Friday, January 21, 2011

Wired and wireless broadband in India, the next big thing


While mobile communication (voice+text) has seen incredible growth in India, broadband connectivity hasn’t been taken as seriously. Last year, India announced a National Broadband Plan with the intention of connecting close to 160 million households compared to an estimated 10.3 Million connections as of now.
The National Broadband Plan, proposed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is an estimated Rs. 600 Billion investment (~$13 Billion). As part of the NBP, TRAI hopes to have 60 Million wireless broadband, 22 Million DSL and 78 Million Cable Internet users, by 2014. Ambitious.
The plan outlines setting up of State Optical Fiber Agencies (SOFA) in each state that will be under the state government and a National Optical Fiber Agency (NOFA). Speeds of upto 10 Mbps downlink are expected in cities. Retaining the Telecommunication and IT ministry after the cabinet reshuffle, Kapil Sibal said that a blue print for the National Broadband Plan will be in place by March 31st.

Indian cabinet undergoes reshuffle, although no one quits

Ministers of State Praful Patel, Salman Khurshid and Sriprakash Jaiswal were promoted as Cabinet Ministers in a reshuffle and expansion of his Council of Ministers carried out by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here today.


THE LIST OF THE RESHUFFLED CABINET
Pranab Mukherjee       :     Finance

Sharad Pawar  :                 Agriculture, Food Processing Industries
A K Antony        :                Defence
P Chidambaram  :              Home Affairs
S M Krishna        :              External Affairs
Mamata Banerjee  :           Railways
Ghulam Nabi Azad       :     Health and Family Welfare
Sushil Kumar Shinde :       Power
M Veerappa Moily       :      Law and Justice
S Jaipal Reddy  :                Petroleum and Natural Gas

Some essential facts about India


  • India never invaded any country in her last 100000 years of history.
  • When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established Harappan culture in Sindhu Valley (Indus Valley Civilization)
  • The name 'India' is derived from the River Indus, the valleys around which were the home of the early settlers. The Aryan worshippers referred to the river Indus as the Sindhu.
  • The Persian invaders converted it into Hindu. The name 'Hindustan' combines Sindhu and Hindu and thus refers to the land of the Hindus.
  • Chess was invented in India.
  • Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus are studies, which originated in India.
  • The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India in 100 B.C.
  • The World's First Granite Temple is the Brihadeswara Temple at Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The shikhara of the temple is made from a single 80-tonne piece of granite. This magnificent temple was built in just five years, (between 1004 AD and 1009 AD) during the reign of Rajaraja Chola.
  • India is the largest democracy in the world, the 6th largest Country in the world, and one of the most ancient civilizations.
  • The game of Snakes & Ladders was created by the 13th century poet saint Gyandev. It was originally called 'Mokshapat'. The ladders in the game represented virtues and the snakes indicated vices. The game was played with cowrie shells and dices. In time, the game underwent several modifications, but its meaning remained the same, i.e. good deeds take people to heaven and evil to a cycle of re-births.
  • The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail, Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1893 after leveling a hilltop, this cricket pitch is 2444 meters above sea level.
  • India has the largest number of Post Offices in the world.

BJP firm on hoisting national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar

The BJP today said the party is firm on its plan to hoist the tri-colour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on the Republic Day and will also pay homage to war martyrs in Uri and Baramulla.
"We will go ahead with our scheduled programme of visiting Uri, Baramulla and Srinagar to pay homages to the war martyrs like Brig Rajinder Singh and Maqbool Sherwani, besides hoisting tri-colour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar", state BJP chief Shamshir Singh Manhas said told party workers here.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Awaaz Do ....


AWAAZ DO
It’s now your opportunity to make a difference.
The more the people read about ‘Awaaz Do’, talk about it, the better chance of a child receiving his/her education.
The facts about the Right to Education Act, its significance and a lot more is given as part of the zip file. Refer to these facts and share the information with your readers. Provide them with information which they can use and further spread the message.

What Is AWAAZ DO & How Can I A Make A Difference?
All children 6 to 14 years old have the right to free and quality education under the recently passed Right to Education Act.

The RTE Act specifies minimum norms in government schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats for children from poor families (to be reimbursed by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan).

The Act also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.

The RTE Act is the first legislation in the world that puts the responsibility of ensuring enrolment, attendance and completion on the Government.

The Right to Education of persons with disabilities until 18 years of age has also been made a fundamental right. A number of other provisions regarding improvement of school infrastructure, teacher-student ratio and faculty are made in the Act.
To make the Right to Education Act successful, it is important that each one of us knows about it so that every child who is not in school can be sent back for free and quality education.