None of the greatest movements in world history has been successful without the participation of masses or its people. The similar dilemma lies with India while we search for the best way to eradicate illiteracy from this country. Why have all these big schemes and abhiyans like Sarv Sikhsa Abhiyan have failed to serve their purpose, although government might be thinking that it served it's purpose, few percent more children have been taught how to write or read. But the ground reality is still far from what we really want to achieve.
We lack the public participation, nobody thinks in broader prospective, we leave it for NGO's to think, and help the underprivileged, who cannot buy them education (in today's reality education is bought).
In the same pursuit Times of India, one of the prominent English dailies has launched "Teach India" campaign. I was reading today's newspaper when I saw the full page advertisement regarding the campaign. May be for TOI, it is a marketing campaign to enlarge their base but the motive is pious. The results will be good for society, TOI will also reap it's benefits but who cares until it helps create a social awareness.
It has always been believed that media plays a vital role in nation building, It is the medium, which reaches to masses, whatever it communicates is going to change the course of destiny. With the large circulation of Times of India, one can certainly believe that it will attract lots of attention and people will join and it will also provide platform to people who want to help the underprivileged but could not find a medium to do that.
India's corporate sector is nervous about spiralling inflation that hit a 14-year high of 11.42 percent in the week ended June 14, but feels there could be moderate recovery in the medium term, said a survey by an industry lobby.
The latest quarterly business confidence survey by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci), said 64 percent of the 413 companies questioned felt current economic conditions were the worst in the last six months.
In fact, 32 percent felt economic conditions would deteriorate further in the next six months.
The Expectations Index reflected some hope, with 37 percent of the respondents saying some recovery could take place in the medium term, particularly firm level performance.
At the same time, the survey's Current Conditions Index was at its lowest following moderation in economic growth, rise in inflation and increasing input costs.
"While the situation may improve somewhat in the near future, we will still fall short of the strong performance that was witnessed till about a year ago," the survey report said.
Any immediate hike in interest rates was bound to make the pressure insurmountable, it added.
"If the industry is saddled with further interest rate hikes then the present phase of 'nervous optimism' may not last long," the report warned.
Forty-four percent of companies said they were reeling under the impact of rising interest rates and input costs, forcing them to raise prices.
With the RBI further tightening its monetary policy, interest rates have started hardening, which was bound to impact the country's economic growth, they said. Rising crude oil and commodity prices globally have added to their anxiety.
The survey predicted that the manufacturing sector would continue to suffer through the year.
The North Pole faces the prospect of becoming iceless this summer for the first time in history, scientists warn.
They warn that since global warming has caused the thick, long-term layers of ice to disappear from the North Pole, the seasonal ice it receives during winter months has also been melting fast, with the last summer being a record ice loss year.
They fear the prospect of seasonal ice disappearing altogether this summer, leaving the North Pole iceless for the first time in history.
As the Arctic ice melts, many global experts also fear a scramble among Arctic nations - Canada, Russia, the US, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Finland, Iceland and Denmark - for control of its resources such as oil and gas, minerals and fresh water.
A report by the Arctic Council, which has all eight Arctic nations as its members, has warned of a `no-holds-barred' scramble for Arctic resources unless they reach some agreement on safety and environmental issues.
The report, prepared by 40 experts from six countries, also feared militarization of the Arctic as different nations fortify their claims to its resources.
All Arctic nations have to submit their claims by 2013 to the UN which will then decide by 2020 which nation controls what parts of the Arctic bed.
But the expert report said the agreement might be far away, warning ``This is a world in which many international players anxiously move to outwit competitors and secure tomorrow's resources today. Political tensions are high and brinksmanship is the name of the game.''
To safeguard its future interests, Canada has decided to station eight naval ships and build a navy and an army base in its Arctic region. The Americans have already held military exercises in Alaska, and the Russians too plan to flex their military muscle very soon.
The office of MTV India in south-central Mumbai was attacked by over 200 Sikhs Monday afternoon in protest against a defamatory poster put up by the music channel.
According to a spokesperson for MTV, the protesters were agitated about a poster of its career-based reality show, "On The Job."
The promo posters of the show and the new career options before youth depict a woman massaging a man, while a Sikh youth looks on.
Apparently, some Sikh organisations took umbrage at the poster and attacked the MTV India office in Parel. Police have rushed to the spot and were attempting to bring the situation under control when reports last came in. The Sikh organisations have not been identified yet.
The print circulation reports by ABC or IRS are quiet common in media circles in India. Newspapers, Magazines or Journals cry or jump over these ratings or circulation data. But with the growing reach of internet in India, the internet reach of a newspaper or magazine is also needed to be accounted, while declaring the winners in circulation wars.
Today I would be trying to search that which of the famous English weeklies in India fare better in terms of Internet reach. I would not be giving any conclusions or declaring any winners, but I would try to discuss about the online presence of various weekly magazines in India.
Indian newspaper stands are full of various English magazines; India Today, The Week, Outlook, Tehelka and The Sunday Indian are few of them, which are often counted amongst the top few.
If we look at the graph given by Alexa: A Web Information Company, Outlook looks like a clear and consistent performer.
India Today and Tehelka are fighting for the second spot although Tehelka had its days of honour when it outshone very magazine but normally it is fighting for the runners up spot. The Week is the next in list followed by The Sunday Indian at last.
This morning when i picked up my Delhi Times, There was a fullpage advt talking about some "icontrol", which is a new IPTV service { i think so..} presented by MTNL and Aksh Optifibre. So, I thought, lemme use my Googling skills to find out more about this service as many of my fellow Netizens are trying to find the same. Google Trends tells me that that there is a sharp increase in the number of people searching about iControl on internet from the places like New Delhi.
Ok. So Lets try to find out what is really "icontrol" is...
Firstly lets talk about IPTV:
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.
icontrol advt says that you do not need any broadband service or telephone to use this service, Thats right, icontrol will use a optical fibre cable to transfer television content to you TV. Ad it is totally based on computer netwokrs so you will have an added advantage to control what you are going to watch.
icontrol tarrifs
Delhi :
* Free Setup Box against fully refundable security deposit of Rs. 999.
* Pay Rs.199 per month to get icontrol service through MTNL.
* No Telephone , No computer, No DVD Player, No Internet / Broadband required for using icontrol
Microscopic organisms could be the answer to the looming fuel crisis in the not too distant future.
These biological factories can turn out unlimited supplies of inexpensive, eco-friendly biofuels as an oil-substitute, according to a study.
Among alternative fuels, ethanol is the current king. Almost all ethanol produced in the US is fermented from readily available sugars in maize. Ethanol from maize has also been blamed for rising food prices.
The most attractive alternatives are known as lignocellulosic biomass and include wood residues (sawmill and paper mill discards), municipal paper waste, agricultural residues (sugarcane bagasse) and dedicated energy crops (like switchgrass).
The problem is, unlike corn, the sugars necessary for fermentation are trapped inside the lignocellulose.
Govind Nadathur and colleagues at the University of Puerto Rico have been looking at unusual ecosystems and unusual organisms to find enzymes to help extract these sugars.
"Wood falls into the ocean. It disappears. What's eating this biomass? We found molluscs that eat the wood, with the help of bacteria in their stomachs that produce enzymes that break down the cellulose.
"We found something similar in termites," says Nadathur. They plan on using these enzymes as a key step in a closed, integrated system that would not only produce ethanol, but would also produce sugar, molasses, hibiscus flowers and bio-diesel with a minimum of waste.
Another promising bio-fuel is hydrogen. Unfortunately, current chemical manufacturing processes for hydrogen are not that efficient or use fossil fuels as a source.
Sergei Markov of Austin Peay State University has developed a prototype bioreactor that uses the purple bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus to produce enough hydrogen to power a small motor.
Certain purple bacteria, which usually grow in the mud of various ponds and lakes, have the ability to convert water and carbon monoxide into hydrogen gas, though only a certain set could use carbon monoxide.
These findings were presented Wednesday at the 108th general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Boston.
Talwar was arrested on Friday after being questioned by the Noida police. He made many contradictory statements to police during his questioning.
Dr Anita Durrani, who was working with Dr Talwar and is alleged to have had an affair with him, has also been detained. She has been named as an accomplice.
Arushi's mother, Dr Nupur Talwar, has been arrested for abetment.
Police have officially confirmed that 'honour killing' or 'extreme passion' could have been the motive behind Arushi's murder.
It is also being suggested that Arushi probably knew something about Dr Talwar that he wasn't completely comfortable with.
Arushi, 14, was found murdered in her bedroom at her L-32 Jalvayu Vihar home in Sector-25, Noida last Friday. She had four stab wounds on her forehead, shoulder and chest.
The police immediately declared Hemraj as their suspect but were red-faced when he was found murdered on the terrace of the Talwars' home, a day later.
The fact that the killer’s entry to the household was friendly and that Arushi's parents "slept" through two brutal killings in the next room had greatly baffled the police.
Her parents were interrogated almost everyday for a few hours at undisclosed locations since last Wednesday.
CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS
Rajesh Talwar had earlier told the police that the mattress of Arushi's bed — which was
found on the terrace of the house — had been put there by the driver. However, neighbours said that their domestic help had put the mattress on the terrace.
During interrogation, Dr Talwar
let it slip that a servant had put the mattress on the terrace, and
n
ot the driver as he had stated earlier.
Call details of Arushi and her parents as well as Hemraj were analysed.
The sequence of events is a little fuzzy. A police briefing is slated to happen at 16:00 hours, w
here the polcie is expected to throw more light on the dteails.
SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
DAY 1
- Arushi found dead; domestic help Banjade declared “main suspect”
- SSP A Satish Ganesh: “Help must have murdered in an inebriated state and fled.”
- SP (City) Mahesh Mishra: “Case will be cracked within 24 hours.”
DAY 2
- Banjade found dead on terrace; STF joins probe
- SSP Ganesh goes mum, evades media.
DAY 3
- SP (City) Mahesh Mishra transferred; SHO of Sector-20 police station Data ram Nauneria re moved from post.l SSP Ganesh: “It is clear that the murderer’s entry was friendly - first into the house, then to Arushi’s room, and on to the terrace.”
DAY 4
- News of new suspect comes in from UP Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal’s office: former family help Vishnu under the scanner.
- SSP Gane sh: “He (Vishnu) is not under detention; his whereabouts are not known”.
- Talwars questioned for 12 hours.
- SSP Ganesh: “Case will be cracked within 24 hours.”
DAY 5
- ADG Brij Lal: “Postmortem report rules out rape.”
- Driver Umesh Sharma: “I had seen Arushi with her parents just before dinner on Thursday night.”
- Ashok Trip athi, new SP (City) takes over, raids, seals Talwars’ garage.
- Sector-39 SHO Anil Samania made the new case investigating officer.
DAY 6
- Delhi Police team visits to “assist” in probe.
- Parent s questioned for 5 hours.