Kapil Sibal, India’s Human Resource Development Minister, displays a $35 computer in New Delhi, India.

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MUMBAI, India – It looks like an iPad, only it’s 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011.

If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of “world’s cheapest” innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the $2,127 compact Nano car, the $16 water purifier and the $2,000 open-heart surgery.

The tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing. It has a solar power option too – important for India’s energy-starved hinterlands – though that add-on costs extra.

“This is our answer to MIT’s $100 computer,” human resource development minister Kapil Sibal told the Economic Times when he unveiled the device Thursday.

In 2005, Nicholas Negroponte – co-founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology‘s Media Lab – unveiled a prototype of a $100 laptop for children in the developing world. India rejected that as too expensive and embarked on a multiyear effort to develop a cheaper option of its own.

Negroponte’s laptop ended up costing about $200, but in May his nonprofit association, One Laptop Per Child, said it plans to launch a basic tablet computer for $99.

Sibal turned to students and professors at India’s elite technical universities to develop the $35 tablet after receiving a “lukewarm” response from private sector players. He hopes to get the cost down to $10 eventually.

Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, said falling hardware costs and intelligent design make the price tag plausible. The tablet doesn’t have a hard disk, but instead uses a memory card. The tablet design cuts hardware costs, and the use of open-source software also adds to savings, she said.

Varma said several global manufacturers, including at least one from Taiwan, have shown interest in making the low-cost device, but no manufacturing or distribution deals have been finalized. She declined to name any of the companies.

India plans to subsidize the cost of the tablet for its students, bringing the purchase price down to around $20.

“Depending on the quality of material they are using, certainly it’s plausible,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research. “The question is, is it good enough for students?”

Profitability is also a question for the $35 machine.

Epps said government subsidies or dual marketing – where higher-priced sales in the developed world are used to subside low-cost sales in markets like India – could convince a manufacturer to come on board.

This and similar efforts – like the Kakai Kno and the Entourage Edge tablets – show that there is global demand for an affordable device to trim high textbook costs, she said.

If it works, Epps predicts the device could send a shiver of cost-consciousness through the industry.

“It puts pressure on all device manufacturers to keep costs down and innovate,” she said.

The project is part of an ambitious education technology initiative by the Indian government, which also aims to bring broadband connectivity to India’s 25,000 colleges and 504 universities and make study materials available online.

So far nearly 8,500 colleges have been connected and nearly 500 web and video-based courses have been uploaded on YouTube and other portals, the Ministry said.

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Supplementing its industries, Gujarat is making strides in Information Technology too. I believe the Ahmedabad – Gandhinagar knowledge corridor is touted to be the next big SEZ. All this is due to the fact that the government is encouraging the growth of the IT sector.

No doubt, the future looks bright, but, the problem, as I see, that can arise out of this rapid growth is the lack of necessary knowledge regarding technology. People may be interested in investing in Information Technology to improve their businesses and to develop their products, but may not have sufficient knowledge regarding the same. Honestly, to be in this race for supremacy, having the latest knowledge is essential. So, the need of the hour is to include IT education in the normal curriculum of school to supplement the growing demand of the industry. For other people too, there are IT training centers that cater to the demand of the industry. An example of latest technology is cloud computing which is thought to be the next big thing. Knowledge and incorporation of this new technology will go a long way in the progress of the industry.

I will be visiting Gujarat again to search for entrepreneurs interested in the franchise business. For further details, you can contact me:

Kushark Jaiswal

http://in.linkedin.com/in/kushark

Can you get millions of dollars for free from the US Federal Government and never have to pay it back? It’s what Grants360.com OR usgrants360.us wants you to believe and as you have hopefully guessed, it’s not all that true. Is it a scam? Does the US Government give out thousands of dollars to people for working at home and filling out one form? Are there sites you should pay to teach you if there is? Judging by the number of complaints against them and what we found in their Terms and Conditions, in our opinion if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck.

Lets take a walk through this one and see if it falls down shall we?

First off, take a little walk around the Internet. You’ll find tons of complaints listed on various complaint and scam web sites about how Grants360.com did not honor the claimed 24 hour trial period and charged them immediately despite calling and even receiving a “confirmation” number from them. Then many also report continued charges for other odd amount on their card from this and various related companies.

So why not go check the authority on how well businesses operate, the Better Business Bureau? A quick check on Grants 360 yields nothing of course, and a quick check of the Terms page on Grants360.com yields the reason why. The parent company to Grants360 is called “positive thinking management ltd” (their lower case letters oddly enough, not mine) and is located in the UK!

Wait a sec? A company helping people find free grants with the US Federal Government that is based in the UK, more or less out of the reach of all but criminal US jurisdiction? And what the heck is a UK company going to tell you about applying for US grants? And why do they want my credit card number AND 3 digit magic number for a shipping fee? Recently they started new website usgrants360.us with .us domain which is also illegal as .us domain is only for companies with there servers in US and not in UK.

Note, and this is a very important fact, there is an actual site run by the US Government that has details on how to find and apply for pretty much every grant out there and it’s 100% free for everyone. No need to give them your credit card at all. Just go to Grants.gov. Simple, easy, free.

But back to Grants 360. So you go to the sign up page enter your information and are immediately asked for your credit card. In tiny font on that page is the following message:

Submitting this form instantly activates your free trial and you will be charged a $1.95 processing fee. You will receive access to our grant package for a full twenty-four hours to evaluate the product. If you’re happy, do nothing and you will be charged $57.61 every thirty days for uninterrupted access to the latest content. There are no obligations; you can cancel anytime via our customer support line or online ticketing system.

Which in itself might come slightly close to satisfying the FTC requirement for clear and conspicuous disclosure, IF that were the only charge they were going to whack you with, AND if they did actually wait 24 hours (which many people have claimed on various sites and message boards is untrue, that you are charged the full amount immediately, and they have no return policy). Check out the real charges that are hidden in their Terms on another page:

Clicking the buy button will activate your trial membership with Grants 360 and provide instructions to the supplied email address! To activate your trial membership to Grants 360 your card will be charged $1.95 and then you can immediately take advantage of the exciting savings Grants 360 has to offer! After your 1 day trial period it’s just $57.61 for each 30 days for Grants 360. Remember, you can chat with a live operator by calling 1.866.955.1669 within the 1 day period to cancel or emailing us at support@grants360.com and providing detailed information to enable us to process your request, and you will not be charged. As an exclusive bonus we are offering our customers 2 days of unlimited access to our work from home guide for a charge of $1.95. Cancel anytime during the trial period to avoid any further charges. Otherwise, a one-time fee of $38.21 will be charged to your credit card. Marking the checkbox and submitting the form constitutes an agrement(sic) to these terms on your part.

Note that one, there is no checkbox for agreeing to the terms (as required by the FTC at the VERY LEAST) and two that even if you cancel the first thing they charged you monthly for, they are still going to nail you for that second charge without you ever knowing before hand. Oh, did I mention the site has no mention of any refund policy at all, one way or another?

But best of all, I love this little tidbit here:

If you are not 100% satisfied with the information available to customers in our Grant information Kit, simply contact our customer service department, and we will work to resolve the issue… no hassle!

Wait a sec, no refunds, but if I don’t like the information available you’ll “work to resolve the issue”? What does that mean? I’m not satisfied, you want to resolve the issue right? Wait, why are you hassling me about my desire for a refund since I canceled within 24 hours?

Anyway, steer away from this one folks if you have not been sucked in already. Just go to grants.gov instead.
Also you can submit complaint about them at federal website at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

How To Cancel Grants 360 Monthly Charges?

Well, they do provide a phone number you can call. The number to cancel is 1.866.955.1669. HOWEVER, a number of people have suggested that calling their number is not the right thing to do.

If you call to cancel, they now have a record of you contacting them and if you later try to dispute the charge with your credit card company, they can show the record of your call to your credit card company as proof of the transaction. Only go this route if you can’t afford to cancel the card in question or if it is a debit card which is much harder to dispute.

Here is what we recommend:

1. Don’t feel bad! Seems like hundreds if not thousands of people have been taken in by these sort of “negative option” offers that trick you by not clearly disclosing you are signing up for monthly charges. You were tricked, it happens to the best of us.
2. Call/write your credit card company, dispute the charges and report the card stolen. Since this site does not meet the FTC requirements for clear disclosure for the charges you received, consider your card stolen This will make sure they can’t charge you any more and that they can’t sell your credit card number to anyone else. If they tricked you once already, what makes you think they won’t try to squeeze every penny out of you they can?

3. Get an Equifax 3-in-1 Credit Report Now!and check your score.. or any unauthorized transactions.

4. See your Credit Score for $0 at zendough by TransUnion. It’s Free and available in seconds.

5.FICO Credit Reports and Monitoring Choices

6.Start ID theft monitoring right away! Click here to sign up for Experian Protect My Id monitoring. You just gave some shady website your name, address, phone number, credit card and secret 3 digit card number. You can get Experian ID Protection for free for 30 days, then it’s $9.95 a month. I’d suggest signing up for AT LEAST the free month to check your credit report for free and make sure no one tries to change your address or open a new card using the current cards details you gave away.

I Didn’t Get Taken, But What Can I Do To Help?

What can you do to stop these guys from taking in more people? Warn everyone about it!

1. Click Here to Share this on Facebook! Hit “Post to Profile” to warn your friends.
2. Use the “Share This” link below to Digg or Stumble or Reddit or Email or whatever service you use to share this so that other people might see it before they get scammed too!
3. Click Here to ReTweet this article to warn all your faithful followers.
4. Get more  Credit Education

But I Wanted To Make Money Online, Not Get Scammed! Is There Anything Real Out There?

Yes, there are many people who earn a living working at home sitting in front of their computer. And you can actually be one of them! Check out our article on The Best Way To Learn To Make Money Online.

Three people have been arrested in connection with the death of sub inspector Vetrivel R who died crying for help.
Two days after Sub Inspector Vetrivel bled to death, three people have been arrested for his murder.

Police say he was a victim of mistaken identity. The real target was another Sub-Inspector whose wife had allegedly plotted his murder. The assailants were told to attack a person in police uniform, riding a motor bike and wearing a helmet. He was supposed to pass through the same stretch.

But before that, Vetrivel came along and the assailants attacked him.

The real target’s wife and family members have attempted to kill him earlier too and a case is pending in the court. She is absconding; her brother masterminded this.

But there has been no action so far against the two ministers who just watched on as Vetrivel lay bleeding, begging for help. (Read & Watch: Policeman attacked on road, ministers stare from cars, don’t help)

Public outrage is growing over this indifferent behaviour.

A case of abetment to murder has to be filed against them and arrested. They may not have been a part of the conspiracy, but they have allowed the victim to die.

But the ministers are still unrepentant; one of them – Sports Minister Mohidheen Khan – said he doesn’t need to quit.

The ministers’ callousness has become a national shame, but Tamil Nadu government has not even ordered a probe, and the ruling DMK leadership is maintaining a stoic silence.

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New York, May 23: The low-cost Indian toilet system, popularly known as Sulabh Sauchalaya, will now be taken to 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East regions.

The movement’s founder, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, announced his organisation’s plans in a keynote address at the four day at World Environment and Water Resources Congress at Providence in Rhode Island Friday.

Addressing civil engineers and technical experts at the Congress, Pathak appealed to technical experts to join hands with his organization to achieve United Nations‘ Millennium Development Goal relating to sanitation and hygiene.

Pathak and his team has developed an indigenous two-pit toilet technology that is not only cost-effective but can also be used in producing biogas. Recycling and reuse of human excreta for biogas generation is an important way to get rid of health hazards.

Sulabh would construct public toilets in developing countries to popularise the Indian toilet system to ensure proper sanitation, he said.

The Indian NGO has already played a key role in construction of public toilets in several countries including Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Ethiopia and 10 other countries of Africa. It has already constructed public toilets in some of these countries

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Based on the is going to bring forth a never-before pair – Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone.

Mostly shot in the locales of Goa, ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’ is expected to hit the screens on December 3 this year. The film is co-produced by Sunita A. Gowariker, Ajay Bijli and Sanjeev Bijli and presented by Ashutosh Gowariker Productions Pvt. Ltd (AGPPL) and PVR Pictures. While the lyrics have been penned by Javed Akhtar, music is by Sohail Sen.

Unlike his previous films, Ashutosh is keen to keep the film’s length quite short, that is, just two hours. While his earlier project ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ bombarded at box office owing to its long length, looks like the director has taken time management lessons.

‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey’ is said to be inspired from ‘Do And Die’, a book by Manini Chatterjee. The film also features Vishakha Singh, Samrat Mukherji, Sikander Kher, Maninder Singh, Feroz Wahid Khan and Shreyas Pandit.

At a press meet held recently, the producers stated that the film is an inspirational one and it should be watched by the current generation. They further said that it is very much in line with their philosophy to touch, move and inspire audiences through the language of films.

Chittagong Armoury Raid–a Story and facts

Surya Sen (alternatively Surjya Sen, Bangla: সূর্য সেন pronounced Surjo Sen) (March 22, 1894 – January 12, 1934) (also known as Masterda Surya Sen) (Bangla: মাস্টারদা সূর্য সেন) was a prominent Bengali Indian freedom fighter, an Indian independence activist and the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong, Bengal (now in Bangladesh). He was born on 22 March 1894 in Chittagong district now in Bangladesh. He participated in nationwide non-violent non-cooperation movement. He was arrested in February 1933 by British and was hanged on 12 January 1934. The Government of India released a commemorative stamp on him in 1977. Bangladesh issued a commemorative stamp on him in 1999.

His father’s name was Ramaniranjan. A resident of Noapara in Chittagong, he was a teacher by profession. He was initiated into revolutionary ideas in 1916 by one of his teachers while he was a student of Intermediate Class in the Chittagong College and joined the renowned revolutionary group Anushilan. But when he went to Behrampur College for BA course, came to know about Jugantar and became more inspired with their ideas. On his return to Chittagong in 1918, he organized Jugantar there. Every revolutionary groups were using Indian National Congress as umbrella to work. Consequently in 1929, Surya Sen became the president of the Chittagong district committee of the Indian National Congress[1]. He continued to organize the hardline patriotic organisations and first became a teacher of the National school in Nandankanan and then joined the Umatara school at Chandanpura. Hence, he was known as Mastarda (teacher brother).

By 1923 Surya Sen spread the revolutionary organization in different parts of Chittagong district. Aware of the limited equipment and other resources of the freedom fighters, he was convinced of the need for secret guerrilla warfare against the colonial Government. One of his early successful undertakings was a broad day robbery at the treasury office of the Assam-Bengal Railway at Chittagong on December 23, 1923.

His major success in the anti-British revolutionary violence was the Chittagong Armoury Raid on April 18, 1930. Subsequent to the raid, he marched to the Jalalabad hills along with his fellow revolutionaries. After the battle with the British troops on April 22, he escaped from there.

Surya Sen, being constantly followed up by the police, had to hide at the house of Sabitri Devi, a widow, near Patiya. A police and military force under Captain Cameron surrounded the house on 13 June 1932. Cameron was shot dead while ascending the staircase and Surya Sen along with Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Dutta escaped to safety.

Surya Sen was always in hiding, moving from one place to another. Sometimes he used to take a job as a workman; sometimes he would take a job as a farmer, or milkman, or priest, houseworker or even as a pious Muslim. This is how he used to avoid being captured.

Either because of money, or out of jealousy, or because of both, Netra Sen told the British Government that Surya Sen was at his house. As a result, the police came and captured him on February 16, 1933. This is how India’s supreme hero was arrested. But before Netra Sen was able to get his 10,000-rupee reward he was killed by the revolutionaries .

This is how it happened. Netra Sen’s wife was all for Surya Sen, and she was horrified by her husband’s deed. She felt mortified by her husband’s betrayal of Surya Sen.

One evening she was serving her husband food when a great admirer of Surya Sen came into the house. He was carrying a very big knife, which is called a dal. With one stroke of the dal he chopped off the head of Netra Sen in the presence of his wife. Then slowly and stealthily he went away.

When the police arrived to investigate, they asked Netra Sen’s wife if she had seen who the murderer was. She said, “I saw with my own eyes, but my heart will not permit me to tell you his name. I am sorry. I feel miserable that I was the wife of such a treacherous man, such an undivine man as Netra Sen. My husband betrayed the greatest hero of Chittagong. My husband betrayed a great son of Mother India. My husband cast a slur on the face of India. Therefore, I cannot tell the name of the person who took his life. He has definitely done the right thing. You can do anything with me. You can punish me, you can even kill me, but I shall never tell the name of the person who killed my husband. Our Master-da will be hanged, I know, but his name will forever be synonymous with India’s immortal freedom-cry. Everybody loves him. Everybody adores him. I, too, love him and adore him, for he is the brightest sun in the firmament of Chittagong. Surya means sun and he is truly our sun.”

Tarakeswar Dastidar, the new president of the Chittagong Branch Jugantar Party, made a preparation to rescue Surya Sen from the Chittagong Jail. But the plot was unearthed and consequently frustrated. Tarakeswar and Kalpana along with others were arrested. Special tribunals tried Surya Sen, Tarakeswar Dastidar, and Kalpana Datta in 1933.

Surya Sen along with his comrade Tarekeshwar Dastidar was hanged by the British rulers on January 12, 1934. Before the death sentence Surya Sen was brutally tortured. It was reported that the British executioners broke all his teeth with hammer and plucked all nails and broke all limbs and joints. He was dragged to the rope unconscious. After his death his dead body wasn’t given any funeral. The prison authority, it was found later, put his dead body in a metallic cage and dumped into the bay of Bengal.

His last letter to his comrades, written on 11 January, will remain enshrined in history as the most eloquent testimony of the excellence of his manhood… “Death is knocking at my door. My mind is flying away towards infinity … this is the moment to myself to embrace death as the dearest of friends. In this happy, sacred and crucial moment, what am I leaving for you all? Only one thing, my dream, a golden dream, the dream of a Free India. Dear comrades, march ahead; never retrace your step. Days of servitude are receding. Freedom’s illuminating ray is visible over there. Arise and never give way to despair. Success is sure to come.”

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• India complete the win at Chittagong (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
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Indian reality TV goes rural with ‘Desi Girl’

Milking cows and making cow dung cakes – reality content on Indian television gets a rural makeover with Imagine TV’s new show ‘Desi Girl’ where eight glamorous celebrities will be seen doing all this and more in a village.

Village based fiction shows like ‘Bandini’ and ‘Kashi’ on Imagine TV and ‘Balika Vadhu’ and ‘Na Aana Iss Des Laado‘ on Colors have been the flavour of the small screen nowadays. But with ‘Desi Girl’, the channel is attempting to experiment with the genre in the non-fiction space.

‘This reality show is an extension of the wave of rural themes popular on fiction content these days. We thought why not bring it to the non-fiction space and show the real aspects of a village since we have been trying to strengthen our base of non-fiction offerings,’ Shailja Kejriwal, executive vice president (content), Imagine TV, told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

The show will be shot in Sialba Majri – ‘a fairly less conservative village’ in Punjab. As per the show’s format, the participating celebrities will stay with the families in the village.

Turn by turn, each celebrity will undertake everyday tasks of the villagers such as milking cows, making cow dung cakes, cleaning the house, cooking food for the family, etc in a bid to prove that they aren’t just glamour and style icon but also have it in them to be a true ‘Desi Girl’.

Last year, UTV Bindass had come up with a show ‘Big Switch‘ that required celebrity children to give up their comfortable lifestyles to fulfil the dreams of slum children. But Kejriwal says their show is not close on the heels of ‘Big Switch’, which was hosted by actress Genelia D’Souza.

”Big Switch’ was in a set made to look like a slum. Here, celebrities will be actually living out of a village. So even to get their cup of coffee, they would first have to milk the cow every morning like villagers do for their everyday needs,’ she said.

Earlier also, elements of rural India have found place in reality shows such as ‘Chak De – Shehar Di Kudiyan Te Galli De Gunde’, which had city girls competing with small town boys on the dance floor. But a full-fledged reality show based out of a village is a first time concept in India.

‘Desi Girl’, to be hosted by popular actor Rohit Roy, will see glamour girls like Sambhavna Seth, Kashmera Shah, Roshni Chopra, Monica Bedi, Anmol Singh, Rucha Gujarati, Ishitta Arun and Aushima Sawhney.

These girls were chosen on the basis of their popularity, lifestyle and public image, says Kejriwal.

‘Our first preference was to get those girls who would be gung-ho and game for living in a village in such heat. Not everybody can last in these situations. So we got those who were happy being in a village. Then we wanted known celebrities who are neither meek nor aggressive. Thirdly, we wanted those who have a glamorous image in the public eye and lead comfortable lifestyles in a city like Mumbai.

‘The basic idea was to show a collision of two worlds – Mumbai and a small village in Punjab,’ she added.

Apparently, the villagers were extremely receptive and warm to the idea of hosting a reality show with these celebrities in their space.

‘People in Punjab are known for being the ‘bade dilwale’ (large hearted). They are fairly less conservative than a village in Bihar or Rajasthan. After conducting a recce in most places, we found Punjab as a natural choice. They were very warm and are excited about having to share their homes with celebrities,’ said Kejriwal.

The launch date of the show hasn’t been decided as yet.

30-foot minke whale swam alongside her 14-foot board and accompanied Nelson as she stood and paddled for two of those nine hours, thus joining the cause. This minke whale did not merely swim close to Nelson. He rolled around repeatedly alongside her and blew bubbles beneath her board. A film crew was on the escort boat and CNN, Fox News and ABC are just some of the networks lucky enough to cover this incredible unforgettable incident..

“It was a day that all of us involved will never forget,” Nelson said, in reference to Angela Robinson, her best friend, and the rest of a crew aboard an escort boat.

Minke whales are not commonly seen off Southern California, and those spotted by boaters are often elusive. So when a mammal Nelson named Larry joined her endeavor to become the first woman to make this long paddle, she took it as a sign.

“To me it was a total God thing,” the San Clemente resident said. “We prayed at 4 that morning that God would reveal his beauty and creation and nature, and allow me to endure this long trek, so for me it’s not such a huge surprise that this happened.”

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, an American Cetacean Society whale researcher, said minke whales can be friendly but added: “This type of quality encounter is highly unusual.”

Nelson raised only about $6,000 in advance of the paddle, disappointingly short of her target of $100,000 for the Keep a Breast Foundation and Boarding for Breast Cancer. A few of her celebrity friends let her down, she said, but when this story reaches a national audience she expects the pool to grow considerably.

“I thought, ‘I don’t need so-and-so,’ ” she said of a particular celebrity, whom she declined to name. “Because I honestly feel like Larry is going to help us reach the $100,000 mark with our fundraising effort.”

Larry or no Larry, completing a standup paddle over 39.8 miles of ocean and sharks speaks volumes about Nelson’s strength, stamina and determination.

Larry took her mind off the task for two magical hours, but her mind never strayed from the cause. “I can’t even begin to compare what I did to what cancer patients are going through,” she said. “But I wanted to put myself out there in a dangerous and scary, overwhelming situation; something that was big and just to show people that you can win that battle with that big, scary thing called cancer.

“I wanted to draw some kind of parallel and just encourage people to keep fighting.”

Those wanting to help Jodie with her mission can do so via her page on the Keep a Breast Foundation website.
Problem retrieving videos from provider: Bad Request

Photos: courtesy paddlewithpurpose.com

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New Delhi: After two years of hard work, Vishal Mehta, an ex employee of Amazon.com, launched the Infibeam Pi, an e-reader that looks like the Amazon Kindle. It has the same e-Ink screen that the Kindle sports, reports Sruthijith KK of The Economic Times.

Mehta, who is having an engineering degree from Cornell and an MBA from MIT-Sloan, worked in Amozon.com for five years and was a Senior Manager at the company in 2007. To start his own online retail venture, Mehta quit his job, sold his house and his car.

The Infibeam Pi, which is priced at Rs.10,000, can be ordered online now and is likely to be shipped in February, is priced at Rs. 10,000. The Amazon Kindle, when shipped to India, costs about Rs.18,000. The Pi supports 13 Indian languages. Infibeam.com, an online retailer that sells everything from flowers to jewellery to books to electronic goods, has more than one lakh ebooks.

Mehta said, “It’s pointless in India, there is no 3G. When we have wireless connectivity, we probably won’t restrict what users can browse. Our essential philosophy is to be as open as possible.”

The Pi has also a micro USB port to connect to a PC. Users will just be needed to create an account with Infibeam.com, register the device and then download the ebooks. The ebooks can be read on the PC as well as on the Pi. The ebooks typically cost 5-20 percent less than the hard copy versions, but in some cases, especially with bestsellers, digital rights are expensive and it’s cheaper to buy the physical books. With the help of Pi, users will be able to read any documents documents (word or pdf, for instance). “A test prep firm can load their proprietary content on this device and give it to students, without worrying that the material will get passed around,” said Mehta.

The company plans to sell about 10,000 devices in the first few months. The company has started accepting pre-orders on the website and is motivated by the initial response.

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India, a land of so many colors, added one more color yesterday when Indian politicians took a step towards making history when they voted to reserve a third of all legislative seats across the country for women.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Saturday his government is committed to “all round social, economic and political empowerment of our women, whatever effort and resources the task might take.” He’ll even fundamentally undermine the foundations of India’s democracy to do it.

That’s the lesson of this week’s parliamentary battle over a bill to reserve one-third of seats in national and state legislatures for the fairer sex. The ruling coalition succeeded in ramming the amendment through the upper house of parliament, the Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday. Leaders of the ruling Congress Party, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the minority Communists all support the idea, which has been in the works for 14 years.

It’s easy to see why. Political populism has worked well for Congress for decades, and women compose about 48% of the population. Party leaders could end up wielding more power over who is chosen to run, depending on how prospective female candidates are selected. Plus they win the adoration of powerful nongovernment lobbyists, who are cheering the move as a long-overdue correction for female parliamentary “under-representation.”

This is a cheap way to cloak the bill’s antidemocratic nature. If passed, the bill would fundamentally sever the link between a parliamentarian and his constituency by preventing male politicians for running for office—or re-election—if his district was included in that year’s quota calculation. It would also, perhaps unconstitutionally, infringe on a citizen’s right to choose.

India’s women don’t need a leg up to win political power. By all accounts Sonia Gandhi, who runs the Congress Party, wields more influence than the prime minister. The president is female. A woman runs the country’s largest state. And the leader of the opposition in the lower house is—guess what—a woman.

Once instituted, quotas are hard to roll back. India’s Constitution mandated legislative quotas for lower-caste citizens for a period of 10 years after independence. Those quotas are still in place today because the legislature keeps passing laws to extend them.

Then there’s a slippery slope problem, highlighted by the minority political parties’ objections this week to the bill. They don’t oppose it on the ground that it’s antidemocratic—they want more quotas, based on caste, for their individual constituencies.

India has seen the destructive effects of quotas in many other areas, including education and public-sector jobs. In each case, arbitrary mandates have undermined competition and heightened opportunities for corruption.

There’s no reason to think quotas for women wouldn’t meet a similar fate. Far from liberating women, the women’s bill will enshackle Indian citizens of both sexes and degrade democracy, perhaps permanently. What’s so fair about that?

In what Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described as an “historic step forward toward emancipation of Indian womanhood”, the upper house of the country’s federal Parliament voted 186-1 to set aside the seats in the national and state assemblies.

Having overcome more than a decade of opposition, the politicians thumped on their desks to celebrate the bill’s passage.

Even though two of the most influential figures in the history of India since its independence from Britain in 1947 – Indira Gandhi and her daughter-in-law, the current Congress Party leader, Sonia Gandhi – have been women, the country does not do well when it comes to gender equality in politics.

With only 21 women in the 233-member upper house, representing around 9 per cent, and 59 in the 545-member Lower House, or under 11 per cent, India ranks 99th in the world in terms of female representation among MPs.

Pakistan and Bangladesh, both neighbours of India, perform markedly better, according to the study by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a Switzerland-based organisation that works to promote democracy.

Sonia Gandhi, the widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated in 1991, and reportedly one of the driving forces behind the measure, told an Indian television channel: “I am relieved … very happy.

“In politics, there are always some risks but the larger picture has to be kept in mind. The support of my party and especially of the women kept me going.”

Outside the Parliament building in Delhi, activists and female politicians celebrated and shouted: “We have made it!”

The passage of the bill, which was first proposed in 1996, has been difficult and faced opposition from many political leaders who believed their male-dominated parties would lose seats.

Other parties have opposed the move because they did not think the legislation went far enough and argued that seats should also be reserved for people from lower castes and ethnic minorities.

On International Women’s Day, a vote on the bill was blocked by unprecedented scenes in the Upper House when opponents snatched copies of the proposed legislation and tore them up.

Yesterday, proceedings were again halted when seven legislators refused to leave the chamber. They were eventually removed by marshals.

Other opponents boycotted the vote, including the Trinamool Congress Party, one of the Government’s allies and whose leader, Mamata Banerjee, is the Railways Minister. Her party said that the Congress Party had not properly consulted its allies before proceeding.

Activists hope that, if the bill is now passed in the lower house as expected, the legislation will inspire Indian women, who still suffer high levels of discrimination.

The temple in Manukau has hung on its walls portraits of Gandhi’s bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, who were killed in a gun battle after firing more than 30 bullets into her in 1984, and of co-conspirator Kehar Singh, who was sentenced to death, the Weekend Herald reported Saturday.

Entitled “Shaheed Bhai” – or martyr brother – they hang alongside others who have been killed for their Sikh beliefs.

The newspaper described how the pictures had divided the Sikh community and upset other Indians in New Zealand’s largest city, which has the country’s largest Asian population.

“If someone wants to honour a terrorist, that’s an individual choice,” Veer Khar, general secretary of the New Zealand Indian Central Association, told the paper.

“But to put them up in a public place, as a community we totally condemn such an activity.”

He acknowledged that atrocities were committed against the Sikh community prior to Gandhi’s assassination, but said honouring the men who killed her was creating unnecessary tension.

“We sympathise with the pain, we don’t deny that those things happened,” he said. “We want to say that we have to move on in life.”

However, Ranvir Lali Singh, a Sikh who has been involved with the temple for 15 years, told the paper that anyone who died for the religion was considered a martyr.

“We don’t consider those who killed Indira Gandhi as terrorists, they are our martyrs,” he said. “She was killed by her Sikh bodyguards as revenge for her attack on the Golden Temple, our holiest shrine, and for that, we consider them our martyrs. There is nothing wrong.”

A spokesman for India’s senior diplomat in New Zealand, High Commissioner Sureesh Mehta, acknowledged the issue was “sensitive”, but declined further comment

A mob of infuriated men attacked the sprawling 29-acre ashram in Bidadi in Karnataka, smashing the 32-year-old godman’s portraits, banners, billboards and the reception office. Police deployed additional forces to protect the devotees, including about 100 foreigners staying within the complex.

‘We have deployed two platoons of the state reserve police numbering about 100 men to guard the Nityananda Mission and protect the devotees, as the people from the town wanted to lay a siege,’ Ramanagara district police superintendent S.B. Bhisanhalli told IANS.

Bidadi is about 30 km from Bangalore.

The sensational video footage showed the godman, who originally hails from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, fondling and kissing the women and in a compromising position with them in turns.

While the video clipping shows that the man in action is Nithyananda, one of the women is allegedly a Tamil actress who has played leading role in many films and TV serials.

In Tamil Nadu, members of outfits like Periyar Dravida Kazhagham, VCK and Hindu Makkal Katchi held protests in different places and demanded Nithyananda’s arrest.

Nithyananda’s banners were burnt and many centres of his shram Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam in the state and in Pudducherry were ransacked and damaged by protesters.

While the whereabouts of Nithyananda is not known, a message posted on the ashram’s website terms the video footage aired by the news channel as a mix of conspiracy, graphics and rumour and added that legal course of action is being worked out.

The Nithayananda Mission is part of a worldwide movement for meditation and peace. It claims to have about 1,000 branches across 33 countries and about two million followers the world over.

‘The goal of Paramahamsa Nithyananda’s advent on planet earth is to spread the inner science of enlightenment by delivering physical health, mental wellness and spiritual awakening to all beings irrespective of their race, gender or nationality,’ a mission spokesman told reporters when accosted to know the whereabouts of the godman and about the expose.

‘The video footage shown by news channels was not shot here. It must have been taken in Tamil Nadu or elsewhere. Our priority is to first maintain law and order and prevent the situation going out of control,’ Bhisanhalli said.

Denying knowledge of the godman’s sexual acts and his misconduct, the mission spokesman alleged that the video footage was fabricated and aired to defame their ‘guru’ as non-believers were jealous of his growing popularity.

‘We feel a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the so-called expose. It is for the authorities to investigate the video footage to ascertain the truth. We know nothing about the incident,’ the spokesman said but declined to be named.

Lamenting that the sleaze had hurt the feelings of devotees, the spokesman said enemies of the mission hatched a conspiracy to malign and blackmail the pontiff for vested interests.

‘Our guru’s mission is to enlighten the people through yoga and meditation. His character is above suspicion,’ the spokesman asserted.

I found this fascinating quote today:

Well, seems like nothing going right for Run Away Swami and last word came from Dr V S Acharya, home minister of Karnataka, who finally announced yesterday that the land on which the ashram stands is of the government and was meant for cattle grazing farm. He said, he finally asked the deputy commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the matter.premjoytish.com, Astrology-Get to know about yourself-via GoDesi.com » Blog Archive » Even Snakes not helping Swami Nityananda, forget his fans, Mar 2010

You should read the whole article.

SeaWorld said that 12,000-pound Tilikum pulled Dawn Brancheau, 40, into the orca’s tank about 2p.m.

Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel that the animal suddenly grabbed Brancheau by the upper arm, tossed her around in his mouth and pulled her beneath the water as dozens of tourists looked on in horror.

Brazilian tourist João Lúcio da Costa Sobrinho, 28, and his girlfriend, Talita Oliveira, 20, watched the attack from an underwater-viewing area where they had gone to take photos.

Suddenly, they saw a woman in the killer whale’s jaws, her face bloody. The more than 20-foot-long orca circled round and round, turning her over and over, they said.

“It was terrible,” Sobrinho said. “It’s very difficult to see the image.”

Witnesses who watched the attack while eating at the “Dine with Shamu” show — a poolside buffet where trainers demonstrate their connection with the animals — told the Sentinel a female trainer was petting a killer whale when it grabbed her and plunged into the water.

It reappeared on the other side of the tank and leapt up holding the woman, they said.

Within minutes, an alarm sounded, and security workers escorted the spectators out. Some people were screaming, and children were crying, Sobrinho and Oliveira said. The scene was more orderly at “Dine with Shamu.”

Question is, what poor animal will do when Money hungry big companies like Sea World wants there both trapped animals and poor employees work and work.
Same said by Several spectators that the animals had been agitated during a 12:30p.m. show, playing or fighting with one another and refusing to obey commands to splash the crowd, a staple of the program. In that case, authorities should have called off the show rather then endangering life of poor lovely trainer, who was just doing it for some money and her love for animals but what she got in return.Death from her own loved ORCA.
Poor whale showed her anger on poor trainer when they both loved and kissed each others for years. Every where now this most loved whale is projected as Killer but in fact, its Sea world management fault and must be blamed and questioned for letting show proceed and run, inspite of known anger shown by Whales in prior show..

“It is with great sadness that I report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon,” Sea-world President Dan Brown said in a statement to the media. “We’ve initiated an investigation to determine, to the extent possible, what occurred.”
Dont Dan Brown figure out as whose fault is this. Its just a sheer pressure on poor trapped animals where they are made to perform show after show and what people except from them, when they originally tried to show there anger in previous show?

Dawn Brancheau had worked at the park since February 1994. Ever since she visited SeaWorld with her family about 30years ago, Brancheau’s goal had been to train killer whales, said her mother, Marion Loverde of Indiana.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a longtime critic of SeaWorld’s practices, again called on the park “to stop confining oceangoing mammals to an area that to them is like the size of a bathtub,” it said in a statement.

“It’s not surprising when these huge, smart animals lash out.”

Many other animal-rights activists have long criticized SeaWorld and other marine parks for keeping orcas and other wildlife in captivity. Russ Rector, a former dolphin trainer in Fort Lauderdale, said keeping the animals captive makes them dangerous.

“Captivity is abusive to these animals. And the abuse mounts up. And when these animals snap — just for a minute — they’re so big and can be so dangerous that it’s like a shotgun,” Rector said. “It does an incredible amount of damage in just a moment.”

ORCA Whale was one of three killer whales blamed for the 1991 drowning of a trainer while he performed at the now-defunct Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia.

Much of the debate on morning news shows centered on what to do with Whale but infect it should be more to decide as how to ban these shows that are just illegal and torture to animals.

Earlier today, Jack Hanna, a well-known animal expert with ties to Central Florida, spoke on national television about the tragedy, saying animal experts such as Brancheau are aware of the risks, as well as the benefits, of working with live animals.

“The only thing I can compare it to is when the astronauts went to the space station and that tragic thing happened coming back,” Hanna said, referring to the 2003 disintegration of the Columbia space shuttle that killed seven astronauts. “Why did we do that? We did that to learn more about space and how that will help us.”

Tourists react to death

This morning, as tourists returned to the park, an announcement was made on the speaker system, apologizing that The Shamu Show would be closed today. Nothing was said about the death.

“It’s scary,” SeaWorld Orlando visitor April D’Agostino said this morning. “But they know what’s at risk when they get in the tank with those whales.”

D’Agostino heard the news about the trainer’s death on television, as did the Malkins from Asheville, N.C.

“I’m sensing that the mood today is a little more somber,” Heidi Malkin said while visiting the park.

Although Malkin and her husband, Dave, heard about Wednesday’s accident on television, it didn’t prevent them from visiting SeaWorld Orlando.

“We wondered how the park would be different today,” Dave Malkin added.

About six television news trucks, most representing local stations, were outside the park before its 9 a.m. opening, but there was otherwise little evidence that anything at the park had changed.

Tourist Dennis Diego, 30, of Sao Paolo, Brazil, said he wasn’t immediately aware about what happened, even though he was at the park Wednesday and saw helicopters flying overhead.

He found out about the attack after he and his wife, Vanessa, 29, returned to their hotel.

The Diegos had seen the same show where the accident happened earlier in the day, but it had not been the best performance.

“Not everything went right,” said Dennis Diego. “The girl said the whales were not in the mood for it.”

As the park opened today, cars streamed into the parking lot. At the entrance to SeaWorld, a sign informed guests that The Shamu Show would remain closed.

In his television appearance, Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, said that holding animals in captivity not only conserves the creatures, but it also helps educate people.

“Why do we have whales, as well as elephants and other animals? We have it to educate folks,” he said. “It’s the last chance we have to save these animals.”

SeaWorld said that 12,000-pound Tilikum pulled Brancheau, a 40-year-old veteran animal trainer, into the orca’s tank about 2 p.m.

“Dawn was a beautiful person,” Hanna said on CNN. “I did several shows with her . . . with Tilly, even in the background — that type of thing.’ he said. “I could tell you now she would want her work to continue.”

Hanna said the previous death linked to Tilikum was a different situation.

In 1999, park officials found the naked body of Daniel Dukes lying across Tilikum’s back at SeaWorld Orlando.

Dukes apparently had sneaked into SeaWorld after hours to swim with the animals.

“That’s like going over the fence at the NASCAR race,” Hanna said. “You can’t blame SeaWorld for that.”

SeaWorld acquired Tilikum after another fatal incident.

In 1991, Tilikum and two female killer whales dragged trainer Keltie Byrne underwater, drowning her in front of spectators at Sealand of the Pacific, a defunct aquarium in Victoria, British Columbia.

SeaWorld San Diego cancels show

Also Thursday, SeaWorld San Diego, a sister park to SeaWorld Orlando, canceled its Shamu show for the second consecutive day in response to the death here.

San Diego park officials had not yet determined whether Friday’s show would be canceled. But the park has worked to improve safety after several incidents over the last three decades in which trainers were injured, officials said.

In 1971, an employee suffered puncture wounds when a killer whale tossed her, according to Times reports. The most recent San Diego attack occurred in 2006 when a 33-year-old trainer was hospitalized after a killer whale dragged him to the bottom of the Shamu pool during a show.

“We’re terribly saddened by the loss of the member of our SeaWorld family, it doesn’t matter what park,” SeaWorld San Diego spokesman David Koontz said Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.

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Shah Rukh Khan’s latest movie ‘My Name Is Khan’, which made $18 million in its opening weekend worldwide, will be dubbed in German and Turkish and will be subtitled in Polish to help a wider international audience.

The decision to dub the film in various languages came instantly for the company so that it reaches out to as many people as possible.

‘Every country has a different requirement. In Poland, it will be released with Polish subtitles. In Germany, we want the film to go down much deeper to the German audience and that particular market prefers films to be dubbed. So that’s why we are dubbing it in German and Turkish,’ Vijay Singh, CEO of Fox STAR Studios India, told IANS.

‘My Name Is Khan’, directed by Karan Johar, also features actress Kajol. Set in post-9/11 period in US, the movie has been garnering positive reviews from Indian and international audience and critics alike.

‘Our release plan for ‘My Name Is Khan’ is very different from any Bollywood film. Bollywood films in India have a life of two weeks, so we are releasing the film over a six-month period. From March to June, we are going to be releasing the film in 25 non-traditional markets,’ said Singh.

‘The film will release in Poland next month in 50 screens whereas the largest Bollywood release that has happened so far has released in five screens. And then, we will be releasing at Germany where we will be doing a German dub and a Turkish dub.’

Germany has a substantial chunk of expatriate Turkish population.

‘There also, we are releasing the film in 40 screens whereas five screens are maximum for any Bollywood release so far. Basically, the rollout for ‘My Name Is Khan’ is very different from any other typical Bollywood film,’ he added.

This summer ‘My Name Is Khan‘ will be playing for a non-NRI audience in theatres across the US.

And the version of ‘MNIK’ that American audiences will get to see will be different from the original film released so far in India and overseas for the NRI audiences.

Shah Rukh Khan confirms this decision to shorten the film for American audiences.

‘Yes, we are cutting the length of the film for the American audience. Their requirements are different from the traditional audience for Hindi cinema. We’re in this way extending the life span of a Hindi film with first a worldwide release for Indian audiences and then phased out releases for non-Indian audiences,’ he told IANS.

Film director Karan Johar said: ‘Yes, the version for Americans will be shorter though not radically different. We’ve left the American version’s editing to the film’s editor Deepa Bhatia. She is experienced and versatile enough to understand what would be palatable to the American audiences. Deepa has worked on feature films as well as documentaries. She’s edited films for everyone from me to Govind Nihalani.’

Karan admits it’s not the songs nor the length that will determine the shape and size of the American version of ‘MNIK’. ‘The first thing we heard from the American market is, we love the songs. So the songs stay. Deepa Bhatia is looking at what to remove.’

This summer when the film releases for a non-diaspora audience in the US, Shah Rukh, Karan and Kajol will be in the country for the American premiere.

‘We’re committed to our American producers Fox-Star to take the film to the US and any other part of the world where it will be screened in whichever avatar,’ Karan said.

In India, Indian’s came together to show unity and humanity by supporting MNIK 100% and facts prove it when MNIK became biggest hit of this year, and broke all records. Hats to all Indians and all supporters and 5 stars

All this happened inspite of Shiv Sena‘s ire on MNIK for supporting Pakistani cricketers’ inclusion in the IPL. Khan was even ready to applogize but said that he did not understand the “logic” behind the controversy and would have apologised if they had a problem with his film ‘My Name Is Khan’.

The 44-year-old superstar said what hurt him the most was the fact that his “Indianness” was questioned again and again.

Khan said that he would have apologised to Shiv Sena if the content of his film, released on February 12, was found to be offensive but did not do so because he didn’t understand the “logic” behind their anger.

“If they had a problem with my film, I would have apologised. I have done so earlier because I do not want to offend anyone with my films, my aim is to entertain. But this was about who I am as a person and my Indianness and I was hurt that I had to clarify it again and again,” said Khan in an interaction with a news channel.

The actor said that he has “great respect” for the Sena leaders but feels that politics and patriotism should not have been mixed with entertainment.

“They are much older than me and I have great respect for them. But I did not understand why was the film dragged in between. I am one of those who believe that entertainment and politics should not be mixed,” he said.

“I did not understand why was my Indianness questioned. My father is a freedom fighter and I am proud of that,” he added.

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