Application | SilverScorpio.Com

Arvind Kejriwal to take loan to settle Rs 9.27 lakh I-T dues

October 29, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI: Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has decided to pay his dues to the income tax department in a bid to ensure that his application seeking voluntary retirement from the Indian Revenue Service ( IRS) is finally accepted.

The I-T department, where Kejriwal worked, has turned down his application, insisting he first clear the Rs 9.27 lakh he owes the department. “I have decided to pay the dues claimed by the I-T department. I will take a loan from a friend to pay the amount,” Kejriwal said.

While the issue had remained on the backburner for quite some time – with Kejriwal treating his association with the government to be over – the I-T department suddenly slapped a notice on him on August 6, asking him to pay up for his VRS application to be accepted.

The notice came just days before Gandhian Anna Hazare went on his hunger strike.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: application, arvind kejriwal, backburner, department, hunger strike, member, tax, voluntary retirement

Soon, get passport without fuss in 3 days

July 4, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

NEW DELHI: In a month or so, Delhi will have two Passport Seva Kendras (PSK), an e-governance initiative, which aims to provide passport in a jiffy in a “reliable and transparent” manner. These centres, which can handle as many as 300 applications in a day, will facilitate online appointment dispensing the need to stand in a queue outside the passport office.

Government sources said that intensive efforts are being made to roll out Passport Seva Kendras in Delhi and Gurgaon within one month. There will be three PSKs – two in Delhi and one in Gurgaon.

There are at present only seven PSKs, described as an initiative by foreign minister S M Krishna himself, in the country but 70 more are slated to be opened by early next year. “In order to address the infirmities of the present system and to provide passport services to citizens in a timely, transparent, more accessible and reliable manner, 77 PSKs are being rolled out across the country,” said an official.

In Delhi, the two centres would be located at Herald House (ITO) and Shalimar Place in Pitampura. The centre at Herald House will be spread across 16,000 square feet and will have as many as 32 application counters. The Shalimar Place centre will have 14 counters. These fully air conditioned passport application centres will have special amenities for differently-abled persons and also applicants accompanied by infants and senior citizens.

Online scheduling of appointments, extended hours for accepting applications (9 am to 5 pm) and end-to-end online tracking of application status are other features of these centres. “These will have online connectivity with state police headquarters for a seamless verification process. They will also facilitate a paperless work environment,” said the official.

According to officials, PSKs are going to ensure transparency and time-bound completion of services at each stage. “Effectively, an applicant’s passport application file will be decided before he or she leaves the PSK, thus providing full transparency. Passport granting is assured once the applicant clears all formalities at the PSK,” added the official. The first such PSK, which function in collaboration with staff of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), was opened last year in Bangalore, Krishna’s home turf.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: application, Governance Initiative, month, paperless work environment, Passport Application, Psks, Seva, state police headquarters

ExxonMobil Cardholders Have Opportunity to Win A 2010 smart fortwo coupe

April 3, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

ExxonMobil Personal Card “Win a smart fortwo Sweepstakes” to award a smart
fortwo coupe weekly for three months
CHICAGO, Illinois–(Business Wire)–
Exxon and Mobil retailers and Citi are giving cardholders the chance to win a
2010 smart fortwo coupe each week through the ExxonMobil Personal Card “Win a
smart fortwo Sweepstakes.”From April 1 through June 30, a new winner will be
drawn every week.In addition to the weekly car giveaways, consumers will also
have the chance to win one of thousands of ExxonMobil Gift Cards during the
three-month promotion.

To enter, cardholders simply make a purchase with an ExxonMobil Personal Card at
any participating Exxon or Mobil station. Each purchase qualifies as one
entry.If customers don`t have a card, they can also still enter by applying for
a new account at sweepstakes.exxonmobilcard.com or calling 1-866-379-1010.*

“This sweepstakes is a great opportunity to remind our customers that the
ExxonMobil Personal Card is the smart way to pay for their fuel purchases,” said
Ben Soraci, U.S. Retail Sales Director, Exxon Mobil Corporation. “It already
offers a great everyday value, with pay-at-the-pump convenience at 10,000 Exxon
and Mobil stations, $0 fraud liability, and online account management tools. And
from April through June, cardholders will have the added incentive of a chance
to win a fuel efficient smart fortwo coupe that’s easy on their wallet and the
environment.”

* No purchase or application necessary. Open to residents of the 50 United
States and D.C. Void in NJ, VA and MD and where prohibited. Sweepstakes ends
6/30/10. For official rules, visit an Exxon or Mobil station near you or visit
sweepstakes.exxonmobilcard.com. Sponsor: Citicorp Credit Services, Inc. (USA).
ExxonMobil Personal Cards are issued by Citibank (South Dakota), N.A.

smart-a Daimler Brand.

About Citi

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200
million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through
Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments
and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services,
including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking,
securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional
information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

About ExxonMobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation is a leading international energy company whose
subsidiaries have operations in most of the world`s countries and territories.
In the United States, ExxonMobil has significant exploration and production,
refining and marketing and chemicals operations. ExxonMobil is one of the
largest oil and gas producers and reserve holders in the United States, with its
portfolio including Alaska, onshore Gulf Coast and deepwater Gulf of Mexico. In
addition, ExxonMobil has seven refineries in the U.S., four of which are
integrated petrochemical facilities. For more information about ExxonMobil,
please visit our website at www.exxonmobil.com.

About the smart fortwo and smart USA

smart USA Distributor LLC, headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is the
exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo in the United States and Puerto Rico
and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. The smart
fortwo is a brand of and is manufactured by Daimler AG. This technologically
advanced vehicle achieves 41 mpg on the highway and is an ultra-low emissions
vehicle, as certified by the State of California Air Resources Board.The vehicle
is 8.8 feet long, 5.1 feet tall and 5.1 feet wide and comes equipped with many
functional and safety features found in most luxury models. smart is currently
sold in 40 other countries, and more than one million smart fortwos have been
sold since 1998.

TMGpr
Tami McCarthy, 212-750-5755
tami@TMGpr.com

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Account Management Tools, Added Incentive, application, Car Giveaways, Citicorp Credit Services, Citicorp Credit Services Inc, Exxon Mobil, Exxon Mobil Corporation, ExxonMobil, fraud, Fraud Liability, Fuel Purchases, Global Financial Services, Illinois Business, Mobil Station, Mobil Stations, Pay At The Pump, Personal Card, Personal Cards, Smart Fortwo Coupe, Soraci, Sweepstakes, Sweepstakes Ends, transaction

Now, unwed Malaysian couple to be whipped for trying to have car sex

September 19, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Shah Alam (Malaysia), Sep. 18 (ANI): Following the whipping episode of the Malaysian model who was sentenced for drinking beer, an unmarried couple is now being subjected to the controversial canning sentence under the country’s Sharia law for trying to have sex.

Mohammad Shahrin Abd Majid, 29, and his lover Nadiah Najat Hussin, 24, pleaded guilty to attempting to have sex in a car, were fined 5,000 ringgits or 12 months’ jail and ordered to be caned six times each, the New Strait Times Online reports.

Both Shahrin and Nadiah have paid the fine. On Wednesday, the Sharia High Court of Shah Alam granted a stay on the caning pending an appeal following an application by the couple’s counsel.

The Court has also advised both accused to marry as soon as possible.

The couple had claimed that they were to be engaged soon, and scheduled to be married in February next year.

“You are still young… after Hari Raya seek consent from both your parents to marry,” he said.

Shahrin and Nadiah would be sent to prison in order to receive the caning if their appeal gets dismissed.

Earlier, former Malaysian model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno hogged the international headlines when she was sentenced for canning under Sharia law for drinking beer at a nightclub. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 12 months, Abd, ANI, appeal, application, beer, canning, car, Car Sex, consent, counsel, country, couple, Court, drinking, Drinking Beer, episode, February, fine, Hari Raya, High, international headlines, jail, Kartika, law, lover, Majid, Malaysia, Malaysian Couple, model, mohammad, Mohammad Shahrin, Nadiah, Najat Hussin, New, new strait times, nightclub, Online, order, parents, prison, ringgits, sari dewi, sentence, Sep, Sex, Sex Car, sex in a car, Sex Malaysia, shah alam, Shah Alam Malaysia, Shahrin, sharia, sharia law, Shukarno, six times, stay, strait, times, unmarried couple, Wednesday, year

New e-nose can reveal smokers without need for blood, urine tests

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 16 (ANI): An electronic nose foil some people’s attempt to deceive their doctors by telling them that they are non-smokers, in order to get cheaper life insurance.

Paul Thomas at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, has revealed that their invention is a tweaked form of a commercially available e-nose.

The researcher says that it can detect the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the breath of a person who had smoked a cigarette.

The e-nose uses an array of 32 sensors whose electrical resistance changes as different VOCs are detected.

During a test, the researchers could correctly identified 37 out of 39 volunteers as either smokers or non-smokers relying upon on the resultant “smellprint”.

Based on their observations, the team came to the conclusion that such e-noses could quickly and reliably reveal smokers without the need for a blood or urine test.

The current method of measuring the carbon monoxide content of exhaled breath to confirm smoking activity picks up a smoker for only a few hours after their last cigarette.

It is even prone to error because it cannot tell whether carbon monoxide in the breath came from other sources such as traffic exhaust fumes.

Insurers are very interested in whether a person applying for health or life insurance smokes – for obvious reasons.

“Some insurance providers don’t ask questions about smoking at all, while others ask the question on an application form but do not require a test as the applicant is expected to answer the question honestly,” New Scientist magazine quoted Kelly Ostler-Coyle, of the Association of British Insurers, as saying.

By making the test simple and reliable, an e-nose could provide doctors with the truth in minutes, according to the researchers.

They, however, admit that their system needs further testing to prove its worth.

“This e-nose idea, whilst of interest, will require larger-scale trials to demonstrate clinical efficacy and patient acceptability before it can be considered for use,” says a spokesman for the UK Department of Health.

A research article describing the innovation has been published in the Journal of Breath Research. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: acceptability, activity, ANI, applicant, application, array, Article, association, Association Of British Insurers, attempt, Australia, blood, Blood Urine, breath, cannot, carbon, carbon monoxide, Carbon Monoxide Content, cigarette, conclusion, content, coyle, department, efficacy, Electrical Resistance Changes, Electronic Nose, error, exhaust, Exhaust Fumes, foil, form, Health, idea, innovation, insurance, Insurance Providers, interest, Invention, journal, kelly, Last Cigarette, life, London, magazine, method, monoxide, need, New, New Scientist magazine, New South Wales, nose, noses, order, Ostler, patient, Paul Thomas, person, question, Research, researcher, resistance, scientist, September, smellprint, smoker, smokers, smoking, south, spokesman, sydney, sydney australia, system, team, test, testing, traffic, truth, University, University of New South Wales, urine, urine test, Urine Tests, use, VOCs, volatile organic compounds, wales, whilst

Scientists develop ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out toxins by changing colors

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 14 (ANI): A team of scientists has developed a sensor that works as an ‘electronic nose’ in sniffing out some known poisonous gases and toxins, simply by changing colors.

Support for the development and application of this electronic nose comes from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Once fully developed, the sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks in the workplace or through accidental exposure.

While physicists have radiation badges to protect them in the workplace, chemists and workers who handle chemicals do not have equivalent devices to monitor their exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.

The investigators hope to be able to market the wearable sensor within a few years.

“The project fits into the overall goal of a component of the GEI Exposure Biology Program that the NIEHS has the lead on, which is to develop technologies to monitor and better understand how environmental exposures affect disease risk,” said NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum.

“This paper brings us one step closer to having a small wearable sensor that can detect multiple airborne toxins,” she added.

Kenneth S. Suslick, the M.T. Schmidt Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues have created what they refer to as an optoelectronic nose, an artificial nose for the detection of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) that is simple, fast, inexpensive, and works by visualizing colors.

“We have a disposable 36-dye sensor array that changes colors when exposed to different chemicals. The pattern of the color change is a unique molecular fingerprint for any toxic gas and also tells us its concentration,” said Suslick.

“By comparing that pattern to a library of color fingerprints, we can identify and quantify the TICs in a matter of seconds,” he added.

The power of this sensor to identify so many volatile toxins stems from the increased range of interactions that are used to discriminate the response of the array.

To test the application of their color sensor array, the researchers chose 19 representative examples of toxic industrial chemicals.

Chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine, nitric acid and sulfur dioxide at concentrations known to be immediately dangerous to life or health were included.

The arrays were exposed to the chemicals for two minutes.

Most of the chemicals were identified from the array color change in a number of seconds and almost 90 percent of them were detected within two minutes. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: accidental, Accidental Exposure, acid, Airborne Toxins, ammonia, ANI, application, array, Artificial Nose, biology, biology program, Champaign, change, Changing Colors, chemistry, chlorine, color, component, concentration, detection, Development, dioxide, Director Linda Birnbaum, disease, dye, Electronic Nose, environmental, environmental exposures, Environmental Health Sciences, equivalent, exposure, fingerprint, Gas, GEI, Goal, Health, illinois, industrial chemicals, institute, Institute Of Environmental Health, Kenneth S. Suslick, library, life, Linda Birnbaum, M.T. Schmidt, matter, Molecular Fingerprint, national, National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, niehs, nose, number, paper, part, pattern, percent, Poisonous Gases, power, professor, program, project, radiation, Radiation Badges, range, representative, response, risk, sensor, Sensor Array, September, serious health, step, sulfur, support, team, tics, toxic chemicals, University, University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign, Urbana, Washington, workplace

Pak-based terrorists exploiting Britain’s shoddy visa system

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 10 (ANI): Pakistan-based terrorists are exploiting Britain’s shoddy visa system to come to the country.

Pakistan is considered by Britain as the No.1 base for Islamic extremists brainwashing potential terrorists.

More than 60,000 Pakistanis were given UK visas in the past nine months, but only 29 underwent face-to-face security interviews, The Sun reports.

The Home Office admitted the shocking record in Commons answers.

The new figures mean UK risk assessment officials in Pakistan could easily be dishing out visas to terror suspects.

Ministers have also admitted not a single visa applicant had a phone interview before getting entry clearance. And each application was dealt with in just 11 minutes; nothing like the time security experts say is needed.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling said: “There are very real concerns that the system is being abused, and clear security issues too.” (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, applicant, application, assessment, base, brainwashing, Britain, Chris Grayling, clearance, commons, country, country pakistan, entry, entry clearance, grayling, home, Interview, Islamic, Islamic extremists, London, ministers, nine months, nothing, office, Pak-based, Pakistan, pakistan based, Pakistanis, Phone, phone interview, record, risk, risk assessment, secretary, security, security experts, security issues, Sep, shadow, shadow home secretary, Shocking Record, Sun, system, terror, terror suspects, terrorists, time, time security, U.K, Uk Visas, visa, Visa Applicant, Visa System

Microsoft India announces strategic alliance with TCS

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Sep 8 (ANI/Business Wire India): Microsoft India and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – a leading IT services, consulting, business solutions and outsourcing firm today announced a strategic alliance between the two companies to launch Microsoft-TCS virtualization Center of Excellence (CoE) in Chennai.

Designed to help customers experience the right approach to applying and managing virtualization across IT architectural layers (namely server, machine, application and desktop) in their business environments – the CoE will leverage best of breed Microsoft technologies (such as Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008) to showcase virtualization scenarios to customers.

The Microsoft-TCS virtualization CoE is a joint initiative by the companies to accelerate the adoption of virtualization technology in India.

“Virtualization is one of the most disruptive technologies in the world today. Though there is adequate knowledge on the benefits of virtualization – only 5% of the world’s servers are virtualized today! There is a clear gap between awareness and adoption of this technology – which has emerged from the lack of guidance among customers around actual implementation of this technology and their inability to demystify the conceptual transition from physical to virtual environments. Through our partnership with TCS to launch the virtualization CoE, we will address this crucial market need and help customers land the benefits of virtualization technology in accordance with their business requirements”, said Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Microsoft India).

“We are always looking to enhance the services we provide to our customers. Virtualization has clearly emerged as a revolutionary technology with wide reaching implications for global as well as Indian businesses – one that our customers are showing a great deal of interest in. Due to its key benefits such as improved performance, reduced total cost of ownership and increased availability of IT infrastructure – virtualization is increasingly being viewed as an imperative technology by customers, specifically in these challenging economic times,” said P. R. Krishnan (Vice President and Global Head IT Infrastructure Services, TCS).

“The Microsoft-TCS virtualization CoE is an initiative aimed at enabling our customers rapidly realize the advantages of this revolutionary technology. Based on robust virtualization solutions from Microsoft – the CoE will leverage best of breed technologies that are best suited to help our customers stay ahead in today’s competitive market environment”, added Krishnan.

The Microsoft-TCS virtualization CoE will deliver a heightened user experience that will help customers demystify Virtualization: migration from physical to virtual environments, user experience and performance, management of physical and virtual infrastructure from a single console – and experience how virtualization technology deployment in the datacenter can enable improved performance, higher availability and lower cost of ownership of IT infrastructure.

With a holistic approach to virtualization, Microsoft addresses its customers’ end-to-end virtualization requirements – with technologies and solutions spanning across the datacenter to the desktop, and from implementation to management (both virtual and physical resources). (ANI)

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: accordance, Adequate Knowledge, adoption, alliance, ANI, application, approach, Architectural Layers, availability, awareness, breed, business, Business Environments, Business Requirements, center, Center Of Excellence, Chennai, coe, Consultancy, consulting, Consulting Business Solutions, cost, datacenter, deal, demystify, deployment, designed, desktop, director, Disruptive Technologies, environment, excellence, experience, gap, Global, guidance, head, Hyper, implementation, inability, India, indian businesses, Infrastructure, initiative, interest, knowledge, lack, land, machine, Machine Application, management, manager, managing, market, microsoft, Microsoft India, Microsoft Technologies, migration, New Delhi, ownership, P. R. Krishnan, partnership, performance, president, Rajan Anandan, reaching, revolutionary technology, Sep, server, Server Machine, showcase, strategic alliance, system, TATA, tata consultancy services, TCS, Technology, today, transition, user, vice, virtual, Virtual Environments, Virtual Machine Manager, virtualization, windows, wire, world

Researchers make bacteria to produce useful proteins

September 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sep 7 (ANI): Researchers at the University of British Columbia have turned the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus into a protein production factory by adapting a single protein on its surface, thus making useful proteins that can act as vaccines and drugs.

C. crescentus is a harmless bacterium that has a single protein layer on its surface.

Led by Dr. John Smit, the researchers adapted the system that secretes this protein, which self-assembles into a structure called the “S-layer”, to secrete instead many proteins that are useful for vaccines and other therapeutic purposes.

In other words, by keeping the S-layer protein intact and genetically inserting new things inside it, they produce a very dense display of useful proteins on the cell surface.

The researchers are now hoping to use the entire bacterium in a therapeutic application.

Bacteria are commonly used in biotechnology to produce useful protein products.

If the bacteria secrete the protein rather than keep it contained within the cell, purification costs are greatly lowered.

The researchers have developed a commercially available kit based on this technology, which could be especially useful in developing countries as it might be used to manufacture HIV-blocking agents very cheaply and with little specialist expertise.

“This S-layer system is very efficient at producing and secreting proteins – we can make the bacterium into a protein pump, secreting over half of all the protein it makes as engineered S-layer protein,” said Smit.

He added: “Applications of S-layer display that we are currently developing include anti-cancer vaccines, an HIV infection blocker and agents to treat Crohn’s and colitis, and diarrhoea in malnourished populations”.

Smit presented the findings at the Society for General Microbiology’s meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: ANI, application, bacteria, bacterium, Biotechnology, blocker, British, Cancer Vaccines, Caulobacter, cell, Cell Purification, Cell Surface, Columbia, Crohn, diarrhoea, display, dr john, Dr. John Smit, edinburgh, expertise, factory, general microbiology, half, Heriot, heriot watt university, heriot watt university edinburgh, HIV, hiv blocking, hiv infection, infection, Kit, layer, meeting, production, protein, Protein Layer, protein production, Protein Products, proteins, pump, purification, secrete, Sep, society, specialist, Specialist Expertise, structure, surface, system, Technology, Therapeutic Application, therapeutic purposes, University, university of british columbia, Washington, watt, watt university edinburgh

George Harrison’s widow in razor fence row

September 6, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, September 5 (ANI): Late Beatle George Harrison’s widow Olivia has been caught up in a planning row after a former television sitcom star alleged that a razor wire fence around her house almost killed his cat.

Rodney Bewes, who starred as Bob Ferris in Seventies television show ‘The Likely Lads’, said the fence posed pets with a dangerous threat and even made the neighbourhood looking like a “war zone”.

Olivia filed a planning application with South Oxfordshire District Council to replace the fence with an identical version, a move opposed by Bewes.

“My cat, Maurice, has been injured on that fence several times, once severing an artery that nearly killed him. It has cost me thousands in vets’ bills,” the Telegraph quoted Bewes as saying.

“There are several other cats – people’s pets – that have been practically gored on that fence, it’s that dangerous.

“It makes me sad when I come home to such a beautiful place and see this thing that makes it look like a war zone. If everybody had razor wire around their gardens can you imagine what it would look like?

“It doesn’t make it any more secure. The bottom half is wood and with a good crowbar you could get through it no problem,” Bewes added.

The Harrisons came up with the boundary in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, after a crazed intruder broke in and stabbed the late guitarist in 1999. (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ANI, application, artery, Beatle, beatle george harrison, Beautiful Place, Bob Ferris, boundary, cat, Cats Pets, Council, Crowbar, dangerous threat, district, everybody, fence, Fence Row, george harrison, guitarist, half, harrisons, Henley On Thames, Henley-on, home, house, intruder, lads, London, maurice, move, neighbourhood, olivia, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire District Council, place, planning, problem, razor, razor wire, Rodney Bewes, row, September, seventies, show, sitcom, Sitcom Star, south, South Oxfordshire District, South Oxfordshire District Council, star, Telegraph, television, Television Sitcom, Thames, thing, threat, version, war, war zone, widow, wire, Wire Fence, wood, zone

Soon, a portable optical atomic clock

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Berlin, September 4 (ANI): In a new research work, a team of scientists has shown how optical atomic clocks in the future might become more compact and even portable, maybe even travel to space.

The research was done by scientists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Germany.

Optical clocks like the strontium clock in the PTB could be the atomic clocks of the future; some of them though are already ten times more precise and stable than the best primary caesium atomic clocks.

Nowm they might also become more compact and even portable, maybe in the future even travel to space.

PTB scientists have shown how some fundamental difficulties, which a more simple set-up had previously hindered, could be avoided.

They already have a practical application in mind: the clock could help to determine geographical heights even more exactly than before.

An optical clock is so exact because its “pendulum” swings so quickly.

The “pendulum” of a caesium atomic clock swings even more quickly: that is, that microwave radiation which can bring about a spin change in each electron of a caesium atom.

Precisely the microwave frequency at which this effect is largest defines the second. An optical atomic clock works with the still higher frequency of optical radiation – that is with an even faster pendulum.

As the movement of the atoms leads to very large frequency shifts through the Doppler effect, in the best of these clocks, the atoms are slowed down to a hundredth of the speed of a pedestrian in a first preparation step with the aid of laser cooling.

As the movement of the atoms leads to very large frequency shifts through the Doppler effect, in the best of these clocks the atoms are slowed down to a hundredth of the speed of a pedestrian in a first preparation step with the aid of laser cooling.

In a lattice clock, a further step then follows in which the atoms are held in potential wells.

These are created through the intensive light field of a laser. Several tens of thousands of strontium atoms are trapped in this so-called optical lattice.

The results of the investigation have shown how the optical lattice has to be dimensioned and how many atoms may be stored in it to operate a very accurate lattice clock also with strontium-88.

A clock is now being built on this basis that is more compact and more transportable than the previous lattice clocks. (ANI)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: aid, ANI, application, atom, Atomic Clock, Atomic Clocks, atoms, basis, Berlin, Braunschweig, Braunschweig Germany, Bundesanstalt, Caesium, change, clock, Clock Works, cooling, Doppler, Doppler Effect, effect, electron, field, frequency, Frequency Shifts, Fundamental Difficulties, future, Germany, Higher Frequency, investigation, laser, Laser Cooling, lattice, microwave, Microwave Frequency, microwave radiation, mind, movement, Nowm, optical, Optical Radiation, pedestrian, pendulum, Pendulum Clock, Pendulum Swings, Physikalisch, Physikalisch Technische, Practical Application, Precisely, preparation, PTB, radiation, Research, Second, September, space, speed, spin, step, strontium, team, Technische, travel, work

‘NanoPen’ may revolutionise electronics sector, medical diagnostic tests

September 3, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, September 3 (ANI): A team of scientists in California have announced the creation of a ‘NanoPen’ that can simplify the method of laying down patterns of nanoparticles-from wires to circuits-for making futuristic electronic devices, medical diagnostic tests, and other much-anticipated nanotech applications.

Writing about their work in ACS’ Nano Letters, Ming Wu and colleagues point out that researchers have already developed several different techniques for producing patterns of nanoparticles, which are barely 1/50,000th the width of a human hair.

However, the researchers add, current techniques tend to be too complex and slow because they require bulky instrumentation and take minutes or even hours to complete.

The researcher further point out that these techniques also require the use of very high temperatures to apply the nanostructures to their target surfaces.

According to them, such limitations prevent widespread application of these techniques.

They claim that their NanoPen can solve all these problems.

The researchers have used the novel device in their lab to deposit various nanoparticles into specific patterns in the presence of relatively low light and temperature intensities.

They say that the process, which requires the use of special “photoconductive” surfaces, takes only seconds to complete with their NanoPen.

They further state that manufacturers can adjust the size and density of the patterns by adjusting the voltage, light intensity, and exposure time applied during the process. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: acs, ANI, application, California, circuits, colleagues, creation, density, device, electronic devices, exposure, exposure time, hair, high temperatures, instrumentation, Intensities, intensity, lab, light, light intensity, making, Medical Diagnostic Tests, method, Ming Wu, Nano Letters, nanoparticles, NanoPen, nanostructures, nanotech, novel, novel device, point, presence, process, researcher, revolutionise, Scientists, sector, September, size, state, target, Target Surfaces, team, temperature, time, use, voltage, Voltage Light, Washington, width, width of a human hair, work

Anil Ambani welcomes government’s fresh plea on gas row dispute with brother Mukesh

September 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, Sep 2 (ANI): Anil Ambani of Reliance Natural Resource Limited (RNRL) welcomed a fresh application filed by central government in the Supreme Court on a row over gas price with estranged elder brother Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL).

Top Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani, and Reliance Natural, led by Anil Ambani, have been fighting over terms of a gas-supply agreement struck when the Reliance empire was split in 2005.

The fresh application by the government said that the government’s policies and contracts on production and gas pricing would prevail over any private arrangement.

“Reliance Natural Resource on behalf of its over 26 lakh shareholders is grateful to the Government of India for its neutral stand in proposing these amendments,” Anil Ambani told reporters in Mumbai.

“With the filing of application, the role of government in Reliance Natural Resource-RIL matter remains limited only to interpretation of just two issues. Issue A – the gas utilisation policy and issue B – provisions of the Production Sharing Contract. This is exactly the same scope of intervention that was permitted to the government of India by the Bombay High Court,” he added.

The latest tussle between the feuding brothers, which stems from the 2005 break-up of the Reliance empire built by their father, has raised concerns it could discourage investment in the sector as India scrambles to shore up its energy security.

In July, India’s apex court said it would club all petitions and applications in the case together.

The Indian government had earlier made a petition to intervene in the case, arguing that the gas is ‘state property’ and that the private agreement between the Ambanis over the gas is not valid. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: agreement, ambani, Ambanis, ANI, anil, Anil Ambani, apex, apex court, application, arrangement, behalf, bombay, Bombay High Court, break-up, brother, case, club, conglomerate, contract, Court, dispute, elder brother, empire, energy, energy security, father, filing, Gas, Gas Price, Gas Utilisation, Government, government of india, High, India, Indian, Indian Government, interpretation, intervention, investment, issue, July, lakh, limited, matter, Mukesh, Mumbai, natural, natural resource, petition, plea, policy, price, pricing, Private Agreement, Private Arrangement, production, property, Reliance, Reliance Industries, resource, Resource Limited, RIL, Rnrl, role, Role Of Government, row, scope, sector, security, Sep, stand, state, State Property, supreme, tussle, utilisation

“Saddam-style” torture and death penalty still prevalent in Iraq: Amnesty

September 1, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Baghdad (Iraq), Sep 1(ANI): Amnesty International on Tuesday said that even though Iraq has been free from Saddam Hussein’s regime for six years, more than 1,000 prisoners are still facing death penalty in the country.

It said that Iraq’s burdened justice system can barely cope with ordinary crimes, and punishment for crimes ranging from murder to the membership and support of armed groups are out of bounds for them.

“Many Iraqis who had been traumatised by his policies hoped and expected that a new chapter would be opened in which human rights would be respected and upheld, and that torture, killings and the death penalty would remain only as a bad memory of the past,” The Daily Express quoted Amnesty International, as saying.

“Six years on (from the fall of the regime in 2003), as an estimated 1,000 prisoners face the prospect of execution, that dream has all but faded to nothing,” it added.

Amnesty further said that instead of wiping away the death penalty, Iraqi government had widened both the scope and application of penalty in 2004, and called for an “immediate moratorium” on all executions.

It further added that Iraq use of the death penalty “lacks transparency”, and trails in the country fail to match international standards and said it expressed disappointment that Iraq’s Human Rights Minister Dr Wajdan Mikhail Salam advocates the death penalty.

It also said that people suffering from death penalties should be given a ray of hope to contend their cases again.

Amnesty also claimed that complaints were received from defendants in numerous cases that confessions were extracted from them under torture.

It further informed that out of the 1,000 prisoners, some 150 have exhausted all means of appeal or clemency and are at “immediate risk of death”. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Amnesty, Amnesty International, ANI, appeal, application, bad memory, Baghdad, Baghdad iraq, chapter, clemency, country, Crimes And Punishment, daily, daily express, death, Death Penalties, Death Penalty, disappointment, dream, execution, Executions, Express, Facing Death, fall, Government, human, human rights minister, international, Iraq, Iraqi government, Iraqis, justice, Justice System, killings, Many Iraqis, membership, memory, Mikhail Salam, Minister Dr Wajdan, moratorium, murder, new chapter, nothing, past, penalty, prospect, punishment, Punishment For Crimes, ray, ray of hope, regime, rights, risk, saddam, Saddam Hussein, Saddam-style, Salam, scope, Sep, support, system, transparency, Tuesday, use

Pak anti-terror court seeks record of Mumbai attacks suspect

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Rawalpindi, Aug.30 (ANI): The Adiala jail special anti-terrorism court has asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to produce record of the arrest of Jamil Ahmed, one of the Mumbai terror attacks suspects, by September 1.

Ahmed has sought post-arrest bail on various legal grounds, the Daily Times.

Earlier, the court adjourned the hearing into the trial of five Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, including the outfit’s operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, till September 5.

The special Adiala Jail court also restricted the in-camera trial of the five accused of the Mumbai terror attacks citing security reasons.

Though the court’s order has not been made public, sources said it stated that the proceedings would be kept totally secret and ‘not published’ in any manner as the case had implications for ‘national security’ and ‘national interests’.

The trial court also asked the FIA to submit its finding before it during the next hearing.

While Lakhvi is accused of masterminding the attack, the four others, including LeT’s communications expert Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq and Shahid Jamil Riaz are being charged as facilitators, manager of funds and for locating hideouts for the attackers Rawalpindi.

Meanwhile, the United States has asked the court to grant permission to attend the trial as ‘observers’.

A US embassy spokesman said American officials have moved an application in the court seeking permission to attend the trial.

It may be recalled that there were at least six US nationals among the 166 people who were killed in the November 26-29, 2008 terror attacks. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: abu, Adiala, agency, ahmed, al, al qama, american officials, Amin, Amin Sadiq, ANI, application, arrest, attack, attackers, Aug, bail, case, commander, Court, daily, embassy, embassy spokesman, expert, federal, federal investigation, FIA, Hamad, hearing, hideouts, investigation, investigation agency, jail, Jamil Ahmed, Jamil Riaz, lakhvi, Lashkar-e, Lashkar-e-Taiba, LeT, manager, manner, masterminding, Mumbai, national interests, November, order, outfit, Pak, permission, public sources, Qama, rawalpindi, record, rehman, riaz, S Communications, sadiq, security, security reasons, September, shah, shahid, shahid jamil, spokesman, Taiba, terror, terror attacks, times, trial, trial court, United States, US, us embassy, Zakiur, zarar

Newly found natural odours could pave way for developing mosquito repellents

August 27, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 27 (ANI): In a lab study on fruit flies, entomologists led by an Indian origin scientist at the University of California, Riverside, have discovered a novel class of compounds that could help in developing inexpensive and safe mosquito repellents for combating West Nile virus and other deadly tropical diseases.

Under stress, fruit flies emit carbon dioxide (CO2) that serves as a warning to other fruit flies that danger or predators could be nearby.

The fruit flies are able to detect the CO2 and escape because their antennae are equipped with specialized neurons that are sensitive to the gas.

But fruits and other important food sources for fruit flies also emit CO2 as a by-product of respiration and ripening.

Researchers started to wonder how does fruit flied find their way to these foods, despite having an inherent tendency to avoid CO2.

However, Anandasankar Ray, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology, and Stephanie Turner, his graduate student, have now identified a new class of odorants – chemical compounds with smells – present in ripening fruit that prevent the CO2-sensitive neurons in the antennae from functioning.

They discovered that particularly two odours, hexanol and 2,3- butanedione, are strong inhibitors of the CO2-sensitive neurons in the fruit fly.

The research has strong implications for control of deadly diseases transmitted by Culex mosquitoes such as West Nile virus disease and filariasis, an infectious tropical disease affecting the lymphatic system.

“CO2 emitted in human breath is the main attractant for the Culex mosquito to find people, aiding the transmission of these deadly diseases. In our experiments we identified hexanol, and a related odor, butanal, as strong inhibitors of CO2-sensitive neurons in Culex mosquitoes. These compounds can now be used to guide research in developing novel repellents and masking agents that are economical and environmentally safe methods to block mosquitoes’ ability to detect CO2 in our breath, thereby dramatically reducing mosquito-human contact,” Nature quoted Ray as saying.

Inhibitory odours not only play an important role in modifying insect behaviour, but the study found that some of these odours even have a long-term effect.

For example, the researchers found that some odours silenced the CO2 neuron in the fruit fly well beyond the period of application.

“To our surprise, we found that exposure to a long-term CO2 response inhibitor can exert a profound and specific effect on the behavior of the insect, even after the inhibitor is no longer in the environment.

This means this odorant could potentially be used to keep mosquitoes at bay for longer periods of time, benefiting people in areas where mosquito-transmitted diseases are prevalent,” said Ray.

The results of the study appear in Nature. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: ability, Anandasankar, ANI, antennae, application, assistant, attractant, Aug, bay, behavior, behaviour, breath, butanal, butanedione, California, carbon, chemical, chemical compounds, class, contact, control, Culex, Culex Mosquito, Culex Mosquitoes, danger, deadly diseases, department, dioxide, disease, effect, emit, entomology, environment, example, exposure, fly, food, fruit, Gas, graduate, hexanol, Human Breath, indian origin, inhibitor, inhibitory, insect, lab, London, Masking Agents, mosquito, Mosquito Repellents, Nature, Neuron, novel, novel class, odor, odorant, odours, origin, period, professor, ray, Research, respiration, response, Riverside, role, scientist, Sensitive Neurons, Stephanie Turner, stress, student, study, surprise, system, tendency, time, transmission, Tropical Disease, Tropical Diseases, University, university of california riverside, virus, Virus Disease, warning, way, West Nile, west nile virus

Sam Pitroda calls for ICT’s application for development

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug. 26 (ANI): Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda has called for the application of information and communication technology (ICT) in the field of education, health, environment and agriculture in order to bring in a generational change among the Indian masses.

“The key in terms of what next is to focus on five to six key areas. My preference would be health, education, energy and environment. Pretty broad four to five big areas,” Pitroda said, delivering a keynote address at a function to mark the silver jubilee of Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).

He also noted that information technology (IT) should be used as a tool to enhance the education sector in the country.

On this score, he called for IT and ICT to supplement and complement each other for positive results.

“They key is we need to use IT in a very different way to build productivity and efficiency in education. Learning models have to change. We need to take advantage of available IT infrastructure to really enhance our teaching as well adds to our teachers resource,” Pitroda, added.

C-DOT is the premier organisation engaged in research and development (R andD) of IT in India and it was set up on August 25, 1984. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: address, advantage, Agriculture, ANI, application, Aug, August, C-DOT, centre, chairman, change, commission, commission chairman, communication, country, Development, Education, education health, Education sector, efficiency, energy, Energy And Environment, environment, field, function, generational, Generational Change, Health, health education, Health Environment, ict, India, information, information and communication technology, information technology, Infrastructure, Jubilee, key, key areas, keynote, keynote address, knowledge, learning, New Delhi, order, organisation, Pitroda, preference, Premier, pretty, productivity, R andD, Research, research and development, resource, sam, sam pitroda, score, sector, silver, silver jubilee, Teachers Resource, teaching, Technology, Telematics, tool, way

Magic ink to revolutionise full-colour printing

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 26 (ANI): Magic ink developed by South Korean engineers is set to revolutionise full-colour printing.

The M-Ink can be used to produce any colour in the visible spectrum and could lead to a new method of cheap and instant full-colour printing.

The research team led by Sunghoon Kwon at Seoul National University in South Korea borrowed the novel idea from nature.

Many insects and birds owe their bright colours to the interaction of light with fine-patterned surface textures.

Researchers have long experimented with replicating these so- called structural colours in synthetic materials.

According to Kwon, M-Ink contains three ingredients: magnetic nanoparticles 100 to 200 nanometres across, a solvation liquid, and a resin.

The nanoparticles disperse throughout the resin, giving the ink a brown appearance. But after applying an external magnetic field, the nanoparticles immediately snap to the magnetic field lines, forming chain-like structures.

He said regularly-spaced nanoparticle chains interfere with incoming light, so that the light reflected from the surface is of a particular colour.

“Adjusting the magnetic field strength shifts the spacing of the field lines and changes the colour,” New Scientist quoted him as saying.

After the desired colour is produced the nanoparticles can be fixed in place by exposing the ink to UV light, which cures the resin

“You can pattern A4-size [letter-size] full-colour prints within a second,” Kwon said.

“You can build papers displaying unique features on application of an external magnetic field,” he added.

The study is published in Nature Photonics. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: A4 Size, Adjusting, ANI, appearance, application, Aug, bright colours, Brown Appearance, colour, Colour Prints, disperse, External Magnetic Field, field, idea, Incoming Light, ink, interaction, Korean Engineers, Kwon, light, London, M-Ink, magic, Magic Ink, magnetic field lines, Magnetic Field Strength, method, nanoparticle, national, Nature, Nature Photonics, New, New Scientist, novel, novel idea, pattern, Photonics, place, printing, Research, resin, revolutionise, scientist, Second, Seoul, Seoul National University, size, So, solvation, South Korea, South Korean, spectrum, strength, study, Sunghoon, surface, Surface Textures, Synthetic Materials, team, University, uv light, Visible Spectrum

Global Standard for testing capabilities gains momentum

August 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 26 (ANI/Business Wire India): Experimentus (www.experimentus.com), the software quality management consulting firm, announced that they have partnered with Edista Testing Institute (www.edistatesting.com), a 100 per cent subsidiary of QAI Global (www.qaiglobal.com) to implement TMMi (Test Maturity Model integrated) all across the Asia Pacific region.

TMMi is the de facto standard that organisations can use to measure and enable them to improve Testing and Quality related activities.

The partnership between ETI and Experimentus, offers access to accredited TMMi training and Assessments to QAI and ETI clients.

As a part of the alliance, Experimentus, using their team of accredited TMMi Foundation appraisers will offer a 1 day Overview Program on TMMi, a 3 day Program on TMMi, Assessment Services for TMMi. ETI will provide follow on consulting activities.

Experimentus, with it’s accredited in house assessment method and consultants, has obtained global recognition for the work it has been doing with the Test Maturity Model integrated and has helped many organisations clearly understand their level of risk across the development lifecycle, reducing cost and improving software quality.

ETI is fully focused on Operational Excellence and Workforce Development with specific focus on Testing Organizations.

ETI Currently works with over 54+ and has trained over 3000+ professionals across India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE, UK and USA.

Julian Clarke, Director of Sales and Marketing at Experimentus, said, “We are delighted to be working with ETI and QAI to promote TMMi across the Asia-Pacific region.

Delivering IT projects to market on time and of an acceptable level of quality is even more paramount to the business in the current climate. Testing is all about Risk Mitigation, validating the level of quality achieved in development before a software application goes live.

The cost of rework, loss of benefit to a business as well as the potential damage to an organisation’s brand can have significant commercial ramifications. This is even more so in today’s “dog eat dog” environment. Therefore, ensuring that Testing is effective and efficient is a must for corporate survival.”

Commenting on the partnership, Pradeep Chennavajhula, CEO of ETI said, “Testing is a critical function, and a growing business area for many IT service providesr in India.

Many of the Asian IT service providers, and Independent Testing service providers are in need of a structured framework for improving efficiency, and continuously improve their testing process. TMMi will play a crucial role in filling this gap. Just like CMMI for Software Engineering, TMMi will act as a key differentiator for winning large scale contracts with customers from UK and USA.” (ANI)

Filed Under: Business News Tagged With: access, alliance, ANI, application, area, asia, asia pacific region, assessment, Assessment Method, Assessment Services, assessments, Aug, Bangladesh, benefit, brand, business, cent, ceo, Chennavajhula, China, climate, CMMI, com, consulting, cost, damage, day, De Facto Standard, delivering, Development, Development Lifecycle, differentiator, director, dog, Edista, efficiency, engineering, environment, ETI, excellence, Experimentus, firm, focus, Foundation, framework, function, gap, Global, global recognition, Global Www, house, Improving Software, independent, India, india china, institute, Julian Clarke, level, lifecycle, London, loss, Malaysia, management, Management Consulting Firm, marketing, maturity, method, mitigation, model, momentum, need, operational, operational excellence, organisation, organizations, overview, pacific, part, partnership, Pradeep, process, program, providesr, QAI, qaiglobal, quality, Quality Management Consulting, recognition, region, rework, risk, Risk Mitigation, role, scale, service, Singapore, singapore malaysia, software, Software Quality Management, Sri Lanka, standard, subsidiary, survival, team, test, Test Maturity Model, testing, time, TMMi, today, training, U.K, UAE, USA, wire, work, workforce, Workforce Development, www

More than virus, Dilshan’s batting contributed to Kiwi defeat: Vettori

August 25, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Galle (Sri Lanka), Aug 23(ANI): New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori has said that more than the energy-sapping virus that stuck his team during the first Test match at the Galle International Stadium, it was Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan’s explosive batting which contributed to New Zealand’s 202-run loss.

Dilshan scored 92 runs in Sri Lanka’s first innings and scored quickfire 123 runs in the second to take Sri Lanka to an imposing target of 413.

“When you look at how well Dilshan played and how poorly we bowled to him, it was probably the defining moment of the game,” Stuff.co.nz quoted Vettori, as saying.

“There were a couple of opportunities there to put pressure on them, but everything we did, he took it away from us. He played exceptionally well, he played very aggressive innings, and when you’ve got a player like that, it makes it very tough to captain,” he added.

Vettori said that he wanted to take the game to the wire, however, failed to do so, as multiple players being ill in the team meant that they were bowled out for a meager 210 runs.

“I really hoped we’d take it down to the wire. I hoped that we could bat for long periods of time, but in some ways a few illnesses counted against us and the application wasn’t quite there,” Vettori said.

He further said that one of the most disappointing things in the Test was to lose as many wickets to the seamers as they did.

“Obviously Murali’s a difficult customer to come up against but the way Thushara bowled was probably where we let ourselves down,” Vettori said. (ANI)

Filed Under: Sports News Tagged With: ANI, application, Aug, bat, batsman, batting, captain daniel, captain Daniel Vettori, couple, customer, daniel vettori, defeat, defining moment, Difficult Customer, dilshan, everything, first test, Galle, galle international, Galle Sri Lanka, game, illnesses, innings, international, kiwi, lankan, long periods of time, loss, moment, Murali, New Zealand, player, pressure, quickfire, seamers, Second, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan, stadium, stuff, target, team, test, test match, Thushara, Tillakaratne, time, virus, way, wickets, wire, zealand captain

Arvind Kejriwal to take loan to settle Rs 9.27 lakh I-T dues

Soon, get passport without fuss in 3 days

ExxonMobil Cardholders Have Opportunity to Win A 2010 smart fortwo coupe

New e-nose can reveal smokers without need for blood, urine tests

Scientists develop ‘electronic nose’ that can sniff out toxins by changing colors

Pak-based terrorists exploiting Britain’s shoddy visa system

Microsoft India announces strategic alliance with TCS

Researchers make bacteria to produce useful proteins

George Harrison’s widow in razor fence row

Soon, a portable optical atomic clock

‘NanoPen’ may revolutionise electronics sector, medical diagnostic tests

Anil Ambani welcomes government’s fresh plea on gas row dispute with brother Mukesh

“Saddam-style” torture and death penalty still prevalent in Iraq: Amnesty

Pak anti-terror court seeks record of Mumbai attacks suspect

Newly found natural odours could pave way for developing mosquito repellents

Sam Pitroda calls for ICT’s application for development

Magic ink to revolutionise full-colour printing

Global Standard for testing capabilities gains momentum

More than virus, Dilshan’s batting contributed to Kiwi defeat: Vettori

Search More News

Technology News

Ads