Sunil Mittal to join board of StanChart

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel founder and chief Sunil Bharti Mittal will join the board of Standard Chartered PLC as an independent director. On Tuesday, the UK-based financial services major announced that Mittal will join the company as an independent non-executive director, effective August 1. The inclusion of Mittal on the bank’s board reflects the growing importance of the Indian market among global financial firms.

Mittal, 49, will be one of the nine independent directors on the board of over 150 years old Standard Chartered Bank. Along with Mittal, John Peace, chairman of Experian Group Ltd, a FTSE100 company, and Burberry Group PLC will also join the borad as an independent director.

‘‘Sunil is one of India’s most successful and highly respected entrepreneurs and I am very pleased that we have additional board representation from such an important market,’’ a Standard Chartered Bank release quoted Mervyn Davies, the company’s chairman.

Mittal is also the chairman of of Bharti Enterprises, controlling shareholder of Bharti Airtel, a US$35 billion market cap entity. It is also the leading mobile services company in India and one of the country’s top five companies by market cap. Last November, the Forbes magazine had ranked Mittal the sixth richest Indian, who had a combined family fortune of $6.9 billion. Other than his flagship telecom business, the group also has interests in life insurance, is planning to foray into organised retail and asset management businesses.

HFCL's Maloo may invest in Zicom

MUMBAI: There seems to be an alliance brewing between Vinay Maloo of Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL) and Pramoud Rao of Zicom Electronic Security Systems (Zicom), which could result in Maloo investing in the electronic security business.

When contacted by TOI, Rao, MD of Zicom said nothing is on the cards. He added that Maloo and he knew each other and meet on social occasions, but that is about where the whole thing ends.

Sources said Maloo is very keen on partnering with Zicom. To facilitate the interest, Zicom is in the process of floating a new company, Zicom Global. Maloo is expected to buy a 26% stake in this entity. The idea being that Zicom Global will take up large electronic security projects on a built-operate-and-transfer (BOT) basis; but only in the overseas market.

It could not be ascertained as how the structure of the arrangement would eventually shape up as plans are yet to be firmed up. A London-based investment banker is believed to be working on the deal.

Even as this nuances of this relationship are being worked out, Zicom, as part of its expansion plans is close to acquiring a 51% stake in a Dubai-based fire fighting and safety equipment firm. ‘‘We have just got a board approval for raising upto $35 million by way of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds and/or other foreign securities. Many investors including funds have approached us to invest in these financial instruments,’’ Rao said.

Rao started Zicom in 1994 in partnership with Manohar Bidaye, the chairman of company and is now the largest electronic security systems provider in the country with a turnover of nearly Rs 80 crore (FY2006). The promoters hold 31.2% stake in the company which is valued at Rs 176 crore, based on Monday’s closing price of Rs 174 on the BSE.

Zicom’s products include access control systems, CCTV surveillance, fire alarm systems and remote video surveillance catering to residential and institutions. Recently, the company forayed into retailing and has launched stores under the Zicom brand.

Vinay Maloo hit headlines when he joined hands with media moghul Kerry Packer in IT, communications and entertainment (ICE) space. The association led to the Packer picking up a stake in HFCL. Lot of hype surrounded HFCL which saw its stock zooming past the Rs 1,000 mark in early 2000. The scrip now trades in the range of Rs 20-Rs 23 on BSE. The beleagured Rs 756 crore group has not been doing well for some time now.

Exports at $124.6b in 2006-07

NEW DELHI: India’s trade deficit widened to nearly $57 billion in 2006-07 as against $39.63 billion in 2005-06 due to surge in crude oil import bill.

Exports in 2006-07 rose 23.9% to $124.63 billion, in line with a target of $125 billion, while imports jumped 29.3% to $181.4 billion led by oil, the government said in a statement on Tuesday.

The import bill for crude oil went up to $ 57.27 billion as against 4 43.95 billion in 2005-06, showing a growth of 30.31%.Last month, commerce minister Kamal Nath forecast exports from India to grow to $160 billion in 2007-08 and would reach to $200 billion by 2008-09.

The cumulative value of imports during April-March, 2007 was $181.36 billion as against $ 140.23 billion in 2005-06. Exports in March 2007 jumped 15.38% year-on-year to $12.5 billion, pushing the exports during the year to $ 124.63 billion.

Imports for March grew 18.62% to $16.38 billion taking the total imports during the year to reach to $ 181.36 billion, according to the data released by the commerce ministry. The country’s trade deficit stood at $3.79 billion in March taking the full year deficit to $56.73 billion in the entire fiscal.

Crude oil imports stood at $4.59 billion in March, 2007 as compared to $4.20 billion in the corresponding period last year, registering a growth 9.39%.Non-oil imports grew 16.55% to $11.78 billion during March 2007 as against $10.11 billion in the same month last year.

Calcutta HC opens CBI report on Nandigram

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court, which on Wednesday opened a CBI report on the police action in Nandigram in which 14 persons were killed, directed the West Bengal government to place before it a status report on the troubled area by Thursday.

A division Bench comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice P C Ghose, after going through the CBI report, said the central investigating agency had given its report on the basis of its findings till March 23 and was inconclusive.

The Bench quoted a paragraph of the report which said the CBI could not come to any definite conclusion yet.

The court directed state Advocate General Balai Roy to submit a status report on the situation in Nandigram till date to get a clear picture.

Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for one of the several petitioners in the case, submitted that situation in Nandigram was very volatile and that one person was killed and some others injured in fresh clashes last Sunday, while some artistes and intellectuals who had gone to the troubled area to distribute relief were assaulted on Tuesday.

The court directed that the CBI report, except for the one paragraph that it read out, would remain in sealed cover till further direction.

The matter would be heard again on Thursday.

The Chief Justice had, just a day after the police action on March 14, directed the CBI to enquire into the police firing at Nandigram and to submit a report before it.

Calcutta HC opens CBI report on Nandigram

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court, which on Wednesday opened a CBI report on the police action in Nandigram in which 14 persons were killed, directed the West Bengal government to place before it a status report on the troubled area by Thursday.

A division Bench comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice P C Ghose, after going through the CBI report, said the central investigating agency had given its report on the basis of its findings till March 23 and was inconclusive.

The Bench quoted a paragraph of the report which said the CBI could not come to any definite conclusion yet.

The court directed state Advocate General Balai Roy to submit a status report on the situation in Nandigram till date to get a clear picture.

Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for one of the several petitioners in the case, submitted that situation in Nandigram was very volatile and that one person was killed and some others injured in fresh clashes last Sunday, while some artistes and intellectuals who had gone to the troubled area to distribute relief were assaulted on Tuesday.

The court directed that the CBI report, except for the one paragraph that it read out, would remain in sealed cover till further direction.

The matter would be heard again on Thursday.

The Chief Justice had, just a day after the police action on March 14, directed the CBI to enquire into the police firing at Nandigram and to submit a report before it.

Growing trees with human DNA

To replace the unused "junk" DNA in trees with entire human genomes, two art students are planning to grow trees containing the genetic identity of human beings.

Scientists have advised the pair that it is perfectly feasible. The "humanised" trees would be unaffected by the change, but still carry the biological essence of the DNA donors. One possibility envisaged is that the trees could replace gravestones as a way of preserving the memory of loved ones, says a report in The Telegraph.

According to the report, Georg Tremmel, an Austrian studying design at the Royal College of Art in London and a Japanese colleague, Shiho Fukahara, hope to create the first hybrid trees within a year.

"Life is DNA," said Tremmel, "The basic idea is that if you can pass your DNA into a tree you would have another chance to prolong your life in storage."

Jupiter-like planet discovered light years away

Astronomers searching for signs of a Solar System like our own said on Thursday that they had found a planet very similar to Jupiter orbiting a star resembling the Sun, 90 light years away.

"This is the closest we have got to a real Solar System-like planet and advances our search for systems that are even more like our own," said UK team leader Hugh Jones of Liverpool John Moores University.

The planet was discovered by British, American and Australian astronomers using the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope in New South Wales.

With a mass twice that of gas giant Jupiter, the planet circles star HD70642 in the constellation Puppis once every six years.

In relation to its own distance from its star, if it were in the Solar System it would be about half way between Mars and Jupiter.

"The long-term goal of this programme is the detection of true analogues to the Solar System," the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council said in a statement.

"This discovery of a Jupiter-like gas giant planet around a nearby star is a step towards this goal.

"The discovery of other such planets and planetary satellites within the next decade will help astronomers assess the Solar System's place in the galaxy and whether planetary systems like our own are common or rare," it added.

Handsome men produce best sperm: Study

Handsome men produce the best quality semen and beautiful women seem to have good voices, according to scientists.

When researchers at the University of Valencia in Spain tested the quality of male sperm and then later asked women to rank the attractiveness of the donors it produced some interesting results.

"They found that men with the most attractive faces also make the best quality sperm," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

In another study, researchers at the University of Nottingham in England compared the quality of female voices and their facial features. After playing recordings of 30 young women to men, who ranked them in order, the researchers asked them to look at their pictures and choose the most striking faces.

"The men judged women with the nicest voices as the most attractive, on average," the magazine added.

Is there an Indian Linux bootable CD?

I want to try Linux as the free alternative to the Windows and MS Office on my PC. Is there any Indian Linux that I can try without having to install it on my hard disk? (Robbie Sharma)

Lify is your answer, a new distribution of GnuLinux that fits on just one CD. Insert it in your PC and start the machine. Your PC ignores the C drive and the Windows on it, and boots straight into GnuLinux. Made by Indians for India, LiFY contains the Linux OS, the free OpenOffice software, the Mozilla web browser and mail application, graphics, multimedia, music software, and a good selection of education software for all age groups. All free. You can also freely copy and share the CD with your friends and neighbours. Find the CD with the latest edition of LinuxForYou magazine, or you may contact linuxforu.com. Or try your local Linux User Groups, from linux-india.org. LiFY is based on Knoppix, and is easier to install LiFY on your hard disk as well. It can run from an old Pentium I or Celeron PC, to the latest generation CPUs.

I am bored of all my computer games, and want something really different and exciting to play during these summer holidays. Any suggestions? (Jaideep Singh Kohli)

A new kind of game has just been launched, called 'Journey to Wild Divine'. The game features a biofeedback USB interface designed to allow a player or players to navigate through the game using their mind-power, breath, and heart rate. This is a wild and visionary concept which works so fluidly that you can blow on the screen and objects move as if propelled by your breath. The game features an awesome soundtrack, including Grammy-nominated artists and spanning many genres. This is the new generation of gaming, and you have never experienced anything like this before. Find out more at www.wilddivine.com

What are 16-bit and 32-bit types of software. Does a 16-bit software slow down the performance of a PC? How can I find out which type of software I have? (Suresh Bhardwaj)

Take a computer with its given speed, stated in MegaHertz or GigaHertz. When the data inside it zips along in 16-lanes of highway, and when it zips along in 32-lanes of highway, obviously the latter gives you faster performance. Most new software are 32-bit. Excitingly, new 64-bit chips are being launched. Several distributions of GnuLinux have a 64-bit version. The only way to find out the version of your software is by checking with the software manufacturer.

How can I connect my television to my computer and use my CD-player to see movies? (Mohit Rajvanshi)

Just install a video-out card. Several cards are available from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,500.

I want to learn how to become a hacker, learn the art of writing computer viruses, and also how to break secure systems. How can I become a professionally-qualified computer hacker? (Saurabh Suri)

The University of Calgary in Canada is going to start teaching select computer science students to write software viruses in a special new disconnected lab. More information on this controversial course at www.ucalgary.edu. If you think Indian engineering colleges should also teach similar academic courses, email your colleges stating reasons for your request.

I am a mathematics researcher and find the prohibitive licenses and prices of mathematics software restrictive. Do free, alternative mathematics software packages exist? (Amitabh Trehan)

Several. According to mathematics experts in India, the leading ones are as follows: n Octave, which is a GPL implementation of a subset of MatLab. n R, a GPL implementation of of 'S'. n Maxima, MIT Macsyma, symbolic math. n GSL, the Gnu Scientific Library. n GnuPlot, for scientific graphics. n SciLab, from INRIA, France. n Mayavi, for 2D and 3D scientific data visualisation. It is written and maintained by Prabhu Ramachandran, one of the founding members of Chennai Linux User Group, and currently working on his Ph.D. in Aeronautics at IIT Madras. n Mupad, for numerical mathematics. n Yacas, for symbolic algebra. Do a google-search to find their sites, please.

I have an old Pentium with Win98. Some CDs don’t work in my drive, and I have been advised to upgrade to a new CD drive. Will the new generation of drives work on my PC? Can I also upgrade to Windows XP? (Hari Shankar)

The new CD drives will work. The software drivers know how to adjust the speed should the system performance be slower. Just ensure the drives ship with a Win98 driver, else check on driverguide.com. WinXP may install, but you will find you may need to upgrade your hard disk, add generous amounts of RAM, and would still find performance issues. The 'throughput' of your Win98 would be more than XP on this machine.

Can a CD lens be used for a CD-burner as well? (Siddharth Anand)

Sure, but would typically clean the 'reading' lens and other mechanism. If problems persist, you need a professional support engineer.

Can I combine my old Cyrix 233 Mhz processor and my Intel Cerelon 766Mhz processor in some way so that I can get the combined power? (Sameer)

Depends on your work. The most popular way is to create a 'supercomputer'. The free and alternative way to do this is to use Beowulf, a linux supercomputer cluster. You will still not match the performance of today's or even a generation older CPUs. Better to sell the components and just buy a new computer.

Handsome men produce best sperm: Study

Handsome men produce the best quality semen and beautiful women seem to have good voices, according to scientists.

When researchers at the University of Valencia in Spain tested the quality of male sperm and then later asked women to rank the attractiveness of the donors it produced some interesting results.

"They found that men with the most attractive faces also make the best quality sperm," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

In another study, researchers at the University of Nottingham in England compared the quality of female voices and their facial features. After playing recordings of 30 young women to men, who ranked them in order, the researchers asked them to look at their pictures and choose the most striking faces.

"The men judged women with the nicest voices as the most attractive, on average," the magazine added.

Is there an Indian Linux bootable CD?

I want to try Linux as the free alternative to the Windows and MS Office on my PC. Is there any Indian Linux that I can try without having to install it on my hard disk? (Robbie Sharma)

Lify is your answer, a new distribution of GnuLinux that fits on just one CD. Insert it in your PC and start the machine. Your PC ignores the C drive and the Windows on it, and boots straight into GnuLinux. Made by Indians for India, LiFY contains the Linux OS, the free OpenOffice software, the Mozilla web browser and mail application, graphics, multimedia, music software, and a good selection of education software for all age groups. All free. You can also freely copy and share the CD with your friends and neighbours. Find the CD with the latest edition of LinuxForYou magazine, or you may contact linuxforu.com. Or try your local Linux User Groups, from linux-india.org. LiFY is based on Knoppix, and is easier to install LiFY on your hard disk as well. It can run from an old Pentium I or Celeron PC, to the latest generation CPUs.

I am bored of all my computer games, and want something really different and exciting to play during these summer holidays. Any suggestions? (Jaideep Singh Kohli)

A new kind of game has just been launched, called 'Journey to Wild Divine'. The game features a biofeedback USB interface designed to allow a player or players to navigate through the game using their mind-power, breath, and heart rate. This is a wild and visionary concept which works so fluidly that you can blow on the screen and objects move as if propelled by your breath. The game features an awesome soundtrack, including Grammy-nominated artists and spanning many genres. This is the new generation of gaming, and you have never experienced anything like this before. Find out more at www.wilddivine.com

What are 16-bit and 32-bit types of software. Does a 16-bit software slow down the performance of a PC? How can I find out which type of software I have? (Suresh Bhardwaj)

Take a computer with its given speed, stated in MegaHertz or GigaHertz. When the data inside it zips along in 16-lanes of highway, and when it zips along in 32-lanes of highway, obviously the latter gives you faster performance. Most new software are 32-bit. Excitingly, new 64-bit chips are being launched. Several distributions of GnuLinux have a 64-bit version. The only way to find out the version of your software is by checking with the software manufacturer.

How can I connect my television to my computer and use my CD-player to see movies? (Mohit Rajvanshi)

Just install a video-out card. Several cards are available from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,500.

I want to learn how to become a hacker, learn the art of writing computer viruses, and also how to break secure systems. How can I become a professionally-qualified computer hacker? (Saurabh Suri)

The University of Calgary in Canada is going to start teaching select computer science students to write software viruses in a special new disconnected lab. More information on this controversial course at www.ucalgary.edu. If you think Indian engineering colleges should also teach similar academic courses, email your colleges stating reasons for your request.

I am a mathematics researcher and find the prohibitive licenses and prices of mathematics software restrictive. Do free, alternative mathematics software packages exist? (Amitabh Trehan)

Several. According to mathematics experts in India, the leading ones are as follows: n Octave, which is a GPL implementation of a subset of MatLab. n R, a GPL implementation of of 'S'. n Maxima, MIT Macsyma, symbolic math. n GSL, the Gnu Scientific Library. n GnuPlot, for scientific graphics. n SciLab, from INRIA, France. n Mayavi, for 2D and 3D scientific data visualisation. It is written and maintained by Prabhu Ramachandran, one of the founding members of Chennai Linux User Group, and currently working on his Ph.D. in Aeronautics at IIT Madras. n Mupad, for numerical mathematics. n Yacas, for symbolic algebra. Do a google-search to find their sites, please.

I have an old Pentium with Win98. Some CDs don’t work in my drive, and I have been advised to upgrade to a new CD drive. Will the new generation of drives work on my PC? Can I also upgrade to Windows XP? (Hari Shankar)

The new CD drives will work. The software drivers know how to adjust the speed should the system performance be slower. Just ensure the drives ship with a Win98 driver, else check on driverguide.com. WinXP may install, but you will find you may need to upgrade your hard disk, add generous amounts of RAM, and would still find performance issues. The 'throughput' of your Win98 would be more than XP on this machine.

Can a CD lens be used for a CD-burner as well? (Siddharth Anand)

Sure, but would typically clean the 'reading' lens and other mechanism. If problems persist, you need a professional support engineer.

Can I combine my old Cyrix 233 Mhz processor and my Intel Cerelon 766Mhz processor in some way so that I can get the combined power? (Sameer)

Depends on your work. The most popular way is to create a 'supercomputer'. The free and alternative way to do this is to use Beowulf, a linux supercomputer cluster. You will still not match the performance of today's or even a generation older CPUs. Better to sell the components and just buy a new computer.

Lufthansa to offer Boeing's inflight Internet service

German airline Lufthansa said on Tuesday that it has signed a deal with Boeing that will see broadband Internet service installed on its entire long-haul fleet.

Starting at the beginning of next year, all 80 of Lufthansa's long-haul jets, including the Boeing 747-400 and the Airbus A340 and A330, will be fitted with Boeing's Connexion wireless Internet system, the airline said.

The agreement follows a trial that started in January, during which Lufthansa offered the service free of charge on some flights between Frankfurt, Germany, and Washington, DC.

"It makes it possible for business travellers to use their flight time better," Lufthansa's deputy chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber said in a statement.

Airline spokesman Michael Lamberty declined to say how much the airline would pay Boeing, adding that prices for customers haven't yet been set.

Connexion's service requires installing two antennas on each aircraft, one to transmit data to satellites and one to receive data. A server and routing system inside the plane relay signals to and from plug-in ports at the seats or wireless networking cards in passengers' laptops.

British Airways also took part in the trial on flights between New York and London. Both Japan Airlines and SAS have decided to install the service on some of their long-range aircraft, but Lufthansa said it will be the first to outfit its entire long-haul fleet.

An unfair boss could be a health hazard: Study

Bosses who are disliked for being unfair or unreasonable can stoke a massive rise in workers' blood pressure, a phenomenon that fuels the risk of a heart attack or stroke, a study revealed.

Scientists recruited 28 female nursing assistants in British hospitals and monitored their blood pressure every 30 minutes during their working day to see how it changed in the presence of their supervisor.

Thirteen of the 28 had two supervisors, who alternated during their working week -- one the workers liked, and the other they disliked.

The 15 others were a comparison group: they either had just one supervisor or had two, both of which were liked or disliked.

Those who had to alternate with Ms Nice and Ms Nasty had an astonishing difference in blood pressure, the researchers found.

They registered a 15mm Hg difference in their systolic blood pressure, and a seven mm Hg difference in diastolic pressure, when they had to work with a supervisor they considered overbearing.

But when they worked under someone they considered fair, they were more relaxed -- their blood pressure went down slightly.

Previous studies have found that increase of 10mm Hg in systolic and five mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure can lead to a 16 per cent increased risk of coronary heart disease and a 38 per cent increased risk of stroke.

A "fair" boss was considered someone who listened to problems, responded to suggestions, praised a job well done, showed trust and respect and was consistent and impartial.

How can I retrieve Yahoo password?

I have an email account at Yahoo. Unfortunately, I forgot my password and even the security question. Can I get my password back? (Anirudh Mehta)

Write to the support email ID on the Yahoo site, stating your problem. You could ask people to resend emails to you on a new account.

A reader in one of your previous columns inquired about putting two processors together in one computer. I have a P100, 32MB RAM PC. I also have a P133. Is there anyway I could put that to use with my old computer? (Sidharth Saddi)

That 'one' computer is really a cluster of two or more computers running together as one. This concept is used to string together several computers to create a supercomputer. Find out more at www.beouwulf-underground.org. You will also find other supercomputer clusters made in India. These two old chips clustered won't even outperform today's PIVs or AMD AthlonXPs. You need to create a huge cluster of fast processors to create a true supercomputer. Plus, ordinary applications don't work on such clusters, and is more targetted for science, research, and defense purposes.

I have paid for the license of WinXP and Win2000. Do I still need a license to use the older versions like Win98 or WinNT? (Ajay Goel)

Yes. You may find that older version licences may no longer be available either, forcing you to upgrade hardware if need be, along with the software, to continue using your existing data.

I received an email from support@microsoft.com and it came with an attached file which showed nothing. How can I view that file? (Bhaskar Ghosh)

Virus! Go to antivirus.com, or the website of your favourite antivirus software, read about it in the list of new viruses, and immediately update your antirvirus software.

Every time I start Photoshop, I get the message ‘scratch disk is full’ when I create a new document? (Shikha Bhardwaj)

Photoshop requires huge amounts of RAM, and when it discovers it has used up all the memory, it creates a clever 'swap' space on your hard disk, using this as a 'virtual' RAM. Data is then shuttled back and forth between actual RAM and this 'scratch' disk. However, should your hard disk have no free space, Photoshop can no longer work.

In your previous column you mentioned how some Indians have created LiFY, their own free Linux distribution. I am excited about creating my own Linux operating system bundle in my name which I can give away to all my friends and colleagues who otherwise have to use MS Windows. Please guide me. (Rajiv Nair)

Learn how to create your own GnuLinux distribution with bundled OS, OpenOffice for wordprocessing and spreadsheets, Mozilla web browser, email clients, chat software, graphics, multimedia, Internet, and even development, databasing, and education software. All free and ready-to-use. You can collate thousands of free software in your own GnuLinux distribution and give it away free. Learn all this at www.linuxfromscratch.org. If you wish to create a GnuLinux that just boots from a CD like Knoppix or LiFY, get hold of Knoppix-customize. You can even customize Knoppix using MS Windows. Get it from http://hydra.linuxtag.uni-kl.de/~kester/knoppix-customize/ and do read the FAQs.

Can I have my own email IDs with my own choosen domain name? I have visited indiatimes but they are charging Rs 1,200, which is very costly. Can you suggest me few more sites? (Yash Sobti, Ghaziabad)

You can register your own domain, like myowndomain.com, and then have your own email ids, such as yash@myowndomain.com, from several domain registering companies. Do a google-search for 'domain registering in India'. Try biznetindia.com. An annual domain registration could cost approx Rs 350 to Rs 550. Host it on a server for Rs 1,000 or so extra, and you can also have your own website, unlimited email ids, and several other features.

Since my PC stays idle for long hours, I decided to switch off its monitor, which is a Samsung 753s. However, when I reswitched on the monitor, I discovered all the colors have become garish. Is my monitor damaged? (Shazid Ahmad)

Your PC does not know the monitor is physically switched off, and after a few minutes tries to send the monitor to sleep-mode using the video cable. Physically re-switching it on, and then rolling the mouse to 'wake up' the monitor is quite a rude awakening, hence the garish color tones. Press the menu button on the monitor's casing, and shuffle through the On Screen Display menu until you find the 'degauss' option. Select that, the monitor's display will rigorously shake itself, and its colors will come back to normal.

Can I convert a flash movie into a screensaver? (Puneet Batra)

Flash ScreenSaver Master 1.03, a free utility available from cnet.com/downloads, does the job.

I need to professionally typeset and create a book written in Malayalam. Is there any free alternative software to do this? (M Arun)

A stable version of the LaTeX package for Malayalam has just been released, at http://malayalam.sarovar.org. LaTeX is an extension to the classic twenty-five years old industry-standard TeX programming language, created by Donald Knuth. You can run LaTeX on Windows or GnuLinux.

ICMR, 4 others to develop drugs for neglected diseases

As not much research was being done on diseases like kala azar, sleeping sickness that hit the poorest in the world, Indian Council of Medical Research has joined hands with foreign institutions to develop drugs against killer diseases.

"Only 10 per cent of global health research is devoted to 'neglected diseases' that account for 90 per cent of the global disease burden," Dr NK Ganguly, director general ICMR told reporters here on Wednesday.

Diseases such as kala azar (leishmaniasis), sleeping sickness (human African trypanosomiasis), Chagas disease afflict the deeply impoverished in developing countries, he said. Bihar alone has 84,000 active kala azar cases at any moment, he said. Eastern UP and West Bengal also have cases though less than those in Bihar.

While the patients suffering from thee diseases desperately need new affordable, accessible and effective drugs in view of resistance and toxicity associated with the currently available drugs, these diseases do not represent a market profitable enough to attract research and development, he said.

The new partnershp, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative DNDi), to be formally launched on 3rd next month in Geneva, involves "Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF)", Institut Pasteur, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, and the Malaysian Ministry of Health besides ICMR.

The partnership aims to spend about 250 million dollars in the next 10-12 years. One third of this money would come from general public, 50 per cent from public instiututions and the rest from the donations, Pecoul said.

It would lead to development of affordable drugs and stregthen existing R and D capacity in developing countries affected by these diseases, he said.

Investments in drugs for neglected diseases is a mere trickle compared to that in drugs for diseases like cancer, hypertension, lifestyle disorders such as imotence, obesity and baldness, Pecoul said.

Ganguly said that the TDR - the Special Progrtamme for Resaerch and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) was the only body who was working in this field. It had led to the development of a new drug for kala azar with partnershp in ICMR.

"DNDi would facilitate availability of a product developed in one country to the other," according to Ganguly.

Insat-3A moved closer to space home

Insat-3A, India's multipurpose satellite has been moved closer to its space home after its second orbit raising exercise was successfully conducted on Saturday.

The master control facility (MCF) at Hassan, 250 km from Bangalore, fired the liquid apogee motor on board the satellite for the second consecutive day to raise its perigee, its closest point to the earth, to 32,050 km from 11,500 km.

This places the satellite just 4,000 km from its designated slot at 36,000 km from the earth.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the equatorial plane has been reduced from 0.9 degrees to 0.1 degrees. The satellite is now completing an earth orbit in 22 hours 40 minutes.

"All systems on board the satellite are functioning normally," ISRO said in a statement.

The satellite was launched April 10 from Kourou in French Guyana on an Ariane-5 rocket after an unexpected delay of 24 hours because of less than nominal signal emanating from the telemetry transmitters.

Since then the satellite has been responding to commands from the MCF, which gained control of the satellite within 30 minutes of its launch.

The third round of orbit raising would take place on April 14. The firing of the apogee motors would help push the satellite to its geo-stationary space home for the next 12 years at 93.5 degree east longitude.

The satellite would provide telecommunications, television broadcasting, meteorological and search and rescue services. It carries 24 four transponders - 12 operating in the normal C-band frequency, six in extended C-band and six in the Ku-band.

Insat-3A also carries another transponder for satellite aided search and rescue (SAS&R) as part of India's contribution to the international programme of the same name.

Insat-3A is the third in the Insat-3 series after Insat-3B and Insat-3C that were launched in March 2000 and January 2002 respectively.

New regulations could spur broadband investment but limit choices

A rewrite of competition rules for the US telecom industry may provide incentives to roll out more high-speed Internet service, but also could limit competition for consumers, analysts said.

Thursday's 3-2 decision by the Federal Communications Commission was a mixed bag for the entire telecom industry, which had been furiously lobbying ahead of the complex ruling.

The divided FCC members ended up removing regulations on the big regional telecom giants, or "Baby Bells," to spur deployment of high-speed data lines for broadband Internet.

The FCC ruled, however, that the Baby Bells -- many of which still have a near-monopoly for local phone service -- must continue sharing existing copper lines, offering access to rivals at wholesale prices for telephony.

The Baby Bells were formed by the breakup in the 1980s of the AT and T national phone system, and now include four firms -- Verizon, SBC, BellSouth and Qwest.

The contested ruling did not give the Baby Bells the full deregulation they had been seeking, but it did give them the right to build new high-speed lines without the requirement of sharing them with rivals, analysts note. This could speed deployment of broadband, according to some in the industry.

"I think it's a shot in the arm to the tech community," said Matthew Flannigan, president of the Telecommunications Industry Association, which represents equipment manufacturers.

Intel chief executive Craig Barrett praised the FCC for its "bold step to promote and accelerate broadband deployment in this country."

However, some critics say the new rules may shut out competition for high-speed Internet services like DSL using networks built by monopolies, which have heretofore been considered public utilities.

Some fear that consumers, who can now choose from a range of DSL and cable Internet providers, may face a monopoly for each of these two services.

"The FCC's action ... is highly ironic. The rules the commission adopted preserve competition for 20th-century technology while ensuring monopoly for 21st-century technologies," said Mark Cooper, director of research for the Consumer Federation of America.

"We don't advocate a policy that says only Burger King and McDonald's can sell fast food," said Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, a high-tech lobby group.

The FCC's decision for broadband "is likely to reduce the number of (service providers) consumers can choose from by about 99 percent," Miller said.

Commissioner Michael Copps, who dissented in the ruling, said the agency was "playing fast and loose with the country's broadband future, denying it the competitive air it needs to breathe in order to flourish. Consumers and the Internet itself may well suffer."

Wall Street analysts said the benefits for some companies may be overshadowed by other aspects of the ruling, which is certain to be challenged in the courts.

"In our view, the FCC's decision ... hurts the majority of the telecommunications industry by extending the uncertainty related to key investment issues," said Legg Mason analyst Michael Balhoff.

FCC chairman Michael Powell, who spearheaded the deregulation effort, said the battered telecom industry could be left in chaos.

"In choosing to abdicate its responsibility to craft clear and sustainable rules, the majority has brought forth a molten morass of regulatory activity that may very well wilt any lingering investment interest in the sector," Powell said.

Bill Gates pledges better software security

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates promised that his software company would continue improving security in its products, part of a campaign to convince large customers that the Windows operating system is safe for even sensitive businesses.

"New security risks have emerged on a scale that few in our industry fully anticipated," Gates wrote in a 1,500-word e-mail distributed late on Thursday to about one million people.

He cited figures showing corporate losses to hackers and other types of electronic attacks exceeded $455 million in 2001.

Gates said Microsoft will improve support for "smart cards," devices that can replace or augment computer passwords.

A single computer user may need dozens of passwords for e-mail, websites and connecting to office systems. Most passwords are easy to guess or difficult to remember.

In his e-mail, Gates called passwords "the weak link."

Smart cards carried by employees can help authenticate a person's identity when plugged into a computer slot or swiped through an attached reader device. Some cards flash random numbers that an employee must type accurately to access a system.

Gates said Microsoft now requires that all its employees use smart cards to access the company's computers from home or while travelling.

That policy went into effect after a break-in into Microsoft's internal systems in October 2000. Investigators believe it happened after hackers hijacked an employee's unprotected home computer.

Indian-born 'storage guru' promotes tech for masses

Indian-born Kumar Malavalli, who has been inducted into high-profile Silicon Valley Hall of Fame, wants to take his computer storage technology to the masses and help small entrepreneurs manage their business better.

"The concept (of computer storage) is still not well understood," said Malavalli, who has become the first Indian to enter Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame.

"I can only be a catalyst, act as a glue to bring together vendors and users to develop newer technologies cost effectively," Malavalli told IANS on the sidelines of a seminar on global storage networking here.

Malavalli, co-founder of computer storage solutions provider Brocade Communications, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on February 21 for his contribution to technology, industry, business and social commitment.

The modest engineer from Mysore's National institute of Engineering joins some of the big names such as founders of Hewlett-Packard (HP) William Hewlett and David Packard, and President of Stanford University, John Hennessy.

The Hall of Fame celebrates accomplishments of engineers in the Silicon Valley who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and made significant contributions to the community.

Malavalli came to be known as the "Fibre Prince" and "Storage Guru" after the shares of Brocade Communications showed tremendous growth when others in the technology space were looking southwards.

"I was just one of them. It is a testimony for perseverance and success of the entire team," he says.

"I never aspired to get into the Hall of Fame or anywhere else. It just happened though I feel honoured, definitely. I was part of the concept and part of the industry."

Analysts say a big opportunity is emerging for computer storage solutions providers as companies worldwide find it difficult to safely and efficiently manage vast amounts of data.

The importance of storage has become important in the wake of rapidly increasing volume of critical information in the business sector.

"We looked at the data generation and management and we knew that there would be an onslaught with the advent of the Internet. The model that existed was not going to meet demand," said Malavalli.

Malavalli, who hails from Malavalli in Karnataka's Mandya district and left India for the US two decades back, is credited with the development of storage area networking (SAN).

"Basically, he de-coupled storage from a server and made it into a common resource so that multiple servers could access them," says Sridhar Mitta, former head of Wipro's global research and development centre.

"It is like getting power from the hydel project instead of producing it in house for your personal use."

Said Brenda Christensen, director, Brocade Communications: "His is original contribution that has had a lasting impact on technology. And, the influence of that technology on industry is tremendous and, it is not just on Silicon Valley.

"But, engineering is the gate into the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame also looks closely at service to industry and, more importantly, community.

"It was his philanthropy to the girl guides programme that forced the administration in Santa Clara to introduce science as a subject in elementary school."