Tuesday 31 January 2012

DASSAULT RAFALE BAGGED THE MMRCA DEAL




                   A French company named Dassault Rafale today bagged India's biggest contract ever for supplying 126 combat aircraft for the air force. The mentioned company has edged out its European competitor EADS in the multi-billion dollar deal. 

                   Eventually the French firm has been declared as the lowest bidder, according to which it will get the contract under India's defence procurement procedure.

                   "The French firm Dassault Rafale has emerged as the L-1 (lowest bidder) and cheaper than its European rival EADS (maker of Eurofighter) in the tender and will be offered to supply the aircraft to the IAF," the source said. 

                       The representatives of Dassault Rafale here were informed about the development in the morning and all the further negotiations on price and other important things will be held with them in the next 10-15 days. 

                         But this historic contract will be signed in the next fiscal year only. According to the Request for Proposal (RFP), the winner of the contract will have to supply 18 of the 126 aircraft to the IAF in 36 months from its facilities and the remaining would be produced at HAL facilities in Bangalore. 

                          It was not that easy for the Dassault Rafale, as six companies including American F-16 and F-18, Russian MiG 35, Swedish Saab Gripen along with Eurofighter and Dassault Rafale were in the race in the beginning. So it was a pretty tough battle to win for the French company.

                         Actually in the month of April last year, the defence ministry shortlisted Dassault and EADS, evicting the American, Russian and Swedish bids. It was a close call at the end.

                         The process was started with the issuing of a global tender in 2007 after which all the six contenders were subjected to extensive field evaluation trails by the Indian Air Force (IAF) at several locations across the globe.

Monday 30 January 2012

SPIELBERG IS ALL SET TO DIRECT A NEW FILM ON MOSES





             Steven Spielberg plans to direct the remake of Ten Commandments, which is a very successful film of the history of Hollywood. The famous director said that this is his dream project, and now he wants to work on it in a very serious way.

               The new version of the original 1956 film will be produced by the great Warner Brothers. As Warner Brothers and Steven Spielberg are pairing up, we can expect a blast for sure.

               Spielberg is hoping to give his version of the story of Moses a far different spin than the old one. He wants to make it even more interesting.

                “He is hoping to make his sword and sandals epic ‘like a Braveheart-ish version of the Moses story.”  A source said.

                  Moses will be portrayed as a tough warrior in the new film, whereas Charlton Heston came across as a humble man. The film’s title is “Gods and Kings” and will follow the life of the prophet from Moses’s humble beginnings as an orphan found floating down the river in a basket to freeing the Jews and leading them to the promised island.

57TH IDEA FILMFARE AWARD CEREMONY




            The most prestigious award show of the Bollywood, The Filmfare Award Show took place last night. This was named as the 57th Idea Filmfare Awards Ceremony. This event was held in the Film City last night.

                 Ranbir Kapoor and the Shahrukh Khan hosted the whole event. They made the event alive with the help of their charming attitude, great sense of humor and presence of mind. Katrina Kaif performed “Chikni Chameli” and put the stage on fire. Hot n beautiful Priyanka Chopra also gave a mind-blowing performance.

                 Celebrities like Bipasha Basu, Madhuri Dixit, Sameera Reddy, Shreya Ghoshal, Onir, Farhan, Zoya, Deepika Padukone, Madhur Bhandarkar, Abhishek Bachchan, Rekha, Raveena Tandon, Anurag Kashyap, Subhash Ghai, Dia Mirza, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sarah Jane Dias and Gauri Khan walked the red carpet.
                 Vidya Balan, who played a bold role of “Silk” in 'The Dirty Picture' last year, and 'Rockstar' Ranbir Kapoor picked the best actor trophies at the annual Filmfare awards ceremony, while 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' bagged the best film honour. Eventually ZNMD just rocked the event, as it bagged a total of 7 Filmfare awards.
                 It was a double whammy for Zoya Akhtar and Ranbir, as Zoya took home the best director award for 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara', while Ranbir Kapoor was named the best actor in the critics' choice as well.
                Priyanka Chopra won the best actress (critics' choice) for her portrayal of a woman who kills her seven husbands in '7 Khoon Maaf'.
                Farhan Akhtar picked the best dialogue award for his snazzy writing for “ZNMD”.

Here are the details:
Best Film: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Best Actor: Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar)
Best Actress: Vidya Balan (The Dirty Picture)
Best Director: Zoya Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Best Film (Critics) Award: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara 
Best Actor (Critic’s Choice): Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar)
Best Actress (Critic’s Choice): Priyanka Chopra (7 Khoon Maaf)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Farhan Akhtar (ZNMD)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Rani Mukherjee (No One Killed Jessica Lal)
Best Debut (Male): Vidyut Jamwal (Force) 
Best Debut (Female): Parineeti Chopra (Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl)
Best Debut Director Award: Abhinay Deo (Delhi Belly) 
Best Playback Singer (Male): Mohit Chouhan (‘Jo Bhi Main’, Rockstar)
Best Playback Singer (Female): Usha Uttup and Rekha Bhardwaj (‘Darling’, 7 Khoon Maaf)
Best Music: A. R. Rehman (Rockstar)
Best Dialogue: Farhan Akhtar (ZNMD)
Best Action: Mathhias Barsch (Don 2)
Best Screenplay: Akshat Verma (Delhi Belly)
Best Story: Sanjay Chauhan (I Am Kalam)
Best Lyrics Award: Irshad Kamil ('Nadaan Parindey', Rockstar)
Best Choreography: Bosco-Caesar ('Senorita', Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Best Cinematography: Carlos Catalan (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Best Editing: Huzefa Lokhandwala (Delhi Belly)
Best Production Design: Shashank Tere (Delhi Belly)
Best Sound Design: Nakul Kamte (Don 2) 
Best Costume Design Award: Niharika Khan (The Dirty Picture) 
Best Background Score: Ranjit Barot (Shaitan)
Lifetime Achievement Award: Aruna Irani

Sunday 29 January 2012

KIM KARDASHIAN IN A TV SHOW - 'DROP DEAD DIVA'




                 Reality star Kim Kardashian is all set to appear on the upcoming fourth season of TV show ''Drop Dead Diva''. This is quite a popular T.V show, and it has already completed three successful seasons already.

             Kim has been tapped for a multiple episode arc on the Lifetime network show. Eventually Kardashian will play Nikki, who partners with Stacy (April Bowlby) in a new business venture. This will be a new and challenging experience for the 31 year old diva.

            Kardashian will first appear in the Sony Pictures Television dramedy''s season, which will be telecasted on this summer.

                "I’m ecstatic to welcome Kim to the Diva family. After discussing the role of Nikki with her, I’m blown away by her smarts, sense of humor and passion. This series is all about reinvention and I’m so excited to see Kim ''reinvented'' in the world of ''Drop Dead Diva''," Josh Berman, who is the director and executive producer of the show, said.

                The story of the show revolves around an aspiring model. The model dies in a sudden accident only to find her soul resurfacing in the body of a brilliant and thoughtful plus-size attorney. The script is very strong as the story is very much unique.

                 Now, we have to wait for some time to see Kim in real action. She is a talented actress, and she already proved that in front of the critics and the viewers. So we hope that this season the show will have a blast.  



Friday 27 January 2012

GOOGLE UPDATED ITS PRIVACY POLICY WITH A EASIER ONE




                Web Giant Google unveiled its new privacy policy amid concerns over potential misuse of data and breach of privacy.  According to Google's new privacy policy that will come into effect from March 1, the company is "getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google services and replacing them with one that's shorter, easier to read" and something that will enable it to "create intuitive experience across Google".
                   Unlike in the past when Google had allowed users to choose personalized services, this time there is no option to opt out. For an end-user this means that whatever information he shares through Google searches, Gmail, Google +, Picasa etc will be used to customize Google services for him.
                   Google also provides a few illustrations in support of its argument. "Whether you’re reading an email that reminds you to schedule a family get-together or finding a favorite video that you want to share, we want to ensure that you can move across Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube or whatever your life calls for, with ease", it writes on its Website. 

                    Google claims to have written the Privacy Policy from top to bottom to be simpler and more readable. The new policy replaces more than 60 existing product-specific privacy documents. Actually this is the basic difference from the previous one. Many users don’t read the previous policy, because it is very large. Google understands this and create this one, which is not that large in size.

                    An expert in Cyber Law says that if one accepts entire norms one is in for trouble in future. According to him, the new rules would cause invasion of privacy and would offer no control over personal information. "Google will use personal information without permission. One way out is sensitive information should not be saved since they will be shared with everyone," he says. 

INDIA BECOMES 3RD BIGGEST US ARMS PURCHASER




                       Just years after US resumed weapons sales to New Delhi, India has jumped to become the third biggest arms purchaser from America, logging contracts worth over USD 4.5 Billion in 2010. The US firms bagged India’s biggest deal ever for fighter jets, New Delhi would have been on the top spot of American Arms Sales worldwide, according to a report from the Pentagon.

                   Even though the US firms lost the bid for an estimated USD 10 Billion contract for sale of 126 jets to Indian Air Force (IAF), India was listed as the third largest purchaser of US arms through the government to government channel Foreign Military Sales (FMS) by the Defence Security Co-operation Agency (DSCA), the Pentagon agency that overlooks such crucial deals.

                    Afghan Security Forces (ASF) has topped the list with the contract of USD 5.4 Billion, followed Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), which is on the 2nd spot with the contract of USD 4.9 Billion.

                     Australia occupies the 4th spot, followed by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, The UAE, Israel, Japan and Sweden.

OXYGEN IS NOW 2.48 BILLION YEARS OLD





                     A new research has suggested that Oxygen is likely to be 2.48 billion years old. An International team says that banded ironstone core samples from the Pilbara rocks in Australia have aided in dating the very first appearance of atmospheric Oxygen at 2.48 billion years ago. This is quite big news in the scientific world, as scientists are still very much confused about the real age of Oxygen. May be this research be able to draw an ending line to this confusion.

                       Prof. Mark Barley, who led the team, says their findings, published in the “Nature” Journal, rested on the reliability of the rock samples they used as the evidence.

                  According to the Geologists, the Great Oxidation Event, when Earth’s atmospheric oxygen formed, happened between 2.48 and 2.32 billion years ago.

                   This was evidence for the most primitive form of aerobic respiring life, aerobic respiring bacteria which oxidize pyrite that released acid that dissolved rocks and soils on land, including chromium, that was then carried to the oceans by the flow of water. 

Wednesday 25 January 2012

INDIA AND CANADA SIGNED A MoU TO BOOST DIAMOND SECTOR LINKS




                  Canadian Diamond Exporting Organization, Diamond Bourse of Canada (DBC), and Indo-Canada Chamber of Committee (ICCC), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to increase bilateral trade and investment in the Diamond sector.


                   Under the term of the MoU, both the organizations will work together to enhance and create new trade opportunities in the diamond sector by establishing direct links between Canadian producers and India diamond manufacturers and most importantly eliminating the third parties.

                    At present, Canada’s entire diamond output is shipped to Europe, from where it goes to the other countries. Canada is well-known for the diamonds. So this deal will help India a lot in the diamond sector.

                    Eventually the DBC Chairman Mr. Bhishan Vora and ICCC President Mr. Satish Thakkar signed the MoU. They exclaimed their happiness by saying that this MoU will be a historic one.

                     Both the organizations will also encourage Indian diamond manufacturers to establish their facilities in Canada and provide proper guidance and full support.

Monday 23 January 2012

90 MILLION USERS ALREADY FOR GOOGLE PLUS





                   “Google Plus” which is Google’s new online social networking service has crossed 90 million users mark since its launch in June. Google Plus now has attracted over 90 million users, which is reflecting the huge interest in the social networking site in recent times. Eventually it was opened to the public on September 20, last year. Google reported around 40 Million users in the month of October.

                       Earlier “Google Plus” is only available in the trail mode through invitations. Later Google launched it globally. People love this new approach to make a circle of friends. They love it, and the result is over 90 Million users in such a short time, while the rival Facebook took 4 years to achieve 90 Million users. Facebook opened on 2004, and now it has over 800 Million users globally.

                      "I am super excited about the growth of ...Google Plus, which now has 90 million users globally - well over double what I announced just three months ago. By building a meaningful relationship with our users through Google Plus we will create amazing experiences across our services," Google CEO Larry Page said while announcing the company's latest quarterly earnings.

                      Google unveiled 'Google Plus' in late June as part of efforts to garner a share of the lucrative social networking space that has so far been dominated by Mark Zuckerberg--led Facebook. Since launch, Google has added toolbars and other buttons on its websites to aggressively promote the service, and it works. Users love the ideas a lot and they use it to promote their business, to stay connected with friends and families etc etc.

                      During the quarter, Google has reported a net income to $ 2.71 billion in for October-December, which analysts termed as below market expectation. It registered revenue of $ 10.58 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, an increase of 25 per cent from the year-ago period.

                     Seeing this awesome growth Google assure that they will add more exciting features and toolbars to “Google Plus” to make it even better. They will update it regularly, so we can expect that by 2012 it will cross 300 Million active user marks.

MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR TO TOUCH $ 25 BILLION BY 2015




                   Growing digitization, media consumption and improving demographics will drive up the revenue of the domestic media and entertainment (M & E) industry to over USD 25 Billion by 2015 from USD 16.3 Billion in 2010, according to Ernst & Young India Report.

                  The E&Y Report, “Spotlight on India’s entertainment economy” released said a surge in mass broadband adoption is expected (with the launch of 3G and 4G Services) soon.

                  “By 2015, 90 percent of the projected 187 million broadband subscribers will access the Net through wireless devices, giving global M&E companies with exciting opportunities to develop anytime, anywhere content, according to the report. The Domestic M&E Industry has been, and will continue to be, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the favorable demographics,” according to Ernst & Young India Media & Entertainment Leader for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, Farokh Balsara.

                  Having one of the world’s youngest populations, high volumes of content consumption, a favorable regulatory framework and growing digital adoption, makes India an attractive investment destination for global media and entertainment companies.

                  According to report, the growth of the US and Western European Companies are linked to India and other emerging markets. The country has over 600 Television Channels, 100 Million pay-television households, 70,000 newspapers and produces over 1,000 films annually.

Sunday 22 January 2012

INDIA LOST $ 128 BILLION IN ILLICIT CAPITAL OUTFLOW IN LAST DECADE


                       A staggering $ 128 billion in capital illegally flowed out of India in the last decade, making the country the 15th largest victim of illicit financial outflows that cost developing countries $ 903 billion in 2009, according to a recent study.

                        The study comes as NEW DELHI announced it would bring out a white paper on black money stashed away in tax havene abroad.

                        While $ 903 billion marks a drop from the $ 1.55 trillion that illicit capital flowed out of the developing world in 2008, the study finds the decrease almost entirely attributable to the global financial crisis than any governance improvement or economic reforms.

                        “This is a breathtakingly large sum at a time when developing and developed countries alike are struggling to make ends meet,” said Raymond Baker, who is the Director of Research and Advocacy Organization Global Financial Integrity (GFI). According to the report, the 20 biggest victims of illicit financial flows over the decade are: China, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Nigeria, Venezuela, Qatar, Poland, Indonesia, Philippines, Kazakhstan, India, Chile, Ukraine, Argentina, South Africa and Turkey.

                         So the bottom line is India is losing more and more money day by day, while at this time when India is trying to develop itself, this factor is really very much disappointing. Our government is trying hard to stop this over the last decade, but it looks like the try is not enough to stop the money flow.

Saturday 21 January 2012

NEW STEM CELLS “FOUND IN HEART”




                      A new population of adult stem cells unearthed in the heart could potentially open the way to regeneration of heart muscles in cardiac attack victims.

                   Richard Harvey, Professor who is also the head of Development and Stem Cell Biology Division at the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), and Peter Finley, who is a Professor of University of New South Wales, say the findings, based on mouse model, are hugely exciting.

                  “The fact is that these new group of cells are multi-potent and highly specific to the heart gives us great hope that when we be able to translate these cells into the human setting, they will work well at regenerating and repairing a broken heart,” according to Harvey, The Journal Cell Stem Cell Reports.

                     The findings come following recent reports in Scientific Literature and News Media that stem cells harvested from human hearts during surgery show promise for reversing the Heart Attack Damage. Heart disease is one of the largest killers worldwide. So, Scientist are seeing this invention as a ray of hope. 


YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA WILL BE THE CHIEF GUEST FOR REPUBLIC DAY PARADE




                      It is declared that Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will be the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day Parade. She is among the world’s richest women, and she will be the youngest chief guest at the parade in the past 36 years, as she is only 44 years old.

                      The choice was consistent with India’s “Look East policy” and it is reflected New Delhi’s desire to improve trade ties with Bangkok. This move will help to carry forward these policies. The chief guests at the 2010 and 2011 Republic Day Parades were South Korean president Lee Myung Bak and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

                     Bilateral trade with Thailand multiplied six-fold between 2000 and 2010 to cross $6.6 billion. These two countries have a deep cultural links; they also share a maritime boundary. In fact thousands of Thai Pilgrims visit Bodh Gaya every single year, and as per Indians Thailand is one of the most favorite holiday destinations.

                        So, this is a good move by the Government, which will help to boost up the relationship with Thailand. Thailand is one of the strongest and well-improved countries of recent times.

Friday 20 January 2012

WHAT ARE SOPA AND PIPA BILLS?


                       Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
                        The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a U.S House Bill to fight online trafficking in copyrighted Intellectual Property and counterfeit goods. Proposals include barring advertising networks and payment facilities from conducting business with allegedly infringing websites, barring search engines from linking to the sites, and requiring Internet Service Providers (ISP) to block access to the sites. The bill would criminalize the streaming of such content, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

                           User-Content Websites such as YouTube, Facebook, and Google would be greatly affected, and a serious concern has been expressed that they may be shut down if the bill becomes law. Opponents state the legislation would enable law enforcement to remove an entire internet domain due to something posted on a single blog, channel or page, arguing that an entire Online Community could be punished for the actions of a tiny minority. In an 1198 law, copyright owners are required to request the site to remove the infringing material within a certain amount of time. SOPA would bypass this "safe harbor" provision by placing the responsibility for detecting and policing infringement onto the site itself.

                            Lobbyists for companies that rely heavily on revenue from intellectual property copyright state it protects the market and corresponding industry, jobs, and revenue. The US president and legislators suggest it may kill innovation. Representatives of the American Library Association state the changes could encourage criminal prosecution of libraries.

                              On January 18, the Wikipedia and several other websites coordinated a service blackout to protest SOPA and its sister bill, the Protect IP Act or PIPA. Other companies, including Google, Facebook, posted links and images in an effort to raise awareness. An estimated 7,000 smaller websites either blacked out their sites or posted a protest message. A number of other protest actions were organized, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation and a rally held in New York City.

The Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA)
                               The Protect Intellectual Property Act (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 or PIPA), also known as Senate Bill 968 or S.968, is a proposed law with the stated goal of giving the US government and copyright holders additional tools to curb access to "rogue websites dedicated to infringing or counterfeit goods", especially those registered outside the U.S. The bill was introduced on May 12, 2011.

                     The Congressional Budget Office estimated that implementation of the bill would cost the federal government $47 million through 2016, to cover enforcement costs and the hiring and training of 22 new special agents and 26 support staff. The bill was in hold as of now.

                        The Protect Intellectual Property Act is a re-write of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), which failed to pass in 2010. Now some Senators are trying to pass it on the legislation as the re-write bill PIPA. A vote has been scheduled in this issue on the legislation for January 24, 2012.


                                                                        : Source- Wikipedia