China eyes Indian outsourcing cos for software solutions

As top Chinese enterprises such as Bank of China and China Telecom seek to globalise their operations, they are increasingly turning to multinational and Indian outsourcing firms, including IBM and TCS, for deploying and maintaining standard software solutions, giving them an edge over local service providers.

In many ways, Chinese customers’ shift towards global and Indian vendors is reminiscent of how top Indian customers such as Bharti Airtel preferred an IBM over domestic suppliers around two decades ago for modernising their IT and business systems.

While state-owned and local Chinese software services suppliers, such as Digital China Holdings and Neusoft, continue to work with the country’s large customers, IBM along with TCS and others are being preferred for large, complex outsourcing contracts by customers such as China Telecom and Bank of China.

“A fragmented local vendor landscape and a domestic market dominated by wholly foreign-owned enterprise customers means that it will be the major western and Indian outsourcing vendors that will reap the rewards,” said Patrick O’Brien, senior analyst at the UK-based research firm Ovum. “Apart from scale, local service providers also lack experience in handling large outsourcing contracts, something global and Indian firms are really good at,” he added.

While IBM earned nearly $690 million from China’s almost $10-billion IT services market last year, both TCS and Wipro have started making progress as well. TCS on its part, has recently won several large contracts beating local Chinese rivals, including over $100-million deal for implementing a core banking at Bank of China.

Modi invites Maruti to set up plant in state

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) to set up a car manufacturing facility in Gujarat. Modi, after inaugurating the AGIDTR set up by the state government and MSIL here, said he wanted to give a business advice to Maruti. “Gujarat has General Motors and Nano, why not Maruti?” Modi said, pointing out that MSIL manufactures cars at Haryana which are then brought to Gujarat’s Mundra port for exports. “Would any Gujarati make such a mistake? They (cars) should be manufactured and exported from here.” He added that with the construction of Mumbai-Delhi Industrial Corridor with active participation of Japan and arrival of a number of Japanese companies with a view to invest in Gujarat, MSIL should also establish their car unit in Gujarat. MSIL’s managing director and CEO Shinzo Nakanishi on his part said that MSIL is expecting export business to further grow this year. “Last year, we had exported 70,000 units whereas this year we hope to exceed one lakh units,” said Nakanishi.

Blast outside Peshawar judicial complex kills 15, injures 22

At least 15 were reportedly killed and 22 others injured in a powerful explosion outside a court building in Peshawar on Thursday morning.

According to security officials, the blast occurred near the main entrance of the judicial complex, which is situated on Khyber Road.

Police have cordoned-off the area and injured have been admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital here.

Eyewitnesses said the blast occurred in a car parked adjacent to the building. However, unconfirmed reports said it was a suicide attack.

A large number of lawyers were present inside the complex at the time of the explosion.

Television footage showed the mangled remains of several vehicles parked nearby.

Fire tenders and other emergency services were pressed into service immediately after the blast.

Security officials have cordoned-off the area and launched a massive search and combing operation.

VISION AND MISSION OF RELIANCE ENERGY

VISION
To be amongst the most admired and most trusted integrated utility companies in the world,delivering reliable and quality products and services to all customers at competitive costs,with international standards of customer care -thereby creating superior value for all stakeholders.

To set new benchmarks in standards of corporate performance and governance through the pursuit of operational and financial excellence,responsible citizenship and profitable growth.

MISSION: Excellence in Infrastructure

To attain global best practices and become a world-class utility.

To create world-class assets and infrastructure to provide the platform for faster, consistent growth for India to become a major world economic power.

To achieve excellence in service, quality, reliability, safety and customer care.

To earn the trust and confidence of all customers and stakeholders and by exceeding their expectations, make the company a respected household name.

To work with vigour,dedication and innovation,with total customer satisfaction as the ultimate goal.

To consistently achieve high growth with the highest levels of productivity.

To be a technology driven, efficient and financially sound organization.

To be a responsible corporate citizen, nurturing human values and concern for society, the environment and above all, people.

To contribute towards community development and nation building.

To promote a work culture that fosters individual growth, team spirit and creativity to overcome challenges and attain goals.

To encourage ideas, talent and value systems.

To uphold the guiding principles of trust, integrity and transparency in all aspects of interactions and dealings.

Mahindra Satyam rejects Rs 1,230-cr claims

Mahindra Satyam on Tuesday rejected claims worth Rs 1,230 crore made by 37 companies linked to the company’s former promoter B Ramalinga Raju in a filing to the stock exchange. The company said the claims were legally untenable. Satyam received letters from these 37 companies reclaiming the money a day after Raju confessed to the Rs 7,000-crore fraud.

Raju, in his confession statement, said he owed Rs 1,230 crore to some of the privately-owned companies of the Raju family who had loaned out money to the IT firm. He said the amount was an understated liability and was not stated in the books of the firm that were dressed for seven years.

A Satyam spokesperson said the companies sent legal notices to Satyam two weeks ago. The notices claim the money back to allegedly repay their creditors, some of whom include Maytas Properties and Maytas Infra.

However, the information pack given to the bidders has listed this only as a claim and not a liability since there are no entries in the company’s books.

After Raju’s disclosure about financial wrongdoings, the Indian government had superseded the company’s board appointing its nominees to monitor the fraud-struck firm’s bidding process. Tech Mahindra emerged as the highest bidder and acquired control of Satyam in April this year.

BHEL to set up power plant in central India

Top Indian power-equipment maker Bharat Heavy Electricals said on Wednesday it has signed a joint-venture pact to build a 1,600 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

The power plant at Khandwa will be equipped with supercritical technology, which helps lower coal consumption and leads to lower emissions. State utility Madhya Pradesh Power Generation Co Ltd and BHEL will initially have an equal share in the joint venture.

Their stakes will later be diluted to 26 percent each, with the rest held by financial institutions and other partners, BHEL said. BHEL has been promoting joint ventures with state utilities to set up and operate supercritical thermal power plants.

It has set up joint ventures with the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Earlier this month, leading Indian power producer NTPC said it would set up a 2,640 megawatt (MW) thermal power plant under a pact with the Madhya Pradesh state government and the MP Power Trading Co.

Accentia to add 2K jobs at techno-lodges

The Kerala IT department’s decision to roll out techno-lodges, making IT infrastructure available at the panchayat level, has drawn instant interest from the industry, with Accentia Technologies announcing that it intends to add 2,000 jobs to be based out of these techno-lodges. Accentia CEO Pradeep Viswambharan said his company planned to create these jobs across the villages of Kerala where the IT department and the local panchayats would develop requisite infrastructure for the IT industry. Healthcare receivables cycle management (HRCM) major Accentia, based at the Technopark here, had recently commenced operations from the UK, with the objective of tapping potential markets in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland. The first two of the techno-lodges in Kerala, both located in Kollam district, have been fully taken up by Accentia Technologies. Mr Viswambharan said the company would base its production centers at these lodges and that all openings generated in these centers would be given to graduates from the respective villages. He said the company was willing to take up more space at the upcoming techno-lodges, and that the political leadership had promised an environment free of hartals in these villages. Accentia has a presence in Oregon and New Jersey, US and in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE besides over half a dozen cities in India.

IMI Delhi launches Bhubaneshwar campus

Commemorating its 30th anniversary during 2010-2011, the International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, has announced the launch of its second campus at Bhubaneshwar in Orissa. Located at the IDCO Institutional area in Gothapatna, Bhubaneshwar, adjacent to IIIT, Bhubaneshwar and NALCO Research Centre, the new campus is spread over 16 acres of land. Speaking on the occasion, C.S. Venkata Ratnam, director, IMI New Delhi, said, “Subject to getting approval from AICTE, we will commence the first PGDM program in July-Aug 2010.” The campus will be fully residential and function as an autonomous business school. “Besides PGDM programs, IMI Bhubaneshwar will also have centers for research and executive education,” he further added. The IMI board has distinguished persons from industry, government and academics headed by Industrialist R.P.Goenka, chairman-emeritus, RPG Enterprises. “The Bhubaneshwar campus will take cognizance of the growing criticism against B-schools in India and abroad and suitably re-engineer its curriculum to meet the emerging and future needs of corporate in grooming business leaders for sustainable business,” said Captain S Vasudeva Member, board of governors, IMI.

IMI Delhi launches Bhubaneshwar campus

Commemorating its 30th anniversary during 2010-2011, the International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi, has announced the launch of its second campus at Bhubaneshwar in Orissa. Located at the IDCO Institutional area in Gothapatna, Bhubaneshwar, adjacent to IIIT, Bhubaneshwar and NALCO Research Centre, the new campus is spread over 16 acres of land. Speaking on the occasion, C.S. Venkata Ratnam, director, IMI New Delhi, said, “Subject to getting approval from AICTE, we will commence the first PGDM program in July-Aug 2010.” The campus will be fully residential and function as an autonomous business school. “Besides PGDM programs, IMI Bhubaneshwar will also have centers for research and executive education,” he further added. The IMI board has distinguished persons from industry, government and academics headed by Industrialist R.P.Goenka, chairman-emeritus, RPG Enterprises. “The Bhubaneshwar campus will take cognizance of the growing criticism against B-schools in India and abroad and suitably re-engineer its curriculum to meet the emerging and future needs of corporate in grooming business leaders for sustainable business,” said Captain S Vasudeva Member, board of governors, IMI.

Gold prices soften as dollar recovers

Gold softened a touch in Europe on Tuesday as the dollar index recovered from the 15-month low it hit in the previous session, but remained near record highs as traders bet the currency's recovery would be temporary. Spot gold was bid at $1,101.40 an ounce at 1007 GMT, against $1,103.85 late in New York on Monday. US gold futures for December delivery on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange firmed 70 cents to $1,102.10 an ounce. The precious metal hit an all-time high of $1,110.85 an ounce on Monday as the dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency's performance against a basket of six others, plummeted to its lowest since August 2008. "My feeling is we will actually see the dollar break down further in the next few weeks, and that will help take gold up to new levels," said Standard Chartered analyst Daniel Smith. "We think $1,200 is quite a realistic target before the end of the year." He said trade was likely to be choppy going into the new year, however, with jewellery demand still weak as high prices put off buyers, and interest in exchange-traded funds static. "Underlying demand needs to play a bit of catch-up with where prices are," he said. The dollar edged up on Tuesday, reversing some of its recent losses but staying close to a 15-month low against a currency basket. Weakness in the US unit boosts gold's appeal as an alternative asset and makes dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies. Other commodities also weakened, with sector bellwether oil and base metals such as copper declining. Gold tends to track crude prices, as the metal can be bought as a hedge against oil-led inflation.

MNCs now eye local IT services

The domestic information technology (IT) services market is no more a lowprofit option and entry of global players in this segment is a testimony to its growing maturity and lucrativeness. Earlier, the domestic IT services market was characterised as ‘where you would pay for the hardware but get the services for free’. This has changed over the last few years with the profit margins in some segments comparable to the developed markets. Says Seepij Gupta, analyst, software and services research, IDC India: “In some segments of the domestic IT services markets — application management and managed services, for example — the profit margins range between 25-30 % and 16-32 %, respectively. This kind of profitability makes the India market almost at par with the developed economies.” Rising profits also reveal the growing maturity of the local market where corporates and governments are willing to spend a larger amount on technology. Sudip Saha, analyst, services research, Springboard Research, says the maturity curve is getting sharper in the domestic market reflected in the larger size of IT outsourcing deals as well as longer-term contracts. “Corporates are realising that having internal IT departments is expensive and it better to outsource,” he added. European IT services majors like Capgemini, Logica, Groupe Steria and Atos Origin have already planned their local market moves. Segment-specific players like AT&T and BT too have made their foray into the telecom technology services market in India.

Four Indians among 20 charged in largest hedge fund scam

The FBI has charged a further 14 people, including two Indians and Wall Street professionals, in a widening $53 million insider trading scam,largest ever such case in the United States.

The latest action brings the number of people who have been charged in the case to 20, including four Indians.

The scam came to light last month with the arrest of Sri Lankan Tamil-origin billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group founder and hedge fund operator, and five others, two of whom were Indians.

Deep Shah, a former analyst at the Moody's Investor Service, and Gautham Shankar, a former proprietary trader at Schottenfeld Group in New York, were charged yesterday. Shankar has pleaded guilty, while Shah is still at large.

Anil Kumar and Rajiv Goel (both 51) are the two other Indians who were were arrested last month for allegedly committing the fraud.
The people charged included hedge fund managers and trading firm executives, lawyers and corporate insiders, the prosecutor and FBI officer said in a statement.

Bank profits to be under pressure in next 6 months

The top 10 Indian banks made more than Rs 6,000 crore collectively from treasury operations in the first half of FY10 (Apr-Mar) against only Rs 220 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. This was possible because bond yields were declining and bond prices were moving up. However, a further softening of yields is unlikely. “RBI’s latest quarterly review of monetary policy indicates that we are at the bottom of a soft interest-rate regime. Thus, high treasury income earned in the first-half from government securities’ (G-sec) portfolio may not recur in coming quarters,” said Ravi Mehta, research analyst, Indsec Securities & Finance. The central bank restored the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) to 25% from 24%, in a bid to reduce the liquidity in the banking system and send out a signal that a further softening of rates is ruled out.

AT&T Declares Color War on Verizon

AT&T, the giant company with $124 billion in annual sales, has filed a federal lawsuit against its rival, Verizon. The issue: coloring, of the sort that you do in kindergarten.

Specifically, AT&T charges that the “There’s a map for that” commercials from Verizon Wireless are misleading. These plucky ads, which poke fun at the “There’s an app for that” campaign for AT&T’s hottest handset, the iPhone from Apple, display a map with most of the country in red, representing the area covered by Verizon’s fastest 3G data service. This is compared with another map, which has much less geography marked in blue, with the caption “AT&T 3G coverage.”

AT&T’s suit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia (site of its wireless headquarters) says the script and captions of Verizon’s commercial are correct and the map accurately describes where AT&T’s 3G network is available. The problem, it says, is what is on the rest of the map: white.
In any case, AT&T suggests that this implies that it doesn’t offer service of any sort in the white areas, when in fact it does offer slower service.

The first version of Verizon’s ads in fact said that customers who weren’t in the 3G area were “out of touch.” When AT&T complained, that language was changed, and the words “Voice and data service available outside 3G coverage area” were superimposed on the screen.

AT&T argues that even the modified ads are misleading.

AT&T Declares Color War on Verizon

AT&T, the giant company with $124 billion in annual sales, has filed a federal lawsuit against its rival, Verizon. The issue: coloring, of the sort that you do in kindergarten.

Specifically, AT&T charges that the “There’s a map for that” commercials from Verizon Wireless are misleading. These plucky ads, which poke fun at the “There’s an app for that” campaign for AT&T’s hottest handset, the iPhone from Apple, display a map with most of the country in red, representing the area covered by Verizon’s fastest 3G data service. This is compared with another map, which has much less geography marked in blue, with the caption “AT&T 3G coverage.”

AT&T’s suit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia (site of its wireless headquarters) says the script and captions of Verizon’s commercial are correct and the map accurately describes where AT&T’s 3G network is available. The problem, it says, is what is on the rest of the map: white.
In any case, AT&T suggests that this implies that it doesn’t offer service of any sort in the white areas, when in fact it does offer slower service.

The first version of Verizon’s ads in fact said that customers who weren’t in the 3G area were “out of touch.” When AT&T complained, that language was changed, and the words “Voice and data service available outside 3G coverage area” were superimposed on the screen.

AT&T argues that even the modified ads are misleading.

States Are Pondering Fraud Suits Against Banks

The attorneys general of several states hit hard by the housing collapse are exploring consumer fraud suits against major mortgage lenders.
Frustrated by the banks’ inability or unwillingness to stop an avalanche of foreclosures, the states are considering lawsuits over the creation and marketing of millions of bad loans as well as the dismal pace of mortgage modifications.

Such cases would have been impossible until recently, because federal regulators had exclusive oversight of national banks. But a 5-to-4 Supreme Court decision in June allowed the states to exercise their own supervision, giving them significant leverage.

NASA Rocket Takes Off as Clouds Break

After rising through blue sky for two minutes, the first stage expended its fuel at an altitude of more than 25 miles, separated and parachuted into the ocean. After separation, the dummy second stage spun around before plunging into the ocean. The final Ares I rocket is to have a second-stage engine and a crew capsule to carry four astronauts into orbit to the International Space Station.
As tall as a 32-story building but with a first stage only 12 feet wide, the Ares I-X looked skinny and top-heavy. Yet it flew as envisioned.
For the NASA team working on costallation programme to send astronauts to the Moon and beyond, the flight was a moment of smiles and joy, if not quite vindication. Critics have described the Ares I, which would be the first Constellation rocket to fly, as too expensive and technically flawed.
“Vindication really does not describe it well,” the program manager, Jeffrey Hanley, said at a news conference after the flight. “It’s a sense of validation that the course we have laid out is executable.”

EU leaders urge Iran to accept nuclear fuel deal

European Union leaders urged Iran on Friday to accept a U.N.-drafted nuclear fuel deal, saying progress would open the way to cooperation with the EU.
Iran has proposed changes to the agreement reached with the United States, France and Russia, Iranian media said on Thursday, making demands that appeared to challenge its basis.
The deal, drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), would involve Iran sending potential nuclear fuel abroad for processing to allay Western concerns that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
A statement due to be issued by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels said they remained gravely concerned about Iran's nuclear programme.
"The European Council also calls upon Iran to agree with the IAEA to the scheme of nuclear fuel supply for the Tehran research reactor, which would contribute to building confidence while responding to Iran's need for medical radio-isotopes," said the statement, which was obtained by Reuters.

22 lakh poor families to come under health insurance cover

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala plans to bring 22 lakh families at the bottom level of society under the modified version of the Centre’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), an ambitious health insurance scheme for the poor, now being implemented in the State, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.
Addressing a national conference on the insurance scheme here on Wednesday, he said 11.79 lakh families in the State, coming under the BPL (below the poverty line) norms of the Planning Commission, had already been covered by the modified RSBY, called the Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
He said the norms, in reality, would keep out large sections of the poor from the purview of the RSBY. Therefore, the State government would bear the expenses towards the insurance premium of over 10 lakh more poor families. Families in the APL (above the poverty line) category too could join the scheme on paying the insurance premium.

22 lakh poor families to come under health insurance cover

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala plans to bring 22 lakh families at the bottom level of society under the modified version of the Centre’s Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY), an ambitious health insurance scheme for the poor, now being implemented in the State, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said.
Addressing a national conference on the insurance scheme here on Wednesday, he said 11.79 lakh families in the State, coming under the BPL (below the poverty line) norms of the Planning Commission, had already been covered by the modified RSBY, called the Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
He said the norms, in reality, would keep out large sections of the poor from the purview of the RSBY. Therefore, the State government would bear the expenses towards the insurance premium of over 10 lakh more poor families. Families in the APL (above the poverty line) category too could join the scheme on paying the insurance premium.

IGNOU, Ericsson sign pact for education using 3G Telephony

In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has signed a pact with Swedish telecom giant Ericsson to provide access to educational content using third generation (3G) mobile telephony.
The university, which has 2.5 million students on its rolls, will initially roll out the 3G application for 1,000 students pursuing certificate course in information technology here. This will be a pilot project for the next six months, officials said.
Soon after the university has planned a pan-India roll-out, extending to all courses.
'With Ericsson's help, we will create a learning platform that uses mobile devices to build educational excellence and exchange information,' V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, the vice chancellor of the university, said after signing the pact.
'The concession on the 3G usages will be worked out with the governments and the telecom companies later. But we will charge a very minimal money, around Rs.25 or even less, for making distance education available through 3G applications,' Pillai added.
The IGNOU is also in talks with telecom operators like the state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd and Bharat Sanchar Nigam who have already already rolled out their 3G services to enable students to learn through this mobile-based application.

Manmohan, Wen Agree to Build India-China Trust

(IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao met for nearly an hour here Saturday and agreed to build 'trust and understanding' in their bilateral relationship.

The two leaders had 'good discussions' and 'a productive meeting' at Hotel Dusit Thani, the venue of the Asean and East Asia summits, official sources said.

Wen said: 'We want to have a healthy and steady relationship with India. I hope we can use this opportunity to exchange our views on all related issues.'

The much awaited meeting was aimed at easing tensions between the two countries centred on their unresolved border dispute. Official sources, however, said Arunachal Pradesh and Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama did not figure in the discussions.

The two countries also agreed to beef up their strategic and cooperative partnership.

Manmohan Singh told Wen: 'I am excited to see you.' He said the Chinese people have had a number of achievements 'and we share their sense of accomplishment'. He said this in the context of the 60th anniversary of the founding of modern China.

Manmohan Singh also recalled his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Russia in June this year.

Earlier, the Chinese premier received Manmohan Singh like an old friend and spoke of the meetings they have had in the past.

Industrialised countries must cut emissions: Jairam Ramesh

industrialized countries must make deep cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions and this must be verifiable internationally for a global climate deal in Copenhagen this December, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said here Monday, hours after being charged by Indian government negotiators and civil society groups of turning the country's climate policy around.

The minister faced flak for writing a letter to the prime minister in which he suggested that in order to be seen as a deal-maker rather than a deal-breaker in Copenhagen, India give up its insistence on saving the Kyoto Protocol - the current global treaty to fight climate change.

Ramesh told a select group of journalists here that the media report about his letter was a gross distortion. He said there had been no change in his position on the basic issues of what developed and developing countries should do to fight climate change, but everything else was negotiable.

Botswana's President Khama wins new term

Botswana's President Ian Khama secured a new five-year term on Sunday, extending his rule over the world's largest diamond producer, after his governing BDP party swept to victory in a parliamentary election.

Khama's party extended its majority in parliament by capturing one more seat than before Saturday's election

"I'd like to congratulate the BDP, parliament members and councillors for winning the 2009 election, and also members of the opposition for giving us competition at the election," said Khama, addressing thousands of supporters clad in his party's red colours at a rally in a dusty football pitch in Gaborone.

A Nobel first: economics prize goes to a woman

A U.S. academic who proved that communities can trump state control and corporations became the first woman to win the Nobel prize in economics on Monday, sharing it with an expert on how companies make decisions whose work could influence post-crisis regulation.

Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University defied conventional wisdom with studies that showed that user-managed properties -- such as community fish stocks or woodland areas -- more often than not were better run than standard theories predicted.

University of California, Berkeley economist Oliver Williamson, the other winner, looked at how incentives within companies, government and other organizations affect decisions, adding human dimensions such as social norms to a field often thought of in terms of a hypothetical perfect market.

The two will share the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences award of 10 million Swedish crown ($1.4 million) prize.

Before Ostrom, the previously accepted view was that common property was poorly managed and should be either regulated centrally or privatized.

"Since we have found that bureaucrats sometimes do not have the correct information while citizens and users of resources do, we hope it helps encourage a sense of capacity and power," Ostrom told a news conference via telephone.

After a week of Nobel drama that included the gasp-inducing selection of U.S. President Barack Obama for the peace prize, the economics category risked being an anti-climax.

But the choice of a woman for a prize in a field dominated by men added a final twist to this year's awards, showing again the Nobel committees' penchant for springing surprises.

"There are many, many people who have struggled mightily and to be chosen for this prize is a great honor and I'm still a little bit in shock," Ostrom, a professor in political science, told the news conference.

ARMY WILL NOT BE USED AGAINST MOIST SAID P.M.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday affirmed the government's determination not to succumb to the increasing threat of Maoists but ruled out the use of the army against them.
'It shows the measure of challenge we face. We will never succumb,' Singh told reporters in Raichur, about 400 km from here, after he made an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas in parts of north Karnataka.
'We are not talking of using armed forces. Police and paramilitary forces will be mobilized,' the prime minister said.
Maoists had killed 17 policemen in Gadchiroli in Maharashtra Thursday in the latest attack by them on police and police stations.

Nothing wrong in Rahul's visit to villages says RSS

Rajgir (Bihar), Oct 10 (PTI) Differing with the BJP over its criticism of Rahul Gandhi''s visit to villages, RSS has said it was good to talk about villages and see the plight of people living in rural areas. "Bharatiya ho kar gaon ki baat karne mein galat kya hai.
sabhi bharatiya ko gaon jana chahiye aur uski baat karni chahiye (every Indian should visit the villages and talks about it there is nothing wrong in it)," RSS media in-charge Mohan Vaidya said here yesterday. He was asked about BJP''s criticism of Gandhi''s visit to rural households.
The BJP has termed as "farce" the Congress leader''s visit to dalit villages in Uttar Pradesh. Stressing the need for accelerating village-centric development, Vaidya said RSS felt that it would come in handy in reining in migration of people from one state to another in search of jobs.
"Migration from villages should be stopped and development must be defined in a village centric manner," Vaidya said on the second day of the three day-long meeting of the Executive Committee of the organisation inaugurated by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat here. He said the meeting, the first-ever of the outfit in Bihar, would discuss issues related to internal security in the wake of threat from Maoists, cross border terrorism, disputes related to Indo-China, Indo-Pakistan borders, environmental pollution and adopt separate resolutions.

Nobel Prize for Chemistry to Ramakrishnan, Steitz, Yonath

Stockholm, Oct 7 (DPA) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath have won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, it was announced in Stockholm Wednesday.
Ramakrishnan and Steitz are US citizens, Yonath is from Israel.
The trio were cited 'for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome' one of the core processes in life, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.
Riobosomes produce proteins that control the chemistry in all living organisms.
Their research is used by scientists hoping to develop new antibiotics.
The chemistry prize was the third of this year's Nobel Prizes to be announced following the medicine prize announced Monday and the physics prize announced Tuesday.

Hilary Mantel wins Booker Prize

Wed, Oct 7 05:59 AM
London, Oct 7 (DPA) Hilary Mantel, author of the historic novel Wolf Hall, Tuesday received the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction.
The 50,000-pound ($80,000) prize was awarded for her much-praised novel about Thomas Cromwell's rise to prominence in the Tudor court of the 1520s, the Booker prize website said.
'Wolf Hall ... peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage,' the committee said in a press release.
Mantel's book was chosen from a shortlist of six titles that included works by AS Byatt, JM Coetzee, Adam Foulds, Simon Mawer and Sarah Waters.

World champion : Vijender breaks jinx

Olympic bronze medallist V ijender singh sealed a histiric first for Indian at the World Boxing Championships by advancing to the semi finals of the 75 kg catagory with a thumping 12-4 win over Derevyanchenko Sergiy of Ukraine

......More competition in WEF' globbal ranking

According to WEF(World Economic Forum) report indian economy moves up a notch to 49th place on the global competitive scale, while Switzerland has toppled, the US as 2nd ranked nation.
The US has slipped to the 2nd place and is followed by Singapore, Sweden, and Denmark in the top five countries. Among the 133 countries featuring in the list, three nations in the BRIC grouping- India, Brazil, and china have moved up while Russia has witnessed a sharp drop.
country ranking
Switzerland 1
US 2
Singapore 3
Sweden 4
Denmark 5
Finland 6
Germany 7
Japan 8
Canada 9
Netherland 10
China 29
India 9
Brazil 56
Russia 63

According to WEF India also boasts bustling financial markets and a sound banking sector, supported by well- functioning institutions, due to this region India aquires this position.
According to the WEF, the syrvey this year polled more than 13000 business leaders in 133 economies

56 teachers suspended in uttarakhand

uttarakhand government suspended56 primary, higher secondary, and intermediate colleges in Kumaon region, with immidiate action region is that these teachers are absent from their institute during school hour. This type of action agaist teacher has taken first time after Uttarakhand was carvedout of UP.

hello............

This is satya pratap reporting from IIMT PROFESSIONAL COLLEGE...............