India and the US on Friday agreed to “a series of time-bound actions” that will bring the level of their high technology trade in tune with their growing strategic partnership. The agreement was reached at a meeting between India’s foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon and the US undersecretary of commerce for industry and security, Mario Mancuso at the two-day conclave of the India-US High Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG).
Archive for the ‘Off-Topic’ Category
Currencies Direct offers air miles for forex transactions
Monday, December 3rd, 2007After frequent flier miles on airlines, loyalty points at hotels and reward points on credit cards, globe-trotting business folks can now notch up currency miles through their forex transactions.
Currencies Direct, the UK-based commercial forex company, has launched a currency card for through which customers are awarded miles every time they buy or sell currencies.
Happy Independence Day - 60 Years of Freedom
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
Indian innovators get Lockheed Martin Award
Sunday, July 22nd, 2007A total of 14 Indian innovators have bagged the Innovators’ Award instituted by aerospace giant, Lockheed Martin Corporation under its India innovation growth programme for innovation in science and technology.
Seven innovators, including four from Bangalore — Amarnath Bhat of Oriental Software, Naresh Babu of Techweb Technologies, R Gopalan of Composites Technology Park and Mahendra Pratap of Integra Microsystems — won gold medals. Other gold medal winners were Janak Seth of Century Pharmaceuticals, Vadodara, T R Rao of Mumbai and Meera Goel of Som Extracts, Ghaziabad.
AAI to award 60 scholarships
Saturday, June 9th, 2007The Airport Authority of India will award 60 scholarships to young sportspersons in the country pursuing various games.
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STRICT DOPE TESTING MEASURES TO BE IN PLACE FOR MWG-2007 INDIA, CHINA AND GERMANY TO PARTICIPATE IN A BIG WAY
Saturday, June 9th, 2007Strict dope testing measures will be followed during the conduct of the forthcoming Military World Games to be held in Hyderabad and Mumbai from October 14 to 21, 2007. Samples of all record breaking winners, in addition to random samples, will be sent to special laboratories in Bangkok on a daily basis to ensure highest international standards in this biggest ever sporting event to be held in India so far. This was disclosed at the high level meeting taken by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony here today. The meeting was attended among others by the Minister of State for Defence Shri. MM Pallam Raju, the Defence Secretary Shri Shekhar Dutt, the Vice Chief of Army Staff Lt General Deepak Kapur and senior functionaries of the Games Organising Committee.
So far, nearly 4700 participants from 72 countries have already confirmed their participation in the 15 events to be conducted at the Fourth Edition of the Games which is going to be held for the first time in Asia. The largest contingents will be from the host country besides China and Germany which will be fielding over 200 each sportspersons from their Armed Forces. Continent-wise, Europe will be sending the maximum number of countries. 34 out of the total of 38 member nations of Europe will converge for the Games which is seen as a precursor to the Olympic Games.
Internet headed for dramatic changes, says ISRO chief
Monday, February 26th, 2007With continuous advances in access technologies, including satellite communication, it may not be surprising if Internet services extend to interplanetary Internet backbone in the next few decades, according to Dr G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Avian flu returns to Asia
Tuesday, January 30th, 2007The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has reported resurgence of the dreaded avian influenza in at least eight countries in Asia and Africa, and has urged all nations to remain vigilant and fully cooperate with international organisations in keeping this menace under check.
In a statement issued simultaneously in Rome and Bangkok, the FAO has said 2007, new flare-ups of the bird flu have been reported this year, from China, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Nigeria, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
India’s GDP to be 2nd largest by `50: Goldman
Friday, January 26th, 2007India can sustain an 8% growth rate till 2020 and will overtake UK as the world’s fifth-largest economy by the middle of next decade at this pace, according to a Goldman Sachs report.
“Our baseline projections for India’s potential output growth show that the economy can sustain growth rates of about 8% till 2020, significantly higher than the 5.7% that we projected in our original BRICs paper,” Goldman Sachs said in a new economic paper released today.
Inside the Outsourcing World of India
Saturday, January 6th, 2007Lured by the bench strength of India’s technology shops, financial firms such as Goldman Sachs, ING and Fidelity are eyeing new areas of interest in offshoring.
With the industry’s value expected to hit $64 billion by 2012, how long will it be before India addresses its crumbling infrastructure? Of course, with firms like Infosys successfully creating small oases of functionality in an environment of dysfunctionality, why should anything have to change?
Infosys Technologies’ 77-acre headquarters of provocative architecture, pristine roadways and manicured lawns is an oasis of efficiency and order in this nation of inefficiency and disorder, a potent symbol of how the offshoring explosion has gripped Bangalore, a city of six million known as India’s Silicon Valley. Some 15,000 employees-the average age is 26-commute the campus on communal bicycles or golf carts, spending off-work hours at the company’s swimming pool, gyms, food courts, bookstore, miniature-golf course and bowling alley. The firm’s global reputation draws 1.4 million applications a year, and employees joke that it’s easier to get into Harvard Business School than Infosys.
Saddam Hussien Executed at Dawn on Saturday
Saturday, December 30th, 2006Saddam Hussein was hanged for crimes against humanity at dawn on Saturday, a dramatic, violent end for a leader who ruled Iraq by fear for three decades before a U.S. invasion toppled him.
“It was very quick. He died right away,” one of the official Iraqi witnesses told Reuters, saying the former president’s face was uncovered, he appeared calm and said a brief prayer as Iraqi policemen walked him to the gallows and put the noose round him.
Decks cleared to convert INS Vikrant into museum
Tuesday, December 12th, 2006Finally decks for maritime museum on aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, which played an important role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, have been cleared as the state government and the Centre have agreed on the cost-sharing formula for the project.
After the Vikrant was decommissioned in 1997, the Navy for emotional reasons didn’t want the carrier to be sent to the scrap yard and was looking for for suitable partner to look after its maintenance.
But as it couldn’t find a partner till 2001, the Navy decided to send the ship to the scrap yard. But due to public uproar, the state government decided to step in and convert it into a maritime museum.
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MEA unhappy over move to ease passport norms
Sunday, December 10th, 2006Passports are meant to be issued within 45 days of receipt of the police report. In case the applicant submits a verification certificate from a competent authority — an official of the rank of superintendent of police or joint secretary in the state government or deputy secretary in the central government — police verification is waived and passport issued within 30 days.
Some senior MEA officials objected to the proposed relaxation.
“If rules are eased in such a manner, the Indian passport will lose its importance and respect. A large number of countries will not issue visas to Indians pending verification by their own agencies,” an official said. At the moment, the Indian passport commands respect because of the strict verification procedure, he added.
Foreign visits likely to come under AIR net
Tuesday, December 5th, 2006Foreign travels could come under closer watch of the income-tax department from the next fiscal year.
The finance ministry is considering a proposal for inclusion of overseas travel costs of more than Rs 50,000 at a time under the ambit of annual information returns. It is also mulling inclusion of more than Rs 1 lakh cash deposits in post office savings.
AIR is a system for capturing high-value transactions from “third party” sources such as banks, credit card companies and registrars of property.
