Monday, July 30, 2012

Apple Preparing Rival for Google Glasses, Filing Patents On Wearable Computers

Google Glasses will soon be no longer the only sci-fi project with augmented reality features, as Apple is preparing a rival for the search giant's invention. Apparently, Apple has been working on the idea of wearable computers since 2006, but Google took the leading edge when it revealed its Glass project in June 2012. Perhaps Apple is taking its iGlasses concept seriously now, and that's why it has started filing and gathering patents for the technology.

Last year, Apple applied for a patent for Video Telephonic Headset that was granted this month. As soon as the iPhone maker received that patent, it applied for another one calledDisplay Resolution Increase with Mechanical Actuation that will allow creating glasses-like display meant to deliver a Retina Display to its wearer with a tiny battery. Apple's patent for peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays suggest that it can produce a variety of head-mounted display gears such as helmets, sunglasses or even visors. Unlike Google Glasses, Apple's HMD can either have one or two small CRT, LCD or OLED displays with magnifying lenses and other associated optical elements.

The main difference between Google Glasses and Apple iGlasses lies between the target areas. While Google's core concern lies within consumers and everyday lives, Apple targets professionals. It looks like Apple has a bigger aim and seems to be targeting professionals such as surgeons or emergency responders with their latest patent filing.

Here's what the patent information says:

"Some examples include applications in surgery, where radiographic data, such as CAT scans or MRI imaging can be combined with the surgeon's vision. Military, police and firefighters use HMDs to display relevant tactical information, such as maps or thermal imaging data."

"Engineers and scientists use HMDs to provide stereoscopic views of CAD schematics, simulations or remote sensing applications. Consumer devices are also available for use in gaming and entertainment applications."

Last but not the least; we saw some fumes coming out from Microsoft's kitty about the Kinect Glasses. Of course, these will be an augmented reality device but probably gaming-entertainment oriented. The Google Glasses project could bring us the advent of augmented eyewear, the horizon of a second-layer of metadata while interacting without a screen. And the best example is in front of us in the form of Apple's and Microsoft's efforts.


EU names Teva in cardiovascular drug antitrust case

The European Commission has filed a Statement of Objections against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and several other generic drug companies over a patent infringement settlement with France Servier SA, which the Commission says delayed the entry of generic versions of Servier's perindopril, a cardiovascular medicine, in violation of EU antitrust rules. The investigation is continuing.

The other companies mentioned by European Commission are. Unichem Laboratories Ltd. and its subsidiary Niche Generics UK Ltd., Matrix (today Mylan Laboratories Ltd. (NYSE: MYL)), Slovenia company Krka dd (Ljubljana: KRKG), and India's Lupin Ltd. (BSE: 500257). The European Commission also names two Teva subsidiaries Teva Pharmaceuticals Europe BV, and Teva UK Ltd.

In the statement of objections, the European Commission takes the preliminary view that Servier and generic competitors had agreed to limit competition to perindopril and that, as part of a comprehensive strategy, Servier had acquired competing technologies. These practices could have aimed at preserving Servier's position with regard to perindopril, which was about to reach the end of its patent protection.

The European Commission opened proceedings against Servier and other companies in July 2009. The competition inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector had indicated a number of structural and behavioral problems that potentially led to distortions of competition and delays to entry of new, innovative as well as cheaper generic medicines into the EU market. In its final report, the Commission made a number of recommendations to address these problems, and particularly emphasized stronger competition law enforcement especially with regard to patent settlements.

A Statement of Objections is a formal step in Commission investigations into suspected violations of EU antitrust rules.


Vietnam seeks USD 100 million from India for Tata project

In a bid to break a four-year deadlock involving Tata Steel 's $5 billion project, Vietnam has sought financial assistance of $100 million from India towards payment of land compensation cost.

"Government of Vietnam has requested Indian government to assist by giving $100 million for site clearance for the project," Vice Minister of Industry and Trade of Vietnam Le Xuan Quang said.

The project has been stalled after the provincial government estimated the acquisition cost at $200 million for around 4,000 acres of land, an amount Tata-Steel was not happy with and refused to pay.

This resulted in Indian business giant not receiving the investment license for its 4.5 million-tonne steel plant at Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh province.

The issue has also been taken up by at the highest level by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Sources close to the project said the land cost asked from Tata is very high as compared to what has been taken from Taiwan-based Formosa group to set up a steel plant in the same province.

When pointed out that Vietnamese government was paying part of the land compensation for the land given to Formosa group, Quang said the country has been affected by the global economic slowdown and it does not have money for site clearance for the Tata-Steel project.

"Vietnam has also been affected by global economic crisis and we do not have money for site clearance (for the Tata project). We have requested Tata to pay the money," he said.

"Our government is very active in addressing the pending issues between Tata and local authorities," Quang said but warned that further delay in finalising the land compensation may result in increase in land acquisition cost.

Sources said Tata's patience was running thin as it was unhappy over the way the whole issue has been handled by Vietnamese authorities. As per Vietnamese law, the investment license has to be issued by provincial authorities.

The project is to be implemented by a joint venture in which Tata Steel holds 65 per cent stake while Vietnam Steel Corporation holds 30 per cent and the balance is with Vietnam Cement Industries Corporation.

An initial pact for the $5 billion project was signed among the three companies in 2007 and a final agreement was reached in August 2008.

When asked about the issue, Indian diplomatic sources said the project was an important one and India has been doing its best to ensure resolution of the issue.

Consul General of India in Ho Chi Minh city Abhay Thakur said government was hopeful of Tata-Steel being issued the investment license soon.

"The matter has been taken up at very high levels on both sides. We remain hopeful that investment license will be forthcoming subject to commercial and technical issues being resolved to mutual trust," he said.

People close to the project feel that it was unfair on part of Vietnam to hold back investment license as India has been helping the country in various areas for last few decades, including in strengthening their defence capabilities.

They said Tata-Steel felt discriminated as the land given to it originally for the plant was given to Formosa in 2008 and an alternative plot was offered to it in 2009.

The issue was raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang visited New Delhi in October last year.

In May last year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung too had given an assurance to implement the project when Mukherjee had called on him.

Karnataka Pharmacists to start 'India Pharma Revolution'

BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Government Pharmacist's Association has initiated a nationwide 'India Pharma Revolution', a movement to raise various professional issues and demands from the government. The movement, involving 3000-odd members of the association in Karnataka started on July 29. They demand to be treated equally with their counterparts in countries like the US and other developed nations. 

Taking the first step towards this movement the association submitted a memorandum of its demands to the representatives of the Union government in Delhi. The association has also started a signature campaign to support and promote the pharma profession. 

The association is demanding formation of Ministry of Pharmaceutical, formation of Indian Pharmaceutical services, immediate amendment of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2011, Amendment in Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, Pharmacists in clinical role, Drug administration, employment generation of Pharmacists in NRHM (primary health center and community health centers, proposed amendments in Pharmacy Act, 1948 and Proposed amendment in NIPER Act

"There should be an appropriate expansion of the role of a pharmacist. This should not be limited to simply dispensing or compounding. With the newer role, a pharmacist should play a major role in healthcare and should be allowed to have a prescriber's role, which might be limited. In US and other developed countries, a doctor diagnoses the disease, a pharmacist prescribes and dispenses medicines as per the diseases, while a nurse administers the drug as per the instruction by the treating doctor likewise in India the said system should be fully adopted and a pharmacists' role should not be limited to just distributing the medicines," said K Kempaiah, in a release issued to the press.  

Friday, July 27, 2012

Beautiful thought


 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



EU charges drugmakers due to halt to cheaper generic medicines

EU antitrust regulators charged Danish drugmaker Lundbeck, German peer Merck KGaA and seven other firms with blocking the entry of cheaper generic medicines into the market, in a move that could lead to big fines for the companies.

The charges against Lundbeck and the eight other firms are the first by the EU watchdog against "pay-for-delay" deals -- where brand-name companies pay generic competitors to abstain from putting their rival drugs on the market -- since a high-profile inquiry into the sector in 2009.

The European Commission said on Wednesday the tactic breached EU antitrust rules. It also warned French drugmaker Servier and several generic rivals of further action in the coming days for a similar offence, related to another medicine.

Regulators had said then that such delays cost European consumers billions of euros. Reuters reported on Tuesday that the EU watchdog would act against Lundbeck and Servier.

Companies can be fined up to 10 percent of their turnover if found guilty of breaching EU rules. Lundbeck posted 16 billion Danish crowns ($2.60 billion) in revenues last year.

The Commission said Lundbeck's action together with four generic competitors related to the antidepressant citalopram.

"The companies entered into agreements that foresaw substantial value transfers from Lundbeck to its four generic competitors, who subsequently abstained from entering the market with generic citalopram," the Commission said in a statement.

"The value transfers included direct payments from Lundbeck to the generic competitors and also occurred in other forms, such as the purchase of generic citalopram stock for destruction or guaranteed profits in a distribution agreement," it said.

The Commission has been stepping up scrutiny of settlements between drug companies in recent years over concerns some may prevent consumers from obtaining lower-priced medicines.

Lundbeck said it did not believe it had broken EU rules.

"Lundbeck vigorously opposes any allegation of wrongdoing and does not believe its practice has violated European competition law," the company said in a statement in Copenhagen.

The EU watchdog also sent the "statement of objections" or charge sheet to Generics UK, Arrow, Resolution Chemicals, Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Alpharma, A.L. Industrier and Ranbaxy .

On Servier, the Commission said it planned to act against the company and several generic competitors soon.

"Servier and several generic competitors entered into agreements which may have hindered the entry of generic perindopril into markets in the EU," the regulators said.

"In the context of this investigation, the Commission is also looking at the unilateral behaviour of Servier."


Team Anna's plans push to attract crowd

NAGPUR: As people still hesitant to join Team Anna's protest this time, the the local organizers have begun making fresh efforts to attract crowds. More volunteers are being called upon for 'Jan-Jagran' initiative in which they will set out on city streets and persuade people to join protest.

Either because of approaching weekend or chipping in of yoga guru in the protest, Friday witnessed a larger participation in Anna Hazare's agitation against corruption. As in the capital, Baba Ramdev proved to be a boon for local Team Anna and the crowd at RBI square was visibly more compared to the first couple of days. The India Against Corruption (IAC) coordinators want more people. "In the Jan-Jagran initiative, a team of 10 members will cover different areas of the city to create awareness about Jan-Lokpal Bill and its importance," informed IAC city coordinator Ajay Sanghi.

On the third day, the number of agitators sitting on indefinite hunger strike remained unchanged. A team of doctors from Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) visited the protestors for regular check-up. "All nine protestors were fine but physical problems may trouble them in a day or two. There is a chance of decrease in their sugar level and blood pressure," informed GMCH's casualty in-charge Dr Dinanath Tarar.

The early part of the day was spent watching live happenings of Jantar-Mantar and news updates. The atmosphere in the evening turned tense as people came up on stage to give speeches against corrupt practices. "The present situation is far worse than we actually think it is. Corruption is prevailing in every walk of our lives. Even if we don't gel with our neighbours belonging to different castes, it is because of the social discriminations created by political leaders," said social activist Umesh Chaubey.

IAC has also decided to organize a flag march at 6 pm everyday.


First generic HIV drugs could save US at least $920 million a year

Even using very conservative estimates of efficacy, using two generic HIV drugs plus one branded one in the most popular first-line regimen instead of using all three in a single-pill fixed-dose combination would save $4000 per quality-adjusted year of life (QALY) for each individual on treatment in the USA, and would save the country $920 million on its annual drugs bill, the 19thInternational AIDS Conference was told yesterday.

These estimates were arrived at by Rochelle Walensky and colleagues from Harvard Medical School, using a mathematical model called the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications in the US (CEPAC-US) model.

The single most popular first-line therapy in the US and the first-place recommended regimen in theUS CDC treatment guidelines is tenofovir/FTC/efavirenz, usually given as the fixed-dose combination pill Atripla. Lamivudine (3TC), which is usually regarded as almost equivalent to FTC (emtricitabine) in terms of efficacy and resistance profile,  has recently come off-patent and efavirenz will do so next year. This allows for doctors to substitute a three-pill regimen using the two generic drugs instead of Atripla.  

Walensky's team compared the likely clinical outcomes in cost and life expectancy on patients given no ART, Atripla or generic3TC and efavirenz plus branded tenofovir (Viread) in the current on-treatment US patient population.

They built some conservative assumptions into the model. They assumed that tenofovir/generic 3TC/generic efavirenz would be 7% less virologically effective than Atripla, achieving viral undetectability in 78% of patients within six months instead of 85% of patients. They also assumed more than twice the rate of virological failure after the first six months, using a failure rate of 5.41% a year instead of 2.52% a year as is the case with Atripla. They assumed a 75% price reduction for the two generic drugs, leading to a 40% reduction in the total regimen, from $15,300 a year down to $9,200, thus saving $6,100 a year.

Using these figures, they calculated that patients on the generic-based combination would have an extra life expectancy of 8.03 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over patients not taking ART, and patients on Atripla 8.40 QALYs. This difference in life expectancy, which we must remember is based on very pessimistic assumptions of efficacy for the generic regimen, amounts to an extra 4.5 months of life. The lifetime cost to the health system of a person not on ART would be $131,200, on the generic-based regimen $300,300 and Atripla $342,800.

The threshold for cost-effectiveness of a drug regimen is usually set at $100,000 per extra QALY gained in the USA. The generic-based regimen would cost $21,100 per QALY and Atripla $25,200 per QALY. This means that the extra 4.5 months of life gained would cost $114,800 per QALY. If the pessimistic efficacy assumptions turn out to be true, then, the incremental cost of using Atriplawould place it beyond the normally-used bounds of cost-effectiveness.

Walensky acknowledged that talking about forgoing small individual survival benefits for large national savings was an uncomfortable subject, especially in the US. She also added that the savings cited would in practice vary a lot according to who is paying for the drugs, whether they are state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), state Medicaid programmes, the US Veterans Administration, or others. And she emphasised that there was no guarantee that the extra money saved would be reinvested in HIV care.

However, she added, the CDC has recommended that any generic regimen should be equivalent in efficacy for the branded drug(s) it replaces. If this was the case, then there would be considerably greater savings per QALY.

It might be possible to negotiate a greater than 75% reduction in price for the generics, too. She gave the example of three drugs. The price of simvastatin was reduced by 66% when it came off-patent and of methylphenidate by 72%, but the price of the blood-thinning drug warfarin came down by 85% when it went generic.

What could the extra money pay for? Walensky said that President Obama's 2010 National HIV/AIDS Strategy must be explicitly financed by "re-purposed" rather than new funds. This is an opportunity for treatment providers to recommend that the money saved is re-invested into other treatment programmes for people with HIV, such as the new hepatitis C drugs, which are currently covered by less than 50% of ADAPs.

India Health Progress terms free generic drug programme as critically important

India Health Progress, an action forum of stakeholders to improve access to healthcare, has welcomed the latest moves to launch the free generic drug programme for giving free medicines at the public health facilities in the States.

"The initiative of the Government is critically important step in meeting India's unmet health needs. A publicly funded drug program for poor populations is essential to reducing the growing social and economic burden of disease in India for the hundreds of millions of Indians who live below the poverty line," India Health Progress principal advisor Aman Gupta said in a statement here.

In June, the government of India announced that it is setting up a procurement and distribution system intended to provide low income populations with free unbranded generic medicines. The proposal which is a part of the 12th Plan involves Rs.20,000 crore outlay from the Centre and aboutRs.7,000 crore from the states.

"Increasingly, India's disease burden has been shifting from communicable diseases to chronic ailments such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other conditions that can be treated and managed by many older proven and effective low-cost generic medicines. Ensuring access to these low-cost generic medicines must therefore be an important priority for India's universal healthcare reforms. Lately, much of the focus of India's drug policy debate has been on the price and availability of newer innovative medicines. Lost in this debate is the fact that the ultimate legacy of pharma innovation is safe and effective low-cost generic medicines to which many diagnosed patients in India have little or no access," Gupta said.

"Essential to the success of the free generic programme is the need to ensure that the medicines that are distributed through this programme are safe, of high quality, and efficacious. Equally important, is the need to ensure the integrity of the procurement and distribution system for this programme so that it does not suffer from many of the problems encountered by other programs, such a Jan Aushadi, which has been hampered by problems of supply and distribution," the statement said.

"With thousands of generic drug-makers in India, Indian multinational and domestic generic drug manufacturers supply much of the world with quality low-cost generics. Focusing on improving quality standards and ensuring stringent regulatory oversight for drug manufacturing and distribution in India, millions of needy Indians can be ensured access to quality low-cost generic medicines, greatly reducing the economic and social burden of disease in India," Gupta added. 

Will Anna Hazare’s movement sustain or fizzle out?

Last year social activist Anna Hazare gave momentum to the anti-corruption movement. The nation was enthused and victory seemed near. However, lack of clarity on the movement's direction, selective criticism and some ill-timed steps has led to a perceptible decline in popular support for Anna and his team. 

The hustle and bustle of Ramlila Maidan has been replaced by the less than enthusiastic response to the ongoing agitation at Jantar Mantar. 

Many say the Lokpal Bill movement is a lost cause. Others swear support; they term the movement as the last chance before India to fight graft. 

Though from the beginning, it was a known fact that our elected representatives didn't want a watch dog on their head, but Anna made us believe that powerful lawmakers can also be questioned in a democracy. 

The low turnout during Team Anna's agitation in Mumbai and now in Delhi has raised some pertinent questions not just about Team Anna, but also on the common man. 

The 74-year-old man is not fighting for himself, but for the country's future and it would be premature to write him off as just an RSS agent. 

If not for anything else, at least for having awakened the 'chalta hai' nation of ours and initiating a debate on the need to tackle graft at all levels. Last year he was an icon for the youth of the country and today the Gen X seems to have deserted him. 

Is the common man bored or does he lack the determination to fight for a just cause? Can the movement be allowed to fizzle out just because Team Anna appears to have an agenda of its own? 

First, the less than optimum seriousness on the part of the government – which has been battling scams - and now the people's disdain. 

However, it would be premature to write the obituary of the movement. The critical test would the coming week end and the aam admi's response. 

The next few days will reveal whether the aam admi is just being pensive or he has given up on Anna Hazare. 

Who knows, the silence of the janta may be the 'silence' before the storm. 

Government trying to break Team Anna, says Hazare

New Delhi: Activist Anna Hazare Friday again accused the government of trying to break the unity of Team Anna by holding secret talks with him. 

Talking to reporters here, Anna Hazare said: "V. Narayanasamy wrote a letter to me and gave it to my team so that they feel Anna is talking with government. They are trying to break our team." 

"It was their conspiracy to stop me from attending this agitation," he said. 

V. Narayanasamy, who is Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, however, hit back saying he wrote only in response to Anna Hazare's letter. 

Narayanasamy Friday termed the indefinite fast by Team Anna at Jantar Mantar here as an attempt to "fool the people". 

He said their intentions have been exposed after they "announced launching a political party". 

\
"We brought the Lokpal bill according to our commitment, it is now with the standing committee (of parliament). We have taken lot of steps. In spite of that, they are agitating because they have an agenda," he said. 

"The people who are sitting at hunger strike, they go and take rest in Maharashtra Sadan. They are fooling the people of this country," the minister added. 

Narayanasamy's comments came after Anna Hazare, in an interview to a news channel Friday, said: "If people say that Anna should enter politics, then I could think about it." 

He, however, added a quick disclaimer: "I will not go into politics but I will give a political alternative to the people. I will not fight in elections. But if anyone fighting against corruption launches a political party, I will support it. I think the people are ready for an honest candidate." 

Friday is the third day of Team Anna's indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar. Team members Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Rai and Manish Sisodia are sitting on an indefinite fast against corruption and in support of a stringent Jan Lokpal bill. 

Anna Hazare is likely to join the fast Sunday after his four-day ultimatum to the government ends. 

Anna and his team should contest elections: Digvijay

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday welcomed the decision of Team Anna of forming a 'People's Party' in 2014 to fight Lok Sabha elections. 

While reacting to Anna's interview to a news channel, Digvijaya Singh said, "We welcome this decision of Anna in politics... Anna should also contest the election. Anna, Baba Ramdev, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and all other Team Anna members should contest elections." 

While talking to a news channel Anna Hazare did not rule the emergence of a "People's Party" in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, saying it is not wrong if candidates selected by the people to fight the poll choose to do so. 

"I will travel across the country, tell people to come up with candidates and pick the best out of them. I will then campaign for the candidates," Anna added. 

He said: "We will tell people who are the best candidate for them after putting the names on Internet. We'll ask them if they want to fight as independents or as one party. Let them decide. There's nothing wrong with a new party being formed."

Union Minister Salman Khurshid also hit out at Team Anna, saying: "If he (Anna) wants to come, he can enter politics. When we used to say, you did not believe us. He asked a lot of questions, but now he is doing the same. He always said that 'we will not contest elections' and asked that 'how do these people get funds and other things to contest elections'. 
In Bangalore today, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy lashed out at Team Anna, terming the fast at Jantar Mantar in the national capital an attempt to "fool the people".

He said their intentions have been exposed after they "announced launching a political party". 

"It is good they told very openly today that they are forming a political party. Their intentions are exposed," Narayanasamy said. 

Congress also mocked Team Anna's agitation by saying "in a democracy people have right to sit on dharna or hold agitation. Team Anna has reduced this right of the people into a joke."  

Beautiful thought


 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


It's time to give people a political alternative: Anna Hazare

New Delhi: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare admitted on Friday that he would consider joining politics if the people wanted him to. "If people say that Anna should enter politics, then I could think about it," he said in an exclusive interview with IBN 18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai. He, however, was quick to add that he would not fight elections but support a political party that would be launched by someone willing to fight against corruption.

"I will not go into politics but I will give a political alternative to the people. I will not fight in elections. But if anyone fighting against corruption launches a political party, I will support it. I think the people are ready for an honest candidate," he said.

In Delhi for his agitation for a Special Investigation Team to probe 15 ministers of the UPA government whom he alleges to be corrupt, Anna's recent protests have seen minimal crowd attendance.

The activist admitted that he too had begun to feel that the enthusiasm amongst the people for fight against corruption was beginning to wane.

"People are coming to me and saying that only fasting or protest will not help and that I should give an alternative. But I do not think so right now," he said.

"The government too has been laggard in bringing in the Lokpal Bill. It has been two years since our protest for a strong Lokpal Bill began. May be the time has come to look at an alternative. But I still hope that the government will introduce it."

He further said that the Lokpal Bill was, is and will always be the primary demand of India Against Corruption. "First Lokpal and then inquiry against the 15 corrupt ministers... The main issue is the Lokpal Bill."

He further accused "the 15 ministers" of stalling the progress on the Lokpal Bill.

He said, however, that the mere removal of the 15 ministers would not put an end to corruption and that a concerted effort was needed to root it out. "For the benefit of the people and the country, everyone should come together and fight against corruption," he said. "I do not think that any political party, be it the Congress, the BJP or the Left, is serious about fighting against corruption. I feel it is now time to give them a political alternative," he added.

On yoga guru Ramdev

When asked about yoga guru Ramdev's political ambitions, the activist refused to comment. "I do not know if Baba Ramdev is planning to form a political party," he said.

On Salman Khurshid and the 'secret meeting'

While admitting that they did hold a meeting, he said the UPA minister had tried to break Team Anna. While Khurshid refuted the allegations, Anna said he could not believe that "anyone could lie to such an extent".

Team Anna's hitlist of the 15 Cabinet ministers

Team Anna had on May 26 accused 15 Cabinet Ministers including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of indulging in corruption. Team Anna had sent a letter sent to the Prime Minister along with several documents signed by Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia in which the details of alleged corruption cases were given.

The ministers against whom allegations were levelled include Home Minister P Chidambaram, former finance minister and presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, former Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Virbhadra Singh, Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Shipping Minister GK Vasan, Chemical and Fertiliser Minister MK Alagiri, New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Khurshid.



Most Stupid Reply By Airtel

Hi, 

You can see below, how airtel CC behaves with the customers... They give nonsense answers to the Asked Questions.

Even when I had the Airtel Broadband, I asked for disconnection for Lowest FUP but they artifically retend me and then there was hell of a ride for the same. Till today I ask airtel how TRAI is prohibiting their enchantments of FUP?

The CC are dumb or they are asked to be dumb.

Regards,
Your 



From: 121@in.airtel.com
To: XXXXXX
Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:22:31 +0530
Subject: Re: REQUEST FOR THE CLARIFICATION [|BAL|Qrc126071209070210212790|]

Namaste ,

Ref: Email dated 26/07/2012, regarding GPRS service for your airtel mobile number XXX.

Thank you for writing to airtel and providing us the opportunity to assist you.

For any online technical assistance for GPRS for your GPRS compatible handsets please contact customer care at 12118 (chargeable at 50 paisa for 3 minutes) from an alternate airtel number.

We hope that we have been able to address your concern suitably.

Please do write in for any further assistance.



Yours Sincerely,

ARUN KUMAR
Customer Care
Bharti Airtel Limited




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---------Original Message----------
From: 
To: 121@in.airtel.com
Cc:
Sent: 26/07/2012 09:05:32 AM
Subject: Request for the Clarification

Respected Airtel,

With respect to my Airtel number, I would like to ask you following things:-

1) What is the average speed for a 2G speed connection for airtel?
2) If i recharge with an gprs pack and the main balance becomes zero and not
the gprs account?
3) Will the regular monthly 98 rs count for the maintainence cost of the
account as it seems your system requires revenue of 250 in 03 months?

Hoping for an speedy information.

Regards,

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Thursday, July 26, 2012

The future of cyberspace

Is cyberspace infinite?


Of all the things we now take for granted, cyberspace is near the top of the list. The promise of the Internet for the twenty-first century is to make everything always available to everyone everywhere. All of human culture and achievement, the great and the not so great, may, one day soon, be just a click away.
cyberspace

When one is online, cyberspace can seem a lot like outer space or, to use the latest jargon, 'the cloud'. It appears infinite and ethereal. The information is simply out there. If, instead, we thought more about the real-world energy and the real estate that the Internet uses, we would start to realize that things are not so simple. Cyberspace is in fact physical space. And the longer it takes us to change our concept of the Internet—to see quite clearly its physical there-ness—the closer we'll get to blogging our way to oblivion.
cyberspace

Now, everything that we upload—all the Facebook photos, all the Youtube videos—is always available on demand to everyone. What does it take to keep up that commitment? It takes many huge buildings, with square footage in the hundreds of thousands of feet, called data centers or, more appropriately given the Internet's relentless growth, server farms.
server farm

In order to maintain total, ubiquitous availability, as today's Internet users have come to expect, a lot of things have to be happening simultaneously. The millions of hard disc drives that store the Internet's contents have to be powered up and spinning at thousands of revolutions per minute, not just in one place but at backup mirror sites elsewhere. Air conditioning keeps the whirring servers cool. Real estate has to be acquired and developed to house it all. Electrical grids have to be extended to the sites. And lots of electricity has to be generated, which means lots of carbon dioxide gets produced. 


Cyberspace's consumption

How much? According to some experts, the cloud already consumes 1 to 2 percent of the world's electricity. That is what it takes to maintain Facebook's reported 15 billion photos, entertain Microsoft's 20 million Xbox Live subscribers, and host all the other always-on content that we use. But at what cost?
The economics of cyberspace and server farms provides no automatic curb to their growth. The key questions for business are how to get energy cheaply and how to keep transmission times in the low milliseconds. Revenues for services like Facebook and Youtube do not come from costs to users. From a naive user's perspective, cyberspace is infinite, free, and clean. As long as people perceive no cost in uploading their photos and videos, they will do so—and their content will stay there without expiring. Free video is like free petrol or free air conditioning: anyone not paying the bill for a resource will use it without restraint. And that is exactly what is happening in cyberspace.
server farm

If no one is watching your Youtube video, does it need to be occupying physical space on multiple, electrically-powered hard drives around the world? On a deeper level, our inexorable drive to create an eternal, all-encompassing memory demonstrates our fear of forgetting. But is forgetting so awful that we must drive the planet closer to the abyss in order to avoid losing any scrap of information, no matter how trivial? Can we let go before we are killed by the need to preserve all of our experience?


Am I suggesting that we stop using the Internet? No, of course not. I wrote this for a blog after all. We invented the Internet because we need to communicate, to share, to learn, to exchange goods and ideas. That is what makes us human. Hence the pathos of our dilemma: that gorgeous, insatiable yearning we have to communicate across all distances, literal and otherwise, is also driving us towards our destruction. If we turn the system off and turn our backs on the dream of global communication, then we may as well die off for we will have sacrificed our common human dream. This is the heightened drama of existence in the twenty-first century: the grandeur of our brave, new world comes at a cost. We can at least face it honestly.

 

How can we make a better cyberspace?

So what can we do? We can mitigate the Internet's emissions by finding alternative energy sources, but its galloping growth will wipe out whatever improved efficiencies we can discover. Can we evolve the new models of business and government that we need fast enough to head off global warming's tipping point? Probably not. We have not done it yet despite all that we know. Recent efforts to achieve something as simple as health insurance for all Americans do not inspire confidence.
Cyberspace is one place where our own actions can make a big difference. Those 15 billion Facebook photos and who-knows-how-many Youtube videos were not posted by the petrol companies. We posted them. We, the users, have the power to slow the Internet's planet-choking growth. We have to see the externalities—the CO2 emissions produced by our online activities—as internal costs to the planet. We can start by raising consciousness about the problem, restricting our uploads, and even pulling down some. Instead of 1000 CO2-emitting photos on Facebook, just keep your 200 best. If no one watches your karaoke video on Youtube, delete it. At least store on it on something that does not need to stay plugged in.
server farm



What if consciousness-raising and voluntary self-discipline are not enough? Despite the cyberpunk mantra that 'Information wants to be free', real estate does not. With that truth in mind, here comes my modest proposal. This will be a very unpopular thing to say, but it needs to be said: there ought to be a cost for sharing too much information about oneself, i.e., an uploading tax. That is the only way that most people will stop uploading huge files to cyberspace—they need to pay for the real energy and space that they are using. Information can still be free to take. What I am proposing is that information should not necessarily be free to distribute by occupying space on Internet servers. If you want to post more than a certain amount, you should have to pay rent for the physical space that your megabytes and gigabytes occupy. If uploaders had to pay, many of the photos and videos that no one looks at would come down a lot faster, and Internet-associated CO2 emissions from server farms would start to decline. The money from the rents can go towards development of alternative energy sources, or whatever.

Cyberspace's future has a cost

server farm

We need to get our heads out of the cloud and back on solid ground where we know that renting someone else's space costs money. The proliferating server farms that create the illusion of cyberspace will swallow more and more land and spit out more and more heat-trapping gases. If the life experience that we are preserving online comes at the cost of life itself, then we would be better off entrusting it to the imperfect, ephemeral storage space known as the human brain and taking our chances. We have lost most of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. I think we will still be alright if we lose the video of Kevin crushing the beer can against his head and chugging marinara sauce. The question is, should the Kevins of the world be allowed to colonize our land and use up our energy without paying for it? Maybe we should make Kevin pay for the privilege…
Or maybe we should embrace an old fashioned solution for the waste of cyber space on various posting sites, that is still used by that archaic form of communication, television. When only a few people watch a show, it gets canceled. If no one is looking at a You Tube (or similar sites) posting, it should be canceled by the provider.
What about freedom of speech?
And some say that energy-wise, the consumption of the internet is trivial, and is probably more than compensated by the high level of global awareness of energy issues that has been generated through use of the Web.
What do you think?


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