All information about Andhra Pradesh (India)

Andhra Paresh is placed in the south of India. It’s total is 275,000 sq. km and surrounded by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and the Bay of Bengal it also contain mountainous and third largest state of India.



Godavri and Krishna are the major river s of the state and always hot and humid climate is there. In Andhra Pradesh, so many famous temples like Tirupati in Chittoor.

The capital of Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad) joint to Secunderabad by a lake called Hussain Sagar Lake and attracts large numbers of tourists.

85% people of Andhra Pradesh speak Telugu and Tamil also speak widely in south region. Tourist Destinations of Andhra Pradesh are Puttaparthi, Hydrabad, Thirupati.

Health Mueseum, Char Minar, State Mueseum, Birla Mandir, Art Gallery, Macca Masjid and Nehru Zoological Park also attract tourists.

Unique festivals of the state are Sankranti, Dasara, and Vinayaka Chavithi, Ugadi. Classical dance of Andhra Pradesh is Kuchipudi.

New Delhi AksharDham Temple in India - A best tour place

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Eleven of the top 15 Best information technology(IT) companies

Eleven of the top 15 Best Companies to Work for in India are information technology companies, according to a joint study conducted by Mercer and Business Today.

Global software giant Microsoft pipped domestic IT giant Infosys, which slipped the ranks, to emerge as the best company to work for in India. Two companies -- domestic IT major Satyam and global banking giant HSBC -- have moved out of the list this year.

Although high levels of remuneration and open communication were cited as key drivers of engagement by surveyed employees, interesting work, 'challenging' targets and growth and development opportunities emerged as the key differentiators between the best employers and other participating companies.

The best employers in India have invested in world-class HR processes and policies and seem to have a clear understanding of employee aspirations. Leadership development, internal transfers, global opportunities, mentoring, two-way communication and reward systems has emerged as a common thread in the top 15 companies.
Read more from: http://infotech.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/msid-2538158.cms

1st ODI, India vs Pakistan cricket match(2007) in Guwahati on Monday

Salman Butt provided the early momentum, after being included ahead of Imran Nazir, to bolster Pakistan's shaky opening partnership.

He was on song as he stroked his way to 50 off 57 deliveries, including eight boundaries, before he was run-out by Yuvraj Singh.

More from: http://specials.rediff.com

This year Foreign investors have bought some $16.7 billion in Indian shares

On Thursday evening, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, or SEBI, completed rules governing foreign participation in this fast-growing market, giving clarity to a closely watched situation that has disrupted the exchanges.

The board reiterated some hard-line proposals first floated last week, which caused the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex index to decline more than 9 percent the next day, and hinted at further oversight. “This is not the last set of decisions that you would see regarding foreign investment in India,” the SEBI chairman, M. Damodaran, said in a news conference in Mumbai.

Foreign investors have bought some $16.7 billion in Indian shares this year, according to Bloomberg, 43 percent of that since the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate on Sept. 18.

Foreign investors who have not registered with Indian regulators, a sometimes cumbersome process, can no longer use popular financial instruments known as participatory notes to invest in the market, Mr. Damodaran said on Thursday.

In essence, the move eliminates anonymous investors from the market, which could drive out short-term, speculative cash coming from hedge funds and banks. About half of all foreign investment in India’s stock markets is in the form of participatory notes. There was $89.8 billion in participatory notes outstanding in August, up from $8.1 billion in March 2004, SEBI reported on Oct. 16.

The board also said that entities that were not regulated in their home market could not use these notes, another potential blow to hedge funds, which often face little or no regulation. The regulator said investors using participatory notes based on derivatives would need to unwind their positions in 18 months. In addition, SEBI opened the markets slightly to possible long-term investors, saying that pension funds, endowments and university trusts could become registered foreign investors.

The rules go into effect Friday, Mr. Damodaran said.

Indian market regulators are facing what is becoming a common predicament in emerging markets: too much money. There is no perfect way to let the air out of a stock market bubble, say analysts and former regulators. Heavy-handed measures often drive too many investors away, while verbal warnings have little impact.

“There is no evidence I can think of where regulators have successfully intervened” to curb fast-growing stock markets, said Lynton Jones, a founder of Bourse Consult, a London-based adviser to stock exchanges.

“The trouble with markets that are emerging or have just emerged is that the government seems to feel that it can control everything,” Mr. Jones said. In the West, most participants think “markets are markets and they have to sort themselves out.”

Some economists think the impact from SEBI’s hard-line stance will be short term.

“Unless you make controls really draconian, they won’t have any lasting effect,” said Willem H. Buiter, a professor at the London School of Economics and an adviser to Goldman Sachs. “When people believe there is money to be made, they’ll find a way around them.”

When Thai regulators introduced new capital controls in December, the stock market plunged 15 percent the next day, its largest drop in about a decade. Regulators were hoping to cool appreciation of the baht and the stock market by forcing foreign investors to put 30 percent of all incoming investment cash into reserve accounts that earned no interest.

After the market drop, regulators quickly altered their rule, omitting stock market investments.

Chinese regulators have raised interest rates four times this year, hoping to slow appreciation in the country’s stock market, with little effect.

“Can you manage a market? Not really,” said Thomas Krantz, the secretary general of the World Federation of Exchanges, a trade group for financial markets based in Paris. “The market is a force in its own right. You can only do your best to make clear rules, say what you want and why you are doing it.”
Read more from: http://www.nytimes.com/

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA - Inspiring Personality of India

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SWAMI VIVEKANANDA'S inspiring personality was well known both in India and in America during the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. The unknown monk of India suddenly leapt into fame at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago in 1893, at which he represented Hinduism. His vast knowledge of Eastern and Western culture as well as his deep spiritual insight, fervid eloquence, brilliant conversation, broad human sympathy, colourful personality, and handsome figure made an irresistible appeal to the many types of Americans who came in contact with him. People who saw or heard Vivekananda even once still cherish his memory after a lapse of more than half a century.
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In America Vivekananda's mission was the interpretation of India's spiritual culture, especially in its Vedantic setting. He also tried to enrich the religious consciousness of the Americans through the rational and humanistic teachings of the Vedanta philosophy. In America he became India's spiritual ambassador and pleaded eloquently for better understanding between India and the New World in order to create a healthy synthesis of East and West, of religion and science.

In his own motherland Vivekananda is regarded as the patriot saint of modern India and an inspirer of her dormant national consciousness, To the Hindus he preached the ideal of a strength-giving and man-making religion. Service to man as the visible manifestation of the Godhead was the special form of worship he advocated for the Indians, devoted as they were to the rituals and myths of their ancient faith. Many political leaders of India have publicly acknowledged their indebtedness to Swami Vivekananda.

The Swami's mission was both national and international. A lover of mankind, be strove to promote peace and human brotherhood on the spiritual foundation of the Vedantic Oneness of existence. A mystic of the highest order, Vivekananda had a direct and intuitive experience of Reality. He derived his ideas from that unfailing source of wisdom and often presented them in the soulstirring language of poetry.

The natural tendency of Vivekananda's mind, like that of his Master, Ramakrishna, was to soar above the world and forget itself in contemplation of the Absolute. But another part of his personality bled at the sight of human suffering in East and West alike. It might appear that his mind seldom found a point of rest in its oscillation between contemplation of God and service to man. Be that as it may, he chose, in obedience to a higher call, service to man as his mission on earth; and this choice has endeared him to people in the West, Americans in particular.
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In the course of a short life of thirty-nine years (1863-1902), of which only ten were devoted to public activities-and those, too, in the midst of acute physical suffering-he left for posterity his four classics: Jnana-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Karma-Yoga, and Raja-Yoga, all of which are outstanding treatises on Hindu philosophy. In addition, he delivered innumerable lectures, wrote inspired letters in his own hand to his many friends and disciples, composed numerous poems, and acted as spiritual guide to the many seekers, who came to him for instruction. He also organized the Ramakrishna Order of monks, which is the most outstanding religious organization of modern India. It is devoted to the propagation of the Hindu spiritual culture not only in the Swami's native land, but also in America and in other parts of the world.
Article source:http://www.ramakrishna.org/sv.htm

23 Octuber,2007 News "Air Deccan woman engineer found dead"

Air Deccan woman engineer found dead

A 25-year-old woman engineer, who worked with Air Deccan, is found dead under mysterious circumstances near the taxiway at the domestic airport in Delhi.

Dutt wants to be home for Diwali

Earlier the actor surrenders calmly after receiving the copy of the judgement, reports

Andaman and Nicobar Map and Information

Total Area: 8249 Sq.km

Population: 356265 upto 2001

Religion: Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain

Location: Bay of Bengal

Andaman Island: Saddle Peak, (732 Metres)

Nicobar Island: Mount Thullier(642 Metres)

Today (September-6-2007) Breaking News from Times of India

ISRO bleeds as scientists leave
Droves of scientists are leaving for greener pastures with the result that ISRO is hiring scientists in a great hurry to replace hundreds of trained hands.

GOC accused of sexual harassment
A woman Army officer has accused a major-general of "misconduct" in the strategically-located Leh area, sending shockwaves down the ranks.

New law to target sex workers' clients
Government is set to amend the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act to bring clients under its ambit, rendering them liable to imprisonment upto six months.

Show of strength at Malabar
Left Front hit the roads on Wednesday against the joint naval exercises.

Osteoarthritis is India's No. 1 ailment
Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the cartilage that acts as a cushion between bones in joints begins to wear out, causing inflammation and pain in joints, thereby restricting movement. Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease.

Voter IDs for Bangla nationals!
There could be around one lakh Bangladesh nationals in Karnataka: this speculative figure could well describe the authorities' shoddy way of handling foreign visitors. The exact number is not available as almost all of them have voter identity cards!

India world's top BPO destination
NEW DELHI: When it comes to outsourcing, India continues to rule as the favourite global destination, even though factors like emergence of cheaper destinations, employee and salary crunch are adversely affecting the sector, a recent study shows.

Microsoft hints at iPhone rival
SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp said that it is "not unreasonable" for the company to introduce a mobile phone combined with features of its Zune digital music player to compete with Apple Inc's iPhone.

We are not in wrong, says TRAI
NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator TRAI has dismissed mobile operators' allegations of being non-transparent while recommending criteria to allocate spectrum to existing players and said it has not violated any law.

Sony unveils 'smart' camera
TOKYO: For those fed up with the family photos where one person is perpetually frowning, a new Japanese camera is said to automatically weed out pictures when a person isn't smiling.

Movie Reviews

RGV Ki Aag

Dhokha

Ninade Nenapu

Nali Naliyutha

RBI wants local banks to address the issue of rising cases of frauds in the mortgage market

Banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants local banks to address the issue of rising cases of frauds in the mortgage market. RBI, according to banking sources, has raised concerns relating to inappropriate valuations with the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The regulator wants banks to look at this issue from a holistic perspective.

IBA is now looking at issuing a policy document to highlight the selection norms for banks appointing independent valuers. Considering that banks need to migrate to Basel II standards in the next few months, periodic valuations of assets are gaining greater significance. RBI has indicated to IBA that in the recent past, there had been several instances where banks had opted for valuers who were offering services at lower costs. But some of these valuers have misled banks, thus impacting the quality of assets.

Industry sources point out most banks typically look at the panel of valuers approved by the Income Tax department for evaluating individuals paying wealth tax. However, the institution of valuers is not a statutory body like ICAI, although a legislation aimed at creating a similar body for valuers is on the cards.

A senior official from IBA said, “Talks are at a preliminary stage, we will be putting down criteria based on which banks can appoint valuers. Also, we may appoint our own panel of valuers for properties whose value exceeds Rs 50 crore.” In its communication to IBA, the central bank also cited instances of many document-related frauds. Tamil Nadu has set up an online mortgage loan registry and Andhra Pradesh is also planning to follow suit.

IBA is now in talks with the Credit Information Bureau of India (CIBIL) to develop a common database on frauds detected by banks in the industry. Sources added with increasing availability of reprinting machines (colour xeroxes), it is possible to secure exact replicas of documents. Especially, in cases where the property is still under construction, it is difficult for valuers to verify the physical existence of the property. Read more from: indiatimes.com

Reliance Communications Ltd. of India buy data-communications-services provider Yipes Holdings Inc. of the U.S.

Telecommunications-service provider Reliance Communications Ltd. of India yesterday said it signed a pact to buy data-communications-services provider Yipes Holdings Inc. of the U.S. for $300 million.

"We have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% stake in U.S.-based Yipes Holdings in an all-cash 12-billion-rupee, or $300 million, transaction," said Reliance Communications' Chairman Anil Ambani.

"This is the largest acquisition that Reliance Communications has ever made....We expect this acquisition to significantly enhance the growth rate, profitability and returns of our global data business," he said.

The news drove Reliance Communications' stock price up 3.5%, or 19.35 rupees, to 574.05 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange yesterday, after the stock rose to an record of 577.40 rupees intraday.

Reliance Communications, one of India's largest telecom operators, bought closely held Yipes, whose headquarters is in San Francisco, through Reliance Communications' wholly owned unit Flag Telecom.

"This is a big buy for Reliance in terms of strategic fit," said Harit Shah, a Mumbai-based analyst at Angel Broking.

"It will give R-Com a footprint in the U.S. enterprise market and advance its plans to become a major telecommunications player globally," he added.

Yipes counts NTT Data Corp. of Japan and Verizon Communications Inc. of the U.S. as its clients. Yipes expects its revenue to grow to about $100 million in the year ending March 31, Yipes Chief Executive John Scanlon said.

Yipes owns more than 22,000 route kilometers of fiber across 14 U.S. metropolitan areas.

Yipes has benefited from the growth of electronic trading, where financial exchanges such as INET at the Nasdaq Stock Market and Globex at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange employ split-second trading strategies. Yipes's network connects buy-side and sell-side traders with the different exchanges.
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118460843906467786.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

India's Stock Market Preview : Banks, DLF, Hindustan Petroleum

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, added 0.5 percent to 14,880.24, a third straight record. The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange was little changed at 4359.30. Nifty Futures for July delivery was little changed at 4355.25.

Overseas investors bought a net 4.1 billion rupees ($100.6 million) worth of Indian shares on July 3, according to the latest figures from the Securities & Exchange Board of India's Web site.

Banks: Indian lenders are cutting interest rates on deposits of more than 1.5 million rupees, the Hindu Business Line reported, citing local bank officials. Some banks have slashed interest rates on deposits by as much as 2 percentage points to less than 10 percent, the newspaper said, citing J. Moses Harding, head of wholesale banking at IndusInd Bank Ltd.

ICICI Bank Ltd. (ICICIBC IN), the nation's most valuable lender, added 19.15 rupees, or 2 percent, to 985.35. State Bank of India (SBIN IN), the country's largest lender, fell 19.05 rupees, or 1.2 percent, to 1563.4.

DLF Ltd. (DLFU IN): The real-estate developer controlled by billionaire Kushal Pal Singh, will list on the Indian stock exchanges today. The company raised 91.9 billion rupees in the nation's biggest initial share sale, selling 175 million shares at 525 rupees apiece.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL IN): The state-run oil marketer and refiner said its venture with billionaire Lakshmi Mittal will raise as much as $1 billion through overseas borrowings in next four years. Hindustan Petroleum rose 0.5 rupee, or 0.2 percent, to 265.95.

JM Financial Ltd. (JM IN): The company, Morgan Stanley's former Indian partner, said it agreed to buy a 60 percent stake in ASK Securities India Pvt. for 581.4 million rupees. The venture will focus on equity research, institutional sales and trading. JM Financial declined 7.15 rupees, 0.7 percent, to 1,058.8.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC IN): India's largest oil producer had its stock rating cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy'' at Goldman Sachs. The shares declined 13.65 rupees, or 1.5 percent, to 874.25.

India's Stock Market Preview : Banks, DLF, Hindustan Petroleum

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, or Sensex, added 0.5 percent to 14,880.24, a third straight record. The S&P/CNX Nifty Index on the National Stock Exchange was little changed at 4359.30. Nifty Futures for July delivery was little changed at 4355.25.

Overseas investors bought a net 4.1 billion rupees ($100.6 million) worth of Indian shares on July 3, according to the latest figures from the Securities & Exchange Board of India's Web site.

Banks: Indian lenders are cutting interest rates on deposits of more than 1.5 million rupees, the Hindu Business Line reported, citing local bank officials. Some banks have slashed interest rates on deposits by as much as 2 percentage points to less than 10 percent, the newspaper said, citing J. Moses Harding, head of wholesale banking at IndusInd Bank Ltd.

ICICI Bank Ltd. (ICICIBC IN), the nation's most valuable lender, added 19.15 rupees, or 2 percent, to 985.35. State Bank of India (SBIN IN), the country's largest lender, fell 19.05 rupees, or 1.2 percent, to 1563.4.

DLF Ltd. (DLFU IN): The real-estate developer controlled by billionaire Kushal Pal Singh, will list on the Indian stock exchanges today. The company raised 91.9 billion rupees in the nation's biggest initial share sale, selling 175 million shares at 525 rupees apiece.

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL IN): The state-run oil marketer and refiner said its venture with billionaire Lakshmi Mittal will raise as much as $1 billion through overseas borrowings in next four years. Hindustan Petroleum rose 0.5 rupee, or 0.2 percent, to 265.95.

JM Financial Ltd. (JM IN): The company, Morgan Stanley's former Indian partner, said it agreed to buy a 60 percent stake in ASK Securities India Pvt. for 581.4 million rupees. The venture will focus on equity research, institutional sales and trading. JM Financial declined 7.15 rupees, 0.7 percent, to 1,058.8.

Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC IN): India's largest oil producer had its stock rating cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy'' at Goldman Sachs. The shares declined 13.65 rupees, or 1.5 percent, to 874.25.

Starbucks Corp will send application for its entry into India

Coffee shop chain Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O) will send a revised application for its entry into India after its earlier proposal for a franchise operation was put on hold, the Business Standard newspaper said on Wednesday. India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is of the view that the U.S. firm should enter through a foreign direct investment route as its franchise plan did not conform to foreign investment norms, the paper said, citing a government official.

It has been reported that Starbucks had proposed to enter the fast-expanding Indian market through a franchise 51 percent owned by its Indonesian franchisee V.P. Sharma, with the rest held by India's Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani.

This arrangement was not acceptable as Sharma was a non-resident Indian, the official told the paper.

"We have not send the proposal to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which will take the final decision on the matter. We don't know how the company will draft its new proposal and the route it will take," the official said.

Earlier, a local newspaper had reported that Starbucks had refiled its application, opting for a franchise rather than a planned joint venture because India had not cleared its proposal.

Foreign single-brand retailers can take 51 percent in a venture with a local Indian partner, while multiple-brand retailers are limited to cash-and-carry or franchise and license operations.Read more from: http://www.washingtonpost.com

Bharat Diamond Bourese Mumbai operations will starts before Diwali

India is set to become a diamond trading hub in the next two years as the ambitious Bharat Diamond Bourse is expected to start operations at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai by this Diwali.

As an international destination the Bharat Diamond Bourse aims to further enhance India position in the world diamond market once it becomes fully operational by October November Bharat Diamond Bourse president Anoop said.

With world class facilities under one roof the bourse world contribute to 90 percent of country’s diamond trading activist he added.

Bharat Diamond Bourse is establishing a 18 lakh sq ft complex at Bandra Kurla Complex a business district in the suburbs at an estimated cost of Rs900-1000crore.

The main objective is to established a bourse for promotion and export of diamonds and to provide infrastructure and other facilities in India for domestic and overseas buyers and sellers of diamonds.

Instituted to cater all the needs of the diamond trade Bharat Diamond Bourse is anticipating to deal with over 30,000 people a day.

The facilities at BDB would include officers of diamond traders strong rooms, locked and customs clearance facilities with all modern facilities required to carry day to day business

Special organic digesters capable of dealing with a variety of garbage

Das, who has developed special organic digesters capable of dealing with a variety of garbage, has become a pioneer of sorts in this state which boasts of human development indices that compare with the developed world, but has some way to go when it comes to scientifically managing garbage.

So efficient and clean are the digesters that Biotech, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that he runs, has been named a finalist for the 2007 Ashden Awards in Britain, sometimes called the ‘Green Oscar' for the prestige it carries.

It all started in 1994 when Das, tired of seeing mountains of stinking food waste lying about unattended in public places and crawling with flies, rats and other disease-breeding vermin, decided to do something about it. His strategy was simple; find cheap, environment-friendly ways to convert what seemed like an endless supply of rich organic matter into valuable methane (cooking gas) and fertiliser.

Once Das had perfected a digester that worked well on food waste, all he had to do was nose around for the smelliest and biggest dumps in the state's urban areas. He struck gold in the town of Kadakkal in Kollam district where now an integrated recycling plant digests one tonne of waste daily to produce three Kw of electricity that lights up 120 street lamps.

‘'The fact that the public in Kadakkal was already agitated over garbage accumulation helped a great deal in seeing through the Biotech project,'' M. Nazeer, an elected panchayat (local body) leader, told IPS.

Segregation into wet waste, dry biodegradable waste and recyclable solids like glass, metal and plastic is still done manually. For his biogas plant what is most valuable is wet waste -- a rich slurry, which in Kadakkal includes blood and effluents from the local slaughter house, that is run through a pre-digester to optimise bacterial action.

Biotech's ‘integrated waste recycling plant' is equipped to deal with all types of waste generated by markets, slaughter houses, and restaurant kitchens. The success of the integrated plant is that it generates biogas for fuel, electricity for lighting and a valuable organic fertiliser called NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potash mix). The plant incorporates no less than five technologies -- biomethanisation, biocineration, leach beds, waste water treatment and vermicomposting -- to complete the process.

While the biomethanisation unit handles easily degradable materials such as fish and meat, and food leftovers, the biocinerator is used to burn slow degrading wastes such as dry leaves, plants and paper. The plant uses leach bed technology to treat vegetables and green leaves. Anaerobic waste treatment is carried out in a special reactor and the final part of the process employs earthworms in a vermicompost unit.

"All this can be set up at a cost of just Rs.1.6 million (40,000 US dollars) as we know from experience at Kadakkal which became the first panchayat in the state to produce electricity from solid waste". Das has now set up ten such plants across the state.

Explaining the secret of his technique Das said: "The usual treatment plants installed in fish markets and slaughter houses are not capable of dealing with dry leaves and plants. Treatment of fibre-rich vegetable matter creates scum in biogas plants, reducing their efficiency. Burning wastes using an incinerator creates pollution and is wasteful. The solution was to apply different technologies at appropriate stages.

At Kadakkal nothing is wasted. Water is extracted and recycled so that it can be sent back to the abattoirs to help flush them out. The electricity generated by the plant is used to run all the equipment, while the biogas produced by the methanisation unit provides all the fuel needed for the incinerator.

Biotech's pride is the bio-waste treatment plant located at Sreekaryam, outside the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. This efficient plant is capable of processing 250 kg of waste daily and produces three Kw of electricity.

A.P.Murali, president of the Sreekaryam panchayat, said : "Fish, fruit and vegetable waste generated by the market is fed into the treatment plant and converted into methane gas. Water used for the processing is recycled and fed back into the unit. The methane gas is passed through special biofilters and used to power a generator that supplies electricity to street lamps through a control panel. And the whole unit only cost Rs 700,000 (17,000 dollars).''

Biotech units thrive on human waste. Kumbalangi, in costal Ernakulam district, which has been declared a ‘model tourism village' has 140 Biotech plants designed to run on waste from lavatories. Kumbalangi also has 800 plants that produce biogas from other wastes, set up with support from the central government and the tourism department.

Biotech plants have many advantages over the old centralised garbage disposal systems. There are no collection and transportation problems and all the maintenance can be done on site. Plants can be designed and scaled up or down according to the needs of the customer. The popular domestic version needs just one sq m of space to fit into and manages both solid and liquid waste simultaneously.

Vizhinjam panchayat, in which the international tourist destination of Kovalam is situated, now has 575 homes with garbage digesters installed and Biotech has a long list of orders.

J.Asuntha Mohan, president of Vizhinjam panchayat, said: "After installing the plants people here have been able to save substantial amounts of money against expenses on imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) that is used for cooking. We are now trying to install a large recycling plant at Kovalam that can tackle the one tonne of garbage generated daily by the tourism industry.''

Well-known environmentalist and literary figure Sugathakumari said bio-waste digesters are a boon to Kerala. "Our local bodies have no pre-planning. They do not know how to utilise the bio-waste effectively while spending millions of dollars in the name of garbage removal,‘' she said. "The integrated recycling plant solves the critical problem of garbage disposal while producing cooking gas, electricity and organic fertiliser. What more can you ask for?'' Read more from:http://www.ipsnews.net/

mysterious coin shortage gripping the eastern Indian city Calcutta

CALCUTTA, India — A mysterious coin shortage gripping the eastern Indian city of Calcutta has shopkeepers begging for change from beggars and buying coins at prices above their face value.

No one knows exactly why there is no change in Calcutta or why the dearth has affected only this city of 14 million, but it has spurred the Reserve Bank of India to emergency measures, distributing millions of coins to try to satisfy the demand.

Since the coin shortage became acute at the beginning of June, the bank has distributed nearly 5 million rupees — $121,950 — worth of coins, including one million on Thursday alone, said Nilanjan Saha, the bank's treasurer in the city.

But the emergency supplies have failed to stem the demand.

Some 2,000 people stood in two lines on a recent day at the bank to exchange currency notes for coins, many planning to resell them for a profit.

One woman, who asked not to be named, set up shop outside the bank selling packets of 100 rupee coins for 120 rupees.

Others braved the long lines, saying they could not afford those prices.

"I have come at 7 a.m. and after four hours, I am yet to reach the counter," said Laxmi Narayan, whose brother runs a roadside shop selling bread and eggs.

"We can't afford to pay the extra 20 rupees for 100 rupees worth of coins, this eats up our profit margin," said Narayan.

Many have found creative alternatives.

"It may sound strange, but we have found that beggars are a good
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source of coins," said Mum Poddar, who runs a small shop selling stationary.

Frustrated customers said they were being forced to buy more produce so the amount would be a round number, or were getting their change in other goods.

"If I am supposed to get back one rupee or 50 paise, the shop owner gives me one or two toffees, saying he does not have any coins," said Sandeep Kundu, a local resident. There are 100 paise in a rupee.

Bank officials said they were mystified by the shortage. "There is no reason," said Saha. "But I have heard reports that some unscrupulous traders were melting coins because the face value of the coins are lower than the metal value."

The bank was also investigating claims the coins were being melted down to make razor blades.

There are "reports that as many as six blades can be made from one single one rupee coin," said bank security officer Subal Chandra Naskar. Read more new about india from:http://www.connpost.com/

Overvaluation of India's currency

Large capital inflows could result in overvaluation of India's currency and erode competitiveness of traditional and goods sectors in the long term, the deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India said on Thursday.

Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan, in a paper for a Bank of France seminar in Paris posted on the RBI's Web site www.rbi.org.in, said large remittances and a sustained spurt in software exports were complicating exchange rate management.

"(These) coupled with capital inflows have the potential for possible overvaluation of the currency and the resultant erosion of long-term competitiveness of other traditional and goods sectors," Mohan said.

India is part of the way through a three-phase, five-year plan towards greater capital account convertibility.

The economy, Asia's third-largest, has grown at an average 8.6 percent over the last four fiscal years, and has attracted massive amounts of foreign investments and capital.

This has been driving up the partially convertible rupee, which hit a nine-year high of 40.28 per dollar in late May, and the central bank has been intervening in the currency market since then to stop it from rising further.

Mohan said opening up the capital account meant market participants needed to be better able to absorb greater volatility and shocks.

"In the context of progress towards further capital account convertibility, the market participants are going to be faced with increased risks on multiple accounts: volatility in capital flows, volatility in asset prices, increased contagion and state of ability of legacy institutions in managing risks."

While India has inflation goals, Mohan said inflation targeting may not be appropriate, partly because financial markets were not developed enough.

Mohan said interest rate deregulation was essential to smooth monetary policy transmission, but policy makers were constrained by special considerations in a large and developing economy.

Particularly, monetary policy transmission was muted by administered interest rates on small savings schemes and provident funds, as they competed for funds with banks.

Mohan said the RBI may need to step up open market operations in the government bond market to improve the transmission of monetary policy.

Such operations could differ from its daily and weekly operations to manage cash in circulation and capital inflows.

As the government bond market was yet to develop depth, "there is a case for secondary market operation across the yield and maturity spectrum", he said.

There would also be a continuous need to adapt liquidity and exchange rate management strategy, and global developments were expected to have an increasing role in monetary and currency policy.

"In an environment of global convergence, retaining independence of monetary policy may become increasingly difficult, calling for hard choices in terms of goals and instruments," he said. Read more from: http://in.today.reuters.com/news

India still struggling with a huge shortage of blood and donors

While Thursday is World Blood Donors day, the tragedy is that in India we are still struggling with a huge shortage of blood and donors, especially when most required.

For instance, four-year-old Krishnapriya suffers from Thalassemia, a medical condition that requires her to get regular transfusion of blood.

She needs one unit of O+ve blood every 25 days, and arranging that each time is a nightmare for her parents as there is a chronic shortage of blood.

When an NDTV team accompanied the parents to the government-run Niloufer Children's hospital, the attendant at the blood bank asked them to wait, after two hours, the duty doctor informed them that blood was not available.

The next stop was a private blood bank. The staff over there demanded Rs 800 for a unit of blood and even that would be given only if a donor was provided to replenish the blood stock.

''Unless you bring a donor of the same blood group, we can't give you blood,'' said Staff, Blood Bank.

Finally, the family visited a corporate hospital, where Jayashree, Krishnapriya's mother, managed to get one unit of blood for Rs 1150.

''Government hospitals are never of any help. Private hospitals ask up to Rs 2000. Middle class people like us can't afford that much money. And even if we buy from private blood banks, we fear the blood won't be safe,'' said Jayashree, Krishnapriya's Mother.

According to estimates, Andhra Pradesh requires at least nine lakh units of blood a year.

But blood banks get less than half the requirement, and the number of donors reduces further during the summer.

''We should include information about blood donation as a part of the curriculum in colleges and even at the level of schools. If the government does that, at least a section of people will be motivated,'' said Dr Raghava Reddy, Medical Officer, Red Cross.

Last summer in Hyderabad, apparently the price of a unit of B-ve blood touched up to Rs 4000.

Doctors say that if one regularly donates blood from the age of 18, then that could help out at least 120 people.

Clearly everyone needs to play their part to ensure that those in need of blood are taken care of. Read more news from: http://www.ndtv.com/

A series of exclusive computer animated feature films

In an attempt to create a series of exclusive computer animated feature films, Yash Raj Films (YRF) Studios and Walt Disney have teamed up together to produce a series of exclusive computer animated feature films.

It is for the first time that Yash Chopra, Chairman, Yash Raj Films and Dick Cook, Chairman, Walt Disney Studios are coming together for a venture. On the eve of this occasion,

Yash Chopra, Chairman, YRF, said, “Yash Raj Films and Yash Raj Films Studios have been at the forefront in live-action feature films for almost four decades. Together with my son Aditya, we have created our own space with the efforts of a wonderful team -- both creative and business -- and have had the opportunity of producing films that we believe in; films that entertain a large population, as well as the Indian diaspora.”

Chopra believes that the tie-up is not just the coming together of two organisations, but it is also the teaming up of two individuals with similar culture and traditions.

Dick Cook, Chairman, Walt Disney Studios, said, “We are thrilled and honoured to be working with Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra and their talented teams at YRF Studios in the Indian language that are culturally relevant for the avid movie-going audiences in India and around the world.”

Cook added that animation is a new and rapidly expanding area in India, and this collaboration will bring the very best in story-telling and cutting edge technology together.

Both companies will be equal partners in the venture and will contribute creative, technical and financial support to the project. Aditya Chopra would be the creative head of the alliance. ‘Roadside Romeo’, a film set to release in 2008, will be the first film to be co-produced by this alliance. It will be produced by Aditya Chopra, and written and directed by Jugal Hansraj. Read more from: http://www.exchange4media.com

The long-standing dialogue between US and India on non-proliferation and security issues.

US Assistant Secretary of State John C. Rood will lead a delegation to India June 13-14 to continue the long-standing dialogue between the two countries on non-proliferation and security issues.

He will meet with officials from India's Ministry of External Affairs to discuss global nonproliferation challenges and approaches to addressing them, including multilateral initiatives and strategic trade controls, the State Department announced Friday. He also will engage on regional security issues, including nuclear and missile issues and missile defence,it said.

Rood will earlier lead a US delegation to the third meeting of Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism in Astana, Kazakhstan, June 11-12. Rood together with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak will chair the meeting.

In Astana, Rood will be joined by US National Nuclear Security Administration Deputy Administrator, William Tobey, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Global Security Affairs, Joseph Benkert, and Director of the Defence Threat Reduction Agency, Dr. James Tegnelia.

Global Initiative partner nations will review the progress of current Plan of Work activities designed to build partnership capacity, discuss means to address potential gaps in implementation, and welcome new partner nations.

Participants also will link up via video conference with the FBI sponsored International Nuclear Terrorism Law Enforcement Conference in Miami, Florida, a Global Initiative activity bringing together more than 500 law enforcement officers from 20 countries June 11-15. There are presently 50 partner nations in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.Read more news about india at: http://www.zeenews.com/

New Economic Architecture ommitments

"Senior officials of Agricultural Product Export Development Authority (APEDA) will visit the Gulf region to meet food importers and health authorities to pave the way for exports of fruits, vegetables, poultry and meat," Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told reporters at India-GCC Industrial Forum here.

"If we are exporting agricultural products to the US and Europe why not to our neighbours in GCC," he added.

Indian farm and food processing sector has been identified as a priority area by the government. The investment demand for the sector is about USD 15 billion, Nath said. The government has made several legislative and policy changes to attract foreign investors to the farm sector.

India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprising UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have proposed to jointly set up a company to promote SMEs.

"A company with an equity capital of USD 50 million would be formed to lead SMEs . It will study projects, contribute seed capital or look at joint venture opportunities," Oman Maqbool Commerce Minister Ali Sultan said.

Nath said that India was now reaching out into the neighbouring region as a new economic architecture sets on.

"The old doors and windows of US and Europe do not have the same relevance as before and the new relationships will be built in the regions," he said.

A total of four MOUs were signed between Indian companies and representatives of GCC in the areas of steel, oil and gas, logistics and waste management. Read more India news at: http://www.zeenews.com

India reject the proposals to limit greenhouse gas emissions at the upcoming G-8 summit meeting in Germany

India yesterday said it will reject the proposals to limit greenhouse gas emissions at the upcoming G-8 summit meeting in Germany as it will slow the pace of the country's booming economy.

"Legally mandated measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are likely to have significant adverse impacts on GDP growth of developing countries, including India," Environment Ministry Secretary Pradipto Ghosh told reporters here.

He said this in turn would have "serious implications for our poverty alleviation programmes".

Germany, which will host the summit from June 6 to June 8, has called for a statement limiting worlwide temperature rise this century to 2 degree Celsius and cuts to global greenhouse emissions to 50 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Maintaining that legal mandates on greehouse gas mitigation in any form would impact the country's growth, Ghosh said "this is not the path we wish to pursue."

"We are a responsible country and take a variety of sustainable projects to ensure energy efficiency at all levels," he said.

Chances of a consensus on the issue during the summit are remote with the US rejecting the idea of mandatory emission targets and the call for G-8 nations to raise energy efficiency. Read more top stories at: http://www.hindu.com/

India today ended a 60-day ban on Fashion TV satellite channel

In January, the government had banned the satellite television channel AXN from the airwaves for two months for broadcasting supposedly lewd content.
India's Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi had objected to AXN, a unit of Sony Pictures Entertainment, broadcasting the show 'The World's Sexiest Advertisements', which the minister said was "indecent content" that was "against good taste or decency and is likely to adversely affect public morality".
India today ended a 60-day ban on Fashion TV satellite channel following an assurance that it would not broadcast programs "which lack decency and are likely to adversely affect public morality", a government statement said.

The statement said FTV.com India Channel has regretted its error and assured that any programming considered inappropriate by India's Information and Broadcasting Ministry would be immediately removed.

The ban, imposed in March, followed broadcasts of programs such as Midnight Hot which showed scantily-clad models.

India is deeply conservative when it comes to any sexual content in television and film. Until recently, even kissing was unacceptable.

Reliance opens new supermarkets across the country

Reliance’s bid to retail farm products in West Bengal has been put on hold thanks to Forward Bloc's resistance and Jyoti Basu’s apprehensions but analysts say that Reliance Fresh will find the going tough also in other provinces of eastern India.

Earlier this month, vegetable sellers armed with brooms, rods and bamboo sticks smashed and vandalised three new supermarkets at Ranchi in Jharkhand giving vent to their frustration at being unable to compete with the chain’s low prices.

Analysts believe the attack is a sign of things to come as Reliance opens new supermarkets across the country. Between last November and May, it launched 155 outlets.

According to reports, customers like the chain because the produce is generally fresh, the shops are air-conditioned and the prices are much lower than those of open-air markets or mobile vendors.

These are sellers who trundle around neighbourhoods with carts laden with vegetables and fruit. Residents enjoy the convenience of buying vegetables right outside their door. But the vendors and small shopkeepers fear they will not survive the Reliance onslaught.

Because it buys in bulk directly from farmers, Reliance Fresh enjoys economies of scales, which it passes on to customers in the form of low prices and discounts. Vendors have to battle many odds. The supply chain is so inefficient that the produce they bring to the towns is not very fresh by the time it arrives.

In fact, according to experts, about half the country’s food and vegetables rot before they reach the shelves or market stalls. India lacks cold storage and refrigerated transport — all things Reliance has built for its new chain.

Reliance Fresh, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, is investing $5.6 billion in hundreds of stores. The company, already India’s top private oil refiner and petrochemical maker, is at the lead of the large chain stores that are storming into Indian organised retail, which now makes up only about 5 percent of the retail market.

The retail revolution in India is touching almost everyone. Indians are switching from small shops and open-air markets to shopping malls and supermarkets.

Reliance is on the vanguard of this transformation. But Wal-Mart is coming soon, and two other supermarket chains — Britain’s Tesco, and Carrefour of France — are itching to enter the Indian market.

The losers are likely to be the estimated 12 million Indians whose livelihoods depend on their small shops. The number of mobile vegetable vendors is not known.

Experts are divided on the impact of every street in every town succumbing to the retail revolution. Some predict doom for small shopkeepers. Others believe that while many will indeed disappear, quite a lot will survive.

States and Union Territories in India

Here is a list of india states and their capitals

State	Capital
Andhra Pradesh	Hyderabad
Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar
Assam	Dispur
Bihar	Patna
Chattisgarh	Raipur
Goa	Panaji
Gujarat	Gandhinagar
Haryana	Chandigarh
Himachal Pradesh	simla
Jharkhand	Ranchi
Karnataka	Bangalore
Kashmir	Srinagar
Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram
Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal
Maharashtra	Mumbai
Manipur	Imphal
Meghalaya	Shillong
Mizoram	Aizawl
Nagaland	Kohima
New Delhi	Delhi
Orissa	Bhubaneswar
Punjab	Chandigarh
Rajasthan	Jaipur
Sikkim	Gangtok
Tamil Nadu	Chennai
Tripura	Agartala
Uttar Padesh	Lucknow
Uttaranchal	Dehradun
West Bengal	Kolkata
New Delhi	Delhi
UNION TERRITORIES	Headquarters
Andaman Nicobar	Port Blair
Chandigarh	Chandigarh
Dadra Nagar Haveli	Silvassa
Daman & Diu	Daman
Lakshadweep	Kavaratti
Pondichery	Pondicherry

India is planning to set up regulator in radio sector.

The Indian govt. is planning to set up regulator in the radio sector. The radio sector is managed by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which extend over telecoms and broadcasting. It is not clear that the radio regulator will be set up by parliament act or be a department with in information and broadcasting ministry.

Rajiv Mishra, proxy of the Assn. of Radio Operators in India says, "An independent radio regulator on the lines of such bodies in the U.S. or other developed countries is the need of the industry". Radio could be an enormous story. India now has nearly 80 local FM stations. All India radio, the state radio broadcast monopoly has been broken recently. That's up from 22 in 12 cities six months ago and is expected to reach 245 in 87 cities by end of this year.

According to audit firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the value of the Indian radio market could rise from rupees 5 billion ($120 million) in 2006 to $411 million by 2011, or cumulative average growth of 28% per year for the next five years.

New FM stations are bombarding the airwaves with tunes, and their arrival is partly blamed for the fall in physical music sales in metropolises where they have taken to the air. Moreover, as car ownership rises, FM radio is changing people's auditory habits. Weekday tune-ins is 94%, according to Madison Media research, but only 10% on Sundays.

Rules governing the industry are tightly drawn in order to ensure plurality and protect AIR. FM license fees are high, no player can operate more than a single station in a local market, no player can operate more than 15% of the total operational stations and no news or current affairs programming is allowed. That remains a preserve of the state; although there are regular rumors current affairs will be allowed.

Predictably, many of the biggest existing entertainment and media groups ended up with the most licenses. Reliance Ad labs got 45 and Sun TV, 41. Less predictably, the recent round of license awards also allowed foreign operators in. They are limited to a 20% stake in any franchise, but that did not stop Blighty's Virgin Radio and BBC Worldwide and Malaysia's Astor buying in.

Critics say that sector is hemmed in by overregulation, and the market may not reach its potential. That's where the new regulator could make a difference. With a further 700 channels up for seizes in the next license round, the new regulator will have plenty to do.

Genaral information about India

Map of India




India, officially Known as ‘Republic of India’ (in Hindi known as Bharat or Hindustan), is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world. India is vast and has a huge population of 1 billion. You will become fascinated with India, its cultures, its people, and the continuous stream of activity going on around you.

India is bordered on the north by Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Bhutan; on the east by Bangladesh, Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), and the Bay of Bengal on the south by the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar (which separates it from India) by the
Indian Ocean and on the west by the Arabian Sea and Pakistan. At one point, ‘Lands End’ at Kanyakumari, three seas meet - the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
The sights, sounds, and scenery of India are unique and amazing with grandiose temples, lush paddy fields and stunning beaches. In the north, Shrub-land and desert create a sublime backdrop and a visit to the ‘Golden Triangle’ (Delhi/Agra/Jaipur/Delhi) will take your breathe away.

It is divided into 26 states and 6 union territories, and has 17 major languages with 844 dialects, making this country and its people culturally diverse.

Religion plays an important role in the life of the country, and is one of the few countries in the world which have such an ancient and diverse culture. Their arts and crafts are world renowned with sport being one of their favourite past times, and cricket still acting as one of the most popular activities.


Republic of India

National name: Bharat

National Flower: Lotus

National Bird: Peacock

National Animal: Tiger

National language: Hindi

Religions: Hindu, Islam, Christian, Sikh.
currency: Rupee

Land area: 1,147,949 sq mi (2,973,190 sq km);

total area: 1,269,346 sq mi (3,287,590 sq km)

Population : 1,095,351,995 (growth rate: 1.4%);

birth rate: 22.0/1000;

density per sq mi: 954

Capital : New Delhi, 15,334,000 (metro. area), 9,817,439 (city proper)

Largest cities:
Bombay (Mumbai), 18,336,000 (metro. area), 11,914,398 (city proper);
Calcutta (Kolkata), 14,299,000 (metro. area), 4,760,800 (city proper);
Bangalore, 4,461,100;
Madras (Chennai), 4,382,100;
Ahmedabad, 3,653,700;
Hyderabad, 3,585,600;
Kanpur, 2,631,800


Principal languages: Hindi, English, Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Kannada, Assamese, Sanskrit, Sindhi.



National anthem: Jana-gana-mana, composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore
Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka, jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga
Uchchala-Jaladhi-taranga.
Tava shubha name jage,
Tava shubha asisa mage,
Gahe tava jaya gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayaka jaya he
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata.
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he!