Bangalore, Microsoft today announced an innovative programme to aid ten early stage start ups by hosting them on Windows Azure and help their businesses that take advantage of the Cloud. Announcing the programme, Microsoft India (R&D) Managing Directoir Amit Chatterjee said Microsoft will neither have any stake or share IP with these ten start ups who would be provided technical and business guidance besides mentoring and connecting them with prospective investors and venture capitalists. He said these start ups who would be selected through a rigorous screening process would also have the benefit of working out of Microsoft R and D office here for four months, using resources of Microsoft's BizSpark programme and USD 60,000 in Azure credit. He said they would leverage the unlimited possibilities enabled by an open and flexible cloud platform, the metro user interface on Windows 8 and Windows phne, besides other technical inputs of Microsoft. He said over the next three years Indian tech smart entrepreneurs have a major play in the 'connected network and continued services' arena as business will flourish in the cloud environment. The start ups could be from ...
Read Full Story

Kolkata, In spite of its tremendous potential, India's information technology (IT) industry has been suffering due to several issues which the government needs to focus on, a top official of software giant Microsoft Corporation said Thursday. "The country has some major issues and challenges. I am hoping that thegovernment will start focusing on some of the issues very seriously. There are lot of issues regarding taxation and policy. I think the latest Finance Act is trying to rectify some of those. Let's see what happens," said Microsoft India chairman Bhaskar Pramanik. "The industry wants a stable and predictable policy and regime. We want less ambiguity, clear guidelines, clear policies and an environment where everybody can do business successfully and legally," he said. Pramanik on the occasion launched "To the Cloud", a book written by fellow employees Raj Biyani, Salil Dave and Pankaj Arora on cloud computing, the latest phenomena on the use of internet. The chairman retracted from his earlier view that India was no longer a preferred destination for MNCs, saying the country continued to be huge market. "As long as we remain competitive, investment will ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, Software major Microsoft India on Wednesday announced that it has appointed Avnet and Redington as its Value-Added Distributors (VAD) in the country in a move aimed at creating an enhanced and superior level of service for partners and customers in the SMB space on the latest technologies. The Value-added distribution role is built on a unique business model with a specialized resource portfolio optimized for increasing adoption and market development of specialty solutions. Under this tie-up, Avnet will provide complete solutions to Microsoft’s value added resellers for ‘Virtualization and Management and Identity and Security’ and Redington will cater for ‘Unified Communications, Security and Cloud Services’ and would reach out to all cities across India, adding reach and presence portfolio of Microsoft. According to Rajiv Sodhi, Director, India SMB at Microsoft, “Avnet and Redington both have experience and expertise in the providing services and products for Virtualization, Unified Communications, Security and Cloud and we are confident that they will help us strengthen our support to customers specifically, in for small and mid-enterprises to ...
Read Full Story

Ingredients 1 large lauki (doodhi) 1 onion finely chopped 1 inch ginger 6 tbsp besan 8 oz paneer crumbles 1/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp red chilli powder oil to fry salt to taste 4 onions finely chopped 2 tsp tomatoe paste 7 oz crushed tomatooes 2 cups water 2 inches ginger minced 3 tsp coriander powder 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 sprig coriander leaves 2 tsp heavy cream or yoghurt 3 cardamom pods 1 cinnamon stick 4 tbsp vegetable oil salt to taste Preparation method Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 40 mins 1. Grate the lauki and squeeze all the water out of it. 2. Add 1 chopped onion, paneer,red chilli,besan baking powder. 3. Heat oil in a wok and using your hands, make small balls of the koftas and deep fry them till they turn golden brown. 4. Set them aside after they are done and start making the gravy for the koftas. 5. Saute the rest of the onions with ginger for 5 mins till light brown. 6. Blend the above mixture in a mini blender till it becomes a paste. 7. Saute cumin seeds,turmeric powder,cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and red chilli powder in oil for 2 mins. 8. Add tomatoe paste, ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, Sofware major Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. has announced the availability of Kinect Star Wars for India. This game of the Kinect for Xbox 360 hits the Indian stores from Tuesday. Anshu Mor, Category Lead – Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd., said, “This new title will add to the growing popularity of the family-friendly gaming portfolio for Kinect for Xbox 360.” With Kinect, gamers can actually step in front of the TV and act just like a Jedi does in the Star Wars series. One can hit out with the light sabre and use the force to push the opponent. The five dynamic game-play modes include Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising, Podracing, Rancor Rampage, Galactic Dance Off and Duels of Fate. ...
Read Full Story

Germany, Microsoft, the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions, has announced that its Windows 8 Consumer Preview is ready for business. In his CeBIT keynote speech on Tuesday, Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft Corp., showed how Windows 8 will bring together the potential of a tablet with the power of a PC. He also invited IT professionals around the world to test the recently released Windows 8 Consumer Preview, now available for download at http://preview.windows.com. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview offers a more robust experience for testing the world’s most popular operating system and is available to the widest range of people yet following the initial release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview late last year. “Windows 8 will deliver no compromise experiences on a range of devices from tablets and PCs to desktops. It will give people functionality they love and the enterprise-grade capabilities that IT departments demand,” Turner said. “We encourage IT professionals to begin using it to get a firsthand experience of how Windows 8 will give people a beautiful, fast and fluid experience with the mobility and familiarity ...
Read Full Story

Manipur Assembly Elections 2012 update shortly ...
Read Full Story

Ingredients For the aloo koftas 1/2 cup potatoes, boiled, peeled and grated 1/2 cup grated processed cheese 1 tbsp cornflour 1 tbsp chopped green chillies salt to taste oil for deep frying To be ground to a paste 1 cup chopped onions 2 tsp chopped ginger (adrak) 2 tsp chopped garlic (lehsun) 2 tbsp broken cashewnuts (kaju) Other ingredients 2 tbsp oil 1 tsp chilli powder 2 cups fresh tomato purée, refer handy tip 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera) powder 1/2 tsp garam masala 2 tbsp butter 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) 1/4 cup onion cubes 1 tbsp honey 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup cream salt to taste Method For the aloo koftas Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and shape each portion into a round. Heat the oil in a kadhai and deep fry the koftas in it till they are golden brown in colour. Drain on absorbent paper and keep aside. For the gravy 1.Heat the oil in a pan, add the ground paste and sauté till it is light brown in colour. 2.Add the chilli powder and tomato purée and cook for a few minutes. 3.Add the cumin seeds powder, garam masala ...
Read Full Story

Sydney, Australia's unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 5.1 percent in January, lowest since July 2011, data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed Thursday. The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 46,300 to 11.46 million in January. The increase in employment was driven by increased part-time employment, up 34,000 people to 3,400,800, and an increase in full-time employment, up 12,300 people to 8.06 million, the ABS said. The number of people unemployed fell by 15,300 people to 614,200 in January, reported Xinhua. Most economists expected just 10,000 jobs to have been added in January with the unemployment rate at 5.3 percent. Australia's financial services provider CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that the ABS figures suggested Australia's job market was trending strongly. "That the unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 with an expansion in the participation rate says good things about the economy," he said. McCarthy said the two official interest rate cuts in November and December may have boosted employer confidence. ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, In the first official Indian figure ever mentioned on black money parked abroad, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said an estimated 500 billion USD, which is equivalent to about Rs 24.5 lakh crore, of illegal money is stashed away in foreign tax havens by the Indian depositors. CBI director Ambar Pratap Singh made the disclosure at the inaugural function of the First Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery. "India in particular has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin Islands, etc. It is estimated that around 500 billion dollars of illegal money belonging to Indians is deposited in tax havens abroad," Singh said. "Largest depositors in Swiss banks are also reported to be Indians," he said. "Development of new methods of financial flows and communication technology have made it easier for the corrupt to conceal and stash away stolen wealth. On the other hand, differences in legal systems, high costs in coordinating investigations, inadequate international cooperation and bank secrecy laws have made the task difficult for the ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, Hackers, allegedly belonging to a Chinese group called Evil Shadow Team, struck at www.microsoftstore.co.in on Sunday night, stealing login ids and passwords of people who had used the website for shopping Microsoft products. While it is troublesome that hackers were able to breach security at a website owned by one of the biggest IT companies in the world, it is more alarming that user details - login ids and passwords - were reportedly stored in plain text file, without any encryption. Following the hack, the members of Evil Shadow Team, posted a message on the Microsoft website saying "unsafe system will be baptized". The story was first reported by www.wpsauce.com. Later, the website seemed to have been taken offline by Microsoft. We advise the users at Microsoft India Store to change the password as soon the website comes online. Also, if they have used the same password or login id on any other web service, they should change it immediately. Last year, hacker groups like Lulzsec had carried out several-profile high profile break-ins, putting focus on the security measures companies put in place. Sony allegedly suffered several security breaches and ...
Read Full Story

Agartala, The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is to introduce a new radar-based air surveillance system at 14 airports across the country for better control of aircraft in flight, an official said. "The new Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system would facilitate civilian aircraft in self-communicating with airports about their identity, speed and altitude," AAI director Sudhamay Maiti told IANS. "The new system is likely to be commissioned in six to seven of a total of 14 airports across India by the middle of this year and in the remaining airports by this year-end," he added. According to the official, unlike the existing radar-based ground-to-air surveillance system on airports, the comparatively cheaper ADS-B system has three components -- an ADS-B transponder in the aircraft, an antenna to get frequency from the aircraft transponder and a receiver at the Air Traffic Control (ATC). "The new technology enables ATCs at airports to get complete situational awareness of ADS-B compatible aircraft, which could even be 300 miles away," Maiti said. The ADS-B system would cover much wider areas than the present surveillance system. "The existing ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, The Government of India and the World Bank on Friday signed an IDA credit of USUSD 130 million to finance the Government of India's (GOI) efforts to empower rural communities in the growth-deficient North East (NE) region to improve their livelihood opportunities. The North East Rural Livelihoods Project (NERLP) will enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor, especially women, unemployed youth and the severely disadvantaged in eight districts of the four participating states- Aizawl and Lunglei in Mizoram; Peren and Tuensang in Nagaland; South, West and 15 Panchayat wards of East District in Sikkim; and West and North Districts in Tripura. Despite its rich natural resources and relatively good human development indicators, the North East (NE) region lags behind the rest of India in important parameters of growth. Almost 35 percent of its predominantly rural population lives below the poverty line; agricultural productivity is low; and high school drop-out rates and lack of skills have led to high unemployment among the youth. This low-growth scenario is exacerbated by problems of geographical inaccessibility, protracted insurgency in some areas, and recurring ...
Read Full Story

San Francisco, Microsoft Thursday announced a patent licensing agreement with LG Electronics covering tablets, smartphones and other consumer devices running Google's Android or Chrome operating system. Microsoft said it marks the 11th deal with a device manufacturer leveraging Google's operating system platform. "More than 70 percent of all Android smartphones in the US are now receiving coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio," Xinhua quoted a press release from the Microsoft as saying. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. So far, Microsoft has struck major cross-licensing patent agreements with HTC, Samsung and Acer, among others. Last September, Microsoft announced a broad patent deal with Samsung. US media reports cited South Korean media as saying that Microsoft had wanted Samsung to pay USD 10-15 for each Android device. The booming mobile market has been harassed by acrimonious legal battles over patent infringement. Being an open source operating system, Google's Android has become a major target of patent suits. Microsoft has been going after companies that make phones and tablets running Android, rather than directly against Google. But the ...
Read Full Story

Ingredients 1/4 cup mixed nuts, coarsely ground 5 potatoes, boiled, peeled, mashed 5 green chillies, cut finely Oil as needed 1/2 cup grated coconut 1 cup fine breadcrumbs Salt and sugar 1/2 cup coriander leaves, cut For the gravy 1 teaspoon garam masala powder 1 tablespoon chilli powder 1 cup cream 3 tomatoes pureed Salt to taste 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 tablespoon sugar 3 cup curd How to make Malaiwale Kofte Make lemon-sized balls out of the mashed potatoes. If the potato mash is soft, mix in bread slices dipped in water (squeeze out all water) to the mash and knead well. Prepare stuffing by mixing coconut, dry nuts, chillies, coriander leaves, salt and sugar to taste. Flatten each potato ball, put in a small quantity of this stuffing and fold around. Roll each ball in breadcrumbs. When all koftas are ready, deep fry them carefully in hot oil. Remove and reserve. Heat up 4 tablespoons. Oil in a fresh pan, mix in cumin seeds, powdered spices, then tomato puree and curd. Fry till blended. Mix in sugar, salt, cream and simmer. Drop in the koftas and serve decorated with a little cream and coriander ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, Expressing concern at the high level of regional and inter and intra state disparities in agricultural production and productivity, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) feels that India needs to invest more in agriculture and allied sectors. It says that the country needs higher production and productivity in cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, poultry, meat, fish and milk. To improve agriculture and productivity, there is need for finding ways to surmount the existing constraints and step up productivity using finance as a tool. Dr K C Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, RBI, says that Green Revolution paved the way for food security in India. However, no major technological breakthrough has emerged since then, and with the need of higher productivity growing a second green revolution is inevitable. Borrowing a phrase coined by Prof M S Swaminatahan, renowned agriculture scientist, the country needs an ever green revolution. However, to cater to food security and food safety net, India needs bigger investments in agriculture. ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, Software major Microsoft Corp. on Friday announced that Office 365, the company’s next-generation cloud productivity service, is the first and only major cloud-based platform to offer leading information privacy and security standards for customers operating in the European Union and United States. As part of its contractual commitment to customers, Microsoft will now sign the EU’s Model Clauses, which will help customers certify compliance with the European Commission’s stringent Data Protection Directive, and the U.S.-mandated Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Microsoft also announced the availability of the Office 365 Trust Center. The site provides in-depth information about the privacy and security practices for Office 365 and was recently redesigned to be more accessible and easy to understand. The new site can be accessed at http://trust.office365.com. Along with furnishing the Model Clause provisions, Microsoft said it has gone a step further than other cloud providers to include a data processing agreement for EU customers. Some of the 27 member states have more exacting requirements than those of the EU-wide Data ...
Read Full Story

Wellington, The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced Thursday it was leaving the interest rates unchanged on 2.5 percent, citing a deteriorating global financial outlook. RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard said it was prudent to leave the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 2.5 percent given the global uncertainty and the "moderate pace" of domestic demand, reported Xinhua. "Continuing difficulties related to sovereign and bank debt in a growing number of European economies have resulted in high levels of volatility in financial markets. There has also been a softening in international economic activity, including in the Asia-Pacific region," said Bollard in the policy assessment of the RBNZ December Monetary Policy Statement. "Global developments are having some negative impact on New Zealand, though to date it has been limited. Business confidence has declined and investment spending is likely to remain weak for some time. In addition, tightness in international markets means funding costs for New Zealand banks will increase to some degree over the coming year." He said the risk on further weakening conditions remained as outlined in the previous RBNZ Monetary Policy ...
Read Full Story

New Delhi, The Rajya Sabha today passed by a voice vote the Prasar Bharti (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010, benefitting around 40,000 government officers and employees working under deputation with facilities at par with Central government employees. The Bill, passed by a voice vote, will enable the employees on deputation to enjoy perks which are given to Central Government employees thereby fulfiling the long-standing demand of these employees. Replying to the discussion on the working of the national broadcaster in the Upper House, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni informed the members that the Government had allocated Rs 110 crore for fortifying telecast in the border areas especially with Pakistan. "Our Doordarshan Kashmir in new avatar is now being watched more than ever before in the POK area," she said. The Prime Minister had sanctioned Rs 264 crore for the channel so that all dialects were given a platform, the Minister said, adding that this was part of the efforts of the national broadcaster to put in place 150 channels free-to-air TV channels on Doordarshan. Earlier, her deputy Jatuwa said the ...
Read Full Story

Washington, A cutting edge software, developed and tested by naval scientists, can help undersea robots become smarter at surveying large swathes of the ocean. "Using the new algorithms, the vehicle has a greater ability to make its own decisions without requiring a human in the loop," said Marc Steinberg, programme officer for Office of Naval Research's (ONR) multidisciplinary programme. With plans to deploy squadrons of air, surface and undersea robotic vehicles later this decade, the US Navy is investing in basic research programmes to improve autonomous system capabilities, according to an ONR statement. "Advancing autonomy for unmanned systems allows you the ability to do things that wouldn't be practical otherwise because we don't have enough warfighters or communication today," said Steinberg, who works in ONR's Naval Air Warfare and Weapons Department. ONR funded researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of Southern California to advance the intelligence of autonomous vehicles under its programmes for surveillance. They developed a persistent surveillance theory that provides a framework for decision making software that ...
Read Full Story