AI’s Transformative Impact on Indian Education: Unveiling the Pros and Cons of Modern Tools
By Farooq Siddiqui
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer in various spheres of life, and its influence on education is revolutionizing the Indian...
Kerala to have DNA bar coding centre
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : A state-of-the-art DNA bar coding centre for all forms of life will start functioning here from June 11, an official said Friday.
"The Western Ghats area is an area of rich biodiversity and the new centre will create a data base of organisms so as to help in future studies. To begin with, the various varieties of ginger and pepper would be bar coded," Prakash Kumar a scientist attached to the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (STEC) told reporters here Friday.
15-yr-old Sahil Khan writes his third book on computer science
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: This Delhiite Muslim teenager is very different from millions of boys of his age. Sahil Khan, only 15, has come out with his third book on computer science. His latest book “The Tricks of E. Mail Hacking” was launched today at India Islamic Cultural Centre by its president and renowned Muslim entrepreneur Sirajuddin Qureshi.
Cockroaches which conceived in space under observation
By RIA Novosti
Voronezh (Russia) : Russian scientists are expecting two cockroaches, who returned from space onboard the Foton-M bio satellite, to give birth to the first creatures ever conceived in space, the research supervisor has said.
"In the next few days we are expecting two female 'cosmonauts' to give birth to the world's first offspring conceived in microgravity," Dmitry Atyakshin said.
Indian-Australian AMU Alumnus Aamir Qutub launches his company’s sports technology wing in Delhi
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Indian-Australian Entrepreneur Aamir Qutub, an alumnus of AMU and founder of Entriprise Monkey,...
Polythene degradable: claims a Kashmiri girl
By NAK,
Srinagar : True but hard to believe that Polythene is a degradable substance if a particular chemical extracted from an herb is applied on it before burning it.
This was scientifically proved by Nasira Akhter , 35 ,a 12th class pass out housewife an innovator from Kanipora, Kulgam south Kashmir, who demonstrated a new method for degradation of polythene, at University Science Instrumentation Centre (USIC) meeting hall today.
Cheap laser technology to heal kidney stones
By IANS
Kolkata : Diagnosed with kidney stones, Indrajit Roy wanted to get the best cure at an affordable cost. When a hospital in Kolkata promised to remove the stone in a bloodless laser-aided operation at less than half the fee quoted by other hospitals, his prayers were answered.
Journey to NASA owes to AMU: Hashima Hasan
TCN News
Aligarh: For Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) alumna, Dr Hashima Hasan, Program/Discipline Scientist at the NASA, USA, the fascination with space science began when she...
CGNet Swara: Voice of the unheard
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Between Arundhati Roy’s walk with the comrades and corporations-backed government war machine mowing down the jungles in Chattisgarh, there are millions of tribals whose voices remain unheard. Not that they cannot speak but there is a barrier to access because of language and remote areas. Knight International Journalism fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary intends to change that by using technology as a platform to make news & information easily accessible to all.
Technical Institute for community – An attempt to provide respectable life
By TCN News,
Hyderabad: Madrassa students wearing hard hat along with traditional ‘topi’ (skull cap) handling heavy machinery, it is not an ordinary scene, but...
Empowering Rural Women: India’s Drone Pilots Pioneering Agricultural Innovation
Suhail Bhat, TwoCircles.net
Gurugram (Haryana): On a Monday morning in Manesar, a village in Gurugram district, Haryana, a group of four women attentively follows instructions from...
Colombia budgeting on Indian software
By Devirupa Mitra, IANS
Bogota : Colombia will soon have a sophisticated software programme to prepare, implement and monitor its national budget, thanks to an Indian software company.
From his office inside the finance ministry building opposite the Colombian Presidential Palace in Bogota, Subramanian Ravishankar is leading a global team of 350 Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) employees working exclusively on this major government project.
Delhi Wakf Board unable to keep its website up
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: A world of information might be available on internet but Delhi Wakf Board (DWB) is not. Delhi Wakf Board has a website but due to their cheaper plan it is inaccessible to everyone.
Aim to create positive influence for women within the boundaries of Shari’ah: The Muslimah...
The Muslimah Network is a website dedicated to stories and commentary on Muslim women from an Islamic perspective. Started by the UAE-based writer/graphic designer...
Digital mammography in Kolkata
By IANS,
Kolkata : A digital mammography machine with stereo-tactic biopsy system was installed at a hospital in Kolkata Tuesday. This new technology will help in prompt and accurate detection of breast cancer that in turn may extend a patient's life by about 20 years, said doctors of the hospital.
The new system - GE Senographe DS workstation - has been installed at B.P. Poddar Hospital and Medical Research Ltd, a multi-facility hospital specialising in oncology, traumatology and breast cancer, in south Kolkata.
mPire of Hasan Ahmad wins Lockheed Martin Innovation Award
(Hasan Ahmad is a Bangalore-based young software engineer whose company mPower has recently won the prestigious Lockheed Martin India Innovation 2008 Award from U.S. aerospace major Lockheed Martin for a software automation product called mPire. In this interview with our Assistant Editor Tariq Anwar, he talks about his company and the award.)
Police seek Google help on Haryana politicians’ porn pictures
By IANS,
Chandigarh : The search giant Google has been approached by the Chandigarh police after apparently morphed pornographic photographs of leading Haryana politicians were posted on the internet.
The police have asked Google to trace the source of the pornographic photographs, believed to be morphed, following a complaint from Haryana Congress secretary Mahinder Singh.
The pictures pertain to three senior Haryana politicians - Finance Minister Birender Singh, Education Minister Mange Ram Gupta and senior legislator and former state Congress chief Shamsher Singh Surjewala.
Pentagon developing stealthy sensors for bat-inspired spy plane
By IANS
Washington : A tiny six-inch spy plane modelled on a bat would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to soldiers in real time.
University of Michigan (U-M) Centre for Objective Microelectronics and Bio-mimetic Advanced Technology (COM-BAT) will develop sensors, communication tools and batteries for the US Army for this micro-aerial vehicle that's been dubbed "the bat".
Jurassic era fossils turning to dust in Jharkhand
By Nityanand Shukla, IANS,
Rajmahal Hills (Jharkhand) : Nature's treasure trove of fossils, some dating back to the Jurassic era and preserved for millions of years in Jharkhand's Sahebganj district, is being steadily eroded by rampant mining, say scientists.
Rajmahal Hills, about 500 km from state capital Ranchi, attract a number of geologists and palaeontologists for fossil research. However, this coal-rich region in eastern India is also the hub of mining activity.
Indian American developing infrared super computers
By IANS,
Washington : A computer that is a thousand-fold faster than the fastest current supercomputers is being developed by an Indian American scientist.
The machine of the future being developed by Ashok Nahata of the University of Utah relies on infrared wavelengths rather than electrical wires.
Nahata and his team made the equivalent of wires that carried and bent this form of infrared light, or terahertz radiation, the least exploited segment of electromagnetic spectrum.
Concerns over ‘surveillance state’: Can excessive data monitoring lead to discrimination?
By Padmakumar M.M. & Om Prakash L.T. for IANS:
The Supreme Court on July 13 took strong note of the Ministry of Information and Broadcastings...
Young Microsoft director harbours high hopes for IT
By Shyam Pandharipande, IANS
Nagpur : The next twenty years will be revolutionary in IT history and what lies ahead for humanity should be best left to the wonderful ingenuity of mankind, says Rajesh Munshi, one of the youngest directors at Microsoft Corp, on a visit to his hometown here.
A key driver in the world's biggest IT company, Munshi has absolutely no doubt that Bill Gates' vision of personal computers sans keyboards, like his many marvellous dreams, would come true in the foreseeable future "when my generation, in its thirties, is still young".
Agra gets its second wonder- a 6D theatre
By IANS,
Agra : You feel your chair moving back and forth and left to right, smell scent, feel a cool breeze, a sudden water splash and also have goose pimples when you find yourself in the midst of bats and spider webs. This isn't a scary tale but India's first-of-its-kind six-dimensional theatre experience developed here.
Indian cinema chain Adlabs in association with Cinema Park Network Friday launched The Adlabs Cinema Park.
Disconnected in Hyperconnected World: How Work, Family Shifts Fuelling Loneliness Epidemic in Post-Pandemic Era
Devanshi Batra, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Why does it feel like we are more alone than ever in a world where we are constantly plugged in? Despite...
Can a Machine Heal a Heart? Why New Age Youth Are Turning to AI...
Samah Qundeel, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: We once believed that technology would bring people closer. But somewhere along the way, it did the opposite. Today, it...
India’s first moon mission: Chandrayaan-1
By Hidayath Ansari
India launched its first mission to the moon – Chandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit for moon craft) – on Wednesday morning (October 22) from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota off the Andhra Pradesh coast. It has had a flawless week travelling through space so far (orbiting at an altitude of 267,000 kms as of Wednesday), and in another 10 days, it is expected to reach the moon's orbit to conduct several long-term studies related to the moon's surface and atmosphere.
ISRO employees to celebrate Chandrayaan success with special lunch
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Nearly 5,000 employees of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in Kerala will next week celebrate the success of the Chandrayaan-1 mission with a special lunch and are also hopeful of being given a salary hike in appreciation of their work, an official said.
Chandigarh named ‘challenger’ location in A.T. Kearney-Nasscom study
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Chandigarh is a 'challenger' location for the information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, a recent study says.
The study titled 'Location roadmap for IT-BPO growth: Assessment of 50 leading cities' has been jointly conducted by the global consultancy major A.T. Kearney and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), an Indian IT industry lobby.
PSLV: Workhorse of ISRO (Factfile)
By IANS,
New Delhi : Since its first launch in 1994, India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) has so far placed 41 satellites (19 Indian and 22 foreign) into orbit - making it one of the most successful launch vehicles ever worldwide.
* The PSLV was originally developed and operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites into orbit with the help of Russia. It was then used for launching a variety of satellites.
Social Media backlash over Toyota’s silence in Service Centre death
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi : Three weeks after the alleged hate crime in...
XtremeIT hackathons to inspire students to build next WhatsApp or Google!!
By TCN News,
Hyderabad: XtreamIT, a software solutions and services company, is organising a series of hackathons to inspire the city students to build...
NASA beams chants of ‘Jai Guru Deva’ into outer space
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : If there were any outer space aliens out there Monday at the crack of dawn Indian time, chances are they were grooving to a song with the words "Jai Guru Deva... Om".
The words form the beautiful refrain of a famous Beatles song, "Across the Universe", which was beamed into outer space in a celebration of the band's music at 0530 Indian time (midnight GMT).
NASA names planet after Kerala professor
By IANS,
New York/Kollam (Kerala) : In a rare honour, the US space agency NASA has named a 'minor' planet after a Kerala zoology professor in appreciation of his environmental research.
Sainudeen Pattazhy, who teaches in a college in Kollam, received a phone call from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the space agency Wednesday that the minor planet '5178 CD4' has been named after him.
Unsung hero of moon mission is sad but forgiving
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS,
Bangalore : In the nine months India's Chandrayaan-1 has been circling the moon everyone connected with it has been awarded, rewarded or interviewed on TV, except the scientist whose pioneering work in liquid propulsion was pivotal to the mission's success. Perhaps it had something to do with the false spying charges under which he was arrested in 1994.
The perils of social networking
By Mohammed Abdul Jawad,
O, what a blessed month is this! Yea, of course, I mean ‘Ramadan’—the month of sublime patience, repentance, forgiveness and generous spending. It carries its unique beauty, virtues and rewards. We ought to know the reality of fasting, the acts of worship, the manners of supplications, the essence of piety, the ways to achieve steadfastness and protection from deviations, the etiquettes of night prayer, the virtues of Laylatul Qadr (Night of Revelation) and the significance of charity.
Polaris launches software testing lab in Sydney
By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Polaris Software, a leading Indian software company, has launched its new software testing laboratory here that will inject Australian $5 million (US$4.5 million) into the state of New South Wales (NSW).
NSW Minister for State Development Ian Macdonald said Monday: "This is about attracting investment from India, instead of the other way around, where our jobs are outsourced to companies based there.
Nehru Planetarium to organise public skywatch
By IANS,
New Delhi : Ever look up and marvel at the beauty of the evening sky? Skygazers in the national capital now have the opportunity of studying celestial bodies as the Nehru Planetarium is organising round the year public skywatches, officials said Monday.
As part of International Year of Astronomy, the Nehru Planetarium will organise skywatching for the public besides series of lectures by noted astrophysicists and scholars in 2009.
Seismicity study was done before selecting Jaitapur: NPCIL
By IANS,
Mumbai: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) Tuesday asserted that it had conducted comprehensive seismicity study before selecting Jaitapur for a nuclear power plant.
ETI Dynamics, Greenhouse Capital to export clean technology
New Delhi: New Delhi-based ETI Dynamics and Auckland-based Greenhouse Capital on Tuesday announced a partnership to invest $100 million in exporting clean technologies from...
Computer virus targets Russian opposition
By IANS,
Washington : Opponents of Russian president-elect Vladimir Putin are being targeted through a computer virus sent by email, CNN reported.
I’m an ethical hacker: says whizkid Sahil
By IANS
New Delhi : He looks like your average school going kid, but 14-year-old Sahil Khan, at the release of the second edition of his book "Hackers and Crackers" Wednesday, said he is an ethical hacker and uses his skills to fight cyber crime.
"While chatting, I used to face problems because of the viruses. So, I used to experiment and fiddle. Thus, the results of my experimentation have made me what I am today," said Sahil, who released his book at the sidelines of the launch of monthly magazine "Gadget Guru".
Scientists create waterproof paper out of sugarcane waste
By IANS,
Sydney : Brisbane biotechnologists have found a way to utilise cellulose in unused sugarcane plant material to produce waterproof papers and industrial cardboards.
Fully recyclable, waterproof paper board could reduce billions of tonnes of landfill around the world. Today, the only technology available to manufacturers is cardboard coated with a petroleum-based wax which renders the packaging non-recyclable or petroleum based plastics.
Revolutionary Technology in Fire Protection System opened in BHEL Bhopal
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal, May 11: In a simple programme held at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, (BHEL), Bhopal, Rakesh Bansal, Principal Secretary for Labour, Government of Madhya Pradesh, inaugurated a revolutionary technology system in Fire Protection System developed by Safety Engineering Dept. of BHEL Bhopal in association with M/s Diaonics Automation System India (P) Ltd., Nasik.
Indian device for cancer treatment gets EU certification
By IANS,
Bangalore : Cytotron, a device developed by the city-based medical technology firm Scalene Cybernetics for treatment of cancer and osteoarthritis, has received the European Union (EU) certification from Underwriters Laboratories, a worldwide independent product safety certification organisation.
The Conformity Europa (CE) certificate, a regulatory requirement for compliance, will enable Scalene to sell the 2,400 kilogram medical device to hospitals and institutes in European and other international markets.
Company claims it can clean up Bhopal toxic waste for cheap
No collateral damage to environment or people living nearby, claims PEAT International Co.
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: Cheer up. There is some good news for the survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial disaster, including the NGOs working for them and the Madhya Pradesh Government as far as disposing off the toxic waste lying in the erstwhile killer Union Carbide pesticide plant, which has become an enigma for one and all, is concerned.
Orissa’s first community radio station goes on air
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: Orissa's first community radio station has gone on air in Konark.
The radio station, named Radio Namaskar, has been established by non-governmental organisation Young India near the Sun Temple of Konark. It is completely managed by local residents.
"We are just providing a medium to give vent to the aspirations, concerns and communication needs of the local community that are otherwise overlooked by the mainstream media," N.A. Saha Ansari, Young India president, told IANS Saturday.
Will Indian students’ solar car make it to contest?
By Azera Rahman, IANS
New Delhi : A bright young student team is all set to take its creation, a solar car, to the World Solar Challenge in Australia Oct 18 - if lack of funds doesn't cut its journey short.
Standing next to the three-wheeled car, roughly the size of a Honda City, 10 students of the Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) couldn't help beaming with pride.
"It took us a year to complete this car. We started working on the car in November last year. Driven on three wheels, as solar cars generally are, the car has six panels on its body.
Ghazal festival to be live-streamed online
Mumbai : The annual ‘Khazana - A Festival of Ghazals’ concert, which will bring together renowned ghazal artists like Pankaj Udhas and Rekha Bhardwaj,...
Interstellar dust darkens the universe
By Xinhua,
Beijing : The universe is dustier than previously thought, which is why astronomers now suggest it is twice as bright as it appears.
Astronomers have known about interstellar dust for a while, but they haven't been able to quantify just how much light it blocks. Now a team of researchers has studied a catalogue of galaxies and found that dust shields roughly 50 percent of their light.
Agenda for India: Information Technology
TwoCircles.net presents “Agenda for India”. Series editor is Charu Bahri.
Challenges & Solutions
Information technology professionals Amin Ismaili and his wife Shahin Ismaili, both of whom work as Assistant Systems Engineers with TATA Consultancy Services Ltd., identify India’s heavy dependence on markets in the USA as the greatest challenge presently facing the Information Technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES, more commonly spoken of as outsourcing) industries.
Two more carriers offer pan-India number portability
New Delhi: Two more service providers will provide pan-India mobile number portability from Friday, enabling customers to retain their mobile phone number while relocating...
Avesthagen founder receives top French award
By IANS,
Bangalore : Villoo Morawala Patell, founder-chairperson of India's leading life sciences firm Avesthagen Ltd, was late Wednesday honoured with a top civilian award by the French government for her entrepreneurship and significant contribution in the scientific field.
The Officier de L'Ordre National du Merite" (Officer of the National Order of Merit) award was presented to Patell by French ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont at a felicitation ceremony here.
World’s biggest telescope to seek new galaxies
By Sinikka Tarvainen, DPA,
Madrid : Thousands of years ago, the original inhabitants of Spain's Canary Islands are thought to have worshipped the Roque de los Muchachos mountain as having magical powers. On Friday, the mountain will officially become home to a telescope billed as the world's biggest time machine.
The instrument will allow scientists to seek new answers to the origin of the universe.
The Grantecan or GTC, which are abbreviations for "large telescope of the Canary Islands", is the biggest among only about a dozen comparable telescopes in the world.
Asteroid named after tennis star Nadal
By IANS,
Palma de Mallorca (Spain) : A recently discovered asteroid has been named after Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, who won his first Wimbledon title earlier this month with a stirring victory in the final over five-time defending champion Roger Federer, EFE news agency reported Sunday.
The Rafael Nadal asteroid, previously known as 128036, is of four kilometers in diameter and travels through space at a speed of 20 km per second.
Hathway unplugs Internet services in Chennai
By IANS,
Chennai : The city's first broadband Internet service provider Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd has unplugged its services here and started refunding its subscribers their dues, officials said.
"We are forced to close down our business. We don't know why. This is the answer I give to all my subscribers," a company official, who did not want to be identified, told IANS.
Part of the Mumbai-based Rajan Raheja group, Hathway Cable has around 50,000 subscribers in the city.
Found: World’s oldest living tree, age 9,550
By IANS,
London : A 9,550-year-old spruce, the world's oldest living tree, has been found in Dalarna province of Sweden.
The tenacious specimen has survived by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.
For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region.
"Our results have shown the complete opposite. The spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," said Leif Kullman, of Umeå University.
Reliance launches 3G services in Punjab
By IANS,
Chandigarh: Leading telecom service provider Reliance Communications (RCOM) Thursday launched its 3G services in Punjab.
NIIT Technologies, British Airways ink three-year deal
By IANS,
New Delhi : Leading Indian global software major NIIT Technologies Ltd said Friday that it has signed a "multi-million pound" three-year deal with Britain's premier airline British Airways.
"The deal enables the support and testing of business critical applications across various business areas of the global airline," the regulatory statement said.
The contract is one of the largest ever deals to be signed by NIIT Technologies with a member of the British airlines industry and follows a 12-year relationship between the two companies, the statement said.
World’s largest solar steam system comes up in Shirdi
By IANS,
Shirdi (Maharashtra) : Hindu and Muslim pilgrims visiting the shrine of Sai Baba in this town will be served food cooked with the help of a solar steam system, inaugurated by New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah Thursday, that officials say is the world's largest.
The solar steam system can generate 3,500 kg of steam every day - enough to cook food for 20,000 people. It has been designed for cooking food for devotees visiting the shrine devoted to Sai Baba, a 19th century Sufi saint who was revered by Hindus and Muslims alike.
सेवाओं से लैस है ज़ियाउल इस्लाम का मोबाइल एप्लीकेशन
फहमिना हुसैन, TwoCircles.net,
सवाई माधोपुर(राजस्थान): आज जब पूरा देश डिजिटलीकरण की ओर बढ़ रहा है और लगभग सभी क्षेत्र डिजिटल होते जा रहे हैं, ऐसे...
Controversial orgasm theorist regaining scientific favour
By Soumya Sarkar, IANS
New Delhi : Half a century after he died in ignominy in a US prison, physician-scientist Wilhelm Reich - best known for his claim of a cosmic life force associated with sexual orgasm - is on his way to being rehabilitated by the scientific community.
On the 50th anniversary of his death, the Jewish Museum in Vienna, Austria, is holding a major retrospective of his life and works beginning Thursday.
World’s first 3D camcorder for home movies unveiled
By IANS,
London : The 3D revolution has so far been all about Hollywood blockbusters and major sporting events. But now, the cutting-edge technology is coming closer to home.
Treasured moments such as a child's first steps or a university graduation can be captured in 3D with the arrival of the first camcorder - capable of filming in more than two dimensions, says the Daily Mail.
Unveiled by Panasonic Wednesday, the 1,300 pound HDC-SDT750 3D model works using a sophisticated double lens.
Bees beat computers in solving complex problems
By IANS,
London : Bees solve complex maths problems in a jiffy, compared to computers, which can take much longer, a study shows.
New educational app rewards users with real cash
Seoul : South Korea-based educational startup BeNative has launched CashEnglish, an app that rewards users with real cash for playing educational games.
The app is...
Dinosaur dance floor! Really?
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists who hiked recently to the northern Arizona wilderness site touted as a "dinosaur dance floor" found no sign of the extinct creatures but plenty of eroded potholes.
They saw dinosaur tracks en route, but none in the pockmarked "dance floor".
One of them, paleontologist Brent Breithaupt, director and curator of the University of Wyoming's Geological Museum, said "there simply are no tracks or real track-like features at this site. We will be investigating the formation of these features in the upcoming study."
Chandrayaan-I enters lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I was Saturday put into lunar orbit at around 5.15 p.m., scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here.
The spacecraft was successfully put into an elliptical orbit after complex manoeuvres.
"The liquid apogee motor on board the spacecraft was fired for about 805 seconds to put Chandrayaan-1 into an elliptical orbit with 7,500 km aposelene (farthest from moon) and 500 km pericelene (nearest to moon)," ISRO director S. Satish told IANS.
‘Block the sun, control global warming’
By IANS,
Toronto : Canadian and US scientists want to block the sun to cool the earth and limit global warming.
Research and field-testing on what they call "geo-engineering" of the earth's atmosphere to limit risk of climate change must begin quickly, say scientists from the University of Calgary in Canada, and the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University in the US.
Studies on geo-engineering or solar radiation management (SRM) should be undertaken collectively with government funding, rather that unilaterally by nations, argue the scientists.
New NASA tools bring Mars closer to young explorers
Washington : On the third anniversary of the Mars landing of NASA’s Curiosity rover, the US space agency has unveiled two new online tools...
PayPod targets Indian Internet ad space
By IANS
Chennai : PayPod Technologies, a US-based IT solutions provider with offshore development facilities in Chennai and Minsk, Belarus, has launched a technology-driven advertising service to tap the growing Indian market for ad space on the Internet.
This rare icy rock orbits the sun backwards
By IANS,
Toronto : In a discovery which may hold clues to the origin of comets, astronomers have found an object that orbits the sun backwards and tilts at an angle of 104 degrees - almost perpendicular to the orbits of the planets in our solar system.
They have named this unique object 2008KV42.
Canadian astronomer Brett Gladman, who is a part of the international team behind the discovery, said in a statement Friday that this unusual object with backward and tilted orbit around the sun may clarify the origins of certain comets.
E-recycling major Infotrek acquires European technology
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian electronic equipment recycling major Infotrek Syscom Ltd Friday announced that it has acquired European e-waste management technology for its subsidiary Eco Recycling ltd (Ecoreco).
The Mumbai-based firm said that the facility for managing both electrical and electronic waste is based on the "dry process technology" and the unit has been geared to recycle e-waste generated across the country.
Twitter storm follows Yakub Memon’s execution
New Delhi : Twitterati took to the micro-blogging site to express their individual views about the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused Yakub Memon's...
Use biotechnology for green development: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
By IANS,
New Delhi : Biotechnology provides a viable solution to almost every form of environmental damage and the government must pay more attention to it, says Biocon head Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
Delivering the seventh Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) here Tuesday evening, Mazumdar-Shaw made a strong pitch for development of biofuels in India without compromising food production in any way.
Prehistoric rhinos roamed in Mexico, say scientists
By EFE,
Mexico City : The rhinoceros fossils kept in a museum in western Mexico belonged to an ancient rhino species called Teleoceras hicksi that lived more than four million years ago, scientists have said.
The fossils were found in the Jalisco state in the 1960s and preserved at the Regional Paleontology Museum in the state capital Guadalajara.
"When we learned that nobody had studied the fossils, we took the initiative and today we're describing for the first time a species that had been identified only in the US, lead researcher Ruben Guzman Gutierrez told EFE Thursday.
Scientists turn ancient cockroach fossil into 3-D model
By IANS,
London : An early cockroach ancestor that lived around 300 million years ago was unveiled in unprecedented detail here in a new 3-D 'virtual fossil' model.
Scientists at Imperial College London (ICL) made a comprehensive 3D model of a fossilised specimen called Archimylacris eggintoni, which is an ancient ancestor of modern cockroaches and termites.
This insect scuttled around on earth during the Carboniferous period 359-299 million years ago, which was a time when life had recently emerged from the oceans to live on land.
Kalam endorsed nuclear deal: Manmohan Singh
New Delhi : A.P.J. Abdul Kalam backed the nuclear deal India inked with the United States in 2005 and it is a "total...
Bio-waste run generator developed by Agra entrepreneur
By Brij Khandelwal, IANS
Agra : A city-based entrepreneur has successfully developed a biomass-run generator as a major step towards promoting renewable sources of energy.
The generator developer, Rajesh Garg, told IANS: "We have designed, developed and made operational a power generating set run on 100 percent biogas and industrial waste gas-based engines. We have also successfully developed biomass based generators, which can be run by many types of wastes like wood shavings, rice husk, or oil-seed waste."
Electrotherm launches new e-bike
By IANS,
Ahmedabad : Engineering firm Electrotherm, which manufactures the electric bike YO Byke, Tuesday launched another battery-operated two-wheeler, the Yoelectron.
Addressing the media at the launch, Electrotherm chairman and managing director Mukesh Bhandari said the success of its YOSmart in the 250W category goaded the company to come out with another premium model.
Around the world in 80 days, the Indian Air Force way
Hindon (Uttar Pradesh), Aug 19 (IANS) Two intrepid Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots flew in here Sunday after creating two new world records for circumnavigating the globe in a microlight aircraft.
Flying over 16 countries and touching 81 destinations, Wing Commanders Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar completed their journey in 80 days, shaving 19 days off the existing mark of 99 days held by Britain's Colin Bodil since 2001.
They also bettered Bodil's airspeed record of 16.53 km per hour by recording 21.09 km per hour.
Engineers develop painless needle that mimics mosquito bite
By IANS,
New York : Indian and Japanese engineers have developed a "microneedle" that causes no pain on being inserted in the skin as it mimics the way a female mosquito sucks blood.
Contrary to popular belief, a mosquito bite does not hurt. It is the anticoagulant saliva that the creature injects to stop the blood from clotting that causes inflammation and pain.
The new biocompatible microneedle has been designed by Suman Chakraborty of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur and Kazuyoshi Tsuchiya of Tokai University in Kanagawa, New Scientist reported.
Agenda for India: Telecom
TwoCircles.net presents “Agenda for India”. Series editor is Charu Bahri.
Challenges & Solutions
“I would cite the issue of spectrum allocation and management as one of the foremost challenges of India’s telecom sector,” says Yusuf Motiwala, Founder & CEO, TringMe. “The government must wake up to the losses accumulating on account of under-utilization of spectrum and due to the delay in rolling out 3G services.”
Air Pegasus’s Bengaluru-Madurai service soon
Bengaluru: Low-cost carrier Air Pegasus will begin flying from here to Tamil Nadu's Madurai from June 26, spreading its footprint to the fourth city...
Rocket scientist heads ISRO liquid propulsion systems centre
By IANS,
Bangalore : Noted rocket scientist S. Ramakrishnan is the new director of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) liquid propulsion systems centre at Thiruvananthapuram.
The space agency Wednesday said Ramakrishnan, as director of projects at its Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram earlier, had played a key role in the development of polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) and its liquid propulsion stages.
TiEcon 2014 in Santa Clara ends with Shahid Khan keynote
By Ras H. Siddiqui, TwoCircles.net,
San Francisco: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) held its annual conference known as TiEcon in Silicon Valley, the technology world way beyond just the South-Asian Diaspora noticed. Over 4000 people attended TiEcon 2014 at the Santa Clara Convention Center with many of the heavyweights in the technology arena present. Those who presented Grand Keynotes included Steve Mollenkopf (CEO Qualcomm), Michael Rhodin and Manoj Saxena (IBM), Steve Lucas (President SAP), Romesh Wadhawani (Chairman & CEO Symphony Technology Group), Sanjay Poonen (EVP and GM of VMware) and Shahid KhanPresident of Flex-N-Gate and owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team.
UAE’s first artificial battery-powered heart transplant
Dubai: A 21-year-old student in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Sharjah, has received the country's first artificial heart transplant, a media report...
IIT-Kgp, Britain’s WMG join hands to promote ‘Make in India’
Kharagpur : The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp) will start a collaborative programme with Britain-based Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to promote the 'Make...
IIT Kanpur developing robot for India’s moon mission
By Prashant K. Nanda
IANSNew Delhi : When India sends its proposed moon mission in 2011, it will have a unique robot developed indigenously by student-engineers and their professors at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur.
GSLV mission: Scientists say cryogenic engine had ignited
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : A team of Indian space scientists has established that the indigenously built cryogenic engine had ignited for a second during the failed GSLV mission Thursday.
"This took place for a second and then the fuel supply to power turbo got blocked. The (Indian Space Research Organisation) chairman and we knew this on Thursday but then we wanted to be doubly sure about it. And now this has been substantiated with the data. By all means this is a great achievement," said a senior scientist who did not wish to be identified.
Pakistan may purchase military equipment from Russia
Washington : Pakistan might purchase weapons and military equipment from Russia and counts on cooperation with Moscow in the energy sphere, a senior...
Sunita Williams, galaxy of scientists to attend space meet
By IANS
Hyderabad : Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams will be the star speaker at an international astronautical congress that begins here Monday to focus on the growing use of space technology to improve the quality of life.
Over 2,000 space scientists, heads of leading space agencies and astronauts will attend the five-day 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) which has as it theme 'Touching humanity: Space for improving quality of life'. It will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) near Hitec City.
From paper planes to Columbia…Kalpana remembered
By Devirupa Mitra, IANS
Karnal (Haryana) : Under a giant poster of Kalpana Chawla with the words "the whole universe is my native place" scrawled across, students sat whispering to each other before falling silent at the entry of an elderly man with a stern visage.
Banarasi Lal Chawla had been to his youngest daughter Kalpana's alma mater - Tagore Bal Niketan Senior Secondary School - when she was a student over 20 years ago. On Friday he was the chief guest at a small function there to mark the day she died five years ago.
IIT alumni’s party wants to be agent of change
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : They gave up plush jobs to jump into politics two years ago - something not too many Indian professionals do. The party that 20 alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) floated has now fielded two candidates in the Nov 29 Delhi assembly polls.
After all, both techies and politicians are harbingers of change, say the founder members of Bharat Punarnirman Dal, or India Rejuvenation Force.
World misled over glacier meltdown: Report
By IRNA,
New Delhi : A warning that most of the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 owing to climate change is likely to be retracted after the United Nations body that issued it admitted to a series of scientific blunders.
Two years ago, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) headed by India's Rajendra Pachauri, issued a benchmark report that claimed to have incorporated the latest and most detailed research into the impact of global warming.
A central claim was that world's glaciers were melting so fast that those in the Himalayas could vanish by 2035.
UAE varsity-Indian firm deal to turn Rajasthan desert green
By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS,
Dubai : A patch of arid desert land in Rajasthan is all set to turn green thanks to a technology transfer deal between a leading Indian specialty chemicals company and a university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Atul, a subsidiary of India's Lalbhai Group, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UAE University to establish a strategic partnership for transfer of technology to set up a state-of-the-art date palm tissue culture production unit in Rajasthan.
Mosquito survives in outer space
By Alexander Peslyak, RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Russian scientist has said that a mosquito had managed to survive in the outer space for 18 months.
Anatoly Grigoryev, vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "We brought him (mosquito) back to Earth. He is alive, and his feet are moving."
The mosquito did not get any food and was subjected to extreme temperatures ranging from minus 150 degrees Celsius in the shade to plus 60 degrees in the sunlight.
Are animals stuck in time?
By IANS
Toronto : Dogs greet their masters with the same warmth after a five-minute absence - or five hours. Does this mean they do not possess a sense of time?
This question led William Roberts of the University of Western Ontario to experiment with rats. And he found that the rodents did keep track of time after discovering a piece of cheese, but without forming memories of its discovery.
These results suggest that episodic-like memory in rats is qualitatively different from human episodic memory, which involves retention of the point in past time when an event occurred.
Now you can watch what cells do, as they do it
By IANS,
London : Researchers have developed a new laser tool to to peer into the microscopic activity within single cells in real time. The cutting edge technology could help contribute to the creation of new drugs to treat diseases like asthma and arthritis with fewer side effects.
The researchers from Nottingham University Schools of Biomedical Science (Steve Hill and Steve Briddon) and Pharmacy (Barrie Kellam) are concentrating on a type of specialised cell receptor that recognises and responds to a chemical within the body called adenosine.
Novel therapy could cut hepatitis C prevalence by 80 percent
New York : Recently approved antiviral medications for hepatitis C could reduce the prevalence of the blood-borne infection by more than 80 percent, researchers...
After water, check for life on moon: Jayant Narlikar
By IANS,
Panaji : Noted astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar has urged that the moon be scanned for micro-organisms in its environment, especially in areas where traces of water have been found.
Speaking during a lecture on 'Searching for micro-life in the earth's atmosphere' in Goa Sunday, Narlikar said that the discovery of water on the moon called for a fresh perspective on the issue of life on the moon.
Soon, solar-powered camera straps to charge batteries
By IANS,
London: Photographers will soon be able to charge their camera batteries with the rays of the sun.
A team of Chinese researchers are developing solar panels to straps that would make the charging easy. Inventor Weng Jie’s idea, of which a prototype may be ready in months, could spell the end of wall-socket charging, reports dailymail.co.uk.
But there is a downside: In case there is not enough sunlight, regular batteries can not be used as a substitute.
PM launches Rs.21,500 crore Bathinda refinery
By IANS,
Bathinda (Punjab): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday inaugurated the Rs.21,500 crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab's Bathinda district.
Twitter ends 140-character limit for sending direct messages
New York : Starting Wednesday, the micro-blogging site Twitter lifted the 140-character limit for its 300 million-plus users to send direct messages, an...
Women to be inducted as fighter pilots: IAF chief
New Delhi : Women would soon be inducted as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha said here...
Drones to monitor ‘Alvida Namaaz’ in UP
Lucknow : In Lucknow 'Alvida Namaaz' at major Uttar Pradesh mosques on Friday will be closely watched with the help of drones and CCTV...
‘Helicopter parenting’, bonding issues: New challenges for urban Indian parents
By Sahana Ghosh
Kolkata : Hollywood's latest animation offering "Inside Out" has struck a chord with parents globally. Parallels with modern parenting...
UAE to launch joint remote-sensing satellite with GCC countries
By Xinhua,
Abu Dhabi : A senior official of the Defense Ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that the ministry plans to launch a joint remote-sensing satellite with other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), local newspaper Gulf News reported on Tuesday.
The plan was revealed by Brigadier Khalifa Mohammad Al Rumaithi, Chief of Military Works of the UAE Armed Forces, at the Defense Geospatial Intelligence Middle East opened on Monday in Dubai.
Tarang Software forays into Saudi Arabia
By IANS,
Mumbai : Tarang Software Technologies, a leading provider of point of sale (PoS) and mobile payment solutions, Thursday announced that it has acquired Saudi Arabia-based software major Intersoft.
Headquartered in Riyadh, Intersoft is a specialised provider of PoS solutions, a fully integrated software package for retailers, and has branches spread all over the Middle East.
Earlier, Intersoft had partnered with Tarang to develop several mobile payment solutions in Saudi Arabia.
Humans survived ice age by sheltering in ‘Garden of Eden’
By IANS,
London : The Garden of Eden, a strip of land off Africa's southern coast, had provided shelter to a handful of humans who survived mass extinction on earth during the ice age, say scientists.
Researchers believe the small patch of land at 384 km east of Cape Town was the only place that remained habitable during the devastating ice age 195,000 years ago when sudden change in earth's temperature wiped out many species.
Some scientists believe the population of human race may have fallen to a few hundred who managed to survive in one location, according to Daily Mail.
Why women take a detour from engineering
New York : Women who go to college intending to become engineers stay in the profession less often than men, as a result of...
Infosys pitches for greater affirmative action
By Rajeev Ranjan Roy, IANS
New Delhi : India's software giant Infosys Technologies wants to expand its affirmative action initiative for the country's disadvantaged groups in association with the government.
Having already trained around 100 graduate and postgraduate science students free of cost as a pilot project in 2007, Infosys has written to the social justice and empowerment ministry, offering to continue the training programme for poor students, mainly from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
IIM-A placement process going great guns
By IANS,
Gandhinagar: The second phase of the placement process at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is going on well with over 20 offers made Sunday.
Deloitte made 10 offers (including lateral offers) for consulting roles while other regular recruiters like TAS and Feedback ventures offered general management and consulting roles and hired six students each.
China to bring 3rd generation n-reactors to service in 2013
By IANS,
Beijing: China will bring third generation nuclear reactors to service in 2013, a top Chinese nuclear company official has said.
Kerala elephants queue up for microchip injections
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : From three-year-old Unnikuttan to 95-year-old Gangadharan, a dozen elephants queued up as the Kerala government Saturday launched its programme of implanting a microchip in them in place of registration papers.
The chip is placed under the skin of the elephant by way of an injection.
The initiative, the first for Kerala that has almost 1,000 captive elephants, was launched from the capital district.
India marks ‘Ring of Fire’ spectacle with faith and science
By IANS,
New Delhi : Millions of Hindus bathed in holy rivers and tanks across India after a four-hour celestial spectacle that turned the sun into a 'Ring of Fire', bringing out science enthusiasts to view and record the rare event.
Hundreds of thousands of temples all over the country closed their doors and covered their deities with muslin shrouds during the period when traffic on roads in many cities thinned as people kept indoors.
Indian American’s Bloom Box churns out power from sand
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : An India-born rocket scientist has lifted the veil off Bloom Box fuel-cell, a revolutionary new technology that holds the promise to supply the world with abundant clean, cheap energy.
"The core of our technology is simply sand," said K.R. Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom Energy at Wednesday's unveiling of his invention in San Jose, California on the campus of eBay, one of Bloom's first customers.
Russia launches US satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia Saturday launched a Proton-M rocket to put a US telecommunications satellite into space, the defence ministry said.
The rocket blasted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan at 11.19 GMT. The satellite was due to separate from the carrier rocket at around 20.19 GMT.
The 2.6-tonne satellite has a lifespan of about 15 years. The satellite will provide digital television services for customers in the US and the Caribbean.
This was the fifth Proton-M rocked launched by Russia this year.
China launches oil spill response vessel
By IANS,
Beijing: In a move to strengthen emergency response capabilities in case of oil spill accidents, China has put the country's first oil spill response vessels (OSRV) into use.
Indian-origin scientist creates first single-molecule device
Washington: A team of Columbia Engineering researchers led by an Indian-American scientist Latha Venkataraman has created a single-molecule electronic device which has a potential...
Iran parliament approves law to implement n-deal
Tehran: Iran's parliament on Tuesday approved a legislation which asks the government to implement the recent nuclear deal reached between Tehran and the...
Adlabs launches India’s first 6-D movie screen in Agra
By IANS,
Agra/Mumbai : Adlabs Cinema Friday launched India's first six-dimension (6-D) movie screen at Agra, where cutting edge technology would provide a multi-sensory cinematic experience as never experienced by the audience.
Unique, magnetic death star fossil discovered
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have discovered microscopic, magnetic fossils resembling spears and spindles, among sediment layers deposited during an ancient global-warming event along the Atlantic coastal plain.
The researchers were led by geobiologists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and McGill University.
Fifty-five million years ago, earth warmed by more than nine degrees Fahrenheit after huge amounts of carbon entered the atmosphere over a period of just a few thousand years.
NASA’s Cassini clicks Saturn’s moon in best-ever resolution
Washington : A pockmarked, icy landscape looms beneath NASA's Cassini spacecraft in new images of Saturn's moon Dione taken during the mission's last close...
Facebook trains self-help groups in Telangana
Hyderabad: Facebook on Friday launched a training programme for rural self-help groups (SHGs) in Telangana to equip them with technological knowledge to promote their...
Prayers to ‘moon god’ for success of lunar mission
By IANS,
Thingalur (Tamil Nadu) : A temple in this Tamil Nadu town dedicated to the moon god conducted special prayers Tuesday for the successful launch of Chandrayaan, India's first lunar mission.
"Since this temple itself is meant for propitiation of the moon god, we conducted prayers for the success of Chandrayaan as it is bound for the moon tomorrow (Wednesday) from Sriharikota," N. Govindarajan, an official of the temple, told IANS.
"The omens during the worship were good and we are sure the mission will be a success," he said.
India to launch fourth navigation satellite March 9
Chennai : India will move closer to its own satellite navigation system with the launch of its fourth satellite tentatively slated for March 9,...
Facebook cancels Indian student’s internship
Washington : Facebook cancelled an Indian-origin student's internship after he exposed a serious privacy flaw in the social media giant's messenger service, a media...
1,000-feet wide ‘beast’ near earth Sunday
California : It is time to thank your stars. A 1,000-feet wide "beast" at a speed of 50,400 km per hour - that could...
Micromax to invest Rs.400-Rs.500 crore in Hyderabad plant
Hyderabad: Mobile phone manufacturer Micromax will set up its manufacturing plant in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs.400 crore to Rs.500 crore, a Telangana...
Social media to blame for spontaneous crimes: UP police chief
Ghaziabad : Social media was to blame for sensational spontaneous crimes in Uttar Pradesh, Director General of Police (DGP) Jagmohan Yadav said on...
Hafeez Contractor to build third phase of Kerala Technopark
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Hafeez Contractor, one of the best-known architects of India, will build the third phase of an IT park in Kerala.
Kerala-based architectural firm Iyer and Mahesh will partner with Hafeez to construct the 300-million square feet third phase of the 11.5 million Technopark campus, officials said Thursday.
An agreement was signed and handed over to the Technopark CEO R.K. Nair by Hafeez and Iyer and Mahesh Wednesday evening, after a competitive bidding process.
32 solar cars start trek across Australia
By Syed Azwan Syed Ali, NNN-Bernama,
Darwin, Australia : Thirty-two solar- powered cars including Solar Ranger1 from Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) on Sunday start long the trek across Australia in the World Solar Challenge 2009.
The solar cars representing teams from 15 countries were flagged off at Darwin parliament house at 8.30am watched by hundreds of spectators and world media representatives who gathered as early as 7am.
The Netherlands Nuon Solar team with the car Nuna5 was the race favourite.
Sunlight can damage your eyes
By IANS,
London : Sunlight doesn't just damage your skin, it can also ruin your eyes and increase the risk of cataract and damage to the retina.
The best way of protecting eyes is always to wear quality sunglasses, reports express.co.uk.
A research in Britain has, however, found that over 60 percent of Britons are influenced by fashion and price rather than whether or not the glasses are effective.
Protecting children's eyes is especially important, yet nearly half of parents put cost ahead of protection.