For all the medical aspirants in the country there is good news. The Central Government has been directed by the Supreme Court to hold a single eligibility- cum-entrance examination for MBBS and post-graduate medical courses in the country from this academic session. A Bench of justices, Mr R.V. Raveendran, and Mr A.K. Patnaik, passed the order, saying that it will also be applicable for private medical colleges in the country. The action was taken after a plea by Medical Council of India seeking to start a single eligibility-cum-entrance examination for MBBS and post-graduate Courses. Earlier, a panel set up by the health ministry to run the Medical Council of India (MCI) had suggested that a common entrance exam would lessen the stress of the student.
HCL bags Indian Air Force project
Technology giant HCL Infosystems will deploy a portable wireless network covering several air force stations across India. The new network will be integrated with the existing air force network and will provide it the backbone connectivity and ensure video interactivity for video calls and other communication platforms, the company said in a statement. “We are honoured to partner with the Indian Air Force in the deployment of this highly efficient state-of-the-art wireless network and congratulate them for their vision in embracing technology to play an active role,” HCL Infosystem's Executive Vice President Rothin Bhattacharyya said after bagging the 300-crore order. “This being one of the key wins under our defence system integration practice further highlights the company's vast understanding in various industry verticals,” he added.
Mac OS X turns 10
Apple chief Steve Jobs and his team finished a year-long odyssey on March 24, 2001 by inventing Mac OS X, a new operating system for the Macintosh computer and the red letter day is on its way to complete a decade. It might seem like a footnote, but this new system was key to the rejuvenation of Apple. Billed as a new start by Jobs, who had returned to the company after a lengthy absence, it powers all Mac computers, with parts of it used to run the iPhone and iPad. It was a game changer for the company. Toward the end of the 1990s, Apple was up against the wall, from a business perspective. Its OS 9 system could not compete with Microsoft Windows. “Separately from the financial problems Apple was experiencing then, it was clear to the geeks that Apple was on the way to technological ruin,” writes US columnist John Siracusa of Ars Technica as OS X celebrates its 10th anniversary. Just as Apple was facing bankruptcy in 1997, then company chief Gil Amelio pulled the emergency brake and called Jobs — who had been booted out of the company 12 years previously — in as a consultant. As an added measure, Apple bought Jobs' company NeXT for 400 million dollars. NeXT had developed a very technically advanced operating system (NeXTStep) that became the basis of the new Macintosh system. Thus, Apple took a radical step when it released Mac OS X 10.0 on September 24, 2001. “The new system brought a modern object-oriented architecture, storage protection — important for stability and security — and pre-emptive multi-tasking, by which the operating system core managed work on individual processes of the Mac,” says Stephan Ehrmann, chief editor of the industry magazine Mac & i. Jochen Viehoff, curator at the Heinz Nixdorf Museum Forum in Paderborn, Germany, also believes that Apple settled on the right path with this move. “It was tactically a very clever move, situating oneself on the core of a Unix system.” That gave Apple the leg up for an eventual switch to Intel chips, since the operating system easily worked with the new hardware platform. The Aqua interface was also completely reworked. The sharp contrasts, still evident in Mac OS 9, were replaced in Mac OS X with a milky-white screen, light gray columns and a more colourful palette. The new system also introduced a new area at the bottom of the screen where the icons for programmes, folders, data and websites could be stored. Microsoft eventually copied the Dock with its taskbar in Windows 7. The iMac Kiva, released in July 2001, was the first Macintosh with the new system. But that computer still contained a comparatively slow G3 PowerPC processor from Motorola. It was only with the release of the iMac G4 generation that Apple got through its teething problems. Since its March 2001 release, Apple has updated Mac OS X almost every two years, always naming the system after a big cat. The current system, 10.6, is dubbed Snow Leopard and was released in August 2009. The next system — 10.7 or Lion — is expected this summer, with elements from the iPad tablet computer expected to migrate to the Macintosh. But this is no one-way street. “Unlike Windows, Mac OS X early on managed the connection to mobile hardware. Parts of that function as iOS on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV,” says Ehrmann.
Customised websites now trend to showcase wedding details
Not only revolution has seen an uprising through the expedition of internet but the age-old rituals of weddings and its memories in photo albums are also being repackaged through matrimony sites. Following in the footsteps of Prince William and Kate Middleton, whose wedding website was launched by the Palace last week, hundreds of soon-to-be-married couples have launched their own. Couples are offering guests the chance to examine photographs of them in the years before they met, alongside biographies and the story of their fairytale romance, as well as providing practical information about the event itself. Guests can even RSVP online, saving the brides and grooms-to-be the task and expense of sending out printed invitations. Wedding planner Cheryl Dowie, of Inverness-based Premier Wedding Planners Scotland, has noticed a huge rise in demand for the service. “Over the past year or so, it has become a really big thing. It is particularly popular among younger couples, who are more Internet savvy,” the Scotsman quoted her as saying. “It takes a lot of stress off the bride and groom, if they can tell people details about the wedding, such as travel or accommodation information, over the internet – they're not having to field phone calls and queries in the days running up to the event. “I was very impressed and a bit surprised that William and Kate chose to have one – it shows that they are really trying to make what they are doing relevant to the younger generation and not be too traditional,” she added.
IGNOU-KVS sign MoU to train teachers
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan (KVS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a national level programme of continuous training of KVS teachers. there is a need for continued professional development of teachers to meet the demand of quality in education. She appreciated the launch of the IGNOU-KVS training initiative. She added that this step is of immense significance in view of the importance of teacher training in the light of the Right of Education Act. The target group for this training includes primary teachers, graduate teachers and post-graduate teachers. Under the present collaborative programme, the teachers of KVS would be required to undergo 6 months training including at least 15 days face to face programme with pre-training assessment and post training follow up, feed back cum assessment. The training would focus on content upgradation of teachers with respect to their own special subject areas. They would also be given in-depth training on new knowledge and its relevance to their work. Teachers would relearn new and innovative classroom management techniques and strategies for improving quality of teaching. A team of Experts would draw up a detailed training design, which would be periodically reviewed. Feedback on the training would be taken for continuously upgrading the quality of the programme. The duration of the programme will be six months. The training would be conducted in English and Hindi medium. The Methodology for the training programme would be:
Windows phones to hit market by 2011 end: Nokia CEO
The first Nokia Oyj smartphone based on Microsoft Corp software following the partnership announced by the companies last month is on its way to being manufactured soon, Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said. Although Elop has said that he would prefer to launch it by the end of this year, Nokia's chairman has said Windows-based Nokia phones will be on sale from 2012. “We're right now, today, having people work on the first Windows Phone devices from Nokia. That work is already under way. If this was an acquisition scenario, that wouldn't be possible,” Elop said. Elop was recruited last year to rescue Nokia from increasing irrelevance at the high end of the market and is under huge pressure to produce results from the partnership. Elop, who left a Microsoft executive post to join Nokia last September, also said he could see no good reason for the speculation that Microsoft might try to buy Nokia. “I'm not aware of a strategic interest that Microsoft would have in the rest of the business,” Elop said. “To the extent that a partnership has been formed around what they're really interested in, then what would an acquisition bring other than a good year of anti-trust investigation, huge turmoil, delays?” Nokia shares have fallen almost 30 per cent since the agreement with Microsoft was announced and remain not far from their more than 10-year low of 5.415 euros set earlier this week.
JNTUK signs MoU with SHE Foundation
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada (JNTUK) and SHE (Social, Health and Education) Foundation, Ukraine have signed an MoU at the University where Prof V Ravindra, Registrar of the former and Dr Divya Sunita Raj, Managing Director of SHE Foundation exchanged the documents. Speaking on the occasion, JNTUK Vice Chancellor, Prof Allam Apparao, said the MoU would enable the JNTK to be shaped into a hub for higher studies for students of other countries, as nearly 50 European countries are associated with the SHE Foundation. Students from 10 countries would be joining the JNTUK for studies from this academic year itself, he added. JNTUK Foreign Universities Relations Director, Dr KVSG Muralikrishna, said Dr Divya Sunita Raj was the Indian representative in Ukraine Education Wing and as the MD of SHE Foundation, she had shown lot of interest in signing up MoU with the JNTUK paving the way for furthering the programme of internationalization of education. Dr Divya Sunita Raj said the MoU would enable the students of over 50 countries to study at JNTUK and provide the JNTUK students a similar opportunity.
Microsoft brings down major fake drug spam network
Software giant Microsoft has claimed to take Rustock “botnet”, a network of virus-infected computers used to send billions of email messages hawking fake drugs, to pieces. The “notorious and complex” network consisted of about a million computers that were infected with malicious codes to let hackers covertly control the machines in distant using. Owners of infected computers are typically not aware that hackers are using their machines. “Bot-herders infect computers with malware in a number of ways, such as when a computer owner visits a website booby-trapped with malware and clicks on a malicious advertisement or opens an infected email attachment,” said Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit senior attorney Richard Boscovich. “Bot-herders do this so discretely that owners often never suspect their PC (personal computer) is living a double life.” Rustock was reported to be among the world's largest spam botnets and was capable of sending as many as 30 billion emails per day. Much of the email sent by Rustock advertised counterfeit or unapproved knock-off versions of drugs like Viagra, while other spam tried to dupe people with bogus Microsoft lottery notices, according to Boscovich. Microsoft worked with Viagra-maker Pfizer and network security firm FireEye during a months-long investigation that culminated with using US warrants to seize “command and control” servers in the western state of Washington. Rustock was knocked offline on Wednesday when the connection was severed between infected computers and the machines used to give them orders, according to Boscovich. Evidence seized was being analyzed for clues about the hackers and their operations. Microsoft was offering tools at support.microsoft.com/botnets to purge the malware from infected computers.
ICICI Bank and Intuit launch
ICICI Bank Ltd and Intuit have announced the launch of an on-line personal finance management solution Money Manager. This web-based solution, available through ICICI Bank's website, delivers the flexibility to focus on specific details such as earnings, savings, spends and loans. Money Manager makes it easy for customers to quickly and easily categorize their expenses and set and track a realistic budget to achieve their financial goals. Mr Rajiv Sabharwal, Executive Director, ICICI Bank Ltd, said, “Our bank has always focused on innovation in technology for customer empowerment. Internet Banking is core to our technology prowess and we constantly innovate to provide path-breaking solutions for our customers on-line.” “Money Manager” is a unique personal finance management solution which will give customers convenience of aggregating their accounts and providing output required for managing expenses.” “Money Manager is the latest in a line of Intuit offerings that improve people's financial lives so profoundly that they cannot imagine going back to the old way of doing things,” said Mr Alex Lintner, President, Global Business Division, Intuit Inc.”Money Manager is unique to India and was specifically built for the market, while leveraging the insights and learning's from our Quicken and Mint products. As a result Intuit and ICICI Bank can deliver a world-class offering that addresses the unique needs of banking customers.” With “Money Manager”, ICICI Bank net banking customers can aggregate all their ICICI Bank Accounts (Savings Account, Credit Cards, Loans, DEMAT etc.) automatically on one screen, it will automatically segregate transactions across different income or expense categories, set their monthly budget and monitor the performance of investments and get customised alerts on their balances, transactions and bill payments. Money Manager is currently available for all ICICI Bank Net Banking customers. It is a subscription based product with 90-Day free trial. Customers can visit www.icicibank.com to get more information.
Abacus Method likely in all Chennai Schools
An all school abacus method has been initiated by Chennai Corporation in a breakthrough step by virtue of which schools in Chennai will be equipped with the age-old tool of calculation to deliver mathematically precise answers from all the young minds reverberated in scientific unison. The class I students of Chennai School, Saidape group was the first to undergo training program in Abacus method initiated by the Chennai Corporation on Friday. The Abacus method discounts the need for use of paper and pen to work out an arithmetic problem, according to G. Aruna, a Chennai School teacher. “The long
