18 September, 2013

Nandan Nilekani to fight Lok Sabha polls from South Bangalore?

The billionaire co-founder of Infosys and the man behind UPA government's ambitious Aadhar programme, Nandan Nilekani, is considering contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore South on a Congress ticket.

The Congress-led UPA, which is hoping the Aadhar card-based direct cash transfer scheme for social welfare programmes will be a hit with voters, is believed to be keen that the former software moghul contest. The Bangalore South seat is held by BJP general secretary H N Ananth Kumar, who has won five consecutive times from this middle-class constituency.

In a first, Chennai doctor uses Google Glass to air operation live

When the surgeon's scalpel drew a red line on the patient's abdomen, two blocks away a group of medical students leaned toward their screens.

The procedure was a simple hernia repair, but the surgical team was unusually upbeat as they turned to look at the latest gadget in the operation theatre - the Google Glass worn by their chief.

As the medical fraternity in the west debates the usefulness of the newest device produced by software giant Google Inc, doctors in India have joined the chorus with bouquets and brickbats, even as a surgeon in the city became the first in the country to live-stream a surgery using the Google Glass.

IITs will take nearly 10 years to get to ideal teacher-student ratio

Facing a faculty crunch, the Indian Institutes of Technology have projected that it will take the elite institutes close to a decade to get to the ideal teacher-student ratio. The government stipulates IITs must have a teacher-student ratio of 1:10, but at present, the ratio is an area of concern.

Of 6,522 sanctioned faculty positions nationwide, 2,618 are unfilled. Thus, across campuses, there is an approximately 40% shortage of teachers. While student intake has risen by 54% since 2006 in the wake of the 27% OBC quota and the expansion in the number of seats, the teacher-student ratio at campuses is around 1:15. It is the worst at IIT-Roorkee at 1:20 and the best at the newer institutes of IIT-Ropar and IIT-Mandi, where there is one teacher for every two students.

Akal Takht bans Guru Granth Sahib in homes with bars

Acting on suggestions and complaints of some faithful, Akal Takht - the highest temporal body of Sikhs - ruled on Tuesday that Guru Granth Sahib can't co-exist in houses that have bars or with things proscribed by the religion, such as tobacco, intoxicants and halal meat. The decision was taken at a meeting of the top Sikh clergy at the Akal Takht secretariat in Amritsar.

Akal Takht jathedar (chief) Giani Gurbachan Singh said keeping the Granth Sahib in houses of Sikhs who had made liquor bars in their drawing rooms was tantamount to disrespect for the holy book, which is considered a living embodiment of Sikh gurus.

Iron ore scam: Essar offers to pay railways 89 crore

In a sensational twist to the iron ore transportation scandal in the railways, Essar Steel has offered to pay Rs 89 crore, including penalty, for transporting iron ore/pellets meant for exports by paying cheap domestic tariff.

The surprising Essar move is an indication of what the railways stands to gain if the entire scandal— of iron ore and pellets exporters transporting them at cheap domestic rates for illegal exports—is unravelled. TOI has in the past assessed that recoverable dues are estimated at Rs 50,000 crore, and the figure is based on the rough data of iron ore that was exported mostly to China since 2008. A recent test audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General had said railways could recover over Rs 17,000 crore from its limited audit.

IT to reskill staff as technology reshapes business

As cars become driverless, medical records become instantly available on smartphones and 3D simulation becomes ever more accurate, new and specialist skills are becoming critical for the Indian IT and business process management (BPM) sectors.

This has pushed industry body Nasscom to formulate occupational standards guidelines for IT services, BPM, engineering R&D and software products, with the objective of providing these segments with strong pipelines of qualified talent in the years to come.

"Growth in future will be driven by new services/solutions and not more of the same. The industry has started to make significant investments in tools, technology and talent to build appropriate solutions and communicate the value proposition," said Som Mittal, president of Nasscom, at the 15th edition of the Nasscom BPM Strategy Summit in Gurgaon.

At present India is better than Pakistan, says Zaheer Abbas

Former captain Zaheer Abbas feels restoration of bilateral cricket ties with India would prove to be beneficial for Pakistan as presently India is in a stronger position in world cricket.

"I have always said that regular Indo-Pak cricket relations and ties also lead to improved relations at people to people and government levels," Abbas said in an interview.

The former batting great, who has held key positions in Pakistan cricket, said he was happy to see Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif taking steps to encourage regular cricketing and sporting ties between the two nations.

"At the moment the Indian team is better than us and there is no doubt about it. If we play against India regularly it will benefit our players," he observed.

Shahid Afridi keen to captain Pakistan cricket team again

Senior all-rounder Shahid Afridi has once again expressed his interest in captaining the Pakistan cricket team.

Afridi said that after having played 17 years for the country he always considered it as a big honour to captain the national team.

"If the Cricket Board (PCB) deems it fit and offers me the captaincy again I will accept it as a challenge," Afridi said.

"I think the position we are facing right now is that all the senior players need to contribute more and play a more decisive role in the South Africa series," he said.

Pakistan out of Commonwealth Games Hockey

Pakistan were on Tuesday eliminated from the field hockey event at next year's Commonwealth Games after failing to enter the event by the deadline due to an internal sporting dispute.

Pakistan have won four world titles and three Olympic golds in field hockey.

But the latest setback is part of a sequence of disasters the national sport has suffered. It comes barely a month after the national team failed to qualify for next year's World Cup.

Pakistan were in danger of exclusion from the Commonwealth Games ever since the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) split into two factions earlier this

Arsenal in toughest group, says Wenger

Arsenal will need 10 points to get out of the "hardest" section in the Champions League, said manager Arsene Wenger on the eve of Wednesday's tough test at Olympique Marseille.

The Londoners, beaten by eventual champions Bayern Munich in the first knockout round last season, also face Borussia Dortmund and Napoli in Group F.

"If you look at the group I would say yes it is the hardest because all four teams have a chance to qualify," Wenger told a news conference.

"That means every game is basically a very important one. On average you need 10 points to qualify so that gives you the task.