Microsoft Research India

Microsoft Research India (MSR India) -- one of the five labs of Microsoft across the globe that conduct research in computer science and allied areas -- has committed one million dollars to its external research programmes. Currently working with 15 academic institutions, including the IITs in Bangalore and Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, MSR India aims to collaborate with external organisations to further technology research in the country and build up a strong research eco-system.MSR India is working with various Ph.D. granting universities of India to provide fellowships, travel grants, internships, sponsorships, summer schools, workshops and joint post-doctorate programmes for students keen on pursuing research in computers.

iim B fee hike

Bangalore -- The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) decides to hike the fees for its two-year post-graduate management programme from Rs. 1.75 lakh per annum to Rs. 2 lakh from the coming academic year. The proposal was approved in a meeting of the Board of Governors chaired by Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani.The Board also gave its nod to a 7% increase in the intake of students so as to provide 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The student intake was being increased by 30 this year. Later, IIMB Director Prakash G. Apte told media persons that all IIMs would have an identical fee structure. The Director justified the fees hike stating that the annual cost per student was Rs. 4 lakh. He also ruled out any physical infrastructure in Singapore .

news

a new hardware-software combination designed by a company called Consumer Vision, created by IIT graduates, postgraduates and PhD fellows, that is working on revolutionising the retail sector, not just in India, but across the world. The company is currently housed in the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE) incubator at IIT-Powai, which provides support for fledgling companies before they can stand on their feet. It all started when Rohit Nalwade, research fellow in the electrical engineering department at IIT-Powai, proposed using radio frequency identification (RFID) in the retail sector so that stores could get to know their customers better, at a conference in 2003. His proposal was received with a mixture of skepticism and enthusiasm.Details such as the customer's name, the number of times he visits the store, the products he usually shops for, can be stored on the hardware. If a customer is a frequent shopper, the store may give him a personalised discount to induce loyalty

smart polymer window

The textile technology department of IIT has developed a smart polymer window that responds to outer temperatures. The polymer window lets in only diffused light when it is very hot and it turns clear when it gets cooler. The thermo-responsive polymer, which the window is coated with, becomes solid or semi-solid when it is very hot, in effect blocking radiation but letting in diffused light and the temperature range to which the window responds can be changed according to requirement. It turns liquid when it is warm, letting in the warmth of the sunlight, while the polymer disperses 90 percent of the radiations. The developed windows are coated with a polymer that responds instantaneously to temperature change - the windows will turn cloudy or clear at the same rate as the temperature outside is going up or down and the extreme heat is blocked, by coating the window with black film.

iit

The IITs are a set of premier technology institutes in India located at Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Kanpur, Guwahati and Roorkee.Some IITs were established with financial assistance and technical expertise from Unesco, Germany, the US and the former Soviet Union. The first came up at Kharagpur, near Kolkata, in 1951.is it a twist of irony that the products of socialist planning and post-independence dreams of self-dependence in technology have now become the uber-capitalists of Silicon Valley?

'Financial Market Management

The Central Board of Secondary Education will introduce a new course 'Financial Markets Management' for the 10th pass out from next year. "The course structure has been designed in consultation with the BLB Institute of Financial Markets for development of professional competency and employable skills in the Financial Market Management," BIFM Director, G C Sharma, told reporters here Saturday. This would be an independent stream like arts, commerce, science etc and would be introduced in 10-12 major metros to begin with. The National Stock Exchange and CBSE joint certification would provide necessary credibility to school students for employment at par with other professional passsing NSE on-line examination, he said. This CBSE endeavour makes the school education in India more responsive to changing times and is a far reaching attempt to provide relevant professional training to students, he said.

india and china in higher education

With a smaller number going into the education system, the country produces around 6,000 science PhDs each year according to Demos as compared to China’s 15,000 or so. Even the IITs, the most prestigious educational institutes, have a quality problem. According to a vision document prepared by the IIT Delhi a couple of years ago, while the institute had 15 teachers below the age of 35, it had 115 who were over 55 years old. And, while over 200,000 people apply in the IITs joint entrance examination for 2,500 seats, the IIT Delhi got just four applications when it applied for a faculty position some years ago! As a result, in 1996-97, while MIT got 102 patents, the average IIT got between three and six. MIT produces 200 PhDs in engineering every year as compared to a fourth for IIT Delhi and Mumbai. For the education system as a whole, China has more universities among the top 500 in the world, measured by the citations of academics there, the awards won by the alumni and faculty, and so on. Apart from universities, the other big source of cutting edge research are MNC research centres. India has seen a huge surge here, with more than 100 of the 150 such centres here opened in just the last four years. China too has seen a surge of such centres, and the current tally is estimated at around 750, of which around 60 are supposed to be doing fairly innovative R&D.China enjoys similar cost advantages. It is equally, if not more focused in certain areas like nanosciences (between 1999 and 2004, China had around 7,000 scientific publications in the field versus around 2,000 for India, and 19,000 for the US), and spends a lot more than India does on R&D, both in terms of percentage of GDP and in absolute terms since its GDP is a lot higher. Indeed, UK think tank Demos’ special analysis on Chinese R&D reports that last month the OECD announced China had moved ahead of Japan to become the world’s second highest R&D investor after the US.

retail sector

After lining up investment plans of over thousands of crores in the booming Indian retail sector, corporates are preparing for the next big step, hiring the 'very precious' talent, true in every sense of the word. Retail biggies like Reliance Retail, Bharti-Wal Mart, Essar, RPG and London-based Tesco are drawing up plans to tap the top Business school campuses, which is likely to make things tough for regular big-time hiring companies belonging to finance, IT and consultancy and is certain to push up hiring costs

news

Stanford University (SU) has tied up with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, for a student exchange programme, which will start from the next academic year. Under the auspices of the Stanford-IIMB Exchange Programme, 16 students from Stanford's Graduate School of Business (SGSB) will visit India each September.
Their visit will be followed by an equal number of IIM-B students to US in December.
Stanford students are already visiting India and the university also has a Centre for South Asia in its US campus to increase south Asian faculty strength and support research.

event

Jigyasa, a National Level Paper Presentation Contest and the flagship event of the Department of Management Studies at IIT Roorkee, has evolved along with the department since its very inception. In the past, it has turned the spotlights on emerging topics such as Knowledge Management, M-Commerce, Innovation, Emerging technologies and Globalization. Traditionally, Jigyasa has been endorsed by prestigious organizations like TCS, BHEL, DSIR, NPC, etc.Jigyasa - A Quest for Knowledge - encourages different perspectives and learning among various management institutes all over India, for evolving a broad-based, comprehensive insight. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and so, a fresh panorama is the intended outcome of a well-directed idea churning exercise that is Jigyasa

EDUCATION

There is a need to increase public expenditure on higher education. Prof Sukhadev Thorat, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC) told this to media on sidelines of the two-day international seminar on 'Higher Education for Growth and Equity: India-China Experience', that concluded on Sunday.While interacting with the media, Prof. Thorat said, "On financing higher education, the seminar suggested that current target is to increase gross environment ratio from 9.70% to 15%.To achieve this, expenditure on higher education would have to be increased from 0.65% of GDP in the first year to 1.06% during 11th Plan. The UGC estimates vary from minimum of Rs.47,000 crores to Rs.74,000 crores based on two alternative norms."CAREER

FDI IN EDUCATION

The Left and the UPA are getting ready for a confrontation over foreign direct investment in higher education.Harvard, India or MIT, India - that's the dream the government is selling as it mulls over a bill that will allow foreign direct investment in higher education.With India already having committed to opening up education at the WTO, a bill on this issue is expected sooner rather than later. And with the Left bent on opposing it, the matter may soon play a key role in the Left-UPA relationship.CAREER

IT JOB

Nasscom has been repeatedly highlighting the manpower crunch for IT (information technology). There used to be a time when computer-training institutes were ubiquitous. Not so now, it seems.The drop in global demand for IT professionals following the dotcom bust and the US economic slowdown in 2001 led to a shake-out in the computer training industry in India. As a result, many of the training institutes closed down, leading to a fall in the throughput capacity. Meanwhile, the growth of the industry has led to a huge requirement of human power. The IT-BPO (business process outsourcing) industry will recruit about 3,00,000 persons this year, many times the requirement 10 years (or even five years) ago.The Nasscom-McKinsey Report 2005 projects that - at the current pace and quality of talent generation and education — India will need an additional 5,00,000 professionals just to maintain its share of the global IT and BPO industries. This assumes that the suitability of engineers for IT jobs and graduates for BPO jobs remains 25 per cent and 10-15 per cent, respectively, for the next five years and that India continues to increase output in higher education at the current rate of 6.5 per cent per annum. It also assumes that 80 per cent of engineers will be willing to work in IT jobs, and 50 per cent of graduates to work in BPO. This also assumes the attrition out of the BPO industry will be matched by an inflow from other industries.CAREER

iim package

The race to acquire the best students from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) first batch of the Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX) is leading recruiters to offer attractive packages along with top management designations that are on a par with Ivy League schools. The highest package received so far has been $233,000 by an Indian company which has offered the profile of a global expansion head. With the recruitment process set to end by March 31, 18-20 students have already bagged their first offer and most of them are in the process of finalising their second .The average domestic salary offered so far has been Rs 19 lakh while the average international salary has been to the tune of $120,000 and around $20,000 more as bonuses and other perks. Even the roles offered have been quite diverse. career

book-A stitch in time

The unusual title sets you thinking and even before you wonder what Mercedes and the Missing Clock (Viva Books) would mean, Anuj Khare, 28, the author of this book on mastering time tells you that “Mercedes” stands for luxuries and “Missing Clock” symbolises that you could attain luxuries without being a stickler for time. Khare’s Mercedes and the... was launched by Anil Shastri, member of Congress at India International Centre on January 10. After penning down other motivational books like Psychology of Success in IIT-JEE and Science of Achievement, it took this young author three years to write this book. Explains this modern-day guru, “This book is a result of a transformation in my own life. There was a time when lack of time was affecting my family and professional life, those days I attended many motivational talks on time management and read books on the same topic. Later, I decided to go deeper into it and write my own book on not just managing time but also mastering it.” Khare is an IIT graduate with a master’s degree in computer engineering from University of Texas, Austin. He is currently serving as managing director, Appin Group of Companies based in Texas. He sums it all up philosophically but with a cliché: “Make sure to get what you like or else you will be forced to like what you get.”

Indian chapter of Creative Commons

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay is setting up a chapter of Creative Commons with the aim of providing easier access to educational and other contents.
Creative Commons offers a content licensing system that gives copyright owners the option to reserve only some of their rights. The organization was founded in 2002 by Lawrence Lessig, a law professor at Stanford University, to make more creative work available legally to others to share and build on. At IIT Bombay there is a lot of educational content, including Web-based courses that the institute would like to make available under a flexible Creative Commons license, said Shishir K. Jha, project lead for Creative Commons India. The Indian chapter of Creative Commons will be formally launched Friday at the IIT Bombay campus in Mumbai with Joichi Ito, chairman of the Creative Commons, delivering one of the keynotes. Workshops at the event will address issues related to collaboration on creative projects, including films. In the first phase, however, the Creative Commons licenses are likely to be more attractive for educational content than for India's large film industry, popularly known as Bollywood, Jha said. People working in education and government-supported research in India are far more open to exploring new concepts such as Creative Commons, than commercial ventures like large films, he added.

SRE-1

The Indian space programme today entered a new league with the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) demonstrating its ability to recover an orbiting satellite and bringing it back to earth successfully for the first time in its history.Officials of ISRO here said the space capsule recovery experiment (SRE-1), besides helping ISRO to develop basic technology for developing re-usable launch vehicles, would also given an impetus to the country's quest for a manned space mission.The SRE-1, which was launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) from Sriharikota 11 days back, was successfully recovered this morning after it splashed down into the waters of the Bay of Bengal at 9.46 a.m. The 550-kg spacecraft was recovered by a team of the Coast Guard and Navy off the Ennore Coast and loaded on to a ship, “Sarang”, to be taken to Sriharikota via Ennore port.Various systems were put in place today with the aerodynamic braking reducing the speed of the spacecraft before its re-entry into the atmosphere. Following this, a parachute system reduced the touch down velocity and a floatation system kept it afloat.During its stay in orbit two experiments onboard the SRE-1 were successfully conducted under micro-gravity conditions. One of the experiments was related to study of metal melting and crystallisation in an isothermal heating furnace which was designed jointly by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvanthapuram.

mobility

Mobility in India had traditionally been bestowed with a coveted status and was intrinsically linked to material well-being. Contrary to popular belief that Indians are a ‘rooted’ lot; higher esteem has always been accorded to mobility. From the recurring Bollywood theme of the village boy moving to big town and changing his life almost as a rule, to the entire phenomenon called ‘brain-drain’ or the obsessions of certain communities to migrate to the UK or Canada – the potent power of mobility can be witnessed in many aspects of the Indian life. we try to understand the codes of mobility in more details, we will find that it’s intrinsically linked to the social structure of India. Our society is marked by a linear hierarchy and that invariably produces a desire to move up the hierarchy ladder. This desire is the driving force of mobility. In India, there’s nothing called spatial mobility – our mobility is fundamentally social mobility. Nobody wants to move from North Delhi to South Delhi for geographical reasons.

career

The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam, will conduct a career guidance workshop on January 30 for M.Sc/ M.Phil students and research scholars of Physics and Chemistry in universities, colleges and institutes in Chennai and its suburbs. IIT-Madras Director M.S. Ananth will inaugurate the workshop at Queen Mary's College at 9.30 a.m. The workshop will cover the career prospects for Physics and Chemistry post-graduates and the procedures to apply for research grants. Candidates can register their names through e-mail at igcardae@md2.vsnl.net.in by January 23. There is no registration fee. The workshop is part of IGCAR's initiative to improve science education in India and encourage scholars of basic sciences to take up research. Last October, IGCAR organised a brain storming session to explore how it could share its facilities and infrastructure with the academic world.

job cut

Motorola, the world's number two mobile phone maker, will shed 3,500 jobs in an effort to stem falling profits.Profits at the group declined despite a 23% increase in the number of handsets it shipped in the quarter, underlining the price pressures faced by mobile phone makers. .The company shipped 66 million handsets during the period

TCS, IIT-K Team UP

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is collaborating with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) to promote higher education and research in storage computing and related technologies.As part of the collaboration, TCS and IIT Kanpur signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a post-graduate course on "Storage Computing Architecture". The MoU also covers joint research projects that are relevant to address the technology and business needs of the booming global storage industry, including TCS customers in this space.

Nasscom ties up with IIT-M to train engineers

FACED with a severe crunch of quality manpower in the software sector, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) is now tying up with Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) to train students from engineering colleges to make them ready for industry.The Nasscom president said if Tier-III and Tier-IV towns had to become IT destinations, it was imperative for the government and the local administration to ensure quality infrastructure and necessary amenities to improve the standard of living.

IIT lab for young innovators

The Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), an IT business incubator supported by IIT Bombay is set to open its doors to more innovators sand entrepreneurs. Buoyed by the huge interest and exceptional ideas that SINE receives every month, the incubator will be expanded to accommodate 50 companies.Currently, SINE hosts about 17 companies in varied domains. From companies dealing with software in financial services, software for the Internet, hardware and software for the retail space, simulator to analyse fatigue and fracture in machines and their lifespan, robotics that aids education, companies that deal with geographical information systems, SINE is a testimony to India's innovative prowess.

online payment

The online payment system, PayPal, is soon going to give its users a password-generating key fob, meant as a weapon against data-thieving phishers, and as a way to protect users' payments over the Internet. eBay, which owns PayPal, is coming out with a new electronic security key that can actually be clipped on to a keychain, and that displays a new one-time password in the form of a six-digit code about every 30 secondsThe key will give users another layer of security for their accounts, and users who sign up for the device will need to enter their regular passwords as well as the number displayed on the key whenever they log on to the online payment service. As the numeric password changes so frequently, phishers will end up with obsolete numeric passwords, and will be unable to empty PayPal accounts. In this way, if a user does become a victim of a phishing scam, and gives away his/her password, the phishers cannot empty the user's account because of the constantly changing password.
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workshop on career strategies

: Timesjobs.com, India’s largest job website, in association with Airtel, one of the leading mobile service providers, will be organising a workshop on career strategies with renowned career and job counsellor Usha Albuquerque for the benefit of students and job-seekers.Timesjobs.com is India’s largest job site connecting quality jobseekers with the best corporates. Promoted by the Times Group, India’s largest media house, the site has in a short span achieved clear leadership among the job sites in the country.An employer spends only 10 seconds per resume to accept/reject it. An effective resume is one which highlights strengths in a very convincing manner which in turn helps the candidate to get selected for the interview.

china car market

China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest car market after the US, official figures show. Car sales - excluding people carriers and 4x4s - jumped 37% in 2006, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said. Total passenger car sales rose 30.02% to 5.18 million units, CAAM found. Analysts said that newly affluent drivers had boosted sales, with some predicting China may overtake the US by 2015 as its economy continues to grow. Overall, Chinese vehicle sales jumped 25% during 2006 to 7.22m units.

job

The Indian aviation industry would create 40 lakh jobs in the next 10 years.After IT, ITeS and Telecom, the aviation industry would be the growth area that would give lot of opportunities for youngsters.

petro exports set to double this year

Petroleum sector exports are expected to exceed $20 billion in the current fiscal, against $9.1 billion in the previous fiscal. With that, petroleum will emerge as the largest foreign exchange segment with a 16.2% share in the country’s export basket. With the doubling of capacity of the Panipat refinery to 12 million tonnes per annum, the country has added 16.5 million tonnes of refining capacity in 2006-07. This has scaled up the combined capacity of India’s 19 refineries to 149-million tonnes per annum.

Ninth Schedule

The Ninth Schedule has about 250 laws and the Court has said that if they are seen to destroy or damage the basic structure, they can be reviewed. It is a clear indication that the Court wants to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution, even if means treading in the Parliament’s domain.Wednesday’s judgement, for example, also says unequivocally that the Supreme Court has the final say on Parliamentary affairs, a statement that is bound to raise hackles in the highest quarters of the legislature. Many already think that the Indian Judiciary is increasingly becoming the arbiter of the nation’s fate and is often intervening in matters better left to others. This judgement will give further boost to their fearIndians are getting increasingly cynical about politicians and even the bureaucracy. The sight of politicians seeking bribes confirms their worst views. The courts have come to be seen as the last resort to ensure that the country gets good governance. The judiciary still enjoys a high level of respectability and people are willing to let it enter areas where the other institutions have failed. But disproportionate power to any one institution could be dangerous.All other institutions should take note of this and clean up their own acts rather than merely complain about judicial interference. But on its part, the highest court must look at issues on a case by case basis and not claim a larger systemic authoritys.

one laptop per child

The backers of the One Laptop Per Child project are looking at the possibility of selling the machine to the public. One idea would be for customers to have to buy two laptops at once - with the second going to the developing world. Five million of the laptops will be delivered to developing nations this summer, in one of the most ambitious educational exercises ever undertaken.

dark matter

Astronomers have unveiled a three-dimensional map that sheds light on the mysterious "dark matter" that makes up a quarter of the universe.
The map shows that the dark matter forms a filamentous 'skeleton' upon which visible matter congregates, eventually producing stars, Nature magazine reports.
The composition of the dark matter is unclear but without it the universe could not exist. The dark matter is thought to act as a glue holding galaxies together.

climate forcast

The world is likely to experience the warmest year on record in 2007, the UK's Met Office says. An extended warming period, resulting from an El Nino weather event in the Pacific Ocean, will probably push up global temperatures, experts forecast.They say there is a 60% chance that the average surface temperature will match or exceed the current record from 1998.

TODAYS NEWS

1..NASSCOM, in association with the Government of Karnataka and Canara Bank, today inaugurated Karnataka's first state-of-the-art Cyber Lab in Bangalore. The Cyber Lab will have a full time project manager from the police, two instructors, and part time volunteers from the student community. The training will include familiarization on areas such as Internet, browsing, email, and online transactions among others, and education on what constitutes cyber crime. Once trained, these law enforcement officials will be able to carry out various activities like analysing and scrutinising data on hard disks, email tracking, extracting evidence using Internet and mobile phones, and on cyber crime-related legislation.
2. India would continue to lead the IT supplier market this year despite Russia's emergence as a strong contender in the IT outsourcing market.The services globalisation industry continuing to grow at a brisk rate of 25 to 30 per cent in the coming year, as more and more companies ramp up their services globalization initiatives.
3.The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are expecting the number of foreign offers to double this year and salary levels to shoot up by at least 20 per cent. IIM Bangalore has received 60 international offers so far and IIM Calcutta has received 93 foreign job offers which will see a significant rise with more companies still enquiring for final placements.The institute had placed 51 students abroad last year.
4.. Institute of Economic Growth, has forecast inflation to breach the upper range of the Reserve Bank's projection, by March-end, forcing the central bank to harden interest rates further in its next credit policy on January 31. The widely tracked wholesale prices-based inflation is already close to the threshold of RBI's target of 5.5 per cent for this fiscal. WPI Inflation touched 5.48 per cent during the week ended December 23.

news

The government will introduce amendments to the People's Representation Act to give all Indian passport holders the right to vote regardless of whether they are resident in India.This issue of allowing non-resident Indians to vote has been raised repeatedly at earlier PBDs. Constitutionally, only Indian citizens are allowed to vote.Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is aimed at promoting a better understanding between the Indian diaspora and the country's political leadershipIn addition, the Divas' theme, Rooting for the Roots, has been developed to inculcate a sense of pride about their Indian origins among the new generation of overseas Indians.The delegates include six ministers from abroad and large delegations of over 200 NRIs are coming from Malaysia and USA. The event will feature a three-day convention and trade and industry exhibition.
Several eminent overseas Indians have been invited to attend PBD 2007. Some of the notable names who have since confirmed their participation are Knowledge Commission chairman Sam Pitroda, Tie UK chairman Apurv Bagri, IBP (UK) co-chairman Karan Billimoria, Social Strategic executive director Denison Jaisurya and Malaysia's deputy minister of women, family and community development, Dato G Palanivel.The convention will focus on education, healthcare, youth development, women's empowerment, technology, media, private international law, etc. Special focus will be directed on attracting $1.5 trillion capital investment to India.

todays news

1..The Web 2.0 extravaganza in 2006, with all of the blogs, wikis, mashups and social networks, redefined the way consumers exchanged information. Perhaps more importantly, the same participatory technologies sowed seeds for new enterprise opportunities in 2007.Over the next several months, analysts and technical experts predict, blogs, wikis and mashups will have a profound influence over the way businesses collaborate in the global enterprise.
2..The Cassini probe has spotted what scientists say is unequivocal evidence of lakes of liquid methane on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
Radar images reveal dark, smooth patches that range in size from three to 70km across.
3..British technology pioneer Andrew Hopper becomes a CBE in the New Year Honours list. Professor Hopper has been made a Commander of the British Empire for services to the computer industry. Now the head of the University of Cambridge computer lab, Prof Hopper is best known for his part in founding iconic British technology firm Acorn.
4.The Olympic flame is to be taken to the top of Mount Everest as part of the build-up to the 2008 Games in Beijing. The flame will actually go to the summit twice as there will be a televised rehearsal in 2007 before the actual torch relay in 2008

TODAYS NEWS

1..Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today urged developed nations to ensure that the measures they took to protect the environment and deal with climate change “be equitable in their impact on the development prospects of the developing world’’. Kicking off the 94th Indian Science Congress, being held for the first time in a rural setting at Chidambaram, Annamalai University, about 230 km from Chennai, he said: “The new environmentally-friendly technologies being developed must be shared and made available to all of us so that the planet is saved.’’
2.India is going to carve a new history in the field of space science. Come January 10 and see India launching four satellites, including a recoverable spacecraft, on a home-grown rocket. According to scientists at Bangalore-based Indian Space Research Organization, the blast off would take place at 9.30 am from the Sriharikota spaceport. The polar satellite launch vehicle will carry into space India's cartosat-2, a 680 kg mapping satellite, and the space capsule recovery experiment (SRE 550kg), Indonesia's Lapan-Tubsat satellite (56 kg) and Pehuensat of Argentina (six kg).
3..India expects soon to ink a deal to buy 2.5 million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia to secure energy supplies as Asian demand grows.
4.The Central sales tax (CST) will be cut by 1% to 3% from April 1, 2007. To compensate states for the resulting revenue loss, they would be permitted to tax 44 new services currently outside the service tax net and an additional 33 services being taxed by the Centre.

todays news

1..Web encyclopaedia Wikipedia temporarily banned anonymous posts to its site from people in Qatar after repeated reports of net vandalism. The 12-hour ban hit large numbers of people in the country because all web traffic in Qatar is routed through a single net address.The real innovation this year has been in the ways we use the technologies, in their availability and ease of use, and in the manner in which the services and applications are embedded in all aspects of daily life, whether at home or work. We are building our lives around the network and the things it makes possible, and 2006 marks the year in which this became a sensible.The really significant change this year was the successful development of the Children's Machine, which started life as the '$100 laptop', a project to create a low-cost computer that governments can give to children around the world.
2..Dozens of rare one-horned rhinos have gone missing in south-western Nepal in recent years, say conservationists. A recent census carried out at a national park in Bardiya suggested there were only 26 rhinos left. The number stood at 83 four years ago.
3..Brazil's newly re-elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been sworn in for a second term. He won re-election in a landslide victory in October, despite corruption scandals which tarnished his party.
4..Slovenia has become Europe's first former communist country to adopt the euro as its currency. The euro symbol was displayed on flags, balloons and t-shirts at New Year's Eve celebrations in the capital Ljubljana as Slovenes prepared for the switch.

news

1...According to Hindu mythology, gods and demons fought a celestial war over a pitcher of divine nectar. Allahabad is one of the four towns where drops of nectar fell during the battle. The war lasted 12 divine days (which is equal to 12 human years) and that led to the celebration of the Maha Kumbh - the most auspicious gathering held every 12 years. The half kumbh is celebrated every six years and is also considered auspicious by the devout
2..Energy prices and climate change were twin topics which cropped up regularly during 2006. Drivers and airline passengers complained bitterly as the price of crude oil hit its highest level for 20 years, reaching almost $80 a barrel. But oil prices slipped back again, to end little changed over the past 12 months.The environmental impact of China's frenetic growth continued to be debated. It has been the fastest industrialisation in history - the past six years of growth in China equates to double the total annual economic output of India. That growth has taken close to 400 million people out of poverty in China, but pollution is getting worse.
3.. Certain brain areas are active when we think about the future
Brain scans have given US scientists a clue about how we create a mental image of our own future. The Washington University team say that specific areas of the brain are active when thinking about upcoming events. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study could help doctors trying to understand damage inflicted by strokes, injuries or diseases.

news

1.India has completed construction of a controversial dam on the Narmada river, nearly two decades after it launched the project.The Sardar Sarovar dam will supply drinking water to millions of people in four states, as well as fulfilling irrigation and power needs. the project has displaced at least 35,000 people who lived in the dam area. Work began on the 1,250m-long and 122m-high dam in 1987.Last year, the Supreme Court refused to stop the height of the dam from being raised, as demanded by campaigners. Activists of the Save Narmada Movement, who have been leading the protests, say the state governments have failed to provide adequate relief and compensation to those displaced by the dam.