Tablet PC For $35 | India's Low-Cost Answer To The iPad.

Tablet PC For $35 | India's Low-Cost Answer To The iPad.

By   21:01   No comments:

Thanks to the success of the Apple iPad,tablets are, for the first time in their long history, well on the way to becoming mainstream.

With prices starting at $499, however, Apple’s device is still too expensive for many. A new prototype from the Indian government, however, may slice the price of tablets down to a fraction of that.

The government has announced plans to create an educational tablet priced at $35. The device, which will offer a number of basic computing features, such as a Web browser and video conferencing, is set to roll out to Indian students in 2011.

The device was first demoed on an Indian TV show called “Gadget Guru” by India’s Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal. According to Sibal, the device has a virtual keyboard, Wi-Fi capability, a built-in camera, 2GB of RAM, and runs on the Android operating system.The Indian government is attempting to push the device’s price down to a mere $10. 

We have come out with the device at 1,500 rupees [$35] and now we invite individuals, entrepreneurs, firms and industries to produce the device at cheaper rates than this, Sibal told The Business Standard.

So far, there hasn’t been a manufacturer named for this device. Recently, however, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte sent an open letter to the Indian government expressing his support and offering OLPC technology for the project.—Brian Heater

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Overview Of Bandra-Worli Sea Link | India's First 8-Lane Sea Bridge

Overview Of Bandra-Worli Sea Link | India's First 8-Lane Sea Bridge

By   17:47   No comments:

The Rs.1,600 crore (Rs.16 billion), 5.6-km Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), India's first open 8-lane, cable-supported sea bridge to reduce traffic congestion in this metro was  inaugurated by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on 30th June 2009.

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In construction for over 10 years, the new link between the southern island city and the northwest suburbs to be an alternative to the existing Mahim Causeway.

Earlier, a daily traffic volume of over 1.4 million vehicles causes massive traffic snarls, especially during the morning-evening peak hours.

Also in the past the distance of 8 km between Bandra and Worli currently takes 60-90 minutes to cover during the morning-evening peak hours.

After BWSL becomes operational , this travel time has been reduce to barely six-eight minutes. It is also entail savings in vehicular operating costs (VOC) of over Rs.1 billion a year.

The chief attraction of the magnificent structure would be the two cable-stayed bridges, one 500 metres long (northern side) and another 350 metres long (southern side), for the passage of fishing boats.

The bridge rests on two towers, each 126 metres tall or equivalent to a 43-storeyed building.

Maharashtra State Roads Development Corporation (MSRDC) has plans to provide a viewers' gallery at the top of the towers which would offer a bird's eye glimpse of the entire city.

There is a modern, automated, 16-lane toll plaza at the southern end, and the bridge has been equipped with sophisticated security and monitoring systems.

Executed by Hindustan Construction Company over a period of more than 10 years, the MSRDC's project suffered a long delay of five years owing to various hiccups. The company will also maintain the bridge for the next five years.

The public sector giant, Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), has provided almost two-thirds of the steel used in building the link.

The BWSL has gobbled up a total of nearly 22,235 tonnes of steel of which SAIL's share is pegged at over 13,780 tonnes, according to a senior SAIL official.'The steel is of the best quality and has come from our integrated plants. All the steel rods, if laid in a straight row, would measure almost 3,000 kilometres or the breadth of India,' the SAIL official said.

Although the bridge is designed for speeding at 100 km per hour, initially the MSRDC plans to impose a 50 km per hour speed limit to enable motorists to get used to the bridge and prevent accidents. Two lanes are proposed to be reserved exclusively for buses and heavy vehicles.

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Racism A Global Threat | An Overview Of Racism Against Indians

Racism A Global Threat | An Overview Of Racism Against Indians

By   07:39   No comments:

Racism is a global attitude, which strangely seems to be raising its head, at a time when the borders between nations seems to be disappearing. Sports, workplaces, schools, homes- all seem to be afflicted with this curse.

In times when people migrate to other shores in search of better living, education or work more than before, cultures cannot remain isolated. This blending of diversities can bring about fear of losing one’s own identity. This fear manifests in varied forms of abuse- sometimes subtly, sometimes assuming gory manifestations.

My Views on Racism Against Indians

Indians across the world are agitated about the racial incidents that occurred recently in Australia. Similar events have occurred in various other parts of the world.

This event disturbed me too, not particularly because I m an Indian, but because no matter how much we boast about globalization in the true sense we are not a global community. Issues like migration and brain drain have not only effected the developing countries but have also posed a threat to the developed ones.

Major conflicts around the world are not only just because of racism. What I believe is that the reason lies not in skin color but in human nature. We hate it when someone tries to take our piece of cake and this hatred turns man into beast. This has happened in ancient times and will continue happening always.

In Sri Lanka, in U.S.A, in Canada and in Australia, you just name any single place on earth and you can see that the ethnic population has faced problems due to the laborer from other countries especially India. I think we need to tackle a more massive problem than racism.

I believe that in the true sense we haven’t globalised. We have exchanged civilizations, commodities, clothing, food etc, but we are still reluctant to exchange people. Why am I saying so? Well because we have become a global village when it comes to enjoying Italian Pizza’s in Canada, Spanish Salsa in India or French Houte Couture in U.S.A but when it comes to people we have our own reservations.

Most of the people respect both the culture and dignity of other nations but they are some who think otherwise. The minority syndrome has always cropped up both nationally and internationally.

It is strange that people adopt foreign things but not people. Lets first accept people and then their culture because their culture is incomplete without them. Lets make the world not only a global market but a global village.

Note: Image Credit Belongs To "http://theblacksentinel.wordpress.com"

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Mobile Numbers Going To Change As 11 Digit In India

Mobile Numbers Going To Change As 11 Digit In India

By   19:32   No comments:

In 2003 Indian Telecom department had planned for 10 digit mobile numbering that would last for 30 years, but given the meteoric rise in the number of mobile subscribers, the quota seems to be over within 5 years. The growth in mobile subscribers has been nearly 100% year on year reaching 250 million by the end of last month.

The tele-density in the country is more than 25 per cent now, with the average monthly mobile growth at over 8 million. The government has set a target of 500 million phone subscribers by the year 2010.

To accommodate this growth, the DoT plans to introduce an additional prefix of 9 to every mobile number taking it to 11 digits. So, `99’ will be the first two digits in every mobile number, in the 11-digit regime.

TEC (Telecom Engineering Centre) has recommended a timeframe of six to nine months, for converting the existing 10-digit mobile numbers to the 11-digit format. The shift to 11-digit number will apply to all mobile users-GSM (global systems for mobile communications) and CDMA (code division multiple access), old and new subscribers.

Nine mobile operators were recently given over 120 telecom licenses to offer services across many circles. Currently, the established players offering mobile phone services include Bharti, Reliance Communications, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular, Tata Teleservices, Aircel-Maxis, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) and Spice.

The new telecom operators will be allotted the spare levels of 90 and 91 in the 10-digit series. But, they too will have to migrate to 11 digits, by prefixing '9', in the same timeframe as the existing telecom companies

However, the fixed line phone numbers would continue to remain as is it is. While all GSM and CDMA subscribers whether old or new, would now have 11 digit numbers.

All the new telephone operators like Unitech, Shyam Telelink, Videocon among others would be alloted series of number starting with 90 and 91.

Apart from India, China and UK follow 11-digit numbers, while USA has a more integrated pattern of common numbering plan with similar numbers for mobile as well as landline numbers, much like Tata ‘Walky’ and Reliance ‘Hello’. via

The debate is still going on between the government and the regulators. But, industry sources say that India can add another 250 million mobile subscribers without having to move to the 11-digit format that is possible till 2010.

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The Future Belongs To India, Not China

The Future Belongs To India, Not China

By   02:02   2 comments:

what is the difference between China growing at a rate of 10% and India at 8%? 

The difference was, indeed, very significant. If we were to grow at 10% we could save twenty years. This is almost a generation. We could lift a whole generation into the middle class twenty years sooner. 

"We have waited 3,000 years for this moment. Why don't we wait another twenty and do it the Indian way?"

The cost of democracy is the price the poor pay in the delay of their entry into the middle class. The 'Indian way'  includes taking a holiday on half a dozen New Year's Days! It is easy to get mesmerized by China's amazing progress and feel frustrated by India's chaotic democracy, but Indians will not trade off democracy for two per cent higher growth. 

In referring to the 'Indian way', a nation must be true to itself. Democracy comes easily to us because India has historically 'accumulated' its diverse groups who retain their distinctiveness while identifying themselves as Indian. China has 'assimilated' its people into a common, homogeneous Confucian society. China is a melting pot in which differences disappear while India is a salad bowl in which the constituents retain their identity. Hence, China has always been governed by a hierarchical, centralized state - a tradition that has carried into the present era of reform communism. China resembles a business corporation today. Each mayor and party secretary has objectives relating to investment, output and growth, which are aligned to national goals. Those who exceed their goals rise quickly. The main problem in running a country as a business is that many people get left out.

India, on the other hand, can only manage itself by accommodating vocal and varied interest groups in its salad bowl. This leads to a million negotiations daily and we call this system 'democracy'. It slows us down - we take five years to build a highway versus one in China. Those who are disgruntled go to court. But our politicians are forced to worry about abuses of human rights, whereas my search on Google on 'human rights abuses in China' yielded 47.8 million entries in 13 seconds! Democracies have a safety valve - it allows the disgruntled to let off steam before slowly co-opting them.

Both India and China have accepted the capitalist road to prosperity. But capitalism is more comfortable in a democracy, which fosters entrepreneurs naturally. A state enterprise can never be as innovative or nimble and this is why the Chinese envy some of our private companies. Democracy respects property rights. As both nations urbanize, peasants in India are able to sell or borrow against their land, but the Chinese peasants are at the mercy of local party bosses. Because India has the rule of law, entrepreneurs can enforce contracts. If someone takes away your property in China, you have no recourse. Hence, it is the party bosses who are accumulating wealth in China. The rule of law slows us down but it also protects us (and our environment, as the NGOs have discovered).

We take freedom for granted in India but it was not always so. When General Reginald Dyer opened fire in 1919 in Jallianwala Bagh, killing 379 people, Indians realised they could only have dignity when they were free from British rule. The massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989, where 300 students were killed, was China's Jallianwala Bagh. China today may have become richer than India but the poorest Chinese yearns for the same freedom.

Because the Indian state is inefficient, millions of entrepreneurs have stepped into the vacuum. When government schools fail, people start private schools in the slums, and the result is millions of 'slumdog millionaires'. You cannot do this in China. Our free society forces us to solve our own problems, making us self-reliant. Hence, the Indian way is likely to be more enduring because the people have scripted India's success while China's state has crafted its success. This worries China's leaders who ask, if India can become the world's second fastest economy despite the state, what will happen when the Indian state begins to perform? India's path may be slower but it is surer, and the Indian way of life is also more likely to survive. This is why when I am reborn I would prefer it to be in India, again.

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