India to cut carbon emission intensity by 20-25 pc by 2020

Ahead of the Copenhagen summit on climate change, India today announced that it would reduce carbon emission intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 on the 2005 levels through a series of policy measures, including mandatory fuel efficiency standards on all vehicles.

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said if the Copenhagen Summit is successful in reaching a "comprenhensive and equitable agreement", India would be willing to do more but only through voluntary measures.

"We are telling the world that India is voluntarily ready to reduce emission intensity by 20-25 per cent in 15 years from 2005," he said replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on impact of climate change.

IMEI-less Phones To Go Offline Today

If you are one amongst the 25 million subscribers using an IMEI-less handset (Chinese or not), this might just be the last day you use your mobile phone as one. Chances are that your phone might just be relegated to an overpriced media player as it can be taken "offline" by your trusted mobile operator.

The reason is a directive from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to disconnect all phones which do not have valid IMEIs from their network. This move comes after a yearlong saga of many flip-flops and ideas some of which included things like "legalizing" an illegal handset by assigning it an IMEI number. However, after a year, nothing seems to have borne fruit and an exasperated DoT has come up with this directive.

What remains to be seen now is if the mobile companies really go ahead and "deliver" this time round. This is not the first time that such a directive has been issued by the DoT. Earlier this year, there was a huge outcry when a similar directive was issued. However, nothing much happened that time. Let us wait and watch if anything happens this time as well. Meanwhile, keep a tab on the network signal indicator on your Chinese phone!

Epson Address Expert printer series are good postcard printer

What you are looking at here isn’t some miniature all-in-one desktop computer with printer, but the Epson Address Expert.

This is a printer that is set up to postcards, and that looks like all it can print. I have to admit that it has been a while since I have sent a postcard, but they are still popular in Japan, so I’m told.

The Epson Address Expert series come in two forms: the E-800 and E-600. Each of them have a 7-inch LCD display with 5760 x 1440 dpi resolution, and are PC and Mac compatible. The E-800 includes a wireless keyboard so you can compose your well-wishing messages.

Hands on Review of the Eye-Fi Explore Video

This isn’t the first time that we have reported on Eye-Fi products before, and chances are, it won’t be the last time. I finally tried it out for myself, and was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Eye-Fi Explore Video 4GB version.

For those who are not familiar with the Eye-Fi line, this is a memory card that allows the user to upload photos to their computer without any USB cable. You might be wondering how that is possible, and, truth be told, so am I. I can’t deny that it works, though. After a quick setup with my computer, I was able to view photos from my camera on my browser screen like magic. Of course, the user to be very specific about where the photos are to be sent, or it is very easy to wake up to find photos from your Eye-Fi floating all around your computer where you cannot retrieve them.

As for the video function, I found that it took quite a while to upload video footage. Not only that, it had to do this operation uninterrupted. That means if you have a video camera with the Eye-Fi Explore Video, then you better make certain you can leave it on for extended periods of time. Because if the battery runs out while the video is wirelessly downloading to your computer, then you have to do it again.

Textminator an arcade game for today’s youth

I realize that stand-up video games are practically a thing of the past, and there has not been a decent one since Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). Since home versions of the game along withGuitar Hero/Rock Band has pretty much eclipsed stand-up video game glory, its nice to see someone trying to renew it with Textminator.

As you can see, someone has even used the safety bars on the DDR game, but made the subject matter of the competition not dancing, but texting, something that the teens these days are really, really good at.

So why not make an arcade game where players must “face-off” with each other on stainless steel phone-like keypads? It sort of reminds me of MasterType, a very old-school computer program that helped me learn to type. In that game, the player had to save a spaceship by typing in the correct sequence of letters to shoot the guns to destroy the aliens. I am assuming the player does a similar sort of game in Textminator.

3D Rendering not difficult with ProFORMA

Whenever I think of 3D scanning, I think of this very complicated process of a multitude of cameras surrounding an object, taking pictures at every angle, and then blending them all together with a computer.

A PhD student at the Cambridge University Engineering Department named Qi Pan has made like Apple and “thought different”.

As you can see from the video after the jump, Pan took a detailed paper building and rotated it on an axis, filming it with an ordinary web camera. His ProFORMA (Probabilistic Feature-based On-line Rapid Model Acquisition) program scanned it, and he immediately had something ready for 3D model generation. He could even shake the real thing and move it, and the CG image would do the same. Wild!

Declutter for a healthy life

Clutter is often the result of having too much to do and too little time to contain everything— a pile of faxes to attend to, and post-it notes from the boss, stuck on the sides of the monitor, are but obvious signs. Similar signs can often be seen at home as well, such as a pile of unwashed clothes, messy closets and kitchen cabinets. Creating a mess is not a sin, but not clearing it probably is. Unless you are dealing with an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, chances are, your daily grind often leaves your surroundings far from organised. But if ignored, the mess may start getting the better of you, impacting your overall productivity and thought process. We list the advantages of decluttering.

Flu Fear Goes Viral on the Web

News outlets will always try to amp up readership with provocative headlines about scary subjects, but they must remember not to bury vital bits of context too deep -- or leave them out entirely. A case in point involves some of the breathless online reportage about H1N1 we've been seeing lately. Meanwhile, some well-intentioned online public health projects may actually present more hindrance than help.

Microsoft vs. TomTom: Low-Level Hum or Drums of War?

Usually, there are topics of discussion galore to choose from in the open source blogosphere, but once Microsoft filed suit against TomTom, it seems you couldn't read about anything else. TomTom faces a patent challenge over its use of the FAT file system in its Linux-based GPS units. Some see the suit as an attack on Linux itself.

TomTom Slings a Shot at Microsoft

Microsoft doesn't sue very often, so its filing of patent infringement complaints against GPS gadget maker TomTom -- in two legal venues, no less -- created quite a stir. Now TomTom is striking back with a countersuit, alleging that Microsoft is guilty of infringing its patents. Meanwhile, the open source community is up in arms, fearing Microsoft is pursuing a larger, anti-Linux agenda.

Garmin Takes a New Tack With Linux-Based Nav Phone

Is there a market for a $300 proprietary Linux-based navigation device with phone capabilities? Garmin's Nuvifone will put that question to the test. Known for its navigators, Garmin might be following Palm's playbook by adding phone capabilities. Given the popularity of the iPhone, the advance of the Androids, Palm's struggle to push the Pre -- can the Nuvifone find a niche?

GPS Safety, Part 2: Which Products Get It Right?

Using a GPS navigation unit in the car may not be as dangerous as texting, but some kinds of devices are safer than others. Voice-activated controls let the user make commands without taking his or her eyes off the road. Larger screens are easier to glance at while driving, and if you're using a cellphone-based nav app, investing in a dash or window mount is probably a good decision.

Planet too warm? Bury the CO2

Japan is the latest country to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and store it in deep geo logical formations, oceans or as mineral carbonates. There is good reason. The Land of the Rising Sun is the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet. It faces the weighty task of cutting them by 25% by 2020 against 1990 levels.

The Japanese project, at Mikawa power station near Fukuoka Prefecture, is a sign of the increasing credibility of CO2 capture and storage. It is the latest in a worldwide foursome: Sleipner field in the North Sea where the Norwegian oil and gas group Statoily captures CO2 and injects it beneath the seabed; The Weyburn-Midale project in Canada; and, Salah in Algeria.

Potato, onion push up food inflation to 13.68 per cent

The country is reeling under the impact of steep 13. 68 per cent rise in a number of food items pummelled by a supply crunch in staple potatoes.

Official price data based on the wholesale price index (WPI) released on Thursday showed that prices of potatoes have doubled during the one-year period ending October 31, 2009, while onions were costlier by 42.58 per cent.

The rise in prices potatoes can be primarily attributed to poor monsoons and traders not willing to release adequate supplies in the wholesale market.

In August, 1.77 million quintals of potatoes arrived in the countries wholesale markets, a nearly 20 per cent drop compared to last year’s 2.2 million quintals.

Dinosaur whodunit: Is Shiva crater the missing link?

It could be the plot of a mega disaster movie. A huge asteroid, nearly 40 km in diameter, comes hurtling towards earth. It strikes the planet, off the western coast of India, near Bombay High, creating a vast crater, 500 km wide. Temperatures in the area rise rapidly, reaching several thousand degrees Celsius and releasing more energy than the world’s entire nuclear arsenal. Soon enough, this energy starts devastating the atmosphere, rupturing the thin shell of air, water, soil and surface rock that nurtures and sustains life. The result is destruction and mass extinction.

The scenario above is not the figment of some scriptwriter’s imagination. Instead, it is the essence of a theory put forward by Sankar Chatterjee, a professor at Texas Tech University, to explain why dinosaurs became extinct almost 65 million years ago. Chatterjee’s hypothesis is that the crater, named Shiva, fast forwarded the extinction of dinosaurs. The jury is still out on his theory. But it renews the focus on that great unsolved mystery: Why did dinosaurs die out?

American palaeontologist Gregory Paul, who has researched dinosaurs for three decades, says, “It continues to remain unexplained how all dinosaurs around the entire globe were lost when other animal groups including their avian descendants were not killed off.”

Dinosaurs were the dominant form of life on earth for 140 million years and suddenly disappeared sometime between the end of the Mesozoic era and the beginning of the Cenozoic era, nearly 65 million years ago. Scientists refer to this period as the K-T Boundary.

Capturing sun rays in space to light up Japan

It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan’s space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.

The government has just picked a group of firms and a team of researchers tasked with turning the ambitious, multi-billion-dollar dream of unlimited clean energy into reality in coming decades.

Japan has long been a leader in solar and other renewable energies and this year set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.

But Japan’s boldest plan to date is the Space Solar Power System (SSPS), in which arrays of photovoltaic dishes several square kilometres in size would hover in geostationary orbit outside Earth’s atmosphere. “Since solar power is a clean and inexhaustible energy source, we believe this system will help solve the problems of energy shortage and global warming,” researchers at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the project participants, wrote in a report.

Raj Thackeray’s men assault colleague, suspended

MLAs belonging to Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navni-rman Sena (MNS) slapped their Samajwadi Party colleague Abu Azmi in the Assembly on Monday when he insisted on taking his oath of office in Hindi and not Marathi.

Later, four of the MNS’s 13 legislators were suspended for four years for unruly behaviour.

It was the first time the assembly was convened after the assembly election.

A tussle was expected because Azmi, a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, had insisted on taking oath in Hindi and Thackeray had demanded all legislators take oath in Marathi. However, none expected the MNS would resort to violence inside the Legislature.

The four suspended legislatures — Shishir Shinde, Ram Kadam, Vasant Gite and Ramesh Wanjhale were also charged with manhandling a woman MLA Meenakshi Patil (Peasants and Workers Party) who tried to save Azmi from the MNS brigade.

Even before Azmi could complete the first sentence of his oath, Wanjhale rushed through to the dais and uprooted the podium.

Record-Shattering Opening Expected for Video War Game

Both the video game industry and gamers are hungry for blockbusters, and a sure chart-topper is arriving next week: Activision Blizzard's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2." More than 10,000 midnight openings are scheduled for the title's launch in the U.S., and pre-orders are reportedly at an all-time-high.

Climate: G77 takes on West

The Barcelona talks on climate change saw further fireworks with the chairperson of one of the two parallel tracks of the negotiations coming under fire from G77 countries, including India, for directing the process away from the ambit of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Bali Action Plan, which differentiates between rich countries and the rest.

The Indian delegation warned that the proposals being made by the chairperson and industrialised countries did away with distinctions between developed and developing countries and imposed new commitments on developing countries.

India also strongly disagreed with US on the suggestion that areas of disagreement on crucial issues of a long-term agreement on climate change be sent to respective ministers to decide. India pointed out that it was not mere divergence of viewpoints but the fact that US and others were asking for a deal which fell out of the rules of the UN convention.

Climate history forces action -- after decades

US President Lyndon Johnson and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made stark warnings about global warming decades ago, but convincing evidence for action only amassed in recent years, experts say.

A 190-nation U.N. conference in Copenhagen in December is due to agree a new U.N. pact to curbgreenhouse gas emissions to slow a rise in temperatures to prevent floods, droughts, wildfires or rising sea levels.

Scientists have known for a century that greenhouse gases, for instance from burning coal, can warm the planet. But most experts say the evidence was thin until about the past decade.

"I don't think it (the world reaction) was too slow -- I think we have a very solid foundation for action now," said Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat. "The sceptics are no longer derailing the process."

He noted it was only in 1995 that the U.N's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change blamed mankind for global warming, saying cautiously that the "balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate".

"In recent years we've managed to move light years beyond that" level of certainty, he told Reuters during talks on the new U.N. treaty in Barcelona. The panel says it is at least 90 percent certain that global warming is man-made.

SBI Q2 net up 10 per cent on good earnings

Bolstered by a healthy growth in net interest income and core fee income, India's largest lender State Bank of India on Saturday posted a 10.19 per cent jump in its standalone net profit at Rs 2,490 crore for the second quarter of current financial year.

The bank saw a credit growth of 16.39 per cent in the quarter and is optimistic about achieving a growth rate of 22 per cent for the full financial year, SBI Chairman O P Bhatt told reporters in Mumbai.

"If the growth in credit picks up, we should achieve around 22 per cent growth by the end of this fiscal," Bhatt said.

The bank will have to raise Rs 36,000 crore in the next five years to maintain a capital adequacy ratio of 12 per cent, he said. CAR, at present, stands at 14.11 per cent.

SBI will have to make an additional Rs 5,000 crore provisioning on bad loans after the Reserve Bank directed banks to increase the loan loss coverage ratio to 70 per cent, in its quarterly monetary policy review, Bhatt said.

"We have to provide up to Rs 5,000 crore (to reach 70 per cent coverage)," Bhatt said.

Climate change bill faces US Senate test

WASHINGTON: A key US Senate committee forges ahead Tuesday with sweeping climate changelegislation, as its backers nervously watch time run short before December's make-or-break global summit in Denmark.

President Barack Obama's Democratic allies have split on the issue, with some worried about the possible impact on home-state industries, while his Republican foes have mostly united against the White House-backed approach.

With uncertainty clouding the legislation's fate, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will open its critical debate on the plan at 9:00 am (1400 GMT) after last-ditch efforts to avert a threatened Republican boycott.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, who chairs the committee, said late Monday she was holding out an olive branch to Republican colleagues who say they are unsatisfied with the Environmental ProtectionAgency analysis of the bill.

"We really hope they will return to the table," said Boxer, who added she might take steps to move forward with or without Republicans but underlined that "we're going to be very, very patient."

Boxer said she would invite EPA officials to appear and take any questions after the agency based its assessment on largely similar legislation that cleared the House of Representatives in June.

No snow on Kilimanjaro in 20 yrs

WASHINGTON: The snow capping Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest peak, is shrinking rapidly and could vanish altogether in 20 years, most likely due to global warming, a US study published on Monday said.

The ice sheet that capped Kilimanjaro in 1912 was 85% smaller by 2007, and since 2000 the existing ice sheet has shrunk by 26%, the pale climatologists said.

The findings point to the rise in global temperatures as the most likely cause of the ice loss. Changes in cloudiness and precipitation may have also played a smaller, less important role, especially in recent decades, they added.

“This is the first time researchers have calculated the volume of ice lost from the mountain’s ice fields,” said study co-author Lonnie Thompson, professor of earth sciences at Ohio State University. “If you look at the percentage of volume lost since 2000 versus the percentage of area lost as the ice fields shrink, the numbers are very close,” he said in the study.

While the yearly loss of the mountain glaciers is most apparent from the retreat of their margins, Thompson said an equally troubling effect is the thinning of the ice fields from the surface.

Bharti Airtel Q2 net up 13 pc at Rs 2,321 cr

The country's largest private telecom company, Bharti Airtel, on Friday posted a 13 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,321 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2009.

The revenue, as per the US accounting rules, grew by 9 per cent to Rs 9,846 crore, Bharti Airtel said on Friday.

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) margin improved to 42.1 per cent during Q2, against 41 per cent in the same quarter a year ago.

The EBITDA, a benchmark of profitability, was at Rs 4,142 crore in the second quarter, up by 12 per cent over the same period last year.

The company added 82.44 lakh customers during Q2, taking its market share in the wireless subscriber base to 23.5 per cent.

"Bharti continues to maintain the market leadership in the mobile segment, despite stiff competition," Bharti Airtel CMD Sunil Mittal said.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading at Rs 315.05 on BSE in morning trade, up 0.96 per cent over the previous close.

High Internet penetration revolutionising the world: Nikesh Arora

One of the Internet’s most influential figures on Friday painted the details of the humongous technological force unleashed on the planet, only to suggest that the revolution his company, search giant Google Inc, was spearheading beyond its own imagination.

“Sometimes, even I am surprised what we can do!” Nikesh Arora, president, global sales and business development at Google, told the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, on being asked if his company could possibly control everything that moves on the earth with the kind of personal information that is available to it.

Google specialises in software that helps users organise and sift through information – dramatically easing intellectual work but raising concerns on privacy.

On being asked whether Google’s Web-based operating system will be able to take on the preloaded operating systems on desktop popularised by Microsoft Corp, he said “The existing operating systems (OS) were designed for the times when we were not connected. We have already announced Chrome OS (Web-based) but I do not know if that will replace the existing OS. That’s for users to decide.”

Nuclear deal is India's passport to the world: Bush

Addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, former US president George W Bush said that N-deal shows that US recognizes India's nuclear programme. He said that the deal will empower the Indian economy and added that it is called India's passport to the world.

Speaking at the Summit, the former US President also said that during his tenure India was his priority in foreign policy and added that he saw India coming as big force long back and wanted America to pay attention.

Discussing the issue of terrorism, Bush said that both US and India were engaged in an ideological battle against extremists who kill innocents.

He said 9/11 in US and 26/11 in India gave both the nations clarity to tackle such acts of terror. The extremists hate our vision of human rights, prosperity and peace, he added.

On the issue of India's entry into the United Nations Security Council, Bush said he supports India's claim for a permanent berth and wants US to back India's claim.

Talking about his relations with Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh, Bush said, "I like your PM. He is a wise leader and really good man and I am proud to call him a friend."

Expressing his love for India, Bush said that his life has changed after retirement, but not his love for India. "America feels special kinship with the people of largest democracy," he said.

Bush also said that America welcomes more students from India than any other country.

EGoM meet on Tuesday on gas allocation

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on gas allocation will meet on Tuesday to discuss additional allocations of gas from the Krishna Godavari (KG) gas fields of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

This time around, gas allocations will also be made to sectors other than the power, fertiliser and city gas distribution and will include allocations to steel, petrochemicals, LPG and refineries.

While 40 million standard cubic metres per day of KG-D6 gas already stands allocated, the EGoM on Tuesday will consider allocation of another 50 mmscmd of gas. This follows projections by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) that the KG D-6 gas field has a maximum production potential of 90 mmscmd.

“The contractor (RIL) has informed that KG-D6 has the potential to produce more than 60 mmscmd and the production of 80 mmscmd will be achieved by the year end,” said the agenda of the EGoM meeting on Tuesday.

As a result, the EGoM proposes to allocate 20 mmscmd of gas on a firm basis and 30 mmscmd on a fall-back (temporary) basis.

The proposal is to allot 52 mmscmd to power including captive power plants. Out of this 18 mmscmd gas has been already allocated and another 12 mmscmd each is proposed to be allocated on firm and fall-back basis besides around 10 mmscmd to captive power plants.

HCL Tech to hike salaries

NEW DELHI: IT services provider HCL Technologies will increase the salaries of their employees by 0-10 per cent from October 1, which will result in a drop in its gross margin by 130 basis points.

"We have decided to increase the wages of the employees effective from October 1, 2009 by 0-10 per cent and this will result in our gross margin dropping by 130 basis points for the next two quarters," HCL Tech CEO Vineet Nayar said after announcing the first quarter results.

At the end of September 30, HCL Tech's total employee strength stood at 54,443. The company added 665 professionals in the IT services segment during the period.

Further, the company is looking at acquisitions aggressively to 'fill in the gap' in its service areas and offerings.

"Acquisition is a part of our growth strategy. You will see acquisitions hopefully in BPO, enterprise application space, engineering and cloud computing side," Nayar said.

"We have successfully managed five acquisitions in the last 3-4 quarters. Our margins are back to its original level of 19 per cent," he said, adding there is no fixed price tag for the acquisition.

NEW GADGET

Instead of coming out with tons of fancy new models to add to their iHome collection, iHome is just adding a new finish for their old players. This one to make their various iPod docks appeal to a much younger crowd. Also a much younger very female bunch. The ones that still love those tiny plastic Barbie shoes and find Ken’s bright white smile to be absolutely dreamy. Thankfully they come in a range of sizes and prices to appeal to any parent’s budget.

Having more than one Barbie themed iHome iPod dock to choose from should make things a lot easier. Although hopefully the girl you’re buying one for won’t grow out of her love of Barbie too fast. The first choice is the small Barbie iHome Portable Stereo Speaker System that’ll only cost you $19.99. Then is the Barbie Portable Water Resistant Stereo Sport Case that is priced at $39.99. The middle sized dock is the Barbie iHome Dual Alarm Clock, set at $49.99. That last of the bunch is the Barbie iHome Portable Stereo Speaker System for $79.99 all of which can be found through toys r you. The nice thing with these is that you could easily read reviews on the original iHome versions of them to find out if these are going to be the right fit.

Affordable houses to provide Rs 5,00,000 crore business opportunity

NEW DELHI: The affordable housing segment will offer business opportunities worth over Rs 5,00,000 crore (Rs 5 trillion) as India requires more

EMIs and tenure Land as investment Buying house? Quote price Home loan process Know your Home Loan How to transform your home

than ten million houses to be built by 2013-14.

According to a report prepared by property consultant Knight Frank on Public-Private-Partnership model on housing in India, an estimated 11.84 million dwelling units are required to be built in India by the end of 2013-14 across all income segments in 37 cities.

The need from the economically weaker section (EWS, lower income group (LIG) and lower mid income group (MIG) is nearly 90 per cent of the total housing requirement, it said.

"The cumulative task of delivering over 10 million units in affordable housing category in top 37 cities of the country quantifies to a business opportunity in excess of Rs 5,00,000 crore," the report, prepared for realty body NAREDCO, said.

Commenting on the potential of the segment, the report said though the margins realised from affordable homes are comparatively lesser, the segment offers an opportunity to exploit volume of transactions to derive higher profits.

August IIP beats expectations, up 10.4%

NEW DELHI: Industrial production grew by a whopping 10.4 per cent in August on the back of double-digit growth in mining, manufacturing and

electricity sectors.
Factory production had expanded by 1.7 per cent in the same month last year.

The impact of stimulus measures was evident as manufacturing grew by 10.2 per cent, electricity by 10.6 per cent in August.

The mining sector clocked a robust growth of 12.9 per cent in the month under review.

It was for the first time in June that the industry grew by a high rate of 8.2 per cent, after it was hit hard by the global financial crisis in the middle of September last year.

Axis Bank Economist Saugata Bhattacharya said the factory production is likely to breach nine-per cent mark in August mainly due to base effect.

"The rise of IIP is mainly due to base effect. The core sector is also high and exports have also picked up on the sequential basis," Kaur said.

Economic think-tank Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) has recently said as the economy is showing signs of recovery the industry would pick up further momentum with a growth of more than seven per cent in August and nearly nine per cent in October.

"The Index for Industrial Production (IIP) has shown an impressive growth of 6.8 per cent (in July). This figure was slightly higher than the last year's growth. It is definitely a pointer towards the revival of industrial growth," the IEG had said in its monthly monitor for the economy.

Indian industry came under adverse impact after US financial services icon Lehman Brothers collapsed, deepening the financial crisis across the world.

US facing dearth of skilled workforce

NEW YORK: In what could be signs of prolonged trouble for employees and businesses even after the economic recovery, the lack of better educated

and trained workforce in the US is intensifying the unemployment problem, says a study.

The study by an independent commission, The Springboard Project, said the US is at risk of losing its "competitive edge" and its workers' economic potential by not addressing business' growing demand for a better educated and better trained workforce.

"American workers' unmet need for further education and training is exacerbating today's unemployment problem and portending long-term trouble for workers and businesses - even after the economy recovers," the report stated.

The project is an independent commission started by Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers, is creating innovative approaches to help US workers to develop the skills they need to remain competitive in the global marketplace.

Indicating increased need for a better skilled workforce as much as 65 per cent of employers surveyed said they would require an associate's degree or higher for most positions.

The survey found a glaring need for workers with higher levels of skills and credentials, which was in sharp contrast with employers' modest efforts to provide training.

Govt determined to solve problems of ethnic Indians: Malaysia PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Saturday underlined his government's resolve to solve the "serious problems" of the

ethnic Indian community here, but said "it will take a huge effort" to resolve them.

Najib admitting that the woes were genuine and needed to be addressed.

"We will work with all, political parties in and outside his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) including NGOs," Najib said, acknowledging that the "problems have been with us for a long time and it will take a huge effort to make a difference in resolving these problems."

These problems include poverty, higher standard of education at Tamil schools, squatters and creation of business opportunities for the ethnic Indians," Najib told reporters after launching the Malaysian Makkal Sakti Party (MMSP), a newly formed party led by a former member of the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

Makkal Sakti was the crying call of the outlawed Hindraf group, which organised the November 25 rally of ethnic Indians in 2007 which was attended by over 20,000 members of the minority community to protest against alleged marginalisation of ethnic Indians in this country.

Asked if Makkal Sakti or People's Power would be invited into ruling BN coalition, Najib replied that it was up to Barisan Supreme Council.

"The majority of the people want the harmony among races to be maintained. They want progress and this is what they will get as long as they believe in the government of the day and the 1Malaysia concept," he was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying.

"I see that the Makkal Sakti has many similarities with the concept of 1Malaysia - that the people come first," he underlined.

Najib said that he agreed to launch the party because he was the prime minister for all races in the country. Najib formally launched the party today attended by more than 3,000 ethnic Indians.

The Prime Minister brushed aside speculation that he had instigated the formation of the MMSP despite having the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the country's largest ethnic Indian political party, in the BN fold.

"Makkal Sakti was not formed on my instigation but eventually it would be good for these (Indian-based political parties) to consolidate. The formation of this party is probably the political evolution for Indians in the country," he added.

"I do not want to say whether the MIC failed or succeeded (in assisting the community)... but it is the choice of the Indians (formation of MMSP). What is important is that they support the government," Bernama quoted Najib as saying.

Asked if MMSP would be BN's trump card in winning back the support of the community, which deserted the BN at the 2008 general election, the Prime Minister said it was not up to him to say if the newly launched party would be BN's trump card in facing future general elections.

"But Makkal Sakti has brought a lot of support and we hope it can attract more support. On their inclusion into the BN we will discuss that later. It is up to the BN supreme council. Whether they are in or out (of the BN), we are willing to work together and that is the most important thing," he added.

Recession-hit Britain to sell off state assets: Prime Minister Gordon Brown

LONDON: The British government will sell off a raft of state assets to help reduce its debt, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was to announce today. The government is to sell off USD 25.4 billion, of assets, Brown was to say, according to extracts from a keynote speech he was to give in London.

Brown was to outline details of initial sales that could raise three billion pounds, including the Channel Tunnel linking Britain to France; the 33 per cent stake in European uranium corsortium URENCO; the Tote bookmakers; the River Thames crossings at Dartford, east of London; and the Student Loans Company.

Brown is aiming to halve Britain's deficit over the next four years.

"We also need a deficit reduction plan that supports growth and jobs, not one that snuffs out recovery before it has started," Brown was to say.
The government will also sell off surplus real estate as market conditions improve.
Brown was to say government should focus on "what it does best".
The funds raised will help pay off Britain's debts, he was to say.

Pak court dismisses FIRs against 26/11 accused Hafiz Saeed

Pakistan's Lahore High Court on Monday dismissed the FIRs lodged under anti-terrorism act against JuD chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed, who is the main

accused in the 26/11 terror attacks.

“Anti-terror law does not apply to Saeed,” the high court said while dismissing the case.

The Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief is the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 in which more than 170 people were killed.

Saeed’s lawyer has all along claimed the case against his client was weak.

Pakistani police had registered two First Information Reports (FIRs) under the Anti-Terrorism Act against Saeed for making speeches last month in which he incited people to wage jehad against infidels.

The cases were filed in connection with Saeed's visit to Faisalabad on August 27 and 28. While addressing the gatherings, Saeed reportedly highlighted the importance of jehad and incited his followers to wage war on infidels. "Saeed had also sought donations from the gatherings for jehad," a source in a law enforcement agency said.

Saeed was placed under house arrest in December last year after the JuD was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council. He was freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court in June.

India has been insisting that Pakistan should take action against Saeed for his alleged role in masterminding the Mumbai attacks but Islamabad has said the evidence provided by New Delhi against the JuD chief is not adequate for arresting or prosecuting him.

Obama to join Diwali celebrations at White House

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will personally join members of the Asian American community to celebrate Diwali, 'the festival of lights',

at the White House next week.

"At the East Room ceremony, the president will observe Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, a holiday celebrated across faiths on Oct 14," the White House announced on Friday.

While it was former president George W Bush, who started the tradition of celebrating Diwali at the White House, he never personally participated in the celebrations, leaving his top administration officials to grace the occasion.

Also, Diwali was not celebrated in the main White House, but in a building attached to it.

The East Room is usually used for ceremonial occasions. It was here that Bush signed the enabling law for the India-US civil nuclear deal.

The White House also announced that Obama will also sign an Executive Order Oct 14 restoring the White House Advisory Commission and the Interagency Working Group to address the issues concerning the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.