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India successfully test fires Agni III missile

Wed, 07 May 2008 09:48:00 -0400

New Delhi: In its Golden Jubilee year, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted a golden launch of Agni-III Missile system to a Range of 3000 kilometre at 9:56 am today from the Wheeler Island, about 12 kilometre from Dhamra off Orissa Coast. The launch propelled India into a select group of countries with IRBM (Intermediate-range Ballistic Missile) capabilities and added yet another dimension to the national deterrence.

Agni-III missile is a two stage solid propellant system with a length 17 metres, diameter of 2 metres and launch weight of 50 tonnes, carries a payload of 1.5 tonnes. The Missile re-enters into the atmosphere with a very high velocity and experiences a deceleration of more than 35 g and a temperature of more than 2500o C. The payload is protected by Carbon-Carbon all composite heat shield. The A3 is Rail Mobile System and is capable of being launched from any where in India

After the launch the missile reached the pre-designated target in a time of 800 seconds, travelling through a peak height of 350 kilometre with a velocity of more than 4000 meters/second. Two Indian Naval Ships positioned near the target location South of equator, have confirmed the impact of the Missile. This is the third flight test in the series of Agni-III, which was carried out to establish the repeatability of Missile performance.

The Missile system is equipped with sophisticated Navigation, Guidance and Control systems along with advanced distributed architecture based On-Board-Computer-Systems. The electronic systems are hardened for higher vibration, thermal and acoustic effects. A high performance indigenous Ring Laser Gyro based Navigation System is flight tested for the first time in Agni Missile Systems.

This was the third test of the missile, which scientists say has the capability of hitting strategic targets like Beijing and Shanghai deep inside China. The complete Integration and launch activities are carried out under the leadership of AGNI Programme Director, Avinash Chander, who declared the Agni-III flight test a complete success and met all the mission objectives. He also said that, with this flight, the developmental flights of Agni-III are complete and the system is ready for induction.

The successful launch of Agni-III was witnessed by M Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister; Sundaram Krishnan, Advisor to Defence Minister; Shekhar Dutt, Deputy National Security Advisor; V K Saraswat, Chief Controller (R&D) and other senior officials of the Forces.

Defence Minister A K Antony congratulated the Mission Director and all the scientists of DRDO for the successful launch of Agni-III.

Chinese official denies government hand in cyber attacks

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:30:00 -0400

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Chinese officials Monday dismissed as "baseless" reports that their government was involved in cyber warfare targeting Indian computer networks and stressed that such activities were not in sync with the developing trust between the two countries.

“The Chinese government has nothing to do with it. The Chinese government discourages such activities against all countries, including India,” said a Chinese embassy official, who did not wish to be named.

“These reports are baseless. They are not in tune with the growing trust and friendship between India and China,” the official told IANS while alluding to media reports alleging that the Chinese were targeting both government and private Indian computer networks to get access to strategic information.

“Hacking is a worldwide phenomenon. The Chinese networks have also been victims of hacking,” said the official, while recalling how one of the websites of the Chinese government was found to be hacked by someone from North America last year.

Sources in the external affairs ministry admitted that the ministry's computer network had been targeted from time and time and a recent hacking was traced to some Chinese IP addresses.

The ministry is, however, not sure about the antecedents of hackers or whether they have any links with the Chinese government, the source said.

“Some IP addresses were also traced to Americans and Europeans," he added.

The ministry conducts a periodic audit of the safety of its computer network to prevent hackers from succeeding.

The hackers break into the ministry's communications network to access emails between officials and communication with foreign missions that gives them a sense of sensitive policy making in crucial areas.

The Indian external affairs ministry is not alone in being targeted by hackers. The internal network of the Pentagon, the US defence headquarters, was targeted last year, allegedly by Chinese hackers. The Chinese government had then denied any link with these hackers.

Last year, China was accused of hacking into computer networks of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's chancery and three other ministries. Beijing had strenuously denied these reports.

India has woken up to the looming threat of cyber warfare and is trying to integrate cyber security into its security doctrine.

Top army officers, at a recent commanders' conference chaired by General Deepak Kapoor, decided to boost the "cyber-security" of its information networks right down to the level of divisions.

The army top brass is also planning "periodic cyber-security audits" by the Army Cyber Security Establishment (ACSE) to protect against cyber warfare and data thefts.

Telecom regulator starts discussion on MVNOs

Mon, 05 May 2008 09:55:00 -0400

New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today initiated a discussion among all stakeholders of the industry on allowing mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in India. MVNOs buy airtime from mobile network operators (MNO) and sell it under their own brand name. While it is the operator who builds and runs the network, the MVNO looks after marketing, branding and customer care.

The main difference between a franchisee and MVNO is that MVNOs add value to the service and offer differentiated service to niche market segments. MNVOs do not have their own spectrum. They share spectrum with the parent MNO. Globally, there are more than 300 registered MVNOs and it is gradually emerging as a booming market within the telecommunications space.

“The MVNOs may benefit MNOs to expand the market by reaching entirely new or previously unserved/underserved market segments or geographical area,” TRAI said in a statement. “It could also lead to better network utilisation and realisation of economies of scale. The MVNOs may thus help widen and deepen the market of MNO,” it added.

The watchdog has recommended entry of as many MVNOs as possible as long as they intend to conduct serious business in India. The discussion paper issued by TRAI provides for consultation and debate on several issues such as the definition of MVNO, MVNO models, regulatory approaches, sharing of spectrum and licensing issues, among others.

It also discusses the business potential of the MVNOs such as offering services with low price, focusing on specific customer segments, offering differentiated value added services and international clustering. Current Indian telecom laws do not allow MVNOs to operate and a policy on this would require guidelines from the regulator and the government. According to industry sources, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had asked TRAI to initiate consultations among all stakeholders to study the viability of allowing MVNOs.

A final policy on this is expected by the end of the year, the sources said. The debate started after Mumbai-based Tata Teleservices in March entered into a partnership with Britain's Virgin Mobile to offer value-added services. Other operators termed this a 'backdoor entry', and urged the government to clarify the partnership as it was on the lines of a MVNO. (IANS)

Pachauri set to become IPCC head again

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:33:00 -0400

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore, is set to become its chairman for a second term, official sources said.

His current term ends July 31. Pachauri has agreed to put in his candidature for a second term, government sources confirmed here Monday. Pachauri is based in the Indian capital, where he also heads The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), a think tank.

Pachauri's name for a second term as head of the influential IPCC was endorsed at an executive committee meeting of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva late last month, the sources said.

The WMO is one of the parents of the IPCC. Top officials in the other parent body, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), had made it known that Pachauri would be elected chairman "unanimously" if he agreed to put in his name.

"I don't see anyone opposing him," a senior UNEP official had told IANS earlier.

Pachauri was reportedly waiting for the WMO executive committee meeting before agreeing to have his name put forward. He has now agreed, the sources said, adding that the government would now formally propose his name to head the UN body once more.

Pachauri is also a member of the prime minister's task force on climate change, which is expected to outline this June India's strategy to tackle climate change.

Since Pachauri took over as chairman of the IPCC on April 20, 2002 for his first term, the group of over 2,500 scientists worldwide has come into global focus because they have been carrying out the benchmark studies on climate change, the crisis that has been described as the "defining challenge of our times".

The fourth assessment report of the IPCC brought out in 2007 under Pachauri's stewardship woke up the world to the imminence of climate change, a phenomenon that is already affecting farm output, leading to more frequent and more severe droughts, floods and storms and raising the sea level, with the worst impacts on the tropics and sub-tropics.

Born on Aug 20, 1940 in Nainital, Padma Bhushan awardee Pachauri started his career at Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi. He moved on to teach at North Carolina State University in Raleigh (North Carolina), where he also got two doctorates - in industrial engineering and economics. Then he taught at Administrative Staff College of India in Hyderabad and was the director of Consulting and Applied Research Division before starting to head TERI in August 1981.

Pachauri has authored 21 books apart from a number of academic papers and articles. One of the books is on cricket, a game he follows keenly.

An MP speaks up for endangered Olive Ridley turtles

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:29:00 -0400

New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) A lone voice has emerged from the corridors of power to plead for the endangered Olive Ridley turtles in Orissa - seeking a ban on all missile tests from Chandipur during April and May every year.

Bhartruhari Mahtab, a member of the Lok Sabha from Cuttack, has raised the issue in the house and plans to take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh if his concerns are not heeded promptly.

As a matter of urgent public importance, Mahtab raised the issue in the Lok Sabha last week. He is not willing to wait indefinitely.

"April and May are the crucial time for the turtles to nest, and any missile test would adversely affect the nesting process. The government should stop any missile tests during these two months," Mahtab told IANS.

Mahtab has even sought advancing of the Agni missile test, scheduled for some time next week, from Chandipur.

"There is no nesting also in and around the Wheeler Islands from where the missiles are test-fired. The missile tests are having an adverse impact on the nesting of turtles," Mahtab added.

Orissa is home to three mass nesting sites of the Olive Ridley turtles, namely Nasi Islands of the Gahirmatha beach in Kendrapada district, the Devi river mouth in Puri district and the Rushikulya river mouth.

"Nasi islands are near Wheeler Island and have the world's largest nesting sites with over 700,000 turtles laying eggs on the beach every year. No mass nesting has been reported from Gahirmatha and Devi river mouth so far," Mahtab added.

However, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has denied the test firing could have adversely affected the nesting of turtles and said it could be due to some other reasons.

"The missile testing takes place only after securing the concurrence of other agencies concerned. Shaded and inverted lights are used during the testing, which have no adverse impact on environment," an official source in the DRDO told IANS.

"The test firing takes place during day time. It takes only two or three seconds for a missile to take off. Thus, the chances of nesting getting affected by the missile test are very remote," the official added.

WWF India activists feel there is a need to look beyond the hype over missile testing as the reason. They feel there could be many other obvious reasons, including trawler nets, to disturb the nesting and hatching of turtles.

"The missile tests may or may not be the reason for the missing nesting in an area. Heavy activities or bright lights can be a deterrent, but it has not yet been scientifically established," Michael Peters, state director, WWF-India, told IANS on phone from Bhubaneswar.

Peters said that the trawlers did not use the turtle excluder device (TED) while fishing and also violated with impunity the ban on fishing within a 20-km radius of the major breeding grounds.

"In Gahirmatha, Rushikulya, and Devi river mouths, the trawlers must have TEDs in the nets before licences are issued. Yet they do not use the device, driven by a misplaced fear of drastic reduction in fish catch," added Peters.

As per an estimate of wildlife organisations, around 15,000 Olive Ridley turtles on an average get killed every year. About 90,000 turtles were estimated to have been killed in the past nine years.

Like tigers and elephants, the Olive Ridley turtle is protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Violation entails imprisonment for a term that may extend to three years or with fine, which may extend to Rs.25,000 or with both.

The coast of Orissa forms a highly complex yet dynamic eco-system comprising a myriad of wetlands, deltas, mangroves, and mudflats, making the coastline an ideal habitat for many species - fresh and brackish water terrapins, dolphins, porpoises, dugongs and the most vulnerable Olive Ridley sea turtles.

(Rajeev Ranjan Roy can be contacted at rajeev.r@ians.in)

'Science Express' arrives in Bhopal

Sun, 04 May 2008 13:44:00 -0400

Bhopal, May 4 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Governor Balram Jakhar here Sunday congratulated the scientists and said the recent launch of 10 satellites at one go was a big achievement for the country.

Jakhar was speaking on the arrival of the Science Express - a science exhibition aboard a railway rake - at Bhopal's Habibganj railway station. He welcomed the Science Express by cutting a ribbon.

Jakhar also claimed that efforts to control galloping inflation would succeed.

In an indirect response to US President George W. Bush's statement that India's growing prosperity was the major reason for the global food crisis, he said nobody should be sad over India's prosperity and progress.

The Science Express, an Indo-German initiative, is being conducted by the Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad.

A team of 40 trained personnel is aboard the Express to explain the models and activities to the visitors in detail and also answer their various queries, the local coordinating body of the exhibition, Gwalior Science Centre, said.

The objective of the mobile exhibition, which will be open for the public till May 8, is to create awareness and interest in science among children and youth.

The exhibition includes 12 bogies fitted with audio-visual, computer-based and do-it yourself science activities and models.

The 13th bogie carries a Kids Lab set up by the BASF Chemical Company, where the visiting children can perform basic science experiments.

Another part of the train includes a tableau on the science and technology related progress made by the country.

Microsoft withdraws offer for Yahoo

Sun, 04 May 2008 03:32:00 -0400

New York, May 4 (DPA) Software giant Microsoft said it has withdrawn its offer for Yahoo after its higher offer failed to move the internet company.

The collapse of talks between the companies ended Microsoft's hopes of buying the web portal to stiffen its competition with Google for internet advertising and software.

Microsoft had raised its bid for Yahoo to $44.6 billion, or $33 per share, as negotiations between the firms intensified over the weekend, but the increase had failed to win over Yahoo executives who had insisted on a higher price of $37 per share.

"Despite our best efforts, including raising our bid by roughly $5 billion, Yahoo has not moved toward accepting our offer. After careful consideration, we believe the economics demanded by Yahoo do not make sense for us, and it is in the best interests of Microsoft stockholders, employees and other stakeholders to withdraw our proposal," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement Saturday.

In a letter to Yahoo chief executive Jerry Yang, Ballmer stressed that he believed a merger "would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace."

However, Microsoft was not willing to increase its bid by a further $5 billion to meet Yahoo's demand.

In a statement in response to the breakoff of negotiations, Yahoo maintained that Microsoft's price was insufficient.

"From the beginning of this process, our independent board and our management have been steadfast in our belief that Microsoft's offer undervalued the company and we are pleased that so many of our shareholders joined us in expressing that view," said chairman Roy Bostock.

Ballmer also said his company would attempt a hostile takeover of Yahoo, calling it "not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders".

He urged Yahoo against responding by forming an online advertising deal with rival Google. Such a deal would devalue Yahoo's market position by decreasing competition and making Yahoo irrelevant in the online advertising sector, essentially eliminating any further merger opportunities with Microsoft, Ballmer wrote.

The three-month long discussion of a Yahoo takeover began with a $45 billion offer that had shrunk to $41.9 billion by last weekend, when a deadline passed for Yahoo to accept the offer. The internet firm had originally dismissed the bid as undervaluing the company, even though it represented a premium of 62 percent on the company's pre-offer share price.

Yahoo's Yang said that the company would now be able to move on.

"With the distraction of Microsoft's unsolicited proposal now behind us, we will be able to focus all of our energies on executing the most important transition in our history so that we can maximize our potential to the benefit of our shareholders, employees, partners and users," he said.

Media reports Friday said Yahoo and Google were close to reaching an advertising partnership that would see Google's ads appearing on Yahoo sites. The move could boost Yahoo's revenues by approximately $1 billion annually since Google's ads have higher click-through rates than Yahoo's.

However the move could face regulatory hurdles.

New BlackBerry to change work culture

Sun, 04 May 2008 01:35:00 -0400

Toronto, May 4 (IANS) Ushering in a big change in work culture, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) here have announced it would soon unveil new smartphones with a mobile software that allows access to business data for users "anytime, anywhere".

The Canadian leader in mobile connectivity said it has joined hands with German software giant SAP to install a mobile version of SAP's business management software in its devices that will available in the market soon.

Though this software, known as customer relationship management (CRM) software, is already installed in the Blackberry and is used through a browser, its mobile version will put all information directly on the device. Thus mobile users will soon be able to work freely on SAP, no longer tied to their desktops or offices to perform their jobs, a RIM press statement said.

With the installation of SAP's mobile software, sales data, purchase orders, contact information and customer records will become available on the BlackBerry. The device will also be GPS-enabled and capable of storing hours of video data which could be used for training the sales people while they are traveling.

``Just as the BlackBerry wireless platform has transformed the way people use e-mail, SAP and RIM will bring the power and productivity of SAP enterprise applications to the BlackBerry platform in a similarly robust and user-friendly manner,'' the statement said.

By tearing down the walls between enterprise computing and mobile connectivity, it said, SAP and RIM will enhance employee productivity.

The statement said their partnership will merge the power of CRM software with core BlackBerry smartphone applications, including email, address book and calendar applications, to `deliver an indispensable tool for sales people.'

``SAP is thrilled to bolster its long-standing relationship with RIM through the co-development of this breakthrough offering,'' Bill McDermott, president and CEO of SAP Americas and Asia Pacific Japan, was quoted as saying.

``By combining RIM's expertise for empowering the mobile worker and SAP's strength in business computing, we are embarking on an exciting future to make it easier and more convenient for today's business users to perform their jobs.

``Our extended partnership with RIM will open many new doors for mobile workers around the world who require real-time mobile access to enterprise applications in a secure setting,'' McDermott said.

As per the data by research firm IDC, 800 million professionals - about 25.7 percent of the workforce - used mobiles worldwide last year.

This figure will touch the one billion-mark by 2011, leading to a fierce competition among BlackBerry, Apple's iPhone and Nokia.

BlackBerry is set unveil many new devices this year.

Canadian scientists develop automated anaesthetic system

Sat, 03 May 2008 03:40:00 -0400

Toronto, May 3 (IANS) Researchers at Canada's McGill University have developed the world's first fully automated anaesthetic system, nicknamed McSleepy.

McSleepy administers drugs for general anaesthesia and monitors their separate effects all by itself, independently of manual intervention.

The automated technique was used on a patient who underwent a partial nephrectomy, which is the procedure for removal of a kidney tumour. The non-cancerous part was left intact in the operation that lasted three-and-a-half hours.

McSleepy assists the anaesthesiologist in the same way an automatic transmission assists people when driving. As such, anaesthesiologists can focus more on other aspects of direct patient care.

An additional feature is that the system can communicate with personal digital assistants (PDAs), making distant monitoring and anaesthetic control possible.

“Think of McSleepy as a sort of humanoid anaesthesiologist that thinks like an anaesthesiologist, analyses biological information and constantly adapts its own behaviour, even recognising monitoring malfunction," said Thomas M. Hemmerling of Montreal General Hospital.

Hemmerling heads Intelligent Technology in Anaesthesia Research Group (ITAG), a team of anaesthesiologists, biomedical scientists and engineers.

"We have been working for the last five years closed-loop systems where drugs are administered, their effects continuously monitored and the doses are adjusted accordingly,” said Hemmerling.

The automated system measures three separate effects displayed on a new integrated monitor of anaesthesia (IMATM) - depth of hypnosis via EEG analysis, pain via a new pain score called AnalgoscoreTM, and muscle relaxation via phonomyographyTM, all developed by ITAG.

The system then administers the appropriate drugs using conventional infusion pumps, controlled by a laptop computer on which McSleepy is installed.

Using these parameters and complex algorithms, the automated system calculates the appropriate drug doses for any given moment of anaesthesia faster and more precisely than a human can.

“It will probably take two years to perfect the system,” Hemmerling said. “Many people are reluctant to rely on automated systems, especially when they are not visible - it is not clear what they are actually doing or how - the fear of a 'black box' which suddenly takes over”.

Hemmerling hoped that a commercial system might be available within the next five years.

West Bengal Local news and Information goes mobile

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:03:00 -0400

Breaking news, sports, Entertainment and other must-have local information now can be accessed easily by mobile phone users , Howrah News Service ( howrah.org ) announced today, with the launch of its news portal's mobile edition, here in Howrah, West Bengal, India.

The local mobile sites are designed to appear on small screens and include content – updated 24/7 – produced by Howrah News Service . Now available worlwide at http://howrah.org/mobile/ from mobile phone browsers, Howrah News Mobile provides visitors with one-stop access to not only local news but also news from worldwide in real time .

“We believe visiors want to get news in real time for their mobile phones, while having them remain easily accessible and free of charge and we call it 'news on the move' said Aloke Majumder of Howrah News Service. “Howrah News Mobile at http://howrah.org/mobile/ is a complete mobile news portal which will carry news on current affairs, cricket, entertainment, amongst a host of other things. Though it is currently in beta , but fully accessible and we are continuously working on it in order to make it more effective.” - He added .

Howrah News Mobile offer National, International, Sports & Entertainment news, along with other news which includes technology, lifestyle and education .

According to TRAI figures - 1 out of every 5 mobile users in India connects to the internet through mobile phone so whether its PC or Mobile, Howrah News Service's aim is to give its visitors the freedom of access to information, no matter what technology they are using . A Regular PC edition of the site is originally available at http://howrah.org . The mobile is designed in a compatible format that easily supports all mobile devices in India.

To learn more about Howrah News Mobile , Please log on to http://howrah.org/mobile/

Howrah News Service ( howrah.org ) is the first online news service, based in and operated from Howrah and it has been a leading local news source of Howrah and its suburbs including Kolkata and rest of the state of West Bengal, since 2006 for millions of hits per month.

Howrah News Service provides its worldwide audience the latest in free LOCAL NEWS of West Bengal as well all happening news worldwide from an experienced team of writers, editors along with relevant news services all available in a simple and easy-to-read format, a mission we continue to strive for each and every day..