German Ambassador meets Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner on Friday called on Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah here and discussed various matters of mutual interest.

The rich tourist potential of Jammu and Kashmir particularly the scenic splendour of Valley was also discussed in the meeting, an official spokesman said.

He said the measures put in place by the state government and Centre for peace and development in the state were also talked about in the meeting.

"The German envoy showed keen interest in the new initiatives taken by Omar led government for good governance, transparency and public empowerment in the state," the spokesman added.

PTI

Microsoft brings back the 'start' button with Windows 8.1 update

Reuters

Seattle: Microsoft is bringing back the Windows "start" button, offering a stripped-down version among a slew of improvements aimed at winning over tablet users and placating PC customers alienated by Windows 8.

The world's largest software company is looking to re-energize sales of its latest Windows version, which has not made the splash with computer users it was hoping for. Executives say the plan is now to update Windows periodically, rather than waiting three years or so between big releases.

Although Microsoft has sold more than 100 million Windows 8 licenses since October, broadly in line with Windows 7 three years ago, the company must tackle a dwindling PC user base and its inability to make a mark in the exploding tablet market.

Shipments of traditional PCs - the most reliable gauge of Windows' popularity - are expected to fall almost 8 percent this year, while Microsoft's Surface has taken less than 2 percent of the tablet market.

Windows 8 was designed to be used both on touch-screen tablets and traditional PCs. But while touch-screen users tend to like the new "tile"-based interface, many mouse and keyboard users complained that the new design was confusing.

Confirming speculation, Microsoft said the Windows 8.1 update will have a button in the bottom left corner of the screen that acts like the "start" button in previous versions of Windows. Although it will not be labelled "start", it features the Windows logo and takes the user straight to a grid of applications.

"The work you are seeing us do here is continuing to advance the modern (interface), while really taking into account some of the things we've learned from people who still want to use the desktop, to make the transition easier," Antoine Leblond, corporate vice president of the Windows unit, said in an advance briefing on the Windows 8.1 update last week.

Microsoft is only making features of the new software public on Thursday.

Free update

Windows 8.1, previously known by the code name "Blue", will be available for free to all Windows 8 users some time later this year. Microsoft will make a test version available at its annual developer conference on June 26.

Windows 8.1 also includes a vastly improved "search" function, which allows a user to search for documents, apps, or items on the Internet from a single search bar, like a souped-up version of Apple's Spotlight feature.

It also allows users to see all their applications immediately in a grid by swiping down or pressing a button on-screen, which should make it easy for unfamiliar users to get to the app they want quickly.

Users can also customize the start screen much more easily, changing sizes of app icon "tiles" or controlling which apps appear. For the first time, it will be possible to open two windows simultaneously in the new-look interface.

Windows 8.1 includes Microsoft's latest browser, Internet Explorer 11, and lets the user restore the address bar and tabs to the screen view. That feature was missing in the initial version of Windows 8, which was designed to make the most of limited screen space on a tablet but tended to disorient traditional mouse and keyboard users.

Users will also no longer have to switch to the old desktop view to make changes in their default settings.

But they will still have to switch back to a traditional desktop set-up to use some programs such as Word or Excel, which have not been redesigned to function in the new Windows 8 style.

LPG prices reduced by Rs 45

Non-subsidised domestic LPG in Delhi will now cost Rs 802 per 14.2-kg cylinder as against Rs 847 currently. 

The price of non-subsidised cooking gas, which was cut by Rs 54 per cylinder from May 11, has further been reduced by Rs 45 per 14.2-kg bottle. The price of a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder that consumers buy beyond their quota of 9 subsidised cylinders has been reduced to Rs 802 from Rs 847.

Rates will vary in different cities, depending upon local sales tax or VAT. This is the third time that the price of non-subsidised LPG cylinder have been slashed since April. Price was last cut by Rs 54 to Rs 901 on May 1 and by Rs 3 on April 1.

Gold prices may fall by Rs 2,000 in medium term: Report

New Delhi: Gold prices may fall by Rs 2,000 from the present levels in the near to medium term as the precious metal is losing appeal as an asset, a report by industry body Assocham has said.

The report, however, said that gold is unlikely to fall below Rs 25,000 per 10 grams due to a strong buying support at that level and a weak rupee against the US dollar.

Gold prices have come down to Rs 27,790 per 10 grams in the national capital this month from the high of Rs 32,990 per 10 grams in April.

"A fall of Rs 2,000 or little more from the present level looks plausible in the near to medium term," according to Assocham report on gold.

A likely drop in gold prices below Rs 25,000 per ten grams level will attract a strong buying support and may lead to April-like situation, when the downward spiral had made buyers rush to jewellers and banks for enriching their bullion collection, it said.

The Assocham paper contended that gold prices are unlikely to fall below Rs 25,000 per ten grams for another reason, that is, continuous weakening of rupee against dollar.

"Expensive dollar will push the gold prices in India even as they may decline in the international market. The country meets almost all its gold requirements through imports which will again become expensive as the rupee is likely to see more pressure in the coming days," it added.

The report titled ‘Will Gold Retain its Lustre in 2013?’ found that the main reasons for a runaway rise in gold prices in India was lack of investment avenues for the Indian middle and upper middle class.

This is more so in the wake of inflation hovering around the double digit figure and investors were finding it difficult to save funds from the general price rise, it said.

On the other hand, the report said that most other avenues like property were out of the reach for the middle class investors and the equity market was dull. In this context, the goldunits had come in handy.

It found that the newly announced inflation indexed bonds will not fit the bill since the instruments have a long maturity period while the secondary bond market in the country has not developed for the retail investors.

India, the world's largest gold consumer, is expected to import around 900 tonnes in 2013

Now, mobile app that tracks employees

Chennai: The big boss is watching you. Companies are now deploying a mobile application, which would track their employee movements and how long they stay in one place, besides the speed at which they travel.

Sosaley Technologies, a Chennai-based electronics company has come up with a solution to track employees and vehicles at an inexpensive rate.  “Once you download the application, you can start tracking people who are networked to your system.

You can track the speed, the distance, the place of the vehicle in which the person is traveling,” said J. Srinivasan, CEO of Sosaley Technologies, who added that it can also be used to track whereabouts of elders and children.

He further said that their mobile application works on android platform in smartphones, sim card with GPRS and A-GPS on their phones. “While phones manufactured by Samsung, LG and Sony can use it now, we will soon extend this to use on other platforms like Apple and Blackberry,” he said.

Giving an example of how a FMCG distributing company can track its salesman and also areas he covered, with the help of the software, Srinivasan pointed out that the service would be of immense use to companies which deal with elevators, emergency unit providers, pharmaceuticals, service engineers and so on.

“The tracking system can also help in theft control, apart from locking the phone when it is stolen and an attempt made to change the sim card,” said Satish Kumar, group leader of Jnanaadri Technovations, which has taken charge of the start-up company Sosaley. “Sosaley has now moved on to the mobile platform after venturing into hardware based tracking system for the last five years,” he added.

“We will soon come out with software, which will help track the route and give the cost of the journey for travel in both taxi and auto,” said R. Ayyappan asst manager, business development, Sosaley, who added that the company is also working on payment gateway with two levels of security.

Rs 53,000 cr plan for Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: The planning commission appreciated Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy’s welfare initiatives including the ‘Bangaru Talli’ (monetary assistance to girl child) and approved the annual plan of Rs 53,000 crore.

The plan expenditure in the state Budget grew by 8.2 per cent against Rs 48,935 crore in 2012-2013. The state continued to be on top vis-a-vis the annual plan outlay.

The approval was given at a high-level meeting held by Planning Commission deputy chairman Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia with Chief Minister and senior state officials at New Delhi on Thursday.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Dr Ahluwalia said he was extremely happy over the state’s progress on several social and welfare indicators. In particular, he appreciated the legislative back up to the SC and ST sub plan and asked all the states to emulate Andhra Pradesh in this regard.

Contrary to reports that the Planning Commission pulled up the state for certain shortcomings, Dr Ahluwalia said the commission had found no fault at all with the implementation of plan by the state government.

“The state fared well both economically and socially,” he said.

Dr Ahluwalia suggested to the Chief Minister to take up critical issues in energy and infrastructure with Centre and resolve the long-pending problems. He stressed the need for infusing additional investments in road and rail projects and expediting irrigation projects.

The Chief Minister said the planning commission had asked the state to send fresh proposals for Rs 2,500 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

 “Our proposed expenditure in 12th five year plan, the highest in the country, is expected to be `3.42 lakh crore,” he said.

Thanking the planning commission for approving the annual outlay, the Chief Minister said the former had evinced keen interest in SC,ST sub plan, Indiramma kalalu and bangaru talli schemes. The planning commission will showcase our schemes to other states, he added.

450 monorails to ply across Chennai

Chennai: The Rs 8,500 crore monorail scheme aimed at reducing the public transportation woes of Chennai took off on Thursday with  handing over of vital request for proposal (RFP) document to project promoters.

They in turn will submit financial bids soon.  This comes little less than a week after chief minister Jayalalithaa’s intervention who was concerned by the delay being caused to her pet project, and a few days after monorail project director was asked to return from Switzerland where he had gone to attend an international seminar.

The RFP document handed over to two developers proposes to have three corridors will have a total of 450 monorails.  The frequency of trains will be one every four minutes in both directions.

According to sources, monorail stations require only minimal space and passengers descending fr­om the monorail can directly reach the exit points through escalators. The mon­orail systems can be built faster and can be expa­nded to other parts of the city rapidly causing mi­nimal disruption to traffic during construction.

Two Chennai monorail promoters get RFP

Chennaiites can now heave a sigh of relief as the much-delayed monorail scheme that remained only on paper for nearly a year, is all set to become a reality. For, the final hurdle obstructing the scheme was cleared by the state government on Thursday with handing over of vital request for proposal (RFP) document to the project promoters, which will enable them to submit financial bids.

This comes little less than a week after chief minister Jayalalithaa’s intervention who was concerned by the delay being caused to her pet project, and a few days after monorail project director was asked to return from Switzerland where he had gone to attend an international seminar.

Sources in the government told DC on Thursday that the RFP document was handed over to the two developers who had expressed interest to stay with the ambitious project. As per the document, the three corridors will have a total of 450 monorails and frequency of trains will be one every four minutes in both directions.

“The RFP document runs into over 900 pages was handed over to the two prospective developers Thursday by the project director. They will have to submit their financial bids by July end,” said a source. The RFP encompasses specifications, requirements, and expectations of the state government for effective implementation of the project. In all probability works will start by ate July or early August.

The state government had floated fresh bids for identifying the developer in early 2012 after cancelling the previous tender due to some alleged discrepancies. After the preliminary stage, five consortia of firms had been finalized.

Of these, only two – Scomi engineering that has built Mumbai Monorail and  Gammon and IL&FS - expressed interest in the final stage of tendering process. The government has identified three corridors — Vandalur to Velachery (23 km), Poonamallee to Kathi­para (16 km) and Poona­mallee to Vadapalani (18 km).