TIT BIT NEWS

Indian PM Manmohan Singh to meet Barack Obama at ASEAN summit instead of G20

2011-11-02T12:23:00.002+05:30

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may not meet US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Cannes on November 3-4 as New Delhi wants the meeting pushed to the upcoming East Asia Summit in Bali later this month. It is now understood that the two leaders will not meet at Cannes as earlier desired by New Delhi after Obama snubbed Singh by refusing to give him an audience in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month. A meeting between the two leaders is crucial in arresting the drift in the Indo-US ties that has emerged over the past one year vis-a-vis the nuclear liability Bill and the defence contracts and investments.

In New Delhi wants the meeting to be held in Bali to stress the country's growing role in the South-East and East Asian region amid rising Chinese assertiveness. Besides meeting Obama, Singh is also likely to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao at Bali. Sources said India wanted meetings with the US and Chinese presidents on the same occasion. "If the PM met Hu without meeting Obama in Bali it would not have sent a proper message for India's growing role in South-East and East Asia," an official said. The PM will also be visiting Singapore on his way back from Bali to attend the India-ASEAN Summit. Earlier in July, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton had called for a more assertive role by India in the East Asian region. Clinton, during a visit to India for the second round of strategic dialogue, had said that as the world's leading democracies, the US and India have common interests and values in Asia, including safeguarding sea lanes and promoting democracy and human rights - issues where Washington and Beijing have differed.

As Per TRAI Mobile users can send 200 SMSes per day

2011-11-02T12:10:00.001+05:30

Good News for Indians: New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) Mobile phone users will now be able to send upto 200 SMSes per day as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Tuesday raised the earlier imposed cap of 100 messages following requests from telcos and consumers. 'The authority has received representations from some of the service providers and consumers to increase the limit of 100 SMS per day per SIM. The authority has considered these representations and decided to increase the limit,' TRAI said in a statement.

At an effort to curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages, the regulator had in September restricted service providers from providing any SMS package or tariff plan permitting sending more than 100 SMSes per day per SIM. However, it had relaxed this restriction for some categories of users such as dealers of telecom operators, e-ticketing service providers and social networking sites. Besides, this restriction was not applicable on festivals. Earlier this month, the regulator had also imposed a termination charge of 5 paise per SMS on operators from whose networks commercial messages originate to further curb pesky messages.

Should Sushil Kumar rejoice or worry?; Big Jackpot 5 crore

2011-11-02T11:54:00.002+05:30

Indian Sushil Kumar from Bihar just won the Rs 5 crores jackpot (Rs. 50 Million) on the fifth season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. (For those who do not know KBC, this is the Indian version of Who wants to be a Millionaire) He will not receive the entire Rs. 5 crores, the tax department will eat up about one third of his jackpot leaving him with about Rs. 3.5 crores; that's still a sizeable amount. Let us see how it can help Mr. Sushil Kumar - a post graduate in philosophy and an IAS aspirant - in his life. He is currently a school teacher earning a meager Rs. 6000 per month. In an interview Sushil Kumar revealed that he has some obligations that need to met first before he invests the rest of his money.

His elder brother who wants to set up his own business A younger brother wanting to quit his 'piddly' Rs. 1500 per month job and also wants to start a new business. His parents will want a nice big house - befitting the 'crorepati' son's status Sushil Kumar himself plans to quit his job in order to concentrate on his IAS exam. Sadly, along with a big amount of money God does not gift one with 'financial wisdom' - not even the wisdom of knowing that he needs unbiased financial advice. I can see a tomorrow and, therefore, find it difficult to rejoice in his success. Why you ask? Here's why.

His small village there will be a lot of people chasing him — "investment consultants" There will be greedy hands pulling from all sides: Namely, LIC agents, mutual fund agents, bank managers, other life insurance companies, pension providers, brokerage houses and bankers. It would be really interesting to track his life over the next 10 years on a year to year basis to see how much this money is scaring him, helping him, torturing him and helping him to meet his goals.

Knowledge in a point - 7

2011-03-14T10:29:00.002+05:30

• Water boiled in a microwave can Explode.

• Your body creates 2.4 Million red blood cells every second.

• Arthur Wynne, England invented cross word puzzle in Dec 21,1913.

Invention and Inventors :

• Cycle = Mac Millan.

• Generator = Piciontti.

• Helicopter = D’Ascanio.

• Motor Car = Karl Benz.

• Cinema(talkie) = Warne Brothers.

• Telescope = Galileo

• Gramophone = Thomas Alva Edison.

• Cement = Joseph Aspdin.

• Cinema(Film) = Lumiere Brothers.

US President Obama makes surprise Oscar appearance

2011-03-01T10:24:00.002+05:30

US President Obama appeared in a taped clip during Sunday's Academy Awards show on ABC, letting the world know that his favorite movie song was "As Time Goes By." The song by Dooley Wilson was featured in the classic "Casablanca." CNN's Bonney Kapp reports that the song also ranked No. 2 on the American Film Institute's list of top film tunes.

Barrak Obama, speaking at the 2011 Governors' Dinner in the state dining room of the White House on Sunday, was clearly in an Oscar state of mind. "I want to welcome some of you back, and I want to welcome those who are here for the first time. I know some of you may be confused and think this is the Oscars," he said, drawing laughs, according to the press pool report. "There are some similarities. First of all, everybody looks spectacular. And the second thing is, if I speak too long the music will start playing. So I'm going to be very brief."

Anodroid Phones under 10K

2011-02-11T17:31:00.002+05:30

New Android phones releasing month after month, there can be no definitive way to declare a particular phone to be the best buy for too long. That's why we've made it a monthly habit to keep updating the Best Android phones to buy list, so that potential buyers have one place to seek advice.

Here is a growing number of options in this cost conscious smart phone range, with every manufacturer trying to one-up the other by marginally improving the features. As a rule of the thumb, I'm not even going to consider all those phones with resistive touch screens, and with good reason. As of now, we declare the newly launched Sam sung Galaxy Pop S5570 as the champion of the paisa vasool range. It's an upgrade to the popular Galaxy 5 i5500 model and it brings about some important changes -- the screen size is bumped up from 2.8 inches to 3.2 inches, although it still has the low QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) resolution. But for the price, we can forgive Sam sung of this sin. The camera resolution is upped from the pitiful 2 mega pixel to the not-so-pitiful 3.2 mega pixel. It still lacks auto focus and an LED flash; don't expect great photo quality from it.

Most important change is that it runs Android 2.2 Froyo from start, unlike the Galaxy 5 which still runs Android 2.1, with no clear update road map in sight. It may not be the most recent Gingerbread (2.3) version, but we still appreciate it running a fairly recent version, given how fast Google churns out OS updates every year. It still has the i5500's 600 MHz processor, and with the same QVGA resolution and the Froyo performance optimizations, you can expect the User Interface to fly swiftly. Apart from this, the Galaxy Pop also adds a proximity sensor and a compass to the package. Connectivity is sorted with 3.5G (HSDPA), Wi-fi 802.11n and A-GPS support. It sells for Rs. 9,000 -- the same price that its predecessor was sold at when launched. For the price, we think the Galaxy Pop S5570 is a good package for the Android lover who likes to hold back on splurging hard earned money.

Knowledge in a point - 6

2011-02-08T09:22:00.004+05:30

• Leonardo Da Vinci could write with the one hand and draw with the other simultaneously.

• The Human body has about 100 trillion cells.

• An Octopus's testicles are located in its head.

• O.K stands for “oll korrect”.

• Only one satellite has ever been destroyed by a meteor.

• Queen Elizabeth of Britain sent her first Email in 1976.

• The bones of a Pigeon weigh less than its Feather.

• Japanese people don't have Middle Names.

• 80% of the World's food crops are pollinated by insects.

• 10% of with World's food supply is consumed by insects.

• A Banana contains 75% water.

United States welcomes opening of Afghan parliament

2011-01-27T08:16:00.000+05:30

United States welcomed the opening of the Afghan parliament Wednesday, calling it a "significant milestone," and urged the start of a dialogue on election reform. Afghan President Hamid Karzai swore in the country's parliament in Kabul after threatening to delay its opening pending an investigation into charges of irregularities in September elections. "The seating of parliament is a significant milestone in the progression of Afghanistan's democracy and an extremely important moment for Afghans who bravely cast their votes last September," said US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer.

"The United States joins the Afghan people in celebrating today's achievement and we encourage the Afghans to begin an inclusive dialogue on electoral reform." Nearly a quarter of the five million votes cast in the parliamentary elections were thrown out, and there were relatively few wins by Pashtuns, Afghanistan's biggest ethnic group of Karzai's power base. Karzai has not endorsed the final outcome, and established a special tribunal to investigate claims of election fraud. The new MPs have demanded that the court be scrapped. The United States, the United Nations and the European Union all welcomed Karzai's decision to relent and finally open parliament.

US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley earlier welcomed the inauguration, saying the United States hoped all branches of government would "work together to advance the priorities of the Afghan people."

BP – Blood Pressure treatment discovery

2011-01-13T12:31:00.000+05:30

Blood pressure treatment is safer and more effective with two medicines than one, a study has shown. The results are likely to change the way doctors treat the condition, a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. Patients are normally given one drug, with others added, if needed, over a period of months. But the Accelerate study shows it is best to start treatment with two medicines together at the same time as it can result in much faster and more effective control of blood pressure, with fewer side effects. Professor Morris Brown, from Cambridge University, who led the trial, said: "The Accelerate study breaks the mould for treating hypertension (high blood pressure). Most patients can now be prescribed a single combination pill and know that they are optimally protected from strokes and heart attacks."

Prof. Bryan Williams, from the British Hypertension Society, said: "This study is important and the findings could change the way we approach the treatment of high blood pressure." The research, which involved 1,250 patients with high blood pressure, is published in an early online edition of The Lancet medical journal. It shows that starting treatment with the two drugs aliskiren and amlodipine in a combination pill produces a 25% better response in patients than conventional "monotherapy". The scientists suspect taking the drugs in series allows the body to neutralise each of them in turn. Having them together may prevent this from happening.

Almost 10 million people in the UK are believed to have high blood pressure.

Knowledge In a point - 5

2011-01-11T08:56:00.002+05:30

• Name the country which has no cinema theatre = Saudi Arabia.

• The word ‘Pakistan’ was invented by a Cambridge student namely? = Rahmat Ali.

• Sugar bowl of India = Uttar Pardesh.

• Scotland of the East = Shilong.

• Queen of Himalayas = Darjeeling.

• City of 7 Islands = Mumbai.

• National Emblem of Germany = Cornflower.

• National Emblem of Iran = Rose.

• National Emblem of USA = Golden Rod.

• National Emblem of Sri Lanka = Lion.

• National Emblem of Italy = White Lily.

• India is home to over 200 million cows.

• Only female mosquitoes bite.

• Sharks are immune to all known diseases.

• Horses sleep standing up.

Sugar Sweetened coffee helps you remember well

2011-01-09T12:16:00.001+05:30

Sweetened coffee may be the best way to prepare the brain for a busy day ahead, say scientists. Researchers at the University of Barcelona in Spain found that taking caffeine and sugar at the same time boosted the brain's performance more than taking them on their own. They now believe each one boosts the effect of the other on brain functions such as attention span and working memory.

Findings come from brain scans carried out on 40 volunteers who were tested after they had coffee with sugar, coffee without sugar, sugar on its own or just plain water. "The two substances improve cognitive performance by increasing the efficiency of the two areas of the brain responsible for sustained attention and working memory," the Daily Mail quoted researcher Dr Josep Serra Grabulosa as saying. "The brain is more efficient under the combined effect of the two substances, since it needs fewer resources to produce the same level of performance than when volunteers took only caffeine, glucose or water," Serra Grabulosa added. But it's likely that coffee lovers who do not take sugar will get the same benefits from enjoying a sugary snack with their drink. The results have been published in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental.

Green tea is best for fighting cancer, dementia

2011-01-07T09:53:00.002+05:30

Green tea could be a far more powerful medicine for fighting cancer and dementia, experts have claimed. Scientists were astounded at how effectively compounds within the drink, once they reached the gut, protected cells from attack, reports express.co.uk. The green tea not only battled against toxins that allow plaques to build up in the brain, which lead to Alzheimer's, but it also stopped cancer cells from dividing.

Research by Newcastle University was carried out only on cells in a laboratory but scientists insist this provides an insight into how the tea will work in our bodies. Ed Okello, from the university's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said: 'What was really exciting about this study was that we found, when green tea is digested by enzymes in the gut, the resulting chemicals are actually more effective against key triggers of Alzheimer's development than the undigested form of the tea.' 'In addition, we found the digested compounds had anti-cancer properties, significantly slowing down the growth of the tumour cells which we were using in our experiments,' he added.

Only problem with the results is the huge amounts of green tea should be drunk to gain the same effects. But Okello pointed out : 'There are many factors that together have an influence on diseases such as cancer and dementia - a good diet, plenty of exercise and a healthy lifestyle are all important.' 'But it's fair to say that at least one cup of green tea every day may be good for you and I would certainly recommend it,' he added.

US President Barack Obama's first two years : Courage and compromise

2011-01-06T14:03:00.001+05:30

Challenging man President Barack Obama inherited from his predecessor were daunting. President George W. Bush’s eight years in the White House culminated in a financial meltdown, a foreclosure crisis, and an economic collapse, all of which arose during his final years in office. The nation was entrenched in two foreign wars with no end in sight, Bush had done little to combat the looming threat of climate change, and global opinion of the United States was at an all-time low. In November, Republicans capitalized on the fact that Obama was unable to entirely clean up the enormous, putrefying mess that had been dumped in his lap. No one could have reassembled the nation’s woeful economy in just two years, and Obama warned of as much before he took office. But voters, many of them out of work or underemployed, were understandably frustrated, and the Democrats suffered their wrath. Now, Republicans are sweeping right back into office, where they’ll try their damnedest to undo everything the president has accomplished.

Those accomplishments have been significant. Whether you agree with his politics or not, President Obama has succeeded in seeing through the passage of several historic acts. There was the economic stimulus package, tight new financial regulations, and the health care overhaul. More recently, during the lame duck sessions, there was the Food Safety Modernization Act, a repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and an arms treaty with Russia. Other politicians have attempted to accomplish similar feats for years or even decades, but without success. In addition, combat operations in Iraq have ended, and Obama plans to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan this summer. Maybe the president deserved that 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, after all. Topping it all off, at the end of the year, Obama struck a deal with leading Republicans to extend Bush-era tax cuts, while also extending jobless benefits for the unemployed. It was a compromise that tasted pretty sour for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, and it’s seen by some as one of the president’s most dubious accomplishments.

Obama was forced to make concessions in order to secure sorely needed jobless benefits before the end-of-the-year deadline, it’s troubling that Bush’s steadfast policy of rewarding the rich for being wealthy will continue another two years. While Tea Partiers call Obama a socialist and accuse Democrats of trying to rob the rich of their hard-earned affluence, the truth is that taxes have remained at historic lows. In a recent article in The Huffington Post, writer Sam Harris pointed out that the nation has rarely known such modest taxation for its wealthiest citizens.“Throughout the 1950s—a decade for which American conservatives pretend to feel a harrowing sense of nostalgia—the marginal tax rate for the wealthy was over 90 percent. In fact, prior to the 1980s it never dipped below 70 percent,” Harris wrote. “Since 1982, however, it has come down by half. In the meantime, the average net worth of the richest 1 percent of Americans has doubled (to $18.5 million), while that of the poorest 40 percent has fallen by 63 percent (to $2,200).” As a feeble defense for giving immense tax cuts to the rich (who need it the least) while offering miniscule relief to the poor (who need it the most), conservatives have long claimed that building the wealth of the rich has a trickle-down effect, enabling them to hire more employees and pay higher wages. If only it actually worked out that way. As a recent issue of the N.H. Gazette pointed out, Bush’s tax cuts were less than successful at stimulating economic growth during his own presidency.

As “The rate of job growth between 2001 and 2007 was less than half what it had been during previous periods of economic expansion. What’s more, during that period real wages and salaries grew at less than half the rate of earlier economic expansions” (the Gazette cites a November episode of “CBS Moneywatch” for the data). If you still need more convincing, just watch Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Nov. 30 filibuster speech, in which he pointed out that the top 1 percent of income earners take home more than 20 percent of all U.S. income—“more than the entire bottom 50 percent.”

Challenges that lie ahead for President Obama are just as daunting as the ones he faced two years ago, and now he’ll have a Republican majority in the House to contend with, along with a 2012 election on the horizon. So will Obama stick to his guns and promote the policies he believes are best for the nation, or will he capitulate to his rivals in the hopes of salvaging votes for his reelection bid? We can only hope the answer is the former, because doing right by America is more important than clinging to that hot seat in Washington, D.C., and there’s much more for President Obama to accomplish in the next two years.

Knowledge In a point - 4

2011-01-05T09:55:00.001+05:30

• The 1st cement factory was established in 1904 at Chennai.

• Which state is known as the land of legends? = Gujarat.

• What is the strongest force in the Universe?= Nuclear force.

• Who invented diesel engine? = Rudolf Diesel.

• Who invented Stethoscope ? = Rene Laenec.

• English became India’s official language in the year = 1835.

• All insects have 6 legs.

• Frogs cant swallow with their eyes open.

• Pearls melt in Vinegar.

• EI Nino is a sea storm.

• Which helps the flowering of plants? = Phosphorus.

• Which article is called as the soul of the Constitution = Article 32.

• In which ground did Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in one day cricket = Gujjanwala.

• The land of Humming Bird = Tonga.

• Rain contains Vitamin B12.

• When Alexander Bell passed away in 1922, every telephone served by the Bell system in the USA & Canada was silent for one minute.

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T09:52:00.003+05:30

Obama family arrives in Hawaii for holiday season vacation

2010-12-21T12:25:00.003+05:30

Yes, You’d be hard-pressed to find a better place to spend the holidays than Hawaii — especially with the severe winter weather hitting parts of the Mainland. It’s no wonder President Barack Obama and his family will be spending Christmas and New Year’s in the Islands for the third year in a row.

Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha — along with Bo, their family dog — arrived Saturday evening on Oahu, where the president was born and mostly raised. The president plans to join his family here after Congress adjourns, possibly Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Obamas will again be staying in the windward Oahu neighborhood of Kailua, in the same 7,000-square-foot beachfront home on Kailuana Place the family has rented for the last three Christmases. (The family has rented more homes along the cul-de-sac, for friends and family.)

Last year Christmas the president famously body-surfed at Sandy Beach in East Honolulu and ate shave ice with his family at Island Snow in Kailua. His plans for the holidays this year are to golf and hang out on the beach. His itinerary is devoid of fundraisers or anything political .They plan to stay here until Jan. 1.

Knowledge In a point - 3

2010-12-20T14:22:00.001+05:30

• Name of the Army of Vatican = The Swiss Guard.

• The name of the second atom bomb? = Fat Man.

• Who invented Plywood? = Immanuel nobel [Father of Alfred Nobel].

• Who invented the Electrons? = JJ Thomson.

• Name the country which has no Cinema Theatres = Saudi Arabia.

• The word ‘Pakistan’ was invented by a Cambridge Student namely? = Rahmat Ali.

• The gas responsible for Bhopal Gas Tragedy was Methyl Isocynate Chemical name of washing soda is Sodium carbonate ”Black Gold” = Petroleum.

• What is the strongest force in the universe? = Nuclear Force.

• Who invented diesel engine? = Rudolf Diesel.

• Who invented Stethoscope?=Rene Laenac.

• Air consist of 78% Nitrogen , only 21% consists of oxygen. Remaining 1% consists of carbon Dioxide, Argon, Neon, Helium, Krypton, Hydrogen, Xenon & Ozone.

• Why is Nagpur called the zero mile centre? Nagpur is precisely at the Geographical centre – point of India & the zero mile marker located here.

• First person to sail round the world = Ferdinand Magellan.

• First woman to win Olympic gold = Charlotte Cooper.

• First test tube baby = Louise Joy Brown.

Human brain fully matures in middle age

2010-12-17T22:05:00.002+05:30

New study has suggested that brain does not stop developing until late 40s. Earlier scientists used to believe that brain stop physically evolving in early childhood but new research has shown that keeps changing well into middle age. Brain scans have shown that prefrontal cortex - the area just behind your forehead - continues to change shape in your 30s and 40s, reports the Telegraph .

It is an important discovery as the prefrontal cortex is a key area of the brain and is often thought said to be key to what makes us human. This area is involved with decision-making, social interaction and many other personality traits. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, of the University College London, said, "Until about 10 years ago we pretty much assumed that the human brain stopped developing in early childhood."

"But we now understand from brain imaging that that is far from the truth and that many human brains keep on developing for many decades. The area of the brain that goes through the most protracted development is the prefrontal cortex right at the front of the brain. "It is the part of the brain that is involved in high cognitive function such as decision making, planning and social behaviour. It is also to do with understanding other people. "It starts develop in early childhood, is reorganised in late adolescence and continues developing well into the 30s and 40s. It is the part of the brain that makes us human," she said.

The new findings were presented at the British Neuroscience Christmas symposium in London.

Knowlegde In a Point - 2

2010-12-16T15:31:00.003+05:30

• Banana’s are the world popular fruit after tomato.

• Orange city = Nagpur.

• Pink city = Jaipur.

• Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukhtha sangha in Hubli is the only organization authorized to produce Indian national flags.

• Lighting strike the earth 100 times every second & there are on average 35 earthquakes per day.

• Longest tunnel = Jawahar Tunnel (J&K).

• Which is the largest man made lake in India = Indira Sagar Lake.

• The cells used in mobile phone are = Lithium ion cells.

• Who coined the word ‘gas’? = J.Van Helmont.

• Biggest star in our galaxy? = Proxima Centauri.

• Who designed the national flag of Italy? = Napoleon Bonapar.

• England’s first great industry was wool.

• Worker ant’s live only for 45-60 days, but queenants have been known to live as long as 29 years.

• Which is the largest Post Office in Asia? = Mumbai.

• Father of Indian Budget = Mahalanobis.

US president OBAMA to meet with top CEOs about economy

2010-12-15T20:17:00.001+05:30

WASHINGTON :

US President Barack Obama is sitting down with 20 top CEOs on Wednesday to talk about ways to spark the economy. The gathering at Blair House, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, will include a who's-who of American business.

All among the CEOs expected to attend are those from American Express, General Electric, DuPont, Eli Lilly, Dow Chemical, Boeing, PepsiCo, Comcast and Google. Before the meeting, Obama will make a statement in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In the afternoon, the president meets in the Oval Office with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Knowlegde In a Point - 1

2010-12-15T09:17:00.003+05:30

• An elephant's trunk contains 40000 muscles.

• Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic.

• Oldest national flag in the world = Denmark's national flag.

• The highest waterfall in India = Gersoppa(Karnataka.

• City of cycles = Beijing.

• Your heart beat 101,000 times a day. During your lifetime it will beat about 3 million times and pump about 400 million litres of blood.

• Pieces of bread were used to erase pencil marks before rubber was invented.

• Human brain uses approximately as much energy as a 20 watt.

• Oldest almost complete manuscript of the Bible still existing is the Codex Vaticanus ,dating from the 1st half of the 4Th Century, now in Vatican.

• Earth Hour is observed all over the world on March 27.

President Obama's visit and the great expectations

2010-10-31T22:50:00.002+05:30

This week the country will play host to US President Barack Obama on what will be his first visit to India and, in fact, South Asia. He will be the third serving US president to visit India in a decade. That is significant considering that an equal number of US presidential visits had been spaced out over the first five decades of India’s independence, and also if we keep in mind a single factoid: The US is still the most powerful country in the world, both militarily and economically. The Obama visit should, in the normal course, have bowled us over. However, it has not. It may not be such a bad thing as it tamps down expectations, but the context in which this has emerged has the potential to play spoiler.

Year except for the paranoid security arrangements and a visibly upset Pakistani establishment (miffed at having been left out of the presidential itinerary, but content that its sulking enabled it to tap another generous US sop, $2 billion (Rs. 8,900 crore today), even though a
section of the government continues to abet and foster terror networks), a sense of excitement is missing from the Obama visit.

Also, When Bill Clinton visited the country, India fell in love with him, before and after; this was despite the fact that he was a lame duck president then. Even when George W. Bush, the president everyone loved to loathe, came visiting, there was considerable excitement—the Indian Communists spewed vitriol, forcing a diplomatic slight upon Bush by denying him a joint address to Parliament, while the government was excited about how the relationship was being taken to an entirely new level with the inking of an agreement to take forward Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s pet project: the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

Hazard that pre-set visits pose is that often the context in which they are ordained is never what it actually turns out to be. Not only has the global economy worsened, so have unemployment levels in the US. Faced with plunging personal popularity ahead of a crucial mid-term election and with a wary eye on his own re-election, Obama’s actions have reflected self-preservation.

The decision to retreat from Afghanistan under the guise of an “Af-Pak” policy, steady attacks on outsourcing of US jobs and increasing belligerence on China. All of them, except the last, have contributed to spoiling the context of the US president’s visit. The setting of a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan sent out two signals, neither of which would be appreciated by the Indian establishment. One, it signalled that the US was throwing in the towel in a battle that it had initiated nearly 10 years ago. Second, the US withdrawal means that the Taliban and its original co-sponsor, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), were guaranteed a second shot at spreading anarchy in a country ravaged by war for three decades. Worse, it meant that India, which had a tenuous hold in a strategically important country (considering it has the longest border with Pakistan) by funding big-ticket development projects, will, as a consequence of the US action, be inevitably ejected.

Verbal attacks on outsourcing ahead of the mid-term polls due on Tuesday, 2 November, although addressed at US citizens battling rising unemployment, have also made India uneasy. After all, what kind of friend is Obama if he has to target India’s most iconic export, especially since his predecessor had the courage to stand up against such political attacks. One fallout of this has been on the totalization agreement between the two countries that would have ensured repatriation of social security benefits contributed by Indian workers in the US. At the moment, they forfeit this sum, which some estimate runs into several billion dollars. (Imagine discussing a payout for the very same workforce that allegedly took away American jobs.)

This was not enough, the handlers on both sides have, by publicly discussing Obama’s schedule, worsened the visit’s context. Now we know that the US President dropped India’s software capital from his itinerary to avoid being “Bangalored” and similarly opted out of Amritsar as he didn’t want his actions mistaken (stemming from the killer combination of blatant ignorance and bias) back home from having to cover his head while entering the Golden Temple.

There is one common ground between India and the US that is apparent, it is the antipathy towards an increasingly belligerent China. Unfortunately, it is for all the wrong reasons: India’s problems with China are not the same as that of the US.

From the last month or so, the world has been trying to force a very unlikely match-up between the two Asian adversaries. The upping of the ante in recent weeks by India has only lent this perception greater credibility. So far, India has been wise to step away from any direct confrontation; it is, despite what some sections may claim, just not in China’s league. More importantly, let the West and the US fight their own battles; India’s domestic challenges are too compelling and cannot afford any external distractions.

Expectations at rock bottom, it only follows that the two countries will end up sharing some good news with the rest of the world.

Twitter redesigns

2010-09-15T12:05:00.001+05:30

Twitter Inc. has redesigned its website for the first time in its four-year history to draw more users and get them to stay longer as it competes for advertising dollars with Internet rivals Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. The redesign, which will roll out to the website's 160 million users over the next several weeks, is intended to make the site easier and faster to use and to serve up more relevant content to users, executives said at a news conference at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters. Company Chief Executive Evan Williams said that the changes would allow users to get "more out of Twitter in a lot less time." As Twitter's popularity has spread since its 2006 introduction, the website has gotten a reputation for being difficult to use and for crashing too frequently. Twitter has been a victim of its own popularity — 370,000 new users sign up each day.

Twitter has lagged in finding ways to boost revenue. It recently launched new advertising formats and ramped up its sales force. Executives hope the redesign, which will make ads easier to view, will help Twitter better compete with Google and Facebook for advertisers. Users of the redesigned site will be able to see more information about the authors of Tweets — the Twitter messages that can be no more than 140 characters in length. Also, conversations between users will be able to be viewed, as will photos and videos referenced in updates. One of the biggest changes to the Twitter site is that users will be able to see two panes instead of a single timeline of updates. They will be able to scroll through the timeline in the left pane without clicking back and forth to see more information about updates or their authors. Twitter executives said deals had been crafted with 16 photo and video sites, including YouTube and Flickr, to have their visual content embedded on Twitter.com.

Flush with venture capital funding that valued the 250-employee company at $1 billion, top executives have been focusing their efforts on making the Twitter experience simpler and better. Williams said he has spent much of his time over the last five months on the redesign. "This is a complete revamp," he said. Twitter's audience growth in the United States has tapered off in the last year, but internationally has continued to grow at a rapid clip, ComScore Inc. analyst Andrew Lipsman said. Twitter also continues to show strong user engagement, Lipsman said. Forrester Research social media analyst Augie Ray called the announcement a "significant evolution." "The long-term effects could be substantial as Twitter focuses on powering growth by improving Twitter consumption," Ray said.

U.S President Barack Obama Sends Best Wishes to Muslims for Eid-al-Fitr

2010-09-10T12:41:00.004+05:30

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent best wishes to Muslims worldwide on the occasion of Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. In a statement Thursday, President Obama said the holiday is a time of self-reflection, focusing on values that Muslims and people of all faiths share.

Mr. Obama said this year's Eid is also an occasion to reflect on the importance of religious tolerance. President Obama said that this year, those affected by the devastated floods in Pakistan will be on the minds of many around the world. He said all Americans can participate in the relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts by donating to the Pakistan Relief Fund at www.state.gov.

The holiday comes as plans to build an Islamic community center and mosque near the site of New York City's former World Trade Center have sparked intense opposition in the United States. Also, a minister in the state of Florida is threatening to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Most Gulf Arab states have announced they will celebrate the Muslim holiday Friday. Like most major Islamic events, the start of the Eid festival depends on a lunar sighting. Muslims look for a new moon to proclaim the start of the month in Islam's lunar calendar.

The timing of Eid can vary in different countries accordingly. Eid al-Fitr celebrates the purification achieved by a month of sunrise-to-sunset fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, and is marked by several days of festivities. The timing of Eid can vary in different countries accordingly.

Eid al-Fitr celebrates the purification achieved by a month of sunrise-to-sunset fasting, one of the five pillars of Islam, and is marked by several days of festivities.

Facts

2010-08-02T11:48:00.001+05:30

• The biggest disco ball in the world has a total diameter of 2.41 meters and weighs around 137.89 kilograms. It also has 6,900 mirrors squares on it.

• In the weightlessness of space a frozen pea will explode if it comes in contact with any aerated dink like Pepsi or coke.

• If garlic is rubbed in the sole of one’s feet, it would be absorbed by the body and would eventually show up on one’s breath.

• Food passes through the small intestine in just two hours. However inside the large intestine, it takes about 14 hours to travel the entire organ.

• During warm weather, hippopotamus secrete a reddish, oily fluid, called pink sweat, which acts as a skin conditioner and keeps their skin moist.

• In 1915, before becoming the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill fought in the front line trenches before he became the minister of Munitions.

• The renowned Greek Philosopher Socrates became famous for asking questions about almost everything.

• There is air in space. It is equivalent to a marble in a box five miles wide. Most of the gas is captured by the gravitational pull of celestial bodies.

• Abdul Kassam Ismael, Ruler of Persia in the tenth century, carried his library with him wherever he went. Four hundred camels carried the 117,000 volumes.

• The Burramundy, a peculiar type of fish, grows up as a male, but after 2 years or so, it turns into a female to breed and reproduce.