Why Gates likes India

For Bill Gates, India is a must-visit place. In his words, “a place that is valuable to me for both business and personal reasons”.

Besides being an important market for the software giant, Gates is besotted by the immense talent in India. India is also an ideal base for his magnanimous philanthropic activities.
Microsoft India is the fastest growing subsidiary for Microsoft and Gates sees huge potential in India.

“In countries like India, where you have so much talent and potential for future breakthroughs, economic growth will be driven by jobs and revenue from companies that are building businesses around commercial software. Microsoft’s role is to make sure that our partners have the best tools and knowledge to make this happen,” Gates said during his 2005 visit.

Vista still in progress, Windows 7 ahead

Microsoft Windows is undoubtedly the most used and talked about piece of software in the world, and it has been like that for years. As the generations of Windows come and go, and the users’ frustrations multiply; it’s no wonder even Bill Gates said: “What an absolute mess”. He said that when Vista was found under hammers by the public.

That could apply for more than just one version of Windows, many users might say, considering that Windows Vista was an utter mess when it came to replacing the far-from-perfect but million-times-better Windows XP.

Yes, many chose to give it a try, others got it with their new computers, and so the operating system has managed to sell 140 millions copies. However, that number doesn’t reflect the general opinion about it.

Even Ballmer called Vista “a work in progress,” which sounded rather strange considering it was one year after launching it. “Vista is bigger than XP. It’s going to stay bigger than XP;” that of course is still something we’re waiting for.

All in all, Windows XP has reached the end of the road, despite the fact that it still remains the most popular among consumers.

However, Microsoft thinks ahead, and XP has stopped being a priority, now that Vista is here to save the day… and Windows 7 is in the making.

As of this week, the Windows XP operating system is no longer available to computer makers or software retailers. Until 2010, Microsoft will continue to support XP for low-cost PCs and laptops.

Things won’t stop here in terms of XP support however, as Microsoft decided to extend it until 2014. That could be explained through many users’ refusal to switch to Vista, which has been highly criticized for its compatibility failures and crashes.

All we can do now is wait for the next generation of Windows meant to replace Vista, to come out and make us forget all about the unpleasant past experiences.

Is The Sun Setting For America?…

U.S. at present, is surrounded by double crisis – inflation as well as recession. Because of the huge demand of oil, minerals, Beverages and food by India, China and other developing countries, global prices of these goods are on the rise which is affecting US economy also. Due to the large scale sinking of the housing loan, American banks are under heavy loss, which is dragging the American economy into the quagmire. The question is that, the crisis is short term or emblematic of the long-term U.S. sunset? In the past, U.S. has passed through a similar situation twice. In 1981, U.S. economy did not sink despite the large increase in oil prices. In 1997, the situation remained well even after the Asian crisis. I believe that the current crisis more likely to be deep and long-term. The argument in favour of U.S. short-term crisis is that the general slowdown in the business cycle comes fast and often. The key lies in maintaining a harmony between investment and consumption for the process of economic growth. To invest in factories and industries, a country has to cut down consumption. This investment increases the production soon but due to low consumption, sells go down and recession grows. Them reduction in investment and growth in consumption increases demand. This cycle goes on and on. But the current crisis of investment and consumption is not due to a cyclical imbalances. Consumption and investment both are going down simultaneously. In production sector, US companies are investing in China and for services, they are investing in India. Due to globalization, the income of US citizens is under pressure.

It is clear that the crisis is not because of cyclical imbalances of investment and consumption. It is because of the competition with the cheap labour available in India and China, which is not a short-term matter. Obviously this cheap labour will remain available because India is still a poor country. The second argument is the discovery of new technologies. It is true that the last 100 years, US has been a leader in research and technology such as car assembly line production, nuclear energy, personal computers and the Internet. USA sold these technologies to the East at heavy prices and earned hugely. Microsoft Windows earned huge profits for USA. It is argued that inventions will continue in US because even today World’s most intelligent scientists continue to flee to US. This argument is the result of the experience in 1997. At that time East Asia was in deep crisis as well as US. But with the Internet revolution, there came a boom for IT companies and recession never remained there. This Experience is definitely correct but it is not certain that this will repeat.

Come to England. The steam engine and powerloom was invented here. At that time, England was named as the factory of the world. But England could not keep its technology ahead and got behind in the race. Similarly, US will continue to lead in future, it is not necessary. Main fact is that in USA, all the research has been mainly outsourced. Scientists in USA receive maximum salaries while in India, they receive the lowest. US companies have built up there research centres in India. People working in these research centres will be Indians. While it is true that the technologies invented through these researches would be owned by US companies. But Indians who have worked to invent the technology would also know it. So, they can definitely act independently in future. Moreover, Indian companies have also begun to invest in research. Several new drugs have been patented by Indian companies. Space shuttle, Nuclear Technology etc. we have achieved by ourselves. Therefore it can be said with facts that the present period of globalization may not only paralyse the US economy, but may also produce new world leaders.

Pen!!!!…..or a Camcorder

If you are fascinated by “Bond” movies and all the fancy gadgets shown in the movies, then you will surely appreciate the DVR Pen Camera recorder. It can record video as well as audio and it resembles a pen.

You never know when you may need to record video in stealth. In the house, you can hide cameras in a variety of things but they don’t offer portability. This is where this cool gadget comes handy. It looks like a pen but is a bit larger than the normal ones. It can record up to 30 hours video/audio (4 GB model) at a video resolution of 352 X 288. It can even behave as a USB drive and you can connect it to your PC for charging purpose. The battery has a bit of a drawback as it only provides a recording time of two hours. The recording can be done by just the click of a button. It can also behave as a normal pen with smooth writing and ink that can be changed with normal refills.

Videos can be transferred to the PC just by direct connection with no need of drivers and external power. The 2 GB model costs $199.95 and the 4 GB cost $249.95. A must have gadgets for self confessed detectives, reporters and even geeks. It may seem a bit expensive, but after all, all good things come with a price.

Google target a new Google.

Google after working on the other Google products are finally thinking back of improving the original Google i.e. the Google Search. From a long time we didn’t see any major changes in Google Search as Google were busy with improving the Gmail, Blogger, Youtube, & other Google Products. Now they are back to the big giant i.e. Google Search.

From now on Google will be selecting a limited number of users and allowing them to test new features at Google Search. The selection process is totally random so you can’t do anything to get in but all you can do is just pray that you get lucky & Google selects you for testing new features.
These selected people when logged into their account will come across by these features. They will have an option of removing a result from the search results. This will omit that result from future search results.

Another one given by Google Blog is that they are now going to track on how people navigate between the different search products. This means if you are searching for some product, & then you decide to see its pictures or videos & open Google Image Search or Google Video Search, then Google will track your navigation clicks.

Also now Google will offer much better & improved Google News page to selected people. Google search results page will allow more filtration. Like if you search for a job, Google will ask you the location where you want to work & the field in which you want to work. Then Google will automatically adjust the search results according to your query.

These features will only be available to those people while they are logged in to their Google accounts. Lets hope that these tests gets converted to features & open up to all the Google traffic soon.

India stands third in the list of Top Ten popular countries for sourcing talent.

India is the third most popular country for sourcing foreign talent after China and the US, a survey by global recruiting firm Manpower Inc. released on Tuesday said.

The Survey conducted in 27 countries also showed that India received the highest remittances ($27 billion) from nationals working abroad.

“The demand for Indian skilled labour is the highest in the US followed by the Gulf. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for engineers in the oil and gas sector and aviation,” said Manpower India managing director Naresh Malhan.

Others in demand are nurses, drivers and construction workers, he said. Of the nearly 2.2 millions of Indians working abroad, 53 percent have acquired tertiary education (i.e., they have a graduate or a higher degree). The survey also ranked India third in the list of the top 10 countries considered an economic threat to other nations.

“While it’s true that we need to do more to keep our most talented workers at home, we must also consider how we can strengthen our collective employer ‘brand’ to attract talented workers from overseas,” said Malhan.

Amazing Song – New Indian Anthem

Courtesy : Times of India

Are we afraid of the Chinese Wolf

Not content with fingering India along the Arunachal Pradesh border, China is once again treading on Indian toes in Sikkim. Reports suggest that there have been 65 incursions by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Sikkim over the last six months. The latest such instance by our neighbour occurred last week, when a few PLA men took a ride into Indian territory in light vehicles before returning. Surely, they were not on a joyride. The act was meant to provoke and irritate. It is perhaps part of a larger Chinese design to keep India on the hop even as Beijing and New Delhi engage in formal talks to resolve border disputes and generally improve relations.

Union minister of state for defence, M M Pallam Raju has said that India will take up the issue with China at the “appropriate highest level” as well as raise it at the next flag meeting between the Indian Army and the PLA. Raju said “as two responsible neighbours, we will sort it out”. However, the track record of South Block in dealing with China isn’t distinguished. Our diplomatic dealings with China reflect a tendency to be bullied by it. And China remains a bully even today. On the one hand, we are expected to believe that we are equal to China. New Delhi appears scared of displeasing Beijing in any way. Recall the way our administration bent over backwards to please China and accommodate its demands when the Olympic torch made its way through our capital?

It is quite clear that China is not all that happy about India’s growing stature in world affairs even though its ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, publicly said in Hong Kong last week that China “understands and supports India’s aspirations to play a greater role in international affairs”. China have already proved themselves to be back-stabbers in 1962 Sino-Indian War. Moreover, India’s economy also poses challenges to China’s aspirations to dominate global markets. China is a tough competitor. So, while Beijing keeps diplomatic channels with New Delhi open, it ensures that it keeps India on its toes by constantly heckling it. This, it does through unprovoked incursions or via statements by Chinese diplomats and ministers, which are meant to rile India. And, of course, it keeps strategic tension alive through quiet support to forces in India’s neighbourhood that are not always well disposed towards this country.

India seems to have no clear policy on how to manage its belligerent neighbour. But it is time that South Block got its act together on its China policy. Going forward, India and China will both play a greater role in world affairs, strategically and economically. It is inevitable that they will have to engage each other on a range of issues. If we do not make it clear where our lines of patience are drawn, we might as well abandon hopes of being equals in the future.

Dirty Politics : Nuke deal is slipping away.

One year ago, UPA government and left parties were face to face. UPA wanted to have a move on the nuclear deal while the left wanted the government to throw the deal to dustbin. UPA was firm on finalizing the deal while the left was firm on drawing back the support. Later both the sides reached an agreement and the deal became a tool for the game called politics.

An year later, the two sides are again face to face with the same proposals and opposals. If the result this time again comes out to be the same as the last time then Congress is sure to win an election never in future. What is the point in leading the country when you can’t accomplish what is an urgent need for the country.

More than two years have been wasted. How much more do they require to waste. Situation has riped and it’s time for some tough decisions to make. India will present itself to the world as the foolest country if the deal retires unsigned. No other country in the world has come across such a golden opportunity. It’s sad to see that BJP which was a strong supporter of India’s nuclear program is also opposing this deal just for political benefits.

The biggest problem of today’s India is energy. India produces power (electricity) through coal, gas and oil. All of them are very costly in the present scenario. If we can find some cheap sources of energy, it would be a great thing for India’s future. Nuclear Energy is the best source of energy if we consider future India’s demands and the rising oil prices. Today the country has almost zero quantity of Uranium left. If we do not get Uranium soon, our nuclear power plants would cease increasing the energy problems in future.

According to US reports India has been a responsible nation. It has never taken an undue advantage of its Nuclear strengths. On viewing India’s past records as well the rising oil prices, USA decided to help India in Raising its power production through nuclear technology. If the deal is signed, then not only will India be counted as one of the biggest six nuclear nations, it will also provide us enough of nuclear fuel which would facilitate cheap production of electricity.

After China, India is the second biggest importer of oil. Billions of dollars are wasted in meeting the fuel demands of India. If we get Uranium from the outer countries, our dependability on petrol and diesel would minimize which would save a large part of our country’s wealth. Therefore all the politicians who are opposing the deal, they are not doing any good for the country. Public knows everything and they will have to pay for all this in future.

Israel on an urge to attack Iran

Iran’s nuclear program is heating up the disputes in West Asia. Massive rehearsals by Israel to attack Iran point towards an attempt to warn Iran. Iran on the other hand answers by saying fight will be answered with a tougher fight.

Sources report that Israel will attack Iran if it continues to develop nuclear weapons, Israel will attack Iran if it continues to develop nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s one of deputies warned yesterday. Shaul Mofaz, a former defence minister, said military action would be unavoidable if Tehran proved to be able to acquire the technology to manufacture atomic bombs.