Blogging India

Hi all,

Typing a quick post from the free wifi access at The Forum Mall (Bangalore) to wish you all a very happy Republic Day! I know its kind of late, but still, better late than never.

I would like to, on this occasion, to reciprocate Dr A P J Abdul Kalam’s message on this day, like Sandil on Mutiny.in

1. Wherever I am, a thought will always come to my mind – What can I give?

2. Whatever the mission I will do, my motto will be to work with integrity and succeed with integrity.

3. I will always remember that my winged days, be not spent in vain.

4. I realise I have to set a great goal that will lead me to think high, work and realise the goal.

5. My greatest friends will be great human beings, great teachers and great books.

6. I will firmly believe that no problem can defeat me; I will become the captain of the problem, defeat the problem and succeed.

7. My National Flag flies in my heart and I will bring glory to my nation.

Published at Rediff.

Signing off, since my battery is low. Have a great year India!

Tags: India, republic day

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Its with utmost pleasure that I inform you that the 5th edition of Bar Camp Bangalore, the 2007 Winter Edition, is in a few days time, and registrations are off in full swing! Its to be held in IIM – B on the 17th and 18th (Saturday, Sunday) of this month.

For those who do not know what a Bar Camp is, it like a workshop wherein participants from different areas converge to talk about a specific area of interest, and a Bar Camp will include many such specific areas of interest (each area is called a Collective). Each collective goes on for around 3 hours, with as many participants sharing ideas and developments. After a collective, the participant can go for another collective, and so on.
For more information, visit the Wikipedia entry on Bar Camp.

In this edition, there are around 32 collectives (I use "around" since more are being added), including Blogging, Photography, Security and so on…

To see the full list of collectives, see the BCB5 Collectives page.

To register, visit BCB5 Registrations page.

And for more information, or just to do about anything you want – sponsor, register, volunteer, check out venue etc. – visit the BCB5 wiki.

About me, well, I’m bunking class for this Theres a huge excitement in the Blogging collective since the renown Indian blogger, Amit Agarwal, from Digital Inspiration will be coming!!!

So where will you be on the 17th and 18th? At home or at IIM B? (Free T shirts and food as well!!!)

[tags]BCB5, Bar Camp Bangalore, barcampbangalore5[/tags]

Hi all,

PayPal has introduced its brand new support for Indian banks. You can withdraw money from your PayPal account to approved Indian bank accounts. Currently, the banks participating with PayPal are State Bank of India , Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, ING VYSYA Bank, UTI(Axis) Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, HSBC and Citibank.

• There is NO minimum withdrawal
• Un verified PayPal members can withdraw only a maximum of $500 per month
• You get money in Rupees
• There is a fee of Rs. 50 for withdrawals LESS than Rs. 7000
• There is NO withdrawal fee for withdrawals more than Rs. 7000
• It takes around 5 to 7 days for you to receive the money

To withdraw money to your accounts in any of the banks listed above, you need to add the banks to your PayPal account first.

1. Login to your PayPal account.
2. Click the ‘Profile’ subtab on the Account Overview page.
3. Click the ‘Bank Accounts’ link in the Financial Information column.
4. Click Add.
5. Fill out the Add Bank Account form.
6. Click ‘Add Bank Account’.
7. You are now able to withdraw funds from your PayPal account to this bank account.

I’m yet to check out this method of withdrawing cash. I’ll keep you posted.

By the way, please remember to pay Income Tax for any professional income (i.e. income via sales, advertising, services etc.) you withdraw via PayPal. I’ve checked this up, and you can withdraw money, and receive it, provided you pay income tax for it (if you haven’t already).

That is, imagine you have a job in USA. You earn money, and put it in PayPal. But you have to pay taxes in USA. Then you withdraw it to India. In this case, you don’t have to pay Income Tax in India.

This is a pretty cool step by PayPal. This means that more Indians can utilize the services of PayPal. It could become a great medium of transactions. Hopefully, they’ll introduce the PayPal Visa Credit Card in India soon Enjoy!

[for the official announcement, visit http://pages.ebay.in/paypal%5Fbankaccount/]

[tags]paypal, india, paypal india, withdraw, funds, indian banks, state bank of india, citibank[/tags]

Hi all,

Printo – a printing company based in Bangalore, has launched its web services in India. It is a startup based in Bangalore, and they act like popular photo printing websites in other countries.

You can upload pictures to Printo, order prints, calendars, visiting cards, posters and so on. They deliver at your doorstep.

To check it out, visit http://www.printo.in/

Cheers

[tags]printo, print photos, india, photography[/tags]

Hello all,
    I’ve been receiving many hits from the search query IIST, the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) which I had featured on a previous article. So I decided on helping you searcher students out Here’s the basic information to put you on the right track.

What is IIST?
Its a new world class institute in Kerala set up by the ISRO, Indian Space Research Organization (ranked #4 in the world), to sponsor undergraduate and postgraduate studies in space technology, and engineering fields, and for direct placement in ISRO. The IIST will share resources and facilities with ISRO, thus delivering high standards and first hand experience which students will get no where else in the world!

How good is it?
It will be the best choice if you are interested in space technology/avionics. ISRO is currently the world’s No.4 ranked space organization. Their technology and facilities are unmatched by any other institute in India. Thus, the IIST is bound to be a great choice for a budding astro scientist. Be assured, you will get as much, if not more, exposure at IIST as any IIT.

Where’s it?
Ponmudi, in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. Its placed there so as to be near the ISRO center at Trivandrum. Its a temporary campus until the main campus is fully set up near VSSC.

What are the courses offered?
Bachelors Degree in Technology with specialization in Avionics, and Aerospace Engineering and Integrated Masters Programme in Applied Sciences with special emphasis on Space related subjects.

Admission Eligibility?
You need to be an Indian citizen, and must have appeared for the IIT JEE exam. All the candidates who are placed in the extended list of IIT JEE 2007 are eligible to apply in the first phase. Candidates in the JEE rank list may apply in the second phase, if they haven’t opted for a seat at an IIT.

The admission to IIST will be based on Personal Counselling. IIST will intimate all the students placed in the extended list of IIT-JEE 2007 along with detailed prospectus. Students will be requested to register online for counselling only on receipt of prospectus.

What is the intake capacity?
B.Tech in Space Technology – Avionics – 50 Seats
B.Tech in Space Technology – Aerospace Engineering – 40 seats
Integrated Masters in Applied Sciences – 30 seats

Placements…
All the students who successfully complete the academic programme with a minimum first class will be absorbed as Scientist/Engineer SC in the pay scale of Rs. 8000-275-13500 (likely to be revised) in ISRO with a service condition of 5 years.

So thats it… Listed below are a few more links which you will find extremely useful -

IIST Homepage    -    http://iist.ac.in/
About IIST   -   http://iist.ac.in/AboutIIST.php
IIST Objectives   -   http://iist.ac.in/Objectives.php

IIST Academic Programmes   -   http://iist.ac.in/AcademicProgrammes.php
IIST Curriculum   -   http://iist.ac.in/SpecializationStreams.php
IIST Admission Policy   -   http://iist.ac.in/AdmissionPolicy.php
IIST Admission Eligibility   -   http://iist.ac.in/Eligibility.php

Well, good luck

[tags]iist, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, ISRO, space science, aerospace engineering, avionics, India, education[/tags]

Hi all,
    There’s this revolutionary new service named mGinger available for Indians, or anybody on the Indian subcontinent, with a mobile phone. It might be made global later on… Whats the service? To keep it short and simple, you get paid to mobile…

    Thats right! You get paid to use your mobile!

    How does it work? You sign up at mGinger with your usual personal details, and mobile phone number. mGinger sends you SMSes from sponsors, which you read. For every SMS you read, you get paid. You can select your interests so as to restrict the advert SMSes to only of topics of your interest!

    Handy eh? Its been causing a WAVE of media attention all around India! They say that you get paid 20 Paise per SMS. i.e. 0.2 Rupees. Which is… Well… 41 Rupees make a dollar, so, $0.005 USD.  Yeah, half a penny. Half a penny per SMS.

    And you make 10 Paise per SMS read by your referrals, and so on. So, the typical teen/youth thinks “I can read 100s of SMSes per day! I can sure earn thousands!”

    Small problem. Theres a maximum limit of 10 SMSes per day. Thats the maximum. So you may receive from 0 to 10 SMSes per day. Imagine that you receive 10 SMSes per day, still, you make only Rp 2 per day! Which is like only Rs 60 ($1.5) per month! That is, IF YOU GET 10 SMSes per day!

    Honestly, why waste your time? Thousands have already signed up! Are they nuts?

    No, this post was NOT to encourage users to use mGinger. It was an honest to goodness review of the service. I’ve signed up for a day now, and I havn’t got a single sponsored SMS yet! At this rate, I’ll be stuck at something like a dollar (Rs 40) at the end of the year!

    Think twice before you sign up! Why waste your personal details, for something so little and measly? I can’t believe that the media has been rooting for this absolutely stupid service! I believe that this is all a scam. It proves how much India has to learn from the web! I do hope that people open their eyes before jumping in the next time!

[tags]mginger, get paid, paid SMS, SMS, get paid to mobile, paid mobile, get paid to read SMS, india, earn money india, mginger scam[/tags]

Hello all,
    This is for all of you Indian students out there who’re eagerly waiting for their ICSE (10th Grade) and ISC (12th Grade), by the CISCE(Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations), examination results. The results were rumoured to be out sometime on 17th May. i.e. Tomorrow. But the these rumours are false. So are other rumours testifying that the results will be released on 17 or 18 or so on, and “I saw it on NDTV!” claims.

    The Council has not made a proper announcement on the exact date. But they were quoted by The Telegraph, Calcutta, that the results were likely to be declared “any day between May 18th and May 25th”.

    The delay is due to several reasons, including the Nandigram issue. An executive committee member of the Council, Gillian Rosemary Hart, principal of the Welland Gluodsmith School, said that they were “hoping” for the results within “May 21st”.

    Well, if you ask me, view the news on NDTV every day morning from 8AM to 9.30AM. If they mention that the ISC/ICSE results will be announced on that particular day, there you have it

    In case you’ve forgotten how to get the results -

• www.cisce.examresults.net
• www.cisce.ilfsets.com
• www.cisce.my-lyceum.net
• www.cisce.ndtv.com

• Results can also be accessed through SMS on GSM mobiles by typing in ICSE or ISC followed by the index number in the message text (ICSE T5331009) and sending it to 6767 or 6388 or 676733 or 676744 or 676750 or 7333 or 4545.
• Through voice response system at the following numbers: 66602140, 66602139, 26476547.
  Add 011 for calls from outside Delhi.

• Students can view their results individually, schools can use their personalised password to access the results of their students.

    Don’t worry, I’m one among you Appeared by ISC this year Hope and pray for the best. Cheers

[tags]icse, isc, results, cisce, council[/tags]

Hi all,
    The Union Cabinet (of India) has given approval for setting up of an Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) soon. It also approved an initial investment of Rs 2700 million and an annual recurring cost of Rs 400 million.

    The Daily India reported this news.

“The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)
has been experiencing severe shortage of highly talented graduate and
post-graduate scientists and engineers during the last few years to
take up the challenges of research and development in the areas of
space science and technology,” a Cabinet release said.

The IIST
being set up on the lines of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),
will provide high quality undergraduate and postgraduate education and
research programmes in space science and technology.

It will
also offer integrated Masters in space science with customised
curriculum to meet the high technology requirements of the ISRO.

The
courses are proposed to commence from the academic year 2007-08, at an
alternate campus in Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.

The campus and other infrastructure facilities will be put in place within 24 months, the release said.

The
institute will offer 150-200 seats annually. The entire expenses of the
course will be supported by ISRO in the form of scholarships and
assistantships, and the brighter lot would be directly absorbed by the
ISRO.

    I deem that this is a positive step towards developing the space technology in India. India had been in the space research fast track during 2006 and 2007. The ISRO had made indigenous space launching vehicles, and satellites. Earlier, Dr G Madhavan Nair, the Chairman of ISRO, had announced in a public event the concept of the IIST. It seems that ISRO had been planning the IIST for a long time now.

[tags]indian, space, research, iist, isro[/tags]

Ladies and Gentlemen,
    This news is 1 day old… In an extremely embarassing defeat, ICC World No. 4 team, India, got kicked out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. Defeated earlier by minnows Bangladesh, the day before yesterday, India was kicked in the a$$ by Sri Lanka. India is now virtually out of the tournament, unless a BIG event occurs by means of Bermuda defeating Bangladesh in the big match today…

    Lack of form of top batsmen is the core reason why India lacked the usual shine. Sehwag looked promising in the beginning with a few good runs, but was out before he got his half century. Robin Uthappa has been fried during this entire tourny into an uthappam. He was hopeless. Gangully, the dada of the team, the hope and inspiration and only one of the couple of consistent players, was also given an early dismissal.

    The great Tendulkar never got an oppurtunity to live up to his name and got yet another duck. Dravid, the skipper, laid stand for a strong 80, but lack of support from other players made it in vain. Yuvraj also got out quick. Dhoni…. Well, put it this way, his wild swinging shots never made an impact this time…

    And the result? India was defeated by Sri Lanka. And yes, they have made their way out….

    My condolences to you, dear Indian players, and Team India. Mine, and a billion citizens, hopes, expectations, inspiration, and dreams were shattered. God bless all of you, and I do hope that you make it safely back to India, and manage to live under the heavy attack of fans and officials.

[tags]team india, cricket, icc cricket world cup, world cup, india, out[/tags]

Hi all,
    As you *might* know, today is the much awaited (awaited by atleast a billion people ) India vs Sri Lanka ICC World Cup Qualifier match. Why is it so awaited? It’ll decide if India will get into the World Cup, or not…

    If India wins against Sri Lanka with a comparable run rate margin, the World No.4 may still stand a chance. This World Cup was a volley of surprises – with Bangladesh in full shine; World No.3 Pakistan getting kicked out by minnows Ireland, and so on…

    And *will* India win? If you ask me, thats still a question for that big guy sitting up there………… The 3rd Umpire… Oh, and a person sitting MUCH higher than that… God

    Right now, they’re not doing bad. Sri Lanka has lost 3 wickets, for 124 runs in 30 overs, which makes a run rate of around 4.13. If India can restrict Sri Lanka to less than 250 in 50 overs, with a few more wickets, then I would say that India has a very good chance of an “easy” win….

    Anyway, more to come.. Keep reading Blogging India!
[tags]india, sri lanka, cricket, world cup, ICC, west indies[/tags]