IT Jobs !! Software

Java /J2EE position ! DFW TX

2016-07-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

From Joydip ( pls contact- 2816584796 /Joydip.mukherji
@blue-oceanventures.com) Position: Java Developer - Permanent hiring with $1 Bn company
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Salary: $70-75K / yrPosition Details:
We need Java/J2EE/Webservices/Oracle/Unix for onsite.

Job for Network security engineer ! Houston TX

2016-07-24T15:35:00.001-07:00

From Joydip ( pls contact- 2816584796 /Joydip.mukherji
@blue-oceanventures.com) Network Security Engineer(Need only US Citizen)
Location: Houston, TX
Rate: $48-49/hr max
Duration: 6+ months
Job Description:
• Should have experience in network security/firewalls for an enterprise class environment.
• Should have strong experience on Linux/Unix platform.
• Should have solid experience with VMWare/Virtualization.

Six Must have Apps by Teluguites!!

2016-05-13T13:21:00.003-07:00

USA: It is very evident that, Telugu folks have been more successful in IT world than any other race in the world. Even though, we play crucial and smartest roles in big organizations, we are humble not to boast about it.

We describe our accomplishments simply, without embellishment. We think some of the reasons that we are so successful but we are down to earth, is because of our Mothers.

In honor of Mothers Day Week - We bring you half dozen apps created by our Telugu people that could make your life easier, more fun, and more efficient.

1. Redbus: This one is a no brainer when it comes to booking bus tickets & hotel rooms. The android app allows you to search and book bus tickets for over 70,000 routes and also choose from over 2,300 operators.

2. GrabOn: This is the fastest growing coupons and deals app with an expanding network all across India. They are continually becoming gigantic money-saving portal we can easily say that, it’s a leading couponing company in India.

3. Super Six Fantasy: For the Lovers of Cricket: Now, you can be part of cricket action by selecting your own team and putting your skills to test on super six fantasy app. This Mobile Andriod App is seeing a huge response from users by offering Daily fantasy cricket for IPL. Discover the winner in you by selecting the best six players for daily IPL matches. You can download the app from their website.

4. Swiggy: Swiggy is your go to app for ordering food from your favorite restaurants from around your city. With Swiggy, you can browse through the latest menus from restaurants and discover a plethora of restaurants serving a variety of cuisines around your neighborhood that you could order, depending on those cravings.

5. Zippr: This is a pure innovation. These guys solved our traditional and archaic long address issues in India. Zippr is an innovative app that helps users create a unique Zippr short code. The app helps you create and manage these addresses in a simple and intuitive manner.

6. Samosa: Spice up your conversations using Samosa. These guys added masala to our otherwise boring messages. Use the app to Share punchlines, proverbs, love proposals, witty responses, funny expressions and song clips from popular movies.

Infosys Hubballi unit to open next March Infosys Hubballi unit to open next March

2016-05-07T22:06:00.005-07:00

Infosys is set to keep its promise to north Karnataka as it gears up to open its much-awaited Hubballi campus by the end of fiscal 2017.

In an interaction with DH, Infosys executive vice-president — facilities, administration, security and sustainability — Ramadas Kamath U, said it will be the first phase of the entire project.

“We will have one building commissioned by March 31, 2017. It will have a seating capacity of 3,000 in addition to a cafeteria and other amenities,” he said.

The State High Level Clearance Committee headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had in September 2013 allotted 43 acres of land on Gokul Road in Hubballi for Infosys Technologies to set up its unit.

When the Karnataka Cabinet gave clearance to the project, it was estimated that the Hubballi campus would get an investment of Rs 472 crore. But the government did not release details of the nature of the projects cleared.

“The land allotted to Infosys was rugged terrain and levelling it took time. We started laying concrete 2 months back,” said Kamath.

Three locations

In Karnataka, Infosys is present at 3 locations. While Bengaluru and Mangaluru have development centres, Infosys has a 345-acre training centre in Mysuru. In all, the company has 42,000 employees in the state.

Infosys co-founder and former chairman N R Narayana Murthy said that there is a need to decongest Bengaluru by going out to other cities of Karnataka.

Over 8,000 website hacking incidents in January-March 2016: Government

2016-05-05T21:26:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: As many as 8,056 incidents of website hacking were reported in the first three months of 2016, Parliament was informed today.

In written reply to a Lok Sabha question, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the total number of "cyber security incidents including phishing, scanning, malicious code, website intrusion, denial of service etc" stood at 41,319, 44,679, 49,455 and 14,363, during the years 2013, 201, 2015 and 2016 (till March), respectively.

Citing information reported to and tracked by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the Minister further said these cyber security incidents included 28,481, 32,323, 27,205 and 8,056 website hacking incidents during 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (till March), respectively.

"In addition, 54,677, 85,659, 61,628 and 13,851 spam (unsolicited email) incidents were reported to CERT-In during the year 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (till March), respectively," Prasad said.

Over a period, the nature and pattern of incidents have become more sophisticated and complex, he added.

"The National Cyber Security Policy is released for public use and implementation by relevant stakeholders. The objective of the policy is to create a framework for comprehensive, collaborative and collective response to deal with the issue of cyber security at all levels within the country," he said.

In addition, the government has formulated cyber crisis management plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism for implementation by all ministries/departments of central government, state governments and their organisations and critical sectors, he added.

India will be the 2nd largest smartphone market next year: Report

2016-05-05T21:24:00.001-07:00

NEW DELHI: India will overtake the US as the second-largest smartphone market next year, and local players, led by Reliance Industries, will benefit in the near term, says Morgan Stanley in its latest report based on a survey.

"Following our survey of more than 2,600 urban smartphone buyers in India, we raise our global smartphone unit growth estimate by one percentage point in each of 2017 and 2018," said the report.

"We model a 23% compounded annual growth rate for Indian smartphones through 2018 and the country should account for 30% of the global unit growth over the next two years and become the second-largest market next year in terms of units," it said.

It also felt Apple and Samsung to be better positioned in the long run.

"Reliance Industries is our play on the rising tide. In near term, many players should benefit from the 4G smartphone and network proliferation," it said, referring to the Jio service, the nation-wide commercial launch of which is expected later this year.

Morgan Stanley report said Jio is focused on 4G and has launched its own handset brand "LYF" that could bundle with SIMs and its voice and data plans. "We believe this could be disruptive to the market and expect Jio to gain 30 million subscribers in 2016 and 60 million in 2017."

The report also said while the high-end smartphone market in India is small, with only 6 million units at the $300-plus range, or 6 percent of the total, macroeconomic and demographic trends, and an appetite for 4G services, will lead users to upgrade to better smartphones over time.

This apart, it also projected volume players like Foxconn and MediaTek to benefit. "We like FIH (Foxconn) which has exposure to many Chinese and Indian brands, while we think MediaTek will be challenged by pricing and margin pressure," it said.

"We expect the high-end market to unfold like it did in China, where Samsung and Apple dominate. Our survey indicates Samsung is leading in India with 46% user share and slightly higher purchase intentions," it said.

"Apple needs to build its brand as, surprisingly, half of survey respondents were not aware of the company. However, this means Apple has the most room for upside as our survey shows it could double share in the $400 segment to 40%," it said.

"We increase our total iPhone unit estimates by 5% and 4% in 201718 and 2018-19."

Living in a pod!

2016-05-05T21:22:00.001-07:00

I

recently read about a man paying over $500 a month (Rs 30,000) to live in a box in San Francisco. If you’re saying, “That’s no big deal, we have rents like that in Mumbai and Delhi,” wait just a minute. The Box I’m talking about is a literal box — not a figurative one. This is something like a home in the slums of Dharavi, only classier.

Peter Berkowitz was faced with the problem of not being able to pay rent in the city of his dreams. So, for him the solution to the sky-high rent problem in San Francisco has been to build a box or a “pod” as he calls it, in the living room of a friend’s apartment. The pod cost $1300 to build, and he pays $400 per month for the space, making the total cost roughly $508 per month.

Peter writes a blog and in it he says, “Yes, living in a pod is silly, but the silliness is endemic to San Francisco’s absurdly high housing prices — the pod is just a solution that works for me.”

This idea may seem novel, but it is not. Peter explained to Fortune that the inspiration behind the pod is the Japanese idea of capsule hotels, which allows guests to essentially rent beds.

“If you just make a plywood box, it probably isn’t going to be that great,” says Peter. The key is to make the space practical and comfortable, something the 25-year-old illustrator says he spent a lot of time doing in his previous, traditional bedrooms as well.

“People are typically surprised that I would want to live in a pod, but I think they tend to underestimate how pleasant a pod can be if it’s designed smartly. It’s the cosiest bedroom I’ve ever had. It’s the only bed I’ve had with a fold-down desk, a slanted and cushioned backboard, and uniformly ideal light for reading.”

Capsule hotels

So, what are these capsule hotels in Japan that proved to be the model for the pod home? Capsule hotels were first built in 1979 in Osaka. Architect Kisho Kurokawa designed the hotel, which was an extension of the Tokyo residential and office tower. This structure, built in 1972, offered tiny, capsule-like apartments.

During the 1960s, the word ‘capsule’ started appearing in Japanese. Sometimes English words change meaning when absorbed into Japanese, but the word capsule carried a similar meaning to what it does in English. Most capsule hotels are for men only and are traditionally geared towards businessmen.

How-ever, there are capsule hotels with women-only floors. Some of the newest (and nicest) capsule hotels are aimed at both male and female guests. Different capsule hotels have different rules, but there are some basic ones.

Generally speaking, most capsule hotels have shoe lockers near the front desk. If you see a rack or cubbyhole of slippers when you enter, take off your shoes, put on the slippers, and carry your shoes to the locker. When you check in, you might have to give the shoe locker key to the front desk clerk. After checking in, you’ll usually get another key, mostly attached to a wristband.

This is a locker key in the changing room that you can use to store your belongings. It should have the same number as your capsule. Do lock your valuables. While Japan is generally safe, it still does not mean that it is free of crime. Keep that in mind. In the capsule hotel, guests are usually given a gown, a robe or even sweats. Change into the robe (or whatever).

Unlike at a business hotel, it’s not considered okay to walk around in your robe. Many capsule hotels put a lot of effort into their bathing facilities, giving guests a sento or communal bathing experience. So, yes, you'll be bathing with strangers. Capsule hotels are segregated by gender, so if you are a man, you’ll be bathing with men.

After your bath, you might want something to drink. Capsule hotels usually have snack bars; the food and drink will be charged to your bill. Some hotels have reclining chairs with TVs, while some even have newspapers you can check out. If you smoke, there might be smoking sections present; but don’t smoke in your capsule.

Each capsule usually has a shutter or blinds that you can close. The walls are thin, so be a courteous neighbour. ‘9 Hours’ in Kyoto is one of the swankiest capsule hotels Japan has to offer. It offers accommodation for both male and female guests — with separate elevators for each. At this hotel, the capsules are called ‘pods’ and even feature a ‘Sleep Ambient Control System’ and specially-designed pillows to help you sleep.

Depending on your pocketbook you can choose the bed you can afford. Living in a pod is not such a bad idea, is it?

AMD says Zen puts the company on par with Intel on technology and manufacturing

2016-03-04T21:45:00.003-08:00

AMD says Zen puts the company on par with Intel on technology and manufacturing C enthusiasts prefer either AMD or Intel chips -- there's often no middle ground. But AMD believes its upcoming Zen chips will have crossover appeal for even the Intel faithful. AMD is betting its future on the upcoming Zen chips, which are based on a new architecture built from scratch. Zen wipes out inefficiencies that hurt older chips, which performed poorly and damaged AMD's reputation as an innovative chip maker. wearables opener primary idge Wearables in the enterprise? Yes, really! Think wearables are just a consumer fad? Think again. Here’s how companies like DHL, Lee Company and READ NOW There are still AMD enthusiasts, though many have moved on to Intel, whose chips are considered to be more advanced. But AMD is now catching up with Intel on processor technology and manufacturing process, said Mark Papermaster, the chief technology officer at AMD, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week. At its peak in the early 2000s, AMD was considered a serious threat to Intel. A shining example is the Athlon 64, the first 64-bit chip for PCs. It caused Intel to scramble to release its first 64-bit chip shortly after. But a series of missteps hampered AMD's progress. AMD's chip development stumbled starting with Phenom in 2007, and got worse with Fusion, the first chip to integrate a CPU and GPU. An AMD chip architecture called Bulldozer and its subsequent derivatives were criticized for poor performance. Intel advanced chip designs, for the most part, like clockwork. There were a few delays -- for example, for the Pentium 4 in 2004 and Broadwell a decade later -- but overall Intel's dominant x86 chip market share was not hurt. Meanwhile, Zen chips have CPU performance improvements, measured as instructions per clock, of 40 percent, a jump that has not been seen historically, Papermaster said. That's important for gamers, who eke every last megahertz of performance out of a PC. The first Zen chips will ship for gaming desktops at the end of this year. It will then go to servers and laptops in 2017, and then embedded devices. Recent focus on chip development has been on power efficiency as opposed to raw CPU performance, Papermaster said. Intel's raw CPU performance gains have been incremental over the last few architectures, mostly in single digits or low double digits, but the power efficiency focus has paid dividends as laptops have longer battery life. For its part, AMD has worked on various improvements to boost Zen's chip performance. AMD has added simultaneous multithreading so virtual-machine or highly threaded workloads can be balanced. The cache subsystem has been redesigned so tasks can be efficiently fed to execution cores. AMD has also removed bottlenecks that hampered earlier architectures, while maintaining power efficiency and performance. Also, AMD will be on par with Intel in manufacturing technology as Zen chips will be made using the 14-nanometer process, Papermaster said. WHAT READERS LIKE iPhone 6s 3D Touch Display Apple Apple iPhone 6s gets '3D Touch Display' -- release date will be in 11 days New iPhone 6s Plus in box First look: The new iPhone 6S Plus impresses Credit card on fire ACLU: Orwellian Citizen Score, China's credit score system, is a warning for... The Zen chips will be based on FinFET, a manufacturing technology that will bring significant performance and power-efficiency gains, he said. FinFET technology stacks transistors on top of each other in a skyscraper structure, an improvement over placing transistors next to each other. Intel has historically been ahead of AMD on manufacturing, but recently stumbled with its implementation of the 14-nm process. Intel has been making 14-nm for longer than expected, and that has led to wholesale changes in chip roadmaps. However, AMD's parity with Intel on manufacturing will be short-lived. Intel will release the first chips code-named Cannonlake, made using the 10-nm process, in the second half of 2017. AMD's trump card could be graphics, which can be combined with Zen CPUs for fast-growing markets like gaming and virtual reality. AMD is working with headset and PC makers on VR. Intel doesn't have a GPU as powerful as AMD's Radeon graphics core. But Intel chips have their own advantages and features. Later this year the company will come out with products based on 3D Xpoint, which is a fast form of memory and storage. The new memory and SSD technology could bring overall performance improvements to Intel-based PCs.

NRI donates Rs.10 milion Award Money

2012-05-11T08:22:00.001-07:00

Washington, May 11: India-born professor Kamal Bawa has donated the entire prize money of one million Norwegian Kronor (about Rs.10 million) from the world's first major international sustainability award to the Indian organisation he founded in 1996.

Bawa, distinguished professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, is the 2012 winner of the Gunnerus Sustainability Award from the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and letters (DKNVS).

He gifted the prize money to the Bangalore-based Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), a research institution in the areas of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Bawa is its founder and president.

The Gunnerus Sustainability Award is given for outstanding scientific work that promotes sustainable development globally, and the first award was given to Bawa for his work on biodiversity in Central America, the Western Ghats in India and the Himalayas.

At the acceptance ceremony in February, Bawa said it was unfortunate that almost all money in international assistance goes to projects rather than to strengthening institutions.

Standing by his belief that "it is institutions that transform societies", Bawa donated the award money to ATREE.

"The gift is a fine example of philanthropy at its best. It also endorses Bawa's commitment to a better world, and to ATREE," said Pheroza Godrej, a member of the governing board of ATREE.

ATREE director Gladwin Joseph said: "The gift will help ATREE address important environmental challenges. ATREE was recently ranked No.9 globally, and No.1 in Asia among environmental think tanks."

Bawa was recently elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences for his contribution to public discourse and public policy surrounding sustainability.

Infosys to employ 62,000 at Hyderabad facility

2012-05-10T07:37:00.001-07:00

HYDERABAD: Infosys Technologies Ltd, is likely to employ about 62,000 at its facility in Hyderabad, which will soon overtake Bangalore as the company's largest development centre both in terms of headcount and service offerings over the next 2-3 years.

A senior member delegation from Infosys who met Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Minister for IT & Communications is believed to have conveyed that the company will employ about 10,000 by the end of this year.

Infosys has so far invested over `350 crore to develop the first phase of its 440-acre campus in Pocharam and currently has a workforce of about 5,000.

Currently, Bangalore is the largest development centre with over 25,000 employees, followed by Pune with 21,000 associates. Hyderabad ranks third with a total headcount of over 18,000 (13,300 at Gachibowli and 4,700 at Pocharam).

Recently, Ashok Vemuri, Board Member, Head of Americas and Global Head of Financial Services & Insurance, Infosys told that Hyderabad facility, which contributes $1 billion in revenues for the company, will emerge as the company's largest centre in the years to come.

Dhoni's shocking retirement plan

2012-05-02T12:14:00.001-07:00

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni stated that he may retire from Test cricket in 2013, keeping in mind ICC 2015 World Cup. "I would have to retire from one of the formats of the game, If I have decided to play the 2015 World Cup. Depending on my fitness, I would make a call by the end of 2013," said Dhoni, speaking at a function where he was appointed as the new Brand Ambassador of Hinduja Group company Gulf Oil-lubricant business.

The star cricketer also pointed out that there are chances of announcing his retirement for ODIs much before to that of Test format. "If I feel I'm not fit enough to play 2015 World Cup then, I have to make way for the youngsters. If I see I can only play till the end of 2014 in both ODIs and Tests, then I should retire from ODIs, as I will not be playing 2015 World Cup," he opined.

Dhoni shocked everyone present at the event by saying that he may retire at anytime, as future is unpredictable. "A major injury can happen and I may not be able to play cricket. Things like this can happen in life," said the most successful Indian captain ever.

Vamsi Mohan denies joining YSRC

2012-05-02T11:34:00.001-07:00

Vijayawada, May 2 (INN): Telugu Desam Party leader Vallabhaneni Vamsi Mohan on Wednesday dismissed media reports that he was planning to quit Telugu Desam Party to join the YSR Congress party.

Talking to media persons at Gannavaram in Krishna district, he said that the media has unnecessarily created a controversy over his meeting with YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy during the election campaign in the district and caused rift between the party and himself.

He reiterated that there was no question of quitting the TDP at any time and he would continue as a loyal worker in the party.

He described his meeting with Jagan as a 'courtesy call' and claimed that it was not of any political significance. He said he had no `secret pact' with Jagan over him joining the YSR Congress party.

Responding to party serving show cause notice over his meeting with Jagan, Vamsi Mohan said that he would give explanation to the notice soon to party president N Chandrababu Naidu.

'I have not done any mistake intentionally and I am ready to face any action by the party president," he said.

KCR asks T-Cong MPs to resign

2012-05-02T11:26:00.001-07:00

New Delhi, May 2 (INN): Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday stated that the TRS would expose the Congress party's stand on Telangana statehood issue in the people's court.

Talking to media persons here, KCR alleged that the Centre was still following indifferent attitude and resorting to delaying tactics in the name of consultations despite the four crore people demanding statehood for the region.

He accused the government of neglecting the people's wish and violating democratic rights granted by the Constitution of India.

Stating that there was no use of staging dharas and protests in the Parliament, he accused Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram of not having any commitment on Telangana statehood demand.

He demanded Telangana Congress MPs and TD Telangana Forum MPs to submit resignations from their posts in order to mount pressure on the government and to show their commitment towards Telangana.

KCR called upon people of region to boycott people's representatives in their constituencies and expose their stand on Telangana.

He reiterated that the TRS would contest from Parakala Assembly constituency and win with a huge majority.

Massive Indian investments create jobs in US

2012-04-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

Washington, April 26: Indian companies operating in 40 US states have invested over $820 million in manufacturing facilities in America, creating thousands of jobs, revealed a survey.

The 2012 India Business Forum (IBF) survey "Indian Roots, American Soil: Adding Value to US Economy and Society", released by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at a reception on Capitol Hill Wednesday, highlights the significant economic and social impact made by Indian companies on American communities.

The reception was attended among others by the four co-chairs of the India Caucus on the Senate and House side: Senator John Cornyn, Senator Mark Warner, Congressman Joseph Crowley and Congressman Ed Royce.

"The rapidly expanding India-US trade and economic engagement provides a key underpinning to the strategic partnership between our two countries," said Nirupama Rao, India's ambassador to the US.

"Our aim, through the India Business Forum, is to highlight the range and depth of Indian investments in the United States and also to try and dispel some of the misconceptions associated with Indian companies," said Sandhya Satwadi, regional director, CII.

Key findings:

* 70 percent of surveyed companies have increased the number of employees since 2005, despite the US economic downturn;

* More than 34 percent of the surveyed companies have established manufacturing facilities in the US, investing more than $820 million in those facilities;

* Since 2005, the surveyed companies have collectively conducted 72 mergers and acquisitions in the US, saving, creating and sustaining thousands of jobs;

* Their collective revenues for 2010-11 were more than $23 billion

* Projected research and development investments of the surveyed companies are estimated to be over $190 million in 2012 alone; and

* Nearly 65 percent of companies surveyed engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives,

* These include programmes that support 27 universities, community colleges and high schools in developing curriculum, establishing training programmes and encouraging Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics (STEM) education.

CII's survey respondents, consisting of 36 Indian companies, represent sectors including education, financial services, healthcare pharmaceuticals and life sciences, information technology, manufacturing, media and telecommunications.

Gali 'seized items' in fixed deposits

2012-04-18T12:04:00.001-07:00

Former Karnataka minister and Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) chairman Gali Janardhan Reddy has appealed to the special CBI court to put the money seized from the residences of his family members and business partners by the Investigation agency in fixed deposits in their respective names, so that they can get back the money with interest after completion of the trial.

Recently, the Income Tax officials had filed a petition in the special court seeking the transfer of the seized money to their department. Actually, the OMC was to file IT returns before Oct 31 but they couldn't do so as the money was seized much before that (on September 5).

The bench, however, ruled out transfering the money to IT. It also clarified that the seized money will be put in fixed deposits in the case number, but not in the name of the accused.

Gali's counsel also argued that the luxury vehicles and helicopter seized by the CBI should be returned, as they have no connection to OMC. He also mentioned that those vehicles belong to Gali's businesses like real estate and hotels. The next hearing on this matter was posted on April 26.

Old City clashes: Channels aired provocative content

2012-04-18T10:46:00.001-07:00

Some of the local Urdu channels has aired provocative and strictly objectionable content after the eruption of communal clashes in Old City making things even worse. Apart from telecasting the provocative vidoes and images, they have uploaded the videos on YouTube making it available for people all over the world.

Showing the pictures of a muslim woman a holding a boy tightly resembling Lord Krishna, Lord Ram aiming an arrow at MIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi and A burqa-clad woman worshipping Hindu gods, the channels had attributed the content was being circulated by Hindu outfits on social networking sites.

The channels had clearly violated the norms put up by the Cable Network Regulation Act (CNRA) and the News Broadcasters Association (NBA). However, the police have failed to take action against these channels and when questioned about the same, they tried to defend themselves by saying that the reach of these Urdu channels was limited to the Old City.

Chiru Became Vital Force For Congress

2012-04-18T09:56:00.001-07:00

When all the leaders of state congress are running to Gandhi Bhavan to meet Vayalar Ravi, he is running to Chiru's house in the name of 'breakfast'. The news has given different signals to Congress cadres in the state and the Delhi's ambassador's talk's added fuel, say observers.

'Congress is going to use the services of Chiru both at State and Central level. He is gonna play a key role between the coordination of cadres in AP', Vayalar said. Though he refused to comment about Chiru's Cabinet Minister post, Ravi stressed that Chiru is a top-leader in Congress as of now. The whole drama has sent shivers in Congress seniors who are writing off Megastar as just another party-worker in Congress.

Presence of PCC Chief at Ravi-Chiru's meet intensified the rumors that Botsa will play a key role in the reorganization of leadership in Andhra Pradesh. However, some are simply scrapping the hype that Vayalar Ravi visited Chiru as a courtesy the he helped the government stabilize with his support during no-confidence motion.

TJAC's call to students to stop suicides

2012-04-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Basara (Adilabad Dt), April 15: Exhorting the students to desist from committing suicide, the Chairman of Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) Prof Kodanda Ram on Sunday suggested that they should achieve separate Telangana state through united struggle and uncompromised agitation.

The leaders of TJAC and TRS welcomed the bus yatra of TJAC at the boarders of the district, and it reached Basara today. Members of the bus yatra visited Basar temple and worshiped Goddess Saraswathi.

Later, speaking at a media conference in Vemulavada Guest house, Prof Kodanda Ram attributed the continuing suicides of students and youth in the region to the unclear stand of both the TDP and Congress on formation of separate Telangana state. Both the parties should make clear their stand on Telangana statehood issue, to stop the spate of suicides of the students for the cause of Telangana.

PM opens security meet, flags left-wing extremism

2012-04-16T11:40:00.002-07:00

New Delhi, April 16: Left-wing extremism, religious fundamentalism and ethnic violence are major challenges facing the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here Monday and urged states to fight them together with the central government.

"Left-wing extremism, religious fundamentalism and ethnic violence are the major internal security challenges facing the country... I urge the states to fight them together with the centre," Manmohan Singh said while inaugurating the annual conference of chief ministers on internal security here.

"The internal security situation in the country since February 2011 has been by and large satisfactory," he said.

Stating that India needs to strengthen its defence against terrorism, he said this was necessary keeping in mind the growing instability around the country.

The situation concerning left-wing extremism was better in 2011 than in 2010 but there was still a "long way to go", the prime minister said.

He also said the number of districts under the integrated action plan to push development has been increased from 60 to 78 across seven states affected by Maoist violence.

Referring to the controversial proposal of setting up a National Counter-Terrorism Centre, Manmohan Singh said he would discuss the issue with the chief ministers May 5.

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who spoke before the prime minister, described left-wing extremism as the most formidable security challenge facing the country.

T state resolution passed at Praja Patham

2012-04-16T11:40:00.001-07:00

Mahabubnagar, April 16: The residents of Kaluru and Ayyavaripally villages under Veepanagandla mandal unanimously passed a resolution for separate Telangana State in the Praja Patham program on Monday.

Former minister and TRS MLA Jupally Krishna Rao participated in the Praja Patham program at Kaluru village. Appealing to the students not to commit suicides for the cause of separate State, he suggested that they work against the Andhra leaders’ rule in the region.

Discussions were held on drinking water, National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, seven-hour power supply and Pavala Vaddi scheme at the program.

Liquor scam: HC asks to reconsider probe official's transfer

2012-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hyderabad, April 16: The Andhra Pradesh High Court Monday suggested that the state government reconsider the transfer of an official of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), who was heading the probe into a liquor pay-offs scandal allegedly involving some ministers.

The court asked the government to inform it of its decision on the issue by April 27.

Mohan Rao, counsel of the petitioner, told reporters that the court found fault with the manner in which ACB additional director Srinivas Reddy was transferred to coastal security.

The state government earlier this month transferred Srinivas Reddy, who was heading a Special Investigating Team (SIT) to probe the liquor scandal allegedly involving some ministers. His transfer sparked a row, with the opposition accusing the Congress government of trying to protect tainted ministers.

The ACB Monday submitted a status report on the investigations into the case. The court directed the ACB to submit its final report on June 11.

Taking note of the allegations that many liquor shops in some districts have 'benami' ownership, the high court asked the ACB to conduct a comprehensive probe into the issue along with income tax department.

The court also asked the income tax department to probe how some people holding Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards got liquor shop licenses, how they managed the huge funds required to open liquor shops and win licences, and if it involved black money.

The judge also told the ACB that it could approach the court if it needed any assistance to continue the probe into the syndicate.

The ACB during the last four months conducted raids against liquor syndicates across the state and arrested many liquor traders, excise and police officials. The syndicates, also allegedly involving politicians, were formed to help the traders sell liquor at prices higher than those fixed by the excise department.

Sanjana: Don’t make such hue and cry about my topless scene

2011-03-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Posani Krishna Murali's next, Dussasana, starring Srikanth and Sanjana in the lead, is courting controversy for no apparent reason. Or so says the film's heroine Sanjana.

Posani Krishna Murali's next, Dussasana, starring Srikanth and Sanjana in the lead, is courting controversy for no apparent reason. Or so says the film's heroine Sanjana.

Trouble has come in the form of a scene in which the villain rips her top to harm her. "In the scene, the director got me to wear a skin-colour (nude) corset under a green top. For added effect, my upper body is graphically blurred to give the impression that I am topless. But, I'm not topless," clarifies the actress.

What's irked Sanjana is that the reports are making a big deal out of nothing. "If I were really that bold and wanted to put my assets on display, I wouldn't want any blurring done. But I'm not like that. Even if I were to get a role opposite the biggest actor in the world, I would never bare all. I'm not so desperate for attention to have to stoop to that level," she asserts and adds, "What's worse is that this scene is neither sexy nor hot; nor is there harassment like rape or molestation. So where's the need to make such a hue and cry about it?"

T-unrest will make biz crash: Nasscom

2011-01-07T12:10:00.001-08:00

T-unrest will make biz crash: Nasscom

Jan. 7: The political developments in Andhra Pradesh could end up damaging the IT sector, which is a major employer in the state. Software industry body Nasscom says that such disruptions could lead to jobs being shipped out of Andhra Pradesh to other rival centres.

IT sector is a major employer in Hyderabad with over 1.5 lakh people employed directly just in the Hitec City. The warning comes in the wake of a two-day strike called by pro-Telangana agitators against the Justice Srikrishna Committee report.

“We have nothing to do with Andhra Pradesh being one state or split into many — it’s a political decision. All that we want is that there should not be any disruption of our work,” said the Nasscom president, Mr Som Mittal.

He mentioned that Andhra Pradesh has invested a lot in developing the infrastructure of Hyderabad and building its image as an information technology hub and cautioned that demonstrations and shutdowns could damage the goodwill earned over all these years.

Mr Mittal said, “Agitations should not mean that people can’t commute to their offices. Our customers can get wary about any disruption because we (IT companies) handle their 24X7 mission critical work. The IT industry has created jobs for the state and politicians should realise that companies have options to move jobs to other states.”

He recalled that some jobs were moved out of Vizag because of bandhs in 2009. Though there were some instances in 2009, where some employees could not reach office due to bandhs, Mr Mittal said there were no reports of agitation affecting the employees of IT companies and hoped that such mature behaviour would continue.

Companies, however, have their contingency plans ready. They have asked employees to work from home or stay in offices’ rest area, if required.

Media Restrictions On Telangana News !

2011-01-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

Media Restrictions On Telangana News

The Telangana agitations that seem to have flared up after the Srikrishna Committee reportwas made public, may not affect Hyderabad as much as last

7th Jan, 2011: It may be too early to say this, but it appears like the Telangana agitations that appear to have flared up all over again yesterday after the Srikrishna Committee report was made public, may not be as raucous as they were last year, or affect the city as much.

The foremost reason may be that the Telugu TV news channels, that went berserk with competitive sensationalizing last year, to the extent of beaming live images of self-immolation by students and repeating those gory visuals ad nauseum, appear to have been significantly gagged. Yesterday a channel was even blacked out for some hours for trying to show the violence in OU.

The news channels had aggravated the situation significantly in late 2009 and early 2010, by giving mileage to just about everything controversial that the agitators (whether Telangana or Seemandhra) were saying and doing. As a result, highly provocative and divisive views, both from leaders and ordinary people in the countryside, inciting violence gained mass visibility.

TV channels desperate for bytes would even go to the districts to get quotes from the "common man" and ascertain the "pulse" at the grassroots. Obviously, however, only those people with strong opinions and willing to say virulent things on camera would get mileage, creating 2 issues: (1) even if only 1 person in every 5 felt that way, it would appear like everyone felt that way, and (2) to be seen on TV, you had to say sensational stuff. Indeed, it's hard to recollect many people speaking reconciliatory language.

The net result of giving mileage to only a few with strong opinions was to enable them give out versions/impressions of their choice to the masses, which slowly led more and more people to believe in these versions/impressions, and increase the number of people participating in arson and violence.

In an era where mostly only informed and accomplished people had access to mainstream media, such a scenario where the state got polarized through bigoted opinions would not have arisen.

Last year also had channels competing for TRPs hyping things without a sense of proportion, and making it look like the whole of Hyderabad was burning when a few incidents happened in specific pockets of the city.

The high mileage for such acts increased the number of perpetrators.

Considering that the government appears to have issued an unofficial gag order, this time, hopefully, things will not go out of control due to an errant media. However, TDP's Telangana political leaders are already protesting the restrictions.

Cong says T-report objective, to adopt wait-and-watch policy

2011-01-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

Cong says T-report objective, to adopt wait-and-watch policy

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday said it will adopt a wait-and-watch policy on Justice Srikrishna Committee report on the issue of Telangana noting that various options have been given and "we can not shut our eyes to them."

"The report is open, transparent and very objective. They have given a lot of options. We cannot shut our eyes on that. It is for the parties concerned to deliberate on that," said Union Minister M Veerappa Moily, who is also the in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.

Senior party leaders, who declined to be identified, said that the party would not be in a hurry to give its views on the matter and would await the reaction to the report of the committee and the outcome of the second meeting of political parties being convened by the Centre.

They felt that certain parties boycotted the first meet in order to avoid taking a stand on the contentious issue.

Moily expressed confidence that the parties which boycotted Thursday's meeting will attend the next meeting.

The full text of the Telangana report

Parties like TRS, TDP and BJP had boycotted the meeting convened by Home Minister P Chidambaram.

"In the light of the report, they (parties who boycotted the meeting) may really change their mind and come for the second meeting. They will also realise that in parliamentary democracy participation is important," Moily told reporters here. He was speaking to the media at the AICC headquarters after attending a meeting of party general secretaries.

When asked about the reactions from Congress MPs and MLAs from Telangana Region to the report, Moily said: "We do agree that sentiments are very high on this issue. That's why we appointed this committee under the chairmanship of Justice Srikrishna. He has given his report. Now everyone should go through the report. That is why the home minister has called a meeting again. We will discuss the matter there."

Srikrishna finds case both for and against separate Telangana

Moily said that leaders of various political parties who were invited for the meeting, had been given copies of the report, and Home Minister has told them "we will meet again after you go through the report."