Dial auto service launched in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, Sept 17 (ANI): In a bid to provide quick, hassle free and reasonably charged mode of transportation, a dial-an-auto service equipped with GPS navigation system has been launched for the first time in Chandigarh.

The neat and clean pink coloured motor rickshaws, known as Tuk Tuk, are changing the way people travel in the city.

The fleet of 10 dial-an-auto-rickshaw, which is only a phone call away, also boasts of two lady drivers, the first in Chandigarh.

Women passengers, who feel safer traveling with lady drivers, are appreciating their services.

“Chandigarh is one city where people are safe anyway. We have been told we are safe with the service,” said Alka Thapar, a lady auto driver.

One has to just dial 4242424 for calling an auto rickshaw to get it at your doorstep.

The autos are equipped with tamper proof fare meters to assure passengers of not being overcharged.

“We maintain our call center. Whenever any individual requires an auto he rings up and the call centre picks up the call. They record the call and then convey to the driver by selecting the vehicle nearby to pick up the customer. That’s the procedure and customer has to pay from the pick up point to the drive point only,” said VS Dhillon, Managing Director of the Tuk Tuk Auto Rickshaw Company.

The service aims at providing a quick, reliable and safe journey to people who can relax and sit back without the fear of getting fleeced by drivers.

“I’m using it for the first time It’s reasonably priced and I’m really liking it,” says Charanjit, a customer.

The new service is a welcome change for commuters. With the new service in place, passengers can hope for a change in the attitude of traditional auto drivers who are often accused of fleecing customers. By Sunil Sharma (ANI)

China to launch 2nd navigation satellite on Wednesday

New Delhi, April 13 (ANI): China is all set to launch the second satellite, the Chinese version of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), into the orbit on Wednesday.

This was announced by a spokesman of the Xichang Space Launch Center, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Both the rocket, a Long March-III carrier, and the satellite are in sound conditions and ready for the planned projection, according to the official.

China launched the first satellite, Beidou Navigation System, into geostationary orbit in October 2000, in an effort to build up its own positioning system independent from the US’s Global Positioning System (GPS), EU’s Galileo Positioning System and Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).

China has sent five positioning orbiters into the space. The current Beidou system only provides regional navigation service within China’s territory. (ANI)

Queen to re-launch Royal website

London, Feb 01 (ANI): At 82, when many of her contemporaries are turning their backs on technology, the Queen is determined to make her website more user friendly and relevant to modern-day society.

With the help of Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, the Queen is re-launching her website, according to reports.

The website, first launched 12 years ago, will be significantly improved and expanded on February 12 when the Queen will link up with Google, the world’s most popular search engine, to bring in a wave of new technological advances.

Senior royal sources say that the Queen has been “hands on” over the redesign and her husband Prince Philip, who is 87, has been equally interested in the re-launch because he embraced computers and the Internet well before his wife.

“The new website is going to look significantly different. We have completely rebuilt the site for a new media environment in the 21st century,” the Telegraph quoted one senior royal source, as saying.

“We are putting up archive material that has never been seen before. The site has a new navigation system and there is a lot more video and more integration with YouTube,” the source added.

The new home page is cleaner and fresher, with the first service available to users being a gallery of photographs from the Queen’s early life.

There are also links to separate websites for the Prince of Wales, Prince William and Prince Harry.

The Queen decided her new channel would enable her to be “more personal and more direct” in her worldwide dealings with the public.

One senior royal source said: “In recent years, the Queen has become increasingly familiar with new technology and she has embraced the merits of the Internet. Her children and grandchildren have kept her abreast of various new advances.

“The Duke of York, in particular, is extremely web savvy and he was the first member of the Royal family who insisted on all his staff having Blackberrys. He has kept his mother very up-to-speed on new technology.”

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who is British, is flying over from his home in America for the website re-launch. (ANI)