Tech8®: July 2012

26 July 2012

MCX GOLD October contract trades lower

Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 14:20

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MCX GOLD October contract trades lowerAt 14:14 hrs MCX GOLD October contract was trading at Rs 29608.00 down Rs 31.00, or 0.10%. The GOLD rate touched an intraday high of Rs 29621.00 and an intraday low of Rs 29554.00. So far 563 contracts have been traded. GOLD prices have moved up Rs 658.00, or 2.27% in the October series so far.Share . Email . Print . A+A-

GOLD prices on MCX slipped today. At 14:14 hrs MCX GOLD August contract was trading at Rs 29264.00 down Rs 25.00, or 0.09%. The GOLD rate touched an intraday high of Rs 29275.00 and an intraday low of Rs 29185.00. So far 9653 contracts have been traded. GOLD prices have moved down Rs 496.00, or 1.67% in the August series so far.

At 14:14 hrs MCX GOLD October contract was trading at Rs 29608.00 down Rs 31.00, or 0.10%. The GOLD rate touched an intraday high of Rs 29621.00 and an intraday low of Rs 29554.00. So far 563 contracts have been traded. GOLD prices have moved up Rs 658.00, or 2.27% in the October series so far.

At 14:14 hrs MCX GOLD December contract was trading at Rs 29944.00 down Rs 19.00, or 0.06%. The GOLD rate touched an intraday high of Rs 29945.00 and an intraday low of Rs 29877.00. So far 55 contracts have been traded. GOLD prices have moved up Rs 644.00, or 2.20% in the December series so far.

From DJ EU Officials Spain Aid Cap Of 100 Bn Euros 'should Be Enough'

The latest earning numbers FIRST on CNBC-TV18

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Will AT&T Charge For 3G FaceTime? CEO Randall Stephenson Says It’s ‘Too Early’ To Know

Anthony Ha is a writer at TechCrunch, where he covers media, advertising, and startups. Previously, he was a staff technology writer at Adweek, worked as a senior editor at the tech blog VentureBeat, and was also a reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing.... ? Learn More

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson took the stage this afternoon at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, where he was asked about a recent report in 9toMac that AT&T might charge customers extra if they want to use FaceTime over 3G cellular networks (a feature that was announced for iOS 6).

The company previously offered a generic “we’ll share more information with our customers as it becomes available” statement with 9to5Mac. Stephenson didn’t go too much further, but he certainly didn’t rule the charge out.

“I’ve heard the same rumor,” he said, insisting that for now, AT&T is focused on working with Apple to get the technology stabilized, so “it’s too early to talk about pricing.”

Speaking of controversial pricing news from AT&T, Stephenson was also asked about the “toll free” data idea that been the company has been discussing, where app developers pay for their users’ data usage, either with a direct payment or by giving AT&T a cut of ad revenues.

Stephenson acknowledged that this is something people get “emotional” about (when the idea was first reported, our own Jordan Crook called it a “boondoggle”), but he compared it to toll-free, 1-800 phone numbers. Just as it helps Sears to pay the bill for calls from its customers, there are mobile companies that have “business models premised on traffic,” so why not pay to remove any barriers to that traffic? In fact, Stephenson claimed this is something that some of the content providers are asking AT&T for.

AT&T is the largest provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and DSL Internet access in the United States and the second largest wireless service provider in the United States.

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Vaults A and B opened at temple

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Vaults A and B opened at temple

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The much-anticipated opening of two vaults (kallaras) inside Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here, which were supposedly last opened more than a century ago, had an anti-climactic ending on Wednesday with one vault being nearly empty and the other proving inaccessible beyond a point.

It was widely believed that these two vaults contain large quantities of gold, diamonds, other precious stones and invaluable artefacts. A civil engineer and a fire safety official inspected the vaults and surrounding areas for structural stability before they were opened.

Vault B located on the southwest corner outside the Chandanamandapam inside the Nalambalam was the first to be opened. Once the grill and the teak door on the outside were opened, the chamber was found to contain numerous silver pots. Though the vault led on to another chamber, access was blocked by a thick metal door resembling that of a strong room. It was decided to requisition the services of a blacksmith on Thursday to open this door.

Vault A on the southern side of the Nalambalam inside the Chandanamandapam was found to be virtually empty. A golden ‘anki,' a handful of other ornaments and a few jars were all that were found inside. It could not be immediately ascertained whether this vault had any secret ante-chambers. This is expected to be done on Thursday.

Prior to the commencement of the Wednesday's proceedings, the former IPS officer and Supreme Court lawyer, T.P. Sundara Rajan, submitted a written complaint to the panel chief M.N. Krishnan pointing out that the inventory was not being taken in a proper manner.

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12,000 more may get engineering seats

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12,000 more may get engineering seats

Deepa Kurup AICTE has said the eligibility cut-off will be reduced from 50 to 45 per cent — file Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

Cet session:According to sources in the Higher Education Department, the AICTE has assured the Government that a notification in this regard will be issued in a few days.

BANGALORE: Over 12,000 more students are likely to qualify for engineering admissions this year if the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) makes good on its promise to the State Government. The AICTE has agreed to reverse its decision and slash the eligibility cut-off for engineering courses from 50 to 45 per cent.

Highly placed sources in the Higher Education Department told The Hindu that following its appeal to the apex body, the AICTE has assured the Government that this will be notified in a few days.

Earlier this year, the AICTE stepped up the eligibility requirement from 45 per cent (40 per cent for SC/ST category students) to 50 per cent (45 for SC/ST). This notification, part of the AICTE's key reforms aimed at increasing the quality of engineering graduates, is likely to be rescinded.

Appeal

The number of engineering ranks allotted in the State, through the Common Entrance Test, dipped from 73,600 in 2010 to 64,962 this year.

Following this, the State Government appealed to the AICTE to bring down the eligibility criterion. Since around 15,000 seats were unfilled last year, a trend that has manifested itself in recent years, the State Government was eager to bring down the eligibility criterion.

Many other States have reportedly made similar appeals to the apex body, and some private institutions have even taken the matter to court.

When contacted, top AICTE officials in the Karnataka regional office declined to comment. However, unofficial sources said that a decision to this effect was likely to be taken at the AICTE executive council meeting on Thursday. A final decision on the seat matrix, including increase in intake and new approvals, will be taken at this meeting.

Earlier, the State Government had to postpone its counselling because the AICTE refused to notify the approved seat matrix in June.

Karnataka Examinations Authority officials told The Hindu that according to its database, if the eligibility criterion is revised, over 12,000 more students would become eligible for CET ranks. Of this, an estimated 8,000 are students from the SC/ST category.

“We are ready with the additional rank list and are awaiting final notification from the AICTE to go ahead with this,” the official said.

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Greek crisis looms large for Lagarde

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Greek crisis looms large for Lagarde

Paris/Beijing: Christine Lagarde begins her five-year term as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on July 5, and will find herself immediately immersed in efforts to head off a Greek debt default that could spark an international crisis.

She takes up her new post, following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is facing sexual assault charges in New York.

Ms. Lagarde must move fast on the Greek debt crisis and to open the IMF up to emerging countries, press comment on her appointment to head the fund said on Wednesday.

Newspapers warned that Ms. Lagarde must satisfy aspirations by emerging countries to obtain an increased role within the International Monetary Fund and assuage concerns that she might favour Europe. “The name is correct, the method is not,” Italian business newspaper Il Sole-24 Ore said on its front page, commenting that Europe did not deserve the post owing to its “incapacity” in handling the Greek crisis. In Japan, the Nikkei newspaper said “emerging nations were seen promising to give her support on conditions that they significantly gain influence” in IMF affairs. Reports also widely lauded the IMF for putting a woman in the top job for the first time.

Meanwhile, China voiced its support for Ms. Lagarde on Wednesday, and called for reforms at the global agency to give emerging-market economies a bigger voice. The Chinese central bank said in a short statement that the country hoped the International Monetary Fund would play a positive role in promoting global financial stability.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso hailed the next IMF chief as an “excellent choice”. — Agencies.

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Environmentalists' fears over regularising Lavasa coming true

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Environmentalists' fears over regularising Lavasa coming true

Amruta Byatnal

PUNE: With Adarsh Society's lawyers pleading before the Bombay High Court that the scam-hit society too deserved consideration for post-facto environmental clearance similar to that to be granted to the Lavasa hill city in Pune, the warning of activists and environmentalists that regularising Lavasa would set a disastrous precedent seems to be coming true.

Advocate Mukul Rohatgi stated on Monday that Adarsh and Lavasa cases should be considered on the same grounds. Earlier this month, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had stated that if Lavasa Corporation Limited met the conditions laid down by the MoEF, the project could get a go-ahead.

NAPM challenges clearance

However, Vishwambar Choudhari and Suniti S.R. of the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM) have challenged the idea of a ‘post-facto clearance' stating that such a sanction is outside the ambit of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 1994.

In a letter to Bharat Bhushan, Director of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) dated June 27, 2011, NAPM has said that an Office Memorandum (OM), which the MoEF has used as the basis for ‘regularising' the environmental violations by Lavasa, and can now be used by the Adarsh Society as well, is illegal.

The OM, issued by S.K. Aggarwal, Director, MoEF on November 16, 2010 states that there are instances where “substantial physical progress relating to the construction of the project has been made and significant investments have been made…without obtaining the prerequisite prior environmental clearance.” As a ‘solution' to such projects, the OM states that such cases of violations should be subjected to an Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), and then processed by a ‘competent authority.' The matter of violations will then be put before the Board of Directors of the project; where the project proponent will be asked to ‘consider' its environment-related policy. Thereafter, a ‘written commitment' in the form of a formal resolution is to be submitted to the MoEF stating that the violations will not be repeated.

The activists argue that Mr. Aggarwal, who has issued this OM, is not a competent authority to do so. “It is against the fundamental provisions of Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and EIA Notification 2006. The Environment (Protection) Act 1986 has been enacted by Parliament of India and the EIA Notification, 2006 is published through an Extraordinary Gazette of India, which is signed by the Joint Secretary to the Government of India who is much senior in hierarchy to the issuing authority, i.e. the Director. Therefore the said OM does not supersede the Environment (Protection) Act and EIA Notification in any case, thus standing null and void,” the activists have stated.

Dangerous precedent

It is in this letter that NAPM points out that if the MoEF issues a post-facto environment clearance to Lavasa, it will establish a ‘disastrous' precedent. “Any project proponent would complete his project by causing irreversible damage to the environment and will then seek Post Facto Environmental Clearance from MoEF taking advantage of the OM. This completely defeats the purpose and objectives of Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and the EIA Notification there under,” it states.

In the letter to MoEF, NAPM has asked the Ministry to issue appropriate orders to quash the “illegal Office Memorandum.” Added to that, “NAPM will be challenging this OM in court separately,” Dr. Choudhari told The Hindu on Wednesday.

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What if Nelson Mandela Used Facebook to Fight Apartheid? [VIDEO]

Nelson Mandela, the first black South African president, is celebrating his 94th birthday — no small feat for a man who spent 27 years as a political prisoner in a country torn apart by apartheid for decades.

To commemorate the occasion, Prezence Digital Production created an information-packed but easily digestible video detailing the events of Mandela’s life. The four-minute video is a quick tour of Mandela’s timeline, told through a combination of hypothetical Facebook status updates, tweets, Instagram photos and Foursquare check-ins. It contains archival photos and actual quotes from Mandela, relatives, friends, political figures and media outlets.

For instance, a Facebook update about Mandela’s divorce from his wife elicits sympathetic reactions from friends, including fellow anti-apartheid activist Walter Sisulu. ”First you get arrested and now Evelyn leaves you,” says Sisulu in the video. “These are hard times my friend, keep strong!”

Mandela “replies” with a famous quote: “”The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.”

Fondly called “Madiba” – his honorific clan name - in his homeland, Mandela was a powerful figure in the anti-apartheid movement. The video, backed by the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, runs on the premise that Mandela may not have spent 27 years in captivity if social media platforms were available back then. Earlier this year, the Centre put Mandela’s archive online as an interactive multimedia experience.

Do you think social media can really prevent or alleviate a hostile political situation? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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25 July 2012

“UPA indifferent to women's plight”

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“UPA indifferent to women's plight”

Staff Reporter

KHAMMAM: The inordinate delay on the part of the Congress-led UPA government in enacting laws to prevent sexual assault on women is taking a heavy toll and exposing them to various forms of violence, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and MP Brinda Karat said.

Ms. Karat was here to participate in the 12th State conference of the All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) which concluded on Wednesday. Later, speaking to journalists she alleged that legislation intended to protect women and girls from sexual assault and abuse were pending for several years due to the government's apathy.

“What prevented the government from bringing in legislation to check sexual harassment of women at work place as per the verdict of the Supreme Court in the Vishaka case dating back to 1997,” she asked, and lamented that the crime rate against women had assumed serious proportions.

As per the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a staggering number of over 2 lakh cases of violence against women had been registered.

A crime was being committed against women every three seconds, but the conviction rate was abysmally low. New Delhi had turned into the “crime capital,” she said.

Ms. Karat regretted that the government was trying to weaken the existing laws meant to protect women alleging their misuse. It lacked political will to ensure passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament, she said

The CPI(M) leader observed that Andhra Pradesh had become a hub for unethical clinical trials. Innocent and impoverished women were being used as ‘guinea pigs' for illegal clinical trials by errant pharma companies under the pretext of demonstration projects.

Lack of monitoring by institutions such as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was responsible for violation of the prescribed guidelines and ethics.

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Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna passes away at 69

Bollywood's first superstar Rajesh Khanna breathed his last on July 18, he was 69. He is survived by his estranged wife Dimpla Kapadia and two daughters Twinkle and Rinke. Film actor Akshay Kumar was his son-in-law.

Born on December 29, 1942, as Jatin Khanna, the actor was raised by the relatives of his biological parents. He attended St. Sebestian’s Goan High School along with his childhood friend Ravi Kapoor, who later adopted the screen name Jeetendra. Always high on confidence, Rajesh Khanna was the other name for style; he even struggled in his own MG sports car.

Destined to be an actor, Rajesh Khanna had won several acting competitions at various levels before debuting in ‘Aakhri Khat’ (1966). What else could a first timer wish for other than a director like Chetan Anand. However, his real break was Ravindra Dave’s ‘Raaz’ (1967). After a string of successful films such as ‘Baharon Ke Sapne’, ‘Aradhana’, ‘Ittefaq’, and ‘Do Raaste’, he marched into the hearts of millions of his fans, who credited Khanna with the title of superstar. Delivering 15 consecutive solo hits seemed easy every time his face appeared on the posters of a new film.

Dev Anand’s era was gone and the nation had started digressing from Nehruvian philosophies. Khanna and his contemporary filmmakers realised the importance of providing an alternating reality to the spectators.

The storytellers emphasised on his flawed characters on the screen. It brought him closer to the general audiences who wanted to step ahead of Dev Anand and Guru Dutt’s preaching.

He became the man who loved till death, and who was brave enough to admit his mistakes, unlike his predecessors who knew what emotion they want to evoke right from the first shot.

He didn’t have Greek god’s features, neither he fought with hundreds of goons, in fact he looked vulnerable, but it was this susceptibility which made him endear to his female fans.

Thanks to composers such as SD Burman, Salil Chaudhary and Laxmikant-Pyarelal, an actor became the epitome of romance. He bent his head to peep into the hearts of college going, cycle riding girls.

The second phase of his acting career began with ‘Anand’. Probably his most memorable role till date, ‘Anand’ showed how one can play a character without wearing the superstar tag. ‘Dushman’, ‘Amar Prem’, ‘Bawarchi’, ‘Daag’, ‘Avishkar’, ‘Namak Haram’ and ‘Aap Ki Kasam’, the cordial relation with the audiences went on till the social set up changed its course in 1975.

Rajesh Khanna’s personal life was not as glittering as his screen avatars. His relationship with Anju Mahendru finished at a sad note, while his marriage with Dimple Kapadia was called off after 11 years in 1984. Later, Dimple only became his closest partner in life.

Khanna’s stint with the small screen through serials like ‘Apne Paraye’ and ‘Ittefaq’ can be considered successful.

A try at politics made him an MP from Delhi.

Today, he might not be with his fans (ironically he did a TV commercial saying he will remain with his fans forever), but the lovers of every age group will look up to his films for inspiration and never losing the hope.

RIP Rajesh Khanna!

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Yahoo Reports Revenue Of $1.22B, Earnings At 27 Cents Per Share

Ingrid is a reporter for TechCrunch, joining February 2012, based out of London. She comes from paidContent.org, where she was a staff writer, and has in the past also written freelance regularly for other publications such as the Financial Times. Ingrid covers mobile, digital media, advertising and the spaces where these intersect. When it comes to work, she feels most... ? Learn More

With newly-minted CEO Marissa Mayer at the helm, Yahoo has just reported its second quarter 2012 earnings. The figures spell out the challenge ahead for the new leader: revenues came in at $1.2 billion, down one percent compared to the quarter a year ago. Revenues excluding traffic acquisition costs were $1.081 billion, flat compared to a year ago.

Net income was $327 million, earnings per share were $0.27, compared to net income of $237 million and earnings per share of $0.18 a year ago. Income from operations was only $55 million down 71 percent from $191 million a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings per share were $0.27, up 47 percent compared to $0.18 a year ago, and easily beating analysts expectations, with net earnings per diluted share at $0.18.

From the release: “In the second quarter, non-GAAP earnings per share exceeded consensus and both display and search revenue ex-TAC showed modest growth,” said Tim Morse, chief financial officer. “We also moved aggressively with new strategic agreements with Alibaba and Facebook and announced several new partnerships including CNBC, Clear Channel and Spotify.”

According to First Call (via Seeking Alpha), the consensus estimate among analysts was earnings per share of $0.23 on revenues of $1.10 billion. It also noted that it expected a charge of up to $145 million to cover severance costs for laying off 2,000 employees, or about 14% of its workforce: we may hear more about that during the call.

Some more details on revenues from the release show very small increases for revenues across the board:

- Display revenues of $473 million were up by one percent over last year.
- GAAP display revenues were $535 million, up two percent over last year.
- Search revenue was $385 million, up four percent over last year.
- GAAP search revenue was $461 million, down one percent.

The company’s total cash position as of June 30 was $2.401 billion, down $129 million compared to six months ago.

Listen to the conference call at 2pm Pacific here.

Full release below.

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Pranab and Geithner leave policy announcements to July dialogue

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Pranab and Geithner leave policy announcements to July dialogue

Narayan Lakshman Partnership talks succeed in building substantive bilateral engagement momentum

U.S. companies still face barriers in India in sectors such as banking, insurance

A fillip to expanded cooperation between India and the U.S. in multilateral forums

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee exchanges pleasantries with U.S.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner after they signed a statementon the U.S.-India Economic and Financial Partnership in Washington DCon Tuesday.

Washington: Questions on market access issues remained unanswered at the close of the second round of the India-United States Financial and Economic Partnership and major policy announcements, if any, were left to July's Strategic Dialogue meetings in New Delhi.

The Partnership dialogue, however, succeeded in building substantive bilateral engagement momentum flagging the key areas where potential policy breakthroughs could occur next month, including financial and economic reforms, continued trade and investment growth and broader and deeper cooperation in multilateral initiatives.

Going by the joint statement made here by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, talks surrounding financial and economic reforms are likely to focus on U.S. efforts toward getting India to open up its markets further to American companies.

Infrastructure financing

Policy attention would appear to have especially gravitated towards the vast demand, placed at $1 trillion, for infrastructure investment financing. Mr. Geithner, in his statement, said, “By 2017, India plans to raise $1 trillion in infrastructure financing, half of that coming from the private sector. The government's recently announced debt financing framework will help encourage private investment...”

While the two countries are likely to find common purpose in this sector, it may be the second pillar of dialogue, on trade and investment growth, where thornier issues of market access and disappointments over the pace of reform in India may be further articulated.

In response to a question from The Hindu on the U.S. access to the Indian banking sector, Mr. Mukherjee said, “Normally, we go on the basis of reciprocity.” He added that with respect to the reforms an “important legislation” was an amendment introduced in the Banking Regulation Act, which is in Parliament awaiting comment by the Standing Committee. Similarly, key reforms in the insurance and pension sectors were making their way through the parliamentary process, the Minister indicated.

Such developments notwithstanding, Mr. Geithner said, in his statement at the conclusion of the talks, “American companies still face barriers in India in sectors such as banking, insurance, manufacturing, multi-brand retail and infrastructure.”

Yet it is precisely in the multi-brand retail sector that the U.S. may find joy next month, with some sources suggesting that a policy announcement of consequence was quite likely in this area. This was not confirmed by Indian government officials, however.

The Partnership talks also clearly represented a fillip to expanded cooperation between India and the U.S. in multilateral forums. The joint statement from the talks noted, “India and the U.S. will also work together in the G-20 on an effective mutual assessment process to bring about strong, sustained, and balanced global growth.”

However, Mr. Mukherjee said that other elements of multilateral cooperation, including countering terrorism finance and tracing unaccounted money in offshore locations such as the Virgin Islands would be a priority.

Financial stability

Mr. Geithner too indicated that such cooperation could extend to other areas, in particular citing the role of India and the U.S. in global financial stability, which he said could be furthered by India working with the U.S.' Financial Stability Board.

“India has made its commitment to exchange rate flexibility and domestic demand-led growth clear in the G-20, where we have shared interests and have been cooperating on important issues,” he said.

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Here Are Our Favorite Companies From The Fourth 500 Startups Demo Day

Ryan has spent more than five years covering business, technology, and telecom-related subjects for a variety of publications based in New York and San Francisco. Ryan currently works as a writer for TechCrunch. ? Learn More

Today in Mountain View, Calif., Dave McClure’s 500 Startups unveiled the latest class of companies to participate in its Accelerator program. This batch had startups addressing an incredibly wide variety of spaces — from kids’ computer games to necktie shopping, and beyond. Founding partner Dave McClure said during today’s program that with this batch of companies, 500 Startups aimed for one unifying thread: “Hopefully, these pitches make sense and solve problems that matter,” he said, whether those problems affect consumers, parents, or small business owners.

All the pitches were compelling, but we picked out seven that seemed especially interesting. Here are the top seven startups from the class, in no particular order:

Chalkable – Rather than using the same old musty text books year after year, Chalkable hopes to bring classrooms into the 21st Century. It plans to do that by providing schools with a unified app store that curates all the best digital teaching aids, along with tools to manage budgets and track student performance. The platform includes a feed of classroom activities, as well as a gradebook and analytics for students. Frankly, it’s the kind of school experience I wish had been available to me when I grew up. Chalkable plans to charge schools $10 per student, of which $5 will be available for purchasing school aids. Despite just launching in the spring, the startup has already piloted its platform in three public and private schools, and will be expanding to more than 50 schools in the fall.

Tuckernuck – This startup is focused on providing an e-commerce platform that curates clothing from thousands of small fashion brands, all of which are focused on serving the $18 billion “American lifestyle” market. Think that classic, preppy whitebread style. It’s not just about aggregating different brands all under one roof — there’s also a community aspect, where customers can upload pictures of themselves in certain styles that others can purchase as well, leading to a sort of virtuous cycle of sharing and shopping. The founders come from fashion backgrounds, and so have gotten their partners to take care of shipping for them — meaning no inventory risk and better margins. In just eight weeks, Tuckernuck has topped $60,000 in sales, with an average shopping cart of $125. Tuckernuck sees a huge opportunity to go beyond everyday apparel and to also introduce offerings in verticals like Home, Tots, Pets, and Weddings. So its clothes might not be for everyone, but for the market it’s focusing on, Tuckernuck seems to have built something pretty cool. And I mean, how can you go wrong marketing to rich white people?

Wanderable – Why would anyone want to crowdfund a honeymoon? For one thing, not everyone wants to collect more *stuff* as part of a wedding registry. Plus, not only are honeymoons expensive, but a lot of times, the friends and family of a married couple don’t get to share in the experience. Now Wanderable has created a platform that allows a couple to grab funding from friends and family, and in return provide content back to the people who have contributed to the campaign. It’s like a wedding registry specifically for experiences. Wanderable is focused on honeymoons, but it’s collecting data which could be used to expand into other types of live events.

Ingresse – Event organizers in Brazil don’t have a lot of the same tools that we do in the U.S. There’s no Ticketmaster there — the site was shut down not long ago — and no one like Eventbrite has really rolled in to take over the market. Ingresse wants to provide that platform for the Brazilian market. Not only is Ingresse focused on ticket sales and integrated with payment processors, but it also wants to provide a platform for discovery of local events. By integrating with services like Facebook and Last.fm, it can tell you when your favorite artists or other events are happening nearby, as well as telling you which events your friends are going to. It’s hosted more than 400 events in Brazil so far and made more than $200,000 in revenue. With another $1.2 million in financing already raised, it’s looking to grow even faster.

TenderTree – How many people here have parents? Most all of us do, right? And so at some point, inevitably, most people have to think about elderly care for their family. TenderTree is a marketplace to connect families and caregivers, by allowing families to see reviews, background, and interests of those nearby. TenderTree has launched in the San Francisco Bay Area and has done $40,000 worth of revenue since it rolled out there, with half of that coming in the last month. There’s already a waiting list of 2,000 users signed up, so it shouldn’t have any problem reaching that demand.

Monogram – What is it about these fashion startups? Maybe it’s that shopping online sucks, and yet, it’s something we all do. Anyway, Monogram has released an app which it positions as your “personal shopper on the iPad.” The app works by essentially aggregating clothing from multiple different sources, doing away with the need to browse and shop various different e-commerce and deals sites to find clothes on sale and in your personal style. It remembers your clothing preferences, and autofilters for size, along with using a professional stylist to curate individual looks for users. The startup claims that about 87 percent of iPad owners shop on the device, and they spend an average of 30 percent more than the average web shopper. So why not make it easier, you know, and more personal, seamless and frictionless to spend your hard-earned cash on your favorite fashions? Looks like that’s what Monogram is trying to enable — and largely succeeding at it.

Fontacto – Business telecom in Mexico and Latin America sucks. So says Fontacto founder Ricardo Cacique. Companies have to pay as much as $5,000 in U.S. dollars just to get set up with phone service, mainly due to a highly regulated market place. What Fontacto is trying to build is a virtual telco service for businesses, targeting the 5 million small and medium-sized businesses in those markets. It’s gotten a license to operate telco services in Mexico, which has a commercial value of about $1 million there. It’s also rolled out its own proprietary infrastructure, which allows it to offer phone service at about 84 percent cheaper than traditional commercial phone services.

We’ll have video interviews with these folks coming up soon, as well as an interview with the man himself, Dave McClure.

(Additional reporting by Colleen Taylor, the most awesome TechCrunchTV talking head ever. Photo by George Kellerman)

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23 Tamil Nadu fishermen released

International

23 Tamil Nadu fishermen released

R.K. Radhakrishnan

COLOMBO: The 23 Tamil Nadu fishermen, who were apprehended on June 20 when they were fishing in the Sri Lankan waters, have been released. They will reach their homes in Pamban on Thursday [June 30].

Orders for their release have been issued and the fishermen have been shifted to Mannar so that they could set sail for Pamban on Thursday. “The fishermen will leave Sri Lanka early on Thursday and are expected to the reach the IMBL [International Maritime Boundary Line] by 10 am,” Indian Consul General in Jaffna, V.Mahalingam said. “They will be escorted by the Sri Lankan Navy till the IMBL from where the Indian Coast Guard will take over,” he added. The fishermen are being now with the North Central Naval Command of the Sri Lankan Navy and will leave for home at 8 am from Talaimannar. The Sri Lankan Navy had apprehended the fishermen on charges of encroaching and poaching in the Sri Lankan waters on the night of June 20. The Navy said that the fishermen were taken into naval custody along with five fishing trawlers by SLN Sea Units on patrol in the seas north of Mannar in North-western Sri Lanka. The fishermen and their trawlers were handed over to Talaimannar Police. A local magistrate sent them to judicial custody till July 1.

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24 July 2012

Rainfall deficit persists

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Rainfall deficit persists

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The rainfall deficit of the State has remained 37 per cent without a change since last week as the South-West monsoon continued to be sluggish.

The State has so far received a rainfall of 65.8 mm from June 1, as against a normal of 105.2 mm by this time of the season. As a result, crops could be sown over 12.22 lakh hectares only so far compared to the normal of 17.3 lakh ha during the season till date. The total area normally sown during kharif is 79 lakh hectares. Regionwise, Telangana accounted for a deficit of 48 per cent, Rayalaseema 37 per cent, and Coastal Andhra 20 per cent.

Hyderabad (urban) topped the list of the rainfall deficit districts with a 73 per cent shortage. Medak is affected by 69 per cent deficit, Nizamabad 56 per cent, Karimnagar 55 per cent, and Ranga Reddy 54 per cent.

None of the irrigation projects has received any significant inflow except Tungabhadra dam which, however, is now getting 22,112 cusecs. The reservoir of Srisailam dam was getting only about 1,000 cusecs.

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Bringing Banking To Immigrants & Unbanked, m-Via Rebrands As Boom Financial, Closes On $17 Million In Funding

Sarah currently works as a writer for TechCrunch, after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to becoming a professional blogger, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. ? Learn More

Global mobile money transfer service m-Via is officially rebranding as Boom Financial today as it announces the close of a $17 million round of funding, led by mobile operator Digicel Group Ltd. The carrier stretches across 31 markets, including the Caribbean, Central America and South Pacific – all geographies Boom Financial aims to target with its service, which allows immigrants and the unbanked with a way to transfer money internationally. Also participating in the round were previous investors RRE Ventures and MATT.org. The new round brings the company to over $30 million in total funding to date.

m-Via, now Boom, has been working on a way to eliminate a need for cash wire transfer services by providing an alternative means to send money across borders using just a text message. Under its umbrella, m-Via developed two products, a consumer-facing service for sending money via mobile (get it? m-Via?) and a mobile money network called Axon, which is designed as an enterprise solution for banks, wireless companies and others.

Currently, U.S. customers can pick up a Boom kit at a local store (some 7-Elevens in California have them, according to the company’s website), register their account by calling a number, and can then load their provided prepaid card with money at participating retailers or via an ATM. The card is used for withdrawals, too. Boom says it now has over 100,000 supported ATMs in over 150 countries. Once their account has been funded, they can send the money elsewhere, including domestically, by texting SEND .

With the additional investment, the plan is to extend the mobile banking ecosystem in the Caribbean and Central American regions, where Digicel’s customers receive more than $5 billion per year in cash remittances from the U.S. Specifically, Boom CEO Bill Barhydt identified Haiti and Jamaica as key markets for the service.The funding will also be used to beef up the sales channels in these regions, as well as the U.S. and elsewhere in Latin America.

Founded in 2008, Boom Financial is headquartered in Palo Alto, and also has offices in L.A. and Mexico City.

m-Via was founded in 2008 on the premise that saving, sharing and spending your money with your friends and family, both inside and outside the US, had to be transformed. We innovate products & services that make sending money or paying a bill for a loved one in another country is as easy as sending a text message. Our first consumer service, Boom, is the world’s first global mobile bank account. Boom helps families share their money quickly, safely and...

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75% of World Has Access to Mobile Phones [STUDY]

Approximately three quarters of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone, according to a new study from the World Bank.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions has skyrocketed over the past 12 years. Less than 1 billion mobile subscriptions were active in 2000, while there’s six billion subscriptions active today. Last year alone, mobile users downloaded more than 30 billion apps.

Additionally, the vast majority of today’s mobile subscriptions (5 billion) are in developing countries, a sign of mobile technology’s importance in countries which haven’t gone through the expensive and difficult process of building land-based communications infrastructure.

“Mobile communications offer major opportunities to advance human and economic development –- from providing basic access to health information to making cash payments, spurring job creation, and stimulating citizen involvement in democratic processes,” said World Bank Vice President for Sustainable Development Rachel Kyte in a statement.

“The challenge now is to enable people, businesses, and governments in developing countries to develop their own locally-relevant mobile applications so they can take full advantage of these opportunities.”

SEE ALSO: 5 Reasons Mobile Is the Future of Sustainable Development

The report highlights mobile-based development programs in several countries, including the use of mobile payments in Kenya and job-search apps in Palestine. Mobile apps are also playing a role in disease response, education and monitoring government abuses throughout the developing world.

Smartphones and wireless data packages are still out of the reach of most people. Therefore, many apps designed in developing countries are built as effective low-bandwidth solutions, often employing WAP, SMS and other technologies now considered “low-tech” by developers working with cutting-edge software and hardware.

Are you surprised that mobile phones have become so prevalent across the world? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Olena_T

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Actor Rajesh Khanna dies - TV

Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 14:12

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RAJESH-KHANNA:Actor Rajesh Khanna dies - TV . Share . Email . Print . A+A-

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna, often called India's first superstar, died in Mumbai on Wednesday, media reports said.

Khanna, 69, a popular actor in the 1970s, had been unwell for several months.

The actor made his acting debut with "Aakhri Khat" but shot to fame three years later, playing a dashing young pilot in the 1969 hit "Aradhana".

Khanna featured in successful films such as "Amar Prem" and "Anand" over the next decade.

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Yahoo Realized It Might Actually Have An Interesting Earnings Call, So It Put A Stop To That Right Away

Well, that was pretty thrilling. Today we learned that Yahoo’s sale of Alibaba is still on track. Meanwhile, its search alliance with Microsoft continues to underperform. Oh, and CFO Tim Morse is pretty excited about the Olympics!

Wait, is that not what you wanted to hear about? In that case, the earnings call was probably a snoozefest.

To be fair, with a few exceptions (like Apple), these calls tend to be pretty focused on the numbers. Even when the famously brash Carol Bartz was CEO, her earnings comments usually stuck closely to bland talking points. And Yahoo PR warned us that new CEO Marissa Mayer wouldn’t be joining the call. If she had joined, it’s her first day on the job, so she probably wouldn’t have been able to offer very much insight.

And yet, even keeping all of that in mind, today’s earnings call was still impressively dull, at least from a journalistic perspective. At the beginning, Morse sounded apologetic when he explained that he wouldn’t be able to answer many of the questions that analysts would want to ask, and as a result, the questions stuck very closely to the minutiae — perhaps analysts didn’t want to waste a question if it was only going to get an “I can’t answer that” response.

Morse also said it was premature to offer any guidance on the company’s third quarter, since the results will presumably depend on what Mayer does in her new role. The closest he came to talking about the company’s larger strategy came after a question about the rationale behind Mayer’s appointment and whether it reflects a commitment to product and technology over content. Morse started out by saying that Mayer’s resume “speaks for itself,” then added, “I think it’s safe to say we need to be really good at certain technologies and we need to be great at content. Both of those are imperative to our success.”

Another analyst asked whether Mayer might be speaking to the investment community sometime before the next earnings call. After all, Morse had said he was sure that “you’ll be hearing from her soon.” So … when is soon?

“I honestly just don’t know,” he said.

Marissa Mayer is CEO of Yahoo. Previously as a VP at Google, Marissa Mayer leads the product management and engineering efforts of Google’s local, mobile, and contextual discovery products including Google Maps, Google Maps for Mobile, Local Search, Google Earth, Street View, Latitude and more. At 36 years old, she is also the youngest member of Google’s executive operating committee. During her 12 years at Google, Marissa has led product management and design efforts for Google web search, images,...

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Tim Morse is the CFO of Yahoo!. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Morse was the CFO of San Jose-based Altera Corp.

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23 July 2012

Motorola's Xoom does not look like the iPad, rules German court

Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 14:00

Source: Tech2.com
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Motorola's Xoom does not look like the iPad, rules German courtMotorola Mobility has achieved a breakthrough of sorts, in its ongoing patent battle against Cupertino-based, ... . Share . Email . Print . A+A-

Motorola Mobility has achieved a breakthrough of sorts, in its ongoing patent battle against Cupertino-based, Apple Inc. A German court in its latest ruling has affirmed that Motorola Mobility's Xoom tablet does not infringe on the design of Apple's iPad, as per a report by Dow Jones Newswires. However, the German court in the same session also rejected the Xoom tablet maker's counterclaims, in which it stated that the design patent of the iPad being invalid.

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Google Puts Nail In The Coffin For Old Version Of Analytics, Places Emphasis On Real Time

Billy Gallagher is a writer for TechCrunch. He is also the president and editor in chief of The Stanford Daily. Billy previously worked at The Stanford Daily for two volumes as a managing editor of news. He has also worked in sports and staff development at The Daily. In March of 2012 the Friends of The Stanford Daily awarded him... ? Learn More

In a move that struck fear in the hearts of under-educated web editors everywhere, Google announced today that it will remove the old version of Google Analytics tomorrow. After releasing a new version focused on real time analytics in September, Google has kept a link to the old version, which it has supported, at the bottom of the Analytics page for the past year.

What can you expect from Google Analytics if you haven’t transitioned yet? Never fear, straggler. We’ve got you covered with a link and media bonanza.

The major change is the transition to real time analytics, a vast increase in the amount and usefulness of information that a user can derive, provided they know what they’re doing. This makes a strong analytics employee even more valuable–companies that know what they’re doing with the new system will have a competitive advantage over those who don’t (duh). The removal of the old version makes an under-informed, bad analytics employee a liability.

Real Time
Exactly what it sounds like: this will show you what’s happening on your site in real time. Pictured above, you can see the normal analytics (users, where traffic is coming from, etc.) in increments down to the second.

Multi-Channel Funnels

The video below explains it pretty well; essentially, it shows you the variety of channels used to find your site, rather than just the last step.

Social Reports

These will allow users to identify the value of social-driven traffic and see how they lead to direct conversions, assisted conversions and last interaction conversions.

Mobile Reports

Google released Mobile App Analytics last month. They provide data on downloads, new users, retention, conversions, app sales and more.

Content Experiments

This lets you tinker around with your site by showing different versions to different visitors.

So there you have it. You’re finally prepared for the system you could have been using for months. Way to go, straggler.

Correction: The previous title for this article, “Google Puts Nail In The Coffin For Static Analytics, Real Time Now The Only Option” was misleading, as static analytics are not going away. I meant to convey Google’s emphasis on real time analytics but obviously failed to properly phrase it. Apologies for the error.

Google Analytics (GA) is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. The product is targeted towards marketers rather than webmasters and technologists. GA can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, email marketing and even digital collateral such as links within PDF documents. Integrated with AdWords, users can optimize online campaigns by tracking landing page quality and conversions. Goals might include sales, lead generation, viewing a specific...

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Amartya Sen will be adviser to Presidency Mentor Group

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Amartya Sen will be adviser to Presidency Mentor Group

Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen will be the adviser to the Mentor Group which has been set up by the West Bengal government to help Presidency University regain its excellence. The first meeting of the Mentor Group is now scheduled to be held in July. The aim is to turn the university into a world class research and teaching institution by its 200th anniversary in 2017-18.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Wednesday that Professor Sen has agreed to the proposal and would advise the 10-member committee, which is chaired by Sugata Bose. The committee has been constituted by Professor Bose, Gardiner professor of Oceanic History and Affairs, Harvard University, and a grand-nephew of Subhash Chandra Bose.

Mr. Bose said that while eight persons have already agreed to be part of the Mentor Group, approval was awaited from the remaining two. He said that the group is charged with the task of making a set of short, medium and long-term recommendations and monitoring implementation of these over the next two years. The first report was expected in by August 2011 and the last by June 2013.

He said that Professor Sen will be here on July 7 in connection with work relating to the Nalanda University of which he is the Chief Mentor. He may meet the Chief Minister.

The tasks that the mentor group would address include governance structure and ways to improve the faculty, the library and the laboratory at Presidency.

Importantly, among the terms of reference of the Group are to propose amendments to the Presidency University Act and to streamline the admissions process in order to recruit the best students. The terms also include creating provisions for short courses to be taught by distinguished visiting international scholars. There is also a move to create international partnerships and exchanges with select international universities.

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What to monitor in Fixed Income instruments

Arnav Pandya, Financial advisor There are fixed income products like deposits that investors put their money into but then they forget about it over a period of time. The consequences for this can be severe as there might be several things that are missed out and while this aspect might seem surprising for a lot of people it is a reality in this fast changing world. This is the reason why the investor has to ensure that they are looking for a few things with respect to their fixed income investments on a regular basis and that this is not missed out.

Time to maturity

The time remaining on the fixed income instrument till its maturity is something that has to be constantly monitored to know the period that still remains. When this is a long time away there is not much of a worry as long as the amount that is invested is earning returns and doing its job. However as the time period of maturity nears it is vital that the investor starts looking around and thinking about what will be done with the maturity amount.

It could be that there is already some use of the money that has been planned in terms of expenses and this was the reason for which the investment was actually made in the first place. If this is the case then there is not much for the investor to look at but if the amount has to be reinvested then there is a need to be alert about the opportunity where the overall goals of the investment are met and the amount can actually be reinvested properly. The reason why this activity can take up some time of the investor is due to the fact that there could be several fixed income instruments in the portfolio and hence at regular time intervals there could be in a position that requires some action.

Interest rate

The interest rate that is being earned on the fixed income instrument is also an important factor to consider. The interest rates by themselves might not give you much insight but when considered in the light of the prevailing situation it will give a clear indication of the kind of action that is actually required. If the interest rates on the existing fixed income instruments are high then the investor would like this to continue for as long as possible.

There can also be some worries on the horizon if it is evident that the investor is earning a high rate of interest on the existing investments but the rate has come down in the market consequent to the investment. This means that if the investment is rolled over or put somewhere else then the amount that the investor would earn could actually fall so this is something that has to be considered.

Indications

Several actions by the banks and financial institutions that are offering the fixed income investments would give an indication of the way in which things are moving and this would help the investor to ensure that they are able to plan their strategy accordingly. There could be a rise in the rates by a bank for specific time duration or there could be a cut in the rates by another institution for a specific band. This gives an indication of the type of money that is required by the institutions and the time period for which this is actually required. Hence the individual has to see the kind of indications that are given in this regard and then they will be able to frame their strategy accordingly. This will give them enough information about choosing a specific institution or a specific time period for the purpose of their fixed income investments.

Amounts

One aspect that often fails to come to the notice of many people is the amount that is invested in different areas and its impact on the overall risk for the investor. There are times when there are fixed income investments that are made in large amounts so the number of instruments is just a few while the amount in each one of them is high. This might not be the right strategy in case the money that is invested here is required after a certain point of time wherein there might be an impact on the overall portfolio of the investor. The other thing is that there could also be a concentration of investments with just one institution and while this might not be much of a concern in case of most banks there might be some effort to use more than one entity as this might also give the benefit of better conditions or returns for the investor.

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Mahindra Satyam appoints Additional Directors

Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 14:24

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Mahindra Satyam appoints Additional DirectorsMahindra Satyam appoints Additional DirectorsShare . Email . Print . A+A-Satyam Computer Services Ltd has informed BSE that Mr. T. N. Manoharan and Mr. Ravindra Kulkarni are co-opted as additional directors on the Board of the Company, w.e.f. July 18, 2012.Mr. T. N. Manoharan, the Past President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, was nominated by the Government to the Board of Satyam Computer Services Ltd and also served as Audit Committee Chairman till July 15, 2012. He has made significant contribution for the revival of the Company within a short span of time.Mr. Manoharan was conferred with "Padma Shri" award for the year 2010 by The Government of India. He is a member of the Advisory Board on Banks, Commercial and Financial Frauds (ABBCF) constituted by Central Vigilance Commission and also member of the Appellate Authority constituted by the Government of India with reference to the disciplinary mechanism of the Chartered Accountancy profession in India.Mr. Ravindra Kulkarni holds Masters Degree in Law from University of Mumbai and a Senior Partner of M/s. Khaitan & Co. Having been in the legal arena for nearly four decades, he has vast experience as a legal practitioner on varied matters. He is on the Boards of several listed companies including Mahindra & Mahindra Limited and Tech Mahindra Limited.Source : BSE

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From DJ EU Officials Spain Aid Cap Of 100 Bn Euros 'should Be Enough'

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Tech8®

Author

26 July 2012

MCX GOLD October contract trades lower

Will AT&T Charge For 3G FaceTime? CEO Randall Stephenson Says It’s ‘Too Early’ To Know

Vaults A and B opened at temple

12,000 more may get engineering seats

Greek crisis looms large for Lagarde

Environmentalists' fears over regularising Lavasa coming true

What if Nelson Mandela Used Facebook to Fight Apartheid? [VIDEO]

25 July 2012

“UPA indifferent to women's plight”

Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna passes away at 69

Yahoo Reports Revenue Of $1.22B, Earnings At 27 Cents Per Share

Pranab and Geithner leave policy announcements to July dialogue

Here Are Our Favorite Companies From The Fourth 500 Startups Demo Day

23 Tamil Nadu fishermen released

24 July 2012

Rainfall deficit persists

Bringing Banking To Immigrants & Unbanked, m-Via Rebrands As Boom Financial, Closes On $17 Million In Funding

75% of World Has Access to Mobile Phones [STUDY]

Actor Rajesh Khanna dies - TV

Yahoo Realized It Might Actually Have An Interesting Earnings Call, So It Put A Stop To That Right Away

23 July 2012

Motorola's Xoom does not look like the iPad, rules German court

Google Puts Nail In The Coffin For Old Version Of Analytics, Places Emphasis On Real Time

Amartya Sen will be adviser to Presidency Mentor Group

What to monitor in Fixed Income instruments

Mahindra Satyam appoints Additional Directors

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