CAMERAS, Polaroid launches iM1836, first Android-powered mirrorless interchangeable lens camera

Polaroid Tuesday unveiled the world's first Android-powered mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with a 18-megapixel censor at CES 2013 in Las Vegas. The iM1836 camera will be manufactured by Sakar International, an authorised Polaroid licensee.

The Android 4.1 Jelly Bean-running camera comes standard with a 10-30mm optical zoom lens, and is capable of recording full-HD video. It features 3.5-inch display will hit store shelves in the first quarter of 2013 for a price of $399.

"Throughout our 75 year history, Polaroid has been synonymous with innovation, creativity, and ease of use," commented Scott W. Hardy, President and CEO of Polaroid. "We are continuing that proud tradition at CES this year with the launch of the iM1836. This compact, connected camera is the ideal pocket-sized device to capture and share all of your most precious moments."

The iM1836 aims to combine the image quality of mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras like theNikon V1, J1, Nikon J2, Canon EOS M, Fujifilm X-Pro 1, Samsung NX300 and the convenience of Android-based cameras like Nikon Coolpix S800c and Samsung Galaxy Camera. Before this, Sony had come the closest to combining the two worlds, with the Wi-Fi enabled mirrorless NEX-5R, minus the Android.

Polaroid also announced the launch of two iM1836 cousins. First, the non-Android, Wi-Fi only iM1232W for $349 and the non-Android, non-Wi-Fi iM1030 for $299. It also unveiled the iS2433 with a 16-megapixel sensor and 24x optical zoom for $199.

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Posted in: CAMERAS,Polaroid

BOLLYWOOD, Udita Goswami, Mohit Suri marry in private ceremony

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Udita and Mohit had a tradional wedding at a temple in Mumbai.

Director Mohit Suri and actress Udita Goswami tied the knot on Tuesday evening at Hare Rama Hare Krishna temple in a traditional Punjabi wedding attended my family and a few close friends from the film fraternity.

The bride looked radiant in a traditional red lehenga choli with detailed embroidery all over, while Mohit Suri looked handsome in a sherwani. Udita later changed to a bright pink anarkali.

The occasion turned out to be a very private affair with close family members and a few friends. Bollywood celebrities like Dia Mirza, Kangana Ranaut, Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Anurag Basu, Jacquline Fernandis, Vikram Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor were present to bless the newly-weds.

The reception will be held on January 31 at Mahalakshmi race course.

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Posted in: BOLLYWOOD

BOLLYWOOD,-Movie review: Race 2

Cast:Saif Ali Khan, John Abraham, Deepika Padukone, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ameesha Patel, Anil Kapoor
Director: Abbas-Mustan

SPOILERS AHEAD

A significant chunk of Mumbai filmdom’s creative output has changed for the better since the year 2008, the first quarter of which saw the release of Race, a Hollywood rip-off that had Bollywood critics run for cover.

Nearly five years on, the directing duo of Abbas-Mustan is still at it – cantering around aimlessly with a convoluted thriller that zips, zaps and zooms through an amoral landscape peopled by sharks and bloodhounds whose only trip in life is to settle old scores, hatch new conspiracies and, when necessary, lay murderous traps.

On the face of it, Race 2 is a glitzy, action-packed entertainer. Scratch the surface – in fact, that is all there is to the film – and what you are left with is superficial style bereft of logic and substance.

But, then, isn’t that the failsafe formula that has stood many a Bollywood pulp-maker in good stead over the years?

Race 2 proves how difficult it can be for a producer to let go of an idea that yielded a box-office bonanza the first time around. The makers of this film obviously haven’t heard of, or do not believe in, the law of diminishing returns.

Race 2 isn’t so much a sequel as an ill-advised rehash. Revenge, one character says, is a dish best served cold. Ideas, for sure, aren’t best served stale.

This is the second year in succession after 2012’s Players that Abbas-Mustan have the honour of unleashing the first Bollywood biggie of the year. Race 2, like Players, is big only on nausea-inducing clatter.

The obvious question is: does this slapdash scurry to the finishing line really have the steam to replicate the kind of runaway box-office success that the prelude had enjoyed?

Or will Race 2 go the way of the wayward Players, the Burmawalla siblings’ official Hindi remake of the British crime caper flick, The Italian Job?

At the heart of Race 2 are two wrangling men endowed with sculpted bodies and an ingrained air of masculine insouciance.

The brawny John Abraham (replacing the relatively scrawny Akshaye Khanna of the earlier film) ensures that the sequel has a markedly higher beefcake and testosterone quotient.

Keeping the boys company is a trio of bimbos all too eager to flash generous décolletage while playing second fiddle. All of the above is, of course, par for the course in an Abbas-Mustan film.

Many of the faces and the principal location have changed in the sequel, but the overall veneer is pretty much the same.

Race 2 is slickly packaged around dramatic twists and turns that fly at you thicker and faster than you care to count.

Race 2 moves at a fair clip and is packed with explosions, stunts and chases that might be crowd-pleasing. The trouble is that the narrative is too breathless for its own good.

To be fair, some of the implausible action sequences are startlingly good. However, they do not add up to a convincing enough whole that can paper over the holes in the narrative.

Some Bollywood directors tend to labour under the misplaced belief that a film must be crammed, end to end, with relentless excitement, extravagant dance routines and ear-splitting background music for it to find ready takers. Excess does not always yield success.

The action in Race 2 takes place in Turkey, where, we learn, that the Indian underworld is just as active as it is back home.

Ranveer Singh (Saif Ali Khan), a rare remnant from Race, scours the hot spots of Istanbul in search of the mastermind behind the killing of his beloved Sonia (Bipasha Basu in a cameo).

In his risky quest, Ranveer has to contend with a slew of men and women who, like him, are out to make a quick buck and get the hell out of here.

And, of course, there is ex-cop Robert D’Costa (Anil Kapoor), the only man who Ranvir seemed to be at ease with when the curtains came down on the first film.

The private eye has a gloriously daft female assistant in the form of Ameesha Patel. The actress isn’t seen much these days on the screen. Just as well!

Istanbul generally looks great as a backdrop through the lens of Ravi Yadav’s camera and much of the film is rather easy on the eye. But when the cars and bloodthirsty men get in the way, they only serve to muck up the view.

As for the women on the screen (Deepika Padukone and Jacqueline Fernandez), they strut around like wound-up automatons that are all decked-up but have nowhere to go.

Is Race 2 on your mind? Get rid of it pronto. This is a wreck of a movie strictly for action junkies who might be looking for a feverish two-and-a-half-hour ride that is far more giddy than heady.

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Posted in: BOLLYWOOD

COMPUTERS, LAPTOP-Samsung Chromebook and Chromebox review

Two new computers running Google's Chrome operating system are looking to lure people to a browser-based environment. Both target light-duty computer users who don't need the full range of capabilities that traditional Windows and Mac computers provide.The first thing to know about these machines is they lack regular hard drives for storage. There's a small amount of flash memory available, the kind you'd find on a camera memory card, but Chrome OS machines are designed for the cloud. That means documents are stored over the Internet, and programs are run over the Internet through a Web browser.
However securely and discretely the Internet services you use claim to keep your data, your content is one step removed from your tight-fisted control. Cloud computing also limits what you can do during those times you may not have an Internet connection.
In addition, because the machines emphasize not just cloud storage but cloud services as well, you won't be able to install full-blown programs such as Microsoft's Office. You're limited to the selection of apps written for Chrome.
What you get instead is speed. The Chrome OS machines boot up quickly because they don't have to load a lot of software - all that is run over the Internet. The machines also don't need the most expensive and fastest parts because they aren't doing a whole lot.
If you're OK with that approach to personal computing, the Chromebook laptop and the Chromebox desktop computer hit the mark. Both are made by Samsung Electronics Co. and represent the second-generation of Chrome OS machines, following the models out last summer.
Here's a closer look at the two:
Chromebook
Officially called the Samsung Series 5 550, the $449 Chromebook laptop is an updated version of last year's debut Chromebook model.
As notebooks go, the Chromebook is sleek and simple by appearance. It sports a 12.1-inch display, weighs a tidy 3.3 lbs and has built-in Wi-Fi. The model I tested also came with a 3G cellular modem and two years of free online connection to Verizon's network. That model costs $549.
Under the hood is an Intel Celeron processor and four gigabytes of RAM, which is plenty for most Web-based activities. There's a paltry 16 gigabytes of flash storage, which can quickly get eaten up if you store a lot of songs or photos - forget about lengthy video. Again, the idea is for you to keep all that on the Internet instead.
Google's Chrome Web store has plenty of useful, free applications to run on the machine. These are the same apps that you can add to Chrome Web browsers running on Windows or Mac computers. The selection includes accounting software, Amazon.com wish list management and "Angry Birds" (Yes, they're still angry).
But if all of that can also be installed for Chrome on a Mac or Windows machine, why have a whole computer with the entire functionality dedicated to one browser? Isn't that severely limiting?
Some will find it is, but others will soon determine that the vast majority of their activities in front of a computer screen are Web-based anyway. There are Chrome apps for Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and other services that represent the bulk of the casual user's computer time.
The frustrations I had with Chromebook were related to its hardware. First, there is no caps lock key. I had to simultaneously press the shift key and a key with a magnifying glass right above it. That may seem like a small inconvenience, but Chrome just made it more cumbersome for me to yell at someone in ALL CAPS on Facebook.
Also, the touchpad's right-click sensitivity was poorly calibrated and dominated a good two-thirds of the surface. Hence, a right-click dropdown window of options kept popping up when I merely meant to left click on text fields and other objects. These are small things, of course, but they were annoying.
Chromebox
The $329 Chromebox Series 3 desktop computer, by comparison, a real gem.
The diminutive unit sports lots of crucial connections, including six USB 2.0 ports, a DVI output and two DisplayPort outputs for the transmission of high-resolution video to an external display. Like the Chromebook, it comes with 16 gigabytes of storage.
The first thing I noticed when powering up the Chromebox was, well, nothing. It was the quietest electrical device in my home office, thanks to a flash drive that doesn't need to spin, unlike magnetic hard drives found in most traditional computers. The unit generates very little heat and therefore doesn't need a roar of fans to move that heat away from the 1.9 GHz Intel processor.
The desktop experience is identical to the Chromebook, of course. They run the same OS and operate in the same fashion.
I was able to use the quietness to my advantage. The Chromebook is quiet, too, but the Chromebox is more inviting because you're more likely to leave it in one place. That makes it easier to use the device for entertainment, as I wouldn't need to reconnect wires to the TV each time.
It's much nicer to stream high-definition Netflix movies to the TV from the mouse-quiet Chrome device than from my PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or a regular desktop PC, all of which get warm and loud.
And I'd get a proper browser and online apps on the television, instead of apps repurposed for the game console experience. For instance, the Twitter app for Xbox is cartoonish, whereas reading a few tweets from TweetDeck via Chrome (with a Bluetooth keyboard attached) is pretty nice.
That said, I see neither Chromebook nor the Chromebox as replacements for traditional computers, as cloud computing isn't fully robust yet. Instead, Chrome OS machines are likely to be additions, the way you might buy an iPad to supplement your main desktop or laptop.
If you're comfortable with cloud computing, the Chromebook and the Chromebox deliver a clean networked experience and give you a full keyboard than touch-screen tablets lack.
But the new Chrome OS machines, while improved over previous models, don't offer many advantages over traditional computers that can do much more. So if you're not comfortable yet with cloud storage, there's no reason to force yourself to embrace Chrome OS. You can get by with the Chrome browser on a regular machine.

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Posted in: COMPUTERS,LAPTOP

APPS, Gaana.com releases mobile app: First impressions

If you're a music lover, there's no way you wouldn't have accessed popular online music site gaana.com. Well, the service offered by Times Internet Limited, has now stepped beyond the Web and landed on your mobile devices. That's right. The Gaana app is now available for iOS, Android, BlackBerry and J2ME devices for free.

So now you can access and listen to over a million songs on your device while on-the-go. Is the app better than its web counterpart? We gave the iOS version a spin and recorded our first impressions of the app.

Beginning with the interface, it's pretty simple and clean, no hassles whatsoever. If you haven't signed up earlier for the service through the web, now would be a good opportunity. You can also login via Facebook and get started right away. Though signing up isn't necessary to use the app, it lets you customise the app/ music to your tastes.

The home screen greets you with a series of popular albums on top and a list of various music charts in several regional languages like 'Mirchi Top 20, US Top 20', 'Kannada Top 15' and much more under the Playlists tab. The Songs tab enlists most popular songs from recent times. You can listen to songs in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and in 21 other languages.

The bottom of the screen has a generic menu section with my zone, search, home, discover and settings options. You can stay organised by creating your own playlists and favouriting songs, artists and albums by accessing the 'my zone' section. 'Search' for over millions of songs instantly and 'discover' what you're friends are listening to along with browsing through new releases, artists, albums, genres etc.

While playing songs, the appropriate album art for each one loads automatically. You can instantly favourite it, add it to your playlist, share it with others or even turn it into your radio station with Radio mode and other options listed on the screen.

Another pretty slick feature in the my zone section is that you can swipe over a listing to reveal various options that you can use to add to a playlist, enqueue the song, view the artist or album and share it as well. You can always access the 'Info' tab on the player screen to view various details related to a particular song and do other stuff as well.

Social networking integration allows you to share your favourites with friends via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. The app also offers smart recommendations to listen to similar songs, artists or albums. If you already have a Gaana account on the web, your content automatically sync when you log into mobile and vice versa.

That was the good stuff. What about disappointments? Well, initially we did run into trouble while launching the app and logging in. The app did crash a few times. Also, when listening to songs on a weak Wi-Fi connection can ruin the mood since they just get stuck in between while playing. Make sure you have a stable Wi-Fi connection to enjoy an uninterrupted music experience. Perhaps the app could buffer more aggressively over Wi-Fi to get over temporary dips in signal strength.

Another thing we noticed is that we couldn't stream music to our Airport Express via AirPlay from within the app, something the saavn.com app lets us do. However, this is easily fixed by switching the output target from system-wide iOS settings.

Another noticeable flaw is that the album covers either don't load fully or are very low res in some cases, which is disappointing to see. But considering this is the first mobile version for the app, we hope the company takes due notice of this flaw and brings fixes in future updates.

When compared to the Saavn app on iOS, the latter offers a similar music experience but with an even wider range of songs and genres. But unlike Gaana, the Saavn app has intrusions in the form of ads and even the music streaming was quite slow. As far as the interface is concerned, we didn't find the Saavn app as polished and smooth as Gaana.

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Posted in: APPS

MOBILE, HTC launches Android smartphone Butterfly at Rs 45,900

Taiwan handset giant HTC has launched its new flagship android smartphone, Butterfly, for Indian customers. Priced at Rs. 45,900, the phone has dislodged Samsung Galaxy S III in terms of cost in the same category. Samsung is selling at Rs. 32,000 after being launched at Rs 43,180 last year. Butterfly comes with 1.5GHz quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. The 16GB onboard memory and will support microSD card expansion up to 32GB. It also has 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB. It sports an 8MP auto-focus snapper with LED flash on the back and 2.1MP camera in the front. The device runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean).

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Posted in: HTC,MOBILE

NEWS, FLIPKARTAfter footwear, Flipkart planning to power up with health supplements

India’s e-commerce major Flipkart.com is planning to expand its product portfolio further and may soon add a health supplements category, sources close to the development told Techcircle.in. The new category may come up by July this year, but the company has not decided yet whether it will hold an inventory for the same or source the products according to market demand.

Flipkart had earlier registered two new entities in India, one of them being Flipkart Marketplace Pvt Ltd. Following the move, rumours were rife that the company would be shifting its inventory-led business to that of a marketplace model.

We got in touch with Flipkart for confirmation regarding the upcoming category, but the company declined to comment and stated, “We do not comment on speculations. As a fast-growing company, we are constantly evaluating opportunities and working on a number of initiatives simultaneously.”

Key players who are already offering health supplements include Healthkart.com, Mynutramart.com, Madeinhealth.com, Mynutrishop.co.inand Nutrishopindia.com, among others.

When Flipkart added several product categories including pens and stationery, home appliances and perfumes in April last year, we asked Ravi Vora (VP, marketing, at Flipkart) about the company’s expansion plans. At that time, he said, “Currently, we offer products across 12 categories. Going forward, we will continue to expand the range of products available on Flipkart. Everything except groceries and automobiles are fair game for us.”

And that is exactly what it has been doing for some time now. Take a look at how it added new product verticals/categories throughout 2012.

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Posted in: FLIPKART,NEWS

GADGETS - I PAD, Now, 4G iPad with 128 GB

Apple has introduced a fourth-generation (4G) version of the iPad with a so-called retina display and 128 gigabytes (GB) of memory — twice the storage capacity of models already on the market.

The new iPad will be available in the US from February 5 at a starting price of $799 for a Wi-Fi version and $929 for a device that also offers a cellular connection.

Earlier this month, Apple posted the slowest profit growth since 2003 and the weakest sales increase in 14 quarters, fuelling concern about CEO Tim Cook’s ability to keep producing hit products over a year after the death of co-founder Steve Jobs.

"With more than 120 million iPads sold, it’s clear that customers around the world love their iPads," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice-president, marketing.

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Posted in: GADGETS - I PAD

COMPUTERS, Microsoft Office 365 Home Premium review

As much as I like Google Docs for word processing and spreadsheets, I find the online software clunky at times. So I was skeptical when I heard Microsoft is trying to sell its new version of Office as an online subscription.I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the subscription gets you the same software you'd get buying it at a retail store. In fact, I'm using the new Office 2013 to write this review, and it feels as smooth as the customized version of Office 2010 I regularly use.
With an online subscription, you keep paying Microsoft to use the latest version of the software, rather than pay the company once for software that gets outdated over time. It's pricey, at $100 a year, compared with the traditional way of paying a one-time fee that starts at $140 and is good for years. Nonetheless, households with several computers will find subscriptions a good value, as one subscription is good for up to five Windows or Mac machines.
At first glance, Office 2013 resembles Office 2010, whether you buy it as a subscription or out of a box. There's a row of buttons - the ribbon - with quick access to the tools you need most. Files are compatible, so you can send Office 2013 documents to someone who has only Office 2010 (as I'm doing with this review).
What Office 2013 does, though, is embrace Microsoft's touch-screen philosophy. Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, which came out last fall, enables touch-screen controls so desktop and laptop computers work more like tablets. It's Microsoft's way of addressing a challenge to PCs brought about by the popularity of the iPad and tablets running Google's Android system.
So with Office 2013, you can access those ribbon buttons and menu options with your finger, as long as you have a touch-screen monitor. You can also move your cursor by touching the spot on the screen where you want to insert a paragraph into a Word document or edit a formula in an Excel spreadsheet. Of course, you can use the old-fashioned mouse and keyboard commands instead.
A button at the top lets you switch between touch and mouse modes, though you can still touch in mouse mode and vice versa. In touch mode, buttons and menus are spaced farther apart to reduce the chance of accidentally hitting the wrong one.
Microsoft also designed Office 2013 to reflect the fact that people these days tend to have multiple devices - perhaps a desktop at work, a laptop at home and a tablet on the go.
When you're online and signed in with a free Microsoft account (such as Hotmail, Live or Outlook.com), Office will push you toward storing your files online through Microsoft's SkyDrive storage service. That way, a file you save at home will pop up at work with all the changes you made. No longer do you have to email files to yourself - or kick yourself for forgetting to do so. If you prefer, you can still store files the traditional way, on your hard drive.
Other features reflect our continual connectedness. You can insert an image into Word directly from an online service such as Flickr, for instance, without first saving it onto your computer.
A "read mode" in Word temporarily reformats your document into something that resembles an electronic book. Commands for editing documents disappear, so you're left with the functions you'd need most, such as defining a word or translating a phrase. Word can also convert PDF documents into Word format so that you can make changes more easily.
Word and the other Office programs can access an Office Store, which carries apps you can buy or get for free to extend the software's functionality. That was how I got a free Merriam-Webster dictionary for defining words in read mode. Sadly, it works only when you're online. That means I'd have to wait to look up "defenestrate" if, say, I'm near the window of a skyscraper without Wi-Fi.
That gets me to my frustrations with Google Docs. It works well when I have a steady Internet connection, less so when I don't. You can enable offline use, but it's not the same. Since I travel a lot, I want to know I'll be able to access my Office files anywhere, especially with this push to save everything online.
The good news is Office 2013 works quite well without an Internet connection. SkyDrive is an Internet-based storage service, but it can also automatically save copies of all your files on every computer you use. That way, you can still open files when you're offline. Any changes you make will sync with the online copy later. I've tricked it by making different changes from different computers. Word managed to merge them.

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Posted in: COMPUTERS

MOBILE - BLACK BERRY, RIM’s big event today: BlackBerry 10 OS and two new smartphones

Research in Motion’s (RIM) new line of BlackBerry devices, the BlackBerry 10 is out today. The smartphone-maker is expected to launch the the new OS and two new handsets. Here’s a quick look at what to expect from the event today.

The BlackBerry 10 OS: RIM had revealed the new OS in its BlackBerry Jam conference in September last year, touchscreen is what we are likely to see. The new predictive text is quite fast and accurate but whether it will be a valuable replacement for the physical QWERTY keyboard remains to be seen.

BlackBerry has also gone for a new user-interface design, with large icons which might very similar to the Android experience. RIM also promises jazzy new apps for Facebook, Twitter, etc for BlackBerry 10 OS.

BlackBerry World: This is BlackBerry’s new app store and RIM is promising that it has gathered a number of big-name music and video partners ranging from Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures to Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group.

What will Thorsten Heins unveil today? Getty Images

According to RIM, BlackBerry World content store would include an extensive catalog of songs, movies and television shows. Most movies will be available the same day they are released on DVD, with next-day availability for many TV series.

BlackBerry Devices: According to rumours, RIM is likely to launch two devices today. One is the all-touch BlackBerry Z10 and the keyboard-equipped BlackBerry X10. The X10 has a touchscreen as well.

Both smartphones have a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and will come with 16 GB storage space. The Z10 has been caught on film ahead of the launch, according toTechCrunch.  The Z10 has 4.2-inc screen with an eight megapixel rear camera, according to the site.

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Posted in: MOBILE - BLACK BERRY

Facebook, 'Facebook profile may expose mental illness'

Washington: A person's Facebook profile may reveal signs of mental illness that might not necessarily emerge in a session with a psychiatrist, a new study suggests.

According to researchers from the University of Missouri, the social media activity when used as a tool in psychological diagnosis can remove some of the problems associated with patients' self-reporting.

"For example, questionnaires often depend on a person's memory, which may or may not be accurate. By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally," said study researcher Elizabeth Martin.

"Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state," said Martin.

Social media profiles could eventually be used as tools for psychologists and therapists, according to Martin, doctoral student in MU's psychological science department in the College of Arts and Science.

"Therapists could possibly use social media activity to create a more complete clinical picture of a patient," Martin said in a statement.

Martin's team asked participants to print their Facebook activity and correlated aspects of that activity with the degree to which those individuals exhibited schizotypy, a range of symptoms including social withdrawal to odd beliefs.

Some study participants showed signs of the schizotypy condition known as social anhedonia, or the inability to experience pleasure from usually enjoyable activities, such as communicating and interacting with others.

People with social anhedonia tended to have fewer friends on Facebook, communicated with friends less frequently and shared fewer photos.

Other study participants concealed significant portions of their Facebook profile before presenting them to researchers.

These participants also showed schizotypy symptoms, known as perceptual aberrations, which are anomalous experiences of one's senses, and magical ideation, which is the belief that events with no physical cause-and-effect are somehow causally connected. Hiding Facebook activity also was considered a sign of higher levels of paranoia.
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Posted in: Facebook

NEWS, Bharti Airtel unveils largest rooftop solar power plant

Image courtesy of xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Largest rooftop solar power plant in the Indian telecom sector aims to save close to 26 thousand liters of diesel per annum

LUCKNOW, INDIA: Bharti Airtel has announced that it has powered up its core location with Solar Power at Gangaganj, Lucknow.

Bharti Airtel said, Gangaganj in Lucknow is one of the major switching and routing centre, which processes the voice & data traffic for the telecom operator.

The 100KWp non penetrating rooftop Solar power plant is the first of its kind in the Indian telecom industry and will save close to 26 thousand liters of diesel per year, said the global telecommunications company.

Going forward, the company is planning to replicate similar power plants in 6 other Core Locations generating close to 300 KWp of solar energy, added Bharti.

The project has received 30 per cent subsidy from the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).

"At Airtel we continuously evaluate the impact of our activities on the society and environment. It is our constant endeavor to develop innovative solutions that help us drive environmental conservation," said Jagbir Singh, director, Network Services Group at Bharti Airtel.

"Gangaganj solar power plant is a concrete move in line with our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and contribute towards building an inclusive society."

Singh further added, "We believe that our responsibility does not cease at providing superior quality to our customers."

Bharti Airtel has recently launched its first Sustainability Report on India Operations. Along with various partners, the company has been working to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in its operations and has reported 11 percent reduction in GHG emissions per terabyte in network infrastructure in 2011-12

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Posted in: NEWS

NOKIA-NEWS,Nokia and Bharti Airtel will launch an exclusive Nokia Xpress Browser for India users

Nokia and Airtel will launch an exclusive version of the cloud accelerated Nokia Express browser for users in India. The customized version of the Nokia Xpress Browser will provide users with a faster and more cost effective Internet experience. It will also feature one touch access to popular content along with Airtel’s premium mobile Internet services.

The new browser promises up to 85 percent increased efficiency as compared to conventional browsers to make the browser faster and cheaper to run as improved efficiency will cut down on data usage.

The browser optimizes web sites so that it can load faster on all Nokia Series 40 and Nokia Asha devices. The browser will be made available in the coming week and Nokia-Airtel users will get an automatic upgrade to the latest version of the browser.

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Posted in: NOKIA-NEWS

HEALTH - FOOD, Your vegetables are grown and cleaned in gutter water

If you thought going green was a healthy option for your family, reading this expose and seeing these pictures will be an eye-opener.

Don't be too sure of the conventional wisdom of forcing green vegetables down your children's throats in the hope that they will keep them hale and hearty. Mid Day's findings about how these are grown and washed in farms across the city will make you flinch just the same as your kids when they are forced to gulp the greens.

Leafy vegetables, that occupy the crown position in a dietician's prescription, may be playing host to algae and faecal matter, and that is just what you see. What you get is worse. Under the microscope, these veggies have indicated the presence of bacteria and even parasites.

If you're wondering how this comes about, take a look at the water used to irrigate the vegetable farms. Mid Day studied how these vegetables are grown and washed in the city. This reporter visited farming spots in Thakurli and Kalwa, collecting samples of radish and spinach sold in markets, as well as the water used to tend and wash them.

Picture 1: At the farming spots MiD DAY visited in Thakurli and Kalwa, we found that the plots are irrigated with water from pumps which draw it from mucky gutters that often contain sewage from nearby toilets.

Picture 2: After the harvest, the vegetables are washed in the same mucky ponds and gutters to 'clean' them

Picture 3: Lab reports confirmed our suspicions the water bodies being used for farming and washing are breeding grounds for a large number of parasites and bacteria including the deadly E coli. Pics: Shrikant Khuperkar




The analysis from a municipal lab in Dadar confirmed that the water samples from the sites in these pics showed the presence of coliform and E coli bacteria

Many of these farms are along train tracks with an evidently questionable source of water - the drain nearby - which is downright poisonous for humans, as the lab reports suggested. Investigations also established the presence of the fatal E coli and yeast in the vegetables, among other contaminants that will make you blanch.


Farm site: Railway car shed area, Thakurli (W)
Area under cultivation: Over 5 to 6 acres of railway land
Vegetables grown: Radish, Spinach, Fenugreek (methi), Amaranth (chauli) Coriander (cilantro or dhania) etc
Markets: Mumbai (Dadar, Andheri, Bandra), Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli etc


What we saw
The farm is close to the Chola power plant, which was shut down in the 1993. Since charcoal was then used for producing power, the colour of soil at some places in and around the plant is still black. A dozen men and a woman were spotted scrubbing radish, spinach and fenugreek in a squalid artificial pond. A huge stack of farm produce lay beside each of them, as they cleaned the vegetables in the muddy water.

Waste water from a small hut and the toilet in it is discharged into the gutter which spews it into the pond. After being scrubbed and cleaned, the vegetables were placed on a gunny rag of jute. This is then wrapped and transported, without being cleaned any more.

A distance away, a hosepipe ran from an old diesel-driven water pump wrapped in plastic to the gutter. The impure water it discharged carried all sorts of waste including the carcass of a stray dog. Locals said that it was the only source of water for cultivation.


Locals say

Raju Maliya (60), and his wife Geeta (32) claim they took an acre for cultivation three years ago and a dozen or so men work with them. Other plots have a similar labour group. They are aware that the land belongs to the railways. They said they paid an annual rent of Rs 4,500 to a railway employee in Bhanushet, Thakurli.

Pointing to the drain, Raju said, "We do not get potable water and depend on this 'natural' source for cultivating and cleaning the produce. We do not put any chlorine in it. We know it is not clean but I guess it is okay. We eat the same food and have not fallen sick so far."

"In winter we usually grow radish, spinach and fenugreek. Summer is only for spinach. Business is bad in monsoons." Raju said they use pesticides and after spending a few hundred rupees on seeds and pesticides, they make around Rs 150-200 a day.

They work in three shifts from 6 am. The first lot of produces leave for Mumbai. The second shift starts around 10 am and the produce is sent to Thane and Vashi. The produce is sold at Rs 2-3 per piece to the retailer, who then sells it to you for Rs 6-10, depending on the size. In the evening, the produce is sent to areas in Dombivili and Kalyan.

"We know you want to expose us by showing how we use gutter water to grow leafy vegetables. But everybody across the railway tracks on central or western lines uses the same water. We are not doing anything wrong," said a local.

Farm site: Shivaji Nagar, Kalwa (E)
Area under cultivation: Over 2 acres of railway land and equally large private land
Vegetables grown: Radish, Spinach, Fenugreek (methi), Amaranth (chauli) Coriander (cilantro or dhania) etc
Markets: Mumbai (Dadar, Andheri) and Thane, Vashi etc


What we saw

The plots are irrigated with water from a diesel-run pump which draws it from a mucky gutter. The final produce is cleaned in the same pond near the station where local slum dwellers bathe and wash.


Locals say

Radhekrishna Chavan (37), who hails from UP, was spotted connecting a hosepipe to the gutter from where the water is drawn in. Chavan, a farmer for 16 years, said he paid Rs 20,000 yearly to the railways for his acre of land. Chavan said, "If coconut and mango trees can grow near dirty lakes, how bad can gutter water be for vegetables? The soil here is good and so is the output."

Santosh Yadav (40) said the pond water is not salty. "We do not have any other source of water. For years we have been using this water for our other chores as well." Farmer Ravindra Chauhan (40) said, "We try to take precautions, but at times even the companies manufacturing seeds and pesticides supply cheap quality products, which makes the output harmful for consumption. Unlike other farmers who get subsidies and training from the government, we do not get any such privileges. We picked the tricks of the trade from our fathers."


Railway speak

Chief PRO for the Central Railway, Vidyadhar Malegaonkar, said, "The railways, under the 'grow more food programme', has allotted these plots from its surplus land resources to gangmen for cultivation against a nominal fee. Though the cultivators are allowed farming, the ownership of land remains with the railways whose sole intention is to prevent encroachments on its properties." Asked if the farmers are given any basic farming tips for cultivation, he said, "Our business is not farming. Moreover, if people have any problem with the produce, they have a choice to got to the supermarket or other vendors."

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Posted in: HEALTH - FOOD

GADGETS - I PHONE, Apple iPhone 5S with 13MP camera coming in July

A KGI Securities analyst says that Apple is working on an iPhone 5 successor that will have features like snappier processor, fingerprint sensor, better camera and more powerful flash

NEW DELHI: Apple launched iPhone 5 with much fanfare just five months ago, but reports say the company is already working on not one but two iPhones as well as next generation iPadand iPad mini. 

Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with KGI Securities, says that Apple is working on an iPhone 5 successor that will have new features like snappier processor, fingerprint sensor, better camera and more powerful LED flash. Kuo's claim of fingerprint recognition system gains a little credence from Apple's 2012 acquisition of Authentec, which deals with this technology. 

Coming to the cheaper iPhone being developed by Apple, Kuo says this device will be same as iPhone 5 but will be a little stockier. Instead of the aluminium body and waistline of 7.6mm, the cheaper iPhone will have a plastic casing and measure 8.2mm around the sides. He also said this device will be available in six colours, a rumour that has done rounds in the past as well. 

Technology blog iLounge has also reported about the upgrade in camera sensor, saying that the upcoming phone may have Sony's 13MP unit. The report also says that the two prototypes under development are named N51 and N53. 

Over the past few weeks, there have been reports of Apple facing low demand for iPhone 5. However, the company's CEO Time Cook shot that down by saying, "The supply chain is very complex and we have multiple sources for things. Yields can vary, supplier performance can vary. There is an inordinate long list of things that can make any single data point not a great proxy for what is going on."

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Posted in: APPLE,GADGETS - I PHONE

MOBILE, AIRCEL launches free roaming service

Aircel today launched a product that offers users one rate for voice, SMS and data in home circles and on roaming

NEW DELHI: Aircel today launched a product that offers users one rate for voice, SMS and data in home circles and on roaming.

'One Nation, One Rate', offers one rate for voice, SMS and data in home circles and on roaming on Aircel network, the company said in a statement.

"Incoming calls while on roaming on Aircel network will be free," it added.

Aircel users in Delhi can avail the service for Rs 39, while Mumbai subscribers have to pay Rs 32, the statement said.

The price points for the service for other circles range from Rs 21 to Rs 59, it added.

"...this product will enable Aircel customers to enjoy one rate for voice, SMS and data services in their respective home circles and even while they are on roaming," Aircel Chief Marketing Officer Anupam Vasudevsaid.

The product will offer voice - (Local/National) calling at 1paisa/second in home circle as well as on roaming on Aircel network, while incoming calls on roaming will be free.

SMS will be charged at Re 1 for home circle as well as on roaming while data users will be able to carry the home circle rate on roaming, the statement added. 

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Posted in: AIRCEL,MOBILE

Top 5 foods that will help you stay health

Washington: A dietitian from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has suggested adding five foods to your grocery cart to make 2013 healthier - Bulgur, Chickpeas, Kale, Spaghetti squash and Sunflower seeds.

According to Lindsey Lee, RD, clinical dietitian with EatRight by UAB Weight Management Services, there are numerous often-ignored foods that fit the bill for healthier eating.

"There are many foods that, while unfamiliar to some, are readily accessible in most grocery stores and can really expand a person`s daily diet without expanding their waistlines," Lee explained.

1. Bulgur: This whole-wheat product is a good substitution for rice or potatoes that has a mild, nutty flavor and chewy texture. It is packed with eight grams of fiber and six grams of protein per cup, and it clocks in at only about 150 calories. It is also a good source of vitamins and minerals; particularly B vitamins and manganese. It can typically be found in the same aisle as rice and beans.

"The fiber and protein in whole-wheat products like bulgur help keep us feeling full throughout the day. Bulgur has a fairly low glycemic index, so it does not dramatically raise blood sugar like refined flour products like white potatoes or white rice," Lee said.

2. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans): Chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, are healthy, versatile and inexpensive legumes that are very easy to prepare. They can even be consumed right out of the can.

One cup of chickpeas has 13 grams of fiber, 15 grams of protein and three grams of healthy fat. They also have antioxidant properties and are loaded with vitamins and minerals. They can be found in the canned foods section or with the dried beans. Lee suggested eating legumes like these three to four times per week.

"Most of the fiber in chickpeas is insoluble fiber, which is great for digestive health. Individuals who eat them typically have better blood sugar regulation since chickpeas are so high in fiber and protein," Lee explained.

3. Kale: Kale is a leafy green vegetable that is loaded with antioxidant vitamins A, C and K, and it is a good source of essential minerals like copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. A cup of this vegetable, which can be found in the produce department, is only about 40 calories.

"The vitamins in kale are associated with anti-cancer health benefits, and the fiber in kale helps bind cholesterol in the body, which improves heart health. Individuals should include cruciferous vegetables like kale in their diet at least four to five times per week," Lee said.

4. Spaghetti squash: Spaghetti squash is the low-carbohydrate alternative to spaghetti pasta; the inner flesh of this squash pulls into strands, resembling the popular pasta. A one-cup serving of spaghetti squash has 10 grams of carbohydrates as compared to about 45 grams in one cup of pasta or rice. One cup has only 42 calories and offers important health benefits.

"Like all vegetables, spaghetti squash provides the body with essential vitamins and minerals like vitamin A, B-vitamins and manganese. And it`s very versatile; you can bake or steam your spaghetti squash before adding it to recipes, or eat it as a side dish with your favorite lean meat," Lee said.

5. Sunflower seeds: Sunflower seeds are generally less expensive than other nuts, and they offer many of the same health benefits as popular choices like almonds and walnuts.

A quarter cup of sunflower seeds has three grams of fiber and six grams of protein. Unsalted sunflower seeds contain healthy fats, but they are high in calories at about 280 per quarter cup. Lee recommends keeping to one portion.

Sunflower seeds are a good source of copper, vitamin E, selenium and manganese. Shelled, unsalted sunflower seeds can be found in the nut section, and they can be added to salads or yogurt, or eaten plain.

"The vitamin E in sunflower seeds offers significant anti-inflammatory effects; and it is an antioxidant, so it also plays an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular disease," Lee said. 

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Posted in: HEALTH

TECH, India successfully test-fires underwater missile

India's underwater K-15 (code named B05) missile piercing the waters of the Bay of Bengal after it was launched from a submerged pontoon off the Visakhapatnam coast, on Sunday. 

India on Sunday successfully test-fired the underwater ballistic missile, K-15 (code-named B05), off the Visakhapatnam coast, marking en end to a series of developmental trials.

In its twelfth flight trial, the 10-metre tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) lifted off from a pontoon, rose to an altitude of 20 km and reached a distance of about 700 km as it splashed down in the waters of the Bay of Bengal near the pre-designated target point.

According to scientific advisor to the Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat, the missile was tested for its full range of 700 km and the mission met all its objectives. He said the impact accuracy of the medium range strategic missile was in single digit.

With the completion of developmental trials, the process of integrating K-15 missile with INS Arihant, the indigenously-built nuclear submarine, will begin soon. As many as 12 nuclear-tipped missiles, each weighing six tonnes will be integrated with Arihant, which will be powered by an 80 MWt (thermal) reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel and light water as coolant and moderator.

India is only the fifth country to have such a missile -- the other four are the United States, Russia, France and China.

Meanwhile the reactor has been integrated with the submarine and it was expected to go critical in May/ June 2013. Once that was done, the harbour trials will begin.

Besides Arihant, three other nuclear-powered submarines were being constructed -- one at Visakhapatnam and two at Vadodara. India is also developing K-4 missile with a range of 3,000 km.

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Posted in: TECH

NEWS,

ज़रूर पढ़ें:::::::::

नमस्ते मित्रों,
ये तो हम सभी जानते और समझते हैं की कांग्रेस पार्टी ने चुनाव जीतने के लिए कभी भी सीधा रास्ता नहीं अपनाया,कभी धर्म के नाम पर,कभी आरक्षण के नाम पर तो कभी कूटनीति की चाल पर...लेकिन विकास और तरक्की के नाम पर तो कभी नहीं...
पिछले कुछ समय में जिस प्रकार से कांग्रेस पार्टी की साख आम जनता की नज़रों में गिरी है तो अब जीतने के लिए अपनाए जाने वाले तौर तरीके भी बदलने लगे हैं,
कई मुख्य कारणों में से एक महत्वपूर्ण कारण है EVM यानी इलेक्ट्रॉनिक वोटिंग मशीन,
क्या कारण है की जिस वोटिंग मशीन को दुनिया के लगभग सभी विकसित देशों ने चुनाव में इस्तेमाल करना बंद कर दिया वहीँ दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा लोकतंत्र भारत देश में अब भी ये चल रही है या यूँ कहें हम पर थोपी जा रही है...
डॉ. सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी अकेले ऐसे व्यक्ति हैं जो इसके इस्तेमाल के खिलाफ एक लम्बे समय से लड़ रहे हैं इसका एक कारण ये भी है की इसी वोटिंग मशीन की साजिश के तहत उन्हें हराया गया था कांग्रेस द्वारा ऐसा उनका मानना है,
कल स्वामीजी की कोर्ट में इसी विषय पर सुनवाई थी..और आपको जानकार ख़ुशी होगी की स्वामीजी अपने लक्ष्य की ओर बड़ी तेजी के साथ बढ़ रहे हैं,उन्होंने ने कोर्ट में साबित किया है की वोटिंग मशीन के साथ अपने स्वार्थ के लिए छेड़छाड़ संभव है,इसमें वोट करने वाले को पता भी नहीं चलता की उसने जिसे वोट दिया है वो उसी व्यक्ति या पार्टी को गया भी है या नहीं,उदाहरण के तौर पर अगर किसी मशीन के साथ गड़बड़ की गयी है तो होगा यूँ की आपने बटन चाहे भाजपा का दबाया हो या शिव सेना का या फिर जनता पार्टी का वोट जायेगा कांग्रेस को....
सुब्रमण्यम स्वामीजी की सारी बाते सुनने के बाद कोर्ट ने उनसे पूछा था की क्या आपके पास कोई ऐसा रास्ता है की मशीन भी बंद न कराई जाए और वोटिंग भी बराबर हो,
आप सभी जानते हैं स्वामीजी अपनी हाज़िर जवाबी के लिए मशहूर हैं या यूँ कहें उन्हें अंदेशा था की ये सवाल उनके सामने आएगा ही...उन्होंने झट से उत्तर दिया और इसका भी समाधान बताया..उन्होंने कहा हर व्यक्ति को वोट करते ही तुरंत मशीन से एक कागज़ की रसीद मिलनी चाहिए जिससे उसे पता चले की उसका वोट सही जगह हुआ है और वहीँ पड़े बॉक्स में उस रसीद को डाल देना है ताकि आगे चलके अगर शक हो तो वोटों की गिनती रसीदों से की जा सके...
अब स्वामीजी ने इस केस को एक ऐसे मोड़ पर ला लिया है की आने वाले चुनाव में दोनों में से बस एक ही चीज़ हो सकती है या तो वोटिंग मशीन पर रोक लगेगी या फिर हर वोट की रसीद निकलेगी...
कल इसी विषय में ट्वीटर पर स्वामीजी अपने प्रशंसको के सवालों के जवाब दे रहे थे तब उन्होंने कहा की गुजरात चुनाव में भी वोटिंग मशीन के साथ गड़बड़ी की गयी थी,इस गड़बड़ी के कारण नरेन्द्र मोदीजी को करीबन २५ सीट का नुक्सान हुआ है...
मित्रों,आप स्वयं विचार करें की स्वामीजी और मोदीजी जब सत्ता से बाहर हैं तो देश का इतना भला कर रहे हैं अगर ये सत्ता में आ जाएँ तो क्या किसी की मजाल है की भारत को विश्व का सबसे शक्तिशाली देश बनने से रोक सके...
ये अब हमारी जिम्मेदारी है 
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Posted in: NEWS