|
|
India News: August 2006
MTNL to launch IPTV soon
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 | MP
Telecom provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) is all set to launch Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) services, ie. television service offered over Internet Protocol (IP) via broadband. MTNL is currently running trial runs in Delhi and Mumbai for its commercial services and is targeting around 200,000 broadband subscribers in these cities. With this users can avail services such as video on demand, broadband and TV channels using MTNL's fixed line infrastructure. The IPTV service, ‘Tri-Band,’ will be offered by MTNL patnering with the tv broadcasters like STAR TV, Prasar Bharati, Zee TV, Sony Entertainment etc.
India to host first annual Asia biotech meet
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 | MP
A biotech conference called 'Asia Biotech' meet would be held every year in the Asian region to bring together the scientific community and biotechnology experts. The launching of the meet was informed by Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal.India would host the first annual meet at New Delhi in Novemebr 2007. The meeting will be held in the Asean plus six countries but would also encourage participation from other Asian and Western nations, though the focus will be on Asia.The event would unveil opportunities in the biotech sector and focus on the needs of the people, health security in particular.
India to raise SAFTA at SAARC meet
Tuesday, August 29, 2006 | MP
India said that it would raise the issue of Pakistan limiting trade with India as against its committment to SAFTA(South Asia Free Trade Area). The SAARC Ministerial Council meeting is likely to be held in October. "We would be raising the issue of Pakistan not giving us market access under SAFTA," said Commerce Minister.However, he said that India would remain committed to the pact and will continue to offer tariff concessions to Islamabad as per the agreed tariff concessions.
India gets South Asian Games champions trophy
Monday, August 28, 2006 | MP
The Indian contingent was awarded with the South Asian Games champions trophy for their good performance by winning the highest number of medals in the event.The trophy was given away to Indian chief, Rangil Singh at the end of the 10 day games event in Colombo."It was not obligatory on the part of Sri Lanka to present such an award. But having done that, they have made the Games all the more memorable for us," said Mr Singh who added that the award would motivate the team to perform better next time.
Air Sahara starts Delhi-Nagpur-Hbad sector
Monday, August 28, 2006 | MP
Air Sahara has introduced flight between the Delhi-Nagpur-Hyderabad sectors.The Delhi-Nagpur flight will take off at 7.20 am from Delhi and arrive Nagpur at 8.50 am while Nagpur-Hyderabad will depart at 9.20 am and reach Hyderabad at 10.20 am. On its return journey, the flight will leave Hyderabad at 05:55 pm and will reach Nagpur at 06:55 hrs. Nagpur-Delhi flight will start at 07:25pm and reach Delhi at 08:55 pm. With this Nagpur is being newly introduced as a destination by Air Sahara in its routes.
India developes low cost bird flu drug
Monday, August 28, 2006 | MP
The Bhopal-based research institute,High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) has come up with a vaccine to fight the dreaded bird flu disease which would be made availble at a cheapear rates. The drug could be made available as cheap as 35 paise per dose. The Rs 8crore research project funded for developing the vaccine was aimed at developing the vaccine that could fight the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus and the drug was developed within a period of 6months.
Bill seeking OBC quota tabled in LS
Friday, August 25, 2006 | MP
The quota Bill seeking 275 reservation for backward classes in higher educational institutions had been introduced in the Lok Sabha. The Bill was tabled in LS by introduced by HRD Minister Arjun Singh amid strong objections from the Left parties and opposition parties. The bill was earlier cleared by the Union cabinet on Monday and provides for reservation to be implemented in a phased manner over a period three years, starting from 2007.
Anti quota: Docs go on strike again
Thursday, August 24, 2006 | MP
Doctors of major hospitals of Delhi went on a mass casual leave as protest on the government's quota policies. They were joined in support by other protesting medicos and university students.The protesting doctors even made their way to the Supreme Court seeking the intervention of the Court on the reservation issue. And this even led to clashes between the police and doctors as the police resorted to bursting teargas shells and firing water canons to prevent the protestors from entering the Court premises.
Govt gives clean chit to Colas
Wednesday, August 23, 2006 | MP
Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry has given a clean chit to the Cola firms stating that the pesticides found in the soft drinks were within permissible limits. The Ministry pointed out that the data released by the Centre for Science and Environment(CSE) report does not conclusively prove the presence of high concentration of different pesticides in the drinks. Meanwhile CSE has sharply reacted to the Center's stand saying that the govt was favouring the cola companies rather than being concerned on the people's health.
MS, Airtel tie up for Windows Mobile solution
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 | MP
Cellular phone service provider Bharti Airtel has tied up with Microsoft Corporation to offer a new technology platform known as the Windows Mobile 5.0 technology primarly targetted for the corporate customers. With this Airtel customers will be able to access corporate e-mail through direct push technology. With the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform Airtel users can have acess to MS Office applications like Word, Excel, POwerPoint and IE and other multimedia products. The service is available on the latest HP I-paq and I-Mate handsets ranging between Rs. 16,000 and Rs. 65,000 and is launched in seven Indian cities- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
TCS plan major recruitment drive
Monday, August 21, 2006 | MP
Leading IT firm, Tata Consultancy Services is planning a major recruitment drive to hire over 30,000 graduates from the engineering stream. This was informed by TCS Chief during a functional address. Revealing on the company's recruitment plans he also called on the young engineering students in the country to horn their technology skills as well as soft skills to stay ahead in the IT race.
Ind- Lanka ODI series cancelled
Monday, August 21, 2006 | MP
The three match one-day cricket series between India and Sri Lanka was today finally called off due to bad weather conditions. The tour was continously affected by the heavy rains and the decision on the cancellation of the series came after the Srilankan Cricket Board consulted with the BCCI. However it is learnt that the series is most likely to be staged at a later date probably in 2007 and will be a triseries which would also involve South Africa.
Hindi should be included in UN: India
Sunday, August 20, 2006 | MP
India had said that it's official language Hindi should be included in the United Nations as it was one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. "Hindi should be included in the United Nations. A substantial percentage of the world population uses this language," said Minister of State for External Affair while launching the MEA's Hindi website,www.mea.gov.in. The site is being launched as a part of the government's implementation of the Official Language Policy aimed at promoting Hindi both in India and abroad.
Govt will not accept any extraneous conditionality on N deal:PM
Friday, August 18, 2006 | MP
Govt will not accept any extraneous conditionality on N deal:PMPrime Minister Manmohan Singh has stressed that the govt would not accept any any extraneous conditionality on the Indo-US nuclear deal. "India will not not accept any condition that goes beyond the parameters of July 18,2005 joint statement the March 2, 2006, Separation Plan agreed to between India and the US. If any extraneous conditions are imposed, the govt will draw conclusions consistent with the assurance given to Parliament." Mr Singh said while replying to a short duration discussion on N deal in the Rajya Sabha.
SA pulls out of tour; IND-SL to play 3 ODIs
Thursday, August 17, 2006 | MP
The first one-day international of the Unitech Cup tri-series between India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday was called off due to bad weather conditions. Meanwhile the visiting South African team citing security concerns of the their players had pulled out of the tri-series in the wake of the recent bomb blast in Colombo. It will now be a bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka which will play three one-day internationals scheduled for 18th, 20th and 22nd.
AIDS epidemic growing in rural areas
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 | MP
India is facing a major concern with the growing spread of the AIDS epidemic in the rural areas. reports show that almost 60% of HIV infected people live in the country's villages."The main concern is that the virus is going to the rural areas. The second concern is women. Today about 39 per cent of those affected are women and 57 per cent of the cases are located in rural areas," said Anbumani Ramadoss, Union Health Minister.It is also alarming that AIDS cases are significantly rising in states like Punjab and Delhi besides cities like Mumbai and Chennai.
PM focus on cross border terror
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 | MP
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of Redfort on the country's 60th Independence Day, Prime Minister called on Pakistan to take adequate steps to stop cross-border terrorism from any territory within its control."It is obvious that unless Pakistan takes concrete steps to implement the solemn assurances it has given to prevent cross-border terrorism, public opinion in India, which has supported the peace process, will be undermined," he said. Mr Singh also asked the leaders of political parties to shun the politics of divisiveness and work together and build a consensus on national issues for the progress of the country.
Lanka series to go on
Tuesday, August 15, 2006 | MP
The tri nation series Uni tech Cup cricket tournament will be held as per schedule, said the Srilankan Cricket administration. There were speculations that the tournament could be affeced by the recent bomb attacks in Colombo.Security cover has been increased to all the Indian players in the wake of the attacks. Though India has said that it would go on with the series, the South African team has expressed concerns over the turn of the situations. However Indian cricket Captain has said that his team was not bothered about the security situation.
India investment plans not to be affected: Pepsico
Monday, August 14, 2006 | MP
Even in the shade of ongoing controversies, Cola majors, Pepsico and Coca Cola has said that the company's long term investments in India would not be afected. "Our investment plans will not be affected in any way",said the Pepsico India Chief. Though the US government had indicated that the ban on these soft drinks could hit the Indian economy, Coca Cola's Indian official also maintained that the company was committed to their India plans.
Tight security checks at airports
Saturday, August 12, 2006 | MP
Passengers travelling by flights will now be faced with strict security checks as the government has enforced hightened security in all the airports across the country. The move comes in wake of the terror plot to blow up airplanes in UK. As a part of the tightened security,many of the international flights had put restrictions including not allowing inflight hand lugguage and passengers are even advised to check-in electronic goods like laptops, mobiles, ipods etc. No liquids will be allowed to carry in the hand baggage except for baby foods and medicines with proper prescriptions.
Team India reach Colombo for Tri-series
Friday, August 11, 2006 | MP
Indian cricket team has arrived in Colombo for the tri-series tournament which will begin on August 14th. India's first match will be against Srilanka on the 16th at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Colombo will host all the matches for the tri- series which will be played between India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Indian captain Rahul Dravid addressing the media prioir to the departure to Colombo had said that it would be a good challenge playing against two good teams.
High alert ahead of I-day celebrations
Thursday, August 10, 2006 | MP
Secutity has been tightened ahead of the Independence day celebrations in the country. Special arrangements are being made at the Red Fort and premises in New Delhi where the Prime Minister would address the nation on the I-day. Security has been beefed up in major airports of the country with alerts of possible terror threats to disrupt the Independence day celebrations.
Visa on arrival for Indian tourists in Malaysia
Thursday, August 10, 2006 | MP
In an effort to boost tourism, Malaysia is now allowing Indian tourists to avail the visas on arrival system at its international airports. The visa which will be issued upon on arrival will be charged RM 100 for a single entry and will be valid for one month. This scheme will come into effect from Sept 1st. Visitors who wish to extend their stay beyond 1 month need to leave Malaysia and re-enter the country by paying another RM100.
Tata Sky launches DTH services
Wednesday, August 9, 2006 | MP
Tata Sky has launched its Direct to home, satellite pay television services to Indian homes that offers high quality tv veiwing experience with DVD-quality visuals and sound efects. This superior quality service is made available in around 300 cities across the country and is being offered to over 55 channels including Discovery, Sony,Disney, MTV, NDTV, National geography etc. Subscribers will be charged the hardware set up box and installation fees at a cost of Rs 3,999 inclusive of taxes and a monthly subscription at Rs.200.
Pathak Authority report 'leakage' stalls Parliament
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 | MP
With Opposition storming Parliament over the leakage of the Pathak Authority report on the oil-for-food scam,the proceedings of both the Houses were stalled as it had to be repeatedly adjourned . The Pathak report was tabled along with the Action Taken Report in the two Houses.However the proceedings were crippled with opposition and allies giving full support to the notice for privilege motion moved by Natwar Singh.
OBC quota: 80,557 more student intake projected
Sunday, August 6, 2006 | MP
The Oversight Committee which monitor the implemention of the new reservation policies in Central educational institutions has projected an increased intake of students for implementing the new proposed 27% quota for the OBCs. The panel had suggested an additional intake of 80,557 with a 54% expansion of seats.This was indicated in the Committee's interim report which pointed out that this could cost an overall expenditure of Rs.16,563.34 crore spread over a period of five years.
SAP plans $1 bn investments in India
Thursday, August 3, 2006 | MP
Germany based Software giant SAP AG has announced its mega plans for India including $1 billion Indian investments over the next 5 years. SAP had so far invested $500 million investments in India. The company has also said that it would increase its number of employees working in India. “SAP will increase the headcount in India from 2,750 to 4,000 by the end of this year, and double the current number over the next five years, riding on the demand for SAP’s products", said SAP CEO.
Hike in home loan rates
Wednesday, August 2, 2006 | MP
With RBI's recent increase in short term interest rates, home loan rates too are getting expensive with many banks hiking their home loan rates. HDFC had announced a 0.50 per cent increase which will make the floating rates on the home loans to 9.5% against the earlier 9% and fixed rates will be 11% to the previous 10.5%.The primary lending rate will now be 12.25% against earlier 11.75%. Punjab National Bank too has hiked its home loan rates by 0.5%. Also other banks like SBI and ICICI are likely to revise its home loan rates soon.
Lok Sabha re-adopts OOP bill
Tuesday, August 1, 2006 | MP
The controversial Office of Profit Bill was passed in Lok Sabha in its present form and now the Bill will be presented to the President for his assent. Amidst strong protests from the BJP led opposition demanding changes, the Bill was readopted in LS with 230-71 vote. Meanwhile the government has expressed its willingness to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to go into the definition of Office of Profit and other suggestions.
|
|
