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Saina to get Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Ace Indian shuttler and world no.2 Saina Nehwal will get the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sports award.

The award's committee headed by India's legendary athlete P.T. Usha met here Friday to finalise the winners of this year's national sports awards. A sports ministry official said the Arjuna Awards will be declared in next couple of days.
Saina has been in great form and recently won three back-to-back tournaments, including two Super Series titles. The 20-year-old from Hyderabad won the Indian Open Grand Prix, Singapore Open and Indonesian Open.
Earlier this month, she jumped one spot to World No.2, and it came as a major boost for the star shuttler ahead of the World Championships in Paris from Aug 23. Saina is now behind top-ranked Chinese Yihan Wang.
'I am very happy and it is a surprise for me. It has come just before the World Championships. In fact, the last couple of months were great for me. I have done consistently well this year,' said Saina.
'Everything has happened quickly in my career. But it has been tough for me as well. Things will be different now as expectations will be high from me,' she said.
Saina has been made the captain of the Indian team for the World Championships.
Saina, who won the Arjuna Award last year, was the first Indian girl to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics in Beijing and the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships.
Last year, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna was awarded to Olympic bronze medallists boxer Vijender Singh, wrestler Sushil Kumar and four-time world champion woman pugilist M.C. Mary Kom.

Reliance, Universal eye theme park in India - report

Enlarge Photo The "Battlestar Galactica" dueling roller coaster ride is pictured during a media preview of the...

India's Reliance ADA Group is in talks with Universal Studios to build a $1.5 billion, 400 acre theme park and resort in India, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing a person familiar with the matter.

Reliance's Big Entertainment unit and Universal, a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal could reach a deal this year, although one person familiar with the matter warned the talks were at an early stage and could break down, the newspaper reported.
Reliance ADA is controlled by billionaire Anil Ambani.
The newspaper cited a source as saying that Reliance ADA would have full ownership of the venture but would pay Universal royalties and fees for using content linked to popular movies like "Jaws," "E.T.," "Spider-Man" and the "Harry Potter" franchise.
The park would look much like Universal's parks in Los Angeles, Orlando, Fla., and Japan, with a variety of roller coasters and rides, shops with movie-related merchandise and nearby hotels.
Universal declined comment and officials for Reliance were not immediately available.
The main cities being considered for the park are New Delhi and Mumbai, according to the report.

IT firms to check attrition, think beyond salary hikes

Bangalore: IT firms are fully determined to decrease the attrition level in their respective organizations. India's top IT firma are offering mid term hikes, promotions and restricted stocks to keep the employees loyal towards the company.

Now when the global economy is improving, most of the Indian IT firms are offshoring more work to save costs and at the same time, the IT firms are looking for employees experienced with three to seven years, who can deliver quality codes to their customers, reports Poornima Mohandas and Raghu Krishnan of the Mint.

"85 to 90 percent of IT-ITeS companies now are looking at off cycle compensation related interventions such as retention bonuses, off cycle salary increases and equity based incentives to control this situation," said Sandeep Chaudhary, performance rewards consulting practice, South and West Asia, Hewitt Associates.

The IT biggies are bringing in a new trend in the industry. Infosys has raised its hiring plans to 36,000 from 30,000 for the year 2011 and at the same time, TCS plans to hire 40,000 people.

Zylog Systems recruits freshers

Experience:

0 - 1 Years

Location:

Chennai

Education:

UG - B.Tech/B.E. - Computers, Electronics/TelecomunicationPG - Post Graduation Not Required,M.Tech - Any Specialization, Computers, Electronics/Telecomunication,MCA - Computers

Industry Type:

Telcom/ISP

Role:

Trainee

Functional Area:

IT-Support, Telecom, Hardware

Posted Date:

29 Jul

Interested candidates mail ur resume to prasaanths@zsl.com

 prasaanths@zsl.com

All ready for Ajith’s Billa-2

The remake of Rajini’s Billa as Billa-2 by director VISHNUVARDHAN was a classy hit of 2007. Ajith proved he is as stylish as any international star. Nirav Shah brought in new style of cinematography which looked path breaking. Nayanthara also revealed she is the best.

Now buzz says the same team is again ready to rock with a sequel to Billa-2. Our sources confirm that Vishnuvardhan is ready with the final script of the sequel and is waiting for the confirmed dates of Ajith. By all means action thriller will start rolling from early 2011 confirmed the reliable sources.

20 IIITs to come up on public-private partnership mode

New Delhi: The HRD Ministry has prepared a public-private-partnership model for setting up 20 IIITs under which the expenditure could be shared in the ratio of 85 to 15 between the government and industry.

"The government of India has a scheme of setting up new IIITs under PPP mode," Minister of State in the HRD ministry D. Purandeswari said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha recently.

According to a note prepared by the Ministry for these projects, each Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) would be set up at an investment of Rs 200 crore and the government would bear 85 per cent of the expenditure.

Of the 85 per cent spending, the Centre would provide for 50 per cent and the state government would bear 35 per cent of the expenditure. It means the Centre will provide Rs 100 crore while the state government will give Rs 70 crore and the industry will provide Rs 30 crore for setting up of each IIT.

"The scheme is yet to be approved by the cabinet. The location and other details of the new IIITs will depend upon the schemes finally approved," the Minister added.

At present, India has four IIITs at Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) and Kancheepuram (Tamil Nadu).

Planck satellite reveals Image of entire universe

European Space Agency has released what it says is the first ever image of the entire universe which will give scientists new insight into how the stars and galaxies form.

The all-sky image produced by space telescope Planck can also tell how the Universe itself came to life after the Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago.

The satellite was launched last year by the ESA under a 600-million euros project to record the origins of the universe.

While the satellite was sent nearly a million miles into space, the Planck observatory's job was to look at the age, contents and evolution of the cosmos by studying the heat left behind by the Big Bang.

ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, David Southwood, said "This is the moment that Planck was conceived for."

"We're not giving the answer. We are opening the door to an Eldorado where scientists can seek the nuggets that will lead to deeper understanding of how our Universe came to be and how it works now," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

"The image itself and its remarkable quality is a tribute to the engineers who built and have operated Planck. Now the scientific harvest must begin," he said.

From the closest portions of the Milky Way to the furthest reaches of space and time, the new all-sky image, for which Planck took six months of time, is an extraordinary treasure chest of new data for astronomers, the scientists said.

The main disc of our Galaxy runs across the centre of the image. Immediately striking are the streamers of cold dust reaching above and below the Milky Way.

This galactic web is where new stars are being formed, and Planck has found many locations where individual stars are edging toward birth or just beginning their cycle of development, the report said.

Less spectacular but perhaps more intriguing is the mottled backdrop at the top and bottom. This is the "cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR)", the scientists said.

The CMBR covers the entire sky but most of it is hidden in this image by the Milky Way's emission, which must be digitally removed from the final data in order to see the microwave background in its entirety.

When this work is completed, Planck will show us the most precise picture of the microwave background ever obtained, the ESA said.

The different colours represent minute differences in the temperature and density of matter across the sky.

Somehow these small irregularities evolved into denser regions that became the galaxies of today.

Planck will continue to map the Universe and will produce four all-sky scans till its mission ends in 2012.

Passenger plane carrying over 150 people crashes in Pak

A Pakistani passenger plane carrying over 150 people crashed into the heavily forested Margalla Hills surrounding Islamabad due to bad weather on Wednesday.  
 

The Airbus aircraft of the private airline Air Blue hit the Margalla Hills near the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint Wednesday morning, officials of the police and a state-run rescue service said.

The aircraft, flying from Turkey to Islamabad via Karachi, was preparing to land when it crashed, said Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority Spokesman Pervez George.

"There were 146 passengers and six crew on board," he said. "When it was preparing to land, it crashed in the Margalla Hills." Islamabad has been hit by heavy rains for the past few days and the city was covered by fog and low clouds.

A spokesperson for the state-run Rescue 1122 service said there were reports that at least 150 people were on the aircraft. Rescue works were being affected by bad weather and smoke and fire at the crash site, which is not accessible by tracks or roads.

The crash occurred in an area that is not accessible by roads or trials. Rescue workers said they were facing problems in approaching the crash site. The heavy rains too were hampering rescue efforts.

So far five bodies were recovered from the site. "Several bodies are lying in the area. Four or five bodies have been taken," Imtiaz Inayat, a senior Islamabad municipal official, told Geo television.

"There is fire across a large area. Rescue teams have been sent. Helicopters have been deployed," he added. Civil aviation officials said the aircraft had disappeared from radar screens shortly before the crash was reported. It had taken off from Karachi at 7.50 am.

The crash occurred in an area that is not easily accessible as the Margalla Hills are covered by thick forests.

 

Score

India at the end of day 2
India 95/0
Sehwag 64*
Vijay 22*
Srilanka 642/4
Sanga 219
Jayaward 174India at the end of day 2
India 95/0
Sehwag 64*
Vijay 22*
Srilanka 642/4
Sanga 219
Jayaward 174