mohan.

PAKISTAN REJECTS INDIAS PROTEST

2009-09-12T11:01:00.002+05:30

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned an official from the Indian High Commission on Friday and told him New Delhi had no “locus standi” to protest against either its recently announced package of measures for Gilgit-Baltistan or against the construction of a dam on its side of Kashmir.

Pakistan’s protest came a few hours after India made its own two protests: the first, over the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009 as a “cosmetic exercise intended to camouflage Pakistan’s illegal occupation” of parts of the Jammu and Kashmir State; and the second, against the construction of the Bunji dam in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry said the Deputy High Commissioner of India, Rahul Kulshreshth, was called in “to emphasise that Pakistan rejects the Indian protest, as the Government of India has no locus standi in the matter. The Government of Pakistan also rejects the Indian claim that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. Pakistan’s position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is based on relevant UN resolutions.”

news

2009-09-11T14:47:00.000+05:30

RIL Wants higher gas allocation:-
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has asked the govt. to make additional gas
allocations from its D6 block to new customers , like captive power plants, in order to help it ramp up production , which is currently constrained by lower offtake.

news

2009-09-11T10:05:00.049+05:30

FDI rises 56% in july-
india is back on the radar of global investors with 56% year-on-year rise in inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in july this year.

MTN shareholders wants more from bharti deal:-
bharti on may 25 offered 86 rand in cash plus half a bharti stock for each MTN share for a 49% stake, while MTN and its shareholders would acquire 36% of new delhi based operator. bharti said at the time value of the deal may exceed $23 billion.

early warning system to detect corporate frauds

2009-09-10T16:49:00.000+05:30

According to SALMAN KHURSHID (CORPORATE AFFAIRS MINISTER) we are already running a pilot project with 50 companies we can now say with confidence that EWS is already in operation .