DHAKA: Bangladesh will introduce three-carriage trains called railcars between the national capital and its adjoining districts next year, using a part of the $1 billion Indian line of credit extended in January this year.
Bangladesh Railway recently submitted a proposal to the planning commission to buy 10 diesel-electric multiple units (DEMU), also called railcars or railmotors, in the first phase of this effort.
The railcars are to cost Taka 210 million ($29 million), The Daily Star said Monday.
A DEMU is a three-carriage train and it is capable of carrying 300 passengers at a time. They have engines at both ends.
"We have proposed purchasing 10 railcars with an estimated Tk 210 million from the Indian state credit," Railway Director General T A Chowdhury told The Daily Star that 21 more railcars will be bought with government funds in the second phase to increase the frequency of trains.
Besides purchasing railcars, Bangladesh is engaged with India in modernising its rail network and both neighbours are working to match the rail gauges to be able to join the Trans-Asian rail network that will connect Europe with Southeast Asia.
"We will replace the conventional trains with the railcars and use those on long-distance routes," said Chowdhury adding that they are planning to run commuter trains on the routes every 30 minutes to meet the huge demand.
Transport sector expert M Rahmatullah said railcars are very useful for transporting a large number of passengers from one place to another in a short time.
"The big advantage of a railcar is that it has small engines on both sides and number of bogies can be adjusted depending on the demand of the passengers," he told The Daily Star.
MUMBAI: The Indian rupee slid to more than a 10-week low after having traded firm through most of the session on Monday as late losses in the euro and month-end dollar demand from oil refiners and importers weighed.
The partially convertible rupee closed at 45.93/94 per dollar, after touching 45.94, its lowest since Sept. 17 and 0.2 percent below its 45.84/85 close last Friday.
"The euro crashed in late trade, and along with that, the broad dollar strength versus majors further pushed rupee to fresh lows. A lot of dollar short-covering was triggered by the euro's fall," said Vikas Chittiprolu, a senior forex dealer with state-run Andhra Bank .
"There was good two-way interest through the day. Exporters came out to sell, but good month-end bids from oil and other importers hurt. I expect the rupee to hold in 45.50-46.10 range this week," Chittiprolu added.
Oil is India's biggest import and refiners are the largest buyers of dollars in the domestic currency market with their demand tending to peak at the end of each month, when they are required to make payments.
The euro fell to two-month lows against the dollar on Monday as investors looked past a rescue package for Ireland to debt problems in other peripheral euro zone economies and sold the currency on any bounce.
The index of the dollar against six major currencies was up 0.4 percent when the rupee market closed.
Traders said some inflows were also seen towards the Manganese Ore India's initial share sale, currently under way.
The country's largest producer of manganese ore has fixed an indicative price band at 340 to 375 rupees a share for its initial public offering, to raise up to $276 million, which opened last Friday and will close on Wednesday.
Gains in shares, however, prevented a further sharp slide in the rupee, dealers said.
Shares rose for the first time in five sessions and gained 1.4 percent, tracking world equities, while traders opted for large-cap bets as some of the companies under federal investigation in the bribes-for-loan scandal fell.
Foreign funds have sold $263.5 million worth of shares in the last two trading sessions until Friday, but are still net investors of a record $28.7 billion in shares so far in 2010, on top of the $17.5 billion purchased last year.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were at 46.23, weaker than the onshore spot rate, suggesting a bearish near-term outlook.
The one-year onshore dollar premium was marginally higher at 207.50 points, compared with 206.50 points on Friday.
"Not much action in the forwards today, very quiet there," a senior forwards dealer with a foreign bank said.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contract on the National Stock Exchange, MCX-SX and United Stock Exchange closed at 46.1825, 46.1875 and 46.19 respectively, with total traded volume on the three exchanges at a low $5.5 billion.
Around 62 Indian cricketers will be up for auction for the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the legendary Sachin
Tendulkar in the top-bracket of cricketers valued at Rs 1.84 crore.
However, Tendulkar and Dhoni are likely to be retained by their respective franchises -- Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
Former India captains Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid along with VVS Laxman are in the third bracket which has a base price of Rs 92 lakh.
The cricketers who will command the highest base price of Rs 1.84 crore are Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.
The second bracket is that of Rs 1.3 crore where Twenty20 specialist Yusuf Pathan finds a place alongside speedster Zaheer Khan and the talented Suresh Raina.
Similarly stand-in ODI captain Gautam Gambhir, who didn't have a great IPL-II and III, has been priced in the third bracket at Rs 92 lakh along with the likes of Virat Kohli,
Irfan Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar and veterans such as Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid and Laxman.
The fourth bracket is of Rs 46 lakh which consists of domestic cricketers and the fringe India players who have represented the country since 2005.
Bengal players Wriddhiman Saha, Manoj Tiwary, Ashok Dinda along with Saurashtra's Cheteshwar Pujara are some of the players in the fourth bracket.
The fifth and final bracket is of Rs 23 lakh where there are India discards such as Manpreet Gony, Sudeep Tyagi, Sridharan Sriram to name a few.
The five brackets of base price:
1st: Rs 1.84 crore;
2nd: Rs 1.3 crore;
3rd: Rs 92 lakh;
4th: Rs 46 lakh;
5th bracket: Rs 23 lakh
List of Players Up for auction (In alphabetical order)
Andhra: Yelakka Venugopal Rao;
Assam: Sridharan Sriram
Baroda: Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ambati Rayudu, Munaf Patel;
Bengal: Sourav Ganguly, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha, Ashok Dinda;
Delhi: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma
Gujarat: Parthiv Patel, Siddharth Trivedi
Haryana: Joginder Sharma, Amit Mishra
Hyderabad: VVS Laxman, T Suman, Pragyan Ojha
Jharkhand: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Saurabh Tiwary
Karnataka: Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Manish Pandey, Abhimanyu Mithun, R Vinay Kumar, Robin Uthappa
Kerala: S Sreesanth
Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Wasim Jaffer, Abhishek Raut, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ramesh Powar
Madhya Pradesh: Naman Ojha
Punjab: Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Manpreet Gony, VRV Singh
Railways: Murali Kartik
Rajasthan: Pankaj Singh
Saurahstra: Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara
Tamil Nadu: Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath, R Sathish, R Ashwin, M Vijay, L Balaji
Uttar Pradesh: Mohammed Kaif, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Sudeep Tyagi, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh
Vidarbha: Umesh Yadav.
Alastair Cook scored an unbeaten 235 and shared a 329-run partnership with Jonathan Trott to highlight an emphatic England second innings as the first Ashes test against
Australia ended in a draw Monday
Set an unlikely 297 runs to win after England declared at 517-1 shortly before tea on the final day, Australia reached 107-1 in reply with captain Ricky Ponting not out on 51
and Shane Watson on 41.
Simon Katich (4) was the lone batsman to be dismissed Monday, nicking Stuart Broad to Andrew Strauss at first slip in the sixth over of Australia's reply.
Cook's man of the match-winning knock was the highest ever test score at the Gabba ground, surpassing Donald Brahman's 226 in 1931. Trott left the crease on 135 not out, his
second Ashes century in two tests.
Cook, who came into the series with his position far from secure, scored more runs in the England second innings than he managed on his whole Ashes tour of 2006-07 and earned
fulsome praise from his captain.
"I'm not great on my cricketing history but I'd be hard-pressed to think of a better innings in Australia," Strauss said. "It must have been a long time ago, the last guy who
batted as well as Cookie."
Cook's innings, his highest test score, saw him become just the fourth Englishman to score a double hundred in Australia, following R.E. Foster, Wally Hammond and Paul
Collingwood.
Cook and Trott's second-wicket stand was the highest England partnership in Australia, surpassing Jack Hobbs' and Wilfred Rhodes' 323 in 1912.
"Trott has been in outstanding form for us over the English summer and we all expected him to play well this series as well," Strauss said. "That would have given him confidence
and he's a bit of a lynchpin for us at No.3, and hopefully he'll get more runs for us as well."
The test only briefly appeared likely to end with a result on a pitch that got better for batting as the match went on and saw Australia's Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin score
centuries on the third day, and England captain Strauss pass 100 on Sunday.
After a first innings of 481 that left it 221 runs ahead, Australia failed to capitalize and could manage just one wicket from 152 overs of England's second innings.
Strauss said things had looked "quite bleak" for England halfway through the match, before the batting heroics in the second innings.
"The resilience to come back into the game, having been in a pretty dire position after day three, speaks volumes for the characters of the likes of Cookie and Trotty, and we've
proved over a while now that we're a hard side to beat and that gives us more confidence going forward."
Peter Siddle got six wickets to dismiss England for 260 in the first innings, but Ponting said the pitch became increasingly difficult for the bowlers.
"We didn't bowl particularly well as a group by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a difficult wicket to bowl on in the last couple of days of this game. I think
(England) found it pretty tough as well this afternoon," Ponting said.
"I've never played on a Gabba wicket like that in my whole career," he said. "How slow it was in the first two days was very foreign to me."
Watson bowled well Monday, but was not supported in the field as Michael Clarke dropped Trott while on 75 and Ponting put down Cook on 209.
"We dropped four or five chances in the second innings, that's not acceptable either," Ponting said. "A couple were tough ones, but we needed to hang onto these chances if we
were going to have any chance of doing winning.
"There are a few areas we need to work on and we're very aware what they are."
The Australian captain was at the center of a controversial moment when Cook, at 209, hit a Xavier Doherty ball to him at short mid-wicket. It seemed that Ponting had caught the
ball just above the ground but Aleem Dar did not give it out and television replays were too inconclusive to allow the third umpire to dismiss the England opener.
Paceman Mitchell Johnson continued to struggle, conceding 39 runs from his nine overs Monday, including five wides down the leg-side. He allowed 170 runs in the test without
taking a wicket, failed to score a run and dropped a catch, and his place in the side could be in jeopardy with Doug Bollinger in line to take his place for the second test in
Adelaide on Friday.
Although Doherty is likely to get a second chance on a spinner's wicket, he posed little threat despite the occasional prodigious turning delivery.
The only worry for England going into the second test may come from talismanic spinner Graeme Swann, who ended the game with figures of 2-161.
The US has strongly criticised the release by the website Wikileaks of thousands of extracts from US diplomatic messages.
Among the revelations is a report Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah urged the US to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.
The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, said the US authorities were afraid of being held to account.
But the White House said the release was "reckless" and put the lives of diplomats and others at risk.
One Republican congressman called for Wikileaks to be designated a terrorist organisation.
Peter King, a member of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said the latest release "manifests Mr Assange's purposeful intent to damage not only our
national interests in fighting the war on terror, but also undermines the very safety of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan".
Meanwhile, Pakistan's foreign ministry condemned what it called "the irresponsible disclosure of sensitive official documents".
The US Department of Defence says it is making its computer systems more secure to prevent future leaks.
Computer hacking
Wikileaks has only posted some 200 of the 251,287 messages it says it has obtained. However, the entire bundle of cables has been made available to five publications, including
the New York Times and the UK's Guardian newspaper.
The leaked cables by US diplomats posted overseas contain blunt appraisals of their host governments, and unflattering pen portraits of world leaders.
US officials are said to have described Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as feckless, vain and ineffective, sharing a close relationship with "alpha dog" Russian Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is said to be thin-skinned and authoritarian, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel is described as risk-averse.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is referred to as "extremely weak" and susceptible to conspiracy theories.
One US diplomat was said to be shocked at the "rude behaviour" of the British queen's second son, Prince Andrew, when abroad.
Meanwhile, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya always travels with a "voluptuous blonde" Ukrainian nurse, according to one of the cables.
Concerns aired include the security of Pakistani nuclear material that could fall into the wrong hands, allowing militants to make an atomic weapon.The widespread use of
computer hacking by China's government is also reported.
Other issues reportedly covered in the cables are:
* Iranian attempts to adapt North Korean rockets for use as long-range missiles
* Corruption in Afghanistan with concerns heightened when a senior official was found to be carrying more than $52m (£33m) in cash on a foreign trip
* Bargaining to empty the Guantanamo Bay prison camp - including Slovenian diplomats being told to take in a freed prisoner to secure a meeting with President Barack Obama
* Germany being warned in 2007 not to enforce arrest warrants for CIA officers involved in an operation in which an innocent German citizen with the same name as a suspected
militant was abducted and held in Afghanistan
* US officials being instructed to spy on the UN leadership by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
* Alleged links between the Russian government and organised crime
* Yemen's president talking to General David Petraeus (while he was responsible for US military operations in Central Asia and the Middle East as head of US Central Command)
about attacks on Yemeni al-Qaeda bases and saying: "We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours"
* Faltering US attempts to prevent Syria from supplying arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon
Hyderabad: It's official. YSR's son, Jagan Mohan Reddy, has announced his resignation from the Congress in the first step towards launching his own party. Jagan was the MP from
Kadapa. His mother, Vijayalaxmi, has also resigned as MLA from Pulivendula Assembly seat.
Jagan has sent a five-page resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi in which he reportedly expresses his "hurt" over the party trying to divide his family - his father's younger
brother, Y S Vivekananda Reddy, has been offered the position of Home Minister. In doing so, the Congress wants to force YSR loyalists to choose between the party and Jagan
Mohan. (Jagan's resignation letter to Sonia: Full Text)
In his letter to Gandhi, Jagan writes, " I have been suffering humiliation in silence during the last 14 months. A malicious campaign was being unleashed against me, my family
and lastly against my late father and a great leader of masses Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
He adds, "The last straw was the conspiracy that is being hatched to vertically split the family of the great leader who brought back Congress party to power in Andhra Pradesh
twice. I was shocked at the murky and disgusting politics being played at my back. Is it fair to lure my uncle YS Vivekanada Reddy to Delhi, thereby paving way for fissures in
my family? I was deeply hurt over the reports in media that my uncle went to Delhi at the instance of Gulam Nabi Azad. Media reports revealed that this conspiracy was hatched to
rein in Jaganmohan Reddy by provoking his family members against him. Does it not tantamount to a conspiracy against my family and myself?"
The new cabinet headed by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will be sworn in later this week on Wednesday.
Jagan has been at war with the Congress over the last few weeks. He has used his TV channel, Sakshi, to attack senior Congress leaders including the PM, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul
Gandhi. (Jagan TV targets Kiran Reddy, Rahul Gandhi)
In turn, the Congress has made it clear that it will not tolerate his habitual dissidence. (Jagan TV row: Jagan's actions undesirable, says Congress)
Reacting to news of his resignation, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said, "It is very unfortunate." MPs from Andhra Pradesh were less reserved- Hanumantha Rao, for example, said
Jagan had been given "plenty of rope" and that his exit will have no impact on the party.
Referring to his future plans, Jagan states in his resignation letter, "As you are apprehending that I might bring down the government in Andhra Pradesh, I am assuring with the
same spirit of high moral values. I am appealing here itself to all the MLAs of the party who adore my late father dearly and who love me. Please do not resign for my sake....
Wherever you are, your love and affection are invaluable to me."
Three days ago, Jagan Mohan told NDTV that his supporters were urging him to quit the Congress on the grounds that it has repeatedly tried to restrain his surging popularity
among voters. The Jagan camp believes that the party is nervous about the people of Andhra Pradesh accepting Jagan as the rightful political heir to the legacy of his father
who died in a helicopter crash last year, and has been on the state's most popular leaders.
"When 150 MLAs supported my candidature for the Chief Minister's post after my father's unfortunate demise, I acted as per your direction without any second thoughts? Is it a
mistake? Honouring your directions, did I not support the candidature of K Rosaiah as Chief Minister...Is it the mistake I committed? As recently as a few days ago, when you
wanted to replace Rosaiah with N Kirankumar Reddy, did I not cooperate for the smooth conduct of the Congress Legislature Party meeting.... Is it also a mistake?" he asks in his
note to Sonia Gandhi.
Last weekend, Sakshi TV, owned by Jagan, aired a news analysis show that was scathingly critical of Sonia Gandhi and the PM as leaders. When the Congress objected, those who
run the channel said that Jagan was unaware of the program's content- an explanation rejected by the party, which, nevertheless decided not to penalise him.
K Rosaiah stepped down as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, partly because of that TV program - he was accused of not being able to handle the factionalism within his party in
his own state.
The Congress then picked Kiran Kumar Reddy as its new Chief Minister. While Reddy made it clear that he would respect the political agenda set by YSR, Sakshi TV was quick to
air shows that challenged Kiran Kumar as the state's new leader; a show also suggested that the Congress' poor performance in the Bihar elections proved that Rahul Gandhi had
been unable to make any sort of impact despite aggressive campaigning by him.
Since his father died, Jagan Mohan has been keen on projecting himself as a mass leader. He launched and conducted his odarpu yatra - a road show across the state - in
defiance of Congress orders. In his resignation letter, he refers to this tour: " What is the sin I have committed.... Is it Odarpu Yatra? I have repeatedly informed you that
it was my personal programme and it was my duty and responsibility as the son of the departed leader."
Jaipur: Vice Chancellor of Bhavnagar University in Gujarat, B.L. Sharma was appointed as the vice Chancellor of Rajasthan University by the acting governor of the state, Shivraj
Patil on Sunday.
55 year old Prof. Sharma had earlier been the head of the Human Rights Law Department in the Law Faculty at Saurashtra University, Rajkot. He had also served as the Viec
Chancellor of Bhavnagar University in Gujarat since July, 2009.
Hailing from Jodhpur, Prof. Sharma has been teaching for the past 27 years and has also been associated with various committees of the University Grants Commission (UGC). Prof.
Sharma has earlier taught in government colleges at Sikar and Pali.
Rajasthan state governor Shivraj Patil is the Chancellor of some universities in the state. He had issued the orders for the appointment of Prof. Sharma on the recommendation of
a search committee that had been given the task of choosing a new vice chancellor for the varsity after Prof. Furqan Qamar had resigned in 2009.
Apart from being an honorary visitor at Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar, Prof. Sharma has also served as a lawyer in the Rajasthan High Court between 1977 and
1980.
The future is being prepared now, so we may be able to tell where it's headed if we can learn to read the web right
Web search holds the key to the future. So say the Time Monks, as the group that runs the Web Bot project styles itself. This uses web crawler software to find 300,000 keywords
in blogs, forums and chat rooms, then applies a filtering algorithm to the text around each keyword, combining the results to predict future events.
So far the results of this "wisdom of crowds" approach have been mixed. Yet in May Google saw fit to invest in Recorded Future, a Boston-based start-up that specialises in novel
ways to relate the past, present and future. Its software collates web-based information about people, places and events, as well as the tone of news reports and posts from
tweets, blogs and social media sites. Specialised algorithms then label the information, look for connections and attempt to plot the "online momentum" for each event. According
to Recorded Future, this can help predict events such as stock market trends, the launch of new pharmaceuticals, even terrorist attacks. Yahoo's research lab in Barcelona,
Spain, has developed a similar system called Time Explorer.
Yet search queries themselves could prove more valuable. With access to billions of these queries, search engine analysts have an unparalleled insight into the collective mind
of the online community. In the last five years they have found evidence that figures for unemployment benefit claims in the US, Germany and Israel, book rankings on Amazon, US
car sales and the incidence of certain cancers are all mirrored by changes in the volume of web searches for associated terms. Studies by Google and by the University of Iowa
with data from Yahoo have concluded that the volume of flu-related search terms mirrors the number of new flu cases in the US. By exploiting this search query data, Google's Flu
Trends service has proved able to pick up changes in the incidence of flu a week or so before they are reported officially.
It may not be predicting the distant future, but it is certainly helping us pin down the present, says Nello Cristianini, a computer scientist from the University of Bristol,
UK. This "nowcasting" can be extremely useful, he says. For example, government agencies can use it to infer the state of society or the economy in near real-time, and the
information is cheap and relatively easy to gather.
Cristianini believes this kind of data may be able to help predict an impending event such as a humanitarian crisis, and hopes to improve the technique's reliability. He is
testing an automated search that hunts for flu-related words in Twitter posts in the UK. His initial results suggest that interrogating Twitter can provide a useful complement
to analysing search statistics.
Web search trends could also prove useful to business analysts, according to a recent study by Yahoo Research Labs in New York. It examined whether search data could predict box
office takings at cinemas, video game sales and the chart positions of songs weeks or months in advance. The results suggest that in a few cases, search data is better than
conventional indicators and so could be important in financial analysis, where even small improvements in the accuracy of predictions offer significant rewards. Search queries
could also be useful for predicting sudden changes in consumer behaviour, which existing models find hard to anticipate.
College students know it as the "blackout in a can": Four Loko contains as much alcohol as five beers and the caffeine equivalent of a cup of coffee. Now the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is cracking down on such "alcoholic energy drinks", arguing that they create a state of wide-awake drunkenness that puts imbibers at risk.
On 17 November, the FDA wrote to four manufacturers, warning them that caffeine is an "unsafe food additive" in strong beers, and giving them 15 days to withdraw the drinks from
sale.
Anticipating the letter, industry leader Phusion Projects in Chicago, which makes Four Loko, had already announced that it was removing caffeine and other stimulants from its
drinks.
In its letters, the FDA cited research including a study conducted in the bar district near the University of Florida in Gainesville, which showed that patrons who had consumed
alcohol mixed with energy drinks were three times as likely as other drinkers to be highly intoxicated, and four times as likely to say they intended to drive.
Hooked on alcohol
While it came too late to be considered in the FDA's safety review, a new paper suggests that consuming energy drinks also has long-term consequences. The risk of alcohol
dependence increases for these drinkers, even taking into account factors such as depression and a family history of alcohol abuse.
Amelia Arria of the University of Maryland in College Park, who led the research, suspects that this is might be because people drink more alcohol when they mix it with energy
drinks.
In another study, researchers led by Sean Barrett of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, found that students consumed an average of 8.6 alcoholic drinks per session when
mixing it with energy drinks, compared to 4.7 when they consumed alcohol alone.
The FDA can regulate pre-mixed drinks, but cannot control the use of products that are sold separately. Still, Arria believes the agency's action may make bar owners wary of
serving energy drinks mixed with alcohol, for fear of being sued if drinkers hurt themselves or others. "This should send a clear and an unequivocal message that mixing energy
drinks with alcohol is not safe," she says.
Mixing energy drinks with alcohol is also popular in Europe – where authorities seem less concerned about the risks. In 2003, the European Commission's Scientific Committee on
Food came to the conclusion that caffeine should not exacerbate the adverse effects of alcohol. "There is currently no evidence to indicate a need for a review," a spokesman for
the UK Food Standards Agency told New Scientist.
Thiruvananthapuram: A spate of attacks, tough visa norms and denial of permanent residency have caused around 30,000 Indian students, mostly based in Melbourne, to leave
Australia in the past year, claims the Federation of Indian Students in Australia (FISA).
The figure is quoted in the latest issue of Indian Student, published from Melbourne, a copy of which is available with IANS. The magazine in its editorial says it appears
Australia is no more a favorite destination for Indian students with this huge exodus in a year's time.
The magazine quoting Gautam Gupta, spokesperson of FISA, said race attacks is one of the major reasons behind the exodus.
"Other significant factors include that there are no jobs and students can't survive without that. Denying permanent residency to many Indians despite fulfillment of conditions
has also been a reason," says Gupta.
There have been a spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia since last year.
Thiruvallam Bhasi, editor of the magazine who is currently on vacation in Kerala, told the sources that another factor which has become a deterrent for the students is a
stronger Australia dollar.
"Even though strengthening of the Australian dollar is welcome for Indians who live there permanently, for students coming from India it has become very expensive," said Bhasi
who launched the magazine four years ago.
"Two years ago, one Australian dollar fetched Rs.30 and yesterday it was around Rs.44. The average fee for a two-year study in Australia currently stands at Aus$36,000 and just
look at the difference in the past two years that the Indian student has to bear."
This new development comes at a time when the latest UN Development Programme report ranks the quality of life in Australia as the second best in the world after Norway.
"The latest figures point out that the education industry in Australia fetches the country close to Aus$18 billion annually and this industry is either the second or the third
biggest earner.
"With the Australian dollar strengthening like never before, the cost of education today in the US, the UK or Canada is the same as in Australia and with the denial of permanent
residency, the education industry there could suffer heavily," added Bhasi.
K. Immanual, an engineer by profession and a Kerala native who has settled down in Adelaide for the past 15 years, said, "The one visible thing these days is the number of
Indians arriving in south Australia has come down significantly."
Immanual too is on vacation here.
Subhin Cherian who has been in Melbourne for the past four years has completed an MBA and a course in graphic design and is waiting to get permanent residency.
Cherian who is holidaying here told the sources that today the three professions that can help get a permanent residency are engineers, doctors and accountants.
"It is true many have left and some are getting ready to leave. In the four years that I have been here, I have spent Rs.2 million by way of fees and I thank my parents for
that. Right now I do part-time jobs and am eager to land a permanent job," said Cherian
An Iranian nuclear scientist has been killed and another wounded in two separate but similar attacks, according to Iranian media reports.
The scientists were targeted in Tehran by attackers who attached bombs to each of their cars, reports said.
The scientist killed has been named as Majid Shahriari of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, according to the official Irna news agency.
Another scientist was killed in a bomb blast at the beginning of the year.
The state television website says attackers riding on motorcycles attached bombs to the car windows of the scientists as they were driving to their workplaces on Monday morning.
"In a criminal terrorist act, the agents of the Zionist regime attacked two prominent university professors who were on their way to work," Iran's state television's website
reported.
Dr Shahriari was a member of the nuclear engineering department of Shahid Beheshti University.
His wife is said to have been injured in the attack.
The nuclear scientist injured in the second attack was named as Fereydoon Abbasi. His wife was also wounded.
According to the conservative news website Mashreghnews, Dr Abbasi is "one of the few specialists who can separate isotopes" and has been a member of the Revolutionary Guards
since the 1979 revolution.
Controversial programme
The Iranian scientist killed in January this year, Masoud Ali Mohammadi, was said to be a nuclear scientist assassinated by counter-revolutionaries, Zionists and agents of the
"global arrogance", Iranian media said at the time.
But scientists in the UK and the US said that, from his substantial body of published research, Dr Mohammadi was unlikely to have been working on Iran's nuclear programme, and
that his expertise was in another field of physics altogether - quantum mechanics.
There has been much controversy over Iran's nuclear activities.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes, but the US and other Western nations suspect it of seeking to build nuclear weapons.
On Saturday, Iran s
VAANAM's one song is officially released ........simbu itself sang this song...really great....try this buddies
click here to download this song
download link
download link
VAANAM's one song is officially released ........simbu itself sang this song...really great....try this buddies
click here to download this song
download link
click here to download this song
download link
download link
VAANAM's one song is officially released ........simbu itself sang this song...really great....try this buddies
click here to download this song
download link
Launched in 2008 and having all specifications and functions as the original Z8 cell phone Motorola Z8 Ferrari Limited Edition comes in a red and color layout and a Ferrari logo. In addition to special design Z8 Ferrari comes bundled with two Ferrari video clips, pre-registration to the official Ferrari website, Ferrari mobile content and direct links to the popular online magazines like Top Gear, Auto Express, GQ, Esquire and Autosport.
The name Porsche stands for exclusivity and stylish design. In collaboration with Sagem Porsche Design launched two luxury phones of different form factors. The first model P9521 is a clam shel phone selling at around 1200 euro. Their second phone P9522 is a full touch screen in candy bar form factor selling at around 600 euro, half of its first phone. Perhaps, these phones aren’t full of latest innovations but their main feature is exceptionally stylish design.
In 2008 Nissan announced the development of the world’s first Mobile Phone with built-in Intelligent Key. Nissan’s Intelligent Key system employs two-way wireless communications technology to automatically unlock/lock the car door and start/stop the engine. Nissan and Sharp has now integrated these electronic intelligent-key, wireless communications and electromagnetic technologies into the new handset. The Mobile Phone with Built-in Intelligent Key is still in prototype. Models available only in Japan.
In 2008 Nissan announced the development of the world’s first Mobile Phone with built-in Intelligent Key. Nissan’s Intelligent Key system employs two-way wireless communications technology to automatically unlock/lock the car door and start/stop the engine. Nissan and Sharp has now integrated these electronic intelligent-key, wireless communications and electromagnetic technologies into the new handset. The Mobile Phone with Built-in Intelligent Key is still in prototype. Models available only in Japan.
This luxury phone were announced by TAG Heuer at the end of 2009 and comes with Lamborghini model that looks elegant as a phone. The TAG Heuer Meridiist Lamborghini mobile phone features a case made from a combination of hand brushed stainless steel, calfskin leather, and 60.5 carats of sapphire crystal glass on its dual display screens. It’s available in a limited edition of 1963 – as tribute to the year Lamborghini was founded – and costs £5,750.
In 2006 Aston Martin and Nokia have announced the Nokia 8800 Aston Martin Edition. This esclusive iteration of the Nokia 8800 were manufactured in strictly limited numbers and featured laser-etched "Aston Martin" logo on the stainless steel casing.
We’ve been already written about this cell phone from Acer and Ferrari based on Liquid E – Liquid E Ferrari Special Edition. Special edition features a bright red corp with the familiar shield of Ferrari, surrounded by a strip of carbon fiber; a microphone, designed in the style of the air intake of "Formula 1" car, as well as special screensavers, wallpapers and ringtones
If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at kathirkaran81@gmail.com.
At newsburn.blogspot.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by newsburn.blogspot.com and how it is used.
Log Files
Like many other Web sites, newsburn.blogspot.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
Cookies and Web Beacons
newsburn.blogspot.com does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.
DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on newsburn.blogspot.com.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to newsburn.blogspot.com and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on newsburn.blogspot.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.
newsburn.blogspot.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. newsburn.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.
At newsburn.blogspot.com, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by newsburn.blogspot.com and how it is used.
Log Files
Like many other Web sites, newsburn.blogspot.com makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.
Cookies and Web Beacons
newsburn.blogspot.com does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.
DoubleClick DART Cookie
.:: Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on newsburn.blogspot.com.
.:: Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to newsburn.blogspot.com and other sites on the Internet.
.:: Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy at the following URL - http://www.google.com/privacy_ads.html
Some of our advertising partners may use cookies and web beacons on our site. Our advertising partners include ....
Google Adsense
These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on newsburn.blogspot.com send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.
newsburn.blogspot.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. newsburn.blogspot.com's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.
If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.
Guangzhou, November 27 - The Chinese sports delegation held a press conference at the Main Press Center with Chef de Mission of Chinese sports delegation Duan Shijie and
Secretary General of Chinese sports delegation Cai Jiadong attending the conference and briefed the media about Chinese sports delegation's performance at the Guangzhou Asian
Games on Saturday.
According to Mr Duan, the 16th Asian Games fully demonstrates the developmental level of sports in all countries and regions of Asia.
At the Games, Team China not only revealed its competition level but achieved its intended goals.
Mr Duan said that till 11a.m.of November 27, Team China earned 198 golds, 118 silvers and 98 bronzes, claiming the top spot in Asian Games gold medal/medal rankings; achieving
its best Asiad results. Moreover, Chinese athletes have also broken both Asian Games and World Records in several events such as Weightlifting, Swimming, Shooting and Cycling at
these Games.
In addition, Mr Duan said that Team China made breakthroughs in catching up and surpassing world levels.
In Swimming, Team China grabbed its largest number of gold medals and in Track and Field, Chinese "flying man" Liu Xiang, dogged by injuries, claimed three consecutive titles.
China seized its first gold in the Men's 100m and won the Men's 4x100m relay for the first time since 1990. In Table Tennis, China grabbed all seven golds for the first time
since the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games.
The Chinese Badminton Team captured five golds, three silvers and two bronzes and the Chinese Gymnastics Team also had better performance at the Guangzhou Asian Games than the
previous Games in Doha by winning 13 golds, seven silvers and one bronze.
Director Shankar is back to what he does best. We have mentioned enough number of times that the ‘3 idiots’ will not make a great film in Tamil, though it could in Telugu. Owing to Shankar’s reputation, the film is not a perfect one for Shankar.
After directing a film for Rs. 162 crore, ‘3 idiots’ will be too negligible a film. Shankar also understands that the Hindi version is seen by many in Tamil Nadu as well as Andhra Pradesh. Hence, he is making changes in the script.
Shankar, who will not take things lightly and will work on things to the core to get them right, will make key changes in the script that will make the film a hit. A surprising change is that Ileana will get a competitor. The remake of ‘3 idiots’ will get a new heroine besides ‘Ileana’.
The new heroine will play the second heroine, possibly to be paired with either of the other two actors, Jiiva and Srikanth. The film has already lost star value as Suriya, Madhavan, Siddharth and Arya had all opted out.
Shankar is rightly set to “Fill in the blanks” and we hope he will “Choose the best answer”. Shankar has also found a suitable title for the Tamil remake which was tentatively titled “3 Rascals” which would sabotage the chances of availing tax exemption.
The new title would be “Moovar” in Tamil. It will remain the same as “3 Rascals” for the Telugu version, until a new change is brought in. Let us suggest titles for both the Tamil and Telugu versions of “3 idiots”.
The Tamil version will sound better as “Moondru Madaiyargal”, literal translation of the Hindi title. The Telugu version could be titled as “Moodu Rascolsu”. Lol! Watch this space for more updates on the film!
Ed Zwick’s “Love and Other Drugs” opens today. What are the film’s chances in the annual Oscar race?
Tracking the Oscar race is a daily occurrence here at HollywoodNews.com. Oscar in a Minute is our new audio podcast that weighs in, briefly, on items that move us during the awards season. To hear previous entries, type “Oscar” into our search engine.
In the year-ago period, the company had a net earning of $2.42 billion, HP said in a statement.
The company's net revenue rose to $33.27 billion in the fourth quarter ended October 31, from $30.77 billion in the same quarter of last financial year, clocking a gain of eight per cent.
The company has attributed its decent quarter numbers to demand in personal computers, server and storage business and good performance in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries.
"HP continued to execute in the fourth quarter, delivering growth, expanding margins and increasing earnings per share in double digits. We continue to invest in the business, in sales and in R&D, while driving further efficiencies," Executive Vice-president and CFO Cathie Lesjak said.
During the quarter, BRIC countries have emerged as the best performers with revenue increasing 12 per cent and accounting 10 per cent of the overall company's revenue.
While revenue from Asia Pacific operations swelled 8 per cent to $5.8 billion, revenues rose 10 per cent in the Americas to $15.1 billion and it surged 6 per cent in Europe, the West Asia and Africa to $12.4 billion.
Looking ahead, the company said it has raised its revenue forecast to $126 billion for 2010-11.
HP said its revenue from Enterprise Storage and Servers (ESS) reported total revenue of $5.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up 25 per cent from year-earlier.
Besides, the company said its services revenue increased 0.4 per cent to $9 billion in the fourth quarter, while software revenue climbed roughly 1 per cent to $974 million.
Personal Systems Group revenue increased 4 per cent to $10.3 billion in the quarter under review. HP maintained its leading market share position in PCs worldwide, with a two per cent growth in unit shipments.
The firm's Rs 300 crore IPO, which opened on November 24, originally had a price band of Rs 278-Rs 293 per share and was due to close today, sources said. However, the price band has now been brought down and the offer has been extended till December 2, they said.
The company's share sale programme got a lukewarm response from investors and was subscribed only 0.53 times. It has attracted bids worth 47.15 lakh shares till date, as against 88.48 lakh shares on offer, according to information available with the National Stock Exchange.
Analysts said the price band was slashed on account of poor market conditions and unresolved regulatory issues that put a question mark over future drug approvals in the US.
"The downward revision of price band is due to the poor market condition and on concerns that some of the company's products could not get USFDA approvals," SMC Capital Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said.
The USFDA issued a warning letter to Claris Lifesciences on November 1 to address deficiencies in manufacturing practices at its Ahmedabad facility.
Company officials could not be reached for comments. Proceeds from the IPO will be used for capacity expansion, as well as to set up a research and development facility and to retire debt, a company official had said earlier.
The Ahmedabad-based company has appointed Enam Securities, Edelweiss Capital , JM Financial Consultants and ICICI Securities as the book running lead managers to the issue.
Claris Lifesciences is one of the largest sterile injectables pharmaceutical companies in the country, with a presence in 76 markets worldwide.
The objective behind the museum is to inspire the aspiring business entrepreneurs in the country and show them the path to success through innovative ideas, diligence and perseverance. India in the pre-liberalization days was a victim of trade barriers and restricted trade policy.
IIM-K has requested around 100 CEOs and leaders of major business houses including Tatas, Ambanis, Birlas for their humble contribution to this museum. Most of them are expected to contribute to the museum. The Institute will formally open the museum on its Foundation Day in 2011. The initial investment for this project is estimated to be around 'one crore'.
According to Prof. Debashis Chatterjee, IIM-K Director, "Acknowledging the landmark achievements that has been scored by esteemed corporates over the past several decades, and the invaluable contributions that have been given to our country, it is our earnest wish that these corporates participate in the making of this museum, by contributing some significant historical objects and artifacts for which due acknowledgement will be attributed to the organization," he said.
He further added, "It is our endeavor to consolidate and conserve the rare treasure of India's invaluable wealth, the memorabilia of Indian Business History for our posterity."
The Institute desires to, for an instance an original letter written by JRD Tata or a pen used by him that has had a significant impact on India's business history to feature in their museum.
IIM K is deemed to take utmost care and show case these artefacts with professional expertise in their world class library premises. Within a short span of over a decade, IIMK has emerged as a center of excellence in management with a strong focus on global and cross cultural issues addressing both business demands and social concerns. IIM K is now a Centre of Excellence in Academic Leadership as part of the Singh-Obama Knowledge Initiative (SOKI), an ambitious academic leadership programme with Yale University launched in 2010.
Starting in 1997 with a batch of 42 students in its Postgraduate Programme (PGP), the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK) is on a high growth trajectory today, offering widest range of academic programmes in the field of management education.
PGP student's intake for 2009 was 309 students i.e. 5 times in 7 years thus making it the fastest growing management school in the country to reach that landmark. This was done keeping the quality of the programme high, as the Institute continued to maintain its sound placement record, ranking among the top 5 institutes in the country in 2008. IIMK pioneered Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) for working executives in India.
The Institute is today leader in Faculty Development Programmes (FDP) and is the major QIP (Quality Improvement Programme) Centre of the All Indian Council of Technical Education, in the field of management education.
A significant step was taken for incubation of a Centre of Excellence jointly with Government of Kerala, which is one of its kinds in India, to help the Scheduled Castes/tribes students overcome their deficiencies in communication, personality, etc.
Spread over about 100 acres of land, the Institute is situated on two hillocks in Kunnamangalam Area of ancient city of Calicut in Kerala, is one of the most picturesque oxy-rich campuses in the country. The world class infrastructure including air-conditioned classrooms, guest care areas and LAN/WAN connectivity enables IIMK to offer a life time experience to a visitor.
IIM K is the first business school in the world to commemorate C.K. Prahalad by creating an endowment in his name. The Institute is expected to generate Rs. 1 crore in endowment fund this year to promote the values that C.K. Prahalad stood for.
The whistle-blowing website said by Twitter that American diplomats briefed government officials of its six allies in advance of the release expected in the next few days.
The next release is expected to include thousands of diplomatic cables reporting corruption allegations against politicians in Russia, Afghanistan and other Central Asian nations, sources familiar with the State Department cables held by WikiLeaks told Reuters on Wednesday.
The allegations are major enough to cause serious embarrassment for foreign governments, the sources said.
Some governments appear to be bracing for the impact of the revelations.
According to the London-based daily al-Hayat, the WikiLeaks release includes documents that show Turkey has helped al-Qaeda in Iraq -- and that the United States has supported the PKK, a Kurdish rebel organization that has been waging a separatist war against Turkey since 1984, the Washington Post reported.
The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv warned the Israeli foreign ministry that some of the cables could concern U.S.-Israel relations, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported, citing a senior Israeli official.
Soon after Nitish Kumar was unanimously elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) legislature party - comprising legislators of his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he, along with other NDA leaders, met Governor Debananda Konwar and handed over letters of support from the newly-elected legislators of the twin-party alliance.
The governor invited Nitish Kumar to form the government and the time for swearing-in was fixed.
Top BJP leaders include party president Nitin Gadkari, L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, and Sushma Swaraj would be among the distinguished guests present at the swearing-in ceremony at the Gandhi Maidan here 2.30 p.m. Friday.
According to sources close to Nitish Kumar, a 35-member ministry with 20 from the JD-U and 15 from the BJP would also be sworn in Friday.
Earlier, Nitish Kumar was elected leader of the JD-U legislature party and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi was elected leader of the BJP legislature party, before the legislators met to elect their leader.
'Nitish Kumar was elected at a meeting of the newly elected party legislators of JD-U and BJP in the presence of JD-U president Sharad Yadav and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley,' a JD-U leader said.
The NDA combine swept the Bihar assembly polls with the JD-U winning 115 seats and the BJP 91 seats in the 243-member house.
