Pitroda's recommendations for loss-hit BSNL

Govt enterprise BSNL expects a major change in its board. Pitroda was asked to submit his recommendations to make BSNL a profitable enterprise. The notable recommendations are divesting 30% of Govt stakes in BSNL, VRS for one lakh employees etc.. The employee unions are continuously opposing the Pitroda's Recommendations.

BSNL has asked employee unions to comment on Pitroda's recommendations. Govt has taken decision to make changes in top level management of loss hit BSNL.

BSNL chairperson Kuldeep Koyal said," BSNL has asked the employee  union to submit their comment on Pitroda's recommendations".

Employee union General secretary V.A.N.Namboodri said," We are opposing certain part of recommendation, in particular divesting shares, VRS ....."

PMK re-joins with DMK again

Ruling Party of Tmail Nadu & the partner of the ruling UPA Govt DMK announces its candidates for Rajya Sabha election. Party chief Karunanidhi nominates the candidates. The candidates are as follows:

1. P.Ramalingam
2. Thangavelu
3. Selva Ganapathy.

He also hinted about the possibility of PMK in the alliance. He told that a Rajya Sabha seat will be allocated to PMK after the assembly election in TamilNadu.


DMK & PMK will jointly face the assembly elections in 2011.



PMK rejoins DMK after its defeat in Parliment elections, during which they were in ADMK alliance after breaking its alliance with DMK. PMK lost all the seats.

India Post on Twitter; grievance & comments are most welcome - Secretary

Got a grievance? Post it! If you’ve a query or a grievance relating to the department of posts, try tweeting about it to India Post@PostOfficeIndia.

Barely three months after it started its Twitter account, India Post — it was the first GOI department to go on a social networking page —  has 1,164 followers and has resolved countless complaints and queries.

About negative comments or complaints, secretary, Posts, Radhika Doraiswamy says, “We want the negative comments. We started this page as a marketing tool for our international product, but each negative comment is an opportunity to set things right,” she said, but added, “There is also a tremendous amount of goodwill for India Post.”

Women smokers on the rise in India's 'working' community

As the globe gears up to celebrate ‘World no tobacco day’ on May 31st, 2010 there is a sad contribution from India. The country witnesses a growing number of women smokers and the case is specifically relevant to females working in BPOs and media. The picture looks sad especially in a culturally rich nation like ours where there is still a social stigma attached to women smoking. A recent study revealed that nearly 8% of female BPO workers smoke and the percentage is much larger (5-35%) in media.

According to the survey the majority of women smokers are still unaware of the health hazards of smoking. The only health hazards they are aware of is cancer and heart disease related to smoking. Women smokers did not know that smoking is also known to cause infertility and many other problems related to child birth. Lead researcher Dr. Ravikant Singh from Non-government organization ‘Doctors for You’ said, “Smoking can cause infertility, miscarriages and still births. It is worrying that women don’t know about this.”

Prez asks China to open Banks in India

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Sunday suggested China should consider eyeing India as a banking destination.

The President proposed the idea during her meeting with Shanghai (Communist) Party Secretary Yu Zheng Sheng. It was in context of the presence of Indian banks in China.

Eleven Indian banks have their offices in China, six of them in Shanghai catering to over 100 Indian companies in the city and in industrial towns Jiangsu and Zhejiang nearby.

Rohit Sharma & Kohli makes victory over SriLanka Look easy; Dinda shines

What stood out was the ease with which India overhauled Sri Lanka's 242, with nearly seven overs to spare. Virat Kohli played a matured hand and Rohit Sharma overcame moments of impetuousness to hit a delightful hundred, his second successive effort of the tournament, as the pair sparkled in a 154-run partnership to charge India to a facile win.

It has to be said, though, that it was a good toss to win. Overnight rain had left enough moisture on the pitch in the first half of the day to offer assistance to the seamers and also to the spinners. And Sri Lanka were forced to adopt a brand of cricket that smelt of 80s: Start slowly, build momentum in the middle overs, reach a run-rate of four by the 40th, and try to hit out in the end. They ended up on 242, which wasn't a bad effort, but the conditions eased up in the afternoon and the Indians played very sensibly to overhaul the target with ease.

Bharti & Sahara bids for Indian Cricket team Sponsorship

Sahara India Parivar and Bharti Airtel have lined up for the Indian team's sponsorship for the next three-and-half years.

According to sources in the Indian cricket board (BCCI), the two groups submitted the eligibility documents and security deposits on Saturday.

The bid will be submitted on Monday and thereafter, BCCI's marketing committee will decide on the new sponsor of Team India.

South-West monsoon will start in Next 48 Hrs - MET Dept

India's monsoon rains may hit the country's southern coast in the next 48 hours, the India Meteorological Department said in its latest forecast on Sunday.

"Conditions are favourable for onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala during next 48 hours," the weather office said.

Search continues after 3 Days of Rail mishap in Midnapore

Three days after the train derailment in West Bengal's West Midnapore, the search is still on for the missing relatives and friends.

The number of dead has risen to over 148, with more bodies being found from the wreckage.

Rescue work was halted at the site during the night because of rain, even as rescuers feared more bodies might be trapped under the S-6 coach.

Around 190 injured people are being treated in different hospitals in Midnapore, Kharagpur, Jhargram and in Kolkata. DNA tests will be conducted on unidentified bodies.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Police last night gave out details of the rail attack saying it was a Maoist attack. The Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and the her bitter rivals - the CPM-led government - got into a no-holds barred fight on Saturday on who was to blame for the attack.

Kerala Police interrogating Somali fishermen arrested in Indian Waters

Police and intelligence officials in Kochi, Kerala, are interrogating eight Somali fishermen who were spotted and taken into custody in Indian waters near the Lakshadweep Islands by the Indian Navy.

The Somalis were found near Kavaratti Island in a small boat. The Somalis were handed over to the Harbour Police in Kochi.

The first batch of three Somalians were discovered by locals at Minikoy Island in an unconscious state.

Microsoft partners with NIIT & IISc to develope Cloud solutions

Software giant Microsoft (MS) today said IT firms NIIT, Cognizant and CDC Software, and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will build solutions and train manpower based on its cloud computing platform, Windows Azure.

Cloud computing refers Internet-based computing, where applications and software are accessed over the Internet, which results in reduced IT costs.

Microsoft has partnered with IT training firm NIIT, which will train over one lakh students on Windows Azure over the next three years. IT firm Cognizant, on the other hand, will develop solutions based on Azure to help its clients implement, migrate and manage their applications on the cloud.

Apple - world's Biggest tech company

The computer giants Microsoft and Apple have been arch rivals for years. But now Apple has finally streaked past its competitor to claim the crown as the world's biggest technology company.

It's a massive coup for the firm. The huge success of their iPods, iPhones and now their iPads means Apple's now worth one hundred and fifty two billion pounds, around two billion more than its rival.

Micro'max' title sponsors of Indian cricketing seasons this Year

Micromax, an Indian telecom company, has taken up the title sponsorship for the entire Indian cricketing season from May 2010.

Micromax made its debut in sports marketing at a time when Sachin Tendulkar made history by scoring an ODI double century.

Dual SIM handsets catching rising consumer attention

Micromax has taken the title sponsorship rights for the India, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka ODI Tri-Series– 2010, India , Zimbabwe T20 Series, Asia Cup 2010, India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand ODI Tri-Series– 2010, and India , Sri Lanka Test Series starting from May till July 2010.

S Tel to invest Rs.700 Crores

S Tel, a joint venture between Siva Group of Chennai and Bahrain Telecom (Batelco), on Wednesday announced an investment of Rs 700 crore for the acquisition of 3G spectrum and roll out of services.

The company will be paying Rs 338 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for 3G spectrum in three circles — Bihar, Orissa and Himachal Pradesh — and the remaining fund would be invested to roll out 3G network, Shamil Das, CEO, S Tel said

Bharti raises funds for Zain Africa acquisition

India's Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has begun the process of raising funds for the $10.7 billion deal to acquire the African assets of Kuwait's Zain that will make it the world's fifth largest mobile telecom firm.

"Further to our announcement dated March 30, 2010 regarding the proposed acquisition of Zain Africa BV, Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to report that it has initiated the funds drawdown for the completion of the said transaction," the company said in a statement.

Zain's acquisition is the largest overseas acquisition of assets in Africa by an Indian company, even though it does not cover the assets of Zain in Sudan and Morocco.

Tata Motors Net Profit raises this Fiscal

India's top vehicle manufacturer Tata Motors Thursday said its net profit rose to Rs.2,240.08 crore for the financial year ended March 2010 as compared to Rs.1,001.26 crore in the previous fiscal.

The company's total income increased to Rs.37,446.5 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs.26,555.7 crore in 2008-09.

It posted a net profit of Rs.2,571.06 crore for the year ended March 2010 whereas it had a net loss of Rs.2,505.25 crore a year ago.

Its total income stood at Rs.94,312.37 crore in 2009-10 as against Rs.71,679.91 crore in 2008-09.

In June 2008, the company acquired Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) business from Ford Motor Company. The financial results for the year ended March 2009 include the results of the operations of JLR for the period June 2008-March 2009 and due to this results for 2009-10 are not comparable with the previous year.

Strontium launches fashionable USB flash drives

Singapore-based PC memory maker Strontium has launched three new series of highly fashionable USB flash drives: the Key, Spin and Hulk. These USB 2.0 drives are available in storage capacities ranging from 2GB to 128GB.


The USB Flash drives in question are described below.

Key Series USB Flash drive:

Key series is a stylish, fingertip sized USB with colorful designs that will catch everybody's attention. It is available in 2GB and 4GB capacities and in black and white color.

Samsung launches 'Star Nano 3G' in India @ Rs.7,320

Users who have been rifling through every corner to lay hold of a stylish mobile device with an affordable price tag may simply top off their search. Samsung has just slid the wraps of an all-new full touch 3G-enabled mobile phone in India, the Star Nano 3G (S3370). The compact device features a curvilinear design with advanced connectivity and seamless social communication.

Designed aesthetically with a compact and curvilinear design, a large 2.6-inch screen and with a 4 page menu, the Star Nano 3G ensures to offer a great resolution with a sense of satisfaction. Emerging as a complete entertainment package, the handset comes equipped with advanced connectivity with 384kbps DL/UL (3G ready), Pop up SNS and fast multimedia downloads.

Facebook's New & simple Privacy settings

After facing criticism for introducing the 'Instant Personalization' feature that altered Facebook users' privacy settings, Facebook started tightening up the security on its site and has announced new, simpler Privacy Setting features.  Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, in a blog post on the official Facebook blog, noted that the new changes will make privacy controls a lot simpler. These changes would be introduced in the coming weeks.

Facebook had tightened security after facing heat from users and critiques. Zuckerberg, in the blog post, states that the new privacy settings focus on three things: single control for user's content, more powerful control of user's basic information and easy control for turning off applications. Firstly, users would get a simpler control pane wherein they'd be able to choose who can view the content posted.

India to Afforest 20 Million Hectares by 10 next Yrs

India plans 20 million hectares of afforestation and ecosystem restoration over the next ten years under a draft climate plan released by the government this week.

The Green India Mission is one component of the national climate change action plan and, subject to consultation and final approval, would see around 6 million hectares of cleared land afforested. The remaining target area would see degraded forests, scrub and grasslands, mangroves, wetlands, degraded agricultural land and urban forest lands subject to restoration activity along with the establishment of wildlife corridors. Separate green mission targets would be outlined for each land-use restoration type.