Agni-V to be test fired today

Taking a major leap forward in missile technology and military deterrent capability, India is all set to test fire its 5,000 km range Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Agni-5 today from a test range off the coast of Odisha. 

 

The test fire of the missile will be conducted today from a test range in Wheeler island off the coast of Odisha. 

Preparations have reached their last stage to conduct maiden flight of the missile, Defence Ministry officials said. 

DRDO Chief V K Saraswat had recently said the missile is being integrated at various facilities for the test launch which will be witnessed by military officials and other agencies which participated in its development.

Only the US, Russia, France and China possess the capability to operate an ICBM. 

DRDO plans to conduct more such tests of the missile over the next one year after studying and analyzing the parameters achieved in each subsequent trial. 

On the timeline fixed for fully developing Agni-5, Saraswat had said another one year of testing will be involved. 

In November last year, DRDO had successfully test fired the 3,500 km range Agni-4 missile giving muscle to India's deterrent capability against the military adversaries. 

DRDO has also placed necessary equipments to collect data on the trajectory and flight of the missile and other necessary data which will be studied further for its future development. 

Agni-5 will be a three-stage, all solid fuel powered, 17-metre tall missile with capability to carry various forms of payload, officials said.

Yahoo's 1Q results show progress under new CEO

Yahoo's first-quarter results showed signs of progress that may help boost the credibility of recently hired CEO Scott Thompson as he tries to turn around the long-sputtering Internet company.

The strides announced Tuesday were small compared with the huge gains that rivals such as Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. have been reaping as advertisers shift more of their budgets to the Internet.

Nevertheless, Yahoo's showing for the first three months of the year included an elusive breakthrough. The company's revenue increased from the prior year for the first time since the U.S. economy was sinking into the depths of the Great Recession in the autumn of 2008. It broke a streak of 13 consecutive quarterly declines in Yahoo's net revenue _ the amount of money that the company keeps after paying commissions to its ad partners.

"We still have a lot of work to do, but it's an important milestone for us,'' Tim Morse, Yahoo's chief financial officer, said in an interview.

Yahoo's earnings also rose in the first quarter, but that's not a new phenomenon. The company's net income had also been rising under Thompson's predecessor, tough-talking Carol Bartz, mostly because of cost cutting.

But Bartz never could produce a year-over-year increase in Yahoo's quarterly revenue before she was fired last September. Yahoo lured Thompson away from eBay Inc.'s online payment service, PayPal, three months ago.

In Thompson's first full quarter as CEO, Yahoo earned $286 million, or 23 cents per share. That represented a 28 percent increase from net income of $223 million, or 17 cents per share, at the same time last year.

The earnings for this year's quarter exceeded the average estimate of 17 cents per share among analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Thompson didn't spend much time crowing about the first-quarter revenue increase, probably because it was such a small gain. Net revenue totaled $1.08 billion, an increase of $13 million, or 1 percent, from the same time last year.

Google's first quarter net revenue, in contrast, soared by 24 percent from last year to $8.14 billion. The overall Internet ad market in the U.S. increased by about 23 percent, according to the research firm eMarketer.

In a Tuesday conference call, Thompson assured analysts he won't be happy until Yahoo's revenue is keeping pace with the rest of the Internet ad market.

"Yahoo must be nimble, responsive and act with a real sense of urgency,'' Thompson said on the call. ``We have to think and to move like a growth company.''

Investors evidently liked what they saw in the numbers and what they heard from Thompson. Yahoo shares rose 43 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to $15.44 in Tuesday's extended trading. The stock hasn't traded above $20 since the third quarter of 2008 _ the last time Yahoo's revenue climbed from the previous year.

The vote of confidence comes as Thompson tries to ward off a rebellion from one of Yahoo's largest shareholders, Daniel Loeb, who is waging a campaign to gain four seats on the company's board of directors.

Yahoo is trying to bring in more money with fewer workers and products. Earlier this month, Thompson announced the largest layoffs in Yahoo's 17-year history in a cost-cutting move that will save the company about $375 million annually. The housecleaning will jettison 2,000 employees, or 14 percent of Yahoo's workforce.

Jet Airways, IndiGo dump MakeMyTrip in protest against opaque fares scheme

Jet Airways and budget carrier IndiGo, which fly almost half the total air-passengers of the country, have pulled out inventory from Nasdaq-listed website makemytrip.com in protest against the 'opaque fares' scheme the portal deployed on its website.
 

The move came even as the portal claimed that it had absolved itself from such practices, after the government disallowed airlines from participating in such schemes.

'Opaque fares' was a scheme offered by a few travel portals such as yatra.com and makemytrip.com, which offered heavily discounted air tickets without disclosing the airline name until the payment was made. However, the country's aviation regulator DGCA had directed all airlines to "immediately withdraw" participation from such schemes through a directive on March 28.

IndiGo, India's second largest airline by market share, sent out an official statement on Tuesday saying it has withdrawn all content from makemytrip.com as "the arbitrary display of fares and opaque pricing is anti consumer and in violation of DGCA norms and directives."

The airline President Aditya Ghosh, in a text message, further said, "We have raised this with MMT on several occasions but unfortunately, there has been no resolution. We were, therefore, left with no choice. IndiGo can't be seen supporting a blatant violation of the law and something that is apparently anti-consumer."

Meanwhile, Jet Airways, which had earlier called opaque fares a scam and had threatened to pull out inventory from makemytrip.com last month, also confirmed the move.

"Jet Airways has not pulled out its inventory from makemytrip.com. However, we have limited the inventory available to them for sale," the airline spokesperson said through a text message.

A person from the travel industry, who did not want to be identified, however, said that these protesting airlines are deploying pressure tactics to make the travel portal drop Kingfisher Airlines from its list. "You will soon see everything fall back into place. These airlines are trying to thwart ailing Kingfisher's chances," he said.

The aim of this scheme (opaque fares), described variously as discount or special fares by the portals, was largely to get rid of tickets of Kingfisher Airlines, a debt-laden carrier. Some passengers, unaware that they were buying Kingfisher tickets, have subsequently been booked on flights that have later been cancelled.

Meanwhile, an official statement from makemytrip.com said that all fares are displayed with the approval of participating airlines.

"We would like to maintain as before that fares and inventory on our website is controlled by the airlines. All the fares are displayed as per the guidelines received and approved by airlines, including the special fares that has been approved by the participating airlines. As India's leading online travel agency, MakeMyTrip strives to give customers the best quality of services and value based offerings," the company said in an emailed response.

iPhone + Cute Puppy = i-Puppy

Some people love their iPhones. Some people love their puppies. Bandai Co., Ltd., which specializes in character-related products from toys to costumes to various Pokemon snacks and gadgets, has figured out a way to blend the two, with its new “Smart Pet”– a kind of i-Puppy.

iPhone + Cute Puppy = i-Puppy

It starts with the robotic body of a dog not quite seven inches tall. Owners download a Smart Pet app onto to their iPhone or iPod touch. Then they nestle it between the floppy ears of the robot, and the iPhone becomes the dog’s face and brain.

The machine then transforms into an animated robotic dog, which will recognize its “owner,” can be “fed,” do more than one hundred tricks, and for all intents and purposes be a man’s best friend–without the necessary daily walks, vet visits, dog chow, and pooper scoopers that a flesh dog would require. (It’s reminiscent of Sony Corp.’s much-beloved Aibo, and has similarities to Bandai’s turn-of-the century digital pet, Tamagotchi.

And the mechanical Sparky can do all sorts of things real dogs can’t. It can help charge the iPhone, serve as an alarm clock, and, should a call happen to come in while the owner is playing with the pet, turn into a hands-free phone set. In another less-normal canine feature, the Smart Pet’s face is removable, so users can take it outside without the body, legs, and tail of the dog. In addition, owners with two Smart Pets—they run in white and black—can use the communication function to synchronize the two dogs as they dance and sing.

The battery-charged Smart Pet is designed so that the robotic dog “learns” more tricks, games, and facial expressions as its owner continues to use it, “playing” chores like feeding the pooch, simulating the relationship between a real dog an its owner. Smart Pets also have a mic and camera installed inside that enable them to do various tricks at the owners’ beck and call.

Smart Pets will run from Y7,800 yen starting April 28. Bandai expects its “completely innovative and new” not-so-furry friend to “not once bore its owners throughout the day,” according to its promotional video. As of now, the Smart Pet will only be available in Japan.

Tsunami unlikely after 8.6 earthquake hits Indonesia

Jakarta: A tsunami watch was issued for countries across the Indian Ocean after a 8.6-magnitude earthquake, the eight worst in the last 100 years, hit waters off Indonesia on Wednesday, triggering widespread panic as residents along coastlines fled to high ground in cars and on the backs of motorcycles. But earthquake and tsunami experts say that quake was horizontal and not vertical, lessening the threat of a tsunami. The National Disaster Management Authority in India said that there was no likelihood of tsunami being formed anywhere in the Indian Ocean. 

Tsunami unlikely after 8.6 earthquake hits Indonesia

The US Geological Survey said the 8.6-magnitude quake was centered 20 miles (33 kilometers) beneath the ocean floor around 269 miles (434 kilometers) from Aceh's provincial capital. 

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami watch was in effect for Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Maldives and other Indian Ocean islands, Malaysia, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Iran, Bangladesh, Kenya, South Africa and Singapore. 

According to earlier reports the tsunami waves were likely to be more than 6 metres high. A tsunami watch means there is the potential for a tsunami, not that one is imminent. 

Said, an official at Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency who goes by only one name, said a tsunami warning has been issued for cities all along the coast of Sumatra island. Residents in Banda Aceh are already moving to higher ground. 

There was chaos in the streets, with fierce shaking continuing for nearly four minutes. 

"I was in the shower on the fifth floor of my hotel," Timbang Pangaribuan told El Shinta radio from the city of Medan. "We all ran out. ... We're all standing outside now." 

He said one guest was injured when he jumped from the window of his room. 

The tremor was felt in Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia's west coast shook for at least a minute. 

Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center issued an evacuation order to residents in six provinces along the country's west coast, including the popular tourist destinations of Phuket, Krabi and Phang-Nga. Indonesia agency also reported an aftershock of 6.5 quake Richter scale in Aceh. 

Tremors were also felt in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Patna, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Cuttack, Bhubaneshwar and several other cities on the eastern coast of India. India has also issued tsunami warning for coastal regions of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands following the earthquake. 

The Chennai port has been shut down due to tsunami alert. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have already been rushed to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity. 

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarter of them in Aceh.

8.7 quake hits Indonesia, India issues tsunami warning for Andaman and Nicobar Islands

India issued a tsunami warning for Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the eastern coast on Wednesday after a 8.7 magnitude quake in Indonesia shook major cities, causing panic and sending people fleeing onto the streets.

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service issued a red
high-level warning for the islands, and also put out lower alerts for the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

India's tsunami warning center said waves measuring up to 6 metres were expected along parts of its eastern coast, which was heavily hit by the 2004 tsunami. Smaller waves were expected to hit the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was centred 33 kilometres beneath the ocean floor around 495 kilometres from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Said, an official at Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency who goes by only one name, said a tsunami warning has been issued.

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on December 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarter of them in Aceh

Huge quake hits Indonesia: Pictures

Earthquake sparks Indian Ocean tsumani alert

A massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra has triggered a tsumani alert around the Indian Ocean.

Indonesia has issued a tsunami warning after a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.9 hit waters off westernmost Aceh province.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was centered 33km beneath the ocean floor around 495km from the provincial capital of Banda Aceh.

Said, an official at Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency who goes by only one name, said a tsunami warning has been issued.

US monitors issued an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami watch but said it was not yet certain a giant wave had been generated.

"Earthquakes of this size have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin," the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said.

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on December 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, nearly three quarters of them in Aceh.

Massive earthquake hits Indonesia, tsunami alert sounded in Indian Ocean

An earthquake measuring 8.7 on Richter scale hit Indonesia's Aceh province. Indonesia issues tsunami warning as powerful quake hits off west coast. The mild tremors were also felt in Indian cities of Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and several other cities on the eastern coast.

According to reports, India too has issued Tsunami warnings for Nicobar islands and east India following the earthquake.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reportedly said it was not yet known whether a tsunami had been generated, but advised authorities to "take appropriate action".

The region is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed 170,000 people in Aceh.

Meanwhile, the US Geological Survey, which documents quakes worldwide, reportedly said the Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh.

The tsunami centre's warning said quakes of such a magnitude "have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin".

8.7 quake hits Indonesia, tsunami warning issued

Indonesia’s geophysical agency has registered an 8.7 magnitude earthquake in the Aceh region, off the coast of northern Sumatra. A tsunami warning has been issued, the US Geological Survey reports.

­The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre is monitoring the situation in the Indian Ocean.

The closest city to the quake’s epicenter 33 km beneath ocean floor is provincial capital Banda Aceh with a population of over 220,000, some 500 kilometers away.

Tremors from the earthquake have been felt in Singapore, Thailand and southern India, Reuters witnesses said.

Major 8.7 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia

Jakarta: A massive earthquake on Wednesday hit Indonesia’s Sumatra Islands forcing the authorities to issue a Tsunami warning. 

According to reports, the magnitude of the earthquake was measured to be 8.9 on the Richter Scale. 

However, it was later revised to be 8.7 on the Richter Scale by the USGS. The epicenter of the earthquake is said to be in Sumatra Islands. However, there are no reports of any major casualty or any large scale destruction of the property. 

The tremors of the high intensity quake also felt in northeastern and other region of the India including West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Manipur. More details are awaited.

STUDY: Obama's health care law would raise deficit

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reigniting a debate about the bottom line for President Barack Obama's health care law, a leading conservative economist estimates in a study to be released Tuesday that the overhaul will add at least $340 billion to the deficit, not reduce it.

Charles Blahous, who serves as public trustee overseeing Medicare and Social Security finances, also suggested that federal accounting practices have obscured the true fiscal impact of the legislation, the fate of which is now in the hands of the Supreme Court.

Officially, the health care law is still projected to help reduce government red ink. The Congressional Budget Office, the government's nonpartisan fiscal umpire, said in an estimate last year that repealing the law actually would increase deficits by $210 billion from 2012 to 2021.

The CBO, however, has not updated that projection. If $210 billion sounds like a big cushion, it's not. The government has recently been running annual deficits in the $1 trillion range.

The White house dismissed the study in a statement late Monday. Presidential assistant Jeanne Lambrew called the study "new math (that) fits the old pattern of mischaracterizations" about the health care law.

Blahous, in his 52-page analysis released by George Mason University's Mercatus Center, said, "Taken as a whole, the enactment of the (health care law) has substantially worsened a dire federal fiscal outlook.

"The (law) both increases a federal commitment to health care spending that was already unsustainable under prior law and would exacerbate projected federal deficits relative to prior law," Blahous said.

The law expands health insurance coverage to more than 30 million people now uninsured, paying for it with a mix of Medicare cuts and new taxes and fees.

Blahous cited a number of factors for his conclusion:

- The health care's law deficit cushion has been reduced by more than $80 billion because of the administration's decision not to move forward with a new long-term care insurance program that was part of the legislation. The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program raised money in the short term, but would have turned into a fiscal drain over the years.

- The cost of health insurance subsidies for millions of low-income and middle-class uninsured people could turn out to be higher than forecast, particularly if employers scale back their own coverage.

- Various cost-control measures, including a tax on high-end insurance plans that doesn't kick in until 2018, could deliver less than expected.

The decision to use Medicare cuts to finance the expansion of coverage for the uninsured will only make matters worse, Blahous said. The money from the Medicare savings will have been spent, and lawmakers will have to find additional cuts or revenues to forestall that program's insolvency.

Under federal accounting rules, the Medicare cuts are also credited as savings to that program's trust fund. But the CBO and Medicare's own economic estimators already said the government can't spend the same money twice.

Blahous served in the George W. Bush White House from 2001-2009, rising to deputy director of the National Economic Council. He currently is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center.

His study was first reported late Monday by The Washington Post.

Source: yahoo.com

Sony to axe 10,000 jobs

TOKYO, JAPAN - Japan's Sony Corp is cutting 10,000 jobs, about 6% of its global workforce, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday, as new CEO Kazuo Hirai looks to steer the electronics and entertainment giant back to profit after four years in the red.

The job cuts would be the latest downsizing in Japan Inc where companies from cellphone maker NEC Corp to electronics firm Panasonic Corp are trimming costs in the face of a strong yen and competition from rivals like Apple and Samsung Electronics.

TV makers in particular have been hit hard by the tough business climate as well as sharp price falls, with Sony, Panasonic and Sharp expecting to have lost a combined $17 billion US in the fiscal year just ended.

Investors will closely monitor a briefing on Thursday by Hirai, who formally took over this month as chief executive from Howard Stringer, for further clues on how Sony plans to revamp its business.

"Under a new CEO, it's easier to cut jobs or go in a new direction," said Yuuki Sakurai, head of fund manager Fukoku Capital, which had around $7 billion US worth of assets under management as of end-March 2011.

"One of the things I'd like to see is that they shift their resources to other areas outside TVs ... If they stick to TVs, they may have to fight a war they may not be able to win."

The Nikkei said half of the latest round of job cuts would come from consolidating the firm's chemicals and small and midsize LCD operations.

Sony said last month it was selling a chemical products division, accounting for some 3,000 people, while on April 1 it merged its Sony Mobile display unit, which had about 2,000 workers, with the small LCD panel businesses of Toshiba Corp and Hitachi Ltd into a new firm called Japan Display.

The Nikkei said it was not clear how many of the cuts would take place in Japan or overseas.

As of end-March 2011, Sony had 168,200 employees on a consolidated basis, according to the company's website.

Sony may also ask its seven executive directors who served through the fiscal year to end-March, including Stringer, who is now chairman, to return their bonuses, the Nikkei said.

Sony declined to comment on the report.

Sony announced 16,000 job cuts in December 2008 after the global financial crisis battered demand for its products, but it has not managed to make a profit since then.

The company has forecast a 220 billion yen ($2.7 billion) net loss for the fiscal year just ended, hurt in large part by its ailing TV business.

Sony said last month that Hirai would keep direct charge of the TV business as part of a structural reorganization.

Sony shares closed up 0.6%, while the benchmark Nikkei average ended 1.5% lower. The stock has dropped more than 10% in the past 3 weeks since hitting a 7-month high.

Ancient skeleton linked to Polynesia

A human skeleton formally buried almost 8000 years ago on a small strategic island off China's coast is creating excitement that it may represent a direct line to the world's youngest race - New Zealand's Maori and Polynesians. 

Genetic evidence has long suggested Polynesians - including their youngest branch the Maori - derived from Taiwan's aboriginal people. 

Now the link may be made in the skeleton found on 400 square metre Liang Island, part of Taiwan controlled Matsu islands, within shelling range of China's Fujian Province. 

The skeleton was discovered by the Taiwanese military who were building a road on the unpopulated island. 

Taiwan's Council for Cultural Affairs says more scientific investigation is need after a local archaeological team exhumed the remains, believed to be 7900 years old. 

The bones are thought to have belonged to a male, around 167 centimetres tall, who was between 30 and 35 years of age at the time of his death.

"We will send the remains to the US and Germany for more professional accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating and DNA biochemistry analysis," the Council said in a statement. 

The head of the archaeological team, Chen Chung-yu, told Agence France-Presse the clue to the Polynesian link was in the burial. 

"Judging from the way the body was buried, it could be a person from what we now call the Austronesia language family," said Chen. 

Taiwan's aborigines belong to the same language family, as do the people who migrated through Melanesia, as the Lapita people, and out across the Pacific, reaching as far as Hawaii, Rapanui and New Zealand. 

Chen told AFP the body was buried in a foetal position like the one used by Taiwan's aborigines as late as the 20th century. 

The find, if proven, could link all Polynesians and Taiwanese aboriginal people to southern China. 

"The people of the Austronesian language family lived near the ocean and were very mobile," Chen told AFP. 

"They had developed some level of shipbuilding techniques that had already enabled them to sail far away from land."

China sets up rare earth body to streamline the sector

China has set up a rare earth association in a bid to streamline the sector's development, as it continues to face criticism over its policies.

Beijing has imposed quotas on exports of rare earth elements, a move which its critics say has pushed up prices. 

Last month, the US, Japan and the European Union filed a case at the World Trade Organization, challenging China's restrictions.

China produces more than 95% of the world's rare earth elements.

Hardball?

 

These elements are critical components in the manufacture of various high-tech products, including DVDs, mobile phones, flatscreen TVs and hybrid batteries. 

China's trading partners have alleged that Beijing has been trying to utilise its position as the world's biggest producer of rare earths to benefit domestic manufacturers.

They have argued that by limiting exports, Beijing has kept prices low for domestic buyers, while international firms have had to pay more.

It's also claimed that Beijing was trying to put pressure on international manufacturers to move to China.

The state new agency Xinhua said the new association was likely to help with efforts to cope with international trade frictions and disputes. 

'Clean up'

 

China has denied these allegations and said that it imposed the restrictions to ensure that excessive mining of these elements did not cause environmental damage. 

Su Bo, an industry vice minister, said Beijing is looking to further tighten its policies for the sector. 

"China will continue to clean up the rare earth industry, expand rare earth environmental controls, strengthen environmental checks, and implement stricter rare earth environmental policies," Su was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.

According to Xinhua, the association will have 155 members, including some of the biggest producers of rare earths, and report to the Ministry of Industry and Technology which regulates production of these elements.