INDIA PSLV-C9 Launched Successfully with 10 Satellites

India's PSLV-C9 blasted off into space, carrying ten satellites including the country's latest remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, from Indian Space Research Ogranisation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on Monday.

It was an awesome sight as the workhorse launch vehicle of ISRO roared into the skies leaving behind a trail of smoke and a rumble that shook the earth. A galaxy of scientists, led by ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair, watched the course of the flight with bated breath.

Scientists cheered as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirteenth flight, soared into the clear sky in a perfect lift off at 9.23 am from the second launch pad.

Besides the 690 kg CARTOSAT-2A, the PSLV is also carrying ISRO's Indian Mini Satellite-1, weighing 83 kg, and eight nano satellites built by universities and research institutes in Canada and Germany.

While the CARTOSAT-2A, carrying state-of-the-art panchromatic camera, will be used for mapping purposes and management of natural resources, the IMS-1 will be used as a platform for trying out advanced technology in future launches.

“India can build any type of SLV”, said by A P J Abdul Kalam and we hope the same and wish India all the very success.

Keywords: PSLV-C9, CARTOSAT-2A, ISRO, Sriharikota, India

Indian Premier League Analysis

Indian Premier League already witnessed some exciting contests and wonderful performances from world cricket stars. But teams like Hyderabad surprisingly lost all three matches due to lack of proper planning. Everyone can learn cricket/real life lessons from these IPL T20 matches.

Lessons from Indian Premier League Cricket match so-far:

1. Hyderabad Deccan Chargers: This is a classic case of fall from grace.

A. You need a motivational leader to win a contest. A weak leader like Laxman is a minus point.

B. You need proper planning and unbiased selection to win in any sport.

C. You need a team which is strong in all departments. Hyderabad bought 4 hard hitters and forgot about other departments.

D. You need bench strength in case of emergency. What will they do when Symonds will not available in the last weeks of May?

2. Kolkata Knight Riders:

A. It has exciting passionate owner like Shahrukh Khan (He is like Mark Cuban of NBA).

B. It has inspirational leader like Sourav Ganguly who will not settle for second place.

3. Jaipur IPL: Shane Warne is doing magic both on and off the field with his bowling, inspiring captaincy and tactical coaching. A genius leader like Warne can spot ability in young cricketers and raise their game level.

4. Delhi Daredevils: They believed in true world class players but not bits and pieces. Bowlers like Glenn McGrath and Mohammad Asif are giving superb starts with their accurate bowling. Class is permanent.

5. Bangalore Royal Challengers: They too believed in world class bowlers like Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble, Nathan Bracken and Zaheer Khan. True all-rounder like Praveen kumar is an additional bonus. But they picked world class test batsmen for Twenty20 cricket games.

6. Mohali IPL: They picked players for advertisement needs. Yuvraj picked wayward bowler like Sreesanth because of friendship which cost them both matches.

7. Mumbai Indians: When a real icon like Sachin Tendulkar will not play, their game plans will not work and team members will miss that “some thing”. But they tried their best in both matches. Return of Sachin will change the fortunes of Mumbai Indians.

8. Chennai Super Kings: What you will need when you have a cool, glamorous and inspiring captain like Dhoni in your team? What you will need when you have talented and committed players like Hayden and Hussey in your ranks?

Most awaited matches:

1. Chennai Super Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders.

2. Delhi Dare Devils Vs Chennai

3. Kolkata Vs Delhi IPL.

We will learn new lessons after seeing the results of above match. Mathew Hayden will miss Man of the tournament award due to Australia's tour of West Indies.

So far this IPL has been so successful for entertaining the audiences and hope the same in the coming matches.

Keywords: IPL, Indian Premier League, Twenty-Twenty, T20, IPL T20, DLF IPL

Now, Airlines charge for e-Booking in INDIA

Flying is fast getting more expensive. Within days of all domestic airlines hiking fuel surcharge, some carriers have added yet another surcharge to their ticket costs. Low-cost carriers SpiceJet and IndiGo have started levying a Web transaction (e-booking) charge of Rs 50 on each ticket, taking total levies to Rs 2,225 (for flights about an hour duration, excluding basic fares) and Rs 2,425 for longer domestic flights.

"Our cost of hosting the website by systems in US had gone up. We had been absorbing this but now felt that some part could be passed on. Hence the Rs 50 Web Transaction Charge," said Kamal Hingorani, SpiceJet VP. IndiGo has also levied the same charge. GoAir has had a 'service' charge of Rs 25 for a while. IndiGo CEO Bruce Ashby said the airline had a flat transaction surcharge of Rs 100 for both call centre and website bookings for a year, starting from its launch in August 2006 and then suspended it.

"Some companies retained their surcharge for different booking channels, like call centers. Last Friday, we decided to reintroduce Rs 50 surcharge for website and Rs 100 for call centre bookings for each ticket," Ashby said.

Asked if this additional charge -- coming on heels of a hike on fuel surcharge from Rs 1,650 to Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,000 (for short and medium sector) -- could affect passenger flow, Hingorani said: "Primarily because of expensive jet fuel, the last quarter has been a bloodbath. We are hoping that summer vacation -- from mid-April to June-end -- sees a good passenger flow."

Airlines are now desperate to increase revenues from ticket sales. For instance, GoAir offers an advance seat booking facility for an extra charge of Rs 25.

Keywords: Airlines, GoAir, SpiceJet, IndiGo

Apple fights NYC over green apple logo

Look at this logo for a moment:

If you saw it on a reusable cloth shopping bag, would you think for a moment, "Hey, that must be Apple's new iBag!"? Apparently, Apple is worried that's the case. The above logo is actually the emblem of New York City's GreeNYC campaign, the Big Apple's move to encourage denizens and visitors to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases.

In case you can't tell, the GreeNYC logo is a combination of the infinity symbol and a green apple, the implied message being something along the lines of, "Let's keep the Big Apple green for all eternity." Apple maintains that the GreeNYC looks too much like its own corporate logo, which, of course, looks like this (in green).

The company has gone so far as to file a formal complaint with the U.S Patent and Trade Office against the GreeNYC logo, according to Wired, claiming that it will confuse people -- and potentially tarnish Apple's good name. "Any defect, objection or fault found with [GreeNYC's] goods and services marketed under [GreeNYC's] marks would necessarily reflect upon and seriously injure the reputation which [Apple] has established for its goods and services," the claim states

NYC's response, according to Wired: ’The city believes that Apple's claims have no merit and that no consumer is likely to be confused,’ says Gerald Singleton, the intellectual-property lawyer representing the Big Apple. 'This well-known city is using its new design in a variety of contexts that have absolutely nothing to do with Apple Inc.'

Keywords: Apple Computers, Apple Inc, NYC, GreenNYC, Big Apple.

WiMax coming to Nokia's N810 Internet Mobile..!

Turns out the rumors were true - the feature-packed Nokia N810 will, indeed, be getting WiMax connectivity, although finding a WiMax Network to use it on will be a challenge. Nokia just announced that the N810 WiMax Edition will hit the streets this summer, in "areas where WiMax connectivity is available." Pricing hasn't been set yet, although it's worth noting that the standard Wi-Fi N810 goes for $480.

WiMax, as you may recall, is the upcoming wireless technology that promises much greater speed and range than standard Wi-Fi; in fact, a few WiMax access points could conceivably cover an entire city.

The only problem, however, is that WiMax is just barely getting off the ground here in the States. Sprint is the prime mover for WiMax here in the States, and the last I heard, its planned WiMax network (dubbed Xohm, pronounced "Zoom") will soft-launch in just three markets—Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.—later this month. Beyond that, Sprint's WiMax rollout plans remain maddeningly nebulous.

Besides its WiMax capabilities, the new N810 will comes with the same basic features as the Wi-Fi version, including a WVGA touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keypad, GPS, Nokia's Web browser (complete with Ajax and Flash support), Bluetooth 2.0, and a VGA Web cam.

Keywords: Nokia, Nokia N Series, Nokia 810 Mobile, WiMax, Wi-Fi Network.

The iPhone of Digital Photo Frames?

It's hard to say whether this is innovative or just another company jumping on the touch-based gesture bandwagon, but Pandigital's announced a new line of Digital Photo Frames with "intuitive" touch controls. Not surprisingly, the line's called PanTouch, but what's weird about it is that the whole touch part doesn't apply to the screen itself but the frame around the display.

What's this mean exactly? Well, check out the image and you'll notice that good looking index finger is touching the edge of the frame, not the screen itself. The press release says, "Customers can use touch and swipe motions on the surrounding matte to access to digital images, MP3 music and video clips." On a more mundane level, PanTouch frames will come in three models and sport 512MB of internal memory.

OK, this isn't exactly the way Apple would do a photo frame, but Pandigital appears to be doing its best to inject a little flare into the digital photo frame game. We'll let you know if it's a stupid idea--or not--when we get our hands on one, which should be soon.

Keywords: Apple Computers, Digital Photo Frames, PanTouch Frames

Anil Ambani & Kotak groups setting up Commodity Bourses?

The Reliance Anil Ambani group is believed to have decided to enter the commodity trading business by setting up a large exchange in the country as part of its plans to capitalize on the vast opportunities in this market.

Besides Anil Ambani, another corporate giant Kotak Group is also thinking over setting up a Commodity Bourse by acquisition of some regional exchange to get the platform and other technical support, sources close to the development said.



Keywords: Reliance, Anil Ambani, Kotak Group, Kotak Bank, Kotak Securities