India Developing, but still a long way to go

[kurup]

Yamuna Expressway

 

[AnmolSingh]

Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe
( FLAG) is a 28,000-kilometer-long
submarine communications cable
containing optical fiber that connects the
United Kingdom , Japan, and many places
in between. The cable is operated by
India 's Flag Telecom, a fully owned
subsidiary of Reliance Communications.
The system runs from the eastern coast
of North America to Japan. Its Europe-
Asia segment is the fourth longest
cable in the world.

Source: Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soon, India to have common emergency response number

Finally, India seems to have woken up to the urgency of having a single emergency response number on the lines of America’s 911. This number may be called for any emergency — police, fire or ambulance.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to bring a consultation paper in this connection soon to kick-start the process of having a single emergency helpline where a call centre will receive all distress calls and then accordingly alert departments or agencies concerned depending upon the type of emergency.

“Today, various states have separate emergency response numbers and in some states even police helpline 100 does not work properly. The Ministry of Home Affairs has also been pushing for a single helpline number in its bid to prepare better for police, fire, medical and other kind of emergencies,” said a senior TRAI official.

“We need a number that could be reached by all types of technologies be it landline, GSM or CDMA. Within next couple of months we will seek opinion from various stakeholders, including Central and state government bodies and private telecom operators, in this connection,” the official said.

Pointing out that the current emergency response system was not appropriate, a senior Ministry of Home Affairs official said it has been observed that people call up emergency number, normally police helpline 100, only to get diverted to other departments, which delays response time. “Having a single emergency number will ensure that a person in distress does not gets diverted to other department or agency…the person manning the emergency number would take the call and then alert the department concerned, say police, fire, medical or disaster management. It will also help fix responsibility if someone is found guilty of any kind of laxity,” the official added.

He further noted that today, there were separate emergency numbers and helplines in most states. For instance, for police a person dials 100 and 101 for fire emergency. Similarly, for medical emergency the helpline is 102 or 108 in many states. “But there is no single helpline as in the U.S. where a person just needs to dial 911 to get immediate help. Interestingly, if someone dials 911 and then hangs up, the call centre person calls that number back to check if everything was ok…We also need to have a similar system in India,” he added.

“We want to make the new emergency mechanism a hi-tech one where all calls would be registered in a computerised system that would track the geographic location of the caller and then alert the closest PCR, fire or ambulance fitted with GPS system to reduce response time. All this would have to be completed within a standard response time,” he said.
The Hindu : News / National : Soon, India to have common emergency response number

 

[Koovie]

Business Line : Industry & Economy / Logistics : Kolkata international airport terminal gets a new look

cc New Observer Post

A great man gets a great airport named after him.

Netaji would have been proud.

 

[AnmolSingh]

India Inc tops global R&D
investment growth charts

New Delhi, Jan 20: Indian companies have come on the top globally when it comes to growth in their research and development (R&D) investments, leaving their counterparts in the US and Europe far behind, a new study by the European Commission shows.

However, Indian firms rank far below when it comes to absolute R&D investments made by them and the top-ranked company from the country, IT major Infosys, is ranked at 329th place globally, shows the latest annual global R&D Scorecard for 2012 prepared by European Union’s executive body, the European Commission.

Japan’s Toyota Motor is ranked highest, followed by US-based Microsoft, Germany’s Volkswagen, Swiss pharma giant Novartis, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, American drugmaker Pfizer, Switzerland’s Roche, Intel, General Motors and Merck US in the top ten.

14 Indian cos in top 1,500 list
The top-ranked Indian company is Infosys at 329th place, followed by Reliance Industries (507th), Dr Reddy’s (776th), Tata Steel (867), M&M (888), Lupin (916), Ashok Leyland (1136), ONGC (1,222), BHEL (1,230), Cipla (1,275), Cadila Healthcare (1,313), Glenmark Pharma (1,314), Sun Pharma (1,336) and Wockhardt at 1,472nd place globally.

These are the only 14 Indian companies present in a list of top-1500 entities worldwide in terms of their annual R&D investments.

Growth in investment

Still, the largest increase in R&D investment was reported by companies based in India (35.1 per cent), followed by China at 28.1 per cent, the study said.

The R&D investment of US-based companies grew by 9 per cent, while that of companies from the EU rose by 8.9 per cent, shows the 2012 EU Industrial R&D Scoreboard report.

The growth rate for Japan was also very low at 1.6 per cent, as the Japanese companies suffered in 2011/12 from the effects of the Japanese earthquake, the associated nuclear disaster, the Thai floods and a strong yen.

Swiss companies, who account for the largest number of entities on the top-1500 list, increased their R&D investments by only a modest 1.4 per cent.

“The largest increases in R&D investment were reported by companies based in India and China, although the total R&D for these two countries is still modest,” the report said.

Globally, the companies increased their R&D investments by an average of 7.6 per cent, while they recorded sales and profit growth rates of 7.1 per cent and 9.7 per cent, respectively.

“Japanese company Toyota Motor appears at the top of the ranking in the 2012 Scoreboard. The top R&D investor based in the EU is Volkswagen, at number three in the world ranking and the only EU company in the top 10 (US has 5 companies, Switzerland 2 and South Korea 1),” the report said.

Sector-wise growth

Pharma companies — Roche, Pfizer and Merck — have slipped down in the ranking but remain among the top 10.

In terms of sectors, most companies showing very large R&D increases among the top 100 are in the ICT (Information, Communication and Technology) space, while companies from automobiles and parts, industrial engineering and electronics sectors have also registered strong growth in R&D investments.
Business Line : Industry & Economy News : India Inc tops global R&D investment growth charts

 

[cloud_9]

2 Big Projects Coming up in Gujrat

 

[cloud_9]

Mumbai time lapse at marine drive from day to night - YouTube

 

[Abingdonboy]

Mumbai:

 

[Abingdonboy]

 

[Abingdonboy]

NSG suggesting certain developments lol!

NSG trips on Mamata road - Yahoo! News India

 

[Koovie]

NSG suggesting certain developments lol!

NSG trips on Mamata road - Yahoo! News India

Thats no surprise, in case of a terrorist attack they can easily become a victim of a traffic jam.

NSG should have its own air wing.

 

[Abingdonboy]

Thats no surprise, in case of a terrorist attack they can easily become a victim of a traffic jam.

NSG should have its own air wing.

I don't know how practical the NSG having its own air wing is. I do agree though for every NSG hub there should be 1-2 IAF medium air-lifters (AN-32s for now but MTAs later) instead of 1 C-130J-30 as it is now- no point in stretching this small fleet so thin, ready and waiting at the nearest air port. Also it would be impractical for the NSG to have their own rotary-wing a/c given the short "legs" and relatively slow speed of these birds. Given the large geographical area the NSG units have to cover and that speed is of the essence for such units then the NSG should be allowed/granted the use of any such rotary wing assets in the area they are operating. As such what is needed in effective communication ties between the NSG hugs/central command and local police/states/armed forces.






Mumbai:

 

[Abingdonboy]

 

[jandk]

One thing which really bothers me is the lack of cleanliness in cities. It is driving me crazy. Yes, new infrastructure is being built but people's mentalities are still the same. I just don't understand what the problem is. How can we fix this? Has any government ever tried to tackle this issue? why aren't there garbage bins on ever street? Why aren't there enough public washrooms? Why doesn't government do this?? Why are indian people complacent about these things??? These issues are driving me crazy and I am about to burst with anger/frustration. Sick of this "chalta hai" attitude.

 

[Bhai Zakir]

Mysore

Jaipur

 

[Bhai Zakir]

Bangalore[/B]