Hyderabad students learn intricacies of cyber security

Hyderabad, Sep. 13 (ANI): Aiming to prevent cyber crimes in the country, students in Hyderabad are learning and mastering the intricacies of cyber security.

In the fast developing countries where information technology (IT) has reached the apex, the security of data compiled, stored and transmitted is of utmost import.

According to analysts, the requirement of employees for preventing cyber crimes in India is higher as compared to other countries.

“E-commerce has made a very huge impact in every country’s economy. So whenever you use Internet, you need security. It is a very booming and open market that is going to be coming in few days,” noted Vikram, a student of cyber security.

In the times when cyber terrorism and cyber warfare have tried to cripple infrastructure of various nations, a proper cyber mechanism is the need of the hour.

“The government has to take serious initiative on awareness, training technology transfer and then we can call it as security development. I mean to say, you have to have a proper infrastructure in place. For all these, it takes long time. It’s not a one-day or a two-day initiative. It takes probably half a decade,” said Zaki Qureshi, a software professional and an expert in cyber security.

Cyber security is very important to protect the IT services in corporate establishments, government organisations as well as the ones used by the general public.

The same must be a part of the national policy. Unfortunately, cyber security in India is yet to pick up among the IT users, noted Zaki Qureshi. (ANI)

UPDATE 2-Xilinx to cut jobs, freeze pay in overhaul

Xilinx plans to cut as many as 200 jobs

* Aiming for savings of $4 mln-$5 mlm every quarter

* Will also freeze salaries as part of restructuring

By Clare Baldwin

SAN FRANCISCO, April 15 (Reuters) – U.S.-based programmable chip maker Xilinx Inc (XLNX.O) plans to cut up to 200 jobs worldwide, or 6 percent of its global workforce, trim executive pay and freeze employee salaries to reduce costs in the middle of a painful recession.

The company said on Wednesday it will swallow a charge of $11 million to $13 million in the June quarter as a result of the restructuring, which would streamline its supply chain and save the company $4 million to $5 million per quarter starting with the current one. [ID:nWNAB3780]

From May 1, President and Chief Executive Moshe Gavrielov will have his annual salary slashed by 20 percent to $560,000 while Chief Financial Officer Jon Olson will earn 15 percent less at $391,000.

All executive salaries will be cut 10 percent to 20 percent beginning May 1, Xilinx said in an exchange filing, but executives remain eligible for bonuses.

The board of directors will also take a 20 percent cut in their annual cash compensation.

“This is in line with what I think normal cost-cutting would be,” said Robert Burleson, an analyst with Canaccord Adams.

“Regardless of whether or not this is the bottom for the computing demand …, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t some long-term lower level of demand that the chip industry is going to experience,” said Burleson.

Wireless infrastructure demand remains strong, Burleson added. Xilinx’s announcement came a month after Xilinx raised its sales outlook, citing better-than-expected demand for mobile gear. [ID:nN03457214]

Chief rival Altera Corp (ALTR.O) had previously also raised its own sales outlook after saying demand for next-generation wireless equipment in China would be stronger than expected.

Xilinx makes chips found in communications network gear, consumer electronics and industrial equipment.

Shares of the U.S. company held steady in after-hours trade after closing at $20.59 during the regular session. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin; Editing by Richard Chang and Steve Orlofsky)

100 hours to celebrate astronomy year in Jantar Mantar

New Delhi, April 4 (IANS) Jantar Mantar, the 18th century observatory in the heart of the capital, was crowded with young students Saturday as they got together to learn the use of astronomical instruments and celebrate 2009 as the international year of astronomy.

Aiming to create interest in astronomy as a fundamental science in daily life, the Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) has been conducting ’100 Hours of Astronomy’ at the Jantar Mantar since Thursday.

The celebration, which will culminate Sunday, saw school students being taught how to use astronomical instruments like sun dials and telescopes.

Shourya Aggarwal, a Class 7 student, said: ‘I am a part of the SPACE club at my school where we learn how to use a sun dial, a telescope and a lot more. The classes are very interactive and enjoyable. I wait every week for my astronomy class.

‘I am enjoying the celebrations here since we have got a chance to learn how to use instruments that are more than 300 years old,’ he added.

In fact many astronomical instruments are still popular by their Indian names – samrat yantra (to measure time using sun’s shadow), jai prakash yantra (to trace the earth’s equator), mishra yantra, and ram yantra.

And the students learnt to use these.

‘I am a part of the astronomy club in my school and I find it very interesting. We are a group of 46 students and we do activities like ‘solar hunt’ in the club. Today, we have learnt to calculate time by following the position of the sun’s shadows using the samrat yantra,’ Shrishti, a Class 9 student, said.

According to C.B. Devgan, president of SPACE, there is no better way to celebrate the astronomy year than by initiating activities that aim to kindle interest towards the subject in youngsters.

‘The international year of astronomy is celebrated with the joint efforts of the UN and Indian astronomy unit. Many international projects are happening around the world and this five-day long event is a part of these projects.

‘Here, we have set up SPACE clubs in different schools around Delhi to develop student interest in astronomy,’ Devgan told IANS.

Nearly 500 students have been coming for the celebrations at Jantar Mantar every day, he added.

The Jantar Mantar observatory was built in the 18th century by the king of Jaipur, Jai Singh II, who was an astronomy enthusiast.

2-day meet on brain tumours

NEW DELHI: Aiming to create an awareness about brain tumours in India , Neuro-Oncology Society of India (NOSI) has organized a two-day conference to
discuss about the latest medical development in the field.

The National Conference of NOSI, NOSICON-09, was inaugurated by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday at Fortis Hospital in Noida. Experts from across the world will discuss about the new treatment procedures at the conference. It aims at promotion and advancement of scientific knowledge and research in tumours of the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. “It is becoming increasingly obvious that the available modalities have been exhausted and we will have to look for breakthroughs in the fields of neurobiology, neurogenetics and perhaps newer modes of drug delivery. Hence, NOSICON becomes an important tool to reach out to the specialists so that they can make use of the latest developments,” said Dr Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, president, NOSI and director, National Brain Research Centre.

Experts will discuss a wide range of topics, including ways to sensitize public and the medical fraternity about brain tumours and its early detection.

Global Mind Sports Foundation aims to boost interest in chess

Aiming to give a fillip to the game of chess and motivate and train young talents in the game, The Global Mind Sports Foundation, is panning various tournaments, coaching camps and several activities round the year across the state soon.

The primary aim is to improve the quality and discipline of the game in Maharashtra, particularly in Pune region, and to give players their due exposure to active and sportive competition.

Aiming at promoting the budding chess prodigies by implementing various schemes and promotional tournaments, the Foundation is planning to organise a major tournament in Pune in June before the schools open.

“Currently, every Sunday a Rapid Chess championship is being organised and the response is overwhelming. The main objective to form a foundation is to develop a sound and healthy sports culture and to nurture the young talent,” said Jayant Gokhale, a former member of the Indian chess team and the hon. secretary of the Foundation.

The foundation also will also provide financial aid to deserving players. The founder of Global Minds Sports Foundation is Dajikaka Gadgil and Vijay Bhave is president.

The chief mentor for the foundation, Raghunandan Gokhale is a recipient of Dronacharya Award, chairman of Maharashtra chess Association and member of Selection Committee of All India Chess Federation.

Nitish Kumar goes to watch Slumdog on a cycle-rickshaw

Patna, Mar 5 (ANI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on Thursday, went to watch ‘Slumdog Millionare’, the Oscar winning rags-to-riches movie, on a cycle-rickshaw.

Kumar, however, claims that it was no publicity stunt and the decision was his personal choice.

After watching the movie with great interest, Kumar appreciated it saying that the film would spread a positive message especially among the poor people of the country, which would encourage them to achieve something in life.

“The film is good from all aspects. It can be termed as an excellent film. I am really happy to watch this film. I would say I utilised my time. After watching this movie, everyone would confident that even if one is born and brought up in poverty, still one can achieve something in life through hard work,” said Kumar.

Slumdog Millionaire swept the Oscars, winning eight awards including the award for ‘Best Picture’.

It also earned Oscars for best director (Danny Boyle), best-adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), best cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, original score by composer A.R. Rahman and best song for “Jai Ho”.

Only seven other films have won eight or more awards in the Oscar history.

Aiming to spice up its election campaign, Congress party has bought the rights of the song “Jai Ho”, one of the songs in the film which got an Oscar for A.R. Rahman for his music composition.

The opposition parties have described the latest Congress move as an election gimmick.

Kumar mocked the Congress saying that song will boomerang on it and would result in the party’s defeat instead.

“I was wondering what has happened to Congress party…… why are they saying ‘Jai ho’? What struggle have they done in life? Apart from few years, Congress was in rule always. And even after 60 years, slums are still there and people are living a hard life there. I believe “Jai ho” would be boomerang for Congress party. And this ‘jai ho’ would result in their defeat,” said Kumar.

The Congress, on the other hand, claim that the party fought for the independence of the country, consolidated it and during the last five years took steps to fight terrorism and improve the life of the people.

India will hold a general election between April 16 and May 13 in a mammoth logistical exercise in which 714 million people will cast their votes. (ANI)

CERN pushes back particle accelerator restart date

Geneva – Scientists have again pushed back the restart date of the giant particle accelerator along the French-Swiss border by another six weeks, CERN announced, saying even this schedule was “tight.”

By September, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) should be operational again with particle collisions set to take place about a month later, the announcement made late Monday said.

The LHC, operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research – known by its French acronym CERN – has been turned off since September last year following a malfunction which caused damage to integral parts just about a week after the first experiment.

The delay in restarting was said to be mostly related to the installation of better safety and protection systems.

Scientists have been working to create the LHC for about 20 years, and are aiming to send two proton beams into direct head-on collision nearly at the speed of light. They hope this will recreate conditions just after the Big Bang, which most scientists accept as the origin of the universe.

Once the machine was operational again, hydrogen atoms would again be inserted into the LHC and sent around a 27-kilometre ring, in a tunnel 90 metres below ground.

The collision of the atoms’ protons would take place within a month and discoveries would be likely over the following year. (dpa)

Central Universities to be established in 12 states

New Delhi, Jan 9 (ANI): The Union Cabinet today approved the establishment of new Central Universities in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

The Central Universities Bill, 2008, aiming at conversion of Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University and Goa University into Central Universities, and establishment of a new Central University in each of the twelve States, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on October 23, 2008.

This Bill was referred to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development for examination and report.

The Committee presented its report on December 17, 2008, but the Bill could not be passed during the last session of Parliament.

As a number of preparatory steps are required to be taken for operationalizing the proposed Central Universities for the next academic session and Parliament is not in session, the Government is of the view that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action for the establishment of these Central Universities.

It has, therefore, been decided to recommend to the President of an Ordinance under article 123 of the Constitution for the establishment and incorporation of the proposed Central Universities.

The proposed Ordinance would contain all the provisions of the Central Universities Bill, 2008 pending in the Lok Sabha, with such changes as may be necessary to implement the accepted recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, which include, among others, dropping of the conversion of Goa university into a Central University.

The Conversion of Goa University was included in the Bill on a specific request of the State Government. However, the State Government subsequently informed that this issue had been discussed by the various segments of the society in the State and their elected representatives, including Members of Parliament, and they had come to the conclusion that conversion of Goa University would not be in the interest of the State, and requested for deletion of the relevant provisions from the Bill.

The Committee recommended dropping of the conversion of Goa University taking cognizance of this communication from the State Government. (ANI)

Central Government orders inspection of eight Satyam subsidiaries

New Delhi/Hyderabad, Jan.8 (ANI): The Central Government on Thursday ordered a probe into the books of accounts of eight subsidiaries of Satyam Computer Services, a day after the company”s former chairman and managing director, B Ramalinga Raju, admitted that the company had forged accounts.

The inspection would be conducted as per the provisions of Section 209A of the Companies Act, Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta told reporters on Thursday.

The subsidiaries, whose accounts will be verified by the government, are Maytas Properties, Maytas Infrastructure, Satyam BPO, Nipuna Services, Knowledge Dynamics, Nitor Global Solutions, Ca Satyam ASP and Satyam Venture Engineering Services.

Meanwhile in Hyderabad, company officials admitted that the firm”s liquidity position was not motivating enough, and that the management is exploring other avenues of liquidity.

Satyam”s interim Chief Executive Officer, Ram Mynampati, told a press conference in the city that the liquidity position of the company was not encouraging.He, however, declared that receivables position was healthy.

The company has started the process of verifying its financials and liquidity position, Mynampati said, adding that it “has been reaching out to all regulatory bodies.”

Replying to a query about the composition of a new board following the spate of resignations after the embarrassing Rs. 7,106 crore fraud, Mynampati told mediapersons here that the company has started looking for new board members.

Mynampati, however, said that the company was aiming at measures to ensure that business continued as usual after revelations of financial irregularities by Chairman B Ramalinga Raju.

The company is reaching out to the top clients who make up the bulk of its revenues. “We are also reaching out to 50,000 employees to protect them,” he added.

Mynampati also informed that he and other board members relied on auditor reports, and therefore, were unaware of the extent of the fraud.

“I am even shocked by disclosures and severity of issues,” he said.

Mynampati categorically denied having any relations with the promoter family of Satyam. (ANI)

Humans are outliving their eyeballs, says expert

Wellington, Jan 7 (ANI): While people are living longer as a result of improved health standards, humans are starting to outlive their eyeballs, according to Australian researchers.

The researchers are working on ways to slow the way vision deteriorates with age.

Professor Jonathan Stone said that at birth each eyeball has about 150 million light-catching “photoreceptors”, which are lost at a rate of several hundred every day.

And a person”s vision deteriorates over time because of this very natural process.

The researchers said that while many people into their 80s still have 100 million-plus photoreceptors per eye, there are others for whom it means a loss of night vision or even blindness.

Stone said improved health standards has given a boost to longevity in humans, and thus new techniques were needed to slow down the winking out of these photoreceptors which cannot be regrown.

“The clinical evidence is the retina goes well really into your eighth decade (80 years), depending on how fast you”ve lost your photoreceptors and that changes because of genetic factors,” The NZPA quoted Stone as saying.

He added: “We”re exploring these environmental ways of stabilising these photoreceptors into the ninth and tenth decade … what this is all about is preserving that as long as possible into late age.”

Now, scientists are conducting research to better understand how antioxidants-rich foods help to protect eyes against light damage.

It is observed that people undergoing treatment in hyperbaric chambers can report a temporary side-effect of improved vision, and thus scientists are aiming towards finding out how the eye benefits from oxygen-rich environments.

Stone suggested that people over 20 years of age should always wear sunglasses when outdoors in bright light.

However, the same doesn’t hold true for adolescents, for they need light exposure while their eyes were developing to prevent the onset of near-sightedness, he said. (ANI)

Taiwan announces preliminary names for 2009 World Baseball Classic

Taiwan announces preliminary names for 2009 World Baseball Classic Taipei – Taiwan, aiming at advancing to the top eight in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, on Monday announced the preliminary selection of players for the tournament.

The Chinese-Taipei Professional Baseball League announced the names of 48 players, including 11 who are playing for US teams and six playing for Japanese teams.

Wang Chien-ming, the Taiwan pitcher serving the New York Yankees, cannot play for Taiwan in the 2009 World Baseball Classic because Yankees refused to let him take leave.

The 48 players will train in Taiwan from January 29 until February 7, and in Australia from February 7-20, the league said.

On February 21, the league will cut down the lineup to 28 players who will play three warm-up games in Taiwan before flying to Japan on February 26 for the World Classic.

In the first World Baseball Classic in 2006, Taiwan failed to make into the top eight. So Taiwan’s goal is to beat either Japan or South Korea and advance into the top eight, Lin Tzung-cheng, secretary-general of the Chinese-Taipei Baseball Association, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are the three baseball nations in Asia, but China is catching up and humiliated Taiwan 8-7 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The defeat in the Olympics made Taiwan fans worry about the future of baseball on the island.

Taiwan’s professional baseball is in limbo as the six-team league has lost two teams recently – with the T-Rex team being dissolved in October over game fixing and the China Trust Whales being disbanded in November due to lack of funds.

The United States hosted the first World Baseball Classic in 2006 with 16 teams playing a total of 36 games at four venues.

The second World Baseball Classic will kick off on March 5, 2009 with the preliminaries being played in Tokyo, Toronto, Puerto Rico, Mexico City, San Diego and Miami.

The finals will be held March 21-23 at the Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles.

Taiwan will face China, Japan and South Korea in Pool A, who will play six games at the Tokyo Dome in Japan March 5-9.

In the 2006 tournament, Japan beat Cuba 10-6 to win the inaugural World Baseball Classic. (dpa)

Lee bowled with broken foot in second innings of Boxing Day Test

Melbourne: Australian bowling spearhead Brett Lee is aiming to be ready to return for this year’s Ashes series following surgery to his foot and ankle after he bowled through the second innings of the Melbourne Test with a broken foot.

The fast bowler was ruled out of the Sydney Test after suffering a stress fracture in his foot and decided to fix his long-standing ankle injury at the same time, The Age reported.

Lee underwent surgery in Melbourne on Saturday.

Surgeon David Young removed floating fragments and a small bone spur from Lee”s left ankle, and further exploration showed that the 32-year-old had also broken the fourth metatarsal in his left foot during Australia”s loss at the MCG.

Scans during the ill-fated second Test in Melbourne revealed Lee had a stress reaction — a grade below a stress fracture — in the foot entering the second innings.

At some point in his ensuing overs, Lee broke the metatarsal, which, according to experts, will likely result in a faster recovery time than if it had merely remained a “hot spot”.

Lee’s agent, Neil Maxwell, said his client had required up to eight pain-killing injections to get through the second innings at the MCG.

“I saw him take his shoe off after the game and it looked like a pin cushion from all the needles. It was a gutsy effort,” The Age quoted Maxwell, as saying.

Lee will remain in hospital tonight and return to Sydney tomorrow. He has now joined a casualty list that includes his new ball partner Stuart Clark and all-rounder Andrew Symonds, both of whom have undergone surgery in the past three weeks.

Clark and Symonds are hopeful of playing again this summer, but Lee has been ruled out of Australia’s forthcoming tour of South Africa, but should be close to full fitness in time for the Ashes.