Month: July 2010

Yahoo! hosting 24-hour ‘hacking’ event in India’s tech hub

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Bangalore, July 24: Global search engine Yahoo! is hosting a non-stop 24-hour ‘hacking’ event from Saturday noon in this tech hub where about 300 whiz-kids will use its web tools and services to develop new applications, a company official said Friday.

‘About 300 developers across India will participate in the 24-hour hacking event, which involves using our web tools, services and application programming interfaces (APIs) to innovate new solutions for our global netizens,’ Yahoo! India Research and Development Head Shouvick Mukherjee told IANS here.

India’s Rs.1,500 laptop a godsend for students

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New Delhi, July 24: An Indian laptop priced at just Rs.1,500 ($30) and touted as the world’s cheapest will come as a godsend for students for whom it has been specifically designed.

The laptop, unveiled Thursday by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, has all the basic features, including a built-in key board, a 2 GB RAM memory, Wi-Fi connectivity, USB ports and is powered by a 2-watt system for use in power deficit areas. The device is likely to be available next year.

38 bodies hidden in mass graves

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Mexican City, July 24: Authorities in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon are investigating after finding at least 38 bodies in nine hidden mass graves, the state’s attorney general said.

Investigators believe some of the bodies had been dumped within the past 15 days, said Alejandro Garza y Garza, Nuevo Leon attorney general.

State-run news agency Notimex reported that investigators found charred remains, incinerated bone fragments and stains of fire on the ground where bodies were presumably burned in steel drums.

Tend to critical patients instantly, Chandigarh hospitals told

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Chandigarh, July 24: A day after a woman gave birth to a stillborn baby in a government hospital’s laboratory following delay in medical assistance, the Chandigarh administration Thursday directed state-run hospitals to immediately treat critical cases without wasting any time.

The directions have been issued to the government medical college and hospital in Sector 32 and government multi-specialty hospital in Sector 16 here.

Delhi doctor fined Rs.3 lakh for refusing to help dying man

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New Delhi, July 24: A consumer court has asked a Delhi doctor to pay compensation of Rs.3 lakh to the family of a seriously injured soldier who died outside his clinic two years ago and reminded him of the Hippocratic oath he had taken to ‘render help to a dying man’.

The Delhi State Consumer Redressal Commission in its recent ruling also asked the Medical Council of India to take appropriate action against Dr A.K. Minocha, who has a clinic in west Delhi’s Janakpuri locality.

Orissa doctor tests positive for swine flu

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Bhubaneswar, July 24: A doctor has tested positive for swine flu in this Orissa capital, a senior state health official said Friday.

‘The doctor tested positive Thursday. This is the first confirmed case in the state so far this year,’ Bikash Patnaik, joint director in the state health directorate told IANS.

‘He is receiving treatment at his home and is out of danger,’ he said refusing to divulge the identity of the doctor.

Patnaik said the patient may have got the H1N1 influenza virus from outside the state.

–IANS

Five more swine flu cases in West Bengal

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Kolkata, July 24: Five more people tested positive for swine flu in West Bengal Friday, taking the number of confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1) to 26 in the state this year, the health department said.

‘Five confirmed cases of swine flu were reported today (Friday). The cumulative confirmed cases are 36 during the year 2010,’ the department said in a statement.

Sixteen people are now in hospitals. Two of them are critical, it added.

A 58-year-old man died last week due to swine flu, becoming the first victim of the flu in the state.

Two test positive for swine flu in Orissa

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Bhubaneswar, July 24: A doctor and a woman have tested positive for swine flu in this Orissa capital, a senior health official said Friday.

‘The doctor tested positive Thursday while the woman tested positive Friday,’ Bikash Patnaik, joint director in the state health directorate, told IANS.

‘The doctor is receiving treatment at his home and is out of danger. The woman is receiving treatment at a private hospital in the city,’ he said, refusing to divulge the identity of the patients.

20 new vocational training courses in Delhi

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New Delhi, July 24: Delhi Industries Minister Haroon Yusuf Friday announced that 20 vocational training programmes have been introduced for the unemployed youth.

‘It is important to impart appropriate skills development training to our existing and emerging manpower to assure maximum employment to the people of Delhi. That is why we have also taken a decision to upgrade our professional and technical training facilities,’ Yusuf told reporters.

He said already there is a training centre at Jhandewalan, and two more at Waziribad will come up soon.

Student unrest over fee hike hits Visva Bharati

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Kolkata, July 24: Students of Visva Bharati, the university set up by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, have been on an indefinite strike since the past six days protesting a hike in tuition fees. The varsity authorities Friday held talks with students’ representatives but failed to break the impasse.

The authorities Friday morning convened a meeting with the heads of different departments and representatives of students, but no fruitful result was yielded.

Class 12 boy thrashed for using mobile in school, hospitalised

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Lucknow, July 24: A Class 12 student of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district had to be hospitalised after being allegedly thrashed by his teachers for using a mobile phone in school. A probe has been ordered, officials said Friday.

The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas are schools governed by the ministry of human resource and development. The student, Rakesh Kumar, was allegedly beaten by teachers Thursday.

Kerala Muslim groups trying to mix religion, terror: Minister

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Thiruvananthapuram, July 24: Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan Saturday said some Muslim organizations in the state were trying to propagate terrorism in the name of religion.

Addressing reporters here after chairing a meeting of Kerala Police officials, he said some of the Muslim organizations in the state are trying to whip up passion.

‘Some of them are trying to experiment if terrorism can be propagated in the name of religion,’ he said.

Secondary education to be made universal too: President

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Kunjpura, July 24: The universalisation of secondary education is on the government’s agenda as part of important forward movements in school education, President Pratibha Patil said here Saturday.

Addressing the golden jubilee founder’s day celebrations of Sainik School (military school) in Kunjpura near Karnal, about 120 km from Chandigarh, Patil said: ‘In India, primary education is now a fundamental right and is free and compulsory. We are hoping to universalise secondary education as well. These are important forward movements in the school education sector.’

Indian Bank to open more branches in and outside India

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Chennai, July 24: The city-based Indian Bank has plans to expand its distribution reach within and outside India by adding new branches, ATMs and increasing the headcount by 1,000, a top bank official Saturday said.

‘We will be opening 195 new branches this year and set up 1,250 ATMs this year. We will also be hiring 1,000 employees this year. The bank also plans to increase its overseas presence by opening new branches in Jaffna and Kandy in Sri Lanka and Jakarta in Indonesia,’ T.M. Bhasin, chairman and managing director (CMD) told reporters here Saturday.

Rs.25 lakh foodgrain scam in Bihar flood relief

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Patna, July 24: Bihar officials claim to have carried quintals of foodgrains for flood relief on two wheelers, instead of trucks, says a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) that exposed corruption amounting to Rs.25 lakh in the state.

According to the CAG report 2009, tabled in the monsoon session of the state assembly, motorcycles and scooters were ostensibly used instead of trucks for ferrying food grains during August-October 2007 flood relief operation in Khagaria district.

Targets not met, but current plan growth better than ever: PM

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New Delhi, July 24: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said though the country had fallen short of targets under the current five year plan, the overall projected average growth of 8.1 percent from 2007-12 was still better than in any other period.

State of infrastructure not good enough, need to do more: PM

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New Delhi, July 24: India is not meeting its infrastructure development targets and needs to rework its strategy of implementing mega projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Saturday while addressing the country’s top policy forum.

‘The state of infrastructure in the country is not good enough to achieve 9-10 percent growth over a sustained basis. We need to do much more in future,’ said Manmohan Singh while addressing a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC).

Godrej Agrovet plans Rs.60 crore investment in Bengal, Bihar

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Kolkata, July 24: Diversified agri-business company Godrej Agrovet Limited (GAVL) plans to invest Rs.60 crore in West Bengal and Bihar for setting up animal feed mills, a top company official said here Saturday.

‘We would invest around Rs.60 crore to set up animal feed mills in West Bengal and Bihar. These mills would come up in one year. We would require five-six acres to set up these mills,’ B.S. Yadav, managing director of the company told reporters at a press meet.

Modi announces Shah’s resignation

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New Delhi, July 24: In a dramatic turn of events, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Saturday announced resignation of his Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, allegedly involved in the 2005 staged killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, but the Congress termed it “too little, too late.”

ITC set to get land for food factory in Bengal

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Kolkata, July 24: ITC would soon get land for setting up production base in the city, a top company official said here Friday.

‘We have not been able to get land to set up production base (factory) in the state for long. We are planning to set up an integrated food factory,’ chairman Y.C. Deveshwar told reporters during a press conference.

‘We might get possession of 18 acres from the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation soon,’ he said.

But ITC requires minimum 40 acres for the project, he said.

–IANS

Inflation will ease but India missing targets: PM

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New Delhi, July 24: Hoping for a good rainfall in the current monsoon season, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said it will help ease the inflation rate to 6 percent in the second half of the year but conceded the growth target for the 11th five-year plan will remain unmet.

At the same time he expressed satisfaction over the fact that even those states that had tended to lag behind in the development process in the past had shown acceleration in growth during the first half of the present plan that concludes in 2011-12.

Letter of 1930’s delivered

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Stockton, July 24: A letter, which was written by a nun in the 1930’s, has finally been delivered after being in transit for 73 years. However the intended recipient of the letter would not get to read the contents of the letter, as she is no more. She died last year.

The letter was written by a San Francisco nun to ‘Miss Marie Fergone’ and was delivered at the Women’s Center of San Joaquin County at 620 North San Joaquin Street in Stockton. 70 years ago this very address used to be the location of a convent.

Delhi gets its own industrial act

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New Delhi, July 24: Delhi has got its own industrial act which provides the government a mechanism to ensure maintenance and development of the city’s industrial areas, Industries Minister Haroon Yusuf said Friday.

The Delhi Industrial Development, Operation and Maintenance Bill, 2010 was passed by the state assembly March 31 and given assent by President Pratibha Patil recently.

CESC to foray into solar power generation

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Kolkata, July 24: Power utility CESC Ltd is expanding into solar power generation with an investment plan of Rs.2,000 crore over the next five years, company vice chairman Sanjeev Goenka said here Friday.

‘We will invest Rs.2,000 crore over the next five years in solar power. We have already acquired 200 acres in a village near Bikaner in Rajasthan and plan to acquire another 800 acres across the country,’ Goenka told reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the company.

He said work for solar power generation would start in two to three months.

Omar seeks 30,000 new Kashmiri cops to replace CRPF

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New Delhi, July 24: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday called for induction of 30,000 Kashmiri men and women into the state police to enable them to progressively take over law and order responsibilities from the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force.

Unemployment was the biggest problem facing the state with 5.9 lakh youth registered at the state’s district employment centres, Abdullah said in his address at the National Development Council meeting here.