Saturday, January 30, 2010

* Wills India Fashion week to start from March 24

New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) The Autumn-Winter edition of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion week 2010 will be held between March 24 and 28 this year.

The gala event, hosted by the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), has a new venue - the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) Exhibition Complex here.

This season of WIFW will witness the largest-ever event space, spanning over 14,000 sq meters. The Spring-Summer 2010 edition was held at Pragati Maidan in October last year.

Special arrangements will be made by the FDCI to ensure that the new venue is 'tailor-made' for the event.

Exquisite lounges, plush salons, special on-site restaurants and exhibition cafe counters will be set up for the guests.

"WIFW has always been a much awaited fashion trade show of the country.

Dogra, CRPF adjudged best marching contingents for RD parade 2010

New Delhi, Jan 30 (ANI): The Dogra Regiment has won the best marching contingent award amongst the three Services for the 2010 Republic Day Parade while the CRPF has been adjudged the best amongst the paramilitary and other auxiliary marching contingents.

Among the five school children items that took part in the parade, the Dolukunitha dance form of Karnataka, performed by children from the South Zone cultural centre, Thanjavur, has been adjudged as the best.

The Ministry of Culture''s tableau put up by the Sangeet Natak Akademi has bagged the coveted first prize amongst the 21 tableaux on display at the Rajpath.

The Goa state tableau with the theme of International Film Festival of India and Chhattisgarh tableau depicting Kotumsar caves have won the second and third prize in the tableau category.

The floral tableau on global warming, mounted by the CPWD, has been chosen for a special prize.

Defence Minister AK Antony will give away the awards for the best tableaux at a function in New Delhi on Sunday, January 31. (ANI)

No bikini ban on Goa beaches, says state govt

Goa Tourism Department on Saturday rubbished media reports that Goa government will ban bikinis on the beaches in view of spate of crimes against women in the holiday destination.

"There are no moves to ban bikinis on the beaches. We have just moved to ensure that the government sponsored advertisements does not have women in bikinis on it," state Tourism Minister Fransisco Pacheco said.

The minister was reacting to the media reports which claimed, quoting a senior tourism ministry official, that bikinis would be banned on the state's beaches.

"How will people bath in the sea without swim wear? There is nothing vulgar in wearing beachwear on the beaches," he said.

Pacheco said that the tourism ministry is concerned over wrong portrayal of Goa's image as a sex tourism destination and that's why the directives were issued to delete bikini clad women from the advertisements.

"This is a family holiday destination. There are lakhs of families, many from neighbouring states, who holiday here," he said.

The minister said that the ban on bikinis cannot be imposed because foreigners come down here to take sunbath on the beaches.

Pacheco, a NCP legislator, had recently expressed his worries over spate of crimes against tourists in the state after two Russian women were reportedly raped during last two months.

The minister had demanded that the Congress high command re-allot the portfolios and move out "inefficient" ministers.

Honda to recall 8000 units of City 2007 model

Honda Siel Cars India on Saturday said it will recall over 8,000 units of sedan 'City' in the country due to defective power window switches as part of a global recall.

The vehicles, which have been recalled, were manufactured in 2007, a company official said.

On Friday, Honda had announced a global recall of 6.46 lakh units of City and Jazz models after reports of defective power window switches.

However, HSCI had said the recall will not impact the hatchback Jazz sold in India as the model belongs to later generation than the one which has been recalled in other markets of the world.

Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, (HSCI) is a joint venture between Honda Motor Co Ltd, Japan and Siel Limited, a Siddharth Shriram Group company.

DVDs That can Last 1,000 years

Would you like your valuable memories to be stored in a DVD that lasts as long as you live? Typically, a consumer grade DVD has a lifespan of two- to five-year. Well, we came across an immortal DVD that can last 10 times your lifetime. Developed by a start-up Cranberry LLC, this DVD could virtually last a millennium. Cranberry claims that their technology has been proved by researchers using the ECMA-379 temperature and humidity testing standards.

The DVD stores 4.7GB of data and uses the same standard DVDs to store data. Unlike the silver or gold reflective surface, the disc is transparent, with no reflective layer. The standard DVDs use a 650 nanometer wavelength laser diode to etch a small pit into a disc's media surface. However, the DiamonDisc uses a higher-intensity laser to etch data into the "diamond-like" surface of its synthetic stone disc.

According to Joe Beaulaurier, Cranberry's chief marketing officer

For the military, there's no heat, light, magnetic waves or environmental abuse that will have an impact on these discs,

Customers purchasing the DVD will have to send their upload photos, videos or other content directly to Cranberry's Web site or mail it to the company. Cranberry will data-write the DiamondDisc for their customers.

Coming to the price - a single DiamonDisc would costs $34.95. Two or more individual discs come for $29.95, and a pack of five discs is available at $149.75. The price of the burner is sky-high, priced at a freaking $4,995. Interestingly, the burner can be easily plugged into any standard USB port and is compatible with any standard DVD burning software.

Overtly, if you want you photos, videos or other valuable content to be archived imperishably for entire life and the future generations, DiamonDisc seems a definite pick.

A close look at Apple iPad

The moment has ultimately come. Apple disclosed their tablet, called as iPad. They call it stunning tablet device. iPad ushered an era in terms of browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more. I am trying to give you a look and feel of the device with the help of this article after going through reviews from Apple blog and different news magazine.
Specification:

1. The size of iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs only 1.5 pounds.
2. iPad comes with a 9.7-inch, LED-backlit with 178 degree viewing angle.
3. Battery life is upto 10 hours.
4. iPad is built on A4 processor
5. The device is released in two versions, one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G.
6. The price of ipad is $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model and it will be available in March worldwide .

Key Features:

* There is only one single button which is less distracting than multiple buttons.
* Like iPhone, there is a single sleep/wake button at the top.
* There is one Headphone jack.
* It is interesting to see how the device switches from landscape to portrait mode in four direction.
* The touch screen is ultra responsive and it is easy to browse the web.
* The browsing of Map application is very satisfying. The street view comes very prominent.
* The HD videos of youtube works in an outstanding way.
* iPhoto is a wonderful experience than you might have thought about.
* It is very easy and quick to shuffle through bunch of emails.
* The iTunes store and iTunes Video work very well on iPad.
* The device will work on Bluetooth keyboard, but not on Bluetooth mouse.
* iPad runs almost over 140,000 apps on the App Store, which includes apps already purchased for your iPhone or iPod touch.
* Apple also revealed the new iBooks app for iPad, which includes Apple’s new iBookstore. Using iBookstore, you can browse, buy and read books on a mobile device.

Windows 7 Sales Skyrockets Microsoft Profits

With a hyper-sale of Windows 7, Microsoft posted an overwhelming 60 percent jump in quarterly profit. The Redmond based-company announced their net profit for second quarter fiscal touched $6.7 billion ( 74 cents per share) for its fiscal second quarter. This is $ 2.5 billion more than last year. Moreover, the net profit also surpasses the expectations of analysts at Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S who expected it to be 59 cents per share. Microsoft's stock has run-up after the launch of Windows 7 operating system in October. All the rivals IBM corp., Google Inc and Apple Inc have overcome the average Wall Street estimates this quarter.

As Andy Miedler, analyst at Edward Jones, projects

Make no mistake, these were very good results out of Microsoft. Expectations were heightened ever the last few weeks, given Q4 PC shipments and good numbers from Intel,

However, there are some questions raised against the earnings numbers, as Microsoft is said to have included the effects of deferred revenue from pre-sales of Windows 7 to PC makers and retailers, and its free upgrade program. If the revenue was deducted the profit would have been 60 cents per share.

Apprehending the market volatility, Microsoft stopped making specific profit or revenue forecasts in January 2009.

As told by Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein to Reuters

We didn't see enterprise spending growth in our fiscal second quarter just ended,

Windows 7 was Microsoft's strongest-selling operating system till date, given the Visatster with Vista. Last quarter, PC sales grew by 15.2 percent.

MIcrosoft's revenue climbed 14 percent to $19.02 billion after including $1.71 billion of deferred revenue from the Windows 7 launch in October. Excluding that the revenue the sales would stand at $17.31 billion.

Most analyst speculate that the Microsoft corp. stock had its run. With PC sales going steady and a new applications coming up, the stocks can still outperform. All eyes are on the newMicrosoft Office scheduled for a launch in June.

Sukhoi T-50- Successful Maiden Test Flight

MOSCOW, RUSSIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Sukhoi T-50, on Friday made a successful maiden test flight attempt over the sky of Komsomolsk-on-Amur for a time-frame of 47 minutes. Sergei Bogdan, who was the pilot of this test flight shared his experience of flying and said, "it is easy and comfortable to pilot." The success of the test flight attempt of this fifth-generation fighter plane has been a significant achievement for Russia, which has made great efforts for modernizing their fighter planes and weapons and stop using the planes of Soviet era.

Prior to the successful maiden test flight of Sukhoi T-50, Russians had failed in several projects of introducing high-profile weapons. The success of this fifth-generation fighter plane, which is reportedly built in collaboration with Indian experts must have given some relief to the Russian camp. According to the reports, the Russian officials have devoted almost twenty years for building the fifth-generationfighter plane . It has been reported that the success of the test has given them the hope that they would be able to put the plane in service from 2015. They also expect that this plane will be capable to challenge thefighter plane, F-22 of the United States.

Though the Sukhoi T-50 maiden test flight attempt has been successful, Russian officials have not shared any specification of the new fighter plane. They have also maintained confidentiality on the designs of the fifth-generation fighter plane that has made the headlines today. Though the officials declin
ed to make any comment on the details of the plane, a source reported that it has a range of 5,500 kilometer.










11,000 MBA aspirants to take online CAT re-test

NEW DELHI - Nearly 11,000 MBA aspirants, who could not take the online Common Admission Test (CAT) due to technical glitches last year, will take the examination over Saturday and Sunday.

The second phase of the exam to select students for the country’s top B-schools, will be conducted in around 40 centres across the nation, including nine in Delhi.

Ulhas Vairagkar, of coaching institute TIME, said: There are 11,000 students, 2,000 in Delhi, who have been identified across the country for the CAT re-test. These students couldn’t take the exam because of technical problems earlier.”

However, we can not say for sure how many will actually take the re-test since a number of them must have already appeared for other MBA entrance tests, he added.

As a result of the technical problems and students being unable to take the test, the date for the results has also been postponed. Earlier, the result was to be declared Jan 22, but now it will be out Feb 15, Vairagkar told IANS.

Since the results will be delayed, the students will get less time to prepare for the group discussion and interview. But the admission process as such will remain unaffected, he added.

At least 241,000 Masters in Business Administration aspirants had registered to appear for the first online CAT examination spread over 11 days from Nov 28 last year. However, all students could not appear for the exam due to technical glitches.

Obama administration announces $6.4 billion arms sale package to Taiwan

WASHINGTON — The United States is planning to sell $6.4 billion in arms to Taiwan, a move that will infuriate China and test whether President Barack Obama’s efforts to improve trust with Beijing will carry the countries through a tense time.

The notification to Congress, posted Friday on a Pentagon Web site, includes Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine hunter ships and information technology. Congress has 30 days to comment before the plan goes forward; senior lawmakers traditionally have supported such sales.

Taiwan is the most sensitive matter in U.S.-China relations, with the potential to plunge into conflict two powers increasingly linked in security and economic issues. China claims the self-governing island as its own. The United States is Taiwan’s most important ally and its largest arms supplier.

The United States, which told China of the sale only hours before the announcement, acknowledged that Beijing may retaliate by cutting off military talks with Washington, which happened after the Bush administration announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan in 2008.

The U.S. is “obstinately making the wrong decision,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday after Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei warned Ambassador Jon Huntsman the sale would “cause consequences that both sides are unwilling to see.” The vice minister urged that the sale be immediately canceled, it said.

Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said Beijing will lodge a formal protest against the U.S. decision. Asked if China would halt military talks, he said, “Let’s wait and see.”

“We strongly request that the U.S. side correct the wrong action, so as to avoid further damaging Chinese-U.S. relations,” Wang said. “TheTaiwan question and the arms sale issue bear on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, so this is a very serious problem.”

Though Taiwan’s ties with China have warmed considerably since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office 20 months ago, Beijing has threatened to invade if the island ever formalizes its de facto independence.

Ma told reporters Saturday that the deal should not anger the mainland because the weapons are defensive, not offensive.

Despite its size, the U.S. weapons package dodges a touchy issue: F-16 fighter jets that Taiwan covets are not included. Senior U.S. officials said they are aware of Taiwan’s desire for F-16s and are assessing Taiwan’s needs.

The arms package includes 114 PAC-3 missiles and other equipment, costing more than $2.8 billion; 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, costing $3.1 billion; information distribution systems and other equipment, at $340 million; two Osprey Class Mine Hunting Ships, at a cost of about $105 million; and other items.

The sale satisfies parts of an $11 billion arms package originally pledged to Taiwan by former President George W. Bush in 2001. That package has been provided in stages because of political and budgetary considerations in Taiwan and the United States.

U.S. officials say the Obama administration’s China policy is meant to improve trust between the countries, so that disagreements overTaiwan or Tibet do not reverse efforts to cooperate on nuclear standoffs in Iran and North Korea, and attempts to deal with economic and climate change issues.

China aims more than 1,000 ballistic missiles at Taiwan; the U.S. government is bound by law to ensure the island is able to respond to Chinese threats.

Obama’s national security adviser, Jim Jones, said Friday that both Washington and Beijing do things “periodically that may not make everybody completely happy.”

But Jones told an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank that the United States is “bent toward a new relationship with China as a rising power in the world.”

In European restaurants, over a third of milk contaminated

LONDON - One-third of samples of milk and dairy products analysed in various restaurants in Europe are contaminated, says a new study.

Researchers from the University of Valencia (UV) advised against keeping milk in jugs and suggest that these foodstuffs need to be better handled.

The team detected unsuitable practices, such as reheating milk over and over again, even in a microwave, and then pouring it back into the thermos, which increases the risk of microbial contamination.

The study shows that there is a greater contamination risk from milk kept in jugs.

“Out of all the dairy products we analysed, 35 percent of the samples exceeded the maximum contamination levels established by EU law for enterobacteriaceae, and 31 percent exceeded the limits set for mesophilic aerobic micro-organisms.”

“The latter grow at an optimum temperature of between 30 and 45 degrees Celsius,” said Isabel Sospedra, UV researcher in preventive medicine and public health and a study co-author, according to SINC.

Two percent of the samples of hot milk (kept in jugs or stainless teel thermos flasks) also tested positive for the bacteria E. coli.

The scientists examined 265 batches of milk and ready-to-use milk derivatives in a range of bars and restaurants in Valencia, and checked whether their microbial quality fell into line with European Union (EU) regulations.

The results show that one-third of the samples had some kind of microorganism contamination and were not fit for human consumption.

“Luckily none of the batches we analysed tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella spp., which are pathogenic micro-organisms that cause both food poisoning and toxoinfections,” the study authors say.

The experts advise that when using milk in any way it is important to clean jugs, thermos flasks and the steamers of coffee machines thoroughly and frequently, using the right kind of hygienic sponges or cloths, which is not always the case, said a university release.

“Kitchen cloths are not suitable for disinfecting because of their microstructure, which means they transfer even greater levels of contamination,” the scientists explain.

These findings were published recently in the journal of Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.

Drunken woman driver kills two and injures four in Mumbai

MUMBAI - A woman driving allegedly under the influence of alcohol rammed her car into a police jeep and a bike, leaving an assistant sub-inspector and the biker dead and four policemen seriously injuredhere on Saturday.

The woman identified as Nuriya Yusuf Ahluwalia, (27) rammed her Honda SUV into stationery traffic police vehicle Qualis and two other vehicles - a motorcycle and a taxi.

Motorcycle rider Afzal Kanojia, (35) and Police sub-inspector Lala Shinde succumbed to injuries while four constables.

Police confirmed that Ahluwalia was driving very rash and smashed into several vehicles.

“She was drunk. My two brothers were there. One died and the other one who witnessed that accident and is injured now told me that she was drunk,” said Riyaz Qureshi an eyewitness.

Police said Ahluwalia has been apprehended and a case also been registered at L.T Marg police station.

There was no time to stop her. She was driving very rash and the moment she dashed into a vehicle, her car overturned and then landed on the footpath. In this accident sub-inspector Shinde and other constables have sustained injuries. A civilian named Afzal has died in the hospital,”Police said.

The injured police personnel are undergoing treatment at a private hospital and Ahluwalia has been arrested. Ahluwalia is believed to be a top executive with a firm.

Medical examinations are being conducted on her have confirmed alochol intake.

The accused reportedly have been booked under culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing grievous hurt, and rash and negligent driving. (ANI)

Singer Zubeen Garg’s ponytail cut off by fan

GUWAHATI - Fans are known to do crazy things. But Assams singing sensation Zubeen Garg of “Ya Ali” fame was taken aback when he realised that a woman fan had stealthily chopped off his ponytail at a recording studio here.

The incident took place late Friday when Zubeen was busy dubbing an Assamese number at the DG Music Studio in Guwahati.

I suddenly found that my ponytail was missing and then found a woman fan of mine, who seems to be a little crazy, holding the lock of hair and shouting at me. What could I do? Zubeen told journalists.

Friends and acquaintances later shoved the woman out of the studio.

The woman had on earlier occasions attended some of my functions and even danced on stage, Zubeen said.

The singer is at his wit’s end, and so are some of his friends and well wishers, as Zubeen is currently shooting an Assamese TV serial “Anuradha” where he is supposed to sport theponytail.

There are some sequences left for shooting and for continuity we need the ponytail. Without Zubeens ponytail, the shooting would be incomplete. We have to find other ways to maintain the continuity in the serial, one of the make-up artists of the serial said.

The news of Zubeens ponytail cut by a woman fan has spread like wild fire as he is considered the heartthrob of the young generation in Assam.

I got the news late Friday and immediately rushed to the studio to find out what happened and how Zubeen looked without the ponytail, said Zublee, a female co-singer who accompanies Zubeen in most of the stage shows.

Fortunately for Zubeen, he managed to get the lock of hair back from the woman.

Look at this ponytail. Maybe some people dont like me to wear a ponytail, Zubeen said in a jovial manner.

Junk jhum to reduce landslides: Arunachal

cultivation is one of the primary causes of killer landslides in Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere in the Northeast. This was underscored at a workshop on micro-zonation of landslide and earthquake in Itanagar on Friday.

According to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, the government was initiating proposals for fencing of slope farms and terrain-specific irrigation to help jhum cultivators switch to permanent cultivation in order to reduce landslides.

“We are awaiting the Centre’s approval for such innovative schemes toward greater ecological good,” he said.

Experts at the workshop said landslides, a common phenomenon in the Northeast, occur due to various human factors and can be minimized through awareness. Improper construction and unplanned towns on slopes are debilitating factors too..

Every year, monsoon-induced landslides kill at least 60 people in the Northeast, a majority of them in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2008, the Arunachal Pradesh government was forced to change building bylaw after a landslide in State capital Itanagar claimed 17 persons.

Agriculture experts, though, are divided over the ecological impact of jhum, something various hill tribes of the region have been practicing for centuries.

“There’s a misconception about jhum, which has traditionally been cyclic. A patch of hill slope forest burnt down once for cultivation would be allowed to grow back before using it again. The problem lies in places where due to land crunch and population pressure farmers return to the same patch sooner than was traditionally mandated,” said land resources specialist Amba Jamir from Nagaland.

53 beauty queens compete for Miss America crown during pageant in Las Vegas

53 beauty queens vie for Miss America crown

LAS VEGAS — A group of 53 beauty queens picked from around the country for their smiles, struts and interview savvy were set to woo a panel of judges in hopes of winning theMiss America 2010 crown.

The young women from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will cap a week of preliminary competition with the scheduled crowning of a winner Saturday night inLas Vegas.

The winner, crowned by reigning Miss America Katie Stam, gets a $50,000 scholarship and embarks on a yearlong run with the title to represent the organization and raise awareness for her chosen platform.

The 89-year-old pageant to be televised live on cable network TLC is hosted by actor and “Extra” host Mario Lopez, with help from Clinton Kelly of TLC’s “What Not to Wear.”

The panel of judges include radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, actress Vivica Fox, musician Dave Koz, Miss America 2002 Katie Harman, gymnast Shawn Johnson and former “American Idol” finalist Brooke White. Comedian Paul Rodriguez was set to be a judge, but organizers said he pulled out because of a family emergency.

Scores based on a week of preliminary competitions will be added to Saturday’s swimsuit, talent, evening gown and interview competitions to determine a winner. Each judge will rank their five favorites in order, and their ballots will be used to pick the winner.

Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron, Miss California Kristy Cavinder and Miss Michigan Nicole Blaszczyk each won $2,000 this week for winning talent competitions among three split fields of contestants. Miss Oregon CC Barber, Miss New York Alyse Zwick and Miss Puerto Rico Mimi Pabon each won $1,000 in nightly swimsuit competitions.

Miss Oklahoma Taylor Treat won the $6,000 Quality of Life award, given to the contestant judged to excel most in volunteerism and community service.

In all, the Miss America Organization planned to award $340,000 in scholarships at the national level. The organization says its national, state and local chapters gave more than $45 million last year in cash and scholarships.

The pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino was preceded by a one-hour television special on TLC, “Miss America: Behind the Curtain.” The Kelly-hosted special will reveal 12 women — picked by the contestants themselves — who will be part of an online public vote for a spot among the 15 finalists.

Stam, a Seymour, Ind., native, was one of four finalists chosen by viewers last year. This year, the public will pick three finalists to move onto the swimsuit competition.

The crowning of a Miss America began in 1921 as a publicity stunt to persuade tourists on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk to stick around after Labor Day. The bathing revue blossomed in the age of television into an American pop icon before fading in later years and losing it place on network TV in 2004. It moved to theLas Vegas Strip in 2006 in an attempt to reinvent itself and has found a home on cable television.

On the Net:

Miss America: www.missamerica.org/

TLC Network: www.tlc.com/